Henry Purcell (1659 – 1695) was an English composer. His style of Baroque music was uniquely English, although it incorporated Italian and French elements. Generally considered among the greatest English opera composers, Purcell is often linked with John Dunstaple and William Byrd as England's most important early music composers. No later native-born English composer approached his fame until Edward Elgar, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst, William Walton and Benjamin Britten in the 20th century..

Purcell was born in 1659 to Henry Purcell, master of choristers at Westminster Abbey, and his wife Elizabeth. When he was five, his father died, forcing his mother to resettle the family of six children into a more modest house and lifestyle. In about 1668, Purcell became a chorister in the Chapel Royal, studying under chorus master Henry Cooke. He also took keyboard lessons from Christopher Gibbons, son of the composer Orlando Gibbons, and it is likely that he studied with John Blow and Matthew Locke. In 1673, Purcell was appointed assistant to John Hingeston, the royal instrument keeper.

On September 10, 1677, Purcell was given the Court position of composer-in-ordinary for the violins. It is believed that many of his church works date from this time. Purcell, a great keyboard virtuoso by his late teens, received a second important post in 1679, this one succeeding Blow as organist at Westminster Abbey, a position he would retain all his life. That same year saw the publication of five of the young composer's songs in John Playford's Choice Ayres and Songs to Sing to the Theorbo-lute or Bass-viol. Around the same time, he began writing anthems with string accompaniment, completing over a dozen before 1685, and welcome songs. Purcell was appointed one of three organists at the Chapel Royal in the summer of 1682, his most prestigious post yet.

With Celebrate this Festival we come to the fifth of six Odes Purcell wrote to celebrate the birthday of Queen Mary in successive years from 1689. By 1693 the scoring of the orchestra had been increased to include oboes, recorders and a trumpet and, although the basic plan remained the same, the size and scale of the Odes and their dramatic content had increased. The choruses, often developing out of a series of solo sections, had increased in length and, in the interests of keeping pace with the libretto, instrumental ritornelli had all but vanished, with sections running instead straight into a contrasting vocal movement. Purcell worked closely with the famous trumpeter John Shore, and possible now were movements with virtuoso obbligato trumpet parts, of which the suitably military ‘While, for a righteous cause’ is a splendid example. Similarly, the presence of both oboes and recorders in the orchestra (oboists usually doubled on recorders) enabled delicately scored movements such as ‘Return, fond Muse’ (scored for two recorders and viola). The Symphony, much grander in scale than those of ten years before, was on this occasion copied directly from Hail! bright Cecilia, performed just six months previously, and Purcell was obviously blessed with two fine sopranos, whose opening duet sets a suitably stately tone for the Ode. But there is also writing of great beauty too, in particular the quietly ecstatic setting for solo alto, over a ground bass, of ‘Crown the altar’. Effective, too, is the wonderful seven-part vocal texture at ‘Repeat Maria’s name’ which throws the Queen’s name between voices and instruments before a minuet closes the work in elegant vein.

Source: Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Purcell).

Although originally composed for Voices (SSATB) & Basso Continuo, I created this interpretation of "Expected Spring at last is come" from "Celebrate this festival - a Birthday Ode for Queen Mary" (Z.321 No. 6) for Winds (Flute, Oboe, French Horn & Bassoon) & Strings (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).