LIBRARY
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
SANTA BARBARA
PRESENTED BY
BERNARD HERRMANN
LIBRARY
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
SANTA BARBARA
PRESENTED BY
BERNARD HERRMANN
GEORGE ALEXANDER MACFARREN
GEORGE ALEXANDER MACFARREN
HIS LIFE, WOEKS, AND INFLUENCE
BY
HENRY C. BANISTER
PROFESSOR OF HARMONY AND COMPOSITION AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF MUSIC,
THE GUILDHALL SCHOOL OF MUSIC, AND THE ROYAL NORMAL
COLLEGE AND ACADEMY OF MUSIC FOR THE BLIND
LONDON
GEOEGE BELL & SONS, YORK STEEET, COVENT GAEDEN
AND NEW YORK
1892
PREFACE.
" Wenn du willst in Frieden eingehn,
Wenn du ledig willst der Pein gehn,
Spricht Ben Kab,
So sei jeder Grossere dir ein Vater,
So sei jeder Mittlere dir ein Bruder,
So sei jeder Kleinere dir ein Kind.
Du verehre deinen Vater,
Halt'in Bhren deinen Bruder,
Zartlich liebe du dein Kind."
THIS Arabic saying so aptly describes the spirit of
the life recorded in the following pages that it
may fitly introduce any prefatory remarks. The social
side of George Alexander Macfarren's character was
so marked by the reverence due to those around him
according to their relative ages and positions, " every
greater one ... a father, every equal one a brother,
every lesser one a child," and kept him, as an artist,
so free from petty jealousy, so ready with sympathetic
help for those struggling, as a teacher so kind and
patient, and tinged his whole life with such humility,
and such consideration for others, that those who
knew him best, knowing his manifold attainments,
achievements, and powers, as well as these personal
and social qualities, cannot separate the two aspects
of his individuality, but delight to remember his
reverence for father, honour for brother, and tender
PREFACE.
love for child, as having combined with his artistry
to render him so revered, honoured, and loved as a
friend.
Those who knew him but a little, without sympathy
if without antagonism, have often judged him to be
simply a somewhat hard, pedantic, even perverse
theorist; and such will be little prepared for such
claims on his behalf being placed in the forefront as
those with which these remarks are opened. The
perusal of this volume may dissipate, to some extent,
the mistaken impressions that have prevailed in the
minds of many.
At a dinner given by the Liverpool Musical Pro-
fessors to Sir George A. Macfarren, July 28th, 1884,
on occasion of his distributing the certificates to the
successful candidates at the Local Examination in con-
nection with the Royal Academy of Music, he, replying
to an address, said that
" he had had a long life, and it had not been without its
vicissitudes, for he could look back to the time of rejected
operas sent back without the seal being broken ; but he
had worked hard, not for the sake of work, but for the love
of the work, and if, possibly, by his example, he had been
the means of encouraging others to strive in a like manner,
then, indeed, he would have accomplished something tan-
gible for music."
This long life of hard work, and of vicissitudes,
not only such as fall to the lot of earnest strivers gene-
rally, but, in addition, the terrible deprivation which
would have at once dismayed and baffled an ordinary
aspirant, but which drew forth from Macfarren such
persistent determination, and which he never suffered
to deprive him of energy, or to stay his undaunted
PREFACE.
efforts, this life is here traced ; so that, according to
his own expressed desire, his example may stimulate
others who have similar aims, and their own difficul-
ties : surely, not such difficulties as those which he so
manfully overcame. The obstinacy, and dogged dog-
matism, with which some have credited him, may here
appear in its more admirable aspect of unswerving
consistency, and high-minded perseverance. On his
sixty- third birthday, March 3rd, 1876, he wrote to
Mr. T. J. Dudeney : " Nine apprenticeships have
taught me more and more love for art, more and more
indifference to disappointment, more and more sym-
pathy with fellow climbers up the hill whose prospect
ever widens." Nearly two more apprenticeship terms
did he serve without any sign appearing of these high
qualities becoming less and less powerful factors in
the high sustainment of his stainless artistic career.
Let not the lesson be lost, the example be unobserved,
by those yet in their earlier apprenticeship stage !
In his earlier days he fell into one of the Hampstead
ponds : finding himself in the water, he struck out
like a dog, learned to swim, and saved himself. That
was his way of attacking difficulties all through life,
enjoined upon others, and exemplified by himself. He
would say, " the difficulty conquered, the acquisition
of power abides."
Obstinate ! Well, a ground-bass is a basso-ostinato ;
but what beautiful things Purcell, Handel, Bach, could
build on such a bass ! And so, a man who, unlike the
crowd, thinks for himself, will act for himself, and will
not easily be persuaded to move again with the throng.
Macfarren was such a one : and he was branded as
obstinate. It was sometimes a pity, as when, in the
viii PREFACE.
early days of his failing sight, not enduring to have a
guide, he rushed on, and struck against a tree in the
Park, a broken nose being the result. As one who
knew him well writes: "Not many of his friends will
forget that stooping figure, in his blindly rushing walk
along the London streets, his little guide-boy strain-
ing to keep pace with the master's eagerness." The
eagerness remained, though he was compelled to yield
and have the guide.
Again : a friend writes :
" One criticism he was proof against : nothing that I
could say would induce him to alter. I mean, his extraor-
dinary division of syllables in his later vocal compositions.
I tried precedent, the printer's habit; I tried quizzing.
No! he had never heard of Robson, and 'Villikins and his
Dinah,' so it was of no use. He insisted on ' wee-ping,'
' wal-king,' till I feared to worry him more. His idea was
that singers are so apt to pronounce the later consonant in
a syllable before the note is over, 1 that he would do his
best to prevent such an error by putting off the consonant
to the end of the note, joining it to the next syllable. He
had been assured by good singers and teachers that it was
a wise precaution, and he would abide by it."
Enough, however, of this. The record is here given
of a wonderful career of achievements for a blind man :
a life of marvellous mental activity, productiveness,
and influence, for any man.
A word or two as to the plan of the work.
This being a record, less of incident than of thought,
utterance, and influence, no apologetic plea is needed
for the somewhat copious extracts from Macfarren's
1 See p. 369.
PREFACE. lx
writings on music, by which he speaks for himself :
writings, some of which are quite inaccessible, and
others practically so, being buried in old numbers of
periodicals, or casual numbers of those more recently
issued, and almost certain to be overlooked by the
majority of those desiring to know of his opinions on
the multifarious subjects about which he wrote.
Moreover, for similar reasons, a strictly chrono-
logical arrangement has been discarded, it having been
thought better to focus, so far as possible, the light
from his clear intellect, and, therefore, to bring together
utterances and writings of different times and cir-
cumstances, showing the consistency in most cases, in
others the progressiveness, of his mind. A glance at
the headings of the chapters will sufficiently indicate
this plan.
For invaluable aid rendered to me in the preparation
of this Memoir, by the loan of letters, manuscripts,
programmes, etc., the furnishing of reminiscences, the
verification of dates, and in various other ways, I
tender my most sincere thanks to Lady Macfarren,
Lady Thompson, Miss Macfarren, Miss Macirone,
Miss Oliveria Prescott, Madame Lemmens-Sh erring-
ton, Mademoiselle Gabrielle Vaillant, Mr. H. O.
Anderton, Mr. Edwin Barnes, Mr. J. R. Sterndale-
Bennett, Mr. G. J. Bennett, Mr. Windeyer Clark,
Mr. Gerard F. Cobb, Mr. J. S. Curwen, Mr. F. W.
Davenport, Mr. T. J. Dudeney, Sir George Grove, Mr.
Henry Holmes, Dr. E. J. Hopkins, Mr. Ernest Kiver,
Mr. T. B. Knott, Mr. John Macfarren, Mr. Walter
Macfarren, Mr. Charles Stewart Macpherson, Mr.
Ridley Prentice, and the Rev. H. M. de St. Croix.
That there are not more imperfections than I fear may
x PREFACE.
be detected in the work, results largely from the hearty
sympathy and ungrudging assistance so readily, and in
many cases repeatedly, accorded me in this endeavour
worthily to represent the unique personality and artistic
course of one with whom I was more or less acquainted
and personally associated for nearly half a century.
H. C. B.
LONDON, November, 1890.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I. PAGE
Early Life. 18131829 1
CHAPTER II.
Studentship at the Royal Academy of Music. 18291836 . 19
CHAPTER III.
Early Dramatic Compositions. Sojourn in the Isle of Man .
18311840 34
CHAPTER IV.
Personal Acquaintance with Macfarren. Some of his Early
Compositions. His Opinion of Dussek. His First
Critical Article. Introduction to Mendelssohn. Views
on Rhythm. 18381842, etc 61
CHAPTER V.
Symphony in C Sharp Minor. Macfarren and Davison's
Concerts. Quintet in G Minor. Trio in E Minor, and
other works. 18421844 87
CHAPTER VI.
Macfarren's Theoretical Views and Writings. Dr. Day's
Theory. 1838, etc 105
CHAPTER VII.
Macfarren and English Music. Collaboration with Mr.
William Chappell. Cornhill Article. Lectures on our
National Music. Musical Antiquarian Society. Opinions
on Orlando Gibbons, Henry Purcell, and others. Glees
and Part-Songs. 1838, 1840, 1868, etc 135
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VIII.
The Handel Society. Macfarren's Visit to New York.
Editions of " Belshazzar," " Judas Maccabeus," and
"Jephtha." Views on Editing. Articles on the
"Messiah." Marriage. "Antigone" Performances.
Articles on Mendelssohn's " CEdipus in Colonos " Music.
18431855 170
CHAPTER IX.
Operas, Cantatas, etc. "Don Quixote," 1846; "King
Charles II.," 1849; "The Sleeper Awakened," 1850;
"Allan of Aberfeldy," 1851; "Quartet in G Minor,"
1852; "Lenora," 1853; "Hamlet Overture," 1856;
"May Day," 1857; "Christmas," "Robin Hood";
Entire Failure of Sight, and Commencement of Dicta-
tion, 1860; " Freya's Gift," "Jessy Lea," 1863 ; "The
Soldier's Legacy," "She Stoops to Conquer," " Hel-
vellyn," 1864 ; " Songs in a Cornfield," 1868 ; " Outward
Bound," 1872 ; " The Lady of the Lake," 1877 ; " Kenil-
worth," 1880 189
CHAPTER X.
Macfarren's Critical Opinions. Articles on Mendelssohn,
Mozart, Beethoven's Symphonies, " Ruins of Athens,"
" Fidelio," and " Mass in D. " Remarks on Pedal-points.
Opinions concerning Haydn, Chopin, Cherubini, Auber.
Airs with Variations. 18491854, etc 208
CHAPTER XI.
Macfarren as a Lecturer. Lectures on Sonata Structure, the
Lyrical Drama, Sacred and Secular Art, and Church
Music. Papers on Recitative, Church of England Music,
Gregorianism, Oratorio in Church, Rossini's Mass,
Mozart's Requiem, Wagner, Organ, Pitch. Composi-
tions : Overture to "Don Carlos," Festival Overture,
Symphonies in D major and E minor, Flute Concerto,
Violin Concerto, Organ Works, Church Music, Sonatas
for Pianoforte, and Pianoforte and Violin, Concertina,
etc. 18511879 235
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XII. PAGE
Macfarren and the Tonic Sol-Fa System. His Openness to
Conviction. His Utterances concerning Bach. Biogra-
phies. Additional Accompaniments. 1857 1882 . . 271
CHAPTER XIII.
Macfarren 's Oratorios : St. John the Baptist, 1873 ; The
Resurrection, 1875 ; Joseph, 1877 ; King David, 1883 ;
St. George's Te Deum, 1884. Method of Composing and
Dictating. Philharmonic Analytical Programmes. 1869
1880 292
CHAPTER XIV.
Principalship of the Royal Academy of Music. Professorship
in the University of Cambridge : Lectures. University
Degrees. Knighthood. "Ajax" Music. Tercentenary
Anthem. Macfarren as Teacher and Examiner. 1875
1887 316
CHAPTER XV.
" Encyclopaedia Britannica " Article : "Musical History."
Addresses and Articles on "Correct Musical Taste," In-
strumentation, Form, Acoustical Discovery, Eistedd-
fodau, Part-singing, Pitch, etc. 18781885 357
CHAPTER XVI.
Macfarren's " Counterpoint." Utterances on Diaphony, Con-
secutive 5ths, Mendelssohn's Fugue in F minor, etc.
18791882 373
CHAPTER XVII.
Presentation at the Royal Academy. Various Compositions.
Speeches. Failing Health. Last Days, and Death.
Memorial Service. Tributes to Macfarren's Memory.
Miscellaneous Personal Details. Abiding influence.
18831887 389
INDEX 413
LIFE OF SIR G. A. MACFARREN.
CHAPTER I.
EARLY LIFE. 18131829.
IT is not easy to realize that George Alexander
Macfarren, whom so many have known in his
relation to all the activities of the musical life of our
day, was born only four years after the death of
Haydn, " the Father of the Symphony/' and the
birth of Mendelssohn, both of which events occurred
in the year 1809. The year of Macfarren's birth,
1813, was that of the establishment of the now time-
honoured Philharmonic Society, for which Salomon's
Concerts, and Haydn's visits to this country in con-
nection therewith, had prepared the way. Music, in
its grandest form, the orchestral, seemed then to be
making a fresh start. Though Beethoven was then
forty-three years of age, many of his greatest works
were not written ; and of those then in existence, few,
probably, were at all familiar in this country; his
pianoforte works least of all. Spohr was then a young
man of twenty-nine, unknown here : Weber, two years
younger. Mozart's " Le Nozze di Figaro " had been
heard in London for the first time in the previous
year, 1812 : " Don Giovanni" was not produced here
B
EARLY LIFE.
till several years later, 1817. There was musical
activity, however, of a certain kind. The Concerts of
Antient Music, whose rule was not to perform any
music composed within twenty years, were going on.
The Caecilian Society was giving Oratorio perfor-
mances in the City. The Madrigal Society and the
Catch Club pursued their several courses, devoting
themselves to the cultivation of concerted vocal music.
Muzio Clementi, termed the " Father of modern
Pianoforte Music," and Johann Baptiste Cramer, were
resident in London, exerting a wholesome influence
on pianoforte music and its performance. Dussek had
died in 1812. Among eminent musicians then living
in Europe may be mentioned Viotti, Salieri, Zingarelli,
Cherubini, Paganini, Rossini (whose opera " Tan-
credi" was produced at Venice in 1813), Mehul,
Ignace Pleyel, Steibelt, Boildieu, Onslow, Auber,
Hummel, Fetis, Schubert, Herold, Mayseder, Meyer-
beer, and many others. In England there were also
Bishop, Attwood, Shield, Crotch, etc.
Such were the musical surroundings into which the
subject of our memoir was born, at 24, Villiers Street,
Strand, on the 2nd of March, 1813, the day being
Shrove Tuesday ; so that, as it is related, he would
sometimes say, playfully, that in most years he had
two birthdays.
His father was George Macfai'ren, described trust-
worthily as " dancing-master, dramatic author, and
journalist," a native of London, as were his immediate
progenitors, " passionately fond of music, and himself
a fair violinist." For him, his son George Alexander
ever entertained most affectionate reverence ; and, as
recently as January 1877, wrote a memorial sketch of
EARLY LIFE.
him which is charming in its manifestation of filial
feeling. It would have been most consonant with his
feelings that the memory should be preserved by
reference to that sketch. He begins writing to his
friend J. W. Davison, who then edited the " Musical
World," in the pages of which the sketch appeared
" MY DEAR EDITOR AND OLD FRIEND, You ask me
to write of my father, and my pride in the subject is equal
to my diffidence of ability to treat it. Truly the space
before me and the time to fill it are insufficient for justice
to the memory of him to whom I owe, not life alone, but
impetus to art, and the first and best guidance in its
pursuit. Yet, however briefly, those who knew him may
be pleased to be reminded of himself and his doings ; those
who knew him not may still accept some words of reverence
and love for one not without influence beyond his imme-
diate circle. From 1788 to 1843 his life was of almost
ceaseless activity. In early childhood he showed a talent
for versification, to which a far higher definition would not
be misapplied ; and some stanzas, dated on his thirteenth
birthday, evince depth of thought and power of words
betokening ripest years. While a schoolboy he wrote a
tragedy, which was acted by his mates, with the assistance
of young Edmund Kean, then known by the name of
Carey, with the sanction of the afterwards famous actor,
Listen, usher at that time in Archbishop Tenison's school
the scene of the performance. My father played on
bowed instruments so well as to sustain either of the parts
in a violin quartet. He had some facility on the piano-
forte, on which and on the fiddle, he was my first in-
structor. Would he had had an apter pupil ! He composed
songs of merit, and many country dance tunes that had
great popularity. One of the latter, which may now some-
times be heard on street organs " Off she goes " has
been claimed as a national Irish melody ; and this says
more for the merit of the tune than the acumen of the
editor. Music would have been his profession, had he not
met with a fashionable teacher of dancing Bishop by
name who offered to make him a ' gentleman instead of a
EANLY LIFE.
fiddler,' and, accordingly, took him as an apprentice. Here
was a disparity between name and nature, the calling and
the called ; and, I earnestly believe, here was a consequent
loss to music. Quick in conception and sanguine in enter-
prise, he promptly formed the plan of a work or of an
action, and eagerly pursued it. So, when eighteen, he
quitted his parental home, rented a spacious room, and
opened a school for dancing. The theatre was the natural
home of his diverse talent and the chief arena of its
varied exercise. His first public dramatic production was
almost extemporized, and acted for the benefit of his then
intimate friend, Harley, in 1818, at the English Opera
House. Many of his other pieces were also written at a
sitting, of which perhaps the most remarkable instance-
was the ' Emblematical Tribute ' on the occasion of the
Queen's marriage. He suggested the first idea of this to
the management of Drury Lane Theatre on the Thursday
night previous to the ceremony. The idea was applauded,
but its accomplishment pronounced impossible. The pro-
nunciation was confuted ; for by a strong power of mag-
netism, he infused his own ardour into every functionary
of the establishment. The book was written, the musk-
composed, the scenes were painted, the dresses stitched,
the whole was rehearsed, and the masque presented to the
public at the free performance on the royal wedding night,
the Monday next following the primary conception. 1 Then.
as ever, the word impossible had no meaning for him ; and
to all with whom he worked, his example made ' will ' and
' can ' identical. Those only may be named here among
his dramatic pieces which made the strongest mark at the
moment. ' The Horatii and Curiatii ' was written for the
appearance at the Coburg Theatre then (how times have
changed !) a place of high esteem and elegant resort of
Booth, who had been a rival of Kean, and was the father
of the future presidenticide. ' Sir Peter Pry,' which had
great success at the same theatre, has been 'accredited as
the foundation of a more popular comedy, whose inquisi-
tive hero is named after another apostle. ' If the Cap fit
ye, wear it,' had also good fortune, being acted throughout
1 See Chapter III.
EARLY LIFE.
the country under the name of ' The Student,' and repro-
duced at the Haymarket as ' Latin, Love, and War.'
' Edward the Black Prince,' and, soon afterwards, ' Guy
Fawkes,' were talks of the town, and are still theatrical
celebrities. ' Winning a Husband,' a protean piece, was
written for the favourite actress Mrs. W. Barrymore, and
has had hundreds of representations by her and by others.
My father's first acknowledged essay he had contributed
scenes or songs to many pieces by other authors on the
classic boards of Drury, was the ballad opera of ' Malvina,'
the merit of which raised it into an importance far above
what was intended in the original commission. Then he
wrote ' Oberon,' which helped to familiarize the town with
the incidents of Wieland's poem, the groundwork of the
opera by Weber, at that time in preparation at Covent
Garden ; 1 and the task was undertaken within a month of
the first representation. His version of ' Gil Bias,' or
rather of the first adventures of Le Sage's hero, long out-
lived its Drury Lane production. Elliston had acquired
great confidence in my father's power during the last year
of his Drury Lane experience, and, on abdicating the
sovereignty which had been held by Garrick and Sheridan,
sought his aid in his new enterprise at the Surrey. The
facile author being prostrated by a premonition of the
malady to which he succumbed sixteen years later, the
veteran new manager was brought to his bedside. ' I open
this day fortnight,' said Elliston, ' and must have a piece
from you ; ' the piece was written and acted. The most
notable of his productions at the Surrey was the ' March of
Intellect,' a protean piece for the display of the versatile
talent of little Burke, the child prodigy, who acted, and
sang, and danced, and played on the violin, and spoke
Irish with a ' brogue so rich that you might cut it with a
knife.'
******
" I must hurry on to the works wherein I myself had the
priceless advantage of his co-operation. There are three
1 " The year 1826 is memorable in the annals of music, for it is
that'in which Carl Maria von Weber produced his last great opera,
' Oberon, 9 on the English stage the deathless work of a dying
man. " Recollections and Reflections, J. R. Planche, p. 74.
EARLY LIFE.
operas that have never seen the light, one of them having
been accepted at three several theatres, all of which closed
in bankruptcy before the intended representation. These,
with his prompting of what to think, write, and avoid,
made me an apprenticeship of which I, and none but I,
can feel the inestimable value. There was the ' Devil's
Opera,' another case of warfare against time, waged in the
bright glowing season of the Queen's Coronation, when my
father used to work on his libretto till the first peep of
those inspiring summer mornings, and then awaken the
composer to travail on the music in the stilly hours before
heat came into the day, bustle into the streets, and out-
door occupation into the writer's necessities. 1
Lastly, there was ' Don Quixote,' of which but a portion
of the music came to his knowledge. This was designed
for several different productions, its cast of characters
changed for every such purposed occasion, and its com-
position only completed nearly three years after his death,
when it was really to be represented.
It is now time to speak of his management of the theatre
in Tottenham Street, to which, in honour of King William's
consort, he gave the name of the Queen's Theatre. There
he ruled from February 1831 till' June 1832 or would
have ruled, had not the despot, Fortune, governed him,
distorted his designs, and frustrated his principles and
plans. He began with Handel's ' Ac-is and Galatea,' to
which Cipriani Potter wrote additional orchestration for
him, and its performance was indeed an event in musical
London. ' The legitimate drama,' a term now of the past,
was then unallowed in any but the ' patent theatres,' and
thus the performances at the Queen's were restricted to
plays written for the purpose. In the production of these,
regard was first given to the naturalness of the scene, in
respect to stage arrangements, grouping of persons and
objects, furnitui-e and other accessories, all, in fact, that
distinguishes the theatrical presentations of nowadays
from the conventionalism of elder times, when a green
baize covered the front of the stage, as if to put it in
mourning, during tragedies, and when the most suinp-
1 See Chapter III.
EARLY LIFE.
tuously decorated chamber had but as many chairs as the
dramatic action demanded to be sat upon. Once, for the
rising of the mist, the artifice of slaked lime, which of late
has been re- appropriated with world renown, was employed
with magical effect. Elliston, one of the latest representa-
tives of the drama's so-called ' palmy days,' and himself at the
time a rival manager, declared that such perfect pictures as
he saw at the Queen's had never been put upon the stage.
My father's aptitude for painting, of which some specimens
are extant, doubtless helped him to conceive and to put in
practice these effects. His musicianship materially en-
hanced his literary skill in the writing of words to music,
one of the hardest tasks of authorship, one in which success
is rare as it is difficult, and one in which he was always
singularly happy witness the poem to Henry Smart's
beautiful song of ' Estelle,' and some of those, such as a
' Legend of the Avon,' to some of the first of W. Chappell's
resuscitations of Old English Ditties. The latest thing that
occupied my father was the editorship of ' The Musical
World ' journal, and you know who, at his death, suc-
ceeded him. You remember the kindly and encouraging
feeling that characterized his administration, how he
always sought for merit, and did his utmost to bring it to
the front, how he would screen defect, and how ill-will was
in him an incapacity. You remember his keen perception
of the beautiful, and the charming English in which this
was set forth. His sunny temper was vexed by many a
trouble, but never wholly darkened ; and it had the power
of light as well as warmth on all who came within its
radiance, to draw out their brightest colours, as well as
to nourish their minds and hearts. Such was George
Macfarren.
G. A. M."
To the interesting sketch from which these extracts
arc taken, the editor appended the following post-
script :
" We remember all this and more. George Macfarren
was one of those born to govern men, not by harsh
despotism, but by courtesy and kindness. E^en when, as
EARLY LIFE.
it might happen at times, you were not entirely of his
opinion, you generally found him right at the end. And
then, his reasons were urged with a gentleness which,
more than his logical acumen and knowledge of human
nature both remarkable went far to convince you, even
when most perverse and self-willed. We were all young
then, and trust we are wiser now. It is only when our
elders are gone, that we are willing to confess how much
we owe to them.
J. TV. D."
In some reminiscences of early family history which
George Alexander sketched, he relates, in connection
with the incidents at Archbishop Tenison's school :
" At the school in Castle Street my father made the
acquaintance of George Jackson, and was thus introduced
to the family of my mother, George's younger sister."
Also that he became engaged to Susan Jackson,
" who was by a year his elder, . . . but who died of
consumption in 1806."
" That my father found consolation in the love of her
sister is a psychological problem not to be discussed. He
did so, and they were married in August 1808. Elizabeth
Jackson was born 20th January, 1792, and it was from her,
though there be no Mac in her name, that I drew my
veritable Scottish descent. Her father, John, came in early
manhood from Glasgow to London to seek occupation as a
bookbinder. John Jackson must have been skilled in his
craft, and frugal, for after a few years he purchased a
house, 24, Villiers Street, wherein I was born. . . . Another
friend of my father, Alexander Henning, a Scot, a navy
lieutenant, and afterwards a most successful captain of an
Indiaman, had promised to be my godfather, but was
absent on a voyage when the christening was to be per-
formed : the office was however filled by proxy, and I was
to have been named solely after him, but that on the way
to the church my grandmother insisted that her son's
child should be called . George, and you see the con-
EARLY LIFE.
sequence. . . . My entrance on the scene expanded the
little family beyond the capacity of the native home, and
removal to Kemp Bow, Chelsea, was the necessary conse-
quence. There my father exercised his natural aptitude
for painting, producing in oil portraits of several of his
friends, and a view from the window of his study. On an
evening he was playing with me before the fire, and with
a spring I fell from his knee, face upward, under the
grate, when he held his extended hand over my face to
protect it from the falling cinders while he called for
someone to draw me from under his protection ; and this
was one of the many instances of his presence of mind and
recklessness of evil for the sake of others. . . . My own
earliest recollection is of the first anniversary of the Battle
of Waterloo, 18th June, 1816, the occasion of the opening
of Waterloo Bridge by the Prince Regent, after which state
ceremony the public was allowed to cross freely the master-
piece of Rennie, and I was taken in the throng to a com-
memorative fair held in the fields then open between the
river and the New Cut."
Macfarren relates that, in 1816, certain circum-
stances occasioned a visit of his father to Paris, and
that
" Foreign travel was so different an affair in 1816 from
what we now know it to be, that, as a preliminary to his
journey, my father made his will and gave it into the
keeping of my mother, together with an excellent water-
colour portrait of himself, the two to ensure her welfare
and his memory, should he never recross the Channel. As
a point of professional duty, he took lessons of one of the
chief dancing masters in the French capital, returning
fresh from which, he imported into England the quadrille,
a dance previously unknown here, save in its English
prototype ' The Hay ' with some of the concomitant
figures, and the first set of quadrilles ever printed in
London was music of my father's composition with de-
tailed description of the dances. 1
1 See, however, Grove's Dictionary, sub verba.
10 EARLY LIFE.
" In the January of 1819 I was taken for the first time
to a theatre, namely the Olympic, where was played a
pantomime on the story of ' Red Riding Hood,' of which
Planchc was the author ; and this I regard as the founda-
tion of my lasting love for dramatic entertainment, which
was doubtless nourished by my interest in my father's after
pursuits, but must have been to a great extent intuitive."
George Alexander was delicate in health from his
childhood, needing constant medical attention. Not-
withstanding this, however, he was sent, when little
more than seven years of age, to the school kept by
Dr. Nicholas, at Baling, in which his father had for
many years taught dancing; "a school which numbered
at different times amongst its distinguished alumni the
present Cardinal Newman and Professor Huxley." For
school-life, however, with its roughness and discipline,
he was little fitted with his tender constitution; and
his time at Ealing was, on his own subsequent testi-
mony, singularly wretched. In the family record ho
says :
" In August, 1820, I was committed to the care and
culture of Ealing School, an establishment that then
numbered 365 pupils. My being there ought to have been
the most propitious fact for my comfort and education,
because my father attended the school twice weekly to
teach, and often took me forth to walk when his lessons
were over ; because his singularly intimate friend Heslop
was one of the chief masters, whose very dear wife took
special care of me, and because Huxley, the philosopher's
father, was another principal master, was a familiar of our
family, and showed me many a kindness. Notwithstanding
all these seeming sources of welfare, I was more miserable
at school than words can tell. I was sickly, having, in the
course of my three years' sojourn, to be brought home on
account of inflammation of the lungs, having an excep-
tionally bad attack of mumps, and having much the fate
EAELY LIFE. \\
of a fag to a bigger boy in my class, though fagging was
no part of the school discipline. Among other tyrannies
that he exercised, one only is not to be regretted ; namely,
that he compelled me to tell him tales throughout the
play hours, which sharpened my memory for all I had
read, and my wits for all I could invent. In August 1823,
after my periodical return to school, my sight began to
fail, so I was taken home for medical treatment."
Those who, in his manhood, enjoyed his friendship,
will readily believe that a nature so sensitive to kind-
ness and sympathy would ill brook the lack of it which
probably characterized school-life in those days, before
the more humanizing influences and healthier tone,
brought about by Dr. Arnold, and other educational
reformers, prevailed. Of this sensitiveness and affec-
tionate disposition, as well as of the conscientiousness
which marked him through life, prompting him to a
ready acknowledgment of faults and errors, there is
evidence, at this early age, in his letters from school
to his mother. The following is an extract from one
of these.
" Sunday, May 19th, 1822.
" MY DEAR MOTHER,
" As I have a little time I can tell you my thoughts,
and what I really have thought ever since Easter.
" I have prayed always that I might be good, both night
and morning, but I could not. However, the next time I
come home I will try to fulfil my promises better.
" I know how very naughty I was the two last times I
was at home, and the only thing that keeps me up now is,
that I know you have forgiven me and that I will try to
do better another time. I will try to leave off my nasty
naughty airs, my wicked ill temper and ill humour, and in
fact, instead of being naughty and wicked as I was when
I was at home, I will be quite the contrary a very good
bov."
12 EARLY LIFE.
And in the following we get a glimpse of the
methodical habit, and disposition for thoroughness in
work, which were such distinguishing traits in his after
years : as well, it may be said, as of his self-reliance.
" Friday, August 2nd, 1822.
" MY VEBY DEAB MOTHER,
" You may perhaps think it odd my writing to you so
soon but I write to you to inform you that I intend after
this and now I don't tell you a story when I declare
upon my word and honor that I will keep my promise.
" I intend to leave off all my impudence airs ill-temper
naughtiness and wickedness and be so good that you will
think it is some one else and indeed I will be as good as it
is possible for a boy of my age to be.
" If you please mother will you hold up your finger
always after this as you promised to do last holidays but
only did the first week or two, when you see me going into
an ill temper and that will keep me out of it. Now I will
give you a list of what I intend to do hereafter.
" 1. I keep an account of what I spend every day and
when I come home to show it to you and ask you w[h] ether
you think it reasonable or no.
" 2. I intend to fag always as hard as ever I can and try
to get my lessons perfect so as to get praise even at school.
"3. I intend always to keep the 5th commandment and
always to mind what you and father say to me.
" 4. To be kind and good-natured to my two sisters and
my brother and try to make John a better boy.
"5. I intend to honour you and all who know me so as
to make myself generally beloved by all [who] know me.
" And now mother if you will hold up your finger when-
ever you see me getting into an ill humour I think I shall
be a very good boy indeed.
1 am
My very dear Mother
Your affectionate loving and
dutiful Son
G. A. M."
EARLY LIFE. 13
The affectionate spirit which these letters breathe
distinguished Macfarren all through life ; though not
always discerned by those but slightly acquainted
with him, especially if themselves of shallow sym-
pathies.
While yet at Ealing his sight began to fail, and it
became necessary that he should use a powerful
magnifying glass : also that he should be furnished
with a large-type Testament, to enable him to join in
class-reading. This, however, was but the prelude to
his entire withdrawal from the school, in order that he
might be under oculistic care and home- management.
Under the advice and treatment of the then eminent
oculist, Mr. Alexander, the boy was brought into
such a condition of health that his very life seemed
threatened ; and, at the instance of the family medical
attendant, the specialistic treatment was stopped, and
he was removed to a school at Lancing, quite as much
for his health's sake as for his education. He was
accompanied by his younger brother John; and, with
much enjoyment, remained at Lancing for eighteen
months.
He records, in his " Family Eecollections," that
" the judgment of Lawrence, and afterwards that of
Tyrell, were taken upon my eyes, which were both to
the effect that the disease was beyond the reach of
medical treatment, and that the strengthening of my
general health would be the likeliest of means to
restore my sight. Notably, from when my eyes first
failed, the sickly weakness of my constitution was
changed for the average health which, with rare and
brief casual exceptions, I have since enjoyed."
During his stay at Lancing, some hope concerning
14 EARLY LIFE.
his sight seems to have arisen ; as, in a letter written
in 1825, he refers to " improvement in my unfortunate
oculars." In the "Recollections" he speaks of a
" good Mrs. Blunden " of Worthing, with whom the
family had lodged, " and who lightened the hardships
of our school-life school-life is the very hardest ship
that sails the ocean of existence by having us both
on occasional visits."
During this period the predilection for dramatic
performance previously referred to, and afterwards so
fully developed, further manifested itself; he himself
writing little school tragedies, constructing little
stages, painting the scenes, and joining with his
schoolfellows in acting the dramas.
Another letter evinces the thoughtfulness and
reasoning habit, expressed in quaint phraseology,
which were prominent in later years.
"Lancing Academy, May 19th, 18'2o.
" MY DEAB FATHER,
" I feel rather surprised at not having heard from you
before this, but, as mother says ' a letter home and an
answer back makes a good hole in one and fourpence ' and
as Poor Bichard says in his Almanac ' a penny saved is a
penny earnt,' so it does not matter much but that you are
all well (as I trust you are) for as ' two heads are better
than one ' so one penny is better than none, but as I have
heard from you but once since my uncle left us I should
like to hear as soon as possible." ....
It was probably after leaving Lancing that, his
eight continuing to fail, various oculists were con-
sulted, and experimented upon him ; but all in vain :
the failure was never effectually arrested, but in-
creased until its final culmination in later years.
EARLY LIFE. 15
It will readily be understood that this imperfection
of sight had hindered the lad to some extent in book
studies; though he alludes, in his letters, to his
geographical studies, and only mentions the want of
an Atlas for himself as the hindrance to his finding
the places well, not referring to any difficulty of sight.
But it seems probable that at this age the eager thirst
for knowledge, and desire to master any subject that
he took in hand, which characterized him through life,
were in operation, and led him, notwithstanding
obstacles, to obtain the rudiments of a fair general
education. History and biography were favourite
subjects of study with him ; and, besides the dramatic
or theatrical amusements already mentioned, gar-
dening was an occupation in which he took great
pleasure.
But he was being appealed to by another art, not
immediately necessitating sight for its enjoyment.
As has already been stated, George Macfarren senior
was a passionate lover of music, and a fair adept in
it; and there were home performances of chamber
music, vocal and instrumental, which awakened the
interest of the boy. His father instructed him in the
elements of the art ; and his progress was such as to
encourage the determination to train him for its
pursuit. At the age of fourteen he was placed under
the tuition of Charles Lucas, then (1827) a student in
the recently instituted Royal Academy of Music. He
writes : " Before quitting 1827 I may note that on its
8th of March I had my first lesson of Charles Lucas,
and so formally entered my musical apprenticeship/'
Lucas was about five years the senior of his pupil,
having been born at Salisbury, July 28th, 1808.
16 EARLY LJFE.
After having been chorister in the cathedral, under
Arthur Thomas Corfe, from his seventh to his fifteenth
year, he entered the Academy, and, though he com-
menced his career therein by taking singing as his
principal study, subsequently changed his course, and .
turned his attention to the violoncello, which he
studied under the famous performer, Robert Lindley.
He also pursued theoretical studies under Mr. Lord
and Dr. Crotch. He became a distinguished musician,
not only as an excellent violoncellist, but by reason of
varied attainments. He was conductor of the orchestra
and choir of the Academy, from 1832 ; organist of
Hanover Chapel, Regent Street, from 1839, for a
number of years, a select body of Academy students
forming the choir, for full choral service ; and, in 1859,
succeeded Cipriani Potter as Principal of the Academy,
holding that position, in conjunction with that of con-
ductor, until his retirement in 1866. He was also
composer of an opera, " The Regicide/' symphonies,
anthems, and other works. Under this versatile
musician, then, however, only in his own pupilage,
Macfarren was placed for the serious study of music ;
remaining with him till the teacher recommended his
transference to the Royal Academy, which step was
taken in 1829, one year before the termination of
Lucas's studentship in the institution : therefore, the
teacher and the pupil were for one year fellow-students
in the Academy, of which they were both destined to
be ornaments and Principals in later years. Long
afterwards, Macfarren, in the " Imperial Dictionary of
Biography," to which he contributed a number of
articles, thus writes of his old teacher and fellow-
student :
EARLY LIFE. 17
" Lucas' qualifications for his important position as
Principal of the Academy consist in his very extensive
theoretical and practical knowledge of music. A sound
harmonist, a good executant, having familiarity with the
mechanism of almost every instrument, being greatly
experienced in public performance of music of every
school and style,] he is a skilful teacher and an able
director."
Concerning the period of Macfarren's pupilage
under Lucas, prior to his Academy studentship, he
relates an early effort, made in the year 1828 :
" In my father's wish to stimulate my exertions, he
obtained the promise from Blewitt that the band of the
Surrey Theatre should try an Overture of mine if I wrote
one, so I made an attempt, in the absence of Lucas for the
summer holiday of 1828, being . . . little fitted for so
high a flight. ... I was to some, though a very small
extent, prepared for the undertaking, by a translation of
the theoretical book of Friedrich Schneider that had been
given me by T. Cooke, which comprised a statement of the
compass of each instrument. When my master came back,
I displayed, with great exultation, the score .of an Overture
in Gr, and was desperately disappointed with his condemna-
tion of the plan, his detection of much faulty harmony, his
assurance of the impracticability of many passages, though
lying between the lowest and highest notes of the instru-
ments to which they were assigned, and his declaration
that the whole was entirely unfit for performance. He
was certainly right, but this made the matter all the
unpleasanter for me. Still I was urged to write, and to
help me my father made several poems which I had to
set to music."
Of Jonas Blewitt, alluded to above, Macfarreu
writes :
" He was one of those so-called natural musicians, who
do everything easily and nothing well, in the art to which
they are supposed to have a calling. He invented musical
C
18 EAELY LIFE.
games that sent large companies into fits of laughter ; and
he composed comic songs, which he sang with like result."
We have now reached that stage in the career of
the subject of our memoir which concerns his public
course his first connection with the Royal Academy
of Music ; a connection continuing, with brief inter-
ruptions, hereafter to be recorded, till the close of his
life ; his last occupation, half an hour before he passed
away, being the dictation of a letter concerning the
business of the Institution in which he was reared,
which he served so faithfully, and loved so well. His
admission as a student, he himself characterizes as the
fulfilment of his " highest ambition " at the time.
CHAPTER II.
STUDENTSHIP AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY OP Music.
18291836.
WHEN Macfarren entered the Royal Academy of
Music as a student, in 1829, that Institution
had been established about seven years ; if, indeed, it
may be said to have been then " established " at all,
seeing that it was undergoing much adverse criticism,
and, moreover, was by no means on a stable basis,
either financially or musically. There had been little
experience by which to profit, little to indicate the
best methods of procedure, and, moreover, the manage-
ment, or direction, was bureaucratic, amateur, and,
there can be little doubt, mistaken. Founded by John
Fane, Lord Burghersh, afterwards sixth Earl of
Westmoreland, it was, at the time of which we are
speaking, under the Principalship of Dr. Crotch, who,
remarkable in his boyhood for precocious musical
capacity, seems to have well represented, in his man-
hood, when he was Professor of Music in the Univer-
sity of Oxford, the then existing state of musical
learning in England. He was fortunate in having,
as one of his professorial staff, Cipriani Potter, pianist
and composer, who, as he told me, used to have friendly
disputes with Domenico Crivelli, the singing professor,
20 STUDENTSHIP AT THE
as to which of them actually gave the first lesson in
the Academy. Potter was, as he continued for years
to be, abreast of the time in practical musical know-
ledge and attainment, having studied under Thomas
Attwood, who had been Mozart's pupil, under Woelfl,
and, to some extent, under Beethoven, so far as
counsel and some criticism of his doings may be
reckoned ; and, moreover, by continental travel, and
intercourse with distinguished musicians abroad, he
had enlarged his acquaintance with the then modern
developments of the Art, beyond the insularity which
seems to have characterized and narrowed the per-
ceptions and attainments of English musicians of the
time. All this, together with his geniality of dis-
position, admirably fitted him for the work of guiding
young musicians in their studies, which fell to his
share both as teacher in, and subsequently, in succes-
sion to Dr. Crotch, as Principal of our Royal and
National Institution.
Macfarren always entertained grateful and reveren-
tial remembrance of Cipriani Potter, his teachings, his
compositions, and his musicianship in general : " that
distinguished teacher," he termed him. Long after-
wards, on January 7th, 1884, he delivered an appre-
ciative address upon his life and work at the Musical
Association. It was my wish to be present, partly
because, in the conversation after the address, it would
have been congenial to my feelings to offer a few
reminiscences of my old master. Illness, however,
prevented me from attending, and I wrote to Mac-
farren explaining the cause of my absence, which it
would indeed have been a grief to find ascribed to any
indifference to the ever green memory of one to whom
ROYAL ACADEMY OF MUSIC. 21
I, in common with many, owed so much. My
explanatory letter drew from Macfarren the following
characteristic reply :
"My DEAR BANISTER, It would indeed have been a
pleasure to have had the interesting additions you might
have made to the too little I could say of our dear friend
Potter, and I regret as much the loss of these as the illness
that prevented your presence at the meeting. I deplore
that the Master is at present less represented in his own
works than in those of his pupils ; and that persons who
knew not himself have now small chance of knowing his
merit, and on this account it behoves us who retain vivid
recollections of his working and its worth to do all we may
to impress our memory on the consciousness of others."
I am therefore acting in harmony with the injunc-
tions of him who is the subject of this memoir, and
illustrating his character, as well as doing that which
is so consonant with my own pleasant recollections,
when I thus dwell somewhat upon the admirable
influence and notable personality of one to whom so
many English musicians were indebted Cipriani
Potter.
In the address to the Musical Association, after
recounting that Potter had studied under Thomas
Attwood, Dr. Crotch, and Joseph Woelfl, Macfarren
proceeds :
" Potter used to speak of him [Woelfl] with profound
admiration, and to ascribe to him the principles of plan of
which he himself became a teacher, and to him also those
principles of pianoforte playing which he himself advanced.
It is important to observe that in these two particulars of
pianoforte playing and composition, Potter has had a most
marked influence on the musical development of the present
age ; and since Woelfl died before Potter was twenty years
old, it must have been very largely owing to his own reflec-
22 STUDENTSHIP AT THE
tions that that style of pianoforte playing was matured,
and to his own particular genius for the instrument, that
we may ascribe what may, I think, fairly be designated as
an English school of pianism. There must be present
here, not only the chairman, 1 who, like me, may boast him-
self in some particulars as the pupil of our friend Cipriani
Potter, but some too, who, if not his pupils, are certainly
his grand-pupils, and great-grand-pupils, who represent in
the second and third generation the excellence of the views
which were first promulgated by him, and have been dis-
seminated from time to time to the lasting advantage of
music in England.
******
" Let us now review the work of Potter as a teacher of
composition. You have heard what kind of music pre-
vailed in England before his influence changed the direc-
tion of study and the emulation of students. I believe it
to have been he who first promulgated the principles of
plan. ' Plan ' was the word he used, a most significant
and completely comprehensive word, to represent the
principles of design in musical art. It is now customary
to speak of the same thing under the name of ' form ; '
but form can only be used in a metaphoric sense, since it
applies to tangible and visible objects, and unless we count
the remarkable form which the waves of sound take, there
is no form, truly speaking, in music ; it is only metaphori-
cally we can speak of musical form by analogy with the
forms employed in other arts. But decidedly there is a
plan in the arrangement of ideas, in the conduct of keys,
in the juxtaposition of one musical phrase with another,
the distribution of rhythm, and the whole musical struc-
ture. So I think the term ' plan,' which he was wont to
use among his pupils, is the best that can be applied to
what it distinctly defines ; it makes music really into an
art instead of an accident. As to the unrelated arrange-
ment of thoughts which appears in the glee compositions,
and in the bald writing of the previous time, whatever
pleasantry of phrase, whatever momentary happiness of
effect from the combination of voices or instruments, there
1 Mr. C. E. Stephens.
ROYAL ACADEMY OF MUSIC. 23
is no continuity in such compositions. But Potter showed
his pupils the art of continuity in the development of
musical ideas the structure of complete compositions. I
believe that this was not known in England before his
time, or, if known, it was certainly unpractised. His
method of explaining this was so clear, so charming, so
interesting to all who heard him, that the application of
his principles became not only the study but the delight
of those who had the advantage of hearing them; and
this advantage has been disseminated by his pupils until
now, when, I believe, the structure of the sonata is very
generally understood, and, in many instances, very happily
practised. His views on instrumentation were as impor-
tant as on managing ideas. He had a great knowledge of
instruments, a happy way of writing passages appropriate
to each, and a very great facility, also, in arranging their
combination. His scores were always clear, and he showed
his pupils how to produce such clearness. He was not
unused to tell us that it would take a person thirty years
to learn how to fill a score, and then his education began,
because it would take him thirty years more to learn to
take out the surplus instruments."
In the " Imperial Dictionary of Biography " Mac-
farren wrote :
" Potter's music is characterized by perspicuity of form,
contrapuntal clearness, ingenious orchestration, and appro-
priateness to the instruments for which it is written. . . ,
Potter has had a most important influence on the progress
of the pianoforte in England, many of the most distin-
guished players and teachers having been formed by him ;
and his excellent system being thus so widely diffused, he
may truly be said to have established a school of playing.
