John and William Mahon, the earliest British clarinet soloists

Abstract

Over the course of a playing career that spanned roughly fifty years, John Mahon (pronoucned M’hone) introduced and popularized the clarinet as a solo and chamber instrument throughout Britain. He performed extensively in London and in many provincial towns. This article presents biographies of John and William Mahon, illustrations of contemporary clarinets and a basset horn, Mahon as a teacher, his music, and his influence and legacy. William Mahon’s concerts and reviews and a conclusion end the article.

Over the course of a playing career that spanned roughly fifty years, John Mahon (pronounced M’hone) introduced and popularized the clarinet as a solo and chamber instrument throughout Britain. As well as performing extensively in London, Mahon also travelled to many provincial towns and cities, bringing both the clarinet and his musical talents to the attention of audiences. This article presents biographies of John and William Mahon, and information on the Mahon family, many of whom were outstanding musicians. Like several musicians of the late eighteenth century, John Mahon was active as a military musician, likely beginning as a youth and extending to about 1781. By this time, he was actively performing in London orchestras during their regular seasons and continued to augment his income by travelling to various provincial towns to play in concerts and music festivals, over 800 of which are documented in newspaper advertisements and other published sources. His playing was of a high standard and he achieved wide recognition as a clarinettist. The article also discusses John Mahon as a military band musician; as an orchestral musician; as a soloist, accompanist and chamber musician with reference to contemporary reviews; Mahon’s published music and clarinet tutor; illustrations of clarinets and a basset horn that he would have played during his career; Mahon as a teacher; later life; and influence and legacy. This is followed by a section on William Mahon’s concerts and reviews, and a conclusion.

Mahon Family Biographies

The patriarch of the Mahon family was William Mahon, of Irish background and likely a musician active in the Oxford Militia Band, who died in Oxford on 10 March 1773.¹ Evidence that William was a musician and teacher appears in an advertisement in the Oxford Journal for 9 November 1771:

Wanted,--A Lad, fifteen Years old or upwards, as an Apprentice to a Person in a musical Branch: The first Instrument intended for him to learn is the French Horn, which will require him to be a healthy Lad, and some Hopes of having a musical Ear; to prove which, it will be necessary to have him some Time on Trial. He must be a Lad of good Character, and a Premium will be expected. Any one whom this may suit, by applying to Mr. Mahon, in St. Ebb’s, Oxford, may be further satisfied. No Letters will be answered except Post-paid.²

He and his wife Catherine (1733–1808) had nine children: four sons, John (ca. 1748–1834), William (ca. 1752–1816), Ross (1755–1789), and James (1762–1828), all of whom became well-known musicians; and five daughters, three of whom became singers, Elizabeth or Miss M (1758–1836) known as Mrs Warton; Mary (1766–1830), known as Mrs Ambrose; and Sarah (1771–1805) known as Mrs Second. The last two singers garnered the greatest fame.³ Another of the Mahon sisters, Jane, became Mrs Munday and had a daughter, Eliza, who, as Mrs Salmon (1787–1849) became well known as a singer.⁴ Nothing is known about the childhoods of the Mahons’ children. In 1806, Mrs Salmon performed Giordani’s Silver Clarion with her uncle, John Mahon, who played the clarinet obbligato for this work in Dublin; she sang on two of Mahon’s Dublin benefit concerts of 1809 without an obbligato clarinet piece;⁵ and in London at an 1817 concert of the Philharmonic Society when Mahon played second clarinet to Thomas Willman, and Willman played the clarinet obbligato in ‘Parto, parto’ from La Clemenza di Tito for Mrs. Salmon.⁶

John Mahon became the most important and well-known clarinettist throughout Britain during the last thirty years of the eighteenth century, and up to about 1815. He frequently played as a clarinet soloist with orchestras, performing works by noted composers of the time. For example, in 1810 he was the first clarinettist in 1810 to perform the obbligato part of the bravura soprano aria with Latin text, Gratias agimus tibi (ca. 1795), with orchestra by Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi (1728-1804).⁷ The text of Guglielmi’s Gratias agimus tibi is based on the Gloria from section two of the ordinary of the Catholic Mass,⁸ and throughout the nineteenth century became a staple of hundreds of sacred and secular programmes in London and throughout the provinces. In performances of this work, Mahon accompanied the famous singer, Angelica Catalani (1780–1849) in this aria at nine concerts in Salisbury, Bristol, London, Portsea, Leeds, and Liverpool from 1810 to 1814.⁹

Angelica Catalani was an extraordinary soprano of great power and flexibility, with a range of over three octaves. She was trained at a convent in Gubbio near Rome and in 1795 first appeared in Venice with engagements at Leghorn (1798), at La Pergola in Florence (1799), La Scala in Milan (1801), and from 1804 in Lisbon, where she met Paul Valabrègue, the French attaché whom she married that year. She was engaged at the Portuguese Court Opera for an extremely high salary of 24,000 cruzados (£3,000). In 1812, she sang Susanna in the first London staging of Le nozze de Figaro at the King Theatre and became one of most highly acclaimed and paid prima donnas of the time. After serving as manager of the Théâtre-Italien in Paris (1814–1817), she toured extensively in Europe. In 1821 she retired from the operatic stage but continued to appear in concerts until 1828. After 1830, she established a singing school for girls at her home near Florence.¹⁰

Although primarily known as a clarinettist, John Mahon was also an accomplished violinist and beginning in 1774, often played violin as leader or concertmaster, in addition to a clarinet concerto. At many provincial concerts, Mahon played principal first violin and the clarinet. At the 1778 Salisbury and the 1787 Hampshire Music Meeting in Winchester, John, William, and his two younger brothers, Ross and James, played in the Dorset militia band, Ross on French horn or cello, and James on the trumpet. James also performed on French horn and was a fine bass singer in concerts and music festivals in London, Bath, Cambridge, Blandford, Wells, and in Kingston, Jamaica, and acted in many London plays.¹¹ On 30 June 1792, John Mahon married Margaret Perry in Dublin at St. Andrew’s Church. It would appear that the Mahons had five, possibly six children – four, possibly five daughters and a son.¹² At least two of the children (the two eldest daughters) followed him into the musical profession and became singers.¹³

The Mahons as Military Bandsmen

Four members of the Mahon family, John (clarinet), William (clarinet), Ross (French horn and cello), and James (French horn) are known to have played in the Dorset Militia Band, which assembled at Blandford and moved to locations throughout southern England, including a few months in Winchester, Chatham, Southampton, and Portsmouth.¹⁴ The earliest report of John Mahon playing in a militia band is in 1778, at Salisbury’s Cathedral Close, although he was likely a member earlier. John Marsh wrote in his journal:

On the 5^th of June [1778] I was gratified for the 1^st time with hearing the fine Band of the Dorset Militia w’ch played a considerable time in the Close in the even’g, Mr. Harris being amongst the auditors very much pleased. After this chancing to go to [music dealer, Henry] Bank’s, I met with J. Mahon & his bro’r Ross, the 1^st horn, who also played a good violoncello, on w’ch with Mr Woodyear’s assistance, who took the 2^nd fiddle, we made up a quartetto (Mr Mahon playing the fiddle & I the tenor) & tried Liddels 6. Then lately come out & now 1^st produced by Banks w’ch pleased so well that I immediately bought them & frequently play’d them afterwards.¹⁵

Within two years John’s brother, William, joined the militia band as a clarinettist, since Marsh mentioned hearing the three Mahon brothers and the elder Mahon playing a concerto in Salisbury:

On Thursday the 8^th [1780], the Dorset Militia happening to halt at Sarum [Salisbury], the concert was on that day instead of the week follow’g in order to take advantage of the celebrated Mahons being there & having assistance, the elder of whom played a clarinet concerto in a style that was then thought very little inferior to that of Fischers on the hautboy.¹⁶

