HERSCHEL, William (1738-1822) - Symphonia per 8to. Stromenti (1762)

William Herschel (1738-1822) - Symphonia (No.17, C-Dur) per 8to. Stromenti (1762)

Performers: Hеidеlbеrgеr Sinfonikеr; Jοhаnnеs KIumpp (conductor)

Drawing: George Moutard Woodward (1765-1809) - Caricature ornaments for screens!

Further info: William Herschel (1738-1822) - Symphony No.12 in D

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Frederick William (Friedrich Wilhelm) Herschel

(Hanover, 15 November 1738 - Slough, 25 August 1822)

English musician and astronomer of German birth. The son of the violinist and oboist Isaac Herschel (1707-1767), he was born Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel and became a naturalized English citizen on 30 April 1793 with the name William Herschel. As a young boy he excelled at scientific studies but was soon engaged by the Hanover Guards as an oboist and violinist (1 May 1753). ‘This engagement’, he said, ‘furnished the means for my improvement not only in music, which was my profession, but also in acquiring a knowledge of the French language, with the advantage of studying above two years under a very well informed teacher [Hofschläger], who … encouraged the taste he found in his pupil for the study of philosophy, especially logic, ethics and metaphysics.’ In 1756 the Seven Years War began and in April the Hanover Guards were posted to England in anticipation of possible attack by the French. On their return to Germany that autumn Herschel and his father found the conditions severe. Following the Battle of Hastenbeck Isaac's concern for his son's safety led him to discover that on account of the latter's youth he had not been sworn in and therefore could be easily granted dismissal from military service. This was quickly procured. Later that year, William and his elder brother, the composer Jacob Herschel (1734-1792), returned to England and tried to establish themselves as musicians. William soon found work as a music copyist while Jacob, after taking on some private pupils, returned to Hanover in 1759. William ‘found [himself] in great difficulties, and seeing no likelihood of doing well in London [he] intended to try for better success in the country’. The best opportunity was as head of a small band for a regiment of militia in Yorkshire. The band consisted of only two oboes and two french horns but Herschel considered them excellent performers and composed military music ‘on purpose to show off our instruments’.

Compositions extant from 1759 include two viola concertos and one oboe concerto, all undoubtedly reflecting his performing ability. Between 1760 and 1766 Herschel wrote many more compositions, including 18 symphonies, which he rehearsed with groups he conducted, often also appearing as soloist. His several autobiographical accounts, together with his methodical grouping and dating of manuscripts, give a clear picture of a talented and energetic young man intent on establishing himself in the Newcastle area. In 1761 he conducted a band of 30 musicians in Newcastle to honour the King's coronation day and in 1762 he became manager of the subscription concerts in Leeds. In March 1766 Herschel was appointed organist at St John the Baptist, Halifax, where he remained for just three months, and in late 1767 he became organist at the Octagon Chapel, Bath. By now he was well established in musical circles in the important centre of Bath but his interests focussed increasingly on his scientific, and particularly astronomical, activities. In 1777 he commented that ‘Musical business carried on as usual. All my leisure time was given to preparing telescopes and contriving proper stands for them. I kept a regular account of any experiments of polishing’. On 13 March 1781 he famously discovered Uranus (then named Georgium Sidus, after King George III). The following spring, the King awarded Herschel an annual stipend of £200 so that he might devote himself entirely to astronomy and he gave up his musical career. So compact is Herschel's compositional career that it is perhaps surprising to find in it stylistic change. The earliest works (1759-62) are heavily influenced by the North German tradition from which he had sprung. They are full of common elements of the empfindsamer and Sturm und Drang styles. In 1762 the style changed profoundly to a much more galant or Italianate style that was superficially pleasing but lacked depth.