{"id":48102,"date":"2024-10-08T11:08:39","date_gmt":"2024-10-08T09:08:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/6df83760-e76a-4066-8951-56ed05484684"},"modified":"2024-10-08T12:07:19","modified_gmt":"2024-10-08T10:07:19","slug":"joseph-emidy-britains-first-black-composer-who-travelled-from-kidnap-and-slavery-to-violin-superstardom","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/rss_feed\/joseph-emidy-britains-first-black-composer-who-travelled-from-kidnap-and-slavery-to-violin-superstardom\/","title":{"rendered":"Joseph Emidy: Britain’s first black composer, who travelled from kidnap and slavery to violin superstardom"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By <\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 08 October 2024 at 09:08 AM<\/p>

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The violinist\u2019s last note hung in the air, and for a few moments there was silence. The audience at Wynn\u2019s Hotel in Falmouth were absorbing what they had just heard. A few began, hesitantly, to applaud. The rest continued to sit, as if under a spell. Then they erupted, rose to their feet, cheering and shouting their appreciation. <\/p>

The concert had begun as billed, at 7pm on Thursday 19 August 1802. Of the six items on the programme, the centrepiece was the first performance of the violin concerto played by its celebrated young composer Joseph Emidy. Tickets for the event had sold out. <\/p>

One concertgoer said that Emidy\u2019s playing achieved \u2018a degree of perfection never before heard in Cornwall\u2019. Musically literate, those present would have been familiar with pieces by Mozart<\/a><\/strong> and Haydn<\/a><\/strong> performed at concerts of regional or national orchestras, and may have heard the First Symphony<\/a><\/strong> by a major new talent: Ludwig van Beethoven<\/a><\/strong>. Many believed this local man was comparable to those Viennese masters.<\/p>