By 8 February 1781, three Mahons were playing in the band: ‘On the 8^th [1781], the Mahons being at Sarum, we had assistance of 3 of them at the Concert, w’ch was lucky for Corfe, as they filled up the orchestra a little again’.¹⁷ Two weeks later, on 22 February, the Dorset Militia band played at Salisbury:

The celebrated Mahons of the Dorset Militia hav’g been lately at the Concert two of whom were reckon’d to excel on the F[rench] Horn I soon afterw’ds composed a concerto for them, w’ch was done at the concert on the 22d. But Ross Mahon who played the 1^st horn being a little in liquor (to w’ch he was much subject) it did not go off so well as I expected & as it did at a future concert, particularly the last movem’t w’ch he set off much too fast & so continued in spite of all I co’d do to keep him back.¹⁸

Ross Mahon married Elizabeth Hunt of Winchester on 6 November 1780. He is recorded as performing in Winchester at the Hampshire Music Meeting in 1787¹⁹ and remained in the Dorset Militia band until his death in Blandford on 24 February 1789.²⁰ The second horn player in the band, James Mahon, played trumpet and was a singer and actor. He never married but enjoyed a long career and died in Salisbury on 21 November 1828.²¹ After 1781, Marsh does not mention the Dorset Militia Band and John Mahon in his journal, which suggests that he probably stopped regularly playing in the band and concentrated on his work as an orchestral, solo, and chamber music performer. However, Mahon later performed in two benefit concerts, one for the Dorset Band in Blandford on 9 June 1789;²² and at a benefit concert for the poor in Henley-upon-Thames at the Bell Inn on 26 March 1795, playing a duet by Carl Stamitz for violin and viola, with W. Ryall.²³ Fourteen years later, while Mahon was performing in Dublin in May 1809, he wrote to the Earl of Leitrim to obtain the position of Dorset Regiment bandmaster, which he described as the finest in England. He highlighted his ability to instruct bandsmen, not only in wind and percussion instruments, but also in string playing and singing, important skills given the multiple purposes for which bands were used.²⁴ Unfortunately, he did not obtain this position.

John Mahon as an Orchestral Musician, Chamber Musician, and Soloist

John and William’s first public clarinet performance likely was a rehearsal and performance at the Salisbury Festival on 24 and 25 October 1771, where both played in an orchestra performing Handel’s Messiah and Guglielmi’s La pazzie d’Orlando, with Antonin Kammel from London as leader.²⁵ Clarinet parts were probably added to both works. On 5 November 1772, John ‘Mahone’ performed a clarinet concerto in Oxford at a benefit concert for Mr Monro.²⁶ John’s first London solo performances were on 19 and 26 February 1773, at the Theatre Royal in concertos between the acts of Handel’s Messiah. ²⁷ There were ten further concerto performances, all at the Theatre Royal between 3 March and 31 March 1773, and at concerts in London and the provinces, during the 1770s. He eventually moved to London in 1783, performing concertos at various concerts, where he was hailed as an important performer. ‘At a concert for the Musical Fund, the performances that gave the greatest satisfaction were, [among others] Mr. Mahon’s Concerto on the clarinet. It must be observed of Mr. Mahon, that his tone and execution on the clarionet is unrivaled; the composition he played had also great merit but was evidently too long in every movement’.²⁸

In London, he played in several orchestras, including the Pantheon (1774); Drury Lane (1783, 1784); opera (from 1784), professional concerts (from 1785); oratorios in Covent Garden (1790, 1791, 1792, 1794, 1797, 1800, 1801); Pantheon Opera, (1790–1791 and 1791–1792) with James Oliver, second clarinet;²⁹ and the following with Oliver as second clarinet: vocal concert series, London (1802, 1804, 1807, 1814, 1815); King’s Theatre (1805), Willis’ Rooms Series (1810);³⁰ Hanover-Square (1812); the Philharmonic Society (1813-1816);³¹ New Musical Fund (1817); and the Wesley Concert Series (1820). From 1817 to 1824, the Philharmonic Society and from 1818 to 1819, the revival of the vocal concerts both listed Thomas Willman as first clarinet and John Mahon, second clarinet.³²

After he settled in London, Mahon continued to perform in Oxford and played in many provincial music festivals (‘Music Meetings’) and concerts (see Map 1 of Britain for the location of John Mahon’s provincial concerts).

Map 1 Map of provincial concerts given by John Mahon. Herman Moll, A new map of Great Britain: according to the newest and most exact observations (London, 1720-1729?). Map reproduction courtesy of the Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library.

The following is a list of all the festivals taken from advertisements: Salisbury (1771, 1781, 1782, 1783, 1788, 1807, 1810, 1813, 1818, 1821, 1824); Worcester (Three Choirs, 1773, 1776, 1782, 1788, 1791, 1800, 1806, 1809, 1812, 1815, 1824); Reading (1778, 1788); Birmingham (1778, 1780, 1784, 1790, 1802, 1805, 1808, 1811, 1814, 1817, 1820, 1823); Hampshire (1781, 1783, 1784, 1785, 1787, 1789, 1790, 1791, 1796, 1797, 1804, 1805, 1807, 1812, 1814); Gloucester (Three Choirs, 1781, 1802, 1808, 1811, 1814, 1823); Manchester (1786); Hereford (Three Choirs, 1786, 1789, 1792, 1804, 1810, 1822); Norwich (1788); Isle of Wight (1788); Cambridge (1788, 1811); Hull (1789, 1812); Nottingham (1789, 1809); Leeds (1790, 1812); Sheffield (1790); York (1791, 1823); Chester (1791, 1806, 1814, 1821); Oxford (1791, 1793, 1810); Bury (1802); Stamford (1803); Liverpool (1805, 1812, 1813); Dock (close to Plymouth, 1806); Truro (1806, 1809); Exeter (1809, 1813); Warwick (1810); Derby (1810); Bristol (1814, 1821); and at benefit and subscription concerts in Bath, Oxford, Blandford, Southampton, Bristol, Cirencester, Manchester, Derby, Salisbury, Winchester, Dublin, Reading, Romsey, Belfast, Edinburgh, Bury, Norwich, Cambridge, Weymouth, Coventry, Wells (near Bath), Stamford, Portsea, Nottingham, Antrim, Nottingham, Belfast, Cork, Newcastle, Durham, Dundee, Henley-upon-Thames, Hull, Chichester, Portsmouth, Gloucester, Cheltenham, Halifax, Colchester, Rochester, Leith, and Waterford. In 1805, after playing the subscription concerts for Mr Corri and two concerts in Leith, Mrs Mahon stayed in Edinburgh singing at several concerts. Her benefit concert at Corri’s Rooms on 1 April 1806, proclaimed:

Mrs Mahon most respectfully informs the Nobility, Gentry, and the Public, that, in consequence of the failure of Concerts in Edinburgh, Mr Mahon has been under the necessity of leaving the City; and having a numerous family under her care, she has been advised to take a Benefit Concert in the above Rooms, which have been kindly offered to her by Mr Corri, and which occasion she hopes for the patronage and protection of a generous Public.³³

John Mahon was a versatile and successful musician primarily because he played a variety of instruments at a high level of musicianship. For example, he initially played principal violin in a 1774 benefit concert in Southampton and played a clarinet concerto.³⁴ From 1777, Mahon played first violin and a clarinet concerto in five concerts in Southampton, Derby, Winchester, Belfast, and Edinburgh.³⁵ From 1779, he also played first violin and a violin concerto in Oxford, first violin in Romsey, and violin in the 1784 and 1786 Handel Commemoration Concerts in London’s Westminster Abbey and Pantheon. Throughout his career, Mahon continued to play violin and/or clarinet in a number of concerts. From 1792, he also performed on the basset horn (called the voce claria) in Belfast, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Durham, and Dundee.³⁶ Mahon performed with the finest singers and instrumentalists in London, Dublin, and Edinburgh. The development of his career as an orchestral clarinettist coincided with the instrument’s inclusion into a wider range of orchestral works by significant composers who used the clarinet to provide further variation in tone quality and timbre within the woodwind section. Several concerts in which Mahon performed were historically significant because of the date of the performance or because they included works commissioned by English orchestras. Some of the most important and interesting works are:³⁷

Stamitz [Carl], Concerto 21 July, 1784, Mr Mahon’s Concert, Blandford, Assembly-Room. The only occasion that Mahon played a clarinet concerto by a well-known Continental composer.

