The Martens family and the real story of the Cat Duet

 

I wrote this years ago. I don't know why I didn't post it then. Anyway, being in a precarious state of health I hear Andrew Lamb's voice echoing in my cerebellum: 'post the damn' things before you kick the bucket or all that work will be lost'!

MARTENS FAMILY

 

MARTENS, Monsieur (MARTIN, Johann Heinrich) (b Liège)

MARTENS, Madame (née SCHEELE or SCHULE, Marie Elisabeth) (b 21 August  1840;)

MARTENS, ‘Mlle Gretchen’ (née SCHEELE or SCHULE, ?Marie) (b Hamburg c 1840; d New York 15 January 1897)

MARTENS, Fanny

MARTENS, Emma

MARTENS, Henriette

MARTENS, Charlotte [Elizabeth] (b New York 30 November 1872)

MARTENS, Adolph (b Hamburg)

 

The Martens family has long fascinated me, ever since I first read the score of Offenbach’s Geneviève de Brabant, with its dreadfully high soprano ensemble top line for a lady who wasn’t even a named character. I quickly discovered that it was a vocal line written for a yodeller, and that it really had been written by the composer ‘especially for’ the lady and her two colleagues, a team who had been featured on the variety bill at the Théâtre des Menus-Plaisirs, preceding the production of the show. Madame Martens, with her husband and a ‘Mademoiselle Gretchen’. Who were they? Well, it has not been easy to find out, and I have had to rely very largely on the only piece I have ever found about ‘Monsieur’ (his first name was never mentioned) in the Toulouse newspaper, Le Casino, 8 December 1869, taken from an article by Albert Wolff in Figaro, early in their known career. 

 

In that piece, he vouchsafes that he is from Liège, that his real name is ‘Martin’, and that his first steps in show-business were as a singer of comic songs, in Germany. There he met and married a tyrolienne singer, and formed a three-handed act, the two of them ‘with her accompanist’, featuring a ‘tyrolienne comique’. And he changed his name to suit. From later evidence, it appears that ‘Mademoiselle Gretchen’ (who was very much a singer) was Madame Martens’s sister. Anyway, her real name, I have discovered, was Marie Scheele, so it seems Madame was a Scheele as well. If it wasn't Schule. So, the ‘Belgian’ act was really two-thirds German.

 

This may be they? Johann Heinrich MARTIN (by Jacob Martin ex Elizbeth Kliffmüller b 22 May 1844) married Maria Elizabeth SCHEELE (b 21 August 1840) on 15 November 1868. Joseph Stephen Martens (actor) and Marie Georgine née Scheele having a child in New York ... same couple? 

Now, the way the story is usually told makes it sound as if their success came quickly, but I don’t think it did. My first spotting of the trio is in 1867, in Paris, playing the El Dorado, the Alcazar d’Hiver and the Menus-Plaisirs.  But in 1870, already, their (?) children join the act, and the one census listing in which I have found some of them, in 1881, has ‘Gretchen’ aged 39, with husband and two London-born children, Luz Mercedes Gretchen (b 1875) and Diego Vicente Haurie (b 1876), her mother (‘D[orothea] Schule, widow, b Hamburg’) plus her nephew Adolph Martin 22 ‘clerk’, and an Emma Martin 21 who is listed as his wife but I think could be his sister. Or not. So that would mean M and Mme Martin were connubing at least as far back as ?1858. Nine years before that Paris debut. Maybe Johann/Joseph had an elder brother.

