Search
DONATE
  • Supporting the profession
  • Membership
    • Join
    • In memoriam
  • News
  • Events
  • History
    • The Society’s History
    • Archive item of the month
  • Contact Us
Menu

Archive item of the month: April 2023

The Concerts of Antient Music, sometimes known as ‘The King’s Concerts’ 

The Concerts of Antient Music, a subscription series from 1776 to 1848, was founded by the upper ranks of society and was both highly fashionable and exclusive. Performances featured some of the more notable musicians of the period.  The concerts were initially held in a Music Room in Tottenham Street, at the end of the eighteenth century in the Concert Room at the Opera House, and, from 1804, in the Hanover Square Rooms. 

Unlike the standard concerts of the era which included the most modern compositions (for instance symphonies by Joseph Haydn) the Concert of Antient Music had an appreciation of “older” music with a policy of performing music which had to be more than twenty years old. Challenging works from the Renaissance and early Baroque were sought out with a strong preference from many of the members for Handel’s works.  Even into the nineteenth century the repertoire barely changed with the exception of a little Beethoven and Italian operatic excerpts added to some programmes. The programme for each concert was chosen by a different “Director” and the individual director’s name was printed at the head of the programme. King George III attended the concerts from 1785 and instructed the directors to add a thirteenth concert to the series: this concert was to be a performance for raising financial funds towards The Royal Society of Musicians on which he granted royal patronage in 1790. 

Concerts of Ancient Music as performed at the New Rooms, Hanover Square, 1847 (London: printed for Henry Field, 1847) MBM115. 

The RSM Archive holds three volumes of the season’s programme including one for the year 1847, the penultimate year of the concerts. 

This volume includes an introductory essay outlining the history of the Concerts written by John Parry (1776-1851, Member A264), the then Honorary Treasurer of RSM. 

The season’s programme, which included the repertoire performed in the season and lists of the subscribers and performers, was published as a souvenir by Henry Field in Carburton Street just a few steps to the West of the RSM’s current premises. 

The concert programme for 30 June was chosen by the Duke of Wellington (in the absence of the Earl of Westmorland). This programme started with ‘The King shall rejoice’, one of Handel’s Coronation Anthems. Will we be hearing this anthem again next month?

Hear RSM Archivist Colin Coleman discuss the Concerts for Ancient Music further here.

Join our mailing list

* indicates required
Tweets by @RSMusicians

The Royal Society of Musicians of Great Britain
Registered address:
26 Fitzroy Square
London W1T 6BT
020 7629 6137

Founded 1738
Incorporated by Royal Charters 1790 & 1987
Former Patron: Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
President: Judith Weir CBE
Registered Charity Number 208879

facebook.com/royalsocietyofmusicians
Twitter: @RSMusicians
Privacy Policy I Cookie Policy
All content on this website is
© The Royal Society of Musicians.
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by understanding our site visitors. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of the cookies. Click on "Reject" to withdraw your consent and read our Cookie policy for more information.
Cookie policy Reject Accept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics1 yearThis cookies is set by GDPR Cookie Consent WordPress Plugin. The cookie is used to remember the user consent for the cookies under the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary1 yearThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
DYNSRVsessionThis cookie is used for load balancing purposes to decide which server to send the visitor.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
CookieDurationDescription
_ga2 yearsThis cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to calculate visitor, session, campaign data and keep track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookies store information anonymously and assign a randomly generated number to identify unique visitors.
_gid1 dayThis cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to store information of how visitors use a website and helps in creating an analytics report of how the website is doing. The data collected including the number of visitors, the source where they have come from, and the pages visted in an anonymous form.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
CookieDurationDescription
langThis cookie is used to store the language preferences of a user to serve up content in that stored language the next time user visit the website.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
CookieDurationDescription
_gat1 minuteThis cookie is installed by Google Universal Analytics to throttle the request rate to limit the colllection of data on high traffic sites.
SAVE & ACCEPT
Powered by CookieYes Logo