Charles Hallé : a musical life / Robert Beale.

Author/creator Beale, Robert
Format Book
Publication InfoAldershot, Hampshire, England ; Burlington, VT : Ashgate, ©2007.
Descriptionxvii, 278 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Subjects

SeriesMusic in nineteenth-century Britain
Music in nineteenth-century Britain. ^A412049
Contents Foreword / by Mark Elder -- The making of a musician -- The new man in Manchester -- Interlude: the Hallé-Loder opera season of 1854 -- An orchestra created -- The uphill struggle -- Interlude: Hallé's London opera season 1860-61 -- The tradition begins -- Famine and feast -- The golden years -- The last decade -- Hallé's business model and methods -- Epilogue: an appreciation of Hallé as a person -- Appendices.
Abstract Charles Hallé was one of the leading musicians of the nineteenth century and intimate with almost all of the great composers and performers of his time, as well as a friend of the Royal Family and known as much as a pianist and chamber musician as a conductor, in London, throughout the country and abroad, in addition to Manchester. This book presents a new perspective on Hallé's life and achievement, constructed mainly from primary sources, which serves to dispel many of the inaccuracies and omissions that have stemmed, to a great extent, from Hallé's own autobiographical account of 1896. His edited memoirs omit much of the competition and controversy, struggles and disappointments of his career in Manchester, and, indeed, hardly convey the scope of his activities elsewhere. Hallé was a key figure in the shift from contemporary to 'classical' repertory in orchestral concerts and piano performance. Not only did he found the Manchester orchestra, in 1862-3 he also gave the first known cycle of Beethoven's piano sonatas. His early annual 'recital' series in London marked a new era in the musical history of his time. The formation of the modern 'symphony orchestra' took place during the period of Hallé's professional life, and he was a pioneer in the process, in both artistic and business terms. Having adopted the role of orchestral conductor when it was itself relatively novel, he became one of the acknowledged masters of the craft over four and half decades--as well as continuing to appear as solo pianist and chamber musician, and in addition he was enormously influential as musical pedagogue and educationist.
Bibliography noteIncludes bibliographical references (pages 261-268) and index.
LCCN 2007010248
ISBN9780754661375
ISBN0754661377

Availability

Library Location Call Number Status Item Actions
Music Closed Stacks - Ask at Circulation Desk ML422.H18 B43 2007 ✔ Available Place Hold