l had left the choir, he was apprenticed as "keeper, maker, repayrer and tuner" of the royal companies' instruments, and later held a similar paid appointment in connection with the organ at Westminster Abbey. John Blow, the Abbey's organist, was an important composer and a major influence on Purcell. Blow provided Purcell with some copying work--writing out organ parts--and this was an invaluable part of his education in composition, familiarizing him with the finest composers. Purcell said later in life, "the best way to be acquainted with 'em, is to score much, and chuse the best Authors," and he even became a professional copyist.
Purcell's true career began with his appointment to one of his uncle's many former positions as one of the composers for the King's band of Twenty-four Violins in 1677. Purcell must have devoted a considerable amount of time composing airs and dances for the court. But the "ephemeral character" of this music, and the "limited circle" by which it was heard, probably account for the fact that none of these works has survived. The only string works that survive from this period are his multipart fantasias scored, probably, for viols, which were the sort of "fancy" music Charles II detested and which cannot, therefore, have been composed for the court. These works were probably "chamber music intended for private performance by a few friends." But Purcell wrote them with such concentration, speed, and brilliance--16 from June through August of 1680--that it seems likely he had placed more substantial hopes on them. They were systematically composed, with Purcell "exploring new technical problems in each," and display a sureness of touch and intensity of thought that is not matched by the court work of the same period.
Purcell's earliest surviving court music dates from 1680--his first effort at a large vocal and instrumental composition, "Welcome, Viceregent." The work shows a marked dis...