BLOW An Ode on the Death of Mr Henry Purcell
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: John Blow
Genre:
Vocal
Label: Hyperion
Magazine Review Date: 10/2017
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 76
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: CDA68149

Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Begin the song |
John Blow, Composer
Arcangelo John Blow, Composer Jonathan Cohen, Conductor Samuel Boden, Tenor Thomas Walker, Tenor |
Chaconne |
John Blow, Composer
Arcangelo John Blow, Composer Jonathan Cohen, Conductor |
Mark how the lark and linnet sing, 'Ode on the Death of Mr Henry Purcell' |
John Blow, Composer
Arcangelo John Blow, Composer Jonathan Cohen, Conductor Samuel Boden, Tenor Thomas Walker, Tenor |
Ground |
John Blow, Composer
Arcangelo John Blow, Composer Jonathan Cohen, Conductor |
The Nymphs of the Wells |
John Blow, Composer
Arcangelo John Blow, Composer Jonathan Cohen, Conductor Samuel Boden, Tenor Thomas Walker, Tenor |
Sonata |
John Blow, Composer
Arcangelo John Blow, Composer Jonathan Cohen, Conductor |
Dread Sir, the Prince of Light |
John Blow, Composer
Arcangelo John Blow, Composer Jonathan Cohen, Conductor Samuel Boden, Tenor Thomas Walker, Tenor |
Author: Lindsay Kemp
Begin the Song!, for St Cecilia’s Day 1684, is a call to sensual, in places raunchy enjoyment of music’s powers that shows Blow’s imaginative responses to text (I love the way the music smoothly mutates at ‘gentlest thoughts, that into language glide, / bring softest words, that into numbers slide’). The Nymphs of the Wells marks the eighth birthday of the Stuarts’ last hope of a royal succession, William Duke of Gloucester; if it was intended for the sickly child’s own enjoyment, as the dramatised approach and trite verse perhaps hint, Blow himself made few concessions in his own vocal lines, which in his usual way tend to the sophisticatedly meandering and surprising while always seeming to come out right in the end. Dread Sir, the Prince of Light, for New Year’s Day 1678, is if anything more straightforward, perhaps reflecting a breezier court occasion.
For many, getting to know these pieces will be persuasion enough, but the performances complete the seduction with their expert playing and singing, vigorous but tastefully realised sense of style and – despite being mostly one-to-a-part – firmly shaped contours and effective illustrative touches, such as the strumming theorbo for the Purcell Ode’s ‘jarring spheres’. The two high tenors, flirting between chest and head voice, are a sweet treat in this last piece, more often the playground of countertenors. With a recording that is wonderfully clear and alive, everything seems to be going right for Jonathan Cohen at present.
Discover the world's largest classical music catalogue with Presto Music.

Gramophone Digital Club
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Full website access
From £8.75 / month
Subscribe
Gramophone Full Club
- Print Edition
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Full website access
From £11.00 / month
Subscribe
If you are a library, university or other organisation that would be interested in an institutional subscription to Gramophone please click here for further information.