Mededelingen van de Stichting Jacob Campo Weyerman. Jaargang 22

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Philipp Joseph Frick (1742-1798)
Music and millenarianism in the late eighteenth century I^*
Cis van Heertum

The present article is the result of a query which some years ago happened to be placed before me by the antiquarian booksellers B.M. Israel in Amsterdam, concerning an anonymous English pamphlet about which they hoped to find out more. Although no more was found out at the time, still the pamphlet's ostensible anonymity, coupled with the frank and guileless nature of the rather extensive autobiographical passage which will be quoted in full below, intrigued me, and I decided to try and establish the identity of the author who had narrated for his readers the story of his eventful life and subsequent redemption. That story takes us from a Margrave's court in the South of Germany to the Imperial Court of Russia, and on to a newly-established masonic lodge in London. There the author of this millenarian pamphlet, Philipp Joseph Frick, died in 1798.

Frick, before he turned his attention exclusively to God and the Millennium, had been a musician, music teacher and composer, who performed on the glasss harmonica, a curious instrument highly popular in the eighteenth century, with which he toured through Germany. Filmgoers recalling Fellini's E la nave va, and the scene in which a large number of glasses filled to varying degrees with water (or was it wine?) is performed on to an enchanting effect, may perhaps best approximate the sound produced by this ethereal instrument. Frick appears not to have written specifically for the glass harmonica, as others did, but a list of his published musical works is added to the first part of this article, which considers his life and musical career. The second part, to be published in the next issue, will deal with his masonic and millenarian preoccupations, and his anonymously published treatise, which came out in 1797.

* I thank the following people for their help and valuable criticism: Anna E.C. Simoni, Carlos Gilly, André Hanou, Jaap Harskamp, Wim van Keulen, Frank van Lamoen and Paul Sparks.

Philipp Joseph Frick and his musical career

The glass harmonica undoubtedly ranks among the musical curiosities of the eighteenth century. For a considerable period it captured the imagination of the audience, being performed on throughout Europe, mainly by travelling virtuosi like Frick. During its heyday, Mozart wrote two works for the instrument: an Adagio and Rondo for glass harmonica, flute, oboe, viola and cello (KV 617) and an Adagio for the Harmonica (KV 356), both performed in 1791. Mozart himself is said to have performed on the instrument at the age of seventeen in Vienna.^1. The glass harmonica was derived from the vérillon or musical glasses, on which Christoph Willibald von Gluck performed in London in 1746, and which appears to have had an even older ancestry.^2. The musical glasses consisted usually of a series of glasses, tuned with varying amounts of (spring) water, played by wetting the fingertips and rubbing them on the rims of the glasses.^3. Benjamin Franklin, the American statesman and inventor, who became interested in the instrument after having attended a performance by the English virtuoso Edmund Delaval, adapted and mechanized the glass harmonica in 1761 by using glass basins connected to a horizontal spindle, powered by a pedal. Other modifications followed in the wake of Franklin's adaptation.^4. The popularity of the glass harmonica was mainly an eighteenth-century and early nineteenth-century phenomenon, its charm having very much worn off in the course of the latter century. At the height of its popularity,

1. Oxford Companion to Music, ed. P.A. Scholes, London [etc.] 1970, p. 439.

2. Gluck's concerto was announced in a newspaper as ‘a Concerto upon twenty-six Drinkingglasses, tuned with Spring-Water, accompanied with the whole band, being a new Instrument of his own Invention; upon which he performs whatever may be done on a Violin or Harpsichord’. See Robert Elkin, The Old Concert Rooms of London, London 1955, p. 45. Elkin adds that Gluck's claim was largely exaggerated, as the instrument ‘had been known about a century earlier’. Musical glasses were already described in the fifteenth century in Franchinus Gafurius' Theorica musicae, Naples, Francesco di Dino, 1480, but appear to have been known already in ancient Persia, from which the European instrument was eventually derived (Alec Hyatt King in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. S. Sadie, London 1980, p. 823).

3. Oxford Companion to Music, p. 439.

4. Sibyl Marcuse, A survey of musical instruments, London 1975, pp. 111-113.

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however, a number of works on the glass harmonica appeared,^5. and the instrument became extremely popular with the German Romantic poets. The glass harmonica was believed to evoke a supernatural atmosphere. It was used for instance by the controversial Franz Anton Mesmer as a musical accompaniment during his séances.^6. Its ethereal sounds, however, were also considered to be detrimental, believed not only to work upon the imagination, but also, quite literally, to affect the nerves, which may be one reason for the instrument's decline in the nineteenth century.^7. Another, more practical, reason may have been that the instrument was very fragile, and its acquisition costly.

