Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 3.djvu/197

ROYAL ACADEMY OF MUSIC. allowed to die gradually, and was never revived. [ W. B. S. ]

ROYAL ACADEMY OF MUSIC. The original plan for this institution was proposed by Lord Westmorland (then Lord Burghersh) at a meeting of noblemen and gentlemen held at the Thatched House Tavern, London, on July 5, 1822. The proposal meeting with approval, at a second meeting, July 12, rules and regulations were drawn up and a committee was appointed to carry out the undertaking. According to the rules adopted, the constitution of the new Academy was to be modelled upon the British Institution. The king was announced as the principal Patron, the government was to consist of a committee of twenty-five Directors and a sub-committee of nine subscribers, and the school was to be supported by subscriptions and donations. There was also to be a Board, consisting of the Principal and four professors, and the number of pupils was not to exceed forty boys and forty girls, to be admitted between the ages of 10 and 15, and all to be boarded in the establishment. A sub-committee, the members of which were Lord Burghersh, Sir Gore Ouseley, Count St. Antonio, Sir Andrew Barnard, Sir John Murray, and the Hon. A. Macdonald, was empowered to form the Institution. Dr. Crotch was appointed the first Principal, and by September 1, the sum of £4312 10s. had been collected, with an annual subscription of £510, including 100 guineas from George IV., which has been continued by his successors, William IV. and Queen Victoria. In November the house, No. 4, Tenterden Street, Hanover Square, was taken for the new school, but the opening was deferred until March 1823, on the 24th of which month the first lesson was given by Mr. Cipriani Potter to Mr. Kellow Pye.

The Academy began its labours with the following staff:—Head Master—Rev. John Miles. Governess—Mrs. Wade. Principal—Dr. Crotch. Board of Professors—Messrs. Attwood, Greatorex, Shield, and Sir George Smart. Supplementary members of the Board—Messrs. Horsley and J. B. Cramer. Professors—Messrs. Anfossi, Andrew, Bishop, Bochsa, Crivelli, F. Cramer, Clementi, Coccia, Cerruti, Dragonetti, Dizi, Griesbach, Hawes, Ireland, C. Kramer, Liverati, Lindley, Loder, Mori, Macintosh, Nicholson, Cipriani Potter, Puzzi, ../Ries/, H. Smart, Spagnoletti, Watts, ../Willmann/, and Caravita.

The Foundation students who were first elected were the following. Girls—M. E. Lawson, C. Smith, M. Chancellor, S. Collier, E. Jenkyns, M. A. Jay, C. Bromley, H. Little, J. Palmer, C. Porter. Boys—W. H. Holmes, H. A. M. Cooke, A. Greatorex, T. M. Mudie, H. G. Blagrove, Kellow J. Pye, W. H. Phipps, A. Devaux, C. Seymour, E. J. Neilson, and C. S. Packer. The pupils were divided into two classes, those on the foundation paying 10 guineas per annum, while extra students paid 20 guineas, or if they lodged and boarded in the establishment, 38 guineas. Although the first Report of the Committee (June 2, 1823) was satisfactory, yet financial difficulties soon made themselves felt. In March, 1824, the Committee reported a deficiency for the current year of £1600, if the institution were conducted on the same plan as before. To meet this, the difference between the students' payments was abolished, and the fees were fixed for all at £40, the professors at the same time giving their instruction gratis for three months. Lord Burghersh also applied to the government for a grant, but without effect. In 1825 further alterations were made as to the admission of students, by which the numbers amounted in four months' time to a hundred, and Lord Burghersh made another appeal for a government grant. In spite of this, the year's accounts still showed an unsatisfactory financial condition. During the latter part of the year Moscheles was included among the staff of professors. Early in 1826 the increased number of students compelled the Academy to enlarge its premises, the lease of No. 5 Tenterden Street was bought, and the two houses were thrown into one. In February the government were petitioned for a charter. In reply it was stated that though unwilling to give a grant, they were ready to defray the cost of a charter. In 1827 the financial condition of the Academy was so disastrous that it was proposed to close the institution; but a final appeal to the public procured a loan of £1469, beside further donations, enabling the Directors to carry on the undertaking on a reduced scale and with increased fees. Henceforward the state of things began to mend. The charter was granted on June 23, 1830. By this document the members of the Academy and their successors were incorporated and declared to be, and for ever hereafter to continue to be by the name of the 'Royal Academy of Music,' under the government of a Board of Directors, consisting of thirty members, with power to make rules and regulations; a Committee of Management, with full power over the funds and both students and professors; and a Treasurer.

In 1832 Dr. Crotch resigned his post of Principal, and was succeeded by Cipriani Potter, who retained office until his resignation in 1859. The financial position of the Academy, although not prosperous, remained on a tolerably secure footing. In 1834, William IV directed that a quarter of the proceeds of the Musical Festival held in Westminster Abbey should be handed over to the institution. This sum, amounting to £2250, was devoted by the Committee to the foundation of four King's Scholarships, to be competed for by two male and two female students. Instead, however, of being invested separately