The civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the county of Kings and the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., from 1683 to 1884, Volume II, Part 120

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co
Number of Pages: 1345

USA > New York > Kings County > Brooklyn > The civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the county of Kings and the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., from 1683 to 1884, Volume II > Part 120

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In the season of 1864, Signora Carozzi Zucha per- formed frequently at the Academy in " Lucrezia Borgia," " Don Giovanni," " Il Polinto " and " Don Sebastian". This same season Miss Kellogg made a great impression in the character of Marguerita in "Faust," drawing immense houses whenever she appeared.

After the advent of three such American artistes as Miss Hinkley, Mrs. Van Zandt and Miss Kellogg, it is impossible for foreigners to say that this country has not produced artists of high merit; which fact they should ever feel ready to admit, and of which every American should feel justly proud.

As years have passed, the Philharmonic Society has increased in public favor, and no musical organization in America cau compare with it for the great work it has done in building up a refined taste for music. The society has always kept its faith with the public by giving the best talent they could obtain, whether native or foreign, vocal or instrumental. To one gentleman in particular are the citizens of Brooklyn indebted for the great success of this society and the progress of music in Brooklyn. This gentleman was LUTHER B. WYMAN, and to this statement no one can take excep- tion. If any man in connection with the history of music in Brooklyn deserves a recognition and bio- graphic mention, it is he.

LUTHER B. WYMAN .- This gentleman was born in Massachu- setts, in February, 1805. He passed the first twenty years of his life on his father's farm. At the age of twenty, he went to Boston, aud soon after he became a member of the Handel and Haydn Society. He possessed a superior bass voice, and with some hard work in its culture, he gained the position of one of its principal solo singers, and frequently appeared in public, and was spoken of as a careful and painstaking artist.

In 1830, he started West. On arriving at Troy, a friend took him to see the then just completed Erie Canal, and here, by ac- cident, he met a young lady, daughter of the Rev. Dr. Warren,

who afterwards became his wife. This caused him to remain in Troy, where he obtained a position in the office of the Troy Towboat Company. He had been but a few weeks in Troy when he was appointed to take charge of the choir of the Second Pres- byterian Church, which he conducted for two years. Subse- quently, and for several months prior to his departure for New York, he became quite famous as a violoncello performer in the Rev. Dr. Berrian's church. At the end of three years, Mr. Wy- man moved to New York. He at once joined the New York Sacred Music Society. His connection with this, the only musical. society of note in the city, lasted for over fifteen years, and for the last five years of this time he acted as its president; his choirs gave superb performances of the mest noted vocal compositions, assisted by such soloists as Madame Cazaderi Allen, Mrs. Austin, and Mrs. and Mr. Joseph Wood, and all of the great artists of that day.

In 1840, Mr. Wyman removed to Brooklyn, then a city of less than forty thousand inhabitants. At this time, he sang bass in the Church of the Messiah, Dr. Dewey's, New York. However, he soon resigned this position, and accepted the appointment of musical director in the newly-erected Unitarian Church of the Rev. Dr. Farley. This position he held until 1870, at which time he was presented with a handsome silver service as a testi- monial of their high appreciation of his great labors in accom- plishing an advanced condition of church music. Soon after joining Dr. Farley's church, he was elected president of the Brooklyn Sacred Music Society, and superintended the produc- tion of the oratorios "Samson " and the " Messiah " at Plymouth Church, and the "Seven Sleepers," by Karl Lowe, in the hall of the old Academy, on the site where the Packer Institute now stands. This office he held for three years, and in this Society he made the acquaintance of Miss Frances N. Hall, who became his second wife in 1849, his former wife having died some years before.

