View source for Henry Purcell

{{Short description|English composer (1659–1695)}}
{{About|the 17th-century composer|the New York judge|Henry Purcell (judge)|other uses of Purcell|Purcell (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2011}}
{{Infobox classical composer
| image               = File:Henry Purcell Closterman.jpg
| caption             = Portrait by [[John Closterman]], {{circa|1695}}
| name                = Henry Purcell
| birth_date          = {{circa|lk=no| 10 September 1659}}
| birth_place         = [[Westminster]], London, England
| death_date          = 21 November 1695 (aged&nbsp;36)
| death_place         = [[Marsham Street]], London, England
| education           = [[Westminster School]]
| children            = 6, including [[Edward Purcell (musician)|Edward]]
| notable_family      = [[Edward Henry Purcell]] (grandson)
| list_of_works       = [[List of compositions by Henry Purcell|List of compositions]]
| era                 = [[Baroque music|Baroque]]
}}

'''Henry Purcell''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|p|ɜr|s|əl}}, rare: {{IPAc-en|p|ər|ˈ|s|ɛ|l}};{{refn|The contemporaneous pronunciation was always with the stress on the first syllable.<ref>[https://david-crystal.blogspot.com/2011/02/on-pronouncing-purcell.html?m=1 On pronouncing Purcell] by [[David Crystal]]</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.linguism.co.uk/language/henry-purcell | title=Henry Purcell – Linguism | newspaper=Linguism – Language in a Word | date=13 May 2009 | last1=Linguism | first1=Graham Pointon -. }}</ref> The stress on the second syllable is sometimes heard today, as mentioned by the Longman Pronunciation Dictionary,<ref>Wells, J. C., ''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. Harlow, Essex: Longman. {{ISBN|0-582-36467-1}}</ref> but it and the Oxford Companion to Music emphasise that stress on the first syllable is the standard pronunciation in both the United Kingdom and North America. The stress on the second syllable is so rare that some English dictionaries do not even mention it, such as the [https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/purcell Collins English Dictionary] and the [https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/henry-purcell Oxford Learner's Dictionary].|group=n}} {{circa|10}} September 1659{{refn|During Purcell's lifetime, England and Ireland observed the [[Julian calendar]]. According to {{harvtxt|Holman|Thompson|2001}}, there is uncertainty regarding the year and day of birth. No record of baptism has been found. The year 1659 is based on Purcell's memorial tablet in [[Westminster Abbey]] and the [[Book frontispiece|frontispiece]] of his ''Sonnata's of III. Parts'' (London, 1683). The day 10 September is based on vague inscriptions in the manuscript ''GB-Cfm 88''. It may also be relevant that he was appointed to his first salaried post on 10 September 1677, which would have been his 18th birthday.|group=n}} – 21 November 1695) was an English composer and organist of the middle [[Baroque music|Baroque era]].  He composed more than 100 songs, a tragic opera ''[[Dido and Aeneas]]'', and wrote incidental music to a version of Shakespeare's ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream]]'' called [[The Fairy-Queen|''The Fairy Queen'']]. 

Purcell's musical style was uniquely English, although it incorporated [[Music of Italy#Baroque and Classical|Italian]] and [[Music of France#Baroque|French]] elements.<ref>{{cite web | title=Research Guides: Henry Purcell: A Guide to Resources at the Library of Congress: Introduction | url=https://guides.loc.gov/purcell }}</ref> Purcell is generally considered to be one of the greatest English composers.<ref>{{cite web | title=The 10 best English composers | url=https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/latest/10-best-english-composers/ }}</ref>

== Life and work ==
{{Main|List of compositions by Henry Purcell}}
===Early life===
[[File:Purcell portrait.jpg|thumb|upright|Engraved portrait of Purcell by [[Robert White (engraver)|R. White]] after [[John Closterman|Closterman]], from ''[[Orpheus Britannicus]]'']]
Purcell was born in St Ann's Lane, Old Pye Street, [[Westminster]], in 1659. Henry Purcell Senior,{{sfn|Holman|Thompson|2001}} whose older brother Thomas Purcell was a musician, was a gentleman of the [[Chapel Royal]] and sang at the coronation of King [[Charles II of England]]. Henry the elder had three sons: Edward, Henry and Daniel. [[Daniel Purcell]], the youngest of the brothers, was also a prolific composer{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=658}} who wrote the music for much of the final act of ''[[The Indian Queen (opera)|The Indian Queen]]'' after his brother Henry's death. The family lived just a few hundred yards west of [[Westminster Abbey]] from 1659 onwards.{{sfn|Zimmerman|1967|p=34}}

After his father's death in 1664, Purcell was placed under the guardianship of his uncle Thomas, who showed him great affection and kindness.{{sfn|Westrup|1975|p=8}} Thomas arranged for Henry to be admitted as a chorister. Henry studied first under Captain [[Henry Cooke (composer)|Henry Cooke]],{{sfn|Burden|1995a|p=55}} [[Master of the Children]], and afterwards under Cooke's successor [[Pelham Humfrey]],{{sfn|Burden|1995a|p=58}} who was a pupil of [[Jean-Baptiste Lully|Lully]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=658}} The composer [[Matthew Locke (composer)|Matthew Locke]] was a family friend and, particularly with his [[semi-opera]]s, probably also had a musical influence on the young Purcell. Henry was a chorister in the Chapel Royal until his [[Voice change|voice broke]] in 1673 when he became assistant to the organ-builder [[John Hingston]], who held the post of keeper of wind instruments to the King.{{sfn|Zimmerman|1967|p=34}}

