REGINA MORTUA EST, VIVAT REX CAROLUS! KING CHARLES III's LOVE AFFAIR WITH PARRY

In honor of King Charles III's proclamation as Monarch of the United Kingdom and of the Commonwealth, I dedicate below to his countrymen and women and to the citizens of the Territories a piece of special historical significance - not only to the British Crown but to King Charles himself - the setting of the choral introit "I was Glad" set by Sir Hubert Hastings Parry. 

The new sovereign has long been vocal of his deep admiration for the choral piece and for its composer - whom he often refers to as his favorite, and as somewhat of an 'unsung hero' of sorts in the realm of British classical music. His Majesty first heard Parry's anthem performed at the tender age of four whilst the then-Prince bore witness to the coronation of his late mother, the former Queen and Head of State, Elizabeth II in 1953. 

Parry's musical setting of Psalm 122 (verses 1–3, 6 and 7)^[1] has long been embedded in history of the House of Windsor (fr. Saxe-Coburg and Gotha): Parry originally wrote his version of the anthem for the coronation of Charles' great-great-grandfather, Edward VII in 1902, and it has been used in every coronation since, even making an appearance at the wedding of Prince William and Catherine 'Kate' Middleton at Westminster Abbey in 2011. 

Speaking of the occasion in the documentary The Prince and the Composer: A Film about Hubert Parry by HRH The Prince of Wales (presented by Charles himself) the royal remarked:

 "If you're coming into the abbey and you have to walk up the aisle, and there are an awful lot of people peering at you, some pieces of music literally do waft you up the aisle and it's so marvellous that you're sort of carried along on this wave of music. And that's what I think is so brilliant about this piece, giving you all those tingles up the spine and tears in the eyes...It has an extraordinary capacity to lift the spirits, this particular piece of music. It's timeless, really, isn't it?" 

Because of its association with the coronations of British monarchs, the "vivat(s)" section of the score (Latin for "Long live..." (the King/Queen)) was/is forbidden to be sung by the Queen's/King's scholars of Westminster School if the anthem is not performed during a coronation. Instead, the choir is simply instructed to bypass this section (the redacted version of Parry's anthem was famously heard at the aforementioned nuptials of Prince William and Catherine Middleton). 

In 1902, Parry wrote vivats for both King Edward and Queen Alexandria: "Vivat Regina Alexandra, vivat Regina...vivat Rex Eduardus.." ("Long live King Edward...Long live Queen Alexandra.") 

For Elizabeth II's coronation, there was only one vivat, in custom with British tradition, in which the husband of a Queen may not be styled as King as he has not inherited the throne (while the wife of a King, however, may be styled Queen Consort). It is this truncated version that a young Charles heard during the coronation of his "darling mama" from his seat in the gallery alongside the Queen Mum and his Auntie (Princess Margaret). Cries of "Vivat Regina! Vivat Regina Elizabetha!" (Long live the Queen! Long Live Queen Elizabeth!) would have echoed throughout Westminster Abbey and into the future King's ears.

Above: Vivat for Queen Elizabeth II, performed during Her Majesty's coronation in 1953 (begins at 3:08)

This custom means that King Charles' Queen Consort, Camilla, could be included in a new vivat, in addition to the King's (which will likely be sung as "Vivat Rex Carolus"). 

As Camilla is already the female equivalent of the Roman Camillus, she may be referred to as Regina Camilla, however this - and her inclusion in the revised anthem - remains to be seen, should His Majesty opt to carry on in the tradition of his royal predecessors by selecting the anthem of his favorite composer for his own coronation.

Below: Vivat for Queen Elizabeth II, with score, performed during Her Majesty's coronation in 1953 (Vivat begins at 3:40)

Footnotes:  

^[1]from the psalter found in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.

 -Rose.

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WATCH THE CORONATION OF KING CHARLES III AND CAMILLA - SATURDAY 6TH MAY 2023

TODAY IN BIRTHDAYS: LUIGI BOCCHERINI - February 19, 1743 - May 28, 1805

Luigi Boccherini

Newcomers to the exquisitely indulgent world of classical music will undoubtedly file this 18th century Italian-born cellist and composer under the category of "intimately familiar musicians whose name eludes pop culture status."

Boccherini should indeed be a household name – his music, after all, has almost certainly provided the backdrop to a peaceful evening spent alone or alongside a loved one, in front of a television set, computer screen or radio.

I am referring, of course, to the infamous String Quintet in E major (Op. XI, no. V), in particular the celebrated third “minuet” movement (which you may have heard performed on a solo instrument – usually a violin), originally composed in 1771 as part of a “string quartet” (a four-piece string ensemble) for 2 violins, 1 cello and 1 viola, it would become a “cello quintet” (a five-piece string ensemble) with the addition of a second cello, for which the work is famous.

Boccherini himself was a skilled and avid cellist, who often performed as a fifth instrumentalist to his own compositions – all of them quartets – alongside the “Font String Quartet”, an ensemble formed by one Don Luis, Cardinal-Infante of Spain and brother to King Charles III of Spain, and aristocratic patron of Boccherini, who briefly wrote exclusively for the group.

Surprisingly, though the popularity of the quintet would only gain renown through posterity, the works produced and performed under this royal patronage would assist Boccherini in introducing the musical art form of the string quartet accompanied by a fifth (cellist) to prominence. It is said that Boccherini devoted much of his compositional output (up to a period of 10 years) to penning various string quartets. While Boccherini did not invent the string quintet per-sae, his substitution of 2 violins and 1 viola to 2 cello in place of the standard scoring of 2 violins, 2 violas and 1 cello often earns him the honorific amongst modern string ensembles.

Boccherini’s talents were well known across the European continent. Although plagued by a life of misery (the composer suffered many a visit from the reaper, losing two wives and three children and his aristocratic patron in the Infante in just under a two decade span), the venerable cellist would attract the attention of Frederick William II, King of Prussia, who would become his royal patron. 

