Musical Glasses
G.P. Harsdörfer
Georg Philipp Harsdörffer (1607–1658), German poet, was born at Nuremberg. He studied law at Altdorf and Strassburg, and subsequently traveled through the Netherlands, England, France and Italy. His knowledge of languages gained for him the appellation “the learned”. His writings in German and Latin fill fifty volumes. In 1636 he published (along with Schwenter) a work entitled Deliciae Physico-Mathematicae—which consists of 3 volumes of mathematical and physics curiosities (as in ’parlor tricks’), observations on music and poetry, designs for curious machines, observations on biology, etc. He also describes how to make “a merry wine-music”:
Harsdörffer (1636)
To Make a Merry Wine-Music
Take 8 glasses of equal form; put in the one a spoonful of wine, in the other two, in the third three, and so on; then let eight persons, with fingers dipped in wine, at the same moment pass them over the brim of the glasses and there will be heard a merry wine-music that the very ears will tingle. You can also have fewer glasses speak in thirds, fifths and octaves, by controlling the size of the glasses and the amount of water being more or less.
A half-empty and completely-empty glass make an octave; 2/3 empty makes a fifth; 1/3 empty makes a third.
How to synchronize music with clocks by means of a barrel / cylinder fitted with pegs/pins, is common knowledge. As to how such a contraption may evoke the body’s physical condition, cf. Part 13.
Harsdörffer (1636), 2:147:
Eine Lustige Wein Music zu machen
Nimm 8 gleiche Gläser, schenke in eines ein Löffel mit Wein, in das andere zwei Löffe volll, in das dritte drei und also fort und fort; alsdann laßihrer acht zugleich die Finger netzen und auf des Glases Rand herumfahren, so wirst du eine lustige Wein-Musica haben, daßdir die Ohren wehe thun; du kannst es aber auch mit weniger Gläser auf Terzen, Quinten und Octaven richten, und nach der Gläser Größe das Wasser mehren und mindern.
Ein halb leeres und ganz leeres Fass machen eine octav ist es 2/3 leer so wird es eine quint machen 1/3 ein terz.
Wie man die Music durch eine Rolle mit Schlägen an die Uhren richten soll ist gemein. Wie aus der gleichen Erfindung dess Leibes beschaffenheit abzubilden besihe in dem XIII Theil.
Like Kircher, Harsdörffer’s assertions about ’a half-empty glass and a completely empty glass make an octave. . . ’ are simply wrong. (Try it!)
And there still isn’t any suggestion of tuning the glasses in such a way that a melody can be played.
Harsdörffer also describes an experiment reminiscent of Kircher’s five glasses.
Harsdörffer (1636), 2:488
With Four Glasses—Examples of the Four Humors (Temperaments) Take four chalices, equally large, tall and wide, and fill the first with brandy, the second with wine, the third with ordinary water, and the fourth with saltwater (which you can make yourself with salt) or with oil. Turn a wet finger around them and you will discern a loud tone.
The brandy, which is hotter in nature, correspondences with the angry/passionate gall-bladder and has a louder sound, and a faster agitation can be seen.
The wine is not so active, but still gives a bright sound, and corresponds with the liver. It makes good blood, and is the quickest to transmute into useful nourishment.
The water corresponds with phlegm; it is slow in action and gives a greater sound.
The saltwater and oil, however, give hardly any action because of their earthy character, so the sound is weak and coarse. The more subtle the moistness, the more subtle, pure and versatile the sound and what it can do to human beings.
From this we can see several reasons why one music is more admired than another, from the similarity between the sound and its body quality. A set of strings, like veins in the body, can be excited, affected and dominated.
<p.488>The diseases of the blood which easily incline to sadness can be wondrously healed by music—or at least the aches relieved.
I cannot neglect to recount here what the often celebrated Athanasius Kircher in his Musurgia on page 219, informs us concerning the Tarantula spider—like a shell affixed in the water—which danced and leapt as long as the lutenist played, and when he stopped playing the spider also rested. After diagnosing the poison from its bite, they also prescribed certain music.
Harsdörffer (1636), 2:488:
Mit 4 Gläsern die 4 Beschaffenheiten deß Leibes (Temperamenta) vorbilden Wan nehme vier Becher gleicher Grösse höhe und weiten und werde der erste mit Brandwein gefüllet der zwente mit Wein der dritte mitt gemeinem Wasser der verte mit Salzwasser daß das viel einges worffene Saltz dasselbe dick machet oder man neme Oel diese giesse man zimlich voll und drehe einen nassen Finger darauf herumb so wird sich ein grosser unterscheid in dem Getone finden.
Der Brandwein welcher hitziger Natur ist und seine Vergleichung mit den zornigen und Gallreichen hat wird eine viel stärckere Stimme hören lassen als die andern und wird auch eine schnellere Bewegung sehen laffen.
Der Wein wird sich so sehr nicht bewegen jedoch auch ein helle Stimme von sich geben hat seine Vergleichung mit dem Lusst und den Blutreichen massen er auch gutes Geblü machet und sich am geschwindesten zu dienlicher Nahrung verwandeit. Das Wasser hat seine Vergleichung mit den Schleimreichen Phlegmaticis, ist in derBewegung langsam und gibet einen gröbern Ton von sich.
Das Salzmasser und Oel aber wird kaum einige Bewegung weisen wegen der irdischen Eigenschafft so die Stimme d¨ uster und grob machet. Je subtiler die Feuchtigkeit (humor) ie subtiler reiner und beweglicher der Sinn die Stimm und alles Thun und Lassen deß Menschen.
Hieraus ist etlicher massen abzumercken warumb einem eine Music mehr beliebet als dem andern: Nach dem nemlich die Gleichheit zwischen dem Ton und seines Leibes Beschaffenheit; massen die Saiten nicht anderst als die Adern in dem Leibe erreget beweget und beherrschet werden können.
<S.488>Die Kranckheiten welche in einem dicken Geblüt bestehen und zu der Traurigkeit neigen werden durch die Music wundersam geheilet oder doch die Schmerzen erleichtert.
Ich kan nicht unterlassen allhier zu erzehlen was der offt er ühmte Athanas. Kircher in seiner Musurgia am 219 blat meldet daß nemglich eine Spinne Tarantula genannt auf eine Muschel in das Wasser gesetzet worden welch nach der Lauten klang gedantzet und gesprungen so lang der Lautenist gespielet so bald er aber aufgehöret habe die Spinne auch wider geruhet. Nach unterschiedenen Gifft den sie führen muß auch die Music unterschieden werden.
Harsdörffer also describes a curious experiment involving supporting a wooden rod with a glass at each end and striking the rod in the middle, and observes that the glasses break less easily when there is water in them.
Harsdörffer (1636), 2:411ff.
C.W. Gluck
In 1745 the composer Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714–1787) came to London seeking fame and fortune. At this period in time London and its environs were twice the population of Paris, and three times the population of Vienna, meaning that it offered more market opportunities (as opposed to patronage) than anywhere else, and acted as a magnet for musicians throughout Europe.
Ehrlich (1985), 3
Gluck’s opera La caduta de’ giganti was only repeated five times after the first performance. In March he composed another opera: Artamene (adapted from previous operas he had written) which wasn’t performed at all; and in that same month he gave a concert with Handel—the reigning musical king in London, who had said that Gluck ’knows no more counterpoint [music theory] than my cook’.
Einstein (1936), Gluck, 23
In April, Gluck played a concerto on 26 glasses at a benefit for himself.
Papers of Benjamin Franklin 10:117
An advertisement appeared in the General Advertiser for 23 April 1746:
At Mr. Hickford’s Great Room in Brewer’s-street, on Monday, April 14, Signor Gluck, Composer of the Operas, will exhibit a Concert of Musick. He will play a Concert upon Twentysix Drinking Glasses, tuned with Spring water, accompanied with the whole Band, being a new Instrument of his own invention, upon which he performs whatever may be done on a Violin or Harpsichord; and therefore hopes to satisfy the Curious, as well as the Lovers of Musick. To begin at Half an hour after Six. Tickets Half a guinea each.
Sonneck (1916), 59–60
Horace Walpole mentions this concert in a letter???
The operas flourish more than in any latter years; the composer is Gluck, a German; he is to have a benefit, at which he its to play a set of drinking glasses, which he modulates with water. I think I have heard you speak of having seen some such thing.
Gluck left London in ???. We know he performed on his ’Drinking Glasses’ again in Copenhagen in 1749, but that’s it. Gluck’s fortunes improved considerably after his London venture—perhaps he didn’t need to resort to his ’Drinking Glasses’ any more.
From Harsdörfer we know that the ’wet-finger’ concept was known in Germany, Gluck’s native country, so perhaps Gluck got the idea for the musical glasses from Harsdörfer, or from his travels in Italy, and brought that idea to London.
Richard Pockrich
Richard Pockrich (c.1690–1759) (also spelled Pockeridge, Pockridge, Pokeridge, and Puckeridge) was born at his family’s estate about 1690. Although of English descent on his father’s side, his family had long been settled in north Ireland—at Derrylusk, Co. Monaghan, where they had their estate and extensive property. His father had raised and commanded an independent company during the Williamite wars (for the Irish throne), fought through “the late happy revolution,” and was dangerously wounded at the siege of Athlone in 1690.