A number of musicians in the eighteenth century were virtuosi on the glass harmonica, amongst whom Philipp Joseph Frick, the subject of this article. Frick was born on 14 April 1742, in Willanzheim, a village near Würzburg in southern Germany.^8. He was the son of a Catholic school-teacher in Willanzheim, Matthäus Frick, and his wife Margaretha Zapff, who were married in Willanzheim in 1736.^9. Ernst Ludwig Gerber's Historisch-biographisches Lexicon der Tonkünstler, the first part of which was published during Frick's lifetime in 1790, gives 27 May 1740 as his date of birth. All lexicons, following Gerber, appear to have adopted this incorrect date, although in 1909 an author on local history already supplied the correct year of his birth.^10. Where the young Joseph Frick, as he was to call himself, received his musical education is not known,^11. but by his own admission he was organist to August Georg, the Catholic Margrave of Baden-Baden, from 1762 until 1771, the year in which August Georg died.^12.

5. Alec Hyatt King, op. cit. (note 2), p. 825, lists Anne Ford, Instructions for the playing of musical glasses, London 1761; K.L. Röllig, Über die Harmonika, Berlin 1787; J.C. Müller, Anleitung zum Selbstunterricht an der Harmonika, Leipzig 1788; F.C. Bartl, Nachrichten von der Harmonika, Prague 1796; and C. von Graubenfeld, Aesthetische Gedanken über Bartl 's Tastenharmonika, Vienna 1798.

6. See Music, mysticism and magic, London and New York, 1986, ed. Joscelyn Godwin, p. 326n., and Joscelyn Godwin, Music and the Occult. French musical philosophies 1750-1950, Rochester 1995, pp. 59-60.

7. Cf. F. Pohl, London-Industrie-Ausstellung. Zur Geschichte der Glas-Harmonica, Vienna 1862. An English translation, International Exhibition 1862. Cursory notices on the origin and history of the glass harmonica, was published in the same year. Pohl notes ‘objections made against the instrument, as having a tendency to affect the nerves - indeed, so much so as to cause it to be forbidden in several countries by the police’, p. 8.

8. The registers of the Catholic parish of Willanzheim held by the Archiv des Erzbistums Bamberg list the birth of Philipp Joseph Frick, son of Matthäus Frick and his wife Margaretha, on 14 April 1742. Witnesses were Joseph Dorsch and his son Johannis Dorsch. (Registers, vol. 4, 226 F 39). I thank Ms Ursula Schröder of the Archive for providing me with the information in this and the following note.

9. Matthäus Frick, described as ‘ludimoderator’ in the registers, the son of Master Frick, also school-teacher in Willanzheim, married Anna Margaretha Zapff, the daughter of Anthonius Zapff, on 30 January 1736 in Willanzheim. Witnesses were Conradt Schmidt and Georgius Düll. (Registers of the Catholic parish of Willanzheim, vol. 4, 34 F 29).

10. The last entry for Philipp Joseph Frick in the Deutsches Biographisches Archiv (all references to the microfiche edition of the DBA) is a work by Johann Ludwig Klarmann, Der Steigerwald in der Vergangenheit, 1909, who gives as Frick's dates 1742-1798 (DBA 346, 281).

11. After training at (choir) school he was probably apprenticed to a master, as musical training in Germany was regulated by musicians' guilds. See Manfred F. Bukofzer, Music in the Baroque Era, London 1948, pp. 404-407.

12. Friedrich von Weech, Badische Biographien, vol 1, 1875 (DBA 47, 3): ‘August Georg, der letzte Baden-Badenischen Markgraf (21 Oktober 1771).’ He died without issue. Karl Friedrich (1738-1811), nephew of Karl Wilhelm von Baden-Durlach, inherited the title in 1771.

Building glass harmonicas for princes

During Frick's employment in the service of August Georg, the Margrave requested him to fashion a glass harmonica, and the finished instrument appears to have pleased the prince. Frick may have had his glass harmonica built in Karlsruhe, where a glass harmonica factory catered to the new taste for this instrument. His musical superior, Joseph Aloysius Schmittbauer, musical director at the Margrave's court at Rastatt, at any rate obtained his own glass harmonicas from this factory.^13. Frick himself seems to have travelled throughout Germany with his instrument in 1769, to - almost - general acclaim.^14. He was in Frankfurt for instance on 16 September 1769 to perform on the glass harmonica, which was praised as an instrument consisting of pure glass bells, evoking such a fine and singing tone as had never been witnessed before in music.^15. Frick himself suggests he toured Germany with his glass harmonica to recoup expenses incurred while having the instrument built. Like other performers on the glass harmonica, he attempted to improve it.^16.

The Margrave's death on 21 October 1771 forced the court organist out of the safety of regular employment. A census of the deceased August Georg's household lists him as ‘Musicus’, with an annual income of 300 guilders.^17. The Protestant Karl Friedrich von Baden-Durlach, who succeeded his Catholic cousin August Georg and joined the houses Baden-Baden and Baden-Durlach, obviously did not accept the services of court organist Frick, as his name does not occur in a list of servants either pensioned off or admitted to the new household.