The effect of his teaching is still more valuable in the
department of composition ; he was the first in this
country to elucidate the principles of musical construction,
and since his appearance as a teacher, the productions of
our composers have assumed a higher character in respect
of purpose and development than ever before belonged to
24 STUDENTSHIP AT THE
English music. It will thus be seen that he has accom-
plished more than any other musician for the advancement
of his art among us; his good influence is already felt
throughout the land in the labours of the pupils of his
pupils, and a large proportion of the best esteemed artists
of the day have received their training personally from
him."
To resume our narrative, however, and to revert to
the Royal Academy of Music. During the first
thirty-two years of its existence, and, therefore,
when Macfarren commenced his studentship therein,
students were lodged and boarded within its walls.
Macfarren, however, was never an in-student, but
continued to reside at home. He found, already
studying in the Academy, "William Sterndale Bennett,
who had been brought thither three years previously,
when a lad of ten, from Cambridge, where he was
discovered as a chorister in King's College Chapel.
Among Macfarren's fellow-students, during the seven
years of his studentship, were Henry Michael Angelo
(commonly called Grattan) Cooke, William Henry
Holmes, etc.
Macfarren was placed under Thomas Haydon a
painstaking teacher in the first instance, as his
instructor in pianoforte playing ; subsequently under
"William Henry Holmes, and, still later, under Potter.
He was also assigned the trombone as a second study,
under Smithies, " because " to quote his own
words in later years " of the custom, then impera-
tive, but now grievously disregarded, for every male
student to have the valuable experience of orchestral
practice." He continued for some time under his
former instructor in harmony, Charles Lucas, after-
ROYAL ACADEMY OF MUSIC. 25
wards being transferred to Potter for the study of
composition.
Cipriani Potter told me that Sterndale Bennett
never went through a course of contrapuntal study;
and as Macfarren was his fellow-student at the
Academy, perhaps he likewise did not at first study
counterpoint, unless Lucas had previously commenced
to teach it to him. I am led to conclude that, at that
period, the importance of that branch of study was
hardly recognized by the authorities of the Institu-
tion ; although, subsequently, when I was a student,
it was part of the regular curriculum for those who
aspired to become composers. Even then, however,
it was understood that it needed not to be included in
the course of study of the female pupils. I suppose
that, at the earlier time, it was not customary in
England for musical students to learn much more
than the nature and treatment of chords, as then
classified, with just the elementary principles or rules,
mainly prohibitory, of part- writing. This my impres-
sion as to the then state of theoretical musical educa-
tion in this country seems borne out by the fact that
when, a little earlier, Potter went to Beethoven, with
the view of studying under him, the counsel of the great
man to the young one was " you must study counter-
point." And yet Potter had enjoyed such oppor-
tunities as were then available in England for musical
study as it was then understood and prescribed.
Some notion of the state of theoretical knowledge
and education at the time of Macfarren's studentship
may be formed by examination of Dr. Crotch's theo-
retical treatises as representing the kind of instruction
given by him to Lucas and others, and passed on by
26 STUDENTSHIP AT THE
them. The matter is of interest, in our present narra-
tive, because of the wide departure afterwards made
by Macfarren in his theoretical views and teachings.
])r. Crotch's method, however, with his pupils, was
to give them a theme to vary, contrapuntally, in free
fashion ; though there had been some course of more
strict counterpoint exercises to precede that freer
work. Macfarren, however, declined to be removed
to Dr. Crotch's care, preferring to remain under the
tuition of Lucas. Those who remember the latter
will readily believe that no undisciplined freedom
would be permitted to his pupils.
But, whatever the theories enunciated by Crotch,
and accepted as more or less authoritative at the time,
his actual class-teaching seems to have been of a
somewhat free-and-easy kind. The boys would come
in, with little or no work prepared, and coax him to
play Handel's choruses to them instead of giving them
a lesson, which he readily did.
It seems probable, however, that Cipriani Potter,
after his continental experience, and the advice given
him by Beethoven, would, in his position at the Royal
Academy, insist on the importance of contrapuntal
training. Be that as it may, there 'is evidence of
Macfarren having submitted to such a course, either
under Lucas or with Potter, or else of his own judg-
ment, there being extant books of exercises in
counterpoint written by him. Preference seems to
have been divided, at that time, between the contra-
puntal treatises of Cherubini and of Albrechtsberger ;
the latter ultimately receiving the official endorse-
ment of the Academy authorities, and for long con-
tinuing to be the recognized class-book in the Institu-
ROYAL ACADEMY OF MUSIC. 27
tion. No modern English (untranslated) book on the
subject seems to have been in use, though small
books, such as Hamilton's " Catechisms," etc., after-
wards appeared.
The difference between the teachings of all these
books and those of Macfarren in his after years will
come to be considered subsequently.
Under Potter's tuition he made such great advance-
ment in composition that a Symphony in C by him
was considered worthy of performance at an Academy
concert in September, 1830.
In recording the performance of this, his first
Symphony, Macfarren says :
" My father's description of the event in a letter to my
mother, who was at Margate, shows him to have been
more anxious over and delighted at it than an ordinary
man would have been at a success of which himself was
the hero."
The following is an extract from the letter referred
to:
" The Duke of Cambridge and many distinguished
persons were present the Symphony went off admirably,
far exceeding my sanguine foreknowledge of it. At the
conclusion the Duke inquired which was Macfarren, Lord
Burghersh called him forward the Duke took his hand,
and in a loud tone of approbation said, ' Macfarren, I
congratulate you and your master on this performance ; it
does you infinite credit and I am greatly pleased.'
" The company, consisting of about 200, seemed to join
in the praise most heartily by an additional round of
applause ; since then I have received so many congratula-
tions from Mr. Attwood, Dr. Crotch, Lucas, Hamilton, Sir
George Clerk, Potter, and others, that I begin to think
a fond father's notions are not all illusive, that our boy is
28 STUDENTSHIP AT THE
in head what we have fondly found him in heart, and that
we ought to be proud of him."
. Yet another Symphony, in D minor, was produced
at an Academy concert, December 3rd, 1831. At
another concert of the Institution, June 26th, 1833,
an Overture was performed, subject not stated ; Mac-
farren having been awarded, two days previously, a
bronze medal for improvement in pianoforte playing,
as well as for composition. On May 24th, 1834, an
Incantation and Elfin Chorus were produced.
In this same year, October 27th, one of his most
important early works was produced as the initial
piece at the first concert of a most useful society, then
recently founded, the Society of British Musicians.
This composition was the Symphony in F minor, and
Macfarren himself directed its performance. Con-
cerning this performance the "Athenaeum" of Novem-
ber 2nd thus wrote :
" We were pleased and interested with Mr. Macfarren's
Symphony both from the youth of the composer, and the
enthusiasm and originality discernible throughout his work
it gives good promise of excellence; the trio of the
minuet in particular struck us as full of fine bold fancy,
and the conclusion to the finale was at once clever and
animating. We are not, at this instant, able to remember
any work of similar length from the pen of a native writer
which has given us so much pleasure."
The trio here alluded to is for horns obbligati, with
interruptions by the full orchestra. The "conclusion
to the finale " is a coda in fugal style. The whole
Symphony is marked by the freshness and vigour of
youth, ably and soundly trained in the study of the
best models.
ROYAL ACADEMY OF MUSIC. 29
A further notice appeared, later on, of this same
Symphony, on its publication as a pianoforte duet :
" It bears the transformation well, and is, as it was with
the full orchestra, an effective and interesting piece of
music. We like the slow movement least ; it is overloaded,
and the melody wants freshness. We have been much
pleased, in examining this composition, to find our first
judgment of its merits so well borne out."
It is regrettable that even this arrangement is now
difficult to obtain.
At another concert by the British Society, Decem-
ber 8th of the same year, a Cavatina by Macfarren
was produced. More important, however, was the
performance, by W. H. Holmes, at the Society's
concert on November 2nd, 1835, of a Pianoforte Con-
certo in C minor by Macfarren, which the " Athenaeum "
characterized as "careful and clever writing very
neatly performed."
It is probable that the Overture performed at the
Academy concert in June, 1833, was the same that
was included in a concert given by Paganini, the
extraordinary violinist, on the 17th of July in the
same year, in Drury Lane Theatre an inclusion which
indicates that attention was already being aroused by
the young composer's manifest talent, outside the
Academy circle. The programme simply announces
it as " Grand Overture (MS.), Macfarren." It was
probably one in E, which was played more than once
at Academy concerts.
To the Academy studentship period also belongs
an Overture to the " Merchant of Venice," which was
performed by the Society of British Musicians, and
30 STUDENTSHIP AT THE
which, in its pianoforte duet arrangement, was thus
noticed in the " Athenaeum/' August 22nd, 1835 :
" The name, we fancy, is merely one of convenance, for
we find little of the story in the composition but, setting
this aside, we were pleased with it when we heard it at the
concerts of the British Musicians : it is written in a sound,
nervous style, with due attention to contrast in orchestral
effects; and we rejoice to see the practice of such com-
positions gaining ground (though but by inches) in Eng-
land. We want, however, more freshness of melody from
Mr. Macfarren ; our remarks will equally apply to his
' Switzer's Welcome,' a vocal round, and ' The Wanderer
who out-toils the Sun,' a cavatina for a soprano voice, both
of which were likewise performed at the concerts we have
just mentioned ; and to his three songs, ' I am free ! ' ' Give
me eyes that ne'er look sad,' and ' Say, would you curb the
butterfly ? ' from the farce of ' I and My Double ; ' we like
the second of these best."
The farce alluded to was by John Oxenford.
Macfarren, as well as many other rising composers,
William Sterndale Bennett, Charles Edward Horsley,
Thomas Molleson Mudie, Henry Westrop, Edward
Perry, not forgetting Macfarren's own brother, still
among us, Mr. Walter Cecil Macfarren, owed much
to the opportunities for publicity, as well as of hearing
their orchestral works, to this excellent Society,
which, however, from causes which this is not the
place to discuss, was dissolved in 1865. At a con-
vivial meeting of its members, November 24th, 1842,
Macfarren, called upon to respond to the toast, te the
composers of the Society," said that " whatever
position he now held in the musical world, and what-
ever good luck he had encountered throughout his
not unfortunate career as an artist, were wholly and
ROYAL ACADEMY OF MUSIC. 31
unequivocally owing to the Society of British Musi-
cians." Making all allowance for the pardonable
exaggeration stimulated by the surroundings of the
moment, there is no doubt of the sincerity of his
expressions of indebtedness, nor of the general truth
of the statement, with regard to himself and others.
A somewhat unique product of the Academy student
period of his life was the writing, in conjunction with
his fellow-student, William Sterndale Bennett, a move-
ment of a Pianoforte Concerto, the MS. score of which
is now in the possession of Mr. James Sterndale-
Bennett, by whose kindness I have been permitted to
examine it, and am able to trace the several portions
of the movement to their respective authorships.
The movement was performed by its composers at
the Academy; but the difficulty of performance on
the part of Macfarren, owing to his defective eye-
sight, probably led to the abandonment of the original
design to complete the Concerto. This, moreover,
was the last occasion on which he essayed even a
semi-public performance on his instrument; hence-
forth his career was that of a composer, and as the
sequel will show a theorist and instructor, in various
ways.
In the family record several times alluded to,
Macfarren thus writes concerning his distinguished
fellow-student :
" With regard to Sterndale Bennett, my father had a
kind of jealousy, always considering him as a rival to me,
and neither having, nor seeking, a knowledge of his
remarkable power and truly exceptional merit. In 1834
Bennett lent me the manuscript of his Capriccio in D
minor, which some time afterwards appeared as his first
32 STUDENTSHIP AT THE
publication. I liked the piece greatly, and practised it
assiduously on the pianoforte. One phrase prevails
throughout the whole, the accent, if not the intervals, of
which is constantly repeated; my father shared not my
admiration, and, in order to exorcise this, which he con-
sidered to be an evil spirit that possessed me, he argued
that, even were the phrase as interesting as I protested it
to be, its manifold iteration failed to constitute an attrac-
tive work, and he said further that whatever the merit of
the first line of ' Paradise Lost,' its ceaseless repetition
throughout the twelve books of the poem would have been
intolerable. This line
' Of man's first disobedience and the fruit '
happens to fit the notes of Bennett's phrase, and the
derisive comparison was enhanced by his singing the
syllables and the notes again and again transposed, now
higher, now lower, till the patience of hearers was ex-
hausted, but the judgment of his antagonist was un-
changed."
An interesting reminiscence of his earnestness as a
student, and of his determination, not only to over-
come, but to turn to good account, difficulties that
would have baffled many less indefatigable workers, is
furnished by the method in which, as he himself would
relate, he studied the instrumentation of the great
masters. Orchestral scores being rare and expensive
in those his young days, he set himself to compile
them from the band parts, beginning at the bass ; and
he used to describe " the growing interest with which
he would watch the growing score, wondering what
was going to be above the last line written ; and then,
as he got higher, at last the key to it all appeared,
perhaps in the ' hautboys' (as he always insisted on
calling them) or flutes." Students nowadays, with
ROYAL ACADEMY OF MUSIC. 33
" Peters " and " Litolff " editions at so low a price,
have undoubtedly greater facilities for learning ; but
they lose the zest of curiosity which such a course as
that just described would furnish. The speculation
must have been delightfully exciting.
Macfarren's studentship in the Academy terminated
in the year 1836, having extended over a period of
more than six years. Some of his work during that
period, but not connected with the Institution, as well
as that following shortly afterwards, will more properly
be recorded in the next chapter.
CHAPTER III.
EARLY DRAMATIC COMPOSITIONS. SOJOUKN IN THE ISLE
OF MAN. 18311840.
AS has been intimated, Macfarren wrote other
works during the period of his Academy student-
ship besides those already referred to works specially
called forth in connection with his father's theatrical
activities, and collateral circumstances. To these,
therefore, it is now necessary to revert. Writing
about his father, he says :
" The desire for theatrical management became again
rampant towards the close of 1830, when J. K. Chapman
was managing the theatre in Tottenham Street, and my
father made an offer to the proprietor which seemed so far
acceptable that the tenant was dislodged in his favour.
His notion was to make opportunity to exercise his own
power as a dramatist, to give me practice as a composer,
and to form a school for my brother John as a scene-
painter when he should be old enough to enter it. So
much for private interest, while in public announcements
he professed a purpose of instituting a theatrical establish-
ment with higher aims than those of any existing minor
theatre the title by which those were designated which
possessed not a patent, and they were restricted to have no
performances of what was styled the legitimate drama
and he trusted thus to attract the best of middle class
society, and indeed to raise the character of the drama,
which, then, was at a sadly low standard. He changed the
QUEEN'S THEATRE. 35
name of the place to the ' Queen's Theatre,' in honour of
William the Fourth's consort, whose accession, after a
very long period without a female by the sovereign's side,
excited great public rejoicing. A house in a back street
was added to the theatre, the auditorium was reconstructed,
having the names of the Muses in as many panels on the
box fronts, and the busts of poets displayed on brackets.
Stanfield painted an act drop and presented it ' as a
token of friendship ' to the manager ; Winston accepted
the post of acting manager, which was the fact that gave
great reliability to the scheme. Leitch, newly come from
Glasgow, painted a scene on probation, and on its success
was engaged as painter to the establishment. It seems to
have been a fault in the design under which the new
venture was to be conducted, that several distinct com-
panies for opera, for melodrama, and for farce were
enlisted, which induced a heavy salary list, and, still
worse, so generalized the entertainment, that no special
attraction could ever prevail. To stamp the musical
character of the undertaking, advertisement was promi-
nently made that the building had been formerly the
' King's Ancient Concert Room ; ' and to keep this in
countenance, the theatre opened with an adaptation by
my father of ' Acis and Galatea.' Its being an adaptation
was in accordance with the use of the tune in regard to
musical works, which were never given on the English
stage completely. Two comic characters were accordingly
introduced, as also Ulysses, with two companions; the
part of Damon was omitted, as also the incident of the
metamorphosis of Acis, with the song that describes it, and
several pieces of music (Handel's, it is true) were inter-
polated. Spoken dialogue was inserted. Only by strong
persuasion could the adapter be induced not to re-write
the text of the songs, and he condensed the title into
' Galatea,' with the excision of her lover's name. Having
regard to Mozart's additional accompaniments to ' Mes-
siah,' my father supposed new instrumentation indispen-
sable for the present work ; so, unaware that Mozart had
also wrought upon it, he applied to Mozart's pupil, Attwood,
to write parts for extra wind instruments, who, declining
the task, recommended Cipriani Potter, and he was there-
36 QUEEN'S THEATRE.
fore requested, and undertook to make the required
additions. . . . By my father's persuasive command I
wrote an Overture in D, which was played on the first
night. . . . The season was, as a whole, disastrously un-
successful : it exhausted the savings of my father's whole
career. . . . The theatre was closed for the summer. His
health was shaken, ... so he went, with me as com-
panion, to spend some weeks at a lodging .... in
Pickering Terrace, Paddington, which was then as seques-
tered as if it had been 100 miles from town. King
William's coronation was to be in September, and all the
theatres were to be opened free at the expense of govern-
ment on the night. Of great importance, therefore, was
to re-organize all arrangements so as to open again the
' Queen's ' timely for the festivity, in order to secure the
receipts for one full house, and in hope to inaugurate
better fortune. A new, less costly, and less diverse
company was engaged ; the band was reduced, and in
every department expense was lessened ; but as the
expenses, so the income ; and the weekly payments were
impossible to meet."
After recounting the struggles that followed, he
continues :
"An offer of an engagement with certain payment at
the ' Surrey ' tempted [my father] to quit Tottenham Street
at Christmas, where he left a pleasant memory with us all,
and he was succeeded in his stage-managership by Hooper,
light comedian."
It would seem, however, that the responsibility of
lesseeship still burdened him.
" All England, and London not the least, being in
feverish excitement about the Reform Bill, my father
wrote and brought out a Christmas pantomime called
' Harlequin Reformer,' in which everything was reformed
but the fortunes of the theatre. Edward Wright, the low-
comedian, made his first entry on the stage at the ' Queen's,'
SOJOUEN IN THE ISLE OF MAN. 37
with an old stager, Mrs. Hooper, in ' The Maid of Switzer-
land,' a piece for which I wrote music ; that I should do
so having been the condition of its acceptance in January,
1832."
Later on, in 1834 probably, the father, then in
Milan with his daughter Sophy, who went thither for
singing study, wrote the libretto of an opera, " Carac-
tacus," on purpose for George to set to music, and a
large portion was set by him, but the book was
rejected by T. J. Serle, censor of plays, and stage
manager to S. J. Arnold, of the English Opera
House (now the Lyceum) , " on the ground of its
historical inaccuracy."
Disappointments and vicissitudes continued to
pursue the luckless manager and author, culminating
in an unsuccessful attempt at managership at the
Gravesend Theatre, in 1836, the year in which, as we
have seen, G. A. Macfarren's studentship at the
Academy terminated ; and, on account of the un-
promising condition of affairs, he, with characteristic
and self-denying vigour and integrity of purpose,
determined to become a mainstay of the family instead
of a burden. In pursuance of this determination, he
severed himself from his Academy associations, and
other artistic and professional surroundings, with the
ambitions and hopes which they might well inspire in
a young and ardent nature, and accepted an engage-
ment to teach in a large school in the Isle of Man.
The principal opportunity that he there found of
exercising his artistic powers was furnished by an old
naval lieutenant, who used to play on the double-bass
the pedal part of Bach's Organ Fugues, Macfarren
playing that for the manuals on the pianoforte! More-
38 RETUEN TO LONDON.
over, while in this voluntary exile, he received from
his father the book of " Craso the Forlorn," a serious
opera in one act, for him to set to music, which he
began to do, in the intervals of school teaching. Of
this effort, further mention will be made shortly.
As an instance of that command of resources, be
they extended, limited, or unusual, which indicates
thorough training, and of which, it may be mentioned,
in passing, the list of Mozart's compositions affords
such various examples, the closing incident in Mac-
farren's Isle of Man career should here be related. It
illustrates, moreover, both (as happily expressed by
Mdlle. Gabrielle Vaillant) his " power of adapting
himself to his surroundings, and his amiability in never
refusing a request made earnestly." Before leaving
the island, he was asked to write an overture for his
farewell concert, which would bring into requisition
all the amateur performers in the place. On inquiry,
he found that the available instruments with their
players consisted of a few violins, one violoncello,
sixteen (?) flutes, one clarinet : voilatoutf For this
singularly ill-balanced band, nevertheless, he wrote
the overture, and it was performed to the general
satisfaction probably to the special satisfaction of
the performers. This was in 1837, in which year he
relinquished his engagement in the island, where
there was so little that could be congenial to his
artistic feelings and aspirations, and returned to Lon-
don. He was shortly afterwards appointed Professor
of Harmony and Composition at his Alma Mater, the
Eoyal Academy of Music.
It was during the latter part of his studentship at
the Academy, or more probably immediately after its
OVERTURE TO "CHEVY CHASE." 39
termination in 1836, that lie composed an Overture
which has enjoyed continued reputation, and gained
at the time, and subsequently, distinguished success,
that entitled " Chevy Chase." It was written as the
prelude to a piece with that title by J. R. Planche,
which was produced on Easter Monday at Drury
Lane Theatre, when under the management of Alfred
Bunn, " Tom Cooke " being the director of the music.
Some incidental music being required for it, and Tom
Cooke not being ready even a week beforehand, he
asked Macfarren, who had previously written for him
a march, a chorus, and various other pieces, to write
some; promising, moreover, that if an overture was
provided, as well as the incidental music, the young
composer's name should appear in the bills. Not-
withstanding the short notice, Macfarren, nothing
daunted, and with self-reliance as a quick worker,
undertook to provide all that was asked for. The
incidental music consisted of a hunting chorus, a
chorus of nuns, and possibly more. But in the Over-
ture he determined to introduce the old English tune,
" Chevy Chase," which, however, he did not know,
or at least in connection with its name. He em-
ployed, I believe, his younger brother John to hunt it
up for him, his own time being very fully occupied
with the other music, as well as with teaching. On
the Friday preceding the Easter Monday, the tune
was discovered, and proved to be an old acquaintance.
Macfarren sat down and wrote the Overture in that
one night, so as to have it ready for copyists on Satur-
day morning. It was ready for rehearsal ; but, when
the composer went to the theatre, he found that in
the bills the music was stated to be "composed,
40 OVERTURE TO "CHEVY CHASE."
selected, and arranged by Mr. T. Cooke." Bunn
ignored Macfarren's claims, and simply threw all the
responsibility on Cooke ; in consequence of which the
aggrieved composer took his score away, indignant at
such a breach of faith. The whole incident illustrates
Macfarren's determination, his capacity for quick work-
ing, and his independence of character.
Probably Tom Cooke was little, if at all, blame-
worthily responsible for this contretemps; certainly
Macfarren retained no grudge against him, writing, in
after years, respecting circumstances in his father's
career :
" Intimacy with Cooke began from this occasion, and
my father had many a pleasure in assisting his composer-
friend with verses, and experienced many a pleasantry
from him, by no means the least of which were the kind-
nesses shown to me when I was enough advanced to profit
by them."
The Overture, however, was not to be lost to the
world. Six weeks later, January 7th (?), 1838, it was
performed with success at a concert of the Society of
British Musicians, being conducted by J. W. Davison,
the composer being then in the Isle of Man. 1 And
not only did it become an accepted Concert-overture
in this country, but it was the first work by which
Macfarren was made known in Germany. In 1843,
Mendelssohn wrote to Macfarren about it ; though, by
a mistake of memory, he referred to it as " Rob Roy."
It was performed, under Mendelssohn's direction, at
one of the Gewandhaus Concerts ; and, in a letter
1 It was encored on that occasion of its first performance, as well
as at its subsequent production at a Philharmonic Concert.
LETTER FROM MENDELSSOHN. 41
dated November 20th, 1843, the groat composer wrote
to Macfarren :
" I must tell you that your overture went very well, and
was most cordially and unanimously received by the public ;
that the amateurs hailed it as a work which promised them
a great many treats to come, and which gave them such a
treat already in itself ; that the orchestra played it with
true delight and enthusiasm ; in short, that it is sure to be
a favourite with all of them. I rehearsed and conducted
it with the greatest care, but now I am going to Berlin,
and shall not have the pleasure of introducing some of
your other compositions to the public this winter ; but I
left the whole of your music with the concert directors,
who will forward it back to you after the end of the season,
and have promised me they will bring out at least one of
your other works, if not several, in the course of this
winter ; most probably it will be the Symphony. God
bless you, my dear Sir ; yes, God bless you from all my
heart, and be as happy in your life and in your art as I
shall always wish you to be.
" Very truly yours,
"FELIX MENDELSSOHN BABTHOLDY."
We now revert to the year 1837, in which Mac-
farren returned to London from the Isle of Man.
During the twenty-four years that had elapsed
since the time when our record began, music had
made great strides, both in this country and abroad ;
and the influences at work the musical surroundings
amid which Macfarren now fairly started a metropolitan
and public career demand notice.
The repertoire of music had been enriched, during
these years, by the production of some of Beethoven's
finest works notably, the 7th Symphony (1813), first
performed in England at a Philharmonic Concert,
1817 ; the 8th, and the 9th (Choral), expressly written
42 ADVANCED STATE OF MUSIC.
for the Philharmonic Society, and performed at the
concert, March 21st, 1825 ; the Overture to " Fidelio "
in E (1814), first performed in England, as well as that
to " Coriolanus," by the Philharmonic Society, in
1817; Mass in D (1822, not performed in this country,
however, till 1846); "Ruins of Athens" Overture,
Op. 124 ; and several of his Sonatas, Quartets, and
other works. Moreover, his " Eroica " Symphony had
been heard for the first time in England in 1814 ; his
C minor Symphony also in 1816 ; Pianoforte Concertos
in 1822, 1824, 1825; Violin Concerto, 1832, all for
the first time in England, and at concerts by the Phil-
harmonic Society. At these concerts, moreover, had
been produced, for the first time in England, Cheru-
bini's " Anacreon" Overture, conducted by the com-
poser (1815); HummePs Septet (1818) ; the Dramatic
Concerto for Violin by Spohr, who made his first visit
to this country in 1820, and played the Concerto him-
self, besides conducting his Symphony No. 2, coin-
posed for the Society, and producing his Nonet ; other
works of his being subsequently produced, viz., Over-
ture in F (1821); Overture, " Jessonda " (1826);
Symphony in E flat (1828) ; Double Quartet (1829) ;
Overture to "Alchymist" (1831); "Weihe der Tone"
(1835); also Concertos and other works by Moscheles,
who made his first appearance in this country in 1821,
and whose long residence exerted so healthy an influ-
ence upon pianoforte playing among us, as well as
upon music generally; Concertos by Hummel, who
first appeared here in 1831; many works by Men-
delssohn (who first came to England in 1829, and in
that year played Beethoven's Concerto in E flat, its
first production here, at a concert by Drouet, the
ADVANCED STATE OF MUSIC. 43
flautist), the works first produced in this country by
the Philharmonic Society alone being his C minor
Symphony (1829) ; Overture to " Midsummer Night's
Dream " (1830) ; Overture, " Isles of Fingal," and
Concerto in G minor (1832) ; Italian Symphony and
" Trumpet" Overture (1833) j " Melusina " Overture,
and Scena, " Infelice" (1834) ; " Calm Sea and Pros-
perous Voyage" Overture (1836). Bennett's Concertos,
in D minor (1836, when he made his first appearance
at the Philharmonic), and C minor (1836) ; and his
" Xaiades " Overture (1837), had also been produced.
Such a record as this, by no means complete, will show
what a different musical atmosphere now prevailed
from that which characterized the period of Mac-
farren' s birth. To the enrichment of the Art by all
these great works, and the powerful influence of the
frequent visits of Spohr and Mendelssohn, not to
mention that of Weber, must be added the foundation
and growth of the Royal Academy of Music, and the
healthy teaching therein given ; and many other cir-
cumstances not to be here detailed.
Into all this full tide of musical activity and ad-
vancement, Macfarren was fully equipped to enter,
with all the eagerness of an observant and receptive
mind, well-trained, and ready for work in the diversi-
fied ways that opened out to an energetic nature and
resolute will. He had studied well ; but his student-
ship did not cease with the termination of his academic
career he was a diligent student and learner to the
very end of his life.
Of the opera commenced during his sojourn in the
Isle of Man, Macfarren writes :
" [My father] extended ' Craso the Forlorn ' into two
44 EARLY DRAMATIC COMPOSITIONS.
acts, regarding the operas of Mozart, Beethoven, and
Rossini as the standard of plan and limit of extent for
the construction of a lyrical drama, but having long
finales and other pieces of concerted music wherein the
principal action was embodied, interspersing these, accord-
ing to English use, with spoken prose, instead of the
recitative of the Italian lyrical drama. In its amplified
proportions the opera is called ' El Malechor,' and I spent
the end of the year [1837] and much of 1838 in setting it
to music. His suggestions throughout the work as to the
laying out of the longer numbers, the declamation, and
the general expression of the words, and in the charac-
terization of the persons, were a priceless schooling in
dramatic composition. At the close of the two winter
theatres, some members of the company of each united in
a kind of joint-stock arrangement to open the English
Opera House [now the Lyceum Theatre] for the summer,
and to divide the receipts pro rata. T. Cooke was the
musical director, and Peake was the acting manager,
treasurer, and literary arbiter. To these two our new
opera was submitted, who respectively approved of its
music and libretto, and accepted it for production. I know
not whether my joy was greater that this my third attempt
at operatic composition was to come to a hearing, or that
my father's manifold disappointments were now to be re-
versed. The greater a joy, the severer may be its mis-
carriage, as was proved in this instance, for when the
company came to be practically organized, it was found to
comprise no baritone singer to whom the principal part
could be allotted, and hence our card palace fell to the
ground with all the picture sides downwards. To trace
the history of ' El Malechor ' to its close, let me say here,
that Bunn accepted the opera for production at Drury
Lane, in 1839, but his management collapsed before the
work was put in rehearsal ; in 1840, when John Barnett
and his non -relation Morris Barnett opened the St. James's
as an opera house, they accepted our piece, but their reign
ended on the first Saturday, so this third acceptance was
dishonoured ; when Balfe opened the English Opera House
at Easter in the same year, he selected our piece to succeed
his own ' Keolanthe,' and now it was positively put in re-
"EL MALECHOR." 45
hearsal, and foretold in the play-bills nay, Henry Phillips,
who was to have sung the principal part, which is that of
a maniac, made an appointment to visit Bedlam to select
a subject for study among the patients, on which to found
his personation ; but now the season came to an untimely
end the manager became bankrupt and went abroad, and
the opera had its ante-natal death, verifying too truly its
title of the ' Evil-Worker,' thus bringing disappointment
to everyone concerned with it. Some years later, Staudigl
took a fancy to the song of ' The Wrecker's Life,' and sang
it publicly, which is the only fragment of the opera that
has ever been heard," 1
1 Balfe, as his biographer informs us, "actually assumed the
cares of management, and voluntarily faced the multitudinous
responsibilities of an impresario, who undertakes to satisfy the
tickle public, and a list of fashionable and exacting subscribers
into the bargain. This piece of complicated folly Balfe perpetrated
in the year 1841, when as lessee of the English Opera House he
commenced, amidst a multitude of favourable auguries, and under
the most august patronage, the young Queen herself having en-
gaged a box for the season, the essay of establishing a National
Knglish Opera. The prospectus announced a new romantic opera
by Balfe himself, entitled ' Keolanthe ' ; but that the field was to
be open freely and fearlessly to all comers, was abundantly apparent
by the statement that George [Alex.] Macfarren, John Barnett,
Edward [James] Loder, and others were engaged in the preparation
of works which would follow in due succession. . . . For the space
of a year or more before Balfe's attempt to establish something
permanent in the shape of a National English Opera, there had
been no inconsiderable agitation carried on through the press,
among the musical profession and a certain number of persons
who put themselves forward under various signatures as patrons
and well-wishers of musical art in this country, with the same
object in view. . . . Letters appeared signed by some of the lead-
ing names of the day in connection with the subject, supporting or
throwing cold water on the scheme. Among the latter was ranged
the even then high-standing name of George [A.] Macfarren, whose
publicly expressed persuasion was that English musicians would
nave no chance of attracting notice and patronage in their own
country, unless they formed a colony in some foreign city, and, by
publishing and performing their works there, obtained that stamp
of approval from European criticism and success, under the war-
ranty of which alone they would be accepted as deserving attention
at home. This sounded at the time, no doubt, as a very harsh and
exaggerated satire on England's mistrust of her native talent, but
the whole history of the movement and the fate of our leading
musicians have proved, what all who knew Macfarren were fully
46 EARLY DRAMATIC COMPOSITIONS.
The opera opens with a spirited Overture in D
minor, six-four time. The introduction to the first
act consists firstly of a chorus and dance of villagers
celebrating the conclusion of the vintage, then of
various vocal pieces, with resumptions of the dance,
etc. This is followed by a duettino, a scene and
chorus, a duet termed an " Enigma," the words
commencing
" say, what's that which shines most bright,
Of solid worth, yet frail and light,
Most yielding, soft, yet hard to be controlled,
Most dearly bought when most pursued,
Most rarely caught, yet even then,
Most difficult to hold?"
the answer to which is " quicksilver;" and the second
stanza has a similar multiform inquiry, with the
answer " a donkey." Then comes the capital song
alluded to by Macfarren, " The Wrecker's Life."
A " Storm Scene " follows, and then the finale to the
first act. The second act opens with a round and
chorus, to which succeed a series of vocal pieces, and
a not very long finale, eighteen numbers in all. 1
We now arrive at an important event in our com-
poser's career, one which seemed as though it would
aware of, that he had a very old head on young shoulders. Un-
gracious as the words seemed at the time, they have been fully
borne out down to very recent times. Nevertheless, it was not
then, nor is it now, any reason for not trying to instill a deeper
interest and a stronger faith into the public mind and feeling in
the cause of an English school of music. It is the business of those
concerned to go on trying until they have succeeded in making a
better position for themselves and their cause, etc." Kennev's
Memoir of Balfe, pp. 139, 143.
1 "The cut of an English opera is certainly very different from
a German one. The English is more a drama with songs, etc."
Letter of Weber to J. R. Planche.
" THE DEVIL'S OPERA." 47
prove the "tide . . . which, taken at the flood/'
would " lead on to fortune/' This was the actual
production, not, as has been seen, of " El Malechor,"
but of an entirely new and rapidly produced opera,
bearing the infelicitous title, because of its infelicitous
subject, " The Devil's Opera/' which had the result of
bringing Macfarren's name and abilities before the
public more prominently and favourably than any pre-
vious work. The circumstances of its incubation are so
graphically described by himself, that the account is
best given in his own words, following on the account
above given of " El Malechor " :
" I will now return to 1838. Peake, [acting manager of
the English Opera Company,] knowing of my father's life-
long dramatic successes, promised that if he would submit
a plot of which the former could approve, he should be
trusted to put it into diction without further scrutiny, and
under assurance of its adoption, provided that Cooke gave
a favourable verdict of the music. On the strength of the
impracticable ' Malechor,' Cooke gave a similar guarantee
to me, with a like provision as to Peake and the plot.
Cutting to pieces had no more effect on niy father's
vitality than on that of an eel, so he accepted the con-
ditions, and undertook the construction of a piece with
parts for the persons who had positively embarked in the
scheme Miss Eainforth, Mrs. Seguin, and Miss Poole ;
Fraser and Burnett, tenors ; Seguin and S. Jones, basses ;
and most particularly Wieland, the pantomimist, who was
notable for his diabolical and zoological impersonations.
On a radiant Sunday, June 3, my father and I walked up
and down Alfred Place for several hours, conjecturing
incidents, and welding them into a story, in all of which
the devil was necessarily conspicuous. Peake thought
liighly of the program, 1 and the librettist set hopefully
to work. This was the process of gestation : he wrote at
1 See Chap. VII.
48 EARLY DRAMATIC COMPOSITIONS.
his text from bed-time till daylight, and then betook him
to rest, first awakening me, who pursued my cogitations in
those early summer mornings. When life was astir in the
streets, I went on my ordinary avocations, and three or
four times a week John Hullah came to our lodgings to
try over the music that had been written since his last
visit. The English Opera House did not succeed. The
company was compounded of singers and actors, each of
whom regarded the unattractiveness of the other party as
the cause of failure. Money was not fluent, small dividends
were paid, and general anarchy was consequent. The
finished libretto of ' The Devil's Opera ' was delivered while
the music was still in progress ; the parts were copied and
handed to the persons for whom they were designed ; and
each of these, ignorant of the context, took no interest in
the detached speeches assigned to him, especially Wieland,
who, though the principal personage, was to be mute
throughout, and whose whole part, therefore, was com-
prised on a single leaf, came up to us one morning on the
stage, protesting that he had nothing to do in the piece,
and he therefore declined to do it. Ever irresistibly per-
suasive, my father induced him to come and hear the
music. He was patiently attentive until the scene of his
own entrance, and this interested him so much, that he
pushed aside the table, and went through the action
experimentally, in which he succeeded so well to his own
satisfaction, that he admitted the eloquence of this part
without words. He had to act a monkey in the after-
piece, and was therefore obliged to leave us. My father
and John presently followed him, while I went to an
Academy ball. When I returned at 3 o'clock, they
started up to greet me ; they had found the whole com-
munity of the theatre in a state of fever at Wielaud's
report, and it was decided with acclamations that the
piece should be read on the morrow (the reading of a
piece to the actors concerned was always preliminary to
its otherwise preparation), and forthwith put in rehearsal.
Everybody but S. Jones was pleased with his or her own
part, and this worthy had a conviction as deep as his own
voice that he^was a neglected genius who was maliciously
frustrated of every opportunity. From that occasion till
" THE DEVIL'S OPERA." 49
the closing of the theatre, I attended a rehearsal every
day, the necessity for which eternal preparation is thus
explainable. Mapleson, the copyist (father of the Italian
Opera adventurer), refused to continue the transcription
of the music, until paid for writing the first two scenes
an impracticable event, under the state of the treasury.
Practice was thus delayed till arrangements could be
made with Goodwin that he should copy the parts on
risk, and be paid a nightly guinea for their use throughout
the run of the opera. When the study was nearly com-
pleted, the choristers, discontented with their quota, de-
manded payment in full, which being impossible, they
deserted. New delay was until a new chorus could be
enticed into the scheme, with whom the task of teaching
had to begin afresh. At length, Monday, August 13th,
was fixed for a first performance. On the 12th the over-
ture was finished, and given over to the mercies of the
copyist as we went down to a night rehearsal, which was
the last, in order that the singers might not be fatigued
on the morning before the evening of performance. I
depended greatly on Cooke, (my father's friend of
twelve years, and my own, on all occasions when he could
serve me,) for support as leader of the band. On the
morning I learned of his serious illness, by which he was
confined to bed for many weeks. When I entered the
orchestra to conduct the opera, the subaltern violinist who
was emergently promoted to leadership, and who had
primed himself with stimulants for his new and nervous
position, begged me to let the overture be slow, or he
would not be able to see, much less to play the notes
which prayer so moved my spleen, that I took the pre-
viously untried music at fullest speed, and the consequent
spirit may have compensated for the inaccuracy of the
rendering. On the next morning when all met to ex-
change congratulations, the Seguins announced that they
had signed to start for America in a fortnight ; so others
had to be found to take their places. George Lejeune (the
son of our Queen's Theatre friend) and Priscilla Horton
were the philosopher's stones of the occasion, on whose
account rehearsals had to be renewed. Scarcely were
they launched in their parts, than Eainforth took a
50 EARLY DRAMATIC COMPOSITIONS.
country engagement for certain pay ; so Horton was pro-
moted to her part, and Mrs. Serle was her successor in
that of Mrs. Seguin. Anon Burnett was struck hoarse, so
further rehearsal was needed with his substitute, Mears
by name. On one night Wieland met with a violent hurt
that disabled him, so a deputy devil had to be practised for
the following evening ; and on the very last night but one of
the season, Eraser had a quarrel with the stage manager,
who so disfigured him by a blow in the eye that he could
not show himself for a week. Should then the theatre be
closed at once ? No ! Shrival, a tenor still unknown to
fame, who was yearning for opportunity to woo that fickle
mistress, volunteered to fill Eraser's part, if I would teach
him the notes. We went home accordingly and practised
all night, and so on till noon, when we met the baud for
the latest, last rehearsal. . . . Notwithstanding the success
of ' The Devil's Opera,' no music-seller would undertake
the publication of the music, until F. Hill, the flutist in
the band of the theatre, proposed that his father, a double-
bass player, who had a long-established music shop in
Regent Street, should print the most applauded numbers,
and pay me a royalty upon them ; he, the son, deploring
that what was well received in performance should be
inaccessible in print, and the firm having no funds where-
with to pay a sum for the copyright, and he also having
the friendly feeling of a fellow- student, which he was
willing to gratify when it interfered not with his own
interest. ... In the summer of 1839, another joint-stock
company, of which Balfe was then chairman, had posses-
sion of the English Opera House. Like their predecessors,
they failed to draw large audiences, which prompted some
of the wisest among them to propose the reproduction of
the piece which had brought success to last year's under-
taking, and accordingly ' The Devil's Opera ' was given
again, with as much applause as before, and played for twelve
more successive nights. The good effect of this elicited a
proposal from the management for another work from the
same hands, and accordingly ' Don Quixote ' was planned
and begun, but the season collapsed while the composition
of the first finale was in progress. The subject was chosen
in deference to Eraser's constant complaint that tenors were
" THE DEVIL'S OPERA." 51
always doomed to maudlin sentimentality, and supposition
was that he might distinguish himself in heroic representa-
tion as the Don. Also in the first design Balfe was to be
fitted with Basilius, and Miss Eainforth with Quiteria.
" In 1840, when, as already said, Balfe managed the
theatre on his own account, and when ' El Malechor ' was
in preparation, the composition of ' Don Quixote ' was
resumed, with the alteration for a contralto of what had
been written for a soprano part to suit Miss Edwards, who,
however, came not then forward, but appeared some years
later at Her Majesty's, and was for a while notable as
Mademoiselle Favanti. The work was again laid aside
till 1845, when it was once more resumed, but musically
quite reconstructed to fit the part of Basilius for Allen's
high tenor voice, and that of Don Quixote for Leffler's
baritone ; and in this shape it was offered to Maddox for
the Princess's, who did not accept it, and finally it was
produced under Bunn at Drury Lane, February 3rd, 1846,
with Miss Rainforth, for whom the original music was
restored, Allen as Basilius, and Weiss as Don Quixote ; it
being the first dramatic piece by my father which was
performed since his death."
This extract anticipates the production of " Don
Quixote/' which will be subsequently referred to ; but
it has been thought better to give the extract entire,
as it is involved with the account of "The Devil's
Opera."
The rapid production of " The Devil's Opera/'
" begun, rehearsed, and finally brought out within a
month/' was no solitary instance of extraordinary
energy on the part of the composer, nor was it mani-
fested under favourable circumstances of leisure, but
while engaged in professional toil of uncongenial
kind. An incident took place which may illustrate
the unflagging industry that always characterized
him. He was at this time residing in North Ores-
52 EARLY DRAMATIC COMPOSITIONS.
cent, and had a pupil at Wimbledon Park. There
were then no such facilities of transit as those which we
now enjoy, nor were fares so low as to be of small
consideration to a struggling young professor, whose
terms were unavoidably not high. The coach fare
was high, and, moreover, the coach only made the
journey twice a day, at times that would not fit the
appointment. On one of the days fixed for a rehearsal
of the opera at noon, the conscientious teacher rose
before dawn, walked to Wimbledon, and, his lesson
over, started on foot to return in all haste to town.
The heat of the sun was overpowering ; and, as he
passed over Putney Bridge, he hailed a man in a cart
which had just overtaken him, and asked if he would
kindly give him " a lift." The reply was a brutal
volley of oaths, and the carter drove on : the musician
walked. "However," said the professor, in relating
the incident, " I reached the Opera House in time for
the rehearsal which I was to conduct." The fee for
the lesson was seven shillings and sixpence !
At the production of " The Devil's Opera," in 1838,
the resources of the establishment, both orchestral and
choral, being very limited, several of Macfarren's old
fellow- students, including William Dorrell, the (hap-
pily) still living and respected professor of the piano-
forte, augmented those resources, during the first
week of its run of fifty or sixty nights, by playing in
the band gratuitously.
It was during the run of this successful opera that
Macfarren's acquaintance commenced with Benedict,
then recently settled in this country, who came behind
the scenes to compliment the composer.
The Overture to "The Devil's Opera " is in per-
"THE DEVIL'S OPERA." 53
fectly regular form, almost Mozartean, indeed, with
first and second subjects, and the usual " free fantasia "
development, recapitulation, and animated coda. Prior
to the second subject, a figure is introduced indi-
cating the entry of the malevolent being from whom
the opera takes its name, and so used, at appropriate
situations, in the course of the work. (Would that
his approach were always thus announced, to warn
tempted souls of their danger !) The introduction
to the first act is a Fair scene at St. Mark's, including
a chorus of traders, a monfrina (national dance of the
Venetian peasantry), which two, in two-four and six-
eight time respectively, are, in the climax, brought
together, etc. The trio for female voices, " Good
night ! " opens in canonic (or round) form, after the
manner of the opening quartet in " Fidelio," and is
full of alternate tenderness and humour. The vocal
solos, etc., are natural and graceful, with little or nothing
to call for any criticism on the ground of bizarrerie.
" To recount the plot of the piece," said the " Musical
World," August 16th, 1838, "would be to go through the
juggleries of a pantomime. It is intended, we are told, to
satirize the mania, caught from mystic Germany, for the
improbable and supernatural. But the satire is either
very covert, or so transparent, as to cheat the eyes. The
same doubtful character pervades the music of the opera.
The composer seems to have hesitated as to whether he
should incline to the buffo or the serio style, in his accom-
paniments to the pranks of II Diavoletto. Hence arise want
of unity, and defective keeping."
Later on, the same periodical wrote :'
" Mr. Macfarren appears to us to be far from an ordinary
dramatic composer. He is well versed in effects, and shows
54 EARLY DRAMATIC COMPOSITIONS.
a fondness for surprising chords, which, though they at
first appear questionable, generally yield to examination."
" There is altogether more novelty and talent in ' The
Devil's Opera' than in any native dramatic work that has
come under our notice."
" The Athenaeum " of August 18th, after severely
and contemptuously condemning the libretto, pro-
ceeds :
" It is useless to speak further of the book : the music,
which is by Mr. Gr. A. Macfarreu, offering us something
better to descant on. Though evidently requiring the cor-
rector's pen, here to prune, there to work out it gives fair
indications of a sprightliness and vein of melody which
may be turned to account in future comic operas. Mr.
