Louisa M. Middleton

“ In 1810, at the Russell Institution, Great Coram Street, Russell Square, London, Kemp began a series of lectures on musical education, in which he advocated the teaching of music in classes and the playing of exercises by pupils in concert. On account of failing health he returned with his wife and family to his native city, and resided there until 1824, with the interruption of a visit to France in 1818–21. He had founded a musical college at Exeter in 1814. A journey to London in April 1824 proved too fatiguing for Kemp, then in a weak state of health, and he died in his lodgings on 22 May. ”

“ During the thirty-nine years that Greatorex held the post of conductor of the Ancient Concerts, it is said that he never once was absent from his duty, or five minutes after his time at any rehearsal, performance, or meeting of the directors. Little but Handel’s music was heard at these concerts, in accordance with the taste of George III and other patrons. Greatorex, too, had conservative ideas in artistic matters. ”

“ She soon afterwards married Alexander Gibbs, of the firm of Graddon & Gibbs, pianoforte-makers. The critics disagreed among themselves as to the limits of Miss Graddon's musical and dramatic talents. It is probable that she had not made a very earnest study of her profession, but relied upon her natural gifts of voice and lively manner for her popularity with the large section of the public who applauded her heartily in the theatres and concert halls of London, Dublin, and other towns. ”

“ Among his most fashionable and popular ballads, composed between 1830 and 1847, were, ‘Thou art gone from my gaze,’ ‘Song of the roving gipsey,’ ‘Constance;’ and later, between 1852 and 1862, with a stronger vein of melody, ‘Minnie,’ ‘Old friends at home,’ and Burns's ‘Jolly Beggars.’ Linley's flowing style of composition was little suited to the stage, and his musical pieces produced at London theatres had small measure of success. ”

“ Lodge's opera of “Domenica” won't do; he is a good musician, but not equal to writing for the stage; perhaps he holds himself above it.’ No record appears of the publication of this or of his other English opera, ‘The Bridal of Triermain,’ or of his German opera, ‘Lucinda.’ More successful was his oratorio, ‘Paradise Lost,’ published in 1857 with pianoforte score, the selection of passages from Milton being made with discrimination. Lodge had already given proof of his literary taste in his poetical writings. ”

“ JONES, JOHN (d. 1796) , organist and composer, was organist to the Middle Temple from 24 Nov. 1749, to the Charterhouse from 2 July 1753, and to St. Paul's Cathedral from 25 Dec. 1755 until his death on 17 Feb. 1796 (Grove) . One of his chants, as performed by the charity children at their annual meeting in St. Paul's in 1791 was heard by Haydn, who noted it down in his diary, with the comment, ‘No music has ever affected me so much as this innocent and devotional strain.’
Jones published ‘Lessons for the Harpsichord,’ 2 vols., 1761, and ‘Sixty Chants, Single and Double,’ 1785. ”

“ Adelaide Kemble's short public career was of rare artistic value. She showed cynical compatriots and critical foreigners (Neue Zeitschrift, ix. 61) that the highest rank of executive art could be reached by an Englishwoman. There was little or no scope for musico-dramatic talent apart from the Italian opera, but Miss Kemble thrilled her audiences with the creations of Rossini and Bellini. The non-fulfilment of Liszt's intention to conduct German opera in London in 1842 was a great disappointment to her. ”

“ When young, Holmes was very handsome. He was apprenticed to Robert B. Seeley, the bookseller, but subsequently chose the profession of music, and studied under Vincent Novello, who generously made him an inmate of his house for several years. He thus came to know Charles Lamb and most of the men of letters of the day. Always a great admirer of Mozart, he and Novello raised a subscription for Mozart's widow, and went to Germany to present it to her in 1828. ”

“ HAMILTON, JAMES ALEXANDER (1785–1845) , compiler of musical instruction books, the son of a dealer in old books, was born in London in 1785. He studied the books in his father's shop and acquired a knowledge of languages and of music sufficient not only to translate important foreign publications such as Cherubini's 'Counterpoint and Fugue,' and treatises by Vierling, Baillot, Rode, &c., but to compile numberless instruction books and other works on musical theory and practice. ”

