TRINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN
9th Biennial Conference on Baroque Music
ABSTRACT
The Irish State Musicians and Trumpeters of the 1730s
David Hunter
A major desideratum in understanding the music available to the Anglican
Ascendancy in eighteenth-century Dublin is establishing the players who
formed the State Musick and State Trumpeters. As Donald Burrows understatedly
remarks in the context of Handel's visit in 1741-42 and the instrumentalists
that were available; "it would ... [be] enlightening to know who these
musicians were" (Irish Musical Studies 4 [1996]: 57).
Though the official records were destroyed in the famous Dublin fire
of 1922, one piece of evidence, from the papers of Lionel Sackville, Duke
of Dorset, during his first Lord Lieutenancy of 1730-37, has recently been
found. I explore the names, instruments and pay listed, the overlap
of the musicians with those who comprised the City Music, speculate on
the musicians' responsibilities and repertory, and suggest who may have
performed with Handel, notably at the premiere of Messiah.
Last updated on 21 March 2000 by Yo
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