Daniel Purcell (c. 1664 – buried 26 November 1717) was an English

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

composer, the younger brother or cousin of

Henry Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: ; September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer of Baroque music, most remembered for his more than 100 songs; a tragic opera, Dido and Aeneas, ''Dido and Aeneas''; and his incidental music to a version o ...

Biography

Like Henry Purcell before him, Daniel Purcell joined the choir of the Chapel Royal at about the age of 14. In his mid-twenties he was appointed organist of

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

where he began to compose. In 1695 he moved to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to compose for the

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

providing incidental music for more than 40 plays. One of his first engagements was to complete the concluding Masque for Act V of the

semi-opera The terms "semi-opera", "dramatic opera" and "English opera" were all applied to Restoration literature#Theatre, Restoration entertainments that combined spoken plays with masque-like episodes employing singing and dancing characters. They usua ...

''The Indian Queen'', the preceding music for which had been written by Henry Purcell during the early months of 1695. It is unclear whether Daniel Purcell had been engaged because of pressure to complete the score in time for the first performance or as a result of Henry Purcell's failing health and subsequent death. Robert King (1994). ''Henry Purcell: "A greater musical genius England never had"'', p.219. London: Thames and Hudson.
Review by Robert Thompson
''Early Music'', Vol. 23, Issue 4, November 1995. The performance history of the piece is uncertain, and the first performance may have gone ahead without Daniel Purcell's contribution. In 1696 he composed the score for the semi-opera '' Brutus of Alba'' to a libretto by George Powell. In 1701, he came third in a competition for the best musical setting of William Congreve's

masque The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment that flourished in 16th- and early 17th-century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio (a public version of the masque was the pageant). A mas ...

, '' The Judgment of Paris''. His instrumental compositions published c.1710 included sets of

sonata In music a sonata (; pl. ''sonate'') literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cantare'', "to sing"), a piece ''sung''. The term evolved through the history of music, designating a variety of forms until th ...

s and

trio sonata The trio sonata is a genre, typically consisting of several movements, with two melody instruments and basso continuo. It originated in the early 17th century and was a favorite chamber ensemble combination in the Baroque era. Basic structure T ...

s for recorder in addition to works for violin. In 1713, at the age of 49 he was appointed organist of St Andrew's, Holborn, a position he held until his death. He was subsequently buried in St Andrew's Church where he had worked. The most frequently performed of his compositions are probably the ''

Magnificat The Magnificat (Latin for "y soulmagnifies he Lord) is a canticle, also known as the Song of Mary or Canticle of Mary, and in the Byzantine Rite as the Ode of the Theotokos (). Its Western name derives from the incipit of its Latin text. This ...

'' and '' Nunc dimittis'' in E minor, liturgical pieces written for use in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

service of

Evensong Evensong is a church service traditionally held near sunset focused on singing psalms and other biblical canticles. It is loosely based on the canonical hours of vespers and compline. Old English speakers translated the Latin word as , which ...

References

External links

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''The Judgment of Paris''
by Daniel Purcell (Resonus Classics, RES 10128). The world-première recording of this work. Spiritato and the Rodolfus Choir with Anna Dennis (Venus), Amy Freston (Pallas), Ciara Hendricks (Juno), Samuel Boden (Paris) and Ashley Riches (Mercury), conducted by Julian Perkins. 1660s births 1717 deaths English Baroque composers 18th-century English classical composers 18th-century English male musicians English male classical composers Daniel {{UK-composer-stub