Nelson & His World

Radio 3 has just broadcast an item about the favourite music of the 17th century diarist Samuel Pepys. Next week at 9.50 the favourite music of Lady Hamilton will be featured.

Her songbook is in the National Maritime Museum so maybe that will provide some of the items.

Here is a link to the programme I mentioned above. It concludes with the song, 'Rest, warrior, rest' that caused Emma such distress when she first heard it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... tons_iPod/

What sort of music did she like then? I am guessing Haydn songs, a bit of Arne and Handel. Any Mozart?

Caitlin

She was a great friend of Michael Kelly - forgotten now, but a well-known composer-singer in his day. He mentions her in his entertaining memoirs. The piece of music I own that is thought to have been Lady Hamilton's was by Michael Kelly.

Thanks for that link, Anna, the final song "Rest Warrior Rest" was a delight. Having a copy of the words and a recording of the music on a Bontempi organ (seriously!) it was a joy to hear a snatch of Moore's ballad, beautifully done.

Emma Hamilton seemed to prefer (when she wasn't singing Nelson's praises) a contemporary Italian repertoire that included Paisiello and Cimarosa, with a smattering of Handel (very much to Sir William's taste) thrown in.

Paisiello's Nina seemed to be her particular favourite - her calling card if you will - and there are at least a dozen reviews, stretching across two decades, ranging from Horace Walpole to Romney to Klopstock to Giacomo Ferrari and the over-quoted, second-hand squibs of Melesina St. George.

Reviews were variable; Jeaffreson wrote that the more discerning (such as - I presume - and if I can be allowed to use a coarse expression and a contradiction in terms - those Aristocratic-plebs the Elliotts and the Hollands) found her voice vile. On the whole, the opinions of the cultural titans - opera practitioners, painters and poets - mentioned above would provide, perhaps, the better benchmark for judging quality. And they - pretty overwhelmingly - found her musical voice delightful.





(Ferrari, by the way, went on to recall having a few firm words with Emma about Nelson's manners in the musical salon - he had fallen asleep during her performance.)

One of the criticisms levelled against Emma's musical performances was her tendency to act out her singing. Not a bad thing for many - makes for a far more exciting and expressive concert - but just as it is today, it's subjective and depends on what the audience hopes to see, hear and feel from a live performance.

A modern performer who is occasionally burdened with that same criticism of 'acting out' is Cecilia Bartoli, who sang Handel at the Barbican in London last week. A mezzo soprano - as Emma was - and a devil for ensuring that the historical detail of the 18th century (often rarely heard) compositions/performers she chooses to interpret are correct. Even down to the variable reactions, Bartoli is the best example I can think of to represent today what Emma Hamilton might have sounded and performed like two hundred years ago.

Here's a link to Bartoli performing one of the madder scenes from Nina in 2002: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Gd4hr9Rcfo

And also Arianna a Naxos, given to Emma by Haydn at Eisenstadt in September 1800: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcpzfxA0tmA

And another of 'my favourite things' from Emma's repertoire (performed by Julie Andrews) here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCC9hoZ_42I

All in all, I imagine that being invited along to experience one of Lady Hamilton's musical parties would have been an occasion to look forward to and talk about - for whatever reason - for a long time afterwards.

"Mrs. Siddons be d____d" indeed!

Many thanks for that excellent and comprehensive reply. Sir William too was a fine musician and would surely not have expended such effort and expense on Emma;s voice if it had not justified it. Thanks for the link to Bartoli too - she really has focused on a repertoire that encompasses a lot of half-forgotten 18th century music that is well-suited to her lovely voice - though it's not quite as 'big' a voice as Emma's, maybe?