Avison, Charles, 1709-1770

Charles Avison was baptized on February 16, 1709, at St. John the Baptist Church in Newcastle upon Tyne, England.

He was an English composer, organist, educator, and writer on musical aesthetics during the Baroque and Classical periods. Avison's father was a musician and likely his first teacher. In his twenties, Avison moved to London to further pursue his career as a musician and began to study with Francesco Geminiani. His first documented musical performance was a benefit concert in London on March 20, 1734. In 1736, Avison accepted a position of an organist at St. John’s and later at St. Nicholas’ churches in Newcastle, where where he became director of the Newcastle Musical Society. He held both positions until his death. He also taught harpsichord, flute, and violin. Avison organized some of the earliest subscription concerts in the country. His work "An Essay on Musical Expression" (1752) is believed to be the first book of music criticism in English. The bulk of his output consists of some 50 Concerti Grossi for various instruments, published in six volumes between 1747 and 1769, as well as 12 Concerti Grossi (1744) arranged from keyboard works of Domenico Scarlatti. Curiously, for a man so long associated with the church, he wrote almost no religious music. Over a century after Avison's death, poet Robert Browning paid him tribute in his book "Parleyings with Certain People of Importance In Their Day" (1887).

In 1737, he married Catherine Reynolds ( -1766). He died on May 9 or 10, 1770 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England.