MADAME NORMAN-NERUDA (LADY HALLe)

Her Birth--Precocity--Learns the violin at four years of age--First of women violinists--Sensation at her first public appearance--Arrival in London--Plays at Philharmonic concert, being ten years old--Tour in Russia--Arrives in Paris--Arouses enthusiasm--Second visit to London--Memorable consequences--a.s.sociation with Popular Concerts, directed by Arthur Chappell--Her great fame--Her character--a.s.sociation with Halle--Their memorable concerts--Experiences in England--Her position in musical history.

Wilma Neruda was born at Brunn, Moravia, in 1839. The family from which she came had been long famous in musical history. The story of her precocious genius reads, even to-day, as something akin to the marvellous. When she was about four years of age, her father, as the late Frantz Neruda told me, made her a miniature violin, more with a view to her amus.e.m.e.nt than with any contemplation of serious results.

It was not long, however, before he became conscious that in this little daughter, he possessed a treasure, and one that was likely to prove a moving element in musical history.

That his judgment was justified, events too have shown.

At that time, strange as it may seem now, the idea of a woman-violinist was not only foreign to public instinct, but was even contrary to the general sense of propriety!

Her fame, notwithstanding, rapidly increased in local circles, and it was not long before she was taken by her father to play before a great Church dignitary, not only to gain his patronage, but, through it, to allay any prejudice that might be aroused by so unusual a spectacle.

The interview was entirely successful, the Cardinal having heard her, saying, "One whom G.o.d has so blessed should play ever to His Eternal Glory." Her progress was so astonishing that her father took her, in 1846, to Vienna, where she made her first public appearance, at the age of seven.

The sensation her playing produced was phenomenal, and soon all Europe was eager to hear the wonder-child.

A grand tour was the natural result, during which she performed in the princ.i.p.al cities of Germany, and arrived in London in May, 1849. On June 11th she appeared at a Philharmonic concert, where she played a concerto by De Beriot, the child being then ten years old.

The enthusiasm with which she was received is a matter of history.

Her next important experience was a prolonged tour in Russia, of which she ever retained vivid memories. Many were happy, some lugubrious, and the one she most cherished was a cordial reception given to her by the Imperial family at St. Petersburg.

Her next scene of triumph was Paris. She arrived there in 1864, and made her first appearance at one of the Pasdeloup concerts--the most important organisation of the kind in France--with a success that was, as she often said in after life, perfectly bewildering.

It is not difficult to imagine it.

She was possessed of a technique that could hardly be surpa.s.sed, and a genius equally remarkable, a const.i.tution that defied fatigue, and an enthusiasm that years of incessant work such as she was destined to experience, did not dull.

There is little doubt that her great powers were displayed, at this time, in their most dazzling splendour.

In May, 1869, Madame Norman-Neruda--as she had become known through her marriage with the Swedish composer--visited London again, and the event proved to be decisive, little as she thought it, as to her future career. She came to play at a Philharmonic concert, but was prevailed upon to stay through the summer, so that she should inaugurate, in the autumn, a new era in the history of the "Popular Concerts"--an inst.i.tution that had been established ten years previously by the eminent firm of Chappell and Co., with the late Mr. Arthur Chappell as director. The main feature was the performance of cla.s.sical chamber music.

The event may be justly described as historic. Her success was absolute and convincing. The fact that a woman was seen "leading" a quartet of performers that embraced the greatest players that Europe could produce, was one of intense significance.

One great result was not long in showing itself. The violin soon became fashionable in a girl's hands, and from a fashion it has degenerated into a rage.

To her lasting fame, Wilma Neruda was the first to demonstrate, under conditions that were often discouraging and sometimes forbidding, that a woman could, in this form of art, hold her own with the greatest of male exponents.

Madame Norman-Neruda was a woman of extraordinary strength of character.

Austere in manner and of cold demeanour, as she undoubtedly was, in any direction that her sane judgment pointed out as worthy, she was capable of generosity that was, at once, spontaneous and n.o.ble.

Her most prominent characteristic was, I think, intellectuality. She could not, it must be admitted, "suffer fools gladly."

Had she desired a motto, a very appropriate one would have been "Odi profanum vulgus."[32]

From that eventful year of her life, 1869, Madame Norman-Neruda spent the greater part of her time in England, devoting the spring and winter to the Chappell, Halle, Philharmonic and other important concerts, with occasional visits to the Continent to play at functions of exceptional interest.

Her career in England is so well known that it is not necessary to dwell at any length on it here. Suffice it to say that her work was incessant, and that hers was, soon, a familiar figure on every concert platform throughout the length and breadth of the country. It is not difficult to imagine that the constant travelling would provide occasional and novel experiences; one of them Lady Halle related to me.

She, with Sir Charles Halle, was on her way, in the north, to fulfil an engagement, when a severe snowstorm came on, which soon hindered the progress of the train. They arrived at the place of their destination an hour after the time appointed for the concert. The snow was so deep on the ground that no conveyance was available, and there was no alternative to making their way, on foot, to the hall.

Once arrived there, Sir Charles proceeded to the platform to offer explanations to the patiently waiting audience. It was not necessary.

Everything was understood, and he retired amid much cheering.

