Twelve Good Musicians - Henry Purcell

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter twelve of Twelve Good Musicians from John Bull to
Henry Purcell. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings
are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,
please visit LibriVox dot org. Twelve Good Musicians from John
Bull to Henry Purcell by Frederick Bridge, Chapter twelve, Henry Purcell.

(00:27):
In Henry Purcell, I reached the last and the greatest
of my twelve good musicians, and to attempt to consider
and discuss completely his life and work in the short
space of a university lecture would be an absurd effort.
But as I have before pointed out, my object has
been to endeavor to interest the musical student, amateur and

(00:50):
professional in certain prominent masters of music, and in the
remarkable progress made in our own country by their aid
in the seventeen six entry. I can do a little
more than arouse interest, and I cannot pretend to write
a complete history, but I trust their lectures will have
helped to fill up the blank which Sir Hubert Perry

(01:12):
declared it exists in many minds as regards to the
music of this period. In the consideration of the various
musicians of whom I have already treated. I've avoided biographical
detail as a rule. Information in these matters may be
gleaned from the well known books of reference. But in
the case of Purcell, I'm obliged to enlarge a little

(01:33):
on his life in the hope that I'm be able
to contribute a few interesting facts with regard to his
family that are not generally known. Let me begin then
with Purcell's father. It is an extraordinary thing that we
know nothing whatever of him until we find his name
among distinguished musicians such as Captain Cook, Locke and Laws

(01:55):
as one of the performers in the Siege of Rhodes
in sixteen fifty six. In the preface to this publication,
it is claimed that the music was composed and both
the vocal and instrumental is exercised by the most transcendent
of England in that art. What did the elder Purcell

(02:16):
do before he attained such a position. We know absolutely
nothing as regards to his origin, his training, or his career.
Up to this I've made diligent search in the archives
of Westminster to see if there were anything to be
learned there, and have gleaned a few small facts. The
name of Roger Purcell occurs in a bill for bringing

(02:38):
lumber to the College in August sixteen twenty eight. The
items of the bill include carriage by land one shilling,
sixpence for watching, sixpence for helping to land the timber sixpence.
This would seem to apply to a load of lumber
brought from a distance for the use of carpenters of
the college. Rodgers Pursall would have come up with the lumber,

(03:02):
or he may have been one of the carpenters. He
was paid three shillings for two days work. The name
appears again in sixteen fifty nine, when we find in
a page of accounts expended by George Blackbourne and Joseph
Hobbs for the traveling charges about the college affairs at
Oxford in the country of Huntington, the following note in

(03:26):
the bonds taken by mister Throgmorton and Roger Pursall, there
is included four pounds rewards traveling charges. Then Roger Pursall
is spoken of as the bailiff of mister Giles. It
is rather curious that the name of Roger Purcell should
occur at such a wide interval. Sixteen twenty eight and

(03:48):
again in sixteen fifty nine. One wonders if Roger's connection
with the abbey and its property was the beginning of
the musical members of the family coming to Westminster. There
was a Shropshire Purcell family of some standing. In the
Herald's Visitation of Shropshire in sixteen twenty three, it was
given as of Anslow and Shrewsbury, and there were many

(04:12):
distinguished parcels in Ireland. We know and hear nothing more
of the Elder Purcell after the production of the Siege
of Rhodes in sixteen fifty six, until his name appears
in a book in the library at Westminster. This book
records the emission of one or two petty cannons in
sixteen sixty in the payment of them of five shillings

(04:34):
for the entry. Mister Henry Purcell's name is also entered
with the note instead of five shillings this book. Here
then we had the great musician's father installed in the
abbey as master of the choristers, not organist, also and copyist.
It was also a gentleman of the Royal Chapel and

(04:54):
a singing man of Westminster. Later on we find him
a member of the Royal Band sixteen sixty three. All
these important appointments testified to his leading musical position. We
have a glimpse of him in the Pepys Diary under
date February twenty first, sixteen sixty After dinner, I went

