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The Blow Torch

Hannah French visits St Paul's Cathedral in London to explore the legacy of composer John Blow, who became master of the choristers at the newly consecrated cathedral in 1687.

Hannah French visits St Paul's Cathedral in London to explore the legacy of composer John Blow, who became master of the choristers at the newly consecrated cathedral in 1687. She meets the current Director of Music, Andrew Carwood, to talk about music that Blow may have written for the Cathedral's opening service, and the dual roles that the composer had at St Paul's and Westminster Abbey.

They're joined in the Cathedral by natural trumpet specialist Russell Gilmour, who traces a line between some of the most important trumpeters in Blow's time, and who gives a demonstration of how natural trumpets sound in the famously resonant acoustic of St Paul's Cathedral. The music includes works by Blow, together with some of his pupils and successors, including Croft, Clarke, and Purcell.

Producer: Ben Collingwood.

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59 minutes

Last on

Sun 1 Mar 202617:00
BBC Radio 3

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Music Played

  • John Blow

    Chaconne a 4 in G Major

    • Blow: An Ode on the Death of Mr Henry Purcell & Other Works.
    • Hyperion.
    • 10.

  • John Blow

    I was glad when they said unto me (opening)

    Singer: Robin Blaze. Singer: Mark le Brocq. Singer: Andrew Dale Forbes. Choir: St Paul's Cathedral Choir. Ensemble: The Parley of Instruments. Conductor: John Scott.
    • Music for St Paul's.
    • Hyperion.
    • 16.

  • John Blow

    An Ode on the death of Mr Henry Purcell I. Mark How the Lark and Linnet Sing

    Singer: Thomas Walker. Singer: Samuel Boden. Ensemble: Arcangelo. Director: Jonathan Cohen.
    • Hyperion.

  • William Croft

    Henry Purcell: The Burial Service IV I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me

    Ensemble: The Parley of Instruments. Choir: St Paul's Cathedral Choir. Director: John Scott.
    • Helios.

  • Jeremiah Clarke

    Ode on the death of Henry Purcell

    Choir: Les Cris de Paris. Director: Vincent Dumestre. Ensemble: Poeme Harmonique.
    • ALPHA.

  • Jeremiah Clarke

    Prince of Denmark's March

    Performer: Simon Preston.
    • Eloquence.

  • Henry Purcell

    Trumpet sonata in D. III Allegro

    Performer: David Blackadder. Ensemble: English Baroque Soloists. Director: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • Warner CLassics.

  • Henry Purcell

    King Arthur, Z. 628, Act V: Tune for Trumpets (after Dioclesian, Z. 627)

    Ensemble: Gabrieli Players. Conductor: Paul McCreesh.
    • Purcell: King Arthur, 1691.
    • Signum Classics.
    • 208.

  • Daniel Purcell

    Sinfony to The Judgement of Paris

    Ensemble: Spiritato!. Director: Julian Perkins.
    • Resonus Classics.

  • Jeremiah Clarke

    Ground in D minor, from Song on the Assumption

    Ensemble: Ensemble Les Surprises. Director: Louis-Noël Bestion de Camboulas.
    • ALPHA.

  • William Croft

    Jubilate in D Major

    Choir: St Paul's Cathedral Choir. Ensemble: The Parley of Instruments. Conductor: John Scott.
    • Helios.

Broadcast

  • Sun 1 Mar 202617:00
    BBC Radio 3

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