The Violin Part 15

And do not these, that add their claim, Put all your "sylvan choirs" to shame?

What think ye, feathered ones! of notes So ravishing-and _not_ from _throats_?

How sweet, and exquisitely _natty_, Those trills ancillary, from _Gattie_!

And list! t' enhance our joy what _can_ do The "even tenor" of smooth _Dando_.

Then, in the stream of sound to hook us "Deeper, and deeper still," comes _Lucas_.

Felicity, with clearest voice, Calls here on Echo to rejoice!

Desire may here, with resting feet, Sit still-nor care to shift her seat.

-Who-e'er thou art, that long'st to _feel_, Psha! Twitch no more "the electric eel!"

Nor dream thy languor to dispel By bathos of "the diving bell!"

If in thy brain one corner yet To dozing dulness be unlet- If 'scape thou would'st from stupor's net, And, like a man just free from debt, Thy load of lumpishness forget- Come! for one hour be Pleasure's pet!

Oh, come, and hear a choice _Quartett_ _Diffused_[60] by this consummate set!

About the time that gave birth to the intentions of this party, Mori-then at the zenith of his powers-finding that his juniors in the profession were taking steps in advance of him[61], and determining upon the maintenance of his position, organized a party in which Messrs.

Watts, Moralt, and Lindley were his coadjutors. Without much prelude, they commenced operations on the growingly attractive Quartett, by giving three "Cla.s.sical Chamber Concerts" at Willis's Rooms, on the 6th and 20th January, and 3rd February, 1836.

The flood-tide of public favor had now set in. We find no less than four distinct parties of leading professors embarked in serial quartett-performances; with others, occasionally launching on the swelling current, just for a little cruize. "Chamber Concerts" became the fashion; "Musical Reunions," "Soirees Musicales," and "Cla.s.sical Instrumental Concerts," multiplied almost _ad infinitum_. "The Beethoven Society" was formed, and a host of others followed suit-their names "legion"-_all_ under favour of the absorbing interest in the Quartett.

In short, since the season of 1836, these deserving works have become recognized and claimed as Public Property-witness the advertising columns of the diurnal and periodical press, which teem with announcements, in every form of allurement, inviting support.

Of all these a.s.sociated parties, none has attained such distinguished popularity, and secured such unqualified approbation, as that of Messrs.

Blagrove, Gattie, Dando, and Lucas. At an early stage of their career (the 23rd May, 1836), they were invited to perform at the "Philharmonic," where they produced a sensation which at once established them on the pinnacle of public favour. From that date up to the 29th April, 1842 (the close of their seventh season), they continued their combined operations, with unabated _eclat_, at the Hanover Square Rooms. About that period, Mr. Blagrove, being desirous of investing his interest in a private undertaking of his own, withdrew from the a.s.sociation. The retirement of Mr. Blagrove did not, however, affect the stability of the "Quartett Concerts." The veteran Loder, of Bath, recruited the party, undertaking to perform the _viola_ part; Mr. Dando resumed the princ.i.p.al violin; Messrs. Gattie and Lucas retained their original appointments. Thus remodelled, the party removed its attractions to Crosby Hall, in the City, where, with Mr. Dando at its head, "The Quartett Concerts" continue to be carried on up to the present day.

It has been less the purpose, in this retrospect, to eulogize individuals, or to make comparisons between parties, than to set forth premises wherefrom we may reasonably conclude that the _modus operandi_ adopted by that party to which we have more particularly pointed attention, must have been the best, if not the only, road to true excellence. The Quartett demands, not only individual efficiency in its execution, but collective agreement in the expression of its parts; the nicest discrimination in delineating its delicacies; and an _ensemble_ animated, as it were, by _one mind_. To produce this unity of parts in one completeness, it is not sufficient that parties should merely play together;-they absolutely must meet for frequent _practice_ together, and (according to the light that is in them) fixing upon the best interpretation of the author's meaning, proceed to its exemplification with simultaneous feeling and decision.

