Chamber-Music in Melbourne 1877–1901:A

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CHAMBER -MUSIC IN MELBOURNE 1877–1901: A

HISTORY OF PERFORMANCE AND DISSEMINATION

Peggy Jane Lais

Submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

June, 2009

Faculty of Music, The University of Melbourne

Abstract

This thesis examines the history of the performance and dissemination of chamber music in Melbourne during the period 1877 to 1901. It explores the role and development of chamber music in concerts held by Melbourne’s leading musical societies and public subscription series, and various concerts featuring local and touring performers. Discussion is placed within an international context and the thesis asks whether local musicians were influenced by contemporary developments in Europe and if so, was the primary influence English or German?

The bulk of the thesis explores the history of some of Melbourne’s musical societies and public concerts and focuses in particular on the repertoire that was performed, methods of program construction, the perceived ‘educational’ value of chamber music and performances within educational institutions. It demonstrates that performances of chamber music flourished during Melbourne’s economic boom of the 1880s, and that although performances declined during the following depression of the 1890s, standards of performance had improved, audiences were better educated and informed about chamber music, and Melbourne was relatively quick to introduce contemporary chamber repertoire. The first chamber works by local musicians and composers were also composed and performed in Melbourne during this period.

The availability of competent musicians was a significant factor and played a role in determining the type of repertoire that was performed. With large numbers of competent pianists and string players, and very few wind players, present in Melbourne during this period, for example, the repertory tended to focus on works for piano and/or strings. The contribution of local and international performers, particularly English and German-born and/or trained instrumentalists, is also considered. English and German musicians not only had an impact on the shaping of the repertory, but also influenced the way that concerts were organized. These influences, however, often overlapped and were not always clearly defined.

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Declaration

This is to certify that

(i) this thesis comprises only my original work towards the PhD except where indicated

(ii) due acknowledgement has been made in the text to all other material used

(iii) the thesis is less than 100,000 words in length, exclusive of tables, maps, bibliographies and appendices

Signature: ______

Name in Full: ______

Date: ______

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my supervisors, Kerry Murphy and Jennifer Hill, whose energy, feedback and support, particularly during the early phases of candidature, gave me the confidence to see this project through. I am also indebted to Suzanne Cole who spent numerous hours helping me construct the ‘Chamber-Music Concerts in Pre-Federation Melbourne Database.’ Without her assistance the database would not have been possible.

Numerous others have assisted me during the research phase of this project. These include Dr Barbara Wiermann (Hochschule für Musik und Theater, ‘Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’ Bibliothek, Leipzig) and Dr Thomas Synofzik (Robert Schumann Haus, Zwickau), who helped me locate valuable sources of information in Germany. Christina Bashford and Alan Bartley, who provided useful information about concerts in London. Jan Stockigt, Jin Bong and Johanna Selleck, who shared their insights and knowledge about other musicians and concerts in Melbourne, and the musicology staff and students at the Faculty of Music, University of Melbourne, who were always supportive and willing to assist in numerous large and small ways.

I would also like to thank my family and friends, who continued to encourage me and believe in me through the tough times, and who patiently endured my enthusiasm for this topic.

Table of Contents

List of Figures vi

List of Tables vii

List of Abbreviations viii

Introduction 1

Chapter 1: Background 17

Chapter 2: Musical Societies and Chamber Music 28

Chapter 3: Chamber Music in Public Concerts 73

Chapter 4: Musically Educating the Public 113

Chapter 5: Repertoire and Program Construction 139

Chapter 6: The Influence of English and German Musicians 185

Conclusion 213

Bibliography 221

Appendix 1: 232

Appendix 2: 238

List of Figures

Figure 1: 45 th Program for the Musical Society of Victoria 61 Figure 2: Nicholson and Ascherberg’s Matinée on 2 September 1876 84 Figure 3: Program for Allan’s 4 th Chamber-Music Concert on 28 July 1897 98 Figure 4: Chamber-Music Concerts occurring in each Month of the Year 101 Figure 5: Chamber-Music Concerts by Societies occurring in each Month of the Year 101 Figure 6: Public Chamber-Music Concerts occurring in each Month of the Year 102 Figure 7: Program for Louis Pabst’s 4 th Historical Concert in 1887 124 Figure 8: Number and types of Works performed 140 Figure 9: Number of Chamber Works for 2 to 8 Performers 140 Figure 10: Number of Chamber Works per Genre 142 Figure 11: Number of Instrumental Solos per Instrument 142 Figure 12: Program for Charles and Lady Hallés’ 5 th Concert in their 1891 Season 150 Figure 13: The celebrated violist J.B. Zerbini 191 Figure 14: Herr August Wilhelmj 196

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List of Tables

Table 1: Possible Premier Performances by the Musical Association 46 Table 2: Founding Professional Members of the Musical Artists’ Society of Victoria 50 Table 3: Possible Premier Performances by the Musical Artists’ Society and the Musical Artists’ and Organists’ Society 58 Table 4: Possible Premier Performances by the Melbourner Deutsche Liedertafel 64 Table 5: Touring Musicians and Companies that performed Chamber Music 76 Table 6: Grand Vocal and Instrumental Concert at the Town Hall 30 September 1876 79 Table 7: Public Chamber-Music Concert Series by Resident Musicians and Institutions 86 Table 8: Directors of the Melbourne Popular Concerts 92 Table 9: Number of Chamber Works for 2 to 8 Players 94 Table 10: Chamber-Music Performances by Arabella Goddard in Melbourne 1873–1874 105 Table 11: Lectures delivered in Chamber-Music Programs 1877–1892 128 Table 12: Characteristics of Miscellaneous and Homogenous Concerts 145 Table 13: Standard Program for the Monday Popular Concerts 1 151 Table 14: Standard Program for the Monday Popular Concerts 2 151 Table 15: Melbourne Popular Concert at the Masonic Hall on 1 July 1891 152 Table 16: Allan’s Chamber-Music Concert at the Athenæum on 8 June 1898 152 Table 17: The Leipzig Conservatorium’s Hauptprüfung on 21 February 1890 160 Table 18: The most-performed Composers across all Genres in Melbourne 1861–1901 163 Table 19: The most-performed Composers of Chamber Works in Melbourne 1861–1901 163 Table 20: The most-performed Chamber Works at the London Popular Concerts 164 Table 21: The most-performed Chamber Works in Melbourne 1861–1901 171 Table 22: Performances of Chamber Works by Resident Composers 181

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List of Abbreviations

ALLAN Allan and Co.’s Classical Chamber-Music Concerts

BOSTON Boston Mendelssohn Quintette Club

CLAUS Concerts featuring Jenny Claus

GODDARD Concerts featuring Arabella Goddard

GRIF Miss Griffiths’ Chamber-Music Concerts

GUEN Concerts directed by T.H. Guenett

HALLE Charles and Lady Hallés’ Concerts

HISTORICAL Louis Pabst’s Historical Concerts

HORSLEY Charles Horsley’s Classical Chamber-Music Concerts

MAOS Musical Artists’ and Organists’ Society of Victoria

MAS Musical Artists’ Society of Victoria

MAV Musical Association of Victoria

MDL Melbourner Deutsche Liedertafel

MISC Miscellaneous Concerts (Not part of an official series)

MPC Melbourne Popular Concerts

MSV Musical Society of Victoria

PABST Concerts directed by Louis Pabst

PATTI Carlotta Patti Company

PLC Presbyterian Ladies’ College

REMENYI Concerts featuring Eduard Reményi

RISV Louis Pabst’s Risvegliato Concerts

SCHOOL School of Music Subscription Concerts

VQS Victorian Quartet Society

WILH Concerts featuring August Wilhelmj

WILK Miss Wilkinson’s Chamber-Music Concerts

Introduction

Many of us once resident in London have, time after time, passed such buildings as the Tower of London, the British Museum, and the National Gallery without ever entering them. If it were possible how gladly should we now avail ourselves of such opportunity. By a combination of circumstances we, in Australia, though thousands of miles away from the great centres of art, have at our very doors what may be correctly termed PERFECT PERFORMANCES of the chamber music of the greatest masters. 1

Chamber music was widely performed in Melbourne during the second half of the nineteenth century, particularly during the twenty-five years leading up to the Federation of Australia in 1901. There is much evidence to suggest that performances of chamber music were not only frequent but were also generally of a high standard, functioning as a staple in many concerts, and often fulfilling the demand for instrumental repertoire in the absence of permanent professional orchestral concerts.

The performance and dissemination of high-art chamber music in Melbourne during the nineteenth century, however, is a topic that has received little attention from scholars of Australian music. While there has been research carried out on related topics such as Melbourne’s first orchestral concerts, opera, and amateur music-making societies such as the Royal Philharmonic Society and the liedertafel societies, no research has been done to identify the extent to which chamber music was performed and in what contexts performances took place. Little is also known about the performers, how musicians and entrepreneurs organized chamber-music concerts in both public and private settings, and the types of audiences that accessed this type of music. Thus, the need for a comprehensive examination of how chamber music developed in Melbourne was evident, and the research focus for this thesis was born.

This thesis will address two major questions: first, how did chamber music develop and what role did it play in musical life in Melbourne during the last two and

1 T.H. Guenett, ‘Melbourne Popular Concerts,’ Argus 17 August 1887: 8.

2 a half decades of the nineteenth century? The second question places local events within an international context and asks whether local musicians were influenced by contemporary developments in Europe and if so, was the primary influence English or German?

Scope

The focus of this thesis is the period 1877–1901. This twenty-five year period was chosen because the majority of chamber-music performances in Melbourne during the nineteenth century occurred during this time. There is also a large amount of archival material available for this period. Although the Musical Association of Victoria was founded in 1861, it reformed itself in 1877 and its records commence that year. The Musical Artists’ Society of Victoria was also founded in the same year while the two major liedertafel societies, the Metropolitan and Melbourne Liedertafels, were formed in 1870 and 1879 respectively. The period 1877–1901 was also chosen because it encompasses two contrasting decades of Melbourne’s social, economic and political development. While Melbourne experienced a continuing economic boom during the 1880s, the 1890s was a period of economic depression marked by a decline in population growth, personal wealth and cultural activity in general. Changes were also taking place politically with Federation occurring in 1901. However, while the focus in this thesis is on the period 1877 to 1901, earlier performances of chamber music are also discussed to provide a context and demonstrate how the genre developed over time.

The term ‘chamber music’ is used in this thesis to denote high-art instrumental music for two to eight performers with one instrument per part. To use Christina Bashford’s definition, high-art chamber music refers to those works that were deemed to be ‘the best in Western classical music.’ Such works are

products…that have been held in greatest esteem by society and deemed to require sophisticated (i.e. cultured) understanding. Although historically the province of social elites, high culture…in Victorian times [was] becoming increasingly accessible to all who aspired to appreciate it. In particular, definitions of classical (i.e. art) music, as that which appeals to “developed” taste and is distinct from popular or folk music, were being laid down during the nineteenth century. The tightly constructed instrumental genres of symphony, sonata, and string quartet were generally considered to aspire to

such yardsticks, and hierarchies of genres and individual works were emerging. 2

The repertoire examined is composed mostly by the Austro-Germanic composers Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms and their contemporaries. Works designed for domestic music making, such as salon-styled pieces, potpourris, arrangements and the like are also included if they appeared in concerts alongside works of the former category. A distinction is also made between chamber works for two performers and accompanied solos. Works such as duos for various combinations of instruments (eg. for two violins, two pianos, violin and viola, or violin and harp) and sonatas for violin, viola, ‘cello, flute or even horn, and piano (eg. Beethoven’s ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata for violin and piano opus 47) fall under the category of chamber music while accompanied works such as fantasias on operatic themes, or violin solos by Wieniawski (eg. Legende or Valse Capriccio ), fall under the category of instrumental solo. 3

The term ‘chamber-music concert’ is used to describe concerts in which movements of or complete chamber works were presented as the primary feature. These concerts usually contained a combination of vocal, solo instrumental and chamber music, occasionally lectures on music and, in a minority of cases, other works such as arrangements of orchestral works, overtures, concertos, or piano duets. These other genres, particularly vocal works, instrumental solos and lectures, are also briefly discussed as they provide the context in which chamber-music was heard. A sample of concerts, almost five hundred in total, is used as a basis for the discussion, probably representing a good percentage of the actual number of concerts containing chamber music that would have taken place in Melbourne during the period. The characteristics exhibited by the sample of concerts selected for this study are taken as representative of all performances and their various contexts.

2 Christina Bashford, The Pursuit of High Culture: John Ella and Chamber Music in Victorian London (Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell Press, 2007) 1. 3 Almost half the works that fall under the category of ‘duo,’ for example, are sonatas for violin and piano. These works are described as chamber music because they are equally demanding on both players and require a high level of ensemble. Works in the instrumental solo category, on the other hand, highlight the primary instrument while the accompanist takes a subservient role.

Performances of chamber music fall roughly into two broad categories: Performances by musical clubs and societies and public concerts. While many of the musical societies were private in the sense that they required membership, they also brought their activities to the public notice by advertising their meetings and/or musical programs, organizing public events and promoting their value to the public in general. Members of musical societies paid annual subscriptions that enabled them to perform in and attend chamber-music concerts organized by the societies, participate in official proceedings, and access musical scores and literature housed in their libraries. Audiences for public concerts either paid subscriptions for a series or purchased tickets for individual concerts.

A variety of concerts will be examined including those held at the regular meetings of the following musical societies: The Musical Association of Victoria (1861–1892), The Metropolitan Liedertafel Society (1870–1901), The Musical Artists’ Society of Victoria (1877–1892), The Melbourne Liedertafel Society (1879– 1901), The Musical Artists’ and Organists’ Society of Victoria (1890–1892), and The Musical Society of Victoria (1892–1901).

Formal subscription series of public concerts carried out by the following organizations and individuals will also be examined and include: Miss Griffiths’ Chamber Concerts (1878), The South Melbourne School of Music’s Concerts (1880– Unknown), The Melbourne Popular Concerts (1882–1893), Louis Pabst’s Historical Concerts (1886–1887) and Risvegliato Concerts (1891–1893), Miss Wilkinson’s Chamber Concerts (1893), and Allan’s Classical Chamber-Music Concerts (1897– 1898).

In addition, public concerts not part of a formal series will be examined when they contain high-art chamber music. Thus, public concerts given by touring professional musicians, and single concerts such as promotional, complimentary or benefit concerts organized by musical societies, music retailers, educational institutions or resident musicians are included. Some examples are concerts organized by or featuring: The Victorian Quartet Society (1869), Arabella Goddard (1873– 1874), T.H. Guenett (1873–1875), Jenny Claus (1874–1876), the Melbourne String Quartet Club (c1876–1878), the Carlotta Patti Company (1880), Max Vogrich and August Wilhelmj (1881), the Mendelssohn Quintet Club (1882), Eduard Reményi

(1884), Presbyterian Ladies’ College (1886), Charles and Lady Hallé (1890–1891), Nicholson and Ascherberg (Various dates), and Glen and Co. (Various dates).

Literature Review

The following literature review surveys existing sources that relate to this thesis. It starts with an overview of general histories of Australian music, followed by an examination of literature that focuses on the history of some of Melbourne’s leading musical societies during the nineteenth century, articles on chamber music in Australia and Melbourne, biographical sources, and then recent overseas publications that concentrate on chamber music and various issues associated with public concert life, repertoire and programming in Europe.

W.A. Orchard’s ground-breaking history of 1952, Music in Australia: More than 150 Years of Development , was the first attempt by any scholar to record the musical history of Australia. He argues that ‘[t]he cultural development of Australia has been surprisingly good, bearing in mind the difficulties it had to contend with during the first eighty years of the nineteenth century,’ and that the ‘once far distant land, in its earlier days, had a much greater and more varied experience of good music than most people imagine.’ 4

Orchard describes the contribution of resident and touring musicians, musical societies and the development of various types of vocal and instrumental music, allocating chapters to Resident Musicians 1850–1900, Organs and Organists, Choral and Orchestral Concerts, Opera, and Chamber Music. Within the broader coverage of the book, however, the final chapter affords only a brief account of chamber music in Australia, describing the principal performers and performances that took place. While Orchard describes the Musical Society of Victoria as the ‘most consistent movement up to 1900,’ no further information is given regarding its importance or influence apart from a description of its main policy: ‘the presentation of chamber music and the encouragement of Australian composers.’ 5 Orchard’s account of the development of chamber music in Australia is not comprehensive; finer details are missing and there are some errors in chronology. Nevertheless, it is an important

4 W.A. Orchard, Music in Australia: More than 150 Years of Development (Melbourne: Georgian House, 1952) xvii. 5 Orchard, Music in Australia , 137–42.

6 chapter that documents the movements of many of the musicians who performed chamber music in Australia during the nineteenth century.

Covell, in his pioneering study Themes of a New Society of 1967, argues that music in colonial Australia was a transplanted European culture. It was not Covell’s intention to write a ‘history in any comprehensive sense’ and he therefore abstains from ‘chronicling the beginning of musical organization in all six of the early Australian colonies.’ 6 One chapter in his book is dedicated to colonialism, which identifies the two primary influences on Australian music as English and German, a theme that will be explored further in this thesis.

Work on the liedertafel societies in Melbourne has also touched on the issue of chamber music in Melbourne during the nineteenth century, although very little has been written about the genre’s place within the liedertafel societies’ programs. Thérèse Radic’s pioneering but unpublished research in the 1970s, for example, dedicates a small section to chamber music, identifying some of the major works, dates and performers involved with an appendix listing the same. 7 More recently and relevant to this project is the Database of Melbourne Concert Life, based at the University of Melbourne, which contains details of 484 programs given by the Melbourne and Metropolitan Liedertafels and the Melbourne Philharmonic Society during the period c1877–1904. The database formed the basis for a series of articles that explore topics associated with the liedertafel societies and the Melbourne Philharmonic Society, including the role of the Melbourner Deutsche Liedertafel, repertoire and programming, colonial composers, social aspects associated with amateur music making and the influence of the English press. 8

6 Roger Covell, Australia’s Music: Themes of a New Society (Melbourne: Sun Books, 1967) 7. 7 Thérèse Radic, ‘Some Historical Aspects of Musical Associations in Melbourne, 1888– 1915,’ PhD thesis, University of Melbourne, 1977. 8 Of the 484 Concerts, 238 were given by the Metropolitan Liedertafel Society, 176 by the Melbourne Liedertafel Society, sixty-four by the Philharmonic Society, five by the combined liedertafel societies and one by the Royal Victorian Liedertafel Society. The programs were reconstructed using press reviews and concert programs from the Liedertafel Collection. The database, designed by Suzanne Cole, is housed in the Centre for Studies in Australian Music, University of Melbourne. The articles edited by Kerry Murphy are published in Nineteenth Century Music Review 2.2 (2005).

Chamber music in Australia during the nineteenth century has also been the subject of a few articles. Kathleen Nelson’s article on the Adelaide String Quartet Club of 1988 examines the activities of the Adelaide String Quartet Club during the 1880s and its contribution to Adelaide’s musical culture. Nelson discusses in significant detail the history of the society, its repertoire, programming and reception, focusing in particular on the importance of vocal works within the quartet society’s programs. 9 Prior to this thesis, I wrote two articles on the Melbourne Popular Concerts, a series of public-chamber music concerts that took place in Melbourne between the years 1882 and 1893. The articles approach issues of repertoire selection, programming and the emulation of English concert models, issues that form a basis for further discussion in this thesis. 10

Extended dictionary articles on chamber music in Australia include Patricia Shaw’s article in the Oxford Companion to Australian Music (1997) and Christine Logan’s article from the Currency Companion to Music and Dance in Australia (2003). Shaw’s article provides a brief overview of the development of chamber music in Australia, with the bulk of discussion focusing on developments after the nineteenth century. 11 Logan’s more recent and extended account identifies many of the principal performers of the period and notes how ‘in each colony a few guiding individuals with enthusiasm and energy seem to have been essential to the encouragement and expansion of chamber-music performances, especially in the early stages.’ 12 However, this statement is later qualified by the perceptive observation that ‘[s]ome had a keen interest in chamber music of the highest quality, but programs during much of the 19 th century confirm that musicians were careful not to perform

9 Nelson argues, for example, that vocal works within the quartet society’s programs were an important impetus for public support. See Kathleen N. Nelson, ‘The Adelaide String Quartet Club and the “Vocal Element” 1880–1891,’ Miscellanea Musicologica 15 (1988): 143–52. 10 See Peggy Jane Lais, ‘The Melbourne Popular Concerts: Emulating an English Concert Model,’ Context 27–28 (2004): 97–109; ‘St James’s Hall to Bust: The Success and Failure of the Melbourne Popular Concerts,’ Victorian Historical Journal 77.1 (May 2006): 46–65. These articles are drawn from a Masters thesis on the same topic. ‘The Rise and Fall of the Melbourne Popular Concerts: Chamber-Music Concerts in Pre-Federation Melbourne,’ MMus thesis, University of Melbourne, 2004. 11 Patricia Shaw, ‘Chamber Music,’ The Oxford Companion to Australian Music , ed. Warren Bebbington (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1997) 107. 12 Christine Logan, ‘Chamber Music,’ Currency Companion to Music and Dance in Australia , ed. John Whiteoak and Aline Scott-Maxwell (Sydney: Currency House Inc., 2003) 115.

8 works that they considered too difficult for the audience. Reports show a decided preference for light, popular pieces such as fantasias and potpourris, which were generally solo items,’ 13 a claim that will be challenged in this thesis.

Stella Nemet has written a brief history of the Musical Society of Victoria 1861–1981 and its contribution to the development of chamber music in nineteenth- century Melbourne. Nemet rightly observes scholars’ lack of knowledge of the Musical Society’s movements, claiming that ‘because of the lack of general information about the M.S.V. activities, musical historians omit to acknowledge the Society’s important contribution to the early development of a musical culture in Victoria.’ 14

A number of theses and articles have also been written about some of Melbourne’s most prominent chamber musicians during this period. Those written about Charles Horsley, Christian Reimers, Leon Caron, Henri Kowalski, Horace Poussard, Alice Charbonnet and Camilla Urso, for example, provide valuable insight not only into the types of concerts that took place and the repertoire that was performed, but also into the musical backgrounds of various musicians and the motivating forces behind organizing and performing in chamber-music concerts. 15

In addition to sources on Australian music, some exemplary secondary sources on music in London by scholars such as Christina Bashford, Simon McVeigh and William Weber are also relevant to this project. Bashford’s ground-breaking PhD

13 Logan, ‘Chamber Music,’ 116. 14 Her history, however, is a general one that captures the broader developments of the society without documenting its finer details. Just ten pages, for example, are dedicated to the society’s movements during the nineteenth century. See Stella Nemet, History of the Musical Society of Victoria 1861–1981: One Hundred and Twenty Years of Service to Music (Melbourne: The Musical Society of Victoria, [1981]) 21. 15 See, for example, Jin Guan Bong, ‘Alice Ellen Charbonnet: a French Musician in Nineteenth-Century Australia,’ MMus thesis, University of Melbourne, 2007; Peggy Jane Lais, ‘The Changing Repertoire of Horace Poussard,’ BMus thesis, University of Melbourne, 2002; Thérèse Radic, ‘Charles Edward Horsley,’ Australian Dictionary of Biography 1851– 1890 , vol. 4, ed. Douglas Pike (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1972) 427–8; Johanna Selleck, ‘Notions of Identity, a Socio-cultural Interpretation of Music in Melbourne 1880–1902,’ PhD thesis, University of Melbourne, 2008; Bonnie Smart, ‘Leon Caron and the Music Profession in Australia,’ MMus thesis, University of Melbourne, 2003; Kerry Murphy, ‘Henri Kowalski: Prince of the Pianoforte,’ Centre for Studies in Australian Music Review June (2001): 1–3; Thomas Synofzik, ‘Cellist, Spiritist und Karikaturist: Christian Reimers und seine Beziehungen zu Robert Schumann,’ Schumann Forschungen 12: Robert Schumann, das Violoncello und die Cellisten seiner Zeit (2007): 99–135.

9 thesis, ‘Public Chamber-Music Concerts in London, 1835–50: Aspects of History, Repertory and Reception,’ examines, for example, the history and development of chamber music in London. Musical repertory and reception are included in this study, which principally focuses on public chamber-music concerts comprising ‘serious types of chamber music, more in keeping with modern notions of a chamber recital.’ 16 The thesis forms the basis for a later and more comprehensive study entitled The Pursuit of High Culture: John Ella and Chamber Music in Victorian London , which examines ‘Ella’s life, work and times…combines a biography of Ella with a history of the Musical Union, including its players, repertoire and audiences, and sets them against the backdrop of gradually shifting contexts for concerts, chamber music and cultural life in Victorian London.’ 17

Articles by Bashford also provide penetrating insights into various aspects associated with chamber-music concerts in London during the nineteenth century and serve as an inspiration for this study. In ‘Learning to Listen: audiences for chamber music in early-Victorian London,’ Bashford examines how ‘new modes of concert behaviour and musically sophisticated listening practices were developing in London during the 1830s and 1840s’ via the introduction of a new type of chamber-music concert comprising serious classical repertoire. 18 More recent is her article on George Grove and the history of program notes. 19 These sources provide essential perspectives and will be used in this thesis as a comparative context for chamber- music performances in Melbourne.

16 Christina Bashford, ‘Public Chamber-Music Concerts in London, 1835–50: Aspects of History, Repertory and Reception,’ PhD thesis, London University, 1996, 21. 17 Bashford identifies some of the dominant themes to be ‘enabling, sacralization, social networks and upward mobility.’ An earlier article by Bashford also explores the history, ‘leadership, financial stability, and artistic continuity’ of the Musical Union, addressing issues such as the formation of the institution’s identity, the use of program notes, social makeup of the audience, and the practice of hiring overseas performers. See Bashford, The Pursuit of Hight Culture , 10; ‘John Ella and the Making of the Musical Union,’ Music and British Culture 1785–1914: Essays in Honour of Cyril Ehrlich , ed. Christina Bashford and Leanne Langley (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000) 195. 18 Christina Bashford, ‘Learning to Listen: Audiences for Chamber Music in Early-Victorian London,’ Journal of Victorian Culture VI (1999): 27. 19 Christina Bashford, ‘Not Just “G.”: Towards a History of the Programme Note,’ George Grove, Music and Victorian Culture , ed. Michael Musgrave (N.Y.: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003) 115–42.

Simon McVeigh’s article on benefit concerts, ‘The Benefit Concert in Nineteenth-Century London: From “tax on the nobility” to “monstrous nuisance,”’ also provides a useful point of comparison. McVeigh examines the role and commercial workings of the benefit concert and explores such issues as programming, the social structure of audiences, and the changing relationship between patrons and musicians. 20 ‘Benefits’ were a characteristic of some chamber-music series in Melbourne and McVeigh’s article paves the way for similar research to be carried out here, particularly in terms of the benefit concert’s relationship to chamber-music concerts.

Also relevant to this project is William Weber’s remarkable research on apsects associated with methods of programming. Weber’s article ‘Miscellany vs. Homogeneity: Concert Programs at the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music in the 1880s’ addresses the issue of program design by comparing the programs of London’s two principal conservatories during the 1880s. 21 Programming and musical taste are explored more comprehensively in his recent book The Great Transformation of Musical Taste: Concert Programming from Haydn to Brahms , which traces the evolution of various types of concerts in a number of European and American cities, identifies regional differences, and describes how classical music reached a state of ‘hegemony’ during the second half of the nineteenth century. 22 A portion of the book examines methods of programming chamber-music concerts in European cities such as Vienna, Paris, London and Leipzig. 23 This chapter, in particular, provides vital information for a comparison with Melbourne concerts of the same period. As the only notable source to approach issues of musical taste, repertoire and programming in chamber-music concerts in Germany during this period, Weber’s book has been drawn upon in the chapter in this thesis dedicated to repertoire and program construction.

20 Nineteenth-Century British Music Studies 1 (1997): 242–66. 21 William Weber, ‘Miscellany vs. Homogeneity: Concert Programmes at the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music in the 1880s,’ Music and British Culture 1785– 1914: Essays in Honour of Cyril Ehrlich , ed. Christina Bashford and Leanne Langley (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000) 300. 22 William Weber, The Great Transformation of Musical Taste: Concert Programming from Haydn to Brahms (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008). 23 See ‘Chapter 4: The Rise of the Chamber-Music Concert,’ 122–40.

The significance of Weber’s seminal work in relation to German concerts, however, should not be overstated. Where prior research carried out by Weber, Bashford, and other British scholars has resulted in a substantial body of material on chamber-music concerts and concert life in London during the nineteenth century, there is still very little literature that approaches these issues in Germany. Thus, where existing literature makes a comprehensive comparison of Melbourne concerts with London concerts of the same period possible, a similar comparison with German concerts would require extensive primary source research, which is beyond the scope of this thesis.

Primary Source Materials

In contrast to the almost total absence of secondary source material relating to the development and dissemination of high-art chamber music in Melbourne during the nineteenth century, there are, as already mentioned, rich stores of primary source materials that relate to the topic. These include contemporary newspaper reviews, concert programs, minute books and other documents relating to musical societies, and archival collections, including those held at the Grainger Museum, State Library of Victoria, Louise Hanson-Dyer Music Library (University of Melbourne) and the National Library of Australia.

The Liedertafel Collection (Grainger Museum) contains minute books, concert programs and financial records of Melbourne’s liedertafel societies, with a large proportion of material relating to concerts carried out during the nineteenth century. 24 Similar materials are held at the Latrobe Library (State Library of Victoria). The Musical Society of Victoria Archives (MS 12801), for example, comprises twenty- three boxes of material covering the period c1877–1980. Materials relating to the period of this study include minute books, financial records, cash books and ledgers, some annual report and balance sheets, membership lists, correspondence (including one letter book) and miscellaneous documents for four musical societies: The Musical Association of Victoria (1861–1892), the Musical Artists’ Society of Victoria (1877–

24 This collection is currently housed at the Centre for Studies in Australian Music, University of Melbourne.

1892), the Organists’ Society, and the Musical Society of Victoria (1892–1980). 25 The records, however, are incomplete. There are no minutes for the Musical Association of Victoria prior to 1888. The existing minutes also refer to a number of documents not in the collection, such as a program book used to record the musical programs of the Musical Society of Victoria from c1893 and a photograph album produced by the Musical Artists’ Society during the early 1880s. Also housed at the State Library of Victoria are two bound volumes (Guard books) containing mostly concert programs, annual reports and press clippings relating to the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Society (MS 13266).

Overseas archives such as the Robert Schumann Haus in Zwickau and the Leipzig Conservatorium of Music Library (Hochschule für Musik und Theater, ‘Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’ Bibliothek) also contain concert programs and student records that are relevant to this topic, while significant primary sources relating to Arthur Chappell’s Monday and Saturday Popular Concerts are held in the General Reference Collection at the British Library. 26

In addition to various archival sources, a number of collections of concert programs have also been used for this project. The most comprehensive and relevant collection is the Louise Hanson-Dyer Music Library Concert and Theatre Program Collection, which includes programs for Louis Pabst’s Historical Concerts in 1887, some of the Musical Society of Victoria’s monthly meetings, the University Conservatorium of Music’s orchestral and chamber-music concerts, Allan and Co.’s Classical Chamber-Music Concerts of 1897–1898, and Charles and Lady Hallé’s tour of Australia in 1891. Other programs include those for the Monday and Saturday Popular Concerts, which form part of the Floyd Collection (Grainger Museum), and a small number of programs housed at the National Library of Australia.

25 The former three societies were initially formed as separate organizations. In 1890, the Musical Artists’ Society and the Organists’ Society amalgamated and became known as ‘The Musical Artists’ and Organists’ Society of Victoria.’ In 1892, this society amalgamated with the Musical Association of Victoria and took the name of The Musical Society of Victoria. 26 These are Joseph Bennett, ‘A Story of Ten Hundred Concerts,’ Monday Popular Concert Programme 4 April 1887 (London: Chappell and Co., [1886]) and n.a., Catalogue of Works performed at the Monday Popular Concerts during Thirty-Four Seasons commencing February 14, 1859 and finishing April 11, 1892 (London: Chappell and Co., n.d.).

Although the accuracy of contemporary press reviews is sometimes questionable, a large number of concert reviews and press notices have also been used and in some cases, particularly in public concerts such as the Melbourne Popular Concerts, have provided the only evidence available of what was performed and by whom. The most useful newspapers were the Argus , Age , Leader , and Australasian Sketcher , the Argus newspaper providing the most comprehensive and reliable accounts of chamber-music performances and musical matters in general. Newspapers with a social bent, such as Table Talk , have been used to place performances within a broader social context while The Australian Musical News was drawn upon to provide biographies of some of the performers and comment on musical developments retrospectively. Overseas periodicals such as the Musical Times , Musical World and Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, also helped to place the developments of chamber music in Melbourne within a broader context.

I have constructed a database entitled ‘Chamber-Music Concerts in Pre- Federation Melbourne Database,’ which includes the details of concerts carried out by the musical societies, various public chamber-music concerts, and individual concerts referred to in the ‘scope’ section of this introduction. 27 It comprises almost 500 concerts, including 135 Melbourne Popular Concerts, 103 by the Musical Artists’ Society, eighty-seven by the Musical Association, and twenty by the Musical Artists’ and Organists’ Society, fourteen by the Musical Society of Victoria, twelve by the Boston Mendelssohn Quintette Club, seven of Louis Pabst’s Historical Concerts (1886–1887), eight Classical Chamber-Music Concerts (Allan and Co), six concerts by Miss Griffiths, four Chamber-Music Concerts by Charles Horsley (1862), and numerous public concerts by touring performers such as Jenny Claus, Charles and Lady Hallé, August Wilhelmj, Eduard Reményi and Arabella Goddard, resident musicians, and educational institutions such as the South Melbourne School of Music and Presbyterian Ladies’ College. There are over 1700 works, fifty lectures on various musical topics, and over 300 different chamber works, by almost 350 different composers and performed by almost 400 performers. The database enables me to

27 The database is in possession of the author. Data includes the date, venue, works and performers for each concert plus some biographical information on the performers. The database originally contained the details of 135 concerts (Melbourne Popular Concerts) and was formed for the author’s Masters thesis on public chamber-music concerts in Melbourne. See Lais, ‘The Rise and Fall of the Melbourne Popular Concerts.’

14 observe some of the characteristics of and trends in Melbourne concerts and compare them with those in Europe.

In addition to the concerts included in the database, chamber-music concerts by other performers and institutions that have already been the subjects of prior research are also discussed to provide further context. The liedertafel societies, for example, are mentioned within the context of musical societies, methods of programming and the introduction of new repertoire.

As the concerts often contrast quite dramatically with one another in terms of context, content and structure, it became clear quite early in the project that criteria needed to be set as to what constituted a concert suitable for inclusion in the database. As one of the principal uses for this data was to provide an overview of the repertory and introduction of chamber works to Melbourne, and thereby demonstrate its development, it was decided that a concert containing any high-art chamber work for two or more performers would be included. Thus, concerts containing a duo sonata combined with works such as instrumental solos and vocal works, such as many of those given by Charles and Lady Hallé in their 1890 and 1891 tours, are included in the study.

Reconstruction of the programs was also problematic as much of the information was difficult to locate and contained inconsistencies or inaccuracies. Most of the programs for the Musical Artists’ Society and Musical Association of Victoria were printed in the minutes for the societies. As already said, there are no details available in the Musical Association’s records preceding 1888 and the Musical Artists’ Society did not record performances in their minutes until 1881. The Musical Society’s program book (c1893–?) has also not survived. It has therefore been necessary once again to rely quite heavily on press reviews and notices to reconstruct the musical programs of the musical societies, and while many have been located, a substantial number of concerts were not reviewed. The reviews are often inaccurate with numerous misquoted titles, incorrect keys or opus numbers or insufficient information to accurately identify a work. Minor works, such as vocal or instrumental

15 solos, were also often labelled ‘piano’ or ‘vocal’ solo. It was therefore necessary to apply a set of standards for data entry. 28

The first chapter of this thesis provides an historical overview. It traces the development of Melbourne’s financial infrastructure and cultural life, culminating in the economic boom during the 1880s and depression in the 1890s. It traces the evolution of Melbourne’s musical life and the establishment of musical societies, and also the migration of various musicians to Melbourne. Chapter Two examines musical societies, including the Musical Association of Victoria, the Musical Artists’ Society, the Musical Society and the liedertafel societies, and their contribution to the performance and dissemination of chamber music through monthly meetings and public concerts. It also locates the earliest known performances by the societies, and discusses their role in Melbourne’s musical life in general. Chapter Three discusses various public concerts and concert series within the context of a developing public concert life and identifies some of the motivating forces behind public concerts and how they contributed to the growth and dissemination of chamber music in Melbourne.

Chapter Four examines the perceived educative influence of chamber music through its dissemination within educational institutions such as the Conservatorium of Music (University of Melbourne), the South Melbourne School of Music and Presbyterian Ladies’ College, as well as the Musical Association and Musical Society’s contribution to music education, and the presentation of chamber music alongside lectures on musical topics. A comparison of the presentation of lectures on music in Melbourne’s musical clubs with similar institutions in London such as the Musical Institute of London, the Musical Society and the Royal Musical Association, London (which presented papers for ‘the reading and discussing’ of musical matters) is also made.

28 Errors, such as spelling mistakes or incorrect key/opus numbers (when these did not correlate and the identity of the work was obvious), for example, were corrected. The title, key and opus numbers of works that received repeated performances were made consistent (This was not always the case in the press reviews). Schubert’s works were identified by Deutsch numbers rather than opus numbers. Instrumental works whose identity could not be established with certainty were left as written in the press reviews, as were song titles. Works or performers not identified by the press were labelled ‘Unidentified.’

Chapter Five discusses repertoire and various methods of program- construction. It identifies the number and types of works that were performed in Melbourne and how they were combined to create various types of concerts. Concepts of homogenous and miscellaneous program-construction are explored through an examination of some of the most notable concerts, and are then contrasted with and discussed within the context of European practices of the same period. The second half of the chapter identifies the most-performed composers and works and explores some of the features of Melbourne’s selection of repertoire. This is followed by an examination of the extent to which Melbourne’s chamber-music concerts promoted and supported local composers.

The final chapter examines the contribution of English and German musicians who were active in promoting chamber music in Melbourne during the second half of the nineteenth century. It explores the backgrounds of some of the most prominent instrumentalists and addresses issues such as how individual performers influenced the introduction of various repertoire, what experiences and concert practices they brought with them, and the role they played in shaping the development of chamber music in Melbourne. The roles of other cultural groups are also considered.

The thesis is followed by two appendices that identify Melbourne’s chamber- music repertory. Appendix 1 lists the works in alphabetical order by the composer’s surname while Appendix 2 lists the works in order of the earliest known performance dates. 17

Chapter 1: Background

Founded in 1834 –35, Melbourne quickly developed into a town with all the trimmings of English civilization. Its first newspaper, the Melbourne Advertiser , was produced and circulated within three years, a town band was formed in 1839, while a savings bank, masonic and benefit lodges, debating and horticultural societies soon followed. 1 Unlike the colonies of New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land, Victoria was not ‘tainted’ by a convict past; its character was to a great extent determined by European, mostly English, migrants who represented the ‘middle stratum’ of society. 2 Melbourne, more than any other Australian city during the nineteenth century, was able ‘to re-create much more clearly…the atmosphere of an English town of the period…[While] there was no aristocracy…there was at least a flourishing landed gentry; [whose] social groupings and institutions, as yet hardly modified by local conditions were remarkably close to the English model.’ 3

With the discovery of gold in 1851, Melbourne was rapidly transformed from a ‘small pastoral settlement’ into a thriving city. Within three years Melbourne’s population trebled and by 1861 it had increased five-fold to 126,000. 4 Houses, roads, bridges and numerous public buildings were built to accommodate the expanding population. The city’s success as a thriving metropolis overwhelmingly ‘rested on her wealth, the youth and vigour of her population, and on her unbounded confidence and faith in the future, all of which stemmed directly from gold.’ 5

The peak of Melbourne’s development, however, was not reached until the late 1870s and 1880s when the city ‘[left] its trading and primitive industrial stages

1 James Grant and Geoffrey Serle, The Melbourne Scene: 1803 –1956 (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1957) 10. 2 A.G.L. Shaw, ‘The Background to Victorian Life,’ Victoria’s Heritage: Lectures to Celebrate the 150th Anniversary of European Settlement in Victoria (Sydney: Allen and Unwin, 1986) 2. 3 Serle, The Melbourne Scene , 11. 4 Serle, The Melbourne Scene , 73–7. 5 Serle, The Melbourne Scene , 77. 18 behind and…[acquired] the broader functions of a fully fledged metropolis.’ 6 While the population of the colony of Victoria had already comprised almost half of the estimated total of all Australian colonies combined in 1861, it continued to grow at a staggering pace. 7 In 1871 the colony’s population was estimated to be 730,198. This number increased to 861,566 in 1881 and to 1,139,840 in 1891. 8 By 1893, 457,230 people lived in greater Melbourne. 9 A sustained building boom ‘drew in floods of new suburban settlers from the country and abroad’ and an increasing proportion of the city’s workforce was engaged in constructing houses and other essential infrastructure such as ‘roads, railways, tramways, shops, and gas and water pipelines.’ 10

Melbourne’s size was matched by its architectural attractiveness. According to G.L. Buxton, Melbourne during the 1880s:

was a wonder for its times…thirtieth city in the world in numbers…and seventh in the Empire, it was larger than most European capitals…No British city outside London could boast as many or as fine public buildings; towers, domes, turrets and spires abounded; Government House, cathedrals, the G.P.O., banks, hotels and coffee palaces contributed style or a sense of opulence. 11

All sectors of Melbourne’s society benefited from the favourable economic conditions. Unlike London, Melbourne’s wealth was more evenly distributed amongst the classes with fewer living ‘below subsistence or in the highest luxury’ and more in ‘reasonably comfortable middling incomes.’ 12 A large percentage of the population,

6 Graeme Davison, The Rise and Fall of Marvellous Melbourne (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1978) 6–7. 7 Ray Vamplew, Australian Historical Statistics (Broadway, N.S.W: Fairfax, Syme and Weldon, 1987) 26, 41. 8 Vamplew, Australian Historical Statistics , 26. 9 Henry Heylyn Hayler, ‘Urban and Rural Population, Censuses of 1861 and 1881,’ Victorian Year-Book 1885–6 (Melbourne: John Ferres, Government Printer, [1887]) 56; Robert S. Brain, ‘Population of Greater Melbourne, 1893,’ Victorian Year-Book 1894 (Melbourne: Government Printer, [1895]) 35. 10 Davison, The Rise and Fall of Marvellous Melbourne , 4. 11 G.L. Buxton, ‘1870–90,’ A New History of Australia , ed. Frank Crowley (Melbourne: William Heinemann, 1974) 190. 12 Davison, The Rise and Fall of Marvellous Melbourne , 190. 19 with income and leisure time at their disposal, sought and demanded a variety of musical entertainments that included high-art chamber-music concerts and pianoforte recitals, Gilbert and Sullivan operettas and popular miscellaneous concerts.

Collins Street, Melbourne’s most fashionable street, became the centre of musical activity, offering a number of venues in which chamber-music concerts or meetings of the musical societies could be held. Dubbed the ‘Regent Street of the antipodes,’ Collins Street was the place for society to promenade and be seen. 13 In 1887, a contemporary journal described its social significance as follows: ‘There is now a dress promenade every Saturday afternoon at four o’clock down Collins Street, in which Melbourne ladies display their taste in fine millinery in lavish profusion on what is termed locally the “Block.”’ 14 According to Mr Slade, a bookseller in Collins Street from 1876, ‘To “DO” The Block every day was a function. Everybody met everybody,’ he recalled:

Members of Parliament—theatrical notabilities—a very fashionable and dignified crowd. Among those who “did” The Block every day some of those who stand out in memory were: W.S LYSTER…ARMES BEAUMONT…The four Lessees of the Theatre Royal—GEORGE COPPIN, HARWOOD, HENNINGS…and STEWART…Mayor of Melbourne…JUDGES from the SUPREME COURT…among the bevy of Society ladies was MRS. MALLESON…SIR WILLIAM and LADY CLARKE and her sister, MISS SNODGRASS…Literary figures…DR NIELD…[Musicians] ALFRED PLUMPTON…DAVID LEE…ALBERTO ZELMAN…15

Performance venues located in Collins Street included the Athenæum, Independent Hall, Gunsler’s Café, and Melbourne’s three leading music warehouses Glen and Co, Allan and Co and Nicholson and Ascherberg. In Bourke Street were the Crystal Café, Masonic Hall and the Coffee Palace, while Flinders Street offered the Port Phillip Hotel. Many of these buildings were noted for their fashionable interiors, Gunsler’s

13 N.a., unidentified source, quoted in ‘On the Site of the Old Vienna,’ Hotel Australia Souvenir (Melbourne: Bernstein Publishing House, [1939]) 4. 14 N.a., ‘On the Site of the Old Vienna.’ 15 Leonard Slade, ‘The Block in the Seventies,’ Hotel Australia Souvenir (Melbourne: Bernstein Publishing House, [1939]) 65. 20

Café in particular described as ‘first-class.’ It contained smoking, reading and coffee rooms, a gentlemen’s café, two dining rooms (one for ladies only), kitchens, a public hall and a guest hall used for banquets, dinners, and presumably also concerts. 16

Thus, Melbourne, more than any other Australian city during the same period, had the population and social conditions suitable for the establishment of professional concert series dedicated to public performances of all types of music, including those of high-art instrumental chamber music.

Vocal music had been the focus of some musical societies in Melbourne since its early years of settlement. The Philharmonic Society, for example, was formed in 1853 with the purpose of presenting large-scale vocal works, in particular oratorios. Melbourne’s first liedertafel society, the Melbourner Deutsche Liedertafel was established in 1868 and re-formed in 1879 into an English-speaking society known as the Melbourne Liedertafel, while the Metropolitan Liedertafel began in 1870 as a glee club in the suburb of South Yarra. 17 The liedertafel societies presented a variety of musical genres in their programs. The majority of these were vocal items, including part songs and solos, with a few instrumental solos and perhaps one or sometimes two chamber works. Until 1881 opera was also a prominent feature in Melbourne’s musical calendar. From 1861 the Lyster Opera Company produced high-standard performances of operatic works, including ‘over 40 operas by Donizetti, Verdi, Auber, Rossini, Meyerbeer and many others,’ including Wagner. 18

As a result of the favourable economic and social conditions, instrumental chamber music enjoyed its own boom. The years 1876 and 1877 alone saw the foundation of two influential musical societies, each of which promoted chamber music in its concerts: The Musical Artists’ Society of Victoria (1877) and the Musical Association of Victoria (re-formed in 1876). According to one commentator, chamber music took pride of place in the musical societies’ meetings during this period:

16 ‘The Café Gunsler,’ Argus 10 June 1879: 6. 17 Noel Wilmott, ‘Liedertafel,’ The Oxford Companion to Australian Music , ed. Warren Bebbington (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1997) 342. 18 Warren Bebbington, ‘Lyster, William Saurin,’ The Oxford Companion to Australian Music (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1997) 351. Wagner’s Lohengrin was performed in Melbourne for the first time in 1877. 21

For many years there were few concerts of any importance with which [Weston] was not associated either as solo violinist or as a member of the fine string combinations Melbourne used to have. In those days, the two Liedertafels and other musical bodies did not hesitate to put an instrumental trio or quartet on their programmes. 19

The Musical Association and the Musical Artists’ Society of Victoria, in particular, included at least one chamber work, usually a quartet, in their programs. While the combination of genres within their meetings could vary substantially from one month to the next, the performance of chamber music was felt to be the one constant feature. The Metropolitan and Melbourne Liedertafel societies also continued to present chamber music in their programs although members of the latter society discussed discontinuing the practice in 1879. 20 In 1883, the critic for the Leader newspaper noted that ‘at the evenings of both the Association and Musical Artists’ Society the monthly meetings never fail now to include enjoyable performances of chamber music. Mr Herz [Melbourne Liedertafel], too, takes care…to do his best to bring forward this instructive feature in his society performances, and the educational result can scarcely be overrated.’ 21

Professional musicians from overseas also toured, bringing with them experience and often new repertoire. These included such musicians as Miska Hauser in the 1850s, and Horace Poussard and René Douay in the early 1860s, followed by Arabella Goddard and Jenny Claus, Max Vogrich, August Wilhelmj, Henry Ketten, Charles Hallé and his violinist wife Wilma Norman-Neruda, the Mendelssohn Quintette Club from Boston, the Carlotta Patti concert company with which the ‘cellist Ernst de Munck was associated, and Mark and Jakoff Hamburg. During the years preceding Melbourne’s boom, the city also had more than its fair share of professional resident musicians leading one reporter for the Sydney Bulletin to complain:

19 ‘Our First Prodigy. Notable Violinist Dead,’ Australian Musical News 1 December 1923: 35. 20 Thérèse Radic, ‘Some Historical Aspects of Musical Associations in Melbourne, 1888– 1915,’ PhD thesis, University of Melbourne, 1977, 530. 21 Leader 16 June 1883: 26–7. 22

It has been the misfortune of Sydney for the last twenty years to play second fiddle to Melbourne as a centre for the cultivation of the Fine Arts. The sister capital managed to attract and to hold almost every great artist who elected to reside in Australia. Melbourne has been the chosen city of Horsley, of Herz, Cutolo, Buddee, Tasca, of David Lee, Lucy Chambers, and of Siede. During all that time Sydney has scarcely been able to boast a great artist. 22

Melbourne, however, was yet to boast a permanent orchestra. During the nineteenth century the Melbourne Philharmonic Society continually experienced difficulties in forming an orchestra for its large-scale productions. This was due in part to a general shortage of instrumentalists and to the ‘movement of theatre professionals from State to State.’ 23 George Peake, in his 1913 Historical Souvenir of the society, describes the difficulties as follows:

It has to be content with the best available talent, much of which has often proved to be of very second-rate quality. Mr Lee used to say that for many years his first duty…was to search the city slums for additional players. Even down to comparatively recent years the orchestra always included a percentage of those who moved their hands or inflated their cheeks exactly at the right moment, but produced no sound.24

In 1882 the Musical Artists’ Society of Victoria was faced with a shortage of specialist instrumentalists, particularly wind players, when it attempted to form an orchestra for an afternoon performance. In addition to its own members, it required two further contrabassists, two oboes, two bassoons, two clarinets, two trumpets and two horns to successfully carry out the event. 25 In May, 1883, the Musical Union of Australasia acknowledged the same problem when it tried to form a full orchestra comprising professional and amateur musicians. 26

22 ‘Signor Giammona’, Sydney Bulletin 4 March 1882: 2. 23 W.A. Carne, A Century of Harmony: The Official Centenary History of the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Society (Melbourne: Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Society, 1954) 246. 24 George Peake, quoted in Carne, A Century of Harmony , 242. 25 Musical Society of Victoria, Minutes of the Musical Artists’ Society 1877 –1884 , Musical Society of Victoria Records 1877–1980, MS 12801, Box 1/3, Australian Manuscripts Collection, Latrobe Library, State Library of Victoria, 166–7. 26 Argus 22 May 1883: 8. 23

Despite the problems faced by the musical societies, it is clear that there were a large number of musicians resident in Melbourne during the 1880s and 1890s capable of holding their own in an orchestral setting. The presence of a significant number of highly trained musicians in Melbourne during the 1880s paved the way for high-standard performances of orchestral works to occur as early as 1888 when the International Exhibition Commissioners hired the English conductor and composer Frederick Cowen to form and lead its orchestra. He brought fifteen musicians with him from England, predominantly wind and string players, to add to the ranks of local musicians. 244 concerts were given, leading Cowen to claim ‘that such a succession of musical performances over such a long period and including so many “master” works was unparalleled in the history of music.’ 27

At the conclusion of the Exhibition in 1889 the Victorian Orchestra was established but within two years it collapsed. 28 Approximately one year later, G.W.L. Marshall-Hall, first Ormond Professor at the University of Melbourne, gathered what remained of the Victorian Orchestra along with a group of amateur musicians from the university and commenced a series of subscription concerts that would last until 1912. 29

Thus, there is much evidence to suggest that like chamber music, orchestral music was rapidly developing in Melbourne during the late nineteenth century. In 1914 Alfred Montague, a notable ‘cellist and music journalist, observed that many of the problems faced by Melbourne’s orchestras during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were not so much the result of a shortage of talent as from a lack of coordinated organization, insufficient rehearsal time and money. Chamber music

27 N.a., Official Record of the Centennial International Exhibition (Melbourne: Sands and McDougall by authority of the Executive Commissioners, 1890) 263–4; Sir Frederick H. Cowen, My Art and My Friends (London: Edward Arnold, 1913) 200–1; Thérèse Radic, ‘The Victorian Orchestra 1889–1891: In the Wake of the Centennial Exhibition Orchestra, Melbourne, 1888,’ Australasian Music Research 1 (1996): 18. 28 Between 8 August 1889 and 18 July 1891 over 200 concerts were given. These are discussed in Radic, ‘The Victorian Orchestra 1889–1891,’ 13–47. 29 Alessandro Servadei, ‘Orchestras,’ The Oxford Companion to Australian Music , ed. Warren Bebbington (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1997) 438. 24 had a clear advantage as it was easier to organize and finance, and required only a small number of musicians. 30

In contrast to the prosperity of the late 1870s and 1880s, the 1890s was a decade marked by a severe economic depression. According to reports, it had been well underway in some sectors of Melbourne’s society since the late 1880s and by the early 1890s was felt by most though some individuals felt it ‘more severely’ than others. 31 Musical and dramatic entertainments were affected ‘to the extent that there were so many unemployed musicians in the city that a fund had been opened for their relief.’ 32 T.H. Guenett, the director of the Melbourne Popular Concerts, was amongst those who lost their fortunes. 33 The consequences of the depression, however, extended beyond personal loss, as Davison observes: ‘In the end, the depression destroyed, even as the boom had largely created, an entire splendid, self-confident, extravagant style of life. Henceforward Melbourne was to adopt a more restrained, sober—even chastened and hesitant—bearing…With the end of its material prosperity, Melbourne’s “culture” also evaporated.’34

The 1890s also saw a mass exodus of Melbourne’s population. The years 1892–1895 alone saw the exit of 56,000 people. Some tried to find employment in the country, others in the Western Australian goldfields, while a large number ‘probably returned to their homelands.’ 35 Professional musicians also left in large numbers. After directing two series of Melbourne Popular Concerts, Max Klein returned to Europe to resume his place in the principal London orchestras. 36 Alfred Plumpton and

30 Alfred Montague, “The Orchestra,” ‘Early Days in Australia: An Autobiography of a Prominent Musician,’ The Australian Music and Dramatic News 2 February 1914: 252. 31 B.K. de Garis, ‘1890–1900,’ A New History of Australia , ed. Frank Crowley (Melbourne: William Heinemann, 1974) 224. 32 Joseph Johnson and Melbourne Savage Club, Laughter and the Love of Friends: a Centenary History of the Melbourne Savage Club 1894–1994 and a History of the Yorick Club 1868 –1966 (Melbourne: Melbourne Savage Club, 1994) 61. Johnson is probably referring to the Musical Society of Victoria’s ‘Benevolent Fund,’ which was established in 1896. 33 Table Talk 18 September 1902: 16. 34 Davison, The Rise and Fall of Marvellous Melbourne , 227–8. 35 Davison, The Rise and Fall of Marvellous Melbourne , 14. 36 Hermann Klein, Thirty Years of Musical Life in London 1870 –1900 (London: Heinemann, 1903) 22. 25 his wife Madame Carlotta Tasca, Theodor and Thérèse Liebe also returned to London while Christian Reimers departed for Germany in 1889. 37 Louis Pabst was another to return to continental Europe during the 1890s after having established a successful series of chamber-music concerts in Melbourne. Thus, chamber music in Melbourne during the 1890s not only had to deal with difficult economic circumstances but was also faced with the loss of many of its leading musicians. Those who stayed, however, remained committed to the genre, although economics now played a greater role.

The depression meant that the directors could no longer afford to run their concerts at a loss the way some had done in the early to mid 1880s. Max Klein attempted to cover the costs of his two series of Melbourne Popular Concerts in 1891 by using a similar subscription plan to previous concerts: one guinea per single, one and a half guineas (double) and additional seats at five shillings (reserved seats), two shillings sixpence (balcony) and one shilling (gallery).38 By 1893, however, Benno Scherek was forced to drop subscription rates to ease the financial burden on patrons to ten shillings sixpence (single) while seats to a single concert were priced at two shillings (reserved seats) and one shilling (unreserved seats). 39 In June 1892 the Argus critic noted that ‘recent experience [had] seemed to indicate that, either on account of the existing commercial depression, or because the Melbourne public was not yet educated up to the necessary standard—or for some other reasons—[the Melbourne Popular Concerts] were bordering on collapse.’ 40

Even larger musical productions suffered under the burden of lowering ticket prices. In the early 1890s, music dealers Allan and Co. wrote a letter to the editor of the Argus regarding the difficulty of financing a series of oratorio performances in conjunction with the Belle and Cole Concert Company stating:

Unless…a guarantee fund or ticket subscription-list for, say, half the amount, ₤600, could be raised, we fear it will be impossible to arrange for a musical festival as desired…The Melbourne public is now so accustomed to cheap musical entertainment that it would be foolhardy for any management to

37 George E. Loyau, ‘Herr Christian Reimers,’ Notable South Australians (Hampstead Gardens, S.A: Austaprint, 1885) 162–4. 38 Argus 22 April 1891: 8. 39 Argus 19 July 1893: 8. 40 Argus 8 June 1892: 6. 26

undertake the risk. It is almost impossible to expect the public to submit to even the old prices of admission—5s., 3s., 2s., and 1s.—as almost everything is expected for the popular 1s., and 3s. is considered a fashionable price for reserved seats. 41

The Musical Association of Victoria and the Musical Artists’ and Organists’ Society of Victoria, likewise, found that they could no longer sustain individual memberships and in 1892 opted to amalgamate, becoming the Musical Society of Victoria.42

Politically, the 1890s was a period of great change as the six colonies moved towards Federation. While bonds with Britain remained strong, many Australians felt that it was time for the colonies to unite under the banner of nationhood. Federalists, in particular, felt that Australia could become ‘another America, a new-world power which would dominate the southern seas.’ 43 At the same time expression of a national identity became the focus of the Heidelberg school of painters in Melbourne and the Bulletin School of writers in Sydney as they sought to assert a uniquely Australian experience in their works. Somewhat paradoxically, rural themes became the topic of both schools ‘at a time when Australia was emerging as one of the most urbanized societies in the world.’ 44

It should be noted, however, that these nationalist movements in art and literature during the 1890s were not typical of the general mood amongst artists or musicians in Melbourne. As in music, the predominant tendency amongst painters and writers in Australia during the last decades of the nineteenth century was to ‘[measure] their local achievements against those of a wider European culture.’ 45 Furthermore, even after Federation in 1901, most Australians still regarded Britain as their homeland. As Frank Crowley explains:

41 Allan and Co., Letter to the editor of the Argus , 29 March c1894, Newspaper Article 3, Philharmonic Guard Book 2, Royal Philharmonic Society Records, MS 13266, Australian Manuscripts Collection, Latrobe Library, State Library of Victoria, 77. 42 Stella Nemet, History of the Musical Society of Victoria 1861 –1981: One Hundred and Twenty Years of Service to Music (Melbourne: The Musical Society of Victoria, [1981]) 15– 6. 43 Garis, ‘1890–1900,’ 250–6. 44 Toni Johnson Wood, ‘The Heidelberg School as National Icon,’ Margin: Life and Letters of Early Australia 39 (July–August 1996): 6. 45 Leigh Astbury, ‘Cash Buyers Welcome: Australian Artists and Bohemianism in the 1890s,’ Journal of Australian Studies 20 (May 1987): 27. 27

There was no fully developed Australian self-image. Most Australians who thought about the matter referred to themselves as Anglo-Australians or Scottish Australians or Irish Australians, or, paradoxically, as “independent Australian Britons,” or “Britons of the Empire,” or even as Britishers first and Australians second…it was an expression of a genuine emotional attachment to the birthplace and the culture of their parents or grandparents, an attachment to their books, poetry, songs and sentiments. 46

The development of chamber music in Melbourne was largely shaped by these, and other, environmental factors. Leading the way were musical societies committed to performing and disseminating this type of music as a means of improving musical standards and tastes, and furthering the development of instrumental music in Melbourne in general. These, and other aspects, are discussed in Chapter 2.

46 Frank K. Crowley, ‘1901–14,’ A New History of Australia (Melbourne: Heinemann, 1974) 261. 28

Chapter 2: Musical Societies and Chamber Music

This chapter concentrates on musical societies and their contribution to high-art chamber music in Melbourne during the second half of the nineteenth century, particularly the twenty-five years leading up to Federation in 1901. A number of societies will be discussed including those that concentrated primarily on instrumental music, such as the Musical Association of Victoria, the Musical Artists’ Society, and the Musical Society of Victoria, and male-only singing societies: the Melbourner Deutsche and the Melbourne and Metropolitan Liedertafel Societies, which incorporated chamber works into their mixed programs. Chamber-music concerts by these societies are distinguished from concert series, such as the Melbourne Popular Concerts and Louis Pabst’s Historical Concerts, which were organized by individuals and supported by subscriptions, and individual public concerts by resident and touring musicians. These are the subjects of a later chapter.

The information presented in this chapter is based primarily on archival material and reviews from contemporary newspapers. As so little is known about some of the musical societies active in Melbourne during the period 1861–1901, many details relating to the establishment, structure and membership of these societies have been included to provide a foundation for further discussion in later chapters.

Early Days: Melbourne’s First Musical Institutions

The growth of instrumental music in Melbourne was a twofold process. It was largely dependent on the immigration of talented instrumentalists who had received musical training and experience overseas, and also on the establishment of vital infrastructure, including suitable performance venues and trade connections providing access to musical scores and instruments. With these systems in place, the growth of instrumental music, particularly chamber music, can be seen in the introduction of new repertoire, improved standards of performance, and the increased knowledge of the genre amongst musicians, critics and audiences. Musical societies played a vital role in providing a forum in which musicians could perform chamber music, learn about the genre, and then disseminate their newfound knowledge to the general public. The development of these institutions, however, was a process often fraught 29 with difficulties; not all societies succeeded in achieving their aims and those that did were often faced with financial hardship and fluctuating memberships. As the city of Melbourne developed into a fully fledged metropolis, however, the societies gradually grew in numbers and influence, both of which peaked during the 1880s. Simultaneously, Melbourne began to develop elements of a public concert life that emulated those of England and continental Europe. It was the musical societies, however, that wielded that greatest influence and won support from the general public. These societies also had a relatively long life span in comparison to public concert series.

