Part 8

The poor man (Matteis) as a grateful legacy to the English nation, left with them a generall savour for the Itallian manner of Harmony, and after him the French was wholly layd aside, and nothing in towne had a relish without a spice of Itally, and the masters here began to imitate them, _wittness Mr. H. Purcell, in his noble set of Sonnatas_.

Purcell composed another set 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 No. 4 of the first set, and altogether I do not think the second is at all on a level with the first. I may add that I have in my library the parts of the original publication of the first set. The Continuo 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 had himself made the corrections, and, indeed, Sir Hubert Parry was of opinion this was so. I hope I may be able shortly to print these Sonatas in separate parts so that 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 (1683) and many Anthems about this {131} time. In 1686 he took part in the competition of Organ-Builders at the Temple Church, already spoken of in my Lecture on Dr Blow.

In 1685 he produced music for the Coronation of James II, himself singing in the choir with Blow, Child, and others. Who directed the music, i.e., played the organ, as was customary, we are not told. I possess a very rare engraving of this great ceremony, and one of the Choir seems certainly to hold a baton in his hand, but it was not usual to have a Conductor.

A second Coronation in which Purcell took part had a rather serious turn. It was that of William 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 "perquisite" (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 18, 1689. It is ordered that Mr. Purcell, organist to ye Dean and Chapter of Westminster, do pay to the hand of Mr. John Needham, Receiver of the College, all such moneys as was received by him for places in the Organ Loft at ye Coronation of King William and Queen Mary, by or before Saturday next, being ye 20th day of this instant {132} Aprill. And in default thereof his place is ordered to be null and void. And it is further ordered that his stipend or salary due at our Lady Day past be detayned in the hands of the Treasurer until further order.

(_Entry in Chapter Book_)

Poor Purcell paid up, as an entry in the Treasurer's book states:

"Received of Mr. Purcell (his poundage and charges being deducted) £78 4s. 6d."

The visitors to the organ-loft could not have been many, as it was but small, so they paid pretty well for their seats, and Purcell seems to have had some sort of commission in the way of "poundage and other charges."

The Opera of _Dido and Æneas_ has often been quoted as a marvellous effort of Purcell's early days. Being a complete Opera without spoken Dialogue, it is a most interesting example of Purcell's advanced views, and, had he written it in 1675 (when only seventeen years of age), it would indeed have been a marvel. But I feel sure Mr Barclay Squire is right in putting it much later--in 1689. 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_, an adaption from Beaumont and Fletcher by {133} Betterton. It is scored for strings, flutes, hautboys (3), bassoons and trumpets. It is very interesting music, and there is a "Masque" included in it, containing some of the host of Purcell's operatic work. Purcell corrected the copies of the first issue by his own hand.

I possess one of these scarce books. He tells us a little of his troubles with the 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 beyond my expectations have been the occasion of this delay." The music to _Dioclesian_ and to _Amphitryon_ (a play by Dryden), added greatly to Purcell's fame; and Dryden who at one time thought Grabu, the French master of the King's Music, to be far superior to any English composer, 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 1691, _King Arthur_, which Purcell set to music. This is, I think, the best (excepting _Dido and Æneas_) of Purcell's dramatic works, containing as it does the {134} celebrated Air _Come if you dare_ and the Frost Scene.

I cannot dwell longer on Purcell's dramatic music, but will turn for a moment to the music for _St Cecilia's Day_ in 1692. This was performed, as usual, in Stationers Hall (the Hall still stands at the bottom of Paternoster Row), 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 Mr. Purcell himself. So it seems that Purcell had an alto voice; and it is pleasant to go into the very Hall, with the Musicians Company of the present day, and think of the old building echoing, years ago, to the strains of Purcell's voice.