Haydn, The Creation (1796-1798) 28 March, 2 April, 1800, Oratorio Concerts, Covent-Garden (first two English performances).

Mozart, Requiem (1791) 20 February, 4 March, 1801, Oratorio Concerts, Covent-Garden (first two English performances; principal 2^nd violin, later performances, basset horn and clarinet.)

Beethoven, Symphony No. 1 (1801) 11 May, 1804, Harrison’s Annual Concert, King’s Theatre (An early performance of a Beethoven symphony in England).

Beethoven, Symphony No. 2 (1801-2) 14 February, 1805, Russell Concerts, Russell Assembly Rooms (one of the earliest performances of Symphony no. 2 in England).³⁸

Handel, Messiah, ‘For unto us a Child is born’ with additional accompaniments for Wind Instruments by Mozart (1789, published, 1803) 3 May, 1805, Harrison’s Annual Concert, King’s Theatre.³⁹

Guglielmi, Pietro Alessandro, Gratias agimus tibi (ca. 1800) 12 July, 1810, Salisbury Festival, Assembly-Rooms, Mahon and Angelica Catalan (the earliest known performance of this extremely popular work).

Beethoven, Quintet for Piano, Oboe, Clarinet, Horn, and Bassoon, op. 16 (1796), 13 June, 1811, Hanover-Square Rooms.

Beethoven, Septet for Violin, Viola, Violoncello, Clarinet, Bassoon, Horn, and Contrabass, op. 20 (1800), 16 May, 1812, Salomon Benefit concert, New Rooms, Hanover square.

Mozart, Serenade for two clarinets, two horns, and two bassoons, K. 375 (1781), 8 March, 1813, The Philharmonic Society, Argyll Rooms.

Mozart, Serenade (Notturno) for two clarinets, two oboes, two horns, and two bassoons, K. 388 (1782), 15 March, 1813, The Philharmonic Society, Argyll Rooms.

Beethoven, Symphony no. 5 (1808), 15 April, 1815, first performance in England, Argyll Rooms.

Beethoven, Overture to Fidelio (1805), 24 February, 1817, first performance in England, Argyll Rooms.

Beethoven, Symphony no. 7 (1812), 9 June, 1818, first performance in England, Argyll Rooms.

Mozart, Octet for two oboes, two clarinets, two horns, and two bassoons (1782), K. 388, 3-6 October, 1820, an early performance in England, Birmingham Grand Musical Festival.

John Mahon in performance

John Mahon became the most important figure in the promotion of the clarinet during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Many of his performances occasioned comments and reports in contemporary newspapers, often receiving effusive praise from reviewers. ‘Mahon. – The clarinet in this performer’s hands assumes the softness of a pastoral pipe. None of those horrid notes, resembling the screaming and screeching of an enraged goose, are ever heard from him. Energy, however, he also preserves, and joins to it great volubility and facility of execution’.⁴⁰ The comparison of his playing with the sound of the pastoral pipe⁴¹ is an interesting one, as it suggests that he performed with a sweet tone quality that could enchant the listener with its beauty and melodious nature. This review is also notable for its description of how the instrument could potentially sound in the hands of significantly less-skilled performers. The knowledge that Mahon therefore could draw such beautiful sounds from this instrument, contrary to some expectations of the clarinet, must have made this performer appear even more talented. The comments above regarding Mahon’s ‘great volubility and facility of execution’ are also reminiscent of his first London review, which reported on the execution and grace evident in his playing.

Mahon made his London debut as a clarinettist in 1773 at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, performing a clarinet concerto between the acts of the oratorio Messiah by Handel.⁴² In a review of the oratorio, Mahon’s performance is commented upon, suggesting that the work was so well received that it was worthy of comment alongside the main part of the entertainment. ‘Mr. Mahoon’s [Mahon’s] concerto on the clarinet surprized every person; his masterly execution of the lighter parts of the concerto beggar description. The lovers of music cannot have a higher treat; but let them not trust to report; let them hear, and be convinced’.⁴³ The surprise may have been purely as a result of hearing a solo clarinettist, a novel experience at a time when the instrument was usually heard playing in military bands or performing in partnership with horns at the London pleasure gardens. The audience may therefore have been unprepared for the solo sound of the instrument. The latter part of the review also suggests that the audience may have been surprised by the high quality of Mahon’s performance, indicating that they may have had little perception of what the instrument could achieve technically. The reference to Mahon’s ‘masterly execution of the lighter parts of the concerto’ suggests that his playing was technically impressive and delicately phrased. This comment is most likely to have referred to the outer movements of the concerto and it is probable that Mahon would have been performing a concerto of his own composition for his début performance. Concerto No. 2 (the only extant concerto by Mahon), features lively first and third movements with light-hearted melodies and challenging semiquaver passagework, and these movements would certainly have allowed Mahon to display his ‘masterly execution’.⁴⁴

Following Mahon’s impressive debut, he appeared at the same venue on Wednesday 3 March 1773 performing a clarinet concerto for an event entitled A Concerto Spirituale. ⁴⁵ In this concert, Mahon performed his concerto as part of the main entertainment, and the review was again full of praise, commenting that the work contained: ‘such exquisite variations, such pleasing notes, and is executed with such graceful sprightliness, that it is wonderful the merit of that Concerto alone does not fill the House’.⁴⁶ This review echoes the first report of Mahon’s playing regarding the ‘graceful sprightliness’ with which he performed, suggesting that his technical assurance and virtuosity impressed the audience. Indeed, Mahon’s playing appears to have been the high point of the evening for this reviewer, who clearly felt that the performance deserved a larger audience than was present. The reviews quoted above demonstrate that audiences appreciated many elements of Mahon’s playing, including his sweet and beautiful tone quality, his technical assurance, virtuosity and the energy and ease with which he played, allowing a useful insight into the complete performance.

Whilst the majority of reviews of Mahon’s performances are favourable, there is however one notable exception. A 1783 review of a performance of Alexander’s Feast, where Mahon performed a clarinet concerto between the acts, reads: ‘Mahon’s Clarinet is as well as a Clarinet can be—it would be much aided by combining it with the Hautboy and Bassoon’.⁴⁷ The grudging praise of this review, where the author takes issue with the instrument itself rather than Mahon’s playing, is particularly revealing concerning the expectations of the clarinet at this time. It is interesting that the reviewer felt that combining the clarinet with other instruments, as heard in the London pleasure gardens, would render its sound acceptable and suggests that solo clarinet performances were still considered as something of a novelty. Clearly this reviewer had usually heard the clarinet in combination with other instruments and was unimpressed by its transition into a solo instrument. In spite of this, however, the author did acknowledge that Mahon had made the most of the instrument and that he had performed as well as the instrument would allow.

