John Blow (born 23 February 1649 – died 1 October 1708) was an English composer and organist during the Baroque period. He was appointed as the organist of Westminster Abbey in late 1668. He taught students such as William Croft, Jeremiah Clarke, and Henry Purcell. In 1685, he was named a private musician for James II. His only work for the stage, Venus and Adonis (around 1680–1687), is believed to have influenced Henry Purcell's later opera Dido and Aeneas. In 1687, he became the choir director at St Paul's Cathedral, where many of his pieces were performed. In 1699, he was appointed to the newly created position of Composer to the Chapel Royal.

Early life and education

Blow was likely born in the village of Collingham in Nottinghamshire. Church records in Newark list the baptisms of Blow and his brother and sister, the marriage of his parents, and the burial of his father. The Lambeth degrees register states that in 1677, when Blow received his doctorate, he mentioned his birthplace as "the faithful borough of Newark." Since he was baptized on February 23, 1649, he was probably born shortly before that date. As a young boy, he was chosen as a chorister at the Chapel Royal and showed great skill in music.

Blow composed several anthems at an unusually young 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 anthem was created with Pelham Humfrey and William Turner. It was either written to honor a victory over the Dutch in 1665 or to celebrate the friendly relationship among the three choristers.

Career

In 1668, he worked as an organist at Westminster Abbey. He created a two-part musical version of Robert Herrick's poem "Goe, perjur'd man," which was requested by King Charles II to copy the style of Giacomo Carissimi's "Dite, o cieli." In 1674, he was appointed as a member of the Chapel Royal and became the leader of the children's choir in the Chapel Royal.

By 1678, Blow had earned the title of doctor of music. In 1685, he was named one of the private musicians for King James II. Between 1680 and 1687, he wrote his only surviving stage work, a Masque called "Venus and Adonis," created for the King's entertainment. In this performance, Mary Davis played the role of Venus, and Lady Mary Tudor, the daughter of King Charles II, performed as Cupid.

In 1687, Blow became the choirmaster at St Paul's Cathedral. In 1690, he built a home for himself in Hampton. (Blow also owned eight other homes near Westminster Abbey.) The Hampton house was later destroyed in 1799. It was built on the same land where the current house called Beveree now stands in the High Street.

In 1695, he was chosen as the organist of St Margaret's, Westminster, and it is believed he returned to his previous role as organist at Westminster Abbey. He had left that position in 1679, either by retiring or being replaced to allow Henry Purcell to take over. In 1700, he was assigned to the newly established role of Composer to the Chapel Royal.

Music

John Blow composed fourteen services and thirty odes for royal celebrations, fifty secular song-like pieces, and more than one hundred anthems.

In addition to religious music and his well-known masque Venus and Adonis, Blow’s works include Great sir, the joy of all our hearts, an ode for New Year’s Day 1682, and similar compositions for 1683, 1686, 1687, 1688, 1689, 1693 (?), 1694, and 1700. He also wrote odes for St. Cecilia’s Day in 1684, 1691, 1695, and 1700; two anthems for the coronation of James II, 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).

In 1700, he published Amphion Anglicus, a collection of musical pieces for one, two, three, and four voices, with a figured bass accompaniment. This collection includes a musical setting for voice and continuo of the poem The Self Banished by Edmund Waller.

Personal life

In September 1673, Blow married Elizabeth Braddock. She died during childbirth ten years later. Two of his sons died, but he also had three daughters who lived after his death. Blow died on October 1, 1708, when he was 59 years old, at his home in Broad Sanctuary. He is buried in Westminster Abbey.

Legacy and honours

• A primary school in Nottinghamshire called Collingham John Blow Primary School is named after him.
• In 1955, Arthur Bliss was commissioned by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra to compose a piece called Meditations on a Theme by John Blow, which was based on Blow’s verse anthem The Lord is my Shepherd.
• The 300th anniversary of his death was celebrated by BBC Radio 3 and Westminster Abbey. A weekly broadcast of choral evensong was performed by the choir of Westminster Abbey, live from the Abbey, and included music mostly by him and by his near contemporaries.