Chapter XXII: Act II (3)

Though it is well known to every one that seafaring men of all grades are warm admirers of music,--that the song is as welcome to the admiral in his state cabin, as to the foremast-man seated on his chest amidst the lower-deck guns,--that the ‘soft complaining flute’ is constantly in request in the ward-room and cockpit, when less gentle winds than those which give it utterance are not blowing hard,--and that ‘sharp violins proclaim,’ in every part of the ship, except indeed the quarter-deck, Jack’s love for innocent scrapes, as well as mischievous ones;--yet we never knew music recommended, from anything like authority, to mariners as a pursuit, till we took up the _Nautical Magazine_ for May last, wherein we find ‘A Sailor’s advice to his Son,’ a sensible essay, so far as the matter is concerned, in which the art of modulated sounds is mentioned as one that may, with the most beneficial results, be cultivated by the sailor, whatever his degree, for reasons that will be seen in the following extract, which we make with much pleasure, as it affords another proof of the increasing spread of an art to which our work is devoted; though we do not attempt to conceal that some allowances must be made for the style of one whose life has, most likely, been devoted to studies of more importance to him than the very exact value of a word, or the turning of a period.

‘The influence,’ says the sailor, ‘of music in elevating the enjoyments and alleviating the daily disturbances of life, by lulling its cares, its passions, and its follies, into calm repose, is perhaps still more instantaneous. Music alone can open every avenue to the heart, and unfold the various treasures with which a beneficent Creator has furnished the susceptibility of his creatures. The most painful ebullitions of grief are stifled, and charmed into tranquillity by skilful music. To dissipate affliction, to moderate the anguish of severe disappointment, or to adorn the sparkling moment of festivity, music is equally powerful and efficient: it can quell the agitation of despair, and exhilarate with speechless tremor the heart, while it overflows with delight. Music is the language of those regions where happier and better beings reside, and its sympathy with the fine and tender affinities of our own species gives it unlimited sway over the modulation of our feelings. The mother’s lullaby to the darling in her lap breathes music upon us in our infancy; it affects us in various modes in after life--in the midnight serenade, in the festive tabor, in the shrill clarion of war, and in the full toned organ, which sounds a requiem over the departing reliques of mortal existence. Amidst the wildest scenery of nature, music can breathe sentiments of humanity in the breast of the most obdurate savage; and among the infinite gradations of civilized life can call down the monarch from his throne, can console the exile under his expulsion, and can elate the breasts of humble peasantry with jocund celebration of their evening repose. In its simplest form, music requires neither skill nor precautionary steps to find access to the heart--the ploughboy’s carol, the milkmaid’s ballad, the seaman’s ditty, or the recitation of the foreign mountaineer chanted with inartificial melody, produce powerful and pleasing sensations. But to create that intensity of feeling, which solely identifies itself with the accordance of musical composition, the corresponding symphony of which awakens from their secluded cells the sweetest and tenderest affections, elucidates emotions of hope, fear, surprise, terror, and joy,--and as the stream of harmony flows along calls forth involuntary exclamations of delight, wonder, and admiration--demands a much more copious extent of subject and execution. The sublime compositions of Handel, Haydn, Arne, Mozart, and Cimarosa, are of this description.’

THE MADRIGAL SOCIETY.

This ancient and excellent Society held its last meeting of the season at Freemasons’ Tavern, on Thursday the 18th of July, when a remarkably full attendance of members, and numerous visiters, showed that such music as is here performed, instead of producing satiety, as is the case with too many modern compositions, becomes more exciting and delightful the longer it is enjoyed. Sir John Rogers, Bart., the highly-talented President, was in the chair; and under the guidance of one possessed of so much knowledge and tact, aided, too, as he was, by such a host of vocal supporters, nothing less than so satisfactory, so brilliant an evening could have been expected.

But for this Society, the Madrigal, when by fashion--which always thirsts for change, and is generally tasteless--banished from every other musical circle, would, most probably, have been utterly unknown and lost to our generation. And even this very Society, the only place of refuge that was left for so masterly, so beautiful a species of composition, was, not long ago, in imminent danger of speedy dissolution; when its extinction was not only averted by the accession of the President who now sways the sceptre, but its means were extended, and its importance increased, by the addition of members in whom taste and rank are united, and it received a new impetus, which has given it a high place among the most distinguished musical associations in Europe, and ensures its stability and prosperity so long as its present course is pursued.

Of the dinner, though the best of its kind, and of the wine, which is equally good, being chosen for and reserved for this Society, we will not speak,--though far from holding the reasonable pleasures of the table in contempt,--because music is here the grand, the almost sole object. Instead, then, of laying before our readers the number and nature of the various dishes and wines, we will present them with a list of the musical pieces performed, the intellectual treat, after the cloth was removed--

I will sing of thy power 5 voices. ~Dr. Greene.~
At sound of her sweet voice 5 „ ~Quintiani.~
Con la sua 6 „ ~Luca Marenzio.~
Due begl’ occhi lucenti. 5 „ ~Gio. Pizzoni.~
Lo! ladies, where my love comes 5 „ ~Ruggiero Giovanelli.~
How springs each plant 5 „ ~Quintiani.~
O that the learned poets 5 „ ~Orlando Gibbons.~
Phillis, go take thy pleasure 5 „ ~Weelkes.~
Round about her chariot 6 „ ~Ellis Gibbons.~
Since neither tunes of joy 4 „ ~Bennet.~
Sweet love, if thou 5 „ ~Wilbye.~
When Oriana walked 6 „ ~Bateson.~
_The Waits_, a Fal la la 4 „ ~Jer. Savile.~

Some three or four of the above had never been tried here before, were quite unknown, but turned out real treasures. To the director of the music, Mr. Hawes, the Society is indebted for bringing these madrigals forward.

THE LEADER OF THE ANCIENT CONCERTS.

The instrumental band belonging to the Ancient Concert, in testimony of the regard and esteem they feel for their leader, Mr. F. Cramer, have presented him with a very handsome and valuable silver salver. This reflects great credit on all parties. It is, unquestionably, most highly gratifying to Mr. Cramer, after having led the band for thirty-five years, to receive this flattering mark of approbation from his brother professors; and we hope he will maintain his post, and live many years to enjoy the use of so solid a token of their regard, which should (and we have no doubt but it will) descend to his posterity in the nature of an heir-loom. The simple circumstance in itself may serve as a stimulus, and, at the same time, prove a wholesome lesson to the aspiring young artists who are rising in the profession, and who may be destined hereafter to preside over a large orchestra, for it will show them that talent in a leader, when combined with agreeable manners and gentlemanly conduct, will not only entitle him to the attention and obedience of the band when _in_ the orchestra, but, what is of infinitely more value, it will ensure him the kind regard, good will and friendship of his band when _out_ of it.

THE OLD ENGLISH GENTLEMAN.

_To the_ ~Editor~ _of the_ ~Harmonicon~.

~Sir~, _June 11th, 1833_.

In consequence of a low puff, in the form of an advertisement, having appeared in several papers, relative to the song of ‘The Old English Gentleman,’ I have presumed to ask the favour of your contradicting the assertion made through that medium, which is entirely false from beginning to end, indeed almost too contemptible to notice, and should have been passed in silence, but that I think such manœuvres ought to be exposed. It is a fact, that the very man who issued the article in question has been himself prevented from publishing the copy of which he so unjustifiably possessed himself, and of which he accused _me_ of having robbed _him_!

However, to avoid all further contention, I have rewritten and re-set the song, and thus, in future, mean to sing it. This is not the first attack made upon me by the same person, who pirated the ballad of _The Maid of Llammelyn_ when in its height of popularity, and issued circulars and advertisements to say that the song bearing my name was not the popular ballad--a declaration as false as the present.

I am, Sir, yours, &c.

_Hart Street, Bloomsbury Square._ ~H. Phillips.~

REVIEW OF NEW MUSIC.

1. ~Novello’s Masses~ _for Four Voices, with an Accompaniment for
the Organ or Piano-forte_. No. 1. (J. A. Novello.)

2. ~A Collection of Sacred Music~, _adapted to the Hymns of_
~Burder~ _and_ ~Dr. Watts~, _with an Accompaniment for the Organ or
Piano-forte, composed by_ ~William Atter~. (Goulding and D’Almaine.)

Mr. Novello, it appears, is republishing his Masses, of which the above is the first number of a second edition. Not being a new work, we must be governed by our rule, and speak of it generally only, though it would have been very agreeable to us to enter particularly into its merits; for it does not very often fall to our lot to be called upon to notice a composition, the examination of which is attended with so much satisfaction as the present has afforded.

We have always been of opinion, and see no reason to depart from it now, that in the Masses of the last hundred years--we might have extended the term--there is far too much levity, the solemnity of the subject being fairly considered; no small part whereof arises out of the accompaniments, which are frequently those of as opera air, and excite nothing but secular, not to say ludicrous ideas. Nay, to the very singers, who are pronouncing the sacred words, melodies are often given which would be well received in the ball-room as dance-tunes; and passages in them, strictly the same both in air and movement, may readily be found in quadrilles and gallopades. If Erasmus, more than three hundred years ago, complained of the lightness of the church-music of his time,--if Salvator Rosa, himself a composer, could not restrain his indignation at the profane melodies to which sacred words were set in the middle of the seventeenth century--in what language would these have uttered their invectives could they have heard some of the compositions of the last age,--some of Haydn’s Masses?

Mr. Novello carefully avoids such errors: there is a fitting soberness in his mass, a judicious avoidance of extremes, that prove his good sense; while the smoothness, the elegance of his airs, the richness of his harmony, and the able manner in which he has worked some of his subjects, are no less decisive proofs of his taste and skill as a musician. He certainly is not very energetic, nor does he evince much boldness of enterprise, but he is always correct; and, as a composer, gracefulness is one of his chief attributes.

* * * * *

Mr. Atter’s collection is of about seventy--hymns, we suppose they may be called; some few of which we have closely looked into, but must confess that we were deterred from going very far into the volume by what we met with in the early pages. The composer seems to possess a commendable share of industry, and a taste for melody, but we cannot say much in favour of his success as a harmonist; and, occasionally, his manner of setting words is not quite judicious. In the latter, however, he fails much less often than in the former; and upon the whole, so far as we have examined, Mr. A. appears to have entered into the intentions of the poets, and has expressed their sentiments with as much fidelity as musical effect will allow. Exceptions, nevertheless, occur, two of which we point out, lest the author should accuse us of being too general. At page 9, the emphasis is laid on ‘from’ instead of ‘caves:’ the preposition should have been set to the last quaver in the preceding bar. And at page 14, by means of rests after ‘we bless,’ the verb is made to act on the previous noun instead of the succeeding one. The repetition, too, of the words ‘flow down,’ and the bar of symphony between, will hardly fail to excite a smile.

Against the harmony we have to remonstrate before quitting even the second page. At the ninth bar of this is a chord of the sixth and fourth, which will displease most ears. But at page 11 is a chord of 7/4, which we should have set down as an error of the engraver, but that the voice part and accompaniment agree; and to ‘make the charm grow madder,’ the seventh rises to its resolution! But we persevered, and got on to the fifteenth page, when the following opening of a hymn convinced us that it would be needless to pursue our inquiry any further.

One word, however, as to originality, for which the composer, in his Preface, takes some credit to himself. Surely he is aware that his very first page holds forth to view an imitation of what is called _The Evening Hymn_; and the succeeding page will immediately call to recollection Haydn’s celebrated movement in ~A~--that in his favourite old symphony in ~D~.

