'The famous small-coal man, lover of learning, performer in music, and a companion for gentlemen,' was- how Thomas Britton was known to early 18th-century Londoners. His Clerkenwell music club was among the earliest concert organisations in Europe, and his large library of music, auctioned after his death, indicates the wide variety of works performed there.
It includes a Trio-Sonata by Pepusch. himself a patron of the club; sonatas by William Lawes and Corelli; vocal duets by Blow and catches by Purcell; organ music by Bull: a concerto by Albinoni; and Purcell's Te Deum and Trumpet Sonata.
Producer KEITH HORNER gramophone records