View source for John Blow

{{Short description|English composer (1649–1708)}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2017}}
{{Infobox classical composer
| name          = John Blow
| image         = John Blow.jpg
| caption       = 18th century engraving by [[Charles Grignion the Elder]] after [[Robert White (engraver)|Robert White]]
| birth_place   = [[Collingham, Nottinghamshire]], England
| baptised      = 23 February 1649
| death_date    = {{death date and age|1708|10|01|1649|02|23|df=y}}
| death_place   = [[London]], England
| occupation    = {{hlist|Composer|organist}}
}}

'''John Blow''' (baptised 23 February 1649 – 1 October 1708) was an English composer and organist of the [[Baroque music|Baroque period]]. Appointed organist of [[Westminster Abbey]] in late 1668,<ref name=abbey>[http://www.westminster-abbey.org/our-history/people/john-blow John Blow] Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 30 December 2019.</ref> his pupils included [[William Croft]], [[Jeremiah Clarke]] and [[Henry Purcell]]. In 1685 he was named a private musician to [[James II of England|James II]]. His only stage composition, ''[[Venus and Adonis (opera)|Venus and Adonis]]'' (ca. 1680–1687), is thought to have influenced [[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]].

==Early life and education==
Blow was probably born in the village of [[Collingham, Nottinghamshire|Collingham]] in Nottinghamshire. 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 the [[Chapel Royal]],<ref name=choral>Dennis Shrock {{google books|-SVnDAAAQBAJ|Choral Repertoire|page=325}}</ref> and distinguished himself by his proficiency in music.

Blow composed several [[anthem]]s at an unusually early age, including ''Lord, Thou hast 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 (composer)|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.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Blow, John|volume=4|page=88}}</ref>

==Career==
In 1668, he was an organist at [[Westminster Abbey]].<ref name=choral/> He composed a two-part setting of [[Robert Herrick (poet)|Robert Herrick]]'s "Goe, perjur'd man", written at the request of [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] to imitate [[Giacomo Carissimi]]'s "Dite, o cieli".<ref name="EB1911"/> In 1674, he was made a gentleman of the Chapel Royal and [[Master of the Children of the Chapel Royal]].<ref name=choral/>

Blow, who by 1678 was a doctor of music, was named in 1685 one of the private musicians of [[James II of England|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 (opera)|Venus and Adonis]]''. In this, [[Moll Davis|Mary Davis]] played the part of [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]]. [[Lady Mary Tudor]], her daughter by Charles II, appeared as [[Cupid]].<ref name="EB1911"/>

In 1687, Blow became choirmaster (or Master of the Choristers) at [[St Paul's Cathedral]].<ref name=choral/> In 1690 he built a house for himself in [[Hampton, London|Hampton]]. (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.<ref>[http://www.twickenham-museum.org.uk/detail.php?aid=147&cid=18&ctid=1 'John Blow', Twickenham Museum]</ref>

[[File:John Blow attributed to Sir Peter Lely.jpg|thumb|left|''John Blow'' attributed to [[Peter Lely|Sir Peter Lely]] (Private Collection)]]

In 1695 he was elected organist of [[St. Margaret's, Westminster|St 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.<ref name="EB1911"/><ref name=choral/>

==Music==
{{listen|filename=John Blow -- Prelude.mid|title=John Blow's ''Prelude''|format=[[MIDI]]}}
Blow wrote fourteen [[service (music)|services]] and 30 odes for royal celebrations, 50 secular song-like pieces and more than a hundred anthems.<ref name=choral/>

In addition to purely ecclesiastical music and his relatively well-known masque ''[[Venus and Adonis (opera)|Venus and Adonis]]'', Blow's works include ''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 sometime 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).<ref name="EB1911"/>

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.<ref name="EB1911"/> This includes a setting for voice and continuo of the poem ''[[The Self Banished]]'' by [[Edmund Waller]].<ref>John Blow ''Amphion Anglicus'', 1700</ref>

==Personal life==
In September 1673, Blow married Elizabeth Braddock. She died in childbirth ten years later.<ref name="EB1911"/> Two of his sons died, but there were also three daughters, who survived him.

Blow died on 1 October 1708 aged 59 at his house in Broad Sanctuary. He is buried in Westminster Abbey.<ref name=abbey/>

==Legacy and honours==
*[[Collingham, Nottinghamshire|Collingham]] John Blow Primary School, Nottinghamshire, is named after him.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Welcome |url=https://www.johnblowprimaryschool.co.uk/page/?title=Welcome&pid=8 |access-date=2024-07-06 |website=John Blow Primary School |language=en}}</ref>
*Commissioned by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, [[Arthur Bliss]] composed ''Meditations on a Theme by John Blow'' in 1955 based on Blow's verse anthem "The Lord is my Shepherd".<ref>Arthur Bliss. [https://www.wisemusicclassical.com/work/7486/Meditations-on-a-Theme-by-John-Blow--Arthur-Bliss/ Programme notes to "Meditations on a Theme by John Blow (1955)."] Novello & Co Ltd. Reprinted at Wise Music Classical. Retrieved 1 August 2021.</ref> 
*The [[tercentenary]] of his death was marked by [[BBC Radio 3]] and Westminster Abbey: the weekly broadcast of [[choral evensong]] was made by the choir of Westminster Abbey, live from the Abbey, and consisted of music mostly by him and by his near contemporaries.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00dpq2n Choral Evensong from Westminster Abbey on the anniversary of the death of John Blow], [[BBC Radio 3]]. Retrieved 1 October 2008.</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
*{{ChoralWiki}}
*{{IMSLP|id=Blow, John}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-culture}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Albertus Bryan]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Director of Music|Organist and Master of the Choristers]] of [[Westminster Abbey]]
|years=1668–1679}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Henry Purcell]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Henry Purcell]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Director of Music|Organist and Master of the Choristers]] of [[Westminster Abbey]]
|years=1695–1708}}
{{s-aft|after=[[William Croft]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Michael Wise (musician)|Michael Wise]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[St Paul's Cathedral#Almoners and masters of the choristers|Almoner and Master of the Choristers]] of [[St Paul's Cathedral]]
|years=1687–1703}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Jeremiah Clarke]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Pelham Humfrey]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Master of the Children]] of the [[Chapel Royal]]
|years=1674–1708}}
{{s-aft|after=[[William Croft]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blow, John}}
[[Category:1649 births]]
[[Category:1708 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Newark-on-Trent]]
[[Category:17th-century English composers]]
[[Category:17th-century English male musicians]]
[[Category:18th-century English keyboardists]]
[[Category:18th-century English composers]]
[[Category:English classical composers of church music]]
[[Category:English male classical composers]]
[[Category:English Baroque composers]]
[[Category:English classical organists]]
[[Category:English male classical organists]]
[[Category:English cathedral organists]]
[[Category:Children of the Chapel Royal]]
[[Category:Gentlemen of the Chapel Royal]]
[[Category:Masters of the Children of the Chapel Royal]]
[[Category:Master of the Choristers at Westminster Abbey]]
[[Category:Burials at Westminster Abbey]]