* * * * *

1. ~Lays of the German Minstrels~, ~T. Otto~, ~F. Busse~, ~A.
Schneider~, _and_ ~F. Otto~, _with the original German Words, and a
Translation, by_ ~W. Ball~. _Book I._ (Ewer.)

2. ~Songs for Leisure Hours~, _composed by_ ~Robert E. Brewer~.
(Luff.)

From the title of the Lays, many may be led, and naturally enough, to suppose that the ‘Minstrels’ therein named are the poets and composers, as well as the performers, of them; but the executive part alone belongs to them, with the exception of one melody, the second, which claims Herr F. Otto as its author: the third is by Eisenhofer; the remaining four are anonymous.

The first, ‘The Sabbath Call’ (we give the English words only,) is a quartet for two tenors and two bases, entirely in the manner of our English glee, but with a piano-forte accompaniment. This is a pleasing piece of almost simple counterpoint, and would be effective, even if sung by voices only. The crotchet rest in the fifth bar of page 3 should have been omitted, and the two last quavers written as crotchets; the sense of the English words would then have been unbroken, and that of the German not affected.

The second is a pretty, but not very new ballad, in ~E~. For the commencing bars of the third, a song, M. Eisenhofer has undisguisedly borrowed the beginning of the Sicilian Mariner’s Hymn. This is in two movements; the first an andantino; the second, allegretto, in the Swiss style, and very common: the fourth boasts one novel feature, in the shape of what the composer calls a trio. The principal movement is in ~F~ major; the second (the _trio_, though for a single voice) in ~F~ minor, and the first is repeated. The fifth of the set, the time of which changes frequently, is overflowing with gaiety, both melody and accompaniment, and is the cleverest of the whole, though too long, the author seeming to think that certain passages--his favourites, no doubt--could not be too often repeated. The last in the book is a duet for two sopranos, very simple, easy, flowing, and the most popularly written of any in the collection. Thus the set begins and ends well; and when we have stated that the English words are correctly adapted, taking the difficulty of the task into consideration, we shall have said as much in favour of the present work as honest criticism will justify.

* * * * *

Mr. Brewer’s Songs, six in number, afford strong presumptive evidence that he understands music better than language,--that his knowledge of composition exceeds his skill in reading. And this, we lament to say, is a case of very common occurrence in the musical world, arising from an obvious cause, which we are unwilling to name; one that will not cease to operate till an _efficient_ academy of music be established--an academy, or something of the kind, which shall make the _general_ improvement of the intellect of students an object of equal importance to that of the art they are intended to practise. When this is brought about, (if it ever can be accomplished,) false emphasis, erroneous accentuation, and puerile conceits, will be as rare as undisguised consecutive fifths and unresolved discords; and composers will be looked upon in a far different light from that in which they are now viewed by the well-educated portion of society.

The first of these songs is an undeniable proof of what we advance: the music, with an exception which we shall presently mention, is clever--the emphasis abominable. ‘_I_ watch for thee, _when_ parting Day,’ is the composer’s manner of treating this line, thus throwing the emphasis on exactly the wrong words. Then after the word ‘day’ is a rest, though the author (Mrs. Cornwell Baron Wilson) has made it perfectly clear that no pause can be at all intended. And so throughout the whole song. In the sixth and two following bars of page 3 are octaves between the accompaniment and base, which are equally opposed to rule and good taste. If the composer intended to strengthen his base, he should have written these notes below, not above: as they stand, they form part of the accompaniment to the base, and are not allowable. But for such drawbacks, the song would have been entitled to great praise[78].

The second is extremely well set, the melody animated and pleasing, and there are points in the accompaniment (bars 5 to 8, page 7) which show more vigour than is usual in compositions of this kind. The third is very full of feeling, and charming altogether, musically considered; but here, unhappily, the words--their emphasis and connexion--have not been understood. In the fourth much is attempted, and little achieved. It is a very long song written to very few words,--to the following lines:--

The lark has her gay song begun,
She leaves her grassy nest--

which Kirke White assuredly never intended to end here, for he could not have thought it worth his while to record a bare fact of so exceedingly unimportant a kind. But the composer has given no less than five pages to the brief narrative, which include a brilliant accompaniment for the flute; this part, we surmise, being intended as an imitation of one of the lark’s best bravuras. The fifth affords a compensation for the preceding; it is melodious, expressive, and free from fault. The last, ‘a Fairy Song,’ is well imagined, lively, and agreeable; but here we find long notes given to short syllables, to connecting words, and lines joined that ought to be separated by some kind of pause,--errors which, though they are, as we well know, thought trivial by many composers, very forcibly strike the most sensible people, and often lead them to doubt whether music is worth the time and trouble which its cultivation costs.

PIANO-FORTE.

~First Concerto~, _with Orchestral Accompaniments, as performed by
the Author at the Public Concert of the_ Royal Academy of Music,
1833; _composed by_ ~W. Sterndale Bennet~. (Cramer, Addison, and
Beale.)

The concerto now before us is by a young musician, who has only just completed his seventeenth year, a pupil of the Royal Academy of Music, and is published ‘by the express direction of the committee’ of that institution. We were present when it was performed by the author, in the Hanover Square Rooms, and in our Number for May last have spoken of it in terms dictated by the impression it then made on us. We have now considered it deliberately, and unconditionally state, that, as the work of so youthful a composer, it is a surprising production. Even viewed without reference to his age, it is entitled to a very considerable share of praise, especially if compared with the current compositions of the day, most of which, including several by masters of some name, are inferior to it, both in design and in the manner of treating the subjects.

This concerto is in three movements of reasonable length: the first, an allegro--moderato in ~D~ minor; the second, an andante in ~F~; and the finale, a presto, ending the piece in the key in which it began.

