He received his early instruction in composition from Lucas and Dr.
Crotch, and studied the piano with Cipriani Potter, who had been a pupil
of Mozart. The first composition which gained him distinction was the
Concerto in D minor, written in 1832, which was followed by the Capriccio
in D minor. During the next three years he produced the overture to
"Parisina," the F minor Concerto, and the "Naiades" overture, the success
of which was so great that a prominent musical house in London offered to
send him to Leipsic for a year. He went there, and soon won his way to
the friendship of Schumann and Mendelssohn. With the latter he was on
very intimate terms, which has led to the erroneous statement that he was
his pupil. In 1840 he made a second visit to Leipsic, where he composed
his Caprice in E, and the "Wood Nymphs" overture. In 1842 he returned to
England, and for several years was busily engaged with chamber concerts.
In 1849 he founded the Bach Society, arranged the "Matthew Passion" music
of that composer, as well as his "Christmas Oratorio," and brought out
the former work in 1854. The previous year he was offered the
distinguished honor of the conductorship of the Gewandhaus concerts at
Leipsic, but did not accept. In 1856 he was appointed conductor of the
Philharmonic Society, and filled the position for ten years, resigning it
to take the head of the Royal Academy of Music. In the same year he was
elected musical professor at Cambridge, where he received the degree of
Doctor of Music and other honors. In 1858 his beautiful cantata "The May
Queen" was produced at the Leeds Festival, and in 1862 the "Paradise and
the Peri" overture, written for the Philharmonic Society. In 1867 his
oratorio, or, as he modestly terms it, "sacred cantata," "The Woman of
Samaria," was produced with great success at the Birmingham Festival. In
1870 he was honored with a degree by the University of Oxford, and a year
later received the empty distinction of knighthood. His last public
appearance was at a festival in Brighton in 1874, where he conducted his
"Woman of Samaria." He died Feb. 1, 1875, and was buried in Westminster
Abbey with distinguished honors.

The May Queen.

"The May Queen," a pastoral cantata, the libretto by Henry F. Chorley,
was first performed at the Leeds Festival of 1858. The solo parts are
written for the May Queen (soprano); the Queen (contralto); the Lover
(tenor); and the Capt