The Scottish antiquary John Callander (c1721–1789) is not a person many would associate with music in eighteenth-century Britain. His contribution to this art was indeed slight, but he did have a strong interest in music, going so far as to print in 1781 a proposal for a book on the history of the ancient music of Scotland; he is also reputed to have been an excellent violinist.Footnote 1 Until recently any link between Callander and the Newcastle upon Tyne musician Charles Avison (1709–1770) has been tenuous. Callander was a subscriber to volumes three to eight of John Garth's version of The First Fifty Psalms … by Benedetto Marcello, a project originally instigated by Avison.Footnote 2 He also subscribed to two copies of Avison's Op. 9 concertos from 1766. No further connection was known to exist until recently, when a letter written by Callander resurfaced that reveals not only that he was well acquainted with Avison, but also that the two men appear to have been good friends.
Callander's letter is held by the Music Library of the University of Western Ontario, to which institution it was donated in 2009 by Drs James and Margaret Whitby. The Whitbys are, according to the library's website, ‘avid local chamber musicians’ and have ‘amassed a significant collection of antiquarian chamber music’.Footnote 3 Their collection is important as it contains a large number of original editions from the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, with an understandable focus on chamber music, particularly for strings. What drew my attention to the collection was the large number of first and early editions by eighteenth-century British composers. There are works by, among others, Capel Bond, John Stanley, John Garth, William Boyce, William Shield, William Babel and Thomas Arne. Their collection also includes original copies, albeit some incomplete, of almost every eighteenth-century edition of music by Avison. The Whitbys had taken an interest in Avison's music and went to great lengths to procure as many of his works as they were able. They described their interest in Avison's music at the time of their donation:
We have always been interested in British composers of music in the 18th century; among whom Avison is an important and productive example. The major components of his output were collections of Concerti Grossi which were quite successful in his date and attracted respectable numbers of subscribers. He spent the bulk of his life in Newcastle on Tyne presumably in contentment as he refused offers to move to London, York or other cities. By all accounts he was charming and of equable temperament and I have included one testament to this effect here. He died in 1770 and was buried in St. Andrew's Churchyard in Newcastle, his grave is an imposing monument sited immediately outside the Church's West Door …. The bulk of his compositions were instrumental works and examples of most of them are included in this donation.Footnote 4
The Whitbys' collection contains some exceptionally rare printed editions of Avison's music, but what sets it apart from other similar collections is the inclusion of the letter written by Callander.Footnote 5 This was not in fact the first time that it had appeared, for it was sold on 6 December 1991 as lot 28 in Sotheby's London auction of printed and manuscript music.Footnote 6 The importance of the letter was not lost on the author of the catalogue entry; it is therefore something of a surprise that the sale of the letter seems to have passed unnoticed by anyone connected with the history of music in Newcastle.
Callander's letter is dated 6 July 1781 and was written in response to one that he had himself received (see the Appendix for a transcription and Figure 1 for a reproduction of the first page). Callander gave no indication on the letter itself as to who his correspondent was, but it seems likely that it was the Novocastrian Robert Page (1738–1807), as at some point after 1782 Page added a signed note to the letter which mentions Callander's Two Ancient Scottish Poems (Edinburgh, 1782).Footnote 7 Further evidence that the correspondent was from the Newcastle area can be seen from Callander's request that his regards be passed on to Avison's children, which makes clear that Callander did not maintain contact with the Avison family after the composer's death: Avison's son Edward had died in 1776 and his daughter, Jane, in 1773. It is curious that Callander made no mention of Avison's youngest son, also called Charles, who did not die until 1795 and was at the time resident in Newcastle.Footnote 8
First page of John Callander's letter. Used by permission of the University of Western Ontario
Page himself was a close friend of Avison and worked as the deputy comptroller of customs at Newcastle for forty-one years; according to his obituary he was ‘not less distinguished as an elegant scholar than as an officer of inflexible integrity’.Footnote 9 He was also a member of the Newcastle Literary and Philosophical Society, to which august body he bequeathed a ‘valuable collection of books’.Footnote 10 Page subscribed to Avison's Op. 9 concertos and may have been a member of Avison's Newcastle orchestra.Footnote 11 Furthermore, when there was a problem with Avison's will, Page signed an affidavit that certified its authenticity.Footnote 12 Page went on to marry Avison's daughter Jane in 1773, although she died after only four months of marriage. If Page was indeed Callander's correspondent, then the latter was clearly unaware that Page was Avison's son-in-law.
