Most biographies of
Handel tend to be rather short on detail
when it comes to the actual mechanics
of his opera and concert giving; we
simply lack the information and must
rely on occasional glimpses thanks to
the patchy survival of documents.
How much more difficult
then, to give a picture of music-making
in the provinces where the music-making
is spread over a wide variety of institutions;
meaning that a bewildering variety of
sources have had to be investigated.
Yet this is what Roz Southey has done,
shedding light on the musical activities
in the North-East during the 18th
century, centred on Newcastle and Durham.
The artist at the centre
of this activity is Charles Avison,
composer, concert promoter, organist
and entrepreneur. Born in Newcastle,
he took his early training there but
then travelled to London for further
study. This was a route taken by many
of his contemporaries; so keen were
the Dean and Chapter of Durham Cathedral
to improve the quality of their musical
life that they sponsored a number of
the singing men to take sabbaticals
in London.
Of course, some of
those who travelled to London did not
return, but many did. Avison set himself
up as organist, composer and promoter
of concerts. The promotion of concert
series was something that tended to
come with the job of organist at major
churches. In the absence of established
orchestras, people like Avison assembled
a band and promoted concerts. The band
would have consisted of local professionals
- organists, the city waits, musicians
from the theatre, dancing masters etc
- along with gentlemen amateurs, resulting
in rather a mixed group. This mixture
of abilities is probably way the rather
old-fashioned concerto grosso survived
as Avison’s principal type of orchestral
composition; it enabled him to write
for a mixed group.
But if the band was
mixed the audience was anything but
that; such concert series were aimed
securely at the gentry. The gentry also
promoted their own private concerts,
but about these we know even less than
we do about Avison’s activities. We
are reliant on occasional comments in
the press. And this is the problem with
the era, survival of information is
hit and miss. Southey has had to patch
together a narrative from all sorts
of sources. An example of this is the
fact that Avison never advertised what
his concert programmes were, so our
knowledge of his important concert series
is rather limited.
But though Avison is
inevitably at the centre of Southey’s
book, he does not completely dominate.
Southey examines all types of music,
covering theatrical bands, the city
waits, dances and other outdoor events
- the only sort that the lower classes
could afford.
What is fascinating
is how ad hoc and precarious
musical activities were. There seems
to have been no concept of the gentry
subsidising musical activities for the
common good. They had to pay their way,
with popular figures getting the occasional
benefit to help their finances. Charles
Avison was good at this and was popular
so he made a good living and died a
wealthy man, described as a gentleman.
His son, Charles junior, who took over
much of his father’s activities, was
simply unable to build on the goodwill
built up by his father. Charles junior
spent most of his working life hovering
on the brink of bankruptcy and died
in his forties in penury.
The other major lode-stone
in North-Eastern musical life was of
course Durham Cathedral. The Dean and
Chapter were generally southern men,
scions of noble and gentry families
and were familiar with the standard
of music-making in the south. Many held
livings in plurality and spent part
of the year in the south of England.
They were thus keen to have a decent
standard of performance in and around
the cathedral. The singing men of the
choir were important members of the
musical community, turning up at a variety
of musical events besides the cathedral.
That Avison and the cathedral authorities
were frequently on bad terms meant that
there was often little collaboration
between Avison and the cathedral authorities.
Southey’s narrative is dense but enlivened
with occasional anecdotes such as the
cathedral chapter’s continual battles
with some of their more reprobate singing
men.
The book covers the
whole gamut of musical activity in the
region, with chapters on Public Concerts,
Theatre Music, Popular Entertainments,
Music in the Cathedral, Organs and Psalms
and Oratorio Performance. In addition,
Southey considers the various uses to
which music was put, such as the popular
sentiments which arose during Britain’s
continental wars.
Inevitably, the book
is rather densely written and comes
over as a series of lists and summaries.
Only occasionally do sources survive
in sufficient quantity for Southey to
expand the narrative into something
descriptive. But it is worth persevering
for there is a wealth of embedded detail.
Quite often when reading about the 18th
century we can all too easily project
our own century’s methodologies on the
18th century background;
organists, church services, concert
series can’t have changed all that much
can they? This fascinating book helps
is to realise that they have and that
the past is truly a different country.
Even if you are not particularly interested
in the North-East of England this book
is well worth investigating as it adds
enormously to our picture of music-making
in England; more importantly it tries
to examine what was happening in ordinary
places away from the glare of celebrity
which surrounded such musicians as Handel.
Robert Hugill
for
details
