Henry Purcell

Purcell - Cease, Anxious World

Songs & chamber music

The civil war that culminated in the decapitation of King CharlesI was a dark period of English history; yet, in musical terms, the Puritans led by Oliver Cromwell did not do as much damage as one might have imagined. By prohibiting public music-making in places of workship and theatres, they contributed to the development of the practice of chamber music between friends in the home.

Sound the Trumpet

Until the middle of the seventeenth century the trumpet was essentially a fanfare instrument, used in armies and at courts to invest ceremonial with grandeur. The earliest English truly ‘composed’ works for trumpet all come from odes and stage works, though they were often detached from their parent works to be performed separately— the practice followed here, in works by composers ranging from familiar names Purcell and Croft to the Moravian immigrant Gottfried Finger and William Corbett (last heard of in Italy, apparently as a spy for the British government).

Purcell - Fantasias for the Viols

RecordedOctober 1994, remastered February 2008

Purcell - Complete Chamber Music

A rare treat: no less than 7 CDs with instrumental chamber music by Henry Purcell. In spite of his past and present international fame too little attention has been paid to this part of his oeuvre. This collection offers a great variety: from ‘the Staircase overture’ to voluntaries for organ. Henry Purcell’s present fame is mainly based on some dramatic works. Dido and Aeneas -, his anthems and numerous songs. In his relatively short life he managed to compose in every genre usual at the time. Well hidden among a vast amount of vocal music lies a relatively small collection of chamber music pieces. Together with Handel Henry Purcell was and is England’s most important baroque composer. He was also an organist and as such left behind remarkable little for his instrument. Pieter-Jan Belder - the keyboard player who also recorded the complete Scarlatti sonatas - combined this with Purcell’s varied music for harpsichord, which includes eight suites. Here (together with) his ensemble Musica Amphion (he) also performs the bulk of Purcell’s chamber music: listen and enjoy.

Anne Sophie von Otter - In My Element

Purcell - Songs

Purcell - Theatre Music Volume 1

Written mostly during the last five years of his life, Purcell’s Theatre Music is a rich and varied collection of some of the composer’s finest melodic inspirations. They include solemn overtures, cheerful and sad songs, as well as delightful dances, either incorporated into the action of the play or performed as preludes and interludes. This first volume of the series includes many gems such as the erotic musical diversion in Amphitryon which takes the form of a Pastoral Dialogue betwixt Thyrsis and Iris, the amorous shepherd begging for, and finally being granted, his heart’s desire; and the series of dances in The Gordian Knot Unty’d, the most delightful of which are the Rondeau, Minuett and the final Chacone.

Purcell: Dido and Aeneas

Purcell - Here Let my Life and other songs

The Art Of Alfred Deller

Classic Vanguard Recordings