Page appears to have planned a biography on Avison, and had contacted Callander in regard to the autobiography that he knew was in the latter's possession. Page also appears to have been curious as to how influential the then-vicar of Newcastle, Dr John Brown (1715–1766), had been on Avison's musical productions.Footnote 13 Callander tried to censure any thoughts that the composer had received assistance, and wrote that Avison had ‘no need of any help from Dr Brown’. Although Callander's support is admirable, it had been known for some time that Avison's important work of music criticism, An Essay on Musical Expression (London: C. Davis, 1752), was the work of a ‘junto’. William Hayes first pointed this out in his 1753 Remarks on Mr. Avison's Essay on Musical Expression, and Avison himself confirmed this in his Reply from the same year.Footnote 14
It is unfortunate that Callander was unable to locate the autobiography that Avison had provided since there are many aspects of Avison's life, particularly his formative years, about which we know very little.Footnote 15 Callander also revealed that he had been in regular correspondence with Avison and had a ‘great number’ of letters from the eminent composer. Regrettably, anything that had survived at the family home, Craigforth House, near Stirling, was more than likely destroyed in the conflagration which engulfed that building in 1930.Footnote 16
The letter itself is, for the most part, written by an amanuensis, with Callander appending a note in which he apologized for the scribe's errors, some of which he also corrected. The letter indicates that the two men were good friends, so much so that Callander lodged with Avison when he visited Newcastle. It appears that Avison also visited Callander at Craigforth House on more than one occasion and that the two also met during the composer's visits to Edinburgh; Avison may even have stayed at Edinburgh as Callander's guest. Up until the discovery of this letter there was no record that Avison had ever visited Scotland. Before 1759 he was offered the opportunity to perform at concerts in Edinburgh and teach the harpsichord there, but he rejected these and other opportunities in order to remain in Newcastle.Footnote 17 Nevertheless, Edinburgh and Newcastle are situated only 120 miles apart along the Great North Road, a distance that could be covered by coach in a single day.Footnote 18 In view of Edinburgh's standing as an important musical centre, it is probable that Avison made the journey often over his lifetime. Further evidence of Avison's Edinburgh connections can be seen in the Edinburgh Musical Society's subscription to several of Avison's publications, including his Two Concertos (1742) and the concertos Opp. 2, 3, 4 and 9.Footnote 19 Any involvement that Avison personally had with music production in Edinburgh is currently unknown, though he could well have attended or even taken part in concerts in that city. A likely connection would have been through the Edinburgh-based concert promoter Cornforth Gelson (born 1726), who had been appointed ‘Master and Teacher of Church Musick’ at Edinburgh in 1756.Footnote 20 He had previously been a member of Durham Cathedral Choir and performed, along with Avison, in Garth's Durham-based concerts.Footnote 21
Callander's letter reveals some new facts about Avison's early life. Callander's humorous anecdote that Avison sneaked into a Newcastle hall on the evening before a concert is the only story to survive from his childhood. Callander goes on to speak of how Avison travelled with an ‘English Gentleman’, during which period he found time to study music. There is some question as to who this gentleman might be, but the most likely candidates are Ralph Jenison and Colonel John Blaythwait, who were respectively the dedicatees of Avison's Op. 1 trio sonatas (first published in about 1737) and Op. 2 concertos. Although Blaythwait was a well-known patron of the arts, one tends to gravitate towards Jenison as the likelier candidate, since we know from the accounts of the wealthy County Durham-based landowner George Bowes that Avison was for a time in Jenison's employ.Footnote 22 Roz Southey, from her research into the Bowes records, came to the conclusion that Avison was a servant in Jenison's household, perhaps a footman, but was unsure as to what Avison's duties might have been.Footnote 23 Nevertheless, Callander's letter ties in well with the dedication contained in Avison's Op. 1, which records that his first published works were ‘the Fruits of those vacant hours, I was favour'd with when in your [Jenison's] Service’. The ‘vacant hours’ may well have occurred while Jenison, who was the MP for Northumberland, was in attendance at Parliament, and such a view is not without merit, as Callander goes on to say that Avison ‘diligently attended the lectures and performances of the most famous Proffessors’. Avison would have struggled to find time to study music if his services were constantly required, and Jenison, perhaps recognizing