Part 15 (2/2)
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 fas.h.i.+onable 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 s.h.i.+ne 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 Fas.h.i.+on 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, Perths.h.i.+re, 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 fas.h.i.+onable 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.
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