Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 January 2020
The death of J.C. Bach on 1 January 1782 coincided with a number of changes in London's concert life. The principal subscription series, the Bach-Abel concerts, had been losing support for a number of years; and though Abel continued with the concerts in 1782, there was scope for a new initiative. Such an initiative was provided by Lord Abingdon with an ambitious reorganization of the concerts in 1783, to be succeeded in 1785 by the musicians’ own undertaking, styled the Professional Concert.
For expansions of abbreviations, see Bibliography: p. 133 below.Google Scholar
1 Cf. EurMag, 5 (1784), 366; TerrJCB, 96, 143, though the figures quoted here are misleading and partially inaccurate; GillS, 225–6.Google Scholar
2 BurH, ii, 1017–18; cf. Section 8.Google Scholar
3 1787Pr-n3; cf. 1789Pr-n3.Google Scholar
4 ParM.i, 103.Google Scholar
5 Entry of 28 May 1783 in NevD, 304.Google Scholar
6 WO 12 Feb 1788.Google Scholar
7 DI 19 Feb 1793.Google Scholar
8 1793Pr-n13; PhilSoc, 342.Google Scholar
9 TI 13 Feb 1792.Google Scholar
10 MC 7 Feb 1792.Google Scholar
11 GZ 12 Mar 1783.Google Scholar
12 DUR 26 Nov 1785.Google Scholar
13 MP 15 Dec 1789.Google Scholar
14 Cf. for example PA 8 Oct 1784, PA 8 Jan 1785.Google Scholar
15 ReesC, xxvi, s.v. ‘Pantheon'.Google Scholar
16 EdgM, 70.Google Scholar
17 For which see LanEn.Google Scholar
18 Letter of 4 Jul 1791 in HebC, 101.Google Scholar
19 WesR, f.40r.Google Scholar
20 BusC, ii, 214.Google Scholar
21 1791S-n1, n2; 1792S-n2, n3; 1793S-n2.Google Scholar
22 Cf. MillC, 18–20, where 1792 is put forward as a peak of activity; SalMem, 46; PhilSoc.Google Scholar
23 TempL, 361.Google Scholar
24 Cf. 1793Pr-n18.Google Scholar
25 ParM, ii, 160.Google Scholar
26 MC 14 Feb 1791, etc.Google Scholar
27 MP 15 Dec 1789.Google Scholar
28 PA 8 Oct 1784.Google Scholar
29 Letter of 30 Sept 1790 in JourLux, 5 (1790), 628.Google Scholar
30 PapC, ii, 296.Google Scholar
31 1793Pr-n3; it is hard to credit Mrs Papendiek's figure of 1500 at Haydn's 1792 benefit (LanEn, 161).Google Scholar
32 DI 16 Apr 1793.Google Scholar
33 MP 21 Jan 1789. The Concert of Ancient Music was, however, also patronized by the more traditional nobility, being regarded almost as a court activity.Google Scholar
34 WO 23 Feb 1790; cf. also 1788M-n3.Google Scholar
35 Cf. a letter of 2 Jan 1791, referring to the Professional Concert, in JourLux, 6 (1791), 68.Google Scholar
36 TrusL, 174–5.Google Scholar
37 Letter of 6 Mar 1793 in HebC, 150–1.Google Scholar
38 MH 7 Jan 1793.Google Scholar
39 MP 15 Apr 1785.Google Scholar
40 PapC, i, 133, 236.Google Scholar
41 SurLon, xxxi, 275; ArchP, ii, 175.Google Scholar
42 GZ 12 Mar 1783.Google Scholar
43 MC 26 Mar 1791.Google Scholar
44 JackO, 33.Google Scholar
45 WesR, f.40r.Google Scholar
46 ArchP, i, 125.Google Scholar
47 KellR, 165.Google Scholar
48 See for example LanEn, 23; EdwR, 756–7; MillC, 17.Google Scholar
49 RobI, 418.Google Scholar
50 Cf. 1785P, 1793S.Google Scholar
51 Cf. 1792S; GyrB, 59; TI 26 Mar 1791.Google Scholar
