William Hayman Cummings

“ A music book intituled Harmonia Sacra will shortly be printed for Mr. Playford. I need not say anything more to recommend it to you, than that you will find in it many of Mr. Henry Purcell's admirable composures. As they charm all men, they are universally extolled, and even those who know him no otherwise than by his Notes are fond of expressing their sense of his merit. ”

“ Thomas Purcell lived till 1682, so that he had the satisfaction of witnessing the extraordinary development of his nephew's genius, and could also rejoice to see the general recognition of his merits, and of the honourable rewards he was so rapidly acquiring. When, at last, full of years and honours, Thomas departed this life, he was buried near his brother in the cloisters of Westminster Abbey. We seek in vain for the musical compositions of either Henry (the elder) or of Thomas: with the exception of a few chants in common use in our cathedrals, nothing of their work remains to us. ”

“ PURCELL.
Music and poetry attained to a high state of cultivation in the reign of Elizabeth; the Queen herself was an admirable performer on the virginals, and by her example and authority did all that was possible to elevate the art of music, and to encourage learned musicians throughout her dominions. This happy condition of things was continued by her successors, James I. and Charles I., but with the establishment of the Commonwealth all music, both of church and theatre, was rigidly suppressed. ”

“ The opera is short, yet we cannot but recognise the fact that had there been a public [Pg 33] demand for absolute music-drama, or even a proper appreciation of a work cast in such a mould, the composer had arisen who possessed the necessary genius, inspiration, and feeling for building up a school of opera which would have proved a model for his own and succeeding generations, but the time was not ripe for such a development. ”

“ It must not be forgotten that many of Purcell's anthems now in use in our cathedrals were the product of his youthful pen and genius whilst he was still a pupil of Cooke. Captain Cooke, the soldier musician, died, as previously stated, in 1672, and was succeeded in his appointment as "Master of the Children of the Chapel" by one whose nature, genius, and scientific knowledge of music must have stimulated and excited in a special manner the dawning powers of the youthful musical company committed to his charge, and the force of whose example must have proved of the greatest service to Purcell. ”

“ When Henry Purcell, the younger, became a chorister in the Chapel Royal at six years of age, the master of the boys was Captain Henry Cooke, an old musician, who had belonged to the chapel of Charles I., but who, on the breaking out of civil war, had laid aside the peaceful art of music to engage in the rough dissonances of battle and strife, and changed his service from that of a Royal musician to become a Royalist soldier. ”

“ Thus being farther from the Sun, we are of later Growth than our Neighbour Countries, and must be content to shake off our Barbarity by degrees. The present Age seems already dispos'd to be refin'd, and to distinguish betwixt wild Fancy, and a just, numerous Composition. So far the Genius of your Grace has already prevail'd on Us. Many of the Nobility and Gentry have followed your Illustrious Example in the Patronage of Musick. Nay, even our Poets begin to grow asham'd of their harsh and broken Numbers, and promise to file our uncouth Language into smoother Words. ”

“ If tradition may be relied on, the Protector, Cromwell, was himself a lover of music, and not unwilling, when opportunity served, to assist and befriend musicians.
Cromwell's secretary, the poet Milton, was no mean performer on the organ, and being the son of an eminent composer, [1] would doubtless, with his passionate [Pg 4] love for music, be at all times ready to use his sympathetic voice and counsel on behalf of any distressed and poor musician who might petition the Protector for help or redress. ”

“ In May, 1688, Purcell had a daughter born; she was baptized in Westminster Abbey, receiving the name of Frances. This child attained to years of maturity, surviving both her father and her mother.
This year was a troublous one; the political horizon was black, and the national fortunes were in great jeopardy, people had small time or inclination for public amusements, but Purcell contributed music for at least one play, The Fool's Preferment, or the Three Dukes of Dunstable, a comedy by D'Urfey. ”