According to W.A. Orchard, chamber music was introduced to Melbourne in 1840 when ‘a laudable though abortive attempt was made…by an enthusiastic group of bachelors to introduce chamber music in that city.’ 1 Orchard appears to be referring to an event described by Alexander Sutherland in his contemporary history of Melbourne, in which

the generally lugubrious performances at a ball given by the “Bachelors of Melbourne” suggested the formation of a society, to which was given the name of the Philharmonic. It was to possess an orchestra, but the absence of instruments was a little difficulty, and it was not till after the receipt of a supply from Sydney that the operations of the society commenced. 2

Amongst the Philharmonic’s first engagements was a concert featuring Melbourne’s ‘first professional musicians’ Monsieur and Madame Gautrot. The concert featuring the Philharmonic Society’s orchestra was given on 18 December 1840 and the effect was described to have been ‘truly startling.’ 3 There is little evidence to suggest, however, that the Philharmonic Society was involved in performances of instrumental chamber music. According to Edmund Finn, the society’s performances included ‘portions of oratorios…[and when] The poor old Philharmonic…perished in the stormy times of the gold diggers…out of its ashes sprang a new one in 1853 under the

1 W.A. Orchard, Music in Australia: More than 150 Years of Development (Melbourne: Georgian House, 1952) 136. 2 Alexander Sutherland, Victoria and its Metropolis, Past and Present , vol. 1 (Melbourne: McCarron, Bird and Co., 1888) 506. 3 Sutherland, Victoria and its Metropolis , vol. 1, 506–7. 30 leadership of Mr. Russell.’ 4 This became Melbourne’s first amateur singing society: The Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Society. 5

The gold rush of the 1850s and 1860s brought large numbers of immigrants to Melbourne alongside an increased demand for musical entertainment. With greater numbers now arriving on Australian shores, Melbourne’s musicians became increasingly concerned about the general state of instrumental music in the colony. Around the same time, a number of notable musicians arrived in Melbourne and began to exert their influence. These included the English bassoonist, Charles Winterbottom, whose ability as a performer placed him in the highest ranks of English musicians. In 1850, the critic for The Times described Winterbottom’s playing as having ‘produced a marked sensation’ at Jullien’s concerts at the Drury- Lane Theatre. 6 In 1853, Winterbottom established a series of Promenade Concerts in Melbourne modelled on Jullien’s Promenade Concerts in London, the first orchestral concerts of their kind aimed at the ‘popularization of the highest class of orchestral music.’ 7 His regimental band in Melbourne consisted of approximately 100 musicians and were said to have ‘provided a variety of concert fare.’ 8

The 1850s also brought a number of other talented instrumentalists. Brothers Alfred and Philip Montague (‘cellist and violinist) arrived in December 1852 from London where Alfred had attended the Royal Academy of Music under the tutelage of Philip Cipriani Potter, and had performed in various concerts in London, Birmingham and Gloucester with the conductors Surman and Michael Costa. 9 The period also brought the young violinist Henry Curtis, who later returned to England to study with John Tiplady Carrodus; the English-born violist E.A. Jäger, who migrated to

4 Edmund Finn, Chronicles of early Melbourne, 1835 –1852 (Melbourne: Fergusson and Mitchell, 1888), quoted in W.A. Carne, A Century of Harmony: The Official Centenary History of the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Society (Melbourne: Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Society, 1954) 20. 5 The Philharmonic gave regular concerts that consisted of oratorios, cantatas, some orchestral music, and minor works. These were said to ‘have had a most salutary influence upon musical taste’ in Melbourne. Sutherland, Victoria and its Metropolis , vol. 1, 507. 6 ‘M. Jullien’s Concerts,’ The Times 9 November 1850: 5. 7 ‘M. Jullien’s Concerts,’ The Times 15 November 1850: 5. 8 Alessandro Servadei, ‘Orchestras,’ The Oxford Companion to Australian Music , ed. Warren Bebbington (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1997) 437. 9 Argus 10 May 1926: 10; Australian Musical News December 1911: 141; 1 June 1926: 4. 31

Melbourne as a child when his mother was recruited as costumer for the Lyster opera company; and the German-trained pianist Julius Buddee. 10 Another talented German pianist, Otto Linden, also arrived in Melbourne for the first time in 1855, but on finding it ‘not a city of much musical attraction’ continued on to the Californian goldfields. He returned to Melbourne approximately six years later ‘where he quickly assumed a leading position in the musical world.’ 11

The German flautist Julius Siede also arrived in Melbourne in 1855 with Anna Bishop. As a former pupil of the celebrated Anton Fürstenau, Siede had toured Germany, Russia and the America before settling in New York. In 1849 he was appointed the musical director of the Castle Gardens concerts in New York, and the following year toured the United States and Cuba with Jenny Lind, before accompanying Anna Bishop on her tour of the region.12 In Melbourne Siede proved to be a valuable addition to the musical community; he was not only appreciated for his skilful flute playing, but also for has talents as a conductor and composer. 13

Many of these instrumentalists were members of various theatre orchestras, participated in Winterbottom’s orchestral concerts, or were recruited as members of William Lyster’s orchestra for operatic productions. Alfred Montague, for example, was recruited for Winterbottom’s orchestra, Julius Siede fulfilled the role of conductor for the William Lyster Opera Company for a period of approximately five years, while E.A. Jäger first performed in Lyster’s orchestra. Other notable chamber musicians during the period also participated in Lyster’s orchestra including James Schott (oboe), Herr Strebinger (violin), S. Hart (‘cello), J.W. Lundberg (clarinet), and Kohler (horn). 14 The latter musician, like Winterbottom, had been involved in

10 Australian Musical News 1 May 1940: 5; 1 June 1921: 444. 11 There are conflicting reports as to exactly where Linden travelled after his 1850s visit and when he returned to Melbourne. The Argus newspaper claims that Linden did not return to Australia until the 1870s. A report in the Age , however, states that Linden travelled to the Californian goldfields before returning to Melbourne during the 1860s. As he is recorded as one of the original officer-bearers for the Musical Association of Victoria in 1861, this is more likely to be the case. Age 5 October 1911: 7; Argus 5 October 1911: 7. 12 Illustrated Australian News and Musical Times 1 April 1890: 16. 13 Julius Siede was conductor for the Melbourne Liedertafel Society from 1879 to 1890. Warren Bebbington, ‘Siede, Julius,’ The Oxford Companion to Australian Music (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1997) 516. 14 The performers’ Christian names are provided when known. 32

Jullien’s London orchestra and was an apprenticed military bandsman in the 82 nd Regiment. 15

Evidence suggests that Lyster’s orchestra, particularly in the two major capital cities of Melbourne and Sydney, was both effective and efficient. According to Harold Love, Lyster had at his disposal ‘the services of an experienced, hard-working and thoroughly professional body of players.’ 16 Charles Horsley sanctioned it as equal in size to those found in the ‘minor capitals of Germany’ while Alfred Montague, in his autobiography, claimed that given the talent present in Melbourne during its early years, ‘we must have had good performances of orchestral music.’ 17

While the Philharmonic Society performed a number of large-scale vocal works during this period, it also programmed orchestral music into its miscellaneous concerts and was involved in various festivals and exhibitions, including the Victorian Exhibition of 1854. 18 From its inception, the Philharmonic Society recognized the importance of raising standards of orchestral playing and sought ways to encourage local instrumentalists. The desire to improve standards of instrumental music was in part driven by necessity, a competent orchestra being required to produce successful performances of the Philharmonic’s oratorios. It was also, however, driven by a genuine concern for the development of instrumental music, evident in the number of performances of large-scale orchestral works. ‘The society claims the first Australian performances of Beethoven’s Fifth and Eighth symphonies, both given in 1862, and Mendelssohn’s Fifth symphony (1870), as well as the first performances in Victoria of Mozart’s Symphony No. 4, K19 (1863) and Haydn’s Symphony No. 2 in C (1864).’ 19

15 Harold Love, The Golden Age of Opera , 2 nd ed. (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1981) 95–7. 16 Love, The Golden Age of Opera , 97. 17 Alfred Montague, “The Orchestra,” ‘Early Days in Australia: An Autobiography of a Prominent Musician,’ The Australian Music and Dramatic News 2 February 1914: 252. See also Charles Horsley quoted in Love, The Golden Age of Opera , 97. 18 Thérèse Radic, ‘Major Choral Organizations in Late Nineteenth-Century Melbourne,’ Nineteenth Century Music Review 2.2 (2005): 10–11. 19 Carne, A Century of Harmony 280–1, quoted in Radic, ‘Major Choral Organizations in Late Nineteenth-Century Melbourne,’ 9. 33

During the decade 1860–1870 a number of other musical societies emerged with varying levels of success. In 1864, for example, a ‘new musical society, for the production of instrumental compositions of the highest order, [was] organized under the title of “The Victorian Instrumental Society.”’20 Led by Mr G.R.G. Pringle, two concerts were planned for their 1865 season and were ‘to consist almost exclusively of classical instrumental music.’ 21 With a membership of approximately forty amateur members, and with the additional help of professional musicians, it was estimated that a group of at least sixty performers could be formed. 22 According to a report in the Argus newspaper, a similar society dedicated to the performance of large-scale instrumental works was also formed the same year. Named ‘The Musical Society of Melbourne,’ it was claimed to have boasted ‘all the principal professors, including Messrs. Horsley, Marsh, Castelli, Compton, Cutolo, and the chief instrumentalists’ currently resident in Melbourne, and was ‘formed for the production of the chef d’auvres [sic] of the great masters.’ 23

By 1873, a larger group of musicians had formed the Victorian Musicians’ Co-operative Association. It boasted a membership of approximately one hundred musicians, which included woodwind players Julius Siede and James Schott, Herr Plock, the English-trained pianist and violinist John Hill, and E. King. The association was managed by Mr Henry Johnson (president), E.A. Jäger (vice-president), Mr J. Hore (Treasurer), Mr E. Mears (Secretary) and a committee of eighteen members. 24 In a vocal and instrumental complimentary concert to Mr Harcourt Lee in 1873, an orchestra comprising members of the association performed two movements (the Andante and Finale) of Beethoven’s Symphony in C minor, two overtures and a number of other works requiring orchestral accompaniment, including the Introduction and Grand Waltz Carnival de Venice (by Laurent) with variations for

20 Argus 27 September 1864: 5. 21 Argus 9 March 1865: 5. 22 Argus 9 March 1865: 5. 23 Argus 8 July 1865: 5. One of the first works the society hoped to perform was Beethoven’s Symphony in C minor. It is unclear, however, whether or not the symphony was actually performed or whether the society continued to exist after 1865. 24 Argus 26 July 1873: 8. 34 violin, flute, piccolo, oboe, clarinet and cornet. 25 Thus, there is much evidence to suggest that instrumental music in general was steadily growing in the colony of Victoria, as was the demand for more substantial instrumental works.

The Musical Association of Victoria 1861–1876

The most influential of Melbourne’s first societies dedicated to instrumental music was the Musical Association of Victoria. Formed in 1861, the first office bearers for the society were Julius F. Buddee, Otto Linden, Charles W. Russell and E. King, and members included Ferdinand Von Mueller, R.L. Ellery, Alberto Zelman (Senior) and S.G. Pirani. 26 While the Musical Association would in later years be renowned for its contribution to chamber music, there is as yet little evidence to suggest that chamber music played a significant role in the Musical Association’s founding years. 27 Press reports, however, can provide us with an idea of the aims and objectives of the society. The summary of a Musical Association meeting in March 1867, for example, stated that some members of the association had expressed a desire for a musical benefit union to be formed to ‘more closely connect the musical profession of Melbourne.’ 28 In December 1867, another review identified the objectives of the society to be ‘the cultivation of instrumental music’ but the Musical Association’s repertoire during this period also incorporated large-scale productions involving orchestral forces and chorus. 29

Membership in the Musical Association of Victoria was open to ‘professionals and teachers of music, male or female, practising in Victoria at the date of their election’ while honorary membership was granted to amateurs. 30 Amateur members presumably paid similar subscriptions to their professional colleagues and were allowed to contribute to performances and discussions about music but were not able

25 Argus 26 July 1873: 8. 26 Stella Nemet, History of the Musical Society of Victoria 1861 –1981: One Hundred and Twenty Years of Service to Music (Melbourne: The Musical Society of Victoria, [1981]) 8. 27 The aims and objectives of the Musical Association in its early years are unclear as there are no surviving documents such as minute books or annual reports to indicate exactly why the society formed. 28 Argus 21 March 1867: 5. Presumably the benefit union was to offer financial support to professional musicians in times of hardship. 29 Argus 31 December 1867: 5. 30 Argus 21 March 1867: 5. 35 to hold positions of office. Although ‘the amateur in music’ (amateurs being those who perform purely for the ‘love’ of music and receive no fee for their services) was generally seen as something positive, the members of the Musical Association sought to distinguish themselves from the amateur movement by claiming superiority in terms of standards of performance, and by adopting a role of leadership in music education. 31 They not only considered it desirable to improve musical standards and tastes by performing substantial repertoire, such as chamber music, in their general meetings and public concerts, but also contributed to the field of music education by creating a graded examination system and by lobbying for the establishment of a Chair of Music at the University of Melbourne. Press reviews of the society’s earlier period label the association as a body of ‘professionals.’ 32 There is also evidence to suggest that the issue of professionalism caused conflict between the Musical Association of Victoria and Melbourne’s amateur musical societies, particularly the Melbourne Philharmonic Society.

In October 1867, tension arose between the Musical Association and the leading amateur choral society when the Royal Reception Committee responsible for providing a concert for the Duke of Edinburgh allocated the privilege to the Melbourne Philharmonic Society. The Musical Association reacted indignantly to the committee’s decision, believing that they, as Melbourne’s professional body of musicians, should have been given the honour. The issue was brought to public notice when Joseph Summers, on behalf of the Musical Association, wrote a letter to the editor of the Argus describing the differences between the amateur and professional societies. ‘The Victorian Musical Association,’ he remonstrated,

comprises the leading professionals of Melbourne and Victoria, and was formed for the purposes of friendly intercourse among professional musicians, the advance of music art, and the staunch upholding of the mission and interests of the professors. The society has at its command the finest

31 Jennifer Hill, ‘“A Source of Enjoyment:” The Social Dimension of the Melbourne Liedertafels in the Late Nineteenth Century,’ Nineteenth Century Music Review 2.2 (2005): 83. 32 See, for example, reviews of the association’s meetings in Argus 6 June 1868: 5; 4 July 1868: 5. 36

repertoire of music in the colony. Its members are exclusively professional gentlemen. 33

Summers’ attack on the amateur society (the Philharmonic Society) was scathing. ‘The amateur section,’ he wrote:

…has for its president Sir R. Barry (a member of the Royal Reception Commission)…[while] its secretary and committee are musical amateurs…what has it done for the cause of music since Mr. Horsley discarded it?...it is an obstacle to the advance of art music. There is no professional man engaged in its management, excepting its conductor… our astonishment is great when we find the amateurs here placed on a par with the profession. 34

On 1 November 1867 a meeting was held by the Musical Association at the Adam and Eve Hotel where a resolution was passed preventing the members of the Musical Association from playing for the Philharmonic Society until they had played their own concert under their own management sanctioned by the Royal Reception Commission. 35 The Royal Reception Commission finally gave in to their demands and the Musical Association’s concert took place on 3 January 1868 at the new Exhibition Building. 36 160 performers took part including approximately thirty professional members of the Musical Association and a chorus. The concert featured Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang , an overture by Julius Siede, a cantata, Galatea Secunda , by Joseph Summers and a miscellaneous selection that incorporated excerpts from Charles E. Horsley’s cantata The South Sea Sisters .37

As professional musicians, the members of the Musical Association were paid for public engagements. In 1867, for example, an orchestra of approximately twenty musicians, most of whom were members of the Musical Association, was formed for Charles Horsley’s Musical Festival. Each member of the orchestra was paid seven

33 J. Summers, ‘The Concert to the Prince,’ Letter to the Editor, Argus 28 October 1867: 6. 34 J. Summers, ‘The Concert to the Prince,’ 6. 35 Argus 2 November 1867: 5. 36 ‘The Victorian Musical Association’s Concert,’ Argus 4 January 1868: 6. 37 Argus 4 January 1868: 6. 37 shillings for participating while the 300 members of the choir received no payment for their services. 38

The Musical Association also offered its patronage to charitable events, particularly those that supported professional musicians. In a general meeting held on 2 July 1868, for example, the Association decided to hold a ‘grand concert’ in aid of the society’s ‘relief fund’ with the aim of making the event a success ‘both musically and financially.’ 39 It also offered its patronage to various public concerts including a benefit concert for Mr Caws (a member of the association) in April 1869. The program on this occasion was described as being ‘judiciously selected, and so varied as to admit of all who had tendered the aid of their services appearing to advantage.’ Six members of the Musical Association performed an arrangement of the grand overture from Semiramide .40

In its annual meeting held in March 1869, the report of the committee ‘stated that the society was in an improved financial position and was steadily increasing in numbers and influence.’ Funds had increased to over fifteen pounds and membership now stood at twenty-six members and six associates.41 In the society’s annual meeting the following year, the committee agreed to spend twenty-four pounds for the purpose of forming the ‘nucleus of a library second to none in the colonies’ and a selection of orchestral music was ordered from Leipzig. 42

Steps were taken the same year to increase the profile of the association by producing a series of people’s concerts at the newly opened Town Hall. These were to have ‘given an impetus to the progress of music in [the] city, and placed the association in that position which for the sake of the art, [was] most desirable [to] occupy.’ 43 According to the Argus critic, the association had chosen not to place itself on public notice preferring instead to concentrate on consolidating itself as a permanent institution. With memberships steadily increasing, however, members of

38 Argus 30 May 1867: 5. 39 Argus 4 July 1868: 5. 40 Argus 9 April 1869: 5. 41 Argus 19 March 1869: 5. 42 ‘Victorian Musical Association,’ Argus 20 March 1871: 6. 43 Argus 20 March 1871: 6. 38 the society now felt that public exposure could benefit their cause and that their ‘usefulness’ in serving the greater community had greatly increased. Unfortunately, the costs associated with the society’s people’s concerts were too expensive and as ‘no other building in Melbourne existed which would enable the committee to give [the] concerts at the low charge they proposed, they were reluctantly compelled to abandon [the] project.’ 44

Members of the Musical Association during the first ten years of its history included a number of notable musicians, many of whom would contribute to the development of music in Melbourne for many years. These included Julius Siede, Mr E. Bentey, Joseph Summers, E.A. Jäger, Mr S. Hore, G.R.G. Pringle, E. King, and James Schott, pianist, oboist and grandson of the founder of the music-publishing house of the same name. 45 Other prominent personalities included Herr Staab, A. Johnson, George Fincham, Carl Elsasser and J.W. Lundberg, a clarinetist who had at one time been a member of the King of Sweden’s band. 46 One personality, however, stood out above the rest and would have both a positive and negative impact on the Musical Association’s future: the English composer and organist, Charles Edward Horsley.

Charles Horsley

As a former pupil of Ignaz Moscheles and friend of Mendelssohn, Horsely had been closely associated with the ‘forefront’ of musicians in London, and had performed chamber music in his family home in Kensington. 47 As described by Christina Bashford:

The family home in High Row, Kensington Gravel Pits, was alive with musical visitors (among them Mendelssohn and Moscheles) and witnessed regular music-making…Quartet-parties, in which the young women and their

44 ‘Victorian Musical Association,’ Argus 20 March 1871: 6. 45 Love, The Golden Age of Opera , 6. 46 Love, The Golden Age of Opera , 102. 47 Carne, A Century of Harmony , 51. 39

friends participated, were frequently held…[and] on many occasions leading London musicians were present. 48

Horsley studied under Hauptmann in 1839 before moving on to Leipzig where he stayed for approximately four years, further consolidating his relationship with the Mendelssohn family and circle of friends. 49 During his time in Germany, and later in England, Horsley produced a number of chamber works including five sonatas, a piano quartet, two string quartets and three piano trios. 50

After arriving in 1861, Horsley did much to advance music in the city of Melbourne fulfilling a number of critical roles. From 1862 to 1865, he conducted the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Society and he was organist at Christ Church, South Yarra, and St Stephen’s Church, Richmond. 51 He also organized public concerts including a series of classical chamber-music concerts (titled Saturday Afternoon Concerts) in 1862 at the Mechanics’ Institute (now the Melbourne Athenæum) and a series of Monday Popular Concerts in 1863 modelled on Arthur Chappell’s Monday Popular Concerts at St James’s Hall in London. 52

Horsley also contributed to the development of music in Melbourne by writing commentaries and letters to the press on musical matters in the colony. In 1863, for example, he wrote a letter to the editor of the Argus explaining the issues surrounding the failure of his series of Monday Popular Concerts in 1863. 53 His commentaries, however, were not just confined to Melbourne newspapers. In 1869, The Musical Association passed a vote of thanks to Horsley ‘for his able and generous defence

48 Christina Bashford, ‘Public Chamber-Music Concerts in London, 1835–50: Aspects of History, Repertory and Reception,’ PhD thesis, London University, 1996, 73. 49 Nicholas Temperley, ‘Horsley, Charles Edward,’ The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians , vol. 11, ed. Stanley Sadie, 2 nd ed. (London: Macmillan, 2001) 740–1. 50 Temperley, ‘Horsley, Charles Edward,’ 740–1. 51 Thérèse Radic, ‘Charles Edward Horsley,’ Australian Dictionary of Biography 1851 –1890 , vol. 4, ed. Douglas Pike (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1972) 427. 52 These concerts will be discussed at greater length in Chapter 3. See N.a., Programme of Mr. C.E. Horsley’s First Saturday Afternoon Concert, February 22nd, 1862: to which is added a short Sketch of the Life of Haydn (Melbourne: Wilson and Mackinnon, Printers, 1862); Argus 24 February 1862: 5; 16 May 1863: 5; Charles Horsley, ‘The Monday Popular Concerts,’ Letter to the Editor, Argus 6 June 1863: 7. 53 Charles Horsley, ‘The Monday Popular Concerts,’ 7. 40

[sic] of the musical “savages” of this colony, in the Musical World .’ 54 An examination of Horsley’s correspondence with the London periodical, however, suggests that Horsley’s defense of musical art in Melbourne was slightly exaggerated by the Musical Association. In October 1862, Horsley sent a parcel to the editor of the Musical World containing ‘the book and critiques’ of a festival conducted by the Melbourne Philharmonic Society that month. ‘I cannot but think,’ Horsley wrote, ‘[that] it will be highly interesting to your readers to hear that music occupies a most prominent position in the metropolis of the antipodes.’ 55 Unfortunately, the parcel was lost at sea and the book of critiques never reached its destination. Nevertheless, Horsley’s gesture was greatly appreciated by the musical community in Melbourne, which felt that, through receiving Horsley’s support, it had gained musical credibility on an international scale. Horsley’s practice of writing for the press and periodicals continued throughout the remainder of his life and after moving to the United States of America in the early 1870s, he published a series of reminiscences about his association with Mendelssohn in Dwight’s Journal of Music .56

In his role as conductor for the Philharmonic Society, Horsley was regarded as ‘possessing a touch of genius…although various stories [described] him as having lived in the clouds.’ 57 Under his baton, the Philharmonic Society produced the first Australian performances of Mozart’s Requiem on 8 April 1862 and Horsley’s own oratorio David on 30 June 1863. 58 He was also credited with having produced Australia’s first performances of a number of complete orchestral works including Beethoven’s fifth and eighth symphonies, Mozart’s Symphony number 4 and Haydn’s Symphony number 2. 59 There is little doubt that Horsley’s abilities and experiences

54 Argus 4 June 1869: 5. 55 ‘From the Wreck of the Colombo. To the Editor of the Musical World,’ Musical World 7 February 1863: 91. 56 Titled Reminiscences of Mendelssohn. By his English Pupil , Horsley’s memoir was published in Dwight’s Journal of Music in instalments from 14 December 1872 to 11 January 1873. 57 ‘Nine Conductors in Ninety Years: Many Great Works and Many Eminent Performers: Melbourne Philharmonic Society’s Proud Retrospect,’ Australian Musical News and Digest 1 September 1943. 58 Carne, A Century of Harmony , 52–5. 59 Ann Wentzel, ‘One Hundred Years of Music in Australia 1788–1888,’ MA thesis, University of Sydney, c1969. 41 were considered great assets to Melbourne’s musical community and that the community looked to Horsley for leadership in musical matters in general. In 1913, the Melbourne organist George Peake described him as ‘not only immeasurably superior as a musician to those who preceded him but also to those who followed him…Mr Horsley’s genius, wide experience and splendid associations, gave him an easy ascendancy over all of his Melbourne confreres.’ 60

Unfortunately, Horsley’s talents as a musician and composer were matched by a lack of entrepreneurial skills and ability to manage finances. Not only had his series of Monday Popular Concerts in 1863 failed to recover its costs, the Philharmonic Society also experienced financial difficulties under Horsley’s baton. 61 According to George Peake, conflict arose between Horsley and the society when Horsley suggested that the Philharmonic mortgage its library to pay off its debts, which then amounted to approximately ₤800, and when the Philharmonic ignored his advice, he resigned the conductorship. 62

Soon after, Horsley ‘organised the musical festival [for] the Melbourne Exhibition and at the opening ceremony on 24 October conducted The South Sea Sisters ; a masque written by R.H. Horne [q.v.] and set to music by Horsley…he lost heavily over the festival [however] and in May 1867 was declared insolvent.’ 63 The failure of the concerts created friction between Horsley and the Musical Association, Horsley having engaged some of its members for the festival. At a Musical Association meeting held at Edouin’s Imperial Hotel in May 1867, Horsley acknowledged:

that great opprobrium had been cast upon him in connexion [sic] with the recent concerts; that he had always endeavoured to raise the standard of musical knowledge in the colony…He blamed himself much for the

60 Carne, A Century of Harmony , 51. 61 In Horsley’s first season alone as conductor for the Philharmonic Society, it experienced a loss at every single concert, ‘the total of which even the subscribers’ fees failed to extinguish.’ Carne, A Century of Harmony , 55. 62 George Peake, Historical Souvenir (Melbourne Philharmonic Society, 1913), quoted in Thérèse Radic, Introduction to Charles Edward Horsley Quartet for two violins, viola and violoncello (Melbourne: Musica Australiana Press, 1979). 63 Radic, ‘Charles Edward Horsley,’ 427. 42

annoyance which the association had experienced through the failure of the concerts in which they had assisted him. 64

Like Horsley’s other musical achievements in Melbourne, however, the artistic value of the Exhibition concerts did not go unnoticed by members of the public. ‘Outside of operatic representation,’ noted Alexander Sutherland retrospectively in 1888,

Melbourne has enjoyed occasional opportunities of hearing high-class music produced in those massive effects which are to be obtained by “Musical Festivals.” The first was held in 1867, under the management of C.E. Horsley…He succeeded in gathering an orchestra of sixty performers and a chorus of 300 voices…with a musical force under his command that exceeded all other colonial efforts, he produced a series of classic works somewhat surprising in a community only thirty years old—Mendelssohn’s “Hymn of Praise,” his “Elijah,” and his “Scotch Symphonies,” Mozart’s “Jupiter,” Handel’s “Messiah,” and also a masque entitled “The South Sea Sisters,” written by R.H. Horne, and composed by Horsley himself. 65

Horsley resigned from his position as member and vice-chairman of the Musical Association and left the colony. 66 After spending approximately three years in Sydney, however, he returned to Melbourne where he was appointed organist at St Francis’s Church and soon after became president of the Musical Association. 67 Clearly, hard feelings between himself and his fellow Association members were for the moment forgotten.

The Re-formation of the Musical Association 1876–1892

In 1876, the Musical Association re-formed. While not documented in the Musical Association’s records, press reports suggest that a re-formation took place in the latter months of 1876 in response to the failure of the original society to achieve its aims. The ineffectiveness of the old society was, in part at least, attributed to its former leader, Charles Horsley, whose personality was claimed to have dominated

64 Argus 30 May 1867: 5. 65 Sutherland, Victoria and its Metropolis , vol. 1, 509–10. 66 Argus 30 May 1867: 5; 11 July 1867: 5. 67 Radic, ‘Charles Edward Horsley,’ 427. 43 proceedings to such an extent as to have caused the association’s ‘downfall.’ 68 This was perhaps a reflection of the dual nature of Horsley’s character. While Horsley had contributed enormously to the growth and development of music in the colony, he was unable to balance his aesthetic goals with the practical needs of the musical societies with which he was associated. In addition to his inability to manage money, he was also described as being erratic and at times eccentric. ‘His strange behaviour bred scandal and he began a long episode of boarding-house shifts and arguments with landladies.’ 69 Yet despite his faults, his musical talents ‘won him forgiveness.’ 70 According to George Peake,

by the magnetism of his presence, and the influence of his musical personality, he gave the [Philharmonic] Society, the importance which only a man of genius, or a man with the capacity for taking infinite pains, could ever hope to give. It was said that he was a most erratic conductor, and quite incapable of beating time with any degree of clearness; but old musicians who knew him declare he could do something infinitely better, namely, give an interpretation of the work and make his orchestra talk. 71

In 1877, the re-constituted Musical Association held its first social meeting at Hockin’s Assembly Rooms and in a speech to members, the newly appointed president, Mr R.L.J. Ellery, referred to problems experienced by the old society, urging his associates not to allow the new society to succumb to the same fate. The Leader critic paraphrased Ellery’s sentiments as follows:

after mentioning the principal facts in connection with the formation of the society…and referring in feeling terms to the genius of the late C.E. Horsley, who was chiefly instrumental in promoting the objects of the old society, he expressed the wish that no bitterness of feeling or wish for personal aggrandizement among the members might cause the downfall of the present association. The evening concluded by the health of the presidents of the new

68 Leader 3 March 1877: 19. 69 Radic, Introduction to Charles Edward Horsley Quartet for two violins, viola and violoncello , 4. 70 Newspaper clipping dated 25 December 1878, Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Guard Book 1, MS 13266, Australian Manuscripts Collection, Latrobe Library, State Library of Victoria. 71 George Peake, Historical Souvenir , quoted in Radic, Introduction to Charles Edward Horsley Quartet for two violins, viola and violoncello . 44

and old societies being drunk in champagne, together with success to the new undertaking. 72

The new association grew rapidly and began almost immediately to assert its influence. Within two weeks of its first general meeting, the Musical Association had extended its membership to seventy-two members and by September 1877 had a club room ready for occupation, ‘being furnished with a magnificent grand piano and the library of the association, as well as several periodical musical papers.’ 73 Membership increased to forty-eight professional members and forty-five associate members in May 1878 when the funds of the society were estimated at ₤145, fifty pounds of which were the value of the society’s property and library. 74

In May 1880, rules were adopted at the Musical Association’s Annual Meeting where the primary objectives of the society were identified as:

1. The general advancement of Musical Art

2. To cultivate a friendly intercourse amongst the members of the Profession and lovers of music

3. To grant Diplomas and Certificates of Competency. 75

Membership was open to both men and women, professional and amateur musicians. According to the new rules:

1. The Association shall consist of Members and Associates

2. Professional Musicians shall be eligible for election as Members

3. Amateurs, and others who musical tastes and influence tend to further the objects and interests of the Association, shall be eligible for election as Associates. 76

72 Leader 3 March 1877: 19. 73 Leader 17 March 1877: 19; Age 17 September 1877: 2. 74 Leader 18 May 1878: 19. 75 Musical Society of Victoria, Rules of the Musical Association of Victoria Adopted at the Annual Meeting May 1880 , Musical Society of Victoria Records 1877–1980, MS 12801, Box 1/1b, Australian Manuscripts Collection, Latrobe Library, State Library of Victoria. 76 MSV, Rules of the Musical Association of Victoria Adopted at the Annual Meeting May 1880 . 45

The Musical Association fulfilled a number of roles within Melbourne’s developing musical culture. It not only provided Melbourne’s music students with an examination system that comprised both theoretical and practical components, but also continued to expand its library for the benefit of its members, and held monthly meetings that featured a combination of musical items and lectures on musical topics. 77

The Musical Association also sought to encourage the activities of other musicians and societies. Occasionally it would offer its patronage to benefit concerts or write letters to the press. When William Lyster introduced Wagner’s Lohengrin to Melbourne audiences in 1877, for example, the Musical Association sent an extract of their minutes, in which they formally congratulated the efforts of the opera’s producers, to the Argus and Age newspapers for publication. 78 In October the same year, the Musical Association, along with the Metropolitan Liedertafel, offered its assistance to a concert for the Indian Famine Relief Fund, many of the members of the society participating as instrumentalists. 79

Unlike the older society, the new Musical Association was conspicuous for its performances of chamber music and began immediately to produce classical chamber works in its general and social meetings. The first musical program held on 24 February 1877, for example, consisted of Mendelssohn’s String Quartet in E flat opus 12, a piano trio by Haydn, an overture arranged for eight hands, and various vocal and solo instrumental selections. 80 This style of programming was to become the norm for the next sixteen years of the society’s existence.

During the first four years after re-formation, the Musical Association played a leading role in introducing new chamber works to Melbourne, particularly chamber works requiring larger forces, such as quintets or septets, and those comprising various wind instruments (Chamber works for which no earlier performance dates have been found are listed in Table 1 along with performances that were identified by the press as being Melbourne premiers). However, some flexibility in terms of

77 The Musical Association’s lectures will be discussed at greater length in Chapter 4. 78 Argus 17 September 1877: 5; Age 17 September 1877: 2. 79 Leader 20 October 1877: 18. 80 Leader 3 March 1877: 19. 46 instrumentation was occasionally required. Unable to secure a proficient horn player for their first performance of Beethoven’s Septet in E flat opus 20 in December 1877, for example, they engaged Mr Reilly to play the part on the saxehorn. According to the Leader critic, the substitution did not mar the Association’s performance in the slightest, the individual parts being ‘played with the utmost skill by the respective performers.’ 81 In November the following year, the Musical Association produced Melbourne’s first performance of Schubert’s Octet in F D803. This time the correct instrumentation was used with Messrs Lundberg (clarinet), Kohler (horn) and McCoy (bassoon) performing the wind parts. 82 On 15 May 1880 they also produced Beethoven’s Quintet opus 16 for piano, flute, clarinet, horn and bassoon. The performers, T.H. Guenett, Julius Siede, J.W. Lundberg, Kohler and Lüttich, were credited on this occasion with ‘artistic playing’ and ‘such fine perception as to leave none of the marked beauties of the work undeveloped.’ 83

Table 1: Possible Premier Performances by the Musical Association

Date Composer Work 15/12/1877 Beethoven Septet in E flat op 20 11/5/1878 Kuhlau Trio for 3 Flutes 2/11/1878 Mendelssohn String Quintet in E flat op 87 2/11/1878 Mendelssohn String Quartet in E min op 44 no 2 30/11/1878 Schubert Octet in F D803* 16/6/1879 Schumann Piano Quintet in E flat op 44 16/6/1879 Mozart String Quartet in D K575 17/4/1880 Beethoven Sonata for Piano and ‘Cello in A op 69 15/5/1880 Beethoven Quintet in E flat op 16 19/6/1880 Raff Sonata for Piano and Violin in E min 17/7/1880 Rubinstein Piano Trio in F op 15 no 1 11/9/1880 Haydn String Quartet in D op 76 no 5 11/9/1880 Raff Piano Trio in D 14/11/1885 Beethoven String Quartet in A op 18 no 5 13/11/1886 Schumann String Quartet in A op 41 no 3* 12/3/1887 Goetz Piano Trio in G min op 1 10/3/1888 Dittersdorf String Quartet 11/4/1891 Thomas, Goring Duet for Harp and Piano in E flat min 8/8/1891 Beethoven Sonata for Piano and ‘Cello op 5 no 1 12/12/1891 Grieg Violin Sonata in G op 13 *Melbourne Premiere

These performances were particularly significant as competent wind players were still relatively rare in Melbourne. With the oboist James Schott having left the colony for

81 Leader 22 December 1877: 18. 82 Leader 7 December 1878: 19. 83 Leader 22 May 1880: 19. 47

Tasmania years earlier, there remained very few oboists for example. Lüttich fulfilled the role of oboist in the overwhelming majority of cases. 84 As he also played the bassoon and flute, however, he was often required to perform on these instruments. 85 Other wind instruments fared only marginally better with seven prominent flautists (Julius Siede, Lüttich, A. Giammona, John Radcliff, Moerlin, Hector L. Stoneham and Rudall) and five clarinetists (J.W. Lundberg, Johnston, Howard, Lyons and Cooper) present in Melbourne during the last two and a half decades of the nineteenth century. Of the flautists, A. Giammona, John Radcliff and Julius Siede were perhaps the most proficient, Siede having been regarded by his colleagues as one of the ‘greatest flautists of the world.’ 86 John Radcliff, having been trained at and also a staff member of the Royal Academy of Music in London, was also known in England as a lecturer of music. 87 He later became principal flautist for the Royal Italian Opera orchestra in London and was also involved in the orchestras of the Three Choirs, Leeds and Handles Festivals. While highly regarded by Melbourne audiences, however, his stay in the colony was brief and after a tour lasting approximately one year he returned to England. 88 A. Giammona, on the other hand, rarely contributed to performances of chamber music although he was considered to be equally talented on the flute as he was in singing, pianoforte and composition. Trained at the Naples Conservatory under the tuition of Saverio Mercadante, and later at the Paris Conservatoire, A. Giammona toured America with Ilma de Murska. From there the group proceeded to Australia where Giammona was first heard as a flautist of ‘rare accomplishment.’ After residing in Melbourne for approximately five years, he

84 Argus 7 February 1873: 6. 85 He played the bassoon part, for example, of Beethoven’s Quintet opus 16 at a Melbourne Popular Concert on 11 October 1882 when another musician named Oxlee played the oboe part. 86 Alfred Montague, ‘Early Days in Australia: An Autobiography of a Prominent Musician,’ The Australian Music and Dramatic News 1 January 1914: 223. 87 Radcliff delivered a lecture entitled ‘Flutes, Ancient and Modern’ at Trinity College, London. He later presented the same lecture in Melbourne. See Leader 8 March 1884: 26–7; 3 April 1886: 26. 88 He ‘re-appeared at the Promenade Concerts, London, in 1886; and began a concert-lecture entertainment, entitled “From Pan to Pinafore,” in 1888. In 1896–7 he was on tour in South Africa with Madame Fanny Moody’s party.’ See James D. Brown and Stephen S. Stratton, ‘Radcliff, John,’ British Music Biography: A Dictionary of Musical Artists, Authors and Composers born in Britain and its Colonies (Birmingham: Chatfield and Son, 1897). 48 moved to Sydney c1882. 89 The clarinet was represented predominantly by J.W. Lundberg who was described as being a ‘versatile player, equally good in theatre, solo and chamber music.’ 90

String quartet playing, however, also became an integral part of the Musical Association’s general meetings. With the arrival of John Baptist Zerbini from London in 1885 and the ‘cellist Christian Reimers from Adelaide in April 1886, along with local violinists George Weston and Henry Curtis, a high-quality string quartet group was formed. 91 Dubbed the Zerbini Quartet, it was the centrepiece for T.H. Guenett’s Melbourne Popular Concerts. It was also, however, the primary quartet group for the Musical Association and the Musical Artists’ Society during the same period. String quartets by Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Dittersdorf, Cherubini and Grieg were performed at the Musical Association’s monthly meetings as well as Schubert’s Piano Quartet in E flat opus 47 and Beethoven’s Piano Quartet opus 16. Numerous piano trios and duo sonatas were also performed.

Chamber music’s role in the society’s monthly meetings was significant as it was one of the primary means through which the society could carry out its objectives of ‘advancing musical art’ and ‘[cultivating] a friendly intercourse amongst the members of the Profession and lovers of music.’ 92 Its perceived ‘educational’ value also suited the society’s educational ambitions. Above all else, the Musical Association saw it as its duty to encourage higher standards in performance and musical taste. Within this framework chamber music was typically epitomized as being music of the highest class, worthy of both serious study and attentive listening.

89 Along with numerous other works for pianoforte and voice, Giammona composed and conducted a Grand Mass that was performed in Melbourne with an orchestra and full chorus. See ‘Signor Giammona,’ Sydney Bulletin 4 March 1882: 2. 90 Alfred Montague, ‘Early Days in Australia: An Autobiography of a Prominent Musician,’ 1 January 1914: 223. 91 The Zerbini Quartet members were George Weston (violin), Henry Curtis (violin), J.B. Zerbini (viola) and Christian Reimers (‘cello). Further biographical information on these performers is given in Chapter 6. 92 MSV, Rules of the Musical Association of Victoria Adopted at the Annual Meeting May 1880 . 49

The Musical Artists’ Society of Victoria 1877–1890

In 1877 yet a further musical society dedicated to the performance of instrumental music emerged: The Musical Artists’ Society of Victoria. In August 1877, members of the new society met for the first time to draft their rules and constitution. The principal objectives of the society were identified as:

1. The mutual improvement of its members in all branches of musical art and science

2. The formation of a library of Musical Literature, for the use of its members

3. The cultivation of a thoroughly friendly feeling amongst its members, and the observance of that Professional Etiquette which is such an ornament of all European Musical Bodies 93

The first office bearers for the Musical Artists’ Society were E.A. Jäger (President), George Peake (Vice-President), William Hunter (Treasurer), Henry Curtis (Librarian), and Charles B. Winn (Secretary), along with a committee of four members comprising Samuel Lamble, A. Allen, Francis King and Otto Vogt. 94 The society was founded with seventeen members and thirty subscribers, which included a range of predominantly vocalists, string and keyboard instrumentalists, with a smaller number of woodwind players, composers and conductors (See Table 2). 95 The initial membership quickly grew to include most of the prominent instrumentalists, conductors and composers resident Melbourne. ‘Cellists Alfred Montague and Samuel Chapman, violinists Leon Caron, Signor Ortori and George Weston, Hector Stoneham (flautist), David Lee (organist), Julius Buddee (pianist) and Alfred Plumpton (composer and music critic) all soon joined. The majority of members taught music in some capacity in either private studios in the city or connected to music colleges such as the South Melbourne School of Music, or later, at the

93 Musical Society of Victoria, Minutes of the Musical Artists’ Society 1877–1884 , August 1877, Musical Society of Victoria Records 1877–1980, MS 12801, Box 1/3, Australian Manuscripts Collection, Latrobe Library, State Library of Victoria, 1. 94 MSV, Minutes MAS 1877–1884 , August 1877, 16. 95 MSV, Minutes MAS 1877–1884 , August 1877, 13–4. 50

Presbyterian Ladies’ College and the University of Melbourne’s newly formed Conservatorium of Music. 96

Table 2: Founding Professional Members of the Musical Artists’ Society of Victoria Members Instrument E.A. Jäger Violist George Peake Organist, Pianist, Conductor William Hunter Pianist Charles B. Winn Vocalist Henry Curtis Violinist Phillip C. Plaisted Organist A.H. Allen Organist F. Huenerbein Pianist Francis L. King Pianist S.W.M. Lamble Vocalist Otto Vogt Pianist Philip Montague Violinist Alfred Moul Pianist, Composer, Entrepreneur T.S. Lamble Vocalist W.G. Weir Vocalist Alberto Zelman Pianist, Conductor, Composer Joseph Summers Organist, Conductor, Composer

Significantly, membership was confined to ‘professionals,’ that is, to those who had ‘received a musical education’ and had ‘[gained] their livelihood by adopting music as a profession,’ while amateurs were admitted as subscribers to the society. 97 The professional members of the society were required each year to contribute to the branches of musical art and science by one of three means:

1. Practical—by the performance of a solo or solos, or assisting in the performance of concerted music.

2. Theoretical—contributing an original composition.

3. Literary—presenting an essay or lecture on any subject connected with musical art or science. 98

96 The connection to educational institutions will be discussed in Chapter 4. 97 Musical Society of Victoria, ‘Rule 1,’ Constitution, Rules and Bye-laws of the Musical Artists and Organists’ Society of Victoria , c1890, Musical Society of Victoria Records 1877– 1980, MS 12801, Box 1/1b, Australian Manuscripts Collection, Latrobe Library, State Library of Victoria. 98 MSV, ‘Rule 1,’ Constitution, Rules and Bye-laws of the Musical Artists and Organists’ Society . 51

Unlike the Musical Association, the Musical Artists’ Society did not allow women to become members or subscribers until 1890. However, their inclusion was placed on the agenda on numerous occasions by members who felt that the conditions of membership and the stated professional requirements should not exclude women. As Alfred Plumpton, husband of the English-trained pianist Carlotta Tasca, argued:

The society cannot be completely identified with its title otherwise since many ladies are entitled to be considered as musical artists and their cooperation would be most valuable. Since this society is restricted to Artists alone and does not admit amateurs as members, the reason for excluding ladies which might be alleged in musical societies does not hold good in this instance. 99

As early as September 1879, the exclusion of women was challenged when Mr William Hunter moved ‘that the question of the admission of lady members be taken into consideration at once…After considerable discussion,’ however, ‘it was resolved on the motion of Mr Peake…that it [was] not advisable to admit lady members during the present year.’ 100 The issue was brought again to notice in the society’s annual meeting the following year and after an additional special meeting of the committee was held on 9 September 1880, a scheme was proposed. It was suggested ‘That Ladies should only be admitted as members, the qualification to be the same as for present members. To be admitted on Four nights only during the year exclusive of the Concert night, Lady members to fulfill the conditions of Rule 1 but to have no voice in the management of the Society.’ 101 The scheme was rejected, however, and the society opted instead to continue with its special ladies nights, in which women could both attend and participate.

Even then, however, women rarely performed, and when they did, usually appeared on the ‘female’ instruments of piano and voice as soloists. Of the few women to perform in the society’s meetings were pianists Carlotta Tasca and G. Abud, and singers Fanny Bristow, Rosaly Merz and Ellen Atkins. As a consequence, they were rarely given the opportunity to contribute to performances of chamber music. Two such exceptions were a performance of Hummel’s Piano Trio in E opus

99 MSV, Minutes MAS 1877–1884 , 27 August 1881, 148–50. 100 MSV, Minutes MAS 1877–1884 , 20 September 1879, 68–71. 101 MSV, Minutes MAS 1877–1884 , 9 September 1880, 125. 52

83 in which Madame Tasca performed alongside Henry Curtis and Alfred Montague, and a performance by G. Abud and Henry Curtis of a Gade sonata for piano and violin. 102

The Musical Association fared better, allowing women, both professionals and amateurs, to perform in their meetings. Most of the women who performed were pianists and some, such as Miss Agnes Julian (pupil of T.H. Guenett), Gertrude Fraser (pupil of Miss Wilkinson) and Lizzie Martin (pupil of Madame Carlotta Tasca) were students of some of the society’s members. 103 A number of women pianists were also amongst the first recipients of the society’s diplomas and certificates. Mrs Julia Sutherland, Gertrude Fraser, Miss Sophie Sinclair and Lizzie Martin all received the society’s Diploma for Piano between the years 1883 and 1885 while Miss Cross received the Certificate for Piano c1886. 104 Other women to perform at the Musical Association included the French pianist Mademoiselle Collard who made her Melbourne debut at the society’s general meeting on 14 March 1885, Mrs Jolley, the German-trained Maggie Elmblad, Madame Houyet-Howard and Miss Griffiths. 105

A number of these women were able to contribute to the Musical Association’s performances of chamber music scored for piano in combination with various other instruments. Madame Houyet-Howard, for example, performed three duo sonatas for piano and ‘cello (Beethoven’s sonatas opus 5 numbers 1 and 2, and Mendelssohn’s Variations Concertantes opus 17) with George Howard at three separate general meetings. Maggie Elmblad performed Saint-Saëns’ Variations on a theme of Beethoven opus 35 alongside Otto Linden, while Miss Griffiths participated in performances of four different chamber works: Beethoven’s Sonata for Piano and ‘Cello opus 69 and Piano Quartet in E flat opus 16, Mendelssohn’s ‘Cello Sonata in D opus 58, and a Rubinstein piano trio. 106

102 These performances took place on 29 November 1879 and 14 November 1885. Peggy Jane Lais, ‘Chamber-Music Concerts in Pre-Federation Melbourne Database.’ 103 Leader 7 June 1884: 26; 20 March 1886: 27. 104 Leader 7 June 1884: 26; 15 November 1884: 26; 22 May 1886: 27. 105 Leader 21 March 1885: 27; Lais, ‘Chamber-Music Concerts in Pre-Federation Melbourne Database.’ 106 See Lais, ‘Chamber-Music Concerts in Pre-Federation Melbourne Database.’ 53

In 1889, possibly due to financial pressure, the Musical Artists’ Society finally agreed to admit women as subscribers, provided that they not interfere ‘with the usual social arrangements, smoking + co.,’ pay a fee of one guinea per annum and be allowed to attend only alternate meetings. 107 After the society amalgamated with the Victorian Society of Organists in December 1889, women attended their first general meeting of the amalgamated societies on 29 March the following year. 108

While the Melbourne and Metropolitan Liedertafel societies were also exclusively established and run by men, women were able to contribute to their musical entertainments, albeit in a limited capacity. As noted by Jennifer Hill, ‘women could not join either one as full performing members, but were…eligible for non-performing membership…women were included in most concerts as soloists and, in small but significant numbers, as orchestral musicians in the mixed amateur- professional rather than fully professional orchestras.’ 109 Their participation as members of the audience was also limited, with women being allowed to attend approximately half of the Liedertafels’ concerts. 110 The relationship of women to the male-dominated musical societies is, thus, clearly one in which women were on the one hand, excluded from participating in proceedings, or were given limited opportunities to do so, and on the other, were expected to support the institutions as consumers by paying subscriptions and attending their women’s or mixed concerts.

This is especially significant given the changes that were occurring in Australian society during the period, particularly in terms of women’s suffrage. Where women’s roles had previously been viewed purely in ‘domestic terms,’ women were gradually moving out of their domestic roles and into the public sphere. 111 With the first wave of feminism occurring during the last two decades of the nineteenth century, female employment was beginning to rise, particularly in

107 MSV, Minutes MAS 1877–1884 , 26 June 1880, 112–3. 108 MSV, Constitution, Rules & Bye-laws of the Musical Artists and Organists’ Society of Victoria ; Minutes of the Musical Artists’ and Organists’ Society of Victoria , 21 December 1889, Musical Society of Victoria Records 1877–1980, MS 12801, Box 1/4, Australian Manuscripts Collection, Latrobe Library, State Library of Victoria, 120–1. 109 Hill, ‘A Source of Enjoyment,’ 80. 110 Hill, ‘A Source of Enjoyment,’ 80. 111 Tom O’Lincoln, Sex, Class and the Road to Women’s Suffrage , accessed on 8 March 2006, from 54 urban centres where it was estimated that thirty to forty per cent of the work force were women. There was also a move towards equality in educational institutions. Soon after the University of Adelaide began admitting women in its courses in 1880, Edward Stirling, ‘Professor of Medicine at Adelaide University…introduced a motion on women’s suffrage in the South Australia parliament. Stirling pointed to the success of his female students as evidence that they were men’s intellectual equals.’ 112

However, while Australia became the second country in the world (after New Zealand) to grant women the right to vote, middle-class values continued to define women’s roles in domestic terms. 113 As described by Tom O’Lincoln,

The domestic feminist outlook distinguished Australian campaigners from many of their British and American sisters, who embraced a vigorous liberal philosophy emphasizing individual rights. The American movement had a strong association with earlier anti-slavery agitation, while the British movement reflected the existence of a sizeable surplus of single females. By contrast Australian marriage and fertility rates were still relatively high. The institution of marriage appeared to most people as the only realistic possibility. These social conditions gave rise to a strong family orientation which the women’s rights activists could not transcend. 114

Middle-class values also permeated the musical world where music was viewed as an important ingredient of women’s education. Typically, young women were taught to play the piano and sing. Even Presbyterian Ladies’ College, which was ‘committed to the democratisation of education, and to providing girls with training equal to that available to boys at local public schools like Scotch College, the Church of England Grammar School and Wesley College…could not afford to neglect the ornamental arts of singing, dancing, drawing and painting.’ 115 Furthermore, the vast majority of students sitting for examinations with the Musical Association of Victoria, and later

112 O’Lincoln, Sex, Class and the Road to Women’s Suffrage . 113 South Australia was the first state to grant women the right to vote in 1894 followed by Western Australia. The remaining states followed soon after Federation. See N.S.W., 1890– 1900. Towards Federation: The Women’s Suffrage Movement , accessed on 8 March 2006, from 114 O’Lincoln, Sex, Class and the Road to Women’s Suffrage . 115 Michael Ackland, ‘Introduction,’ The Getting of Wisdom (Ringwood, Vic.: Penguin, 1998) ix. 55 the Musical Society of Victoria, were young women, as were those enrolled in the South Melbourne School of Music.

It is clear that the Musical Artists’ Society (from 1890, the Musical Artists’ and Organists’ Society) was keen to emulate musical practices in Europe. From its foundation, members not only hoped to cultivate a ‘friendly feeling amongst its members, and the observance of that Professional Etiquette which [was] an ornament of all European Musical Bodies,’ but also attempted to make contact with similar societies and musicians outside of Melbourne. 116 The observance of ‘Professional etiquette’ was considered to be so desirable that the members of the Musical Artists’ Society drafted a code of conduct into their minutes requiring all members to refrain from ‘speaking or behaving in a manner calculated to injure another professionally.’ The consequence of such behavior was expulsion from the society ‘unless a written apology [was] tendered by the person so offending; and accepted by the injured member and the committee.’ 117 One might ask why such rules of conduct were necessary, but when one considers the number of prominent court actions initiated by musicians against other musicians, composers and/or music commentators during this period, it is clear that at least some members of the musical profession were not only capable of, but occasionally did, damage one another’s prospects, or at the very least, their reputations. Matters were no doubt exacerbated by the fact that many of these battles were fought publicly in the press, thus heightening ill feeling amongst the parties. 118

116 MSV, Minutes MAS 1877–1884 , August 1877, 1. 117 MSV, ‘Rule 2,’ Minutes MAS 1877–1884 , August 1877, 1 –16. 118 One such court case was that of Joseph Summers against the Age newspaper, which published a critical review of a performance of The Creation under Summers’ baton during the early 1890s. Summers felt that the review ‘exceeded the bounds of fair criticism.’ Other musicians felt so injured by public criticism that they left Melbourne altogether. Horace and Madame Poussard, for example, departed Melbourne after their opera season at the Melbourne Opera House in 1886 was met by an overwhelming wave of criticism. Another court case was initiated by the composer Alfred Moul who felt that the French pianist, Alice Charbonnet, had deliberately performed one of his compositions badly. Charbonnet retaliated by claiming that she performed the music as it had been written. This court case is discussed at greater length in Jin-Guan Bong, ‘Alice Ellen Charbonnet: a French Musician in Nineteenth-Century Australia,’ MMus thesis, University of Melbourne, 2007. See also Argus 16 May 1881: 10; Australasian 15 July 1893: 111; Peggy Jane Lais, ‘The Changing Repertoire of Horace Poussard,’ BMus thesis, University of Melbourne, 2002, 24–6. 56

However, ‘professional etiquette,’ for the sake of definition, could also be described as courteousness, as an initial draft of the by-laws regarding attendance revealed: ‘Every member is expected to attend at all meetings of the Society, or, in order to the cultivation of that courtesy which is one of the objects of the Society, to send a written apology addressed to the Chairman, failing of this such member to pay 2/6 (two and sixpence) to the Library fund.’ The issue of non-attendance without apology, however, was at some stage re-addressed and the by-law was crossed out. 119

In 1882, Mr George Peake moved ‘that the Secretary place the society in communication with one or more kindred societies outside [the] Colony.’ 120 While contact may have initially been directed towards other Australian capitals, there is evidence to suggest that letters were also sent to England and continental Europe. In September 1882, for example, the society received correspondence from the Chief Secretary’s Office regarding the Royal College of Music in London. 121 The Musical Association also sought to model its organization on those of overseas institutions, attempting as early as 1871 to adopt a scheme for the relief of aged or infirmed musicians based on those found in London and in ‘other musical societies in Europe and America.’ 122

From its formation in 1877, chamber music played a significant role in the Musical Artists’ Society’s proceedings. Chamber works, the overwhelming majority of which were scored for string quartet, for various combinations of strings and pianoforte (such as piano trios, quartets and quintets), or for pianoforte and violin or ‘cello, were generally given a prominent position in the society’s monthly general meetings with one, often two, and sometimes more works featuring in a program. These works were usually supplemented by smaller vocal and instrumental works. The private gatherings, held after the official business proceedings of the society were completed, were usually attended by approximately twenty to thirty members,

119 MSV, ‘By-Law No. 3,’ Minutes MAS 1877–1884 , August 1877, 1–16. 120 MSV, Minutes MAS 1877 –1884 , 28 January 1882, 161–2. 121 MSV, Minutes MAS 1877 –1884 , 23 September 1882, 181–2. 122 Argus 20 March 1871: 6. 57 subscribers and visitors, the latter of which sometimes included members of the press such as Henry Keiley (music critic for the Argus ) and ‘Telo.’ 123

In addition to their private meetings, the Musical Artists’ Society also held public concerts. The first concert took place on 3 June 1878 at the Melbourne Athenæum Hall and consisted of two movements of Reissiger’s Quintet in E flat opus 20, two movements of Beethoven’s Piano Trio in G opus 1 number 2, the Andante from Schubert’s Quartet in D minor, a movement from Haydn’s String Quartet in C opus 76 number 3 (‘God Save the Emperor’) and a rendition of the William Tell Overture played on the pianoforte, cabinet organ, and ‘quartet.’ These were alternated with a variety of instrumental and vocal solos, including a polonaise by Weber, Willmers’ Sehnsucht am Meere and a transcription of ‘Festspiel and Brautlied’ (Lohengrin ) by Liszt for the pianoforte, a violin solo, Souvenirs de Bellini by Artot, and songs, Lachner’s ‘Weep not for Sorrow’ and Pinsuti’s ‘The Raft.’ 124

Like the Musical Association of Victoria, the Musical Artists’ Society introduced a number of new chamber works to Melbourne. In February 1882, for example, the Musical Artists’ Society premiered Brahms’ Piano Trio opus 8 while in May 1885 and July 1889 they premiered the same composer’s Violin Sonata in G opus 78 and Sextet in B flat opus 18. 125 The minutes of the Musical Artists’ Society and reviews in the daily press identify numerous other chamber works premiered by the society including those by Dvo řák (Piano Trio in F minor opus 65, Piano Quartet in D opus 23 and the Violin Sonata in F opus 57), Taubert’s Piano Trio opus 32, a string quartet by Antonio Bazzini, and works by Max Bruch, Ebenezer Prout, Carl Goldmark and Joachim Raff. These are listed in Table 3 along with performances of other works that have not been claimed as premiers but for which no earlier performance date has been found.