O’Donahue (1899), 13–14
His son Richard inherited an estate from him at age 25, worth £1000 per year according to Newburgh, and £4000 per year according to Pilkington. Either way, Pockrich—or ’Captain Pockrich’ as he preferred to be called—seems to have entirely dissipated his inheritance on a long list of schemes:
Newmann (1993)???
Newburgh (1759)???
Pilkington (1760/1762)???
In 1715 he settled in Dublin and established a brewery and distillery at Islandbridge, but the venture failed. When, later in life, he competed for the Royal Dublin Society’s premium for the best barrel of ale, and lost, his contemporaries said that he “consoled himself by philosophically and courageously drinking his own brew.”
O’Donahue (1899), 14
He sought to reclaim the bogs of Ireland by draining them and planting vineyards. Pockrich wrote pamphlets in support of his theories, and tried to interest Parliament and the public in them without success.
O’Donahue (1899), 14
He spent a large sum of money raising geese on several thousand acres of barren mountainous land, and declared that if properly encouraged he could supply the whole of the markets of Ireland, Great Britain and France. He tried, unsuccessfully, to raise geese in County Wicklow.
O’Donahue (1899), 15
Donaldson (2004), see ‘Pockrich, Richard’, p. 519
He was something of an astrologer, and talked of building an observatory on one of the Wicklow hills for astrological purposes.
154 O’Donahue (1899), 15
He thought the drum had vast musical possibilities, and planned an orchestra of drums, twenty in number, varying in size and tone, which were to be placed in a circle, and to be played by one person standing in the center and striking the drums as required.
O’Donahue (1899), 16
He proposed to build unsinkable ships of metal for the maritime powers, and to supply each man-of-war with 500 tin boats which, he said, would float under any or all circumstances, and would prove invaluable in cases of shipwreck or collision. (Ships of his day were of course of entirely wooden construction. Metal hulled ships didn’t appear until the 1870’s.)
He planned to provide everyone with a pair of wings for flying. He held that the day would come—and soon, if he obtained the necessary capital—when men and women would never dream of walking; when, as Newburgh says “it might be as common for men to call for their wings as now for their boots.”
???Quoted in O’Donahue (1899), 17
He ran for Parliament—twice—and failed. (Monaghan in 1745 and Dublin in 1749).
Flood (1927)???
He was an unsuccessful candidate for the post of Master of the Choristers of Armagh Cathedral in 1742.
Flood (1927)Chapter XXIV....concluded ???
The project which excited Pockrich the most was his plans for blood transfusions. He declared that he could—by connecting a sick or old person with a healthy or young one (such as “strong healthy cook maid, or a kitchen wench”) by a pipe or tube—to revive the former by improving their blood to the degree that death would be virtually unknown.
Pilkington (1760/1762), 63
O’Donahue (1899), 20
Pockrich was aware that the end of death (except by accidents) would have disadvantages for certain members of society such as estate lawyers, so he suggested an act of Parliament decreeing that ‘anyone attaining the age of 999 years shall be deemed to all Intents and Purposes dead in law’. This would enable relatives to go to court to claim their inheritance, and vicars their burial fees from legally dead 999-year-old parishoners.
Donaldson (2004), see ‘Pockrich, Richard’, p. 520
He also had a plan for rejuvenating wrinkled skin:
Take common brown paper, steep it in vinegar, then apply it to the forehead, the skin about the eyes, or any other winkled part; let it lie on some time, every half hour renewing the application. The wrinkles not only disappear, but the cheeks glow with a vermeil that excels the power of paint.
O’Donahue (1899), 22
He published Miscellaneous Works in 1750 and a volume of poetry.
Newmann (1993) ???
He proposed a system of canals for linking the Liffey to the Shannon (in Ireland).Was this built??? Looks like it!
In 1745 Pockrich—by now a 50-year-old bachelor—married Margaret White. Each believed the other had money, and both were wrong.
Widow of Francis White, Esq.
Pockrich’s new wife instead ran up substantial dressmaking debts, and in 1748 she ran away with Theophilus Cibber, an actor. Alas, the ship which carried them to Scotland was shipwrecked, and the elopers were lost with everyone else on board.
Donaldson (2004), 521
O’Donahue (1899), 18
Pockrich himself was to pass away a year later, in 1749. He was on one of his musical tours through England, and happened to be lodging at Hamlin’s Coffee House, Sweeting’s Alley, near the Royal Exchange, London, when a disastrous fire broke out (O’Donahue suggests that it originated in Pockrich’s room), destroying several houses and Pockrich as well. Pockrich had made plans for the disposition of his body after death: his executors were directed to preserve his corpse in spirits and place it in public view for the benefit of future generations. But the fire put awry even this very last of Pockrich’s schemes.
O’Donahue (1899), 23
Donaldson (2004), 521
One of Pockrich’s schemes actually succeeded after all—the musical glasses. Grattan says that he invented them in 1741.
Grattan (1914), ???
Apparently Pockrich’s musical glasses came to his aid when bailiffs arrived at his brewery to arrest him (perhaps for debtor’s prison?):
Mr. Pockrich, in his brewery near Island-bridge, happening one day to be seized by bailiffs, thus addressed them: ’Gentlemen, I am your prisoner but before I do myself the honour to attend you, give me leave as an humble performer of musick, to entertain you with a tune.’ ’Sir,’ replies one of the bailiffs, ’we come here to execute our warrant, not to hear tunes.’ ’Gentlemen,’ says the Captain, ’I submit to your authority, but in the interim, while you are only taking a dram, . . . Here Jack’ calling to his servant, ’bring a bottle of the Ros Solis I lately distilled: I say Gentlemen, before you take a dram I shall dispatch my tune.’ In the meantime he flourishes a prelude on the glasses, and afterwards displays his skill through all the pleasing turns and variations of the ’Black Joke’. The monsters, charmed with the magick of his sounds, for some time stand at gaze. At length, recovering [sic] their trance, thus accost the Captain: ’Sir, upon your parole of honour to keep the secret, we give you your liberty.’ ’Tis well, playing upon the glasses is not more common: if it were, I believe our trade [being a baliff] would find little employment.
Newburgh (1759), ???
Pockrich teamed up (??? check Oxford Dictionary of National Biography) with John Carteret Pilkington (1730–63), son of Mrs Laetitia Pilkington (well-known for her own memoirs), who began on the stage as a boy soprano. Pockrich attached himself, at various times, to Richard Pockrich, and the composer Thomas Arne. After a short stint as a naval volunteer, he made a meagre living writing verse for various magazines, following his mother into Marshalsea prison on three separate occasions.
Pilkington gives us a detailed description of his adventure in his autobiography. Having survived a terrible sea voyage, and broke, he meets Pockrich in a pub:
Pilkington (1760/1762), 57ff
I then called for some warm punch, and before I had drank two glasses, a tall middle-aged gentleman entered, with a big wig and a sword on. .. . . In the course of some general chat, I mentioned my singing at the concert in Cork; upon this he eagerly said, why, can you sing? I told him I believed I could: he begged I would just hum a tune to give him an idea of my voice and manner; when I did, he cry’d, bravo! Bravo! By G-d, I’ll make your fortune. . .
You must know, sir, that I am a gentleman who has run thro’ a plentiful estate in schemes, for the publick good; . . . In the more gay and happy hours of my life, I studied musick as an amusement, and am, perhaps, the best master of harmony in the known world; of this I will give you an immediate demonstration: saying so, he pulled from his sleeve sixteen large pins, and from his pocket a small hammer; with this he drove the pins into a deal table, all ranged one above the other, and some almost in as far as the heads: he then took from his side pocket two pieces of brass wire, and demanded what tune I would have: I told him the Black Joke: then lay your ear to the table, says he, hear and admire: I did so, and to my infinite amazement, he played it with all its variations, so as to sound somewhat like a dulcimer.
Encouraged by the applauses I gave to this uncommon instrument, he took a parcel of drinking glasses, and tuned them, by putting different quantities of water in each: upon these he layed a number of the newest tunes in the most elegant taste, giving me delight and satisfaction.. . . said he, I have at home glasses as large as bells of my own invention, that have a sound as loud as an organ, but more delicate and pleasing to the ear: now, Sir, as we are both gentlemen, and both possessed of excellence in the science of musick, if we unite together, we must make a fortune. . .
Pockrich called his instrument the Angelic Organ.They proceed to Pockrich’s house; on the strength of their ’future earnings’ Pockrich ’borrows’ from Pilkington the fare for the coach. Pockrich goes on to explain that his current lodgings are the only ones he could find where his extensive musical activities wouldn’t disturb the neighbors; then Pockrich strikes a light . . .
Pilkington (1760/1762), 59
. . . which revealed to my eyes the most litter’d dirty hole I had ever yet seen: the furniture consisted of an old taudry bed, one rush bottom chair, a frame with a number of large glasses ranged on it, and the case of a violincello. I believe the Captain observed the dismay in my looks, and in order to comfort me, said, that he had made the people take all superfluous things out of the room, and that he never suffered a servant to clean it, lest their damn’d mops and brushes would break his glasses.
He then set down and played Handel’s water musick, and several other pieces, on the glasses, that indeed made some amends for the wretched appearance of every thing about him.
Premiered in 1717, so this narrative must take place after that date
Pilkington (1760/1762), 60
With no other options, Pilkington decides to continue with Pockrich’s plan. They rehearse and plan their program, and finally the big day arrives:
The songs I was to sing at my first appearance were fixed upon, and every thing got in readiness for the important event; when I hoped my patience and long suffering would meet some reward, for by this time two months had sneaked away: at length the hour arrived. The Taylors hall was finely illuminated, the newspapers filled with encomiums on the angelick organ, every publick corner was covered with large bills, and tickets dispersed amongst the nobility. About three hours before the concert was to begin, the Captain went to arrange and tune his glasses, when unfortunately stepping out for some water, a large unmannerly sow entered, and, oh! Guess the rest!—threw down the whole machine, and covered the ground with glittering fragments; destroying not only the hopes of the publick, but ours of a present and future subsistence. When the Captain returned, and found his lofty castle in the air reduced to an heap of rubbish, he looked just like Mark Anthony, when he beholds the body of Julius Caesar on the earth, and says:
Oh! Mighty Caesar, dost thou lie so low?
He, however, supported the catastrophe with a dignity and heroism peculiar to great minds; and without staying for the company, desired the door-keepers would inform the world of the melancholy event, returning himself once more to his gloomy abode.
Pilkington (1760/1762) 66ff
After this Pilkington and Pockrich part company. Pilkington’s autobiography gives scant further mention to Pockrich—a few chance encounters in the future. But according to Flood in his History of Irish Music “[Pockrich] gave performances through England and Ireland on the glasses, having as vocalist John Carteret Pilkington.”
Flood (1927) Chapter XXV....concluded ???
At the time of Pilkington’s narrative Pockrich is still playing his glasses by striking them with sticks:
Colonel Newburgh . . . was endeavoring to give Baron Dawson, a gentleman of true wit and humour, an idea of Pockridge’s instrument, by telling he runs two sticks along the glasses, and by that means played distinct tunes; but, says the Colonel, except you were to see and hear it, you can have but little concept of its excellence; oh! But I have, said the Baron, ’tis like a blackguard boy, trailing a stick along iron rails.
Pilkington (1760/1762), 65
Pockrich did switch to the ’wet-finger-around-the-wine-glass’ at some point, although it is unclear when that occurred.
According to Benjamin Franklin. See his letter to Beccaria, July 1762 (page ??) ???
In October 1742 Pockrich is listed as giving a performance in Dublin on the ’glasses’ along with tumblers and other musicians in the Smock Alley Company. And we find an advertisement in ’Faulkner’s Journal’, Dublin, for April 26–30, 1743:
Greene (1993), 322
For the Benefit of the Inventor at the Theatre in Smock Alley, on Tuesday the 3rd of May, will be a Musical Performanc upon Glasses with other Instruments accompanied with Voices. To which will be added a Comedy called the ’Old Batchelor’. This being the first time that Glasses were ever introduced in Concert, it is hoped that Curiosity will induce the Town to see what has so much surprised all those who have heard them even at the greatest disadvantage. All Gentlemen that love a cheerful Glass will undoubtedly be zealous in the Affair.—The following Pieces of Musick will be performed that Night, viz. one of Vilvaldi’s Seasons called The Spring, ’The Early Horn’, to be sung by Mr. Baildon; Hark! ye little warbling choirs, by Mrs. Storer, Ellin a Roon, Jack Latten and the Black Joke with additional Variations, some of which cannot be executed on any Instrument but the Glasses. The principal Parts in all the above Musick, will be played on the Glasses.
Quoted from King (1956), 64–65
The notice doesn’t name Pockrich, but he seems the likely performer. And we have seen that ’The Black Joke with additional Variations’, mentioned in the notice, was a standard piece in his repertoire. Pockrich performed March 1st, 1744, at Mr. Hunt’s Great Auction Room in Stafford-street, and apparently still accident-prone, had this to say about the performance in an advertisement:
When the Glasses were first introduced in Publick, an accident happened which prevented the Inventor from shewing that instrument to any advantage; some imputed it to his taking a Glass too much; but the real cause of it was owing to the hurry in removing them, which untuned and disconcerted that instrument.
Flood (1927) ??? Page?
On March 15th, 1744, he gave a most successful recital at the Taylors’ Hall, Back-lane, being a repeat of his performance a fortnight previously. One of the novelties was a song, “Tell me, lovely Shepherd,” sung by Miss Young, “who never performed before in Publick.”
Flood (1927) ??? Page?
We leave the good Captain with Newburgh’s poetic elegy:
Mourn him, ye bogs, in tears discharge your tides, No more shall Pockrich tap your spongy hides; Ye geese, ye ganders, cackle doleful lays, No more his mountain tops your flocks shall graze; Be silent, dumb, ye late harmonious glasses— Free from surprise, serenely sleep, ye lasses. Let drums, unbraced, in hollow murmurs tell How he that waked their thunders silent fell. Let tempests swell the surge, no more his boat, Secure from wreck, shall on the billows float; No more, ye sons of Nappy, shall his beer Or nut-brown ale your dropping spirits cheer, To his own castles, built sublime in air, Quitting his geese and bogs and glassy care, With blood infused, and, like a meteor bright, On his own pinions, Pock has winged his flight.
??? Newburgh (1759), quoted from O’Donahue (1899), 24
Miss Wilkinson
Little is known about Miss Wilkinson, except that in 1755 she was “a wire-dancer and a player of the musical glasses” at Sadler’s Wells (in London, a theatrical house still in existence), and was still heard there in 1764 with ‘Master Wilkinson’ as her partner. More???
Wroth (1850) 48, quoted in King (1946) 103
See http://www.sadlerswells.com
Advertisement in the Public Advertiser, June 26
King (1956) 65–66
Anne Ford
??? Correct Rosenthal footnote page numbers Anne Ford (1732–1824) was a performer on the musical glasses, well known in London, and the first to publish a ’method’ on how to play them. She was also one of the foremost performers on the viola da gamba of her day, and composed for the instrument as well. She also was an author who published several books.
She was the only child of Thomas Ford, solicitor [lawyer] and Clerk of the Arraigns, and his wife (née Champion). Through her mother’s side, Anne was the niece of Dr. Ford, the Queen’s physician, and of Gilbert Ford, Attorney General of Jamaica.
Holman (2004), 160
Anne was an only child, and educated was educated with uncommon care, and at no small expence. At an early age she displayed an aptitude for languages, art, and dancing, but particularly for music. How Anne received her musical training is unknown, we are told only that she was taught music by the most eminent professors of the day. But by her late teens she was apparently an accomplished musician who sang and played the wire-strung English guitar, the gut-strung Spanish guitar, and the viola da gamba. She also played the harp. Her interest in these instruments would suggest a propensity for unusual musical instruments since, by this point, the viola da gamba had passed out of general use, and the guitar was a rarity. She gave Sunday amateur concerts which “attracted the notice of all the gay and fashionable world’, and were attended by the best society. Anne was joined by eminent professionals such as Dr. Arne, composer of Rule Britannia and great castrato Giusto Ferdinando Tenducci (c.1735–1790). Apparently Anne was also involved in private theatricals. On October 2, 1758, an attendee described a performance of Julius Caesar in which Anne participated:
Holman (2004), 160
Holman (2004), 165
Public Characters of 1806, p. 89–90, quoted in Holman (2004), 162
They introduced a procession of vestals to mourn over Caesar’s body . . . [O]ne of them sang a dirge divinely well. She is, I think, take her for [what] she is . . . the most pleasing singer I ever heard I don’t dare say the best because I have not judgment enough to decide, but I know that I would rather hear her than any Italian I have yet heard. She is a Miss Ford, daughter of a sort of Lawyer in the city.
Letter 2 October 1758 from Mr. Frances Greville to Dr. Burney from Wilbury, quoted in Highfill (1978), 5:365
Phillip Thicknesse—Anne’s future husband—played on the lute at these concerts, and his wife Elizabeth attended.
Public Characters of 1806, p. 89–90, quoted in Holman (2004), 166
Apparently around December 1758 Anne’s father decided it was time for Anne to ‘settle down’:
At this critical period, finding herself closely pressed by her father respecting some proposals about settling in life, she was reduced to the disagreeable necessity of flying from the paternal mansion, and taking refuge in the house of a lady of quality [Elizabeth Thicknesse]. Here she deemed herself equally secure from enquiry and pursuit; but she proved to be mistaken; for the premises were surrounded by the myrmidons [police] of Sir John Fielding [the Bow Street magistrate], whose very name carried terror along with it; and a warrant, granted under the signature of that magistrate, having been presented, all resistance proved vain, so that the young lady was taken prisoner and carried home!
While in the carriage, in her way back, she found herself in company with a gentleman whom she had before seen, who was particularly attentive to her, and soon after seized an opportunity to disclose his passion to her in due form; but he met with a rebuke instead of a kind return, on account of his ill-timed intervention. Mr. Ford, however, deemed him a proper person to be a suiteor to his daughter, and his addresses were accordingly encouraged. It was even hinted, that marriage might conquer any affected dislike; and that before their arrival in Jamaica, wheere he possessed large estates, which he was about to visit, they would become a happy couple!
