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Scan 695
Grove's Dictionary of music and musicians, 1927
16 lines. Read by computer on 4 September 2026. Printed page 631. See the scan on archive.org.
1apprenticed to Peter Wamsley, and afterwards carried on business at the sign of the 'Violin' in Holborn in 1762, and later at the sign of the 'Harp and Flute' in the Haymarket. He turned out, in his time, many good instruments, and his violoncellos are to this day in good repute both here and on the Continent. His five sons—William, Joseph, Lockey, Benjamin and John—were all violin-makers and musicians, the names of three of them appearing in the orchestra at the first Handel Commemoration in 1784. As much may be said of many other members of the family. One of them belonged to Queen Anne's band; others appeared late in the 18th century in the minute-books of the Royal Society of Musicians and in the records of the Musicians' Company. The connexion between the art and the craft has always been maintained, and Henry Hill (q.v.) ranked as the leading English viola-player of his day. His brother, William Ebsworth (d. 1895), father of the present members of the firm, was one of the worthies of the violin world, a genuine craftsman, whose judgment could be relied upon where the authenticity of old instruments was concerned. He was gifted, it may be added, with a keen sense of humour. Alfred Ebsworth and Walter Edgar both learned their craft of luthier in the old French violin-making town of Mirecourt, the former being the first Englishman to do so. William Henry (d. 1927) began life as a professor of the viola. The firm has established workshops near London, and good results have been attained. The brothers have co-operated in producing important literary works dealing with the violin. Among them are Gio. Paulo Maggini (see MAGGINI), from the pen of Lady Huggins, and a Life of Stradivari (see STRADIVARI), an exhaustive work.
3HILLEMACHER, two brothers whose works, written in collaboration, attained a high position in French music. (1) PAUL JOSEPH WILHELM (b. Paris, Nov. 25, 1852); (2) LUCIEN JOSEPH ÉDOUARD (b. Paris, June 10, 1860; d. June 2, 1909). Both studied at the Conservatoire; the elder obtained a second accessit in harmony and accompaniment in 1870, a first accessit in counterpoint and fugue in 1872, a second prize in 1873, the second Grand Prix de Rome in 1873, and the first in 1876. The younger brother gained a first accessit in harmony and accompaniment in 1877, a first prize in 1878, the second Grand Prix de Rome in 1879, and first in 1880. The practice of writing in collaboration was adopted in 1881, with the signature 'P. L. Hillemacher.' Their first important work was 'Loreley,' a Légende symphonique (crowned at the concourse of the Ville de Paris, 1882). Other works include:
5'Saint-Mégrin,' 4-act opera (Brussels, Mar. 2, 1886); 'La Légende de Ste. Geneviève' (1886); 'Une Aventure d'Arlequin,' 4-act opéra-comique (Brussels, Mar. 22, 1888); incidental music to 'Héro et Léandre' (1893); 'Le Régiment qui passe,' 1-act opéra-comique (Royan, Sept. 11, 1894); 'One for Two,' 1-act pantomime (London, Prince of Wales's Theatre, May 26, 1894); 'Le Drac' ('Der Fluthgeist'), lyrical drama in three acts (Carlsruhe, Nov. 14, 1896); and 'Orsola,' lyric drama in three acts (Paris, Opéra, May 21, 1902). 'Circe,' lyric drama in 3 acts, accepted at the Opéra-Comique in 1898; played there, Apr. 17, 1907; 'Fra Angelico,' tableau musical, 1 act (Opéra-Comique, June 10, 1924).
7The brothers also brought out several albums of songs and choral pieces, as well as works for orchestra and chamber music.
9G. F.
11HILLER, FERDINAND (b. Frankfort-on-Main, Oct. 24, 1811; d. May 10, 1885). His first music-lessons were from a violinist named Hofmann, who did little beyond allowing him to form his taste by playing the sonatas of Mozart and Beethoven. Instruction on the pianoforte he received from Aloys Schmidt, and in harmony and counterpoint from Vollweiler. At 10 he played a concerto by Mozart in public, and at 12 began to compose. Though educated for a learned profession, he was allowed to take up the study of music in earnest; and in 1825 was placed with Hummel at Weimar. Here for a time his attention was absorbed by composition; for Hummel, recognising his obvious bent, allowed him to take his own course. His master's criticisms on his early compositions were severe and disheartening, but Hiller proved the reality of his artistic impulse by never allowing himself to be discouraged. In 1827 he accompanied Hummel on a professional tour to Vienna, and had the privilege of seeing Beethoven on his death-bed and of witnessing the dissipation of the cloud which had once interrupted his intercourse with Hummel. Of this meeting he has given an interesting account from memory in his Aus dem Tonleben (2nd series). While in Vienna he published his op. 1, a pianoforte quartet written in Weimar. He then returned to Frankfort, but stayed there only a short time, in spite of his advantageous intercourse with Schelble, as he was anxious to push on to Paris.
13His stay in Paris lasted from 1828-35, with one break caused by the death of his father. He acted for a time as professor in Choron's 'Institution de Musique,' but afterwards lived independently, perfecting himself as a pianist and composer, enjoying the best society. Besides Mendelssohn, whom he met as a boy at Frankfort and with whom he remained in the closest friendship to a late date, he was intimate with Cherubini, Rossini, Chopin, Liszt, Meyerbeer, Berlioz, Nourrit, Heine and many others. Fétis, in his Biographie universelle, gives further particulars of this stay in Paris, and especially of Hiller's concerts, in which Fétis took part. Suffice it to say here that his performances of Bach and Beethoven had an important share in making the works of those great masters better known in France. He was the first to play Beethoven's E♭ concerto in Paris; and his classical soirées, given in company with Baillot, excited much attention at the time.
15From Paris he returned to Frankfort, conducted the Cäcilien-Verein in 1836 and 1837
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