The composer Charles Avison (1709–1770) is well known for his contribution to eighteenth-century British music. His published works, which were widely disseminated, became a regular feature of concert programmes throughout this country in both the latter part of his lifetime and in the decades after his death; in addition, his music, or adaptations of it, continued to be performed throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in both Britain and the United States.Footnote ¹ Given the impact Avison had, one might have expected him to have been based in an important European musical hub, such as the city of London, but instead he opted to remain for all his working life in his place of birth, the then relatively small Northumbrian town of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Newcastle is not a place one would expect to find one of Britain's most important native-born Georgian composers. The town's location, almost 290 miles from the capital, gave it a degree of remoteness. There was a regular stage coach that connected the two centres but the journey time was excessive by modern standards, advertised as taking six days in 1754.Footnote ² That by no means meant that Newcastle was isolated: its residents were well aware of the latest news from the south of the country and mainland Europe. Avison also, despite his location, became well known far beyond the North-East of England and received offers of employment in London, York, Dublin and Edinburgh.Footnote ³

Avison was not unfamiliar with life in London having spent time there during his youth, at which point he received lessons from the Italian musician, Francesco Geminiani; he also visited the capital later in life, such as in c.1753 when he heard Charles Chabran, Giuseppe Passerini and either Jose or Juan Pla perform.Footnote ⁴ Avison's decision to remain in Newcastle was presumably because, in that town, he was the dominant musical force. In London, as one among many, he would have faced fierce competition in securing an organist post and in organizing his own concerts. The problem with Newcastle was the length of the journey and few prominent continental musicians chose to venture that far north. Avison, residing so far from the capital, did not have the same opportunities to forge relationships, although he did endeavour to cultivate links with other like-minded members of society. He was, for instance, a friend of the Scottish antiquary, John Callander, who resided at Craigforth House near Stirling; so good was their relationship that Avison stayed at Callander's home on several occasions and Callander visited the Avisons in Newcastle.Footnote ⁵ Avison was also an occasional member of a ‘society of very ingenious men’ based in Carlisle that included Captain John Gilpin.Footnote ⁶ It was apparently through the link with Gilpin that Avison had the opportunity to visit the Lake District.Footnote ⁷ The poet Thomas Grey recorded that he had met Avison during a visit to the North-East in 1753 and in 1755 was awaiting receipt of what appears to have been manuscript copies of Avison's English version of Marcello's Psalms, produced in partnership with the Durham-based composer, John Garth.Footnote ⁸ Avison was also in contact with William Mason, the vicar of Hull, who made a contribution to Avison's important treatise, An Essay on Musical Expression, substantiating both William Hayes' accusation and Avison's response that the Essay was indeed the product of a ‘junto’.Footnote ⁹ Furthermore, Avison corresponded with musicians such as Henry Hargrave, writing a letter in praise of Hargrave's edition of Carlo Clari's madrigals that so impressed the editor he published it in a newspaper.Footnote ¹⁰ Avison had other contacts in the north of England, established when musicians who had been based in the Newcastle area relocated elsewhere in the search for work. William Howgill, the organist at Whitehaven, had roots in the North-East and spent time in Newcastle.Footnote ¹¹ Matthias Hawdon, one of Avison's pupils, was the organist at Hull and then Beverley Minster. In the first post Hawdon succeeded another member of Avison's family, possibly Charles' brother, William.Footnote ¹² As we shall see, many of these persons supported Avison by subscribing to his publications and Avison also subscribed to works by others (see Figure 1) which reveal connections for which no other known evidence exists. Although more works will undoubtedly come to light, Table I lists all the identified works to which Avison subscribed.

Figure 1. Excerpt from the subscription list to John Garth's Six Sonatas, op. 2 (1768), which included Avison and four other members of his family.

Source: Print from the author's collection, held at Durham University's Palace Green Library.

