This is a list of musical compositions by Henry Purcell.

Abdelazer; or, The Moor's Revenge ( or ) is a 1676 play by Aphra Behn, an adaptation of the c. 1600 tragedy Lust's Dominion. It is Behn's only tragic play.

This is a list of musical compositions by Henry Purcell.

This is a list of musical compositions by Henry Purcell.

Bonduca is a Jacobean tragi-comedy in the Beaumont and Fletcher canon, generally judged by scholars to be the work of John Fletcher alone. It was acted by the King's Men c. 1613, and published in 1647 in the first Beaumont and Fletcher folio. The play is a dramatisation of the story of Boudica, the British Celtic queen who led a revolt against the Romans in 60–61 AD. Critics, however, have classified Bonduca as a "historical romance," rather than a history play comparable to those written by Shakespeare; historical accuracy was not Fletcher's primary concern. The play constantly shifts between comedy and tragedy. The principal hero is not Bonduca herself, but rather Caratach (Caratacus), who is anachronistically depicted as her general, despite having been exiled from Britain almost a decade prior. Nennius, the legendary British opponent of Julius Caesar, is also included. However, most of the action takes place from the Roman point of view, centring on the Roman officers Junius and Petillius, who fall in love with Bonduca's two daughters. Petillius is a fictionalised version of Quintus Petillius Cerialis.

Circe is a 1677 tragedy by the English writer Charles Davenant. It was first staged by the Duke's Company at the Dorset Garden Theatre in London. The play's music was composed by John Banister. The original cast included Thomas Betterton as Orestes, Joseph Williams as Pylades, William Smith as Ithacus, Henry Harris as Thoas, Mary Lee as Circe and Mary Betterton as Iphigenia. It was revived, probably in 1690, with additional music by Henry Purcell including six pieces for the revival, including music for instrumental ensembles, vocal soloists, and choirs (Z.575). In 1984 the play was revived in a period-style production in Cambridge, Massachusetts by Harvard students. The production was produced and directed by James A. Glazier. The production used Purcell and Bannister's original music, with Purcell contrafacta for missing numbers arranged and directed by Paul Merkley. Baroque choreography was provided by Margaret Daniels.

This is a list of musical compositions by Henry Purcell.

Dido and Aeneas (Z. 626) is an opera in a prologue and three acts, written by the English Baroque composer Henry Purcell with a libretto by Nahum Tate. The dates of the composition and first performance of the opera are uncertain. It was composed no later than July 1688, and had been performed at Josias Priest's girls' school in London by the end of 1689. Some scholars argue for a date of composition as early as 1683. The story is based on Book IV of Virgil's Aeneid. It recounts the love of Dido, Queen of Carthage, for the Trojan hero Aeneas, and her despair when he abandons her. A monumental work in Baroque opera, Dido and Aeneas is remembered as one of Purcell's foremost theatrical works. It was also Purcell's only true opera, as well as his only all-sung dramatic work. One of the earliest known English operas, it owes much to John Blow's Venus and Adonis, both in structure and in overall effect. The influence of Cavalli's opera Didone is also apparent. Both works use the prologue/three acts format and there are similarities between, for instance, Mercury's solo in Didone and the solo "Come away fellow sailors" in Purcell's work.

This is a list of musical compositions by Henry Purcell.

This is a list of musical compositions by Henry Purcell.

This is a list of musical compositions by Henry Purcell.

This is a list of musical compositions by Henry Purcell.

King Arthur, or The British Worthy (Z. 628), is a semi-opera in five acts with music by Henry Purcell and a libretto by John Dryden. It was first performed at the Queen's Theatre, Dorset Garden, London, in late May or early June 1691. The plot is based on the battles between King Arthur's Britons and the Saxons, rather than the legends of Camelot (although Merlin does make an appearance). It is a Restoration spectacular, including such supernatural characters as Cupid and Venus plus references to the Germanic gods of the Saxons, Woden, Thor, and Freya. The tale centres on Arthur's endeavours to recover his fiancée, the blind Cornish Princess Emmeline, who has been abducted by his arch-enemy, the Saxon King Oswald of Kent. King Arthur is a "dramatick opera" or semi-opera: the principal characters do not sing, except if they are supernatural, pastoral or, in the case of Comus and the popular Your hay it is mow'd, drunk. Secondary characters sing to them, usually as diegetic entertainment, but in Act 4 and parts of Act 2, as supernatural beckonings. The singing in Act 1 is religious observance by the Saxons, ending with their heroic afterlife in Valhalla. The protagonists' parts are taken by actors, as a great deal of King Arthur consists of spoken text. This was normal practice in 17th century English opera. King Arthur contains some of Purcell's most lyrical music, using adventurous harmonies for the day.

