Mr. Punch's History of Modern England, Vol. 1 (of 4).—1841-1857Graves, Charles L. (Charles Larcom)
History
Mr. Punch's History of Modern England, Vol. 1 (of 4).—1841-1857
Graves, Charles L. (Charles Larcom)
Great Britain -- History -- Victoria, 1837-1901 -- Humor
But when _Punch_ assails Jullien for leaving his "stew-pans and
meat-oven To make a fricassee of the great Beet-hoven" and "saucily
serve Mozart with sauce-piquant," and bids him "put your hat on,
_coupez votre bâton, Bah, Va_!!!"--_Punch_ was both rude and ungenerous.
From the very first at his Concerts d'Eté and then at the Promenade
Concerts, Jullien was a popularizer of good music. He gave his public
waltzes, "Row Polkas," and explosive Army Quadrilles, but he also
sandwiched Beethoven and Mozart between the coarser viands of his
musical _menu_. So while he was credited with the intention of bringing
out _Stabat Mater_ waltzes--by no means a difficult feat with Rossini's
work--and a _Dead March_ gallopade, we must never forget that he was the
first conductor to introduce symphonic music to the masses and the
authentic pioneer of the movement which Sir Henry Wood has carried on at
the Queen's Hall for the last twenty years and more. Modern music
strikes heavily on the naked ear, but Jullien was in the habit of
reinforcing instruments of percussion with explosives, and _Punch_
suggests in 1849 that his _Concerts Monstres_ should be held on
Salisbury Plain to give elbow room for his "stunning performances." His
_chevelure_, his waistcoats and waistbands were too conspicuous to
escape _Punch's_ vigilant eye, and Jullien was no doubt content that it
should be so, for he was a master of the art of _réclame_. He is
habitually alluded to as "the Mons," primarily as the diminutive for
"Monsieur," but mainly because he was "the Mont Blanc of Music." The
excesses of Jazz Bands of to-day are foreshadowed in a description of
the "tongs and bones" music at the Promenade Concerts. But the author of
the notice of Jullien[32] in the D.N.B. conveys a wrong impression when
he speaks of _Punch_ as only ridiculing Jullien. Already _Punch_ had
learned to recognize his merits, and, while rebuking him for his
extravagant conducting of flashy and trashy pieces, renders homage to
his reverence for good music. Thenceforward the references to "the Mons"
are in the main friendly. The _Almanack_ for 1852 speaks of the "Julian
(Jullien) Era" in music. Jullien's opera _Peter the Great_ is tenderly
handled in the autumn of the same year, and, when he set out for his
tour in the States, _Punch_ sped the parting minstrel in some verses
which are an admirable and faithful summary of his services to musical
education in England:--
FAREWELL TO JULLIEN
Composer of _Peter the Great_,
Ere over Atlantic's broad swell
The steamer shall carry thee, proud of her freight,
Let me bid thee a hearty farewell.
With ophicleides, cymbals, and gongs
At first thou didst wisely begin,
And bang the dull ears of the popular throngs,
As though 'twere to beat music in.
With national measures of France,
With polka, with waltz, and with jig,
The "gents" thou excitedst to caper and dance,
As Orpheus did ox, ass, and pig.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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