This collection traces the astonishing breadth of Henry Purcell’s art — from coronation anthems and odes to his operatic and funeral music — revealing the English master’s gift for marrying eloquent text with richly coloured harmony. His music draws on Italian and French influences yet remains unmistakably his own, blending grandeur with intimacy, wit with devotion. The programme moves between royal splendour and private reflection: the jubilant “Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem,” the sensual grace of How Happy the Lover and Bid the Virtues, the icy brilliance of the “Cold Song,” and the serene supplication of Thou Knowest, Lord. Under the direction of Patrick Ayrton and Barnaby Smith, VOCES8 and Les Inventions bring a rare clarity and warmth to Purcell’s diverse sound world — voices and instruments intertwining with luminous precision and poetic restraint, celebrating a composer whose expressive power still moves “the passions of all his auditors.”