Operas published: v.3, Dido and Aeneas; v.12,The Fairy Queen; v.19, The
Indian Queenand The Tempest;v.26, King Arthur. These are revised versions
of earlier publications, except for Dido,which was a new edition (1979). Each
work has an introduction, list of sources, and notes to the score. An Index to
the Works of Henry Purcell as Published by the Purcell Society,by Alan Smith,
appeared in 1970.Thematic Catalogues and Worklists
- Zimmerman, Franklin B. Henry Purcell 1659–1695: An Analytical Catalogue
of His Music.London: Macmillan, 1963. xxiv, 575p. ML134 .P95 Z72.
Described by the compiler as “a fairly complete list of Purcell’s complete works
and their main sources.” It has cross-references and an inventory of manu-
scripts and other sources. Musical incipits are given for all movements of the
compositions.
Bibliographies and Guides to Research
- Zimmerman, Franklin B. Henry Purcell: A Guide to Research. Garland Com-
poser Resource Manuals, 18. New York: Garland, 1989. xi, 333p. ISBN 0-8240-
7786-5. ML134 .P95 Z55.
A valuable presentation of secondary literature on Purcell, annotated and
arranged by the author with a classified list of topics. Also a worklist, long list of
editions, and a substantial biographical sketch. Index of names, titles, and topics.
Conferences
1514.Performing the Music of Henry Purcell. Ed. Michael Burden. New York:
Oxford U.P., 1996. xvii, 302p. ISBN 0-19-816442-4. ML410 .P93 P4.
Consists of 16 papers (7 of them on the operas), most of them from a 1993
conference at Oxford. The opera items are Michael Burden, “Purcell
Debauch’d: The Dramatick Operas”; Richard Semmens, “Dancing and Dance
Music in Purcell’s Operas”; Andrew H. Walkling, “Performance and Political
Allegory in Restoration England: What to Interpret and When”; Ruth-Eva
Ronen, “Of Costume and Etiquette: Staging in the Time of Purcell”; Roger
Savage, “Calling Up Genius: Purcell, Roger North, and Charlotte Butler”;
Julia Muller and Frans Muller, “Purcell’s Dioclesian on the Dorset Garden
Stage”; and Lionel Sawkins, “Trembleursand Cold People: How Should They
Shiver?” A useful eight-page review of this collection, by Robert Shay,
appeared in Journal of Seventeenth-Century Music4–1 (1998).Collections of Essays
1515.Henry Purcell (1659–1695): Essays on His Music.Ed. Imogen Holst. New
York: Oxford U.P., 1959. 136p. ML410 .P98 .H76.
Nine essays by various authors. Two relate to the operas: Imogen Holst, “Pur-
cell’s Librettist, Nahum Tate,” and Michael Tippett, “Our Sense of Continuity
in English Drama and Music.” Tippett observes that “failing an English opera
composer as such, Purcell is all there is.” He offers interesting Langerian
observations on Dido.Henry Purcell 287