1786) is among his earliest, and an autograph manuscript of it is at the British Library (GB-Lbl Add. The link between the music readable on the manuscript and the infant Crotch’s parlor trick is…fetching.Ĭrotch began composing at a young age. Libin proposes that Reinagle could have had this human prodigy in mind, though he admits freely that there is no concrete evidence for this. When this painting was completed, by 1805 at the latest, Crotch was an adult but had continued to impress, having been appointed organist at Christ Church in Oxford at the age of 15, completing a doctorate in music and continuing as a professor. He was famous throughout Great Britain for being a child prodigy. ![]() Before the decade was out, he played in Buckingham Palace for the royal couple and even got a mention from Charles Burney. Given this discrepancy between the real and imagined-and given the fact that we’re talking about a piano-playing dog, after all-how seriously is one to take the subject of this artwork? Laurence Libin, who identifies the above details about the piano and the music in a 1998 article, sees a possible connection between the trained pup in the painting and the English pianist and composer William Crotch (1775-1847), who was born 243 years ago today.Ĭrotch was a musical wonder who could dabble convincingly on the piano by the age of 1-1/2, and when he was two “God Save the King” is known to have been part of his repertoire. 1795 and the music is recognizable as “God Save the King” (fitting for the King Charles Spaniel depicted), the piano omits details such as strings and a name on the nameplate. Though the square piano is likely an English Broadwood piano from ca. ![]() He looks like he has been caught in the act of performing-or maybe he just needs some help turning the page. ![]() The artist Philip Reinagle (1749-1833) depicts a dog whose paws are poised to play from the music manuscript that is opened up in front of him. If the title of the painting is any indication, Portrait of an Extraordinary Musical Dog, this pooch has some real talent. This spaniel hasn’t just hopped on the piano stool to howl at whatever noise comes out of that wooden box.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |