An Eighteenth-century Violoncello Prodigy

“Children brought up in musical families entertained by the sound of musical instruments so soon acquire a musical sense as in some instances to be regarded as prodigies. Mozart began to compose at the age of five; and in a paper read by Dr Burney before the Royal Society, it is affirmed that Crotch played the air of ‘Let ambition fire thy mind’ when only two years old.” Thus does that enthusiastic musical amateur, Mr William Gardner, half-a-century ago remark on the environment calculated to produce that overwhelming phenomena of modern times—the prodigy. So accustomed have modern audiences become to the appearance of child virtuosi on the concert platform that the announcement which appeared the other day, of a concert at the Alexandra Palace where the orchestra would be entirely composed of 1000 girl and boy violinists, did not create any sensation. Certainly the novelty of the prodigy has somewhat worn off, and for this reason it is not a little refreshing to look back and see him when his numbers were less numerous.

In the accompanying illustration, reproduced from an old print in the possession of Dr William Cummings, we have the dual interest of a boy under nine years of age who could play both the violoncello and flute, and affected a certain sensationalism by clothing himself in petticoats. No biography of this youthful wonder—who was apparently the first violoncello prodigy—is extant, but by the aid of newspaper advertisements it has not been difficult to trace some of this interesting little boy’s youthful career as an artist. In the first place it may be noticed that the picture is engraved by M‘Ardell, one of the most celebrated engravers of his day, after the painting of Thomas Jenkins. The latter was a Devonshire man who studied in London under Hudson, but eventually gave up painting, and went to Rome, where he set himself up as a banker and dealer in antiquities. He was not particularly prosperous in his new undertaking, however, and his misfortunes came to a climax when the French occupied Rome in 1798, and confiscated all his property. At the foot of the picture is written “Benjamin Hallet, a child not yet five years old, who, under the tuition of Mr Oswald, Performed on the Flute at Drury Lane Theatre An^o 1748, for 50 nights with extraordinary skill and applause, and the following year was able to play his part in any Concert on the Violoncello” truly a most accomplished little artist, and worthy pupil of Mr James Oswald—popular composer, flautist, and music publisher of the day.

Looking among the advertisements to be found in The General Advertiser for the year 1748-1749, we came across the following which occurs frequently in that year and confirms part of the statement on the picture:—

Drury Lane

Not acted there.

By His Majesty’s Company of Comedians. At the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane this day will be performed the last new comedy called

THE FOUNDLING

Young Belmont by Mr Garrick.

Sir Charles Raymond, Mr Barry; Faddle, Mr Wodward; Col. Raymond, Mr Havard; Sir Roger Belmont, Mr Yates; Villian, Mr Winstone; Rosetta, Mrs Pritchard, and

Fidelia by Mrs Cibber
With Entertainments, viz.
Act I. (By Desire) A piece of Music on
the flute by the child.

Again on the 23rd January in the same paper we find A New Way to pay Old Debts advertised to be performed at the same theatre, and among the items included in the entertainment section are,

Act I. A Concerto on the Flute by The Child.

Act II. A Piece of Musick by The Child.

The ‘Piece of Musick by the Child’ was evidently a youthful composition and may be the identical MS. mentioned by Musgrave in his “Obituary.” Musgrave’s entries meant a great deal to himself, but they are very puzzling to those not initiated into the secret. Thus the entry “Benjamin Hallet, MS. (Music)” without date and no indication as to where it may be found, led us to a good deal of research which proved quite fruitless.

To be associated with such shining lights as Garrick, Yates, and the charming Mrs Cibber was an excellent send-off for “the child” and he was doubtless the recipient of much petting from the men and women of birth and genius who frequented the theatre. Who little Hallet’s parents were, we have been unable to discover, the only likely clue to his father is found at the foot of Benjamin’s “benefit” programme quoted later. There it is announced that tickets may be had of Mr Hallet in Exeter Court, near Exeter Exchange, in the Strand, but what was the exact relationship between this gentleman and the prodigy is only a matter of conjecture. The London Directory for 1749, gives the name of “Crowley Hallet, Old Swan Lane, Thames Street,” and that of the year 1752 announces that “Crowley Hallet was living near Fishmongers’ Hall, Thames Street.” In the year 1754 there was a “Captain John Hallet, Royal Exchange, Assurance Director, and Ships’ Husband” living in “Love Lane, Aldermanbury.” Of these two, Crowley Hallet—whose address presupposes him to have been a tradesman—was more likely to have been Benjamin’s father, for the advertising genius of the day was a great stickler for class distinction. If a person of genteel birth appeared—by chance—on the stage or concert platform, they were invariably announced as a “gentleman,” or “gentlewoman,” or as in the following advertisement of a seventeenth-century prodigy, in The London Gazette for 26th November 1694:—“The Consort of Musick in Charles Street Covent Garden will begin again next Thursday with the addition of two new voices, one a young gentlewoman of 12 years of age.”

Had Benjamin Hallet been able to claim a “Captain” for his father, he would certainly have been accorded the distinction of being a “young gentleman not yet nine years of age.” But surmise is of little use, for Benjamin’s parents have faded into the land of oblivion and left no trace of themselves except in their talented offspring.

The next we hear of “the child,” is three years later when he is announced in The General Advertiser to appear in “The Old Woman’s Oratory, conducted by Mrs Mary Midnight.” This entertainment was one of the most humorous and up-to-date amusements of the period. It continued to exist for many years on and off, and was eventually taken up by Colley Cibber, whose drolleries gave it a further lease of life. The names of the original promoters do not appear on the playbills, but the name of “Mrs Mary Midnight” perhaps but thinly veils the half-crazy personality of Christopher Smart, the leader and prime spirit of the choicest wits of the day. Poor Smart was twice confined to Bedlam for taking the injunction, “pray without ceasing” too literally, but in spite of his evident madness on this point, he was otherwise sane, and few could surpass the neat wit and epigram that flowed so freely from his ready pen. Under the pseudonym of Mary Midnight (a name said to have been suggested to Smart by some booth at St Bartholomew’s Fair) he brought out a magazine which he called The Midwife, or the Old Woman’s Magazine by Mrs Mary Midnight. This purely satirical weekly was published by good John Newberry whose name Goldsmith epitomised in the lines:

On the 24th of December 1751, a long list of the attractions to be found at “The Old Woman’s Oratory,” is given in the front page of The General Advertiser. The entertainment is announced to take place at “the New Theatre in the Haymarket, and to be conducted by Mrs Mary Midnight and her family. Being the second time of their appearance in public.” The first act opened with “A grand piece for the Kettle Drums and Trumpets,” after which, “Mrs Midnight made her Inauguration Speech.” The third act consisted of, 1. “Speech of Old Time to the Good People of Britain. 2. Solo on the violoncello by Cupid” [the God of Love was impersonated by little Hallet]. “3. A Song by Mrs Midnight. 4. Another Solo by Cupid. 5. Overture to Alexander. An occasional Prologue by a Gentleman, and an Epilogue to be spoken by Master Hallet in the character of Cupid. The doors to be open at Eleven o’clock, in the morning, and the concert to begin exactly at Twelve.”

The hour at which this entertainment took place was prohibitive to the city clerk or tradesman, but to the beaux from the neighbouring coffee-houses, and the belles dames fresh from their lengthy toilette, Mrs Midnight’s entertainment proved vastly amusing. Thus little Hallet was again amongst the Élite of the land.

The Midwife, or Old Woman’s Magazine for 1752, which claims to contain “all the wit and Humor, and all the Learning, and all the Judgement that there was ever, or ever will be inserted in all other Magazines or any other book what-so-ever. So that those who try this book will read no other. Published pursuant to several Acts of Parliament, and by the permission of their most Christian and most Catholic Majesties: The Great Mogul and the States General.... Printed by Mary Midnight and sold by T. Carman in St Paul’s Church Yard, Price three Pence,” gives several of the poems and pieces said to have been spoken at the “Old Woman’s Oratory.” Among these we came across the following lines, which were assigned to Benjamin Hallet in the character of Cupid:—

EPILOGUE

A footnote at the end of these lines states Hallet to be “a child not nine years old, who plays upon the violoncello, and in every other respect has a capacity greatly beyond his Years. N.B. He is shortly to have a benefit, at which ’tis hoped all Mrs Midnight’s Friends will do him the Honour of their Presence.”