“ The music consists of an introductory symphony, choruses, and soli, with accompaniments for strings, and has a very novel termination to the words "Iô Cecilia." The words are poor, and were written by Christopher Fishbourne, [30] who seems to have been both a poet and a musician, but of no great pretension in either art. Purcell's enthusiasm and industry are well exemplified by the amount of music which he wrote for the first public observance of St. Cecilia's Day in this country. In addition to the ode already mentioned as published, he composed two other odes, one in English and one in Latin ”

“ Not only were the organs and music destroyed, but musicians, organists, and singers were turned adrift, and had to seek precarious livelihoods by teaching music to the few who cared or were willing to learn the art, or else to escape starvation by adopting some less congenial occupation than that for which they were fitted by nature and education. ”

“ As Poetry is the harmony of Words, So Musick is that of Notes: and as Poetry is a Rise above Prose and Oratory, so is Musick the exaltation of Poetry. Both of them may excel apart, but sure they are most excellent when they are joyn'd because nothing is then wanting to either of their Perfections: for thus they appear like Wit and Beauty in the same Person. Poetry and Painting have arriv'd to their perfection in our own Country: Musick is yet but in its Nonage, a forward Child which gives hope of what it may be [Pg 53] hereafter in England, when the Masters of it shall find more Encouragement. ”

“ Anecdotes, Biographical Sketches, by Letitia Matilda Hawkins.
[53] "The English affect more the Italian than the French music, and their own compositions are between the gravity of the first and the levity of the other. They have had several great masters of their own. Henry Purcell's works in that kind are esteemed beyond Lully's everywhere, and they have now a good many very eminent masters; but the taste of the town being at this day all Italian, it is a great discouragement to them."—Mackay's Journey Through England, 1722-3. ”

“ Of Purcell's music, Dr. Tudway, one of the choir on this occasion, says: "The anthem, 'Blessed is the man,' was composed after the old way, and was sung at the interment of Queen Mary in Westminster Abbey; a great Queen and extremely lamented, being there to be interred, everybody present was disposed and serious at so solemn a service, as indeed they ought to be at all parts of Divine worship. ”

“ Mention has previously been made of the music to Macbeth as the composition of Purcell; probably the recognition of the excellence and effectiveness of this work induced the managers of the theatres to give him further employment; for in 1676 we find him composing music for at least three plays—Shadwell's Epsom-Wells, Dryden's Aurenge-Zebe, and Shadwell's Libertine. The latter contains a four-part chorus, "In these delightful, pleasant groves," still popular with choral societies. The whole of the music of The Libertine is very bold, and would be an interesting work to revive for its merits ”

“ Purcell, the organ-blower, to pay to Mr. Needham such money as was received by him for places in the organ-loft, and in default thereof his place to be declared null and void, and that his stipend or salary to be detained in the treasurer's hands until further orders.' Upon which it may be observed that the penning of it is an evidence of great ignorance or malice, in that it describes him by the appellation of organ-blower who was the organist of their own church, and in truth the most excellent musician of his time. ”

“ D'Urfey wrote some especially rugged lines which he challenged Purcell to set to music; the challenge was accepted and the composer triumphed, but he confessed that it cost him more trouble than the composition of a Te Deum. The ballad in question was called "The Parson among the Peas," and was printed with Purcell's music in D'Urfey's Pills to Purge Melancholy, 1719.
At the present day music has become such an exten [Pg 91] sively developed science, particularly as regards orchestration, that it is difficult to apprehend the state of things which existed in Purcell's time ”

“ On the following day, the 16th, Pepys notes that there was a performance of Pelham Humphreys' musick given before the king at Whitehall.
That Humphreys was an admirable musician, possessed of uncommon genius, is easily discernible from the numerous compositions of his which have come down to us. He took as his models Lulli and Carissimi; but fortunately Purcell's genius was stronger and more emphatic than that of his master: had it been otherwise he would have become a mere copyist ”

