When I am laid in earth

Purcell was the outstanding musician and composer of his time in Britain. Like other seventeenth-century musicians, Purcell's career began in the church, first as a chorister at the Chapel Royal, then as organist at Westminster Abbey composing anthems. At court he enjoyed the favour of successive monarchs composing odes on special occasions, but his works for Mary II are the best known, composed when Purcell was reaching the height of his powers, just before his premature death.

Stanley M. Hoffman's compositional accomplishments include winning a co-first place prize in the 2008-09 Longfellow Chorus International Composition Competition for his setting of the Longfellow poem Nature. Grant Us Peace for SATB chorus received an Honors citation in 2002 in the Waging Peace Through Singing project. His piece There Is a Name for SA chorus and amplified classical guitar was performed before an audience of over 8000 at the dedication ceremonies of the New England Holocaust Memorial in Boston in 1995. Dr Hoffman also works as a conductor, lecturer, and vocalist, and has been Chief Editor at ECS Publishing in Boston since 1998.