John Blow | |
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 18th century engraving byCharles Grignion the Elder afterRobert White | |
| Born | Collingham, Nottinghamshire, England |
| Baptised | 23 February 1649 |
| Died | 1 October 1708(1708-10-01) (aged 59) London, England |
| Occupations |
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John Blow (baptised 23 February 1649 – 1 October 1708) was an English composer and organist of theBaroque period. Appointed organist ofWestminster Abbey in late 1668,[1] his pupils includedWilliam Croft,Jeremiah Clarke andHenry Purcell. In 1685 he was named a private musician toJames II. His only stage composition,Venus and Adonis (ca. 1680–1687), is thought to have influencedHenry Purcell's later operaDido and Aeneas. In 1687, he became choirmaster atSt Paul's Cathedral, where many of his pieces were performed. In 1699 he was appointed to the newly created post of Composer to theChapel Royal.
Blow was probably born in the village ofCollingham inNottinghamshire. The parish registers at Newark record the baptisms of Blow and of his brother and sister, the marriage of his parents, and the burial of his father. The register of Lambeth degrees notes that in 1677, on taking his doctorate, Blow said that his birthplace was 'the faithful borough of Newark'. As he was baptised on 23 February 1649, he was likely born only a short while before. As a boy, he was selected as a chorister of theChapel Royal,[2] and distinguished himself by his proficiency in music.
Blow composed severalanthems at an unusually early age, includingLord, Thou hast been our refuge,Lord, rebuke me not and the so-called "club anthem",I will always give thanks, the last in collaboration withPelham Humfrey andWilliam 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.[3]
In 1668, he was an organist atWestminster Abbey.[2] He composed a two-part setting ofRobert Herrick's "Goe, perjur'd man", written at the request ofCharles II to imitateGiacomo Carissimi's "Dite, o cieli".[3] In 1674, he was made a gentleman of the Chapel Royal andMaster of the Children of the Chapel Royal.[2]
Blow, who by 1678 was a doctor of music, was named in 1685 one of the private musicians ofJames II. Between 1680 and 1687, he wrote his only stage composition of which any record survives, theMasque for the entertainment of the King,Venus and Adonis. In this,Mary Davis played the part ofVenus.Lady Mary Tudor, her daughter by Charles II, appeared asCupid.[3]
In 1687, Blow became choirmaster (or Master of the Choristers) atSt Paul's Cathedral.[2] In 1690 he built a house for himself inHampton. (Blow also owned eight other houses in the vicinity of Westminster Abbey). The Hampton house was demolished in 1799. It was on the site of the present-day house known as Beveree in the High Street.[4]
In 1695 he was elected organist ofSt Margaret's, Westminster, and is said to have resumed his post as organist of Westminster Abbey, from which in 1679 he had retired or been dismissed to make way for Purcell. In 1700, he was appointed to the newly created post of Composer to the Chapel Royal.[3][2]
Blow wrote fourteenservices and 30 odes for royal celebrations, 50 secular song-like pieces and more than a hundred anthems.[2]
In addition to purely ecclesiastical music and his relatively well-known masqueVenus and Adonis, Blow's works includeGreat sir, the joy of all our hearts, anode 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 ofSt Cecilia's Day for 1684, 1691, 1695 and 1700; for the coronation of James II, two anthems,Behold, O God, our Defender andGod spake sometime in visions; someharpsichord pieces for the second part ofHenry Playford'sMusick's handmaid (1689);Epicedium for Queen Mary (1695) andOde on the Death of Purcell (1696).[3]
In 1700 he published hisAmphion Anglicus, a collection of pieces of music for one, two, three and four voices, with afigured bass accompaniment.[3] This includes a setting for voice and continuo of the poemThe Self Banished byEdmund Waller.[5]
In September 1673, Blow married Elizabeth Braddock. She died in childbirth ten years later.[3] Two of his sons died, but he also had three daughters, who survived past his death.
Blow died on 1 October 1708 aged 59 at his house in Broad Sanctuary. He is buried in Westminster Abbey.[1]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Blow, John".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 88.
| Cultural offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Organist and Master of the Choristers ofWestminster Abbey 1668–1679 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Organist and Master of the Choristers ofWestminster Abbey 1695–1708 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Almoner and Master of the Choristers ofSt Paul's Cathedral 1687–1703 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Master of the Children of theChapel Royal 1674–1708 | Succeeded by |
