Musician and manager: the Halle-Forsyth correspondence of 1885-7 (Manchester Sounds, volume 5: 2005)

Musician and manager: the Halle-Forsyth correspondence of 1885-7

(Manchester Sounds, volume 5: 2005)

WE know very little of the everyday relationship between Hallé and his closest associates, the Forsyth brothers, who were his concert agents, publishers, piano technicians, and in many ways personal managers and agents, beyond the band book of 1880-1912 which has survived, listing members of the Hallé Orchestra and their pay rates.

But a remarkably full set of Hallé’s business letters to James Forsyth, covering just two years, when he was at the height of his powers, has survived in the archives of Forsyth Brothers, and they provide a fascinating insight into the way the partnership worked. Hallé’s letters are all personally handwritten: most are extremely short, the sort of messages which would be sent by email today.

We have only Hallé’s side of the correspondence, sadly: reading the letters is rather like listening to one side of a telephone conversation, and some references are difficult to understand. But enough are plain to allow a reasonably complete picture of Hallé’s way of organising his activities at the time to emerge.

The sequence begins on October 1st, 1885 – the point in the year where, whatever had occupied him during the summer and early autumn, Hallé always returned to Manchester to prepare for his new season of concerts. His preoccupations, not surprisingly, were with advertising the opening concert and re-assembling the orchestra whose members had gone their separate ways since the previous April. Accordingly, he wrote to Forsyth:

“I enclose the first programme and suppose you will have it inserted in next Saturday’s papers. Nothing has been heard of Crosa[1] and I begin to think that we must take him out of the list: but we will give him a few weeks’ more grace.”

An undated letter (which may in fact have been an enclosure in the one just quoted) gives some text material, laid out in separate lines for each composer, for the season announcement:

“It is intended to produce at the Choral Concerts:

The Messiah and Samson by Handel,

Elijah by Mendelssohn,

The Creation by Haydn,

Faust by Berlioz,

Mors et Vita by Gounod,

The Holy Three Children [sic] by Stanford,

The Spectre’s Bride by Dvorak”

Hallé knew that the choral items in his programmes were almost always the best attended, and they were thus at the heart of his advertising before the season began. All of these works were duly performed in 1885-86 in Manchester (and the Stanford work was correctly named as The Three Holy Children).

By the end of the week, he was off on a brief tour to Carlisle and Scotland, and the next three letters come, respectively, from the County Station Hotel, Carlisle, the Golden Lion, Stirling, and the Royal Hotel, Edinburgh. On October 5th, he supplied information about the items to be sung by the opera star Madame Albani[2] in the opening programme in Manchester on October 29th, so that Forsyth could include them in the advertising.

On October 8th, another subject entirely occupied his attention, as he sought to quell, from a distance, a rumour in Manchester that he and Wilma Norman-Neruda[3] were about to be married (see further on this in chapter ??). By October 11th, Forsyth had evidently reassured him on this score, as he thanked him for his letter and decided further steps were unnecessary. He was to appear at the Gentlemen’s Society matinée recital the following day and must have travelled home to Manchester during the afternoon or evening, as he told Forsyth he would be at Greenheys until half past two, and then at the Concert Hall (the recital was at 3pm).

This was but a flying visit, however, as the next instruction came from the Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool (on October 13th):

“Will you kindly have the few alterations made in the list of the band which I have marked on the enclosed? There will be two more, as Crosa has not given sign of life and Breitbarth[4] has retired . . .”

And then it was off to London. Hallé instructed Forsyth that his address the following day should be c/o an address in Reigate, Surrey, then for two days his London home (11, Mansfield Street), after which he would be in Bristol for six days (Saturday to Thursday) [for the triennial festival].[5] Domestic concerns required his attention during the two days he spent with his eldest daughter, Marie, who now held the reins at Mansfield Street, as he wrote on October 16th:

“My daughter wishes much to know when she may expect your usual quarterly cheque?[6] She is housekeeper and seems to have run dry, so you will pardon the question, I am sure. You might send it to me to Bristol, as she will be going into the country to-morrow.”

Once in Bristol, he had to make the final arrangements for the opening concert of the season in Manchester, now little more than a week away. From the Royal Hotel, he wrote (October 20th):

“Two of my daughters will be at the first concert; would that not have five places, if you arranged with Miss Ewart[7] to sit elsewhere for this once? Please send tickets as usual to Miss O’Hara, Miss Houffer and Mr E J Broadfield;[8] we may have plenty to spare this season.”

The next letter is from Manchester and comes a few days after the opening concert. On November 4th, Hallé wrote:

“I enclose list of extras and cheque . . . Young Spielman’s weekly salary is £2. 5. 0; have I not put it so in the band book? He says he received only £2 last week . . .”[9]

The next day the band was still being completed:

“I have one first violin more for the Miscellaneous Concerts[10] to make up the number. His name Akeroyd;[11] please pay him a guinea tonight. I have made no terms with him yet.”

(Two weeks later, Hallé had to admit he had put the wrong rate for both Speelman and another player in the band book, and asked Forsyth to increase the amounts by 5s in both cases).

Details of the printed concert programmes were still something that Hallé supervised personally, though Forsyth arranged for the printing and clearly had much of the detailed work to do: on November 18th he wrote to Forsyth:

“We shall have to pay a royalty for printing the words of The Spectre’s Bride [12]. . .”

and on December 2nd:

“I . . . return the programmes corrected; but can you not get the words of the Air from The Crown Diamonds?[13] If you cannot get the French words the English version might be given; it begins ‘I would rend the chains’, page 146 of Boosey’s Edition.”

Later in December, there seems to have been a misunderstanding about pay arrangements. Hallé was accustomed to send Forsyth a cheque to cover the amount needed to make up the salaries of the “weekly band” members (those paid a regular wage, rather than per performance) above the amounts chargeable to the Manchester concerts, and also to cover any extras. Apart from that, payments to both the “weekly” and “additional” players were accounted for out of concert receipts in Manchester, and made to both groups by Forsyth’s, week by week on Thursday nights. The duplicated Christmas performance of Handel’s Messiah, which had become customary now, was an anomaly. Hallé wrote to Forsyth on December 18th:

“. . . I have never sent a cheque for the extra Messiah night as the band has always been paid in the usual way and will be the same as yesterday; the only difference is that we have not to pay the weekly band and that the cost of the weekly band is to be put down as £53 7s 0d, which sum, together with the money for Straus,[14] is to go to the bank. The others, Jacoby,[15] Bauerkeller[16] and the rest, are to be paid their usual terms out of the receipts.”

