Creating thesis statements

Henry Purcell: Life and his Career

Many questions about Henry Purcell's life remain unanswered, including whether he
was French or Irish, where he was born and the precise year of his birth. If he was born in
1658 or 1659, he was born during a pivotal moment in English history, when the monarchy
and the established Church were restored after the Puritan Commonwealth era, when the
government shut down theatres and prohibited Anglican worship. King Charles II's
assumption of the throne, which began in 1660 and ended with his death in the XIIth century,
is considered by many to be the peak of English music. It is against this background that
examine the life and career of Henry Purcell as an artist, music influencer and a trailblazer in
his profession, especially how he manipulated keys to pass specific messages.
In addition to being a gentleman of the Chapel Royal, Henry's father, also called
Henry, was a member of the Royal Band. He had a beautiful voice, was a talented lute player,
and played the organ at Westminster Abbey, where he was Henry Purcell's first instructor.
His uncle Thomas, also a gentleman of Chapel Royal, took in Henry after his father's death
and guarded him until he could be reunited with his mother. As a result of Henry's influence,
he was granted admission to Chapel Royal's Children (Zimmerman, 2016). When he was
eight years old, he created his first piece of music.
He left the Chapel Royal in 1673 as his voice began to fail. Westminster Abbey hired
him as an organist in 1679 after he had worked as an organ tuner and kept handwritten copies
of organ music. Purcell returned to Chapel Royal in 1682 as an organist after being named
composer-in-ordinary for the Royal Violins. He continued to work as "his Majesty's organ-
maker and keeper" in 1683 (Harris, 2017). Since Purcell died so young, the number of his
compositions is even more astounding. Overwork was a factor in his untimely demise at age
37. Purcell died in 1695, most likely as the result of a case of pneumonia.

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The music of Henry Purcell ushered forth a new age. During the Restoration era in
English history, he contributed more than any other composer to church, theater, concert, and
chamber music. At the time, music was expected to be more visually appealing than auditory.
Previously, Chapel Royal's music was seen as entertainment in the same way that royal
composers wrote. As a result, even Purcell's church music, like his theatrical, instrumental,
and incidental music, was founded on secular principles. For the liturgy, Purcell composed a
variety of verses and complete anthems. None of the words attributed to contemporary poets
were from the New Testament. First English opera composer Purcell is considered to be.
Many people who had never heard of his church music or the odes and welcome songs he
composed for the court became acquainted with his name because of his theatrical music. To
refer to Purcell's works as "opera" would be incorrect. Plays with music interludes are known
as "incidental score" works. It simultaneously allows for an overture, intermission, ballet airs,
dances, recitatives, vocal airs, duets, and choruses (Harris, 2017). Only "Dido and Aeneas"
may be considered an opera.
Individualism and luck have been erroneously attributed to Purcell. Lully certainly
had a profound impact on his style, which began with pieces composed in the old English
manner of Orlando Gibbons and William Byrd. Purcell, like Lully, often wrote vertically, in
which a string of chords held up each note of the melody. Purcell, like Lully, used a doubling
technique at the bottom of his harmonies on occasion. Purcell used a rhythmic figure based
on the repetition of dotted eighth notes followed by sixteenths to accentuate emotional
passages, following in the footsteps of Lully, Rossi, and others. Instrumental music was
replaced by keyboard music in numerous portions of the musical texture in the latter half of
the century, which Italian composers inspired (Zimmerman, 2016). With his Sonatas in III
Parts, Henry Purcell demonstrates how he reacted to the emergence of this new Italian style.

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It is fascinating to see how Purcell included some stylistic elements. The 3/2 bar was
used often by Chapel Royal students. Purcell, above all, had a special fondness for this beat.
Additionally, he was a master of word-setting, stressing the most significant words via music
phrase building and being unusually exact


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