In 1857 he took the initiative of forming the Brooklyn Phil- harmonic Society. Theretofore, Brooklyn had been mainly dependent upon New York for instrumental music of a high order. On the evening of April 15th, 1857, a committee of gen- tlemen met at the Brooklyn Athenaeum to organize a society for the purpose of giving in Brooklyn a series of concerts similar to those so long enjoyed by the citizens of New York under the auspices of their Philharmonic Society. A committee, com- posed of Luther B. Wyman, Robert R. Raymond, John Green- wood, Edward Whitehouse, Carl Prox, Leopold Bierwirth and Mr. Spies, was appointed to draft a plan of organization and a constitution. On the following 5th of May, the committee re- ported, and the society was permanently organized. Luther B. Wyman was appointed its president. It is sufficient to ssy, that from the inception of the Philharmonic Society, Mr. Wymsn held, by annual re-election, the position of president almost up to the hour of his death, and was, without doubt, its most active and efficient manager. The great success of the Philharmonic Society at the Atheneum rendered it absolutely necessary to have a large hall to admit the crowds that attended its concerts. The Philharmonic Board, with Mr. Lyman at its head, was the first te propose-the erection of the Academy of Music. A board was formed, stook was subscribed, Mr. Wyman was elected sec- retary of the Building Committee, and the work proceeded without delay. In June, 1860, while the erection of the Acad- emy was in progress, Mr. Wyman had a narrow escape from death. On the 29th of that month, he was in the unfinished building, to fulfill an engagement with the master mason, Mr. French. He was some few minutes in advance of his engage- ment, and while on the main floor, watching the raising into position the immense trusses, weighing nine tons esch, which were to support the roof, he observed a storm gathering, and suddenly a squall arose, and striking the first truss on the Clin- ton street end, which was not fully secured, it fell, carrying the whole ten trusses one after the other with it, and falling with &

1135

THE PROGRESS OF MUSIC AND OPERA IN BROOKLYN.

frightful crash into the interior of the building. Mr. Wyman, unable to escape, was buried beneath the debris. After being extracted from his dangerous situation, he was carried home, and, lingering between life and death, was confined to his bed for over two months.

It has been the intention of this sketch to trace Mr. Wyman's connection more particularly with musical matters, and the variona projects with which he has been indentified for the ad- vancement of music in the city of Brooklyn. It is well to remind our readers of the prominent part he took during the War of the Rebellion in the organization of regiments, in " sanitary fairs," in patriotic concerts, and every other movement for he further- ance of the success of our armies and the saving of the Union. In such matters, no citizen of Brooklyn was more active, and when he could not give in the way of wealth, he made himself douhly serviceable by personal devotion to the great cause. We can truthfully say that in every position of public trust he proved himself an unselfish and public-spirited citizen and an honorable gentleman, whose character would adorn the proudest of cities. For over three years previous to his death, he was an invalid from paralysis. No man ever died in Brooklyn who was more highly respected, or whose death was more deeply re- gretted, than Luther B. Wyman. He died in Brooklyn, on Sun- day, July 27th, 1879, at the age of seventy-six years. His re- maine were laid at rest in Green-Wood.

In mentioning the names of the celebrated artists who have visited Brooklyn, and who have, by their remarkable talents, lent the city of Brooklyn pages of musical history worthy of the greatest cities in the world, there are two singers who deserve more than a passing notice; these are PAREPA ROSA and MADAME ALBANI.

Of all the singers that have appeared upon the lyric stage, none was more beloved for her personal character than PAREPA Rosa. Man, woman and child, on meeting her, at first sight took her into their hearts. There was a freshness and a truthfulness about her that captivated every one who met her on, or off the stage. And to her lovely character may be attributed as much of her fame as to her musical genius.

Euphrosyne Parepa was born in Scotland in 1839. Her mother was the daughter of Mr. Seguin, and was the sister-in-law of the celebrated Mrs. Seguin. Euphrosyne gave evidence of mu- sical talent when she was quite young. At the age of sixteen she made her first appearance in Malta in the character of Ar- mina in "La Sonnambula." She was a success. She then went to Rome, Naples, Genoa, Lisbon, and Madrid. 1n 1857, she ap- peared in London with the great Ronconi, and there held a very high position in the Italian opera. In 1863, she married Captain Carroll, of the East India service, who left her a widow after six- teen months of married life. In 1866, Parepa accepted an en- gagement from Mr. Bateman, father of the well-known actress, Miss Kate Bateman, who brought her to this country. She made her first appearance at Irving Hall, New York, on September 11th, same yesr. Mr. Bateman, through bad management, did not make her a success. He then passed her over to the man- sgement of Mr. Lafayette Harrison, owner of Irving Hall at that

time. He soon introduced her to the public in oratorio and opera, when she at once took position in public opinion as one of the finest queens of song that had ever visited the United States; and she nobly maintained that position till the hour of her death.

