I’m so excited to once again join my friend Declan Hickey for a fascinating event, performing fun 19th-century salon music for the launch of Sarah Clarke’s The Periodicals of Ferdinand Pelzer (1833-1837), A German Musician in London.
Sarah Clarke (ed), The Periodicals of Ferdinand Pelzer (1833-1837), A German Musician in London, was published late last year. It will be launched with a musical event at the Music Hall of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, holders of the original Pelzer documents, from 6-8pm on 29 January.
Pelzer was a renowned guitarist and choral teacher with an influential voice in the London musical scene of the 1830s. He helped popularise the guitar as a domestic instrument and on the concert stage, before diversifying as a teacher of massed amateur choruses in London and around the country.
Besides a talk about the book from the editor, Declan Hickey (guitar) and I will perform a musical cross-section of Ferdinand Pelzer’s life and legacy. The programme includes works by Pelzer, his daughter Catharina (better known as Madame Sidney Pratten), and the namesake of his 1830s guitar journal, Mauro Giuliani. Declan will perform on an original Panormo guitar from 1840.
Ticket info and more TBA. Hope to see you there!