Joseph and the Scheele sisters

Tyrolean songs and singers were by no means a novelty, so it is a little puzzling that –if the Martens were so very good or special – they did not break through sooner. Was their success due to their polyvalence? Or to an individual zaniness in their ‘representations excentriques’. The fact that they sent the Tyrolean genre up? Anyhow, it was January 1867 that they turned up at the El Dorado with their repertoire – a trio tyrolienne comique apparently from Le Chasseur de chamois, Joseph’s imitation of the eccentricities of famous violinists (‘Carnaval de Venise’), and Mr and Mrs in their performance of the Cat Duet. I wondered, initially, if this was a self-made piece (others of their pieces were) or the duo glibly and wrongly credited by sopranos, today, as ‘Rossini’s’. There’s been much ink spilled over the authorship of this burlesque of Rossinian prime donne: one Gotthelf Berthold gets a mention, also Friedrich August Reissiger, a certain C E F Weyse, and an English madrigal writer (Pearsall) had a MS copy amongst his papers, so one writer has assumed that he wrote it. The most convincing answer to the puzzle was provided by an old musician named Bénédit, who heard the Martens perform it, remembered the piece from 40 years earlier, and dug out his 1824 copy. The arrangement of Rossinian tunes, and other bits, as La Félodie,was credited to one Codanini, who was, de son vrai nom, the Italian opera timpanist, Jean Madeleine Schneitzhöfer (1785-1850). If the duet was, thus, written in the 1820s, it does not seem to have been much performed, at the time, although I spot it being sung by the great de Begnis and a friend at a private party in London (1 January 1826). Unless of course it was another Cat Duet ...

Only forty years later, was it to become popular. But Ricordi still publish it under the name of Rossini. And sopranos have taken over the male lines, as the piece, arranged and altered to death, lives on 200 years later.

 

In March 1866, a little tale appeared in the minor French press. Arsène Goubert was auditioning for acts for the Alcazar d’Hiver, and a pair of tyrolean vocalists turned up to perform the Cats’ Duet. He didn’t hire them. The journalist was surprised. He thought they were great fun. I am pretty sure that I can guess who they were! The Alcazar and the El Dorado being rivals, it is, thus, no wonder to see the Martens team, nine months later, in residence at the El Dorado and winning success and praise for their repertoire of vocal and musical eccentricities. And the ‘Duo des Chats’ – performed in evening dress, with scores, like an oratorio -- became an enduring success. They were promptly hired for the Alcazar, a new Schott edition of their duet was published (as ‘by’ Berthold), and then they were hired for the Menus-Plaisirs, giving their trio, their duo and Joseph’s violin act between the pieces.

 

Offenbach had already shown a penchant for burlesquing the tyrolienne, notably in his La Belle Hélène, now he was to outdo even that. When the Menus-Plaisirs produced his expanded Geneviève de Brabant, a scene had been introduced in which a burlesque Tirol trio, ‘Le Jour point’ was featured. It was there simply to feature the Martens trio (‘La Famille Martens a merveilleusement chanté une tyrolienne’, 'Stürmischen Beifall'). Madame got another go, too. A hunting quartet for Zulma Bouffar, the star, included Mme Martens on the top line, imitating the sound of the hunting horn. Once again they scored a hit, and the press reported: ‘Le trio original des Tyroliens Martens doit prochainement intercaler dans Geneviève de Brabant les morceaux les plus excentriques de son répertoire: le trio des instruments, le duo des chats, etc’. Did they?

 

From the Menus-Plaisirs they returned to the Alcazar, under Hervé, and then to the Théâtre des Variétés where they were interpolated into a play and, of course, gave the Cats’ Duet between the acts.

 

In December 1868 they visited London and sang at the Alhambra (‘the originators of the feline vocal study’), the Crystal Palace and at the Holborn Music Hall, in 1869 the press reported them at Brussels and St Petersburg and suggested ‘Mesdames Martens et Gretchen vont chanter très prochainement, dans un café-concert, une fantaisie nouvelle, les Sœurs siamoises’. I don’t know whether they did! 

In 1870 they visited Vienna (‘protégés of Offenbach’) and played at the Neue Welt in Hietzing and the Orpheum (‘Les Parisiens Tyroliens ou Trio Brabançon’, ‘Le Carnaval de Venise’, Katzenduett, Trio parodie Tyrolienne, ‘Les Hirondelles de la rue’)-- Auftreten der unübertrefflichen französischen und deutschen komisch-parodistischen Sängergesellschaft Martens, genannt: Le trio brabançon’. And Gretchen swapped to being ‘Mademoiselle Marguerite’ (‘Trou la la’). But it wasn’t just three of them. The family came too. And the four children performed a comic Quadrille Liliputienne in the style of the famous Clodoche troupe. The dear old can-can. ‘Beifallstürm!’.

