The Seaside Concerts: (Bath Morning Post, December 8, 1789)

Saturday morning last the citizens of Bath hailed the debut of a phenomenal musical talent: the mulatto George Bridgtower, in concert at the New Assembly Rooms. Aged only ten, the youth astonished all with his maturity of rendition and technical perfection; our own Rauzzini, whose mindful generosity towards public entertainment should be extolled at every opportunity, declared he had never heard such execution before. Those fortunate enough to acquire tickets numbered more than five hundred and fifty persons; eager patrons swarmed even into the Recesses and Gallery, and left enthralled by the experience.

If it is true, as has been aired about town, that the boy is a former pupil of Haydn, as well as the grandson of an African prince, both claims were abundantly manifest in his lofty bearing and eloquent expression. He was presented by his distinguished Father, who is to be commended for cultivating a musical prodigy of so courteous and prepossessing a disposition. One would be hard-pressed to find a more pacific and attentive caregiver; indeed, upon completion of the Viotti Concerto in the first half of the program, the father, overcome by the acclamations showered upon his progeny, wept from sheer joy.

We herald the arrival of this musical marvel to British shores and wish him God Speed as he undertakes the London concert circuit this winter.