Purcell (compared with Handel)

The lives of these two giants offer interesting points of comparison and contrast. Henry Purcell, held up as the finest flower of native English Baroque composers, lived just long enough to establish a solid position in music history. But despite an early death, he produced several of the most influential operas, most notably Dido and Aeneas (1689), as well as a vast treasure of solo songs and ceremonial odes. Tonight we hear several selections from his King Arthur, or the British Worthy (1691). The Nine Worthies are the human counterpart of the Seven Wonders of the World; the origins of the list are lost to time, but members from Trojan prince Hector to King David to Charlemagne. England can claim only Arthur among these personages. Purcell’s setting features a text by John Dryden, who originally crafted a powerful libretto of nationalist spirit in 1684 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Restoration—the return of the monarchy under Charles II. But when Charles died and England again felt political upheaval, both Dryden and Purcell found themselves on the outside looking in. King Arthur was produced in an attempt to achieve public success where royal patronage had failed.
Georg Frideric Handel, born in Germany, became one of England’s greatest adopted sons. Following a basic musical education at home, Handel traveled to Italy, where he absorbed the best of Italian vocal treatment and profoundly altered the future direction of opera. In 1710 Handel journeyed to London—where he would settle permanently in 1712—and began introducing opera sung in Italian to the English stage. Despite the caprices of fashion, he remained successful over the next two decades: Nearly all of his 40 Italian operas were written before 1738, after which his attentions shifted to oratorio. Yet even in that quasi-sacred genre the vocal mannerisms of the Italian style continued to dominate. A large part of Handel’s shift to the oratorio must be understood as a financial decision. Conventional sources for opera funding—patronage and subscriptions—were running dry, and Handel knew it. So like Purcell, he adapted his work to fit changing situations. He also resurrected or delved anew into other genres of composition, such as keyboard suites and chamber music.
Purcell appears rarely—if ever—to have traveled abroad; Handel ventured across Europe and England repeatedly. Purcell spent most of his working career in sacred settings, though is best remembered for his dramatic stage works. Handel strove above all to write operas, which he did abundantly. Yet prior the revival of those operas during the 1960s, he was best known for Messiah and other sacred efforts. Purcell died young, leaving a wife and children behind him; Handel lived a long bachelorhood. In eternity they rest very near each other in the burial vaults of Westminster Abbey.

(c) Jason Stell