Archive Item of the Month – August 2021
Henry Wood (1869-1944) and the Promenade Concerts.
Programme for Saturday 5 October 1929, Queen’s Hall, London, thirty-fifth season of Promenade Concerts. Donated, with a letter from Wood of 5 October 1938, by Rowland Dyson (RSM Member 00760) in July 1989.
The British musical summertime would not be complete without the excitement and scope of the BBC Proms. It draws together performers from across the world for programmes and performances of music. It is a festival experience with a wonderful sense of comradeship in the audience as well as with the performers.
Read More»Archive Item of the Month – July 2021
A letter from Christian Kramer (d.1834) addressed to C. Hamilton, of 19 Wardour Street.
This letter touches on several areas of musicological interest including provenance and the ownership of manuscripts, printing, publishing and editorial history, as well as the professional and personal connections between individuals.
Kramer was a performer, composer and arranger who had studied with the composer Peter von Winter (1754-1825), of whom the RSM holds an autograph of a March. A concert in the Argyll Rooms for William Hawes (1785-1846, Member A222) on Friday 30 April 1824 reveals that the programme opened with the overture from Handel’s Occasional Oratorio with “additional accompaniments” by C. Kramer. At the time of this letter, Kramer was also Master of the King’s Musick (1829-1834), spanning the reigns of two monarchs, namely George IV for whom he also led the private band, and William IV. We could therefore assume some authority on the discussions relating to the manuscripts in the Royal Collection.
Read More»Archive Item of Month – June 2021
New Musical Fund
The Royal Society of Musicians (RSM) was set up as an institution to help its Members and their dependents in moments of need. From its inception in 1738, the Society welcomed Members irrespective of their place of birth or faith and was therefore representative of the music profession in London of the eighteenth century; there were many Members from Italy, the German states and elsewhere, and many of them would have been of Catholic faith. Catholics were viewed with suspicion in Britain in this period before the Papists Act of 1778, which allowed them to own property, and before the influx of Catholics following the French Revolution. Female musicians, on the other hand, were excluded from joining the Society. In 1840, a time when Britain had a female monarch, the Royal Society of Female Musicians (RSFM) was founded; they amalgamated with the RSM in 1866, much to the benefit of the RSM as the RSFM’s funds over their twenty-six years of existence had hardly been used.
Read More»Members selected to perform at the Sons of the Clergy Festival rehearsal and performance on 5 and 7 May 1795
| Name | Dates | Instruments listed on application form |
|---|---|---|
| Elisha Archer | [ca 1760-1800] | Cello; Viola; Violin |
| William Warren | [4 May 1777-March 1839] | Violin |
| John Gwillim | [‘aged 73, March 1825’-before Dec. 1829] | Violin |
| Martin Platts | [‘aged 21, 4 Jan. 1784’-‘dead 1817’] | Horn; Violin |
| John Mahon | [‘about 35, 6 April 1782’-before 4 May 1834] | Clarinett; Viola; Violin |
| George Nicholson | [‘aged 31, 7 April 1782’-30 July 1815] | French horn; Viola; Violin |
| William Rogers | [‘aged 29, 5 August 1787’-Oct./Nov. 1799] | Horn; Viola; Violin |
| Lewis Augustus Lavenu | [2 March 1768-August 1848] | Viola; Violin |
| John Francis Wood | [bapt. 29 Oct 1760-before Dec. 1806] | Organ; Violin |
| John Ambrose | [bapt. 31 Jan. 1763-expelled 1807] | Organ |
| John Howels | [‘aged 23, 1 Feb. 1784’-before 3 Jan. 1813] | Clarinet; Violin |
| Francois Cramer | [12 June 1772-25 July 1848] | Viola; Violin |
| James Henry Leffler | [‘aged 21, 2 Jan. 1785’-17 March? 1819] | Clarinet; Oboe; Viola; Violin |
| John Woodcock | [‘aged 78, 7 Oct. 1832’-27 Jan. 1835] | Violin |
| William Higgins | [d. before December 1806] | Violin |
| Thomas Lord | [‘aged 23, 7 Dec. 1783’-before 2 April 1815] | Horn; Violin |
| Vincent Thomas Leander | [25 Feb. 1770-withdrew 1797] | Cello; Horn; Viola |
| Lewis Henry Leander | [28 Feb. 1769-before 5 Dec. 1830] | Cello; Horn; Viola; Violin |
| John Norborn | [‘aged 27, 6 Feb. 1785’-before midsummer 1804] | Viola; Violin |
| Jacob Cubitt Pring | [bap. 3 Nov. 1770-before 10 July 1799] | Organ; Vocalist (Tenor) |
| Samuel Webbe | [15 Oct. 1768-25 Nov. 1843] | Organ |
| Charles Knyvett | [23 March 1773-2 Nov. 1852] | Piano; Vocalist (Tenor) |
| Jonathan Nield | [‘aged 24, 1 Sept. 1793’-6 March 1843] | Vocalist (tenor) |
| Thomas Greatorex | [5 Oct. 1758?-18 July 1831] | Harpsichord |
| John Hindmarsh | [‘aged 24, 4 May 1783’-before 6 Nov. 1796] | Clarinet; Viola; Violin |
| James Simpson | [‘admitted 1776’-before 2 Feb. 1800] | Viola; Violin |