And now I must turn to one of the finest of Purcell's contributions to the Services of the Church. In 1694 he wrote an elaborate _Te Deum_ and _Jubilate_ with orchestral accompaniment: this is the first of its kind by an English composer. It was written for the festival of _St Cecilia's Day_, 1694, but was not published until after the composer's death. The _Te Deum_ was performed in St Paul's at the Annual Festival Service of the Sons of the Clergy until 1713, when Handel's _Te Deum_, composed for the Peace of Utrecht, took its place. From that time for some years the {135} two rival _Te Deums_ were performed alternately. There are some points of resemblance. Handel must have heard Purcell's setting, but the version of it which, until lately, was known--and sometimes performed--was a sad corruption of the original. Boyce, with the intention no doubt of helping Purcell's _Te Deum_ to compete with Handel's, broke it up into various movements, made some alterations in the harmony, and added many dull symphonies. The original Purcell score consisted of 325 bars and Boyce added 149 more! The result was disastrous and practically killed the Purcell setting. A performance of it was given in 1829, again at the Festival of the Sons of the Clergy. A very interesting letter from M. Fétis, the great French writer, is preserved in a musical paper of June 1829, which I will quote:

I must confess that my curiosity was considerable to hear the music of Purcell, whom the English proudly cite as being worthy of being placed in the same rank with the greatest composers of Germany and Italy. I was in a perfectly admiring disposition of mind when the Te Deum of this giant began; but what was my disappointment upon hearing, 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 imagined myself deceived, and that I ought to doubt my judgment on a style of music to which I was unaccustomed {136} but M. 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 not prolong it, but escaped, leaving me to encounter Purcell alone during the performance of the Jubilate[3], which appeared to me no way superior.

It was a great anxiety to me to know what to do about introducing this _Te Deum_ in the music of the Abbey Purcell Celebration. I consulted Sir Hubert Parry, 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 MS. 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. 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 _Te Deum_ again restored to life!

In another direction Purcell showed his remarkable versatility. He corrected and amended Playford's Introduction to the Skill of Musick, a book of great interest. Purcell's observations on Canon are particularly good and valuable.

In 1695 the funeral of Queen Mary took place {137} in the Abbey, Purcell contributing an Anthem and other music. The solemn March 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 21st, 1695, and Dr Cummings, in his _Life of Purcell_, draws a moving picture of 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 1682 Purcell paid rates for a house in Great St Ann's Lane, in 1686 for a house in Bowling Alley East, and in 1693, 1694, and 1695 (the year of his death) for a house in Marsham Street. All these houses are now demolished, but the one in Bowling Alley existed until lately, and I possess cupboards made from the mantelpieces and balusters of the staircase of Purcell's house.

Further proof that he rented houses lies in the fact that he was allowed £8 a year in lieu of a house, and this same payment continued up to the time of my predecessor, who had no house for the early years of his organistship.

The death of this great man was a grievous loss to English music. Although he had worthy {138} pupils in Dr 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 Purcell Society is gradually publishing all his works and making them more accessible. His Operas of _Dido and Æneas_ 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 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 let invidious earth no more reclaim Her short-lived fav'rite and her chiefest fame, Complaining that so prematurely died Good-natured pleasure and devotion's pride. Died? no, he lives while yonder Organs sound And sacred echoes to the Choir rebound.

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NOTE

Since the preceding pages were written I have been in correspondence with Dr W. H. Grattan-Flood, of Enniscorthy, with reference to the Irish Purcells mentioned on p. 120. Dr Grattan-Flood claims to have proved Henry Purcell to be descended from a distinguished Irish family. Before quoting from 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. Edward Purcell, an elder brother of the composer, was a distinguished officer, who took part in the Siege of Gibraltar, and ended his days in honourable retirement at the seat of the Earl of Abingdon, at Wytham, 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 portrait of the composer and with a coat-of-arms. All this looks as if "Roger Purcell, the 'Bayliffe' of Mr. Giles," (see p. 120) is not so likely to have been an ancestor of the musician as one of the Irish Purcells.

I am not able to give all the matter kindly sent to me--which I hope Dr Grattan-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?

{140}

"In order to answer this, I have made a systematic search in the _Fiants_ of Elizabeth and James I, in the _Calendars of State Papers, Ireland_, 1623-1670, in the _Inquisitions, Funeral Entries in the Office of Arms_, etc., and have succeeded in tracing the father and grandfather of Henry Purcell the Elder. I had unusual opportunities of making this investigation inasmuch as I assisted Capt R. P. Mahaffy, B.L., in the editing of the _Irish State Papers of Charles I and Charles II_.

