Edward De Jong
Hallé’s First Flute
By Stuart Scott
During
the 1850s, music in Manchester underwent a transformation which
put the city’s music-making onto a world footing – the two people
largely responsible for this being Charles Hallé and Louis Jullien.
In December 1856, while Charles Hallé held an audience spellbound
with what was probably the first public performance in Manchester
of Beethoven’s ‘Emperor’ concerto, Louis Jullien (1812-1866)
was putting on a concert with his own orchestra.
Jullien’s concerts were of a more popular character and he gained
a following both for himself and the music he presented through
showmanship, flamboyance and musicianship. He spared no expense
in engaging the world’s most famous soloists and orchestral
players of the highest rank, and raised the popularity of orchestral
music in Manchester more than either Hallé or anyone else at
that time. Jullien often presented his own skilfully composed
quadrilles and performed as a piccolo soloist himself on numerous
occasions, to the delight of his audiences.
Edward De Jong (1837-1920) was a member of Jullien’s orchestra
for some time and was greatly influenced by him but he was later
mainly associated with Hallé’s ventures. Almost a year before
Jullien’s farewell concert (on New Year’s Day, 1859), he was
appointed principal in Hallé’s orchestra. De Jong first played
in the Arts Treasures Exhibition Orchestra of 1857, which was
an augmented orchestra from Hallé’s Gentlemen’s Concerts and
was engaged especially for the Exhibition.
Hallé was so pleased with the Exhibition performance that he
decided to keep the band together; on 22 October 1857 his new
orchestra (with De Jong as principal flute) performed at the
Free Trade Hall under his direction. It was not until 30 January,
however, that the Hallé Orchestra, as we know it today, gave
its first public concert in Manchester. In his first public
series of concerts, Hallé (taking a tip from Jullien) made a
large number of cheap seats available, thus enabling far more
people to attend.
De Jong maintained a high profile during his time as principal
flute with the orchestra, with regular solo appearances. His
first, in September 1858, was a performance of Boehm’s Fantasia
on Scottish Airs, at one of the Wednesday concerts. Later that
year he performed a Grand Selection from Il Trovatore and Boehm’s
Fantasia on Beethoven’s ‘Le Desir’. Indeed, Boehm’s works seem
to have figured highly in De Jong’s repertoire at this time
as there were also performances of the Fantasia on German Airs,
Fantasia on Swiss Airs and the Fantasia on Swiss Boy.
In November 1859, Hallé started his season of public concerts
and Mr Berry (second flute) was replaced by R. Charlton, who
remained with the orchestra until De Jong left in 1870. Between
November 1858 and January 1865, De Jong continued to perform
as soloist including his own Scottish Airs, Fantasia on Faust
and Fantasia on Lucia di Lammermoor. During this period he also
featured solos by other well known flautists – Furstenau’s Fantasia
on Norma, Richardson’s There’s nae Luck, Briccialdi’s Fantasia
on Airs from Lucrezia Borgia and Paggi’s Fantasia on Neapolitan
Airs. Jules Demersseman was included also, on 12 January 1865,
when De Jong took part in a performance of the Grand Duet for
flute and oboe with his friend and colleague, Mons. Lavigne,
the principal oboist.
The last time De Jong performed as a soloist at a Hallé concert
was in January 1867 when he played his own rather difficult
Fantasia on Faust. Three years followed with no opportunity
for solo work because Hallé’s concerts now concentrated more
on vocal solo appearances and piano solos given by Charles Hallé
himself. This no doubt influenced De Jong’s decision to leave
the orchestra and set up his own Saturday Popular Concerts,
providing music much in the style of Jullien. Hallé considered
this a rival venture and refused to allow his players to accept
engagements with De Jong, in consequence losing several good
musicians, one of which was Lavigne.
De Jong had an orchestra of sixty players, the flautists being
John Taylor (principal) and Eugene Damaré (piccolo). Damaré
(1840-1919) had previously toured with the Arban Band and eventually
wrote more than 400 pieces, numerous studies and a Flute Method
in three volumes, but is only known today for a handful of pieces
such as his piccolo solo, The Wren. He was often featured as
piccolo soloist at De Jong’s concerts and after a performance
on 1 January 1874 a Manchester critic wrote: “M. Damaré played
some most brilliant and effective variations on the Carnival
de Venice in a manner of which it would be almost impossible
to speak too highly”. At the same concert De Jong played the
flute obbligato to a performance of Cardi’s L’usignuolo, given
by Madame Sinico. Lavigne played his own Fantasia on Airs from
Mirella and for the evening performance Demersseman’s Duet for
flute and oboe replaced Lavigne’s solo.
