Henry Purcell was born on September 10, 1659 to a musical family in Westminster, London. Purcell was England’s greatest composer of the Restoration period and one of the most important English composers before the 20th century. His music combines English contrapuntal tradition, Italian melody, French dance rhythms, and a remarkable feeling for harmony and word setting.
He was recognized as a prodigy from a young age, singing in the Chapel Royal's choir and composing as a child, as evidenced by a published three-part song surviving from when he was only 8 years old.
Purcell had an unusually sophisticated harmonic language for his time. He could move between major and minor, dissonance and resolution, and chromatic harmony with extraordinary freedom. His word painting was also exceptional. Dido’s lament, “When I am laid in earth,” is particularly famous for its descending chromatic bass and extraordinary emotional intensity.
“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.”
“Tis women who make us love; 'tis love that makes us sad; 'tis sadness makes us drink; 'tis drink that makes us mad.”
