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Archive Item of the Month – Sept 2021

Carl Friedrich Abel (Cöthen, 22 December 1723 – London, 20 June 1787, Member EM001)

Christian Ferdinand Abel, father of Carl Friedrich, was a violinist and viol player at the court of Prince Leopold I of Anthalt-Cöthen (1694-1728) at the time that Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) was appointed Kapellmeister in 1717.  Abel senior must have been good friends with J.S. Bach as the composer was godfather to Abel’s first child.  On his father’s death in 1737, it is likely that the earlier connections with the Bach family were used as Carl Friedrich went to Leipzig and studied with J.S. Bach.  Charles Burney (1726-1814, EM053), who knew Abel, wrote 

“Abel’s musical science in harmony, modulation, fugue, and canon, which he had acquired under his great master Sebastian Bach, and taste under Hasse … had made him so complete a musician, that he soon became the umpire in all musical controversy, and was consulted in difficult and knotty points as an infallible oracle” (Charles Burney, A General History of Music, from the earliest ages to the present period (London: printed for the Author, 1789), vol.4, p.679). 

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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.  

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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. 

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Members selected to perform at the Sons of the Clergy Festival rehearsal and performance on 5 and 7 May 1795

NameDatesInstruments 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. 1800Trumpet

Archive Item of the Month – March 2021

Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (1786-1826)

Oil on canvas attributed to Mather Brown (1761-1831) after the portrait by John Hoppner (1758-1810)

Pencil drawing of Weber by an anonymous artist; [1826]. Presented to the RSM in 1908. 

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Archive item of the month – September 2020

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (London 15 August 1875 – London 1 September 1912) 

Two early songs by the composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was a violin student at the Royal College of Music (RCM) from 1890, starting composition lessons with Charles Villiers Stanford in 1892 and receiving an open scholarship in the following year. His studies ended at the RCM in 1897 and his contemporaries had included other famous composers such as Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst, John Ireland, Frank Bridge and William Hurlstone. 

A blood-red ring hung around the moon, no.3 of Six songs, Op.37.
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Archive Item of the Month – January 2020

Beethoven 2020 : 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth

bust of Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Head and shoulders painted plaster bust of Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), clad al’antica, after a bust by Johann Nepomuk Schaller (1777-1842) of 1827. The sitter’s cloak is gathered at the right shoulder with a morse, the whole atop an integral socle. Rectangular name-plate below unlettered.

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Steven Isserlis and Soloists of the Kronberg Academy

The 22nd Annual Jacqueline du Pré Charity Concert

Tuesday 28 March 2017, 7.45pm, Wigmore Hall

Steven Isserlis

Book here

Steven Isserlis and six outstanding emerging soloists play for The Royal Society of Musicians’ annual fundraising concert at Wigmore Hall. The main evening performance begins at 7.45pm and features three works:

Antonin Dvořák Terzetto Op. 74 for two violins and viola
Zoltán Kodály Duo for Violin and Cello Op. 7
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Souvenir de Florence Op. 70

Meanwhile, the six Kronberg Academy musicians perform as soloists in a showcase event beginning at 5.30pm. This event is free to ticketholders of the main event, or tickets can be purchased separately for £6.

These two events are generously sponsored by J & A Beare and Beare’s International Violin Society.

 

Steven Isserlis

Steven Isserlis cello

Soloists of the Kronberg Academy:

William Hagen

William Hagen violin

Ziyu Shen

Ziyu Shen viola

Stephen Waarts

Stephen Waarts violin

Pablo Ferrandez

Pablo Ferrández cello

Timothy Ridout

Timothy Ridout viola

Kian-Soltari

Kian Soltani cello

Book here

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The Royal Society of Musicians of Great Britain
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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

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