Polly Young

Last updated • 4 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Polly Young (also known as Mary Young, Maria Young, Polly Barthélemon and Maria Barthélemon) (7 July 1749 – 20 September 1799) was an English soprano, composer and keyboard player. She was part of a well-known English family of musicians that included several professional singers and organists during the 17th and 18th centuries. Her husband, François-Hippolyte Barthélémon, was a composer and violinist, and their daughter, Cecilia Maria Barthélemon, was also a composer and opera singer. [1]

Contents

Biography

Polly Young was born in Covent Garden, London on 7 July 1749. Her father, Charles Young, was a clerk at the Treasury. [2] She was the youngest of three daughters, her oldest sister Isabella becoming a successful soprano and her other sister Elizabeth a successful contralto. Both her grandfather, Charles Young, and her great-uncle, Anthony Young, were notable organists and composers. She also had three famous aunts who were all notable singers. Her aunt Cecilia (1712–1789) was one of the greatest English sopranos of the 18th century and the wife of composer Thomas Arne. Their son, Michael Arne, was also a successful composer. Her aunt Isabella was a successful soprano and the wife of composer John Frederick Lampe, while her aunt Esther was a well-known contralto and wife to Charles Jones, a successful music publisher in England during the 18th century. [3]

Young was a child prodigy and began performing as a singer and harpsichordist at a young age. In 1755, at the age of 6, she travelled to Ireland with her aunt Cecilia and her husband Thomas Arne. While there she performed for Dublin audiences in Arne's opera Eliza , impressing them with her singing "perfectly in Time and Tune". [4] The trip, however, was somewhat ill-fated as the Arnes' marital problems came to a head, partly arising from a dispute over Young's education, and Thomas left his wife. Young remained in Ireland with Mrs Arne for the next seven years where she studied music with her aunt and performed in concert and on the stage in Dublin. In 1758 Mrs. Arne's friend Mrs Delany wrote "the race of Youngs are born songsters and musicians" after hearing Young play the harpsichord. She notably portrayed the role of Ariel in William Shakespeare's The Tempest at the Smock Alley Theatre in 1761. Playwright John O'Keeffe was particularly taken by her performance and complimented her on her "charming face and small figure". [4]

In September 1762 Young returned to London to make her début on the London stage at the Covent Garden theatre where she sang and played the harpsichord between acts. The Theatrical Review commented on her charming, innocent appearance: "Her performance on the harpsichord, is equal to her excellence in singing". Young continued to perform in this way at Covent Garden for the next two seasons and then went on to sing minor parts with the Italian opera company at the King's Theatre in the autumn of 1764. While there she met the French violinist and composer François-Hippolyte Barthélémon, who was the leader of the company's orchestra. The two became romantically involved soon after and Young married Barthélemon in December 1766. [4]

Following her marriage, Young mostly appeared in performances with her husband at the Italian opera, in oratorios and in performances at the pleasure gardens. Young also began to compose and publish music; most notably a set of six sonatas for harpsichord or piano and violin was published in 1776 under the name Maria Barthélemon. The Barthélemons travelled to Ireland to perform fairly often and had a highly successful tour of Europe in 1776–77. While on tour, Young sang in her husband's oratorio Jefte in Florence and gave concerts before Marie Antoinette and her sister Maria Carolina of Austria, the de facto Queen of Naples. The Barthélemons' daughter, Cecilia Maria, also sang in these performances. The family continued to prosper after returning to London in 1777, giving numerous lauded concerts in venues throughout the city.

In the 1780s the Barthélemons' careers became less successful and they found work increasingly hard to get. Young complained in a letter to The Morning Post on 2 November 1784 that she was refused engagements, styling herself "an English Woman, of an unblemished reputation". Regardless, the Barthélemons managed to scrape by and were never outside of the important music circles in London. Haydn visited the couple while he was in England in 1792. In May of that year he accompanied Young in airs by Handel and Sacchini in a London concert. [4]

In 1786 Young published a set of six English and Italian songs, Op. 2. Subsequently the Barthélemons began attending the chapel at the Asylum for Female Orphans which was near their home in Vauxhall. While there they became heavily influenced by the Swedenborgian preacher Duché. This influence led Young to compose and publish a number of hymns and anthems. In 1795 she composed three hymns and three anthems (Op. 3) for use at the Magdalen Chapels and the Asylum. That same year she composed The Weaver's Prayer for a benefit concert that raised money to help unemployed weavers and an ode on the preservation of the king (Op. 5) that used words by Baroness Nolcken, another Swedenborgian. [4]

Works

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Arne</span> 18th-century British composer

Thomas Augustine Arne was an English composer. He is best known for his patriotic song "Rule, Britannia!" and the song "A-Hunting We Will Go", the latter composed for a 1777 production of The Beggar's Opera, which has since become popular as a folk song and a nursery rhyme. Arne was a leading British theatre composer of the 18th century, working at the West End's Drury Lane and Covent Garden. He wrote many operatic entertainments for the London theatres and pleasure gardens, as well as concertos, sinfonias, and sonatas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Arne</span>

