3-021-581 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The late William Vincent Wallace, musical composer, 1865. 'This lamented musician was a native of Ireland...before he was fifteen, he was appointed organist of Thurles Cathedral...at the age of eighteen...he emigrated to New South Wales, whence he went to Tasmania and New Zealand...he embarked for the East Indies...[and after travelling] from Calcutta to Nepaul, he sailed for South America, visiting Buenos Ayres, Valparaiso, Havannah, Vera Cruz, and Mexico, and closing his American travels by a residence...at New York. During all these journeyings he exercised his profession actively, giving concerts, and gaining renown everywhere by his brilliant performances on the piano and the violin. In 1845 he arrived in London...and he immediately took his place among the ablest virtuosi of the day. He now made his first essay in dramatic composition by the production of "Maritana," which was performed at Drury Lane...he received an invitation to superintend its representation, in a German version...He complied, and "Maritana" was received with as much enthusiasm in Vienna as in London...Having sought a milder climate in the south of France, he died...in his fifty-second year, deeply regretted for his virtues and amiable qualities by all who knew him'. From "Illustrated London News", 1865.