Benefits were far more common in Hallet’s time than they are now. From the great Garrick down to the scene-shifter, all the personnelle of the Theatres had their “Benefit” in the Autumn. Concerts were not so numerous, but concert artists also not infrequently adopted the practice. Contemporary with Hallet Dr Arne’s little son, who was possessed of a wonderful singing voice, gave benefit concerts at which he both sang and played the organ. Then again, there was a sweet singer, Master Mattocks; and a Miss Davies, “a child nine years old,” who gave a concert in the Great Room in Dean Street, Soho, and distinguished herself by playing a “concerto of Mr Handel’s on the Harpsichord”; and a youthful dancer called “The little Swiss,” all of whom had their benefits. Hallet was not “alone in his glory,” there were several child prodigies for him to compete with, and one cannot help admiring him all the more, for a talent that can cope with rivalry and hold its own, must be of no mean order.Unfortunately musical journalism did not begin in England until the beginning of the last century, so there is no possibility of gauging Hallet’s capacities in this manner, but, doubtless, his benefit concert met with a large measure of support and success, for the following programme given in The General Advertiser for 6th February 1752, is of an attractive character:—

At the particular desire of Several Persons
of Quality
For the Benefit of Benjamin Hallet
A child of Nine Years of Age
At the New Theatre in the Hay-market
This day will be exhibited a Grand Concert of
MUSICK
By Gentlemen mask’d after the Manner of the
Grecian and Roman Comedy. Boxes 5s. Pit 3s.
At the same time will be performed
The Old Woman’s Oratory
To be concluded by Mrs Mary Midnight and
her family.
To be divided into Three Acts.
Act the first will contain

1. A grand Piece with Kettle-Drums and Trumpets. 2. Solo on the Violoncello by Cupid. 3. The Inauguration speech by Mrs Mary Midnight. 4. Concerto for two Clarinettes. 5. Mr Handel’s Waterpiece, with a Preamble on the Kettle-Drums.

Act the Second

1. A full piece. 2. A piece by Signor Bombasto. 3. The Speech of Mrs Midnight in Defence of her Existence. 4. Solo on the Cymbalo. 5. Overture in Otho. 6. An Oration on the Salt-Box by a Rationalist.

Act the Third

1. An Italian Song by Signor Bombazeno. 2. A new dissertation by Mrs Midnight. 3. A French Horn Concerto. 4. A Declamatory Piece on the Jew’s Harp by a Casuist. 5. March in Judas Maccabeus, with the Side-Drum.

With a new occasional Prologue written by a gentleman of the University and an Epilogue to be spoken by Master Hallet in the character of Cupid.

The Doors to be opened at Six o’clock; and the Concert to begin exactly at Seven.

The House will be made very warm, and illuminated with Wax Lights.

Then follows the same remark about Benjamin Hallet’s capabilities which we have already quoted from The Old Woman’s Magazine, ending with the announcement that tickets could be had of Mr Hallet, in Exeter Court, near Exeter Exchange, in the Strand.

