Concert Room and Orchestra Anecdotes of Music and Musicians, Ancient and Modern - Busby, Thomas 1754-1838 (London Clementi, 1825)
Brief anecdotes on various composers and performers, mostly compiled from external sources, as the author acknowledges in the preface, p. iv: "The articles now presented to the public, have, in many instances, been collected from sources that lay far out of common reach ..." However, as he argues at p. v: "many of the narratives and anecdotes in these volumes are the results of a reminiscence founded on the professional practice and personal connection of three score years, and have never met the public eye." The book in fact contains many descriptions of recently-invented instruments and theaters, interesting biographies of English musicians, insights on aesthetics, etc.
The title-page of vol. 1 depicts the façade of the Italian Opera House in London, with a fold-out reproducing the setup of the Handel Commemoration in Westminster Abbey (see 03K12). Vol. 1 furthermore contains engraved portraits of Carl Maria von Weber, Elizabeth Billington and Joseph Haydn, as well as facsimiles of musical fragments by the Earl of Kelly, Arnold, Arne and Croft (also included in vol. 3), and a fold-out indicating the compass of voices and instruments. The title-page of vol. 2 depicts Benjamin Flight & Joseph Robson's Apollonicon (described in vol. 1, pp. 3-4) and the façade of the Argyle Rooms, and furthermore contains portraits of Charles Burney and Henry Purcell, as well as a fold-out with a facsimile of the musical handwriting of Henry Purcell, Samuel Wesley and Johann Sebastian Bach. Vol. 3 has a title-page depicting the façade of the London Odeon, portraits of Jean-Baptiste Lully, Thomas Augustine Arne and John Braham, and a fold-out representing the musical handwriting of Pleyel, Boyce, Dibdin, Tartini, Shield and Haydn.
By Tho.s Busby. Mus. D.
Keywords: Apollonicon (London, United Kingdom); 18th Century (1701-1800); 19th Century (1801-1900); Music history; Biography; Mechanical device; United Kingdom; a =; Apollonicon; Arne, Thomas_portret; Burney, Charles_portret; muziekautomaat; compositieloon; compositienotatiemachine; plagiaat; Farinelli_portret; Purcell, H._portret; stemomvang; Giordani; Händel, G.F._portret; Weber, C.M. von_portret; klavecimbel_prijs; Rückers, fam; Lully, J.B._portret; Mälzel; Mälzel; metronoom; Monteverdi, C._Orfeo; Panharmonicon