Show l PU11CKL1S MEMORY L its ANNtVKnSATlY 11KINO CBLB UnATED IN UNQtAND ItrntllrtlUllM of lion llrnjt Ieotlt Cnln IOM t Cliiirth Jlnlr sod Anllim < Urllrr iif the lint opera In I lt i I IIKUXC I T IB Jnat two hun dr1 l sere ngo c since Henry Purcell t i i6 Pur-cell died In the if thlrtyacvonlli T ar rot JI I of his age and wa 1i I burled bcndnth the 4 organ In 1Vetmin r Ir Abbey lie I r had l mere than a I 1 touch of genius Not only did be ompoTO the most beautiful nntheou that arc sung < In our cathedral but he composed n To Deum worthy of Handel Han-del not with him rllla t the honor of writing the flril Kngllli I opera Hit I I work remarkable for its rich melody and strong Individuality no know sod can appreciate Hut of 1urccll lilm self the kind of man ho was the life I ho lived In those troubloua bhclc time of the revolution wo know compira lively little It la I not even certain when or where he was born Tbo dale of tubs birth wn In ICES or 1CM It bat for long been nccepled that ho was born In Little St Anna land Westminster I but lr llrldge the organlat of West mlnitrr Abbey has torsos Inquiring Into In-to tho carter of bole ureit predecessor and finds there la I no mention of any Pureell In lion Woalmlnattr rnte book at the time nor Is I there any record of Henry Iurctlla baptism While atlll I n boy and In hla early teen Purcell wrote nntlicnu which ore tune In our mltntcr He tea fond of the theater anil before probably lie could well read Macbeth he had written made ma-de Illnetratlrn of passage In Shikc speiroa tragedy Ilefore he too seventeen seven-teen he competed the muilo for three playa clod he wai In conaUint demaud by the manager of thoalera The mu ale In Shadweira Libertine written ut this lime la I illatlngulahtid for lla IIInJaly and vigor The curious thine about tin Libertine la that lit IIlIrcl to for Motarla opera Don Glevaonl was founded on the anmo story Aa a boy Purcell limit have escaped to the theater on every possible neon shun Ho wan no doubt nomelhlng of n wild outh and ho has been accused of being n rovntcrer and a later or ribald society Ill la 1 dimcult to believe that even In those dlaiolute limes following fol-lowing tho reatoratlon Purcell had much Icliure ills productlveneM was wonderful Music for the theater not anthems for tho cathedrals be compo com-po > ed with marvelous rapidity Hit Prom the poi trait by lodfroyKneller ludlvlduallly was marked and when ho woe eighteen rear of age lie produced pro-duced the exceedingly fine anisic for the mnsquo In Hlmd wells mutilation of t Bhakcipearoa Tlmon of Athena = a y i IinNIlY PUHCULL About thla limo ho wroto the fataoui anthem They that BO down to tho sea In ships The organist of Weatmlnitcr Abbey at that time was Dr John plow a boo > IIIR appreciative man who noon rooog nlied the genlui of hla pupil Ills ap predation wont so far that ho actually resigned ha olllco that Iureell might bo the organist of the uiajeatlo old pile Ro nt the ago of twentytwo 1ureoll took the highest peat an Kngllah inu ilclan eould then occupy It woo In 1180 he became organist and ho then covered tots ronnecllon with the theater for some years at any rote That year however uw the pro ducllon of the drat Knfllih opera Dido and Aoneaa Dramatic mualc nt the time was In a deplorable state In Ihla country Hitherto Unglleh coin pouera had done no more than write songs moil chorus not to do with the play but to lie Introduced at Interval In the performance aa n change Purcell Pur-cell never saw an opera In his life Opera flourished In Italy and was already al-ready creeping Into Trance Hut In Kiiglaud It was unknown Purcell however woo under the Influence of Nicola Mattela who came to this country coun-try In 1C7J and was the meauy of filling fi-lling Italian music In Hngland Through him Iurcell gained acquaintance acquaint-ance with the raualo of the Italian opera of that day The power of the young compoMra genius can be grasped from the fact that at the age of twen tytwo without having ever witnessed an opera he produced an opera himself which la construction waa perfect There wee no dialogue