Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Hatton, John Liptrot
HATTON, JOHN LIPTROT (1809–1886), musical composer, born in Concert Street, Liverpool, 12 Oct. 1809, was the son and grandson of professional violinists. With the exception of some musical tuition received at the academy of a Mr. Molyneux, he was virtually self-taught; yet by the time he was sixteen years old he was already organist at three churches, viz. at Woolton and Childwall Churches, Lancashire, and at the Roman catholic church in Liverpool, for the last of which he wrote a mass, still existing in manuscript. Later on he was organist at the Old Church (St. Nicholas) in Chapel Street, Liverpool. It is characteristic of the irrepressible animal spirits which in after years made him universally popular that he should have ventured to play ‘All round my hat’ (a street-song of the time), of course carefully disguised, when competing for one of these appointments. In his youth he also acquired some experience as an actor, playing with success the part of Blueskin in ‘Jack Sheppard’ at the Little Liver Theatre in Church Street. It was as an actor that he first appeared in London. A playbill was preserved by him, containing his name as playing Marco (sic) in ‘Othello’ with Macready and Charles Kean at Drury Lane, 20 Dec. 1832. In the following year he wrote some pianoforte pieces, among them six impromptus which attained considerable success.
At Drury Lane Theatre Hatton obtained his first musical engagement of importance, directing the choruses in the season of English operas given from 1 Oct. 1842 to 3 April 1843. On 25 Feb. in the latter year his own operetta, ‘Queen of the Thames’ (words by E. Fitzball), was given successfully six times. It contains some pretty numbers, and the madrigal, ‘The merry bridal bells,’ is a good deal better than most modern attempts to reproduce the ancient form. This shows that Hatton must have studied music in earnest, and that he thoroughly appreciated the finest English music. Among the company engaged for the operatic performances was Staudigl, who encouraged Hatton to write another opera, ‘Pascal Bruno,’ to a libretto by W. Fitzball. This was translated, mainly by Staudigl himself, into German, and was brought out at Vienna on 2 March 1844 for the benefit of Staudigl, who sang the principal part. The first act was very successful, but the other two were less favourably received, owing in great part to the failure of one of the singers, a Mlle. Dichl. No part of the opera was published, with the single exception of a song, ‘Revenge,’ sung by Staudigl, which became very popular in England. The manuscript score of the second act, the only other portion extant, shows much originality and dramatic power, as well as knowledge of stage effect. While staying in Vienna to supervise the production of the opera, Hatton was the guest of Staudigl, who introduced him to the Concordia Society. His pianoforte playing, more especially of Bach's fugues, which he played from memory, attracted much attention. Meanwhile he took advantage of the opportunities for advanced study of music, taking counterpoint lessons from Sechter, one of the most learned theorists of the time. On his return to England Hatton published several vocal trios and a set of eighteen songs to words by T. Oliphant. They were furnished with German translations, and published under the pseudonym of ‘Czapek,’ the genitive plural of a Hungarian word for ‘hat.’ These and some other songs published about the same time have been considered by some critics to be not unworthy of Schubert himself. The great German models obviously influenced their structure. Hatton perhaps never attained a second time the beauty and sincerity of expression revealed in ‘To Anthea.’
The popularity of his songs (their number is computed at nearly three hundred in all) was partly due to the fact that Hatton had acquired practical experience both as a singer and a pianist. At the Hereford festival of 1846 he appeared as a vocalist, and played a concerto by Mozart. In the same year he began a series of tours with Sivori, Vieuxtemps, and other celebrated performers. In August 1848 he first visited America, remaining there until the spring of 1850, when he returned in order to accompany Sims Reeves on a tour; he went again to America in the following September. His playing and singing were alike admired, and he introduced some of Mendelssohn's music to the Boston public. At no time was he troubled by artistic scruples, and it was often uncertain whether the place allotted to him in the programme would be occupied by one of Bach's fugues or by a comic song of his own composition. It is said that his hearers were delighted with a song called ‘The Sleigh Ride,’ in the course of which he produced ‘realistic’ effects by means of bells tied to his leg. Soon after his return to England at the end of 1850 he became conductor of the Glee and Madrigal Union, a post which he retained for some years. He was for five years (probably 1853–9) conductor and arranger of the music under Charles Kean's management at the Princess's Theatre, but it is difficult to disentangle his own compositions from the works of other composers arranged by him during this period for theatrical purposes. The music to ‘Henry VIII,’ ‘Richard II,’ ‘Sardanapalus,’ and ‘The Winter's Tale’ is undoubtedly by him; the first and third sets of compositions were published, and contain some vigorous and effective numbers. It is probable that few of the plays produced by Kean were altogether without original work by Hatton. In many of the Shakespearean performances he skilfully adapted old English airs.
