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The Howgill Family: A Dynasty of Musicians from Georgian Whitehaven*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 June 2013

Simon D. I. Fleming
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Abstract

It has been often observed that Georgian Britain was alive with musical activity, and that London was one of the most important musical hubs in Europe. Most of Britain's important provincial centres were well connected to the capital by road or sea, and this helped facilitate the spread of the latest musical ideas around the country. The west Cumberland town of Whitehaven is situated over three hundred miles from London by road and, at the time, was isolated from the rest mainland Britain by the surrounding fells of the Lake District. Nevertheless, by the end of the eighteenth century Whitehaven had grown into one of Britain's most important ports and had a musical life that rivalled that at any other major town in the country.

Musical life in Whitehaven was dominated by the Howgill family. William Howgill senior was appointed organist of St Nicholas’ Church in 1756 and set himself up there as music teacher and concert promoter. Here he raised a family and was succeeded in his musical duties by his son, William Howgill junior. This article examines the Howgill family's musical activities in depth and explores their London connections. This research is based on the detailed study of primary sources including newspapers, but there has also been an effort to examine all of William Howgill junior's compositions. This study reveals that, despite Whitehaven's remote location, Howgill junior was well aware of the latest musical developments in the capital.

Type
Research Article
Information
Nineteenth-Century Music Review , Volume 10 , Issue 1 , June 2013 , pp. 57 - 100
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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Footnotes

*

I am grateful to the staff at the Carlisle, Whitehaven and Durham Record Offices, the Chester Archives, the Public Libraries at Carlisle, Penrith, Whitehaven, Leeds and Birmingham, the Libraries of the Royal College of Music and Trinity College, London, Birmingham University Library, the Library of Congress, Washington DC and the British Library.

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24 William Howgill married Jane Willy at the parish church of Hurworth-on-Tees on 4 February 1721. She had been baptised at that church on 20 October 1694. In 1734 William took legal action against a William Glawstanes, who had been teaching at Sedgefield without a licence. GB-DRu: DDR/EJ/PRC/2/1734/5.

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31 Other provincial towns, such as York, Durham and Newcastle, also used their assembly rooms for concerts. Balls regularly followed concerts, since they were a good way to extend an evening's entertainment and ensure higher ticket sales. One of the largest balls at Whitehaven was held to mark Nelson's victory at the Battle of the Nile. Cumberland Pacquet, 9 October 1798.

32 Cumberland Pacquet, 2 November 1775, 13 March 1777, 11 November 1777, 24 March 1778, 14 March 1780, 13 March 1781, 5 November 1782, 16 March 1784, 2 November 1784, 8 March 1785, 9 November 1785, 8 November 1786, 28 March 1787, 21 November 1787, 23 March 1788, 27 October 1790, 18 April 1815.

33 At both Durham and Newcastle the regular ticket price at the mid-point of the eighteenth century was 2s 6d. The cost of a London concert ticket at this time could be as much as a half guinea (10s 6d). Newcastle Courant, 21 July 1753; London Daily Advertiser, 10 February 1753, 26 March 1753.

34 In 1777 a member of the Whitehaven Musical Society assisted at a Carlisle concert organized by Pick. Cumberland Pacquet, 14 April 1777.

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40 William Shield's operas were popular in Britain at the time and widely performed. Those Shield opera known to have been staged at Whitehaven are A Flitch of Bacon, Rosina, Robinson Crusoe, and The Poor Soldier. Other operas performed there include Dibdin's The Padlock and Lionel and Clarissa, Linley's The Duenna, John Gay's The Beggar's Opera, Samuel Arnold's Peeping Tom of Coventry, and Arne's Love in a Village. Cumberland Pacquet, 14 November 1776, 23 September 1777, 22 November 1777, 20 December 1777, 24 December 1778, 5 January 1779, 19 January 1779, 28 January 1779, 26 December 1780, 20 August 1782, 29 October 1782, 5 November 1782, 20 January 1784, 30 November 1784. 18 January 1785, 14 December 1785, 21 December 1785, 11 January 1786, 18 January 1786, 21 June 1786, 20 December 1786, 2 March 1787, 5 June 1792, 25 January 1803, 3 December 1805, 13 December 1808.