Avison's exceptional talent, deliberately allowed him the necessary time to develop his musicianship; he may even have financed Avison's musical lessons. The letter also gives a clear indication that Avison did indeed accompany Jenison to London. Even though musicians frequently did visit Newcastle, they tended to stay no more than a few days, and so it is unlikely that the two would have stopped long enough for this to have had much of an impact on the young Avison. It is far more likely that Avison spent a considerable amount of time studying in the capital, the culmination of which was a benefit concert held at Hickford's Room in Panton Street, London, on 15 March 1734.Footnote 24 The ‘famous Proffessors’ to whom Callander referred probably included the Italian composer Francesco Geminiani. According to Burney, Avison was a pupil of Geminiani,Footnote 25 and Avison's music certainly has a marked indebtedness to his eminent teacher. Other ‘Proffessors’ would surely have included Handel, whom Avison must have seen in concert during his visits to London, as well as other musicians, both native to Britain and foreign, who worked in the city in the early 1730s.
Callander then discusses Avison's compositions, and many of his comments could well have been taken directly from the composer's correspondence. He mentions Avison's opinions on the use of fugue, as well as his harpsichord technique. That the harpsichord was Avison's favourite instrument may come as a surprise, since the majority of his compositions are violin-dominated. Nevertheless, Avison did write a considerable amount of keyboard music, including three keyboard concertos, one of which was published in 1742 as part of his Two Concertos; another two were recently discovered in one of Avison's workbooks, now held by Newcastle City Library. He also published three sets of six accompanied harpsichord sonatas, Opp. 5, 7 and 8,Footnote 26 while his Opp. 2 and 9 concertos appeared in editions that facilitated their performance on a keyboard instrument. Callander concludes with a touching account of Avison's character and family relationships.
John Callander's letter about Avison is important not only because it adds considerably to our knowledge of Avison's life, personal opinions and relationships, but also because it emphasizes the significant connections that existed between the chief musical centres in Scotland and those south of the border. In addition, this letter adds to our understanding of the networking that clearly took place between musicians in different musical centres, both professional and amateur. I am profoundly grateful to the Whitbys for making the letter accessible to me and future scholars through their generous donation. One can only hope that more new source material will appear in the future that will allow us to flesh out further Avison's early life and his development into one of the most important composers that Britain produced in the eighteenth century.
Appendix
Transcript of John Callander's letter
Craigforth July 6th 1781
SirFootnote 27
I have been employed ever since I was favoured with yours [letter] of June 29th in turning over all my papers to find the short account which my much valued friend Mr Avison had given me, of his own life, and it is with infinite regret, I now tell you I cannot possibly find it. The memoirs you ask for, he put together at my earnest desire, and were intended to make part of a work I meant to have laid before the Public under the title of, An account of the lives and works of the most Eminent proffessors [sic] of Music from the age of Palest[r]ina to the year 1750. The premature death of my worthy friend put a stop to this undertaking, and indeed for a while greatly coolled [sic] my ardour, and checked my pursuit of my favourite Science. As nothing can give me more real pleasure than being able to deck the Tomb of one of the best men I ever was acquainted with, I proceed with much pleasure to enform [inform] you, that I lived in the most intimate familiarity with Mr Avison. I have lived with himFootnote 28 for many days together, in his house at New Castle, and he has more than once favoured me with his Company in this place [Craigforth], as well as at Edinburgh. From a thorough knowledge both of his talents as a Writer, and his abilities as a Composer, I can safely aver to you, that he stood in no need of any help from Dr Brown, either in the arrangement of his Diction, or in those truly just and elegant strictures upon the principles of Musical expression he has favoured us with. Dr Brown, althoh a thorough judge of Classical expression, and of elegant taste in the science of Music, yet was no way fitted to unfold those minute parts of the Musical structure, or to point out these arrangements of Composition which must ever escape the eye of those who have never studied the principles of this divine art, and deduced them, as Mr Avison has done, from the unerring dictates of nature, the alone foundation of true taste in all the finer arts.
