November 8th in St Paul's. Ian Graham-Jones on John Marsh

 

November 8th meet

The next meet of Starcross History will be on Wednesday, 8^th November at 7:30pm in St Paul’s Church. No membership fee and admission is free. We have to pay for the room, so we charge £1 for tea/coffee and £1 a strip for raffle tickets. Please bring a raffle prize.

Ian Graham-Jones has kindly agreed to present an illustrated talk about John Marsh’s visits to Starcross and Dawlish. John Marsh (1752 -1828) was perhaps the most prolific English composer of his time - over 350 works. He had varied interests; from bellringing and religion to astronomy and geometry. His 37 journals are valuable sources of information on life and music in 18^th -19^th century England. They remained unpublished until 1998. (wiki)

 

Here's the full wikitext:

John Marsh (31 May 1752 – 31 October 1828) was an English gentleman, composer, diarist and writer born in Dorking, England.^[1] A lawyer by training, he is known to have written at least 350 compositions, including at least 39 symphonies. While today known primarily for his music, he also had strong interest in other fields, including astronomy and philosophy, and wrote books about astronomy, music, religion, and geometry.

Life and career

Marsh lived in Dorking, Gosport, Romsey, Salisbury and Canterbury before settling in Chichester in 1787 until his death in 1828. As a concert organizer, he was responsible for the music making in the towns and cities where he worked, especially in Chichester, where he led the subscription concerts for some 35 years.
Marsh was perhaps the most prolific English composer of his time. His own catalog of compositions records over 350 works, of which he lists 39 symphonies. Of these, only the nine that Marsh had printed are extant, together with three one-movement finales.
Marsh was a man of varied interests, and his 37 volumes of journals are among the most valuable sources of information on life and music in 18th-century England. They represent one of the most important musical and social documents of the period. It remained unpublished until the first volume was published in 1998. In one passage, Marsh describes the great Handel Commemoration of 1784 in London.
Marsh's son was poet and cleric Edward Garrard Marsh.

Extant works

• The Salisbury Symphonies
  • Symphony No. 8 [9] in G Major (1778)

  I. Allegro

  II. Andante

  III. Allegro

  • A Conversation Symphony for Two Orchestras [No. 10] in E-flat Major (1778)

  I. Allegro maestoso

  II. Andante

  III. Allegretto

  • Symphony No. 2 [12] in B-flat Major (1780)

  I. Allegro

  II. Largo 8 in a bar

  III. Allegro spirituoso

  • Symphony No. 1 [13] in B-flat Major (1781)

  I. Allegro

  II. Andante

  III. Chasse: Allegro

• The Canterbury Symphonies
  • Symphony No. 5 [16] in E-flat Major (1783)

  I. Largo staccatto

  II. Allegro moderato

  III. Minuetto; Allegro spirituoso

  • Symphony No. 3 [17] in D Major (1784)

  I. Allegro

  II. Andante

  III. Presto

• The Chichester Symphonies
  • Symphony No. 4 [19] in F Major (1788)

  I. Allegro

  II. Larghetto

  III. Minuetto

  IV. Allegro

  • Symphony No. 7 [24] in E-flat Major (La Chasse) (1790)

  I. Andante (The hunter’s call in the morning)

  II. Allegretto (Setting out from home; the fox discovered)

  III. Allegro (Chasse)

  • Symphony No. 6 [27] in D Major (1796)

  I. Largo maestoso; Allegro spiritoso

  II. Andante

  III. Minuetto: Allegro

  IV. Allegro scherzando

• The Finales
  • Finale No. 3 in E-flat Major (1799)

  Andante; Allegro

  • Finale No. 1 in D Major (1800)

  Pomposo

  • Finale No. 2 in B-flat Major (1801)

