NEWCASTLE'S MUSICAL HERITAGE AN INTRODUCTION By ...

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Concerts, Mrs Bramwell’s Concerts and Count Boruwlaski’s Concerts. There was, however, a sameness about the programming of these concerts with Handel, Haydn and Pleyel prominently featured along with a string of other composers whose names would mean little to the average music lover today. Ignaz Joseph Pleyel’s music was very popular with Newcastle audiences in the 1800s. He was born in 1757, the 24 th of 38 children in an impoverished family of mixed Austrian and French parentage. A one-time pupil of Haydn, with whom he lived for a while, he wrote forty symphonies, nine concertos, eighty-nine quartets and amongst other numerous quintets, trios, duos and masses, he also wrote two operas. As well as being a composer he was a concert pianist, piano and harp manufacturer and music publisher. Truly a man of many talents. The first music society formed in Newcastle in the 19 th Century was the Harmonic Society and we are fortunate in having many of its programmes preserved for us in the archives of the Newcastle City Library. As the Harmonic Society’s concert meetings were typical of many of those that followed it is worth looking a little closer at the make up of its programmes over the first two seasons, which gives us a feel for the period. Their first concert in 1815 opened with an Avison concerto, which was followed by a glee for four voices by William Horsley, born 1774, composer and organist. Next came a Grand Pianoforte Concerto by Viotti. Giovanni Battista Viotti was then considered the greatest violinist of his time and wrote 29 violin concertos but arranged some of them for piano. A duet by Braham (the same as appeared at the Grand Music Festivals) followed and Act I (concerts were then still thought of as theatrical performances) ended with an air for violin and piano by Beethoven. Act II opened with a concerto by Corelli. Arcangelo Corelli had died in 1713, therefore, his music would have been looked upon as ancient music in 1815. Unlike today much of the music performed at these concerts was by living composers. The Corelli concert was followed by one of William Shield’s songs and then a vocal duet by Stevenson. Sir John Stevenson was an Irishman, who composed songs and glees. He collaborated closely with Thomas Moore, the Irish poet, who exerted a strong influence on English song making at the time. Then came a quartet by Pleyel, followed by another glee, this one by Clarke, who could well have been the same Jeremiah Clarke, of Trumpet Voluntary fame, who became a victim of unrequited love and blew out his brains with a pistol. The evening’s entertainment was rounded off with a catch by Samuel Webbe, the foremost composer of this sort of thing. He was a carpenter’s apprentice who had studied music on his own, between 1766 and 1792. He carried off twenty-six prizes for his glees awarded by the Noblemen’s and Gentleman’s Catch Club in London. He was also an organist and composed a good deal of sacred music. We can see immediately from the above programme that the late Georgians went to concerts for entertainment rather than intellectual stimulation. The audience would have been small by today’s standards; ten members of the Society with invited guests some of whom may well have performed. There 34
would also have been audience participation. There would certainly have been eating and drinking. My research leads me to suspect that at these early Harmonic Society concerts the audience would have been all male, rather in the nature of an exclusive gentleman’s club. Their concerts continued on a regular basis through 1815 and 1816 and may well have gone on. The demise of these societies is usually lost in local history. The content of future programmes was based on what the members wanted to hear and the glees and catches of Webbe and Calcott’s were very popular. The following is an example of a catch by John Calcott that was much requested at concerts in those early days; - Aldiborontiphoscophonio, where left now Chrononhotonthologues Fatigued within his tent, by the toils of war, On downy couch reposing; Rigdumfienidos watching near him, While the prince is dozing. Before we scoff at our forefathers for being amused by such childish wordplay, we would do well to remember the amusement afforded to so many of all ages, one hundred and fifty years later, by the song ‘Supercalafragilisticexpialidocius’, with its ‘umdiddlediddlediddle umdiddleaye’ chorus, written by an American, who was so fascinated by this kind of early English song that he used the film ‘Mary Poppins’, set in London in 1910, as an excuse to write one. At the third Harmonic Society concert music by Handel, Mozart and Haydn was introduced and the sixth concert comprised mostly excerpts from ‘The Messiah.’ The seventh concert featured another concerto by Avison but songs, glees and catches were to the fore. One in particular by an unnamed composer, performed at the fifth concert, is worthy of inclusion in the Tyneside songbook; - Which is the properest day to drink Saturday, Sunday, Monday Each is the properest day, I think, Why should I name but one day Tell me but yours, I’ll mention mine, Let us but fix on some day; Bravo, bravo, bravo, bravo! Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday. However, these Harmonic Gentlemen from Newcastle were nothing if not patriotic and this was clearly demonstrated at the end of the last concert of the second season in 1816 when the assembled audience rose to their feet, puffed out their collective chests, proud Englishmen all, and sang: 35
Page 1 and 2: NEWCASTLE’S MUSICAL HERITAGE AN I
Page 3 and 4: A History of Music in Newcastle upo
Page 5 and 6: my project with a professional man,
Page 7 and 8: then even in the villages for music
Page 9 and 10: CHAPTER TWO CHARLES AVISON Charles
Page 11 and 12: given in Newcastle. They were held
Page 13 and 14: easoned defences and the citation o
Page 15 and 16: that he is saddened at the transito
Page 17 and 18: men sought Royal Patronage, popular
Page 19 and 20: Avison and began playing the violin
Page 21 and 22: musical dramatist, his arias are st
Page 23 and 24: features, Hawdon’s compositions i
Page 25 and 26: two music academies listed in the D
Page 27 and 28: An ootlandish chap seun appeared on
Page 29 and 30: CHAPTER FIVE THE GRAND MUSIC FESTIV
Page 31 and 32: to Handel Oratorios and I suspect t
Page 33: CHAPTER SIX THE HARMONIC SOCIETY In
Page 37 and 38: 1826. According to Mackenzie’s 18
Page 39 and 40: successful, such as (once again!) H
Page 41 and 42: CHAPTER SEVEN DR WILLIAM REA I had
Page 43 and 44: exclusive civilised affairs, with t
Page 45 and 46: although I can find no evidence tha
Page 47 and 48: In a cemetery now largely overgrown
Page 49 and 50: direction. That is until 1888 when
Page 51 and 52: acceptable standards and he got out
Page 53 and 54: century at least the divide between
Page 55 and 56: the Swedish Nightingale, Jenny Lind
Page 57 and 58: Musical Comedy as we came to know i
Page 59 and 60: In 1887 Augustus Harris took over t
Page 61 and 62: eat, drink or smoke whilst the ente
Page 63 and 64: disposal a substantial orchestra un
Page 65 and 66: only the finest artists. The printe
Page 67 and 68: Cesar Franck. One novel feature int
Page 69 and 70: especially for these bands and they
Page 71 and 72: playing, coupled with the means of
Page 73 and 74: that continued until 1914. One of t
Page 75 and 76: thought of performing with a bunch
Page 77 and 78: She danced a full programme of well
Page 79 and 80: The appearance in Newcastle of Enri
Page 81 and 82: Renaissance. His teaching staff wer
Page 83 and 84: Music at 125 Northumberland Street,
Page 85 and 86:
There is surely no need to insist -
Page 87 and 88:
alone limited attendance at these c
Page 89 and 90:
1936: 17 th June. There had been a
Page 91 and 92:
CHAPTER FOURTEEN END OF A GOLDEN AG
Page 93 and 94:
the fact that the town did not have
Page 95 and 96:
iography, Hess’ biographer, who c
Page 97 and 98:
CHAPTER FIFTEEN CULTURE AT A PRICE
Page 99 and 100:
London Symphony and the Halle Orche
Page 101 and 102:
high at this period and the audienc
Page 103 and 104:
audience (who had already paid for
Page 105 and 106:
deterioration into a musical backwa
Page 107 and 108:
work cut out convincing the local c
Page 109 and 110:
country. Amers died in 1936 and God
Page 111 and 112:
Author’s Note Since completing th
Page 113 and 114:
Select Bibliography Anderton, H.O.,
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