There are no spots--only there is no sun. His claim to
have taught Purcell is a claim for such immortality as books give.
Purcell's teacher will be remembered long after the composer of anthems
has been crowded out of biographical dictionaries.
I have said that our knowledge of Purcell consists very largely of
speculations, hypotheses and inferences. These have led the biographers
into wasting some highly moral reflections on Purcell's early doings. We
are told, for example, that he composed music for the theatre until he
became organist of Westminster Abbey, after which date he applied his
energies wholly to the service of the Church. Had the biographers not
kindly followed the blind Hawkins and Burney, and hearsay generally,
those reflections might have been saved for a more fitting occasion. It
was long held that Purcell wrote the incidental music for _Aureng-Zebe_,
_Epsom Wells_, and _The Libertine_ about 1676, when he was eighteen,
because those plays were performed or published at that time. It used to
be said that the music, though immature, showed promise, and was indeed
marvellous for so young a man. But unless one possesses the touchstone
of a true critical faculty and an intimate acquaintance with Purcell's
music and all the music of the time, one should be cautious--one cannot
be too cautious.
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