We Three - Act II , Scene 1

CHAPTER 7 - THE JACOB ZEUGHEER HERRMANN MEMORIAL CONCERT

ACT II, (1860-1870) Scene 1

12th December , 1865 Liverpool Philharmonic Hall

7.30 p.m.

Programme: The Messiah

Conductors: Mr E.W. Thomas (nos. 1-6) and Alfred Mellon (nos. 7–12)

Interval

Selections written by and reminiscent of Jakob Zeugheer Herrmann

Biography of the life of Jakob by his son-in-law, Lindsay Hall

Poem written by his daughter, Verena Herrmann, which she says was her father’s favourite

Poems by Felicia Hermans, read by Josephine Herrmann Banner

Songs with words by Felicia Hermans and music composed by J. Z. Herrmann

 

The scene starts as the Messiah has finished, and the three friends, Charley, Charles and Lindsay are meeting in the bar area for a drink. A stage will be seen when the performance resumes, by a back curtain rising. The three men will stay in the darkened stage while the rest of the action continues.

Lindsay: I say, that was really wonderful, wasn’t it? I liked the way that Mr. Mellon introduced the evening, saying that the literature of the Philharmonic would forever be in error, as Jakob was scheduled to be conducting tonight - and that is why he thought it a fit opportunity for the community to gather in Jakob’s honour.

Charles: Even I enjoyed the music, and as you know, I am not a music lover. But they all seemed to be putting their hearts and souls into it tonight.

Charley: Oh, they are always good - but I agree, that tonight will have been special for them. Especially the organist, as I think he has worked with Jakob almost throughout his entire career here in Liverpool. And I see that you are going to star next, Lindsay. Are you nervous?

Lindsay: Well, public speaking is not my forte - and I was hoping that one of Jakob’s sons would do it, but they all felt they would be too overcome by emotion to do it well. And I am the first in-law in the family, so I suppose it should fall to me rather than William or George.

Charles: Well, this is the first time ‘We Three’ have been together in ages, and I expect we are looking that much older and wiser as a result. But bring me up to date on your positions now, and your family news. You first, Lindsay.

Lindsay: Well we have moved to a rather posh address lately, Ullet Lodge on Ullet Road. I don’t know if you remember it, Charles, but it is right on the edge of Sefton Park. And it is thought to perhaps have been one of King John’s hunting lodges, much improved over the last 800 years, of course. It does often seem as cold and draughty to make the assumption a realistic one.

Charley: It really is a beautiful place, and Eliza and I enjoy visiting him there when we are on this side of the water.

Charles: Oh, that’s right. You are officially in Cheshire now. How do you like Birkenhead?

Charley: Well, we don’t live in the town itself, although that is where I work. Our home is in
Claughton - Netherfield Villa, it is called. We have six children now, and Eliza says that she definitely does not want any more. Our three eldest, Edward, born in 55, Charles, in 57 and Ada, born in 59, were all born when we were still in Lancashire. We had a house in Aigburth. Did you ever visit us there, Charles?

Charles: No, I can’t say that I remember that. I think we always met up at Aunt Maria’s house.

Charley: Well after we moved, we had Gertrude, born in 62, Edith in 64, and our newest baby, just born this year, Harry.

Lindsay: Well, you certainly have a bigger family than I do. We have just the three sons: Hurley,
who you will remember from your mother’s funeral and your wedding, Charles, and then Lindsay Bernard, who we call Bernard to avoid confusion, who was born in 59, and George Silas, born in 63. Emily also says that she has had enough of child bearing. And as for what I am doing now, well since the American Civil War, I have decided it was prudent to go more in for general produce, rather than concentrating on cotton as I did before. We did keep up our imports, but with a great deal of trouble and expense.

Charles: So you didn’t take my advice and avoid importing cotton from the States. From what I heard
and read, so strong were these connections that it has been quoted that at one time "more Confederate flags fluttered above Liverpool than over Richmond." The article said that Liverpool
was the obvious choice for organising supplies and aid for the Confederacy. It was also important to keep open the supply line for cotton upon which the South and the Lancashire cotton mills depended. Don’t you feel any guilt that you were supporting the slave states - and apparently actively contributing to their war effort?

Lindsay: You don’t understand, Charles, what it was like. We have family in Charleston. We were
dealing with my brothers. We couldn’t just cut off our ties with them, on a whim.

Charley: I don’t think this is the right place to go into the slavery issue yet again. As you know,
my father and brothers and I have always been cotton brokers, and have never dealt in any other commodity. But we have changed our supplies to include more from Egypt and India - although neither of those countries has exactly a prefect record for human rights.

Charles: Well, I would very much like to debate the issue with you both, and I know how Liverpool
built ships specifically in order to trade with the Southern states. But I hope neither of you was directly involved. I know that the Holt brothers steered well clear of it with their shipping.

Lindsay: Tell us a bit about your situation now, Charles. How is Mary, and how many children do
you have?

Charles: Mary is well, thank you, and asked me to remember her to you and your wives. Our eldest,
Mary, is somewhat backward, but coping all right. She was born in 1859.

