Using a mix of broad stylistic observation and detailed analysis, Adams distinguishes between late-seventeenth-century English style in general and Purcell's style in particular, and chronicles the changes in the composer's approach to the main genres in which he worked, especially the newly emerging ode and English opera. As a result, Adams reveals that although Purcell went through a marked stylistic development, encompassing an unusually wide range of surface changes, special elements of his style remained constant.

This book is a volume in the Penn Press Anniversary Collection. To mark its 125th anniversary in 2015, the University of Pennsylvania Press rereleased more than 1,100 titles from Penn Press's distinguished backlist from 1899-1999 that had fallen out of print. Spanning an entire century, the Anniversary Collection offers peer-reviewed scholarship in a wide range of subject areas.

The Ashgate Research Companion to Henry Purcell provides a comprehensive and authoritative review of current research into Purcell and the environment of Restoration music, with contributions from leading experts in the field. Seen from the perspective of modern, interdisciplinary approaches to scholarship, the companion allows the reader to develop a rounded view of the environment in which Purcell lived, the people with whom he worked, the social conditions that influenced his activities, and the ways in which the modern perception of him has been affected by reception of his music after his death. In this sense the contributions do not privilege the individual over the environment: rather, they use the modern reader's familiarity with Purcell's music as a gateway into the broader Restoration world. Topics include a reassessment of our understanding of Purcell's sources and the transmission of his music; new ways of approaching the study of his creative methods; performance practice; the multi-faceted theatre environment in which his work was focused in the last five years of his life; the importance of the political and social contexts of late seventeenth-century England; and the ways in which the performance history and reception of his music have influenced modern appreciation of the composer. The book will be essential reading for anyone studying the music and culture of the seventeenth century.

This pathbreaking study reveals Purcell's extensive use of symmetry and reversal in his much-loved trio sonatas, and shows how these hidden structural processes make his music multilayered and appealing.

Heather Wiebe's book looks to the music of Benjamin Britten to elucidate a British postwar vision of cultural renewal.

This book comprises selected essays concerning musical performance practice by conductor Andrew Parrott, an acknowledged expert in the field. Spanning some thirty-five years of Parrott's career as both performer and researcher, the volume brings together seminal writings on Monteverdi, Purcell and J. S. Bach, as well as an expanded version of a major new article from 2015. With a focus on vocal and choral music, the book covers a broad timespan (from the fourteenth to eighteenth centuries) and multifarious approaches (from extensive scholarly articles to radio broadcasts). Authoritative, provocative and readable, Parrott's writing is packed with detailed information of value to scholars, performers, students and curious listeners alike. At the same time, the book sheds light on key topics of historically informed performance from the past four decades. ANDREW PARROTT, conductor, is perhaps best known for his many pioneering recordings of pre-classical repertory from Machaut to Handel, principally for EMI with the London-based Taverner Consort, Choir and Players, which he founded in 1973. Recent CDs include his reconstruction of Bach's 'lost' Trauer-Music for Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen (released in 2011) and a 'thoroughly researched and re-imagined' account of Monteverdi's L'Orfeo (2013). He is also co-editor of The New Oxford Book of Carols (1992) and author of The Essential Bach Choir (The Boydell Press, 2000).

Extensively revised with new material, the book also includes a study of Imogen Hoist's music and a chronological list of her works, revealing her as a composer of tremendous talent, whose music deserves to be much more familiar.