Michael Arne was an English composer, harpsichordist, organist, singer, and actor. He was the son of the composer Thomas Arne and the soprano Cecilia Young, a member of the famous Young family of musicians of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Like his father, Arne worked primarily as a composer of stage music and vocal art song, contributing little to other genres of music. He wrote several songs for London's pleasure gardens, the most famous of which is Lass with the Delicate Air (1762). A moderately prolific composer, Arne wrote nine operas and collaborated on at least 15 others. His most successful opera, Cymon (1767), enjoyed several revivals during his lifetime and into the early nineteenth century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susannah Maria Cibber</span> English singer and actress (1714–1766)

Susannah Maria Cibber was a celebrated English singer and actress. She was the sister of the composer Thomas Arne. Although she began her career as a soprano, her voice lowered in the early part of her career to that of a true contralto. She was universally admired for her ability to move her audiences emotionally both as an actress and vocalist. Possessing a sweet, expressive, and agile singing voice with a wide vocal range, Cibber was an immensely popular singer, even if at times her voice was criticized for a lack of polished technique. Charles Burney wrote of her singing that "by a natural pathos, and perfect conception of the words, she often penetrated the heart, when others, with infinitely greater voice and skill, could only reach the ear." Cibber was particularly admired by Handel, who wrote numerous parts especially for her including the contralto arias in his 1741 oratorio Messiah, the role of Micah in Samson, the role of Lichas in Hercules and the role of David in Saul among others. In the mid-1730s she began appearing in plays in addition to appearing in operas and oratorios. She became the greatest dramatic actress of the eighteenth-century London stage and at the time of her death was the highest-paid actress in England.

The year 1712 in music involved some significant events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Hook (composer)</span> Musical artist

James Hook was an English composer and organist.

Maria Hester Park was a British composer, pianist, and singer. She was also a noted piano teacher who taught many students in the nobility, including the Duchess of Devonshire and her daughters.

Cecilia Young was one of the greatest English sopranos of the eighteenth century, the wife of composer Thomas Arne, and the mother of composer Michael Arne. According to the music historian Charles Burney, she had "a good natural voice and a fine shake [and] had been so well taught, that her style of singing was infinitely superior to that of any other English woman of her time". She was part of a well-known English family of musicians that included several professional singers and organists. Young enjoyed a large amount of success through her close association with George Frideric Handel. She appeared in several of his oratorios and operas including the premieres of Ariodante (1735), Alcina (1735), Alexander's Feast (1736) and Saul (1739).

Charles Young was an English organist and composer. He was part of a well-known English family of musicians that included several professional singers and organists during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Anthony Young was an English organist and composer. He was part of a well-known English family of musicians that included several professional singers and organists during the 17th and 18th centuries.

Elizabeth Young was an English contralto and actress. She was part of a well-known English family of musicians that included several professional singers and organists during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Isabella Lampe was an English operatic soprano and the wife of composer John Frederick Lampe. She sang primarily in works by her husband and was part of a well-known English family of musicians, the Young family, that included several professional singers and organists during the 17th and 18th centuries.

Esther Young was an English operatic contralto and the wife of music publisher Charles Jones. She was part of a well-known English family of musicians that included several professional singers and organists during the 17th and 18th centuries.

Isabella Young was an English mezzo-soprano and organist who had a successful career as a concert performer and opera singer during the latter half of the eighteenth century. Young became particularly associated with the works of George Frideric Handel and was a favorite singer of the composer during the last years of his life. She was also a part of a well-known English family of musicians that included several professional singers and organists during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Charles John Frederick Lampe was an English composer and organist, and the son of composer John Frederick Lampe and the singer Isabella Lampe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harriett Abrams</span> English soprano and composer

Harriett Abrams was an English soprano and composer. Particularly praised for her performances in the repertoire of George Frideric Handel, Abrams enjoyed a successful concert career in London during the 1780s. Music historian Charles Burney praised the sweetness of her voice and her tasteful musical interpretations.

<i>Eliza</i> (Arne)

Eliza is an opera in three acts by the composer Thomas Arne to an English libretto by Richard Rolt. The opera was premiered in London at the New Theatre in the Haymarket on 29 May 1754.

Cecilia Maria Barthélemon was an English singer, composer, pianist, and organist. She published sonatas and other compositions and sang professionally in musicals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hickford's Long Room</span> Former public concert room in London

Hickford's Long Room was a public concert room in London, which ran from April 1713 until 1787; it became known as Rice's Rooms from 1788. Harrison's date of 1779 is not correct. It was paid for on a subscription basis to those who could afford to patronize the arts, such as the nobility. The 1922 Groves noted that "most of the great performers, both vocal and instrumental, who visited England, gave their concerts there." The room became a place to see successful musicians play, including Francesco Scarlatti, Francesco Geminiani, Gluck in 1746, Mozart (1765), Francesco Maria Veracini, Pietro Castrucci and Matthew Dubourg. For a time in the 1740s and 50s, it was the only concert room of note in the West End of London.

References

  1. ↑ D Hayes, "Maria Barthelemon: Introduction," in Women Composers: Music Through the Ages (G.K. Hall, 1995– ), vol. 5: 69–87.
  2. ↑ Olive Baldwin, Thelma Wilson: "Charles Young", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 12 January 2009), (subscription access)
  3. ↑ Olive Baldwin, Thelma Wilson: "Cecilia Young", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 12 January 2009), (subscription access)
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Olive Baldwin, Thelma Wilson: "Polly Young", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 12 January 2009), (subscription access)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.