===Early career===
Purcell is said to have been composing at nine years old, but the earliest work that can be certainly identified as his is an ode for the King's birthday, written in 1670, when he was eleven.{{sfn|Zimmerman|1967|p=29}} The dates for his compositions are often uncertain, despite considerable research.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Charteris |first1=Richard |title=Newly Discovered Sources of Music by Henry Purcell |journal=Music & Letters |date=February 1994 |volume=75 |issue=1 |pages=16–32 |doi=10.1093/ml/75.1.16 |jstor=737241 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/737241 |access-date=25 October 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref> It is assumed that the three-part song ''Sweet tyranness, I now resign'' was written by him as a child.{{sfn|Westrup|1975|p=8}} After Humfrey's death, Purcell continued his studies under [[John Blow]]. He attended [[Westminster School]] and in 1676 was appointed copyist at Westminster Abbey.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=658}} Henry Purcell's earliest [[anthem]], ''Lord, who can tell'', was composed in 1678. It is a [[Psalms|psalm]] that is prescribed for Christmas Day and also to be read at morning prayer on the fourth day of the month.{{sfn|Zimmerman|1967|p=65}}

[[File:Henry Purcell - When on my sick bed I languish. (BL Add MS 30930 f. 6v).jpg|thumb|left|Purcell's manuscript copy of ''When on my sick bed I languish'' ({{circa|1680}})]]
In 1679, he wrote songs for [[John Playford]]'s ''Choice Ayres, Songs and Dialogues'' and an anthem, the name of which is unknown, for the Chapel Royal. From an extant letter written by Thomas Purcell we learn that this anthem was composed for the exceptionally fine voice of the Rev. [[John Gostling]], then at [[Canterbury]], but afterwards a gentleman of His Majesty's Chapel. Purcell wrote several anthems at different times for Gostling's extraordinary [[basso profondo]] voice, which is known to have had a [[Vocal range|range]] of at least two full [[octave]]s, from D below the [[Clef|bass staff]] to the D above it. The dates of very few of these sacred compositions are known; perhaps the most notable example is the anthem ''They that go down to the sea in ships.'' In gratitude for the providential escape of King Charles II from shipwreck, Gostling, who had been of the royal party, put together some verses from the [[Psalms]] in the form of an anthem and requested Purcell to set them to music. The challenging work opens with a passage which traverses the full extent of Gostling's range, beginning on the upper D and descending two octaves to the lower.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=658}}

===Dido and Aeneas===
Between 1680 and 1688 Purcell wrote music for seven plays.{{sfn|Harris|1987|p=6}} The composition of his chamber opera ''[[Dido and Aeneas]]'', which forms a very important landmark in the history of English dramatic music, has been attributed to this period, and its earliest production may well have predated the documented one of 1689.{{sfn|Runciman|1909}} It was written to a [[libretto]] furnished by [[Nahum Tate]],{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=658}} and performed in 1689 in cooperation with [[Josias Priest]], a dancing master and the choreographer for the [[Dorset Garden Theatre]]. Priest's wife kept a boarding school for young gentlewomen, first in [[Leicester Fields]] and afterwards at [[Chelsea, London|Chelsea]], where the opera was performed.{{sfn|Hutchings|1982|p=54}} It is occasionally considered the first genuine [[Opera in English|English opera]], though that title is usually given to Blow's ''[[Venus and Adonis (opera)|Venus and Adonis]]'': as in Blow's work, the action does not progress in spoken dialogue but in Italian-style [[recitative]]. Each work runs to less than one hour. At the time, ''Dido and Aeneas'' never found its way to the theatre, though it appears to have been very popular in private circles. It is believed to have been extensively copied, but only one song was printed by Purcell's widow in ''[[Orpheus Britannicus]]'', and the complete work remained in manuscript until 1840 when it was printed by the [[Musical Antiquarian Society]] under the editorship of Sir [[George Alexander Macfarren|George Macfarren]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=658}} The composition of ''Dido and Aeneas'' gave Purcell his first chance to write a sustained musical setting of a dramatic text. It was his only opportunity to compose a work in which the music carried the entire drama.{{sfn|Harris|1987|p=6}} The story of ''Dido and Aeneas'' derives from the original source in Virgil's epic the ''[[Aeneid]]''.{{sfn|Harris|1987|p=11}} During the early part of 1679, he produced two important works for the stage, the music for [[Nathaniel Lee]]'s ''Theodosius'', and [[Thomas d'Urfey]]'s ''Virtuous Wife''.{{sfn|Runciman|1909}} 

In 1679, Blow, who had been appointed organist of Westminster Abbey 10 years before, resigned his office in favour of Purcell.{{sfn|Runciman|1909}} Purcell now devoted himself almost entirely to the composition of sacred music, and for six years severed his connection with the theatre. He had probably written his two important stage works before taking up his new office.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=658}}

