By examining Henry Purcell’s life, I illustrate a portion of music history in the late 1600’s. Henry Purcell is buried beside the Westminster Abbey organ. His epigraph reads, “Here lies Henry Purcell Esq., who left this life and is gone to that blessed place where only his harmony can be exceeded.”

Henry Purcell Esq

Imagine what historically was going on around Purcell, influencing his life at this time in history. Imagine a time when there was pageantry beyond imagination under the reign of King Charles II. There were fireworks and bonfires and dancing in the streets; church bells rang, and cannons roared as the king road his horse into London, accompanied by an army of gentleman dressed in clothes of silver and velvet coats, footmen in purple velvet and solders in uniforms trimmed with silver lace. This describes life during the Renaissance period when there was a renewed excitement about science, arts, architecture and music. This was the time of Sir Isaac Newton, one of the greatest scientists to formulate the laws of gravity and motion. It was the time of the colonization of North America, before the existence of the United States. It was also the time of the artist named Rembrandt.

This was an exciting time of growth in the musical world. Until this time, all music notation for choir voices was written as a set of small notes drawn above the words. These notes could only indicate the rise or fall of a voice, without specifying the duration or the exact pitch of the note. But at this point in history, a system was developed to keep voices singing in harmony and under control, and to define the duration of the notes. The system is called "mensural music"; its modern form developed around the time of Henry Purcell’s life.  

Henry Purcell’s lifetime overlapped the lives of some of the most successful and productive composers of history. Other widely-known composers living in this age (the Baroque Era) include Antonio Vivaldi, Georg Friedrich Handel and Johann Sebastian Bach.

Vivaldi was an Italian composer, well-known as a violinist and composer of concertos for solo violinists. He lived from 1680-1743 and had a somewhat different philosophy about composing. He felt that music between the orchestra and soloist should have differences and conflict, almost that of a relationship, give and take. Vivaldi was said to have composed over 750 works throughout his lifetime, one of his most famous being The Four Seasons, a four-part concerto with each movement named after a season: La Primavera (Spring), L’estate (Summer), L’inverno (Winter), and L’autunno (Fall.)

Georg Friedrich Handel (1685-1759) was known for composing sonatas, modern oratorios, concertos and operas. He also helped to further develop the modern opera and modern oratorios. One of his most famous pieces is the Hallelujah Chorus from the Messiah.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) was also a widely-accomplished peer of this period, known for his concertos, cantatas, religious music, keyboard works, chorales, and oratorios, and is said to be one of the most influential composers of all time. Towards the late years of his life, Bach went blind and underwent an operation to try to correct his blindness; the operation was not successful and only helped to further his disorder. As a result he had a paralytic stroke and died. 

Although the Renaissance period (1300 - 1600’s) was a time for rebirth of knowledge and excitement, not everyone was overjoyed with these new ideas. Many who did not support the renaissance felt that the Great Plague of 1664 followed closely by the great fire of London was God’s angry response, punishing the people for their new attitudes. But the fire presented London an opportunity to rebuild beautiful churches, cathedrals, and theatres. Worship in these churches was accompanied by boy’s choirs, one with the young chorister Henry Purcell. It was in the midst of this renewed excitement that Purcell discovered his talent and began his life journey. He is considered to have later developed into the finest composer of his country.

Henry Purcell composed throughout his entire life. At age six Henry was admitted to the Chapel Royal as a chorister and studied first under Captain Henry Cooke in 1672, then under Pelham Humfrey (1647-1674), and finally under Dr. John Blow. At age nine he was said to have been a good composer, but the earliest work which is known to be his, is an ode for the King’s birthday, written in 1670 (at age 11.) When Purcell’s voice changed at age fourteen he left the boy’s choir and was appointed to be “keeper, maker, mender, repairer, and tuner of organs, virginals (a small rectangular spinet with only one wire to a note, popular in the 16th and 17th centuries), flutes, recorders and all other wind instruments, without a salary, for His Majesty. Between the ages of fifteen and twenty there are differing opinions regarding what occupied him. One thought is that he was paid ten dollars a year to tune Westminster’s organ, and that by age 20 he was organist of Westminster Abbey. A differing opinion states that in 1676 at age 17 he was appointed copyist at Westminster, and in the same year composed the music to Dryden’s Aurenge-Zebe, Shadwell’s Epsom Wells, and The Libertine.     

In 1680, Dr. Blow, Wesminster’s organist of eleven years, resigned and was replaced by the now twenty-two-year-old Henry Purcell. This was considered one of the most important positions an English composer could occupy. He now almost entirely devoted himself for six years to the composition of sacred music and completely withdrew any connections with the theatre, but prior to entering his new position, Purcell completed two important theatrical works, the music for Lee’sTheodosius and D’Urfrey’s Virtuous Wife.

The next year he composed Mrs. Behn’s Abdelazor, and an Overture and Masque for Shadwell’s new version of Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens. Purcell has proven his excellence in his compositions; they are still considered outstanding and they are still being performed three hundred years later. Although Henry only wrote one full opera, Dido & Aenas, it was very successful and is among his most famous compositions. Other famous works of his include King Arthur, The Fairy Queen, The Indian Queen, The Tempest, and Don Quixote. Purcell’s last anthem, Thou Knowest Lord, the Secrets of our Hearts, was so emotional and beautiful that it was played for its emotional value at Queen Mary’s funeral. Half a year later, that same piece was played at Henry Purcell’s own funeral in Westminster.

Henry Purcell, born in 1659 on St. Ann’s Lane Old Pye Street, Westminster, died November 21st 1695 at age 36. The cause of death is somewhat unclear, though there are a few theories. One theory suggests that after returning home late after a concert he found he was locked out by his wife and overnight caught a deathly chill. Another suggests that he might have had chocolate poisoning. But the most likely theory states that he died of tuberculosis.    

Henry Purcell lived during an exciting period in musical history, a time filled with enthusiasm and support for the arts and he was considered one of the most accomplished composers of his time. Many people feel his greatest works include Te Deum, and Jubilute written for St. Celceilia’s Day. His multitude of pieces have endured time and are still considered among the greatest ever composed. My choir, the Los Robles Children’s Choir, recently sang one of his pieces, Sound the Trumpet which truly goes to show his work is beautifully timeless. E.D.