Apart from this review, Mahon’s performances, both solo and ensemble, appear to have been very well received, and other contemporary clarinet players were measured against him. In 1785, when the German musician Christoph Friedrich Eley performed at a concert given for the Anacreontic Society, it was reported that: ‘Mr. Eley, a German, and the leader of the Duke of York’s band performed a concerto on the clarinet. He possesses great powers on the instrument, and has a considerable degree of taste, but his tone is much inferior to Mahon’s’.⁴⁸ There also appears to have been a certain amount of pride felt in Mahon’s status as the first British, rather than foreign virtuoso clarinettist, as proved by a 1787 review entitled Music in Paris which reads: ‘There is an excellent Clarinet – Hoster [Hostié] – a concerto player – but not so excellent as our Mahon’.⁴⁹

The clarinet and voice in performance

John Mahon’s talents for accompanying the voice were first recognised as early as 1773 (the year of his London debut). On 5 March 1773, he played in the orchestra at the Theatre Royal for the premiere of the oratorio The Prodigal Son by Samuel Arnold. In a review of the performance, Mahon was the only member of the orchestra discussed and his clarinet obbligato accompanying the vocalist Signora Galli was highly praised, the reviewer commenting that ‘The different airs by Signora Galli are well set, and sung with taste and judgment, one of them accompanied by Mr. Mahoon [Mahon] on the Clarinet, cannot but give pleasure to the coarsest ear’.⁵⁰ John Mahon also frequently accompanied his sisters, the singers Mrs Ambrose and Mrs Second in performances. A number of reviews are notable for the favourable comparisons they draw between the tone qualities of the clarinet and the voice, reflecting the close association between these two instruments and highlighting Mahon’s talents in blending his tone effectively with the human voice. One such performance was given at the Cambridge Music Meeting of 1788, where Mrs Ambrose performed ‘a beautiful song, accompanied on the clarinet by Mahon [ … ] the voice and clarinet were in most perfect unison, and left us at a loss which to admire most’.⁵¹ The ‘perfect unison’ between these two performers was also remarked upon in a review of an Italian song with clarinet accompaniment given at the Norwich Music Meeting in September 1788. Both performers were complimented, and the report commented specifically upon ‘the beautiful tones of the voice [which] were so exactly imitated by the clarinet’.⁵²

Eight years later, at a performance of The Woodman given at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden on Monday, 17 October 1796, Mahon accompanied his sister Mrs Second in two new songs that had been written especially for the performance. The reviews that followed were full of lavish praise for both performers and especially commended Mahon for the beauty of his tone and his ability to emulate the voice. One review commented that ‘His tone approaches nearer to the human voice than that of any performer we ever heard; indeed in some of the passages it was difficult to distinguish the voice from the instrument’.⁵³ Contemporary reports also reveal the essential part Mahon played in the success of this performance, one account noting that Mahon had accompanied ‘with delicacy and neatness very seldom heard, and loudly applauded’.⁵⁴ Another review added further specific detail, reporting that: ‘Mr. Mahon’s accompaniments on the clarionet were received with the warmest plaudits, and from being an auxiliary to the performance, he became a principal by the brilliancy of his variations and the grace of his cadences’.⁵⁵ The recognition of the crucial importance of his accompanying role in this performance demonstrates Mahon’s musical intelligence in successfully complementing the vocal melody. The references to the delicacy and neatness with which he accompanied, the brilliancy of his variations and the grace of his cadences provide valuable insights into the performance. These comments suggest that Mahon was able to incorporate tasteful and expressive ornamentation, phrasing, effective articulation and harmonic variations that rendered the performance closer to a duet rather than a soloist and accompanist. The reviews discussed above of John Mahon’s performances given in a variety of different contexts are particularly useful in the vivid descriptions they provide. Specific tonal qualities, such as softness and sweetness, impressive technical virtuosity in faster and lighter sections and contrasts of musical expression such as grace, energy, and sprightliness are all commented upon. In addition, the close alliance between his clarinet playing and the voice is also highlighted, likening the sweetness of sound Mahon could produce on the instrument to the tone and texture of the voice itself. As such, it is possible through these reviews to gain an insight into the musical intelligence, expressive power, and technical prowess of the first British clarinet soloist.

John Mahon’s Clarinet Tutor and Published Music

During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Mahon wrote clarinet solos and concertos to showcase his individual skills. He also wrote chamber music, works for wind band, and obbligato parts for clarinet or violin that he performed with either of his two sisters, Mrs Ambrose and Mrs Second, who were accomplished singers. Four musical works and two editions of his important clarinet method book were published during Mahon’s lifetime, likely restricted because of the cost of engraving and publishing. In addition, there are few surviving copies of this music, suggesting the number published was limited.

1. Mahon’s 2^nd Concerto for the Clarinett, Hoboy, German Flute, or Violin, in all its parts. London: J. Bland., [1786], 4s.⁵⁶

This is the earliest clarinet concerto by a British composer and is historically significant. The publisher Bland and Mahon himself must have recognized the value of offering this clarinet concerto as a solo concerto for oboe, flute, or violin, three very popular instruments.⁵⁷ Mahon’s first ‘Concerto for clarinet &c.’ was listed in John Welcker’s London catalogue dating to ca. 1775, but a copy has not been found.⁵⁸ Mahon initially performed his first clarinet concerto in 1772 in Oxford; several times in 1773 in London; two performances in Oxford, two performances in Bath; and in 1774 in London, Blandford, and Southampton. The second concerto was first performed on 16 February 1775 at a concert organized by Thomas Arne, and probably written in 1774. The third movement makes use of Arne’s song, ‘The wanton God, that pierces Hearts’ from Comus (1738) perhaps in tribute to Arne, who likely approved. The second slow movement includes sensitive settings of two Scots songs, ‘The Birks of Endermay’ and ‘Roslin Castle’ by James Oswald.⁵⁹

On 16 February 1775, Mahon performed the Second Concerto at the Theatre-Royal, Haymarket a ‘with variations on the Wanton God’, ‘under the direction of Dr. Arne.’⁶⁰ This theme is used at the beginning of the third-movement rondeau in the Second Concerto. ⁶¹ Because the lowest note of the B♭ clarinet part is e’, John Bland, the publisher, published this concerto rewritten for the oboe, flute, or violin, increasing its sales to amateurs for domestic use. In advertisements for concerts in Edinburgh and other cities, Mahon performed additional clarinet concertos, such as a military concerto, suggesting that these may have been additional lost concertos or adaptations of the first two concertos.⁶² During the 1770s, John Mahon was the first to perform clarinet concertos in London. His role in promoting solo works for the newest woodwind instrument was especially significant, allow contemporary audiences to hear the clarinet in a solo capacity alongside concertos performed on the flute, oboe, and bassoon. Concertos on these established woodwinds were featured in London from the first half of the eighteenth century, and it was Mahon’s pioneering solo performances that began a journey towards the acceptance of the clarinet as a solo instrument.

A typical five-key clarinet that Mahon would have played in the 1773 concerts was made by Thomas Collier in London about 1772 (Figure 1). It is made of boxwood with a one-piece mouthpiece-barrel and a one-piece stock-bell surmounted by a single ivory ring. This was a less expensive model for a militia musician, gentlemen amateurs preferring additional decorative ivory ferrules.

Figure 1 B♭ clarinet, Thomas Collier, London, ca. 1772, five keys, MIM, Edinburgh, 1154/100. Photograph by Albert R. Rice.

2. John Mahon. Hope thou cheerful Ray of Light. A Favorite Song introduced by Mrs. Second in the Opera of the Woodman and at the Winchester Music Meetings with universal applause. London: Longman and Broderip, [1796], 1s.⁶³

This soprano song has a keyboard part for piano or harpsichord, a soprano solo part, and a clarinet solo part. The clarinet part is written in the sounding tonality of D major and meant to be played on the A clarinet, transposed to F major. On the last page is a separate version of the melody transposed for the “English Guittar” or cittern, a fashionable solo instrument at the time, sometimes appended to songs published as sheet music.⁶⁴ Based on newspaper advertisements, John Mahon performed this song at least three times: 1) 21 April 1795 in Edinburgh with Miss Barnet; 2) 17 October 1796 in London with Mrs Second; and 3) 25 October 1796 in London with Mrs Second.⁶⁵ William Shield’s opera, The Woodman (1791), was performed with an orchestra accompaniment, but performances may have taken place with soprano, clarinet obbligato, and piano or harpsichord.

3. John Mahon. The Oxford association, slow and quick march; for a military band of clarinets, horns, &c. as approved of by the Committee composed & dedicated to Sir Digby Mackworth, Bart. and the other officers, of the Corps. London: Lewis Lavenu, [ca. 1800].⁶⁶

Many marches were composed in England specifically for small winds bands including clarinets from the late 1760s. John and William Mahon grew up in Oxford and may have played in the band for the Oxford Association. The bands were financially supported by officers, and several officers received dedications on music title pages. This work is scored for two flutes, two clarinets, two horns, bassoon, trumpet, and serpent.⁶⁷

4. John Mahon. Four Duets for two clarinets, in which are introduced favorite airs. London: Clementi, Banger, Hyde, Collard, and Davis, [1801], 8s.⁶⁸

Each of these idiomatic and well-written duets has three contrasting movements, fast (allegro moderato), slow (andante), and fast (rondo). There are also cues for flute parts in the first clarinet, and in the fourth duet of the second clarinet part, a flute part is provided. This instrumentation would have made them more interesting to amateur players. Only one favourite air is identified as ‘Donald’.

5. John Mahon. New and Complete Preceptor for the Clarinet, London: Goulding, Phipps and D’Almaine, [1801], 10s 6d.⁶⁹

Mahon’s 62-page New and Complete Preceptor for the Clarinet was the first substantial clarinet instruction book written in England. All previous books British instruction books were printed in a small, oblong form of about 7" by 9½" with a minimum of text. Mahon’s was printed on large or royal quarto sheets of about 10" by 12½" to accommodate a longer text, explanation of music notation, and many duets. A very positive review in The Monthly Magazine; or, British Register of 1801 is full of praise for ‘an elaborate and well digested series of instructions, progressively disposed and clearly laid down, and which, if duly studied, cannot fail to produce a correct and comprehensive idea of the characters and powers of the clarinet, and a rapid advance in its practice and execution’.⁷⁰ The reviewer also states that

We find some remarks so illustrative of the best method of acquiring a free and just style of performance, that we cannot do better than extract the sense of them. The great beauty of the clarinet, (says Mahon,) consists in a fine mellow tone, and a judicious expression, to acquire which the practitioner should not attempt too soon to move the finger rapidly, but, on the contrary, should play the gamut, swelling and diminishing the notes till the tone becomes steady and confirmed.⁷¹

At the end of the tutor, several cadenzas or preludes in different keys are printed, appropriate for use in contemporary concertos.

The fingering chart on page three illustrates a five-key clarinet incorporating James Wood’s 1800 patent with his innovations: a brass-lined barrel for greater ease in tuning and bushings of metal inserted into tone holes covered by keys with round, self-aligning brass swivel key heads providing airtight seating.⁷² These instruments were new to the market and although promoted by John Mahon and made by both the Goulding Company and James Wood, Wood’s designs were never incorporated by other makers for popular use.

Here is an example of a Goulding & Co., B♭ clarinet (Figure 2) with Wood’s brass-lined barrel, and self-aligning metal swivel key heads and an illustration of a five-key fingering chart in Mahon’s New and Complete Preceptor for the Clarinet (1801) (Figure 3).

Figure 2 B♭ clarinet, Goulding & Co., London, ca. 1805, six keys, with James Wood’s improvements, MIM, Edinburgh, 933. Photograph from www.minim.ac.uk.

Figure 3 John Mahon’s five-key clarinet from the fingering chart, with James Wood’s improvements in New and Complete Preceptor for the Clarinet, London: Goulding, D’Almaine, Potter & Co., [1812], 3.

The tutor’s music includes tuneful duets for basset horn that become progressively more difficult as one continues through the book. An eight-key basset horn attributed to Cramer and Co., London, ca. 1810 (Figure 4) is placed next to Mahon’s fingering chart (page 52) of an eight- key basset horn with a brass bell similar in design to Jakob Grundmann’s basset horns made in Dresden during the 1780s and 1790s (Figure 5).⁷³

Figure 4 F Basset horn, Anonymous, attributed to John Cramer, London, ca. 1810, eight keys, Victoria & Albert Museum, 305-1882. Courtesy, The Victoria & Albert Museum, London.

Figure 5 Mahon’s basset horn with eight keys from the fingering chart of the New and Complete Preceptor for the Clarinet (London: Goulding, D’Almaine, Potter & Co., [1812]), 61.

Figure 6 John Mahon. New and Complete Preceptor for the Clarinet, 2nd ed. (London: Goulding, D’Almaine, Potter & Co., [1812]), 10s 6d.

The 1812 edition includes a spelling correction to the name ‘Corno Bassetta’ to ‘Corno Bassetto’ on page 38. The second printing and second edition were likely a response to a continued demand for Mahon’s clarinet tutor.

John Mahon’s Unpublished Music

During his many concerts, Mahon was occasionally required to write music for inclusion in them. In newspaper advertisements he is credited with 32 chamber works, obbligato parts, solos, and orchestral and military band works, some written with other performers. It is possible that there were other works he wrote that were not credited to him. These compositions were performed in London, Dublin, Newcastle, Belfast, and Edinburgh.

1. 1) Overture, 27 April 1785, London.⁷⁴

2. 2) Concertante for clarinet and bassoon, 12 April 1787, London.⁷⁵

3. 3) Quartetto Concertante, 24 April 1787, London. [Probably written for two violins, viola, and cello].⁷⁶

4. 4) Quintetto for Clarionet, two Violins, Tenor and Violoncello, 23 June 1789, Dublin.⁷⁷

5. 5) Trio for Clarionet, Violin and Violincello, 30 June, 1789, Dublin.⁷⁸

6. 6) Concerto Violin, with ‘Shepherd, I have lost my love’, composed and to be performed by Mr Mahoon, 7 December 1789, Dublin.⁷⁹

7. 7) New Echo-Piece in imitation of Birds, for the Flute and Clarionet, 16 December 1789, Dublin.⁸⁰

8. 8) Glee for three Voices.

9. 9) Elegy on the Death of an amiable young Lady.

10. 10) Duet for Violin and Tenor, 15 January 1793, Newcastle.⁸¹

11. 11) Overture; Duett for Violin and Violincello by Mahon and Reinagle.

12. 12) Select Parts of an Elegy.

13. 13) Concerto Clarinet with a Scots Air, and the Favourite Rondo ‘Up and war them a’ Willie’.

14. 14) Conversation Piece for the Voce Claria and Violincello, in which will be introduced Favourite Airs.

15. 15) Bravura Song, [Miss Giolivetti, later Mrs Natale Corri] with an obligato accompaniment for the Clarinet, 14 March 1793, Edinburgh.⁸²

16. 16) New Concerto Clarinet, with the beautiful Air of ‘Lora Gregory as set by Pleyel’ and with ‘Loch Erroch Side’ made into a Rondo.

17. 17) ‘My Native Land’ Mrs. [Catherine] Mahon accompanied on the Voce Claria, 25 March 1794, Edinburgh.⁸³

18. 18) Solo Piece, Voce Claria in which will be introduced a favourite Glee and Scots Air, with Variations, 21 April 1795, Edinburgh.⁸⁴

19. 19) Song, Mrs Second from Abroad and at Home composed by John Mahon and accompanied on violin by Moorehead, Jr, 10 March 1797, Dublin.⁸⁵

20. 20) Song, Mrs Second, 27 February 1800, London.⁸⁶

21. 21) Song, Mrs [Catherine] Mahon,‘A round of brave British Tars’.

