Part II

Part II

10. Quartet and Chorus from a Mass, No 2. ~Hummel.~ (Miss George, Spencer, Bennett, and Chapman)

11. {Rec. ‘First and chief.’ Il pensieroso } ~Handel.~ {Air, ‘Sweet bird’ (Miss Stephens) }

12. Glee, ‘Say, mighty Love.’ (Goulden, Horncastle, ~Evans.~ Fitzwilliam, and Sale)

13. Quartet and Coro, ‘Ogni speranza.’ (Mrs. ~C. M. von Bishop, Miss Masson, Horncastle, and Parry) Weber.~

14. Ballad, ‘John Anderson my jo.’

15. Madrigal, ‘All creatures now.’ (1601) ~Benett.~

16. Duetto, ‘Bella imago.’ Semiramide. (Miss ~Rossini.~ Masson and Mr. Phillips)

17. Glee, ‘Great Apollo.’ (Masters Howe and ~Webbe.~ Hopkins, Vaughan and Bellamy)

18. God save the King.

The sixth and concluding concert of the series having now taken place, we may fairly offer our congratulations to the Society on the patronage and success which it has met with. The attempt was, in every point of view, commendable; and the ardour and zeal with which it has been followed up, such as, while it deserved success, we have every reason to believe has abundantly experienced it. We take for granted that these concerts will be continued another season, and therefore proceed briefly to review what has, as also what has not been done; which may not be altogether without advantage to future arrangements.

In the Prospectus issued by the Vocal Society, it is stated that ‘the compositions of native musicians are nearly banished from the concerts of the metropolis; the glees of Webbe, Callcott, Cooke, and Battishill, as well as those of their living successors, being superseded by the productions of foreign composers;’ and further, ‘the intention of the Vocal Society is to present, as its principal feature, the vocal music of the English school, both ancient and modern, including that of the church, the chamber, and the theatre.’ Taking the four names above mentioned--and they are names that claim the highest rank in the department of glee writing--it is somewhat remarkable that only three of Webbe’s have been produced, which, with an ode and a catch, form the catalogue of his compositions; of Callcott, one glee and one catch only; of Dr. Cooke, who in sterling merit we should scarcely hesitate to place at the top of the list, one glee only; and of Battishill, of whose elegant melodies and sound harmonies it were impossible to speak too highly, not a single glee has been done. We might go on to mention the names of Danby, Robert Cooke, and other charming English composers, known but to few; but whose music would infallibly delight and captivate an audience brought together to enjoy compositions of superlative excellence. Of the Madrigals introduced, the effect has exceeded our previously formed anticipations; they were executed generally with correctness and precision highly creditable to all parties; and the manner in which they were received by the audience was a sufficient hint how acceptable they were. Of English church music, the portion given has been very scanty. Part of an anthem of Battishill’s, part or one by Orlando Gibbons, and one by Dr. Greene, comprise the whole. Of theatrical music, not a note, with the exception of Mr. Bishop’s, has been heard. Of Henry Purcell, the pride and ornament of the English school, one piece has been given[48], and that, one of his most hackneyed compositions, brought forward on frequent occasions, as offering a test to try the merits of young musical aspirants, who in their adventurous flight have too often met the fate of Icarus, by thus soaring too high. In regard to the works of living writers, the committee of managers must have felt great difficulty: and this feeling by no means lessened, we conceive, owing to the circumstance of some of its members being themselves composers. So strongly, indeed, are we impressed with this idea, that, if it should form part of the Society’s plan to change the committee from year to year, we would venture to hint at the propriety of excluding composers from being elected; not from any apprehension of their abusing their trust, but solely with the view of securing independence and impartiality in the execution of a duty requiring both delicacy and firmness.

In regard to the foreign music which has been performed, when it is considered that the principal feature of these concerts was stated to be ‘to present the vocal music of the English school,’ it would appear as if this intention had been materially departed from, in the number of Italian and German compositions which are to be found. Without detracting in the slightest degree from the merit of these, we still entertain great doubt as to the policy of the measure: take, for instance, Mozart, one of the most admirable writers of either ancient or modern date, whose music, whether for ‘the church, the chamber, or the theatre,’ was never more in fashion than in the present day, and may be constantly heard in all parties, both public and private. We observe three, and sometimes four pieces of Mozart in the same evening, and not one of the six concerts without his music. With all our high respect for this eminent man, we could have wished to hear less of him, in order to have made room for composers who would have done honour to the Society, and given the highest gratification to the audience; and, strictly speaking, would have been more in accordance with the scope and design put forth in the Prospectus. We allude to Palestrina, Pergolesi, Bononcini, with many others, whose names are not to be found in the concerts of the past season. Of Haydn we have had a small portion compared with Mozart, nor have the selections from him been happily chosen; an English dress does not become him; and we must own, that of translations and adaptations generally, there are very few that do not materially interfere with the beauty and spirit of the original. One other point we must just touch upon before we conclude, of which the managers do not seem to have taken the same view, with regard to its importance, that we do. We have already dwelt upon the propriety of throwing in a certain portion of relief in the composition of these concerts: many a half-suppressed yawn we have witnessed in the room, during the performance of some very good music, which would gladly have been exchanged for something less fine, but more pleasing, and doubtless more intelligible to the majority of the audience. The simple ballad, sung with much expression by Mr. Broadhurst in the first concert, ‘My ain fire-side,’ was encored with enthusiasm, while the terzetto of Beethoven, which followed soon after, was heard with comparative indifference. A catch of Webbe’s was introduced in the first, and one of Callcott’s in the second evening’s performance, but none since, although both were encored. If the future managers choose to exert themselves, they will be at no loss to find many cheerful, and even humorous compositions, where the words are altogether unexceptionable, and the music excellent. We strongly recommend attention to this.

We had proposed to say something on the merits of the performers individually, but our limits forbid. We will only observe, that a strong desire to please was evident throughout the season; and we doubt not that much satisfaction has been afforded to numbers, who will readily testify the fact, by renewing their subscription the following season; when the experience which has been gained during the past will enable the ~Vocal Society~ to resume its functions next year with improved effect; and we take our leave, with cordial wishes for its future success.

REVIEW OF NEW MUSIC.

SACRED MUSIC.

1. ~Solo Anthem,~ ‘Bow down thine ear,’ composed by ~Thomas Attwood~, Esq., Composer to His Majesty’s Chapels Royal, &c. (A. Novello.)

2. ~Christian Melodies~, partly original, partly composed from the sacred Works of the most eminent Masters, and adapted by ΩΜΕΓΑ. (Seeley, Fleet Street.)

3. ~Sacred Music~, consisting of an ~Anthem~, ~Psalms~, ~Chants~, &c. composed in Score for three and four Voices, with an Accompaniment by ~William Dorrell~. (Duff.)

4. ~Four Sacred Melodies~, the Words by ~Charles V. Incledon~; the Music by ~Raffaelle A. Wallis~. (Purday.)

Mr. Attwood’s anthem is, in the strictest sense of the word, devotional, and suited to the service of the church, though the melodies and accompaniments are cast in a modern mould. The school is that of Mozart, influenced by habits early acquired in an English Protestant choir: for the author laid the foundation of his musical knowledge in the King’s Chapel, and finished an education thus happily begun, under the great musician of Saltzburg.

This anthem comprises two short movements; the first a larghetto in ~F~, three-eight time; the second rather quicker, in common time, made up of verse and an alternating chorus for the usual voices. The whole composition is evidently the production of an accomplished musician, but the first movement will gain most suffrages; the clearness of the phraseology or rhythm, and the richness of the harmony--full, but not affectedly crowded--cannot fail to please all who possess a cultivated taste. Some, however, may perhaps think that words declaratory of so much wretchedness should have been set to sounds expressive of deeper distress; and we are willing to admit that the minor key, or some mixture of it, would have enforced the sentiment more strongly than an unbroken continuation of the major third. We likewise wish that the singer may always profit by the licence granted by the ad libitum, page 6, and reject the secular flourish set down in the small notes, which would not be quite in character in the chamber; most assuredly is unfitted for the church.

* * * * *

No. 2,--in a livery of fawn-coloured satin paper, on which are impressed, in glittering golden characters, the title and epigraph, surmounted by a blazing lyre and cross, the whole inclosed in a border of the same proud metal,--does not introduce itself with that humility, which, both in letter and spirit, the Christian religion inculcates: it proclaims a church superb, not simple, and addresses itself to the eye that loves gaud, rather than to the understanding which despises show. But we shall not quarrel with the author on account of his cover: anomalies in such things are too common to be matter of reproach. The richest clad book we ever opened was a Mazarin bible, and the text was nothing the worse for the magnificence of its clothing.

In a preface the author tells us that, ‘of all the liberal sciences, music is the most esteemed on earth, and is the only one that appears to have been admitted into heaven.’ This is comforting news for musicians, but not very consoling to geometricians, grammarians, &c. Ωμεγα (or great O, as Mr. Cobbett would translatingly call him) is more liberal of words than careful in the use of them; we, however, find some good sense mixed with a great deal of enthusiasm,--some valuable remarks amidst too much verbiage. Thus what he says in his introduction concerning the adaptation of sacred words to airs originally set to those of a ludicrous, nay sometimes of a loose kind, has our entire concurrence. ‘In a large collection of tunes designated as “Sacred Music,” appear sundry compositions dignified with the names of Handel, Mozart, &c.; and which consist of certain extracts from their profane works most unscientifically selected, and united to other extracts to eke out the metre. In one of these “compositions” is recognized the Sancho Panza of the Zauberflöte, singing one of the songs of Zion to the air of “Das klinget so herlich!” If such “Sacred Music” be not an insult to ~Him~ in whose service it is designed to be employed, it is so to good sense and to right feeling,--it is so to the memory of the illustrious dead whose names it bears,--and it is so to that public upon whose credulity it would impose.’

This publication embraces between thirty and forty ‘Christian Melodies,’ as the compiler terms them, but they are, in fact, harmonies also for four voices, and originally so composed; for the ‘greater part were found in the oratorios, the masses, and other elaborate and similar works of their respective authors.’ Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Graun, and Hasse, are the composers chiefly selected from; and the editor has added a few of his own. Without having examined every one in the collection, but judging from those on which our attention has been carefully bestowed, we can venture to say that they have been made with a due regard to the fitness of the airs to the words, and that the harmonies, where they have been added, are correct and good.

This publication is rather novel in its appearance. The paper is extra-sized folio, and the whole fifty-two pages of music are printed from stone, the lithography having been executed by the editor’s own hand.

* * * * *

In No. 3, the Anthem has most claim to notice, both on account of extent and merit. It is for a soprano, and what is in choirs understood by the phrase, verse and chorus. The first movement is in ~F~, three-four time; the melody is charmingly natural, but not common, the accompaniment delicate and free from all pedantry. The choral parts are well introduced and harmonious. A recitative leads to a full chorus in common time, the whole in the fugue style, though not in regular fugue, and perhaps more vocally effective on this very account. The words are set with great judgment--no conceits, no false accentuation, every part manifests good plain sense and correct taste.

The Psalm tunes are much like other compositions of the kind; they show no extraordinary exertion. The base accompaniment of a 5th in the last bar of the second is not altogether judicious; the 3rd in such a case is far preferable. We need hardly mention the omission of a ~D~ in the accompaniment, a few bars before, because it is most likely the fault of the engraver. The note is in the tenor, and doubtless was meant to appear in the organ part.

The Chants cannot boast of more new features than the Psalms; but, as a matter of taste, would not the ~C~ in the ninth bar of the first have been improved by a sharp? It now stands thus:--

The modulation is into ~D~ minor, and surely ~C~ would have sounded better had it been sharpened.

The rounds are not entitled to much notice; and that the canon is flat and unprofitable, only proves that the composer has, fortunately for himself, no talent for dulness.

* * * * *

The Melodies, No. 4, display a goodly disposition both for air and graceful expression, but also show a great want of the creative power, and of experience. We recommend Mr. Wallis to go on writing for a while, but to destroy as fast as he writes. Practice may do much for him. If, too, the poet who is joined in this publication were to employ his thoughts more, and his pen less, for some time to come, he might, perhaps, produce something rather superior to the verses to which he here gives his name.

PIANO-FORTE.

1. ~Introduction~ et ~Grand Rondeau Brillant~, (en ~A~) composés par ~J. N. Hummel~,. Op. 56. (Wessel and Co.)

2. ~Rondoletto Brillante~, composto da ~F. Schoberlechner~. Op. 36. (Chappell.)

The first of the above is the eleventh book of the Album des Pianistes de première force, and by far the most rational of the collection that has come under our notice, for it is only a new edition of the rondo, justly a favourite one, which has been, and long ago we believe, reviewed in our work. M. Hummel has frequently played it in public, and most of our readers are well acquainted with the composition.

* * * * *

It is not clear to us why the composer of No. 2 should have added a diminutive to his rondo, implying either brevity or ease, whereas it is of the ordinary length, and difficult. A short introduction, adagio, promises well for the following allegretto scherzando, the chief movement; but the latter disappoints us; it is in the skittish Mayseder style, and the passages are far from uncommon; though it certainly will be found lively if well played, and comes under the description of brilliant music, by which is understood whatever is quick, showy, and exhilarating.

* * * * *

1. ‘L’Or est une Chimère,’ from ~Meyerbeer’s~ Robert le Diable, arranged with Variations by ~C. Czerny~. (Chappell.)

2. ~The Tournament March~, do. do. do.

3. ~The Gamester Chorus~, from do. arranged as a ~Rondo~ by ~J. Herz~. (Chappell.)

4. ~The Final Chorus~, do. do. do.

The introduction to No. 1 has not cost M. Czerny much thought, and his variations on this very popular air are not remarkable for originality, but are devoid of all those absurdities of which we have so often to complain, and are also within the reach of those who do not think it advisable to dedicate half their time to the labour of practising.

No. 2 has an introduction in ~A~ flat, which enables a moderate player to make a considerable display, provided his left hand can conveniently reach tenths. The March in ~C~ is short and simple, and what we have said of the variations to the preceding applies to the present; but these are much easier for the performer.

* * * * *

No. 3 takes the Chœur des Joueurs as an introductory movement; the rest of the piece is the same air as No. 1, in ~F~, protracted to sixteen pages in the form of a rondo, but is executed with ability, and the passages are all of a reasonable kind; for it is to be observed, that we have not Henri Herz before us, but his brother.

* * * * *

No. 4 is a very pleasing rondo in ~E~; the melody is agreeable and new, and Mad. Cinti’s cavatina, being embodied in the piece, imparts much variety to it. This is by no means so easy for the performer as the foregoing; and some reiterated semiquavers--fit enough for a violin, but not calculated for the piano-forte--are unnecessarily introduced; yet, on the whole, this is a clever arrangement, and such as is likely to be approved very generally.

* * * * *

1. ~Gems of Scottish Melody~, a Selection of the most popular Airs of Scotland, arranged with a Variation to each, by ~J. M. Muller~, No, 1. (Edinburgh, Paterson and Co.)

2. Ditto No. 2, ditto.

3. Ditto No. 3, ditto.

4. Ditto No. 4, ditto.

In every one of these numbers are eight airs, each of which, with the single variation, fills one page only. Now much as we disapprove the numerous variations, or the interminably long ones, which so frequently appear, yet two or three, of moderate length, are desirable, for the sake of that variety which the term implies, and, if moderately good, can never be thought tedious. This is all we have to object to in the present publication, which are of a very useful kind, the melodies being chosen with taste, and arranged with judgment for rather juvenile students. But in truth, really good players need not be ashamed to bestow two or three minutes upon any one of them, for we do not find a single melody among the thirty-two that is not worthy of being listened to by any lover of national music; such music, too, as that of Caledonia.

* * * * *

1. Délassemens de l’Etude, 25 ~Favourite Airs~, arranged and fingered by ~François Hünten~. Book I. (Chappell.)

2. Ditto. Book II.

We have here another publication that will prove of great utility: it is a collection of the most popular modern airs from foreign operas, or by foreign composers--by Mozart, Beethoven, Rossini, Weber, Meyerbeer, &c.,--arranged and fingered for the use of learners almost of the youngest class, and in a manner which justifies M. Hünten in affixing his name to the work, for he has evidently bestowed an attention on it which proves that he knows the importance of putting only what is correct, and likely to form a good ear, into the hands of children.

DUETS PIANO-FORTE.

1. Les Deux Amis, composed by ~J. N. Hummel~. Op. 117. (Cramer, Addison, and Beale.)

2. The Archduke Rudolph’s ~Triumphal March~, König Stephan, composed by ~L. Van Beethoven~; arranged by ~C. A. de Winkhler~. (Wessel and Co.)

3. ~Mehul’s Overture~ to Une Folie, arranged with Accompaniments (ad lib.) for Flute, Violin, and Violoncello, by ~S. F. Rimbault~. (Purday.)

4. My Delight, Twelve short and melodious Pieces, composed by ~Ant. Diabelli~. 2 Books. (Wessel and Co.)

The opening adagio in B minor of No. 1, is of the expressive kind, and if played with much nicety and great feeling, will be effective; though we trust that all persons who wish to discourage whatever tends to vitiate musical taste will at once cut out the run of thirds in semitones forming part of the cadenza, which, like all passages of the sort, only serves to remind us of that half-suppressed cry which a fit of the tooth-ache, or colic, sometimes extorts from the most patient sufferer. But the author seems to have exhausted himself in this movement; the second, molto vivace, in ~D~, though, in some respects, clever, and exhibiting very bold modulation, will never have any attraction for those who think that air and grace are essential in musical composition. This is not an easy work; but we must add that the notation--the avoidance of apparently short notes--is a proof of M. Hummel’s clear understanding. Composers, in general, are not aware of the difference, in point of difficulty, which may be made by mere notation. Writing demisemiquavers and shorter notes is, commonly, either mere pedantry or sheer ignorance. Sometimes, we grant, they are necessary, but in nine cases out of ten they may be avoided, as in the present instance, by words indicating great rapidity; or by putting a bar through the C marking common time. But the metronome (which M. Hummel, like a man of sense, always uses) is the surest and best guide.

* * * * *

Mehul’s overture is a great favourite in French theatres, and not devoid of something like dramatic effect, but as a piano-forte duet, as drawing-room music, it is very jejune indeed.

* * * * *

If Beethoven had never written but in the style of the Archduke’s march, his name would not have been heard beyond the confines of day-schools or Margate libraries. This is an easy, common-place affair; but, perhaps, quite good enough for the triumphs of the illustrious Rudolph, whoever he may be. What is meant by ‘König Stephan’ we pretend not to guess. Our King Stephen thought his unmentionables too expensive at a crown: we hold that his namesake’s march is much dearer at half the sum. We will not, however, imitate the son of the conqueror, and call the vendor by foul names.

* * * * *

M. Diabelli’s ‘Delight’--(what can be meant by so nonsensical a title?)--is, if we may judge from No. 4, to make babies play in duo. These very little pieces keep the hands in one position, being limited to the compass of five notes: so far they may answer a good purpose, and they are not disagreeable.

VOCAL.

1. ~Duet~, ‘Now like a Monarch,’ composed by ~A. De Beauplan~. (Chappell.)

2. ~Ballad~, ‘The Kiss on the Lips we love,’ the Words by ~J. Imlah~, Esq., the Melody by Mrs. ~P. Millard~. (Norwich, Woodward.)

3. Mignon’s Song, or ‘A foreign Sky above,’ by the Author of ~Musical Illustrations of the Waverley Novels~. (Novello.)

4. The Sea Rover, the Poetry by ~J. S. Foster~, Esq., the Music by the ~Chevalier Sigismund Neukomm~.

5. A Parting Song, the Poetry by Mrs. ~Hemans~, the Music by the ~Chev. Neukomm~. (Cramer and Co.)

6. ~Song~, ‘So we’ll go no more a roving,’ written by ~Lord Byron~, composed by ~John Lodge~, Esq. (Chappell.)

7. ~Chansonnette~, ‘Were a Wizard to say unto me,’ written and composed by ~J. Augustine Wade~, Esq. (Chappell.)

8. ~Air~, ‘I will think of thee,’ composed by ~Henry R. Bishop~. (Chappell.)

9. ~Ballad~, ‘She grew on Earth a summer Flower,’ composed by ~John Daniel~. (Edinburgh, Wood and Co.)

10. ~Ballad~, ‘He came to her with gentle Words,’ written by Miss ~Rennie~, composed by ~T. S. Ray~. (Goulding and Co.)

11. ~Ballad~, ‘My Rose,’ the Poetry by Mrs. ~Charles Greville~, composed by ~Bianchi Taylor~. (Collard and Co.)

12. ~Song~, ‘I met him in the lonely Dell,’ written by ~G. Vanderhoff~, Esq., composed by ~B. Hime~. (Collard and Co.)

The Duet, No. 1, possesses just that kind of silly prettiness which probably will sell it.

* * * * *

No. 2 is a very pleasing, easy melody, well accompanied.

* * * * *

No. 3 exhibits all the independence, the originality, and feeling, which are so conspicuous in this Lady’s ‘Illustrations.’ The words are Goethe’s, but we conjecture that the composer intends them to apply to the expatriated Poles, whose miseries have excited her strongest sympathy. There is all the enthusiasm of genius in this, but no want of method. We do not, however, see why the whole should not have been written in three-crotchet time.

* * * * *

No. 4 is a very spirited air, with a well-judged accompaniment, but it will inevitably be compared with the author’s ‘Sea,’ and thereby suffer, for the task would be no easy one to produce any thing at all equal to that brilliant composition. Let the present be judged by its own merits, and it will be generally approved. It is short, not difficult to sing, and suited to a tenor or a soprano voice.

* * * * *

No. 5 is, in fact, a ballad of four stanzas, the melody short, but repeated. It is gentle and elegant, rather à la Haydn, and would be easy, but for a double sharp or two, at which singers who accompany themselves are apt to start. Let us, however, recommend them not to be dismayed; the song is full of feeling, and will repay their trouble.

* * * * *

No. 6 is a very sweet melody, in the rondeau style, with an agreeable Scottish tinge, and accompanied in a lighter manner than is usual with Mr. Lodge; though there are glimpses of harmony here and them that show his inclination, which, however, he has not indulged to any great extent, but has afforded every possible facility to both singer and accompanist.

* * * * *

The words of No. 7 ought to sell the song. The reasons why a young maiden should not agree to be metamorphosed into a star, a flower, or a fish, are quite cogent and reasonable. The air is light, as it should be, and very simple.

* * * * *

No. 8 shows a strong effort to produce new harmonic effects: the modulation in the very first two bars from ~C~ to ~A~ flat is rather sudden, and somewhat startling--e. g. but anything is better than triteness. The air is free and agreeable, with an accompaniment in the guitar manner. We cannot, however, add that the words go quite smoothly and well to the melody.

* * * * *

The composer of No. 9 writes with much feeling, and his air is pleasing and appropriate, but he has injudiciously separated some of the words, and not very accurately accented others.

* * * * *

No. 10 certainly does not rise above mediocrity, either in music or words.

* * * * *

No. 11 is correct and graceful, rather than striking or new.

* * * * *

On No. 12 we really can bestow no praise, however qualified; the words and music are nearly on a par with the lithographed vignette, but of the three, the music is least obnoxious to criticism.

HARP.

1. Air de Ballet, as a ~Brilliant Rondo~, the subject from ~Meyerbeer’s~ Robert le Diable, arranged by ~Theodore Labarre~. No. 2. (Chappell.)

2. Ditto No. 3.

3. Ditto No. 4.

The first of the above is the Pas de Cinq, the second the Valse des Démons, and the third the Chœur Dansé, from the opera now performing in all parts of Europe, though certainly with variable success. But the pieces selected by M. Labarre are universally admired, whatever may be, according to different tastes, thought of the work in its entire state. These are all arranged with a view to general use; all unnecessary difficulty, therefore, is avoided, but not at the expense of the author’s intended effects, which are as carefully preserved as the means afforded by a single instrument render possible.

HARP AND PIANO-FORTE.

~Six Waltzes~, composed by ~Hummel~, arranged by ~N. C. Bochsa~. (Chappell.)

These are the well-known waltzes, Op. 91, written by Hummel for the piano-forte only, and now converted, with considerable address, into very effective, yet perfectly easy duets for the two drawing-room instruments.

MADRIGAL SOCIETY.

The anniversary of this society, on Thursday the 21st of February, proved, past all doubt, that the taste for the species of music cultivated by its members is anything but on the decline. A more brilliant meeting has not for many years been known, as the subjoined list of music performed, of members present, and of visitors, will amply testify; and it was by all agreed, that the various compositions were never heard to greater advantage.

There are cycles in music as well as in other heavenly things; the madrigal is come round again, and probably will, in two or three years, again disappear, except to the present society, who have never lost sight of it, and to whom (as also, indeed, to the Ancient Concerts) we are perhaps indebted, for having preserved it from final occultation. We shall not be surprised soon to find it visible in our most fashionable drawing-rooms, and to hear that the revived taste for it in this country has drawn the attention of our continental neighbours to a kind of harmony which those who profess any knowledge of the art, either from study, or merely listening to and enjoying it, cannot but admire.

After the cloth was removed, and the youthful choristers of the King’s Chapel and St. Paul’s Cathedral were admitted, the following madrigals were performed, nearly all present taking a part:--

Voices. Composers.

All creatures now are merry-minded. 5 ~J. Bennet.~

Arise, awake 5 ~Thos. Morley.~

Basti fin qui le pene 10 ~Luca Marenzio.~

Cynthia, thy song and chanting 5 ~Giov. Croce.~

Dainty fine sweet Nymph 5 ~Thos. Morley.~

Fire, fire, my heart 5 ~Thos. Morley.~

I will sing of thy power 5 ~Dr. M. Greene.~

Kyrie eleison 5 ~Clari.~

Lo! where with flow’ry head 5 ~Thos. Morley.~

Lord, for thy tender mercy’s sake 4 ~R. Farrant.~

Lady, your eye my love enforc’d 5 ~Thos. Weelkes.~

Miserere mei 4 ~J. P. Palestrina.~

Now, O now, I needs must part 4 ~J. Dowland.~

Oft have I vow’d 5 ~J. Wilbye.~

Sweet honey-sucking bees 5 ~J. Wilbye.~

Fal lal la (The Waits) 4 ~J. Saville.~

Among the members present were, Messrs. W. Linley, (Chairman), W. Hawes (Music Director), C. Baumer, T. Pinto (Stewards), J. P. Street (Librarian), Tho. Oliphant (Secretary), E. Bates, R. Taylor, J. Capel, J. T. Cooper, J. Barwise, Sir A. Barnard, K.C.B., Rev. J. Hall, J. P. Salomons, E. Fitzwilliam, J. N. Macleod, Lord Saltoun, J. Calkin, C. Hancock, H. Hancock. C. Comerford, J. Dillon, G. Cooper, W. Taylor, Tho. Gladstone, M.P., E. Taylor.

The non-professional visiters were, Duke of Argyle, Admiral Taylor, Sir R. Simeon, Hon. A. Macdonald, Dr. Penrose, Messrs. Boldero, Gray, Nyren, Seviers, (2.) Hall, Spyring, Cox, Bond, M’Donald, Bedford, Campbell, Mozer, Rich, Pears, Bates, jun., Luttrell, Barnard, Spencer, S. Cartwright, Street, jun., S. J. Arnold, H. Surman, H. Sanford, J. Silver.

The professional visiters included Messrs. Vaughan, Sale, Spencer, Leete, Blackbourne, Horncastle, Ella, Horsley, Hawkins, Walmisley, C. Evans, C. Taylor, Howell, James Elliott, Goss, Goulden, Jolley.

EXTRACTS FROM THE DIARY OF A DILETTANTE.

[Resumed from page 64.]

Feb. 28th. Tait’s Magazine for this month has the following remark concerning the concerts at Edinburgh:--‘Mrs. Wood has shown on how much the human voice, and Mr. Boschsa how little the harp, can do to entrance the soul in musical delight.’ This is sensible criticism, in no far as it extends to the singing and playing of the individuals named: but the harp, when in the hands of those who best know how to use it--who seek not to astonish by what is called execution, which is only another name for murder, but study its pathetic and romantic character, and attempt nothing out of this--is an instrument that, in some shape or other, has charmed in all ages, and will continue to be admired wherever a taste for music is at all cultivated. Those among as who remember having heard Mad. Krumpholtz, and, more especially, the Vicomte de Marin, well know what the harp can do when properly touched.

* * * * *

March 7th. The King’s band of musicians was an imitation of the band of Louis XIV. In Evelyn’s Diary, dated 21st of December, 1662, is the following account of its first performance. This able and honest statesman and excellent naturalist possessed a fine taste for the arts, in which he took very considerable interest. He evidently felt very indignant at the musical innovation made by the heartless Charles, whose education was finished in the profligate French court, and thus expresses himself:--

‘One of his Majesty’s chaplains preached at the King’s Chapel, after which, instead of the ancient, grave, and solemn wind music accompanying the organ, was introduced a concert of twenty-four violins between every pause, after the French fantastical light way, better suiting a tavern or a play-house, than a church. This was the first time of change, and now we no more heard the cornet which gave life to the organ, that instrument quite left off, in which the English were so skilful. I dined at Mr. Povey’s, where I talked with Cromer, a great musician.’

* * * * *

--This morning Mr. Guynemer gave--(literally gave, for profit was not his object)--a ‘Matinée Musicale’ at the Opera Concert Room, chiefly for the purpose of performing some selections from a Mass recently composed by him. He, of course, had a very full audience, among whom were the most distinguished amateurs and professors at present in London. The Mass, or at least such of it as was introduced, possesses considerable claims to notice; and if it does not show much fancy, much original conception, proves the author to be a man of knowledge and taste. His band was select, and led by Messrs. Spagnoletti and Mori; himself and Mr. Novello acting as conductors.

* * * * *

10th. A weekly paper, in whose well-delivered musical opinions I generally concur, has attacked in rather strong language the first Ancient Concert of this season, and in pretty plain terms accused the directors of imitating the new Vocal Concert, by the introduction of madrigals. Surely the writer has not carefully looked over the books of the Ancient Concert, or made himself acquainted with the fact that, at its very first institution, nearly sixty years ago, madrigals were among its most important features, and have, more or less often, continued to be performed up to the present time. I myself heard two of them last season, though not present at more than three or four of the concerts. The efforts made by the Madrigal Society during late years have slowly, but surely, drawn attention to this fine species of music, and the Vocal Concert happily seized the moment for bringing it before a larger and more mixed audience, and certainly in a very inviting form; but let not the Ancient Concert, the finest school in Europe for the music of the great old masters, and which has preserved the best models from being trampled into dust--which has stood for years as the bulwark against the whims of fashion, and steadily resisted the greedy appetite for whatever is new, however contemptible--let not this be abused as the servile imitator of an infant establishment which has only re-produced compositions that have been heard by three generations at a concert to which--though often mismanaged, and too frequently a sufferer from prejudice--our country is so much indebted for its musical taste, and on which, I am persuaded, the preservation of good music in England yet so mainly depends.

* * * * *

16th. We are certainly to be honoured by another visit from Signor Paganini after Easter, as I last year predicted; though the French papers, and of course the English, stated positively, that he had resolved to appear in public no more, but had ‘determined to retire and enjoy otium cum dignitate.’ It was to me a matter of certainty, demonstrable upon moral principles, that while any thing is to be got in this country, the hero of one string will be drawn to our shores by metallic attraction. Of his continued success, however, I have my doubts; the fit was on the decline last season; our senses are beginning to return: but if reason should not influence us, the state of the country will. It is really ‘too bad’ to be lavishing thousands, tens of thousands, upon a foreigner, who is more admired for his tricks than for his real excellences, while many of our best performers--some of whom are more than his equal in the legitimate use of the instrument--are neglected, and suffering from want of protection.

* * * * *

20th. Every letter from Italy, coming from any source to be relied on, concurs in stating, that music is at the lowest ebb in that country: from the northern to the southern extremity, from Milan to Naples, nothing new is brought forward but the vilest trash, and even Rossini is no longer the idol. This, however, ought not to excite surprise, considering how unmercifully he has been hacked. It seems that, after Easter, we are to have thrust down our throats,--or rather crammed into our ears--Bellini’s Norma, and also Beatrice Tenda, both, it is said, the feeblest of modern weaknesses, the first especially, which all but Italians agree in admitting to be the veriest rubbish that ever disgraced the lyric stage. We are also to have the Montecchi e Capuletti of the same composer, which I can, from my own knowledge, say, is as wretched stuff as any that our Italian theatre has produced during the last five or six years. I cannot say more.

FOREIGN MUSICAL REPORT.

VIENNA.

The Josephstadt Theatre, under its very able direction, ever anxious to delight the public with novelties, has produced Bellini’s Die Capulets und die Montagues, which, however, was but indifferently received, notwithstanding the laudable exertions of the singers. Rossini’s Semiramis, also, has lately afforded evidence of the industry and efficiency of the company of this theatre. M. Pock, as Assur, excited enthusiasm in his audience, and Demlle. Kratky as Arsaz, and Mad. Zimmer as Semiramis, were overwhelmed with applause; in fact, all the singers received ample testimony of the delight which they afforded, and the whole representation could not but have given satisfaction to the most severe critic.

On the 4th January, a new operetta by Caché, Das Küchenregiment (the Kitchen Government), was produced at the Hofoperntheater. M. Caché himself played the principal character (Vatel), and was twice called forward.

BERLIN.

Königstadt Theater. A romantic comic opera in three acts, called Des Adlers Horst (the Eagle’s Eyry), composed by Kapellmeister Gläser, was produced here on the 29th December. The music is lively and melodic, bearing, however, at times, perhaps, too close a resemblance to the Freyschütz. The parts were allotted to Demlles. Hälmel, Felsenheim, and Franchetti, and MM. Holzmiller, Greiner, Fischer, and Beckmann. On the 4th January, Dlle. Schneider, the daughter of Kapellmeister Schneider, having previously sung at her father’s concert, appeared for the first time on the Berlin boards, as Rosina in the Barbier von Sevilla, and was very successful.

At the Opernhaus, Robert der Teufel has again been brought forward; and on the 20th January, Figaro was given with a very strong cast of characters: Mad. Pirscher as the Countess, Demlle. Grünbaum the Page, Mad. Seidler Susanna, M. Hammermeister the Count, and M. Devrient as Figaro; it was in every respect a most excellent representation of the opera.

M. Felix Mendelssohn has given his second and third concerts, in aid of the fund for the widows of the members of the orchestra, which proved very attractive. The musical soirées of the Brothers Ganz have commenced; those of M. Möser are going on successfully.

MUNICH.

M. Spitzeder, who made his debut here on the 30th September, and was incapacitated from appearing afterwards by illness, died on the 14th December. Mad. Spitzeder has appeared as Myrrha, as Ninetta in Die Diebische Elster (La Gazza Ladra), Zerlina in Fra Diavolo, and various other characters with her usual success.

PRAGUE.

Das Fräulein am See (La Donna del Lago) has been given here for the benefit of Demlle. Emmering, who personated Malcolm. On this occasion Demlle. Lutzer made her first appearance in the part of Helene. Her voice, the higher and middle notes of which are very sweet, is rather weak for so large a theatre; but by regular and well-directed practice, it will no doubt soon acquire greater strength. M. Podhorsky was Roderich, M. Strataky Douglas.

VENICE.

The opera Eufemio di Messina, by Maestro Persiani, has been performed here at the Fenico, but not with the success it obtained at the fair of Padua. All the efforts of the singers, Dell Serre soprano, La Carobbi contralto, Curioni tenor, and Crespi bass, could not save it. The music, that of the second act especially, was throughout considered monotonous and tiresome.

Recci’s Chiara di Rosenberg is at this time playing in six towns in Italy, and is everywhere received with enthusiasm.(!)

PARIS.

For a long time it has been evident to every one who has the slightest taste or feeling for music, that the downfall of this art in Italy is complete; but nothing, perhaps, could give so just an idea of the state of absolute degradation into which the Italian taste has fallen, as the popularity which an opera called Chiara di Rosenberg, which was played lately at the Théâtre Italien, has obtained and still enjoys in that country. At all times, even when the Italian school was in the height of its vigour and splendour, bad operas were written, but they were received as they deserved, and the hisses of the public consigned them to their merited fate. At the present time this is no longer the case; the production of a boy makes a furore on its first production, is twice revived with plaudits at Milan, and is now playing everywhere. What does all this indicate, but that nothing better is to be hoped for from a country where the public taste has fallen so low?

An ill-constructed overture, made up of incoherent phrases clumsily put together, followed by an introduction still more flat and feeble, cast a cold chill over the audience; however they waited with very laudable patience for some piece that might interest them, but in vain; the same mediocrity reigned throughout. A trio for three basses, which had been much talked about, was looked for with great expectation, but turned out just as bad as the rest. The success of this trio, in Italy, arises from one of the characters using a broad provincial dialect, which is changed according to the city in which the piece is performed; in Naples it is the Neapolitan, in Venice the Venetian, in Milan the Milanese, and so on: this makes the audiences laugh there, but in a foreign country the comic effect is wholly lost, and there is nothing in the music to compensate for it. The most supportable pieces in the opera are a chorus and duet between Tamburini and Santini. There is not in the whole opera one phrase of melody that has either novelty or any other merit; the harmony is flat and incorrect; the rhythm totally devoid of character, and eternally broken in upon; and to close all, the instrumentation is that of a school-boy who had not even the good sense to study the scores of his contemporaries.

Tired of singing such stuff, Tamburini introduced an air from the Inganno Felice of Rossini, and never did a base voice give so splendid a specimen of ease, taste, and execution; the audience, without considering the fatigue of the singer, encored it; Tamburini repeated it with more spirit than at first, and then the audience took their hats and left the rest of Chiara di Rosenberg to be performed to empty benches.

THE DRAMA.

~King’s Theatre.~

On Tuesday, the 26th of February, Madame ~Schiasetti~ was introduced to the public for the first time in this country, as Malcolm, in ~Rossini’s~ Donna del Lago. This lady is an old stager. Many years ago she sang in Paris, and there again very recently, but with doubtful success. In the interim she appeared at Dresden, but how she was received there we cannot tell. Her voice is a mezzo-soprano, which she wishes to force down to the contralto compass, but betrays her natural scale in spite of all her efforts. Her high notes are hard and unmusical, and she is not always pure in intonation. In form, Mad. ~Schiasetti~ rather inclines to the masculine, and shows more muscular than vocal strength. The opera was got up in a manner that almost defies description; parts left out, others put in, transpositions, interpolations, and, in short, nearly every thing that able management would have forbidden was witnessed; except the character of Roderick Dhu, which ~Donzelli~ performed à merveille.

Mad. ~Boccabadati~ has appeared in Matilde di Shabran, one of ~Rossini’s~ least interesting operas; and the papers, most of them, have been as lavish in their praise of her as if her powers were of the most unrivalled kind. She undoubtedly improved after her debut, which was a very unfavourable one, and exhibited talents superior to those which were displayed on her first appearance. But she can only rank as a prima donna in second-rate theatres. As a seconda, or as an occasional substitute for the first, Mad. B. may be rendered exceedingly useful and agreeable.

On the 23d, ~Mozart’s~ Nozze di Figaro made some change in the performances, which till then had been all ~Rossini~, and not the best of ~Rossini~. The part of the Countess was given to Mad. ~Boccabadati~, and Mad. ~Schiasetti~ took that of Susanna! Mdlle. ~Nina Sontag~ personating Cherubino. To the first of these the music was perfectly strange, but, like a stranger, she did not give it welcome: however, she got through it better than we expected. Poor Susanna has seldom had so inadequate a representative; and Mdlle. ~Nina~ made a page that ought not to have excited any doubts in the mind of Almaviva. This part, by-the-by, was transposed for ~Donzelli~, as was much for Mad. ~Schiasetti~; and, altogether, our history of this attempt at reviving a work of ~Mozart~ cannot be rendered favourable.

We now quit the Italian stage, and cast our view to the

~German Opera~,

which commenced at this house on Thursday, March 14th, with Der Freischütz, thus cast:--

Max M. ~Binder~. Caspar M. ~Blume~. Cuno M. ~Kockert~. Kilian M. ~Ehlers~. Agatha Mad. ~Pircher~. Annchen Mdlle. ~Nina Sontag~.

No one of these must be ranked as a first-rate singer, but all are tolerably respectable. Mad. ~Pircher~ seems to find it necessary to strain her voice, which is not strong, which sometimes renders her intonation rather faulty. She, however, sings with feeling, and appears to understand what she is about. Madlle. ~Nina Sontag~ is just what she was,--inanimate, both in singing and acting, and inoffensive, unless great frigidity and slowness can offend.

M. ~Binder~ is the best of the party; he wants little of being a very good tenor. He was suffered to introduce a song, not one by Weber, for which the management is more censurable than the singer. We believe that it was one by that prince of modern composers, Pacini! M. ~Blume~, with a good base voice, is a respectable actor.

M. ~Hummel~ is the conductor of this corps; but, seated at the piano-forte, he appears to greater advantage than when flourishing the baton. His times of the Freischütz were all quicker than those of the composer, as he gave them at Covent Garden. Which of the two is most likely to be right, we leave our readers to determine. The choruses went off extremely well; but in other respects the German Opera this season is much inferior to that of last; nevertheless, M. ~Laporte’s~ terms of admission are increased. He has, however, already found out that one hundred at seven shillings are not quite so profitable as five hundred at a crown; yet the prices are not reduced. Up to the present moment the speculation has proved a very losing one, and we do not hear of any new opera being in readiness.

~Drury Lane Theatre.~

A new ballet-opera, a term quite new to our stage, was brought out at this house on the 16th ult., entitled The Maid of Cashmere, made up from La Bayadère Amoureuse, ~Scribe’s~ very popular piece; the music by ~Auber~.

The principal characters are--

Brama Mr. ~Wood~. Olifour, the Grand Judge Mr. ~Seguin~. Leila Miss ~Betts~. Zelica Mdlle. ~Duvernay~. Fatima Mdlle. ~Augusta~.

The story may be told in the following words:--Brama assumes mortality, and is under the necessity of enduring all the evils incident to the change, until he can find a young female who perfectly and purely loves him. Having been present at the preparations for executing an innocent man, he sets the intended victim free, therefore is proscribed by the authorities, and takes refuge in the city of Cashmere. He wanders about as The Unknown, while a price is set on his head by the Grand Vizier. He conceals himself near the palace of Olifour, and there remains while some dancing peasants, called Bayadères, exhibit before the grand judge, who falls desperately in love with Zelica, the Maid of Cashmere; but she rejects him, and shows a decided preference for The Unknown, who imprudently comes forward. Soon afterwards he is discovered, and is about to be seized, when Zelica purchases his liberty by consenting to give her hand to the old judge. Presents she rejects, but consents to ride in a palanquin sent for her conveyance; and naturally enough, for The Unknown had slipped into it, and, lying at the bottom, is effectually hidden. We next find the pair in the hut of the Bayadère, where she makes her love for Brama pretty obvious. To try the strength and truth of her attachment, he makes Zelica jealous, by paying undue attention first to a singing Bayadère, Leila, and subsequently to another dancing Bayadère, Fatima. She is of course very uneasy, and before long her truth is put to the test, for the judge and his troops enter in search of The Unknown, who escapes through a trap-door into a cellar,--a very undignified exit for a god, by the way. As The Unknown is not to be found, the guards seize Zelica, and, raising a pile in her own cottage, proceed to perform the inconvenient ceremony of burning her. She patiently awaits her doom,--the flames are fast approaching her--when Brama is seen rising behind her, restored to his divine state. He exalts the Bayadère into the clouds, and the scene suddenly changes to the celestial abode of the God. Thus ends the Opera-ballet, or Ballet-opera.

The strength of this is all in the ballet; the music is light and frothy, with the exception of a pretty good trio near the end of the first act. Indeed, as dancing would clearly be the attractive part of this piece, ~M. Auber~ was fully justified in not wasting much force on it, and acted prudently in writing nothing of a solid kind, and in trusting wholly to a pleasing gaiety of style.

Don Juan continues to fill the house in every part: nay it draws persons into the public boxes, who, on any other occasion, would have been shocked at a proposal to visit the theatre without the consolation of a more private and exclusive retreat.

~Covent Garden Theatre.~

The dramatic oratorio, contrary to expectation, has been eminently successful. After the first night it improved very much in representation, and still more so in the audiences. It has drawn crowds ever since.

On the 23rd of last month, an opera, altered from the French, under the name of The Coiners, or the Soldier’s Oath, the music by ~Auber~, was produced here; but we were at Drury Lane on that evening, and have not since had an opportunity of seeing this new production; on which we shall report next month, should the piece survive, which, according to what we hear, is somewhat doubtful.

THE MUSIC OF THE PRESENT NUMBER.

The Vicomte de Villeblanche, one of the ancient noblesse of France, was a distinguished amateur. His mother, a great proficient in music, instructed him very early on the piano-forte, and he having sought refuge in this kingdom during the most troublesome period of the French revolution, took lessons of J. B. Cramer. When Buonaparte proclaimed an amnesty, the Vicomte returned to his native country, entered into the army, accompanied Napoleon in his expedition to Russia, and is supposed to have perished in the retreat, he never having been heard of since that disastrous event. Of his skill in music the movement in the present Number bears full testimony; it is the only composition by him that we ever met with or heard of; it appeared many years ago, (in a musical magazine which had no circulation,) and may be said to be an unknown production. That it is in the manner of Beethoven will be apparent to all, and that it is a very elegant imitation of a master then little known out of Germany, must also be admitted: we are glad to have been enabled to rescue a composition of so much merit either from oblivion, or from being hereafter claimed by some one having no title to it.

* * * * *

The March is arranged from a Notturno by Spohr.

