1725
Jan 2
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AT the King’s Theatre in the Hay-Market, this present Saturday, being the 2d of January, will be perform’d, An Opera call’d, JULIUS CAESAR. Tickets will be deliver’d out at the Office in the Hay-Market, this Day, at Half a Guinea each. And in Regard to the Number of Subscribers, no more than Three Hundred and Forty Tickets will be deliver’d out. N. B. No Tickets will be given at the Door, nor any Persons whatsoever admitted for Money. The Gallery 5 s. No Persons to be admitted behind the Scenes. To begin at Six a-Clock.[1] |
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At the Desire of several Persons of Quality, By His Majesty’s Company of Comedians. AT the Theatre Royal in Drury-Lane, this present Saturday, being the 2d of January, will be presented, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar: With the Death of Brutus and Cassius[.] Written by Shakespear. Julius Caesar Mr. Thurmond, Brutus Mr. Booth, Cassius Mr. Mills, Antony Mr. Wilks, Octavius Caesar Mr. Williams, the Citizens by Mr. Johnson, Mr. Norris, Mr. Miller, Mr. Harper, and others, Portia Mrs. Thurmond, Calphurnia Mrs. Horton.[2] |
Jan 5
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AT the King’s Theatre in the Hay-Market, this present Tuesday, being the 5th of January, will be perform’d, An Opera call’d, JULIUS CAESAR. Tickets will be deliver’d out at the Office in the Hay-Market, this Day, at Half a Guinea each. And in Regard to the Number of Subscribers, no more than Three Hundred and Forty Tickets will be deliver’d out. N. B. No Tickets will be given at the Door, nor any Persons whatsoever admitted for Money. The Gallery 5 s. No Persons to be admitted behind the Scenes. To begin at Six a-Clock.[3] |
Jan 9
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AT the King’s Theatre in the Hay-Market, this present Saturday, being the 9th of January, will be perform’d, An Opera call’d, JULIUS CAESAR. Tickets will be deliver’d out at the Office in the Hay-Market, this Day, at Half a Guinea each. And in Regard to the Number of Subscribers, no more than Three Hundred and Forty Tickets will be deliver’d out. N. B. No Tickets will be given at the Door, nor any Persons whatsoever admitted for Money. The Gallery 5 s. No Persons to be admitted behind the Scenes. To begin at Six a-Clock.[4] |
Jan 11
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To Morrow Signiora Cuzzoni the famous Chauntress, is to be married to San-Antonio Ferre, a very rich Italian, at the Chapel of Count Staremberg, the Imperial Ambassador.[5] |
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[Agostino Steffani to Giuseppe Riva, Padua, Thursday 25 January 1725] I am sorry that the [season’s] first opera [Tamerlano], by Mr Handel, has fared badly and that the second [Artaserse], by Father Attilio [Ariosti], has suffered the same fate; we shall see what happens to the third, which I assume will be by the first of these two composers and will have been presented last year [Giulio Cesare]. If I could bend the ears of the Academy, I would certainly advise it to resort to Bononcini. Greet him cordially for me and assure him that my memory of him gives me infinite pleasure. I am delighted that the duchess of Marlborough recognizes his merit.[6] |
Jan 16
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AT the King’s Theatre in the Hay-Market, this present Saturday, being the 16th of January, will be perform’d, An Opera call’d, JULIUS CAESAR. Tickets will be deliver’d out at the Office in the Hay-Market, this Day, at Half a Guinea each. And in Regard to the Number of Subscribers, no more than Three Hundred and Forty Tickets will be deliver’d out. N. B. No Tickets will be given at the Door, nor any Persons whatsoever admitted for Money. The Gallery 5 s. No Persons to be admitted behind the Scenes. To begin at Six a-Clock.[7] |
Jan 19
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AT the King’s Theatre in the Hay-Market, this present Tuesday, being the 19th of January, will be perform’d, An Opera call’d, JULIUS CAESAR. Tickets will be deliver’d out at the Office in the Hay-Market, this Day, at Half a Guinea each. And in Regard to the Number of Subscribers, no more than Three Hundred and Forty Tickets will be deliver’d out. N. B. No Tickets will be given at the Door, nor any Persons whatsoever admitted for Money. The Gallery 5 s. No Persons to be admitted behind the Scenes. To begin at Six a-Clock.[8] |
Jan 21
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[Cassandra Brydges to her cousin Brydges, 21 January 1724/5] Madam In hopes the two inclosed tickets for the opera may prove an agreeable divertion for your spare hours in town I take the liberty to send them to you, desiring you will please to use them while you stay in town, & when you return to the country, be so good as to send them again to Madam Your affectionate cousin & Humble servant.[9] |
Jan 23
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AT the King’s Theatre in the Hay-Market, this present Saturday, being the 23d of January, will be perform’d, An Opera call’d, JULIUS CAESAR. Tickets will be deliver’d out at the Office in the Hay-Market, this Day, at Half a Guinea each. And in Regard to the Number of Subscribers, no more than Three Hundred and Forty Tickets will be deliver’d out. N. B. No Tickets will be given at the Door, nor any Persons whatsoever admitted for Money. The Gallery 5 s. No Persons to be admitted behind the Scenes. To begin at Six a-Clock.[10] |
Jan 26
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AT the King’s Theatre in the Hay-Market, this present Tuesday, being the 26th of January, will be perform’d, An Opera call’d, JULIUS CAESAR. Tickets will be deliver’d out at the Office in the Hay-Market, this Day, at Half a Guinea each. And in Regard to the Number of Subscribers, no more than Three Hundred and Forty Tickets will be deliver’d out. N. B. No Tickets will be given at the Door, nor any Persons whatsoever admitted for Money. The Gallery 5 s. No Persons to be admitted behind the Scenes. To begin at Six a-Clock. N. B. One of the Singers being taken ill a little before the Opera was to begin last Saturday Night, hindred its Performance: The Tickets that were deliver’d and printed for that Day, will be taken this Night. On Thursday the 28th of January, will be perform’d the Opera of ARTAXERXES, instead of Saturday, which happened to be the 30th of January.[11] |
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[Giuseppe Riva to Agostino Steffani, London, Wednesday 31 January 1725] {...} I wanted to be able to give you some account of the impression made by this good girl {= Benedetta Sorosina} in our theatre. The countess of Walsingham, niece of the duchess [of Kendal], asked them to give her a tiny role in the old opera of Handel entitled Giulio Cesare, which has been revived on the stage. The lady’s wish was granted, Handel composed two arias, and Benedetta did as she was told. She could not make a great impact, because the arias are mediocre and stuck on, as they say, with spit. Considering all that, she received appropriate applause. I mustered support on the opening night, and Bononcini visited her secretly in order to teach her how to humanize the inhumanity [of her pieces]. Secretly, I say, so as not to rouse the ire of Handelians. I hope that in some other opera, where Benedetta can have a significant part and support her singing with action, she will distinguish herself in the way that we all desire. [Anna] Dotti, who came from Paris because of Benedetta’s late arrival and who sang in the first two, new operas, was also given a part in the third, by Handel, because she had made a good impression and her style of singing had generally gone down well. Although it is very bad, it is aided by a strong and even voice, and finds much favour. I do hope that the girl will have her own part in the last opera, which Padre or Monsieur Attilio [/97] [Ariosti] will compose, and that your great protectors at court will ensure that she is not treated badly. I will strive strenuously to ensure this, as I have done and shall do on all occasions in order to obey the orders of monsignor [Steffani] and serve Benedetta, who, I hope, will already have done me justice for my attentiveness to her needs. Bononcini, who, as ever, conveys his respects to monsignor, joins me in these sentiments and will help the girl in everything that she has to sing. He will make sure she sings in the concerts or musical entertainments that he organizes for his generous duchess of Marlborough, and they should bring her honour and prove useful.[12] |
Feb 2
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AT the King’s Theatre in the Hay-Market, this
present Tuesday, being the 2d of February, will be perform’d, An Opera
call’d, JULIUS CAESAR. Tickets will be deliver’d out at the Office in the
Hay-Market, this Day, at Half a Guinea each. And in Regard to the Number of
Subscribers, no more than Three Hundred and Forty Tickets will be deliver’d out. N. B. No Tickets will be given at the Door,
nor any Persons whatsoever admitted for Money. The Gallery 5 s. No Persons to
be admitted behind the Scenes. To begin at Six a-Clock.[13] |
Feb 2
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The Governour and Court of Directors of the Royal Academy of Musick, have appointed another Call of 5 l. per Cent. which is the 13th Call, to be made payable on all the Subscribers of the said Royal Academy, on or before the 13th of February next: Notice is hereby given, That the Deputy Treasurer is to attend on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, being the 11th, 12th, and 13th of February, at the Office in the Hay-Market, from Nine in the Morning till Two in the Afternoon, in order to receive the same.[14] |
Feb 6
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AT the King’s Theatre in the Hay-Market, this present Saturday, being the 6th of February, will be perform’d, An Opera call’d, JULIUS CAESAR. Tickets will be deliver’d out at the Office in the Hay-Market, this Day, at Half a Guinea each. And in Regard to the Number of Subscribers, no more than Three Hundred and Forty Tickets will be deliver’d out. N. B. No Tickets will be given at the Door, nor any Persons whatsoever admitted for Money. The Gallery 5 s. No Persons to be admitted behind the Scenes. To begin at Six a-Clock.[15] |
Feb 9
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AT the King’s Theatre in the Hay-Market, this present Tuesday, being the 9th of February, will be perform’d, An Opera call’d, JULIUS CAESAR. Tickets will be deliver’d out at the Office in the Hay-Market, this Day, at Half a Guinea each. And in Regard to the Number of Subscribers, no more than Three Hundred and Forty Tickets will be deliver’d out. N. B. No Tickets will be given at the Door, nor any Persons whatsoever admitted for Money. The Gallery 5 s. No Persons to be admitted behind the Scenes. To begin at Six a-Clock.[16] |
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[Alexander Gordon to Sir John Clerk, 12 February 1725] Having the liberty of the house I went to the opera house & heard Julius Caesar which pleasd me exceedingly but the new one to be acted for ye first time next Saturday exceeds all I ever heard. What occurs [I] shall take the liberty to acquaint you.[17] |
Feb 13
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AT the King’s Theatre in the Hay-Market, this present Saturday, being the 13th of February, will be perform’d, A New Opera call’d, RODELINDA. Tickets will be deliver’d out at the Office in the Hay-Market, this Day at Half a Guinea each. And in Regard to the Number of Subscribers, no more than Three Hundred and Forty Tickets will be deliver’d out. N. B. No Tickets will be given at the Door, nor any Persons whatsoever admitted for Money. The Gallery 5 s. No Persons to be admitted behind the Scenes. To begin at Six a-Clock.[18] |
Feb 16
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AT the King’s Theatre in the Hay-Market, this present Tuesday, being the 16th of February, will be perform’d, A New Opera call’d, RODELINDA. Tickets will be deliver’d out at the Office in the Hay-Market, this Day, at Half a Guinea each. And in Regard to the Number of Subscribers, no more than Three Hundred and Forty Tickets will be deliver’d out. N. B. No Tickets will be given at the Door, nor any Persons whatsoever admitted for Money. The Gallery 5 s. No Persons to be admitted behind the Scenes. To begin at Six a-Clock.[19] |
Feb 20
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AT the King’s Theatre in the Hay-Market, this
present Saturday, being the 20th of February, will be perform’d, A New Opera
call’d, RODELINDA. Tickets will be deliver’d out at the Office in the
Hay-Market, this Day, at Half a Guinea each. And in Regard to the Number of
Subscribers, no more than Three Hundred and Forty Tickets will be deliver’d out. N. B. No Tickets will be given at the Door,
nor any Persons whatsoever admitted for Money. The Gallery 5 s. No Persons to
be admitted behind the Scenes. To begin at Six a-Clock.[20] |
Feb 20
