William Babell
Encyclopedia
William Babell (1689/1690 - 23 September 1723) was an English musician
, composer
and prolific arranger of vocal music for harpsichord
.
ist in the Drury Lane orchestra
, Johann Christoph Pepusch
and possibly George Frideric Handel
. He played the violin in the private band of George I
, and appeared as a harpsichord
ist from 1711, often appearing with William Corbett
, James Paisible and later Matthew Dubourg
. He was associated with Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre. From November 1718 until his death, he was organist
of All Hallows, Bread Street, where he was succeeded by John Stanley
.
He wrote numerous keyboard arrangements of aria
s from the popular opera
s of his time. These were published in France
, The Netherlands and Germany
, as well as in England, and they became the basis of his musical reputation. His style was strongly influenced by his close acquaintance with Handel. Johann Mattheson
considered he surpassed Handel as an organist virtuoso, though musical historian Charles Burney
criticised his manner of playing arrangements, charging that he:
Despite Burney's criticism, fellow musical historian Sir John Hawkins
thought that they 'succeeded so well … as to make from it a book of lessons which few could play but himself, and which has long been deservedly celebrated.' Babell's transcription of arias from Handel's opera Rinaldo
includes 'Vo' far guerra', which Handel meant as a showpiece for his harpsichord playing and is quite remarkable in its virtuosity; Babell's transcription was made from his memory of how Handel improvised in performances. In 1894, Chrysander published Babell's piano reduction of Rinaldo in the Händel-Gesellschaft volume 48.
Babell also wrote original sonatas for violin
or oboe
and continuo
, concertos and other miscellaneous works. His slow movements are considered a valuable insight into early 18th-century practices of ornamentation and extemporization.
His early death was attributed to 'intemperate habits’. He was buried in All Hallows Church, Canonbury
, Islington
.
Other works for solo harpsichord survive in manuscript.
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
, composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and prolific arranger of vocal music for harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
.
Life
He received his musical training from his father, Charles Babel, a bassoonBassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
ist in the Drury Lane orchestra
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
, Johann Christoph Pepusch
Johann Christoph Pepusch
Johann Christoph Pepusch , also known as John Christopher Pepusch and Dr Pepusch, was a German-born composer who spent most of his working life in England....
and possibly George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
. He played the violin in the private band of George I
George I of Great Britain
George I was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 until his death, and ruler of the Duchy and Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Holy Roman Empire from 1698....
, and appeared as a harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
ist from 1711, often appearing with William Corbett
William Corbett (composer)
William Corbett was an English composer, violinist, and concert performer. The Director of New Theater from 1700, Corbett was appointed orchestra director of King's Theatre, The Haymarket in 1705 and became a member of the Royal Orchestra in 1709.In 1716, he was appointed Director of the King's...
, James Paisible and later Matthew Dubourg
Matthew Dubourg
Matthew Dubourg was an Irish violinist, conductor, and composer. Dubourg also enjoys the distinction of having led the orchestra at the premiere of Georg Friedrich Handel's great oratorio Messiah...
. He was associated with Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre. From November 1718 until his death, he was organist
Pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...
of All Hallows, Bread Street, where he was succeeded by John Stanley
John Stanley (composer)
Charles John Stanley was an English composer and organist.-Biography:Stanley, who was blind from an early age, studied music with Maurice Greene and held a number of organist appointments in London, such as St Andrew's, Holborn from 1726...
.
He wrote numerous keyboard arrangements of aria
Aria
An aria in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The term is now used almost exclusively to describe a self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment...
s from the popular opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
s of his time. These were published in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, The Netherlands and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, as well as in England, and they became the basis of his musical reputation. His style was strongly influenced by his close acquaintance with Handel. Johann Mattheson
Johann Mattheson
Johann Mattheson was a German composer, writer, lexicographer, diplomat and music theorist.Mattheson was born and died in Hamburg. He was a close friend of George Frideric Handel, although he nearly killed him in a sudden quarrel, during a performance of Mattheson's opera Cleopatra in 1704...
considered he surpassed Handel as an organist virtuoso, though musical historian Charles Burney
Charles Burney
Charles Burney FRS was an English music historian and father of authors Frances Burney and Sarah Burney.-Life and career:...
