| 55th | Top Baroque composers |
John Blow (baptised 23 February 1649 – 1 October 1708) was an English composer and organist. His pupils included William Croft and Henry Purcell.
Blow was probably born at Newark-on-Trent in Nottinghamshire. Although there is some speculation that he was born at North Collingham, Nottinghamshire, the parish registers there do not mention anyone named Blow, whereas those at Newark record the baptisms of Blow and of his brother and sister, the marriage of his parents, and the burial of his father. Furthermore, the register of Lambeth degrees notes that in 1677, on taking his doctorate, he himself declared on oath that his birthplace was ‘the faithful borough of Newark’. His date of birth is not known, but he was baptised 23 February 1649 and was likely born only a short while before. He became a chorister of the Chapel Royal, and distinguished himself by his proficiency in music.
He composed several anthems at an unusually early age, including Lord, Thou host been our refuge, Lord, rebuke me not and the so-called "club anthem", I will always give thanks, the last in collaboration with Pelham Humfrey and William Turner, either in honour of a victory over the Dutch in 1665, or more probably simply to commemorate the friendly intercourse of the three choristers.
To this time also belongs the composition of a two-part setting of Robert Herrick's Goe, perjur'd man, written at the request of Charles II to imitate Giacomo Carissimi's Dite, o cieli. In 1669 Blow became organist of Westminster Abbey. In 1673 he was made a gentleman of the Chapel Royal and in the September of this year he married Elizabeth Braddock, who died in childbirth ten years later.
Blow, who by 1678 was a doctor of music, was named in 1685 one of the private musicians of James II. Between 1680 and 1687 he wrote his only stage composition of which any record survives, the Masque for the entertainment of the King, Venus and Adonis. In this Mary Davis played the part of Venus, and her daughter by Charles II, Lady Mary Tudor, appeared as Cupid.
In 1687 he became choirmaster at St Paul's Cathedral; in 1695 he was elected organist of St Margaret's, Westminster, and is said to have resumed his post as organist of Westminster Abbey, from which in 1680 he had retired or been dismissed to make way for Purcell. In 1699 he was appointed to the newly created post of Composer to the Chapel Royal.
Fourteen services and more than a hundred anthems by Blow are known. In addition to his purely ecclesiastical music Blow wrote Great sir, the joy of all our hearts, an ode for New Year's Day 1682, similar compositions for 1683, 1686, 1687, 1688, 1689, 1693 (?), 1694 and 1700; odes, and the like, for the celebration of St Cecilia's Day for 1684, 1691, 1695 and 1700; for the coronation of James II, two anthems, Behold, O God, our Defender and God spake sometimes in visions; some harpsichord pieces for the second part of Henry Playford's Musick's handmaid (1689); Epicedium for Queen Mary (1695) and Ode on the Death of Purcell (1696). In 1700 he published his Amphion Anglicus, a collection of pieces of music for one, two, three and four voices, with a figured bass accompaniment.
A famous page in Charles Burney's History of Music is devoted to illustrations of Blow's "crudities", most of which only show the meritorious if immature efforts in expression characteristic of English music at the time, while some of them (where Burney says "Here we are lost") are really excellent. Blow died on 1 October 1708 at his house in Broad Sanctuary, and was buried in the north aisle of Westminster Abbey.