* * * * *

The Saraband and Gigue of Corelli are familiarly known to the frequenters of the Ancient Concerts, and to all--we fear they are few in number--who are well read in classical music. We have adapted them from the original score, and endeavoured to render the violin passages not only practicable, but easy for keyed-instruments. The Sarabanda was a slow Spanish dance. The Giga speaks for itself. For an account of the composer, we refer the reader to one of our early volumes.

* * * * *

The Canzonet, ‘Forget me not,’ has always been ascribed to Mozart, though not noticed by him in his memoranda, and not included in any edition of his works. It certainly bears his impress, and, whether justly or not attributed to that great master, is undoubtedly worthy of his genius. We have cut out from the symphony some bars which we strongly suspect to have been an interpolation. The author of the English words seems to be quite unknown, and it will be no injury to him to let him remain incognito. As far, however, as the prevailing sentiment is concerned, the poetry admirably suits the music.

* * * * *

The name of Prati is perfectly new to this country. He was Maître de Chapelle to the Elector Palatine, and born in 1736. He visited Paris, St. Petersburg, Florence, &c., in all which cities he produced operas. In the latter city he brought out his Ifigenia, which met with prodigious success; and at Munich, in 1785, his Armida abandonnata first was heard, which procured him his valuable appointment under the Elector. He died at Ferrara in 1788. The gay and beautiful aria by him, which we now publish, is from Reichardt’s Musikalisches Kunstmagazin, for 1791.

* * * * *

A taste for the Madrigal happily seems to be reviving. It is a kind of composition which possesses some of the best qualities of the fugue, but rejects all its formality and restraint. John Bennet published his Madrigals for four voices in 1599, and contributed much to a curious theoretical work by Ravenscroft, printed in 1614, and now lying before us, in the preface to which he is thus mentioned;--a ‘partner in this work is Maister John Bennet, a gentleman admirable for all kinds of composures, either in art, or ayre, simple or mixt, of what nature soever.’ Nothing beyond this is known of him, or it certainly would have been discovered by Hawkins, an indefatigable antiquary, and a zealous promoter of ancient music. The present madrigal is from Warren’s Monthly Collection, a work now exceedingly scarce. We have changed the alto and tenor clefs into the treble and base, and added an accompaniment, for the first time, it is our belief.

* * * * *

The very pretty Canzonet of Morley is from a set printed in 1599. One of these appeared in the Harmonicon containing his memoir; to which the reader is referred for further information concerning this celebrated theorist and composer.

[Sidenote: May, 1833.]

MEMOIR OF METASTASIO.

The name of the great dramatic poet, whose memoir we are about to sketch is so connected with the history of music, that it cannot be thought out of place in the biographical department of our work. We might almost plead his having been a musician as well as poet, were it necessary; but no excuse can be required for mixing with the lives of professors that of a genius to whose productions--which have called forth the talents of the greatest composers--the art itself is so much indebted.

* * * * *

~Pietro Trapassi~ was born at Rome on the 6th of January, 1698. His family, though at the time of his birth reduced to the straits of indigence, had for many years enjoyed, as opulent citizens, the freedom of the town of Assisi, the immunities of which were confined to thirty of the inhabitants only. But the times became altered, and Felice, the father of our bard, unable to procure a subsistence in his native place, enlisted into the ranks of the regiment of Corsi, and shortly afterwards married Francesca Galasti of Bologna. At the fulfilment of his service as a soldier, Felice found himself possessed of a small pittance which he had gained, while in garrison, by devoting his leisure hours to the laborious task of an amanuensis. With this he entered into partnership with a shopkeeper at Rome, in the petty trade called in Italy L’Arte bianca, or pastrycook. Succeeding tolerably in this undertaking, he was now enabled to place his two eldest sons, Leopoldo and the subject of this memoir, at a small grammar school, where the latter soon displayed that talent and enthusiasm for poetry, which so eminently distinguished his after life. ‘Before he was yet ten years old,’ says his biographer Dr. Burney, ‘he had the power of making verses extempore on any subject, and it was no unusual sight to see his father’s porch surrounded in the evening, after school hours, by admiring groups listening to the poesy of a child. During one of these tuneful fits, when Pietro was in his happiest mood, the celebrated lawyer and critic, Gravina, happened to pass by his father’s door, and was no less struck with the youth of the poet, than with the softness, yet brilliancy of his verse, the smoothness of his measure, and the sprightliness of his wit, which he employed, all’ improvvista, upon the people and objects that surrounded him. Drawing near, Gravina expressed his admiration, and offered him some money; the firm but polite refusal of his donation increased his admiration for the little bard, and he instantly formed the resolution of adopting him as his son. Pleased with this idea, he instantly solicited the consent of his parents; and as there was nothing humiliating, nothing unkind, in his proposal, Felice gladly complied. The next morning Pietro was consigned to the care and patronage of Gravina, who changed his name to Metastasio, as Μεταστασις (mutatio) seemed at once to include his family appellation and his situation as an adopted child.

And now having changed his name, Gravina applied himself to the more difficult task of altering, or at least improving, the bias of Metastasio’s mind. For this purpose he destined him to the study of the law as a profession, wishing rather that he should become an orator than a poet. This at first may appear strange; but Gravina well knew that, although the meed of praise may be the poet’s, wealth and affluence are still strangers to his door, and that, in Rome, riches are only to be acquired by the followers of the church and law.

Although Metastasio’s time was principally employed in the dry study of edicts and decrees, he was encouraged by his patron in the perusal of the best models of the ancient poets; and, at the early age of fourteen, we find him producing his tragedy of Giustino,--really an astonishing work for so mere a boy. After the appearance of this drama, written completely in the Grecian style, Gravina appears not only to have allowed, but even to have encouraged, his pupil’s adoration of the Muse; and when Metastasio was eighteen years old, we find Gravina accompanying him to Naples, for the express purpose of singing with the most celebrated improvvisatori of the day. No sooner had he appeared than he became a universal favourite. Nothing was heard of but the graces and dignity of his elocution, the inspiration of his expressive countenance, and the delightful harmony of his verse, which his hearers carried away in their memory like the dying cadence of a thrilling melody. Still with his poetical pursuits did he continue to study the law; and, to secure an opening into the only other road to preferment, entered into one of the minor orders of priesthood.

Two years after his arrival at Naples he had the misfortune to lose his patron, who died in 1718, in the fifty-fourth year of his age, leaving behind him a character more celebrated for his great classical learning, than for his poetry, upon which however he most prided himself; but the protection which he afforded to Metastasio does more honour to his memory than all the productions of his own pen. It has been a generally received opinion, that, however deeply his loss was deplored by our poet, the death of Gravina was a great benefit to his future fame, for it is supposed that, had he lived, his advice would have cramped his pupil’s ideas, disposed to all the pathos and beauty of passion and nature, with the rules and imitations of the Greek drama. Certain it is, however, that Metastasio mourned over his patron as a son; nor was his gratitude at all diminished, when by Gravina’s will, signed in 1718, he found himself sole master of all his property, consisting of 15,000 crowns, a superb library, and a small estate in the kingdom of Naples. The generosity of our poet’s disposition, however, soon ran through this possession; and two years after Gravina’s death, all that remained to him was an inconsiderable landed estate. Finding it, therefore, necessary to court some other genius than the Muse, he placed himself under the care of Paglietti, a man described as made up wholly of law, a bitter enemy to poetry, one who hated the sound of rhyme, and the very sight of a poet, and who was mercilessly intolerant of the slightest deviation from worldly prudence. For one year Metastasio applied himself with so much diligence to the labours imposed upon him by Paglietti, that he appears to have disappointed his suspicions, and even to have gained his confidence; but at the end of that time, we find him again sacrificing to the Muse his contract with the law. First appeared an Epithalamium, written at the request of the Countess of Althau, who likewise prevailed upon him to write the drama Endymion.

Under the patronage of the Viceroy of Naples, appeared Gli Orti Esperidi, (the Gardens of the Hesperides.) The drama was written during the hours devoted by Paglietti to the poet’s rest, and under the express promise that it should be kept a profound secret from the inexorable lawyer. His next drama was Angelica, of which the plot is taken from Ariosto. The Gardens of the Hesperides, which was played at Naples, was universally admired, and by none more than by the Signora M. Benti Bulgarini, better known by her prima-donna name of the Romanini. She was the first singer of her day, and played the part of Venus in that opera; and so delighted was she with its beauty, that she rested not until she had obtained an introduction to the author. On seeing him, the Romanini expressed at once her admiration and esteem, and warmly pressed him to renounce at once the dry study of the law, take up his abode under her husband’s roof, and devote his whole time, his whole energies, to the delights of friendship and the inspiration of the Muse. Adoring as he did, devoted as he was to poesy, who could at once resist the enthusiastic bent of his own mind, the seducing praise of flattering beauty?--certainly not Metastasio. Short was the struggle in his mind between Paglietti and the Romanini: willingly he accepted the offer, and from this time the courts of law were forgotten by him in the plaudits of the theatre.

His Didone Abandonnata was written at the request of the Romanini, to whom the poet is perhaps indebted for some of the finest dramatic incidents and effect. The celebrity which this opera obtained caused it to be set to music by the best composers for all the theatres of Italy, and consequently brought the author a large pecuniary reward, besides the extension of a name already widely spread. During his residence at Rome, whither he repaired with the Romanini in 1727, he finished several operas, the Semiramide, Artaserse, Egio, Alessandro nel Indie, and the Catone in Utica, all of which were received with high praise; but barren praise appears to have been all his reward--small indeed were his pecuniary gains.

Upon his first arrival at Rome, Metastasio, willing to repay the obligations under which he lay to the Bulgarini, took a house for the reception of the two families of the Bulgarini and Trapassi, and prevailed upon the Romanini to place herself, as more conversant with domestic affairs, at the head of his establishment. Upon these terms they lived till, in 1729, receiving an invitation from the court of Vienna, he repaired to Germany as coadjutor to Apostolo Zeno, the imperial laureate. This offer was the more gratifying as it came upon the recommendation of Zeno himself, who had enjoyed his post unrivalled for eleven years, and before the time of Metastasio, had written the best lyrical drama his country’s language could boast. No small praise, therefore, is due to his generosity in thus forwarding the views of a poet, whose works, he must have foreseen, would speedily eclipse his own. Nor was the yearly stipend of 3000 florins at all to be despised by Metastasio. At Rome he had almost suffered under the pressure of poverty, and often was obliged to have recourse to the munificence and generosity of his friend. To her, when he left Italy, he entrusted the entire charge of his affairs, together with a small sum left to her guidance for the temporary support of his father.

Of his reception at the court of Charles VI., we have a most gratifying account written by the poet himself to a friend at Rome, and the Emperor appears to have been much pleased on finding that Metastasio was of a grave moral character, and in that possessing principles congenial to his own. For the next three years, in his correspondence with the Romanini, we possess almost an autobiography of the bard, as his letters to her were frequent, and contained the account of his occupations, of his pleasures, and his pains. In 1734, he had the misfortune to lose this inestimable counsellor and friend. The Romanini in that year died at Rome, to the last manifesting the truth of her attachment, by bequeathing to him, after the death of her husband, the whole of her wealth, amounting to about 25,000 crowns. Metastasio, however, always abiding by the strictest rules of honour and probity, declined in toto this generous gift, which he transferred altogether to her husband, and this sacrifice, for great sacrifice it was, must be considered highly honourable to the poet’s heart. As to the exact nature of the connexion subsisting between him and Romanini, it must for ever remain a conjecture, and a mere conjecture--whether it was Platonic, or of a tenderer kind, who can pretend to determine? Metastasio, it is true, lived under the same roof with her, both at Rome and Naples, but so did her husband; and the very kind and familiar manner in which the poet writes to the husband, expressing his friendship for the wife, to the wife of his kindliness to the husband, and the sincerity with which he expressed to him his condolence and affliction for her death, would, in any other country but Italy, be thought sufficiently indicative of conjugal happiness. But there, Dr. Burney observes, the female singers generally find it convenient to have a nominal husband, who will fight their battles, and contend with the impresario or manager. And we shall not perhaps be judging too uncharitably of the Romanini, should we incline to the belief that her affection for Metastasio had more in it of the love of woman, than of Platonic attachment. But whether the poet’s friendship for Bulgarini were true or not, his grief for the death of his wife was deep, unfeigned, and lasting. In a letter to him expressing his condolence, he writes: ‘Oppressed by the afflicting news of the death of poor Marianna, I know not how to begin this letter. The tidings are so intolerable to me on so many accounts, that I can devise no means to diminish the acuteness of my sufferings, and therefore I trust you will not accuse me of want of feeling, if I am unable to suggest to you any consolation for your loss, as I have hitherto been totally unequal to finding any for myself.’ Again, to a friend at Rome: ‘I am now placed in the world as in a populous desert, and in that kind of desolation in which a man, if he were transported in his sleep to China or Tartary, would find himself on waking, among people of whose language, inclinations, and manners, he was quite ignorant.’ To his brother, too, he writes: ‘Poor Marianna never will return, and the rest of my life must be wretched, insipid, and sorrowful.’

At what age the Romanini died is unknown, but having attained to the eminence of first singer at Genoa in the year 1712, she was probably much older than Metastasio. The manner of his life at Vienna was but little varied by other events than the production and success of his works. In 1735, he wrote the operas L’Olimpiade and Demofoonte, the oratorio of Giuseppe riconosciuto, and the canzonet La Liberta. In 1734, besides his usual occupations, he was obliged to produce, in the greatest haste, an entertainment for music, to be performed by the archduchesses, and at the same time to assist, direct, and instruct them. ‘They have acted and sung like angels,’ writes the poet, ‘and it was truly sacrilege that the whole world was not permitted to admire them.’ As a return for his trouble, Metastasio was presented with a valuable snuff-box, valued at 40_l._, and of the most exquisite workmanship. This dramatic entertainment was called ‘Le Grazie vendicate.’ In the same year, too, he produced, on the Emperor’s birthday, the Clemenza di Tito. Both operas were set by Caldara, the state composer. In 1735, he wrote, by command of the Empress Elizabeth, an operetta, with three characters only, to be played by the two archduchesses, and a lady of the court; it was called Le Cinesi, and intended as an introduction to a Chinese ballet. In the same year he produced Il Palladio conservato, and Il Sogno di Scipione, pieces written for the celebration of the Empress’s name-day. They are a kind of birth-day odes; but the fulsomeness of praise is delicately disguised in a dramatic form. In 1736 his Temistocle appeared, set by Caldara; but while this was being performed, he was required to write the opera of Achille in Sciro, in the short space of eighteen days, to grace the nuptials of the Archduchess Teresa with the Duke of Lorrain. The drama of Ciro riconosciuto was the production also of this year. In 1737-38-39, nothing new of any note emanated from his pen. In 1740, however, his muse was more propitious; for, besides the opera Zenobia, and the oratorio Isacco, he wrote Il Natale di Giove, and the opera Attilio Regolo for the natal day of Charles VI.; but, as that prince shortly after died, it was laid aside till 1750, when it was set by Hasse for the court at Dresden.

Between the years 1740 and 1745, we find but two complete dramas written by Metastasio, Antigono and Ipermestra, the former of these written expressly for the court of Dresden. They were both set to music by Hasse, who ranked high in the favour of the poet as a composer and as a man of genius. His correspondence with the celebrated Farinelli began in 1747. Many of the poet’s letters, breathing affection and confidence, were written to the great singer at Madrid, where, for two successive reigns, he enjoyed the greatest favour. The blessings of peace, after a seven years’ war, produced the opera Il Re Pastore; this was followed by L’Eroe Cinese. In 1756, at the request of Farinelli, he wrote for the court of Spain an opera, Nitteti, which, under the direction of Farinelli, was played with the utmost splendour. The three last operas written by Metastasio were, Il Trionfo di Clelia, in 1762; Romolo ed Ersilia, in 1765; and Il Ruggiero, 1771: the first was performed at Vienna, on the delivery of Isabella, first wife of the Emperor Joseph II.; the second at Inspruck, on the marriage of the grand Duke of Tuscany with Maria, infanta of Spain; and the last at Milan, on the nuptials of the Archduke Ferdinand, with the Princess of Modena; and this finished the dramatic labours of the bard. His other poetical works, which are very numerous, are all replete with elegance, and every beauty of numbers which the language of Italy so sweetly supplies. Of his prose writings, the extracts from Aristotle’s Poetics, and the Ars Poetica of Horace, are the principal. In all his writings the principles of religion and morality are all so chastely preserved, that the extreme of delicacy, the utmost vein of prudery cannot find a sentiment to offend or alarm; and his private life corresponded well with his writings, as he was always found prompt to discourage all tendency to license, to show himself the avowed enemy of disrespect to the ordinances of morality and religion. This being his universal character, the respect in which he was held at Vienna was extreme, while strangers of all ranks were eager to seek his company, attracted by the fame of his genius. Such were the firmness and constancy of his friendships that death could alone dissolve them. The Princess di Belmonte Pignatelli, the Countess d’Althau, who patronized him in his early youth, Count Canali, Baron Hagen, and Count Perlas, who spent all their evenings with him at Vienna during their lives, Farinelli, his correspondent for fifty years, Algarotti, and his brother Leopoldo--all these affections were sincere, and for ever planted in his heart.

On the 1st April, 1782, in the eighty-fourth year of his age, Metastasio was seized with a fever, which, for some time, made him delirious; soon after he recovered his senses, and received the apostolic benediction, which was sent him by the pope, Pius VI. On the 12th, his disease terminated fatally--Metastasio was no more. Though his years had reached eighty-four, his faculties to the time of his death were perfectly entire, and Dr. Burney found him, at the age of seventy-two, looking like a man of fifty, and the handsomest person of his age he had ever seen. On his features were painted genius, goodness, and propriety. He was cautious and modest in his intercourse, and so polite, that he never was known to contradict in his life any body in conversation. Lamented, deplored with the tears of sincerity by all who knew him, Metastasio was interred at Vienna on the 14th April. The last sad offices were performed with splendour by his grateful heir, Joseph Martinez, in despite of the wish of the departed, who had forbidden any pomp.

Metastasio, by all his biographers, is described as eminently the poet of love, and, in general, happy in pourtraying noble and amiable sentiments. It is astonishing with how much ease he moves in lyric poetry, and with what artless language he unites the brightest ornaments of a poet’s fancy. In all his works he stands high; in his operas, unrivalled.

HINTS TO LEADERS AND CONDUCTORS.

To the ~Editor~ of the ~Harmonicon~.

~Sir~,

In your critical remarks on the third vocal concert, in the last No. of the Harmonicon under the head Vocal Society, after pointing out the necessity of selecting a proper position for the conductor, or person who is to give the time, the following short, but expressive sentence occurs: ‘The maestro should be seen by every performer, but not heard. We can with propriety extend this observation to the instrumental part of the orchestra, beseeching both leader and conductor to abstain from such merciless stamping of feet, as occurred during the performance of most of the full pieces.’ This, Sir, is excellent, and had you written a volume on the subject you could not, in my opinion, have said more to the purpose, or have made yourself more clearly understood. In fact you have, in few words, given the most judicious and salutary advice, not only to the parties immediately concerned, but to all others (and they are very numerous) to whom it may contingently apply.

Perhaps you will smile at my enthusiasm, when I tell you that most heartily do I wish the foregoing short, but expressive sentence, might be printed in a large type, framed and glazed, and hung up in the sitting-room and bed-chamber (unless one room should unhappily answer both purposes) of every leader and conductor in town and country. I am an Englishman, Mr. Editor, and am proud to witness the splendid talent which many of my countrymen, as vocal and instrumental performers, possess; but, as conductors, (with one or two exceptions,) they do not at present appear to me to have acquired that happy method of conveying their own ideas, or instructions to a large orchestra, which I have more than once seen so skillfully displayed by Moscheles, Hummel, the Chevalier Neukomm, and Mendelssohn. Let any one of these gentlemen be installed maestro, and you will find the band invariably go well, unless, indeed, it be thwarted and checked by the caprice of an overbearing, arbitrary leader: there is no ‘stamping of feet’ with them; but all is conducted in silence. Having studied the score, such a conductor as any one of these relies on himself, and acts with firmness. There is no ambiguity, every motion of the baton is decisive, every glance of the eye expressive, and he makes himself clearly understood by each individual performer. This appears to me, Sir, to be the proper business of the maestro, and of him only. So adieu for the present, Messieurs the Conductors.

And now, for a word or two with the leaders. That ‘stamping of feet,’ Mr. Editor, which you complain of, is, most assuredly, an abominable nuisance, which, strange as it may appear to those of your readers who have not witnessed it, even the Philharmonic Concert, with the best band, perhaps, in Europe, is not entirely free from. I am amazed how any man possessed of common sense, and who is capable of enjoying good music, can so far forget himself, as to be guilty of a practice so glaringly absurd, and there have been times when I have expected the whole band would simultaneously lay down their instruments, and remonstrate against the use of so barbarous a custom. Some years ago, I heard the following anecdote: A very respectable member of the Philharmonic Band obtained permission to take with him to the rehearsal, a blind youth, who had a great passion for music, and, being self-taught, played on the violin. This lad had never in his life heard any music of a high class, such, for instance, as an overture, or symphony; nor, indeed, had he ever before heard a full band. Judge then of the delight he experienced upon hearing a symphony performed by the Philharmonic orchestra! yet, in the midst of his raptures, he complained of a noise which at intervals disturbed his attention and greatly annoyed him, and very innocently exclaimed, ‘what a pity it is that mill should be so near the concert-room!’ Alas! poor boy, the noise which so much offended him, was produced by the leader’s foot-clack.

I will venture to ask, did the elder Cramer, Salomon, or Viotti--men of as great talent, I apprehend, as any in the present day--did they, or either of them, annoy both the audience and the band by beating the time, as it were, with a wooden shoe? If I may form an opinion by what I have seen and heard of Mr. Weichsel, (who may be considered as belonging to the same school,) I should answer--No.

Then, Sir, there is another habit which of late years seems to have become fashionable with at least some of our leaders, but which, in my opinion, is as useless and offensive as the ‘stamping of feet.’ The custom I allude to is, for the leader to leave off playing at certain intervals, and then, assuming what I presume he thinks a very elegant attitude, and commanding position, flourishing his bow backwards and forwards most heroically. So that, while this species of charlatanism is going on, there are, in fact, two conductors, and no leader! I presume this is done either to catch the attention of the ladies, or to impress on the minds of the unthinking part of the audience, an idea of his importance and zeal. I have more than once shut my eyes to avoid looking at this--what shall I call it?--coquetting with the audience--and have exclaimed in the words of Shakspeare--‘that’s villainous, and shows a most pitiful ambition in the fool that uses it.’ I have always entertained the notion that the leader, or principal violin, should play his part, and that he, like every other performer, should take the time from the conductor[49]. This, I understand, was the method pursued by M. Chelard, the maestro at the German opera last season at the King’s Theatre. He proved himself an excellent conductor; and I have been told by one of the best musical critics in this country that, with confessedly an inferior band, (for he had not the assistance of Nicholson, Willman, Platt, Lindley, or Dragonetti,) the orchestral accompaniments were much more effective, and in every respect superior to the Italian Opera.

I am happy to close these remarks, by stating that the same judicious and rational plan appeared to be adopted at the second Philharmonic concert this season; the consequence was, that two very difficult symphonies of Spohr and Beethoven were most admirably performed.

I am, Mr. Editor, Your most obedient servant, Z.

MAELZEL’S NEW METRONOME.

Report made to the Academy of the Fine Arts, 20th October, 1832, by its Musical Committee on the Third Metronome of Maelzel.

~Messieurs~,

You have heard read the two first reports made to you by your musical committee on the Metronome of Maelzel, the first dated 14th October, 1815, and the second 23d May, 1818. Your committee are of opinion, that in the two former reports the utility of this ingenious instrument, and the perfection of its mechanism, have been so fully demonstrated, that it will be needless to fatigue your attention by further dissertation on those points. What your committee now beg to call your attention to is, a still further improvement which the author has added to his instrument.

From the time of Sauveur to the present, all the time-keepers and metronomes have been limited to marking the time to be occupied by each bar of a composition, and all have performed this in a uniform manner; but, as in our musical system, the bars are divided into accented and unaccented parts, and none of the instruments hitherto invented indicated this division, they were, if the comparison may be permitted, like foot-measures divided into spaces by a number of equidistant parallel lines, but on which the marks indicating inches, half-inches, &c. had been totally omitted. The indications of the accented and unaccented parts of a bar can only be felt in relation to the bar itself, of which they form subdivisions, therefore they cannot be classed as accented or unaccented until the beating of the bar itself has been heard.

Mr. Maelzel has long since adopted the idea of adding to his metronomes this indication of beaten time in every kind of measure, whether 2, 3, 4, or 6-8, and whatever might be the rapidity or slowness of the time; but while he was occupied at a distance from France in bringing his project to perfection, M. Bienaimé, a watchmaker at Amiens, submitted to the examination of the Conservatory of Music an instrument of a very complicated construction, intended to attain the same object. Unfortunately, notwithstanding all the talent the inventor had bestowed on his new metronome, he had not any mechanical principle for its foundation, so that it is liable to be continually out of order. The balance-wheel, which he has adopted as a regulator, is set in motion by a straight spring, which is equivalent to the spiral spring of a watch; and according to the greater or less tension of this spring, the vibrations of the balance-wheel are slower or more rapid. This spring is, therefore, the most important part of the instrument; and to secure its regularity of action, it ought not to be subject to any alterations; but this is not the case,--for the spring, which, in performing its functions, describes large arcs, will lose its flexibility, and no longer give the same number of vibrations for the same divisions on the dial. Besides, the dial-plate can only be divided according to the force of the spring, and if that gives or breaks, a new spring will require a new division of the dial-plate; the one cannot be renewed without the other.

Mr. Maelzel, by adopting as the foundation of his contrivance the unchangeable laws of the pendulum, has constructed a machine at once simple, free from all incertitude, and not subject to any derangement in its action. This last metronome has moreover the advantage of a much greater extent in its power of marking both slow and quick time. In the old instruments the slowest movement that could be marked was 50, and the fastest 160; the present extends as far as 40 for slow movements, and 208 for quick, that is to say, 10 vibrations slower and 48 quicker than the precedent ones. The improvements made by Mr. Maelzel in his metronome, instead of increasing, have tended to diminish its cost; and we are of opinion that the degree of facility with which new and useful ideas in the cultivation of the arts and sciences can be circulated, ought to be taken into consideration; for, to render this circulation easy, it is necessary that the savant, or artist, who thinks it his duty to employ any of these new methods, should be able to acquire that power at a moderate expense. We are of opinion, therefore, without intending in any way to injure M. Bienaimé, that the metronome of M. Maelzel deserves the preference on many accounts; priority of idea, simplicity of construction, regularity of movement, solidity, elegance of form, and diminution of price, even with the addition of the mechanism for marking the time as beaten. Everything, in fact, appears to authorize our proposing that the academy should accord its approbation to the report we have now the honour to make; for, in our opinion, M. Maelzel, by this ingenious instrument, of which he has entrusted the construction to M. Wagner, one of the ablest mechanics in the capital, has rendered to the musical art a service which may be compared to that heretofore rendered to navigation by the invention of the mariner’s compass.

Signed, ~Cherubini.~ ~Lesuer.~ ~Paer.~ ~Berton~, Recorder. ~Debret~, President. ~Berton~, Vice-President. ~Quatremere de Quincy~, Secretary.

AN AMATEUR’S MUSICAL PARTY AT THE FREEMASONS’ TAVERN.

The name of an accomplished Devonshire baronet (Sir John Rogers) has frequently appeared in the Harmonicon, during the last two or three years; those, therefore, of its readers who have not the pleasure of his personal acquaintance, are, nevertheless, fully aware of his musical acquirements. But only his more immediate friends and associates, who have heard most if not all of his anthems, madrigals, and glees, can justly appreciate his merit as a composer.

On Saturday the 6th of April, a musical party dined with this distinguished amateur at the Freemasons’ Tavern. Upwards of forty of his private and professional friends were invited, among whom were Lord Saltoun, Mr. Capel, Sir Andrew Bernard, Mr. Rogers, Mr. Gwilt, Mr. Ayrton, Mr. Vaughan, Mr. C. Freeling, Mr. Milne, Mr. W. Linley, Col. Rogers, Mr. Sanford, the Rev. F. Hamilton, Mr. Horsley, Mr. Terrail, Mr. Oliphant, Mr. T. Welsh, Mr. J. B. Sale, Mr. Bellamy, Mr. Leete, Mr. Hawes, Mr. King, Mr. Goss, Mr. J. Jolly, Mr. Pye, Mr. Novello, Mr. Turle, Mr. Horncastle, Mr. Hobbs, Mr. A. Novello, Mr. C. Evans, Mr. M’Murdie, Mr. Nicks, Mr. Bates, Mr. Elliott, Mr. Brownsmith, Mr. Streete, Mr. Walmisley, Mr. Gedye, Mr. Spencer, Mr. Moxley, &c. An excellent dinner was put on the table at half-past five, the worthy host, of course, presiding. When the cloth was withdrawn, a Grace, ‘For these and all his mercies,’ composed by the president, (a canon three in one,) was sung by all the company, and not only pronounced, but felt by every one present, to be an exceedingly clever, effective production, remarkable not merely for technical skill, but also for the elegant simplicity, the vocality of the subject; and melody, so necessary an ingredient in all good compositions, is but rarely to be found in that species denominated canon.

After grace, the last Gresham prize-anthem, for five voices and chorus, composed by Mr. Kellow John Pye of Exeter, was performed, and received with richly-deserved plaudits, which must have proved highly gratifying and encouraging to the author, who was present and gave the time of the several movements. The other pieces sung during the evening, thirteen in number, came--many of them quite fresh--from the pen of the talented baronet.

Our limits do not allow us to enter critically into the merits of each composition; to pass them all in silence would be unjust; and yet it is difficult to say which is best where all show such superiority of genius, knowledge, and taste, and we mention the four following merely as specimens or samples of the whole. 1. A canon, six in two, ‘Lighten our darkness,’ a very masterly production, such as none but a good theorist, possessed of a rich imagination, could have written. 2. ‘When I listen to thy voice,’ an admirable glee for five voices. We had heard this before, at the Hanover Square Rooms, and hope frequently to meet with it. 3. ‘Hears not, my Phillis,’ and 4. ‘Oh! how I long my careless limbs to lay,’ two madrigals, each for six voices, of which we will remark--parodying what Dr. Johnson says of Homer and his translator Pope--if the author of ‘Sweet honey-sucking bees’ were to class his successors, he would assign a very high place to the writer of these madrigals, without requiring any other evidence of genius.

By a reference to the list of visiters it will be seen how many of our principal vocalists were present; and to these were added four of the young choristers of Westminster Abbey: it is, therefore, unnecessary to state, except in justice to them, that the several pieces were executed in the most perfect manner. The performers exerted themselves con amore, and the pleasure they so evidently felt was doubly enjoyed by those who listened to the united excellence of composition and performance.

N.

* * * * *

Our conjecture is that the foregoing comes from the pen of a musician, and we are rejoiced to find a professional man able and willing to proclaim the merit of an amateur composer. It is too much the practice in the present day for musicians par métier to undervalue, to sneer at the compositions of such as do not directly or indirectly gain a livelihood by their productions, it not being considered--or perhaps the fact is endeavoured to be concealed--that those who to a sufficiency of musical science and experience add the fruits of education and cultivation, are much more likely to excel than such as have no knowledge beyond their own art; or, rather, who know their own art but imperfectly; for to understand any art or science well, it is absolutely necessary to have acquired a considerable share of subsidiary knowledge, not only for the sake of bringing that knowledge to bear upon the main object, but also because the mind is invigorated in proportion to the quantity of information it has received. The compositions of the worthy baronet, to whose hospitality as well as talents we are, it is our belief, indebted for the above pleasant communication, show how far an intellect strengthened by real learning, and refined by many accomplishments, soars above minds not so improved. Of the madrigal, ‘Oh! how I long my weary limbs to lay,’ we have no reluctance in saying, that any living professional composer, who would attempt to compete with it, must have more confidence in his own ability than we have in his chance of successful rivalry.

MR. Z. T. PURDAY’S REPLY TO MRS. MILLARD’S LETTER.

To the ~Editor~ of the ~Harmonicon~.

Sir, 45, High Holborn, April 12th. 1833.

I was somewhat surprised on glancing over the pages of the last number of the Harmonicon at finding a letter signed ‘Virtue Millard,’ commencing thus:--‘As I wish to avoid all communications with Mr. Z. T. Purday, Music publisher, &c. &c.’ followed by a charge of my having sent her an impertinent message! Now, although I have the honour of being personally acquainted with most of the professors of any eminence, both in the metropolis and throughout the kingdom, I have never enjoyed or sought the felicity of being introduced to that lady; nor am I aware of ever having authorised any person to convey to her a message of any kind, much less of an ‘impertinent’ character; the ‘offence’ to which she alludes, as well as the ‘accompanying impertinence,’ must, therefore, have been the work of some idle gossip. It is true I have an imperfect recollection of some person having called on me soon after my publication of Mr. T. Haynes Bayly’s ‘Songs for the Grave and Gay,’ stating, he had left the volume with Mrs. Millard for her perusal, which she returned, remarking that there was nothing in it worthy her notice, and that the work would never take with the musical public. Preferring, however, your judgment, (see ‘Harmonicon’ for April, 1831,) which I am happy to say has been borne out by a result perfectly satisfactory to me, and diametrically opposed to that lady’s gratuitous opinion, I think it very probable I might not, in return, have complimented either her musical taste or critical acumen.

A word respecting the ‘French air’ and I have done:--I beg to say that I never knew Mr. Cross had arranged it until he brought the M.S. to me and requested to have it engraved on his own account, neither have I seen the plates, or a single copy of the work since the proofs were sent to that gentleman.

Whether Mrs. Millard had ever seen or heard Rode’s melody, with the well known association of Catalani’s name, or, in examining the ‘Songs for the Grave and Gay,’ had subsequently discovered in ‘Upbraid me not,’ (which is adapted to the ‘French air’ in question,) a great similarity to her own ballad, and hence the pretext for the unwarrantable use of my name, I now leave to her own feelings and the judgment of your readers; regretting that I have been obliged to trespass so much upon the pages of your valuable journal.

I am, Sir, Your most obedient Servant, ~Zenas T. Purday~.

MEMOIRS OF DR. BURNEY, BY HIS DAUGHTER MAD. D’ARBLAY.

[Continued from page 75.]

Of the publication of Volume II. of Dr. Burney’s great work we have the following account:--

“So many years had elapsed since the appearance of the first volume, and the murmurs of the subscribers were so general for the publication of the second, that the earnestness of the doctor to fulfil his engagement became such as to sicken him of almost every occupation that turned him from its pursuit. Yet uninterrupted attention grew more than ever difficult; for as his leisure, through the double claims of his profession and his work, diminished, his celebrity increased; and the calls upon it, as usual, from the wayward taste of public fashion for what is hard to obtain, were perpetual, were even clamorous; and he had constantly a long list of petitioning parents, awaiting a vacant hour, upon any terms that he could name, and at any part of the day.

“He had always some early pupil who accepted his attendance at eight o’clock in the morning; and a strong instance has been given of its being seized upon even at seven[50]; and, during the height of the season for fashionable London residence, his tour from house to house was scarcely ever finished sooner than eleven o’clock at night.

“But so urgent grew now the spirit of his diligence for the progress of his work, that he not only declined all invitations to the hospitable boards of his friends, he even resisted the social hour of repast at his own table; and took his solitary meal in his coach, while passing from scholar to scholar; for which purpose he had sandwiches prepared in a flat tin box; and wine and water ready mixed, in a wickered pint bottle, put constantly into the pockets of his carriage.

“If, at this period, Dr. Burney had been as intent and as skilful in the arrangement and the augmentation of his income, as he was industrious to procure, and assiduous to merit, its increase, he might have retired from business, its toils and its cares, while yet in the meridian of life; with a comfortable competence for its decline, and adequate portions for his daughters. With regard to his sons, it was always his intention to bestow upon them good educations, and to bring them up to honourable professions; and then to leave them to form, as he had done himself, a dynasty of their own. But, unfortunately for all parties, he had as little turn as time for that species of speculation which leads to financial prosperity; and he lived chiefly upon the principal of the sums which he amassed; and which he merely, as soon as they were received, locked up in his bureau for facility of usage; or stored largely at his banker’s as an asylum of safety: while the cash which he laid out in any sort of interest was so little, as to make his current revenue almost incredibly below what might have been expected from the remuneration of his labours; or what seemed due to his situation in the world.

“But, with all his honourable toil, his philosophic privations, and his heroic self-denials, The Second Volume of the History of Music, from a continually enlarging view of its capability of improvement, did not see the light till the year 1782.

“Then, however, it was received with the same favour and the same honours that had graced the entrance into public notice of its predecessor. The literary world seemed filled with its praise; the booksellers demanded ample impressions; and her Majesty Queen Charlotte, with even augmented graciousness, accepted its homage at court.

* * * * *

“Relieved, by this publication, from a weight upon his spirits and his delicacy, which, for more than six years had burthened and disturbed them, he prudently resolved against working any longer under the self-reproachful annoyance of a promised punctuality which his position in life disabled him from observing, by fettering himself with any further tie of time to his subscribers for the remaining volumes.”

He renounced, therefore, the excess of studious labour with which, hitherto,

his toil O’er books consum’d the midnight oil;

and restored himself, in a certain degree, to his family, his friends, and a general and genial enjoyment of his existence. And hailed was the design, by all who knew him, with an energetic welcome.

“And yet, in breathing thus a little from so unremitting an ardour; and allowing himself to bask awhile in that healing sunshine of applause which administers more relief to the brain-shattered and mind-exhausted patient, than all the materia medica of the Apothecaries’ Hall; so small still, and so fugitive were his intervals of relaxation, that the diminished exertion, which to him was gentle rest, would, to almost any other, have still seemed overstrained occupation, and a life of drudgery.

“With no small pleasure, now, he resumed his wonted place at the opera, at concerts, and in circles of musical excellence; which then were at their height of superiority, because presided over by the royal and accomplished legislator of taste, fashion, and elegance, the Prince of Wales[51]; who frequently deigned to call upon Dr. Burney for his opinion upon subjects of harmony: and even condescended to summon him to his royal vicinity, both at the opera and at concerts, that they might ‘compare notes,’ in his own gracious expression, upon what was performing.”

In the following year the Doctor, through the influence of Mr. Burke, obtained the situation of organist to Chelsea College, to which chambers are attached, and of which the salary was raised upon this occasion from 20_l._ to 50_l._ per annum. The appointment was announced in the following handsome letter by Mr. Burke himself:--

“To Dr. Burney.

“I had yesterday the pleasure of voting you, my dear Sir, a salary of fifty pounds a year, as organist to Chelsea Hospital. But as every increase of salary made at our Board is subject to the approbation of the Lords of the Treasury, what effect the change now made may have I know not;--but I do not think any Treasury will rescind it.

“This was pour faire la bonne bouche at parting with office; and I am only sorry that it did not fall in my way to show you a more substantial mark of my high respect for you and Miss Burney.

“I have the honour to be, &c.

“Horse Guards, Dec. 9, 1783.

“~Edm. Burke.~

“I really could not do this business at a more early period, else it would have been done infallibly.”

It is known that Doctor Burney wrote an account of the Commemoration of Handel: on this subject his memorialist is more diffuse than on most others which relate alone to music. The following remarks on his presenting the copyright to the Musical Fund are very just, and the following details respecting the interest his Majesty took in the progress and matter of the work, not only new, but highly interesting.

“Not small in the scales of justice must be reckoned this gift of the biographical and professional talents of Dr. Burney to the musical fund. A man who held his elevation in his class of life wholly from himself; a father of eight children, who all looked up to him as their prop; a professor who, at fifty-eight years of age, laboured at his calling with the indefatigable diligence of youth; and who had no time, even for his promised history, but what he spared from his repasts or his repose; to make any offering, gratuitously, of a work which, though it might have no chance of sale when its éclat of novelty was passed, must yet, while that short éclat shone forth, have a sale of high emolument, manifested, perhaps, as generous a spirit of charity, and as ardent a love of the lyre, as could well, by a person in so private a line of life, be exhibited.

“Dr. Burney was, of course, so entirely at home on a subject such as this, that he could only have to wait the arrival of his foreign materials to go to work; and only begin working to be in sight of his book’s completion: but the business of the plates could not be executed quite so rapidly; on the contrary, though the composition was finished in a few weeks, it was not till the following year that the engravings were ready for publication.

“This was a laxity of progress that by no means kept pace with the eagerness of the directors, or the expectations of the public; and the former frequently made known their disappointment through the channel of the Earl of Sandwich; who, at the same time, entered into correspondence with the Doctor, relative to future anniversary concerts upon a similar plan, though upon a considerably lessened scale to that which had been adopted for the Commemoration[52].

“The inconveniences, however, of this new labour, though by no means trifling, because absorbing all the literary time of the Doctor, to the great loss and procrastination of his musical history, had compensations, that would have mitigated much superior evil.

“The King himself deigned to make frequent inquiry into the state of the business; and when his Majesty knew that the publication was retarded only by the engravers, he desired to see the loose and unbound sheets of the work, which he perused with so strong an interest in their contents, that he drew up two critical notes upon them, with so much perspicuity and justness, that Dr. Burney, unwilling to lose their purport, yet not daring to presume to insert them with the King’s name in any appendix, cancelled the two sheets to which they had reference, and embodied their meaning in his own text. At this he was certain the King could not be displeased, as it was with his Majesty’s consent that they had been communicated to the Doctor, by Mr. Nicolai [Nicolay], a page of the Queen’s.

“Now, however, there seems to be no possible objection to giving to the public these two notes from the original royal text, as the unassuming tone of their advice cannot but afford a pleasing reminiscence to those by whom that benevolent monarch was known; while to those who are too young to recollect him, they may still be a matter of laudable curiosity. And they will obviate, also, any ignorant imputation of flattery, in the praise which is inserted in the dedication of the work to the King; and which will be subjoined to these original notes.

“From the Hand-writing of his Majesty, George III.

“It seems but just, as well as natural, in mentioning the 4th Hautbois Concerto, on the 4th day’s performance of Handel’s Commemoration, to take notice of the exquisite taste and propriety Mr. Fischer exhibited in the solo parts; which must convince his hearers that his excellence does not exist alone in performing his own composition; and that his tone perfectly filled the stupendous building where this excellent concerto was performed.”

“From the same.

“The performance of the Messiah.

“Dr. Burney seems to forget the great merit of the choral fugue, ‘He trusteth in God,’ by asserting that the words would admit of no stroke of passion. Now the real truth is, that the words contain a manifest presumption and impertinence, which Handel has, in the most masterly manner, taken advantage of. And he was so conscious of the moral merit of that movement, that, whenever he was desired to sit down to the harpsichord, if not instantly inclined to play, he used to take this subject; which ever set his imagination at work, and made him produce wonderful capriccios.”

ON THE BASE VOICE.

(From La Revue Musicale.)

The base voice, whose powerful accents, combined with such tender and pathetic expression, produce at present such a wonderful effect, was little used in the serious Italian opera at the beginning of this century, and is almost unknown in the dramatic compositions of the early Italian school. Tito, Idomeneo, and Orazio were written for tenor voices, contrary to all reason and to the received rules of good taste[53]. The part of the High Priest in Gli Orazi was the first in which a base voice became conspicuous, sustaining so beautifully the trio in ~E~♭; but even this was added by Cimarosa long after the first production of his opera, the trio being originally only a duet. It should seem as if the composer had not dared to avail himself of a quality of voice, in the more dignified characters of tragedy, which had hitherto been entirely appropriated to the buffo parts, such as Don Gruffo, &c. It must, however, be considered as the first triumph of the base voice, which has since run so glorious a career supported by such champions as Pellegrini, Galli, Lablache, and Tamburini. Indeed, who could have made Mozart, Paisiello, or Cimarosa, believe that their more fortunate successors would have had at their disposal, a voice deep and sonorous, which would be able to execute the rapid passages of the prima donna two octaves below; to modulate on a subject; or execute an andantino with the same facility as a tenor or a soprano? The appropriation of the higher parts of tragedy, and the more brilliant ones of comedy, by base singers, is scarcely of thirty years’ standing, since in Tancredi, one of the first, as well as one of the best of Rossini’s compositions, but modelled on the old Italian system, Orgirio is written for a high voice; while to the base is given a character of very little importance. Base singing is undoubtedly the triumph of the present age; and it was much wanted to supply, in the Italian Opera, the place of the male soprani, for which the female voice is but a poor substitute, and which it can never fully replace. The French dramatic style has gradually introduced itself into the Italian Opera; and it is to Rossini, wonderfully seconded by the flexible and fine toned base voices he has had to write for, that we owe such works as Otello, La Gazza Ladra, Mosè, &c., where scenic effect is happily blended with the charms of melody, and that of the orchestra with the rich tones of the human voice. The introduction of base voices into the serious opera, the execution of the bold and brilliant passages, written for them in comic parts, has regenerated the Italian Opera, which was simply a concert dramatized; while the Italian singers, feeling how much the effect of music may be aided by scenic illusion, have, for the most part, become excellent actors. In short, we may say, that to hear such an opera as La Gazza Ladra performed by such singers as Rubini, Tamburini, Lablache, Graziani, Malibran, and Mariano, is the perfection of dramatic music.

REVIEW OF NEW MUSIC.

~A Biographical Sketch of Henry Purcell~, from the best Authorities. 44 pages in folio. (J. A. Novello.) 1832.

This is the ‘Prefatory Number’ to a complete collection of Purcell’s Sacred Music, containing considerably more than a hundred of his compositions, which Mr. Novello has been publishing during the last three or four years, the early numbers whereof were sent to us, and noticed in our review as they appeared.