Certainly, the works of this multi-talented member of the arts continues to be well known today, although I must say it's high time the name "Boccherini" achieve pop-culture status.


Listen below to the famous third movement of the celebrated String Quintet in E Major:


-Rose.

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IN MEMORIAM: QUEEN ELIZABETH II (APRIL 21, 1926 - SEPTEMBER 8, 2022)

 

Above: a touching tribute to Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II by Sky News 

As millions of Britons, citizens of the Commonwealth, and others around the globe mourn the loss of Elizabeth II, I have come to reflect upon my former Head of State with a sense of bittersweet splendour - pained that Her Majesty is no longer with us, yet, altogether marveled by the memories of her glorious reign, stamina, and poise. 

For as long as I have lived, Queen Elizabeth II has been somewhat omnipresent in my life. I fancied myself quite the numismatist and philatelist in my most tender years - I am a citizen born into the commonwealth twice over: as a Canadian by birth, and as the daughter of an immigrant from the then-commonwealth state of Hong Kong. 

It was during these formative years that my young mind became fascinated by the striking portraits of our Head of State, ever evolving throughout those very impressionable phases of my own life: from youth, to teenagehood, to womanhood. I saw her increasingly aging visage everywhere throughout the years as my past times seamlessly moulded themselves into a deep passion for history - both Canadian, and British. 

It was the profile, and the face of Elizabeth, embossed on the faces of coins and printed on the surfaces of stamps from all over the world, that piqued my curiosity. I wanted to know more about this woman who seemed to dominate swathes of nations of varying tongues: who she was, and what she meant to my country and to our British cousins. That curiosity led me down the path of studying Canadian and European history, and later - and perhaps most naturally - to the music that helped pave the path toward our shared freedoms, as our ancestors fought in battle to create, in my humble opinion, one of - if not the - greatest nation in the world. As I became more embedded in my studies, I both marveled over and embraced the legacies of the composers who performed in battle long before Elizabeth's conception. I learned of the propagandists and musically inclined courtiers who so crucially and cleverly manipulated, supported, and volleyed their way through the upper echelons of the British state. In many ways, it was an early lesson in psychology and an invaluable teaching of the cunning use (and misuse) of music for purposes of political persuasion and domination.

Though Great Britain's distant past may be marred by undeniable bloodshed, where kings were made kings on the battlefield, and men became men through daring and chivalric conquests, the reign and life of Elizabeth was different. Having both served in, and survived the Second World War and having acceded to the throne whilst arguably still a child herself - at the tender age of 25 - her role was that of a peaceful monarch: a consistently present and poised ruler who never appeared to take for granted the rich (albeit often gritty) historical past which would end up making her unprecedented 70-year long reign possible. 

Her Majesty shunned the methods of her royal predecessors, opting instead to shy away from public conflict by holding close to her breast matters of both personal and political affairs. She put forward a mask of neutrality in an ever changing, not always friendly world. 

Music and musicians of (and associated with) the court became less thought of as mere political pawns but rather allowed to triumph in their own right: during her reign, the so-called 'Land without Music' - England's status as a musical mecca having waned in popularity since the triumphant days of the English Renaissance - once more became resplendent as the likes of Ralph Vaughan Williams, Arnold Bax, William Walton, and Edward Elgar introduced to a new generation a majestic, and regal shift from the ever embellished icons of English composers past (men like Thomas Tallis, William Byrd, Orlando Gibbons, Henry Purcell, and German-turned-naturalised citizen, George Frederic Handel). 

Full of fanfare, stateliness, pomp and circumstance, swathes of musicians (and even non-musicians) the world over would soon recognize the sound of British royalty in the new Elizabethan age, and envision in their minds images of the resplendent Queen in her chariot, as regal and dignified as the compositions which flourished throughout her reign.

Above: Vaughan Williams' grand ceremonial arrangement of the sixteenth-century hymn "The Old Hundredth", performed at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, 2 June 1953 Westminster Abbey, London (preceded by fanfare)

To the very end, Her Majesty remained poised even throughout the dishonours inflicted upon her by those who attempted to corrupt a legacy of leadership - one in which our beloved Sovereign had managed to rule for some seven decades with a refined reticence. It was this sense of stoic disposition which had so notably garnered the admiration and awe of all those who met her, from world leaders to subjects alike. 

There is something to be said for this level of personal conviction. Throughout the numerous traumas Elizabeth faced, particularly over the course of the past several years, her stamina and resolve proved to all of those who supported her that silence speaks volumes, that privacy is a virtue, and that dignity over historical savagery and present day insolence will always triumph in the end. 

Her Majesty vowed to work until the end of her days, and she has honored her oath. Having seldom wavered from her steely-faced, yet gentle resolve, she will be remembered as a ruler of sound mind, a connoisseur of political adroitness, and as a woman of extraordinary courage, strength, and heart. 

With condolences to all those who mourn the loss of Her Majesty, including the working members of the Royal family. 

God Save the Queen. 

Long Live King Charles III.

See more: St Paul's Service of Thanksgiving to Honour the Queen

-Rose.

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COVENT GARDEN’S CALAMITOUS HISTORY: PRIZEFIGHTERS, HITMEN AND FIRES (OH MY): THE OP RIOTS

Today Unraveling Musical Myths takes a look back at the surprisingly calamitous early history of Londons’ [The] Royal Opera House, and the riotous band of brutes and repeated fires that threatened to snuff out the theatre from the world’s cultural map.

[Fig. I] "Killing no Murder. as Performing at the Grand National Theatre" by caricaturist Issac Robert Cruikshank.

We know the Royal Opera House – or, more casually "Covent Garden" – today as one of the operatic sphere’s most esteemed theatres, Britain’s musical Mecca and the launching pad that would catapult into the stratosphere some of the world’s most beloved operatic talent – the likes of Joan Sutherland and Jon Vickers. The ROH is coveted by both singers and dancers across the globe as a "must-perform-at" venue; even so, it wasn’t always a bed of roses for the theatre’s managers (much less for it’s patrons) during it’s many years on British soil.