Macfarren is ambitious of success on the grandest possible
scale ; he has worked throughout, not inerelv as if he were
sure of finding a first-rate orchestra corps and chorus to
execute his compositions, but as if he possessed sufficient
grasp to find them all in due employment ; hence,
complicated finales wearisome incantation scenes over-
scored airs, &c.- to all these we preferred the trio for the
three ladies, in which Miss Poole deserved the highest
praise for her neat and intelligible enunciation of English
words, set nearly as rapidly as the Italian ones in Fiora-
vanti's ' Amor, perche mi pizzichi?' It gives us pleasure
also to praise the lively drinking duet between Mr. Burnett
and Mr. Seguin, etc."
Some of this criticism may be accepted with re-
serve, when it is remembered that, not very long prior
to this same period, in a prominent musical periodical,
since described as " the best musical periodical ever
published in England," " The Harmonicon," the pro-
nouncement was given that Beethoven's " Pastoral
Symphony" : " only wants abridgment, particularly
in the andante, to make it welcome to all lovers
EMBLEMATICAL TRIBUTE. 55
of grand orchestral performances. . . . Why, for the
purpose of rendering it popular, it should not be
shortened, we cannot divine." And again : " The
almost interminable Symphony of Beethoven in A has
one redeeming movement, that in A minor, which
cannot be too highly praised ... it may be compared
to a pleasant member of a disagreeable family, etc."
" The first movement [of Beethoven's Symphony in F]
is exceedingly bizarre and anything but agreeable " !
A jubilee performance of "The Devil's Opera" was
given at Taunton by the Philharmonic Association,
under the zealous direction of Mr. T. J. Dudeney, at
the Taunton College of Music, on the 13th of August,
1888. The performance was successful, although the
libretto was, as in the first instance, condemned, and
some of the music was, by provincial critics, esteemed
out of date.
Although not in immediate chronological sequence
with that which has just been related, the following
account, from Macfarren's pen, of one of his rapidly-
produced compositions for the theatre may be appro-
priately introduced here :
" The Queen was to be married on February 10th, 1840.
On the 6th, remarkably proximate to the coming event, my
father conceived the thought of celebrating the wedding,
and hastened to put his conception into being by calling on
Hammond, the manager of Drury Lane, with a proposal to
write an appropriate Masque for performance on the occa-
sion. The lessee applauded the proposal, but declared the
impossibility of carrying it into effect within the limited
time, alleging that Plauche and Bishop were known to have
been occupied for several weeks on a similar work for
Covent Garden which was not yet ready. My father urged
that the slow motion of the planets controlled not the
56 EARLY DRAMATIC COMPOSITIONS.
velocity of a comet ; and straightway proved the practica-
bility of his project by having a committee called of Mar-
shall, the scene painter, with the maker of costumes, the
property maker, and other functionaries, whose activity
would be needed were the work to be undertaken. He set
forth his design so plausibly and persuasively that each
person believed himself capable of the share in the work
proposed for him, and each one promised accordingly.
' But who will write the book ? ' said Hammond. ' I will,'
said the proposer. ' And who will write the music ? ' ' My
son.' Thereupon the idea was accepted, and at 10 on that
Thursday night my father came to tell me for the first
time of the design, and of the part in its fulfilment which
he had insured for me. Never strongly self-reliant, my
doubt of my capability was made certain to me by my
necessity to leave home at 7 a.m. on the morrow for
a day's teaching in the country, whence I should not return
till evening. I was bound, however, to go to him on my
way home, and this I did with conviction confirmed that
the task was wholly beyond me. I found him with the
libretto of 'The Emblematical Tribute' finished. He had
been to the theatre in the early morning with a working
plot for each member of the last night's committee, accord-
ing to which they all entered on their duties. I went home
desperate, and very soon fell asleep over the perusal of the
verses. Saturday morning found me no more hopeful of
my powers, so I went to him, insisting that I should be
exempted from certain miscarriage. Deaf to my protest, he
took me first to Hammond, as an assurance of my readiness
and willingness, and next to my lodgings, where he re-
mained by my side throughout that day and night, and
Sunday and its night, suggesting, encouraging, approving
and correcting, until 8 a.m. on Monday, when the last
sheet of my score was given to the copyist, who had come
every four hours in the interim for fresh relays of manu-
script. If fast mean rapid, we both must have slept very
fast for the next hour ; we were wakened to a hasty break-
fast, and then hurried to the theatre for the 10 o'clock
rehearsal. The public were to be admitted freely to the
evening's performance, as provided by government liberality,
and tickets for the same were issued at the box office in
EMBLEMATICAL TRIBUTE. 57
the morning. Many thousands of persons more than the
house would hold applied for these, and the adjacent streets
were thronged with clamouring crowds. At each of the
approaches an emissary was appointed, who knew the looks
of those who were connected with the theatre, one of whom
met us and directed our way to the back of the house, where
an iron railing had been withdrawn and a ladder placed,
which reached by the green-room window, and through the
aperture, and up the ladder everybody concerned made
entrance. A roll-call ensued, to which we all answered,
and then, the ladder being removed, Hammond addressed
us thus : ' You cannot jump out of window, the front of
the house is locked, and 20,000 persons are storming at the
stage-door, so to leave the theatre is impossible, and you
must therefore rehearse the piece again and again till it
goes.' Under this compulsion the work began, and was
continued till late in the afternoon, and when my father
and John (who had been at work in the painting room)
and I sallied out, I did indeed feel that the task was ended.
' Certainly not,' said my imperturbable father ; ' you must
now go and sell the copyright,' and thrusting me into a
cab, ordered the driver to proceed to Bond Street. All
shops were closed by virtue of the holiday, and I was driven
from one to another without finding its owner, till I went
to that of Lavenu, a former fellow-student, a violoncello
player and composer, who exceptionally dwelt on the pre-
mises, and by fortunate accident was at home. He agreed
to give 25 guineas for the right of printing, and fulfilled
his agreement, though he only published two numbers,
whereas Hammond, who had engaged to pay 50 for the
acting right, became bankrupt, and paid nothing. The
piece occupied 45 minutes, throughout which the music was
uninterrupted, and it was played for a fortnight. The
Covent Garden piece did not appear till after ours was laid
to rest, and then it had no longer a career than its precursor
had enjoyed."
The Overture to " Eomeo and Juliet/' belongs to
this period of Macfarren's productive activity, having
been composed, probably, about the year 1836, and
58 EARLY DRAMATIC COMPOSITIONS.
performed at a Concert of the Society of British
Musicians, either at the close of that year, or at the
commencement of 1837. It seems not to have been
so successful at its first production as it subsequently
became ; but it was reproduced by the same Society
in 1838, and pronounced "highly honourable to the
British School of instrumental music." In 1840, it
appeared as a pianoforte duet, dedicated to Sterndale
Bennett, and was declared to be an " exquisite com-
position, deserving European celebrity." It subse-
quently became the acknowledged precursor of the
play, when put upon the stage. At the performances
of "Homeo and Juliet" at the Haymarket Theatre,
about forty years since, when the Misses Cushman
impersonated the lovers, this Overture was so used;
and those ladies took it to America and elsewhere,
for a like purpose. When the Overture was per-
formed at a concert at the Hanover Square Rooms,
November 21st, 1842, it was spoken of, by a critic of
the time, as " a noble piece of dramatic art ... by
... an Englishman, and, though an Englishman,
one of the most accomplished musicians in Europe."
The composer's synopsis of the intent and purpose of
the work is as follows :
" The following points of the play suggested this Over-
ture: The Montagues and Capulets the Nurse the
Lovers and their passion Mercutio the Feud the In-
terdiction Mercutio wounded the entombment of Juliet
Romeo at the Grave the catastrophe."
The "Atlas" of November 27th, thus spoke of the
same performance :
OVERTURE TO "ROMEO AND JULIET." 59
" Mr. Macfarren's Overture is one of those deep in-
spirations that cannot be unexceptionally sympathised
with on a first or even a second hearing. When we heard
it four or five years since, we confess it puzzled us to
define our own impressions as to its merits. We 'had a
vague feeling of grandeur, mingled with floating strains
of beautiful melody, indefinite notions of startling pro-
gressions, fine and novel harmonies, and noble orchestral
effects but altogether it was a semi-confusion which
disturbed our brain with a sort of olla podrida of pleasure
and pain, that for the life of us we could not make in-
telligible. At each successive hearing, however, this
mystic indefinity resolved itself more and more clearly,
and last Monday whether from its admirable perfor-
mance, united to the co-enthusiasm of the audience and
the members of the orchestra, or whether our dulness has
been favoured by some unseen power with total and
unsophisticated illumination Mr. Macfarren's Overture
emerged from its quondam obscurity, and fairly dazzled
our senses with excess of light. Our present notion
(now unalterable, because born of experience) is, that
it is assuredly, in all respects as a picturesque poem
as a philosophical development of profound passion
as a splendid specimen of orchestral writing or as
a simple piece of music one of the most remarkable
productions of modern art in any country ; and we fear-
lessly predict the near approach of the time when no
other opinion will obtain with competent musicians in
respect of it."
This verdict was so far fulfilled that, notwith-
standing the withdrawal of the work from public
performance by the composer, during the latter
years of his life, it was included in the programme
of the Philharmonic Society's Concert, April 19th,
1888.
Mention may also be made of a much earlier
Shakespearian Overture, " The Merchant of Venice/'
60 EARLY DRAMATIC COMPOSITIONS.
which was composed, perhaps, during his Academy
Student days, and performed both at Academy
and British Concerts. A duet arrangement of it
is " gratefully dedicated to his Master, Cipriani
Potter. "
CHAPTER IV.
PERSONAL ACQUAINTANCE WITH MACFARREN. SOME OP
HIS EARLY COMPOSITIONS. His OPINION OP DUSSEK.
His FIRST CRITICAL ARTICLE. INTRODUCTION TO
MENDELSSOHN. VIEWS ON RHYTHM. 1838 1842, ETC.
MY own earliest recollections of the subject of
this memoir extend to about the year 1838
or 1839, when he used frequently to visit my father,
doubtless in connection with the progress and publi-
cation of some compositions for the violoncello with
pianoforte which my father, a violoncellist in full
practice, had commissioned him to write. My father
was somewhat discerning in the matter of rising talent,
and was also conscientiously sensible of the responsi-
bility to recognize and encourage it, so far as in him
lay, as various young artists would have testified, most
readily. I do not know what the honorarium was for the
works supplied by Macfarren; not large, probably. But,
many years afterwards, he related to me, when speak-
ing of the ti*ait in my father's character to which I
have alluded, how proudly he went home with the
thought that, at last, he had a commission to write
something for publication ! This, as we have already
seen, was not the occasion of first publication of any
composition of his, but, he told me, was the first
commission that he received from a publisher, my
father, however, only publishing in a private way,
62 ACQUAINTANCE WITH MACFARREN.
without any warehouse, but at his own residence,
works adapted for use in his own particular branch of
the profession. The compositions supplied by Mac-
farren, were Three Rondos, " dedicated to his friend
H. J. Banister/' and Twelve Ariettes, with Pianoforte
accompaniment charmingly spontaneous effusions, as
I used to think in my youth, when I accompanied my
father in them. 1 I find the following notice of the
Ariettes in a short-lived periodical of a much later
date than that of their publication. The passage that
I have italicized is amusing enough as implying that
unelaborated purity and fresh simplicity are not
" marks of the musician":
" Twelve Ariettas for the Violoncello, with an accompani-
ment for the Piano-forte, by Gr. Alexander Macfarren, bear
evidence of being an early work, though replete with the
prettiest thoughts conceivable. These twelve ariettas are
all very short and simple melodies as fresh as violets just
gathered, and as unpretending as young girls before they
have been introduced into that gallery of pictures that
receptacle for strange noises that stronghold of hollow-
ness and impudent pretension the world. They are,
indeed, very innocent, and very charming moreover; -feu-
marks of the musician characterize their progress, but thr
feeling of the poet and enthusiast accompanies them through-
out. For an evening's quiet amusement, between an
amateur of the violoncello and an amateur of the piano, we
could recommend nothing more fitting than these unobtru-
sive ariettas." Musical Examiner, Nov. 11, 1843.
Macfarren himself, in his turn, was always ready to
help on young aspirants. Not very long after the period
just referred to, he kindly offered to lend me some of
Dussek's Sonatas, as being good material for reading
1 These early, fresh compositions are now published by Me i -.
Keith, Prowse, and Co.
ACQUAINTANCE WITH MACFARREN. 63
at sight, as well as for regular practice ; and I well
remember calling for them, when he lodged in Alfred
Place, Bedford Square, that he made inquiries about
my musical studies, and appointed a day for me to go
and play to him, which I nervously did, and received
valuable suggestions from him. It is with pleasure
and pardonable self-congratulation that I also think
of the many occasions in after years when he esteemed
me not unworthy to be his fellow-worker, in examina-
tions, and in other departments ; and in various ways
recognized my professional, artistic, and literary work.
Thus, for instance, when, years afterwards, I sent
to him my " Lectures on Musical Analysis," and,
about a month later on, my " Musical Art and Study,"
both published in the summer of 1887, I received
from him this very friendly letter :
" 7, Hamilton Terrace, N.W.
" June 12th.
" MY DEAR BANISTER,
" I waited to gain some insight into your Lectures
before I would thank you for the gift of the book ; and
now here is your ' Art and Study,' which claims also my
acknowledgment. Of the first I can say that it meets
what you know I consider to be an important requirement,
and I think meets it in such a way as to render it clear
to everybody. I am glad that you allude to me as a
fellow- worker on the same subject, and I am sure that the
more of us give our best energies to its exposition, the
more will it gain the respect it deserves, since each of us
helps to confirm what may be stated by his friends. I
doubt not that the second book has a like claim to regard,
Imt I cannot just yet make its acquaintance.
" With best wishes for their wide circulation, I am
" Yours faithfully,
"G. A. MACFARREN."
"H. C. Banister, Esq."
64 HIS OPINION OF DUSSEK.
Though out of chronological order, I may yet be
allowed to insert here another letter, bearing upon the
same subject, which the Professor wrote to me soon
after my reading, at the Musical Association, a paper
on " Some of the Underlying Principles of Structure
in Musical Composition/' May 2nd, 1881 :
"7, Hamilton Terrace, N. \V.
" dtfi September.
"MY DEAR BANISTER,
" The volume of ' The Musical Association ' has enabled
me to hear your paper from print, the public reading of
which I was unable to attend. It pleases me very greatly,
and I wish it may have many readers, for the sake of the
good effect it is capable of producing. I concur fully in
your views, and these are so happily expressed as to make
them interesting even to readers who have small knowledge
on the subject. Let me then thank you for casting a bright
light on an important matter.
" Yours with friendly regards,
" G. A. MACFARREN."
Having mentioned his recommendation, and loan
to me, a great boon I found it !- of Dussek/s
Sonatas, I may here quote his opinion of that neg-
lected composer, whose title to be called a genius
has even been denied by a recent critic. Macfarren's
opinion is thus expressed in the " Imperial Dictionary
of Biography " :
" The immense amount of Dussek's compositions for the
pianoforte have by no means equal merit ; many of them
were written for the mere object of sale, still more for the
purpose of tuition, and some with the design of executive
display. Of those which were produced, however, in the
true spirit of art, expressing the composer's feelings in his
own unrestrained ideas, there exist quite enough to stamp
him one of the first composers for his instrument ; and
HIS OPINION OF DUSSEK. 65
while these are indispensable in the complete library of the
pianist, they are above value to the student in the develop-
ment of his mechanism and the formation of his style. A
strong characteristic of the composer is his almost redun-
dant profusion of ideas ; but his rich fecundity of invention
is greatly counterbalanced by diffuseness of design, result-
ing from the want of that power of condensation, by means
of which greater interest is often given to less beautiful
matter. Excess of modulation is no equivalent for con-
trapuntal fluency, and thus the works of this master would
form a bad model for one who possessed not his exquisite
sentiment and his exhaustless treasures of melody. Some
of the best of his works are the Concerto in G- minor, the
Sonatas dedicated to Haydn, the Quintet, the Quartet, and,
above all, the Sonatas entitled ' The Invocation,' ' The
Farewell,' ' Plus Ultra,' and The Harmonic Elegy.' "
In an analysis of the above-mentioned Quintet,
written for the programme of Mr. Walter Macfarren's
third concert, June llth, 1861, the Professor remarks,
respecting Dussek's settlement in this country, in
1789 :
" Here his remarkable merits found prompt apprecia-
tion. Clementi had prepared the world to comprehend a
talent of the highest order, exercised, creatively and prac-
tically, in the development of the resources of the then
new instrument, the pianoforte ; and Dussek's genius
enabled him to surpass the utmost effect his predecessor
had produced, by the melodious sweetness of his phrase-
ology, and the mellow fulness of his tone, both of which
qualities of composition, and performance, he superadded
to the other charms of dementi's music, and playing. . . .
The deep feeling that characterizes his music, expressed in
the tender passion of his melody, and the glowing richness
of his harmony, entires him to be ranked very high among
the composers for his instrument ; and when we turn to
his works from those of his best esteemed successors, we
trace in them, not only the origin of many of the most
beautiful effects with which later writers have been accre-
66 HIS FIRST CRITICAL ARTICLE.
dited, but some of the identical ideas by which these very
writers have made their way into popularity ; and we may
thus truly consider that pianists, as well as the pianoforte,
are deeply indebted for much of the esteem they enjoy, to
the genius of Johann Ludwig Dussek."
As an instance of the identity of idea here alleged,
Macfarren compares the last movement of this Quintet
with the " beautifully impressive theme upon which "
Chopin's 15th Nocturne "is entirely constructed;"
which comparison pianists can themselves easily in-
stitute; unless, indeed, their library lacks a copy of
Dussek's Quintet.
Mendelssohn's Symphony in A minor was first
performed in this country at the Philharmonic Concert.,
June 13th, 1842 ; and in the " Musical World" of the
16th of the same month the following article by Mac-
farren appeared ; probably the first of the kind from
hia pen, and therefore of special interest :
" There is a sense of exultation in an artist who witnesses
the glorification of his art. From this feeling there must
have been many a one proud of being a musician who was
present at the first performance of Mendelssohn's new
symphony a work to raise the author to the highest
pinnacle of musical repute to raise the art which it adorns
and honours and to raise the present generation in the
chronicles of intellectual progress, as being contemporary
with such an author, coeval with such a work. It is this
pride at being, how unworthy soever, a fellow- worshipper
with Mendelssohn of the same Goddess, that gives me
confidence to approach him, the high priest in her temple,
with a tribute to his excellence in the avowal of the feelings
which his work has given me ; and, besides the pleasure
that there is in being the voice of a manifold opinion, I feel
a satisfaction in thus breaking through our country's
custom of anonymous criticism, from supposing that, years
hence, when the present occasion shall be quite forgotten,
HIS FIRST CRITICAL ARTICLE. 67
when this new star in the firmament of genius shall be no
longer contemplated as an individual shining^ but massed
in men's consideration among the galaxy of splendour
which illuminates the world, which quickens our purest
feelings, and which gives to everyone that loves his art,
or hopes to be an artist, the moth-like emulation to exalt
himself into the sphere of radiance, and nutter in the light
which may destroy him when it shall be that this work,
then no more a new one, is, and cannot be remembered to
have not been ; I may look out this record of my first
impressions, and feel gratified in secret to be reminded I
was one of those who could and did at first appreciate this
wondrous work ; who saw and felt the light when new and
strange, which shall be then familiar. If Mendelssohn
(1 cannot call a being whom Genius makes impersonal, and
whom superiority to all cotemporary association raises
above society, by the conventional appellatives which living
men use to each other) if Mendelssohn should see this
paper, which the common course of things may easily bring
before him, he will, I hope, forgive this ostentation of a
capacity to feel his merit, for the sake of the sincerity
which induces it.
" The symphony is, as usual, in four movements, with
this peculiarity, the author means that each should join the
next, without a stop between them, an arrangement which,
in this case, has a grand effect, as giving a continuance, a
oneness to the train of thought that makes us feel it to be
more a whole than four parts disconnected ; but it is an
arrangement that must not be taken as a precedent, for no
music of less interest than this, and this is of the utmost
possible, could hold unbroken the attention for so long a
time ; and it is to be considered as an instance of the
confidence of genius, which has an innate knowledge of its
powers like the secret self-esteem of virtue, that Men-
delssohn could dare to write a composition of such magni-
tude with the intention that his hearers should not have a
breathing-place of silence to refresh their minds in the
great mental task of listening to it. The movements are
described as follows ; and I shall attempt, in speaking of
them, to give a short analysis of their beauties, for which
I claim indulgence, since, besides my own incompetence to
68 HIS FIRST CRITICAL ARTICLE.
do such beauties justice, I have the difficulty to contend
with of the inadequacy of language to convey musical
ideas.
" INTRODXTZIONE ED ALLEGRO APPASSIONATO.
" SCHEEZO.
"ADAGIO CANTABILE.
"ALLEGRO GrUERRIERO E FlNALE.
" The introduction (in A minor, three-four time) is unlike
any other I can recollect in this respect that it opens with
a clearly-defined, distinct, and continuous melody ; whereas
the general character of such a movement is vague, abrupt,
and fragmentary. This melody, which is intensely pas-
sionate, and is, to me, beyond all things expressive of a
sense of loneliness, is heightened in its effect by the fresh-
ness of the harmony and the peculiarity of the instrumen-
tation. The combination of two tenors with bassoons and
oboes has a strange and new effect, which is extremely
beautiful. There is in the second bar a chord of the 6th
upon Gr natural, which always recurs with the recurrence
of the phrase, that, though it offend a prejudice of mine
that the 7th of the scale in diatonic harmony should un-
exceptionably be major, I cannot but feel to be in this place
unquestionably beautiful ; and, further on, there is an
unexpected chord of C, which is to me a very heaven of
tenderness. This melody is followed by a streaming,
breathing, half watery, half airy, and all imaginative pas-
sage for the violins, which seems so excellently charac-
teristic of the instrument, as though it had been made
alone to play this passage ; and this undulates through
various modulations, accompanied occasionally by a frag-
ment of the subject, and diversified by the crescendo and
diminuendo of the full orchestra, until in the key of B flat
there is a 6th on D, in which the violins and flutes remain
alone upon the F above the lines, where they seem like
a lover looking lingeringly into nothing for the eyes which
meet him not ; and the violins leave this F in an arpeggio of
the chord, but yet the flutes remain, as though the one
thought would endure, however the mind wished to wander
from it ; and then, with a heartbroken disappointment,
the original melody, in the original key, appears to say,
in its sudden recurrence, ' Yes, I have looked in vain ! '
HIS FIRST CRITICAL ARTICLE. 69
The introduction ends with a half-close on E ; and the
allegro (in A minor, six-eight time) begins like an assu-
rance bursting on expectancy. The subject of this move-
ment is a complete and satisfactory song, more lengthened,
more entirely a song, than usually the subjects of first
movements have been made ; and there is no second sub-
ject, but only various modifications of this one ceaseless,
burning, continual, and continuous idea it is a thought,
or, better say, a consciousness of love, for ever restless and
for ever passionate, and, with its simplicity and yet its
ardour, it takes possession of the centre of one's heart, like
that intensest poetry which makes one feel it says our
feelings, utters our own thoughts, and can create, as well
as speak, those thoughts and feelings. This melody is
given to the violin and clarionet in octaves a combination
of a most singularly new and beautiful effect and here I
almost use a mispression, for the two instruments do not
join to make one sound, as in some combinations of wind
instruments upon the same passage, where a new tone is
formed of both, but like neither. Here is distinctly heard
that two separate things express the same idea, as though
one thought were sympathized by two congenial minds,
but modified in each by the peculiar temperament of either ;
the one, perhaps, more fervent, but the other far more
delicate, seeming to wish it were the other's true reflection
so the precise acuteness of the streaming violins is mir-
rored in the more indefinite, more gentle, and more tender
breathing of the clarionet. In this melody there is a sus-
pended 7th upon F, which skips to C, and then returns
to D, its resolution, that has an effect exquisitely beautiful,
which, like all the highest things in art, arises from its
great simplicity. The subject is followed by a spirited
t'.i.tti, which ends abruptly with a half -close on B, and is
interrupted by a reminiscence of the subject in E minor.
There then comes a sort of ritornella, growing from, or
an appendix to, the first idea, and this finishes the first
part, which is repeated. The second part begins with a
most daring, powerful, and unlooked-for start in C sharp
minor ; and a train of modulation follows, ending in C
natural minor, that is one of the most striking and original
passages, as to the harmony, the phraseology, and the
70 HIS FIRST CRITICAL ARTICLE.
instrumentation, that I ever heard. The second part is
full of the most masterly treatment of the subject; and
immediately preceding the return to the original key, there
is a sort of episode in E major, still growing out of the
first thought, and built upon it, that forms a wonderful
relief to the prevalence of minor keys throughout. At the
repetition of the subject there is a new effect, and a new
character given to it, by the addition of a counterpoint, or,
rather, counter-subject, for it is not less a song than the
original theme on the violoncello, that may be likened to a
mutual confidante of the two separated minds of my former
analogy, that gives an extra beauty to both and takes its
own, although it robs not them, from either. There is a
coda, beginning something like the second part, starting
abruptly in F sharp minor, as that does in C sharp, and
then having something like the same treatment of the same
phrase ; and there is the ritornella, with which the first
part ended, and there is a passage of semitones, that is
one of the most furious bursts of passionate excitement in
the whole scope of music. Then there is a strange passage
of wind instruments, partly in semitones, which has a
mystical effect, almost unearthly ; and then there is a short
return to the slow introduction, that seems to me again to
say, ' Ah, yes ! I am alone ! ' and then, with a few broken
chords, that seem to feel, but hardly say ' Alone ! ' this won-
drous movement closes.
" The Scherzo (in F, two-four time) begins upon the
previous movement like the inhalation, after a long- breathed
sigh the inflation and invigoration of the lungs with the
pure joyous breath of life, after they have exhaled all but
vitality itself. This movement is of the character we are
used to call Mendelssohnish, because, I think, Mendelssohn
first introduced it with most admirable effect in many of his
works ; I mean that character of restlessness displayed in
the almost ceaseless motion of semiquavers, such as in his
' Midsummer Night's Dream,' the Scherzo in his Otetto,
and in many other instances. It opens with a chord of F,
protracted for some bars, which, from its relation to the key
of A minor, in which the previous movement closed, has
an effect of vagueness and anxiety that is dispelled by the
determinate chord of C, which, as the unequivocal domi-
HIS FIRST CRITICAL ARTICLE. 71
nant of the new key, defines this beautiful uncertainty,
and the movement then proceeds like regular but rapid
breathing. The subject is very marked and characteristic;
it is first given concisely by the clarionet, and is afterwards
prolonged by various instruments until it is taken up with
all the satisfaction of a joyous self-content by the full
orchestra. A second subject in C major is peculiarly
quaint, and has a manner of effrontery that is charming ;
this is continued through various relative modulations, in
the course of which the chattering of the wind instruments
have a very prominent and naive effect. The first part ends
in C, and the second opens with a portion of the subject
in the original key, which comes out with a kingly swagger
on the violoncello : after a long stop upon a fundamental
7th on F, there is a brilliant burst upon a chord of D,
and then the two subjects are worked and interwoven with
the utmost skill and ingenuity, and with no less character
and effect. The return to F major, which is with the
second subject, is very novel, is sudden and unlooked-for.
The Coda introduces a new phrase of irresistible piquancy
and simplicity, and there is a most effective example of
the rising of a fundamental 7th on the tonic to a major
3rd on the dominant, which proves, by the very frequen :
repetition of the passage, how Mendelssohn must like, or
rather love, this beautiful but most unusual resolution
of this chord. This movement closes quietly, like the
natural languishing which follows preternatural excite-
ment.
" The slow movement (in A major) opens abruptly, but
still connectedly with what has just concluded, on a 6th
upon F natural, which sinks into a chord of E, and sounds
to me as though a sudden earthquake rent the joyous feeling
which had filled a loving bosom, and in the chasm which it
made, revealed the depths of fathomless despair. But then
we find this momentary anguish is no other than the
fear that it must cease, which is the tremulous brink of
happiness, the incertitude that makes delight an ecstasy,
which refines mere joy to transport ; for, after what may
be supposed a prelude, or what in a song we should call
the symphony, there comes a stream of broad, grand
flowing melody, so full of lovely tenderness, so replete with
72 HIS FIRST CRITICAL ARTICLE.
passion, and so fervent in the heartfulness of its expres-
sion, that it seems to say all that words, or looks, or
pressure of the hand could ever signify almost all heart
could ever feel. This is another instance of the exquisite
use of the singing powers of the violins, which float through
the pizzicato accompaniment ' like the voice of one beloved
singing to you when alone.' There is one point in this
most heavenly melody where it rises from A in a chord
of the diminished 7th on D sharp to a sforzando on G-
sharp, in a four-two upon D natural, which is to me the
utmost possible of passionate expression. There is then
an episode in A minor given to wind instruments, which
is, I think, the least striking subject in the symphony, and
which comes with all the cold reserve of prudence inter-
rupting the pure confidence of virgin love. But this is
qualified by a repetition of a portion of the first subject in
E major, which breaks in on an inversion of the major
9th on B with such a lovingness as quite atones for all
the previous seeming of indifference. There is a short
second part which leads to the return of the subject in A,
which now assumes a greater force, a deeper intensity
from the different instrumentation, the melody being
given to the most passionate of instruments, the violon-
cello, and from some other varieties in the treatment.
The former episode recurs now in D minor ; and the
portion of the subject is repeated as before, now in A
major, and the movement finishes with all the calmness
of a satisfied desire, but such an intellectual psychean
appetite which ' grows by what it feeds on,' and is most
contented when it still desires.
" The last movement (in A. minor, common time) bursts
in convulsively on this repose, as though the self-reproach
of one who feels himself unworthily beloved, and half
despairs, half burns with the ambition to become one day
deserving. There is a striking wildness in the subject,
another character, and not less a true one of the violins
which play it, and there is a feeling of a resolution in the
long continued accompaniment of crotchets, which seem
like the united fire of a patriot and fervour of a lover.
The second subject in E minor is more simple, and yet
not less ardent, the great excitement being still main-
HIS FIRST CRITICAL ARTICLE. 73
tained by the reiteration of a B, which forms a sort of
drone, and by keeping off the keynote in the bass until
the very end of the phrase, creates a vagueness powerfully
exciting. And then the basses have to play a G- three
times and then O, what a burst of powerful and grand
determination ! the full orchestra has to play the six-
four on that note, and to make a brief and infinitely
brilliant transition into C major, with the effect of
thunder. This is, like all the others, a movement in two
parts, the first part ending in E minor. The second part
perhaps, for those who are not carried quite beyond them-
selves by the strong and impulsive feeling that pervades
it, may want relief, if not repose ; but even for such, if
they can understand, although they may not feel the
music, there is a masterly musicianship in the treatment
of the subject, which must be interesting. After the
return to the original key, the second subject, much cur-
tailed and without the glorious burst into the major key
of the sixth of the scale, which in the first part has an
effect so grand and so majestic, is repeated in A minor,
and is followed by a coda, which sinks into a repose like
the exhaustion of an overwrought imagination a heart
that has been stimulated by excess of passion, seeming to
beat its few last broken throbs before it breaks for ever.
But then a new light bursts upon the mind, new oil is
poured upon the flame, a rock is shifted from its base,
and a world of waters is let loose upon the cataract. A
new subject with a quite new feeling in A major, and in
six-eight time, bursts like an eye-beam on the darkened
heart, and says, in signs unquestionable and irrevocable,
' Yes, ever yes,' to all that undefinable craving to which
the wildest brain upon the pinnacle of its enthusiasm dare
not, cannot give utterance. It is a joyous exultation, far
beyond Hope's uttermost excitement it is the elation of
an author when he feels he has achieved a work that will
immortalize him in its immortality it is the pang of
pleasure which a lover feels at knowing that his passion-
dream is realized. This brief epilogue to the whole
symphony remains throughout in the same key, and is
mostly to be remarked upon for the breadth, clearness,
energy, and passion of its phrases, and the expressive
74 HIS FIRST CRITICAL ARTICLE.
brilliancy of its instrumentation, which, seeming at first
most forcible, yet gathers, gathers, gathers force until the
end. A long passage of the violins in octaves is almost
overpowering, and but I scorn to dwell on technicalities
in speaking of what is so great in its effects as to blind
us to the means by which they are produced.
" And this is the Symphony in A minor of Felix
Mendelssohn Bartholdy ; at least, this is an attempt to
tell the impression, which, after three times hearing it,
at the trial, the rehearsal, and the concert, it has left on
me. I am aware that there may be to some an air of
ostentation, even of bombast, in this vociferation of my
feelings on this subject. SOME, perhaps, may understand
them, and all sJioidd take my protestation of sincerity for
a guarantee of what I mean. To me the symphony is, on
the whole, the most pathetic composition of the kind, and
of the length, I ever heard ; and by pathetic, I must not
be thought to mean that morbid melancholy quality which
some critics, but few poets, would set up as the essential
of sublimity: by pathetic, let be understood to signify
that deep, intense, and soulful feeling which dives down
to the bottom of the human heart, and there enthrones
itself the emperor of passion. And these are words,
how vague and how inadequate to tell the thoughts which
prompt them. But when the time shall come, which
cannot be remote, when all the world shall own this
generation has added one to the great Trinity of Genius
that has stood alone in instrumental music, I shall exult
to have been one who could appreciate the merit, and has,
however worthless, paid his tribute of acknowledgment to
the original identity of style, the grandeur of conception,
and the powers of development which this symphony
displays, and which, in aftermen's esteem, shall place as
equals, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Mendelssohn.
" G. A. MACFABBEN."
" 14, North Crescent, Bedford Square,
"Uth June, 1842."
At the time when this was written Macfarren had
not arrived at that estimate of Mendelssohn's character
HIS FIRST CRITICAL ARTICLE. 75
which he long afterwards expressed : " The foible of
his character was his thirst for good opinion, which
led him indiscriminately to conciliate everyone whose
judgment could receive attention ; thus his testi-
monials are of little credit, and his complimentary
letters are not always utterances of his true opinion." l
Of the disinterested sincerity of the ardent critic's
enthusiastic effusion there is no reason whatever to
doubt. The diction of the exordium may be florid or
ornate a foreshadowing of the metaphorical style
which often characterized the writer's later style in
his literary productions ; but there is nothing fulsome
in the adulation : all is the outcome of genuine artistic
perception and delight, such as many of us felt, at that
period, at the rising of the " new star in the firmament
of genius." It is pleasant now that Macfarren's
prophetic words have been fulfilled, and that star is
" massed in the galaxy of splendour/' and the Sym-
phony can hardly " be remembered to have not been "
to look back to those early performances, and to feel
some sympathetic rekindling of that early enthusiasm
and delight !
The love of analogies, which is perceptible in this
early analysis, is a prominent feature in his subsequent
writings : " like a lover looking lingeringly, etc.,"
1 ' like an assurance bursting on expectancy," " a con-
sciousness of love, etc.," " like that intensest poetry,
etc." ; these and other comparisons one finds matched
or paralleled in such sentences as this, on a passage in
Beethoven's Seventh Symphony :
" Can you picture one who has long lain in a hopeful
1 " Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography."
76 HIS FIRST CRITICAL ARTICLE.
dream, who yearns for happiness he has never known and
so cannot define, awakening to learn that his dreaming is
fulfilled, and to find the fact wholly unlike, yet a thousand-
fold lovelier than his expectation ? Such a picture is
realized in the remarkable passage before us ; a traveller
who dreams of the home he is approaching, and wakes to
find caressing friends around him looking the welcome of
affection ; an artist who dreams of the completion of his
work, and wakes to witness its admiring reception by an
appreciating public. Fancies such as these are quickly
prompted by the exquisite passage to which I refer ; but
no thought of tangible form can represent its loveliness,
no verbal language can translate its expression." '
It is interesting to compare this early analysis of
the A minor Symphony with that of later years,
written for the Philharmonic Society's programmes.
After quoting Mendelssohn's printed direction as to
the " separate movements following one another imme-
diately, and not being divided by the customary inter-
ruptions," and commenting on similar instances, our
annotator proceeds :
" From very early in his career it seems to have been an
aim of Mendelssohn to give unity to the several portions
of a large instrumental work, sometimes by the connection
of two or more of the movements as in the case under
notice, sometimes by the allusion in a later movement to
themes which have appeared in an earlier as in the
Quartets in A minor and E flat, and in the Octet. Opinions
may vary as to how this purpose may best be fulfilled, nay,
as to its desirability in any form ; but it is due to an artist
to respect his own purpose in the presentation of his works,
and thus to play the present Symphony as he intended.
There can be no question as to the grandeur of the idea of
one long enchainment of thoughts that bear all upon each
other and combine to make a single, though widespread
impression upon the mind ; in the work of an indifferent
1 " Six Lectures on Harmony," p. 148.
HIS FIRST CRITICAL ARTICLE. 77
composer an audience may welcome the customary breaks
as a relief, but in the music before us the effect of each
successive movement is enhanced by its connection with
the preceding, and the impression of each gathers force
from the context, while we, the audience, grow more and
more susceptible of its effect, and become enabled to
regard the work as a whole rather than as four collected
portions."
Then follow some historical and biographical details,
especially bearing upon the Scottish origin of the work,
and recording its first performance in London, above
referred to ; eliciting from Macfarren the exclamation,
" Happy are they who recollect an occasion of such
infinite interest in the history of our art ! " He then
relates how, at that first performance, after Beet-
hoven's " pre-eminently beautiful " Overture to
" Coriolan " had been played and encored :
" Then came the Scottish Symphony, and this was re-
ceived with acclamations, drowning in many places the
music itself, the hearty delight in which these plaudits
testified ; the Scherzo was especially greeted and its repe-
tition insisted upon, in spite of the composer's fidelity to
his own design, who had proceeded far into the Adagio
through the deafening applause of the audience, and
reluctantly broke off the unheard flow of its delicious
strains to recommence the previous movement."
A graphic little bit of musical history, by an ear-
witness ! The analysis proper then commences :
" The Symphony begins with a far more clearly defined
melody than is often to be found in the introductory move-
ment of a composition of the proportions of the present.
It is succeeded by a passage of rare intensity for the
violins alone, which is continued through a repetition of
the opening melody.
78 HIS FIRST CRITICAL ARTICLE.
" The chief subject of the Allegro, to which the fore-
going leads, derives a peculiar effect from its duplication
by the clarionet in the octave below the notes of the violin,
which seems like a reflection of the principal or substantial
sounds in notes of more delicate or ethereal nature. A
very gradual drawing together of the time prepares the
hearer for the first entry of the entire orchestra, and for
the ' assai agitato ' which marks the exciting character of
what ensues. The first theme is ingeniously appropriated
as a counterpoint to the second subject, and binds it in
particular unity with the general expression. This is
.analogous to Haydn's frequent wont to reproduce a first
melody with modification in the position and in the key
usually assigned to the second subject, which brings into
direct comparison the musical composition with a literary
essay, wherein one theme or argument is the always
prevailing matter in discussion."
This is a happier exposition of the case than the
bald statement in the earlier analysis that " there is
no second subject." In place of the earlier account
of the opening of the second part, we have :
" The course of modulation which signalizes the begin-
ning of the Second Part produces a most remarkable and
individual effect ; here is not the place to discuss the
theoretical phenomena which might account for this, but
attention may be directed to it and to the total revulsion
of feeling wrought by it. The extraordinary orchestration
conduces as much as the tonal progressions to the effect,
strange almost to terrible, before us. The continuance of
the Second Part loses all appearance of scholarship in its
most imaginative development of the chief ideas already set
forth. The recurrence of the first subject is rendered un-
usually interesting by the counter-melody, assigned to the
violoncello, which is grafted upon it ; a most happy example
of a happy device, which was first applied by Mendelssohn
to the enrichment of this always attractive incident iu the
design of a movement. A corresponding modulation to
that which opens the Second Part begins the Coda ; and
HIS FIRST CRITICAL ARTICLE. 79
this portion of the Allegro presents an unanticipated idea
in the fiercely rushing chromatic passages that work the
whole to its highest point of excitement."
It is not necessary to reproduce the whole of this
more recent analysis ; the above extracts sufficiently
exhibiting the maturer style, if not the riper musician-
ship of the writer, as compared with the earlier. In
the annotations on the Scherzo, instead of " kingly
swagger/' we find : " the rough, burly tone given to
the first theme when a portion of it is allotted to the
violoncellos, the weird sound it assumes when played
on the low notes of the clarionet," etc. The subject
of the Adagio is characterized as a " delicious song
which once to have heard is a lasting delight/' And
the whole article terminates with the record, possibly,
of a personally received testimony :
" Mendelssohn said that he felt in this Coda [to the last
movement] that the task of years was accomplished ; and
that he was happy, if not proud, in the completion of his
labour."
It will be observed that in neither of these articles
is there any attempt to indicate any connection of the
ideas of the Symphony with impressions received
by the composer in his visit to Scotland. At the
time that the first article was written probably the
work had not been named the " Scotch Symphony,"
and the history of the work, in its origins and prompt-
ings, was known to few.
The first of these articles was written during the
period when Macfarren's father edited the " Musical
World," concerning which the following occurs in the
" Family Recollections " :
80 INTRODUCTION TO MENDELSSOHN.
" It was about this period [1840], sooner or later, that
Frederick Davison, of the firm of Gray and Davison [not
related to J. W. Davison], engaged my father at a small
weekly stipend to succeed Henry Smart as editor of the
' Musical World,' the journal originated in 1836 by Novello
and Co. Ever in earnest in what he undertook, my father
threw his best energies into the fulfilment of his new office,
and did all that a generous sympathy with struggling
artists could suggest to make the paper popular. Some of
his leading articles are delightful essays on musical gene-
ralities ; his personal notices are always tender, and con-
stantly encouraging ; he forbore from distinctly technical
criticism, in which indispensable department he engaged
Alfred Day, until he could no longer bear with the laconical
bitterness of this reviewer of new music, and he then
enlisted the services of J. W. Davison, whose reckless
flippancy as little satisfied him."
It appears to have been just after the appearance of
the first analytical article probably as its result
that Macfarren made personal acquaintance with Men-
delssohn ; the only record of his first interview being
a hasty note to his family :
EVERYBODY,
" Mendelssohn behaved to me like an Angel. G-. A. M.
June 27th, 1842."
The great man was ready to discern a kindred spirit ;
and would not fail to appreciate, as time went on, the
thoroughness and purity of Macfarren' s artistic nature.
Although there does not seem to have been the
brotherly intimacy bet ween the two men which subsisted
from very early manhood between Sterndale-Bennett
and Mendelssohn, yet the artistic friendship was
entire, as several letters attest. I have heard Mac-
farren say that no pianoforte playing ever gave him
INTRODUCTION TO MENDELSSOHN. 81
so much pleasure as that of Mendelssohn. There was
no sympathy, I believe, on the part of Mendelssohn,
with Macfarren's theoretical views ; perhaps it would
be more just to say, his theorizing habit of mind.
The whole thing was distasteful to him. When I
related to Macfarren the anecdote of Mendelssohn's
reply to an inquirer as to the root of the first chord in
the "Wedding March," "I don't know, and don't
care," he said : " I never heard that story, but I can
quite believe it, for Mendelssohn had such a dislike to
all theorizing." Macfarren's theoretical system to
be hereafter referred to may have led him to write
unusual chords and progressions ; certainly it led him
to use unusual notation. Mendelssohn did not argue
these matters with him, it may well be believed ; but,
when playing from Macfarren's manuscript, would, on
Coming to such cases, cry out, in that quick way
which is not to be forgotten by those who once heard
it: "Mac, Mac, do you mean this?" On an affirma-
tive answer being given, he would simply say, " Very
well, all right, go on," to the rest of the performers.
Owing to circumstances that cannot here be re-
corded in detail, Mendelssohn's Second Symphony,
known as No. 4, in A major, was not published until
some time after the composer's death, and then, in the
first instance, only in the form of a Pianoforte Duet
the arrangement being Mendelssohn's own, however.
In the "Musical World" of October 9th, 1852, Mac-
farren wrote an article on the Symphony as presented
in this arrangement. It may be interesting, even at
this period of our narrative, to insert some extracts
from this article, still further rendering comparison
practicable between the earlier and the more mature
G
82 MENDELSSOHN'S SECOND SYMPHONY.
styles of the critic. After much preliminary matter,
suggested by the late publication of the work, and
some comparison with the earlier Symphony, No. l,in
C minor, he proceeds :
" However equal may be the merits of the two Sym-
phonies in A major and A minor, their character is widely
different as the different distribution of such general cha-
racteristics as establish the identity of the composer's style
can render them. Such is the distinction that may truly
be made between the bright, sunny, laughing freshness of
the earlier work [in A major], and the more intense and
passionate fervour that so eminently marks the later com-
position [in A minor], and these varieties of character
involve a very important difference in the plan upon which
the several movements are constructed. . . . As to the
impressions of Italy embodied in the Symphony in A major,
speculation may be more or less presumptuous ; but as
every sensitive hearer will speculate upon the expression
conveyed in music of so exciting a character, . . . inter-
preting the intentions of the composer by the index of his
own emotions while hearing the performance, it cannot be
arrogant to offer what speculations suggest themselves, as
an indication rather of how much than of what may l>e
found of secondary interest in this highly poetical work of
art by such as willingly seek it.
" To speak most succinctly of general impressions rather
than of particular emotions, let us suppose that the first
movement realizes the influence upon an ardent mind of
the clear, translucent air, the genial climate, the deep, deep
blue above, the endless green below, in which the golden
gleam of the exhilarant sunshine is blent with the intense
hue of the unfathomable heaven, the spontaneity of life
around, and the restlessness of emotion within that cha-
racterize the land formed by nature for the garden of
poetry, whence the spoiled child has strayed in weariness
of the too great luxuriance in which 't has been indulged,
to wander back, how rarely, from the distant home of its
adoption, and find its powers and its perceptions quickened
by its native associations.
MENDELSSOHN'S SECOND SYMPHONY. 83
" Let us suppose that the earnest and most original
Andante portrays the feelings awakened by the mighty
ruins of Roman splendour, the statues, the palaces, the
temples, and the colossal Colosseum, ghosts of a greatness
that is gone, monuments of an immortal age, enduring
witnesses in their mouldering decay of the lasting influence
upon all time to come of the 'eternal power of mind
through which at first they were, which now through them
is perpetually regenerated in all who see in them and feel,
who read in them and understand the sublime lesson for
the sempernatal future of the never-dying past ; and that
the lovely episodical melody embodies the perhaps less
awful but not less solemn sentiment that must be awakened
in witnessing the new life springing from the old decay,
the perennial flowers and verdure, ever young, mocking
while they decorate the falling ruins that have seen them
bloom, and seen them fade, and seen them bloom and fade
again through a long, long race of centuries, typifying the
eternal identity of the spirit of good and beauty, the soul
of poetry, amid the temporal variations of its manifesta-
tion which, while they seem to pass away, are born anew
in the new forms they suggest by the new powers they
stimulate in the mind of man."