Purcell, take him for all in all, is the greatest musical genius that this country can boast; and our deliberate opinion is, that, from the earliest period in the history of music down to the moment of his death, Europe would in vain be searched to find his equal as a composer of secular vocal music. That he was to some extent indebted to Lulli, can hardly be denied by those who are well acquainted with the dramatic works of both; but that he far surpassed what, perhaps in compliment to our second Charles and to the fashion of the time, he occasionally took as his model, every impartial critic must admit. If, too, his cantatas--‘From rosy bowers,’ and ‘Mad Bess,’ for instance--be compared with compositions in a degree similar by Alessandro Scarlatti, which have been so highly praised and so long were vaunted, the vast superiority of the English musician, whether as relates to air, to harmony, to propriety of expression, or to beauty of effect, will never be disputed by unbiassed judges. Purcell’s great fame is, as we have before remarked, and now fearlessly repeat, founded on his productions for the theatre and the chamber: in his compositions for the church, he met with equals in his own country and superiors abroad; and when his anthems are compared with those of his successors,--those of Clark, Croft, Green, and Boyce,--though the science displayed in many of them, and the study which some have cost, will readily be granted, yet in melody, in pleasing combinations, and above all, in that judgment which dictates how sounds should be adapted to sense, it will be in vain that his admirers attempt to rank him with such of his followers as we have named, and who possessed advantages that seemed to have been denied to composers at the close of the seventeenth century.

Hence we are by no means sure that a collection of all Purcell’s sacred compositions was a publication to be desired, for we feel pretty certain that several of them would never with his concurrence have appeared in print. Composers are liable to be called upon, either in the performance of fixed duties, or to answer some temporary purpose, to write when ‘the muse is not on them,’ and all that can be expected under such circumstances is, that they acquit themselves so as to escape the censure of those immediately concerned with them,--of their contemporaries. It is rather hard for an author to be exposed, at the end of a century and a half, to the chance of being criticised for works on which he most probably set no value, and which he very likely hoped might never be heard of, after the immediate purpose which called them forth had been answered. Still we are most willing to give Mr. Novello every possible credit for research, activity, and zeal, and only wish that he had confined his views within narrower bounds: his collection would then have done still more honour to the author, have been more accessible to many, and not less useful to all. The anthems of Purcell in Boyce’s collection, those published by Goodison, and the six in the Harmonia Sacra printed by Walsh, are in few hands, and without an organ accompaniment: their republication, therefore, was almost called for, and in them are beauties which are as much the object of our admiration, as their defects are of our regret. These, with about half a dozen more, and the services, would have formed a collection that most would have wished to possess. But it is time to look at the biography.

It was not to be expected that any new facts remained to be collected concerning Purcell, and Mr. Novello does not profess to offer any: he has very diligently extracted every thing relating to him that is to be found in Hawkins and Burney, and not only all which is immediately connected with the subject of his memoir, but likewise accounts of those necessarily mentioned in the history of the principal, together with an abundance of other not absolutely necessary matter; thus producing a volume of forty-four very large folio pages, printed closely in small type, which might easily have been swelled out into as many more, or indeed to an unlimited extent, by the same ramifying process. Nevertheless, those who are fond of such discursive biography, and have not read the histories of Hawkins or Burney, will be informed and amused by Mr. Novello’s numerous and copious extracts.

Mr. Novello does not strive to impress us with any very favourable notion of Purcell’s morals: he gives, apparently as his own, Hawkins’s observations on this subject, and, by omitting the usual marks of quotation, makes himself responsible for the slurs cast by another. But as he thus adopts so unfavourable an opinion of the musician’s private character, he should have been more guarded in speaking of Mrs. Purcell, and not have applied to her epithets which no facts that we are acquainted with can at all justify. It was Purcell’s failing, it seems, to associate with objectionable persons, and to pass late hours with a profligate character in haunts of by no means a reputable kind. Sir John Hawkins states this without any reserve; and also relates, on hearsay, that Purcell, coming home late one night, heated with wine, was refused admittance by his wife, and by being kept a considerable time in the street, caught cold, and died in consequence. But the historian does not give credit to this story,--the only one alleged against the, most likely, neglected wife: and even if true, it would hardly authorize such terms as ‘arrogant,’--‘low-minded and termagant woman,’--‘ill-tempered and hypocritical termagant,’ &c. bestowed on her by her husband’s present biographer. Where are we to find any facts to warrant such language,--or, indeed, to warrant any reproaches at all?

Mr. Novello has in this ‘Prefatory Number’ inserted whatever he could find or gather concerning the composer of the works he has edited. He has deemed it advisable to reprint Dr. Burney’s article, ‘Purcell,’ from the Cyclopædia of Rees; extracts from the Encyclopædia Britannica, and from the Encyclopædia Metropolitana; from the Harmonicon; several from the Atlas; from Crotch’s Lectures, &c.; also communications from many of his musical friends, in the nature of commendatory letters. Likewise a statement of the origin of his present publication, with the original prospectus, and an interesting account of a highly talented and learned lady, ‘unknown to fame,’ a Mrs. Hurst, daughter of the late Mr. White, well remembered as the early friend of Mr. Bartleman, and the auctioneer who sold all the fine musical libraries that were brought to the hammer from nearly the end of the last century till about the year 1824. These are followed by seven pages of ‘Preliminary Remarks,’ condensed from the ‘Quarterly Review, and from various other sources of information.’ They contain short biographical notices of all our church composers, with many notes, comprising several curious and entertaining anecdotes. This he concludes with a statement which we, in common with all those who wish his indefatigable zeal and industry had experienced more encouragement, regret having been called for.--He says, ‘The Editor of this work has endeavoured to contribute his share towards these efforts, by bringing forward this collection of sterling compositions for the church service. Hitherto his endeavours have been but very little assisted or encouraged by the clergy who have the control in choirs, where these anthems would be found most useful:--for out of the forty-two cathedral and collegiate establishments in England, which were endowed with funds for the support of no fewer than three hundred and sixty-eight choristers, only three choirs have come forward to give the least support to this collection of Purcell’s sacred music: viz. St. Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, and Durham, which have each subscribed to the work, but for one copy only.’

‘The clergy,’ he continues, ‘will probably soon find that it will be for their own interest to alter the system of tasteless apathy, careless indifference, and avaricious meanness, which have so long characterized the behaviour of the generality of them, in what relates to the musical department of the service, as well as their shabby, grasping conduct respecting the funds, which ought to be appropriated to the remuneration of the members of the choirs that have been subjected to their management. The slothful and useless drones amongst the clerical body, who have hitherto been allowed to enjoy such valuable benefices and large incomes for doing little or nothing themselves, will perhaps find it advisable, for their own sakes, to consider whether the public, who have been so much enlightened lately upon certain matters, will consent much longer to pay so high a price, or any price at all, for the meagre and uninteresting musical service which is provided for them by these selfish and niggardly, but impolitic and short-sighted persons. It is not very likely that, after the improvement which has taken place in the general taste for good music, the people will continue to be attracted by such common-place, insipid compositions and performances, as those which are but too frequently heard in our rich church establishments, which have already wasted, and still continue to swallow up annually such large sums of the public money. Unless some decided and extensive change for the better should speedily take place, the probability is, that these enormous funds will not only be considerably reduced, so as to be placed upon a more rational and just footing of proportion between the sum paid, and what is received by the public in return for it; but the funds themselves will most likely be transferred to the hands of other persons, who will make a more conscientious appropriation of them to the purposes for which they were really intended; who will have the sagacity to perceive, and the good sense to act according to the demands of the increased intelligence, the improved taste, and the more liberal spirit of the age.’--p. 43.

* * * * *

~Original Compositions~, in Prose and Verse, illustrated with Lithographic Drawings, to which is added some ~Vocal~ and ~Instrumental~ Music. 4to. (Lloyd, Harley Street). 1833.

This is a volume got up ‘for the benefit of a family in reduced circumstances,’ and contains fourteen prose and poetical pieces, with ten short musical compositions, the whole gratuitously contributed. We, of course, direct our attention to the latter part only.

1. The first is a song by the Chevalier Neukomm, ‘I call’d on the hopes of the years that are past,’ in two movements, is full of pathos, and, considered as a simple, unlaboured effusion, is one of his most pleasing and successful productions.

2. Mr. J. B. Cramer has contributed a very brief, easy air for the piano-forte, in the few bars of which his peculiar style is easily traced.

3. A German air, ‘Gruss,’ the poetry by H. Heine, composed by M. Mendelssohn Bartholdy, the whole comprised in fifteen bars, contains much in a very small compass.

4. A march, by Frederic Arthur Gore Ouseley, a child six years old when he composed it, is one of the most marvellous productions of this age of musical wonders, and as such we have added it to the music in our present number. We can speak of the extraordinary, the unexampled genius of this little boy--now only seven years and a half old--on the authority of a gentleman, in whose report we place the most implicit confidence. He has received no instructions in music, and though taught by himself to play with considerable skill on the piano-forte, does not know his notes on paper, and trusts to his sisters for writing down what he composes. He improvises entire scenes, singing to his own accompaniment, the latter often exhibiting harmony the most recherchée, chords that an experienced musician only uses with caution; but these are always introduced and resolved in a strictly regular manner, not by rule, for he has learnt no rules, but by the aid of a very surprising ear, and of some faculty, which, for want of a better term, we will call intuition. His organ of hearing is so fine, that, with his eyes closed, he instantly names any musical sound produced; and so discriminating is this sense in the child, that, when a note is struck on an instrument, tuned either above or below the usual pitch, he immediately discovers and accurately states in what the deviation consists. A chord of four notes being sounded, he named each note exactly, though at some distance from the instrument, and with his back turned to it. When five years of age he suffered during some weeks from a continued fever, and on his recovery composed a piece of music descriptive of the commencement of the disease, its progress, crisis, and abatement, intending it as a present to his physician for the care and attention he had bestowed on him. Though an abundance of lively fancy is displayed in this, there is nothing in it at all extravagant or ridiculous; on the contrary, it is strictly en règle, and expresses, as well as inarticulate sounds are capable of expressing sensations, all the variety of feeling which would be experienced in the course of a long fever. This precocious genius is the son of the Right Honourable Sir Gore Ouseley, Bart., G.C.H., whose learning and high acquirements are well known in all parts of the civilized world: and under a French governess and a tutor for Latin, his education is proceeding in the usual manner, music forming no part of it. His intellects are quick, and declare themselves in a countenance remarkable for intelligence and beauty. His habits and amusements are suited to his age, and the activity of his mind does not appear to have operated unfavourably on his general health, which seems to be good, and as well established as is usual with children of his years.

No. 5 is a short expressive air in ~A~ flat, by the same gifted child. This is his favourite key; and ~A~ flat with the minor third is the mode which he prefers when he has occasion to use the minor key.

No. 6 is a Polonaise by Giornovichi, not endowed with much meaning.

No. 7 is a pleasing song, ‘Go, gentle breeze,’ by--Barker, Esq.

No. 8 is a waltz, not very new, but written in good taste, by E. Mammet.

No. 9 is a Minne-Lied, by C. Klingemann, in ~A~, nine-eighth time, in which much character is exhibited, and an air of no common kind.

No. 10 is a Tyrolienne, a lively piece of three short pages, by the Honourable Miss Jervis, but, though agreeable, does not show any of those original traits which sometimes characterize this lady’s compositions.

* * * * *

PIANO-FORTE.

1. ~Premiere Fantaisie Elegante~, sur des motifs de l’Opéra Fra Diavolo, composée par ~C. Czerny~. (Chappell.)

2. Souvenir de Fra Diavolo, a ~Melange~ of favourite subjects from that Opera, composed by ~Adolphe Adam~. (Chappell.)

Lo! here we have the Fra Diavolo again! There is nothing like wearing a thing thoroughly out, so getting rid of it speedily, composers seem to think. But is this not as bad as cutting up the bird that produced such valuable eggs? A good opera is a rarity, so is a good song; and no sooner do we obtain either, than we set about the means of surfeiting everybody with it.

M. Czerny has intended well in choosing subjects from Auber’s opera that are not so common as many others, but he has thus selected the least pleasing. Our readers may perhaps call us unreasonable, and say, that we object to the popular airs because they are worn out, and to those less worn because not popular. Our reply is, that M. Czerny was not driven to an alternative, and should have selected neither the one nor the other, but directed his attention elsewhere. He has here produced a very common-place, dull affair--a fantaisie, in which there is no fancy, and a continual drumming on the high notes, till the auditor is quite fatigued with such an unbroken succession of ear-piercing sounds. Whoever invented the additional keys above ought to be declared guilty of a misdemeanour.

* * * * *

M. Adolphe Adam has gone into the other extreme, and chosen subjects that every one knows by heart. These, however, he has managed gracefully, and produced a divertimento at once easy and pleasing.

* * * * *

1. ~Air de Ballet~ from ~Auber’s~ Opera, La Bayadère, arranged as a ~Rondo~ by ~Henry Herz~. No. 1. (Chappell.)

2. Ditto No. 2.

3. Ditto No. 3.

La Bayadère is now performing at Drury Lane, under the title of The Maid of Cashmere, where its success depends much more on the dancing than the music. There is a vivacity in the first and second of the above which will procure them attention, though, except that skittish kind of liveliness which marks M. Auber’s latter productions, they possess nothing out of the very common way. The third, however, is more original, and will be effective in almost any form; as a stage piece it is particularly so. M. Herz has arranged these all in a more rational manner than is customary with him, though he is as fond of the additional notes as M. Czerny, and others of the tinkling school.

* * * * *

1. Inspirations à Pillnitz, ~Trois Rondeaux Mignons~, composés pendant son séjour à Pillnitz, par ~C. G. Reissiger~. Op. 58. No. 1. (Wessel and Co.)

2. Ditto No. 2.

3. Ditto No. 3.

4. Der Alpen Sänger, the March as played by the Guards, arranged by ~S. Gödbe~. (Collard and Collard.)

The very grandiloquent word, ‘inspiration.’ led us to hope that we should find M. Reissiger under the immediate influence and auspices of Phœbus; that we should meet with flights of imagination, efforts of genius, such as can only be expected under favour of a god--or, at least, of a Muse; but on looking at these darling rondos, we soon perceived that neither Apollo nor any of the Nine had taken any trouble in the matter, and that the inspirations boasted of were at the best but mere dreams, brought about by the fumes of mum, or German beer. These, we grant, are pretty, unaffected, easy pieces, prudently short, and will make a little variety in the modern repertory, where, in truth, we find little else than opera airs in every form except a new one.

* * * * *

No. 4 is--what shall we say?--it is Mr. Gödbe’s version of a march now enjoying the full tide of military popularity. Of course, every publisher puts forth his own edition, and the present is a very easy one, with a page of appropriate introduction.

* * * * *

DUETS, PIANO-FORTE.

1. ~C. M. Weber’s~ Grand ~Jubilee Overture~, arranged by ~Charles Czerny~. (Wessel and Co.)

2. ~Rondeau~, à 4 mains, sur des Thêmes favoris, composé par ~François Hünten~. Op. 55. No. 1. (Cramer, Addison, and Beale.)

3. Ditto No. 2.

The Jubilee Overture is well known to our readers as a grand military piece, a réjouissance, in which the clamourous shouts of joy are chiefly intended to be expressed, and what is called science, as being out of place, is not to be looked for. M. Czerny has done it justice in his arrangement, and not exacted too much from the performers, though he could not make the upper part easy; but he has rendered the whole effective, if placed in proper hands.

* * * * *

No. 2 is Carafa’s ‘Aure felici,’ and No. 3 is another air by the same, converted into very agreeable, short, and comparatively easy duets.

VOCAL.

1. ~Cheerful Glee~, Old May Morning, for four voices; the Words by ~Charles Cowden Clarke~; the Music by ~Vincent Novello~. (J. A. Novella.)

2. ~Cheerful Glee~, ‘Sweet Mirth,’ for three voices, composed by ~William Shore~. (J. A. Novello.)

3. ~Glee~, ‘Had we never met,’ for four voices; the Poetry by ~Burns~; composed by ~W. Shore~. (J. A. Novello.)

The two first of these glees obtained the prizes given by the gentlemen of the Manchester Glee Club; Mr. Novello’s was successful last year, and Mr. Shore’s the year preceding.

Mr. Novello’s glee, in ~A~, six quavers in a bar, for four equal, or men’s voices, is in one movement, though the time is rather slackened at page 7, but intended, we presume, to be recovered after the pause, in which case the want of proper notice is an omission that may mislead. This is a composition which will gain the applause of the connoisseur as well as the mere admirer of vocal harmony; the words are set with great propriety, there is no want of pleasing melody, and the technical part is evidence of the author’s ability. The length of the glee, however, excites a wish for a little more modulation: by the frequent repetition of the subject, good as it is in the same key, the ear begins to grow rather impatient, and desires some decided change for the sake of that variety which in a long piece is so needful. But then comes in a holding base, operating like a charm, and a passage (page 9) where the lowest voice imitates the first tenor, introducing some of those syncopated notes so delightful to people of cultivated taste, reconciling us to what had begun to excite some slight degree of mental murmur. Mr. Novello has not spared the countertenor, who frequently is called upon to hold a ~C~ sharp, and the other parts demand from the performers more effort than glee-singers in general like to exert. The chances are that many of them will complain that this does not ‘sing well;’ but it is high time to rouse them; drowsy glees which have no merit except that of being ‘well written,’--for such is the phrase under which much dulness is attempted to be concealed,--will not much longer be listened to with that forbearance which has too often been extended to them.

* * * * *

Mr. Shore’s glee in ~D~ is for three equal voices, and in three movements, the first and last quick, the second rather slower. When we have said that this is not an unpleasing composition, and that it makes no pretence, we have bestowed as much praise on it as is at all allowable. It certainly has not the smallest claim to originality, either in design or execution, and must have been very fortunate in the kind of competitors it had to contend against.

* * * * *

No. 3 is a clear and pleasing melody, agreeably harmonized for soprano, alto, tenor, and bass, and the exceedingly touching words of Burns are set with taste and feeling.

* * * * *

1. ~Scena e Romanza~, in the operetta of Amore e Psiche, the Poetry by ~S. E. Petronj~, Esq., composed by ~G. Liverati~. (Lonsdale and Mills.)

2. ~Recit. e Duetto~, do. do. do.

3. ~Three Italian Notturnos~, composed by ~D. Crivelli~, the words by Sig. ~Caravita~. (Cramer and Co.)

4. ~Arietta~, ‘Calma ti pria ch’io parta,’ composed and published as the preceding.

5. ~Cavatina~, ‘Gentil vaga Violetta,’ nell’ opera La Violetta, del Sig. ~M. Carafa~. (Chappell.)

6. ~Canzonet~, ‘Va! lusingando Amore,’ composed by ~John Barnett~. (Chappell.)

No. 1 is an accompanied recitative, with a long harp introduction. The romance which follows, in ~G~ minor,--a happy mixture of the Italian and German styles,--is full of passion and melodious effect.

* * * * *

The recitative to No. 2 is not very striking. The duet which follows opens in ~D~ flat, adagio, and passes into a moderato in ~B~ flat. Good as this is, it must not be concealed, that it is written decidedly in imitation of Rossini.

* * * * *

Sig. Crivelli’s Notturnos will not be disapproved by those who encourage the Italian style of the age immediately preceding the present. They are less simple than the productions of the Venetian and Neapolitan schools, but have not much imagination or vigour. A few inaccuracies have eluded the eye of the composer, among which standing in great need of correction are, octaves between the second voice and the base, page 3, bar 2; and a ~D~ flat rising instead of falling, in last bar of page 8.

* * * * *

No. 4 is rather elegant, though far from new, and the words are well set.

* * * * *

No. 5 is one of those things which may be heard half a dozen times without leaving the slightest impression; and that might have been written by any one having sufficient technical skill to put the notes in right order. But the composer is a maestro. He is an instance of what fame may be acquired in the musical world by a single air.

* * * * *

No. 6 is far from a common melody; and but for certain harsh notes, arising from an over-strained though laudable attempt at originality, we should add, that the accompaniment is as masterly as it is bold. An ~A~ double-flat, page 3, is beyond our comprehension. Had it not occurred twice, we should have concluded that B double-flat was intended. This canzonet, however, considered altogether, is highly creditable in every may to Mr. Barnett.

* * * * *

~Ballet Opera~, The Maid of Cashmere, or La Bayadère, composed by ~Auber~, and adapted to the English stage by ~Henry R. Bishop~. (Chappell.)

1. ~Duet~, ‘Ah! why, too lovely Bayadères?’

2. ~Notturno~, two voices, ‘O happy Banks of Ganges!’

3. ~Air~, ‘Charming Bayadère.’

4. ~Ballad~, ‘Beats there a heart on earth sincere?’

5. ~Air~, ‘Ne’er is the Cottager’s door.’

No. 1 (‘Comment, aimables Bayadères’) possesses one great charm, that of originality, and of a pleasing kind too, though we cannot add that the words are set in a manner corresponding with the sentiment or the scene. The second movement of this is an air that must soon become popular.

* * * * *

No. 2 (‘O bords heureux du Gange’) is exceedingly light, pretty, and novel: there are too many words for the notes, in both languages, and, as in the former case, the sound does not agree with the sentiment. Love is tender, not sportive: there is in this passion nothing of a comic kind to plead an apology for music of so very playful a description.

* * * * *

In No. 3 (‘Sois ma Bayadère’) the composer partly imitates himself, and partly Rossini. There is nothing worth a remark in this.

* * * * *

Nothing can be more common than No. 4; not a phrase, not a cadence, but what has been worn to tatters years and years past. We should have guessed this to be an English air, did not the title-page inform us otherwise.

* * * * *

No. 5 is a failure in English, whatever it may be in the original language. We have rarely met with words, both in signification and accent, so ill adapted to the music as are the present.

* * * * *

1. ~Duet~, ‘Our Hero Knights,’ in Robert le Diable, composed by ~J. Meyerbeer~. (Chappell.)

2. ~Duet~ ‘The streams that wind amid the hills,’ the Poetry by G. Darley, Esq.; the Music composed by ~Fanny Steers~. (Cocks and Co.)

3. ~Aria~, ‘Speed, ye softly-heaving billows,’ composed by the Chevalier ~Sigismond Neukomm~. (Chappell.)

4. ~Song~, ‘The Lark and the Nightingale,’ composed by the Chevalier ~Neukomm~. (Chappell.)

5. ~Song~, ‘Give me not music in the glare of day,’ written and composed by ~J. Augustine Wade~, Esq. (Chappell.)

6. The Song of the May Rose, ditto, ditto.

7. The Warrior’s Invocation, written by Mrs. ~E. Smith~; the Music by ~Charles Smith~. (Cocks and Co.)

8. The Welsh Melody, sung by Miss ~Kelly~ in Dramatic Recollections, written in Welsh and English, and adapted to ‘Llwyn ou,’ or the ‘Ash Grove,’ by ~J. Parry~. (Chappell.)

9. ~Air Suisse~, ‘Je dois te fuir,’ composé par ~F. Stockhausen~. (Chappell.)

No. 1 is the magnificent duet for tenor and base, ‘Si j’aurai ce courage?’ of which we have spoken more than once.

* * * * *

No. 2 is not belonging to the uncommon order.

* * * * *

No. 3 is delicate and pleasing, though it does not seem to have cost the composer much effort.

* * * * *

No. 4 is more studied; and by four changes in the time broken into as many short movements, the last of which, in ~C~ minor, is the strain of the ‘most melancholy’ Philomel, an interesting air.

* * * * *

No. 5 is an ably imagined, well-written, and very pleasing song. No. 6 was favourably noticed by us long ago, as part of a volume entitled the Songs of the Flowers.

* * * * *

No. 7 is composed with taste, but laboured; it was not ‘struck out at a heat.’

* * * * *

The English words of No. 8 are well set to the Welsh air which furnished a melody, much more than a century ago, to Gay’s ‘Cease your funning.’ What success Mr. Parry has had with his Cambrian poetry in union with the melody, it is not in our power to say, we having no cunning in his native language.

* * * * *

No. 9 is as agreeable as most Swiss airs are, and so like many that all the world have heard, that, unless it had been sent to us as new, we should have believed it to be of three or four years’ standing at least. In fact, hear half a dozen of these Helvetic melodies, and you hear them all; there is a prodigious family likeness in them. M. Stockhausen is over-productive; he wants some musical Malthus to curb him.

* * * * *

PIANO-FORTE AND FLUTE.

1. ~Overture~ to Fidelio, arranged for two Flutes and Piano, by ~J. Clinton~ and ~A. Brand~. (Wessel and Co.)

2. ~Carafa’s Air~, ‘O cara Memoria,’ with concertante Variations by ~J. Czerny~. Op. 16. (Hill.)

3. ~Introduction~ and ~Variations~ on the Romance in ~Weber’s~ Euryanthe, by ~F. Kuhlau~. (Hill.)

The first of the above is the overture in ~E~ now played, not that originally written for the opera. Considered as arranged for the piano-forte, with accompaniments for two flutes, there is nothing ridiculous in this,--indeed the effect of it is good; but when called a trio, a smile is drawn from us:--the overture to Fidelio as a trio for two flutes and piano!

* * * * *

No. 2 makes a very charming duet, requiring two players of the better kind, whose execution is neat rather than brilliant. M. J. Czerny has put an Introduzione to this, and added five variations, all of which, the finale excepted, are in character with the air, and will not disappoint expectation.

* * * * *

In No. 3, M. Kuhlau has proved how difficult it is to avoid the snares of fashion. He here succumbed to the prevailing depravity of taste, and wrote what may be called clever variations to Weber’s Romance, but certainly not appropriate ones. The whole of this demands two expert performers, whose time may be much better employed than in overcoming obstacles that are not worth conquering.

* * * * *

FLUTE.

1. ~The Flutist’s Album~, containing Thirty National Melodies, with Variations and Embellishments, composed by ~A. Nicol~. 1 Vol. 4to. (Glasgow, M’Fadyen.)

2. The favourite ~Airs~ in ~Meyerbeer’s~ Robert le Diable, arranged by ~C. Saust~. (Chappell.)

No. 1 is a collection of airs, of all nations, that have been most popular during the last few years, each having two or more variations, in which the ease of the performers does not seem to have been a primary consideration. But the task, though somewhat severe for players in general, is not a long one, as one single page is the limit of each piece. This is a good selection, and the additions would be all of a commendable kind were they uniformly in keeping with the respective melodies; but all are brilliant, while many of the airs are quite different in character.

* * * * *

No. 2 is a small neat quarto publication of fourteen pages (upon which, by the by, a price any thing but reasonable is fixed), containing thirteen pieces from the opera, set in a studiously easy manner for the instrument.

* * * * *

VIOLONCELLO AND PIANO-FORTE.

~Select Italian Airs~ from the most popular Operas, arranged by ~F. W. Crouch~. Nos. 1 and 2. (Chappell.)

Mr. Crouch has here restored to an air by Paisiello, ‘Ah, mia cara,’ and one by Sacchini, ‘Più non ho la dolce speranza,’ both of which were doubtless once ‘popular,’ but before our time, and, we suspect, ere Mr. C. took much cognizance of these matters. However, we are pleased to meet with them; and convinced as we are that it will soon be expedient to resuscitate many good things by the same composers, we hail this as something of a beginning. Both the present are as short and easy as can be imagined, and are as graceful as brief.

* * * * *

GUITAR AND PIANO-FORTE.

‘L’or est une chimère,’ from ~Meyerbeer’s~ Robert, arranged by ~W. Neuland~. Op. 12. (Chappell.)

These two instruments agree remarkably well together when the larger one uses its giant strength with moderation. The present is an excellent adaptation of an excellent air, and is so contrived that almost any two players may execute it, while the best need not blush to perform it. It is so short also, that it will bear an encore.

ANCIENT CONCERTS.

We waited till the latest moment for the usual communication from a friendly correspondent of the Harmonicon, who has, for three or four years past, favoured us with his criticisms on these concerts, but not hearing from him till too late to furnish what he has omitted to supply, we can only give our readers the programmes of the last three performances.

FOURTH CONCERT,

Under the Direction of his Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland, Wednesday, March 27, 1833.

~Act I.~

Coronation Anthem, ‘The King.’ Quartet, ‘Exceeding ~Handel.~ glad.’ Chorus, ‘Thou hast prevented him.’

Recit, ‘Ye twice ten hundred.’ Song, ‘By the ~Purcell.~ croaking.’ (Indian Queen.)

Madrigal, (Full Choir,) ‘Oh, that the learned.’ ~Gibbons.~

Song, ‘Holy! holy!’ (Redemption.) ~Handel.~

Concerto in ~A~ minor ~Martini.~

Trio and Chorus, ‘Disdainful.’ (Judas Macc.) ~Handel.~

Recit, ‘Berenice, dove sei?’ Song, ‘Ombra che ~Jomelli.~ pallida.’ (Lucio Vero.)

Solo and Chorus, ‘Glory to God.’ (Joshua.) ~Handel.~

~Act II.~

Overture, (Ptolemy.) ~Handel.~

Recit, ‘The mighty.’ Song, ‘Softly sweet.’ ~Handel.~ (Alexander’s Feast.)

The Music in Macbeth. ~Locke.~

Glee, ‘Cold is Cadwallo’s tongue.’ ~Horsley.~

Recit, ‘Sposa! Euridice!’ Song, ‘Che farò.’ ~Gluck.~ (Orfeo.)

Double Chorus, ‘The horse.’ (Israel in Egypt.) ~Handel.~

FIFTH CONCERT,

Under the Direction of Lord Burghersh, Wednesday, April 17, 1833.

~Act I.~

Introduction and Cho., ‘Ye sons of Israel.’ ~Handel.~ (Joshua.)

Recit., ‘And God said.’ Song, ‘Now heaven.’ ~Haydn.~ (Creation.)

The Passions. (Solomon.) ~Handel.~

Recit., ‘Sweep, sweep.’ Air and Chorus, ‘Music, spread thy voice.’ Air and double Chorus, ‘Now a different.’ Recit. and Chorus, ‘Then at once.’ Recit., ‘Next he tortur’d.’ Air and Chorus, ‘Thus rolling surges.’

Song, ‘Pious orgies.’ (Judas Maccabeus.) ~Handel.~

Quartet, ‘Godiam la pace.’ (Idomeneo.) ~Mozart.~

Concerto 12th. (Grand.) ~Handel.~

Stabat Mater. ~Pergolesi.~

Chorus, ‘Glory to God.’ Quartet, ‘O Lord, have ~Beethoven.~ mercy.’ Grand Chorus, ‘The Lord is great.’

~Act II.~

Symphony. (Surprise.) ~Haydn.~

Glee, ‘Jesse.’ ~Knyvett.~

Song, ‘Honour and arms.’ (Samson.) ~Handel.~

Anthem and Cho., ‘Call to remembrance’ ~Battishill.~

Recit., ‘E il padre.’ Aria, ‘Gia la vittima fatale.’ ~Jomelli.~ (Ifigenia.)

Chorus, ‘O voto tremendo.’ Dead march ~Mozart.~ (Idomeneo.)

Recit., ‘O worse than death.’ Song, ‘Angels, ever ~Handel.~ bright.’ (Theodora.)

Madrigal, full choir, ‘Fire! Fire!’ ~Morley.~

Aria, ‘Il mio tesore.’ (Don Giovanni.) ~Mozart.~

Chorus, ‘Cum Sancto Spiritu.’ ~Pergolesi.~

SIXTH CONCERT,

Under the Direction of the Earl of Cawdor, Wednesday, April 24, 1833.

~Act I.~

First, Second, and Fourth Movements. ~Handel.~ (Dettingen Te Deum.)

Song, ‘Softly rise.’ Chorus, ‘Ye southern breezes.’ ~Boyce.~ (Solomon.)

Glee, ‘Who comes so dark.’ ~Callcott.~

Song, ‘Dryads, Sylvans.’ Chorus, ‘Lo, we all attend.’ ~Handel.~ (Time and Truth.)

Concerto 4th. ~Corelli.~

Song, ‘Non so d’onde vieni.’ ~Bach.~

Quartet, ‘Ave verum corpus.’ ~Mozart.~

Recit, ‘My cup is full.’ Song, ‘Shall I in Mamre’s.’ ~Handel.~ Chorus, ‘For all these mercies.’ (Joshua.)

Recit, ‘Ma che giorno.’ Solo and Chorus, ‘Tu è ver.’ ~Mozart.~ (La Clem. di Tito.)

~Act II.~

Symphony in ~E~ flat. ~Mozart.~

Chorus, ‘De profundis.’ ~Gluck.~

Song, ‘Vo Solcando.’ ~Vinci.~

Madrigal, ‘Flora gave me.’ ~Wilbye.~

Recit, ‘Ove son.’ Song, ‘Gelido in ogni vena.’ ~Bavanella.~

Chorus, ‘Avert these omens.’ (Semele.) ~Handel.~

Recit, ‘Rejoice, my countrymen,’ Chorus, ‘Sing, O ~Handel.~ ye heavens.’ (Belshazzar.)

PHILHARMONIC CONCERTS.

THIRD CONCERT, Monday, March 25, 1833.

~Act I.~

Sinfonia in D ~Mozart.~

Scene, Mr. Phillips, ‘The Last Man’ ~W. H. Callcott.~

Fantasia, Flute, Mr. Nicholson ~Nicholson.~

Aria, Miss Clara Novello, ‘Per pietà’ ~Mozart.~

Overture, The Matins of Wallersee ~Chelard.~

~Act II.~

Sinfonia, Pastorale ~Beethoven.~

Song, Mrs. W. Knyvett, ‘With verdure clad’ ~Haydn.~

Quartetto, two Violins, Viola, and Violoncello, ~Beethoven.~ Messrs. Spagnoletti, A. Griesbach, Moralt, and Rousselot, No. 5

Terzetto, Miss Clara Novello, Mrs. W. Knyvett, and ~Mozart.~ Mr. Phillips, ‘Soave sia il vento.’ (Così fan tutte)

Overture, Prometheus ~Beethoven.~

Leader, Mr. Weichsel.--Conductor, Mr. Bishop.

The Symphony of Mozart, No. 3 of the scores, was played with great spirit and the utmost precision. This is one of the most animating of the composer’s works, and seems always to inspire the band as much as it excites the audience. The Pastoral Symphony was never better performed; every movement produced its due effect; even the andante, long as it is, was not felt tedious. Still we are persuaded, and experience confirms our opinion, that about a third of this might be omitted, with the most beneficial effect on the whole. Some of the passages are repeated over and over again; the reduction of these would hardly interfere with the author’s design, and, having been twice heard, might be spared without at all being missed. At all events, it is better that an audience should wish for more than complain of redundancy.

The Overture of M. Chelard (director of the German company that performed at the King’s Theatre last year) was now produced for the first time. It is altogether descriptive, and as a novel attempt, we give his programme, or explanation of it:--

‘The knights of St. George, of Bavaria, returning from the Crusades, are bringing back to the castle of Wallersee the remains of the count, its former possessor, and the grand master of their order, accompanied by Everhart of Schœnfeld, the banneret knight and nephew of the count, and the betrothed of his daughter Iolanda, who is supposed to have perished when the castle was laid in ruins by the usurper, Rodolph of Trento. The overture opens with a funeral march of the knights, followed by the triumphal song of the apotheosis. It then returns to the march, and afterwards to the song of triumph. The dead march is repeated; and as the knights recount the deeds of the hero, the voices of departed spirits are supposed to be heard welcoming him to heaven. The knights separate; Everhart remains alone; he approaches the chapel, and while there, lost in meditation, is suddenly startled by the bell announcing the midnight hour; the voices of the nuns blending with the organ in the anthem for the dead--“Dona pacem, sancte Deus clemens: audi preces nostras; Pater, miserere!” Thunder is heard. He distinguishes among the voices one of a female repeating his name. She approaches, and he recognizes his lost Iolanda, who had here sought refuge from the usurper’s tyranny.’

It must immediately be evident that not one half, not one sixth of this, admits of description in musical sounds. The funeral march, the little bell on which the hour was actually struck, and the motet,--sung by four persons concealed from view,--were all understood well enough; but the connexion of these with the story must have remained an enigma which would have defied Œdipus himself, but for the printed plot insinuated into the room. The overture, however, is a clever work, and shows a great deal of imagination, as well as knowledge of orchestral effects. The descriptive parts are as successful in exciting images as the means employed would admit, and some very good, indeed new harmonies, are dispersed throughout the composition. The author undertook a work which most living composers would have rendered perfectly ridiculous; he has produced what some admired, many approved, and very few condemned, and has steered clear of any gross absurdity: he therefore is entitled to our thanks for the boldness of his enterprise, and to our applause for the manner in which he has carried into execution so hazardous an attempt.

The Overture to Prometheus, too good for a finale, delighted all who stayed to hear it.

Mr. Nicholson’s Fantasia was, we hardly need say, beautifully played; but is an air with variations fit for such a concert? The directors, however, we conclude, must sometimes give way, and, like other great men, be governed by existing circumstances. The Quartet--the 5th, in ~A~, the andante of which is the foundation of Carafa’s air ‘Aure felici,’--was most delicately executed.

Mr. Phillips sang young Callcott’s fine Scene in a most impressive manner. Miss C. Novello did all that is to be done with Mozart’s Aria, a composition from his Operngesaenge (opera songs, a collection of detached pieces), and is which, we can easily believe, the author did not take much pride. It is one of those written for a temporary occasion, and is unnoticed in his own catalogue. Mrs. Knyvett’s ‘With verdure clad’ was admired for its purity, though all wished that a less hackneyed air had been chosen. The same feeling was excited by the Terzetto, which, beautiful as it is, ought now to be laid by for a while. Moreover, it was not performed in the best possible manner.

FOURTH CONCERT, Monday, April 15, 1833.

~Act I.~

Sinfonia in C minor ~Beethoven.~

Aria, Mr. Bennett, ‘Il mio tesoro.’ (Il Don ~Mozart.~ Giovanni)

Grand Septetto, MS. composed expressly for these ~Moscheles.~ Concerts, and fist time of performance, Piano-Forte, Violin, Viola, Clarinet, Horn, Violoncello, and Contra Basso, Messrs. Moscheles, Mori, Moralt, Willman, Platt, Lindley, and Dragonetti

Scena, Mrs. R. H. Bishop, ‘Ah! non so’ ~Mozart~

Overture, Preciosa ~C. M. von Weber.~

~Act II.~

Sinfonia, No. 2 ~Haydn.~

Aria, Miss Shirreff, ‘Deh! se piace mi vuoi.’ ~Mozart.~ (Tito)

Concertante, four Violins principal, Messrs. Mori, ~Maurer.~ Seymour, Patey, and Griesbach

Terzetto, Mrs. H. R. Bishop, Miss Shirreff, and Mr. ~Cimarosa.~ Bennett, ‘O dolce e caro istante.’ (Gli Orazi)

Overture, La Clemenza di Tito ~Mozart.~

Leader, Mr. Mori.--Conductor, Mr. Moscheles.

The extent to which the epidemic, the Influenza, prevails, was visible enough in the thinned benches of the room this evening. Some few of the band, sufferers from the general malady, were also absent, but the others made up by their exertions for deficiency in numbers, for never did the ~C~ minor of Beethoven go better; and Haydn’s lovely Symphony, in ~D~, which, we hardly know why has been less used than most of the twelve grand, or Salomon’s, was performed with all the delicacy and spirit required to give due effect to it. And here we will observe en passant, that the last movement was rather too quick: the composer, it is true, marks it Presto, but moderates this by the caution ‘ma non troppo.’ His finales are now almost invariably hurried--an evil that was growing even in Salomon’s time, who in the last year of his life mentioned this to us in strong terms of reprobation. Unfortunately, when Haydn wrote nothing of the pendulum kind was in use, he therefore was only able to give his directions in the vague and often mistaken terms then and still employed in music.

The light and exceedingly pleasing overture to Preciosa abounds in original traits, and shows the versatility of the composer’s genius, as well as his great sense of fitness. Whoever hears this, will, without any previous information, conclude that it was written for a pastoral or a simple opera. The overture to the Freischütz at once announces the preternatural scenes, the magic, the diablerie, that are to follow. Thus he discriminated in his dramatic productions, which all, without a single exception that we are aware of, proved how much he thought, and how invariably to the purpose. The overture to Tito went off with splendid effect.

The novelty of the evening was the Septet of Mr. Moscheles, one of the pieces composed for the society, and an incontrovertible evidence of the wisdom as well as liberality of the members in engaging this gentleman, among others, to exercise his talents in their service. It consists of an allegro in D; a scherzo and trio in ~D~ minor; an adagio in B flat; and a finale in the major key. Clear as is the first movement, it made less impression on us than any of what followed. The scherzo is strikingly original; the adagio, full of feeling and exquisite taste; and the finale bounding with vivacity and joy. A work like this ought to be seen, or to be heard more than once, to enter fairly into all its merits, but we may venture to say, that this alone would be sufficient to establish the author’s reputation as a composer of the highest order, had he produced nothing else. It is long, certainly, and we should recommend that either the first movement be abridged, or that it be played without the repeat.

The concertante went off remarkably well. It is an able work, but lengthy, the nature of the composition being considered. Mori, in this, exerted himself very kindly in support of his young coadjutors: indeed his labours during the evening--as leader, and taking the violin part in the septet--were of no ordinary kind, and required as much corporeal strength as professional ability.

The aria, ‘Il mio tesoro,’ was passable. The scena of Mozart, ‘Misera! dove son?’ and following aria in ~E~ flat, ‘Ah! non so ion’ the seventh of his operngesaenge, possess, at least, the recommendation of not having been often heard, and Mrs. Bishop was not sparing, in exertion to do them every possible justice. Of the remaining vocal pieces, the less said the better; though it is fair to state, that Miss Shirreff was called upon at a late hour to supply the place of Mad. de Méric, and sang without rehearsing.

ROYAL ACADEMY OF MUSIC.

The pupils of this institution had their first public concert for the season at the Hanover Square Rooms, on Saturday morning, March 30th, when the following pieces were performed by them exclusively:--

~Part I.~

Symphony, in D No. 4 ~Mozart.~

Introduction to Zauberflöte, ‘Oh Stelle!’ ~Mozart.~

Recit. ‘For behold;’ Song, ‘The People that walked ~Handel.~ in Darkness,’ Mr. Stretton. (Messiah)

Concerto, Grand Piano-Forte, First Movement only, ~Hummel.~ Master Johnson, [Pupil of Mr. J. B. Cramer]

Madrigal, ‘Sweet honey-sucking Bee.’ ~Wilbye.~

Song, ‘If guiltless Blood,’ Miss Turner. ~Handel.~ (Susanna)

Motet, ‘O Lord who dwellest;’ composed for, and ~Lucas.~ performed at, St. George’s Chapel, Windsor

~Part II.~

Concerto (MS.) Grand Piano-Forte, composed and ~Bennett.~ played by Master Bennett, Pupil of Mr. Potter

‘Qui tollis,’ from Mass No. 2, Solo, Mr. G. Le Jeune ~Haydn.~

Aria, ‘Ah qual giorno,’ Miss Birch. ~Rossini.~ (Semiramide).

Quartet Concertante, for four Violins ~Maurer.~

Duo, ‘Ebben per mia Memoria’ (Gazza Ladra) ~Rossini.~

‘Sanctus and Benedictus,’ Mass No. 2 ~Hummel.~

Leaders--Part I. Mr. Seymour--Part II. Mr. Patey.

The movement from Hummel’s concerto was very neatly played by Master Johnson; but the most complete and gratifying performance was that of young Bennett, whose composition would have conferred honour on any established master, and his execution of it was really surprising, not merely for its correctness and brilliancy, but for the feeling he manifested, which, if he proceed as he has begun, must, in a few years, place him very high in his profession.

We were glad to meet with a Madrigal, and one of the finest extant, in this concert: hitherto the pupils have been allowed to indulge too much in fashionable music, half of which, moderately estimated, is downright trash, while they have been kept too ignorant of the really great masters.

Whoever is teacher of Handel’s vocal music in this academy, should himself get some further instruction. He is quite at fault in his notion of the true style, if we may draw any inference from the manner in which the pupils generally perform it.

The Motet possesses a good deal of merit, but has been much over-rated. The Quartet Concertante was exceedingly well played: we wish it were possible truly to say that ‘Oh Stelle!’ was as well sung.

The room was very fully attended.

SOCIETA ARMONICA.

The illness of a gentleman on whom we relied for some account of these concerts, has prevented our bestowing that attention on them which, we learn from many quarters, they have merited. We have heard of the performance of Beethoven’s Mass in ~C~, which had never before been given in this country with full orchestral accompaniments, and applaud the spirit that prompted its introduction. Though according to all accounts it might have been executed in a better manner, the attempt is praiseworthy, and perseverance leads to perfection. The subscription, it must be considered, is low, and does not afford the managers the means of obtaining all the assistance which otherwise they would, we are disposed to believe, be willing to procure.

AN OFFICIAL NOTE.

THE Editor of the Harmonicon presents his compliments to the Editor of La Revue Musicale, and is happy to find that anything contained in an English publication has been thought worthy of being transferred to the pages of a French one.

Though the Editor of La Revue Musicale manifestly entertains no great partiality for the British nation, yet that good-breeding so common to all his countrymen, and of which he doubtless partakes in an eminent degree, would certainly have prompted him to acknowledge from what source he obtained the air by Keiser, inserted in his work last March, had he been aware of the quarter whence it proceeded; the Editor of the Harmonicon, therefore, fully persuaded that the Editor of La Revue Musicale will feel most happy in being correctly informed on the subject, has the honour to acquaint him, that the composition in question was published--for the first time since the year 1701, it is supposed--in the Harmonicon for February last; that the German copy afforded only a melody and base, consequently that the accompaniment, good, or bad, is attributable to the Editor of the Harmonicon only; and that the English words set to it are not a translation from the German, nor do they even imitate the original, but were selected because the general sentiment they express is not at variance with the music, and because the metre very exactly suits the notes.

