CLOSE OF PARIS CAREER.
(1848.)
The first revolution of 1848 broke out in February. The grand Reform
banquet which had been announced was suddenly prohibited on the 21st of
the month, the immediate consequence being that revolutionary tumults
burst out, and the next day brought with it the impeachment and
resignation of Guizot. This was quickly followed by the throwing up of
barricades in the streets; the Tuileries were ransacked, the prisons
opened, and the most frightful disorders committed. At this Louis
Philippe completely lost his nerve, and abdicated on the 24th in favour
of his infant grandson, the Comte de Paris, who was not, however,
accepted by the populace. Upon this the royal family and ministers made
their escape as best they could, and a week later the ex-king landed at
Newhaven as "Mr Smith."
On February 26 a republic was proclaimed from the steps of the Hôtel de
Ville; and this decisive measure was followed by a grand funeral
procession in honour of the victims of the revolution.
The next three months passed by in comparative quiet. The provisional
government, which had been formed in the great public commotion,
resigned to an executive commission, elected by the National Assembly of
the French Republic, and the perpetual banishment of Louis Philippe and
his family was decreed.
With June there came an outburst of still more frightful disorder, owing
to the reconstitution of the National Guard of France, it being enlarged
from 80,000 to 100,000. Among those who enrolled themselves in this body
of men was Manuel Garcia; and it is not surprising that he did so, for,
as all who knew him are well aware, he was a great lover of law and
order.
The precautionary measure acted as a lighted fuse to a barrel of
gunpowder. On June 23 the red republicans rose up in arms against the
troops and the National Guard, more than three hundred barricades were
thrown up, and firing continued in all parts of the capital during the
night. Garcia well remembered George Sand standing on the top of a
barricade surrounded by a band of students, and shouting down to him,
"N'est-ce pas que c'est magnifique, n'est ce pas que c'est beau!"
Next day the troops under Cardignac and Lamoricière, after suffering
immense loss, drove the insurgents from the left bank of the Seine. On
the 25th Paris was declared in a state of siege, while on the following
day the Faubourg du Temple was carried with cannon, the insurgents
surrendered, and the revolution was brought to an end.
But at what a cost had peace been restored! The national losses caused
by the outbreak were estimated at thirty million francs; while during
the four days of fighting no less than sixteen thousand persons were
killed and wounded, among the former being the Archbishop of Paris, who
lost his life while tending the dying on the final day of conflict.
But for all its excitement and bloodshed this four days' revolution
failed to excite much enthusiasm in the maestro. Perhaps it seemed poor
fun after those scenes of the Napoleonic Invasion and the successive
campaigns of the Peninsular War, which he remembered from his childhood.
He may even have grown weary of such scenes, and considered the whole
affair badly managed after the other revolutions he had been through.
Certainly there had been much less fuss when, eighteen years before, he
had seen Charles X. driven out and Louis Philippe made king. He had
passed through too many excitements already.
One can almost imagine the scene that must have taken place in the July
of 1846, when he was informed by a breathless pupil at the beginning of
a lesson that an attempt had just been made on the king's life by Henri.
One can picture him shaking his head reprovingly and replying, "Yes; but
it was not as exciting as some of the other attempts on his life that I
remember. Let me see, it must have been--yes, it was in the July of
1835, almost exactly thirteen years ago to the day, that the first one
took place. Now that really _was_ a fine one! Fieschi fired an infernal
machine as the king was riding down the Boulevard du Temple along the
lines of the National Guard. Louis Philippe was accompanied by his three
sons. They all four escaped, but the Duke of Treviso was shot dead, and
forty persons were killed and wounded. Now that's what I call something
_like_ an attempt!
"Then, next year, there was Louis Alibaud, who fired at the king on his
way to the Tuileries. _Pauvre garçon!_ He was guillotined for his
trouble.
"There wasn't another attempt for some time, but in 1840, again, Darmès
fired at Louis Philippe; that was the year before the attempt made to
assassinate one of the king's sons, the Duke of Aumale; but there was no
result. Much better leave things to Providence. Why, it was only a year
later that the heir to the throne was killed without bothering any one
to risk his neck over it! Yes, he had a fall from his carriage. Bless
me! you must remember that; it was only six years ago. Then there was
Lecompte, who had a try at his unhappy majesty when he was going to
Fontainebleau. How many people did you say were killed to-day when Henri
made the attempt? None? Dear, dear. It's not like the old days. Well,
let's get on with the lesson. What songs have you brought?"
If such a scene as this did _not_ take place, it certainly might well
have done so.
However, what with revolutions, the driving out of kings, and the
general unrest during the twenty years that followed his return from
America as a young man of twenty-three, the maestro came to the
conclusion that the French capital was getting too unsettled to be
suitable for the giving of singing lessons. At the end of the month,
therefore, he shook the dust of Paris from his feet and set out for
London, where he had made up his mind to settle and establish himself as
a teacher.
With this change of _locale_ the second period in Manuel Garcia's life
is brought to a close. Before leaving it, we will cast an eye over some
of the figures prominent in the musical and artistic world of Paris
during the twenty years in which the centenarian made it his home.
