Grove's dictionary of music and musicians

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46 REEVES BEEVES
1803; 'The Dash,' and 'Thirty Thousand'
fwith Davy and Braham), 1804
' ; Out of Place'
(with Braham), and The ' Corsair,' 1805 '
; The
White Plume, ' ' Rokeby Castle, ' and ' An Bratach,
1806; 'Kais' (with Braham), 1808; 'Tricks
upon Travellers ' (part), 1810; and 'The Outside
Passenger ' (with Whitaker and D. Corri),
1811. Rewrote music for some pantomimes
at Sadler's Wells; amongst them 'Bang up,'
by 0. Dibdin, jun., containing the favourite
Clown's song, ' Tippitywitchet, ' for Grimaldi.
He was also author of The Juvenile Preceptor,
or Entertaining Instructor, etc. He died June
22,1815. w. H. H.
BEEVES, John Sims, son of a musician in
the Royal Artillery, was born at Woolwich,
Sept. 26,1 1818 {Memoirs of the Eoyal Artillery
Band, by H. G. Farmer (1904), p. 74 ff.).
He received his early musical instruction from
his father, and at fourteen obtained the post
of organist at North Cray Church, Kent. Upon
gaining his mature voice he determined on
becoming a singer, and [after a year spent in
studying for the medical profession] in 1839
made his first appearance at the Newcastleupon-Tyne
Theatre, as the Gipsy Boy in Guy
'
Mannering,' and subsequently performed Dandini
in 'La Cenerentola,' and other baritone
parts. The true quality of his voice, however,
having asserted itself, he placed himself under
J. W. Hobbs and T. Cooke, and in the seasons
of 1841-42 and 1842-43 was «, member of
Macready's company at Drury Lane, as one of
the second tenors, performing such parts as
the First Warrior in Purcell's King Arthur,'
'
Ottocar in Der ' Freischiitz,' and the like. He
then went, to prosecute his studies, first to
Paris under Bordogni, and subsequently to
Milan under Mazzuoato ; he appeared at the
Scala as Edgardo in Donizetti's Lucia ' di
'
Lammermoor with marked success. Returning
to England he [appeared at various concerts,
and] was engaged by Jullien for Drury
Lkne, where he made his first appearance on
Monday, Dec. 6, 1847, as Edgar in
'
The Bride
of Lammermoor,' and at once took position as
an actor and singer of the first rank.
'
His
voice had become a pure high tenor of delicious
quality, the tones vibrating and equal throughout,
very skilfully managed, and displaying
remarkably good taste. His deportment as an
actor was natural and easy, his action manly
and to the purpose, and exhibiting both passion
and power, without the least exaggeration.' A
fortnight later he performed his first original
part, Lyonnel in Balfe's 'Maid of Honour.'
[Berlioz, who conducted the performance, engaged
him for the performance of two parts of
La Damnation de Faust at Drury Lane, Feb. 7,
1848.] In 1848 he was engaged at Her
Majesty's Theatre, and came out as Carlo in
1 Or possibly Oct 21 (he entered hie name in a birthday book
as born on that day).
Donizetti's 'Linda di Chamounix,' appearing
also as Florestan in 'Fidelio.' [His operatic
career was more or less overshadowed by the
great plac» he made for himself in oratorio ; he
sang the part of Faust when Gounod's opera
was given for the first time in English, at
Her Majesty's Theatre, and for a few performances
he sang Braham's old part of Sir
Huon in ' Oberon. ' Captain Macheath, in The
'
Beggar's Opera,' was one of the last operatic
parts in which he appeared.] In the autumn
of 1848 he was engaged at the Norwich Musical
Festival, where he showed his ability as
an oratorio singer by an extraordinarily fine
delivery of The enemy ' said ' in ' Israel in
Egypt.' On Nov. 24 following he made his first
appearance at the Sacred Harmonic Society in
Handel's ' Messiah.' The rapid strides which he
was then making towards perfection in oratorio
were shown—to take a few instances only
by his performances in Judas Maccabaeus ' ' and
'Samson,' 'Elijah,' 'St. Paul,' and 'Lobgesang,'
and ' Eli ' and Naaman ' ' (both composed expressly
for him). [He sang in Bach's ' St.
Matthew Passion,' under Sterndale Bennett,
when the work was given for the first time in
England in 1854.] But his greatest triumph
was achieved at the Handel Festival at the
Crystal Palace in 1857, when, after singing in
' Messiah ' and ' Judas Maccabseus ' with increased
reputation, he gave The enemy ' said
in
' Israel in Egypt ' with such remarkable
power, fire, and volume of voice, breadth of
style, and evenness of vocalisation, as completely
electrified his hearers. He repeated
this wonderful performance at several succeeding
festivals, and in the Handelian repertory
nothing was more striking than his delivery of
'Total Eclipse' from 'Samson.' [He was the
first representative of various tenor parts in
oratorios and cantatas that are for the most part
forgotten in the present day, such as Benedict's
'St. Peter,' Bennett's 'May Queen,' Sullivan's
' Prodigal Son ' and Light ' of the World.' His
singing of Tom Bowling ' ' and Come ' into the
garden, Maud ' remained unapproachable until
the end of his life. It was unfortunate that
he was compelled by adverse circumstances to go
on singing after his voice had begun to decay.
His farewell concert took place at the Albert
Hall on May 11, 1891, but he sang afterwards
at Covent Garden, and at music halls. Some
critics, who only heard him in his last days, were
inclined to question whether he had ever been
great, but their doubts were without foundation.
In the quarter of a century during which hi^s voice
was at its best, he sang on the orchestra with
Jenny Lind, Clara Novello, Tietjens, Adelina
Patti, and Christine Nilsson, and held his own
with them all. Asisuredly none but a great
artist could have done that. Even in his vocal
decay there was nothing harsh or ugly. He
never sang off the key, and even when he was