NEWCASTLE'S MUSICAL HERITAGE AN INTRODUCTION By ...

was outstanding in his time. In spite of it, however, his rewards were modest.
There were no second class royal honours bestowed upon musicians at
provincial level and little official or public recognition to mark their passing. Within
the cultures of a growing industrial society, such as that which prevailed on
Tyneside in the late 18 th century, where scientific development was paramount
and the driving force was achievement, money and profit, music was only a small
(and unproductive) cog in a large wheel. Avison’s star pupil, William Shield, who
at an early age was forced to abandon his music studies and seek manual work
on the Tyne, must have been keenly aware of this situation and, unlike his
master, as soon as the opportunity presented itself he packed his violin and
headed towards London. He was content to turn his back on the North East and
look to a future elsewhere but in spite of that he is very much part of the
Newcastle story.
William Shield and his master, Charles Avison had much in common, yet
they were as different as chalk and cheese. They were both born into a musical
family, they both lived in the Georgian era and both embraced its musical culture
and style. However, in as many ways Shield was the very opposite of Avison and
the path he took brought him greater rewards and wider success within his
lifetime. The entry for Newcastle upon Tyne in Groves Dictionary of Music and
Musicians, Edition 2001, makes no reference to Shield, but that is probably
because he came from Swalwell in Co. Durham. However, Shield does have a
substantial entry under his own name, which gives his birthplace as Swalwell,
near Newcastle upon Tyne 5, which it is not, unless you peer over the river. In
Shield’s day Swalwell was a village in its own right and nothing to do with
Newcastle but given present day developments which have totally changed our
perception of the area we can turn a blind eye to all that and include William
Shield in this account of Newcastle’s musical history. He was after all Avison’s
most talented pupil and he performed at Avison’s concerts in Newcastle. It also
makes an interesting diversion to compare the career paths of these two
Tyneside musical giants.
Shield was born on 5 th March 1748; he was, therefore, almost forty years
Avison's junior. He was the son of a music master and received the first
rudiments of music from his father; a singing master. At the age of six he began
to practice the violin and afterwards the harpsichord, on both of which,
particularly the former, he soon became proficient. Misfortune overtook young
Shield at the age of nine years when his father died and left a widow and four
children with very scanty means of subsistence. William, as the eldest son, found
it necessary to go out and find work and he eventually became a bound
apprentice to a firm of South Shield’s boat builders. This episode would have a
marked effect on the nine year old who had to leave his home and say goodbye
to his mother, brother and sisters. Contemporary reports say that Shield often
described this moment in his life with a heavy heart. He was fortunate, however,
in that he found in his employer a kind and indulgent man who encouraged his
love for music and subsequently he was able to continue his musical studies with
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