Calixa Lavallée (1842-1891): A Critical Biography - Ch6

~6~ Montreal (1863-65) Music and the city Montreal had changed considerably since Lavallée’s departure in 1859. There had been no resumption of the economic and social ills of the 1850s, and political stability allowed the city to grow in size and diversity. Completion of the Victoria Bridge in 1859 greatly improved access to the Island of Montreal from the south shore of the Saint-Lawrence River. Railroads, in particular, provided employment for immigrants, made the city Canada’s center of transportation and finance, and helped to fuel an economic expansion that extended from 1862 to 1867.1 Increased opportunities attracted an influx of rural French-Canadians, and a wave of migrants from Upper Canada (now Ontario), Great Britain, the United States, and Europe.2 The population rose from 57,000 in 1852 to nearly 100,000 in the early 1860s, making Montreal North America’s tenth largest city.3 The overall population increase and economic vitality had a direct impact on music making. There was a significant increase in the publication of music, although publications were still limited mainly to romances, patriotic songs, and short character pieces for piano. By 1864, ten firms were publishing music in the city, mostly as a sideline to importing and selling 1 Linteau, Quebec: A History, 53. 2 The resulting ethnic and linguistic mix was not always harmonious, as social, religious, and political differences created an edge that continues to the present day. The large Irish community of 14,469, for instance, was composed primarily of working-class Catholics. Many supported the Fenian movement and viewed the city's English elite with open contempt. Like the Irish, the merchant-class Scots maintained a largely distinct community with their own institutions. 3 The largest cities were: New York, 1,474,779; Philadelphia, 565,529; Baltimore, 212,418; Mexico City, 200,000; Boston, 177,840; New Orleans, 168,675; Cincinnati, 161,044; Chicago, 112,172; Montreal, 90,323; Buffalo, 81,128; Washington, 51,122; San Francisco, 56,802. Canadian census figures are taken from the Montreal Directory (1861-62): 227; figures for American cities are from Douglas L. Anderton, Richard E. Barrett, and Donald J. Bogue, Population of the United States, 3rd ed. (New York: Free Press, 1997); the population of Mexico City (1857) is taken from Keith Davies, “Tendencias demográficas urbanas durante el siglo XIX en México,” Historia Mexicana 83 (Jan.-Mar., 1973): 482-83, 501, cited in Silvia Marina Arrom, The Women of Mexico City, 1790-1857 (Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1985) 285. 6. Montreal (1863-65) 78 sheet music and instruments from Europe and the United States.4 Newspapers and other periodicals, such as L’Echo de Cabinet de Lecture Paroissial, also issued sheet music occasionally, as did two short-lived music journals, L’Artiste and Les Beaux-arts, that made their appearances in 1860 and 1863, respectively. In 1863, Les Beaux-arts published much of Sabatier’s Cantate in vocal score, arranged by Emma Lajeunesse (later Emma Albani). Lavallée and his family profited from the population growth and economic vitality, through the increased demand for musical instruments, instruction, printed music, and performances. Like most of the musicians arriving in the city, the Lavallées earned their livelihoods through secondary industries such as retailing, teaching, and instrument manufacture and repair. Through 1864, the family flat on German Street was home to Calixa’s teaching studio and to Augustin’s organ building studio (Figure 2.1).5 Augustin’s competition in instrument repair and construction varied from year to year, ranging from 5 to 10 piano makers and other artisans. His reputation preceded him from Saint-Hyacinthe though, and he was beginning to specialise in violin making. Calixa’s success as a teacher is less certain. He was advertising himself as a “Professor of Music,” but he had little teaching experience and there was considerable competition. While a small number of colleges and seminaries employed music teachers, most musicians taught privately. The Montreal Directory of 1863-64 alone lists nineteen entries under “Music Professors.”6 4 See Maria Calderisi, Music Publishing in the Canadas, 1800-1867/L'Édition musicale au Canada, 1800-1867. (Ottawa: National Library of Canada, 1981) 110. Through the nineteenth century, music was published in books, newspapers, and journals, while several Montreal publishers issued music on its own from time to time. The Montreal Literary Garland (1839-40, and 1846?) contained songs, waltzes, galops and quadrilles. Other publications included the newspaper La Revue canadienne, with its monthly Album litteraire et musical (from June 1846), the Vocal Percepter (published in 1811 by A. Stevenson), and the Chansonnier canadien (1825). Calderisi identified 88 books published between 1800 and 1867 in Ontario and Quebec that contained or were primarily music, and 15 newspapers and journals from the same place and period that included music. 