The publication of works by subscription was a common occurrence in eighteenth-century Britain. In England, the earliest known book produced this way was John Minsheu's Ductor in Linguas from 1617 and, by the end of the seventeenth century, this method of publication had become a familiar concept.Footnote ¹³ Publishing by subscription was of benefit to composers and authors who wished to undertake publication themselves, but who did not have the means to finance such a costly undertaking. Through subscription, a composer, editor or publisher could sell enough copies in advance to meet the costs involved in engraving the plates, undertaking any typesetting and the printing itself. Those who paid to subscribe would often receive a discount on the intended sale price and their name would normally be included in a list that was attached to the work.Footnote ¹⁴ These lists are of tremendous benefit to anyone wishing to research social history as they shed considerable light on a subscriber's status, interests, position, place of residence and links to the author of the work. Given the fragmentary nature of many eighteenth-century records, subscription lists are a valuable resource and it is not unusual for the information that they contain not to survive elsewhere.Footnote ¹⁵ Lists are, unfortunately, far from perfect. Not to mention any mistakes or misspellings that may occur, it is often difficult to identify subscribers where only a title and surname are provided.

There have already been several articles that have investigated this type of resource. Margaret Seares discussed the subscribers of one list as a case study, that of James Nares’ Eight Setts of Lessons for the Harpsichord. Footnote ¹⁶ Michael Talbot also investigated the two lists attached to works by Giacob Cervetto.Footnote ¹⁷ In addition, there is an article on two of Handel's lists, written by David Hunter and Rose Mason.Footnote ¹⁸ This is, however, the first time that a survey of all the lists associated with a single native British composer has been undertaken.

Avison, like many of his contemporaries, published works by subscription. In total, there are eight different extant subscription lists attached to Avison's various publications, which cover a period of over a quarter of a century. They, as such, represent a hitherto largely untapped resource that sheds considerable light on the growth of Avison as a composer and the links he forged across Britain and beyond. The earliest of these lists was attached to his 1740 op. 2 concertos. They are, for the most part, attached to early works and particularly sets of concertos with the 1755 op. 4 being the last of these ‘early’ publications (see Figure 2); there is then a gap of over a decade until the appearance of his op. 9 12 concertos, published in two parts in 1766 and 1767.

Figure 2. First page of the subscription list to Charles Avison's Eight Concertos, op. 4.

Source: Print from the author's collection, held at Durham University's Palace Green Library.

Of the works issued in this ‘gap’, none of Avison's three sets of accompanied keyboard sonatas, the opp. 5, 7 and 8, published respectively in 1756, 1760 and 1764 has lists, nor does his set of 12 op. 6 concertos from 1758. It appears to be that Avison, feeling financially stable and relatively affluent after his op. 4, had the means to finance the publication of some of these works himself.Footnote ¹⁹ This certainly appears to have been the situation with the opp. 6, 7 and 8 which were ‘Printed for the Author’. However, in the case of the op. 5 it appears that Johnson was willing to assume, given that Avison was by the mid-1750s an established and well-known composer, that any publication under his name would be profitable and paid to produce this set himself. The fact that the two subsequent sets of sonatas were printed for Avison suggests that this first set did not meet Johnson's expectations.Footnote ²⁰ As for the op. 6, this set contains re-workings of his op. 2 concertos. As these are not entirely new works it could be that Avison decided to finance this edition himself to avoid any disappointment to potential subscribers. There is one other musical work by subscription with which Avison was involved and that is the English edition of Marcello's Psalms, published in eight volumes from 1757.Footnote ²¹

