Nicolo Paganini: His Life and Work Part 4

In December of this year (1831) Paganini was announced to play in Bristol. The following "squib" or lampoon was issued:--

PAGANINI.

TO THE CITIZENS OF BRISTOL.

FELLOW CITIZENS,--It is with feelings of unqualified disgust that I witness the announcement of SIGNOR PAGANINI'S Performance to take place in this City: Why at this period of Distress? With the recollection of so many scenes of misery still fresh in our minds, and whilst SUBSCRIPTIONS are required to the extent of our means in order to FEED and CLOTHE the POOR: why is this FOREIGN FIDDLER now to appear? for the purpose of draining those resources which would be infinitely better applied in the exercise of the best feeling of man--CHARITY. Do not suffer yourselves to be imposed upon by the Payment of Charges which are well worthy the name of extortion; rather suffer under the imputation of a want of TASTE than support any of the tribe of Foreign MUSIC-MONSTERS, who collect the Cash of this Country and waft it to their own sh.o.r.es, laughing at the infatuation of John Bull.

_December 10th, 1831._ PHILADELPHUS.

A. SAINT. TYP. CASTLE PRINTING OFFICE, 54, Castle Street, Bristol.

Paganini's concerts at Leeds, early in 1832, were so well managed that, out of the profits, a liberal donation was presented to the fund for the relief of the poor. At Birmingham, in February of that year, his visit caused such an influx of strangers to the town, that neither lodgings nor stabling could meet the demand made upon them. A popular song was written for the occasion, and the streets rang with it long after the violinist had left the place. Two lines ran thus:--

"It's well worth a guinea to see Paganini, To see how he curls his hair."

At Brighton some time earlier, the high prices were nearly causing a riot, through the issue of an inflammatory placard against them. Mr.

William Gutteridge, a well-known musician of that place, who had arranged for the concerts, had to ask the protection of the magistrates, but fortunately no outbreak occurred. The squabbles about prices, the charges of avarice brought against Paganini, and the acrimonious tone of part of the press, afford melancholy reading. His gains were said to reach 20,000. In March, 1832, he left London for Paris. There, he gave a concert for the poor on March 18th. He did not stay very long in France, and on his way again to this country, occurred the incident referred to as one of the indignities to which he was subjected. This is the story.

Paganini having to pa.s.s through Boulogne on his way to England, decided to give a concert in that town, which boasted of a Philharmonic Society.

Paganini deputed a friend to arrange for that Society to a.s.sist at the concert.

All seemed going well until Paganini arrived on the scene, when the amateurs stipulated for a certain number of free admissions for their friends and families, as a recognition for their a.s.sistance. Paganini represented to them that in a small concert room so many free admissions would leave little room for the paying public, and he could not accede to their demand. However, they would not give way, so Paganini declared his intention to engage a professional band. This did not suit the views of the amateurs, and they threatened the professional players with the loss of patronage and pupils if they dared a.s.sist Paganini; and the unfortunate artists, dependent as they were upon that support, had to refuse the offer made them. But Paganini was not to be baffled; he determined to give the concert, and to perform without any accompaniment at all. This he did; and now came the ludicrous sequel. A number of those amateurs actually paid for admission to the concert, on purpose to hiss the independent artist. This they did as soon as he entered the concert-room. Despising such petty spite, Paganini entrusted his revenge to his art, and the rapturous plaudits of the audience proper soon reduced to a pitiable silence those who had offered so gross an insult.

As a writer said at the time: "The amateurs of Boulogne have earned for themselves a niche in the history of the art--they have _hissed_ Paganini."