(05:17):
back to Westminster Hall. Here I met with mister Locke
in Purcell, master of Music, and with them to the
coffee house, into a room next to the water by ourselves.
Here we had variety of brave Italian and Spanish songs
and a cannon for eight voices, which mister Locke had
lately made on these words Dominie saltholm Fock, Regium. Another

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small fact of interest in connection with the Elder Purcell,
has furnished me by my brother of Chester. He finds
in the church Castle accounts by the steward of Sir
Thomas Middleton, an allusion to mister Purcell, who is no
doubt our elder Purcell. Doctor Bridge writes his follow In

(06:01):
sixteen sixty one the family had gone up to London,
and we find the steward there in recording December twenty
fourth paid for a quart of pearl with mister Purcell
two shillings. As rule, only the names of important personages
are put in the accounts. As the steward did not

(06:22):
live in London, it looks as if mister Purcell was
a former acquaintance from someone near Church. This place is
on the borders of three counties, of which Shropshire is won,
and as the parcels probably came from Salap, their birthplace
or place of residence may have been at the Church
end of the county. Possibly mister Purcell was an old

(06:44):
friend of the Stewarts. There is no doubt the elder
Purcell lived in the place called the Almonry, where the
singing men had houses. These stood where the well known
Westminster Palace hotel now stands, and here his distinguished son
was born. It is generally stated that he was born
in sixteen fifty eight. It seems, however, just as likely,

(07:08):
or even more likely, the date should be sixteen fifty nine. Unfortunately,
it has been impossible to find the record of his baptism.
The register at Saint Margaret's Church, Westminster for this period,
which was then very carefully kept, does not show Henry
Purcell's name. The approximate date is fixed fairly well for

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us by the fact that in June sixteen eighty three
Purcell published some sonatus to which his portrait was prefixed.
On this portrait he is said to be a tat
Sahe twenty four i e. In the twenty fourth year
of his age. Again, on his monument in the abbey

(07:50):
we find anno ittaates si a thirty seven i e.
In the thirty seventh year of his age. Therefore, he
was in his thirty seventh year on November twenty first,
sixteen ninety five, the date of his death. He must
have been born between November twenty first, sixteen fifty eight

(08:11):
and November twentieth, sixteen fifty nine. Not only is his
baptism turing these years not recorded at Saint Margaret's, but
the rate books of Saint Margaret's for sixteen fifty eight
and sixteen fifty nine do not contain the name of Purcell,
as they certainly would have had his father had a

(08:32):
house in the parish. A friend has made most careful
inquiries from me on this point. I expect the almonary
was in the precincts of Westminster Abbey and so would
not be in the parish, and is quite reasonable to
suppose the child born in the Almonry was christened in
the abbey, but I have never yet found any record

(08:53):
of this. Purcell's own son, Edward, was christened in the
abbey in sixteen eighty nine. It is interesting to know
that Henry Laws lived also in the Almonry, and so
must have known the little boy Purcell. But as Laws
died in sixteen sixty two, the child could not have
given any proof of his future genius. The Elder Purcell

(09:17):
died in sixteen sixty four, and the young boy was
placed in the Chapel Royal choir at the early age
of six years. Thomas Purcell, brother of the Elder Purcell,
was a distinguished musician, also a member of the Chapel
Royal Besides holding other important posts. He looked after his
clever little nephew and was a real father to him.

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And as in the case of Henry Purcell Senior, we
know nothing of the previous history of Thomas Purcell until
we find him in his high position. Who trained him
and his brother Henry we know not. Henry Purcell was
thus one of the remarkable set of boys to which
I have often alluded in these lectures. Among his fellow choristers,

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being Pelham, Humphrey and Blow. Like the other boys, he
began to compose, and the first reliable composition we have
was the Address of the Children of the Chapel Royal
to the King and their Master, Captain Cook, on His
Majesty's Birthday a d. Sixteen seventy, composed by Master Purcell,

(10:23):
one of the children of the said chapel. Purcell no
doubt owed much to Captain Cook, but it is also
certain that the influence of Pelham Humphrey, with the experience
he gained by his studies with Lully, must have made
a deep impression. As we know, Humphrey died at the
early age of twenty seven, and Purcell continued his studies