52 Cf. TI 29 Jan 1790.Google Scholar
53 1791S-n7; MC 19 Mar 1791.Google Scholar
54 1788M-n4; MH 31 Jan 1792.Google Scholar
55 FBurE, 105; FBurC, 266, 269.Google Scholar
56 BurC, 40; MP 23 Apr 1785.Google Scholar
57 PapC, i, 215 — presumably referring to the first Pantheon concert of 1784.Google Scholar
58 DI 15 Feb 1793.Google Scholar
59 MC 26 Mar 1791; cf. also MC 7 Feb 1792, OR 13 Mar 1792.Google Scholar
60 Cf. MP 1 Dec 1784.Google Scholar
61 Cf. the quotation in MillC, 15.Google Scholar
62 Cf. MellS, 140–2.Google Scholar
63 Cf. MackS, 119.Google Scholar
64 Cf. WebM, 4; the last point is countered in MillC, 17.Google Scholar
65 WebC, 8–9.Google Scholar
66 SupE.Google Scholar
67 LanEn, 29; ForsB, 39: cf. also WO 17 Apr 1787, PA 22 Aug 1793.Google Scholar
68 Letter of 2 Jan 1791 in JourLux, 6 (1791), 68. For a later illustration of a concert there, after alterations to the hall, see ForsB, 37.Google Scholar
69 ForsB, 15–16, 38–40, after MeyH.Google Scholar
70 Letter of 18 May 1793 in BerlMusZ, 81.Google Scholar
71 ForsB, 32–4, with an illustration; for a description of a concert there see RobM, 51–2.Google Scholar
72 MP 19 Nov 1785.Google Scholar
73 1788M-n6, 1790P-n4.Google Scholar
74 Sources in 1790P-n4; WO 13 Mar 1790.Google Scholar
75 ForsB, 39; for an illustration of the interior see SurLon, xxx, plate 51b.Google Scholar
76 Cf. 1787Pr; this system had been used before by Bach and Abel.Google Scholar
77 Bartolozzi and Franks Collections, British Museum, Department of Prints and Drawings; one is reproduced in HogH, 59. Cf. also GZ 23 Jan 1788, MH 28 Jan 1792. Many other tickets for the Professional and other concert series are in the Banks Collection, British Museum.Google Scholar
78 Cf. PA 18 Mar 1783; handbills for some benefits, including Haydn's in 1791, are in the Banks Collection.Google Scholar
79 TI 29 Jan 1790.Google Scholar
80 Cf. a letter of 14 Feb 1783 [misdated] in CraMag, 1/1 (1783), 356; TI 29 Jan 1790; SpohrA, ii, 92.Google Scholar
81 1788M-n2.Google Scholar
82 1783-n25, n26.Google Scholar
83 CraMag, 1/1 (1783), 356.Google Scholar
84 Cf. a puff in MP 4 Feb 1786.Google Scholar
85 LonB, 228; SurLon, xxxi, 273.Google Scholar
86 Cf. 1784P-n2.Google Scholar
87 BurH, ii, 882–3; echoed in a puff in GZ 9 Feb 1784.Google Scholar
88 LonB, 352, 360.Google Scholar
89 PhilSoc, 342, which unambiguously refers to the concerts after those of Bach and Abel; and cf. 1784H-n2.Google Scholar
90 1783-n4, n23.Google Scholar
91 MP 6 May 1789; letter of 2 Jan 1791 in JourLux, 6 (1791), 68.Google Scholar
92 1785P-n7, 1790P-n5; BurH, ii, 882.Google Scholar
93 McVeiV, 142.Google Scholar
94 SmartJ, 3.Google Scholar
95 Cf. WendV, ii, 238; WesR, f.137r.Google Scholar
96 Leopold Mozart paid soloists from three to five guineas, according to a letter of 8 Jun 1764 in MozL, i, 48; William Parke received three guineas from Salomon in 1796 (ParM, i, 303–4).Google Scholar
97 1789Pr-n2, 1793S-n7.Google Scholar
98 MusKorr, 1 (1790), 87.Google Scholar
99 1789Pr-n3.Google Scholar
