THE AYRTON PAPERS: MUSIC IN LONDON, 1786 1858
PAMELA WILLETTS
RECENTLY acquired papers^ of William Ayrton (1777-1858), musician and critic, sometime Director of the Italian opera at the King's Theatre, and editor of the Harmonicon, proved to be the residue of the collection of Ayrton's correspondence and papers presented by Miss Phyllis Ayrton, his great-granddaughter, in 1964.^ The new collection consists mainly of family papers, but, owing to the wide social and musical connections of Ayrton's father and those of the Arnold family into which he married, these touch on many notable personalities and events. The centre is mainly London, but there is interesting material concerning Cambridge and other places mentioned in a travel journal of 1786 written by Ayrton's uncle, William Ayrton of Ripon. William Ayrton was bred up to the musical profession by his father. Dr. Edmund Ayrton (1734-1808), organist, vicar-choral of St. Paul's, layclerk of Westminster Abbey, and Master of the Children of His Majesty's Chapels. Dr. Ayrton had a numerous family but he gave this second son a liberal education as well as a grounding in music and 'rendered him fit to engage in any situation, or associate in any society'.^ William Ayrton married on 17 May 1803 Marianne, daughter of the composer and organist of Westminster Abbey, Dr. Samuel Arnold (1740-1802), who had been a member of his father's circle of friends. Dr. Arnold appears in the new collection as the writer of an affectionate and whimsical letter to his daughter (16 August 1795)." Her sisters, he wrote, found it too hot to accompany him to the Abbey, and ^poor Pill Garlick must trudge alone'; he recommended in her hostess and godmother, Mrs. Mallett, 'hourly examples worthy imitation, as her gentleness of manner, and well observed knowledge of the world (such as a female should possess)' and asked her to make his compliments 'for a man of business is always awkward at Compliments, and to tell you the truth I never had that Knack . ..' Dr. Arnold was more sympathetic than his wife and daughter to the suit of another man of business, the publisher James Harrison,^ for his daughter's hand in 1792. Harrison was a widower, 'within 2 months of 39', and had a son by his first marriage. A letter (24 June 1792) to Dr. Arnold from the rejected suitor thanked him for playing 'a kind and a candid part' and mentioned that he had Ventured to remonstrate, at some length, in a letter sent last night to Mrs. Arnold'.^ Harrison was not to know that the ladies were not taking him seriously. A mischievous postscript by Marianne to a letter from her mother (21 June 1792) to Dr. Arnold held no hope for Mr. Harrison: 'I think I begin to waver in my (before)//.v'J determination, when 1 consider the respectable black beard; the delights of Son in Law |i.c. stepson | of 77 to play with;& the sweet A\r of Paternoster Row; joind to the age which 1 have been iiscustomed to Love in a l''ather . . .'"^ A scries of letters (1792- 1.S12) to Marianne from her mother gives a few more glimpses of Dr. Arnold enfamille^ and even a few snatches of his speech, for Mrs. Arnold wrote conversationally.^ She grumbled at him (19 May 1799) for being an unwilling correspondent: 'let me hear of your schemes & projects & as your lazy Daddy won't (he'll pretend to say busy, & can't I suppose) do you let me know —when does he come ?' She dismissed them both (4 Feb- ruary 1801) as 'now Jog trot old folks' but went on to describe a visit to the theatre: 'we went into the Pit -to please me—I saw & heard ... the Stranger: & our Veteran [Dr. Arnold's comic opera, ( cteran Tar] — \hc Wife& the Mother could not be quiet enough to give the individual fair play I shall see it again with more critical composure before I make up my Mind entirely —it is certainly a very loyal interesting little piece & the music pretty—very pretty some parts—the House very full, & a great deal of fair applause you understand my meaning—no paper credit last Night.' She was to attend a concert the following day 'tho' there is not a Note play'd that would carry me—all good things—but really worn to Shreds'. Hut despite the cheerfulness there is a twist at the end of the letter: 7 feel ;;/i'.\-(7/that in this Spot of Cabal & evil speaking. Lying and Slandering—there is little chance ot serenity—for anybody (true I only hear of it; mix in it I never will)—I cannot but connect favorable ideas with absence from Westm"": . . .' Later, the same year, there is a lively description of a journey home from Woburn (14 September 1801): 'at last however dirty pavement, thick foggy unsavoury Atmosphere & jolting & rattling announced the Change — & (as y": P'ather says— /say) ^^Here weare^' & "so wx zv&—lobe sure we .//•(•" 10 Fig. I. Richard Horwood, Plan of the Cities of London and Westminster (1792-99), showing James Street (1795). Map Library, i Tab. 22, Sbeet B 3 II A codicil dated 15 May 1808 added the silver cup presented to him by 'my Brethren at St. Paul's' and a harpsichord by Tabcl.