Talk:Henry Purcell

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I added the detail about the modern day Purcell Club - though it may go under the name Gentleman of the Purcell Club. It does exist, but since they are based on old traditions they may not have found out about the Internet yet, though they do have CDs! It's well worth tracking them down, and going on one of their tours of Westminster Abbey - which are relatively few in number, and you may have to wait several years to get a place.

David Martland 08:53 Apr 27, 2003 (UTC)

The article says about Purcell's father a gentleman of the chapel-royal - but what does this chapel-royal mean? / Habj 23:47, 25 July 2005 (UTC)

See Chapel Royal. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 23:56, July 25, 2005 (UTC)

I did see that article before I asked. You see, I am trying to translate this article to Swedish - and how to translate this Chapel Royal, used several times in the text, is beyond me. "A group of musicians and priests that took care of the church survices at the royal court" might be somewhat adequate, but... / Habj 02:52, 26 July 2005 (UTC)

Chapel Royal is a proper name, so you'd probably keep that in the Swedish version, with an explanation like "the King's official religious choir". -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 08:46, July 26, 2005 (UTC)

If the choir is the most important part of the Chapel in context, then that addition sounds great. Thanks. / Habj 01:00, 27 July 2005 (UTC)

If I understand the timelines correctly, at that time the choir was all there was. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 01:06, July 27, 2005 (UTC)

The music is of the most genial character does sound a bit POV. It must be possible to tell that his music is/was praised without this kind of loaded words. / Habj 01:00, 27 July 2005 (UTC)

That's undoubtedly a rather flowery artifact of the original 1911 Britanica text. They weren't big fans of NPOV writing back then. That whole sentence needs serious work. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 01:06, July 27, 2005 (UTC)

I've tried to address the importance of Dido and Aeneas without being too POV. At the time of the 1911 Brit. it was about the only Baroque opera being done in the English speaking world.Makemi 07:11, 19 December 2005 (UTC)

Do we want to include the Pelham Humfrey Lully reference? New Grove says of Humfrey "His travels and activities abroad are undocumented, but it is possible that, as Boyce asserted a century later, he became a pupil of Lully," It seems unecessary to include something so questionable and tangential, but feel free to replace it if you feel it's solid and pertinent.Makemi 07:11, 19 December 2005 (UTC)

Contents 1 Pronunciation 2 funeral music for queen mary 3 Date of birth 4 Parentage 5 I was glad??

[edit] Pronunciation

There seems to be no consensus on how to pronounce the name Purcell. Even on BBC Radio 3, the presenters come up with three distinct versions, those who emphasize the first syllable (as your article takes pains to promote,) those who emphasize the last syllable, and those who give equal weight to both. The name appears to be French in origin (or etymology) in which case, pur-CELL would be the preferred pronunciation. User:Michael MacClelland 17 March 2006

You are correct that there is no officially correct way to pronounce the name (that I can find) and people do it differently. Every prof. musician I've worked with (English and American alike) has pronounced it [pʌr' səl]. I think the French argument is somewhat spurious, however, since the English are notorious for pronouncing French words completely differently from the French pronunciation (ever seen the Monty Python about the Blancmange?), and Purcell was clearly a born and bred Brit. I've removed the whole thing in any case, since I don't think it's particularly useful, and it can't be really verified. Makemi 20:01, 17 March 2006 (UTC)

I've cited two pronunciation dictionaries (one British, one American) in favor of the "rhymes-with-rehearsal" pronunciation. Angr (talk • contribs) 18:35, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

I love that whoever did the audio version of this article took so much notice of your carefully-sited IPA pronunciation. :P Oh well. Mak (talk) 02:23, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

In about 1970 I heard the musician Dr A.E. Floyd say in a radio broadcast that the pronunciation had equal weight on the two syllables. His authority was his music teacher who had been a pupil of S.S. Wesley. See http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A080553b.htm RayJohnstone (talk) 05:41, 29 December 2007 (UTC)

We know exactly how to pronounce Purcell's name. The accent is on the first syllable. The proof for this can be found in the Funeral Ode his friend and mentor John Blow wrote for him, to words by the poet laureate John Dryden, who also knew Purcell well. Purcell wrote music for many plays, which had rhyming prologues and epilogues. His name is rhymed with the word rehearsal. See e.g. Pierre Danchin's The Prologues and Epilogues of the Restoration 1660-1700, University of Nancy, 1981. Frans M (talk) 11:16, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