(10:45):
with Blow, whose mindment in the abbey records he was
master to the famous Henry Purcell. The first appointment Purcell
held was that of copyist to Westminster Abbey sixteen seventy six,
a post which is his father held before him. We
know little for certain as to his compositions for the

(11:05):
church in his early days. As a matter of fact,
he seems to have been drawn, like Henry Laws, more
to the secular side, writing for the theater It has
been suggested that he was introduced to this kind of
work by Locke, who we know was a prominent composer
for the stage. We must also remember that Humphrey would
very likely have helped to influence the mind of the

(11:28):
young Purcell in that direction. Un Locke's death in sixteen
seventy seven, Purcell wrote an ode on the death of
his worthy friend Matthew Locke. In sixteen eighty, doctor Blow
resigned his position as organist of Westminster Abbey, and Purcell
succeeded him. There is no record of Blow resigning or

(11:48):
the cause of it in the chapter books. One simpli
finds in the treasurer's accounts that Purcell drew the salary
as organist instead of Blow. Probably his appointment to Westby
mister turned his mind more towards church than stage. The
composition of the opera Dito and Aneas is I think

(12:08):
proved by mister Berkley Squire's clever article on Purcell's dramatic music,
not to be a composition of his early years. It
is not possible for me to go minutely into the
subject of Purcell's many compositions, but I will for a
few moments call attention to what I consider almost his masterpiece.
I allude to the splendid and original set of sonatas

(12:31):
which he issued in sixteen eighty three. This was Purcell's
first publication and it was issued from Saint Anne's Lane
beyond Westminster Abbey, where the composer resided, having been married
in sixteen eighty one. Should be added that he was
made Organists of the Chapel Royal in sixteen eighty two,

(12:52):
holding that post at the same time as the abbey.
The sonatas are a very interesting study in Purcell's lies career.
Like many of the composers mentioned in these lectures, Purcell
wrote fancies, but the sonatas are a very different thing.
Written for two violins, cello and basso, continual and continuing

(13:15):
of three or four movements of differing character, they are
a wonderful advance of anything previously done in this direction,
either in England or abroad. Corelli issued his sonatas in
the same year that Purcells appeared. But Corellis, although beautiful,
have not the depth or originality of Purcels, which are

(13:35):
admirably written for the strings and abound in clever devices,
but are in no way dull or suggestive of vocal writing.
The three strings are often complete without the continual, but
occasionally there is an extra part. For this. My own
experience of them and performance is that the least possible
accompaniment is best, and it should be remembered that the

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continual is not written for a modern pianoforte with its
powerful tone, but for the harpsichord or organ. Purcell, and
his preface, says, for its author he has faithfully endeavored
a just imitation of the most favorite Italian masters. He
goes on to explain the meaning of certain Italian terms

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of art, perhaps unusual, such as adagio, grave, presto, largo,
et cetera, and concludes with a wish that his book
may fall into no other hands but those who carry
musical souls about them, for he is willing to flatter
himself into a belief that with such his labors will

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seem neither unpleasant nor unprofitable. The question of the models
that Purcell had in writing these fond sonatas, and what
famous Italian masters he imitated, has been often debated. For myself,
I cannot but believe that Purcell owed much to a
remarkable Politan violinist Nicola Matteus. This Italian violinist and composer

(15:06):
came to London about sixteen seventy two and resided there
till after Purcell's death. The death of Mattieus's birth is
not known, but the accounts of his playing, given from
personal observation by such authorities as John Evelyn in his
contemporary diary and Roger North in his Memoirs of Music,

(15:28):
showed that he came here as a mature artist. Purcell
was then fifteen years old, and during the eleven years
which elapsed till the publication of the sixteen eighty three
Purcell Sonatus Matteus was much the most prominent foreign musician,
and the only Italian musician of any rank resident in London.