In 1866, she married Carl Rosa, the violinist. In 1872, they organized an English opera-troupe of their own, which was so great a success that their profits inside of two years amounted to $150,000. Flushed with wealth and fame, she returned to England to rest for a few months; but shortly after her return to her native country she suddenly died on the 22d of January, 1874.

Her voice was pure and sympathetic in every note, and was ample in volume, but possessed no dramatic quality of expres- sion. Her great charm as a singer lay in her simple truthfulness of note and manner of modulating its compass. Wherever she went, she flooded the land with melody, and gladdened the hearts of all who heard her.

MADAME ALBANI is an American artist, whose ability as a singer has lent additional glory to the limited circle of American sing- ers who have given the "New World " a reputation in musical art. It was while she was studying for the operatic stage in Milan that she attracted the attention of her old maestro, and he wrote to the manager of the Theatre "La Pergola," at Flor- ence, that he would send him the most accomplished and the most finished singer in style that had ever left his studio. How well she redeemed all he had promised, the Florentines soon testified. Her fame spread rapidly, and she soon appeared at the Covent Garden Theatre, London, and made a decided success in the character of Armina in "La Sonnambula." It was con- ceded by press and public that she was worthy to take rank with the foremost prima-donnas of Europe. After an absence of some ten years, she returned to her native country, where she soon ap- peared in the concert room and on the operatic stage. She was fully endorsed by all as a great artist, and she still holds her position as such, having become a fixed favorite with the best critics.

To particularize the advancing steps of Music in the city of Brooklyn, from 1865 up to the present writing, 1883, would require a volume of five hundred pages. The rapid succession of the appearance at the Academy of Music of all the musical celebrities, Italian, French, German and American, would indeed be interesting to detail, and would further prove the fact that Brooklyn has done as much to encourage the advancement of music as any other city in the Union. Among the great artists who have appeared in Brooklyn in the last twenty years may be named Pauline Lucca, Patti, Nilsson, Parepa Rosa, Zucchi, Aimée, Geistinger, De Murska, La Grange, Gerster, Albani, Rozetti, Krebs, States, Silly, Cary, Charles Santley, Wachtel, Rubin- stein, Ronconi, Formes, Thalberg, Strauss, and many other fine lyric artists.

1136

HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

THE ART-ASSOCIATION BUILDINO, MONTAQUE STREET, BROOKLYN.

THE FINE ARTS IN BROOKLYN.

Gabriel Fariam

A RT is the beginning, the substance, and the end- ing of civilization. The first line of grace drawn, or the first graceful adjustment of a fold of drapery, belongs to the beginning of art. Art is innate and instinctive with all human beings to a greater or less degree. The barbarian, though savage and brutal, has the conditions of art in his wild nature. The first human being that breathed the breath of life, though a barbarian, was simply a man with the elements of grace in his soul, which ultimately lead to the expression of art, and from which spring civilization.

The wild Indian of the Far West demonstrates the existence of the germs of art within him by the decora- tions of his garments, by the feathers that flaunt upon his head, the wampum that hangs from his belt, and the colors of paint that adorn his face. None other than the born fool can see things of grace with- out an emotion; therefore all things of grace indicate art, for the reason that emotion is the mother of grace, and so long as the human mind is able to distinguish the difference between a curved and a straight line, art will exist, and civilization will go on. Form was the first-born child of art. Next came light and shade, twin children, and then followed harmony of color, the three producing the picturesque, which is the highest condition of art.

But few cities in the world are celebrated for art-col- lections; but few cities can afford a proper encourage- ment for a high art-culture; for here we must admit that art ultimately becomes the greatest of luxuries, as it takes years of study, labor, and even genius on the part of the artist to reach an eminent degree of success, and he must accordingly be well paid for what he has accomplished. However this may be, BROOKLYN has done quite as well, all things considered, as any other city in the Union.

