I'm sorry I have _a_ clue...

> What  is  the  date  of the first recorded
> performance on the pianoforte in England?

> ...  For  many years it was believed to be a public concert given by
> J.C.  Bach  on 2 June 1768, at the Thatched House Tavern, St James's
> Street.  This  is  still  repeated  in  the current literature, even
> though  at  least  one  earlier date is known. I'm curious if anyone
> here  can  contribute  to  this. I'll give my answer to the puzzle a
> little later.

I'm  curious  (  and I'm also wondering why you should have decided to
ask this quizze on HPSCHD-L and _not_ on the fortepiano@egroups... ).

My guess is you are gonna come up with something earlier than J.C.Bach
on the Zumpe mentioned above. Which could be a ( not yet known to me )
record  of  anyone's performance on the piano Samuel Crisp had brought
to England from Italy.

(  see  Chapter  3 of Cole, The Pianoforte in the Classical Era ; Cole
dates  Crisp's  import  "during  the  1730s  or  early 1740s", [ David
Crombie,  elsewhere,  says  "c1752"  ].  Cole's assumption is that the
piano  was  modelled  on early Cristofori or possibly later Florentine
instruments.

"In  1747  the instrument was at Wilbury, the country mansion of Fulke
Greville,  who  at  that time or shortly afterwards paid Thomas Arne a
large  some  of  money  to  release  the  young Charles Burney from an
indenture  so  that  he  could become Greville's resident music master
(...).   In   one  of  the  few  fragments  that  remain  of  Burney's
autobiographical  memoirs,  there is a brief account of his experience
at Wilbury showing that, at a formative period in his life, the future
music  historian  and  composer  had limitless opportunities for daily
practice  on this early pianoforte, at a time when very few people had
ever seen such an instrument.

 '  The touch was very imperfect, and the mechanism clumsy; so nothing
 but  slow  movements  could  be  executed upon it. However, [in] slow
 pieces,  such  as the dead march in Saul, Arne's march in Zara, and a
 very few pathetic strains in Italian operas, it had a magnificent and
 new  effect  in the Chiar'oscura of whichk, with a little use, it was
 capable. Experience was necessary to the performer

 [ sic ]

 upon  it  -  which  by living in the house and trying the effects and
 discovering  the  degree of force or delicacy of touch it was capable
 of, I gained considerable credit in shewing it off. 1)'"

 [ sic sic sic ]

[ Michael Cole, op.cit. p.43
  1) The Memoirs of Dr Charles Burney, ed. S.Klima et al.
     (Lincoln, Nebr., 1988), 72-3 ]

And  don't  you  say  a  performance  is not a performance unless in a
concert hall, Stephen. Too modern a point of view. Remains the problem
Burney  doesn't  remember  exact date of when & to whom he was shewing
off...




--

scripsit
Marc
[ Donnerstag, 18. Januar 2001 ]

" The world exists for the education of each man. " ( Emerson, History )