41 Cumberland Pacquet, 15 December 1790. Howgill junior was elected organist at St Nicholas’ on 28 December 1790. Cumberland Pacquet, 5 January 1791.

42 Cumberland Pacquet, 2 November 1779.

43 Cumberland Pacquet, 24 July 1781.

44 Cumberland Pacquet, 30 October 1781. The Rush concerto is presumably his First Concerto for the Harpsichord, published in c.1770.

45 Cumberland Pacquet, 20 November 1781. Howgill junior played two harpsichord concertos at Crotch's benefit concert.

46 Cumberland Pacquet, 27 November 1781.

47 Cumberland Pacquet, 22 March 1785, 4 April 1787.

48 Sterkel's first set of keyboard concertos, the op. 20, had been published in Mainz in 1785. Other recently published works performed at Whitehaven include Johann Hummel's variations on ‘The Lass of Richmond Hill’ and ‘Jem of Aberdeen’, both of which had been published in 1791. They were first performed at Whitehaven on 18 October 1792. Charles Dignum's song ‘The Soldier encamp'd on the coast’ was published in 1796 and performed at Whitehaven on 19 April 1797. Ronald Kidd, ‘Sterkel, Johann Franz Xaver’ Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/26714 (accessed February 17, 2010).

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51 Cumberland Pacquet, 3 May 1796.

52 Cumberland Pacquet, 22 November 1814.

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57 Cumberland Pacquet, 30 November 1802.

58 Cumberland Pacquet, 28 October 1789. There were a number of published keyboard duets by Giordani, including A First Sett of Three Duetts (c.1780), A Second Sett of Three Duetts (c.1780), A duetto for two performers (1783) and Four favorite Duettinos (1784).

59 Some of the earlier parish clerks were Anthony Barns (d.1710), Francis Yates (d.1720), Nicholas Hale (d.1721), Anthony Davies (d.1731), William Boucher (d.1738), and William Bragg. Yates was also the minister at St Nicholas’ Church.

60 Parcival may have been the clerk at the Holy Trinity Church. Cumberland Pacquet, 29 December 1774, 11 January 1785.

61 Cumberland Pacquet, 25 January 1785, 24 March 1795.

62 Cumberland Pacquet, 30 March 1779, 15 October 1788.

63 Cumberland Pacquet, 22 March 1785, 29 March 1785.

64 Cumberland Pacquet, 26 April 1786.

65 Cumberland Pacquet, 27 December 1786.

66 Cumberland Pacquet, 9 August 1786.

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68 Cumberland Pacquet, 10 October 1776. The report records that, on this occasion, a hymn was performed by fifty boys.

69 Cumberland Pacquet, 26 April 1791, 5 July 1791.

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71 Cumberland Pacquet, 7 February 1792, 13 March 1792.

72 Cumberland Pacquet, 7 February 1792; Drage, ‘A Reappraisal’, 172.

73 Cumberland Pacquet, 31 December 1793, 9 September 1817.

74 Cumberland Pacquet, 22 March 1785, 26 April 1791, 27 December 1791. These two anthems appear to have been first issued as separate works. ‘Clap your hands’ was published as A new anthem for Easter Day 1776 and ‘This is the day’ as A new anthem for Christmas Day 1774.

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77 Cumberland Pacquet, 25 March 1789. Hawdon's obituary said that he was ‘a gentleman whose musical abilities produced universal admiration; and whose compositions (particularly his six voluntaries) will be long esteemed.’ The voluntaries mentioned are probably his op. 4 First Sett of Six Sonatas Spirituale or Voluntarys, for the Harpsichord, Organ or Piano Forte (c.1780).

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79 The parochial records for Whitehaven's churches, particularly those for Holy Trinity, reveal that there were a significant number of professional musicians in that town.

80 Hadwen taught at Carlisle, Leeds and Cockermouth, and at Mrs Durand's boarding school in Whitehaven. He frequently received favourable reviews in the Pacquet for his pupil's performances; the following example, published on 1 February 1776, is typical: ‘Mr. Hadwen's Ball at the Theatre on Friday night last was the genteelest ever seen here, and afforded infinite satisfaction to a great number of spectators. The boxes and pit were so much crowded, that many of the gentlemen were obliged to go into the gallery. –The curtain was drawn at six o'clock, and exhibited a very pleasing appearance, The pupils (in number 63) were all seated on the stage; the young ladies at the head, and the gentlemen on benches, by the sidewings: –the Ball was then opened by Master Shepherd and Miss Betty Heywood, being the two youngest; a number of minuets were danced very judiciously interspersed with cottillons, hornpipes, &c. which kept up the spirit of the entertainment till half past ten, when it concluded with a bough-dance. –the whole of the performance, as has been before observed, gave general pleasure, and reflects the greatest credit on Mr. Hadwen's abilities and success as a teacher.’ Cumberland Pacquet, 25 April 1776, 7 November 1776, 14 April 1777, 22 September 1778.

81 This work, the text of which was by a Mr Jackson from Catgill and set to the words ‘Another age has roll'd away’, was, according to the Pacquet, to be published in London. No copy of this song is known to have survived. Another song by Jackson was set by William Hayes in 1791. Cumberland Pacquet, 12 November 1790, 3 December 1790, 18 October 1791.

82 Mingay taught dance, music and French at Cockermouth, Hawkshead, Lancaster, Carlisle, and on the Isle of Man. Even though concerts at other towns were rarely advertised in the Pacquet, advertisements for assemblies and balls did frequently appear. Such events were held at Cockermouth, Carlisle, Appleby, St Bees, Workington, Keswick, Egremont, Hawkshead, Dalston and Penrith. Cumberland Pacquet, 14 April 1777, 7 July 1778, 20 October 1778, 10 October 1778, 27 March 1781, 24 July 1781, 6 November 1781, 22 October 1782, 16 December 1783, 4 May 1784, 18 January 1786, 27 February 1788, 29 October 1788, 17 November 1778, 7 July 1790, 9 February 1791.

83 Cumberland Pacquet, 6 May 1800; Whitehaven Gazette, 24 January 1820.

84 Cumberland Pacquet, 8 February 1776, 27 April 1784, 6 May 1777.

85 Cumberland Pacquet, 11 December 1798. A review of Howgill junior's variations said that this ‘dance, which is well suited to the purpose to which it is here converted, forms, by Mr. Howgill's ingenious variations, a desirable exercise for the piano-forte. The subject is every where scrupulously adhered to, and the turns of thought are of a description to throw on the whole a considerable novelty of effect. The adagio and a prelude are fair specimens of real taste and science, and combine well with the melody to which they are made the vehicles.’ Monthly Magazine (May, 1805), 370.

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87 Cumberland Pacquet, 24 September 1799, 1 October 1799, 15 October 1799.

88 Cumberland Pacquet, 7 June 1786; Newcastle Courant, 6 May 1769; Newcastle Journal, 8 April 1769.

89 Cumberland Pacquet, 4 November 1783, 28 August 1783.

90 Cumberland Pacquet, 27 May 1789.

91 Cumberland Pacquet, 17 June 1789.

92 Cumberland Pacquet, 26 May 1795.

93 Cumberland Pacquet, 23 June 1795.

94 Cumberland Pacquet, 18 August 1795, 14 May 1799.

95 Cumberland Pacquet, 11 June 1799.

96 Cumberland Pacquet, 18 June 1799, 25 June 1799, 2 July 1799, 17 June 1800.

97 Cumberland Pacquet, 6 January 1801.

98 Cumberland Pacquet, 4 May 1802, 31 January 1815, 12 March 1816, 14 May 1816.

99 Cumberland Pacquet, 7 May 1816.

100 Cumberland Pacquet, 28 May 1816; 13 October 1818.

101 Cumberland Pacquet, 3 December 1816.

102 Cumberland Pacquet, 15 October 187, 15 January 1818.

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105 Whitehaven Gazette, 7 June 1819, 11 January 1820, 9 February 1824.

106 Cumberland Pacquet, 19 October 1819, 7 July 1818.

107 Cumberland Pacquet, 11 January 1820.

108 Cumberland Pacquet, 25 January 1820, 15 May 1821, 22 October 1821, 4 November 1822.

109 Cumberland Pacquet, 27 June 1815.

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113 Four Voluntaries; Part of the Third Chapter of the Wisdom of Solomon, (Three Voices)… and Six Favourite Psalm Tunes: With an Accompaniment for the Organ or Piano Forte. Also a Capriccio for the Grand Piano Forte.

114 Cumberland Pacquet, 4 November 1822.

115 Cumberland Pacquet, 9 November 1824.

116 Whitehaven Gazette, 8 November 1824. The Newcastle Magazine referred to him as a ‘celebrated composer’. Newcastle Magazine, December 1824.

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124 There was an Ann Howgill who married James Kelly at Carlisle Cathedral on 12 November 1808. Ann was not a subscriber to William Howgill junior's Four Voluntaries and may have died before their publication in 1824.

125 Cumberland Pacquet, 15 November 1786.

126 For example, Garth, Avison, Ebdon, Hawdon and Thomas Thompson.

127 See Appendix A.

128 A copy of Sweet is the Seraph was sold by Colin Coleman in his online catalogue as item no. 1223. I am grateful to him for the report of its sale. A review of Sweet is the Seraph said that ‘Mr. Howgill has acquitted himself in this song with considerable ability. The several passages and harmonic transitions are well suited to the sentiments of the poetry, and produce all that varied effect for which a judicious composer would be solicitous.’ Monthly Magazine (December, 1806), 484.

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130 Howgill junior's dedicatee changed over time. The first advertisement indicated that the Four Voluntaries would be dedicated to ‘a FRIEND’. Advertisements from later that year reveal that the friend was Jonathan Peile, organist at Cockermouth Church. By 1822, the dedicatee was Andrew Hudleston, the minister at St Nicholas’ Church, the wardens, vestry, and congregation. The reason for this change appears to have been the presentation to Howgill junior of a silver snuff box in recognition ‘for his splendid talents, and private worth’. Cumberland Pacquet, 25 January 1820, 14 August 1820, 9 September 1822; Cumberland Gazette, 28 October 1822, 28 June 1824.

131 Chester Courant, 14 October 1783.

132 Cumberland Pacquet, 28 September 1784.

133 Cumberland Pacquet, 10 May 1785.

134 Monthly Magazine (March, 1797), 226.

135 A review of the Madrigal said that ‘MR. Howgill, in the music he has given to these words, has, we must in candour say, evinced much taste and judgment. The sense, in most instances, is well expressed; the general cast of the melody is fanciful and engaging, and the accompaniments are spirited and appropriate.’ Monthly Magazine (November, 1806), 383. A review of the Ode on their Majesties’ Coronation said that the ‘music Mr. Howgill has applied to Dr. Brown's words, bears in many instances evident marks both of genius and good design. The opening with the bells is judicious: the air is simple and natural, and the chorus is well constructed.’ Monthly Magazine (November, 1811), 363. A further choral work by Howgill junior was performed at a concert in 1788, the choruses of which ‘were correctly sung by a select number of voices from the Choral Society’. Cumberland Pacquet, 15 October 1788.

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137 A review said that the ‘old tune Mr. Howgill has adopted for these humourous [sic] words, written in answer to the French Emperor's calling the English a “nation of shopkeepers,” is that of the well-known song of “If you have the sense to balance a straw,” and which very aptly express the meaning of the poet. In the symphonies we find introduced the popular airs … all of which are so ingeniously incorporated with the vocal part of the music as to produce a national and striking effect.’ Monthly Magazine (November 1806), 383.

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140 Although this work is lost, the Monthly Magazine said that this sonata ‘included the “Blue Bell of Scotland,” “Spanish Guittar,” an Irish air in Harlequin Amulet, “Away with Melancholy,” and “Viva Tutti,” all with variations’. The review went on to say that ‘this publication … is calculated to increase Mr. Howgill's professional reputation, and we hope its sale will be such as to well reward his ingenious labours.’ Monthly Magazine (September, 1805), 169.

141 See Appendix B.

142 It was quite common to conclude a keyboard sonata with a theme and variations. Examples can be found in the works of Dussek. Komlós, Fortepianos and their Music, 88.

143 For examples, see Kozeluch's op. 15, No. 1; op. 17, No. 1, and op. 38 No. 3. Kozeluch used a variety of different schemas, unlike Howgill junior who preferred the three-movement plan.

