28 Facts About Henry Purcell

Henry Purcell was an English composer of Baroque music.

Henry Purcell Senior, 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.

Thomas arranged for Henry Purcell to be admitted as a chorister.

Henry Purcell studied first under Captain Henry Purcell Cooke, Master of the Children, and afterwards under Pelham Humfrey, Cooke's successor.

Henry Purcell was a chorister in the Chapel Royal until his 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.

Henry 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.

Henry Purcell attended Westminster School and in 1676 was appointed copyist at Westminster Abbey.

From an extant letter written by Thomas Henry 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.

Henry Purcell wrote several anthems at different times for Gostling's extraordinary basso profondo voice, which is known to have had a range of at least two full octaves, from D below the bass staff to the D above it.

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 Henry Purcell to set them to music.

Between 1680 and 1688 Henry Purcell wrote music for seven plays.

Henry Purcell now devoted himself almost entirely to the composition of sacred music, and for six years severed his connection with the theatre.

Henry Purcell had probably written his two important stage works before taking up his new office.

Henry Purcell's eldest son was born in this same year, but he was short-lived.

Henry Purcell's first printed composition, Twelve Sonatas, was published in 1683.

Henry Purcell composed an anthem and two elegies for Queen Mary II's funeral, his Funeral Sentences and Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary.

Besides the operas and semi-operas already mentioned, Henry 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 odes, cantatas, and other miscellaneous pieces.

In 1693, Henry Purcell composed music for two comedies: The Old Bachelor, and The Double Dealer.

Henry Purcell composed for five other plays within the same year.

Henry Purcell is believed to have been 35 or 36 years old at the time.

Henry Purcell is buried adjacent to the organ in Westminster Abbey.

Henry 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.

Croft preserved Henry Purcell's setting of "Thou knowest Lord" in his service, for reasons "obvious to any artist"; it has been sung at every British state funeral ever since.

In Victoria Street, Westminster, England, there is a bronze monument to Henry Purcell, sculpted by Glynn Williams and unveiled in 1995 to mark the 300th anniversary of his death.

In 2009, Henry Purcell was selected by the Royal Mail for their "Eminent Britons" commemorative postage stamp issue.

In 1876 a Henry Purcell Society was founded, which published new editions of his works.

Henry 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.

The 2012 film Moonrise Kingdom contains Benjamin Britten's version of the Rondeau in Henry Purcell's Abdelazar created for his 1946 The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra.