Nicolas Mori was an Anglo-Italian violinist, music publisher and conductor. Once regarded as the finest violinist in Europe, Mori was somewhat overshadowed by the rise of Paganini.

Born in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, the son of an Italian wigmaker, he was a child prodigy

Child prodigy

A child prodigy is someone who, at an early age, masters one or more skills far beyond his or her level of maturity. One criterion for classifying prodigies is: a prodigy is a child, typically younger than 18 years old, who is performing at the level of a highly trained adult in a very demanding...

, performing at the age of 7 at the King's Theatre

Her Majesty's Theatre

Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre, in Haymarket, City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the theatre...

 on 15 March 1804. He was later patronized by the Duke and Duchess of York

Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany

The Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany was a member of the Hanoverian and British Royal Family, the second eldest child, and second son, of King George III...

 and the Dukes of Sussex

Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex

The Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex , was the sixth son of George III of the United Kingdom and his consort, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. He was the only surviving son of George III who did not pursue an army or naval career.- Early life :His Royal Highness The Prince Augustus...

 & Cambridge

Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge

The Prince Adolphus, 1st Duke of Cambridge , was the tenth child and seventh son of George III and Queen Charlotte. He held the title of Duke of Cambridge from 1801 until his death. He also served as Viceroy of Hanover on behalf of his brothers George IV and William IV...

. He studied under Pinto

George Pinto

George Pinto was an English composer and keyboard virtuoso.-Family:He was baptized at St. Mary's, Lambeth on February 11, 1786 as George Sanders. Accounts of Pinto's life and character are tenuous. There seems to be no surviving correspondence, nor did he have any descendants preserving a family...

 until 1804, then with François Hippolyte Barthélémon and finally with Viotti

Giovanni Battista Viotti

Giovanni Battista Viotti was an Italian violinist whose virtuosity was famed and whose work as a composer featured a prominent violin and an appealing lyrical tunefulness...

 from 1808 to 1814. He had 5 children with Eliza, the widow of music publisher Lewis Lavenu

Lewis Lavenu

Lewis Augustus Lavenu was a musician, music seller and publisher.He was the second son of John Lavenu, pastry chef to Stephen Fox, Lord Holland . His father had opened a coffee house and tavern in Salisbury where he took over the assembly rooms and held concerts for the local gentry and middle...

, finally marrying her on 24 January 1826 at St. Paul's, Covent Garden when Lavenu's business became known as Mori & Lavenu. He was one of the founders (with his tutor Viotti) of the Philharmonic Society

Royal Philharmonic Society

The Royal Philharmonic Society is a British music society, formed in 1813. It was originally formed in London to promote performances of instrumental music there. Many distinguished composers and performers have taken part in its concerts...

 in 1813
and one of the first teachers at the Royal Academy of Music

Royal Academy of Music

The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...

. He died in 1839 after performing a violin recital in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

.

Further reading

• The Violin: Some Account of that leading instrument, and its most eminent professors, from its earliest date to the present time, George Dubourg, 1852, London, pgs. 285-289