144 The sonata dedicated to Miller has an unusual scoring; nevertheless, an earlier example can be seen in Giordani's Three Sonatas op. 30 (1782) which is scored for a violin or flute and a viola de gamba or tenor.

145 There is a five-bar rest in the keyboard part, which was presumably filled out by the other instruments.

146 Mozart, who disliked Clementi's style, referred to him as a ‘mechanicus’. Komlós, Fortepianos and their Music, 55.

147 A review of Miller's sonata said that it ‘comprizes three movements, the styles of which are attractive and consonant; many of the passages are of a new cast, and distinguished by their spirit and clearness. The Accompaniments are arranged with considerable fancy and judgement, and the combined effect does honour to Mr. Howgill's professional abilities.’ Monthly Magazine, (December, 1805), 461.

148 This sonata is also a three-movement work; it begins with a short ‘Largo’ and ends with a theme and variations.

149 Howgill junior was criticized for the lack of structure in his Grand March for the Whitehaven Loyal Volunteers, but he does not appear to have taken such criticism seriously. The critic said that though ‘we are far from thinking this composition destitute of excellent ideas, yet we cannot but observe, that they would have been exhibited to much greater advantage had they been recommended by somewhat more of order and method. The general construction of both movements bespeaks more force of genius than maturity of judgment; and the whole gives us a picture of materials which better experience might have worked up to a first-rate production.’ Monthly Magazine (April, 1805), 269.

150 A review of Mrs Dykes’ sonata said that we ‘find interspersed in this sonata many very pleasing passages. We are not sure, that amidst the numerous proofs of a good natural fancy, there are not some marks of rusticity, and the want of a more intimate familiarity with the polish of the present day: yet it behoves us to allow considerable merit to this production; nor can we, in justice, dismiss it without predicting much improvement and future excellence in the author.’ Monthly Magazine (April, 1805), 268.

151 A review of Younger's sonata said that this ‘sonata, which is accompanied with parts for a flute and violoncello, after opening with a fine movement from Handel's lessons, presents us with an Adagio in three crotchets, followed by a lively movement in two crotche[t]s, leading us to the celebrated air of “Lindor,” to which Mr. Howgill has subjoined thirteen variations. Taken in the aggregate, this publication, we must say, is honourable to Mr. H. both as a man of talent and a master. The compiled portion of the work is judiciously selected and ably arranged, and the original movements evince both invention and taste, and will not fail to reward the attention of every cultivated ear.’ Monthly Magazine (April, 1812), 273.

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155 H. B. Schroeder, The Chace or Royal Windsor Hunt (1783)Google Scholar

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156 Howgill's lost sonata, Ten to One, conveys in a similar manner an encounter with the French fleet at the 1804 Battle of Pulo Aura. The review of this work said that the ‘circumstances Mr. Howgill has taken up for musical imitation in this sonata are those of “exertion to get into battle,” the “general attack,” the “French Admiral's ship damaged,” the “cries of the wounded,” “the pursuit of the Admiral's ship by Captain Dance,” the “remainder of the French squadron stealing away,” and “the loss of the Admiral's ship.” So far as these particulars are capable of the imitation intended, the composer has acquitted himself much to the credit of his judgment: the circumstances and situations here selected do not, perhaps, properly speaking, come within the province of musical delineation; but fashion is powerfully on the side of Mr Howgill, and if he errs in his choice, the practice of some of the most respectable modern composers will keep him in good countenance.’ Monthly Magazine (September, 1805), 169.

157 A review of the Whitehaven Hunt said that this ‘imitation of a chace, commencing with the salutation, and ending with the death, exhibits a lively imagination and a power of clear expression. The “unkenneling the hounds” is given with great effect, and the “returning home” is highly spirited and cheerful. The whole, we must in justice say, forms an attractive and well-variegated composition, and does much credit to Mr. Howgill's imitative talents.’ A review of the Inglewood Hunt said that the ‘general description of this sonata would not be dissimilar from that of the foregoing article; we shall therefore only say, that its merit, taken in the aggregate, is no way inferior; and that Mr. Howgill's qualification for productions of this kind is rendered very conspicuous by his present efforts.’ Monthly Magazine (October, 1805), 251.

