Frederick George Edwards

“ The turning-point of his life as a composer was reached by the performance of his wonderfully beautiful 'Tempest' music, played under the conductorship of Mr. August Manns at the Crystal Palace Saturday concert of 5 April 1862. Among the audience on that occasion was Charles Dickens, who said to the composer: 'I don't profess to be a musical critic, but I do know that I have listened to a very remarkable work.' The professional critics fully endorsed the opinion of the great novelist, and Sullivan at the age of twenty-one suddenly found himself famous. ”

“ An oratorio by him, ‘The Prophecy,’ from Pope's ‘Messiah,’ was produced at Covent Garden Theatre on 24 March 1824; his opera, ‘The Two Houses of Granada,’ of which he wrote both words and music, was first performed at Drury Lane on 31 Oct. 1826, with Braham as Don Carlos. In the same year (1826) he composed and published his most successful song, of which he also wrote the words, ‘Meet me by moonlight alone,’ which had extraordinary popularity. ”

“ As a composer Sullivan was typically British (see his letter, signed 'A British Musician,' to the Times, 20 July 1897, on the subject of neglect of native music by British military bands) . Melody, that rare gift, he possessed in a degree that may be classed as genius. The influence of his early training in the choir of the Chapel Royal is traceable in all his vocal music, solo and concerted, which is always grateful to sing and interesting to the singer. ”

“ Engineering was, however, soon to be abandoned. In 1849 Grove became secretary to the Society of Arts, and shortly afterwards he accepted a similar post at the Crystal Palace, Sydenham, where the Great Exhibition building of 1851 was re-erected, and opened by the queen on 10 June 1854. For a period of twenty years he rendered invaluable service to the Crystal Palace, especially in regard to the development of the music there, which subsequently attained world-wide fame under the nurturing influence and enthusiastic sway of Grove and August Manns, the musical director of the palace, conjointly. ”

“ On his return to Dublin he is said to have acquired considerable skill as an anatomist and surgeon in the Irish capital. Surgery was, however, soon abandoned, and Wade became a poet-musician. Sir John Andrew Stevenson [q. v.] , recognising his great gift of melody, advised Wade to apply for the university chair of music, dormant since 1774 after the resignation of Lord Mornington, but the matter fell through. Wade migrated to London, where he became conductor of the opera during Monck Mason's régime. ”

“ Entirely self-taught, his knowledge was acquired solely by 'picking up' information. 'I wish it to be distinctly understood,' he said, 'that I have always been a mere amateur in music. I wrote about the symphonies and concertos because I wished to try to make them clear to myself and to discover the secret of the things that charmed me so; and from that sprang a wish to make other amateurs see it in the same way.' The first analytical programme compiled by Grove was that of the Crystal Palace concert on 26 Jan. ”

“ His first wife having died childless, Wade subsequently formed some irregular matrimonial connection, and at his death a subscription was raised for his presumed widow and her two destitute children. Wade's character may be best summarised in the words of the Rev. John Richardson (Recollections, 1855, i. 231) : ‘A wise man in theory and a fool in practice. A vigorous intellect; planning everything, performing nothing. Always in difficulties, having the means at hand to extricate himself from their annoyance, yet too apathetic to arouse himself to an effort ”

“ At the age of fourteen he became organist of North Cray church, Kent, and gained a knowledge of the oboe, bassoon, violin, and violoncello, 'all of which instruments he played pretty well.' Reeves forsook music for a year and studied for the medical profession at one of the London hospitals, but a gruesome practical joke played upon him by one of his fellow-students turned him from further anatomical pursuits. ”

“ The latter work was praised by the 'Musical World' of 17 July 1858 (the leading musical journal of the day) for its cleverness, 'and an independent way of thinking, which, in one so young as the Mendelssohn scholar, looks well.' Outside his academy studies he took an active part in composing music for, and, clad in the academy uniform, in conducting the orchestra of, the Pimlico Dramatic Society, an amateur organisation which had the advantage of his brother Fred's assistance in the capacity of stage manager and director-in-chief. ”

“ Sullivan's success as a song composer may be said to date from his five Shakespearean songs, produced at this time, of which 'Orpheus with his lute' stands out pre-eminently as a composition of sterling merit. The post of organist at the Royal Italian Opera, Covent Garden Theatre, which he held for a time under Costa's conductorship, resulted in the composition of the ballet of 'L'Ile enchantée,' produced at Covent Garden on 16 May 1864. ”

“ Gifted with a vein of melody, Cellier judged his genius to be best adapted to the production of comic opera, but his muse was often hampered by weak libretti. He was less successful in more serious work. ”

“ He died at Westfield, Massachusetts, on 24 July 1867. Viner was a prolific composer of church music, organ music, and songs, and was the author of the hymn-tune ‘Helston’ or ‘Kingston,’ sometimes described as an ancient Cornish melody. ”

“ During his choristership Sullivan composed in 1855 a setting of 'Sing unto the Lord and praise His name.' This 'full anthem' was sung in the Chapel Royal when the dean (Bishop Blomfield of London) , to show his appreciation of the youthful effort, rewarded the boy composer with half a sovereign. His first published composition, a sacred song, 'O Israel,' was issued by Novello & Co. in November of the same year (1855) .
In June 1856 Sullivan was the youngest of seventeen candidates who entered for the recently founded Mendelssohn scholarship to perpetuate the memory of Mendelssohn in England. ”

“ CUSINS, Sir WILLIAM GEORGE (1833–1893) , pianist and conductor, was born in London on 14 Oct. 1833. For a short time he was one of the children of the Chapel Royal, St. James's, but at the age of eleven he entered the Brussels Conservatoire of Music, where for two years he studied composition, pianoforte, and violin under Fetis and others. In December 1847, at the age of fourteen, Cusins won a king's scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music (London) , to which he was re-elected in 1849; his teachers at the Academy were Cipriani Potter, Charles Lucas, Sterndale Bennett, and Sainton. ”