We have it from undoubted authority-and record the fact for the benefit of all aspirants to public applause-that the Quartett-party, which has run the most brilliant and extended course, has devoted to the object which called it into existence the largest amount of industry and energy, in private preparation for its public exhibitions-these qualities being by them considered necessary additions to a well-digested experience, which, as the ground to begin upon, they previously possessed. Instead of rushing into public the moment they had formed their compact with each other, and trusting to the novelty of their introduction, or relying on a name already inscribed in capitals, indicative of honours achieved in another branch of the art, more dependent on manual dexterity than on mental cultivation-we find these (then young) professors patiently submitting themselves to the drudgery of preparation. There is the best authority for stating that they did not think six or eight rehearsals, previous to the production of a work in public, too much trouble, or time and application thrown away, or even unnecessarily bestowed. The success of their undertakings has been commensurate with the pains which they underwent to secure it. This accounts for their having achieved the vantage-ground in the general compet.i.tion for distinction, while others, of more matured reputation as individual performers, failed to attain the preference which they were equally in quest of, by _apparently_ the same path. How otherwise, it might be asked, could ... But lest some should consider the digression to be growing tedious, let us at once resume the object with which we started, and complete our biographical sketch-leaving the facts and hints that have been incidentally recorded, to the further (private) meditation of such as are more particularly interested in them.

Mr. Dando first appeared as a member of the Philharmonic orchestra, in 1831: since which time he has held an uninterrupted engagement in its front rank of violins. As an orchestral leader, himself, he has had a long and honourable career, as well in the provinces as in London and its suburban offshoots. In the City, he has almost exclusively occupied that post. At the great concerts given by the amateurs at the London Tavern; at those of the "Cla.s.sical" and "Choral Harmonists" Societies; also at others brought out on a less extensive scale, at the "Horn Tavern," Doctors' Commons, the "Albion," and "London" Tavern, his qualifications have been fully admitted, and the highest credit awarded.

As to his peculiar manner, or style, it may doubtless be averred that, as a pupil, he must have profited largely by the example of his master, Mori; although, finally, his talents have become conspicuous in a very distinct school. Fire and vigour, more than feeling, were the characteristics of style in the one, while the other has become remarkable for the elegance of his expression, and the neatness of his execution-a neatness which is by no means unattended by the amount of vigour occasionally requisite to express the pa.s.sion of an inspired author. In his hands, the violin has oftentimes become almost vocal, and his performance on that most expressive of instruments has been very characteristically described by an accomplished public critic, as "soul-satisfying in the extreme."

HENRY C. COOPER, a fine solo-player, indoctrinated by Spagnoletti, holds a distinguished place among our Violinists. In the absence of materials for treating of him _in extenso_, his laurels, green and vigorous as they are, can at present only be recognized-not displayed-in these ministering pages.

EDWARD WILLIAM THOMAS, of Welsh parentage, was born in 1814. His commencement with the Violin was under Mr. W. Thomas, formerly Leader of Covent Garden Theatre. It was said that he was too old to "do any good"

(being then twelve years of age), but the prediction-like many other such familiar croakings-came happily to nothing.

Leaving Mr. W. Thomas, his young name-sake was placed at the Royal Academy of Music, under Oury, Cramer, Mori, and Spagnoletti; the result of which multiplication of masters was, that he no sooner began to feel the good effects of the endeavours of _one_, than he lost them under the different system pursued by _another_. To remedy this, he became a resident pupil in the house of the kind-hearted Spagnoletti, to whom, as well as to his first master (Thomas), he always evinced a feeling of grateful attachment.

His first appearance, as a Solo-player, was at "Russian Field's"

Concert, at Her Majesty's Theatre, in 1832, when he played Spohr's Dramatic Concerto: this was also the year of his first engagement (by Mr. Monck Mason) at Her Majesty's Theatre, where he remained until the establishment of the Royal Italian Opera, which he left in 1850, to become the Leader of the Liverpool Philharmonic.

BREAM THOM, a native of Portsmouth, dating his days from 1817, made his first approaches to the Violin at eight years of age, having from infancy evinced a predilection for music, although no other member of his family was that way inclined. He studied hard, and, at seventeen, was appointed Leader of the Orchestra at the Portsmouth Theatre. He appeared, in 1838, at the Hanover Square Concert-Room, in London, and was favourably received. Shortly afterwards (by the advice of Mr. Oury), he went to Paris, and placed himself under Monsieur Robretch, a professor to whom belongs the credit of having had some share in the tuition of De Beriot, and of Artot. Returning to England, he settled eventually at Brighton, where he has for some time officiated as Leader at the Theatre, Amateur Concerts, &c.

