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Hickford's Long Room was a public concert room in London, which ran from April 1713 to about 1779. It was paid for on a subscription basis to those who could afford to patronize the arts, such as the nobility. The 1922 Groves noted that "most of the great performers, both vocal and instrumental, who visited England, gave their concerts there." The room became a place to see successful musicians play, including
There were 20 concerts a season, running from December to April. A season ticket (or "subscription") cost 4
(subscription access)
Joseph Tacet (who was a master of the German flute), the Brothers Colla (playing
File:Bodleian Libraries, Newscutting relating to Mr Hickford's Great Room, February 1719, announcing Vocal and instrumental music.jpg, 1719, Feb. Advertisement announcing Vocal and instrumental music for the benefit of Mr. Dahuron. Entrances on both James Street and Panton Street.
File:Bodleian Libraries, For the benefit of Mr. Zuccarini, (lately arrived from Italy).jpg, 1737. Announcement of March 1737 concert for violinist, Mr. Zuccarini.
File:Bodleian Libraries, Newscutting relating to Hickford's Great Room, 25th March 1737, announcing Several new concertos.jpg, 1737, March 25. Advertisements for Hickford's Great Room on Panton Street, about two years before the move to the Brewer Street location.
File:Gabriele Leone concert add 17 March 1766.jpg, 1766, March 17. Benefit concert Advertisement for Gabriele Leone at Hickford's Long Room.
File:Bodleian Libraries, Hickford's near Golden Square.jpg, 1772, April 2. Newscutting relating to Hickford's, announcing A grand concert for the benefit of Mr. Vento; Grand concert; Hickford's near Golden Square
File:Bodleian Libraries, For the benefit of Mess. Bromley and Evans.jpg, 1772. Concert for the benefit of Mr. Bromley; Vocal part by Miss Thomas; First violin and solo by Mr. Ximenes; Concerto on the hautboy; Several select pieces on the harp; Duet upon two harps by Messrs. Bromley and Evans.
File:Bodleian Libraries, For the benefit of Mess. Borghi and Savoy.jpg, 1773. Concert for the benefit of Mess. Borghi and Savoy.
File:Bodleian Libraries, For the benefit of Signora Frasi.jpg, 1773, May 14. Concert for the benefit of Signora Frasi.
Hickford's Long Room was a public concert room in London, which ran from April 1713 to about 1779. It was paid for on a subscription basis to those who could afford to patronize the arts, such as the nobility. The 1922 Groves noted that "most of the great performers, both vocal and instrumental, who visited England, gave their concerts there." The room became a place to see successful musicians play, including Francesco Scarlatti
Francesco Scarlatti (5 December 1666 – c.1741) was an Italian Baroque composer and musician and the younger brother of the better known Alessandro Scarlatti.Hair, Christopher (2003): "Francesco Scarlatti". Francesco Scarlatti: Dixit Dominus (p ...
(1719 & 1724), Francesco Geminiani
230px
Francesco Saverio Geminiani (baptised 5 December 1687 – 17 September 1762) was an Italian violinist, composer, and music theorist. BBC Radio 3 once described him as "now largely forgotten, but in his time considered almost a musical god, ...
(c. 1732), Gluck
Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period (music), classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the ...
in 1746, Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...
(1765), Francesco Maria Veracini
Francesco Maria Veracini (1 February 1690 – 31 October 1768) was an Italian composer and violinist, perhaps best known for his sets of violin sonatas. As a composer, according to Manfred Bukofzer, "His individual, if not subjective, style has ...
, Pietro Castrucci
Pietro Castrucci (1679 – 7 March 1752) was an Italian violinist and composer.
Castrucci was born in Rome, where he studied with Arcangelo Corelli; in 1715, he settled in London, where he became known as one of the finest virtuoso violinists of ...
and Matthew Dubourg
Matthew Dubourg (1703 – 3 July 1767) was an English violinist, conductor, and composer who spent most of his life in Ireland. Among other achievements, Dubourg led the orchestra at the premiere of Georg Friedrich Handel's great oratorio Messia ...
. For a time in the 1740s and 50s, it was the only concert room of note in the West End of London.
John Hickford
A 1922 source reports that "little is known" of the venue's founder, John Hickford. He was a "dancing-master in the latter part Queen Anne's reign", and his room was one of two in the west end of London with sufficient room for concerts. As artists approached him to use his room, he developed a reputation as a concert-organizing agent. His establishment was known by a variety of names at different times, including ''Mr. Hickford's Dancing School'' and ''Mr. Hickford's Great Dancing Room''. Later as it became a concert venue, it was called ''Mr. Hickford's Great Room'' and ''Mr. Hickford's Room''.Programme
There were 20 concerts a season, running from December to April. A season ticket (or "subscription") cost 4 guineas
The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from t ...
, about 44 days wages for a skilled tradesman
A tradesman, tradeswoman, or tradesperson is a skilled worker that specializes in a particular trade (occupation or field of work). Tradesmen usually have work experience, on-the-job training, and often formal vocational education in contrast to ...