22. 22) Recitative and Song, Mrs [Catherine] Mahon, 9 April 1802, Edinburgh.⁸⁷

23. 23) Military Introduction composed for two Orchestras by Mr Mahon—to be Performed by the two Military Bands.

24. 24) Song — Mrs [Catherine] Mahon — ‘Tell me my Damon’—Mahon.

25. 25) Concerto Violin—Mr Mahon—in which will be introduced as a middle movement, ‘Shepherds I have lost my love,’ and ‘Dainty Davie,’ the subject of the Rondo—La Motte.

26. 26) Scots Song—Mrs [Catherine] Mahon — ‘Busk ye, busk ye’—with new Symphonies and Accompaniments by Mr Mahon.

27. 27) Grand military Concertante, by the two Military Bands—Principal Clarionet Mr Mahon—Mahon. 23 March, 1804, Edinburgh.⁸⁸

28. 28) A Scottish Air, and the Favourite Rondo of ‘The Quaker’s Wife (Violin).

29. 29) A Favourite Medley Overture, in which will be introduced Scottish, Irish, English, and Welsh Airs.

30. 30) New Military Concerto, Clarinet, in which will be introduced the Favourite Rondo of ‘Speed the Plough,’ with accompaniments for a Military Band.

31. 31) Military Piece, with Bugle Horn, 25 February 1805, Edinburgh.⁸⁹

32. 32) Handel Song, Blind Allen’s Darlin, a favourite Ballad as sung by Mrs Second, 11 March 1805, Edinburgh (Mrs [Catherine] Mahon); 10 June 1806, Dublin (Mrs Second).⁹⁰

The high regard afforded to Mahon by fellow musicians encouraged them to perform his music. In addition, he was familiar with the performance capabilities of most musicians and tailored each work to achieve the best results. This process was undoubtedly familiar to contemporary musicians. The range and diversity of Mahon’s unpublished music referred to in contemporary newspaper advertisements adds further insight into his talents as a composer or arranger and his interests as a musician. In particular his fondness for folk songs (especially Scottish songs) with clarinet obbligatos and military pieces is clearly in evidence. He also appears to have enjoyed pairing the clarinet with other woodwinds such as the bassoon or flute or with strings in his chamber works, perhaps reflecting his specific connections with musical relatives, friends, and colleagues. The amount of music produced suggests an enthusiastic composer and arranger who enjoyed performing with others.

John Mahon As a Teacher

Most eighteenth-century musicians augmented their income by teaching, and several were renowned for their abilities, but there is little information about Mahon’s pupils. Teaching also provided a satisfying activity where one could pass on knowledge, technical advice, and musical insight to students. That Mahon possessed a genuine interest in teaching and improving a student’s clarinet playing is perhaps suggested by the publication of his New and Complete Preceptor for the Clarinet in 1801 (Figure 6). The work provides practical and constructive advice for beginners and provides cautions against some common faults which the experience of teaching the instrument would have made him keenly aware of. One such comment reads:

in particular I would recommend [playing] all the beautiful Scottish Airs that are well adapted for the Clarinet which with a fine Tone will please more than Allegros, Prestos and other difficult Pieces. It will be time enough to attempt them when you are perfect in your Tone, fingering and the management of the Reed, and Embouchure. I know that young Performers often attempt to play difficult music too soon, which is a great fault, and sometimes gives pain to the audience instead of pleasure; therefore I strongly recommend slow music for beginner, in order to establish a good Tone.⁹¹

The inclusion of the reasoning behind this advice to beginners suggests an experienced teacher used to explaining and clarifying their teaching points with skill. These comments also suggest that Mahon was a teacher with a sincere desire to improve and develop the playing of all inexperienced clarinettists.

On 20 April 1787, at Mr Peene’s annual concert at the King’s Arm’s in Leominster, a band performed led by a Mr Coyle. During the performance concertos on the clarinet were played by a ‘Gentleman’, formerly a pupil of Mahon’s.⁹² After giving several concerts in Belfast during 1789 and 1790, Mahon advertised that he intended

to reside here for some time and proposes to teach the Violin, Clarionet, Tenor, Violincello, and Flute. Terms for teaching each Instrument one Guinea a month, and eight Lessons to be given in that time—no entrance expected—Ladies and others who perform on the Harpsichord, may be accompanied with the Violin, on the same terms as Scholars; also any person within ten or twelve miles of Belfast will be attended to on moderate terms.⁹³

By 15 February 1790, Mahon returned to London to play at the Lenten oratorio concerts at Covent Garden. In March 1790, he was a clarinet teacher in Walter Clagget’s Musical Seminary or Academy, and it is possible that some gentlemen amateurs were inspired to learn the instrument, as a result of hearing his performances. Mahon is listed at this academy alongside the violinist Lewis Lavenu and cellist Joseph Reinagle, musicians that he regularly played with in various orchestras. Unfortunately, there is no record of his students at Clagget’s Academy.⁹⁴

One pupil of Mahon’s is known. John Sinclair, born in Edinburgh in 1789 became an opera singer of some repute, making his London debut at Covent Garden theatre on 20 September 1811.⁹⁵ In his youth, before embarking on his career as a professional singer, Sinclair played flute and clarinet in a band attached to the Edinburgh Regiments of Volunteers. He is said to have ‘soon acquired a proficiency as a performer on the flute and clarinet, which excited such general admiration, that Campbell of Shawfield, Colonel of the Argyleshire [sic] Militia, who was himself a great amateur, pressed him to engage with his band, offering the most liberal encouragement’.⁹⁶ It was in this band that Sinclair’s playing flourished and he ‘soon attained such a degree of excellence, under the tuition of Mr. J. Mahon, that he was considered one of the best performers on the clarinet in Scotland’.⁹⁷ Unfortunately, no references to Sinclair performing on the clarinet appear to remain extant.

Deborah Rohr observes that ‘An unpredictable aspect of teaching was the variation in the number of pupils. Private pupils could discontinue their lessons at any time or fail to pay their fees’.⁹⁸ In 1827, John Mahon wrote to the Royal Society of Musicians in London: ‘Pupils, I have not any[,] two or three called on me and took 9 or 10 Lessons each, but never paid me. This week a person call’d on me to take some Lessons on the Violin, and I made him pay me a Pound’.⁹⁹

Later Life

John Mahon’s later life is detailed in his own words in a number of letters he wrote to the Royal Society of Musicians. These letters are a rich resource concerning Mahon’s final years and paint a vivid and deeply affecting picture of his declining health, financial concerns, and the monetary support he received from the RSM, of which he had been a member since 1783 (Figure 7).

Figure 7 John Mahon’s Royal Society of Musicians admission card, 6 April 6 1783. Image courtesy of The Royal Society of Musicians of Great Britain.

By 1820, Mahon was living in Dublin with his family, and he and his two eldest daughters, who were singers, were all engaged at the theatre in Belfast. In a letter of 22 January 1820, Mahon wrote to the Governors of the Royal Society of Musicians that ‘the Theatrical business here has failed’ and asked for their financial assistance to support him and his family.¹⁰⁰ In the same year, Mahon’s health began to fail, and he continued to petition the Governors of the RSM for their financial support, which was received for the remainder of his life.