The format and content of this concert and all the other Saturday
Popular Concerts followed in the style of Jullien, and indeed
Jullien put in an appearance at the above-mentioned New Year’s
Day Concert in the form of a performance of his Quadrille: British
Army. Needless to say, De Jong had spared no expense in augmenting
his forces for this concert, having secured the services of
four soloists, the 7th Dragoon Guards, The 95th
Regiment, the Drum and Fife Bands of the 95th Regiment,
the 56th Lancashire (Salford) Volunteers and the
Pipers of the Scots Fusilier Guards!
De Jong’s concerts continued to please both the public and the
critics, although in the previous year (1873) when he had put
on Messiah, Midsummer Night’s Dream and Judas Maccabeus, they
had proved not too popular with his audiences, and by the end
of the year he was looking for more subscribers. Apart from
this his concerts still remained popular.
It seems that the critics were pleased too, as the response
to the opening concert of the 1873-74 season was greeted with
the words: “Mr De Jong, on the flute, played his own well known
Fantasia on Faust admirably”. In the same month (25 October
1873) he introduced his new song, A Twilight Carol with flute
obbligato to words by the well known local poet Edwin Waugh.
The newspaper critic noted “… a graceful and melodious composition
with a flute obbligato which was played by the composer and
the vocal portion expressively sung by Madame Rita, brought
down the house and led to its repetition”. On 1 November, De
Jong stepped in with a solo to cover for the indisposed Madame
Patey and once again received the admiration of a Manchester
critic: “How Mr De Jong played his interpolated solo, his performance
always possessing a uniform excellence”. Damaré’s piccolo solo
on Airs from Lucrezia Borgia given a week later was encored
and he was declared the best piccolo player Manchester audiences
had ever heard.
But the success for the flute and flautists of Mr De Jong’s
Popular Concerts was beginning to fade, as in the following
year De Jong found it necessary to repeat his plea for more
financial assistance in the printed programme for 21 February
1874. On the 27th the raising of funds continued
with a Benefit Concert, for which occasion the members of De
Jong’s orchestra kindly offered their services gratis and the
Bands of the 7th Dragoon Guards and the 95th
Regiment volunteered to take part, along with thirteen soloists,
choir and organist.
Although the Popular Concerts soon came to an end, De Jong found
it difficult to leave Manchester and the North of England and
he continued to conduct concerts in the region at venues such
as Buxton, Morecambe and Liverpool. He was just as successful
at conducting as he was at playing the flute and composing for
his instrument.
It is hardly surprising that such a successful musician should
also be in demand as a teacher, and in 1893 De Jong joined the
Royal Manchester College of Music staff as Flute Professor along
with his colleague Jean Firmin Brossa being paid at the rate
of 7/6d per hour. He remained in the post until 1906, when Vincent
Needham, a pupil of
both De Jong and Brossa, succeeded him. When one looks at De
Jong’s list of pupils it is very easy to support claims made
for his expertise as a teacher: Vincent Needham, Albert Fransella,
Halstead, Samuels and D.S. Wood were all to become eminent flautists
of their time.
When Edward De Jong died on November 20th 1920 at
Sulby, Isle of Man, aged 84, he was one of the last members
of the original Hallé orchestra to do so. He had started life
on March 1st 1837 at Deventer in Holland first playing
in public when only seven years old and according to Macaulay
Fitzgibbon arrived in England in his twenties “with one shilling
and sixpence in Dutch money in his pocket”. From such meagre
beginnings his career in England blossomed such that the Guardian
critic was prompted to say that “Mr De Jong was a genius without
eccentricities, unrivalled on the flute for many years and his
power over an audience was immense”.
© Stuart Scott, 2011
References:
Fitzgibbon, Macaulay The Story of the Flute, William Reeves,
London 1913
Manchester Guardian 26 Oct 1873, 2 Jan 1874, 21 Nov 1920.
Scott, Stuart Hallé Flutes, SJS Publications, 1998.