The idea of an union with a man she could not love, and being sent into exile in the West Indies, at a distance from all her friends [and her music], appeared intolerable to a young lady possessed of sensibility. She accordingly eloped a second time, and having taken a lodging at Kensington, happily eluded all pursuit. In this situation, instead of resigning herself to grief and melancholy, she determined to turn her talents to advantage, and by one bold effort render herself independent. As she had lived in habits of familiarity with the first nobility, she conceived the idea of rendering their patronage subservient to her scheme. The Opera-House was accordingly hired, and a fine band of music prepared for three nights only. Every one was eager to subscribe; and the young performer was wooed, like Danaë of old, in a shower of gold.
Public Character, 93–95, quoted in Holman (2004), 169–170
The outlandishness of this venture can be seen by observing that hers were the only subscription concerts held in London between 1756 and 1763, which were “quite outside the mainstream,” with “fashionable and sizeable” audiences “perhaps more attracted by the scandal than her music.” Her father also offered her a settled income if she would cease from public performance—she declined.
McVeigh (1993), 14
3Rosenthal (1998), 3
Later in life Anne wrote a novel called The School for Fashion (1800).
In the novel she apears as the heroine Euterpe, and many of the other characters are clearly based on the members of her circle. Thus the novel is an additional source of biographical information about Anne (when it can be verified against other sources). We have her advertisments for the March–April 1760 concert series:
“We have been assured, that all the anecdotes mentioned there [in the novel] are founded on fact, and contain an exact transcript of what occured in the history of the bon ton of a former day” Public Characters, 132, quoted in Holman (2004), 158
MISS FORDs first Subscription Concert will be To-morrow, the 18th instant, at the Little Theatre in the Haymarket. As the Pit, Boxes and Gallery, are the same Price, the latter will be equally illuminated with Wax-Candles.
First Part. Overture of Pasquali; Song by Miss Ford, Voi Legete; Concerto Hautboy [oboe], Mr. Simpson; Song, Miss Ford, Gentle Youth, &c. Solo,  Miss Ford, on the Viol di Gamba.
Second Part. Concerto Bassoon, Mr.Miller; Song ,Miss Ford, Sparge Amar; Solo Violin, Mr. Pinto; Song, Return O God of Host. Full piece of French Horns.
Tickets at Half a Guinea each, to be had at the Theatre; at Mr. Deards; at Mr. Gardens, in St. Pauls Church-yard; and at Mr. Walshs, in Catharine-street.
No persons to be admitted behind the Scenes.
To begin at Seven oClock.
No more Tickets will be delivered than the House will contain.
—The Public Advertiser, Monday, 17 March 1760; also 4, 5, 8, 11 and 18 March 1760
25 March 1760:
MISS FORDs second Subscription Concert will be This Day the 25th Instant, at the Little Theatre in the Haymarket. The Vocal Parts by Miss FORD, who will play a Solo on the Viol di Gambo, and a Concerto on the Guittar. Pit and Boxes are laid together, at Half a Guinea each Ticket; Gallery 5s.
Tickets to be had at Mr.Deards Toy-shop, at Mr. Gardens in Saint Paul's Church-yard; and at Mr.Walshs in Catharine-street.
To begin at Seven oClock.
—The Public Advertiser, Tuesday, 25 March 1760; also 20, 22 and 24 March 1760
8 April 1760:
MISS FORDs Third Subscription Concert will be This Evening at the Little Theatre in the Haymarket. The vocal Parts by Miss FORD, who will play a Solo on the VIOL DI GAMBO; and a Lesson and Song accompanied with the Guittar. Signor Gwkottowsky will play a Concerto on the German Flute.
SONGS.
Non sai qual pena.
Hush ye pretty warbling Choir.
What tho I trace each Herb and Flower.
Ah se un Cor Barbaro.
Tickets to be had at the Theatre; at Mr. Deards Toy-shop, and at Mr.Walshs, at Half a Guinea each. Gallery 5s. To begin at Seven oClock.
—The Public Advertiser, Tuesday, 8 April 1760; also 3, 4, 5 and 7 April 1760
14 April 1760:
MISS FORDs Fourth Subscription Concert will be This Day the 14th Instant, at the Little Theatre in the Haymarket.
The vocal Parts by Miss Ford, who will play a Solo on the
VIOL DI GAMBO.
OVERTURE.
Nonsai qual paza sia. Song.
Concerto Traversa, by Sen.G.
Sweet Bird. Song.
Solo Viol di Gambo.
Concerto Violoncello, sen. Pasqualina. Hush ye pretty warbling Choir. Song.
Solo, Violin, Mr. Pinto. Duetto, Caro Spiegar Vorrei.
Lesson on the Guittar, and (by particular Desire) the 104th Psalm.
FULL PIECE.
Tickets to be had at the Theatre; at Mr. Walshs, in Catharine Street in the
Strand; and at Mr. Gardens, in St. Pauls Church-Yard.
Pit and Boxes laid together at 10s. 6d. Gallery 5s.
To begin at Seven oClock.
—The Public Advertiser, Monday, 14 April 1760; also 11 and 12 April 1760
22 April 1760:
MISS FORDs fifth and last Subscription CONCERT, will be This Day the 22d instant, at the Little Theatre in the Haymarket. The Vocal Parts by Miss Ford, who will play a Solo, and accompany a Song, (Oh Liberty, thou choicest Treasure) on the Viol di Gambo; a Lesson on the Guittar, and sing a Hymn set by herself.
Pit 179 and Boxes laid together at Half a Guinea each; Gallery 5s.
Tickets to be had at Mr. Walshs, in Catharine Street; at Mr. Gardens, in St.
Pauls Church-yard; and at the Theatre.
To begin at Seven oClock.
—The Public Advertiser, Tuesday, 22 April 1760; also 17, 18, 19 and 21 April 1760
The advertisement for her first concert specified that she would “play a
solo on the Viol da Gamba”—an instrument somewhat like the cello — held between the player’s knees when played by men, nevertheless see figure 3.5 ??? for a drawing of Anne herself playing the viola de gamba. Nevertheless, performing on the viola da gamba was somewhat scandalous as the instrument was conventionally reserved to male performers. She also sang and played the guitar. The violinist Thomas Pinto, and other instrumentalists also contributed pieces. No musical glasses yet.
Gosse (1952), 130
So Anne’s father attempted to disrupt the first concert:
He was still vexed, and angry at her having left his house; and he abhorred the idea that his daughter should appear on the stage for any period, however short, or under any circumstances however favourable. He accordingly applied to the same magistrate who had before assisted him, and all the avenues to the Haymarket were occupied by Sir John’s runners. But these myrmidons [cops] were dispersed by the late Lord Tankerville, then an officer in the Guards, who threatened to punish any interposition on their part, at a time when some of the royal family were expected to be present; and to enforce his declaration, determined to send for a detachment of horse and foot. On this they immediately disappeared.
Public Character, 95, quoted in Holman (2004), 171
The reference to the royal family is explained in the next paragraph:
The timidity incident to a first performance, was in some measure repressed by the kindness and support of her friends. Prince Edward condescended to drink a cup of tea with her in the green-room; on which occasion his equerry, Colonel Brudnel, brother to the Duke of Montague, stood behind his chair, and soon after handed her to the stag door, where she was received with bursts of applause. Nor was the audience disappointed; for when Miss Ford, who was dressed in white satin and pearls, sang one of Handel’s oratorio songs, beginning
’Return, O God of Hosts! Relieve thy servant in distress!’
she displayed such exquisite sensibility, that many of her friends actually burst into tears.
Public Character, 95–96, quoted in Holman (2004), 171
And so, after her success in the spring of 1760, Anne went to Bath. Some relaxation, after such an exhausting effort, now became necessary, and the town itself henceforth ceased any longer to have charms. Miss Ford accordingly left the great world divided into parties concerning her conduct; and having accepted an invitation on the part of Governor and Lady Betty Thicknesse, accompanied them into Suffolk.
Public Character, 96, quoted in Holman (2004), 172
Before she was 20 she had been painted by Nathaniel Hone (1718– 1784) “in the character of a muse playing on the lyre, sweeping the strings of the viol di gamba, and expressing, if not uttering, melody’. The painting appears to be lost.
Public Characters, 88, quoted in Holman (2004), 160
And in 1760 Thomas Gainsborough (1727–1788) painted his famous portrait of her. The Thicknesses were friends and benefactors of Gainsborough— Phillip Thicknesse (1719–1792) would go on to write the first biography of Gainsborough And Gainsborough and Miss Ford were both in fashionable Bath in 1758, when he painted a portrait of Lord Villiers, son of the third earl of Jersey. (We shall meet his father, the aged and ailing Earl of Jersey presently.) This circle included William Whitehead, from whom we get a glimpse of the effect Miss Ford had:
Thicknesse, Phillip, A Sketch of the Life and Paintings of Thomas Gainsborough, Esq.; London
I have seen Miss Ford, nay almost lived with her ever since I have been here. She has a glorious voice, & infinitely more affectation than any Lady you know. You would be desperately in love with her in half an hour, & languish & die over her singing as much as she does in performance.
