Henry purcell wife
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Henry Purcell
Henry Purcell was born into a musical family on September 10th 1659 in Westminster, London. His father was a gentleman of the Chapel Royal and sang at the coronation of King Charles II of England. As a result, he and his family lived a very short distance from Westminster Abbey from 1659 onwards. It was Purcell’s uncle, Thomas, who arranged for Henry to become a chorister at the Chapel Royal after Purcell’s father died in 1664. He began his studies under Henry Cooke, Master of the Children, then with Pelham Humfrey, Cooke’s successor. He remained a chorister there until his voice broke in 1673, at which point he became an assistant organ-builder John Hingston. He is said to have begun composing at the age of 9. He eventually began studies with Dr. John Blow, after the death of Humfrey and after attending Westminster School he was appointed copyist at Westminster Abbey. In 1679, Purcell began composing songs to accompany drama, along with some sacred choral music. Also in this year, Purcell’s teacher, John Blow, resigned his post as organist of Westminster Abbey afte
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As the son of a musician at Court, a chorister at the Chapel Royal, and the holder of continuing royal appointments until his death, Purcell worked in Westminster for three different Kings over twenty-five years.
In the Chapel Royal young Purcell studied with Dr. John Blow. Dr. Burney, the eighteenth century historian, is amusingly skeptical on this point: "..... he had a few lessons from Dr. Blow, which were sufficient to cancel all the instructions he had received from other masters, and to occasion the boast inscribed on the tomb-stone of Blow, that he had been 'Master to the famous Mr. Henry Purcell'." Legend has it that when, in 1679, Purcell succeeded Dr. Blow as organist of Westminster Abbey, the elder musician stepped aside in recognition of the greater genius, and it is true that on Purcell's death in 1695 Blow returned
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Henry Purcell
English composer (1659–1695)
This article is about the 17th-century composer. For the New York judge, see Henry Purcell (judge). For other uses of Purcell, see Purcell (disambiguation).
Henry Purcell (, rare: ;[n 1]c. 10 September 1659[n 2] – 21 November 1695) was an English composer of Baroque music, most remembered for his more than 100 songs; a tragic opera, Dido and Aeneas; and his 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. Generally considered among the greatest English opera composers, Purcell has been assessed with John Dunstaple and William Byrd as England's most important early music composer.
Life and work
Main article: List of compositions by Henry Purcell
Early life
Purcell was born in St Ann's Lane, Old Pye Street, Westminster in 1659. Henry Purcell Senior, whose older brother Thomas Purcell was a musician, was a gentleman of the Chapel Royal and
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