Originally named the “Theatre Royal,” the Opera House we know and patronize today is actually the third theatre to have been built in its location since the first theatre’s construction in 1732. The theatre that patrons of the arts knew then boasted a repertoire of predominately pantomime and other acting engagements. Ballet and Opera did indeed have a presence at the venue during this period, but they existed only in a minor role. The venue's most notable pioneer of the Operatic genre would be the composer George Frederick Handel – a recently made citizen and émigré from Halle in Germany.^[1] Handel would open the theatre’s first season of operas in 1735, and would premiere many an opera and oratorio at the location, almost all of which the composer had written specifically for the theatre. The Theatre Royal, as it were, would gain much prominence as only one of two theatres (the other being Drury Lane, which opened its doors 69 years earlier, in 1663) to be granted permission to present spoken drama, operating under Patents Royal issued by then-reigning King Charles II* in 1662/63 ( *in the case of Drury Lane; the patent for the Theatre at Covent Garden having been issued prior to the building’s construction).^{*[see footnotes: learn more].}

[Fig. II] Interior view of Covent Garden Theatre #1

By all accounts, the Theatre Royal seemed to be a thriving venue during its early reign. Popular performances of the day, however, would soon come to a most unwelcome halt in 1808, when, due to the extremely risky practice of employing candlelight to illuminate the theatre (a first resort for lighting during that era), the theatre, along with the costumes, scenery and manuscripts contained within, burned to the ground. The response was chaotic – the theatre must be rebuilt, and quickly, at that.

And quickly rebuilt it was: With an estimated damage of some £250,000, a plan had to be executed to recover the costs of rebuilding. The British nobility would swiftly step in to help facilitate the funding of such an enterprising endeavor. Acting under King George III, the Dukes of York and Northumberland would contribute a sizable donation to the pot (an amount of £76,000), whilst simultaneously introducing a “public subscription,” to be paid by visitors to the theatre until which time costs could be recouped.

This new financial agenda, however, would prove to be most unfortuitous. Patrons of the theatre were incensed with building management for increasing the costs of seating (from six shillings to seven for the boxes and from 3 shillings and sixpence to four shillings for the pit), not to mention converting the theatre’s entire third tier into private boxes, which would be made accessible only by agreeing to pay a wage of £300 per annum in rent - a wage the middle class could scarcely afford, and which the wealthy - who intended to remain wealthy, thankyouverymuch - refused to pay.

So vitriolic was the public's reaction, theatre-goers attending opening night in September 1809 would erupt into an all-out riot during a performance of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, interrupting the performance by beating sticks on the back of seats, stomping the floor, and breaking out into a hysteria of excessive booing and hissing – at one point even engaging in a frenzied dance of mockery. Police had to be called in by theatre manager John Philip Kemble just to empty the venue as enraged patrons held fast to their seats, refusing to leave the theatre in a defiant act of protest.

[Fig. III] *CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE "Acting Magistrates" read "The Riot Act"
to an incensed crowd in this contemporary illustration.

The already escalating situation at The Theatre Royal would only continue to get worse for both manager and venue following the theatres' calamitous second debut: bands of attendees would purposely arrive mid-way through a performance in an effort to pay a half-priced fare – and they would not arrive quietly. The frustrated patrons continued to chide theatre management by a issuing a barrage of insults, boos, banging and hissing – and for good measure, took to defacing the theatre itself with the early 19th century’s form of graffiti – hanging placards and banners adorned with crass language. ^{[see Fig III]}  A coffin was even brought into the theatre with a not-inconspicuous threat attached proclaiming the “death” of the fare-hike by "whooping cough" [i.e. by loud - and violent - protest].

Kemble was not one to respond to threats. In retaliation, the theatre manager hired the English prizefighter Daniel Mendoza (alongside the boxer’s personally selected band of brutes) to use as an intimidation tactic in a bold effort to silence the rioters (who now had a name: the “Old Pricers” - or, the "OPs"). Rumor had it Mendoza and his ‘hitmen’ took the illusion of inexorability quite seriously - by taking to both clubs and fists upon the face of any demonstrator who dared voice his disapproval for the fare increase.

Contemporary caricaturist Isaac Robert Cruikshank would immortalize the theatre’s most disruptive period (which lasted some three months before Kemble finally relented, temporarily lowering the price of admission and issuing a formal apology to theatregoers) in a an etching he called “Killing No Murder as Performing at the Grand National Theatre.” Mendoza serves as the focal point of the image: dead center, with club in hand, he can be seen stomping on the chest of a bloodied protestor, whilst angrily shouting the words “Down down to [Hell] with all OPs & say ‘twas Dan that sent thee there.” ^{[Fig I]}

Kemble, it seems, did not learn very quickly. By the opening of the theatre’s next season, he attempted, in vain, to preserve half of the private boxes he had designated "rental" seats in the venues' most popular third tier during the OP riots, which only served to re-incense patrons and re-kindle the riots until such time as he came to his senses and once more yielded to public demand.

English Prizefighter Daniel Mendoza was famously
hired as a de-facto bouncer for the ROH during the
infamous "OP Riots." The boxer, in addition to his
hired band of brutes were alleged to have used both
threats and fists to temper the theatre's rowdy crowds.

Surprisingly, the events of 1808-1809 would not be the last series of calamities thrust upon the ROH. The theatre would again succumb to fire in 1856 – a common occurrence for theatres of this era who had to rely on the lighting and display of candles or the use of limelight (the latter introduced in 1837, which was comprised of a highly combustible mixture of quicklime, oxygen and hydrogen flame) to illuminate both theatre and stage. Both methods of lighting were notoriously risky for their venues (and for the people within it), not to mention highly flammable in their application. The third, and final theatre would be constructed in 1858. It would be converted into a furniture storehouse during the first world war and made into a dance hall during WWII, and would not host an opera or ballet until 1946, when it was reopened as The Royal Opera.^[2] The newly established Royal Ballet marked the theatres' 3rd official debut with a production of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's The Sleeping Beauty, followed by a joint venture with the also freshly-established Covent Garden Opera Company for a production of English composer Henry Purcell’s The Fairy Queen in December of opening year - which would itself be followed by the theatres’ first full opera performance in the new year: with French composer Georges Bizet’s Carmen.

