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Donald Macleod explores what we know of Purcell’s own private life alongside some of the last music he wrote.

This week of programmes sets Purcell’s work during his short life in the context of the turbulent times in which he lived. This was a period of intense political and social change, encompassing three different monarchies, the plague, the Great Fire of London, and the arrival of another deadly pandemic.

In the final six years of his life, Purcell wrote music for forty-two plays, whilst keeping up a regular output of odes and intimate music for domestic settings. Some of Purcell’s most affecting songs were published in his 1693 collection of divine hymns. We also hear the composer with a point to prove on behalf of English musicians in Thomas Betterton’s semi-opera The Prophetess. Tragedy struck London once again in 1694 when smallpox swept the capital, killing Queen Mary. A few months after, Purcell himself died, tragically young, aged thirty-six.

The Prophetess, or The History of Dioclesian, Z629 (excerpt)
Collegium Musicum 90
Richard Hickox, conductor

Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary, Z. 860i
Tessa Bonner, soprano
William Kendall, tenor
Kai Wessel, countertenor
Paul Agnew, tenor
Patrizia Kwella, soprano
Collegium Vocale Gent
Collegium Vocale Gent Orchestra
Philippe Herreweghe, conductor

Incassum Lesbia, incassum rogas, Z83
Carys Lane, soprano
Laurence Cummings, organ

Play Music for Abdelazer (excerpts)
Academy of Ancient Music
Christopher Hogwood, conductor

From Rosy Bowers
Stéphanie d'Oustrac, mezzo-soprano
Amarillis
Heloise Gaillard, director

Produced by Iain Chambers