13. The Italian Enciclopedia della musica, Milan 1963, vol. 1, p. 111, suggests that Frick built his glass harmonica in collaboration with J.A. Schmittbauer, although none of the German lexicons mention this fact. Johann Georg Meusel in his Teutsches Künstlerlexikon, 1809 (DBA 1122, 368) notes that Joseph Aloysius Schmittbauer became musical director to Margrave Ludwig Georg of Baden-Baden in 1742, and continued to hold that post under August Georg. Ernst Ludwig Gerber, Historisch-biographisches Lexikon der Tonkünstler, part 2, 1792 (DBA 1122, 366), writes that Schmittbauer built glass harmonicas in the Karslruhe factory, and was himself an accomplished performer on the glass harmonica.

14. Gerber, Historisch-biographisches Lexikon der Tonkünstler, 1790 (DBA 346, 277) mentions that Frick travelled through Germany with a glass harmonica in 1769, built by himself, but based on Franklin's version of the instrument, ‘und ließ sich auf selbiger mit allgemeinem Beyfalle hören’. Gerber also refers to adverse criticism published in the supplement to vols 25-36 of the Allgemeine Teutsche Bibliothek, p. 866 (1778), but was unable to establish whether it concerned Joseph Frick. However, it certainly refers to Frick: ‘Auch ist hier Fricke, ehemaliger Hoforganist in Baden, ein reisender Spieler auf der Harmonika, einzuschalten. Er spielt zwar schlecht, besonders ist seine eigene Composition höchst elend; aber die Seltenheit des Instruments macht, daß er Erwähnung verdient’

15. Karl Israel, Frankfurter Concert-Chronik von 1713-1780, Frankfurt 1876, p. 50: ‘Herr Frick, Hoforganist bey Ihro Hochfürstl. Durchlaucht dem regierenden Herrn Marggrafen von Baaden-Baaden, gibt Concerte auf der von ihm erfundenen Harmonica. Dieses Instrument bestehet aus puren gläsernen Glocken, von welchen ein solcher feiner und singender Thon zu vernehmen, dergleichen noch bey keiner Music gehöret worden.’

16. Gerber, op. cit. (note 14) also mentions that at this time, Frick hoped to facilitate the application of the instrument, by ‘eine, der Menschenhaut ähnliche Materie ausfündig zu machen, um dies Instrument durch eine Tastatur für die Liebhaber bequemer einrichten zu können.’ He notes that nothing further is known about Frick's efforts. See Alec Hyatt King, op. cit. (note 2), p. 824, who writes that Frick had ‘introduced pads as early as 1769’.

17. Generallandesarchiv Karlsruhe, Baden Generalia 74. I thank Dr M. Salaba, Oberarchivrätin of the Generallandesarchiv Karslruhe for providing me with this information.

Russian performances

In 1773, probably after touring Germany with his glass harmonica,^18. Frick travelled to Russia, where he claims to have performed occasionally in the presence of Catherine the Great, and in due course was appointed piano teacher to Grand-Duchess Nathalie

18. Frick gave a concert performance in Hamburg on 8 February 1773, see Josef Sittard, Geschichte des Musik- und Concertwesens in Hamburg. Altona and Leipzig 1890, p. 199.

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Alexeievna, first wife of Catherine the Great's son and successor Paul Petrovich.^19. But before he was elevated to this post at the Petersburg court, Frick lived in Moscow and had to fend for a living by advertising his talents in the local gazette. He announced performances on the glass harmonica on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays before audiences in the Gazette de Moscou of 1 April 1774. On 15 July 1774 he again advertised in the Gazette de Moscou, this time to inform music lovers that glass harmonicas might be ordered from him. He also supplied his address, which was Poslannikova street in the German Quarter, where he stayed with an architect called Rosberg.^20. During the next years Frick lived in St Petersburg, where he lodged in the house of a German resident, the widow Demuth. Nathalie Alexeievna, his high-born pupil, died in childbirth in 1775. The death of his patroness again left Frick penniless and, as in 1771, his uncertain financial position must have forced him to move on. It has been suggested that he left Russia for Germany in 1776,^21. although it may be inferred from the autobiographical passage that he left a year later, in 1777.

Whether Frick took his wife with him on his travels to Russia is not known, but he was at any rate married. The registers of the parish of St Alexander in Rastatt record the marriage of Philipp Joseph Frick and Josepha Domini Fistler on 9 October 1764.^22. Frick must have left his wife Josepha behind in Rastatt, and in rather poor circumstances, when he continued his travels after returning from the Russian court. The registers of the city of Rastatt in Baden list the wife of ‘court organist’ Frick, who received alms, wood and corn from the local alms fund from 1778 until 1782. The reason for the separation may perhaps be found in Frick's own comment on Matthew v.32: ‘It says, Man and Wife are not allowed to separate, except for adultery: forcible means, such as a soldier being sent abroad, or an absolute necessity to seek for bread, excuse the Man likewise.’^23.

