ABSTRACT
When the eccentric French conductor Jullien visited America in 1853, he presented several “monster concerts” at the Crystal Palace in New York. As a patronizing gesture to the natives, he included in one of his programmes a String Quartet by George Frederick Bristow, a violinist of the New York Philharmonic Society. In a public statement Jullien pronounced Bristow “a classical composer of European stature who successfully essayed the most difficult of all instrumental writing, that of the string quartet.” To an American musician such an accolade was the height of commendation. Bristow launched a subscription for a golden wreath, and presented it to Jullien as a token of gratitude.