158 A review said that these ‘variations are, for the most part, written with judgment and spirit, and cannot fail to improve the finger of the young practitioner. Mr. Howgill has, with equal care, attended to the execution of both hands, and arranged the whole with a judgment which bespeaks patient and mature consideration. We are, we must confess, very partial to the old variations of this Ground, but, nevertheless, are disposed to acknowledge considerable attraction and utility in the present publication.’ Monthly Magazine (November, 1805), 355-356.

159 Parry, John, ‘Welsh Music. – No. V.’ The Cambro-Briton (March, 1820), 254Google Scholar

Zimmerman, Franklin, Henry Purcell 1659–1695: An analytical catalogue of his music (London: Macmillan, 1963)Google Scholar

160 A capriccio is a piece that has unexpected and original effects. ‘Capriccio.’ The Oxford Dictionary of Music, 2nd ed. rev. Ed. Michael Kennedy. Oxford Music Online. 4 Mar. 2011 〈http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/opr/t237/e1817〉.

161 ‘MR. HOWGILL, of whose professional merits we have too frequently spoken, for our readers to be unacquainted with his claims upon the public estimation, has, in the composition here offered to our notice, been highly successful. Consisting of well variegated movements, it attracts attention; and that attention is not ill re-paid by the spirit, taste, and liveliness, with which passages, generally speaking, are marked and featured.

Considering that the ingenious composer is a country gentleman, and that the perpetual fluctuations of taste, so readily felt and understood in the metropolis, are with difficulty acquired in provincial situations; we give him great credit for the easy, and (if we may allow ourselves the expression) fashionable cast of his ideas. With respect to the harmonic combinations, and the colouring given to them by the arrangement of the various instruments, though we know them to be legitimate, and think them frequently fortunate, we cannot award them our unqualified approbation. The instruments are not always selected and mixed with the happiest effect; and sometimes, both the harmony and its modulation are susceptible of improvement. We, however, offer these remarks, under a due impression of the general excellence of this ingenious and elaborate composition, and would by no means be understood as meaning to detract from the aggregate of its title to our honourable notice. Its defects are few; its merits numerous; and, regarded en masse, it ranks far above mediocrity.’ Monthly Magazine (April, 1817), 251.

162 ‘This piece comprises three movements: one in common time of four crotchets; one in common time of two crotchets; and one in triple time of three quavers. These succeed each other with good effect; and while the traits of fancy and judicious arrangement and combination of harmony, bespeak the ingenious and sound musician, the general result is such as would not discredit any first-rate composer of the present day.’ Monthly Magazine (April, 1814), 448.

163 D. A. Johnson, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004Google Scholar

164 ‘This Duett offers proofs of ingenuity, and a tolerably intimate acquaintance with the character and power of the instrument for which it is written. It consists of two movements; the first in triple, the second in common time. They are pleasingly imagined and well contrasted, and the general effect is honorable to Mr. Howgill's talents and science.’ Monthly Magazine (February, 1810), 74–75. An edition of the Duett was published by Fitzjohn Music in 2011.

165 Caldwell, John, English Keyboard Music before the Nineteenth Century (London: Dover, 1985)Google Scholar

166 Caldwell, English Keyboard Music, 260Google Scholar

167 The Handel works Marsh arranged as organ duets were the ‘Hallelujah Chorus’ and the ‘Coronation Anthem’. Other composers of organ duets include Benjamin Cooke and Samuel Wesley. However, Cooke's were not published in his lifetime and the earliest published example by Wesley did not appear until 1812. I am grateful to David Patrick for his assistance in researching the history of the organ duet.

168 Of the 1800 voluntaries, a reviewer said they ‘are calculated both to please the ear and shew the performer to advantage.’ Monthly Magazine (September, 1805), 169.

169 The cornet voluntary was a bisectional work for organ, the first movement of which was written for diapasons and given a slow tempo. The second movement was always much livelier and featured a solo stop, usually a cornet.

170 ‘OF these voluntaries, two are for Christmas-day, two for Good Friday, two for Easter-day, one for Whit-Sunday, one for Ascension-day, one for Trinity Sunday, and one for the first Sunday in Advent.

