Charles Auchester is a novel by Elizabeth Sara Sheppard, published in 1853. Its hero is an idealised portrait of the composer Felix Mendelssohn. The novel, which is notable for its positive portrayal of Jewish musicality, was praised by Benjamin Disraeli and was initially very popular, remaining in print for over seventy years.
The novel, which was written between the years of 1846 and 1849, reflects the author's adulation of Felix Mendelssohn, who had died in 1847 (when the author was 17 years old), and who appears in the book as 'the Chevalier Seraphael'. [1]
The book, which is set in England and Germany, describes Seraphael's artistic and moral influence on a body of gifted friends and students, as narrated by the eponymous Auchester. Auchester has been assumed to represent Charles Horsley. Other thinly-veiled members of Seraphael's circle are his pupil 'Starwood Burney' (Sterndale Bennett), the singer 'Clara Benette' (Jenny Lind) and the composer 'Anastase' (Hector Berlioz). [2]
The book attributes much of Seraphael/Mendelssohn's musical ability to his Jewish origins. At one point, a conversation between the character Aronach (based on Mendelssohn's teacher Carl Zelter), and Auchester runs:
'Of music ... doubt not that it is into a divine and immeasurable realm thou shalt at length be admitted; and bow contented that thou hast this in common with those above thee – the insatiable presentiment of futurity with which the Creator has chosen to endow the choicest of his gifts – the gift in its perfection granted ever to the choicest, the rarest of the race.'
'And that is why it is granted to the Hebrew nation – why they all possess it like a right!' I cried. [3]
The book thus belongs in a tradition of pro-Jewish English fiction which includes Maria Edgeworth's Harrington (1817) and Benjamin Disraeli's Coningsby (1844). [4] Sheppard herself had Jewish ancestry, and when she sent a draft of her novel to Disraeli he responded "No greater book will ever be written on music." When the book was published in 1853 it bore the dedication "To the author of Contarini Fleming " (Disraeli's 1832 autobiographical novel). [5]
Her later novel Rumour includes a character named "Rodomant" based on Beethoven.
The book was originally published anonymously and was attributed by some to a Rothschild. Reviewing the novel in the Athenaeum , the critic Henry Chorley described the work as "half-crazy" whilst acknowledging its "true, fervid, feeling". [6]
The novel was initially enormously popular and remained continuously in print until 1928. [7] A more recent critic echoes Chorley in considering the book "naive throughout and at times ridiculously inept," but redeemed to some extent by the author's evident and genuine love for music. [8] Another writer finds that Sheppard goes beyond the mere story-line to indicate views on the moral and educational importance of music, reflecting the Victorian belief in music as a means to self-improvement. [9]
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include symphonies, concertos, piano music, organ music and chamber music. His best-known works include the overture and incidental music for A Midsummer Night's Dream, the Italian Symphony, the Scottish Symphony, the oratorio St. Paul, the oratorio Elijah, the overture The Hebrides, the mature Violin Concerto and the String Octet. The melody for the Christmas carol "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" is also his. Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words are his most famous solo piano compositions.
"Das Judenthum in der Musik" is an essay by Richard Wagner which attacks Jews in general and the composers Giacomo Meyerbeer and Felix Mendelssohn in particular. It was published under a pseudonym in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik (NZM) of Leipzig in September 1850 and was reissued in a greatly expanded version under Wagner's name in 1869. It is regarded by some as an important landmark in the history of German antisemitism.
Fanny Mendelssohn was a German composer and pianist of the early Romantic era who was also known as Fanny (Cäcilie) Mendelssohn Bartholdy and, after her marriage, Fanny Hensel. Her compositions include a piano trio, a piano quartet, an orchestral overture, four cantatas, more than 125 pieces for the piano, and over 250 lieder, most of which went unpublished in her lifetime. Although praised for her piano technique, she rarely gave public performances outside her family circle.