Straus, the leader, and Jacoby and Bauerkeller, front-desk violins, were the highest-paid of the group whose rate was per-performance – ie the “additional” band. Hallé is saying that their fees will be taken literally from the receipts – though the fact that Straus’s fee was paid to Hallé’s account at the bank implies that Hallé would make settlement personally in his case, perhaps adding something, as he is known to have done in the case of some soloists. The point of having the cost of the weekly band “put down” against the receipts of the second performance, though they were not paid separately for it, could be to create a more realistic indication of profitability in the accounts for that evening. But to account for it in this way and pay the money to the bank (in this context the phrase always means Hallé’s own account) was somewhat pointless, as Hallé would have been entitled to the same amount as part of the net proceeds of the concert anyway – unless, of course, it was a device for him to pay a Christmas bonus to all the weekly members (which would still have been a personal gift in that it would necessarily diminish Hallé’s own “profit” from the season).

On January 9th, 1886, Hallé acknowledged a statement (presumably of results and proceeds for the Manchester concerts for the first half of the season) with accompanying cheque, and advised Forsyth that the fees for George Henschel and his wife[17] for their forthcoming joint visit would be 60 guineas (they appeared on January 14th, singing two duets and a solo each).

By January, Hallé’s thoughts had moved on to the next season – an undated letter, but almost certainly from early 1886, is concerned with available dates for the performance of Messiah in the following December. There were customarily two in the Free Trade Hall now, usually on consecutive days, the first a Thursday and thus part of the subscribers’ series entitlement – but this year Christmas Eve itself was a Friday. He toyed with the idea of making the extra Messiah come before the subscribers’ performance:

“Will you kindly enquire at once if we can have the Free Trade Hall for the 22nd of December (Wednesday), as Lloyd[18] has got an engagement offered for the 23rd, which he will, of course, decline if I want him. But – will it be right that the subscribers should have the second[19] performance of the Messiah? That is a very serious question, about which I should like to have your opinion. I think it would give some offence, and it might be better therefore to have the Messiahs on the 16th and 17th of December; all the more as De Jong[20] will certainly give it on the 18th.”

It seems Forsyth wisely concurred with this suggestion, as on January 23rd Hallé had made his mind up – and further proposed a little of what we would call market research (and public relations):

“We will fix December 16 and 17 for the ‘Messiahs’.  .  .  I should much like to reduce the number of choral concerts to six; could you not, by degrees, ascertain from some of the subscribers what would be thought of the change?  We could give a good many reasons for it, such as greater regularity, every third concert being a choral one – say: 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, or 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, dividing them equally between the even and odd numbers; further, more time for due preparation, especially of new works, and so on. We will have a talk about it soon . . . “

In the event, this did not lead to an immediate change: there were eight choral concerts in the 1886-87 season, as in previous ones – in fact, there were nine, for a reason which will become apparent. But change came the next season (see below).

 On January 25th, Hallé had to tell Forsyth that a planned performance (on the 28th) of movements from Liszt’s symphonic poem, Tasso, would be postponed because the parts had failed to arrive.[21] Hausmann, the cello soloist for the concert, would be paid 20 guineas – “but will you kindly pay that sum into the bank, as I have to give him a cheque for three concerts.”

More correspondence on artists’ terms followed: Miss Anna Williams[22] (soprano in Elijah, February 4th) “has decidedly raised her terms to 30 guineas” (this was written on the day of the performance). Miss Hope Glenn (the star contralto), however, would still be 15 guineas, and Miss Allton (the second soprano) five guineas.

The weekend after the next concert saw Hallé and the band off to Scotland for the annual Reid Concert,[23] which had to be held on February 13th every year, regardless of what day of the week it was (fortunately, this year it was a Saturday). Hallé would have been paid an all-inclusive fee for this, and liked to take a large orchestra to Edinburgh for such a prestige occasion. He usually managed to fit in another performance over the weekend at the same time, consequently there was a large number of “additional band” payments to be made. On the 17th he wrote to Forsyth:

“I enclose a heavy cheque and shall be extremely glad if you wipe off the Scotch concerts tomorrow according to the list over leaf . . . “

A new oratorio by Stanford[24] was to be performed, with the composer conducting, in Manchester on February 25th in Manchester, and on the 20th Hallé advised Forsyth:

“ . . . For the performance of The Three Holy Children,[25] Messrs St Lucas and Wilkes charge £10 for the hire of the music and the right of performance. Will you please make my son’s terms 10 guineas this time?  . . .”

(Clifford Hallé, the conductor’s eldest son, was possessed of a tenor voice and had made his Manchester debut at the previous concert on November 25th, singing a romanza from Meyerbeer’s Dinorah, a duet from The Marriage of Figaro with Biro de Marion, and two solos in the second half).

More details of soloists’ payment arrangements followed on March 3rd, for the concert the next day:

“Miss Marriott’s[26] terms are as before: 25 guineas. Joachim’s[27] also as before and please pay them into the bank . . . “

This time, Hallé’s slightly pedantic use of a plural to refer to the word “terms” led to a misunderstanding. On March 19th – Hallé is in London now – Forsyth was told:

“Vert[28] just writes to me that Miss Marriott was not paid on March 4th. Is this so, and was the money paid into the bank? . . . “

March 22nd (London again):

“Thanks for your note. I had meant that only Joachim’s terms were to be paid into the bank, but had badly explained it. I have made the matter right . . . “

But there were other things on Hallé’s mind, too. Never one to allow costs to run away with him, he enquired on the same day:

“ . . . Would Mr Hipkins[29] at his leisure send me a list of all the paid[30] members of the Chorus, together with the amount of their individual salaries? I have an idea that great reductions might be made.”

Perhaps this was Plan B, when the proposal to reduce the number of choral programmes fell on stony ground? Hallé had paid some members of his chorus from the early years onwards (originally having to negotiate considerable controversy over his decision to bring “professional” and “amateur” choralists together), as his concert accounts[31] show. He finally discontinued the practice in 1892.

Hallé seems to have been a little concerned about the likely level of income which the next year’s concerts might earn for him, as he followed it up with this, on April 28th (from London):

“I have disposed of all my orchestral concerts for the next season except one, for which there are also several applications. Before entertaining any of these I should like to ask your opinion about the advisability of giving one extra, or “benefit” concert on Thursday the 17th of March?[32] I have not done so for very many years and perhaps it might answer; the band would cost less, of course (under £100) and perhaps some vocalists might volunteer their services . . . As a rule, I am against these benefit concerts, but just for once it might be well supported.”

