The link between Newton’s personal tastes and music was rather tenuous but, taken with all the other considerations, his theoretical interest was strong enough to justify putting on a concert of the music of his era to celebrate his tercentenary. Another of the considerations centred on the fact that Newton’s genius was initially fired by the new approach to science coming from France, while with the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 a wave of enthusiasm for the innovative French style in music came to England with Charles II – inspiring the other great English genius of the period, Henry Purcell. Since, together with the music of Bach and Handel, the music of Henry Purcell formed the basis of the Cambridge Baroque Camerata’s repertoire, there could have been no more appropriate way of entertaining the delegates to the Newton tercentenary conference than with a concert of the music of that period.
— Travelling to Infinity (Jane Hawking), Loc. 5948–54