In 1676 Blow became one of three organists at Westminster Abbey. In 1677 he was given the title of “Doctor of Music”. In 1680 he seems to have resigned from his job as organist at Westminster Abbey so that his young pupil Henry Purcell could take his place. By 1685 he was one of the private musicians of James II. He composed a long anthem "God spake sometime in visions" for King James’s coronation.