As already mentioned, Avison's final list was attached to the op. 9 concertos. This work was published in two sets, both of which have an individual list.Footnote ²² This work is also something of an anomaly as the first set has two different subscription lists. What appears to have happened is that the first volume was published by John Johnson's widow, Ruth, in March 1766. It was then reissued by her, probably later that same year, with an updated list. By the time the second volume appeared, in March 1767, she had been replaced as publisher by Robert Bremner who brought out the second set with yet another updated list; he additionally reissued the first set, presumably once all copies of Johnson's imprint had been sold.Footnote ²³ When comparing these three lists it is clear that Avison received a good number of extra subscribers in the time between each set's publication, although one name, John Cuthbert of Newcastle, who appears in the list to the first edition of set 1, was removed from the second edition; this was presumably because he had not made his promised payment.Footnote ²⁴ In some cases, a name may change between lists. Mary Eleanor Bowes, who had married the 9th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne on 26 February 1767, subscribed in her maiden name to set 1, issue 2, but married name to set 2.Footnote ²⁵ Additionally, it was not unusual for subscriptions to be taken after the list of subscribers had been produced and a number of lists, including the first edition of set 1, have names added by hand.Footnote ²⁶ What is perhaps so unusual about the op. 9 lists is that there are not only three lists, printed at different times for one single opus, but that there was also an impressive 20% increase in the number of subscribers between the first and final lists. An index of all Avison's subscription lists with the number of subscribers and copies subscribed to is given in Table II.

The figures in Table II reveal a general growth in sales between 1740 to 1767, during which time Avison had almost doubled the number of copies he was selling by subscription. Avison's ultimate success with the op. 9 appears to have been due to several factors. Firstly, that by 1766 Avison's reputation had grown significantly and there were more who were willing to take a chance on the quality and usefulness of his music. Secondly, that Avison, in his desire to increase the number of copies sold, set out to make these works adaptable. They could be performed as keyboard solos, as Avison provided a partially realized harpsichord part; he also intended that they could be performed as quartets and so were ideal for domestic purposes.Footnote ²⁷

Of the works with subscription lists, the earliest three were published in Newcastle while the later examples were produced in London. Avison presumably knew Joseph Barber personally, which may have led to his decision to have these editions published locally. Of course, the difficulty was that Newcastle, even with the improvements in communication, was still a considerable distance from London. If Avison wanted to increase his sales and make himself more widely recognized as a composer then it was to this city that he needed to look to sell his works, then one of the biggest marketplaces for music in the world.Footnote ²⁸ The earliest two works issued by Barber were, according to the title pages, also available for purchase from the London publisher, Benjamin Cooke; Cooke additionally took subscriptions for both works.Footnote ²⁹ Cooke died c.1743 so the Scarlatti concertos were simply recorded as ‘Sold by the Musick Shops in Town’.Footnote ³⁰ By the time Avison's op. 3 appeared, (see Figure 3) he had switched allegiance to John Johnson who, as well as publishing all of Avison's new works and Marcello's Psalms, also reissued the op. 1 sonatas. Avison's final publisher, Robert Bremner, produced the complete op. 9 and the op. 10 concertos; Bremner furthermore reissued the op. 7 sonatas, but it is unclear whether his imprint appeared before or after Avison's death.

Figure 3. List of subscribers to Charles Avison's Six Concertos, op. 3.

Source: Print from the author's collection, held at Durham University's Palace Green Library.

All of Avison's publishers subscribed to his music (Table III), including works that they themselves printed. A few publishers, however, subscribed to works with which they had no direct association, although some did act as agents by taking subscriptions.Footnote ³¹ The most notable of them all is John Walsh who subscribed to everything but the op. 2 and Avison's Scarlatti concertos. Walsh was, nevertheless, clearly aware of the op. 2 as he brought out a set of eight organ concertos, six of which were based on the concertino parts from this set and designed to work with the already available ripieno parts.Footnote ³² In addition, several publishers, particularly Walsh, subscribed to a large number of copies that were presumably intend for sale in their shops; subscribing would certainly have made financial sense if, by doing so, they were provided with a discount.

Musical societies

During the eighteenth century, there was a significant growth in the number of musical societies throughout Britain. These societies tended to be a mix of both professional and amateur musicians who came together on a regular basis to make music, often at a local tavern. Avison was himself a member of the Newcastle Musical Society and it was at their meetings that his op. 1 trios were performed.Footnote ³³ The index of musical societies given in Table IV outlines not only how far Avison's reputation spread, but also how highly he was regarded by some individual groups.