The Editor of La Revue Musicale, in having caused the English verses of Miss Seward to be translated into French, has done her great honour, though he has not mentioned her name; and has conferred a no less flattering distinction on the Editor of the Harmonicon in adopting his accompaniment, and by giving it the additional advantage of appearing to have proceeded from the able pen of the learned French Editor.

The Editor of the Harmonicon has in his pages often availed himself of the labours of the Editor of La Revue Musicale, and never intentionally failed to acknowledge his obligations. He now begs the Editor of the French Review to accept his thanks generally, together with his assurances of high consideration.

EXTRACTS FROM THE DIARY OF A DILETTANTE.

[Resumed from page 89.]

(The three following Notices were omitted by our Printer in last Number.)

3d (of March). I find the following sensible critical remarks among my papers; they were copied from a weekly work (the Court Magazine, I think) some months ago, and have since escaped my notice. The opinions are worthy of being widely extended.

‘Melody is of two kinds; one which is affected by the prevailing taste or fashion, and is made up of the particular graces and embellishments of the day; and the other, broad, flowing, majestic, bearing the stamp of no particular period, and without ornament; but composed principally of long notes, upon which the sentiment is encrusted and cannot be mistaken--adorned with all the vigour and effect of striking and appropriate harmony and instrumentation. The latter is the real classic melody: classic, because it is imperishable, as being the noble and unsophisticated expression of never-varying truth. It is like those pictures of the old masters which will be relished in all ages, because they represent that which must be understood by all generations of men. Handel, the immortal Handel, whose works will never perish, produced much of the first kind of melody, which is now overlooked and forgotten: but his rich and pure streams of the second kind flow freely, to delight and refresh with their beauties the present generation, as they will the remotest generations to come. Cimarosa has very little of the first kind; Mozart and Beethoven none; Meyerbeer a great deal in his Italian operas, but none in his German and French. All these masters have written for posterity.’

* * * * *

10th (of March). The Halifax Guardian states that ‘the fifty-third performance of the Halifax Quarterly Choral Society took place, in the Old Assembly Room, Talbot Inn, on Tuesday evening last. The music consisted of a selection from The Seasons of Haydn, and the whole of Beethoven’s Mount of Olives. There was a full attendance of performers, vocal and instrumental; the orchestra was led by Mr. White of Leeds, under whose able guidance the above sublime and beautiful compositions were performed with a degree of precision and spirit which is frequently wanting in concerts of much higher pretensions. Miss Milnes, the principal soprano, has not only a beautiful voice, but much execution and a pure taste; and Mr. Carter, the principal tenor, is also entitled to very high praise. The style and expression with which he sang the deeply pathetic recitative and air that open The Mount of Olives, were admirable. The other solo parts were exceedingly well performed; and we only regret that our limits do not allow us, on the present occasion, to do the singers justice. The choruses were given with great correctness, and the ensemble was excellent: the points were taken up with a decision that showed how much at home the singers were in their parts. The effect, in particular, of the grand choral fugue, which concludes The Mount of Olives, was magnificent. It is very gratifying to see this society so spiritedly conducted. It is of such standing that it may be considered in the vigour of manhood. May it be long before it shall betray any of the infirmities of old age!’

* * * * *

19th (of March). It has just been determined, by the most influential gentlemen of Liverpool, to have a grand musical festival in that town early in October. Let us hope that this will encourage other enterprises of the kind and raise the drooping spirits of our orchestral performers, whose time lay unprofitably on their hands during the whole of the last summer and autumn.

* * * * *

April 6th. One of those paragraphs which the dealer in small wares furnishes to the ‘Morning Chronicle,’ tells us, this day, that ‘Poor Giovanni, many years stage manager at the Italian Opera-House, is, we regret to hear, in the work-house. He was, in his position at the theatre, a man of modest, unassuming manners, and a great favourite behind the scenes. It is to be lamented that foreigners, who are so liberally paid by the public for the exertion of their talents in the London theatres, do not institute a fund for the support of their indigent brethren.’ Now true as it may be that Signor di Giovanni has been obliged to seek such a refuge, it was not at all necessary to add a pang to his misery by publishing it to all the world. Had the writer recommended a subscription to be opened for the relief of this unfortunate servant of the fashionable portion of the public, he might have done some good; none could arise from a mere gossiping paragraph. Di Giovanni was not at any time stage-manager; he never arrived at any higher office than that of deputy. Other parts of the article are not less incorrect. As to a fund, it was once begun, and a per centage on the salaries of the performers raised something to commence with. This was never heard of after the retreat of Mr. Waters to Calais.

* * * * *

10th. In an account of the Rev. Robert Hall, by Olinthus Gregory, recently published, is the following anecdote, or, indeed, two-fold anecdote, which adds further testimony to the effect produced by the music in Westminster Abbey at the far-famed Commemoration:--

‘Robert Hall,’ it is stated, ‘was at the Commemoration of Handel in 1784, and present at that extraordinary scene when George III. stood up at one part of the performance with tears in his eyes.’ Nothing ever affected him more strongly; ‘It seemed,’ he said, ‘like a great act of national assent to the fundamental truths of religion.’

It was at one of the grand performances in the same venerable building, a few years after, that Haydn was observed sitting in a corner under a side gallery, weeping like a child, and he declared that he had never before been so powerfully affected by music.

* * * * *

15th. The influences of the Influenza were strikingly evinced at the Philharmonic Concert this evening. More than a third of the subscribers were absent; and of those present, one half at least, judging from the symptoms they exhibited, would have been better at home. The orchestra, too, lost some of its best performers.

* * * * *

15th. At the rehearsal of the Ancient Concert this morning, Signor Rubini, keeping his seat, and with his hat on, began to sing an aria. Lord Burghersh, the director, hinted that it was usual to treat so many subscribing auditors as were present with rather more respect. The Signor then contrived to rise; but a gentle intimation from the same quarter, that the Signor would be heard to greater advantage without his hat, received no attention whatever. Now this really should not be wondered at in a country where every thing has a money value. Signor Rubini is making 6000_l._ or 7000_l._ per annum by his engagements, to which we sensible English largely contribute. Such an income is superior to that of most baronets, nay, of many lords; Signor R.’s rank here, consequently, is equal or superior to theirs, according to the money difference; ergo he has a right, in his Britannic Majesty’s dominions, where wealth is every thing, to rehearse seated, and with his beaver firmly fixed on a head from which issues a voice that commands (O mores!) a revenue which many an English nobleman, many a German prince, will hear of with astonishment and envy.

* * * * *

16th. The daily press is beginning to manifest some reasonable dissatisfaction at the sordid propensities of the Baron of the Single-string. Had it decried his absurdities (absurdities, however, well calculated for the meridian of London) two years ago, it might have prevented his proving ungrateful, and caused a great deal of money to reach the pockets of English performers, who wanted it, instead of flowing into the coffers of a stranger who had no real occasion for it, and did not deserve one-tenth of what he received. The Globe of this evening tells us that ‘the munificent support which M. Paganini met with in London does not appear to have softened his heart towards English artists. He was applied to a short time since to lend the aid of his talents, in union with all the French and Italian performers of eminence in Paris, to support a benefit advertised by Miss Smithson, in the hope of retrieving some of the losses arising from the failure of her speculation there, and her unfortunate accident, which still confines her to her bed. He refused, on the plea of ill-health. This was very well. The benefit was comparatively a failure, being only sufficient to pay one-fifth of the debts due by Miss Smithson to the English actors, who have been in a state little short of starvation, and are even unable to return to England. Another benefit, in which Mars, Duchesnois, and all the other artists came forward in the handsomest manner, is announced for to-morrow. Paganini, who is well enough to play to-morrow night at the Opera [the French Opera] for himself, has been again applied to, and now refuses flatly, saying, that the failure of Miss Smithson’s speculation is nothing to him. This should not be forgotten when he re-visits London.’

But it will be forgotten: the English public have lost those patriotic feelings which once distinguished them, in so far as relates to foreign performers. The Signor, however, will not reap another rich harvest here, he may be assured. Though some futile attempt will be made to deny the truth of the foregoing statement, it will be made in vain; the rage is over; our eyes as well as our ears are now opened; the pretended enthusiasts--for affectation has had much to do with the matter--will no longer be able to cry up the Witches’ Dance, the Friars’ Hymn, &c. as prodigies of art; they will not be listened to if they again endeavour to deafen us with the wonders of sounds almost inaudible, and nearly, if not quite, inappreciable: we are grown a little wiser, and have found out, that in proportion as two legs to a body are preferable to half the number, so four strings to a fiddle are better than one.

* * * * *

22d. In the Revue Musicale, M. Fétis lately, with much apparent justice, severely criticised a new Italian opera by a Sig. Ricci, called Chiara di Rosemberg: he even proceeded so far as to say, that music has declined in Italy, and that there is little hope of its revival in a country where such a work as Ricci’s could meet with success. This has brought upon him the vengeance of the editor of L’ Eco, an Italian literary journal published at Milan, who not very temperately exclaims: ‘It needed all the effrontery that is often met with in the French journals, to deny superiority in an art to a country which claims as its own a Rossini, a Bellini, a Mercadante, a Pacini, a Donizzetti, a Ricci, and many other composers; to a country which has a right to triumph in a Pasta, a Tosi, a Rubini, a Donzelli, a Lablache, a Tamburini, &c. Nothing, in truth, but the most stupid ignorance or the blackest malignity could assert of such a country of artists, that “the decline of music in Italy is complete.”’ M. Fétis has well answered the attack, and shown that the critic who can place Bellini, Mercadante, &c., by the side of Rossini--who can put Pasta on a level with Tosi, must be wholly incapable of discussing a question which requires some knowledge of music, and some power of judging between good and bad performers. The Milan editor may rave as he will, but he may be assured, that M. Fétis speaks the opinion of every real and unbiassed critic.

FOREIGN MUSICAL REPORT.

VIENNA.

The Josephstädter Theater recently produced Donizetti’s Anna Bolena with little success; the Leopoldstädter Theater, however, was more fortunate in the production of a new opera, Die Liebe auf der Alm (Love on the Alm), the numerous performances of which were received with much applause. The music, by Riotti, is very melodious.

The concerts have been numerous; that of M. Benesch was very successful. He performed a concerto of his own composition, and Madame Benesch also distinguished herself, in a concerto of Kalkbrenner’s, as a finished pianiste. A new symphony by M. Joachim Hoffman, a composition of great merit, was performed at that gentleman’s concert. A concert has also been given by the Koutski family. Anton, the pianist, infused much expression into his play, which is more remarkable for solidity than brilliancy. Carl, the violinist, excited astonishment by a spirited performance, and the singer, Eugenie, delighted the audience with an agreeable, well cultivated voice, and very chaste style. Demoiselle Fanny Sallamon has also given a concert, at which her exquisite performances on the piano-forte were, as usual, enthusiastically applauded. Besides the above, there have been four very excellent concerts given by the Society of Musicians.

BERLIN.

Königstadt Theater. On the 4th February Demoiselle Caroline Schechner, a sister of the celebrated singer of the same name, made her debut here as Emmeline in Die Schweizerfamilie. Her voice is clear and sweet, she sings with much taste and expression, and altogether gives great promise of future excellence. On the 26th, a new opera, Melusina, was brought out under the direction of the composer, Conradin Kreutzer. The music is very pleasing, being light and flowing.

M. Felix Mendelssohn has given two very brilliant concerts, particularly the last, which were fully attended. In these was performed a Symphony by Louis Berger, full of fine thoughts, clear in style, and very original. M. Mendelssohn played a capriccio of his own, a concerto in ~D~ minor of Sebastian Bach, and a sonata in ~C~ sharp minor by Beethoven. He is now on his road to London.

A grand concert has been given by M. Hubert Ries, consisting solely of classical compositions, which was well attended. He played a new violin concerto by Spohr, with uncommon precision, grandeur, and depth of feeling, and some compositions of Beethoven with M. Felix Mendelssohn and M. Ganz. Three concerts have been given by the Dutch virtuosi, MM. Brugt and Franco Mendez, and Madame Schmidt. The former is a distinguished singer, with a sweet, though not particularly strong voice, and great powers of execution. M. Mendez played some variations on the violoncello with neatness and good taste, but his tone on the lower notes is thin, and Madame Schmidt displayed more flexibility of voice than taste.

On the 26th February the Vocal Academy performed the Passion Music of St. John the Evangelist.

M. Möser’s second series of concerts has commenced. The first concert introduced a well conceived overture by Taubert, and the second, the overture to King Stephen, by Beethoven.

At the last meeting of this season, which was to celebrate the anniversary of Beethoven’s death, we heard for the first time his Fest-Ouvertüre, ‘Zur Weihe des Hauses,’ a masterpiece in the fugue style, or rather an ancient theme, full of original ideas, such as could only occur to Beethoven. His piano-forte concerto in ~E~ flat major was performed by a Scotch virtuoso, Mr. R. Müller, who has lately been playing with great success at the courts of Denmark and Sweden. In his style, Mr. Müller distinguishes himself more by his conception and delivery of the intrinsic beauties of the composition, than by imitation of the popular pianists of the day. He shows the highest degree of his ability in the sonatas of Beethoven, in which the most difficult passages, when played by him, appear not as passages merely, but real musical ideas. If we were allowed to express a wish, it would be that Mr. Müller should perform on a solid English instrument to which he has been accustomed, and which under his finger would truly express all the delicate degrees of light and shade. Mr. Müller, as far as we remember, is the first pianist of Great Britain who has performed publicly on the continent; and it gives us the more pleasure to admire in him the talents of one of Old England’s artists, because our own German artists have always found in that country the most flattering reception.

MUNICH.

The Philharmonic Society, founded here by M. Schönche, is going on flourishingly. It was established for the education of pupils in every branch of the art, who have invariably had artists of eminence to look up to as models; in the list of these have recently appeared the names of M. and Madame Bohrer, Bärmann, Dusshek, &c.

M. Küstner is expected to be appointed manager of the Royal Court Theatre, and Baron Von Poissl director of the court music. M. Mentor, the violoncellist, has been recalled from Hechingen to Munich.

LEIPZIG.

The principal novelties produced at the subscription concerts were, an overture by M. Hartknoch, of original conception, and clever in point of instrumentation, and a symphony by Richard Wagner, scarcely twenty years of age, which was much and deservedly applauded. The solo players, M. Maurer, from Hanover, and his son, on the violin; M. Gros, on the violoncello; Demoiselle Clara Wieck, on the piano-forte; M. Kressner, on the flute; and M. Rückner on the oboe, delighted the audiences with their performances on their respective instruments. Nor were the efforts of the singers less attractive. Demoiselle H. Grabau’s singing was exquisite, and Demoiselle Livia Gerhard appeared to have improved, not only in execution, but also in the tone of her voice. The male singers were MM. Otto, Pögner, and Bode.

DRESDEN.

A new opera seria, by Baron Boromäus Von Miltetz, is expected to be produced here shortly, under the title of Saul King in Israel. It is generally supposed that the Baron will be appointed director-general of the theatre and the chapel.

FRANKFORT.

The repertoire of this theatre has been considerably enriched of late. The principal new productions, besides Der Templer und die Jüdin, which particularly delighted the Jews, have been Die Fremde (La Straniera), of Bellini, Der Vampyr, of Marschner, and Zampa, of Herold. Robert de Diable too has been given; but not by the theatrical direction. Kapellmeister Guhr produced it at his concert, and it was not much admired.

The Cecilian Society, under the able direction of M. Schelble, has recently given the first of four concerts for the season, at which the overture and introduction to Eliza, by Cherubini, and the overture to Idomeneo, were played by a considerably augmented and improved orchestra; and it redounds highly to the credit of the members of the opera, that they should have assisted the efforts of the Society with their vocal contributions.

Madame Filipowicz has performed here three times on the violin with extraordinary success. Her shake in particular is exquisitely brilliant, and her bowing equally powerful and graceful. After displaying her talents in various other German towns, Madame Filipowicz intends to proceed through France to England.

MANHEIM.

The opera of Valeria, composed by M. Aloys Schmidt, long known as a distinguished pianist, was produced for the first time on the 2d December, under the direction of the composer. It went off most brilliantly; every piece from the overture to the very conclusion, being received with bursts of applause. After the fall of the curtain, M. Schmidt was enthusiastically called forward. Its reception, when performed again on the 16th December, was no less gratifying.

WÜRTZBURG.

Joseph Dietz, aged fourteen, a violin player, and pupil of Professor Fröhlich, has been well received at a grand vocal and instrumental concert here. Among other concertos excellently performed, he played Rode’s last concerto, No. 12, with great execution, neatness, and purity of tone.

WEIMAR.

The opera of Robert der Teufel was given here for the first time on the 6th December. On the first performance, the house was crowded; on the third, nearly empty; the singers, however, did their utmost to support the opera, and the orchestra was very effective.

HAMBURGH.

The same opera, Robert der Teufel, was produced here for the first time on the 20th December, and its reception was enthusiastic. The finale of each act, indeed almost every piece in the opera, called forth the warmest applause. Full justice was done to the composition by all the singers.

Some very interesting concerts have lately been given here, at which M. W. P. de C. Vrugt, from Amsterdam, and M. Lafont, particularly distinguished themselves. The former sang, for the first time, at the concert of M. Leopold Lindenau, a violoncello player of great ability. His style is chaste, and his shake masterly; and he sings chromatic passages in ascent and descent with delicacy and pureness of intonation. His voice, which is of extensive compass, is rich and mellow, particularly in the upper notes. The delightful performances of M. Lafont were received with the applause which they merited.

MERSEBURG.

On the 15th February, M. Amme gave a concert here. Among the selection were the overtures to Die Felsenmühle by Reissiger, and to Die Stumme; a concertante by Iwan Müller for two clarionets, played by MM. Amme and Kunze with sweetness and expression; a concertino by Meyer, for the basset horn, by M. Queiser of Leipzig; a duet for violin and violoncello by MM. Ullrich and Grabau; and a duet by Reichel for two trumpets by M. Queiser and a pupil of his, worthy of such a master.

HEIDELBERG.

M. Schmidt, of Darmstadt, professor of the violin, gave a concert on the 12th December in the saloon of the Museum, and was received with the encouragement to which his talents justly entitled him. The selection of the pieces was as judicious as their performance was meritorious.

DÜSSELDORF.

A musical society, consisting of 500 effective members, flourishing here for some years, has been gradually falling into decline, the management having come into the hands of some amateurs not possessed of sufficient musical knowledge to conduct it. The fragments of this society now consist of a very few lovers of the art; and they have applied to M. Anton Schindler, to undertake the task of restoring it, if possible, to its former eminence.

PESTH.

CANINE CONNOISSEUR.

At a most respectable house at Pesth, where a great deal of music is played, there is a dog, who, unlike his brother dogs, has a great fancy for music. But the most singular part of the story is, that this animal delights only in listening to the performance of Mozart’s, Haydn’s, Weber’s, or Spohr’s music. If such a piece is played, he lays his head upon his two fore paws, listens attentively, and now and then suffers a sigh of emotion to escape him. But when he hears a composition by Rossini, Auber, Herold, &c., he whines and howls most pitifully, as any other dog would on hearing music.--From the Allgemeiner Musikalischer Anzeiger.

GREIFSWALD.

M. Amadeus Abel, scarcely sixteen years old, a pupil of Spohr, lately gave a concert here, and performed a concerto of Spohr’s, and variations of Mayseder’s, with great applause; he also played on the piano-forte, a fantasia of Kalliwoda without accompaniments, with great execution and expression.

SCHWAZ.

On St. Cecilia’s day, the oratorio of Paradise Lost, by Frederick Schneider, was given for the benefit of the poor of this place, in a manner highly creditable to all connected with the performance.

TRIESTE.

The son of the singer Bonoldi, a young composer brought up in the Conservatorio at Milan, wrote the opera with which the Carnival Season was opened in this town. It is his coup d’essai, and called Il Mauro di Calisto Bassi. On the first night the young composer was unfortunate. Nobody knew his part except Bonoldi, the father; and he was so overcome by interest for his son, that he lost his voice and was obliged to omit much. In fact, the theatre was closed two nights; but after that Bonoldi recovered his powers, the opera was reproduced with applause, and the maestro and singers called forward at the close of the performance.

NEW YORK.

The second night of Il Pirata, Bellini’s serious opera, found us at the Richmond-hill theatre. The first representation of all musical pieces we consider as little more than a last rehearsal; for the singers are generally nervous, and the band over cautious. Critics ought to take such a state of things into consideration, and prefer the second night for the exercise of their vocation. In a country as young in music as America, it may be a matter of doubt whether the omission of some of the earlier authors be wise on the part of the manager; and whether, in leaping over the heads of Cimarosa, Mozart, and Rossini, and fixing upon Mercadante and Bellini, he does not resemble a school-master placing Sallust and Terence in the hands of a boy who has not completed Cæsar and Cornelius Nepos; or rather, are we not likely to fall into the error of a sapient critic who discovered, when he saw Kean, that he was an imitator of Booth?--Now there are many juvenile amateurs in this city, who, to our knowledge, have never heard La Gazza Ladra; but who have heard Elise e Claudio; and unless they pay good attention to chronology, they may make a discovery, that Rossini has borrowed numerous passages from Mercadante, because one of those authors decidedly has borrowed from the other. Another observation we shall address to the direttore of the concern: instead of learned and dry operas, which afford delight to professional persons only, let him diligently seek works with lively melodious music, interesting and clear plots, and fine scenery. He has in the public but an infant to nurse, and it will take honey in preference to olives. Allowing that the inhabitants of New York are as fond of music as those of London, which we fully believe, let it be remembered that very few of the higher classes of society in the latter city would be tied down to sit night after night in public boxes, to hear the same opera throughout, overture and all. By no means would they submit to it; they enjoy the luxury of private boxes which are so many boudoirs, in which society is received: nor do we know any more agreeable lounge than the Italian Opera House in London, where individuals, who have a taste for music without understanding it as a science, can drop in at any particular hour for the sake of hearing a particular morceau by Pasta, Sontag, Malibran, or any other star; and can, either previous to its commencement or after its performance, while away the time in conversation with friends, without disturbing those professionals and amateurs who are riveted to every note. This cannot take place in public boxes. There is, likewise, the addition of a ballet in London; and a number of persons, particularly male bipeds, find it the sole attraction. We think that the above is sufficient cause for advising the management of the Italian opera, (in the absence of ballet and converzatione,) to render their performance as pleasing and light as possible to their subscribers; for, be it remembered, that the Italians themselves not only talk and see dancers caper at their opera houses, but actually sup in their boxes; and, when it is considered that they can understand every word that is sung, and feel the sentiment as well as hear the harmony and melody of the music, surely some little compassion ought to be taken on Brother Jonathan, who drinks in sweet sounds, and has to guess at their meaning equally with Brother Bull.

The overture to this opera is beautiful and effective in a high degree. It commences with a spirited, dashing movement for a few bars, something after the style of Auber’s Masaniello; it is then followed by a more subdued movement, in which the basses are pizzicati; and here we remark that the only fault we could find with the overture was the want of bass. We once stated that a double bass and violoncello were not sufficient, and the increase of the band in other respects causes this fault to become more apparent; ergo, the pizzicato movement appeared feeble. The quick movement is a bold allegro, leading away in a minor mood, well worked up throughout. Altogether, the overture is original; and, to our thinking, the finest composition this band has yet performed. The orchestra contains, at present, twenty-six musicians; and we do not hesitate to state, that is now as good a band as was ever heard in America; and, if another double bass and violoncello are added, as we hear is in contemplation, it would be a fair orchestra in any part of Europe. The opening symphony and chorus, Ciel, qual procella orribile, during a storm and shipwreck, at once assured us that we were under the influence of a great and original master; and when we reflected that he was but twenty-four years old when the opera was composed, our admiration increased. Throughout there is a firm and leading bass, which progresses according to the old master’s style, more than we are accustomed to hear in modern compositions. The instrumentation is splendid, and the management of the wind instruments, particularly, reminds us strongly of Weber. Indeed we have the German school continually before us. Mr. Montresor has a part better suited to his voice than any we have yet heard him in. His first aria, Nel furor delle tempeste, was admirably led by a clarionet solo. Monsieur Guilleaud is an artist, and Mr. Montresor sang the aria well. We adhere to our original opinion, that he is the best instructed singer in the company. We must be excused from using the jargon now in fashion among the press. We cannot see why a company of Italians are to be called a troupe; nor why the ladies and gentlemen are to act roles. There is mystification enough to the generality of readers in the technicalities we are obliged to use, and which we address to well read amateurs and professional men alone, without hunting for French words to put in the place of plain English. The part of Imogene was acted beautifully by Pedrotti. Her singing was exceedingly good. Her voice is an organ of great power and good quality, and her forte is expression. Her scena and duetto with Fornasari were very finished. Her mad scena, in the last act, was highly creditable to her. Indeed we have very little fault to find. If we must point out any defect, it would be occasionally a clumsiness of execution, and a failure in the attempt at the chromatic scale; but who can do it? For one fault she has twenty beauties, particularly in her acting; and the use of her arms and hands is most easy and graceful. Fornasari is certainly a very good looking man, with a very fine voice; but there is a tremour about it continually, and his progression from note to note is imperfect. In certain passages we were delighted with him, in others greatly disappointed. In his principal song, and in several leading passages in the duet with Imogene, we really were at a loss to know what he intended to convey to the audience. He made a curious sound in his throat, in which two notes only were perceptible. It could not have been intended for a shake, we are tolerably sure; and we set it down as being meant for an active passage of some sort, in which he wished to show his agilità; but vox faucibus hæsit. This gentleman’s education as a vocalist has undoubtedly been neglected; but nature has been highly bountiful to him. The costume was well preserved. Fornasari’s second dress was a picture. The female chorus was weak, the male chorus good, but not correct. The finale to the first act is a composition of very superior merit.

The scenery is excellent. The artist’s forte, we think, is architectural design; and we have noticed that Italian scene-painters generally excel in that department. This is an opera which will afford the professor profitable amusement, and the well-informed amateur delight; but we have an unpleasant, lurking suspicion, that it savours more of the olive than the honey; and, therefore, may not be so readily swallowed as some other operas; at least we fear that the ‘most respectable public,’ as the manager terms them, will prove our suspicion just, and we are sure that they ought not to do so. Mr. Lorenzo Daponte has got a very curious flourish in the books of the opera, in which he says: ‘we sigh no more for Malibran!’ and an enormous puff for the Italian artists in general, making some comparisons which had been better let alone. He says that the company procured by him shall merit the gratitude of the public; that we must all learn Italian without delay; and that he has got a gentleman in the person of one Dr. Montresor, who will assist him in teaching us. Very well, if it must be so, anything to oblige him, and viva la musica! We have omitted to mention a well imagined trio between Pedrotti, Montresor, and Fornasari, which we believe to be composed by Mr. Bagioli, the conductor. It does him great credit, and gives us a high opinion of his musical talents. There is scarcely a more effective piece in the opera.

On Thursday, Miss Hughes took her benefit, and a new opera called Nadir and Zuleika was produced; the music partly selected, partly composed by Mr. Horn. Of course, the piece is of an eastern character. The music is light, pretty, and well suited to the sentiment. The plot is rather extravagant; turning upon no less than the opium day-dream of Nadir, a young gentleman who has expressed a wish to become acquainted with the lovely houris, or black-eyed beauties of Mahomet’s heaven; and this being overheard by Zuleika, a young lady who imagines that her charms are sufficient to ensure him a terrestrial paradise, she resents his conduct by dosing him and his servant with opium; and then gets up a scene during his bewilderment, which causes him to believe, that he really has thrown off ‘this mortal coil,’ and is in possession of his wish. A number of droll circumstances and situations arise, which we have not space to dwell on: suffice it to say, that it is a lively operetta of the Abon Hassan species; and, like that piece, has an admirable part for Placie, which he makes the most of; indeed, he is extremely droll, and kept the house in constant laughter. The overture is composed by Fétis, a person who stands high as a critic in Paris, and editor of a musical journal. Mr. Horn has likewise used the chorus Tacete non temete, by Mercadante, as found in his opera Le Nonne de Gamache. It is also introduced in Elise e Claudio. To this he has added a second subject skilfully, and, we think, has increased its effect. A ballad, founded on a Swiss air, sung by Miss Hughes, is a charming little gem; and was executed by her extremely well, and deservingly encored. She had likewise a bravura, with a corno and clarinette accompaniment. The former instrument was clumsily managed, the latter had not enough to do; but Herwig never fails in his part; and what he had to play was perfect. We do not admire this bravura; the divisions are common-place, and such as we have heard five hundred times with all the clap-traps and gallery-delights commonly used; but Horn has instrumented the song with his usual ability. Jones has two songs, both good; the last a very beautiful air, too chaste perhaps to please the multitude; but it comes in a bad situation, directly after the former noisy song. Another place should be found, or dialogue introduced between the two. The choruses are pleasing, and they sang, particularly the ladies, admirably. Richings sustained the character of Vivienne, a French officer brought into the east--we really forget for what purpose. He acted naturally, and there was nothing in the concerted music beyond his capability. After the opera, the excellent piece of ‘Ways and Means’ was performed; and between the acts the band played out of the book number six, which the house immediately recognized, and hissed most profoundly. Horn’s pretty ballad, the Mermaid’s Cave, followed, sung by Miss Hughes, and accompanied by himself; it was received with its usual éclat. The opera of John of Paris concluded the evening, which was done much more perfectly than before.--(New York Mirror.)

THE DRAMA.

~King’s Theatre.~

Of the Italian Opera we have literally nothing to report, except that, up to very nearly the end of April, it has been in a state of wretchedness never equalled in our time. The present month, May, is to give us Mesdames ~Pasta~, ~Cinti~, Signors ~Rubini~, ~Tamburini~, and ~Zuchelli~,--but will any operas be ready for them? will the new operas announced be worthy of this theatre? And, let it not be forgotten, that about two-thirds of the season are over, and that two out of the three hundred guineas paid for each box may be said to have been thrown away, even if the remainder of the season should be worth anything. An attempt has been made to cover the disgrace brought on the Italian stage, by the German opera, which, though far superior to the Italian, is yet very inferior to that of last year. Fidelio has been performed, but Mad. ~Pirscher~ is not to be named with Mad. ~Devrient~; and as the weight of the opera falls on the female character, the difference between the two cannot be made up by any merit that the others may possess. Of this merit ~M. Blum~, as Rocco, has his share: he is a good singer and an excellent performer.

On the 18th was produced Zampa, a German opera, by ~Herold~, which has been much praised in the foreign journals, and perhaps may excite an interest in those to whom the language is familiar; but musically considered, we find in it very little indeed that can justify the encomiums bestowed on the work abroad. It is a kind of Don Giovanni story, only the statue is of the female gender, and the profligate invites the marble lady, not to a supper, but to a wedding.

An air first heard in the overture, and afterwards sung by Mad. ~Pirscher~, the heroine, is effective; as is a trio in the same act. And to the third act M. ~Hummel~ has written a finale, which very much strengthens the opera, and displays his skill in dramatic composition, though it does not exhibit much originality.

~Drury Lane Theatre.~

Nothing of any importance has been presented here since our last. The Maid of Cashmere continued to be performed till the parties engaged in it were dispersed. Mr. and Mrs. Wood, it seems, are preparing to depart for America. How the stage is to repair her loss we cannot guess. If we are to have only foreigners as first vocal women in our English theatres, her place may be filled certainly; but will the public long endure this? We believe they will, for they are grown apathetic.

The performers themselves, however, ought to be active; they should combine in their own defence, and open an English, a really English, theatre; the Lord Chamberlain would sanction them; and the town might be conciliated, if they would give good operas, demand moderate prices, and endeavour to keep offensive company of all kinds, not only women, but men, as much as possible out of the way.

~Covent Garden Theatre.~

The Coiners, an opera of Auber, produced at the latter end of March, we have now heard, and find it altogether unworthy of notice.

~English Opera House, Adelphi.~

Mr. Arnold opened this small house on Easter Monday, merely with a view to keeping his company together while his own theatre is rebuilding. A new opera, Philip of Anjou,--founded on a German story, of which a translation appeared some years ago in a collection of Tales by the Misses Corbet,--composed by the Mr. Martin who lately succeeded H. Phillips as Leporello, was performed for the first time with some success. Two or three old favourites have since been brought forward, apparently to the satisfaction of the town, for they have drawn numbers to the theatre; and new things are in preparation, which, we trust, will be ready by the time the blighting east wind leaves us, and takes in its train the universally-prevailing disease.

* * * * *

It is a fact, unparalleled in the modern history of the English stage, that about the middle and towards the end of last month,--the month of April, too, and after Easter--Drury Lane, Covent Garden, the King’s Theatre, and the Haymarket, were all closed for several nights! The illness of many of the performers was the ostensible cause; but we believe that the managers were too happy in being able to avail themselves of this excuse, and closed their doors merely because so few persons presented themselves for admittance.

* * * * *

Rumours are afloat that the two winter theatres are about to be virtually under one management, and that the artists are to be engaged with a condition that they shall perform at either house, as may be required. If they have any spirit, a monopoly of this novel kind may easily be defeated.

THE MUSIC OF THE PRESENT NUMBER.

Dussek’s works, ingenious, refined, and beautiful as they are, now are rarely heard. Perhaps the two specimens we have in the present Number given of his composition, may make his name known to some of the younger amateurs of the day, who are probably acquainted with no other music than arrangements of Rossini’s operas, a little of Mozart, done into quadrilles, and much of Herz and Czerny.

* * * * *

Handel’s Musette (the word signifies a bag-pipe) is written for an orchestra, but of stringed instruments only. It is one of the lovely compositions of this great master which are only known to the frequenters of the Ancient Concerts.

* * * * *

The Romance of Hummel is from his heroi-comic opera, Mathilde von Guise. We have reprinted it from the original Leipzig edition, but omitted the German words. This is the most popular piece in the opera.

* * * * *

The masterly Madrigal by Wilbye is from the edition published by Mr. Warren, editor of the celebrated collection of Glees, &c. Wilbye, Sir John Hawkins tells us, was ‘a teacher of music, who dwelt in Austin Friars, about the year 1598.’ His compositions are inferior to those of none of his contemporaries, and his madrigal for five voices, ‘Flora gave me fairest flowers,’ has hardly an equal in sweetness of melody, in rich unaffected harmony, and in admirable contrivance of the parts.

* * * * *

The air of Gluck immediately follows, or rather opens out of, the overture to Iphigénie, as an addition to which it is always performed at the Ancient Concerts, arranged for a full band by Mr. Greatorex. This charming melody has very recently been published in a collection (see Harmonicon for March last, page 60,) as a ‘Bohemian air,’ and marked allegretto!

* * * * *

The song by Pelham Humphrey is melodiously plaintive, but the air certainly is not suited to the two cheerful verses, however well adapted to those that complain. Our accompaniment is drawn from inference, as we had only a treble and unfigured base to direct us. However, the composer’s intentions are pretty obvious. Humphrey was born in 1647, and brought up in the King’s Chapel, of which he was admitted a gentleman in 1666, and died in 1674.

* * * * *

Concerning the march and its author, we beg to refer the reader to our Review for the present month.

[Sidenote: June, 1833.]

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF ADRIAN BATTEN, JOHN WELDON, THOMAS TUDWAY, ~Mus.~ D., WILLIAM BLAKE, D.D., ~and~ CHARLES KING, M.B.

We now proceed towards the conclusion of our notices of the most distinguished composers of English cathedral music, down to the end of the last century, which branch of musical biography will be completed in our next Number.

* * * * *

~Adrian Batten~ was organist of St. Paul’s Cathedral during the reigns of Charles I. and II. He is called by Sir John Hawkins, not in very courteous terms, a ‘singing man,’ and certainly appears on the books as a vicar-choral of the church, for then the duty at the organ was executed by one of that body; and the organist still draws most of his emoluments from his share in the property belonging to the vicars-choral. The name of this composer is even now well known in all our choirs, from his short full anthem, ‘Deliver us, O Lord,’ which has continued in use up to the present day. Batten was, says Burney, ‘merely a good harmonist of the old school, without adding any thing to the common stock of ideas in melody or modulation with which the art was furnished long before he was born. Nor did he correct any of the errors in accent with which former times abounded.’ It is, however, just to remark, that his anthem, ‘Hear my prayer,’ for five voices, is, in point of construction and effect, equal to most of the compositions of his time. He undoubtedly exhibited no great talent, and owes the transmission of his name more to the convenient brevity of the above-mentioned anthem, than to his musical genius.

* * * * *

~John Weldon~, born at Chichester, received his first musical instructions from John Walter, organist of Eton College, and afterwards became a disciple of Purcell. He was at an early age chosen organist of New College, Oxford. In 1701, he was appointed gentleman-extraordinary of the Royal Chapel; in 1708 he succeeded Dr. Blow, as organist thereof; and seven years after, upon a second composer being added to the establishment, he was named to that situation. He was a great pluralist; for while he held all these offices, he was also organist of St. Bride’s; and George I. having presented the parish of St Martin in the Fields with an organ, Mr. Weldon, perhaps in compliment to the king, Hawkins adds, was elected organist.[54]

Weldon’s compositions were chiefly confined to the service of the church; but he assisted in setting Congreve’s masque, The Judgment of Paris, to music, in which is the air ‘Let ambition fire thy mind,’ a lovely melody, and still as fresh as if the production of the present century. This was introduced by Arne in Love in a Village, and is known to all as ‘Hope, thou nurse of young Desire.’ Some of his songs are to be found in the Mercurius Musicus, and other collections. Among these are ‘From grave lessons and restraint,’ a very popular air, and as such remembered in Sir John Hawkins’s time, who has reprinted it in his fifth volume; and it would even now be occasionally sung by lovers of natural melody, but that the words partake of that pruriency which does not tell well for ‘the wisdom of our ancestors.’

The great and deserved fame of this composer is built on his anthems, ‘In thee, O Lord,’ and ‘Hear my crying,’ of which Hawkins very justly observes, ‘it is difficult to say whether the melody or the harmony of each be its greatest excellence.’ Dr. Burney speaks very slightingly of Weldon’s powers; and it seems to us that on this subject he was either prejudiced, or imperfectly acquainted with the works he criticised.

Weldon died in 1736, and was succeeded in the Chapel Royal by Dr. Boyce.

* * * * *

~Thomas Tudway~, Doctor in Music, was educated under Dr. Blow, with Turner and Purcell. Soon after quitting the Chapel Royal he was admitted into the choir at Windsor, as a tenor singer. Like his fellow-disciples, he endeavoured to distinguish himself early as a composer, and inserted in the collection of church music, which he selected and transcribed for Lord Harley, an anthem composed by himself in 1675, when he was only nineteen, with six more of his early productions for the church, of which, Dr. Burney tells us, the counterpoint is but ordinary and clumsy.

In 1681 he was admitted to the degree of Bachelor in Music, at Cambridge; and in 1705, when Queen Anne visited that place, he produced an anthem, ‘Thou, O God, hast heard my vows,’ which was performed as an exercise for a doctor’s degree. He then was appointed public professor of music in that university. As an acknowledgment for other anthems composed for the use of Queen Anne, he was appointed her organist and composer-extraordinary.

In the latter part of Dr. Tudway’s life he resided chiefly in London, and was much patronized by the Oxford family. The valuable scores of English church music, in six thick quarto volumes, now in the British Museum, and forming part of the Harleian Collection, (No. 7337,) were collected and transcribed by himself at this time. During the same period he was in the habit of meeting Prior, Sir James Thornhill, Christian the engraver, and other eminent characters, at Lord Oxford’s, once a week; and Sir James drew all their portraits, among which is Tudway playing on the harpsichord. Prior wrote humorous verses under these drawings, which were in the possession of Mr. West, formerly President of the Royal Society. There is also a picture of Dr. Tudway in the Music-school at Oxford, a present from Dr. Rawlinson. ‘At Cambridge,’ Burney rather sarcastically remarks, ‘he was longer remembered as an inveterate punster than as a great musician.’[55] His intimacy with Purcell furnished him with the means of forming an accurate judgment both of the character and talents of that great composer, of which he thus speaks in a letter addressed to his son:--‘I knew him perfectly well: he had a most commendable ambition of exceeding every one of his time, and succeeded without contradiction, there being none in England, nor anywhere else I know of, that could come in competition with him for compositions of all kinds,’ &c.

Dr. Tudway died in 1726.

* * * * *

~William Blake~, Doctor in Divinity, was prebendary of Salisbury, and rector of St. Thomas’s church in that city. This is all that we can learn of his history. We conjecture that his death must have taken place more than fifty years ago, for in a volume of anthems published about the year 1780, he is mentioned as ‘late prebendary,’ &c. Burney does not speak of him; his name therefore, of course, does not occur in Hawkins; and we do not meet with it in the new edition of Wood’s Athen. Oxon., or in the Biographical Dictionary. But though he is thus unnoticed, no anthem is more generally known and admired than his ‘I have set God always before me,’ which, for beauty of melody, elegance in construction, and correctness in setting, is without a superior. It has been contemned by those whose beau ideal of excellence consists in canons and fugues, but long-continued public approbation is a sure test of merit, and this the composition in question has enjoyed, till the criticism of pedants is nearly if not quite silenced.

* * * * *

~Charles King,~ Mus. B.--Sir John Hawkins, who seems to have been personally acquainted with the subject of this sketch, states that he was bred up in the choir of St. Paul’s, under Dr. Blow, and was at first a supernumerary singer in that cathedral, for the small stipend of 14_l._ a year. In 1704 he was admitted bachelor in music at Oxford; and on the death of Jeremiah Clark, whose sister was his first wife, was appointed almoner and master of the children of St. Paul’s; and in 1730 became a vicar-choral thereof. He was also organist of St. Bennet Fink, London; and held these several appointments till his death in 1745. ‘With his second wife,’ says Sir John, ‘he had a fortune of seven or eight thousand pounds, left her by the widow of Mr. Primatt, the chemist, who lived in Smithfield, and also in that house at Hampton which is now Mr. Garrick’s. But notwithstanding this accession of wealth, he left his family in but indifferent circumstances. King composed some anthems, and also services to a great number, and thereby gave occasion to Dr. Greene to say,--and indeed he was very fond of saying it, as he thought it a witty sentiment--that “Mr. King was a very serviceable man.” His compositions are uniformly restrained within the bounds of mediocrity; they are well known as being frequently performed, yet no one cares to censure or commend them, and they leave the mind just where they found it. Some who were intimate with him say, he was not void of genius, but averse to study; which character seems to agree with that general indolence and apathy which were visible in his look and behaviour at church, where he seemed to be as little affected by the service as the organ-blower.’ Hawkins was very much enamoured of the works of Blow, and such laborious, dry composers, and appears to have had little if any genuine taste for what is natural in music--for flowing melody and unaffected harmony,--for both of which King’s productions are eminently distinguished. Their best praise is, that they have continued to be performed from the moment they were brought forth to the present time; they are in constant use in every cathedral in England and Ireland: this is an incontestable proof of merit, and silences all criticism. He who can listen to King’s Service in ~B~ flat with indifference, may be assured that he has no true taste, though he may be a great admirer of canons recte and retro, and four in one.

A TREATISE ON MELODY.

(From La Revue Musicale.)

A Treatise on Melody, independent of its connection with Harmony; with a Supplement on the Art of accompanying Melody with Harmony where the former is predominant; the whole supported by the best Models of Melody. By ~Anthony Reicha~, Member of the Legion of Honour, and Professor of Composition in the Conservatory of Music. Second Edition. Paris, 1832. In two volumes quarto.

In the preface to this work, M. Reicha expresses himself thus--“During several ages a great number of treatises have been written on harmony, and not one on melody.” Further on he says, “Several authors of merit have indeed spoken in their various works on the subject of melody, but it has only been with reference to its general effects. In Germany, Italy, England, and especially in France, remarks, more or less important, more or less instructive, and often more or less ingenious, have been published on the subject; but what has been the result of these remarks on the musical art? Why have they been of so little profit to it? Because vague reasonings, unsupported by demonstrative proofs, however ingenious, however instructive they may be, having very little internal evidence, are susceptible of being combated and refuted by other reasonings, and consequently remain without effect. It is with music as with geometry; in the one you must prove every point by musical examples, as in the other by geometrical figures. In both you must proceed regularly, from consequence to consequence, and establish a system so solid, that no reasoning whatever can shake it. It is in this point of view that I say nothing has yet been published respecting melody; all the remarks which have been made on the subject united would not furnish matter for a real treatise on melody. I found myself in my researches, therefore, entirely abandoned to myself; and if unwittingly I have, on some occasions, followed the paths of those who have written on melody before me, it will be an immediate emanation of my own system, and in that case it would be unjust to make it a matter of reproach.

“It will be seen in the course of this treatise that the musical period has a real existence. This period has remained a secret even to the present time, no one has ever proved or defined it indubitably, and even when it has been spoken of, it has been only too much confounded with the phrases and melodic members which are in fact only its decisions. This is the reason it played so unhappy a part in the famous contest between the Piccinists and the Gluckists.

“Musical rhythm, the knowledge of which is so important, not only in music, but in lyric poetry, for similar reasons, has shared the same fate.”

I have extended my quotation to this length, only that the object M. Reicha proposes to achieve by his book, and the circumstances under which he wrote it may be well understood. Not only has he felt the utility of a systematic treatise on melody, but the necessity of it has appeared to him so pressing, that he has persuaded himself there existed no previous work on the subject. Though he is mistaken in this respect, it is a point which should be borne in mind, in order that he may be allowed all the merit of his own ideas.