William Whitehead, ms. “Letters I,”, quoted in Rosenthal (1998), 2
Gainsborough had moved to Bath in Oct. 1759 to improve his fortunes, and rapidly built a reputation for painting superb likenesses. One wellworn tactic for promoting yourself was to display prominently in your painting room a striking, full-length portrait of a person who was then in the public eye. So, in 1760, a visitor to his studio would have been confronted with Anne Ford’s full-sized portrait: 197 x 135 cm (77 1/2 x 52 7/8 in.), by far his most ambitious full-length work to date, a portrait of “stunning virtuosity and coloristic bravura.”
Rosenthal (1998), 1
The picture certainly attracted attention. On October 23, 1760, Mrs. Mary Delany visited Gainsborough’s studio and was struck by “Miss Ford’s picture, a whole length with her guitar, a most extraordinary figure, handsome and bold; but I should be very sorry to have any one I loved set forth in such a manner.” The portrait was, after all, by the standards of the day, borderline risqué. Joseph Burke has noted how Miss Ford “. . . crosses her legs above the knee, a masculine freedom unrecorded in the female portraits of Rubens and Van Dyck.. . . An air of high breeding redeems the suggestion of wantonness in the bold asymmetrical pose,” a judgment borne out by a contemporary conduct book, which advised women against crossing their legs in company, “for such a free posture unveils more of a masculine disposition than sits decent upon a modest female.”
Burke (1976), 213–214
???It was in the “Gainsborough circle” that Miss Ford met the Earl of Jersey (1706–1769), who was as captivated by her as everyone else. He was a ‘constant attender at her concerts’ and, although old (26 years her senior), was ‘extremely agreeable, gay, and rich’. He was married, though he ‘still presumed to talk of love’; his wife ‘being supposed to be attacked by an incurable malady, which soon after actually put an end to her life, he was already looking out for a cussessor’. He offered to marry Anne on his wife’s death, offering £800 a year in the meantime, but this ‘coronet in expectancy had no charms’ for her, and she rejected him.
Public Character, 91–93, quoted in Holman (2004), 169
It would seem that the Earl of Jersey persisted, because in January of 1761 Anne rejected him in print. She published a thinly disguised pamphlet entitled A Letter from Miss Fxxd, addressed to a Person of Distinction, of which the following is a sample:
When your L..d..p, on your knees, and with tears trickling down your aged cheeks, swore the sincerity of your love; when you told me you could not help your age, if I object to that, but every proof which was in your power I might command:  You know, I then told your L..d..p, that your age and person were both very agreeable to me.. . . I should have preferred you to any other man in the Kingdom, had you been single. . .
quoted in Gosse (1952), 132
Her pamphlet sold 500 copies in the first five days. A year later it was reprinted, and at the same time appeared a reply from the Earl: A letter to Miss F..d, which quickly ran into a second edition. The second edition included this figure:
Gosse (1952), 130
In it we see the gouty earl kneeling at the feet of Anne, who is seated holding what looks like a lute-shaped English guitar. Her father looks on approvingly on the left, while there is a boar’s head on the table — a reference explained by Anne’s remark that the earl sent her 'a present of a boar’s head’ and that it was ‘an odd, first, and only present, from a L—d to his beloved mistress’. The earl is singing ‘Believe my sighs my Vows my dear &c’, a snatch deriving from the song ‘Believe my sighs my tears my dear’ from George Bickham’s Musical Entertainer. She replies with ‘Si tutti de Olberir’, which is a reference to her song ‘Se tuti gli alberi dell mondo’. ???
Quoted in Holman (2004), 171
And the January and February 1761 editions of the Gentleman’s magazine treated readers to long excerpts from Ford’s and Jersey’s pamphlets. The Earl of Jersey also attempted to sabotage a concert by arranging an alternative entertainment to which he induced many of her invited guests to go instead.
McVeigh (1993), 168
Simultaneously, in January 1761, Anne mounts two concerts at the Haymarket:
MISS FORDs Subscription Concert will be at the Little Theatre in the Haymarket, on Friday the 23d instant. The Vocal Part by Miss Ford, who will also play a Solo on the Viol di Gambo, and a Lesson on the Arch-Lute and Guittar.
The Instrumental Parts by the best Performers.
Pit and Boxes laid together, at Half a Guinea each. Gallery 5s. Places to be taken and Tickets to be had at the Snuff-shop adjoining to the Theatre.
To begin precisely at Seven oClock.
—The Public Advertiser, Saturday, 10 January 1761; also 13, 15 and 17 January 1761
MISS FORDs Subscription Concert will be THIS DAY, the 23d Instant, (being the last Time of her appearing in Public) at the Little Theatre in the Haymarket. The vocal Part by Miss Ford who will play a Solo on the Viol di Gambo; a Lesson on the Guittar; and sing the 104th Psalm, accompanied by herself on the Arch Lute.
Pit and Boxes laid together at 10s. 6d. Gallery 5s.
Places to be taken and Tickets to be had at the Snuff-shop adjoining to the Theatre. To begin at Seven oClock.
—The Public Advertiser, Friday, 23 January 1761; also 19, 20 and 22 January 1761
In these advertisements we find hints that these performances weren’t as successful as those nine months earlier: in the January 19th advertisement we read that it would be ‘the last time of her appearing in Public’ and the phrase ‘The Instrumental Parts by the best Performers’ is omitted—the advertisement makes it clear that Anne is providing her own accompaniment. Also, it was advertised as a ’subscription concert’, but since there were no more concerts in early 1761, it would seem that the subscription plan had to be abandoned due to lack of subscribers.
In the fall of that year she announces yet another concert series, this time in a much less prestigious venue, on a different basis, and this time including the musical glasses. In her Instructions for Playing the Musical Glasses she writes:
From the short practice I have had, it being not above four weeks since I first heard them, and little more than a fortnight since I made my first attempt to play, I have not had sufficient time to examine what improvements the musicall glasses are capable of. . .
Her Instructions were published November 2, 1761; her first advertisement for a concert that included the musical glasses was October 14; all of which would suggest that she first heard and began playing them in the autumn of 1761.
These concerts are no longer at the prestigious Haymarket, they’re in an ’Auction-Room’. Her ticket prices are a quarter of what they had been just a year previous. And her advertisements have to reassure the public that the venue will be heated!—‘a constant Fire kept’:
MISS FORD having engaged the large Room late COXs Auction Room, over the great China-shop near Spring-Garden, (which will be fitted up in a proper Manner for the Reception of genteel Company) proposes To-morrow, the 15th Instant, between the Hours of One and Three, to sing some favourite English Songs, and accompany herself on the Musical Glasses; she will also play a Lesson on the Guittar, and a Solo on the Viol di Gambo.
The Room will be opened at Twelve oClock, which is well aired, and a constant Fire kept in it.
Admittance Two Shillings and Sixpence.
—The Public Advertiser, Wednesday, 14 October 1761; also 15 October 1761
MISS FORD having engaged the large Room, late Cocks Auction-Room, over the great China-Warehouse, Spring-Gardens, (which is fitted up for the Reception of genteel Company) proposes singing a few English Airs, and accompanying herself on the Musical Glasses; she will also (if desired) play a Solo on the Viol di Gambo, and a Lesson on the Guittar.
The Room will be opened at Twelve oClock, which is well aired, and a constant Fire kept. The Performance will be every Day between the Hours of One and Three.
Admittance Two Shillings and Sixpence.
—The Public Advertiser, Saturday, 17 October 1761; also 19–24 and 26–31 October 1761, 2–7 November 1761
Count Kielmansegge describes one of Anne’s concerts:
In the morning of the 7th of November I went to hear Miss Four’s [Ford’s] concert. She is a pupil of Schumann, and has performed here for some time on musical glasses. She plays entire concerts with one finger, on a row of tuned wineglases, and is accompanied by a violoncello; she sings well, and has a good voice, accompanying herself on the ’viola di Gamba’ and guitar, and gives her audience a varied entertainment.
Kielmansegge (1902), 147–148 doublecheck ???
Frederic Theodor Schumann taught both the English Guitar and the Musical Glasses. It is clear from advertisements for Schumann’s own perfomances, also in Cox’s Room from August 6 to October 7, 1761, that Anne’s were an imitation of his. Furthermore, Anne published treatises on playing two instruments that Schumann played and taught: the musical glasses, and an earlier treatise on playing the English Guitar, which couldn’t have made Anne’s teacher or former-teacher very happy. Schumann promised to play ’UPON THE GLASSES’ and to attend there ‘every Day (except Sunday) from One to Three, and Likewise from Six till Eight, to play to company’. It would seem that Schumann took offence at competition from a pupil, for soon after Anne’s concerts began at Cox’s Room he started his own series at his house in Bury Street. Starting on October 27 he promised music ‘every Day upon the GLASSES, between the Hours of One and Three’. He seems to have won the contest, for on November 7, the day Anne gave up for good, he wrote triumphantly: ‘As Mr. SCHUMAN’s Performances on the MUSICAL GLASSES have given so great Satisfaction to the Public, he now begs Leave to return his grateful Thanks for the Encouragement he has me with’.
