Alexander Mackenzie in Edinburgh

from A Musician's Narrative , pages 14-15:

Keen musicians and busy men, the surreptitious pleasures of ensemble playing could only be indulged in on Sunday mornings during church hours in some friendly back drawing-room. Such desecrations of the Sabbath being liable to be visited by the rigour of the law, the ire of landladies and neighbours, the fearful joy of quartet playing had frequently to be snatched in our house. On one occasion a sharp-eared policeman interrupted the harmony. "But this is sacred music," said my father, showing him a quartet by Haydn. Whether this undeniable fact, or the half-crown and a dram convinced the …   more >>
cite as

Alexander Mackenzie, A Musician's Narrative (London, 1927), p. 14-15. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1431097908241 accessed: 29 March, 2024

location of experience: Edinburgh

Listeners

Alexander Mackenzie
Violinist
1847-1935

Listening to

hide composers
Unknown Quartet
written by Haydn

Experience Information

Medium live
Listening Environment in the company of others, in private, indoors

Originally submitted by gkw on Fri, 08 May 2015 16:11:48 +0100
Approved on Wed, 28 Sep 2016 11:58:12 +0100