Meanwhile the concert tours continued. In the course of one of these journeys Hatton's popular song, ‘Good-bye, sweetheart, good-bye,’ was composed for Mario. On 26 Aug. 1856 his cantata, ‘Robin Hood,’ to words by G. Linley, was given at the Bradford musical festival, with more success than attended most of his longer works. The last of his operas, ‘Rose, or Love's Ransom,’ set to words by H. Sutherland Edwards, was produced at Covent Garden by the English Opera Association 26 Nov. 1864; the libretto was founded upon Halévy's ‘Val d'Andorre;’ the music is not in Hatton's best vein. In 1866 he contributed several songs to Watts Phillips's play, ‘The Huguenot Soldier,’ and in the same year went again to America. The ‘Ballad Concerts’ at St. James's Hall, London, were begun in this year, and for the first nine seasons Hatton held the post of accompanist and conductor. In October 1875 he paid a first visit to Stuttgart, which he frequently revisited afterwards. There he wrote an oratorio entitled ‘Hezekiah,’ which, when given at the Crystal Palace on 15 Dec. 1877, failed to please critical musicians. Though much of the choral writing was justly censured on account of its imitations of Handel and Mendelssohn, yet traces could still be seen of his old taste for counterpoint and the severer forms of music. Among his later compositions were a cantata to words by Milton (manuscript), a trio for piano and strings, published in Germany, and a chorus, ‘The Earth is fair.’ His ‘Aldeburgh Te Deum’ (published) commemorates his fondness for the Suffolk village in which some part of his later years was spent. He edited for Messrs. Boosey & Co. many ‘song albums,’ collections of old English songs, ballad operas, and so forth; their accompaniments are simpler than those in vogue in the present time, but set the melodies in the most favourable light. He was a Freemason and a member of the Goldsmiths' Company, and belonged also to the Royal Yacht Club. Hatton died at Margate, where he had chiefly lived since 1877, on 20 Sept. 1886. He was buried at Kensal Green on the 25th.
That Hatton's enduring fame as an English musician is based on so slight a foundation is not due to any shortcomings in natural gifts, but to the irresistible influence of his animal spirits and his lack of artistic earnestness. His part-songs, like ‘When evening's twilight,’ remain among the most popular works of this kind; genuine humour is displayed in such songs as ‘Simon the Cellarer;’ and one at least, ‘To Anthea,’ has become a classic. Hatton was popular wherever he went; he was a bon vivant, though no rumour of intemperance was ever heard against him. He married Emma, second daughter of William Freelove March, esq., of Southampton, and widow of R. F. Poussett, consul at Buenos Ayres, by whom he had two daughters. A lithographed portrait by Kniehuber of Vienna represents him at the time of the production of ‘Pascal Bruno,’ and another, from a photograph, is in the ‘Tonic Sol-Fa Reporter’ (December 1886).
[Grove's Dict. of Music, i. 697 (the erroneous version of the composer's second name, ‘Liphot,’ seems to have originated here); Tonic Sol-Fa Reporter, December 1886; Times, 22 Sept. 1886; Musical Times, October 1886 (the statement that he presided over the orchestra for the whole of Kean's tenancy of the Princess's requires confirmation); information from the composer's note-books, memoranda, and letters communicated by his daughter, Miss M. M. Hatton.]