Henry Purcell ( / ˈ p ɜːr s əl / , rare: / p ər ˈ s ɛ l / ; about September 10, 1659 – November 21, 1695) was an English composer and organist from the middle Baroque period. He was very productive, creating over 100 songs, a tragic opera called Dido and Aeneas, and writing incidental music for a version of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream titled The Fairy Queen.

Purcell's musical style was distinctly English, though it included elements from Italian and French music. He is usually thought to be one of the greatest English composers.

Life and work

Henry Purcell was born in 1659 on St Ann's Lane, Old Pye Street, Westminster. His father, Henry Purcell Senior, was a member of the Chapel Royal and sang during the coronation of King Charles II. Henry Senior had three sons: Edward, Henry, and Daniel. Daniel, the youngest, was a composer who wrote music for part of The Indian Queen after Henry's death. The family lived near Westminster Abbey from 1659 onward.

After Henry Senior's death in 1664, Henry was cared for by his uncle, Thomas Purcell, who helped him begin his musical training. Thomas arranged for Henry to become a chorister, a singer in the Chapel Royal. Henry first studied under Captain Henry Cooke, who led the choir, and later under Cooke's successor, Pelham Humfrey, who had been a student of Lully. Matthew Locke, a family friend, may have also influenced Henry's music. Henry remained a chorister until 1673, when he became an assistant to John Hingston, who managed wind instruments for the king.

Purcell began composing at age nine, but his earliest confirmed work is an ode for King Charles II's birthday, written in 1670 when he was 11. Many dates of his compositions are unclear. It is believed he wrote the song Sweet Tyranness, I Now Resign as a child. After Humfrey's death, Henry studied under John Blow. He attended Westminster School and became a copyist at Westminster Abbey in 1676. His first anthem, Lord, Who Can Tell, was composed in 1678. This piece is used during Christmas and morning prayers.

In 1679, Purcell wrote songs for Choice Ayres, Songs and Dialogues and an anthem for the Chapel Royal. A letter from Thomas Purcell indicates this anthem was written for John Gostling, a singer with an unusually deep voice. Purcell composed several anthems for Gostling, including They That Go Down to the Sea in Ships, which was written to celebrate King Charles II's escape from a shipwreck. This anthem begins with a melody that covers the full range of Gostling's voice.

Between 1680 and 1688, Purcell wrote music for seven plays. His chamber opera Dido and Aeneas is considered a major work in English dramatic music. It was written to a libretto by Nahum Tate and performed in 1689. The opera was popular in private settings but not widely performed in theaters at first. It was published in 1840. Dido and Aeneas is based on Virgil's Aeneid. Earlier in 1679, Purcell composed music for Theodosius and The Virtuous Wife.

In 1679, John Blow, who had been the organist at Westminster Abbey for 10 years, stepped down, and Purcell took over the position. Purcell focused on sacred music for six years, pausing his theater work. He likely wrote his stage works before becoming organist.

In 1682, after marrying, Purcell became organist of the Chapel Royal, a role he held alongside his position at Westminster Abbey. His first child was born that year but died young. His first published work, Twelve Sonatas, appeared in 1683. In 1685, he composed two anthems, I Was Glad and My Heart Is Inditing, for King James II's coronation. In 1690, he wrote a birthday ode for Queen Mary, Arise, My Muse, and in 1694, he composed Te Deum and Jubilate Deo for Saint Cecilia's Day, the first English Te Deum with orchestral music.

In 1687, Purcell returned to the theater, writing music for Tyrannick Love. He also composed a popular piece called Quick-step. In 1688, the king ordered him to write the anthem Blessed Are They That Fear the Lord. Purcell later composed music for The Fool's Preferment and The Prophetess. In 1691, he wrote King Arthur, or The British Worthy, and in 1692, The Fairy-Queen, an adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream. In 1695, he composed The Indian Queen and wrote songs for The Tempest. These works, called semi-operas, featured songs sung by actors who did not speak their lines.