I still preserve great numbers of my worthy friends [sic] letters, which tho’ written in all the careless confidence of friendship, and in moments hastily stolen away from the duties of his proffession [sic], yet are conceived in the chastest language, and with an energy of expression every way befitting the Author of the valuable Treatise which will ever endear his name to the true adepts of real Science.Footnote 29
Bear with me, Sir, while I endeavour to recollect a few anecdotes of my worthy friend's life, which I gathered from his papers, or pickd up from him in conversation. His early attachment to Music was so very strong, that when a boy of eight years old, fearing to be refused admittance to a morning Concert, on the preceeding [sic] evening he entered the Hall, and hid himself among the Benches, contented to pass the whole night in that disagreeable situation, that he might enjoy the pleasure he expected in the morning. He afterwards travelled with an English Gentleman, and during this excursion, diligently attended the lectures and performances of the most famous Proffessors, to which he joined a Critical examination of every thing that had been written on the Science of Music, and thus cultivated those happy dispositions Nature had blessed him with. But his peculiar attention was directed to the works of those great Masters in Harmony, who have flourished during the last eighty years, and whose beauties of Stile he has with astonishing skill and taste transplanted into his own Compositions. That he was no servile copier, even of those models he most admired, evidently appears from the many and great improvements he has introduced into his own Concertos. Finding that the Fugues even of the greatest Masters, were apt to hang on too much upon the ear, and to tire the attention, he has happily corrected this, by occasionally introducing the most lively and animated Solo passages, attended with the most gracefull accompanyments, which prepare the ear to receive with double pleasure the united sounds of the grand Counter points which follow them.Footnote 30
As a Performer, he exemplifyed on his favourite instrument the Harpsicord, all the elegance and effect of those rules he has left us. Chaste, Flowing, and Pathetic, his performance was a uniform representation of the feelings of his own tender mind. Even when he gave a loose to his fancy in playing of Voluntaries, the strains were never disordered by discordant Ricercate, or those bastard embellishments, under which many Capital Masters strive to hide their want of taste and Sentiment.Footnote 31 The habitual serenity of his mind pervaded his every performance, and no true judge ever saw Mr Avison rise from his Harpsicord without regret.
In private life he was most amiable. His good breeding was the result of elegant feelings, and the most unbounded Benevolence. An affectionate Husband, a most tender Parent,Footnote 32 a most steady Friend, without gall, as without guile, he was most beloved by those who knew him best, and such was his general deportment that it captivated the hearts of all about him.
This short sketch of a most worthy man's character is not the result of desultory observation, but the experience of many years, and the most intimate familiarity. In the long course of our acquaintance, I do not remember to have seen his temper once ruffled, or the native serenity of his soul, in the least disordered. I hope I have not wearied you, but I feel an inward satisfaction in paying this last tribute to the memory of one of the worthiest of mankind, and I now conclude in the words of Shakespear[e], and with tears in my eyes,
I am happy you have already done material justice to Mr Avison, as an author, and you are at full liberty to make any use of this letter you please, if it may contribute to set his character in its true light. / If his Son Edward, or his daughter [Jane], live still in New-Castle, I beg you will assure them of my most affectionate regard./
I am ill able to write my self, and have employed a young pen, whose incorrectness, I hope you will pardon. Oblidge [sic] me by letting me know you have received this.