To digress, for a moment. Paganini's performance, solus, was a recital pure and simple; perhaps the first ever given in a concert room. In Grove's "Dictionary of Music and Musicians" there is this definition: "Recital, a term which has come into use in England to signify a performance of solo music by one instrument and one performer." It was probably first used by Liszt, in 1840, when he advertised his performances as "Recitals." The first was given at the Hanover Square Rooms, on June 9th, and was called by the _Musical World_ a curious exhibition. The "one man show," as the recital has been irreverently termed, may not conduce to the highest interest of art, but Paganini--not Liszt--was its inventor.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE 9. (_See Appendix._)]

Paganini made his _rentree_ at Covent Garden Theatre on July 6th, but he did not appear to have played anything new. Neither did he attract much attention, and little need be said respecting his visit. He was back again in London in 1833, but was out of favour, and was advised to postpone his concerts until the public anger, caused by his refusal to play for the distressed English actors in Paris, had subsided. His first concert was given in the King's Theatre, on June 21st, when apparently he played nothing new, and had but a small audience. The press in general appeared to be hostile--the _Athenaeum_ did not notice him at all--and it is probable that his stay was not prolonged. He was in Paris later in the year, and was present at the concert given by Berlioz on the 22nd of December, when he heard the _Symphonie Fantastique_, and was so impressed that he wished Berlioz to write a solo for the wonderful Stradivari viola he possessed.[27]

Between Paganini and Berlioz there was a mutual attraction. Both had something of the volcanic in their nature; both did much battling with the hostile outer world. But more of their friendship later.

Paganini was in London once more in 1834, and gave a concert at the Adelphi Theatre on April 7th. Again nothing new, according to report.

The next morning he gave a second concert at the Hanover Square Rooms, at which it was said not more than one hundred persons were present, and half of those went in with free tickets. The erstwhile popular idol was now dethroned. Paganini fell ill after this, and postponed his third concert.

The _Athenaeum_ referred to Paganini's playing to crowded houses at the Adelphi, and empty benches at the Hanover Square Rooms, and then went on to say: "His performance on the _Viol di Gamba_,[28] or some such instrument, is yet to come as is also a duet with Dragonetti, which, we are told, is to be the _ne plus ultra_ of what is beautiful and amazing.

He has, hitherto, only repeated his best compositions, and, as before, left every other violinist, ancient and modern, at an inconceivable distance behind him." This concert was to be the last, which induced the writer of the _Athenaeum_ notice to attend it. He found the "new instrument" nothing but a full-sized viola, tuned in the ordinary way.

"Considering the difference of stop between this and the violin, his precision and brilliancy upon the former, as displayed in double stop pa.s.sages, harmonics, and _arpeggi_, of extraordinary difficulty, were most amazing.... In his grand concerto in E flat, his cadenza was one of the most wonderful combinations of novel harmony, and pa.s.sages of execution, we ever heard." Apparently the duet with Dragonetti was not played, as nothing was said of it.

The directors of the music at the Oxford Commemoration week, May, 1834, were anxious to add Paganini's name to the attractions offered. He was approached, accordingly, and, through his manager, announced his terms--one thousand pounds. Astounded by the answer, the Oxford Delegate desired that it might be committed to writing. This was done, but when shown to Paganini, he directed that guineas should be subst.i.tuted for pounds. He knew that art was not commerce! There is no record of his playing at Oxford.

This last visit of Paganini to England had a romantic termination. He had separated from Signora Bianca on account of her jealous temper, and had fallen in love with a young English girl--that is if current report may be trusted. He proposed, for the purpose of securing her a proper legal settlement, that the marriage should take place in Paris, and he left London on June 26th, arranging for her to follow him to Boulogne.

The young lady secretly left her home, but her father had his suspicions, and apparently arrived at Boulogne first, for the daughter, instead of meeting Paganini, was confronted, on landing, by her father, with whom she returned home. There is no doubt as to the occurrence, for it was "in the papers," and names were given. Schilling, whose _Encyclopaedia_ was published in 1837, gives a long account of the affair, which he would not have done had there been no truth in it, even though the law of libel was not then very stringent. Here it will suffice to say that the young lady was the daughter of a man with whom Paganini lodged, and who was a.s.sociated with the concert work of the artist. Moreover, the girl herself had, it would seem, sung at some of the concerts, and had become fascinated with the great violinist.