  Maestoso; Trio

  Allegro

Citations

1. Brandon, Peter (2006). Sussex. London: Robert Hale. p. 224. ISBN 0-7090-6998-7.

References

• The John Marsh Journals—The Life and Times of a Gentleman Composer (1752–1828) Edited, introduced and annotated by Brian Robins. Pendragon Press, Stuyvesant, NJ, 1998. ISBN 0-945193-94-7. A second volume, covering the period from June 1802 to Marsh's death on October 31, 1828, was published by Pendragon Press in July 2013. ISBN 978-1576471630.
• "The John Marsh Journals: The Life and Times of a Gentleman Composer (1752-1828)." Music & Letters, Nov. 1999.
• Temperley, Nicholas, "Marsh of Chichester: Gentleman, Composer, Musician, Writer 1752-1828” (review), Music and Letters - Volume 86, Number 4, 2005, at p. 633.
• Marsh of Chichester: Gentleman, Composer, Musician, Writer 1752-1828. Ed. by Paul Foster. pp. 158. Otter Memorial Papers, 19. University College Chichester, Chichester, England, 2004. ISBN 0-948765-34-8.
• John Marsh--Symphonies, Edited by Ian Graham-Jones
  • Part 1: The Salisbury and Canterbury Symphonies (1778–1784)
  • Part 2: The Chichester Symphonies and Finales (1788–1801)
  • C 62 Part 1 ISBN 0-89579-486-1 (2001) xvii + 255 pp. ISBN 978-0-89579-486-4
  • C 63 Part 2 ISBN 0-89579-487-X (2001) xiv + 213 pp. ISBN 978-0-89579-487-1
• The New Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians (2000)

External links

• MusicWeb International biography

There are 2 c.d's of John Marsh's symphonies:One of the c.d.'s is Chandos 10458(64 minutes,2008).It contains 5 of his symphonies: Number 2(LaChasse-1780),Number 6(1796),Number 7(LaChasse-1790),Number 8(1778)and Conversation Symphony for 2 Orchestras(1778).It's played by the London Mozart and conducted by Matthias Bamert.The other c.d.is by The Chichester Concert conducted by Ian-Graham Jones(64 minutes,1989).It also contains 5 symphonies(Number 1,3,4,6 and A Conversation Symphony for 2 Orchestras.It was given a favorable review in Gramophone Magazine in 1989.

• John Marsh (composer). (2017, June 24). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved

  08:26, September 19, 2017 from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Marsh_(composer)&oldid=787235625

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Music by John Marsh

Starcross History is to have a presentation, on 8th November, from Ian Graham-Jones, about the composer and diarist John Marsh. (1752 - 1828)  John Marsh visited Devon, including Dawlish and Starcross.

Here is a selection of John Marsh music: 

John Marsh - Symphony No.7 in E-flat major "La Chasse" (1790)

 

 

John Marsh - Conversation Symphony for 2 Orchestras in E-flat major (1778)

John Marsh - Symphony No.6 in D-major (1796)

 

John Marsh - Symphony No. 4 in F major

 

John Marsh (1752-1828): Voluntary No. 1 in C Major (Ménestérol)

John Marsh (1752-1828): Voluntary No. 15 in G Major (Ménestérol)

Photograph of the Royal Western Counties Hospital with a topiary swan

What a great photo.

• Is that a swan hedge in the background?
• Does anyone know anything about this photo please? 
• Who did that topiary? 
• What year was this taken? 
• Who took this photo?

 Topiary in Starcross
Starcross once had some more topiary - there was a row of conical Yew trees along The Strand. see bottom right picture on this postcard

 
and here's another view of them; with people in Victorian clothing.

and here's 3 Francis Frith postcards which also show the Yew trees along The Strand

and here's one of the row of conical yew trees by the Starcross siding

Kenton Past & Present meet this Wednesday

Hugh Meller will address Kenton Past and Present Society this Wednesday 20th September in the Victory Hall.
subject -  The  Country Houses of Devon
Non-members welcome
Admission £4
Hugh has written many books about  architectural history. They include The  Country Houses of Devon published by Black Dog in 2015 -  Two hardback volumes (each 303 x 213mm) complete with a slip-case. 1,204 pages in total.
ISBN 9780952434146
These books won the WG Hoskins Prize

Hugh pictured at the launch of his books, with Devon Gardens Trust Vice President Carolyn Keep.

Hugh Meller speaking at Devon History Society AGM after receiving the W G Hoskins prize for his books The Country Houses of Devon.

link to The Country Houses of Devon by Hugh Meller on The Black Dog Press
"
This... publication describes more than 400 of Devon’s most notable country houses in lively detail. Their owners & architectural history, their estates, ancillary buildings & gardens are all included. Over 1,000 old and new photographs, drawings, maps and sketch-plans, many published for the first time, illustrate the text.
The author spent 26 years working for the National Trust in Devon, responsible for its historic buildings, and 15 years researching the houses in these two volumes. Significantly, it is the first time that the county’s more obscure country houses, as well as the better-known ones, have been comprehensively recorded.
"


Image of Paul Holden's review of the books The Country Houses of Devon

link to Paul Holden's review of Country Houses in Devon