The principal subject of the first movement is resolute, and commands attention; the subordinate one, in ~F~, is gentle and expressive, and contrasts well with the other. The motivo of the andante is a melody in which is much elegance, but less of decided originality; it is, however, a promising specimen of the author’s taste; though, had he adhered more to the subject, and spared some of the not very congenial runs of half-demisemiquavers, we should better have liked the movement. The finale is bold and energetic, and, in our opinion, the most effective part of the concerto. The spirit of this is kept up to the last note, and it has a unity which leads us to prefer it to the other movements.

The success of this work ought to operate on the youthful composer as an incitement to study and write much; but let us advise him to publish little at present, however flattering the temptations thrown in his way. What he may produce and think worth preserving, he should lay aside, and at the end of about half the period recommended by Horace to poets, examine and retouch it: then, having first consulted a judicious friend, he may venture into print without endangering that fame of which his present publication will have laid a very good foundation.

* * * * *

1. ~The Beauties of Neukomm~, _a characteristic_ ~Fantasia~, _in
which are introduced_ The Stormy Petrel, Count Balthazar, _and_ The
Sea Rover, _arranged by_ ~J. B. Cramer~. (Cramer and Co.)

2. ~Beauties of Neukomm~, _a_ ~Fantasia~, _in which are introduced_
The Bloodhound _and_ The Roaming Mariners, _arranged by_ ~J. N.
Hummel~. (Cramer and Co.)

Our readers have by this time made up their minds on the merit of the above airs of M. Neükomm, for there are few by whom they have not been heard: we have therefore no occasion to speak of them but as applicable to the purposes to which they are now applied by these eminent composers; and such is the charm of good melody--a very distinguishing feature in the ingenious Chevalier’s compositions--that it pleases, whatever the form it may assume.

These fantasias are calculated for a rather superior, though numerous, class of performers. Both have, as indeed a matter of course, an introductory movement, and are nearly equal in length. But the particular style of each master is obvious in his respective work. In the one, great refinement and expression, not devoid of spirit, are the leading traits; in the other, freshness of fancy, energy, and depth of harmony, mark the more vigorous composer. The introduction to the first is brilliant, and familiarly written: that to the second inclines to the grand, and is rather studiously composed; the syncopated passage towards the end is a charming bit of classical harmony, and the author is apparently aware of its attractive qualities, for he repeats it in the body of the fantasia. These will prove valuable additions, in every sense, to any musical catalogue.

* * * * *

1. ~Second Rondino~, _on_ ‘Questa e la Dea,’ _the Quintet in_
~Rossini’s~ _Opera_ Corradino, _by_ ~Charles Czerny~.

2. ~Souvenir de Bellini, Variations~ _sur un Motif de l’Opéra_ La
Sonnambula, _par_ ~Antonio Fauna~. (Goulding and D’Almaine.)

No. 1 is to be counted among the least perplexed and extravagant of M. Czerny’s labours. There are two or three whimsical, but short passages in it, that serve to show his propensities, but, upon the whole, we can speak of this as an agreeable arrangement; the connecting parts and the additions to the original materials are in character, and a good player--for it is beyond the means of mediocre performers--will find it worthy of some notice.[79]

* * * * *

No. 2 presents us with six variations on one of the many common airs in an opera which good singing and some good acting have kept for a time on our _denaturalized_ national stage. About half of these, the last, _alla Polacca_, especially, really take a form somewhat new,--a fact which argues favourably of the composer’s talent; for the writer of variations, above all others, must have learnt by experience how very little novelty there is under the sun. Altogether this publication has afforded us pleasure.

* * * * *

1. Hommage à Handel, ~Divertimento~ _on the air_, The Harmonious
Blacksmith, _composed by_ ~Pio Cianchettini~. Op. 27. (Chappell.)

2. ~The Gipsies’ March~, _being No. 4 of Recreations for the
Piano-Forte, arranged by_ ~E. C. Vernet~. (Cramer and Co.)

To his Divertimento Mr. Cianchettini has prefixed a prelude, consisting of nothing but arpeggios in demisemiquavers, to the almost incredible extent of seven pages! We have been present when pianists have begun to indulge themselves in such long-winded extemporaneous effusions, but never had self-devotion enough to wait the conclusion; and we shrewdly suspect that if any one shall have the courage to play through the black forest of notes which has grown up under Mr. C.’s hand, the auditors, however numerous at the beginning, will glide away, till the performer is ‘left alone with his glory.’ After the prelude comes (mercy on us!) an _Introduzione_, in which the subject is, _à la mode_, anticipated. Then we at length arrive at Handel’s air; but how altered! how wo-begone!--transposed into ~B~ flat, and treated as a theme for modern descant! Had Handel added no variations to it himself, this would have been allowable; but as he has written many, and most fitting and beautiful ones, it was really a bold thing to render _homage_ to the great composer in language which, however well meant, his spirit must view in the light of a very _gauche_ compliment.

* * * * *

We know not the arranger, as he modestly terms himself, of No. 2, but whoever or wherever he may be, we feel indebted to him for a pleasant divertimento, formed on the original and beautiful march of Weber; the latter very advantageously adapted, and well set off, by what Mr. Vernet has added. The Introduction to this, _à la militaire_, is spirited and brilliant, and the whole is showy, without being difficult.

* * * * *

~Select Airs~ _from_ ~Auber’s~ _Ballet-Opera_, La Bayadère, _or_,
The Maid of Cashmere, _arranged with a Flute accompaniment_, ad
lib., _by_ ~J. F. Burrowes~. Books 1 and 2. (Chappell.)

These books contain nearly the whole of the opera, but not the overture, arranged in Mr. Burrowes’s matter-of-fact manner. We have always approved his plan, because he places within reach of most players what many would so adapt as to become useful to only a comparative few. He has given ten pieces, but as we know nothing of the score of _La Bayadère_, we are enabled merely to say, that he appears to have embodied all the essential parts of the accompaniments in his arrangement, so far as a pair of hands can take them in with that ease which is a main object with publishers who calculate on a large sale.