In 1823, Mahon was playing in the orchestra of the Theatre Royal Dublin and reported that ‘my Eyes have been failing for some years past, and now it is with great uncertainty that I can read Music, even with the best glasses: therefore and I understand that the Band of the Theatre will be reduced, I conclude that I shall be one of the number dismissed’.¹⁰¹ In spite of this, Mahon added more optimistically to the end of this letter that ‘The defect in my Eyes is the only bar against my continuing, as I have nearly as much command of my Instruments as ever I had’.¹⁰²

Mahon is reported to have continued to play second clarinet in The Philharmonic Society orchestra until 1824,¹⁰³ and his last recorded performances in England were advertised to be as second clarinettist to Thomas Willman at the 1824 Salisbury and Worcester Music Meetings. In spite of Mahon’s name appearing in these listings, the letters contained in the RSM archive detailing Mahon’s declining health by this date strongly argue against the possibility of him actually having performed for these events. It would appear likely that, rather than playing in these concerts, his name was included within the records for these performances and he was paid for them in recognition of his long-standing and dedicated service to these societies.

By early 1825, Mahon’s fears regarding his dismissal from the Theatre Royal, Dublin had obviously been realized. However, as he reported in a letter dated March 1825: ‘a friend of mine has had a conversation with the Proprietor of the Theatre on my account, and he has agreed that I may remain in my situation in the Theatre as long as I find it convenient, therefore, altho I am not adequate to the situation, I will for the present accept his kind offer, and next week I will resume my former situation’.¹⁰⁴ In August of the same year, having commented that he had given up the clarinet two years earlier, Mahon claimed that

within the last Six months, having some time on my hands, I undertook the Clarinet once more, and I have not only improved the instrument by adding two Notes to the lower part and three to the upper part, which give a great Compass and a grand effect in a Concerto, but the Tone is more melodious, and I flatter myself that I can now perform a Concerto in a greater Stile than ever I could.¹⁰⁵

Although Mahon may have indeed been practising the clarinet and attempting to regain his former skills, it would appear likely that his claims to have improved the instrument himself were misleading. Instead, it is probable that the improvements he described referred to a clarinet designed by William Gutteridge of Cork, whom Mahon may have known. Gutteridge’s clarinet was patented in 1824 and produced and advertised beginning in 1825 by Clementi & Co. The two extant examples have fifteen keys, with two additional keys and a lowest note of e. ¹⁰⁶

In 1826, Mahon’s hopes of regaining his former powers of clarinet playing were devastated by illness and he wrote to the Governors of the RSM that ‘I have had two fits of illness which have weakened my constitution, and I have lost two Teeth which has destroyed all my hopes, as I have not one Tooth in my upper jaw, and very few in the lower one’.¹⁰⁷ Even after this catastrophic event, Mahon continued to play violin in the orchestra of the Theatre Royal, Dublin, but in December 1826, noted:

My salary at the Theatre has been cut down to one Guinea a week, which in some weeks, when the Theatre is open only 3 or 4 nights in the week, amounts only to 14s or less, according to the number of nights they perform, besides which, there has been three month’s vacation, in addition to Passion week, and the principle [sic] fast days in Lent.¹⁰⁸

Ehrlich reported much higher salaries in London and the provinces compared with Mahon’s payment:

The Philharmonic Society began by paying only wind instrumentalists, but soon had to remunerate most of its orchestra. In 1821 front desk strings received £52. 10s 0d. for ten rehearsals and eight concerts; principal woodwinds £27. 6s 6d. and brass £20. 9s. 6d. In 1824 principal winds received 2 gns. for one rehearsal and performance, but three guineas if they must ‘come forward for a solo performance’. London fees generally ranged from 3 to 5 gns., with occasional gift or ‘royal munificence’. Provincial festivals paid similarly. At Norwich in 1824 the principal instrumentalists received 25 gns. for eight to ten concerts.¹⁰⁹

Mahon’s last reference to his work in the theatre is found in a letter of December 1829, after which date there are no further reports of any musical activity.¹¹⁰ After Mahon’s death in 1834, a short article appeared in the 1837 Musical World under the heading of ‘Miscellaneous, Royal Society of Musicians’ stating:

The late John Mahon, once an eminent performer on the clarinet, died at Dublin in 1834, aged 79 [rechte 86], having been a member of the society for half a century, and having for many years previously to his demise, been a claimant on its funds. He left a daughter in a state of idiotism, to whom this excellent society allows £25 a year, although she has no claim on it, beyond that of being the daughter of a departed member, in total destitution.¹¹¹

Although the amount received each year is unclear from existing letters, it is certainly true that the Governors of the RSM continued to support Mahon’s daughter Elizabeth, who suffered from an unspecified condition. From June 1834, another of Mahon’s daughters, Anne Mangan, wrote to the Governors on various occasions asking for monetary assistance to support the care of her sister Elizabeth, which was always received.¹¹² From 1834 until Elizabeth’s death in 1847, the Society continued to provide financial support for her care.¹¹³

Influence and Legacy

Mahon’s fame as a clarinettist was immortalized (in his own lifetime) in two contemporary poems. The first was a satirical poem published in 1797 by Jenkin Jones, part of which is devoted to describing the most celebrated instrumentalists in London at this time:¹¹⁴

See our Musicians seize with skillful hand,

Of tuneful steeds a well united band,

All act in Concert, meet in one design,

And in the same pursuit accordant join.

To no rude hand commit the tuneful rein,

Let no unskilful touch such steeds profane.

For Dragonetti’s Bass let none dispute,

Give Salomon the Fiddle, Ashe the Flute,

Let Krumpholtz in her Harp concerto sport,

Clementi sits at the Piano Forte.

Let either Parke the dulcet Hautboy tune,

Send Holmes and Parkinson to the Bassoon.

Entrust the Vi’loncellos to the care

Of Linley, Ashley, Reinagle and Ware.

Let Sargeant swell the Trumpet’s silver tone,

And give the Clarinet to its Mahon [M’hone].¹¹⁵

The second poem was published in 1805 in the memoirs of an English actor named Charles Lee Lewes. Here, Lee Lewes quotes a poem written by a Mr Bell, who staged a benefit concert on 29 April 1793 at the New Theatre in Edinburgh. The poem, perhaps designed to entice an audience to attend, describes the performers taking part in this benefit and Mahon is featured amongst them:¹¹⁶

’Tis humbly hop’d the audience thinks it right,

To see Jack Tar return’d in health to-night;

They’ll be inform’d their foes were made to tremble;

In a Duet by Bell and Mrs. Kemble.

And to sustain true mirth, he has not fears,

When Mr. Mahon on the stage appears:

The audience of this night will ne’er forget,

The sounds that issue from his clarionet,

Which will contribute to support their glee,

With compositions ta’en from Langolee.

His contemporaries and fellow musicians Charles Burney and William Parke both noted Mahon’s talents as a clarinettist in their writings. Parke described him as ‘Mr. Mahon, the celebrated clarionet player’ and Burney included him in his list of ‘instrumental performers of the first class’ commenting that these performers were ‘too well known for my readers to require information concerning their abilities’.¹¹⁷ His abilities as a clarinettist were also recognized in descriptions of the instrument contained in an English translation of J. G. Albrechtsberger’s treatise on Thorough-Bass, Harmony, and Composition and in the nineteenth-century music journal The Harmonicon (1830).¹¹⁸ In Albrectsberger’s treatise, Mahon is included in a list of the most celebrated performers on the clarinet and in The Harmonicon’s article on the instrument, the author reminisced fondly on Mahon and Mrs Second’s performances for clarinet and voice. The article commented that the clarinet’s

tones assimilate so closely to a fine soprano voice, that a most beautiful effect is produced when imitative passages are given; or, indeed, when they move in 3rds or 6ths together. Mr. John Mahon and his sister, Mrs. Second, used to perform some Scotch and Irish melodies in the most beautiful manner imaginable, the rich voice of the one blending sweetly with the mellow tones produced by the other from his clarionet.¹¹⁹

