=The Parthenia=.—During the first half of the 17th century the virginal retained its popularity, although political turmoils prevented much positive advancement in music. The “Parthenia,” a volume containing the first printed collection of virginal music, appeared in 1611, composed of twenty-one pieces by Byrd, Bull and Gibbons; and a similar volume followed, with compositions for virginal and bass viol, by Robert Hole. =Purcell=.—In the reign of Charles II (1660-1685) music again came to the fore, and was ably promoted by =Henry Purcell=, who was born in the year when Cromwell died, 1658, and died in 1695. Purcell is a shining figure in English musical history, through his ability as an opera composer, in which capacity he produced bright and pithy works, thoroughly English in spirit, and healthy in tone. He published a volume of twelve clavier sonatas in 1683, with parts also for two violins and a bass viol, founded on the model of the Italian violin sonatas, each having an Adagio, a Canzona, a slow movement and an Air. Later he published other sonatas, besides suites and separate pieces for the clavier. Upon the advent of Handel, however, the English composers became, for the most part, mere imitators of his style, which had so caught the national ear as to well-nigh eclipse all other kinds of music. The early English school, therefore, can be said to have had its last exponent in the person of Purcell. =Rise of the French School=.—In France a school of clavier compositions developed during the brilliant reign of Louis XIV (1643-1715), which did much toward imparting elegance and polish, besides characteristic rhythms and technical figures, to clavier music. The head of this school and the personal teacher of many succeeding clavier composers and players was =Andre Champion de Chambonnières= (d. 1670), who became court clavier player to the king. He is said to have been master of a full tone on the harpsichord attained by none other than himself; he also published two books of clavier compositions, written in the pure harmonic style, and showing the tendency toward brilliant embellishments which became a characteristic of his successors. Of his pupils, =Jean Henry d’Anglebert= (d. 1691), was clavier player at court, and published in 1689 a book containing clavier arrangements of airs and dances from the operas of Lully, with rules for their execution.