19. R. Aloys Mooser, Annales de la musique et des musiciens en Russie au XVIII^me siècle, 3 vols, Vienna 1948-51, vol 2, p. 127. F.J. Fétis, Biographie universelle des musiciens, Paris 1886, vol. 3, p. 338 mistakenly claims that Frick taught the late Czar's sister: ‘Fricke séjourna à Petersbourg et y eu le titre de maître de piano de la grande duchesse, soeur de l'empereur Pierre III’, but Peter III, the unfortunate husband of Catherine the Great, was an only child.

20. Mooser, op. cit., p. 118.

21. Mooser, op. cit., p. 152, bases himself on Alfred Dörffel, Geschichte der Gewandhausconcerte zu Leipzig, Leipzig 1884, p. 12, but the reference is rather vague. Dörffel lists a number of concerts in Leipzig in 1776, one of which performed by ‘Frick’, but apart from the surname there is no information on either musician or instrument.

22. Frick is described as ‘court organist’ from Willanzheim. Witnesses were Joseph Ulbrech and Joseph Schmittbauer, respectively choir leader and director of music at the court of the Margrave August Georg. I thank Mrs E. Frischeisen of the parish of St Alexander in Rastatt for providing me with this information.

23. Registers of Rastatt, file 220, deposited in the Generallandesarchiv Karlsruhe. I thank Dr M. Sabala of the Generallandesarchiv for providing me with the information on Frick's wife. Frick's interpretation of Matthew v.32 can be found in The True Knowledge of God and Man (see note 30), p. 156.

‘Wonderfully directed to go to London’

In 1778 Frick travelled to Holland and on to London, where he appears to have pursued his musical career with some success until at least 1795, when a spiritual conversion urged him to observe a more retiring way of life. Soon after arriving in London, he began teaching the harpsichord. Frick apparently also gave performances on his glass harmonica to London audiences to general applause, until he supposedly gave up the instrument in 1786 because of its ruinous effects on his nerves.^24. In 1780, at any rate, Frick published a work (see no. 3 in the appendix) in which he still calls himself ‘Professor of the Harmonical Glasses’. A manuscript note on the title-page of his work The Art of Musical Modulation held by the British Library (see no. 4 in the appendix), supplies the words ‘for harmonical glasses’ underneath the word ‘Modulation’- and another manuscript note in the book suggests that Frick had worked on this book, which was published in 1786, for the space of seven years. If he did abandon the instrument in 1786, The Art of Musical Modulation may be his printed farewell to a much-admired and much-maligned instrument.

However, this was by no means the end of Frick's musical career in London. Johann Friedrich Reichardt (1752-1814), German composer and ‘Hofkapellmeister’ at the court of Kassel, who travelled to England in 1785, probably met Frick while in London, and reported that the latter was active as a piano teacher and had written several works on music.^25. The appendix listing Frick's works indeed includes a number of theoretical musical works, printed after his career as a virtuoso on the glass harmonica was said to have ended. Nor does Frick appear to have led a lingering musical life in London.

24. This fact is related by Gerber, op. cit. (note 14). He quotes Johann Erich Biester, one of the editors of the Berlinische Monatschrift, as his source, but later adds in his revised edition of the Lexicon (1812) that the author of this piece of information may have been prejudiced against Frick because he played the glass harmonica. Johann Georg Meusel probably followed Gerber in his Teutsches Künstlerlexikon, 2nd ed., vol. 1, 1808, (DBA 346, 278): ‘gab aber dieses Instrument wegen seiner Nerven erschütternden Eigenschaft im J. 1786 auf’.

25. Gerber, op. cit. (note 13) mentions that Reichardt may have met Frick personally in London during his travels. At any rate Reichardt knew that Frick was active as a piano teacher and author of theoretical works on music.

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A contemporary glass harmonica. Gemeentemuseum The Hague.

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Joseph Haydn, on his first visit to England in 1792, included Frick, whom he listed as a composer, amongst the notable musical people of his day.^26.

The whereabouts of Frick's lodgings in 1786, when he supposedly gave up the glass harmonica and continued his career as a teacher on the piano and harpsichord, and in 1793, when he was, in Haydn's opinion, an established musician, can be gleaned from the imprints of two of his works. In 1786 Joseph Frick lived at 109, Portland Street, Cavendish Square, according to the imprint of his Treatise on Thorough Bass (see no. 5 in the appendix), published that year - copies of the work were available from the author's address, and from Faulder's Library at 42, New Bond Street,^27. for the price of one guinea. In 1792 Haydn listed his address as 24, Blandford Street, Manchester Square. He still lived at this address in 1793, which is supplied in the imprint of another one of his treatises, A Guide in Harmony, containing the various manners in which every Chord in four parts can be prepared, resolved or otherwise used (see no. 8 in the appendix). Copies might again be had at the author's address, at the price of one guinea. Both addresses were in fashionable Mayfair.