Enjoy below the beautiful aria “Lontan del mio tesoro” from George Frederick Handel’s 1734 opera Il Pastor Fido. The opera would be the first of many penned by the composer to be performed at the Theatre Royal. Il Pastor…would be followed by premiere performances of Operas Ariodante in 1735, followed by both Alcina, and Atalanta the following year, and a royal performance of Messiah in 1743.




Footnotes:

^[1]George Frederick Handel, formerly Georg Frideric Händel, would become a naturalized British citizen on the 20th of February, 1727 in accordance with immigration laws under Kings George I and II which required the German native obtain citizenship to continue on in his role as a composer of Britain and as Composer of the Chapel Royal. 

Read more about this pivotal event in Herr Handel’s history right here on Unraveling Musical Myths:

• TODAY IN MUSIC HISTORY: Georg Frideric Händel becomes British, becomes George Frederick Handel
  

^[2] The Royal Opera (second theatre) would, for a brief period, be known as the “Royal Italian Opera” following the dissolution in 1843 of the Letter Patent previously issued by King Charles II which had decreed the Theatre Royal* as just one of two theatres to have held a monopoly on the production of spoken and serious drama. During this period competitor venues would at last be made aloud to thrive. The theater scored a major boon in 1843 when the revered composer Michael Costa joined the venue, bringing with him a large band of singers. It would prove to be a fortuitous move for the theatre, and following a period of operatic performances sung only in the Italian tongue - from the 1847 performance of Gioachino Rossini’s Semiramide to the year 1892, when composer and conductor Gustav Mahler debuted Richard Wagner’s German language Ring Cycle, at which point the word “Italian” was dropped from the name.

* Learn more (external link):

To discover more about the Letters Patent issued by King Charles II, and to learn more about the process, visit http://www.british-history.ac.uk

-Rose.

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HISTORIC LETTERS - MOZART: AN ACCOUNT OF A VERY REMARKABLE YOUNG MUSICIAN | TODAY IN MOZART HISTORY

Did You Know? The above portrait, long asserted to be that of an 8-year
old Mozart seated at the harpsichord, may in fact be that of one Count Karl
Graf Firmian (1770-1822), son of Count Franz Lactanz Firmian, as attested by
Frau Erna Fel-Firmian. The portrait, painted in 1768 by Franz Thaddaus
Helbling was left to the Mozarteum by Angelo Saullich, a successor
of Lorenz Hagenauer's property at Getreidegasse 9, presently known as
"Mozart's Birth House. " The 3rd floor apartment was rented in 1747 by
Leopold and his wife, Mozart's mother, Anna Maria from Hagenauer, effectively
making the latter the Mozart's landlord. Saullich acquired the property in
1846 and owned it until his death in 1885.

Today’s featured letter comes to us from the noted 18th century lawyer, antiquary and Vice President of the Royal Society in London, The Honorable Daines Barrington F.R.S.

Barrington was a true polymath of his day, contributing as a writer (and later becoming vice-president) to the Society of Antiquaries and the aforementioned esteemed Royal Society - an electorate gathering of scientific intelligentsia backed by a Royal Charter (issued by Britain’s King Charles II) and founded in the late 17th century at London.

It was in the year 1770 that Barrington would contribute an essay to the Society’s Philosophical Transactions after having been prompted to conduct a "scientific examination" on the young  prodigy Mozart. The 'examination' included an impromptu demand on young Wolfgang to improvise from a manuscript of music in 5 parts (including sung parts), which was to be undertaken prima vista. To the delightful surprise of the honorable secretary Barrington, Mozart completed the task with "most astonishing" technical - and vocal - ability.

Unfavorable critiques (believed to have been uttered in muted tones behind closed doors by envious musicians more than twice Wolfgang's senior) had begun to surround the boy himself : Mozart, it was said, was no child prodigy, but rather a deformed adult with stunted physical growth. Barrington himself had expressed doubts over the youth's real age, famously withholding the fruits of his 'scientific findings' from the Royal Society until he received confirmation from the musician's native Salzburg (which he received on 3 January 1769 from the city's Chaplain, Leopold Comprecht, whose vow was printed within Barrington's report itself). 

Once age could be verified, Barrington's findings were handed off to one Dr. Matthew Maty, former Dutch physician and present Secretary of the Royal Society on 28 September 1769. It would be published in vol. LX of the the society's Philosophical Transactions (pp. 55-64) in 1771. The report reads both telling and touching as Barrington paints for the modern reader a rather vivid picture of the young wunderkind's world, and the jealousy-fueled controversies that surrounded an 8 year-old Mozart during his rapidly ascending foray into the esteemed realm of icons of Western Classical Music.

Hon. Daines Barrington F.R.S.

The extract quoted below is especially unique in that it depicts for the reader a time in young Mozart’s life in which the ignorant bliss of youth seemingly blinded him to the controversies and disapproving narrations of the naysayers who had only heard of his exceptional talents and which surrounded him. 

This is in complete contrast to Mozart as both a young man and as a hyper aware adult, wherein his frequent outbursts of what can arguably be described as conceit (although in his case, his outbursts were substantiated by his majestic oeuvre) were commonplace for the composer as he struggled to gain both a royal post and proper accreditation at the court of Joseph II of Austria. 

The contrast between a preternatural genius and the innocence of childhood is exquisitely depicted in one delightful exchange, in which Barrington describes the pre-pubescent Wolfgang at one moment expertly playing a number upon his harpsichord (his instrument of choice) with the sharp focus of a man engaged in intellectual vocation, and at the next, childishly wandering off chasing the family cat when it makes a sudden and surprised entrance into the room. Somehow, this ‘conflict’ between the astute focus of a learned man whist engaged in a project vs. the often cumbersome attention span of a curious child - playing, running and skipping his way into learning the wonders of the world - makes the extraordinary gifts of the composer that much more unique, that much more impressive.