London had no permanent art-school, or an academy of design, until it was over seven hundred years old, and yet it was surrounded with the great art-marts of the world. Taking these facts into consideration, the Americans have no cause to complain for what they have, or what they have not, done for art. They have had none of the surrounding art-examples of ages, accumulated in galleries, nor has the Government re- sources or ecclesiastical wealth, as among the nations.

of Europe, to assist the American artist to advancement. The churches in this country do absolutely nothing for art beyond the mere frescoing of the walls in the modern bed-quilt pattern, through the cheap medium of stenciling, and this frequently so inharmoniously done that one wonders at the lunatic condition of the mind that invented the grotesqueness. The Govern- ment many years ago purchased a few pictures for the Rotunda at the top of the Capitol at Washington. Either for the want of good judgment, or through po- litical peculation, many of these pictures are repulsive to the intelligent mind, for the ignorance the artist has shown of the historical situation and condition of things which he has portrayed in what he calls an his- torical picture. A simple examination of several of these pictures is all that is required to prove their worthlessness as historical pictures, especially so in the one styled "De Soto Discovering the Mississippi." From the style of costume and the physical condition of De Soto and his men, one would be led to suppose that they had been fattened for the occasion and turned out for a dress parade, after having consulted a Chinese laundry and a first-class French barber, while the direct opposite was the condition of De Soto and his squalid, fagged-ont, half-roasted, and half-starved little band of heroic followers, when De Soto gave one glance at the river of rivers, fell sick, died, and was buried in the mud of the fickle stream.

Another painting in the Capitol, entitled " Washing- ton Crossing the Delaware," is faulty with like impossi- bilities. Amidst blocks of ice, falling snow, and a stiff wind, the Father of his Country is standing up in the centre of the boat that is in rough motion, holding an American flag. The position of Washington is such that he could not keep it under such circumstances, and there is no poetical or historical license to warrant it, or the melodramatic position of General Washington, whose manner was always that of an unostentations gentleman.

The picture entitled "The Baptism of Pocahontas " is alike faulty in its costumes and surroundings. She was baptized from a common wooden trough in the little stone church at Jamestown, Va., with everything in the most primitive condition, as would attend the early settlers in a strange country, which was yet a wil-

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HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

derness. But the picture alluded to represents the scene as one of luxury. The native romance and poetic effects that might be thrown into a composition of the baptism of Pocahontas, are of the finest order; and any artist of ability ought to see enough in the truth of the situation, without having recourse to falsehood and the flummery of things that are introduced only to catch the eye. There is no necessity for untruthful historical picture representations. The historian has given the facts of American history with sufficient exactness to prevent the artist making any mistakes, provided the artist has sought for truth.

The nation's history is replete with fine subjects for the artist's genius. The romance of situations involved in the discovery by Columbus, the settlements in Vir- ginia, and the darings and sufferings of the Pilgrim Fathers on the wild coast of Massachusetts, the strug- gles of the Revolution, the Rebellion-opening the flood- gates of rich battle compositions of every nature, from the merest skirmish to the gigantic proportions of the Gettysburg fight-all give a marvellous fullness of sub- jects to inspire the artist's pencil to great results.

Yet, after all such deductions, it can be safely said that great credit is due to American art-progress when we look at the fettered condition under which it has been forced to fight and struggle. The early painters of this country did great work, and in their own day commanded high attention in Europe. We cannot ignore the fact that West, Leslie, Washington, Allston, Copley, Vandenlin, Malbone, Thomas Cole and Gilbert Stuart did grand work. As artists they lent an undy- ing glory to the days in which they lived, and brought this country an art-fame of which every American should feel proud. It is a fact that the early painters of this country aspired to higher achievements in art than do the artists of the present day. They not only saw nature in form and color with an acute eye, but saw, too, the ideal, and made the effort to combine both, thereby demonstrating higher conditions of thought as well as a higher expression of art-effects. The works of Allston, West, Trumbull and Cole are positive evidences of these facts. For, while they painted histories and ideals, their paintings exalted them as historical figures in the art-history of their own country. It is the grandeur of thoughts that make great men, and it is only great men that can make a nation's history worth consideration. ALLSTON'S "Dead Man Revived," "Belshazzar's Feast," "The Bloody Hand," and " Uriel in the Sun," are works of art equal to the best productions of any of his contemporaneous European artists. He was also a poet of high ability ; his "Paint-King," and his "Lines to the Genius of Edmund Kean," are among the best efforts of English poetry. Col. JOHN TRUM- DULL has enriched his country with art-treasures in his battle-pictures of the American Revolution, that should be valued not only as painted history, but also as works of art emanating from an American hand that was

