Charles Burney (7 April 1726 – 12 April 1814) was an English music historian and father of author Frances Burney. Events 529 - First draft of Corpus Juris Civilis (a fundamental work in Jurisprudence) is issued by Eastern Roman Emperor Year 1726 ( MDCCXXVI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Events 467 - Anthemius is elevated to Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. Year 1814 ( MDCCCXIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland This article is about the academic field of music history. For a chronological overview of music see History of music. For playwright Frances Burney (1776–1828 niece of novelist Fanny Burney Madame d'Arblay 1752-1840 see Frances Burney (1776–1828 Frances Burney
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Biography
Charles Burney was born at Shrewsbury, and educated at Shrewsbury School. Shrewsbury ( /ˈʃruːzbri/ or /ˈʃroʊzbri/ is the County town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England Shrewsbury School (formally known as King Edward VI Grammar School Shrewsbury) is an public school, located in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, He was later sent to the public school at Chester, where his first music master was Edmund Baker, organist of the cathedral, and a pupil of Dr John Blow. Chester is the County town of Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77040 John Blow (baptised 23 February 1649 &ndash 1 October 1708 was an English Composer and Organist. Returning to Shrewsbury at the age of fifteen, Burney continued his musical studies for three years under his half-brother, James Burney, organist of St Mary's church, and was then sent to London as a pupil of Dr Thomas Arne for three years. Thomas Augustine Arne (12 March 1710 &ndash 5 March 1778 was an English Composer, best known for the patriotic Rule Britannia!.
Burney wrote some music for Thomson's Alfred, which was produced at Drury Lane theatre on March 30, 1745. Drury Lane is a street in the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. Events 240 BC - 1st recorded Perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. Year 1745 ( MDCCXLV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a In 1749 he was appointed organist of St Dionis-Backchurch, Fenchurch Street, with a salary of £30 a year; and he was also engaged to take the harpsichord in the "New Concerts" then recently established at the King's Arms, Cornhill. Year 1749 ( MDCCXLIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Fenchurch Street is a road in the City of London. It links Aldgate at its eastern end with Lombard Street and Gracechurch Street A harpsichord is a Musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. In that year he married Esther Sleepe, who died in 1761; in 1769 he married Mrs Stephen Allen of Lynn. It was for his health that he went in 1751 to Lynn in Norfolk, where he was elected organist, with an annual salary of £100, and lived for nine years. Norfolk (ˈnɔrfək is a low-lying county in East Anglia, England, United Kingdom. During that time he began to entertain the idea of writing a general history of music. His Ode for St Cecilia's Day was performed at Ranelagh Gardens in 1759; and in 1760 he returned to London in good health and with a young family; the eldest child, a girl of eight, surprised the public by her attainments as a harpsichord player. Ranelagh Gardens (alternative spellings include Ranelegh and Ranleigh the latter of which reflects the English pronunciation were public Pleasure gardens located in Chelsea The concertos for harpsichord which Burney published soon after his return to London were much admired. In 1766 he produced, at Drury Lane, a translation and adaptation of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's opera Le Devin du Village, under the title of The Cunning Man. Drury Lane is a street in the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. Le devin du village ("The Village Soothsayer" is an Opera by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who also wrote the Libretto.
The University of Oxford honoured Burney, on 23 June 1769, with the degrees of Bachelor and Doctor of Music, and his own work was performed. The University of Oxford (informally "Oxford University" or simply "Oxford" located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England is the Events 1180 - First Battle of Uji, starting the Genpei War in Japan 1305 - The Flemish Year 1769 ( MDCCLXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a This consisted of an anthem, with an overture, solos, recitatives and choruses, accompanied by instruments, besides a vocal anthem in eight parts, which was not performed. In 1769 he published An Essay towards a History of Comets. Amidst his various professional avocations, Burney never lost sight of his main project--his History of Music--and decided to travel abroad and collect materials that could not be found in Britain. Accordingly, he left London in June 1770, carrying numerous letters of introduction, and travelled to Paris, Geneva, Turin, Milan, Padua, Venice, Bologna, Florence, Rome and Naples. Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city Geneva (Genève is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and is the most populous city of Romandy (the French -speaking Milan (Milano Milan (listen) is one of the largest cities in Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy. Padua ( Padova 'padova Latin: Patavium, Padoa) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy. Venice ( Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venesia or Venexia) is a city in Northern Italy, the capital of the Bologna (boloɲa from Latin Bononia, Bulåggna in Bolognese dialect is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy Florence ( Italian: Firenze Florentia and Fiorenza) is the Capital City of the Italian region of Tuscany Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 Naples ( Napoli, Neapolitan: Nàpule) is a historic City in southern Italy, the Capital of the The results of his observations were published in The Present State of Music in France and Italy (1771). Dr Johnson thought so well of this that, alluding to his own Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland, he said, "I had that clever dog Burney's Musical Tour in my eye. Samuel Johnson (often referred to as Dr Johnson) (18 September " In July 1772 Burney again visited the continent, to do further research, and, after his return to London, published his tour under the title of The Present State of Music in Germany, the Netherlands and United Provinces (1773). Year 1772 ( MDCCLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a In 1773 he was chosen as a fellow of the Royal Society. The Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge, known simply as The Royal Society, is a Learned society for science that was founded in 1660
In 1776 appeared the first volume (in quarto) of his long-projected History of Music. In 1782 Burney published his second volume; and in 1789 the third and fourth. Though criticized by Forkel in Germany and by the Spanish ex-Jesuit, Requeno, who, in his Saggj sul Ristabilimento dell' Arte Armonica de' Greci e Romani Canton (Parma, 1798), attacks Burney's account of ancient Greek music, and calls him lo scompigliato Burney, the History of Music was generally well-received. Johann Nikolaus Forkel ( February 22, 1749 &ndash March 20, 1818) was a German Musician, Musicologist and Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. The fourth volume is considered the least successful, the treatment of Handel and Bach being quite inadequate. Burney's first tour was translated into German by Ebeling, and printed at Hamburg in 1772; and his second tour, translated into German by Bode, was published at Hamburg in 1773. A Dutch translation of his second tour, with notes by J. W. Lustig, organist at Groningen, was published there in 1786. Groningen is the capital city of the province of Groningen in the Netherlands. The Dissertation on the Music of the Ancients, in the first volume of Burney's History, was translated into German by Johann Joachim Eschenburg, and printed at Leipzig, 1781. Burney derived much aid from the first two volumes of Padre Martini's very learned Storia della Musica (Bologna, 1757-1770).
