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English composer and organist Henry Purcell was a great figure of English opera. He was born in 1659 in Westminster, England. Son of a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal and Master of the Choristers at Westminster Abbey, he learned the fundamentals of his art early on in life. The family lived near the Abbey until his father’s death in 1664.

Although little is known of Purcell’s schooling, he apprenticed in 1673 to John Hingeston, Royal Keeper and Repairer of the Instruments. He also was paid as a copyist and as a tuner for the organ at the Abbey. After the death of his mentor, Matthew Locke, in 1677, Purcell was appointed Composer in Ordinary for the Violins at the Chapel Royal. In 1679, he was named organist at the Abbey.

Purcell spent much of his talent in writing operas and incidental stage music. Most of Purcell’s theatre music was written during the last five years of his life and he supplied music for more than forty plays. Two years after his death, Purcell’s widow published a compilation of his instrumental music, Collection of Ayres, Compos’d for the Theatre, and upon Other Occasions.

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