"Henry Purcell the Elder was the son of Thomas Purcell of Gortanny and Ballycross, Co. Tipperary, the son of Thomas Fitz Piers Purcell, cousin of the Baron of Loughmoe, and cousin of the Purcells of Croagh, Co. Limerick. Both Henry and Thomas Purcell were brought when quite young to England by their aunt, and placed in the Chapel Royal. Their aunt was a blood-relation of the Marquis of Ormonde, who was on intimate terms with King Charles I. Mrs James Purcell, their aunt, took for her second husband Colonel John Fitzpatrick, who was also a personal friend of Charles I and of Charles II. This lady was Elizabeth Butler, 4th daughter of Thomas, Viscount Thurles; her marriage jointure is dated 11 February, 1639. She returned from London in 1643.

At the Restoration, through the influence of the Marquis of Ormonde, who was created Duke of Ormonde on March 30, 1661, both Henry Purcell the Elder and his brother Thomas were given posts as Gentlemen in the Chapel Royal, and were in the immediate entourage of the Court, and not unregarded by the observant Pepys. Henry married _circa_ 1651, and his eldest son, Edward, called after an uncle of the same name, was born in 1653."

"W. H. GRATTAN-FLOOD."

It will be seen Dr Grattan-Flood gives interesting particulars of the Irish family. On one point the {141} 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 think, explain all the ensuing musical success of Purcell's father, his Uncle Thomas, and himself. But I can only hope that Dr Grattan-Flood's further researches may end in completely clearing up the mystery of the ancestry of Henry Purcell.

J.F.B.

[1] Mr Hooper, the Organist, and Mr John Parsons, the Master of the Choristers, both had houses in the Little Almonry in 1616. Their names appear on a document of that time, a lease from Dr Montaigne and the Chapter.

[2] The portrait which was issued with these sonatas has been reproduced for this volume.

[3] The _Jubilate_ was also "improved" by Boyce.

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INDEX

_Abbey Amen_, The, 42 Allnutt (Mr), 67 _Amphion Anglicus_, 113 Anne of Denmark (Princess), 113

Bach Choir, 51 Bannister, 101 _Beaumont and Fletcher_, 132 Bleaw, 110 Blow (Dr John), 108-117 Bodleian Library, 26 Boethius, 56 Boyce's _Cathedral Music_, 10 Brackly (Viscount), 74 Brazil (Emperor of), Visit to Westminster Abbey, 117 Bridgewater (Lord), 76 Bull (Dr John), 1-10 _Burlesque Madrigal_, 36 Byrd (Wm.), 11-20

Camden History Professorship, 42 Campion, 31 Canterbury Cathedral, 48 _Cantiones_ (Byrd), 13 Casaubon, 47 Clarke (Hyde), 68 Clarke (Jeremiah), 111 Coleman (Mrs), 82 (note) Collier (J. P.), _Catalogues of Early English Literature_, 78 Comic Song, The First Real, 77 _Comus_ (Milton), 72 Coperario (Giovanni), 71, 72 Corelli, 126 Coszyn's (Ben), _Virginal Book_, 36 Crews (Mr), 49 Cromwell (Oliver), 53 _Cryes of London_, 31, 36, 60

Davenant's _First Day's Entertainment_, 82 Deering (Richard), 50-62 Deering (Henry), 54 Deering (William), 54 _Dido and Æneas_, 125, 132 _Dioclesian_, 132 Drayton (Michael), 28 Dyke (Eleanor), 54

Earle's _Microcosmographie_, 45-47 Egerton (Lady Alice), 76 _English Country Songs_, 70

_Fairy Queen_ (_The_), 138 _Fancies_ (Byrd), 20 Fawkes (Guy), 59 Fellowes (Rev Dr), 33 Ferabosco, 37 Fétis (M), 135 _Fitzwilliam Virginal Book_, 9, 16, 25 Forster's _Virginal Book_, 25