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The propagation of musical styles from one country to another
was carried out in those days very little by the
dissemination of copies, whether a manuscript were printed, and much
more by the activities of persons who went here and there,
giving performances and concerts. And Roger North says specifically, but

(16:10):
as yet we have given no account of the decadence
of the French music and the Italian coming in its room.
This happened by degrees, and the overture was by accident
for the coming over of Signor Nicolai. Matteus gave the
first start. He was an excellent musician, et cetera, et cetera,

(16:30):
et cetera. Purcell, the organist of Westminster Abbey, must of
course have known Matteus, as he directed the concerts of
Chief Justice Francis North, Roger North's brother in Queen Street,
And it is evident from the writings of Roger that
the Norths were supporters of Matteus. In the Bodleian Library,

(16:51):
I have found Chief Justice North's name inscribed as the
owner of one of the volumes of Mattius's Heirs for
the Violin. Then, as to the explanation of Italian terms
in Purcell's preface, it is a little singular that much
the same sort of information has found prefix to Mattias's

(17:12):
second volume of violin pieces. Again, I have discovered in
manuscript parts in the Bodlian Library, and had performed at
a lecture at the Royal Institution, a sonata in a
by Matteas in the exact sonata form used by Purcell
in sixteen eighty three. Though the date of this manuscript

(17:33):
composition cannot be traced, it is at least as likely
to have been composed before sixteen eighty three as after. However,
I am not asserting that a composer like Purcell copied
Mattias's works. I'm only saying that it was Mattias who
made the Italian chamber music prevalent in London, and that

(17:54):
but for him Purcell would possibly never have thought or
written in that style. I cannot better conclude than by
quoting from one of North's voluminous manuscripts, Essay on Musical
Air British Museum at It Manuscript thirty two, five thirty six,
Folio seventy eight. The poor man Matteus as a grateful

(18:20):
legacy to the English nation, left with them a general
saver for the Italian manner of harmony. And after him
the French was wholly laid aside, and nothing in town
had a relish without a spice of Italy. And the
masters here began to imitate them, witnessed mister H. Purcell
in his Noble Set of Sonatas. Purcell composed another set

(18:43):
of sonatas, which was published after his death. One of
them generally called the Golden Sonata, is perhaps the best
known of any in either of the issues, but it
is inferior to others, particularly number four of the first set,
and altogether I do not think the second is at
all on a level with the first. I may add

(19:04):
that I have in my library the parts of the
original publication of the first set. The continual contains an
immense number of additional figures, and there are a few
corrections in the other parts which I have never found
in any other copy. It would appear almost as if
Purcell himself made the corrections, and indeed Sir Hubert Perry

(19:25):
was of opinion this was so. I hope I may
be able shortly to print these sonatas in separate parts,
so they may be accessible to lovers of Purcell. I
cannot linger now over these interesting sonatas, but must glance
at Purcell's further activities. He wrote an ode for St.
Cecilia's Day in this year sixteen eighty three, and many

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anthems about this time. In sixteen eighty six he took
part in the competition of organ builders at the Temple Church,
already spoken of in my lecture on Doctor blow In
sixteen eighty five. He produced music for the coronation of
James the Second, himself singing in the choir with blow
Child and others who directed the music. I e. Play

(20:12):
the organ as was customary. We are not told. I
possess a very rare engraving of this great ceremony, and
one of the choirs seemed certainly to hold a baton
in his hand, but it was not usual to have
a conductor. The second coronation in which Purcell took part
had a rather serious turn. It was that of William

(20:34):
and Mary, and Purcell admitted persons to the organ loft
to see the ceremony, for which they evidently paid pretty well.
Purcell thought it was a perquist I do not suppose
he was paid for his extra work on the occasion,
but the Dean and Chapter claimed the money and passed
the following Chapter Order April eighteenth, sixteen eighty nine. It

(20:59):
is ordered that mister Purcell organists to the Dean and
Chapter of Westminster due pay to the hand of mister
John Needham, Receiver of the College, all such moneys as
was received for him for places in the organloft at
the coronation of King William and Queen Mary Fire before
Saturday next, being the twentieth day of this instant April,

