Burneys Gallery6- Ticket to a Concert of Ancient Music

Ticket to a Concert of Ancient Music

Francis Bartolozzi (1727–1815) after Nathaniel Dance-Holland (1735–1811)
Ticket to a Concert of Ancient Music
ca. 1776
Engraving

The Concert of Ancient Music was begun in 1776 by a group of gentlemen and aristocrats as a concert series that would conserve and perform the best of an older tradition of European music, out of a concern to distinguish “serious” music from the more popular music of the playhouses. The highly exclusive Concert (subscribers were limited to 300 and membership could not be inherited) brought professional musicians from abroad to play advanced and technically difficult music. The repertory was primarily vocal, and dominated by Handel’s operas and oratorios; Corelli and Purcell were also featured. Although he was a proponent of modern instrumental music, Charles Burney was also a member of the Concert of Ancient Music. The ticket was apparently issued to the Dean of Lincoln in 1787. 

YALE CENTER FOR BRITISH ART, PAUL MELLON COLLECTION 

B1978.43.757