^' Abstractsof Marianne's journals, from 1786 until her death in January 1836, made and annotated by her husband in 1842, now join her own transcripts made from her original pocket-books during her last illness." There are many gaps in Marianne's transcripts for, as her husband noted, some were 'so nearly illegible —that is—written and crossed—that 1 destroyed them after extracting everything, except matters of merely temporary interest'. Amongst the new material of interest in the abstracts is a record of William Ayrton's first proposal. He had been accepted on 7 October 1800: 'Years of faithful and lender attachment surely deserved the reward, if calling me his wife shall prove one to him . . . May I have the power to strengthen and retain his attachment, for now he thinks much too highly of me!' (annotated by her husband in 1842: 'No, I did not, my dear and excellent Mary!'). There was apparently an obstacle to their engagement—possibly Dr. Arnold had grander plans for his daughter—for a week before her father's death Marianne noted (13 October 1802) 'Told my mother of Williams 21^ declaration to me. Bless him' and (24 (October) 'W illiatn my only worldly support'. During the first years of her marriage her journals are mainly concerned with the births—and deaths—of children, but the missing years now covered by her husband's abstracts show that by 1813 the Ayrtons were part of the musical establishment. That year Ayrton became a founder-member of the Philharmonic Society and undertook the management of their concerts. Marianne's record of engagements from March to July (fig. 2) shows the extent of their musical and social activities. Of particular interest is the mention of the performance at Drury Lane on 5 March of the Messiah with Mozart's accompaniments 'first time in England', and her two music parties (30 May, 9 July) led by Salomon and Viotti. Her engagements in 1814 included duiing at 'Mr Alsagers'. Thomas Alsager, a proprietor of The Times and a noted musical amateur, later held elaborate music parties at his house in Queen Square. There arc no entries for i8i6, a year when Ayrton travelled abroad to engage singers for the Italian opera at the King's Theatre, of which he undertook the musical direction in 1817. But an entry on 16 March 1817 is very relevant to his current occupations: 'Mr. Alsager to dine. Thc> phned Don Giovanni'; for on 12 April 1817 the first performance in England ot Dim (jiinunnt was given at the King's Theatre and this was regarded as the highlight of Ayrton's three seasons (1817, 1821, and 1825) as musical director. Marianne's journals of the 182OS include frequent mentions of her own ill health, apparently consumption, but she lived until 25 January 1836. Her sympathy with a fellow sufferer is evident from a note in her transcripts from her pocket-books recording a dinner party at James Street, when the guests included Sir George Smart and Weber: (16 April 1826) 'van Weber—{he ill).' \\ eber died in London at the house of Sir George Smart on 5 June. Her entries for 1829 conclude on a despairing note: 'Sickness, expence, and disappointment have embittered my existence for some weeks . . .' and she prayed for God's blessing on her family in their Mong and irksome fatigues' (later annotated by her husband, 'Long, but not irksome, my own .Mary'). Memoranda by Ayrton's daughter Fanny, who kept house for him after her mother's 12 -^i-r ^, 2. Abstract of Marianne Ayrton's journal (1813). Add. MS. 60372, fol. 31 death, have some points of surprising interest." On 23 May 1844 she recorded: 'Our Great Musical Party, in which Mr. C.. Dickens introduced Miss Weller [annotated by Ayrton, ^^ho phn ed charmingly on the P.F. and delighted everybody as much by her performance as her great beauty'], Mendelssohn, Sivori and Joachim came and played. 250 people came.' The celebrated pianist, Ignaz Moscheles, was also present. The Miss Weller introduced by Charles Dickens was Christiana Weller, whom he had met in Liverpool at a Mechanics' Institute soiree.^** To his great embarrassment Dickens had read out to his audience an introduction, previously unseen by him, for 'a young lady whom I have some difficulty and tenderness in announcing—Miss Weller, who will play a fantasia on the piano', lo make amends for his clumsiness Dickens invited her to lunch the next day and subsequently introduced her to his friend, T. J. Thompson, whom she married later the same year. Another brief entry by Fanny on 20 May 1847, 'Miss Lamb died, aged 81', drew the follow ing comment from Ayrton, 'one of the most sensible, amiable women I was ever acquainted with', loyal tribute to the memory of Charles Lamb's unfortunate sister, from one who knew the family well.^-^ W illiam Ayrton's papers and correspondence relating to his seasons as Director of Music at the King's Theatre survive in the previous Ayrton collection.