Benefit concerts were an everyday occurrence in 19th century: just as in the theatre, including operatic runs, the final week or so of performances were devoted to “benefits” for each star performer, to exploit their personal followings, so a popular concert series such as Jullien’s[33] or De Jong’s almost always ended with one or more “benefits” for the promoter of the enterprise. This did not mean every performer gave their services gratis, but some might, and some might reduce their expectations in the interests of goodwill, while the event enabled the public to express theirs. Hallé, as he says, did not normally follow the practice, and it would have been strange, bearing in mind the subscription basis of his support, if he had – though there had been the 1859 “complimentary” concert, promoted by his supporters, to recoup the non-profitability of his second season in Manchester – and he had added to the 1864-65 season a benefit for Ernst,[34] in which Joachim took part, and to the 1882-83 season a concert in aid of the Manchester Royal Infirmary. Perhaps we should be mindful on this occasion that the preceding season had seen his returns from the Manchester concerts reduced to £1,188 after a run of five years in which they had been in a range of £1,483-£1,852).[35]

His next letter indicates that already preparations were under way for the 1887 Royal Jubilee Exhibition at Old Trafford, and his part in its opening ceremony, as on May 23rd he asked to be sent a full copy of the programme from the opening of the 1857 Art Treasures Exhibition (the event which had provided Hallé’s first chance to show Mancunians what he could do with a massed choir on a big ceremonial occasion – it was also the occasion of the first formation of Hallé’s orchestra). No doubt he felt that would make an auspicious model.

A letter of July 3rd, also from London, expresses his enthusiasm over a 60-strong Russian choir which had visited the capital and was on its way to Manchester. He suggested Forsyth should show his note to both Freemantle,[36] the Manchester Guardian music critic, and Broadfield.

By mid-September, it was time to think of the next Manchester season. Hallé wrote from Warsash Lodge, near Titchfield in Hampshire (the home of the Sartoris family, with whom he had first stayed on arrival in England and where he usually spent a part of the summer: the singer Adelaide Kemble, daughter of Charles and younger sister of Fanny, was Mrs Sartoris, and Hallé’s grand-daughter, Cecile, became a Sartoris by marriage), on September 13th:

“As the first recital at the Concert Hall takes place on the 4th of October, I may possibly come to Manchester for a few days towards the end of this month. I should be thankful if you would most kindly take care that a piano be in Greenheys about the 27th inst. Hipkins has already the list of concerts . . .

“When is Richter coming? Vert told me that the London series has resulted in a loss and he is out of pocket and hopes to get his money back by the autumn concerts.”

(Hans Richter’s concerts in London and the provinces were one of Narciso Vert’s major promotions, and attracted exceptional enthusiasm, especially among the disciples of Wagner, for whom he catered in particular. Hallé’s interest in his work is not surprising, and Hallé’s enlargement of his orchestra and inclusion of Wagner in his programmes in succeeding years may well have been a response to the popularity of Richter’s concerts, which brought a top-class London orchestra to Manchester often on dates very close to Hallé’s. Richter was conducting his own orchestra in the Free Trade Hall on the night when Hallé’s death became known, and was, of course, later to become permanent conductor of the Hallé Orchestra).

Plans for the season just beginning still needed completion, and Hallé was still at Warsash Lodge on October 15th, although it seems he paid a visit to Greenheys, now no doubt equipped with its piano, before that date. He wrote to Forsyth on September 26th from Hampshire, saying he would personally bring the outline of the second concert, and the all-important band book, on Monday October 4th. On the 15th he sent details of the duet and songs to be included by Mrs and Mrs Henschel, who were to appear on the 28th (the second half, including contributions by the husband-and-wife soloists, was entirely music by Liszt, as an In Memoriam to the late composer).

A crisis struck as the season began, with the incapacity through illness of Grosse, the veteran principal clarinet who had been with Hallé since before 1857.[37] Hallé wrote to Forsyth:

“There seems to be not the slightest chance of poor Grosse being ever able to play again, and I have therefore verbally engaged another clarinet player with the understanding that if Grosse should recover he will retire[38] . . . “

The new man’s salary had been agreed as £4 10s 0d weekly, but Hallé was concerned that some money should still be available for the stricken Grosse (who had been on £6 per week). His first thought was that 15s should be provided for Grosse in the orchestra costs and that he would himself save the remaining 15s by deducting that amount from the cheque he sent for the weekly band’s supplementary payments – but then his generosity grew:

“I shall reduce the weekly cheque by 15 shillings and you will the Thursday’s salary of the first clarinet also by 15 shillings, which will make it square . . .  PS On second thoughts, I ask myself if it would not be better to leave the salary of the first clarinet as it stands, to pay Mr Hoffmann his £4 10s 0d weekly, and to hand the remaining 30s to Grosse. What do you say to it?”

This was what was done: the 1886-87 band book shows that, although Grosse’s salary was still entered and used to calculate the total orchestra cost, the name of Hoffmann has been inserted in pencil as well, with a weekly salary rate of £4 10s 0d. The next season Hoffmann appears in his own right – and is still paid £4 10s 0d.

For the second concert, on November 4th, Madame Albani appeared again (she sang a scena from Der Freischutz, the balcony scene from Lohengrin and a waltz song, Nella calma, from Gounod’s Romeo Et Juliette). Hallé wrote on November 6th:

“As you say, the result is not satisfactory, and I feel sure that Gye [her husband] thinks there has been a large profit. I am glad Albani comes only once more, and in future I must drop her unless her terms are more reasonable . . . I enclose the little cheque . . .”

(Forsyth’s final accounts show this concert as making a net profit of only just over £5, so Hallé’s frustration is understandable. The “little cheque” was presumably the one for extras, etc).

In December, Hallé was still negotiating (through Forsyth) for a possible orchestral concert in Carlisle on February 11th, 1887. It seems that he was happy to make this the one that would complete the season’s tally – but had to contend with a promoter who thought he knew better on the subject of programming! (December 14th, followed by December 20th):

“It would be such a bother to find now another place for the remaining concert that I will accept Mr Benjamin Scott & Sons’ offer of £100 for an orchestral concert on the evening of Friday the 11th of February next, and I authorise you to close with Messrs Scott on my behalf.  Of course, I do not provide any vocalist . . . “

 “I enclose a very strong programme for Carlisle, but shall feel much obliged if you will kindly explain to Messrs Scott that the violin and other solo which they suggest would not be an improvement . . . In fact, I proposed an orchestral concert, with myself as pianist and conductor, but nothing else  . . . “

Hallé was in fact unwell during November and December, and Edward Hecht took his place as conductor for five Free Trade Hall programmes (November 25th – Dvorak’s St Ludmila, December 2nd, December 9th, December 16th – Messiah, repeated December 17th, and December 23rd). He also had to cancel a Gentlemen’s Concerts piano recital announced for December 6th.[39] But he was determined to be back on the rostrum for the performance of Berlioz’ Faust on December 30th. He wrote on the 21st:

“ . . . There is no longer any doubt that I shall be able to conduct the performance [on December 30th]; how shall we make this known? . . . PS Weekly cheque with the addition of £1 3s 6d for Vernon, the violinist . . . I noticed that last week you paid into the bank for Straus only one, instead of two concerts, so that the profits were still smaller by five guineas!”