5 Lavallée’s advertisement in the city directory read: “Mr. C. Lavallée, Professor of Music, 90 German Street, Montreal.” “Mr. C. Lavallée,” advertisement, Montreal Directory (1864-65): 502. Augustin is listed on p. 263. German Street is now called the avenue de l’Hôtel de Ville, and Dorchester is the boulevard René-Lévesque. By the time that the 1865 city directory was prepared, the family had moved to a larger flat, at 157 rue Saint-André. 6 Montreal Directory (1863-64): 345. The 1864-65 Montreal Directory lists seven other music teachers among the subscribers, down considerably from the previous year. The source does not necessarily provide an accurate picture of all of those attempting to make their living in the business. Letondal, for example, was still working at his home studio at 223 Lagauchetière. He joined the list of subscribers for the first time the following year— 6. Montreal (1863-65) 79 A variety of new performing opportunities was emerging by the early 1860s. Guilbault’s Garden had opened as Montreal’s answer to Barnum’s Museum in New York. It displayed exotic plants and animals, hosted circuses, and staged concerts during the summer months. Other new venues catered more specifically to the interests of the growing middle class. In the summer of 1863, the Terrapin Restaurant, on the rue Notre-Dame, advertised “a soirée musical every night,” with Charles Segwick conducting a band that played opera selections and quadrilles.7 On nearby Place d’Armes, the Cosmopolitan Hotel opened a concert hall where an ensemble of seven to ten musicians and singers performed nightly.8 Although the Theatre Royal was still the city’s only theater, it held only occasional theatrical performances during the mid 1860s. More often, owners leased the theater for brief engagements of travelling minstrel and opera troupes, or for visiting concert performers.9 Only some of these companies required the services of the city’s musicians, and few details of these jobs have been found. Concert performances were more frequent than ever before, although charity events continued to dominate the local concert season.10 The Mechanics’ Hall remained a popular venue for these performances. The Mechanics’ Institute renovated and enlarged the hall in 1863 to better compete with the Nordheimer Piano Company’s 1,200-seat concert hall on the opposite side of the rue Saint-Jacques.11 The Salle de Concert and the new Crystal Palace, on Sainte-Catherine Street, often played host to larger perhaps in order not to lose his place to the newcomers. 7 “Terrapin Restaurant,” advertisement, Montreal Gazette, 3 Aug. 1863: 2. 8 Admission to the Cosmopolitan was free for guests and diners, but management informed the public that “none but respectable persons admitted. Boys not admitted.” “Cosmopolitan Hotel,” advertisement, Montreal Gazette, 5 Dec. 1863: 1. 9 Among the visiting troupes that performed at the Theatre Royal during 1864 and 1865 were Duprez and Green’s Minstrels, George Christy’s Minstrels, the Ravel troupe of acrobats, Campbell and Castle’s English Opera Company, and a Strakosch Italian Opera Company. During the same period, concerts were given at the Theatre Royal by Gottschalk, Camille Urso, and Anna Bishop. Among the few dramatic companies were Mr. and Mrs. Fiske, who performed in The Arab Bedouins, and the French troupe from Niblo’s Theatre, in New York. 10 Appendix C gives a list of the performances that Lavallée is known to have participated in. Those from the early 1860s can be considered representative of the concert activity in Montreal during this time. 11 Nordheimer inaugurated the new hall with a series of performances by a Strakosch opera troupe, from 29 June to 1 July 1859. The critic of the Montreal Pilot wrote favourably of the new hall’s lighting and acoustics, in his review of the opening night. “Nordheimer Hall,” 6. Montreal (1863-65) 80 performances, such as promenade concerts. Organisers usually engaged a military band or a civilian ensemble like Henry Prince’s Band for these events. Attempts to establish permanent orchestras, or to mount series of orchestral concerts, were still proving illusive. In late 1863, Les Beaux-arts began to chronicle the development of the Jean-Baptiste Labelle’s Société philharmonique, only to lament both its demise and that of the Oratorio Society, early in 1864, leaving only the