Of these societies, a respectable number subscribed to only one publication while others subscribed to more. Of those which subscribed to one, it was mostly the op. 9, which indicates that these groups may not have encountered Avison's music until a later date and certainly saw no need, if they were aware of him at the time, to subscribe to anything earlier. Some societies subscribed to an early publication but not to any later works. This could be due to changes in taste, but these groups could possibly have experienced a drop in their numbers, which meant that they were either unable to afford the subscription, or that they no longer had the numbers required to perform concertos; this certainly appears to have been the situation with that at Spalding.Footnote ³⁴ In the case of Durham, their musical society subscribed to the first two works but nothing later. This was presumably due to the longstanding dispute that existed between Avison and the organist of Durham Cathedral, James Hesletine. The source of this argument appears to originate in 1742, when Avison proposed a series of concerts to coincide with Durham's race week. Hesletine, who had a fiery temperament and was, in the words of Durham's Dean, Spencer Cowper, unable ‘to bear a Competitor’, subsequently refused to be involved in any musical event that involved Avison.Footnote ³⁵ Although Hesletine never personally subscribed to any of Avison's publications himself, he did subscribe to Marcello's Psalms presumably as his relationship with Garth was less strained.

Some societies subscribed to a series of Avison's works. Aberdeen for example subscribed to everything from the op. 3. That town had a vibrant musical society, founded in 1748; one of its founding members, the dancing teacher Francis Peacock, was an individual subscriber to Avison's music.Footnote ³⁶ In Edinburgh there was another, earlier established society, which appears to have given private concerts by the second decade of the eighteenth century.Footnote ³⁷ Avison's links with the Scottish capital appears to be more significant than evidence initially suggests, as the Solemn Dirge, that Avison composed for a performance of Romeo and Juliet, was possibly written for use at Edinburgh.Footnote ³⁸ Edinburgh appears twice in Table III, but it is likely that the St Mary's Chapel society is the same as that which subscribed to the other works; the addition of a name would have been a way of distinguishing themselves from another similar group.Footnote ³⁹ An Edinburgh society subscribed to all of Avison's publications, except for the Scarlatti concertos, probably because they found Avison's music, with its easier ripieno parts, ideal for their players; some members may even have known Avison personally.Footnote ⁴⁰

One of the most notable societies to subscribe was that in Oxford, which had existed since the seventeenth century. By 1740 this musical society had grown to such an extent that they required their own purpose-built accommodation; this resulted in the construction of the Holywell Music Room, opened in 1748.Footnote ⁴¹ The Oxford group was usually led by the Professor of Music who, from 1741, was William Hayes.Footnote ⁴² Hayes had a notoriously low opinion of Avison's music, and savagely criticized the op. 3 in his 1753 pamphlet Remarks on Mr. Avison's Essay on Musical Expression. The Oxford Musical Society subscribed to the Scarlatti concertos, the op. 3 and the 1755 op. 4 concertos. The society's rules set out that ‘[t]he Steward…shall not…subscribe to any Books to be published…without an Order from a Meeting’, which presumably means that before a subscription was placed a consensus had to be reached amongst the society's members.Footnote ⁴³ The fact that they subscribed to the op. 4 indicates that a sizeable number of Hayes’ immediate musical circle not only appreciated Avison's music, but were happy to perform or listen to it. Regarding Hayes himself, he may have had little choice but to tolerate it.