This is a list of musical compositions by Henry Purcell.

Henry Purcell (, rare: ; c. 10 September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer and organist of the middle Baroque era. He was extremely prolific, having composed more than 100 songs, a tragic opera Dido and Aeneas, and wrote incidental music to a version of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream called The Fairy Queen. Purcell's musical style was uniquely English, although it incorporated Italian and French elements. Purcell is generally considered to be one of the greatest English composers.

This is a list of musical compositions by Henry Purcell.

The year 1695 in music involved some significant events.

This is a list of musical compositions by Henry Purcell.

This is a list of musical compositions by Henry Purcell.

The following notable people have died by suicide. This includes suicides effected under duress and excludes deaths by accident or misadventure. People who may or may not have died by their own hand, whose intent to die is disputed, or who are alleged to have been killed, may be listed.

This is a list of musical compositions by Henry Purcell.

This is a list of musical compositions by Henry Purcell.

This is a list of musical compositions by Henry Purcell.

This is a list of musical compositions by Henry Purcell.

This is a list of musical compositions by Henry Purcell.

This is a list of musical compositions by Henry Purcell.

This is a list of musical compositions by Henry Purcell.

The Fairy-Queen (1692; Purcell catalogue number Z.629) is a semi-opera by Henry Purcell; a "Restoration spectacular". The libretto is an anonymous adaptation of William Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream. First performed in 1692, The Fairy-Queen was composed three years before Purcell's death at the age of 36. Following his death, the score was lost and only rediscovered early in the twentieth century. Purcell did not set any of Shakespeare's text to music; instead he composed music for short masques in every act but the first. The play itself was also slightly modernised in keeping with seventeenth-century dramatic conventions, but in the main the spoken text is as Shakespeare wrote it. The masques are related to the play metaphorically, rather than literally. Many critics have stated that they bear no relationship to the play. Recent scholarship has shown that the opera, which ends with a masque featuring Hymen, the God of Marriage, was composed for the fifteenth wedding anniversary of William III and Mary II. Growing interest in Baroque music and the rise of the countertenor contributed to the work's re-entry into the repertoire. The opera received several full-length recordings in the latter part of the 20th century and several of its arias, including "The Plaint" ("O let me weep"), have become popular recital pieces. In July 2009, in celebration of the 350th anniversary of Purcell's birth, The Fairy-Queen was performed by Glyndebourne Festival Opera using a new edition of the score, prepared for the Purcell Society by Bruce Wood and Andrew Pinnock.

This is a list of musical compositions by Henry Purcell.

This is a list of musical compositions by Henry Purcell.

This is a list of musical compositions by Henry Purcell.

This is a list of musical compositions by Henry Purcell.

This is a list of musical compositions by Henry Purcell.

The Indian Queen (Z. 630) is a largely unfinished semi-opera with music by Henry Purcell. It was first performed at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London, in 1695. The exact date is unknown, but Peter Holman estimates it may have been in June. It was created as a revised version of the 1664 play The Indian Queen, in a prologue and five act form by John Dryden and his brother-in-law Sir Robert Howard. In 1694, Thomas Betterton was given £50 to transform the play into an opera, and he commissioned Purcell to compose the music. Purcell, who died in November 1695, left music only for the Prologue and Acts II and III. His brother Daniel completed a masque for Act V. The Indian Queen is one of Purcell's less often performed stage works. This is probably more a reflection of the incomplete state of the score than of its quality.

This is a list of musical compositions by Henry Purcell.

This is a list of musical compositions by Henry Purcell.

This is a list of musical compositions by Henry Purcell.

This is a list of musical compositions by Henry Purcell.

This is a list of musical compositions by Henry Purcell.

This is a list of musical compositions by Henry Purcell.

This is a list of musical compositions by Henry Purcell.

The year 1691 in music involved some significant events.

This is a list of musical compositions by Henry Purcell.

This is a list of musical compositions by Henry Purcell.

Henry Purcell (, rare: ; c. 10 September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer and organist of the middle Baroque era. He was extremely prolific, having composed more than 100 songs, a tragic opera Dido and Aeneas, and wrote incidental music to a version of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream called The Fairy Queen. Purcell's musical style was uniquely English, although it incorporated Italian and French elements. Purcell is generally considered to be one of the greatest English composers.

This is a list of musical compositions by Henry Purcell.

This is a list of musical compositions by Henry Purcell.

This is a list of musical compositions by Henry Purcell.

The History of Timon of Athens the Man-hater by Thomas Shadwell is a 1678 adaptation of Timon of Athens, the play by William Shakespeare.

This is a list of musical compositions by Henry Purcell.