Concert Spirituel

. Engraved and coloured illustration, 247 x 180 mms., by Caroline [?Nowwet], dated 1819, coloured by hand. An image of three instrumentalists, so far identified as Karl Friedrich Abel (1723 – 1787, a well-known 18th century viola da gamba players. A contemporary hand identifies the horn player as "Lawton," but his name appears below "Ponto [sic] horn." Giovanni Punto (1746 – 1803) was a famous horn (cor basse) player, but whether he ever played with Abel is unclear, as he was seldom in London, where Abel performed most of his concerts. The oboe player is identified as "Fischer," almost certainly Johann Christian Fischer (1733 – 1800). He came to London in 1768, played concerts with Abel, and lived in London the rest of his life. The "Concert Spirituel" was a "concert series founded in Paris in 1725 by Anne Danican Philidor, initially to perform instrumental music and sacred works with Latin texts; later, secular works to French texts were introduced, and the Concert Spirituel (always referred to in the singular) was at the centre of Paris's non-operatic musical life until the series came to an end in 1792.... The name was revived in 1805, and concerts spirituels, consisting of programmes on the Parisian model or simply of sacred music, were given in many European centres in the late 18th century and early 19th" (Sadie: The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 1980). C. Pierre: Histoire du Concert Spirituel, 1275 - 1790 [1975].