. Non-ticket holders paid half a guinea (6-days' wages) to attend a show if space was available. A ticket-holder could arrange to bring a friend, with a charge of 5 shillings (2-days' wages) for each of them.
The regular band was led by Michael Christian Festing, with singer Cecilia Young
Cecilia Young (also Cecilia Arne) (January 1712 – 6 October 1789) was one of the greatest English sopranos of the eighteenth century, the wife of composer Thomas Arne, and the mother of composer Michael Arne. According to the music historian Cha ...
(known publicly as " Mrs. Arne") and cello played by Andrea Caporale (who played for Handel in 1740).
In addition to the house's seasonal shows, benefits concerts were held for musicians, with other musicians supporting them with their music. An example of this was the benefit for mandolin
A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...
virtuoso Gabriele Leone
Gabriele Leone (born Naples c. 1735 – 1790) was an Italian musician and composer who lived in Paris during the middle and later part of the 18th century. A virtuoso on the violin and mandolin, he wrote an early mandolin method, ''Analytical me ...
, March 17, 1766. The beneficiary, Leone, performed one of his own pieces, as well as one from Emanuele Barbella. He had help from composer Mattia Vento
Mattia is an Italian language, Italian given name for males and, less frequently, females. Also a surname, it may refer to:
Given name
*Mattia Altobelli (footballer, born 1983), Mattia Altobelli (born 1983), professional Italian footballer
*Matti ...
, who directed the concert. Also part of the concert was violinist composer François-Hippolyte Barthélémon
François Hippolyte Barthélemon (27 July 1741 – 20 July 1808) was a French violinist, pedagogue, and composer active in England.
Biography
François Barthélemon was born in Bordeaux (Gironde), France. He received his education in Paris, where ...
and his soon-to-be wife, soprano Polly Young
Polly Young (also known as Mary Young, Maria Young, Polly Barthélemon and Maria Barthélemon) (7 July 1749 – 20 September 1799) was an English soprano, composer and keyboard player. She was part of a well-known English family of musicians th ...
,Olive Baldwin, Thelma Wilson: "Charles Young", ''Grove Music Online'' ed. L. Macy (Accessed 12 January 2009)(subscription access)
Joseph Tacet (who was a master of the German flute), the Brothers Colla (playing
colascione
The colascione (or calascione, Italian: [], French: ''colachon'' [], also sometimes known as liuto della giraffa meaning giraffe-lute, a reference to its long neck) is a plucked string instrument from the late Renaissance and early Baroque perio ...
)s, Spanish violinist Oliver (whose patron was the Earl of Abingdon
Earl of Abingdon is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created on 30 November 1682 for James Bertie, 1st Earl of Abingdon, James Bertie, 5th Baron Norreys of Rycote. He was the eldest son of Montagu Bertie, 2nd Earl of Lindsey by his seco ...
) and cellist Giovanni Battista Cirri
Giovanni Battista Cirri (1 October 1724 – 11 June 1808) was an Italian cellist and composer in the 18th century.
Biography
Cirri was born in Forlì in the Emilia-Romagna Region of Italy. He had his first musical training with his brother Ig ...
.
Location
The Long Room was located first on James Street in Haymarket, across from the Royal Tennis Courts); it was expanded and grew to have a second entrance on Panton Street. As Mr. Hickford became successful, he moved his establishment, in 1739, toBrewer Street
Brewer Street is a street in the Soho area of central London, running west to east from Glasshouse Street to Wardour Street.
The street was first developed in the late 17th century by the landowner Sir William Pulteney. It first appears on ...
near Golden Square
Golden Square, in Soho, the City of Westminster, London, is a mainly hardscaped garden square planted with a few mature trees and raised borders in Central London flanked by classical office buildings. Its four approach ways are north and sout ...
, "a fashionable part of town." The latter location featured a room 50 feet by 30 feet, lit by a large window on the southern side, with a high coved ceiling
A coved ceiling is a ceiling that has had the visual appearance of the point where the ceiling meets the walls improved by the addition of coving.
It can also refer to a ceiling, like in a Mosque
A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid ...
and decorative cornice
In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...
s and mouldings. It had a small stage and a gallery above the door. It is unclear whether Hickford had the new room built, or whether he took over an existing space.
The room stood behind No. 41 Brewer Street until its demolition in 1934 as part of the expansion of the Regent Palace Hotel
The Regent Palace Hotel was a large hotel in central London at 10 Glasshouse Street, close to Piccadilly Circus, between 1915 and 2006. It was designated as a Grade II listed building by English Heritage in 2004.
. The ''Encyclopaedia Britannica'' described the demolition as having a "deplorable disregard of its unique interest and historical associations".
Gallery
References
Bibliography
* * * {{coords, 51.511, -0.136, display=title 1713 establishments in England 1779 disestablishments in England Former concert halls in London