Public Advertiser, October 27, 29, 30; November 2, 4 and 6, 1761; quoted in Holman (2004), 174
Public Advertiser, November 7, 11, 13, 16, 1761; quoted in Holman (2004), 174
Public Advertiser, November 27, 30; December 4, 1761; quoted in Holman (2004), 174
This concert series was her last.
There are several reasons why these concerts took the form they did, and why they eventually failed:
I am indebted to Holman (2004), 173–174 for this analysis
Competition was increasing. The years 1761 to 1764 ‘saw a spate of daily exhibition performances given by young ladies and by self-publicising teachers’, several of them, like her, playing ‘novelty’ instruments such as the musical glasses and the English guitar. In addition to Anne and Schuman, and yet another musical glasses player named Lloyd, in late November and early December a Mr. Drybutter offered ‘Ten Tunes to each Set of Company’ for only a shilling per person at his house n Pall Mall.
McVeigh (1993), 91
The Public Advertiser, November 27 and 30, and Debember 4, 1761. Quoted in Holman (2004), 174
Anne’s connection with actor Thomas Sheridan. Anne had been ‘taught to read’—meaning, taught to read dramatic/poetic texts like Shakespeare in public—by the actor Thomas Sheridan (1719–1788). Sheridan had been giving lectures on elocuton and the English language in Cox’s Room since February 23, 1759. more about connection with Sheridan  ???
Anne’s competition with her music teacher Schumann which we have already explored.
On November 2, 1761 she published the first ’method book’ for playing the musical glasses: Instructions for Playing on the Musical Glasses, about which we will have more to say presently.
She also performed occasionally at Thomas Sheridan’s lectures on Elocution.
(In 1762 Sheridan published his Lectures on Elocution.) This came to an end in December, when the St. James’s Chronicle[for 3 December 1761] announced that Anne Ford was to be replaced by Miss Lloyd:
At Mr. Sheridan’s lecture on Elocution, Miss Lloyd succeeds Miss Ford in performing on the musical glasses for the amusement of genteel company.
Quoted in Gray (1935), letter 351, fn.2???
Elizabeth Thicknesse was expecting her sixth child, so Anne came down from London to be with Elizabeth in her confinement and to accompany the Thicknesses to his purchased post as lieutenant-governor of Landguard Fort, Suffolk. In January 1762 the baby was born, but three months later Lady Elizabeth died, leaving behind three sons and three daughters.
On this Mr. Thicknesse was greatly affected, left the spot where she died; and after paying a last tribute to the virtues, and erecting a monument to the memory, of his departed wife, he consigned the care of his family to Miss Ford, who acted during his absence with such discretion and propriety, as to ensure entire approbation on his return. Time and a change of scene at length abated his grief; and he began to think that no one could better supply the loss of his lady than her most intimate friend.
Gosse (1952), 127
And so it was that on September 27, 1762 Anne Ford became Thicknesse’s third wife. Anne was now 25, he was 43. Anne’s father refused to attend the wedding.
Gosse (1952), 128
That was apparently the end of Anne’s short but extraordinary musical career (except for one charity performance, as we shall see).
Thicknesse was hardly a prize catch. He was notorious as an ardent supporter of the slave trade, a blackmailer, a lecher and a sadist. Famous for his ill temper, he fell out with many local people. He frequently published attacks on the people he disliked, which even led to his imprisonment for libel. [citation ???]
Gillray sums up Thicknesse’s character in a caricature of him entitled “Lieutenant Governor Gall-Stone”, depicting him with an explosive jet of steam coming out of his head. One of Thicknesse’s nicknames was ’Dr Viper’, reflected in this print by the medusa-like creature sits at his shoulder. This is Alecto, one of the Furies of Greek mythology, who has emerged from the jaws of hell to offer him assistance. This caricature is a parody of the conventions of formal oil paintings, in which gentlemen are portrayed in their studies, depicted as learned and serious, surrounded by books.
But look! In the upper right-hand corner! Who do we see? Gillray shows Thicknesse, his hands raised in admiration, standing behind Anne. She is shown playing her musical glasses to an audience of boars (they all have tusks), one of which is moved to tears. Recall that a boar’s head was a present the Earl of Jersey gave to Anne! The sheet in the boar’s hands says “Pathetic Ode to Lord Jersey.” Anne is accompanied by an orchestra of little devils. This caricature was published in 1790—perhaps Anne continued to perform on her glasses.
Anne seems to have performed in public only once after her marriage, for a benefit event for the new Casualty Charity in Bath. We are told in Public Characters that she was moved to organize it after hearing that an injured workman had been refused admission to the existing Pauper Hospital because it ‘was intended for strangers alone’ Reports in the Bath Chronicle show that she was planning the performance as early as July 1787, and that it was advertised for the parish church at Walcot near Bath on December 5, 1787. It was postponed because of repairs to the church roof, and finally took place on December 12, 1787 in the Margaret Chapel in Bath. It took place in the context of morning service. Anne sang an anthem by John Weldon between the first and second lessons and her own setting of ‘All ye that pass by, to Jesus draw nigh’ after the prayers, accompanying herself on the viola da gamba. There also must have been an accompanist, for we are told in Public Characters that the organ of Margaret Chapel was ’accompanied with her voice’.
p.131, quoted in Holman (2004), 176
The Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette, July 19, November 29, 1787; The Bath Journal, December 3 and 10. Quoted in Holman (2004), 175–176
p.131, quoted in Holman (2004), 176
Thus we know that Anne continued to play the viola da gamba. On February 10, 1787 The Daily Universal Register, the forerunner of The Times, ran the first of three news items about Anne, comparing her favorably to Carl Friedrich Abel (1723–1787), who had been London’s leading professional viola da gamba player for nearly forty years. The articles make clear that Anne was still a fine player and had written a significant amount of music for her instrument:
That Lady is an elegant, delicate, powerful, and learned performer on several instruments. Her vocal powers have seldom been equalled, and her compositions possess a happy union of taste and science. Her sonatas for the Viol da Gamba, with accompaniments for the harpsichord, &c. would do honour to Abel.
quoted in Holman (2004), 176
And nine days after Abel’s death, the newspaper went on to say:
By the death of Abel there is now but one capital Viol Di Gambo player in England, and that is a Lady, whose adagios, if not so highly dressed with graces, are not inferior, in point of sentiment and delicacy of touch, to that great master.
quoted in Holman (2004), 176
And again on July 3:
The best performer on the Viol di Gamba now in England, or perhaps in Europe, is Mrs. Thicknesse. She was second only to Abel, as a general player. In more particular points, she was his equal. This accomplished lady has also composed for that instrument, and her compositions possess a degree of science, taste, and delicacy, which the best of Mr. Abel’s productions never excelled.
Reprinted in The Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette, December 12 1787, quoted in Holman (2004), 177
Alas, none of her viola da gamba sonatas appear to have survived.
She certainly continued the literary career she began with her Instructions for Playing on the Musical Glasses by publishing Sketches of the Lives and Writings of Ladies of France in three volumes (1778–1781) and a novel, The School for Fashion (1800). She apparently raised Philip’s six children (never had any of her own), and accompanied her husband in eight changes of residence in England, Spain and France (including during the French Revolution!). In the fall of 1792 Philip Thicknesse died in Anne’s arms in a coach on the way from Paris to Boulogne. On his monument Anne had inscribed:
Gosse (1952), 313
Phillip Thicknesse . . . He married thrice . . . thirdly [to] Anne Ford, his now affectionate and afflicted widow, who inscribes this stone to her ever honoured and beloved husband, as the last mark she can give of her gratitude and unbounded love to the memory of a man with whom she lived thirty years in perfect felicity.
Gosse (1952), 314
Anne was subsequently arrested and confined to a convent (as were all unaccompanied English women in France at that time) and upon the death of Robespierre in 1794 she was released. She eventually returned to England.
Gosse (1952), 313–4
In 1806—Anne would be 68 at this point—an anonymous writer described her thus:
Mrs. Thicknesse is in many respects the most singular, and if it may be added, perhaps the most accomplished woman of her day. She has attained the period of sixty-eight years, without any of the marks usually accompanying old age. Her teeth are as sound and to the full as white as those of a girl of nineteen. Her light-brown hair is braided around her head, without the least admixture of grey, or any appearance of change; while an uninterrupted series of health and a happy flow of animal spirits almost entitle her to expect that she will attain the age of the celebrated Countess of Desmond. She still writes a fine, clear, intelligible Italian hand, that bespeaks vigour and strength of nerve; and such is the goodness of her eye-sight and her powers of execution that she has lately, in the way of trial, inscribed the Lord’s Prayer in distinct characters within the circumference of a wafer.
Public Characters of 1806, 127–128; quoted in Holman (2004), p.158
She lived her last 18 years with her friend Sarah Cooper, and died at age 86 in January 1824.
