PREFACE.

The attempt to write a Life of Henry Purcell has been beset with many difficulties. So much information which might have been preserved for the instruction of after times has been lost, either through the indifference or culpable neglect of those who had it in their power to have placed on record details which would have been interesting. Sir John Hawkins and Dr. Burney are particularly open to censure on this head. They possessed many opportunities for gaining authentic knowledge of facts and circumstances now lost for ever. In reading their histories of music we cannot but feel regret that they neglected to gather and garner the stores of Purcellian lore which were so accessible to them, and which they could so easily have rescued from oblivion.

Both Hawkins and Burney had a personal acquaintance with Leveridge, the celebrated bass vocalist and actor, who had been on friendly terms with Purcell, and could have solved many doubts which now perplex the musical student. Leveridge could have supplied very interesting details, which would have enriched the meagre narrations handed down to us respecting the great English musician.

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."

Hawkins not only corresponded with Gostling, but also frequently visited him at Canterbury; and at his decease prepared the catalogue for the sale by auction, in 1777, of his library. There can be little doubt that Dr. Burney had also a personal acquaintance with the Rev. W. Gostling. I possess a copy of the catalogue before mentioned, which belonged to Burney, and in it he has noted the prices the various lots fetched, himself being the purchaser of several.

Both Hawkins and Burney were well acquainted with Mr. Henry Needler, an eminent musician and violinist, who had been a pupil of Purcell, and resided near St. Clement's Church, in the Strand, where he died in 1760.

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 recognised musical historians are not to be implicitly relied on when dealing with facts and dates.

My endeavour has been to follow an accurate chronological arrangement; but I am fully sensible that perfection is impossible, and therefore I shall be grateful for corrections of errors, or additional information for future use.

My hope is that this little work may be the fore-runner of other Purcell studies, in which it will be possible to give further details respecting Purcell's ancestry, descendants, and family, and also to say something more of his noteworthy contemporaries and pupils.
WILLIAM H. CUMMINGS.

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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. We read with horror and indignation of the wanton destruction of church organs and other musical instruments, and of the tearing and burning of the various Service-books which had been in use in the cathedrals and collegiate establishments. At Canterbury cathedral "the soldiers violated the monuments of the dead, spoyled the organs, broke down the ancient rails and seats with the brazen eagle which did support the Bible, forced open the cupboards of the singing-men, rent some of their surplices, gowns, and Bibles, and carryed away others, mangled all our Service-books and books of Common Prayer, bestrewing the whole pavement with the leaves thereof." At Rochester cathedral, Colonel Sands, hearing the organs, cryed, "A devil on those bag-pipes," and "one of the rebels" discharged a pistol at the head of Prebend Larken, who interposed and endeavoured to prevent the spoliation of the cathedral. At Chichester cathedral, the officers having sacked the plate and vestments, left the "destructive and spoyling part to be finished by the common soldiers, who brake down the organs, and dashing the pipes with their pole-axes, scoffingly said, 'Hark how the organs go!' They force open all the locks, either of doors or desks wherein the singing-men laid up their Common Prayer books, their singing-books, their gowns and surplesses; they rent the books in pieces, and scatter the torn leaves all over the church, even to the covering of the pavement." At Winchester "They enter the church with colours flying, their drums beating, their matches fired, and that all might have their part in so horrid an attempt, some of their troops of horse also accompanied them in their march, and rode up through the body of the church and quire until they came to the altar; there they begin their work; they rudely pluck down the table and break the rail, and afterwards carrying it to an ale-house they set it on fire, and in that fire burnt the books of Common Prayer and all the singing-books belonging to the Quire; they throw down the organ and break the stories of the Old and New Testament curiously cut out in carved work. The troopers ride through the streets in surplesses, carrying Common Prayer books and some broken organ pipes."

In Westminster Abbey, in 1643, "Soldiers were quartered who brake down the rail about the altar, and burnt it in the place where it stood; they brake down the organ and pawned the pipes at several ale-houses for pots of ale; they put on some of the singing-men's surplesses, and in contempt of that canonical habit, ran up and down the church; he that wore the surpless was the hare, the rest were the hounds."

It would be needless to add to these miserable stories; those who care to read further on the subject, are referred to the quaint old book Mercurius Rusticus, from whence the foregoing extracts have been taken.

So complete was the destruction of church music-books, that examples of the pre-Commonwealth time are now most rare.

