Charles Hallé

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Karl Halle (born April 11, 1819 in Hagen , Westphalia , † October 25, 1895 in Manchester ), or Sir Charles Hallé , was a British pianist and conductor of German origin. He is best known as the founder of the Hallé Orchestra , the oldest professional orchestra in Great Britain.

Charles Hallé

Life

Karl Halle grew up as the eldest of three siblings of Christian Friedrich Andreas Halle (1790–1848) and Karoline Brenschedt (1796–1884). Halle received his first piano lessons from his father, who worked as an organist . After briefly attending the technology-oriented trade school in Hagen in 1831 , he studied under Christian Heinrich Rinck in Darmstadt in 1835 . In 1836 he moved to Paris , where he lived until the revolutionary turmoil of 1848 . During this time he worked regularly with artists such as Luigi Cherubini , Frédéric Chopin and Franz Liszt and was friends with the writers Alfred de Musset and George Sand .

Hall just had a successful series of chamber music - soirées with Alard and Franchomme began when him, the revolution of 1848 to resettle with his wife and their two children to London , England forced. In 1852 he took British citizenship.

Hallé's grave in Salford

Hallé was a regular participant in the Musical Union, founded by John Ella , and in the Popular Concerts. In 1850 he took over the direction of the "Gentlemen's Concerts" in Manchester, which had existed since 1749, and in 1852 also that of the Cecilia Society. Gustav Arnold took piano lessons from Halle.

In Edinburgh he worked regularly from 1869 as a conductor and pianist at the Reid Festival, which was held annually on February 13 in honor of General John Reid, the founder of the music department of the University of Edinburgh . In 1876 he conducted the second major triennial of the Bristol Music Festival. In 1880 he led in London Faust by Hector Berlioz on. From 1882 to 1885 he regularly conducted the concerts of the “Sacred Harmonie Society” in London, the most respected oratorio choir at the time, which even had its own orchestra. The rehearsals for this took place under the supervision of William Cummings.

In 1883 he succeeded Max Bruch as conductor of the Royal Philharmonic in Liverpool. He managed to carry out this task for the rest of his life alongside his work in Manchester and London. He took over part of the concert programs for Liverpool from Manchester.

Your own orchestra

In 1857 a major art exhibition was held in Manchester and Hallé was obliged to organize daily concerts. Hallé said there were only 24 musicians in Manchester who could play the music he needed. But since he wanted 60 musicians for his orchestra, he had to convince 40 more to come to Manchester. For this he recruited musicians from the mainland. The exhibition was opened by Prince Albert on May 5th and had 1.3 million visitors, including crowned heads. To prevent the orchestra members from scattering in all four directions at the end of the exhibition in October 1857, Hallé decided to give weekly concerts through autumn and winter at his own risk. That was only possible if he had an income of £ 150 p. a. could guarantee. So he had to give 20 concerts a year to be able to meet this requirement.

It went so well that in 1858 he founded his own orchestra, the Hallé Orchestra . In addition to the orchestra, he also founded the Hallé Choir. After 30 years, his orchestra consisted of 101 musicians, and every instrument was occupied. At the beginning of each season he guaranteed a return of £ 7,168 p. a., yet it was the best and cheapest orchestra in Great Britain. His orchestra was the first professional orchestra he raised to a level of perfection previously unknown in England. The best soloists of the time also performed in the Old Town Hall, King Street. B. the violinist Bernhard Molique , cellist Alfredo Piatti , violinist Prosper Philippe Sainton , John Tiplady Carrodus , Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst , pianist Eduard Steingraber , Charles Lucas , violinist Henri Vieuxtemps , violinist William Washington Waud and the flautist Edward De Jong.

The Royal College of Music

Charles Hallé photographed by Walery in 1890

In December 1891 Hallé suggested the establishment of a college for music in Manchester. A call for donations was launched and an executive committee was established in 1892. The treasurer had found a suitable building on Ducie St / Oxford Road. In February 1893, the Executive Committee presented its final report to the Mayor. A committee was established on March 1, 1893, and Hallé was appointed head of it. The faculty was selected and Queen Victoria awarded the title “Royal” before the opening on October 3, 1893. After the aptitude test, 80 students were accepted, and by the end of the first year there were already 117 students. Many of his musician friends volunteered to teach at college; Hallé himself acted as its director and professor of piano playing until his death.

Artistic influences

Hallé had an important influence on the musical culture and education of England. He insisted that his concerts be made available to a wider audience, not just members of the music society. His piano playing was characterized by precision, clarity and perfect implementation of the written musical text. The technology acquired in his youth came from the era before Liszt.

His “Pianoforte Recitals”, given for the first time in his house in 1850 and from 1861 in St James's Hall , Piccadilly, were an important part of musical life in London. He was the first pianist in England to master the entire work of Beethoven's piano sonatas . It was only through Hallé that Beethoven became generally known in English society. As early as 1861 he played all Beethoven sonatas in eight morning performances as a soloist. In 1888 Hallé consequently took over the presidency of the Beethoven Society that was newly founded in Manchester.

About his contemporary Berlioz he said that he was the most perfect conductor and had "absolute control over his troops".

family

On November 11, 1841, he married the New Orleans- born Désirée Smith de Rilieu. He was married to her for 25 years until her death on April 26, 1866, and they had a total of nine children:

Marie (1845–1925), Charles Emile (1846–1919), Louise (1849–1919), Frederick (1850–1879), Gustave (1851–1936), Bernard (1853–1934), Mathilde (1855–1925), Elinor († 1926), Clifford († 1886). After the death of his wife, Queen Victoria invited him to a relaxing holiday in her summer home on the Isle of Man .