(This probably refers to the Messiah performances: Straus, the orchestra leader, was paid per performance, which meant he should be paid twice for the Christmas Messiahs: the previous year there had been a muddle, too!).

On December 22nd, Hallé was taking care that his piano solos should follow the exact text of his own editions where possible:

“I mean to play at the next recital at the Concert Hall Haydn’s Sonata in E flat, which is in Section III of the School.[40] Can you send me a copy of it in the new edition? I have only the old one; and can you add to it Weber’s Polacca in E flat,[41] the first of the two?”

He was also busy making up for lost time in arrangements for forthcoming concerts. One slot unfilled was that of a singer for the one on January 27th, 1887. On December 2nd, 1886, he asked Forsyth:

“. . . Do you think Miss Crabtree would do? And in that case would you kindly inquire if she is free and what pieces she would like to sing? I see that she sings at Henschel’s next concert.”

Lily Crabtree was a young local soprano, and the Henschel concert was one of the popular baritone and conductor’s Manchester appearances, which were frequent at this time. Hallé clearly decided that the only way to satisfy himself as to her real abiltlies was to ask her to sing for him privayely, and on December 28th he informed Forsyth of his conclusions. This letter is a charming example of that remarkable gift for diplomacy which found its expression in Hallé’s career more than once (it is no wonder he was invited to become a professional diplomat back in 1848!):

“I have heard Miss Crabtree today and am rather puzzled. She has undoubtedly a big voice but much to learn still and ought not yet to choose too ambitious pieces, which she seems inclined to do. If her mother had not been present, I should have made some observations which might have seemed too severe to that good lady; one of them would have been that she must guard carefully and constantly against the tendency of singing flat, which today was evident from beginning to end. One cannot say that she actually sings out of tune, but she keeps you constantly in fear that she will do so and that tells against her very much. In spite of all this she ought to be encouraged and if she can sing for me on the 27th of January I will try and get Mr Guckin[42] also (for she would not yet do quite alone) and she might sing an Air and a Duet with him and he also an Air . . .

“I have conducted rehearsal and concert yesterday and feel none the worse for it; so I shall enjoy Faust.”

By December 29th, the “benefit” idea was on again. Hallé wrote:

“I enclose the weekly cheque for tomorrow.  . . Could you not casually mention to some of our best vocalists that I shall have a “benefit” on the 17th of March? Who knows, but one or the other may volunteer.”

Hallé clearly obtained the goodwill of Mary Davies, Edward Lloyd and Charles Santley, the principal soloists in his December Faust, to be soloists in an extra performance of it as his benefit – but the problem was timing. Vert told Hallé the singers were engaged in London on March 17th and 19th, 1887, and would not appear in Manchester on the 18th because of the proximity of dates. He wrote to Forsyth (on January 10th):

“ . . . Vert said yesterday that the 18th was also impossible, on account of the Albert Hall concert next morning,[43] but I have written him again and asked him to try and induce them to undergo the little extra fatigue on this occasion, but it seems impossible under the circumstances to request them also to sing for nothing. You may . . . try to get some abatement in their terms, but that will be all.”

They made singers of tough stuff, in those days. Hallé was seriously proposing that, after appearing in London on Wednesday, March 16th, they should sing Faust for him in Manchester on the 17th and get the train back overnight to sing again in the morning at the Royal Albert Hall on the 18th. However, he was aware that the prospect might not appeal, even for “abated terms”, and asked Forsyth whether the date of the benefit concert might be postponed. The trouble was that the fixed-term contract of the “weekly band” expired on March 23rd – the next Wednesday.

But things changed. A week later, he wrote to Forsyth that Mary Davies, Lloyd and Santley might all be free for the 12th, 16th, 18th, 19th or 23rd of March (perhaps the lure of payment, even “abated”, had changed Vert’s mind on the matter of their other pressing engagements), and on January 21st Hallé wrote:

“Now that Miss Davies, Lloyd and Santley and the Chorus are secured for March 18 you might perhaps inform Hilton of what is going on; perhaps he will come for his expenses and then we shall be complete.”

Hilton did indeed come, to sing Brander in the performance, in which Davies was Margaret, Lloyd Faust and Santley Mephistopheles. The December performance, with the same soloists, had been the occasion of Hallé’s return to the rostrum after his illness and had attracted 2,300 listeners – a very good figure for this time in Hallé’s concerts’ history.

However, in this on-off saga nothing was simple. On January 23rd Hallé had discovered that although he had engaged everyone for March 18th in Manchester, there was still an obstacle, in the form of a rehearsal for Lloyd and Santley fixed for the morning of the 19th in London:

“I am afraid Faust will be impossible after all. I heard from Vert that the Albert Hall people cannot change the day of the rehearsal and that he will ask Lloyd and Santley and let me know what they say. I do not think they will propose to travel back in the night, so there we are. Is the hall still open for the 23rd? Lloyd sings in Plymouth on the 24th, but if he has no rehearsal there he may perhaps consent to travel there on the same day, leaving Manchester at 8.25 and arriving at 5.50; however, it is very doubtful. I shall let you know the moment I hear from Vert.”

Two things stand out from this item: 1. the fact that many 19th century concerts were produced without any rehearsal for the solo singers at all; and 2. evidence of Hallé’s expertise in the use of Bradshaw’s Railway Guide – a characteristic mentioned by his son, Charlie, in his memoir of 1896[44] – which no doubt was useful in negotiations with agents such as Narciso Vert. It seems that either the morning rehearsal on the 19th was changed, or that Lloyd and Santley’s regard for Hallé was such that they would sleep on the train after their Manchester performance and be ready for the Albert Hall the next morning,[45] as nothing further about changing the arrangements is extant.

In the event, Lloyd sang Wagner at George Henschel’s London Symphony Concerts at London’s St James’s Hall on March 16th, and, after Hallé’s benefit on the 18th, he, Santley and Anna Williams were all to be found on the platform of the Royal Albert Hall the following afternoon at 3pm for a performance of Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle, conducted by John Stainer.