The quoted extract:

“…I have been informed by two or three able musicians, when Bach the celebrated composer had begun a fugue and left off abruptly, that little Mozart hath immediately taken it up, and worked at it after a most masterly manner.

Witness as I was myself of most of these extraordinary facts, I must own that I could not help suspecting his father imposed with regard to the real age of the boy, though he had not only a most childish appearance, but likewise had all the actions of that stage of life.

For example, whilst he was playing to me, a favorite cat came in, upon which he immediately left his harpsichord, nor could we bring him back for a considerable time.

He would also sometimes run about the room with a stick between his legs by way of a horse.

I found likewise that most of the London musicians were of the same opinion with regard to his age, not believing it possible that a child of so tender years could surpass most of the matters in that science.

I have therefore for a considerable time made the best inquiries I was able from some of the German musicians resident in London, but could never receive any further information than that he was born near Salzburg, till I was so fortunate as to procure an extract from the register of that place, through his Excellence Count Haslang.

It appears from this extract, that Mozart’s father did not impose with regard to his age when he was in England, for it was in June 1765, that I was witness to what I have above related, when the boy was only eight years and five months old.

I have made frequent inquiries with regard to this very extraordinary genius since he left England and was told that last summer, that he was then at Salzburg, where he had composed several oratorios, which were much admired.

I am also informed, that the Prince of Salzburg, not crediting that such masterly compositions were really those of a child, shut him up for a week, during which he was not permitted to see anyone, and was left only with music paper, and the words of an oratorio.

During this short time he composed a very capital oratorio, which was most highly approved of upon being performed….”

WHAT WAS MOZART DOING “TODAY” (APRIL 14th)?

 

Mozart as he would have appeared in 1789

Making moves and impressing royalty of course!

It would be on the 14th of April in the year 1789 that a 33-year-old Mozart would perform for the court of Prince-Elector Friedrich August III his so-named “Coronation” ^[1] Piano Concerto No. 26 (K.537).

It would be one of Mozart’s last performing appearances at any Royal court. The 33-year-old composer would succumb to an unknown illness just two years later, leaving this earthly sphere at the still tender age of 35.

The “Coronation”: Piano Concerto no. 26 (K.537):

^[1] The name “Coronation” was attributed to the Piano Concerto No. 26 by posterity. It was granted the esteemed title following the coronation of Leopold II as Holy Roman Emperor, for which Mozart performed the piece at Frankfurt am Main in October of 1790.

Navigate the pages below to read Barrington’s letter to Maty:




-Rose.

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AN UNRAVELING MUSICAL MYTHS SOUNDTRACK FOR A HARROWING HELL-OWE'EN (PART II OF III)

UNRAVELING MUSICAL MYTHS' HELLISH HELL-OWE'EN PART II OF III

Let's pick up where we left off..


STEFAN PRINS: GENERATION KILL


Chill-seekers searching for over the top, multi-media terror need look no further than Belgian composer Stefan Prins' "Generation Kill." You might want to dust off the old projector screen and let this video roll. Composed in 2012 in dedication to the Nadar Ensemble, Prins' "Kill" is as horrifying to watch as it is hear. This avant-garde production calls for "percussion, e-guitar, violin, violoncello, 4 musicians with game controllers, live-electronics & live-video," leading to an eerie cacophony of bizarre audio and visual effects that appear as though they were sliced straight out of a horror film. 

What is truly eerie about this piece lay in it's underlying theme: who is running the show? Those at the control deck? The musicians themselves? Are they performing live, or are they hollow shells, previously filmed in an unknown, discreet location? Prins intentionally left the answers to these questions lurking within the dark abyss of ambiguity.


GYÖRGY LIGETI: VOLUMINA (EPILOGUE)


Hungarian-Austrian composer György Ligeti's "Volumina" for organ opens with a blood-curdling behemoth of dissonant tones that could make even Beelzebub's blood boil.

The devilishly dynamic cluster of sound is produced by the forearms of the organist, which Ligeti instructs must lay across an entire manual, with all of the instrument's stops pulled out. This shocking work initially proved too horrific even for the organ itself: whilst practicing the piece on Sweden's Göteborg organ in 1962, the over-strained instrument caught fire, leading to a cancellation of the work's scheduled premiere (once the church council at Bremen - where the live performance was scheduled to take place - caught wind of the organ's curious self-immolation.) Volumina would not hold its debut until the Spring of that year, and even then, only in the form of a pre-taped recording of a live performance.

EXPLOSIVE! FRENCH QUEEN AND MINOR COMPOSER MARIE ANTOINETTE EXPERIENCES HANDEL-ESQUE DISASTER AT WEDDING CELEBRATIONS feat. Did You Know? LULLY'S "PERSÉE" INAUGURATES ROYAL OPERA HOUSE AT VERSAILLES

It may just have been the first of many bad omens to come: 

247 years ago today, newlywed royal couple Marie Antoinette, (formerly archduchess of Austria and present Dauphine de France), and Louis-Auguste, (heir to the French throne and the future Louis XVI; both 14 and 15 respectively) would receive the shock of their young lives when, during the final festivities held for the future monarch’s recent nuptials, which had been hosted across Paris for some two weeks straight following the May 16th wedding – an errant firework (a rocket) veered off course and set fire to the Temple de l'Hymen (the Temple of Hymen), a specially constructed and elaborate structure erected especially for the royal couple at the Paris' Place de la Concorde.

The disaster would not only echo the calamity that befell Handel in London of 1749 – which also involved the presence of an elaborate structure (erected to serve as a dazzling backdrop for the display of lights) and it’s destruction by an errant firework – but would also succeed it many times over in scale of sheer catastrophe: whereas the tragedy at St James Park of 1749 only claimed two lives, the present disaster in Paris would number over 132 fatalities by the time the final body count had been tallied.

