The lost sonatas of William Herschel, scientist who discovered Uranus

William and Caroline Herschel discovered Uranus, infrared radiation and other celestial bodies. Now people are rediscovering Herschel's music.
(Wellcome Collection: Alfred Richard Diethe)

German-born British astronomer Sir William Herschel is best remembered for discovering Uranus in 1781 as well as other celestial bodies, then infrared radiation in 1800. Many of these discoveries were made alongside his sister Caroline Herschel. But before the Herschels were preoccupied with the night sky, they were musicians, performers and in William's case, a composer. Now musicians are rediscovering his scores from the archives.

For Léonie Adams, the Artistic Director of the Dionysus Ensemble, to be the first person in living memory to play Herschel's sonatas has been exhilarating. The ensemble is based in the English town of Slough, where Herschel spent many years living with his sister, then his wife and family.

"The fact that he's a local legend, that he's famous now for his astronomy and not his music but music was such a major part of his life, that most of his music has lain not only unrecorded but unplayed for over 200 years, was all a big draw for us," Adams explains.

A contemporary of Mozart and Haydn, Herschel wrote 24 symphonies, many concertos, sonatas and sacred music. Prior to settling in Slough, Herschel was a director of public concert in Bath, a cultural centre of 18th-century England, where he was also the choir master of the historically fashionable Octagon Chapel from 1766. Caroline joined him in 1772. It was in Bath that the Herschels discovered Uranus with their self-made telescope.

Adams first came across Herschel's music when recording two of his "lost" trio sonatas in 2022 for the commemoration of the bicentenary of his death.

"We've become fascinated by him and wanted to continue to put a spotlight on his work as a composer," Adams shares. The ensemble then set out to record a set of 12 solo violin sonatas by Herschel, which will be launched on his anniversary on August 25.

"When I hear William Herschel's delicate and sparkly sonatas, I can't help but hear his love of stargazing and the science of the stars," says Classic Drive presenter Vanessa Hughes. "William and his equally astronomically and musically minded sister Caroline were torn between two worlds. Their dad desperately wanted them to have serious mathematical educations and more, but sadly neither of them were able to explore both art and science… they felt they had to choose one."

Indeed, the Herschels were increasingly preoccupied with astronomy. William designed and made his own telescopes, co-opting Caroline to record his observations. Meanwhile his violin sonatas ended up in the collection of the Jean Gray Hargrove Music Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Adams says for the recording, a set of new scores was prepared and typeset by the UK-based Herschel Press. The ensemble was also given access to photographs of Herschel's original handwritten manuscript, which they used to check details and proofread the printed parts. 

"In 1763, Herschel set out to write 12 solo violin sonatas. [Yet] there are only 11," Adams says. "Despite the title page written by him saying 12, he simply didn't write the final one." The 12th was left as blank pages in the bound volume.

Adams points out these solo sonatas have been written with an accompaniment line, in contrast with the convention set by Bach, Mozart and other composers of that time.

When asked how Herschel's music became lost, Adams says there are a few issues. Until relatively recently, "no one knew where the manuscripts were, no one was interested, no one knew how to track down the music, no one knew that Herschel composed." She says although those factors meant most of Herschel's music weren't available in the public domain, it puts the ensemble at a unique position to be the first people to play it in over two centuries.

In 2002, six of Herschel's symphonies were recorded by the London Mozart Players. But the Herschels' lasting legacies were the science of stars. Their houses in Bath, Slough and other towns became a museum and observatory.

In 2009, an infrared space observatory bearing Herschel's name was launched by NASA. But Hughes has a musical recommendation which commemorates Caroline Herschel, the first female astronomer in Britain: "the second movement of Seonaid Aitken's Platinum Suite is an ode to Caroline Herschel's life of comet-spotting."

First published at ABC News, August 18, 2023