fragile Orchestral Union, under James Pech.12 There were, no doubt, several factors that contributed to these failures. The population was still quite transient, which made building audiences difficult. Musicians came and went, and the absence of a conservatory meant that there were few locally trained string players.13 The city’s linguistic division, with largely separate English- and French-speaking musical communities, compounded these difficulties. The 1863-64 concert season Lavallée made his Montreal rentrée on 4 January 1864 at the Mechanics’ Hall. The event was a concert held by local musicians to raise money for the widow and children of one of their colleagues, P.H. Carpentier. The program was printed in the December 31 edition of La Minerve with Lavallée’s name appearing last on the list of soloists, with the introduction: “Mr. C. Lavallée, the distinguished young Canadian artist, has agreed to lend his much appreciated support.”14 He performed his Grande fantaisie de concert as the penultimate number on the program. At the same January 4 concert Lavallée shared the stage with musicians he would perform with in numerous concerts over the next year and a half. Most of these performers were either French-Canadians or Montreal Pilot, 30 Jun. 1859: 2. 12 See Les Beaux-arts II no.1 (April, 1864): 61. Pech had arrived from Britain in 1862, claiming to hold a doctorate in music from Oxford. 13 The spread of conservatories began in Europe in the early years of the nineteenth century, but did not take place in the United States until the 1870, and even later in Canada. For the most part, North America did not follow the European example of state-supported music schools, preferring to found private institutions (see chapters 12 and 15). Montreal was not the only city that had difficulties in maintaining orchestras. Before the last two decades of the century, only New York was able to maintain an orchestra over the long term. 14 La Minerve, 31 Dec. 1864: 3. “M. C. Lavallée le jeune artiste canadien distingué a bien voulu aussi prêter son bienveillant concours.” 6. Montreal (1863-65) 81 French-speaking immigrants. In the linguistically divided city, their concerts were well publicised in the French-language press, but infrequently advertised or reviewed in the English-language newspapers unless they included a visiting performer of international stature. In addition to the soloists that night was the twenty-six-member Montagnards Canadiens, an ensemble founded by François Benoît (1824-77) in 1861. Benoît based the ensemble and its repertoire on Les Chanteurs Montagnards Français, a French vocal troupe that had enjoyed a highly successful tour of Canada in 1856. Like their French counterparts, the Canadian troupe dressed in “national costume” (red breeches, black and purple mantle trimmed with gold, and fez cap), and performed a repertoire dominated by choruses from the operas of Adam, Thomas, Bellini, and others.15 Among the local soloists, the young soprano and pianist Marie Regnaud may have been the most talented. She was a student of Letondal at this time, but already confident with a demanding repertoire for both voice and piano. Also on the January 4 program were the baritone François Lavoie and the flutist Henri Gauthier, who had performed at Lavallée’s debut in 1859.16 Many of these musicians were present later that month, when Lavallée made his official return as the featured performer at concerts on 24 and 26 January, at the Mechanics’ Hall. The first event was a benefit concert for the poor, the second was Lavallée’s own ‘grand concert,’ and at both he played violin, cornet, and piano. He performed two of his cornet compositions, simply listed as an Obligato and a Fantaisie, and on both nights he presented the Grande fantaisie de ballet, for violin, by de Bériot.17 But the piano was his main instrument, and at both concerts he performed a Grande fantaisie of his own (identified on January 26 as the Grande fantaisie de concert sur deux thèmes de Norma). To this, he added two other pieces on the 26th. He and F.X. Valade opened that evening with Gottschalk’s Ojos Créolos 15 None of the advertisements or reviews appear to have explained on the origins of the Montagnards Canadien’s costumes. See “Opening and Inauguration of the Mechanics’ Hall,” Montreal Gazette, 16 Dec. 1863: 2. 16 Gauthier was at this time teaching violin on Dorchester Street just a few doors down from the Lavallées’ home. His studio was at No. 72. “Henri Gauthier,” advertisement, Les Beauxarts I no.4 (1 Jul. 1863): 32. 17 Léon Derome’s daughter, Rose de Lima Derome, accompanied Lavallée on both occasions, and appeared frequently at concerts in the 1860s and 1870s. In 1864, she was teaching at the family home on the rue Sainte-Catherine. See Les Beaux-arts I, no. 9 (Dec. 1863): 70. 