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English String Concertos before 1800
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 January 1968
Extract
During the early eighteenth century, and up to the 1760s, the mainstay of every English instrumental concert was the concerto. If one had dropped in on a private ‘musical evening’ at a Gentlemen's subscription concert, one would have been certain of hearing a number of concertos. But after this date, and especially towards the closing years of the century, they figured less often in concert programmes than they had done formerly. The changes brought about by the general acceptance in this country of the galant style were many, and perhaps the most enervating of them was the decline of the amateur music society in favour of the larger professional concert. When in the 1760s British composers joined the avant garde and imitated the lively style of John Christian Bach, they were effectively putting a stop to the amateur music-making which had flourished so vigorously during the previous half-century. Their new compositions were technically too demanding for most amateurs and, because they omitted to write easy ripieno parts for the less proficient of them, the result was not slow to follow. But although many players were distressed at not being able to tackle the new music, it appealed to a far wider audience than music in the ‘Ancient’ style had done—or had been able to, on account of its limited availability or accessibility to the general public. Music was ceasing to be the preserve of select groups in society. It continued to be heard in church and theatre, and now the public concert and the pleasure garden admitted persons of any social standing for the price of a ticket. By the last quarter of the eighteenth century music had become at least a topic of interest, if not importance, for the man in the street.
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- Copyright © 1969 The Royal Musical Association and the Authors
References
1 Charles Cudworth, ‘The Vauxhall “Lists”’, The Galpin Society Journal, xx (1967). 24–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2 Thomas Busby, Concert Room and Orchestra Anecdotes, London, 1825, i. 92–93.Google Scholar
3 It was common practice to reserve the most impressive numbers for the beginning and the end of a set. To heighten the effect of grandeur composers might also bring in additional instruments or, in work published after 1760, take on the archaic flavour of the ‘Ancient’ style.Google Scholar
4 Remarks on Mr. Avison's Essay on Musical Expression, London, 1753, pp. 7–11.Google Scholar
5 Charles Avison, An Essay on Musical Expression, 2nd edn., London, 1753, P. 52.Google Scholar
6 Ibid., p. 39.Google Scholar
7 Charles Burney, A General History of Music, ed. Frank Mercer, London, 1935. ii. 1013.Google Scholar
8 It was advertised, price 3s. 6d., in Bland's catalogue dated 25 March 1786.Google Scholar
9 Plate-mark 555; cf. O. E. Deutsch, Music Publishers’ Numbers, London, 1946, art. ‘Hummel’.Google Scholar
The following illustrations were played during the course of the lecture:Google Scholar
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a The last movement of Charles Avison's Concerto Op. 3, No. 1, played by the English Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Emanuel Hurwitz (gramophone record SDD 147).
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b The second and fourth movements of John Stanley's Concerto Op. 2, No. 5, played by the London Soloists' Ensemble, leader N. Roth (gramophone record SRM 52239).
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c A tape recording of the last movement of John Abraham Fisher's Concerto No. 2, played in the present author's arrangement for violin and piano by Robert Jacoby and the author.
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d A tape recording of the first section of the slow movement of Charles Wesley's Concerto Grosso in Seven Parts, played by the Aberystwyth Ensemble (leader Robert Jacoby).
The author wishes to thank Mr. Robert Jacoby and the Aberystwyth Ensemble for their part in recording the Fisher and the Wesley.Google Scholar
* When more than one edition was issued the first is given.Google Scholar