Wallace, (William) Vincent (1812–1865)

Irish composer. He established himself internationally as a pianist and violinist on tours that included Europe, Australia, and North and South America. He used the musical influences from the places he visited in his own compositions, such as the highly successful opera Maritana (1845), with its Spanish and gypsy elements.

He studied with his father, a bandleader and bassoon player who moved to Dublin, where Wallace played the organ and violin in public as a boy. In 1831 he married Isabella Kelly, but they separated in 1835 (in New York in 1850 he met the pianist Hélène Stoepel, with whom he lived and had two sons). In 1834 he appeared in Dublin with a violin concerto of his own. He was in Australia and elsewhere abroad 1835–45, then went to London and was induced to compose Maritana. After a successful operatic career, including a visit to South America in 1849 and 14 years in Germany, a commission from the Paris Opéra (which he was unable to finish owing to failing eyesight), and another visit to South and North America 1850–53, his health broke down and he was ordered to the Pyrenees, where he died.

Works Opera Maritana (1845), Matilda of Hungary (1847), Lurline (1860), The Maid of Zürich (unpublished), The Ambler Witch (1861), Love's Triumph (1862), The Desert Flower (1863), Estrella (unfinished); unperformed operettas Gulnare, Olga.

Other cantata Maypole; violin concerto; piano music.