Grove's dictionary of music and musicians

694 STERN STERN
13, 1873, she took leave of her native country
In a concert at the Irving Hall, Boston, arrived
in England, and made her first appearancp on
Nov. 5 at the Oovent Garden Promenade Concert,
under the conductorship of Sir Julius
Benedict. At the Crystal Palace she first sang
on Dec. 6, and shortly after appeared at the
Saturday Popular, Feb. 21, 1874, Sacred
Harmonic, Philharmonic, Albert Hall, and
London Ballad Concerts. At Gloucester, in
the following September, she sang at the
Festival. She was married on Easter Sunday
1875, at the Savoy Chapel, to Mr. John
MacKinlay ; and from that time, excepting a
few months in the same year, when she sang
in America in a series of forty concerts under
Theodore Thomas, resided in London, and was
one of the most popular singers there. She was
not unknown in classical music. On her first
arrival here she sang the Cradle Song from
Bach's Christmas Oratorio with much effect,
and her repertory contained songs of Mendelssohn
and Schumann. But she was essentially
a ballad singer. Her voice was one of great
beauty and attractiveness ; but it was her
earnestness and intention, the force which she
threw into the story—especially if it was weird
or grim, such as 'The three fishers,' 'The
sands of Dee,' or 'The three ravens'— -and the
distinctness with which she declaimed the
words, that formed the real secret of her success.
[She died at Hampstead, Jan. 9, 1904, and was
cremated at the Golder's Green Crematorium.
Her son, Mr. Sterling MacKinlay, a baritone
singer, published a memoir in 1906.] g.
STERN, Julius, was born at Breslau, August
8, 1820, but removed at an early age to Berlin,
where he learned mnsio under Maurer, Ganz,
and Rungenhagen, at the Singakademie and the
Royal Academy of Arts and soon began to compose.
' Please enquire about Mr. Julius Stern
of Berlin,' says Mendelssohn, i 'who has sent
me a book of songs with a kind note. From
the first glance I think they show talent, but
I have not seen or heard anything else about
him.' In 1843 he received a travelling scholarship
from the King, which led him, first to
Dresden for the special study of singing, and
then to Paris, where he soon became known as
conductor of the German Gesangverein. ' ' Here
he performed the 'Antigone,' first lq the studio of
Henry Lehmann the painter, ^ and then at the
Od^on Theatre, which drew from Mendelssohn a
very characteristic letter (May 27, 1844). In
1846 he returned to Berlin, and in 1847 founded
the well-known Singing Society which bore his
name. The first performance of ' Elijah ' in
Oct. 1847 gave a specimen of the powers of
the new Association, and the level has since
been fully maintained by performances of a
very wide range of works both ancient and
modern. In 1872 the Society celebrated its
^ Mendeluohn Family, li, 57. 2 itfia. p. 295.
25th anniversary, amid an enthusiasm which
conclusively showed how wide and deep was the
public feeling. In 1874 ill-health obliged Stem
to retire from the conductorship, and he was
succeeded by Stockhausen, who was succeeded
in 1878 by Max Bruch (till 1880), Emil
RuDOKFF (1880-90), Fr. Geknsheim (1890-
1904), and Oskar Fried (1904 to the present
time).
Meantime, in 1850, with KuUak and Marx,
he had founded his Conservatorium, which,
notwithstanding the defection of his two colleagues,
still flourishes and has educated many
good musicians. From 1869 to 1871 he conducted
the Berlin ' Sinfonie-Capelle, ' and at
Christmas 1873 undertook the Reichshall Concerts,
which, however, were not commercially
successful, and only lasted for two seasons. He
then confined himself to his Conservatorium tiU
his death, Feb. 27, 1883. Stem has published
many vocal pieces and arrangements, but his
most enduring work will probably be his edition
of Exercises by Vacoaj (Bote & Bock), Crescentini
(Petera), etc. He was made a Konigliche
'
Musikdirector ' in 1849, and 'Konigliche Professor'
in 1860. G.
STERN, Leopolu Laweenob, violoncellist,
born at Brighton, April 5, 1862. He belonged
to a musical family, his father being a German
violinist and his mother {nAe Annie Lawrence)
an English pianist. From his early youth he
showed strong musical leanings, and as a boy
played the drum in the 'Brighton Symphony
Society,' of which his father was the conductor.
In 1877 he became a student at the South
Kensington School of Chemistry, keeping up his
music meanwhile, and eventually began the
violoncello under Hugo Daubert. In 1 880 he accepted
a business appointment at Thornliebank
near Glasgow ; but three years later he finally
abandoned chemistry in favour of music and,
returning to London, entered the Royal Academy
of Music, studying the- violoncello first under
Signer Pezze and then under Piatti, and subsequently
visiting Leipzig in order to take lessons
from Julius Klengel and Davidov. Returning
to England in 1886, he played both in London
and the Provinces, accompanied Patti on one
of her tours, and later on played in concerts with
Sauret arid Paderewski. In Paris he played
with Godard and Massenet. In 1895 he visited
Prague, where, being favourably impressed by
his playing, Dvorak selected him to bring out
his Violoncello Concerto, and came himself to
London to conduct in person the first public
performance of the same, which took place at
the Philharmonic Concert in March 1896, when
Stern achieved his greatest success. He subsequently
played it at Prague, the Leipzig Gewandhaiis,
and the Berlin Philharmonic.
In 1897 and 1898 Stem toured through the
United States and Canada, and henceforth ap- '
peared but rarely before an English audience.