As one of the three alternative requirements for membership was the presentation of papers on topics relating to music, lectures also featured prominently

123 It is not known which newspaper ‘Telo’ worked for. The invitation of members of the press was particularly noticeable in the society’s formative years. This was presumably an attempt to bring the achievements of the society to public notice. See MSV, Minutes MAS 1877 –1884 . 124 Leader 8 June 1878: 19. 125 Table Talk 5 July 1889: 10. 58 in the Musical Artists’ Society’s monthly meetings. In January 1878, Mr Jäger proposed ‘that at each meeting [the society] take a chronological view of the great composers, namely, Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn and Schumann, and that at each meeting one of these form the subject for illustration, not precluding other music.’ 126 The movement was carried and during the next eight months (February–September 1878) the lectures were delivered as planned. 127 These were considered so beneficial that a second such series of lectures was planned for the year 1890. 128

Table 3: Possible Premier Performances by the Musical Artists’ Society and the Musical Artists’ and Organists’ Society

Date Composer Work 24/11/1877 Reissiger Piano Quintet op 20 26/01/1878 Allegri String Quartet 30/03/1878 Bach Terzette for 2 Violins and Viola 25/05/1878 Gounod Meditation on Bach’s Prelude No 1 25/05/1878 Bruni String Trio in E flat 30/11/1878 Fesca Piano Quartet in D min op 28 30/11/1878 Weber Concertante in D flat op 22 5/04/1879 Hummel Sonata for Piano and Viola op 19 30/08/1879 Taubert Piano Trio op 32* 29/11/1879 Hummel Piano Trio in E op 83 28/02/1880 Rubinstein Sonata for Piano and ‘Cello in D op 18 31/07/1880 Bazzini String Quartet* 31/07/1880 Fesca Piano Quartet in C min op 26 25/09/1880 Kücken Piano Trio 29/01/1881 Reissiger Piano Trio op 127 25/02/1882 Brahms Piano Trio in B op 8* 7/04/1883 Spohr Duet for 2 Violins op 6 25/08/1883 Golterman Duo for Piano and ‘Cello 27/09/1884 Mayseder Duet for Violin and Viola 31/01/1885 Dvořák Piano Trio in F min op 65* 28/03/1885 Liut String Quartet in D min 30/05/1885 Brahms Violin Sonata in G op 78* 25/07/1885 Dvořák Piano Quartet in D op 23* 26/09/1885 Kalliwoda 2 Nocturnes for Viola and Piano op 186 29/05/1886 Max Bruch Fantasia in D min op 11 for 2 Pianos* 29/01/1887 Goetz Piano Trio op 1 29/01/1887 Dvořák Violin Sonata in F op 57 30/07/1887 Saint-Saëns Finale for Piano and Harmonium op 8 no 6 24/09/1887 Carl Goldmark Piano Quintet op 30* 26/05/1888 Prout String Quartet* 26/05//1888 Raff Ode au Printemps op 76 for 2 Pianos* 25/07/1888 Lachner Trio for Piano, Violin and Viola in G op 45

126 MSV, Minutes MAS 1877 –1884 , 26 January 1878, 23–4. 127 MSV, Minutes MAS 1877 –1884 . 128 Argus 2 September 1889: 6. The role of lectures will be discussed at greater length in Chapter 4. 59

24/11/1888 Volkman Piano Trio op 76 29/06/1889 Brahms String Sextet in B flat op 18* 29/06/1889 Weber Duo in E flat op 48 28/02/1891 F. Gernsheim Piano Quartet op 47 25/04/1891 Lachner Trio for Piano, Violin and Viola op 38 26/09/1891 Kiel Sonata for Piano and Viola in G op 67 * Melbourne Premier

The Musical Society of Victoria

In 1892 the Musical Association of Victoria and the Musical Artists’ and Organists’ Society amalgamated to form the Musical Society of Victoria. The decision to amalgamate was instigated by members of the Musical Artists’ and Organists’ Society who felt ‘that the welfare and influence of the musical profession were suffering from want of proper organisation, and that the time had arrived when a determined effort should be made to establish a strong professional society.’ 129 No doubt, the economic depression also influenced the amalgamation of the societies as Stella Nemet observes:

Membership of these three separate music organisations was declining, mainly due to the fact that a number of musicians and amateurs now belonged to three societies which meant triple membership fees and triple monthly attendances. There were difficulties in finding suitable venues for all the meetings and concerts, and difficulties in housing the three separate libraries…the societies resolved to amalgamate, to draw up common Rules and Regulations and to try [to] preserve the characteristic activities of each of the societies. 130

The list of members for the Musical Society of Victoria for its first financial year (1892–1893) featured all the prominent musicians of the former societies, and combined with subscribers, numbered approximately one hundred in total. The office-bearers for the amalgamated societies were as follows:

President—Mr Otto Linden

Vice Presidents—Messrs E.A. Jäger, George Peake and S.W.M. Lamble

Treasurer—Mr J.R. Edeson

Librarian—Mr W.H. Heathcote

129 Argus 24 May 1892: 6. 130 Nemet, History of the Musical Society of Victoria 1861 –1981 , 15–6. 60

Secretary—Mr T.J. Lamble

Committee—Messrs H. Curtis, G.H. Davies, William Hunter and T.J. Hammond 131

The Musical Society of Victoria continued to play a vital role within the community and ‘the next twenty years,’ observes Stella Nemet, ‘…[were] its most vital and influential period.’ 132 In the manner of the Musical Association and Musical Artists’ Society, members of the Musical Society presented educational lectures and concerts of chamber, instrumental and vocal music at their monthly meetings (See Figure 1). 133

It is clear from the society’s minutes that chamber music continued to be viewed as beneficial to raising musical standards and taste in the colony. In a committee meeting held by the Musical Society on 11 June 1892, one of the ‘chief objects’ of the reconstituted organization was described as

the elevation of the public taste for music, whereby alone the works of the great masters may be appreciated at their true value, thus raising the divine art into its proper sphere as a mental enjoyment and health-giver, rather than a mere sensual amusement, as is the case with the lower order of music most generally in vogue in new and rapid growing communities. With this object in view, the Association decided to strike at the root of the whole matter, by raising the standard of music culture. 134

Along with chamber music, the Musical Society’s examination system was seen as vital to this cause and during the 1890s was expanded to encompass a wider range of instruments and levels of achievement. During the Musical Society’s first year, violoncello, flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon were added to the syllabi. The examination system was also expanded geographically to include students from

131 MSV, Annual Report and Balance Sheet, Minutes of the Musical Society of Victoria 1892 – 1895 , Musical Society of Victoria Records 1877–1980, MS 12801, Box 1/7, Australian Manuscripts Collection, Latrobe Library, SLV. 132 Nemet, History of the Musical Society of Victoria 1861 –1981 , 16. 133 The Musical Society’s meeting in April 1894, for example, consisted of a paper by Captain Hamilton Clarke entitled ‘The Wreck of the Victorian Orchestra,’ reviewed by George Peake, alongside performances of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata opus 31 number 2, Reinecke’s Sonata for Piano and ‘Cello, and songs by Fesca and Schubert. See Argus 7 April 1894: 16. 134 MSV, Minutes of the Musical Society of Victoria 1892 –1895 , 11 June 1892, 12. 61 country Victoria, such as those from Ballarat and Bendigo, and the colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania. Correspondence from intending candidates was even received from New Zealand. 135

Figure 1: 45 th Program for the Musical Society of Victoria (Louise Hanson-Dyer Music Library Concert and Theatre Program Collection, Box 4d)

135 Argus 30 November 1892: 7; MSV, Minutes of the Musical Society of Victoria 1895 –1899 , Musical Society of Victoria Records 1877–1980, MS 12801, Box 1/8, Australian Manuscripts Collection, Latrobe Library, SLV. 62

The Liedertafel Societies

Chamber music was also performed at regular smoke nights and public concerts held by Melbourne’s liedertafel societies. ‘Originating in Germany around 1809 as private men-only social singing clubs, [they]…aimed to foster German nationalism and culture.’ 136 Melbourne’s first liedertafel societies were established by Germans who migrated to Victoria during the mid-nineteenth century. Many had arrived in search of gold while others were believed to have fled the unrest brought about by the European revolutions of 1848. 137 A smaller number of German-born and German-trained musicians, including Julius Siede, also arrived during this period as professional musicians, and after completing their tours resided in Melbourne. By 1860 it was estimated that at least 10,000 immigrants of German origin were living in Melbourne. 138

Victoria’s first liedertafel society was the Liedertafel Harmonia (1856–1860), which, after collaborating with the Deutscher Verein, formed an alliance with the Deutscher Turnverein. Calling itself the Turnverein Liedertafel (1860 –1868), the society’s primary goal was to encourage ‘social intercourse’ amongst its members, although this focus did not necessarily oppose the ideals of advancing musical art and taste that were currently circulating amongst other musical societies in Melbourne during the same period. 139 Repertoire and programming were much aligned with nationalistic sentiment, and the primary focus was on works for male chorus in which all members, both professional and amateur, could participate. During its nine years of existence, the Turnverein Liedertafel organized a number of musical events, including ‘an enormous Sangfest [on] 27 November 1862, [which incorporated] a day and evening of music, dancing and fireworks.’ 140

136 Noel Wilmott, ‘Liedertafel,’ The Oxford Companion to Australian Music , ed. Warren Bebbington (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1997) 341. 137 Wilmott, ‘Liedertafel,’ 341–3. 138 Kerry Murphy, ‘Volk von Brüdern: The German-speaking Liedertafel in Melbourne,’ Nineteenth Century Music Review 2.2 (2005): 55. 139 Murphy, ‘Volk von Brüdern,’ 59–60. 140 Murphy, ‘Volk von Brüdern,’ 59–60. 63

Melbourner Deutsche Liedertafel 1868 –1879

In 1868, a larger and more influential liedertafel society, the Melbourner Deutsche Liedertafel was formed. The objectives of the Melbourner Deutsche Liedertafel were twofold. Its original aim, like that of the Turnverein Liedertafel, was to cultivate ‘social intercourse.’ By the 1870s, however, it is clear that the Melbourner Deutsche Liedertafel was also concerned with advancing musical art and improving musical taste. 141 Originally it had ‘practised the German serenade tradition, ranging from a formal musical greeting to a newly arrived governor, to less sober greetings delivered from the street outside a visiting singer’s hotel…Their concerts combined light music—absurd part songs like “The Bachelor’s Galop,” and “Daddy Long Legs”— with serious works (opera excerpts, cantatas, and new music), plus solo and instrumental items.’ 142 It also, however, performed high-art chamber music.

The focus on instrumental chamber music was particularly prominent in the society’s Herren Abende and public concerts during the late 1870s with the majority of performances carried out by members of the Melbourne Quartette Society. Established in June 1876, the Melbourne Quartette Society was formed with two primary objectives: ‘for the proper practice and performance of classical chamber music’ and ‘for the formation of a library of such music.’ 143 Members included string players Henry Curtis, E.A. Jäger, Philip and Alfred Montague, and Samuel Chapman, and pianists Julius Buddee and William Hunter. While the society acted as a separate entity, it worked in co-operation with the Deutscher Liedertafel, appearing regularly in its public concerts and Herren Abende. As members of the Melbourne Quartette Society were also members of the Liedertafel, this was no doubt a convenient arrangement for both parties.

The Melbourne Quartette Society introduced a number of new chamber works to the Melbourne public. According to the president of the society, E.A. Jäger, some of these performances were also Australian premiers, including those of Schumann’s String Quartet in A minor, Mendelssohn’s String Quartet opus 44 number 1, Marschner’s Piano Quartet, Taubert’s quartet, a number of Haydn’s quartets, and

141 Murphy, ‘Volk von Brüdern,’ 60. 142 Wilmott, ‘Liedertafel,’ 342. 143 E.A. Jäger, ‘The Melbourne Quartette Society,’ Argus 29 March 1882: 8. 64

Schubert’s String Quartet in D minor, for which they reportedly had twenty-seven rehearsals. 144 The latter work was amongst those premiered at the Melbourner Deutsche Liedertafel (See Table 4). 145

Table 4: Possible Premier Performances by the Melbourner Deutsche Liedertafel

Date Composer Work 18/09/1876 Haydn Sextet no 9 18/09/1876 Mozart String Quartet in B flat K589 18/09/1876 Beethoven Piano Quartet in E flat op 16 9/10/1876 Haydn Sextet no 5 4/12/1876 Mozart Piano Quartet in E flat K493 4/12/1876 Horsley String Quartet in E no 3 8/01/1877 Mendelssohn String Quartet op 12 8/01/1877 Pleyel String Quartet in E op 67 7/05/1877 Doppler Trio for Piano, Flute and ‘Cello 7/05/1877 Schubert String Quartet in D minor* 16/07/1877 Beethoven String Quartet op 18 no 1 13/08/1877 Kuhlau Trio for Piano and 2 Flutes 17/06/1878 Kuhlau Concertante for Piano and Flute op 110 * Melbourne Premiere

The Melbourne Quartette Society, however, brought more to the German Liedertafel’s programs than simply new repertoire. Their performance at the Liedertafel’s Herren Abend in January 1877, for example, was noted for the introduction of a new method of programming. Previously, chamber works were performed in two parts at separate points in the program, typically two movements early in the program and the remaining movements towards the end. In the words of the Argus critic, the practice was akin to ‘easing a task one would set to a child, or taking “the chill” off water in a bath, or learning to swim with corks, or anything else which represents the way how the half-doing of a work should be considered satisfactory.’ The performance of a complete string quartet, Mendelssohn’s String Quartet in E flat opus 12, on this occasion was considered by the critic to be evidence of a ‘growth of musical taste amongst the audience.’ 146

While vocal works, particularly part songs, remained an important element in the liedertafel society’s programs, instrumental chamber music was rapidly gaining ground. In May 1877, the Argus critic observed that ‘as has been mostly the case of

144 Jäger, ‘The Melbourne Quartette Society,’ 8. 145 Details of the Melbourner Deutsche Liedertafel’s programs have been taken from newspaper reviews supplied by Kerry Murphy. 146 ‘The Melbourne German Liedertafel,’ Argus 10 January 1877: 6. 65 late on such occasions the program was strong in the number of instrumental selections.’ In the critic’s opinion, the ‘chief feature’ of the program was not the vocal selections but rather the Melbourne String Quartette’s performance of Schubert’s String Quartet in D minor. 147

However, despite its artistic success, the Melbourne Quartette Society soon succumbed to financial pressure. In a letter to the editor of the Argus , the president of the society, E.A. Jäger, acknowledged that

although we may safely say we were musically a success, financially our efforts were a failure. We were almost always asked to play, either for nothing, or for a reduced professional fee…Finding, however, that we could not afford such a continuous gift of valuable time, we were compelled to insist on a proper fee. Our engagements soon became very few, and at present are not worth the practice. 148

With the Melbourne Quartette Society disbanding after approximately two and a half years (c1876 –1878), performances of high-art chamber music at the Melbourner Deutsche Liedertafel were left to various combinations of musicians. George Weston, S. Hart, Otto Vogt, E. King, Wright, Hailes, Reed, and briefly, Leon Caron, all contributed to performances of chamber music in the Liedertafel’s gentlemen’s and mixed concerts during 1878. 149 Julius Siede was also prominent and, given his reputation as a musician of superior talent, was probably largely responsible for the introduction of much chamber music scored for flute. In May 1877, for example, he performed Doppler’s Trio for flute, ‘cello and piano with Alfred Montague and William Hunter; later the same year he performed a trio for two flutes and piano, and a duo concertante for flute and piano, both by Kuhlau, and in October 1878 performed a trio for three flutes alongside Rudall and Moerlin. 150

147 ‘The Melbourne German Liedertafel,’ Argus 9 May 1877: 7. 148 Jäger, ‘The Melbourne Quartette Society,’ 8. 149 Leader 23 March 1878: 19; 22 June 1878: 18–9; 20 July: 18; 2 November 1878: 19. 150 The work was also not identified but was probably Kuhlau’s Trio for 3 Flutes, the same three performers having presented this work at the Musical Association in May the same year. See Argus 9 May 1877: 7; 14 August 1877: 5; Leader 22 June 1878: 18–9; 2 November 1878: 19. 66

On the whole, however, very little new repertoire emerged after 1878 and the number of performances of high-art chamber music repertoire appeared to decline. At the same time, the Musical Association and Musical Artists’ society were both incorporating chamber music into their monthly meetings.

The Metropolitan and Melbourne Liedertafel Societies

In 1879 the Melbourner Deutsche Liedertafel changed to accommodate its growing body of English-born and English-speaking members. Up to this point, all official proceedings of the society had been conducted in German, with German-born members only authorized to hold positions of office. In February 1879 a meeting was held by the German Liedertafel to ‘remove the restrictions as to the nationality of officers, and the use of the German language in the transaction of business’ after the English singing members, now forming a considerable majority of the choir, [had] expressed their intention of withdrawing from the society unless they were represented on the committee of management, and unless the business [was] conducted in English.’ The society’s name was changed to the Melbourne Liedertafel. All else remained the same and the new society agreed to provisionally adopt the same rules of the old society. 151

A second society, the Metropolitan Liedertafel, commenced on 15 July 1870 with a meeting of twelve men at the George Hotel in Prahran. 152 Both Liedertafel societies had large memberships and incorporated selections of chamber music into their programs. The Liedertafels’ musical entertainments included Ladies nights, in which women could attend but not perform, and gentlemen-only ‘Smoke Nights,’ social gatherings in which smoking and drinking were features. In contrast to the small private gatherings held by the Musical Association and Musical Artists’ Society of Victoria, the Metropolitan and Melbourne Liedertafel societies ‘regularly attracted audiences of over two thousand to [their] “Social Evenings for Ladies and Gentlemen.”’ However, it was not uncommon for them to attract an even larger

151 Leader 1 February 1879: 19. 152 Suzanne Cole, ‘As Much by Force of Circumstances as by Ambition: The Programming Practices of the Melbourne Liedertafel Societies, 1880–1905,’ Nineteenth Century Music Review 2.2 (2005): 107. 67 audience, sometimes even as high as five or six thousand people. 153 The gatherings were grand occasions in which social intercourse and the consumption of alcohol and tobacco amongst comfortable surroundings were as important as the music itself. As Alexander Sutherland recalls:

Whether at one of its grand Town Hall concerts, when every two or three months a vast audience of nearly three thousand persons, all in evening dress, fills the handsome hall, to hear the noblest fragments of majestic works produced with impressive effect, amid stately surroundings; or at the familiar “smoke nights,” when, amid curling wreaths of tobacco smoke, and with the intervals filled by the clink of glasses, the audience of men that occupies the sawdust-strewn floor of the Athenæum listens to the cheerful choruses of the Fatherland, or the sterling old English glees or the part songs of modern writers; in either case the music given is of the finest class, and is worthily rendered. 154

The Liedertafels’ programs contained as many as twenty different works. The majority of these would be vocal items, part songs and solos, with a few instrumental solos and perhaps one or sometimes two chamber works. Occasionally, larger works such as oratorios or portions of orchestral or operatic works were also performed. These were usually produced in the societies’ mixed entertainments.

Performances of chamber music peaked in both Liedertafel societies’ concerts during the 1880s when it is estimated to have been performed in approximately fifty- two per cent of the Melbourne Liedertafel’s and twenty-five per cent of the Metropolitan Liedertafel’s concerts. Percentages were higher in the gentlemen-only entertainments where approximately seventy-eight per cent of the Melbourne Liedertafel’s and fifty-one per cent of the Metropolitan Liedertafel’s concerts contained some form of chamber music. During the 1890s, the percentage of concerts containing chamber music declined in both societies. 155

The combined number of performances of chamber music by both Liedertafel societies between the years 1878 and 1905 was no less than 169 performances of

153 Cole, ‘As Much by Force of Circumstances as by Ambition,’ 107. 154 Sutherland, Victoria and its Metropolis , vol. 1, 511. 155 These figures are taken from “Table 7: Percentage of concerts with orchestra or chamber works” in Cole, ‘As Much by Force of Circumstances as by Ambition,’ 119. 68 works for chamber ensemble. 156 The vast majority of these comprised selected movements of trios, quartets and quintets by composers such as Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Mendelssohn. The Melbourne Liedertafel performed a larger variety of composers, also producing works by the German composers Karl Reissiger, Friederic Fesca, Georg Goltermann, Friedrich Kücken and Franz Lachner. 157

The remaining chamber works consisted of a wide variety of arrangements such as those of Beethoven’s symphonies, operatic excerpts, and overtures. The chamber works performed in any one concert could also contrast dramatically. Take, for example, the Metropolitan Liedertafel’s concert on 27 March 1882 featuring the Mendelssohn Quintette Club. Throughout the course of the evening one movement from Mendelssohn’s Quintet in A opus 18, selections from Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E flat opus 44, and excerpts from Meyerbeer’s Robert le diable were performed. The latter item consisted of an arrangement of the Sicilienne, drinking chorus, and ballet for string and piano quintet. 158

Cultivating a Taste for Chamber Music

The Liedertafel societies’ relationship to chamber music was perhaps the most ambiguous of Melbourne’s musical societies. As noted by Suzanne Cole, ‘The Liedertafels, by their very nature, could not abandon the male-voice part-song repertory that lay at the heart of their activities. The regular performance of part- songs meant that most concerts included several miscellaneous items by non-canonic composers.’ 159 For this reason, high-art chamber music, regardless of its perceived benefits to musical taste and education, or of how well it may have been received by audiences, was used in the liedertafel societies’ programs to complement the vocal selections. Furthermore, the social aims of the liedertafel appeared to be at odds with the notions of serious and attentive listening that were particularly associated with high-art chamber music concerts, and which were beginning to infiltrate Melbourne

156 ‘Database of Melbourne Concert Life,’ Centre for Studies in Australian Music, Parkville, Melbourne. 157 ‘Database of Melbourne Concert Life.’ 158 ‘Database of Melbourne Concert Life.’ 159 Cole, ‘As Much by Force of Circumstances as by Ambition,’ 132. 69 concerts after having been established as standard concert practices in England and continental Europe.

Clearly, there was a feeling among at least some members of the public that the social gatherings of the liedertafel societies should contain more popular styles of music. In March 1879 the critic for the Australasian , for example, criticised the Metropolitan Liedertafel for the choice of repertoire at its recent social evening concert stating ‘that convivial music would be more suited to such entertainments than Mendelssohn quartetts [sic].’ 160 Members of the Musical Association, many of whom were also members of the Metropolitan Liedertafel, took objection to the report at their next monthly meeting and resolved ‘[t]hat a respectfully-worded letter be sent to the editor of the Australasian pointing out that such criticism [was] detrimental to the cause of high art music in Melbourne.’ 161

The Melbourne Liedertafel also considered the role of chamber music in its meetings suggesting in September 1879 ‘that long instrumental works, particularly the string quartettes which had been such a feature of the old society, should be in some way modified. The meeting agreed, but chamber music still appeared on the programs.’ 162 Performances of chamber music, in fact, went on to increase during the 1880s, particularly in the society’s gentlemen-only entertainments where it featured in almost eighty per cent of programs. 163

Some members of the public, however, felt that the liedertafel societies had not done enough to further the development of high-art music in Melbourne, given their large memberships and dominance on the musical calendar. In 1880, Henry Keiley (music critic for the Argus newspaper) argued that ‘The liedertafel…is, as its name implies, a society for the sociable practice amongst men of music of a not too severe character…The music which they practise is very easy of accomplishment, and

160 Leader 15 March 1879: 18. 161 Leader 15 March 1879: 18. 162 Thérèse Radic, ‘Some Historical Aspects of Musical Associations in Melbourne, 1888– 1915,’ PhD thesis, University of Melbourne, 1977, 530. 163 See “Table 7: Percentage of concerts with orchestra or chamber works,” in Cole, ‘As Much by Force of Circumstances as by Ambition,’ 119. 70 they aim at nothing higher.’ 164 Furthermore, the dominance of what he termed ‘Liedertafelism’ made it impossible for local artists to successfully organize their own concerts. ‘The profit and fame,’ he observed,

remain with the two societies, who are content with their limited culture of the art, and their subscribers are content with their extremely cheap and sociable entertainments, while there remains a wider and nobler sphere of music into which they have apparently no ambition to enter. 165

These views were further debated by the Musical Artists’ Society in its general meeting on 27 March 1886 when George Peake presented a paper entitled ‘The influence of liedertafelism on music art.’ Peake asserted that

although there was much to admire in the liedertafels of Melbourne, they had outgrown the legitimate liedertafel; had destroyed enterprise in concert giving, and thereby prevented professionals from introducing promising pupils whose musical education is of necessity completed on the public platform, and that the non-success of distinguished musical visitors, and also the disappearance of serious opera, were attributable to the same cause. These and several other points of lesser importance were urged to show that the liedertafels of Melbourne were not advancing musical art. 166

Peake was not alone in his assertions. However, the meeting was reportedly ‘divided in opinion’ with the majority ‘favouring’ the Liedertafel societies. 167

No doubt, those who felt compelled to defend the liedertafel societies recognized that, along with their social aims, the liedertafels exhibited a strong commitment to advancing musical art in the colony. Both the Melbourne and Metropolitan Liedertafel Societies ‘expressed at times a strong sense of duty to perform great music which would “educate” their audiences. The Melbourne Liedertafel took part in occasional illustrated lectures on music, but mostly the societies educated through performing major works by canonical composers.’ 168 As

164 Henry Keiley, ‘The Tendency of Popular Taste and how to elevate it,’ The Victorian Review 1 March (1880): 824. 165 Keiley, ‘The Tendency of Popular Taste and how to elevate it,’ 825. 166 Argus 29 March 1886: 5. 167 Argus 29 March 1886: 5. 168 Hill, ‘A Source of Enjoyment,’ 104. 71 noted by Suzanne Cole, the liedertafel societies not only performed a substantial number of high-art chamber works, but also produced a number of significant orchestral and vocal works including movements of symphonies, particularly those by Beethoven and Mendelssohn, overtures, and large-scale vocal works requiring larger orchestral forces. The Melbourne Liedertafel, for example, produced Melbourne’s first performances of Beethoven’s Fidelio and Ninth Symphony. These performances were deservedly given a positive reception in the press, critics viewing them as ‘substantial achievements in the musical life of the city.’ 169

Contemporary commentators agreed that the liedertafels had had a positive effect on the development of musical art and taste in Melbourne. Charles Hallé, on his tour of Australia in 1890, observed the quality of singing in the Melbourne liedertafel societies, claiming that they must have done a great deal towards educating musical taste in the colony. 170 He later noted in his diary that when the ‘Liedertafel, about 120 strong, sang, [the] quality of the voices, the ensemble and nuances , all were as good as could be wished for…’ 171 Both Hallé and his wife, the renowned violinist Wilhelmina Norman-Neruda, ‘were surprised to find that music was at such a standard here and the attention of audiences was such that they were able to accept the same kind of programs as the Hallés had given in England.’ 172

While there was much discussion and disagreement within Melbourne’s musical community about what the role of the liedertafel was or should be, the roles of the Musical Association and the Musical Artists’ Society were, by contrast, more clearly defined. The Musical Association’s and Musical Artists’ Society’s commitment to chamber music was such that in 1878, Henry Keiley, music critic for the Argus newspaper, described them as Melbourne’s two principal ‘chamber-music’ societies. They are ‘[exercising] considerable influence in the right direction of musical taste,’ he wrote, ‘[and] to them is owing the first production to Melbourne of

169 Cole, ‘As Much by Force of Circumstances as by Ambition,’ 115. 170 Interview with the Argus newspaper, quoted in William Nash, Music in the Cabbage Garden: The Pioneers of Music in Victoria , ed. Marie Rowe (Melbourne: Innisfallen Press, 1988) 212–3. (Copy held in Rare Books Collection, Baillieu Library, University of Melbourne). 171 Charles Hallé, The Autobiography of Charles Hallé , ed. Michael Kennedy (London: Paul Elek Books, 1972) 208. 172 Radic, ‘Major Choral Organizations in Late Nineteenth-Century Melbourne,’ 27–8. 72 many beautiful compositions which were otherwise unknown here.’ 173 In contrast to the liedertafels, the Musical Association and Musical Artists’ Society’s primary focus was on serious instrumental repertoire. Considered to be detrimental to the advancement of musical art and taste, the part songs and popular-styled vocal works that featured prominently in the liedertafel societies’ programs, were systematically excluded from their programs and replaced with more serious art songs and substantial selections from oratorios and opera.

It is clear that musical societies played a significant role in the development of high-art chamber music in Melbourne during the nineteenth century. While these organizations contrasted with one another in terms of their goals, principles, and memberships, each created a physical space and audience for high-art chamber music. As has been demonstrated in this chapter, numerous chamber works, including a number of premier performances, were produced in the societies’ regular meetings. Many of these performances were driven by an ethos of ‘education’ and a desire to advance musical art in the colony. Even the liedertafel societies, which were originally established to encourage social intercourse amongst its members, viewed chamber music as beneficial to musical taste and sought to contribute to Melbourne’s musical advancement through performances of the genre. With chamber musicians and musical entrepreneurs gaining confidence and support from these networks, chamber music soon moved from these settings into the public arena, creating the opportunity for larger numbers of Melburnians to hear it. The extent to which high-art chamber music was performed in public concerts, its audiences, and the various contexts in which performances took place, will be discussed in the next chapter.

173 Keiley, ‘The Tendency of Popular Taste and how to elevate it,’ 823. 73

Chapter 3: Chamber Music in Public Concerts

Melbourne’s public concerts and concert series were essentially hybrid forms of European models, adapted and modified to suit local conditions. While the motivating forces behind these structures were similar to those found in Europe, directors of public concerts in Melbourne were faced with an environment at first preoccupied with practical concerns: a lack of basic infrastructure such as concert halls, a smaller population (and therefore smaller audiences), fewer musicians, difficulty in accessing musical scores and literature, and isolation from their parent cultures and the European centres of art; these issues helped to shape the development of public concert life in Melbourne during the nineteenth century. To a large extent, directors of public concerts were forced to consider local conditions and whether or not their endeavours would be financially viable.

The structure of society in Victoria, in particular Melbourne society during the nineteenth century, also contributed to the manner in which public chamber-music concerts evolved. Class distinctions that helped to shape and define many of London’s chamber-music concerts of the same period, for example, were not as defined in Melbourne where high-art chamber music in general was largely the pursuit and consumable product of the middle class. 1 According to Geoffrey Serle, Australia’s middle class was more prominent than Britain’s, with ‘the aristocracy, the paupers and the aged seriously under-represented.’ 2 However, another contributing factor was an emerging national consciousness, defined in part by egalitarian values. Many promoters of culture ‘chose to adapt themselves to the new environment rather than superimpose their class values of Englishness upon it. [They] underwent a convulsive

1 Class distinctions in London can be seen in chamber-music concerts held on the West and East Ends of London. John Ella’s Musical Union concerts, for example, were open to an elite membership while those of the People’s Concert Society were designed to appeal to poorer classes in London’s East End. See Christina Bashford, ‘Chamber Music,’ The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians , vol. 5, ed. Stanley Sadie, 2 nd ed. (London: Macmillan, 2001) 434–48. 2 Geoffrey Serle, quoted in Joseph Johnson and Melbourne Savage Club, Laughter and the Love of Friends: a Centenary History of the Melbourne Savage Club 1894–1994 and a History of the Yorick Club 1868–1966 (Melbourne: Melbourne Savage Club, 1994) 18. 74 change in social values and patterns, and from them came not only an authentic patriotic fervour, but a tradition of warmth, hospitality and egalitarianism.’ 3

Thus, although Melbourne’s musicians attempted to recreate many of London’s musical institutions, they were transplanting them into a very different environment and in front of a varied, and in some cases, ignorant audience. While high-art concerts were often patronized by members of the upper classes, such as members of the vice-regal entourage, their success and survival were largely dependent on less elevated members of society, typically teachers and students of music, other musicians, music critics, and in many cases, women.

Visiting Musicians and Concert Companies

Messrs Ravac and Imberg (1846) were amongst the first professional musicians to perform chamber music in Melbourne. The violinist and pianist performed sonatas in the city where they were said to have ‘presented some unusually superior musical entertainments at the Prince of Wales , a fashionable hotel in Little Flinders Street East…both were Germans, and en route to Calcutta.’ 4 While there are no further details available regarding what they performed, their appearances were reportedly ‘well received.’5 In 1852, Alfred Montague (‘cello) and Alberto Zelman (piano) gave a series of concerts and were soon followed by the violinist and pianist combination of M. and Mme. Herwyn in 1853. The latter concerts contained at least ‘some form of chamber music, [the] artistic performances gaining cordial approval.’6

From 1854 to 1856 the Hungarian violinist Miska Hauser toured Australia ‘playing in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Hobart and Adelaide…His reception was tumultuous, although he played chiefly transcriptions of operatic melodies, facile showpieces and trifles of his own.’7 Nevertheless, he performed a number of chamber

3 Max Harris, quoted in Johnson and Melbourne Savage Club, Laughter and the Love of Friends , 51. 4 Edmund Finn, Chronicles of Early Melbourne, 1835–1852 (Melbourne: Fergusson and Mitchell, 1888) 488. 5 W.A. Orchard, Music in Australia: More than 150 Years of Development (Melbourne: Georgian House, 1952) 136. 6 Orchard, Music in Australia , 136. 7 Warren Bebbington, ‘Hauser, Miska,’ The Oxford Companion to Australian Music (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1997) 261. See also Miska Hauser, Miska Hauser’s 75 works, which were noted by Orchard to be events of great significance because of Hauser’s experience as a chamber musician in Europe. As a

[former] student with Mayseder, [and] member of the famous Schuppanzigh Quartet which played Beethoven’s chamber works under the composer’s direction, Hauser brought with him Viennese traditions which were of great value to [the] country…Among the works he was able to present were Beethoven’s F minor Quartet, Op. 95; Haydn’s Kaiser Quartet; a Mayseder Sextet; a Mendelssohn Trio, probably the D minor; and the Theme with Variations from Beethoven’s Fifth Quartet. These and other works, including his own string quartet, were played frequently during his prolonged tour of Australia…In Melbourne his associates were Montague, Zelman and others of that group. 8

‘Other musicians arriving from time to time also showed a partiality for chamber music, particularly Amalie Rawack and Mme. Jaffa, two pianists, the latter taking part in performances of Beethoven’s Sonatas for Piano and Violin early in 1860.’9

In 1861 the French-speaking musicians Horace Poussard (violinist) and René Douay (‘cellist) arrived in Melbourne where they performed two piano trios by Beethoven with the pianist Eduard Boulanger at a morning concert given in Toorak by His Excellency and Lady Barkly. 10 They also participated in performances of ‘two [unnamed] quartettes from the works of Mozart and Beethoven’ with the aid of Messrs. Rider and Thomas at the Mechanics Institute. While the classical quartets on this occasion were acknowledged by the Argus critic to be examples of ‘the higher branches’ of art, the audience preferred the musicians’ instrumental solos, which were more popular in character. 11

The 1870s saw a significant increase in the number of professional musicians touring Australia as well as an increased ratio of female to male performers (see Table 5). Most notable during the decade were the tours of the English pianists Arabella

letters from Australia, 1854–1858, trans. Colin Roderick (Ascot Vale, Vic.: Red Rooster Press, 1988). 8 Orchard, Music in Australia , 137. 9 Orchard, Music in Australia , 137. 10 Argus 23 September 1861: 5. 11 Argus 10 October 1861: 5. 76

Goddard and Carlotta Tasca, the French pianist Alice Charbonnet and two female violinists, Jenny Claus and Camilla Urso.

Table 5: Touring Musicians and Companies that performed Chamber Music Touring Musicians Year(s) Ravac and Imberg 1846 M. and Mme. Herwyn 1853 Miska Hauser 1854–1856 Mme. Jaffa 1860 Horace Poussard and René Douay 1861–1864 Arabella Goddard 1873–1874 Jenny Claus 1874–1876 Henry Ketten 1880 Carlotta Patti Co. 1880 August Wilhelmj and Max Vogrich 1881 Mendelssohn Quintette Club 1882 Eduard Reményi 1884 Charles and Lady Hallé 1890–1891 Musin Company 1895

During the early 1880s a number of high-calibre European-trained pianists and violinists also toured the Australian colonies where they performed chamber music as part of their official programs. Many of them, such as August Wilhelmj, Max Vogrich, Eduard Reményi and Henry Ketten, had had vast experience as virtuoso performers in continental Europe, and brought with them direct knowledge not only of European concert practices but also of what were regarded by contemporary commentators to be finely-tuned interpretative and technical skills.

August Wilhelmj was perhaps the most experienced violinist to tour Melbourne during this period, having performed extensively throughout Europe and the United States of America. His career as a professional violinist commenced in 1865 with a tour of Switzerland. This was followed by further tours to Holland, London (1866), Paris (1867), Russia (1868), France, Belgium (1869–1870) and a second tour of Switzerland, followed by Great Britain and Ireland. More concerts on the European continent followed, incorporating North Germany, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Berlin and then Vienna. From 1878 to 1882 Wilhelmj conducted a world tour that saw him debut in New York on 26 September 1878 where his ‘triumph’ was described by one contemporary to be both ‘sudden and complete.’ 12

12 J.R.G Hassard, ‘Wilhelmj and Reményi,’ Scribner’s Monthly, an illustrated Magazine 18.1 (1879): 114. 77

In the US Wilhelmj met the Hungarian pianist Max Vogrich and together they formed a concert party to tour the Australian colonies in 1881. The impact of their performances on the development of musical culture in Melbourne was felt in a number of ways. As former students of the Leipzig Conservatorium, one of the preferred musical institutions for Australian music students, Wilhelmj and Vogrich were not only admired for their style and technical abilities, but also for their relationship with the ‘new school’ of German music.13 Both musicians, for example, were credited with contributing to the dissemination of Wagner’s music in Melbourne, the critic for the Leader newspaper stating: ‘Thanks are due to Herr Wilhelmj and Mr. Vogrich for introducing so many favorable specimens of Wagner’s writing to Melbourne; and in that respect alone the visit of these two artists to the colony will have been of material benefit to us.’ 14 A number of Wilhelmj’s paraphrases and transcriptions of Wagner’s works were also performed in Melbourne during this period, including a paraphrase of the overture to Rienzi , which was performed in Melbourne in October 1881, and paraphrases on Siegfried and ‘Preislied’ ( Die Meistersinger ). 15

Wilhelmj and Vogrich’s experiences as performers of chamber music in Europe, however, were also beneficial to the general movement towards introducing and familiarizing Melbourne audiences with high-art chamber works. 16 Although Wilhelmj and Vogrich principally performed instrumental solos during their official tour of Melbourne, both musicians participated in additional concerts as performers of chamber music, the latter going on to reside in Melbourne for a further two years where he became a regular performer in the city’s most prestigious and successful public chamber-music concert series: The Melbourne Popular Concerts. In 1881, Vogrich and Wilhelmj held an extended series of Wilhelmj Festival Entertainments, which featured a number of instrumental solos, orchestral and chamber works,

13 Michael Kennedy, ‘Wilhelmj, August,’ Oxford Concise Dictionary of Music , 4 th ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996) 793–4; Hassard, ‘Wilhelmj and Reményi.’ 14 Leader 22 October 1881. 15 Leader 22 October 1881. 16 According to J.R.G Hassard, critic for Scribner’s magazine, Wilhelmj’s first experience as a chamber musician was at the age of eight when he performed some of Haydn’s string quartets. This experience was further enhanced through his contact with the violinist Ferdinand David at the Leipzig Conservatorium. See Hassard, ‘Wilhelmj and Reményi,’ 112. 78 including Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E flat, Schubert’s String Quartet in D minor and Mendelssohn’s String Quartet in E minor opus 44 number 2. According to the critic for the Leader newspaper, the performances of these works provided a welcome addition to the Wilhelmj concerts, which had so far been marketed to the general public as ‘Popular’ concerts, being ‘specially advertised…with the evident idea of special attraction.’ 17

Along with knowledge and experience of chamber music in its original European context, touring instrumentalists such as Wilhelmj and Vogrich also brought with them a number of other European practices that not only influenced the type of repertoire that was selected for concerts, but also the composition of the touring party. Many solo pianists or violinists, for example, adopted the practice of forming companies of vocalists and solo instrumentalists to produce a ‘diversified’ style of concert. According to Nancy B. Reich, this ‘tradition…[appealed] to the new middle-class audiences that paid for an evening of musical entertainment. Whether the concert was arranged by the soloist or an organization such as the [Leipzig] Gewandhaus board of directors, the soloists shared the program and alternated with a group of “supporting” artists—singers, instrumentalists, perhaps a small ensemble.’ 18

In Europe, the practice was to continue for much of the nineteenth century despite the growing trend for soloists, particularly pianists, to perform their concerts independent of assisting artists. Even Clara Schumann ‘was not able to break entirely with the tradition…because audiences expected to hear a variety of performers, and Clara… kept the demands of the public in mind.’ 19

On their professional concert tours, musicians from Europe and America brought similar dynamics to the Melbourne scene. Vogrich and Wilhelmj, for example, toured Melbourne with two vocalists who they had added to their party prior to their arrival in the city. Other professional musicians, however, secured assisting artists on their arrival in Australia. In 1861, for example, the virtuoso violinist and ‘cellist Poussard and Duoay toured the colonies with resident vocalists

17 Leader 22 October 1881. 18 Nancy B. Reich, Clara Schumann: The Artist and the Woman (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985) 258–9. 19 Reich, Clara Schumann , 259. 79 who included Amelia Bailey, Armes Beaumont, Florence Calzado (Madame Poussard) and Madame Stutaford. 20 Arabella Goddard and Jenny Claus also performed alongside a number of local vocalists and instrumentalists, the former also performing in a concert with the Opera Orchestra under the direction of William Lyster. By contrast, the Carlotta Patti Company featured a combination of visiting European musicians and comprised the vocalist Carlotta Patti alongside a ‘cellist (Ernst de Muck), an Italian violinist (Signor Ortori), the French pianist Alice Charbonnet (recently arrived in Melbourne), and a baritone, Ciampi Cellaj.

Public concerts with these professional instrumentalists typically featured a combination of instrumental and vocal works of various styles. It was not unusual, for example, for their concerts to contain one or two instrumental solos, including fantasias on well-known melodies or operatic arias and movements of sonatas interleaved with lieder, popular songs or ballads, and chamber music (See Table 6).

Table 6: Grand Vocal and Instrumental Concert at the Town Hall 30 September 1876

Composer Work Performer Rossini ‘Come un’ape’ (La Cenerentola ) Luisetti A. Giammona Fantasia ( La Sonambula ) A. Giamonna Blumenthal ‘The Children’s Kingdom’ Mrs Cutter Alard Grand Fantasia on Airs from Traviata Jenny Claus Donizetti ‘Come paride vezzoso’ (L’Elisir d’amore ) Luisetti Leonard Romance Jenny Claus Fesca ‘The Winged Messenger’ Mrs Cutter Beethoven Trio in B flat opus 11 Jenny Claus, A. Zelman, A. Montague Clinton Fantasia (Saint Lucia ) A. Giammona Reichardt ‘Love’s Request’ Mrs Cutter Alard Fantasia ( Trovatore ) Jenny Claus Meyerbeer ‘Sei Vendicata assai’ (Dinorah ) Luisetti

Other musicians entrusted the organization of their professional tours to specialized business managers. Concerned primarily with making a living from their concerts, their programs often incorporated a series of more popular-style works such as fantasias on operatic arias, variations on popular tunes, or a variety of ‘show’ pieces, occasionally interspersed with more serious classical items, such as a sonata or a movement from a concerto. At odds with the concept of serious listening often

20 See Peggy Jane Lais, ‘The Changing Repertoire of Horace Poussard,’ BMus thesis, University of Melbourne, 2002. 80 associated with high-art instrumental chamber-music concerts, these concerts were designed to impress and entertain.

According to Alfred Montague, Henry Ketten, who made his professional tour of Australia in 1880, surpassed all other pianists to tour Melbourne during this period in terms of ‘the quality of fascination. He filled night after night the great Theatre Royal unaided [and] could not only play from Beethoven to Liszt with perfect ease, but small pieces in the most ravishing manner.’ 21 He had also finely tuned the ‘business’ of concert giving, using his Melbourne recitals as a launching platform for the publication and sale of his own arrangements and paraphrases. According to Montague, ‘You bought his “Marguerite Au Rouet” and “Butterfly Chase” next morning—found them very easy and pretty, but nothing in them. In his hand, [however], they were gems, and you wanted them twenty times over.’ 22 He was also famous for his transcription of the minuet from Boccherini’s Quintet, which was published by Allan and Co., and which he performed in a concert on 26 June 1880 at the Melbourne Opera House. 23

Like many professional musicians who visited Melbourne during this period, however, Ketten’s contribution to the development and dissemination of high-art chamber music in Melbourne was a token one, his professional engagements embedded firmly in the context of the business of concert-giving and the need for financial gain. 24

Eduard Reményi, another violinist to tour the Australian colonies after completing a professional tour of the United States of America, arrived in Melbourne in 1884. Hailed the ‘Liszt of the Violin’ and the ‘King of Violinists,’ Reményi’s tour was also organized by O. Nobilli and a limited season of concerts was given under engagement to Messrs Rignold and Allison. 25 Like Ketten’s, Reményi’s concerts

21 Alfred Montague, ‘Early Days in Australia: An Autobiography of a Prominent Musician,’ The Australian Music and Dramatic News May 1913: 310. 22 Montague, ‘Early Days in Australia,’ May 1913: 310. 23 Argus 28 June 1880: 6. A personally signed copy of Ketten’s transcription of Boccherini’s minuet is housed at the National Library of Australia. 24 According to Montague, Ketten participated in a performance of Schumann’s Piano Quintet during his stay in Melbourne. 25 Argus 4 October 1884: 16. 81 consisted of a variety of ‘popular’ works such as a Fantasia on Otello , ‘Auld Robin Gray,’ and the celebrated Hungarian national march, Rakoczy ,26 interspersed with high-art instrumental music, such as a movement of Mendelssohn’s violin concerto or Beethoven’s ‘Kreutzer’ sonata. 27 This combination was viewed favourably by members of the press, the critic for the Argus writing:

Last night he revealed to them something of this method of treating [popular melodies]; and it is not to be wondered at now that popular tunes have become instruments to charm the general mind under his wonder-working hand. In addition to its attraction for the average listener, this arrangement was most musicianly for the harmony and pathetic keeping of its parts. 28

The performance of this type of repertoire, however, appeared to be at odds with Reményi’s preferred style. Having gained the reputation of being a formidable performer of ‘gypsy music and of the national songs and dances of Hungary’ during his career as a virtuoso in Europe, he was said to have turned to ‘classical’ music. 29 During his tour of the US during the late 1870s, the critic for Scribner’s magazine, J.R. Hassard, noted that ‘whatever may have been Reményi’s favorite style in former years, his preference now is to be recognized as a classical performer. Hungarian folk-music is rarely found on his programmes…To the interpretation of works like the Beethoven Concerto he brings a technical ability which fully answers every demand upon it.’ 30

In addition to the professional soloists and hastily formed concert parties that toured Melbourne during this period was the visit of the Boston Mendelssohn Quintette Club in 1881 –1882. At the time of its Australasian tour, the Boston Mendelssohn Quintette Club, which had been in existence for over thirty years, was considered to be the most ‘extraordinary musical combination ever heard in

26 Argus 20 October 1884: 8. 27 Reményi performed the Andante and Finale of the ‘Kreutzer’ sonata with Madame Carlotta Tasca in a concert at the Melbourne Town Hall on 18 October 1884. See Argus 20 October 1884: 6. 28 Argus 7 October 1884: 5. 29 Hassard, ‘Wilhelmj and Reményi,’ 116. Hassard defines the career of a virtuoso as ‘generally a succession of concert tours through the chief cities of the continent.’ 30 Hassard, ‘Wilhelmj and Reményi,’ 116. 82

Australia.’ 31 The company, consisting of Messrs. Schnitzler and Thiele (violins), Schade (flute and violin), Ryan (clarinet and viola), Giese (‘cello), and a singer, Cora R. Miller, performed thirteen concerts in Sydney in October 1881. After a brief tour of Tasmania and rural New South Wales, they returned to Sydney in January 1882 where they performed six farewell concerts (30 January to 4 February) of a ‘more classical nature.’ 32 On 3 February they appeared in concert with the local pianist Alice Charbonnet performing Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto in G minor ‘with quintette accompaniment.’ 33 From Sydney the Quintette Club travelled to Melbourne (February 1882) where they performed for approximately two weeks at the Melbourne Opera House ‘with great success.’ 34

According to critics in the press, they brought with them standards of performance that had never before been witnessed in Australia. One reviewer observed ‘a wonderful equality of capacity.’ In his view ‘there [was] nothing indifferent for the critics...to take exception to. No jars, no faltering, no slurring over passages which [wanted] clear execution. All [was] smooth, precise, and accurate to a nicety.’ 35

The Mendelssohn Quintette Club presented programs that catered for a wide range of musical tastes. Movements of quartets and quintets by composers such as Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Schubert and Rubinstein were performed alongside arrangements of popular tunes, transcriptions of large scale orchestral and operatic works, instrumental solos and vocal items. These programs were aligned with the club’s more popular style concerts, which were generally performed outside of Boston, and which, according to Richard M. Dowell, usually contained ‘more vocal selections, short instrumental solos, isolated movements and

31 Sydney Morning Herald 3 October 1881: 2. 32 N.a., ‘Musical Meanders: Concert Giving in the Colonies of Victoria and South Australia,’ Boston Transcript 12 May 1882, in Metropolitan Lieder Scrapbook 1881–1883, RVL Box 2, Liedertafel Collection, Grainger Museum, Centre for Studies in Australian Music, Parkville. 33 SMH 3 February 1882: 2. 34 N.a., ‘Musical Meanders,’ Boston Transcript 12 May 1882. 35 N.a., ‘The Musical World,’ unidentified source, article 90 in Metropolitan Lieder Scrapbook 1881–1883, RVL Box 2, CSAM, Parkville. 83 arrangements.’ 36 By contrast, the club’s Boston concerts were generally ‘more sophisticated’ in nature and consisted of fewer works, which were usually performed in their entirety. 37

Chamber-Music Performances by Resident Musicians

While the contribution of touring musicians to the dissemination and development of high-art chamber music in Melbourne was significant, the contribution of resident musicians was larger both in terms of the number of performances and new works introduced. Resident musicians were also responsible for organizing subscription chamber-music concert series (discussed later in this chapter) as well as performing chamber music in a variety of other contexts.

Chamber music was performed regularly, for example, in benefit concerts, which typically comprised a variety of items ranging from popular and part songs, operatic arias, and transcriptions, to movements of sonatas, concertos and high-art chamber works. Two movements of Mendelssohn’s String Quintet opus 87, for example, were performed in a benefit concert tendered to Julius Siede on 1 October 1887 alongside an instrumental solo and a number of vocal works (including a part song performed by the Metropolitan and Melbourne Liedertafel Societies). Chamber music was also performed at benefit concerts given at the Melbourne Athenæum on 12 February 1885 (Hummel’s Piano Trio in F major), and 17 November 1887 (Beethoven’s String Quartet in A major opus 18 number 5). 38

Chamber music also appeared in ‘promotional’ concerts organized by local music dealers such as Nicholson and Ascherberg and Allan and Co. In 1876, for example, Nicholson and Ascherberg held a series of matinée concerts to promote their new showrooms and published works. Their matinée held on 2 September 1876 comprised a variety of vocal and instrumental works that included a number of orchestral works arranged for Herr Plock’s band, two movements of Haydn’s String

36 Furthermore, a defining feature of the Mendelssohn Quintette Club’s Melbourne concerts was the inclusion of overtures in all but one concert. This practice was aligned with the club’s Saturday Popular Concerts in Boston, which were revived in the 1862–1863 season and which all began with an overture. See Richard M. Dowell, ‘The Mendelssohn Quintette Club of Boston,’ PhD thesis, Kent State University, 1999, 69, 79–80. 37 Dowell, ‘The Mendelssohn Quintette Club of Boston,’ 70. 38 The latter concert was given in aid of the widow and children of the late Mr Jerrad. 84

Quartet opus 71 number 1 (performed by members of the Melbourne Quartette Party), and a variety of songs, three of which were published by Nicholson and Ascherberg that day. 39 The matinée also attracted substantial press coverage; reviews were not only printed in the local newspapers but also in the Musical Times in London while a wood engraving by Samuel Calvert portraying the interior of the music warehouse and a large and fashionable audience was published in the Illustrated Australian News newspaper (See Figure 2). 40

Figure 2: Nicholson and Ascherberg’s Matinée on 2 September 1876 (Pictures Collection, State Library of Victoria)

Allan and Co. used a similar style of concert to promote their imported pianos. In 1884, Allans organized a soirée comprising chamber music (including two movements of Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio in D minor opus 49 and Saint-Saëns’ arrangement of the trio from Lohengrin ), instrumental solos and vocal items to introduce to Melbourne their newly imported concert grand piano made by the

39 One of the songs was composed by Abt and had been specially commissioned by the publishers. The other two songs were composed by the local musicians Zelman and King jnr. 40 Illustrated Australian News 4 September 1876. 85

American firm Chickering and Co. 41 A similar soirée featuring two chamber works was given by Allans in 1886 to promote a concert grand piano by Steinway and Sons (New York). 42

The ‘promotional’ element was also exhibited in a complimentary farewell concert to Maggie Elmblad at the Melbourne Town Hall on 4 October 1884 prior to her departure for Europe. The concert comprised a large number of instrumental works, including Liszt’s piano concerto in E flat, a number of works for solo piano, Saint-Saëns’ Variations on a theme of Beethoven opus 35 (for two pianos), Grieg’s Violin Sonata in F, and two of Elmblad’s newly published songs: ‘God be with you’ and ‘Baby mysteries.’

Public Chamber-Music Concerts: The Subscription Model

As performances of chamber music increased, individuals and institutions began to organize series of chamber-music concerts supported by subscriptions in the hope that they would attract enough public support to continue on an ongoing basis. Usually constructed in short series of approximately four to six concerts (often with an additional concert for the benefit of the director at the conclusion of the series), these concerts, both within each concert and between concerts, were generally more homogenous than individual public concerts, particularly in terms of their goals, repertoire and programming. Typically, subscription series of chamber-music concerts were organized under the direction of gifted instrumentalists—mostly pianists—who possessed strong leadership and entrepreneurial skills, and later, educational institutions such as the South Melbourne School of Music and the newly established Conservatorium of Music at the University of Melbourne (these will be discussed at greater length in the next chapter).

In contrast to concerts conducted by touring virtuoso performers, subscription series usually contained a higher proportion of chamber works (both numerically and the percentage of duration of the concert) and generally discouraged the performance of popular-style instrumental and vocal works. They were also more inclined to be driven by ideals such as a desire to improve musical taste, musically ‘educate’ the

41 The soirée was held on 23 August 1884 at Allan and Co.’s warehouse in Collins Street. 42 The chamber works were Gade’s Piano Trio in F opus 42 and Saint-Saëns’s arrangement of the trio from Lohengrin . 86 public or raise standards of performance. These goals were considered to be more important than the need for financial return.

Between 1862 and 1898 public chamber-music concert series were conducted in Melbourne by a variety of individuals and institutions including Charles Horsley, Miss Griffiths, Alice Charbonnet, The South Melbourne School of Music (under the direction of Charles Russell), T.H. Guenett (The Melbourne Popular Concerts), Louis Pabst, Miss Wilkinson, The Conservatorium of Music and music dealer Allan and Co. (See Table 7). A close relationship with the private musical societies, such as the Musical Artists’ Society, Musical Association of Victoria and the liedertafel societies can also be observed here as many of the (male) directors and performers in the subscription concerts were affiliated with one or more of them. Public subscription concerts, however, had the added dimension of female participation, enabling anyone with musical ability and business acumen to either direct or perform in them.

Table 7: Public Chamber-Music Concert Series by Resident Musicians and Institutions Individuals or Institution No.* Year(s) Charles Horsley’s Saturday Afternoon Concerts 4 1862 Miss Griffiths’ Chamber-Music Concerts 6 1878 Alice Charbonnet’s Chamber Séances 4 1879 Alice Charbonnet’s Melbourne Matinées 6 1879 School of Music’s Subscription Concerts 4 c1880 –Unknown Melbourne Popular Concerts 6 1882 –1893 Louis Pabst’s Historical Concerts 6 1886 –1887 Louis Pabst’s Risvegliato Concerts 4 1891–1893 Miss Wilkinson’s Classical Chamber-Music Concerts 4 1893 –1894 Conservatorium of Music’s Subscription Concerts 4 1895 –Unknown Allan and Co.’s Classical Chamber-Music Concerts 4 1897 –1898 *Number of concerts per series Perhaps the earliest chamber-music concert series of this type to be given in Melbourne was Charles Horsley’s Saturday Afternoon Concerts in 1862. Horsley’s concerts, held at the Melbourne Athenæum in February and March, were significant for a number of reasons. They were not only the first chamber-music concerts to use detailed program notes but were also one of the few concert series to exclude vocal music from their programs. 43 In contrast to other chamber-music concerts during the period, which incorporated a combination of chamber works and instrumental solos

43 Horsley’s use of program notes will be discussed at greater length in the next chapter. 87 interleaved with vocal music, Horsley’s concerts consisted entirely of instrumental works. His first concert on 22 February 1862, for example, contained three chamber works positioned at the beginning, middle and end of the program interleaved with selections from Mendelssohn’s Songs without Words and Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight’ Piano Sonata opus 27 number 2. 44

Programs consisting entirely of instrumental works were seldom given in Melbourne during this period and when they were, they often resembled a piano recital more than a chamber-music concert due to their large number of instrumental solos. Louis Pabst’s Historical Concerts of 1887, for example, each contained a chamber work for two pianos that was positioned either at the beginning or the end of the program (with one concert containing two such works). The remainder of each concert, however, comprised piano solos all given by the same performer. 45

The Melbourne Popular Concerts: A Case Study

Another feature of Melbourne’s subscription chamber-music concerts was the emulation of English concert practices. The preoccupation with recreating English musical institutions had prevailed in Melbourne since the early years of settlement when local musicians attempted to establish various glee clubs, choral societies, musical festivals (such as the Triennial Festivals) and instrumental concerts (such as Jullien’s Orchestral Concerts in London). In the case of chamber music, however, one series of English chamber-music concerts was considered to be the ideal model for emulation: Arthur Chappell’s Monday Popular Concerts at St James’s Hall.

Originally formed in 1858, Arthur Chappell’s Monday and Saturday Popular Concerts aimed to place ‘classical music within the reach of the general public…The idea was “to collect a permanent audience from the lovers of music resident in

44 The chamber works were Mozart’s Piano Quartet in G minor, a Haydn quartet in G major (unidentified), and Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio in D minor opus 49 while the piano solos included selections from Mendelssohn’s Songs without Words (Book 2, number 3; Book 4, number 5; Book 3, number 6; and Book 5, number 6) and Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata. N.a., Programme of Mr. C.E. Horsley’s First Saturday Afternoon Concert, February 22nd, 1862: to which is added a short Sketch of the Life of Haydn (Melbourne: Wilson and Mackinnon, Printers, 1862). 45 See James Smith, Annotated Programme of Herr Louis Pabst’s Six Historical Concerts which will be accompanied by Literary Illustrations by Mr. James Smith (Melbourne: McCarron, Bird and Co., [1887]). 88

London and the suburbs” and, inter alia , help to popularize [St James’s Hall], which was as yet far from paying its way.’46 Ticket prices for the London Popular Concerts were, thus, ‘within the reach of the general public’ and could be purchased via subscription or singly prior to each concert. 47

The history of the Monday Popular Concerts is tied very closely to the building in which they were housed. St James’s Hall, home to the Monday Popular Concerts, was opened in spring 1858 and was promoted by music publishers Chappell and Cramer. 48 While the cost of building the hall was originally estimated at £40,000, the budget blew out to £70,000, and, with extensions added at a later date, to £120,000. 49 In an attempt to attract new patrons to the hall, Arthur Chappell announced ‘Three Popular Concerts’ to be given in December 1858. 50 The concerts, featuring Arabella Goddard, Alfredo Piatti and Sims Reeves, were ‘popular in the literal sense,’ 51 ‘consisting largely of old ballads and well-known instrumental pieces.’ 52 According to H.K., Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians of 1954, the initial series of concerts ran at a loss. 53 Joseph Bennett, however, note writer for the Monday Popular Concerts in 1887, claimed that the original concerts ‘resulted in a small profit.’ 54

Although the decision to produce concerts of popular-styled music was viewed critically by J.W. Davison, music critic for The Times , the directors produced a further four concerts held on consecutive Mondays on the 3, 10, 17, and 24 January 1859. 55

46 H.K., ‘The Popular Concerts,’ Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians , vol. 6, ed. Eric Blom (London: Macmillan and Co, 1954) 874. 47 H.K., ‘The Popular Concerts,’ 874. 48 Percy A. Scholes, ‘St James’s Hall,’ The Mirror of Music 1844 –1944 , vol. 1 (London: Novello and Co., 1947) 206–7. 49 Scholes, ‘St James’s Hall,’ 206. 50 The concerts took place on the 7, 8 and 9 December during the week of the Cattle Show. See Musical Times 1 September 1898: 595. 51 MT 1 September 1898: 595. 52 W.C., ‘The Popular Concerts,’ Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians , vol. 3, ed. J.A. Fuller Maitland (Philadelphia: Theodor Presser Company, 1926) 791. 53 H.K., ‘The Popular Concerts,’ 874. 54 Joseph Bennett, ‘A Story of Ten Hundred Concerts,’ Monday Popular Concert Programme 4 April 1887 (London: Chappell and Co., [1886]) 3. 55 In 1898 the Musical Times published a report in which Davison was quoted to have said of the original concerts: ‘These concerts, denominated “Popular,” were…directly addressed to 89

The second series, termed ‘Monday Popular Concerts,’ were considered more successful than the earlier concerts. 56 ‘Then,’ according to The Musical Times , ‘came the great change in the character of the music performed at the Monday Popular Concerts.’ 57 At J.W. Davison’s suggestion the directors decided to substitute ‘classical music’ for the popular selections and while ‘the music to be performed was decidedly un popular in character, no change was made in the name.’ 58 Thus, the Monday Popular Concerts as the world came to know them during the latter half of the nineteenth century were born. 59

The Monday Popular Concerts were best known for their performances of high-art chamber music. Programs typically comprised a combination of chamber works, instrumental solos and vocal items, while annotated programs containing analytical notes and analyses of the works performed, first written by J.W. Davison and later by Joseph Bennett, were an integral part of the concerts and were used to aid the audience in its appreciation and understanding of the music.

Such was the fame and following of the Monday Popular Concerts, that musicians in Melbourne began to model their own concerts on Arthur Chappell’s example in the hope that they too would secure similar success. Charles Horsley was the first resident musician in Melbourne to carry out concerts modelled on the Monday Popular Concerts. In 1863, he produced a short series of instrumental and vocal concerts entitled Monday Popular Concerts at the Prahran Town Hall and St George’s Hall, Melbourne. 60 The concerts, according to the Argus critic, were

the visitors who flock to town at this period of the year, eager to behold certain unctuous beasts rolling their larded sides in stifling pens…It is not always, however, that the lovers of fatted beeves and eyeless pigs are attracted by a musical programme, or moved by the concord of sweet sounds. Dearer to the ears of our cattle-surfeiting gentry are the low of herds, the bull’s loud bellow, the neigh of the gelding, the grunt of the pig, the quack of the duck, the cackle of the goose, the bray of the donkey—the whole artillery of the farm-yard— than the finest symphony or the sweetest song.’ See MT 1 September 1898: 595. 56 H.K., ‘The Popular Concerts,’ 874. 57 MT 1 September 1898: 595. 58 MT 1 September 1898: 595–6. 59 The history of Arthur Chappell’s Monday and Saturday Popular Concerts is discussed at greater length in Peggy Jane Lais, ‘The Rise and Fall of the Melbourne Popular Concerts: Chamber-Music Concerts in Pre-Federation Melbourne,’ MMus thesis, University of Melbourne, 2004, 25–8. 60 Prahran is an inner suburb of Melbourne. 90

‘modelled on the plan of the celebrated “Monday Popular Concerts” in London…The special object of the promoters…directed to performing first class music at low rates of prices.’ 61 Horsley’s Monday Popular Concerts emulated Chappell’s early Popular Concerts in so far as they consisted of serious instrumental solos interspersed with a vocal works such as ballads, operatic arias, and popular songs. While many of the details of the program for the first Monday Popular Concert held at the Prahran Town Hall in May 1863 were not printed in the press, the Argus highlighted the performance of one work in the concert, namely a ‘new patriotic song, “God bless the Prince of Wales,”’ 62 and identified the principal performers to be Miss Octavia Hamilton, James Schott (oboe), Charles Horsley (piano), and Horsley’s Part Song and Glee Choir. 63 The second concert of the series was held at St George’s Hall in the city and consisted of a number of piano and oboe solos alongside a range of vocal works. 64

Despite positive reports from the press, Horsley’s Monday Popular Concerts failed to take root and the promoters were unable to recover their expenses. After just two concerts, the series was terminated. Horsley wrote a letter to the editor of the Argus explaining:

Had these concerts merely paid the expenses, the object of their promoters would have been attained, and the Melbourne public would have been provided with a source of entertainment, which is on all hands admitted to be desirable, and worthy of support. The result has, however, not proved successful, and the originators do not feel justified in risking a further outlay.

In England (excepting in London) this class of concerts is usually managed by a society already in existence, or by a committee of gentlemen

61 Argus 16 May 1863: 5; Charles Horsley, ‘The Monday Popular Concerts,’ Letter to the Editor, Argus 6 June 1863: 7. 62 Argus 19 May 1863: 5. 63 Argus 19 May 1863: 5. 64 The piano solos included a selection from Mendelssohn’s Songs Without Words and Thalberg’s Variations on Rossini’s Mosè in Egitto . The solos for oboe were a fantasia on Meyerbeer’s Robert toi que j’aime and a rendition of the popular song ‘The Last Rose of Summer,’ while the vocal music consisted of a variety of works including glees and part songs by ‘Bishop, Webbe, Stevens, and other well-known composers’ led by a choir of eight voices, and vocal solos ‘The Captive Greek Girl,’ ‘Dermot Asthore,’ and ‘Goodbye Sweetheart.’ See Argus 2 June 1863: 5. 91

interested in the cause of music. Should there be any such body in Melbourne, I shall be most happy to co-operate with them in what is to me a very interesting, if not a very profitable, employment; and perhaps the combined efforts of the many might be more successful than the late undertaking of the few. 65

Further indication of the influence of Arthur Chappell’s Monday Popular Concerts was given in 1877 when the Argus critic described the Melbourne Quartette Party’s performance at a Herren Abend held by the Melbourner Deutsche Liedertafel as ‘the nearest approach yet known in this part of the world to the celebrated “Monday Popular Concerts,” which takes place every week in London. We have not here,’ wrote the critic, ‘the Norman-Neruda, nor Messrs Ries, Zerbini, and Piatti; but we have those we must consider the next best.’ 66

The influence of Chappell’s concerts was not confined to Melbourne. In 1880, the Adelaide String Quartet Club was ‘formed with the intention of giving Concerts, subscriptional, at which Chamber Music only will be performed.’ 67 At the commencement of the seventh season a clearer indication of the aims of this society was given in its prospectus where it was stated that the club was ‘founded on the lines of the London “Monday Popular Concerts” for the purpose of giving the musical public…an opportunity of becoming acquainted with the best chamber music.’ 68

Two years after the formation of the Adelaide String Quartet Club, Thomas Harbottle Guenett (usually referred to as T.H. Guenett) founded the Melbourne Popular Concerts. According to a contemporary press review in 1883, the concerts were already, at the close of their third season, the longest and most successful series of chamber-music concerts yet to be produced in Melbourne. 69 During the years

65 Charles Horsley, ‘The Monday Popular Concerts,’ Argus 6 June 1863: 7. 66 Argus 10 January 1877: 6. 67 Rules–1880. Note-book containing the rules, concert programs, prospectuses and some reviews held in the archives of the Barr Smith Library, University of Adelaide (UA Series 308), quoted in Kathleen N. Nelson, ‘The Adelaide String Quartet Club and the “Vocal Element” 1880–1891,’ Miscellanea Musicologica 15 (1988): 143. 68 Prospectus, quoted in Nelson, ‘The Adelaide String Quartet Club,’ 143. 69 Argus 17 May 1883: 6. Guenett’s financial commitment to the concerts was remarkable. According to anecdotal evidence, the Melbourne Popular Concerts ran at a loss for the entire duration of Guenett’s directorship. In 1889 the music critic for Table Talk observed that ‘the concerts involved a heavy outlay which [had] not yet been repaid’ while Alexander 92

1882 –1893 a total of twenty-one series and 135 concerts were produced under the leadership of six different directors (See Table 8).