On January 26th, Hallé informed Forsyth that he had engaged the pianists Fanny Davies and Agnes Zimmermann to play the concertos for three pianos by Bach and Mozart with him in the concert of February 10th ­– extraordinarily late arrangements by modern standards, but probably not unusual at that time. He continued:

“I return the programmes corrected  . . . PS I also enclose the weekly figure. There are no extras.”

The plan, previously mentioned, to introduce the young and intonationally alarming Miss Crabtree with the “insurance” of Barton M’Guckin on January 27th, 1887,  obviously fell through, as in the end the vocalist on January 27th was Hope Glenn – and Bernhard Stavenhagen[46] was solo pianist on the same bill. But Hallé had not forgotten Lily Crabtree. In fact he had increased in his approbation of her abilties. On January 30th he wrote to Forsyth:

“Will you kindly remind Miss Crabtree that I expect her to sing for me on March 1st at Liverpool and March 3rd here, but that I cannot quite recollect what pieces we fixed upon . . . “

(There was another matter to discuss regarding Hallé’s own Liverpool series of concerts, which began in 1875 and continued even after his appointment as the Liverpool Philharmonic Society’s own conductor in 1886, but were perhaps not as profitable now as they once had been. He continued: “I should much like to have talk with you about the Liverpool concerts, as on the whole I am rather reluctant to give them up. Perhaps under a different management they might fare better, but whom do you recommend? And how to get rid of the Cramers[47] . . . ?”)

The Crabtree story had a happy ending: on February 27th, Hallé wrote to say he was happy to have her sing with minimal rehearsal:

“ . . . Could you possibly inform her for me that, on account of our travelling from Newcastle to Liverpool on Tuesday, there can be no rehearsal there before 4 o’clock or rather half past four. If she requires one I shall expect her at the hall at 4.30, if she thinks it unnecessary and could possibly call upon me at the Adelphi Hotel, say at 5 o’clock, we might then just run through the Valse by Randegger, the only piece with which we are not familiar . . . “

(The Manchester performance on March 3rd included Lily Crabtree as solo vocalist – including the Randegger “Valse brillante”, Marinella – but the presence on the bill of Joachim as solo violinist no doubt provided as much of the insurance element as could be desired).

On February 1st, Hallé had returned from a weekend visit to London and spoken to Narciso Vert:

 “Vert told me last Saturday in London that Stavenhagen had said he had not received his money or cheque last Thursday. This cannot be true, so will you kindly send one line to Vert to set matters right?”

On March 4th, he put his mind to the details of the programme notes for the concert six days later, at which Sullivan’s cantata The Golden Legend[48] was to be performed for the first time in Manchester:

“I think we must print in our programme the index as it is given in the pianoforte score, and state that we have not permission to print the full words. But I should let Novellos send as many books of words as they like, with the understanding that those not sold will be returned to them. It is better than to pick a quarrel about it. There is an organ part in The Golden Legend and also in the Sacred Dialogue[49] . . .”

The letter ended with a note of something that was to bear long-term consequences:

“ . . . I just hear that poor Hecht’s in a bad way . . .”

Edward Hecht (1832-1887), the German musician who had preceded Hallé in making his home in Manchester in the 1840s, and became his chosen successor as conductor of the St Cecilia Society as well as his chorusmaster and, finally, assistant conductor, had valiantly stood on the rostrum in Hallé’s place for five Manchester concerts (and, presumably, others outside the city) only the preceding November and December. Now he was dying.[50] But, to begin with, Hallé had other things on his mind. He wrote from Liverpool on March 15th:

“ . . . Have you heard anything more about the matter you mentioned in confidence last Thursday? I have heard very singular things with regard to the Exhibition which will not please the committee, nor Mr Freemantle.”

The Exhibition in question was the 1887 Royal Jubilee Exhibition, which was to take place in a new glass “palace” in Old Trafford (on the site of the 1857 Art Treasures Exhibition) quite soon now. Whatever Hallé had been told in confidence, there is a strong probability that the “singular things” which would not please music critic Freemantle were that Hallé’s orchestra was not to be engaged for daily music-making, as in 1857, but that Edward de Jong’s had obtained the contract. But Hallé was not going to dwell on imagined slights: he was too busy for that. The next day, back in Manchester, he wrote:

“Farnon is ill and has been away from two concerts; as last Monday I had to replace him I must fine him the one guinea which Verman has lost me, but let him off with that.”

In case this seems too much like Mr Gradgrind, we should bear in mind that sick pay as we know it was unheard of at this time, and Hallé was actually allowing Farnon to take part of his weekly wage despite his non-appearances. (A later reference – November 30th, 1887 – appears to indicate that in a case of long-term illness of a member of the “weekly” band, he would reduce pay by 10s per week, but not simply strike the man out while he could possibly return).[51]

Hallé was now entering the time of the year when (invariably) he had to be in two places at once, with the London season beginning but duties still calling in Manchester. He wrote to Forsyth on April 12th:

“Will you kindly write me a line to Mansfield Street to say if I have over £200 at the bank, or how much, and let me also have a cheque with which to draw the money out for investment.”

This is the first indication in documents relating to Hallé about the way in which he handled his personal finances. He was clearly a wealthy man by most standards, with households in both London and Manchester (though the house in Greenheys seems to have been unoccupied by his family for about half the year). But his son claimed that he was not very good at looking after the considerable amounts he earned, and it may be that his investment ventures were not particularly successful. Hallé had many things to think about – among them the opening ceremony of the Jubilee Exhibition, due on May 4th, 1887.[52] He was (whether by choice or imposition) to be in charge of a large chorus formed of members of different Manchester choirs, and was determined to weed out the weaker members before the day, writing on April 19th:

“Lane’s chorus[53] did very well indeed and I am very sorry for the trouble we have given him; but I noticed amongst the other singers, especially the sopranos, some that never opened their lips. Please ask Mr Edwards[54] to be very careful and perhaps to give it out that I shall examine every singer before finally admitting them; this may frighten some away – and probably I may try them all, as I shall be a full week in Manchester before the 3rd of May. In any case, the reduction in the chorus to 440 must be made in proportion and not fall upon Mr Lane more than upon any other society.”

As we know, all went well on the day except for the ciphering of the organ after God Save The Queen, and yet Hallé had, it seems, had to do more of the work preparing the chorus than he would have expected – perhaps particularly because of the non-availability of Hecht. Our next letter from Hallé is dated May 23rd, 1887, and by this time he is looking to a future without the assistance of his long-standing friend and colleague:

“ . . . It is time to decide the number of choral concerts for next season, and I am greatly puzzled. What do you advise: and could you possibly have a talk with some friends, Broadfield amongst them, as to the possible effect in the reduction of their number to six? . . . I dislike the idea of any change merely for the sake of making more money.”[55]

He refers to the need to appoint a new chorusmaster, and continues:

“ . . . I do not believe in Pyne, and his shirking the first rehearsal for the Exhibition seems to show a want of confidence in himself. Mr Beyschlag from Belfast . . . seems to me the most likely man . . . but then he is a foreigner . . . He is a better conductor than poor Hecht ever was and might replace me in case of need . . . also a very excellent pianist.”

