Jeremiah Clarke (c. 1674 – 1707) was an English
baroque composer and organist, best known for his
Trumpet Voluntary, a popular piece often played at
wedding ceremonies. The exact date of his birth has
been debated. The Dictionary of National Biography
states that Clarke "is said to have been born in 1669
(though probably the date should be earlier)." Most
sources say that he is thought to have been born in
London around 1674.
Clarke was one of the pupils of John Blow at St Paul's
Cath...(+)
Jeremiah Clarke (c. 1674 – 1707) was an English
baroque composer and organist, best known for his
Trumpet Voluntary, a popular piece often played at
wedding ceremonies. The exact date of his birth has
been debated. The Dictionary of National Biography
states that Clarke "is said to have been born in 1669
(though probably the date should be earlier)." Most
sources say that he is thought to have been born in
London around 1674.
Clarke was one of the pupils of John Blow at St Paul's
Cathedral and a chorister in 1685 at the Chapel Royal.
Between 1692 and 1695 he was an organist at Winchester
College, then between 1699 and 1704 he was an organist
at St Paul's Cathedral. He later became an organist and
'Gentleman extraordinary' at the Chapel Royal, he
shared that post with fellow composer William Croft,
his friend. They were succeeded by John Blow. "A
violent and hopeless passion for a very beautiful lady
of a rank superior to his own" caused Clarke to commit
suicide. Apparently, he fell madly in love with one of
his female students, a young, beautiful woman, of much
higher social rank than he. But the woman was out of
his league in every way, and he couldn't bear it. He
thus decided that life wasn't worth living.
Clarke had been visiting a friend who lived in the
countryside. He abruptly determined to leave and return
to London. His friend observed his dejection, and
disappointment in love, and furnished him with a horse
and a servant to take care of him. While riding near
London, a fit of melancholy seized him on the road; he
alighted, giving the horse to the servant. He went into
a field, where there was a pond surrounded by trees,
and stood on the bank of the pond. He began thinking of
a suicide method, which he could not really decide on,
debating with himself whether he should drown himself
in the pond or hang himself on the trees. So, to decide
his fate, he tossed a coin in the water. The coin fell
with its edge embedded in the clay, so Clarke mounted
his horse, returned to London, and went back to his
home in the churchyard of St Paul's Cathedral. Instead
of consoling himself, he therefore chose another method
of suicide; he shot himself in the head with a pistol.
Suicides were not generally granted burial in
consecrated ground, but an exception was made for
Clarke, who was buried in the crypt of St Paul's
Cathedral (though other sources state he was buried in
the unconsecrated section of the cathedral
churchyard.)
Today, Clarke is best remembered for a popular keyboard
piece that was originally either a harpsichord piece or
a work for wind ensemble: the Prince of Denmark's
March, which is commonly called the Trumpet Voluntary,
written in about 1700. From c. 1878 until the 1940s the
work was attributed to Henry Purcell, and was published
as Trumpet Voluntary by Henry Purcell in William
Spark's Short Pieces for the Organ, Book VII, No. 1
(London, Ashdown and Parry). This version came to the
attention of Sir Henry J. Wood, who made two orchestral
transcriptions of it, both of which were recorded. The
recordings further cemented the erroneous notion that
the original piece was by Purcell. Clarke's piece is a
popular choice for wedding music, and has been used in
royal weddings.
The famous Trumpet Tune in D (also incorrectly
attributed to Purcell) was taken from the semi-opera
The Island Princess (1699 ), which was a joint musical
production of Clarke and Daniel Purcell (Henry
Purcell's younger brother or cousin)—probably leading
to the confusion.
Like his date of birth, the account of his death has
also been debated in some sources. For example, the
story of the composer's suicide is contradicted by a
contemporary broadsheet which seems to have escaped the
notice of his biographers. It is a large single sheet,
entitled 'A Sad and Dismal Account of the Sudden and
Untimely Death of Mr. Jeremiah Clark, one of the
Queen's Organists, who Shot himself in the Head with a
Screw Pistol, at the Golden Cup in St.
Paul's-Church-Yard, on Monday Morning last, for the
supposed Love of a Young Woman, near Pater-noster-Row.'
This account states how Clarke, a bachelor with a
salary of over 300/. a year, about nine o'clock 'Monday
morning last' was visited by his father and some
friends, 'at which he seem'd to be very Chearful and
Merry, by Playing on his Musick for a considerable
time, which was a Pair of Organs in his own House,
which he took great Delight in,' and after his father
had gone returned to his room, when, between ten and
eleven o'clock, his maid-servant heard a pistol go off
in his room, and running in found that he had shot
himself behind the ear. He died the same day about
three o'clock. 'The Occasion … is variously
Discours'd; some will have it that his Sister marrying
his Scholar Charles King, who he fear'd might in time
prove a Rival in his Business, threw him into a kind of
melancholy Discontent; and others (with something more
Reason) impute this Misfortune to a young Married Woman
near Pater-Noster-Row, whom he had a more than ordinary
respect for, who not returning him such suitable
Favours as his former Affections deserv'd, might in a
great Measure occasion dismal Effects.'
Very curious discrepancies exist as to the exact date
of when Clarke shot himself. While most sources give
the date as 1 December 1707, music historian Charles
Burney (followed by François-Joseph Fétis) says that
the event took place on 16 July 1707; the first edition
of John Hawkins fixes it as 5 November 1707, in which
he has been followed by Arthur Mendel, David Baptie,
and Brown. But Hawkins left a copy of his 'History,' in
which he had made numerous corrections, and in this the
date appears as 1 December 1707, which date is given in
the 1853 edition of the work. In the Chapel Royal
Cheque Book is an entry, signed by the sub-dean, to the
effect that on 5 November 1707 Croft was admitted into
the organist's place, 'now become void by the death of
Mr. Jeremiah Clerk,' and in Barrett's English Church
Composers (p. 106) is a statement that the books of the
vicars-choral of St. Paul's contain an entry to the
effect that on 'November ye first, Mr. Jerry Clarke
deceased this life.' These various accounts seem quite
irreconcilable, but the following facts throw some
light on the subject: 1. In 1707, 5 November was a
Wednesday, and 1 November a Saturday, while 1 December
was a Monday. The latter date therefore tallies with
the broadsheet account, published (by John Johnson,
'near Stationers' Hall,' and therefore close to
Clarke's house) within a week of the event, though no
entry of the exact date of publication can be found at
Stationers' Hall. 2. The burial register of St Gregory
by St Paul's records the burial of Jeremiah Clarke on 3
December 1707. 3. Administration to his goods was
granted by the dean and chapter of St. Paul's to his
sister, Ann King, on 15 December 4. The entry in the
Chapel Royal Cheque Book was probably not made at the
time, and so November might easily have been written
instead of December. The order of the entries preceding
and following it is this: 28 January 1703, 24 March
1710–11, 25 May 1704, 5 November 1707, 12 June 1708.
The entry also is not witnessed. With regard to the
quotation from the records at St. Paul's, everything
points to its being either a mistake or a misprint.
Unfortunately, at the time of writing this article it
is impossible to verify the statement, part of the
vicars-choral's records being inaccessible.
Although originally written for Trumpets, I created
this arrangement of the Minuet in C Major for Viola
Duet.
SHEET MUSIC