When Lady Halle appeared she received such an ovation, doubtless expressive of sympathy and admiration, that as the concert progressed the unpleasant experience soon faded from her mind. Unhappily, however, an attack of bronchitis was the result; a form of illness that she suffered from, intermittently, for many years, and of which she eventually died.

Lady Halle (by which t.i.tle Madame Norman-Neruda came to be generally known in her latest years of residence in England, through her marriage with Sir Charles Halle in 1888) was, notwithstanding outward appearances, not only capable of enjoying but engendering simple fun, as her friends well knew.

She was, for instance, full of joy and gaiety when Christmas-time was coming and the Christmas tree in near prospect. I do not think that Charles d.i.c.kens himself exceeded her in love for that beautiful and touching festival. It was then that she gave full vent to a nature that teemed with kindness and generosity. Few who were privileged to see it could forget the suppressed excitement with which she led her guests, family and household, to the room where the Christmas tree was ablaze in all its glory. On it was sure to be found some present, large or small, for every one.

One Christmas I well remember, I had recently returned from America, where I had acquired the habit of drinking iced-water.

My refusing claret had been a constant source of banter from Sir Charles and Lady Halle, and more boisterous expressions from my friends, Ludwig and Waldemar Neruda, Lady Halle's sons, on the occasions of my dining with them.

My present proved to be a purse. When I took it, Lady Halle called out, clapping her hands, "Open it." This, of course, we did. It contained a Swedish gold coin, and a sheet of notepaper on which was written, "The future Mrs. Ernest Ford. The secret revealed. Why Mr. Ford became a teetotaler!"

The incident is quite trivial, but it certainly gives a glimpse into the character of a truly great and n.o.ble woman, that would be little suspected by those who knew her only as an outstanding figure in public life.

It is only natural to suppose that Lady Halle was a constant recipient of appeals for advice from young aspirants, eager to emulate, in however humble a degree, her career.

She was ever open to them, and her judgment, sane and tried, was freely at their disposal. The last years of her life were, unhappily, darkened by the deaths of her two sons; that of the former, tragically, on the Alps; the other, after long suffering, in Brunn.

If for no other achievement, Wilma Neruda would go down to history as one of the notable women who indicated a new career for her s.e.x. But she did more. She left behind her a fame that time itself will not easily efface.

SIR CHARLES HALLe

Interesting features of character--Early life in Paris--Giants of musical history--His reception by them--Ignorance of German music in France--Intercourse with Cherubini--Establishes chamber concerts--Personal friendships made in Paris--Arrival in England--Settles in Manchester--Establishes subscription chamber concerts--His first great venture--Manchester concerts--a.s.sociation with Madame Norman-Neruda--Great results--Qualities as pianist and conductor--His musical sympathies--His remarkable character--A personal reminiscence--His permanent place in history.

Of the many thousands of German musicians who, since the days of Handel, have made their home in England, Charles Halle was, from many points of view, the most interesting personality. He was a man of culture, and his varied experiences in many countries, which he sometimes would describe delightfully to a circle of friends, naturally added to the interest that his charm of manner, and known greatness as a musician, always inspired.

When he left his native town of Hagen, in Westphalia, in 1836, for that, in those days, Mecca of musicians, Paris, he must have felt supreme confidence in his powers, although only seventeen years of age, knowing that he would find there rivals as formidable as Chopin, Liszt and Thalberg. This did not deter him. He had been used to playing in public from infancy, had known nothing but success; his pianoforte playing as a child still had evoked the wondering praise of no less a man than Spohr, and, probably, knowing that his style was so essentially different from that of these great artists, he determined to make the daring venture.

He made it successfully. He was received with great kindness by every one, but especially by Cherubini. This great musician, who was then head of the Conservatoire, took the greatest interest in the young German pianist, whom he constantly invited to his house, and never seemed to tire of hearing him play the Beethoven sonatas which, strange as it sounds now, he was hearing, as Sir Charles Halle told me many years afterwards, for the first time.

Indeed, I have often heard Sir Charles speak of the astonishing ignorance of German music, even that of Beethoven, which existed in France at that time.

It proved to be, however, a fortunate thing for him, since, as soon as he had established his chamber concerts with the express intention of introducing the best of German cla.s.sics of this description, he not only quickly gained a clientele of cultured amateurs, but they speedily became a rendezvous of the most celebrated musicians in Paris.

The success of these concerts continued to increase until 1848, when the revolution forced him to seek shelter for his wife and children in England.

The years that Sir Charles Halle spent in Paris were memorable ones in his life. Not only did he enjoy the friendship of Chopin, Georges Sand, Listz, Thalberg, and others of great fame, but there, too, he met Richard Wagner who was, at the time in poverty, ekeing out an existence, by means of drudgery that is painful to think of.

Among the many friendships that Sir Charles made there was one, in particular, that he greatly prized, and which was destined to last a life-time--that of Stephen h.e.l.ler, perhaps the most popular writer for the piano known to lady amateur pianists, at least of the past generation.

Soon after arriving in England, Sir Charles Halle settled in Manchester, where the large German colony resident there at once rallied to him. He, immediately, commenced a series of chamber concerts, on the same lines as those he had established so successfully in Paris; the subscriptions were eagerly taken up by his compatriots, and it was not long before they were firmly established on a financial basis; and this, together with the teaching connection that he speedily gained, proved sufficient to relieve him of any financial anxiety.