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.

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 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.

It is well known that the organ which stood in Magdalen College, Oxford, was saved from destruction through the intervention of Cromwell, who privately caused it to be removed to Hampton Court, where it was placed in the great gallery, in order that he might have the frequent pleasure of hearing it; and he also appointed as his organist and music-master, at a salary of 100l. per annum, John Hingston, who had been one of the musicians to Charles I. Cromwell was extremely partial to the Latin Motets composed by Richard Dering, and these were performed on the organ by Hingston, who was assisted by his pupils in the vocal parts. The interesting organ which must have often poured forth its sweet sounds under the fingers of Milton, was, after the Protector's death, returned to Magdalen College; but subsequently the College authorities sold it, and it was removed to Tewkesbury Abbey, where it now stands.

Anthony Wood, who lived during the Protectorate, tells the following characteristic anecdote of Cromwell:—

"In October, 1659, James Quin, M.A., and one of the senior students of Christ Church, a Middlesex man born, but son of Walter Quin, of Dublin, died in a crazed condition. A. W. had some acquaintance with him, and hath several times heard him sing, with great admiration. His voice was a bass, and he had a great command of it. 'Twas very strong and exceeding trouling, but he wanted skill, and could scarce sing in consort. He had been turned out of his student's place by the visitors, but being well acquainted with some great men of those times that loved music, they introduced him into the company of Oliver Cromwell, the Protector, who loved a good voice and instrumental music well. He heard him sing with very great delight, liquored him with sack, and in conclusion, said: 'Mr. Quin, you have done very well, what shall I do for you?' To which Quin made answer, with great compliments, of which he had command, with a great grace, that 'Your Highness would be pleased to restore him to his student's place,' which he did accordingly, and so kept it to his dying day."

It must not be forgotten that although during the Commonwealth musicians found it difficult to earn their bread in consequence of the prohibition of all public exhibition of their executive skill, yet many of the learned and erudite musical treatises which have been handed down to us were published at that time. From this we may be sure that the musical predilections of Cromwell were regarded with secret hope by the few musicians who were able privately to pursue their calling; and indeed public signs were not wanting during the latter years of the Protector's life, that had he been spared, the art of music would probably have received more emphatic and distinct assistance at his hands. In 1656 he granted a licence to Sir William Davenant to open a kind of theatre[2] for "an entertainment in declamation and music after the manner of the ancients;" and later on he licensed certain theatrical performances at the Cockpit, in Drury Lane.

The extreme Puritan party did, however, so effectually destroy and put down all Church music,[3] deeming organs and service-books superstitious and ungodly, that at the Restoration, when the authorities set about re-establishing musical services in the cathedrals, it was impossible to find either instruments, books, or singers necessary for the purpose; and, indeed, out of the large musical establishment of Charles I., only three men—Dr. Wilson, Christopher Gibbons, and Henry Lawes—came forward at the Restoration to claim their former appointments.

We get a further insight into the condition of Church music at the Restoration, from Matthew Locke's Present Practice of Musick Vindicated, published in 1673, wherein he says, "For above a year after the opening of His Majestie's Chappel, the orderers of the musick there were necessitated to supply superior parts of the music with cornets and men's feigned voices, there being not one lad for all that time capable of singing his part readily."

An examination of the old MS. copies of anthems composed by the organists and singing-men of the various cathedrals in the reign of Charles II., shows that a dearth of singing-boys (trebles) was general throughout the kingdom, the compositions being chiefly for men's voices only.

From the preceding slight and brief sketch of the state of music during the Commonwealth, it will be evident that the Puritan rule was most unpropitious for the art; with its professors banned, and its public performance well-nigh extinguished, music might perhaps have been expected to have died an unnatural death; but heaven-born, it retained a vital spark which needed only the breath of freedom and gentle encouragement to foster it into a flame.

With the death of Cromwell, the sun of the Puritan world vanished, but happily at the same time a new star in the musical firmament arose. Cromwell died in 1658, at Whitehall, and in the same year, within a bow-shot of the Palace, was born the favoured child of the muses, destined to raise the musical fame of England to a height it had never before attained, and by his beautiful creations to make for himself a name of undying fame.

This welcome prodigy was Henry Purcell, his birth-place St. Ann's Lane, Old Pye Street, Westminster. The precise day of his birth there is unknown, but there is no doubt about the year 1658. Some remains of the house are still standing. A sketch of it and the adjoining premises was made on the 15th of April, 1845, by R. W. Withall.