Purcell's Te Deum and Jubilate Deo were performed annually at St Paul's Cathedral until 1712.

Legacy

Henry Purcell worked in many types of music, including those connected to the royal court, such as symphony songs and symphony anthems for the Chapel Royal, as well as music for the theatre.

Some of Purcell's most famous works include his opera Dido and Aeneas (1688), his semi-operas Dioclesian (1690), King Arthur (1691), The Fairy-Queen (1692), and Timon of Athens (1695), along with compositions such as 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 song titled As Soon as Day Began To Peep, from Thomas D'Urfey's 1691 play Love for Money, was found in the Worcestershire County Archives. This discovery was unknown to modern scholars. At the same time, manuscripts of three keyboard works written by Purcell were found in the Norfolk County Archives, including early versions of his G minor suite, which differ from the published version.

After Purcell's death, many of his contemporaries honored him. His friend John Blow wrote An Ode, on the Death of Mr. Henry Purcell (with text by John Dryden). Jeremiah Clarke also composed An Ode on the Death of Henry Purcell. William Croft's 1724 setting of the Burial Service was written in Purcell's style. Croft included Purcell's setting of "Thou knowest Lord" (Z 58) in his service, which has been used in every British state funeral since. More recently, the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote a sonnet titled Henry Purcell, praising Purcell's ability to capture the essence of human nature in his music.

Purcell influenced composers during the English musical renaissance of the early 20th century, including Benjamin Britten. Britten arranged many of Purcell's vocal works for voice and piano in Purcell Realizations, and his The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra is based on a theme from Purcell's Abdelazar. The aria "I know a bank" from Britten's opera A Midsummer Night's Dream is clearly inspired by Purcell's aria "Sweeter than Roses," originally written for Richard Norton's Pausanias, the Betrayer of His Country.

In a 1940 interview, Ignaz Friedman said he considered Purcell as great as Bach and Beethoven. A bronze monument to Purcell, sculpted by Glynn Williams, was unveiled in 1995 in Victoria Street, Westminster, England, to mark the 300th anniversary of his death. In 2009, Purcell was featured on a Royal Mail commemorative postage stamp.

A Purcell Club was founded in London in 1836 to promote his music but was dissolved in 1863. A Purcell Society was established in 1876, which published new editions of his works. A modern Purcell Club now provides guided tours and concerts in support of Westminster Abbey.

Today, the Henry Purcell Society of Boston performs his music in live concerts. A Purcell Society in London collects and studies his manuscripts and scores, focusing on revised versions of his works. Purcell's compositions have been catalogued by Franklin Zimmerman, who assigned them numbers beginning with Z.

A popular wedding processional, known as Purcell's Trumpet Voluntary, was incorrectly attributed to Purcell for many years. It was actually written around 1700 by Jeremiah Clarke as Prince of Denmark's March.

Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary was reworked by Wendy Carlos for the 1971 film A Clockwork Orange. A 1973 Rolling Stone review compared Jethro Tull's A Passion Play to Purcell's style. In 2009, Pete Townshend of The Who mentioned that Purcell's harmonies influenced his music, including songs like "Won't Get Fooled Again" and "Pinball Wizard." Purcell's music was featured in the 1979 film Kramer vs. Kramer. The 1995 film England, My England includes Purcell's compositions.

In the 21st century, the 2005 film Pride and Prejudice includes a dance titled "A Postcard to Henry Purcell," a version of Purcell's Abdelazar theme by Dario Marianelli. The 2004 German film Downfall uses Dido's Lament repeatedly. The 2012 film Moonrise Kingdom features Benjamin Britten's version of the Rondeau from Abdelazar. In 2013, the Pet Shop Boys' single "Love Is a Bourgeois Construct" included a ground bass from King Arthur. Olivia Chaney adapted "There's Not a Swain" for her CD The Longest River. The song "Music for a while" from Purcell's Oedipus was included in the 2018 film The Favourite.

"What Power Art Thou" from King Arthur, or The British Worthy (Z. 628) is featured in The Crown.