J Kendrick Pyne was the organist of Manchester Cathedral and Manchester Town Hall, and later history shows that he became a major figure in Manchester music-making, but at this stage he was still a relatively young man. Adolf Beyschlag, however, seemed to be one after Hallé’s own heart – and got the job. On June 13th Hallé told Forsyth:

“He seems willing to come to Manchester if he can get the St Cecilia Society, besides my own chorus, to conduct . . . “

And on the 22nd:

“I have seen Herr Beyschlag, who accepts the conductorship of the St Cecilia Society on the conditions named in your letter (I suppose that a guarantee of £70 does not exclude the possibility of his getting something more if the number of members should be large enough), and also the post of chorusmaster for my own concerts . . . Could you also inform me what other societies poor Hecht conducted?[56] And could they be informed that I and the St Cecilia Society have chosen Mr Beyschlag as successor to Hecht? Then with regard to pupils you may recommend him as strongly as possible; he is an excellent pianist and I hope to arrange that he may play at the first concert of the Concert Hall and so introduce him.”

(The subsequent history, unfortunately, rather belies Hallé’s ability to choose the right man here. Beyschlag was not popular with the members of the St Cecilia Society,[57] and its decline seems to stem directly from his appointment. He was Hallé’s chorusmaster for two seasons only, and R H Wilson took over in 1889-90, holding the post for 36 years. Beyschlag moved to Leeds and seems to have been much more successful there.)

Hallé made his usual late summer visit to the Sartoris family at Warsash Lodge, Titchfield, in the summer of 1887, and wrote on August 10th:

“I think the enclosed paper may interest you. The latter part of the report will explain my connection with an affair which is so little in my line. There seems, however, every chance of its proving extremely valuable and if you should know of anybody who would wish to join the syndicate or should like to do so yourself I should be glad to hear from you as soon as possible. We have some first-rate men of business in the original synicate and good prospects for the new one.”

This was (as a letter to follow in September explains) an offer of shares in the Komati Gold Field, which Hallé seems to have recommended with great enthusiasm, apparently persuading Forsyth to invest £25 of his own money, too. Whether the investment ever paid off is uncertain. Hallé was on more familiar territory when he tried, on August 21st, to find an employment opportunity for a certain lady pianist:

“Are there still some large schools for young ladies in Cheshire or anywhere about, such as the Misses Bell’s was formerly? . . . The reason for inquiring is this: Mme Norman-Neruda’s sister, Miss Olga Neruda, is a first-rate pianist (pupil of Madame Schumann’s) and I can tell you honestly that she plays a deal better than Miss Janotha,[58] Miss Mary Davies[59] and all the young pianists which have appeared lately . . . She is dependant [sic] upon her sister and anxious to do something for herself, as she ought to do . . . I think she would be a great acquisition to a school such as I have mentioned above . . . “

He continued with the same thoughts on August 26th:

“ . . . What do you think of Liverpool as a place for private teaching? Or can you make any inquiries there? I do not think there is anybody there that could at all compete with Mlle Neruda, but it would be necessary to know how to push her if she chose to settle there.”

Olga Neruda was the sister of Wilma, the violinist, and Franz, the cellist, who were both closely associated with Hallé now. Franz played from time to time in the Hallé cello section, when not engaged in chamber music, and Wilma, of course, was the lady whose appearances and foreign travels with Hallé were now so frequent as to lead many to “put  two and two together”. Was this perhaps part of the domestic planning that would be necessary to bring about wedded bliss ­if Hallé and Wilma were to be together permanently? She later became a member of the teaching staff at Hallé’s Royal Manchester College of Music, and there is a memoire by an early pupil which features her bursting into one of Hallé’s lessons in a towering rage over some minor slight.[60] Whether she was a better pianist than Janotha or Davies must be open to question: she was certainly not nearly so well known.

Still at Warsash Lodge in August, Hallé had to think about arrangements for the choral concerts, as Beyschlag was not due in Manchester until the second week of September. On the 2nd he learned that the orchestra organist and choir accompanist, Joseph Bradley, had resigned. Perhaps he thought he should have got Hecht’s job.

“This is rather serious news about Bradley. Is he leaving at once? . . . Pyne is too “highty-mighty” and we want a good accompanist at the rehearsals . . . “

He asked for shortlist of possible candidates and the date of the first rehearsal. On September 4th, he seems to have narrowed it down to one:[61]

“I suppose he would be satisfied with the same salary which Bradley received; or would he accept something less, as the number of rehearsals has been reduced? . . . “

But that seems to have come to nothing, as the next reference (from Hallé’s London address, 11 Mansfield Street), is to Mr C H Fogg as “the most likely”. Hallé clearly knows nothing of him and asks for more particulars if possible. Fogg got the job, and held it for many years (he was the father of the composer and broadcaster, Eric Fogg).

In the second week of September, Hallé was back at Warsash Lodge and, for once, a little at sea about his own engagement details. On the 12th he wrote:

“I have accepted in March last an engagement (together with Madame Norman Neruda) for the 25th of October from a small society in Bacup. The hon. secretary and the treasurer came twice over to Manchester on concert nights for the purpose, but I cannot for the world remember the name of one of them, and ought to write them about the programme. Can you assist me at all?”

He added:

“PS Have you heard anything more about di [sic] Jong’s concerts?”

He did well to ask. After his success in landing the contract for orchestral music at the Jubilee Exhibition, and no doubt aware that he had a band ready and willing to work until its closure in early November, de Jong announced that his Saturday concerts, now well established as a fortnightly series of 10, would go weekly that autumn (they reverted to fortnightly afterwards).