Of the opera we have had occasion to speak before; it is, intentionally we suppose, the lightest that the modern theatre ever produced, and prettiness is the only quality to which it can make any pretence. In fact _La Bayadère_ is of mongrel breed, half ballet, half opera; the music, therefore, is fitted to it accordingly. The overture to this will be found noticed in our next article.

* * * * *

DUETS, PIANO-FORTE.

1. _The_ ~Overture~ _to_ La Bayadère, _composed by_ ~Auber~.
(Chappell.)

2. Recollections of Nieborg, _composed by_ ~Fred. Kuhlau~. (Wessel
and Co.)

3. Recollections of Bogensee, _composed and published as the
preceding_.

4. Souvenir à Schönbrunn, ~Second Grande Marche~, _composée par_
~Charles Czerny~. Op. 250. (Wessel and Co.)

No. 1 is certainly not likely to gain admission into the Philharmonic Concerts; it will never be put forward as the companion or rival to the _Zauberflöte_, _Prometheus_, or _Freischütz_ overture, but is well suited to the Ballet Opera of which it is the gentleman-usher. Opening with a pastoral gaiety, then changing into a movement of bolder liveliness, but free from all those combinations, that modulation, so necessary to the connoisseur of northern climes, it is in good keeping with the music that follows, and with the temperament of those oddly-mixed tropical personages who appear in that strange, nondescript theatrical representation, called _La Bayadère_.

* * * * *

Nos. 2 and 3 have Danish melodies, or airs so called, for their foundation, worked up with considerable ingenuity by the late M. Kuhlau. No. 2, consisting of three short movements, is graceful, airy, and easy. No. 3 is also divided into three parts, but they are longer than those in the preceding, have cost the composer rather more thought, and require a quicker finger in the performer. Though there is nothing strikingly original in either of these duets, they have nothing vulgar, and little that is common, in them; and there is enough fancy and good taste in their composition to enable us to mention both in favourable terms.

* * * * *

No. 4 was, it appears, composed for her Majesty Maria Anna Carolina, queen of what state we are not told; and it certainly was not likely to puzzle her royal brains, for not a bar is there in it that had not, in some shape or other, been played by her Majesty during the progress of her musical studies. To compose anything new in the form of a march is undoubtedly a difficult task, and M. Czerny seems to have been determined that his two hundred and fiftieth opera should not be a work of labour.

* * * * *

VOCAL.

La Bayadère, _or_ The Maid of Cashmere, _a Ballet-Opera, composed
by_ ~Auber~; _adapted to the English stage by_ ~Henry R. Bishop~.
(Chappell.)

1. ~Air~, ‘Why discontent?’ (‘Je suis content.’)

2. ~Air~, ‘Ah! ne’er for me.’ (‘Ainsi pour me.’)

3. Trio, ‘Oh! this heart palpitating.’ (‘Tu ne peux t’en défendre.’)

No. 1 is meant as a comic song, but we were unable to perceive the drollery of it on the stage, and are equally at a loss to discover any in it while lying before us. Certainly there is no joke in its great length. The air is quite à la Auber. It begins thus:--

Why dis-con-tent? All hap-py be!
Eat then, and drink: Laugh then like me.
]

No. 2 is a tender address from _Brahma_ (the unknown) to the _Bayadère_, a delicate, pleasing air, though without stage action it will be thought somewhat long.

* * * * *

No. 3, a short trio for soprano, tenor, and base, in ~A~ flat, an andante, is one of those _morceaux d’ensemble_ (all of them imitated from ‘Protegga, il giusto cielo,’ in _Don Giovanni_) which rarely fail of success; and this will be as welcome in the drawing-room, in a domestic party, as on the stage, where it always meets with the warmest applause.

* * * * *

1. ~Duetto~, ‘Non ridir non potro mai,’ _composed by the_ ~Hon.
Emma and Catherine Maynard~. (Willis.)

2. ~Ballad~, ‘Thy form was fair,’ _the words by_ ~Miss Costello~;
_the Music_ by ~Lady Augusta Kennedy Erskine~. (Willis.)

3. ~Ballad~, ‘The sally of the students,’ _by the_ ~Hon. Mrs.
Bertie Percy~. (Willis.)

4. ~Arietta~, ‘Se più felice oggetto,’ _the words by_ ~Metastasio~;
_the Music composed by_ ~Miss Blaydes~. (Willis.)

5. Hajji Baba’s song in the Harem, _the words by_ ~J. Morier~,
Esq.; _composed by the_ ~Baron Seymour de Constant~. (Willis.)

6. ~Duet~, ‘Never forget me!’ (the words from the Spanish, by Mrs.
Lawrence) _composed by_ ~John Lodge~, Esq. (Lonsdale and Mills.)

7. ~Ballad~, ‘Good-nature,’ _written and composed by_ ~J. Augustine
Wade~, Esq. (Hawes.)

Many a professional composer would be too happy to call himself author of so pleasing and clever a duet as No. 1, which, in whatever way it is considered, proves the musical knowledge and elegant taste of the joint composers. Its style is Italian, but there are notes in the accompaniment which show that the writers are well read in the German school. Young as the ladies are who have produced this, yet there is a method and consistency in it that indicate considerable experience. They must have entered on the study of music with hearty good will, and pursued it with an earnestness which is rarely found in those who have no other object in view but amusement. We regret, however, to inform these very ingenious dilettanti, that the engraver has left so many errors--for _his_ errors they clearly are--that it was with some difficulty we ascertained the intention of the composers in numerous instances; insomuch that we strongly recommend them to make a sacrifice of all the copies printed off, to have the plates corrected, and then publish another edition. They may rest assured that the duet is well worth the trouble and expense. This is dedicated to one of the wonders of the present age, certainly the greatest musical phenomenon that ever existed[80], and is a well-timed tribute to such genius.