^^ Here is ample evidence of the qualities which made him a successful although not generally popular administrator: business sense and eye for detail combined with tenacity of purpose and considerable diplomatic skills. During the legal case on 10 January 1818 when Ayrton was suing his manager, Edward Waters, for his remuneration during the 1817 season, he was described as 'a gentleman—a scholar—acquainted with foreign languages—understood not only what belonged to the science of music, but to the business of the world'.^^ His counsel went on to elaborate on the difficulties of Ayrton's duties at the King's Theatre in composing the 'jarrinp feelings' of the performers: 'It required a man of profound knowledge of the world to soothe the irritations of the one or flatter the other in order to induce them to make a sacrifice of their vanity. It required such a man as Mr. Ayrton, a man of suavity of manners, of great address, of sound judgment, and refined taste.' Less stage-managed than the evidence of the singers and employees of the King's Theatre who were brought on as witnesses for the plaintiff is the earlier unsolicited testimony of the celebrated tenor, John Braham, who wrote on 4 March 1817: 'I sincerely rejoice at the Prosperity of the Opera House—and hope it may ever continue—with you at the Head of the musical Directorship —for I believe without your able and efficient administration— the Doors would have been closed by this time.'^ John Ebers, who succeeded Waters as manager, wrote in his memoirs that he had accepted the management for the 1821 season 'conditional on .Mr. .Ayrton's undertaking the direction of the Opera. With this precaution I thought myself tolerably safe; for the talent and established reputation of Mr. Ayrton was in itself a guarantee of success.'^^ Apart from dealing with the intrigues of rival singers the Director of .Music had also to negotiate with a committee of aristocratic backers. A lii,'htl\ handled account of a crisis addressed to one of the committee. Viscount Lowther, on -\ September 1824 shows that Ayrton brought considerable literary skills to his tasks. The background was that Benelli, who had purchased Ebers's interest in the theatre, had H absconded and had advertised for sale all the properties of the theatre; the singers were holding a protest meeting under the colonnade in the Haymarket: At this critical moment I arrived in town, and, in my way from tbe Golden Cross, found myself in the midst of the infuriated throng; the ghost in Don Giovanni was particularly active and clamourous, and, no longer intent on reclaiming a libertine, thought only of claiming his salary. One of the party assured me that be had but 4/6 left in his pocket, but I bad not the heart to tell bim that it was about as mucb as he bad earned. The wbole however became somewhat pacified when I explained to them the nature of an injunction, and made tbem understand that the Cbancellor, out of bis distinguished regard for singers and dancers, and bis passionate admiration of operas, would certainly save Signor Ambrogetti's breecbes, and Mad'!'' Noblet's silken caleqons from the ignominy of a public sale.^ Further examples of Ayrton's effective use of the pen, mainly in combative mood, are to be found in the new collection. The committee in charge of a Musical Festival in Westrninster Abbey for the benefit of the Westminster Hospital was trounced in a draft letter of 9 August 1828.^^ With a Pepysian eye for the relation of the value of presents to that of the services performed Ayrton declined a gift of plate worth fifty guineas as inadequate recognition of his services which he recited: persuading the Dean to allow a performance with Italian and Latin words, translating these words, selecting the performers and music, obtaining the gratuitous services of Madame Grisi, undertaking 'the difficult and disagreeable duty of arranging with the principal singers' concerning the performance of the music, answering letters from them 'and their friends', and finally carrying the responsibility for an outlay of more than ^(^2,000. Ayrton's services were again in demand for the management of the Royal Musical Festival in Westminster Abbey in 1834, and indeed for several subsequent festivals, which seem from their programmes to have been modelled on the Handel Commemorations of his youth. An innovation in 1834 brought down on him the wrath of the London musical establishment. He was taken to task by the Spectator (28 June 1834) for bringing in outside performers: 'Persons wholly incompetent have been admitted, nay, brought from a great distance; while meritorious professors resident on the spot have been rudely excluded. Boys and girls, unable to perform the easiest passages in decent tune, have been thrust forward, in order to puff the Tenterden Street School into notice; while some even of the choir of the Abbey have been shut out.'