Gibbons (Christopher), 85 Gibbons (Edward), 34-35 Gibbons (Orlando), 34-49 _Gloria Tibi Trinitas_, 37 Grabu (Grebus), 101 Gresham Lectures, 1 Grey (Lady Elizabeth), 54

Hamilton ("Single-speech"), 95 Hamlet's Soliloquy, 93 "Hatten's" Galliard, 36 Hatton (Sir Christopher), 36 Hawkins (Sir John), 116 Heyther (Dr), _Doctor's Exercise_, 42 _Humorous Fancy_, 31, 33, 37, 60 Humfrey (Pelham), 95-107 Humfrey (Col. John), 96

_In Nomines_ (Byrd), 20, 37 _It was a Lover and His Lass_ (Morley), 23

James II, Coronation of, 131 Jenkins (John), 95 Jerusalem Chamber, 44 Jonson (Ben), 6

Keepe's _Monumenta Westmonasteriensia_, 96

_Lady Nevill's Booke_, 16 Lambeth Register, 111 Lawes (Henry), 71-83 Lawes (William), 83 _Life of Archbishop Williams_, 44 Locke (Matthew), 84-94 Locke's Response to the Ten Commandments, 89 London University, 1 Ludlow Castle, 74 Lully (J. B.), 99

_Macbeth_, 92 Mace's _Musick's Monument_, 54 _Madrigals and Mottets_, 36 Matteis (Nicola), 127-130 _Medulla Musicke_, 16 Merchant Taylors' Company, 5 Milton (John), 63-70 Morley (Thomas), 21-28 _Musica Transalpina_, 14 Musical Antiquarian Soc., 39 Musicians, Worshipful Company of, 26 Myriell (Thomas), 38

_Non nobis Domine_ (Byrd), 20 North (Francis), 129 North (Roger), 82, 89, 92, 129 _Notes and Queries_, 67

_O Mistress Mine_ (Byrd), 19 Ouseley (Sir Frederick), 53, 115 Overture, Development of, 99 Oxford University, 10, 48, 83

Paris University, 98 Parry (Sir Hubert), 115, 136 _Parthenia_, 10, 35 Peacham's _Compleat Gentleman_, 19, 53 Pepys (Samuel), _Diary_, 83 Petre (Father), 112 Playford, 75 Purcell (Henry, the Elder), 82 Purcell (Henry), 118-141 Purcell (Roger), 119, 120 Purcell (Thomas), 105, 124, 139, 140, 141 Purcell Family, 120 Purcell Society, 138

Ravenscroft, 31 Ripon, Bishop of, 66 Robinson (Dr Armitage), 51 Rochester Cathedral, 108

_Sagbutts and Cornets_, 87 St Paul's Choir, 6 Salmon (Thomas), 90 Sancroft (Archbishop), 110 Sandwich (Lord), 93 Sandys (George), 73 Scott (Dr), 56 Scrivener's Company, 65 "Semi-operas," 92 Shakespeare (W.), 25 (note) _Siege of Rhodes_, 82, 119 Smith (Dr Cooper), 75 Somerset House Chapel, 89 Southgate (Dr), in Stanley (Dean), 117 Stanley (Sir William), 58 Stondon, 18 Sweelinck, 9

Tallis (Thomas), 11 _Tavola_ (Lawes), 77 _Teares and Lamentations_ (Leighton), 10 Tewkesbury, 3 _Three Ladies of London_, 32 _Triumphs of Oriana_, 11, 23 _Twincledowne Tavye_, 32 _Venus and Adonis_, 114

Waelrant, 9 Weelkes (Thomas), 28-33 Westminster Abbey, Gibbons' Festival (1907), 48 Westminster Abbey, Chapter Library, 50 _Where the Bee Sucks_, 104 Wilbye, 33 Wilson (Dr), 83 Wither's _Hymns and Songs of the Church_, 43 Wood (Anthony), 11, 54

_York_, 69

PRINTED AT THE DEVONSHIRE PRESS, TORQUAY, ENGLAND.

End of Project Gutenberg's Twelve Good Musicians, by Frederick Bridge