This poetic interpretation of the movement in
question is in strong contrast to the popular " Pilgrim's
March " view ; and, I must aver, more sympathetically
expresses my own long-entertained feeling, which has
always somewhat revolted from the generally accepted
notion. The other movements are dealt with in
similar poetical manner, and then the more technical
analysis is entered upon. In the analysis of the
Andante con moto, the following occurs, which will be
of interest to those who have studied under Mac-
farren, been examined by him, or conversed with him
on rhythm and barring :
" Then comes the most lovely episodical melody in
84 MENDELSSOHN'S SECOND SYMPHONY.
A major, in which is to be noticed a curious caprice in the
rhythmical arrangement namely, that the accent of the
whole is against the measure ; in explanation of this may
be adduced the subsequent repetition of the same melody
in the key of D major, when the barring is according to
accepted rule, with the natural rhythmical division of the
phrases."
This summary of the last movement is also most
interesting :
" The final Presto is certainly the most entirely indi-
vidual portion of the work, albeit not one of the movements
has a prototype in the writings of any other master. It
is an imitation of the Saltarello, a national dance of the
south of Italy, which differs from its twin sister, the Taran-
tella in having a crotchet at the beginning of each bar of
six-eight measure (instead of six quavers in the bar, as in
the dance more familiar in this country), the marked
accent of which accommodates a jumping step in the dance ,
itself, whence it derives its name. The ceaseless continuity
of the motion, and with it the excitement of this movement,
is beyond praise. The plan of the whole is somewhat
singular, and admits of longer discussion than our present
space will admit. Suflice it to state briefly that the first
part is regular, like that of a first movement ; that at the
close of this the subject re-commencing in the original key,
after the manner of many of the last movements of Mozart
and Beethoven, which very shortly diverges into the elabo-
rations of the second part ; that these are enriched, as in
the first movement of the present work, by the introduc-
tion of a new episodical subject, which appears first in the
key of G minor ; and finally, that the composer is so carried
away by the development of this idea, in conjunction with
the chief subject of the movement, that he foregoes the
formality of the recapitulation of the first part, and makes
no recurrence to the many admirable points which, in the
key of E minor constitute the second subject, but instead,
prolongs the working of the second part into a most
exciting and highly wrought Coda."
It may here be stated that Macfarren preferred to
REMARKS ON RHYTHM. 85
consider all the themes appearing in one key as con-
stituting the different sections of one subject first or
second rather than as different, or tributary, or sub-
ordinate subjects. This was evidenced in various
examination questions, prepared, or given viva voce,
by him.
From internal evidence, as well as from knowledge
of Macfarren's views on the subject, I judge that the
following remarks upon Rhythm, occurring in a review
of some compositions by an estimable English musi-
cian, were written by him, and will help to illustrate
the remark, in the above article, on the alleged
rhythmical " caprice " in Mendelssohn's slow move-
ment :
" A rule of rhythm, little understood by some musicians
and totally ignored by others, prompts a remark . . . which
must be taken as it is meant namely, in no captious
spirit, but in the hope to elucidate, it may be, a matter
that is of more importance than many writers suppose. A
rhythmical period should close on the first note of a bar,
unless the penultimate harmony be superseded, when the
final note is delayed till the second of the bar. There are
a very few exceptions from this otherwise universal law,
and they, rightly regarded, all tend to confirm, nay, to
illustrate, the principle involved. The works of ancient
and modern German, Italian, French, and English writers
furnish exemplifications of what is here enunciated ; there
also are many instances, it must be admitted, of the dis-
regard of the rule by the best writers ; still, the short-
comings of a saint are no warrant for the peccadilloes of
one who has not the screen of boundless charity for his
sins, and a great man's error justifies not the wilful wan-
dering of a writer who has less claim to critical deference.
Now, as the close of a phrase is required by rule to fall on
the beginning of a bar, the opening of the same phrase
must be so placed as to accommodate the requirement, and
this seems to compel that the division of the bars through-
86 REMARKS ON RHYTHM.
out the phrase be counted backwards from the final note,
when the fragment of a bar which remains after such division
must initiate the melody. . . . The rule applies throughout
a composition, and not merely to the concluding cadence,
and the extension of some period by half a bar, in order
to bring about the nominally correct termination, is the
worst evil of an unclear perception of the law, since one
cannot hear bar lines, nor tell, by listening, where they are
drawn, but one may be fully aware of a half -bar too much
or too little in a phrase. The subject needs a far longer
disquisition to make it thoroughly intelligible than is here
offered, and which goes as far as would here be seemly.
It is one of sufficient importance, however, to deserve the
attention of critics and composers, and if it has not been
often advanced, there is the more reason for touching on
it, though lightly, at present."
I have heard Macfarren say that even Schumann is
not guiltless of the device of " the extension ... to
bring about the nominally correct termination/' above
spoken of. At the same time, Macfarren said " I
have undergone a good deal of bullying " for insisting
on this principle. He once remarked to ine that,
judged by this law, the whole slow movement of
Mozart's wonderful C minor Sonata is wrongly
barred.
And yet the final Cadence, as well as others, in
Macfarren's Song, "True Love/' ends at the half-bar,
thus :
CHAPTER V.
SYMPHONY IN C SHARP MINOR. MACFARREN AND
DAVISON'S CONCERTS. QUINTET IN G MINOR. TRIO
IN E MINOR, AND OTHER WORKS. 1842 1844.
ABOUT the year 1842, one of the finest of the
instrumental works of Macfarren was completed :
the Symphony in the very unusual key, for the
orchestra, C sharp minor ; which was published
as a pianoforte duet, arranged by the composer, and
dedicated to Mendelssohn. Concerning it, Mendels-
sohn wrote, in a letter to Macfarren, dated " Leipzig,
2nd April, 1843 " :
. ..." I tried to bring out the Symphony in one of our
last \_Gewandhaus] Concerts, but as I suspected when I
first wrote to you, there was some opposition from the
Directors, merely because there had been four new
Symphonies in the course of the last two months, and
they did so much that I was obliged to postpone it until
the beginning of the next season, although it was half
copied already. I am sorry you feel disappointed by the
delay, but it was not in my power to help it. Meanwhile
I must repeat what I said in my first letter if you had
an Overture I am sure it would be a better beginning for
this public and these Concerts, than a Symphony. Ask
Bennett, who knows the place, and will certainly concur in
this opinion. And if you could accordingly let us have an
Overture before the Symphony, I am sure the last would
be much better understood and received by the public, even
88 SYMPHONY IN C SHARP MINOR.
if there had not been such a quantity of new native Sym-
phonies beforehand, as there has been this year."
Then follows the mistaken request for an Overture
to "Rob Roy," which Mendelssohn thought he had
seen, but which was that to " Chevy Chase." And
Mendelssohn continues :
" As for those good friends of yours who think, as you
say, that English music is a thing which cannot be en-
dured in Germany, and that a work of yours would be
here like an apparition of two moons, pray ask them to
wait a few months, before they repeat an opinion equally
creditable to us and to you, or pray tell them in my iiamv
that they are sadly mistaken, and that the event will soon
prove them to be so."
" The event " of the performance of " Chevy
Chase " Overture may have partly proved this mis-
take ; but the Symphony seems never to have been
performed at Leipzig. Xor was it acknowledged in
our own country until the year 1845, when, on the
9th of June, it was performed at a Philharmonic
Concert, under the conductorship of Moscheles ; when,
however, the performance was discreditably indifferent,
and the reception, by the more conservative portion of
the (at that time) very conservative audience, worse
than apathetic : ill-mannered and hostile.
In the "Musical World" of March 17th, 1842,
the duet arrangement of the Symphony was thus
noticed :
" A careful perusal of this work has brought with it
the conviction that, despite its occasional inequalities of
style, despite the few reminiscences of the works of the
1 See page 33.
SYMPHONY IN C SHARP MINOli. 89
great masters which it contains, it is beyond comparison
the most complete and finished composition that has pro-
ceeded from the pen of Mr. Macfarren. The first Allegro
is of a perverse, gloomy, and desponding character. An
abrupt and rugged phrase, or fraction of a phrase, some-
what after the manner of the C minor Symphony of Beet-
hoven, commences and gives the prevailing feeling to the
movement. The progress of this portion of the Symphony
is unimpeded by a single weakness. Anything, however,
rather than an emotion of happiness is engendered by its
performance ; a thorough sentiment of despair pervades
the whole, but since the aid of mawkishness is never once
resorted to, the judgment is unoffended, although the
heart is made to weep. It seems the prevailing custom
among the best modern composers, to exert the wonders of
their art in inciting the saddest possible current of ideas
in the mind of the hearer; as witness the symphonies
and overtures of Spohr, Mendelssohn, and Sterndale
Bennett, after hearing any one of which we feel infinitely
more inclined to walk straight into a river and drown our-
selves than to exclaim, with an ecstasy of delight, ' How
divine an art is music ! ' Mr. Macfarren, in most of his
works, has fallen into the same notion, and usually regales
us with a dose of the dreariest melancholy. . . . There are
so many noble points in this first Allegro of Mr. Mac-
farren' s symphony that we find it impossible to enumerate
them in detail, and must therefore content ourselves with
referring our readers to the text ; doubtless they will not
less vividly appreciate than ourselves the striking points to
which we have thus cursorily alluded. The Andante Can-
tabile in E major, though possessing a rich vein of melody,
and abounding in fine points, is less to our taste than the
preceding being materially less original, and containing
constant indications of the peculiar feeling of Mendelssohn
and Beethoven. Of the minuet and trio we shall decline to
give an opinion, until a hearing of the composer's inten-
tions, as delivered by an orchestra, shall make us enabled
to judge of them with fairness. They depend evidently so
much on instrumental aid for their proper effect, that such
a hearing is absolutely requisite for their right compre-
hension ; but when that is to be Heaven or the Philhar-
90 SYMPHONY IN C SHARP MINOR.
monic can alone inform us ; let us hope it may be ere
long. Perhaps the triumph of the entire Symphony is
achieved by the finale, which is indubitably a noble piece
of impetuous daring. The subject, however, is not alto-
gether original, since it recalls very vividly a passage in
one of the finales of " Don Juan ; " but the management of
the materials is masterly in the extreme, and confirms us
in an opinion which the first movement half engendered,
viz., that this is the best Symphony we have seen from
the hands of a British composer. We have not leisure to
individualize beaiities, or we could fill columns of our
journal. Suffice it to say, that as one concentrated and
single effort it is fully entitled to a place amongst the
happiest inspirations of the acknowledged great masters ;
and would do honour to any existing author."
It is difficult to reconcile the appreciative intelli-
gence that is manifested by this article with the
strange feeling expressed with regard to the sadden-
ing effect of the symphonies of Mendelssohn, Spohr
and Bennett. Moreover, Mendelssohn's symphonies
were hardly before the world at that time ; and only
an early symphony or two of Bennett's had been
produced. It is not improbable, however, that a
certain influence from the reading of Shelley may
have tinged Macfarren's mind, and tended to give
some character to his writings such as that which
is here animadverted on.
In the " Musical Examiner," August 19th, 1843,
appeared this extract from a letter from H. "VV. Ernst,
dated Paris, August 13th, 1843 :
" Mon cher [Davison ?]. Voici quelques mots pour
vous dire que je suis arrive en bonne saute et qu'a peiue
un. peu repose je suis alle porter si Heller les melodies
anglaises que voxis m'avez donnees. Le soir il a joue avec
Halle la Symphonie de Macfarren a 4 mains, et il a ete
SYMPHONY IN C SHARP MINOR. 91
emerveille, et veritablement etonne de n'avoir jamais
entendu parler de lui. II met cette symphonie bien au
dessus de celle de Mendelssohn. II a voulu ajouter lui
meme quelques lignes pour exprimer son admiration.
Halle et moi nous avons eu beaucoup de plaisir encore a
1'entendre une seconde fois ; . . . Mille choses a Macfarren
et remerciments de la part de Heller, de Halle, et de inoi,
de la jouissance qu'il nous a cause par sa symphonie.
Heller, sans lui en faire une reproche, a regrette que le
motif du premier morceau ressemble, un peu, la sym-
phonie en Ut de Beethoven."
And in the same number of the periodical this
notice occurs :
" The Symphony of Mr. Macfarren, though by no means
free from fault, is decidedly the completest, and the most
striking, as well as the most ambitious work that has
proceeded from his pen. The subject of the first move-
ment reminds us, by its abrupt and unmelodic character,
of Beethoven's C minor, and further on, immediately pre-
ceding the first regular forte, there is another reminiscence
(if we may so term it) of the Symphony in F major by the
same composer. The movement as a whole, is, never-
theless, in our judgment, exceedingly fine, and there are
points in it of which no composer need be ashamed ; let
us instance the introduction of the second subject the
forte immediately succeeding the return to the original
motivo the happy management of the singing phrase,
re-introduced in the minor tonic and the noble diatonic
passage in contrary motion towards the close. The slow
movement, in E major, is full of melody, and deliciously
treated, but is less original, reminding us here of Men-
delssohn, there of Beethoven, and seldom of Macfarren
himself consequently it has considerably inferior interest
for us. The minuet, in A flat major, is simple and
imposing, and the trio as fanciful and fantastic as well
may be. The grand feature of the work, however, is the
finale, the merits of which we can scarcely exaggerate,
when we place it by the side of that of Mendelssohn's
92
SYMPHONY IN C SHARP MINOR.
Otetto. The subject, nevertheless, is not original, but
may be found (or something very nearly resembling it) in
the first finale of " Don Juan" but the entire course of
the movement, the headlong rushing of the incessant
stream of semiquavers, the unusual key, the grand effect
after grand effect coming out with unabated vigour and
the overpowering energy of the coda, beginning with a
Allegro con brio.
I
=SB
^^y r"*= : :T i *~
masterly enharmonic modulation from the chord of the
9th on G- sharp, to that of the four-two on A flat, and
dashing on impetuously to the conclusion one and all
of them leave us no time for consideration ; the acknow-
ledgment that genius is at work is wrung from us whether
we will or not, be we prejudiced or impartial ; that genius
is at work and employing all its strength, is mentally
assented to, as the irresistible torrent of the musician's
passionate eloquence is poured out, effortless and unim-
peded by lack of power. This movement alone would
LETTERS FROM MENDELSSOHN. 93
prove Mr. Macfarren to be a composer of very high
pretensions, and we care not who knows that it is our
opinion, for we are not ashamed of it."
The Symphony opens as above : the musical reader
can therefrom judge for himself as to the alleged
suggestion of the C minor Symphony of Beethoven.
Facilities for the production of large works by
English composers were not then as numerous as
now ; or this work could hardly have been " shelved "
and lain unrecognized, uncalled for, all these years.
The following letter from Mendelssohn to Mac-
farren bears date about the time of the dedication of
this Symphony, though not referring immediately to
it:
"London, 10th July, 1842.
" MY DEAR SIR,
" I hoped to come to you and I hoped to see you once
more here and have been disappointed in both ; to-morrow
I must leave England again. I wanted to thank you in
person for your very, very kind letter, and for the pleasure
you gave me by sending me the Album in which I could
inscribe myself amongst the number of your friends. I
send it back to you with these lines and hope my little
song will sometimes remind you of me and ask you not to
forget one who will always be with the greatest esteem and
the best wishes
" Tours very truly,
"FELIX MENDELSSOHN BARTHOLDY."
And the following, of a later date, does refer to the
ultimate return of the Symphony, without having
been performed at Leipzig :
"1, Hobart Place, Eaton Square,
"20th May, 1844.
" DEAR SIR,
" I receive just now your very kind note and thank you
94 INTIMACY WITH D AVISO X.
very much for it, and hasten to tell you that I am sure
they will send in the Leipzic parcel the score of your
Symphony as well as the other music. They asked me
when I was there last whether they could keep some of
the music for next winter, and I said that at any rate, as
they had had it now so long they were to send everything
back to you at present, and might make their arrange-
ments hereafter. So I am sure you will receive everything
very soon ; of all the rest of your letter I hope to speak to
you to-morrow at length."
Mention has been made of Macfarren's intimacy
with James William Davison, whose name, indeed,
was so often coupled with his own, in ordinary
parlance, during the earlier years of his professional
career. Concerning this intimacy, he writes :
" As to Davison ; my most intimate friendship with him
began .... through my borrowing from one to whom
he had lent it, a copy of ' Queen Mab.' From the first.
and always, my father distrusted him, and though circum-
stances and I brought them much together, though he
perceived, and frankly owned, the special abilities of my
loved companion, he was never without apprehension that
this friend was an evil genius to me."
How far the paternal solicitude was justified may
partly be determined by the fact that, as is hinted
above, the friendship partly originated in a common
admiration of Shelley : not, it is believed, merely an
admiration of his poetic genius, but a fervent sympathy
with, almost worship of his personality, his opinions
on religion, and his daring, defiant independence of
life. Probably the religious, or anti-religious, utter-
ances and position of the poet did not so much alarm
the senior Macfarren, though his son writes that
" though never a scoffer, he was as a boy not ortho -
INTIMACY WITH DAY IS ON. 95
dox: " and tbis non-orthodoxy probably characterized
also his manhood, but the extravagances, moral and
otherwise, which seemed to attach to the school of
Shelley-devotees may well have occasioned him some
concern. G. A. Macfarren, J. W. Davison, and some
other ardent young men, seem to have been drawn
together by their common tastes, and to have mani-
fested a certain amiable eccentricity, such as the for-
swearing of animal food, the pursuit of universal
knowledge, and so on. This vegetarian diet probably
injured the constitution of Macfarren, who was never
robust. It has been related that he was once " the
embarrassed recipient of a salmon which no one
would take off his hands/' What young man, with
any aspiration, any romance, any inborn energy, has
not formed resolutions, conceived more or less wild
plans, of individuality in living, especially, moreover,
when the tender passion has kindled irrepressible
emotional longings, which the stern realities of life,
the sobering influences of maturer life, and the reason-
able gratification of natural longings, have sufficed to
moderate ; but which have imparted zest and interest
to the period of early struggle ?
Years afterwards, Macfarren wrote thus concerning
his friend Davison (with whom, however, he was by
no means so intimate, latterly, as in early life) ; after
speaking of his Sonata and lighter pieces for the
pianoforte:
" His esteem as a composer more justly rests upon his
sougs, many of_ which the series entitled ' Vocal Illustra-
tions of Shelley," especially are marked by an originality
of thought, a command of technicalities, and a depth of
feeling which attest no less his musicianship than his
96 MACFARREN ON DAY IS ON.
poetical perception. His very extensive literary attain-
ments and his love of music combined to induce an in-
clination to writing on this art, and he was for several
years an occasional contributor to various journals in
London. In 1842, and the following year, he published
the ' Musical Examiner,' a weekly periodical, of which he
was the sole author. In 1843, on the death of Mr. Mae-
farren [the father of Gr. A. M.], he became the proprietor
of the ' Musical World.' ... In 1846 he was appointed
musical critic on the ' Times ' newspaper, and it is in the
fulfilment of this office that his best claims to considera-
tion are founded. . . . With a large amount of technical
knowledge, a considerable artistic experience, and with a
genuine love for the theme, Mr. Davison entered upon this
task in a spirit that had never before been brought to bear
upon it. The field in which he exercises his pre-eminent
qualifications is so extensive as to give him an almost
unlimited influence ; his eloquent writing has not only
raised the standard of our musical literature immeasurably
above its previous level, but has formed one, by no means
the least important, of the many powerful means which
have induced the prodigious progress of music in this
country. There are certainly men who mean well to
music, and who differ from the opinions he expresses ; but
this is not always a testimony against the truth of his
judgments, and never against their sincerity. There never
was a censor who was infallible, and it is one of the
specialities of art-judgment that it depends on the taste,
no less than the erudition of the critic. It is by the
general tendency of his writings and by their effect, and
not by the particular discussion of accidental works, that
their high value is to be appreciated ; and this will be best
proved by a comparison of the past and present state of
music in England. During his literary avocations he has
still pursued his original profession ; and in his teaching
of Miss Arabella Goddard he has evinced his rare ability
as a master of the pianoforte." " Imperial Dictionary of
Universal Biography."
The musical public are sufficiently acquainted with
CONCERTS WITH DAVIS ON. 97
the subsequent career of this distinguished critic, to
render its further record here quite unnecessary. His
association with Macfarren in concert-giving will be
related further on.
In the year 1843, at a concert by the Society of
British Musicians, a String Quartet in A, by Macfarren,
was performed by Messrs. J. H. B. Dando (still living,
1890), J. W. Thirlwall, Willy, and my father, H. J.
Banister ; and this was declared to be " one of the best
works that have proceeded from his pen. The first
movement is sublime the scherzo strikingly fanciful
and original the andante pretty and melodious the
finale irresistibly exciting. The style is perfectly in-
dividual Macfarren all over as any one acquainted
with the music of this clever composer must imme-
diately admit." It was again performed at a morning
performance by the same Society, to which Spohr was
invited, July 20th of the same year.
On the 4th of the same month, a song by Mac-
farren, ' ' I/ultime parole d'amour," was sung by Signor
Giubilei at a matinee given in the Hanover Square
Rooms by the precocious and alas ! short-lived
young pianist, Charles Filtsch.
In the same year, Macfarren joined this intimate
friend, J. W. Davison, in giving a series of three
Chamber Concerts, at Messrs. ChappelFs Rooms, in
Xew Bond Street, during the months of March and
April; the first taking place on the 9th of March.
The programmes both of this series, and a second
series in 1844, were largely made up of works by the
two concert-givers ; which, unreasonably enough,
caused some animadversion, whereas justifiable self-
Musical Examiner," Jan. 7th, 1843.
H
98 DEATH OF MACFARREN, SENIOR.
assertion, and publicity, not money-making, -were, not
unavowedly, the very objects in view. Macfarren's
Pianoforte Sonatas in E flat and A major were per-
formed by W. H. Holmes; and his highly intellectual
and interesting series of four songs to words from
Lane's translation of the " Arabian Nights' Enter-
tainments " were also first sung, by Miss Marshall
and Miss Dolby. Another most interesting incident,
however, was the first performance in this country of
Mendelssohn's Trio in D minor, by Sterndale Bennett,
Henry G. Blagrove, and Charles Lucas. These songs,
from the " Story of Alee and Shems en Nahar," are en-
titled respectively "The Transport of a Bedaweeyeh,"
a plaintive song in A minor ; " Many a one laugheth
at my tears," in G major, full of gentle pathos ; " Se-
paration," in D minor, full of hushed passion ; and
" Many a one hath invited me to love," no less
interesting, with more florid accompaniment. They
were termed "exquisite gushes of the misery and
despondency of love," " nothing superior to them in
the whole range of German song-writing : " " Men-
delssohn himself would not have treated the burning
words which the music illustrates with more intensity,
pathos, and elegance."
Just after the last of these concerts, Macfarren
sustained the severe loss of his father, who died in
Castle Street, Leicester Square, April 24th, 1843, in
his fifty-fifth year. Besides the grief at the severance,
on natural grounds, this was a great blow to our com-
poser, as his father had been his valued literary col-
laboraieur for years, and Macfarren had now to seek
literary aid elsewhere. He was fortunate, as will be
1 " Morning HeraH. "
SECOND SERIES OF CONCERTS. 99
seen, in securing that of the late John Oxen-
ford.
The attendance at the first series of concerts being
very encouraging, a second series, in the following
year, was held in the concert-room in the rear of the
Princess's Theatre ; the first taking place on the 26th
of April, 1844, and being signalized by the first public
performance of one of the most esteemed of Macfarren's
Chamber compositions, the fine Quintet in G minor for
pianoforte, violin, viola, violoncello, and double-bass ;
the performers being Messrs. William Dorrell, Goffrie,
Henry Hill, Lucas, and Charles Severn. The Quartet
in A was also performed ; and H. R. Allen sang Mac-
farren's aria, " Ah ! non lasciarmi no." The Quintet
was written expressly on commission for an enthu-
siastic amateur contrabassist, George Perkins, Esq.,
recently [1889] deceased. "When the composer took
the work to his patron, the sum agreed upon was
cheerfully paid; but the remark was made that he
doubted whether any double-bass player could execute
the difficult part assigned to the instrument in the
Quintet. Respecting the origin of this work, Mr.
F. W. Davenport has written the following interesting
particulars, preceding an exhaustive analysis :
" Like many other works that have achieved distinction
or popularity, the above owes its origin to an accident.
During the rehearsal of another work by our composer, a
gentleman was introduced to the company by a mutual
friend, Mr. Brinley Richards, who, besides being an enthu-
siastic amateur, had acquired some skill as a player on the
double-bass. The immediate business of the moment was
thus interrupted, somewhat to the annoyance of those con-
cerned in it. Shortly after taking his leave, feeling perhaps
that he could gracefully make amends, and pay a comph'-
100 QUINTET IN G MINOR.
ment into the bargain, the visitor commissioned Sir George
Macfarren to write a composition for the chamber, which
should include among the instruments in the score that
upon which he himself was in the habit of performing.
The present work was the result, and was written in the
course of the last three Sundays of December, 1843. The
kindly-disposed patron of our art himself, maybe from a
feeling of modesty, never played the part that was written
for him ; but his name will be always associated with the
work, through his kindly instigation of it, and its dedica-
tion to him on the title-page. The first performance took
place early in the following year (1844), at a concert given
by the composer and Mr. J. W. Davison, in London, and
since that date it has been frequently included in metro-
politan and provincial programmes. On one occasion,
Madame Arabella Goddard and Signer Bottesini played
the pianoforte and double bass parts, and on another, in
the rooms of the composer in Berners Street, Mendelssohn,
with his usual insight and facility, astonished the company
by his marvellous reading of it from the MS. score."
At the second concert of this series, May 17th,
1844, the new work was the " Romance and Allegro
con fuoco " in E minor, for pianoforte, violin, and
violoncello, composed expressly for Madame Dulcken,
and played by her, E. W. Thomas (known as " Taffy
Thomas"), and Lucas. The plan of the work, con-
sisting of only two movements, was suggested by
Madame Dulcken herself; and she had, indeed, pre-
viously played it at a Chamber Concert of her own,
earlier in this same year. It was published in the
following year.
On this occasion also, the (at that time) somewhat
bold experiment was made of performing Beethoven's
C sharp minor posthumous Quartet, the first violin
part being taken by H. W. Ernst. I remember the
occasion well, having sat by Dr. Day, and been some-
TRIO IN E MINOR. 101
what astonished to hear him express his non-relish of
the Quartet.
Mendelssohn was present ; and the six songs just
dedicated by him to Miss Dolby were sung by her
and Miss Marshall, in alternation ; the latter evincing
considerable nervousness, partly, I believe, on account
of some physical disability for the particular task
assigned to her, and additionally on account of the
presence of the composer.
The Trio referred to above was somewhat strangely
neglected for a number of years strangely, not only
because of the interest of the music, but also because,
being comparatively short, it was available for per-
formance on occasions when a longer work was
undesirable which was Madame Dulcken's inten-
tion. The credit of reviving the work belongs
to Mr. Ernest Kiver, who played it at his con-
cert, April 27th, 1887, in presence of the com-
poser, who sat by me on the occasion. Macfarren's
account of the work is given in a letter to Mr. Kiver,
March 25th :
"The plan of the Trio was suggested by Madame
Dulcken, the once deservedly popular pianiste, and the
work was first played by her at one of her chamber con-
certs in the spring of 1844 ; it was printed in 1845."
It is both just and pleasurable to insert, in addition,
the following letter to Mr. Kiver, furnishing, moreover,
an instance of the kind appreciativeness which Mac-
farren was so ready to express towards rising artists,
and his sense of any attention or honour paid to him-
self an appreciativeness which continued to the end ;
for this letter was among the latest of many such which
102 LETTER FROM MENDELSSOHN.
he wrote, bearing date less than six months before his
death :
"7, Hamilton Terrace, N.W.
"May nth, 1887.
" MY DEAR KlVER,
" I have been remiss in not sooner telling you, as I have
all along wished for time to do, that I was greatly pleased
with your performance at your concert, and I now thank
you for the pains you spent upon my old Trio, and for the
capital result. I earnestly wish that this occasion may
help with others in which your merit has been evinced to
establish you in your profession, and I shall be very glad
if you will ever give me opportunity to further your
interests.
" You must not forget your promise to lend me your
copy of the Trio, for the sake of the corrections, but this
may be kept at any time most convenient to you, since the
faults that have been accepted for forty years, cannot do
much more mischief in a week or two.
" Tours with kind regards and best wishes,
" G. A. MACFARREN."
At the third concert, W. H. Holmes was to have
played Macfarren's Second Solo Sonata, " Ma Cousine,"
in A major ; but illness prevented him from doing so.
Macfarren requested Mendelssohn to play it, as he was
to play his Trio in D minor, but received the following
letter of apology :
"4, Hobart Place, Eaton Square.
" June 6th, 1844.
" MY DEAR SIR,
" I need not tell you with how great a pleasure I would
have played your Sonata to-morrow, if I possibly could
for I hope you know this. And you also know that it is
with true and sincere regret that I must say I am not
able to undertake the task which you propose me. During
the bustle of the last weeks I have not yet been able to
become acquainted with your Sonata ; the whole of this
JOSEPH JOACHIM. 103
day and of to-morrow morning is taken up with different
musical and unmusical engagements, and accordingly I
would hardly have an hour till to-morrow night to play
your Sonata over. This I cannot think sufficient, and I
would not be able to do it justice in my own eyes. Do not
misunderstand me and take this for false modesty ; I know
very well that I should be able to-morrow to play it
through without stopping, and perhaps without wrong
notes ; but I attach too much importance to any public
performance to believe that sufficient, and unless I am
myself thoroughly acquainted with a composition of such
importance and compass, I would never venture to play it
iu public. Once more I need not tell you how much I
regret it, for you must know it very well.
"Mr. Davison told me the Concert was now to begin with
my Trio [in D minor : Op. 49] : I shall therefore be punctually
with you to-morrow evening at half-past eight. I beg you
will arrange about having a good piano of Erard's at the
room ; they know there already which I like best.
"Always very sincerely yours,
"FELIX MENDELSSOHN BARTHOLDY."
Mendelssohn was joined, at this performance, by
Joseph Joachim and Hausmann. During this year,
Joachim, then a lad, received composition lessons from
Macfarren, to whom, as I have heard him say, he was
indebted for his first instructions in the art of writing
for an orchestra. His visit to this country, in that
year, created a great sensation ; and his performances
at Macfarren and Davison's concerts formed an attrac-
tive feature.
At this third concert, Miss Rainforth sang a
" Spinnelied " from "Faust/' by Macfarren, described
as of " tristful quaintness, a melody which follows with
true sentiment the varied passion of the poetry, in all
respects worthy to be its companion."
Another fine song of Macfarren'g, belonging to
104 "0 WORLD! O LIFE! O TIME!"
this period, is the rhapsody, " world ! life !
time ! " which the ' ' Atlas " newspaper declared to
be
" Altogether one of the most remarkable songs we have
seen. From its opening amid the profoundest despondency,
through all its vary ing shades of sentiment, down to the chill-
ing and hopeless gloom of its close, it is filled with testimonies
to the intellectuality of the true musician's art. Music must
needs be metaphysical that follows up, seizes on, and incor-
porates itself with the thoughts of such a poet as Shelley ;
yet all this does this song in perfection. But few things
in modern song-writing will bear comparison with the ex-
pression of the half-stifled hope in the line, ' When will return
the glory of your prime ? ' by the grand and unexpected
modulation to D major; or the rendering of the withering
self -reply, ' No more! no more! ' increasing in fervour with
every repetition, until the climax of mental suffering seems
attained in the unisonous passage that regains the tonic,
and, in its course, involves that acutest of the musician's
expressions of pain, the ascent of the diminished fourth.
An enharmonic transition now conducts to a reposeful and
lovely melody in D flat major, to the words, ' Out of the
day and night a joy has taken flight.' This is interrupted
by a recurrence of the poet's thoughts to their gloomy
outset, and the musician, faithful to every turn of feeling
he essays to depict, parallelizes this relinquishment of
fancied happiness, and by a most masterly manoeuvre of
harmony reverts to the stern severity of his first tonic,
F sharp minor, and to his rendering of the poet's 'No more,
O never more ! ' but, in this case, expanded over the entire
surface of his last page, and wrought to its close with a
chilling power of effect, of which we scarcely know a com-
parable instance. On the whole, we do not hesitate to
pronounce this one of the most extraordinary songs in any
language."
CHAPTER VI.
MACFARREN'S THEORETICAL VIEWS AND WRITINGS.
DR. DAY'S THEORY. 1838, ETC.
SOME time prior to the year 1838, Macfarren first
became acquainted with Dr. Alfred Day, 1 homoeo-
pathic physician [1810-1849] : an acquaintanceship
which in that year " ripened into intimacy." This
intimacy had such momentous results with regard to
his own theoretical views, and, by consequence, his
attitude towards previous and contemporary systems
of harmony, as well, it must surely be said, upon
his own composition ; and moreover, his name became
so identified with the system which he, against his
predilections, was compelled to adopt, espouse, and
defend, so as to render him its apostle and champion,
that it becomes necessary to treat of the whole sub-
ject at some length. It has been customary to regard
Macfarren as dogmatically obstinate, especially be-
cause of tho persistency with which he enunciated
and upheld his theoretical opinions. But this will
ever be the fate of men who think out a subject
thoroughly, and, having thought to a definite con-
clusion, enunciate that definite conclusion without
hesitation, reserve, or concession. And especially
2 See chapter iii. page 80.
106 ALFRED DAY.
unyielding will such a man be, when the very preci-
sion and persuadedness of his views result from his
having arrived at them by himself yielding, not-
withstanding old-standing prejudices. There is, un-
doubtedly, a tone of finality, as of " one having
authority," about Macfarren's theoretical writings;
and that is justly to be characterized as dogmatic. But
Macfarren's contention would have been that, in in-
structing learners, it is the teacher's function to lay
down the law, to enunciate the truth, and that with-
out wavering. Macfarren himself was "fully persuaded
in his own mind " : it is not fair to characterize that
persuasion as prejudice, when it was the issue of
painstaking consideration. Prejudice is judgment that
precedes evidence. Conviction is judgment after
weighing evidence.
Macfarren himself writes, concerning Alfred Day:
"His early predilection for music was opposed by his
father, who devoted him to the profession of medicine.
He studied in the schools of London and Paris, obtained
his diploma at Heidelberg, and practised in London as a
homoeopathist. His father's hindrance of his pursuit of
music prevented his acquiring any practical facility in the
art, but could not check his interest in it, and he indulged
accordingly in theoretical investigation. His only instructor
was W. H. Kearns ; but his familiar intercourse with
several of the most talented musicians of his own age gave
him constant opportunity of study. He conceived a theory
of harmony that justifies, upon fundamental principles,
many of the beautiful exceptions from conventional rules
that adorn the works of the great composers. He spent
several years in maturing his system, and gave it to the
world in his 'Treatise on Harmony,' in 1845. The lucid
distinction between the laws of the ancient, or strict, or dia-
tonic school, and those of the modern, or free, or chromatic;
the regular and comprehensive manner in which these are
CONFERENCES WITH DP. DAY. 107
severally defined ; and the original and coherent explanation
of the specialities of chromatic harmony are all novelties
in this very remarkable work, which, on that account, have
been barriers to its immediate acceptation. But the clear-
ness with which this system unfolds the subject, is such as
to give at once greater confidence and greater scope to the
student than any theoretical work in existence ; and its
value is acknowledged by those who have carefully and
candidly stxidied its principles. The peculiarity of mind
which led him to reject established codes, both in medicine
and in music, led him also to observe every other object
from a novel aspect ; and his singular genius amused itself
in devising improvements in many mechanical inventions,
few of which, however, with all the ingenuity they evince,
have come into use." (" Imperial Dictionary of Universal
Biography.")
In agreement with one remark in the above extract
was an observation made by Macfarren to myself, in
conversation about the theory: "Think how much
you will enlarge your power and freedom in your own
writing by remembering that these various resolutions
are within your scope " referring to the chromatic
resolutions of the minor 9th, etc.
About the period above specified, Macfarren
used to go over to Brixton to spend as many even-
ings as he could spare with Dr. Alfred Day, for the
discussion of his views on Harmony. The history
of those conferences is thus briefly related by Mac-
farren himself: "He [Alfred Day] then propounded
to me his theory of harmony, which I combated point
by point, as each point differed from views I had
hitherto learned, and every opposing argument suc-
cessively fell under the convincing weight of his novel
principles." Thus, Macfarren's views were revolu-
tionized; and that, as has been already hinted, by
108 DAY'S TREATISE ON HARMONY.
yielding his old prejudices or views. He goes on to
relate how he persuaded Day to commit his views to
paper, which was reluctantly, slowly, and with great
difficulty accomplished ; the amateur author reading
the chapters to his professional friend as the work
proceeded, for the benefit of such practical advice as
one actually engaged in teaching might fairly be pre-
sumed to be able to offer. At length, in 1845, Day's
" Treatise on Harmony " was published ; and to the
preface was appended a letter of recommendation, or
rather of acquiescence, from Macfarren, in which he
makes the acknowledgment :
" I am happy to own that in becoming acquainted with
your principles, I found my ideas of the resources of Har-
mony greatly to expand ; and my facility and confidence in
the practical application of them is now much greater than
I believe it could possibly be, had I not the advantage of
the peculiar view of the subject which is opened by your
new System; above all, I am gratified by it, insomuch as
I find in it an explanation of and a rule for many of the
greatest beauties of the best masters, which formerly ap-
peared to violate all the rules of music, and which were
sanctioned as the unaccountable aberrations of genius, but
which could only be imitated to be plagiarized. In the
second place, since I have become familiar with your
System, feeling as I have done that it was true, and that
as Truth is single, so none but yours could be true, I have
taught upon it, and have found it most easily compre-
hended by pupils who had no foreknowledge of the subject;
and by those who have come to me with a small acquain-
tance with other works, it has been admitted to explain
many points of Harmony, which had been to them before
quite unintelligible. It is a Theory, in my opinion, of
peculiar advantage to the student, as comprising the laws
of counterpoint with all those of the chromatic or free
style ; and, for the first time to my knowledge, distinguish-
ing between these very dissimilar schools of harmony."
MACFARREN AND THE DAY THEORY. 109
The letter from which the above is an extract is
dated "73, Berners Street, July 12th, 1845," the house
being at the corner of Oxford Street. Some friends
wondered at a musician, especially a composer,
choosing to reside in so crowded a thoroughfare.
Macfarren's explanation was that he could sooner
accustom himself to write against the wholly un-
musical noise of cart-wheels, than against that of the
barrel-organs and brass bands which infest so-called
" quiet streets." I was a frequent visitor to that
house during the residence of the Macfarren family
therein.
With reference to the remark in this letter about
" the peculiar view of the subject which is opened by
your new System/' it is curious to remember how
often Macfarren would, so to speak, ignore the fact
of any peculiarity or novelty about the "view" or
" System " which he advocated. When he was
examining one of the elementary classes at the Royal
Academy of Music, the Sub-Professor who had charge
of the class interposed, after one of the questions,
" Will you mind asking according to the more usual
view and terminology ? " to which the immediate
rejoinder came, "You are the first that ever intimated
that there was anything unusual in my view of the
subject ; " although the phraseology was undeniably
the outcome of the particular theory held by the
questioner. And, on another occasion, when he asked
a young lady-student the notation of the chromatic
scale, one of the salient points in which the Day
theory differs from ordinary usage, she began her
reply, less warily than truly, "Well, there are two
different ways in which it is noted," and then began
110 UNCOMPROMISING VIEWS.
by giving the "Day" notation; upon which Macfarren
abruptly stopped her, saying, " I know of no other
way, and advise you to keep to that " : ignoring the
undeniable fact that, right or wrong, another notation
is (to put it mildly) , frequent in the works of acknow-
ledged composers, as well as in books of instruction.
In saying " Truth is single, so none but [your
system] could be true," Macfarren perhaps hardly
attached sufficient weight to the axiom " Truth is
many-sided ; " although that axiom may often be used
to cover laxity, neology, or latitudinarianism. But he
held by that principle, commencing the preface to his
" Rudiments " with the sentence, " This book pre-
sents the truth, and nothing but the truth, though
not the whole truth, on the boundless subject of which
it treats/' And again, in the concluding lecture of
his " Six Lectures on Harmony," he re-asseverates :
" Truth is single. This Spenser has pointedly symbolized
in naming his heroine, who is the personification of verity.
A notable evidence, then, of the truth of Alfred Day's
theory of harmony, is that perfect unity prevails through-
out it ; and in this respect it differs from every other of
the many I have studied."
And, in the introductory lecture :
" I am indeed so thoroughly convinced of the truth of
Day's theory, and I have derived such infinite advantage
from its knowledge in my own practical musicianship, that
I should be dishonest to myself and to my hearers were I
to pretend to teach any other."
And in his "Musical History," page 136, he
states :
" As a summary of all the precept and example that has
RE-ITERATION OF VIEWS. Ill
been cited in the survey of the centuries, let the writer
state his convictions on musical theory, which are, that the
" Treatise on Harmony " by Alfred Day comprehends
whatever is practically available, and reconciles the pre-
viously apparent discrepancies between principle and use.
The author now cited was the first to classify the
ancient, strict, uniform, diatonic, contrapuntal style, apart
from the modern, free, exceptive, chromatic, massive style,
to separate the principles that guide the one, from the laws
that control the other, and to place a subject that is at
once sublime and beautiful in a light of unfailing clear-
ness. He showed that one or another beautiful chord and
the progressions thence were not capricious violations of
rule, permissible to genius though unallowable to ordinary
writers ; he showed that such things were acceptable, not
only because great masters had written them, and so small
writers might repeat the trespass ; he proved this by
demonstrating the self-perfection of the ancient canon, and
the also perfect modern system that rests on a basis totally
distinct from that of the other."
Yet once more, Macfarren concludes the Introduc-
tion to his " Eighty Musical Sentences " thus :
" The author is happy to issue this publication as a con-
fession of musical faith, avowing implicit belief in the
harmonic theory on which it is based, and thorough con-
viction that the theory accounts for everything that is
beautiful, and guards against what is unsatisfactory in
musical combination and progression."
These last extracts, moreover, re-assert and em-
phasize his averment in the above letter to Day con-
cerning the light thrown by the theory on the practice
of the best masters ; always a strong contention in its
favour, urged by its upholders. An incident may
here be related, however, illustrating Macfarren's
" singular openness to conviction," so justly acknow-
ledged by the pupil who furnishes it, and in whose
112 OPENNESS TO CONVICTION.
words I give it. <c Owing to his refusal to accept as
valid the explanation I offered according to Day of
certain chromatic chords which I contended were in
the key, and his admission of a chord which he frankly
admitted he could not account for by Day's theory,
saying, 'Here I must own Day breaks down,' I, in con-
junction with another, prepared an extremely revolu-
tionary ' extension ' of Day's theory, which I took an
opportunity of submitting to him privately. He heard
me with the utmost patience, and refused to give an
.opinion on the matter, but, reserving judgment, took
more than a week to consider it ; and when he found
himself compelled to dissent, did so with the utmost
courtesy and consideration ; and that, though he had
been wedded to a theory for half a century/'
It must have been soon after the publication, in
1845, of Day's " Treatise," which was " received
worse than coldly by the heads of the musical profes-
sion " ' ' was denounced by the chief musicians in
London, and a single believer [Macfarren himself]
for some time alone maintained and taught its
enlightened views," that the attention of the
" authorities " at the Royal Academy was inevitably
directed to the fact that Macfarren was teaching his
classes "new-fangled notions," unorthodox here-
sies, and using a new book. Quite justifiably, the
matter was duly inquired into : nothing peremptory,
inconsiderate, or disregardful of one whose musician-
ship was so deservedly recognised, and who was so
highly esteemed personally, was to be looked for from
such men as the then Principal, Cipriani Potter ; but
Macfarren was invited to discuss the questions in
dispute, with the other harmony professors of the insti-
RE SIGNS ACADEMY PROFESSORSHIP. 113
tution. A meeting was held a " round-table "
conference at which, besides the Principal, Sterndale
Bennett, Sir Henry R. Bishop, John Goss, and
Charles Lucas were present; and a lively discussion
ensued. Macfarren was probably better equipped for
dialectics than his opponents, from his own experi-
ence in his original antagonism to Day. He was
outweighed, outnumbered, but not, as he believed,
outwitted ; and, refusing to succumb by teaching
contrary to his convictions, felt bound in honesty to
resign his appointment much to the regret, doubtless,
of his colleagues. But he never wavered was no
time-server, but bided his time, which came later on.
Before long, better counsels prevailed; not the
acceptance of Day's theory, but the wise persuasion
that it was better to have a musician of unquestioned
competence and power to teach that which he believed
from his own out- thinking, than that any old traditions
should be so stereotyped in an educational system or
curriculum as to bar all free thought, and to alienate
from the institution one whose worth was so fully
recognized. In 1851 Macfarren resumed his profes-
sional work at the Royal Academy at the instance of
Cipriani Potter, his own old teacher, who said to him,
" Come back and teach anything you please."
In the " Musical World," March 10th, 1849, an
article on Day's theory, expository and defensive,
appeared, signed "M.," and bearing internal evidence
of being written by Macfarren.
As time went on the system gained adherents, even
amidst the strenuous opposition which it still encoun-
tered. One of its most determined opponents even
said to me, concerning Day's book, " If you read it,
114 "RUDIMENTS OF HARMONY."
you will find that it will set you thinking about com-
binations and progressions which you have not been
accustomed to consider, and will be suggestive, and
enlarge your views," or words to that effect. At all
events, Macfarren continued to gain respect for his
sturdy independence ; and the numerous pupils indoc-
trinated by him were an attached band of devotees.
But an impression prevailed, I think, that the new
doctrines were as obscure and difficult of apprehen-
sion as they were doubtful ; at all events, Day's own
book was so considered. Accordingly, Macfarren was
urged to embody the principles that he was teaching
in such a form as to render them available for tuition.
Day's book was a "treatise" an exposition, and that,
moreover, in apologetic or even polemic manner, of
an unfamiliar theory, and, not including any exer-
cises, was wholly unadapted for teaching purposes.