“ HALL, HENRY, the younger (d. 1713) , organist, son of Henry Hall the elder [q. v.] , succeeded his father in 1707 as organist of Hereford Cathedral. He is said to have composed little or no music, applying himself to verse-making. Such trifles as 'To Mr. R. C., a dun;' 'All in the Land of Cider;' 'Catch on the Vigo Expedition,' in 'The Grove,' 1721; and 'A Ballad on the Jubilee,' in 'Pope's Miscellany' (Lintot, 5th edit., 1727, vol. ii.) were admired for their ease and brilliancy in an age that was not repelled by their coarseness. ”

“ When Camden determined to found a history lectureship at Oxford, he transferred all his right in the manor of Bexley in Kent to the chancellor, masters, and scholars of the university on the twofold condition that the profits of the manor (valued at about 400l. per annum) should be enjoyed by Heather, his heirs, and executors for the term of ninety-nine years after Camden's death, and that during that period Heather should pay to the professor of history in Oxford the sum of 140l. ”

“ URQUHART, THOMAS (fl. 1650?) , violin-maker, was distinguished among old London makers by the beauty of his style, and especially by the excellence of his varnish. Some of Urquhart's instruments are small in size; all are said to have been pure and silvery in tone. A violin with the Urquhart label, dated 1666, is in Mr. Hill's collection.
There is in the possession of Mr. John Glen, Edinburgh, an old flute, stamped with Urquhart's name, and characteristically varnished, but it is not possible to decide that this instrument was made by the celebrated Urquhart. ”

“ One of the most notable was Sheridan's ‘Pizarro,’ first performed on 24 May 1799. ‘Pizarro,’ he says (ib. ii. 159) , ‘was advertised, and every box in the house taken, before the fourth act of the play was begun; nor had I one single word of the poetry for which I was to compose the music.’ Sheridan at last came to dinner, and managed to suggest his ideas to Kelly by the help of inarticulate ‘rumbling noises.’ Kelly employed a poor author to write words for the choruses, but the actors did not have their speeches for the fifth act until the fourth act was being performed in public. ”

“ Notwithstanding his culture, Forcer's reign at Sadler's Wells was marked by the introduction of nothing more intellectual than rope-dancing and tumbling. In 1735 a license for singing, dancing, pantomime, &c., and the sale of liquors was refused him by the authorities, who, however, promised at the same time not to interfere. It was not until after Forcer's death, when John Warren was occupier in 1744, that the grand jury of Middlesex thought it necessary to protest against the demoralising influence of this and similar places of amusement. Forcer the younger was tall, athletic, and handsome. ”

“ These drawing-room ballads may be said to stand midway between the bald jingle favoured by Miss Gabriel's early contemporaries and the attempted intensity of expression belonging to a later date; a music which, in spite of the composer's gifts of knowledge and imagination, does not attain to high artistic merit. ”

“ FORSTER, WILLIAM (1739–1808) , the founder of a family of eminent musical instrument makers and publishers, known in the trade as 'Old Forster,' was the son of a maker of spinning-wheels and repairer and maker of violins in Cumberland. William made his way southwards as a cattle-drover, and reached London in 1759. At home he had been carefully taught music and the making of instruments, and the violins with which he supplied the shops were accepted and sold without difficulty. ”

“ His thorough knowledge of orchestral and chamber music caused his services to be especially sought in the performance of new and intricate works. He was a successful teacher of the violin and viola, and the author of a standard work of instruction for the violin, 1814, one more elementary than the foreign class-books hitherto employed, and more methodical than the compilations of Geminiani and Barthélémon. ”

“ The object of the composer was to supply a musical service for the congregation of South Place Chapel, Finsbury, which had no liturgy, and was accustomed to simple psalmody led by a precentor. A choir was, however, formed, and many of these compositions, full of melody and musical feeling, and at the same time truly devotional in character, were performed. ”

“ Harrison was trained as a soprano to sing solos at the Ancient Concerts and at the Society of Sacred Music in 1776. Not until he was eighteen did his voice break (Lysons) . He cultivated his tenor voice with the utmost care, and became the most finished singer of his age. George III, hearing him at one of the queen's parties, had the artist engaged for the Handel Commemoration, 1784, to open the ‘Messiah;’ he thus sprang into the notice of musicians and fashionable people. He had made his first appearance at the Three Choirs meeting as principal tenor in 1781, at Gloucester ”