* * * * *

No. 2 is very simple, but set with great feeling and taste to well-chosen words. It is now in ~G~, and was, it seems, originally in ~A~ flat. Why not have remained in that key? It would not have been at all too high for any soprano voice; and as it is, the ~B~ below the clef, to which it extends, may be too low for many singers.

* * * * *

No. 3 is a spirited melodious _song_, not a ‘ballad,’ as the authoress calls it, for it consists of three movements. The second of these, in ~A~ flat, the former ending in ~G~, is much too sudden a transition from a key so entirely irrelative. There are two or three slight oversights in this, which may easily be corrected: and the title of the song at first view is not a little ambiguous. We really read ‘Sally’ as a prænomen, as a Christian name. Would not _sortie_ answer the purpose?

* * * * *

There is much sweetness and grace in No. 4, and the words are most correctly set. It is remarkably easy, and, except a single ~A~ above the staff, is within the compass of almost every female voice.

* * * * *

No. 5 is pleasing and elegant, though it does not lead us to suppose that the noble composer has made much effort in search of new effects. The Baron, however, has set the words--a mild anacreontic--with a correctness that many an English composer may take pattern from.

* * * * *

No. 6, written for two young ladies well known in the fashionable circles for their charming manner of singing, is one of those compositions which never fail to please in the drawing-room, for which the author has exclusively calculated his duet. It runs much in smoothly-flowing thirds and sixths, but Mr. Lodge’s natural tendency to something beyond these, occasionally peeps out, with good effect, though without calling on the performers for any additional exertion.

* * * * *

No. 7 sings very agreeably of the most valuable quality to be found among the _petites morales_, good-nature. There is an ease and suavity in his ballad that well agree with the theme his muse has furnished.

* * * * *

1. ~Ballad~, ‘Pretty Love-birds,’ _in_ The Yeoman’s Daughter, _the
words by_ Mr. ~Serle~, _composed by_ ~J. Augustine Wade~, Esq.
(Hawes.)

2. ~Ballad~, ‘Is Love a thing of Joy?’ _in the same, composed by_
~W. Hawes~. (Hawes.)

These ballads are sung by Mrs. Waylett at the Adelphi Theatre, to whom they are not a little indebted, for she gives a character to whatever of the kind she undertakes, that scarcely ever fails to draw ‘thunders of applause,’ in the theatrical phrase. But they have also inherent merit. The first is playful and winning, and free from all vulgarity of cadence. The second is in a very popular style, with a _pizzicato_ accompaniment, strongly marked in rhythm, though possessing little of that originality which is so difficult to find.

1. ~Air~, ‘Friendship,’ _composed by_ ~Henry R. Bishop~. (Chappell.)

2. ~Ballad~, ‘I’ve been a Wanderer on the Seas,’ _composed by_
~John Barnett~. (Chappell.)

3. ~Song~, ‘Above doth stand the ~Digger of Graves~,’ _translated
by_ ~W. M. M’Gregor Logan~, _from the German of_ Der Todtengräber,
_composed by_ ~Fred. Kuhlau~. (Wessel and Co.)

4. ~Ballad~, ‘The two Ravens,’ _composed by_ ~G. Hargreaves~.
(Hawes.)

5. ~Song~, ‘They bade me sing,’ _the words by_ ~J. Roby~. Esq.;
_the Music by_ ~Charles Smith~. (Cramer and Co.)

6. ~Nautical Song~, ‘The Sailor’s Notion,’ _composed by_ ~W. A.
Wordsworth~. (Monro and May.)

7. ~Ballad~, ‘O’er the green Waters,’ _the words by_ ~W. Ball~;
_the Music by_ ~William Orde~. (Cocks and Co.)

8. ~Ballad~, ‘The Chain,’ _composed by_ ~W. Neuland~. (Chappell.)

The first of these is one of those correct and gracious airs which always, to a certain extent, please when heard, but, for want of distinctness of character, are forgotten the moment the last note is sounded.

* * * * *

No. 2 meets our longing ears with something in the shape of originality, something which informs us that the composer has taken the trouble to think. Of the latter, the notes at the words, ‘whose voices came,’ is a proof, and the whole is indicative of reflection and knowledge of effect.

* * * * *

No. 3 is true German, both words and music. A giant ‘in sable armour’ goes to a grave-digger, (_der Todtengräber_)--and insists on being buried. The man of the mournful spade tremblingly complies. The grave-wooer lies down, his head resting on his shield, and is covered up. The sexton crosses himself, and the story ends; but what it means, beyond what is stated, we know not, and suspect that the grave-digger never was better informed on the subject than are we and our readers. The music has a grand simplicity in it that proves of what the composer was capable, and how much we lost by his early death. He was, most probably, impressed with an idea of something mysteriously awful in the words, and admirably adapted his harmony to his conception of the poet’s meaning, into which he penetrated further than we are capable of doing. This is for a base voice, and the English translation is adapted to it with an accuracy seldom attained.

* * * * *

No 4 is also very Germanic, and quite as full of horrors as the former, but of another kind. The poet here sings of two birds, who ask, ‘Where shall we dine?’ The one is in favour of the remains of some shipwrecked mariners, whose corpses look inviting: the other recommends the cold remains of ‘a new-slain knight.’ How the hungry ravens determine, the song saith not, though the arguments of the latter, who seems to have been strongly tempted by the jelly of the knight’s eye, most likely prevail. This really does not seem a lyrical subject, but the composer (an amateur) has made much of it. Indeed, we have here a work of considerable genius, pleasing in spite of the not very inviting story, and superior to most of the songs that come before us.

No. 5 is a clever and very pleasing song, with many beauties, and never a fault.

