JOHN BLOW – mentor, colleague and friend of Purcell – deserves recognition as a major figure in the flourishing of music that followed the Restoration in 1660. This new recording by New College Choir – its first under the direction of Robert Quinney – includes three previously unrecorded symphony anthems, together with ceremonial works written for the coronation of James II and the consecration of the rebuilt St Paul’s Cathedral. Alongside these, Quinney presents the fi rst performance in 400 years of a newly reconstructed verse anthem. New College Choir and St James’ Baroque, playing period instruments, bring Blow’s innovative and strikingly individual voice vividly to life.