The Sonatas of Henry Purcell

Purcell's trio sonatas are among the cornerstones of Baroque chamber music. The composer himself unassumingly described them as "a just imitation of the most famed Italian masters." However, analysis of their underlying structures reveals that Purcell's modesty hides a highly original blend of Italian models, complex English traditional compositional devices, and his own near-obsession with compositional and contrapuntal technique.