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Tuesday, February 16, 2016

You can listen to the Classical Music Almanac Podcast Daily here.

Birthdays

Charles Avison

In 1709 Charles Avison was baptized in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He was a church organist at St John The Baptist Church in Newcastle and at St. Nicholas’s Church (later Newcastle Cathedral). He is most known for his 12 Concerti Grossi after Scarlatti and his Essay on Musical Expression, the first music criticism published in English. According to The New Grove Dictionary, he was also born in NewCastle. His educational history, though unclear, could have been at one of the two charity schools serving St John’s parish. Some sources claim that Charles was the fifth of nine children, while others claim that he was the seventh of ten children. Regardless, Avison was born into a family with a high rate of infant mortality, as many of his siblings died at a young age. His father was a musician and was likely to have been Charles’s first teacher. When Charles was 12, his father died, leaving his mother widowed with at least one and possibly two children at home. Avison’s adolescent and teenage years are mostly undocumented, but they may have included an apprenticeship with a local merchant named Ralph Jenison, a patron of the arts, and later a Member of Parliament, as well as further study of music. In his twenties, Avison moved to London to further pursue his career as a musician. It was during this period of his life that he met and began to study with Francesco Geminiani. Avison’s first documented musical performance was a benefit concert in London on 20 March 1734. This was also his only known concert in London and probably contained some of his early compositions written under Geminiani. Avison left London and, on 13 October 1735, was appointed organist of St. John’s, Newcastle. This appointment took effect once the church had installed a new organ in June 1736. Avison then accepted a position as organist of St. Nicholas Church in October 1736, and later was appointed director of the Newcastle Musical Society. He remained at these two posts until his death. Avison also taught harpsichord, flute, and violin to private students on a weekly basis. Much of Avison’s income was generated through a series of subscription concerts which he helped organise in the North East region of England. These were the first concerts of their type to be held in Newcastle. Despite numerous offers of more prestigious positions later in life, he never again left Newcastle. Avison was married to Catherine Reynolds on 15 January 1737. The couple had nine children, of which only three-Jane, Edward, and Charles-survived to adulthood. Edward succeeded his father as both the director of the Newcastle Musical Society and the St. Nicholas organist after his father’s death. Charles was also an organist and composer. Avison died in May 1770 of unknown causes. According to his will, he had become a very wealthy man between his collection of books, musical instruments, and his stock holdings, which were left to his children. His will specified that he wanted very little money to be spent on his funeral and that he wished to be buried beside his wife at St. Andrew’s. Avison was one of the subjects in Robert Browning’s Parleyings with Certain People of Importance in their Day: “Hear Avison! He tenders evidence/That music in his day as much absorbed/Heart and soul then as Wagner’s music now.” 1

Premieres

In 1892 Jules Massenet’s opera Werther was premiered in Vienna.

In 1893 Jean Sibelius’ tone-poem En Saga premiered in Helsinki.

In 1928 the original version of Modest Mussorgsky’s opera Boaris Godunov was premiered in Leningrad. Having been composed in 1869, the Imperial Censor’s rejected it for not having a female leading part.

In 1929 Aaron Copland’s Vitebsky Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello was premiered at New York’s Town Hall at a League of Composers concert featuring two members of the Pro Arte Quartet (violinist Alphonse Onnou and cellist Robert Mass) and the German pianist Walter Gieseking.

On This Day in Classical Music

In 1764 Mozart nearly chokes to death in Paris but recovers from what is called a “violent sore throat and catarrh.”

In 1848 Frédéric Chopin made his final public performance at La Salle Pleyel in Paris.

Also in 1848 Hector Berlioz conducted a performance for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert at the Drury Lane Theater in London.

In 1882 Prince Albert corresponds with Charles Villiers Stanford about the formation of a new Royal College of Music in London.

In 1883 Leoš Janáček was accused of “nationalist fanaticism giving an impression of madness.” The accusation is made by the father of his wife (who also happened to be his boss). The charges were dismissed when it is discovered the Janáček was in the midst of a messy divorce from his wife, the bosses daughter.

Recommended Listening

Charles Avison’s 12 Concerti Grossi after Scarlatti, Op. 6 performed by the Avison Ensemble, Pavolo Beznosiuk conducting.

  1. Wikipedia contributors, “Charles Avison,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Charles_Avison&oldid=676449609 (accessed February 13, 2016).