Question: Which, of Michael Tippett or Henry Purcell was the earlier English composer?

Context paragraphs:
Henry Purcell: Henry Purcell ( or ; c. 10 September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer.  Although incorporating Italian and French stylistic elements into his compositions, Purcell's legacy was a uniquely English form of Baroque music.  He is generally considered to be one of the greatest English composers; no other native-born English composer approached his fame until Edward Elgar, Ralph Vaughan Williams, William Walton and Benjamin Britten in the 20th century.

Michael Tippett School: The Michael Tippett School is a special needs secondary school for students with severe learning difficulties located in south London.  It is named after the composer Michael Tippett.

Nymphs and Shepherds: Nymphs and Shepherds is a song by the English composer Henry Purcell, from the play "The Libertine" by Thomas Shadwell.  When the play was first performed, in 1675, the accompanying music was by William Turner.  Purcell's music was first used in either 1692 or 1695; the musicologist Ian Spink has concluded that the latter year is the more probable, although the earlier date is often cited.

Franklin B. Zimmerman: Franklin Bershir Zimmerman (born June 20, 1923) is an American musicologist and conductor who has published extensively in the field of Baroque music, and particularly on the English composer, Henry Purcell.  He is most known for his complete catalogue of Purcell's works, considered "one of the most crucial contributions to Purcell research".  Each work in the catalogue is given a "Z number" which derives from Zimmerman's surname.

String Quartet No. 2 (Britten): String Quartet No. 2 in C major, Op.  36, by English composer Benjamin Britten (191376), was written in 1945.  It was composed in Snape, Suffolk and London, and completed on 14 October.  The first performance was by the Zorian Quartet in the Wigmore Hall, London on 21 November 1945, in a concert to mark the exact 250th anniversary of the death of English composer Henry Purcell (165995).  The work was commissioned by and is dedicated to Mary ("Mrs J. L.") Behrend, a patron of the arts; Britten donated most of his fee towards famine relief in India.

John Blow: John Blow (baptised 23 February 1649 – 1 October 1708) was an English Baroque composer and organist, appointed to Westminster Abbey in 1669.  His pupils included William Croft, Jeremiah Clarke and Henry Purcell.  In 1685 he was named a private musician to James II.  His only stage composition, "Venus and Adonis" (ca. 1680–1687), was thought to influence Henry Purcell's later opera "Dido and Aeneas".  In 1687 he became choirmaster at St Paul's Cathedral, where many of his pieces were performed.  In 1699 he was appointed to the newly created post of Composer to the Chapel Royal.

Owen Brannigan: Owen Brannigan OBE (10 March 19089 May 1973) was an English bass, known in opera for buffo roles and in concert for a wide range of solo parts in music ranging from Henry Purcell to Michael Tippett.  He is best remembered for his roles in Mozart and Britten operas and for his recordings of roles in Britten, Offenbach and Gilbert and Sullivan operas, as well as recordings of English folk songs.

A Child of Our Time: A Child of Our Time is a secular oratorio by the British composer Michael Tippett (190598), who also wrote the libretto.  Composed between 1939 and 1941, it was first performed at the Adelphi Theatre, London, on 19 March 1944.  The work was inspired by events that affected Tippett profoundly: the assassination in 1938 of a German diplomat by a young Jewish refugee, and the Nazi government's reaction in the form of a violent pogrom against its Jewish population—called Kristallnacht.  Tippett's oratorio deals with these incidents in the context of the experiences of oppressed people generally, and carries a strongly pacifist message of ultimate understanding and reconciliation.  The text's recurrent themes of shadow and light reflect the Jungian psychoanalysis which Tippett underwent in the years immediately before writing the work.

Purcell Room: The Purcell Room is a concert and performance venue which forms part of the Southbank Centre, one of central London's leading cultural complexes.  It is named after the 17th century English composer Henry Purcell and has 370 seats.  The Purcell Room has hosted a wide range of chamber music, jazz, mime and poetry recitals.  In the context of the Southbank Centre it is the smallest of a set of three venues, the other two being the Royal Festival Hall, a large symphony hall, and the QEH, which is used for orchestral, chamber and contemporary amplified music.

Michael Tippett: Sir Michael Kemp Tippett {'1': ", '2': ", '3': ", '4': "} (2 January 1905 – 8 January 1998) was an English composer who rose to prominence during and immediately after the Second World War.  In his lifetime he was sometimes ranked with his contemporary Benjamin Britten as one of the leading British composers of the 20th century.  Among his best-known works are the oratorio "A Child of Our Time", the orchestral "Fantasia Concertante on a Theme of Corelli", and the opera "The Midsummer Marriage".

Supporting paragraphs: Michael Tippett Henry Purcell
Answer: Henry Purcell