Therefore, in compliance with the desire so expressed,
Macfarren prepared his " Rudiments of Harmony/'
which was published in 1860. His aim was to pro-
vide l< a book of less extent and smaller price than
Day's 'Treatise/ wherein rules should be stated, but no
arguments given for their support, wherein the points
of least frequent application should be omitted, and
wherein a series of illustrative exercises should be
included for practical service to the student." This
book, therefore, instead of being a treatise, is a class-
book or lesson-book. And this should in fairness
be borne in mind as accounting for the uncompro-
misingly dogmatic tone of the book, which appears in
the already- quoted first sentence of its preface. Mac-
farren's purpose was didactic, not polemic. He was,
at the time of its preparation, reinstated as a professor
" RUDIMENTS OF HARMONY." 115
at the Royal Academy; the weight of his opinions
was acknowledged, even though those opinions were
dissented from ; he was tacitly regarded as one who
had a right to be an epoch-maker, and there was now
no doubt that his book, and the system on which it
was founded, had to be reckoned with in theoretical
education.
In the " Rudiments," however, Macfarren departed
from the new method introduced by Day of figuring
basses, " for the sake of avoiding a possible, if only
imaginary, obstacle to the acceptance of " his theory
of harmony. This departure, however, was not to be
" interpreted as an admission of its impracticability,
but as a concession to established habit, if not to pre-
judice." Macfarren was accustomed to designate as
" misleading " the method of figuring ordinarily
adopted in " Thorough-bass." That which he advo-
cated was the figuring from the root of the chord,
with alphabetical indications as to which position or
inversion was used.
The disciplinarian character of his mind was evinced
in this book by the framing of rules and exceptions in
abundance, requiring considerable exercise of discern-
ing memory on the part of the student, little
discretionary latitude being allowed him. This method
of teaching was characteristic of Macfarren, I think,
all along his professional course. Pupils of a restive,
erratic, or independent temperament chafed somewhat
under the almost numberless restrictions which, as it
seemed to them, curbed them on every hand. Some
pupils, indeed, did more than chafe; or rather,
escaped from the chafing by defiance, not disrespect-
ful or mutinous, but self-assertive; they struck for
116 LECTURES AT ROYAL INSTITUTION.
liberty. This was especially the case when they began
to compose, or, perhaps, later on than at the beginning,
saying, "I like this, and mean to have it so." All
teachers are familiar with this class of ' ' free-lances ; "
perhaps Macfarren's rigidity was somewhat likely to
rouse a little of such a spirit where it was latent. But
it is impossible not to admire the ingenuity with
which Macfarren' s rules, and even more his exceptions,
were devised and framed to meet, as it would seem,
every case likely to arise. In a subsequent edition of
the "Rudiments," a fresh batch of exceptions was
added in the form of an appendix.
A further opportunity was accorded to Macfarren
of enunciating and enforcing his theoretical views by
the invitation given him, in 1867, to deliver a course
of " Six Lectures on Harmony " at the Royal Institu-
tion of Great Britain an invitation which was mainly
due to the good offices of his " early friend/' the
esteemed professor, Mr. G. A. Osborne.
Macfarren was waiting in a music- warehouse in Bond
Street, when Mr. Osborne came in ; and, conversation
turning upon these theoretical matters, Macfarren ex-
pressed his desire to lecture, in exposition of his views,
at the Royal Institution. He was unaware that his
old friend had any influence in the matter ; but such
was the case, and Mr. Osborne, finding that Macfarren
was remaining some time in that meeting-place, asked
him not to leave till his return, and hastened to the
Royal Institution and had an interview with Dr. Bence
Jones, the secretary. Returning to Bond Street, he
was able to say, " Macfarren, your lectures will be
welcome ; terms will be satisfactory, and there will be
prospect of the lectures being published." Macfarren
DAY AND MENDELSSOHN. 117
told me that he would never again go through the
anxiety of bringing lectures within exact compass of
time, to be indicated relentlessly by a clock-bell, at the
sound of which the audience were all to rise and
depart, regardless of the finish or non-finish of the
lecture.
These lectures when published were characterized
by a writer who was opposed to the theory therein
expounded, as forming, nevertheless, " one of the most
interesting volumes ever written on musical theory."
In them Macfarren was not the rule-maker, but the
expounder and the illustrator, and was apologetic by
means of exposition and illustration. He availed him-
self of the opportunity to justify his contention that,
all along, the works of the great Masters exemplified
the principles of which he had been the unflinching
advocate ; that however " new in theory/' as Day had
observed, these principles were " old in practice ; "
that by them "many discrepancies of principle and
practice were reconciled between the writings of pro-
found teachers and the works of the great Masters/'
One great Master, indeed, Dr. Day sought to enlist
as an adherent Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. He
prevailed on Macfarren to arrange a meeting with the
Master, that he might have an opportunity of ex-
pounding the theory, and indoctrinating Mendelssohn
therewith. The meeting took place at Macfarren's
residence ; but, he told me, before Dr. Day had pro-
ceeded far with his argumentative exposition, the face
of Mendelssohn assumed an expression so suggestive
of his having taken a dose of nauseous medicine, that,
to avoid a scene, Macfarren was compelled to bring
the discussion to an abrupt, if not untimely, end. His
118 MACFAEREN EDITS DAYS BOOK.
explanation was that Mendelssohn was so opposed to
theorizing about the beautiful art which he so en-
riched by his productions, not that he rejected Dr.
Day's theories in themselves. Anyhow, Day had
evidently reckoned not, indeed, without his host
but without calculating the temper of his host's dis-
tinguished guest. As Macfarren remarks, in his
biographical sketch in the "Imperial Dictionary of
Biography " : " [Mendelssohn] had the strongest
aversion to pedantry, and detested theoretical discus-
sions, as being the cause, if not the result, of pedantic
feeling/'
In 1885, Day's original " Treatise " being out of
print, forty years after its publication ! it was
deemed desirable to issue a new edition. Naturally,
Macfarren was engaged to supervise this re-issue ;
and the second edition was published with an interest-
ing preface by the editor, giving an account of its
original production, a summary of the theory itself,
some reply to objections, and a statement as to wherein
the second edition was different from the first, and on
what authority the alterations were made. With one
exception, these alterations might be said to be made
on Day's own authority, inasmuch as he had given
Macfarren an interleaved copy of the original book,
with the request that he would make memoranda of
such modifications, in phraseology or otherwise, as
" daily observation of the working of the system," in
actual teaching, might suggest as desirable. This
Macfarren did, and discussed all his suggestions with
Day, with the result that they were all accepted fully
by him, till his death in 1849. Such modifications as
occurred to Macfarren subsequently, as the result of,
MACFARREN'S EDITION OF DAY. 119
or during, thirty-six years' experience, were given in
an appendix ; those approved by Day were incor-
porated in the text. The one exception above referred
to consisted in the omission of an intermediate chapter
between the first and second parts of Day's book, on
" Diatonic Free Music/' which Macfarren considered
" redundant if not confusing." While he fully en-
dorsed, and considered an important speciality, as one
of the foundations of Day's system
" the very broad, but not universally recognized distinc-
tions between the ancient, strict, uniform, diatonic, arti-
ficial, or contrapuntal style of harmony, comprised in what
may be called archaic art in music ; and the modern, free,
exceptive, chromatic, natural, massive, or harmonic style of
harmony, comprised in the living art of our own times ; "
yet he acknowledged that " the twilight between the pre-
valence of the ancient and modern styles in music has so
many examples of each, the strict and the free so con-
tinually overlap each other in the music produced through-
out what may be assumed as the transition period, that to
date the dawning of the one or the setting of the other
is impossible."
The present being a biographical, not a theoretical
or polemical work, any full exposition of, or argument
concerning, the system of harmony espoused by the
subject of this memoir, and so staunchly and ably
advocated by him, so that his name has become inse-
parably identified with it, would be out of place. The
broad distinction between the diatonic and chromatic
styles, just adverted to, lay at its threshold; and with
that distinction, a separate set of rules for each style.
In connection with the chromatic style, the initial
novelty was that which was termed by Macfarren
" Alfred Day's beautiful theory, which identifies with
120 POINTS OF DAY'S THEORY.
every key the twelve notes of its chromatic scale, and
proves that, as concords or as discords, they are all
essential to the tonality." And, as a corollary of this
theory, the notation of the chromatic scale referred to
above, founded on the combined major and minor
scales on the tonic. And, still further, in connection
with this recognition of the notes of the chromatic
scale as integral to the key, was the recognition of
fundamental chromatic chords the roots assigned for
fundamental discords being the dominant, the tonic,
and the supertonic. Many and various additional
collateral differences of view, usage, and notation
were connected with and resultant from these essential
points, to illustrate which would require much music
type and much space for explanation. Even the
summary given, without music type, in Macfarren's
"Six Lectures" (p. 214 et seq.) , occupies a few pages;
as does a similar summary in his " Musical History "
(p. 136 et seq.). Another summary, with music type,
is given in my " Text-book of Music," Appendix I.
(later editions) . Some of the salient practical issues,
patent to observation, either in progression or in ex-
pression, notational or verbal, are sketched in some
remarks which I made when addressing the students
of the Royal Academy of Music, in November, 1887,
shortly after they had been bereaved of their Principal,
which I venture, therefore, to insert in this place, as
bearing on the subject in hand.
"I think it only right and fair, both for your own sakes,
and for his memory's sake, to try briefly to summarize the
points iu theory, and theoretical explanation and nomen-
clature, for which you are indebted to him, or to the so-
callecl ' Day theory,' as expounded by him ; in other words,
ADDltJESS TO ACADEMY STUDENTS. 121
what changes or differences, in the way of looking at
matters theoretical, and expressing them, have been brought
about by the diffusion of, and insistence on, the teaching
in question. To some of you, probably to most of you, it
has been a surprise, an astonishment, to hear that there
ever was a time in the history of this, our valued Academy,
when such an incident could occur as the almost compul-
sory resignation of your revered theoretical guide, Professor
but then plain Mr. Maefarren on account of alleged
errors in his views of hamiony and methods of teaching.
But so it was ; in Music, as in other things, all along the
line, it has been that the radicalism of yesterday becomes
the conservatism of to-day, the heresy of the past the
orthodoxy of the present. Only so recently as about twenty
years ago, when Sterndale Bennett was appointed Principal
of this Institution, he, talking with me about my own
teaching here, expressed virtually his hope that I should
not be adopting the very terminology which is now familiar
to you as household words. Had you, at that time, and
from that time further back, studied here, you would have
been taught that the inter-diatonic notes of the Chromatic
Scale were simply ornamental inflexions of the diatonic
notes ; whereas now, with a different notation, you learn
to regard them as integers of the key. You owe that to
Macfarven, or to Dr. Day through him. Therefore to him
you also owe it that you include, under the general heading
of Chromatic Chords, all those chords which, while having
accidentals, do not effect modulation, and are regarded,
therefore, as appertaining to the key ; part of its furniture,
the resources which it furnishes. You owe it, therefore, to
him, that instead of regarding these chords as chromatic
alterations of diatonic chords which you would have been
taught twenty years ago you refer them all to certain
fundamentals, as, so to speak, chords in their own right ;
dissonant chords being referred either to the Dominant,
the Tonic, or the Supertonic, as the root. Even in the case
of a chord of, as was thought, such a decidedly chromatic-
alteration aspect as the Augmented 6th, in either of its
three forms, Italian, French, or German, instead of so re-
garding it, as would have been taught of old, you owe it to
Macfarren that you account for it as proceeding from two
122 MACFARREWS TECHNICALITIES.
roots : the supertonic and the dominant, if occurring on
the minor 6th of the scale ; the dominant and tonic, if upon
the minor 2nd of the scale. You owe it to him that the
chord of the minor 6th on the subdominant, instead of
being regarded as a fancy softening of the diatonic chord,
with the fancy name of the Neapolitan 6th, is regarded as
the inversion of the legitimate chord on the minor 2nd of
the chromatic scale. You owe it to him that the chords
of the llth and of the 13th are to be regarded as fun-
damental discords; and that as a corollary, for example,
the chord of the \ on the subdominant is not, as formerly,
to be most unsatisfactorily accounted for, if account it can
be called, as the added 6th, but as the 2nd available inver-
sion of the chord of the llth. All this, and much more,
is entirely the outcome of his teaching, together with various
terms which are not by any means inseparable from the
theories. I have thought it instructive for you thus to
know the extent of the metamorphosis which has been
effected in this department, through the authoritative
inculcation by our late Principal of those theories which
alone, as it seemed to him, were satisfactorily consistent."
To this enumeration may be added the adoption of
the terms, " 1st inversion," " 2nd inversion/' " last
inversion," respectively ; of the suspended 9th, or of the
suspended 4th, according to whether the 3rd or 5th of
the chord, or the suspension itself, be in the bass;
whereas it is only when in the bass that the suspen-
sion is inverted, if the term " invert " is to be used in
its proper sense of change of position, or " turning
upside down." The principle involved in Macfarren's
(or Day's) phraseology namely, that the suspension
is the same whichever position of the chord be taken
is of course not only sound, but most important and
simple, and no exception can be taken to his remarks
on that head in Appendix M to Day's " Treatise." But
it remains true, nevertheless, that the suspension itself
MACFAEREN^S TECHNICALITIES. 123
is not inverted when it remains in an upper part.
Another peculiarity of terminology is that of the
application of the term " Passing-note " to a note
which, though a tone or a semitone below or above
an essential note, is approached by skip such a note
as is usually known as an auxiliary note, or appoggia-
tura, or acciaccatura. I once spoke to Macfarren
about this point, urging that " Passing-note " meant a
note taken in passing from one note to another, and,
therefore, was an inappropriate term for a note taken by
skip. His reply was, " You are quite right, logically ;
but is it not desirable, as much as possible, to avoid
multiplication of technicalities, and, therefore, to bring
all these unessential notes under one general term ? "
In the same conversation, I instanced my elucidation
of that exceptional treatment of Passing-notes (known
as Clianging-notes) by skip of a 3rd, in my " Text-
book of Music" (p. 108), taken from Chopin's Study
in C sharp minor, to wich he replied, " Yes, that is
excellent/' Indeed, he was always most ready to
accord praise, and, it may be added, to acknowledge
indebtedness. Again and again did he disclaim all
credit for the theories which he so chivalrously
defended. "My late friend, Alfred Day, communi-
cated to me his very original and very perspicuous
theory of Harmony, by means of which many obscuri-
ties in the subject were cleared that my previous
anxious study had vainly sought to penetrate/' &c.
("Six Lectures," p. 2). "Emphatically I disclaim
any merit of authorship, but I trust that I am doing
the best I may to disseminate a system which, if true,
as I believe it to be, must in course of time supersede
all other theories of harmony " (Preface to second
124 "EIGHTY MUSICAL SENTENCES."
edition of Day's " Treatise") . In telling the Academy
students that they owed the various changes enume-
rated to Macfarren, I by no means lost sight of the
advocacy by Sir F. Gore Ouseley of some at least of
the same theories an advocacy, however, subsequent
to that maintained by Macfarren in the face of so
much apposition. Macfarren once said to me, " This
double-root theory of the Augmented 6th Ouseley has
obtained so much credit for, he got it all from Day."
Yet one more book in illustration and " wider
exemplification of the views in " the " Lectures " than
they could contain, did Macfarren prepare, at the
suggestion of the Rev. John Curwen, a highly-
esteemed dissenting minister, who was honoured as
the "founder" of the "Tonic Sol-fa" system of teaching
music, but who " professed to have derived it from
Sarah Glover of Norwich, whose method he but modi-
fied and expanded." The system itself Macfarren
opposed, as will be subsequently related ; although, in
his preface to the second edition of Day's " Treatise,"
he gives credit for the adoption, though incompletely,
in its notation, of Day's " method of figuring the bass
to denote the chords that accompany it." But he
complied with Mr. Curwen's request, and in 1867 wrote
(though they were not issued till 1875), "Eighty
Musical Sentences to illustrate Chromatic Chords,"
acknowledging the "happy definition" of the " con-
cise strains " therein contained to be due to Mr.
Curwen. In the preface, while he asserts that it
would have been easy to cite, from the works of the
great Masters, " instances of every chord and every
progression herein exemplified," yet, as these cita-
1 Macfarren's "Musical History," p. 135.
"EIGHTY MUSICAL SENTENCES." 125
tions would have been " so surrounded by other
matter that their distinction would have been trouble-
some for a learner," he states that it was considered
best to frame " these original Sentences, which, in
systematic order, display the entire subject."
Apart from the light which these " Sentences "
ostensibly throw on the theory advocated, and the
confirmation which it is alleged that they afford to it,
they are in themselves interesting, although one
critic affirmed that some of them " will, in the nota-
tion he has employed, present the theory of Alfred
Day in its most repulsive aspect to the great majority
of musical theorists and musicians in this country and
abroad." 1 But this dictum did not apply to the
music, but, as it would seem, to the notation. With
regard to this very matter of notation, however,
Macfarren did make concessions, both to expediency
in order to avoid contradiction of accidentals and
to popular usage. Even this, however, not being
a necessity in Tonic Sol-fa notation, in which, as well as
in the Staff notation, these " Sentences " were printed,
and the Tonic Sol-fa edition having the Staff notation
on the opposite page, we find the letter to Mr. Curwen,
from which the following is an extract :
"Calais, August 11, 1878.
" MY DEAR MR. CURWEN,
******
" It occurs to me that, in the Sol-fa version of the
' Sentences ' (where no accidentals are used, and contra-
diction signs are therefore unneeded), it may be well to
write the true names of the supertonic minor 9th and the
dominant minor 13th (Mi flat in both cases), rather than
1 "Musical Standard," Jan. 1, 1876.
126 EXPEDIENT FALSE NOTATION.
disguise them in the false notation expediently employed
by many composers. The side by side appearance of the
two notations will show the student how expediency trifles
with truth, and I think prove an useful lesson. If you
approve of this, I will insert a paragraph on the subject in
the preface.
" Yours, with kind regards,
" Gr. A. MACFARREN."
This suggestion was acted upon. Indeed, Mac-
farren acknowledged the expediency mainly with
reference to economy of accidentals of occasional
false notation in some cases, and the fact of its fre-
quent use, whether from expediency, real or supposed,
or from carelessness, or from mistaken theory, in the
writings of acknowledged composers. But, while
enunciating that "the chromatic scale of any major or
minor key consists of the seven notes of its major
diatonic scale, with the three that are altered from
these in the signature of the minor form of the key,
and the minor 2nd between the tonic and supertonic,
and the augmented 4th between the subdominant and
dominant" (Preface to "Eighty Sentences"), he
also, in the " Rudiments," says, " Composers of all
schools agree in writing the augmented 4th from the
key-note" (not the diminished 5th), and the minor
7th from the key-note (not the augmented 6th) .
I once pointed out to him, however, that, besides
other musicians, two whose musicianship lie would
not dispute did, as a matter of fact, rightly or
wrongly, write the chromatic scale, in ascending,
with the chromatically raised 6th, and, in descending,
with the lowered 5th namely, Sterndale Bennett, in
his " Scales and Intervals for Pianoforte Students,"
and John Goss, in his " Introduction to Harmony and
MACFARREN AND OPPONENTS. 127
Thorough Bass." His reply was, " Well, you surprise
me ! It only shows how careful one must be in making
general statements of that kind/'
The following short letter to the Rev. John Curwen
concerning the system of figuring basses, may fitly be
inserted here :
"7, Hamilton Terrace, N.W.
" July 8th [1868 ?].
" MY DEAR SlE,
" Many thanks for the copy of your journal with the
kind notice of my ' Lectures.' Should you again write
about figured basses, you may perhaps like to allude to
Day's system, which, so far as I can gather, accords with
your own views, and which I found practically excellent,
though I was compelled to discontinue its use.
" I am yours faithfully,
"Gk A. MACFAEEEN."
Macfarren could say smart not to call them severe
things concerning opponents and their arguments ;
such, for instance, as this, anent the chord of the
13th:
" Some opponents of these views have thought to over-
turn them by humorously defining the chord of the 13th
as a combination of the entire seven notes of the scale an
incongruous abomination such as no ear could tolerate.
The joke is well sounding; it is so probably because of its
hollowness. The stringent rule against the simultaneous
striking of a dissonance with the note of its resolution
precludes .... either the 5th or 7th when the 13th
is superadded. . . . For all that may be said by scoffers,
however, there are instances of the effective employment of
the chord in its entirety." '
More in the way of banter, to avert an inopportune
argument, was his answer to Dr. Gauntlett, who, meet-
1 "Six Lectures," p. 174.
128 SPEECH AT MUSICAL ASSOCIATION.
ing him in a music- warehouse, accosted him with
" Ah ! Macfarren, I have read your book, and I don't
agree with you at all." " Indeed ! " was the reply ;
" no more does Christmas pudding ! "
He was not solicitous of controversy ; partly, per-
haps, from estimating some of his antagonists as not
wholly " worthy of his steel," not having pondered
the whole subject as he had ; partly because it took
him some little time to formulate his rebutting argu-
ments.
When, however, Mr. Gerard F. Cobb, at the Musical
Association, read, June 2nd, 1884, a most elaborately
argued paper " On Certain Principles of Musical Ex-
position," in which, among other matters, he opposed
the views held by Macfarren, the chairman (Major
Crawford), in inviting discussion, said, " I hope Sir
George Macfarren will favour us with his views ; "
whereupon the Professor commenced by saying :
"Am I to suppose, by this invitation, that I am put
upon iny trial, and that I am to be confronted in disputa-
tion with a lecturer whose eloquence, whose learning, whose
reading of all the writers for and against the subject he
has discussed is manifest, and who has shown authority
for everything he has said ? If that is to be the case, I
feel myself at a serious disadvantage in having no imme-
diate preparation, either to receive the attack or rebut it.
I most thoroughly respect the care which has been be-
stowed, and the argument which has been brought forward,
but yet I am unable to accept it."
He proceeded to deal, unpreparedly and partially, with
some of the arguments advanced by Mr. Cobb, which
it would be necessary to reproduce here, in order to
render the reply appreciable. One or two sentences,
SPEECH AT MUSICAL ASSOCIATION. 129
however, are worthy of being quoted, apart from their
immediate occasion :
" As to the effect of beats [in nature], and whether we
listen to them or count them, I believe we no more do ' so
than the person who contemplates a picture counts the rays
that combine to make a single colour ; but that the more
or less distinctness of beats has an important effect on
musical sound is manifest in the particular force that is
given to a discordant harmony when two instruments of
the same quality, such as two horns, two clarinets, or two
hautboys, have to sound the interval of a second. The
amount of tone that reaches the audience in that case is
far greater than when one horn sounds one note, and one
clarinet sounds the other, in this conjunct relationship. 1
I think the effect of this great discordance, springing from
beats or otherwise, is important to the composer as. direct-
ing him to lay out the position of the notes so as to produce
the greatest power. . . .
" The theory which my late friend Alfred Day enunciated
to the world [is] that .... the tonic, the dominant, and
the supertonic yield combinations [in harmonics] which
are available in musical composition ; and that accounts
for the progressions which some composers had, with beau-
tiful effect, employed, as directed by their own intuition of
beauty, before theory traced a line by which they might
proceed. I think Day's view is so far satisfactory that it
explains many passages previously inexplicable by the
theories at that time in credit, and includes in its explana-
tion everything with which my musical reading has yet
made me acquainted."
The argument of Mr. Cobb's paper having tended
to the basis of music being psychical rather than
physical, the Professor immediately proceeds :
" However, the discussion is not as to the merit of this
one theorist, but as to the whole principle of music resting
1 See page 69.
K
130 SPEECH AT MUSICAL ASSOCIATION.
upon any theory, of its springing from natural laws, or of
its being empirically originated at the caprice of human
fancy. We are to refer to psychic principles rather than
to physics for our art; that is, to make art arbitrary,
accidental, and wilful ; and the artist is to plunge into a
vast ocean of experiment, with no chart to direct his course,
and nothing to aid him to distinguish between the proprie-
ties or the improprieties of his proceedings. Surely, upon
these grounds, nothing could be too gross for acceptance :
nothing could justify objection if we were to be guided by
impressions. It would thus depend wholly and only upon
the amount of cultivation in a particular state of society as
to what is to be tolerated and admired, and what is to be
excluded. I believe that it is essential to musical art, as
much as to the other artistic applications of natural prin-
ciples, that we should work upon a grammar, that we should
believe in propriety and impropriety. The fact that music
has differed in different ages and in different nations seems
to me to accord with ethnology ; that the whole habits of
different populations and different times vary from those
of other times, and that each race has its own moral code,
as much as it has its own art code. We experiment forward
and forward until we find the explanation of the principles
upon which art is founded, and by which it is to be guided.
I think it would be dangerous to art of any kind to trust
it wholly to impression and to habit, unless the habit itself
were to be directed by some ruling principle."
He concluded this striking example of his powers
of rapid formulating and unpremeditated speaking by
saying :
" I believe, had I been able to take notes of what has
been said, and had time for deliberation, I might meet
some of Mr. Cobb's eloquent arguments. If I say so little,
you must not attribute it to the want of material, but to
the impossibility I have had of preparing what might be
to say, and of arranging it categorically in order of reply.
I must offer my tribute of sincere admiration to the speaker
for the paper he has given us, and for the grounds he lays
AVERSION TO THEORETICAL WRITING. 131
open ; and I shall most certainly in private, if not at this
meeting, when I have had the opportunity of inspecting the
arguments in the printed records, discuss more fully than
I have now the points in question."
The promise of these concluding words, however,
was never fulfilled, either in private or in public. In-
deed, I believe that this was the last public utterance
of an apologetic or polemical kind that proceeded from
the distinguished theorist.
Not only was he somewhat averse to controversy
some would say, because of dictatorial dogmatism, but
not those who knew him best -he was averse to
theoretical writing, even of an educational kind. This
accounts for his not having enriched the student's
library with any treatise on Fugue or on Instrumenta-
tion ; on both of which subjects, the latter especially,
his teaching, in permanent and accessible form, would
have been invaluable. He was repeatedly urged to
write such treatises, but either declined or postponed
the tasks ; and musical literature is, therefore, the
poorer.
It is not to be urged that Macfarren's own compo-
sitions owed their originality, style, individuality, or
whatever else it may be termed, to the theoretical
views which he advocated so strongly and unwaver-
ingly ; but it is at once interesting to trace, and
undeniable, that those views had their influence in
shaping his manner of thought and methods of har-
monic procedure. . With some composers, the effort
to avoid the commonplace, as the substitute for and
semblance of being original the result generally being
eccentricity, bizarrerie is very observable. In Mac-
farren no such absurdity, or pettiness, or unnatural-
132 THEORIES AND COMPOSITIONS.
ness can be traced; far too really thoughtful, earnest,
and solid was he to have recourse to, or to have need
of, such superficiality. But there is a very observable
indication, in many in most, perhaps of his larger
works, of a consciousness of having a mission to de-
monstratively and practically defend and illustrate, by
persistent presentation, combinations, progressions,
and, it may be added, notations, which, as it seemed
to him, he had, if not rescued from oblivion, far less
invented, yet shown in their right light as normal
rather than exceptional. He disclaimed any credit
for originality in the views that he propounded with
so much vigour, assigning all such credit to Dr. Day.
But he emphatically contended that any seeming
novelty was not in the musical practice, but in the
theoretical assignment and explanation of that which
seemed new, and that his " endeavour [was] to ....
remove discrepancies between the laws of early theorists
and the practice of modern composers " (Preface to
" Rudiments ") . Nevertheless, as has just been ad-
vanced, there is evident in his compositions a tendency
to bring to the front that which had been in the back-
ground, and to erect the exceptional into a precedent.
And this, moreover, not only in these less familiar
combinations. For instance, taking as his precedent
the rare progression in the opening of Mozart's "Jupi-
ter" Symphony, bars 7 and 8 one of those flashes
of genius which cannot be reproduced Macfarren
based upon it, though not avowedly, the axiom that
two chords in succession are of good effect, when the
first chord is the second inversion of the dominant
chord, and the second that of the sub-dominant
(" Rudiments," chap. iv. 31).
THEORIES AND RULES. 133
And it was surely an inverted logic by which Mac-
farren sometimes sought to establish a theory: the
deducing the theory from a rule, instead of founding
the rule upon the theory. But this seemed the pro-
cess by which, for example, he accounted the chord of
the 7th on the 5th of the scale, when followed by a
common chord on the submediant, as a first inversion
(without the root) of the chord of the 9th on the
mediant, not as a true dominant 7th ; because, for-
sooth, of a rule previously laid down, that " a diatonic
chord of the 7th must be resolved upon a chord the
root of which is a 4th above the root of the discord ; "
although exceptions were allowed even to this rule
seemingly, however, as afterthoughts. (Compare
"Rudiments of Harmony/' sect. 2, chap. xi. ; sect. 11,
Appendix M.)
In conversation on disputed points, I have more
than once known him tell some funny story, ostensibly
to illustrate the point that he was seeking to enforce ;
but I observed on these occasions that the argument
was by no means the strongest, though I will not
insinuate that his intention knowingly was thus to
cover a vulnerable point.
But, after all abatement has been made, it remains
impossible to exaggerate the important service ren-
dered to musical studentship by the persistence of
Macfarren in endeavouring to establish a definite and
a founded theory of harmony, instead of leaving the
whole matter a mere collection of arbitrary or
empirical rules. Consideration has been rendered
compulsory in this country, and the very diversity of
views propounded in this, which some consider a tran-
sition era, result not a little from the activity of
134 MACFARREN'S INFLUENCE.
thought quickened by his resolute contention for that
which seemed to him logical. No man who has
helped to bring this about must be considered a
pedant or an obstructive; whatever difference of
opinion may prevail with regard to his theories, the
student world, and the musical community generally,
owe much to his labours in the cause of consistency
and reason in the region of musical theory.
CHAPTER VII.
MACFARREN AND ENGLISH Music. COLLABORATION WITH
MR. WILLIAM CHAPPELL. CORNHILL ARTICLE. LEC-
TURES ON OUR NATIONAL Music. MUSICAL ANTI-
QUARIAN SOCIETY. OPINIONS ON ORLANDO GIBBONS,
HENRY PURCELL, AND OTHERS. GLEES AND PART-
SONGS. 1838, 1840, 1868, ETC.
IN the year 1838 the late Mr. William Chappell,
F.S.A., published the first part of a work which
he had been preparing, entitled, " A Collection of
National English Airs, consisting of Ancient Songs,
Ballads, and Dance Tunes, interspersed with Remarks
and Anecdote, and preceded by an Essay on English
Minstrelsy. The Airs harmonized for the Pianoforte,
by W. Crotch, Mus. Doc., G. Alex. Macfarren, and J.
Augustine Wade. Edited by W. Chappell." The
songs in this collection were assigned to Macfarren.
Of the other arrangements, those of Dr. Crotch were
found incongruously scholastic, and those of Wade
as much too trivial j and ultimately the whole of the
musical portion of the succeeding parts of the work
was entrusted to Macfarren. An enlarged edition of
this work was published, after about fourteen years
had exhausted the first issue, under the title of
" Popular Music of the Olden Time," with " the whole
of the Airs harmonized by G. A. Macfarren;" and, in
136 MR. WILLIAM CHAPPELL'S LABOURS.
a subsequent edition, the title was : " The Ballad
Literature and Popular Music of the Olden .Time ; "
Mr. Chappell, in referring to the first edition, in the
Introduction, recording his obligation to Macfarren
" for having volunteered to rearrange the airs which
were to be taken from my former collection, as well as
to harmonize the new upon a simple and consistent
plan throughout. In my former work, some had too
much harmony, and others even too little, or such as
was not in accordance with the spirit of the words.
The musician will best understand the amount of
thought required to find characteristic harmonies to
melodies of irregular construction, and how much a
simple air will sometimes gain by being well fitted/'
Concerning these labours of Mr. Chappell, ]\Iac-
farren writes, in his " Family Eecollections " :
" For a year or two before and after 1840 William Chap-
pell was busy in collecting and publishing his first edition
of ' Ancient English Ballads,' and directly afterwards the
separate collection of some of these with pianoforte accom-
paniment, and, to the tunes of which the original poems
were lost or unavailable, new verses had to be written, the
task being entrusted to my father at the remuneration of
a guinea apiece. True to our family motto, ' Libertas et
natute solum,' he was a thorough patriot, and this charac-
ter had impelled him to some of his early poems during the
war with Bonaparte, had given enthusiasm to his writing
of ' Edward the Black Prince ' and ' Guy Fawkes,' and had
prompted the subject of the never-acted opera of ' Carac-
tacus.' Hence he took particular interest in this nationalis-
tic task, which he accomplished with proportionate felicity.
Chappell's researches had been induced by the taunts of a
Scottish shopman of his father, who, exulting in the
popularity of many spurious and some real Scottish melo-
dies, asserted that England possessed no tunes of her own.
This taunt, and Chappell's action upon it, gave a bias to
MACFABREWS ENGLISH PROCLIVITIES. 137
his whole career, the main pleasure of his life having been
to seek for vindication of the tuneful ability of our southern
compatriots."
No less than to his father must such a task as this
have been eminently consonant with G. A. Macfarren's
English proclivities. All through his life he mani-
fested a liking for English subjects, a desire to uphold
the claims of English music, to defend it from asper-
sion, and rescue it from neglect ; not only writing,
later on than the period at which we have arrived, on
the evil effects of the Italian language, but also, in the
" Cornhill Magazine," of September, 1868, on the
almost proverbial saying among English people, " The
English are not a musical people." Commencing
with the remark <e One of our humourists has said
that a quotation is never so apt as when it is misap-
plied ; so I trust to prove the perfect aptitude of the
quotation from common prejudice which heads these
remarks, by showing its utter misapplication " he
proceeds to reprehend the pandering, by English
musicians,
" to the prevalent folly, by assuming foreign names or
affecting foreign titles. It is their fashion, indeed, as if
they would wholly expatriate music from the land, to give
a foreign termination to words used in connection with
music ; thus the list of pieces to be performed in a concert
is styled by them a programme ; whereas good writers of
our language, who apply the term to other than musical
uses, spell it as they spell all words derived from the same
Greek root."
After referring to the analogous words, " anagram,"
" diagram/' " epigram," " monogram," " telegram,"
he continues :
138 ARTICLE IX " COKNHILL MAGAZINE."
" I am told, however, that we have taken the idea of
concert bills, and, consequently, the word which defines
them, from the French ; and that is why we spell it not, as
we spell all like derivatives, program. Granting, for
courtesy's sake, the questionable proposition, I cannot
admit the consequence. We took India, or a large part of
it, from the French, but we call it not L'Inde. The same
is the case with other British possessions, territorial and
technical ; but it is rarely, save in matters musical, that
the Gallican orthography marks the English adoption.
We take, indeed, ennui from the French, liferally and con-
stitutionally ; but it will be well if in print, as in person,
we avail ourselves as little as possible of this French
quality. The prejudice against which English musician-
ship has to contend spi-ings from domestic mistrust, more
than from foreign depreciation, of our native capacity to
love and practise the art. It dates, at earliest, within these
last hundred and fifty years, to prove which I will adduce
some pertinent facts from all periods of English history."
In some MS. fragments labelled " Cuts from Corn-
hill " there are some additional remarks upon the
subject of English terminology, reference being made
to
" Men of letters, whose erudition, if not their nationalism,
should have kept them aloof from such popular error,
have ignored the genuine English origin of some of our
most truly English words in connection with music,
and sought to trace them to foreign derivation. For
instance, John Wilson Croker, De Quincey, and even Dr.
Trench, whose high authority gives weight to the fallacy,
drew the name of our old English Country Dance from the
French Contredanse, whereas Framery, in the ' Encyclo-
pedic Methodique,' reverses the etymology, and refers the
dance as well as its name to English origin. Moreover,
the earliest French dictionaries wherein the term Contre-
danse occurs are of centuries later date than the practice of
the dance, among gentle and simple, in this country ; what
is now called Quadrille being our old Square dance for
ARTICLE IN "CORNH1LL MAGAZINE." ]9
eight, as distinguished from a round dance, and that (still
in favourite use) danced long ways for as many as will, and
the figure defined of yore as dancing the hay." '
In pursuance of his contention, he gives anecdotal
quotation from an old chronicle of the eleventh cen-
tury, of singing " in harmony of three parts/' which
latter
" the chronicle especially states, was according to the
custom of the race that then peopled our eastern counties.
Here .is distinct evidence, which might easily be developed
into far greater amplitude, that harmony, the art of
musical combination, which is the basis of all musical
construction, was known and practised and enjoyed here
some hundreds of years before the greatly vaunted Roman
School appropriated the art of descant or counterpoint,
which art the Church indeed derived from the unschooled
practice of our Northern Italy. In the latter part of the
twelfth century, this practice of polyphony was certainly
current as much among the people of Wales as among
those of the north-east of our island ; and there is good
ground to assume that harmony must have been commonly
familiar in England when those stalwart Danes, the
Vikings of the sea and lords of the shell, masters alike of
sword and song, first set foot upon, our shores."
In refutation of the pretence that " all historical
allusions to the musical proclivities of our country-
men refer at best to their relish for simple tunes and
their preference for the vulgarest," Macfarren con-
tends not only that " by intuition and by cultivation
the English were for long in advance of Continental
nations in the province of harmony," but also that
they were " before the rest of the world in contra-
puntal elaborations ;" in support of which contention
he adduces
1 See p. 9.
140 ARTICLE IN "CORNHILL MAGAZINE."
"the Six-men's Song ' Sumer is icumen in' as a testi-
mony of the state of music here at a period when there is
no sign of its equal advancement in any other land. The
date of the MS. of this remarkable specimen of scholarship,
and, I will aver, of such melodious fluency as critics call
inspiration, was long disputed ; but I believe that the best
judges now agree in assigning it, from internal and col-
lateral evidence, to 1250. l Now, to speak technically and
I must be technical to be true this piece is a canon for
four in one in the unison, with a foot or burden, also of
canonic construction, for yet two more voices ; and as such,
while some grammatical irregularities cannot be denied in
it, it presents an amount of twofold complication Aat is
wonderful for its age, and remarkable for any age."
Hazarding the conjecture that, as
"It is not to be supposed that in those remote times,
any more than at present, six singers were always at hand
for the performance of a piece of such extensive require-
ments, .... the likelihood of the case would furnish
ample evidence of this canon having been sung, as very fre-
quently were the catches of more recent days, by a single
voice, either with or without instrumental accompaniment ;
and thus it is to be classed among our national melodies ;" 2
Macfarren proceeds
"Every city had, of old, its band of musicians. We
moderns have still our Waits, whose assumed denomina-
tion is their excuse for disturbing our sleep on winter
nights, and appealing for Christmas-boxes on St. Stephen's
morning. Their braying upon cornets and ophicleides of
Italian opera airs and Christy Minstrel melodies is the
melancholy remnant alas, how tattered and woebegone !
of the ancient city custom for the waites, or watch, to
1 This is a somewhat later date than that assigned by Sir F.
Madden and other authorities. H. C. B.
2 In Chappell's " Ballad Literature and Popular Music," etc.,
p. 24, the tune is printed, with accompaniment for pianoforte by
Macfarren.
ARTICLE IN "CORNHILL MAGAZINE." 141
pass on their rounds with harmonious piping, or with the
sweet sound of song breathing a benison on the sleepers.
Not only in the royal court, but in the house of every
nobleman and gentleman, there was, down "to the Stuart
times, an appointed band of musicians, whose functions
were to compose and to perform for the diversion of their
lord and his guests. The small potentates, of Germany
have adopted this practice, each of whom maintains his
Kapellmeister with an ample artist band ; and it is not the
only practice of our forefathers for the honour and pro-
motion of music which has been adopted in the Father-
land from, the precedent of the Mother- country. Finan-
cialists represent that the pecuniary means of our present
nobility surpass those of their ancestors, and exceed those
of the small G-erman potentates ; thus it seems that, in
respect to the support of musical art, the more the means
the less the meaning."
He draws further illustrations and evidences of the
indigenous love and early practice of music in Eng-
land from the part-music in the Fairfax MS. ; the pub-
lication in separate vocal parts of a collection of con-
certed pieces by various composers as early as 1560 ;
the dialogue plan of Thomas Morley's " Plain and
Easy Introduction to Practical Music/' 1597 ; the
record of Round and Catch singing among " the
people/"-
" when Sir John Norman, in 1453, first broke through the
primal custom of a land procession along the strand of the
river and through the village of Charing to take his oaths
at Westminster as Lord Mayor of London, the Thames
watermen [having] their roundel to celebrate his honouring
their element with his civic pageant, ' Row the boat,
Norman,' [being] sung on stream and on shore by any
three men of the water, or of the land, who met in good
fellowship from that time forward;"
from the existence, " in chivalric times," of " the
142 ARTICLE IN " CORNHILL MAGAZINE."
order of minstrels," with "its Rex Minstrallorum,"
the " institutions for the care and culture of the art in
England/' the recognition in England only of " the
culture of music in its universities of learning, Alfred
[having] instituted a musical professorship in his
foundation of the University of Oxford in 866," and
from other facts. He deals with the false allegation
" that the decadence of music in this country is due
to the Puritan influence," urging that " it is under
the Commonwealth that several facts have date \vhich
bear strongly upon the development at least of the
secular branch of the art;" the first fact that he
adduces being the publication by Playford, in 1651, of
" the ' Dancing Master,' which is the earliest printed col-
lection of our dance tunes, with descriptions of the figures ;
a work of infinite importance, since we owe to it the pre-
servation of many of the most beautiful airs of our songs
in those of the dances that are named after them. Hence
it is clear that. there was dancing to very pretty tunes in
the days of the Roundheads.''
He also mentions the issue by the same publisher,
in 1652, of
" ' Select Ayres and Dialogues,' which collection of vocal
music, by various composers, comprises the first two pieces
to which the definition ' Glee' was ever applied."
Another fact adduced is that " In 1656, at Rutland
House, in Aldersgate Street, Sir William Davenant
gave the first public performance of an English opera,"
it being
"equally remarkable, since quite as important, that the
character of lanthe in this opera ['The Siege of Rhodes']
was sustained by Mrs. Henry Colman, who was the first
female that ever performed in public in this country. We
owe, then, to Puritan time's" the perpetuation of our oldest
ARTICLE IN "CORNHILL MAGAZINE." 143
national melodies, and the origination of our glee, our
opera, and our pleasurable privilege of hearing female
singers."
He then passes in rapid review the musical tenden-
cies of the Protector himself, the institution by
Charles II. of " four-and-twenty fiddlers/' the emi-
nent native musicians of the period, such as
" Henry Lawes, whose exquisite powers of musical ex-
pression and declamation are eulogized by Milton and
Waller ; " . . . " Matthew Locke, who, though the music be lost
which he composed for 'Macbeth,' and though the music in
'Macbeth' be not his which is commonly accredited to him,
wrote the opera of ' Psyche ' prior to Lully's of the same
name, wrote other works for the stage, wrote for the
Romanist Church as organist to the Queen, wrote vocal
and instrumental music for the Chamber, and wrote glees
for the people ;"..." Pelham Humphreys, whom Pepys
describes as ' keeping time to the music ' (or, in modern
phrase, conducting) at Whitehall in the year when, at the
age of nineteen, he wrote the music for Dryden's spoliation
of the ' Tempest,' and therein proved that the lyrical art
of the age was superior to the poetical ;"..." Henry
Purcell, who was the greatest musician of his own age,
and who, in his wonderful insight into the latest modern
resources of harmony, and his delicate application of the
powers of melodic expression, as far exceeded the past as
lie anticipated the future of his art." '
1 " Purcell and his two colossal successors, Handel and J. S. Bach,
wrote every combination of musical notes that down to our latest
times has ever been employed with good effect ; and the more the
works of these masters are studied the more they are found to fore-
shadow the supposed novelties in harmony employed by subsequent
artists. . . . Purcell's voluminous and superb works for the church,
his many compositions for the theatre, his countless convivial pieces,
and his far less numerous instrumental writings are now but little
known, and the ignorance of the age is its loss. They have a wealth
of expression that cannot be too highly esteemed, and a fluency of
melody that proves the perfect ease of their production. The idiom
of the age in which they were written is perhaps a partial barrier to
their present acceptance," etc. Macfarrea's "Musical History,"
pp. 73, 74.
144 ARTICLE IN " COEXHILL MAGAZINE."
And then Macfarren proceeds to inveigh against
that which he considered to be the "first shock "
which " the musical faith of England" received a
faith " which the asperity of the Protectorate could
not crush, and the frivolity of the Restoration could
not dissipate." This was "in Queen Anne's reign" :
"It was during her sovereignty that the first experiment
of Italian opera was made in this country ; and it is to its
subsequent establishment as one of the institutions of the
metropolis, and the gross affectation which this bred and
nourished, that the degradation of art is wholly to be
ascribed."
This is urged and illustrated with considerable elabora-
tion and persuasive eloquence. The founding and pro-
ceedings of the Madrigal Society, the Noblemen and
Gentlemen's Catch Club, the Glee Club, and the Concen-
tores Sodales, are chronicled; animadversion upon the
glee is incidentally made ; musicians " whose talent
brightened the early years of the present century "
notably Sir H. E. Bishop are referred to. The
Philharmonic Society, the Society of British Musicians,
the labours of John Hullah, and the Tonic Sol- Fa
Association, receive their meed of acknowledgment,
and this interesting paper concludes with the expres-
sion of hope that, obstacles being removed,
" the people will become regenerate, when the love and
the talent natural to them will find free scope, when we
shall no longer allow, and foreigners will no longer acquiesce
in, the prejudice that 'the English are not a musical
people.' "
This copious, but yet insufficient, summary of the
article in which Macfarren's pronouncements upon the
subject are so emphatically given, makes a long digres-
LECTURES ON OUR NATIONAL MUSIC. 145
sion; but it has its fit place here, as affording evidence
of his power of marshalling facts and arguments, of
his incisive mode of utterance, and of the deep interest
that he took in the patriotic aspects of his art : an
interest, doubtless, intensified by the researches with
which he became acquainted, and in which he engaged,
during his collaboration with Mr. William Chappell.
Much of the lore connected with that work may have
been brought to the surface by Mr. Chappell ; but the
musical discrimination evinced in the above-sum-
marized paper, and found also, together with much
technical information, in Mr. ChappelFs pages, are
doubtless Macfarren's own.
In connection with this same subject of our national
music, Macfarren delivered a course of four lectures
on the " National Music of Ireland, Scotland, Wales,
and England," at the London Institution, in January
and February, 1870. The Syllabus of this course
indicates the thoroughness of research, thought, and
arrangement with which the lectures were prepared,
and is therefore here inserted.
" LECTURE I. THURSDAY, January 6th.
" IRELAND.
"Illustrated by
"Miss ANNIE SINCLAIR and Miss EMMA FORBES,
" Mr. WILBYE COOPER and Mr. J. Gr. PATEY.