The incident might be pa.s.sed over, only for the fact that to it was owing the impression that Paganini visited America before returning to Italy. Dubourg, in the later editions of his work "The Violin," states that Paganini spent part of his time in America, previous to his return to Italy in 1834. Now George Dubourg was a contemporary of Paganini, and his statement is not to be dismissed lightly, though he offers no evidence in support of it. At the present time it is difficult to find proof, one way or the other. The American papers in 1835 were speculating as to the birthplace of Paganini, and some of the explanations were meant to be funny, but are too vapid for repet.i.tion now. The _Musical World_ for August 4th, 1837, in quoting an anecdote concerning Paganini's kindness to a poor musician, ends by saying Paganini took the poor man with him to America. The question was raised in the _Musical World_ for January the 9th, 1886, and decided in the negative. The legend had this slender foundation. In the early part of 1835, the young lady whom Paganini wished to marry, went to the United States--she was an actress and vocalist of moderate ability--but her stay was brief. Still, everybody wished to see her, for wherever she went she was looked upon as the heroine of a romantic episode, and her name was always coupled with Paganini's. The story of the elopement had been carried across the Atlantic by scandal's winged feet; and it was said that Paganini sent a special messenger to America to reopen negotiations on the delicate subject--arrangements that came to nothing. The agent might have been taken, by Dubourg, for the princ.i.p.al--hence the mistake. Paganini never went to America, neither did he again return to the sh.o.r.es of Albion.

FOOTNOTES:

[25] Chorley, then living in Liverpool, had previously sent some short pieces in verse to that paper, but did not become a member of its staff until 1833.

[26] "Reminiscences," by Thomas Carlyle, I., 311.

[27] Which resulted in the Symphony, "Harold in Italy," with a solo part for the viola.

[28] The spelling betrays an ignorance of the instrument, though the writer must have been Chorley himself. Interest in those antique instruments had not then been revived, nor were there artists to play upon them.

CHAPTER VII.

In the summer of 1834, Paganini, after an absence of six years, returned to his native land. He was now a rich man, and he invested part of his fortune in landed property, purchasing, among others, the Villa Gajona, near Parma, which he made his home--the first he could really call his own, and he was in his fifty-second year! His health was irretrievably broken down; he suffered from consumption of the larynx, and was losing the power of speech. He now sought peace and quiet, and thought of preparing for publication a complete edition of his compositions, which, if he had accomplished it, might have led to the explanation of his alleged secret. In November, or December, Paganini gave a concert at Piacenza--on the very same boards where he almost began his brilliant career--for the benefit of the poor; this was the first time he had been heard in Italy since 1828. The year 1835, Paganini pa.s.sed alternately at Genoa, Milan, and his villa near Parma. The cholera then raging at Genoa was the cause of the rumour of Paganini's death. The dread scourge had claimed him for a victim, it was said, and the Continental journals devoted columns to him in the form of obituary notices.

The only English contribution to the necrology of Paganini known to me was written by Chorley in the _Athenaeum_. It is both interesting and curious: for Chorley manages to squeeze in his account of Paganini at the Dublin festival, which the editor evidently cut out in 1831. That scarcely concerns us now, though it relates that the _furore_ caused by Paganini's performance could not be appeased until he had mounted the grand pianoforte, in order that the audience might obtain a better view of his lank proportions! An extract from his notice must be given. It begins thus:--"_E Morto!_--the words which the silent and absorbed man murmured to himself, in a tone of deep feeling, after listening to one of Beethoven's magnificent symphonies, are now--alas!--to be uttered sadly for their speaker--Paganini is dead!

"We would fain believe that the newspaper reports are in error....

Let us hope that the intelligence from Genoa, received this week [September], that the artist had been carried off by the sudden and fearful death of cholera, may, by some happy chance, prove one of those 'mistakes which it gives them pleasure to contradict.' But, should it not then, indeed, may Music put on sackcloth and sit in ashes for her High Priest!" Then follows an "appreciation," to use a modern expression, to which reference may be made later.