Most of the directors for the Melbourne Popular Concerts had either participated in or attended similar concerts in London while others received at least a portion of their musical education in England. T.H. Guenett, for example, was educated and received most of his musical training in England; his teachers included Charles Hallé and Ebenezer Prout. 70 Theodor and Thérèse Liebe performed regularly in chamber-music concerts in London, while Max Klein commenced his musical training in Manchester before moving to London. 71 According to Table Talk , he later became associated with a number of notable musicians including Wagner, Rubinstein, Richter, Massenet, Goddard, Dvo řák, Sir Michael Costa, Sir Arthur Sullivan, George Macfarren, Alexander McKenzie, and Hubert Parry, and attended all of the Monday Popular Concerts for the 1878 –1879 season. 72

Table 8: Directors of the Melbourne Popular Concerts Director Years Series Concerts Thomas Harbottle Guenett 1882 –1888 1–15 1–99 Otto Linden 1889 16 100 –105 Max Klein 1891 17 –18 106 –117 Thérèse and Theo Liebe 1892 19 118 –123 Benno Scherek 1893 20 –21 124 –135

Sutherland wrote in his contemporary history of Melbourne: ‘Mr T.H. Guenett…deserves the thanks of the colony for his long series of “popular concerts,” which have been unpopular enough to cause him the loss of a good deal of money.’ See Table Talk 25 October 1889: 4; Alexander Sutherland, Victoria and its Metropolis, Past and Present , vol. 1 (Melbourne: McCarron, Bird and Co., 1888) 510. 70 Table Talk 25 October 1889: 4. 71 While the brother and sister ‘cellist and violinist were reportedly better known in America and continental Europe, their activities in London were noteworthy, particularly their participation in the People’s Concert Society during the late 1880s. Between December 1886 and February 1888 Theo Liebe appeared in concerts at the Poplar Town Hall, the South Place Chapel, Omega Hall, Lisson Grove, and St Andrew’s Hall, Bloomsbury. On at least two occasions he was joined by his sister Madame Thérèse Liebe. This information was provided by Alan Bartley (Oxford Brooks University). Email Correspondence 28 and 29 July 2003. See also The Australasian Critic 1 April 1891: 171. 72 Klein arrived in Melbourne in 1888 to take the position of first violinist in the International Exhibition Orchestra. See Table Talk 11 January 1889: 5–7. 93

The performers at the Melbourne Popular Concerts comprised resident musicians, some of who had also been involved in English concert life before migrating to Melbourne. Australian-born George Weston, for example, the first violinist for the string quartet group of the Melbourne Popular Concerts, received a portion of his musical education in England. 73 Alfred Montague and Madame Carlotta Tasca were trained at the Royal Academy of Music in London, 74 while the most highly regarded musician to take part in the Melbourne Popular Concerts, J.B. Zerbini, was associated with the Monday Popular Concerts for almost twenty years. 75

The relationship between the Melbourne Popular Concerts and Arthur Chappell’s Monday Popular Concerts is described in reviews and notices published in contemporary newspapers, particularly the Argus , the only newspaper to review every concert. A review of the first concert, for example, refers to the Melbourne Popular Concerts as ‘musical entertainments founded on the model of the “Monday Popular Concerts” in London.’ 76 Alexander Sutherland, in his contemporary history of Melbourne, described the object of the Melbourne Popular Concerts to be ‘the musical education of the public…Mr Guenett,’ he wrote in 1888, ‘has followed as closely as possible the example of the “Monday Pops.” in London, in the hope that ultimately they will do as much for Melbourne as those referred to have done for London,’ that is, to educate the public in the ways of high-art chamber music. 77 Further evidence of this aim was given by the Argus reviewer who paraphrased an address T.H. Guenett made to his audience on 12 September 1883. It reads as follows:

[Mr Guenett] then went on to say that the Monday Popular Concerts, which many years ago commenced with great financial loss, have since been the means of musically educating the London public, and that in that direction

73 The Weston family moved to England where it was believed George could receive the best possible musical training. There he studied with Herr Bosenneck and then Mr H.C. Cooper. After making tours of Scotland and Wales, the family returned to Melbourne in 1877. See Table Talk 18 January 1889: 7. 74 Argus 10 May 1926: 10. For further information on Plumpton see Jennifer Royle, ‘“Guiding Lights:” An Investigation of Two Melbourne Music Critics and Melbourne Music Criticism from 1870 to 1889,’ BMus thesis, University of Melbourne, 1995. 75 J.B. Zerbini died in Melbourne in 1891. See Argus 30 November 1891: 6. 76 Argus 1 June 1882: 9. 77 Alexander Sutherland, ‘Guenett, Thomas H.,’ Victoria and its Metropolis , vol. 2 (Melbourne: McCarron, Bird and Co., 1888) 477. 94

they had worked wonders. He hoped that the Melbourne Popular Concerts, which had so far gone on steadily progressing, would at last achieve a similar result here. 78

In terms of facilitating exposure to repertoire this goal of musically educating the public was achieved. While the Melbourne Popular Concerts were carried out on a much smaller scale than the London Popular Concerts, comprising approximately one tenth the number of concerts and surviving approximately one quarter the life span, a substantial number of chamber works were produced. Overall, 304 performances of 122 different chamber works were given including 156 of quartets, fifty-four of trios, forty of duo sonatas, thirty-eight of quintets, ten of septets, five of octets and one sextet (See Table 9).

The Melbourne Popular Concerts emulated Arthur Chappell’s Monday Popular Concerts in a number of ways. The selection of repertoire and the style of music performed at both the London and Melbourne concerts, for example, were similar with both concerts sharing seven of the eight most-performed composers. 79 Programs were also closely modelled on the London concerts in terms of their construction and the alternation of instrumental and vocal works. 80

Table 9: Number of Chamber Works for 2 to 8 Players Work Type* Performances** Works Quartets 156 57 Trios 54 24 Duo Sonatas 40 24 Quintets 38 12 Septets 10 2 Octets 5 2 Sextets 1 1 TOTAL 304 122 *Work type classification refers to the number of performers **Including multiple performances of the same work

78 Argus 13 September 1883: 5. 79 The composers were Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Schubert and Haydn. See Peggy Jane Lais, ‘The Melbourne Popular Concerts: Emulating an English Concert Model,’ Context 27–28 (2004): 102–3. 80 The programs for the Monday and Saturday Popular Concerts at St James’s Hall, London, consisted of two parts and five to seven works. Two standard models of concert were used with chamber works for two to eight players commencing and concluding the programs. This, and other aspects of repertoire and program construction, will be discussed at greater length in Chapter 5. 95

Another significant similarity between Arthur Chappell’s Monday Popular Concerts and Guenett’s Melbourne Popular Concerts was the use of vocal music. The Monday Popular Concerts, like many other chamber-music concerts in London during the nineteenth century, adopted the practice of incorporating vocal and instrumental solos into their programs. While the early Monday Popular Concerts included numerous popular ballads and instrumental pieces, the usual practice later became to incorporate vocal works of a serious nature such as art songs (lieder), operatic arias and religious pieces. 81

Although the Melbourne Popular Concerts succeeded in emulating many of the important features (such as repertoire and programming) of the London Popular Concerts, they failed to attract the large audiences for which the London concerts had become famous. 82 This, according to at least one local critic, was due in part to the Melbourne concerts’ ticket prices, which failed to cater for a wide sector of society, particularly the poorer classes. Guenett’s concerts were financed through a subscription system at rates of one guinea for singles (three-and-a-half shillings per concert) and one-and-a-half guineas for doubles for a season’s tickets. Reserved tickets at the Monday and Saturday Popular Concerts (in London) were more expensive, although savings could be gained by subscribing to an entire series. Subscription for those wishing to occupy the same seat at each concert for the eighth season, for example, was priced at five pounds, ‘entitling holders to a special Sofa Stall’ for the sixteen Monday and seven Saturday concerts of the season. However,

81 The role of vocal music in the Melbourne Popular Concerts and other chamber-music concerts in Melbourne are discussed at greater length in Chapter 5. 82 Audience support, or the lack thereof, particularly defined the Melbourne Popular Concerts as an experience unlike that of the London Popular Concerts and is perhaps best highlighted by the public response given to the celebration of the directors’ 100 th concerts. The occurrence of the Melbourne Popular Concerts’ 100 th concert (which was actually the 99 th concert in succession) was described by the Argus critic as a ‘record unequalled in [the] city by any other musical artist occupying the same plane.’ Despite the significance of Guenett’s achievement, however, it ‘was the worst attended of the whole series. Lady Loch and a party of friends were present…for the rest, the audience consisted mostly of enthusiasts and invited guests.’ Sadly, this response contrasts dramatically with the public support Arthur Chappell received for his 100 th Monday Popular Concert on 7 July 1862 (last but two of the fourth season) where, according to The Times , the occasion in England was marked by a rush for tickets and ‘more than 1000 persons were refused admission after the hall had filled.’ See Argus 14 June 1888: 9; Bennett, ‘A Story of Ten Hundred Concerts,’ 6. 96 tickets could also be purchased for as little as sixpence, thus catering for most budgets. 83

Even at the height of Melbourne’s financial boon during the 1880s, when people’s disposable incomes were presumably at their greatest, the ‘cellist Christian Reimers noted that the Melbourne Popular Concerts were too expensive for the ‘plain people.’ In a lecture he delivered at the Melbourne Athenæum on 20 October 1886, he further observed that

Mr. Guenett’s popular concerts have the seed corns for popular success within them if popular prices for admission increase the number of customers, and allow the respectable shilling of the toiling classes its right as the key to all temples of refining and educational recreations. Yea, the sixpence even dares to advance in self respect when we consider that people as a rule hold a threepence tram fare as sufficient for a lift to Heaven in churches…Let high folks pay for their trouble of appreciating classical music, and give the plain people chance to awaken their latent capacity for enjoying the genuine and beautiful as well…84

With the onset of Melbourne’s economic depression during the early 1890s, ticket prices played an even greater role in the concerts’ future. In June 1892, the Argus critic noted that ‘recent experience [had] seemed to indicate that, either on account of the existing commercial depression, or because the Melbourne public was not yet educated up to the necessary standard—or for some other reasons—[the concerts] were bordering on collapse.’ 85

The depression meant that the directors could no longer afford to run their concerts at a loss the way that Guenett had done in the early to mid-1880s (a period of financial boom). Max Klein attempted to cover the costs of his two series of concerts in 1891 by using a subscription plan similar to previous concerts: one guinea per single, one and a half guineas per double and additional seats at five shillings

83 Monday Popular Concert Programme 15 January 1866 (London: Chappell and Co., [1865]); H.K., ‘The Popular Concerts,’ 874–5. 84 Christian Reimers, Lecture on Music and its relation to Religion and Psychology (Melbourne: E.J. Stephens, Printers, [1886]) 26–7. 85 Argus 8 June 1892: 6. 97

(reserved seats), two shillings and sixpence (balcony) and one shilling (gallery). 86 By 1893, however, Benno Scherek was forced to drop subscription rates to ease the financial burden on patrons to ten shillings and sixpence (single), while seats to a single concert were priced at two shillings (reserved seats) and one shilling (unreserved seats). 87 The reduction in ticket prices, however, failed to save the Melbourne Popular Concerts from extinction and they were abandoned shortly after Scherek’s second series of concerts in 1893. 88

The Melbourne Popular Concerts were not the last concerts in Melbourne during the nineteenth century to be modelled on Arthur Chappell’s Monday Popular Concerts. In 1897 and 1898 music dealers Allan and Co. organized two series of classical chamber-music concerts at the Melbourne Athenæum. According to a report in the Sydney Bulletin , ‘Allan and Co.’s experiment with Wednesday afternoon Chamber Music Concerts…[promised] to lead to a perennial entertainment on the lines of “Monday Pops,” which [had] long been a feature of the London season.’ 89 The repertoire and method of program construction of these concerts closely resembled those of the Melbourne Popular Concerts (See Figure 3). Allan’s seasons, however, were shorter than the Melbourne Popular Concerts with four concerts held in each series, and ticket prices catered for a wider range of audience with reserved seats for a single concert priced at five shillings, tickets for the body of the hall at three shillings, back and gallery seats at one shilling, and subscription tickets at twelve (full fee) and five shillings (for bona-fide musical students). 90

86 Argus 22 April 1891: 8. 87 Argus 19 July 1893: 8. 88 For a full discussion on the reasons why the Melbourne Popular Concerts failed to take root see Peggy Jane Lais, ‘St James’s Hall to Bust: The Success and Failure of the Melbourne Popular Concerts,’ Victorian Historical Journal 77.1 (May 2006): 46–65. 89 Sydney Bulletin 24 July 1897. 90 Argus 7 July 1897. 98

Figure 3: Program for Allan’s 4 th Chamber-Music Concert on 28 July 1897 (Louise Hanson-Dyer Music Library Concert and Theatre Program Collection, Box 5f)

The ‘Musical Season’

As in London, the performance of high-art chamber music in public concerts in Melbourne gradually increased during the second half of the nineteenth century. Unlike London, however, there is little evidence to suggest that Melbourne had established a public concert season. Orchestral music was yet to take hold in any formal sense in public concerts, with Melbourne’s first professional orchestral concerts coming in 1888 when the International Exhibition commissioners hired the English composer, Frederick Cowen, to form and lead its orchestra. After the end of the exhibition in 1889, the Victorian Orchestra was established but within two years it collapsed. 91 Even opera was for a time absent in Melbourne when William Lyster died in November 1880. For the remainder of the nineteenth century opera was left to ‘imported productions, with long runs transferred from city to city,’ such as those by George Musgrove and J.C. Williamson. 92 With the absence of a continuous supply of large-scale musical productions, chamber music fulfilled an important role in Melbourne’s developing concert life. It was not only performed more frequently than orchestral music, but was easier to organize, required fewer musicians and resources, and was considered by most critics of the period to be beneficial to the development of musical taste and education.

Although entrepreneurs attempted to establish ‘seasonal’ chamber-music series, that is, subscription concert series conducted successively, either within a calendar year, or on an annual basis, there was no formally acknowledged concert season as such in Melbourne during the nineteenth century. This contrasts dramatically with London’s established concert season, which during the second half of the eighteenth century typically commenced in late winter and ended in late spring (approximately February to May). After 1820, the London season expanded to begin before Christmas, and the ‘audience base [was] widened through more middle-class

91 See Thérèse Radic, ‘The Victorian Orchestra 1889–1891: In the Wake of the Centennial Exhibition Orchestra, Melbourne, 1888,’ Australasian Music Research 1 (1996) 13–111. 92 Jenny Dawson, ‘Opera and Opera Companies,’ The Oxford Companion to Australian Music , ed. Warren Bebbington (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1997) 432. 100 access to subscriptions series and a gradual proliferation of cheaper venues.’ 93 Concerts continued to increase during the middle and later decades of the nineteenth century until the market was saturated.

Within this market high-art chamber music concerts were typically confined to ‘the winter and even late autumn months, when only a handful of musical entertainments took place and the bulk of more frivolous concert-goers were absent from the metropolis.’ 94 The Monday Popular Concerts, for example, were usually held during the colder months at weekly intervals, commencing in October or November and concluding around Easter the following year. ‘Furthermore, in 1865 the Saturday “Pops” were started as an occasional supplementary series, and from 1876 they alternated every week with the Monday concerts.’ 95 John Ella’s Musical Union Concerts (1845–1881), on the other hand, were more likely to commence in spring and series were shorter in duration, each season comprising eight concerts. 96

An analysis of the dates of the chamber-music concerts compiled for this study reveals a number of trends in public concert life in general in Melbourne during the nineteenth century. Data suggests, for example, that although Melbourne did not experience a formal concert season as was exhibited in London during the nineteenth century, directors of chamber-music concerts were more likely to hold concerts in autumn and spring, when the weather was mild. A compilation of the performance dates of all chamber-music concerts examined in this thesis (including those organized by private societies) reveal that the months of May to June and September to October were ‘peak’ periods for chamber-music performances. Performances dropped off rapidly over the summer while a smaller decline in concerts was also experienced during mid winter (See Figure 4).

93 Cyril Ehrlich, Simon McVeigh and Michael Musgrave, ‘London (i), §VI: Musical Life: 1800–1945, 2. Concert Life: 1800–1850,’ New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians , vol. 15, ed. Stanley Sadie, 2 nd ed. (London: Macmillan, 2001) 137. 94 Christina Bashford, ‘Learning to Listen: Audiences for Chamber Music in Early-Victorian London,’ Journal of Victorian Culture VI (1999): 32. 95 H.K., ‘The Popular Concerts,’ 875. 96 See Christina Bashford, ‘John Ella and the Making of the Musical Union,’ Music and British Culture 1785 –1914: Essays in Honour of Cyril Ehrlich , ed. Christina Bashford and Leanne Langley (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000) 193–214. 101

Figure 4: Chamber-Music Concerts occurring in each Month of the Year 97

Jan 70 Feb March 60 April 50 May June 40 July Aug 30 Sept 20 Oct Nov 10 Dec Unknown 0

Figure 5: Chamber-Music Concerts by Societies occurring in each Month of the Year 98

Jan 25 Feb March 20 April May 15 June July 10 Aug Sept Oct 5 Nov Dec 0

Interestingly, the dates of chamber-music concerts by musical societies alone (that is, those by the Musical Artists’ Society, the Musical Association, the Musical Artists’ and Organists’ Society, and the Musical Society of Victoria) are more evenly distributed across the months of the year. Even then, however, their ‘monthly’ meetings tended to decline during the months of June to July and December to January (See Figure 5).

By contrast, an examination of the dates for public chamber-music concerts alone highlights the tendency for directors to hold ‘seasonal’ concert series in the

97 Figures include 220 chamber-music concerts by musical societies and 263 public chamber- music concerts. 98 Figures include 101 concerts by the Musical Artists’ Society, eighty-five by the Musical Association of Victoria, twenty by the Musical Artists’ and Organists’ Society, and fourteen by the Musical Society of Victoria. The majority occurred between the years 1877 and 1901. 102 spring and autumn months of May to June and September to October. The number of concerts in these months doubled that of August, and almost trebled the number of concerts held in February, April and July. A clear decline in the number of concerts can also be observed during the months of November through to January (See Figure 6).

Figure 6: Public Chamber-Music Concerts occurring in each Month of the Year 99

Jan 45 Feb 40 March 35 April May 30 June 25 July

20 Aug Sept 15 Oct 10 Nov

5 Dec Unknown 0

The influence of the Melbourne Popular Concerts (1882–1893) should be noted here as these comprised a large percentage (over fifty per cent) of the total number of public chamber-music concerts. They were also the most likely to take place during the peak autumn and spring months with 111 Melbourne Popular Concerts held during May, June, September and October, ten in April, eight in July, twelve in August, and two each in November and December.

There is clear evidence that the director of the Melbourne Popular Concerts, T.H Guenett, consciously avoided holding performances during the mid winter and summer months. At the conclusion of the second season, the Argus reported that the

99 These figures include two public chamber-music concerts given by each of the Musical Artists’ Society and the Musical Association of Victoria, Allan and Co.’s Classical Chamber- Music Concerts, Miss Wilkinson’s Chamber-Music Concerts, Louis Pabst’s Risvegliato, Historical and public concerts, concerts given by the Boston Mendelssohn Quintette Club, Jenny Claus, Arabella Goddard, T.H Guenett, Charles Horsley, Charles and Lady Hallé, the Carlotta Patti Concert Company, Eduard Reményi, August Wilhelmj, two series of concerts organized by Alice Charbonnet, the Victorian Quartet Society, the South Melbourne School of Music, the Melbourne Popular Concerts and a number of miscellaneous public concerts. 103 third series of concerts would not commence until April the following year as ‘Race weeks, Christmas and New Year’s holidays, the Melbourne Musical Festival, [and] the hot weather—all suggested present cessation from this kind of business.’ 100 A further report was published in the Argus in May the following year in which the critic observed that the fourth series of concerts ‘should have commenced the next Wednesday afternoon [23 May] and that then there should have been an interval in the depth of the winter, as there was in the height of the summer just passed.’ Unfortunately, the commencement date of the fourth series was postponed until 25 July due to a serious horse accident that had temporarily placed the director of the concerts out of action. 101 Further references were made to concert series commencing and concluding on certain dates so as to avoid the extreme hot and cold weather. The critic for the Argus noted, for example, that the ‘sixth season would not commence until…April [1884], when the hot weather would have ceased,’ while in 1885 he observed that the tenth season would be completed before mid winter the following year. 102

The Role of Women in Public Concert Life

While the role of women in the musical societies was relatively minor, women’s participation in performances of chamber music in public concerts was substantially greater. Where women were excluded from the business-transactions, decision- making processes, and male-orientated social interactions of musical societies, they were able to exercise their artistic and organizational skills through the medium of public concerts.

In Europe, women not only organized concerts in the private sphere of the salon, they also appeared in public concerts. There was a clear distinction, however, between

professional musicians who, like Clara Schumann, performed in order to earn money and those highly proficient performers of the upper classes and

100 Argus 26 October 1882: 9. 101 Argus 17 May 1883: 6. 102 Argus 24 August 1883:10; 15 October 1885: 8. The tenth season of Melbourne Popular Concerts was completed by mid May and was immediately followed by the eleventh season, which concluded on 30 June 1886. 104

aristocracy who, like Elisabeth von Herzogenberg, Henrietta Voigt, and Fanny Mendelssohn, had received professional training but never performed for a fee. 103

Women with superior musical abilities also featured regularly in the most prestigious public concerts in Europe, such as those at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig where approximately thirty-two per cent of solo pianists who appeared there between the years 1794 and 1881 were women. 104

This culture of egalitarianism in the public sphere was naturally transferred to Australian shores with the importation of foreign female musicians who had featured prominently in European concerts. Although it was not unusual for female singers to tour the colonies during the 1850s and 1860s, it was not until the 1870s that female instrumentalists with substantial concert experience or musical training in Europe began to tour Melbourne professionally and participate in performances of chamber music. Their performances were highly influential as they not only introduced new repertoire to the Melbourne public but also demonstrated standards of performance for local musicians, particularly women, to emulate.

Arabella Goddard, an English pianist and former student of Kalkbrenner and Thalberg, was considered to be not only one of the first female musicians but also ‘one of the first great players’ to visit Melbourne. Such was her reputation in London that

during much of the second half of the nineteenth century Goddard was regarded as England’s leading pianist. Renowned for her high-class repertoire, she had played Beethoven’s Piano Sonata op. 106 from memory at one of her earliest appearances and became one of the first performers to champion his late piano sonatas. 105

103 Reich, Clara Schumann , 284. 104 See ‘Table 3. Number of performances given at Gewandhaus, Leipzig, by male and female piano soloists, 1794–1881,’ in Reich, Clara Schumann , 286. 105 Frank Howes, ‘Goddard, Arabella,’ Grove Music Online , ed. L. Macy, accessed on 5 July 2006, from . See also Thérèse Ellsworth, ‘Victorian Pianists as Concert Artists: The Case of Arabella Goddard (1836– 1922),’ The Piano in Nineteenth-century British Culture , ed. Thérèse Ellsworth and Susan Wollenberg (Aldershot, Eng.; Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2007) 149–69. 105

Goddard began her concert career in 1850 when she appeared at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London but she also participated in concerts in continental Europe where her performances of chamber music were highly praised and widely reported in the music journals of the day. 106 In 1855, while still a teenager, she performed Beethoven’s Piano Trio in B flat opus 97 in the annual Abonnement-Quartet concerts in Leipzig. She was engaged the same year to perform at the Gewandhaus Concerts and also appeared in Berlin where her performances were reported to have ‘fully justified the extraordinary reputation which had preceded her.’ 107

In Melbourne, Goddard performed in a series of Grand Concerts that featured a variety of vocal, solo instrumental and chamber works, including those by Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Dussek (See Table 10).

Table 10: Chamber-Music Performances by Arabella Goddard in Melbourne 1873–1874 Date Composer Work 25/08/1873 Mozart Sonata for Violin and Piano in D (Unidentified) 10/09/1873 Mendelssohn Piano Trio in C minor op 66 4/10/1873 Mendelssohn Piano Trio in D minor op 49 9/10/1873 Beethoven ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata op 47 22/08/1874 Beethoven Sonata for Piano and Violin op 30 no 1 9/09/1874 Dussek Sonata for Violin and Piano in B flat (Unidentified) 12/09/1874 Haydn Piano Trio in G (Unidentified) 15/09/1874 Mendelssohn Variations Concertantes op 17 17/09/1874 Beethoven Piano Trio op 1 (Unidentified) 17/09/1874 Beethoven ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata op 47 19/09/1874 Beethoven Piano Trio in C minor op 1

While Goddard was performing at the Opera House in September 1874, another reputable female artist, this time the French violinist Jenny Claus, arrived in Melbourne. Like Goddard, Claus’s contribution to chamber music in Melbourne during this period was twofold: She was not only responsible for familiarizing the Melbourne public with chamber works that were already standard repertoire in Europe, including Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio in D minor, Beethoven’s ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata, Piano Trio in C minor opus 1 and Trio in B flat opus 11, but she contributed

106 Howes, ‘Goddard, Arabella.’ 107 Musical World 10 February 1855: 87. See also MW 6 January 1855: 13; 13 January 1855: 21; 3 February 1855: 71; 10 February 1855: 97. 106 to the musical development of the city through her high standards of performance and interpretation.

William Lyster quickly seized the opportunity to feature both women in the same concerts and arranged, through the women’s managers, for them to perform together in a Grand Musical Festival of three concerts at the Melbourne Town Hall. 108 According to the local ‘cellist Alfred Montague, the women were originally engaged to perform Beethoven’s Piano Trio in G major opus 1 but when Goddard arrived at the rehearsal without a score, it was exchanged for Beethoven’s opus 1 in C minor. 109

Madame Carlotta Tasca was also noted for her contribution to chamber music in Melbourne. Her musical achievements were probably made more public than they would have been had her husband not been one of the leading musical commentators in Melbourne during the period. As music critic for the Age newspaper, Plumpton held a reputable and influential position in Melbourne’s musical circles and did not hesitate to highlight the achievements of local musicians be they male or female. Madame Tasca, as she became known, not only became a regular performer in T.H Guenett’s Melbourne Popular Concerts (1882–1889) but also organized her own series of chamber-music concerts in 1880. Unfortunately, while these were considered to be artistically successful and beneficial to Melbourne’s musical development, they were not well patronized by the public and had to be abandoned. 110

The appearance and reception of these female instrumentalists, particularly in terms of their contribution to high-art music and musical taste, no doubt encouraged Australian-born women such as Maggie Elmblad, Miss Griffiths, Sophie Sinclair and Miss Wilkinson to produce their own public chamber-music concerts. In the manner of professional female musicians in Europe, these women not only performed in public chamber-music concerts organized by men but also arranged their own concert series with varying degrees of success.

In 1878, Miss Griffiths organized a series of six chamber-music concerts with the assistance of Mr Griffiths (violist and presumably a close relative of Miss

108 Argus 14 September 1874: 6. 109 Alfred Montague, ‘Early Days in Australia: An Autobiography of a Prominent Musician,’ The Australian Music and Dramatic News 1 April 1913: 279. 110 Alfred Plumpton, ‘English Music and Musicians,’ The Victorian Review (1 May 1883): 80. 107

Griffiths), the French violinist Leon Caron and S. Hart (‘cellist) at the Melbourne Athenæum. These matinée concerts, consisting entirely of instrumental works, presented a number of chamber works including those by Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schumann and Rubinstein. However, works by the German composer Karl Reissiger were given particular attention by the performers with four of the six concerts featuring his chamber music. 111 Although Reissiger’s chamber works were relatively unknown in England during the same period (between 1859 and 1892, for example, not one of his chamber works were performed in Arthur Chappell’s Monday Popular Concerts at St James’s Hall), the performance of his works can be traced back to the composer’s influence on music in Germany during the first half of the nineteenth century. Succeeding Weber as director of the Dresden Court Opera in 1826, Reissiger was appointed Hofkapellmeister in 1828 where he had the ‘responsibility for sacred music, chamber music and the music for the court theatre...Under Reissiger’s direction the Dresden Opera became acknowledged as the best in Germany.’ 112 He was also known as a composer, particularly of opera, although he composed almost thirty piano trios as well as other chamber works. 113

A year after Miss Griffiths’ concerts the French pianist Alice Charbonnet organized two further series of chamber-music concerts in Melbourne featuring herself and a variety of string players, including Signor Ortori (violin), Philip and Alfred Montague (violin and ‘cello), E.A. Jäger (viola), and vocalists Ettie Fletcher and Signor A. Giammona. Four Chamber Séances were held in May and June 1879 at Glen’s Concert Hall in Collins Street at the subscription rates of one guinea (singles) and two guineas (family) for the entire series, and single tickets for six shillings. 114 The initial response from the press and public to the séances was positive, the Argus

111 These included Reissiger’s piano quartets opus 138 and 199, the piano trio opus 85 and an unspecified quartet (probably the piano quartet opus 141). 112 John Rutter, ‘Reissiger, Karl Gottlieb,’ Grove Music Online , ed. L. Macy, accessed 11 September 2006, from . 113 Rutter, ‘Reissiger, Karl Gottlieb,’ Grove Music Online ; Warren Bebbington, ‘Siede, Julius,’ The Oxford Companion to Australian Music (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1997) 516. 114 The information about Alice Charbonnet’s Chamber Séances and Melbourne Matinée Concerts of 1879 was supplied by Jin Bong. For more information on these concerts and Alice Charbonnet’s contribution to chamber music in Melbourne see Jin Bong, ‘Alice Ellen Charbonnet: a French Musician in Nineteenth-Century Australia,’ MMus thesis, University of Melbourne, 2007. 108 critic noting that ‘[t]o judge by the first of them, the series of concerts of chamber music to be given by Mademoiselle Charbonnet promises to be most enjoyable not only delightful, but instructive too, and there is every reason why those well inclined towards good music should support them liberally. We are informed that a successful commencement has been made with respect to the subscription list, and the statement was confirmed by the well-filled appearance of the concert room last night.’ 115

With adequate support for her first series of concerts, Charbonnet embarked on a second series in July the same year. This time titled ‘Melbourne Matinées,’ her second series of concerts featured a number of new performers. 116 While Charbonnet was again the feature artist of each concert, performing a number of solo works on the piano, her role as a chamber musician was prominent. As in her first series, the majority of chamber works performed at Charbonnet’s matinées were scored for a combination of pianoforte and strings (such as piano quartets and quintets) or were arrangements of larger works such as piano concertos or operas. 117

In 1893–1894 the Melbourne pianist and organist Miss Wilkinson held two series of chamber-music concerts in which a variety of new repertoire was presented. As a former member of the Musical Association of Victoria, Miss Wilkinson was for a time the organist at St Mary’s Cathedral in St Kilda East (Melbourne) and was a prominent music teacher. From 1884 to 1886 she resided in Europe where she attended numerous concerts and ‘[heard] the most celebrated pianists of the day.’ In Rome she also studied with the Italian composer, conductor and pianist Giovanni Sgambati who not only influenced her choice of repertoire, but also helped to cultivate her technique and refine her musical taste. 118 As a former pupil of Franz Liszt, Sgambati founded orchestral and chamber-music concerts in Rome in 1866,

115 Argus 13 May 1879: 5. 116 These included Leon Caron, Ernest King, David Cope, Julius Herz and Rosina Carandini. 117 Chamber works included a De Beriot piano trio, a piano trio (unidentified) by Beethoven, a piano quartet by Fesca, and arrangements of Saint-Saëns’ Danse Macabre , Wagner’s Lohengrin and Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto in D minor. 118 Leader 18 December 1886: 28. Miss Wilkinson probably studied at the Liceo Musicale, which ‘began informally, as early as 1869, as a free school for poor piano students in Sgambati’s house [and] in 1877…was put on an official basis.’ See John C.G. Waterhouse, ‘Sgambati, Giovanni,’ Grove Music Online , ed. L. Macy, accessed on 12 October 2006, from . 109 was credited with introducing ‘German classics’ to the city, and was described as being ‘one of the few Italian composers of the nineteenth century [to show an interest] in instrumental music.’ 119

In view of the contemporary trend of Australian music students to carry out studies at English or German institutions such as the Leipzig Conservatory, Miss Wilkinson’s rather ‘unorthodox’ musical education could be seen as a pervading influence on her choice of repertoire, particularly her choice of contemporary and lesser-known chamber works. The second concert of Miss Wilkinson’s first series of chamber-music concerts on 2 May 1893, for example, was described by the critic for the Argus to be an ‘attractive programme, which would have been still more so had it included one well-known standard work instead of being almost monopolised by novelties, [including] a quartet in A major, op. 26, for pianoforte, violin, viola, and violoncello, by Brahms, which we do not remember hearing before from a Melbourne concert platform.’ 120 The other ‘novelty’ of the concert was one of two piano quintets composed Giovanni Sgambati. 121

Audiences

In addition to their role as performers of chamber music in public concerts, women also contributed to the development of chamber music in Melbourne by attending concerts. Evidence not only suggests that the ratio of female to male members of many audiences for chamber-music concert series in Melbourne during this period was greater, but also that directors of these concerts specifically targeted women as their audience.

While there are no known surviving subscription lists for the Melbourne Popular Concerts, for example, reports in the press suggest that the majority of subscribers were women. As was noted by the Argus reporter, in the first two concerts the company consisted ‘mostly of ladies.’ 122 During Otto Linden’s season in 1889, the

119 N.a, ‘Sgambati, Giovanni,’ The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music , ed. Michael Kennedy, 4 th ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996) 668. 120 Argus 3 May 1893: 9. The Brahms quartet had in fact been performed in Melbourne on at least two other occasions at the Melbourne Popular Concerts on 17 June 1885 and 16 June 1886. 121 Argus 3 May 1893: 9. 122 Argus 8 June 1882: 9. 110 critic also observed an unequal ratio of female to male members in the audience, claiming that ‘if the sterner sex had but shown an amount of interest in this undertaking equal to that manifested by the ladies, its success and continuance would have been assured.’ 123

A similar dynamic can be observed in audiences for Allan and Co.’s Chamber- Music Concerts in 1897, the critic for the Argus observing ‘an assemblage of ladies and gentlemen (mostly ladies) sufficiently large to give the Athenæum-hall a well- filled appearance.’ 124 Audiences continued to be dominated by women in Allan’s second series of concerts in 1898 where one critic noted that ‘their taking place in the afternoons instead of in the evenings [had] undoubtedly prevented scores of [male] amateurs—unable to neglect business duties—from being present.’ Nevertheless, while the audiences, according to this critic, ‘[consisted] for the most part of members of the fair sex, [they had] throughout been large and appreciative.’ 125

Other chamber-music concert series were also held during the day and, as this was traditionally a time in which women sought their leisure, were presumably designed to attract female audiences. Charles Horsley’s chamber-music concerts in 1862, for example, were held during the afternoons and were promoted as fashionable events. Supported by vice regal patronage, the status of these concerts was in part defined by ticket prices, which at six shillings for a single ticket, were relatively expensive. 126 Although no mention of the gender balance of the audiences is made in reviews published in the daily newspapers, they were described on various occasions as being ‘select’ and ‘critical.’ 127

Other daytime concerts adopted the title ‘matinée,’ which, according to the critic for the Australasian Sketcher , was a term meaning nothing more than ‘a concert of music to be given in the afternoon.’ 128 Alice Charbonnet’s six matinées of 1879

123 Argus 6 June 1889: 8. 124 Argus 8 July 1897: 6. 125 Argus 9 June 1898: 8. 126 Argus 15 March 1862: 8. 127 Age 10 March 1862: 5; 31 March 1862: 5; Argus 31 March 1862: 4–5. 128 Australasian Sketcher 17 April 1875: 11. 111 were considered to be ‘excellent entertainments’ and ‘beyond the average event.’ 129 As has already been discussed earlier in this chapter, the major music warehouses Allan and Co. and Nicholson and Ascherberg used matinées to promote their musical instruments and publications while other concerts titled matinée, such as those directed by T.H. Guenett during the early 1870s, were used to further the cause of high-art instrumental music. 130 While the attendance at such daylight entertainments was socially acceptable for women, there is evidence to suggest that it was not so for men. According to the critic for the Australasian Sketcher , the audience at one of Mr Guenett’s matinées in 1875 ‘consisted mostly of ladies, and not too many of them, while thinly interspersed among them were a few such idle persons as the representative of The Australasian Sketcher , and a few others who were not ashamed to be seen worshipping art by daylight.’ 131

Similarities can be observed between many of Melbourne’s chamber-music concerts and John Ella’s Musical Union concerts in London, where approximately seventy per cent of subscribers were women. Christina Bashford observes that Ella, by scheduling his concerts in the afternoons and including repertoire for solo piano, an instrument traditionally learnt by women, may have deliberately targeted women as his audience. 132

Conclusion

It is clear that chamber music played an important and varied role in the development of public concert life in Melbourne during the later decades of the nineteenth century and that the local experience was significantly shaped by female participation and the importation of European-trained performers (both resident and travelling professionals) transplanting a range of knowledge and experiences. Within these musical developments it is also clear that Melbourne public concert life enjoyed its own unique experience of chamber music, evidenced by a trend for its musical season to be loosely shaped (albeit sporadically) by external factors such as the weather,

129 Argus 21 July 1879: 6. 130 All of these examples comprised a variety of musical works that included chamber music, instrumental solos and vocal works. 131 Australasian Sketcher 17 April 1875: 11. 132 Bashford, ‘John Ella and the Making of the Musical Union,’ 210–11. 112 availability of performers, and financial viability, while simultaneously attempting to emulate northern-hemisphere practices.

As has been demonstrated in this chapter, the performance of chamber music in public concerts was also considered to have an influence on consumer attitudes and was used in certain circumstances as a marketing tool for performers, local composers and music entrepreneurs; in this context, it was seen as an endorsement of ‘quality.’ Its association with the introduction and dissemination of program notes and musical literature was another dynamic while performers and directors of chamber-music concerts saw it as a tool for musically educating the public. This theme shall be discussed in the next chapter.

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Chapter 4: Musically Educating the Public

From Melbourne’s early years of development, chamber music was considered by many local performers, commentators and audiences to possess powerful educative qualities. Subscription chamber-music concerts, in particular, were considered to be beneficial to the development of an elevated musical taste and to have the potential to educate audiences. Chamber music’s pedagogical role was further reinforced by its performance in concerts conducted by Melbourne’s first music-teaching institutions. With the addition of literary sources, such as detailed program notes and lectures, it could provide a socialized, educational experience that would simultaneously entertain and instruct.

The educational potential of chamber music is described in reviews and notices published in the contemporary press. In response to the first concert of Charles Horsley’s series of Saturday Afternoon Concerts in 1862, for example, the critic for the Argus expressed hope that ‘the present series of concerts will be well-supported by the public, as a foundation of first-class musical entertainments amongst us. The public taste must first be led, and then it will support musical talent.’ 1As chamber- music concerts became more prolific, chamber music’s role as an educational tool became more clearly defined. In 1883, for example, one critic claimed that the Melbourne Popular Concerts’ ‘educational value [could not] be overstated’ and could only reflect favourably on the ‘musical intelligence of the city in which they [were] cultivated.’ 2 In 1886, Louis Pabst’s Historical Concerts, in which the performers selected a particular period of musical history for illustration, were touted as ‘interesting and instructive in high degree’ 3 while the ‘educational’ value of Allans’ Classical Chamber-Music Concerts in 1897 was described as ‘difficult to over estimate.’ 4

1 Argus 24 February 1862: 5. 2 Argus 20 March 1883, quoted in the issue of 4 April 1883. 3 Argus 21 June 1886: 6. 4 Argus 8 July 1897: 6.

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The concepts of educating audiences and improving musical taste in Melbourne appear to incorporate a number of issues. First, anecdotal reports in the press that describe chamber music as ‘educative,’ ‘beneficial,’ or music of the ‘highest order,’ suggest that directors and audiences of chamber-music concerts felt that certain genres of music were ‘better’ than others. As in London, a hierarchy of genres was emerging in Melbourne and, in the absence of regular professional orchestral concerts, chamber music was held in highest esteem. 5 On a more fundamental level, educating audiences simply involved familiarizing audiences with new chamber works. It was believed that hearing new works performed competently by capable artists and knowing something about the music would increase audiences’ understanding and appreciation for it.

Improving musical taste, however, did not just involve developing an audience for chamber music. True appreciation and taste also required discrimination on the part of the listener and the ability to distinguish good performances from bad ones. As noted by the critic for the Argus newspaper, ‘the low state of musical taste in Melbourne was indicated by the fact that audiences sat out performances of classical music which were given with no expression, no accent, no attention to the variations of tempo, or the crescendi or diminuendi which were necessary to make the composer’s meaning intelligible.’ 6 Thus, the improvement of musical taste was also dependent on improved standards of performance and the capacity for audiences to acknowledge and appreciate good interpretations of what was considered to be good music.

An improvement in musical taste was assumed at least in part to result from the cultivation of a taste for certain types of works, that is, high-art chamber music and, more specifically, the works of Austro-Germanic composers such as Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Schumann and their contemporaries. According to the music critic Alfred Plumpton, these works required audiences ‘not only to like, but understand, music’ as they needed ‘to distinguish between the various claims to recognition of the artists who [appeared] before them [and] who [were]

5 Issues associated with chamber music and the evolution of hierarchies of genres are discussed in Christina Bashford, The Pursuit of High Culture: John Ella and Chamber Music in Victorian London (Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell Press, 2007). 6 Argus 1 March 1895.

115 acquainted with the style of composition of each of the great musical geniuses, have some knowledge of their principal works, and have some practical acquaintance with the art as amateurs.’ 7 In the early 1880s, Plumpton believed that Melbourne’s ‘musical public’ was ready to cultivate a taste for high-art chamber music. ‘Melbourne enjoys the reputation of being a musical city,’ he wrote in a contemporary journal,

and it cannot be denied that in it there exists the nucleus of a real musical public, which is visibly extending its influence…That such a process is actually taking place in Melbourne may be gathered from the fact that although a very few years ago no musical entrepreneur would have dared to present a programme composed entirely of classical works, with any hope of pecuniary success, concerts have recently been given at which the highest class of music only has been represented, and at which the audiences have gradually increased in numbers until the hall has proved too small for their accommodation. This is the result of that cultivation of a natural taste which is obtained by personal study of good music, and by hearing it frequently rendered by competent artists. 8

The same year, Twopeny also observed the colonists’ fondness for music and willingness to be educated in matters of taste, stating: ‘They may not know very much about [music], but they are anxious to learn all they can. They will even pay to hear something above their appreciation, if the Australasian tells them that it will improve their musical taste.’ 9

But were Melbourne audiences as receptive as Plumpton and Twopeny claimed? In a musical environment saturated with popular entertainments, chamber music had to compete with concerts that combined such diverse elements as lantern slides and recitations alongside popular musical selections. These types of concerts, along with miscellaneous-styled benefit concerts, continued to thrive well into the 1880s and 1890s, and with low-ticket prices, usually one shilling during the 1890s, were designed to draw large audiences.

7 Alfred Plumpton, ‘The Musical Public,’ The Victorian Review (2 July 1883): 16. 8 Plumpton, ‘The Musical Public,’ 18. It appears that Plumpton is referring to the Melbourne Popular Concerts, which commenced approximately one year earlier. 9 R.E.N. Twopeny, Town Life in Australia (Sydney: Sydney University Press, 1883) 219.

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In an attempt to appeal to a wide range of tastes, some programmers leavened selections of serious instrumental music with ‘low-brow’ fare. The Newbury-Spada Shilling Popular Concerts of 1898, to name one example, contained popular-style songs and operatic selections, instrumental solos, such as fantasias based on popular songs and operatic arias, works that contained a sensational or unusual element, and moving pictures produced by a biographe .10 These concerts proved to be so attractive that the Melbourne Town Hall reached its capacity for the second concert of the series half an hour before the concert began. ‘Not a seat [was] to be had…and hundreds had to be turned away, many already in the hall being politely requested to leave by the police, as they declared the building to be far too full.’ 11 This program consisted of a variety of vocal works, instrumental solos and an organ solo by August Wiegand (the Sydney City Organist) ‘in a darkened building, of a composition representing…a storm.’ 12

In 1894, a series of matinée ‘chamber concerts’ directed by Phil Langdale 13 was held at the Exhibition Building Picture Gallery where for one shilling (or sixpence for children) ticket holders were admitted to ‘PROMENADE in the Aquarium, Picture Gallery, Fernery, Museum, &c…brilliantly illuminated by…electric light.’ 14 According to the organizers, ‘neither trouble nor expense [was] spared to render the public an artistic entertainment given in the midst of pleasant surroundings.’ 15 The concerts consisted of a variety of vocal and instrumental works. These ranged from selected movements of serious chamber works by composers such as Mozart and Beethoven to popular songs and even works for electric bow-lyre. 16

10 Table Talk 13 May 1898: 3; Argus 9 May 1898: 7. 11 Table Talk 13 May 1898: 3. 12 Argus 9 May 1898: 7. The issue of musical taste is discussed in Peggy Jane Lais, ‘The Rise and Fall of the Melbourne Popular Concerts: Chamber-Music Concerts in Pre-Federation Melbourne,’ MMus thesis, University of Melbourne, 2004. 13 Phil Langdale, one of the founding members of the Savage Club, was a capable musician ‘who had been an instrumentalist with the Coldstream Guards and was [in 1894] a bassoonist with various Melbourne orchestras.’ Joseph Johnson and Melbourne Savage Club, Laughter and the Love of Friends: a Centenary History of the Melbourne Savage Club 1894 –1994 and a History of the Yorick Club 1868 –1966 (Melbourne: Melbourne Savage Club, 1994) 60–1. 14 Argus 8 June 1894. 15 Argus 8 June 1894. 16 Argus 8 June 1894; 21 April 1894: 16.

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Directors of such popular-styled entertainments were no doubt motivated in many cases by money as the financial rewards for organizing and performing in such concerts were often great. The French violinist Horace Poussard, for example, was claimed to have earned 100 guineas a night for performing popular ballads and fantasias in the 1883 Duvalli Shilling Concerts at the Melbourne Town Hall while the audience paid just one, two, and three shillings. 17

Despite the competition faced by directors of high-art chamber-music concerts, there is evidence that many musicians and critics were hopeful that chamber music could find a permanent place in Melbourne’s musical scene. The critic for the Argus , Henry Keiley, for example, felt that high-art chamber-music concerts were beneficial to the elevation of musical taste and that some progress had already been made in that direction. As early as 1878, Keiley described the two principal ‘chamber- music’ societies, the Musical Association and the Musical Artists’ Society, as ‘[exercising] considerable influence in the right direction of musical taste…to them is owing the first production to Melbourne of many beautiful compositions which were otherwise unknown here…[and] there is no need to speak further of their aims because they are identical with our own.’ 18

It is clear that by the mid 1880s much progress had been made in Melbourne towards developing an audience for high-art chamber music. The inclusion of selections of chamber music in the concerts of the Melbourne and Metropolitan Liedertafel societies, the Musical Association of Victoria, the Musical Artists’ Society, and ensembles such as the Mendelssohn Quintette Society, the Zerbini Quartet group and the earlier Melbourne Quartette Party, had helped to pave the way in 1882 for a more substantial series of chamber-music concerts, the Melbourne Popular Concerts. In 1886, a critic for the Age newspaper claimed that a taste for chamber music, which he believed had been absent during the pioneering years of the colony, was currently under a process of development, a process which had

17 Argus 31 October 1883: 12. 18 Henry Keiley, ‘The Tendency of Popular Taste and how to elevate it,’ The Victorian Review (1 March 1880): 823.

118 commenced with the performances of the Mendelssohn Quintette Club in the early 1880s and was continued by the Zerbini Quartet. 19

Music criticism, according to this critic, also had a role to play in the elevation of musical taste and had developed a distinctive tone by the 1880s. ‘At one time,’ noted the critic, ‘criticism as an art can hardly be said to have existed, and notices of musical performances consisted of eulogistic panegyrics upon favourite performers, and well meant but misleading commendations.’ 20 A critic for the Bulletin newspaper also acknowledged the role of the Melbourne press claiming that ‘In Melbourne the Press has...striven to give expression to artistic appreciation. The dramatic, musical, and artistic criticisms in the columns of the leading papers there were on all notable occasions the work of cultivated cognoscenti. Discrimination and appreciation were the rule there.’ 21 This tone of criticism, according to the critic, ‘[attracted] and [held] almost every great artist who elected to reside in Australia’ while Sydney, due to its ‘puritanic prejudice’ and lack of discrimination, was ‘scarcely…able to boast a [single] great artist.’ 22

The progress of high-art instrumental music, and the taste for it amongst Melbourne audiences, was also noted by Charles and Lady Hallé on their tour of Australia in 1890. Along with instrumental solos, the Hallés performed duo sonatas for piano and violin, including Schumann’s Sonata for Piano and Violin in A minor opus 105, Grieg’s Violin Sonata in G minor opus 45, Brahms’ Violin Sonata in A opus 100 and a number of sonatas for violin and piano by Beethoven. These works, according to the Hallés, were well received by audiences. In a diary kept during the tour, Charles Hallé expressed his astonishment at the large, attentive audiences that attended his concerts. ‘It is a great satisfaction,’ he wrote, ‘to witness the breathless attention with which these large crowds listen to us; there is not the least exaggeration in saying that you might hear a pin drop; and never a soul stirs before the last note is

19 ‘The Musical Culture of Victoria,’ Age 13 February 1886: 4. 20 ‘The Musical Culture of Victoria,’ 4. 21 ‘Signor Giammona,’ Bulletin 4 March 1882: 2. 22 ‘Signor Giammona,’ Bulletin 4 March 1882: 2.

119 played.’ 23 In an interview with the Argus critic, Lady Hallé also expressed her surprise at the development of musical taste in Melbourne stating:

It would not have been surprising to us if the severely classical music in our programme was at once not appreciated, and we might have felt justified in altering them to some extent. But to our great pleasure, we discovered that the highest forms of music met with ready acceptance…Take, for instance, the “KREUTZER SONATA”…This sublime composition by BEETHOVEN has always been listened to with breathless attention, and there has always been enthusiastic applause at its conclusion. 24

The critic for the Argus supported this claim, observing that the inclusion of the ‘Kreutzer’ sonata in the Hallés’ ninth concert was responsible for attracting a large audience to the Melbourne Town Hall. 25 According to this critic, the work was ‘so well known that any description [of it] would have been superfluous. As to the performance it could not possibly have been improved upon…It is best described by the single word magnificent.’ 26

But was this a true reflection of musical taste in Melbourne during the 1890s? According to the Sydney Bulletin’s critic, Herr Johann Kruse’s performance of the same sonata at the Melbourne Town Hall in 1895 was merely tolerated by the audience. ‘The concert,’ claimed the critic, ‘was a good concert in the same sense that the Koran is a good book…Also, the performance of the audience in pretending to enjoy themselves immensely was not less worthy of praise than the efforts of Marshall-Hall’s orchestra…The Kreutzer Sonata…was the biggest thing on the program.’ 27

23 Charles Hallé, The Autobiography of Charles Hallé , ed. Michael Kennedy (London: Paul Elek Books, 1972) 209. 24 Transcript of the interview with Charles and Lady Hallé printed in William Nash, Music in the Cabbage Garden: The Pioneers of Music in Victoria , ed. Marie Rowe (Melbourne: Innisfallen Press, 1988) 212. (Copy held in Rare Books Collection, Baillieu Library, University of Melbourne). 25 Argus 11 June 1890: 8. 26 Argus 11 June 1890: 8. Beethoven’s ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata, or portions of it, had been performed on at least seventeen different occasions prior to this date. Peggy Jane Lais, ‘Chamber-Music Concerts in Pre-Federation Melbourne Database.’ 27 Sydney Bulletin 24 August 1895.

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Aside from its contribution to the development of musical taste in Melbourne, chamber music was used as an educative tool in other ways. Some directors of instrumental concerts, for example, established overt links between their programs and music scholarship in the way in which they marketed their concerts to the public. A concert comprising largely of instrumental solos (for piano and violin) and the Andante con variazioni movement of Beethoven’s ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata opus 47, for example, was advertised in the Argus newspaper as an ‘Academic Concert’ with the performers G. Abud, A. Burkitt, F. Dixon and T.C. Sutherland addressed as ‘Academicians of Herr L. Pabst.’ 28

The Use of Program Notes

The educational nature of many of Melbourne’s chamber-music concerts was also intensified through the use of written sources such as detailed program notes. Containing such information as composer biographies, the historical context and analyses of the works to be performed, program notes were published prior to the commencement of each season and were to be read before attendance at each concert; they were considered to be a valuable means by which to educate the audience about the music and thus heighten their appreciation of it. Such notes had become a staple of many chamber-music concerts in London, including the Monday Popular Concerts and John Ella’s Musical Union Concerts. A report in the Sydney Morning Herald made during the Zerbini Quartet’s tour of Sydney in July 1886, however, suggests that no such program notes were presented at the Melbourne Popular Concerts or in any other concerts in Melbourne or Sydney during this period. ‘The programme was unique for that of a Sydney concert,’ wrote the critic:

and like those of the Wednesday popular concerts in Melbourne during the past five years was modelled on the plan adopted at the time-honoured Monday Popular Concerts, save that the musical analyses and remarks, which have been such a boon to musical students, are not yet furnished for Melbourne or Sydney programmes. 29

This statement, however, was not entirely correct. Annotated program notes similar to those produced in London, for example, were printed for Melbourne’s first

28 Argus 7 May 1890: 8. The English violinist Max Klein also participated in this concert. 29 SMH 17 July 1886: 13.

121 performance of Beethoven’s ‘Choral’ Symphony at the Melbourne Music Festival during Christmas Week in 1882. According to Julius Herz, the promoter and musical director of the festival, ‘particular care [was] taken to print the annotated programme as explicit as possible’ so that the public ‘would be able to follow it’ and their pleasure thereby ‘much enhanced.’ The annotated notes contained six pages detailing the history of the work and its construction with musical examples and footnotes. Such effort reflected a sense of occasion aroused not only by the ‘project of holding a great Music Festival, after the manner of the great Festivals in England’ but also by the performance of a work that was considered to be beneficial to the development of Melbourne’s musical culture. As described by Herz: ‘We confidently trust that the first performance of the great masterpiece of the greatest master, the 9 th Symphony of Beethoven for orchestra and chorus, will mark a new era in the history of music in Victoria…So if we do nothing else, the performance of the 9 th Symphony will be the great musical milestone by which the progress of musical history in the colony must be measured in future time.’ 30

The support and resources behind Melbourne’s Music Festival in 1882 also enabled the production of program notes. A sum of over ₤2,000 was raised to guarantee the promoter of the festival against loss while the general consensus felt by Melbourne’s musical public was that a music festival was needed in a city like Melbourne where the performance of works such as Beethoven’s ‘Choral’ Symphony were beyond the power of any single society .31

Annotated or ‘Analytical’ program notes such as those produced for Melbourne’s first performance of Beethoven’s ‘Choral’ Symphony, however, were unusual during the nineteenth century and while printed programs in Melbourne’s chamber-music concerts during the same period were rarely analytical in the sense that they contained analyses of the works performed, detailed program notes containing biographical and historical information (that is, more information than a list of works and performers, or books of words to songs) were more common and can be traced back to the early 1860s. The absence of more detailed notes was more than

30 Julius Herz, ‘Introduction,’ Program booklet for the Melbourne Music Festival, International Exhibition Building, Christmas Week, 1882, Box 5a, Concert and Theatre Program Collection, Louise Hanson-Dyer Music Library, University of Melbourne. 31 Herz, ‘Introduction,’ Program booklet for the Melbourne Music Festival, 1882.

122 likely a reflection of Melbourne’s lack of information about chamber music in general, a lack of infrastructure and practical resources such as music literature, musicians and scholars equipped with the knowledge and skills to produce such notes, or the finances to print and disseminate them. Nevertheless, an awareness of program notes had existed for some time in Melbourne with musicians eager to not only emulate those found in the Monday Popular Concerts but also program notes of other London institutions such as the Philharmonic Society in London. 32

Charles Horsley was credited with introducing detailed program notes to Melbourne in his series of Saturday Afternoon Concerts in 1862. 33 The program notes for each of Horsley’s concerts contained a list of works and performers on the opening page alongside a detailed biographical description of one of the composers featured in each concert. The program notes for the first concert held on 22 February 1862, for example, consisted of nine pages (excluding front and back cover), seven of which comprised a biography on Haydn. 34 While the programs did not contain detailed analyses or musical excerpts of the works performed, as was the custom in the Monday Popular Concerts in London, they were felt to be adequate supplements to the concerts, meeting the educational needs of the audience while offering a source of ‘amusement.’ The emulation of London annotated programs is evident from a notice published inside the program for the first concert, which reads:

The compiler of these short biographical notices would beg respectfully to observe that they are by no means intended as anything more than an attempt to give the slightest possible sketch of the most prominent incidents in the lives of the classical composers, some of whose works will be performed at Mr. C.E. Horsley’s Saturday afternoon Concerts. In London and elsewhere such notices have been found at once amusing and instructive; and in

32 A collection of annotated programs for the London Philharmonic Society’s concerts was added to the Musical Society of Victoria’s Library in 1895. MSV, Minutes of the Musical Society of Victoria 1895 –1899 , 27 July 1895, Musical Society of Victoria Records 1877– 1980, MS 12801, Box 1/8 Australian Manuscripts Collection, Latrobe Library, SLV, 15. 33 Separate programs were published for each concert and were priced at sixpence each, adding to the expense of tickets, which were priced at one guinea (for four people) and single tickets to a concert at six shillings. See Argus 1 March 1862: 9; 15 March 1862: 8. 34 N.a., Programme of Mr. C.E. Horsley’s First Saturday Afternoon Concert, February 22nd, 1862: to which is added a short Sketch of the Life of Haydn (Melbourne: Wilson and Mackinnon, Printers, 1862). Details of what was performed are given in the next chapter.

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introducing them for the first time in Melbourne, it is hoped that the wish to extend the knowledge of Music and Musicians may not be mistaken for a desire to write an extended biographical and critical work. 35

Louis Pabst produced a similar ‘annotated program’ for his series of Historical Concerts in 1887, which focussed on the works of major composers in chronological order beginning with Bach, Handel, Scarlatti and Haydn in the first concert, Mozart and Beethoven in the second, Schubert, Weber, Mendelssohn and Moscheles the third, then Schumann (the fourth), Moscheles, Field, Thalberg, Henselt, Liszt (the fifth), and Chopin (the final concert). 36 The annotated programs, like Horsley’s earlier programs, provided valuable background information on composers and the historical development of music in general rather than providing a detailed analysis or description of the works presented in the concerts. The ‘literary illustrations’ for all six concerts, written by Mr James Smith, were appended to the list of works to be performed and were printed and bound in a single volume that was distributed before the beginning of the series in May 1887. 37 This not only enabled audiences to ‘educate’ themselves about the music and its historical context well in advance of each concert but also offered a means via which dialogue about the music could be facilitated. The programs’ attractive design also suggested it might serve as a keepsake and reminder of a musical experience that, in the absence of a permanent record, was unlikely to be repeated. The annotated programs themselves drew heavily on other sources, including those written by European composers, musicians and critics such as Kuhnau, Zelter (on Bach), Schumann (on Schubert), Ambros, Fink (in the Allgemeine Zeitung ) and Ludwig Rellstab (See Figure 7). 38

35 N.a., Programme of Mr. C.E. Horsley’s First Saturday Afternoon Concert, February 22nd, 1862 . 36 Prices for the annotated notes were not stipulated on the program. Ticket prices, however, were priced at one guinea for subscription tickets to six concerts, twelve shillings sixpence for tickets to three concerts, and five shillings for single tickets. James Smith, Annotated Programme of Herr Louis Pabst’s Six Historical Concerts which will be accompanied by Literary Illustrations by Mr. James Smith (Melbourne: McCarron, Bird and Co., [1887]). 37 James Smith was a journalist and music critic for various Melbourne newspapers including the Age , Argus , Leader , Melbourne Punch and Australasian . He also contributed regularly to the Victorian Review . See Ann-Mari Jordens, ‘Smith, James (1820–1910),’ Australian Dictionary of Biography—Online Edition , accessed on 28 January 2009, from . 38 The sources are identified by authors’ surnames only.

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Occasionally annotated or analytical program notes were provided when a new work was introduced to Melbourne audiences. Reserved for instrumental works that were considered to be of ‘superior’ merit and benefit to the listening audience, these were produced with the aim of easing audience members into the task of familiarizing themselves with what would otherwise be a totally foreign work. A short description of Schubert’s String Quartet in D minor, written by E.A. Jäger, for example, was printed and circulated to audience members at the Melbourner Deutsche Liedertafel’s Herren Abend in May 1877. 39

Figure 7: Program for Louis Pabst’s 4 th Historical Concert in 1887 (Louise Hanson-Dyer Music Library Concert and Theatre Program Collection, Box 5a)

39 The costs associated with printing and circulating the program notes were presumably covered by members’ subscriptions.

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According to the Argus critic, the concert was memorable due to the performance of this particular quartet. More importantly, the experience was heightened through the accompanying program notes, which not only demonstrated ‘liberality and good taste’ on the part of the author, but also provided ‘help to the proper understanding of the work.’ 40 A portion of Jäger’s ‘analysis’ of Schubert’s string quartet was printed in the Argus the next day. It reads as follows:

This quartett, either for breadth of design, wonderful harmonic treatment, or complete working out of its noble themes, may fairly entitle its composer to rank with the great masters of this most difficult style of composition. Haydn, the father of the school, the great Mozart, the mighty Beethoven, the charming Mendelssohn, and the thoughtful Schumann, have each something specially their own, and Schubert not less than any. The dictum of musical art critics is that Schubert’s works were nearly all too long or too short; that either from lack of that severe course of contrapuntal study which all the other great masters underwent, he never knew that great secret of composition, how to restrain the breadth of his ideas, or else he finished his works so abruptly as to leave his hearers unsatisfied. This somewhat just reproach cannot be applied to the work of which we treat. Here we have a striking unity of purpose, running through the whole work, joined to Schubert’s own wealth of harmony and original themes most perfectly brought out. 41

Concert reviews published in Melbourne’s leading newspapers, particularly in the Argus , fulfilled a similar educational function to annotated program notes in that they informed readers about the works performed and their historical context. As detailed notes were still relatively unusual for Melbourne concerts, these were probably more effective in disseminating information about chamber music to the general public than scant material published in programs. Significantly, the most prominent music critics of this period, avid supporters of high-art instrumental music, were intimately involved in the major musical institutions, and, in the case of T.H. Guenett, were actively involved in producing chamber-music concerts. 42 Newspaper reviews typically described the major instrumental works performed in a concert, giving a

40 Argus 9 May 1877: 7. 41 Jäger’s program note for Schubert’s String Quartet in D minor in Argus 9 May 1877: 7. 42 These included Alfred Plumpton, Henry Keiley and T.H. Guenett.