Highfill (1978) 5:366
Anne's most significant contribution to glass music is her booklet Instructions for Playing on the Musical Glasses (1761). It begins:
As the Tones of the Musical Glasses are, from their Similitude, more like the human Voice, than any musical Instrument, that ever was, or perhaps ever will be invented: there is much Reason to suppose, these Glasses will, in a short Time, become as common a piece of Furniture as an Harpsichord: and that every Lady, who can play or sing (but more particularly the latter) will be furnished with an Instrument, in itself of no great Expence: an Instrument, that not only sets off the Voice with greater Advantage than any other : and if I was to say, will assist and improve the Voice, I do not think I should say more than is due to the exquisite Tone it produces : a Tone superior to every other Instrument, and perhaps, the only one from which you hear the Effect without Cause.
She goes on to describe how to build and play an instrument. From the one illustration in her method, it appears that her instrument did not have all the sharps and flats.
She concludes:
I have consulted an ingenious Organ-Builder who is very confident he can give the same Touch to these Glasses, and cause it to be done by the Keys, as on an Harpsichord: and I have employed him to make me an Organ with Glass Notes, instead of Pipes, which I have some Reason to believe I shall soon produce before the Public: and which, if it answers what the Workman seems confident it will, may be an Instrument that will astonish and delight more than any ever yet performed on. . . .
Miss Ford’s “Organ with Glass Notes” never appeared.
Thomas Jefferson had a copy of Anne Ford’s Instructions for the Musical Glasses in his library.1
E. Delaval
Edward (Edmund?) Delaval (1729–1814) was a classical scholar and linguist, and made a European reputation for himself as well as a scientist, chiefly in chemistry and experimental philosophy. Delaval performed on the musical glasses, having—as he claimed—the largest set in England at the time, and it was Delaval whom Franklin heard and was inspired to invent the glass armonica.
Delaval was a Fellow of Pembroke Hall. Franklin helped his election as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1759. In 1769 Delaval was also on the committee—along with Franklin—appointed by the Royal Society to make recommendations on how to protect St. Paul’s Cathedral from lightning strikes. His other scientific contributions included: studying the effects of lightning; advocating the use of blunt lightning rods (instead of pointed, contradicting what Franklin advocated); he studied the specific gravities of several metals and their colors when bonded with glass; and the manufacture of artificial gems. He was a candidate in 1762, and again in 1768, for the Professorship of Modern History at Cambridge—both times unsuccessfully. He was also known as ’Delaval the Loud’ for his loud voice., or sometimes just called ’Delly’ by his friends, who considered him ’an honest gentleman’.
Papers of Benjamin Franklin 8:359–60
Papers of Benjamin Franklin 16:145ff.
Debus (1968), 437
Gray (1935), letters 461, 494
e.g. Gray (1935), letters 394, 395, 399, 414, 430
Gray (1935), letter 482
About March 28th, 1760, Thomas Gray described one of Delaval’s concerts to his friend James Brown, the Master of Pembroke:
We heard Delaval the other night play upon the water glasses, & I was astonished. No instrument that I know has so celestial a tone. I thought it was a cherubim in a box.
Gray (1935), letter 309
On Dec. 8, Gray wrote to Mason:
Of all loves come to Cambridge out of hand, for here is Mr. Dillaval [sic] & a charming set of glasses that sing like nightingales, & we have concerts every other night, & shall stay here this month or two. . .
Gray (1935), letter 351
But before long Gray took a dislike to Delaval and wrote in Jan. 1762
I am still here: so are the glasses & their master: the first still delight me: I wish I could say as much for the second
Gray (1935), letter 352
The Musical Glasses After Franklin
We shall shortly turn our attention to Franklin’s improvement on the musical glasses, called the glass armonica. But the musical glasses continued to have a life of their own in spite of and independent from Franklin’s invention.
Other musical glasses players around Franklin’s time include: Parry [harp? pg.58], Largeau, Lloyd, Schuman.2 The following is hardly a complete history of the musical glasses/glass harp, but is suggestive of some noteworthy people:
James Smith and his Musical Glasses
James Smith’s Tutor for the Musical Glasses (1829) describes the disadvantages of Franklin’s glass armonica (which we shall consider shortly):
Smith
The Glasses of the Harmonica are very liable to break. The larger revolve with much greater velocity than the smaller; the foot is apt to tire in turning the machinery; when to this we add the high expense of the instrument, we need not be surprised that it never came into general use.
Smith, iv
Smith concludes by describing “the old slow, expressive soul-subduing melodies of Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, performed upon them [the musical glasses] by a player of taste and feeling”:
They come o’er the ear, like the sweet South,  That breathes upon a bank of violets,  Stealing, and giving odours.
Captain Menzies and his Glass Harp
One of Franklin’s armonica ideas was applied back to the musical glasses: tuning the glasses to have the correct pitch without water tuning. This is now called the ’glass harp’-musical glasses without the water tuning. Not only does this save the player a lot of trouble, but water in the glasses dampens the sound (the more water, the more muffled), so glass harps also sound better.
Smith describes an improvement to the Glasses devised by Captain Menzies of the Perthshire Militia, “a gentleman who, from his infancy, seems to have prosecuted the study of Musical Instruments with the most enthusiastic devotion”. In Menzie’s improvement the wineglasses were still upright-like the musical glasses tuned with water, but they were ground to pitch-like the glasses on Franklin’s armonica, so they didn’t need water tuning. 1 Later we shall meet Bruno Hoffman, a twentieth century glass performer who also tuned his musical glasses by grinding and called his instrument the ’glass harp’.
Francis Hopkinson Smith
In the 1820’s, Francis Hopkinson Smith (1797—1872) gave concerts in America on a set of musical glasses which he called the ‘Grand Harmonicon’, of his own design and construction. (Interestingly, Charles Dickens calls E.G. Robertson’s glass armonica a ’harmonicon’.)
Dickens (1855), 557
Smith patented and manufactured his Grand Harmonicon, and published method books for it. He was also the grandson of the well-known American composer of the Revolutionary War period, Francis Hopkinson, whom we shall meet later in his attempts to add a keyboard to Franklin’s invention.(See pg. ???).
Smith was born in Virginia, and after marrying in 1820, the couple lived most of their married life in Baltimore, Maryland. They had seven children—three daughters and four sons.
During the 1820’s Smith gave concerts and exhibitions of the Grand Harmonicon in the Virginia and Baltimore area. He claimed it was his own invention, that “only needs to be more generally known to become a fashionable appendage to the parlor.”
Stoutamire (1972), p. 157
The instrument was intended primarily for use in the home by amateur musicians rather than in the concert hall.
Smith claimed that the instrument was easy to play, stating that "a few week’s practice will make a pleasing performer.” Chords consisted of only two notes—with one note being played by each hand.
Smith not only played the musical glasses, he manufactured them, and was granted a patent in 1825. Alas we can know nothing more about the patent because of the fire in the U.S Archives in 1836 that destroyed all existing patent records.
In 1824 the Grand Harmonicon could be purchased from Smith at Fitzwhylsonn’s store in Richmond, Virginia for fifty dollars. William Fitzwhylsonn was successively a school teacher, book and music store proprietor, and the mayor of Richmond.
Business was good. By 1826 all orders for replacement glasses were to be sent to him “post paid” at Eastville, Virginia, and in 1829 all purchase orders were to be addressed to Baltimore, where Smith built his factory and had a warehouse along with his home.
Smith, F.H., Instructions for the Grand Harmonicon (1826), Baltimore, p.4
Smith, F.H., Instructions for the Grand Harmonicon (1829), Baltimore, p.3
Alas, interest in the Grand Harmonicon began to fade, and by 1833 he had become a bank teller and had moved. Two years later in 1835 Smith was hired as an “agent for the Franklin Fire Insurance Co. of Philadelphia”, a position he held until 1853. He then became a brick maker. He is listed for the last time in 1858 as “salesman and steam brick press.” He died in 1872 at the age of 75.
Matchett’s Baltimore City Directory (1833) Baltimore, v.20, quoted in Ervine (1975), p.12
Matchett’s Baltimore City Directory (1835–6) Baltimore, v.21, quoted in Ervine (1975), p.12
Wood’s Baltimore Directory (1858-9) Baltimore, v.33, quoted in Ervine (1975), p.12
The glasses in Smith’s Grand Harmonicon were pretuned—no water tuning necessary. They were also essentially wine-glasses (blown specifically for the instrument) except that the glasses had no feet—the stems were fit into the sounding board. A case for the sounding board and glasses was available for an extra charge.
Smith’s earliest harmonicons, dating around 1826–1828, had square cases, and twenty-five goblets arranged as shown in figure ???:
Observe that all the diatonic (“white”) notes are in the 4 x 4 lower-left square, and the accidentals (the “black keys”) are across the top and down the right. The numbers in the lower right hand corners show the glasses in order of increasing pitch. So ’1’ is the lowest pitch glass, ’25’ is the highest.
Later he changed from his 5 x 5 arrangement to 4 x 6: This would have the advantage of making the higher glasses easier to reach. The 25th glass—the high B[—was included and the player would replace the B-natural glass depending on the key of the piece. Smith advised that the extra glass “be kept in a closet or other safe place.”
Smith, Preceptor (1831), p.9
We have no record of the number of instrument he manufactured, but according to Ervine at least 20 have survived to the present day.
