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CHARLES BURNEY (1726-1814)

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Originally appearing in Volume V04, Page 854 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CHARLES See also:BURNEY (1726-1814)  , See also:English musical historian, was See also:born at See also:Shrewsbury on the 12th of See also:April 1726 . He received his earlier See also:education at the See also:free school of that See also:city, and was afterwards sent to the public school at See also:Chester . His first See also:music See also:master was See also:Edmund See also:Baker, organist of Chester See also:cathedral, and a See also:pupil of Dr See also:John See also:Blow . Returning to Shrewsbury when about fifteen years old, he continued his musical studies for three years under his See also:half-See also:brother, See also:James See also:Burney, organist of St See also:Mary's See also:church, and was then sent to See also:London as a pupil of the celebrated Dr See also:Arne, with whom he remained three years . Burney wrote some music for See also:Thomson's See also:Alfred, which was produced at See also:Drury See also:Lane See also:theatre on the 3oth of See also:March 1745 . In 1749 he was appointed organist of St Dionis-Backchurch, Fenchurch See also:Street, with a See also:salary of X30 a See also:year; and he was also engaged to take the See also:harpsichord in the " New Concerts " then recently established at the See also:King's Arms, Cornhill . In that year he married See also:Miss See also:Esther Sleepe, who died in 1761; in 1769 he married Mrs See also:Stephen See also:Allen of See also:Lynn . Being threatened with a pulmonary See also:affection he went in 1751 to Lynn in See also:Norfolk, where he was elected organist, with an See also:annual salary of £See also:loo, and there he resided for the next nine years . During that See also:time he began to entertain the See also:idea of See also:writing a See also:general See also:history of music . His See also:Ode for St See also:Cecilia's See also:Day was performed at See also:Ranelagh Gardens in 1759; and in 176o he re-turned to London in See also:good See also:health and with a See also:young See also:family; the eldest See also:child, a girl of eight years of See also:age, surprised the public by her attainments as a harpsichord player . The concertos for the harpsichord which Burney published soon after his return to London were regarded with much admiration . In 1766 he produced, at Drury Lane, a free English version and See also:adaptation of J .

J . See also:

Rousseau's operetta Le Devin du See also:village, under the See also:title of The Cunning See also:Man . The university of See also:Oxford conferred upon him, on the 23rd of See also:June 1769, the degrees of See also:Bachelor and See also:Doctor of Music, on which occasion he presided at the performance of his exercise for these degrees . This consisted of an See also:anthem, with an See also:overture, solos, recitatives and choruses, accompanied by See also:instruments, besides a vocal anthem in eight parts, which was not performed . In 1769 he published An See also:Essay towards a History of Comets . Amidst his various professional avocations, Burney never lost sight of his favourite See also:object—his History of Music—and there-fore resolved to travel abroad for the purpose of See also:collecting materials that could not be found in See also:Great See also:Britain . Accordingly, he See also:left London in June 1770, furnished with numerous letters of introduction, and proceeded to See also:Paris, and thence to See also:Geneva, See also:Turin, See also:Milan, See also:Padua, See also:Venice, See also:Bologna, See also:Florence, See also:Rome and See also:Naples . The results of his observations he published in The See also:Present See also:State of Music in See also:France and See also:Italy (1771) . Dr See also:Johnson thought so well of this See also:work that, alluding to his own See also:Journey to the Western Islands of See also:Scotland, he said, " I had that See also:clever See also:dog Bumey's Musical Tour in my See also:eye." In See also:July 1772 Burney again visited the See also:continent, to collect further materials, and, after his return to London, published his tour under the title of The Present State of Music in See also:Germany, the See also:Netherlands and See also:United Provinces (1773) . In 1773 he was chosen a See also:fellow of the Royal Society . In 1776 appeared the first See also:volume (in 4to) of his See also:long-projected History of Music . In 1782 Burney published his second volume; and in 1789 the third and See also:fourth .