The next day, Hallé had prepared his “band book” for Forsyth, with details of the orchestra’s salaries for the forthcoming season:

“I send you today the band book, without, however, the name of the organist which we must add later on. I think I shall take Mr Fogg, on trial at all events, and from the manner in which he writes I suppose he will be satisfied with £20 for the season.[62] Will you kindly speak to him and make him that offer, or shall I write to him? . . . The name of F J Batley stands twice: no. 87 and 101; the 15s under no. 87 he will receive at every concert as successor to Holt, the other 15s under no. 101 only when he plays the big drum.[63] I have dropped Knight as contra-fagotto and made an arrangement with Mr R Morton to come from London when that instrument will be required . . . although we shall have to pay him 5 or 6 guineas there will still be a little saving on the list of the band book . . . “ 

On October 8th, Hallé was in Scotland on a week’s tour. He wrote from the Royal British Hotel, Perth, explaining that he had heard that the closing ceremony of the Jubilee Exhibition had been put off to November 10th, the same day as his performance of Haydn’s Creation in the evening, but was sure it would be over by 4pm. His addresses for the next five days would be: Tuesday – Palace Hotel, Aberdeen; Wednesday – Caledonian Hotel, Inverness; Thursday – Golden Lion Hotel, Stirling; Friday – Central Hotel, Glasgow; Saturday – back in Manchester. Of such was an internationally famous musician’s life in 1887.

---

[1] One of Hallé’s first violinists: Batley’s list of orchestra members says he served from 1861-62 to 1885-86, so it seems he did eventually return, though this was his last season. See also the letter of October 13th, 1885.

[2] (Dame) Marie Emma Albani (1851-1930), French-Canadian soprano who married Ernest Gye (the lessee of Covent Garden opera house on his father’s death) in 1878.

[3] Wilhelmina Neruda (1838-1911), the daughter of a Bohemian organist and member of a talented family, toured as a child prodigy in the 1840s, and married Josef Neruda, composer and conductor in 1864. They separated in 1869, and her increasingly frequent visits to London begin from that date. She appeared in Hallé’s “recital” series at St James’s Hall at least as early as 1872, and from the late 1870s became virtually the resident artist at Chappell’s Monday and Saturday Pops. Hallé, of course, was also a regular guest there. She and he toured Europe together in 1881, and when her ex-husband died in March, 1885, it was not surprising that those who had observed their frequent close professional association began to put two and two together.

[4] A member of Hallé’s viola section from 1870-71 to 1878-79, and then 1884-85, according to Thomas Batley’s Sir Charles Hallé’s Concerts in Manchester (1896).

[5] Hallé conducted the Bristol Festivals from 1873 to 1893: eight times in all.

[6] Forsyth accounted for the final outcome of each Hallé concert series at its end, but there is evidence that he calculated interim results from quite early in the concerts’ history, and it seems that at this stage a system of regular part-payments had evolved.

[7] Miss Ewart seems to have a particular link with Wilma Norman-Neruda (and possibly her brother, Franz, and sister, Olga), as her name recurs in relation to them in the correspondence. A Mrs Ewart appears in Hallé’s piano recital subscriber list of 1855 (his first London recitals) – whether the same family is involved is unclear. There is also a mention of a Mr and Mrs Ewart in Hallé’s diary of his visit to Colombo, Ceylon, in 1890, on the way home from Australia (by which time Wilma Norman-Neruda was Lady Hallé). Why Miss Ewart was present at Manchester concerts is a puzzle, unless Wilma at this time was accustomed to spend time in the city.

[8] The Misses O’Hara and Houffer are a mystery to me: E J Broadfield was one of Hallé’s longest-standing supporters in Manchester and was to become his first biographer.

[9] This is a mis-spelling for “Speelman” – the younger player of that name at the time was Samuel Speelman, a member of the second violins, who was to join the firsts for 1889-90 and became leader of the seconds during the 1893-94 season, according to the Forsyth band book (Batley has him joining in 1881-82 for two seasons only, and lists another S Speelman as a second violin in 1888-89). His brother was Simon Speelman, a viola player from 1875 and leader of the violas from 1888-89. Another Speelman, M Goudmann (or plain G Speelman) appears as a back-desk viola from 1892-93 (Batley lists him from 1888-89). Batley also lists two more second violins called C Speelman (1878-79 only) and M Speelman (1879-80 only). Moritz Speelman was a brother of Simon and Samuel.

[10] Miscellaneous Concerts were the non-choral performances in Manchester: for these Hallé was, at this time, accustomed to add (more or less) an extra desk to each section of the strings.

[11] According to Batley, Akeroyd continued with the orchestra until Hallé’s death.

[12] The cantata by Dvorak given on the 26th.

[13] The opera by Auber.

[14] Ludwig Straus, leader of the Hallé Orchestra from 1872 to 1888, and a regular chamber music performer both in Manchester and at the Monday and Saturday Popular Concerts in London. A touching letter from him to Hallé on the occasion of his retirement from the leader’s chair is preserved in Hallé ed. Hallé, 1896, 349-350, and quoted in Kennedy, 1960, 76.

[15] Member of Hallé’s first violins from 1858, and also ?leader of the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.

[16] Member of Hallé’s first violins from 1866, and leader of a Manchester-based string quartet.

[17] George Henschel, German-born baritone and conductor (1850-1934) married the American soprano Lilian Bailey in 1881. After a time in America during which he founded the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Henschel returned to London and pursued a career as singer (often alongside his wife) and conductor. He instigated the London Symphony Concerts in ??, which although unsuccessful financially and ended in ??, provided a name for the orchestra founded in 190? 

[18] Edward Lloyd, tenor (1845-1927), a regular soloist for Hallé and described as “one of the best of living vocalists” by Brown, 1886: British Musical Biography.

[19] Hallé’s emphasis, in both cases.

[20] Hallé’s former principal flute, who established his own orchestra and Saturday night concert series in the Free Trade Hall in 1871, continuing them for the next 20 years.

[21] Hallé proposed postponement to February 18th, but on that day it was Liszt’s Orpheus that was performed, according to Batley. Batley gives the Tasso movements as if the performance did take place on January 28th.

[22] Soprano, debuted at the Crystal Palace in 1874.

[23] The concerts were established by the will of General John Reid (who also endowed the Reid chair in music at Edinburgh University), beginning in 1839, and had to include every year a piece composed by the general himself and to be held on his birthday. Hallé was first engaged to conduct them in 1869 (in succession to August Manns) and continued until 1890. A letter from him to a Scottish friend of February 26th, 1890, explaining his reason for finally giving them up, is preserved in Hallé ed. Hallé, 1896, 348-349.

[24] Charles Villers Stanford, Irish-born conductor and composer (1852-1924), studied with Reinecke in Leipzig and made a successful academic career at Cambridge and the RAM.

[25] It had been premiered at the Birmingham Festival the previous summer.

[26] Annie Marriott, soprano (1859-??).

[27] Hungarian-Jewish violinist (1831-1907), acknowledged as the master of his age, colleague of Brahms, as of Hallé, for whom he appeared in Manchester in 1858, 1862 and almost every year from 1866 onwards.