Below, Marie Antoinette biographer Charles Duke Yonge describes, in horrific detail, the deadly actions of the Parisian people as they went from awe to sheer terror - one moment admiring the pyrotechnic feat (even marveling at the raging inferno that lit up the Temple as the rocket struck, thinking it a newly created special effect), and the next, stomping on the bodies of their neighbors as they frantically clawed their way toward safety, running at full speed toward safe terrain (in as much speed as one might acquire whilst in the midst of a full blown stampede).

Perhaps most disheartening of Yonge’s account is the revelation that most of the victims were of the lowest economic class, who had likely come out to celebrate the union of the future king and queen of France, believing in the heirs to the throne as potential saviors to their financial woes. Many would not live to find out – those who were not trampled or otherwise suffocated in the stampede were callously tossed into a river and left to drown by their fellow spectators as they made a mad dash toward safety.

In any event, fate would see to it that the royal couple could have never served as saviors anyhow – the condemned couple would be famously stripped of their titles, beheaded under the sharp blade of the guillotine at the Place de la Révolution in 1793 Revolutionary France, and their corpses dumped in a common grave at the Cemetery of the Madeline – ironically, the very same resting grounds for the victims of the May 30th disaster at the Place de La Concorde.
 

*CLICK TO ENLARGE* A Contemporary mock-up of the Temple de l'Hymen

From "The Life of Marie Antoinette" by Charles Duke Yonge (1876, Harper & Brothers Publishers, New York):

Little as was the good-will which subsisted between Louis XV and the Parisians, the civic authorities thought their own credit at stake in doing appropriate honor to an occasion so important as the marriage of the heir of the monarchy, and on the 30th of May they closed a succession of balls and banquets by a display of fire-works, in which the ingenuity of the most celebrated artists had been exhausted to outshine all previous displays of the sort. Three sides of the Place Louis XV were filled up with pyramids and colonnades. Here dolphins darted out many-colored flames from their ever-open mouths. There, rivers of fire poured forth cascades spangled with all the variegated brilliancy with which the chemist's art can embellish the work of the pyrotechnist.

The centre was occupied with a gorgeous Temple of Hymen, which seemed to lean for support on the well-known statue of the king, in front of which it was constructed; and which was, as it were, to be carried up to the skies by above three thousand rockets and fire-balls into which it was intended to dissolve. The whole square was packed with spectators, the pedestrians in front, the carriages in the rear, when one of the explosions set fire to a portion of the platforms on which the different figures had been constructed. At first the increase of the blaze was regarded only as an ingenious surprise on the part of the artist. But soon it became clear that the conflagration was undesigned and real; panic-succeeded to delight, and the terror-stricken crowd, seeing themselves surrounded with flames, began to make frantic efforts to escape from the danger; but there was only one side of the square unenclosed, and that was blocked up by carriages.

The uproar and the glare made the horses unmanageable, and in a few moments the whole mass, human beings and animals, was mingled in helpless confusion, making flight impossible by their very eagerness to fly, and trampling one another underfoot in bewildered misery. Of those who did succeed in extricating themselves from the square, half made their way to the road which runs along the bank of the river, and found that they had only exchanged one danger for another, which, though of an opposite character, was equally destructive. Still overwhelmed with terror, though the first peril was over, the fugitives pushed one another into the stream, in which great numbers were drowned. The number of the killed could never be accurately ascertained: but no calculation estimated the number of those who perished at less than six hundred, while those who were grievously injured were at least as many more.

The dauphin and dauphiness were deeply shocked by a disaster so painfully at variance with their own happiness, which, in one sense, had caused it. Their first thought was, as far as they might be able, to mitigate it. Most of the victims were of the poorer class, the grief of whose surviving relatives was, in many instances, aggravated by the loss of the means of livelihood which the labors of those who had been cut off had hitherto supplied; and, to give temporary succor to this distress, the dauphin and dauphiness at once drew out from the royal treasury the sums allowed to them for their private expenses for the month, and sent the money to the municipal authorities to be applied to the relief of the sufferers. But Marie Antoinette did more. She felt that to give money only was but cold benevolence; and she made personal visits to many of those families which had been most grievously afflicted, showing the sincerity of her sympathy by the touching kindness of her language, and by the tears which she mingled with those of the widow and the orphan.

Did You Know?

Inside the Royal Opera House at Versailles

The Temple of Hymen wasn’t the only structure to have been created in anticipation of the royal marriage of the Dauphin to the archduchess. 

In 1770, King Louis XV commissioned the construction of a large event hall at Versailles to serve as a ballroom for the wedding banquet and subsequent wedding related festivities. 

It would also serve as the first opera hall in France built in the shape of an oval. The Opéra Royal, as it was then called, was an architectural and technological wonder: boasting finely sculpted depictions of Greek gods and symbols marking the Zodiac, and a mechanically operated flooring system which could both raise the orchestra flush with the stage during balls, and lower it for more intimate occasions.

The newly installed opera hall at Versailles couldn’t have served as a better gift for the newly minted Dauphine de France - a musician and minor composer herself, who would later serve as musical patron, most notably to her musical hero (and former teacher) Christoph Willibald Gluck.

The first opera Marie Antoinette would have attended at the Royal Opera House (as the hall would later become known) was Jean-Baptiste Lully’s Persée, composed in 1682. It would serve as the inaugural performance for the venue, and the former archduchess of Austria would witness the occasion whilst still Dauphine.

Although the interior mechanism behind the rising floor may
appear rickety by modern standards, the design was considered
state-of-the-art technology in the late 18th century. The
complex system, consisting of winches and hoists, was
designed by the First Theatre Technician to the King,
Blaise-Henri Arnoult.

Although the state-of-the-art opera hall and its breathtaking acoustics – owed largely to the wooden structure of the venue – were considered a marvel and a sight to behold in it’s day, the opera house was expensive to maintain, and was only used some 40 times before the outbreak of the French Revolution.

