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C M Y K musical musicalVISITORS TO BRITAIN VISITORS musicalVISITORS Over the centuries Britain has attracted many musical visitors. This book tells the stories of the many composers who visited – a varied and often eccentric collection of individuals. lisztThe earliest were invited by royalty with musical tastes; some were refugees from religious TO and political oppressions; others came as spies, a few to escape from debt and even murder chopincharges. However, the main motive was a possibility of financial reward. BRITAIN The rise in the nineteenth century of the celebrity composer, who was often also a conductor, is also traced. With the development of new forms of transport, composers TO DAVID GORDON • PETER GORDON were able to travel more extensively, both from the Continent and from the USA. New BRITAIN wagneropportunities were also presented by the opening of public halls, where concerts could be held, as well as the growth of music festivals. In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries the aeroplane has enabled a regular influx of composers, and the book ends with a liszt consideration of the universalising of music as well as the impact of new forms, such as mozartjazz. chopin Musical Visitors to Britain is a fascinating book which should appeal to both the general handelreader and those with a special interest in music history. David Gordon is one of the leading harpsichordists in the UK, and performs with violinists wagner DAVID GORDON DAVID haydnAndrew Manze, Nigel Kennedy and the baroque orchestra English Concert, specialising in PETER GORDON improvisation. He is also a jazz pianist, and has given many workshops on aspects of Renaissance, baroque and jazz improvisation. He composes, and his output includes mozart modern-day paraphrases of works by the seventeenth-century composers Purcell straussand Paisible. handel Peter Gordon is Emeritus Professor of Education at the University of London Institute of mendelssohnEducation and is former Head of the Department of History and Humanities. He is the author of many books on different aspects of nineteenth- and twentieth-century British haydn social, political, educational and family history, and is General Editor of the Woburn Education Series. He is also a Fellow of both the Society of Antiquaries and the Royal tchaikovskyHistorical Society. strauss mendelssohn www.routledge.com/education Printed in Great Britain tchaikovsky 1111 2111 Musical Visitors to Britain 3 4 5111 6 7 8 9 1011 1 2111 3111 Over the centuries Britain has attracted many musical visitors. This book 4 tells the stories of the many composers who visited – a varied and often 5 eccentric collection of individuals. The earliest were invited by royalty with 6 musical tastes; some were refugees from religious and political oppressions; 7 others came as spies, a few to escape from debt and even murder charges. 8 However, the main motive was a possibility of financial reward. 9 The rise in the nineteenth century of the celebrity composer, who was 20111 often also a conductor, is also traced. With the development of new forms 1 of transport, composers were able to travel more extensively, both from 2 the Continent and from the USA. New opportunities were also presented 3 by the opening of public halls, where concerts could be held, as well as 4 the growth of music festivals. In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries the 5 aeroplane has enabled a regular influx of composers, and the book ends 6 with a consideration of the universalising of music as well as the impact of 7 new forms, such as jazz. 8 Musical Visitors to Britain is a fascinating book which is aimed to 9 appeal to both the general reader and those with a special interest in 30111 music history. 1 2 David Gordon is one of the leading harpsichordists in the UK, and performs 3 with violinists Andrew Manze, Nigel Kennedy and the baroque orchestra 4 English Concert, specialising in improvisation. He is also a jazz pianist, and 5 has given many workshops on aspects of Renaissance, baroque and jazz 6 improvisation. He composes, and his output includes modern-day para- 7 phrases of works by the seventeenth-century composers Purcell and Paisible. 8 9 Peter Gordon is Emeritus Professor of Education at the University of 40111 London Institute of Education and is former Head of the Department 1 of History and Humanities. He is the author of many books on different 2 aspects of nineteenth- and twentieth-century British social, political, educa- 3 tional and family history, and is General Editor of the Woburn Education 44 Series. He is also a Fellow of both the Society of Antiquaries and the 45111 Royal Historical Society. 1111 2111 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1011 1 2 3111 4 5 6 7 8 9 20111 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 30111 1 2 3 4 1 Frontispiece: Haydn crossing the English Channel, 1 January 1791 5 6 7 8 9 40111 1 2 3 4 45111 1111 2111 Musical Visitors 3111 4 to Britain 5 6 7 8 9 1011 1 2 3111 David Gordon and Peter Gordon 4 5 6 7 8 9 20111 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 30111 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 40111 1 2 3 4 45111 1111 2111 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1011 1 2 3111 First published 2005 4 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN 5 Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada 6 by Routledge 7 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 8 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group 9 © 2005 David Gordon and Peter Gordon 20111 Typeset in Sabon by 1 Florence Production Ltd, Stoodleigh, Devon 2 Printed and bound in Great Britain by 3 The Cromwell Press, Trowbridge, Wiltshire 4 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, 5 or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying 6 and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, 7 without permission in writing from the publishers. 8 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data 9 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library 30111 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data 1 A catalog record for this book has been requested 2 ISBN 0–7130–0238–7 (Hbk) 3 ISBN 0–7130–4052–1 (Pbk) 4 5 6 7 8 9 40111 1 2 3 4 45111 1111 2111 Contents 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1011 1 2 3111 Illustrations vii 4 Acknowledgements ix 5 6 Introduction: seeking pastures new 1 7 8 1 ‘Brothers in the art or science of music’: 9 sixteenth-century visitors 15 20111 1 2 The Restoration: new music, new faces 29 2 3 3 Handel (1): first among visitors 40 4 5 4 Handel (2): an Englishman by choice 56 6 7 5 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: ‘I am a dyed-in-the-wool 8 Englishman’ 68 9 30111 6 Haydn in London: ‘a constellation of musical 1 excellence’ 83 2 3 7 Interlude: the London Pianoforte School 101 4 5 8 ‘That’s Weber in London!’ 105 6 7 9 Felix Mendelssohn: a genius recognised 119 8 9 10 Berlioz and Wagner: a meeting of minds 135 40111 1 11 Frédéric Chopin: ‘my good Scottish ladies’ 149 2 3 12 Liszt and the wandering years 159 4 45111 13 Antonin Dvofiák: an English celebrity 172 vi Contents 1111 14 ‘This quite horrible city’: Tchaikovsky in London 182 2111 3 15 Richard Strauss: trouble with the censor 191 4 5 16 Bartók and the BBC 200 6 7 17 The émigré composers: ‘His Majesty’s most loyal 8 internees’ 206 9 1011 Epilogue: minstrels of the modern age 215 1 2 3111 Notes 221 4 Bibliography 242 5 Index 252 6 7 8 9 20111 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 30111 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 40111 1 2 3 4 45111 1111 2111 Illustrations 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1011 1 2 3111 1 Frontispiece: Haydn crossing the English Channel, 4 1 January 1791 ii 5 2 Jacques Gaultier, lutenist, by Jan Lievens, c. 1632 31 6 3 George Frederick Handel by Thomas Hudson, 1749 45 7 4 The rehearsal and performance room in Handel’s house, 8 25 Brook Street, London, c. 1723 58 9 5 The house at 180 Ebury Street, Pimlico, where the 20111 Mozarts stayed during Leopold Mozart’s recuperation 1 from severe illness, 1764 72 2 6 Ticket for the first Bach–Abel concert, the Great Room, 3 Spring Gardens 73 4 7 Caricature of Karl Friedrich Abel, 1787 76 5 8 Statue of Mozart, Ebury Street, by Philip Jackson, 1994 79 6 9 Jan Ladislav Dussek’s Pianoforte Sonata, Op. 44, 7 dedicated to his friend Muzio Clementi, 1800 86 8 10 Joseph Haydn by Thomas Hardy, 1791 91 9 11 Haydn’s Pianoforte Sonata, Op. 78 Hob. XVI/52, 1799 98 30111 12 Dussek’s ‘Fal Lal La!’ arranged by Stephen Storace from 1 the opera The Cherokee, staged at Drury Lane, 2 20 February 1794 103 3 13 The Argyll Rooms, Regent Street, London, 1806, where 4 Liszt, Weber and Mendelssohn performed 111 5 14 Weber’s opera Oberon, first conducted by the composer 6 at Covent Garden, 12 April 1826 116 7 15 Drawing of Birmingham by Mendelssohn, 1846 128 8 16 Mendelssohn conducting the first performance of Elijah, 9 Birmingham Town Hall, 26 August 1846 132 40111 17 Hanover Square Rooms, London, opened in 1774 and 1 later home of the Philharmonic concerts 139 2 18 Berlioz and his orchestra, caricature by Grandville, 1846 144 3 19 Number 4, St James’s Place, where Chopin stayed for 4 the last part of his 1848 tour 157 45111 20 Dvofiák on his first visit to England, 1884 173 viii Illustrations 1111 21 The former Hotel Dieudonné, Ryder Street, London, 2111 where Tchaikovsky stayed on three of his visits, 1883–93 185 3 22 Louis Armstrong in England, Melody Maker, 7 October 4 1933 216 5 23 Plaques on 23 and 25 Brook Street, Mayfair, 6 commemorating the residences of Jimi Hendrix and 7 George Frederick Handel respectively 219 8 9 1011 1 2 3111 4 5 6 7 8 9 20111 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 30111 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 40111 1 2 3 4 45111 1111 2111 Acknowledgements 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1011 1 2 3111 The authors would like to acknowledge with thanks the following for 4 their kind permission granted for the use of illustrations: the British 5 Library, the Royal Academy of Music, Penguin Books, David and Charles, 6 the Handel House Trust and Hodder Arnold.