4 - Compositional Activity in Durham City, 1750–1810: Its Influences and Impact

Summary

The northern cathedral city of Durham was, during the eighteenth century, a centre of political power. Governed by the ‘Prince Bishop’, its cathedral was wealthy, generating significant levels of income from the tracts of land in its possession. Daniel Defoe, who visited in the second decade of the eighteenth century, commented that the ‘church … is eminent for its wealth; the bishoprick is esteemed the best in England; and the prebends and other church livings, in the gift of the bishop, are the richest in England’. As a centre of local power, Durham naturally attracted the aristocracy and gentry as well as enjoying a good deal of affluence from its burgeoning middle classes, and it is no surprise that Durham proved to be a hotbed of musical activity. From concerts to religious services, club meetings and various civic performances, music permeated all areas of urban life. In this respect Durham was not dissimilar from any other provincial town or city, but what particularly set Durham above most others was the quality of much of the music composed there.

The main driving force behind music production at Durham was the cathedral choir, which, along with its organist and minor canons, was responsible for all the music at the cathedral and at the majority of local concerts. Such a situation is in itself not unusual as, in other cities, such as Hereford, Salisbury and Exeter, the cathedral musicians were behind much of the public music-making. This was also true at Carlisle, where the local concerts were organized by the cathedral organists, Charles Pick, Thomas Greatorex and Thomas Hill. However, unlike the choir at Carlisle Cathe-dral, that at Durham Cathedral was held in high esteem, both locally and nationally, and musicians from this group travelled significant distances to perform. Much of the choir's success was largely owing to the poor qual-ity of music produced at other similar establishments, and the eighteenth century is accepted to have been a low period in terms of cathedral music, with many organists and choirmen having an indifferent attitude to their jobs. At Carlisle, for instance, there were instances of drunkenness, fight-ing, gambling, theft, a high level of absenteeism, and demonstrations of contempt towards the dean and chapter. There were similar issues with some individuals at Durham but, in terms of music production, Durham for a time went against this national decline.