And the award for best title goes to...
Danny Johnson
As we prepare for our upcoming Purcell concert in April, I get más y más excited! Our first “all-Purcell” concert was in 2001, when we produced a monumental semi-staged presentation of Purcell’s semi-opera, King Arthur! Wow, as we sing from time to time: ‘those were the days’!
In 2016 we created our own opera: London City Limits: Opera on the Thames, with a pastiche of hits from Purcell’s operas and semi-operas, including The Fairy Queen, King Arthur, Dido & Aeneas, The Tempest, and lots of his songs and dialogues. We also included gems from his predecessors, Robert Johnson and Nicholas Lanier to create a very intricate story called “The Camping Trip,” created by Meredith Rudusky and your faithful writer. I understand that Purcell never really imagined his music in the wilds of New Mexico, but it worked really well!
Our most recent Purcell experiment was “in the before times,” in late 2019. I recall we needed a title, and Meredith Rudusky immediately saved the day, suggesting—no, demanding—Oh, Henry! The World According To Purcell. I recall it was meant to be a little quirky, combining The World According To Garp with a name suggesting the famous short story writer, O. Henry.
O. Henry (William Sydney Porter) as a young man in Austin, TX
[Fun facts: When O. Henry lived in Austin in the 1880s, he sang in the choir at St. David’s Episcopal Church and was also a member of the "Hill City Quartette", a group that sang at social gatherings. Word on the street is that they were headliners at Maggie Mae’s; the street could be wrong, of course.]
So, after Meredith’s strong title entry for our 2019 concert, we felt a little pressure to create an equally memorable, if somewhat confusing, title this year. I suggested the first part and Jonathan Riemer created the subtitle. And bravo, I say!
Hey! Y’all come! See the details below. We always think of Purcell concerts in a quasi-theatrical manner, with scenes created from disparate parts, and quirkiness, passion, humor, and tragedy created with human experience in mind.
—Danny
Purcell. Henry PUrcell:
A License to Trill
Saturday, April 18, 2026, at 7:30 pm
&
Sunday, April 19, 2026, at 3:00 pm
Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Avenue
Hosted by Arts on Alexander on the campus of Redeemer Presbyterian Church,
2111 Alexander Ave, Austin, TX 78702.
Visit the Arts on Alexander 2025-2026 events on the AoA website.
Admission (with fees): $53 VIP general; $38 general; $48 VIP seniors (60+);
$33 seniors (60+); $5 students with ID
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.
For more information, email boxoffice@early-music.org.
Even though the title of our concert is similar to the title of a James Bond movie, the similarity ends there. Sorry for any possible confusion, Bond fans.
The 17th-century composer Henry Purcell is deservedly known as England’s greatest composer before Edward Elgar and Ralph Vaughan Williams, and he was a strong influence on the styles of Benjamin Britten and contemporary composer Michael Nyman. As organist and composer at Westminster Abbey and also the Chapel Royal, he wrote vast amounts of sacred music, which resounds in modern day churches and concert halls. In his short life, he was an extraordinarily prolific composer with music for the theater, the opera, the court, the sanctuary, and the pub.
His music is used often in movie soundtracks: Have a close listen to the soundtracks of A Clockwork Orange, Kramer vs. Kramer, England, My England, Pride and Prejudice (2005), Moonrise Kingdom, Becoming Jane, and most of the films by Peter Greenaway. Rock groups such as The Who have also used some of Purcell’s ground basses and harmonic patterns.
TEMP has often explored the musical world of this genius, and we now have the opportunity to program a full concert dedicated to Purcell’s eclectic and diverse repertoire.
With gifted soloists, a choir of twenty-four, and eleven instrumentalists, TEMP will present selections from Hail! Bright Cecilia, the semi-operas King Arthur and The Fairy Queen, and more, including pieces suitable for a little rowdiness.
Soloists and featured singers include Jenifer Thyssen, Gitanjali Mathur, Jenny Houghton, Page Stephens, Adrienne Pedrotti Bingamon, Jeffrey Jones-Ragona, David Lopez, Cristian Cantu, Ryland Angel, and others.
As Purcell himself wrote, “Prithee, be not so sad and serious”:
Come hear our final concert of the season for some sweetness, mystery, and joy!