Memorable performances during this period included Lully’s Persée in 1770 on the day of the royal wedding; a revival of Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Castor et Pollux in honor of the visiting Emperor and brother to the Dauphine, Joseph II in may 1777; and the revivals of Marie-Antoinette favorite composer Gluck’s Iphigénie en Aulide in late May of 1782 and Armide in June 1784. The latter production saw in attendance the King of Sweden, Gustav III, who was visiting the French court.
 
Listen below to the third act aria from Lully's Persée, "O tranquille sommeil" performed by the American tenor Rockwell Blake:




-Rose.

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MAYHEM BEHIND THE MUSIC: THE HOAX ON YOU (I had to!) Feat. Did You Know?

Unraveling Musical Myths is long overdue for another installment of MAYHEM BEHIND THE MUSIC…so today I share with the reader four salacious episodes of chicanery - grand spectacles of deception, illicit fraud and plain ole' taking the Mickey out of the often pretentious world of Classical Music and it’s highly esteemed, glamorous cohort, Opera.

Below you will find some of my favorite anecdotes involving deception, thievery, and delightfully drôle humor under the guise of ingenious hoaxery. 


I) THE NEW GROVE GIVES CREDENCE TO SPECTRES, DAMAGE CONTROL RAPIDLY ENSUES

We begin in that most historic, most diverse United Kingdom. It is the year 1980, and Stanley Sadie, editor-in-chief of the world renowned scholarly musical tome The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians has just approved the latest edition of the popular Western Music Reference guide, and gave the green light to the pressers to have the massive work set to print.

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, an encyclopaedic dictionary of music and it’s practitioners, was the brainchild of writer and Classical music aficionado Sir George Grove. Grove, a highly respected ‘expert’ in the field of music was revered in his day for setting to production a series of orchestral concerts and is notable for his discovery of the formerly ‘lost’ score Rosamunde, an early 19th century play scored by Franz Schubert and for his association with the Royal College of Music, the Royal Academy of Music, and popular musicians like Charles Villiers Stanford. As such, the classical music loving public trusted both the opinions and works held and supported by Grove…

*CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE* The "Baldini"
article as it appeared in The New Grove, 1980

that is, until one budding music scholar (and undoubtedly stalwart bibliophile) espied a most peculiar entry – two in fact – in the pages of the New Grove. The names Gulielmo Baldini, a musician from Italy (whose resumé boasted works dedicated to then ruling pontiff Pope Innocent IX); and the ‘composer’-cum-flautist Dag Henrik Esrum-Hellerup of Denmark (who counted among his musical protégés the so-called “Father of Czech Music” Bedřich Smetana - and whose father held an esteemed post as chamber flautist to the Dane King, Christian IX) – seemed at odds to this most inquisitive reader. Odd, in that he was certain he had never heard of either composer.

*CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE*
The "Ersum-Hellerup faux article,
The New Grove, 1980.

Indeed, the nefarious pair were soon discovered to be hoax entries in the dictionary (sometimes, a writer or editor would sneak into print an intentionally false or misleading article in an effort to combat copyright violations – however, in the case of Esrum-Hellerup and Baldini, plagiarism did not seem to be the motivating factor for the gag – which was likely submitted to editors in adolescent-like jest). 

When Sadie caught wind of the fake entries, he became outraged and refused the production of a second printing until he was certain all traces of the offending material were wiped clean. To rub salt in the wound, the person of Baldini, it was later discovered, was based on a character created by a German musicologist nearly a century and a half earlier for a bogus dictionary!

The Grove’s sister publication, Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, published in Germany, is said to still have the false Baldini and Ersum-Hellerup articles in it’s print, although the latter is clearly identified as being a spoof.


II) MOZART WIDOW, CONSTANZE MOZART “DISCOVERED” IN LONG LOST LONE PHOTOGRAPH

A Daguerreotype (a primitive form of photography/photographic process) allegedly featuring the camera shy widow Mozart re-surfaced in the budding years of the present century. The grainy black and white image depicts a black-haired, somber looking “Constanze,” flanked by Swiss composer and confidante Max Keller and his immediate family and is estimated to have been photographed sometime in October of 1840 at the Keller home.

The alleged "Constanze Mozart," (BL); Max Keller (BC) & the Keller family, c. 1840

The ‘discovery’ initially caused a sensation across the classical music sphere – however this unbridled enthusiasm would prove to be short lived when the print was dissected by modern Mozart scholars: Agnes Selby, author of “Constanze, Mozart’s Beloved,” had recalled reading reports of the hoax - which had been revealed nearly two centuries earlier - as the brainchild of an imaginative and most industrious Keller grandson. The “photo,” as it turns out, was certainly not a new ‘discovery’ – it has also been revealed that the same print had been published on at least two occasions in the mid-twentieth century, and was coined a hoax even then by leading Mozart scholars.

One of the present era's leading Mozart experts, the Austrian musicologist Dr. Michael Lorenz (himself a professional photographer) has also weighed in, offering his take on the questionable capture:

“There are no outdoor photographs of groups of people dating from 1840 because the lenses invented by Joseph Petzval, which were to make such portraits possible, were not available yet."

I think that about puts this Moz-artful fable to rest.


III) CONTEMPORARY ICON POSES AS DOWN-TRODDEN BUSKER IN BUSY UNDERGROUND RAIL SYSTEM, CHALLENGES POPULAR PERCEPTION OF CLASSICAL MUSIC AND IT’S PRACTITIONERS/ADMIRERS

Famed American violinist extraordinaire, Joshua Bell, whose extraordinary talents saw the musician performing as a soloist with the prestigious Philadelphia Orchestra under maestro Riccardo Muti at the tender age of just fourteen, and whose sensitive interpretations of former classical masters has since catapulted the now 48 year old virtuoso into an iconic legend status and household name, partook in an experiment in January of 2007, initiated by the newsprint The Washington Post in an effort to conduct a blind study of public perceptions of class, music, fame and status.