highly respected in England and France. His "Death of Montgomery," " Death of Wolfe," and "Sortie of Gibraltar," as battle compositions, must ever rank with the best works by the artists of any nation. THOMAS COLE stands alone as the poetic landscape painter. His " Voyage of Life " is a poem-an ideal of a high character-pictures that tell their enchanting story in forms and colors as strongly as the verses of Byron or Longfellow through the medium of words. Cole's pic- tures create thoughts in the beholder as soon as the eyes take them in. Their power over the mind in form and color is even stronger than words; they grasp the eye and ignite the brain with thoughts of our own, added to those suggested by the artist. That writer or artist is the best who makes us think the most-who makes us have two thoughts of our own to the one he gives us. It is the unwritten thoughts between the thoughts that Shakespeare wrote that make his genius incompar- able. And the pleasure we have in seeing or reading lies in the sensation-nerves of our own brain which are brought into action by the suggestions of others. Cole's "Voyage of Life" and " Course of Empire" are full of these suggestions, and are painted epies. In speaking of MALBONE, the American miniature painter, we feel as if our ink should be dew ex- tracted from the leaves of roses, and our pen as soft and delicate as the brush with which he so exquisitely touched the ivory. The writer of these words has had the honor of holding in his own hands MALBONE'S glorious miniature entitled, "The Hours; or, the Past, the Present, and the Future." He saw it in the possession of old Mrs. Whitehorne, the sister of Mal- bone, at Newport, R. I. The composition represented three lovely female figures in one group-Girlhood full of joy and expectation ; Womanhood (the centre figure), full of dignified pride and satisfaction ; while the third figure, expressing the approach of Age, formed a composition replete with grave and deep hu- man thought. The faces of the three figures were luminous with feeling, and the harmony of colors that pervaded the picture was like a sweet melody produ- cing a repose and restfulness seldom produced by pictorial effects.

The touchings of the brush in the execution of the work are marvellously beautiful, and make one feel, while viewing the picture, that it was executed by fairy fingers.

Benjamin West, the American artist, told Mr. Mon- roe (afterwards President of the United States), when in Europe, that he had seen a picture, "The Hours," by a young gentleman of the name of Malbone, which no artist in England could excel. This was true, and the picture, as a miniature on ivory, stands to-day un- equaled .*

* Some unknown hand, inspired by this exquisite art-work, wrote the following lines, that were extensively copied at the time: Whoe'er beheld thy rosy Hours, And could unfelt their beauties Bee, The mind is his where darkness lowers, And hle the beart that mine should filee.

1139

ART HISTORY.

This young American genius of art, giving too close an application to his inspiring profession, sickened and died at the age of thirty-two years.

STUART, TRUMBULL, ELLIOTT, and GEORGE A. BAKER have not been excelled as portrait painters.

With these facts looking us in the face, it will not do to say that the American people are not naturally disposed to art-culture, or have not those sensbilities that are necessary to make a nation celebrated in art matters. We have evidences to the contrary in every department of art, and in no one has this been more empathically demonstrated than in the wonderful im- provement made in this country in wood-engraving. Its rise and progress knew no bounds until it absolute- ly leaped into a new style of wood-engraving that ex- presses in touch and effects everything that can be ex- pected in black and white, and surpasses anything of the kind done in Europe. Our illustrated magazines have more value given to them through the wood-en- gravings that adorn their pages than is contributed to them by any of their writers. HARPER's and the CENTURY magazines are almost galleries of art-gems, and have became valuable as art-collections. The rea- son for this vast improvement in this department of art arises from the taste of the American people for il- lustrated works. The engraver becomes valuable to the publisher; he is in demand, and the artist strug- gles to reach a higher standard of excellence, that he may reach a higher standard of pay, and so long as this disposition lasts, so will wood-engraving keep on im- proving, if it is possible to improve any more. Every- thing must be fostered that it may improve, and when the Government of the United States wakes up to the realization that an artist means something much more than a carpenter, a bricklayer, a stone-cutter, who puts up its public buildings, it will discover that even a democratic-republican form of government can add not only to the happiness of its people, but to the glory of the nation. The affected disregard or con- tempt for the paternal influence which should be ex- ercised over the morals and the art-fostering of the people is an insult to ordinary intelligence, and ob- viously unworthy of the characteristics and policy of a highly civilized nation.

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The civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the county of Kings and the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., from 1683 to 1884, Volume II, Part 120

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed Publication date: 1884 Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co Number of Pages: 1345

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co
Number of Pages: 1345