Tony Palmer

That same rondeau in its original form is also the theme on which Benjamin Britten built the Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, used in its own turn in Wes Anderson's film Moonrise Kingdom in 2012.

His music has also been used in the Chinese film The Great Wall, where Didot's lament appears in an arrangement for cello and strings, and a biographical film about Purcell himself made for television entitled England, My England, Directed by Tony Palmer and featuring period performances conducted by John Elliott Gardner with the Monteverdi Choir and the English Chamber Orchestra, provides a dramatic portrayal of his life for those who prefer Purcell on screen.

It is worth mentioning that the Great Plague of 1665 and the Great Fire of London in 1666 both occurred during Purcell's childhood, when he was six and seven years old, respectively.

Growing up in the shadow of these catastrophes, in a city being rebuilt from ashes, even as its musical life was being rebuilt from the ruins of Puritanism, gave Purcell's generation a particular relationship with impermanence, mortality, and the value of beauty.