"NATIONAL Music. Its more permanent nature in Northern
than in Southern countries. Is it an index of the charac-
ter of the people ? Is it a clue to their ethnology? The
Scoti invaded Ireland and conquered the Hibernii in the
third century, and they called the land Scotia, which name
it retained till the eleventh century. Migrating from the
North East, they probably came originally through Scythia
146 LONDON INSTITUTION LECTURES
from the south. Sculpture of a harp constructed like those
of Egypt and Assyria, on a monument of the eighth cen-
tury, at Ullard, in Kilkenny. Importation of the Irish
harp into Italy mentioned by Dante in the thirteenth and
referred to by Vincenzo Galileo in the sixteenth century.
The so-called ' Scotch scale ' of five notes (the pentatonic
scale of C. Engel), probably in use among ancient, and
certainly among modern, oriental nations, as also in Mexico
and Peru at the time of their discovery. Antiquity and
universality cf the bagpipe ; representation of one found
in the ruins of Tarsus, dating two centuries B.C. The scale
of this instrument. Appropriation of the Gregorian scales
to secular melody. The English practice of singing songs
with a foot, undersong, or burden, possibly imported into
Northumberland in the sixth century by the monks of
Bangor, or Benchor, in Down. The Hindoo ' bardahi ' or
' bhat,' perhaps the origin of the title and function of the
Bard. Irish bards. Spenser's account of their character
and habits. Their race continued in the harpers of later
date. John and Harry Scott, famous in the time of Queen
Elizabeth. Turlogh O'Carolan, famous in the time of Queen
Anne. His reception by Irish gentry. Endeavours to pre-
serve the use of the Irish harp. Last meeting of harpers,
in 1792, at Belfast. Preservation of the Irish melodies.
Bunting's publications in 1796, 1809, and 1840. Moore's
Poems 1st series, from 1807 to 1815 ; 2nd series, 1834.
Irish society and Dr. Petrie. The Flaxsaraidh or Planxty.
The Clan March corrupted into the Jig. Appropriation of
English dance tunes by Irish editors. Appropriation of
English tunes to Irish party songs."
"LECTTJEE II. THURSDAY, January
" SCOTLAND.
"Illustrated by
" Miss ANNIE SINCLAIR and Miss JULIA ELTON,
" Mr. WILBTE COOPER and Mr. THEODORE DISTIN.
"DR. JOHNSON'S estimate of the modern Scotchmen. Cairlar
Riada led a colony of Scots from Ireland into Argyleshire,
OX OUR NATIONAL MUSIC. 147
which was named Dalraida after him, A.D. 503. These
were called the ' Scots in Briton.' They imported their
music, musical instruments,. and musical officers, or bards.
Their constant warfare with the northern or southern Picts,
or Pechs, until their amalgamation with this people under
Kenneth II. in 843. The Saxon race first settled in Scot-
land under Malcolm Can more, 1058. Engagement of
English pipers and other musicians to play at the Scotch
court in the fifteenth century. Evil influence of the Refor-
mation upon music in Scotland. Magisterial prohibitions.
Scotch music not known in England until the time of
Charles II. The Scotch songs in Playford's Choice Ayres
are by English poets and composers. Forbes' Cantus
Caledoniensis, 1662, the first publication of secular music
in Scotland, consists of English compositions. Allan
Ramsay's Tea-Table Miscellany, 1724, W. Thompson's
Orpheus Caledonius, 1725, and Oswald's collection, all
printed in London, contain English songs. Burns wrote
poems for Johnson's Museum, 1787, and G. Thompson's
collection, 1793. Engagement of distinguished German
musicians to write accompaniments to the tunes for the
latter work. Forgeries of Ossianic poems by McPherson,
and of Nithsdale ballads by Cunningham. Jacobite relics.
Great fashion for Scotch tunes in England. Consequent
imitation of their style by James Hook and other com-
posers. Appropriation of English tunes, and alteration of
English poems into the Scotch dialect. The so-called
' Scotch snap,' introduced into Scotland by Gipsy fiddlers.
The reel (hreol or reol) of Danish, if not Anglo-Saxon
origin. The strathspey."
" LECTURE III. THURSDAY, January 27th.
"WALES.
" Illustrated by
"Miss ROBERTIXE HENDERSON and Miss EMMA FORBES.
" Mr. WILBYE COOPER and Mr. WINN.
" DUTIES, privileges, and indemnifications of the Welsh
Bards. Gryffydd engaged Irish bards to improve and
148 LONDON INSTITUTION LECTURES
regulate the music in Wales, 1078. Ordinances then esta-
blished, and specimens of music of the period, are preserved
in a MS. of the time of Charles I., the notation in which
cannot now be deciphered. Institution of the Eisteddfod,
' Allm-harach ' (foreign strain), the second of the twenty-
four Welsh musical terms. No remnant of the pentatonic
scale, the scale of the bagpipe, the Gregorian scales, the
predominance of the sixth note of the key, the minor seventh
of the key, or any other tonal peculiarity in popular tunes
now claimed as Welsh. The harp and bagpipe were common
to Wales and the three sister nations ; the crwth resembles
in name the Irish word ' cruit,' for a harp, and the instru-
ment is a supposed link between that and the Anglo-Saxon
fithl, fiddle, viol, or violin. Skill in performance upon the
harp, and the possession of one, essential to a Welsh gen-
tleman. Tradition an uncertain authority. Tunes of
English origin. Honourable pride of the Welsh in the
nationality and antiquity of their music, and their estimable
endeavours of the last century and a-half to collect and
preserve it. ' Ancient British Music,' collected by Parry
and Williams, 1742 ; 'British Harmony,' collected by Parry,
of Euabon, 1781; 'Welsh Bards,' collected by Jones, 1784;
collections by John Parry, Miss M. J. Williams, and John
Thomas, in the present century. Lady Greenly's pi-ize for
a collection of Welsh tunes, 1838. Brinley Richards' efforts
to revive the use of the triple harp, Lady Llanover's prize
for performance upon it, 1869."
" LECTURE IV. THURSDAY, February 3rd.
" ENGLAND.
" Illustrated by
" Miss ANNIE SINCLAIR and Madame PATEY-WHYTOCK,
" Mr. WILBYE COOPER and Mr. J. G. PATEY.
" ALL the national elements compounded in the present
Englishman, save perhaps the Norman, have been musically
notable. Love of secular music by the early clergy. Aid-
helm's politic use of it in the seventh century. Edgar's
law against priestly indulgence in it, A.D. 960. Constant
ON OUR NATIONAL MUSIC. 149
appropriation of secular tunes to church use, from the days
of William I. to our own. The many instruments in early
use in England. Caxton's edition of Chaucer, with pic-
ture of the miller playing on a bagpipe. This instrument
common to many countries. The recorder, or English
flute. The 'corno inglese' or 'cor anglais' of present use.
The ' chaine anglaise,' identical with the ' hay,' as is the
' contre danse ' with the ' country dance.' Bounds, horn-
pipes, and other popular dance tunes. Common practice
of singing catches. Narrative ballads of the minstrels;
the extended application of this form by the people. Evil
influence of Puritanism, upon music counteracted by the
steadfast feeling of the opposite party. Music declined in
England from the permanent establishment of the Italian
Opera under George I. Indifference of the modern English
to their own music. Popular music of the olden time
collected by Chappell. ' God save the Queen,' originally
English, now the national tune of many countries ; its
contended authorship."
In the pages of the " Musical Times " for July and
following months of the same year, appeared a series
of articles with the same title as that of these lectures,
and evidently being substantially identical with them.
Some extracts may be given here.
Commencing with the ejaculation, te Alas ! for the
cosmopolite, whose citizenship is so universal, that he
has no special affection for the soil that gave him
birth," Macfarren proceeds :
" The term ' national music ' needs definition, and
needs this all the more because it has been often and
variously defined. It is not here to increase its vagueness
by adding to its limitation ; but it may be as well to state
what it is here meant to signify, in order that its use may
be here understood. A melody is national when it has
been commonly sung by a people through several genera-
tions, and sung because it naturally expressed the people's
150 NATIONAL MUSIC.
feelings, not because of its artistic merit. Every melody
must have had a composer, and that composer must have
been a technically trained musician. Let me not take from
Mr. Chappell the merit of first putting forward this view,
but do what I may to confirm the view and support its
upholder Whether this musician was taught in
modern schools, whether a hai*per of the race now dying
out in Wales, and dead for seventy years at least in Ire-
land whether as a minstrel, whether as a bard, matters
not or matters little ; he must have learned the rules of
art according to some principle, or he can never have pro-
duced anything original, if even he can have reconstructed
into good shape anything familiar In almost all
instances, the name of a true composer of a national tune
is forgotten ; exceptionally it may be preserved, if not
generally remembered. The tune is not divested of its
characteristics, loses not hold upon popular feeling, ceases
not to be national, if its composer's name be brought to
light after people, from mother to babe, from father to
son, have sung or whistled it by the life-long. Thus
Dibdin, or Gary, or Carolan, or Purcell, or John or Harry
Scott, or who you will, may have made a tune ; it is the
people who, by finding in it the idiom which gives truest
utterance to their own emotions, by adopting and handing
it from one generation to another, have made it
national."
He considers that " musical evidence," in addition
to that derived from other sources, points to the
migration of the Irish " from very far in the south-
east/' The fact that the pentatonic scale "the
diatonic scale of modern music with its 4th and 7th
degrees omitted having, that is, no interval of a
semitone, but that of a minor third below its 1st and
above its 3rd degree" which is proved "to have
been the scale of the ancient Egyptians and Assy-
rians," and " is now in theoretical and practical use
among Eastern nations, especially the Chinese/'
IRISH MUSIC. 151
" point to the source of the scale, and of the people
who brought it into Ireland/' and indicate that " the
Irish seem to be the eldest in musical claims to consi-
deration " of " the members of our national family."
He thinks this to be further indicated by " a sculptured
monument at Ullard, in Kilkenny, which cannot have
been erected later than the eighth century/' and which
11 comprises a representation of a man playing on a
harp, identical in form with those painted in the temples
of Egyptian Thebes, and differing from the modern
harp in having no fore-pillar." Further evidence in
the same direction, " feeble, taken alone/' but still
worth consideration, is the use by the Irish of the
bagpipes, which are of proved antiquity.
After alluding to the importation of the Gregorian
scales into Ireland, he continues '
"It is probably to one of these Church modes, the
^Eolian, that we may refer the frequent prominence of the
6th degree of the scale, and sometimes the conclusion on
this note, in one class of Irish tunes. Possibly the bag-
pipes may have been constructed with regard to this very
mode ; but it is more credible that their peculiar scale origi-
nated in the same source as the Gregorian system itself."
This source, in Macfarren's opinion, was pagan. He
continues :
" Last of all, when the principles of modern music took
root in Ireland, the diatonic scale flourished as their
natural blossom. It seems to have been rather as a settler
than as a native, however ; since, for very long, the con-
servative spirit, and the desire to perpetuate their na-
tionality, seem to have prompted musicians to adhere to
the pentatonic, the bagpipe, or the Gregorian scales in the
composition of their melodies ; nay, even now, when a writer
wishes to be characteristic of the Irish to put, as it were,
152 IRISH MELODIES.
a brogue into his song he has recourse to one of these
scales, and his music has of consequence the true national
savour."
After reference to " the practice in Ireland, as well
as in Wales, and in the North and East of England,
of accompanying a song with a foot, or under-song, or
burden, that was sustained by another singer," and
the fact, therefore, vouched for by Giraldus, " that
harmony was an essential element of our national
music seven hundred years ago," even six centuries
earlier, according to Bunting ; the practice of singing
in parts by monks, at the place " named after the
singers, Benchor, Anglice White Choir, now corrupted
into Bangor and other interesting facts, " the Bardic
institution" is treated of; and then, the collection and
transcription of the harpers* melodies by " Bunting, a
professional musician trained on modern principles/'
"At three wide intervals he printed the result of his
researches. The merit of Irish melodies as a class was
perceived, and fashion adopted what then came forth as a
discovery. An Irish music-seller, in London, projected the
publication of a series of his native airs with new English
poetry. He hesitated for some time as to who should
share the responsibility of interpreting in verse the passion
of the tunes: and he determined to confide it solely to
Moore, who was thus associated with Irish melodies, and
who is consequently believed by many uuinquiring persons,
who are misled by equivocal title-pages, to be the com-
poser of the tunes. Moore's collection is by no means
exhaustive, though it contains several airs, some avowedly
and some not, that are of unquestionably English origin.
Its success, however, more than its incompleteness, has
induced other writers to follow in his steps, and the name
of Irish melody has become an almost certain passport to
popular favour.
" A vast majority, if not the total of the best-esteemed
SCOTCH MUSIC. 153
tunes can be fairly proved to be of modern origin in compari-
son with the early date to which the foregoing remarks might
suggest their ascription. It may be more than doubted
whether any true favourites can be older than a couple of
hundred years ; and it cannot be denied that, in many, if
not all cases, what sounds old and Irish in them is due, as
has already been hinted, to imitation."
People do not care to have their favourite predilec-
tions or prejudices disturbed; and it is probable that
the belief in " Irish melodies " will continue to be
cherished, notwithstanding these ruthless facts and
arguments.
An arrangement by Macfarren of " Moore's Irish
Melodies " was published in 1859.
Proceeding to the consideration of Scotch music,
it is shown that, whereas
" The Scots themselves are immigrants in the laud of
their pride, having migrated from the north-east early in
the third century, ' invaded Ireland, conquered the early
settlers, made themselves masters of the soil, and called
the land Scotia . . . they [subsequently] carried into Bri-
tain their language, their pentatonic scale, their harp, and
their bagpipes ; and hence the difficult distinction between
the music of the original nation and that of her offshoot.
Herein is the explanation ... of how the scale of five
notes comes to be called the ' Scotch scale.' "
The repressive tendency of the Reformation in
North Britain, as most pernicious to music, is dwelt
upon.
" Art withers without cultivation, and it could not but
be that, under the circumstances, music fell soundly to
sleep, if not died out in the North ; and by natural conse-
quence, the Scotch appear to have been indifferent to their
own tuneful wealth, if not unaware of its existence, until
154 ORIGIN OF SCOTCH MELODIES.
advised of it from England, which advice was of ques-
tionable authenticity."
The undoubted English origin of many so-called
Scotch melodies is shown; the inexplicableness of
" the strong Southern predilection for the name (ob-
serve it is but the name) of Scotch music." The term
" Scottish" was in the time of Charles II.
" Substituted for Northern as a definition of rustic
ditties : the Scots in Britain afterwards took a hint from
their brethren of the south, and accepted the term when-
ever it was offered them ; but they regarded the word less
as the distinction of a particular class of poetry and music
than SUB an assertion of nationality, and they assumed
every piece that was described as Scottish to have been
produced in the Land of Cakes, and they claimed it accord-
ingly as national property."
Macfarren adduces various considerations " to show
that the broad assertion is not unauthorized " of " the
Southern, if not London origin of many of the so-
called Scotch tunes now in highest favour."
" One peculiarity in Scotch music had no origin in Ire-
land, and is to be found in no tunes of English origin save
those written in imitation of the supposed Scotch character.
This is what we call the snap, the lengthening the time of a
second note at the cost of the one before it, the placing a
semiquaver before a dotted quaver. This is, to say the best
of it, a vulgarism in vocal music which leads to the undue
prolongation of unaccented syllables ; and such prolonga-
tion would warrant the assumption that English is a bad
language for singing, if the language were at fault because
it was mispronounced. The snap, however, gives emphasis
and consequent spirit to dance tunes, and is an element of
good effect when well applied. The snap appears not in
any tunes that make any pretension to antiquity."
WELSH MELODIES. 155
After some remarks upon the Clan Marches
' ' some of the most genuine products of our Northern
soil/' he continues :
" Lastly, it is to speak of the Reel. Well, this owes
nothing to Scotland but its preservation. When folks
here used to dance ' The Hay,' in the days of good Queen
Bess, they performed the identical figure of the Reel. . . .
An earlier form of the word is Rhay, which brings us back
to Anglo-Saxon days. A Danish form of the word Hreol
or Reol belongs to the same period. ... A like dance is
now practised by the peasantry in Denmark, and one
favourite Danish tune for it research is not easy on the
subject is all but identical with a Scotch tune for a Scotch
Reel."
In the same cogent manner, giving evidence of no
little research and thought, doubtless in connection
with his work in association with Mr. Chappell, Mac-
farren discusses Welsh music, asserting that a the
assumed Welsh melodies " for he does not deny their
national origin, though it may be questionable
" That are best known have none of the tonal charac-
teristics that distinguish those of other districts. The
structure of some shows them to have been composed for
the harp These have not the wild and fervid passion
of the best of those of Ireland, nor the strongly-defined
rhythm and accent marked almost to vulgarity of those
given to Scotland and readily enough claimed by her,
but they have a sweetly tender grace that is undeniably
charming, and evinces a beautiful nmsical feeling in those
who made them, whether in times remote from, or near to
our own."
Passing to the general subject of our national music,
Macfarren avers that
" It is now manifest that the Anglo-Saxons cultivated
156 SECULAR MUSIC OF ENGLAND.
music to a very high degree ; that the Anglo-Danes, who
commingled with them, fed their stream of song with
kindred waters ; and that this country was immensely iu
advance of the South of Europe in the popular disposition
for, and the scholastic development of the art. The
Normans set their foot upon everything that was national
when they took possession here; but though they trampled
upon, they could not crush the love of music that was
innate in the race. This was left for the House of Hanover
to accomplish with the Italian Opera for its Nasinyth
Hammer; but though this destructive engine bruised, and
contused, and dislocated, and fractured, and mangled in
every way the body, the spirit is immortal, and begins
again to take corporate shape among us. . . . Indepen-
dently of those [tunes] which may have been wafted hence
into Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, the tunes of unequivocal
Anglican origin are more numerous, and are more various
in character, than are those of other districts, while their
merit entitles them to a proud place beside the others.
As an ufaited nation, we subjects of British rule are sin-
gularly wealthy in native melodies ; and it should give
confidence to artists of the highest aspirations, that they
have been born where such tunes as ours have been pro-
duced and loved."
Three lectures on the " Secular Music of England "
were given by Macfarren before the Literary and Philo-
sophical Society, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in January,
1871, which seem to have embraced similar material
to that just recorded.
In the article, alluded to above, in the " Musical
Times " of March 1st, 1869, on " The Italian Lan-
guage : its evil influence upon Music," Macfarren's
contention is that " the Italian language has been,
and is, a most baneful influence to music, affecting
its production, its performance, and its effect." This
threefold contention he seeks to sustain, firstly,
by
HANDEL'S ITALIAN OPERAS. 157
" The notable case of Handel's operas. These are cast in
a form that limited the workings of the mighty genius of
the master, and allowed no play to its higher attributes :
. . . being without choruses, . . . and, therefore, presenting
... no field for the exercise of his boundless contrapuntal
resources : . . . consisting exclusively, or nearly so, of airs
that embody no dramatic action, and in many instances,
constructed with the object rather of executive display than
of poetical expression, his operas gave the rarest oppor-
tunity for that wonderful power of characterization, and
that unsurpassable felicity of verbal declaration which
particularly make his personages and the words they utter
to live before the hearers. Based upon subjects that are
entirely unsympathetic to our times, and constructed upon
principles that are totally uncongenial to our stage, his
operas will never, and can never, be performed again : . . .
and a large mass of the labours of one of the greatest, and,
perhaps, the very grandest of musicians, wrought at a
period of life when men's abilities are at the strongest, are
obsolete and virtually lost to the world for ever. . . . Now,
Handel wrote his operas in subservience to a fashion which
set in but two or three years before his first coming to this
country : a fashion for affecting to believe that the Italian
langxiage was better fitted than any other for the purposes
of music, and for affecting to admire performances in the
Italian tongue above any in the vernacular of the nation.
This fashion was founded, as many fashions are, upon
falsehood. To wit : the first and highest element in vocal
music is the general expression and minute declamation
of the words. This element is a nullity with an audience
by whom the words to which music is set are not familiarly
and habitually spoken, and thus, and only thus, fully
understood; and no language is, therefore, so good for the
most important of all musical purposes as the native lan-
guage of the people before whom it is performed. It wag,
then, to this gross falsehood of fashion, this lie against all
sense and reason, this perfidy against pure art and undis-
torted nature, Handel sacrificed the best years of his
manhood."
After noting how Handel, at the solicitation of
158 EVIL INFLUENCE OX MUSIC OF
Aaron Hill, whose letter is given, dated December oth,
1 732, " first produced before the public his composi-
tions to English words, ' Esther ' and ' Acis and
Galatea/ " Macfarren concludes this portion of his
argument by saying :
" The practical answer to this letter is the series of
English oratorios and secular cantatas through which the
name and the genius of Handel are universally known."
The next instance cited is that of Mozart, as
" Most anxiously desiring to set music to his own German
language. . . . Had his natural wish more frequently been
gratified, had his more important and more regularly
formed works been set to the words of his native speech.
they perhaps could not have been better it is impossible
to suppose that the music of Mozart could have been better
than it is but they certainly would have been better
understood, and might, doubtless, have been produced with
greater pleasure to their author."
After instancing Weber, whose " best efforts were
sorely hindered, if they could not be frustrated, by
the ever poisonous working'' of the Italian' predilec-
tions of his time," Macfarren proceeds to consider
" the influence of this language upon the performance
of works which have been written in spite and through
the midst of its antagonism " :
" First, then, as regards the singers. The majority of
those who now-a-days present themselves at the Italian
theatres in London are Germans, or Swedish, or French,
or American, or English, or in some other way foreign to
the manner born of the text they have to enunciate. . . .
The greater number of the vocalists, and nearly all of the
best of them, who sing in Italian to London hearers, have
the embarrassment, and make the consequent shortcomings
THE ITALIAN LANGUAGE. 159
of contending with an acquired, and therefore to them un-
natural, language. To judge from the practice of a large
number of these, and of nearly all the private singers who
study under the best esteemed Italian teachers, it would
be fair and right to denounce the Italian language as
eminently, nay, pre-eminently, bad for music ; and this
because it appears to induce a habit of false musical
phrasing, and of violating one of the most obvious and
simple laws of musical expression. Every one knows, for
instance, that the note following an appoggiatura should
be unaccented, and that the whole stress of the phrase
should be thrown xipon the leading [leaning ?] note itself ;
but English vocalists, who sing Italian, commonly give
emphasis to a final, instead of a penultimate note, and
strongly accentuate the second instead of the first syllable
of such words as ' mio,' ' padre,' ' core ; ' if, in cases like
the last, they do not substitute an ' a ' for the ' e,' in order,
apparently, to give extra force to their false rendering of
the musical requirements."
Macfarren proceeds with "grounds of complaint, in
operatic Italianization, still more cogent than have yet
been set forth ; " these being the blunders of " the
wordmongers higher definition may not be applied to
them to whom the most delicate and most difficult
task of translation is for the most part confided,"
e.g. :
" They not only place syllables of different vowel sounds
to emphatic notes from those to which these notes were
set, and so materially affect the mechanism of vocal pro-
duction, but they vary the construction of their sentences
so as to distort either the verbal sense or the musical
phrasing, and they not rarely substitute other and even
contrary meaning for those to which music of pointed sig-
nificance and careful expression has been written."
Examples of such perversities are given, from
Beethoven's " Fidelio." And the paper concludes
with, a
160 ITALIAN OPERAS.
" Proposition that rising vocalists waste not their best
years and their best energies in the study of music and
words that can be of no possible avail to them for technical
training or popular advancement, but that they devote
themselves to the practice of works in the language which
it is their duty to ennoble, by freeing it from the vulgarisms
of mispronunciation, and which they will find, and may
prove to be, better susceptible of musical expression than
any which is not next to intuitive in themselves and their
hearers."
In agreement with the opinions so trenchantly enun-
ciated, he elsewhere speaks of Italian operas composed
for England as " that apparent hotbed of non-success,"
after having traced the succession of a number of such
works which have failed to retain any hold upon public
estimation, notwithstanding the exceptionally adven-
titious circumstances under which they have been pro-
duced. Macfarren lived to witness the reaction set in
which he probably anticipated, though not in the form
which he would have expected or desired : the fashion
who will yet say whether it is more ? of acceptance
of, and admiration for, the newer school of music-
drama brought into vogue, so far as modern usage is
concerned, by Wagner. Not be it observed opera
in our vernacular ; though even of that there have
been notable symptoms of revival, both in production
and in public interest.
It may not be out of place to insert here some
observations occurring in an article on " Choral Sing-
ing/' contributed by Macfarren to the first number of
the "Part-Song Magazine " (May, 1868), in which,
after enumerating " faults most common to untutored
singers, and most needful to be overcome," he con-
cludes as follows :
ORLANDO GIBBONS. 161
" It is needful to ignore utterly the foolish fallacy that the
English language is not good for music. This is disproved
by the example of our best solo singers, who show our
vernacular to be as apt as any for vocalization, and a
better medium than some languages for expressive decla-
mation. English is only unmusical when it is mispro-
nounced. When the language escapes this ill-treatment,
every unprejudiced person must feel that we need not to
sing in a tongue which is unintelligible to our hearers in
order to make our performance interesting."
In conversation with myself, Macfarren animad-
verted on the practice of accenting the final syllable in
" toward," even when separated from the first syllable,
as in the locution " to-us-ward."
In the " Cornhill " article, reference is made to
Orlando Gibbons and Purcell. It may be interesting
here to quote his remarks on the former of these from
Chappell's " Popular Music of the Olden Time ":
" The fantasies of Orlando Gibbons are most admirable
specimens of pure part- writing in the strict contrapuntal
style ; the announcement of the several points, and the suc-
cessive answers and close elaboration of these, the freedom
of the melody of each part, and the independence of each
other, are the manifest result of great scholastic acquire-
ment, and consequent technical facility. Their form, like
that of the madrigals and other vocal compositions of the
period, consists of the successive introduction of several
points or subjects, each of which is fully developed before
the entry of that which succeeds it. The earlier fantasies
in the set are more closely and extensively elaborated,
and written in stricter accordance with the Gregorian
modes than those towards the close of the collection, which,
from their comparatively rhythmical character and greater
freedom of modulation, may even be supposed to have
been aimed at popular effect. They would, it is true, be
little congenial to modern ears, but this is because of the
strangeness to us of the crude tonal system that prevailed
M
162 HENRY PUR CELL.
at the time, and upon which they are constructed. The
peculiarities that result from it are the peculiarities of the
age, and were common to all the best writers of the school
in this and every other country. Judged by the only true
standard of criticism judged merely as what they were
designed to be they must be pronounced excellent proofs
of the musical erudition, the ingenious contrivance, and
the fluent invention of the composer." 1
In the discussion that ensued after the reading of an
admirable paper on " Henry Purcell and his Family/'
by Mr. "VV. H. Cumniings, at the Musical Association,
December 4th, 1876, Macfarren said that
" he considered it a matter of very great consequence that
Purcell's merits should be known and acknowledged.
English music had long been under a stigma from which
he believed the present time was freeing it, for people
were now beginning to admit that Englishmen could not
only admire the music of others, but that there had been
some amongst them who could add to the treasures of
musical art. If one could suppose a person to be born at
Christmas at the North Pole who never saw the sun, it
would be to him a vain expectation that there could ever
be daylight, and if we were born in this country with the
idea that there never had been good English musicians,
it would be almost a hopeless aspiration to dream of be-
coming so. But now that it could be proved that before
the darkness set in there was such a light as Purcell, it
might perhaps be an encouragement to aim at the new
dawning. He was convinced that Purcell was a very
remarkable genius, and the more remarkable because of
the hard circumstances by which he was surrounded. Mr.
Cummings had perhaps done one little injustice to English
music, at and before Purcell's time, when he said that the
faculty of melody was not possessed by previous musicians.
He could not but think of the beautiful songs of Henry
Lawes, which were gems of melody, and of those of his
1 "Popular Music of the Olden Time," p. 470.
PURGE LL'S MUSIC. 163
brother William. Henry Lawes might have known
Purcell, but he was his elder ; and going still farther back,
there were part-songs to be sung by a solo voice when the
other three were not there, some of which were more
remarkable for the melody than for the harmony. One in
particular was scarcely known in its original form, namely,
Ford's ' Since first I saw your face,' which was tuneful
enough for any country. Then, again, there were the
songs of John Dowland, which contain most acceptable
melodies, and many of them had had great popularity, as,
for instance, ' Now, oh, now, we needs must part.' Refe-
rence might also be made to the long string of national
melodies, which in number and variety would hold their
own with the national music of any other country ; how-
ever, the great merit of Purcell was not in being the first
of our countrymen to write tunes, because others had done
that before him, but in his harmonies, many of which the
speaker considered prodigious, as being really in anticipa-
tion of the harmonic progressions of modern times, and
showed him to have had a complete insight into the beau-
tiful, and to have felt the principles of harmonic construc-
tion and harmonic derivation in a manner which he could
only have done by possessing the most keen sensitiveness
to musical propriety. It was a great glory, not to our
country only, but to the art of music, that at this early
period, preceding the works of Handel and Bach, there
was a man writing music which amazed one even now with
its beauty and its likeness to modern compositions. Many
instances of what seemed to be deep research into the
acoustical derivation of chords appear in Purcell, and
showed him to be a most original thinker ; and although
he made some experiments which were not so successful,
there was a character of beauty in his music which justified
the highest admiration. There was, however, one quality
in Purcell more remarkable than his beautiful melodies or
his wonderful anticipation of modern harmony, and that
was his very grand power of musical declamation and
strong dramatic feeling. The form of operas in his days
very narrowly restricted his dramatic powers, it being then
the habit to construct dramas for speaking, in accordance
with the prejudice set forth by Dry den, that it was incom-
164 MUSICAL ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY.
patible with dramatic action to have persons sing their
words, and that the music of the stage should for the most
part be restricted either to supernatural beings or to
madmen. Purcell had such strong dramatic feeling as
would have made him a great master in this kind of music,
had dramas then been constructed to give him such an
opportunity. Nothing could be more picturesque than
the frost scene in 'King Arthur,' and nothing could be
more expressive than the pathetic music in several of his
pieces. For instance, in the two great scenes in his opera
of 'Don Quixote,' one the song of Cardenio when he is
mad, and thinks of Lucinda's eyes as the only light that
can warm him in his coldness, and the other the soprano
scene, ' From rosy bowers.' It was very pleasing to think
that there had been such a great, pre-eminent English
musician, and they could not be too grateful to Mr.
Cummings for having given them so much information
about him."
In the year 1840, the Musical Antiquarian Society
was instituted, with the laudable object of rescuing
from oblivion English music of the highest character,
either existing in manuscript only, or very scarce, and
therefore costly ; by printing and publishing such
works under competent editorship. At that time,
Purcell's " King Arthur/' " Dido and .^Eneas/' " The
Libertine/' " Timon of Athens/' and several of his
" Odes " existed only in manuscript. Only six of the
" Madrigals " by Wilbye were purchasable. Many
other valuable works were out of all ordinary reach,
such as many by Tallis, Orlando Gibbons, Dowland,
William Byrde, Weelkes, Henry Lawes, etc. The
Council of the Society, on its formation, consisted of
W. Sterndale Bennett, Henry R. Bishop, W. Chappell,
George Hogarth, E. J. Hopkins, W. Horsley, G. A.
Macfarren, T. 01iphant,E. F.Rimbault (Secretary), Sir
G. Smart, Professor Edward Taylor, and James Turle.
MACFAEREN EDITS "DIDO AND AENEAS." 165
To Macfarren was allotted the editorship of PurcelPs
"Dido and^Eneas," In the introduction (or preface)
to this edition, he writes, with characteristic evince-
ment of his interest in dramatic performance :
" Considering it essential to the full appreciation of the
dramatic feeling which pervades the music of ' Dido and
^Eneas,' that the reader should be able to comprehend at
one view the incidents and conduct of the story, I have
thought it desirable to prefix the drama. Unable to meet
with any copy separate from the music, and the MS. scores
to which I have had access presenting but the mere words
and the names of the characters who sing them, I have
ventured to make such divisions of the acts as were sug-
gested to me by apparent musical climaxes and by the
progress of the plot ; also to introduce the descriptions of
the scenes and other stage directions which seemed to be
needful for the right understanding of the whole."
He added marks of expression, of which there were
very few in the MS. He also compressed the score
for the pianoforte, both of " Dido " and of Purcell's
" Bonduca," filling up also the figured bass. It is
now known, however, that the copy of " Dido and
^Eneas " which he used was imperfect : additional
pieces have since been discovered, and are included in
Mr. W. H. Cummings' beautiful edition issued by the
Purcell Society. Still, Macfarren' s edition is a stand-
ing evidence of his industrious research.
The Council of the Musical Antiquarian Society
decided that no pianoforte compression should accom-
pany the works issued by them ; but the publishers,
Messrs. Chappell and Co., determined on a separate
issue of such compression, the preparation of which
was undertaken by Macfarren the works so arranged
by him being the " Fantasies in three parts, composed
166 THE GLEE.
for Viols by Orlando Gibbons " (previously alluded
to) ; the whole Book of Psalms with their wonted
tunes in four parts, as published by Thomas Este,
1592; the first set of songs by John Dowland; "King
Arthur" and " Bonduca," by Purcell, etc.
The Musical Antiquarian Society had, unhappily, a
too brief career of only seven years.
As has been said, Macfarren in his " Cornhill "
article animadverted upon the Glee, saying :
" Upon the whole, although the Glee be admitted as a
class of composition essentially English, it is a class in
which we poor, self-denying English have not great occa-
sion for pride, since, as a class, the excellent pieces which
form the minority of its instances are too exceptional to
give it specific dignity."
Similarly, in his lecture on Cipriani Potter, before
the Musical Association l :
" We must, in order to judge of the merit of Potter as
a teacher of composition, consider what was the state of
music at the time when he came upon the world. The
music in England then of the highest esteem was that
which has the merit of being peculiarly English namely,
the Glee; and Webbe and Dr. Callcott were the most
highly honoured classicists of this school, a species of com-
position in which there is no development at all, in which
an idea is presented, and before it is entirely complete,
there is some change of tempo, some change of measure,
and a new idea is started. The grand masterpiece, as it
is generally considered, of Glee writing ' When winds
breathe soft ' is cut up into as many fragments as entitle
it to be called a musical mosaic. Continuity seems to
have been outside the thoughts, as well as outside the
capability of the writers of the period."
1 See page 21.
" WHEN WINDS BREATHE SOFT." 167
This animadversion has, in its turn, been animad-
verted upon by an intelligent and enthusiastic writer,
who says :
" One of the worthiest native musicians of the present
day has asserted that the best of the English Glees are
only 'musical mosaics,' and he has singled this work
[' When winds breathe soft '] for his special animadver-
sion. He quotes it as an example to prove his statement
that continuity of treatment was not only outside the
power, but was also outside the thought, of the English
musicians of the last century. This is unfortunately an
ill-advised statement, which must have been made in an
unhappy mood. The whole glee is constructed upon one
continuous idea, and is no more a piece of ' musical mosaic '
than the statue of the Apollo Belvidere can be said to be
the true effigy of Darwin's progenitor of the human race.
Mr. David Baptie is right when ... he calls this glee
'the noblest production of its composer, a truly grand
conception.' "
Then follows an analysis of the Glee, terminating
with the statement that
" the unity of the whole design, the relation each part or
movement bears to the other, is a most striking instance
of the continuity of the idea entered upon in the opening
phrase, and developed to the greatest possible extent in a
work of its character. It therefore offers a complete
refutation of the mistake made by the learned musician
alluded to." '
Whether the refutation be so complete as this writer
alleges, may be left to competent judgment ; but
assuredly Macfarren did not " mistake " by overlook-
ing the points of design indicated. He was speaking
1 English Glees and Part- Songs. A n Inquiry into their Historical
Development. W. A. Barrett. London, 1886. Pp. 226-228.
168 MACFARREN'S COX VI VIAL GLEES.
of a different order of plan : that of one movement, with
contrasted subjects, conjointly or otherwise worked ;
and he did not recognize this element of continuity in
the Glees to which he alluded. Much more might
now be advanced, were this a controversial work.
Enough that Macfarren' s dicta upon this, as well as
upon other subjects, did not pass unchallenged ; the
very formidableness of his opposition being so far
recognized as to arouse, not unfrequently, something
almost approaching to rancour in the contention to
which it gave rise. It must not be supposed that the
characterization is intended to apply to the very
respectful antagonism above cited.
Notwithstanding his strictures on English Glees, or
at least on the weak style and structure characterizing
them, Macfarren himself wrote several such composi-
tions. There is a set of Six Convivial Glees, illustra-
tive of the history of England, for three men's voices,
published in 1842, the words by his father, viz.
" King Canute " (also published as a song) , " William
Rufus," " Fair Rosamond," " Queen Bess," " Oliver
Cromwell," " Sir Hugh Middleton." With the ex-
ception of " William Rufus," the words of all have
some reference to conviviality, being designed for the
use of Glee Clubs, and such gatherings, in which habit
of that kind was associated with music. Another
Glee, for the same voices, was " Hail to the Chief! "
words also being by George Macfarren, sen. All of
these are fresh, and with defined structure, principally
of episodical kind. The " Musical World " of January
6th, 1842, reviewing " Oliver Cromwell," says:
" Since the glees of Mr. Bishop, none have afforded
us so much pleasure as those of Mr. Macfarren. There
MACFARREWS "SHAKESPEARE SONGS." 169
is a humour in them which sorts mightily with our
temperament." Concerning these Glees, Macfarren
thus writes, after recording the publication of the
" Devil's Opera " by Hill 1 :
" Thus brought into close connection with the house, I
was soon asked to write a Glee that would be available for
singing at the supper houses which were numerous in the
vicinity of the theatres ; and for this my father furnished
me with the verses of ' King Canute.' I was lucky in my
setting of them, and the notes with the words were
so successful as well to have reimbursed the publishers
for the three guineas they had paid for the twofold copy-
right. The sale of this Glee, however, led to our engage-
ment for five others to constitute a series, on the same
terms, which, as times went, we felt to be a miniature
fortune. They are all humorous relations of English his-
torical incidents, and the verses of some of them are at
least as full of point as are those of the first ; but, by a
caprice of luck as unaccountable as are most of the freaks
of that wayward deity, no one but ' King Canute ' has ever
had acceptance."
Besides these, Macfarren produced " Shakespeare
Songs for four voices" (1860-64), and a host of
similar compositions, both for mixed and for equal
voices, which are for the most part sufficiently well
known to render their enumeration here unnecessary.
1 See page 50.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE HANDEL SOCIETY. MACFARREN'S VISIT TO NEW
YORK. EDITIONS OP " BELSHAZZAR," " JUDAS MAC-
CABEUS," AND " JEPHTHA." VIEWS ON EDITING.
ARTICLES ON THE " MESSIAH." MARRIAGE. " ANTI-
GONE " PERFORMANCES. ARTICLES ON MENDELSSOHN'S
" GEDIPUS IN COLONOS" Music. 18431855.
PRIOR to the death of George Macfarren, sen., in
April, 1843, he had made a suggestion to his son
which was willingly acted on : that of the formation
of a society for the publication of a complete edition
of Handel's works, under competent editorship a
scheme which it was supposed would be hailed with
acclamation and meet with abundant support in the
land of Handel's adoption, and in which those works
were held in such high esteem. As was the case
with the Musical Antiquarian Society, however, the
expectations of its promoters were not fully realized ;
the Handel Society, instituted in 1843, having an
existence of only a few years. Macfarren, however,
acted upon his father's suggestion the father, indeed,
being present at the first meeting convened for the
formation of the Society, and with the co-operation of
R. Addison (Treasurer), W. Sterndale Bennett, Sir
HANDEL SOCIETY. VISITS NEW YOKE. 171
H. B. Bishop, Dr. Crotch, J. W. Davison, E. J.
Hopkins, I. Moscheles, T. M. Mudie, G. F. Rimbault,
Sir George Smart, and Henry Smart, G. A. Macfarren
as Secretary, issued the Prospectus, from 73, Berners
Street, June 16, 1843. Into the work of the Society,
which commenced with 1,000 members, but was dis-
solved in January, 1848, through lack of support, this
is not the place to enter, beyond recording that for it
Macfarren edited " Belshazzar," " Judas Maccabeus,"
and " Jephtha." With his sadly imperfect eyesight,
such work must have been exacting and laborious.
He had very conscientious ideas as to the nature,
responsibility, and duties of editorship, and it was
indicative of the artistic aims which always animated
him, that he entered with painstaking energy into
comparatively unprofitable work of this or any other
kind, which tended towards the highest advancement
of the art to which he had devoted himself.
His sight continuing to fail increasingly, he was
allured by the accounts which he received of the skill
and success of an oculist in New York ; and, in the
fond hope of obtaining some benefit from the much-
vaunted treatment, was induced in 1847 to proceed
to that city and place himself under the lauded prac-
titioner. The hope was vain : although the oculist
from time to time pronounced, as the result of diag-
nosis, that there was improvement, the poor patient
had to reply, " I only know that I can't see any
better." Even at this time, however, Macfarren was
able to write, with the help of a powerful magnifying
glass, the use of which, indeed, he did not relinquish
until about twelve years later. The blindness did
not become total till about 1865. It is hardly to be
172 "KING CHARLES II."
wondered at that, under the depressing circumstances
of his visit to America, the period of eighteen months'
sojourn there was not remarkable or prolific in an
artistic way. He found the sea-voyages insufferably
tedious, although he seems not to have been wholly
idle even with his pen while on his way to the United
States. A Vocal Duet, words by W. A. Hammond,
bears date "British Channel, 10 August, 47." The
stanzas commence :
" Let us haste to the river, whose tremulous breast
Is a bed where the calm face of heaven might rest ;
As we float o'er the stream in its mantle of blue,
We fancy it heaven it mirrors so true."
At the end of the manuscript, Macfarren writes :
" Dear Mr. Hammond, had you had half so much of the
water when you wrote these words as I have had now, you
would have told a very different story. However poetical,
they are strictly romantic, in Dr. Johnson's full meaning of
the word. Yours very truly, G. A. Macfarren."
During his stay in Xew York, however, he com-
pleted another opera, ' ' Charles the Second " (of which
more anon), forwarding the numbers to England, sheet
by sheet. He corresponded about musical matters
with his intimate friend, the late Henry Gattie,
violinist, a man of great intelligence beyond the
domain of his art, with whom at that time I was in
very frequent intercourse, and from whom I received
intelligence when he heard from Macfarren. One
matter of his solicitude, about which he begged intel-
ligence from Gattie, was the progress, artistically, of
his youngest brother, Walter Cecil, now so well
EDITION OF " BELSHAZZAR." 173
known, but then in the early days of his professional
career.
Another incident of his sojourn in New York was a
performance, at a concert given by Henri Herz and
Camillo Sivori, of Macfarren's "Chevy Chase" over-
ture, the composer conducting, Sivori playing first
violin, Bottesini the double-bass, Herz the drums,
and J. L. Hatton the triangle ! All this was so
announced !
This digression respecting the visit to New York
will explain the dating thence of the preface to " Bel-
shazzar/' to Macfarren's edition of which we now
revert.
In that preface to the first part of " Belshazzar,"
dated November 1, 1847 after giving various histo-
rical particulars concerning the Oratorio he states
that it was his
" object to follow the manuscript of Hande as closely as
possible ;" upon which authority he was " enabled to make
many important corrections of the score, as it has appeared
in the old printed copies, sometimes in single notes, some-
times in the accentuation of words, and sometimes in the
restoration of passages, which have hitherto been always
omitted."
He further states that the
" edition contains several entire pieces which have never
before been printed, .... and several resettings of pieces
already known ; "
all these being derived from Handel's manuscript in
the Library of Buckingham Palace. These are pointed
out in detail; and it is also stated that, in certain
places,
174 EDITION OF "JUDAS MACCABEUS."
" there are [in the MS.] several erasures, sometimes of
single bars, sometimes of two, three, or four bars together,
and these furnish a most interesting illustration of Handel's
method of composition, in the circumstance of the voice
and the bass-parts being written continuously throughout
the whole movement, and the violin and viola-parts not
being filled up in the erased bars, thus showing that it was
the custom of the composer to make first a skeleton of his
score, which he corrected and completed afterwards, etc."
And Macfarren goes on to speak of one place in
which he has seen it fit and necessary, for the sake of
performance, to fill in this " skeleton/' as he believed
Handel would have done. Various minor correc-
tions, also, he specifies ; and then speaks of the organ
part which he supplied, following the example of
Mendelssohn in his edition of " Israel in Egypt " for
the same society.
These few particulars give some indication of the
painstaking care with which Macfarren performed his
task ; and the same care is manifested in his edition of
" Judas Maccabeus," in the preface to which, dated
London, March, 1855, occur the following characteris-
tic remarks :
"It is important to notice that in all Handel's manu-
scripts the figuring of the bass is extremely incomplete.
In the old printed copies this deficiency, if deficiency it be,
is most profusely made up, though not unexceptionably
in accordance with the harmony. The very unsatisfactory
system of musical shorthand, that goes by the most inex-
pressive name of ' thorough bass/ is now for practical
purposes as good as obsolete, and any one who can compre-
hend a figured bass, can as easily read the notes of the
score, and where these complete not the harmony, supply
from the indication they afford what others may be neces-
sary."
ORGAN PART IN ORATORIOS. 175
To this edition of " Judas Maccabeus " Macfarren
did not supply an organ part, nor to " Jephtha," pub-
lished in 1858. The reason of this is not stated ; it
was probably by direction of the council. Macfarren,
in the preface to " Judas/' deplores
"the custom . . . that prevailed in Handel's time, of
leaving the organ part to the discretion of the performer,
with the indefinite guide only of the figured bass. It is
not alone that the effect of the chords greatly depends
upon the position in which they may be distributed ; but
in the solo pieces, not merely the filling up of the harmony
was left to the knowledge and invention of the organist, even
the form or figure of the accompaniment, in fact, the con-
struction of an independent counterpoint, rested entirely
upon the ability of this most responsible interpreter of the
composer's meaning."
In the preface to " Jephtha," Macfarren again
refers to this subject ; as also to " the extremely
scarce, and, so to speak, fitful figuring in the com-
poser's score," as " characteristic of him, and of his
mode of writing."