“ BARNBY, Sir JOSEPH (1838–1896) , composer and conductor, son of Thomas Barnby, an organist, was born at York on 12 Aug. 1838. At the age of seven he became a chorister in the minster, as six of his brothers had been before him. He began to teach music at the age of ten, and was an organist and choirmaster at twelve. ”

“ The opera was a fresh arrangement of his 'Nell Gwynne' music, produced ten years before, but with a new libretto. The song 'Queen of my Heart,' one of the most popular numbers in the opera, was a forgotten ballad composed by him several years before, and which had long been reposing on the shelves of a London music publisher. Cellier's other comic operas were: 'Charity begins at Home' (Gallery of Illustration, 1870) ”

“ He took part in a concert given by Sivori on 16 June, and gave a concert of his own on 30 June, both of which took place at the Hanover Square Rooms, but he refused to play a concerto by Griffin at a Philharmonic concert. He soon returned to Paris, where for the next five years he continued to reside.
The French Revolution of 1848 drove Hallé to England. After playing with success in London, he settled upon Manchester as a likely field of professional operations by reason of its influential colony of music-loving Germans, and that city became his home for the remainder of his life. ”

“ REEVES, JOHN SIMS (1818–1900) , tenor vocalist, son of John Reeves, a bandsman in the royal artillery, was born at Woolwich on 26 Sept. 1818, and baptised John only. (The professional name ' Sims ' was adopted many years later at the suggestion of Madame Puzzi, a vocalist, as a euphonious prefix to Reeves.) He received his earliest instruction in music from his father, and afterwards studied the pianoforte under Johann Baptist Cramer [q. v.] ”

“ In order to find a remunerative field of work Russell went to Canada, where he started his one-man entertainments that made him famous. For a short time he was organist of the presbyterian church, Rochester (N. Y.) From 1833 to 1841 he travelled incessantly in Canada and America, singing his songs, 'Cheer, boys, cheer,' 'There's a good time coming, boys,' 'A Life on the Ocean Wave,' 'O Woodman, spare that Tree,' and many others with extraordinary success. ”

“ He was an exceedingly kind-hearted man, and took a special delight in giving a helping hand to young men. A great letter writer, his communications were characteristically reflective of his mercurial temperament, wide knowledge, boundless energy, and yet not without a touch of humour in forms of expression. For the last two years of his life he suffered from paralysis, which death relieved at his wooden house at Lower Sydenham, on 28 May 1900. His remains are interred in Ladywell cemetery, Lewisham. Grove's pupils at the Royal College of Music presented him with a bust by Mr. ”

“ After holding the organistship of Mitcham church for a short time Barnby returned to his native city, where for four years he taught music. He then definitely settled in London, where he successively held the following appointments as organist and choirmaster: St. Michael's, Queenhithe (30l per annum) ”

“ Apart from the succession of his comic operas, the outstanding event in the latter years of Sullivan's life was his serious (or 'grand') opera 'Ivanhoe,' produced at the Royal English Opera House (now the Palace Theatre) , Shaftesbury Avenue, 31 Jan. 1891.
Delicate as a child, Sullivan suffered much ill-health during the greater part of his life. He died, somewhat suddenly, at his residence, 1 Queen's Mansions, Victoria Street, Westminster, on 22 Nov. 1900. His funeral partook of the nature of a public ceremony, and, after a service in the Chapel Royal, St. ”

“ In 1888 he published his 'Life and Recollections,' which was followed in 1889 by a similar anecdotal book entitled 'My Jubilee.' Towards the close of his life he was a professor of singing at the Guildhall School of Music. A public subscription was started to relieve the necessitous circumstances of his old age, and in the year of his death a civil-list pension of 100/. ”

“ After finally leaving school he was articled for three years to Alexander Gordon to learn the profession of a civil engineer. At the end of his articles he went to Glasgow for two years, where, in the factory of Robert Napier (1791–1876) [q. v.] , he gained further experience in the practical part of his profession. He was admitted a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers on 26 Feb. ”

“ In his teens he went to Italy, first becoming an outdoor student of the Bologna conservatoire, subsequently studying under Rossini at Naples, and meeting Balfe, Bellini, Donizetti, and other musical celebrities. ”

“ Sullivan returned to England in April 1861, when he immediately had to set about earning his own living. He took a course of lessons on the organ from George Cooper [q. v.] in order to qualify himself for an organist appointment. In the summer of 1861 he became organist and choirmaster of St. ”

“ Lawrence's Sir Arthur Sullivan, Life-story, Letters, and Reminiscences, 1899; Willeby's Masters of English Music, 1893; James D. Brown and S. S. Stratton's British Musical Biography, 1897; Fredk. R. Spark and Joseph Bennett's History of the Leeds Musical Festival, 1892; Musical Times, December 1900 p. 785, January 1901 p. 21, February 1901 p. 99, March 1901 p. 167, April 1901 p. 241; Brit. Mus. Cat. ”

“ Symphony in C (St. James's Hall, 18 June 1892) ; two concert overtures: (l) 'Les Travailleurs de la Mer' (1869) , and (2) 'Love's Labour's Lost' (1875) ; a concerto for piano-forte in A minor, and one for violin; Septet for wind instruments and double bass (1891) ”

“ Musical Herald, May 1892 (p. 131) , and March 1896 (p. 74) ; Musical Times, February and March 1896 (pp. 80, 153) ; James D. Brown and S. S. Stratton's British Musical Biography; Novello's Catalogue; Burke's Peerage &c. ”