John Blow (1649-1708); ENG

John Blow (1649–1708) was an English composer, organist, and teacher who played a central role in the musical life of Restoration England. Born at Newark-on-Trent, he became a chorister of the Chapel Royal soon after the restoration of Charles II and showed exceptional ability as a composer while still young. In 1669 he was appointed organist of Westminster Abbey, a post he later relinquished for several years to his pupil Henry Purcell before returning to it after Purcell’s death. Blow also served as a Gentleman and later Master of the Children of the Chapel Royal and, from 1674, as one of the king’s private musicians. In 1677 he received a doctorate in music from the University of Cambridge. His long service at court and church placed him at the center of English musical institutions, and his pupils included several important composers of the next generation, most notably Purcell.

Blow composed extensively for the Anglican liturgy and the royal court, producing services, anthems, odes, songs, keyboard pieces, and instrumental music in a style that helped shape the mature English Baroque. His best-known work is Venus and Adonis, a compact through-composed masque or opera probably written for the court of Charles II and an important precursor to Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. Among his many sacred compositions are the anthems I Was Glad and God Spake Sometime in Visions. After Purcell’s death in 1695, Blow composed the moving An Ode on the Death of Mr. Henry Purcell for two countertenors and continuo. His music combines contrapuntal craftsmanship with expressive text setting and a distinctly English sensitivity to vocal declamation. As composer, organist, and teacher, Blow formed a crucial link between the musical traditions of the early Restoration and the achievement of Purcell and his successors.

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Read biography at allmusic.com.