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Henry Purcell

File:Henry_Purcell_Closterman.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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Henry Purcell

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English composer (1659–1695)

OverviewAI-generated

Henry Purcell (1659–1695) was an English composer, organist, and author. Born in Westminster, he was educated at Westminster School and studied under John Blow, Henry Cooke, Matthew Locke, and Pelham Humfrey. His musical output included operas, hymns, and odes, with notable works such as *Dido and Aeneas*, *The Fairy-Queen*, and *Hail, bright Cecilia*. He also composed *King Arthur, or, the British Worthy* and *Bonduca*.

Purcell played the pipe organ and harpsichord. He was a citizen of the Kingdom of England and had a sibling, Daniel Purcell. He died in Westminster on November 21, 1695, and is buried in Westminster Abbey.

Synthesized by Vinony from 43 facts across 8 sources: Wikidata, Open Library, MusicBrainz, Crossref, Last.fm, TMDb, Europeana Sparql, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Person · Open Library

Born
1659
Died
1695
Works
174

Top works

  • Bonduca : Music Written to the Play of That Name
  • Producing the prophetess, or, The history of Dioclesian
  • Daidō kap ʻĪnīat
  • An introduction to the skill of musick
  • King Arthur, or, the British Worthy

via Open Library + Wikidata

Film & TV

Sound · Westminster, London, England

Henry Purcell (10 September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer and organist of the middle Baroque era. He was extremely prolific, having composed more than 100 songs, a tragic opera Dido and Aeneas, and wrote incidental music to a version of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream called The Fairy Queen.

Known for

  • Purcell: Sacred Music — Composer

via TMDB

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners
529,948
Total plays
5,001,863

Tags

baroqueClassicalenglishcomposerearly music

Henry Purcell (c. 10 September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer of Baroque music, best known for his more than 100 songs, the opera "Dido and Aeneas," and his incidental music for a version of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" called "The Fairy Queen." Purcell's musical style is distinctively English, though it incorporates elements from Italian and French traditions. He is generally regarded as one of the greatest English opera composers and <a href="https://www.last.fm

via Last.fm · Henry Purcell

Quotes

  • Music and Poetry have ever been acknowledged Sisters, which walking hand in hand support each other; As poetry is the harmony of words, so music is that of notes; and as poetry is a rise above prose and oratory, so is music the exaltation of poetry. Both of them may excel apart, but sure they are most excellent when they are oined, because nothing is then wanting to either of their perfections.

via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA

Works in European collections

10 objects attributed to Henry Purcell, held across European museums, libraries & archives · via Europeana

~23 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Henry Purcell (/ˈpɜːrsəl/, rare: /pərˈsɛl/; c. 10 September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer and organist of the middle Baroque era. He was extremely prolific, having composed more than 100 songs, a tragic opera Dido and Aeneas, and wrote incidental music to a version of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream called The Fairy Queen.

Purcell's musical style was uniquely English, although it incorporated Italian and French elements. Purcell is generally considered to be one of the greatest English composers.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Henry Purcell” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (6)