A Wisdom Archive on Henry Purcell

Purcell was born in St Ann's Lane, Old Pye Street, Westminster. His father, Henry Purcell (pronounced Pursell with the accent on the first syllable, or in ipa [pur'ːsəl]), was a gentleman of the Chapel Royal, and sang at the coronation of King Charles II of England. Henry the elder had three sons, Edward, Henry, and Daniel. Daniel Purcell (d. 1717), the youngest of the brothers, was also a prolific composer. After his father's death in 1664, young Henry Purcell was placed under the guardianship of his uncle, Thomas Purcell (d. 1682) ...

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William Henry Elder (1819 - 1904) was a U.S. archbishop. He served as the Roman Catholic Bishop of Cincinnati between 1883 and 1904. William Henry Elder was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 22, 1819. His father, Basil Elder, was a descendant of William Elder, an emigrant from England to the United States in colonial times. His mother was Elisabeth Miles (Snowden) Elder. In 1831 William Henry Elder entered Mt. St. Mary's College, Emmitsburg, Maryland, then presided over by the Rev. John Baptist Purcell, who afterwards became the sec ... Including:

• William Henry Elder - References

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A consort of instruments was a phrase used in England during the 16th and 17th centuries to indicate an instrumental ensemble. A consort may be "whole", that is, all instruments of the same family. For example, a set of viols played together would be considered a whole consort. A "broken" consort would consist of instruments from various families. For example, a broken consort could consist of viols and lute playing together. Composers of consort music during the Elizabethan era include John Dowland, Anthony Holborne, an ...

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"Father" Bernard Smith (c 1630 - 1708) was a German-born master organ maker in England in the late 17th century. Smith served his apprenticeship in Germany before emigrating to England in 1660. He built an organ for the Chapel Royal and, in 1681, became the king's organ maker. Along with his hated rival Renatus Harris he was one of the two most prominent organ builders of the late 17th century. The rivalry between Smith and Harris led to the famous Battle of the Organs in 1684, when both were bidding for the contr ...

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William Boyce (September 1, 1711 – February 7, 1779) is widely regarded as one of the most important English-born composers of the 18th century. Born in London, Boyce was a choirboy at St Paul's Cathedral before studying music with Maurice Greene after his voice broke. His first professional appointment came in 1734 when he got a job as an organist. He went on to take a number of similar posts before being appointed Master of the King's Musick in 175 ...

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One of Britten's best known works is The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (1946), which was composed to accompany Instruments of the Orchestra, an educational film produced by the British government. It has the subtitle Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell, and takes a melody from Henry Purcell's Abdelazar as its central theme. Britten gives individual variations to each of the sections of the orchestra, starting with the woodwind, then the string instruments, the brass instruments and finally the percu ...

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1695 - Events. January 27 - Change of emperor of the Ottoman Empire from Ahmed II to Mustafa II (1695-1703) July 17 - The Bank of Scotland is founded by an Act of Parliament of the old Scottish Parliament. December 31 - A window tax is imposed in England causing many shopkeepers to brick up their windows to avoid the tax. Russia declares war on Turkey Freezing winter in France - wine freezes in the ... Including:

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1677 - Events. May 31 - Danish ships clash with Swedish ships under Niels Iuel between Femern and Warnemunde - Danish defeat the Swedish and capture number of ships November 16 - French troops occupy Freiburg First performance of Racine's tragedy, Phèdre Sarah Churchill marries John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough Battle of Cassel, Philippe I of Orléans defeats William of Orange Mary II of England marries William of Orange English ... Including:

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Adagio for Strings is a piece of classical music for string orchestra by Samuel Barber. It is Barber's own arrangement of the second movement of his String Quartet No. 1, Op. 11, and was given its first performance by Arturo Toscanini with the NBC Orchestra in 1937. It has also been modified into an eight-part choral work called Agnus Dei ("Lamb of God"), a favorite of choirs all over the world. The piece uses an arch form, employing and then inverting, expanding, and varying a stepwise ascending melody. It is Barber's most popular piece, to the point where he is known almost excl ... Including:

• Adagio for Strings - Use in popular culture
• Adagio for Strings - Audio

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Amphitryon, or Amphitrion, in Greek mythology, was a son of Alcaeus, king of Tiryns in Argolis. Amphitryon ("harassing either side") was a Theban general, who was originally from Tiryns in the eastern part of the Peloponnese. He was friends with Panopeus. Having accidentally killed his uncle Electryon, king of Mycenae, Amphitryon was driven out by another uncle, Sthenelus. He fled with Alcmene, Electryon's daughter, to Thebes, where he was cleansed from the guilt of bl ...

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The work is based on a theme from Abdelazer written by Henry Purcell, and is played by the entire orchestra at the beginning, and then is scored for individual sections at a time: first the woodwinds, followed by the brass, then the strings, and finally with an interpretation played by the percussion. After this introduction to the different families of the orchestra by repetitions of the theme, there is a more in-depth look at the different instrument families with variations on the theme played by individual instruments. Alth ...

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In the 15th and 16th centuries in Italy the households of nobles had musicians to provide music for dancing and the court, however with the emergence of the theatre, particularly opera, in the early 17th century, music was increasingly written for groups of players in combination: which is the origin of orchestral playing. Opera originated in Italy, and Germany eagerly followed. Dresden, Munich and Hamburg successively built opera houses At the end of the 17th century opera flourished in England under Henry Purcell, and in France under Lully ...

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This period was dominated by Pelham Humfrey and Henry Purcell. Purcell composed church music, festive odes and music for the theatre. Christopher Simpson's work, The Division Violist, first published in 1659, was for many years the leading manual on playing the viol and on the art of extemporising "divisions to a ground", in Britain and continental Europe. A facsimile edition was reprinted by Arnold Dolmetsch in the 1950s and is still used as a reference by early music revivalists. The diary of Samuel Pepys, himself a music lover, collector of instruments, and an amateur composer, pro ...

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