===Westminster Abbey and Chapel Royal===
Soon after Purcell's marriage in 1682, on the death of Edward Lowe, he was appointed organist of the Chapel Royal, an office which he was able to hold simultaneously with his position at Westminster Abbey.<ref name="Hutchings, Arthur 1982">[[Arthur Hutchings|Hutchings, Arthur]]. Purcell. (London: British Broadcasting Corporation, 1982), 85.</ref> His eldest son was born in this same year, but he was short-lived.{{sfn|Westrup|1975|p=41}} His first printed composition, ''Twelve [[Sonata]]s'', was published in 1683.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=1872|page=2|date=25 October 1683}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=1874|page=2|date=1 November 1683}} Announcements of the publication of Purcell's ''Sonata'', first for subscribers, then for general purchase</ref> For some years after this, he was busy in the production of sacred music, odes addressed to the king and royal family, and other similar works.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=1928|page=2|date=8 May 1684}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=2001|page=2|date=19 January 1684}} Announcements of the publication of Purcell's ''Ode for St Cecilia's Day'', first performed, 22 November 1683</ref> In 1685, he wrote two of his finest anthems, ''I was glad'' and ''My heart is inditing,'' for the coronation of King [[James II of England|James II]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|pp=658–659}}<ref name="Hutchings, Arthur 1982" /> In 1690 he composed a setting of the birthday ode for [[Mary II of England|Queen Mary]], ''Arise, my muse''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.steenslid.com/music/purcell/Lyrics/arise_my_muse.htm |title=Arise, my muse |author=Tore Frantzvåg Steenslid |publisher=steenslid.com |year=2004 |access-date=3 December 2013 |archive-date=19 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419100326/http://www.steenslid.com/music/purcell/Lyrics/arise_my_muse.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> and four years later wrote one of his most elaborate, important and magnificent works – a setting for another birthday ode for the Queen, written by Nahum Tate, entitled ''[[Come Ye Sons of Art]]''.{{sfn|Westrup|1975|p=77}}
===Theatre music===
[[File:Henry Purcell by John Closterman.jpg|thumb|Henry Purcell by [[John Closterman|John Closterman]]]]
In 1687, he resumed his connection with the theatre by furnishing the music for [[John Dryden]]'s tragedy ''[[Tyrannick Love]]''. In this year, Purcell also composed a march and passepied called ''Quick-step'', which became so popular that [[Thomas Wharton, 1st Marquess of Wharton|Lord Wharton]] adapted the latter to the verses of ''[[Lillibullero]]''. In or before January 1688, Purcell composed his anthem ''Blessed are they that fear the Lord'' by the express command of the King. A few months later, he wrote the music for D'Urfey's play, ''The Fool's Preferment''. In 1690, he composed the music for [[Thomas Betterton|Betterton]]'s adaptation of [[John Fletcher (playwright)|Fletcher]] and [[Philip Massinger|Massinger]]'s ''Prophetess'' (afterwards called ''[[Dioclesian]]'') and Dryden's ''[[Amphitryon (Dryden)|Amphitryon]]''.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=659}} In 1691, he wrote the music for what is sometimes considered his dramatic masterpiece, ''[[King Arthur (opera)|King Arthur, or The British Worthy]]''.{{sfn|Hutchings|1982|p=54}} In 1692, he composed ''[[The Fairy-Queen]]'' (an adaptation of Shakespeare's ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream]]''), the score of which (his longest for theatre){{sfn|Hutchings|1982|p=55}} was rediscovered in 1901 and published by the [[Purcell Society]].{{sfn|Westrup|1975|p=75}} ''The Indian Queen'' followed in 1695, in which year he also wrote songs for [[The Tempest (Dryden)|Dryden and Davenant's version]] of Shakespeare's ''[[The Tempest]]'' (recently, this has been disputed by music scholars<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.classicalarchives.com/work/22330.html#tvf=tracks&tv=about|title=Henry Purcell – ''The Tempest'', Z.631 (semi-opera)|website=classicalarchives.com}}</ref>), probably including "Full fathom five" and "Come unto these yellow sands".{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=659}} ''The Indian Queen'' was adapted from a tragedy by Dryden and [[Robert Howard (playwright)|Sir Robert Howard]].{{sfn|Hutchings|1982|p=55}} In these [[semi-opera]]s (another term for which at the time was "dramatic opera"), the main characters of the plays do not sing but speak their lines: the action moves in dialogue rather than recitative. The related songs are sung "for" them by singers, who have minor dramatic roles.

