The Sun.
London, England, 1860-10-23 00:00:00

DR. JAMES PECH.

The subject of our memoir, who has so suddenly
appeared upon the musical horizon, is a very rising
and indefatigable young musician, of about thirty
years of age. He is the only child of a major in
the British army, who died in 1830, while on ser-
vice with his regiment in India, and of Mary
Agnes Manners, daughter of a gentleman of the
name of Sutton, whose ancestors were of a highly
respectable origin, and one of whom was created
Archbishop of Canterbury. He has been very
liberally educated at various public schools, but
from his earliest years he has shown considerable
predilection and precocious talent for music, and
has, all his life, applied himself very assiduously
to its study and practice. He has travelled much
in all parts of Germany, where he has enjoyed the
friendship and been the pupil of various great mas-
ters in his art, amongst whom we may mention the
venerable Schneider, the great pianists—Chopin,
Czerny, and Dcehler.
He has written in a variety of schools ; but few
of his compositions are known to the general public.
Those few, however, in style and character are re-
markable for their elegance and beauty, as well as
for a great amount of originality of sentiment and
construction. The position he is now, however,
called upon to occupy as a conductor will, doubtless,
afford him opportunities of producing many com-
positions for the orchestra which, under other cir-
cumstances, would be difficult of accomplishing.
As regards his merits as a chef d'orchestre there
appears to be many conflicting opinions. It is
asserted by some that he requires more experience,
but that he has all the elements within him necessary
for becoming one of our best conductors. Others
again advance that he is in every way qualified for
such a distinguished position, for that he has
more than an average amount of intellect in his
interpretation of musical compositions, while his
" beat" in the orchestra is bold, decisive, remark-
ably distinct, and intelligible. Others, again, assert
that in conducting he is, perhaps, a little too redun-
dant in action, and allows his enthusiasm to carry
him too much away.
As all these opinions, various as they are, can
only at the present moment be esteemed as purely
speculative, especially so when it is remembered
that, with the exception of his debut as conductor at
the English Opera, Drury Lane, there has been
but little opportunity of forming a correct estimate
of his abilities or capabilities in London, it must be
left to time and the public as to his future position
and prospects. The opening of the " People's
Philharmonic Concerts" at Exeter Hall has, how-
ever, given him another opportunity of distinguish-
ing himself, and undoubtedly he has done so, as may
be gathered from the various criticisms that have
appeared in the several papers regarding these
concerts, at which he is conducting some of the
most classical as well as miscellaneous music. He
is a graduate in music of New College, Oxford,
and has also been further distinguished by the pre-
sent Archbishop of Canterbury, who conferred upon
him by diploma the degree of Doctor in Music. At
present he is the principal organist of Kensington-
park Church ; he holds also the appointment of
pianist and composer to the Countess of Darnley,
and is a joint conductor with M. Benedict of the
London Orchestral Association. Apart from his
public life, and in private spheres, he is generally
esteemed a
medanfnoerrst haendambeiaarbiinligtyaroefeTheirs
dthisopsoesoitn
of the educated and polished gentleman.
nwdhialedul'hilsr