The selection and original matter, of which these voluntaries are formed, give each piece as much appropriateness to the day for the celebration of which it is designed, as perhaps could in reason have been expected. We are not certain that the occasions Mr. Howgill has embraced, afford that characteristic diversity which the general mind might expect should distinguish each from the others. If we are best pleased with the voluntary for Christmas-day, we owe it, perhaps, to the superior opportunity it allows for distinctive feature, rather than from any display of judgement beyond what we observe in the succeeding pieces. We are fairly authorised to say, that what discrimination the different subjects allowed, Mr. Howgill has exercised, and produced a valuable addition to our stock of organ music, and which will not fail to be highly useful to provincial organists in general. In the introductory preface, we find a general description of the character and powers of the organ, (extracted from Dr. Busby's Musical Dictionary,) as also a definition of the appellation voluntary, and a tolerably copious vocabulary of terms connected with church service.’ Monthly Magazine (November, 1811), 362.

171 Edward Miller said that ‘I am particularly well pleased with the Voluntaries, dedicated to the Rev. W. Hudleston, which are quite original. Mr. Howgill has found out a new path, and I would have him continue to travel it, notwithstanding he will incur the censure of many critics for his wildness and eccentricity. Dull, plodding minds are content to follow old beaten paths – are content with observing old school rules. A native genius cannot be so confused; his ideas lead him to explore new sources of beauty, to scorn abiding by old musty rules, and boldly to venture into new regions of harmony. Mr. Howgill's music will certainly afford much matter for those critics who are held fast in the trammels of old counterpoint, and will not allow of the least departure from the doctrine of their forefathers; but let him not fear such judges; let him follow the impulse of his own genius, and he will produce what they may fondly censure, but cannot attain.’ Whitehaven Gazette, 28 October 1822.

172 Voluntary I in the 1824 collection begins with a ‘Largo’ for full organ followed by an ‘Andantino’ for diapasons while the third movement, an ‘Allegro con Spirito’, is written for solo trumpet and oboe. The second movement of Voluntary II is also written for solo oboe. The third voluntary, which also reuses material from the organ duet dedicated to Hamper, begins with a ‘Largo’ for diapasons. Howgill junior also composed some variations on ‘God save the King’ that were performed on the organ at St Nicholas’ to mark the Golden Jubilee of George III in 1809. Cumberland Pacquet, 31 October 1809.

173 Cumberland Pacquet, 24 July 1781. This report gives the three manuals as ‘chair’, ‘swell’ and ‘full’ (i.e. ‘great’).

174 Simon Fleming, ‘New Research into the Snetzler Organ of St Nicholas’ Church, Whitehaven, During the Time of the Howgill Family’, Bios Reporter, 34/4 (2010), 19–22.

175 Barnes and Renshaw, The Life and Work of John Snetzler, 167–168Google Scholar

176 Cumberland Pacquet, 31 October 1809. The organ had to be repaired on several occasions. In 1779 Snetzler was re-engaged. Subsequent repairs in 1783, 1790 and 1805 were all undertaken by John Donaldson. Ivy, presumably Donaldson's daughter, died at Whitehaven in 1783. Cumberland Pacquet, 11 February 1783, 1 December 1790, 31 December 1805; Stout (2002), III, 171.

177 Cumberland Pacquet, 22 April 1794; Monthly Magazine (September, 1805), 169.

178 William Boyce, Fifteen Anthems (1780)Google Scholar

James Kent, A Morning & Evening Service with Eight Anthems (c1800)Google Scholar

John Tipper, Sacred Music (c1806)Google Scholar

Joseph Corfe, Church Music (c1815)Google Scholar

179 Drage, ‘A Reappraisal’, 178–183Google Scholar

180 On the title page Howgill junior said that there were 38 tunes but may have intended that some of the tunes be performed together as one work.

181 A review said that of ‘the psalm tunes, those which were already known to the public are selected with taste, and those which come from the pen of Mr. Howgill exhibit considerable talent for the production of the familiar kind of church music.’ Monthly Magazine (September, 1805), 169.

182 Two of the later psalm tunes borrow from Greene and Geminiani.