Chorley was an impressionable young man, in his twenty-third year, when he attended the Dublin festival, and so excited did he become over Paganini's performances, that he gave vent to his feelings in verse.

That poem he now inserted in the _Athenaeum_, "as a farewell to one whose like we shall never hear again!" There are really fine thoughts in the poem, and, though too long to quote in its entirety, a few stanzas may well be rescued from the periodical in which they are buried.

O Paganini!--most undoubted king Of St. Cecilia's flock, alive or dead, Whether their pasture be of pipe, or string, Or mighty organ, which doth overspread Ancient Cathedral aisles with flood of sound,-- In all the wizard craft, matured by labour, That doth the spirit move, delight, astound, Thou hast no peer--thou hast not even a neighbour, In the long lapse of years from Tubal Cain to Weber.

Sages have said, who read the book of night, That once each hundred years some meteor flares Across the startled heavens with brilliant flight, Making strange tumults in the land of stars; And, 'mid the realm of constellations vast, In steady splendour ever rolling on, Sweeps far and wide with fierce and furious haste, Rushing from pole to distant pole anon; And, like the monarch's ghost--"'Tis here--'tis there--'tis gone!"

Thou dost to these, the meteor-born, belong, O mighty monarch of the strings and bow!

And though it were to do sweet Cupid wrong To call thee else like him--yet on thy brow, And in thy curved lips and flashing eyes, His clearest seal hath G.o.d-like Genius set, Who bade thee from the common herd arise And win thyself a crown--nor ever yet Hath Art her votary graced with brighter coronet.

O that a stately temple might be reared On some wide plain--and open to the sky-- Where all the great, the gifted, the revered Side close to side, ensepulchred might lie!

And there, where many a breeze at evening's close In solemn dirge around their tomb should sweep, Should all the sons of melody repose, That pilgrims from afar might come and weep, And by their sainted dust a silent vigil keep!

And there together in renown should rest, The Italian minstrel of the broken heart![29]

And he whose Requiem for a spirit blest Was his own dirge--too early lost Mozart!

And he of the Messiah--and the flight Of Israel's children from their bonds abhorred, When G.o.d was cloud by day, and fire by night!

And he, who sung of darkness, at one word Bursting to light--and Earth created by its Lord!

And many more--with whom ungentle Time Forbids my weak and wandering verse to say; Save one great master-spirit, whom my rhyme _Must_ pause to honour--for the meteor ray Burnt with intensest radiance o'er his head; Albeit too soon within his eager ear The realm of sound deep silence overspread, Whom yet the world is learning to revere-- Beethoven! he should sleep with thee--the Wizard--near!

There's left a s.p.a.ce, beside his hallowed dust, For thee with whom began my feeble song; But be it long before the encroaching rust Of Time wear out thy energies--and long Ere the grim Tyrant with resistless call Beckon thee hence--before thy bow be hung In some gray chapel--and thy brethren all Strive for thy magic instruments unstrung; If Heaven were kind to man, thou shouldst be ever young!

A fortnight later, Chorley was able to rea.s.sure his readers by contradicting the report. It seems that the rumour was started through the death of Dr. Paganini (referred to at the beginning of this essay), and there seems little doubt but that he was the brother of the violinist.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Plate X.--See Appendix._

COPY OF OIL PAINTING OF PAGANINI IN THE MUNIc.i.p.aL MUSEUM AT GENOA.]

In 1836, some speculators applied to Paganini to give the support of his name and his talent to the founding of a Casino in Paris, of which the ostensible object was music, the real end, gambling. It has been suggested that the project appealed to Paganini's avarice, which caused him to lend himself to the accomplishment of the undertaking. On the other hand, it is fair to a.s.sume that the artist was in ignorance of the true motive of the promoters of the scheme; and the fact that certain instructions to the trustees of the fortune settled on his son had been made public some four years earlier lends countenance to the impression that he was disgusted with gambling, and had long ceased to indulge in the vicious pastime.