 

Now, I do not know precisely how many ‘Martens’ children there were. Later the troupe would use a member or two – and, latterly, more -- who weren’t kosher Martens. But at the beginning, I think perhaps they were real. Fanny, Emma, Henriette and maybe Adolph.

 

In 1871 the troupe progressed to America, hired for the successful Kiralfy pantomimic spectacular Humpty Dumpty at the Olympic Theatre. They squeezed their Eccentricities Tyroliennes, some ‘Russian songs’, ‘Gushes of Melody’ and, of course, the Cat Duet by Joseph and Gretchen, into the proceedings during the extended run (155th performance, the Martens family will introduce several new songs’), and at the end of their long stay at the Olympic, set off for Boston. ‘The Kiralfys appeared in wondrous ballets; the Martens Family (M and Mme Martens and Mlle Gretchen) made a huge success in Tyrolean eccentricities, including a cat duo by M and Mme Martens’). Alas, I cannot find a passenger list for either their arrival or departure so what part of the family came along I do not know. In April 1872 it is announced that ‘the two Martens children will make their debut’. This appears to be Fanny and Henrietta (sic). During 1873, I find a mention of the Martens Family performance comprising six people. They were doing the Kiralfy show again in 1874, but then I lose them and don’t pick them up till 1876, when ‘he, whom the Duo de Chats made famous’ is performing at the Folies-Bergère with Fanny and Henriette.

Which kitty are you?

Gretchen is lost to the cause. She had married a member of the celebrated French Jerez de la Frontera sherry firm, Vi[n]cente Calixto Haurie, and begun her own family. Unfortunately the ancient firm was in decline, and Vincente had to find other employment. Gretchen would go back on the stage.

In July 1876, Joseph is at the Concert de l’Horloge, alongside the American travesty performer, Charles Heywood, doing the Cats with … Mlle Jenny! I suspect it is Fanny. 

L'Horloge

In 1878, Father, Fanny, Emma and Henriette are at Vienna’s Danzer’s Orpheum ('Célèbre quatuor de l'Alcazar de Paris'), in January 1879 the are displaying their ‘Musée Tintamarresque’ at Prague, then back at the Concert de l’Horloge with their ‘Théâtre Rigolo’ and ‘automates parlants’ and something from Les Cloches de Corneville.

1 July they are at the Folies-Marigny. Joseph, ‘the veritable creator’ (dixit Joncières) of the Cats’ Duet gave it with Fanny, who sang ‘La Perle du Tyrol’, and he gave his violinists’ parody, Fanny and Henriette did an ‘Echo duet’ and Emma joined them in ‘La Guitare en chanter’. But there were two unusual members to the Family to make up for the curious absence of mother, in a tyrolienne septet: Adolph and six-year-old Charlotte.

They toured their act 'La Musée Tintamaresque' round Europe with numbers and personnel  varying thereafter.

 In 1884, I spot ‘the Martens Family’ in Brooklyn, and later the same team of Marie, Emma and Adolph are at the Bush Street Theatre in San Francisco giving songs ‘announced with incredible quaintness by Adolph’ to ‘repeated encores’. The Cats Duet (‘in evening dress’) was given by Adolph and Marie…

1885-6 I spy the Geschwister-Trio Martens at Danzers Orpheum (‘immer Furore’ especially Charlotte aged 12) and the gossip columns rattled: 'among the eleven sisters are ten of different nationalities ... Fanny is Dutch, Alexandrine from Liverpool, Charlotte born in New York, father is French ...' hmm. Maybe. Eleven?

Adolph mother and sister

 So where is mother? And from here, where is father? The Martens family which now appears before the public as such comprises Gretchen (now calling herself ‘Mrs Marie Emes’), Emma and Adolph. They sang at some small London concerts, tripped to USA (Koster and Bials, California) with Adolph now leading the Cats Duet, and to Panama. In 1887, Adolph Martens and ‘Laura Lee’ are in San Francisco. And a squib in the American press says ‘The Martens Sisters are Caroline Rahmig and Mrs V H Emes’. Rahmig? But we know that ‘Mrs Emes’ is ‘right’… ‘Ah. Caroline Rahmig who went with the Martens Trio to Panama succumbed [there] to apoplexy of the lungs’.

