Purcell was one of the first English composers to use Italian musical terms, like _adagio_, _presto_, _largo_, etc. He was also one of the first composers to write compositions of three or four movements for two violins, ’cello and basso continuo, a part written for harpsichord or sometimes organ as an accompaniment to the other instruments. The name of this style of composition also came from the Italian, and was called _Sonata_. The first sonatas were composed by Italians. The word Sonata comes from an Italian word _suonare_ which means to sound, and was first given to works for instruments. Another form of composition is the Cantata, from _cantare_ which means to sing. It is a vocal composition with accompaniment of instruments, a direct descendant of the motet and madrigal, and of the early oratorios. The Toccata, too, comes from the Italian _toccare_, meaning to touch, and was originally a work for instruments with keyboards. The Italian language gave us our musical names and terms, because Italian music was the model of what good music should be, and England, France and Germany copied Italian ways of composing. Everyone uses the Italian terms for musical expressions so that all nationalities can understand them. When Purcell was only 17 years old, he composed an opera to be played by young ladies in a boarding school. This was _Dido and Æneas_, and it is so good that few writers on musical subjects believe that it was written in his youth. In every branch of composition in which Purcell wrote, he excelled. His church music is the finest of his day, his chamber music and his operas are looked upon as works of genius. In fact, he is still considered the most gifted of all English composers. He was only 37 when he died, and was a very great loss to the growth of English music. Music Comes of Age CHAPTER XV Dance Tunes Grow Up—Suites—Violin Makers of Cremona In our range of musical mountains, we see just ahead of us one of the mightiest giants of them all, Johann Sebastian Bach, dwarfing everything around it and we must resist the temptation of skipping all the smaller mountains, for there is no musical aeroplane by means of which we can fly across and land safely on Mt. Bach. This grand old mountain, Bach, is such a tremendous landmark in the growth of music, that when we reach it we realize that everything that we have passed has been a journey of preparation. Bach is not the only peak, for there are Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann, Brahms, Wagner and others who stand out against the musical horizon.