Purcell was the greatest ornament of English music in the seventeenth century, and has been a source of inspiration for British composers ever since. This book offers a portrait of the composer both in his time and since, using diaries, letters and official and published writings from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries.  Meer

Henry Purcell has long been acknowledged as one of England's greatest composers. This book describes his position in British musical history, music in London during his lifetime, his Italian connections and his contemporaries.  Meer

Emmanuel Levinas was a significant contributor to the field of philosophy, phenomenology and religion. A key interpreter of Husserl, he stressed the importance of attitudes to other people in any philosophical system.  Meer

Emmanuel Levinas was a significant contributor to the field of philosophy, phenomenology and religion. A key interpreter of Husserl, he stressed the importance of attitudes to other people in any philosophical system.  Meer

As Nicholas Kenyon says, quoting Ralph Vaughan Williams in the introduction to this volume, 'We all pay lip service to Henry Purcell, but what do we really know of him?  Meer

While understanding the concept of all-sung opera, seventeenth-century English impresarios and their audiences also understood opera to mean spoken plays with a large amount of added music.  Meer