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John Byrom, Letter to R. L., Esq; If Senesino do but rift, “O caro, caro!” that
flat fifth: I’d hang if e’er an
Opera Whitling, Could tell Cuzzoni from a Kitling. Dear Peter, if thou can’st descend From Rodelind to hear a Friend, And if those Ravished Ears of thine Can quit the shrill celestial Whine Of gentle Eunuchs, and sustain Thy native English without pain, I would, if t’aint too great a Burden, Thy ravished Ears intrude a Word in.[21] |
Feb 22
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This Day is published, The following Proposals for engraving and printing by subscription, the whole Opera of Rodelinda, compos’d by Mr. Handel, and figur’d and corrected by his own Hand. 1. That this Opera shall be engrav’d and printed in Score, with all the Parts, on above 100 Copper Plates, on superfine Royal Paper in Quarto. 2. The Price to Subscribers is fifteen Shillings, 7 s. 6 d. to be paid down, and 7 s. 6 d. to be paid on Delivery of the Book, which will be on the 3d of April, 1725. 3. The Subscribers Names will be engrav’d and printed before the Work. 4. The Price to those who do not subscribe will be 18 s. Engrav’d and printed at Cluer’s Printing-Office in Bow Church-yard, where Subscriptions are taken in; as also by Mr. Creake at the Bible in Jermin-street, St. James’s, Mr. Smith in Meard’s Court, in Warder-street, Soho, Mr. Hare near the Royal Exchange, Cornhill, Mr. Young and Mrs. Norman in St. Paul’s Church-yard, Mr. Barrett the upper end of the Hay-Market, and at most Musick Shops. N. B[.] This Work will be done with the utmost Neatness, and more compleat than any extant, and Care will be taken that not one Song in this Opera shall be printed by any other Persons than the Proprietors.[22] |
Feb 20, 23
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[…] N. B. Mr. Senesino, who was taken ill last Saturday Night during the Time of the Opera, and not so well recovered to be certain whether he can be able to perform this Night, therefore the Opera that was then intended will not be performed ’till Thursday next.[23] |
Feb 25
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AT the King’s Theatre in the Hay-Market, this present Thursday, being the 25th of February, will be perform’d, A New Opera call’d, RODELINDA. Tickets will be deliver’d out at the Office in the Hay-Market, this Day, at Half a Guinea each. And in Regard to the Number of Subscribers, no more than Three Hundred and Forty Tickets will be deliver’d out. N. B. No Tickets will be given at the Door, nor any Persons whatsoever admitted for Money. The Gallery 5 s. No Persons to be admitted behind the Scenes. To begin at Six a-Clock.[24] |
Feb 27
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AT the King’s Theatre in the Hay-Market, this present Saturday, being the 27th of February, will be perform’d, A New Opera call’d, RODELINDA. Tickets will be deliver’d out at the Office in the Hay-Market, this Day, at Half a Guinea each. And in Regard to the Number of Subscribers, no more than Three Hundred and Forty Tickets will be deliver’d out. N. B. No Tickets will be given at the Door, nor any Persons whatsoever admitted for Money. The Gallery 5 s. No Persons to be admitted behind the Scenes. To begin at Six a-Clock.[25] |
Mar 2
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AT the King’s Theatre in the Hay-Market, this present Tuesday, being the 2d of March, will be perform’d, A New Opera call’d, RODELINDA. Tickets will be deliver’d out at the Office in the Hay-Market, this Day, at Half a Guinea each. And in Regard to the Number of Subscribers, no more than Three Hundred and Forty Tickets will be deliver’d out. N. B. No Tickets will be given at the Door, nor any Persons whatsoever admitted for Money. The Gallery 5 s. No Persons to be admitted behind the Scenes. To begin at Six a-Clock.[26] |
Mar 6
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AT the King’s Theatre in the Hay-Market, this present Saturday, being the 6th of March, will be perform’d, A New Opera call’d, RODELINDA. Tickets will be deliver’d out at the Office in the Hay-Market, this Day, at Half a Guinea each. And in Regard to the Number of Subscribers, no more than Three Hundred and Forty Tickets will be deliver’d out. N. B. No Tickets will be given at the Door, nor any Persons whatsoever admitted for Money. The Gallery 5 s. No Persons to be admitted behind the Scenes. To begin at Six a-Clock.[27] |
Mar 6
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Since the Publication of Cluer and Creake’s Proposals for Engraving and Printing Mr. Handel’s Opera of Rodelinda by Subscription, a great Number of the Quality, Gentry, &c. daily subscribe to the same.[28] |
Mar 9
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AT the King’s Theatre in the Hay-Market, this present Tuesday, being the 9th of March, will be perform’d, A New Opera call’d, RODELINDA. Tickets will be deliver’d out at the Office in the Hay-Market, this Day, at Half a Guinea each. And in Regard to the Number of Subscribers, no more than Three Hundred and Forty Tickets will be deliver’d out. N. B. No Tickets will be given at the Door, nor any Persons whatsoever admitted for Money. The Gallery 5 s. No Persons to be admitted behind the Scenes. To begin at Six a-Clock.[29] |
Mar 13
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AT the King’s Theatre in the Hay-Market, this present Saturday, being the 13th of March, will be perform’d, A New Opera call’d, RODELINDA. Tickets will be deliver’d out at the Office in the Hay-Market, this Day, at Half a Guinea each. And in Regard to the Number of Subscribers, no more than Three Hundred and Forty Tickets will be deliver’d out. N. B. No Tickets will be given at the Door, nor any Persons whatsoever admitted for Money. The Gallery 5 s. No Persons to be admitted behind the Scenes. To begin at Six a-Clock.[30] |
Mar 16
|
AT the King’s Theatre in the Hay-Market, this
present Tuesday, being the 16th of March, will be perform’d, A New Opera
call’d, RODELINDA. Tickets will be deliver’d out at the Office in the
Hay-Market, this Day, at Half a Guinea each. And in Regard to the Number of
Subscribers, no more than Three Hundred and Forty Tickets will be deliver’d out. N. B. No Tickets will be given at the Door,
nor any Persons whatsoever admitted for Money. The Gallery 5 s. No Persons to
be admitted behind the Scenes. To begin at Six a-Clock.[31] |
Mar 20
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AT the King’s Theatre in the Hay-Market, this present Saturday, being the 20th of March, will be perform’d, A New Opera call’d, RODELINDA. Tickets will be deliver’d out at the Office in the Hay-Market, this Day, at Half a Guinea each. And in Regard to the Number of Subscribers, no more than Three Hundred and Forty Tickets will be deliver’d out. N. B. No Tickets will be given at the Door, nor any Persons whatsoever admitted for Money. The Gallery 5 s. No Persons to be admitted behind the Scenes. To begin at Six a-Clock. Being the last Time of performing till after Easter.[32] |
Mar 20
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This Day is publish’d, by Cluer & Creake, PRoposals for Engraving and Printing by Subscription, A Second Pocket Volume of Opera Songs and Airs, Collected out of all the Opera’s Compos’d by Mr. Handel, Bononcini, Attilio, and other Great Masters; many of them never before printed; all which will be carefully Corrected & Figur’d for the Harpsichord, and Transpos’d for the Flute, with the Symphonies to them. N. B. The Musick i[n] this Volume will be much more legible than the former, the Pages being somewhat larger, but may be bound in the same size; and since we have the Assistance of all the Great Masters, and shall be [f]avour’d with Mr. Handel’s Songs that were never before printed, (which cannot be obtain’d by others) our Subscribers may assure themselves that this will be a far Better Collection than ’tis possible for any other Persons to make. The Undertakers are J. Cluer at the E[n]graving and Printing Office in Bow-Church-Yard, and B. Creake at the Bible in Jermyn- street, St. James’s, where Specimens of the Work may be seen, and Proposals at Large had gratis, as also at the Musick Shops: Where likewise Subscriptions are taken for Printing The whole Opera of Rodelinda, in Score with all the Parts. In above 100 Copper Plates. Compos’d by Mr. Handel. The Quality, &c. who design to Subscribe to this Celebrated Opera, are desired to send their Names in 20 Days at farthest, otherwise they can’t be Engrav’d in the Book.[33] |
Mar 30
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AT the King’s Theatre in the Hay-Market, this present Tuesday, being the 30th of March, will be perform’d, A New Opera call’d, RODELINDA. Tickets will be deliver’d out at the Office in the Hay-Market, this Day, at Half a Guinea each. And in Regard to the Number of Subscribers, no more than Three Hundred and Forty Tickets will be deliver’d out. N. B. No Tickets will be given at the Door, nor any Persons whatsoever admitted for Money. The Gallery 5 s. No Persons to be admitted behind the Scenes. To begin at Six a-Clock.[34] |
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[“Diary of a tour of Europe in 1724-25, made by an anonymous Italian”] |
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Adi 31 Marzo siamo stati all’opera in musica Italiana composta di 6 Personaggi. Cioè Senesino, Paccini, Borosini, Boschi, Cuzzoni, e Dotti. Li più piacciuti è con tutta giustizia veramente sono Senesino, e La Cuzzoni. Il Teatro è particolare, mentre vi sono pochi palchi cioè proscenij, e degl’altri alli fianchi; in faccia vi sono tre gran Loggie, capaci di moltissime Persone, e la Platea ancora per esser a’ guisa d’Anfiteatro, e da’pertutto stanno huomini e donne mescolati assieme; nel Palco a’ mano sinistra vicino al Proscenio vi và il Re che è un Signor benigno d’Aria dolce e allegro, haveva un abito scuro ricamato d’oro.[35] |
On 31 March we were at the Italian opera composed for six characters, namely Senesino, Paccini [sic], Borosini, Boschi, Cuzzoni, and Dotti. The most pleasing, and truly with every justification, are Senesino and Cuzzoni. The theatre is unusual: while there are a few stage boxes, and others along the sides, facing them there are three large galleries, capable of holding very many people, and also the pit in the shape of an amphitheatre, and everywhere men and women are mingled together. The king sits in the box on the left side near the proscenium; he is a benign gentleman of sweet and cheerful character; he was wearing dark clothes embroidered with gold.[36] |
Apr 3
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AT the King’s Theatre in the Hay-Market, this present Saturday, being the 7th [sic] of AprilMarch, will be perform’d, A New Opera call’d, RODELINDA. Tickets will be deliver’d out at the Office in the Hay-Market, this Day, at Half a Guinea each. And in Regard to the Number of Subscribers, no more than Three Hundred and Forty Tickets will be deliver’d out. N. B. No Tickets will be given at the Door, nor any Persons whatsoever admitted for Money. The Gallery 5 s. No Persons to be admitted behind the Scenes. To begin at Six a-Clock.[37] |
Apr 6
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AT the King’s Theatre in the Hay-Market, this present Tuesday, being the 6th of April, will be perform’d, A New Opera call’d, RODELINDA. Tickets will be deliver’d out at the Office in the Hay-Market, this Day, at Half a Guinea each. And in Regard to the Number of Subscribers, no more than Three Hundred and Forty Tickets will be deliver’d out. N. B. No Tickets will be given at the Door, nor any Persons whatsoever admitted for Money. The Gallery 5 s. No Persons to be admitted behind the Scenes. To begin at Six a-Clock.[38] |
Apr 27
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John Brown, Musical Instrument-maker, is now remov’d from against the Royal Exchange to the Sun near St. Michael’s in Cornhill; and hereby gives Notice, that the Pocket Collection of Songs for which he has given out Proposals for a Crown a Book, is now very nigh finish’d: It consists of the following Particulars, viz. Select Aires in Rodelinda, Julius Caesar, Tamerlane, Flavius, and other Works of Mr. Handel: Aires in Calphurnia, and the great Subscription Book of Signior Bononcini: Some of the best Songs of Attilio: Some curious Aires in English of that great Master Albinoni; besides several entertaining Songs in English. ——— And whereas this Book should have been publish’d by the 25th instant, the said Brown hopes his Subscribers will readily indulge him 14 Days more, in regard of the great difficulty he has been at in procuring several favourite Songs in Rodelinda. N.B. The Flute Part will be done with the most Accuracy and Judgment: By a Person sufficiently Eminent that way.[39] |
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[rate-books, St. George’s parish, April 1725] George Handell, Rent £35. First Rate 17s. 6d.[40] |
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[Pamphlets] XV. An Epistle to Mr. Handel, upon his Opera’s of Flavius and Julius Caesar. Sold by J. Roberts. Price 4 d.[41] |
May 11 N.S.