| George Shutze | [‘aged 30, 5 Oct. 1783’-fl.1799] | Violin ; He plays all instruments |
| George Veale | {‘aged 31, 2 March 1788’-1833] | Viola; Violin |
| Griffith Jones | [‘aged 21, 7 March 1779’-fl.1817] | Clarinet; Organ; Violin |
| Joseph Major | [23 Nov. 1771-1828] | Organ; Viola |
| Christoph Friedrich Eley | [July 1756-before March 1832] | Cello; Clarinet; Flute; Violin |
| Charles Jane Ashley | [1773?-29 August 1843] | Cello |
| John Frederick Alexander Griesbach | [2 June 1769-Jan. 1825] | Cello; Oboe; Viola; Violin |
| William Sharp | [‘aged 23, 6 Feb. 1785’-1827] | Cello; Viola |
| James Blake Adams | [‘about 35, 1 Feb. 1784-ca 1820] | Cello; Viola; Violin |
| William Boyce | [25 March 1764-10 July 1823] | Double bass |
| John Corfe | [30 July 1769-d. ?by 1799] | Cello; Double bass |
| Thomas Bodley Francis | [bapt. 4 Sep. 1768-before 5 Sep. 1802] | Cello; Double bass; Viola; Violin |
| Joseph Woodham | [8 Dec. 1767-25 Jan. 1841] | Double bass; Horn; Trombone; Trumpet; Viola; Violin |
| James Holmes | [‘aged 27, 3 Aug. 1783’-5 Dec. 1820] | Bassoon; Clarinet; Violin |
| John Mackintosh | [6 Feb. 1767-23 March 1844] | Bassoon; Violin |
| George Thomas Taylor | [30 April 1769-before 1804] | Bassoon |
| Edmund Denman | [‘{aged 68, 4 August 1822-1827] | Bassoon; Clarinet; Horn |
| Johann August Kellner | [‘aged 32, 7 Sep. 1788’-17 Sep. 1835] | Bassoon; Cello; Trombone; Viola |
| William Jenkinson | [August 1765-after Dec. 1827] | Bassoon |
| John Frederick Alexander Griesbach | [2 June 1769-Jan. 1825] | Cello; Oboe; Viola; Violin |
| William Foster | [‘admitted 1777’-before 7 July 1811] | Oboe |
| James Aldwell Oliver | [‘aged 24, 3 March 1782’-21 Sep. 1818] | Clarinet; Oboe; Viola; Violin |
| James John Cornish | [26 Feb. 1767-before 5 Jan. 1805] | Clarinet; Oboe; Violin |
| Michael Sharp | [ca 1773-5 Dec. 1840] | Flageolet; Flute; Oboe; Viola; Violin |
| John Pope | [‘aged 52, 5 Nov. 1786’-before 7 April 1799] | Oboe |
| James Sarjeant | [‘admitted 1769’-Sep. 1798] | Trumpet |
| Laserre Purney | [‘aged 22, 7 Oct. 1787’-before 5 Dec. 1802] | Clarinet; Trumpet; Viola; Violin |
| Hezekiah Cantelo | [played in 1784 Commemoration Concerts-before Oct. 1811] | Bassoon; Trumpet |
| Thomas Hill | [‘about 37, 7 Nov. 1784-before 2 March 1799] | Horn; Trumpet |
| Richard Godfrey Ashley | [8 Sep. 1774-11 Oct. 1836] | Kettledrums; Organ; Viola; Violin |
| Christian Nicolai | [‘about 60, June 1786’-before 5 Jan. 1800 | Trumpet |
Archive Item of the Month – May 2021
Sons of the Clergy Festivals
The Corporation of the Sons of the Clergy (www.clergysupport.org.uk) was founded in 1655 to provide support for the Anglican clergy, widows, children and orphans of those clergy, either serving or retired. From the time of the establishment of the Commonwealth in 1649, a good deal of the clergy lost their livings and those loyal to the monarchy were displaced. The founders of the charity were either merchants in the City of London or priests, and the latter were all sons of clergymen. In 1678, the charity was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II in which the administration of the charity was to be run by a Court of Assistants comprising a President, Vice-President, three Treasurers and up to forty-two Assistants; when the Society of Musicians was founded six decades later its Deed of Trust outlined a “Court of Assistants” comprising fifty people.
Read More»2021 Jacqueline du Pré Charity Concert
Our Annual Jacqueline du Pré Charity Concerts at Wigmore Hall are the main fundraising and profile-raising events in our calendar. The 2021 concert was due to take place on 16 April, featuring Emmanuel Pahud, Trevor Pinnock and Jonathan Manson. Current COVID-19 restrictions will allow the Concert to go ahead; however, a live audience is not permitted. We have considered options for livestreaming and despite offering other benefits, having no audience at Wigmore Hall will very much change the nature of this long-standing event.
As such, following discussion with the artists and Wigmore Hall, it has been agreed that this year’s concert is postponed until 2022. We are very sorry for this disappointing news and will announce a new date as soon as we are able.
Archive Item of the Month – April 2021
Igor Stravinsky (Oranienbaum, 17 June [O.S. 5 June] 1882 – New York, 6 April 1971), composer
Typed letter from the flautist and dulcimer player John Herbert Leach (1931-2014, Member 00815) to the composer Igor Stravinsky regarding an arrangement of Polka, the third of his Trois pièces faciles; annotated by the composer and returned to Leach, dated 22 December 1964.
Archive Item of the Month – March 2021
Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (1786-1826)
Pencil drawing of Weber by an anonymous artist; [1826]. Presented to the RSM in 1908.
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