[28] Narciso Vert (18??-18??) was one of the first artists’ agents and at this time acted for most of the well-known soloists and some conductors.

[29] Probably the Forsyth’s employee responsible for making up payments and keeping the orchestra and chorus records.

[30] Hallé’s underscore.

[31] Now in the Henry Watson Music Library.

[32] This sentence seems to imply that Hallé drew up his contract for the “weekly band” – those engaged for a fixed period of weeks at a weekly salary, with a fixed number of concerts included but dates to be decided – before knowing which touring engagements he would finally accept. Judging by the surviving copy of Hallé’s standard contract of employment, for the 1888-89 season and dated April, 1888, his normal practice was to engage his weekly players at the end of the previous season. Presumably on this occasion there was a final Thursday night within the contract period but not included in the Manchester series. In fact we learn later (January 10th, 1887) that the contract ended on Wednesday, March 23rd, 1887, and the last concert of the Manchester series was on March 10th.

[33] Louis Jullien (1812-1860) was a pioneer of popular orchestral concerts in Britain and elsewhere.

[34] Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst, violin virtuoso (1814-1865), a close colleague of Hallé in his early years in Britain.

[35] On the benefit concert in the 19th century, see further in McVeigh, 1999. ??ETC

[36] George Fremantle, then music critic of the Manchester Guardian, who died in 1896.

[37] He is mentioned by Hallé in a diary entry of December 19th, 1855, as “our excellent clarinettist” of the Gentlemen’s Concerts orchestra, and played for Hallé in 1857 and every year subsequently.

[38] This probably means that the new player would back out gracefully, rather than that Grosse would compelled to give up work. The unpensioned 19th century knew nothing of that sort of retirement.

[39] See Manchester Guardian, December 4th, 1886.

[40] Charles Hallé’s Practical Pianoforte School, published by Forsyth, of course.

[41] Hallé’s underscore.

[42] Barton M’Guckin (1852-1917), a very popular Irish tenor of the day, long associated with the Carl Rosa opera.

[43] This may be an example of the common Victorian affectation of describing a performance in the afternoon as a “morning” one (a practice which survives in our use of the word “matinée”). If that is the case here, the event in question might in fact have been the 3pm Rossini one which ultimately took place – see below. But it would no doubt have had a rehearsal before noon.

[44] Hallé ed. Hallé, 1896, 152.

[45] Or, possibly, forego a rehearsal for the Rossini.

[46] Stavenhagen (1862-1914), pupil of Liszt and virtuoso pianist (one of the few of that breed to appear at Hallé’s concerts), had played Weber’s Concertstuck and two Liszt solos on January 27th, on an extensive European and North American tour.

[47] The agents for Hallé in Liverpool, one surmises.

[48] A sort of variation on the Faust story suitable for good Methodists, it soon acquired a keen following in Victorian England. Hallé told Broadfield (Broadfield, 1890, 67) that it was the only modern English choral work which had ever been able to pay its way in performance: in fact, this and the next (February 2nd, 1888) had both lost a small amount, and it was only when Hallé invited Sullivan to conduct it himself that the box office produced a good surplus (November 28th, 1889) – which was repeated in March, 1891. Results were virtually break-even in 1892 and 1895 (the latter three performances under Hallé’s baton).

[49] A piece for alto solo and chorus, by Albert Becker, which was also included in the programme for March 10th, 1887.

[50] Hecht took on the St Cecilia Society, originally founded by Hallé, in 1860, and served it for over 25 years. Its committee was originally all female, apart from Hecht himself and G E Duffield, its hon. sec. (also secretary of the Gentlemen’s Concerts Society and of Hallé’s choir). It met at the Royal Manchester Institute every other Monday from October to March, from 7.30 to 9.30pm. In 1876, six male members joined the committee, though women were still in the majority. Hecht instigated annual public performances in the Free Trade Hall in the same year, and approached Max Bruch for a new work, eventually completed and performed in 1877. Bruch was paid £10 for it. Hecht himself was awarded amounts varying between £50 and £100 per annum by the committee for his work. After a financial crisis in 1883, when Duffield had to be removed from office, all property removed from his hands by a new hon. sec. and over £100 “lost” by him written off, Hecht proposed works for the following season be The Conspirators or Domestic Warfare by Schubert and God Is Our Hope by Stanford. A year later, Hecht was unprecedentedly awarded £170 remuneration and now suggested Praise Jehovah (Mendelssohn) and Prometheus Unbound (Parry) as works for study. He evidently had a sense of humour. See the society’s minutes 1852-1898, Henry Watson library.

[51] F Brown, who served as a first violin from 1874-75 to 1892-93, according to Batley.

[52] This is the event from which the well-known photograph with Hallé and the Prince and Princess of Wales before a vast crowd survives.

[53] The choir in question is that of G W Lane (1854-1927), the gifted choral director whose Manchester choirs were called the Temperance Choral Society and (a larger body) the Manchester Philharmonic Choral Society. He was to begin large-scale concert giving in his own right in 1890 – a project from which, ultimately, grew the Brand Lane Concerts, which in the early 20th century ran alongside and occasionally almost rivalled those of the Hallé Concerts Society (with an increasing degree of co-operation between the two as time went by).

[54] A Forsyth’s employee now responsible for choir arrangements, one assumes.

[55] Perhaps Forsyth had been pressing him to take the step, not so much with the need to make more money in mind as that of saving costs. The 1886-87 Hallé season had ended, despite the “benefit” concert, with an even lower amount in proceeds for Hallé than the rather poor figure of the previous one.

[56] One of them was Stretford Choral Society.

[57] See the minutes of the Society, now in the Henry Watson library. Beyschlag was appointed on June 20th, 1887,  explicitly on the recommendation of Hallé, but less than a year later, on April 25th, 1888, E J Broadfield and a colleague were deputed to inform him that the society did not wish to re-appoint him. He resigned on May 2nd.

[58] Natalie Janotha (1856-1932), Polish pianist and pupil of Clara Schumann.

[59] He means Miss Fanny Davies (1861-1934), the distinguished pianist and chamber musician (also a pupil of Clara Schumann). Mary Davies was the singer already referred to.

[60] Kennedy, 1960, 91.

[61] The name appears to be Dr Lob – the same as the High Master of Manchester Grammar School?

[62] Fogg, though only playing at certain concerts, thus became an honorary member of the “weekly” band, and is shown in the band book as receiving his payment as a £1 per week wage.

[63] F J Batley. brother of Thomas the timpanist, had been with Hallé as percussionist and in other duties since the early years. He now became orchestra librarian in succession to Holt, and thus joined the “weekly” group, with a salary of 15s, as well as his performance fee of the same amount when he drummed.