Blow
An Ode on the Death of Mr Henry Purcell et al
Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen
Hyperion CDA68149

In his booklet note for early music ensemble Arcangelo’s new recording, Bruce Wood describes how, in John Blow’s tribute to his late pupil, An Ode on the Death of Mr Henry Purcell, the composer substituted the poet John Dryden’s phrase “the god-like man” with “the matchless man.” As Wood has it, “hearing his pupil and lifelong friend deified evidently stuck in Blow’s craw.”

One could however be...