Jeremiah Clarke

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Jeremiah Clarke (c. 1674 - December 1, 1707) was an English baroque composer.

Thought to have been born in London in 1674, Clarke was a pupil of John Blow at St Paul's Cathedral. He later became organist at the Chapel Royal. "A violent and hopeless passion for a very beautiful lady of a rank superior to his own" caused him to commit suicide by shooting himself. Before shooting himself, he also considered hanging himself and drowning himself. He was succeeded in his post by William Croft.

Clarke is now best remembered for the popular keyboard piece attributed to him, the Prince of Denmark's March, commonly called the Trumpet Voluntary and attributed for a long time to Henry Purcell. The famous Trumpet Tune in D, also misattributed to Purcell, is actually taken from the semi-opera The Island Princess, a joint musical production of Clarke and Daniel Purcell (Henry Purcell's younger brother), which is probably the reason for the confusion.

[edit] Works

Harpsichord and Organ Music
Masses and other religious music (including 20 anthems and several odes)
Prize Piece: Prince of Denmark's March, popularly known as "Trumpet Voluntary", about 1700
Trumpet Tune in D, from The Island Princess