DICTIONARY OF MUSIC - El Atril

552 JULLIEN JULLIEN
These were followed ' by Concerts de Societe '
the English Opera House, Lyceum, Feb. 7 to
March IS, 1842, at which Rossini's 'Stabat Mater'
was produced for the first time in England. In
Dec. 1842, began his 'annualseries of concerts 'at
the English Opera House, and he thenceforward
continued them season after season, at the close of
the year, now at one theatre, and now at another,
till the Farewell series in 1859. ' His aim,' in
his own words, ' was always to popularise music,
and the means he adopted for so doing were
the largest band ; the very best performers,
both solo and orchestral ; and the most attrac-
tive pieces. His programmes contained a certain
amount of classical music—though at the beginning
hardly so much as that given by some of
his predecessors, who announced a whole symphony
on each evening. This was probably too
much for a shilling audience in the then state
of musical taste, and Jullien's single movements
and weaker doses just hit the mark. Later on
in his career he gave whole symphonies, and even
two on one evening. No doubt this judicious
moderation did good, and should always be
remembered to his credit, or that of his advisers.
But the characteristic features of Jullien's concerts
were, first, his Monster Quadrille, and
secondly himself. He provided a fresh quad-
rille for each season, and it was u-sually in close
connection with the event of the day. The
' Allied Armies Quadrille ' during the Crimean
war 1854 ; the ' Indian Quadrille, and Havelock's
March,' during the Mutiny, 1857 ; the
' English Quadrille' ;
' the French ditto '
;
so on. These were written by himself, and
though then considered noisy were always rhythmical,
melodious, and effective. In some of them
as many as six military bands were added to the
immense permanent orchestra. In front of this
* massof executive ability,' 'theMons '—to adopt
the name bestowed on him by Punch, whose
cartoons have preserved
greatest exactness—with
his image with the
coat thrown widely
opjen, white waistcoat, elaborately embroidered
shirt-front, wristbands of extravagant length
turned back over his cuffs, a wealth of black
at
and
hair, and a black moustache—itself a startling
novelty—%vielded his baton, encouraged his
forces, repressed the turbulence of his audience
with indescribable gravity and magnificence,
went through all the pantomime of the British
Army or Navy Quadrille, seized a violin or piccolo
at the moment of climax, and at last sank
exhausted into his gorgeous velvet chair. All
pieces of Beethoven's were conducted with a
jewelled baton, and in a pair of clean kid gloves,
handed him at tlie moment on a silver salver.
Not only did he obtain the best players for
his band, but his solo artists were all of the
highest class. Ernst, Sivori, Bottesini, Wieniawski,
Sainton ; Arabella Goddard, Marie
Pleyel, Charles Halle, Vivier ; Sims Reeves,
Pischek, and many others, all played or sang,
some of them for the first time in England,
under Jullien's baton. In fact he acted on the
belief that if j'ou give the public what is good,
and give it with judgment, the pjublic will be
attracted and will pay. And there is no doubt
that for many years his income from his
Promenade Concerts was very large. His
harvest was not confined to London, but after
his month at Drury Lane, Covent Garden, or
Her Majestj-'s, he carried off his whole company
of players and singers through the provinces,
including Scotland and even Ireland, and
moved about there for several weeks— a task at
that time beset with impediments to locomotion
which it is now difficult to realise. If he had
but confined himself to the one enterprise, and
exercised a proper economy and control over
that ! But this was impiossible. He had started
a shop soon after his arrival, first in Maddox
Street and then in Regent Street, for the sale
of his music. In 1847 he took Drury Lane
theatre on lease, with the view of playing
English operas. Mr. Gye was engaged as
manager, and Berlioz as conductor, ' with a
host of other officials, including Sir Henry
Bishop as ' inspector-superintendent at rehearsals,'
and a sjjlendid band and chorus. The
house ojiened on Dec. 6, with a version of
' Lucia,' in which Sims Reeves made his operatic
debut, and which was followed by Balfe's
'Maid of Honour,' 'Linda,' and 'Figaro.'
' All departments,' says a contemporary article ^
by one who knew him well, ' were managed on
the most lavish scale ; orchestra, chorus,
principal singers, officers before and behind the
curtain, vying with each other in efficiency and
also in expensiveness. The result might have
been anticipated. The speculation was a
failure, and though his shop was sold for £8000
to meet the emergency, M. Jullien was bankrupt
' (April 21, 184'8), He left the court,
however, with honour, and, nothing daunted,
soon afterwards essayed another and still more
hazardous enterprise. In May 1849 he
announced a ' Concert monstre and Congres
musical,' 'six grand musical fetes,' with '400
instrumentalists, three distinct choruses, and
three distinct military bands.' The first two
took place at Exeter Hall on June 1 and 15,
and a third at the Surrey Zoological Gardens on
July 20. The programme of the first deserves
quotation. It was in three parts :—1. David's
ode-sinfonie ' Le Desert '— Sims Reeves solo
tenor. 2. Mendelssohn's Scotch Symphony.
3. A miscellaneous concert, with Anna Thillon,
Jetty Treffz, Miss Dolby, Braham, Pischek,
Dreyschock, Molique, etc. etc. This project
too, if we may judge from its sudden abandonment,
ended disastrously. In 1852 he wrote
the opera of ' Pietro il Grande,' and brought
' An amuain? account of Berlioz's early enthusiasm, and its
gradual evaporation, will be tound in his Correnponda nee incite
118791. letters xxxv. to iliT,
2 Magical World, March 24, 1S60.