BYRNE Charles

Bern, Charles (Burney, Charles) (1726-1814), English musician, composer, writer, gained a special reputation as a historian of music. Born April 7, 1726 in Shrewsbury (Shropshire) in the family land surveyor and a portrait painter of Scottish origin, James Mc Burney (or Bernie) and his wife, Ann Cooper. The boy attended school in Kondovere, Shrewsbury and Chester, and in 1742 became a pupil of his half-brother, James Burney, at that time organist at Shrewsbury. Charles talent attracted the attention of the famous composer Thomas Arna, who in 1744 invited Bernie to come to London and become his disciple.
Thanks to the patronage Fulka Greville, a grandson of the fifth Lord Brooke, Bernie was able to enter into aristocratic circles, and after his marriage to Esther Slip (1749) has become very fashionable to teach music at the same time he occupied a place of organist at the Church of St.. Dionysius. Illness forced him to move to the county of Norfolk (1751), where he spent nine years as organist at Lynne. Restore health, Bernie returned to London (1760), and soon acquired a high reputation in the musical and literary circles, among his close friends - Johnson, Garrick, Burke, Reynolds, Sir William Herschel, and other prominent people of the era. Leading hard lives of teacher, . Executive, . composer, . he still found time to writing poetry and critical articles for periodicals, . keeping a detailed diary, . the study of astronomy, . long and very interesting letters and collecting material for his four-volume history of music,
. In 1769 received his doctorate in music at Oxford University in 1773 was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society

. Bernie's first wife died in 1762, . and in 1767 he married Elizabeth Allen, . like that of Lynn, her son and two daughters from his first marriage became members of the family Bernie, . which already had six children: Esther (1749-1832), James (1750-1821), . party of the second and third-world tour of Captain Cook, . Rear Admiral, . of the Royal Society, Francis (1752-1840), . writer, Suzanne Elizabeth (1755-1800), Charles (1757-1817), . specialist in classical philology, . Doctor of Theology, Charlotte Ann (1761-1838),
. Second marriage at Bernie had two children: Richard Thomas (1768-1808), director of the military school in Kidderpore (Calcutta), Sarah Harriet (1772-1844), author of several novels

. Bernie traveled a lot in 1770 - in France and Italy, in 1772 - in Holland and Germany, the main purpose of travel was to collect material about music and musicians of those countries to the history of music, he simultaneously published travel notes in the form of diaries
. In 1783, Bernie received a place in invalid house organist Chelsea Hospital (Chelsea College) and here spent the rest of his days. Bernie Died April 12, 1814. His portrait, painted in 1781 Dzh.Reynoldsom, is now in London's National Portrait Gallery.