126 description of each movement, the form and structure, character of certain themes, historical context, effectiveness and professionalism of performance and even the technical challenges faced by the musicians. New works were given particular attention while readers were often directed to previous reviews for performances of the same work.

As was the case for annotated program notes, music critics writing for the press drew heavily upon pre-existing sources, including analytical notes from London concerts, such as those from the Monday Popular Concerts, and on Grove’s Dictionary of Music (1878–1888). Articles from Grove’s dictionary, for example, were quoted regularly in reviews of the Melbourne Popular Concerts and were particularly used to provide biographical information on composers and their works. The extent to which local musicians relied on Grove’s dictionary to inform audiences about the music presented at chamber-music concerts is clearly reflected in reviews published by the Argus newspaper. Take, for example, a review for the Melbourne Popular Concert that took place on 23 August 1883. On 24 August 1883 the Argus noted that the Mendelssohn Octet for strings, presented at the Melbourne Popular Concerts for the second time, had been performed fourteen times at the Monday Popular Concerts in London between the years 1859 and 1878, a fact noted by Grove in the first edition of his Dictionary of Music .43 Furthermore, the reviewer presents the translation of a portion of Goethe’s Intermezzo from Faust (the inspiration for Mendelssohn’s scherzo), which, he informs the reader, has been taken directly from Grove’s Dictionary of Music .44

Reviewers were not all mouthpieces for Grove, however, as the critic for the Argus , most likely Henry Keiley, demonstrated in his review of the Melbourne Popular Concert that took place on 27 September 1882:

The grand septuor by Hummel, op. 74, was played yesterday afternoon for the first time in Melbourne, and produced a great effect…This septet is one of his most famous works, and to have heard it is to admit that the musical people of

43 See Grove’s article on Mendelssohn. 44 Argus 24 August 1883: 10. The extensive use of Grove’s dictionary led the amateur musician Dr F.W. Elsner to accuse Melbourne’s music critics of ‘unacknowledged plagiarisms.’ See ‘Musical Notes: Victoria,’ The Illustrated Australian News and Musical Times 1 June 1889: 9.

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50 years ago had good grounds for the esteem in which they held him. He is differently spoken of by recent commentators, as witness Dannreuther’s article “Hummel,” in Grove’s Dictionary of Music , but for our own part we must frankly record our high admiration for a very famous work. 45

Newspaper critics also borrowed material from London program notes. When the Musical Artists’ Society performed Dvo řák’s Trio in F minor opus 65 at their monthly meeting in January 1885, the Argus critic quoted a brief biography taken from an annotated program for Arthur Chappell’s Monday Popular Concerts in London. 46 Such inter-borrowing was not unusual in London concerts. As noted by Christina Bashford, the practice of borrowing was reasonably widespread, ‘particularly in the final decades of the century when concerts were proliferating: Barry’s and Dannreuther’s Crystal Palace notes on Liszt, for instance, turned up in Bache’s concerts; Philharmonic notes by Joseph Bennett appeared alongside Grove’s and Barry’s at the Crystal Palace; and Crystal Palace notes sat in Philharmonic booklets.’ 47

Other musical literature was also used by music critics to educate audiences about chamber music. In response to a performance of Mozart’s Piano Quartet in E flat by the Melbourne Quartette Party in December 1876, for example, the critic for the Argus newspaper drew readers’ attention to the article titled ‘Form’ in Stainer and Barrett’s Dictionary of Musical Terms stating that familiarity with this article would enable readers to understand better the ‘form and general arrangement of the subjects treated by the author.’ 48 Where works such as Grove’s Dictionary of Music (1878– 1888), or his Beethoven and his Nine Symphonies (1884), offered lengthy essays on musical topics, Stainer and Barrett’s work aimed to define the ‘chief musical terms

45 Argus 28 September 1882: 9. 46 Argus 2 February 1885: 11. The trio had been performed for the first time at the Monday Popular Concerts less than twelve months earlier on 31 March 1884. See N.a. Catalogue of Works Performed at the Monday Popular Concerts during Thirty Four Seasons Commencing February 14, 1859, and Finishing April 11, 1892 (London: Chappell and Co., n.d.). 47 Christina Bashford, ‘Not Just “G.”: Towards a History of the Programme Note,’ George Grove, Music and Victorian Culture , ed. Michael Musgrave (N.Y.: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003) 125. 48 Argus 5 December 1876: 7.

128 met with in the more common annotated programmes and newspaper criticisms.’ 49 These, and other books such as Riemann’s Catechism of Musical Instruments and Catechism of Musical History , Hawkin’s, Naumann’s, and T.L Ritter’s histories of music, Schumann’s Music and Musicians , and Hueffer’s Music of the Future (to name a few), were made available to local musicians by local book-sellers and music stores, and were purchased to furnish the libraries of Melbourne’s leading musical societies. By 1899, the Musical Society of Victoria, for example, had approximately thirty reference works and thirty biographies in its library in addition to a vast collection of musical scores. 50

Instructional Lectures

Local musicians and critics drew on similar sources when constructing their lectures on musical themes. E.A. Jäger, for example, used a number of contemporary sources, including those by Thomas de Quincey, Schumann’s Music and Musicians , Chamber’s Encyclopedia , and Ernest Pauer’s The Elements of the Beautiful in Music [1876], for his lecture titled ‘On the Classical in Music,’ which he presented at the Musical Artists’ Society in January 1879. He also translated Berlioz’s review of Beethoven’s Fidelio for a lecture that he presented to the same society in April 1884.

Many of Melbourne’s musical societies, and a few individuals such as T.H. Guenett and the music critic for the Argus , Henry Keiley, combined performances of chamber music with instructional lectures to provide their audiences, members and associates with a satisfying educational experience. Lectures on musical topics were particularly prolific in the Musical Artists’ Society’s general meetings with members of the society presenting no less than forty-three lectures between the years 1877 and 1890 (See Table 11).

Table 11: Lectures delivered in Chamber-Music Programs 1877–1892

Date Lecturer Title Society 24/11/1877 E.A. Jäger History of the Orchestra MAS

49 J. Stainer and W.A. Barrett, A Dictionary of Musical Terms (London: 1876), quoted in Bashford, ‘Not Just “G.”: Towards a History of the Programme Note,’ 131. Bashford discusses further the role of contemporary music literature in the education of audiences and their appetite for informative program notes. 50 Amongst its collection were two volumes of the Musical Record (1871–1872) and nine volumes of the Musical Standard . See MSV, Catalogue of the Musical Library (Melbourne: J.J. Howard, Printer, 1899).

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26/1/1878 E.A. Jäger History of the Orchestra (Part 2) MAS 23/2/1878 E.A. Jäger Life and Works of Handel MAS 30/3/1878 H. Kaeppel The Life of Sebastian Bach MAS 27/4/1878 W. Hunter Life of Haydn MAS 25/5/1878 A. Allen Life and Works of Mozart MAS 27/7/1878 George Peake Life and Works of Schubert MAS 31/8/1878 E.A. Jäger Life and Works of Mendelssohn MAS 28/9/1878 H. Kaeppel Life and Works of Schumann 51 MAS 30/11/1878 J.O Broadley Taste in Music MAS 30/11/1878 R.L.J. Ellery Musical Flames MAV 25/1/1879 E.A. Jäger On the Classical in Music MAS 5/4/1879 E.A. Jäger The Life and Works of Hummel MAS 26/4/1879 Dr Robertson The Anatomy of the Vocal Organ MAS 31/5/1879 Mr Weir Voice Culture MAS 30/8/1879 E.A. Jäger The Rise and Progress of the Society MAS 25/10/1879 Rev Harding The Life and Works of Wagner MAS 29/11/1879 E.A. Jäger The Life and Works of Hummel MAS 10/4/1880 E.A. Jäger England considered as a Musical Nation MAS 1/5/1880 E.A. Jäger The Life of Beethoven MAS 5/6/1880 A. Plumpton Harmony MAS 26/6/1880 J. Summers Teachers of Music MAS 31/7/1880 F. Tate Reflections on a trip through Europe MAS 28/5/1881 George Peake The Coincidence of Acoustics and Optics MAS 25/2/1882 Unidentified Brahms MAS 27/5/1882 George Peake The Life of Weber MAS 26/8/1882 E.A. Jäger England Considered as a Musical Nation MAS 28/10/1882 Mr Pulver The Scientific Basis of Music MAS 20/10/1883 Austin Turner The Tonic-solfa System of Teaching Music MAV 1/12/1883 J. Summers Musicians, Professional and Amateur MAV 22/12/1883 T.H. Guenett Critics and Criticism 52 MAV 28/4/1884 E.A. Jäger Fidelio 53 MAS 15/10/1884 T.H. Guenett Robert Schumann: His Life and Writings MISC 28/3/1885 E.A. Jäger Biography of Bach 54 MAS 11/4/1885 J. Summers University Musical Degrees MAV 25/4/1885 E.A. Jäger Influence of the Piano on Modern Music MAS 27/6/1885 E.A. Jäger Beethoven’s ‘Eroica’ Symphony MAS 12/9/1885 T.H. Guenett Robert Schumann: His Life and Writings MAV 26/9/1885 E.A. Jäger Beethoven’s ‘Choral’ Symphony MAS 26/9/1885 E.A. Jäger An Autobiography of Dvořák MAS 31/10/1885 H.J. Smith Irish Music and Musicians MAS 28/11/1885 George Peake Musical Dynamics and Expression MAS 27/3/1886 George Peake The Influence of Liedertafelism on Musical Art MAS 10/4/1886 J. Summers The Merits of a University Chair of Music MAV 10/4/1886 Otto Linden The Merits of Establishing a Conservatorium MAV 29/1/1887 A. Allen Musical Notation MAS 26/2/1887 A. Allen Musical Notation MAS 26/3/1887 Mr Weir A Few Hints on Voice Culture MAS 5/10/1887 Henry Keiley The Development of Musical Idea MISC 29/9/1888 E.A. Jäger The Human Hand MAS 29/9/1888 George Peake Laryngoscope MAS

51 The lecture was written by H. Kaeppel and delivered by E.A. Jäger. 52 The lecture consisted of an article by Alfred Plumpton published in the Victorian Review. 53 The translation of Berlioz’ text was carried out by E.A. Jäger. 54 The lecture was composed from several extracts taken from a new biography of Bach.

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23/2/1889 E.A. Jäger Reflections in Daily Musical Life MAS 29/3/1890 F. Tate Musical Experiences during a Trip to Europe MAS 25/7/1891 Dr Shields Cartilages, Ligaments and Muscles MAOS 26/11/1892 George Peake Vocal Ruin MSV Although it was not a pre-requisite for membership, members of the Musical Association also presented lectures at their meetings. These were often orientated towards the educational aims of the institution and its attempt to further the musical profession. Lectures were, thus, given on topics such as ‘The Tonic-solfa system of teaching Music,’ ‘University Music Degrees,’ ‘The Merits of a University Chair of Music’ and ‘The Merits of establishing a Conservatorium.’

These types of gatherings, in which lectures were illustrated by musical performances, appear to have derived from institutions in London such as the Royal Musical Association (1874– ) and its predecessors, the Musical Institute of London (1851–1853) and The Musical Society of London (1858–1867). During its formative years, the Royal Musical Association, for example, focussed its attention on the presentation of papers on musical topics, particularly ‘acoustical and theoretical aspects of music, but by the 1890s more attention was paid to history and criticism…For many years, meetings were held for the reading and discussion of one paper offered by the author.’ 55 By contrast, the activities of the Musical Institute of London and the Musical Society of London expanded to the musical illustration of lectures, the former founded for the purpose of ‘the cultivation of the art and science of music…for the holding of conversazioni, for the reading of papers upon musical subjects, and the performance of music in illustration.’ 56 The Musical Society of London, established soon after, had similar objectives ‘as stated in its early prospectuses…

To promote social intercourse among its members and with musicians of this and other countries; to form a musical library for the use of its members; to hold conversazioni, at which papers on musical subjects might be read, and subjects of musical interest discussed; to give orchestral, choral, and chamber concerts, and occasionally lectures; to afford the opportunity of trying new

55 Alec Hyatt King and Julian Rushton, ‘Royal Musical Association,’ The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians , vol. 21, ed. Stanley Sadie, 2 nd ed. (London: Macmillan, 2001) 821. 56 Alec Hyatt King, ‘Musical Institute of London,’ The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians , vol. 17, ed. Stanley Sadie, 2 nd ed. (London: Macmillan, 2001) 474.

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compositions; to publish occasional papers, calculated to extend the theoretical and historical knowledge of music. 57

The objectives of these societies are similar to those of the Musical Association and Musical Society of Victoria. They are more closely aligned, however, with those of the Musical Artists’ Society, whose primary objectives were identified as the ‘mutual improvement of its members in all branches of musical art and science, the formation of a library of musical literature…[and] the cultivation of a thoroughly friendly feeling amongst its members,’ each member being required to either participate in a musical performance, deliver a lecture, or present an original composition annually. 58

The concept of conversazioni , however, was not so prominent in the Melbourne societies where discourse about music and other matters played a minor role in comparison to performances of music and the business mechanisms needed to bring about these performances. According to Christina Bashford,

The term had been imported to England in the late eighteenth century, and used for gatherings of an artistic-cum-intellectual character; by the 1830s and 1840s it commonly denoted soirées , given in private houses in the West End…at which specimens of fine art, scientific inventions and other interesting objects were exhibited on tables, and intellectual conversation promoted. 59

Some elements of conversazioni can be found in the Melbourne Popular Concerts. The choice of Glen and Co.’s newly constructed concert hall for the final concerts of the ninth series of Melbourne Popular Concerts, for example, was felt to be not only acoustically agreeable to the performance of chamber music but was also visually pleasing with portraits of composers adorning the walls. Those attending the concerts felt that the decorated room enhanced their enjoyment of the music, the critic for Table Talk praising Glen and Co. for providing ‘their customers the rare privilege of

57 M., ‘The Musical Society of London,’ Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians , vol. 3, ed. J.A. Fuller Maitland (Philadelphia: Theodore Presser Company, 1926) 338–9. 58 MSV, Minutes MAS 1877 –1884 , August 1877, 1–16. 59 Christina Bashford, ‘Learning to Listen: Audiences for Chamber Music in Early-Victorian London,’ Journal of Victorian Culture VI (1999): 35.

132 enjoying all that is attractive in art decoration, and sublime in things that are beautiful.’ 60 In another column the same critic described the hall as

a musical trysting place so perfect in every respect…We hope that now we have such an elegant hall our Melbourne directors of high class musical entertainments will remember W.H Glen and Co.’s Concert Hall, and let us have the pleasure of pleasing our eyes by looking at the portraits of the great masters while listening to their creations. 61

Similarly, the next venue chosen for the Melbourne Popular Concerts was the newly renovated Melbourne Athenæum, which, as part of its renovations, had the walls of its upper hall decorated with pictures. The critic for the Argus newspaper described the new venue as ‘a fair room…for an artistic entertainment. The walls were hung with the admirable original designs which are being reproduced in the Picturesque Atlas of Australia , and many visitors went early and inspected the pictures before the commencement of the concert.’ 62

Direct references to conversazioni were also made in the minutes of the Musical Artists’ Society of Victoria when it received a letter from a Mr Garland proposing that the society participate in the establishment of ‘Associated Conversazioni of the Literary, Scientific, and Art Societies of Victoria.’ 63 Discussions between Mr Garland and the Musical Artists’ Society followed but the proposal was abandoned shortly after. 64

Educational Institutions

There is evidence to suggest that chamber music was not only performed in public concerts directed by Melbourne’s first music schools but that it also formed an important part of their curricula. Charles Russell’s Melbourne School of Music, founded c1878, for example, provided classes for ‘piano with other instruments in

60 Table Talk 16 October 1885: 16. 61 Table Talk 30 October 1885: 15. 62 Argus 28 April 1887: 6. 63 MSV, Minutes of the Musical Artists’ and Organists’ Society of Victoria , 29 September 1888, The Musical Society of Victoria Records 1877–1980, MS 12801, Box 1/4, Australian Manuscripts Collection, Latrobe Library, SLV, 101–2. 64 MSV, Minutes MAOS 1884 –1892 , 27 October and 24 November 1888; 23 February and 23 March 1889, 103, 105–8.

133 duet, trio, quartett, and concerto’ along with private lessons, ‘class lessons in Technique (art of execution), sight-reading, sol-fa…[and] training in art of teaching.’ 65 In 1886, the German ‘cellist Christian Reimers acknowledged the need for such curricula claiming that one of the ‘gross [neglects] in music-teaching is to ignore the imperative necessity of concerted playing or accompaniment lessons, interspersed with the regular ones.’ 66

In 1881 the Melbourne School of Music established a series of subscription concerts with the object of ‘[promoting] the performances of the works of the classical masters, of Chopin, Henselt, Liszt, Thalberg, Rubenstein [sic], & c., and of the best song writers, by young artists trained in the school, assisted (if the funds permit) by the best artists residing in or visiting Melbourne.’ Subscriptions were priced at one guinea per annum for a series of four concerts that were to be held at three-monthly intervals. 67 Typically, the concerts featured one or two chamber works for piano and strings combined with vocal items, piano solos and the occasional piano duo. The program for the school’s concert on 23 June 1882, for example, contained two complete chamber works, Rubinstein’s Piano Trio in B flat opus 52 and Raff’s Piano Trio in G opus 112, three piano duos, and a variety of vocal works and piano solos. 68

In addition to providing music students with the opportunity to perform publicly with the assistance of professional musicians, the Melbourne School of Music’s subscription concerts also provided a forum in which new works could be introduced to Melbourne audiences. During the 1880s, when the Melbourne School of Music was the city’s only music school of note (the University of Melbourne was yet to establish a Chair of Music), a wide range of repertoire was also performed.

65 Argus 29 January 1881: 12. 66 Christian Reimers, Lecture on Music and its relation to Religion and Psychology (Melbourne: E.J. Stephens, Printers, [1886]) 18. 67 Argus 13 August 1881: 12. 68 The piano duos included the Turkish March from Beethoven’s Ruins of Athens , Chopin’s Rondo in C opus 73, and Liszt’s Rakoczy March . Vocal works included Beethoven’s ‘Song of the Quail,’ Schubert’s ‘Auf dem Wasser zu singen,’ Mendelssohn’s ‘Frühlingslied,’ and Handel’s ‘Angels ever bright and fair’ while the piano solos were Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody number 6, Rigoletto Paraphrase , and an arrangement of the ‘Spinning Song’ (Flying Dutchman ), Chopin’s Ballade in A flat opus 47 and opus 7 mazurkas. See Argus 24 June 1882: 5.

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According to a publicity notice published in the Argus newspaper in 1883, during seven concerts alone ‘40 compositions by the classical masters’ were performed as well as ‘47 by the modern masters, Liszt, Chopin, Thalberg, Raff, & c.; in all 87 works, of which about 50 were produced for the first time in Melbourne.’ 69 According to the critic for the Leader newspaper, the progressive nature of the repertoire was matched by the school’s desire to provide the city with an educational institution modelled on those found in continental Europe, 70 to foster musical talent and to familiarize students of music with what was considered to be the best music. 71

There is evidence to suggest that a small number of elite secondary schools also played a role in musical education through their various curricula and public concerts. Presbyterian Ladies’ College, for example, treated music ‘as a serious branch of education’ when it overhauled its music teaching program in 1883. 72 The result was a comprehensive music curriculum that employed the services of some of Melbourne’s leading musicians including George Peake, E.A. Jäger, George Weston, George Fentum and Herr Hartung. 73 As early as the mid 1880s Presbyterian Ladies’ College held an inaugural end of year concert displaying the accomplishments of its finest students. Chamber music comprised a significant portion of these programs, which typically consisted of a variety of piano solos, chamber works and vocal items. Its yearly concert in December 1886, for example, contained at least three chamber works scored for piano and strings (an unidentified sonata for violin and piano by Beethoven, Beethoven’s Piano Quartet in E flat opus 16 and one of Mendelssohn’s piano trios), the piano parts performed by students of the college (Miss Warren, Miss

69 Argus 11 April 1883: 12. 70 The principal, Charles W. Russell, received his musical training at the Stuttgart Conservatory and may have modelled the Melbourne School of Music on this institution. 71 See Leader 3 December 1881: 19. The pianist Max Vogrich also supported the type of repertoire studied at the school claiming in an examiner’s report: ‘I have to congratulate you on such fine results, and to express my satisfaction to see that only the best music is cultivated in your classes.’ Max Vogrich, Extract from Report of Examiners, 19 May 1885, published in Age 15 February 1886: 8. 72 Michael Ackland, ‘Introduction,’ The Getting of Wisdom (Ringwood, Vic.: Penguin, 1998) ix–x. 73 These musicians are listed as visiting teachers in the Presbyterian Ladies’ College Prospectuses 1900–1901, 1902 and 1906–1908, PLC Archives, Burwood.

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Hanson and Ethel Richardson) 74 with professional string players George Weston (violin), J.B. Zerbini (viola) and Freyling (‘cello) assisting. The program also featured a cantata composed by Ethel Richardson set to Alfred Tennyson’s poem The Sea Fairies . ‘The composition, which [was] for chorus with solos…had [an] accompaniment for pianoforte and string quartet.’ 75

When the Conservatorium of Music was established at the University of Melbourne in 1895, it also incorporated chamber-music performance into its curriculum, offering classes ‘for the study of chamber music; instrumental duets, trios, quartets, &c.’ 76 The original teaching staff comprised a number of competent chamber musicians including the violinist Franz Dierich (a former member of the Richter Orchestra), the ‘cellist Herr Hattenbach and double-bassist Signor Ceschina, and woodwind players Herbert Stoneham (flute), Mr Lüttich (oboe, cor anglais and bassoon) and Mr Lyons (clarinet). Within this context, chamber music was performed in accordance to the institution’s principles and objectives. The Director of the Conservatorium, Marshall-Hall, outlined the role of the Conservatorium in the Preface to the original Prospectus, stating that the contemporary student needed to be better

acquainted with the theory of his art; to know something of harmony and counterpoint; of the construction of musical works; of the lives and characters of the great tone-poets; of the nature and functions of music…[Furthermore, he needed to obtain] an insight into branches of art other than his own, inasmuch as he can take part in the performance of concerted music, and, moreover, [hear] works that other students [were] studying. 77

74 Ethel Richardson, otherwise known as Henry-Handel Richardson, is discussed further in a later chapter. 75 Miss Warren performed the Beethoven sonata for violin and piano with George Weston. Miss Hanson performed the Mendelssohn piano trio with Weston and Freyling while Ethel Richardson performed Beethoven’s Piano Quartet opus 16 with George Weston, J.B. Zerbini and Freyling. The performers for the cantata are unnamed. A variety of unidentified vocal works, accompanied by students of the college, was also presented at the concert, which took place at the school’s Wyselaskie Hall on 14 December 1886. See Leader 18 December 1886: 28. 76 University of Melbourne. Conservatorium of Music, Prospectus [Carlton: The Conservatorium, 1895]. (Copy held in Rare Books Collection, Louise Hanson-Dyer Music Library, University of Melbourne). 77 University of Melbourne. Conservatorium of Music, ‘Preface,’ Prospectus [1895] 3.

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The Conservatorium also provided ‘Interpretation’ classes in which students performed ‘whatever works they [were] studying, the poetic import, manner of interpretation, phrasing, etc., of which [were] carefully criticized, corrected, and explained.’ These were held concurrently with a series of other practical and theoretical classes including Harmony and Counterpoint, Form and Analysis and History and Aesthetics of Music. 78

The Conservatorium was modelled on German institutions of the day, which ‘leaned more easily to a partnership between scholarly and practical musical disciplines [and where] there was traditionally a close connection between the Hochschule or Konservatorium and university music departments.’ 79

Concerts by students and staff provided a public face for the newly established Conservatorium. In May 1895, the Argus announced that a chamber- music concert would be given at the Melbourne Conservatorium by Professor Marshall-Hall, with a second notice appearing two weeks later indicating that the Conservatorium would soon hold a series of subscription concerts. 80 The chamber- music concerts took place on 11 July, 15 August, 26 September and 24 October and were performed by staff from the Conservatorium. 81 The repertoire was comprised exclusively of chamber works and vocal solos by Germanic composers (with the exception of one performance of Saint-Saëns’ Variations on a Theme of Beethoven opus 35 for two pianos), each program featuring two to three complete chamber works interleaved with lieder by Schubert, Schumann, Brahms and Robert Franz. The chamber works performed in the Conservatorium’s subscription concerts were all relatively well-known to audiences, having been performed previously in Melbourne on multiple occasions. These included Beethoven’s Piano Trio in B flat opus 97,

78 University of Melbourne. Conservatorium of Music, Prospectus [1895] 5. 79 Peter Tregear, The Conservatorium of Music, University of Melbourne: an Historical Essay to mark its Centenary, 1895 –1995 (Parkville, Vic.: Centre for Studies in Australian Music, 1997) 22. 80 Argus 14 May 1895; 28 May 1895. 81 Performers included W.A. Laver, Franz Dierich, Louis Hattenbach, Elise Wiedermann, Herman Schrader, Alberto Zelman Jnr., David Coutts, A. Ceschina, H. Kühr, E. Lyons and Ernest Moffitt and the concerts were directed by G.W.L. Marshall-Hall. Printed programs for the subscription concerts are held in Box 16a, Louise Hanson-Dyer Music Library Concert and Theatre Program Collection, University of Melbourne.

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Schubert’s Octet in F D803, and Schumann’s Piano Quartet in E flat opus 47 and Piano Quintet in E flat opus 44. The last concert of the series was reported to have been attended by a ‘numerous and appreciative audience’ and consisted of performances of Rubinstein’s Sonata in D major for piano and ‘cello, Beethoven’s Piano Trio in B flat opus 97 and several vocal works by Schumann. 82

A series of Orchestral Concerts by students of the Conservatorium under the leadership of Marshall-Hall followed. These consisted of a variety of vocal, solo instrumental, chamber and orchestral works. The Conservatorium’s Orchestral Concert at the University of Melbourne’s Wilson Hall on 10 June 1896, for example, contained a number of vocal works and instrumental solos in addition to Beethoven’s Symphony number 8, Haydn’s Symphony number 1, a piano concerto by Mozart, and movements from two chamber works: the rondo movement from Mozart’s Sonata in E flat for piano and violin and the Allegro moderato and Minuetto and Trio from Mozart’s String Quartet in D minor. 83

Conclusion

As has been demonstrated in this chapter, high-art chamber music held a privileged position within Melbourne’s developing musical culture and was closely tied to contemporary issues of raising musical standards and taste. Music literature was used to strengthen further chamber music’s position as an influential educational tool and it was not by chance that the introduction of more serious chamber-music concerts and program notes coincided; in many cases, music literature in numerous forms served to educate audiences about chamber music although chamber music was felt to have educative forces of its own, being able to simultaneously instruct the mind and elevate musical taste.

Distinctive intellectual overtones were associated with many performances of chamber music, particularly those that took place within musical societies and

82 The performers were Mr W.A. Laver (piano), Herr Louis Hattenbach (‘cello), Herr Franz Dierich (violin), and Madame Elsie Wiederman (voice). See Table Talk 1 November 1895: 7. 83 The performers of the Mozart string quartet were Miss Olga Zichy-Woinarski, Miss Amy Smith, Mr J.W. Dawson and Mr Fred Clutsam. See Concert Program, University Conservatorium of Music Orchestral Concert given by the Students in the Wilson Hall, Melbourne University, 10 June 1896, Box 16a, Concert and Theatre Program Collection, Louise Hanson-Dyer Music Library, University of Melbourne.

138 subscription concert series, while Melbourne’s educational institutions incorporated the performance of chamber music into their curricula, acknowledging that it had a significant role to play in the education of students on both practical and theoretical levels. The next chapter examines in greater detail the ways in which programs were constructed and analyses the scope of the repertoire.

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Chapter 5: Repertoire and Program Construction

Chamber music was performed in a variety of contexts in Melbourne during the second half of the nineteenth century. An examination of the selection and arrangement of items within various musical programs reveals that chamber music, and the type of music that was performed alongside it, occurred in a number of ways. It also reveals a complex relationship with European traditions of the same period. While directors of chamber-music concerts in Melbourne attempted to establish concerts similar to those found in London and on the European continent, they were forced to adapt to local conditions.

This chapter examines repertoire and methods of program construction in Melbourne’s chamber-music concerts during the period 1861 –1901. It commences with a statistical analysis of the number and types of works that were performed in Melbourne as a basis for discussion about how works in the three categories of chamber music, vocal works and instrumental solos were combined to create various types of chamber-music concerts. In particular, the contrasting methods of homogenous and miscellaneous program-construction are explored in a number of concerts, including those modelled on programs at Arthur Chappell’s Monday and Saturday Popular Concerts in London, and those that were constructed entirely from high-art instrumental music (Charles Horsley’s Saturday Afternoon Concerts of 1862 and Louis Pabst’s Historical Concerts of 1887, for example). These concerts’ methods of program-construction are contrasted against and discussed within the context of European practices of the same period.

The second half of the chapter contains further statistical analyses of the most- performed composers and works and explores some of the features of Melbourne’s repertory and work selection, contrasted with various aspects of repertoire selection in Europe. The chapter concludes with an examination of the extent to which Melbourne’s chamber-music concerts promoted and supported local composers by performing their chamber music and other works.

Programming

One of the prominent characteristics of Melbourne’s chamber-music concerts during the second half of the nineteenth century was the programming of chamber music

140 alongside vocal works, instrumental solos and occasionally other works. A large proportion of vocal works and a diverse range of musical genres were presented. Across the chamber-music concerts examined in this thesis 669 vocal works were performed as compared to 601 instrumental solos and 340 chamber works. In addition, a further 123 works or portions of works not falling into either of these categories were performed. These included six orchestral works, six overtures, twenty-three concertos, twenty-four piano duets and fifty-six literary works (See Figure 8). 1

Figure 8: Number and types of Works performed

700 Instrumental Solos Vocal Works 600 Chamber Works 500 Orchestral Works

400 Overtures

300 Concertos Piano Duets 200 Literary Works 100 Unspecified 0

Figure 9: Number of Chamber Works for 2 to 8 Performers

2 Performers 120 3 Performers 100 4 Performers

80 5 Performers 6 Performers 60 7 Performers 40 8 Performers Other 20 Unidentified 0

Of the 340 chamber works performed in the chamber-music concerts in this study, 103 duos, eighty-two trios, 106 quartets, twenty-eight quintets, three sextets, two septets and two octets were performed. In addition, four chamber works not falling

1 Eight works had unspecified genres.

141 into either of these categories were included while the instrumentation (number of performers) for a further ten works could not be identified (See Figure 9).

In terms of genre, duo sonatas (the majority of which were scored for violin and piano), piano trios (scored for piano, violin and ‘cello) and string quartets (for two violins, viola and ‘cello) formed over half the chamber-music repertory with piano quartets (piano, violin, viola and ‘cello) and various other types of duos and trios also forming a substantial percentage of the repertory. A smaller number of piano quintets (for piano and string quartet) and string quintets (for string quartet and an additional viola or double-bass) were also performed (See Figure 10). 2

By contrast, very few works were scored principally for wind instruments. Chamber works for wind instruments were not always performed using the composer’s intended intrumentation and the majority (one exception being Mozart’s Clarinet Trio in E flat K498) were scored for five or more instruments. 3 These included Beethoven’s Quintet opus 16 (for piano, oboe, clarinet, horn, and bassoon) and Septet in E flat opus 20 (for clarinet, horn, bassoon, violin, viola, ‘cello, and double-bass), Hummel’s Septet in D minor opus 74 (for piano, flute, oboe, horn, viola, ‘cello and double-bass), Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet in A K581, Rubinstein’s Quintet in F opus 55 number 1 (for piano and wind instruments), and Schubert’s Octet in F D803 (for string quartet, double-bass, clarinet, bassoon and horn). Other chamber works featuring wind instruments, such as a trio for three flutes by Kuhlau and clarinet quartet by Crusel, received just one performance.

2 The chamber repertory included seventy-eight string quartets, fifty-seven piano trios, forty- four duo sonatas, fifty-nine ‘other’ duos, twenty-five ‘other’ trios (not piano trios), twenty- one piano quartets, four unidentified quartets, three ‘other’ quartets (not string quartet or piano quartet), nine piano quintets, seven string quintets, twelve ‘other’ quintets, three sextets (including an arrangement of a Chopin Piano Concerto), two septets, and two octets. 3 In performances of Beethoven’s Quintet opus 16 and Septet opus 20, and Schubert’s Octet D803, for example, various wind instruments were substituted for those in the original score. A flute was used instead of an oboe for the first performance of Beethoven’s Quintet opus 16 while the first and second performances of Beethoven’s septet substituted a saxophone for a horn, and a trombone for a bassoon. The second performance of Schubert’s octet featured a trombone instead of a bassoon. See Peggy Jane Lais, ‘Chamber-Music Concerts in Pre- Federation Melbourne Database.’

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Figure 10: Number of Chamber Works per Genre

80 Duo Sonatas Other Duos 70 Piano Trios Other Trios 60 String Quartets Piano Quartets 50 Unidentified Quartets Other Quartets 40 Piano Quintets String Quintets 30 Other Quintets Sextets 20 Septets Octets 10 Other Unidentified 0

Figure 11: Number of Instrumental Solos per Instrument

400 Cabinet Organ 'Cello 350 Clarinet 300 Flute

250 Harp Horn 200 Oboe 150 Organ 100 Piano Violin 50 Viola 0

The prominence of the piano and violin (and the lack of prominence of wind instruments) is also evident in the instrumental solo repertory. Over half of the instrumental solos performed were written for the piano. Works for violin and ‘cello received the next greatest number of performances followed by those for the flute, organ and viola. By contrast, only a small number of instrumental solos for oboe, clarinet, horn, harp and cabinet organ were performed (See Figure 11). 4

Works for solo instrument include a number of genres and types. The solo piano repertory, for example, consists of a number of multi-movement or multi-part

4 The 601 instrumental solos consisted of 379 piano solos, 131 violin solos, forty-one ‘cello solos, seventeen flute solos, fourteen organ solos, ten clarinet solos, two harp solos, two horn solos, two oboe solos, two viola solos and one cabinet organ solo.

143 works such as piano sonatas or suites. 5 Numerous individual works such as scherzos, preludes, ballades, waltzes, etudes, rhapsodies and nocturnes form a substantial percentage of the repertory while transcriptions, arrangements and variations on operatic themes, popular tunes, or virtuosic display pieces form a minority of the overall repertory. 6 Those in the latter categories include variations on ‘Auld Lang Syne’ and ‘The Last Rose of Summer,’ ‘Home Sweet Home,’ various fantasias on Scottish, Irish or English airs, and an arrangement of ‘God Save the Queen.’ In addition to these works, there are approximately thirty transcriptions and paraphrases of symphonic, operatic and other vocal works by Franz Liszt and Sigismond Thalberg. 7

The repertory for solo violin features a mixture of similar works, although the proportion of show pieces, arrangements and fantasias on popular tunes or operatic themes is greater, comprising approximately forty of the 131 works for solo violin. 8 The proportion of these types of works as opposed to classical forms appears to increase in those instruments with smaller repertories. At least fifteen of the seventeen flute solos, for example, are fantasias or arrangements of one type or another, the majority deriving from operatic or other vocal works. 9

An even wider range of vocal works forms part of the repertory of chamber- music concerts. The 669 vocal works comprise numerous selections (primarily arias) from Italian opera, and a smaller number of selections from German and French opera; art songs or lieder, selections from song cycles by nineteenth-century composers, cantatas, oratorios, other religious songs, and occasionally motets; part songs, drinking songs, anthems, salon pieces, popular-style and patriotic songs; vocal

5 These included piano sonatas by Beethoven and Mozart, and works such as Schumann’s Caranval opus 9, Faschingsschwank aus Wien opus 26, Kinderscenen opus 15, and Kreisleriana opus 16. 6 There are approximately twenty pieces that fall into this category. 7 These include, for example, Liszt’s transcriptions of Beethoven’s Symphony Number 2, La Campanella , the Rigoletto Paraphrase and various songs by Schubert, and similar works by Thalberg. 8 As noted by one of the anonymous examiners of this thesis, fantasias and arrangements for violin were unbelievably popular during this period and were, therefore, composed in an incredibly high number and performed more often than classical violin pieces. 9 See Lais, ‘Chamber-Music Concerts in Pre-Federation Melbourne Database.’

144 duets, trios, and quartets. Vocal works were usually accompanied by the piano and occasionally with a violin obbligato or an arrangement for small ensemble. 10

Thus, this data demonstrates that the most likely types and combination of works included in chamber-music concerts in Melbourne during the second half of the nineteenth century were chamber works for two to four performers scored for piano and/or strings (typically duo sonatas, piano trios, string quartets and piano quartets), and instrumental solos for piano, violin, or ‘cello supplemented by a range of vocal works.

Miscellaneous versus Homogenous Concerts

While this ‘core’ repertory was common to all chamber-music concerts, programs still varied substantially from one another in terms of their content and design. Some concerts, for example, placed a greater emphasis on vocal music, contained larger numbers of shorter works in their programs, and consisted of a variety of genres and styles. In general, these concerts appeared to focus more on entertainment or financial profit as desirable outcomes. 11 At the other end of the scale were concerts that concentrated on classical instrumental forms, had fewer and longer works in their programs, and which were driven by goals such as educating the public or improving musical taste. William Weber, in his examination of the methods of programming employed in concerts organized by the Royal Academy of Music and Royal College of Music in London during the 1880s, broadly categorizes these contrasting methods of programming as ‘miscellany’ and ‘homogeneity.’ 12 The range of concerts containing chamber music in Melbourne during the late nineteenth century, thus, demonstrates a growing dichotomy between vocal and instrumental music, short and

10 Thomas Goring’s ‘A Summer Night,’ for example, was sung by Fanny Bristow to a ‘cello obbligato in the Melbourne Popular Concert at the Melbourne Athenæum on 20 July 1892. See Lais, ‘Chamber-Music Concerts in Pre-Federation Melbourne Database.’ 11 Concerts by touring musicians such as Henry Ketten and Eduard Reményi, for example, contained large numbers of works in a variety of styles. The management of their concerts suggests that they were more concerned with financial profit than with goals such as raising musical standards and taste. These issues are discussed in Chapter 3. 12 See William Weber, ‘Miscellany vs. Homogeneity: Concert Programmes at the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music in the 1880s,’ Music and British Culture 1785 –1914: Essays in Honour of Cyril Ehrlich , ed. Christina Bashford and Leanne Langley (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000) 299–320.

145 long works, framed by what appear to be the opposing aims of entertainment and education (See Table 12).

Table 12: Characteristics of Miscellaneous and Homogenous Concerts Miscellany Homogeneity Many Works Few Works Vocal Instrumental Short Works Long Works Entertainment Education

Miscellaneous Concerts

According to Weber, concerts that employed ‘miscellaneous’ methods of programming typically offered a variety of musical genres in an attempt to please the tastes of different listeners and alternated vocal and instrumental selections in ‘highly patterned ways.’ 13 Directors and promoters used miscellaneous or ‘mixed’ programming as a means of meeting the ‘public expectation of ever more numerous and varied attractions.’ Indeed, as in London, the need for commercial return saw an increase in mixed programming as directors attempted ‘to appeal in one concert to devotees of Italian opera, of the symphonic music at the Philharmonic, of Handel oratorio and ancient music, of the English vocal school.’ 14

A number of the chamber-music concerts examined in this thesis fall into this category. Concerts by touring professional musicians (both instrumentalists and vocalists), promotional-style concerts, benefit, complimentary, and charity concerts, tended to contain a larger proportion of vocal music, included more items in their programs, had fewer chamber works, and were more likely to present selected movements only. The scope of vocal music within these types of concerts also tended to be broader and often ranged from lieder by composers such as Beethoven, Schubert and Schumann, operatic arias and religious songs, to sentimental and popular songs, ballads, drinking songs or part songs featuring members of Melbourne’s liedertafel societies.

13 Weber, ‘Miscellany vs. Homogeneity, 300–1. 14 Simon McVeigh, ‘The Benefit Concert in Nineteenth-Century London: From “tax on the nobility” to “monstrous nuisance,”’ Nineteenth-Century British Music Studies 1 (1997): 248– 50.

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A Grand Concert given in aid of the Dandenong Relief Fund at the Melbourne Town Hall on 14 October 1876, for example, consisted of sixteen items, ten of which were vocal works. These included part songs sung by the Deutscher Liedertafel Society, popular-styled songs, selections from Italian opera, and a rendition of ‘God Save the Queen.’ Supplementing these vocal works was an arrangement of the Overture to Zampa for organ solo, two instrumental solos for piano (De Sivrai’s Scotch Fantasia and Six Variations on ‘Lorely’ by the local musician T.H. Guenett), and two movements of Haydn’s String Quartet in D opus 17. Two non-musical items were also included in the program, a reading entitled ‘The Creeds of the Bells’ by the writer George W. Bungay, and selections from Shakespeare’s Hamlet .15 As a testimonial concert, the program was given for the purpose of raising funds in gratitude to crew members of the S.S. Dandenong and the barque Albert William who risked their lives to save numerous men, women and children from drowning in what became known as the ‘Dandenong disaster.’ In addition to the sale of tickets, ₤64 was raised at the door, and the performers provided their services free. 16

Similar programming occurred at the Metropolitan and Melbourne Liedertafel Societies’ concerts and ‘Smoke Nights’ where programs contained up to twenty different items ranging from chamber music to popular-styled songs, operatic selections and works for chorus. The Melbourne Liedertafel’s Gentlemen’s concert on 2 June 1879, for example, consisted of seventeen items that included Haydn’s String Quartet opus 77 number 1, eight part songs, three instrumental solos, and works for vocal solo, duet and trio. 17 Furthermore, the social nature of the liedertafel societies meant that chamber music was performed in a relatively relaxed atmosphere and, in the case of the gentlemen’s smoke nights, was consumed alongside alcohol and tobacco. Chamber works in the Liedertafel societies’ concerts were also rarely performed in their entirety. The general practice by both the Metropolitan and Melbourne Liedertafel societies was to perform two movements of a chamber work in

15 Argus 16 October 1876: 7. 16 Argus 16 October 1876: 7. 17 Lais, ‘The Rise and Fall of the Melbourne Popular Concerts,’ 70.

147 one part of the program and the remaining movements in another, thus making them more palatable to a general audience. 18

Not all programs, however, demonstrated the same variety of musical items. Some public concerts, for example, placed a greater emphasis on chamber music and/or repertoire for the piano. The German pianist, Julius Buddee, for example, directed a concert on 25 November 1876, which featured three complete chamber works for keyboard (Bach’s Concerto in C major for three keyboards, and two quartets for four pianos by Czerny), Henselt’s Piano Concerto in F minor opus 16 (arranged for two pianos), five vocal works, including selections from French and Italian opera, songs by Friedrich Kücken and Farebrother, and Thalberg’s arrangement of ‘Home Sweet Home’ for piano. 19 The novelty provided by Buddee on this occasion was the performance on a newly improved piano produced by Kirkman (London), which was recently purchased by a local musician and lent to Buddee to impart further interest to his program. 20

Homogenous Concerts and the Rise of the Concert Series

More homogenous programs, that is, concerts containing items of similar genres and types, or those that adhered to a prescriptive patterning of instrumental and vocal works in the manner of similar concerts in Europe, became more prominent in Melbourne during the 1880s in concerts organized by some of the leading musical societies (particularly the Musical Association of Victoria and the Musical Artists’ Society of Victoria) and in public concert series such as the Melbourne Popular Concerts (1882–1893), Allan and Co.’s Classical Chamber Music Concerts (1897– 1898), Miss Wilkinson’s concerts (1893–1894)) and Louis Pabst’s Historical Concerts (1887).

Homogenous methods of program construction were also more likely to occur in public concerts given by touring professional musicians during the 1880s and 1890s than they were during the 1860s and 1870s. Public concerts featuring the

18 Lais, ‘The Rise and Fall of the Melbourne Popular Concerts,’ 71. 19 The Bach concerto was performed with a quartet accompaniment by members of the Melbourne Quartette Society: Henry Curtis (first violin), Philip Montague (second violin), E.A. Jäger (viola), and Samuel Chapman (‘cello). 20 The concert was described as being ‘a musical entertainment of superior merit.’ See Argus 27 November 1876: 6.

148 pianist Arabella Goddard, which were held during the early 1870s, for example, generally contained between ten and twenty different works that included movements of or complete chamber works (usually duo sonatas or piano trios), operatic excerpts, arrangements of overtures, a variety of vocal works, including popular and parlor songs, vocal duos, trios or quartets, fantasias and arrangements for solo instrument, and piano sonatas. Large numbers of performers were also needed, including on at least one occasion the opera orchestra, local vocalists and instrumentalists. 21 A public concert directed by the resident musician T.H Guenett on 15 February the same year contained a similar number of items and included a mixture of vocal and instrumental works including four double quartets for voice, a variety of vocal solos, Beethoven’s ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata for piano and violin (two movements performed early in the program and the remaining movements in the latter half), Chopin’s Rondo in D opus 73, two piano solos (a scherzo by Chopin and Weber’s Rondo Brilliant), and a fantasia on Lucia di Lammermoor for piano and violin. 22

By contrast, Sir Charles and Lady Hallés’ concerts of 1890 (and 1891) tended to consist of instrumental solos for piano and violin (performed by Charles and Lady Hallé), a small number of solos for ‘cello (performed by the local ‘cellist Alfred Montague), vocal solos (performed by Charles Turner) and one or two duo sonatas. Repertoire tended to focus on ‘serious’ works by Austro-Germanic composers such as Bach, Beethoven, Schumann, and Weber, as well as piano solos by Chopin and Liszt, and works by contemporary composers such as Brahms and Grieg, with fewer vocal works (usually two solos per concert). Thus, the Hallés’ concerts of 1890 and 1891 focused on instrumental music, particularly chamber music and instrumental solos,

21 The concert that took place on 10 September 1873 at the Melbourne Town Hall, for example, contained fourteen items, including Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio in C minor opus 66, Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight’ Piano Sonata, Handel’s Harmonious Blacksmith for piano solo, a vocal duet from Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’amore and vocal trio from Lucrezia Borgia , and arrangements and fantasias for solo piano and solo violin on well-known tunes such as ‘Home sweet Home,’ ‘The Last Rose of Summer’ and ‘God save the Queen.’ In addition to the violinist John Hill, the local ‘cellist Alfred Montague, and vocalists Mrs Cutter, Armes Beaumont, Amelia Bailey, and Susini were engaged for the concert. 22 The concert took place on 15 February at the Melbourne Athenæum.

149 offered fewer, longer works in their programs, and represented a narrow range of composers performed by a small party of musicians (See Figure 12). 23

Such programming exhibited elements of the ‘recital’ or ‘collegial chamber concert,’ concerts which emerged in Europe from the middle of the nineteenth century in response to a ‘concern that benefit concerts had become crudely commercial.’ 24 According to William Weber, where ‘most of the solo recitals in this period were performed by virtuosos and focused chiefly on recent music, [e]xamples of the collegial chamber concert...[took] a variety of forms. It could involve two musicians—most often a pianist with a violinist or a singer—who performed both individually and jointly…Or a pianist might invite a singer and several instrumentalists onto a program, possibly to perform a trio or a quintet at the start.’ 25

The Monday Popular Concert Model

Concerts modelled on the Monday and Saturday Popular Concerts were also in the homogenous mould. These concerts saw the presentation of a small number of works in a highly prescriptive method of programming; high-art chamber works by principally eighteenth and nineteenth-century Austro-Germanic composers were presented alongside instrumental solos and vocal works while audiences were provided with annotated program notes to educate them about the music performed.

As already mentioned, from Melbourne’s early years of settlement, Arthur Chappell’s Monday and Saturday Popular Concerts in London were considered to be a model worthy of emulation. Charles Horsley attempted to establish similar concerts in Melbourne in the early 1860s while the concerts were emulated in Adelaide with the formation of the Adelaide String Quartet Club in 1880. 26 It was not until 1882, however, that the Monday Popular Concert model took hold in Melbourne in a formal

23 The Hallés’ concert on the 26 May 1890, for example, consisted of Schumann’s Sonata in A minor opus 105 for piano and violin, Beethoven’s Piano Sonata opus 28, three piano solos by Heller, one piano solo and one violin solo by Joachim Raff, two violin solos by F. Ries, ‘cello solos by Weber and J.L Hatton, and vocal solos by Weber and Sullivan. 24 William Weber, The Great Transformation of Musical Taste: Concert Programming from Haydn to Brahms (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008) 159. 25 Weber, The Great Transformation of Musical Taste , 159. 26 Kathleen N. Nelson, ‘The Adelaide String Quartet Club and the “Vocal Element” 1880– 1891,’ Miscellanea Musicologica 15 (1988): 143.

150 sense with the establishment of T.H. Guenett’s Melbourne Popular Concerts. These were followed soon after by Allan’s Chamber-Music Concerts in 1897 and 1898. 27

Figure 12: Program for Charles and Lady Hallés’ 5 th Concert in their 1891 Season (Louise Hanson-Dyer Music Library Concert and Theatre Program Collection, Box 5b)

27 The history and origin of these concerts is discussed at greater length in Chapter 3.

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In terms of program construction, both the Melbourne Popular Concerts and Allan’s Chamber-Music Concerts were remarkably similar to Arthur Chappell’s Monday and Saturday Popular Concerts at St James’s Hall in London, which usually consisted of two parts and five to seven works. Two standard models of concert were used in London where chamber works for two to eight players commenced and concluded each program. The typical concert contained, for example, an instrumental work for two to eight players (often a piano or string quartet), followed by one or two songs, and a second instrumental work, often a sonata for one or two instruments, in the first half of the concert—a song (or songs) and an instrumental work for two to eight players in the second half. Alternatively, an additional instrumental solo or work for two to eight performers commenced the second part of the program. Thus, the standard program for the London Popular Concerts followed the formats in Tables 13 and 14: 28

Table 13: Standard Program for the Monday Popular Concerts 1 Part 1 Instrumental work (2–8 performers) Vocal work Instrumental work (1 or 2 performers) Part 2 Vocal work Instrumental work (2–8 performers)

Table 14: Standard Program for the Monday Popular Concerts 2 Part 1 Instrumental work (2–8 performers) Vocal work Instrumental work (1 or 2 performers) Part 2 Instrumental work (solo or 2–8 performers) Vocal work Instrumental work (2–8 performers)

28 Lais, ‘The Melbourne Popular Concerts: Emulating an English Concert Model,’ 105. The Monday Popular Concerts held on 20 February and 13 March 1871 are good examples of the two styles of program. The concert on 20 February 1871, for example, consisted of Mozart’s String Quintet in G minor, Niedermeyer’s ‘Le Lac’ and Weber’s Piano Sonata in D minor opus 49 (Part 1), followed by a sonata for piano and violin by Beethoven, Gounod’s ‘The Fountain mingles with the River’ and ‘It is not always May,’ and Mendelssohn’s Piano Quartet in F minor (Part 2). The program on 13 March 1871 featured Mozart’s String Quintet in C, Handel’s ‘Revenge, Timotheus cries’ and Beethoven’s Piano Sonata in C opus 53 (Part 1), followed by Gounod’s ‘The Fountain mingles with the River’ and ‘It is not always May’ and Haydn’s String Quartet in E flat opus 64 number 2. See Monday Popular Concert Programs for 13 March 1871 and 20 February 1871, ‘Concert Programs,’ Floyd Collection, Grainger Museum, Parkville.

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Table 15: Melbourne Popular Concert at the Masonic Hall on 1 July 1891 [Part 1] Mendelssohn String Quintet in E flat op 87 Schumann ‘Mailied’ and ‘Die Lotosblume’ Beethoven Piano Sonata in F min op 57 [Part 2] Spohr Sonata Concertante for Violin and Harp op 115 (Larghetto) Schubert ‘A Water Song’ Mozart Piano Quartet in G min K478

Table 16: Allan’s Chamber-Music Concert at the Athenæum on 8 June 1898 [Part 1] Grieg Sonata in A min op 36 (piano & ‘cello) Schubert ‘Barcarolle’ Dvořák Bagatellen op 47 [Part 2] Schubert ‘Der Leierman’ and ‘Die Post’ Brahms Piano Quartet in G min op 25

A close resemblance to the concert programs of the Monday Popular Concerts, for example, can be observed in the Melbourne Popular Concert held at the Masonic Hall on 1 July 1891 and Allan’s Chamber-Music Concert on 8 June 1898 at the Melbourne Athenæum (See Tables 15 and 16).

While the number of vocal works performed across all of Melbourne’s chamber-music concerts during this period almost doubled that of chamber music, vocal works comprised approximately one third of all works performed at the Melbourne Popular Concerts with 308 performances of vocal music compared to chamber music’s 304 and 216 solo instrumental performances. In terms of the duration of each concert, however, they represented a smaller portion in comparison to the longer chamber works and instrumental solos.29 Furthermore, vocal items were typically confined to more serious repertoire such as lieder (art song), operatic arias, airs and religious songs from oratorios with lieder by composers such as Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Gounod, and Rubinstein being standard inclusions and operatic selections by Mozart, Donizetti and Wagner also popular. 30

29 See Peggy Jane Lais, ‘The Rise and Fall of the Melbourne Popular Concerts: Chamber- Music Concerts in Pre-Federation Melbourne,’ MMus thesis, University of Melbourne, 2004, 62–3. 30 The high-art nature of Guenett’s concerts meant that popular or sentimental songs were generally not included. There was the occasional exception, however, such as the concert on 12 September 1883, which featured the Metropolitan Liedertafel singing part songs, and those

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The programming of these types of vocal works, as opposed to more popular- styled sentimental or parlor songs, reflected the primary aim of the directors of the Melbourne Popular Concerts: ‘to “educate” and cultivate the public. 31 Just as in the Monday Popular Concerts at St James’s Hall in London, a high-standard performance of the “best quality music” was seen as imperative;32 these goals were felt to be so desirable that the founder and director of the first fifteen series of Melbourne Popular Concerts, T.H. Guenett, financed the concerts at his own personal cost. 33

Although the majority of chamber-music concerts in Melbourne during the late nineteenth century combined chamber music with instrumental solos and vocal works, the notable feature of this particular method of program construction was not only the order in which the works were performed but also the interleaving of large and small, instrumental and vocal works. As noted by Christina Bashford, while other cities in Europe such as Vienna and Paris produced series of chamber-music concerts performing similar repertoire, the content and design of concerts varied from city to city. 34 ‘Baillot’s concerts in Paris,’ for example:

presented instrumental repertory only (typically five ensemble works and one violin solo, played by Baillot with piano accompaniment), whereas...the programmes of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde concerts offered few large-

on 20 September 1882, 25 October 1882, and 21 May 1884, which included salon-styled songs composed by Alfred Plumpton. Lais, ‘The Rise and Fall of the Melbourne Popular Concerts,’ 64. 31 Peggy Jane Lais, ‘St James’s Hall to Bust: The Success and Failure of the Melbourne Popular Concerts,’ Victorian Historical Journal 77.1 (May 2006): 48. 32 In 1882, the critic for the Argus newspaper noted that ‘Under such encouragement as Mr. Guenett has received at the beginning of his “Popular Concerts,” and with such organisation as he can command, the subscribers are justified in expecting that each performance shall be absolutely faultless.’ Argus 1 June 1882: 9. 33 Anecdotal evidence suggests that the concerts ran at a loss for the entire duration of Guenett’s directorship. In 1889, a critic for Table Talk observed that ‘the concerts involved a heavy outlay which [had] not yet been repaid’ while Alexander Sutherland noted that ‘Mr T.H. Guenett…deserves the thanks of the colony for his long series of “popular concerts,” which have been unpopular enough to cause him the loss of a good deal of money.’ Table Talk 25 October 1889: 4; Alexander Sutherland, Victoria and its Metropolis, Past and Present , vol. 1 (Melbourne: McCarron, Bird and Co., 1888) 510. For further information on the financial management of the Melbourne Popular Concerts see Lais, ‘St James’s Hall to Bust: The Success and Failure of the Melbourne Popular Concerts.’ 34 Christina Bashford, ‘Chamber Music: From 1800 to World War 1,’ New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians , vol. 5, ed. Stanley Sadie, 2 nd ed. (London: Macmillan, 2001) 440–1.

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scale instrumental chamber works, being chiefly made up of small-scale instrumental and vocal pieces (including a number of Schubert’s lieder), usually with a string quartet to open proceedings and a work for vocal ensemble (often one of Schubert’s vocal quartets) to end. 35

Most directors of chamber-music concerts in London during the first half of the nineteenth century realized the need for vocal items in their programs as they provided light relief between the serious instrumental chamber works, making the concerts more attractive to the wider public. ‘The tradition of including songs and duets in any type of concert was a longstanding one, and it seems that the majority of concert-givers simply accepted the need to include a few vocal items in every programme; indeed, this policy may well have made the crucial difference between making a loss and securing a profit.’ 36

A similar dynamic was present in continental Europe where ‘almost to the end of the [nineteenth] century, audiences demanded singers at every concert.’ As already mentioned, although Clara Schumann disliked the presence of singers in her concerts, she bowed to public pressure for ‘glamorous’ vocalists and was forced to continue the tradition of alternating arias and lieder with instrumental numbers on her professional tours. 37 ‘More than once (in Vienna in 1847, Hamburg in 1850, Ems in 1855) Jenny Lind, the universally admired “Swedish Nightingale,” a loyal old friend, rescued her from financial failure when she programmed concerts of unpopular instrumental

35 Bashford, ‘Chamber Music: From 1800 to World War 1,’ 440–1. 36 As noted by Bashford, the presentation of chamber music in public concerts began during the 1830s when a number of groups began to flourish. Led by Blagrove and Lucas (Concerti da Camera, Hanover Square Rooms, 1835) and Nicholas Mori and Robert Lindley (The ‘Classical Chamber’ and ‘Quartet’ Concerts, [1836–42]), these concerts consisted primarily of ‘vocal numbers and chamber works for miscellaneous combinations of instruments.’ In 1845, two significant chamber-music societies, the Beethoven Quartet Society and John Ella’s Musical Union, were established in London. While the Beethoven Quartet Society was the first society to present instrumental chamber works without vocal music, and the first to concentrate on the works of a single composer, the Musical Union presented chamber works such as string quartets and quintets alongside instrumental solos, particularly piano solos, and sometimes vocal works. See Christina Bashford, ‘Public Chamber-Music Concerts in London, 1835–50: Aspects of History, Repertory and Reception,’ PhD thesis, London University, 1996, 115–6, 195, 347. For further information on these concerts see “Chapter 4: First Experiments, 1835–45.” 37 Nancy B. Reich, Clara Schumann: The Artist and the Woman (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985) 259–60.

155 music.’ 38 In other concerts, such as those she gave on 15 and 16 January 1861 (at the Wormer scher Saal and Burger-Verein), chamber works by Beethoven and Schumann appeared in each half of the program alongside piano or violin solos and Brahms’ lieder for women’s choir. Works for solo piano ( Etudes Symphoniques opus 13 and Carnaval opus 9) by Robert Schumann were also featured. 39

Clara Schumann’s programming of these, and other instrumental works, demonstrated an awareness that audiences needed to be ‘carefully educated over the years’ before being introduced to new instrumental repertoire. Acceptance of new works relied on constant exposure, the new work ‘being played frequently [enough] so that the audience can hear it and get used to it.’ Thus, although Schumann’s Carnaval opus 9 was introduced in Vienna in 1838 and portions of it were played by Franz Liszt in Leipzig in 1839, the work was not performed in its entirety by Clara Schumann until 1856. 40 In Melbourne, Etudes Symphoniques and Carnaval were rarely performed and were usually associated with an elite number of European- trained pianists and with chamber-music concerts concerned with elevating musical taste. During the 1880s, Schumann’s Carnaval opus 9 (or portions of it) was performed on at least three occasions: twice by the English pianist Carlotta Tasca (on 25 October 1882 at the Melbourne Popular Concerts and then in a public lecture concert at the Presbyterian Assembly Hall on 15 October 1884) and once by Louis Pabst in his series of Historical Concerts in 1887. Similarly, Schumann’s Etudes Symphoniques opus 13 was performed four times between the years 1883 and 1898 by Carlotta Tasca (on 9 May 1883 and 30 June 1886 at the Melbourne Popular Concerts

38 Reich, Clara Schumann , 259–60. 39 See concerts 567 and 568, Ehrenkonzerte und Werke Clara Schumanns aus den Programmen, Robert Schumann Haus, Zwickau, Archiv Nr. 2184 C3. The first concert comprised Beethoven’s ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata opus 47, Brahms’ Lieder für Frauenchor, Schumann’s Etudes Symphoniques opus 13 and Andante and Variationen for two pianos opus 46, Spohr’s Barcarole and Scherzo for violin and two short piano solos by Chopin and Bach. The second concert featured a violin sonata by Beethoven (opus 30), Brahms’ Lieder für Frauenchor, Mendelssohn’s Variations Serieuses opus 54, a repeat performance of Schumann’s Andante und Variationen for two pianos opus 46, Bach’s Chaconne, and Schumann’s Carnaval opus 9. In addition to the women’s choir, Joseph Joachim, Johannes Brahms and Nicholaus Schaller also performed in these concerts. 40 Reich, Clara Schumann , 271. Reich also notes that with the performance of Carnaval opus 9 in its entirety in 1856, ‘and for some thirty years thereafter, a statement headed “Zum besseren Verständnis” (For better understanding) was distributed with the program to familiarize the audience with the characters portrayed in this unknown piano cycle.’

