Charles Avison Charles Avison

Charles Avison (/ˈeɪvɪsən/; 16 February 1709 (baptised) – 9 or 10 May 1770) was an English composer during the Baroque and Classical periods. He was a church organist at St John The Baptist Church in Newcastle and at St. Nicholas's Church (later Newcastle Cathedral). He is most known for his 12 Concerti Grossi after Scarlatti and his Essay on Musical Expression, the first music criticism published in English. He composed in a transitional style that alternated between Baroque and Classical idioms.

Life

The son of Richard and Anne Avison, Charles Avison was baptised on 16 February 1709, at St John the Baptist Church, in Newcastle. According to The New Grove Dictionary, he was also born in this city. His educational history, though unclear, could have been at one of the two charity schools serving St John's parish. Some sources claim that Charles was the fifth of nine children, while others claim that he was the seventh of ten children. Regardless, Avison was born into a family with a high rate of infant mortality, as many of his siblings died at a young age. His father was a musician and was likely to have been Charles’s first teacher. When Charles was 12, his father died, leaving his mother widowed with at least one and possibly two children at home. Avison's adolescent and teenage years are mostly undocumented, but they may have included an apprenticeship with a local merchant named Ralph Jenison, a patron of the arts, and later a Member of Parliament, as well as further study of music.

In his twenties, Avison moved to London to further pursue his career as a musician. It was during this period of his life that he met and began to study with Francesco Geminiani. Avison's first documented musical performance was a benefit concert in London on 20 March 1734. This was also his only known concert in London and probably contained some of his early compositions written under Geminiani. Avison left London and, on 13 October 1735, was appointed organist of St. John’s, Newcastle. This appointment took effect once the church had installed a new organ in June 1736. Avison then accepted a position as organist of St. Nicholas Church in October 1736, and later was appointed director of the Newcastle Musical Society. He remained at these two posts until his death. Avison also taught harpsichord, flute, and violin to private students on a weekly basis. Much of Avison's income was generated through a series of subscription concerts which he helped organise in the North East region of England. These were the first concerts of their type to be held in Newcastle. Despite numerous offers of more prestigious positions later in life, he never again left Newcastle.

Avison was married to Catherine Reynolds on 15 January 1737. The couple had nine children, of whom only three – Jane, Edward, and Charles – survived to adulthood. Edward succeeded his father as both the director of the Newcastle Musical Society and the St Nicholas's organist after his father’s death. Charles was also an organist and composer. Avison died in May 1770 of unknown causes. According to his will, he had become a very wealthy man between his collection of books, musical instruments, and his stock holdings, which were left to his children. His will specified that he wanted very little money to be spent on his funeral and that he wished to be buried beside his wife at St Andrew's Church, Newcastle upon Tyne where he was buried near the north porch. Avison was one of the subjects in Robert Browning's Parleyings with Certain People of Importance in their Day: "Hear Avison! He tenders evidence/That music in his day as much absorbed/Heart and soul then as Wagner's music now."