In 1774 he had written A Plan for a Music School. In 1779 he wrote for the Royal Society an account of the young William Crotch, whose remarkable musical talent excited so much attention at that time. William Crotch ( 5 July 1775 &ndash 29 December 1847) was an English Composer, organist and Artist. In 1784 he published, with an Italian. title-page, the music annually performed in the pope's chapel at Rome during Passion Week. Passion Week is a name given to the week beginning at the Fifth Sunday in Lent where this Sunday is or was known as Passion Sunday. In 1785 he published, for the benefit of the Musical Fund, an account of the first commemoration of George Friedrich Handel in Westminster Abbey in the preceding year, with an excellent life of Handel. The Handel festival or ‘ Commemoration ’ took place in Westminster Abbey in 1784, to commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the death of The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, which is almost always referred to by its original name of Westminster Abbey, is a large mainly Gothic church In 1796 he published Memoirs and Letters of Metastasio. Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi, better known by his Pseudonym of Metastasio, ( January 3, 1698 &ndash April 12, 1782
Towards the close of his life Burney was paid £1000 for contributing to Rees's Cyclopaedia all the musical articles not belonging to the department of natural philosophy and mathematics. Rees's Cyclopædia, or The New Cyclopaedia or Universal Dictionary of the Arts and Sciences was edited by Revd In 1783, through the treasury influence of his friend Edmund Burke, he was appointed organist to the chapel of Chelsea Hospital, and moved from St Martin's Street, Leicester Square, to live in the hospital for the rest of his life. Edmund Burke ( 12 January, 1729 9 July, 1797) was an Irish statesman author orator Political theorist, and The Royal Hospital Chelsea is a Retirement home and Nursing home for British Soldiers who are unfit for further duty due to For the British guitarist see Lester Square. Leicester Square (ˈlɛstɚ is a Pedestrianised square in the West End He was made a member of the Institute of France, and nominated a correspondent in the class of the fine arts, in the year 1810. From 1806 until his death he enjoyed a pension of £300 granted by Fox. He died at Chelsea College on 12 April 1814, and was interred in the burying-ground of the college. Events 467 - Anthemius is elevated to Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. Year 1814 ( MDCCCXIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common A tablet was erected to his memory in Westminster Abbey. The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, which is almost always referred to by its original name of Westminster Abbey, is a large mainly Gothic church
Burney's portrait was painted by Reynolds in 1781 for Henry Thrale's library. Sir Joshua Reynolds RA FRS FRSA (16 July 1723 &ndash 23 February 1792 was the most important and influential of 18th century English painters Henry Thrale (1724/1730?&ndash 4 April, 1781) was an 18th century English Member of Parliament (MP and a close friend of Samuel Johnson His bust was cut by Nollekens in 1805. He also appears in John Barry’s The Thames (also known as Victory of Navigation) that was painted in 1783 for the Society of the Arts and Manufactures. John Barry may refer to Sir John Barry (fl 1529 rector of Chew Stoke John Barry (naval officer (1745&ndash1803 officer in the Continental He had a wide circle of acquaintance among the distinguished artists and literary men of his day. At one time he thought of writing a life of his friend Dr Samuel Johnson, but retired before the crowd of biographers who rushed into that field. Samuel Johnson (often referred to as Dr Johnson) (18 September
His eldest son, James, was a distinguished officer in the royal navy, who died a rear-admiral in 1821; his second son was the Rev. Charles Burney; and his second daughter was Frances or Fanny, the famous novelist, later Madame D'Arblay. Charles Parr Burney DD ( December 4, 1757 - December 28, 1817) was an English classical scholar and clergyman For playwright Frances Burney (1776–1828 niece of novelist Fanny Burney Madame d'Arblay 1752-1840 see Frances Burney (1776–1828 Frances Burney Her published diary and letters contain many minute and interesting particulars of her father's public and private life, and of his friends and contemporaries. A life of Burney by Madame D'Arblay appeared in 1832. For playwright Frances Burney (1776–1828 niece of novelist Fanny Burney Madame d'Arblay 1752-1840 see Frances Burney (1776–1828 Frances Burney
Besides the operatic music above mentioned, Burney's known compositions consist of:
- Six Sonatas for the harpsichord
- Two Sonatas for the harp or piano, with accompaniments for violin and violoncello
- Sonatas for two violins and a bass: two sets
- Six Lessons for the harpsichord
- Six Duets for two German flutes
- Three Concertos for the harpsichord
- Six concert pieces with an introduction and fugue for the organ
- Six Concertos for the violin, etc. , in eight parts
- Two Sonatas for pianoforte, violin and violoncello
- A Cantata, etc.
- Anthems, etc.
- XII. Canzonetti a due voci in Canone, poesia deli' Abate Metastasio.
See also
- Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser - a verse translation by Burney
Works
External links
- Hester Thrale's account of Charles Burney
- An on-line edition of the 4th volume of his History of Music covering the modern period to the date of publication is [1]
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