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and in default thereof his places ordered to be null
and void. And it is further ordered that his stipend
or salary do at our lady day past be detained
in the hands of the Treasurer until further order. Entry
in chapter book Poor Purcell paid up as an entry

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in the Treasurer's book states received of mister Purcell, his
poundage and charges being deducted seventy eight pounds four shillings sixpence.
The visitors to the organ loft could not have been many,
as it was, but so so they paid pretty well
for their seats, and Purcell seems to have had some

(22:05):
sort of commission in the way of poundage and other charges.
The opera of Dido and Aeneas has often been quoted
as a marvelous effort of Purcell's early days. Being a
complete opera without spoken dialogue, it is most interesting example
of Purcell's advanced views, and had he written it in

(22:25):
sixteen seventy five, when only seventeen years of age, it
would indeed have been a marvel But I feel sure
mister Berkeley Squire is right in putting it much later
in sixteen eighty nine. Although a splendid piece of work,
it is that of a man of experience and not
of a youth. One of the composer's best operas is Dioclesian,

(22:47):
an adaptation from Beaumont and Fletcher by Betterton. It has
scored for strings, flutes, haut boys, bassoons, and trumpets. It
is very interesting music and their There is a masque
included in it, containing some of the hosts of Purcell's
operatic work. Purcell correct at the copies of the first

(23:08):
issue by his own hand. I possess one of these
scarce books. He tells us a little of his troubles
with a printer in an advertisement at the end of
the book. In order to the speedier publication of the book,
I employed two several printers, but one of them falling
into some trouble, and the volume swelling to a bulk

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beyond my expectations have been the occasion of this delay.
The music to the Euclesian and to Inmfi Trahan, a
play by Dryden, added greatly to Priscell's fame, and Dryden,
who at once thought Grabu the French master of the
King's music, to be far superior to any English composer.

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Now mentions Purcell as one in whose person we have
at length found an Englishman equal with the best abroad.
At least my opinion of him has been such since
his happy and judicious performances in the last opera Dryden's.
Dryden wrote another opera in sixteen ninety one, King Arthur,

(24:11):
which Purcell set to music. This is I think the
best accepting dito in aneas of Purcell's dramatic works. Citane
as it does the celebrated air come if you dare
in the frost scene. I cannot dwell longer on Purcell's
dramatic music, but will turn for a moment to the
music for Saint Cecilia's Day. In sixteen ninety two, this

(24:36):
was performed as usual in Stationer's Hall. The hall still
stands at the bottom of Pater nostr Roe and the
Gentleman's magazine of the time mentions the performance and tells
us the interesting fact that the second stanza was sung
with incredible graces by mister Purcell himself. So it seems

(24:57):
that Purcell had an alto voice. But it is pleasant
to go into the very hall with the musician's company
of the present day, and think of the old building
echuin years ago, to the strains of Purcell's voice. And
now I must turn to one of the finest of
Purcell's contribution to the services of the church. In sixteen

(25:18):
ninety four he wrote an elaborate tedium and jubilate with
orchestral accompaniment. This is the first of its kind by
an English composer. It was written for the Festival of
Saint Cecili's Day sixteen ninety four, but was not published
until after the composer's death. The tadeum was performed in

(25:39):
Saint Paul's at the annual festival service of the Sons
of the Clergy until seventeen thirteen, when Handel's Tedium, composed
for the piece of Utrech took its place. From that time,
for some years the two rival tedeums were performed alternately.
There are some points of resemblance handles of herd Percell's setting,

(26:01):
but the version of it, which until lately was known
and sometimes performed, was a sad corruption of the original voice,
with the intention, no doubt, of helping Purcels to deem
to compete with Handles, broke it up into various movements,
made some alterations in the harmony, and added many dull symphonies.