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[Owen Swiney, Venice, to Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, 11 May 1725 N.S.] I Chuse to addresse This letter to your Grace, rather than to any other person, because I’me sure, That you’l lay it before Messrs. de L’academie, the very Moment you receive it, or That (shou’d you be out of Town) you’l transmit it to ’em, immediately, being, as I think, a Matter of vast consequence to ’em. [354] I have done all that lay in my power, to serve Messrs. de L’academie, and I shall, still, continue to do so: But I confesse, frankly, that ’tis a very great Mortification to me, to find that all my designs to serve ’em, are defeated by the Industry & Cunning, of a Sett of Interested Italians, who think they have a right to dispose of the Academy’s purse among their own Creatures &c. And ’tis very plain, that if some Method is not resolved on to prevent their medling in affairs, things must goe very Wrong. There is nothing done, in the academy, which is not published (or taken advantage of) in all parts of Italy, in lesse than a Month after ’tis transacted, by the correspondents of these miscreants. Bernstadt is now Trumpetting the praises of the academy, and their Management as much as his Castrated Wit, will permit him, and He receives his information & instructions from Bononcini, and one who calls himselfe Ministre public [Riva?]. Don Casimiro [Avelloni] keeps up a close correspondence with these people, and is prodigiously pleased at the ill successe of the Academy: Tho’ He still hopes (from his helping things to goe wrong) to take another Trip for England, along with Madame sa Femme [Durastanti]. I shall say no more on this Subject, at present, but refer it intirely to the consideration of those whose businesse it is more properly, than Mine. My Scheme for a Company, next year, was to have joined Minelli, Pinnacci & Marchesina to Senesino, Boschi & Cuzzoni. And I think ’twou’d have been the best Company in Europe, Excepting, always that, in which Faustina sings. In a letter from Mr. Haym (dated april 2d) I received some new Instructions viz. “If you have not, as yet, Engaged Minelli, meddle no more, in that affair: For one of the Directors, who has heard him sing, in Italy, says, That He is not, at all, fit for the English Theatre, And That He makes an ugly Figure &c.” In another part of it “If you can’t have The Faustina for the next Season, then you are to Engage Burtoletto (or some other Soprano, who has a good voice) at a Reasonable Price And a Contre-alt &c.” [355] Im’e prodigiously glad to let Messrs. de L’academie know that Burtoletto has taken Priest’s orders &c. and sings no more on the stage. I wish I cou’d say as much of Carestini and Gizzi: For; I think they are three prodigious bad Singers, with very good voices, Especially, the Two Former. The opera has been performed Thrice: The Musick is composed by [Giovanni Francesco] Brusa, who made the first opera, at St. Giov: Chrysostom’s the last winter, and is intollerable. Marchesina is, by much, the best, in the Whole Pack: she Acts, very, justly, and Sings in the true Lombard style. Guglielmi is a very handsome Girle, and no bad Figure: Acts tollerably well, but is a bitter bad Singer. Minelli refuses (as I lately told your Grace) the Six Hundred Guineas, And you may depend upon it he’l never accept of that offer, at least I think so: I fancy one Hundred Guineas more wou’d stagger him. Shou’d Messrs. de L’academie think no more of him, There is but one other Contre-alt to be had, at present; His name is Baldi (A Florentine). He is neither a good, nor a Bad Singer: He’s a tollerable Actor: His person is well enough: And His Manner of Singing but So, So: He demands Guineas 600 & I believe, He’l not stir under 500. Marchesina demands 1500 Sequeens, which is 750 Guineas But I fancy, 500 wou’d do her businesse with the Expences of her Journey, which She insists on: And was I worthy to advise I shou’d chuse to fling her in 50 or £60 toward that expence, rather than to have it crowed on, as Salary. I don’t pretend to be a greater Conjuror than My Neighbours: But Im’e very Sure, That I can give a shrewd guesse, at the Successe, which may attend the persons recommended by Messrs. Les Italiens, and those of my own recommendation: However I shall always submit myselfe to better Judgment and to the orders of My Superiors: And I shall Execute The academy Commands (whenever They Honour me, with ’em) with great punctuality. [356] I desire to have some positive answer, about Minelli, Pinacci, and the Marchesina: For each of ’em, expects a speedy one, with the utmost Impatience. I set out tomorrow For Regio & Parma: as soon as I arrive, at these places, I shall Execute the academy’s commands concerning The Signora Faustina and Gizzi. If the Scheme I recommended to your Grace (in my last letter) concerning The Faustina, or some other (Equivalent to it) may not be found out, I despair of ever seeing her in England: for, I think, nothing is so likely to bring her to resolution of making such a Trip, as a near view, of getting Three or Four Thousand Shequeens, in about Two years time. Whatever is resolved on about her affair, I desire may be done, with all speed and secresy. I beg leave to tell your Grace, that, I think, your Company will be much better, and much Cheaper, than ’twas last year, by joining to it, Minelli Pinacci & The Marchesina in the room of Borosini, Pacini, Anna Dotti, and Soresina. Pinacci will certainly be a very usefull Man: And Minelli & The Marchesina will most infalliably please every body of a True Taste, in Musick: And This I’ll answer for with the hazard of my life. If Marchesina is pitch’d upon, ’twill be necessary to furnish her with £100 for the Expences of her Journey &c. part of it as A Don gratuit: The remainder on account of her Salary. If I find either performer or musick at Regio or Parma fit for the English stage, I’ll in ten day’s time, inform Messrs. de L’academie of it. The Season is now drawing to an End, and most of the Directors will retire into the Country, therefore, I hope, ’twill not be taken amiss, that I, once more, put Messrs. de L’academie in mind of making, immediate provision, for their present necessitys, and thinking of Securing Such Singers, as may be fit, for their Service, & shall be at liberty from any Engagements in Italy, after the next ensuing Carneval. I return to Venice, imediately, after the opera ends at Parma: Where I hope to find my instructions, concerning The Faustina: For upon her Engagement depends (in my humble opinion) the very being, and welfare of the academy for several years.[42] |
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J. CLUER and B. CREAKE give Notice to all Gentlemen and Ladies that are Lovers of Musick, that they have now finish’d Mr. HANDEL’s great Opera of RODELINDA, engrav’d on 110 Copper Plates in large 4to, Therefore those Persons who are impower’d to take in Subscriptions are desired forthwith to send in a List of the Subscribers Names to CLUER’s Printing-Office in Bow Church yard, that they may be Engraved before the Work. No Person can subscribe after Tuesday next. Those who subscribe to pay only 15 s. those who do not to pay 18 s. N.B. The Engraving this Opera hath retarded the Publication of their Second Pocket Volume of Opera Songs and Airs, which was proposed to be finish’d this Day: But the same will be now carried on with the utmost Diligence. The whole to be done in the same Character as the Specimen, which may be seen at the P[l]ace abovesaid, and at Mr. CREAKE’s in Jermyn-street, St. James’s, and at the Musick Shops. Subscribers to pay 5 s. down, and 5 s. 6 d. on Delivery of the Book. Note, In this Volume there will be several of Mr. HANDEL’s Song[s] that were never before printed, which cannot be obtained by any other Persons; which Songs alone are worth double the Money the whole Book is sold for. The Operas of TAMERLANE and JULIUS CAESAR may be had at the Places abovesaid.[43] |
May 6
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This Day is publish’d, and deliver’d to
the Subscribers, The whole Opera of Rodelinda in Score: Compos’d by Mr. Handel, and engrav’d on 110 Copper Plates in 4to. Sold by J. Cluer, in Bow Church-yard; and B. Creake in Jermyn-street St. James’s: Where the Opera for the Flute may be speedily had. N. B. They are now going on with the utmost Diligence with their second pocket Volume of Opera Songs in 8vo. in which there will be several of Mr. Handel’s Songs that were never before printed, which cannot be obtain’d by others. Proposals may be had Gratis.[44] |
<May 9
|
EPIGRAM on the Feuds between HANDEL and BONONCINI. SOME say, compar’d to Bononcini, That Mynheer Handel’s but a Ninny; [344] Others aver, that he to Handel Is scarcely fit to hold a Candle: Strange all this Difference should be ’Twixt Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dee![45] |
May 9
|
John Byrom, Diary Mr. Leycester left my epigram upon Handel and Bononcini in short-hand for Jemmy Ord.[46] |
May 15
|
Whereas a very false and malicious Report hath for some time past been industriously spread, relating to Mr. Senesino one of the Performers in the Opera, it is thought necessary to publish the following Authentick Relation of that Affair: Mr. Senesino’s Servant, a Black Boy, came into his Service about two Years ago being then about ten Years old, he was from the first unhealthy, but about the Month of November last past, he began to be worse than before, and was much afflicted with a violent Asthma and Dropsy, until on the 26th of February last past he was sent by the direction of Dr Teissier, Physician of his Majesty’s Houshold, and at the Expence of Mr. Senesino to Islington for the Air, where he was lodg’d at the House of Mr. George Allcock, Farrier, and was never after that see[n] by Mr Senesino. On the 25th Day of March last past, he dy’d at Islington and was their [sic] bury’d. Having been guilty of some great Crimes some Days before his Death, and the said Allcock having corrected him for it, and even that without the Knowledge of the said Mr. Senesino, a Report was spread thereabouts, that the said Correction was the occasion of his Death, which Report was examin’d into by the Coroner’s Inquest, and found to be malicious and groundless upon the Oath of Persons who lodg’d in the same House, and of Mr. Rideout a Surgeon of the Neighbourhood who visited him. It is suppos’d this hath given pretext to the late wicked vnd [sic] malicious Report, the falshood of which may be clearly prov’d by the said Inquest and Examinations taken then and there by Mr. George Rivers Coroner, or by the Report of the above-mention’d Dr Teissier, and of Mr. St. Andre Surgeon, who both saw the Boy in his Illness.[47] |
May 15
|
Just published, The whole Opera of RODELINDA in Score. Composed by Mr. HANDEL, and engraved on 110 Copper Plates in 4to. Sold by J. CLUER in Bow Church-yard, and B. CREAKE at the Bible in Jermyn-street, St. James’s. Where the Opera for the Flute will speedily be published. N. B. The Engraving this Opera hath retarded the Publication of their Second Pocket Volume of Opera Songs and Airs, but the same will be now carried on with the utmost Diligence. The whole to be done in the same Character as the Specimen, which may be seen at the Places abovesaid, and at the Musick Shops. Subscribers to pay 5 s. down, and 5 s. 6 d. on Delivery of the Book. Note, In this Volume there will be several of Mr. HANDEL’s Songs that were never before printed, which cannot be obtained by any other Persons; which Songs alone are worth double the Money the whole Book is sold for. The Operas of TAMERLANE and JULIUS CAESAR may be had at the Places abovesaid.[48] |
May 18
|
John Byrom, Diary Mr. Leycester came there [to George’s coffee-house] and Bob Ord, who was come home from Cambridge, where he said he had made the whole Hall laugh at Trinity College and got himself honour by my epigram upon Handel and Bononcini.[49] |
Jun 5
|
John Byrom, Diary Mr. Hooper … came over to us to Mill’s coffeehouse, 2d., told us of my epigram upon Handel and Bononcini being in the papers.[50] |
Jun 11
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Handel to Michaelsen |
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A Londres ce 11/22 de Juin 1725. Monsieur et tres Honoré Frere, Encore que je me trouve tres coupable de n’avoir pas satisfait depuis si longtems a mon devoir envers Vôus par mes lettres, neantmoins je ne desespere pas d’en obtenir Vôtre genereux pardon lorsque je Vous assurerai que cela n’est pas provenu de quelque oubli, et que mon Estime et Amitié pour Vous sont inviolables, comme Vous en aurez trouvé des marques, mon tres Honoré Frere, dans les lettres que j’ai ecrit a ma Mere. Mon Silence donc, a ete plustôt un effêt de crainte de Vous accabler par une correspondence qui Vous pourroit causez de l’ennuy, Mais ce qui me fait passer par dessus ces reflexions, en Vous donnant l’incommodité par la presente, est, que je ne scaurois pas être si ingrat que de passer avec silence les bontés que Vous voulez bien temoigner a ma Mere par Vôtre assistance et Consolation dans son Age avancé, sans Vous en marquer au moins mes treshumble remercimens. Vous n’ignorez pas combien me doit toucher ce qui la regarde, ainsi Vous jugerez bien des Obligations que je Vous en dois avoir. Je me conterois heureux, mon tres Cher Frere, si je pouvais Vous engager a me donner de tems en tems de Vous nouvelles, et Vous pourriez etre sur de la part sincere que j’en prenderois, et du retour fidel que Vous trouveriez toujours en moy. J’avois crû de pouvoir Vous renouveller mon Amitié de bouche, et de faire un tour en Vôs quartiers a l’occasion que le Roy s’en va a Hannover, mais mes souhaits ne peuventpas avoir leur effet encore, pour cette fois, et la situation de mes affaires me prive de ce bonheur là malgré que j’en aye. je ne desespere pas pourtant de pouvoir etre un jour si heureux, cependent, il me seroit une consolation bien grande, si j’oserois me flatter, que Vous me vouliez bien accorder quelque place dans Votre Souvenir, et de m’honorer de Vôtre amitié, puisque je ne finiray jamais d’etre avec une passion et attachement inviolable Monsieur et tres Honoré Frere Vôtre treshumble et tresobeissant Serviteur George Frideric Handel. je fais bien mes treshumbles respects a Madame Votre Epouse. et j’embrasse tendrement ma Chere Fileule et le reste de Votre Chere Famillie. mes Complimens s’il vous plait a tous les Amis et Amies. A Monsieur, Monsieur Michael Dietrich Michaelsen Docteur en Droit à Halle en Saxe.[51] |