Bell, who currently plays on a multi-million 1713 antique Stradivarius, the Gibson ex-Huberman, and who undoubtedly earns a most agreeable wage for his mesmerizing efforts took to Washington’s L'Enfant Plaza metro subway station, clad in casual attire and a baseball cap and began, like so many before and after him, to engage the practise of busking. After reviewing footage of the roughly 45 minute experiment courtesy of strategically placed hidden cameras, it was revealed that out of a total of 1,097 passers-by, only seven felt moved to stop and listen to the violinist – and out of that seven, only a single ‘audience’ member recognized him as Bell. Of the 1,097 people who simply passed by the musician, only 27 offered largesse: making for a grand total of $32.17. 

Bell at L'Enfant Plaza (performing the famous "Chaconne"^[1] from J.S. Bach's Violin
Partita No. II in D minor):


After it was revealed via the Post (which earned a Pulitzer Prize for piece) that the (perceived) downtrodden 'busker' was in fact the legend Bell performing for the general public the very same repertoire he had played at a paying concert only days before, the humble musician-turned-sociologist opened to a much greater, far more aware musical public at D.C.’s Union Station in 2014.

...second time's a charm (at Union Station in DC 7 years following the big reveal:)



IV) PIANIST'S OEUVRE CONTINUES TO MYSTIFY AUDIO ENGINEERS, ENRAGE CUSTOMERS

What list of hoaxes could be complete without laying mention to the name and person of (formerly) critically acclaimed pianist Joyce Hatto?

Hatto, an English concert pianist and music teacher managed to run her scam into the grave with the “assistance” of convicted fraudster and husband to Joyce, one William Barrington-Coupe, who secretly interwove performances of more skilled - and surprisingly, more famous - pianists into the works of Hatto, which were then sold as records for profit. (It should be mentioned, however, that due to the ‘success’ of the scam – that is – that it continued until the death of Hatto, (and even then, for some months postmortem) – that it remains debatable whether her husband acted alone or if Hatto was cognizant of his duplicity)).

Barrington-Coupe, who would later admit wrongdoing, only to recant his confession, then modify it, claimed a romantic act of love for an ailing master musician in Hatto, who suffered in her later years, succumbing to cancer in June of 2006. He has yet to reveal the full extent of Hatto’s involvement in the scheme.

Listen to a play-by-play account of how this remarkable 'discovery' unfolded (with the help of iTunes, no less), as told by James Inverne, editor of Gramophone Magazine at NPR (click the red play button on external site):

don't forget to read the transcript - it details Barrington-Coupe's "confession"- here.

Enjoy below a documentary on the Barrington-Coupe-Hatto debacle: The Great Piano Scam: 

Footnotes:

^[1] Notorious for being one of the longest, most arduous solo pieces ever written for the violin, Bach’s Chaconne still manages to thrill both audiences and performers alike even in the present era, with violinists of the caliber of Bell and Baron Yehudi Menuhin (22 April 1916 – 12 March 1999) declaring the piece “structurally perfect.”

From Bell: 

“[it is] not just one of the greatest pieces of music ever written, but one of the greatest achievements of any man in history. It's a spiritually powerful piece, emotionally powerful, structurally perfect."

The Chaconne’s grandiose allure even captured the attention of megalithic composers throughout posterity. 19th century late-romantic composer Johannes Brahms once described his initial reaction to hearing the piece in a letter to fellow composer Clara Schumann thusly:

“The Chaconne is for me one of the most wonderful, incomprehensible pieces of music. On a single staff, for a small instrument, the man writes a whole world of the deepest thoughts and the most powerful feelings. If I were to imagine how I might have made, conceived the piece, I know for certain that the overwhelming excitement and awe would have driven me mad.”

Want more? 

The following motley group of otherwise clever hucksters have made their mark on the pages of unravelingmusicalmyths:

• Paganini's Gift from Lucifer: under Supersitions, Mayhem at unravelingmusicalmyths
  
  
• Musical skulls: Haydn Seek and Where Mozart thou, Wolfgang? 
  
  
• Count von Walsegg’s Requiem Mass – Mozart Who?

More Mayhem at Unraveling Musical Myths:

• Classical Music & Opera: THE MAYHEM BEHIND THE MUSIC

Did You Know?

..that antique stringed instruments, such as the violins crafted by the famous Stradivari family owed their pristine sounds to the guts of sheep?

The tensile material was extracted from sheep postmortem by a farmhand in a rather crude - yet extremely precise fashion: hung atop a large wooden barrel a specially trained worker would make a small incision at gut level on the cadaver, being careful not to puncture the intestinal wall and expel gas and/or other detritus from the animal. The incision, with the aid of gravity, would be drawn southward toward the anus, whereupon the farmer would extract from the sheep the intact bowels.

The next gruesome bit would involve the manual separation of the small intestine from the large - this and the later stages of string making were perhaps the most nauseating  - not to mention the most dangerous - for the farmhand, who often worked from dawn to sundown as the demand for quality violins increased. Taking portions of the small intestine in hand, the worker would prime the casing by squeezing - with his bare hands - the excrement from the intestine, before beginning a process of manual irrigation using water, and fumigation by using a primitive funnel and the highly toxic chemical agent, sulfur.

The cleansed casings would then be carefully woven in intricate fashion by twisting to create a single string.

The occupation of string making was a highly competitive field, and one compensated for engaging in the works' rather macabre labor by a sense of pride in turning something once so degradable into something quite valuable (the proceeds of such intensive labor, however, went to the violin makers themselves - to famous families such as the Stradivari, who in turn soaked up much critical esteem.)

Perhaps the most significant marker of antique gut-stringed instruments lay not in the sublime sound quality they produce - but rather in the marketable value of the instrument itself as related to it's maker. Violins by brands such as Stradivarius continue even in the present era to appreciate in value: Bell is rumored to have purchased the the Gibson ex-Huberman for an amount approaching a ballpark of four million dollars, well below it's estimated value, which is in excess of 10 million.

The website Cmuse has a comprehensive list of various antique violins, with bonus blurbs regrading each instruments prior owners/loanees. Very interesting stuff. Check them out here.

-Rose.

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