Ludwig van Beethoven, one of the greatest of musicians, was born at Bonn, 16th December, 1770; died 26th March, 1827. He was the son of a tenor singer in the service of the Elector of Cologne. His wonderful talent for music was early displayed and cultivated, and even in his eighth year he delighted all who heard him by his truly astonishing execution on the violin. He began to compose sonatas in his thirteenth year, and these promising signs of genius caused the Elector of Cologne to send him, in the character of his Court-Organist, to Vienna, to study composition under the instruction of Haydn, Schenk, and Albrechtsberger. Here, except for some few years spent in the new Court of the King of Westphalia, Beethoven passed the remainder of his life, latterly retiring to the village of Modlingen, near Vienna. Most of his principal works were composed after 1801. He did not hold musical offices, but devoted himself entirely to composition; and though at first he appeared as a pianoforte player, he afterwards withdrew entirely from the world, and lived in a solitude enhanced latterly by almost total deafness. Beethoven was essentially a composer of instrumental music, which received from his work an entirely new and original character, and he developed the symphonic art to a surprising boldness and breadth of form and outline, filling this in with a truly marvellous wealth of grand melody—the landmark of a completely new phase in the history of music. Beethoven only wrote one opera, Fidelio (first entitled Leonore), and one sacred cantata, The Mount of Olives; but, original and beautiful as these are, they still show us that this great musician was at his greatest in his instrumental works, upon which his chief fame rests. Besides his noble symphonies and overtures, his quintettes, quartettes, and trios, for stringed instruments, his numerous sonatas, variations, and other pieces for the pianoforte, all show the great richness, power, and originality of his imagination. Beethoven died in the village of Modlingen on 26th March, 1827.
BELLINI
Vincenzo Bellini was born in Catania, in Sicily, 3rd November, 1802; died at Puteux, near Paris, 24th September, 1835. He studied at the Conservatorium in Naples, and in 1833 went to Paris. He produced a number of operas, his style being chiefly founded on that of the then fashionable Rossini, but with the defects of that composer's florid work somewhat exaggerated. Rossini was, however, a good friend to the young Bellini, and gave him very valuable assistance and encouragement. Bellini's best known and most attractive operas are La Sonnambula (La Scala, 1831), Norma (26th December, 1831), and I Puritani (1835); all of which are full of melodious airs, and have attained great popularity.
BENEDICT
Sir Julius Benedict was born at Stuttgart, 27th November, 1804; died 5th June, 1885. In his early years he studied with J. C. L. Abeille, and was also under Hummel at Weimar, where he was presented to Weber, who then took him entirely under his charge, treating him more as a son than as a pupil. At the age of nineteen years, he was appointed conductor of the Karnthnerthor Theatre in Vienna. From there he went to Italy, and was appointed Chef d'Orchestre at the San Carlos at Naples. Here he produced his first opera, Giacinta ed Ernesto (1829). In 1835, he went to England, which country he made his home for the remainder of his life. Here his finest operas were written and produced, The Brides of Venice being produced in 1843, and The Crusaders, 1846; and in 1836 he was made musical director of the Opera Buffa at the Lyceum Theatre. In 1850, he accompanied Jenny Lind to the United States, as director of her concerts. On his return in 1852, he was appointed conductor of the Harmonic Union. In 1862 he produced his popular opera, The Lily of Killarney, a musical version of Dion Boucicault's play, The Colleen Bawn. In 1871 he was knighted; and he died in England on 5th June, 1885. Besides his operas, Benedict also wrote some very charming cantatas, chief of which are Undine (1860) and Richard Cœur de Lion (1863); also Graziella (1882), afterwards performed as an opera. He also wrote the oratorios, St. Cecilia (1866) and St. Peter (1870); and a number of other smaller musical pieces.
BIZET
Alexander César Leopold Bizet (known as Georges) was born at Paris on 25th October 1838; died 3rd June, 1875. The son of a singing-master, he entered the Conservatoire at the age of nine years; and at the early age of nineteen gained the Grand Prix de Rome, and went to Italy to study. On returning to France, Bizet began to write operas, the first of which Pêcheurs de Perles was produced at the Théâtre Lyrique in 1863. It was but coldly received, as were also La Jolie Fille de Perth (1867), Djamileh (1872) and L'Arlésienne, in spite of their unusual merits. In 1875 Carmen was produced at the Opera Comique. This masterpiece quickly gained for Bizet world-wide fame, and placed him in the first rank of French composers. The Parisians, however, received the opera coldly; and it was not until eight years later, when it had been appraised everywhere else that they at last recognised its extraordinary charm and genius. Carmen was the last work of Bizet; for, three months after its first production, just as success was within his grasp, the gifted composer was seized with sudden illness and died.
DONIZETTI
Gaetano Donizetti was born at Bergamo, Italy, 25th September, 1798; died there 8th April, 1848. His musical education was conducted at Bologna and Naples; and at first, at his father's wish, he devoted himself to church music, for which, however, he had no taste, and to evade which he entered the army. Whilst thus away from home, he wrote his first two operas, Enrico di Borgogna and Il Falegname de Livonia, the latter of which was so successful that he left the army and devoted himself entirely to opera-writing. He wrote with great rapidity and ease, and produced no less than sixty operas. His style was founded on that of Rossini, and his flowing melodies have attained great popularity. After 1844, Donizetti's talent seemed to have utterly exhausted itself, and he began to suffer from melancholia, which finally developed into insanity. Donizetti's chief operas were: The Daughter of the Regiment (1840), La Favorita (1840), Don Pasquale (1843), Lucia di Lammermoor (1835), L'Elisir d'Amore (1832), Lucrezia Borgia (1834), Linda de Chamouni (1842), etc.