An Inventory of Mid-Eighteenth-Century Oxford Musical Hands

Abstract

Between them William Hayes (1708–77) and his eldest son Philip (1738–97) occupied the Oxford music professorship for over half a century. William, who came to Oxford in 1734 as organist of Magdalen College, succeeded Richard Goodson the younger in 1741, and at his death was replaced by Philip, who continued in office for the rest of his own life. In addition, both men continued to hold a variety of other posts, in particular as college organists. The period also saw the opening of the Holywell Music Room in 1748, which gave further impetus to an already flourishing concert scene in the city. Although little remains of the general performing material from the Music Room concerts, the Hayeses' own compositions have in large part survived, and include, besides church music and concertos (many of which were certainly heard at the Music Room), a series of large-scale odes and oratorios, often composed as occasional works for university celebrations. In many cases not only the scores, but also the parts survive, and now form a substantial archive in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. The life and works of the two Hayeses has been thoroughly investigated by Simon Heighes in his Oxford dissertation of 1990, although he did not discuss in detail the problems arising out of the similarity of their musical hands, nor deal with the wider question of copyists active in the city at the time. This inventory attempts to clarify this area, and it forms a companion to a book chapter which originated in a paper that the authors gave at a conference in 1998 celebrating the two hunded and fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Holywell Music Room.