The latter book was ‘Encouraged by her most Gracious Majesty the Queen of Great Britain’, according to the title-page. Charlotte, born princess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, was of German stock, and came to England to marry George III. Johann Christian Bach was her music master from 1762 until his death twenty years later. A number of other German musicians were in the Queen's employment, so that it is not surprising that Frick, a native German, would have dedicated a work to her, perhaps in hope of preferment. The alleged royal encouragement would seem to suggest that Frick had been introduced to the Queen, possibly after a performance.

Frick died in London on 15 June 1798, without leaving a will.^28. Although he apparently lived separated from his wife at least from 1778 onwards, communication lines between the couple must have remained open. Josepha Frick is described as a widow in the Rastatt registers as early as 26 June 1798, eleven days after Frick had died in England. She died four years after her husband in Rastatt in 1802.^29.

26. H.C. Robbins Landon, Haydn. Chronicle and Works, 5 vols, London 1976-1980. Vol. 3, Haydn in England 1791-1795, p. 182.

27. Robert Faulder was a London publisher, and active from 1780 to 1811. He is listed in Ian Maxted, The London Book Trades, 1775-1800, London 1977, p. 79.

28. The Will Registers and Death Duty Registers in the Public Record Office, London, do not include Frick's name. Neither is there a will or administration in the records of the three probate courts kept in the Guildhall Library in London, or in the records of the ecclesiastical courts held by the Greater London Record Office.

29. Information kindly provided by Dr M. Salaba of the Generallandesarchiv Karslruhe.

A conversion

Joseph Frick was not only a professional and an esteemed musician. In 1795, a few years before his death, he apparently experienced a rather radical conversion, and published a theosophical work - with an edge - in 1797. Although the treatise was published anonymously, it is a semi-anonymity, because the work, entitled The True Knowledge of God and Man, contains an extensive autobiographical passage, which shall be quoted in full below, with biographical facts which would appear to have made it not too difficult to identify the anonymous author as the musician Frick. The full title of the treatise is The True Knowledge of God and Man; of the Great Sabbath on Earth; and of the Restoration of All Things; With some Essential Remarks on the Duty we owe to our Creator. It was published by William Bryan, whose name does not occur on the title-page, although his address, No. 2 Walbrook, is included in the imprint, and both his name and address are supplied at the end of the treatise. The work could also be bought ‘from any Bookseller in the world’.^30.

30. Collation: 8^o, A4 B-M⁸ N4, pp. [2] i-viii 1-182 [2]. The British Library holds one copy of The True Knowledge (pressmark 701.i.13(2)). It is item 2 in a tract volume, and has a blue octagonal ‘Museum Britannicum’ stamp on the last page of the last (seventh) item. This stamp was used exclusively until 1805/1810, and was then used intermittently until 1835. The NUC lists one copy of The True Knowledge, held by the Union Theological Seminary, New York, N.Y. The other items in the BL volume are: 1. Richard Brothers, An exposition of the trinity, London 1795; 3. [Thomas Scantlebury], A looking glass for the clergy, London [1797]; 4. John Finlayson, An admonition to the people of all countries, Edinburgh 1797; 5. [Christopher Frederic Triebner], ‘A letter, to the editors of the Critical Review’, [1795]; 6. [Aaron West], A plain address, &c. to the churches of Christ, London [n.d.]; 7. The constellation: being a selection of the finest thoughts of some of our most eminent divines, London [1797].

A confession

The autobiographical passage, in which Frick describes his career from 1762 onwards, can be found, curiously enough, in the middle of his earnest theosophical treatise, on

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pages 104-7, and begins with Frick's confession that until recently he had neglected God's grace and had lived a pitiable life (§ 8, p. 104):