Lindsay: Not all that many months after your wedding, if I remember rightly. You old rogue.

Charles: Well, you know how these things go. Anyway, after Mary, we had our son, Frank Clephan
(named as you will realise, Charley, after our mutual uncle-in-law), born last year, and appearing in every which way to be perfectly normal, thank God. Mary is expecting again soon. I am an accountant now, but expect to be made a partner in the firm, along with my employer’s two sons, in the near future. We live in a very pretty part of Worcester, Rainbow Hill, it is called. You must come and visit us sometime. It seems like it is always me coming to see you rather than you returning the compliment.

(Bell ringing)

Lindsay: Oh, there is the bell. I had best get ready as I think I'm on first. (exits left)

(The other men settle back in their chairs and the lights go down. The curtain opens and the conductor comes on stage.)

Mr. Mellon: Thank you, Ladies and Gentlemen. We will now begin the second part of our concert with some personal remarks about the life of our friend Jakob. I call upon Mr. Lindsay Hall, husband of Jakob’s oldest daughter Emily, to give us a few words.

(applause, and Lindsay goes up onto the stage)

Lindsay: Thank you everyone. I feel very honoured to be asked to give a biography of my very dear friend and father-in-law, Jakob Zeugheer Herrmann. (He reads from his notes)

Born at Zürich in 1805, Jakob Zeugheer learned the violin first from Wassermann in his native town,
and in 1818 was placed at Munich under Ferdinand Franzel, for the violin, and Gratz for composition and musical science. A visit to Vienna in 1823 confirmed his enthusiasm for chamber-music and
Beethoven, who remained through life the object of his highest veneration.

The example of Schuppanzigh, and of the four brothers Moralt, suggested to Jakob the idea of
attempting the same with his friends in Munich, as "das Quartett Gebrüder Herrmann". Zeugheer was leader; Joseph Wex of Immenstadt, second violin; Carl Baader, viola; and Joseph Lidel
(grandson of Andreas Lidel, the eminent performer), violoncello. They started Aug. 34, 1824, for the south, and gave performances at the towns of south Germany and Switzerland, and along the Rhine to Holland and Belgium. In the spring of 1826 they played in Paris, before Cherubini and Baillot, and gave a public performance assisted by Mile. Sontag and M. Boucher. They first performed in Paris Spohr's double quartet in D minor, the second quartet being played by Boucher and his three sons.

From Boulogne the quartet crossed the Channel; in England they seem to have been successful, at
Dover, Ramsgate, and especially at Brighton, where they resided for five months. They gave concerts throughout the South and West of England, and in Ireland from Cork to Dublin, where they arrived in November 1827. It was there that he met and married the great love of his life, Anna Barrington. Early in 1828 the quartet proceeded by Belfast to Glasgow, Edinburgh and London. In London they had only a few engagements in private houses; Wex retired ill, and the quartet
was broken up till a new violinist was found in Anton Popp of Wurtzburg. The concerts begun again with a series of six at Liverpool in the summer of 1829, and were continued through the northern
counties. But in the spring of 1830 the four had had enough of a roving life. Zeugheer and Baader settled at Liverpool, Lidel and Popp at Dublin.

The Zeugheer quartet, as it was called, was only the second ever to perform in England, and were the first to play in England any but the first six of Beethoven's quartets. In many towns they found that no one knew what a quartet was.

In 1831 Zeugheer took the conductorship of the Gentlemen's Concerts at Manchester, which he
retained till 1838. The Liverpool Philharmonic Society, originally a private society, began in January, 1840 ,to give public concerts with an orchestra, and in 1843, appointed Jakob director.

A lifelong friend of his, Jakob kept up his connection with Felix Mendelssohn. In 1848, he wrote
asking for a cantata, not sacred but rather illustrative of the Science of Music, to which art this building was dedicated, with perhaps some reference to the commercial greatness of the town. The
response was for Mendelssohn to write the oratorio, Elijah.

Jakob conducted our concerts until March 28, this year shortly before his death, which took place
on June 15, in Wales.

Mr. Zeugheer Herrmann was highly praised for his work as a teacher in Liverpool. Although not a
pianist, he fully understood the art of training the hand. Mr. Chorley, the musical critic of the "Athenaeum", never had any musical teacher but Jakob, whose genius he estimated highly and
proclaimed in print. Jakob's playing was very pure in tone and refined in expression.

Another of his students, Mrs. Felicia Browne Hermans, who died in 1835, was also a gifted poet. He
put several of her poems to music, and we will be hearing those in a short while.

He wrote two Symphonies, two Overtures, a Cantata, two sets of Entr'actes, a Violin Concerto op. 28, a Potpourri for violin and orchestra op. 6, an instrumental Quartet, an Andante and Rondo for piano and violin op. 21, and a Polacca fur four voices. Here in Liverpool he wrote an opera "Angela
of Venice” to Chorley's words, but it has never been performed. He published two sets of waltzes, a vocal duet "Come, lovely May", and other songs and glees.

