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FAMOUS SONGS |
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On his laurels he'll sleep, where Carolan slumbers, His melodies ringing through ages unborn ;
Out the soul of a bard are measured his numbers, And sung they will be when his spirit has gone."
The eldest son of Frederick William Crouch, violoncello player, composer and music tutor to William IV., the composer of "Kathleen Mavourneen" was born at Devizes, Wiltshire. On the paternal side he inherited his musical talent. As in acting, so in music heredity plays an important part. When nine years old he played bass at the Royal Coburg Theatre, erected in honour of the marriage of Princess Charlotte, daughter of George IV. He grad-ually won his way to His Majesty's Theatre, and once played a violoncello solo before Rossini. Bochsi, then at the height of his fame, and conductor of the opera, made Crouch his pupil. When the latter reached the age of twenty his tutor, impressed with his unusual vocal ability, transferred him to William Hawes, master of Westminster Abbey, of St. Paul's Cathedral, and of the Chapel Royal boys. When in 1822 the Royal Academy of Music, Hanover Square, was established, young Crouch became a student there, together with Sterndale Bennett and George Macfarren. At the death
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