Though severely criticized by See also:

Forkel in Germany and by the See also:Spanish ex-Jesuit, Requeno, who, in hisItaliamwork Saggj sul Ristabilimento dell' Arte Armonica de' Greci e Romani Cantori (See also:Parma, 1798), attacks Burney's See also:account of the See also:ancient See also:Greek music, and calls him lo scompigliato Burney, the History of Music was generally recognized as possessing great merit . The least satisfactory volume is the fourth, the treatment of See also:Handel and See also:Bach being quite inadequate . Burney's first tour was translated into See also:German by Ebeling, and printed at See also:Hamburg in 1772; and his second tour, translated into German by See also:Bode, was published at Hamburg in 1773 . A Dutch See also:translation of his second tour, with notes by J . W . Lustig, organist at See also:Groningen, was published there in 1786 . The Dissertation on the Music of the Ancients, in the first volume of Burney's History, was translated into German by J . J . See also:Eschenburg, and printed at See also:Leipzig, 1781 . Burney derived much aid from the first two. volumes of Padre See also:Martini's very learned Storia See also:delta Musica (Bologna, 1757-1770) . One cannot but admire his persevering See also:industry, and his sacrifices of time, See also:money and See also:personal comfort, in collecting and preparing materials for his History, and few will be disposed to condemn severely errors and oversights in a work of such extent and difficulty . In 1774 he had written A See also:Plan for a Music School .

In 1779 he wrote for the Royal Society an account of the See also:

infant See also:Crotch, whose remarkable musical See also:talent excited so much See also:attention at that time . In 1784 he published, with an See also:Italian title-See also:page, the music annually performed in the See also:pope's See also:chapel at Rome during See also:Passion See also:Week . In 1785 he published, for the benefit of the ,Musical Fund, an account of the first See also:commemoration of Handel in See also:Westminster See also:Abbey in the preceding year, with an excellent See also:life of Handel . In 1796 he published See also:Memoirs and Letters of See also:Metastasio . Towards the See also:close of his life Burney was paid £1000 for contributing to See also:Rees's Cyclopaedia all the musical articles not belonging to the See also:department of natural See also:philosophy and See also:mathematics . In 1783, through the See also:treasury See also:influence of his friend Edmund See also:Burke, he was appointed organist to the chapel of See also:Chelsea See also:Hospital, and he moved his See also:residence from St See also:Martin's Street, See also:Leicester Square, to live in the hospital for the See also:remainder of his life . He was made a member of the See also:Institute of France, and nominated a correspondent in the class of the See also:fine arts, in the year 181o . From 18o6 until his See also:death he enjoyed a See also:pension of £300 granted by See also:Fox . He died at Chelsea See also:College on the 12th of April 1814, and was interred in the burying-ground of the college . A tablet was erected to his memory in Westminster Abbey . Burney's portrait was painted by See also:Reynolds, and his bust was cut by Nollekens in 18o5 . He had a wide circle of acquaintance among the distinguished artists and See also:literary men of his day .

At one time he thought of writing a life of his friend Dr See also:

Samuel Johnson, but he retired before the See also:crowd of biographers who rushed into that See also:field . His See also:character in private as well as. in public life appears to have been very amiable and exemplary . Dr Burney's eldest son, James, was a distinguished officer in the royal See also:navy, who died a See also:rear-See also:admiral in 1821; his second son was the Rev . See also:Charles Burney, D.D . (1757-1817), a well-known classical See also:scholar, whose splendid collection of rare books and See also:MSS. was ultimately bought by the nation for the See also:British Museum; and his second daughter was Frances (Madame D'Arblay, q.v.) . The See also:Diary and Letters of Madame D'Arblay contain many See also:minute and interesting particulars of her See also:father's public and private life, and of his See also:friends and contemporaries . A life of Burney by Madame D'Arblay appeared in 1832 . Besides the operatic music above mentioned, Burney's knowncompositions consist of:-(1) Six Sonatas for the harpsichord; (2) Two Sonatas for the See also:harp or piano, with accompaniments for See also:violin and See also:violoncello; (3) Sonatas for two violins and a See also:bass: two sets; (4) Six Lessons for the harpsichord; (5) Six Duets for two German flutes; (6) Three Concertos for the harpsichord; (7) Six See also:concert pieces with an introduction and See also:fugue for the See also:organ; (8) Six Concertos for the violin, &c., in eight parts; (9) Two Sonatas for See also:pianoforte, violin and violoncello; (io) A See also:Cantata, &c.; (II) Anthems, &c.; (12) XII . Canzonetti a due voci in Canone, poesia dell' Abate Metastasio .

End of Article: CHARLES BURNEY (1726-1814)
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