New Book
The Ingenious Mr Avison: Making music and money in 18th Century Newcastle
Reviewed by Jane Carroll
Newcastle’s new central library is to be called ‘The Charles Avison Building’ – an indication that the city’s most famous composer is at last gaining proper recognition, 300 years after his birth. In his lifetime Avison was regarded as England’s greatest composer of concertos, but he was important in particular for his role in making Newcastle the leading provincial centre of music-making.
This book, the first full-length biography of Avison, clearly shows him as a talented and versatile musician, an energetic and enterprising concert promoter, and a man who forged lasting friendships. It also presents a fascinating picture of eighteenth-century social and musical life in Newcastle and the surrounding area.
Avison had quite humble beginnings, but his early musical talent presumably gained him the support of a patron, as he was able to go to London to study with the Italian composer Geminiani. When he returned to Newcastle he was appointed organist at St John’s Church and later at St Nicholas’. He taught music and played privately for the local gentry, composed, and played an active part in local intellectual circles. However, he also proved to be an astute businessman, taking advantage of the new fashion for public subscription concerts. His activities as concert promoter eventually made him very prosperous as well as enhancing his social status.
Throughout his life Avison took his composing very seriously, even though he deliberately wrote music that could be played by competent amateurs. By the time of his death in 1770 his music was considered old-fashioned and it remained largely neglected until the formation in 1984 of the Avison Ensemble, which regularly performs his music and has recorded all his published works.
This is a copiously illustrated and well-researched book and it includes a list of published compositions, a discography and a bibliography.
Visit www.avisonensemble.com for details of concerts, talks and exhibitions
City and County
May 2009