London, 11th/22nd June 1725. Honoured Brother, Although I am much to blame for not having for so long done my duty towards you in the matter of letters, yet I do not despair of receiving your generous pardon for this, when I assure you that it did not come about through forgetfulness, and that my esteem and friendship for you are unchanged, as you will have observed, dearest brother, from the letters that I have written to my mother. My silence, therefore, has come rather from fear of imposing on you a correspondence that might cause you inconvenience. But I am emboldened to set aside these considerations and to incommode you with the present letter, since I could not be so ungrateful as to remain silent over the kindnesses which you are good enough to show my mother in her old age through your support and consolation, and not at least tender you my humble thanks therefore. You are well aware how much anything that concerns her must affect me, so you will easily judge how greatly I feel myself in your debt. I should count myself happy, most dear brother, if I could prevail on you to send me your news from time to time, and you may rest assured of the sincere interest that I would take therein and of the faithful response that you would always find in me. I had hoped to be able to renew our friendship in person by a visit to your parts when the King departs for Hanover, but my hopes cannot be fulfilled this time, and the state of my affatrs deprives me of that happiness despite all my expectations. However I do not despair of being so fortunate one day. Meanwhile it would be a very great consolation to me if I might dare flatter myself that you are good enough to accord me a place in your thoughts and to honour me with your friendship, since I shall never cease to be, with steadfast love and devotion, Most honoured brother, Your most humble and obedient servant, George Frideric Handel. I send my most humble respects to your wife and I tenderly embrace my beloved god-daughter and the rest of your dear family. My compliments please to all friends.[52] |
Jun 12
|
This Day is published, The whole Opera of RODELINDA for the FLUTE. Sold by J. Cluer in Bow Church-yard, and B. Creake at the Bible in Jermyn-street, St. James’s, and at the Musick Shops. Where may be had the said Opera in Score, composed by Mr. HANDELL. Also Mr. Handell’s Opera of JULIUS CAESAR and TAMERLANE in Score, and for the Flute. Likewise the first Pocket Volume of Opera Songs in 8vo. Note, The abovesaid J. Cluer and B. Creake are now going on with a second Pocket Volume, in a large 8vo. This Volume will contain the choicest Songs out of the most celebrated Opera; and several of Mr. HANDELL’s Songs that were never before printed, which Songs alone are worth double the Money the whole Book is sold for.[53] |
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Mr. Heddigger is making Preparations for a Magnificent Ball to Morrow Night at the Opera House in the Hay Market, for the Entertainment of the Knights of the Bath, &c.[54] |
[Jun 25] / Jul 6 NS
|
[Owen Swiney, Venice, to Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, 6 July 1725] Last week I sent your Grace, La Signora Faustina’s agreement with Messrs. de L’academie &c. under Her Sign Manual. It is conformable to the instructions, I receiv’d from ’em. The giving, or not giving the additional hundred pounds, yearly, after the first Season, is, intirely, left to their decision &c. And Her being, in London, on the last day of March (or it may be) fifteen days sooner, depends, on a little prudent Management. I think ’twill be, Richly, worth the academy’s while, to endeavour to procure leave for her departure from Vienna, the Minute the Carneval Ends: This, certainly, will be no difficult thing to obtain. But shou’d any objection be made to her, so timely, departure, the letters, your Grace procures from Lord Cadogan to Prince Eugene, in Her Favour will be of very great Service to her. I hope your Grace will not forget to write to Messrs. St. Saphorin & Harrison to serve her, at Vienna, en cas de besoin. I hope your Grace will acknowledge the receipts of her letter which I inclosed, in mine, of last week. She understands French, so that you may chuse, wither that or the Italian language, to make your answer in: and you’l very much encrease the Favour if you send it, with Lord Cadogan’s letters &c. under cover to Monsr. St. Saphorin or Major Harrison. I wish your Grace & Messrs. de L’academie joy of this acquisition, for Im’e persuaded, ’tis the most advantagious bargain you ever made. The Season is just now drawing to an End, which makes me think that (in a Post or Two) I shall receive Messrs. de L’academie’s last instructions, about the necessary preparations for opening the next Campaign with Eclat. I believe, by an artfull and cunning Italian Management several things (very necessary to be known) [358] have been hidden from the knowledge of Messrs. de L’academie. If they command me, I’ll Endeavour to describe the ailment and Method of Cure. I beg your Grace will procure a Counter-part of Signora Faustina’s bargain to be sign’d by the Secretary of the academy, dans les Formes and that it be sent me imediately. Im’e to deliver it to a Friend of hers, who is to send it to her, at Vienna, or to let her know, it agrees exactly, with that sign’d by her, at Venice. P.S. I keep a second paper, signed by her, for fear of a Miscarriage of the first. I thought it needlesse to inclose it to your Grace.[55] |
Jun 29
|
To
Mr. HENDEL, on his Compositions. IN spight
of* Faction, Hendel’s
Name shall stand Foremost in Rank
of the harmonious Band Of happy
Mortals, who the Art have found To move the
Soul by various Pow’rs of Sound. Stupendious
Art! that does our Breasts inspire By Turns,
with Rage, soft Love, and fierce Desire, Forcing from
passive Chords, devoid of Sense, A Tongue to
charm with Tully’s Eloquence! Had Orpheus
sung with thy harmonious Skill, Notes so
inspiring ’twice had vanquish’d Hell, Nor for one
Look, th’ Impatience of Desire, Lost the
dear Prize of his melodious Lyre: Th’ infernal
God he’d still relenting found, Mov’d by
Compassion, and subdu’d by Sound. As Shakespear’s Plays above the Rest dispense Superior
Art, and Elegance of Sense: In sweetest
Notes thy Numbers do abound, Soar above
all in Elegance of Sound. As long as
Beauty shall have Pow’r to move The hardest
Hearts, and melt ’em into Love, As long as
Love is by the Wise confess’d, Of humane
Joys the sweetest and the best, So long
shall thy just Compositions last. Oft to their
Lays the am’rous Youths I see Repair for
Cure, inflam’d with Love, like me. All pale
their Looks, wild, frantick with Despair, Caus’d by
some false, or some obdurate Fair; Yet soon the
Raptures of thy heav’nly Sounds Beguile
their Passion, and asswage their Wounds. Hail! happy Bard! whose skillful Genius bore The Palm of
Music from th’ Italian Shore, By Thee
transplanted to this Northern Clime, To add more
Pleasures to a BRUNSWICK’s Reign! Oh! could my
Muse as high as POPE’s aspire, Then should
my Song rise equal to Thy Lire; Then wou’d
the Critics all applaud my Choice, Nor blame my
Judgment for my Want of Voice. Then shou’d
my Breast, inspir’d by Pow’r Divine, Reveal this
Judgment of the Sacred Nine, “Had Delos
bore Thee when Apollo came, The GOD OF
MUSICK had been Hendel’s Name.” [*] The Italians.[56] |
Jul 3
|
To the
Author of the London
Journal. Venimus ad summum Fortunae, pingimus atque Psallimus. HOR. SIR, IN all Arts and Sciences, we
ought to distinguish between those which immediately tend to the Use and Benefit of Mankind, and those which are calculated for our Pleasure and Amusement. Again, we ought to make a Difference between those
Arts which, besides the Pleasure they afford us, conduce also to the Improvement of our Minds and those which can serve only to gratify our outward Senses. According to
these Distinctions, Arithmetick, experimental Knowledge, Mechanicks, and those Parts of the Mathematicks which
relate to Navigation, Fortification, Architecture,
&c. claim the first Place; History, Philosophy,
Oratory, and Poetry have a Right to the second;
and the third ought to be assigned to Painting
and Musick. As these two
last-mentioned Arts are now become the darling Amusements of the Town, and engross the Affections of the Beaumonde,
I hope some short Observations upon them,
with a Comparison of their Excellencies, will
not be disagreeable to your Readers; and I will
beg Leave to bring Poetry into their
Company (as much out of Fashion as it is) because it
will serve the better to illustrate my
Observations upon the other Two. In the several
Comparisons which have been hitherto made between the two Sister Arts
of Poetry and Painting, the Preference hath been always given to Poetry, as it has a
Power by its speaking Faculty to reveal the Heart
and display the Passions, with all their secret
Springs and Movements; whereas Painting
amuses us only with silent Representations,
and is confined chiefly to the
Entertainmeut [sic] of our Eyes; I say chiefly, for it cannot be deny’d, that it has also some Power to express the Passions, as far as they can be seen in our
outward Features, or discovered by the Position of
our Bodies. In this Respect also Musick
must yield to Poetry, which seems to be a
Composition both of that and of Painting, as it
abounds with the lively Colourings of the one, and
the beautiful Cadences of the other. By the same Way
of judging, we may easily determine the Dispute of Precedence between
Painting and Musick; for supposing one to be entirely confined to the Sense of Hearing,
and the other to that of Sight, in such
case they would be equal as to Excellence, since it
is possible for one to give as much Pleasure
to the Eyes as the other can to the Ears, provided the two Persons, supposed to be affected, are equally Judges and Lovers of the different Arts. But it must be
considered, that as Painting is obliged to give Place to Poetry,
because it cannot instruct the Mind so well; so Musick
must, for the same Reason, yield to Painting,
because it is absolutely confined to the Ears,
and cannot affect the Understanding in any Degree; whereas Painting, especially in
historical Pieces, by setting great and memorable Actions in
so full a Light before us, pleases and
instructs at the same time; it conveys Knowledge to our Minds by the Ministration of our Eyes,
which it is impossible for Musick to do by
the Assistance of our Ears. When I speak of Musick,
I cannot be understood to mean any thing but simple
Musick, or meer [sic] Sounds artfully
modulated, abstracted from any Words to which They are adapted;
for that is properly the Province of Poetry,
and cannot come into the Question in Debate. Another Criterion
by which we may judge of the Excellence of any Art, is its permanent
Quality, or its Capacity of being
transmitted to future Generations. Herein again Poetry
may justly claim the Precedence of Painting, since the
Invention first of Letters, and afterwards of Printing,
it has descended through a Multitude of Ages, and may be perpetuated to the End of the World;
whereas Painting can endure no
longer than a piece of frail Canvas, or at best of
perishable Brass or Copper, will retain it; The Colours often fade in a few Years, and never
continue for many Ages. By the same Rule, Painting
is preferable to Musick, whose
Duration is no longer than the Fluctuation of the Air, or
the Reverberation of an Eccho will support it;
the Pleasure it gives may be very exquisite,
but it is only for the present Moment; vox
& praeterea nihil. In order to
maintain this Assertion, I must distinguish between the Composition
and the Performance of Musick; I know it may be
objected, that Musick composed, or Harmony
characterized, may be delivered down from Generation to Generation, in the same manner that either poetick or prosaick Writings are; but to
speak properly, the Composition is not an
essential part of Musick, any more than the Rules of Grammar are an essential Part of Speech; for there
is no manner of Harmony in Points, Dashes
and grotesque Figures; They are only Directions
to the Performer, and Musick can
subsist without them, as it first begun and did long
subsist without them: The Performers therefore are,
strictly speaking, the only Musiciens;
and when they are wanting, all the Notes and Figures in
the World will signify nothing. My Meaning, in a word, is that Homer is the same
now that He was almost Three thousand Years ago; and some eminent Painters have lived in
their Works, several Hundred Years; but when once
Senesino or Cuzzoni slip their Wind, their Melody will immediately cease, and our
Pleasure be at an End. These
Distinctions may possibly be thought more critical than useful; but if we come
to argue closely, perhaps neither Painting
nor Musick, nor indeed any of the most polite Arts could be proved to be of any great Use
to Mankind; yet when I was upon this Subject,
I was willing to distinguish as nicely as I
could, between one and another, and adjust their particular Excellencies and Defects. Notwithstanding
this manifest Subordination of the Three polite Arts; it is plain, that
the present Vogue of the Town hath intirely
inverted it; for Musick, to which I assigned the last place, because the least useful or
instructive, meets with the far most Encouragement. It is incredible, what Sums of Money are yearly expended, in this Town, upon Musical
Entertainments; The Charge of the Opera
only is computed at Sixteen Thousand Pounds
a Year; add to this, what is laid out upon Balls,
Consorts and Merry-meetings, both publick and private, besides Musick-Masters, Singing-Masters,
itinerant Scrapers, Pipers and Ballad-Singers. Some Performers at the Opera have Fifteen
Hundred Pounds a Season, others have a Thousand, others Eight Hundred, and
others Five Hundred, besides less Sums of no small Value; and even the common Performers of the Instrumental
Parts, have larger Salaries than the Poet Laureat of Great Britain. Painting also, at present, is in great Reputation, and though it has lost Ground of Musick,
to which it is evidently preferable; yet it
has topt as much upon Poetry, to which
it is confessedly inferiour. They have both, I believe, many more pretending Admirers than real
Judges; and since it is the Fashion to encourage what we do not understand, I think it very hard that even Poetry
(notwithstanding its superior Merit) should not partake of our
implicit Favours. The common
Excuse for this Procedure is, that every Man ought to follow his own Inclinations, and encourage that Diversion
in which he takes the most Delight. This Method, we know, is too commonly practiced; and too strongly dictated by our Nature to be
withstood; meer sensual Pleasures being more agreeable
to most Men, than rational ones; but I hope no
body who pretends to the least Regard for
the publick Good, will let his Inclinations
intirely by[p]ass him against what is beneficial to
Mankind, for the sake of what is only amusing to
himself; for at this rate we may justify the voluptuous
Libertine, who prefers the lowest Minister of his Pleasure, to the ablest Philosopher;
and a good Cock to the most deserving Patriot.
