When Henry Playford published the first volume of Orpheus Britannicus, an anthology of Purcell’s songs, he wrote: ‘The Author’s extraordinary Talent in all sorts of Musick is sufficiently known, but he was especially admir’d for the Vocal, having a peculiar Genius to express the Energy of English Words, whereby he mov’d the Passions of all his Auditors.’ Purcell was indeed widely renowned to be a quite exceptional master of many types of composition. At the Court he was known for his ceremonial music and in particular for his Odes; in the church his services and anthems ensured a fine reputation, and his operas and incidental music for some fifty plays ensured that his name was widely known by the general public.