criticised his manner of playing arrangements, charging that he:
Despite Burney's criticism, fellow musical historian Sir John Hawkins
John Hawkins (author)
Sir John Hawkins was an English author and friend of Dr Samuel Johnson and Horace Walpole. He was part of Johnson's various clubs but later left The Literary Club after a disagreement with some of Johnson's other friends. His friendship with Johnson continued and he was made one of the executors...
thought that they 'succeeded so well … as to make from it a book of lessons which few could play but himself, and which has long been deservedly celebrated.' Babell's transcription of arias from Handel's opera Rinaldo
Rinaldo (opera)
Rinaldo is an opera by George Frideric Handel composed in 1711. It is the first Italian language opera written specifically for the London stage. The libretto was prepared by Giacomo Rossi from a scenario provided by Aaron Hill. The work was first performed at the Queen's Theatre in London's...
includes 'Vo' far guerra', which Handel meant as a showpiece for his harpsichord playing and is quite remarkable in its virtuosity; Babell's transcription was made from his memory of how Handel improvised in performances. In 1894, Chrysander published Babell's piano reduction of Rinaldo in the Händel-Gesellschaft volume 48.
Babell also wrote original sonatas for violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
or oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
and continuo
Figured bass
Figured bass, or thoroughbass, is a kind of integer musical notation used to indicate intervals, chords, and non-chord tones, in relation to a bass note...
, concertos and other miscellaneous works. His slow movements are considered a valuable insight into early 18th-century practices of ornamentation and extemporization.
His early death was attributed to 'intemperate habits’. He was buried in All Hallows Church, Canonbury
Canonbury
Canonbury is a residential district in the London Borough of Islington in the north of London. It is roughly in the area between Essex Road, Upper Street and Cross Street and either side of St Paul's Road....
, Islington
Islington
Islington is a neighbourhood in Greater London, England and forms the central district of the London Borough of Islington. It is a district of Inner London, spanning from Islington High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the area around the busy Upper Street...
.
Printed works
- The 3rd Book of the Ladys Entertainment, or Banquet of Musick [harpsichord arrangements] (1709)
- The 4th Book of the Ladys Entertainment [harpsichord arrangements] (1716)
- Suits of the Most Celebrated Lessons [harpsichord arrangements of Handel, some original material] (1717), reprinted as Suits of Harpsichord and Spinnet Lessons (1718)
- The Harpsichord Master Improved … with a Choice Collection of Newest and Most Air'y Lessons (1718)
- Trios de diefferents autheurs choises & mis en ordre par Mr Babel [harpsichord arrangements] (1720)
- XII Solos … with Proper Graces Adapted to Each Adagio, book 1 (violin/oboe, harpsichord) (c.1725)
- XII Solos … with Proper Graces Adapted to Each Adagio, book 2 (violin/oboe/flute, harpsichord)
- Concertos in 7 Parts for violins and small flute, or sixth flute (soprano recorderRecorderThe recorder is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes—whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle. The recorder is end-blown and the mouth of the instrument is constricted by a wooden plug, known as a block or fipple...
in D), op.3 (c.1726) - Overture in A major, for two solo violins, solo violoncello, orchestra and continuo, with a cembalo solo part in the last movement.
- Mariana's Charms wound my Heart. A new Song for the Spinnet by W. B.
- Would you I the thing discover. A Song. Design'd to be Sung ... in the third Act of the Play called 'Tis well if it Takes, the words by Mr. Theobald, etc. (1720?)
Other works for solo harpsichord survive in manuscript.
Sources and references
- Gerald Gifford (with Terence Best): 'Babell [Babel], William', Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy, http://www.grovemusic.com/, (accessed 2007-05-01)
- J. A. F. Maitland, ‘Babell, William (1689/90–1723)’, rev. K. D. Reynolds, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, http://www.oxforddnb.com/, (accessed 2007-05-01)
Further reading
- B. Gustafson: The Legacy in Instrumental Music of Charles Babel, Prolific Transcriber of Lully's Music
- G. Pont: An Early 18th-Century Manuscript of Harpsichord Music: William Babell and Handel's Vo' far guerra, British Library Journal, xxi (1996), 176–83
- F. Palmer: William Babell's Twenty-Four Oboe Sonatas, Double Reed, iv/2 (1981), 23