Henry Purcell

Roger Savage (University of Edinburgh)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.04: English Writing and Culture of the Seventeenth Century, 1625-1688.
Vol. editors: Jennifer Brady (Rhodes College), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Neil Forsyth (Université de Lausanne), Claire Preston (Queen Mary, University of London), J A Roe (University of York), Virginia Mason Vaughan (Clark University)

Dates

Born 10 Sep 1659
Died 21 Nov 1695
Activity 1679-1695

Places

Born in England
Active in England

Activities

Primary

Composer

Resources

Purcell's Works

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Purcell was born into a musical family (probably in Westminster) eight months before the restoration of the Stuart monarchy. He was a chorister at Charles II’s court --one of the “children of the Chapel Royal”--until his voice broke in 1673; and by the time he was 23 he was an organist both of that chapel and at Westminster Abbey (which was close to the court’s most frequent location, Whitehall Palace). He became a noted all-round musician: keyboard player, instrument keeper and tuner, copyist and editor, teacher and consultant; but it was as a composer--taught most likely by John Blow, Christopher Gibbons and the francophile Pelham Humfrey--that he made his greatest mark. In 1677 he gained the title of Composer in Ordinary for the Violins at court, and thirteen years later he…

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2933 words

Citation: Savage, Roger. "Henry Purcell". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 11 August 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=3663, accessed 26 November 2024.]