The Purcell Club had their annual dinner at the Albion,
in Aldersgate Street, on Tuesday. Professor Taylor of Gresham College, the Presi- dent of the Club, occupied the chair; and the company, about fifty in number, included several distinguished visitors ; particularly the Dean of Westminster, whose presence was especially appropriate, the illus- trious musician having, for a considerable portion of his short life, been the organist Of the Abbey, and having in that capacity produced those sublime anthems which are the glory of our English ecclesiastical music. In the course of the evening there was a rich musical banquet of pieces selected from his works, and admirably performed by Mr. Benson, Mr. Lawler, Mr. Thomas, Mr. Barnby, and other eminent singers, with a chorus from the choirs of Westminster Abbey, the Chapel Royal, and the Temple; Mr. Turle, the excellent organist of the Abbey, presiding at the pianoforte. A selection from Dido and .,Eneas, Purcell's earliest
dramatic work, excited the enthusiastic delight of the audience. This opera, written at the age of nineteen, contains beauties of melody and expression which perhaps have never been excelled. It is remarkable that this inestimable relic was very nearly lost to the world. It was never printed from Purcelrs day to our own: and its existence hung by a thread—being preserved by two or three manuscript copies in the hands of amateurs—when the well-known beautiful edition which we now possess was printed a few years ago by the Musical Antiquarian So- ciety. The Chairman gave, in an eloquent address, "The immortal memory of Henry Purcell " ; and the toast was received with the hon- our due to the greatest of English musicians.
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