In the concluding paper of a series on the "Messiah,"
in the " Musical World/' March and April, 1849, he
also remarks on the same subject :
" It is always a matter of lament that it was Handel's
custom, as that of his age, to leave the organ part, which
sustained the chief accompaniment of his solo pieces, to
the improvisation of the performer, giving only the vague
indication of a figured bass to direct the organist as to the
harmony without implying in any manner the position in
which the chords are to be dispersed, upon which very
much, if not the whole of their effect depends, nor, what
is still more important, suggesting the form or figure of
the accompaniment. The traditional mode of performing
these organ accompaniments having been, to a great extent,
176 MACFARREN ON EDITING.
lost, and the organists of our day having, for the most
part, a discreet hesitation to venture their extemporaueities
upon such everlasting themes, the custom generally prevails
now of omitting the organ in such pieces altogether ; and
hence the miserably weak and meagre effect of those many
songs, of which we hear nothing but the outline in the
voice and the bass parts, with an occasional point of imita-
tion, and sometimes a symphony for the violin. In the
case of the ' Messiah,' the great composer has a powerful
advantage in the effect of his creation on a modern audience,
from the labours of an equally great commentator, in the
additional parts Mozart has added to the original score,
the purport of which is to fill up the blank places, and to
supply in the orchestra such effects as Handel himself
would have produced in accompanying his own work on
the organ. Without Mozart's masterly additions, a per-
formance of this oratorio must then always be regarded as
incomplete."
I remember Macfarren conversing with me about
the admirable way in which Henry Smart, for the
Handel Society, edited Handel's " Chamber Duets,"
filling up the figured bass part for the pianoforte
" counterpointing " the accompaniment ; saying how
much his opinion of Smart's musicianship was thereby
raised.
Macfarren' s views on editing, to which allusion has
been made, are presented in an article by him of much
later date, in which he specifies " three orders of
editorship " :
" One takes upon himself the duty of purifying the text
of an inaccessible author. . . . An editor of this class needs
to exercise his discretion, when there is the choice of two
authorities of nearly equal value ; for instance, there may
be the autograph of a work and a printed copy of the first
edition of the same. In many cases the reliability of the
former is indisputable ; but in others, it may often happen
MACFARREN ON EDITING. 177
that a composer has improved upon his first intentions,
either from the experience of performance, from a recon-
sideration of a phrase, or from any other cause. He will
then naturally alter the parts from which his piece is to be
played, or he will alter the proof sheets if it is to be
printed ; but he will rarely run home from a rehearsal or
a printing-office to correct his original MS. When this
happens, of necessity a copy of the first edition is a better
guide for the editor, than is even the handwriting of the
composer."
Macfarren cites an instance from " Israel in Egypt/'
which Mendelssohn edited for the Handel Society :
" Throughout the Chorus, ' And with the blast of thy
nostrils,' Handel wrote the often repeated phrase, ' the
waters were gathered,' with the word ' we-re' in two syllables,
having four separate quavers for ' wa-ters we-re ; ' but
printed it, as we all know, with two joined quavers for the
lirst syllable, and one quaver each for the other two."
The Council of the Society, in opposition to Men-
delssohn, determined to adhere to the printed version .
" Another order of editorship engages itself with ex-
pounding, so to speak, the original, and by the substitution
perhaps of one word or note for another, or by the change
of punctuation, to make clear the sense of phrases which
has been left doubtful by the author. To this order belong
the countless array of Shakespearian commentators. . , .
The punctuation of music consists in the slurs to indicate
the phrasing, which supply the place of the commas, semi-
colons, and the like, of literature, which are almost as
essential to the sense as the very words they divide and
congregate. It is in this matter of slurring or phrasing
that the works of many musicians, even among the most
eminent, are sadly defective. . . . Some editors, of the
order in present consideration, stretch their duty to its
very verge, if not break it by excess of tension ; which are
they who not only indicate how many notes are to be given
N
178 MACFAEREN OX EDITING.
in one breath, or in one bow, or without raising the fingers
from the key-board, but mark what notes are to be played
loudly and what softly, what are to be detached and what
conjoined, and thus give often a meaning to a phrase
which is apart from the composer's intention, and is some-
times opposed to the natural tendency of the phrase itself.
This kind of thing is admissible in performance, where the
personality of the player may give interest to his erratic
construction of a composer's meaning ; but it should not
be perpetuated in print, unless accompanied with a com-
plete description of what was originally written, and of
what has been altered from, and what added to the author's
text. . . . An edition of the pianoforte works of Beethoven,
now in the course of issue in Germany, carries this assumed
prerogative of an editor to an extent happily extraordinary,
and extraordinary let us hope it may long continue. In
this, with most reckless disregard of evidence, the editors,
and one in particular, assume to have a kind of second
sight of the author's meaning, and by the guidance of this
preternatural light, they take upon themselves to set aside
what Beethoven wrote and printed, and they supersede
this in many passages by substitutions of their own, which
materially change the character and alter the effect of what
commonplace folks blindly believe must have been in-
tended by the master poor commonplace folks ! who
have but the indisputable notes of the original, the general
manner of the author, a comprehension of the theoretical
and practical state of art in his time, and a reverence for a
great man's meaning, and his individual way of expressing
it, to guide them. . . . The German edition must be a
curiosity from which reason and feeling will revolt.
*****
" Our third order of editorship assumes the right and
presumes the capability to add to the works of great
musicians in order to fit them for present use. In letters
the same was done by John Dryden, by Nahum Tate, and
by David Garrick, with regard to the plays of Shakespeare,
and a pretty business they made of their changements.
. . . Perhaps one of the greatest evils that have ever been
done in music, is the reinstrumentation by Mozart of
Handel's ' Messiah : ' and the evil lies in the fact that the
ARTICLES ON THE "MESSIAH:' 179
score is written with such consummate artistry as to rival
the beauty of the original matter, that it is hence inse-
parable (save in those pieces in which, from the first,
Mozart's additions have been unused) from Handel's
groundwork, in public performances. Because of its in-
finite merit, Mozart's orchestration is now indispensable ;
and because of its indispensability, any one now regards it
as a precedent, and takes licence from its example, to invest
other works of Handel with ' additional accompaniments.'
Unhappily, or happily, as the case may be, everybody who
paints Handel with the vivid colours of the modern
orchestra is not Mozart. If he were, and were always at
his best, then should we become strangers to the effects
intended by the mighty one of Halle, the stern grandeur
and the special sweetness of the Saxon giant would have
no existence, and the delicious haze of sunset glories, that
hangs as a kind of veil between the ancient style of music
and the modern, would hide from view the most salient
features of the master's individuality."
In the four articles on Handel's <e Messiah/' in the
"Musical World/' to which allusion has been made,
Macfarren contends that
" Handel, by reason of his greatness, must be esteemed
an original genius ; but his originality is to be regarded in
respect to the excellence of his works, which had never
previously been approached and can never be surpassed,
rather than with reference to the unlikeness of his style to
that of his predecessors, and more especially of his cotem-
poraries."
After some reasons for this verdict, he continues
that
" The originality, the true dignity of Handel's genius, is
to be seen in the exquisite beauty of many of his melodies,
.... that beauty which proves the true consanguinity of
genius in all schools ; that beauty which, indeed, is not of an
age, but for all time, and which makes it seem possible that
' Love in her eyes sits playing/ ' When I seek from Love's
180 HANDEL'S GENIUS.
sickness to fly,' ' Nel cor piu,' ' My mother bids me bind
my hair,' ' Voi che sapete,' ' Kennst du das Land,' ' Rose
softly blooming,' ' Assisa a pie d'un salice,' and many of
the ' Songs without words ' for the pianoforte, might all
have been thought by one mind, and written by one person.
It is to be seen in the wonderful points of harmony which
he somewhat rarely, but never inappropriately, and never
without prodigious effect, employs, that quite transcend his
age, and but for their perfect fitness to the situations
where he introduces them, might seem to be taken from
the most ultra-modern compositions of the present day ;
such, to give a single but most striking example, as the
great point on the words, ' Still as a stone,' in ' Israel in
Egypt,' where the bass descends to G- sharp, and the first
inversion of the chord of the major ninth on E has an
effect that no words can describe ; it is to be seen in the truly
beautiful, because beautifully truthful, and therefore also
intensely poetical expression, not of words, but of senti-
ments, feelings, passions, with which his works abound ;
it is to be seen in his wonderful command over all the
resources of counterpoint, his complete mastery over which
intricate art makes his most elaborate and complicated
fugues appear to have been written with as much ease and
fluency as they are grand and natural in their effect ; it is
to be seen in his lofty, noble, almost divine conceptions of the
greatest and grandest subjects, and it is this last, perhaps,
more than all the other evidences of his greatness, but
decidedly in conjunction with them all, that marks him
unapproachable in what is his own peculiar excellence, and
has made, in the minds of all who know and appreciate his
power, the word Handelian to be a synonym for sublimity."
With characteristic courage, Macfarren, in the
course of these analytical articles, animadverts most
vehemently upon the song " The Trumpet shall
sound/' one of the most " popular " in the Oratorio,
on account of those very qualities about it which he
considers incongruous with the solemnity of the
subject.
" THE TRUMPET SHALL SOUND." 181
" The recitative, ' For behold I tell you a mystery,' is a
broad [piece of declamation ; but the air which it intro-
duces we cannot with all the reverence with which the
composer everywhere, and especially in this work, im-
presses us we cannot after the most careful study of the
piece we are presuming to censure we cannot but consider
to be a complete misconception. ' The Trumpet shall
sound, and the dead shall be raised,' appears to be a
passage as suggestive as any in the oratorio, and one
peculiarly likely to have called out the noblest powers of
Handel's genius. What a truly sublime image does it
raise, even without the strong aid of musical enforcement,
of the awful sounding of an overwhelming tone that bursts
the bonds of death, and calls together from the widest
range of space, from the remotest depths of time, all that
have lived to live again! tearing the till then impene-
trable curtain from eternity, it discloses the everlasting
Now, the vast understanding of Divinity, the last sense
new created, and merges is. and was, and is to be, in the
mighty consciousness of the infinite and the true; and
how particularly does it strike us, first, that such an image,
even one so superhuman, was quite within the province,
and possibly within the power of the composer of the
' Messiah ' to embody ; and secondly, that it was for him,
and for none other, to essay the human expression of so
divine a subject. This is a rude presentation of the rude pre-
sentiment we feel of what was the glorious scope open to the
musician who should exercise his art and his genius upon
the composition of this passage ; and we cannot but feel,
and feeling cannot but regret, that the trivial for so, com-
pared with the theme, we must regard it the trivial song
before us, and the trifling conventionalities of the common-
place trumpet accompaniment must wholly disappoint all
those who know the powers of Handel, and appreciate the
unequalled susceptibility of the subject, of what they have
a right to expect from his treatment of it. The tremendous
summons of the last trumpet is reduced to the display of
the executive excellence of a tolerably skilled solo player,
and the thrilling annunciation of the destiny of all mor-
tality rendered by the unmeaning divisions of an expres-
sionless bravura. Yes, indeed, "this song must be felt to
182 MACFARREN' S MARRIAGE.
be a misconception, and it is the more conspicuous, and the
more to be regretted, because, as such, it is the only failure
in a work that would otherwise defy all question of its
propriety."
On September 27, 1844, Macfarren was married at
Marylebone Church to Clarina Thalia Andrae, a native
of Liibeck, well known as Natalia Macfarren, by her
translations and adaptations of opera libretti, words of
Mendelssohn's songs, etc., as well as for her ability as
a teacher of singing. I believe it is an open secret
that certain musical souvenirs known as " Six Ro-
mances," were written for her, being originally super-
scribed, " To Thalia/' As issue of this marriage, a
daughter survives him, now Mrs. F. W. .Davenport,
for whom, I believe it is also an open secret, he
wrote the quaint little instruction-book for the piano-
forte, entitled, " Little Clarina's Lesson Book/' which,
though published, has not, so far as I am aware,
obtained general acceptance.
In the year 1845, when Laurent was manager of
Covent Garden Theatre, he determined to bring out
the " Antigone" of Sophocles, with Mendelssohn's
music ; and Macfarren having been engaged as musical
director to the theatre, it became his onerous, respon-
sible, and difficult duty to conduct it ; difficult, be-
cause of the structure of the work, consisting not
merely of choruses, some of them double choruses,
but also of spoken recitation accompanied by the
orchestra, necessitating on Macfarren's part complete
familiarity with the words as well as the music. For,
on account of his greatly impaired sight, he was under
the necessity of committing the whole to memory, and
of conducting from memory; a marvellous feat, but
ANTIGONE" PERFORMANCES. 183
not by any means the only feat of memory which has
to be recounted concerning him. Mendelssohn was
much gratified on hearing of the arrangement, and
wrote to Macfarren as follows:
" Frankfurt, 8 December, 1844.
" MY DEAR SIB,
" Have many thanks for the interest you take
in bringing out my music to the 'Antigone' choruses; I
am very glad it is in your hands, because it wants a musi-
cian like you to make it go as intended quite as a subor-
dinate part of the whole, as a mere link in the chain of the
poem, and yet perfectly clear and independent in itself."
Then follow minute directions respecting the cho-
ruses, especially the choral recitatives, the action, etc.,
followed by, " Pray excuse this long analysis ; but you
would have it ! "
Yes, Macfarren " would have it;" he always would
have everything accessible that tended towards the
thoroughness of performance of any task undertaken
by him. No wonder that the enterprise was perfectly
successful, and the piece ran thirty nights, only
stopping with the termination of the season as is
recorded by Karl Mendelssohn Bartholdy, son of the
great composer, who speaks of Sterndale Bennett and
Macfarren as " English artists of congenial mind with
[his father's] own/'
As illustrating Macfarren's presence of mind and
promptitude, an incident may be here related which
he told to a pupil years afterwards. At one of the
performances of the " Antigone," there was a point
where the chorus were to walk on to the stage singing.
The orchestra were playing their part in front, and the
chorus marched in from the back, having begun their
184 "ANTIGONE" PERFORMANCES.
song out of time. Macfarren detected what was
wrong shouted to his band behind him, " Cut out
half a bar ! " and thus a fiasco was averted, without
the audience being aware of its imminence.
Inconnection with these performances of "Antigone/'
there is a charming little letter to that accomplished
musician Miss Kate Loder, now Lady Thompson, which,
though having no bearing on music, is so charac-
teristic at once of Macfarren's affectionate feelings
towards his artistic associates, and of his graceful
dexterity in delicate expression, that it may be given
here :
" Wednesday.
"MY OWN THALIA'S DEAR KITTY,
"We shall get a box to-morrow night for 'Antigone '
in hopes that you will go with Thalia ; and we shall ask
my mother to take care of you please be here AT 6.
" My wife sends her best love ; and as all her love is
mine, you may conclude if you please that in hers she
sends mine also.
" Sincerely yours,
" G. A. MACFAEREX."
Lady Thompson retains a pleasant memory of the
occasion, which young enthusiasm for Mendelssohn's
music, enjoyed under such auspices, rendered specially
delightful.
In a series of articles upon Mendelssohn's subse-
quently composed music to the " CEdipus in Colonos/'
in the " Musical World," January 7th, 1854, and
following numbers, Macfarren advances the opinion
that :
" The element of the Chorus, which, in spite of the
advocacy of Schiller, remains to the present appreciation
an incongruity in the Greek drama, is here much more
essential to the whole than in the tragedy of ' Antigone ; '
"ANTIGONE" AND ' ; CEDIPUS." 185
since, besides the several Odes which carry on the progress
of the action, eulogizing the state, and moralizing upon
such conditions of humanity as the incidents present, this
impersonal personality sustains a very considerable por-
tion of the dialogue with the principal characters, and
thus becomes a party in many of the most impassioned
scenes of the play."
Concerning these two works, Macfarren wrote, in
the " Imperial Dictionary of Biography " :
" Some English classical scholars l have violently depre-
ciated this remarkable composition ['Antigone'], regarding
it from a totally false point of view ; it outlives their un-
discerning censure, and, with its companion work, the
' (Edipus in Colonos,' written under the same circumstances
in 1845, proves the poetical vigour of Mendelssohn's power
of conception in a wholly untrodden field, and his capability
of appropriating the resources of his art to a previously
untried subject."
Referring to the fact that Mendelssohn composed
this music, as well as that for " Antigone," etc., at
the command of the King of Prussia, he rejoices both
"in the genius that could elicit and so worthily obey
such a command/' and in " the enlightened liberality
of the monarch.'"
" Prussia proved herself worthy of a great artist by the
confidence reposed in Mendelssohn, and the homage paid
to his talent. Of what is England worthy ? . . . Possibly
we have no Mendelssohn certainly we have no King of
Prussia. ... So long as it is the policy of our government,
personally and officially, to furnish themes for the writers
of leading articles in newspapers, and inflammatory excite-
ment to their readers, while it neglects that most important
medium of moral discipline, intellectual cultivation so
long will politics be the amusement of the people, art their
handiwork, their furniture, their hard livelihood in pursuit,
and, at best, their paper-hanging in its attainment. So
1 De Quincey, etc.
186 "ANTIGONE" AND "QIDIPUS."
long as the beautiful is but a business, and the stimulant
of genius but a shop account of loss and profit, and the
inconsequent example of the great works that have been
produced under other auspices, must we bear the stigma
the rest of the world has placed upon us, of being an un-
musical nation. In Prussia, it is otherwise ; and of that
state of things Mendelssohn's ' (Edipus ' is among the
results of which we share the advantage."
Macfarren said in my hearing " I cannot under-
stand politics." Continuing the article, he says :
" The form of the Greek drama affords a novel and a
very wide scope for the exercise of the musician's art; but,
at the same time, the details of its construction fetter him
with uncommon and embarrassing difficulties.
" It was not new in the revival of the tragedies of
Sophocles upon the German stage, to blend spoken decla-
mation with instrumental accompaniment. The biographers
of Mozart describe, as one of his first important dramatic
successes, his music to ' Mithridates,' which consisted
entirely of orchestral accompaniments to the dialogue, in
the style of recitative ; and this, it seems, was a form of
composition much esteemed at that period. The choral
responses to the speeches of the characters constitute a new
element, in the treatment of which ' Antigone ' has proved
the greatness of Mendelssohn's power ; and the present
work, as it contains more of such scenes, and of a more
complicated and extensive character, has more severely
tested this power, and thus still more successfully estab-
lished it. The difficulty of execution presented by the
intermixture of speaking and singing, and by the reduc-
tion of spoken declamation to the restrictions of musical
rhythm, while impeding the realization of the composer's
effects, detracts nothing from his merit in producing it ;
and the feeling of every one who has witnessed the com-
petent performance of ' Antigone ' is, that the effect thus
attained is of the most powerfully exciting character that
the dramatic musical art can attain.
" The first difficulty, I may say danger, of this class of
writing exists in the necessity of reaching the pinnacle
" CEDIPUSr 187
which lies between dulness on its more cautkms and gradual
ascent, and absurdity on the precipitous and sunny side of
its declivity, and thus to elevate without exaggerating
the dramatic situation. This demands the profoundest
artistry, and the highest natural qualifications in the com-
poser. The next difficulty or danger belongs to the fasci-
nation of continuous action, which impels the embodiment
of line after line, phrase after phrase, in fresh ideas ; in
which uninterrupted succession, so attractive to the musi-
cian, he is liable to abandon that unity which is indispensable
to the gratification of the hearer.
"It is especially to be admired in the work under con-
sideration, that in these declamatory scenes, while the
expression of the general sentiment and the enunciation of
particular words form the chief purport of the musician,
and the chief medium of his impression upon an audience,
the principles of construction are so ingeniously, and so
successfully brought to bear upon the treatment, even of
the most impetuous, broken, and seemingly irregular
passages, as to render each scene a model of symmetry.
Thus we have all the excitement of an unpremeditated
passionate impulse, refined and beautified by the agency of
artistic design. Such a handling of the subject is especially
appropriate in a composition illustrative of a work of Greek
art, the elements of which in all its branches of manifesta-
tion were artificial, refinement being the necessity, and
nature the germ from which her inventions had to be
ripened. It is eminently to the purpose that the unities
of our own art should be scrupulously maintained, when it
is brought into connection with another in which the laws
of unity were despotic.
"We must now consider another department of the work,
and the difficulties that beset its treatment viz., the
adaptation of music to the Odes. The obvious purpose of
this important feature in the design of the Greek drama
was to afford intervals of repose during the progress of the
action, which would else have been too violent and exciting
to come within the rule of gradual undulation, which, as
the principle of ideal beauty, was imperative in ancient
art. . . . Further ; the absence of metaphor is a studied
characteristic of the dialogue of the Greek drama; and the
188 (EDIPUS:'
employment of this graceful figure of rhetoric, and charm-
ing poetical medium, was confined to the Odes, which, by
contrast no less than by sympathy, were made to soften
while they heightened the effect, and promoted the de-
velopment of the action. As, then, the musical ti-eatment
of the dialogue is intended to enforce the excitement of the
dramatic action, so the musical rendering of the episodes
is designed to soften the reliefs of the points of repose with
which it is interspersed. Again, as in the accompanied
dialogue there is little or no scope for rhythmical regu-
larity, so in the Odes we have the contrast of continuous
movement and unbroken melody, which is the metaphor
of music. The composer's obstacle in treating these has
been the enormous number of words, and the necessity of
comprising them within such limits as the exigencies of
the stage and the impatience, most natural to their situa-
tion, of a theatrical audience impose. Each Ode has words
enough to form the text of an Oratorio ; and yet the
minutes, the seconds, of the duration of each must be
counted. The difficulty of constructing rhythmical melodies
and symmetrical compositions, without repeating words and
recurring to passages, may be easily conceived ; and it is
obvious that such repetitions and recurrences would
lengthen the music far beyond all practical availability.
This difficulty having been mastered completely and suc-
cessfully by Mendelssohn betokens the most consummate
judgment and the greatest fluency; and a musical interest
is produced which eminently fulfils the requirements of the
situation."
The thorough comprehension of the artistic re-
quirements the rationale of such compositions, here
evinced, amply accounts for the successful accomplish-
ment by Macfarren of his task in directing the
" Antigone " performances, although, from causes
beyond his immediate control, there were casualties at
first which afforded opportunity for cynical criticism
in certain quarters.
CHAPTER IX.
OPERAS, CANTATAS, ETC. "DoN QUIXOTE," 1846; " KING
CHARLES II.," 1849; "THE SLEEPER AWAKENED/'
1850; "ALLAN OF ABERFELDY," 1851 ; " QUARTET IN
G MINOR/' 1852; "LENORA," 1853; "HAMLET OVER-
TURE," 1856 ; " MAY DAY," 1857 ; " CHRISTMAS,"
" ROBIN HOOD ; " ENTIRE FAILURE OP SIGHT, AND
COMMENCEMENT OP DICTATION, 1860; "FREYA'S GIFT,"
" JESSY LEA," 1863 ; " THE SOLDIER'S LEGACY," " SHE
STOOPS TO CONQUER," "HELVELLYN," 1864 ; " SONGS
IN A CORNFIELD," 1868 ; " OUTWARD BOUND," 1872 ;
"THE LADY OP THE LAKE/' 1877; " KENILWORTH,"
1880.
1'HE first inception of Macfarren's opera, " Don
Quixote," the resumption of its composition, its
reconstruction, and its subsequent rejection by Maddox,
have been recorded in Chapter III. With respect to
the resumption of the composition, with a view to its
production under Balfe's management, it was related
by Macfarren's intimate friend, Mr. G. A. Osborne, in
an entertaining paper of "Musical Coincidences and
Reminiscences," read by him at the Musical Associa-
tion, April 2nd, 1883, that :
" Balfe was always anxious for the establishment of a
permanent English Opera in. Lqndon, and, among other
composers, he invited the co-operation of Macfarren, the
190 BALFES SCHEME.
present Principal of the Royal Academy of Music. He
was anxious to show that British musicians deserved some
of the patronage lavished on foreign artists. ' Don Quixote,'
by Macfarren, was put in rehearsal ; but owing to the
theatre being closed for want of funds, it was not produced
till five years later. On. this subject I will read you a
letter from Macfarren :
"'15, Hanover Cottages.
" ' MY DEAR OSBORNE,
" ' Let me give you the first intelligence that the attempt
to establish the National Opera Company has failed. You
will in a few days receive the report of the Committee.
" ' Sincerely yours,
" ' G-. A. MACFARREN.' "
One of Balfe' s biographers, more at length, records
that in 1841, engaging the English Opera House
now the Lyceum Theatre
"Balfe thought to create a national opera by inviting all
the known English opera writers to compose works, and
thus to show the public that there were as good musicians
among the natives of the country worthy of support as the
foreigner, upon whom was lavished all the praise, and who
also obtained the greater share of recognition. Barnett,
Rooke, Lover, and Macfarren were invited to co-operate.
Lover had written a comic operetta called ' Paddy Whack
in Italia,' which Balfe produced. Macfarren had been
invited by Balfe to compose an opera on the subject of
' Don Quixote.' This was placed in rehearsal, and would have
been brought out but for the untimely end of the scheme,"
through the defection of certain members of the
company.
"Five years later, Balfe, knowing the excellent qualities
of the work, recommended it for production at Drury Lane,
which recommendation was accepted, and the opera was
performed successfully. . . ,
" Balfe thought when he started his ill-fated venture
"DON QUIXOTE." 191
that he had the help of enough composers to enable him
to continue his scheme. The only one who had foresight
and wisdom enough to help and actively to encourage it
was George Alexander Macfarren. The other composers
of the period gave only a half-hearted assistance. The
time for the recognition of English art as an actuality was
not come." *
The work was not, however, to be lost to the musical
world. As has been already briefly recorded in Mac-
farren's own words (p. 51), the opera was brought out
at Drury Lane, under Bunn's management, February
3rd, 1846; and " Balfe . . . was present at the first
performance" of the "fine opera . . . the theme of
which he had suggested." 2 The cast was as follows,
Edward J. Loder conducting :
Quiteria Miss Eainforth.
Camacho Mr. D. W. King.
Sancho Mr. Stretton.
Don Quixote . . . Mr. W. H. Weiss.
Rovedos Mr. S. Jones.
Basilius Mr. Allen.
The libretto, by the composer's father, was founded
on the same ft adventure," or episode, as that which
furnished the text of Mendelssohn's early opera, " The
Marriage of Camacho." Just before its production,
Mendelssohn wrote to Macfarren, in 1845: "Many
good wishes for your opera ; may it succeed and give
you and your friends many happy hours in '46, '56, and
so on." Indeed, it is stated that Mendelssohn, when
in England, once said: "Your best composer is un-
I "Balfe; his Life and "Work: by W. A. Barrett. London.
1882."
II Ibid., p. 17(1
192 "DON QUIXOTE."
known Macfarren ; " not said, however, in any way
to imply the ignoring of Sterndale Bennett.
One of the songs in " Don Quixote " was more or
less known several years before the completion and
production of the entire opera, viz., " Ah, why do we
love ? " which has for long been a favourite in our
concert-rooms ; and concerning which the " Musical
World " of March 26th, 1840, wrote :
"It is one of the most perfect songs of its class we have
ever seen. It sparkles all over with freshness and beauty
from the beginning to the end it would be difficult
to point out a bar which does not contain some racy
piece of thought, or some unlooked-for turn of expres-
sion."
A chorus in the opera, " The rights of hospitality,"
is in the form of the Spanish dance, the Seguidilla.
The " Atlas " contained the following summary of
the work :
"From Mr. Macfai-ren's known independence of thought,
and inflexible adhesion to his own standard of excellence,
it was at once to be predicated that no vision of popularity
would tempt him to wilfully indite rubbish for encore's
sake, to descend to a maudlin prettiness at the expense of
dramatic truth, in fine, to lend his pen to a single bar not
authorized by his judgment. If the public was to have
music light, airy, and captivating at first sight, it must
spring naturally from the situations of his lihretto where
these led him, thither and nowhere else, would he go.
And exactly thus has it proved with his ' Don Quixote.'
It has been the experiment of a thoroughly right thinker
novel from seven years' disuse but, we rejoice to say, it
has completely succeeded. The public not only listened
attentively, but received with delight the volume of beau-
tiful things this opera contains, and the result must have
been as gratifying to the composer, as it undoubtedly was
to every musician of true and liberal feeling in the theatre.
"DON QUIXOTE." 193
" Never was success more thoroughly deserved, because
never has it been more honestly and artistically achieved.
To speak of ' Don Quixote ' as a ' fine opera,' conveys no
impression of its peculiar excellences, nor of the almost
innumerable points of musicianship by which it is so widely
distinguished from the merely, and designedly, popular
works of the day. The exquisite unity, consistence, and
purity of its style, its perfect dramatic expression, its great
development of fresh and unworn thought, its masterly
instances of constructive power of which we may quote,
by way of example, the first finale, as quite equal in sym-
metrical form and continuity of interest to any similar
achievement of modern times and the vigour and musician-
like certainty with which all its materials are vitalized in
the orchestra, are all matters that substantiate it as the
work of a greatly accomplished artist. And this not the
less that it makes no pretension to what is ordinarily and
vulgarly deemed ' grandeur.' The drama demands pre-
cisely that length and breadth of style adopted for it, and no
other ; and this truthfulness and consistency of musical ren-
dering is one of its most notable charms. Not only is this
life-like integrity of manner at once apparent on the general
aspect of the work, but it even grows brighter and more vivid
as we question it in detail. Take, for example, the quaint
and admirable conception of Don Quixote's isolated posture
among the other characters of the drama the enthusiastic
dreamer of bygone ages surrounded by the bustling denizens
of the living world of fact how simply and forcibly ex-
pressed by assigning to the pseudo-knight a style of music
as far separated by its antiquity from that pervading all
the other portions of the score, as were the chivalrous pro-
vocatives of the Don's madness from the age in which
Cervantes made him live ! In this general estimation of
the opera we may seem to have been speaking very big
words about what may, to some, appear a small matter.
Nevertheless we have a stout faith in our perfect ability to
justify them, when we come to discuss ' Don Quixote ' in
detail which, as it may lead us into considerable length,
we must defer until next week. Meanwhile we earnestly
counsel all music-loving people who have not heard 'Don
Quixote ' to hear it ; and those who have heard it we as
O
194 W. H. WEISS.
strenuously advise to hear it again it will improve won-
derfully with acquaintance."
In a touching and appreciative obituary notice of
W. H. Weiss, who died, greatly regretted, in 1867,
Macfarren, after recounting various operatic parts in
which Weiss had distinguished himself, in operas by
Balfe, Benedict, etc., continues:
" For my own part, I shall not forget the thankful plea-
sure I felt in witnessing Weiss' s chivalric magniloquence
in Don Quixote ; his seamanly roughness, authoritative
loyalty, and burly embarrassment in Captain Copp ; nor
his jovial impersonation of a thorough old English gentle-
man in Squire Hardcastle. And I shall ever acknowledge
that, in these capital assumptions, he gave to my airy
nothings truly a local habitation and a name." '
The second and third characters referred to are in
subsequent operas of Macfarren's. It is pleasant to
insert the above, as illustrative of his generous and
grateful disposition.
The published pianoforte score of the opera is
inscribed :
To the memory of
MY FATHER
This Opera is dedicated as a
Tribute of Affection.
In the year 1859 thirteen years after the successful
production of this opera the " New York Musical
Review and Gazette " amusingly and patronizingly
said : " Mr. Macfarren, an excellent English musician,
has written an overture, ' Don Quixote/ We should
1 " Choir," Nov. 30th, 1867.
"KING CHARLES 77." 195
think the subject rather too much for Mr. Macfarren" !
To which the " Musical World " replied :
" Whether the subject be ' too much ' or too little for
Mr. Macfarren, our contemporary may, perhaps, not object
to be informed that the overture in question is the prelude
to an opera of the same name, produced at Drury Lane
Theatre in 1846, and justly regarded as one of the best
English dramatic compositions extant."
Although Maddox rejected ' ' Don Quixote " in
1845, yet, such was its success, that Macfarren' s next
operatic production, " King Charles II. /' was brought
out by him at the Princess's Theatre, October 27th,
1849 ; the work having been composed during Mac-
farren' s disappointing sojourn in New York, during
the years 1847 and 1848, and sent over to this country,
in portions, as it progressed. The libretto was by
Desmond Ryan. The success of this opera was un-
equivocal : it had a run of the greater part of two
seasons. The cast included Miss Louisa Pyne (now
Madame Boddaj, Madame (now Lady) Macfarren,
Madame Weiss, Messrs. W. Harrison, Weiss, and
H. Corri. It was the occasion of Madame Macfarren's
debut on the stage, she taking the part of the Page ;
and her modest intelligence was the subject of favour-
able remark. The composer, through infirmity of
sight, was not able to conduct the performances ; but
this responsible task was ably accomplished by his
sympathetic brother-musician, the late Edward James
Loder.
Of "King Charles II." such opinions were expressed
as that it was
" the best that Mr. Macfarren has written. The melodies
196 "THE SLEEPER AWAKENED."
are more varied and plentiful, the design of the concerted
pieces larger, their development more masterly, and the
general tone of the work more dramatic and effective than
in his previous essays. There is also (as in 'Don Quixote,'
but even still more remarkably,) a fine individuality pre-
served in each of the separate characters, amidst an evident
unity of purpose. The style, moreover, is so decided, that
not one of the pieces, long or short, but would, by anyone
acquainted with Mr. Macfarren's manner of writing, be at
once laid to his account." " In all there were nine encores,
more than half the pieces in the opera." " It is the finest
and most complete operatic work of a native musician ever
produced on the stage." " Mr. Macfarren's greatest, and
most simple and unaffected music is comprised in ' K.
Charles II.' " " The madrigal, ' Maidens, would ye 'scape
undoing,' is worthy of a place beside the finest madrigals
of Wilbye and the other worthies of the Elizabethan age."
" As regards the completeness of the work, we do not re-
collect anything comparable to it on the English stage for
a long time; there is in it no crudeness of style no
vagueness of purpose. You perceive in every passage the
mind of the master directing itself to a definite point, and
achieving its object with the greatest possible ease."
The first of a notable series of Cantatas by Mac-
farren, " The Sleeper Awakened," termed a Sere-
nata, words by John Oxenford, was performed at
the National Concerts, Her Majesty's Theatre, in
1850, the parts being sustained by Mr. F. Bodda
(Haroon Alraschid) , Mr. Sims Eeeves (Abou Hassan) ,
and Madlle. Angri (Zuleika) . It contains, among
other noteworthy numbers, a Canon for three voices,
"Good Night"; a Vocal Rondo (Zuleika), "Gone,
he's gone"; a Ballet, consisting of (a) Arab War-
Dance, (b) Shawl Dance, (c) Ballabile ; a Finale, in-
cluding a March, a Vocal Rondo (Zuleika), " The
cloud that o'er our peaceful days." Even the "Athe-
naeum," at that time not too favourably inclined,
QUARTET IN G MINOR. 197
declared that the " Stage Music " was " very cleverly
constructed ; " and that, in the Turkish March and
Chorus, the local colour " so happily used by Weber
in ' Oberon ' is fairly matched in its pure and clear
nationality ": adding, however, that there were "some
instances of discord which the most defying disciple of
Dr. Day's system could hardly defend or recommend,
with such intolerable and gratuitous harshness do
they strike the ear."
The published vocal score is dedicated to Mr.
Walter Broadwood.
Amidst the labours of these large works, more-
over, Macfarren found time and energy to write, in
1852, a Quartet in G minor for stringed instruments,
expressly for the Quartet Association, at whose second
concert, in May of that year, it was performed by
Messrs. Sainton, Cooper, Hill, and Piatti, and, accord-
ing to the " Times," exhibited " throughout the hand
of an experienced master/' Notwithstanding the
number of such works in the department of Chamber
Music that emanated from him, however, yet when,
years afterwards, I asked him, on behalf of the
Musical Artists' Society, to allow some such work to
be performed at one of their concerts, he at first
hesitated, then said that he would consider which
work to send, and ultimately wrote saying that he
found that he had nothing that he would like to be
played. This was certainly from no ill-will to the
Society, of which he was a Vice-President, and in
which he evinced considerable interest.
In 1851, when Drury Lane Theatre was under the
management of Bunn, Macfarren wrote for produc-
tion there an opera to a libretto by John Oxenford,
198 "ALLAN OF ABERFELDY." ll KENILWORTH."
which was intended to follow Balfe's " Sicilian Bride."
The title was " Allan of Aberfeldy ; " and there were
strong parts for tenor, soprano, and contralto, which
were to be sung respectively by Mr. Sims Reeves,
Miss Rainforth, and Miss Priscilla Horton (now Mrs.
German Reed). The opera was on the point of being
put in rehearsal, when, from causes not here to be
entered into, Bunn became a bankrupt, and the season
was brought to an abrupt close. tf Allan of Aber-
feldy " never saw the light.
Another opera which has never been produced is
to an Italian libretto, on the subject of Kenilworth,
composed many years later, probably in 1880, ex-
pressly for the eminent vocalist Madame Albani ; but,
from some unavoidable circumstances, it was not pro-
duced on the occasion for which it was intended, and
never performed, with the exception of the overture,
which was played at a concert of the Philharmonic
Society in 1887, and supposed by some to be an early
work, or else the prelude to an unfinished opera.
" Kenilworth " contained a ballet of four contrasted
dances, instead of a Scotch masque, originally planned.
Macfarren's cantata f< Lenora," a musical setting
of Burger's ballad, the English version by John Oxen-
ford, was produced at the sixth concert of the Har-
monic Union, Exeter Hall, April 25th, 1853, only
having once previously been publicly performed at a
concert by the students of the Royal Academy of
Music (which I remember), not very well, and, there-
fore, with but small success. Though the performance
by the Harmonic Union appears to have been by no
means efficient, it was so far adequate as to enable a
more distinct judgment to be formed of it, and it
" LENORA." "HAMLET" OVERTURE. 199
was declared to indicate "a very high order of
dramatic feeling/' The principal solo singers were
Miss Louisa Pyne, Madame Macfarren, and Herr
Staudigl ; the conductor, Mr. Benedict. The work
consists of an orchestral introduction, leading into a
contralto recitative, nine other vocal numbers, and a
Notturno.
In 1856, his Overture to " Hamlet " was produced
at the New Philharmonic Society's Concert, April
23rd. The analysis, presumably by the composer
himself, in the programme is as follows :
" This Overture was suggested by the following points
in the tragedy: Hamlet's melancholy aggravated by the
frivolities of the court yielding to his love of Ophelia
his foreboding of the purpose of the ghost's visitation the
ghost's appearance to him he addresses it the spirit of
the murdered king reveals the secret of his death and
exhorts his son to avenge him he adjures his companions
not to relate what they have seen, and the ghost, invisible,
calls upon them to swear this awful scene is opposed by
the revelry of the court in the midst of this, the ghost's
revelation is ever present to Hamlet it distracts him from
his love of Ophelia the scene with her in the gallery the
play- scene, where his melancholy is disguised under the
pretence of riotous gaiety the scene with the queen in the
closet, where, urged by the same intention that prepared
him for the ghost's disclosure, he presses upon her the
subject of his melancholy the frivolity of the court again
obtrudes itself upon him he leaves for England, thinking
of Ophelia and of the ghost he returns, remembering her
love, to learn of her madness and her death this excites
him for the present time to action in the midst of his
phrensy he remembers the ghost's exhortation the cause
of his melancholy, which has always made him a passive
reflector, is now his motive for desperate action the last
scene, where he dies, knowing the ghost's admonition to be
fulfilled."
200 "MAY DAY." " CHRISTMAS."
One of the most popular of Macfarren's works, the
cantata " May Day," was brought out at the Bradford
Festival, 1857, under the conductorship of Costa,
Madame Lemmens-Sherrington being the principal
vocalist. In that portion of it termed " The Revels/'
the old English dance-tune, the " Staines Morris," is
introduced, for the Ottavino. The whole work is
most exhilarating, and is one of the few works of
Macfarren's of which the full score is published (by
Novello, Ewer, and Co.).
In the year 1860, May 9th, the fine cantata, again
on a characteristically English subject, " Christmas/'
was first produced by the Musical Society of London,
under the conductorship of Alfred Mellon, the soloists
being Mesdames Lemmens-Sherrington and Sainton-
Dolby. Having been present on the occasion, I re-
member that, with some excellent musicians, the work
obtained rather a succes d'estime, though no one could
resist the speaking effect of the beautiful song with
chorus concerning King Alfred, or the pretty duet,
" Little Children ; " and there has, subsequently, been
no backwardness in awarding the whole cantata high
praise. The " Musical World," at the time, declared
that " on the whole it may be unhesitatingly stated
that no English musician, from the time of Purcell to
the present epoch, has written anything in its way
more genuine and masterly."
" Robin Hood " was produced at Her Majesty's
Theatre, when under the management of E. T. Smith,
October llth, 1860; the cast including Madame
Lemmens-Sherrington, Madame Lemaire, Mr. Sims
Reeves, Mr. Santley, Mr. George Honey, Mr. Bartle-
man, Mr. J. E. Patey, and Mr. Parkinson; conduc-
ROBIN HOOD." 201
tor, Mr. Charles Halle. The overture was encored.
It was declared that " Mr. Macfarren has done his
very best : . . . the championship of the English
School, until a better opera than ' Robin Hood' is
produced, must remain in possession of its composer."
It was pronounced " the greatest work that has been
produced for the English musical stage since the days
of Purcell."
Mr. Sims Reeves, in his life of himself, says :
" Macfarren composed the principal part in what is
now generally recognized as that master's best opera
for myself." The " Musical World" recorded that:
" As regards Mr. Macfarren' s new opera, a greater and
more legitimate success than that achieved by the work
we never witnessed. The crowd was immense, the excite-
ment unusual, and expectation on tiptoe. . . . The cast of
the parts presented an unusual attraction in itself. Mr.
Sims Reeves . . . was to play the principal character; and
Madame Lemmens-Sherrington, who has never appeared
on the stage at all, was to make her debut. Mr. Santley,
too, and Mr. George Honey, from the Royal English Opera,
were both included in the cast."
Among the popular pieces in this opera were the
well-known songs, " My own, my guiding star," and
" True love." The delivery by Mr. Sims Reeves of
" Thy gentle voice would lead me on," " The grasp-
ing, rasping Norman race," and the patriotic song,
"Englishmen by birth are free," are said to have been
" the talk of the town." " The first Act is more or
less introductory, the second contains the greenwood
revel and the scene at Nottingham fair, and the third
the prison scene and the outlaw's pardon." The
success was so great that a punster said " it was less
202 FAILURE OF SIGHT.
Robin Hood than robbin' Harrison/' who, with Miss
Pyne, was then performing opera at Covent Garden.
During the composition of this opera, Macfarren's
sight so completely failed that he was compelled finally
to relinquish the use of the pen, and, thenceforth, to
depend wholly on the services of amanuenses, to whom
he dictated every note : a very simple statement, and
as pathetic as it is simple. But it marks almost a new
era, almost a turning-point, as some would think, in
his career of mental activity. It was no turning-
point, however, with him : he still went right on. An
obstacle, a difficulty, was not a stumbling-block to
him; not the occasion for giving up, or turning aside ;
but for the calling into exercise renewed determina-
tion, energy, contrivance. Those who have any know-
ledge of the process of musical composition, and of the
complications of a full- score, for orchestra and voices,
will best appreciate the Herculean achievements of
Macfarren in producing, subsequently to this period,
such a succession of large, elaborate works ; and
those who know the lighter effusions of his imagina-
tion may well wonder that such freshness should cha-
racterize compositions dictated under conditions that
would seem so depressing, even paralyzing, to the
artistic faculties. But Macfarren seems never, from
this time, to have abated "one jot of heart or hope, but
steered right onward." Amongthosewho loyallyand in-
telligently served him in the capacity of musical amanu-
enses, may be mentioned the now well-known professor,
Miss Clara A. Macirone; 1 that highly promising young
1 For an interesting and touching sketch of Macfarren, and his
method of working, see an admirable paper, by this excellent
musician, in the '.'Argosy " for January, 1888.
AMANUENSES. "FREYAS GIFT." 203
musician (for some time my own pupil), Frederick
Barnes, whose early death was so much deplored ; Miss
Oliveria Prescott, who assisted her revered professor
with an affection only equalled by its efficiency, and
Mr. Windeyer Clark, who was acting in this capacity,
faithfully, during the later years of Macfarren's life.
When, later on, Macfarren's duties were, so to speak,
threefold, having to do with the University of Cam-
bridge, the Royal Academy of Music, and his own
productions (or private correspondence), the papers
concerning these were separately " pigeon-holed,"
and, colloquially if not by inscription, playfully labelled
respectively, " Cam./' "R. A. M.," and " G. A. M.;"
and he would say to young Barnes, on his entry,
" Well, I think we will take ' C. A. M/ (or whichever
budget he selected) this morning/''
" Robin Hood " was reproduced by Pyne and Har-
rison at Covent Garden in 1861, with Madame
Guerrabella, Messrs. Henry Haigh, Santley, Patey,
George Honey, in the cast, and Mellon as conductor.
The opera was revived in the year 1889 at the Prin-
cess's Theatre, under the management of Mr. Turner.
" Freya's Gift, an Allegorical Masque, in honour of
the marriage of His Royal Highness the Prince of
Wales," was composed by Macfarren, and performed
at the Royal English Opera, Covent Garden, March
10th, 1863 ; the words being by John Oxenford.
After a short introduction, a Chorus in B flat, " By a
heavy mist is the land oppress'd," is sung behind the
scenes. This is immediately followed by an entire
change of key, the " catch phrase/' if it may be so
termed, of the termination of the chorus forming the
opening of a Scena in E major, " Freya the harbinger
204 " SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER," ETC.
of bliss is here." After a ballad, " When those you
love/' Revels follow : chorus, " Arouse thee, inerrie
England " ; Hymn (Danish National Tune) " With
shouts of welcome " Freya interpolating our national
anthem, and the two melodies being afterwards
brought together.
In this same year, Mr. and Mrs. German Reed started
a series of performances under the designation of
" Opera di Camera ; " and for these, Macfarren, being
commissioned to write, supplied a charming little work,
"Jessy Lea," which was produced in October, and in
which Miss Edith Wynne made her first appearance
on the lyric stage. So decided was the success of this
operetta that another was commissioned for the follow-
ing year ; and " The Soldier's Legacy/' libretto by John
Oxenford, was the result. The scheme does not appear
to have proved a success, notwithstanding the merit
and favourable reception of these, and works by other
composers written for the purpose.
In the year 1863, during the management of the
Royal English Opera at Covent Garden by Pyne and
Harrison, Macfarren was commissioned by them to
compose an opera ; and the work produced, February
llth, 1864, was "She Stoops to Conquer," the libretto
being furnished by Edward Fitzball. The conductor
was Alfred Mellon ; the cast included the two lessees,
Weiss, Corri, and George Perren. This opera, which
contains, according to competent judgment, some of
Macfarren' s most tuneful music, was very successful.
As Harrison's vocal powers were, by that time, on the
wane, but his acting powers had greatly improved, the
principal singing part was assigned to Perren (as
Hastings), and the acting part to Harrison (as Mar-
"HELVELLYN." "THE LADY OF THE LAKE." 205
low), with little sustained music, aud that rarely going
above D ; but this part he represented admirably.
