Henry Purcell
2 quotes
Biography
Henry Purcell was an English composer and organist of the middle Baroque era. He was extremely prolific, having composed more than 100 songs, a tragic opera Dido and Aeneas, and wrote incidental music to a version of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream called The Fairy Queen.
"Music and Poetry have ever been acknowledged Sisters, which walking hand in hand support each other; As poetry is the harmony of words, so music is that of notes; and as poetry is a rise above prose and oratory, so is music the exaltation of poetry. Both of them may excel apart, but sure they are most excellent when they are oined, because nothing is then wanting to either of their perfections."
"Who is England’s greatest composer? Britten and Elgar have their fans, but many say Vaughan Williams is greater than either, and still others would vote for one of our great Renaissance composers such as Thomas Tallis or William Byrd. For me it’s none of these. It’s a workaholic Londoner born 350 years ago who had a talent as wondrous as Mozart’s and, like him, died at the cruelly young age of 36."