Anna Seward in Lichfield - late 18th Century

from Letter from Anna Seward to Miss Helen Williams, 25 August 1785, page 76:

I write to you, dear Helen, amidst the bustle of those feminine preparations, which necessarily precede the design of attending an harmonic festival at Manchester, where the abbey drums are to thunder, Mara exhibit vocal miracles, and, what is much more to the genuine lovers of musical pathos and energy, our friend Saville is to open the Messiah, and take all the principal tenor and contra-tenor songs. He unites poetic taste, and the vivid emotions of a feeling heart, and of an high and kindling spirit, to a rich, extensive, and powerful voice, and the most perfect …   more >>

cite as

Anna Seward, Letter from Anna Seward to Miss Helen Williams, 25 August 1785. In Archibald Constable (ed.), Letters of Anna Seward: Written Between the Years 1784 and 1807, volume 1 (Edinburgh, 1811), p. 76. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1535624916555 accessed: 11 December, 2024

location of experience: Lichfield

Listeners

Anna Seward
Poet, Writer
1742-1809

Listening to

hide composers
Arias from Messiah
written by George Frideric Handel
performed by John Saville

Experience Information

Date/Time late 18th Century
Medium live

Notes

Although Seward writes generally about hearing John Saville sing, she would most often have heard him in Lichfield, where he was a lay vicar in the cathedral choir, and a close friend and neighbour whom she saw on an almost daily basis.


Originally submitted by lcc5 on Thu, 30 Aug 2018 11:28:37 +0100
Approved on Thu, 06 Sep 2018 16:24:36 +0100