The tercentenary of his death was marked by BBC Radio 3 and Westminster Abbey with the weekly broadcast of choral evensong being made by the choir of Westminster Abbey, live from the Abbey, and consisting of music mostly by him, or by his near contemporaries.[1]
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|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Albertus Bryan |
Organist and
Master of the Choristers of Westminster Abbey 1668–1679 |
Succeeded by Henry Purcell |
| Preceded by Henry Purcell |
Organist and
Master of the Choristers of Westminster Abbey 1696–1708 |
Succeeded by William Croft |
JOHN BLOW (1648-1708), English musical composer, was born in 1648, probably at North Collingham in Nottinghamshire. He became a chorister of the chapel royal, and distinguished himself by his proficiency in music; he composed several anthems at an unusually early age, including Lord, Thou host been our refuge; Lord, rebuke me not; and the so-called "club anthem," I will always give thanks, the last in collaboration with Pelham Humphrey and William Turner, either in honour of a victory over the Dutch in 1665, or - more probably - simply to commemorate the friendly intercourse of the three choristers. To this time also belongs the composition of a two-part setting of Herrick's Goe, perjur'd man, written at the request of Charles II. to imitate Carissimi's Dite, o cieli. In 1669 Blow became organist of Westminster Abbey. In 1673 he was made a gentleman of the chapel royal, and in the September of this year he was married to Elizabeth Braddock, who died in childbirth ten years later. Blow, who by the year 1678 was a doctor of music, was named in 1685 one of the private musicians of James II. Between 1680 and 1687 he wrote the only stage composition by him of which any record survives, the Masque for the Entertainment of the King: Venus and Adonis. In this Mary Davies played the part of Venus, and her daughter by Charles II., Lady Mary Tudor, appeared as Cupid. In 1687 he became master of the choir of St Paul's church; in 1695 he was elected organist of St Margaret's, Westminster, and is said to have resumed his post as organist of Westminster Abbey, from which in 1680 he had retired or been dismissed to make way for Purcell. In 1699 he was appointed to the newly created post of composer to the chapel royal. Fourteen services and more than a hundred anthems by Blow are extant. In addition to his purely ecclesiastical music Blow wrote Great sir, the joy of all our hearts, an ode for New Year's day 1681-1682; similar compositions for 1683, 1686, 1687, 1688, 1689, 1693 (?), 1694 and 170o; odes, &c., for the celebration of St Cecilia's day for 1684, 1691, 1695 and 170o; for the coronation of James II. two anthems, Behold, 0 God, our Defender, and God spake sometimes in visions; some harpsichord pieces for the second part of Playford's Musick's Handmaid (1689); Epicedium for Queen Mary (1695); Ode on the Death of Purcell (1696). In 1700 he published his Amphion Anglicus, a collection of pieces of music for one, two, three and four voices, with a figured-bass accompaniment. A famous page in Burney's History of Music is devoted to illustrations of "Dr Blow's Crudities," most of which only show the meritorious if immature efforts in expression characteristic of English music at the time, while some of them (where Burney says "Here we are lost") are really excellent. Blow died on the 1st of October 1708 at his house in Broad Sanctuary, and was buried in the north aisle of Westminster Abbey.
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Categories: BLE-BO | English composers | Musicians
John Blow (born Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, baptised 23 February 1649; died Westminster, London, 1 October 1708) was an English composer and organist. He had a great deal of influence on English music. His best pupil was Henry Purcell who was the greatest English composer of his time.
Blow was born at Newark-on-Trent. As a boy he sang in the choir the Chapel Royal (the king’s church choir). He was still very young when he started composing anthems. One of these anthems, known as the “Club Anthem” was written by Blow together with three other choirboys: Pelham Humfrey, Michael Wise and William Turner, all of whom were to become well-known composers when they grew up. The diarist Samuel Pepys heard him sing once, but Blow’s voice was breaking by then, and Pepys wrote in his diary that he made an “unpleasant sound”.
In 1668 he became organist of Westminster Abbey. In 1674 he was made a gentleman of the Chapel Royal. When Pelham Humfrey died, Blow took over two of his jobs. He was in charge of a small choir at the king’s court (he was called “composer-in-ordinary”). He also became Master of the Children of the Chapel Royal. He stayed in that job for the rest of his life. Many of the boy choristers he taught later became great composers. They include William Croft, Jeremiah Clark and Daniel Purcell. Henry Purcell’s voice had already broken by this time, and he became an apprentice to Blow.
In September 1673 he married Elizabeth Braddock, but ten years later she died when giving birth to a child.
In 1676 Blow became one of three organists at Westminster Abbey. In 1677 he was given the title of “Doctor of Music”. In 1680 he seems to have resigned from his job as organist at Westminster Abbey so that his young pupil Henry Purcell could take his place. By 1685 he was one of the private musicians of James II. He composed a long anthem God spake sometime in visions for King James’s coronation.
In 1687 he became choirmaster at St Paul's Cathedral. The choir was just being reformed after the rebuilding of the cathedral following the Great Fire of London. Michael Wise had been appointed as choirmaster, but then he died, so Blow was given the job. In 1695 he became organist of St Margaret's, Westminster, and he also took his old job at Westminster Abbey again when Henry Purcell died.
In 1699 he became Composer to the Chapel Royal. This was the first time anyone had been given this title. However, he does not seem to have composed much after 1700.
Blow died on 1 October 1708 and was buried in the north aisle of Westminster Abbey, close to Henry Purcell.
Blow composed a large amount of music. He wrote the same sort of music as Henry Purcell, except that Purcell also wrote trio sonatas as well as a lot of music for the theatre. Blow wrote a large amount of church music. We know fourteen services and more than a hundred anthems by Blow. He also wrote other vocal music such as odes, and music for harpsichord and just one piece of music for the stage: Venus and Adonis.
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| | Choral Evensong from Westminster Abbey on the anniversary of the death of John Blow - BBC - BBC Radio 3 Programmes - Choral Evensong, 01/10/2008 |
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