Some musical societies subscribed to more than one set and there are several reasons why this might have been the case. Some might have been large enough to warrant more than one desk to some parts. Of course, multiple copies could have been purchased if one of a society's members wanted their own copy but the purchase was made through the society itself; likewise, some individuals who subscribed might have used their parts at a society meeting. Several musical societies subscribed to more than one copy of some publications, including those at Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Oxford and York. The Norwich musical society stands out as they purchased three sets of the op. 2, two sets of the Two Concertos and the Scarlatti concertos and one set of the op. 4, which could be taken as evidence of a reduction in their numbers. However, the top prize goes to that in Edinburgh, which purchased four copies of the op. 9. This society was particularly large. On its founding in 1728 it had 70 members, which had risen to 195 by 1775.Footnote ⁴⁴ Presumably many were there to hear the music and socialize, rather than to play, but their subscription indicates that they may have had in the region of eight players on some parts.Footnote ⁴⁵

Musician subscribers

Just as Avison subscribed to a large number of musical works, a significant number of musicians subscribed to Avison's own works. Table V contains a list of the musician subscribers, not including amateurs, along with the positions as given in the lists. For other subscribers, it has taken some detective work to determine exactly who were musicians because of the lack of a Christian or place name; for this reason, there are undoubtedly others who remain to be identified.

This list of musicians can be subdivided into three groups. Firstly, there are those who appear to have subscribed reciprocally to Avison's works. Of the 91 names listed here, Avison subscribed to works by 13 of them. A second group are those who worked or studied in the North-East and knew Avison personally; they were presumably asked to subscribe and may even have felt obligated to do so whether they had any use for this music. Finally, there are those with no other known connection with Avison. The first category is of interest as it reveals at least one hitherto unknown relationship.

Thomas Chilcot, the organist at Bath Abbey, subscribed to all of Avison's publications, except for the op. 3, and Avison returned the favour by subscribing to two publications by Chilcot. What is unusual is that Avison took five copies of Chilcot's Twelve English Songs, which raises the question as to why Avison required so many prints. It seems likely that he may have taken the extra copies to support a fellow musician, perhaps even one he knew quite well.Footnote ⁴⁶ According to Rishton, Chilcot rarely travelled far from Bath so it is unlikely that he would have visited the North-East, but there may have been a link through Masonic circles.Footnote ⁴⁷ Chilcot was certainly a freemason and evidence suggests that Avison may have been one as well.Footnote ⁴⁸ What is perhaps even more striking about Bath is the number of subscribers from that place who purchased a copy of Avison's op. 9. Bath, as a major spa town, had one of the most vibrant musical scenes in provincial Britain. Many of those who visited Bath would drink the waters in the ‘Pump Room’ where music was provided as entertainment; the musicians who played in the ‘Pump Room Band’ also formed the core of Bath's concert orchestras, with 63% of this quite small group subscribing to the op. 9.Footnote ⁴⁹ The subscribers were Thomas Linley (who played violin), Benjamin Milgrove (French horn), Thomas Shaw (clarinet/viola/violin), David Richards (cello/violin) and William Rogers (trumpet/horn).Footnote ⁵⁰ No Bath-based group subscribed to anything by Avison yet there was clearly some sort of relationship between Avison and Bath's musicians.Footnote ⁵¹ It is certainly within the realms of possibility that Avison visited the town. Although there is no concrete evidence to prove this, recent research has underscored just how well-connected Avison was and that he did take excursions to Carlisle, London, Derwentwater, Edinburgh and Stirling. Bath would have been a more challenging endeavour but he may have made the journey if, in addition to visiting Chilcot, he or his wife Catherine wished to take the waters for health reasons.Footnote ⁵²

Another notable musician, with whom Avison appears to have been associated, is Carl Frederich Abel. Although Abel did not subscribe to any of Avison's publications, Avison did subscribe to Abel's op. 2 sonatas, purchasing six copies. Other subscribers to this work from the North-East include Garth, who purchased four copies, and Lady Milbanke.Footnote ⁵³