 

But there is one more ‘Martens’ chapter to come. A new act, with the old sort of content. But all girls. ‘Les Soeurs Martens’. Four of them. The same ones? I think, mostly, so. Fanny, Emma, Charlotte and … Alexandrine. Not Henriette. Alexandrine (or Alexandra) is, I think, an ersatz Martens. She switched to being a circus-rider for a while in 1889, and a sharpshooter in 1893. Anyway, apparently, she was a ‘prix de beauté from Vienna’. Although, when Fanny got into the lawcourts for breaking her contract at the Folies-Bergère, it was she who was paragraphed as the ‘prix de beauté. Anyway, they are ‘the Quattuor Franco-Russe’. And they were good. Of course, ‘beauty’ is a taste:

‘Et puis vous entendrez les sœurs Martens; je ne vous dis pas de les regarder: il y en a une qui est trop grosse, une autre qui est trop vieille, une troisième qui est trop prix de beauté, qui a trop l’air de dire ‘Regardez, comme je suis jolie’, une pauvre petite de quinze ans, jolie comme un amour, qui fait peine à voir avec tout le mal qu’elle se donne pour chanter des ordures de café-concert. Pauvre gosse. Mais écoutez toutes les quatre et, peu et peu, vous oublierez... Vous ne serez plus rue Richer. Voyez-vous Vienne, le Prater …’

Anyhow, the Sisters Martens knew their stuff, even if one was too fat, one too old (!?), one too posy … ah, but the little one. Charlotte. Charlotte would, I think, have the best career of them all.

 

Charlotte Martens went from the caf’ conc’ to revue, from revue to comedy and even musical comedy (Planquette’s Rip), from the stage to the screen (Chérie, Monsieur Albert, Les vacances du diable, Un homme en habit, Luck) and the recording studio …. Presuming its all the same Charlotte Martens! Our one became Mme Lucien Serrigny on 4 July 1897, and her marriage registration kindly revealed her parents’ names. Joseph ('professor of violin') and Marie née Schule. Whether she is the music-hall/theatre one whose 1934 obituary says she was Mme Pollet, went on the stage with her parents, four brothers and one sister, as a child ... had her heyday at the Cigale … and died at Ris-Orangis …

Emma started up an act (1889) the Martens-Terzett ... 'Frau'? or a fake? Alexandrine took a very amateurish troupe around the British provinces (1896). But she was spoken of, in years to come, as  a paragon of beauty. And much photographed in her time ... there are no less than three photos of her on ebay today ..

In the 20th century, there seem to have been a few more probably fake Martens. The odd one in America, and I spy two ‘Schwestern Martens’ performing in Vienna in 1904.

 

And to finish, I find a long piece written in St Petersburg (Nordische Rundschau) which claims that the four ‘sisters’ are ‘weder leibliche Schwestern’ ‘wiewohl sie für Kinder des einst berühmten Tyroler-Quartett-Impresario Martens ausgegeben werden’. One, it says is from Liverpool, one from New York, one from Vienna and the fourth from Brussels … It describes Fanny as ‘die jugendliche Duenna des Kleeblatts’, Emma as having a ‘metallische Altstimme’, Alexandrine as the ‘Miss Budapest’ winner (wasn’t it Vienna?) and Charlotte … well, Charlotte, with her Puppen-Couplets and ‘Untreuen Männern’, was clearly special.

But ‘Pseudo-Tyrolienne’ and ‘Quasi-Schwestern’ though he may have dubbed them, he and the ‘tout St Petersburg’ clearly loved them. And since we know Charlotte was a genuine ‘Mlle Martens’ … perhaps, this chappie didn’t know what he was talking about…

 

There are an awful lot of ‘whatever happened to’s and ‘maybes’ in my exhumation of the story of the ‘Martens Family’. To start with, how come both the Schule or Scheele sisters were named Marie?  Madame Martens seems to have been known as Dorothea. 

 

There are a few educated guesses, too. But it’s a start. All contributions welcome.

 

PS 1880 Josephine Martens daughter of Joseph of Danzers Orpheum ... another daughter?