Rossini, as we have seen, was director both of the Théâtre Italien and
of the French Opera when Garcia joined his sister in Paris at the close
of 1827. During this time the composer adapted several of his works to
French taste. Of these, "Moïse" and "Le Siège de Corinth" were the new
titles given to "Mose in Egitto" and "Maometto Secondo," of which the
original productions had taken place during the four years following
Manuel's arrival from Naples as a lad of eleven. Rossini, however, only
stayed in Paris for eighteen months, and left after the production there
of his greatest work, "Guillaume Tell," in August 1822, nor did he
return to settle down and become one of the most notable personalities
of the city till a quarter of a century later.
Many interesting musical productions took place during Manuel Garcia's
residence in Paris.
In 1828, the year of his arrival from Mexico, Liszt was a boy of
sixteen, an infant prodigy, just returned from a visit to England, and
beginning to teach pianoforte, owing to circumstances already referred
to in speaking of the lessons which Mme. Viardot had from him.
Berlioz had been sent by his parents some little time before to study
medicine in the French capital. Instead of doing so, however, he had
devoted himself to music, and was at this time a pupil at the
Conservatoire.
Soon after Garcia's arrival there took place the production of one of
Auber's best known works, "La Muette di Portici," or, as it is usually
entitled, "Masaniello." The next year, that in which Schubert died, saw
the completion of "Agnes von Hohenstaufen," the greatest work of
Spontini, whose opera, "La Vestale," had been greeted with enthusiasm
and adjudged Napoleon's prize of 10,000 francs twenty-two years before.
In 1830 came Auber's "Fra Diavolo" and Halévy's "Manon Lescaut."
The following year was an important one in many ways, for there were
produced not only Bellini's two favourite operas, "Somnambula" and
"Norma" (the "Puritani" was given four years later), but Hérold's
"Zampa" and Meyerbeer's "Robert le Diable." But this is not all, for it
saw the advent to Paris of Frédéric Chopin, a young man of twenty-two.
Here he quickly found fame, and became the idol of the salons, giving
lessons to a select _clientèle_ of pupils, and employing his leisure in
composition. He rarely performed in public, though, in Mendelssohn's
judgment, he was "a truly perfect virtuoso" as well as a thorough
musician, with a faculty for improvisation such as, perhaps, no other
pianist ever possessed.
In 1832, a date made memorable on the tablets of literature by the death
of Goethe and Sir Walter Scott, there came Hérold's "Le Pré aux
Clercs," while Berlioz obtained the first proper hearing for some of his
compositions. Their complicated and peculiar nature, however, failed to
win popular recognition, and he was driven to support himself and his
wife by writing musical criticisms.
In the summer of 1833 the birth took place of a musician who was to
become world-famous, Johannes Brahms; while the winter was rendered
memorable in the artistic circles of Paris by the fatal journey which
Alfred de Musset made to Italy with George Sand. In the following April
he reappeared alone, broken in health and sunk in the deepest
depression. A quarter of a century later, when Garcia had long been
settled in London, he was to be reminded of the episode by reading the
version of the events which George Sand gave to the world in the guise
of a novel, 'Elle et Lui'; to which Paul de Musset at once retorted with
'Lui et Elle,' in which he asserted that she had been grossly
unfaithful.
The year, which robbed the world of one musician and brought forth
another,--for with the death of Bellini there came the birth of
Saint-Saëns,--was one full of musical interest, for 1835 saw the
completion of a perfect avalanche of new operas, including Auber's
"Cheval de Bronze," Halévy's "La Juive" and "L'Etoile du Nord," Adolphe
Adam's "Postilion de Longjumeau," and two operas by Donizetti, "Marino
Faliero" and "Lucia di Lammermoor."
In 1836 the first performance took place of Meyerbeer's great opera,
the "Huguenots," given at the Académie Royale de Musique on February 29,
with the following cast:--
_Valentine_ Mdlle. Falcon.
_Marguerite_ Mme. Doras-Gras.
_Urbain_ Mdlle. Flécheux.
_Marcel_ M. Levasseur.
_Nevers_ M. Dérivis.
_Saint Bris_ M. Serda.
The part of Raoul was played by the elder Garcia's famous pupil, Adolph
Nourrit.
It is, moreover, the date of the commencement of a fresh episode in the
life of George Sand (Madame Armandine Dudevant), this time with Chopin,
who was introduced to her by Liszt.
The "Domino Noir" was produced in Paris in 1837, the year which saw the
first performance of Mendelssohn's "St Paul" in England, to be followed
three years later by the "Hymn of Praise," and in 1848, the year of
Garcia's arrival in London, by the "Elijah."
In 1839 Flotow's "Le Naufrage de la Méduse" was produced; but the year
is of far more interest to us from the fact that Richard Wagner, a young
man, twenty-six years of age, first arrived in Paris, resolved to try
his fortune there with "Rienzi," only to be forced to leave the city
after a sore struggle of nearly three years, with his opera still
unperformed.
