John Blow, Jesus seeing the multitudes, ed. Alan Howard, October 2009 Introduction, p. i ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ INTRODUCTION Despite being more numerous than his symphony anthems with strings, Blow’s verse anthems with organ accompaniment are far less well known. Scholarly attention has understandably concentrated on the more glamorous and, on the whole, more accomplished orchestral anthems, all of which are now available in modern editions in the Musica Britannica series. A number of the verse anthems were printed by Boyce in his Cathedral Music in 1760-3, and a handful of others have appeared in separate editions and collections of English sacred music since, but the only recent edition devoted to Blow’s non-orchestral anthems is the collection of eight full and “full-with-verse” anthems in A Blow Anthology.1 The present edition constitutes the first modern scholarly edition of Blow’s verse anthem “Jesus seeing the multitudes.” The particular interest of this piece is not just its quality, but also the fact that Blow seems to have made two versions of the piece, both of which survive in autograph manuscripts: at Christ Church, Oxford, and at the British Library. The original anthem was written in the early 1670s, during the period in which he was organist of Westminster Abbey. By this time Blow was already involved in the music of the Chapel Royal, becoming a Gentleman in March 1674 (n.s.) in the place of Roger Hill,2 though the absence of the anthem from the “Catalogue of Severall Services & Anthems that have been transcribed into the Books of His Maties Chappell Royall since Anno 1670 to Midsumer 1676” suggests that it was not in regular use in the Chapel at this time.3 Neither was it sung there by the early 1680s, judging from the fact that it does not appear in any of John Gostling’s scorebooks.4 Nevertheless, the large number of sources of the anthem copied during the period c. 1675-90 suggests that the piece was well known not only in London, but also in Oxford (where it seems to have been especially popular), Windsor and Lincoln. The latter might be explained by a childhood connection, Blow having received his earliest musical education at nearby Newark. Like many of Blow’s verse anthems, the piece is rather reliant on simple triple-time verse writing. In the case of “Jesus seeing the multitudes,” however, the text suggested a particular kind of texture that Blow exploits throughout the anthem: the solo alto is cast in the role of narrator, while the words of Christ are generally first sung by the ATB verse trio (presumably intended as an embodiment of the Trinity). In a number of respects Blow’s anthem appears to evoke pre-Commonwealth verse anthems, most notably in the written-out imitative entries of the organ part at the start, and the declamatory style of the opening alto solo which, given the narrative role of the soloist, is inevitably reminiscent of Orlando Gibbons’s “This is the 1 Edited by Deborah Simpkin King (Oxford: OUP, 1996). 2 Bruce Wood, Grove Music Online, s.v. “Blow, John,” section 1 (accessed December 15, 2008). 3 Andrew Ashbee, Records of English Court Music, vol. 1 (Snodland: Andrew Ashbee, 1986), 162-4. 4 Gostling’s great scorebooks have been described as an attempt to record the repertory of the Chapel Royal at this time; see Robert Shay and Robert Thompson, Purcell Manuscripts: The Principal Musical Sources (Cambridge: CUP, 2000), 64-6. WEB LIBRARY OF SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY MUSIC (www.sscm-wlscm.org), WLSCM No. 16 John Blow, Jesus seeing the multitudes, ed. Alan Howard, October 2009 Introduction, p. ii ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Record of John.” The role of the chorus, too, is in keeping with this earlier formal treatment, serving to re-work passages already sung by the verse ensemble. The later version of the anthem, preserved in full in the British Library autograph, includes considerable revisions of the two chorus sections and a completely new setting of one verse of the text. This reworking shows both technical improvements and conscious attempts to update the music: the improved handling of texture in the final chorus is notable, as are the intensification of its dialogue effects and the provision of a far more satisfying conclusion, complete with a short canon between the two soprano parts. This version must date from before 1689, when it was copied into a set of part books at Lincoln. Of this set, only a tenor and two bass parts now remain, all annotated with the date (25 April 1689) on which they were examined for accuracy. Text The text of the anthem is taken from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, where it is printed as the Gospel reading for All Saint’s Day (1 November). It consists of part of the Sermon on the Mount as given in Matthew chapter 5, verses 1-12: Jesus seeing the multitudes, went up into a mountain; and when he was set, his disciples came unto him. And he [opened his mouth, and] taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the peace-makers: for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you; and shall say all manner of evil against you falsly for my name’s sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad; for great is your reward in heaven [: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you]. Hallelujah.5 Blow omits two short phrases (shown above in square brackets), perhaps to make the language more concise in the first case, and at the end of the anthem almost certainly in order to conclude on a more joyful note. This is further aided by the Hallelujahs inserted in response to the exhortation to “Rejoice, and be exceeding glad.” The only other insertion (italicized here) is the word “name’s” in the penultimate verse, possibly added in order to permit a more musical word underlay. Performance Versions Such is the textual fluidity of much Restoration sacred music that no one version of an anthem like “Jesus seeing the multitudes” can properly be considered definitive. In order to provide a performance-ready text, however, the main text of the present edition is taken from the later version preserved in the British Library autograph and the Lincoln parts. The substantially different readings of the two choruses, and the earlier setting of the verse “Blessed are ye when men shall revile you,” all found in the Christ Church autograph and its related sources, have been appended to the main edition. Links have been provided at the 5 The Book of Common Prayer (London: John Bill and Christopher Barker, 1662). Spelling, capitalisation and punctuation as printed. WEB LIBRARY OF SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY MUSIC (www.sscm-wlscm.org), WLSCM No. 16 John Blow, Jesus seeing the multitudes, ed. Alan Howard, October 2009 Introduction, p. iii ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ beginnings of the corresponding passages to facilitate comparison between the two versions. The pages are paginated and laid out identically so they can easily be substituted in performance, should this be desired. Those wishing to restore any of the less significant earlier readings in the remainder of the anthem will find them detailed in the critical commentary. Many of these variants are, however, of the kind that were routinely varied in transcription both by composers and copyists in the Restoration period: inconsistency of dotted rhythms, alternative “divisions” of underlying voice-leading patterns and cadences, variable treatment of rhythmic simplification and octave transposition in the organ part––all details that were in any case subject to variation in performance. These contrast strongly with the clear “revisions” found in the three passages for which alternative versions are supplied in the edition. Moreover, since Blow seems to have made his later version from a source other than the extant copies of the earlier version (all of which transmit a variant not present in the later version; see the discussion of sources below), it is possible that some of its apparently later variants represent not revisions, but reversions to earlier readings. For all these reasons, it should not be thought incongruous to perform the earlier versions of the three heavily revised sections in the context of the main version of the rest of the anthem, or even to select from among variant passages on artistic grounds. An attractive option, for example, would be to opt for the earlier version of “Blessed are ye when men shall revile you,” along with the later revision of the final chorus. Voice parts All voice designations in the edition are editorial, and are assigned in accordance with Blow’s original clefs (except where the clef changes temporarily in the context of a single part). Thus parts notated in G2 clef are transcribed for soprano, C3 for alto, C4 for tenor, and F4 for bass. In Blow’s time, the soprano parts would have been taken by boy trebles, and the alto parts by male countertenors. The alto parts in particular frequently descend below the comfortable range of most modern alto singers, be they female or male: g is a frequent occurrence, f sharp is heard in mm.