* * * * *

No 6 possesses the best characteristics of a good sea-song, without any of those vulgarisms in cadence which are often met with in music of this description. The melody is free, the accompaniment unaffected, and the effect of the whole agreeable.

* * * * *

No. 7 is also a sailor’s song, but of the gentlest kind,--of a mariner who sings of ‘The chime of the vesper, the music of prayer;’ so that nothing at all approaching to nautical _slang_ is to be found here. The air is very pretty, and a short chorus, for three sopranos, at the end of each stanza, adds such to effect.

* * * * *

No. 8 is more elegant than new. The composer, a foreigner, may be excused some errors in emphasis that appear in this ballad, which may be corrected without much trouble.

* * * * *

DOUBLE-BASS.

~Method~ _for the_ ~Double-Bass~, _according to the English system
of tuning and fingering, compiled from the treatises of_ ~Miné,
Frohlich~, &c., _and illustrated by numerous extracts from the
Orchestral Compositions of_ ~Haydn~ and ~Mozart~; _together with an
explanation of the mode of simplifying_ ordinary Bass-parts, _so as
to adapt them to this instrument, by_ ~J. Hamilton~. (Cocks and Co.)

The reader perhaps will start at seeing a treatise on such an instrument announced, but the double-base has risen to great importance in the orchestra, and requires a much more regular course of study than in days gone by, when all sorts of people undertook to perform on it.

The title-page of this publication so fully sets forth its contents, that it is unnecessary to add a word on that subject. The precepts are few and clearly expressed, but the examples are many and very judiciously selected.

We learn from the present work, that in Germany this instrument is mounted with four strings, which are tuned by fourths descending, beginning with ~C~, the second space in the base; or more frequently with ~G~, the first base line. In Italy, England, and France, only three strings are used, which in the two former countries are tuned to ~G~, ~D~, and ~G~; in the latter, to ~G~, ~D~, and ~A~. The double-base plays from the violoncello part, but generally an octave below that instrument.

* * * * *

It appears that the fault we complained of in our last, page 149, in mentioning a Fantasia by M. Chaulieu, is imputable to the London engraver, who mistook a new mark endeavoured to be brought into use by the composer, for the contratenor clef. See Acknowledgments to Correspondents.

EXTRACTS FROM THE DIARY OF A DILETTANTE.

[Resumed from page 135.]

_June 8th._ The following facts, which appear in the _Court Journal_ of this day, are so correct, as far as they relate to Sig. Paganini’s recently advertised concerts, and the remarks are so just, that I shall beg leave to transfer them to my Diary:--

‘An extraordinary change seems to have taken place in the public mind with respect to Paganini: his concerts, on his first visit to this country, were so well attended that frequently his receipts exceeded 1000_l._, and on one occasion 1400_l._ were received, of which he had two thirds, leaving M. Laporte to pay the whole expenses out of the remaining third. On his arriving here, about two months ago, he was advised to defer giving any concert until the anger, caused by his refusal to play for the distressed English actors in Paris, should have blown over. It being supposed, however, last week, that this affair had been forgotten, and that there was every prospect of obtaining full houses, Paganini announced a concert for yesterday (Friday, the 7th June) evening. On Thursday, so few boxes and stalls had been taken, that Paganini, despairing of an attendance that would compensate him for his trouble, and dreading, perhaps, that there would be some disturbance arising out of the Paris affair, yesterday advertised that there would be no performance! M. Laporte cannot, we imagine, regret the disappointment, for if his agreement with Paganini be similar to the former one, he would have had all the expenses to pay out of a third, which would hardly have covered the charge of the musicians.’

* * * * *

_21st._ This evening Sig. Paganini had his first concert this season in the King’s Theatre, when he performed nearly the same pieces that he has so often repeated in London. The pit was not half full, the gallery not one-third, and the boxes almost empty. He advertises _two concerts_ as the number he has determined to give. These will both be too many, if his second is no better attended than his first.

* * * * *

_24th._ The _Globe_ of this evening has the honesty to point out the discordance in the account given of Paganini’s concert, in two Sunday papers of yesterday. Such things will happen so long as free tickets are accepted by our journals, beyond the number necessary for the actual use of the reporters. It is charitable to suppose, that the writer of the article, who filled the house so _overflowingly full_, was himself never for one moment within its walls. In this case he may have _guessed_ wrong. But let us hear the _Globe_:--

‘~Paganini’s Concert.~ We find the following discrepancies as to a mere matter of fact, in the account given by two of the Sunday papers, in Paganini’s concert on Friday. We, not, however, having been present, cannot decide between these two differing “doctors:”--

‘“Sig. Paganini had his first concert for the season on Friday evening, at the King’s Theatre. The excitement--probably by the delay in the Signor’s appearance, as well as in the novelty of the performances--produced _an overflowing house._”--_Observer._ “The Modern Orpheus was employed on Friday in enchanting the empty boxes and trenches of the Opera House: never was there a greater appearance of _desolation within its walls_.”--_Sunday Times._’

* * * * *

_29th._ A weekly paper of this date makes a great flourish in an article most unluckily headed ‘critical blunders,’ in which the writer himself commits a couple of choice and entertaining _étourderies_, much resembling certain small paragraphs, served up for the public amusement in a daily paper, on Monday mornings, and probably from the same goose quill. The learned article runs thus:--

‘_Critical Blunders._ Certain journalists, our contemporaries, have been somewhat severe upon the “extravagant trash” forming the original _libretto_ of “The Magic Flute,” being, we conclude, unaware that the opera of [the] _Zauberflöte_ is one of the early works of Goethe. The character of _Papageno_ is, in fact, one of the most elegant of his fantastic creations.’