Of the musicians based in the North-East, there were a few who subscribed to all of Avison's publications, including Garth, Edward Avison and Claudius Heron, the last of whom was a Newcastle-based cellist.Footnote ⁵⁴ Hestletine's successor as organist at Durham Cathedral, Thomas Ebdon, did not share his predecessor's prejudices and had no qualms about subscribing to the op. 9. Other Durham Cathedral musician subscribers include Peter Blenkinsop and Cornforth Gelson; their subscription was a precursor to a later decision in which they switched allegiance from the cathedral choir's concert series to a rival series run by Garth in partnership with Avison.Footnote ⁵⁵ There were also subscribers from York, including two of the cathedral's organists, James Nares and John Camidge, the concert promoter, John Hebden and the instrument-maker Thomas Haxby. The future astronomer William Herschel also appears, having previously been bandleader for the Durham militia.Footnote ⁵⁶

There were also a few subscribers who were not based in the area but who came to North-East to perform at concerts. Felice Giardini played violin at Avison's Newcastle concerts during the 1750s; he was, in the 1760s, succeeded by another subscriber, Giovanni Noferi. Another was Mr Charles, the Hungarian horn player, who had passed through Newcastle in 1755, at which point Avison must have sought his subscription to the op. 4.Footnote ⁵⁷

There are a sizable number of subscribers for which there is no other known connection with Avison, such as the Newark organist Walter Cottingham. Unless he was particularly enamoured by Avison's music, one suspects that there was a relationship between the two men. One likewise suspects that Avison was familiar with the Shudi family of instrument-makers. Another subscriber was Francis Sharp II of Stamford. Sharp's subscription is of interest as he is unlikely to have known Avison well, even though Avison would certainly have passed through Stamford on his way to and from London. However, Sharp acted as an agent in Stamford, taking subscriptions for various musical publications, including Henry Hargrave's Five Concertos, and may well have acted in this capacity for Avison's op. 9.Footnote ⁵⁸

Agents were just one method used to attract subscriptions. A composer or publisher would additionally often place an advertisement in a newspaper. The following advertisement, which appeared in the London press, announced the publication of Avison's Two Concertos:

Another method was to produce a printed notice that would be sent to potential subscribers to encourage them to pre-order a copy. Avison is known to have utilized this method for the op. 9, as a rare example survives in the papers of John Grimston of Kilnwick. Avison was clearly successful in this endeavour as Grimston subscribed to the second set:

To be Published, by SUBSCRIPTION, a NEW WORK, of TWELVE CONCERTOS, In FOUR PARTS; Viz. For two VIOLINS, one ALTO VIOLA, and a VIOLONCELLO, figured for the Harpsicord. Composed by CHARLES AVISON, ORGANIST, in Newcastle. OPERA NONA.

March, 1765.

To the foot of this printed announcement, Avison added the following handwritten note:

Members of the clergy

A considerable number of clergy, as well as being university-educated, were not only able musicians but were often drawn towards musical pursuits as amateurs. Additionally, given the high incomes that many received, they could afford to indulge in musical activities and subscribe to the latest published works; some, such as William Felton, were active as composers and had their music published. Most, if not all of those listed in Table VI, would have had an interest in music, although there are many that Avison would have known personally. A few were associated with Durham Cathedral making it clear that Hesletine's strong views had little or no influence on them, although it is notable that Dean Spencer Cowper only subscribed to Marcello's Psalms. John Sharp however subscribed to all of Avison's publications; John's father, Thomas, was also a subscriber. Additionally, there was the prebendary Sir John Dolben and the minor canon, Jonathan Branfoot.

