Henry Purcell

The life of Henry Purcell: A summary

Let’s dive deeper into Purcell’s life – starting with his childhood and education, then moving onto his multi-faceted career and impact.

Early life and education 

Born in 1659, probably in Westminster, not a lot is known of Purcell’s life. His father, also called Henry, had sung tenor in the Chapel Royal choir at the coronation of Charles II. As a boy treble, Henry Junior also sang in the Chapel Royal choir until his voice broke in 1673. His father died when he was five, and his uncle Thomas, also a musician, became his guardian. He spent his teenage years tuning and repairing instruments and copying out music as well as composing – his first verifiable composition is an ode for the King’s birthday, written when he was eleven.

Purcell's music and influence

Instrumental music

Purcell’s talent as a composer was so remarkable that, at the age of eighteen, he was appointed ‘Composer for the King’s violins’. The King’s violins – which included every branch of the violin family – was most likely a copy of the ‘Vingt-quatre violons du Roi’ at the court of Louis XIV of France where the English King Charles had spent some time. The music these players performed was also modelled on French practice which had a significant effect on Purcell’s composition style. Most of his instrumental work comes from this early period of his life.

Choral music

In 1678, he was appointed to the position of organist of Westminster Abbey. Although this seems young for such a prestigious post, his predecessor John Blow 1649-1708 (who greatly influenced Purcell) was the same age when he was appointed. Four years later, Purcell was appointed organist of the Chapel Royal, an office which he held simultaneously with his position at Westminster Abbey.

Music for Royalty

Given that he wrote an ode on the birthday of the King when he was aged eleven, it is not surprising that he wrote for royal occasions as an adult, including some of his finest work. In 1685 he wrote two anthems for the coronation of King James II. Purcell seems to have had a particular affinity with Queen Mary II, writing odes for her birthday in 1690 and 1694. Sadly, just one year later, he composed an anthem and two elegies for her funeral.

Purcell’s ‘Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary’ (1695) was reworked as part of the soundtrack to Stanley Kubrick’s seminal 1971 film A Clockwork Orange.

Music for the stage

After the execution of King Charles I in 1649, England had become a Commonwealth during which time all theatre had been banned. After the Restoration in 1660, there was a reawakened interest in the theatre to which Purcell contributed. He wrote incidental music to numerous plays as well as works called semi-operas, so called because the principal characters mainly speak their lines, but there is music sung by singers who usually have minor dramatic roles.

Semi-operas

Purcell’s renowned semi-opera King Arthur (1691) includes a bass line that is continually repeated throughout a piece with varying music for the upper parts. Taken from this piece, this was used by Michael Nyman (1944- ) in his soundtrack to The Draughtsman’s Contract.

Purcell’s other semi-operas comprise The Fairy Queen (1692) – an extravagant adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and The Indian Queen (1695) – finished posthumously by his brother Daniel.

Dido and Aeneas

Despite his involvement in the theatre, his first full opera involving no speech was written not for the professional stage but for a school, namely Josias Priest’s Girls School in Chelsea. A mixture of both English masque and Italian cantata, Dido and Aeneas is the earliest English opera which is still regularly staged. First performed c.1688, it was over 250 years before any English composer came close to matching it. Its most famous aria is ‘Dido’s Lament (When I am laid in earth)’, which uses a chromatic ground bass to devastating effect.

Personal life, death and influence

Purcell married Frances, probably in 1681 and together they had six children, four of whom died in infancy. He was survived by a son Edward and a daughter Frances. He died on 21st November 1695, allegedly by catching a chill after being locked out following an argument with his wife, but this has not been proven.

The music that he had written for the funeral of Queen Mary was performed at his own funeral. He is buried next to the organ in Westminster Abbey.

Following 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 with text by his old collaborator,

Purcell’s influence extended to 20th century composers, most prominently Benjamin Britten, who arranged a selection of Purcell’s vocal in Britten’s Purcell Realizations, including from Dido and Aeneas. Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra includes Purcell’s theme for Abdelazar (1695).

Purcell’s most famous songs 

• ‘Fantasias for viols’ (1680)
• ‘Dido’s Lament’ (1688)
• ‘Remember not, Lord, our offences’ (c.1679-82)
• ‘Hear my prayer, O Lord’ (c.1683)
• ‘Rejoice in the Lord always’ (c.1682-85)
• ‘I was glad’ (1685)
• ‘My Heart is Inditing’ (1685)
• ‘Arise Ye Muse’ (1690)
• ‘Come Ye Sons of Art’ (1694)