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The original Pursl score consisted of three hundred twenty five bars,
and voice added one hundred and forty nine more. The
result was disastrous and practically killed the personal setting. A
performance of it was given in eighteen twenty nine, again
at the Festival of the Sons of the Clergy. A

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very interesting letter from mister Paetus, the great French writer,
is preserved in a musical paper of June eighteen twenty nine,
which I will quote. I must confess that my curiosity
was considerable to hear the music of Percel, whom the
English proudly sight a being worthy of being placed in
the same rank with the greatest composers of Germany and Italy.

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I was in a perfectly admiring disposition of mine when
the tedium of this giant began. But what was my
disappointment upon hearing and instead of the masterpiece which they
had promised me, a long succession of insignificant phrases, ill
connected modulations, and incorrect, albeit pretending harmonies. At first, I

(27:31):
imagine myself deceived in thought, I ought to doubt my
judgment on a style of music to which I was unaccustomed.
But mister Felix Mendelssohn, a young and highly distinguished German composer,
who stood beside me, received precisely the same impressions. Such
indeed was the inconvenience felt by him, that he would

(27:52):
not prolong it, but escape, leaving me to encounter Purcel
alone during the performance of the Jubilate, which apeared to
me no way superior. It was a great anxiety to
me to know what to do about introducing this tedium
in the music of the abbey Purcell celebration. I consulted

(28:12):
Sir Hubert Perry, who said it was long winded and dull,
and so I had always found it. And the result
was I gave up the idea. But most providentially, the
manuscript score of this work was brought to me one
day in the cloisters of the abbey. The announcement of
the coming celebration had called the owner's attention to it.

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He sold it to me, and when I looked it over,
I found out what was the real reason of its failure.
It was Boyce's edition and not Purcell's music. A new
edition was prepared and the tedium again restored to life.
In another direction, Purcell showed his remarkable versiality. He correct

(28:53):
it and amended play for its introduction to the skill
of music, a book of great interest. Purcell's observation on
cannon are particularly good and valuable. In sixteen ninety five
the funeral of Queen Mary took place in the Abbey,
Purcell contributing in anthem and other music. The solemn March

(29:15):
for flat mournful trumpets has lately been recovered and published.
This is a beautiful specimen of Purcell's art, and it
is said was played at his own funeral. Purcell died
on November twenty first, sixteen ninety five, and Doctor Cummings,
in his Life of Purcell, draws a moving picture of

(29:36):
the death of the composer in a house on the
west side of Dean's Yard, but Purcell never lived in
Dean's Yard. Rate books are not romantic, but generally trustworthy.
The rate books of Westminster show that in sixteen eighty
two Purcell paid rates for house in Great Saint Anne's Lane,
in sixteen eighty six for a house in Bowling Alley East,

(30:00):
and in sixteen ninety three, sixteen ninety four and sixteen
ninety five, the year of his death, for house in
Marsham Street. All these houses are now demolished, but the
ones in Bowling Alley existed until lately, and I possessed
cupboards made from the mantel pieces and balusters of the
staircase of Purcell's house. Further proof that he rented houses

(30:24):
lies in the fact that he was allowed eight pounds
a year in lieu of the house, and the same
payment continued up to the time of my predecessor, who
had no house for the early years of his organist ship.
The death of this great man was a grievous loss
to English music. Although he had worthy pupils in doctor

(30:44):
Croft and others, Yet he had no real successor, and
the arrival of Handel and the musical domination which he
exercised did much to cause Purcell's name to sink somewhat
into oblivion. But it was only for a time, and
now there is no English musician whose name and fame
is more assured. A personal society is gradually publishing all

(31:07):
his works, in making them more accessible. His operas of
Dido and Aeneas and the Fairy Queen have been performed
with great success, and his church music is still constantly
on the lists of our cathedrals. It has not been
possible for me to notice all his work as I
would wish to have done, But we must all feel

(31:30):
that not only was he the last of my twelve
good musicians, but by far the greatest. A translation of
the lines upon his gravestone in Westminster Abbey may fitly
close this chapter applaud so great a guest celestial powers,
who now resides with you, but once was ours. Yet

(31:52):
let invidious Earth no more reclaim her short lived favorite
and her chiefest fame, complaining that so prematurely died good
natured pleasure and devotion's pride died, though he lives, while
yonder organ, sound and sacred echoes to the choir. Rebound note.