{{listen|type=music
 | image = none | help = no 
 | filename     = Henry Purcell (1659-1695) – In Nomine à6, Z.746 for Treble, Tenor & Bass Viols.ogg
 | title        = In Nomine à6, Z.746 for Treble, Tenor & Bass Viols
 | filename2    = Henry Purcell (1659-1695) – In Nomine à7, Z.747 for Treble, Tenor & Bass Viols.ogg
 | title2       = In Nomine à7, Z.747 for Treble, Tenor & Bass Viols
 | description2 = Performed by Phillip W. Serna, Treble, Tenor & Bass [[Viol]]s
}}

{{listen|type=music
 | image = none | help = no 
 | filename     = Purcell i was glad.ogg
 | title        = I was Glad
 | description  =
 | filename2    = Purcell ode. 1 sinfonia.ogg
 | title2       = Ode 1 – Sinfonia
 | description2 =
 | filename3    = Purcell ode. 2 welcome to all the pleasures.ogg
 | title3       = Ode 2 – Welcome to All
 | description3 =
 | filename4    = Purcell ode. 3 hail to this happy assembly.ogg
 | title4       = Ode 3 – Hail to this Happy Assembly
 | description4 =
 | filename5    = Purcell ode. 4 here the deities approve.ogg
 | title5       = Ode 4 – Here the Deities Approve
 | description5 =
 | filename6    = Purcell ode. 5 while joys celestial.ogg
 | title6       = Ode 5 – While Joys Celestial
 | description6 =
 | filename7    = Purcell ode. 6 then lift up your voices.ogg
 | title7       = Ode 6 – Then Lift Up Your Voices
 | description7 =
 | filename8    = Purcell ode. 7 beauty, thou scene of love.ogg
 | title8       = Ode 7 – Beauty, Thou Scene of Love
 | description8 =
 | filename9    = Purcell ode. 8 in a consort of voices.ogg
 | title9       = Ode 8 – In a Consort of Voices
 | description9 =
| filename10=Henry Purcell - Toccata Amajor.ogg
| title10=Toccata in A major
| description10=Performed by Sylvia Kind
| filename11=09 The Queen's Dolour (A Farewell) Henry Purcell Transcribed Ronald Stevenson (1958) Mark Gasser Piano (Live Recording).ogg
| title11="The Queen's Dolour (A Farewell)"
| description11=Realised by [[Ronald Stevenson]] (1958), performed live by [[Mark Gasser]]
}}

===Last works===
Purcell's ''[[Te Deum]]'' and ''[[Psalm 100|Jubilate Deo]]'' were written for [[Saint Cecilia]]'s Day, 1694, the first English ''Te Deum'' ever composed with orchestral accompaniment. This work was annually performed at [[St Paul's Cathedral]] until 1712, after which it was performed alternately with [[George Frideric Handel|Handel]]'s ''[[Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate]]'' until 1743,{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=659}} when both works were replaced by Handel's ''[[Dettingen Te Deum]]''.{{sfn|Westrup|1975|p=80}}

He composed an anthem and two elegies for [[Mary II of England|Queen Mary II]]'s funeral, his ''[[Funeral Sentences and Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary]]''.{{sfn|Westrup|1975|pp=82–83}} Besides the operas and semi-operas already mentioned, Purcell wrote the music and songs for Thomas d'Urfey's ''The Comical History of [[Don Quixote]]'', ''[[Bonduca]]'', ''The Indian Queen'' and others, a vast quantity of sacred music, and numerous [[ode]]s, [[cantata]]s, and other miscellaneous pieces.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=659}} The quantity of his instrumental chamber music is minimal after his early career, and his keyboard music consists of an even more minimal number of harpsichord suites and organ pieces.{{sfn|Westrup|1975|p=81}} In 1693, Purcell composed music for two comedies: ''[[The Old Bachelor]]'', and ''[[The Double Dealer]]''. Purcell also composed for five other plays within the same year.{{sfn|Runciman|1909}} In July 1695, Purcell composed an ode for the Duke of Gloucester for his sixth birthday. The ode is titled ''Who can from joy refrain?''{{sfn|Westrup|1975|p=83}} Purcell's four-part sonatas were issued in 1697.{{sfn|Runciman|1909}} In the final six years of his life, Purcell wrote music for forty-two plays.{{sfn|Runciman|1909}}

===Death===
Purcell died on 21 November 1695 at his home in Marsham Street,{{refn|Often miscited as Dean's Yard; [[Frederick Bridge]] in his brief biography of 1920, ''Twelve Good Composers'', uses rental information/rate sheets to clear this up.|group=n}} at the height of his career.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=659}} He is believed to have been 35 or 36 years old at the time. The cause of his death is unclear: one theory is that he caught a chill after returning home late from the theatre one night to find that his wife had locked him out. Another is that he succumbed to [[tuberculosis]].{{sfn|Zimmerman|1967|p=266}} The beginning of Purcell's will reads:

{{blockquote|In the name of God Amen. I, Henry Purcell, of the City of Westminster, gentleman, being dangerously ill as to the constitution of my body, but in good and perfect mind and memory (thanks be to God) do by these presents publish and declare this to be my last Will and Testament. And I do hereby give and bequeath unto my loving wife, Frances Purcell, all my estate both real and personal of what nature and kind soever...{{sfn|Westrup|1975|p=85}}}}

Purcell is buried adjacent to the organ in Westminster Abbey. The music that he had earlier composed for Queen Mary's funeral was performed during his funeral. Purcell was universally mourned as "a very great master of music".&nbsp; Following his death, the officials at Westminster honoured him by unanimously voting that he be buried with no expense spared in the north aisle of the Abbey.{{sfn|Zimmerman|1967|p=267}} His epitaph reads: "Here lyes Henry Purcell Esq., who left this life and is gone to that Blessed Place where only His harmony can be exceeded."{{sfn|Westrup|1975|p=86}}