6. Montreal (1863-65) 82 caprice brillant for four-hands, and Lavallée closed with his rousing Grand Galop de Concert, The War Fever. La Minerve’s critic did not comment specifically on the music performed but after the January 26 concert wrote enthusiastically that “our young Canadian artist has a truly remarkable talent for music, and it is difficult to say which instrument he plays the best, the piano, violin or the cornet-à-piston.”18 The same report described the performance as a “stunning success,” noting “the public’s eagerness to hear [Lavallée] perform” again.19 Little information has yet been found on the constitution of Montreal concert audiences. Events advertised as ‘amateur’ concerts—those held by musicians who earned their livelihoods from teaching or other activities— appear to have attracted audiences largely from within the linguistic community.20 Concerts by visiting performers were the exception, drawing both English- and French-speaking audience members. These events might also have attracted fewer actual music-lovers. Gottschalk’s diary entry, following his performance at the Theatre Royal on 26 April 1864, provides a rare account of Montreal concert audiences: I am back from the concert. The rain, which has not ceased falling since this morning, increased toward eight o’clock, which evidently ought to have diminished the receipts. The hall nevertheless was well filled, and the ladies, elegantly dressed, produced a beautiful effect as seen from the stage. The parterre is generally occupied by those who care less for being seen than for listening to the music. They applauded with enthusiasm, and listened with an attention which singularly contrasted with the noise made by some in the boxes.21 The latter part of Gottschalk comments referred to his having been slightly by a group of English officers.22 Nevertheless, there appears to have been a 18 La Minerve, 28 Jan. 64: 2. “Notre jeune artiste canadien a réellement un talent remarquable pour la musique, et l’on pourrait dire difficilement quel instrument, du piano, du violon ou du cornet-à-piston, il joue le mieux.” 19 Ibid. “Le concert donné par M. C. Lavallée, mardi dernier, a eu un très-beau succès, sous tous les rapports. […] L’empressement du public à se rendre au concert de mardi est une marque de la consideration dont jouit M. Lavallée.” 20 The repertoire heard at these concerts differed little, with the exception of the Anglophone musicians adding English-language songs to their programs. Opera excerpts and overtures dominated. 21 Gottschalk, 22 Gottschalk Notes of a Pianist, 277. raged about three “elegant English officers, who were determined to attract attention to their blonde whiskers, their convex chests, and their white gloves, which they held at a foot’s distance outside of the box. ... Their conversation, which with noble 6. Montreal (1863-65) 83 clear distinction between those for whom a concert was opportunity to be seen and those who attended for their love of music. The presence of many young woman of the bourgeoisie in particular is not surprising, as it was they who were largely responsible for rising popularity of piano, following the pattern set in Europe twenty to thirty years earlier.23 The public’s appetite for opera transcriptions and fantasies had continued to grow since the 1850s. Operas formed the core repertoire of both vocalists and instrumentalists, with the works of Donizetti and Bellini among the most popular, followed closely by those of Verdi, Thomas, Adam, and others. Visiting virtuosos, such as Thalberg, had done much to popularise these genres. Lavallée’s advantage was that he could perform this difficult music on three instruments. His piano fantasies and transcriptions for the piano were probably not very different from those of Kalkbrenner, Herz, Gottschalk, and the others that he would have heard many times.24 None are known to have survived. Local publishers tended to restrict their ventures to salon music, and Lavallée may never even have written them down.25 Despite performing mostly his own music during this period, Lavallée appears to have published only three compositions. The first was his arrangement of F.E. Valois’ romance, “La Mansarde” (‘The Attic’). Issued by Laurent & Laforce as part of the Lyre Canadienne series, it is a lively but condescension they made in a loud voice in order to permit the whole hall to enjoy their high-flown humour, was disagreeably interrupted from time to time by my piano.” Two days later, after the second concert, Gottschalk was in better spirits when he wrote: “Thursday evening. Second concert. As much as I had played without pleasure the other evening, so much I have excelled myself to-day. All my pieces have been encored.” Ibid. 23 See Jeffrey Kallberg’s Introduction to “Parisian” Pianists (New York: Garland, 1993); and Arthur Loesser, Men, Woman and Pianos, A Social History (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1954; Reprint, New York: Dover, 1990) 267-83. 24 Harold Schonberg has disparagingly referred to Thalberg, for instance, as being “primarily interested in showing off his extensive bag of tricks,” with “an introduction, a series of variations that includes one in a minor key, and a bang-up finale.” Harold C. Schonberg, “Keyboard Fantasies,” Opera News (Aug. 1994): 18. For a detailed study of these works, see Charles R. Suttoni, “Piano and Opera: A Study of the Piano Fantasies on Opera Themes in the Romantic Era,” Ph.D. diss., New York University, 1973. 25 Limited opportunities for either performance or publication severely restricted the number of works composed for larger ensembles. Joseph Quesnel (1749-1809), a French gun runner and amateur musician, was still Canada’s most important composer. In 1779, the British captured Quesnel’s ship as he sailed from Bordeaux to sell weapons in New York. The British stranded him in Lower Canada, and he settled in the Montreal suburb of Boucherville, where he composed songs, incidental music, and a number of operettas and plays. See Kallmann, History of Music in Canada. 6. Montreal (1863-65) 84 simple, strophic song.26 It bears a dedication to Lavallée’s student, the singer Marie Louise Dupré. The same firm published at least two piano pieces, Une Couronne de lauriers, caprice de genre, op.10, and L’Oiseau mouche, bluette de salon, op.11.27 While L’Oiseau mouche was probably intended for amateurs, the Caprice is a work of some difficulty. Lavallée appears to have performed it only once, at a concert at Nordheimer’s Hall, on 19 February 1864.28 The February 19 performance was a charity event, like most others that Lavallée took part in through this time. Whatever he was earning from teaching appears to have been sustaining him since his January 26 performance. Les Beaux-arts provided moral support in its April 1864 issue, writing: “We know this name too well, and he is altogether too kind to the Montreal public for us not to seize an excellent opportunity to talk about this young artist.”29 The brief article went on to congratulate him on his work thus far, and to wish him a bright future. The 1864-65 concert season Through 1864, Lavallée continued to perform frequently, appearing at benefit concerts for the poor, for orphans and nuns, and for fellow musicians Dominique Ducharme and François Lavoie. Occasionally there were paying jobs. In June, he played at a Grand Concert d’Opera at the Mechanics’ Hall, with the soprano Elena d’Angelis. He conducted the Bande de Montréal at 26 Laurent & Laforce was established in 1860, primarily as importers and retailers of music and instruments, and later manufactured its own line of pianos as well. In 1862, the manager of the sheet music department, Adélard J. Boucher, bought a large part of the company’s stock, as well as that of another retailer, J. W. Herbert. He entered into business with J. A. Manseau and both companies, Laurent & Laforce and Boucher & Manseau, moved into the Herbert premises at 131 Notre-Dame Street. They remained at that address from 1862 to 1864. Information on these publishers has been compiled from Calderisi, the Montreal Directory, and advertisements in Montreal newspapers. 27 Laurent & Laforce sold their rights to these two pieces to Boucher. The publication of l'Oiseau mouche was announced in the advertisements for his concert on 26 January 1865, where it was premiered. “Le derniere morceau tout-à-fait characteristique est maintenent envoie de publication chez Laurent, Laforce et cie.” La Minerve, 26 Jan. 1865: 3. 28 The work was listed as a Grand caprice de concert in “Grand concert vocal et instrumental,” advertisement, La Minerve, 18 Feb. 1864: 3. 29 “M. Lavallée,” Beaux-artsII no.1 (Apr. 1864): 54. “Ce nom nous est trop connu, et il est surtout trop sympatique au public de Montréal, pour que nous ne saisissions pas une excellant occasion de parler de ce jeune artiste.” There was no indication of what made this an “excellent opportunity.” 