Purcell - The Master Musicians by J A Westrup

The Master Musicians

Purcell

by J A Westrup

ISBN

Henry Purcell is perhaps the most complete musician England has ever had, and it is fitting that the present editor of the Master Musicians series should be entrusted with the difficult task of critically reviewing the composer's varied and extensive output (still unfamiliar to many), embracing all the known forms of his time in choral and instrumental music and in music for the stage. The concerto grosso and the fully developed contrapuntal choral style did not reach maturity until after Purcell's death. Bearing this fact in mind the author emphasizes the richness (and purity) of the composer's ideas in the forms that lay ready to his hand. The slender record of facts upon which a writer can base a life of Purcell' the lack of personal testimony compels us to depend almost entirely on official records' is used with intelligence and skill. But the author, in concentrating more fully on the music of one of the greatest of English composers, is performing a greater service at this time, when performances of Purcell's works are becoming more frequent and therefore better known. Purcell not only occupies a fundamental place in the history of music but the fullness of his stature, as revealed in Professor Westrup's pages, may come as a surprise to many music-lovers who consider themselves familiar with 'great music'.
He was an inspired master of melody and a composer whose use of counterpoint and harmony is rich in imagination and insight, for' what no one will fail to find in Purcell at his best is a spring of life, a vitality that glows with the effort of the whole man'.

Condition is Very good, the DJ has been price clipped, an owners inscription to the flyleaf.

Publisher Dent, hardback

Date 1965

Pages 323

Reference 020733

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