Henry Purcell

Henry Purcell (, rare: The stress on the second syllable is sometimes heard today, as mentioned by the Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, but this and the Oxford Companion to music emphasize that stress on the first syllable is the standard pronunciation in both the UK and North America. The stress on the second syllable is so rare that some English dictionaries don't even mention it, for example the [https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/purcell Collins English Dictionary] and the [https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/henry-purcell Oxford Learner's Dictionary].|group=n}} September 1659 there is uncertainty regarding the year and day of birth. No record of baptism has been found. The year 1659 is based on Purcell's memorial tablet in Westminster Abbey and the frontispiece of his ''Sonnata's of III. Parts'' (London, 1683). The day 10 September is based on vague inscriptions in the manuscript ''GB-Cfm 88''. It may also be relevant that he was appointed to his first salaried post on 10 September 1677, which would have been his eighteenth birthday.|group=n}} – 21 November 1695) was an English composer of Baroque music.

Purcell's musical style was uniquely English, although it incorporated Italian and French elements. Generally considered among the greatest English opera composers, Purcell is often linked with John Dunstaple and William Byrd as England's most important early music composers. No later native-born English composer approached his fame until Edward Elgar, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst, William Walton and Benjamin Britten in the 20th century. Provided by Wikipedia