I am, &c. MOMUS.[57] |
Jul 19
|
John Byrom, Diary Nourse asked me if I had seen the verses upon Handel and Bononcini, not knowing that they were mine; but Sculler said I was charged with them, and so I said they were mine; they both said that they had been mightily liked.[58] |
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[Mrs. Pendarves to Mrs. Anne Granville, 22 August 1725] Last Thursday I went to town with Lady Sunderland; we dined at Lord De Lawarr’s, and was very merry. Mrs. Sandoni (who was Cuzzoni), is brought to bed of a daughter: it is a mighty mortification it was not a son. Sons and heirs ought to be out of fashion when such scrubs shall pretend to be dissatisfied at having a daughter: ’tis pity, indeed, that the noble name and family of the Sandoni’s should be extinct! The minute she was brought to bed she sung “La Speranza,” a song in Otho. He has been at an extravagant expense to please that whimsical creature against her lying-in; [118] amongst other superfluous charges, he has bought a very fine looking-glass for the child, and a black laced hood for his wife to see company in at the end of her month: in short there is more talk of her than ever there was of the Princess [of Wales] when she lay in.[59] |
Sep 7 NS
|
Giuseppe Riva to Ludovico Antonio Muratori |
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Le opere che si fanno in Inghilterra, quanto più belle sono per la musica e per le voci, altrettanto sono storpiate per la poesia. Il nostro Rolli che nel principio della formazione della presente Reale Accademia ebbe l’incombenza di comporle, ne fece due assai buone, ma essendosi poi imbrogliato coi Direttori, questi presero al loro servizio un tal Haym Romano suonatore di violoncello, uomo nelle belle lettere affatto idiota, e dall’orchestra passando arditamente in Parnaso, sono già tre anni che egli accomoda o per meglio dire, fa peggiori i libretti vecchi già ordinariamente cattivi, de’ quali si servono i maestri di Capella che compongono le opere, alla riserva del nostro buon Bononcini il quale ha fatto venire le sue da Roma, composte da alcuni scolari del Gravina. Se il suo amico vuol mandare, deve avvertire che si vogliono pochi recitativi in Inghilterra, trent’arie ed un duetto almeno, distribuite nei tre atti. Il soggetto dev’essere semplice, tenero, eroico, Romano, Greco o Persiano ancora, non mai Gotico o Longobardo. Per quest’anno e per gli altri due avvenire, bisogna che nelle opere vi siano due parti eguali per la Cuzzoni e la Faustina. Senesino è il primo personaggio da uomo e la sua parte dev’essere eroica. Le altre tre parti per uomo debbono andare gradatamente tre uno per uno in ciascun’atto. Il duetto dovrebbe essere alla fine del secondo atto e fra le due donne. Se il soggetto portasse tre donne, può servire perchè ve n’è una terza. Se la Duchessa di Marleborough, che dà 500 sterline l’anno al Bononcini, vorrà contentarsi che egli dia una sua opera all’Accademia, questa sarà l’Andromaca, quasi una traduzione della Raciniana, ma senza la morte di Pirro, accomodata per un dramma assai bene. Da questa l’amico suo potrà prendere un’idea delle opere che possono in Inghilterra servire. Intanto se egli vuole mandare un dramma, io procurerò di servirlo e se è di buon gusto, come non ne dubito, si vedrà d’impegnarlo per un pajo. Il pacchetto potrebbe raccomandarsi ai nostri israeliti che hanno corrispondenza in Amsterdamo, affinchè lo pongano in qualche ballotto di seta e mi sia consegnato nel mio passaggio se dovrò di nuovo rivedere gli ultimi divisi.[60] |
The operas which are given in England, however fine
as music, and however well sung, are nevertheless ruined by their poetry. Our
friend Rolli who, when the present Academy was formed, was commissioned to
write the librettos, began by producing two very good ones, but he then
quarrelled with the directors, and they then took into their employment a certain
Haym, a Roman violoncellist, a man who was little short of an idiot as far as
literature was concerned. Deserting the orchestra for the slopes of
Parnassus, he has for the last three years employed himself in adapting a
number of old librettos for the use of the composers who write operas for the
English stage, making still worse what was bad before. Our friend, Bononcini,
however, has been an exception. He has got his librettos from Rome, where
they were written by certain pupils of Gravina. If your friend thinks of
sending a specimen of his work here, I must warn him that in England people
like very few recitatives, thirty airs and one duet at least distributed over
the three acts. The subject must be simple, tender, heroic— Roman, Greek or
possibly Persian, but never Gothic or Lombard. For this year, and for the
next two, there must be two equal parts in the operas for Cuzzoni and
Faustina. Senesino takes the principal male character and his part must be
heroic. The other three male parts should be arranged proportionally song for
song in all three acts. The duet should be at the end of the second act, and
entrusted to the two women. If the subject demands three women, a third woman
may be employed, as there is a third singer here to take the part. If the
Duchess of Marlborough, who gives £500 a year to Bononcini, will allow him to
give the Academy an opera, it will be “Andromaca,” which is almost a
translation of Racine’s drama, omitting the death of Pyrrhus, cleverly turned
into an opera libretto. From it your friend can get an idea of the sort of
opera which is popular in England. Meanwhile, if he likes to send a libretto,
I will see that it reaches the proper hands, and if it should happen to suit
one of our composers, which I do not doubt, I will see that the payment is
guaranteed. The packet should be sent to our Jew correspondents in Amsterdam,
so that they can pack it in some bale of silk, and hand it over to me as I
pass through, in case I should again have cause to revisit the ultimi
divisi (i. e., the English).[61] |
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[Giuseppe Riva to Muratori, 1725] In spite of my desire to carry out your wishes, I fear I can be of no use in the matter of the opera which you propose to send me by the post, since our composers have chosen their librettos for the coming season and are already at work upon them. It will be difficult, too, to get anything accepted for another year, as the Academy has its own poet, and the operas that come from Italy cannot serve for this theatre. They have to be reformed, or I should rather say deformed, in order to bring them into the shape which the English public favours. Few verses of recitative and many airs are the fashion here, and this is the reason why none of the best operas of Sig. Apostolo has been performed here, and that the two finest of Metastasio, that is to say “Didone” and “Siroe,” have suffered the same fate. Besides, as it is, we have more poets here than are wanted. Exclusive of the Academy’s poet, there are Rolli and a certain Brillanti, of Pistoja, who is doing so well, that all the others are idle, so it would be throwing good money away for your friend to undertake a journey hither.[62] |
Aug 31
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We hear that the Royal Academey [sic] Musick, in the Hay Market, have contracted with famous Chauntress for 2500 l. who is coming over from Italy against the Winter.[63] |
Sep 4
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Signiora Faustina, a famous Italian Lady, is coming over this Winter to rival Signiora Cuzzoni; the Royal Academy of Musick has contracted with her for Two Thousand Five Hundred Pound.[64] |
Sep 8
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The famous Italian Singer, who is hired <to come> over hither to entertain his Majesty and the <Nobi>lity in the Operas, is called Signiora Faustina; <whose> Voice (as it is pretended) has not been yet <equall’d> in the World.[65] |
Sep 16/27
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Johann Mattheson, Hamburg Opera List |
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194. Tamerlan. Music vom Herrn Händel. Übersetzung vom Hn. Praetorius. Vor dieser Opera wurde ein Prologus, auf die Königl. Frantzösische Vermählung, gemacht. Die Music desselben war vom Hn. Telemann, die Poesie vom Hn. Praetorius.[66] |
Tamerlan. Music by Herr Händel. Translation by Herr Praetorius. On the occasion of the marriage of the King of France, a Prologue was performed before the opera: the music was by Herr Telemann, the poem by Herr Praetorius.[67] |
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[September 17, 1725] Inside the Palace inclosure are the two chapels, one of these, the Royal Chapel, being in no manner remarkable. Here the King attends divine service every Sunday and Feast-day. The service is entirely musical, some of the laymen having superb [27] voices; they are aided by a dozen or so of chorister-boys and by some very excellent musicians, the whole formino, a delightful symphony, and what is not sung is intoned by the clergy. [...] [28 ...] The Prince of Wales is about forty-three. He is taller than his father, his figure well-proportioned, and he is not as stout; his eyes are very prominent. He looks serious and even grave, and is always richly dressed, being fond of fine clothes. I am told the [29] Prince is not as kindly as his father, and he is not as popular, being very hasty and easily angered. The Princess of Wales is about forty-one years of age, and is of the House of Brandenburg-Anspach. She has been one of the most beautiful princesses in Europe, but has grown too stout. She is witty and well-read, and speaks four or five different languages, and she is gracious and amiable, besides being very charitable and kind; but the enemies of the House of Hanover complain that she is too economical. When the King and his son disagreed, and the latter was ordered to leave the Palace, the King did all in his power to persuade the Princess to remain with him, but she would not, and insisted on following her husband. The Prince and Princess of Wales have seven children [...] Princess Anne is very pale, and would be good-looking were she not marked with smallpox.[68] |
[September]
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Preface to the Libretto of Tamerlan Doch hat eine illustre persohn durch geschickte composition der parthie des Bajazeths eine abermahlige probe ihrer vertu ablegen wollen. Das recitativ hat zwar der music nach bey der uebersetzung durch einen berühmten mann geändert werden müssen, doch sind in dem 10. auftritt der 3ten handlung einige zeilen unverändert in italienis. sprache und nach der Hendelischen composition beybehalten worden, weil worte und music gar zu schön auch dem affect ein grosses abgehen dürffte, im fall die uebersetzung dem original nicht gleich käme.[69] |
Nov 13 NS
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[Owen Swiney, Bologna, to Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, 13 November 1725 N.S. In eight days after my return, to this place, from Leghorn, I was Honoured with your letter of September 23d. Old Style &c. It gave me much comfort, and had it not been for it, I shou’d most certainly, have given up the Ghost under the oppressive weights of Academical affairs, which seem to be carried on, with such a Non Chalence that nothing can ensue, but a dissolution: and it seems to me that nothing else is Expected. Your Graces activity and spirit has rouz’d my hopes; and if Messrs. de L’academie, will second you; This affair will most certainly, take another turn: and which will shew it selfe, before the End of the Season. I am, sometimes, neglected for months together: at others, I receive Two letters in the same pacquet: in the following ones, I am forbidden to execute what the former ones commanded me; and (in short) I receive so many contradictory orders, That (were I not of that ancient Kingdom) [Ireland] ’twou’d be impossible to obey ’em all. I hope before this kisses your Graces hands Il Signor Luigi Antinori will be arrived: He comes with the worst recommendation that ever man Entred England with viz: A Tenour Voice &c. I shall never believe this, ’till they throw out of the Musickroom the instrument call’d a Violoncello: for it consists of no other Tones but, (tho’ I understand nothing of Musick) the Tenour the Baritone, and the Basso, which I am caution’d from Medling with. The unnatural Jumps and Skips which most of the Tenours in Italy have lately taken (and, it may be, Borosini in England) from the Top to the bottom of their Voice, has occasion’d this prejudice &c. but I hope that as Religion is not to be condemn’d for having some Rakehell’s of its’ profession, so, likewise, Musick may not suffer from the insults of a few boisterous & bellowing [359] Stentors. Your Grace will do Musick, in generall, a piece of Service, by protecting this young Fellow Antinori; and will thereby evidence to the World that ’tis the Manner of Singing, or playing upon an instrument, that shews the Skill and Elegance of the performer, and not meerly the Tones of the Voice or Instrument. ’Tis not possible for a Man (I mean an Irish one) to do more, in ye execution of his office, than I have done, in Mine, since Messrs. de L’academie have done me the Honour to employ me in their Service. &c. &c. &c. […] On my return to Venice … I shall return an answer to Messrs. de L’academies letter of September 24th 1725. P.S. The two inclosed letters were delivered me by Count Fagionini, your Grace’s acquaintance in Bologna. One is, from himselfe, to you, the answer of which, I hope, you’l send, under my cover to Venice. The other is from Count Cicinio Pepoli, to Sandoni, the Cuzzoni’s Husband: and I suppose is in answer to a letter written by him to Count Pepoli, which is to alarm Messrs. de L’academie about the Cuzzoni’s being call’d to Vienna, Italy &c. This is all Trick & Grimace, and Italian Trick & Grimace. I must, once more, recommend to your Graces favour & protection Il Signor Maurino of Parma: He is, certainly, the best Man, in Europe, for the direction of a Musick room: and if He costs you no more than your first Fiddle, I think you ought to jump at him: besides the doing a Service to the academy (by taking him) ’twill lay a very great obligation on La Signora Faustina Bordoni, who likewise (under her Sign Manual of October 20th from Vienna) begs it as a favour of your Grace &c.[70] |
[Nov 10/21]
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Johann Mattheson, Hamburg Opera List |
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197. Julius Caesar in Egypten. Music vom Hn. Händel. Übersetzung vom Hn. Secretaire Lediard.[71] |
Julius Caesar in Egypt. Music by Herr Händel. Translation by Herr Secretär Lediard.[72] |
Nov 12
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Friday 7-Night came on the Election of an Organist of St. George’s, Hanover-Square; and the Salary being settled at 45 l. per Annum, there were seven Candidates, viz. Mr. Rosengrave; Mr. Cole, Organist of the Chapel of the Royal Hospital of Chelsea, and of St. Mary Hill, London; Mr. Monro, Organist of St. Peter’s, Cornhill; Mr. Stanley, the ingenious blind Youth, aged Thirteenand an half, Organist of Allhallows, Bread-street; Mr. Centlivre, Organist of Oxford Chapel, near Oxford-Square; Mr. Sweet, Organist of the Chapel in Duke-street, Westminster; and Mr. Orbel, Organist of St. Bartholomew the Great in West-Smithfield: The Vestry, which consists of above thirty Lords and seventy Gentlemen, having appointed Dr. Crofts, Dr. Pepush, Mr. Bononcini, and Mr. Giminiani, to be Judges which of the Candidates perform’d best; each of them composed a Subject to be carry’d on by the said Candidates in the Way of Fugeing, and one Hour was allowed for every one to play upon the four Subjects so appointed, one not to hear another, unless himself had done before: Only the four first perform’d, and all of them very masterly: In the Conclusion the Judges gave it for the famous Mr. Rosengrave, who made that Way of Performance his Study a great Part of his Life; and he was accordingly chosen.[73] |
