PROSPER PHILIPPE

CATHERINE

See also:

• PROSPER PHILIPPE CATHERINE SAINTON (1813-1890)

SAINTON (1813-1890)  , French violinist, was the son of a merchant at Toulouse, where he was born on the 5th of June 1813 . He entered the Paris Conservatoire under Habeneck in 1831, and became professor of the violin in the Conservatoire of Toulouse . In 1844 he made his first appearance in England, at a Philharmonic concert directed by Mendelssohn . Settling in London, he was in 1845 appointed professor at the Royal Academy of Music . In the early organizations for chamber music which culminated in the establishment of the Popular concerts, Sainton bore an important II part; and when the Royal Italian Opera was started at Covent Garden, he led the orchestra under Costa, with whom he migrated to Her Majesty's Theatre in 1871 . From 1848 to 1855 he was leader of the Queen's Band, and in 1862 he conducted the music at the opening of the International Exhibition . In 186o, he married the famous contralto singer, Miss Charlotte Dolby (see below) . He was leader of the principal provincial festivals for many years, and gave a farewell concert at the Albert Hall in 1883 . He died on the 17th of October 1890 . His method was sound, his style artistic, and his educational work of great value, the majority of the most successful orchestral violinists having been his pupils . SAINTON-DOLBY, CHARLOTTE HELEN (1821-1885), English contralto singer, was born in London on the 17th of May 1821, studied at the Royal Academy of Music from 1832 to 1837, Crivelli being her principal singing-master . In 1837 she was elected to a king's scholarship, and first appeared at a Phil-harmonic concert in 1841 .

In October 1845 she sang at the Gewandhaus,

Leipzig, through the influence of Mendelssohn, who had been delighted by her singing in St Paul . The contralto music in his Elijah was written for her voice, but she did not appear in that work till the performance at Exeter Hall on the 16th of April 1847 . She married M . Sainton in 186o, and in r87o she retired from the career of a public singer, but two years afterwards started a " vocal academy " in London . She made various successful attempts as a composer, and the cantatas " The Legend of St Dorothea" (1876), "The Story of the Faithful Soul "(1879), and " Florimel " (1885), enjoyed considerable success . Her last public appearance was at her husband's farewell concert in June 1883, and she died on the 18th of February 1885 . A scholarship in her memory was founded at the Royal Academy of Music . Her voice was of moderate power and of fine quality, but it was her dignified and artistic style that gave her the high place she held for so many years both in oratorio and ballads .