Jeremiah Clarke

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

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. He was succeeded in his post by William Croft.

[edit] Suicide

The most common story of Clarke's suicide is that he flipped a coin. If heads he would hang himself or drown himself if it landed on tails. The story goes that the coin got stuck on its edge in the mud. So he went off and shot himself.

[edit] Works

Harpsichord and Organ Music

Masses and other religious music (including 20 anthems and several odes)

Prize Piece: "Trumpet Voluntary"

[edit] External links

• Easybyte - free easy piano music for Trumpet Voluntary
• Free scores by Jeremiah Clarke in the Werner Icking Music Archive
• [1] Prince of Denmark's March