Other subscribers were associated with the Carlisle literary club, including James Farish and John Brown, both of whom subscribed to all of Avison's publications; another member of this group, Captain Leonard Smelt, subscribed to the op. 3 and op. 9.Footnote ⁶² One also suspects that Avison met the organist at Carlisle Cathedral, Abraham Dobinson, on one of his visits; he subscribed to the op. 2. Others to work in the North-East include two vicars choral from York Minster, Bryan Allet and Joseph Bridges, along with William Pawson, who had been an assistant curate at York, Spencer Madan, vicar at Bossall near York, and William Becher, a deacon and then priest at Brodsworth, South Yorkshire. There was also John Darch, vicar at Long Benton, Newcastle, Nathaniel Clayton, ‘lecturer’ at Newcastle's St John's Church and Utrick Lowthian, vicar of Whitfield, Northumberland.Footnote ⁶³

Some clergy subscribers were authors themselves and not only published their own writings, but may have contributed to the Essay. Mason has already been mentioned, but Norris Stephens suspects that John Brown may have been another, although Callander denied Brown's involvement.Footnote ⁶⁴ Brown published several important treatises, most notably his A Dissertation on the Rise, Union, and Power…of Poetry and Music. Footnote ⁶⁵ Another possible contributor, again according to Stephens, was John Jortin; he penned an account on the ‘Music of the Ancients’ which was attached to the second and third editions of Avison's Essay. Footnote ⁶⁶

Other vicar subscribers had no known association with Avison, including Robert Eden of Winchester and Edward Howkins of Cambridge. Richard Fawcett, even though he became vicar at St Nicholas’ Church, Newcastle in 1766, had no apparent connection before that time. There was also Joseph Brackenbury who was chaplain to Peregrine Bertie, the third Duke of Ancaster; Bertie's younger brother, Brownlow, was yet another subscriber.

Other notable subscribers

Table VII contains a selection or aristocracy, gentry and other notable subscribers who have not appeared in any earlier tables. What is perhaps most interesting about this group is that most only subscribed to one or two works. Subscribing to a musical publication was, for many of the upper classes, an act that demonstrated their patronage of the arts, and some would certainly have subscribed for outward show.Footnote ⁶⁷ For most though, there was clearly no attachment to Avison.

Some in this group are known to have been associated with Avison although it appears that Christopher Smart was the only non-musician author to whose work Avison subscribed who reciprocated. Walter Blackett supported Avison by subscribing to everything except the Two Concertos. Blackett was an Alderman and the MP for Newcastle; his wife, Lady Elizabeth Blackett, was the dedicatee of Avison's op. 5. Another committed subscriber was Sir Ralph Milbanke, whose wife, the Lady Anne, was the dedicatee of op. 4.Footnote ⁶⁸ Yet another devotee of Avison was Walter Scott, MP for Roxburghshire, a man with whom Avison, as far as we are currently aware, had no other connection.Footnote ⁶⁹ Ralph Jenison, for whom Avison had worked in his youth and who had provided opportunities for Avison to study music in London, was a subscriber and the dedicatee of Avison's op. 1.Footnote ⁷⁰ There was, furthermore, Robert Shaftoe, an MP whose family estate was located at Whitworth, near Durham,Footnote ⁷¹ and George Bowes, who lived at Gibside near Newcastle; Bowes’ wife was the dedicatee of the Scarlatti concertos and his daughter, the aforementioned Mary Eleanor, the dedicatee of the op. 8.Footnote ⁷² Anne Ord of Fenham was the dedicatee of op. 3, of which she purchased three copies; the Ord family were important supporters of Avison and members of this family appear in all of Avison's lists. Yet another was Colonel John Blathwayt, the dedicatee of Avison's op. 2. A final important subscriber, although another with otherwise no known connection with Avison, was Charles Jennens, famous for his association with Handel.

Location of subscribers

The problem with dealing with subscribers by location is that, in many cases, no town is given alongside their names. This makes it particularly difficult to ascertain who subscribers with a common name were, although in the case of Avison many would have resided within the Newcastle area. Some subscribers are accompanied in the lists by the name of the town in which they lived, while others who lived or worked near a larger town provided its name. Organists tended to give the town where the church in which they were employed was located. Garth, for instance, lived in Durham City but in Avison's lists generally describes himself as the ‘Organist of Sedgefield’. A few are even more precise and gave the name of the house in which they lived, while others simply gave the county. A list of all the places referred to in the lists is given in Table VIII; members of the aristocracy, whose title included a place name, have been excluded:

When plotted on a series of maps (Figures 4–6), this information provides an indication of just how much Avison's reputation as a composer grew between 1740 and 1767:

Figure 4. Location of subscribers to Avison's op. 2 (1740 – List A).