§. 9 The Writer is compelled to confess likewise, that he himself was - till lately - many times in the said lowest situation, having neglected the laws of God - as most persons do. Nevertheless, such an unworthy being has been chosen for writing this book, on purpose to remove the discouragement which is mentioned in the preceding §. 8. The truth of this present confession will appear to Many, because the Writer was (formerly) obliged to travel through the greatest part of Europe, and thus became known with his musical instrument Harmonica, almost to every Monarch and Individual. These journeys were to be performed (as he but lately understood) merely for the purpose of proving now to all, who saw and knew him, that unlearned Men, like the Apostles, may again receive Light: and likewise that, as he found Mercy, every person might trust in the Lord for Pardon, if the example of §. 7 is followed. There are indeed many examples in the holy Scripture of Sinners being forgiven, as David, the Malefactor on the cross, St. Paul, &c &c. but as they do no longer live among us, some people are apt to think that all is over. But the same God living for ever, a new example is here shewn of His Mercy being bestowed upon an unworthy Man, who is yet alive or known in many Countries. These journeys have indeed been performed merely for this spiritual purpose, for they did not prove a temporal advantage to the Writer, and as all things will soon come to light, he is also permitted to mention some of the unjust treatment he has met with, from which he may indeed be compared with the Israelites who were driven from their home; but the Drivers - the Chaldeans - were also severely punished: so it happend here likewise already in one place.^31. From the year 1762 to 1771, the Writer was Organist to the Prince or Margrave of Baaden, for whom he was desired to make the said Harmonica, and for which purpose the then Court-Marshal Baron schönau^32. advanced the money. When ready, the Prince was indeed pleased with the Instrument: but the said Baron took back his money from the Writer's whole salary, which obliged him to leave that Court, and to travel - as mentioned above. In Russia, he was (afterwards) musicmaster to the grand duchess.^33. When She died, almost his whole salary, &c. was due to him, as likewise some presents for having several times played upon his Harmonica before the Empress: and to the honour of that Imperial Court be it said, both sums were ordered to be paid, but again, the Minister, (Nicolay Iwanowitz Soltikoft)^34. withheld the money. Had the whole sum been paid when due (1777), it might, through the interest, amount at present to at least 7000 rubles, or 1400 Pounds Sterling.^* On account of this second loss he was obliged to travel still farther on, instead of returning to his original home; and though he never thought of coming to England, yet, two days before he intended to set off from Holland to the Southern parts, he was wonderfully directed to go to London (1778) at least for a few months. But having been robbed there, in the first fortnight, of a valuable gold watch, and his whole property being lost soon after (which however he received again after ten months) he was certainly obliged to enter into business, (teaching the Harpsichord) in order to get again, if possible, the expence he had incurred during that time, and what he was robbed of. This restitution came, however, so slowly, that at last he grew too old for pursuing his travels; and lately he employed much time upon this present knowledge, whereby he neglected all opportunities for increasing his business; therefore he acquired till now (1796) no more than what enabled him (during these 19 years past) to pay - as he did - every day for what he wanted, without having been at any time indebted or troublesome to any person whatever. After this declaration, it is hoped that his Enemies will no longer be jealous of his advantage in London; for instead

31. It is unknown to whom this refers. The ‘malefactors’ listed by name are Franz Anton Baron von Schönau and Nikolay Ivanovich Saltykov (see notes 32 and 34). Von Schönau served a Catholic and a Protestant Margrave in succession, and Saltykov flourished under the emperors Peter III, Catherine the Great and Paul I. Both were still alive when Frick wrote The True Knowledge.

32. Franz Anton Baron von Schönau was employed by both August Georg and his successor Karl Friedrich. He had been connected to the Baden-Baden court since 1754. In 1764 he was appointed ‘Hofmarschall’ (major-domo), the official title Frick gives him, and three years later, in 1767, he became ‘Geheimrat’ (privy councillor) to August Georg. In that year he was also promoted to the position of ‘Oberhofmarschall’. As ‘Oberhofmarshall’ he controlled much in the household, including Frick's financial fortunes, as Frick himself tells us. When August Georg died, Von Schönau was not dismissed, although his career changed course. In 1772 he was appointed a senior civil servant in the districts Rastatt and Kuppenheim, later he became governor of Rastatt. He requested to be pensioned off in 1796, and died on 1 March 1806. I thank Dr M. Sabala of the Generallandesarchiv Karlsruhe for providing me with this information.

33. The German-born Nathalie Alexeievna (Wilhelmina von Darmstadt), first wife of Paul Petrovich.

34. Nikolay Ivanovich Saltykov (1736-1816), general and field marshall, served three emperors in succession: Peter III, Catharine the Great, and her son Paul I. In 1773 Catherine appointed him guardian to her son Paul Petrovich. Great Soviet Encyclopedia, New York [etc.] 1979, vol. 22, p. 569.

* If the present Emperor should happen to pay the whole, or any part of this demand (directing it to the Publisher) such a just action shall not only be noticed in the next Edition, but also in some public papers, if required