Nov 30 NS
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[Owen Swiney, Venice, to Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, 30 November 1725 N.S.] I hope this letter comes to give you joy on your Election to the Honour of Sub-Governour to the Royal Academy &c. I wish it, most heartily, for my own sake, as well as that of all the Lovers of Musick in England. [360] There is matter enough to exercise the talents of our new Directors &c. in my letter to the Academy, of to day. But I fear, if your Grace does not rouze ’em a little, they’l fall into their usual lethargy. I hope you will see that Fair play be given to the opera’s, I send over, this year: for upon this one thing depends, the future good successe of the Theatre in the Hay Market. What I have written about Cavaliere Nicolino & the Woman I mentioned is the genuine opinion of one that has very much at heart the true Interest of the academy: Two such persons are absolutely necessary, in such a company as ought to be entertain’d by a Royal Academy of Musick. The Faustina puts me in mind of writing once more to you about Signor Mauro. If this thing be possible to be done, pray do it; you’l, in the first place, lay an eternal obligation on her, and next you’l give the academy one of the best Fiddles in Europe. ’Tis no just excuse to say that Messrs. de Academy doe not want such a one; ’tis a Mistake, they most certainly do; for ’tis, greatly, their Interest to make room for all good performers of any kind: and I hope they’l shew they mean to carry on the businesse of the Theatre for the future, without partiality. [Pietro] Castrucci’s Friends will be again it, may be; for this very reason, the true lovers of Musick, and the Directors (who in such cases ought to be impartial) shou’d be for bringing in a Master of such consequence. The refusal of him may frighten and discourage others from making the like attempt: there are a thousand things to be said for accepting, and not one reasonable one again it, and so I leave him to God’s and your Grace’s Mercy. P.S. Pray forgive me for sending Sandoni’s letter under your Graces cover; but I cou’d not avoid it, since Count Fagionini recommended it so very much to my care: if you answer the Counts letter pray send it inclosed in your letter to me.[74] |
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Last Week there was held a Free Mason’s Lodge at Greenwich; Present his Grace the Duke of Richmond, Grand Master; when, among others, Mr. Heyddigger of the Hay-Market, was admitted a Member of that Society.[75] |
Dec 21 NS
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[Owen Swiney, Venice, to Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, 21 December 1725 N.S.] I hope your Grace will find, by the inclosed papers, that I am intirely innocent of the charges brought against me in your Graces letter of November 5th. If I am not acquitted, Honourably, by the Board of [361] Directors I declare my selfe unqualyfyed for serving ’em any longer: and I beg your Grace wou’d not take it amisse if I refuse accepting their Employ on any other terms. Mr. Secretary Haym is (I fear) a great R[asca]l, all the charges brought against me, having been taken out of his letters. My innocence is my defence: because I have to deal with a Sett of Gentlemen, full of Honour and discernment. I troubled your Grace too much, in three sheets of paper, to begin with you again, in this, therefore I give you Quarter. I must desire your Grace to order Matters, so as, that Signor Mauro D’alay may be call’d to London: I need not tell you that (by doing it) you’l lay a great obligation on the Signora Faustina, and do a piece of Service to the Academy by bringing into it, one of the cleaverest Men of his profession.[76] |
Dec 13
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The Suffolk Mercury; or, St. Edmunds-Bury
Post Notice is hereby given, That on Friday the 17th of this Instant December, Cluer and Creake’s Second Pocket Volume of Opera Songs, will be published and delivered to Subscribers. It is in a larger Size than the first, the Musick is legible as any Half-sheet Song, and the Collection is the best that ever was made, for there is not one Song in the Book but what is approved of by Mr. Handel.[77] |
Dec 17
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List of music Books given to the Philo Musicae et Architecturae Societas by William Gulston One Large Book bound in red Calves Leather and Gilt Containing The Opera’s of Rinaldo Etearco Hydaspes et Almahide. Three Books bound in Sky Marbled Paper Containing the Symphony to Sd Opera’s. The Opera’s of Camilla Thomyris—Clotilda Stiched. The Symphonys to Said Opera’s also Stiched.[78] |
Dec 28 NS
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[Owen Swiney, Venice, to Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, 28 December 1725 N.S.] The Theatre of St. Gio: Chrysostomo opened (the day before yesterday) with the opera of Siphace: set to Musick by Signor Porpora. The Musick is excellent; and commended by every body of a True Taste. The Masters of Musick: Their Protectors & adherents (a very Numerous body of people) are sworn Enemies to it; or, rather, to the composer of it, who is look’d upon, by ’em, as a Foreigner, or an interloper. The book, in its’ selfe, is not a bad one: But the principal Characters are vicious: consequently, the compassion of the audience can never be stirr’d up in their Favour so that all Songs of tendernesse &c. are lost and flung away upon ’em: I mention this as a Warning to the person or persons, who have the management or the recommendation of books to the academy. This opera was Acted about Thirty years agoe in Venice under the Title of la Forza della Virtù: & is the Clotilde perform’d, in London, 15 years since. [362] Several Alterations have been made, in it; but I think, much for the worse. Nicolino & The Romanina act mighty well: and Paita; both sings and acts, in it, prodigiously: He is, without doubt, the First Man, in Italy, for a delicacy in singing. Nothing good can be expected from the Theatres of St. Angelo and Cassano: In the former is one Signora Costanza Pusterla: Her person & action, very, passable, but with a small voice. In that of St. Cassano, is one Signora Zanuchi--a beautifull Figure, in mens cloaths: Acts well: does not sing amiss: but her voice is indifferent. In about fifteen days, I shall send away the opera of Vinceslao written out fairly &c. I hope Messrs. de L’academie will order their Secretary to send me a (Weekly) account of the successe of their opera’s this Winter: This thing may be of great service to ’em. And if they think fit to Employ me another year, I desire that all the opera books that have been acted (since the beginning) may be sent to me: with a List of the Songs made use of in London, which have been, at any time, taken out of opera’s performed in Italy. This may prevent a great many blunders, which will be unavoidable, by any other Method.[79] |
Dec 18
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AT the King’s Theatre in the Hay-Market, this present, Saturday, being the 18th of December, will be perform’d, An Opera call’d, RODELINDA. Tickets will be delivered out at the Office in the Hay-Market, this Day, and no more than Three Hundred and Fifty will be given out, at Half a Guinea each; but if any Tickets are remaining after the Doors are opened, they will be delivered at the first Bar, and no where else. Gallery 5 s. No Persons to be admitted behind the Scenes. To begin exactly at Six a-Clock.[80] |
Dec 18
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SIR, YOU are better able to judge than me, whether the following undigested Thoughts deserve a Place in your Paper or not. Musick is so
generally approv’d of in England, that it is look’d upon a want of Breeding not to be affected
by it, insomuch that every Member of the Beau
Monde at this Time either do, or, at least, think it
necessary to appear as if they did understand it;
and, in order to carry on this Deceit, it is
requisite every one, who has the Pleasure of thinking
himself a fine Gentleman, should, being first laden
with a Competency of Powder and Essence, make his personal Appearance every Opera Night at
the Haymarket, tho’ not less ignorant of the
Performance than of the Language it is perform’d in. I do not mean to exclude every one who hath
not Judgment in this Science, from the
Enjoyment of it, but would imply, that were it
equally fashionable to have our Operas in English,
these Gentlemen might find, at least, as good an Entertainment. I am an old
Stager in this Art, and tho’ I have the Dissatisfaction of seeing the Viol, to
which I have serv’d a thirty Years Apprenticeship;
excluded our modern [Musick], yet am I so obstinate to
think it has its Charms, and so far from approving of
this Way of confining Musick to two or three
Inst[r]uments, that, I think, a certain Master deserves
Thanks of the musical World for introducing, in
one of his late Operas, the Welsh Harp, which, for
many Reasons, merits great Encouragement,
giving to the Performer a peculiar Grace; and, as
it is compleat, so in Harmony to none inferior. Tho’ I am this old fashion’d Lover, yet I cannot but acknowledge our present Operas
give me vast Delight, whither I often go and wait
contented, if my early coming will afford me a first
Row in the Gallery, the Pit being an
Extravagance too weighty for my Pocket, and, if I may
judge from two or three Ladies of my
Acquai[n]tance (whose constant Attendance draws them, I
fear, into some Inconvenience,) for abundance,
who appear there very gay, tho’ they don’t well
know where to match the half Guinea they
expended for their Ticket. In the midst of
those Raptures which the two first Songsters give me, I ever feel a sort of Resentment rise that damps my former
Satisfaction, proceeding from the Fondness which I have
for Musick, and the Love I bear my Country:
When I consider on what Foot we meet at a Royal Academy, where one might justly think of finding
the sweetest Voices our Nation could
produce, where one might hope to hear our choicest Instruments in friendly Emulation at once
contending and improving; would not the Disappointment
make one smile to meet with no Performers but Italians on our Stage, whilst
the Orchestra scarcely would [admit] an Englishman? Since Musick now
is rais’d to such Perfection here; since England now may boast
the greatest Genius of the World, whom she may call her own, fit to preside at this Academy
(gloriously design’d, how much, alas, misus’d since
nothing but a Name!) ’tis pity sure we should remain
but Tributaries still to Rome: Were this
Fund employ’d in chusing out, instructing and
adapting, for the Stage, our finest Voices, they
might keep back on the other Side the Alps
their Musick, we in this Isle our Gold. To hire Voices
from abroad at an immense Expence, from Year to Year, when our Nation
might, at half the Charge, supply us with a
never-failing Stock; and had they just
Encouragement, in no Respect Inferior, is as absurd as if
a Man should pay, for a small Term of Years
in an Estate, a greater Sum than what would buy
the Freehold. Being on this
Subject, it may not be improper here to add a Word concerning what our Men
of the high Taste are so much pleas’d with,
what is call’d a Manner in Playing, since it has
given me so frequently Offence; and this is
changing, for how much the worse is not material, the
whole Piece set before one, and avoiding, as a
Barbarism in Musick, the playing one Note as the Composer has design’d it: Now tho’ there
may be some additional Beauties thrown into a
Composition by a skillful Hand, yet for each Novice to
obtrude his Whims into a Work of such a Master as Corelli, is no less modest than if Mr. ———— the Coach-Painter, should attempt to touch up a
Cartoon of Raphael. To hear an
elegant and labour’d Piece of Harmony contriv’d, by its
Solemnity, to introduce the lighter Air
with Force and Beauty, mangled and subdivided at the Caprice
of every ignorant Pretender, brings to my
Mind the Simile of an arch Friend of mine, who compar’d this sort of Player to the cleanly
Woman that swept something (which, for Decency
sake, I shall forbear to Name) about her House
till she had lost it; and I should willingly assign
to the ingenious Performer the same Reward, for
his unseasonable Vivacity, that the King of Poland
conferr’d on the late famous Lutanist Mr. Abel,
for his ill-tim’d Sullenness.[81] [Elizabeth Gibson: “Although this letter has
not been discovered in any of the collected essays
of Daniel Defoe, the style of writing resembles that of
Defoe, and several of the author’s suggestions reappear in
Defoe’s proposal of 1728 to establish an ‘English’ Academy of
Music.”] |
Dec 21
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AT the King’s Theatre in the Hay-Market, this present Tuesday, being the 21st of December, will be perform’d, An Opera call’d, RODELINDA. Tickets will be delivered out at the Office in the Hay-Market, this Day, and no more than Three Hundred and Fifty will be given out, at Half a Guinea each; but if any Tickets are remaining after the Doors are opened, they will be delivered at the first Bar, and no where else. Gallery 5 s. No Persons to be admitted behind the Scenes. To begin exactly at Six a-Clock.[82] |
Dec 23
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AT the King’s Theatre in the Hay-Market, this present Thursday, being the 23d of December, will be perform’d, An Opera call’d, RODELINDA. Tickets will be delivered out at the Office in the Hay-Market, this Day, [and] no more than Three Hundred and Fifty will be given out, at Half a Guinea each; but if any Tickets are remaining after the Doors are opened, they will be delivered at the first Bar, and no where else. Gallery 5 s. No Persons to be admitted behind the Scenes. To begin exactly at Six a-Clock.[83] |
Dec 23
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This Day is publish’d, Cluer and Creak’s Second Pocket Volume of Opera Songs, which is in a much larger Size than the First Volume, and the Musick as legible as any in Folio, the Collection the best that ever was made. Note, If Mr. Fraser should ever publish his Book, Cluer and Creake will within 30 Days after engrave, print, and publish it at 5 s. This Day they will will [sic] publish their Second Pack of Musical Playing Cards, with an intire new Song on each Card, and most of them transpos’d for the Flute. Sold by J. Cluer in Bow Church-yard; B. Creake at the Bible in Jermyn-street, St. James’s; and by A. Campbell at the Printing-house in New Palace Yard, Westminster. Sold also by the Musick Shops.[84] |
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Yesterday was held, at Merchant-Taylors Hall, the Annual Feast of the most ancient Society of the Free and Accepted Masons, where, as the Appearance was very splendid, and compos’d of a very great Number of Persons of the greatest Quality and Distinction, the Entertainment was every ways suitable to the Occasion: Mr. Heidegger, who, as Grand Steward, directed it, having shewn uncommon Elegance and good Parts in every Part of it, and caus’d it to be serv’d with a Regularity and Order not often seen in Things of that Sort. After Dinner, the Grand Officers for the ensuing Year were declar’d, and entred upon their Office accordingly, viz. The Right Hon. the Lord Paisley, Grand Master. Dr. J. T. Desaguliers, Deputy Master.
