His Cornish audience, familiar with Mozart and Haydn, believed Joseph Emidy was comparable to these Viennese composers
The violinist’s last note hung in the air, and for a few moments there was silence. The audience at Wynn’s 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.
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.
One concertgoer said Emidy’s playing achieved ‘a degree of perfection never before heard in Cornwall’. Musically literate, those present would have