(32:16):
Since the preceding pages were written, I have been in
correspondence with doctor W. H. Gratten Flood of Inniscurthy, with
reference to the Irish Purcels mentioned on page one twenty.
Doctor grotten Flood claims to have proved Henry Purcell to
be descended from a distinguished Irish family. Before quoting from

(32:38):
his kind communication, I may say it seems to me
very probable the Purcells were of good family. Both the
elder Henry and his brother Thomas, were musicians of note
when we first hear of them, and at the restoration
were members of the King's band, Henry being also master
of the choristers of Westminster Abbey. Edsall, an elder brother

(33:01):
of the composer, was a distinguished officer who took part
in the Siege of Gibraltar, and ended his days in
honorable retirement at the seat of the Earl of Abington
at Witham, near Oxford, in the chancel of which church
he is interred. Another small point is the fact that
Purcell's first published work, The Sonatas, was issued with a

(33:24):
portrait of the composer and with a coat of arms.
All this looks as if Roger Purcell, the bailiff of
mister Giles see page one point twenty, is not so
likely to have been an ancestor of the musician as
one of the Irish parcels. I am not able to
give all the matter kindly sent to me, which I

(33:45):
hope Doctor Gratton Flood will make public, but append his
observations on the most important points. Henry Purcell the Composer
was the younger son of Henry Purcell the Elder, and
was adopted at the age of six by his uncle Thomas.
The puzzle then is who was the father of Henry
Purcell the Elder and of Thomas Purcell. In order to

(34:09):
answer this I have made a systematic search in the
fiance of Elizabeth and James the First in the calendars
of State Papers Ireland sixteen twenty three through sixteen seventy,
in the Inquisitions, funeral entries in the Office of Arms,
et cetera, and has succeeded in tracing the father and

(34:29):
grandfather of Henry Purcell the Elder. I had unusual opportunities
of making this investigation inasmuch as I assisted Captain R. P.
Mahaffey b L in the editing of the Irish state
papers of Charles the First and Charles the Second. Henry
Purcell the Elder was the son of Thomas Purcell of

(34:51):
Gaertani in bally Cross, County, Tipperary, the son of Thomas
Fitzpiers's Purcell, cousin of the Baron of Lomo, and cousin
of the parcels of Croaugh, County Limerick. Both Henry and
Thomas Purcell were brought when quite young to England by
their aunt, em placed in the Chapel Royal. Their aunt
was a blood relation of the Marquis of Ormonde, who

(35:14):
was on intimate terms with King Charles the first, missus
James Purcell. Their aunt took for her second husband Colonel
John Fitzpatrick, who was also a personal friend of Charles
the First and of Charles the second. This lady was
Elizabeth Butler, fourth daughter of Thomas Viscount Thurles. Her marriage

(35:37):
jointures dated eleven February sixteen thirty nine. She returned from
London in sixteen forty three at the Restoration. Through the
influence of the Marquis of Mormond, who was created Duke
of Ormond on March thirtieth, sixteen sixty one, both Henry
Purcell the Elder and his brother Thomas were given posts

(36:00):
as gentlemen in the Chapel Royal and were in the
immediate entourage of the court and not unregarded by the
observant PEAPs. Henry married circa sixteen fifty one, and his
eldest son, Edward, called after an uncle of the same
name was born in sixteen fifty three W. H. Grotton Flood.

(36:23):
It will be seen doctor grotton Flood gives interesting particulars
of the Irish family. On one point, the suggestion that
the elder Purcell and his brother Thomas were placed in
the Chapel Royal. I wish he could give some real proof,
for it would I explain all the ensuing musical success
of Purcell's father, his uncle Thomas, and himself. But I

(36:45):
can only hope that doctor grotton Flood's further researches may
end in completely clearing up the mystery of the ancestry
of Henry Purcell j F. B End of twelve. Henry
Purcell and of twelve good Musicians from John Bull to

(37:06):
Henry Purcell by Frederick Bridge