CHARLES FREDERICK HALL, five years a member of Her Majesty's Theatre, and the present Musical Director of the Royal Marionette Theatre, London, was born at Norwich, in 1820.

When a mere child, his melodious voice attracted the attention of the Norwich denizens; but his early predilection for the stage induced his family to accept an engagement for him from Elliston, in 1829, for the purpose of bringing him out in juvenile operas (at the Surrey Theatre, London), in which Master Burke, Miss Coveney, Miss Vincent, and Master Henry Russell, &c. shared with our youthful vocalist the favours of the public. Eighteen months after this period, his friends recalled him to his birth-place, and articled him to Mr. Noverre, a dancing-master in high repute, by whose advice he immediately commenced the study of the Violin-upon which instrument he made such rapid progress, that his friends were urged to cancel their agreement with Noverre, and destine the youth exclusively for the musical profession.

Although his attainments in singing, as well as on the piano and violin, seemed to point with sufficient clearness to his proper path, a pa.s.sion for the stage developed itself in 1833, when he appeared on the boards of the Norwich Theatre, in the character of "Little Pickle," in the farce of the _Spoiled Child_; by which personation he attracted such notice, that the manager of the Theatre engaged him to appear in that character at all the theatres belonging to the Norwich Circuit.

The family of our youthful musician, being anxious to wean him from a theatrical career, usually so trying to the principles of a young mind, placed him with a German Violinist (Herr Muller), of whose experience he availed himself to such extent as to become, in 1835, (when only 15 years of age) the Leader of the Norwich Theatre.

While on a tour with the Norwich Company, our young Violinist made acquaintance with Edmund Kean; and, but for the sudden demise of that rare but very rambling genius, would, in all probability, have been so fascinated by his society, as to have relinquished the steady pursuit of music. Soon after this event, however (in 1837), we find him residing at Norwich, as a Professor of the Violin, Piano, Guitar, and Singing, in which accomplishments he had the honour of instructing several families of distinction. He was also appointed Organist of one of the churches, and became the most eminent solo violinist of his own county, and its neighbourhood. The Rev. R. F. Elwin (for many years sole manager of the Norwich Festivals, and a great admirer of musical talent), was influential in placing the youthful Violinist at the head of the musical department in his native city.

Anxious to emulate the best musicians of the capital, Charles Hall, much against the wish of his family, repaired to London, in 1840, and became a student at the Royal Academy of Music, in which establishment he availed himself of the valuable instruction of the best masters belonging to the inst.i.tution.

The late Mr. T. Cooke, when Musical Director of Drury Lane Theatre, induced Mr. Hall to accept an engagement there as Leader of the Ballets and Pantomimes, in which position he continued for the s.p.a.ce of five years.

In 1844, this enterprising artist wrote and delivered some entertaining Musical Lectures at the Holborn Literary Inst.i.tution, under the t.i.tle of "Poesy and Minstrelsy."

Mr. Balfe, the Composer and Musical Director of Her Majesty's Theatre, being much pleased with Mr. Hall's performance on the violin during the Jenny Lind Concerts, took great notice of him, and engaged him for five years at that large and fashionable establishment. In the first year of this engagement, Mr. Hall offered the "Swedish Nightingale" the sum of 1000 to sing at two Concerts in Norwich. That enchanting warbler accepted the offer-the Concerts were given, upon the most liberal scale-and our adventurous artist cleared nearly 800 by the speculation.

The Lord Bishop of Norwich appropriated his palace to the use of the Queen of Song, and the whole city was a scene of excitement and rejoicing, during the lady's sojourn. After recording Mr. Hall's well-deserved profits on this occasion, it must be added, with regret, that a large musical speculation, in 1848, deprived him of the chief portion of what he had so acquired.

With an undaunted spirit, our persevering artist wrote another musical entertainment, ent.i.tled "The Romance of Village Life," which he gave, in 1850, at various London Literary Inst.i.tutions, and which was warmly applauded on each occasion. Mr. Hall is the author of an amusing burlesque description of the well-known opera of _The Bohemian Girl_. He is also the author and composer of several favourite ballads: and some of the finest musicians of the day, among whom are Mr. Balfe and Mr.

Wallace, have wedded his verse to music. His last production, now in course of publication, is ent.i.tled "Sacred Lays on the Ten Commandments."

To attempt a notice in detail of _all_ the English Professors of the Violin who are yet pursuing their career, and seeking occasions to make, or to confirm, a reputation, is alike beyond my power, and beside my purpose. A few general remarks that here occur, shall be subjoined.

