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BLOW, JOHN (1648-1708)

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Originally appearing in Volume V04, Page 89 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BLOW, See also:JOHN (1648-1708) , See also:English musical composer, was See also:born in 1648, probably at See also:North Collingham in See also:Nottinghamshire. He became a chorister of the See also:chapel royal, and distinguished himself by his proficiency in See also:music; he composed several anthems at an unusually See also:early See also:age, including See also:Lord, See also:Thou hast been our See also:refuge; Lord, rebuke me not; and the so-called " See also:club See also:anthem," I will always give thanks, the last in collaboration with See also:Pelham See also:Humphrey and See also:William See also:Turner, either in See also:honour of a victory over the Dutch in 1665, or—more probably—simply to commemorate the friendly intercourse of the three choristers. To this See also:time also belongs the See also:composition of a two-See also:part settingof See also:Herrick's Goe, perjur'd See also:man, written at the See also:request of See also:Charles II. to imitate See also:Carissimi's Dite, o deli. In X1669 Blow became organist of See also:Westminster See also:Abbey. In 1673 he was made a See also:gentle-man of the chapel royal, and in the See also:September of this See also:year he was married to See also:Elizabeth See also:Braddock, who died in childbirth ten years later. Blow, who by the year 1678 was a See also:doctor of music, was named in 1685 one of the private musicians of See also:James II. Between 168o and 1637 he wrote the only See also:stage composition by him of which any See also:record survives, the Masque for the Entertainment of the See also:King: See also:Venus and See also:Adonis. In this See also:Mary See also:Davies played the part of Venus, and her daughter by Charles II., See also:Lady Mary Tudor, appeared as See also:Cupid. In 1687 he became See also:master of the See also:choir of St See also:Paul's See also:church; in 1695 he was elected organist of St See also:Margaret's, Westminster, and is said to have resumed his See also:post as organist of Westminster Abbey, from which in 168o he had retired or been dismissed to make way for See also:Purcell. In 1699 he was appointed to the newly created post of composer to the chapel royal. Fourteen services and more than a See also:hundred anthems by Blow are extant. In addition to his purely ecclesiastical music Blow wrote See also:Great See also:sir, the joy of all our See also:hearts, an See also:ode for New Year's See also:day 1681-1682; similar compositions for 1683, 1686, 1687, 1688, 1689, 1693 (?), 1694 and 1700; odes, &c., for the celebration of St See also:Cecilia's day for 1684, 1691, 1695 and 1700; for the See also:coronation of James II. two anthems, Behold, 0 See also:God, our Defender, and God spake sometimes in visions; some See also:harpsichord pieces for the second part of Playford's Musick's Handmaid (1689); Epicedium for See also:Queen Mary (1695); Ode on the See also:Death of Purcell (1696).

In 1700 he published his See also:

Amphion Anglicus, a collection of pieces of music for one, two, three and four voices, with a figured-See also:bass See also:accompaniment. A famous See also:page in See also:Burney's See also:History of Music is devoted to illustrations of " Dr Blow's Crudities," most of which only show the meritorious if immature efforts in expression characteristic of English music at the time, while some of them (where Burney says " Here we are lost ") are really excellent. Blow died on the 1st of See also:October 1708 at his See also:house in Broad See also:Sanctuary, and was buried in the north See also:aisle of Westminster Abbey. BLOW-See also:GUN, a weapon consisting of a See also:long See also:tube, through which, by blowing with the mouth, arrows or other missiles can be shot accurately to a considerable distance. Blow-guns are used both in warefare and the See also:chase by the See also:South See also:American See also:Indian tribes inhabiting the region between the See also:Amazon and See also:Orinoco See also:rivers, and by the See also:Dyaks of See also:Borneo. In the 18th See also:century they were also known to certain North American See also:Indians, especially the See also:Choctaws and Cherokees of the See also:lower See also:Mississippi. See also:Captain See also:Bossu, in his Travels through See also:Louisiana (1756), says of the Choctaws: " They are very See also:expert in See also:shooting with an See also:instrument made of reeds about 7 ft. long, into which they put a little arrow feathered with the See also:wool of the See also:thistle (See also:wild See also:cotton?)." The blow-guns of the South American Indians differ in See also:style and workmanship. That of the Macusis of See also:Guiana, called pucuna, is the most perfect. It is made of two tubes, the inner of which, called oorah, is a See also:light See also:reed in. in See also:diameter which often grows to a length of 15 ft. without a See also:joint. This is enclosed, for See also:protection and solidity, in an See also:outer tube of a variety of See also:palm (Iriartella setigera). The mouth-piece is made of a circlet of See also:silk-grass, and the farther end is feruled with a See also:kind of See also:nut, forming a sight. A See also:rear open sight is formed of two See also:teeth of a small rodent.

The length of the pucuna is about 11 ft. and its See also:

weight 1 z lb. The arrows, which are from 12 to 18 in. long and very slender, are made of ribs of the cocorite palm-See also:leaf. They are usually feathered with a tuft of wild cotton, but some have in See also:place of the cotton a thin See also:strip of bark curled into a See also:cone, which, when the shooter blows into the pucuna, expands and completely fills the tube, thus avoiding windage. Another kind of arrow is furnished with See also:fibres of bark fixed along the See also:shaft, imparting a rotary See also:motion to the missile, a See also:primitive example of the theory of the See also:rifle. The arrows used in See also:Peru are only a few inches long and as thin as See also:fine See also:knitting-needles. All South American blow-gun arrows are steeped in See also:poison. The natives shoot very accurately with the pucuna at distances up to 50 or 6o yds. The blow-gun of the Borneo Dyaks, called sumpitan, is from 6 to 7 ft. long and made of See also:ironwood. The See also:bore, of z in., is made with, a long pointed piece of See also:iron. At the muzzle a small iron See also:hook is affixed, to serve as a sight, as well as a See also:spear-See also:head like a See also:bayonet and for the same purpose. The arrows used with the sumpitan are about ro in. long, pointed with See also:fish-teeth, and feathered with See also:pith. They are also envenomed with poison.

Poisoned arrows are also used by the natives of the Philippine See also:

island of Mindanao, whose blow-pipes, from 3 to 4 ft. long and made of See also:bamboo, are often richly ornamented and even jewelled. The principle of the blow-gun is, of course, the same as that of the See also:common " See also:pea-shooter." See See also:Sport with See also:Rod and Gun in American See also:Woods and See also:Waters, by A. M. See also:Mayer, vol. ii. (See also:Edinburgh, 1884) ; Wanderings in South See also:America, &c., by Charles See also:Waterton (See also:London, 1828) ; The Head Hunters of Borneo, by Carl Bock (London, 1881).

End of Article: BLOW, JOHN (1648-1708)

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