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Dec 28
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AT the King’s Theatre in the Hay-Market, this present Tuesday, being the 28th of December, will be perform’d, An Opera call’d, RODELINDA. Tickets will be delivered out at the Office in the Hay-Market, this Day; no more than Three Hundred and Fifty will be given out at Half a Guinea each, but if any Tickets are remaining after the Doors are opened, they will be delivered at the first Bar, and no where else. Gallery 5 s. No Persons to be admitted behind the Scenes. To begin exactly at Six a-Clock.[86] |
1725
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[John Walsh and John and Joseph Hare publish] Six Overtures for Violins in alt their Parts as they were perform’ d at the Kings Theatre in the Operas of Floridant Flavius Otho Radamistus Muzio Scaevola Acis & Galatea the 2d. Collection. … Six Overtures for Violins in all their Parts as they were perform’d at the Kings Theatre in the Operas of Theseus Amadis Pastor Fido The Pastoral The Water Musick Julius Caesar the 3d. Collection.…[87] |
1725
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[John Walsh and Joseph Hare publish] Solos for a German Flute a Hoboy or Violin with a Thorough Bass for the Harpsicord or Bass Violin Being all Choice pieces Compos’d by Mr. Handel Curiously fitted to the German Flute. Part ye 3d.[88] |
1725
Ich will dir den Mutium Scaevolam vorhalten: du weist wer ihn componirt hat. Da findest du eine schöne Melodie vieleicht von einer fremden Feder auf welcher die damals unter Händen gewesene Worte sich etwa nicht anders haben passen wollen als daß man das adjectivum von seinem Substantivo, mittelst einer merklichen Pause und mit Zuthuung einer förmlichen Cadenz hat absondern müssen. Care gioie sind die Wörter welchen dieses Unrecht wiederfahren in einer Aria die mit dem Worte Spero anfängt. Denke weiter nach. Ich schone wie gesagt der Personen; sonst sollte es an keinen Exempeln bey allen fehlen. Ein anders aus London vom 29 Oct. A. St. 1724. Die allerneuste von dem Weltberühmten Herrn Capellmeister Händel verfertigte Opera heisset: Tamerlanes, und soll den 11 Nov. auf dem hiesigen Heumarktischen Schau-Platz zum ersten mal vorgestellet werden. Unnöthig ist es die practicos von der Bibliothek auszuschliessen weil sie den theoreticis gar keinen Schaden sondern vielmehr die Ehre bringen daß jene derselben Vorschrifften gefolget sind. Unbillig aber ist es so viele vortreffliche Leute samt ihren Namen und öffentlich-gedruckten Werken der ewigen Vergessenheit zu übergeben aus Ursachen weil ihre Arbeit nun nicht mehr Mode ist: denn eben diese Ursache kann ich auch von den alten theoreticis in den meisten Stücken geben ja es ist aus manchem practico antiquo mehr zu fassen als aus dem besten theoretico contemporaneo. Wenigstens verdienet die verschiedene An und Weise zu componiren eine genauere Aufmerksamkeit gibt auch mehr Licht in der Historie als alle mangelhaffte Beschreibungen praecepta trivialia, millies recocta. Die berühmtesten Musici in der Welt sind practici gewesen: in den Bibliothecis, Hispana, Sicula &c. machen sie auch wahrlich den grössesten numerum aus wenn man sie recht einsiehet: ey warum solten sie denn nicht ihren Platz in einer Bibliotheca musica behaupten? der den Correlli einer Ehren-Säule würdig schätzt wird ihm auch leicht ein Räumlein auf seinem Bücher-Borte gönnen. Keiser Händel Teleman etc. haben noch bisher für unnöhtig erachtet speculationes drukken zu lassen und ich setze den Fall sie erachteten es noch ferner für unnöhtig weil ihnen die reiche praxis besser anstehet: wer wolte diese grosse Männer deswegen nicht mit in seine Bibliotheck setzen da sie doch mit öffentlichen ansehnlichen Zeugnissen ihrer virtù prangen und ihre Namen dadurch würklich verewiget haben? Ich versichere inzwischen von jedem derselben ja von den meisten obangeführten wo nicht mehr doch wenigstens so viel zu melden als z. E. in der Bibliotheca Barberina von dem besten darin genannten Auctore zu finden ist. Und das kann genug seyn. Nebst dieser Grabschrifft führet unser voyageur noch eine andre an von dem Doctore Blow, als dem Lehrmeister des Purcels, und sagt ausdrücklich: er habe damit beweisen wollen daß Purcel kein Franzose; sondern ein Engländer gewesen. Dieses Argument schliesset eben so als wenn ich sagte: Hurlebusch hat in Italien die Composition gelernet; derohalben ist er kein Braunschweiger. Oder Händel hat ein Te Deum in Engländischer Sprache verfertiget; ergo ist er kein Häller. Oder der Admiral Tordenschild ist zu Hannover begraben darum kan er kein Däne seyn. Argumenta, a Schola & a Sepultura desumta, non probant veram Patriam. Wir Teutschen nur haben solchen närrischen Ekel vor unserm Vaterlande daß es gleich als ein besondrer Ehrentitel da stehen muß wenn etwa einer von unsern Landsleuten das Glück oder Unglück gehabt hat wieder Wissen und Willen zu Rom in der Wiegen zu liegen. Andre Völcker erweisen ihrem Vaterlande mehr Ehre. |
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Pourcel, (so schreibt ihn mein Gegner und ich glaube es sey recht) ist ein Französischer oder Niederländischer Name. Ein Engländer kan ihn so nicht aussprechen er sage denn Paurcel: darum haben sie auch Purcel daraus gemacht so wie aus Hendel Händel. |
Pourcel is a French name. An Englishman cannot pronounce it so, unless he says Paurcel, hence they have made Purcel out of it, just as Handel out of Hendel. |
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Was sonsten noch für Anmerkungen vorkommen als daß auf der St. Magnus-Orgel in London so genannte schwellende Register zu finden deren Ton immer stärker wird je länger man ihn aushält; daß Herr Robinson der Organist besagter Magnus-Kirche für den besten durch ganz England gehalten wird; daß Händel beym Abgang des Pedals mit einem Stück Bley die tiefen Claves im Manual beleget &c. ist mitzunehmen und theils sehr bekannt. |
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XVIII. Im vorigen Stücke hat man nun des Herrn Fuxens endliche Meynung gesehen: denn weiter ist nichts erfolget. Der Herr Capellmeister Händel aber singt aus einem ganz andern Ton, in folgendem galanten Briefe: |
The final intention of Herr Fux [for a contribution to Mattheson’s Ehrenpforte (“Roll of Honour”)] is seen in the former section, since nothing further has followed. The Capellmeister Händel, however, sings on quite another note, in the following courteous letter: [Here follows Handel’s letter to Mattheson, 24th February 1719.] |
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Hochgeehrter Herr, Sie haben mich, durch ihr Schreiben vom 21. dieses, so verbindlich genöthiget, ihnen, auf die beyden angetragenen Stücke, ein völligers Genügen zu leisten, als in meinen vorigen geschehen, daß ich nicht umhin kan hiemit zu erklären, wie sich meine Meinung überhaupt mit der ihrigen vergleiche in demjenigen, was Sie, wegen der Solmisation und Griechischen Modorum, in ihrem Buche so wohl ausgeführet und bewiesen haben. Die Frage kömt, wo mir recht ist, hauptsächlich hierauf an: ob man eine leichtere und vollkommenere Lehr-Art einer andern vorziehen soll, die mit vielen Schwürigkeiten vergesellschafftet und so beschaffen ist, daß sie nicht nur die musicalischen Scholaren sehr abschreckt; sondern eine Verschwendung der kostbaren Zeit verursachet, welche man viel besser anwenden kan, diese Kunst zu ergründen, und seine natürliche Gaben, mit allem Fleiß, auszuüben? Ich will nun zwar nicht sagen, daß man gar keinen Nutzen aus der so genannten Solmisation haben könne; weil wir aber eben denselben Vortheil, in viel kürzerer Zeit, durch diejenige bequeme Lehr-Art, der man sich itzo mit so vielem Fortgange bedienet, erhalten mögen, so kan ich nicht absehen, warum man nicht einen Weg wehlen sollte, der uns viel leichter und geschwinder, als ein andrer, zum vorgesetzten Ziele führet? Was die Griechischen Modos betrifft, so finde ich, daß MH Hr. davon alles gesagt hat, was nur zu sagen ist. Ihre Erkäntniß ist ohne Zweifel denen nöthig, welche die alte Music treiben und aufführen wollen, die ehmals nach solchen Modis gesetzet worden ist; weil man sich aber von den engen Schrancken der alten Music nunmehro befreyet hat, so kan ich nicht absehen, welchen Nutzen die Griechischen Modi in der heutigen Music haben. Das sind so meine Gedancken hierüber, und wird mir M Hr. einen Gefallen thun, wenn er mir meldet, ob sie mit demjenigen überein stimmen, so von mir verlanget worden. Anlangend das andre Stück, so können Sie selber leicht urtheilen, daß viel Sammlens dazu erfordert werde, wozu ich itzo, bey vorhabenden dringenden Geschäfften, unmöglich Rath zu schaffen weiß. So bald ich mich aber ein wenig heraus gewickelt habe, will ich mich auf die merckwürdigsten Zeiten und Vorfälle, so ich in meiner Profession erlebet habe, wiederum besinnen, um Ihnen dadurch zu zeigen, daß ich die Ehre habe mit sonderbarer Hochachtung zu seyn Meines Hochgeehrten Herrn gehorsamst-ergebner Diener. Georg Friederich Händel. London den 24. Febr. 1709. |
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XIX. Dieses werthe Schreiben, darin so viel Wahrheit, als Vernunfft, zu finden, erhielt ich den 14. Merz 1719. und beantwortete es mit grossem Vergnügen noch eben denselben Post-Abend. Wir sehen hieraus den ungezwungenen Beyfall eines der grössesten Capellmeister in der Welt, der, nebst seiner ungemeinen musicalischen Wissenschafft, gar feine andre Studia hat, verschiedene Sprachen in höchster Vollenkommenheit besitzet, die Welt, und absonderlich die musicalische in Italien, trefflich kennet, und also gar wohl weiß, wie die Schlacken vom Golde zu unterscheiden sind. Wir sehen ferner hieraus, daß sich derselbe so günstig erbietet, seinen Antheil zur Ehren-Pforte beyzutragen, und verspricht, so bald er nur, von damaliger Einrichtung der Music-Academie, ein wenig Zeit gewinnet, an der Beschreibung seines Lebens (welches gewiß voller Ehre und Belohnung, und eines der rühmlichsten seyn muß,) zu arbeiten; ungeachtet uns diese Hoffnung nun schon über 6. Jahr vergebens geschmeichelt hat: wiewohl endlich zu vermuthen stehet, daß der vortreffliche Mann sich, bey Erblickung dieser Arbeit, vielleicht seiner Zusage erinnern, und durch deren Erfüllung andere anfrischen, werde.[89] |
I received this estimable note, in which is to be found as much truth as discernment, on 14th March 1719, and answered it with the greatest pleasure by return of post. We see from it the spontaneous approval of one of the greatest Capellmeister in the world, who, besides his uncommon musical learning, has other elegant Studia, has a perfect command of different languages, knows the world, and particularly the musical world of Italy, excellently, and hence knows very well how dross is to be discerned from gold. Furthermore we see from it that he offers so graciously to contribute his share to the Ehrenpforte, and promises to work at the description of his life (which must be full of honour and reward, and one of the most praiseworthy) as soon as he can gain a little time from the work, which he gave in those days, of establishing the Academy of Music; although this hope has already flattered us in vain for over 6 years, the supposition remains that the admirable man, in seeing this essay, will perhaps remember his promise, and through the fulfilment of it revive the memory of others.[90] |
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[1] The Daily Courant, nr. 7243, Saturday 2 January 1725, [2].