So little had instrumental chamber-music (until within the last sixteen years) been cultivated among us, that the Solo-player and the orchestral Leader were those to whom the public attention had been almost exclusively confined. To fill these two offices to the extent of all possible occasion, requires but a small number of individuals. Some musicians, possessing talents which, directed by an a.s.siduous singleness of purpose, might qualify them to shine in either of these two capacities, were unwilling to encounter the toil of a compet.i.tion, in which so very few of the candidates can meet with the recompense of election. Others, gifted with fine musical feeling and taste, and having sound notions of the art generally, but not fully possessed of the strength of nerve which gives confidence, or the manual suppleness essential for brilliant execution, were naturally still less willing to court the rarely accorded honours of prominent employ. Of these two cla.s.ses, princ.i.p.ally, were the men who filled the ranks of our best orchestras. In the Opera Band were found the names of WATTS, ELLA (well-known also for his taste and resources, as a caterer for the delight of our higher musical circles), REEVE, and PIGOTT,-in the Philharmonic, WAGSTAFF, DANDO, GRIESBACH, and MORALT-good violinists, accomplished musicians, and forming an invaluable acquisition in an orchestra. It was one of the consequences to be antic.i.p.ated from the _Chamber Concerts_ at length introduced (and to which Fashion soon began to lend the stamp of her currency), that a clearer and higher appreciation of such men as these should be formed. That expectation has been partly realized; and, with its fuller accomplishment, we shall be sure to have good orchestras in goodly number.

-For its connection with the state and prospects of the Violin School in England, the inst.i.tution of the "Royal Academy of Music" calls for a few words of notice in this place. The vocal art, through some unexplained defects in the system pursued there-certainly not from the want of fine voices in the country-has. .h.i.therto derived no very conspicuous advantage from the establishment in question; but the instruction communicated to instrumentalists must have been of a better kind, for results of some importance have been manifested. Of several of the students who have cultivated the powers of the violin with marked success, the most distinguishable, perhaps, in point of genius, is MAWKES, a performer of very great promise, who had the benefit of aid from the master-hand of Spohr. Suddenly, however, and much to the regret of those who were watching with interest the development of his fine capacity, he seceded from playing in public, and is now living in seclusion. To this strange sequestration of a valuable gift, he is said to have been induced by scruples of a religious nature. _Why_ any branch whatsoever of the refined arts may not be followed, as a profession, in perfect compatibility with the higher and ulterior purposes of life, it is difficult to discover. A man does not, commonly, take his principles _from_ his worldly calling: he brings them _to_ it, and finds in it a field for their due employment and exercise. Objections, however, that refer us to the conscience, as their seat and source, must ever be respected, even when (as in this case) their essential force is not apparent.

BLAGROVE is another name that claims especial mention, among the trophies of the Academy. This professor, also, has fortunately enjoyed the highest means of accomplishment in his art, having superadded to his noviciate at the Academy, a later prosecution of his studies under the direction of Spohr, of the purity and refinement of whose style he exhibited delightful traces in the quartett-performances at the head of which he figured, when the merits of that delightful cla.s.s of compositions were as yet but imperfectly known. Mr. Blagrove enjoys the unquestioned reputation of being one of the best of our living artists.-SEYMOUR is another of the Academy pupils whose talent has become favourably known to the public. As leader of the "younger strengths" forming the Academy orchestra, he has shewn much steadiness and ability.

When it is remembered how large an amount of instrumental talent in France has owed its development to the fostering care and excellent system of the _Conservatoire_, a very happy augury may be drawn from the results in this kind that have as yet followed the inst.i.tution of the English Royal Academy of Music. Supposing this establishment to be rightly and effectively conducted, one of its beneficial consequences as regards the Violin-Students (and that by no means the smallest) will be found in the harmonious unity of feeling and execution that will pervade our orchestras, supplied as they will then mainly be, from the same source. As a general fact, it has been remarked with regret by Spohr, the great German master, that the Violinists of an orchestra never originate from the same School;-the exceptions to this being in the Conservatories of Paris, Prague, and Naples, where the orchestras have been enabled to produce surprising effects, through this unity among the Violinists.