My mistake. I was mis-hearing the word which as you say rhymes with "rehearsal". RayJohnstone (talk) 07:28, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] funeral music for queen mary

This is the song to A Clockwork Orange, I think... is it by Purcell? What is the actual name of the piece? I can't find it on his list of pieces in Wikipedia.--Sonjaaa 01:43, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

According to Grove, "Purcell provided some of the music for Queen Mary's state funeral on 5 March 1695" (as did John Blow). I'm not sure what the specific pieces were, although I do have a recording with that name, which includes pieces such as "Come ye sons of art", "Sound the trumpet", "Strike the viol", but I think those are all also part of larger works. Grove doesn't give anything specific on what was included. If you remember anything more about the piece I might be able to guess which song it actually was. Mak (talk) 02:23, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

Ok, I found it now, it was the March and Canzona z860 for four "flat" trumpets, and Thou knowest, Lord z58c, which is an old chestnut. Mak (talk) 02:30, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

Cool thanks!!--Sonjaaa 15:31, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Date of birth

I wonder, does anyone know why this page suggests Purcell was on September 10th? As far as I know it is not even for sure whether he was born in 1659 (although this year is commonly assumed to be his year of birth), but is there any reference that Sep 10th was the date? I think it would be better to state that it is unknown than simply mention a debatable date. Pieterdijk 13:10, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

According to Peter Holman (New Grove), Purcell was appointed to the post of composer for the violins at the court, replacing Locke, on September 10, 1677: something which would be expected on his 18th birthday, (according to that article). 1659 is established by the age-at-death on his memorial tablet in Westminster Abbey. In addition, there's a cryptic note on the flyleaf of one of his anthems implying that September 10 was his birthday. Grove gives "?10 September 1659" in their entry on Purcell. Probably we should indicate uncertainty, as they do. Antandrus (talk) 15:41, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

I'm all for expressing uncertainty when it exists. Mak (talk) 18:43, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the responses, these are useful additions! Pieterdijk 19:49, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

(this does not say where he was born)

It does, in the first sentence of "early life". He was born in Westminster, London. Mak (talk) 15:49, 20 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Parentage

Another controversy about Purcell not mentioned in the article is that his parentage is not a matter of agreement; E. J. Westrup in his book on Purcell was of the opinion that his father was not Henry Senior but his brother Thomas. This was based on the fact that Thomas in a well-known letter refers to the composer as his son. Previous biographers presumably assumed that Thomas had effectively adopted Henry, but Westrup had not seen any evidence that this was the case. He also pointed out that when Henry Senior's widow died, her estate was administered by his daughter, and asked why this would occur if he had more than one son extant at the time. I'd be interested to know if any subsequent research has thrown more light on this. (Of the sources I've consulted, some state definitely that the father was Henry Senior, some say the matter is in doubt and some don't mention the issue at all; Michael Kennedy, in his Oxford Guide to Classical Music, states that it was Thomas, and is the only reference I've seen that does so.) Jon Rob 14:32, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] I was glad??

Why is "I was glad" on the page? I thought it was by Parry, not Purcell!

Just checking before I delete it incase Purcell wrote it and Parry developed it or something. I'm not an expert on Purcell, but I thought this was odd. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ehm1883 (talk • contribs) 20:23, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

Purvell wrote one as well, the anthem has been part of the Coronation service for a very long time. Score here at ChoralWiki. David Underdown 18:53, 13 October 2007 (UTC)

Claims about Dido and Aeneas are a bit far-fetched (domestic popularity etc). The earliest complete source for the opera that survives dates from the mid-18th century, and even there it is clear it does not survive in its original form. This is pretty widespread knowledge - see latest Grove article etc.

Oowelly82 (talk) 22:26, 17 March 2008 (UTC)

Also, Purcell's incidental music for Abdelazar and Timon of Athens dates from 1695 (for later productions of the plays) - see Holman etc, and it is widely known that Purcell did NOT write music for The Tempest - see Margaret Laurie, 'Did Purcell set the Tempest?', Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association, 90th Sess. (1963), pp. 43-57

Oowelly82 (talk) 22:38, 17 March 2008 (UTC)