In 1840, the year of Paganini's death, three operas of Donizetti saw
light, "La Fille du Régiment," "Lucrezia Borgia," and "La Favorita."
In the next year Auber's "Les Diamants de la Couronne" was performed;
and a twelve-year-old musician, newly arrived from Moscow, was given an
opportunity of playing the piano to Liszt, and of being patted on the
head, while he listened to words of warm encouragement. And the name of
the boy-pianist? Anton Rubinstein, who died more than twelve years ago,
at the age of sixty-five.
In 1842, the year in which Massenet was born, Meyerbeer's opera "Le
Prophète" was finished, which was destined not to be produced at the
Grand Opera House till seven years later.
In 1843 Donizetti's "Don Pasquale" was brought out, and in the following
year Flotow's "Stradella" and Félicien David's grand ode-symphony
"Désert." It saw, moreover, the completion by Richard Wagner of "Der
Fliegende Holländer," as the next year, in which Tom Hood died, saw that
of "Tannhäuser."
In 1847 the Parisian public witnessed for the first time Flotow's
"Martha," while in the last year of Garcia's sojourn in the capital,
Nicolai's "Merry Wives of Windsor" and Wagner's "Lohengrin" were
finished; Offenbach was appointed _chef d'orchestre_ at the Théâtre
Français (this being long before "La Grande Duchesse" and "Madame
Favart" had been set down on paper); Gounod was still in his twenties,
and had not yet even composed his first opera, while "Faust" was not to
be brought out for eleven, and "Roméo et Juliette" for just on twenty
years. As for Bizet, he was a mere boy of ten.
Allusion has already been made to George Sand, Henry Mürger, and Alfred
de Musset. One must add to the literary circle of that time such
personalities as these: Balzac, who first tasted success with the
publication of 'Les Derniers Chouans,' about a year after Señor Garcia
had arrived from Mexico, soon following this up with the earliest of his
great works, 'La Peau de Chagrin'; Théophile Gautier, whose first long
poem, 'Albertus,' was published about the same time, to be followed, in
1835, by the celebrated novel, 'Mademoiselle de Maupin,' with its
defiant preface; Alfred de Vigny, whom Manuel Garcia, as a young man of
twenty-five, saw abandon for good in 1830 the publication of his
exquisite poetry, and confine himself after that date to works in prose
alone.
Then there were Alphonse de Lamartine, statesman, poet, and historian,
who, in 1829, had declined the post of Foreign Secretary in the Polignac
Ministry, and by his 'Harmonies Poétiques et Religieuses' achieved his
unanimous election to the Academy; Lamercier, one of the three chief
exponents of the Romantic school, with some of his detached passages
equal in beauty to anything in the language, and others so bizarre as to
border on the ridiculous; Delavigne, representative of the golden mean
of French literature, the half-classic and half-romantic school;
Béranger, the "Horace" of French poetry, whose outspoken ballads
achieved such immense popularity, that in turn Louis XVIII. and Charles
X. threw him into prison because of his freedom of ideas,--for probably
no poet has ever exercised such a power over the destiny of a nation;
Victor Hugo, engaged in bringing out 'Notre Dame de Paris,' 'Le Roi
s'amuse,' 'Les Voix Interieures,' in which the poet's diction is held to
have found its noblest expression, 'Ruy Blas,' almost the most famous of
his stage rhapsodies, and many another work of world-wide fame; Eugène
Sue, whose first hit was made in 1842 with the too famous 'Mystères de
Paris,' followed three years later by 'Le Juif Errant'; the elder Dumas,
who, during these years, published such works as 'Monte Cristo,' 'Les
Trois Mousquetaires,' and 'Les Mémoires d'un Médecin'; while in the year
of the maestro's departure for London, Alexander Dumas the younger was
bringing out his immortal 'La Dame aux Camélias.' Nor must one forget
Paul de Kock, Henri Rochefort, who was then only sixteen years old, Zola
half that age, and François Coppée a child of six.
When we turn to the painting world there is an equal _embarras de
richesse_. What can one say to such a dazzling list of artists as Rosa
Bonheur, Horace Vernet, Paul Delaroche, the founder of the modern
"Eclectic School," Prud'hon, Gericault, Delacroix, Gros, Scheffer,
Decamps, Corot, Rousseau, Troyon, Duprè, Diaz, Jean François Millet (who
took his place with Garcia on the barricades during the Revolution of
'48), nay, even Meissonier himself, whose first contribution to the
Salon in 1834, a water-colour and an oil-picture, the centenarian
remembered to have seen, followed two years later by the
"Chess-Players," the precursor of that long series of elaborate
genre-pictures, in which he depicted the civil and military life of the
seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries.
Truly, had Manuel Garcia passed away in the year of the Revolution, in
accordance with the modern cry of "too old at forty," his career and
experiences would have still been of surpassing interest. But with this
year we only see the scene of his triumphs shifted from France to
England, and have yet to watch him not only carrying through a further
forty-seven years of work as teacher, but appearing in the new _rôle_ of
inventor, and then passing on to that last period, ten years of
wonderful old age.
THIRD PERIOD
LONDON
(1848-1895)