In the dedication of Henry Purcell's opera, Diocletian, to the Duke of Somerset, he declared: "As poetry is the harmony of, so is music is that of notes; and as poetry is an elevation above prose and oratory, so is music the exaltation of poetry. Both may excel separately, but they are certainly more excellent when joined, for then nothing is lacking in either of their perfections: for thus they appear as spirit. and beauty in the same person. Henry Purcell was a prolific English composer of baroque opera, religious music, cantatas, instrumental works and much more. Not only did he have a broad understanding of music and composition, but he also understood the obligation to make a connection between music and text. Purcell's compositional ability is demonstrated in his opera Dido and Aeneas, which contains common baroque features that define his style. Even though he used distinct "Purcell isms" in Dido and Aeneas, there is still a definite connection to the structure of John Blow's Venus and Adonis. Although the original purpose of Dido and Aeneas may have been that of court entertainment, it became one of Purcell's most acclaimed operas, as well as one of the most popular operas of the Baroque period. The first known performance of Dido and Aeneas took place at the Mount Josias Priest boarding school in Chelsea, England, in 1689. Scholars such as Bruce Wood and Andrew Pinnock have debated whether this performance was truly the first or whether it was was a repeat of an earlier performance. first at court, as John Blow's opera Venus and Adonis was written and then premiered in 1684, around the same time as Dido and Aeneas, and they seemed to follow the same path until their first performances. B...... middle of paper...... Purcell Companion. Portland, Oregon. : Amadeus, 1995. Clinton-Baddeley, VC for music. Cambridge: University Press, 1941. 3.Harris, Dido and Aeneas by Ellen T. Henry Purcell. Oxford: Clarendon, 1987. Price, Curtis Alexander. Henry Purcell and the London Stage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984. Print.Price, Curtis Alexander. Purcell Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1995. Price, Curtis. “Dido and Aeneas: Questions of Style and Evidence.” Early Music 22 1, (1994): 115-25. Virgil and Robert Fitzgerald. The Aeneid. New York: Random House, 1983. sWestrup, J. A. Purcell. London: Dent, 1975. Westrup, J. A. Purcell. London: Dent, 1980. Zimmerman, Franklin B. Henry Purcell, 1659-1695: His Life and Times. London: Macmillan, 1967. Zimmerman, Franklin B. Henry Purcell, 1659-1695: His Life and Times. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1983.