Music, men, and manners in France and Italy, 1770

by Charles Burney

Being the journal written by Charles Burney during a tour through those countries undertaken to collect material for a general history of music

245 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

Charles Burney FRS was an English music historian, composer and musician. He was the father of the writers Frances Burney and Sarah Burney, of the explorer James Burney, and of Charles Burney, a classicist and book donor to the British Museum.

Reviews

[Felice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I began reading this book because I wanted some accurate background for a historical novel I'm writing. I got that and a lot more. 18th Century Britons were the top dogs of their era and also the "ugly American" travelers of their time, and that comes through. Burney finds people handsome or ugly, well mannered or rude. He describes the greed and venality of those helping him travel: the coach men, the customs houses, all apparently thieves of the worst sort. Many inns and hotels he calls filthy and filled with vermin. Often he wraps himself in his cape and sleeps atop the bed so as to not be harassed by bed bugs. Is he being true? Or is he a Valley Girl in hysterics? Who knows. It is entertaining. Burney is in search of old manuscripts and hearing played older music for his project: the first History of Music, which he did finish. So he's traveling with an agenda. A lot of the book is therefore about who he met and whether they came through for him or not: in what way. Everywhere he goes he encounters fellow Brits, whether diplomats or exiles in France and Italy and they help him. Every town or city he goes to, he goes out at night to see their plays, hear their concerts, and visit their opera houses. He goes to new operas every night they are given. He goes to every church that has music and listens to all of their music. He is opinionated about every singer and every instrumentalist he meets, and his criteria are high. He is modest of his own keyboard abilities: and above all, he's indefatigable. Some of his adventures traveling by coach are hair raising. He writes about some of the great men of his period whom he sought to meet: Voltaire, Rousseau, Diderot, the Italian composers and two great retired castrati--Farinelli and Caffarelli. Yes, I enjoyed the book.