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of lessening any man's business, he has even instructed several actual Professors verbally, and many others by his printed works; consequently he has rather helped them to get bread (in future) in an honest way; thus he became useful to others in preference to himself. Though his undeserved enemies may now become easy about this point, yet they will perhaps smile and say - Look! - here is another mad man! but it is to be feared that the Lord will call them Hypocrites for saying that they are Christians, whilst they continue to serve Satan, and also that their smiling will soon be converted into sorrow. But taking no farther notice of those that are, and chuse to remain without, the Writer declares here, that he has forgiven his enemies, and begs that they will forgive him also: should he have undesignedly offended any one. From this whole statement it appears that - by his musical talent (which was serviceable to him merely as a cover, whilst searching for the Light until it was communicated) - he gained sufficient to have lived now in ease, had he not been deprived at times (as in Russia) of all he possessed. It is however probable, that if he had become independent, he might not have returned to the Lord for performing the present duty or predetermined function, which is, ‘that he shall work in Spirit for the help of all Mankind.’
§. 10 Let us now observe the difference between Light and Darkness. The first appears by the following advice, at §. 7. The second has kept the Writer ignorant till July 1795. But look now, for the production of Light, to the manner in which the holy Actions of God are explained throughout this Book, and in so short a period; when, or where has the inward or spiritual meaning of the principal parts of the holy Scripture been offered so clear, open, complete, and at the same time, so concise? Moreover (besides the rectifying of the translation in many places) such secrets are revealed and proved, as were never enquired into, nor even thought of before - although so essential for knowing god and man, and our duty! Where then could all this come from, in only six months, viz. before the conclusion of the said year? The Writer is nothing; but judge of the Contents, taking care however not to question the Will of God. Let us rather enquire why, and for whom all this is written? Surely not to pass an idle time, nor is it for the use of the Writer alone, but certainly for all mankind, in order that we all might in earnest begin to prepare ourselves for the Kingdom of Christ - beginning with a true knowledge of God.

Frick presents himself in this passage as a repentant sinner, looking back on his musical career as one long preparation for his spiritual conversion (‘These journeys have indeed been performed merely for this spiritual purpose’) - yet also commenting, in a naievely down-to-earth way, that had his career not been chequered, he might not have come to the true knowledge of God, or, in his own words: ‘It is however probable, that if he had become independent, he might not have returned to the Lord for performing the present duty.’ Even in his repentant state he does not forget the unjust treatment he received at the hands of those in high places: Franz Anton Baron von Schönau, Court-Marshall to August Georg von Baden-Baden, and Nikolay Ivanovich Saltykov, minister to Catherine the Great, being singled out by name. His appeal, in a footnote to p. 106, to the present Emperor (Paul Petrovich succeeded his mother Catharine the Great in 1796) is almost touching in its dapper assurance of due acknowledgement, in print, of the Emperor's largesse - if and when forthcoming. It is unknown what caused him to be

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‘wonderfully directed’ to turn to England instead of travelling south, as he had planned, but his intention appears to have been to stay in London for only a brief period (‘at least for a few months’). Financial mishap, a recurrent theme in Frick's life, forced him, as he tells us with a slight sense of courtly distaste, to ‘enter into Business’ - to a man who served princes it may have been painful to commercialize his (musical) talents. At any rate, he eventually appears to have been successful: he hints at professional jealousy (‘it is hoped that his Enemies will no longer be jealous of his advantage in London’). His ‘conversion’ occurred in July 1795, prompting him to produce The True Knowledge in the space of six months - an astonishingly short period, thinks Frick, and a sure token of divine encouragement.

The contents of The True Knowledge of God and Man will be discussed in part two, but this rather extensive autobiographical passage shows Frick as a man who liked to be self-sufficient and nobody's debtor, being able ‘to pay - as he did - every day for what he wanted, without having been at any time indebted or troublesome to any person whatever’, a man aware of his musical talents and aware of the jalousie de métier they provoked - perhaps even an awareness of a foreigner's precarious economic position in another country (‘instead of lessening any man's business, he has even instructed several actual Professors verbally’).^35. He was probably, even before his conversion, a religious seeker, or so his claim that he had been ‘searching for the Light until it was communicated’ at any rate suggests. That he was not strictly orthodox in his Christian beliefs, even before his conversion in 1795, is evident from a collection of masonic songs, published in 1779, which was set to music by Frick.

35. There is a suggestion at least in a newspaper notice on the opening of a new concert room, in 1785, that royal patronage of - superior - German musicians provoked resentment: ‘The band has received the addition of twelve German musicians, imported some years since, to complete the Queen's band, and put the natives of poor Old England out of countenance’, Elkin, op. cit. (note 2), p. 85.

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Appendix: chronological survey of musical works by Philipp Joseph Frick, with British Library pressmarks