6. Montreal (1863-65) 85 several events. Among them was a pair of concerts at Guilbault’s Garden on September 14 and 15, featuring the veteran British soprano Anna Bishop (1810-1884).30 He composed at least one piece for the Bande. His Quickstep sur les airs nationaux canadien was on the program at the ensemble’s performance at a Grand Promenade Concert for the Union St. Pierre at the Salle de Concert, on 25 July 1864. The work does not appear to have been published.31 Lavallée’s position as the city’s leading pianist was challenged only by Gustave Smith (b. 1826). Smith had studied the piano with Joseph Zimmermann (1785-1853) at the Paris Conservatoire and moved to Canada at the age of 30. Born in London and raised in Paris, he moved easily between Montreal’s French- and English-speaking communities. By the mid 1860s he was the leading performer in the city and his position as a teacher was second only to that of Letondal. He befriended Lavallée and performed with him often, supporting him publicly as music critic for l’Union nationale. Towards the end of 1864, Smith passed some of his duties at the newspaper over to Lavallée. When the young violinist Camille Urso returned to Montreal in late November Lavallée took Smith’s place as critic. In his eloquent account of the concert he praised his colleagues’ work but noted that the band members should pay closer attention to their tuning and to the nuances of the music.32 His informed and articulate comments contrasted with the platitudes commonly found in concert reviews. Although he was diplomatic and complimentary of his colleagues, his articles tend to read like editorials. On December 30 he published a scathing critique of the quality of touring opera companies that visited Montreal.33 He aimed his comments at the Campbell and Castle Opera Company and 30 Bishop was still in reasonably good form despite a long and colourful career. She had gained a certain notoriety in 1839 by deserting her husband and three children for her accompanist Robert Nicholas Bochsa (whose wife lived in France). Together they toured Europe in the 1840s, then America, and Australia, where Bochsa died in 1856. Bishop later married the New York diamond merchant Martin Shultz but continued to tour. See “The Late Madame Anna Bishop: The Career of a Most Gifted Singer and a Very Remarkable Woman,” The Voice VI, no. 7 (Jul. 1884): 109-10. 31 David (1912) printed the first page of an autograph of an orchestral score by Lavallée bearing this title. 32 See Calixa Lavallée, “Le Concert de Camille Urso,” L'Union nationale, 3 Dec. 1864: 2. 33 Calixa Lavallée, “L’Opéra Anglais,” L'Union nationale, 30 Dec. 1864: 2. 6. Montreal (1863-65) 86 disdained the public’s willingness to attend their performances: “Poor Montreal, when will you stop being overwhelmed by such itinerant opera troupes? Are you so poor in artists that you must receive with open arms the mediocrities other countries send you?”34 It would be more than a decade before Lavallée would translate the nationalistic tone of these remarks into actions. The comments themselves, however, reveal something of the consistency of his attitudes towards cultural identity and the performing arts (see Chapter 18). Lavallée held a concert in his own name on 26 January 1865 (the same date as his headlining performance at the same venue a year earlier). The Bande de l’Infanterie Légère Royal de Montréal opened the concert with the overture to La Traviata, conducted by M. Christin. The Montagnards Canadiens also appeared and Smith joined Lavallée in Herz’s Grand duo brillant. Lavallée’s solos were three pieces of his own: Réverie de soir, a Grand fantaisie de concert, and the new l’Oiseau mouche. In his review of the performance, La Minerve’s critic called Lavallée “unquestionably the greatest glorification of Canadian talent.”35 His failure to mention the financial success of the concert, however, may have been a sign that the performance had been lightly attended. The presumed poor attendance on January 26 might simply have been due to the large number of concerts presented that month. Gottschalk had played at Nordheimer’s Hall on the 6th and 7th, while Urso performed at the same venue under her own name on the 2nd and 9th, and as a guest of the Montagnards Canadiens on the 10th. Several vocalists took part in Urso’s concerts, including Marie Regnaud and the tenor Ludger Maillet, as well as the violinist Frederick Torrington, an orchestra supplied by 63rd Regiment, and both Lavallée and Smith, as pianists. At a January 2 performance Lavallée played his own transcription of La Prière de Moïse, and Ojos Créolos 34 “Pauve Montréal, quand cessera-tu donc d’être accablé de tels opéras ambulants? Es-tu donc si pauvre en artistes qu’il te faille recevoir à bras ouverts les médiocrités que t’envoivent les autres pays?” “Mr. Campbell definitely has a very attractive voice, but we regret to report that he does not know how to sing.” “M. Campbell a incontestablement une forte belle voix, mais nous regrettons de constater qu’il ne sait pas chanter.” Campbell and Castle had recently completed an engagement at the Theatre Royal. Ibid. 35 “Le Concert de M. Lavallée,” La Minerve, 28 Jan. 1865: 2. “Sans contredit M. Lavallée est la plus belle glorification du talent canadien et nous nous rejouissons son succèss.” 