Purcell: A Biography - Couverture rigide

Keates, J

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0701146931 ISBN 13 : 9780701146931

Editeur : Chatto & Windus, 1995

Synopsis

Henry Purcell (1659-95) is unarguably England's greatest composer. He died very young, at the age of 36, but he was astonishingly prolific, leaving behind harpsichord pieces and sonatas of great beauty, as well as numerous songs, anthems, operas, and great choral masterpieces DIDO AND AENEAS and TE DEUM AND JUBILATE. This scholarly and wonderfully readable biography - by the author of an acclaimed biography of Handel is published to coincide with the tercentenary of Purcell's death. Jonathan Keates brings alive Restoration London, its thriving social scene, theatres, concert halls and the lively court of Charles II, and paints a vivid, intelligent portrait of a great artist.

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

In the chaos of the English Civil War and Puritan Commonwealth, churches were defaced and organs broken, but the tradition of fine music survived. When Charles II returned from exile in 1660, one of the first things he demanded was music, sacred and profane, anthems and motets, pavannes and gavottes. In 1659 Henry Purcell was born, and his genius would give the period and nation an unforgettable voice. Jonathan Keates traces Purcell's development against the turbulent movements of his time - political, religious, theatrical and social. He shows him growing up in the shadow of Westminster Abbey and follows him as a chorister in the Chapel Royal, copying the innovative and colourful style of Matthew Locke; beginning to composer for the theatre, and for State occasions; writing his great settings of sacred music, his chamber sonatas, and his triumphant Dido and Aeneas, the first British opera. In the background are the heady politics of Restoration England, which expelled the Stuart James II and brought William and Mary to the throne. But almost more important is the rich musical history, the influence of French and Italian composers, blending with and modifying the native tradition. We know and love Purcell through his work; his songs were sung in taverns, his psalms in churches; he was urbane and witty, impassioned and profound. This engrossing biography is as remarkable for its sensitive critical appreciation of Purcell's music, in all its forms, as it is for its vivid portrait of the man, and the boisterous age in which he lived.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Chatto & Windus
• Date d'édition: 1995
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0701146931
• ISBN 13: 9780701146931
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 304
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
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