Purcell and his wife Frances had six children, four of whom died in [[infant|infancy]]. His wife, as well as his son [[Edward Purcell (musician)|Edward]] (1689–1740) and daughter Frances, survived him.{{sfn|Runciman|1909}} His wife Frances died in 1706, having published a number of her husband's works, including the now-famous collection called ''Orpheus Britannicus'',{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} in two volumes, printed in 1698 and 1702, respectively. Edward was appointed organist of [[St Clement's, Eastcheap]], London, in 1711 and was succeeded by his son [[Edward Henry Purcell]] (died 1765). Both men were buried in St Clement's near the organ gallery.

== Legacy ==
=== Notable compositions ===
Purcell worked in many genres, both in works closely linked to the court, such as symphony song, to the Chapel Royal, such as the symphony anthem, and the theatre.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Robert |last1=Shay |first2=Robert |last2=Thompson |title=Purcell Manuscripts: The Principal Musical Sources |isbn=978-0521028110 |date= 2006 |page=137 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |quote=The distinctive nature of the symphony song, a genre as closely linked to the court as the symphony anthem was to the Chapel Royal, 16 is underlined by the principal concordance of the longer works in R.M. 20.h.8, Lbl Add. 33287}}</ref>

Among Purcell's most notable works are his opera ''[[Dido and Aeneas]]'' (1688), his [[semi-opera]]s ''[[Dioclesian]]'' (1690), ''[[King Arthur (opera)|King Arthur]]'' (1691), ''[[The Fairy-Queen]]'' (1692) and ''Timon of Athens'' (1695), as well as the compositions ''[[Hail! Bright Cecilia]]'' (1692), ''[[Come Ye Sons of Art]]'' (1694) and ''[[Funeral Sentences and Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary]]'' (1695).

In 2025, a lost work, the song ''As Soon as Day Began To Peep'' from [[Thomas D'Urfey]]'s 1691 play ''[[Love for Money]]'', was rediscovered in the Worcestershire County Archives; it was unknown to modern scholars.<ref name="Alberge">{{cite news |last1=Alberge |first1=Dalya |title='Almost unheard of': experts find more music by English composer Henry Purcell |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/oct/07/experts-find-music-english-composer-henry-purcell |access-date=7 October 2025 |work=The Guardian |date=7 October 2025}}</ref> Announced at the same time was the rediscovery in Norfolk County Archives of manuscripts of three keyboard works in Purcell's own hand, including early versions of his G minor suite, different from the published work.<ref name="Alberge" />

===Influence and reputation===
[[File:The Flowering of the English Baroque, Henry Purcell, London.JPG|thumb|upright|"The Flowering of the English Baroque", bronze memorial sculpture by [[Glynn Williams]] in a small park on [[Victoria, London|Victoria St, Westminster]]]]

After his death, Purcell was honoured by many of his contemporaries, including his old friend [[John Blow]], who wrote ''An Ode, on the Death of Mr. Henry Purcell (Mark how the lark and linnet sing)'' with text by his old collaborator, John Dryden. [[William Croft]]'s 1724 [[service (music)|setting]] for the Burial Service was written in the style of "the great Master". Croft preserved Purcell's setting of "Thou knowest Lord" (Z 58) in his service, for reasons "obvious to any artist"; it has been sung at every British [[state funeral]] ever since.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=SvD9Ou7wdccC&pg=PA93 Melvin P. Unger, ''Historical Dictionary of Choral Music''], Scarecrow Press 2010, {{ISBN|978-0-8108-5751-3}} (p.93)</ref> More recently, the English poet [[Gerard Manley Hopkins]] wrote a famous sonnet entitled simply "Henry Purcell", with a headnote reading: "The poet wishes well to the divine genius of Purcell and praises him that, whereas other musicians have given utterance to the moods of man's mind, he has, beyond that, uttered in notes the very make and species of man as created both in him and in all men generally."<ref>{{Cite web |last=International Hopkins Association |date=2018 |title=Henry Purcell |url=https://hopkinspoetry.com/poem/henry-purcell/ |access-date=19 November 2020 |website=Gerard Manley Hopkins}}</ref>

Purcell also had a strong influence on the composers of the English musical renaissance of the early 20th century, most notably [[Benjamin Britten]], who arranged many of Purcell's vocal works for voice(s) and piano in ''[[Britten's Purcell Realizations]]'', including from ''Dido and Aeneas'', and whose ''[[The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra]]'' is based on a theme from Purcell's ''[[Abdelazar]]''. Stylistically, the aria "I know a bank" from Britten's opera ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream (opera)|A Midsummer Night's Dream]]'' is clearly inspired by Purcell's aria "Sweeter than Roses", which Purcell originally wrote as part of [[incidental music]] to Richard Norton's ''[[Pausanias (general)|Pausanias]], the Betrayer of His Country''.<ref name=Brett>{{cite book|last=Brett|first=Philip|title=Britten's Dream|year=1990|publisher=[[Decca Records]]|author-link=Philip Brett|type =Brief essay to accompany the Britten recording}}</ref>