“ Dryden's courtly servility has been deplored by more than one author. He had followed the lead set by Charles II., who had imported Monsieur Grabu from France, and set him up as a musical king, and for him, by royal command, Dryden wrote the opera of [Pg 57] Albion and Albanius. In the preface to the work he says:—
"The best judges, and those too of the best quality, who have honoured his (Grabu's) rehearsals with their presence, have no less commended the happiness of his genius than his skill. ”

“ The "incredible graces" are, of course, numerous division passages, commonly called runs. These graces were much in vogue in Purcell's day, and unfortunately he too often pandered to the vulgar taste of the multitude, and injured his music by writing many such, both in his sacred and secular works. The fashion was probably borrowed from the Italians. Bedford, in his Abuse of Musick, printed in 1711, says:—
"Among the varieties which have been brought into our musick, the divisions of many and short notes to a syllable is the most obvious to every hearer. ”

“ And when we look at Purcell's purely instrumental music, his sonatas, we find that as music they are superior to Corelli—containing more learning, more ingenuity, and yet without any appearance of labour or restraint ”

“ Every year now produces greater and greater prodigies on other instruments in point of execution."
Wind instruments were equally wanting if we except the trumpet, hautboy and bassoon, and only the former could be said to have arrived at any excellence in performance: there were no flutes, [55] clarinets, horns, or trombones. It cannot therefore be expected that grand orchestral effects will be found in Purcell's music, but what we do discover is an amazing comprehension of the precise sentiment and feeling required by the words or by the situation ”

“ Hawkins was on most intimate terms with the Rev. William Gostling, a minor canon of Canterbury Cathedral, and son of the "wondrous" bass of Purcell's day. The Rev. William Gostling possessed a very extensive library, rich in musical manuscripts, particularly those of Purcell. Miss Hawkins says of him: "Adding his father's recollections to his own, his knowledge of facts in the musical world reached back to the time of King William and Queen Mary, and he talked of Purcell as we do of Arne." ”

“ These and other qualities have raised M. Grabu to a degree above any man who shall pretend to be his rival on our stage."
The composer who was thus set above Purcell appears to have enjoyed a somewhat exalted opinion of his own ability, as will be seen by the following extract from the dedication of Albion and Albanius, addressed to James II. by Grabu himself:—
"As the subject of this opera is naturally magnificent, it could not but excite my genius, and raise it to a greater height in the composition—even so as to surpass itself. ”

“ I believe no Art was advanced from so mean a beginning to so vast a height in so short a time as the Science in the last century. Our musick began to equal that of the Italians and to exceed all other. Our Purcell was the delight of the nation and the wonder of the world, and the character of Dr. Blow was but little inferior to him. But when we made not that use thereof which we ought, it pleas'd God to shew his resentment, and a stop to our progress by taking away our Purcell in the prime of his age, and Dr. ”

“ Among the mis-statements of Hawkins and Burney may be mentioned the one which has been oft repeated, and caused endless trouble to biographers. They agree in saying Purcell was elected organist of Westminster Abbey at the age of eighteen. An examination of the Abbey records, which Hawkins had access to, would have prevented the promulgation of this error.
Other mis-statements will be dealt with in their proper place. Enough has been said to show that the [Pg viii] recognised musical historians are not to be implicitly relied on when dealing with facts and dates. ”

“ All Arts and Sciences have receiv'd their first encouragement from Great Persons, and owe their Propagation and Success to their esteem: like some sort of Fruit-trees, which being of a tender Constitution, and delicate in their Nature, require the shadow of the Cedar to shield their Infancy from Blites and Storms.
"Music and Poetry have ever been acknowledged Sisters, which walking hand in hand supports each other ”

“ In this eventful year, or the succeeding one, 1681, Purcell took unto himself a wife, and in the latter year he again composed an ode or "Welcome Song" which must have brought him favourably under the notice of the King. It commences, "Swifter Isis, swifter flow."
In July, 1682, his abilities were publicly recognised by giving him the appointment of Organist of the Chapel Royal in place of Edward Lowe, deceased. The honour [Pg 34] and the additional income would be welcomed by the young couple just starting on the voyage of life as a favourable augury for their future comfort and prosperity. ”