I have said that M. Reicha is in error when he says, that no work especially on the subject of melody existed before his own. In fact, setting, aside entirely the excellent discourse of Doni “on the Perfection of Melody,” which will be found in the second volume of his musical works; and the work of Nichellman, (published at Ratisbon in 1752,) Die Melodie nach ihren Wesen sowohl als nach ihren Eigenschaften, (Melody considered in its Nature and Qualities,) the first part of the great work of Riepel, published at Frankfort and Leipsic, in 1757, and entitled Anfangsgründe zur Musikalischen Setzkunst, (Elements of Musical Composition,) is a complete treatise on the Melodic Rhythm; and the second part of the same work, Grundregeln zur Tonordnung, (Fundamental rules of the System of Tones, &c.,) contains a very good theory of modulation. The two last volumes of Koch’s Essay towards an Introduction to Composition contain also an excellent treatise on melody, considered in various ways. The second volume treats on the creation and forms of melodic passages, on modulation, on the varieties of times, &c. The third and last volume is divided under the following heads: 1. Of Rhythm. 2. Of the Ornaments of Melody, and the manner of varying their forms. 3. On the Melodic Period.

We have likewise seen that, when writing his book, M. Reicha believed also that there was no especial work on particular rhythm, that is to say, on measure in music and poetry, except the general treatises on melody: he did not know, therefore, the work of Augustan Pisa, entitled Battuta della Musica Dichiarata; nor that of P. Sacchi, Della Divisione del Tempo nella Musica, nell ballo e nella Poesia, of which the work of Bonesi, entitled “A Treatise on Measure, or the Division of Time in Music and Poetry,” is in some respects only a translation. In examining the work of M. Reicha, therefore, we must not lose sight of the consideration that he has not used other books to assist the construction of his own; it is to his own individual ideas and thoughts alone that we are introduced, and we most allow him the merit he deserves on that score, even if he is sometimes mistaken.

Another consideration must also be kept in mind when examining the work of M. Reicha, and that is, that he has intentionally treated of melody alone, laying aside all consideration of its connection with harmony. By fixing these bounds to his work he has, doubtlessly, renounced the analyzing some points of high interest; for in the present state of the art, melody derives as much effect from the harmony which accompanies it as from its own resources; the modulation, the expression of a phrase, often depends upon it; but M. Reicha has said in his preface that he has determined to treat only of the material, or, if the epithet may be permitted, palpable parts of melody; that is to say, of the form of its periods and its phraseology. It is doubtless the same reason which has prevented him from discussing the poetry of melody, or the influence of rhythm on melodic expression. A complete treatise on melody would embrace all these points; but again, it is to be remembered that such a treatise was not what the author proposed to write.

M. Reicha seems to have an idea that, in order to justify the writing a treatise on melody, it is requisite to anticipate and answer beforehand all the objections which would be made against such a book. It is not from forethought that M. Reicha has anticipated these objections; I have frequently heard them from the mouths of professors themselves. There seems a general persuasion that the best melodies are the produce of a blind instinct, a mere uninstructed animal genius, and people are not aware that the best-organized composer, the man most endowed by nature with the faculty of creating, does not at first know what to do with his own ideas; that he is incapable of himself alone conceiving the mechanism of rhythm, that of modulation, or the magic effect of reducing his thoughts to order. All these things are learned: some learn them from books, some from the instructions of a professor, and some again from their own experience. Hence it arises, that the first essays of a man of genius, if he has had no preliminary education, are as defective in melodic invention as in any other point. The only difference between the man of genius and the ordinary musician is, that in the productions of the former a certain air of novelty and vigour is generally to be detected rising above the faults with which it is surrounded, and giving promise of what the writer will be when he has acquired experience. The requisites indispensable to melody are symmetry in the rhythm of the phrases, symmetry in the number of bars, and regularity of modulation, that is, an easy and pleasant arrangement in the succession of the notes; these things are first learned, then become habitual, and, finally, present themselves without our having the labour of thinking of them.

It is erroneous to suppose that there are so many obstacles as some conceive, in the way of a spontaneous production of ideas, for rhythm, number, and modulation are faculties so inseparable from a well-instructed musician, that he obeys them as by instinct, without ever remarking it, while he is solely occupied by the graceful, energetic, gay, or passionate character with which he wishes to invest his melody. How many other more real obstacles is the composer obliged to combat with and surmount in the arrangement of his ideas! If he writes to words in the dramatic style, the arrangement of the verse, the prosody, the rapidity of the action, and many other difficulties, restrain him much more; yet the man of genius always ends with triumph.

Composers themselves cannot understand by what mysterious agency they are endowed thus with the faculty of invention, the power of keeping up their warmth of feeling and their enthusiasm; of investing themselves with a passion, in the midst of no many obstacles; of retaining their independent power of choosing subjects, and working upon them with equal dexterity, as if there were nothing in the way. I have heard persons who disapprove of writing on melody, say, that supposing a good work could be produced on such a subject, no one is competent to the task but a composer celebrated himself for his happy invention of melodies, such as Mozart or Rossini. This appears to me to be a manifest error. The man of genius, who is constantly occupied by new productions, has not time to analyse the mechanism of his own works; he has no doubt that he himself understands what he knows, and he has no faith in things which are to be learned; no man can be more unfit to become a teacher. The power of analysis is a very rare gift of nature, and not necessarily connected with or produced by any of the other faculties of the mind.

After giving some preliminary notions on the most important objects of music, M. Reicha passes to the definition of melodic designs, of cadences, of rhythm, and the construction of the period. He then develops all those points in separate articles, entitled--1. Of periods consisting of one member only. 2. On periods consisting of two members. 3. On the complement (filling up) of the bar after the completion of a melodic phrase. 4. On measures understood, not expressed in the rhythm. 5. On the melodic echo. 6. On the difference of rhythms in relation to the quantity of bars. 7. On periods consisting of two members. 8. Of Organ points, &c. 9. On the conducting of melody. 10. On periods consisting of more than two members. 11. On the connection of periods. 12. On melodies consisting of two periods. 13. On melodies with three principal periods. 14. General observations on the form, outline, and dimensions of melodic phrases. 15. Remarks on airs of declamation and concerted pieces. 16. On the different characters of melody. 17. Observations on the unity and variety of melody. 18. On the style of delivering and of ornamenting melody. 19. Observations on national airs. 20. On the methods of developing a subject. 21. On the methods of studying and practising the writing of melody. 22. Plan of a programme of a course of study for composition. 23. Last remarks on rhythm. 24. (Supplement.) On the art of accompanying melody with harmony where the former is predominant.

~Fetis.~

MR. BARNETT versus THE PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY.

To the ~Editor~ of the ~Harmonicon~.

~Sir~, 9, John Street, Adelphi.

Without a wish to mix up your respectable publication with my quarrels and grievances, I trust you will make known the following remarks to your readers, and allow them to judge for themselves whether they are called for or gratuitous.

A few months ago I was informed of certain reformations about to take place in the Philharmonic Society, and of certain resolutions agreed upon at a meeting of the members. I refrained from making known to the public then that portion of the business which concerned me, because I gained my information in confidence; but since that time, I have heard it from those who have made no secret of it: I shall, therefore, treat the public with a ‘plain unvarnished tale,’ serving to show the extreme liberality of the Philharmonic Society.

Soon after the publication of my strictures upon the unjust conduct of these gentlemen towards native artists, their truth was doubtless felt; and a meeting was called for the laudable purpose of arranging plans to treat artists in future more generously than they had treated me. We not unfrequently find that ungenerous persons (like bad paymasters, who either pay beforehand or not at all) stride from one extreme to the other: thus the Society acted as preposterously on the one hand, as they had before done on the other; and, with a show of liberality which I had not given them credit for, they now resolved upon engaging English writers by wholesale, to compose for them, thereby giving the lie to all I had advanced against them. Mr. A. then proposed his intimate friend Mr. B., and Mr. C. did the same kind act for Mr. D., until the whole alphabet of English composers was proposed and received. Some of the gentlemen (I mention no names) who were to be called upon to write had scarcely made up their minds whether they should set up for composers or not; and I doubt not that there was at the time a great run upon Messrs. Boosey and Co. for all the partiture of the classical writers. Now then was the glorious time for the Society to lay aside all personal feeling towards me, and to do me justice, in common with others of no greater pretensions than myself. At this meeting of the members of the Philharmonic, there was but one gentleman (whose name I do not feel myself at liberty to mention) who felt and stated, in finding that my name was not in the most remote manner alluded to, that I had been unjustly treated by them, and that, as a liberal body, they ought to make the amende honorable by employing me with the rest; and that if it was to be presumed that I was the first cause of a revolution in the arrangements of the Society, that I ought at least to share in the benefits of it. No sooner did the hated name echo from director to member, than the hue and cry was raised, the motion negatived on all hands, the member silenced, and the Philharmonic Society, in the very midst of their (newly-acquired) glowing liberality, forgetting themselves, threw off their “borrowed robes,” and appeared in their native nudity.

I am not vain enough to say that my trifling efforts were worthy of performance at their concerts, but I may boldly assert that my abilities (such as they are) had nothing at all to do with their rejection of me: had I been a Beethoven, I doubt not that they would have treated the bare mention of my name in the same manner. They were actuated by a paltry feeling of revenge and animosity, and hailed the opportunity of casting an affront upon me; but in this way alone could they do it: they dared not to revenge themselves openly upon me, but under cover of a meeting to which they knew I could not gain admittance to tax them with their injustice.

Having learnt the result of the transaction, I came to the natural conclusion, that I had judged these gentlemen aright. Had they waived that ill feeling towards me, which was occasioned by any act of mine which they might have deemed improper, and had admitted me upon the score of any musical talent which I might possess, their conduct would have been magnanimous, and I should have sorely regretted having exposed their former ill treatment of me to the public, but--

Ex pede Herculem,

they did the very thing to convince the world that my original opinion of them was a just one. However disposed I might have been to have judged them liberally, it was not likely that a body of men who had before treated me so scurvily either would or could now behave like true artistes, and, in the anxious wish to advance music in England, lose sight of all private picque.

In conclusion, should any further question arise whether, in the first instance, they treated me as I have represented, let it be borne in mind that I advanced, boldly, a string of facts which were given publicity to, through the medium of the Harmonicon: I signed my name, gave my address, and was ready for any confutation, either public or private. The only reply to my former letter was a weak and futile attempt to prove that Messrs. ~Attwood~ and ~Potter~ were not so clever as I asserted them to be; but the main point was not attempted to be disputed, and my brave antagonist shielded himself under cover of a fictitious name. These gentlemen thought it wisest to suffer my assertions to go uncontradicted, because they could not disprove them; and, moreover, because they knew that I had in the background strong evidence of the ~TRUTH~ of my statement, even among the members of their own Society.

I have the honour, Sir, Of subscribing myself Your obedient, humble servant, ~John Barnett~.

MEMOIRS OF DR. BURNEY, BY HIS DAUGHTER MAD. D’ARBLAY.

[Concluded from page 99.]

In bringing to a conclusion this lengthened account of a work which, however executed, must be interesting to the general reader on account of the anecdotes relating to distinguished literary and other characters which it contains, and to the musical amateur from the information, though too scanty, which it conveys on matters concerning his favourite pursuit, we shall confine ourselves as much as possible to what relates to the art and its professors.

In 1785, Dr. Burney’s account of the Commemoration appeared, and led to his first audience of George III. and his queen.

This year, happily for Dr. Burney, re-opened with a new professional interest, that necessarily called him from the tributary sorrow with which the year 1784 had closed.

The engravings for the Commemoration of Handel were now finished; and a splendid copy of the work was prepared for the King. Lord Sandwich, as one of the chief Directors of the late festival, obligingly offered his services for taking the Doctor under his wing to present the book at the levee; but his Majesty gave Dr. Burney to understand, through Mr. Nicolai, that he would receive it, at a private audience, in his library.

This was an honour most gratifying to Dr. Burney, who returned from his interview at the palace in an elevation of pleasure that he communicated to his family with the social confidence that made the charm of his domestic character.

ROYAL AUDIENCE.

He had found their Majesties together, without any attendants or any state, in the library; where he presented both to the King and to the Queen a copy of his Commemoration.

They had the appearance of being in a serene tête-à-tête, that bore every mark of frank and cheerful intercourse. His reception was most gracious; and they both seemed eager to look at his offerings, which they instantly opened and examined.

“You have made, Dr. Burney,” said his Majesty, “a much more considerable book of this Commemoration than I had expected; or, perhaps, than you had expected yourself?”

“Yes, Sire,” he answered. “the subject grew upon me as I proceeded, and a continual accumulation of materials rendered it almost daily more interesting.”

His Majesty then detailed his opinion of the various performers; and said that one thing only had discredited the business, and that was the inharmonious manner in which one of the base singers had sung his part; which had really been more like a man groaning in a fit of the cholic, than singing an air.

The Doctor laughingly agreed that such sort of execution certainly more resembled a convulsive noise, proceeding from some one in torture, than any species of harmony; and that therefore, as he could not speak of that singer favourably in his account, he had been wholly silent on his subject; as had been his practice in other similar instances.

The Queen seemed perfectly to understand, and much to approve, the motive for this mild method of treating want of abilities and powers to please, where the will was good, and where the labour had been gratuitous.

The King expressed much admiration that the full fortes of so vast a band, in accompanying the singers, had never been too loud, even for a single voice; when it might so naturally have been expected that the accompaniments even of the softest pianos, in such plenitude, would have been overpowering to all vocal solos. He had talked, he said, both with musical people and with philosophers upon the subject; but none of them could assign a reason, or account for so astonishing a fact.

Something then bringing forth the name of Shakspeare, the Doctor mentioned a translation of his plays by Professor Eichenberg. The King, laughing, exclaimed, “The Germans translate Shakspeare! why we don’t understand him ourselves! how should foreigners?”

The Queen replied, that she thought Eichenberg had rendered the soliloquies very exactly.

“Aye,” answered the King, “that is because in those serious speeches there are none of those puns, quibbles, and peculiar idioms of Shakspeare and his times, for which there are no equivalents in other languages.”

The remaining part of this conversation we omit, out of tenderness to Madame d’Arblay, who, being a practised writer, surely might have conveyed the sense of the highly flattering compliment paid her by their Majesties in less direct terms than she has here employed.

In 1786, Dr. Burney experienced some disappointment in not being appointed to succeed Mr. Stanley (‘blind Stanley’) as Master of the King’s band. The office was bestowed on Mr., afterwards Sir William, Parsons, by the Marquess of Salisbury, the Lord Chamberlain, at the request of the Marchioness. As Mr. Parsons had even less claims as a composer than Dr. Burney, and--though a most honourable, well-educated, sensible man, of very polished manners--possessed none of those literary talents which the other was then so exclusively and successfully devoting to the service of music, his appointment to the only place in the gift of the crown which offers anything like an adequate reward for musical eminence, was much censured, and, according to the author of these Memoirs, not a little displeasing to the King. It is but just, however, to the memory of Sir W. Parsons, to add, that he very soon conciliated the good will of all the royal family, with whom, ostensibly as singing-master to the Princesses, he passed much time, at both Buckingham House and Windsor, in intercourse as social as the great difference of each in the parties permitted.

About this time, Miss F. Burney, the future wife of General d’Arblay, was made Keeper of the Robes to the Queen, and had apartments assigned to her in the two principal royal residences. At those in Windsor Castle, Dr. Burney was, by royal desire, invited to pass some days with his daughter; and here the King, throwing off all the formalities of royalty, had an opportunity of entering into unrestrained, familiar conversation with the historian of music. The first of the interviews thus agreeably brought about is described in the following extract.

He [the King] opened upon musical matters, with the most animated wish to hear the sentiments of the Doctor, and to communicate his own; and the Doctor, enchanted, was more than ready, was eager, to meet these condescending advances.

No one at all accustomed to court etiquette could have seen him without smiling: he was so totally unimpressed with the modes which, even in private, are observed the royal presence, that he moved, spoke, and walked about the room without constraint; nay, he even debated with the King precisely with the same frankness that he would have used with any other gentleman whom he had accidentally met in society.

Nevertheless, a certain flutter of spirits which always accompanies royal interviews that are infrequent, even with those who are least awed by them, took from him that self-possession which, in new or uncommon cases, teaches us how to get through difficulties of form, by watching the manœuvres of our neighbours. Elated by the openness and benignity of his Majesty, he seemed in a sort of honest enchantment that drove from his mind all thought of ceremonial; though, in his usual commerce with the world, he was scrupulously observant of all customary attentions. But now, on the contrary, he pursued every topic that was started till he had satisfied himself by saying all that belonged to it; and he started any topic that occurred to him, whether the King appeared to be ready for another or not; and while the rest of the party, retreating towards the wainscot, formed a distant and respectful circle, in which the King, approaching separately and individually those whom he meant to address, was alone wont to move, the Doctor, quite unconsciously, came forward into the circle himself; and, wholly bent upon pursuing whatever theme was begun, either followed the King when he turned away, or came onward to meet his steps when he inclined them towards some other person; with an earnestness irrepressible to go on with his own subject, and to retain to himself the attention and the eyes--which never looked adverse to him--of the sweet-tempered monarch.

This vivacity and this nature evidently amused the King, whose candour and good sense always distinguished an ignorance of the routine of forms, from the ill manners or ill will of disrespect.

The Queen, also, with a grace all her own towards those whom she deigned to wish to please, honoured her Robekeeper’s apartment with her presence on the following evening, by accompanying thither the King; with the same sweetness of benevolence of seeking Mrs. Delany, in granting an audience to Dr. Burney.

No one better understood conversation than the Queen, or appreciated conversers with better judgment: gaily, therefore, she drew out, and truly enjoyed, the flowing, unpracticed, yet always informing discourse of Dr. Burney.

In 1791, Dr. Burney became a ‘member among the monthly reviewers, under the editorship of the worthy Mr. Griffith.’ In the same year he commences his journal in the following words:--

“1791.--This year was auspiciously begun, in the musical world, by the arrival in London of the illustrious Joseph Haydn. ’Tis to Salomon that the lovers of music are indebted for what the lovers of music will call this blessing. Salomon went over himself to Vienna, upon hearing of the death of the Prince of Esterhazy, the great patron of Haydn, purposely to tempt that celebrated musical genius hither; and on February 25, the first of Haydn’s incomparable symphonies, which was composed for the concerts of Salomon, was performed. Haydn himself presided at the piano-forte: and the sight of that renowned composer so electrified the audience as to excite an attention and a pleasure superior to any that had ever, to my knowledge, been caused by instrumental music in England. All the slow middle movements were encored; which never before happened, I believe, in any country.”

In 1801, Dr. Burney entered into an engagement with the proprietors of Rees’s Cyclopædia, as it is called, to furnish all its musical articles at stated periods. He thus speaks of this enterprise in a letter to some friend:--

“I have entered now into concerns that leave me not a minute or a thought to bestow on other matters. Besides professional avocations, I have deeply engaged in a work that can admit of no delay, and which occupies every instant that I can steal from business, friends, or sleep. A new edition, on a very enlarged plan, of the Cyclopædia of Chambers, is now printing in two double volumes 4to., for which I have agreed to furnish the musical articles, on a very large scale, including whatever is connected with the subject; not only definitions of the musical technica, but reflections, discussions, criticism, history, and biography. The first volume is printed, and does not finish the letter A; and in nine months’ hard labour, I have not brought forth two letters. I am more and more frightened every day at the undertaking, so long after the usual allowance of three score years and ten have expired. And the shortest calculation for the termination of this work is still ten years.”

And in his letters to West Hamble on the same subject, he mentions, that to fulfil his engagement, he generally rises at five or six o’clock every morning--! in his seventy-sixth year.

The only entry in Dr. Burney’s journal, in the year 1803, relates to Beethoven’s music, of the merits of which his quick discrimination enabled him immediately to form a favourable opinion.

“Beethoven’s compositions for the piano-forte were first brought to England by Miss Tate, a most accomplished dilettante singer and player. I soon afterwards heard some of his instrumental works, which are such as incline me to rank him amongst the first musical authors of the present century. He was a disciple of Mozart, and is now but three or four and twenty years of age.”

In his journal for 1804, he mentions his retirement from his profession, and confesses the advance of some of those infirmities which, when within two years of becoming an octogenarian, it is rather difficult to avoid.

“In 1804, in the month of April, I completed my 78th year, and decided to relinquish teaching and my musical patients; for both my ears and my eyes were beginning to fail me. I could still hear the most minute musical tone; but in conversation I lost the articulation, and was forced to make people at the least distance from me repeat everything that they said. Sometimes the mere tone of voice, and the countenance of the speaker, told me whether I was to smile or to frown; but never so explicitly as to allow me to venture at any reply to what was said! Yet I never, seemingly, have been more in fashion at any period of my life than this spring; never invited to more conversaziones, assemblées, dinners, and concerts. But I feel myself less and less able to bear a part in general conversation every day, from the failure of memory, particularly in names; and I am become fearful of beginning any story that occurs to me, lest I should be stopped short by hunting for Mr. How-d’ye-call-him’s style and titles.

“I was very near-sighted from about my 30th year; but though it is usually thought that that sort of sight improves with age, I have not discovered that the notion was well founded. My sight became not only more short, but more feeble. Instead of a concave glass, I was forced to have recourse to one that was convex, and that magnified highly, for pale ink and small types.”

Dr. Burney meets the Prince of Wales at Lady Salisbury’s, and, of course, is enchanted by him. At the same party is Lady Melbourne, an old pupil of the Doctor, who reproaches him with never having been to dine with her, and promptly mixes up a party, in which the heir apparent and the musical historian are the chief ingredients. The Prince and the Doctor agree surprisingly well in their opinions, and meet again afterwards at the Opera, where their unanimity is not less remarkable. But a few months later, Dr. Burney being on a visit to the Duke of Portland, at Bulstrode, is in company with Lord and Lady Darnley, with whom he did not so well agree in matters of musical taste.

“They came in,” he says in his journal, “while I was dressing, and I had not heard their names, and knew not who they were. Unacquainted, therefore, with the bigoted devotion to the exclusive merit of Handel that I had to encounter, I got into a hot dispute that I should else, at the Duke’s house, have certainly avoided. The expression ‘modern refinements,’ happened to escape me, which both my lord and his lady, with a tone of consummate contempt, repeated: ‘Modern refinements, indeed!’ ‘Well, then,’ cried I, ‘let us call them modern changes of style and taste; for what one party calls refinements, the other, of course, constantly calls corruption and deterioration.’ They were quite irritated at this; and we all three went to it ding-dong! I made use of the same arguments that I have so often used in my musical writings,--that ingenious men can not have been idle during a century; and the language of sound is never stationary, any more than that of conversation and books. New modes of expression, new ideas from new discoveries and inventions, required new phrases: and in the cultivation of instruments, as well as of the voice, emulation would produce novelty, which, above all things, is wanted in music. And to say that the symphonies of Haydn, and the compositions of Mozart and Beethoven, have no merit because they are not like Handel, Corelli, and Geminiani,--or to say that the singing of a Pacchierotti, a Marchese, a Banti, or a Billington, in their several styles, is necessarily inferior to singers and compositions of the days of Handel,--is supposing time to stand still.”

In 1805, the King visited and closely inspected Chelsea College, of which Dr. Burney was resident organist; and he had the honour to be summoned to the royal presence, when a long conversation, very diligently recorded in the Doctor’s journal, took place, of which the following is a small portion:--

“‘And what are you doing now, Dr. Burney?’ said the King.

“‘I am writing for the new Cyclopædia, Sir.’

“‘I am glad the subject of music,’ he answered, ‘should be in such good hands.’

“And then, with an arch smile, he added: ‘For the essay writers and the periodical writers are all, I believe, to a man, at this time, Jacobins.’

“And afterwards, with a good-humoured laugh, he said: ‘That disease (the Jacobin) was first caught here, I believe, by the poets; and then by the actors; and now the infection has caught all the singers, and dancers, and fiddlers.’”

Nearly all the poets thus alluded to are still living, but most of them are entirely recovered from such diseases. The dancers and fiddlers so elegantly spoken of, and in the plural number, to avoid apparent personality, were, we conjecture, M. Didelot and Mr. Viotti, both of whom were, for a time, obliged to leave this country.

Dr. Burney all his life had been a zealous Tory, but the Tories never showed their zeal for him. In 1806, when the Whigs came into office, the united efforts of Mr. Windham and Mr. Fox procured for the historian of music a pension of £300--a grant which, it is not saying much when we assert, was more justly obtained in this instance, than in nine cases out of ten in which the royal prerogative has been exercised.

Not only was the latter part of Dr. Burney’s life rendered comfortable through the instrumentality of that party for which he, and still more his daughter, entertained so great a horror, but he was destined to have an honour of the highest kind conferred on him by Jacobinism itself; for about this time the Institut National de France elected him a member of the Classe des Beaux Arts; and we have reason to know that he considered this as one of the most flattering events of his life; though his daughter, governed by prejudice rather than that exactness which ought to be the chief aim of a biographer, would lead us to believe that the distinction thus conferred was not only embarrassing, but somewhat disagreeable to him.

We now are fast approaching the close of Dr. Burney’s life, and the termination of this Memoir. One of the best remarks that have, in the progress of these three volumes, fallen from Madame d’Arblay’s pen, is the following, introducing the last entry made by her father in his journal. The date is 1813.

Sir Joshua Reynolds desired that the last name he should pronounce in public should be that of Michael Angelo; and Dr. Burney seems to purpose that the last name he should transmit--if so allowed--through his annals to posterity, should be that of Haydn.

“Finding a blank leaf at the end of my journal, it may be used in the way of postscriptum, in speaking of the prelude or opening of Haydn’s Creation, to observe, that though the generality of the subscribers were unable to disentangle the studied confusion in delineating chaos, yet, when dissonance was tuned, when order was established, and God said,

‘Let there be light!--and there was light!’ ‘Que la lumière soit!--et la lumière fut!’

the composer’s meaning was felt by the whole audience, who instantly broke in upon the performers with rapturous applause before the musical period was closed.”

The winter of 1814 was remarkable for its severity, and made its impression on the feeble frame of Dr. Burney. Spring, however, had arrived, and he flattered himself, or rather flattered his numerous and affectionate family, that he had triumphed over the effects of so inclement a season. But he was deceived: the exertion to resist its influence had cost all his remaining strength, and more genial weather found him utterly exhausted.

On the 12th of April he almost suddenly exhibited symptoms which showed that nature could make no further effort, and he remained in a state nearly approaching insensibility, till the 15th, in the evening of which day he tranquilly breathed his last. A detailed account of this event is given in a letter written at the time by Madame d’Arblay to her husband, General d’Arblay, then in Paris, and this narrative may be mentioned as one of the best parts of the whole work; though it evidently has received recent touches that have not improved what we can imagine to have been the more natural tone and style of the original.

* * * * *

A memoir of so distinguished a literary character, of so excellent a musical critic, as Dr. Burney, cannot be read without exciting a very considerable degree of interest, particularly as coming from the pen of a celebrated writer; and, still more especially, as embodying numerous anecdotes of persons who filled such prominent stations, and shone with so much brilliancy, during a period that may almost be called our own. Had the whole been written with the spirit and in the manner of those early letters which Madame d’Arblay has here so judiciously published in all their native vivacity and unaffected simplicity, the work would have been delightful and irreproachable: but, unhappily, she delayed putting together her materials till that judgment, once so strong, was no longer in full vigour; till advancing age had somewhat lessened those qualifications which, at the time when she was deprived of her highly-gifted, excellent, and venerable parent, she, most undeniably, possessed for the performance of such a task.

Vain would it be to express a wish that Madame d’Arblay could be induced to publish what we will venture to call a castigated edition of this Memoir; her age renders it next to impossible that such a hope should be realized: but the time probably will come, when what she has here collected will be revised, be combined in a very different manner, and then form a work worthy of being classed among the most entertaining of the many pieces of biography in which the literature of our country abounds.

ON THE RE-INTRODUCTION OF THE LYRE,

In its most ancient form of a four-stringed Instrument.

To the ~Editor~ of the ~Harmonicon~.

~Sir~,

We have lately seen the guitar, an instrument nearly new to this country, introduced among us, and acquire great popularity. This was an instrument of the Greeks, though far less a favourite than the lyre. Why, then, should not the lyre be now found to possess yet higher recommendations? The fact of its origin in Greece, and the high estimation in which it was held by that people, prove, at least, that it deserves our study.

The strings of the lyre, it appears, were gradually increased from four to forty. The lyre of Apollo had only four strings; and the number of seven continued to be established by law at Sparta, so late as the time of Timotheus, who attempted an innovation in adding four more, and was condemned for it.

Some circumstances render it, in my opinion, probable that, in playing on the lyre, the ancients stopped the strings, at various places, by means of some metallic substance, in order to produce a great variety of notes. Probably the plectrum might occasionally be used for that purpose. It was, indeed, scarcely possible that their κιθαρα should so perfectly resemble the guitar of the present day (as observed in the sequel), without suggesting to them the stopping of the strings of the lyre.

The violin seems to me to be only a modification of the earliest lyre, having attached to it a vast body for the purpose of increasing sound, a contraction in the middle to allow the application of the bow, and an elongated neck to permit the same hand at once to support it against the shoulder and to stop the strings.

What has been gained by these changes?--By the body, loudness of tone; by the bow, continuity; and by the neck, a new mode of at once supporting and stopping.

What is the relative value of these changes?--Great loudness may be no advantage. Continuity may not be desirable, even when the voice is not engaged; and it never is so where the instrument is employed as a mere accompaniment. A new mode of at once supporting and stopping is only of use in this new application of the instrument.

What has been lost by these changes?--for it is really possible that we may have lost something by improving upon the Greeks, and that improvement upon the lyre of Apollo may deserve to be classed with improvements on the Philippics of Demosthenes, on the Iliad of Homer, on the Parthenon of Phidias, &c.--Why, by the body, we may have lost somewhat of the freer aërial vibration when we gained so much of the woody or boxy one, for these should bear a certain relation to each other; by the bow, we may have lost the natural ring of musical chords, when we gained the ever distinguishable scrape of horse-hair and rosin; and by the neck, we may have lost a more perfect stop, by trying at once to stop and support.

It is worthy of remark, that the mere external beauty of all instruments of this kind is destroyed by a large body or sounding-box. The most beautiful forms of the lyre, among the Greeks, had least of this; and even the guitar had a body proportionately small, if we may judge from that of which a figure, hitherto I believe unobserved, may be seen sculptured among the Townley marbles in the British Museum--No. 35 of the fifth room.

The violin has, in regard to beauty of form, too large a body. It looks something like the shell of a large crab with a tail attached to it. The bow, however, gives an external vibration which compensates for this; and it would almost seem that we might consider the length of the bow as added to that of the strings.

In the construction of stringed instruments, nothing seems more wonderful than that the strings should be incapable of producing what may be called musical sound, except in connexion with some hollow wooden or other body; that the vibrations of the former should seem incapable of being communicated to the air; and that, though the latter is itself incapable of producing any musical sound, it should so accurately communicate, and, as it were, enforce, the power of each otherwise silent string which is attached to it.--This subject requires further observation and inquiry.

So much for the body at present.--I would more particularly dwell on the great advantage resulting from the absence of that continuity of tone which is produced by the bow, where the instrument is a mere accompaniment.

Where tones are emitted in consequence of strings not being struck or rubbed, but merely set free from the finger, where these tones assist and verify the voice, and yet, owing to their peculiar quality, in no way interfere with it, and where, from want of continuity, they gradually fall while the tones of the voice steadily proceed, or even rise,--a beautiful contrast is formed, the voice acquires an accuracy, boldness, and independence which could not otherwise be obtained by it, and all its power and splendour are displayed to the utmost advantage.

It was evidently this change from non-continuity to continuity of tone, and the corresponding change of position, which unfitted the violin for an accompaniment to the voice, and which leave to the lyre its high prerogative in this respect.

These reflections have led me to propose the restoration of the lyre, and that in its most ancient form, as a four-stringed instrument; for such form would be attended with a great advantage, namely, that the whole of the violin music at present extant would be instantly applicable to it.

Its advantages over the violin or violoncello played pizzicato, are its far greater beauty of form, the absence of the wooden tone, the freedom of its strings, and its capability of a fuller harmony--a vast recommendation in these days.

The lyre is indeed altogether unrivalled for beauty of form. It may be constructed of any size to avoid the wooden tone of the sounding-box. Its strings, which vibrate with perfect freedom, may be accurately stopped by means of a metallic instrument. Half or quarter notes may be produced on it; and these may be run into each other, upward or downward, by carrying the stop correspondingly over the string.

It is not, however, enough to propose this: I have carried into practice what I recommend. By merely cutting away the finger-board of an old lute, reducing it to the length of a violin, and fitting it up with four strings, I have procured a lyre which fulfils every expectation that can reasonably be founded on such a transformation.

Great beauty and even splendour may, however, be given to the form of the lyre, and of these it is quite worthy, for its capabilities seem to have little limit. I have no doubt, therefore, that it is destined to become, in the hands of the vocalist, precisely what the violin is in those of the instrumentalist.

~Donald Walker.~

A BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF TAMBURINI. ~By~ M. CASTIL BLAZE.

Antonio Tamburini, the man who has brought base singing to its utmost perfection, was born at Faenza, March 28, 1800. He was the son of Pasquale Tamburini and Luigia Collina. His father was a professor of music at Faenza, playing on the clarionet, the horn, and the trumpet. He quitted this town and went to Fossombrone, near Ancona, where he became the director of the musicians entertained by the municipal authorities. Antonio accompanied his father, who taught him the rudiments of music, and then gave him lessons on the horn. At the age of nine the young Tamburini played this instrument very well, though it never pleased him; but the fatigue attendant on its practice in the case of so young a subject, brought on a serious illness, which determined his father to change the object of his son’s musical studies. When his health was perfectly re-established, he was placed under the Maestro di Capello at Fossombrone, who exercised him continually in the solfeggi, and then brought him forward in all the churches of the town and its environs. He was everywhere admired for the beauty of his voice; but when he was twelve years old, his father’s engagement at Fossombrone being ended, they returned to his native town of Faenza, where he was engaged at the theatre to sing the soprano parts in the chorus. The smallest towns in Italy possess their musical artists of the first merit; and such singers as Mombelli, David, and Donzelli, did not disdain to assist at the theatre of Faenza during the fair. Our youthful choriste heard and admired their execution; he profited by what he heard, and without receiving lessons from any one, formed his own style on the models that he had thus daily opportunities of witnessing. He divided his time between the church and the theatre, as is the custom in countries where music still forms a prominent part in the service of the temple. His assistance was required in the chapels of all the neighbouring convents, where his fine voice and delicate and florid execution were the theme of universal admiration.

At eighteen Tamburini resolved to see the world, and, without bidding adieu to his parents, this nightingale of Faenza took flight for Bologna, the rendezvous of all those pretenders to musical fame who, possessing moderate talent, come there hoping to form engagements with the managers of various corps of itinerant artists who seek for such to fill their ranks; and with one of these, who was forming a troupe for the theatre at Cento, he associated himself.

In the mean time the delicate soprano of Tamburini had become a fine base, at once sonorous and flexible--full of expression and pathos, and, at the same time, capable of executing with ease rapid and brilliant passages. He made his débût in the town of Cento, in La Contessa di Col-Erboso of Generali, and was agreeably surprised by the reception he met with: the measured and moderate praises bestowed on him in his native town had not prepared him for the enthusiastic plaudits that awaited this his débût in the first rank of dramatic character as a base singer. However, such was his success, that it emboldened the leader to advertise a representation for the benefit of this highly-favoured débutant: honour was, however, all that he derived from this evening’s success; the profit went to the funds of the troupe. At Mirandola, at Correggio, his success was the same: at the latter place he met with Azioli, who congratulated him on his voice and his talent, telling him at the same time, that with more regular study he would probably have had less brilliant success. Their musical tour completed, the troupe returned to Bologna, where one of the actors proposed to ask for the Teatro Contavalli, for the purpose of giving representations, but Tamburini distrusted his powers, nor could the favourable reception he had hitherto met with make him confident of success with the more refined audience of Bologna. In this diffidence none shared, and it was determined that the attempt should be made. The dilettanti of Bologna confirmed the judgment already given at Cento, Mirandola, and Correggio; in consequence, he was immediately engaged for the theatre at Piacenza, during the Carnival of 1819. Here Tamburini found a much more extensive musical library, and was enabled thus to quit the circumscribed path he had hitherto trodden, and to launch out at once into the wide field of Rossini’s compositions. He appeared first in the Cenerentola, and his fame spreading rapidly, Rimbaldi came express from Naples to judge of the merits of this youthful pretender, and finding that report had not exaggerated his talents, immediately engaged him for the Teatro Nuovo in that city. If his débût here was not marked by that enthusiastic applause which had awaited him in other places, his success was not the less solid, being only delayed by the caution of a fastidious public, which here, as in Paris, withholds its praise till the judgment is entirely satisfied. It is enough to say, his engagement was renewed for the next season.

During these two years, Pavesi, Generali, Cordella, and Mercadante, wrote for Tamburini. The troubles of 1820 causing the theatres of Naples to be closed, he went to Florence, where he was attacked by a serious indisposition, which checked for a time his career of fame. From Florence he went to Leghorn for the Carnival; and from thence to Turin. In the autumn of 1822 he appeared on the immense stage of La Scala, at Milan, and met here with Mlle. Marietta Gioja, a singer of much merit and most agreeable figure, to whom he was soon after married. Passing through Venice, on his road to Trieste, where he was engaged for the Carnival, he was stopped by a mandate too powerful and too flattering to be resisted, that he might assist at two representations of Il Matrimonio Segreto, in presence of the Emperors of Germany and Russia, and at the concerts given to them and their court.

He afterwards proceeded to Venice to fulfil his engagement there, whence he went to Sicily, and remained two years at Palermo. A singular story is told of him during his residence in that city, where a custom prevails of allowing, during the first day of the Carnival, the audience at the theatres to interrupt and drown the performance by every sort of discordant noise. The prima donna, offended at this licence, refused to perform her part; the people were furious; and Tamburini, who had once before allayed the storm by his ready wit, now undertook to go through the scene in the dress of Elisa, and in the high tones of his clear falsetto, which he is said to have done with the most perfect success, contriving even to perform the duet, with which the scene concludes, by rapidly changing from the high notes of the female part to the deep and full tones of his own natural voice. He gave another proof of the versatility of his talent at Naples, where the principal woman having, through sudden illness, lost her power of singing, he went through the whole aria while she leaned motionless on his shoulder. After he quitted Palermo, he entered into an engagement with Barbaja for four years, during which he appeared at Milan, at Vienna, and at Genoa, for the opening of the Carlo-Felice. He was then recalled to Naples by Barbaja, with whom he had renewed his engagement. After two years of uninterrupted success at Naples, he came to London; thence he proceeded to Paris, where he made his débût on the 7th of October, 1832, in his favourite part of Dandini in La Cenerentola.

Tamburini is a good actor; his figure is manly, and his exterior is altogether noble and prepossessing; his acting is full of spirit and gaiety. His voice is a fine baritone, well defined, extending from ~A~ to ~F~, occasionally reaching ~G~♯, and sometimes descending to ~G~♭. I might have allotted to him the two full octaves without reserve, but I prefer to retrench the semitone, above and below, that I may give to his voice and tone the full praise it merits. It is round, rich, and clear, of wonderful flexibility, and such astonishing firmness, that it is impossible to suspect any note is passed over unperceived. He has the neatness and precision of execution that Ber and Barizel have acquired on the clarionet or bassoon. The tone is equal in its whole extent, taking and holding ~F~♯ with as much ease as a tenor voice would do, or running over the notes with a vivacity unheard of till now; while its pathetic tones, in the cavatina from La Straniera, Mai tu vieni o misera, move the hearer even to tears. The parts of Dandini and of Figaro show his comic powers, his good taste, and the astonishing rapidity of his articulation. No singer has yet displayed so much grace in the andante from La Cenerentola, Come un Ape. The part of Valdeburgo, in La Straniera, and of Uberto in l’Agnese of Paer, have taught us to appreciate his pathetic powers, and even to the insignificant part of Faraone, in Mosè, he has given a degree of importance which does honour to his powers. Such brilliant successes could not fail to induce our directors of the Italian Opera in Paris to engage Tamburini for the ensuing season.

ON PRIZES FOR GLEES.

~Sir~, London, May 18th, 1833.

The adjudication, last Tuesday, of the premium given by the Catch-Club for the best glee, has very much excited the notice of amateurs as well as professors. Not that the taste, much less the impartiality, of those who voted on the occasion is at all seriously impugned, for they had nothing but second-rate compositions to deal with, though one which was rejected is superior to either of the two selected for final choice. But great regret is openly expressed that the members of so long established, so distinguished a musical society,--a society to which we are indebted for the finest works of their kind that this, their native country, ever produced,--should now, when genius is not abundant, bind themselves to award their prize, whether the candidates do or do not establish a just claim to it. Suppose, it is said, that next year another Cooke, another Webbe, a Stafford Smith, or a Callcott, should start up, would any of these feel honoured by a premium that had been bestowed on compositions with which they would hardly have deigned to compete?

You probably may ask what remedy there is for the evil? I will endeavour to point one out; and I think that those who have to discharge a duty which often is so perplexing and comfortless, will be inclined to listen at least to my proposal. My remedy is this:--let it not be imperative on the club to give the prize when the positive merits of the claimants are insufficient to entitle any one of them to the reward. Sometimes it happens that two or more competitors, of great and equal ability, appear together; in such cases it is a very painful task to make the selection. Now, if the judges held in hand, had at their disposal, one or more deferred prizes, they would possess the means to reward merit when it should appear in a plurality of instances, and thus stimulate to further exertion those who might be at once depressed by having their reasonable hopes disappointed, and whose failure might prevent them from making another effort. For real genius, Sir, is always sensitive, and sometimes is easily discouraged; while plodding mediocrity is devoid of the finer feelings, is persevering, and ready to profit by the dearth of real, of commanding talent.

I wish it to be understood, however, that I have no intention that the latter observation should be applied to any individual whatever,--it is meant to be quite general, not personal.

I have the honour to be, &c.

~An Amateur.~

REVIEW OF NEW MUSIC.

SACRED MUSIC.

1. ~Te Deum~, ~Jubilate~, ~Magnificat~, and ~Nunc Dimittis~, in score, for four voices, with an accompaniment, composed by the Rev. ~Edward Shuttleworth~, Curate of Chorley. (Preston.)

2. ~Set of Hymns~, for three voices, from ‘Church and Home Psalmody,’ by the Rev. ~T. J. Judkin~, M.A., composed by ~D. Crivelli~. (The Author, Upper Norton-street.)

3. ~The Sacred Musical Offering~; the Poetry by ~Bishop Heber~, Mrs. ~Hemans~, &c.; the Music by ~Beethoven~, ~Mozart~, &c., edited by ~C. H. Purday~. (Purday.)

4. ~The Monthly Sacred Minstrel~, edited by ~John Goss~. Nos. 1 and 2. (Cramer and Co.)

We have more than once taken the liberty to offer it as our opinion, that, as an amusement, and to fill up those leisure moments which every profession, if prudently pursued, must afford, music is the fittest for the clergy, not only because it is intellectual and innocent, but inasmuch as it enables a divine to superintend and regulate an influential, therefore an important, part of the church service. A knowledge of this art qualifies him to advise and direct his organist and his singers, who, in most cases, stand much in need of counsel, for want whereof they not unfrequently, though we are persuaded unintentionally, run many risks of making ridiculous that which should excite nothing but associations and feelings of the gravest and calmest kind.

The author of the first of the above publications is, clearly, a good musician; the whole of his Service is evidence of this, though it does not enable us to add that it exhibits much invention. The plan long laid down has here been followed with a scrupulousness which, probably, Mr. Shuttleworth considers a duty: if he has erred, his error is on the right side, for any attempt to over-modernize, to radically change, the form of our church music, is to be deprecated and resisted. This is a Verse Service in ~F~, not elaborately written, pleasing melody, harmony good but not deep, and a correct accentuation of the words, appearing to have been the great objects of the composer, in which he has succeeded. Those choirs, consequently, which are anxious to increase their library, may safely add the present work to their collection.

* * * * *

Mr. Crivelli’s Hymns are creditable to his taste, and likewise show that he has made himself better acquainted with our language than is the case with most of his countrymen. Nevertheless he has wanted--and this is by no means surprising--some little assistance in adjusting his notes to English poetry, though the instances of error are few, and correction may easily be applied by the intelligent singer. The hymns are six in number, four for soprano, contr’alto, (or low soprano,) and base; and two for soprano, tenor, and base. The style is an intentional, but not heterogeneous mixture of Italian and English; the parts are vocal and easy, and the accompaniment is simple without being meagre.

No. 3 is an elegant volume in quarto, with frontispiece, presentation plate, gilt leaves, and all the exterior decorations of the best musical annuals. Its interior, too, corresponds, in some degree, with its outside appearance; of the twenty compositions contained in the volume, nearly all are respectable, and some much to be commended. Two by Neükomm have much pleased us; also one each by Dr. Carnaby and Edwin Nielson. An adaptation of a quartet by Mozart, said to be his last composition, is a good piece of simple harmony: and the very air by Beethoven which is given in its true form in our present number, is here adapted to words; but much altered in many respects, and transposed from ~A~ flat to ~G~--we need not say, very detrimentally. The words upon the whole suit the music very well; but an exception cannot but be made as regards the third in the set, ‘Oh! read to me,’ where we find more blunders than we supposed could have been gathered together in three pages;--e. g. promises; penitent;--‘of’ and ‘its,’ occupying half a bar each, and moreover the accented half, &c.: nevertheless, the volume contains enough to make it worth the price which all experienced people will buy it at. The marked price, indeed, is moderate.

* * * * *

No. 4 is a nicely got up little work in octavo, published in numbers, each containing eight pages. In the present two numbers are five pieces,--an air by Neükomm, from his oratorio; one by Mr. Goss; the Vesper Hymn, by Attwood, originally published in the Harmonicon, which ought to have been acknowledged; an Elegy for three voices, by Eisenhofer; and a movement from Beethoven’s Septet, with words very well set to it. This is a publication entitled to much commendation; but what will the brethren of the music trade say to so cheap a work? Surely Messrs. Cramer and Co. will be anathematized by the fraternity!

