The British Isles were in turmoil in the mid-17th century, wracked by civil war, plague and a fire that devastated most of London. By the late 1660s, new hope was found in the reestablishment of the monarchy. It was thought that a new United Kingdom and a new City of London could arise from the ashes of war and fire. It is in this spirit of Restoration that we see the arrival of one of the most influential composers of the Baroque and, arguably, one of the greatest English composers of all time, Henry Purcell.
There is some debate concerning Purcell’s family and hometown. But the first thing scholars agree on is that he was a choir boy for the Chapel Royal at a very early age. The Chapel Royal served as ministers to the spiritual needs of the monarchy; their choirs providing music to inspire and soothe the King who was also seen as the head of the church. Purcell’s name appears as the composer of the song Sweet tyranness, published in 1667 when he was only 8 years old. As a young man he succeeded John Blow as the organist at Westminister Abbey. He continued to serve the monarchy under the rule of William and Mary.
Perhaps Purcell’s most enduring work is found in his opera Dido and Aeneas. This tragedy tells the tale of the Queen of Carthage’s love for Aeneas the Trojan hero. In the finale act of the opera, we find Dido grieving as her love sails away forever. She calls her lady-in-waiting Belinda and declares that she will perish with one of the most wrenching arias in the repertoire, Dido’s Lament.
In this work we see a technique called ground bass. Purcell uses this chromatic descent from G to D as the basis for the entire aria. The orchestra repeats this idea over and over again as the vocalist sings her dramatic lament above.
Though he died at the age of 36, Henry Purcell left behind an amazing catalogue of work ranging from over 200 popular songs, works for the church and the state and many other theatrical works as well. Purcell’s influence is still being felt today in the culture and art of England as being the composer who wrote the sound track for the Restoration of a kingdom.
