The John Marsh Journals

[ardcarp]

Lucie Skeaping talks to Brian Robins about the journals of composer John Marsh.
[Who he?]
Sunday 27 Oct 2013

[doversoul1]

I’m sure Lucie will tell us but they (whoever is responsible for the website) could have been more helpful. No playlist either.

John Marsh (31 May 1752 – 31 October 1828) was an English music composer, born in Dorking, England. A lawyer by training, he is known to have written at least 350 compositions, including at least 39 symphonies. While today known primarily for his music, he also had strong interest in other fields, including astronomy and philosophy, and wrote books about astronomy, music, religion, and geometry.
Marsh lived in Dorking, Gosport, Romsey, Salisbury and Canterbury before settling in Chichester in 1787 until his death in 1828. As a concert organizer, he was responsible for the music making in the towns and cities where he worked, especially in Chichester, where he led the subscription concerts for some 35 years.
Marsh was perhaps the most prolific English composer of his time. His own catalog of compositions records over 350 works, of which he lists 39 symphonies. Of these, only the nine that Marsh had printed are extant, together with three one-movement finales.
Marsh was a man of varied interests, and his 37 volumes of journals are among the most valuable sources of information on life and music in 18th-century England. They represent one of the most important musical and social documents of the period. It remained unpublished until the first volume was published in 1998. In one passage, Marsh describes the great Handel Commemoration of 1784 in London.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Marsh_(composer)

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Marsh's Journals are a "must read" for anyone interested in Georgian social history.

Marsh himself was not a bad composer -

http://www.amazon.co.uk/John-Marsh-Symphonies/dp/B0012DAC70/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1382791811&sr=1-1&keywords=john+marsh

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Symphonies-Chichester-Concert-Ian-Graham-Jones/dp/B000027IPY/ref=sr_1_3?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1382791811&sr=1-3&keywords=john+marsh

http://www.amazon.co.uk/18th-Century-British-Symphonies-Friedrich/dp/B00005A7MI/ref=sr_1_11?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1382791811&sr=1-11&keywords=john+marsh

... and there was a Hyperion CD including one of his String Quartets played by the Solomons). They would have benefited from a greater use of counterpoint (they get a bit bland heard one after another) - but as a historical figure, he's well worth knowing about. Brian Robins has done remarkable service in reassessing his importance in our knowledge of British Music history. (His book on the Glee clubs is also excellent. Something that comes out in both studies is how committees of amateur and semi-professional Music Societies haven't changed - the Parish Council meetings in The Vicar of Dibley are nothing new.)

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2-FR7sjhN0

[ardcarp]

Thanks Dovers and Ferney. Listening to the Youtube clip now. Charming if a little bog-standard. However he seems to have been in that amazing tradition of late 18th/early 19th century polymaths. Another such was Thomas Young, physician, natural philosopher and music lover, with important contributions to physics (light, Young's elastic modulus)) code-breaking (the Rosetta Stone) and music (Young's temperament..a system of tuning) plus much else. It makes one wonder how such people had enough hours in the day.

[doversoul1]

2.00pm this afternoon.

PR for CFM, just once. Catherine’s first programme goes on air tonight 9.00pm.

[MickyD]

Thanks a lot for flagging this up...I knew of Marsh as a composer, but had no idea about his journals...it sounds fascinating. I have the CD of some of his symphonies by The Chichester Concert - though I am a fan of period instruments, in my opinion it should never have been released - there are some pretty unpleasant sounds here and there. Maybe a case of under-rehearsal.

[edashtav]

Thanks a lot for flagging this up...I knew of Marsh as a composer, but had no idea about his journals...it sounds fascinating. I have the CD of some of his symphonies by The Chichester Concert - though I am a fan of period instruments, in my opinion it should never have been released - there are some pretty unpleasant sounds here and there. Maybe a case of under-rehearsal.

Fascinating stuff. I, too, had not heard of Marsh's Journals. Oh dear, Lucie used that Chichester Consort LP as an example of Marsh's symphonies - I won't name the instrument that caused my teeth to chatter. Perhaps tuning up was optional in Marsh's day!

[MickyD]

Fascinating stuff. I, too, had not heard of Marsh's Journals. Oh dear, Lucie used that Chichester Consort LP as an example of Marsh's symphonies - I won't name the instrument that caused my teeth to chatter. Perhaps tuning up was optional in Marsh's day!

Eeek, I did warn you! But maybe this is a really authentic approach - I'm sure many 18th century provincial musicians weren't always spot on!

[Tony Halstead]

Eeek, I did warn you! But maybe this is a really authentic approach - I'm sure many 18th century provincial musicians weren't always spot on!

Hmmm.... well, well, 'it' can only have been either an oboe or a horn, surely?
Give credit where credit is due, and similarly with 'blame'.!

[edashtav]

Hmmm.... well, well, 'it' can only have been either an oboe or a horn, surely?
Give credit where credit is due, and similarly with 'blame'.!

I take your point,Tony . The tentative cellist made me "on edge" but the sour flute - that was the cause of the dental chatter. The whole sounded like an unrehearsed run-through.

[doversoul1]

Eeek, I did warn you! But maybe this is a really authentic approach - I'm sure many 18th century provincial musicians weren't always spot on!

I don’t imagine that was the performers’ intention but we could say that, unintentionally, they proved the point and in a way, made a valuable contribution to this particular programme.

[ed] what's happened to Lucie's photograph?

[MickyD]

I finally got round to listening to this programme - lovely stuff. I'd like to buy the first volume, but it is a bit steep for me. We'll see what Father Christmas might bring!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I finally got round to listening to this programme - lovely stuff. I'd like to buy the first volume, but it is a bit steep for me. We'll see what Father Christmas might bring!

- the Conversation Symphony makes me smile every time I hear it, and the Journals are suffused with the same sort of humane cheerfulness.