^^ Against this hostile comment may be set the more measured tones of The Times (2 July 1834): 'Thus has terminated the Royal Festival, which, though some clouds appear to lower upon its commencement, has succeeded altogether far beyond the most sanguine expectation, and afforded the highest gratification to some thousands of His Majesty's loyal subjects.' The Times review was presumably written or approved by Ayrton's friend, Thomas Alsager. Another example of Ayrton's pugnacity is given by a draft letter relating to the eminent harpist, composer, and impresario, Robert Bochsa. On 2 and 4 December 1826 there had been a celebrated and successful prosecution for libel by Bochsa of the Examiner and the Sunday Monitor. Bochsa had made skilful use of the current law of libel and proceeded by indictment. The case aroused great sympathy for the defendants and was raised by Henry 15 Brougham in the House of Commons on the last day of the session: *it was one of the greatest instances of injustice and oppression that men were subject to a prosecution by indictment for merely publishing that which was well known to be true.'^^ The charges against l^)chsa, that he was a forger, convicted under French law, and a bigamist, were accepted in many quarters and he lost his connection with the Royal Academy of Music. Ayrton was not, however, successful in his attempt to dislodge Bochsa from the King's Theatre where he had gradually infiltrated himself after the former's departure at the end of the 1825 season. In a draft letter (28 November 1827) written in answer to a request for information 'under the safeguard of official secrecy' to J. B. Mash of the Lord Chamberlain's Office Ayrton catalogued Bochsa's offences, and then touched on the question w hich concerned him : 'Now, my dear sir, is this a man that ought to be placed at the head of the theatre to which the King gives his name ?'^ The crux came a few lines later: 'That he is supported by a few, a very few, people of fashion, only proves their utter contempt for virtuous feeling: the great body of our nobility view him, and the patronage he has received, with honest indignation.' Ayrton's protests were in vain, as were his attempts to get at liochsa in the Harmomcon, a campaign which was restricted after the libel case to sarcasm and none too scrupulous insinuation. Bochsa continued at the King's Theatre until 1832, and Ayrton had to content himself with an epigram in his literary commonplace-book .^^ Dialogue between a reader of the Hamionicon and tbe Editor. (on tbe exposure of Bocbsa in that publication.) Reader Wbo is tbe fellow you attack W itb sucb deatb-doing knocks. Sir ? Editor A forger, bigamist, and quack. And a notorious Boxer. A lesser battle lost by Ayrton is revealed by correspondence of 1840 with George Long, editor of the Penny Gyclopedia (1833 43).^ Ayrton objected to the style and content of the article on the pianoforte and endeavoured to persuade the editor to publish a strangely limping disclaimer: 'The foregoing is not from the pen of the gentleman [Ayrton himself] who has contributed all the articles relative to music, except one, in this work.' The editor, a classical scholar, was his match and pointed out that not only would there be a list of contributors but that some of Ayrton's objections were unfounded: (8 } July 1840) 'I do not assent to the accuracy of all that you say. I do not think the diagrams utterly unintelligible, & I think I can understand them. But we have a large body of readers who are artizans, & I am certain from the communication that I have had with them that they will be glad to see the article.' The article was by Robert Womum, the inventor of several improvements to piano actions; some of these are illustrated in his article. A more favourable example of William Ayrton's critical judgement is given by his 16 running commentary on an '^Imperfect & uncorrected Sketch of a course of 6 lectures on Music; drawn up at the request of Mr Faraday, for his instruction in engaging a lecturer'.^"^ This must date from Michael Faraday's early years at the Royal Institution (of which Ayrton was a founder-member) when his duties included arranging the lectures. Rossini's Barber of Seville (first performed in Paris in 1816) is mentioned. The outline (fig. 3) is remarkably comprehensive: starting from ancient Hebrew music it passes through Greek and Arabic music; early and later church music, both Catholic and reformed; various styles of singing (with the comment, 'Most of the modern Italian singers instances of a false style,—fashionable and fleeting'); pianoforte music ('Many of the present composers for that instrument, as Hummel, Ries, Czerny, Pixis, Herz, &c. will be forgotten thirty years hence; with the exception of a very scanty portion of their works ...'); Italian, French, and English opera; Mozart compared with Rossini ('Mozart's operas hkely to stand the test of time, and to become standards of taste. Most, not all, of Rossini's likely to be forgotten in a few years—when another favorite of fashion rises up to take his place'). The outline ends with Handel and Haydn, and the remark that 'none of the many great works of the former are, or are ever likely to become, obsolete. The same may be said of The Greation^ & the Symphonies, of the latter.' Ayrton did not, apparently, have such a high opinion of Handel's operas.