156 and on 12 September 1885 at the Musical Association of Victoria) and by Eduard Scharf (on 18 May 1898 at Allan and Co.’s Classical Chamber-Music Concerts). 41

Similar methods of programming, which saw the performance of chamber music and piano solos alongside excerpts of Italian opera and other vocal selections, were used by Nanette Falk-Auerbach in concerts in Germany during the 1860s and 1870s. 42 These types of concerts often varied in terms of the number of items within each program and the proportion of chamber music as compared to instrumental solos and vocal works. They also focused on Austro-Germanic composers such as Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schubert and Schumann. 43

While miscellaneous methods of programming continued in Melbourne for the remainder of the nineteenth century (and beyond), the number of more homogenous chamber-music concerts increased, particularly during the 1880s and 1890s. Alongside concerts by the musical societies and the Melbourne Popular Concerts, homogenous concerts included those organized by Melbourne’s first educational institutions. These concerts were notable for their focus on instrumental and vocal works by Austro-Germanic eighteenth and nineteenth-century composers and their commitment to the ideals of raising musical standards and tastes. Concerts by Charles Russell’s South Melbourne School of Music and the University Conservatorium, for example, concentrated primarily on chamber and vocal works by composers such as Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Brahms and Robert Franz and works for the piano by ‘modern’ composers such as Chopin, Liszt, and Thalberg. Their concerts generally contained fewer works and a larger proportion of instrumental music with vocal works interspersed with the more substantial chamber works and instrumental solos. It could be argued that the role of vocal music in these and similar concerts was

41 Lais, ‘Chamber-Music Concerts in Pre-Federation Melbourne Database.’ 42 Nanette Falk-Auerbach was a student of Clara Schumann who later migrated to the United States of America. 43 See, for example, Nanette Falk-Auerbach’s concerts on 5 March and 22 April 1866, and 5 March 1874, which contained five and seven items. The concert on 22 April 1866 (held in the Saal des Herrn Freisling), for example, consisted of a piano trio by Beethoven followed by an aria from Flotow’s Stradella , two piano duets by Schumann, two lieder by Schubert and a series of piano solos, while the program on 5 March 1874 comprised two movements of Schubert’s String Quartet in E flat D87, an aria from Il Barbiere di Siviglia , Beethoven’s Piano Sonata opus 53, an unnamed vocal solo, Haydn’s String Quartet in G (unidentified), a second vocal solo and two piano solos. These appear in the concert program book Nanette Falk-Auerbach Spielt 1850–1907 , Robert Schumann Haus, Zwickau, Archiv Nr. 4908 C3.

157 to complement and accentuate the instrumental works rather than make the concerts more profitable or attractive to members of the general public.

Other chamber-music concerts in Melbourne dispensed with vocal works altogether and presented programs combining chamber music with instrumental solos—usually piano solos. The most notable of these were concerts directed by two German-trained pianists and composers: Charles Horsley and Louis Pabst. The first of Charles Horsley’s Saturday Afternoon Concerts in 1862, for example, contained three chamber works (Mozart’s Piano Quartet in G minor K478, a string quartet by Haydn and Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio in D minor opus 49), a piano sonata by Beethoven and selections from Mendelssohn’s Songs Without Words .44

Where chamber music was the dominant feature in Horsley’s Saturday Afternoon Concerts, it was less dominant in Louis Pabst’s Historical Concerts in 1887. After producing at least one Historical Concert in 1886, which featured a variety or instrumental solos, chamber music (for piano) and vocal works, 45 Pabst adopted a model of concert that concentrated on piano repertoire. His Historical Concerts in 1887, which typically consisted of piano solos with a chamber work for two pianos concluding each program, could be considered as a precursor to the modern piano recital in Melbourne. 46

These concerts, along with the Melbourne Popular Concerts and other concerts modelled on the Monday and Saturday Popular Concerts at St James’s Hall in London, were more homogenous in terms of their content and design. Furthermore, the methods of program construction employed in these concerts, whereby ‘a narrower Austro-German repertoire with a small list of ‘great’ canonic composers; the isolation of vocal from instrumental music; fewer, longer works in shorter

44 See N.a., Programme of Mr. C.E. Horsley’s First Saturday Afternoon Concert, February 22nd, 1862: to which is added a short Sketch of the Life of Haydn (Melbourne: Wilson and Mackinnon, Printers, 1862). 45 Pabst’s Historical Concert on 19 June 1886, for example, contained twelve works, including three vocal works and a performance of Schumann’s Andante and Variations in B flat for two pianos opus 46. 46 See James Smith, Annotated Programme of Herr Louis Pabst’s Six Historical Concerts which will be accompanied by Literary Illustrations by Mr. James Smith (Melbourne: McCarron, Bird and Co., [1887]).

158 programmes; and an ideological distinction between “serious” and “popular” music’ were present, could arguably be described as more Germanic than English in origin. 47

The influence of Germanic concert practices on Melbourne concerts of the same period is further complicated when one considers the relationship of such practices with English concerts. The influence of German concerts on English concerts of the same period, for example, was noted by Weber in his comparison of concerts given by the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music in London where he describes the latter institution as producing more homogenous concerts focussed on classical forms, with fewer, longer works, and a concentration on instrumental music by eighteenth and nineteenth-century Austro-Germanic composers. The inspiration for the Royal College of Music’s concerts, according to Weber, came not only from the Leipzig Conservatorium, which held regular public concerts featuring students and staff, and which ‘served as a great model for English hopes,’ but possibly also the Monday and Saturday Popular Concerts at St James’s Hall. 48

As in London, a variety of chamber concert types were prevalent in Germany during the nineteenth century and the role of vocal music, instrumental solos and other works in chamber-music concerts in Germany requires further investigation. An examination of concerts in Leipzig, however, points to a tendency, at least from the middle of the nineteenth century onwards, for directors to program concerts of one genre only. 49 In addition to focussing on the instrumental and vocal works of Austro-

47 Weber, ‘Miscellany vs. Homogeneity,’ 304. Homogeneity was taken even further in Ignaz Schuppanzigh’s chamber-music concerts in Vienna (which commenced in 1804), where three or four works were performed (usually trios, quartets and quintets, occasionally with piano) and vocal and virtuosic works excluded; this model, though rarely used in London, was adopted throughout much of Germany during the nineteenth century. While the general practice in continental Europe was to focus on works by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, chamber-music concerts in Britain and North America usually ‘included several vocal or solo instrumental pieces deemed worthy of performance with the great quartets.’ One exception was programs by the Beethoven Quartet Society in London. See Weber, The Great Transformation of Musical Taste , 7, 125. 48 While Weber draws a parallel between those concerts given by the Royal College of Music and the Saturday Popular Concerts, he notes that the latter concerts ‘tended to have even less recent music than those at the College.’ Weber, ‘Miscellany vs. Homogeneity,’ 305, 307. 49 Given that a notable number of musicians active in Melbourne during the second half of the nineteenth century had either studied at the Leipzig Conservatorium or had been active in musical life in Leipzig, these concerts have been selected for comparison. Clearly, a more in-

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Germanic composers, for example, the Leipzig Conservatorium’s public examinations (‘Hauptprüfung’ concerts) tended to categorize and construct programs of particular genres. These came in various types such as ‘Solospiel’ examinations, which consisted of instrumental solos and movements of concertos, ‘Solospiel. Sologesang’ examinations, containing similar works alongside vocal solos, or ‘Quartett-, Orchester-Spiel und Chorgesang’ examinations featuring various string quartets with orchestral overtures and choral works. 50

Works by students of the Conservatorium were also featured. The Conservatorium’s Hauptprüfung on 20 February 1891 for ‘chamber music’ and solo song, for example, commenced with a Prelude and Double Fugue for Organ by the Australian student Ernest Truman followed by lieder composed by Heinrich Geist (a student from Hanover), a Romance for violin by an American student, Hattie Sawyer, further lieder and an Andante con Variazioni for piano by Poul Lachmann (from Copenhagen), and a sonata for violin and piano by the Australian-born composer Alfred Hill, followed by Brahms’ String Sextet opus 36. 51

Other public examinations containing chamber music were constructed in a manner reminiscent of some of Melbourne’s concerts during the same period and featured a combination of chamber works with instrumental solos, movements of concertos and vocal solos. The Hauptprüfung on 20 March 1891 (given the description ‘Composition für Kammermusik. Sologesang. Solospiel.’), for example, contained a sonata for violin and piano, vocal solos and solos for piano and organ, followed by movements from two concertos (one for violin and one for piano). 52

depth comparison of London and German concerts is beyond the scope of this thesis in view of the lack of literature on chamber-music concerts and the topic of repertoire and program construction in Germany during the period. 50 Examinations bearing these descriptions can be found in program books Prüfungsprogramme 1844 –1866 and Programme 1878 –1884 , Materialien Konzervatorium bis 1945, A.III.I., Hochschule für Musik und Theater ‘Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’ Bibliothek, Leipzig. The latter program contained two string quartets, two overtures and two choral works. 51 See ‘Einladung und Programm zur Hauptprüfung am Königlichen Conservatorium der Musik zu Leipzig Freitag, den 20. Februar 1891,’ Programme 1891 –1895 , Materialien Konzervatorium bis 1945, A.III.I. 52 See ‘Einladung und Programm zur Hauptprüfung am Königlichen Conservatorium der Musik zu Leipzig Freitag, den 20. März 1891,’ Programme 1891 –1895 .

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Some of the Leipzig Conservatorium’s examinations (‘Kammermusik- Vortrag’ concerts) consisted entirely of chamber music and usually contained four to five works for two to eight performers. These typically comprised works by canonical Austro-Germanic composers such as Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann and Brahms but also included works by composers with connections to the Leipzig Conservatorium or the Gewandhaus Orchestra. Gade’s chamber works, for example, were a prominent feature in the Conservatorium’s public examination concerts while chamber works by Moscheles were also performed. 53 A typical example is the Conservatorium’s Hauptprüfung on 21 February 1890, which comprised two works by Gade, and one each by Mozart, Schumann and Moscheles (See Table 17). 54

Table 17: The Leipzig Conservatorium’s Hauptprüfung on 21 February 1890 Composer Work Gade Novelletten for Piano Trio in A minor op 29 Mozart Quartet for Oboe and Strings in F op 101 Schumann Piano trio in D minor op 63 Gade Piano Trio in F op 42 Moscheles Septet in D op 88

Numerous other concerts in Germany, such as Zimmermann and Stahlknechts’ soirées in Berlin and chamber-music concerts given at the Leipzig Gewandhaus, consisted purely of chamber music. Typically consisting of three works, these concerts usually contained trios, quartets and quintets by similar composers. The first soirée concert

53 Ignaz Moscheles was a member of the teaching staff at the Leipzig Conservatorium from 1844 to 1870. After his first symphony was successfully performed in Leipzig in 1843, Gade became the assistant conductor (1844–1846) and later the principal conductor (1847–1848) of the Gewandhaus Concerts. His chamber music repertory comprises a Piano Trio in B (1839), Novelletten for piano trio (1853), Piano Trio in F (1862–1863), Scherzo for piano quartet in C (1836), string quartets in A minor (1836, 1 movement), F (1840), F minor (1851), E minor (1877), D (1887–1889); string quintets in F (1837, 1 movement), E minor (1846–1847); String Sextet in E (1865); String Octet in F (1848–1849); three sonatas for violin and piano: A (1842), D minor (1849) and B (1885); Folkdanse for violin and piano (1886); and Fantasiestücke for clarinet and piano (1864). See Bo Marschner and Finn Egeland Hansen, ‘Gade, Niels W.,’ Grove Music Online , ed. L. Macy, accessed 3 March 2008, from ; Michael Kennedy, ‘Gade, Niels,’ The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music , 4 th ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996) 275. 54 ‘Einladung und Programm zur Hauptprüfung am Königlichen Conservatorium der Musik zu Leipzig Freitag, den 21. Februar 1890,’ Programme 1885 –1890, Materialien Konzervatorium bis 1945, A.III.I.

161 given by Zimmermann and Stahlknecht in 1861, for example, consisted of Haydn’s Quartet in G opus 14 number 1, Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio in D minor opus 49 and Beethoven’s Quintet in C while the first concert for chamber music given at the Leipzig Gewandhaus in 1864 comprised an unspecified string quartet in D minor by Haydn, Mozart’s Piano Quartet in G minor K478 and Beethoven’s Septet opus 20. 55

Chamber-music concerts featuring one or more chamber works and instrumental solos predominantly by canonical Austro-Germanic composers were also common in Germany from the mid-nineteenth century. In 1851–1852, for example, a series of Trio-soirées given by Wasielewski, Tausch and Christian Reimers in Düsseldorf featured two or more chamber works (typically piano trios) flanking one (or sometimes two) instrumental solos or duo sonatas for violin or ‘cello and piano. Along with works by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, works by J.S. Bach, Schumann and Schubert, Mendelssohn, Reinecke and Gade were performed. The first three concerts in 1851, which took place on 3, 11 and 30 April, consisted of: Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio in D minor opus 49, Ernst/St. Heller Pensées fugitives for violin and piano, and Beethoven’s Piano Trio in B opus 97; Haydn’s Trio Hob XV: 21 in C, Mozart’s Violin Sonata in B K454 (or K378?), Bach’s Chaconne BWV 1004/5, and Beethoven Piano Trio in D opus 70 number 1; and Schumann’s Piano Trio in F opus 80, Beethoven’s ‘Cello Sonata in G minor opus 5 number 2, and Schubert’s Piano Trio in E flat D929. 56

Repertoire

The bulk of repertoire performed in chamber-music concerts in Melbourne during the second half of the nineteenth century originated from Austro-Germanic eighteenth and nineteenth century composers. Seven of the most-performed composers across all genres (Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Schumann, Mozart, Haydn and Rubinstein), for example, were Austro-Germanic in origin. Eight of the ten most- performed composers of chamber music were also Austro-Germanic in origin with the seven highest ranked composers, Beethoven, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Haydn,

55 The Musical World 21 December 1861: 805; 17 December 1864: 812. 56 Thomas Synofzik, ‘Cellist, Spiritist und Karikaturist: Christian Reimers und seine Beziehungen zu Robert Schumann,’ Schumann Forschungen 12: Robert Schumann, das Violoncello und die Cellisten seiner Zeit (2007): 118–9.

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Rubinstein, Schumann, and Schubert, accounting for the bulk of the chamber-music repertory and performances (See Tables 18 and 19). 57

An examination of the core repertory suggests that the most-performed composers of all genres of music presented in Melbourne’s chamber-music concerts were Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann and Mendelssohn. However, some composers, such as Gounod, Donizetti and Verdi (vocal music), and Chopin and Liszt (instrumental solos), represented a large proportion of works performed within one of the three sub-categories ‘chamber music,’ ‘instrumental solos’ and ‘vocal music.’ An examination of the number of performances of works and portions of works shows, for example, that not only was music for solo piano dominant but that most of it was composed by Chopin; so great were the number of performances of his works that they placed him as the fifth most-performed composer (with 159 ‘performances’ of seventy-one ‘works’) overall. 58 Likewise, more instrumental solos by Franz Liszt (the majority of which were for piano) were performed than were those by Beethoven and Schumann, although Liszt’s works were less likely to receive repeat performances, and the majority of Beethoven’s works for solo instrument were more substantial, multi-part works such as piano sonatas. 59

The repertoire performed in chamber-music concerts in Melbourne was similar to that performed at Arthur Chappell’s Monday and Saturday Popular Concerts in London, although a number of significant differences can be observed. The repertory at the London Popular Concerts, for example, concentrated on works of the classical and romantic styles together with some pre-classical works, such as those by J.S. Bach and Handel. Over approximately four decades and 1400 concerts, the eight composers with the greatest number of instrumental works performed at the

57 ‘Works’ refers to portions of or complete chamber works, portions of multi-part instrumental solos or complete instrumental solos such as sonatas or suites, and vocal works. Repeat performances of a work or portion of a work are treated equally. Thus, the performance of a single movement of a string quartet or a piano sonata is counted as one performance of the ‘work.’ Collections of smaller works, such as Mendelssohn’s Songs without Words or Schumann’s Fantasiestücke opus 12, are grouped together as a ‘work’ with single pieces or selections from the collections counted as a performance of the ‘work.’ 58 These figures include 149 performances of sixty-seven piano solos and ten performances of four chamber works. 59 Forty-six instrumental solos by Liszt received fifty-eight performances as compared to Beethoven’s seventy-two performances of twenty-nine instrumental solos, and Schumann’s sixty-seven performances of thirty instrumental solos.

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Monday and Saturday Popular Concerts were Beethoven, Schumann, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Bach, Chopin, Haydn and Brahms. The most-performed works at the London Popular Concerts during the first thirty-four seasons were Beethoven’s ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata for Piano and Violin opus 47 followed by Beethoven’s Septet in E flat and further works by Beethoven, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Schumann and Tartini. Five of the ten most-performed works were scored for five or more instruments (See Table 20). 60

Table 18: The most-performed Composers across all Genres in Melbourne 1861 –1901 Composer Performances Works Beethoven 249 89 Mendelssohn 201 72 Schubert 181 79 Schumann 172 70 Chopin 159 71 Mozart 122 66 Haydn 74 35 Liszt 72 53 Rubinstein 68 39 Gounod 62 27

Table 19: The most-performed Composers of Chamber Works in Melbourne 1861 –1901 Composer Performances Works Beethoven 143 44 Mendelssohn 114 27 Mozart 69 32 Haydn 64 27 Schumann 53 11 Schubert 51 11 Rubinstein 28 12 Raff 16 10 Grieg 15 5 Dvořák 13 6 Brahms 11 8 Chopin 10 4

60 The number of works for each composer is as follows: Beethoven 99, Schumann 79, Mozart 66, Mendelssohn 64, Bach 66, Chopin 59, Haydn 58 and Brahms 46. See H.K., ‘The Popular Concerts,’ Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians , vol. 6, ed. Eric Blom (London: Macmillan and Co, 1954) 875; Lais, ‘The Rise and Fall of the Melbourne Popular Concerts,’ 51–2. Statistics for the most-performed works at the London Popular Concerts were compiled using N.a, Catalogue of Works performed at the Monday Popular Concerts during Thirty Four Seasons commencing February 14, 1859 and finishing April 11, 1892 (London: Chappell and Co., n.d.).

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Table 20: The most-performed Chamber Works at the London Popular Concerts Composer and Work Performances (Seasons 1–34) Beethoven’s ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata op 47 67 Beethoven’s Septet in E flat op 20 55 Beethoven’s String Quartet in C op 59 no 3 43 Beethoven’s Quintet in C op 29 42 Schumann’s Piano Quintet op 44 41 Mozart’s String Quintet in G min K516 39 Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio in C min op 66 38 Mendelssohn’s Quintet in B flat op 87 37 Tartini’s Sonate du Diable 35 Schubert’s Piano Trio in B flat D898 34

Where J.S. Bach was ranked third and equal to Mozart in terms of the greatest number of instrumental works performed in the London Popular Concerts, very few works by Bach in comparison were performed in Melbourne’s chamber-music concerts. 61 Interestingly, the lack of attention to Bach’s music, and early music in general (that is, music composed before 1750), is most notable in those concerts modelled on the London concerts. Not a single chamber work and just four works for solo instrument by Bach, for example, were performed at the Melbourne Popular Concerts. Other early instrumental works presented at these concerts, the majority of which were composed for strings, included those by Corelli, Rameau, Handel, Porpora and Vitali. 62 Tartini’s Sonate du Diable , which received a total of thirty-five performances in the first thirty-four seasons of the Monday Popular Concerts, was performed once on 13 June 1888. 63

It appears that the Bach revival, which had swept through many concerts in London during the same period, had little or no impact on Melbourne’s developing chamber-music repertory. Few works by Bach were presented by the Melbourne and Metropolitan Liedertafel Societies with only five works performed at the liedertafel societies’ concerts prior to 1893. 64 However, Bach’s works were occasionally performed in concerts organized by the Musical Artists’ Society, and later by the

61 Thirty-two ‘performances’ of twenty-four ‘works’ by J.S. Bach were performed in the chamber-music concerts in this study, fewer than those by composers such as Rubinstein, Gounod, Raff and Grieg. 62 For further details see Lais, ‘The Rise and Fall of the Melbourne Popular Concerts,’ 56. 63 See N.a, Catalogue of Works performed at the Monday Popular Concerts ; Lais, ‘Chamber- Music Concerts in Pre-Federation Melbourne Database.’ 64 See Database of Melbourne Concert Life, CSAM, Parkville, Melbourne.

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Musical Artists’ and Organists’ Society and Musical Association of Victoria. On 30 March 1878, for example, Mr H. Kaeppel delivered a lecture on the life and works of J.S. Bach, which was followed by an entire program dedicated to the composer’s works. Six works by Bach were performed: the St Anne Fugue for Organ, a song, ‘Thine Heart, oh give me Dearest,’ a violin solo (Chaconne), a Fugue in C sharp minor (piano solo), four Terzette for two violins and viola, and a Fugue in E minor for Organ. 65 A further fifteen performances of works by J.S. Bach were given by these societies between the years 1880 and 1891, three of which took place in the Musical Artists’ Society General Meeting on 28 March 1885. 66

Aside from performances by Melbourne’s musical societies, early music in Melbourne was not entirely without support. In 1886, for example, Mr S.P. Needham organized a series of concerts with the purpose of introducing to the Melbourne public ‘the rich store of madrigals and glees, mostly by English composers, which [were at that time] almost entirely unknown in Australia.’ Amongst works performed at Needham’s concerts were those by ‘Morely, Festa, Spofforth, Benet, Walmisley, Attenburg and Carrulli.’ 67

Furthermore, although no chamber works by Handel were performed in Melbourne’s chamber-music concerts during this period, the large number of instrumental solos and vocal works by Handel rank the composer eleventh in terms of the number of performances and tenth in terms of the number of works performed across all chamber-music concerts in this study (See Table 18). The popularity of Handel’s works is no surprise considering the influence of musical societies such as the Melbourne Philharmonic Society, which regularly performed choral works by Handel and other composers. Handel’s Messiah , for example, was a staple of the society’s repertoire, the work receiving its first performance in December 1853 and, by the society’s centenary, having been performed on 134 occasions. 68

65 Leader 6 April 1878: 19. 66 Extracts from a new biography on the composer were presented to the society in addition to a violin sonata in G minor (Unidentified), a prelude and fugue and the song ‘Thine Heart oh give me Dearest.’ 67 Age 1 November 1886: 5. 68 Fifty-nine of the 134 performances of the Messiah took place between 1853 and 1901. See Noel Wilmott, ‘Choirs and Choral Music. 1. Choral Societies. (ii) Melbourne,’ The Oxford

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While early music was given little attention in Melbourne’s chamber-music concerts during the second half of the nineteenth century, works by contemporary composers fared significantly better. Chamber works by Brahms, Gade, Rubinstein, Dvo řák, Grieg, Rheinberger, Reinecke, Taubert and even Saint-Saëns were regularly performed with Rubinstein, Grieg, Dvo řák and Brahms ranking amongst some of the most-performed composers of chamber music across all of Melbourne’s chamber- music concerts during the period (See Table 19). The introduction of Rubinstein’s chamber works to Melbourne audiences was largely due to the Melbourne Popular Concerts. Nineteen of the twenty-eight performances and six of the twelve chamber works by Rubinstein were premiered in the Melbourne Popular Concerts between the years 1882 and 1893 (See Appendix 1 for the earliest recorded performance dates of chamber works in Melbourne). 69

The earliest known performance of a chamber work by Rubinstein, however, occurred on 24 September 1878 at Miss Griffith’s sixth subscription concert at the Melbourne Athenæum while other performances of the composer’s chamber music took place at the South Melbourne School of Music’s public subscription concerts, Allan and Co.’s Classical Chamber-Music Concerts, and the Musical Artists’ Society’s and the Music Association of Victoria’s monthly meetings. 70 After Rubinstein’s death in 1894, the Musical Society of Victoria arranged a musical program dedicated to the composer’s works; it consisted of the String Quartet opus

Companion to Australian Music , ed. Warren Bebbington (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1997) 111; Jan Stockigt, “Appendix III, Vocal Works given by the Society since its Foundation,” in ‘A Study of British Influence on Musical Taste and Programming: New Choral Works introduced to Audiences by the Melbourne Philharmonic Society, 1876–1901,’ Nineteenth-Century Music Review 2.2 (2005): 29–53. 69 It should be noted that some of these works were premiered in the Melbourne Popular Concerts having never been performed at the Monday and Saturday Popular Concerts at St James’s Hall while the Piano Trio in G minor opus 15 number 3 premiered in the Melbourne Popular Concerts fifteen months prior to its London Popular Concert debut. For further information see “Table 6: Chamber Works by Living Composers” in Lais, ‘The Rise and Fall of the Melbourne Popular Concerts,’ 59–60. 70 The work at Miss Griffiths’ sixth subscription concert in 1878 was one of Rubinstein’s piano trios opus 15. The performers were Miss Griffiths (piano), Leon Caron (violin) and S. Hart (‘cello).

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47, a number of piano solos, vocal works and a duet for piano and violin as well as a short biographical sketch on the composer. 71

It appears that Rubinstein’s works enjoyed greater popularity in Melbourne than they did in London where the composer was regarded more as a virtuoso performer than as a composer of serious music. In 1894, the reporter for The Times newspaper wrote an obituary describing Rubinstein as a ‘ virtuoso , [who] would fain have exchanged his renown as a performer for an equal amount of fame as a composer…He was a thoroughly conservative musician, but his treatment of the classical forms rarely convinces us that these forms were of living force for him.’ 72

Dvo řák’s chamber works also enjoyed relative popularity in Melbourne during this period and were quickly introduced after their European debuts, the first performance of the composer’s Piano Trio in F minor opus 65 taking place at the Musical Artists’ Society’s general meeting on 31 January 1885, having been performed for the first time at the Monday and Saturday Popular Concerts in London on 31 March 1884. 73 Dvo řák’s Piano Quartet in D opus 23 and Violin Sonata in F opus 57 were premiered by the same society on 25 July 1885 and 29 January 1887 while the Zerbini Quartet group (comprising George Weston, Henry Curtis, J.B. Zerbini and Christian Reimers) gave the first performance of the String Quartet in E flat opus 51 at the Melbourne Popular Concerts on 14 September 1887. Two further chamber works by Dvo řák, the Bagatellen opus 47 for two violins, ‘cello and harmonium, and the Piano Quartet in E flat opus 87, were performed at Allan and Co.’s Classical Chamber-Music Concerts in 1898.

According to Jan Stockigt, the positive reception of Dvo řák’s works in Melbourne was in part due to the resounding fame and reception of the composer’s works in England, which were transmitted to Australia via opinions expressed in press reviews, particularly the British publication the Musical Times , during the mid

71 Stella Nemet, History of the Musical Society of Victoria 1861 –1981: One Hundred and Twenty Years of Service to Music (Melbourne: The Musical Society of Victoria, [1981]) 18. 72 ‘Death of Anton Rubinstein,’ The Times 21 November 1894: 10. 73 See Argus 2 February 1885: 11; N.a., Catalogue of Works performed at the Monday Popular Concerts .

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1880s. 74 The first performances of Dvo řák’s chamber works also coincided with the first performances in Melbourne of a number of Dvo řák’s large-scale choral and instrumental compositions, including the Stabat mater opus 58, the Grand Symphony in D opus 60, The Spectre’s Bride opus 69 and the Slavonic Dances for orchestra opus 46 and opus 72. 75

Although Brahms was one of the eight most-performed composers at the Monday and Saturday Popular Concerts in London, his reception was not so resounding in Melbourne. In contrast to many other chamber works, which were often given descriptive analyses after their Melbourne premiers by music critics in the press, Brahms’s chamber works were introduced with little comment. After the first performance of Brahms’s Piano Trio in B opus 8, for example, the critic for the Argus described the work as ‘profound and original’ but gave no further information as to the nature or origin of it. 76 Likewise, Brahms’s Sextet in B flat opus 18 was introduced to Melbourne audiences with little comment from the press apart from identifying the work and performers and noting that the score and parts were donated to the Musical Artists’ Society by J.C.W. Nicholson. 77 Reviews of performances of Brahms’s chamber works at the Melbourne Popular Concerts were mixed. Following the first performance of the Piano Quartet in A opus 26, for example, the critic for the Argus remarked that ‘listening to the performance of this quartet a powerful mind is at once to be recognised, but not a bright imagination. The second of the movements is sombre in tone, but the final allegro is a masterpiece.’ 78 A review of a performance of the Sonata in A opus 100 for Piano and Violin in November 1891, however, more generously described the work to be ‘replete with grace, dignity, tenderness, and

74 Jan Stockigt, ‘Melbourne in Love with Dvo řák 1885–1886 (and beyond),’ Hudebni veda XL (2003): 211. 75 See “Table 1: Premiers of works of Dvo řák given in Melbourne: 1885–1886,” in Stockigt, ‘Melbourne in Love with Dvo řák 1885–1886 (and beyond),’ 213. 76 Argus 27 February 1882: 7. 77 Argus 1 July 1889: 7. 78 Argus 18 June 1885: 5.

169 passion,’ a view that may have been influenced by the performance, and thus endorsement, of the sonata one year earlier by Sir Charles and Lady Hallé. 79

The Musical Artists’ Society of Victoria was the first musical society in Melbourne to actively promote Brahms’s chamber music, producing the first performance of a chamber work by Brahms, the Piano Trio in B opus 8, alongside an educational lecture about the composer and his music at their monthly meeting on 25 February 1882. Interest in Brahms and his music was such that in 1885, a movement was proposed and carried by the Musical Artists’ Society ‘[for] a letter of congratulation be sent to Mr J. Brahms [in] Vienna on his Birthday [on] May 7 th .’ 80

At least eleven performances of eight different chamber works by Brahms were given in Melbourne during this period compared to Dvo řák’s thirteen performances of six works (See Table 19). Although the first performance of a chamber work by Brahms preceded that of Dvo řák, the period between the first European performances and first Melbourne performances of Brahms’s works was far greater. Once introduced, his chamber works also received less attention than those of Dvo řák, although his reception had been longstanding in Europe. According to Michael Musgrave, Brahms’s reception in continental Europe was marked by a ‘gradual emergence of support for [his] music and positive critical reaction to it in his lifetime.’ In 1853, for example, Robert Schumann advocated Brahms’s music with an article entitled ‘Neue Bahnen.’ Early performances of Brahms’s works in Leipzig during the late 1850s and early 1860s, however, received mixed responses from critics with the composer hailed as ‘true genius’ and ‘gifted’ on the one hand and as ‘an artist not yet mature,’ exhibiting such qualities as ‘indefiniteness and fermentation’ on the

79 Charles and Lady Hallé performed the sonata at the Melbourne Town Hall on 27 May 1890. The following day a review in the Argus newspaper, probably written by T.H. Guenett, a past student of Hallé, described the work as ‘a valuable addition to the store of chamber music. With the exception of the vivace in the second movement, which is notable for lightness, elegance and grace, it is of the quietly contemplative order. If Brahms—the greatest composer of the day—had been particularly desirous that his op. 100 should have a fair chance of being judged on its merits at the Antipodes, he could not have put it into the hands of better or more trustworthy custodians than Sir Charles and Lady Hallé who, entering into the spirit themselves, reflected it on the audience with the most complete success.’ Argus 12 November 1891: 7; 28 May 1890: 5. 80 MSV, Minutes of the Musical Artists’ and Organists’ Society of Victoria 1884 –1892 , 28 February 1885, The Musical Society of Victoria Records 1877–1980, MS 12801, Box 1/4, Australian Manuscripts Collection, Latrobe Library, SLV, 22.

170 other. In Vienna, where the music critic Eduard Hanslick helped to build Brahms’s profile, ‘there were [also] numerous shades of response to the emerging Brahms,’ revealing a ‘growing musical debate’ about the nature of the progress of music in general and the growing divide between proponents of ‘absolute music’ and music of the new school. Musgrave also notes that the reception of Brahms’s music abroad was varied. In France, for example, his music was less accepted than Wagner’s until the twentieth century while Brahms’s music was more successfully introduced to German-speaking countries such as Switzerland and Holland. It was also well- received in England and the United States due to those countries’ ‘extensive concert activities,’ the large numbers of émigré German musicians who travelled there, and, in Britain, to ‘Brahms’s friends [who] travelled [there] regularly…to perform the music, and…[who helped] to establish a strong support base.’ 81

Apart from the ‘cellist Christian Reimers, who was closely associated with Brahms in Germany and had performed Brahms’s Piano Trio in B opus 8 alongside the composer and Clara Schumann, no such support base for Brahms’s music existed in Melbourne. It could be argued that the lack of support for Brahms’s chamber music in Melbourne compared to responses in Europe, the United Kingdom and United States of America, was also a result of the lack of exposure to Brahms’s music in general in Melbourne during this period. 82 As noted by Jan Stockigt, in 1885 a symphony by Brahms had not yet been performed in Melbourne. 83 Furthermore, instrumental solos by Brahms were not performed in chamber-music concerts until 1890 while just two vocal works were presented in Melbourne’s chamber-music concerts prior to this year. 84

81 See Michael Musgrave, ‘Critical Reception during Brahms’s Lifetime,’ A Brahms Reader (London: Yale University Press, 2000) 213–49. 82 Just five chamber works by Brahms were performed in Melbourne’s chamber-music concerts between the years 1882 and 1890 with a further three works presented for the first time at Allan and Co.’s Classical Chamber-Music Concerts in 1898. See Appendix 1 and 2. 83 Stockigt, ‘Melbourne in Love with Dvo řák 1885–1886 (and beyond),’ 211. 84 Just four instrumental solos by Brahms were performed. These included a Gavotte for piano, two versions of the Hungarian Dance number 6 for piano and violin, and the Rhapsody in B minor opus 79. Two songs by Brahms were presented at the Melbourne Popular Concerts on 14 April and 6 October 1886.

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The popularity of Schubert and Schumann’s music is also significant as there are no recorded performances of chamber works by these composers prior to 1877. 85 In addition to ranking amongst the most-performed composers in Melbourne’s chamber-music concerts during the later decades of the nineteenth century, select chamber works by Schubert and Schumann (See Table 21), vocal works by Schubert, and piano solos by Schumann were amongst the most-performed works. 86

Table 21: The most-performed Chamber Works in Melbourne 1861–1901 Composer Work Performances Beethoven ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata for Piano and Violin op 47 19 Schubert String Quartet in D min D810 19 Schumann Piano Quintet in E flat op 44 16 Mendelssohn Piano Trio in D min op 49 13 Mendelssohn String Quartet in E flat op 12 13 Mendelssohn String Quartet in E min op 44 no 2 11 Beethoven Piano Quartet in E flat op 16 11 Schumann Piano Quartet in E flat op 47 11 Mozart Piano Quartet in G min K478 10 Rheinberger Piano Quartet in E flat op 38 9 Beethoven String Quartet in C min op 18 no 4 9

According to at least one contemporary reviewer, the introduction of chamber works by these composers was also significant because of the slow development of instrumental music in general in Melbourne during this period. Since the early years of development, chamber and orchestral music performances had lagged behind operatic and choral music productions and while there were always competent singers to be found, a shortage of capable instrumentalists (as already mentioned many times), particularly wind players, made it difficult to assemble instrumental ensembles. As a result, the scarcity of performances of instrumental music resulted in a public that familiarized itself with a composer’s repertoire via his vocal works. ‘It is

85 The earliest known performance of a chamber work by Schubert, the String Quartet in D minor D810, took place at the Melbourner Deutsche Liedertafel on 7 May 1877 while Schumann’s String Quartet in A minor opus 41 number 1 was performed at the Musical Artists’ Society on 24 November 1877. For the earliest performance dates of other works by Schubert and Schumann see Appendix 1 and 2. 86 Schubert’s ‘Der Wanderer,’ for example, was performed more often than any other vocal work, receiving at least fifteen performances. His ‘Serenade’ and ‘Ave Maria’ were also amongst the most-performed vocal works, each receiving at least six performances. Schumann’s Fantasiestücke opus 12, Romance in F sharp opus 28, and Novelette in F opus 21 number 1 were amongst the most-performed instrumental solos, receiving seven, six and five performances.

172 probable that even now [in 1886],’ observed a critic for the Age newspaper, that ‘a large number of Victorian frequenters of concerts only know Schubert and Schumann as composers of songs, and would be surprised to hear that their enduring fame will be associated with their symphonies, which require a competent orchestra to do justice to them.’ 87

According to William Weber, ‘Schubert’s songs, written either for a soloist or quartet, also figured prominently at [Evening Entertainments sponsored by the Friends of Music in Vienna], and it was indeed in this context where his music was first treated in canonic terms, well before any of his symphonies or chamber works acquired such fame.’ Furthermore, the performance of part songs by Schubert (as well as those by Schumann, Mendelssohn, and others) were often performed in Vienna in what could be described as ‘convivial contexts’ reminiscent of the liedertafel tradition, which had by then spread throughout much of Germany. 88

A similar dynamic was present in London where Schubert’s reputation was associated with his songs and ‘the popularisation of [his] chamber music was left to the ‘Monday Popular Concerts…and also [to] Sir Charles Hallé and his excellent and educational Recitals, [which] commenced in 1861. Hallé edited an English edition of the pianoforte works, which considerably helped their propagation.’ 89

Schubert and Schumann’s chamber works were introduced to the Monday and Saturday Popular Concerts in London in 1862, Schubert’s Piano Trio in B flat D898 performed for the first time on 19 May and Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E flat opus 44 on 1 December. However, while these works became two of the ten most- performed chamber works during the first thirty-four seasons of Monday and Saturday Popular Concerts, and Schubert and Schumann continued to gain prominence from the 1860s, ‘the public still cared chiefly for the older and more established masters.’ Furthermore, at this point, according to Joseph Bennett, writer of

87 ‘The Musical Culture in Victoria,’ Age 13 February 1886: 4. 88 William Weber, The Great Transformation of Musical Taste: Concert Programming from Haydn to Brahms (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008) 128. 89 Percy Scholes, MT February 1897 quoted in The Mirror of Music , vol. 1 (London: Novello and Co., 1947) 417.

173 annotated program notes for the concerts, ‘no representative living composer [had yet] appeared upon the scene’ 90

This conservative approach to the selection of repertoire contrasts dramatically with the introduction and performance of similar works in continental Europe. Schumann’s chamber works, for example, were performed regularly during his lifetime, many having been composed for and/or dedicated to prominent chamber musicians such as Clara Schumann, Joseph von Wasielewski, Ferdinand David or Niels Gade. 91 In Germany, Schumann’s chamber works were generally performed and published shortly after their composition. 92

Clara Schumann was largely responsible for the introduction and familiarization of Robert Schumann’s chamber music in Europe, ‘[premiering] almost every one of Schumann’s chamber…works that had a piano part…Between 1840 and 1854 [she] premiered or performed the…[Piano] Quintet, Piano Quartet, trios, and sonatas for piano and other instruments.’ 93 She went on to perform the Piano Quintet ‘so regularly that it could almost be said to have been her signature piece.’ 94 This, along with the work’s popularity in London, where it was the fifth most-performed

90 The first contemporary composer, Brahms, was introduced on 16 January 1871 and was soon followed by Saint-Sa ёns (6 December 1873), Rubinstein (1 December 1873), Rheinberger (31 January 1874), Raff (7 February 1874), Kiel (5 December 1874) and Grieg (6 February 1875). By the late 1870s Schumann’s and Chopin’s music were also given increasing exposure, the latter ‘thanks to Mdlle. Marie Krebs, who showed a preference for his music.’ N.a, Catalogue of Works performed at the Monday Popular Concerts ; Joseph Bennett, ‘A Story of Ten Hundred Concerts,’ Monday Popular Concert Programme 4 April 1887 (London: Chappell and Co., [1886]) 9–11. 91 Alan Walker, Robert Schumann: The Man and his Music (London: Barrie and Jenkins, 1972) 468. 92 His Piano Trio in G minor opus 110, for example, written in Düsseldorf on 2–9 October 1851, received its first private performance on 15 November 1851 (by Clara Schumann, Joseph von Wasielewski and Christian Reimers) and first public performance in a Musicalische Morgen-Unterhaltung at the Leipzig Gewandhaus on 21 March 1852 (by Clara Schumann, Ferdinand David and Andreas Grabau). The work was published by Breitkopf and Härtel the same year. Other chamber works by Schumann and Schubert, including Schumann’s Piano Quartet in E flat opus 47 and Piano Trio in F opus 80, and both of Schubert’s Piano Trios D898 and D929 were performed in a series of trio-soirées given by Herr Tausch, Joseph von Wasieleski and Christian Reimers in Düsseldorf in 1851–1852. See Altenberg Trio Archiv Database, Altenberg Trio , accessed on 14 March 2006, from ; Synofzik, ‘Cellist, Spiritist und Karikaturist.’ 93 Reich, Clara Schumann , 267–9. 94 Reich, Clara Schumann , 270.

174 chamber work for the first thirty-four seasons of Monday and Saturday Popular Concerts at St James’s Hall, could explain why it was so popular in Melbourne. After Beethoven’s ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata for Piano and Violin opus 47 and Schubert’s String Quartet in D minor D810, each of which received nineteen performances, Schumann’s Piano Quintet was the next most-performed chamber work with sixteen performances (See Table 21).

The most-performed chamber works across all of Melbourne’s chamber-music concerts point to a preference amongst Melbourne audiences for nineteenth-century repertoire. Aside from chamber works by Beethoven, the Piano Quartet in E flat opus 16 (1796; published 1801) and String Quartet opus 18 number 4 (1798–1800), and Mozart’s Piano Quartet in G minor K478 (1785), works by Schubert and Schumann, three chamber works by Mendelssohn, the Piano Trio in D minor opus 49, String Quartet in E flat opus 12 and String Quartet in E minor opus 42, and Rheinberger’s Piano Quartet in E flat opus 38 were amongst the most-performed chamber works (See Table 21). Absent from the list of most-performed works are those by Haydn, although twenty-seven of his chamber works were performed.

Songs and lieder by Beethoven, Schubert and Mendelssohn were also amongst the most-performed vocal works across all of Melbourne’s concerts alongside works by Charles Gounod, Vincent Wallace, J.L. Hatton, J.S. Bach and Franz Lachner. 95 Although a wide range of vocal works makes up the repertory, the majority of the most-performed vocal works were art songs or lieder as opposed to popular, salon- styled songs or selections from Italian opera. Vocal works were also less likely to receive multiple performances with just two vocal works (Schubert’s ‘Der Wanderer’ and Gounod’s ‘The Valley’) receiving over ten performances, and three of the most- performed composers of vocal music overall (Gounod, Schubert and Beethoven) receiving an average of over two performances for their vocal works. 96

95 These included Schubert’s ‘Der Wanderer,’ ‘Serenade’ and ‘Ave Maria,’ Gounod’s ‘The Valley,’ ‘Serenade’ and ‘The Worker,’ Beethoven’s ‘Adelaide’ and ‘Penitence and Forgiveness,’ Mendelssohn’s ‘Frühlingslied,’ J.L. Hatton’s ‘To Anthea,’ Vincent Wallace’s ‘She comes in all her Loveliness,’ Bach’s ‘Thine Heart oh give me Dearest’ and Lachner’s ‘Weep not for Sorrow.’ 96 Schubert, for example, had 106 performances of fifty different vocal works, Gounod fifty- eight performances of twenty-three works, and Beethoven thirty-one performances of fifteen works in the concerts that make up this study.

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Similarly, the most-performed instrumental solos were not show-pieces or fantasias based on popular tunes but, rather, high-art instrumental solos by predominantly nineteenth-century composers. Liszt’s works for solo instrument, which were generally more virtuosic in nature, were rarely given repeated performances, his forty-six different works receiving a total of fifty-eight performances. By contrast, Beethoven’s works for solo instrument, the majority of which were piano sonatas, received an average of almost twice the number of performances per work and the highest of all composers for solo instrument. 97 The most-performed instrumental solos also point to a preference for piano music over that written for other solo instruments. Selections from Mendelssohn’s Songs without Words , for example, were performed on at least thirteen different occasions. 98 Works by Chopin, Beethoven and Schumann (including Chopin’s Berceuse, Beethoven’s Piano Sonata in C sharp minor opus 27 number 2, and Schumann’s Fantasiestücke opus 12) were also amongst the most-performed works for solo instrument alongside Wilhelmj’s Romance for violin and Joachim Raff’s Suite in D minor opus 91. 99

This data demonstrates that high-art instrumental chamber works by nineteenth-century Austro-Germanic composers received the greatest number of performances, and perhaps points to an awareness of directors of chamber-music concerts that ‘serious’ instrumental music required repeated performances to familiarize audiences with it and, thus, increase their understanding and appreciation of it. The concentration on these select works also demonstrates that although most chamber-music concerts consisted of a mixture of chamber works, vocal music and instrumental solos, their focus was on the performance and dissemination of chamber music. The presentation of a wide range of vocal music receiving few repeated performances and the concentration on solo works such as piano sonatas also highlights the emphasis on serious instrumental music.

97 Beethoven’s twenty-nine instrumental solos received seventy-nine performances. 98 In addition to these thirteen performances, selections of Mendelssohn’s Songs without Words arranged for violin and piano were performed on at least two occasions. 99 Chopin’s Berceuse received at least eleven performances, Beethoven’s Piano Sonata in C sharp minor opus 27 number 2 at least nine performances, and Schumann’s Fantasiestücke opus 12 at least seven performances. The most-performed works for solo violin were Wilhelmj’s Romance, which received six performances, and Joachim Raff’s Suite in D minor, which received five performances.

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Nurturing Local Talent

One of the most significant contributions of Melbourne’s musical societies to the development of chamber music in Melbourne was their encouragement and support of chamber works composed by local composers. In terms of encouraging chamber music’s progress, societies such as the Musical Association of Victoria and the Musical Artists’ Society gave support to local composers primarily via performances of their chamber music, as well as vocal works and instrumental solos, in their concerts and general meetings.

The performance of local works, however, was not unique to Melbourne’s chamber-music societies. As noted by Jennifer Royle, from the 1870s to Federation at least one hundred works by resident musicians and composers were performed by the liedertafel societies, many of them ‘modest and less ambitious works’ such as piano solos, songs, part-songs and occasional cantatas. 100 Within this context, the performance of locally-produced works catered for the ‘social and functional needs of each society’ rather than meeting the goals of improving musical standards and taste, ideals that were expressed from time to time in the liedertafel societies’ official proceedings and by press reviews reporting on their activities. 101

The Melbourne Philharmonic Society also performed works by local composers, although compositions by members of the society played a minor role in its objectives. ‘Only once did the idea of performing a locally composed work enter into the official agenda of the society. This can be found in the society’s prospectus for 1889, which briefly mentions that “with the view of producing local compositions, a portion of the Third Concert will be devoted to the performance of some work composed by a Melbourne Musician.”’ 102

The performance of compositions such as arrangements and fantasias on popular tunes and operatic themes or parlor songs by resident musicians was also not

100 Jennifer Royle, ‘Musical (Ad)venturers: Colonial Composers and Composition in Melbourne, 1870–1901,’ Nineteenth Century Music Review 2.2 (2005): 138, 141. 101 Royle notes, for example, that resident composers such as Julius Siede, Carl Elsasser and Alfred Plumpton ‘provided an essential service to the societies by contributing appropriate musical material designed especially for the abilities and resources of each society.’ Royle, ‘Musical (Ad)venturers,’ 154. 102 Royle, ‘Musical (Ad)venturers,’ 138, 140.

177 unusual in Melbourne. Such works regularly appeared in concerts of all types during the nineteenth century and were usually presented alongside instrumental solos by eighteenth and nineteenth-century Austro-Germanic composers, art songs, lieder and selections of Italian or German opera. A number of these works were performed in public concerts. James Schott, for example, performed his operatic arrangement for oboe (Meyerbeer’s Robert le diable and Fantasia on an Air by Verdi ) in concerts by the Victorian Quartet Society in 1869. The Italian flautist A. Giammona performed a number of his own flute solos based on operatic themes at a series of concerts organized by Signor Biscaccianti at the Melbourne Town Hall in September and October 1876 while Leon Caron performed his Grand Scotch Fantasia in the first of Miss Griffiths’ subscription series of chamber-music concerts in 1878. 103

Resident musicians composed instrumental solos of various types, including numerous original works not based on operatic themes or well-known melodies. Titles of many of these works (such as ‘Elegy,’ ‘Impromptu,’ ‘Rondo,’ ‘Nocturne,’ ‘Moment Musical,’ ‘Berceuse’ and ‘Barcarolle,’ for example) suggest attempts on the part of the composers to produce instrumental solos in the manner of miniature forms of the nineteenth-century European art tradition. Compositions included those by T.H. Guenett, David Cope Jnr., Alice Charbonnet, G.S. de Chaneet, A.J. Jacoby, Max Vogrich, Henry Curtis, Leon Caron, and Alberto Zelman.

Alongside instrumental solos, locally produced vocal works of various types were regularly performed in both public concerts and concerts organized by Melbourne’s musical societies. These included songs by Maggie Elmblad (‘Baby Mysteries’ and ‘God be with You’), Henry Curtis (‘When Thou art Nigh’), Henry King Jnr. (‘Love’s Excuse for Sadness’ and ‘Wait and Hope’), Alberto Zelman (‘Ave Maria’ and ‘The Miner’), E.A. Jäger (‘Steersman’), Alfred Moule (‘The Beacon Fire,’ ‘The Old Beech Tree’ and ‘The Sailor’s Guide’), and Alfred Plumpton (‘My Love is Waiting,’ ‘Remembrance,’ and ‘Still the Angel Stars are Shining’), and selections from large-scale vocal works, such as Joseph Summers’ cantata Galatea Secunda .

103 The works by Giammona included Variations on Norma , and fantasias on La Sonnambula , L’Elisir d’amore and Lucia di Lammermoor . The other works in Miss Griffiths’ first subscription concert were Reissiger’s Piano Quartet opus 138, Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio in C minor opus 66, Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight’ Sonata in C sharp minor opus 27 number 2, Selection from Norma for violin and piano by Gregoir and Servais, and a second work for solo violin titled Reverie by Leon Caron.

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Performances of locally-produced chamber works were less common, despite support from Melbourne’s leading chamber-music societies and the press. Charles Horsley’s chamber music, however, was given special attention, particularly after his death in 1876, as was noted by the Argus critic:

The name of the composer is so intimately connected with the progress of music in this country that anything which is known to have come from his pen during his sojourn here possesses now the interest which attaches itself to those who are dead, but which as a rule we neglect to discover in favour of those of equal talent who are known to be living and working amongst us. 104

On 4 December 1876, the members of the Melbourne Quartet Society ‘rescued from oblivion’ a string quartet by Charles Horsley (number 3 in E major), having arranged and collated their parts from Horsley’s original manuscript. Two movements of the work were performed at one of the Melbourne German Liedertafel’s ‘mixed entertainments’ at Hockin’s Assembly Rooms before a full audience. 105 According to the Argus critic, the performers’ presentation of the scherzo movement, in particular, showed clear evidence of careful preparation and ‘goodwill toward that branch of the musical art [that is, chamber music] which they especially cultivate.’ The work was also described by the critic to be ‘most attractive,’ demonstrating stylistic features similar to those of Handel and Mendelssohn. 106 In April 1882, the holograph of this string quartet was donated to the Musical Artists’ Society for inclusion in its library by E.A. Jäger where it remained until the collection was donated to the State Library of Victoria. 107

An unpublished symphony in C major (dated 28 January 1848, London) by Horsley was also donated to the Musical Artists’ Society by J.C.W. Nicholson in September 1881 while an unpublished piano trio in B flat major was purchased for the society by its librarian from the executors of Mr Samuel Chapman’s estate the same

104 ‘The Melbourne German Liedertafel,’ Argus 5 December 1876: 7. 105 ‘The Melbourne German Liedertafel,’ Argus 5 December 1876: 7. The performers omitted the Adagio and Finale movements. 106 Argus 5 December 1876: 7. 107 MSV, Minutes of the Musical Artists’ Society 1877 –1884 , 1 April 1882, Musical Society of Victoria Records 1877–1980, MS 12801, Box 1/3, Australian Manuscripts Collection, Latrobe Library, SLV, 169–70.

179 year. 108 The acquisition of Horsley’s manuscripts in 1881 instigated a rejuvenated interest in the composer’s creative output and in the Musical Artists’ Society’s general meeting in October Alberto Zelman suggested that the society hold a concert, one part of which to be dedicated to Horsley’s works. A subcommittee was formed to organize the event that was to be held at the Melbourne Athenæum. 109

At least one other string quartet by Charles Horsley was performed (and probably composed) during Horsley’s residence in Australia: a string quartet in C major. This work was performed by Messrs Strebinger, King, Thomas and Reed in the fourth concert of Charles Horsley’s Saturday Afternoon Concerts in 1862. 110 The Argus critic described the work as ‘very meritorious and striking,’ although the performers failed to do it justice and ‘it was but too evident that they had enjoyed but few opportunities for practice. As it was, however, the piece [was] said to have been a decided success, and won considerable applause’ from the public. 111 A holograph was published in a facsimile edition in 1979 by Musica Australiana Press and, although not listed in any of the Musical Society’s official library catalogues, was believed to have been housed there for an unspecified period of time. 112

108 MSV, Minutes MAS 1877 –1884 , 24 September 1881, 154–6. Unfortunately, the piano part of the trio was lost some time prior to the library’s audit in May 1892 and has not been found since. The violin and ‘cello parts are now housed in the State Library of Victoria. 109 MSV, Minutes MAS 1877 –1884 , 29 October 1881 and 18 March 1882, 158, 166–7. 110 The concert took place at the Mechanics’ Institute on the 29 March 1862. According to Thérèse Radic, the manuscript paper was water marked 1856 and would have been composed some time between this year and March 1862 as an inscription on the original manuscript was dated 26 March 1862. See Argus 31 March 1862: 4–5; Thérèse Radic, Introduction to Charles Edward Horsley Quartet for two violins, viola and violoncello (Melbourne: Musica Australiana Press, 1979) vi. 111 Argus 31 March 1862: 4–5. 112 Radic, Introduction to Charles Edward Horsley Quartet for two violins, viola and violoncello . The Horsley manuscripts belonging to the Musical Society and its originating bodies have not previously been acknowledged as part of Horsley’s creative output due to the fact that some of them, until recently, had not been published. Temperley’s article on Horsley in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians lists two string quartets and a piano quartet all published in the 1840s: Piano Quartet in E major (1845), String Quartet in B flat major (1846) and String Quartet in D major (1845). In 2005, Horsley’s String Quartet number 1 in C and String Quartet in E were edited by Richard Divall and published by the Marshall- Hall Trust in Melbourne. See Musica Australis vols. 9 and 10 (Melbourne: Marshall-Hall Trust, 2005); Nicholas Temperley, ‘Horsley, Charles Edward,’ The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians , vol. 11, ed. Stanley Sadie, 2 nd ed. (London: Macmillan, 2001) 740–1.

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Chamber works by other Australian musicians were also given pride of place in some of the leading musical societies’ concerts and meetings. In June 1880, for example, a piano trio by Alberto Zelman and a string quartet by Leon Caron were performed at the Musical Artists’ Society’s general meeting. Eighteen members and twelve subscribers were present for the performances of these works along with a lecture on harmony by Alfred Plumpton, Reinecke’s Romance for ‘cello and vocal works by Alfred Moule. The presentation of works by local composers was felt by the Argus critic to provide ‘additional interest’ to the program while the critic for the Leader newspaper described the compositions as being ‘of considerable merit, and…extremely well received by the audience, especially Mr Zelman’s trio.’ 113 The following month, another of Caron’s string quartets (in G minor opus 3) was performed at the Musical Artists’ Society while in 1886 two duos, one for violin and viola and the other for violin and piano, by Henry Curtis and Herman Schrader respectively, were presented on 30 January and 29 May 1886. At least two other works, Reverie Appassionata and a Berceuse for violin and piano, were composed by Curtis prior to 1899 when they were listed in the Musical Society’s library. 114 Schrader’s work, titled Gruss , was ‘inscribed’ to the performers Henry Curtis and George Peake who had met the composer on a ship bound for Europe where all three were to take up musical studies. 115

The Musical Association also promoted chamber music by local composers wherever possible. Two quartets (one piano quartet and the other a string quartet) and a sonata for violin and piano by an amateur pianist named Sophie Sinclair were performed at the association’s monthly meetings in 1887, 1888 and 1889 (See Table 22). In the Musical Association’s General Meeting on 11 August 1888, Sophie Sinclair was nominated to carry out the program for the society’s next meeting (in September), where she, along with three members of the Zerbini Quartet group, Henry Curtis, J.B. Zerbini and Christian Reimers, performed her Piano Quartet in B

113 Argus 7 June 1880: 5; Leader 12 June 1880: 19; MSV, Minutes MAS 1877 –1884 , 5 June 1880, 109–10. 114 The Berceuse was dedicated to Miss Ethel Mercer and published by Allan and Co. 115 ‘The musicians spent much time together on the ship and gave some delightful concerts.’ While Schrader attended the Leipzig Conservatorium, Curtis and Peake undertook studies in England. See Argus 31 May 1886: 6; ‘Notable Musician Dies: Link with the Cowen Orchestra,’ Australian Musical News 1 August 1934: 23.

181 major opus 10 for the first time. 116 In the society’s general meeting at Glen’s Concert Room on 21 December the following year, a second quartet scored for strings was performed (also for the first time) by Henry Curtis, David Cope, J.B. Zerbini and Harrison. In the same program, two piano solos by David Cope jnr. (a nocturne and a work titled Scene Dramatique ) were also performed. 117

Table 22: Performances of Chamber Works by Resident Composers Composer Work Society Date Charles Horsley String Quartet in C HORSLEY 29/03/1862 Charles Horsley String Quartet no 3 in E DL 4/12/1876 Alberto Zelman Piano Trio MAS 5/6/1880 Leon Caron String Quartet (Unidentified) MAS 5/6/1880 Leon Caron String Quartet in G min op 3 MAS 31/7/1880 Louis Pabst Piano Trio in G op 38 MPC 9/9/1885 Henry Curtis Duo for Violin and Viola op 2 MAS 30/1/1886 Herman Schrader Gruss for Violin and Piano MAS 29/5/1886 Sophie Sinclair Sonata for Violin and Piano MAV 11/2/1887 Sophie Sinclair Piano Quartet in B op 10 MAV 15/9/1888 Sophie Sinclair String Quartet in B flat MAV 21/12/1889 Louis Pabst Piano Trio (Unidentified) RISV 26/11/1891 Louis Pabst Phantasiestücke piano trio RISV 16/11/1893

On occasion, the Musical Association also offered cash prizes for musical compositions. In 1877, for example, the Musical Association resolved to offer two prizes annually ‘to professionals and amateurs, for the best musical composition, without any restriction being put on the choice of subjects.’ 118 Two years later the committee of the Intercolonial Juvenile Industrial Exhibition requested that the Musical Association give a prize for the best musical composition at their forthcoming exhibition. The association agreed to offer a prize to the value of five pounds providing that ‘the decision as to the merit of the composition should be delegated to the Musical Association.’ 119 The Musical Society continued to encourage the composition of chamber music, organizing a competition in 1899. It offered prizes ‘to the amount of ten guineas for Musical Compositions viz Seven Guineas for a

116 MSV, Minutes of the Musical Association of Victoria 1888–1892 , 15 September 1888, Musical Society of Victoria Records 1877–1980, MS 12801, Box 1/2, Australian Manuscripts Collection, Latrobe Library, SLV, 8. 117 MSV, Minutes MAV 1888 –1892 , 21 December 1889, 26–7. 118 Leader 22 December 1877: 18. 119 Leader 15 March 1879: 18.

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String Quartett and Three Guineas for an unaccompanied Part Song for S.A.T.B…the String Quartet to consist of not less than three movements.’ 120 In July 1899 it was decided that the string quartets would be performed by the Zelman Quartet party before a panel of judges comprising Messrs E.A. Jäger, Julius Siede, Henry Curtis and W. Heathcote. First and second prizes were subsequently given to Miss Viola Jäger (daughter of E.A. Jäger) and Miss Mona McBurney who wrote under the non de plumes of ‘Barunga’ and ‘Arcas Artes Astra.’ Unfortunately, the prize-winning string quartets were not housed in the society’s library or archives, despite the conditions of the competition requiring the Musical Society to retain copies of the manuscripts. 121

At least two piano trios by the German musician Louis Pabst were also performed in Melbourne during this period. The first, his Piano Trio in G opus 38, was performed in the Melbourne Popular Concert at the Independent Hall on 9 September 1885 by Pabst, George Weston and S. Hart. Two movements of an unidentified piano trio were performed at one of Pabst’s Risvegliato concerts at the Masonic Hall on 26 November 1891 while two movements (a duetto and caprice) of his Phantasiestücke for piano, violin and ‘cello were also performed at another Risvegliato concert at the Masonic Hall on 16 November 1893. 122 Overall, these works were well received, partly due to the nature of the concerts in which they were performed. The Argus critic, for example, noted that ‘the smaller and more intent audience’ at the Melbourne Popular Concert on 9 September 1885, ‘more readily understood’ Pabst’s qualifications as a composer and performer than the audience gathered at a previous concert by the Metropolitan Liedertafel at the Melbourne Town Hall. 123 The critic also acknowledged that Pabst’s Piano Trio in G opus 38 was the work of a ‘well cultivated mind.’ 124

120 MSV, Minutes of the Musical Society of Victoria 1895 –1899 , 18 February 1899, Musical Society of Victoria Records 1877–1980, MS 12801, Box 1/8, Australian Manuscripts Collection, Latrobe Library, SLV, 165–7. 121 MSV, Minutes MSV 1895–1899 , 18 February 1899, 165–7, 187. 122 The unidentified piano trio was performed by Louis Pabst, Max Klein and George Howard while the Phantasiestücke were performed by Pabst, Franz Dierich, and Clutsam. The piano works by Pabst were titled Ländler and Episode Lyrique . Lais, ‘Chamber-Music Concerts in Pre-Federation Melbourne Database.’ 123 Argus 10 September 1885: 6. 124 Argus 10 September 1885: 6.

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Other compositions by Louis Past were published by E. Ebner in Stuttgart c1885 and were reviewed by the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik in 1886. These included a series of works for piano (a ballad titled Der Harfner opus 21, Präludium, Minuett and Caprice opus 34 and Deuxieme Valse pour le Piano) and piano and voice (including ‘Die Meerfrau’ opus 23 and Sechs Lieder für eine Singstimme mit Begleitung des Pianoforte opus 27). 125 A further two piano trios, Five Romanzen opus 5 and a Piano Trio opus 30, were composed by Pabst prior to his arrival in Australia in 1885, the opus 30 trio having been performed in the Bösendorfer Saal in Vienna on 29 November 1881. 126

While the emphasis on improving both performance standards and musical taste was a motivating factor for most of the nineteenth century, nurturing talent and fostering local pride had not been a primary concern, particularly as the musical societies attempted to model themselves on institutions found in London and continental Europe. The support for local compositions, particularly chamber music, demonstrates an important new dynamic in Melbourne’s musical development.

Conclusion

As this chapter has demonstrated, while repertoire selection and methods of program- construction prevalent in Melbourne during the later decades of the nineteenth century were often based on European models of the same period and exhibited similar characteristics, they also exhibited characteristics unique to the Melbourne situation and were shaped by local factors.

The absence of a highly-organized public concert life such as that found in London, for example, and the availability, or lack thereof, of large numbers of competent musicians, along with the absence for much of the nineteenth century of a professional orchestra and therefore dissemination of orchestral music (the development of which was closely associated with the development of chamber music in Europe), had an impact on the organization of chamber-music concerts and the type of repertoire presented in Melbourne.

125 Neue Zeitschrift für Musik , Band 82, Januar bis December 1886, 22, 51. 126 Email Correspondence with Claus Christian Schuster 14 November 2005; ‘Archive Opus Database: Piano Trios—List of Works,’ Altenberg Trio , accessed on 18 July 2007, from .