By way of _tail-piece_ to this chapter, I am tempted to present a brief sketch of an individual in whose hands the Violin, as respects its _lower_ range of capabilities, was long, and most conspicuously, ill.u.s.trated. Having devoted our attention at some length to the instrument, under its _English_ aspect, shall we refuse a pa.s.sing glance at the _Scotch_ Fiddle, in the person of one of its most restless and remarkable expositors?

NEIL GOW-the head of a race of north-country instrumentalists, and one of the most zealous in the line where Music is the special handmaid of the Dance-was born in Strathband, Perthshire, in the year 1727, of humble parentage. His first efforts were made at the age of nine; but he had no instructor till, at thirteen, he was taken in hand by one John Cameron. Whilst yet a youth, he carried off the prize at a trial of skill among the best performers in that rather out-of-the-way district-on which occasion, one of the minstrels who was the umpire (a blind man) declared that he could distinguish _the stroke of Neil's bow_ among a hundred players! In process of time, while thus vigorously engaged in working his way, Neil obtained the patronage of the Athol family, and the d.u.c.h.ess of Gordon, whereby he became noticed and sought after in the fashionable world. He was eminent in one department of Scotch national music-the livelier airs belonging to the cla.s.s of what are called the strathspey and the reel. The characteristic expression of the Highland reel depends materially on the _power of the bow_, and particularly on the upward (or returning) stroke; and herein Neil was truly great-"un homme marquant," in a two-fold sense. His mode of bowing, indeed, by which he imparted the native Highland _gout_ to certain Highland tunes (such as "Tulloch Gorum" for instance), was never fully attained by any other player. He was accustomed to throw in a _sudden shout_, as an addendum in the quick tunes, so as to electrify the dancers! In short, his fiddling-for its communication of saltatory fury to the heels of his countrymen-was like the bite of a tarantula.

This active promoter of activity was also a compiler of national airs and tunes, and dabbled occasionally in composition-his son Nathaniel arranging and preparing the whole for publication. Forcible humour, strong sense, knowledge of the world, propriety of general conduct, and simplicity in carriage, dress, and manners, were combined recommendations of Neil Gow, who has figured on the canvas of Raeburn and of Allan. His brother Donald, a "fidus Achates," was of good service to him as his steady and constant _Violoncello_. Neil died in 1807, at Inver, near Dunkeld.

CHAPTER VII.

AMATEURS.

"Ah! who can tell how hard it is to climb?"-BEATTIE.

It is as plain to the understanding, as it is palpable to the ear, that Amateurs, or dilettante performers, on an instrument like the violin, so rich in its capabilities, but so exacting in its demands, are in a very trying situation. The amount of mere mechanical labour-the simple manipulation-which it is essential to employ, before the very finest mental disposition can express itself even pa.s.sably on the violin, is a thing to startle the coolest enquirer. Giardini, when asked how long it would take to learn to play on the fiddle, answered, "twelve hours a day, for twenty years together." There may be hyperbole in this-but it is only truth in too swelling a garb. There is the strongest meaning and reality in the sentiment of difficulty which the reply was intended to convey.[62] It has been said of a professor of some eminence, who was current some years ago in London, that he has devoted himself for a month together, during the whole disposable hours of each day, to the practice of the pa.s.sages contained in one single page of music; and many remarkable instances might be adduced (were the point sufficiently doubtful to require it) in proof of the prodigious exertions in private, that have indispensably preceded those public displays by which the excellence of great performers has been established. "Nocturna versate manu, versate diurna," is indeed that precept whose spirit is the guide of the destined Violinist.

Ilium non rutilis veniens Aurora capillis Cessantem vidit, non Hesperus!

His fiddle must be his inseparable companion, cultivated before all other society, beloved before all other worldly objects-the means and the end, the cause and the reward, of his a.s.siduous toils. Such are the conditions on which the _mastery_ of this "so potent art" depends.

Through this road must they travel, who aspire to real excellence. Alas!

what sort of compliance with such discipline are we to expect from the miscellaneous, fitful gentleman whom we designate too roundly by the term Amateur! What full conquest can we antic.i.p.ate for him, who is the volatile lover of a mistress so jealous that she was never yet _entirely_ won, save by the most refined arts of study, and by attentions the most persevering and the most delicate? No-there is no sane hope of consummate swam upon _easy terms_; and accordingly we find that, although Amateurs are sufficiently abundant, good players among them are not _very_ numerous-and accomplished ones, positively few.