He made friends wherever he went, and everyone was made very welcome in his household. We all
shall miss him very much, not only for his music, but for himself.

(applause as Lindsay resumes his seat)

Mr. Mellon: Now I would like to call upon Verena Herrmann, Jacob’s second daughter, to recite a poem she wrote.

(Verena comes from off stage right and on to the stage.)

Verena:(Very nervous)

I wrote this poem about our family at dinner one Sunday in 1860 - with Lindsay and Willy both visiting us. Grandmother Emilia Barrington was still alive then. And it was just after Mary and Willie had had their first baby. I hope it will make sense to you. And you will have to
guess which one was Lindsay.

I call it the H Family, Respectfully dedicated without permission to Mrs. Herrmann.

Nearly twenty good folks

Sitting down to Tea,

 Isn’t that the prettiest sight

That ever you did see.

There’s Minnie at the head,

Sober as a judge to see

Yet a famous hand, I trow,

At pouring out the Tea.

Willy Boxwell at the foot,

Talking all about war:

Explaining to the good folks

What they kill each other for.

There’s Mr. Herrmann playing

With his darling Ada;

and Mrs. Herrmann saying -

“Now Bunny do not moider.”

The stranger with the long hair,

And neatly turned-down collar,

Is thinking of diminished sevenths,

And the lesson that will follow.

There’s Josephine with queenly mien

Yet full of fun and laughter,

Asking very puzzling things,

And laughing at you after.

There’s little Alphonse (not the great)

Playing on the floor with toys.

With little coaxing Herbert (bless him)

Kicking up a fearful noise.

There Mama’s thoughts are roaming

To Carlsruhe far way,

On Charley who will turn out,

A famous man - some day.

There Willie and Leonhart up stairs

Studying hard at their books,

And Annie and Freddie so sly,

At least so to judge from his looks.

Upstairs that “little nameless one,”

Is in her cradle sleeping,

Near her is her mother

To sooth her when she’s weeping.

There’s the mild and thoughtful Emily

Sitting down to Tea,

With her darling Pussey

Resting on her knee.

Sweet Miss Verena opposite

Whose gentle, thoughtful face

Shows a poetic turn of mind,

Now is not this the case?

A sweet affection binds them all,

To each other’s hearts at home

They never wish to go abroad

Or from their own firesides to roam.

This sight, O surely is indeed,

What angels love to see,

A family so rich as this

In Love and Harmony.

(everyone claps as Verena goes off stage.)

Mr Mellon: Thank you Verena for that lovely insight into the family life of Jakob. Now I would like to ask Josephine Herrmann Banner to recite a few of the poems of the aforementioned Mrs. Felicia Hermans, who was an important part of Jakob’s life - and he in hers.

(Josephine comes in from off stage left.)

Josephine: Thank you. But before I recite any of her poetry, I would like to tell you a little bit about Mrs. Hermans who was born in 1793 and died in 1835.

Felicia Hermans discovered her talent for writing at a very young age. She was born in 1793 in Liverpool, and under the tutorage of her mother she quickly became somewhat of a child prodigy. As a child, Felicia learned Latin, German, French, and Italian. She immersed herself in Shakespeare and quickly developed a talent for writing. She had her first works published when she was only 14. She continued with writing poetry and had great success with it.

Later in her life, she conceived a great passion for music, and, in the winter of 1830 and ensuing spring, applied herself to the study ofthe art under Jakob Zeugheer Herrmann. She so far cultivated her faculty in music as to be able to invent airs for some of her own lyrics. Playing on the harp and the pianoforte had been among her earlier accomplishments: and her voice was naturally good. I will read you two of her very short poems.

Dawn is past, noon has gone,

The setting sun slips silently

 Out of our vision

Leaving fingers of light - a memory of what has been.

Darknight awaits with its promise of stars.

Light in the darkness -brilliant shining light.

(applause)

Perhaps this is the poem, more than any other that she will be remembered for.

Deep is a wounded heart, and strong

A voice that cries against a mighty wrong;

And full of death as a hot wind's blight,

Doth the ire of a crushed affection light.

(applause as Josephine goes off stage)

Mr. Mellon: Thank you Mrs. Banner. We will now conclude this special occasion, with a series of five songs where the lyrics were written by Mrs. Felicia Hermans, and the music composed by Jakob Zeugheer Herrmann. Our vocalist is Mr. John Herbert. The five poems are as
follows:

Far Away

The Lyre and Flower

Sister, Since I Met Thee Last

The Lonely Bird

Dirge at Sea

I thought it would be appropriate considering the reason for our being here today, if I would read out for you the words of the last poem. Jakob did not die from the sea, but he lived next to it for much of his adult life, and loved it greatly.

Sleep! We give thee to the wave

Red with life-blood from the brave

Thou shall find a noble grave.

Fare thee well!

Sleep! thy billowy field is won

Proudly may be the funeral gun

Midst the hush at set of sun

Boom thy knell!

(curtain down)