A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Alsager, Thomas

ALSAGER, Thomas Massa, born 1779, died 1846, one of the family of Alsager, of Alsager, Cheshire. He was for many years a proprietor and one of the leading men in the management of 'The Times,' being especially concerned in all that related to music and the collection of mercantile and foreign news. The professionally trained musical critic, added at his suggestion to the staff of 'The Times,' was the first employed on any daily paper. He was the intimate friend of Lamb, the Burneys, Wordsworth, Talfourd, Leigh Hunt, Mendelssohn, Moscheles, and many other celebrities. But what entitles him to mention here was his intense devotion to music, to which he gave all the leisure he could spare from a busy life. His practical ability in music was very great, and it is a fact that he could perform on all the instruments in the orchestra. The frequent private concerts given by the 'Queen-Square Select Society' at his residence in London will long be remembered by his many musical friends, and were the means of introducing to this country many works and foreign musicians. There Sivori for the first time attempted quartett playing, and there on March 28, 1834, took place the first performance in England of Cherubini's 'Requiem,' principal soprano Mrs. H. R. Bishop ; first violin M. Spagnoletti. In 1843 the society held a special musical festival in honour of Spohr, who himself led three pieces. One object of the society was to establish a taste for Beethoven's chamber music, by performing it in the most perfect manner attainable. It was divided into two classes, one called the pianoforte and the other the violin class, and separate evenings were devoted to each kind of composition, special attention being bestowed on those least known to the public. These resulted in the series of chamber concerts given publicly in Harley Street in 1845 and 1846, and called the 'Beethoven Quartett Society,' the whole being due to the enthusiasm, knowledge, and munificence of Mr. Alsager. [App. p.521 "See also iii. 182 b, and 534."]