* * * * *

PIANO-FORTE.

1. ~Impromptu Musicale~ sur la Ronde Bacchique des Démons de la Tentation, composée par ~F. Kalkbrenner~. Op. 114. (Goulding and D’Almaine.)

2. L’Hermite, 3me. ~Rondo~, sur des thêmes de La Tentation, (Musique de ~Halevy~) arrangée par ~Adolphe Adam~. (Chappell.)

Whether it is that the state of the country influences the publication of music of this class, or that the extravagancies and inanities with which we have so long been deluged have at length produced the effect which was to be expected, we will leave our readers to determine; certain it is that very few compositions for the piano-forte have appeared this spring--a season in which they usually are so abundant that we have found it difficult to keep pace with them, and indeed have generally been deeply in arrear with composers of all descriptions. Our belief is, that music requiring nothing but mechanical powers of execution, in which neither taste nor invention have any share, has had its day--a very long one; but people are growing more rational, common sense is returning, and with it will be again opened to us those rich stores of the great masters, the access to which has been almost choked up by the rubbish that has issued in cart-loads from the shops, and been recommended by nine masters in every ten throughout the country. Haydn and Mozart will again be met with in the drawing-room; Beethoven’s best and most reasonable works will once more be placed before the fashionable amateur; Dussek’s, Clementi’s and Steibelt’s works, with the early ones of Cramer, will be restored; and even Handel and Corelli must speedily be acknowledged to possess as much claim to notice as Czerny, Pixis, and id genus omne.

The two rondos before us are from an opera very popular in Paris; indeed we are indebted to the theatre for all our most modern piano-forte music. The first air--if air it may be called, which, though it has rhythm, possesses little melody--is simple enough, being nearly all confined to the following notes:--

Mr. Kalkbrenner has of course very much extended it, by passages, one or two of which bring back good old harmony to our recollection, by others not inappropriate, and none difficult; but altogether this has not many pleasing qualities to recommend it.

* * * * *

No. 2 is an agreeable though not a very uncommon air. M. Adam has enlarged it in a familiar manner certainly, for while about his task, if a task it proved, he was not able to call up a single new thought. And let us caution him against such left-hand passages as they are intolerable, and send one back to the horn-book of music. They are, it is true, to be met with now and then in some few of the old and excellent masters; but in reviving the works of these--which will soon be set about--all such twaddle must be carefully expunged.

* * * * *

1. ~Introduction~ and ~Rondino~ in the air, ‘Under the Walnut-tree,’ composed by ~T. A. Rawlings~. (Chappell.)

2. ~Military Divertimento~, in which is introduced a favourite Spanish Air, composed by ~James Calkin~. (Chappell.)

It will be supposed, from the wording of the title-page of No. 1, that the air is the composition of Mr. Rawlings, whereas it is the very melody that lately produced the controversy between the author and Mr. Gödbe, and to which our pages gave publicity. The best part of the air, in fact, is Stephen Storace’s, though it is very possible that Mr. George Linley, who claims it, had it floating in his memory, without being aware that it had any rightful owner. Mr. Rawlings has increased its dimensions by some exceedingly commonplace descant, and the guilt of employing the very base which we have above reprobated he shares in common with M. Adolphe Adam. The whole is easy and inoffensive, with the exception we mention.

To criticise No. 2 would be to break a butterfly on a wheel. A butterfly!--most of the papilio tribe are beautiful, a quality not at all perceptible in this one-part-milk-and-nine parts-water production, craving the reader’s pardon for so long a compound; which epithet, however, overrates the strength of the composition under notice.

* * * * *

1. ~Divertimento~ from ~Bellini’s~ Pirata, arranged by W. Etherington. (Metzler.)

2. ~Rondoletto~, composed by ~T. M. Mudie~. (Cramer and Co.)

In the first of these, three of the less commonly known airs in Il Pirata are woven together with some skill. The first pages are the best, though Mr. Etherington ought to have been aware that such reiterated triplets of the same notes as are introduced at page 2 are ill adapted to keyed instruments. Is this, we beg leave to ask, one of the works which the publisher sells to the profession, and to country traders, at a quarter of the marked price?

No. 2 is a mere bagatelle, but it is a pretty trifle, and a trait or two of originality may be traced amidst its unaffected simplicity.

* * * * *

DUETS, PIANO-FORTE.

1. ~Grand March~, The Knights-Templars, composed by the ~Chevalier Sigismond Neukomm~. (Chappell.)

2. The ~Choruses~ in ~Haydn’s~ Creation, selected and arranged by ~W. Watts~. No. 5. (Cramer and Co.)

3. ~Fantasia~ sur des Motifs favoris de La Fiancée d’~Auber~, composée par ~C. Czerny~. Op. 247. (Chappell.)

No. 1 is a spirited composition, in which are some good effects, but so little of novelty of any kind is to be discovered in it, that it really may be considered as--what most modern things are--a compilation.

* * * * *

No. 2, the fifth of a set of six, from Haydn’s oratorio, is the chorus ‘Achieved is the glorious work,’ including the lovely trio, ‘On Thee each living soul awaits,’ arranged in Mr. Watts’s usual effective and sensible manner.

* * * * *

No. 3, though confessedly made up of subjects by Auber, is modestly claimed by M. Czerny as his own composition. The assurance of some few musicians seems to have no bounds, but we really believe that it is attributable to want of understanding, to no worse cause, therefore make great allowances for it; though we deem it prudent to mention the matter, in order to warn others from being guilty of the like weakness. Here are certainly dove-tailed together some of the best airs in the opera, and a brilliant duet is fabricated out of them, but the present arranger can very seldom refrain from exhibiting his musical folly, and has now filled too many pages with passages quite irrelevant, exceedingly difficult to players in general, and producing no satisfactory result. Let the reader not overlook one remarkable fact recorded on the title-page of this publication,--it is M. Czerny’s two-hundred and forty-seventh work! And he is still quite a young man. What a treasure to the stationer! What a labourer for the cheesemonger!

* * * * *

~The Musical Scrap Book~, edited by ~Finlay Dun~. No. 1. 1 vol. 4to. (Edinburgh, Wood and Co.)

This is a collection of ‘original and selected songs, ballads, &c. for the voice, and polonaises, quadrilles, &c. for the piano-forte.’ Why it should be called a Scrap-book we cannot positively say, seeing that all the pieces it contains are entire, not fragments. Perhaps it is so named for pretty much the same reason that a multitude of leaves covered with music-printer’s blackest ink was not long since called an Album.--Lucus a non lucendo. But we forgive the misnomer, and look to the body of the work, which, in thirty-two pages, comprises some rather agreeable trifles, both vocal and instrumental, and three or four much too feeble to be at all pleasant. But to make up for these, we have the lovely andante from Mozart’s second violin quartet, arranged for the piano-forte, and a very sweet ballad by Marschner. The work is brought out in a neat respectable manner, and intended as a quarterly publication.

* * * * *

VOCAL.

1. ~Terzetto~, ‘Son finite omai le Pene,’ from the Operetta Amore e Psiche, composed by ~Liverati~; the Poetry by Signor ~Petronj~. (Lonsdale and Mills.)

2. ~Ballad~, ‘The birken Bower,’ written by ~J. Imlah~, Esq. the Melody by Mrs. ~Philip Millard~. (Chappell.)

3. ~Ballad~, ‘Hark! the merry Bells,’ written and composed by Mrs. ~William Marshall~. (Gerock and Co.)

4. ~Ballad~, ‘The Rose of Peace,’ by ~J. Augustine Wade~, Esq. (Chappell.)

5. ~Song~, ‘The Archery Meeting,’ the Poetry by ~T. H. Bayly~, Esq., the Music by ~G. Linley~, Esq. (Chappell.)

6. ~Ballad~, ‘The Hunter’s Bride,’ the Poetry by L. E. L., composed by ~G. Hargreaves~. (Hawes.)

7. ~Canzonet~, from Stanzas by ~Percy B. Shelley~, composed by ~F. W. Horncastle~. (Hawes.)

8. ~Ballad~, ‘Maureen,’ the Poetry by ~Barry Cornwall~, composed by ~John Goss~. (Cramer and Co.)

9. ~Canzonet~, ‘When we two parted,’ written by ~Lord Byron~, composed by ~C. Rudolphus~. (Wessel and Co.)

10. ~Song~ of the Serenaders, ‘Oh! rove with me,’ written and composed by ~H. K. Sayers~, Esq. (Card.)

11. ~Ballad~, ‘When this life is o’er,’ written and composed by ~Henry Fase~. (Eavestaff)

12. ~Canzonet~, ‘The Sicilian Girl to the Madonna,’ composed by ~J. M. Harris~. (Aldridge.)

13. ~Canzonet~, ‘How sweet is Woman’s Love!’ the words by ~H. G. Knight~, Esq., composed by ~J. E. Goodson~. (Falkner.)

14. ~Song~, ‘The white Cliffs of England,’ Written by ~G. Linley~, Esq., composed by ~W. Newland~. (Chappell.)

15. ~Song~, ‘What Hand is that?’ the Poetry by Mrs. ~Charles Greville~, composed by ~C. Eulenstein~. (Chappell.)

No. 1 is a very graceful trio for three soprano voices; and for the convenience of those who prefer English to Italian words, the music is also set to a translation, which is remarkably well adapted to the notes.

* * * * *

No. 2 is a very pretty air, an imitation of Caledonian melody.

* * * * *

The whole of No. 3 may be said to be comprised in four bars, for the ballad is nothing but a repetition of these, which have not either novelty or beauty to recommend them.

No. 4 does not exhibit a single original feature.

* * * * *

No. 5, a humorous, clever song, is a pleasant laugh at that employment by which idle people contrive to kill time, ycleped archery. It is a matron who sings, and complains that one of her daughters is too fat to wear the prize bracelets, even should she win them, and the other so giddy that she once shot her arrow into Lady Flint’s eye, instead of the target. Neither attract the desired notice of the male toxophilites, who therefore are by the disappointed mother called cross-beaux.

* * * * *

No. 6 is far superior to the common run of modern ballads; the air is expressive, and the words are sensibly and pleasingly set.

* * * * *

No. 7 is the composition of a good musician, who knows how to read the words he sets; but it is rather the fruit of labour than of inspiration.

* * * * *

No. 8 is a gentle, appropriate melody, full of good taste, and ably accompanied.

* * * * *

No. 9 is a very charming composition, rich both in air and harmony. Such music is worthy of such poetry. At the eighth bar of the second page is an error in accentuation, which may be corrected thus:

The Words are difficult to set, certainly, but ‘kiss’ must be the emphatic word, not ‘thy.’

* * * * *

Much of the little we have said of No. 3 applies to No. 10; we have to add that it is a duet in F sharp.

* * * * *

Nos. 11 and 12 do not, by many degrees, reach mediocrity.

* * * * *

There are some good passages in No. 13, and the composer has well expressed the sentiment of the words, till he arrives at nearly the end, where he has fallen into the error of concluding with the boisterous vulgar close with which nine out of every ten Italian bravuras terminate.

* * * * *

The motivo of No. 14 is a pleasing air, and the accompaniment is easy and unaffected; there are, however, certain rests improperly placed, which break the connexion of the words, and almost lead to the conclusion that the music was adapted, not written, to the poetry.

No. 15 is not inelegant, though, like most of the songs which every month brings forth in such abundance, anything but new in phrase, in cadence, in melody, and in accompaniment.

* * * * *

PIANO-FORTE AND HARP.

~Grand Duet~ for Piano-forte and Harp, or two Piano-fortes, by ~F. Kalkbrenner~ and ~F. Dizi~. Op. 82. (Chappell.)

This, if we mistake not, was written for and performed at the Philharmonic Concerts some years ago. It is in four movements, the first an adagio in ~F~ minor, opening into an allegro maestoso in the major key; the third is Mozart’s air, ‘Deh! perdona,’ in ~A~; and the last, an allegretto in ~F~. We can here trace the scientific bias (we wish he would more often yield to its influence) of M. Kalkbrenner, and that delicacy of taste which is M. Dizi’s characteristic; each has had his share in producing a spirited, elegant, and effective work, in which there is no want of that grand essential in music, air, nor any deficiency of that without which melody soon becomes insipid, harmony. It is moderate in length, and displays none of those wanton, stupid difficulties of execution which the works of some of our modern German composers are bristled with, but should only be intrusted to good and experienced players.

* * * * *

HARP.

1. The Quatuor du Turnois. ‘Sonnez Clairons,’ from Robert le Diable, arranged as a ~Quick March~, by ~N. C. Bochsa~. (Mori and Lavenu.)

2. The celebrated ~Alpine Air~, arranged as a Divertimento, by ~Thomas Erard Cripps~. (Longman.)

No. 1 is the animated, animating quartet, from Meyerbeer’s last work, arranged in an easy, but most effective manner.

* * * * *

No. 2 is certainly a very popular air, and not undeservedly so. The adaptation is free enough from all difficulties, but we cannot say that in other respects it is entitled so much praise.

* * * * *

VIOLIN.

1. ~Practical Rules~ for producing ~Harmonic Notes~ on the Violin, with a Theoretical Explanation of the manner in which Musical Notes, natural and harmonic, are produced by vibrating Bodies, composed and arranged by an Amateur. (Cramer, Addison, and Beale.)

2. ~Paganini’s~ Method of producing ~Harmonics~, exemplified and explained in a Series of Exercises, to which is added the Prayer from Mosè, as performed on the 4th String by that extraordinary Violinist, arranged by ~C. H. Mueller~. (Purday.)

3. ~Tricks on the Violin~, Introduction to and Variations on ‘Nel Cor,’ in which are introduced some Imitations of Paganini’s Style, by ~C. H. Mueller~. (Cocks and Co.)

4. ~Sonata~ on the Prayer from Mosè, ~Solo~, for the ~Violin~ on one String, &c., by ~C. H. Mueller~. (Purday.)

Now and then, though very rarely, it may be desirable to have recourse to the harmonics of the violin. In certain passages they prevent the inconvenience of taking the finger from a particular string, and obviate the necessity of sudden and extreme shifts, but it is a question whether such passages should ever be written for the instrument; more especially, as is commonly the case, when they introduce notes so high as to be almost inappreciable, and so weak as to be scarcely audible. The compass of the violin, including nearly three octaves of distinct and easily produced sounds, is surely range sufficient for all rational purposes; and it is our decided opinion that, except in a few instances which just serve to prove the rule, an extension of the scale of this instrument beyond what may be called its natural boundary, is of no practical utility, and would scarcely ever be resorted to, but for the purpose of displaying the dexterity of the performer.

The author of the first of these works was induced to inquire into the manner of producing harmonics in consequence of hearing so much of Paganini’s performances, and repeated trials led to the rules he has here laid down. But, resolved to test the accuracy of his practical results by philosophical investigation, he submitted them to a friend skilful in the theory of vibrations, who demonstrated their truth, and has furnished Part III. of the present publication,--‘An Account of the Theory of the Vibration of Musical Strings, explaining the production of the Harmonic Notes on any Stringed Instrument,’ which is executed in a scientific manner, though it will not be so clear to the mere violinist as probably the author expects[56].

Part I. of this work consists of ‘Practical Rules,’ &c., which are clearly delivered and satisfactorily illustrated. Part II. is a continuation of the first, therefore it was hardly necessary to separate it. This includes a few good examples, and a very useful table, calculated on divisions into tenths, eighths, sixths, &c. of the fourth open string, and showing in notes, the harmonics resulting from the string when touched at any of those points of division.

* * * * *

No. 2 is chiefly made up of materials furnished by the author of No. 1. The latter, however, finding that what he supplied had been published in an incorrect, incomplete manner, determined on printing his own system, or that which we have above noticed.

* * * * *

The titles of Nos. 3 and 4 fully describe the nature of the two publications, which, we will add, display great industry and no little ingenuity.

ANCIENT CONCERTS.

SEVENTH CONCERT,

Under the Direction of the Duke of Cumberland, Wednesday,

May 1, 1833.

~Act I.~

Introduction. Chorus. ‘O come, let us sing.’ ~Handel.~ (Anthem.)

Air, ‘O come, let us worship.’ Mr. Vaughan. Chorus, ~Handel.~ ‘Glory and worship.’

Frost Scene, ‘What ho!’ (King Arthur.) ~Purcell.~

Concerto 5th. (Grand.) ~Handel.~

Cantata, ‘From silent shades.’ Miss Stephens ~Purcell.~

Madrigal, ‘Let me, careless.’ ~Linley.~

Song, ‘Sorprender mi vorresti.’ Mad. Cinti Damoreau. ~Hasse.~

Chorus, ‘When his loud voice.’ (Jephtha.) ~Handel.~

~Act II.~

Overture. (Samson.) ~Handel.~

Song, ‘How willing my paternal love.’ Mr. Parry. ~Handel.~ (Samson.)

Glee, ‘O’er desert plains.’ ~H. Waelrent.~

Recit, ‘Ye sacred priests.’ Song, ‘Farewell, ye ~Handel.~ limpid.’ Mrs. Knyvett. (Jephtha.)

Madrigal, ‘Now is the month of Maying.’ ~Morley.~

Recit. ‘My prayers are heard.’ Song, ‘Tears such ~Handel.~ as tender.’ Mr. Phillips. (Deborah.)

Chorus, ‘Fall’n is the foe.’ (Judas Macc.) ~Handel.~

Song, ‘Confusa, abbandonata.’ Mad. Cinti Damoreau ~Bach.~

Chorus, ‘The many rend.’ (Alexander’s Feast.) ~Handel.~

Vain the search after the name of Haydn or Mozart in a concert selected by his Highness of Cumberland! And as to Beethoven’s, the mere sound of it in the royal director’s ear would be as the piercing, the threatening din of the revolutionary tocsin. The illustrious Duke is perhaps quite right--we, possibly, quite wrong; but it seems to us that a discreet mixture of modern music (not by living composers) with that of older date, would be highly to the advantage of both, particularly in a programme consisting of from eighteen to twenty pieces--a number which almost unavoidably must be felt oppressive, unless that variety, which can only be found in composers of widely-distant periods, is as much an object of attention as contrast in the species, sentiment, and keys of the pieces brought together.

But though there was a want of a due admixture of schools in the present concert, the music was the choicest of its kind. The Anthem composed for the Duke of Chandos (Pope’s Timon) is one of Handel’s best, the only weak part being the overture. The lovely air, ‘O come, let us worship,’ is rather beyond Mr. Vaughan’s voice, as it now is: with a note or two more in compass, and a small increase of strength, he would have rendered it more effective. We felt some regret that the melodious fugue, ‘Tell it out among the heathen,’ and the gentle, the charming air, ‘O magnify the Lord,’ so well adapted to Mrs. Knyvett’s powers, were not included. The vocal parts of the Frost scene were taken rather too slow: and a little more point, more emphasis, in the chiding air, ‘Thou doating fool!’ would much have improved it, otherwise this fine specimen of the great English master’s dramatic music was very successfully performed. The Concerto was executed in a manner peculiar to the Ancient Concert band, the conductor and leader of which, and a few others among its members, possess the true tradition of the author’s times and style. We would not exchange one bar of the largo in ~B~ minor, as played by F. Cramer, for all the Friars’ Chants and Witches’ Dances that adroit charlatanerie can produce, or good-humoured credulity applaud. Mad Bess pleased us much, both as part of the present concert and by exciting agreeable recollections: we admire Miss Stephens as she is and remember, with unalloyed satisfaction, what she was. The piano-forte accompaniment, too, deserves honourable mention,--so modest, so judicious! The Madrigal is a chef d’œuvre; it was sung by Mrs. Knyvett, Messrs. Terrail, Vaughan, Phillips, and Sale, in the chastest and most perfect manner. Warm as we are in our admiration of the madrigalists of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, we still must acknowledge that this lovely work of the elder Linley, by surpassing all that preceded it, proves the advance of the art; though, unfortunately, the kind of composition not having been encouraged, little has been gained by the exertion of his genius.

Hasse’s fine Bravura was sung with a neatness of execution which none ever yet exceeded. The most difficult passages proved mere playwork to Mad. Cinti, and she added to them others of her own,--very appropriate ones though,--to show how much more than equal she is to the task assigned to her. Her strength is not great, but the flexibility of her voice is surprising; and her knowledge, not merely of her own part, but of the whole of the score, is apparent in whatever she performs.

The Chorus from Jephtha wanted more support from the trebles. We advise the conductor in future to break through the trammels of custom, and accompany the point of the fugue, ‘They now contract,’ with the diapasons and principals only; that is, to spare us the mixture stops, which scream most abominably when only covered by a few sopranos.

Mr. Parry’s song from Samson was quietly and delicately sung. The glee, ‘O’er desert plains,’ could not have had more justice done it, but this really is little better than a psalm-tune. What a pity that the beautiful verses of Shenstone have never yet been wedded to more congenial music! The Recitative, ‘Ye sacred priests,’ was delivered with great judgment, and the following air, ‘Farewell!’ could not have been more delicately sung: it were, however, to be wished that the shakes, transmitted from one singer to another, could be lessened in number as they pass. And the cadence, another incumbrance, had better be at once repudiated; it is an ancient abomination, which now the English alone practise. Morley’s Madrigal is, both in melody and harmony, free as air--all hilarity, and not a glimpse of pedantry. The chorus should have repeated each stanza, and not, as on the present occasion, have been employed only in the last. Mr. Phillips, in the song from Deborah, was very nearly perfect. Bartleman in this was perfection itself; and so will our excellent living singer be, when he has acquired the deep pathos, the experience of his predecessor. In voice he has a manifest advantage; and this is not his only superiority. The aria, a bravura of John Christian Bach, (the Christian names should have been added,) has all the prettiness, and not a little of the weakness, of the composer, who, of the many sons of John Sebastian Bach, is least worthy of the name. It was executed with the utmost neatness, but not sung con amore. In fact, it has nothing in it to excite any ardour in a singer possessing Mad. Cinti’s knowledge and taste.

EIGHTH CONCERT,

Under the Direction of the Earl Fortescue, Wednesday,

May 8, 1833.

~Act I.~

Overture. (Esther.) ~Handel.~

Madrigal, ‘The silver swan.’ ~Gibbons.~

Recit., ‘Be comforted.’ Song, ‘The Lord.’ (Judas ~Handel.~ Maccabeus.)

Concerto 2nd. ~Corelli.~

Recit., ‘If I give thee.’ Song, ‘Let me wander.’ ~Handel.~ Chorus, ‘And young and old.’ (L’Allegro.)

Quartet, ‘Sing unto God.’ Chorus, ‘Cry aloud.’ ~Croft and Greatorex.~

Glee, ‘As now the shades.’ ~Dr. Cooke.~

Double Chorus, ‘Immortal Lord.’ (Deborah.) ~Handel.~

~Act II.~

Chaconne and Requiem ~Jomelli.~

Recit., ‘No more in Sion.’ Song, ‘Wise men, ~Handel.~ flatt’ring.’ (Judas Maccabeus.)

Madrigal. ‘Dissi all’ amata mia.’ ~Luca Marenzio.~

Chorus, ‘Let none despair.’ (Hercules.) ~Handel.~

Concerto in ~G~. Avison.

Quartet and Chorus, ‘Then round about the starry ~Handel.~ throne.’ (Samson.)

Recit., ‘Justly these evils.’ Song, ‘Why does the ~Handel.~ God.’ (Samson.)

Chorus, ‘Sing unto God.’ (Judas Maccabeus.) ~Handel.~

The overture to Esther and Corelli’s concerto belong to a school which has always been protected and exhibited to the best advantage in these concerts; both were now performed in their true spirit. The immortal chorus from Deborah is a composition which can only receive justice in this orchestra: the great number of vocal performers collected at our grand provincial meetings certainly give more force to it, but are unable to perform it with that precision, that nicety, on which its effect so mainly depends. We never hear the passage where the voices take up the point, ‘to swift perdition,’ accurately executed but at the Ancient Concerts. The song from Judas Maccabeus is generally considered to be one of Handel’s happiest thoughts; but it rolls and rumbles so much, and the base instruments are so continually in unison with the voice--a defect not peculiar to this composer, but to the period in which he wrote--that the only pleasure which it affords us is entirely attributable to the singer, provided that singer be Phillips. Dr. Cooke’s lovely and most masterly glee was a decided failure: it is not at all suited to Mrs. Bishop; her school is of a totally different kind. To Mrs. W. Knyvett this should have been assigned.

The ‘Requiem’ and ‘Agnus Dei’ of Jomelli did not find the choral performers quite at home in their parts, although their occasional want of confidence was only discernible to very experienced and close observers. How ingenious, how effective, and yet how simple, the whole of the base accompaniment to the first movement, the Requiem! Not less admirable, but in another style, is the ‘Agnus Dei,’ and full of original melody, which is still new, because, fortunately, never yet imitated. The fugue, too, at ‘Lux æterna,’ is of that kind which, while its musical learning is as indisputable as great, possesses the superior merit of being pleasing. Mrs. Bishop is not yet familiar with Handel; her ‘Wise men, flatt’ring’ was not what it doubtless will be when she is become more accustomed to this music--though it was far from displeasing. It is much to be wished that the singer would have the courage to get rid of about two-thirds of the shakes which the composer himself, we admit, has written. We are certainly bound by the author’s text, which is permanent, but not by his embellishments, which belonged only to the age that produced them. A singer in the present day who should venture to introduce the double relish and the back-fall of the seventeenth century,--both of which, as well as other ‘graceless graces,’ are constantly found in the old writers,--would be laughed at for his scrupulous adherence to the original. The madrigal of Luca Marenzio is still fresh, and exceedingly elegant; its only fault is want of modulation. The performance of this did great credit to the singers. The fine chorus from Hercules was executed in a most perfect manner. So was the charming quartet from Samson. Here science is turned to the best account: none but a great musician could have worked out such effects, yet the whole is free from every thing that smells of the lamp. It is the true offspring of genius highly cultivated. We are old-fashioned enough in our taste to be pleased with Avison’s concerto, the soli parts in which were nicely played by Mori, (in the absence of F. Cramer,) who was ably seconded by the band, and most judiciously supported by the organ, which Mr. W. Knyvett always manages with taste and discretion. The song from Samson is beyond Mr. Horncastle’s physical powers, and only fit for such a voice and such energy as Braham possesses. Indeed, we so little like its incessant divisions, and especially the puerile attempt to give expression to the word ‘thunder,’ that we should not repine were we never to hear it again.

NINTH CONCERT,

Under the Direction of Lord Burghersh, for the Archbishop of York,

Wednesday, May 15, 1833.

~Act I.~

Anthem, ‘O sing unto the Lord.’ (Sixth.) ~Handel.~

Recit., ‘When he is in his wrath.’ Song, ‘When ~Handel.~ storms the proud.’ Chorus, ‘O Judah, boast.’ (Athalia.)

Quartetto, ‘Come! ohimè!’ (Nina.) ~Paisiello.~

Concerto 4th. (Oboe.) ~Handel.~

Recit., ‘Tranquillo io son.’ Song, ‘Ombra adorata.’ ~Zingarelli.~ (Romeo e Giul.)

Ode, ‘Hence, all ye vain delights.’ ~Webbe.~

Duetto, ‘Son io desto.’ (Nina.) ~Paisiello.~

Chorus, ‘Kyrie eleison.’ ~Beethoven.~

~Act II.~

Overture. (Idomeneo.) ~Mozart.~

Recit., ‘Crudele!’ Song, ‘Ho perduto.’ ~Paisiello.~

Glee, ‘Bird of the wilderness.’ ~Clarke and Greatorex.~

Recit., ‘’Tis done!’ Song, ‘Heart, the seat.’ (Acis ~Handel.~ and Galatea.)

Magnificat. ~Mozart.~

Song, ‘Amor se nume,’ ~Scarlatti.~

Double Chorus, ‘From the censer.’ ~Handel.~

This was a very fine concert, for the music was well chosen, both as regards diversity of school and contrast in style. An infusion of Mozart and Beethoven as moderns, of Paisiello and Zingarelli who may be said to belong to the middle age, and of Handel and Scarlatti as of the ancient class, produced a mixture that suited every taste, and presented a fair prospect of great amelioration in the system by which these concerts are regulated.

The selection from Handel’s anthem made an excellent beginning; we should have been glad to hear the whole of it, for it is one of his best. The scene from Athalia is a good specimen of that fine but comparatively little known oratorio, the magnificent air in which, ‘When storms the proud,’ is exactly suited to Mr. Phillips, who sang it admirably. Paisiello’s delicate quartet was not very thoroughly understood by all the parties engaged in it, nevertheless it proved very satisfactory to the audience. Madame Pasta, who made her first appearance here this season, was as great as usual in the calmly impressive scena from Romeo; and in the air, ‘Ho perduto,’ gave every advantage to the work of a composer who ought again to be brought forward. The song, as it is called, of Alessandro Scarlatti produced quite a surprise. Who ever supposed that an air of so much beauty could have remained thus long unknown in a concert established for the preservation of ancient music? Who ever imagined that a composition upwards of a century old could exhibit so many of the best features of the modern school, that it might be mistaken for the work of Haydn or Mozart? To Signor Rubini we are, it is said, indebted for the introduction of this antique gem, and he placed it in a highly favourable light by his manner of performing it, which, for him, was remarkably chaste.

The Ode (a much better term for it than glee) to Melancholy is one of Webbe’s chefs-d’œuvre, and shows how well that great composer understood the words. It was most perfectly sung by Miss Stephens, Mrs. Knyvett, Messrs. Terrail, Vaughan, Elliot, and Sale. Miss Stephens, in the song from Acis and Galatea, pleased as usual by her captivating simplicity. The Magnificat of Mozart was well performed, and a very grand work it is. The concerto of Handel, every part of which abounds in beautiful melody, and not less masterly, though not extraneous harmony, was most ably executed. The two fugues in this prove how possible it is to unite the learned and the agreeable. The andante of it is delicious, and here the oboe is rendered almost vocal; as is the bassoon in the last movement. The Kyrie of Beethoven wanted rather more rehearsing; and the overture to Idomeneo required the immense power of the Philharmonic band; nevertheless it produced considerable effect. But the stupendous chorus from Solomon was perfect, though wasted as a finale.

TENTH CONCERT,

Under the Direction of the Earl of Cawdor, Wednesday, May 22, 1833.

~Act I.~

Overture. (Ariadne.) ~Handel.~

Recit., ‘Brethren and friends.’ Recit., acc. ‘O thou ~Handel.~ bright orb.’ Chorus, ‘Behold the listening.’ (Joshua.)

Song, ‘Tyrants would.’ Chorus, ‘Tyrants, ye in vain.’ ~Handel.~ (Athalia.)

Recit., ‘Now strike.’ Chorus, ‘Break his bands.’ ~Handel.~ Recit., ‘Hark! hark!’ Song, ‘Revenge! revenge!’ (Alex. Feast.)

Concerto 11th. ~Handel.~

Song, ‘Di quel sublime.’ ~Gluck.~

Glee, ‘See the chariot.’ ~Horsley.~

Recit, ‘Chi per pietà.’ Song, ‘Deh! parlate.’ ~Cimarosa.~

Chorus, ‘Gird on thy sword.’ (Saul.) ~Handel.~

~Act II.~

Symphony. (Jupiter.) ~Mozart.~

Recit., ‘Ecco il punto.’ Song, ‘Non più di fiori.’ ~Mozart.~ (La Clemenza di Tito.)

Glee, ‘Chi mai d’ iniqua stella.’ ~Bononcini.~

Movement from the Lessons. ~Handel.~

Recit., ‘’Tis greater far.’ Song, ‘Pluck root and ~Handel.~ branch.’ Recit., ‘Our souls.’ Chorus, ‘Shall we the God.’ (Esther.)

Song and Quartet, ‘Fairest isle.’ ~Purcell.~

Anthem, ‘My heart is inditing.’ ~Handel.~

The overture to Ariadne owes its chief attraction to the graceful minuet with which it concludes, and this we cannot but think is commonly played too slow at the Ancient Concert. Andante in Handel’s time was a term indicating greater quickness than it is now understood to imply. The recitative, ‘O, thou bright orb!’ contains that risible attempt to describe the arrest of the sun’s course by a long holding note. The chorus, however, is a masterly work, but the voices were not now very firm in it. Mrs. Bishop succeeded well in the air from Athalia. The accompanied recitative, ‘Hark! the horrid sound!’ was delivered in Mr. Braham’s energetic manner; and the following song, one of the most striking proofs of the composer’s genius, is foremost among Mr. Phillips’s triumphs. The air of Gluck was a novelty, and of no ordinary merit. Set to the same words that afterwards exercised the genius of Mozart,--in La Clemenza di Tito--it not only bears a comparison with an admired air of the latter, but in our opinion was superior to it. Mr. Braham, at whose recommendation we believe it was introduced, entered thoroughly into the composer’s design, and gave the true effect to this. But, having an unquenchable antipathy to concerted cadences, we would willingly have spared the two, between the voice and trumpet, added on this occasion. The glee, ‘See the chariot at hand,’ was sung with great correctness. Madame Malibran’s scena and aria of Cimarosa was a most unequal performance: some parts were beyond all praise; others proved the uncertainty of her judgment. Her semitonic passages, neither to be found in the author nor in any way in keeping with his style, were a most unhappy evidence of her occasional want of taste and discrimination; and the broderies she introduced, though not so abundant as is common with her, were misplaced: but her recitative was admirable, and, with the exceptions we have mentioned, the aria was not less splendidly sung. We have heard ‘Gird on thy sword’ better executed: there was a want of shortness in the staccato passages; and in some others the whole band seemed deficient in confidence. The concerto of Handel--a composition which might furnish ample materials for half a dozen of modern growth--was the most perfect performance of the kind we ever heard. This is in fact a violin concerto, and Mori (who led for F. Cramer) played it in a manner that words cannot describe or do justice to. His two cadences, of modest length,--in one of which was an arpeggio, that Paganini, whose chief excellence is in arpeggiando, could not surpass--moved even this audience to a general expression of applause.

In the scena from Mozart’s Tito, Madame Malibran again exhibited her vast powers and unrestrained confidence in her own opinion. The declamatory part of this was superb, though a little hurried; and the immense compass of her voice gave an effect to the air, that, we are almost inclined to say, has never been equalled. But though the conductor took care that the latter opened in the exact time, the singer thought fit to change the movement, and most injudiciously to convert a larghetto (as marked) into an andante. Mr. Knyvett should have shown his independence by checking this, and his respect for the author by insisting on maintaining the time in which he set out. Who, in the name of reason, metamorphosed the round for three voices, ‘Chi mai d’ iniqua stella,’ into a glee for four? This should, of course, be sung by equal voices, one coming in after the other, as the author intended, or else the original design is entirely defeated. The ‘Movement from the Lessons’ is a charming orchestral arrangement of Handel’s lovely air in ~E~, (vulgarly called The Harmonious Blacksmith,) made in excellent taste by the late Mr. Greatorex. The selection from Esther was not interesting, and the remainder of the concert demands no further observation. The room was much fuller than it has hitherto been during the present season.

PHILHARMONIC CONCERTS.

FIFTH CONCERT, Monday, April 29, 1833.

~Act I.~

Sinfonia, No. 3 ~Spohr.~

Aria, ‘Per questa belle mano.’ (Mr. Parry, jun.) ~Mozart.~

Concerto Harp. (Mr. T. Wright.) ~Hummel.~

Duetto, ‘Che al mio bene.’ (Mrs. Wood and Mr. ~Mayer.~ Braham.)

Overture. (Der Freischütz.) ~C. M. von Weber.~

~Act II.~

Sinfonia, No. 2. ~Beethoven.~

Scena, ‘Per pietà.’ (Mr. Braham.) ~Beethoven.~

Concerto Violoncello. (Herr Knoop.) ~Kummer.~

Scena, ‘Sì lo sento.’ (Mrs. Wood.) Faust. ~Spohr.~

Overture. (Zaira.) ~Winter.~

Leader, Mr. Loder.--Conductor, Mr. T. Cooke.

Spohr’s symphony in ~E~ flat is richer in melody and more free from that complication which smells so much of the lamp--from that labour which fatigues the hearer as much as it did the composer, than any one of his instrumental works. His designs are here clearly expressed and readily understood, and we listen to the whole with pleasure, without feeling that any part of it has been too long. It was most accurately performed, as was also Beethoven’s, in ~D~, one of his clearest and most beautiful orchestral productions, sparkling with genius from beginning to end. The calmly grand opening induces us to hope for much, nevertheless the exquisite larghetto surpasses all that had been anticipated. Nor are the scherzo and trio less striking in another style. The overture to the Freischütz went off admirably. The last, Winter’s, we did not hear.

Mr. Wright played Hummel’s celebrated piano-forte concerto in ~E~, arranged for the harp, and executed it in an able manner. Herr Knoop comes from the city of our queen, Meiningen, and was recommended to the notice of the society by his majesty. To do extraordinary things seems to be the object of his ambition, and that to which his labours have chiefly been directed; he therefore can run thirds and octaves with vast celerity and neatness, and play with his left hand close to the bridge, bringing out sounds too high for even a rational violinist to attempt. But this is to please, or at least to surprise, the mob of gentlemen who hear but cannot judge. His tone, the first consideration, is nasal in what we call the legitimate notes of the instrument, and hard in the highest. His taste is not bad, but he has very little of it; and in expression, the vivifying principle of music, he is quite deficient. In short, execution appears to be the god of his idolatry, at whose altar he has sacrificed--if we may judge from a single hearing--nearly all that we consider valuable in the art. The composition he played has been extolled: in our opinion it has very little merit, except of a negative kind. We, however, were very glad to hear him; so we believe were all present, for he was new; and moreover, he has not thrown our own Lindley into shade, but, on the contrary, taught us to value him more highly.

The vocal part of this concert did not prove very successful. Mr. Parry, jun. sang Mozart’s aria very well, but it did not excite much interest. The duet of Mayer has not strength enough for these concerts, and Mr. Braham was not in good voice, the influenza had just commenced an attack on him, by which he was afterwards confined. This state of health of course operated in the scena of Beethoven, much of which, we may also add, is hardly vocal, especially the cacophonous run of semitones. The company were so exhausted by the unreasonable length of Herr Knoop’s concerto, that they left Mrs. Wood to sing the fine scena from Faust to few more than the orchestra by which she was accompanied. Upon the whole, then, it must be confessed that the present performance was not of the most brilliant kind.

SIXTH CONCERT, Monday, May 13, 1833.

~Act I.~

Sinfonia, No. VII. ~Haydn.~

Aria, Signor Rubini, ‘O cara immagine.’ (Il Flauto ~Mozart.~ Magico)

Concerto, Piano-forte (in ~D~ minor), Mr. ~Mozart.~ Mendelssohn Bartholdy

Aria, Madame Cinti Damoreau, ‘Deh vieni, non ~Mozart.~ tardar,’ (Le Nozze di Figaro)

Overture, Bibiana ~Pixis.~

~Act II.~

Sinfonia, MS., composed expressly for this Society, ~F. Mendelssohn and first time of performance Bartholdy.~

Duetto, Madame Cinti Damoreau and Signor Rubini, ~Rossini.~ ‘Ricciardo che veggo!’ (Ricciardo e Zoraide)

Concerto Violin, M. De Beriot ~De Beriot.~

Aria, Madame Cinti Damoreau, ‘En vain j’espère’ ~Meyerbeer.~ (Robert le Diable)

Jubilee Overture ~C. M. von Weber.~

Leader, Mr. Weichsel.--Conductor, Mr. Mendelssohn Bartholdy.

Whatever defects were apparent in the fifth Concert, were fully atoned for by the sixth, in which the most fastidious critic could find only one piece of a doubtful kind, and but one that was not performed in a perfect manner.

Haydn’s symphony, in ~D~, is too generally known and admired to need any remark. M. Mendelssohn’s, composed in pursuance of a resolution of this Society, by which he was requested to write a symphony, overture, and vocal piece, on liberal terms, is a composition that will endure for ages, if we may presume to judge such a work on a single performance. The first movement, an allegro vivace, in ~A~, without any slow opening, speaks at once the highly excited state of the author’s imagination, and the fine flow of his animal spirits, when he wrote it: so full of brilliant conceptions is this, and so rapid their succession, that it would be a hopeless attempt to analyse it without either having heard it several times, or having the score to refer to. We may say the same of the finale, which has this peculiarity--that it is in the minor of the key in which the symphony commences. The slow movement in ~D~ minor is not less distinguished by ingenuity of a very rare description, and beauty of the most discernible kind, than by its undisputed, unquestionable originality: this was loudly encored. The scherzo, in ~A~, and trio, in ~E~, shew genius of a high order in every bar. And, to be brief, the manner in which the whole work was received, by the most critical, the best qualified audience that London (now full of eminent foreign musicians) could assemble, bears us out in what we have said, and would justify us were we to add still more in praise of this masterly production.

The Overture by M. Pixis, now performed for the first time here, begins in a promising manner, with some good harmony, well distributed among the wind instruments; but as it proceeds, it falls off most lamentably, and the greater part of the composition is nothing but noise without design or order, and really seemed to us as if written for that fair which is annually held on the site of Smithfield market.

The performance of Mozart’s Concerto by M. Mendelssohn was perfect. The scrupulous exactness with which he gave the author’s text, without a single addition or new reading of his own, the precision in his time, together with the extraordinary accuracy of his execution, excited the admiration of all present; and this was increased, almost to rapture, by his two extemporaneous cadences, in which he adverted with great address to the subjects of the concerto, and wrought up his audience almost to the same pitch of enthusiasm which he himself had arrived at. The whole of this concerto he played from memory.

A not less admirable performance was M. De Beriot’s on the violin. As a composition, his concerto, in ~B~ minor, is entitled to high and unqualified praise; his subjects are new, pleasing, and skilfully treated, and his instrumentation, the orchestral parts of his work, prove him to be a most able musician: but his execution of this indeed ‘beggars description.’ Words cannot convey a just notion of the fulness and beauty of his tone, the certainty of his double, his triple, stops, the truth of his harmonics,--which, useless as they are, he introduced, we conclude, merely to show his power--the brilliancy of his execution, and the delicacy of his taste. We certainly never heard the violin so played, and the only fault we have to find with M. de Beriot is, that he condescended to introduce once, it not twice, certain pizzicato notes, and thus seemed to sanction a piece of quackery which he must despise. The room rung with the plaudits he drew forth, and it is said to be the intention of the directors to engage M. de Beriot for the eighth concert, being the last.

Signor Rubini refrained, as much as with him is possible, from roulades in the aria of Mozart, and his alternations of fortissimo and pianissimo were more moderate; indeed, he pretty nearly equalized his tones; but this is the only commendation we can bestow on his performance of ‘O Cara Immagine.’ In his duet with Mad. Cinti, his passionate style told better; and here again he spared us those bursts by which he caricatures so much of what is assigned to him. Mad. Cinti was delightful in the aria from Figaro. A universal encore of this proved how completely she had charmed her audience. She was not less excellent in the air of Meyerbeer, though this did not tell so well as the other. In fact the concert was long, and many people were moving off to evening parties.

EXTRACTS FROM THE DIARY OF A DILETTANTE.

[Resumed from page 109.]

April 28th. One of the greatest prôneurs of Signor Paganini has been the editor of La Revue Musicale; but in his last number, speaking of this artist’s recent performance in Paris, he says, Paganini was not on the present occasion equal to what he has been, and it appeared to us that he was not quite satisfied with himself. Is it not more likely that the fit of enthusiasm, excited by novelty, or by a well got up exhibition, is giving way to dispassionate observation and cool criticism?

* * * * *

May 6th. England is about to possess one of the finest rooms, and the largest and most powerful organ in Europe. What the other qualities of the latter will be, remains to be proved. But the metropolis of the kingdom will not have to boast of these advantages, the credit of them will belong to a provincial town, to Birmingham, where a townhall is nearly finished, the interior of which is 140 feet long, 65 wide, and 65 high. In this is to be placed--chiefly for the use of the musical festivals there to be held for the benefit of the General Hospital--the organ alluded to, the following description of which accompanies a lithographic print of the gigantic instrument now building.

The organ case will be forty feet wide and forty-five feet high. The largest metal diapason pipe is to be five feet three inches in circumference, and thirty-five feet in height. The largest wood diapason pipe will measure in the interior upwards of two hundred cubic feet. In the full organ are to be ten open diapasons, and all the other parts must be in calculated proportion to this. There will be sixty draw-stops, and five sets of keys. To supply so stupendous an instrument with wind will require many sets of bellows, the whole superficial measure of which will exceed three hundred and eighty feet. And to give, if it can be fairly estimated, some further idea of the magnitude of this organ, it may be stated, that its weight will amount to upwards of forty tons.

It was intended to open this grand hall, and still grander organ, in the autumn of the present year; but to prevent any injurious haste in the completion of the building and of the instrument, the grand musical festival, which will prove to the county of Warwick that it possesses one of the most splendid rooms, and the most magnificent organ in the world, is deferred till October, 1834.

* * * * *

8th. In the bill of the Ancient Concert this evening is an odd junction,--‘The Chaconne and Requiem of ~Jomelli~.’ It should have been Overture only, this including the Chaconne; and neither have any connection whatever with the Requiem, though they make a very good introduction to it. In future, let us hope that the name of a ballet-tune will not be coupled with the Missa pro defunctis; unless it be intended to have a musical as well as graphic Dance of Death.

* * * * *

11th. The Glee Club this day decreed their prize for the best cheerful glee to Mr. Hawes. Last week, Mr. Goss obtained the prize for a serious glee.