In a 1940 interview [[Ignaz Friedman]] stated that he considered Purcell as great as Bach and [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]]. In Victoria Street, Westminster, England, there is a bronze monument to Purcell, sculpted by [[Glynn Williams]] and unveiled in 1995 to mark the 300th anniversary of his death.<ref name="Matthews_2018">{{Cite book |last=Matthews |first=P. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zl5RDwAAQBAJ&q=%22Henry+Purcell%22+statue+%22victoria%22+Glyn+Williams&pg=PA128 |title=London's Statues and Monuments: Revised Edition |publisher=Bloomsbury |year=2018 |isbn=9781784422585 |pages=128}}</ref> In 2009, Purcell was selected by the [[Royal Mail]] for their [[Great Britain commemorative stamps 2000–2009|"Eminent Britons" commemorative postage stamp]] issue.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Royal Mail celebrate eminent Britons |url=https://www.thetimes.com/sport/football/article/the-royal-mail-celebrate-eminent-britons-xxdbrr6jzjt |date=8 October 2009 |access-date=30 September 2022 |work=[[The Times]]}}</ref>

A Purcell Club was founded in London in 1836 for promoting the performance of his music but was dissolved in 1863. In 1876 a [[Purcell Society]] was founded, which published new editions of his works.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=659}} A modern-day Purcell Club has been created, and provides guided tours and concerts in support of Westminster Abbey.<ref>{{cite web |title=Purcell Club : a Private Musical Tour of Westminster Abbey |url=https://www.anglo-netherlands.org.uk/archive/2017-2/purcell-club-a-private-musical-tour-of-westminster-abbey/ |website=Anglo-Netherlands Society |access-date=18 August 2022 |archive-date=27 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220527185019/http://www.anglo-netherlands.org.uk/archive/2017-2/purcell-club-a-private-musical-tour-of-westminster-abbey/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Today there is a Henry Purcell Society of Boston, which performs his music in live concert.<ref name="HPSB">{{Cite web |date=2020 |title=Virtual Season 2020 |url=https://bostonpurcell.org/virtual-events-2020 |website=Henry Purcell Society of Boston |access-date=20 November 2020 |archive-date=13 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413203125/https://bostonpurcell.org/virtual-events-2020 |url-status=dead }}</ref> There is a [[Purcell Society]] in London, which collects and studies Purcell manuscripts and musical scores, concentrating on producing revised versions of the scores of all his music.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Purcell Society|url=http://www.henrypurcell.org.uk/|access-date=29 December 2021|website=The Purcell Society|language=en-US}}</ref> Purcell's works have been catalogued by [[Franklin B. Zimmerman|Franklin Zimmerman]], who gave them a number preceded by Z.<ref name="Shay_&_Thompson_2006">{{Cite book |last1=Shay |first1=R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XYnyZzbUjtYC&q=Zimmerman+Z+numbers+Henry+Purcell&pg=PR13 |title=Purcell Manuscripts: The Principal Musical Sources |last2=Thompson |first2=R. |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2006 |isbn=9780521028110 |page=xiii}}</ref>

So strong was his reputation that a popular wedding processional was incorrectly attributed to Purcell for many years. The so-called ''Purcell's Trumpet Voluntary'' was in fact written around 1700 by a British composer named [[Jeremiah Clarke]] as the ''[[Prince of Denmark's March]]''.<ref name="Cooper_1978">{{Cite journal |last=Cooper |first=B. |date=1978 |title=Did Purcell Write a Trumpet Voluntary?–1 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/959617 |journal=The Musical Times |volume=119 |issue=1627 |pages=791–793 |doi=10.2307/959617|jstor=959617 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

===In popular culture===

[[File:Henry Purcell "Dido & Aeneas" (extrait) - Les Arts Florissants, William Christie.webm|thumb|upright=1.4|[[Lea Desandre]] and [[Les Arts Florissants (ensemble)|Les Arts Florissants]] perform the "[[Dido's Lament]]" aria from Purcell's ''Dido and Aeneas'', among his most notable works.]]