It is noticeable that this magnificent affair began at seven o’clock, an arrangement calculated to admit the Hoi polloi, and augment the managerial receipts, and also that the programme reveals little Hallet to have been possessed either of a large amount of modesty or perspicuity, for out of the fifteen or more items there announced only two were appropriated by himself. It must be remembered that although such masters as Handel, Buononcini, Arne, etc., had their numerous admirers among the more cultured musical amateurs, still, much of the British public were just as pleased with the Jew’s harp, marrow bones, and salt-box as with an oratorio of Handel’s or an aria of Arne’s. Benjamin probably realised the preference generally felt for these instruments, and for this reason put himself and the graver violoncello in the background at his concert, allowing the Jew’s harp and other grotesqueries the place of honour. A most amusing satire—among others—on the general taste for these caricatures of musical instruments, was written by Bonnell Thornton, whose wit would have been supreme, but for his contemporary, Kit Smart. With excellent humour he burlesqued the use of what he termed those “Ancient British instruments,” in an amusing lampoon entitled “Ode on St Cecilia’s Day, adapted to the Ancient British Musick: the Salt Box, the Jew’s Harp, the Marrow Bones, and Cleavers, the Hum Strum or Hurdy Gurdy” (London, 1762). No one appreciated this sally more than Dr Johnson, who, it is said, delighted in repeating extracts from it by heart. A number of Bonnell Thornton’s quaint conceits appeared in his magazine Have at you all, or The Drury Lane Journal, which emulated Fielding’s Covent Garden Journal, but was neither so long lived nor so successful. Under the pseudonym of “Mrs Roxana Termagant,” Bonnell Thornton pursued his editorial labours, and introduced into its pages many a burlesque skirmish with his contemporaries’ magazines, The Midwife and The Covent Garden Journal, and in the year 1752 a witty account of a visit made by “Mrs Mary Midnight” to “Madam Roxana Termagant” appeared.

Little Hallet was evidently a favoured protÉgÉ of all the wits of the day from his connection with one of the most popular entertainments then in vogue, and there is little doubt that he proved an attraction, as his name appears among the performers during the whole of the first season and again in the following season. On the 10th April 1753 The Public Advertiser announces a concert:

For the Benefit of
Master Benjamin Hallet and Sig. Gapatuns
At the New Theatre in the Hay-market.
This Day will be exhibited
Mrs Mary Midnight’s Concert

With a new occasional Prologue, to be spoken by Master Hallet, in the character of Cupid; and an Epilogue by Mrs Midnight on a Jack Ass; likewise a new Song called The Dust Cart, by Mr Joe, accompanied by Sig. Bombasto. To which will be added a Grand Dance in the old British Taste, and a hornpipe by the great Mons. Timbertoe.

Boxes 5s.Pit 3s. Gallery 2s.

Tickets to be had at Mr Johnson’s Musick-shop in Cheapside; Mr Peter Thomson’s in St Paul’s Church-yard; Mr Jones’s in Holborn; and at Mr Waylett’s in Exeter Exchange in the Strand, and at the Theatre.

This will be the last time except one, that Master Hallet will perform at this Theatre.

The above was in verity Hallet’s last appearance but one at the “Old Woman’s Oratory.” He must have been at that time nearly eleven—possibly more, for the published age of a prodigy is always of doubtful verity—and was beginning to assume proportions quite unfitted to the character of Cupid, so the management were compelled to find a new protÉgÉ. The last appearance of little Hallet on any concert platform is to be found in The Public Advertiser for Monday, 12th November 1753, at an entertainment given at “The Five Balls,” New Church in the Strand.

For the Benefit of a Gentleman who has
wrote for the Stage.
To-morrow, the 13th of November, will be a
Concert of Vocal and Instrumental
MUSICK.

In Act I. an overture of Mr Handel’s accompanied with French Horns. A concerto of Geminani’s on the violin. God gave great George our King, by Signor Bascado Squeekerini. The act will conclude with a grand Piece of Musick. In Act II. a trio on the Viol d’Amore by Mr Grosman. A Solo on the little Flute by Master Hallet. Would you take the Moon-tide Air, by Signor Bascado Squeekerini. A Concerto on the French Horn will conclude the Act. Between Act I. and II. will be hum’d a Humerous Fisk. In Act III. a Concerto on the Bassoon by Mr Baumgarten. The Sweet Rosy Morning peeps over the Hills, etc. by Signor Bascado Squeekerini. The March in Judas Maccabeus, accompanied by the Side-Drum, concluded with a Preamble on the Kettle-Drums.

This is the last time Benjamin Hallet is advertised to play either the flute or the violoncello in that year, and many years to follow. As far as we have been able to discover, this appearance marked the end of the career of this first violoncello prodigy.

His activity extended only over five years, beginning at Drury Lane Theatre where he played the flute, and ending with the above concert where he again reverted to the first instrument of his adoption.

THE RIVERSIDE PRESS LIMITED, EDINBURGH.