“ Accounted the head of the English school, Greatorex in 1801 revived the Vocal Concerts. He was a professional member of the Madrigal Society, the Catch Club (from 1789 to 1798) , and of the Royal Society of Musicians (from 1791) . He was also one of the board at the Royal Academy of Music on its establishment (1822) , and was its chief professor of the organ and pianoforte. No important oratorio performance in town or country was thought complete without his co-operation as conductor or organist. ”

“ Henceforward musical matters chiefly claimed Gardiner's attention during his leisure hours. Direction was given to his artistic taste by the arrival in Leicester of the Abbé Dobler with the last works of Haydn and Beethoven in his portmanteau. The consequent early performance (1794) there of Beethoven's E flat trio was referred to with gratitude by enthusiasts whom Gardiner met at the inauguration of the Bonn monument in 1848. Gardiner was shrewd enough to recognise without revering the genius of the great masters. ”

“ The work was afterwards heard several times in London; but Fisher's name as a composer is more closely connected with theatrical than with sacred music. He became entitled to a sixteenth share of Covent Garden Theatre by his marriage about 1770 with Miss Powell, daughter of a proprietor. He devoted his musical talent and business energy to the theatre. When his wife died Fisher sold his share in the theatre, and made a professional tour on the continent, visiting France, Germany, and Russia, and reaching Vienna in 1784. ”

“ HUTCHESON, FRANCIS, the younger (fl. 1745–1773) , also known as Francis Ireland, musical amateur and composer, was the only son of Francis Hutcheson the elder [q. v.] , and was born probably about 1722. He graduated B.A. of Trinity College, Dublin, in 1745, M.A. in 1748, M.D. in 1762; and also took the medical degree at Glasgow (Grove) . In 1755 Hutcheson published, from manuscript left by his father, the elder Hutcheson's 'System of Moral Philosophy' Hutcheson wrote many excellent part-songs, several of which obtained prizes at the Catch Club. ”

“ A Barnabas, son of Barnabas Gunn, buried at Birmingham in 1742, was probably a son of the organist. In Grove's 'Dictionary' two organists, named respectively Barnabas and Barnaby Gunn, appear, but there seems little doubt that these names are merely variations of the name of one person. ”

“ Gardiner was a foreign member of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia and attended one of its meetings in Rome; he was also corresponding member of the Institut historique de France. His popularity among all classes was due to his exuberant high spirits, kindness, and brilliant conversational powers. At the age of eighty-three he was still in vigorous bodily health, with bright, unclouded intellect. He died after a week's illness at Leicester, 16 Nov. 1853, and was buried in the new cemetery. His portrait by Miss M. A. Hull was published by Messrs. Allen of Leicester. ”

“ This sturdy northern musician upheld the Lancashire system of notation with some obstinacy, a quality further illustrated in the close of his interesting address on ‘Choirs and Choir Music,’ prefixed to the ‘Voice of Devotion’ (1862) . ”

“ FISH, WILLIAM (1775–1866) , a musician of Norwich, was born in that city in 1775. He commenced his musical career as violinist (Grove) in the orchestra of the theatre, and, after studying under Sharp, the oboist, and Bond, the pianist and organist, was fitted to take part in various capacities in the important local concerts and cathedral festivals. He was organist of St. Andrew's, Norwich, opened a music warehouse, and became well known in the neighbourhood as a teacher. ”

“ Elford was also admired in profane music; he was chosen to take part in the performance before Queen Anne at St. James's Palace of Eccles's 'Birthday Songs,' in 1703, and was advertised to sing 'some new songs accompanied by the lute' at York Buildings in the same year. No mention of Elford is made by Downes or Genest. The well-known dancer, Mrs. Elford, was in the cast of D'Urfey's 'Wonders of the Sun,' given at the Haymarket in 1706, and this fact, noted by Downes, may have led to the assertion by Hawkins and later historians that Elford sang a part in that play. ”