Purcell (Master Musician S.) - Softcover

"still a spanking good introduction for the general reader...It is the vividness of the language which sticks in our minds as a monument to a more prosaic age or the advantages of a classical education."--The Musical Times "Jack Westrup had already garnered most of what it seems we are ever likely to know about Purcell's life; he had a detailed grasp of the 17th-century background and decided views on Purcell's work itself"--BBC Music Magazine "invaluable for students and music enthusiasts alike"--Composer "classic study of the life and works of Henry Purcell... a useful tool for the dancer"--Historical Dance "Holman...provides essential information, missing elsewhere, about how Purcell's music was performed."--The Times Literary Supplement

In this classic study, reissued on the 300th anniversary of Purcell's death, Sir Jack Westrup drew on documentary evidence from the Court, Westminster Abbey, and other sources to give a vivid account of Purcell's life in seventeenth-century London. The range of Purcell's compositions is also fully covered, from small-scale pieces to music for state occasions and works for the Restoration stage.