This article also remarked on Mahon’s longevity and the support he received from the Royal Society of Musicians, of which he had been a member for forty-seven years, noting: ‘This professor is still alive, and about 80 years of age. He resides in Dublin and receives an annual allowance of Sixty Guineas, from the Royal Society of Musicians, to cherish the coda of his long life’.¹²⁰

William Mahon Concerts and Reviews

William Mahon became a well-known and accomplished clarinettist, violinist, viola player, and oboist during the same time as his brother John. It is not always certain if William or John played clarinet in a concert because they were usually identified as ‘Mr. Mahon’. The newspaper advertisements and concert posters began to include a first initial or first name sporadically after 1780. Although many concert advertisements are found with William, W. or Wm. Mahon listed, they are considerably less than those recorded for John or J. Mahon. From 1771, William played clarinet in several concerts and music festivals with his brother John in Salisbury, Oxford, and later by himself or with members of the Mahon family in Bath, Blandford, Cirencester, London, Norwich, Salisbury, Dublin, Winchester, Birmingham, and Cheltenham. William performed sparingly on the oboe in a hautboy concerto in a 1774 benefit concert in the Oxford Music Room;¹²¹ clarinet and oboe in the 1804 Salisbury Festival, including a Concertante for oboe and bassoon with James Holmes; and oboe with John playing clarinet at the 1805 Birmingham Musical Festival.¹²² (see Map 2 of Britain for the location of William Mahon’s provincial concerts).

Map 2 Map of provincial concerts given by William Mahon. Herman Moll, A New Map of Great Britain: according to the Newest and Most Exact Observations (London: Thomas Bowles, John Bowles, and John King, 1720–1729?) Map reproduction courtesy of the Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library.

He also played the viola with John, who played violin in the Handel Memorial Concerts at Westminster Abbey and the Pantheon in 1784 and at the Abbey in 1786.¹²³ William accompanied Elizabeth Mahon with a clarinet obbligato in Sacchini’s ‘Lieta per alma’ at the Chester Festival in 1786 and played a clarinet solo in London at Free-Masons’ Hall in 1787.¹²⁴ He played violin or clarinet in the orchestra at the Oratorios in Covent Garden (1791, 1793, 1794), Russell Concerts (1805),¹²⁵ and Vocal Concerts (1805). He never married and died in Salisbury on 2 May 1816.

A few reviews provide observations on William’s clarinet playing. Like his brother John, William also accompanied their vocalist sisters in performance by playing clarinet obbligatos. In common with his brother, William also appears to have possessed a notable talent for matching his tonal quality and expressivity to the voice. For example, William accompanied Mrs Second in a concert that took place as part of the Blandford race meeting in 1801. They performed the aria, ‘Sweet Echo, sweetest nymph that liv’st unseen’ taken from Arne’s masque of 1738, Comus, and the review of the performance commented: ‘Mrs. Second sung Sweet Echo! Accompanied by the clarionet, most sweetly; the effect of which was much heightened by the admirable imitation of the Echo, contrived by Mr. W. Mahon making the responses from without the room, where he was unseen by the audience.’¹²⁶ This favourable description of the performance, noting especially the effective relationship between the voice and the clarinet, indicates that William must have possessed a fine tone quality with a sweetness which echoed the tone of the human voice successfully.

For the second subscription concert in Bath on 24 November 1802: ‘Mahon’s clarionet was as usual an astonishing performance, both for sweetness and execution.’¹²⁷ William played with the finest singers and players in London and at Ranelagh Gardens in 1789, 1791, and 1798. His most significant performance was at a subscription concert for Johann Salomon on 23 April 1801. The programme includes at the end of Act 1: ‘New Grand Sestetto (MS.) for Principal Violin, Viola, Violoncello, Clarionet, Bassoon, Corno, and Double Bass, Messrs. Salomon, Pieltain, Dahmen, W. Mahon, Holmes Leader, and Dragonetti, Luigi van Beethoven.’¹²⁸ The following day, a review appeared in the London Courier and Evening Gazette:

The success which attends Salomon’s Concerts is the necessary effect of their merit. The third performance last night had a more numerous and elegant audience than any other this season. The room was completely full, and the entertainment gratifying in the highest degree. The instrumental novelty of the evening was Sestetto for the Violin, Viola, Violin cello; Clarionet, Bassoon, Corno, and Double Bass; the merits of which received the best support from Salomon, Pieltain, Dahmen, Mahon, Leader, and Dragonetti. It was composed by Luigi Van Beethoven, a pupil, we believe, of Mozart. It is airy, playful, and learned, and in all respects shews the hand of a master.¹²⁹

This was the first performance of Beethoven’s Septet in England, and it was repeated on Salomon’s series on 27 May 1801 with the same performers.¹³⁰ The Septet became an extremely popular work played many times at the Philharmonic Society’s concerts from 1813.

An obituary praised William’s skill as a musician and clarinettist and highlighted the merits of his character.

On Friday, the 3d inst. [May] died, at the house of his brother in law, Joseph Tanner, Esq. Salisbury, Mr. William Mahon, aged 65 years. His abilities in the musical line had long rendered him one of the greatest ornaments of the profession. He was formerly a respectable Member of our Music Room Orchestra, and led the Concerts in Salisbury above thirty years, with great credit. His eminent talents were duly appreciated at the Opera House, where he was many years engaged, and judged, to be the first performer on the Clarionet in England. Nor was he less esteemed for his virtues. The goodness of his heart endeared him to all who knew him; the mildness of his manners, his sincerity, strict integrity, and generosity, procured him the respect and attachment of a numerous circle of friends.¹³¹

Conclusion

John and William Mahon’s professional playing careers spanned roughly fifty and forty years, respectively, and they were crucial in presenting the clarinet to the eighteenth-century British public. Their careers encompassed military band, orchestral, solo, and chamber playing, and both John and William promoted and popularized the clarinet as a solo and chamber instrument. Through their performances, they ensured that the newest woodwind instrument became increasingly recognizable in orchestral, solo, and chamber contexts and were the first to demonstrate the technical and expressive capabilities of the solo clarinet to London-based and provincial audiences.

The range of favourable reviews of their playing are testament to their technically skilled and musically expressive performances. Their superb tonal qualities garnered particular praise, and they were the first British clarinettists to reveal the instrument’s unique tonal resources and colours at this early stage in the clarinet’s development. In addition, both Mahons also demonstrated their talents in blending their tonal qualities with a number of professional vocalists in performance. As proved by various contemporary reviews, their abilities to successfully blend with and imitate the human voice were often greeted with astonishment and wonder by contemporary critics and audiences. Extant reviews clearly recognized and appreciated their skills in achieving these effects in performance and provide important insights into the Mahons’ tonal qualities, expressive awareness, and musical intelligence.

In the case of John Mahon, his great significance in the instrument’s history and development can also be observed through his contributions to the clarinet literature. The most notable works were his second clarinet concerto, which is the first example of a clarinet concerto written by a British composer, and his pedagogical tutor, A New and Complete Preceptor for the Clarinet. Although direct references to his career as a teacher are harder to find and details of his pupils rare, the advice contained in his tutor demonstrates his wide experience of playing and teaching the instrument. It is likely that the highly practical and constructive advice contained in the preceptor is representative of the principles of his teaching and therefore provides insight into the significance of his role as an early teacher of the instrument. In addition, the variety of his unpublished music (no examples of which are believed to be extant) offer a tantalizing glimpse into his musical interests and the scope of his work as a composer and arranger. These works would have presented another important opportunity for Mahon to showcase the newest woodwind instrument to contemporary audiences.

John and William Mahon’s roles as the first British clarinet soloists are of crucial significance to the development of the instrument in performance and the longevity and diversity of their careers highlights their importance within the clarinet’s history.