Henry Purcell
Classical
The next Henry Purcell concert is scheduled for Wednesday, July 23, 2025 at Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ in Amsterdam, Netherlands. See all 6 upcoming concerts
Top Songs By Henry Purcell
![Listen to Celebrate (Sound the Trumpet!) [feat. Diana Tash & A.J. Teshin] by David Longoria & Henry Purcell, see lyrics, music video & more!](/mkimage/image/thumb/Music211/v4/1b/47/1c/1b471c80-3617-3283-681c-7fa13121d040/859793092354_cover.jpg/375x375bb.webp "Listen to Celebrate (Sound the Trumpet!) [feat. Diana Tash & A.J. Teshin] by David Longoria & Henry Purcell, see lyrics, music video & more!")
![Listen to Celebrate (Sound the Trumpet!) [Tik Tok Version] [feat. Diana Tash & A.J. Teshin] by David Longoria & Henry Purcell, see lyrics, music video & more!](/mkimage/image/thumb/Music221/v4/0a/49/a3/0a49a390-f28a-8619-9891-d9419158991e/859796438685_cover.jpg/375x375bb.webp "Listen to Celebrate (Sound the Trumpet!) [Tik Tok Version] [feat. Diana Tash & A.J. Teshin] by David Longoria & Henry Purcell, see lyrics, music video & more!")
![Listen to Harmonia Sacra, Z. 193: Evening Hymn (with Henry Purcell) [Live] by Sarah Hawkey & Elliot Figg, see lyrics, music video & more!](/mkimage/image/thumb/Music221/v4/91/e2/a8/91e2a806-9fd9-4eda-d4cf-71eb3c305e7c/cover.jpg/375x375bb.webp "Listen to Harmonia Sacra, Z. 193: Evening Hymn (with Henry Purcell) [Live] by Sarah Hawkey & Elliot Figg, see lyrics, music video & more!")
Upcoming Concerts for Henry Purcell
![Listen to Celebrate (Sound the Trumpet!) [Tik Tok Version] [feat. Diana Tash & A.J. Teshin] - Single by David Longoria & Henry Purcell](https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Music221/v4/0a/49/a3/0a49a390-f28a-8619-9891-d9419158991e/859796438685_cover.jpg/1380x1380bb.webp "Listen to Celebrate (Sound the Trumpet!) [Tik Tok Version] [feat. Diana Tash & A.J. Teshin] - Single by David Longoria & Henry Purcell")
More albums from Henry Purcell
Henry Purcell's Popular Music Videos
![Watch Purcell: Dido and Aeneas, Z. 626, Act III: "When I Am Laid in Earth" Dido's Lamento (Arr. For Cello And Strings By Mathieu Herzog) [At Musée du Louvre] music video by Camille Thomas, Brussels Philharmonic & Mathieu Herzog](/mkimage/image/thumb/Video124/v4/1b/9e/b1/1b9eb1e6-d203-ab28-e709-84aeb98b7363/21UMGIM16955.crop.jpg/575x575mv.webp "Watch Purcell: Dido and Aeneas, Z. 626, Act III: \"When I Am Laid in Earth\" Dido's Lamento (Arr. For Cello And Strings By Mathieu Herzog) [At Musée du Louvre] music video by Camille Thomas, Brussels Philharmonic & Mathieu Herzog")
![Watch Dido and Aeneas, Z. 626, Act III: "When I Am Laid in Earth" Dido's Lamento (Arr. for Cello and Strings by Mathieu Herzog) [At Musée du Louvre] music video by Camille Thomas, Brussels Philharmonic & Mathieu Herzog](/mkimage/image/thumb/Video125/v4/a0/27/20/a0272046-a33c-b9ef-93f4-bdf353f85b82/21UMGIM16955.crop.jpg/575x575mv.webp "Watch Dido and Aeneas, Z. 626, Act III: \"When I Am Laid in Earth\" Dido's Lamento (Arr. for Cello and Strings by Mathieu Herzog) [At Musée du Louvre] music video by Camille Thomas, Brussels Philharmonic & Mathieu Herzog")
![Watch Henry Purcell: True Englishmen Drink a Good Health (Catch No. 45) [A Choral Odyssey] music video by The Sixteen](/mkimage/image/thumb/Video114/v4/ef/a6/73/efa67369-5116-fc7e-0935-b8a9ac06d229/195497695645_1_1.jpg/575x575mv.webp "Watch Henry Purcell: True Englishmen Drink a Good Health (Catch No. 45) [A Choral Odyssey] music video by The Sixteen")
About Henry Purcell
Hometown
London, England
Born
1659
Genre
Classical
Purcell’s style is best summed up by W. S. Gilbert’s famous line from H.M.S. Pinafore: “But in spite of all temptations to belong to other nations, he remains an Englishman.” His music is a synthesis of the French courtly style and the latest innovations from Italy, but strongly underpinned by English traditions dating back to the 16th century. Born in London in 1659, Purcell was the most resourceful composer of his generation, one of the greatest ever to set the English language: equally at home in the church, court, theater, chamber—even the tavern. His command of large-scale forces in ceremonial works—like the ode Hail, bright Cecilia (1692)—laid the groundwork for Handel’s English choral style. He was fond of the Italian “ground bass” (a short, repeated pattern in the bass), over which he built many of his finest songs and instrumental pieces. Purcell’s most widely admired work today is the miniature opera Dido and Aeneas (c. 1682). With echoes of the English court masque, Lully’s theatrical music for Louis XIV, and Italian public opera, it culminates in Dido’s ground-bass aria “When I am laid in earth”—one of the most moving of all operatic laments. Purcell’s refined music for the funeral of Queen Mary in 1695 was reused just eight months later for his own burial service.
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