Which, of Michael Tippett or Henry Purcell was the earlier English composer?
Henry Purcell Henry Purcell ( or ; c. 10 September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer. Although incorporating Italian and French stylistic elements into his compositions, Purcell's legacy was a uniquely English form of Baroque music. He is generally considered to be one of the greatest English composers; no other native-born English composer approached his fame until Edward Elgar, Ralph Vaughan Williams, William Walton and Benjamin Britten in the 20th century.
Pepys Manuscript The Pepys Manuscript is a late fifteenth-century English choirbook, in the library of Magdalen College, Cambridge, MS Pepys 1236. Along with the Ritson Manuscript it is much less elaborate than the Eton, Lambeth and Caius Choirbooks; it contains shorter and simpler pieces which appear to have been written for smaller and less able choirs. The book received its name because it was part of the collection owned by Samuel Pepys. He described it as containing "monkish music of Edward IV's time, " but it appears on internal evidence to have been begun a year or two earlier. It was likely completed after 1465, as it contains music ascribed to Sir William Hawte – also referred to as a "Knight" – who was knighted in that year.