[2] The Daily Courant, nr. 7243, Saturday 2 January 1725, [2].
[3] The Daily Courant, nr. 7245, Tuesday 5 January 1725, [2].
[4] The Daily Courant, nr. 7249, Saturday 9 January 1725, [2].
[5] The Daily Journal, no. 1241, Monday 11 January 1725, [2]; repr., William C. Smith, “Handeliana,” Music & Letters 31 (1950), 125-32: 131.
[6] Lowell Lindgren and Colin Timms, “The Correspondence of Agostino Steffani and Giuseppe Riva, 1720-1728, and Related Correspondence with J.P.F. von Schönborn and S.B. Pallavicini,” Royal Musical Association Research Chronicle 36 (2003), 1-174: 95.
[7] The Daily Courant, nr. 7255, Saturday 16 January 1725, [2].
[8] The Daily Courant, nr. 7257, Tuesday 19 January 1725, [2].
[9] Cassandra Brydges, Duchess of Chandos, 1670-1735: Life and Letters, ed. Rosemary O’Day (Woodbridge: Boydell, 2007), 189 (no. 195).
[10] The Daily Courant, nr. 7243, Saturday 23 January 1725, [2].
[11] The Daily Courant, nr. 7263, Tuesday 26 January 1725, [2].
[12] Lindgren and Timms, “Steffani,” 96-97.
[13] The Daily Courant, nr. 7269, Tuesday 2 February 1725, [2].
[14] The Daily Courant, nr. 7269, Tuesday 2 February 1725, [2].
[15] The Daily Courant, nr. 7273, Saturday 6 February 1725, [2].
[16] The Daily Courant, nr. 7275, Tuesday 9 February 1725, [2].
[17] Scottish Record Office, Clerk of Penicuik Deposit, GD 18/5023: Elizabeth Gibson, The Royal Academy of Music, 1719-1728: The Institution and Its Directors (New York and London: Garland, 1989), 215.
[18] The Daily Courant, nr. 7279, Saturday 13 February 1725, [2].
[19] The Daily Courant, nr. 7281, Tuesday 16 February 1725, [2].
[20] The Daily Courant, nr. 7281, Saturday 20 February 1725, [2].
[21] Deutsch, 178.
[22] The Daily Post, nr. [1688], Monday 22 February 1725, [2].
[23] The Daily Courant, nr. 7287, Tuesday 23 February 1725, [2].
[24] The Daily Courant, nr. 7289, Thursday 25 February 1725, [2].
[25] The Daily Courant, nr. 7291, Saturday 27 February 1725, [2].
[26] The Daily Courant, nr. 7293, Tuesday 2 March 1725, [2].
[27] The Daily Courant, nr. 7297, Saturday 6 March 1725, [2].
[28] The London Journal, no. ccxciii, Saturday 6 March 1724-5, 2.
[29] The Daily Courant, nr. 7299, Tuesday 9 March 1725, [2].
[30] The Daily Courant, nr. [7303], Saturday 13 March 1725, [2].
[31] The Daily Courant, nr. 7305, Tuesday 16 March 1725, [2].
[32] The Daily Courant, nr. 7309, Saturday 20 March 1725, [2].
[33] The London Journal, no. ccxcv, Saturday 20 March 1724-5, [5].
[34] The Daily Courant, nr. 7317, Tuesday 30 March 1725, [2].
[35] Bodleian Library, MS Add. A.271, f. 46: Elizabeth Gibson, The Royal Academy of Music, 1719-1728: The Institution and Its Directors (New York and London: Garland, 1989), 216.
[36] Translation by Andrew V. Jones (ed.), Georg Friedrich Händel, Rodelinda, Regina de’ Longobardi. Dramma per Musica in tre Atti, HWV 19 (Kassel et al.: Bärenreiter, 2002), XVII.
[37] The Daily Courant, nr. 7321, Saturday 3 April 1725, [2].
[38] The Daily Courant, nr. 7323, Tuesday 6 April 1725, [2].
[39] The Daily Post, nr. 1743, Tuesday 27 April 1725, [2].
[40] William C. Smith, “Handeliana,” Music & Letters 31 (1950), 125-32: 125.
[41] The Monthly Catalogue: being an Exact Account of all Books and Pamphlets published in April, M.DCC.XXIV , No. 13, p. 10; published as volume (London: John Wilford, 1725).
[42] West Sussex Record Office, Goodwood Ms 105/390: Elizabeth Gibson, The Royal Academy of Music, 1719-1728: The Institution and Its Directors (New York and London: Garland, 1989), 353-56.
[43] The London Journal, no. cci, Saturday 1 May 1725, [3].
[44] The Daily Post, nr. 1751, Thursday 6 May 1725, [2].
[45] Miscellaneous Poems, by John Byrom, M.A. F.R.S. sometime Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and Inventor of the Universal English Short-hand, 2 vols. (Manchester: J. Harrop, 1773), 1:343–44.
[46] Deutsch, 181.
[47] The Daily Post, no. 1759, Saturday 15 May 1725, [2]; repr. The Daily Courant, no. 7359, Tuesday 18 May 1725, [2]; repr. Ilias Chrissochoidis, “Senesino’s Black Boy (1725),” The Handel Institute Newsletter 21/1 (Spring 2010), [7-8].
[48] The London Journal, nr. ccciii, Saturday 15 May 1725, [3].
[49] Deutsch, 182.
[50] Deutsch, 182.
[51] Händel Handbuch, 134–35.
[52] Deutsch, 183–84.
[53] The London Journal, nr. cccvii, Saturday 12 June 1725, [3].
[54] The Daily Journal, no. 1378, Wednesday 16 June 1725, [2].
[55] West Sussex Record Office, Goodwood Ms 105/391: Elizabeth Gibson, The Royal Academy of Music, 1719-1728: The Institution and Its Directors (New York and London: Garland, 1989), 357-58.
[56]
The Flying-Post: or, Post-Master, no.
5058, Saturday 26 – Tuesday 29 June 1725, [1].
[57] The London Journal, no. cccx, Saturday 3 July 1725, [1]; repr. (slightly condensed version of the third paragraph from the end) Elizabeth Gibson, The Royal Academy of Music, 1719-1728: The Institution and Its Directors (New York and London: Garland, 1989), 387-88.
[58] Deutsch, 184–85.
[59] The Autobiography and Correspondence of Mary Granville, Mrs. Delany, ed, Lady Llanover, 3 vols. (London: Richard Bentley, 1861), 1:117-18.
[60] Händel Handbuch, 135–36.
[61] R. A. Streatfeild, “Handel, Rolli, and Italian Opera in London in the Eighteenth Century,” The Musical Quarterly 3 (1917), 428-45: 433.
[62] R. A. Streatfeild, “Handel, Rolli, and Italian Opera in London in the Eighteenth Century,” The Musical Quarterly 3 (1917), 428-45: 434.
[63] The Daily Journal, nr. 1442, Tuesday 31 August 1725, [2].
[64] The London Journal, nr. cccxix, Saturday 4 September 1725, [2].
[65] Parker’s Penny Post, nr. [57], Wednesday 8 September 1725, [3].
[66] Händel Handbuch, 136.
[67] Deutsch, 187.
[68] A Foreign View of England in 1725-1729: The Letters of Monsieur Cesar De Saussure to his Family, transl. ed. Madame van Muyden (London: Caliban, 1995; orig. edn, 1902), 26-29.
[69] Händel Handbuch, 136.
[70] West Sussex Record Office, Goodwood Ms 105/392: Elizabeth Gibson, The Royal Academy of Music, 1719-1728: The Institution and Its Directors (New York and London: Garland, 1989), 358-59.
[71] Händel Handbuch, 137.
[72] Deutsch, 187.
[73] The Weekly Journal: or, The British Gazetteer, nr. 30, Saturday 20 November 1725, [2].
[74] West Sussex Record Office, Goodwood Ms 105/393: Elizabeth Gibson, The Royal Academy of Music, 1719-1728: The Institution and Its Directors (New York and London: Garland, 1989), 359-60.
[75] The Daily Journal, no. 1532, Monday 13 December 1725, [1].
[76] West Sussex Record Office, Goodwood Ms 105/394: Elizabeth Gibson, The Royal Academy of Music, 1719-1728: The Institution and Its Directors (New York and London: Garland, 1989), 360-61.
[77] Deutsch, 189.
[78] Deutsch, 189.
[79] West Sussex Record Office, Goodwood Ms 105/395: Elizabeth Gibson, The Royal Academy of Music, 1719-1728: The Institution and Its Directors (New York and London: Garland, 1989), 361-62.
[80] The Daily Courant, nr. 7543, Saturday 18 December 1725, [2].
[81] Mist’s Weekly Journal, no. 34, Saturday 18 December 1725, [1]; repr. (incorrectly identified as Weekly Journal or Saturday Post) Elizabeth Gibson, The Royal Academy of Music, 1719-1728: The Institution and Its Directors (New York and London: Garland, 1989), 388-90.
[82] The Daily Courant, nr. 7545, Tuesday 21 December 1725, [2].
[83] The Daily Courant, nr. 7547, Thursday 23 December 1725, [2].
[84] The Daily Post, nr. 1949, Thursday 23 December 1725, [2].
[85] The Daily Post, no. 1953, Tuesday 28 December 1725, [1]; repr. (except last seven lines) Andrew George Pink, “The Musical Culture of Freemasonry in Early Eighteenth-Century London” (PhD dissertation, Goldsmiths, University of London, 2007), 165.
[86] The Daily Courant, nr. 7550, Tuesday 28 December 1725, [2].
[87] Händel Handbuch, 138.
[88] Händel Handbuch, 138.
[89] Händel Handbuch, 139–41.
[90] Deutsch, 191–92.