[1]	Ausweichungs-Tabellen Worinne gezeiget wird, wie man aus einer Tonart in eine andere, sie sey nahe, oder weit entfernet, geschwind übergehen könne; zum beliebigen Gebrauch für Clavier und Orgelspieler, Verfertigt und herausgegeben von Philipp Joseph Frick, Sr. Hchfürstl. Durchlaucht des Regierenden Herrn Markgrafen von Baaden Hoforganist. I. Theil. Wien, bey Joseph Kurzböck, k.k. illyrisch-und-orientalischen-Hof-wie-auch N.Oe. Landschafts- und Universitäts Buchdruckern 1772. BL pressmark: Music.d.50; Gerber, 1790 (DBA 346, 277); Meusel (DBA 346, 278). See also the English [4] and French [10] translations.
[2]	Freymaurerlieder, zum Gebrauch der Pilger Loge [in London] in Musik gesetzt von Jos. Frike. London im Monath October 1779. 23 pages. 4^o. Wolfstieg no. 39753; Kloss 1547.
[3]	Three trios for the Harpsichord or Piano Forte with an accompaniment for a Violon and Violoncello Obligato Composed & Humbly dedicated to Mrs. Hays By P.J. Frike Author of the Book of Modulation & Professor of the Harmonical Glasses. London Printed & Sold by J. Blundell No. 110 in Great St. Martins Lane [1780]. 4^o; 3 pts of 9, 4, 4 leaves, engraved throughout, the title-page of part 1 on a separate leaf. BL pressmark: g.409.dd. An annotation on the title-page reads: ‘pr. 7^s 6^d.’ Gerber (DBA 346, 279) refers to Preston's catalogue, published London 1797.
[4]	The Art of Musical Modulation Rendered Easy and Familiar And Digested in Twelve Tables. Shewing the shortest method of Modulating thro' all the Keys. In three and four parts. To which is perfixed [sic] an Explanatory Preface. By P.I. Frike. [London] Printed by W. Napier No. 474, Strand [1786]. Pr.10.6.

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	BL pressmark: Music e.138(1); ESTC t 183602. With ms notes: After the word ‘Modulation’ on the title-page the addition ‘for musical glasses’. Gerber, 1812 (DBA 346, 279), quotes an edition of 1782, and supposes it is a translation of the Ausweichungstabellen [1], just as the Art de Moduler en Musique, published in 1799 (see 10) was a French translation of [1]; Eitner, Biographisch-bibliographisches Quellenlexikon der Musiker u. Musikgelehrten, vol. 4, 1901 (DBA 346, 280).
[5]	A Treatise on Thorough Bass, containing a plain and easy method for the Performer by the help of many Examples and several essential new Rules. The pure manner of figuring and a repertory of every Chord in Harmony worthy the attention of young composers. By Joseph Frike Formerly Music Master to her Imperial Highness the late Grand Dutchess of Russia. Price one Guinea. Addy sculpsit 1785. London. Printed for and sold by the Author. No. 109 Great Portland Street, Cavendish Square, and at Faulders Library No. 42, New Bond Street [1786]. BL pressmark: L.R.110.c.13(2); ESTC t 128620. Gerber, 1790 and 1812 (DBA 346, 277 and 279). Meusel (DBA 346, 278) says that this work, which according to him was published in 1786, was highly esteemed in England.
[6]	Lieder für 1 Singst[ück] mit Clav[ier]. Rinteln, Rosenthal, 1788. Eitner (DBA 346, 280) gives this entry, a copy of which he located in the Brussels Music Conservatory.
[7]	A Duet for two performers on one Piano Forte. Opera IV. Printed for the Author: London [1788], obl. fol. BL pressmark: Music e.379(3)
[8]	A guide in Harmony, containing the various manners in which every Chord in four parts can be prepared, resolved or otherwise used. Encouraged by her most Gracious Majesty the Queen of Great Britain &c. and composed by Joseph Frike Formerly Music Master to her Imperial Highness the late Grand Duchess of Russia. Price one Guinea. 1793. London. Printed for and Sold by the Author, No. 23 Blandford Street, Manchester Square. Of whom may be had a Treatise on Thorough Bass [see 5] Price one Guinea. Two Duetts, for two Performers, on One Piano Forte, Op. IV. & VI. [see 7]. Three shillings each. BL pressmark: L.R. 110.c. 13(3); ESTC t 128621. This is the ‘Dictionnaire für die Harmonie’ which Meusel (DBA 346, 278) refers to. He says the ‘Dictionnaire’, too, was highly esteemed in England.
[9]	A Duett for Two Performers, On One Piano Forte, With or Without Additional Keys Composed by Joseph Frike. Entered at Stationers Hall. Price 4s. Printed for Corri, Dussek & Co Music Sellers to their Majesties, and their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales, & the Dutchess of York, No. 67.& 68. Dean Street Soho. No. 28 Haymarket. London. and Bridge Street. Edinburgh [1796]. 4^o, pp. 15, 8, 11, engraved throughout. BL pressmark: Music g.545.i(10); Gerber (DBA 346, 279) gives 1796 as the date.
[10]	L'Art de Moduler en Musique Rédigé en Douze Tables, Montrant la Maniere la plus courte et la plus aisée de Moduler dans tous les Tons en 3. ou 4. parties. Par P.J. Frike. Prix 7#.10s. Gravé par Richomme. A Paris Chez Imbault M.^d de Musique au Mont d'Or Rue Honoré No. 461. Enrégistré à la Bibliothèque Nationale. [1799]. BL pressmark: Music.d.50.a.; Gerber, (DBA 346, 279) says this is a translation of Ausweichungstabellen; see [1].