Chapter XVI: Part II (6)

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].