^ Most of the judgements passed stand up well today. What is surprising is the absence of reference to Bach and Beethoven. The date of writing was not too early to take into account the Bach revival encouraged by Samuel Wesley in England. To judge from an unsigned article, probably written by Ayrton, in the Harmonicon in 1823, he regarded Beethoven as an eccentric genius: 'Beethoven is as original and independant in his general modes of thinking, as he is in his musical productions. A decided enemy to flattery, and an utter stranger to every thing dishonourable, he disdains to court the favour of every one, however wealthy or exalted in rank . . . Thus he has for years resided in Vienna in open hostility with many, and in friendship only with the few whom the admiration of his great genius will not allow to take offence, either at the singularities of his manners, or at the ill-judged candour with which he declares his opinions both of persons and things.' Many years later Ayrton had the opportunity to hear the late works of Beethoven at the concerts organized by Thomas Alsager for the Queen Square Select Society and the Beethoven Quartet Society.^^ Three of Ayrton's memoranda books, from 8 March 1849 until two months before his death in 1858, preserve some later judgements.'**' There are some strange juxtapositions: (24 March 1852) 'New Philharmonic Concert, first performance. M. Hector Berlioz' Symphony, Romeo ^ Juliet^ which is either a burlesque, or a remarkable instance of stolid ignorance combined with the grossest vanity'; (26 March 1852) 'Mr. Lodge Ellerton's 3 quartets, at his house, Connaught Terrace; performers, M. Sainton, Mr. Cooper, Mr. Hill, and SigC Piatti. All three good; the i^' and 3':'^ most masterly & effective; equal to all but the very best of the three great masters; superior to any of Spohr, Onslow, and Mendelssohn.' Such praise coming from a critic of Ayrton's acuity suggests that these quartets might be worth reviving. But the following comment is perplexing: (30 June 1853) 'Purcell Commemoration, West. Abbey. "Benedicite", very dull. Jubilate in D, 17 Fig. J. W illiam .Ayrton's outline ofa course of music lectures (after i8i6). Add. MS. 60370, fol. 18 good. Anthems, "Out of the deep*', and "My heart is inditing", both unworthy of the composer.' What was it that offended Ayrton's taste ? There is a rare mention of Bach, (6 April 1854) 'Seb. Bach's Passionsmusik, at Han. Sq. Rooms', unfortunately with no comment. Despite Ayrton's age the picture is still one of lively activity ('Sir F. Dwarris's Turtle Dinner' on i July 1853) ^^^ ^ ^^^en interest in modern developments. He recorded for instance (25 September 1851) the successful laying of the submarine telegraph between Dover and Calais. A meticulous concern with detail led Ayrton to make regular notes of weather conditions (snow on 9 May 1853), and transport costs. On 23 September 1851 he gave 'as a curious fact, as to expence and speed in moving about London' a detailed account ofa journey by boat and bus from Westminster Bridge to London Bridge, Bethnal Green, back to Chelsea by bus, and by river to Hungerford stairs; the total cost for a journey of eighteen miles was i^. 3^. and it took from 10.30 a.m. to 2 p.m. including stoppages and an appointment. After his son moved to Leeds in 1847 there are frequent mentions of train journeys with notes of fares and timings. Ayrton presumably travelled first class, since, in a letter to his son (19 October 1847), he attributed an accident to a friend to economy: 'He was penny-wise, and took the 21'^ class. His throat was cut, by being forced against the wooden partition in one of the carriages that are only half divided.'^1 The small collection of Ayrton's autograph compositions now acquired shows that the style of his most successful pieces, light-weight part-songs and glees, changed little over the years.-*^ The earliest pieces date from 1799 and are perhaps associated with the Singing and Dancing Club, a private society, of which Ayrton was a founder-member and secretary ;''^ members included Samuel Arnold junior and his sister Marianne (Ayrton's later wife), and Frederick Nicolay junior, presumably the son of the music librarian to Queen Charlotte. Ayrton's patriotic hymn, 'Joy to Queen Victoria', which is included in the collection, was performed at the opening of the Birmingham Festival on 19 September 1837. That same day Ayrton, who managed the Festival, reported to his children that' The Hymn was very well performed, and much more effective than I expected'.'