Music for the [[Funeral Sentences and Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary|Funeral of Queen Mary]] was reworked by [[Wendy Carlos]] for the title music of the 1971 film by Stanley Kubrick, ''[[A Clockwork Orange (film)|A Clockwork Orange]]''. The 1973 ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' review of [[Jethro Tull (band)|Jethro Tull]]'s ''[[A Passion Play]]'' compared the musical style of the album with that of Purcell.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tullpress.com/rs30aug73.htm|title=Jethro Tull Press: Rolling Stone, 30 August 1973|work=tullpress.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303195516/http://www.tullpress.com/rs30aug73.htm|archive-date=3 March 2016}}</ref> In 2009 [[Pete Townshend]] of [[The Who]], an English rock band that established itself in the 1960s, identified Purcell's harmonies, particularly the use of suspension and resolution (Townshend has mentioned Chaconne from The Gordian Knot Untied) that he had learned from producer [[Kit Lambert]], as an influence on the band's music (in songs such as "[[Won't Get Fooled Again]]" (1971), "[[I Can See for Miles]]" (1967) and the very Purcellian intro to "[[Pinball Wizard]]").<ref>''[[Radio Times]]'', 24–30 October 2009, previewing ''[https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00nf3kr Baroque and Roll]'' ([[BBC Radio 4]], 27 October 2009).</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mfiles.co.uk/composers/Henry-Purcell.htm|title=Henry Purcell – an overview of the classical composer|author=Jim Paterson|work=mfiles.co.uk}}</ref> Purcell's music was widely featured as background music in the [[Academy Award]] winning 1979 film ''[[Kramer vs. Kramer]]'', with a soundtrack on [[CBS Masterworks]] Records.<ref name="Variety_1979">{{Cite web |last=Pollock |first=Dale |date=27 November 1979 |title=Kramer Vs. Kramer |url=https://variety.com/1979/film/reviews/kramer-vs-kramer-2-1200424569/ |access-date=20 November 2020 |website=Variety}}</ref> The 1995 film ''[[England, My England]]'' tells the story of an actor who is himself writing a play about Purcell's life and music, and features many of his compositions.<ref name="Variety">{{Cite web |last=Elley |first=Derek |date=19 November 1995 |title=England, My England |url=https://variety.com/1995/film/reviews/england-my-england-1200443778/ |access-date=20 November 2020 |website=Variety}}</ref>

In the 21st century, the [[Pride & Prejudice (soundtrack)|soundtrack]] of the [[Pride & Prejudice (2005 film)|2005 film version]] of ''[[Pride and Prejudice (novel)|Pride and Prejudice]]'' features a dance titled "A Postcard to Henry Purcell". This is a version by composer [[Dario Marianelli]] of Purcell's ''[[Abdelazar]]'' theme. In the German-language 2004 movie, ''[[Downfall (2004 film)|Downfall]]'', the music of [[Dido's Lament]] is used repeatedly as [[End of World War II in Europe|Nazi Germany collapses]]. The 2012 film ''[[Moonrise Kingdom]]'' contains [[Benjamin Britten]]'s version of the Rondeau in Purcell's ''Abdelazar'' created for his 1946 ''[[The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra]]''. In 2013, the [[Pet Shop Boys]] released their single "[[Love Is a Bourgeois Construct]]" incorporating one of the same ground basses from ''King Arthur'' used by [[Michael Nyman]] in his ''[[The Draughtsman's Contract]]'' score.<ref name="Novello">{{Cite web |last=Chester Music Ltd (World) |date=2020 |title=Chasing Sheep is Best Left to Shepherds (The Draughtsman's Contract) (1982) |url=https://www.wisemusicclassical.com/work/11492/Chasing-Sheep-is-Best-Left-to-Shepherds-The-Draughtsmans-Contract--Michael-Nyman/ |access-date=20 November 2020 |website=Wise Music Classical}}</ref><ref name="Songfacts">{{Cite web |last=Songfacts |date=2020 |title=Love Is A Bourgeois Construct by Pet Shop Boys |url=https://www.songfacts.com/facts/pet-shop-boys/love-is-a-bourgeois-construct |access-date=20 November 2020}}</ref> [[Olivia Chaney]] performs her adaptation of "There's Not a Swain" on her CD "The Longest River".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.wnyc.org/story/306488-the-delicate-intensity-of-olivia-chaney/|title=The Delicate Intensity of Olivia Chaney|work=WNYC}}</ref> The song "Music for a while" from Purcell's incidental music to ''[[Oedipus (Dryden play)|Oedipus]],'' Z. 583 was included in the soundtrack of the 2018 film ''[[The Favourite]],'' along with the second movement of his Trumpet Sonata in D major, Z. 850, performed by the [[English Baroque Soloists]], conducted by [[Sir John Eliot Gardiner]].<ref>{{Citation |title=The Favourite Soundtrack - Trumpet Sonata in D Major, Z. 850 - 2. Adagio | date=4 February 2019 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTwyzuoxmxM&list=PLGXVAm2zfXPm2TLno1diFZZh1q2db2IHS |access-date=2023-06-13 |language=en}}</ref>

"What Power Art Thou" (from King Arthur, or The British Worthy (Z. 628), a semi-opera in five acts with music by Purcell and a libretto by John Dryden) is featured in ''[[The Crown (TV series)|The Crown]]''.