100 1792Pr-n4.Google Scholar
101 1783H-n5; letter of Aug 1790 cited above.Google Scholar
102 1783H-n22.Google Scholar
103 DoanD, 4, 2.Google Scholar
104 1783H-n16; cf. 1783H-3rd.Google Scholar
105 MC 17 May 1786, MH 27 Mar 1786.Google Scholar
106 DUR 14 Dec 1787.Google Scholar
107 PlanC, 113–14.Google Scholar
108 Cf. 1791Pr-n6, 1793S-n4; PlanC, 148.Google Scholar
109 See especially LanEn, to which this study is considerably indebted.Google Scholar
110 1791S-n4.Google Scholar
111 SearlR, especially 183–4.Google Scholar
112 1792Pr-n4.Google Scholar
113 GyrB, 59; PleyMem, 26.Google Scholar
114 1792Pr-n5, 1792Pr-lst.Google Scholar
115 Cf. 1790Pr-n7, etc.; new music by Gyrowetz was also heard at Salomon's concerts in 1793.Google Scholar
116 Cf. 1787Pr-n6.Google Scholar
117 For discussion of their business relationship, see RadH, 89–91.Google Scholar
118 MC 16 Jan 1784; 1785Pr-8th. Unless otherwise indicated, dates for Haydn sources in this section are derived from HobH and NGro.Google Scholar
119 Letter of Aug 1790 in MusKorr, 1 (1790), 87.Google Scholar
120 1791S-4th; Kozeluchs letter of 18 Dec 1790 in FlammV, 63–4.Google Scholar
121 For further details see 1788Pr-n8.Google Scholar
122 LanEs, 697–8; SandH, 310–11.Google Scholar
123 GZ 8 Dec 1787.Google Scholar
124 Haydn's letters of 8 Aug 1787 and 28 Feb 1788 in LanEs, 697–8, 707.Google Scholar
125 TI 31 Jan 1788.Google Scholar
126 For the purposes of this discussion, overture and symphony, etc., are regarded as synonymous.Google Scholar
127 Cf. such a condition in his letter of 12 Apr 1790 in LanL2, 200–2.Google Scholar
128 Advertised in December 1782.Google Scholar
129 Advertised in MP 18 Feb 1783.Google Scholar
130 The concert took place on 28 February, when the symphony received its first performance in England (PA 28 Feb 1783); probably this was the symphony soon to be published according to Bland's advertisement in MP 18 Feb 1783.Google Scholar
131 Both were advertised in January 1784.Google Scholar
132 MH 20 Mar 1784; this may have been the first edition.Google Scholar
133 MH 2 Feb 1784, ‘from Mr. Hayden's own copy'; no other documentary evidence supports this assertion.Google Scholar
134 By August 1783; the set contains Hob.Ia: 13, etc.Google Scholar
135 Presumably these are the two overtures soon to be published according to Bland's advertisement in MP 23 Feb 1784; both are included in his catalogue in DUR 2 Apr 1785. The overture was also in Artaria's op. 35.Google Scholar
136 In December 1784 or early 1785, possibly the first edition.Google Scholar
137 Manuscript note on the British Library copy.Google Scholar
138 Perhaps in 1785; it is not listed in Bland's catalogue in DUR 2 Apr 1785.Google Scholar
139 Benefit concert advertisement, with a description of the ending, in PA 16 May 1785. That the Professional Concert played this symphony at some stage is confirmed in ParM, ii. 29.Google Scholar
140 Cf. 1789Pr-1st.Google Scholar
141 Cf. 1789Pr-1st; it is unlikely that Tost was involved in this transaction.Google Scholar
142 LanEs, 598, 635.Google Scholar