Evine (1975), pg. 70
Bruno Hoffmann and his Glass Harp
(1913–1991). German player and maker of the glass harp (a name which he coined)—essentially a set of musical glasses where the glasses are made and ground to pitch so as not to require water tuning. Not only does this simplify setup, but water in the glasses dampens the sides and interferes with the tone. Without the tuning water the sound is much clearer. (Try it! As you increasingly add water, the sound becomes increasingly muffled.) Hoffman especially deserves mention because he almost single-handedly revived interest in the glass armonica literature—by performing it on his glass harp! Having studied the piano, the organ and singing, he specialized from 1929 in the glass harp. He constructed a chromatic instrument with a compass of four octaves and developed an impressive technique in playing on it. He became known as a soloist in the 1930s, and was first heard in London in 1938. Hoffman was heard again in London in the 1960s, and in many other cities all over the world.
King, Alec Hyatt, ’Bruno Hoffmann’, The New Groves Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed.; ed. Sadie & Tyrell; Vol. ??? p.585. See also Hoffman’s autobiography: Ein Leben für die Glasharfe; 1983; 1983; Helmut Michel “Unser Niederland”, Backnang; ISBN 3923947062 and Appendix A.2 of Guignard (2002-03)
Various Musical Glasses Players
We conclude our treatment of the Musical Glasses with a quick survey of other musical glasses players:
Mr. Cartwright A certain Mr. Cartwright (his first name is a mystery) performed on the musical glasses in London in April, 1783. The British Museum possesses a handbill, on which
Mr. Cartwright respectfully acquaints the nobility and gentry that he has taken Mr. Sechard’s convenient rooms at No. 115 Pall Mall, next to Carlton House, where, in a style peculiar to himself, he will perform on the Musical Glasses.. . . The reception he met with at Bath, and the persuasion of those people of fashion, who countenanced him there, have encouraged him to exhibit in the Metropolis. The dulcet tones, in imitation of the human voice, and soft notes of harmony, which have gained an admirer in every person who has honoured the performance, are the recommendation on which Mr. Cartwright rests for public support.. . . It having been thought that the Musical Glasses would not admit of great execution, Mr. Cartwright (hopes not presumptuously) takes the liberty of informing the public that he plays Fischer’s favourite minuet, with all its variations, and several others, no less difficult, which were never attempted by any other performer in public, on the glasses.
Quoted in King (1946) p.116
On February 1st, 1787, Cartwright returned to Bath, as advertised in the Bath Chronicle:
Upper rooms. By desire. Mr. Cartwright’s Public Breakfast will be on Saturday the 3d of February, 1787, attended with French Horns, Clarionets, etc. After breakfast Mr. Cartwright will perform on his new-invented grand set of musical glasses, several favourite compositions of Handel’s Fischer’s and Shield’s etc.
Quoted in King (1946) p.116
A second advertisment, of February 22nd, repeats the sentence “The dulcet tones. . . ” from his London announcement of 1783, and adds the following: “He also constructs this melodious apparatus for sale. Terms for instruction, 3 lessons for one guinea, one guinea entrance.” Apparently Cartwright continued to tour for some time, for in an 1827 encyclopedia, the article on the “Harmonica” includes:
Some readers will recollect the performance of Mr. Cartwright a few years ago in different parts of Britain. In the latter case (i.e. Cartwright’s as contrased with the harmonica proper) the glasses are arranged in a frame or box.
"Harmonica”, Encyclopedia Edinensis (1827) vol. 4, p.103; quoted in King (1946) p.116
Cullen Dr. Edmund Cullen of Dublin, who lived in the second half of the eighteenth century, was another performer on the musical glasses. He used thirty-five glasses, arranged in a special way to facilitate playing, and used a dampening device to prevent prolonged vibration. He claimed that his improvements made his instrument fully the equal of Franklin’s armonica, and seems to have enjoyed considerable popularity in Ireland. Cullen claimed to have heard Fischer’s celebrated rondo, Vivaldi’s fifth concerto and music by Giardini played with ease and clarity. [??? Full details are given after the reprint of Franklin’s letter in the Encyclopedia Britannica, third edition.]
An Edmund Cullen is listed as President of the Kings and Queens College of Physicians in Ireland in 1787.
Dr. Edmund Cullen also published a book: Physical and chemical essays; translated from the original Latin of Sir Torbern Bergman, ... By Edmund Cullen, M.D. ... To which are added notes and illustrations, by the translator. ... in two volumes, in 1784.
J.E. Franklin No relation to Benjamin Franklin. J.E. Franklin published an Introduction to the Knowledge of the Seraphim, or Musical Glasses in 1813. It was a method for playing thirty upright glasses, and includes a selection of popular songs. He also offered Seraphims (musical glasses) for sale, and elicited a comment from a reviewer in the Gentleman’s Magazine: “We think 15 gns not a very moderate price for this fragile instrument.”
vol.84, part 1, p.372
The glasses continued to be popular throughout the nineteenth century. Scholes[???] records that in 1823 one Edwards
with two colleagues, gave performances in Scotland on a set of over 120 glasses, the largest of which held three gallons and the smallest of which was the size of a thimble, the whole providing a six octave scale.
Quoted in King (1946), p.118
Rev. Thomas Jessop Around the middle of the nineteenth century there was a clergyman by the name of Rev. Thomas Jessop, Rector of Wighill in Yorkshire (from  1830 to about 1860) of whom it is recorded that he was
R.W. Hiley’s Memoirs of Half a Century (1903); London; p. 313–4
a man of prodigious learning, well read in Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic, besides Latin and Greek. He was a good mathematician, had a knowledge of chemistry, played well on the violin. When he held an evening service in his house, he would accompany the singing by playing on musical glasses.
Quoted in King (1946) p. 119
Other Musical Glasses Players In Stainer and Barrett’s Dictionary of Musical Terms (1888) we read in the entry for “Musical Glasses”: “The instrument has been recently revived under the name of Copophone”. Why? Was there someone named Cope? Was it a trade name? We may never know...
Stainer (1888)
Quoted in King (1946) p. 119
As time goes on, new names for the musical glasses seem to get stranger and stranger. In the Musical Times in 1901 we read:
vol.42, 1901, p.126
You probably refer to the “Crystalphonicon,” a species of musical glasses upon which a Mr. Arthur Lincoln, from New Orleans, performed, some thirty years ago, in London. He played on the glasses with his right hand and accompanied himself on the pianoforte with his left.
But Scholes quotes in his Companion what has to be the all-time record for the strangest and longest name for any musical instrument:
Scholes (1970)
[The musical glasses have] the distinction of having had attached to it the longest section of the Greek language ever attached to any musical instrument, for a reader of the The Times wrote to that paper in 1932 to say that in his youth he had heard a performance the advertisement of which styled the instrument the Hydrodaktulopsychicharmonica.
Also worth note are two posters dating from around 1820–1840:
Positively for One Night only
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A Hundred Musical Glasses Upon a Scale of Magnitude never before displayed in this Town
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The grandest, most ingenious, and exquisite MUSICAL PERFORMANCE Of the Kind ever exhibited in the known World, the Particulars of which are as follows: Mr. SMITH’S NEW-INVENTED GRAND HARMONICA,
Which met with such unbounded Applause at the Marquis of BUCKINGHAM’S, from a numerous Assemblage of British Nobility,at Stowe-House, on the 18th of February last, and at the Assembly Rooms in Sheffield and Doncaster.
T.S. sole Inventory and Proprietor of the Grand Harmonica, which consists of ONE HUNDRED MUSICAL GLASSES, on a Scale of Magnitude never before attempted, and which are arranged in five Treble Sets, to be performed on by five persons all at one time, and all of one Family, forming in the whole the most Grand, Ingenious and Exquisite Musical Performance in the World!!! The Harmonic Glasses, for Sweetness and Brilliancy of Tone, even in their original state, are indisputably the most Melodious of all other Instruments; but how far superior must they be on such an amazingly extensive Scale, as in the present instance; as it is evident that five Persons performing on the Glasses at one time must produce a fuller body of sound, and a much more complete and melodious chord, than the exertions of one Person (however excellent his skill) can possibly execute; in short, the combination of Harmony which they are capable of producing is indescribable; and nothing but the Testimony of the ear can convey an idea of their exquisite sounds, which may very justly, and with great propriety, be termed the very QUINTESSENCE of MUSIC.
Quoted from King (1956), 62
And another poster from the same time period:
Three Musical Prodigies! The greatest acknowledged Wonder in the Art and Science of Music the Age has yet produced, The celebrated Three Miss Smiths, Whose astonishing powers in the Harmonic Art have justly entitled them to the appellation of INTANTILE [sic] MUSICAL PHENOMENA! which includes the inimitable and unrivalled MISS SMITH.
Only TWELVE YEARS OF AGE, who is enabled, from Mr. SMITH’S Inven  tions, to perform the most difficult Pieces ON TWO VIOLINS at ONE TIME, VIOLIN and PIANO-FORTE at ONE TIME; also VIOLIN and VIOLONCELLO at ONE TIME. Miss SMITH also performs Scientifically on SIX INSTRUMENTS, viz. Violin, Piano-forte, Tenor, Violoncello, Musical Glasses, and Grand Harmonica; is capable of leading any Band or Orchestra, and is allowed to be the FIRST JUVENILE FEMALE VIOLIN PERFORMER IN EUROPE.
Quoted from King (1956), 62