6. Montreal (1863-65) 87 for four hands with Smith, and a week later, performed the Prudent Fantasy, and the Herz duet, again with Smith. On 13 January 1865, Tancrède Thompson of l’Union nationale published an article of support, praising him for his work: Everyone may admire the determination and boundless devotion of our young compatriot and artist, Mr. Lavallée; his talent has always been at the disposal of worthy events; his large and noble soul has helped to fill the hands of the poor, and one may say that there has not been a charity concert in Montreal for which he has not played a part.36 Most of these were arranged through charitable organisations, such as the St. Vincent de Paul Society, but when spring flooding devastated the Sorel region east of Montreal, Lavallée himself appealed to the musical community to help the victims.37 A committee was quickly formed, and a concert scheduled for April 29, with Smith as musical director, and Lavallée as violinist in the chamber orchestra. The program was to include the overture to Auber’s La Muette, and to present Lavallée’s orchestration of Offenbach’s one-act operetta, La Leçon de chant electro-magnetique, sung by Boucher and Trottier.38 On the evening of April 28, Lavallée and both singers spent the evening rehearsing at Smith’s home on the rue de Lagauchetière. Around 11pm the three left to return home, walking together for several blocks before going in their separate directions. Lavallée had moved to the Faubourg Québec area that winter, and turned down the rue Saint-Denis, walking towards his home on the rue Saint-André. Passing the Église SaintJacques he was attacked by two men. Newspapers reported that one grabbed him, while the other attempted to stab him with a dagger. He raised his right hand and blocked the knife, but was then hit in the stomach, and the muggers grabbed his crucifix, and the $140 in proceeds from the benefit 36 T. Thompson, “M. Calixte Lavallée,” L'Union nationale, 13 Jan. 1865: 2. “Tout le monde a pu admirer le zèle et le dévouement sans bornes de notre jeune compatriote et artiste M. Lavallée; toujours son beau talent a été la disposition de toutes les bonnes œuvres; les pauvres ont puisé à pleines mains dans cette âme grande et noble, et l’on peut dire qu’il ne s’est pas donné de fête musicale à Montréal en vue d'une œuvre de charité, à laquelle il n’ait pris part.” 37 Calixa Lavallée, “Les Victimes de l’inondation,” L'Union nationale, 18 Apr. 1865: 2. Lavallée had relatives in the town of Sorel who might have been affected by the flooding. 38 The orchestration was possibly made from the vocal score published by Heugel in 1860. It 6. Montreal (1863-65) 88 concert of the night before. Lavallée made it the rest of the way home and Augustin took him to the family doctor, who was said to have reported the events to l’Union Nationale.39 The report did not explain why Lavallée was carrying this money home that night. No further details about either the attack or the concert were reported in the local press. Lavallée’s hand, however, could not have been seriously injured.40 After convalescing through May he was back on stage at the beginning of June. After this, the summer passed quietly. He played at a few more events, including a benefit with Smith to raise money for a monument to those who died during the Rebellions of 1837 and ‘38. But with the war over in the United States and the usual summertime lull in performances, it was not long before Lavallée left Canada once again. In January, Gustave Smith had encouraged the public to attend Lavallée’s concert, writing: “Each day we bemoan the emigration of our young people, and for what reason do they leave? Simply because they lack encouragement.”41 Smith may have been considering his own future when he wrote those words, as both he and Lavallée emigrated before the year was over. could very well have been one of the works Lavallée directed while with Ellinger. 39 See “Vol et Assassinat,” L'Union nationale, 29 Apr. 1865: 1. The Herald and L'Ordre mentioned the mugging only briefly. See “Assault and Robbery,” Montreal Herald, 2 May, 1865: 3, and “Faits divers,” L’Ordre, 1 May, 1865: 2. 40 No reviews appeared in newspapers over the next few days, but neither were there notices that the performance had been cancelled. 41 Gustave Smith, “Le Concert de M. C. Lavallée,” L'Union nationale, 25 Jan. 1865: 2. “On déplore chaque jour l’émigration de nos jeunes gens, et pour quelle raison abandement-ils le sol? Simplement parce que l’encouragement leur manque.”