Hullah's letter, addressed to G. L. Craik, is written from Queen's Hotel, Glasgow. His home address in London is printed on the fourth, blank side of what is evidently his personalized letterhead. Hullah urges Craik to purchase a piano in his absence; "Read the enclosed [not present], addressed to a first-rate man at Broadwoods'. If you approve, take it there & ask for him. He will do all that is needed -- quite as well as / Yours Ever Truly / John Hullah".
John Pyke Hullahh [1812-1884] was an English composer and music teacher. His compositions, which remained popular for some years after his death, were mainly ballads, though he also composed three operas in the 1830s, including one to words by Dickens, "The Village Coquette". More important perhaps was his commitment to popularizing musical education. He was appointed musical inspector of British training schools in 1872 and in 1878 he went abroad to study the condition of musical education in foreign schools, writing a valuable report on his return. Though his success was limited by his strenuous opposition to the Tonic Sol-Fa system, the value of his work lay in his emphasis on demanding high artistic standards of the music taught and studied.
The recipient of the letter was George Lillie Craik, a Scottish writer and literary critic. John Broadwood & Sons, to whom Hullah directs him, is one of the oldest and most prestigious piano companies in the world. Very good .
Keywords: MUSIC; ENGLISH COMPOSER; ENGLISH MUSIC TEACHER; JOHN PYKE HULLAH; SIGNED CARD; SIGNATURE; AUTOGRAPH; MUSICAL EDUCATION; MUSICAL INSPECTOR OF BRITISH TRAINING SCHOOLS; NINETEENTH CENTURY; 19TH CENTURY.