As well as being a successful church and court composer, Purcell wrote extensively for the stage, composing several operas, semi-operas and masques. Now Gwilym Beechey has made seven of these fantastic works accessible to the instrumental player, carefully choosing and arranging a selection of these pieces for descant recorder and keyboard. Included in this edition are dances, airs and jigs from Purcell's popular opera King Arthur (1691), and semi-operas The Fairy Queen (1692) and The Indian Queen (1695). A Purcell Suite also features one of his most famous pieces, the Rondeau in D minor from the incidental music he wrote for Abdelazer. Instrumentation: soprano recorder and piano