==References==
===Notes===
{{Reflist|group=n|colwidth=30em}}

===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Burden |editor-first=Michael |editor-link=Michael Burden |year=1995a |title=The Purcell Companion |publisher=[[Faber and Faber]] |location=London |isbn= }}
* {{EB1911 |wstitle=Purcell, Henry |volume=22 |pages=658–659}}
* {{cite book |last=Harris |first=Ellen T. |year=1987 |title=Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last1=Holman |first1=Peter |last2=Thompson |first2=Robert |year=2001 |encyclopedia=[[Grove Music Online]] |title=Purcell, Henry(ii) |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.6002278249 |isbn=9781561592630 |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-6002278249 }} {{Grove Music subscription}}
* {{cite book |last=Hutchings |first=Arthur |author-link=Arthur Hutchings |year=1982 |title=Purcell |publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation |location=London }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last1=Nagley |first1=Judith |last2=Milsom |first2=John |editor-last=Latham |editor-first=Alison |year=2011 |title=Dunstaple, John |encyclopedia=[[The Oxford Companion to Music]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-957903-7 |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199579037.001.0001/acref-9780199579037-e-2124 |url-access=subscription }}
* {{cite book |last=Runciman |first=John F. |year=1909 |title=Purcell |publisher=George Bell & Sons |location=London |oclc=5690003 }}
* {{cite book |last=Westrup |first=Jack A. |author-link=Jack Westrup |year=1975 |title=Purcell |publisher=[[Dent & Sons]] |location=London |isbn= }}
* {{cite book |last=Zimmerman |first=Franklin B. |author-link=Franklin B. Zimmerman |year=1967 |title=Henry Purcell, 1659–1695, His Life and Times |publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania Press]] |location=Philadelphia |isbn= }}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last=Burden |first=Michael |year=1995b |title=Purcell Remembered |publisher=[[Faber and Faber]] |location=London |isbn= }}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Burden |editor-first=Michael |year=1996 |title=Performing the Music of Henry Purcell |publisher=[[Clarendon Press]] |location=Oxford |isbn= }}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Burden |editor-first=Michael |year=2000 |title=Henry Purcell's Operas; The Complete Texts |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |isbn= }}
* {{cite book |editor-last=[[Rebecca Herissone|Herissone]] |editor-first=Rebecca |year=2012 |title=The Ashgate Research Companion to Henry Purcell |publisher=Ashagte |location=Farnham |isbn= }}
* {{cite book |last=Dent |first=Edward Joseph |author-link=Edward Joseph Dent |year=1928 |title=Foundations of English Opera |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge |isbn= }}
* {{cite book |last=Duffy |first=Maureen |author-link=Maureen Duffy |year=1994 |title=Henry Purcell |publisher=Fourth Estate Ltd |location=London |isbn= }}
* {{cite book |last=Keates |first=Jonathan |year=1995 |title=Purcell |publisher=Chatto & Windus |location=London |isbn= }}
* {{cite book |last=King |first=Robert |author-link=Robert King (conductor) |year=1994 |title=Henry Purcell |publisher=[[Thames & Hudson]] |location=London |isbn= }}
* {{cite book |last=Holman |first=Peter |year=1994 |title=Henry Purcell |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |isbn= }}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Holst |editor-first=Imogen |editor-link=Imogen Holst |year=1959 |title=Henry Purcell 1659–1695: Essays on His Music |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=London |isbn= }}
* {{cite book |last=Moore |first=R. E. |year=1961 |title=Henry Purcell and the Restoration Theatre |publisher=[[Greenwood Press]] |location=Westport |isbn= }}
* {{cite book |last=Muller |first=Julia |year=1990 |title=Words and Music in Henry Purcell's First Semi-Opera, Dioclesian |publisher=Edwin Mellen Press |location=New York |isbn= }}
* {{cite book |last1=Orrey |first1=Leslie |last2=Milnes |first2=Rodney |year=1987 |title=Opera: A Concise History |publisher=[[Thames & Hudson]] |location=London |isbn=978-0-500-20217-3 }}
* {{cite book |last=Price |first=Curtis A. |author-link=Curtis Price |year=1984 |title=Henry Purcell and the London Stage |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge |isbn= }}
* {{cite book |last1=Shay |first1=Robert |last2=Thompson |first2=Robert |year=2000 |title=Purcell Manuscripts: The Principal Musical Sources |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge |isbn= }}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* [http://www.henrypurcell.org.uk/ The Purcell Society]
* {{IMSLP|id=Purcell%2C_Henry|cname=Henry Purcell}}
* {{ChoralWiki}}
* {{BBC composer page|purcell|Purcell}}
* {{MutopiaComposer|PurcellH}}
* [http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/features/purcell.html Short biography, audio samples and images of Purcell] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180515075801/http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/features/purcell.html |date=15 May 2018 }}
* [{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=q7867|pure_url=yes}} Henry Purcell] at [[AllMusic]]
* {{IMDb name|700722}}
* {{NPG name}}

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{{s-culture}}
{{s-bef|before=[[John Blow]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Organist and Master of the Choristers]] of [[Westminster Abbey]]
|years=1679–1695}}
{{s-aft|after=[[John Blow]] (re-appointed)}}
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{{Henry Purcell}}
{{Baroque music}}
{{Subject bar
| portal1  = Biography
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| portal3  = England
| portal4  = Music
| portal5  = Opera
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| s-search = Author:Henry Purcell
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Purcell, Henry}}
[[Category:1659 births]]
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[[Category:17th-century English classical composers]]
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[[Category:English Baroque composers]]
[[Category:English opera composers]]
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[[Category:English classical composers of church music]]
[[Category:Glee composers]]
[[Category:English male opera composers]]
[[Category:Gentlemen of the Chapel Royal]]
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[[Category:Burials at Westminster Abbey]]
[[Category:17th-century deaths from tuberculosis]]
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[[Category:Henry Purcell| ]]