Michael Christian Festing
Michael Christian Festing (29 November 1705 – 24 July 1752) was an English violinist and composer. His reputation lies mostly on his work as a violin virtuoso. Biography Michael Christian Festing was born in London to parents John and Elizabeth Festing and christened at Saint Anne's Church, Soho, on 17 December 1705. Some evidence suggests that his family had ties to Gros Festin, near Stralsund in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Michael's brother, John Festing, was a flautist and oboist who amassed a sizeable fortune through teaching music. His brother is most likely the musician depicted in William Hogarth's painting ''The Enraged Musician'' (1741, now in the Tate Britain, London).Melanie Groundsell: "Michael Christian Festing", ''Grove Music Online'' ed. L. Macy (Accessed 19 January 2009)(subscription access) Festing first studied violin with Richard Jones and then later became a pupil of Francesco Geminiani. He made his professional debut on 6 March 1723 performing a conc ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Virtuoso
A virtuoso (from Italian ''virtuoso'' or , "virtuous", Late Latin ''virtuosus'', Latin ''virtus'', "virtue", "excellence" or "skill") is an individual who possesses outstanding talent and technical ability in a particular art or field such as fine arts, music, singing, playing a musical instrument, or composition. Meaning This word also refers to a person who has cultivated appreciation of artistic excellence, either as a connoisseur or collector. The plural form of ''virtuoso'' is either ''virtuosi'' or the Anglicisation ''virtuosos'', and the feminine forms are ''virtuosa'' and ''virtuose''. According to ''Music in the Western civilization'' by Piero Weiss and Richard Taruskin: ...a virtuoso was, originally, a highly accomplished musician, but by the nineteenth century the term had become restricted to performers, both vocal and instrumental, whose technical accomplishments were so pronounced as to dazzle the public. The defining element of virtuosity is the performance ab ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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King's Musick
Kings or King's may refer to: *Monarchs: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations, with the male being kings *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The ''Shahnameh'', an 11th-century epic Persian poem **The Morgan Bible, a French medieval picture Bible **The Pararaton, a 16th-century Javanese history of southeast Asia *The plural of any king Business *Kings Family Restaurants, a chain of restaurants in Pennsylvania and Ohio *Kings Food Markets, a chain supermarket in northern New Jersey * King's Favourites, a brand of cigarettes *King's Variety Store, a chain of stores in the USA *King's (defunct discount store), a defunct chain of discount stores in the USA Education *King's College (other), various colleges * King's School (other), various schools * The King's Academy (other), various academies Electoral districts *King's (New Brunswick electoral district) (1867–190 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Maurice Greene (composer)
Maurice Greene (12 August 1696 – 1 December 1755) was an English composer and organist. Biography Born in London, the son of a clergyman, Greene became a choirboy at St Paul's Cathedral under Jeremiah Clarke and Charles King. He studied the organ under Richard Brind, and after Brind died, Greene became organist at St Paul's. With the death of William Croft in 1727, Greene became organist at the Chapel Royal, and in 1730 he became Professor of Music at Cambridge University. In 1735 he was appointed Master of the King's Musick. At his death, Greene was working on the compilation ''Cathedral Music'', which his student and successor as Master of the King's Musick, William Boyce, was to complete. Many items from that collection are still used in Anglican services today. He wrote very competent music in the Georgian style, particularly long Verse Anthems. His acknowledged masterpiece, ''Lord, let me know mine end'', is a representative example. Greene sets a text full of pathos ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pleasure Garden
A pleasure garden is a park or garden that is open to the public for recreation and entertainment. Pleasure gardens differ from other public gardens by serving as venues for entertainment, variously featuring such attractions as concert halls, bandstands, amusement rides, zoos, and menageries. Historically a "pleasure garden" or ''pleasure ground'' meant private flower gardens, shrub gardens or formal wooded areas such as bosquets, that were planted for enjoyment, with ornamental plants and neat paths for walking. These were distinguished from the areas in a large garden planted as lawns or a landscaped park, or the "useful" areas of the kitchen garden and woodland. Thus most modern gardens would have been called "pleasure gardens", especially in the 17th and 18th centuries. The two meanings of the term, as the ornamental parts of a garden, and as a commercial place of entertainment, coexisted in English from at least the 17th century. History Public pleasure gardens ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ranelagh Gardens
Ranelagh Gardens (; alternative spellings include Ranelegh and Ranleigh, the latter reflecting the English pronunciation) were public pleasure gardens located in Chelsea, then just outside London, England, in the 18th century. History The Ranelagh Gardens were so called because they occupied the site of Ranelagh House, built in 1688–89 by The 1st Earl of Ranelagh, an Anglo-Irish peer who was the Treasurer of Chelsea Hospital (1685–1702), immediately adjoining the hospital; according to Bowack's ''Antiquities of Middlesex'' (1705), it was "Designed and built by himself". Its actual builder and owner was one Solomon Rieti, an Italian Jewish immigrant. Rieti's niece, Rebecca Rieti, was the grandmother of Benjamin Disraeli. Ranelagh House was demolished in 1805 (Colvin 1995, p. 561). The original Ranelagh ( ga, Raghnallach) was one of the Earl's Irish estates: a similar pleasure garden was opened near Dublin city, and this gives its name to the present-day suburb of R ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Royal Society Of Musicians