*^ Excerpts of reviews and criticisms (1832) of two of Ayrton's works, a canzonet, 'Oh! Memory!', and a Pastoral Duet, 'Fair and fair, and twice so fair', which were published anonymously, are annotated 'Criticisms on my two comps!' ;'*^ this establishes their authorship and provides a closer dating. Two commonplace-books were among the products of Ayrton's active leisure hours and retirement.^ One contains miscellaneous but carefully selected information on a wide range of subjects. It appears to have been compiled after the appointment of his son, William Scrope Ayrton, as Commissioner for Bankruptcy at Leeds, and the departure of his daughter, Fanny, to reside with her brother. 'Now, for the first time in my life, I found myself living alone, as a single man. Alas!'**^ His life now centred on his club, the Athenaeum, of which he had been a founder-member in 1823. A note of 1849 giving statistics relating to the British Museum (number of volumes 435,000; average number of readers per day 250, 'But the attendance has of late years very much decreased') includes a comment on Panizzi, 'well qualified as Librarian. After 10 years of labor has produced 19 letter A in sixteen folio vols.' Ayrton's discriminating eye noted information on postal services, the use of chloroform, circulation of newspapers, railway and farming stock, and people, including an acid comment on Spohr's defence of Dr. Samuel Sebastian Wesley versus 77;c Times: 'Absurd enough. A Doctor of Oxford appealing to a foreign professor for a certificate of his capability!'. A cutting ofa concert review (Morning Ghronicle, 9 July 1853), with faults of grammar and spelling underlined, shows that he must have been a terror to young reporters. More seriously, he included a cutting of Michael Faraday's letter to The Times (7 July 1855), describing the filthy state of the Thames as observed from a steamboat between London and Hungerford Bridges at low water: 'The appearance and the smell of the water forced themselves at once on my attention. The whole of the river was an opaque brown fluid ... Near the bridges the feculence rolled up in clouds so dense that they were visible at the surface . . .' Ayrton's poem. Past and Present, was inspired by the recent cholera epidemics: the copy mounted in his literary commonplace-book is headed '(Reprinted from The Examiner of Oct. 4th, 1851, and daily becoming more applicable.)'. London fell sick; ten thousand were struck down. 'Close every cburcbyard! empty every drain!' Were the loud cries tbrougbout tbe trembling town; Mayor, meetings, press, atid doctors swell tbe strain. London got well. The cries then died away; Tbe danger past, tbe sewers tbeir ordure leak, Tbe grasping rectors snatcb again tbeir prey, Tbe churcbyards still witb festering corpses reek. And Thames, witb poison well supplied from shore to sbore. Refunds its noxious stream, and is imbibed once more! The literary comtnonplace-book was apparently started as a record of Ayrton's leisure reading. The first entr> consists of excerpts from G. Ellis's Specimens of the early English Pnels (1801); other items include poems from Ossian and The Anti-Jacobin; extracts from Mrs. Piozzi's Anecdotes of Johnson (i-j()b), Southey's Letters from Spain and Portugal (1797), G. Baldwyn's Political Recollections, relative to Egypt (1801), and H. Kett's Elements of General Knowledge (1802). At the end of the book and dating from a later period are original pieces by his friends, or of his own composition, including an eulogy of Lord Melbourne: To Viscount Melbourne. Sagacious, eloquent, polite, and just. Long may'st thou hold thy great, tby sacred trust. True friend of Cburcb, safe belm of State! Lov'd by tbe people, bonor'd by the crown. Thy patriot-zeal is read in Tories' frown. Thy honesty in Lyndburst's bate. W. A. June 26, 1837. 20 ^. /"^ U^e i^ A^ / ^fr ••^•? tVcwe—A\M \i. MJIUN,,, XTMKX VV The Rt. Hon. J. W, ( ^' " ltd bv Dr. 11 ^ . Avnn.. THOMAS YOUV.. Es,rs. Th. S,ac-.a.. Passag ges by Dr, I/. Jii-citii/ivv—\U HIM...;. W. C I, John Wilson Cr<,kcr,w,ll,lo as [please • You asked for an IcClo.s.. I ^ive jou a fW.«; And graciously gram, of n.y free wiH alone Instea.l ofa Bath, a fine piece of Bath Slone ^. ^. William Ayrton's literary eommonplace-book. Add. MS. 60358, fol. 86 Specimens of club humour (fig. 4) include a verse protest against the installation ofa frieze rather than warm baths. Ayrton appears as one of the leaders of the 'Growling C-horus'. He had enough sense of humour to include a poem against himself: Is Henderson the worst of bores ? No, Ayrton is a worse. Sir . . . Ayrton's last piece of writing is completely in character. He annotated a copy of Notes and Queries (20 February 1858) 'W. A. 15/3/58. My last literary effort'."*^ The issue contained an article signed 'Alpha' on Don Juan, and Ayrton noted: 'It somehow or other got wind, that I wrote the above article, and for some days I was regarded with a most suspicious look by some ultra-tories at the Athenaeum.' William Ayrton may be forgiven tor harking back at the end of his life —he died on 8 May 1858'*^—to the part he had played in the history of Don Giovanni, in his reference to 'an opera whose renown spread far and wide from the da) when it was so splendidly produced in London'. 1 Add. MSS. 60358-60381, acquired at Sotheby's, 17 For the marriage settlement see Add. Charters 21 Nov. 1978, 2g8. 75566,75865. 2 Add. MSS. 52334-52358. 18 Add. MS. 60372, fol. 13. 3 Obsencr, \\ Jan. 1818. Cutting in Add. MS. iQ Add. Charter 75863 is an indentureof the lease to Dr. Ayrton, 28 Sept. 1785. 4 \dd. \1S '10370. fnls. ^}, 54'. 20 Add. MS. 60371, fol. 82. 5 James Harrison published, among otber works, 21 Add. Charter 75864. Hermann Tabel (d. 1738 in an edition of Dr. Johnson's Dictionary' (London, London) was a well-known maker of harpsi- 1786) and the series Harrisoti's British Classicks chords. (London, 1785). 22 Add. MS. 52351 (Marianne's transcripts); Add. 6 Add, MS. 60370, fol 50. MSS. 60372-60373 (William Ayrton's abstracts). 7 Ibid.. Inl. 41J' 23 Add. MS. 60373, fols. 27-60. 8 Add. MS. 60371. 24 For Charles Dickens and Christiana Weller see 9 Sec T. Busby, Concert Room and Orchestra W, Dexter, The Letters of Charles Dickens (Lon- •ineccJntes {London, 1825), vol. iii, p. 152. don, 1938), vol. i, pp. 572-608 passim. Dickens 10 .\dd. MS- 603H0. Quotations arc from a tran- introduced her to musical circles in London and script accompansing the journal, made in iH(i6 she pla\ed at the Hanover Square Rooms on h\ William Scrope \\rinn, sun of the \(iuni;er 11 and 13 June 1844. W ilium Ayrton. m which some of the eccentrici- 25 Among Lamb's letters to Ayrton is a rhymed ties of spelling are standardized. epistle, 12 May 1817, referring to Don Ciovanni, 11 Add. MS 52352. and concluding: 12 Johann (Christian Fischer (1733 1800), one of the 'Ha! Mr. Ayrton! most celebrated contemporar>- oboists. With all your rare tone—' 13 For further details of Crotch's musical gifts see Dr. C. Burney, '.Account of an Infant Musician', See E. V. Lucas (ed.), The Letters of Charles Lamb Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, (London, 1935), vol. ii, pp. 206-8. Mary Lamb Ixix (1779), part i. pp. 183-206; the Hon. D. Bar- was subject to temporary fits of insanity. rington, 'Some account of little Crotch', Miscel- 26 Particularly Add. MSS. 52335-52337^- lanies (I^ndon. 1781), pp. 311 25. 27 Observer, 11 Jan. 1818; cutting in Add. MS. 14 He was older: W illiam Henry Nassau dc Zuyle- 52335- stein, 5tb f^arl of Rochford, was horn in t754. 28 In Add. MS. 52337A. 15 In Add. .MS. 52351. 29 J. Ebers, Seven Years of the King's Theatre 16 Add. MSS. 60360-60366 and Add. MS. 52344. (London, 1828), pp. 38-9. 22 30 In Add. MS. 52335. 40 Add. MSS. 60367-60369. 31 Add. MS. 60370, fols. i7-2o\ 41 Add. MS. 60370, fol. 7,T,\ 32 Press cuttings in Add. MS. 60379; the Tenterden 42 Add. MSS. 60374-60375. Street School was the Royal Academy of Music, 43 See Add. MS. 52345. founded in 1823. 44 In Add. MS. 52354. 33 Hansard, 13 Dec. 1826. 45 Add. MS. 60370, fols. 21-2. 34 Add. MS. 60370, fols. 15-16. 46 Add. MS. 60359 (miscellaneous commonplace- 35 Add. MS. 60358, fol. 131b. For the Bochsa affair book); Add. MS. 60358 (literary commonplace- see the Harmonicon, iv (1826), pp. 9-11, 30, 64, book). 69-7^ i59> 186; V (t827), pp. 3-4, III, 240; vi 47 Add. MS. 60373, fol. 60. (1828), pp. 48,59,94,224. 48 In Add. MS. 60378. 36 Add. MS. 60370, fols. 25-31\ 49 Obituary in The Centlemen's Magazine, N.s. iv 37 Ibid., fols. 11-12^. (1858), p. 686. The date of death is wrongly given 38 Harmonicon, viii (1830), p. 138. as 8 March in D.N.B. William Ayrton's will, in 39 Programmes of these societies are in Add. MS. favour of his son and daughter, is Add. Charter 52347. See also P. J. Willetts, Beethoven and 75568. England (London, 1970), pp. 53-8. anthems and choruses; practices and performances lasted from 12 o'clock to four in the afternoon. On i June he was at a 'practice of the Messiah', which was attended by the Royal family, bishops, ambassadors 'and most of the distinguished persons in Town'; he gave the size of the audience, excluding performers, as 2,545. On the following Sunday he was critical of the chanting at the Abbey: 'they sung in tune but not in time oweing to the different maner of speaking their words which was not close and altogether as Canta Ferma ought to be, clashing as the Pop guns when irregular firings in the Park are made.' His account of the young musical prodigy, William Crotch,^^ adds a few details to what is known: (8 June) 'Young Crotch being now ten years old did surprise me in playing on the Harpsichord, Clementi's Lessons, being laid before him, he play'd them with great rappidity'; (12 June) 'he sat to the Harpsichord and playd many lessons, and sung to us with great propriety: he gave me a book of his owne composition which surprised me to see so much correctness and judgment in so young a boy'; (13 June) 'Master Crotch and his Mother came to tea; he playd on ye organ, harpsichord. My Lord Rochford came in to hear Crotch: all the gentlemen think him a merakle: my brother gave him a guinea.' Lord Rochford himself was the possessor of a remarkable unbroken soprano voice: (i o June) 'At 120 Clock Lord Rochford came to the Doctors, and sung Sol Fa and Glees in parts, one by Jos. Baildon, Adieu to the village delights in E: his Lordship took the upper part, which he sung very well with a soprano voice; he also sung. He shall feed his flock, and I know that my Redeemer liveth, with the same sort of voice which surprised me how he sustain that sort of voice quiet through. I suppose Lord Rochford to have attained the age of 20 years.'