As England's greatest composer of the Baroque, Henry Purcell was dubbed the "Orpheus Britannicus" for his ability to combine pungent English counterpoint with expressive, flexible, and dramatic word settings. While he did write instrumental music, including the important viol fantasias, the vast majority of his output was in the vocal/choral realm. His only opera, Dido and Aeneas, divulged his sheer mastery in the handling of the work's vast expressive canvas, which included lively dance numbers, passionate arias and rollicking choruses. Purcell also wrote much incidental music for stage productions, including that for Dryden's King Arthur. His church music includes many anthems, devotional songs, and other sacred works, but few items for Anglican services.

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.

The five-part full anthem Remember not, Lord, our offences (dating from around 1680) is a masterpiece. Purcell’s use of harmony and discord, his startlingly effective word-setting and his mastery of drama are all magnificently demonstrated in a short piece. The atmosphere is created with the very first word, set as a simple block chord, and then reiterated as the phrase moves forward to ‘offences’: the first phrase of text is repeated again, still in homophonic style, but this time in the relative major. The first touches of counterpoint appear at ‘nor th’ offences of our forefathers’, and the tension begins to increase with ‘neither take thou vengeance of our sins’, always simultaneously countered in at least one voice with the rising phrase ‘but spare us, good Lord’. Gradually the calls for mercy, to ‘spare us’, begin to dominate, and the chromaticism and unbelievably daring use of discord increases: the music climaxes with a massive, desperate plea, ‘Spare us, good Lord’. Quickly the mood returns to supplication: Purcell’s harmony relaxes deliciously onto ‘redeem’d’ and the tenors’ dominant seventh clashes exquisitely with a second inversion chord on ‘precious’. It is the tenors again who have a wonderfully subtle inner line at ‘for ever’ and, after such passion, the anthem ends, as it began, with a calm prayer for salvation.

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

Although originally composed for Voices (SSATB) & Basso Continuo, I created this interpretation of "Remember not, Lord, our offences" (Z.50) for Winds (Flute, Oboe, English Horn, French Horn & Bassoon) & Strings (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).