The Royal Society of Musicians of Great Britain is a charity in the United Kingdom that supports musicians. It is the oldest music-related charity in Great Britain, founded in 1738 as the ''Fund for Decay'd Musicians'' by a declaration of trust signed by 228 musicians, including Edward Purcell (eldest son of Henry Purcell), Thomas Arne, William Boyce, Johann Christoph Pepusch, Hilda Wilson, Dr. John Worgan, and George Frideric Handel. It still operates a bank account at Drummonds Bank (now part of Royal Bank of Scotland) which was opened by its first secretary, Michael Christian Festing, in November 1738. The fund received patronage from George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ..., and it was incorporated by royal charter in 1790. Funds were raised by holding char ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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George Frideric Handel
George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training in Halle (Saale), Halle and worked as a composer in Hamburg and Italy before settling in London in 1712, where he spent the bulk of his career and Handel's Naturalisation Act 1727, became a naturalised British subject in 1727. He was strongly influenced both by the middle-German polyphony, polyphonic choral tradition and by composers of the Italian Baroque. In turn, Handel's music forms one of the peaks of the "high baroque" style, bringing Italian opera to its highest development, creating the genres of English oratorio and organ concerto, and introducing a new style into English church music. He is consistently recognized as one of the greatest composers of his age. Handel started three c ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Johann Christoph Pepusch
Johann Christoph Pepusch (1667 – 1752), also known as John Christopher Pepusch and Dr Pepusch, was a German-born composer who spent most of his working life in England. He was born in Berlin, son of a vicar, and was married to Margherita de l'Epine who also performed in some of his theatrical productions. Early life Pepusch studied music theory under Martin Klingenberg, cantor of the Marienkirche in Berlin. At the age of 14, he was appointed to the Prussian court where he gave music lessons to the future Frederick William I of Prussia. He resigned this position in 1698 after witnessing the execution of an officer without trial. He then first went to Amsterdam. In 1704, he settled in England but continued to publish in Amsterdam until 1718. Career At first, Pepusch earned a living playing the viola, then as a theatre director, music theoretician, teacher and organist. In 1726, Pepusch founded The Academy of Vocal Music with others; in around 1730–1, it was renamed T ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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William Boyce (composer)
William Boyce (baptised 11 September 1711 – 7 February 1779) was an English composer and organist. Like Beethoven later on, he became deaf but continued to compose. He knew Handel, Arne, Gluck, Bach, Abel, and a very young Mozart all of whom respected his work. Life Boyce was born in London, at Joiners Hall, then in Lower Thames Street, to John Boyce, at the time a joiner and cabinet-maker, and beadle of the Worshipful Company of Joiners and Ceilers, and his wife Elizabeth Cordwell. He was baptised on 11 September 1711 and was admitted by his father as a choirboy at St Paul's Cathedral in 1719. After his voice broke in 1727, he studied music with Maurice Greene.Bruce (2005) His first professional appointment came in 1734 when he was employed as an organist at the Oxford Chapel in central London. He went on to take a number of similar posts before being appointed Master of the King's Musick in 1757 (he had applied for the post on the death of Maurice Greene in 1755) and beco ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Henry Purcell
Henry Purcell (, rare: September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer. Purcell's style of Baroque music was uniquely English, although it incorporated Italian and French elements. Generally considered among the greatest English opera composers, Purcell is often linked with John Dunstaple and William Byrd as England's most important early music composers. No later native-born English composer approached his fame until Edward Elgar, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst, William Walton and Benjamin Britten in the 20th century. Life and work Early life Purcell was born in St Ann's Lane, Old Pye Street, Westminster – the area of London later known as Devil's Acre, a notorious slum – in 1659. Henry Purcell Senior, whose older brother Thomas Purcell was a musician, was a gentleman of the Chapel Royal and sang at the coronation of King Charles II of England. Henry the elder had three sons: Edward, Henry and Daniel. Daniel Purcell, the youngest of the b ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Edward Purcell (musician)
Edward Purcell (1689–1740) was an English organist and composer. Purcell was born in Westminster, London, the only surviving son of English Baroque master Henry Purcell, who died in 1695 when Edward was a small child. When his mother Frances died in February 1706, she stated in her will, and apparently in accordance with her husband's wishes, that she had given him a good education.Holman, Peter, and Thompson, Robert 'Edward Purcell' in ''Grove Music Online'' (ed. L. Macy)grovemusic.com, accessed 15 March 2008 She also bequeathed to him music and instruments: "the organ, the double spinnet, the single spinnet"; possibly the instruments her husband had used.Holman, Peter (1994) ''Henry Purcell'' (Series: Oxford Studies of Composers). Oxford: Oxford University Press. 98. Edward became organist of St Clement Eastcheap, in London at the end of 1711, a position he retained for the rest of his life. He was unsuccessful in his attempts to succeed his uncle Daniel Purcell as organist of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Earl Of Plymouth
Earl of Plymouth is a title that has been created three times: twice in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. History The first creation was in 1675 for Charles FitzCharles, one of the dozens of illegitimate children of King Charles II and one of a few by his mistress Catherine Pegge. He died without heirs in 1680, and the title became extinct. The second creation came in 1682 in favour of Thomas Hickman-Windsor, 7th Baron Windsor. The family descends from Sir Andrew Windsor, who fought at the Battle of the Spurs in 1513, where he was knighted. In 1529 he was summoned to Parliament as Baron Windsor, ''of Stanwell in the County of Buckingham''. His grandson, Edward, the third Baron, fought at the Battle of St Quentin in 1557. Edward's elder son Frederick, the fourth Baron, died unmarried at an early age and was succeeded by his younger brother, Henry. The latter's son, Thomas, the sixth Baron, was a Rear-Admiral in the Royal Navy. On Thoma ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |