William Vincent Wallace

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William Vincent Wallace: “Maritana”

and “Scenes that are the Brightest”

Neither jazz nor revue, nor even the magnificent outpourings of the greater composers, have ousted this tender ballad from the heart of the world.

-The Mercury⁷⁶

Perhaps no other issue in the history of the Bush Inn Hotel has created more on-going controversy than the theme of this chapter. It is a song, called Scenes that are the Brightest, composed by William Vincent Wallace, who stayed at the hotel in 1838⁷⁷.

This story is divided into three parts that span over a century, and starts in far away Ireland where William Vincent Wallace, the son of an Scotsman, was born in Waterford on March 11, 1812⁷⁸. It was not surprising that he would take an interest in music, his father was a regimental bandmaster (of the 29th or Worcestershire Regiment) who would later become an orchestral leader, and his brother, Wellington showed an aptitude for music at an early age and his sister, Eliza was a noted soprano. Eliza would eventually marry the Australian singer John Bushelle.

Although he played piano, organ and clarinet, it was on the violin that he debuted, playing with his father and brother in the orchestra of the Theatre Royal in Dublin, and on occasion taking over from James Barton as orchestra leader. By age 17 he had won distinctions in cathedral and orchestral music and was playing the organ regularly at (his adopted Roman Catholic) church services at Thurles Cathedral, though his real passion was still the violin. He was appointed Professor of music at Ursuline Convent in 1830. By 1834 he had composed a violin concerto, in which he played the violin solo, that had met with great success in Dublin.

Though just 21 years old, it seemed he had a promising and successful career with the violin to look forward to, until ill health, in the form of a lung complaint, complicated by the stress of his career, stuck him the following year. Acting on advice from physicians, he moved to Australia with his wife and son in 1835, where, it was said, he intended to become a sheep farmer in New South Wales.

But, it seemed, music was in his blood. En route to New South Wales Wallace came to Van Diemen’s Land, arriving on October 31, 1835, aboard the ship Rachel, aged 23 years. He gave two concerts while in Tasmania, on December 4 and 11, playing pianoforte and violin solos, before sailing for Sydney on the Layton. He left for the ten day voyage on Jan 2 1836, meaning he spent a total of nine weeks in Van Diemen’s Land.

While visiting Sydney he played in some amateur productions at the insistence of his sister, receiving an enthusiastic reception from all who heard him play.

This reception was so enthusiastic that the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Richard Bourke, arranged for him to give three concerts in Sydney in 1836, as well as reportedly giving him a hundred sheep to help his “new career” on the way. It was reported that two of those concerts, where he played some of his own compositions, raised £1,000 [$2,000] each. This money Wallace donated to St Marys Cathedral. These concerts also brought him to the attention of others in the Sydney area, particularly Judge Josephson and Alfred Stephens, who arranged for him to give private tutorage to their families. The sheep farming had been put on hold as he opened a music shop in Sydney as well as continuing with his music school.

His financial mismanagement was beginning to show at this stage. In Sydney for over two years it was reported he left for Valparaiso in the Neptune in February 1838⁷⁹, owing debts of nearly £2,000 [$4,000] It appears this was a “cover story”, for he returned to Tasmania before sailing to New Zealand. While on a whaling expedition his boat was attacked by Maoris, who killed all but Wallace and two other Europeans. He continued to make his way towards England, via India, Nepal and Kashmir to South America, Cuba and then Mexico, Germany and Holland, often supporting himself by giving concerts as he went. By 1844 he had returned to England.

In England he composed the opera Maritana, then worked with Edward Fitzhall and Alfred Bunn to write the libretto to the opera after being introduced to Fitzhall by an old friend from his Theatre Royal days in Dublin. Fitzhall wrote the words to all songs except the two that Alfred Bunn penned, Scenes that are the Brightest and In Happy Moments. Alfred Bunn was then the manager of the Drury Lane Theatre in London, where on November 15, 1845, the opera “Maritana” was produced.

It was an immediate success, not so much for being musically excellent, but because it appealed to the mass tastes of the time. It must be remembered that at that time opera was simply another type of theatre, like drama, melodrama or pantomime, and not thought of a being for any particular class of person in society. Nor was it given the status of an art form that it often is today. In pre-radio and television days, it had to compete with other live entertainment, and, like the other live entertainment, had to be either exceptionally good or especially popular to be counted as a successful production.

After his success, Wallace toured extensively, with the opera playing in Vienna and Paris. As had happened before, ill health dogged him, this time his eyesight was failing. He moved to Rio de Janeiro and then New York, still owing nearly £1,000 [$2,000] to interests in the UK. He was married twice, once to an Irish woman (Isabella Kelly, of Black Rock, in 1831), then to Helene Stoepel, an American pianist, in 1850, though he was still married to Isabella.

Although Wallace went on to write more operas, (Matilda of Hungary in 1847, Lurline in 1860, The Amber Witch in 1861, Loves Triumph in 1862 and The Desert Flower, his last work, in 1863), he died of a heart attack, in poverty, at Château de Hágèt in the Pyrenees on October 12, 1865. His financial downfall was partially his own mismanagement, (another example of this was the opera Lurline. He sold the British Empire performing rights to it for ten shillings [$1]. It netted £62,000⁸⁰ [$124,000]), and partly because of failed investments in the American piano and tobacco industries.

His body was returned to England and buried in Kensal Green Cemetery. As so often happens, his brilliance won greater recognition after his death, with the Prince of Wales unveiled a statue to his memory at Waterford (Ireland) in 1927.

The controversy about Wallace stems from the fact he didn’t write Scenes that are the Brightest for seven years after his stay at the Bush Inn, and that Alfred Bunn, who wrote the words to that music, had never visited Tasmania.

Yet, it was reported in London that Scenes that are the Brightest was inspired by the scenes from the Bush Inn. In the light of other admissions, this time lag is not confined solely to Scenes that are the Brightest. Harp in the Air, also from Maritana, was said to have been inspired by a nun teaching harp to Isabella Kelly while he was at Ursuline Convent in 1830, before he married her.

With the subsequent visit of Dame Nellie Melba and the ABC broadcast of the opera from the Bush Inn, the legend is now firmly entrenched.