On July 26, 1888, Karl Halle married Wilhelmine Norman-Neruda (1839–1911), the violinist, widow of Ludvig Norman and daughter of Josef Neruda , family members who have long been known for their musical talents. From 1864 Lady Hallé was one of the leading solo violinists of the time, who withstood comparisons with men and in 1901 was awarded the title “Queen's Violinist” by Queen Alexandra .

In 1890 and 1891 Hallé and his wife toured Australia and other countries.

Honors and posthumous appreciation

Bronze statue Karl Halle

In 1884 Hallé received an honorary doctorate from Edinburgh University . In 1888 Hallé was knighted by the Queen for his services to English musical life . On October 25, 1995, the 100th anniversary of Karl Halle's death, his piano works were premiered by the famous pianist Wolfgang Glemser in the machine room of the Hagen University of Applied Sciences in honor of this world citizen of Hagen.

His hometown Hagen in Westphalia tries to get his cultural appreciation through regular concerts, which are due to the initiative of the cultural journalist Hubertus Heiser , but which are still lacking the local audience. A life-size statue - a work by the Hagen artist Uwe Will  - is said to bring him back into public memory , which replaced an inconspicuous memorial plaque on the forecourt of St. John's Church on the market on August 27, 2008.

Fonts

Hallé wrote works for piano lessons:

literature

  • Charles E. Hallé, Marie Hallé (Eds.): Life and letters of Sir Charles Hallé; being an autobiography (1819–1860) with correspondence and diaries. Smith, Elder & Co., London 1896. Internet Archive (authors are daughter and son of Charles Hallé)
    • New edition: Michael Kennedy (Ed.): The autobiography of Charles Hallé, with correspondence and diaries. Elek Books, London 1972, ISBN 0-236-15448-6 .
  • Herta Bielenberg: Karl Halle - Life picture of a musician from Hagen. (Hagen then and now, Volume II, Issue 4). Self-published, Hagen 1949.
  • Robert Beale: Charles Hallé: A Musical Life . (Music in Nineteenth-Century Britain). Ashgate, Aldershot 2007, ISBN 978-0-7546-6137-5 .
  • Ann Kersting: Carl Halle - Sir Charles Halle. A European musician. Kommissionsverlag vd Linnepe, Hagen 1986, ISBN 3-921297-71-0 .
  • Charles Rigby: Sir Charles Halle, A Portrait for Today . Foreword by Sir John Barbirolli . 1st edition. The Dolphin Press, Manchester 1952, OCLC 512184 .
  • Charles Martin Hallé: Charles Hallé: The Musical and Social Life of a Victorian Superstar . Forsyth Brothers, 2010, ISBN 978-0-9514795-3-7 . (Author is the great-grandson)
  • Michael Kennedy: The History of the Royal Manchester College of Music, 1893-1972 . Manchester University Press, 1971, ISBN 0-7190-0435-7 .

swell

grades

Web links

Commons : Charles Hallé  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Cemetery Road, Weaste Cemetery, Charles Hall Memorial Grade II. Salford City Council, archived from the original on August 7, 2011 ; accessed on April 11, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Heinz Saager: Technical educational work since 1824. In: Verein der Freunde (ed.): Festschrift inauguration of the new building of the state engineering school for mechanical engineering in Hagen. Self-published, Hagen 1964, p. 22.
  3. ^ Concert Programs: Manchester Gentlemen's Concerts (1799–1914). In: The Henry Watson Music Library. Accessed April 11, 2019 .
  4. ^ Gustav Arnold and Charles Hallé
  5. ^ Music at the University of Edinburgh: a short history. The University of Edinburgh , August 1, 2011, archived from the original August 29, 2011 ; accessed on April 11, 2019 .
  6. ^ Orbituary William Hayman Cummings . In: The Times . June 7, 1915, on Wikisource .
  7. ↑ Manchester History: The greatest art show ever? In: BBC. March 19, 2008, accessed April 13, 2019 .
  8. ^ Mark Dowding, Chris Harvey: Music at the exhibition. In: Manchester Art Gallery . 2009, archived from the original on January 16, 2014 ; accessed on April 13, 2019 (English).
  9. ^ Hallé Choir in Manchester. In: halle.co.uk. Retrieved April 13, 2019 .
  10. ↑ Manchester Worthies. In: Manchester Faces & Places. Volume 1, No. 7, April 10, 1890, accessed April 13, 2019 (reproduced on the Manchester and Lancashire Family History Society website).
  11. ^ Stuart Scott: Edward De Jong - Hallé's First Flute. In: MusicWeb International. 2011, accessed April 13, 2019 .
  12. ↑ Manchester - History: Sir Charles Hallé. In: BBC. March 19, 2008, accessed April 12, 2019 .
  13. ↑ Plate 30: St. James's Hall, Piccadilly. In: British History Online. 1963, accessed April 11, 2019 .
  14. ↑ SD Drackley: Early Days. In: Manchester Beethoven Orchestra. February 26, 2018, accessed April 11, 2019 .
  15. ^ Charles Hallé: Life and Letters of Sir Charles Hallé. London, 1896, p. 64 , accessed on April 12, 2019 (English, reproduced by Monir Tayeb and Michel Austin under “Hallé on Berlioz” on The Hector Berlioz website ): “who held absolute sway over his troops”
personal data
SURNAME Hallé, Charles
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Halle, Karl; Hallé, Sir Charles
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-British pianist and conductor, founder of the Hallé orchestra
DATE OF BIRTH April 11, 1819
PLACE OF BIRTH Hagen , Westphalia
DATE OF DEATH October 25, 1895
Place of death Manchester