Bob Draper listed some recordings:

>Anyway is there any essential Purcell missing from the list?

It's not obvious that you've included the Fantasias for Viols (an early
opus; ethereally lovely), or the Sonatas in 3 and 4 Parts.  Then there's
the works for Harpsichord too, including Suites and individual pieces.

How about the Funeral Sentences, which have been mentioned here before?

>What about the versions, are they the best?

Can't say to all of them, but Gardiner's a decent bet, with a little more
updated scholarship than say, some of Deller's.  Christie's theatre music
recordings have really great instrumental playing, but can suffer from
"Frenchified" accents from some of the singers.

Another interesting recent Sony recording is not "all Purcell all the
time", but goes on the theme "Music for Queen Mary".  Martin Neary, the
Westminster Abbey Choir and the New London Consort perform one of the
Purcell Birthday Odes (Now does the Glorious Day Appear), and a couple of
not so well known Latin elegies for the Queen.  Finally, there's an attempt
at a reconstruction of the actual music done at the royal funeral in 1695,
which does NOT include all of the usual Purcellian Funeral Sentences.
Instead, there's three different marches (by Tolett and Paisible for oboe
bands, and the famous one by Purcell for slide trumpets), all of which are
played accompanied by the Olde English March on FIELD drums, NOT timpani
as is often the case in other recordings.

The Canzona is played with muffled timpani accompanying the slide trumpets,
and only Purcell's "Thou knowest Lord, the secrets of our Hearts" is sung
as part of the Burial Service; the other Sentences sung were settings by
Thomas Morley from earlier in the century.

Bill H.