143 Cf. 1789Pr-1st.Google Scholar
144 Op. 55 no. 2 ('Razor') was supposedly offered to Bland in November 1789, but it was not published by him; cf. also LanLl, 216.Google Scholar
145 Cf. 1791Pr-lst; the London edition may have been the first.Google Scholar
146 Leopold Mozart's letter of 1 Mar 1787 in MozL, ii, 906; cf. 1788Pr-n7.Google Scholar
147 NovM, 92; GrieH, 36.Google Scholar
148 1793Pr-n6.Google Scholar
149 1788Pr-2nd.Google Scholar
150 MH 11 Mar 1785; the score includes parts for three trumpets and timpani.Google Scholar
151 Cf. MarshH, 69; the Pleyel symphony discussed in connection with 1792Pr-lst includes such a part.Google Scholar
152 Letter of 18 May 1793 in BerlMusZ, 85.Google Scholar
153 The anecdote in a letter of Dec 1783 in CraMag, 2/1 (1784–5), 110–11 may relate to this.Google Scholar
154 Ibid., 109, mistakenly referring to Dresden. For identification of performers in this section, see the index.Google Scholar
155 MH 14 Jun 1784.Google Scholar
156 PA 13 Apr 1778.Google Scholar
157 PapC, i, 207.Google Scholar
158 1783H-n26, 1790Pr-n2.Google Scholar
159 Cf. 1787M-n8, 1788M-n9, 1790P-n10.Google Scholar
160 GZ 12 Feb 1790.Google Scholar
161 SmartJ, 3; cf. also 1786Pr-n10.Google Scholar
162 MH 14 Apr 1792, WO 25 Feb 1793.Google Scholar
163 Letter of 18 May 1793 in BerlMusZ, 81; tr. in LanEn, 189.Google Scholar
164 LanEn, 299.Google Scholar
165 Cf. 1785P-n8, 1790P-n9.Google Scholar
166 GZ 18 Jan 1790.Google Scholar
167 Cf. MH 20 Nov 1784.Google Scholar
168 MC 15 Feb 1793.Google Scholar
169 EdgM, 58.Google Scholar
170 1787Pr-n7.Google Scholar
171 BurH, ii, 886–903, 1021; EdgM, passim.Google Scholar
172 Cf. 1793S-n8.Google Scholar
173 1790P-n5.Google Scholar
174 1788Pr-n10; cf. also 1789Pr-n11.Google Scholar
175 MP 24 Feb 1789.Google Scholar
176 McVeiV, 135, 138.Google Scholar
177 JackO, 20-l.Google Scholar
178 PA 10 Feb 1787.Google Scholar
179 SalMem, 46; cf. also Section 1.Google Scholar
180 Letter of 18 May 1793 in BerlMusZ, 85.Google Scholar
181 Cf. a circular dated 26 Dec 1781 in the Banks Collection, J9, no. 572 (British Museum, Department of Prints and Drawings).Google Scholar
182 PA 6 Feb 1782.Google Scholar
183 BurH, ii, 958; cf. JonH, 165.Google Scholar
184 Cf. for example, WO 5 Dec 1787.Google Scholar
185 1788Pr-lst.Google Scholar
186 MC 1 May 1784, a review of one of Guest's concerts.Google Scholar
187 BurH, ii, 889.Google Scholar
188 For discussion of the issues of contemporaneity and classicism see WebE.Google Scholar
189 MH 20 Nov 1784.Google Scholar
190 Cf. ConR.Google Scholar
191 MarshC, 164.Google Scholar
192 1784P-5th, 1790P-3rd.Google Scholar
193 BrownL, 88–9.Google Scholar
194 1793Pr-1st.Google Scholar
195 K2869; cf. also WO 20 Mar 1790.Google Scholar
196 Cf. 1791Pr-4th.Google Scholar
197 Cf. MillC, 46.Google Scholar
198 PA 13 Mar 1783.Google Scholar
199 PA 17 Apr 1784; with a reference to 1783H-3rd.Google Scholar
200 MC 21 Oct 1788.Google Scholar
201 For example 4 Nov 1788.Google Scholar
202 MP 24 Mar 1789; cf. WO 10 Mar 1789.Google Scholar