Editing Richard Leveridge (section)

==Descriptions==

[[John Hawkins (author)|Sir John Hawkins]] (1776) remarked, "Though he had been a performer in the opera at the same time with Nicolino and Valentini" (possibly meaning [[Roberto Valentini]]) "he had no notion of grace or elegance in singing; it was all strength and compass..." Hawkins's opinion of Leveridge was coloured by social perceptions: "Being a man of rather coarse manners, and able to drink a great deal, he was by some thought a good companion. The humour of his songs, and indeed of his conversation, consisted in exhortations to despise riches and the means of attaining them; to drown care by drinking; to enjoy the present hour, and to set reflection and death at defiance. With such a disposition as this, Leveridge could not fail to be a welcome visitor at all clubs and assemblies, where the avowed purpose of meeting was an oblivion of care; and being ever ready to contribute to the promotion of social mirth, he made himself many friends, from whose bounty he derived all the comforts that in an extreme old age he was capable of enjoying."<ref>Sir John Hawkins, ''A General History of the Science and Practice of Music, in Five Volumes'' (T. Payne and Son, London 1776), Vol. 5, Chapter 9, [https://books.google.com/books?id=2wbbTCYkHLQC&dq=Leveridge+New+Book+of+Songs+1730&pg=PA183 pp. 182–83].</ref>

In 1789 [[Charles Burney]] wrote of him: "I remember his singing ''Ghosts of every occupation'', and several of Purcell's [[bass (voice type)|base]] songs, occasionally, in a style which forty years ago seemed antediluvian: but as he generally was the representative of Pluto, Neptune, or some ancient divinity, it corresponded perfectly with his figure and character. He was not only a celebrated singer of convivial songs, but the writer and composer of many that were in great favour with singers and hearers of a certain class, who more piously performed the rites of Comus and Bacchus, than those of Minerva and Apollo."<ref>Charles Burney, ''A General History of Music: From the Earliest Ages to the Present Period'' Volume 4 (Author, London 1789), [https://books.google.com/books?id=M-9CAAAAcAAJ&dq=Ghosts+of+every+occupation&pg=PA215 p. 215]</ref>