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Audiences in Melbourne were largely ignorant, for example, of the large-scale orchestral works of many nineteenth-century composers and had not yet acquired a taste for their music. However, despite this ignorance, musical taste in Melbourne leaned towards the instrumental and chamber works of nineteenth-century Austro- Germanic composers, although their reception was not always consistent with that in Europe. At the same time, directors in Melbourne demonstrated a willingness to foster local talent through the performance of locally-composed works and the years leading up to Federation saw the composition and performance of Melbourne’s earliest chamber works.

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Chapter 6: The Influence of English and German Musicians

This chapter examines the influence of some prominent musicians on the development of chamber music in Melbourne during the second half of the nineteenth century. 1 While the bulk of this chapter focuses on the contribution of English and German musicians living in Australia, the contribution of professional musicians who travelled and performed extensively throughout Europe and the United States of America before arriving in Australia, as well as musicians who were born or trained in other European countries such as Italy and France, are also briefly examined. Discussion centres on various aspects of their musical backgrounds, including the influence of their teachers; contact or collaboration with other significant musicians and composers in Europe; musical institutions; and experiences as performers in professional concerts. In the second half of the chapter, the influence of some of the musicians is examined within the context of repertoire selection in Melbourne, the introduction of new works and/or the emphasis on works by certain composers.

The Transplantation of English Practices

The influence of English musicians on the development of chamber music in Melbourne has already been examined within the context of Melbourne’s longest and most successful series of public chamber-music concerts during the nineteenth century: the Melbourne Popular Concerts. An examination of the aims, repertoire and method of program construction in these concerts, for example, reveal a number of similarities and differences to the English concerts on which they were modelled. Furthermore, an examination of the role of English musicians in the emulation of the London concerts demonstrates that the transplantation of English practices relied on the resources and experiences of a small number of mostly English musicians, many

1 This chapter does not attempt to list and identify comprehensively the influences of all the musicians who were active in chamber-music concerts in Melbourne during the period. Rather, the musicians discussed in this chapter are given as examples of the types of performers and range of influences present. Only a small number of the most prominent pianists, string and wind players are mentioned. It should also be noted that the contribution of some musicians, such as Charles Horsley, have already been discussed in earlier chapters and will, therefore, not be discussed here.

186 of whom had either performed in similar concerts in London or had actually attended the Monday and Saturday Popular Concerts at St James’s Hall. Furthermore, evidence suggests that the emulation of the Monday and Saturday Popular Concerts was aided by access to literature such as program notes and reviews in English periodicals and newspapers. However, an examination of the similarities and differences between the Melbourne Popular Concerts and the Monday Popular Concerts at St James’s Hall also reveals that the process of transplantation and emulation of this particular model of concert was both complex and incomplete. 2

Even before the establishment of these concerts, musicians in Melbourne sought to recreate various other English institutions such as choral societies and the hugely popular musical festivals. According to Alexander Sutherland, at least three festivals were held in Melbourne prior to the International Exhibition in 1888, the first under the management of Charles Horsley in 1867 and a further two in 1872 and 1882. These were considered to serve ‘as tide-marks to indicate at what rate the development of music was progressing.’ 3

Musical institutions such as the Royal Society of Musicians in London were also used as a model for similar institutions in Melbourne. In 1871, for example, the Musical Association of Victoria attempted to establish ‘a scheme for rendering the association a benefit society, for the relief of aged and indigent members, on the plan of the Royal Society of Musicians in London and other musical societies in Europe and America.’ 4 Although the outcome of the Musical Association’s proposal is unclear, a similar scheme was considered by the Musical Society of Victoria in 1892 and, in 1896, a ‘Benevolent Fund’ was finally established. 5 Furthermore, both the

2 While the Melbourne Popular Concerts exhibited a strong resemblance to the Monday and Saturday Popular Concerts at St James’s Hall in terms of repertoire and programming, for example, they did not have the detailed program notes that were a primary feature of the London concerts. Furthermore, ticket prices were expensive relative to the London concerts and the commencement dates and lengths of the seasons varied. Perhaps the greatest difference between the Melbourne and London concerts was the lack of audience support for the former. See Peggy Jane Lais, ‘The Melbourne Popular Concerts: Emulating an English Concert Model,’ Context 27–28 (2004): 97–110. 3 Alexander Sutherland, Victoria and its Metropolis, Past and Present , vol. 1 (Melbourne: McCarron, Bird and Co., 1888) 509–10. 4 Argus 20 March 1871: 6. 5 Stella Nemet, History of the Musical Society of Victoria 1861 –1981: One Hundred and Twenty Years of Service to Music (Melbourne: The Musical Society of Victoria, [1981]) 17.

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Musical Association and the Musical Society of Victoria appear to be modelled on similar institutions in London, namely the Musical Institute of London (1851–1853), the Musical Society of London (1858–1867), and the Royal Musical Association (1874). 6

The influence of English educational institutions can also be observed in the number of musicians who were educated in England. Large numbers of musicians, for example, attended the Royal Academy of Music in London. These included the violinist John Hill, the ‘cellist Alfred Montague, the flautist John Radcliff, the oboist James Schott and pianists Carlotta Tasca and Heinrich Kohler. 7 At least two of these, John Radcliff and Heinrich Kohler, later became professors of music at the Royal Academy of Music before travelling to Melbourne, John Radcliff also lecturing on the topic of ‘Flutes, Ancient and Modern’ at Trinity College. Their experience as professors and students in the Royal Academy of Music no doubt earned them respect in a city that was yet to offer its own university degree in music. Fewer of Melbourne’s musicians attended the Royal College of Music in London. However, at least two vocalists, Ada Bloxham (who received the W.J. Clarke Scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music) and Isabel Webster, attended this institution during the nineteenth century and later returned to perform in chamber-music concerts in Melbourne. 8

These and other English-trained musicians brought a number of influences to Melbourne. String players Henry Curtis, Alfred Montague, Max Klein and George Weston, for example, were trained in England by such highly acclaimed musicians as Louis Ries, John Tiplady Carrodus, Philip Cipriani Potter, Herr Bosenneck and H.C. Cooper. These musicians were in turn trained in various continental traditions and were highly active in public concerts in London. The German violinist Louis Ries, one of Max Klein’s teachers, for example, was taught the violin by his father and Henri Vieuxtemps before settling in London in 1853. He was the second violinist in the Monday Popular Concerts’ string quartet group from 1859 to 1897 where he was

6 These aspects are discussed at greater length in Chapter 4. 7 Argus 7 February 1873: 6; 23 August 1873: 5; W.A. Orchard, Music in Australia: More than 150 Years of Development (Melbourne: Georgian House, 1952) 53; Leader 8 March 1884: 26–7; 13 June 1885: 27; 3 April 1886: 26; 10 April 1886: 27. 8 Leader 23 February 1884: 26; Argus 10 August 1891: 7.

188 associated with John Baptist Zerbini (Junior) for a number of years, and was also a member of the quartet for John Ella’s Musical Union from 1855 to 1870. 9

Similarly, John Carrodus, who taught both Henry Curtis and Max Klein, was trained by John Baptist Zerbini (Senior) in England and Bernhard Molique, and was a member of orchestras at Her Majesty’s Theatre and Covent Garden where he succeeded Sainton. 10 Philip Cipriani Potter had lessons in counterpoint with Thomas Attwood and piano with Joseph Woelfl, ‘under whom he perfected his technique, memorized Bach’s Das wohltemperirte Clavier , and learnt the principles of form in instrumental music which were then little known in England.’ 11 After time spent in Vienna where he fine tuned his skills as a composer and where he was associated for a period of time with Beethoven, Potter became a professor of piano, and later the director of orchestral practice at the Royal Academy of Music in London. It is most likely in this role that he became associated with the ‘cellist Alfred Montague and possibly other students who later migrated to Melbourne. 12

Some of Melbourne’s most influential musicians were also closely associated with a number of Europe’s leading composers and musicians of the time and had first- hand experience performing in concerts in England. Musicians such as Charles Horsley and Charles Winterbottom, for example, were heavily involved in concerts in London and had strong connections with various composers, conductors and musicians in London prior to their migration to Melbourne. 13 In addition to studying

9 Cecil Hill, ‘Ries; (7) Louis Ries,’ Grove Music Online , accessed on 20 May 2008, from . 10 Carrodus was also famous for his ‘interpretations of the concertos of Beethoven, Spohr and Molique’ and was credited with raising the standard of string playing in English orchestras during late nineteenth century. E.D. Mackerness, ‘Carrodus, John,’ Grove Music Online , accessed on 20 May 2008, from . 11 Philip H. Peter and Julian Rushton, ‘Potter: (4) (Philip) Cipriani (Hambly) [Hambley] Potter,’ Grove Music Online . Oxford Music Online , accessed on 20 May 2008, from . 12 Peter and Rushton, ‘Potter: (4) (Philip) Cipriani (Hambly) [Hambley] Potter,’ Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. 13 Charles Horsley, for example, had close connections with the Mendelssohn family. The contributions of Charles Horsley and Charles Winterbottom to public concerts in Melbourne, and their involvement in London concert life, have already been discussed in previous chapters.

189 at the Royal Academy of Music, Alfred Montague was reputed to have come into contact with pupils of Mendelssohn, Chopin, Paganini and Czerny, and the conductor Michael Costa, who heard him perform the ‘cello in London and persuaded him to take up a career on that instrument. 14 He also performed in various concerts throughout England, including some in Birmingham and Gloucester, and, according to an obituary notice published in the Argus newspaper, performed Mendelssohn’s Christmas Pieces ‘from the first copy received in London.’ 15

George Weston also performed in concerts in Britain, making a professional tour through Scotland and Wales. 16 His performances were highly acclaimed by the press, critics describing him as a violinist ‘denoting fine natural endowments and careful and judicious training’ and as a violinist who ‘[would] rank with the finest violinists of the day,’17 while Henry Curtis, who was described as ‘one of a very devoted band of violinists and other string instrumentalists who in the final twenty years of [the nineteenth] century and the first ten years of [the twentieth century] were identified with most of the leading performances in Melbourne,’ performed in orchestras at the Drury Lane and Haymarket Theatres in London. This training not only prepared him for his role as a violinist in the Melbourne String Quartet and Zerbini Quartet groups but also for his role as a teacher of music in the newly formed Conservatorium of Music at the University of Melbourne. 18

A number of high-calibre English musicians were involved in or attended various types of chamber-music concerts in London before migrating to or visiting as touring musicians to Melbourne. John Baptist Zerbini, Charles Hallé and Wilma Norman-Neruda, for example, were regular performers at the Monday Popular

14 Argus 10 May 1926: 10. 15 Argus 10 May 1926: 10. 16 Various reports suggest that he also performed in concerts and studied on the European continent in some capacity. An obituary notice in the Australian Musical News , for example, notes that ‘he was taken to England and the Continent, where he followed up his studies by making many successful appearances.’ The Argus newspaper makes a similar claim, stating that Weston ‘went to England and the Continent to study.’ See ‘Our First Prodigy. Notable Violinist Dead. Mr. George Weston’s Career,’ Australian Musical News 1 December 1923: 35; Argus 5 November 1923: 10; Table Talk 18 January 1889: 7. 17 An unidentified review published in the London News Musical Hall Advertiser , quoted in ‘Our First Prodigy,’ AMN 1 December 1923: 35. 18 ‘Veteran Violinist’s Death: Services of Henry Curtis,’ AMN 1 May 1940: 5.

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Concerts at St James’s Hall in London before travelling to Melbourne while Max Klein was reported to have attended the Monday Popular Concert series for the year 1878–1879. 19 If opinion in the local press is an indication of the general attitude within the musical community, these experiences were considered invaluable to the development of chamber music in Melbourne. After Zerbini’s death in 1891, for example, the critic for the Age newspaper declared that his ‘death [made] a gap in the ranks of Melbourne musicians which…[would] be impossible…to fill up’ while the critic for the Argus newspaper stated that Zerbini’s ‘residence in Melbourne [had given] an impetus to quartet playing, the value of which cannot well be over estimated, and had a great deal to do with raising the general musical taste of the community; his long experience in the old country and consequent knowledge of the correct tempi, &c., rendered him invaluable, and his death [caused] a heavy loss’ (See Figure 13). 20

Although they spent a shorter amount of time in Australia, the influence of Charles and Lady Hallé (Wilma Norman-Neruda) is also noticeable. 21 In addition to touring Melbourne in 1890 and 1891, where they were responsible for introducing and performing a number of chamber works that were not yet familiar to Melbourne audiences, the Hallés were consulted on various other musical affairs. 22

19 Table Talk 11 January 1889: 5–7. 20 Age 30 November 1891: 6; Argus 30 November 1891: 6. 21 Charles Hallé’s influence can also be observed in his student, T.H. Guenett, who migrated to Australia in 1873. Following his first performance in Melbourne music critics in the press noted that Guenett’s style of playing was reminiscent of Hallé’s, the critic for the Argus newspaper noting that ‘the influence of Mr Hallé’s style of playing is plainly discernible in that of his pupil, which is distinguished for care rather than for freedom–for conscientious accuracy rather than for brilliancy…[he] was more thoughtful for his author’s meaning than anxious for the display of merely manual skill.’ Argus 17 February 1873: 7; Table Talk 25 October 1889: 4. 22 These included works such as Grieg’s Violin Sonata in C minor opus 45, Schumann’s Sonata for Violin and Piano in A minor opus 145 and Brahms’s Violin Sonata in A opus 100. In June 1890, the Argus newspaper reported on the Hallés’ visit to the Metropolitan Liedertafel where they were given an address by the members. According to the writer of the address, their ‘masterly performances’ had made such an impression on Melbourne’s musical community that they were considered to have an ‘enduring influence on the appreciation and culture of the divine art’ while at the same time forming ‘another link in the ever- strengthening chain of intellectual intercourse between [Melbourne] and the old world and its inhabitants.’ See Argus 10 June 1890: 5.

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Figure 13: The celebrated violist J.B. Zerbini (Pictures Collection, State Library of Victoria)

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On their tour of Melbourne in 1891, for example, an advertisement for the Melbourne Popular Concerts published in the Argus newspaper anticipated Charles and Lady Hallés’ attendance at the current series, suggesting that their support and patronage of the concerts were considered to be a valuable means via which the director and supporters of the concerts could raise their profile and increase public support. 23

As a member of the committee in England formed to advise the council at the University of Melbourne on the matter of establishing a Chair of Music, Charles Hallé’s opinion in regards to music education was also highly respected. Amongst other things, Hallé advised the council on the selection of an appropriate professor of music, suggesting that the university’s initial restrictions on the Chair of Music (that is, not allowing the professor to exercise his talents outside of the University) were too stringent and would, thus, discourage ‘first-rate’ men from accepting the position. Furthermore, it was Hallé’s opinion that, in the manner of German institutions of the day, a degree in music would need to embrace both practical and theoretical studies, an opinion that was clearly heeded when the Conservatorium was eventually established in 1895. 24

German Influences

While the presence and influence of English-born and English-trained musicians permeates the majority of Melbourne’s chamber-music concerts and musical societies during the second half of the nineteenth century, the influence of German-born and German-trained musicians on the development of chamber music during this period is also significant. One of the first, and the largest, of Melbourne’s early liedertafel societies, the Melbourner Deutsche Liedertafel, for example, was responsible for introducing a number of significant chamber works to Melbourne including Schubert’s String Quartet in D minor, the most-performed chamber work during this period (alongside Beethoven’s ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata for piano and violin), Mozart’s String Quartet in B flat K589, Beethoven’s Piano Quartet in E flat opus 16 and

23 Argus 3 June 1891: 8. 24 The foundation of a Chair of Music at the University of Melbourne and the curriculum at the Conservatorium of Music in Melbourne is discussed at greater length in Chapter 4. Also see Argus 10 June 1890: 9

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Mendelssohn’s String Quartet opus 12. 25 Furthermore, there is evidence to suggest that although the German liedertafel society had formed with ‘social intercourse’ for its members as one of its main objectives, it was also intent on improving musical standards and taste in general. 26

‘From the mid-19 th century professional German musicians were [also] important in the development of concert and theatre music…The pit orchestras for W.S Lyster’s touring opera productions in the 1860s and the 1870s [for example] contained a high proportion of German musicians’ 27 that included Julius Siede (flute), James Schott (oboe), Herren Strebinger, Eigenschank, Schultz and Zeplin (violin), Gruner (tuba) and Kohler (horn). 28

‘Many [of these] musicians were trained in German conservatoriums, which produced most of Europe’s skilled instrumentalists at the time.’ 29 In comparison to musicians who trained at the Royal Academy of Music or the Royal College of Music in London, a large proportion of pianists and string players who participated in chamber-music concerts in Melbourne had been trained in Germany. Of these, the majority studied at the Leipzig Conservatorium of Music. Smaller numbers studied at various academies in Berlin (such as the Berlin Royal Academy or the Berlin Hochshule) 30 while others attended institutions such as the Frankfurt Hoch- Conservatory and other unspecified institutions in cities such as Stuttgart and

25 Schubert’s String Quartet in D minor D810 was performed for the first time in Melbourne at the Deutscher Liedertafel on the 7 May 1877. 26 These issues and the contribution of the liedertafel societies to the development of chamber music in Melbourne are discussed at greater length in Chapter 2. The history of the German liedertafel and its commitment to improving musical standards and tastes are also explored in Kerry Murphy, ‘Volk von Brüdern: The German-speaking Liedertafel in Melbourne,’ Nineteenth Century Music Review 2.2 (2005): 55–75. 27 Ian Harmstorf and Aline Scott-Maxwell, ‘German Traditions,’ Currency Companion to Music and Dance in Australia (Sydney: Currency Press, 2003) 299. 28 See Love, The Golden Age of Opera , 95. 29 Harmstorf and Scott-Maxwell, ‘German Traditions,’ 299. 30 According to biographical notices published in Melbourne’s newspapers, Julius Buddee, Maggie Elmblad and Isodore Schnitzler (one of the members of the Mendelssohn Quintette Club from Boston) all studied at the Berlin Royal Academy. Johann Kruse, Frederick Cowen and Julius Herz studied at the Berlin Conservatorium of Music. Table Talk 26 September 1890: 8; Argus 30 July 1869: 5; Illustrated Australian News 8 July 1878: 115; Leader 11 February 1882: 18.

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Hamburg. 31 The details of where and/or with whom they studied is unspecified for a further four German musicians who made significant contributions to the development of chamber music in Melbourne and who claimed to have studied in Germany. These include Herr G.S. de Chaneet, Louis Pabst, Christian Reimers, and Julius Siede. 32

Musicians who studied at the Leipzig Conservatorium prior to their involvement in public concerts in Melbourne included the English conductor Frederick Cowen, who was later employed to conduct the orchestra for the Melbourne International Exhibition in 1888, and a number of German musicians, including the violinist August Wilhelmj (See Figure 14) and the ‘cellist Louis Hattenbach. 33 Although there are no records of Max Vogrich’s enrolment in the Leipzig Conservatorium’s archives, numerous reports claim that he also studied there from 1866 to 1869. 34

A significant number of Australian students also studied at the Leipzig Conservatorium during the nineteenth century. Between the years 1869 and 1900, for example, at least thirty-eight students from Australia enrolled at the institution, including nine from Melbourne, fourteen from Sydney, five from Adelaide and the

31 Charles W. Russell, for example, claimed to have studied music in Stuttgart while T.H. Guenett and A.J. Jacoby claimed to have studied at unspecified institutions in Hamburg. See H.J. Gibney and Ann G. Smith (eds.), ‘Russell, Charles W.,’ A Biography Register (Canberra: Australian Dictionary of Biography, 1987); Table Talk 25 October 1889: 4; Illustrated Australian News and Musical Times 1 June 1889: 15. 32 A report in the Australian Musical News , for example, states that Herr G.S. de Chaneet was born and educated in Germany but does not state where. Likewise, Hugo Riemann states that Louis Pabst studied with Anton Rubinstein and Hans von Bülow but does not give a location. Biographical sources claim that Christian Reimers learnt the ‘cello during his early years in Hamburg but do not identify his teachers. Julius Siede studied with Fursteneau and Reissiger but it is not known where or whether or not he studied at a particular institution. See ‘Herr de Chaneet,’ AMN November 1911: 109; Hugo Riemann, ‘Pabst, 2) Louis,’ Hugo Riemanns Musiklexicon , vol. 2 (Berlin: 1929) 1324–5; George E. Loyau, ‘Herr Christian Reimers,’ Notable South Australians (Hampstead Gardens, S.A: Austaprint, 1885) 162–3; Warren Bebbington, ‘Siede, Julius,’ The Oxford Companion to Australian Music (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1997) 516. 33 Records of Wilhelmj and Hattenbach’s enrolment at the Leipzig Conservatorium can be found at Materialien Konservatorium bis 1945, A.I Studentische Angelegenheiten, Hochschule für Musik und Theater, ‘Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’ Bibliothek, Leipzig. 34 Hugo Riemann, for example, claims that Vogrich studied at the Conservatorium from 1866 to 1869 where he was a pupil of Wenzel, Reinecke, Moscheles, Hauptmann and Richter. Following this he performed in concert tours between the years 1870 and 1878. See Hugo Riemann, ‘Vogrich, Max,’ Riemanns Musiklexicon , vol. 2 (Berlin: 1929) 1958.

195 remaining students from Hobart and regional centres such as Ballarat (Victoria), Swansea or Wagga Wagga (New South Wales). 35 The most notable of these were the Melbourne pianists Ernest Hutcheson, Alfred Hill, and Ethel Richardson. 36

These students were exposed to a number of influences. Their teachers, for example, included prominent musicians, composers and conductors such as Moritz Hauptmann, Ignaz Moscheles, Niels Gade, Carl Reinecke and Ferdinand David. Furthermore, students at the Conservatorium also had access to a variety of orchestral and chamber-music concerts held at the Leipzig Gewandhaus, as well as series of public and private concerts held by musicians such as Moscheles and David. They also participated in the Conservatorium’s public examinations ( Hauptprüfungen concerts) and Abendunterhaltung concerts. These experiences helped to shape their careers as both solo and chamber-music performers. Although Wilhelmj, for example, first came into contact with chamber music at the age of eight when he performed some of Haydn’s string quartets, his skills as a chamber musician were said to have been enhanced through contact with David at the Leipzig Conservatorium. 37 Presumably under David’s direction, Wilhelmj participated in performances of chamber music in the Conservatorium’s Hauptprüfung concerts at the Leipzig Gewandhaus, including performances of Mendelssohn’s Octet for strings and Piano Trio in C minor opus 66, and Beethoven’s String Quartet in A minor opus 132. 38

35 The students from Melbourne were (in order of enrolment): Harry James Linden (presumably a close relative of the German-born pianist Otto Linden), Lydia James, Thilo Becker, Ernest Hutcheson, Ethel Richardson, Bradshaw Major, Marie Hansen, Henriette Ridley, and Jane Lewis. Records of their enrolment can be found at Materialien Konservatorium bis 1945, A.I. Studentische Angelegenheiten. 36 Ethel Richardson later took on the pen name of Henry Handel Richardson and drew on her experiences as a student of music at the Leipzig Conservatorium in her novel titled Maurice Guest . 37 J.R.G Hassard, ‘Wilhelmj and Reményi,’ Scribner’s Monthly, an illustrated Magazine 18.1 (1879): 112. 38 The other performers in the octet were Herr Reissner, Constatin von Nolte, Heinrich Peiniger, Emil Willerbach, Carl August Jung, Albert Gowa and Rudolf Hennig. Emily Matthews and Doris Böhme (piano), and Gowa performed the trio while Reissner, Jung and Gowa performed the Beethoven quartet. See programs for the Leipzig Conservatorium’s Hauptprüfung concerts on 4 November 1862 and 3 May 1863, Prüfungsprogramme 1844– 1866 , Materialien Konservatorium bis 1945, A.III.1 Konzertprogramme, Hochschule für Musik und Theater ‘Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’ Bibliothek, Leipzig.

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Figure 14: Herr August Wilhelmj (Pictures Collection, State Library of Victoria)

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The German-born ‘cellist Louis Hattenbach, who migrated to Australia in the 1890s, became the principal ‘cello teacher at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music in 1895. Hattenbach performed in numerous chamber-music concerts in Melbourne, including Allan and Co.’s series of Classical Chamber-Music Concerts in 1897 and 1898, and also participated in performances of chamber music in the Leipzig Conservatorium’s public examinations. In the Hauptprüfung concert on 21 February 1890, for example, he participated in a performance of Mozart’s Quartet in F for oboe and strings. He also performed Brahms’ Sextet in G opus 36 in the Hauptprüfung on 20 February 1891. 39 These experiences in Leipzig no doubt influenced Hattenbach’s approach to the performance of similar chamber works by these composers in Melbourne. In 1898, for example, he performed Brahms’ Piano Trio in C minor opus 101 and Piano Quartet in G minor opus 25, the first known performances of these works in Melbourne. 40 Equally significant to the development of chamber music in Melbourne were his performances of chamber works by Dvo řák, which included the first known performances of Dvo řák’s Bagatellen opus 47 for two violins, ‘cello and harmonium and the Piano Quartet in E flat opus 87. 41

The Australian-born violinist and pianist Herman Schrader, whose parents were German, also studied at the Leipzig Conservatorium before becoming a member of Frederick Cowen’s orchestra for the 1888 International Exhibition. He performed in numerous chamber-music concerts in Melbourne, including the seventeenth series of Melbourne Popular Concerts in 1891, and monthly meetings held by the Musical Artists’ Society, the Musical Association and the Musical Society of Victoria. Like Hattenbach, Schrader became a prominent teacher of music and was a staff member at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. 42 Prior to his studies in Leipzig he had also

39 See programs for 21 February 1890 and 20 February 1891, Prüfungsprogramme 1885– 1890 and Prüfungsprogramme 1891–1895 , Materialien Konservatorium bis 1945, A.III.1. 40 The piano trio and piano quartet by Brahms were performed at Allan’s Classical Chamber- Music Concerts on 18 May and 8 June 1898. These are the earliest known performance dates for these works. 41 These works were performed at Allan and Co.’s Classical Chamber-Music Concerts at the Melbourne Athenæum on 25 May and 1 June 1898. 42 Herman Schrader enrolled twice at the Leipzig Conservatorium of Music (from 1878 to 1880 and 1884 to 1886) where he studied theory of music, composition, piano and violin. He performed Brahms’s Variations and Fugue on a theme by Handel in B opus 24 (for piano) at the Conservatorium’s Hauptprüfung concert on 9 April 1886 and three Preludes and Fugues

198 been involved in the Adelaide String Quartet Club, an institution committed to the performance of chamber music and which sought to emulate the Monday and Saturday Popular Concerts at St James’s Hall in London. 43 As a former student of Hans von Bülow, he gained the reputation for being an authority on Chopin and Beethoven, performing numerous chamber works by Beethoven in Melbourne including a number of the opus 18 string quartets and the Piano Quartet in E flat opus 16. 44

Although there is no record of Christian Reimers ever having studied at the Leipzig Conservatorium, Reimers resided in Leipzig where he was said to have been associated with all the leading composers and musicians except for Mendelssohn. After a six-month tour with the pianist H. Enke, Reimers moved to Düsseldorf where he became the chief ‘cellist for Robert Schumann’s orchestra and participated in various chamber-music concerts, performing with Clara Schumann, Johannes Brahms, Joseph Wasielewski, Herr Tausch, and others. 45 In 1851 and 1852, for example, he performed in a series of Trio-soirées in Düsseldorf with the pianist Tausch and the violinist Joseph Wasielewski. He participated in the first private performance of Schumann’s Piano Trio in G minor opus 110 with Clara Schumann and Joseph Wasielewski, and also performed Brahms’s Piano Trio in B opus 8 with Brahms and Clara Schumann. 46

by Bach at an Abendunterhaltung concert on 18 October 1884. Records of Schrader’s enrolment can be found at Materialien Konservatorium bis 1945, A.I.2 and A.I.3 Studentische Angelegenheiten; Programs for the Hauptprüfung and Abendunterhaltung concerts can be found in Programme 1885–1890 and Abendunterhaltungsprogramme 14 März 1883–9 Juli 1887 , Materialien Konservatorium bis 1945, A.III.1. See also AMN 1 August 1934: 23. 43 AMN 1 August 1934: 23. The Adelaide String Quartet Club and its attempts to emulate the Monday and Saturday Popular Concerts in London are discussed at greater length in Chapter 3. 44 Although Schrader’s studies in Leipzig concentrated on the piano (he did not study the violin, for example, during his second enrolment there), his contribution to chamber music in Melbourne was primarily as a violinist. 45 He also made contact with other leading artists such as Jenny Lind, Franz Liszt, and Sterndale Bennett and fulfilled the role of Professor of ‘Cello at the Cologne Conservatorium. Loyau, ‘Herr Christian Reimers,’ 162–3. 46 See Thomas Synofzik, ‘Cellist, Spiritist und Karikaturist: Christian Reimers und seine Beziehungen zu Robert Schumann,’ Schumann Forschungen 12: Robert Schumann, das Violoncello und die Cellisten seiner Zeit (2007): 99–135; Styra Avins, ‘Brahms and the ‘Cello Part 1,’ The Violoncello Society of London Newsletter , Autumn 2003, accessed on 14 March 2006, from ; ‘Robert Schumann Trio Nr. 3, g-

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Reimer’s experiences as a chamber musician in Europe, combined with his personal contact with composers such as Schumann and Brahms, were no doubt influential in shaping his interpretation of chamber works by these composers in Melbourne. Reimers, for example, performed five of the eleven chamber works by Schumann performed in Melbourne during this period, including the first performance of the Piano Trio in D minor opus 63 and the String Quartet in A opus 41 number 3. 47

Louis Pabst was equally influential. Born in Königsberg, his father, August Pabst was a composer, cantor and organist at Königsberg before becoming the director of a conservatorium of music in Riga. He composed at least four operas, including Der Kastellan von Krakau (1846) and Unser Johann (1848), both written in Königsberg, and Die letzen Tage von Pompeji (1851). Louis Pabst’s younger brother, Paul Pabst, also a musician and composer, was a student of Liszt and, from 1878, a teacher at the Moscow Conservatorium of Music. 48 In addition to influences from his father’s and brother’s musical activities, Louis Pabst was a student of Anton Rubinstein and Hans von Bülow, performed as a professional pianist with the Königsberg Philharmonic Orchestra, and made tours of Germany and Austria. 49 He also composed a number of works for solo piano, voice and chamber ensemble, including at least three piano trios: a trio opus 30, Piano Trio in G opus 38, and Phantasiestücke for piano, violin and ‘cello. 50

In Melbourne, Pabst contributed to the development of chamber music in a number of ways. He participated, for example, in the Melbourne Popular Concerts as

moll, op.110,’ Altenberg Trio Archiv Database, Altenberg Trio , accessed on 14 March 2006, from . 47 The String Quartet in A opus 41 number 3 was performed four times at the Melbourne Popular Concerts between the years 1886 and 1888 by the Zerbini Quartet group. The other three works were the Fantasiestücke opus 88 for piano trio, Piano Quartet in E flat opus 47, and Piano Quintet in E flat opus 44. 48 Hugo Riemann, ‘Pabst, I) August,’ and ‘Pabst, 3) Paul,’ Hugo Riemanns Musiklexicon , vol. 2 (Berlin: 1929) 1324–5. 49 Hugo Riemann, ‘Pabst, 2) Louis,’ Hugo Riemanns Musiklexicon , vol. 2 (Berlin: 1929) 1325. 50 Riemann identifies Pabst’s piano works by the following opus numbers: 1–16, 20, 24, 28– 31, 33–40. His lieder are identified as: opus 17–19, 23, 25, 26. Riemann also lists opus numbers for two melodramas (opus 21 and 27) and one piano trio (opus 30). See Riemann, ‘Pabst, 2) Louis,’ 1325. The Piano Trio opus 38 and Phantasiestücke for piano trio were performed in Melbourne in 1885 and 1893.

200 a soloist and chamber musician, performing his own works, including his Piano Trio in G opus 38, and various works by Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Chopin and Liszt. 51 Following these appearances, Pabst established his own series of chamber- music concerts, including two series of Historical Concerts (1886–1887) 52 and ‘Risvegliato’ Concerts (1891–1893). 53

While many chamber-music concerts in Melbourne during the period focused on works by nineteenth century composers, Pabst’s approach to repertoire selection was broader. Both his Historical and Risvegliato concerts, for example, included works by eighteenth-century composers. 54 Pabst was also one of the few musicians in Melbourne during the period to perform chamber music by Bach. As a boy, Percy Grainger remembered a performance of a Bach concerto for piano and strings at one of Pabst’s Risvegliato Concerts, stating:

I remember in particular a Concerto of Bach for two pianos & strings, the string part being played on a third piano…Pabst was the first to reveal to me the glories of Bach, thereby opening the door to the only realm of music…when at the age of ten I first got to know Bach through Louis Pabst & his pupils I felt that I was hearing the full art of music for the first time…hearing his magnificent renderings of Bach gave me whatever is good in my Bach playing. 55

51 Pabst performed in the Melbourne Popular Concerts at the Independent Hall on 9 and 16 September 1885. 52 Louis Pabst’s Historical Concerts are discussed at greater length in Chapters 3 and 4. 53 Initially established as a series of musical entertainments at the Pabsts’ home in Hotham Street, South Melbourne, they were later moved to the Masonic Hall in Collins Street. The definition of ‘Risvegliato’ is literally ‘wakened up’ or animated. Percy A. Scholes, ‘Risvegliato,’ The Oxford Companion to Music , ed. John Owen Ward, 10 th ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1970); John Bird, Percy Grainger , 2 nd ed. (Sydney: Currency Press, 1998) 23. 54 Pabst’s first Historical Concert on 21 May 1887, for example, focussed on works by Bach, Handel, Scarlatti, and Haydn. See James Smith, Annotated Programme of Herr Louis Pabst’s Six Historical Concerts which will be accompanied by Literary Illustrations by Mr. James Smith (Melbourne: McCarron, Bird and Co., [1887]). 55 In addition to this performance, Bach’s Concerto in D minor for three keyboards was performed at Pabst’s first Historical Concert on 21 May 1887. See Percy Grainger, notes on Louis Pabst, located Grainger Archives, White Plains, dated 23 November 1936, quoted in Bird, Percy Grainger , 23–4; Smith, Annotated Programme of Herr Louis Pabst’s Six Historical Concerts .

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Shaping the Repertory

Whereas many of Melbourne’s most prominent chamber musicians were permanent residents, other musicians resided in or toured Melbourne for shorter periods of time, bringing their experiences as performers in Europe, and often new repertoire, with them. As already mentioned, Charles and Lady Hallé introduced and performed a number of duo sonatas that were not known in Melbourne during their tours of Melbourne in 1890 and 1891. In 1873–1874 Arabella Goddard also performed a number of chamber works that had not previously been performed, including a number of works by Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Dussek (See Appendix 1). Not only did these performances offer opportunities for audiences to familiarize themselves with repertoire that was little-known, if known at all, in Melbourne, but they also provided a means by which Melburnians could access repertoire that was being regularly performed in London and other European cities.

Musicians such as Goddard, the Hallés and J.B. Zerbini performed repertoire in Melbourne after having performed it in concerts like the Monday and Saturday Popular Concerts in London. Goddard, for example, participated in the earliest known performance of Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio in C minor in Melbourne, having performed it on at least one occasion at the Monday Popular Concerts alongside Joachim and Piatti. 56 She, Charles Hallé and a small number of other pianists, including Charles Horsley, were also largely responsible for many of the earliest known performances in Melbourne of Mendelssohn’s Songs without Words , which, as a collection, were some of the most-performed works for solo piano across all of Melbourne’s chamber-music concerts during the second half of the nineteenth century and one of the most-performed works for solo instrument at the Monday and Saturday Popular Concerts in London between the years 1859 and 1892. 57

56 The piano trio was performed in Melbourne on 10 September 1873. See the program for the One Hundredth and Ninety-Ninth Monday Popular Concert, Monday and Saturday Popular Concert Programs, Floyd Collection, Grainger Museum, Parkville. 57 In Melbourne at least thirteen performances of excerpts from Mendelssohn’s Songs without Words took place. The performers were Charles Horsley (one performance), T.H. Guenett, (one performance), Arabella Goddard (one performance), William Hunter (five performances), Carlotta Tasca (two performances) and Charles Hallé (two performances). The pianist was unidentified for one performance. A total of twenty-eight performances of selections of Mendelssohn’s Songs without Words were given at the Monday Popular Concerts between the years 1859 and 1892. The first performance took place on 18 April

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As a participant in chamber-music performances in Melbourne, J.B. Zerbini was equally influential. After introducing and familiarizing a number of contemporary works, including Dvo řák’s Sextet in A major opus 48 and Brahms’ Quintet in F minor opus 34, to London audiences, Zerbini was involved in some of the first performances in Melbourne of chamber works by these composers. 58 He participated, for example, in a performance of Brahms’ Piano Quartet in A opus 26 at the Melbourne Popular Concert on 16 June 1886, and two performances each of Dvo řák’s String Quartet in E flat opus 51 and Piano Quartet in D opus 23 at the Melbourne Popular Concerts and the Musical Artists’ Society. 59

The dominance of Beethoven’s piano sonatas as solo repertoire in Melbourne’s chamber-music concerts can also be credited in part to Charles Hallé. Even before Hallé performed a number of them on his professional tours of Melbourne in 1890 and 1891, his influence on the selection of repertoire for solo piano and the resulting popularization of Beethoven’s piano sonatas in chamber-music concerts in London had already taken place. 60 His pianoforte recitals, which commenced in 1850 in his home and became public in 1861, were credited with introducing the complete cycle of Beethoven’s piano sonatas and ‘a feast of the works of all the great composers’ to audiences in London and Manchester ‘in a thoroughly systematic way.’ 61 Following Hallé’s introduction, the sonatas went on to become

1859. N.a, Catalogue of Works performed at the Monday Popular Concerts during Thirty Four Seasons commencing February 14, 1859 and finishing April 11, 1892 (London: Chappell and Co., n.d.). 58 The Brahms quintet was performed in a series of ‘Chamber Concerts of Modern Music’ at the Hanover Square Rooms directed by Mr W. Coenen. Scholes suggests that this was the first performance of the quintet in London. See ‘Anton Dvo řák,’ The Times 24 February 1880: 8; Percy Scholes, ‘Brahms—Opposed and Accepted,’ The Mirror of Music 1844 –1944 , vol. 1 (London: Novello and Co., 1947) 429. 59 Brahms’s piano quartet was performed by Otto Linden, George Weston, J.B. Zerbini and Christian Reimers. Dvo řák’s string quartet was performed at the Melbourne Popular Concerts on 14 September 1887 and 16 May 1888 by the Zerbini Quartet group while the piano quartet was performed at the Musical Artists’ Society on 28 May 1887 and 28 September 1889. 60 Hallé performed at least seven of Beethoven’s piano sonatas (opus 13, opus 26, opus 27 number 2, opus 28, opus 31 number 3, opus 57, and opus 81a) during his tours of Melbourne in 1890 and 1891 in addition to three sonatas for piano and violin (opus 24, opus 30 number 2, and the ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata opus 47). 61 J.A. Fuller Maitland, English Music in the Nineteenth Century (London: Grant Richards, 1902) 67.

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‘staple’ inclusions in the Monday and Saturday Popular Concerts at St James’s Hall and other chamber-music concerts in London. 62

Beethoven’s piano sonatas were equally popular in Melbourne’s chamber- music concerts with many of them ranking amongst the most-performed works for solo instrument across all of the chamber-music concerts included in this study. 63 The bulk of performances also took place during the boom and bust period of the 1880s and 1890s through the leading musical societies (particularly the Musical Artists’ Society and the Musical Association of Victoria) and the Melbourne Popular Concerts (1882–1893), institutions that were concerned with the improvement of musical standards and tastes and had expressed a commitment to the development of instrumental chamber music. Furthermore, a large proportion of musicians who performed Beethoven’s piano sonatas were either English in origin, had performed in similar concerts in London, or had been trained as pianists in England before migrating to Australia. 64 Early performances, in particular, were left to English musicians such as Charles Horsley and Arabella Goddard (who was renowned for her performances of the late Beethoven sonatas in London), and the resident pianist Miss Griffiths. 65

62 See N.a, Catalogue of Works performed at the Monday Popular Concerts . 63 The most-performed piano sonatas by Beethoven included the ‘Moonlight’ Piano Sonata in C sharp minor opus 27 number 2, Piano Sonata in C opus 53 and Piano Sonata in F minor opus 57. 64 Pianists who performed Beethoven’s piano sonatas in Melbourne included (in chronological order of the earliest known performance) Charles Horsley, Arabella Goddard, Miss Griffiths, George Peake, Otto Linden, Carlotta Tasca, Max Vogrich, William Hunter, Lizzie Martin, T.H. Guenett, Gertrude Fraser, Sophie Sinclair, J.R. Edeson, Louis Pabst, George Fentum, Charles Hallé, Emmanuel de Beaupuis, Ernest Hutcheson, Miss Jolley, Benno Scherek and Lily Bristow. Those who were educated in England or who had performed in concerts there included Charles Horsley, Arabella Goddard, George Peake, Carlotta Tasca, Max Vogrich, T.H. Guenett, and Charles Hallé. 65 The ‘Moonlight’ Sonata, for example, was performed by Charles Horsley in his first chamber-music concert on 22 February 1862, and then by Arabella Goddard and Miss Griffiths in their public concerts on 10 September 1873 and 3 September 1878. Arabella Goddard also performed Beethoven’s Piano Sonata in F minor opus 57 on 12 September 1874 at a public concert at the Melbourne Opera House. According to Frank Howes, she was regarded as England’s leading pianist for most of the second half of the nineteenth century, had played Beethoven’s Piano Sonata opus 106 by memory at one of her first appearances in London and ‘was one of the first performers to champion his late piano sonatas.’ An unidentified program note for the Monday Popular Concerts (c1866) also notes that ‘On Monday last, besides the trio for strings only, already mentioned, there was the marvellous

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However, while some of these pianists, including Charles Hallé, Charles Horsley, Arabella Goddard and T.H. Guenett (also a student of Hallé) spent long periods of their careers in England where they participated in various types of concerts as performers, they had also spent significant amounts of time in continental Europe, particularly in Germany, where they performed or studied music. Hallé, for example, was born and educated in Germany and had had extensive experience performing in Europe before he migrated to England. Horsley had studied music in Leipzig while Goddard had toured Germany as a professional musician. T.H Guenett had also studied for a time in Hamburg before he migrated to Australia in 1873. 66

It appears that Beethoven’s piano sonatas were also widely performed by students of music in Melbourne (mostly women) learning from teachers such as Miss Griffiths and Carlotta Tasca. 67 The performance of these works by students perhaps suggests, as does a review published in a Monday Popular Concert program note in 1866, that even before the establishment of a Conservatorium of Music in Melbourne in 1895, Beethoven’s piano sonatas were considered to be beneficial to the training and education of pianists and were considered by many musicians and critics to be beneficial to the development of musical taste. 68 Beethoven’s sonatas for piano and

sonata of Beethoven in E minor, Op. 109, one of the group of later works which Madame Goddard will always have the credit of having first made familiar and intelligible to English ears.’ German musicians such as Max Vogrich and Otto Linden also contributed to the popularization of Beethoven’s piano sonatas in Melbourne, performing these works on multiple occasions at the Melbourne Popular Concerts. See Frank Howes, ‘Goddard, Arabella,’ Grove Music Online , ed. L. Macy, accessed on 5 July 2006, from ; N.a., article titled ‘Monday Popular Concerts: Chamber Music,’ from loose-leaf program notes, circa February 1866, Monday and Saturday Popular Concert Programs, Floyd Collection, Grainger Museum, Parkville, 381. 66 Table Talk 25 October 1889: 4. 67 Lizzie Martin, for example, was a student of Carlotta Tasca while Gertrude Fraser was a student of Miss Griffiths and had received a Diploma of Music from the Musical Association of Victoria. 68 The undated program note (c1866) refers to a series of eight concerts in which Charles Hallé performed a number of Beethoven’s piano sonatas. The note writer, probably J.W. Davison, writes: ‘The idea was a happy one, and seemed to be particularly appreciated by pianoforte professors, who, music-book in hand, attended the concerts in large numbers…The pupils, too, were themselves attracted; and those who were sufficiently advanced to do so must have profited immensely through Mr Hallé’s “teaching by example”…while the general public may have taken a dislike to the whole series from a suspicion that it was intended not so much to amuse them as to improve their taste.’ See loose-leaf program notes, circa February 1866, Monday and Saturday Popular Concert Programs, Floyd Collection, 378.

205 violin were also considered to be beneficial to the education of music students in Melbourne with the Musical Society of Victoria incorporating them into the syllabus for their diploma in violin in 1892. In Article XII of the Examination for the Special Diploma in Harmony, Composition and Form, the Musical Society also specified that candidates were ‘to give the analysis of a sonata by Beethoven’ in addition to ‘a song by one of the classical Masters, and a characteristic piece.’ 69

A small number of German musicians, including August Wilhelmj, Max Vogrich and Otto Linden, were credited with championing the music of Wagner and Liszt in Melbourne. Wilhelmj and Vogrich, for example, were noted by critics for their performances of Wagner’s music, which were considered to be significant contributions to the introduction and familiarization of the composer’s works in Melbourne. 70 Otto Linden was also credited with disseminating Wagner’s music, the critic for the Argus newspaper noting that he ‘was regarded as a sound musician of the German school…a Wagnerite of the “sweetly reasonable” type, declaring his acceptance of the new composer as an epoch-maker in music, even…when Wagner’s adherents were few and far between.’ 71

The popularity of Liszt’s works for the piano was also largely due to German- born and/or German-trained musicians, mostly pianists, who performed the composer’s works in Melbourne at a time when many conservative chamber-music concerts in London, such as the Monday and Saturday Popular Concerts at St James’s Hall and John Ella’s Musical Union Concerts, preferred to program works by composers such as Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann and Brahms. 72 As a consequence,

69 MSV, Minutes of the Musical Society of Victoria 1892 –1895 , 18 June 1892, Musical Society of Victoria Records 1877–1980, MS 12801, Box 1/7, Australian Manuscripts Collection, Latrobe Library, SLV, 18–26. 70 A number of Wilhelmj’s paraphrases and transcriptions of Wagner’s works were also performed in Melbourne during this period. These are discussed at greater length in Chapter 3. Performances of excerpts from Wagner’s works by the liedertafel societies during the same period are discussed in K.R. Murphy and Suzanne Cole, ‘Wagner in the Antipodes,’ WagnerSpectrum , forthcoming. 71 In 1885 Linden gave an ‘illustrative reading’ on Wagner and his works at the Independent Hall in Collins Street. Argus 5 October 1911: 7; Otto Linden, Wagner and his works: illustrative reading by Mr Otto Linden, with recital of Tannhäuser (first Act)…Independent Hall, Melbourne, Saturday, 19 th September, 1885 [Melbourne: s.n., 1885]. 72 The German-trained and/or German-born pianists Cyril de Valmency (a pupil of Henri Ketten), Max Vogrich, Maggie Elmblad (a pupil of Clara Schumann), Louis Pabst, Julius

206 more of Liszt’s works for solo instrument (forty-six in total) were performed in Melbourne’s chamber-music concerts during the period than were those by Beethoven, Schubert and Schumann. 73

Other Influences

While the role of English and German-born and trained musicians and the transplantation of musical practices from both England and Germany are evident, other influences were also present in Melbourne during the second half of the nineteenth century. A small number of musicians who had trained in Italy, for example, also performed in chamber-music concerts during the period. As already mentioned in an earlier chapter, the Australian pianist and teacher Miss Wilkinson studied in Rome with the Italian composer Giovanni Sgambati before organizing her own series of chamber-music concerts in Melbourne in 1893 and 1894 that incorporated works by her former teacher. 74

The pianist Emanuel de Beaupuis also studied in Italy, at the Naples Conservatory with Benjamin Cesi, before arriving in Melbourne in 1889. 75 Performing in the sixteenth and seventeenth series of Melbourne Popular Concerts under the directorship of the English violinist Max Klein, however, de Beaupuis’ repertoire was more conservative than Miss Wilkinson’s, comprising works by composers such as Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Chopin and Gade. This is perhaps a reflection of the homogenous nature of the Melbourne Popular Concerts and its repertory, and attempts by the directors and performers of the concerts to emulate the London model. As already discussed, de Beaupuis’ performances of Beethoven’s

Buddee and Charles Hallé, for example, were responsible for at least thirty of the fifty-four performances of Liszt’s works for solo piano that took place in the chamber-music concerts in this study. 73 Forty-four of the forty-six works were for solo piano. 74 In Miss Wilkinson’s concert on 2 May 1893 at the Melbourne Athenæum, for example, a piano quintet and a song by Sgambati were performed. See Leader 14 February 1885: 27; 18 December 1886: 28 75 ‘He became well known locally as a virtuoso pianist and toured Australia and South Africa in 1893. From c.1896 he taught and performed in Sydney, appearing as pianist for the last time with Jan Kubelik in 1908. He was knighted by the king of Italy in 1912. De Beaupuis composed mostly salon and concert works for piano.’ See Jennifer Hill, ‘De Beaupuis, Emmanuele,’ The Oxford Companion to Australian Music , ed. Warren Bebbington (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1997) 173–4.

207 piano sonatas, for example, could be seen to support attempts by the organizers of the Melbourne Popular Concerts to raise musical standards and tastes, aims that were repeatedly referred to by the concerts’ directors and critics in the press. 76

Another prominent Italian was the singer, pianist and flautist A. Giammona. Giammona, who was a former student of the Naples Conservatory (and later the Paris Conservatoire), arrived in Melbourne in 1876. 77 After performing in a series of public concerts at the Melbourne Town Hall alongside the French violinist Jenny Claus, he became a member of the Musical Association of Victoria. However, despite being one of the few wind players present in Melbourne during the 1870s and early 1880s, there is no evidence to suggest that Giammona contributed to performances of chamber music. 78 Rather, his most significant contribution to chamber-music concerts was performances of his own works for solo flute, which consisted of variations and fantasias on well-known operatic melodies such as those on La Sonnambula , L’Elisir d’amore , Norma and Lucia di Lammermoor . Evidence also suggests that Giammona was not viewed by members of Melbourne’s musical community as a flautist but rather as an exponent of ‘the Italian method of cultivating the voice.’ 79

Although not so pronounced as the influence of English and German musicians, the influence of American musicians is also significant. With numerous musicians touring Australia having already toured the United States, practices associated with managing professional concerts and concert tours may also have influenced the way public concerts were organized here. It is clear, for example, that the Mendelssohn Quintette Club adapted their programming of chamber works for Melbourne audiences by performing selected movements rather than complete works,

76 Amongst other works, de Beaupuis performed Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas opus 2 number 3, opus 27 number 2, opus 53, and opus 57 77 According to the critic for the Bulletin newspaper, he was also a former student of Mercadante. See ‘Signor Giammona,’ Bulletin 4 March 1882: 2. 78 Giammona resided in Melbourne until 1882 when he moved to Sydney. See ‘Signor Giammona,’ Bulletin 4 March 1882: 2. 79 ‘Signor Giammona,’ Bulletin 4 March 1882: 2.

208 a practice usually reserved for the club’s more ‘popular-styled’ concerts performed outside of Boston. 80

As already said, Ilma de Murska and Giammona arrived in Melbourne after touring the US. The German flautist Julius Siede toured the US with Jenny Lind while other musicians who toured Australia after performing in concerts in the US included Henry Ketten, August Wilhelmj, Max Vogrich, John Radcliff, Thérèse Liebe and Eduard Reményi. 81 Some musicians performed in chamber-music concerts in Melbourne after having resided in the United States for longer periods of time. Camilla Urso, for example, resided in the US for a number of years where she performed as a professional violinist in New York, appeared in concerts with Marietta Alboni, and was associated with the Germania Musical Society in New England. In addition to these activities, she was also known as ‘an outspoken advocate of professional and economic equality for women as orchestral musicians.’ 82 The English violinist Max Klein also resided in the United States of America for a period of time where he became a member of the Boston Mendelssohn Quintet Club and the principal second violinist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the leadership of Gericke and Henschel. 83

Clearly, the influence of English and German musicians and musical practices on chamber-music concerts in Melbourne was dominant while touring professional musicians also brought with them a wide variety of experiences and influences. What is less clear, however, is the contribution of French institutions and French musicians

80 This method of programming and the Mendelssohn Quintette Club’s tour of Melbourne are discussed at greater length in Chapter 3. See Richard M. Dowell, ‘The Mendelssohn Quintette Club of Boston,’ PhD thesis, Kent State University, 1999, 70. 81 A report in the Australasian Critic states that Thérèse Liebe had toured the United States of America on a number of occasions. According to the Leader newspaper, the English flautist John Radcliff performed in concerts in San Francisco with Max Vogrich and Alice Rees. See Bebbington, ‘Siede, Julius,’ 516; The Australasian Critic 1 April 1891: 171; Leader 8 March 1884: 26–7; 3 April 1886: 26. 82 Susan Kagan, ‘Urso, Camilla,’ Grove Music Online , ed. L. Macy, accessed on 5 July 2006, from ; Camilla Urso’s performances and reception in Melbourne are discussed in Johanna Selleck, ‘Notions of Identity, a Socio-cultural Interpretation of Music in Melbourne 1880–1902,’ PhD thesis, University of Melbourne, 2008. 83 Table Talk 11 January 1889: 5; Hermann Klein, Thirty Years of Musical Life in London 1870 –1900 (London: Heinemann, 1903) 22.

209 such as Jenny Claus, Mademoiselle Collard, Leon Caron, Horace Poussard, Alice Charbonnet and Henri Kowalski. 84 The majority of these musicians, in addition to Camilla Urso and A. Giammona, were trained (or claimed to have been trained) at the Paris Conservatoire. 85 Charles Russell, the founder of the South Melbourne School of Music, which was said to have been modelled on German institutions of the day, also claimed to have received at least some of his musical training in Paris while Charles Hallé was closely associated with chamber-music concerts in Paris for a number of years before he migrated to England. 86

Clearly then there is some evidence of French influences present in Melbourne during the later decades of the nineteenth century. The extent of this influence, however, was probably slight in view of the fact that few of these musicians, excepting A. Giammona, Leon Caron and Mademoiselle Collard, performed in chamber-music concerts organized by Melbourne’s leading chamber-music societies: The Musical Association of Victoria and the Musical Artists’ Society. 87 Perhaps more significant is the fact that none of these musicians performed in Melbourne’s longest and most successful series of chamber-music concerts during the nineteenth century: The Melbourne Popular Concerts.

84 For biographical information on these musicians see Bonnie Smart, ‘Leon Caron and the Music Profession in Australia,’ MMus thesis, University of Melbourne, 2003; Peggy Jane Lais, ‘The Changing Repertoire of Horace Poussard,’ BMus thesis, University of Melbourne, 2002; Jin Guan Bong, ‘Alice Ellen Charbonnet: a French Musician in Nineteenth-Century Australia,’ MMus thesis, University of Melbourne, 2007; Kerry Murphy, ‘Henri Kowalski: Prince of the Pianoforte,’ Centre for Studies in Australian Music Review (June 2001): 1–3. 85 ‘Signor Giammona,’ Bulletin 4 March 1882: 2; Jennifer Royle, ‘Caron, Leon Francis Victor,’ The Oxford Companion to Australian Music , ed. Warren Bebbington (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1997) 101; Lais, ‘The Changing Repertoire of Horace Poussard,’ 3; Kagan, ‘Urso, Camilla,’ Grove Music Online . 86 In 1836 Hallé moved to Paris where he studied with George Osborne and was associated with Chopin, Liszt, Berlioz and Wagner. In addition to introducing Beethoven’s piano sonatas to audiences in Paris he also performed in chamber-music concerts with Alard (violin) and Franchome (‘cello). See H.J. Gibney and Ann G. Smith (eds.), ‘Russell, Charles, William,’ A Biography Register (Canberra: Australian Dictionary of Biography, 1987); Michael Kennedy, ‘Hallé, Sir Charles,’ Grove Music Online , Oxford Music Online , accessed on 21 July 2008, from . 87 Nevertheless, performances by these French musicians at the musical societies’ meetings were few. A. Giammona, for example, performed in just two of the Musical Association’s monthly meetings on 24 February 1877 and 26 March 1881. Mademoiselle Collard performed once at the Musical Association on 24 March 1885 while Leon Caron performed twice at the Musical Association and four times at the Musical Artists’ Society.

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The absence of French musicians from Melbourne’s leading chamber-music societies could, thus, be compared to the marginalization experienced by female musicians. 88 Furthermore, like many of Melbourne’s leading female musicians (such as Miss Griffiths, Miss Wilkinson, and Carlotta Tasca to name a few), French musicians were notably present in public concerts, particularly those organized by professional musicians on tour and more miscellaneous-styled concerts. Leon Caron, for example, performed in Miss Griffiths’ series of chamber-music concerts in 1878. Horace Poussard performed in the Duvalli Shilling Concerts of 1883 and 1884, a soirée held by the music warehouse Allan and Co. in August 1883 (which was held for the purpose of promoting a newly imported piano from the American firm Chickering and Co.) and at a complimentary farewell concert tendered to Maggie Elmblad at the Melbourne Town Hall on 4 October 1884. 89 Similarly, Alice Charbonnet did not perform at the Melbourne Popular Concerts or in concerts organized by the musical societies but appeared in public concerts at the Melbourne Town Hall alongside Carlotta Patti and the ‘cellist Ernst de Munck, and later performed in a soirée organized by Allan and Co. to promote a new concert grand piano that had been imported from Steinway and Sons, New York. 90

The dominance of English and German musicians in Melbourne and what appears to be the marginalization of the French was perhaps the reason why so many French musicians migrated to Sydney during this period. 91 During the 1880s, for example, Horace Poussard, Leon Caron, Alice Charbonnet, Henri Kowalski and the Belgian organist August Wiegand all resided in Sydney where they were actively involved in chamber-music concerts such as those by the Beethoven String Quartet group, the Orpheus Club, the Sydney Quintette Society and Charles Huenerbein’s

88 The exclusion of women from the Musical Artists’ and Organists’ Society and the battle to have them accepted as full members of the society, for example, are discussed in Chapter 2. 89 Advertisements and reviews of the Duvalli Shilling Concerts appear in Sydney Bulletin 17 November 1883; Australasian 25 October 1884: 795; 1 November 1884: 843. 90 The Carlotta Patti and Ernst de Munck concerts took place in 1880 while Allan and Co.’s soirée took place at the Melbourne Athenæum Hall on 26 October 1886. 91 In 1895, D.J. Quinn noted that music in Sydney was safe because it was in the hands of the French. See ‘Musicians and Musical Taste in Australasia: Sydney,’ Review of Reviews 20 April 1895: 391–8.

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Chamber Matinée Concerts. 92 Furthermore, while Melbourne modelled its first educational institutions on German conservatoriums of the day, Alice Charbonnet established a French-style conservatoire in Sydney, which boasted a staff of French professors that included herself, Frederick Kellermann (theory and harmony), Claudius Deslouis (singing), Auguste Wiegand (organ), Edgar Straus (‘cello) and Horace Poussard (violin). 93

Conclusion

As this chapter has demonstrated, chamber-music concerts in Melbourne were shaped by a variety of influences and through the contributions of musicians from a wide range of musical backgrounds. The influence of musical institutions, such as established concert series or educational institutions, composers, teachers and well- known musicians in Europe, touring and resident musicians, music publishers and music literature, all played a role in shaping the development of chamber music in Melbourne. Within this complex web, however, English and German musicians were the most influential while groups such as French and Italian musicians were smaller in number. Furthermore, the musical activities of two cities, London and Leipzig, appear to have been the most influential with many musicians having studied, lived or performed in concerts in one or both cities, and with Melbourne’s most prominent musical institutions, including the leading musical societies, the Melbourne Popular Concerts and the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, being modelled on similar institutions situated in those cities.

This chapter has also demonstrated that to a certain degree some individual musicians were able to influence the selection and acceptance of new repertoire,

92 Evidence suggests that both the quantity and quality of chamber-music performances in Sydney lagged behind those in Melbourne. The Beethoven String Quartet group, for example, performed just one series of six concerts in Sydney in 1887 with reports in the press suggesting that their performances suffered from a lack of preparation. The Orpheus Club survived for just three years despite including ‘nearly all the leading professionals in Sydney’ while the Sydney Quintette Society survived for two seasons. See Sydney Morning Herald 16 September 1887: 5; F.C. Brewer, The Music and Drama in Sydney (Sydney: Charles Potter, 1892) 88; Lais, ‘The Changing Repertoire of Horace Poussard,’ 29–34. 93 For more information on Alice Charbonnet’s conservatoire see Jin Guan Bong, ‘Alice Ellen Charbonnet: a French Musician in Nineteenth-Century Australia,’ MMus thesis, University of Melbourne, 2007; SMH 4 March 1893: 2; Auguste Wiegand, The Largest Organ in the World and the Musical Artists of Sydney (Sydney: William Maddock, 1892).

212 performing works for which they had become renowned in Europe. Furthermore, in many cases, their reputations as performers, as well as their association with musical institutions, musicians and well-known composers overseas, proved to be highly influential in Melbourne with local musicians and audiences open to embracing their knowledge, experience and ideas. These, amongst many other factors, contributed to the development and dissemination of chamber music in Melbourne.

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Conclusion

This thesis has demonstrated that instrumental chamber music in Melbourne experienced a period of rapid growth and dissemination during the later decades of the nineteenth century (particularly the period 1877 to 1901) aided by the expansion of Melbourne’s population and economic prosperity. The history of the performance and dissemination of chamber music in Melbourne during this period also illustrates the aspirations of a city eager to furnish itself with the cultural trimmings of British and European society. Evidence has shown, for example, that musicians, audiences and members of the broader community in Melbourne not only attempted to recreate musical institutions found in England and continental Europe, such as established concert series, musical societies and educational institutions, but that they considered them to be ideal models worthy of emulation and signifiers of a culturally advanced society. Successful emulation of musical institutions in Europe, and high standard performances of what was considered to be ‘the best’ chamber music by canonical Austro-Germanic composers, were, therefore, seen as proof that Melbourne had reached a sort of cultural coming of age.

Chamber-music performances peaked during the 1880s at the height of Melbourne’s financial boom when the majority of the population enjoyed relative wealth and had disposable income to pursue leisure. The frequency of chamber-music performances during the 1880s significantly outnumbered those in the 1890s due mainly to the Melbourne Popular Concerts and performances by Melbourne’s leading musical societies, particularly the Musical Artists’ Society of Victoria and the Musical Association of Victoria. 1 The depression of the 1890s, however, caused a decrease in concerts by these organizations as directors found it increasingly difficult to survive financially and maintain audience support. 2 While public concerts continued to include chamber music in their programs, the occurrence of series of subscription

1 Of the concerts included in this study, for example, approximately 300 took place during the 1880s compared to approximately 100 during the 1890s. 2 As a result of these and other issues, the Melbourne Popular Concerts ceased in 1893 while the Musical Artists’ and Organists’ Society and the Musical Association amalgamated in 1892 to become the Musical Society of Victoria.