livery word In the libretto of Dido and AenMt was Mt In recitative solo duets It wni unique Although In 160 tbi opera was performed at Mr Joilia Irleefa hoarding School at ChQlsey by young gentlewomen there la 1 a story that It was wrltun seven years before What ground there la for lime story I know not but It la the belief of many that tie opera was tint produced at Irleifa JiJl ctiool in 11lltr Heidi whore he taught dunclng and that Purcell him elf watt the atln part The opera WM never produced at n theater Indeed II did not appear In print until 140 when i I the Mutlral Antiquarian society published pub-lished it I t1hon he twentyfour he gave the world a collection of wants which are the earliest work of the kind we hun I In Rnalaml says a writer In the lllti traled Undon Now lie married a lad named Ieter and lived In Or1 St t AnllO Irene the houee having long since been pulled down flubeequently he 11111 in Ilowllni Allr > the homo till mandlng nml for too yeses lie fore tote dents ho resided In Mariham street but which la I the house eaunot be dlacovercd 1 He never Iheil In beans Yard lovero of Purcell who gaie at Purcell lloiiM In Deail Yard are mla directing their womlilp Iureell who olio become the organlit of ho Chap 1 tool wa Imltuirloin aa a young nnn could be He wna perpetually per-petually competing church tniialc to I aa > nothing of hla odes to the king and royal family For limo coronation of I I Jarne II I he wrote Ilia I two lovely an I I totems My 1 Heart la Inditing1 and I It 4 h 1 I vimitK ruitcnu uvnn Va mall When ho wn twentyeight he raaumeil him connection with Otto theater Dryden waa looking about for Mini rompojcr to nailat him In his play and he fixed upon Purcell He wrote Hong for Drydena abominable lOrAlon of 8hakcpearea Tempoat It woo In 1GS7 that Iurcell < eompo < l a qulckitep which no doubt rontrlb tiled < 1 a good deal to the revolution of Ibo following year lord Vharlon tho I Irlah viceroy telted upon this stirring march as Hie tune of a rldlculoua long ralle1 Illllbullcro Intuiting to the Irlih people rtncrally That song political po-litical and rollgloui upreiil through Ibo I land na foot aa u popular comic one doe today I Though 1C8S wan n dark and Iroub Iou > ear and James IL ned 1 from hla throne Purcell contributed the music to nt least one play Tho Pont Preferment Pre-ferment al the queens theater In I Uorwt Harden Hn woo something of a iniulenl Vicar of Ilra > He Jut aa readily wrote ilea for the first of tho Ilanotcn 01 for Oho last of the Stuart 11oIld ho hud no amall eye to bual neon and al the coronation of William and Mary he claimed aa hla perqulille the money received from tlghtieera admitted to the organloft to view the ceremony Tho amount would certainly certain-ly I be several hundred pound nod ho dorllneO to hand It over to the dean and Will In ron equ nco threatened wild dismissal here is I an entry In limo old chapter IS April KM Mr Purcell Pur-cell Ilio organblower to pay to Mr Needham 1 such money aa was received by him for bravo In Ilio organlofi nod In default thereof tots place to bo do Glared null and void and that hit ill pvnd t or colony bo detained the Ireai urore hand IInlli fuelhr orders Inr Purcell to bo deccrlbcd n 8 the organ blower was probably an Intentional Insult In-sult How the quarrel ended I cannot soy bill Purcell did not cooao to bo or eunlst nt the Abbey lilt death took place two hundred year ago ho wna burled In Wettmln MIT Abbey beneath the Instrument that ho loved BO well and tho two anthem them that bo composed for Queen Marya funeral wrrn among nt his own Sine then thoy hove been sung at over > chorol funeral In Westmlnittr Abbey and flt Paula cathedral To commemorate thla great rooster of nngllsh musle n comprehensive no count of whom appear In Ibo Musical Magazine ono of Itb on them a has been Included l In Ibo aervleo every week at Westminster Them la to bo a aervlco on the anniversary of Purcell death and tho music which first found voice ll I I THI pimoRU TAULBT In Wetlmlniter Abbey In tho old Abbey will bo echoed again lu all It majesty and Grand simplicity |