Musick in Manchester 1744/45 continues Manchester Baroque's reconstruction of the first ever public concert series known to have been given in Manchester, prefiguring the remarkable musical tradition that accompanied Manchester’s development into one of Europe’s leading industrial cities.

Remarkable, and until now underrepresented, the series includes sixteen concert programmes, which survive in a literary transcript by John Harland written a century later in 1844. Through research by Dr Pauline Nobes, many works can be identified directly, and we also utilise Manchester’s archives, most notably the extraordinary collections of Newman Flower and Cardinal Ottoboni, housed at Manchester’s Henry Watson Library, bringing to light a significant amount of neglected music.

Picture the scene, it's February 1745 in Manchester. Great Britain has been through years of turmoil over who should be ruling the country.

It's grey and it's miserable because, after all, it's winter in the North.

What you need is a relaxing evening of music...

This February's Musick in Manchester concert recreates number 8 in the series of 16, originally performed on 19th February 1745.

The music comes largely from popular 18th Century composers, with any gaps in the programme filled from Manchester's rich archives of music. Read about how this programme was reconstructed here.

Programme

Overture to Scipio (set for the Harpsichord), HWV 20 - George Frideric Handel
Cantata III Neptune and Amymone from 3 Cantatas - George Hayden
Sonata Op. 2, No.3 - Johann Joachim Quantz
Concerto Grosso, Op. 3, No. 4 - Francesco Geminiani

Interval

Overture to Tamerlane (set for the Harpsichord), HWV 18 - George Frideric Handel
Tornami a Vagheggiar from Alcina, HWV 34 - George Frideric Handel
Concerto, G major, Op. 1, No. 3 - Carlo Tessarini
Armida Abandonata, HWV 105 - George Frideric Handel
Concerto Grosso, D major, Op. 6, No. 4 - Arcangelo Corelli
Concerto Grosso, D major, Op. 4, No. 4 - Johann Adolph Hasse