Now it happens, that the drama in question--if such a farrago of nonsense is to be dignified by such a title--was written by Emanuel Schickaneder, proprietor of a suburb theatre at Vienna, who, pleading his embarrassed circumstances, persuaded Mozart to set the opera, and was saved from ruin by the success of the piece. But to saddle the character of _Papageno_, the bird-catcher, on Goethe, would be ‘too bad,’ were it not so vastly comical. ‘One of his most elegant creations,’ too! Who has now been hoaxing the unhappy victim of many a joke?

* * * * *

--I think I trace the identical pen that wrote the above, in the annexed, which appeared in the very some paper:--

‘_Titled Opera Singers._ It might be inferred that Louis XIV., in founding the French opera, was gifted with second sight, or had anticipated an era when Count de Rossys, Count Giustinianis, and other high mightinesses, would bestow their titles upon the play bills. By the letters patent of the foundation in 1672, it was enacted, that “all gentlemen, and other distinguished persons, might sing at the said opera, without forfeiting their _titles of nobility_, places, rights, or immunities.” Louis XIV., and his successor, Louis XV., were frequently performers in the court masques and _ballets_.’

Here are other blunders, by implication! Paul ought to have known, because he knows every thing, that no Count _Rossi_ (not _Rossy_), no Count Justiniani, ever appeared on any stage. Madame Camporese, the actual wife of the latter, and Madlle. Sontag, who became the wife of the former, were performers, no doubt; but the one suppressed her title, and the other had none to suppress.

* * * * *

_July 1st._ Legitimate music, it is to be feared, is in danger of suffering the fate of the legitimate drama; both are becoming the victims of freshly-imported foreigners, who, whatever their other knowledge may be, are well acquainted with the weak side of our _West-Endians_. On Saturday last, at a concert for the benefit of Madlle. Pixis, two instances of egregious folly were displayed: the one a performance of the overture to the _Zauberflöte_, on three piano-fortes, by twelve hands; the other, a _Quatuor Concertante_, for four piano-fortes! The ‘confusion worse confounded,’ thus produced, may be imagined, not described. Some such piece of foolery was exhibited at Vienna last year, and justly reprobated by the good, uninfluenced German critics; but as it would not do a second time, even in the Austrian capital, the exploit was repeated in a country which, having paid upwards of 20,000_l._ to hear an Italian play on one fiddle-string, it was reasonably supposed would encourage any other kind of musical nonsense.

* * * * *

_July 3d._ Sunday the 30th of June was a high festival day at Tadcaster, says a Yorkshire paper, on ‘account of the opening of a large organ, built by Elliott and Hill, of London, who erected the stupendous instrument in York Cathedral. The fact having been publicly announced, occasioned a great influx of visiters from York and the surrounding country, and Tadcaster has not presented so lively a scene for some time. Dr. Camidge performed on the instrument with the greatest ability, and the numerous congregation, which crowded every part of the church, were highly gratified by hearing the full harmony of the organ, which possesses vast richness of tone, peal forth in that grand melody, the Old Hundredth Psalm, with which the morning service commenced.’

There is now hardly a church of any importance which does not boast an organ, and generally one of large dimensions. This alone is a proof of the advance of music in Great Britain; for of all instruments the organ is the noblest, the most capable of producing great effects, in the hands of a good harmonist, of a performer of sense, who feels that he himself is appearing to advantage only when in solemn or in sober music he is displaying the best qualities, exhibiting the real character, of an instrument that is absolutely desecrated by any attempt at what is called brilliancy of execution.

* * * * *

_4th._ This morning a concert was given at Willis’s Rooms, by Mr. Osborne, a native of Ireland, I believe, but who has passed much of his life on the Continent, in which he, for the first time, exhibited his talents as a piano-forte player, before a London audience, and was very favourably received. His sister, also, Miss Saunders Osborne, made her débût, and appears to have studied in a good vocal school.

* * * * *

_12th._ In a work very lately published (_The Infirmities of Genius Illustrated, &c. by R. R. Madden, Esq._) the author has given lists of twenty persons of different professions, with the ages at which they died, for the purpose of showing the influence of various intellectual pursuits on longevity. In his selection of musical composers he might have been more successful as regards the eminence of the individuals, though the result would not have differed very widely. The following are the names he has chosen, and the ages at which they died:--

Arne, Dr. 68
Seb. Bach 66
Beethoven 57
Burney, Dr. 88
Bull, Dr. 41
Cimarosa 41
Corelli 60
Gluck 75
Gretry 72
Handel 75
Haydn 77
Kalkbrenner 51
Keiser 62
Martini 78
Mozart 36
Paisiello 75
Piccini 71
Porpora 78
Scarlatti, A. 78
Weber, C. M. 40
----
Total 1289

Giving an average of 64 years.

But Dr. Burney cannot be classed as a great musical composer; and Mr. Madden has omitted names of infinitely more celebrity, as well as real merit, than some he has inserted; I would therefore propose the following list.

Arne 68
S. Bach 66
Beethoven 57
_Boyce_ 69
_Cherubini_ 80[81]
Cimarosa 41
Corelli 60
_Clementi_ 82
Gluck 75
Gretry 72
Handel 75
Haydn 77
_Lully_ 53
_Marcello_ 53
Mozart 36
Paisiello 75
_Pergolesi_ 22
_Purcell_ 37
Scarlatti 78
Weber 40
----
Total 1116

Giving an average of 60⅘ years.

Mr. Madden gives the following as the general result of his inquiry:--

Aggregate Average
years. years.
Natural Philosophers 1504 75
Moral ditto 1417 70
Sculptors and Painters 1412 70
Authors on Law and Jurisprudence 1394 69
Medical Authors 1368 68
Authors on Revealed Religion 1350 67
Philologists 1323 66
Musical Composers 1284 64
Novelists and Miscellaneous Authors 1257 62-1/2
Dramatists 1249 62
Authors on Natural Religion 1245 62
Poets 1144 57