214 concerts dedicated to performances of chamber music remained sporadic for the remainder of the century and much of the glamour associated with the pursuit of culture in general had dissipated. 3

At the same time it can be assumed that while the number of chamber-music performances appeared to decrease during the 1890s, standards of performances had vastly improved and audiences responded with a more sophisticated understanding of the chamber-music repertory and performance practices associated with it. Clearly, high-calibre musicians such as Charles Horsley, Arabella Goddard, J.B. Zerbini, Charles Hallé, Christian Reimers, and others, had an impact not only on the type of repertoire that was performed but also on standards of performance.

There was also a move towards the ‘professionalization’ of music and a distinction between professional and amateur musicians began to emerge in the later decades of the nineteenth century. The status of professional applied to those musicians who had a recognized education in music and/or earned their living by adopting music as a profession. Also implied in the status ‘professional’ was ability and/or authority as a performer, a label that was applied to numerous vocalists, string and keyboard instrumentalists during the period but not so commonly to woodwind players, composers and conductors. Presumably, performers on these instruments were generally less capable than Melbourne’s most proficient vocalists, keyboard and string players and were unable to earn a secure income from teaching and performing on them. 4

Women remained on the periphery of the musical societies’ activities for much of the nineteenth century, attending “Ladies’” nights as members of the audience and only occasionally contributing as performers. In contrast, female

3 The impact of the economic depression on Melbourne’s cultural life is discussed in Graeme Davison, The Rise and Fall of Marvellous Melbourne (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1978) 227–8. 4 The Musical Artists’ Society of Victoria, for example, granted full membership to ‘professionals’ only, that is, to those who had ‘received a musical education’ and ‘[gained] their livelihood by adopting music as a profession.’ At the Musical Artists’ Society’s foundation in 1877, the thirty professional members consisted of vocalists, keyboard and string players. See MSV, Minutes MAS 1877 –1884 , August 1877, MS 12801, Box 1/3, 13–4; ‘Rule 1,’ Constitution, Rules and Bye-laws of the Musical Artists and Organists’ Society of Victoria , c1890, Musical Society of Victoria Records 1877–1980, MS 12801, Box 1/1b, Australian Manuscripts Collection, Latrobe Library, SLV.

215 musicians such as Thérèse Liebe, Carlotta Tasca, Miss Griffiths, Miss Wilkinson and Wilma Norman-Neruda, were highly visible in public concerts, organizing their own series of subscription concerts and contributing as performers in concerts such as the Melbourne Popular Concerts. Women were also great attendees of public chamber- music concerts. As with many concerts in London, including John Ella’s Musical Union Concerts, women comprised a large percentage of audiences for public subscription concerts in Melbourne and it appears that directors of many concerts specifically targeted them.

The development of chamber music in Melbourne was also shaped to a large extent by practical concerns such as a shortage of musicians, lack of patronage and financial support, suitable venues for the performance of ensemble music, and educational institutions for the training of instrumentalists. In this sense, musicians and directors of chamber-music concerts in Melbourne faced similar issues to directors of chamber-music concerts in England where, as noted by Christina Bashford, there was a ‘lack of established musical infrastructures.’ 5 The performance and dissemination of chamber music in Melbourne, as in London, was left to individuals, usually musicians, who organized and subsidized chamber-music concerts often at their own expense. 6 This contrasted dramatically with the situation in continental Europe where countries such as Germany ‘boasted well-resourced educational institutions for composers and performers, with national opera houses as further training grounds, and…meaningful patronage or financial subsidy for musical performances, whether through courts, aristocrats, men of wealth, church, national governments or municipalities.’ 7

Although Melbourne’s public concert life during the nineteenth century was not as organized as London’s, similar traits can be found. The benefit concert, which

5 Christina Bashford, The Pursuit of High Culture: John Ella and Chamber Music in Victorian London (Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2007) 2. 6 T.H. Guenett, for example, financed the Melbourne Popular Concerts at his own expense. His financial dealings with the concerts are discussed at length in Chapter 3 and Peggy Jane Lais, ‘The Rise and Fall of the Melbourne Popular Concerts: Chamber-Music Concerts in Pre-Federation Melbourne,’ MMus thesis, University of Melbourne, 2004, 31–2. Bashford describes such musicians as ‘enablers,’ stating that in London their role was ‘crucial to public performance taking place at all.’ Bashford, The Pursuit of High Culture , 2. 7 Bashford, The Pursuit of High Culture , 2.

216 had been a significant component of London’s concert life since the eighteenth century, for example, was also present in Melbourne and was used to raise revenue not only for the benefit of individual musicians but also for various charitable causes. Other concerts containing chamber music, such as promotional concerts and soirées organized by music dealers like Allan and Co., clearly had financial success as a primary motivator and attempted to appeal to particular audiences through their selection of repertoire and methods of programming.8 There were also many concerts that were chiefly concerned with cultivating a taste for chamber music amongst Melbourne audiences. Many of these were modelled on English concert series of the same period (such as the Monday and Saturday Popular Concerts), relied on subscriptions and tended to adhere to homogenous methods of program construction.

However, Melbourne’s public concert life was also different from London’s. Aside from the use of the benefit concert and subscription model, which was also used in continental Europe, Melbourne did not appear to have an established season for chamber-music concerts as appeared to exist in London. Where series of chamber- music concerts such as the Monday and Saturday Popular Concerts and John Ella’s Musical Union Concerts were typically held over the winter months in London, chamber-music concerts in Melbourne were scattered throughout the year and were more likely to occur in autumn and spring. Unlike London, the growth of chamber- music concerts in the public domain was largely due to the development and establishment of private musical societies, particularly those committed to the development of instrumental music and the professionalization of music in Melbourne. Much of the promotion and performance of chamber music during the 1880s can be credited to four musical societies: the Melbourne and Metropolitan Liedertafel societies, the Musical Association of Victoria and the Musical Artists’ Society of Victoria.

Repertoire and Programming

In terms of repertoire and programming, Melbourne’s chamber-music concerts exhibited a number of similarities and differences to concerts in England. Many

8 The music warehouses Nicholson and Ascherberg and Allan and Co., for example, held soirées and matinée concerts to promote their instruments and newly published sheet music. These aspects are discussed in Chapter 3.

217 similarities in repertoire and program construction can be found, for example, between the Monday and Saturday Popular Concerts at St James’s Hall in London, the Melbourne Popular Concerts (1882–1893) and Allan and Co.’s Classical Chamber- Music Concerts (1897–1898). More miscellaneous styles of programming, used in both England and continental Europe, were also used in both public concerts and those given by the liedertafel societies while some elements of the piano recital had also begun to filter into some of Melbourne’s concerts, including Louis Pabst’s Historical Concerts (1886–1887) and Risvegliato Concerts (1891–1893).

There is no evidence, however, to suggest that any concerts in Melbourne during the period concentrated entirely on chamber music, although such concerts were common in Europe by the end of the nineteenth century. The practice of combining chamber works with various types of instrumental solos and vocal works remained the norm in Melbourne.

An examination of the repertoire has identified that the most usual types of works presented in Melbourne during the second half of the nineteenth century were chamber works for two to four performers scored for piano and/or strings (typically duo sonatas, piano trios, string quartets and piano quartets), and instrumental solos for piano, violin, or ‘cello supplemented by a range of vocal works. Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schubert and Schumann were the most-performed composers across all genres, alongside vocal works by Gounod, Rubinstein, Handel, and selections of Italian opera by Donizetti and Verdi, works for solo piano by Chopin and Liszt, and violin solos by Vieuxtemps, Wilhelmj and Wieniawski. The plentiful supply of competent pianists and string players, and a shortage of wind players, as well as access to repertoire for those instruments, were significant factors in determining what was performed.

The Influence of English and German Musicians

It is clear that musicians in Melbourne sought to emulate musical institutions in England and continental Europe. What is also clear, however, is that they were transplanting them into a very different environment and had to modify them to suit local conditions. Alongside the transplantation of various institutional models was the transplantation of particular values and attitudes towards instrumental chamber music and the repertoire that was performed alongside it. The incorporation of Beethoven’s

218 piano sonatas into chamber-music concerts and programs by the Musical Association and Musical Artists’ Society, for example, reflects attitudes and trends that prevailed in many concerts in London and continental Europe.

A profound respect for high-calibre English musicians and English institutions is also evident. Consultation with London over issues such as the establishment of a Chair of Music at the University of Melbourne and the formation of an orchestra for the International Exhibition (alongside the employment of an English conductor and English musicians to take the lead roles in the orchestra), for example, indicates not only a high level of communication between Melbourne and London but also the dependence of a colony on its parent culture.

However, the British influence did not entirely frame the Melbourne experience. As already said, some characteristics in London concerts were simply not present in Melbourne. The popularity of Bach’s music in London concerts of the same period, for example, was not reflected in Melbourne. Melbourne’s repertory was also more focussed on nineteenth-century composers and contained fewer chamber works by Haydn and Mozart and more by composers such as Anton Rubinstein and Franz Liszt.

German-born and German-trained musicians also had an impact on how chamber music developed in Melbourne and were particularly influential in terms of the type of repertoire that was performed. The German influence on chamber-music concerts in Melbourne is perhaps most evident in the liedertafel societies and their commitment to developing musical taste and social intercourse amongst its members. There does not, however, appear to be a similar emulation of Germanic concert models or methods of program construction, such as the concentration of programs on works of one particular genre only (chamber music), which was first used by Ignaz Schuppanzigh in Vienna in 1804 and was regularly used in Germany by the middle of the nineteenth century. 9 Unlike English concerts, which were regularly referred to in the Melbourne press, there are also no references to any concerts in Melbourne attempting to emulate those in Germany.

9 This method of programming is discussed in William Weber, The Great Transformation of Musical Taste: Concert Programming from Haydn to Brahms (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008) 7.

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Most of the knowledge about chamber music was disseminated via the written word, that is, in music periodicals, reviews in newspapers, lectures and proceedings of the musical societies, which were invariably carried out in the English language, and by a large percentage of English musicians. The Melbourne experience, thus, appears to be framed by the language of the dominant cultural group. Even the German liedertafel society, for example, which had done much to further the cause of chamber music in Melbourne during the early years of Melbourne’s development, and which had originally carried out its proceedings in German, adopted English as its dominant language to accommodate its growing body of English-speaking musicians. 10

Future Directions

There remain many questions regarding how chamber music developed in Melbourne during the second half of the nineteenth century. There is much uncertainty, for example, surrounding the earliest performances of the majority of works and how often they were performed. This is mostly due to the lack of documentation such as record books, subscription lists, letters, concert programs and newspaper reviews.

Where a substantial body of secondary source literature on public concert life in London exists, a lack of literature on similar concerts in Germany has made it difficult to identify characteristics similar to or contrasting with concerts in Melbourne. Thus, how influential chamber-music concerts in Germany were on Melbourne concerts of the same period is still open to speculation, although it is clear that the influence of German musicians and musical practices had a profound effect not only on Melbourne concerts but also on those in Britain. This leads to a further question: to what extent were German musical practices transported to Melbourne via English musicians, and how were they adapted to suit local conditions once they arrived here? With many musicians having lived, studied or performed as musicians in both London and continental Europe, and with the influence of travelling virtuosi clearly present in Melbourne, one might speculate that influences are not so easily categorized as English or German.

With very little still known about the majority of resident performers in Melbourne during the nineteenth century it is also difficult to comprehensively

10 A number of German language newspapers, however, continued to be published in Melbourne during the later decades of the nineteenth century.

220 identify the influences on and motivating factors behind many chamber-music concerts, although it is evident that experiences abroad played a significant role, alongside various environmental factors. There is still much biographical research to be done to clarify the roles of many of Melbourne’s most prolific chamber-music performers and to ascertain how effective they were in influencing the way instrumental chamber music developed, the level of expertise they brought with them, and the extent to which they influenced the first-born generation of chamber musicians in Melbourne. What is clear, however, is that by the end of the nineteenth century chamber music in Melbourne had evolved to a point of consolidation, and had significantly enriched the city’s musical landscape.

There is great potential for further research not only in the history of instrumental chamber music in Melbourne but also other Australian cities such as Sydney and Adelaide. A study of concerts in Sydney during the same period, for example, could draw a useful comparison and provide insights into how environmental factors, such as economics, population growth and the presence of various ethnic groups (such as French or Italian) might aid or hinder the development of chamber music. Within this context, contact between musicians and musical societies in the two cities and the dissemination of chamber music between colonies might also be examined and regional differences identified. It is hoped that this project will pave the way for further research in various aspects of musical performance and practices in Melbourne and Australia during this period and beyond.

221

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Appendix 1: The earliest known Performance Dates of Chamber Works in Melbourne

Composer Title Date Society Allegri String Quartet 26/01/1878 MAS Anon Duo Concertante for Piano and Violoncello 21/06/1869 VQS Anon Piano Quintet 26/06/1880 MAS Anon Piano Trio 29/03/1862 HORSLEY Anon Piano Trio in D 9/05/1891 MAV Anon String Quintet 15/03/1862 HORSLEY Anon Trio 26/01/1878 MAS Auber, Daniel arr. Overture ( La Sirene ) 21/02/1882 BOSTON Auber, Daniel arr. Overture ( Le Domino Noir ) 15/02/1882 BOSTON Bach, J.S. Concerto for two Keyboards in C 13/04/1889 MAV Bach, J.S. Concerto for three Keyboards in C 25/11/1876 MISC Bach, J.S. Concerto for three Keyboards in D minor 21/05/1887 HISTORICAL Bach, J.S. Sonata in A for Violin and Piano 5/06/1890 HALLE Bach, J.S. Terzette for two Violins and Viola 30/03/1878 MAS Bazzini, Antonio String Quartet (Unidentified) 31/07/1880 MAS Beethoven ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata for Piano and Violin op 47 15/02/1873 GUEN Beethoven Piano Quartet in E flat op 16 18/09/1876 MDL Beethoven Piano Trio in B flat op 97 --/--/1875 GUEN Beethoven Piano Trio in C min op 1 no 3 19/09/1874 GODDARD Beethoven Piano Trio in D op 70 no 1 16/08/1883 MPC Beethoven Piano Trio in E flat op 1 no 1 17/10/1883 MPC Beethoven Piano Trio in E flat op 38 14/09/1878 GRIF Beethoven Piano Trio in G op 1 no 2 3/06/1878 MAS Beethoven Piano Trio op 1 (Unidentified) 17/09/1874 GODDARD Beethoven Piano Trio (Unidentified) 7/04/1883 MAS Beethoven Quartet (Unidentified) 30/06/1880 SCHOOL Beethoven Quintet in E flat op 16 15/05/1880 MAV Beethoven Ruins of Athens for 2 Pianos 22/02/1882 BOSTON Beethoven Septet in E flat op 20 15/12/1877 MAV Beethoven Serenade in D op 25 28/02/1880 MAS Beethoven Serenade Trio in D op 8 28/10/1885 MPC Beethoven Sonata for Piano and ‘Cello in A op 69 17/04/1880 MAV Beethoven Sonata for Piano and ‘Cello in F op 5 no 1 8/08/1891 MAV Beethoven Sonata for Piano and ‘Cello in G min op 5 no 2 1/05/1880 MAS Beethoven Sonata for Piano and Violin in A op 12 no 2 16/12/1891 MPC Beethoven Sonata for Piano and Violin in C min op 30 no 2 14/06/1882 MPC Beethoven Sonata for Piano and Violin in D op 12 no 1 21/03/1891 MAOS Beethoven Sonata for Piano and Violin in E flat op 12 no 3 26/04/1890 MAOS Beethoven Sonata for Piano and Violin in F op 24 14/06/1890 HALLE Beethoven Sonata for Piano and Violin in G op 30 no 3 22/08/1873 GODDARD Beethoven Sonata for Violin and Piano (Unidentified) 20/02/1886 MAV Beethoven Sonata for Piano and Horn in F op 17 16/09/1878 GRIF Beethoven String Quartet in A op 18 no 5 14/11/1885 MAV Beethoven String Quartet in B flat op 18 no 6 24/06/1885 MPC Beethoven String Quartet in C min op 18 no 4 4/06/1884 MPC Beethoven String Quartet in C op 59 no 3 1/10/1884 MPC Beethoven String Quartet in D op 18 no 3 19/05/1883 MAS Beethoven String Quartet in F min op 95 19/05/1886 MPC Beethoven String Quartet in F op 18 no 1 16/07/1877 MDL Beethoven String Quartet in F op 59 no 1 15/05/1889 MPC Beethoven String Quartet in G op 18 no 2 15/02/1882 BOSTON Beethoven String Quartet op 18 (Unidentified) 28/04/1883 MAS 233

Beethoven String Quartet (Unidentified) 5/07/1882 MPC Beethoven String Quintet in C op 29 1/05/1880 MAS Beethoven String Trio in D op 9 no 2 26/01/1878 MAS Beethoven String Trio (Unidentified) 11/02/1887 MAV Beethoven arr. Symphony in D no 2 for Piano and Violin 11/05/1878 MAV Beethoven Trio in B flat op 11 30/09/1876 CLAUS Benedict Fantasia for Violin, Harp and Piano 19/06/1880 MAV Benedict/ David Duet for Piano and Violin 19/05/1883 MAS Benedict/ David Duet for Piano and Violin ( Oberon ) 28/04/1883 MAS Boccherini String Quintet op 13 no 5 14/02/1882 BOSTON Boieldieu, Francois arr. Overture ( La Dame Blanche ) 25/02/1882 BOSTON Brahms Piano Quartet in A op 26 17/06/1885 MPC Brahms Piano Quartet in G min op 25 8/06/1898 ALLAN Brahms Piano Trio in B op 8 25/02/1882 MAS Brahms Piano Trio in C min op 101 18/05/1898 ALLAN Brahms String Sextet in B flat op 18 29/06/1889 MAS Brahms Trio in E flat op 40 1/06/1898 ALLAN Brahms Violin Sonata in A op 100 27/05/1890 HALLE Brahms Violin Sonata in G op 78 30/05/1885 MAS Bruch, Max Fantasia for two Pianos in D min op 11 29/05/1886 MAS Bruni, Antonio String Trio in E flat 25/05/1878 MAS Burghard (Beethoven) arr. Serenade for two Pianos 28/01/1888 MAS Caron, Leon String Quartet in G min no 3 31/07/1880 MAS Caron, Leon String Quartet (Unidentified) 5/06/1880 MAS Cherubini, E. String Quartet in E flat 17/02/1882 BOSTON Chopin Introduction and Polonaise in C op 3 12/05/1886 MPC Chopin arr. Piano Concerto in E min 2/06/1886 MPC Chopin arr. Piano Concerto (Unidentified) 1/08/1884 SCHOOL Chopin Rondo in C for 2 Pianos op 73 --/--/1875 GUEN Crusell, Bernhard Clarinet Quartet 25/02/1882 BOSTON Curtis, Henry Duo for Violin and Viola op 2 30/01/1886 MAS Czerny Quartet for four Pianos (Unidentified) 25/11/1876 MISC De Beriot Duet for Piano and Violin (Unidentified) 21/06/1869 VQS Dittersdorf, Carl String Quartet (Unidentified) 10/03/1888 MAV Doppler, Franz Trio for Piano, Flute and ‘Cello 7/05/1877 MDL Dussek Sonata for Violin and Piano in B flat op 69 9/09/1874 GODDARD Dvořák Bagatellen op 47 25/05/1898 ALLAN Dvořák Piano Quartet in D op 23 25/07/1885 MAS Dvořák Piano Quartet in E flat op 87 1/06/1898 ALLAN Dvořák Piano Trio in F min op 65 31/01/1885 MAS Dvořák String Quartet in E flat op 51 14/09/1887 MPC Dvořák Violin Sonata in F op 57 29/01/1887 MAS Ernst and Heller Pensees Fugitives for Piano and Violin 8/12/1888 MAV Fesca, Friedrich Piano Quartet in C min op 26 31/07/1880 MAS Fesca, Friedrich Piano Quartet in D min op 28 30/11/1878 MAS Gade, Niels Noveletten for Piano and Strings op 29 12/05/1894 MSV Gade, Niels Piano Trio in F op 42 24/09/1884 MPC Gade, Niels Piano Trio (Unidentified) 1/08/1884 SCHOOL Gade, Niels Sonata for Piano and Violin (Unidentified) 14/11/1885 MAV Gade, Niels Sonata for Piano and Violin in D min op 21 31/10/1885 MAS Germsheim, Friedrich Piano Quartet op 47 28/02/1891 MAOS Goetz, Hermann Piano Quartet in E op 6 13/05/1884 SCHOOL Goetz, Hermann Piano Trio in G min op 1 12/03/1887 MAV Goetz, Hermann Piano Trio op 1 29/01/1887 MAS Goldmark, Carl Piano Quintet op 30 24/09/1887 MAS Goltermann, Georg Grand Duo for Piano and ‘Cello op 15 25/08/1883 MAS Gounod Meditation on Bach’s Prelude no 1 for Trio 25/05/1878 MAS Gregoir/ Servais Duet for Piano and ‘Cello (unidentified) 10/09/1878 GRIF Grieg ‘Cello Sonata in A min op 36 21/07/1897 ALLAN Grieg String Quartet in G min op 27 20/05/1891 MPC 234

Grieg Violin Sonata in C min op 45 31/05/1890 HALLE Grieg Violin Sonata in F op 8 4/06/1884 MPC Grieg Violin Sonata in G op 13 12/12/1891 MAV Haydn arr. Symphony no 2 in B flat 27/08/1892 MSV Haydn ‘Gipsy’ Piano Trio op 73 26/09/1893 MPC Haydn Piano Trio in E flat (Unidentified) 14/08/1880 MAV Haydn Piano Trio in G (Unidentified) 12/09/1874 GODDARD Haydn Sextet no 9 18/09/1876 MDL Haydn Sextet no 5 9/10/1876 MDL Haydn Sonata for Violin and Piano in G (Unidentified) 27/04/1878 MAS Haydn String Quartet in B flat op 76 no 4 9/06/1886 MPC Haydn String Quartet in C op 33 no 3 28/08/1886 MAS Haydn String Quartet in C op 64 no 1 29/09/1886 MPC Haydn String Quartet in C op 76 no 3 (‘Emperor’) 3/06/1878 MAS Haydn String Quartet in D min op 76 no 2 2/05/1883 MPC Haydn String Quartet in D op 17 14/10/1876 MISC Haydn String Quartet in D op 64 no 5 16/09/1885 MPC Haydn String Quartet in D op 76 no 5 11/09/1880 MAV Haydn String Quartet in D (unidentified) 25/09/1880 MAS Haydn String Quartet in E flat op 64 no 6 7/04/1886 MPC Haydn String Quartet in E flat op 71 no 3 3/06/1885 MPC Haydn String Quartet in E flat op 76 no 6 8/05/1889 MPC Haydn String Quartet in F op 77 no 2 28/04/1886 MPC Haydn String Quartet in G op 17 no 5 14/10/1891 MPC Haydn String Quartet in G op 54 no 1 25/06/1881 MAS Haydn String Quartet in G op 64 no 4 18/02/1882 BOSTON Haydn String Quartet in G op 77 no 1 31/05/1879 MAS Haydn String Quartet in G (Unidentified) 22/02/1862 HORSLEY Haydn String Quartet op 71 no 1 2/09/1876 MISC Haydn String Quartet op 74 no 2 25/02/1888 MAS Haydn String Quartet (Unidentified) 27/04/1878 MAS Haydn String Trio op 53 23/02/1889 MAS Hermann Burlesque Trio for three Violins 27/05/1893 MSV Herold, Louis arr. Overture ( Le Pre Aux Clercs ) 22/02/1882 BOSTON Hoffmann Piano Quartet in D min op 50 16/05/1888 MPC Horsley, Charles String Quartet no 3 in E 4/12/1876 MDL Horsley, Charles String Quartet in C 29/03/1862 HORSLEY Hummel Nocturne op 42 25/03/1893 MSV Hummel Piano Quintet in E flat min op 87 26/05/1886 MPC Hummel Piano Trio in E flat op 12 24/10/1883 MPC Hummel Piano Trio in E op 83 29/11/1879 MAS Hummel Piano Trio in F 12/02/1885 MISC Hummel Septet in D min op 74 27/09/1882 MPC Hummel Sonata for Piano and Viola op 19 5/04/1879 MAS Hummel Sonata for Piano and Violin (Unidentified) 30/06/1880 SCHOOL Jadassohn, Salomon Piano Trio in C min op 59 13/05/1884 SCHOOL Jensen Suite in D op 3 29/06/1889 MAS Kalliwoda, Johann Two Nocturnes for Viola and Piano op 186 26/09/1885 MAS Kuhlau Trio for three Flutes 11/05/1878 MAV Kuhlau Trio for Piano and two Flutes 13/08/1877 MDL Kuhlau Duo Concertante for Piano and Flute op 110 17/06/1878 MDL Kiel, Friedrich Piano Quartet in A min op 43 28/10/1891 MPC Kiel, Friedrich Piano Quintet op 75 28/04/1886 MPC Kiel, Friedrich Sonata for Piano and Viola in G op 67 26/09/1891 MAOS Kücken, Friedrich Piano Trio op 76 25/09/1880 MAS Lachner, Franz Trio for Piano, Violin and Viola in D min op 89 24/09/1892 MSV Lachner, Franz Trio for Piano, Violin and Viola in G op 45 25/07/1888 MAS Lachner, Franz Trio for Piano, Violin and Viola op 38 25/04/1891 MAOS Liszt Rakoczy March 23/06/1882 SCHOOL Liszt Rhapsodie Hongroise for 2 Pianos --/--/1887 HISTORICAL 235

Liut String Quartet in D min 28/03/1885 MAS Mayseder, Joseph Duet for Violin and Viola 27/09/1884 MAS Mendelssohn arr. Overture ( Son and Stranger ) 27/08/1892 MSV Mendelssohn Octet for Strings op 20 28/06/1882 MPC Mendelssohn Piano Quartet in B min op 3 29/03/1862 HORSLEY Mendelssohn Piano Trio in C min op 66 10/09/1873 GODDARD Mendelssohn Piano Trio in D min op 49 22/02/1862 HORSLEY Mendelssohn Quartet (Unidentified) 24/06/1882 MAS Mendelssohn arr. ‘Scotch’ Symphony for Quintet 21/02/1882 BOSTON Mendelssohn Songs without Words (Violin and Piano) 15/09/1874 GODDARD Mendelssohn String Quartet in A min op 13 21/10/1885 MPC Mendelssohn String Quartet in D op 44 no 1 26/04/1879 MAS Mendelssohn String Quartet in E flat op 12 8/01/1877 MDL Mendelssohn String Quartet in E flat op 44 no 3 24/10/1883 MPC Mendelssohn String Quartet in E flat (Unidentified) 13/06/1888 MPC Mendelssohn String Quartet in E min op 44 no 2 8/03/1862 HORSLEY Mendelssohn String Quartet in F min op 80 20/05/1885 MPC Mendelssohn String Quartet op 44 (Unidentified) 19/05/1883 MAS Mendelssohn String Quartet (Unidentified) 17/02/1882 BOSTON Mendelssohn String Quintet in A op 18 23/02/1882 BOSTON Mendelssohn String Quintet in E flat op 87 2/11/1878 MAV Mendelssohn Unfinished String Quartet op 81 28/10/1885 MPC Mendelssohn Variations Concertantes op 17 15/09/1874 GODDARD Mendelssohn Violoncello Sonata in B flat op 45 14/06/1869 VQS Mendelssohn Violoncello Sonata in D op 58 21/09/1878 GRIF Mendelssohn/Moscheles Duo Concertante for 2 Pianos 18/06/1887 HISTORICAL Mozart Clarinet Quintet in A K581 19/06/1875 GUEN Mozart Clarinet Trio in E flat K498 15/03/1862 HORSLEY Mozart arr. ‘Jupiter’ Symphony for two Pianos 28/05/1881 MAS Mozart Piano Quartet in A (Unidentified) 28/07/1897 ALLAN Mozart Piano Quartet in G min K478 22/02/1862 HORSLEY Mozart Piano Quartet in E flat K493 4/12/1876 MDL Mozart Piano Quartet (Unidentified) 29/01/1881 MAS Mozart Piano Trio in B flat K254 3/06/1885 MPC Mozart Piano Trio in B flat (unidentified) 25/05/1878 MAS Mozart Quintet (Unidentified) 25/09/1886 MAS Mozart Sonata for Piano and Violin in B flat 25/02/1893 MSV (Unidentified) Mozart Sonata for Piano and Violin in D (Unidentified) 25/08/1873 GODDARD Mozart Sonata for Piano and Violin in E flat 25/05/1878 MAS (Unidentified) Mozart Sonata for Piano and Violin (Unidentified) 29/09/1888 MAS Mozart Sonata for two Pianos in D K448 4/06/1887 HISTORICAL Mozart String Quartet in A (Unidentified) 7/09/1887 MPC Mozart String Quartet in B flat K172 24/05/1884 MAS Mozart String Quartet in B flat K458 28/10/1891 MPC Mozart String Quartet in B flat K589 18/09/1876 MDL Mozart String Quartet in B flat (Unidentified) 23/05/1888 MPC Mozart String Quartet in C K157 21/04/1886 MPC Mozart String Quartet in C K515 17/09/1884 MPC Mozart String Quartet in D K575 16/06/1879 MAV Mozart String Quartet in D min K173 28/04/1884 MAS Mozart String Quartet in D min K421 3/06/1891 MPC Mozart String Quartet in D (Unidentified) 21/08/1880 MISC Mozart String Quartet in E flat (Unidentified) 30/06/1880 SCHOOL Mozart String Quartet in G K387 26/07/1884 MAS Mozart String Quartet (Unidentified) 28/06/1884 MAS Mozart String Quintet in G min K516 7/06/1882 MPC Mozart String Quintet (Unidentified) 14/02/1891 MAOS Mozart Trio for Piano, Violin and Viola 25/07/1891 MAOS Mozart Trio for Piano, Violin and Viola in E flat 16/06/1888 MAV 236

Nicolai, Otto arr. Overture ( Merry Wives of Windsor ) 18/02/1882 BOSTON Onslow, Georg Quartet (Unidentified) 24/06/1882 MAS Pabst, Louis Phantasiestücke for Piano, Violin and ‘Cello 16/11/1893 RISVEG Pabst, Louis Piano Trio in G op 38 9/09/1885 MPC Pabst, Louis Piano Trio (Unidentified) 26/11/1891 RISVEG Pixis, Johann arr. Air from Les Huguenots (Meyerbeer) 13/12/1884 MISC Pleyel, Ignaz Hymn with Variations for Quartet 16/02/1882 BOSTON Pleyel, Ignaz String Quartet in E op 67 8/01/1877 MDL Popper, David Largo al’ancienne mode op 69 27/05/1893 MSV Prout, Ebenezer String Quartet 26/05/1888 MAS Raff, Joachim Andante and Variations in A min op 87 18/05/1898 ALLAN Raff, Joachim Ode au Printemps op 46 (2 Pianos) 29/09/1888 MAS Raff, Joachim Ode au Printemps op 76 (2 Pianos) 26/05/1888 MAS Raff, Joachim Piano Trio in A min 21/10/1882 SCHOOL Raff, Joachim Piano Trio in D 11/09/1880 MAV Raff, Joachim Piano Trio in G op 112 23/06/1882 SCHOOL Raff, Joachim Piano Trio (Unidentified) 26/07/1882 SCHOOL Raff, Joachim Sonata for Piano and Violin in E min 19/06/1880 MAV Raff, Joachim String Quartet (‘The Mill’) 2/08/1890 MAOS Reinecke, Carl Sonata for Piano and ‘Cello in D op 89 26/11/1892 MSV Reinecke, Carl Sonata for Piano and ‘Cello (Unidentified) 25/09/1886 MAS Reissiger, Carl Duet for Piano and Violin 11/05/1878 MAV Reissiger, Carl Piano Quartet op 138 3/09/1878 GRIF Reissiger, Carl Piano Quartet op 199 16/09/1878 GRIF Reissiger, Carl Piano Quintet op 20 24/11/1877 MAS Reissiger, Carl Piano Quintet (Unidentified) 29/03/1890 MAS Reissiger, Carl Piano Trio op 127 29/01/1881 MAS Reissiger, Carl Piano Trio op 85 10/09/1878 GRIF Reissiger, Carl Quartet op 141 (Unspecified) 24/09/1878 GRIF Rheinberger, Joseph Piano Quartet in E flat op 38 21/05/1884 MPC Rossini arr. William Tell Overture for Sextet 3/06/1878 MAS Rubinstein Allegro Risoluto in A op 11 9/08/1893 MPC Rubinstein Andante quasi Adagio in D min op 11 9/08/1893 MPC Rubinstein Piano Trio in B flat op 52 23/06/1882 SCHOOL Rubinstein Piano Trio in F op 15 no 1 17/07/1880 MAV Rubinstein Piano Trio in G min op 15 no 2 10/10/1883 MPC Rubinstein Piano Trio op 15 (Unidentified) 24/09/1878 GRIF Rubinstein Piano Trio (Unidentified) 10/09/1881 MAV Rubinstein Quintet in F op 55 no 1 11/06/1884 MPC Rubinstein Sonata for Piano and ‘Cello in D op 18 28/02/1880 MAS Rubinstein Sonata for Piano and Violin in G op 13 28/06/1882 MPC Rubinstein Sonata for Viola and Piano in F min op 49 4/05/1887 MPC Rubinstein String Quartet op 99 27/02/1882 BOSTON Ryan, Thomas. Potpourri on favourite Airs 18/02/1882 BOSTON Saedermann arr. Swedish Wedding March 24/02/1882 BOSTON Saint-Saëns arr. Trio from Lohengrin 23/08/1884 MISC Saint-Saëns Finale for Piano and Harmonium op 8 no 6 30/07/1887 MAS Saint-Saëns Piano Quartet in B flat op 41 25/05/1887 MPC Schade, William Potpourri on Favourite Airs for Quintet 15/02/1882 BOSTON Scharwenka Piano Trio op 1 28/05/1884 MPC Scharwenka Sonata for ‘Cello and Piano in E min op 46 7/06/1882 MPC Schrader, Herman Gruss , Duo for Violin and Piano 29/05/1886 MAS Schubert Duet for Piano and Violin (Unidentified) 22/10/1892 MSV Schubert Octet in F D803 30/11/1878 MAV Schubert Piano Quintet in A D667 2/08/1883 MPC Schubert Piano Trio in B flat D898 20/09/1882 MPC Schubert Piano Trio in E flat D929 26/11/1881 MAS Schubert Sonatina for Piano and Violin in A min D385 23/05/1888 MPC Schubert Sonatina for Piano and Violin in G min D408 25/04/1888 MPC Schubert String Quartet in A min D804 27/09/1882 MPC 237

Schubert String Quartet in D min D810 7/05/1877 MDL Schubert String Quartet in G D887 18/05/1887 MPC Schultze Kaleidoscope of Popular Airs for Quintet 14/02/1882 BOSTON Schumann Five Pieces in Folk Style op 102 4/03/1893 WILK Schumann Andante and Variations in B flat op 46 --/--/1887 HISTORICAL Schumann Fantasiestücke for Piano and Clarinet op 73 18/04/1883 MPC Schumann Fantasiestücke op 88 23/08/1883 MPC Schumann Piano Quartet in E flat op 47 14/09/1878 GRIF Schumann Piano Quintet in E flat op 44 16/06/1879 MAV Schumann Piano Trio in D min op 63 19/05/1886 MPC Schumann Sonata for Piano and Violin in A min op 105 26/05/1890 HALLE Schumann Sonata for Piano and Violin in D min op 121 29/05/1889 MPC Schumann String Quartet in A min op 41 no 1 24/11/1877 MAS Schumann String Quartet in A op 41 no 3 13/11/1886 MAV Sgambati, Giovanni Piano Quintet (Unidentified) 2/05/1893 WILK Silas, Edouard arr. Gavotte for Quintet 20/02/1882 BOSTON Sinclair, Sophie Piano Quartet in B op 10 15/09/1888 MAV Sinclair, Sophie Sonata for Piano and Violin 11/02/1887 MAV Sinclair, Sophie String Quartet in B flat 21/12/1889 MAV Sivori Fantasia on a theme from Oberon for Trio 14/09/1878 GRIF Smetana Piano Trio in G min op 15 1/09/1886 MPC Spohr, Louis Duet for two Violins in D min Op 39 no 1 18/04/1883 MPC Spohr, Louis Duet for two Violins no 7 28/02/1885 MAS Spohr, Louis Duet for two Violins op 6 7/04/1883 MAS Spohr, Louis Duet for two Violins (Unidentified) 22/12/1883 MAV Spohr, Louis Sonata Concertante for Violin and Harp Op 115 1/07/1891 MPC Suppe, Franz von arr. Overture ( Poet and Peasant ) for Quintet 16/02/1882 BOSTON Taubert, Carl Piano Trio op 32 30/08/1879 MAS Taubert, Carl String Quartet in B flat op 19 30/10/1880 MAS Taubert, Carl String Quartet op 93 18/10/1882 MPC Taubert, Carl String Trio 19/06/1880 MAV Thomas, Ambroise arr. Overture ( Raymond ) 14/02/1882 BOSTON Thomas, Goring. Duet for Harp and Piano in E flat minor 11/04/1891 MAV Volkmann Piano Trio op 76 24/11/1888 MAS Wagner Selections (Unidentified) 24/10/1879 MAS Weber Air and Variations 19/07/1873 GUEN Weber Concertante in D flat op 22 30/11/1878 MAS Weber Duo in E flat op 48 29/06/1889 MAS Weber arr. Finale Act 1 ( Euryanthe ) 21/02/1882 BOSTON Wilhelmj para. Siegfried for Violin and Piano 23/02/1889 MAS Zelman, Alberto Piano Trio 5/06/1880 MAS

238

Appendix 2: The earliest known Performance Dates of Chamber Works in Melbourne in Chronological Order

Composer Title Date Society Mendelssohn Piano Trio in D min op 49 22/02/1862 HORSLEY Haydn String Quartet in G (Unidentified) 22/02/1862 HORSLEY Mozart Piano Quartet in G min K478 22/02/1862 HORSLEY Mendelssohn String Quartet in E min op 44 no 2 8/03/1862 HORSLEY Anon String Quintet 15/03/1862 HORSLEY Mozart Clarinet Trio in E flat K498 15/03/1862 HORSLEY Anon Piano Trio 29/03/1862 HORSLEY Mendelssohn Piano Quartet in B min op 3 29/03/1862 HORSLEY Horsley, Charles String Quartet in C 29/03/1862 HORSLEY Mendelssohn Violoncello Sonata in B flat op 45 14/06/1869 VQS Anon Duo Concertante for Piano and Violoncello 21/06/1869 VQS De Beriot Duet for Piano and Violin (Unidentified) 21/06/1869 VQS Beethoven ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata for Piano and Violin op 47 15/02/1873 GUEN Weber Air and Variations 19/07/1873 GUEN Beethoven Sonata for Piano and Violin in G op 30 no 3 22/08/1873 GODDARD Mozart Sonata for Piano and Violin in D (Unidentified) 25/08/1873 GODDARD Mendelssohn Piano Trio in C min op 66 10/09/1873 GODDARD Dussek Sonata for Violin and Piano in B flat op 69 9/09/1874 GODDARD Haydn Piano Trio in G (Unidentified) 12/09/1874 GODDARD Mendelssohn Songs without Words (Violin and Piano) 15/09/1874 GODDARD Mendelssohn Variations Concertantes op 17 15/09/1874 GODDARD Beethoven Piano Trio op 1 (Unidentified) 17/09/1874 GODDARD Beethoven Piano Trio in C min op 1 no 3 19/09/1874 GODDARD Beethoven Piano Trio in B flat op 97 --/--/1875 GUEN Chopin Rondo in C for two Pianos op 73 --/--/1875 GUEN Mozart Clarinet Quintet in A K581 19/06/1875 GUEN Haydn String Quartet op 71 no 1 2/09/1876 MISC Haydn Sextet no 9 18/09/1876 MDL Mozart String Quartet in B flat K589 18/09/1876 MDL Beethoven Piano Quartet in E flat op 16 18/09/1876 MDL Beethoven Trio in B flat op 11 30/09/1876 CLAUS Haydn Sextet no 5 9/10/1876 MDL Haydn String Quartet in D op 17 14/10/1876 MISC Bach, J.S. Concerto for three Keyboards in C 25/11/1876 MISC Czerny Quartet for four Pianos (Unidentified) 25/11/1876 MISC Mozart Piano Quartet in E flat K493 4/12/1876 MDL Horsley, Charles String Quartet in E no 3 4/12/1876 MDL Mendelssohn String Quartet op 12 8/01/1876 MDL Pleyel, Ignaz String Quartet in E op 67 8/01/1876 MDL Doppler, Franz Trio for Piano, Flute and ‘Cello 7/05/1877 MDL Schubert String Quartet in D minor D810 7/05/1877 MDL Beethoven String Quartet in F op 18 no 1 16/07/1877 MDL Kuhlau Trio for Piano and two Flutes 13/08/1877 MDL Schumann String Quartet in A min op 41 no 1 24/11/1877 MAS Reissiger, Carl Piano Quintet op 20 24/11/1877 MAS Beethoven Septet in E flat op 20 15/12/1877 MAV Beethoven String Trio in D op 9 no 2 26/01/1878 MAS Anon Trio 26/01/1878 MAS Allegri String Quartet 26/01/1878 MAS Bach, J.S. Terzette for two Violins and Viola 30/03/1878 MAS Haydn Sonata for Violin and Piano in G (Unidentified) 27/04/1878 MAS Haydn String Quartet (Unidentified) 27/04/1878 MAS 239

Beethoven arr. Symphony in D no 2 for Piano and Violin 11/05/1878 MAV Kuhlau Trio for three Flutes 11/05/1878 MAV Reissiger, Carl Duet for Piano and Violin 11/05/1878 MAV Mozart Sonata for Piano and Violin in E flat 25/05/1878 MAS (Unidentified) Bruni, Antonio String Trio in E flat 25/05/1878 MAS Gounod Meditation on Bach’s Prelude no 1 for Trio 25/05/1878 MAS Mozart Piano Trio in B flat (unidentified) 25/05/1878 MAS Beethoven Piano Trio in G op 1 no 2 3/06/1878 MAS Haydn String Quartet in C op 76 no 3 (‘Emperor’) 3/06/1878 MAS Rossini arr. William Tell Overture for Sextet 3/06/1878 MAS Mozart String Quartet in D K575 16/06/1879 MAV Kuhlau Duo Concertante for Piano and Flute op 110 17/06/1878 MDL Reissiger, Carl Piano Quartet op 138 3/09/1878 GRIF Gregoir/ Servais Duet for Piano and ‘Cello (unidentified) 10/09/1878 GRIF Reissiger, Carl Piano Trio op 85 10/09/1878 GRIF Beethoven Piano Trio in E flat op 38 14/09/1878 GRIF Schumann Piano Quartet in E flat op 47 14/09/1878 GRIF Sivori Fantasia on a theme from Oberon for Trio 14/09/1878 GRIF Beethoven Sonata for Piano and Horn in F op 17 16/09/1878 GRIF Reissiger, Carl Piano Quartet op 199 16/09/1878 GRIF Mendelssohn Violoncello Sonata in D op 58 21/09/1878 GRIF Rubinstein Piano Trio op 15 (Unidentified) 24/09/1878 GRIF Reissiger, Carl Quartet op 141 (Unspecified) 24/09/1878 GRIF Mendelssohn String Quintet in E flat op 87 2/11/1878 MAV Schubert Octet in F D803 30/11/1878 MAV Weber Concertante in D flat op 22 30/11/1878 MAS Fesca, Friedrich Piano Quartet in D min op 28 30/11/1878 MAS Hummel Sonata for Piano and Viola op 19 5/04/1879 MAS Mendelssohn String Quartet in D op 44 no 1 26/04/1879 MAS Haydn String Quartet in G op 77 no 1 31/05/1879 MAS Schumann Piano Quintet in E flat op 44 16/06/1879 MAV Taubert, Carl Piano Trio op 32 30/08/1879 MAS Wagner Selections (Unidentified) 24/10/1879 MAS Hummel Piano Trio in E op 83 29/11/1879 MAS Rubinstein Sonata for Piano and ‘Cello in D op 18 28/02/1880 MAS Beethoven Serenade in D op 25 28/02/1880 MAS Beethoven Sonata for Piano and ‘Cello in A op 69 17/04/1880 MAV Beethoven Sonata for Piano and ‘Cello in G min op 5 no 2 1/05/1880 MAS Beethoven String Quintet in C op 29 1/05/1880 MAS Beethoven Quintet in E flat op 16 15/05/1880 MAV Zelman, Alberto Piano Trio 5/06/1880 MAS Caron, Leon String Quartet (Unidentified) 5/06/1880 MAS Benedict Fantasia for Violin, Harp and Piano 19/06/1880 MAV Taubert, Carl String Trio 19/06/1880 MAV Raff, Joachim Sonata for Piano and Violin in E min 19/06/1880 MAV Anon Piano Quintet 26/06/1880 MAS Beethoven Quartet (Unidentified) 30/06/1880 SCHOOL Hummel Sonata for Piano and Violin (Unidentified) 30/06/1880 SCHOOL Mozart String Quartet in E flat (Unidentified) 30/06/1880 SCHOOL Rubinstein Piano Trio in F op 15 no 1 17/07/1880 MAV Bazzini, Antonio String Quartet (Unidentified) 31/07/1880 MAS Caron, Leon String Quartet in G min no 3 31/07/1880 MAS Fesca, Friedrich Piano Quartet in C min op 26 31/07/1880 MAS Haydn Piano Trio in E flat (Unidentified) 14/08/1880 MAV Mozart String Quartet in D (Unidentified) 21/08/1880 MISC Haydn String Quartet in D op 76 no 5 11/09/1880 MAV Raff, Joachim Piano Trio in D 11/09/1880 MAV Haydn String Quartet in D (unidentified) 25/09/1880 MAS Kücken, Friedrich Piano Trio op 76 25/09/1880 MAS Taubert, Carl String Quartet in B flat op 19 30/10/1880 MAS 240

Mozart Piano Quartet (Unidentified) 29/01/1881 MAS Reissiger, Carl Piano Trio op 127 29/01/1881 MAS Mozart arr. ‘Jupiter’ Symphony for two Pianos 28/05/1881 MAS Haydn String Quartet in G op 54 no 1 25/06/1881 MAS Rubinstein Piano Trio (Unidentified) 10/09/1881 MAV Schubert Piano Trio in E flat D929 26/11/1881 MAS Thomas, Ambroise arr. Overture ( Raymond ) 14/02/1882 BOSTON Boccherini String Quintet op 13 no 5 14/02/1882 BOSTON Schultze Kaleidoscope of Popular Airs for Quintet 14/02/1882 BOSTON Auber, Daniel arr. Overture ( Le Domino Noir ) 15/02/1882 BOSTON Beethoven String Quartet in G op 18 no 2 15/02/1882 BOSTON Schade, William Potpourri on Favourite Airs for Quintet 15/02/1882 BOSTON Suppe, Franz von arr. Overture ( Poet and Peasant ) for Quintet 16/02/1882 BOSTON Pleyel, Ignaz Hymn with Variations for Quartet 16/02/1882 BOSTON Mendelssohn String Quartet (Unidentified) 17/02/1882 BOSTON Cherubini, E. String Quartet in E flat 17/02/1882 BOSTON Nicolai, Otto arr. Overture ( Merry Wives of Windsor ) 18/02/1882 BOSTON Haydn String Quartet in G op 64 no 4 18/02/1882 BOSTON Ryan, Thomas. Potpourri on favourite Airs 18/02/1882 BOSTON Silas, Edouard arr. Gavotte for Quintet 20/02/1882 BOSTON Auber, Daniel arr. Overture ( La Sirene ) 21/02/1882 BOSTON Weber arr. Finale Act 1 ( Euryanthe ) 21/02/1882 BOSTON Mendelssohn arr. ‘Scotch’ Symphony for Quintet 21/02/1882 BOSTON Beethoven Ruins of Athens for two Pianos 22/02/1882 BOSTON Herold, Louis arr. Overture ( Le Pre Aux Clercs ) 22/02/1882 BOSTON Mendelssohn String Quintet in A op 18 23/02/1882 BOSTON Saedermann arr. Swedish Wedding March 24/02/1882 BOSTON Boieldieu, Francois arr. Overture ( La Dame Blanche ) 25/02/1882 BOSTON Crusell, Bernhard Clarinet Quartet 25/02/1882 BOSTON Brahms Piano Trio in B op 8 25/02/1882 MAS Rubinstein String Quartet op 99 27/02/1882 BOSTON Mozart String Quintet in G min K516 7/06/1882 MPC Scharwenka Sonata for ‘Cello and Piano in E min op 46 7/06/1882 MPC Beethoven Sonata for Piano and Violin in C min op 30 no 2 14/06/1882 MPC Liszt Rakoczy March 23/06/1882 SCHOOL Raff, Joachim Piano Trio in G op 112 23/06/1882 SCHOOL Rubinstein Piano Trio in B flat op 52 23/06/1882 SCHOOL Mendelssohn Quartet (Unidentified) 24/06/1882 MAS Onslow, Georg Quartet (Unidentified) 24/06/1882 MAS Mendelssohn Octet for Strings op 20 28/06/1882 MPC Rubinstein Sonata for Piano and Violin in G op 13 28/06/1882 MPC Beethoven String Quartet (Unidentified) 5/07/1882 MPC Raff, Joachim Piano Trio (Unidentified) 26/07/1882 SCHOOL Schubert Piano Trio in B flat D898 20/09/1882 MPC Hummel Septet in D min op 74 27/09/1882 MPC Schubert String Quartet in A min D804 27/09/1882 MPC Taubert, Carl String Quartet op 93 18/10/1882 MPC Raff, Joachim Piano Trio in A min 21/10/1882 SCHOOL Beethoven Piano Trio (Unidentified) 7/04/1883 MAS Spohr, Louis Duet for two Violins op 6 7/04/1883 MAS Spohr, Louis Duet for two violins in D min Op 39 no 1 18/04/1883 MPC Schumann Fantasiestücke for Piano and Clarinet op 73 18/04/1883 MPC Beethoven String Quartet op 18 (Unidentified) 28/04/1883 MAS Benedict/ David Duet for Piano and Violin (Oberon ) 28/04/1883 MAS Haydn String Quartet in D min op 76 no 2 2/05/1883 MPC Mendelssohn String Quartet op 44 (Unidentified) 19/05/1883 MAS Beethoven String Quartet in D op 18 no 3 19/05/1883 MAS Benedict/ David Duet for Piano and Violin 19/05/1883 MAS Schubert Piano Quintet in A D667 2/08/1883 MPC Beethoven Piano Trio in D op 70 no 1 16/08/1883 MPC 241

Schumann Fantasiestücke op 88 23/08/1883 MPC Goltermann, Georg Grand Duo for Piano and ‘Cello op 15 25/08/1883 MAS Rubinstein Piano Trio in G min op 15 no 2 10/10/1883 MPC Beethoven Piano Trio in E flat op 1 no 1 17/10/1883 MPC Mendelssohn String Quartet in E flat op 44 no 3 24/10/1883 MPC Hummel Piano Trio in E flat op 12 24/10/1883 MPC Spohr, Louis Duet for two Violins (Unidentified) 22/12/1883 MAV Mozart String Quartet in D min K173 28/04/1884 MAS Goetz, Hermann Piano Quartet in E op 6 13/05/1884 SCHOOL Jadassohn, Salomon Piano Trio in C min op 59 13/05/1884 SCHOOL Rheinberger, Joseph Piano Quartet in E flat op 38 21/05/1884 MPC Mozart String Quartet in B flat K172 24/05/1884 MAS Scharwenka Piano Trio op 1 28/05/1884 MPC Beethoven String Quartet in C min op 18 no 4 4/06/1884 MPC Grieg Violin Sonata in F op 8 4/06/1884 MPC Rubinstein Quintet in F op 55 no 1 11/06/1884 MPC Mozart String Quartet (Unidentified) 28/06/1884 MAS Mozart String Quartet in G K387 26/07/1884 MAS Chopin arr. Piano Concerto (Unidentified) 1/08/1884 SCHOOL Gade, Niels Piano Trio (Unidentified) 1/08/1884 SCHOOL Saint-Saëns arr. Trio from Lohengrin 23/08/1884 MISC Mozart String Quartet in C K515 17/09/1884 MPC Gade, Niels Piano Trio in F op 42 24/09/1884 MPC Mayseder, Joseph Duet for Violin and Viola 27/09/1884 MAS Beethoven String Quartet in C op 59 no 3 1/10/1884 MPC Pixis, Johann arr. Air from Les Huguenots (Meyerbeer) 13/12/1884 MISC Dvořák Piano Trio in F min op 65 31/01/1885 MAS Hummel Piano Trio in F 12/02/1885 MISC Spohr, Louis Duet for two Violins no 7 28/02/1885 MAS Liut String Quartet in D min 28/03/1885 MAS Mendelssohn String Quartet in F min op 80 20/05/1885 MPC Brahms Violin Sonata in G op 78 30/05/1885 MAS Haydn String Quartet in E flat op 71 no 3 3/06/1885 MPC Mozart Piano Trio in B flat K254 3/06/1885 MPC Brahms Piano Quartet in A op 26 17/06/1885 MPC Beethoven String Quartet in B flat op 18 no 6 24/06/1885 MPC Dvořák Piano Quartet in D op 23 25/07/1885 MAS Pabst, Louis Piano Trio in G op 38 9/09/1885 MPC Haydn String Quartet in D op 64 no 5 16/09/1885 MPC Kalliwoda, Johann Two Nocturnes for Viola and Piano op 186 26/09/1885 MAS Mendelssohn String Quartet in A min op 13 21/10/1885 MPC Beethoven Serenade Trio in D op 8 28/10/1885 MPC Mendelssohn Unfinished String Quartet op 81 28/10/1885 MPC Gade, Niels Sonata for Piano and Violin in D min op 21 31/10/1885 MAS Beethoven String Quartet in A op 18 no 5 14/11/1885 MAV Gade, Niels Sonata for Piano and Violin (Unidentified) 14/11/1885 MAV Curtis, Henry Duo for Violin and Viola op 2 30/01/1886 MAS Beethoven Sonata for Violin and Piano (Unidentified) 20/02/1886 MAV Haydn String Quartet in E flat op 64 no 6 7/04/1886 MPC Mozart String Quartet in C K157 21/04/1886 MPC Haydn String Quartet in F op 77 no 2 28/04/1886 MPC Kiel, Friedrich Piano Quintet op 75 28/04/1886 MPC Chopin Introduction and Polonaise in C op 3 12/05/1886 MPC Beethoven String Quartet in F min op 95 19/05/1886 MPC Schumann Piano Trio in D min op 63 19/05/1886 MPC Hummel Piano Quintet in E flat min op 87 26/05/1886 MPC Bruch, Max Fantasia for two Pianos in D min op 11 29/05/1886 MAS Schrader, Herman Gruss , Duo for Violin and Piano 29/05/1886 MAS Chopin arr. Piano Concerto in E min 2/06/1886 MPC Haydn String Quartet in B flat op 76 no 4 9/06/1886 MPC 242

Haydn String Quartet in C op 33 no 3 28/08/1886 MAS Smetana Piano Trio in G min op 15 1/09/1886 MPC Mozart Quintet (Unidentified) 25/09/1886 MAS Reinecke, Carl Sonata for Piano and ‘Cello (Unidentified) 25/09/1886 MAS Haydn String Quartet in C op 64 no 1 29/09/1886 MPC Schumann String Quartet in A op 41 no 3 13/11/1886 MAV Liszt Rhapsodie Hongroise for 2 Pianos --/--/1887 HISTORICAL Schumann Andante and Variations in B flat op 46 --/--/1887 HISTORICAL Dvořák Violin Sonata in F op 57 29/01/1887 MAS Goetz, Hermann Piano Trio op 1 29/01/1887 MAS Beethoven String Trio (Unidentified) 11/02/1887 MAV Sinclair, Sophie Sonata for Piano and Violin 11/02/1887 MAV Goetz, Hermann Piano Trio in G min op 1 12/03/1887 MAV Rubinstein Sonata for Viola and Piano in F min op 49 4/05/1887 MPC Schubert String Quartet in G D887 18/05/1887 MPC Bach, J.S. Concerto for three Keyboards in D minor 21/05/1887 HISTORICAL Saint-Saëns Piano Quartet in B flat op 41 25/05/1887 MPC Mozart Sonata for two Pianos in D K448 4/06/1887 HISTORICAL Mendelssohn/Moscheles Duo Concertante for two Pianos 18/06/1887 HISTORICAL Saint-Saëns Finale for Piano and Harmonium op 8 no 6 30/07/1887 MAS Mozart String Quartet in A (Unidentified) 7/09/1887 MPC Dvořák String Quartet in E flat op 51 14/09/1887 MPC Goldmark, Carl Piano Quintet op 30 24/09/1887 MAS Burghard (Beethoven) arr. Serenade for two Pianos 28/01/1888 MAS Haydn String Quartet op 74 no 2 25/02/1888 MAS Dittersdorf, Carl String Quartet (Unidentified) 10/03/1888 MAV Schubert Sonatina for Piano and Violin in G min D408 25/04/1888 MPC Hoffmann Piano Quartet in D min op 50 16/05/1888 MPC Mozart String Quartet in B flat (Unidentified) 23/05/1888 MPC Schubert Sonatina for Piano and Violin in A min D385 23/05/1888 MPC Prout, Ebenezer String Quartet 26/05/1888 MAS Raff, Joachim Ode au Printemps op 76 (two Pianos) 26/05/1888 MAS Mendelssohn String Quartet in E flat (Unidentified) 13/06/1888 MPC Mozart Trio for Piano, Violin and Viola in E flat 16/06/1888 MAV Lachner, Franz Trio for Piano, Violin and Viola in G op 45 25/07/1888 MAS Sinclair, Sophie Piano Quartet in B op 10 15/09/1888 MAV Mozart Sonata for Piano and Violin (Unidentified) 29/09/1888 MAS Raff, Joachim Ode au Printemps op 46 (two Pianos) 29/09/1888 MAS Volkmann Piano Trio op 76 24/11/1888 MAS Ernst and Heller Pensees Fugitives for Piano and Violin 8/12/1888 MAV Wilhelmj para. Siegfried for Violin and Piano 23/02/1889 MAS Haydn String Trio op 53 23/02/1889 MAS Bach, J.S. Concerto for two Keyboards in C 13/04/1889 MAV Haydn String Quartet in E flat op 76 no 6 8/05/1889 MPC Beethoven String Quartet in F op 59 no 1 15/05/1889 MPC Schumann Sonata for Piano and Violin in D min op 121 29/05/1889 MPC Weber Duo in E flat op 48 29/06/1889 MAS Brahms String Sextet in B flat op 18 29/06/1889 MAS Jensen Suite in D op 3 29/06/1889 MAS Sinclair, Sophie String Quartet in B flat 21/12/1889 MAV Reissiger, Carl Piano Quintet (Unidentified) 29/03/1890 MAS Beethoven Sonata for Piano and Violin in E flat op 12 no 3 26/04/1890 MAOS Schumann Sonata for Piano and Violin in A min op 105 26/05/1890 HALLE Brahms Violin Sonata in A op 100 27/05/1890 HALLE Grieg Violin Sonata in C min op 45 31/05/1890 HALLE Bach, J.S. Sonata in A for Violin and Piano 5/06/1890 HALLE Beethoven Sonata for Piano and Violin in F op 24 14/06/1890 HALLE Raff, Joachim String Quartet (‘The Mill’) 2/08/1890 MAOS Mozart String Quintet (Unidentified) 14/02/1891 MAOS Germsheim, Friedrich Piano Quartet op 47 28/02/1891 MAOS 243

Beethoven Sonata for Piano and Violin in D op 12 no 1 21/03/1891 MAOS Thomas, Goring. Duet for Harp and Piano in E flat minor 11/04/1891 MAV Lachner, Franz Trio for Piano, Violin and Viola op 38 25/04/1891 MAOS Anon Piano Trio in D 9/05/1891 MAV Grieg String Quartet in G min op 27 20/05/1891 MPC Mozart String Quartet in D min K421 3/06/1891 MPC Spohr, Louis Sonata Concertante for Violin and Harp Op 115 1/07/1891 MPC Mozart Trio for Piano, Violin and Viola 25/07/1891 MAOS Beethoven Sonata for Piano and ‘Cello in F op 5 no 1 8/08/1891 MAV Kiel, Friedrich Sonata for Piano and Viola in G op 67 26/09/1891 MAOS Haydn String Quartet in G op 17 no 5 14/10/1891 MPC Kiel, Friedrich Piano Quartet in A min op 43 28/10/1891 MPC Mozart String Quartet in B flat K458 28/10/1891 MPC Pabst, Louis Piano Trio (Unidentified) 26/11/1891 RISVEG Grieg Violin Sonata in G op 13 12/12/1891 MAV Beethoven Sonata for Piano and Violin in A op 12 no 2 16/12/1891 MPC Haydn arr. Symphony no 2 in B flat 27/08/1892 MSV Mendelssohn arr. Overture ( Son and Stranger ) 27/08/1892 MSV Lachner, Franz Trio for Piano, Violin and Viola in D min op 89 24/09/1892 MSV Schubert Duet for Piano and Violin (Unidentified) 22/10/1892 MSV Reinecke, Carl Sonata for Piano and ‘Cello in D op 89 26/11/1892 MSV Mozart Sonata for Piano and Violin in B flat 25/02/1893 MSV (Unidentified) Schumann Five Pieces in Folk Style op 102 4/03/1893 WILK Hummel Nocturne op 42 25/03/1893 MSV Sgambati, Giovanni Piano Quintet (Unidentified) 2/05/1893 WILK Hermann Burlesque Trio for three Violins 27/05/1893 MSV Popper, David Largo al’ancienne mode op 69 27/05/1893 MSV Rubinstein Allegro Risoluto in A op 11 9/08/1893 MPC Rubinstein Andante quasi Adagio in D min op 11 9/08/1893 MPC Haydn ‘Gipsy’ Piano Trio op 73 26/09/1893 MPC Pabst, Louis Phantasiestücke for Piano, Violin and ‘Cello 16/11/1893 RISVEG Gade, Niels Noveletten for Piano and Strings op 29 12/05/1894 MSV Grieg ‘Cello Sonata in A min op 36 21/07/1897 ALLAN Mozart Piano Quartet in A (Unidentified) 28/07/1897 ALLAN Brahms Piano Trio in C min op 101 18/05/1898 ALLAN Raff, Joachim Andante and Variations in A min op 87 18/05/1898 ALLAN Dvořák Bagatellen op 47 25/05/1898 ALLAN Brahms Trio in E flat op 40 1/06/1898 ALLAN Dvořák Piano Quartet in E flat op 87 1/06/1898 ALLAN Brahms Piano Quartet in G min op 25 8/06/1898 ALLAN

Minerva Access is the Institutional Repository of The University of Melbourne

Author/s: Lais, P. J.

Title: Chamber-music in Melbourne 1877-1901: a history of performance and dissemination

Date: 2009

Citation: Lais, P. J. (2009). Chamber-music in Melbourne 1877-1901: a history of performance and dissemination. PhD thesis, Music, The University of Melbourne.

Persistent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11343/35131

File Description: Chamber-music in Melbourne 1877-1901: a history of performance and dissemination