Performer, composer and impresario: Thomas Vincent Jr. (c.1723–1798) and the oboe in London, 1748–1768

Abstract

Eighteenth-century writings about the oboe in London tend to focus primarily on two performers: Giuseppe Sammartini (1695–1750) and Johann Christian Fischer (1733–1800). As Sammartini died in 1750 and Fischer arrived in London only in 1768, this leaves much uncertain about the period of time which separated them. One of the leading oboists in the years following Sammartini’s death was Thomas Vincent Jr. (c.1723–98), a student of Sammartini’s. Vincent was later mentioned by both William Thomas Parke (1761–1847) and Charles Burney (1726–1814) as a prominent performer who was popular until the arrival of Fischer. Was Vincent a skilled performer who was eclipsed by Fischer’s more brilliant style or a performer of lesser abilities and outdated style? Or were writers such as Parke and Burney simply biased in Fischer’s favour? A study of Vincent’s performance activities, his abilities as evidenced by his compositions, and a consideration of the differing musical styles of Vincent and Fischer’s works will demonstrate that Vincent was a venerable performer-composer in his own right and that the preference for Fischer expressed by later writers was less a dismissal of Vincent than a reflection of changing musical tastes.