Henry Purcell was the greatest English composer, whose premature death at age 36 curtailed the development of English music for over 200 years. As a pivotal figure, Purcell's style incorporated elements from continental Europe like France and Italy but maintained a unique English identity through heavy chromaticism, counterpoint, and emotional immediacy. Purcell had close connections to leading English musicians as a child in the Chapel Royal and later as a composer for the court, writing both sacred and secular works until his death.

1. Henry Purcell's Finalie
Henry Purcell is the greatest composer England has ever produced, and his premature death, at the age
of 36, was a terrible blow which curtailed the development of a specifically English musical identity until
the emergence of Elgar.
In the intervening two hundred years, the high points of English musical life were achieved either by
foreigners who lived there (like Handel) or by those who were merely passing through (Haydn and
Mendelssohn).
Not that Purcell was in any way an insular figure: though his youthful training was in the English choral
tradition, he assimilated the latest trends of continental music that were so popular with the newly
restored King Charles II.
Purcell is therefore a pivotal figure, one through whom the art of the Renaissance polyphonists flows
into the Baroque era of J.S. Bach, and his importance was fully recognized during his lifetime. Like J.S.
Bach (who was six years old when Purcell died) Purcell came from a family of professional musicians. His
father, also named Henry, and his uncle Thomas were both musicians at the court of Charles II, and his
brother Daniel was a composer and organist.
Unsurprisingly the young Henry had very close connections with the leading English musicians of the
day: first as one of the twelve Children of the Chapel Royal, and later as a student with Matthew Locke,
whom he succeeded as court composer for the violins in 1677, and with John Blow, whom he succeeded
as organist of Westminster Abbey in 1679.
Purcell spent all of his life in the environs of Westminster, and his principal places of work Whitehall
Palace, the Chapel Royal at St James’s, and Westminster Abbey were all within walking distance of his
home. From 1680 he travelled further afield, supplementing his official income by writing music for the
Dorset Garden Theatre in the City of London. From 1682 he was one of three organists at the Chapel
Royal and in 1685 he produced his first major work the anthem My Heart is Inditing, composed for the
coronation of James II. If you want to listen his songs, check out this free mp3 downloads search engine
that will let you download all of his songs in mp3 format for free!
Four years later, the Catholic James II was overthrown and Purcell had to provide music for the
coronation of the new monarchs, James’s daughter Mary and her husband William III an occasion at
which he fell out with the Dean and Chapter over his right to sell tickets to the organ loft. His theatrical
activities intensified after the frugal William and Mary cut down on musical activities at court, and it was
around this time that Purcell’s opera, Dido and Aeneas, was staged at a girls’ school in Chelsea run by
the dancing master Josias Priest.
In 1690 both Purcell and Priest were engaged by Thomas Betterton, the leading actor-manager, to work
on his adaptation of Fletcher and Massinger’s play The History of Dioclesian. Though Purcell had written
a substantial amount of incidental music for Betterton, this was his first semi-opera (a play with musical
interludes). Staged at the Dorset Garden Theatre, it was an enormous success and led to three more:

2. King Arthur in 1691, The Fairy Queen in 1692, and The Indian Queen in 1694–95, completed on Purcell’s
death by his brother Daniel.
Of these three The Fairy Queen was the most ambitious, costing an extraordinary ￡3000, much of it
presumably spent on the machinery needed to effect the spectacular transformation scenes that were
required.
Despite the fact that “the Court and the Town were wonderfully satisfied with it”, the show lost money
– the only semi-opera to do so. Purcell’s last years were extremely busy: as well as his work for the
theatre, he produced a large amount of extraordinary church music, including the funeral music of
Queen Mary a work perfor med at his own Westminster Abbey funeral a few months later.
Like his French contemporary Charpentier, part of Purcell’s achievement was his success in synthesizing
certain aspects of the French style the two-part overture, rhythmically defined dances, and declamatory
vocalizing with the more lyrical and expressive style of the Italians.
However, what makes his musical language unique is the way these elements are suffused by a sense of
national identity, typified by heavy chromaticism, elaborate counterpoint, extended melody and, above
all, an emotional immediacy.