Henry Purcell

Henry Purcell was an English composer and organist of the middle Baroque era whose music, English in style, incorporated Italian and French elements. A former chorister of the Chapel Royal, he became organist of Westminster Abbey in 1679, when John Blow resigned the office in his favour, and organist of the Chapel Royal in 1682. His works include more than 100 songs, the opera Dido and Aeneas, the semi-operas Dioclesian, King Arthur and The Fairy-Queen, odes such as Come Ye Sons of Art, and music for the funeral of Queen Mary in 1695. He died at his home in Marsham Street in November 1695, at the height of his career, and is buried beside the organ in Westminster Abbey.