The original drawing, of which a reduced copy is given, has the following note:—

"Three ancient houses in Westminster; in the right-hand one of which the great H. Purcell was born, 1658, and passed his early life. They are now in the last state of ruin, and have long been uninhabited. The houses adjoining that of Purcell are of modern date, and project before the others, as well as encroach somewhat on Purcell's doorway, hiding one side of the door-frame. Of the old houses the windows and doorways are nearly all boarded up in the roughest manner, under which, however, the original panelled doors are still to be partly found. The houses are of old red brick. The first door was the back way into the public-house called the 'Bell and Fish,' kept by Mr. Oldsworth, who lost his licence. The second door the entrance to the skittle-ground. The third was Purcell's house."

Purcell was named Henry after his father, a thoroughly competent and efficient musician, of whom Pepys made this quaint entry in his diary on the 21st of February, 1659:—

"After dinner I back to Westminster Hall with him (Mr. Crewe) in his coach. Here I met with Mr. Lock and Pursell, masters of musique, and with them to the Coffee House, into a room next the water, by ourselves, where we spent an hour or two, till Captain Taylor came and told us that the House had voted the gates of the city to be made up again, and the members of the city that are in prison to be set at liberty; and that Sir G. Booth's case be brought into the House to-morrow. Here we had variety of brave Italian and Spanish songs, and a canon for eight voices, which Mr. Lock had lately made on these words, 'Domine salvum fac Regem,'—an admirable thing. Here out of the window it was a most pleasant sight to see the city from one end to the other with a glory about it, so high was the light of the bonfires, and so thick round the City; and the bells rang everywhere."

We may note here the intimacy which existed between Purcell's father and Matthew Locke,[4] the celebrated composer, an intimacy and friendship which was afterwards extended to the son.

Henry Purcell, senior, was a gentleman of the Chapel Royal, and in that capacity sang in the choir at the coronation of Charles II.[5] He was also elected a singing-man of Westminster Abbey, and master of the chorister boys of that church; to these appointments he added that of music copyist of Westminster Abbey, at that time a very honourable and important position, in consequence of the wholesale destruction of Service-books which had taken place during the Commonwealth.

A very interesting official document, now preserved in the British Museum, of which the following is a copy, gives us information respecting the appointments held by Henry Purcell, the father, in Westminster Abbey:—

"Accounts of Richard Busby, D.D., 1664. The money computed by John Needham (Gent.) receiver of the college.

"To Mr. Chaunter for nine Holly days—

"To George Dalham, for tuning the organ this year, 40s.[6]

"To John Hill,[7] for playing on the cornett in the church this year, £4.

"To the organist for rent of his house, £8.

"Given to the organist[8] out of the rents at the taking of his degree, £5.

"Given by order to the christened Turke—nil.[9]

"Jan. 11, 1664—"J. Dolben, Decanus.
Wal. Jones, Sub Decanus.
H. Killigrew.
S. Bolton.
Charles Gibbes.
Robt. South.
Ric. Perrinchief."

In addition to the before-mentioned appointments at the Chapel Royal and Westminster Abbey held by Purcell, senior, we find that he was also a member of the Royal band. The old cheque-book of the Chapel Royal in recording his death places the matter beyond doubt:—

"These are to certify that Mr. Henry Purcell, who succeeded Segnor Angello in his place of the private musicke; that the said Mr. Henry Purcell took possession of his place in the year 1663, upon St. Thomas's day; deceased the 11th August, 1664. These are to certifye the death of Mr. Henry Purcell.

• "Henry Cooke.
• Tho. Purcell.
• Alphonso Marsh.
• Gregory Thorndale.
• Edward Colman."

It is clear from the foregoing account of the numerous important musical posts which the father held, that he was a man of considerable ability, and fully equal to the task of guiding and fostering the musical predilections of his infant son; and there can be no doubt that Henry Purcell received his earliest instructions in the art of music from his father. When the latter died he was buried in the cloisters of Westminster Abbey; his age has not been ascertained, but presumably he was but a young man—perhaps he was naturally weak in constitution—and from him the boy Henry may have inherited the seeds of consumption. The elder Purcell died in 1664, at which time the young Henry was just six years old, and with his natural genius he had doubtless already acquired some considerable skill in music. It is certain that he was immediately admitted