Dido’s Lament became one of the most celebrated airs in English vocal music

lived during a period of rich cultural and artistic activity. It was a period when, in the wake of the mid-century civil war and Cromwellian interregnum, music, theatre and the arts were once again encouraged by those in power – especially King Charles II, who ruled from 1660 until his death in 1685, and Queen Mary (wife of King William III) who died at the end of 1694. True, London and its inhabitants suffered terribly during Purcell’s childhood from the Plague (1665) and Great Fire (1666). But in the wake of these two tragedies and despite a succession of Anglo-dutch wars, Purcell, like many of his talented contemporaries, found his opportunities for creative work over the next few decades widely encouraged and financially recompensed. When diarist Samuel Pepys, a keen amateur musician, wrote that ‘musique is the thing was 20, Purcell had succeeded Blow as organist of Westminster Abbey and was devoting much of his time to writing ecclesiastical works. Two of his finest anthems were produced during the

1680s: the joyful I was Glad and, for the coronation of King James II in 1685, the splendidly majestic My Heart is Inditing. And yet this most energetic and creative of composers also found time to write for the secular market: folkish songs and dances, almost bawdy at times, the kind of thing that could be enjoyed in the new coffee houses of the time, and fantasias for viol consort and violin sonatas which friends and neighbours might like to play in the comfort of their homes.

By the time he was 30, Purcell was the most highly revered musician in the land. ★e was the go-to composer, whether it was for a theatre text by Thomas D’urfey,