Johanna Maria "Jenny" Lind was a Swedish opera singer, often called the "Swedish Nightingale". One of the most highly regarded singers of the 19th century, she performed in soprano roles in opera in Sweden and across Europe, and undertook an extraordinarily popular concert tour of the United States beginning in 1850. She was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music from 1840.
Sir William Sterndale Bennett was an English composer, pianist, conductor and music educator. At the age of ten Bennett was admitted to the London Royal Academy of Music (RAM), where he remained for ten years. By the age of twenty, he had begun to make a reputation as a concert pianist, and his compositions received high praise. Among those impressed by Bennett was the German composer Felix Mendelssohn, who invited him to Leipzig. There Bennett became friendly with Robert Schumann, who shared Mendelssohn's admiration for his compositions. Bennett spent three winters composing and performing in Leipzig.
Isaac Ignaz Moscheles was a Bohemian piano virtuoso and composer. He was based initially in London and later at Leipzig, where he joined his friend and sometime pupil Felix Mendelssohn as professor of piano in the Conservatory.
Carl Friedrich Zelter was a German composer, conductor and teacher of music. Working in his father's bricklaying business, Zelter attained mastership in that profession, and was a musical autodidact.
The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig (German: Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig) is a public university in Leipzig (Saxony, Germany). Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn as the Conservatorium der Musik (Conservatory of Music), it is the oldest university school of music in Germany.
Henry Fothergill Chorley was an English literary, art and music critic, writer and editor. He was also an author of novels, drama, poetry and lyrics.
Michal Josef Gusikov was a Belarusian-Jewish klezmer who gave the first performances of klezmer music to West European concert audiences on his 'wood and straw instrument'.
The Tempest incidental music, Op. 1, is a set of movements for Shakespeare's play composed by Arthur Sullivan in 1861 and expanded in 1862. This was Sullivan's first major composition, and its success quickly brought him to the attention of the musical establishment in England.
Friedrich Heinrich Adolf Bernhard Marx [A. B. Marx] was a German music theorist, critic, and musicologist.
Since Biblical times, music has held an important role in many Jews' lives. Jewish music has been influenced by surrounding Gentile traditions and Jewish sources preserved over time. Jewish musical contributions on the other hand tend to reflect the cultures of the countries in which Jews live, the most notable examples being classical and popular music in the United States and Europe. However, other music is unique to particular Jewish communities, such as klezmer of Eastern Europe.
Jewish music is the music and melodies of the Jewish people. There exist both traditions of religious music, as sung at the synagogue and domestic prayers, and of secular music, such as klezmer. While some elements of Jewish music may originate in biblical times, differences of rhythm and sound can be found among later Jewish communities that have been musically influenced by location. In the nineteenth century, religious reform led to composition of ecclesiastic music in the styles of classical music. At the same period, academics began to treat the topic in the light of ethnomusicology. Edward Seroussi has written, "What is known as 'Jewish music' today is thus the result of complex historical processes". A number of modern Jewish composers have been aware of and influenced by the different traditions of Jewish music.
Hebrew Melodies is a collection of 30 poems by Lord Byron. They were largely created by Byron to accompany music composed by Isaac Nathan, who played the poet melodies which he claimed (incorrectly) dated back to the service of the Temple in Jerusalem.
Psalm 42, Op. 42 Wie der Hirsch schreit is a cantata by Felix Mendelssohn, setting Psalm 42 in German. It was written and published in 1837 for soloists, mixed choir and orchestra.
Psalm 5 is the fifth psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation". In Latin, it is known as "Verba mea auribus percipe Domine". The psalm is traditionally attributed to David. It reflects how the righteous man prays for deliverance not only for freedom from suffering, but to allow himself to serve God without distraction. The New King James Version entitles it "A Prayer for Guidance".
The Mendelssohn Scholarship refers to two scholarships awarded in Germany and in the United Kingdom. Both commemorate the composer Felix Mendelssohn, and are awarded to promising young musicians to enable them to continue their development.
Elizabeth Sara Sheppard (1830–1862) was a 19th-century British novelist.
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