1810-13 Early Years

My Journey begins, along with some questions

Johann Peter Salomon

My relationship with Lady Priscilla began reasonably well, especially when she took me off to lessons with her teacher, my friend Johann Peter Salomon.  Sometimes, even though there were wars and rumours of wars with Napoleon Bonaparte across Europe, Johann Salomon asked Lady Priscilla if he could ‘borrow’ me and my Thomas Tubbs bow to lead the Orchestra at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden – where the operas of Georg Frederick Handel were in vogue, along with works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and even some of Johann’s own compositions.

German influences

I noted at the time a predominance of Austian and Germanic music being played in England.  Perhaps this had something to do with the prevailing Hanoverian monarchy, but I do wonder if there was a distinct antipathy towards anything French or associated with Napoleon.  Much later on, during the two World Wars of the 20^th Century, I was amazed to discover that many voices in Britain wanted to ban performances of the music of Beethoven!  They didn’t win.

Thinking theologically as well as musicologically in this ‘odyssey’ of mine, I have found that the study of Theology in England was greatly influenced by German scholarship, with such luminaries as Karl Barth, Rudolf Bultmann and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and so was much traditional Music teaching with those German ‘giants’ Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven & Johannes Brahms.

The Philharmonic Society of London

On 8 March 1813, Salomon and I had the pleasure of leading the orchestra at the inaugural concert of the newly-formed Philharmonic Society of London in the Argyll Rooms (just around the corner from my ‘birth-place’ in Princes Street).  Muzio Clementi and Nicholas Mori were there, and we played symphonies by Joseph Haydn and Ludwig van Beethoven, as well as other splendid pieces. It was wonderful and a great joy!

(Engraving of Regent Street 1825, with the Argyll Rooms on the right. Print made by Charles Heath after William Westall)

Ode to Joy & Delight

But what a contrast to being in Lady Priscilla’s hands!  With her I felt I was being treated like a delicate object, a ‘decoration’ in a lavish aristocratic life-style. With Johann Salomon I somehow became myself, and my true and distinctive voice began to be heard. It filled me with much joy, and I could tell that Johann was delighted too!  Here’s another theme which will recur in my story, for I am convinced that life is to be enjoyed to the full with real passion, rather than simply to let it ‘take its course’ with whatever may come.

During the latter part of the 20^th century, I remember how my owner Harvey had been obsessed with the idea that he should be striving towards some kind of ‘achievement’ which involved a qualification in violin-playing – something he had narrowly failed years earlier, while we were together at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

It became a huge relief to both him and to me when, just a few days ago, he was told by his new teacher: ‘You have nothing to prove, Harvey; you don’t need to pass any exams!  For goodness sake, play your fiddle for the sheer joy and delight of it!’

I can definitely tell if a player wants to find joy and delight, especially when our bodies – violin, bow and player – resonate and sound together.  I also wonder if this aspiration for joy and delight, along with the need to cease ‘striving’, can be applied to all life.

I wonder what these words from the Reformed Church’s Shorter Westminster Catechism of 1647 are expressing:

Q. 1. What is the chief end of man?
A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.

Early questioning

During Lady Priscilla’s lessons, when she was trying so hard to play with me, there were some real questions I had to face. They were a rude awakening in my infancy, but I know it was vital to face questions such as these, even in my early years:

Does musical expression have a distinctive sound, a ‘God-given’ voice with a meaningful message, or is it mere ‘entertainment’, a pleasant past-time for those who can afford it? [Somebody once described music as ‘audible cheesecake’  and ‘sonic wallpaper’!]. 

Or:

Is Art, and instrumental music especially, able to express ultimate, profound and meaningful emotions and feelings, and understanding – and does it encourage listeners and performers alike to use their creative potential and imagination together?

.

There will be more of this later, particularly when I play modern and post-modern compositions from 20^th and 21^st centuries, but now, in my next entry, I must tell you about some dramatic and devastating events which have made an indelible mark upon my body……………………………….