Figure 5. Location of subscribers to Avison's op. 4 (1755 – List E).

Figure 6. Location of subscribers to Avison's op. 9, set 2 (1767 – List H).

Although these maps are far from complete, in that they only include places recorded in the lists, what is clear from all three is that there was a core of Avison's subscribers who resided in the north of England. Nevertheless, even by the publication of the op. 2 Avison's reputation had spread a significant distance from Newcastle, with subscribers as far north as Edinburgh and as far south as Lincolnshire and Norfolk. Although London was not recorded as a place in that list, there were subscribers, such as Cooke, who lived there. There is additionally the anomaly that is Bath through Chilcot's subscription. By the time of the op. 4, Avison's reputation had spread further north to Aberdeen and had greatly expanded across England, but it is with the op. 9 that a significant growth of Avison's reputation as a composer is evident, with a sizeable number of subscribers from Scotland and significantly more from across England, with copies purchased by subscribers from as far away as Devon and the south coast.

Subscribers from outside the British mainland

There are a small number of subscribers who gave their place of residence as being located outside the British mainland (Table IX). This includes William Avison who, in the mid-1760s, resided at the Baltic seaport of Danzig. Many of these subscribers were merchants and presumably traded in Newcastle, which might be how Avison made these contacts. The fact that they individually subscribed to relatively few works might indicate that Avison sought their subscription during an opportune visit to Newcastle. The prevalence of merchants in Newcastle is evident from the following description, which records that the town's St Nicholas’ Church, where Avison was organist, had ‘one of the most numerous Congregations in the kingdom; consisting greatly of seamen, who, if they ever learned to sing in parts, could probably only learn it in Dutchland’.Footnote ⁷³

Conclusion

Any investigation that uses subscription lists to reveal the trends and connections that existed in the eighteenth century is only going to provide an incomplete picture. Nevertheless, this study of Avison's subscription lists not only reinforces the importance of those networks of which we are already aware, but additionally provides a glimpse into others for which there is no other known evidence. His links with towns such as Bath are otherwise unexplored, just as are his connections with musicians such as Chilcot and Cottingham. Avison was additionally in contact with a sizable number of the clergy, some of whom contributed to his important Essay, along with quite a few merchants; he was also well supported by members of the aristocracy and gentry, although many did not have a strong attachment to Avison himself.

Subscribers would have had a range of reasons for subscribing to Avison's music. For some it was clearly a reciprocal process; others had a personal connection with the composer through living in the North-East, or were members of either a local or national organization, such as the freemasons. Some may have had no connection with Avison at all, with their subscription being elicited through a printed advertisement.

Avison additionally had a core of supporters who were willing to subscribe to most or all his publications; this includes musical societies, for whose meetings Avison's music appears to have been a popular choice; this, in addition, indicates that Avison's music was far more widely performed than any extant concert programmes might suggest. There is also the matter that his music appears to have been popular with the Oxford Musical Society, a datum that somewhat tempers Hayes’ virulent attack on Avison's music.

Ultimately, this research is just the beginning of what could develop into a wider study of the web of connections as revealed through subscription lists. Further work could, for example, include an examination of the composers that individual aristocrats supported through subscription, or the wider links between musician subscribers. This research could also be allied with other types of data, such as letters and diaries, and any extant documentary evidence of performances that arose from subscription.

Avison was born and spent most of his life in Newcastle, but his location did little to impair his growth as a composer. Other investigations have revealed just how widely performed Avison's music was posthumously,Footnote ⁷⁴ but this study underscores the importance of Avison's extensive networking through subscription and his growth into one of Britain's leading composers of the mid-eighteenth century.