^'* On his journey home to Ripon the elder William Ayrton visited relatives and saw the sights in Cambridge including the fields near Emmanuel where 'young gentlemen play at that laboreous game Cricket'. On the eve of his departure he was entertained by seven young Cantabrigians: 'they endeavoured to make me drunk, they succeeded.' He played the organ in Newark and saw the collections of a Mr. Pocklington: (26 June) 'He a very curious gentleman. Pictures, Statutes, and many muscikell Instruments, a very fine situation.' He played the organ again at Southwell, and near Mansfield he visited the cotton mills and lace manufactory where he saw lace 'being worked the same as a stocking Loom, and after with a needle in frames'. Young William Ayrton, then a boy of nine, gets only a passing mention in his uncle's journal and the first we hear of him directly in the Ayrton papers is in 1793, when he was sixteen and his future wife slightly older. An entry in Marianne's original pocket-book for 17»)3 reads: *W Ayrton leans over the sopha looks at me nursing Mrs Barrow's baby.' The tiagment was carefully mounted and annotated by her husband, 'From my Mary's Pocket Iiook for 1793: -Some indication of my early love for her (a very true one), and that she was not insensible to it'.^^ More prosaic but very detailed information about the Ayrton household during the first years of their marriage comes from William Ayrton's account books of domestic and personal expenditure, into which he also entered his income from teaching. The books for 1S03 and 1805 to 1810 have now come to join the account book for 1804 acquired previously."" The 1803 account book opens after his marriage to Marianne on 17 May and gets oft to a good start with a gift of ^^ioo from Marianne's godmother. Without this gift the accounts would have been in arrears almost immediately for the outgoings for that first incomplete year were ;C48i. 17.V. i id. as against receipts of ^£538. 35. od. They lived in the style appropriate for a young and ambitious professor of music with a fashionable clientele. Expenses for 1803 included visits to the opera (25 June: 125. 6i., made up of 85. opera, 2s. book, and 2s. 6d. coach) and Vauxhall (22 August: 165. lod.^ including transport and supper), and ^Marianne visited Cambridge in September (£3. 35. od. for her place in the coach and expenses there). Purchases included necessary reference books such as Dr. Burney's General History of Music and his Memoirs of. . . Metastasio^ and there were several payments to well-known music publishers. As the later account books show their income was boosted by the dividends from the Consols made over to William Ayrton as part ol Marianne's marriage settlement ;^^ she had also retained control through trustees over residual money from her father's estate (he died intestate). Ayrton had at first refused to sign the marriage settlement;'^ presumably he objected to the clause relating to the money intended tor her use 'independantly and exclusively of the said William Ayrton who is not to intermeddle therewith . . .'. The later account books show that he maintained their standard of living chiefly from a successful teaching practice in these early years of their marriage, despite the interruptions of illness and a growing family. After a brief period of residence at 98 Sloane Street the young couple returned in the autumn of 1806 to James Street (now Buckingham Gate), Pimlico (fig. i). Old Dr. Ayrton apparently left his house at no. 24, w here he had once enjoyed the use of a large garden, reputedly haunted, on the c\pir> of his lease.'"^ He joined the young Ayrtons at no. 4 James Street where he resided until his death on 22 May 1808. The address was a good one but there was an alarmmg amount of illness in the family (Marianne's mother hinted that the house was damp: (13 November 1809) 'far be it from me to prove myself a screech-owl, or croaking Raven, but, is it quite sure & certain that your situation is as free from unwholesome damp, as it is really beautiful V-^^ All the children were poorly and three of them died young: William Ayrton had typhus in the autumn of 1808 and Marianne later developed consumption. They escaped smallpox for Ayrton was advanced enough to have his children vaccinated; the 1808 account b