* * * * *

---- This day died a singer, not unknown to fame in her day, Mrs. Dickons, who, at nearly the close of the last century, held rather a prominent station as a performer, both on the stage and in the concert-room. This lady manifested a decided talent for music at a very early age, and at eleven years of age, her father, Mr. Poole, placed her under Rauzzini. At thirteen, the Court Journal tells us, she appeared at Vauxhall; but no notice is taken of this in the account given of her in the Dictionary of Musicians, the heads of which were probably furnished by her direction. Afterwards, but at what exact time I am not aware, she was placed under Mr. John Ashley, jun., who instructed her generally in music, and through the interest of his father she was allowed to sing at the Ancient Concerts.

In 1793, she appeared for the first time on the stage, in the character of Ophelia, and afterwards, progressively, had many principal vocal parts assigned to her; for though her style of singing was far from refined, it was correct; and though her voice wanted fulness, and was reedy, yet her intonation was perfect, her knowledge of music gave her a firmness that few possessed, and she could be relied on both for ability and punctuality.

Miss Poole married a Mr. Dickons in 1800, and retired from the stage, finally, as she supposed, but her union did not prove so happy as she had reason to expect, and she returned to her public employment, and was engaged at the King’s Theatre, where she performed as second to Madame Catalani, who, in 1816, engaged her at the Théâtre Italién in Paris, (then on lease to Madame C.) as prima donna, where I heard her in two or three characters. Her success was such as a second-rate singer has a right to expect from a polite audience; she was listened to with much attention, some applause, but not, after her debut, by very numerous auditors. I was present at her first performance, and immediately discovered Madame C.’s design in engaging an English vocalist who could never be her rival. Mrs. D. only made a very few attempts in Paris, then retired. She was subsequently engaged at Venice, also at one or two other cities in Italy; and on her return to England, was engaged by Mr. Harris, at Covent Garden Theatre, where she made her appearance as Rosina, in Rossini’s Barber of Seville, adapted to English words. In 1818, she finally abandoned all public employment, and shortly after was attacked by a cancerous disease, from which she never recovered, though paralysis was the immediate cause of her death. Mrs. Dickons was much respected by the public, for she maintained a most irreproachable character, and was not less beloved by her friends for all those qualities which contribute so largely to social happiness.

* * * * *

14th. The premium of twenty pounds annually given by the noblemen and gentlemen of the Catch-club, for the best glee, was this day awarded to Mr. Walmisley. The candidates were but few, and the prize was decided by a majority of one vote only; Mr. Walmisley’s composition having nineteen in its favour, and Mr. T. Cooke’s eighteen. None are allowed to become candidates for this prize but the professional members of the club, the competition therefore is confined in a narrow sphere; an evil, certainly, but unavoidable, for were there no limit, more glees would be sent in than could by any possibility be tried without an expense both of time and money that no club could support.

* * * * *

20th. The Directors of the Ancient Concert have announced their determination respecting those performances in future; or at least for next season. The plan and conditions are as follow:--

‘That there be Eight Concerts, to take place every alternate Wednesday from the commencement of the season, with the exception of the usual recess during Passion and Easter weeks.

‘That the Subscription be Six Guineas for Subscribers retaining the privilege of attending Rehearsals; Five Guineas for those who do not.

‘That the transfer of tickets between Father and Sons, and between Brothers, also between Mother and Daughters, and between Sisters, be allowed.

‘That the Subscribers retain the same privilege, as during the present season, of recommending for single tickets for the evening.

‘In order to carry on the Concerts on the same scale as heretofore, and with the same vocal and instrumental power and excellence, it is necessary that the number of Subscribers should not be less than 500. The Directors therefore give notice, that if, on the 1st of February, 1834, the Subscribers reported to Messrs. ~Lonsdale~ and ~Mills~, of 140, New Bond Street, do not amount to that number, the Concerts will be discontinued.’

Let us hope that what is here proposed will be successful in upholding an institution on which the preservation of good music in this country no much depends. To the study of the ancient masters the great modern composers confessedly owed their knowledge; these introduced a new style in instrumental music, undoubtedly, and extended the limits of modulation, but the foundation was prepared for them, and no one has established a permanent reputation who has not built on this. In the words, therefore, of Fra Paoli, I pray for its continuation and prosperity:--Esto perpetua!

FOREIGN MUSICAL REPORT.

VIENNA.

Hofoperntheater.--The opera Ferdinand Cortez has been reproduced, with M. Wild as Telasco, Madame Ernst as Amazily, and M. Breiting as Cortez; the minor characters were also well sustained. Donizetti’s Anna Bolena has also been given, and with even greater success than at the Josephstadttheater.

At the Hofburgtheater a new oratorio by the organist Assmayr has been performed; it displays great ability, and the music is eminently expressive of the words; it was well received.

At the first and second of the Concerts Spirituels have been given a symphony of Mozart composed for the Concerts Spirituels in Paris in the year 1778, Vogler’s overture to Castor and Pollux, a mass by Cherubini, symphony in ~C~ minor by Beethoven, chorus from Jephtha by Handel, a new Te Deum, a sterling composition, by Tomascheck, &c. &c. For the third and fourth concerts were announced Beethoven’s symphony in ~B~, the ninth psalm of Fesca, Weber’s Jubilee overture, the Abbé Vogler’s Litany, Mozart’s symphony in ~E~♭, chorus and fugue from the oratorio Der Tod Jesu by Graun, Beethoven’s festival overture, and the Gloria from the second mass of Cherubini.

The annual concert at the Conservatory of Music, to display the progress of the pupils, took place a short time since, when their performance of Mozart’s symphony in ~D~, and the meritorious efforts of the vocalists, gave great satisfaction.

A concert of a brilliant character was recently given by the horn virtuoso, M. Lewy; he was assisted by Demlle. Heinefetter, and MM. Thalberg, Titze, Hürt, and Sachner.

Romberg is at present sojourning here, and has played on the violoncello at a concert in the Kärntnerthor Theater. Age seems to have produced no effect upon his mighty powers; his reception was enthusiastic in the extreme.

BERLIN.

Spontini’s opera Alcidor, after an undisturbed repose of many years, was lately reproduced here. Its success was but indifferent, notwithstanding the laudable exertions of the singers and the splendour of the scenery and decorations. Dlle. Gerwer is about to leave us; her place, however, will be supplied, for a short time at least, by Dlle. Heinefetter.

A. M. Liebrecht, aged thirteen years, a pupil of M. C. M. Möser, has given a concert here, showing the degree of perfection to which such a child may attain by assiduous and persevering application; he exhibited an extraordinary mastery over his instrument--the violin. Shortly afterwards M. Wagans gave a concert, at which he played a concerto on the trumpet with a degree of taste and brilliancy calculated to sustain the fame which he has already acquired. Other concerts have been--that of the three brothers Gabrielski, in which two of them distinguished themselves as clever flute players, and the other as an accomplished pianist; and one at the theatre, at which Dlle. Fürst, from Dresden, sang; her voice is rather powerful than sweet, and tolerably flexible.

At the Singing Academy the Passion music of St. Matthew the Evangelist, by Seb. Bach, was performed; and on Good Friday the annual performance of the oratorio Der Tod Jesu took place before a very crowded audience; it was subsequently given in the Garrison Church under the direction of M. Hansmann.

MUNICH.

The performances during the present year have comprised the operas Johann von Paris, Zauberflöte, Figaro, Fra Diavolo, Der Maurer and der Schlosser, (Le Maçon) Die beyden Füchse, Freyschütz, Der Schnee, &c. The management of Baron von Poissl terminated on the 28th February, when he was succeeded by M. Küstner.

STRASBURG.

During the last year it was our good fortune to have a German company, under the direction of M. Carl Bode, exclusively devoted to the opera; and their productions were therefore comparatively of so perfect a nature, that the direction of the French theatre was quite unable to compete with them. They performed during the season, Fidelio, Die Schweizer Familie, Freyschütz, Die Weisse Dame, Preziosa, Die Stumme von Portici, Don Juan, Koskiusko, Der Dorf Barbier, (The Village Barber,) Tancred, Oberon, Das Donauweibchen, (The Nymph of the Danube,) Wiener in Berlin, Der Kleiner Wilddiebe, (the Little Poacher,) Sargin, Zauberflöte, Wilhelm Tell, and Robert der Teufel. Among the company, consisting of about forty members, the most distinguished were Madame Brauer Düringer, whose principal characters were Fidelio, Donna Anna in Die Weisse Frau, Elvira in Die Stumme and in Don Juan, Sophie in Sargin, Mathilde in Wilhelm Tell, Isabelle in Robert der Teufel, and Tancred. She has a powerful, rich voice, which is of extraordinary effect in the concerted pieces, and she sings with much taste. Madame Mayer, too, was delightful as Annchen in Der Freyschütz; in fact, in all the characters which she sustained. Demlle. Liszevsky also called forth great admiration as Emmeline, Agathe, &c; but particularly as Jemmy in Wilhelm Tell, and Alice in Robert der Teufel. M. Wagner, from the Würtzburg Theatre, as principal tenor, was successful in all his efforts; he sang with equal skill and excellence the high part of Sargin and the low one of Don Juan; as Robert and as Arnold, he has few equals. M. Heisel, as second tenor, was not without merit. The other singers were MM. Popp, Netz, Krieg, Fischer, Kaibel, &c. Great credit is due to M. Bode for having by his judicious management cultivated the taste for classical productions.

With regard to the French theatre, as matters were not going on very prosperously, the direction was taken out of the hands of M. Deville, and the company continued to perform to the end of the season on their own account. Under these circumstances, many new operas were not to be expected; one only was given, Auber’s Liebestrank (Le Philtre). The company consisted of Mesdames Lamotte, prima donna, possessing a rich voice, but often out of tune; Langlade, an agreeable second singer and excellent actress, Demouchi and Després; M. Vernet, principal tenor, with a flexible but thin voice. The rest were scarcely above mediocrity, and the wretched apologies for choruses were below criticism.

LEIPZIG.

Under the management of M. Friedrich Seb. Ringelhardt, the Stadttheater has lately enjoyed much of the public favour and patronage; the music director, too, M. Stegmeyer, is an active young man and a thorough musician, and the Regisseur, M. Hauser, who is also a clever musician, is a very good bass singer. M. Eichberger, the tenor, is excellent. Of the female singers of the establishment Madame Steinert ranked first; then came, after the departure of Dlle. Nina Sontag, whose place she supplied, Dlle. Livia Gerhardt. If want of novelty in the productions has been a fault to be imputed to the management, for new operas have been scarce, those which we have had have been given in such a manner as to compensate for what might otherwise have been a matter of regret. For instance while Madame Schroeder was here we had Fidelio, Don Juan, in which she performed Donna Anna, and Otello; she was great in them all and efficiently supported.

Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s overture to Shakspeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, was played for the first time in Leipzig, at a concert for the benefit of the poor, and received with great applause; on the same occasion Beethoven’s symphony in A major was given, and M. Poland played a violin concerto by Pechatschek with delicacy and spirit.

The Euterpe, the season of which is now closed, has given various symphonies, overtures, and concertos. In the last selection were a new symphony of M. F. Kähler, Beethoven’s overture to Egmont, Weber’s overture to Der Beherrscher der Geister, &c.; M. Sipp placed a violin concerto of Rode, and M. Faulmann a concerto of Hummel on the Oboe.

Dlle. Henr. Graban gave a concert on the 21st March to a brilliant audience. The selection was good; among the instrumental pieces was Marschner’s overture to Hans Heiling, which, it is said, will shortly be produced on our boards.

An interesting sacred performance lately took place in St. Peter’s church, conducted by the organist, C. F. Becker; the selection comprised a fugue by Handel, and fugues and choral subjects with variations by Sebastian Bach.

PRAGUE.

Gretry’s Blaubart (Bluebeard) has been once more produced here for the benefit of M. Strataky, and experienced a favourable reception, notwithstanding the fact that the whole of the characters were not well sustained. Demlle. Lutzer however as Maria was all that could be desired; her voice has acquired increased strength, and she may soon prove a dangerous rival to the gifted Madame Podhorsky. Zampa has also been given again, and Die Unbekannte. The performance of the old opera, Der Lustige Schuster (the Merry Cobbler), was attended with little success. Demlle. Lutzer has lately performed Zerlina in Fra Diavolo, Helena in Das Fraulein am See, Desdemona, Semiramis, the Princess of Navarre, and Camilla in Zampa, in which latter opera she shone particularly.

There has been a concert given by the pianiste Dlle. Nina Trenkler; one by the pupils of the Conservatory of Music; and a third by M. J. B. Hüttner, the professor of that institution: they were all good and attractive.

FRANKFORT.

Aloys Schmidt’s opera, Valeria, was given here for the first time a few weeks ago. Although the opera displays some beautiful original ideas, it also abounds in reminiscences of Beethoven, Cherubini, Mozart, &c.; it was very successful.

CASSEL.

Motives of economy, and the state of affairs in the grand duchy of Hesse-Cassel, have occasioned the breaking up of the musical establishment of the chapel, and the closing of the court theatre. The consequence of this suppression is distressing to the artists, who were quite unprepared for such an event. Our celebrated composer, Spohr, is thus deprived of a very lucrative appointment. The greater part of the performers, instrumental and vocal, are dispersed, and endeavouring to find in the different German courts those resources which they are deprived of here. This is an unfortunate occurrence for the musical art, for the ducal chapel was one of the best-organised establishments in Germany.

WEIMAR.

The celebrated Hummel has just received the decoration of the order of the White Eagle from the hands of the Grand Duke. All Germany applauds this mark of distinction conferred on a great musician who is a living honour to his country. M. Hummel has just set out for London, where he is engaged to direct the German opera at the King’s Theatre. It is said that he is to receive a thousand pounds for his services, and his travelling expenses. [The Weimar editor is much misinformed on this subject.]

MEININGEN.

An opera in two acts by the Ducal music-director Nohr, under the title of Die Wunderbaren Lichter, founded upon a Thuringian tradition, was lately produced here. This is the second great effort of M. Nohr as a composer, and was received with well-merited applause; he was called forward at the conclusion.

BRUNSWICK.

M. Albert Methfessel has, since his appointment as Kapellmeister last year, strained every nerve to raise the opera to a degree of perfection to which we had hitherto been strangers. The prime donne of the grand opera are at present Mesdames Cornet and Franchetti, the former a most delightful and finished bravura singer. The principal tenor is M. Cornet, the idol of the frequenters of the opera, who is not less gifted and accomplished as an excellent dramatic singer than as a sterling good actor.

There is at present here a Dlle. Bertha Lewig, aged fifteen years, a pupil of M. Methfessel, who displays wonderful proficiency on the piano-forte.

BERNBURG.

A series of subscription concerts, which commenced here in December last, terminated on the 9th March; they were under the direction of M. Victor Klauss, a young and talented composer. The principal solo performers were MM. Probst and Fischer, on the violin; M. Wustenhagen, on the clarionet; M. Bosse, sen., on the oboe; M. Klotzsch, on the violoncello; and M. Bosse, jun., on the flute. M. Klauss, too, himself also delighted us with two very excellent performances on the piano-forte. Some overtures and symphonies of Mozart and Beethoven were not only faultless in their performance, but really presented a very rich source of musical enjoyment. The singers consisted of a few members of M. Atmer’s theatrical company, besides some dillettanti of great ability.

ATTENBURG.

The New Dessau Opera Company of M. Jul. Miller, commenced their performances here on the 10th March. The music director, M. Ed. Theile, a pupil of Fried. Schneider’s, is already known to the public as the author of some clever piano-forte composition.

THE DRAMA.

~King’s Theatre.~

After nearly a season has passed away, in which nothing but old, mostly feeble, operas, filled by second and third-rate performers, have been given to the subscribers--for the public have been too wise to pay their money for nothing,--we all at once find the theatre so crowded with singers that they actually jostle each other in the lobby. When the house stood in need of attraction, when the best management, the utmost activity, would hardly have enabled the lessee to pay his expenses, he furnished neither opera nor singer, ballet nor dancer, that drew enough to meet the rent. When Easter was turned--when that season had arrived in which, if the doors are opened, the house is lighted, and a set of puppets are placed on the stage, multitudes will go to see them--at that season we find a double troupe, and fragments of different operas given on the same night, in order that the performers may have some employment, and not lose their voices for want of use!

On the 27th of April La Cenerentola, one of ~Rossini’s~ most insipid operas, was performed, Mad. ~Cinti~ as Angelina, whose musical and flexible though not strong voice, and refined taste, the result of a perfect knowledge of her art, imparted a charm to what was originally weak and has been hacked for years. ~Donzelli~ was Ramiro, ~Tamburini~ Dandino, and ~Zuchelli~ the Magnifico, all of whom sustained their parts well; but the two sisters very nearly spoiled the whole, by the contrast they formed with the rest, and ~Tamburini~ only reconciled us to his excessive flourishing by the beauty of his voice and intonation.

On Thursday the 2nd of May, Madame ~Pasta~ reappeared, after an absence of two seasons, in Anna Bolena, an opera indebted for its continued existence solely to her performance: in ordinary hands it could not have survived one night in London. This admirable performer is just what she was, in person, voice, and action; and we have only to refer our readers to the opinions we have formerly given on the subject, for those entertained by us now. She was received by a crowded house in the warm manner that her great and yet unabated talents gave her a right to expect.

Tancredi was the second opera got up for Madame ~Pasta~, and in this she afforded even more pleasure to real connoisseurs than in the part of Anna Bolena, for the music is not only goad, but to be reckoned among ~Rossini’s~ best. Her entrata was splendid; the recitative ‘Oh! Patria!’ and aria, ‘Tu che accendi,’ with its popular second movement, were perfect. Madame ~Cinti’s~ Amenaide was, as regards singing, not less excellent; and her very different voice, so far from being a disadvantage on the present occasion, operated favourably, by giving a greater individuality to each character. ~Rubini’s~ Argirio was a continued series of roulades, except when, by sudden bursts of his voice, he made those near him start, and by pianos alternating with these, he became inaudible to all but such as he had alarmed by his sforzatos. We have never entertained but one opinion of this singer, who has been so vaunted in the French journals, and find that an able contemporary agrees with us. The Spectator says of this performer, that--

‘Of true feeling he has not a particle. Per esempio--when he visits his daughter in prison and in chains, and she asks--

‘Tu quì, o padre! a che vieni?’

his reply was delivered with as much indifference and flippancy as if the question had related to the weather, or the last new bonnet; and yet the words are these--

‘---- ad abbracciarti; A seguirti alla tomba. In sen di padre Si tenta in vano suffocar natura.’

The truth is, that with singers like Rubini, the art of dramatic singing is a mere effort of the muscles; with Pasta, one of the mind.’

~Zuchelli~ had but little to do, but did that well. Many changes were made in the opera; original pieces were left out, strange and not appropriate ones put in, just as the caprice of the singers dictated; and the choruses were wretched. Il Pirata, another old opera, is getting up, and this is certainly Bellini’s best work; indeed the only one of his known to this theatre that has the smallest merit.

Drury-Lane Theatre.

What properly is called the English stage is at its last gasp. Covent Garden is closed except to foreign performers: its company has been obliged to seek refuge in a theatre which most of our provincial towns would scoff at. Mr. Arnold has prudently withdrawn from the Adelphi, and his performers are doing what they can for themselves; that is, just keeping that small house open three times a week. Mr. Morris feels the necessity of closing his doors when the two national theatres, the legitimate, the patent theatres, are opened by foreigners, and nothing but German, or Italian, or French productions heard therein. A Sunday paper of the 5th ult. well observes, speaking of the banishment of the English drama from Covent Garden theatre,--‘This feared event has, at length come to pass. What Laporte means to do with Covent Garden we have not heard; but he is in treaty with Paganini, and we suppose that he will resort to some other foreign performances. It is a singular fact, and it can hardly fail to produce its effect, that ~OUR NATIONAL DRAMA~ was finally expelled from one of our great theatres, while “a native of France was its lessee.” What would have been said by the French, if an English actor had been director of the Théâtre Francais, and had adopted measures by which the plays of Corneille, Racine, and Moliere were driven to the Port St. Martin?’ And with what show of reason do certain writers in our journals exclaim against the salaries of English stars, as they are called, when they know, but are silent, that Madame Devrient receives nearly three times as much per night, and Madame Malibran more than seven times, what our first and best performers could ever obtain? Farren, Braham, and Liston, it is said, have, or had, twenty pounds a night: Madame Devrient has at least fifty; and Madame Malibran one hundred and fifty, though she does draw enough to pay her own salary!

* * * * *

On the 1st of May, the Italian opera of ~Bellini~, La Sonnambula, with English words adapted to it, was produced at this theatre, for the debut of Mad. ~Malibran~. The drama is well known to our readers; the music is of the most flimsy kind, and worthless in every sense of the word, whether as relates to art, or to the theatre. Our English operatic composers have not much distinguished themselves of late, and the undoubted superiority of the German and French schools has generated a taste among all classes in London for foreign music; but this is no reason why anything so feeble as the work now under notice should be patiently listened to, nay applauded. However, we will not waste our reader’s time by further notice of so inferior a production. The acting of Mad. ~Malibran~ as the somnambulist, is of a very mixed kind; sometimes she surprises by traits of extraordinary genius, and occasionally she exhibits extravagancies that prove a want of any real knowledge of the first principles of the histrionic art. As a singer, she certainly is much more perfect. Nature has bestowed on her a voice rarely equalled, and education has made her an excellent musician. Her natural taste we believe to be good, but, following the fashion of the day, it has become vitiated, and her ornaments are so redundant as often to be ridiculous. These however, are so nicely executed, that they seduce even the best critics, and lead them to applaud what in their sober senses they could not but disapprove.

Mad. ~Malibran~ has since appeared in the English opera The Devil’s Bridge, as Count Belino, and if her roulades, her admirably performed freaks, are absurd in Italian arias, how much more so in English songs! She entirely failed in this attempt, and though the opera was performed a second time, the public, prejudiced though they now are in favour of foreigners, whatever their pretensions, could not be brought to witness another such performance.

Beethoven’s Fidelio has been produced here, Mad. ~Schrœder Devrient~ and M. ~Haitzinger~ in the characters they sustained so well last year at the King’s Theatre. The number of subscription and benefit concerts which we feel it a duty to attend, have prevented our yet being present at the performance of this opera at Drury Lane.

THE MUSIC OF THE PRESENT NUMBER.

Who the composer is of the trio, ‘Like a bright cherub,’ has long been a matter of dispute, and the point most likely will never now be settled by any decisive proof. The question, however, lies in a narrow compass, for it is agreed that to either Handel or John Christopher Smith[57] the work belongs. Prevailing opinion ascribes it to the former, and we believe correctly, judging from internal evidence as well as traditional testimony. Gideon, the oratorio of which it forms a part, was a pasticcio, a selection of music by various authors, adapted to a dramatic poem by Smith, but when and where performed the most diligent inquiry has not enabled us to ascertain; in fact, no record whatever of it seems to be in existence; it was never published, and we cannot learn that a copy of it remains. The trio now inserted is the only part of it that ever came under our view, and was printed some fifty years ego by Birchall, about the time when sung at the Ancient Concerts. The sweet melody of this, and its effective simplicity when the three parts come together, ought to recommend it to private musical parties.

* * * * *

The aria by Mozart is No. 20 of his thirty Gesaenge, or detached airs not appertaining to any of his operas, published by Breitkopf and Härtel, at Leipzig.

* * * * *

The two movements by Avison are from his fourth Concerto, Book IV.--a beautiful and clever composition, still performed at the Ancient Concerts, and always with applause. To these we may apply an observation which appears in Avison’s Preface to his Concertos,--‘If music be composed agreeably to principles founded in nature, the true judge of harmony always approves it, whatever name, style, or national character it bears.’

* * * * *

The aria, as he calls it, of Beethoven, is one of the most exquisite morceaux of this great master. There is a calm dignity in it which excites a wish that it had been set to words--to poetry worthy of it. The two variations, selected from many, are not less striking proofs of the richness of his fancy.

* * * * *

The song by Labarre is from a recent number of La Revue Musicale. The originality of this recommended it to us, and will, we have no doubt, be apparent to all; though some may at first think it rather too elaborate for a chanson. It will, however, be more admired the more it is known.

[Sidenote: July, 1833.]

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF JOHN TRAVERS, WILLIAM HAYES, ~Mus.~ D., THOMAS SAUNDERS DUPUIS, ~Mus.~ D., ~and~ EDMUND AYRTON, ~Mus.~ D.

John Travers received his musical education in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, and having gained the good will of Dr. Godolphin, Dean of St. Paul’s and Provost of Eton College, was by him put apprentice to Dr. Greene. About the year 1725 he succeeded Kelway as organist of St. Paul’s, Covent Garden, and subsequently became organist of Fulham. On the decease of Jonathan Martin, in 1737, Travers was appointed organist of the Chapels Royal, when he relinquished his situation at Fulham. He died in 1758, and his successor in the King’s Chapel was Dr. Boyce.

‘Travers,’ says Sir John Hawkins, who knew him well, ‘was a sound musician; he commenced an early acquaintance with Dr. Pepusch, and received some assistance from him in the course of his studies, which by sedulous application he was very careful to improve. In the Chapel books are sundry anthems of his composition; but as composer he is best known to the world by eighteen Canzonets, being verses and songs taken from the posthumous works of Prior, which he set for two and three voices, in a style as elegant as it is original. Besides these he published the whole book of Psalms for one, two, three, four, and five voices, with a thorough-bass for the harpsichord[58].’

Dr. Burney, speaking of Travers, says, ‘His compositions, however pure the harmony, can only be ranked with pieces of mechanism, which labour alone may produce, without the assistance of genius[59]’. But this criticism is no less inconsiderate than severe. To his compositions for the church it may apply, but his canzonets--many of them at least--have stood the test of time, and, popular as they were when first brought forth, are still as much as ever admired for their genius, their originality, as well as their beauty and contrivance, by all impartial judges of English music; among whom Dr. Burney certainly cannot properly be reckoned, so strong were his prejudices in favour of the Italian school; though latterly the German composers, Haydn especially, had some share of his esteem.

In Arnold’s Collection of Cathedral Music, are a Morning Service, a Te Deum, and one Anthem, by Travers, which do not exhibit any creative powers: his best sacred composition is the anthem, ‘Ascribe unto the Lord,’ and this is still occasionally performed in the King’s Chapel.

* * * * *

~William Hayes~, Doctor in Music, was born at Gloucester, in 1707, and giving early proofs of a musical disposition, was admitted a chorister of the cathedral, under Mr. Hine, the organist, where as a boy he early distinguished himself as a solo singer, and soon arrived at a high degree of excellence as an organ-player. On quitting Gloucester, he was appointed organist of Shrewsbury, and shortly afterwards succeeded to the same situation in the Cathedral of Worcester. But after the lapse of a few years, a vacancy occurring in the office of organist and master of the choristers at Magdalen College, Oxford, he obtained that appointment, which having been the ultimate object of his ambition, he retained till his death. In 1735 he proceeded to a Bachelor’s degree in music, and some years after, on the death of Mr. Goodson, was elected Professor of Music to the University. On the opening of the Radcliffe Library, in 1749, he was honoured with a doctor’s degree, to which he was presented by Dr. Bradley, Savilian Professor of Astronomy, who, in an elegant Latin speech, represented him not only as a man eminent in his faculty, but as possessed of other estimable qualities, among which sweetness of temper was mentioned as not the least remarkable.

In 1753 Dr. Hayes published his ‘Remarks on Mr. Avison’s Essay on Musical Expression,’ which were drawn from him in consequence of what he considered a covert attack on Handel by the author of that well-known, and in many respects able, critical work; but he here manifested more knowledge of his subject than control of temper; and his observations,--though many of them are very just, while some are rather hypercritical,--lose much of their force from the asperity of language in which they were uttered, a fault only to be accounted for, in one of so mild a disposition, from his enthusiastic admiration of the illustrious composer whom he vindicated.

On the establishment of the Catch-Club, Dr. Hayes, in 1773, obtained three out of the six prizes given that year, one of his successful compositions being that exquisitely beautiful but brief piece of simple counterpoint, the Glee, ‘Melting airs soft joys inspire.’ This, and the lovely Round, ‘Wind, gentle evergreen,’ are enough to transmit his name to posterity, had he produced nothing else; but his Cathedral Music in Score, comprising a full service and upwards of twenty anthems, published after his decease by his son, Dr. Philip Hayes, will continue to be highly valued so long as this species of composition shall continue in use. His Canon, ‘Let’s drink, and let’s sing together,’ is mentioned by Dr. Burney (in Rees’ Cyclopædia) as ‘the most pleasant of those laboured compositions which go under the name of Canon.’

Dr. Hayes, after suffering three years from the effects of a paralytic stroke, died in 1777, and was succeeded in all his appointments at Oxford by his above-mentioned son[60].

* * * * *

~Thomas Saunders Dupuis~, Doctor in Music, was in 1733 born in this country, though his parents were natives of France. His father held some situation at court under George II., and this probably was the reason why his son was placed in the Chapel Royal. The first rudiments of his education were received from Mr. Gates. He afterwards became a pupil of Travers, at that time organist of the King’s Chapel, and for whom, in the early part of his life, he officiated as deputy.

‘On the death of Dr. Boyce, in 1779, Mr. Dupuis was appointed organist and composer to the Chapel Royal; and it is probable that the Bishop of London (Lowth) never exercised his taste and judgment more properly than by nominating so worthy a man to so respectable a situation.’ Bingley’s Musical Biography, ii. 215.

In 1784 he was named as one of the assistant-directors of the Commemoration of Handel; and in 1790 was admitted to the degree of Doctor in Music by the University of Oxford. He died in consequence of taking an excessive dose of opium, at his house in Park Lane, on the 17th of June, 1796. His successors were Mr. Knyvett, senior, as organist of the Royal Chapels, and Mr. Attwood as composer to his Majesty.

Dr. Dupuis published several compositions, among which his Organ Pieces and two Sets of Chants are the most valuable; but his reputation is more permanently based on his services and anthems, written for the use of the King’s Chapel, a selection of which was printed after his death, in two handsome volumes, by his pupil and friend, John Spencer, Esq., son-in-law and nephew to the late Duke of Marlborough. These consist of four Services, and fourteen Anthems in score; and in Page’s Harmonia Sacra are two other of his Anthems, ‘The Lord, even the most mighty God,’ and ‘I cried unto the Lord,’ which were published during the life of the author.

Great knowledge and taste are more conspicuous in Dr. Dupuis’ compositions than any very great brilliancy of genius; but they are by no means deficient in invention, though this was curbed by his devotedness to the school of music in which he had been educated, and of which he was to the last a most uncompromising defender. His Services, particularly those in ~E~ flat and ~C~, are as beautiful in melody, as they are skilful, considered as specimens of writing in parts. Of his anthems, ‘The souls of the righteous,’ ‘Bow down thine ear,’ and ‘Be thou my judge,’ will long continue as records of his ability as a harmonist; and ‘The Lord is my shepherd,’ ‘Lord, what love have I unto thy law,’ together with ‘Teach me, O Lord,’ can never cease to please the admirers of graceful, flowing air. As a performer on the organ, he was excelled by no Englishman of his time; his extemporaneous fugues were the admiration of all lovers of this kind of music, and drew multitudes to hear him at the conclusion of the service at the Royal Chapel.

Dr. Dupuis was a most worthy and amiable man, successful in worldly matters, but unfortunate in his family. He followed his eldest son (a clergyman) to the grave, and bequeathed a handsome fortune to an only remaining one, who thoughtlessly dissipated the whole of it in his power, and died at an early age.

* * * * *

~Edmund Ayrton~, Doctor in Music,--who closes the list of Masters of the children of the Chapels Royal, to the end of the eighteenth century[61],--‘was born in 1734, at Ripon, of which borough his father was an active and upright magistrate, whose three immediate ancestors held, successively, the livings of Nidd and Stainley, within the liberty of that town. He was intended for the church, and received his education at the free grammar-school of his native place, where, during five years, he was a contemporary of Beilby Porteus, afterwards bishop of London. But his father, finding it prudent to indulge his son’s natural inclination for music, placed him under the instruction of Dr. Nares, then organist of the cathedral of York. At an early age he was elected organist, auditor, and rector chori of the collegiate church of Southwell, in Nottinghamshire, where he married a lady of good family. He quitted that place in 1764, upon being appointed gentleman of the Chapel Royal; shortly after which he was installed a vicar-choral of St. Paul’s Cathedral, and subsequently became one of the lay-clerks of Westminster Abbey.

‘In 1780 he was promoted, by Bishop Lowth, to the office of master of the children of his Majesty’s Chapels, on the resignation of his friend Dr. Nares. In 1784 the University of Cambridge conferred on him the degree of Doctor in Music; and some time after he was admitted ad eundem by the University of Oxford. His exercise was a grand anthem, for a full orchestra, which merited and gained so much praise, that it was ordered to be performed, with a complete band, in St. Paul’s Cathedral, on the 29th of July, 1784, the day of the General Thanksgiving for the peace. This was afterwards published in score. In the same year he was chosen one of the assistant-directors of the Commemoration of Handel, in Westminster Abbey, which situation he filled at all the succeeding performances in that venerable building, and took a very active part in their management. In 1805 he relinquished the mastership of the children of the Chapel, and was succeeded by John Stafford Smith, Esq., having been allowed for many years previous to perform the duties of his other appointments by deputy. He died in 1808, and his remains were deposited in the cloisters of Westminster Abbey, near those of his wife and several of his children.

‘Dr. Ayrton was an excellent musician, of which his compositions for the church bear indubitable evidence[62]. The performance of these has been chiefly confined to the Royal Chapel, but the publication of them, which has long been expected, would usefully augment the musical resources of our various choirs, and add greatly to the reputation of their author.’ (Dictionary of Musicians.)

HARMONICS OF THE VIOLIN.

In the Westminster Review for last January, is an article, under the above title, which, judging from its clearness and simplicity, we are inclined to believe must have proceeded from the very able pen of the critic who recently reviewed in that work the scientific and clever treatise on the Enharmonic Guitar[63].

The author, wishing to render the doctrine of harmonics comprehensible to persons of all capacities, has imitated, in a very felicitous manner, the style of a writer who, whatever opinion may be entertained of him in other respects, allowedly has the art of making himself understood by every one, however difficult or intricate the matter on which he treats; and in a letter written as if from Mr. Cobbett to his son, has given an intelligibility to the subject which it never before received, insomuch that we are tempted to exceed the limits of a quotation, and, for the benefit of such of our readers as do not see the Westminster Review, borrow more largely from the pages of that very able periodical than is usual, hoping that the liberal spirit of its proprietors will not accuse us of piracy, and summon us into the awful presence of the Keeper of the King’s Conscience.

‘The whole theory or principle of finding and producing the harmonic notes is in reality very simple, and such as might be communicated to any intelligent child in two or three short lessons. If the author of the Political Register had been born and bred a professional musician, (as among the possible freaks of fortune why should he not?) he would have set the hope of his family before him, and said,

‘My dear little Son,

‘You are to get your bread by playing on the violin. It will therefore be exceedingly useful to you to know all that can be known about the harmonic notes; by which means you may not only get your bread, but be able to secure its being well buttered also. A violin-player is worth a great deal more when he knows all about the harmonic notes; and in fact, since the appearance of Paganini, the chances are, that a player who does not know it will be worth nothing at all.

‘Do you know what an aliquot part is? I am sure you do not. If you have a cake or an apple, and divide it equally among your companions, whether they be two, three, four, or any other number, then the thing is said to be divided into aliquot parts,--“aliquot” being a word in the old Latin language meaning “some certain number or other,” and implying here that the thing is divided into equal parts of “some certain number or other.” But if you were to divide it among the same so that their shares should not be all alike,--or if you were to give each an equal piece, but there should be a piece left after all which was not equal to one of the pieces you had given away, but was greater or less,--then the thing would be divided into parts, but not into aliquot parts. Now then, my dear little son, you know what is meant by dividing a string into aliquot parts.

‘Tell me now, how you would begin to show me the different places in which a string can be divided into aliquot parts. You would first show me the middle point, which divides it into two equal parts. Then you would divide the string, with your eye or with a pair of compasses, into three equal parts, and show me the two points of division between them. Next you would divide it in the same way into four equal parts, and show me the three points of division. And so on, for five, six, seven, eight, and as many more as you liked to continue. These, then, you would say,--both those I have made and those I might make if I liked--are the points that divide the string into aliquot parts. And if you pleased, you might mark them by writing under each point of division the figure which shows how many equal parts the string is divided into,--as for instance a 2 under the point where the string is divided into two, a 3 under each of the points which divide it into three, and so on. And indeed it will be better that you should do this; for then you cannot help observing, that sometimes more figures than one will fall on the same place--as for instance when the string is divided into four, one of the marks 4 will fall on the same place as the division into 2; when it is divided into six, one of the marks 6 will fall on the same place that was previously marked 2, and two more on places that were marked 3; and so on. All of which will be wanted another time.

‘Now if you touch the string gently with the finger at the distance of any aliquot part from the bridge, (mind I said from the bridge, not at any of the divisions into aliquot parts, but at the distance of one of them from the bridge,) and at the same time pull the string or draw the bow across between this point and the bridge, you will see a curious thing. The string will divide itself into all the aliquot parts of which the point touched by the finger makes one,--into two, or into three, or into four, as the case may be,--and every one of them will move by itself, as if it was a little string held fast at the two ends; the sound produced being the same that would be made by pressing the string down to the neck at the point touched, in the common way. If the divisions are few, as two or three, this may be seen distinctly enough by the eye: but where this is not the case, it may be shown to be the fact by laying a little bit of paper on the string while it is sounded; and if this is laid on any of the points of division into aliquot parts, whether on the one nearest the bridge or any of its fellows, it will lie still and not be thrown off, but if it is laid anywhere else, it will be thrown off directly, which shows that the points of division are at rest, and the others are not.

‘If you want to know how or why this curious thing takes place, I will tell you as nearly as I can; but remember I do not pledge myself that this is the reason, but only that I think it very likely to be the reason, and this principally because I know no other way in which it can be brought about. And this way is, that when one portion of the string is moving in one direction, as for instance from me towards you, the next portion of the string is moving at the same time in the contrary direction, or from you to me; and so with the other portions, whatever their number may be. In this manner it seems possible that the points of division should be kept at rest, and in any other manner it seems to be not possible; and therefore, since the fact is before us that the points of division remain at rest, I conclude that it is in this way it takes place. This is what the feelosofers would call a syllogism. And because this sort of balance can only be kept up by the portions of the string moving backwards and forwards (which the same sort of people call vibrating) in equal times or with equal quickness, and this again cannot take place unless the moving portions of the string are of equal length,--it follows that this sort of motion in parts or portions of the string can only take place when those parts or portions are of equal length, which seems to be the reason why the experiment will only answer when the point touched is one that divides the string into aliquot parts.

‘But this is not all; for there is a more curious thing still. And that is, that if you touch the string at any other of the points of division into aliquot parts, (by which I mean any other than the point of division nearest to the bridge,) the string will divide itself in the self-same way,--always with the exception (now mind the exception) of the cases in which the point touched falls in with a point in some simpler mode of division that has gone before. For instance, you remember observing, that when the string was divided into four equal parts, one of the points marked 4 fell on the same place as the division into 2. Touching the string therefore in this place must make the same sound it did before; which is a different sound from that which it makes when touched at the other two points of division into 4. And in like manner in other cases. But when this agreement with some simpler mode of division does not interfere, all the points of division on being touched produce the same sound. For example, if the division be into five equal parts, inasmuch as none of these will coincide with any of the simpler modes of division, there must be four points in the string, any one of which being touched will produce the same harmonic sound.

‘But if you want to know how and why this still more curious thing takes place, I can only tell you in a roundabout sort of way as before. If you divide the string, for example, into five equal parts, and touch any of the four points of division you choose, you check and finally prevent the continuance of any motion at the point touched, though at the same time it would appear that the touching (which, to make the experiment answer, must be very light) is not enough to hinder the shaking, or, as the learned people call it, the vibration, given at one end, from being communicated past the point of touch. If, instead of touching the string lightly, you were to lay hold of it with a pair of pincers, then the experiment would fail altogether; the reason of which may be concluded to be, because the motion is presented from being at all communicated beyond the point laid hold of. In fact the art,--for there is an art in everything, from scraping the grains off a cob of Indian corn to sounding a musical string, whatever the difference in importance and dignity of the two things may be,--appears to consist in touching the string in such a manner, and with such a degree of pressure, as shall allow the motion given by pulling or bowing to be communicated past the finger, and yet shall check and finally prevent the continuance of all motion, or, as it was called before, vibration, that is not consistent with the point which is touched remaining at rest. Now if you consider carefully, you will see that the only way in which motion can go on and this point remain at rest, is by the string’s dividing itself into the five equal portions, the movements of which shall balance each other as before described. It does not indeed follow, that because the motion could go on no other way, it must necessarily go on in this; but we have the evidence of the fact that it does go on in this; and the knowledge of the reasons why it could not go on in any other is at all events very useful to make us remember what the effect is that is produced, and how.

‘The next thing is to be able to tell what all the sounds thus produced are. Now you remember that when you were a very little boy, I showed you, that if you stop a string by pressing it down hard in the middle you produce its Octave; where the two sounds (of the original string and its half) are such sounds as are produced by a man and a child when they sing the same tune together, but in very different pitches of voice;--that if, instead of shortening the string in this manner by the half, you shorten it by a third part, you produce the sound which musicians have called the Fifth; if you shorten it by a fourth part, you produce the Fourth; if by the fifth part, the Major Third; if by the sixth part, the Minor Third; with a great deal more which it is not necessary to mention now;--and I told you, too, that the intervals from one of these sounds to another were not the same, or such as to allow of beginning on any you please and making the others serve in the places they happen to fall in, which is attempted to be done by what is called Temperament, a thing that you as a violin player should hold in as much scorn, as an invitation to cut off your two legs for the sake of trying how pleasant it is to hop on wooden ones. If then you want to know what sound any of the harmonics really is, you have only to do this;--double the distance from the bridge to the nearest of the points of division into aliquot parts, over and over, till you get to some length that when pressed down in the common way makes a note which you know, as the Octave, the Fifth, &c.; and then the harmonic will be this note, only raised by as many octaves as there have been doublings. For example, if you touch the thickest or G string of the violin so as to bring out the harmonic at one-fifth of its length from the bridge, and want to know what note this is,--doubling this length once makes two-fifths of the whole string, and doubling it again makes four-fifths, and four-fifths pressed down in the common way make the Major Third or B; therefore the harmonic produced is B two octaves higher than the B on the thickest string, or the same sound as the first B on the thinnest or E string. And in like manner in other cases.

‘The examination of all the different possible harmonic notes might evidently be carried a long way; and it would be very useful to do it if you were intended for a trumpeter, for all the notes on the trumpet or French horn are harmonic notes. But for playing on the violin, as much as is given above appears to be sufficient. It will enable you to trace all the principal harmonic sounds, and in fact all that on the violin are of any practical use; for though there is no absolute end of the number of harmonic notes, inasmuch as you may divide the string into a hundred parts if you please, and then into a hundred-and-one,--yet after the division into five or into six, the sounds on the violin become so feeble as to be of no use except as matters of experiment and curiosity. And it will have this further good effect, that it will make you cease to marvel and to wonder at finding the harmonic sounds on the same string grow sometimes deeper and sometimes shriller, as you move your finger from the bridge towards the head,--as if there was some mystery in it that anybody could not learn in half an hour when they set about it properly.

‘Suppose now you could stop some tune (as for instance “God save the King”) on one string of the violin, as for example the fourth, with your first or second finger, and at the same time always touch the stopped string gently with the little finger of the same hand at one quarter of the way to the bridge so as to bring out the harmonic note;--is it not plain that you would play the tune, only in the Double Octave, or two octaves higher than if played by the simple stopping on the fourth string? There is no doubt that this is very hard, especially for a little boy; it is almost as bad as playing on two violins at once. But still the thing can be done. And if, instead of touching with the little finger at the quarter of the way to the bridge, you should touch at the third, the fifth, or the sixth of the way, you would bring out notes that were not Double Octaves to the sound that would be made by simply pressing down the first finger, but other sounds, which you have it in your power to calculate; all of which might by possibility be very useful, but the other was mentioned as being the simplest. If you asked me what is the use of playing anything in Double Octaves in this manner, or in any other of the harmonic notes,--I should answer, First, because these harmonic notes have a very fine and pure sound,--they do not squall like the sounds made by pressing the strings to the finger-board very near the bridge;--Secondly, because it is much easier to make the sounds in tune in this manner, than by trying to make them by stopping near the bridge,--for where the string is so short, the smallest error in the stopping becomes sensible in proportion;--Thirdly, because (as it is not necessary to be always playing in harmonics) they may be mixed up with the common notes of the violin, and save an immensity of trouble in jumping from one end of the instrument to the other to find the high notes. Look, for instance, at an old-fashioned fiddler playing on the second string, and wanting (suppose) A in alto; and see what a leap he will make to find it on the first string, and what a horrible screech he will bring out after all, when he might produce the note in the most perfect tune and tone by only touching the second open string that he is on already, harmonically at a fourth of the way from the head to the bridge, or at the same place that he would stop D on the second string.’

MELODY AND HARMONY[64].

The object and end of all music is the expression and excitement of passion, of which its notes are the signs. The practice of music doubtless shows best how powerful are these signs over the production of corresponding passions; but its theory also, in the hands of some writers, has even indicated the precise and simple expressions which respectively belong to some of the passions.

Now we know that two passions cannot coexist in the mind, except at the expense of their respective continuity, depth, and intensity. It follows, of course, that their corresponding signs cannot coexist in the ear without breaking and enfeebling their expression.

But melody consists of a succession of simple sounds, and harmony of coexistant and related or concordant sounds. It is obvious, therefore, that melody is alone adapted to the expression of passion--that is, to musical expression.

A moment’s reflection, indeed, will show that, in language, it would not be more absurd to endeavour to express or excite passion by means of the related terms, emotion, sentiment, &c., or to express and excite any one passion, as that of love, by means of the related terms, friendship, affection, &c., than it would, in music, be to endeavour to excite any passion, in all its purity, simplicity, continuity, depth, and intensity, by means of impure, compound, broken, and feeble notes.

Which, accordingly, are the nations that have excelled in melody?--The Italians, the Scots, the Irish, in whom the passions are intense and powerful; while the Sclavonic and Gothic tribes, in whom the passions are feeble, have practised that play upon related notes which indicates the weakness or absence of passion, and which constitutes harmony. There can, I think, be no more striking illustration than this at once of the intimate nature and of the relative value of melody and harmony.

To the superior value of melody, however, similar homage is paid, whether reluctantly or not, in the highest productions of scientific music. Whenever, in the opera, sentiment, affection, or passion has to be expressed, the simple melody of the airs is indispensable. If anything were wanting to corroborate the preceding train of reasoning, this surely is sufficient.

Let us now, however, from principles which regard the intimate nature of melody and harmony, as well as their precise relation to the great end of all music, descend to the mere practical observance of the relative effects of melody and harmony.

Here one thing will, at the first, strike those who are in the habit of paying any attention to the operation of their own minds, and of endeavouring to analyse it. It is this, that, while there is no end to the variety which the simplest melodies produce, there is but one sentiment excited by harmony.

However varied the melody may be, whatever the succession of emotion and passion which it calls up, it will be found that, with each of these, and always at its expense, the harmony, quoad harmony, associates another, and that always one and the same, feeling. This, if observed, will be found to be a feeling of surprise, and certainly of pleasure, at the display of knowledge in the instant association of related notes; surprise and pleasure at the art and skill, not at the feeling and taste, of the composer[65].

The compositions of Handel, Bach, and others, are admirable in their kinds and perfectly descriptive; but they touch not the most exquisite feelings; they sink not into the heart; they rouse not the passions. They excite, as already said, surprise and pleasure at the art and skill, not at the feeling and taste, of the composer. Let them be compared in this respect with Sarti, Cimarosa, &c., and all doubt on this point will cease.

It is evident, then, that the admiration, however delightful, produced by the instant and unexpected association of related notes, must, precisely in proportion to its degree, weaken and diminish the effect of the melody--must, in fact, destroy its purity, simplicity, continuity, depth, and intensity.

It is, perhaps, scarcely a less fatal objection to the indiscriminate practice of harmony, that even the restricted pleasure which it conveys is, from want of education in this peculiar art, incapable of being at all enjoyed by the vast majority of hearers.

The best practical illustration, indeed, of the relative value of melody and harmony arises from observing their effects on the mind and the expression of the features. The English people, being chiefly of Gothic origin, have a fair capability of apprehending coexisting related sounds, and their conduct while hearing them will furnish this illustration.

Let any one, then, observe the effect of these sounds in the finest harmonies produced at our Opera-house. An affected look of knowingness, an insincere grin, passes from one face to another, and occasionally, when some one who really understands the matter gives a bold and loud rap with his stick,--believing that there must now certainly be something very fine, they very innocently break into a long paroxysm of applause, and they repeat this as often as the courageous fellow with the stick chooses to give them the signal, each secretly thinking how devilish stupid he must be not really to enjoy what everybody else is so highly delighted with.

See, however, the same faces when a simple melody breaks out from the chaos of the harmony: waiting for no prompter, pleasure instantly beams on every face, and truth and nature have a triumph in that deep and universal sympathy which art and affectation are utterly incapable of achieving.

The practice of harmony has, indeed, been borrowed by us from the boors of Russia, Bohemia, and Swabia, whose broad and flat configuration of head seems to be as much connected with this practice as their coldness and apathy are utterly opposed to musical feeling, which has no existence independent of passion.

So natural and universal is melody, that even many quadrupeds are powerfully affected by it, while not one seems to be influenced by harmony.

Such then is the kind of music which, originally borrowed from these boors, the influence of a few amateurs has rendered fashionable among the half-civilized people of Europe,--for we must call those half-civilized who have no perception of the fundamental necessity and transcendent beauty of simplicity in all the fine arts, those sole tests of the highest civilization.

In Greece, where alone those arts reached the highest perfection, the purest simplicity characterized every one of their productions; and there, accordingly, harmony--as in general a complex and idle decoration, in no way promoting expression, the end of music, but, on the contrary, defeating its purpose, was, we are told, absolutely proscribed.

Even if this fact had not been recorded, the slightest knowledge of the genius of Grecian art would prove that it must have been so; and we might as safely have predicted that they no more loaded their melodies with Gothic or Sclavonic harmonies than their temples with Gothic traceries[66].

The analogy is perfectly strict; for these gingerbread traceries are not more unproductive of great or good effect than harmonies are; nor are the barn-like temples which they cover more ugly in their general form than the meagre airs which harmonies are intended to decorate.

But this is not all. Not only are the airs which harmonies are intended to decorate generally meagre and worthless, it would appear that no other airs than those are fit for conjunction with harmonies. It is certainly true that, whenever the apathetic Germans have attempted to harmonize the impassioned airs and exquisite melodies of Scotland and Ireland, they have ruined them, and disgusted every person of pure and natural taste.

The purpose, then, to which harmony is applicable is not to the expression of pure, simple, continuous, deep, and intense passion--the very highest purpose of musical expression,--but to the expression either of the slightly modified and less definite feelings, or of the more variable, and even jarring sentiments of several persons, purposes far inferior to the former.

It is evident that, where several persons express musically somewhat similar sentiments on the same subject, they may naturally sing in harmony; and where these sentiments occur at intervals of time slightly extended, they may even be supposed to chant in that regulated succession which constitutes fugue. Hence harmony is peculiarly suited to many voices, where deep pathos and passion are impossible; and it is an abuse to apply it to the higher species of music.

It is evident, too, that, in descriptive or epic music, harmony may form the background of the picture--the accompaniment of the narration,--in the front of which some kind of melody appears; and of this the most admirable examples are to be found in the works of Beethoven, the most profound and philosophical of composers. But whoever mistakes this for the highest species of music is not in a condition to understand the present paper.

It is in fact, the absence of pathos and passion among the Gothic races of modern Europe, that has led to the substitution of harmony for melody. At the same time, their excellence in mechanical invention has enabled them greatly to improve instruments, which, however suited to the former, are incapable of the feeling and the meaning, the expression and the delicacy, which essentially belong to the latter. And again, the deficiency of instruments in these most important qualities has led to those strong basses and accompaniments which fill up the vacuity. Music, consequently, has sometimes degenerated into a series of tricks which do not rank above rope-dancing or the ballet.

One word may now properly be added on instrumental accompaniments. They are the natural resource of performers who are destitute either of feeling or of voice. They may be comparatively beautiful when associated with these, but they are absolutely offensive when they interfere with the expression of deep feeling by a beautiful voice.

The best instrumental accompaniment is consequently that which least interferes with the voice--not the continuous sounds of wind or bowed instruments (for their music is rather the poor unfeeling substitute for, than the accompaniment of, fine vocal music), but the light touch of the string of the harp, the guitar, or the lyre, which, while it verifies the accuracy, least interferes with the feeling of vocal expression.

Hence the great masters of art, the Greeks, employed so simple an instrument as the guitar (their κιθαρα being obviously its original), or the lyre, which appears to have been simpler and better still. I rejoice, therefore, to see the former becoming as fashionable in England as it has long been on the Continent.

~Donald Walker.~

A GERMAN CRITIQUE.

(From the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung.)

[A specimen of criticism from the most esteemed and widely-circulated musical journal of Germany, will not be uninteresting to our readers. The beauty of M. Mendelssohn’s overture has excited in M. Fink’s mind a lively recollection of Shakspeare’s most fanciful drama, and almost turned the brain of the critic. He has wrought himself into a belief that music is equal to language in the power of describing. His reverie is amusing; but the intimate acquaintance he manifests with the works of our great dramatic poet, is a circumstance more gratifying to us than all the sallies of his imagination.]

* * * * *

Overture to Shakspeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, composed by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, arranged as a Duet for the Piano-Forte, by the composer. (Property of the publishers.) Leipzig. Published by Breitkopf and Härtel. Pr. 1 Thaler.

The same Composition arranged for the Piano-Forte (for one performer) by F. Mockwitz.

Reviewed by G. W. Fink, (the Editor.)

It was announced last year in one of the numbers of this publication that the orchestral parts of this excellent work had appeared at the above publisher’s; and we then expressed our regret that they should have been published without the score, for want of which the overture could not be reviewed. Up to the present time we have not relaxed in our endeavours to meet with the score, but we have been unsuccessful. This would have been a matter of still deeper regret to us if we had not had the good fortune to hear the overture, the arrangements of which are lying before us, played by our orchestra, which, at the first performance, got through the difficult composition in such a delightful manner, that a tolerably distinct impression of it remained upon our mind, which, upon looking over and playing the two clever arrangements, is powerfully called back to our memory. From the impression produced by the instrumental performance, and from these two published arrangements, we cannot but give the palm to this production of the persevering young composer, as evincing a greater degree of ability and genius than any other of his works with which we are acquainted.

Tones of simple melody seem to float, like soft and delicate whispers, through the shadows of night. It seems as though something mystic were approaching, from the distance shrouded in darkness, which suddenly settles like a gleam of moonshine on the desired spot. Now gentle and vigorous sounds alternate, as though a power of both those characters, veiled in the misty clouds, were at hand; and in a chord of silvery softness, Titania beckons her fairy followers, who, forthwith forming in couples, wind through the silent wood in fantastic twirling dances. Here, detaching themselves from their companions, a diminutive elfin couple creep into a polished acorn-cup, and sing in delicate fairy strains to the elegant movements of the rest. Pea-blossom, Mustard-seed, Moth, and Cobweb, are there among the busy revellers in the moonshine; and there is such a twirling and flirting, and rustling and glitter, that one would fain be present at the nuptial revels of the bright-helmed Theseus, were it even in the capacity of a tinker. Anon somebody trips in with a prying look, softly and slyly, as though he were plotting mischief; and this personage is no other than Friend Oberon, attended by his roguish Puck, projecting a little spell to punish his refractory consort. And lo! on a sudden, matters become coarsely real and corporeal. The ‘rude mechanicals’ are about to rehearse their ‘most lamentable comedy’ in the wood; and the lovers are eloping, because the cruel father will not let his daughter marry him she loves. The night is as busy and full of life as though it were open day, and a legato cantabile, keeping up the character of the scene, expresses the impassioned prayer of the maiden, exhausted by her flight, imploring that she may be allowed to slumber undisturbed on the mossy rock. In the foreground beneath the trees the mechanics are rehearsing their drama, each according to his part; Oberon surveys unseen the strange performance, and gives his commands to the sly Puck. The scene is now one of wonderful bustle and confusion; mortals rehearse and elves dance, Oberon smiles, and Puck, ever frolicsome and mischievous, returning, dives through the dewy atmosphere and presents to his radiant master the magic floweret, Love in idleness, whose penetrating juice changes the wise to stupid and the stupid into wise. This is, between ourselves, the very flower which, among other things, is the cause that the most shallow effusions thus metamorphosed are the most assiduously read and strummed. Dip them in the water, their element, and Puck’s observation is perfectly legible upon their hairy foreheads--

‘Churl, upon thy eyes I throw All the power this charm doth owe.’

It is only a pity that the wag should always mistake his man, and, instead of the right, invariably hit upon the wrong! But for the rest, this is after all of little consequence; for in a genuine Midsummer Night’s Dream it is proper that all things should be at cross purposes, and yet so clearly defined, that in the confusion we may distinguish the forms of the beings composing it. And here the great charm is that this is just the case in this instance. Oh! what a delightful thing is a merry dream! Suddenly the chord of the diminished seventh, that pliant and accommodating harmony, accompanied by rumbling bases, resounds through the busy scene, and one may fancy Quince exclaiming, ‘Bless thee, Bottom, bless thee, thou art translated!’ No matter! it is rather a piece of good fortune for Bottom. Although the scared artisans run off at the sight of his monstrous head, the slumbering Titania, being also under the spell of the magic floweret, on awaking beholds the transformed wight; and oh! how beautiful and intellectual does she find the agreeable beast! how lovingly does she caress him! The sprightly elves are ordered to dance to her long-eared darling, and Pea-blossom to scratch his lovely little head. Theseus now approaches with his queen of the Amazons and train of huntsmen to the sound of the horns and the barking of dogs. Things now begin to assume a clearer aspect; Bottom too is disenchanted, and it seems as if the clowns were playing Pyramus and Thisbe at the wedding. Bottom roars so that the duke says, ‘Let him roar again!’ Lysander has returned to his love; and matters end so much to our satisfaction that one cannot help exclaiming with Bottom, ‘I have had a most rare vision--I have had a dream past the wit of man to say what dream it was. Man is but an ass, if he go about to expound this dream.’ In short, the beauty of the thing is, that in its true sense, the beginning is the end and the end the beginning.

Now let the reader, who in this account may here and there have observed something of a flowery description, first of all read the Midsummer Night’s Dream; then let him take the two-handed arrangement, or the duet, as he pleases, (they are both beautiful and good; but the arrangement for four hands is the better--a circumstance, however, which ought by no means to imply a defect as regards the two-handed arrangement, for the simple reason that two is not four,) and he will be delighted with it and feel the import of the lines,

Thus have I, Wall, my part discharged so, And, being done, thus Wall away doth go.

REVIEW OF NEW MUSIC.

~Six original English Glees~, for three and four voices, including the Glee which gained the Prize given by the Manchester Glee-Club, 1832, and those performed at the Concentores Society, composed by ~H. R. Bishop~. The Poetry by Mrs. ~Hemans~, ~Joanna Baillie~, ~J. Wilson~, Esq., and Dr. ~Johnson~. (Goulding and D’Almaine.)

The Glee is our national music, is indigenous to these isles, and a beautiful species of composition however viewed; we should therefore be sorry to see it fall into anything like neglect, a danger which some few years ago seemed to be threatened, though now we trust is past, judging from the encouragement it has lately received from many associated bodies, and from its re-introduction to domestic parties, where it appears to be regaining that favour which its own merits, and the facility with which it may now be performed, ought always to command.

Mr. Bishop, though he pursued his professional studies under an Italian master, and has devoted his life chiefly to the theatre, has cultivated what in an English musician may almost be called a natural talent for glee-writing, to which, it is fair to a laudable institution to state, he has probably been partly induced by his connexion with the Concentores Society, a small club, whose sole object is the conservation of this kind of composition, and for the service of which three out of the present collection were produced.

The first glee in this volume, ‘Where shall we make her grave?’ in ~E~♭, for four equal voices, gained the premium--(a Prize implies a medal, or cup; a far more gentlemanlike reward, by-the bye,)--given by a club at Manchester, and is a very impressive composition, the words set with judgment and feeling, and full of good, rich harmony. Being long, a more frequent and decided change of key would have increased the effect of this; though as it is in four different movements, the sameness which otherwise would have been felt, is much concealed. The melody at the words ‘where shower and singing-bird,’ is very charming; and the whole of pages 4 and 5, where the author modulates first into ~A~♭, then into ~D~♭, is set in a masterly, affecting manner.

The second, ‘Up! quit thy bower!’ a cheerful glee in ~F~, for two sopranos, tenor, and base, is lively and pleasing: the frequent use here of the diminished 7th is rather a novelty in a glee, and tends to a good purpose. The whole of this is full of agreeable melody, which is particularly striking at page 15, where the annexed passage occurs,--a successful departure from the usual habits of glee-writers:--

The third, ‘No more the morn with tepid rays,’ in ~D~, for four equal voices,--the words, Dr. Johnson’s Ode to Winter,--is in several movements, but the key is not so various, and the whole, though set with a due regard to the Poet’s sentiments, is rather monotonous and heavy. The following passage contains some clashing notes, though we allow that many of them are passing notes.--

The composer’s design is obvious, but nothing in music can justify what is disagreeable to a cultivated ear.

The fourth, ‘Oh! Sky-lark!’ in ~F~, also for four equal voices, is throughout graceful, especially in melody; the repetition of certain pleasing phrases conduces here very much to effect.

The fifth, ‘In tears, the heart oppressed with grief,’ in ~E~, for soprano, tenor, and base, a single movement, is elegant and gentle, and the words are most judiciously set. Some chromatic notes in this will put glee-singers on the alert: they are, generally speaking, averse from trouble, but it is time to rouse them, and break through their ancient habits.

The sixth and last, ‘Come forth, sweet spirit!’ in ~F~, for four equal voices, in two movements, is a good composition, and quite irreproachable, yet not very captivating. It is best calculated to please those critics who judge music by the eye rather than the ear,--who deal largely in the phrases ‘fine writing,’ ‘parts well put together,’ &c., and seldom look beyond the mechanism of a composition.

We may pronounce this to be a successful work: the glees are all of the orthodox kind, deficient in nothing that good taste requires, or that the nature of the composition, by a prescriptive right, demands. No very hazardous attempts are made at novelty, but we meet with nothing common, and no pedantic show of mistaken learning. Mr. Bishop has written to please, not without a sufficient regard for his own reputation, and has not failed in his endeavour.

* * * * *

1. ~Songs of the Bower~, composed by ~C. W. Manners~. (Goulding and D’Almaine.)

2. The Spring Wreath, ~Twelve Songs~, composed by Messrs. ~John Thomson~, ~R. Webster~, ~J. P. Clarke~, ~T. Macfarlane~, and ~W. Hindmarsh~: the words by ~T. Atkinson~, author of The Cameleon. 8vo. (Goulding and D’Almaine.)

Without being at all informed on the subject, and judging only from the dedication of the Songs of the Bower, we are inclined to believe that they are the production of an amateur, and that the words are by the author of the music. If we are in error as to the latter point, the composer is bound to excuse us, for he should have named the writer of them, if not from his own pen. They are six in number, show a vast deal of taste, a desire to avoid commonplaces, (though not always successful in this respect,) and a most correct manner of setting the poetry, both as regards expression and accentuation. Indeed, it is the latter circumstance which leads us to think that the composer and poet are one and the same person, for mere musicians, more often than not, are influenced by the meaning of particular words rather than by the context, and almost as frequently commit mistakes in quantity and in emphasis.

The first of these, ‘Once more to the bower,’ in ~E~, is a slow, expressive air, well accompanied, but not very original, particularly in its cadences. The second, The Regret, in ~F~, if sung slowly, rather ad libitum, and with feeling, will always make an impression. The accompaniment to this is very appropriate. The third, ‘When youth first leads,’ in ~D~, is more pleasing than new. Of the fourth, ‘Now is the hour,’ in ~E~ flat, precisely the same may be said, though it is not as a whole equal to the former. The fifth, ‘Come welcome with me, lovely May,’ in ~G~, should have been written in triple time; it has a strong polacca tendency, and halts exceedingly in its present measure. The praise we have bestowed on the composer’s accentuation must be abated so far as this song is concerned: giving a long note to ‘with,’ and in the strong part of the bar too, cannot escape censure. The sixth, ‘The last red rose,’ in ~E~ flat, is another expressive air, and the accompaniment shows much good taste in harmony; but the cadences here, as once or twice before, are, contrary to the moral rule, not the more valuable for being old acquaintances.

No. 2 is a very pretty volume of lithographed songs, thin enough to carry in the pocket, and with neat cover and gilt leaves, producible in any lady’s drawing-room; and all this at a less price than two songs of the ordinary kind! We confess that the smallness of the characters calls on the eye for unusual exertion; and the singer and accompanyist, if in the dual number, must sit in the closest possible contact if they mean to see a single note or word.

Of these songs, the best are, The Promise, in the Scottish style, by J. P. Clarke; The Night Flower, by T. Macfarlane; ‘The Midnight Dream,’ by John Thomson, Esq., a very superior composition; and The Proud Lover, by R. Webster. The poetry of the songs is unaffected, and some of it remarkable for tenderness, if not for any higher quality; and, at all events, the publication is certainly worth the moderate, the hardly remunerating price set on it.

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PIANO-FORTE.

1. Souvenir du Pré aux Clercs, ~Fantasia~, composé par ~F. Kalkbrenner~, Op. 119. (Goulding and Co.)

2. Souvenir de ~Herold~, Fantasia, par ~C. Chaulieu~. Op. 151. (Goulding and Co.)

Both of these are remembrances of M. Herold, the lately-deceased French composer, and made up, we believe, chiefly of airs from his operas.

The first, though requiring considerable powers of execution, is good music; difficulty is not the author’s object. Some parts are very beautiful, others ingenious; but we most condemn the hateful run of semitones in thirds, foolishly introduced, at page 8, in deference to a vicious fashion.

* * * * *

M. Chaulieu has produced some clever and many pleasing things for the piano-forte, which have always been noticed by us in terms of due approbation. Though not an original or vigorous composer, he has generally been a rational one. But all at once his judgment seems to have abandoned him,--a fit of pedantic foppery has seized him! Will it be credited that a composer in the nineteenth century, a musician not under restraint, not actually in a strait waistcoat, can have attempted to retrograde a century and a half, by introducing, in a piece written for the piano-forte only, the contra-tenor clef? He has not only employed this, most freely, in the present fantasia, but written it with 8va. alta over the notes, as if the same meaning could not have been expressed infinitely better by the usual clef, even admitting that the ~C~ clef were still in use! If such folly as this is countenanced, we shall soon go back to six-line staves, to the treble clef on the first line, and the mean on the fifth,--to musical darkness and barbarism. Surely the London publisher, Mr. D’Almaine, could not have been aware of this mad freak, or exquisite piece of musical coxcombry, or his common sense would have prompted him immediately to restore sanity to the notation of this work, which, in its present state, cannot have the least chance of sale.

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1. ~Grosses Concert-Stuck~, (Pièce de Concert,) Op. 47, composé par ~Mayseder~, arrangé pour le Piano-forte par ~Charles Czerny~. (Wessel and Co.)

2. ~Rondeau Mignon, No. 7~, sur l’air ‘Non più andrai’ de ~Mozart~, composé pour le Piano-forte par ~Fred. Kulau~. (Wessel and Co.)

The subject of No. 1 has frequently, in one shape or other, come under our notice; it has all the frothy gaiety of the author, and not a trait that gives it the slightest chance of being remembered beyond the fleeing hour. M. Czerny, as might have been expected, has not palliated any of its defects, but rather aggravated them, by a succession of restless, unrelated, senseless passages.

* * * * *

M. Kulau, a judicious musician, but, alas! no more, has made a very charming rondo out of Mozart’s popular air from Figaro. Like a reasonable man, he has studied the convenience of the player, and also confined himself within moderate bounds;--like a man of taste, he has been regulated by the style of the subject;--and like a musician who really understands his art, he has added nothing but what every sound harmonist will approve and admire.

* * * * *

1. ~Minuetto~ and ~Trio~, ~Andante Sentimentale~, and ~Allegro Scherzando~, composed by ~Edward J. Loder~. Op. 19. (Goulding and D’Almaine.)

2. ~Horn’s~ ‘Happy Valley,’ and ‘Dark-eyed Brunette,’ arranged, with an Introduction, by ~T. A. Rawlings~. (Monro and May.)

3. ‘Non più mesta,’ the Finale to La Cenerentola, arranged, with Variation, by ~T. A. Rawlings~. (Monro and May.)

No. 1 evinces talent of no common kind: he who composed these pieces could, we should suppose, put parts to them, and by the addition of a single movement exalt them into a symphony, of which they seem to have been intended as portions. The three great masters are the models on which these compositions are formed, of whom Beethoven appears to be the object of the author’s highest admiration. The Minuet, in ~E~ flat, and Trio, in ~A~ flat, are spirited, and less studied in manner than the Andante, in ~B~ flat, which is impressive and recherché. The Allegretto, in ~A~ flat, is bold and energetic; the modulations here are many and fearless, and the author has ventured on discords for which he has no precedent that immediately occurs to us, thus at least proving a courage and independence which promise much as the result of his future exertions. Were our advice likely to influence Mr. E. Loder, we would recommend him to pursue his present course, only guarding him against the possibility of being allured from melody by the temptations of harmony.

* * * * *

The composer of a song has no chance now of success unless he fee some public performer to sing it; and the composer of a piano-forte piece must not expect that his work will attract any notice unless built on some popular air. Mr. Rawlings has long known the truth of this, and still acts on his experience. No. 2 is formed on two airs said to be popular, and No. 3 on one that unquestionably is, namely, ‘Non più mesta; of all of which he has made good use, and produced two very agreeable and recommendable publications.

* * * * *

1. ~Contre-Danses Brillantes~, et ~Valse~, composés par ~J. T. Surenne~. (Robertson, Edinburgh.)

2. ~Quadrille~ de ~Contre-Danses~, sur des motifs de l’opéra de ~Donizetti~, Anna Bolena, arrangée par ~Henry Lemoine~. (Wessel and Co.)

No. 1 are animated, animating dances, not exhibiting any very new thoughts, but well put together.

No. 2 are subjects from an opera that cannot boast a single original idea, therefore the compiler of this quadrille must not be censured for want of novelty; but he has well arranged the airs he has chosen, and adapted them in a convenient manner for the performer.

* * * * *

DUETS, PIANO-FORTE.

1. ~Grosses Concert-Stuck~, (Pièce de Concert,) Op. 47, composé par ~Mayseder~, arrangé par ~Charles Czerny~. (Wessel and Co.)

2. ~Duet~ on a ~Danish Melody~, composed for two performers, by ~Fred. Kulau~. (Wessel and Co.)

No. 1 is the work noticed above, as arranged for a single performer. We like it better in its present form, for the parts are more dispersed, and the melody comes out more distinctly. The upper part of this is very difficult, but the lower is easy, the duet therefore will very well suit an elder and younger sister, or two players whose musical advancement is unequal.

* * * * *

No. 2 is Kulau’s Recollections of Odensee, in two quick, pleasing, and very practicable movements. We will not answer for the airs being, bonâ fide, of Danish origin, but whatever their birth-place, they are lively, pretty, and the superior master often peeps out while he means to be only simple and familiar.

* * * * *

1. ~Quadrille~ sur des motifs de ~Herold~, de l’opéra Zampa, arrangée par ~Henry Lemoine~. No. 1. (Wessel and Co.)

2. No. 2, Ditto. ditto. ditto.

Some of the best subjects from an opera which has been too much lauded on the continent, are here arranged in an easy but effective manner.

* * * * *

ORGAN.

~Select Organ Pieces~, from Masses, Motets, and other sacred works of ~Mozart~, ~Haydn~, ~Beethoven~, ~Cherubini~, ~Palestrina~, and other classical composers of the German and Italian schools, arranged by ~Vincent Novello~. Nos. 31 to 36. (A. Novello.)

What the preceding numbers of this work contain, we have had no means of judging, having only received those now under notice, and must confine ourselves to them. By means of very close engraving, twenty-two pieces are included in these numbers, principally from Haydn’s and Mozart’s sacred compositions, but some few are by Novello, Portogallo, and Bonno. We are not among those who think that the Masses, &c. of Haydn and Mozart are, taken altogether, equal to their secular works; many of them, we are persuaded, would never have been published by the consent of the composers, but parts of them make very good organ pieces. These Mr. Novello has culled, and, with his well-known ability, converted them to a very useful purpose. He certainly calculates his adaptations for superior organists, and is not sparing of notes. Sometimes there will be found too many, by second-rate performers; and we take the liberty to mention to Mr. N. that in the country, nay even in the metropolis, are several respectable organists, very well qualified to do the duty of parish churches, who think his arrangements too much crowded for ordinary players, and too full of harmony for country congregations.

VOCAL.

‘Tantum ergo,’ a ~Soprano Solo~, with chorus, and violin, or flute, obligato, composed by ~C. Guynemer~. (J. A. Novello.)

This is more to be praised for smoothness of melody, and elegance in style, than for invention; we meet with nothing in it that can be called new, but, at the same time, nothing but what is rather agreeable. The air is in two movements, the first slow in three-four time, the last quicker, in common time. We prefer the former. The chorus, with a principal soprano added, to which a few florid passages are given, is simple, therefore--according to our notion of choral church music--appropriate; but it is also graceful. The flute accompaniment (by Mr. Nicholson) is good, as such, but not of that grave character which the words so imperatively demand.

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1. ~Terzetto~, ‘Soccorso, sostegno,’ for soprano, contr’alto, and basso, composed by ~John Lodge~, Esq. (Lonsdale and Mills.)

2. ~Glee~, ‘The Butterfly,’ for four voices, the words by ~S. Rogers~ [Esq.] the music by ~James Battye~. (Goulding and D’Almaine.)

3. ~Duet~, ‘Wandering Zephyr,’ (_the words from the Spanish, by Mrs. Lawrence_,) composed by ~John Lodge~, Esq. (Lonsdale and Mills.)

4. ~Duet~, ‘We must part, love!’ written by ~W. Ball~, the melody by ~Mozart~, with symphonies, &c. by ~William Forde~. (Cocks and Co.)

No. 1 begins with a single voice, the contr’alto following, on the same subject a fourth below; but the most pleasing part of this is where the three voices come together. The whole is quite in the Italian style,--the best, though; and not unworthy the acceptance of the talented and lovely young dilettante to whom it is dedicated,--the Hon. Mary Anne Jervis.

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No. 2 is not a glee, we beg to hint to the composer: having an accompaniment, and a free one too, it should have been called a quartet. The name, however, may not much signify; but as Mr. Brown is better known by that appellation than if he were called Mr. White, so the term quartet more correctly explains the nature of the present composition than that now bestowed on it. But whatever the name of this, it will not give one to its author: he must not build his hopes of immortality on The Butterfly.

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No. 3 is simple, easy in every respect, and exactly calculated to please those who either do not understand or have no taste for elaborately written music. In whatever Mr. Lodge publishes, however unpretending, a trait of originality is always to be found, and this duettino is no exception to the rule.

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We cannot say from which of Mozart’s works Mr. Forde has taken the melody of No. 4; it does not bear any of the very distinguishing marks of the author, though agreeable. The words, which are not quite intelligible to us, are not all adapted with the proper regard to emphasis, and the accompaniment needs much thinning. With a little alteration, this duet may be made useful to such amateur singers as are not disposed to examine too critically the poetry to which they give utterance.

1. ~Arietta~, ‘Torna in quell’ onda chiara,’ the words by ~Metastasio~, the Music composed by ~Lord Burghersh~. (Lonsdale and Mills.)

2. ~Ballad~, ‘Crabbed Age and Youth,’ composed and published as the preceding.

3. ~Ballad~, ‘Unmindful of my sorrow,’ written by ~Mrs. Butterworth~, composed by Mrs. ~Philip Millard~. (Monro and May.)

4. ~Ballad~, ‘I know our dream of love is o’er,’ the melody by ~Beethoven~, the Poetry, Symphonies, and Accompaniments by ~J. A. Wade~, Esq. (Hawes.)

5. ~Song~, ‘The World of Change,’ the poetry by ~Mrs. Abdy~, adapted to a melody of Spohr’s, by ~Edwin J. Neilson~. (Hawes.)

6. ~Song~, ‘When the moon sheds her lustre,’ written by ~S. P. Quin, Esq.~, composed by ~Alexander D. Roche~. (Cocks and Co.)

7. ~Song~, ‘I saw thee crop that beauteous flower,’ composed by ~Charles M’Korkell~. (Chappell.)

8. ~Canzonet~, ‘Farewell, ye green hills,’ composed by ~J. W. Davison~. (Purday.)

No. 1, short and simple as it is, possesses much of that quality for which we so often sigh,--originality. Nothing can be more easy than this, for both singer and accompanyist, and it cannot fail of a circulation among those who do not take fright at a foreign language.

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No. 2, we are told in a note, ‘is founded on the ancient Greek enharmonic mode, in which the 4th and 7th of the scale are omitted, as in the scale used in the Scotch melodies.’ In old Scottish airs, and, what is rather remarkable, in Chinese melodies, these intervals are rejected, but we do not wish to see the practice imitated, except, perhaps, now and then, to give--as in the present case--a tinge of antiquity to music set to ancient poetry.

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No. 3 is very expressively set; but the time being marked 2/4, it appears to us that larghetto would have met the composer’s intentions better than andante, which, in four-quaver time, is quicker than the character of both words and music seems to justify.

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No. 4 is the andante in ~B~ flat from Beethoven’s septet, which Mr. Wade apparently intends now to be sung much slower than it is played in its original form. He has not been very fortunate in adapting words to this; ‘one’ is not emphatic, nor is the last syllable of ‘memory,’ of ‘melody,’ and of ‘minstrelsy,’ long. Me-mo-ry, &c., will not do.

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No. 5 also exhibits numerous errors in emphasis, beautiful as is the air. In fact, as the words are now adapted, a singer would stand a fair chance of being laughed at who should perform this air.

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The sixth and seventh of these call for no remark.

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No. 8 sets off with some promise of novelty, but the composer, in modulating from ~F~ to ~E~ minor, gets quite out of his depth, and is engulphed in fifths of so abominable a kind, that we cannot allow them to pass without a remark.

PIANO-FORTE AND VIOLIN.

~Gran Duo Concertante~, on Airs from ~Meyerbeer’s~ Robert le Diable; the Piano-forte part by ~Kalkbrenner~, the Violin part by ~Lafont~. (Chappell.)

This is a composition in which two first-rate artists have united their talents, and requires performers of nearly equal rank to execute it in a fit and proper manner. It is a work remarkable for its brilliancy, which appears to have been the principal aim of the writers, for the greater part is of this cast; though an expressive adagio in ~B~ minor, and one variation of the same kind in ~F~ minor, operate as seasonable contrasts and reliefs. The bulk of this consists of an air in ~C~, (we do not recollect its title,) with, in point of fact, five variations, though only numbered as two. The first of these requires a violinist expert in double stops; and if the pianist cannot run demisemiquavers in thirds, with one hand, in quick time, he had better at once decline all share in the concertante.

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PIANO-FORTE AND FLUTE.

~Introduction~ and ~Rondo~ on ‘Ah! quand il gêle sans se laisser,’ chorus in ~Onslow’s~ opera, Le Colporteur, composed by ~F. Kulau~, Op. 98. (Hill.)

We cannot any that any great exertion appears to have been made by M. Kulau either in the choice or arrangement of this chorus, but it has an advantage, and not a trifling one, namely, that it enables two moderate performers to make a considerable display without the cost of much previous practice, and at the expense of but little exertion. This is in ~E~ minor, but ends in the major key. It has an introduction, which, though there is an air of pretence in it, is heavy, and signifies nothing.

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1. ~Tre Duettini~, ridotti per due Flauti e Piano-Forte, da ~T. Bucher~. (Cocks and Co.)

2. ~Paganini’s~ Three ~Fantasias~, arranged and published by the same.

The duets are ‘Cara pupille,’ and ‘Che cangi sempre,’ of Blangini, and ‘Vedi da questi palpiti,’ by Mercadante, arranged as ~Trios~, in as easy a manner as possible for all three instruments; and to a numerous class of amateurs they will not be less agreeable because divested of all manner of difficulty, without being rendered insipid.

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No. 2 are as brief as the foregoing, but the flute part requires rather more skill in the performer, while the accompaniment is much the same as the other. As to the airs, they are without any distinguishing character; and why such trifling compositions, so short--only two pages each--so scanty in subjects, and consequently so destitute of those flights of imagination which the term fantasia implies, should have received such a title, we are at a loss to guess.

ANCIENT CONCERTS.

ELEVENTH CONCERT,

_Under the Direction of Earl Howe, Wednesday, May 29, 1833._

~Act I.~

National anthem, ‘Lord of Heaven.’

Song, ‘Rejoice, O Judah.’ Chorus, ‘Hallelujah.’ ~Handel.~ (Judas Maccabeus.)

Glee, ‘A generous friendship.’ ~Webbe.~

Recit., ‘Ei parte, senti, ah no!’ Song, ‘Per pietà.’ ~Mozart.~ (Cosi fan Tutte.)

Chorus, ‘O Father, whose.’ (Judas Maccabeus.) ~Handel.~

Concerto 2nd. (Grand.) ~Handel.~

Recit., ‘He was cut off.’ Song, ‘But thou didst not ~Handel.~ leave.’ (Messiah.)

Chorus, ‘Lift up your heads.’ (Messiah.) ~Handel.~

Selection from the Creation. ~Haydn.~ Recit., ‘And God said.’ Recit. acc., ‘In splendour bright.’ Chorus, ‘The heavens are telling.’ Trio, ‘The day that is coming.’ Grand chorus, ‘The heavens are telling.’

~Act II.~

Overture. (Henry the Fourth.) ~Martini.~

Recit., ‘Grazie vi rendo.’ Song, ‘A compir.’ ~Guglielmi.~ (Semiramide.)

Glee, ‘When winds breathe soft.’ ~Webbe.~

Recit., ‘Me, when the sun.’ Song, ‘Hide me from ~Handel.~ Day’s.’ (Il Pensieroso.)

Overture. (Prometheus.) ~Beethoven.~

Chorus, ‘Rex tremendæ.’ Quartet, ‘Recordare.’ ~Mozart.~ (Requiem.)

Glee, ‘Though the last glimpse of Erin.’ Irish air, harmonized by ~Greatorex.~

Chorus, ‘O sing unto Jehovah.’ ~Haydn.~

This concert, the first selected by the noble Earl who has lately added his name to the list of directors, augurs very favourably of his musical knowledge and taste. We here discern no symptoms of prejudice, of an irrational exclusive system, for the best productions of the great schools are allowed a place; and, so long as the works of living composers are declared inadmissible,--a regulation which, for obvious reasons, ought to be strictly enforced,--the wider the field for choice, the better, both for the subscribers and the art itself. With this exception, the rule should be, and we have no doubt will be, to throw the door wide open to all that is excellent, whatever its country or date, and to give every work all the advantages that the best-appointed orchestra can bestow.

The Queen was present at this performance, and perhaps what is here denominated ‘The National Anthem’ was meant as a compliment to her Majesty. But why not have called it by its right name? And what reason can there have been for not giving the composer the credit of it? This is neither more nor less than Haydn’s Hymn for the Emperor Francis, with English words adapted to the music,[67] and as such would probably now have been announced, had not the secretary made his copy from a book of some former year.

The song from Judas Maccabeus is certainly not one of the best in that fine oratorio, but the chorus is grand. Webbe’s lovely glee, of which it is difficult to say whether the melody or the simple harmony is most charming, was well executed by the second choir; the first wanted strength in the base. Madame Cinti excels more in the cantabile than in the declamatory style; she therefore sang the air, ‘Per pietà,’ divinely, but was not quite so successful in the recitative. The fine choral prayer, ‘O Father, whose almighty power,’ with the spirited fugue, forming the second movement, was admirably performed; as was Handel’s concerto. In the air from the Messiah, Mrs. Knyvett was perfectly at home, as she is in all Handel’s music. Indeed this lady is, we fear--and we feel with regret this apprehension--likely to be the last of that school which has received from tradition the true manner of singing the oratorio music of this master. The chorus that followed, by being placed in juxtaposition with Haydn’s choral chef-d’œuvre, seemed to challenge comparison; but if Handel is to be weighed in the scale against Haydn, ‘Lift up your heads,’ though a very masterly chorus, is not the work to be selected for the purpose. Nothing can exceed the admirable manner in which the selection from the Creation was performed: Braham’s ‘In splendour bright’ was magnificent, and ‘The heavens are telling’ stupendously grand; we never before heard so perfect a performance, and never were more affected by choral music.

The very pleasing light overture of Martini found an abundance of admirers in the room: many who did not justly appreciate Haydn’s chorus, entered fully into the merits of this. The melody, ‘Charmante Gabrielle,’ forming part of this, dragged--was played too slow. The aria, ‘A compir,’ proved too much of a duet; the violin was rendered more prominent than the composer intended; but Madame Cinti executed her share of it with a delicacy and neatness that never have been surpassed. Webbe’s greatest work, his glee, ‘When winds breathe soft,’ was a very finished performance. Miss Stephens sang most sweetly the song from Il Pensieroso. What poetical music! what musical words! But the whole oratorio (as it is called) whence this is taken, tempts one to commit an anachronism, by making Milton and Handel commune together during the progress of their work. The overture to Prometheus went well, but wanted some of the fire of the Philharmonic orchestra. The chorus, ‘Rex tremendæ majestatis,’ had ample justice done it; but in the exquisite quartet, a want of ensemble, of that union which good rehearsing produces, was too apparent.

TWELFTH CONCERT,

Under the Direction of Lord Burghersh, Wednesday, June 5, 1833.

~Act I.~

Overture. Chorus, ‘O the pleasures.’ (Acis and ~Handel.~ Galatea.)

Song, ‘Parto ma tu ben.’ (La Clemenza di ~Mozart.~ Tito.)

Glee, ‘Mark’d you her eye.’ ~Spofforth.~

Recit., ‘O loss of sight!’ Song, ‘Total eclipse!’ ~Handel.~ (Samson.)

Quartet, ‘Vieni à regni.’ (Orfeo ed Euridice.) ~Gluck.~

Song, ‘Il pensier stà.’ (Orfeo ed Euridice.) ~Haydn.~

Recit., ‘Euridice!’ Song, ‘Che farò.’ (Orfeo ed ~Gluck.~ Euridice.)

Te Deum (MS.) Composed for the Royal Chapel at ~Leo.~ Naples, 1741.

~Act II.~

Overture (Alceste.) ~Gluck.~

Song, ‘Let the bright seraphim.’ Chorus, ‘Let their ~Handel.~ celestial.’ (Samson.)

Sestetto, ‘Dove son.’ (Cosi fan Tutte.) ~Mozart.~

Duetto, ‘Dove scorre.’ ~Mozart.~

Quartet ‘Agnus Dei.’ Chorus, ‘Dona nobis.’ ~Mozart.~

Song, ‘Misera! dove son?’ ~Mozart.~

Madrigal (double choir), ‘When all alone.’ ~Conversi.~

Song. ‘Alles still tiefe.’ ~Keiser, 1694.~

Chorus, ‘Father, we adore thee.’ (Judah.) ~Haydn.~

With this concert the season concluded, and in a manner which we should suppose must have determined almost every subscriber to continue his name on the list for the ensuing year. So good a selection, so much variety and novelty, never appeared on the books of the Ancient Concerts. Madame Pasta’s deeply expressive style of singing ‘Parto’ was felt by the whole room, but her shakes, or attempts to shake, nearly neutralized all the good effect she produced. Spofforth’s very beautiful glee,--one of those specimens of the English school which will descend to posterity, and never lose its power to charm,--was, upon the whole, delicately sung, though somewhat too quick. Mr. Bennet in ‘Total eclipse!’ did himself the greatest credit; he sang it most chastely, and afforded the best proofs of having studied the words as well as music of this exceedingly pathetic song, one of the chefs-d’œuvre of the great master. The beautiful quartet from Gluck’s Orfeo was new to these concerts. It is reasonably a matter of wonder that it never before had been rescued from neglect. We would willingly have spared the ‘Musica di Ballo,’ which, though essential on the stage, is quite unnecessary in the concert-room. Not less excellent than the quartet, though of a different character, is the aria from a drama written on the same subject, and composed by Haydn--‘Il pensier stà negli oggetto,’ a gentle, lovely air in ~E~, sung by Mr. Parry, jun., with great judgment and effect. This, we believe, has never till now been publicly performed in England![68] We have heard Madame Pasta, in the scena from Gluck’s opera, with feelings of pleasure less mingled with regret than on the present occasion. She seems exhausted by constantly singing. The two spring months in London fatigue a fashionable performer more than a whole year in cities peopled by reasonable folks. The Te Deum of Leo, though nearly a century old, is another novelty, not only to the Ancient Concerts, but to this and, we suspect, every other country: it is one of the grandest works of this great composer: and some trombone parts which were, with great good sense, added to it on the present occasion, increase to a very considerable degree the sublimity of its effect. To Lord Burghersh, we are told, the subscribers are indebted for so much that is new to them; and we are much mistaken if the musical world generally will not have to thank that accomplished nobleman for having saved this valuable institution from the dissolution that was impending.

The overture to Alceste is decidedly a work of genius. Was it ever before performed in London, except forty years ago at the Opera-House? In the sestetto from Cosi fan Tutte the performers were by no means at ease; they wanted what they ought to have been compelled to undergo, a couple of hours’ private study together, with the piano-forte only, before they even rehearsed it with the band.

‘Dove scorre’ has never been a great favourite with us, though undoubtedly an elegant composition. It was extremely well executed by Messrs. Bennet and Phillips. The ‘Agnus Dei,’ from a not very generally known mass, is a beautiful quartet. The scena, ‘Misera! dove son?’ and following aria, is from Mozart’s Operngesaenge, and, like most of the pieces in that collection, did not call forth much of the composer’s strength; Mrs. Bishop, however, did it every justice in her power. The almost bewitching madrigal of Girolamo Conversi, first published at Venice, in 1575, was encored!--a great effort for this wonderfully self-controlled audience. Keiser has recently been made generally known through the medium of our work, and a very passionate and charming air by him, admirably sung by Madame Devrient, added to the attraction of this fine concert,--a concert which has most effectually assisted in retrieving the character that had been rather damaged by a few former seasons, and has left a most favourable impression on all who were present at this last of the fifty-eighth series.

PHILHARMONIC CONCERTS.

SEVENTH CONCERT, MONDAY, May 27, 1833.

~Act I.~

Sinfonia in ~C~. ~Beethoven.~

Aria, Signor Tamburini, ‘O, colpo impensato!’ (La ~Rossini.~ Gazza Ladra.)

New MS. concerto in ~F~, M. Hummel. ~Hummel.~

Duetto, Madame Pasta e Signor Tamburini, ‘Se la ~Rossini.~ vita.’ (Semiramide.)

Fantasia Drammatica (MS.) composed expressly for the ~The Philharmonic Society, and first time of performance. Chevalier Neukomm.~

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