Fairest Isle

17th century song by Henry Purcell

Summary

"Fairest Isle" is one of the best-regarded songs by the 17th-century English composer Henry Purcell, a setting of words by John Dryden. It first appeared as a soprano solo in their semi-opera King Arthur (1691), where it is sung by the goddess Venus in praise of the island of Britain as the home of Love. It has since frequently been performed separately as a concert piece by both sopranos and countertenors.

Originally created by Antiquary

2/29/2024, 6:52:23 PM

Modified

2/9/2026, 6:15:31 PM

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BD24122/9/2026, 6:15:31 PM

/* Reception */ Clean up spacing around commas and other punctuation fixes, replaced: ; → ;

4meter411/15/2025, 2:52:42 AM

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Bob Peanut10/16/2024, 12:51:35 PM
EIGHTCLOUDS5/11/2024, 2:15:49 PM

removed [[Category:Works by John Dryden]]; added [[Category:Music based on works by John Dryden]] using [[WP:HC|HotCat]]

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Kimen83/29/2024, 8:12:44 PM

Adding [[Wikipedia:Short description|short description]]: "17th century song by Henry Purcell"

Arjayay3/10/2024, 6:43:00 PM

Duplicate word removed

Michael Bednarek3/1/2024, 8:18:07 AM

[[MOS:LISTGAP]]; +[[Category:British patriotic songs]]; delocalize Google URLs; use {{ChoralWiki}} for CPDL.

Antiquary2/29/2024, 6:52:23 PM

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