Later, in 1864, when Covent Garden Theatre was
in the hands of the English Opera Company, in suc-
cession to Pyne and Harrison, a grand opera of Mac-
farren's, in four acts, " Helvellyn/' was produced, the
libretto being by his almost constant collaborator, John
Oxenford. The cast included Mesdames Lemmens-
Sherrington and Parepa, Messrs. Henry Haigh and
Alberto Lawrence, etc. A very fine orchestra was led
by Mr. Carrodus, and conducted by Alfred Mellon. The
introductory prelude was termed an " Illustrated Over-
ture," the chorus singing behind the scenes, during
its continuance, a maledictory theme, recurring in the
opera, " Curse on the head that the evil planned."
An important feature was to have been the lime-
lighted tableau shown in the course of this overture,
illustrating the progress of the story. This, for
reasons of economy and convenience, was, however,
abandoned for a drop-scene, which had in its centre a
scenic representation of the murder by fire referred
to in the malediction. This opera ran about eighteen
or twenty nights.
The next work of the series that we are now con-
sidering is "The Lady of the Lake," concerning which
Macfarren himself, in the programme of the Glasgow
Choral Union, wrote :
" The cantata of ' The Lady of the Lake ' was composed,
at the request of the Glasgow Musical Festival Executive
Committee, expressly for performance at the opening of
the New Halls in Glasgow. The commission was proposed
at the beginning of 1874 ; much time was spent in the selec-
tion of the subject, more in the adaptation of the poem to
lyrical purposes, and the composition was completed in
206 MACFARREN' S INDUSTRY.
January, 1876, timely for the proposed Festival of that
year.
" Oct., 1877. " G. A. MACFARREN."
The adaptation of the text was the work of Natalia
Macfarren ; and the published vocal score is " dedi-
cated in friendly remembrance to Thomas Logan
Stillie," at whose suggestion the work was under-
taken.
On the production of this cantata, a critic wrote :
" The amount of work which Dr. Macfarren has got
through lately is simply amazing. Three oratorios and a
cantata, in four years, would not have been thought much
of in Handel's time, when the old Halle master could
manufacture a grand oratorio in less than a month, and
never seemed so happy as when composing inventing or
borrowing his materials as the occasion demanded. But
the scores of Handel's oratorios are in a very skeleton con-
dition ; and even if we were to accept as a fact that in
three weeks or a month the old musician could have filled
in the score completely, we have to confront the altered state
of the orchestra since then, with the immense importance
that now attaches to instrumentation. It is double diffi-
culty, as well as double labour, when every single note has
to be dictated not written in manu proprid it will be
easily seen how the progress of composition is retarded.
Hence we consider that, in having brought out three
oratorios and a cantata in four years, at the same time
attending to his manifold duties in Teiiterden Street and
at Cambridge University, Dr. Macfarren has achieved a
notable feat. Another thing to take into consideration, if
excusing circumstances are needed, is, that Dr. Macfarren
is now working hard at an age when most men consider
themselves entitled to retire from worldly labours, and
enjoy in seclusion the short span which mortality permits
them upon this sublunary sphere. Your true artist, how-
ever, never grows old and never wearies of his task ; and
never was there truer artist than George Alexander Mac-
farren."
"SONGS IN A CORNFIELD," ETC. 207
This extract, though appropriately introduced
here, anticipates certain events to be subsequently
chronicled.
A little cantata for female voices, with pianoforte
accompaniment, " Songs in a Cornfield," the words
by Christina Rossetti, performed for the first time
in 1868, by Mr. Henry Leslie's Choir; and a cantata,
" Outward Bound," the words by John Oxenford,
composed for, and performed at the Norwich Festival,
1872, are, with one addition to be mentioned later
on, the only works remaining to complete this enume-
ration of Macfarren's works of this class operas
and cantatas besides those specified in a previous
chapter. The larger cantatas are characterized, as
much as the operas, by the dramatic element, and
the local colour associated therewith.
It is worthy of record that Macfarren, in a biogra-
phical notice of John Barnett, gave his opinion with
characteristic generosity and non-jealousy, that " The
Mountain Sylph," by that composer, " opened a new
era for music in this country " doubtless meaning,
specially, dramatic music. This clever musician has
died while these pages have been passing through
the press.
CHAPTER X.
MACFARREN'S CRITICAL OPINIONS. ARTICLES ON MEN-
DELSSOHN, MOZART, BEETHOVEN'S SYMPHONIES, " RUINS
OP ATHENS/' " FIDELIO," AND " MASS IN D." RE-
MARKS ON PEDAL-POINTS. OPINIONS CONCERNING
HAYDN, CHOPIN, CHERUBINI, AUBER. AIRS WITH
VARIATIONS. 1849 1854, ETC.
DURING the whole of the long period of his pro-
ductivity as a composer, Macfarren was keenly
observant, and, it may truly be added, constantly
studious of all that was passing in the domain of music,
and of the tendencies of thought and feeling therein ;
staunchly conservative of all sound principles ; eagerly
receptive of all that was new and good. He was
"ever learning;" but, unlike those who were re-
proached for their lack of earnestness, was always
" coming to the knowledge of the truth," more
truth, expanding his grasp of the past and present
of the beautiful art which absorbed his attention;
and being possessed of unquestionable literary ability
although his diction was sometimes involved, and, as
some would judge, disfigured by certain peculiarities
of form and expression he gave forth the results of
his thinking and learning, from time to time, in
lectures and papers, of great interest, on music and
ARTICLES ON MENDELSSOHN. 209
musical matters from some of which copious extracts
have already been made. Notwithstanding the in-
volvement to which reference has been made, there
was such unmistakable decision of opinion, the out-
come of such clearly reasoned thought and thorough-
ness of investigation, that even those who were not
able to coincide with all his conclusions and pronounce-
ments were unable to entirely evade their force. He
was felt to be a power in our midst, doing much to-
wards the shaping and directing of critical thought
concerning music, especially among the rising genera-
tion of musical students ; this thought being, as may
reasonably be concluded, not a little tinctured by his
special theoretical views.
In January, 1849, when the whole musical world
were still mourning the irreparable loss they had
sustained by the death of Mendelssohn in November,
1847, a series of articles on that great composer, from
Macfarren's pen, appeared in the " Musical World/'
The opening sentence of the first article, January 20th,
somewhat involved, it must be confessed, or, at all
events, long-drawn, may be given entire :
" FELIX MENDELSSOHN BAETHOLDY may justly be re-
garded as one of those very few among mankind whose
genius at once separates them from, by its exalting them
above the world around them, and unites them to, by its
sympathizing with, that world which it extends from the
limited circle of private personal knowledge to the bound-
less inclusion of all educated men, in all places and in all
time ; as one of those men, whose intellectual superiority,
while it distinguishes them from the narrow sphere of
their own social connections, identifies them with that
broad universe of all human intelligence which ever and
everywhere acknowledges the impersonal presence of a
master mind, in the influence it produces."
p
210 MENDELSSOHN'S ORIGINALITY.
After alluding to the then recent death of the great
Master, he proceeds :
" We own in him the true associate of Bach, Handel,
Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. His claims to this
eminence lie in the purely classical character of all his
writing, by which is to be understood not merely cold
correctness, but irresistible beauty in the highest style of
musical expression ; and in the striking originality that so
obviously manifests itself in all his works as to give them
an individuality which, it is not too much to say, is not to
be found in the music of any of the great composers with
whose names he is here classed, and which, devoid of
mannerism, can hardly be attributed to the collected
works of any other musician."
This dictum is somewhat startling, especially in
these later days when it is the fashion to decry Men-
delssohn ; and, moreover, considering that even those
who entertain the highest estimation of his works
hardly care to deny that the individuality is not
wholly unmarked by mannerism. Macfarren admits
that
"this assertion is so strong, and includes so much be-
yond the immediate subject of the present remarks, that
it may require some explanation to justify it ; and as this
individuality forms a most important characteristic of
Mendelssohn's genius, it may not be superfluous to enter
somewhat at length into its discussion. Let it, then, be
first understood what is here meant by originality in music.
This will be best proved by a negative: namely, that a
composer is by no means to be charged with a want of
originality who may have written a phrase that is more or
less like, or even identical with, some phrase that has been
written by another. Of such accidental coincidences ex-
amples are innumerable in the works of the most esteemed
masters."
STYLE AND ORIGINALITY. 211
Many examples are adduced from various com-
posers.
" Style may be said to consist rather in general charac-
teristics than in particular ideas ; in a composer's habits
of thought, and the forms of construction and elaboration
in which such thought is developed, than in any peculiar,
perhaps exceptional, passage. It is the unlikeness of the
style of an author to any archetype that constitutes his
originality, and not the resemblance of any one or more of
his phrases, however originally treated, to some phrase
previously known, that constitutes his want of it. There
may not exist a parallel passage in the works of two
authors ; and yet what is seen to constitute the style of
both may be so similar as to deprive him who wrote second
of a claim to originality, at least to such originality as will
distinguish his music from all that preceded it. Thus we
find the colossal masses of elaboration, in which the genius
of Bach declares itself to the wondering student of the pre-
sent day, are composed in the form, and made up of the
passages which were conventional in his time. The same
thing is noticeable in the works of Handel. ... In Haydn,
again, we find the phraseology of his age ... by degrees
he modified his form, until in his later quai'tets and sym-
phonies he produced what the adoption of all his great
successors, and the opinion of all the world, prove to be
the perfect model of instrumental composition, which, as
there will always be the example, not only of his own
orchestral and chamber works, but also of those no less
imperishable of Mozart, Beethoven, Spohr, and Men-
delssohn, cannot but remain, like the division into five acts,
and the other accepted rules of construction in dramatic
poetry, the approved form and classical model of instru-
mental music. Mozart, with all his excelling beauty,
walked but in the footsteps of Haydn ; he may indeed be
said to have overtaken his illustrious friend, who was both
his predecessor and his follower ; for though Haydn
founded the form of instrumental composition that is now
universally recognized as the classical, and so set Mozart
the great example, he himself wrote all his best works
212 ORIGINALITY IN MUSIC.
after Mozart had sliown him of what extreme beauty that
form was capable. . . . Beethoven ... so completely
adopted the style of Mozart, that his compositions for the
first third of his career may be mistaken for productions of
that great original. ... In what critics designate the
second and third periods of the expansion of Beethoven's
genius, there is a striking breaking away from this style
of his predecessors and of his early self. . . . After enlarg-
ing so much upon the want of originality, in a certain
sense, of these great masters a proposition offered, how-
ever, with the most enthusiastic admiration for the genius
of each, and the most unqualified delight in the creations
of all -it is necessary, for the entire explanation of what
is meant by the rare characteristic here attributed to Men-
delssohn, to adduce some instances of musical composers
that have also possessed it. Before all, then, must be
mentioned Purcell, who, as being the first to break through
the purely scholastic trammels of the ancient diatonic
school, to enter upon the exhaustless field of the beautiful
that lies open to the modern musician in the inexhaustible
resources of chromatic harmony, and as the first to apply
musical sounds to the poetical expression of words, and to
the delineation of the wildest and the gentlest of the
passions, is to be considered the most truly original com-
poser the world has known. It must be granted, indeed,
that his speculations, as they must be esteemed, in the
previously unattempted combinations of chromatic har-
mony, are occasionally failures, producing effects equally
harsh, unsatisfactory, and inexplicable ; and that his ex-
pression sometimes degenerates into word-painting; but
with all the experience that has intervened, the same things
are to be remarked in the most approved writers that have
succeeded him ; and that his genius was not always at its
happiest, detracts not from the infinite honour that is due
to him for the many exquisite beauties he has left us, and
for the incalculable services he rendered to his art by the
new direction he gave to its cultivation. Let us next in-
stance Weber, whose peculiarity of phraseology, singular
application of certain harmonies, and novel conduct of his
dramatic pieces, decidedly constitute a style one that
cannot be imitated (since all who have attempted its
MENDELSSOHN'S CHARACTERISTICS. 213
adoption have fallen into the most vapid musical bathos),
and one that was in no respect anticipated. Most fasci-
nating has proved this Weberish style, no less to the
public than to the host of composers who have failed in
the attempt to write in it ; but, in spite of its irresistible
charms, an investigation of all its peculiarities could lead
only to the conchision, that however teeming with origi-
nality, it is greatly wanting in what may purely be termed
ciassicality.
" This long digression is important to the subject, inso-
much as it goes to explain the application of a term which
is meant to convey the chief idea of Mendelssohn's ex-
cellence, and as it may serve to illustrate the position that
this composer takes in relation to those who have pre-
ceded him."
The interest of these remarks fully condones the
length of the " digression." But the writer proceeds
to expatiate upon the originality of Mendelssohn, as
evinced (a) in his phraseology ; (6) his " frequent in-
troduction of the combinations, or, more particularly,
the progressions, of Bach and his era, as the basis and
accompaniment of his own original phraseology, or of
less individual modern passages" which characteristic
might by some be thought rather to resemble the
use made of existing idioms attributed to other writers
in the earlier part of the paper ; and (c)
" More striking in itself, and far more important to the
art, is his resolution of certain chromatic discords upon a
principle occasionally hinted at in the middle and later
works of Beethoven, but never carried to such an extent
as it is by Mendelssohn in his earlier works ; such, for
instance, as the chord of the minor ninth on the tonic to
the chord of the seventh on the dominant, with the pro-
gressions of the intervals of the seventh and ninth of the
first chord to the third and fifth of the second, and many
others which it would be here tedious to describe. There
214 MENDELSSOHN'S CHARACTERISTICS.
is the more merit in these innovations discoveries they
would be better named on account of their being in
direct violation of all pre-existing rules of harmony ; and
they evince the greatness of his genius as a philosopher
no less than as a musician, by showing him capable of
penetrating, through the obscurity and prejudice of the
schools, to the truth of nature, and by his most successful
practice to lay the foundation of a theory, which in intelli-
gence, in usefulness, in comprehension, and in what con-
stitutes true philosophy, surpasses all that had ever before
been advanced in musical and (so far as connected with
music) acoustical science a theory which translates the
province of music from art to nature, and so dignifies its
investigation, in the scale of human study and research,
from the learning by rote of the arbitrary trammels of by-
gone times and schools, to the examination and compre-
hension of a subject, the principles of which are as deeply
rooted as those of perspective or light itself."
It need hardly be said that Macfarren has here
seized an opportunity to vaunt the " Day theory/'
Mendelssohn's " great originality of construction " is
the next characteristic dealt with, which
" while he preserves the general outline, or certainly its
chief features, to which . . . allusion has already been
made, manifests itself in the novelty of detail, with which
this classical outline is filled up."
The originality of his scherzi, of his poetical over-
tures, of his oratorios, "in the generally more
dramatic character they possess than the previous
works of that class/' etc., are then enlarged upon.
Also, the condensation of the conventional form, in his
Concertos. And the "Midsummer Night's Dream"
overture is characterized as "an example of originality "
which " must always be a perfect marvel of the human
mind."
MENDELSSOHN'S ORIGINALITY. 215
" A careful examination of all its features, and a com-
parison of them with all that had previously existed in the
writings of other composers, must establish the conviction
that there is more that is new in this one work than in
any other one that has ever been produced."
This is dilated upon, with reference to
" idea, character, phrase, harmony, construction, instru-
mentation, and every particular of outline and detail for
which his style is remarkable."
It is well to remember that these opinions were
formed when the novelty and originality were truly
fresh, before the style had become familiar, and before
that familiarity had induced depreciation by shallow
critics. Mendelssohn's works are afterwards grouped
and characterized ; and, in conclusion, it is admitted
that
" his melodies are often more fragmentary than con-
tinuous that his compositions abound more in detached,
though beautiful, phrases, than in streaming, unbroken,
and unquestionable tune ; and it is no less true that he is
generally less successful in the composition of slow move-
ments than in those of a more exciting and animated
character ; but, true as are both these propositions, there
are so many brilliant exceptions to each as to make it a
matter of question with his enthusiastic admirers whether
the peculiarities referred to, were not points of design
with him, rather than evidence of inabilitv to avoid
them."
I remember that when the Purcell Society was
formed, for the purpose of issuing a complete edition
of that master's works, Macfarren said to me, " You
must expect to find in them many things quite op-
posed to all our present views of harmony."
Macfarren was no mere impressionist : the verdicts
216 ARTICLES ON MENDELSSOHN.
that he pronounced were opinions thought out, and
the result of conviction. It was no Mendelssohn
"fever," such as was epidemic in musical circles
during the few years succeeding the great man's
death, that prompted him to write as he did in this
article, and in others later on. In 1851, December
6th, he wrote an interesting review of Mendelssohn's
pianoforte duet, " Allegro Brillante." In the
"Musical World/' August 28th, 1852, he wrote a
highly appreciative article on the then just published
fragment of " Lorely," Mendelssohn's projected opera.
In the same periodical, October 23rd of the same
year, he also wrote on the fragments from " Christus."
His analysis, October 9th, of the " Italian Symphony "
has already been referred to (page 81). In January,
1853, appeared in the same periodical an earnest
appeal, signed by him, to the trustees of Mendelssohn's
unpublished works, urging their immediate publica-
tion. On April 30th appeared an analysis of Men-
delssohn's posthumous Quartet in F minor : enthu-
siastic, but reasoned out. In that same periodical,
in January, 1854, as has been already recorded in
Chapter VIII., he wrote elaborately on the music to
" OBdipus in Colonos " ; and, again, a brief review of
one book of the " Songs without Words," December
16th of the same year. A much later article on Men-
delssohn's Prelude and Fugue in F minor will be noticed
in another connection. An analysis of " St. Paul "
proceeded from Macfarren's pen, and appeared in the
" Musical World/' July 30th and following numbers ;
and, in the "Musical Times," January, 1873, an
article entitled " St. Paul at St. Paul's," to which,
also, reference will be made later on.
MACFARREXTS OPINIONS. 217
The effect upon many of the glitter, or highly-
wrought effectiveness shall the term " many-noted-
ness " be used ? and the more varied harmonies and
demonstrativeness of a certain kind one must avoid
the term " sensationalism " of modern music, espe-
cially from Mendelssohn till the present time, ex-
pressing as it does that indefinable sentiment which
goes by the name of "the spirit of the age/' is to
cast into the shade, as puerile, effete, " periwiggish,"
the works of the older masters, such as Haydn and
Mozart. There was, during the early years of Mac-
farren's career, a Spohr " craze " among the younger
musicians, which, in its turn, made way for a Men-
delssohn craze ; which, again, gave place to a Schu-
mann craze ; and so on. Young musicians cannot
resist the fascinations of novelty ; nor need they, if
they will only separate accidents from essentials, and
recognize the true and beautiful in its old as well as
in its newer garb. But this requires balance of mind,
thoughtful discrimination, possessed by few in the
student- stage of their career. Even Macfarren, while
under Cipriani Potter's care, said to him, " Don't
you think, Sir, that Mozart is sometimes a little
puerile ? " But then he had that discriminating
balance of mind which soon righted him; and, as
time went on, his practical recantation was entire,
and, in his later days particularly, he never tired of
expatiating upon Mozart's greatness. But it was not
only in his later days ; in the very same year, 1849,
in which the enthusiastic articles upon his friend
Mendelssohn appeared, he also wrote, during the
month of February, a series of articles upon Mozart
and his works. It may be opportune and interesting
218 MOZART S CONCEKTOS.
to quote the following remarks concerning certain
neglected masterpieces :
" To Mozart's Concertos for the pianoforte too high praise
cannot be awarded. They were an immense advance upon
all that had been written or were written about the same
period ; and the best of them, for they are very numerous,
and of various degrees of merit, rank with the noblest
works of the class that have been since produced. . . .
The Concerto in D minor of Mozart, and that in C major,
have never been surpassed for symmetry of design and
beauty of phraseology ; they abound also in most effective
combinations of the orchestra with the principal instru-
ment ; but this merit, it must be admitted, has been greatly
extended in some more recent compositions of the same
class, since the resources of the orchestra, from the increased
excellence of the performers, have been more at the com-
mand of the composer ; still, though less frequent, Mozart's
mixture of the pianoforte with the orchestra is, in many
instances, in these concertos, not less beautiful and in-
genious than the happiest results of modern research.
" The pianist must, however, bear in mind one curious, it
may be justly said unfortunate, evidence of the custom of
the time in which they were written ; viz., that the piano-
forte part, as handed down to us, presents a mere skeleton
of the composer's intentions, to be filled up throughout,
according to the discretion and ability of the performer,
leaving to him the opportunity of the cadence for the
greatest display of his inventive ingenuity and executive
agility. Unhappily for the worthy rendering of these
great works before a modern audience, some excellent
players of our time have little discretion, and some less
ability, to dilate upon and embody the outline which such
music presents ; it must, therefore, be always matter of
regret in reference to these works as to the songs and
choruses of Handel and his contemporaries, of which the
organ or cembalo part was always left to the improvisation
of the accompanist that the author did not make a de-
finite record of the effects and passages he intended. Cer-
tainly, when Mozart himself played these concertos, it
CONCERTO FORM. "IDOMENEO." 219
must have been a matter of great interest to compare the
different readings of the same work which he would give
at different performances." '
Macfarren might well have included the C minor
Concerto of Mozart in his special mention. Would
that, by any means, the attention of pianists might
be drawn to all these beautiful works !
He remarked to me once how much he disliked
the conventional "cut" of a concerto on, for instance,
the plan of Hummel, who was Mozart's pupil; in
which, at certain understood places, one always felt
inclined to say, " Now for the Solo ! " The feeling
is one which all who have listened to many composi-
tions of that class and period will readily recognize.
Those who have watched the progress of matters are
aware that this form has become pretty well obsolete ;
especially since Mendelssohn compressed the concerto
first-movement. Concertos of the old type three solos
in the first movement, with introductory and inter-
vening tuttis are not now written. Weber, however,
seems to have initiated the reform by his " Concert-
Stuck."
Of " Idomeneo," Macfarren remarks :
" This Opera is interesting in the history of the art as
being the earliest example of what may be esteemed the
modern school of instrumentation, distinguished from that
which preceded it by the general difference in the relative
treatment of the wind and stringed instruments employ-
ing the former, not merely to contrast or to strengthen the
latter, but to relieve, and colour, and qualify their effect,
by occasionally sustaining the harmony while they move
1 Mozart never played these concertos twice alike. This fact I
had, and so had Macfarren, from our teacher, Cipriani Potter, on
the authority of Attwood, who was Mozart's pupil. H. C. B.
220 MOZART'S OPERAS, ETC.
in some figure or passage, and to produce all the varieties
which they who are accustomed to hear and analyze or-
chestral combinations will understand better from their
own recollection than from any verbal description, and
which they who are not so accustomed will not be likely
to understand from any description whatever.
" It must be granted that similar effects of orchestration
are to be occasionally found in the works of earlier masters
as in the chorus, ' He sent a thick darkness,' in Han-
del's ' Israel in Egypt ; ' in the second part of the song,
'Revenge, Timotheus cries,' in the 'Alexander's Feast' of
the same composer ; in the chorus of Furies with Orestes
in prison, and in the grand declamatory scene in which
Orestes adjures Py lades to leave him to the sacrifice, in
the ' Iphigenie en Tauride ' of Grluck ; and in many other
isolated instances which it would be superfluous here to
adduce. Enough has been cited to prove that Mozart did
not originate what everyone must allow he systematized
and brought to a perfection, which, however it may be
varied, all the ingenuity and research of modern times
cannot surpass."
After remarks upon "Die Entfiihrung aus dem
Serail " and " Le Nozze di Figaro/' there follows a
lengthy analysis of " Don Giovanni/' " the opera which
is received by all the world as the greatest production
of the lyric stage, the work which gives the brightest
lustre to its author's crown of glory." " Cosi fan
Tutte/' "La Clemenza di Tito/' and "Die Zauber-
flote " are passed in rapid review ; and " the chief cha-
racteristics of Mozart's style " are thus enumerated :
" First, his frequent peculiarity of rhythm, a trait more
observable in his music than in that of any other com-
poser, and which makes his metre often unusual, though
always quite regular unquestionably his own ; l second,
the particular form of his melodic phrases, and the infinite
1 See, however, the closing remarks of Chapter IV.
ENTHUSIASM FOR MOZART. 221
continuousness of his melodies ; third, his familiar fluency
in all the resources of contrapuntal contrivance ; fourth,
his wonderful symmetry and perfection of construction,
which, cultivated in his instrumental works, has had the
most valuable and manifest influence upon his vocal com-
positions, even in situations where the dramatic action
would have seduced other composers into the fantasia style
of writing, and which makes every movement he has
written a model for the musical student; and, last, the
wonderful truthfulness of his dramatic delineations."
The conclusion which Macfarren thinks justified by
the summary is " that the greatest musician who has
delighted and enriched the world is WOLFGANG
AMADEUS MOZAKT."
Concerning this enthusiasm for Mozart, one of his
esteemed amanuenses writes :
" Mozart was his idol in a musical way. Some friend
sent him a' postcard, begging him to say whether of the
two, Mozart or Beethoven, he thought the greater com-
poser. ' Mozart,' he wrote, without the slightest hesitation
saying afterwards to me : ' Beethoven was sometimes
weak, Mozart never.' You know how chary he was of
admitting a doubtful passage to be good, because so and so
wrote it. Bach, Handel, all were admitted to be human
and liable to error or, perhaps it was ' the strong feeling
for the individual parts, in the older writers, made them
overlook the ill effect of the combination ; ' perhaps it was
' we love his music, notwithstanding the ill effect of some
passages, but that does not make us like what is not good.'
' Follow his good example, but not his bad.' But when
Mozart was in question it was another thing. I remember
a pair of 4ths from the bass in a symphony coming to
notice. ' I have always bid you guard against the ill effect of
such, but when I come across it here, I frankly must confess
I like it Mozart must have known how to introduce it.'
The rugged nature would bend before no man but Mozart,
and to him he gave implicit trust."
222 MACFARREN ON BEETHOVEN.
But let no one think that this high estimation of
Mozart implied any depreciation of other composers.
Although he admitted that " Beethoven was some-
times weak " and who shall gainsay it ? although,
perhaps, it will not be so general to add, " Mozart
never ! " yet no one could hold Beethoven in higher
absolute estimation than Macfarren, though the com-
parative estimate might be questioned ; especially by
the less thoughtful, who do not consider the historical
or chronological bearings of the matter, and the in-
debtedness of the later to the earlier composer, as
affecting the question of originality. In the analytical
programme of the Philharmonic Society's Concert,
July llth, 1870, "in honour of" the centenary of
Beethoven's birth, Macfarren wrote :
" Who shall say how much of the vast changes in the
inward constitution and outward acceptance of .musical art,
which have been wrought within this period [of a hundred
years] , are due to the creations and influence of his won-
derful genius ! "
And, in the comments upon the first Symphony,
with which the concert opened, he wrote :
" The present work shows the composer still under the
influence of Mozart, who was nine years dead, and of
Haydn, who was living and writing; but he was influenced
as a plant is by the sunshine, to display its own virtues
rather than to mirror the light which quickens them. His
strength was his own, the example of those two earlier
maturities was its nourishment. The style is masterly in
its freedom and clearness, in breadth of thought and bold-
ness of statement ; and the orchestration proves a know-
ledge of the capabilities and characters of instruments,
and a judgment in their combination, that could only
result from strong intuition directed by careful observance,
BEETHOVEN'S FOURTH SYMPHONY. 223
in one who had Beethoven's small experience two Con-
certos are the only pieces for the orchestra he had then
[1800] written."
In the same year, 1849, as that in which the articles
on Mendelssohn and those on Mozart appeared, Mac-
farren also commenced a series on Beethoven's Sym-
phonies. And here it may be remarked that, so far
as this country was concerned, he was, so to speak,
first in the field in this analytical work. There were
no models on which to construct such analyses, nor
did he need any. They are the products of his own
thoughtful and cultured appreciativeness, informed
by ample theoretical knowledge, and expressed with
great felicity of language, and often aptness of me-
taphor. As an illustration of his discrimination and
courage in the expression of his critical opinions,
take the following concerning the Adagio of the
fourth Symphony :
" This Adagio is in the form of a two-part movement;
but instead of the free fantasia, consisting in the working
of the principal subjects, such as usually opens the Second
Part of a movement thus constructed, we have an imme-
diate return to the chief subject in the original key ; and,
after this, a short digression, previous to the recapitulation
of the rest of the First Part."
After an interesting analysis of the movement up to
the end of the First Part, he proceeds :
" The dominant 7th on B flat brings us at once back
to the original key, and thus, introduced by the one bar
that always precedes it, we have an immediate return to
the subject. The original beautiful melody is this time
no less beautifully varied ; and here is one of the very,
very rare instances in all music where the variation of a
224 BEETHOVEN'S FOURTH SYMPHONY.
melody is indeed an embellishment ; such truly is this,
every excellence of the original being now excelled, the
colouring of the whole heightened, intensified, but not
exaggerated. We now come to the digression to which I
have alluded, as forming so important a feature in the
plan of the movement. Our introductory bar, instead of
bringing in a repetition of the subject with varied instru-
mentation, introduces a portion only of the subject for the
whole orchestra, in the key of E flat minor. There is some-
thing, to me, extremely unsatisfactory in this passage, as
our great author has given it to us ; the alternate tonic and
dominant pedal assigned to the horns, trumpets, and drums,
identifies the whole with the key of E flat minor, while the
harmony assigned to the rest of the orchestra is, after the
first chord, unquestionably hi the key of Gr flat major, and
we have thus an effect of false relation, that, to my sense,
is the remotest from beautiful."
TuUi.
Gorni, Trarribe e Timp.
The theoretical student will perceive that the objec-
tion here urged lies against the " arbitrary " minor scale
over the two pedal notes. Macfarren follows up his
particular animadversion by the enunciation of a
general principle ; respecting which, it is only fair to
state that it has been objected to by some musicians
since his pronouncement :
" There is one law with respect to pedals that is univer-
sally received, in so far as no theorist has ever disputed it
and no composer of recognized merit has ever disregarded
it ; this is, that the pedal note must be either the tonic or
the dominant of whatever key may prevail at the time such
pedal is employed. It is here confidently stated that no
eminent composer has ever disregarded this law, because,
PEDALS AND CHROMATIC CHORDS. 225
although there may perhaps be found . . . instances of its
partial violation, in all such cases, . . . though there may
occur harmonies that are foreign to the key, and therefore
harsh from their inaccordance with the pedal note, such
pedal note has always that relationship to what precedes
or follows the passage as must make it either the tonic or
the dominant of the key that principally prevails. This
may well be coupled with another important rule in music,
namely, that the test of whether a chromatic harmony
belong to any particular key is the possibility of its being
taken upon a pedal note which is either the tonic or the
dominant of such key, to make which test unequivocally
satisfactory, it is necessary to play the root of the chromatic
chord below the pedal note, which can be borne with any
combination, chromatic or diatonic, that is proper to the
key of the said pedal, but which is intolerable with any
chord that is not deducible from and assignable to such
tonic. I know of but one exception to this general prin-
ciple, which is that, upon a dominant pedal, the fundamental
chromatic harmonies derivable from the major sixth of the
key can be employed, provided such be followed by the
common chord of the second of the scale : . . . the grounds
of this single exception are, I think, wholly satisfactory,
and, rather than otherwise, corroborative of the principle,
if not of the law."
Macfarren " would often quote Beethoven's habit to
write what came into his mind, and then cut out what
was not wanted " : a process of excision and self-
discipline to which student-composers are often sub-
jected by judicious teachers ; and maturer composers
not infrequently determine on similar " cutting. "
Macfarren was no exception with himself and with his
pupils. In some cases, however, he was more con-
demnatory still : banning a whole work, even by a
great man. Thus, in the " Musical World/' Novem-
ber 13th and 20th, 1852, appeared two articles by him
on Beethoven's music to the drama or masque, " The
Q
226 "RUINS OF ATHENS."
Ruins of Athens," then just issued with an English
version for the first time. He pronounces " the merit
of the music " to be " very unequal."
" There are some pieces in the work that add a radiance
to the brightest glory with which the immortal composer
is crowned ; there are others that bear no indication of the
hand of Beethoven, but only his name on the title page.
... It is little to be wondered at that our Philharmonic
Society [as previously related in the article] esteemed the
Overture unworthy the name of Beethoven, and therefore
unavailable for performance at their concerts, since the
most impartial examination of the composition must
always lead to a confirmation of this decision. ... It is,
on the other hand, matter of very considerable marvel that
Beethoven, who was most jealous of his reputation, should
at three different periods have submitted so weak a pro-
duction to the public. The inequality of the works of a
great master is the fact that proves him to be such, or at
least, that distinguishes what, for want of another term,
must still be called by the conventional name of divine
inspiration from what we know to be mere mechanical
facility. The satisfaction of an author with his work at
the period of its composition, when his imagination is still
glowing with the ardour of intention, which is at the time
impossible to distinguish from the fervour of the creative
power, is a circumstance so natural that there can scarcely
exist one who has written, much or little, but must have
proved it in his proper experience. . . . Hence it is quite
accountable that Beethoven should have given this over-
ture out for performance on the occasion for which it was
composed. . . . The intoxication of mental procreation is,
however, but an ephemeral rapture, and the glow of our
whole being that illuminates the birth of a new idea, is
itself extinguished in the moment of our giving such idea
to the world, then enthusiasm, the butterfly, that has
sprung from study, the chrysalis, flies into the flame of
which her bright colours and her flickering wings are the
incarnation, the mind renews itself, and judgment, the
worm, rises from the ashes of the faded fantasy to toil,
"RUINS OF ATHENS:' 227
and travail, and foredo the futile fabrications whereof its
parent was the vain glory. Hence, we must always
wonder that Beethoven, whose tempered judgment should
have been profound as his excited genius was brilliant,
should on reviewing his overture after the lapse of years,
have so little seen that it was so little worth as to have
again sent it forth into the world, and again hazarded his
reputation, and so have abrogated his self-respect, upon its
merits. Beethoven, than whom no one can have been
more scrupulously jealous of the dignity of art, and of his
own true rank as an artist."
Proceeding with the other pieces, Macfarren says
of the opening " very beautiful duet," that it
" Gives scope for the warmest, the sincerest expressions
of unqualified admiration. . . . Every phrase of this ex-
quisite little movement calls forth an exclamation of
delight."
Of the Chorus of Dervishes :
" Music presents nothing more strikingly characteristic
than the uncouth melody that marks this truly extra-
ordinary composition, and even this is more powerfully
coloured by the perfectly original and quite individual
accompaniment that is maintained throughout."
The other movements are then commented on : the
Turkish March, " vividly picturesque and truly
dramatic : "
" A technical point that will always be prominent in its
effect is the anticipation of the key of B flat, with the full
force of the orchestra, at each recurrence to the subject
after the momentary digression to Gr major ; and whoever
hears the movement with attention, or examines it with
care, will find still much more matter to repay his pains."
The Triumphal March and Chorus, " Twine ye a
228 "RUINS OF ATHENS." HAYDN.
Garland/' " becomes mouthy, inflated, and bathetic,"
because :
" Here we pass from the true poetry of life to the bom-
bast of allegory. . . . The Chorus, ' Susceptible Hearts,'
is a most lovely stream of song. . . . The remaining
pieces .... carry out the feeling, or if you will, the want
of it, that is embodied in the overture and the opening
chorus. . . . Such is the ' Euins of Athens,' a work
written to be ephemeral, but presenting, (besides those
four pieces, . . . which will live so long as the name of
Beethoven is known,) this lasting moral to the world,
namely, that no greatness is immaculate, since even Beet-
hoven, at a period when his imagination was in the exercise
of its utmost vigour, was capable of the production of such
music, as, but for his name, would now be utterly un-
worthy of the pains that may be spent in censuring it."
Macfarren also wrote an exhautive series of articles
on " Fidelio," in the " Musical World," May 24th,
et seq., 1851, which, in substance, formed the Preface
to an edition of that Opera. Also, an analysis of
Beethoven's Mass in D, for the Sacred Harmonic
Society, in 1854.
It would hardly be fair to say that Macfarren de-
preciated "Papa" Haydn; but he often referred to
the obligations of the patriarch to Mozart, whom he
both preceded and outlived. Perhaps the following
extract from the analytical programme of the Sixth
Concert of the Quartet Association, June 30th,
1852, will exhibit his views with regard to the old
Master :
" Somewhat too much credit is given to Haydn for
having founded the form of composition which universally
prevails in the classical style of music, and until the inno-
vations of the ultra-modern school, was adopted also in the
HAYDN AND THE SYMPHONY. 229
lighter class of writing. The form to which I allude, con-
sisting, namely, of a first part that comprises a leading
idea in one key, and a secondary idea in the fifth or some
other close relative of such key, and a second part that
comprises the development of the ideas already announced,
and the recapitulation of the first part with the second
idea now in the original key of the movement. This form,
I say, is to be traced in many of the instrumental com-
positions of Bach, and of Handel, and of Scarlatti, and
other writers of the same epoch, and it is therefore
obviously not to be ascribed to Haydn as its originator.
The chief quality of this great master that entitles him to
be reverenced as the Father of the Symphony, is his
employment of a more definite, because more rhythmical,
style of melody to fill up this form, than appears in the
works of earlier writers, and giving to it thus an interest
and indeed an expression that it never before possessed.
Among the first Quartets of Haydn there are several
entire compositions in which this form does not appear,
and we find only a large number of small movements,
Minuets, and other dances, and the like, containing some
graceful thoughts, it is true, but written in the most
puerile style of simplicity. We are to observe from this,
that our composer was at the commencement of his career,
behind the age in which he wrote, and that gradually, as
his powers developed themselves, and as probably, the ex-
ecutants and the audience for whom he wrote, advanced
in capacity and comprehension, his style assumed more
dignity, his ideas more importance, and his character as a
musician, that stamp which no change of fashion can
efface. It was then that Haydn reduced the Symphony (I
speak of the class of composition under the general title of
the most important work that belongs to it) to its present
generally average complement of four movements, from
which complement there are very many exceptions, in a
few cases to increase, and more frequently to diminish it,
but which is established as affording scope to the com-
poser for the necessary and sufficient variety of ideas and
treatment. It appears that the style of Haydn was greatly
modified by the stimulant, if not the genius of Mozart ;
since his best works, and most especially his best instru-
230 MACFARREN'S JUDGMENTS.
mental works, were produced after that most brilliant
glory had dawned and even set upon the earth, for it will
be remembered that, though following in the footsteps of
Haydn as a composer, Mozart preceded him to the grave
by many years, having in the course of his brief career
produced those masterpieces which, as they have never
yet been equalled, we may fairly presume, are not likely to
be surpassed. Hence, then, though in the works of Haydn
we see the Symphony in all its various stages of develop-
ment (saving only some especial modifications that Beet-
hoven and later writers have introduced) he neither origi-
nated it, nor perfected it to that degree which it attained
in his own time ; and yet the lasting thanks of the world
of art are due to him, for having produced so many works
of real interest in this class, as to make it the true standard
of classical composition, and the consequent subject of
emulation to all who follow."
These remarks may supplement those above quoted
earlier in the chapter, p. 211.
Macfarren, like some other musicians who, possess-
ing sound knowledge, and definite theoretical prin-
ciples, rightly bring these to bear upon their judg-
ments concerning music, and are therefore credited
with pedantic prejudice, and dry insensibility to
natural charm and spontaneous freshness, if it bear
not the test of grammatical examination, was never-
theless as susceptible of impression by genuinely in-
spired, if not soundly constructed music, as those who
vaunt their unprejudiced openness to such influence.
He has, indeed, said to me, that it were well if much,
if not all, that Chopin wrote, had never been pro-
duced. He then spoke as a theorist, with due solici-
tude for the healthy current of thought and feeling
among the younger generation of musicians. But
yet, concerning the same composer, he has written :
CHOPIN, CLEMEN Tl, CHERUB INI. 231
" With no command of the principles of construction, he
made his lengthened pieces incoherent, and even his lightest
productions give occasion to question the soundness of his
grammatical knowledge. The singular beauty, and the
constant individuality of his ideas, however ; his exquisite
feeling for harmonic combination and progression, which
led to his habitual employment of resources most rarely
used by others ; his unreserved application of exceptional
forms of passing-notes, and his perfect and peculiar grace-
fulness of phraseology give a charm to his music which
is irresistibly fascinating. His mazurkas are unique in the
range of musical composition, and they are as full of cha-
racter, national colouring, sentiment, humour, and technical
peculiarity, as they are insusceptible of imitation."
On the other hand, of a widely different composer,
most rigid in style, he wrote :
" dementi was a master of all the resources of counter-
point, with a complete grasp of the powers of modern
harmony ; and, besides the depth of character resulting
from this knowledge, his music is distinguished by energy,
fire, and intense passion ; tenderness and melodious grace,
however, the qualities one would most expect in the writings
for his instrument, of an artist whose playing was especially
signalized by these points of style, are rarely to be found
in his compositions."
Years after the above was written, Macfarren said
to me : " There is one composer I cannot stand
that is dementi : queer counterpoint, awkward modula-
tion, etc.," making exception in favour of the Sonata in
B minor, however which, Gattie once (previously)
told me, Macfarren considered one of the finest Sonatas
ever written. Another expression of his opinion con-
cerning dementi has been quoted, p. 65.
Of Cherubim he wrote in laudatory terms, in the
" Imperial Dictionary of Biography " (from which the
232 LES DEUX JOURNEES, AUBER.
last two extracts are taken) ; as, for instance, in the
following :
" ' Les Deux Journees ' : though forgotten in France,
this beautiful opera is still, like several others of its author,
a standard work at the principal German theatres, where,
under the name of ' Der Wassertrager,' it ranks high in
popular esteem and critical approval. In England, little
is known of it besides the overture ; but this, by the power
of its ideas, their admirable development, the peculiarity of
its form and the vigour and brilliancy of its orchestration,
gives Cherubini a foremost rank among musicians, in the
estimation of all who set the highest value on the greatest
order of artistic productions."
Macfarren's breadth of appreciative power may be
illustrated by yet another critical estimate concerning
a composer with whom it might have been supposed
that one so severe, even (as some thought) to pedantry,
would have little sympathy. Speaking of Auber's
" La Muette de Portici/' which Macfarren charac-
terizes as " his unquestionable masterpiece," which
" met with the brilliant success it eminently merits,"
he goes on to say :
" Critics have in vain sought to detract from the credit
of this success, by ascribing it to the dramatic interest of
the libretto, and to the sympathy with the story of the
political feeling of the time; but the eminently dramatic
music, which certainly could only have been written to
illustrate powerful dramatic situations, gives vitality to
these situations, such as no form of words could impart;
and the revolutionary spirit of the time could neither have
made a bad opera successful, nor maintained the entire
work upon the stage of every country, and its countless
melodies in universal popularity all over the world, for all
these years after the political agitation that was then
ripening had come to its crisis, subsided, and been followed
AUBEE. VARIATIONS. 233
by another, still more violent, which also now belongs to
the past"
But, later on, the discriminating critic thus pro-
ceeds :
"Auber, with all his success and with all his merit, cannot
be classed as a great musician, which is because of a want of
profundity in all his works that must result from his tem-
perament as a man, not from his defective qualification as
an artist. His genius is especially dramatic, and it is in
the most exciting situations, . . . that it asserts itself to
the best advantage ; but he has also an infinite power of
vivacity, as is amply proved in ' Fra Diavolo,' ' Le Domino
Noir,' and many other of his comic operas. His melodies,
of which he has produced more than perhaps any composer
that ever existed, are irresistibly striking, essentially indi-
vidual, piquant, pretty, tender, but rarely, if ever, pathetic,
and never grand ; the feeling they embody is intense, but
never deep. His habit of making repeated rhythmical
closes, instead of giving continuous development to an
idea, imparts an air of triviality to his longer pieces, that
nothing but their ceaseless fluency and constant animation
could counterbalance. His instrumentation, the colouring
of music, is perhaps that branch of the art in which he is
most consummately a master ; brilliant, sparkling, rich,
and clear to transparency ; his method of treating the
orchestra alone is sufficient to make him a valuable
study."
Macfarren had little liking for " Variations " on a
Theme. He was, of course, quite sensible and appre-
ciative of the ingenuity, contrapuntal resource, and
fancy, which might be, and often are, evinced in their
construction ; and spoke to me of the attractiveness of
Haydn's " Variations " in F minor, and Schubert's
" Impromptu " in B flat, which, as musicians know, is
simply an air with variations. But he said to me that,
234 VARIATIONS.
while he could understand the interest to a composer
of writing variations, and to a performer of playing
them, it was, to him, so tiresome to know that, all
along, the same progressions, and the same closes, at
the same places, were always to be expected. These
remarks were made to me during performances of the
two pieces above-mentioned. I venture to think that
the attractiveness of that by Haydn lies in the naive
beauty of the Theme ; and that the " Impromptu " by
Schubert would hardly have been selected by Mac-
farren as a specially notable specimen of variation
writing, though he seemed to rate it more highly than
I did. Macfarren himself wrote a set of "Varia-
tions " on a Dutch melody ; being the number entitled
" Holland," in a series of Pianoforte pieces bearing
the general title " Le Voyageur," which were pub-
lished by Duff and Hodgson. But this set of varia-
tions was doubtless written to order, for a consideration ;
not from artistic promptings.
This series of quotations will help to give a compre-
hensive view of Macfarren' s principles and methods of
judgment, and susceptibility of impression, which are
further illustrated in other contexts. It may be left
to the reader to estimate the soundness or otherwise
of an opinion once expressed in my hearing by one
who knew him well : " Macfarren is an uncommonly
bad judge of music ! "
CHAPTER XI.
MACPAREEN AS A LECTURES. LECTURES ON SONATA
STRUCTURE, THE LYRICAL DRAMA, SACRED AND SECULAR
ART, AND CHURCH Music. PAPERS ON RECITATIVE,
CHURCH OP ENGLAND Music, GREGORIANISM, ORATORIO
IN CHURCH, ROSSINI'S MASS, MOZART'S REQUIEM,
WAGNER, ORGAN, PITCH. COMPOSITIONS : OVERTURE
TO " DON CARLOS," FESTIVAL OVERTURE, SYMPHONIES
IN D MAJOR AND E MINOR, FLUTE CONCERTO, VlOLIN
CONCERTO, ORGAN WORKS, CHURCH Music, SONATAS
FOR PIANOFORTE, AND PIANOFORTE AND VIOLIN, CON-
CERTINA, ETC. 1854 1879.
MUCH allusion has been made to Macfarren's
lectures. He became prominent as a lecturer
and public speaker, during the last twenty-five years
of his life. His first lecture, or one of the first given
by him, was delivered to the students of the Royal
Academy of Music, about the year 1860, during the
Principalship of Charles Lucas, who invited several
professors of the institution to lecture on subjects
germane to the branches of musical study which they
had in charge : one on the Violin being delivered by
Mr. H. G. Blagrove, one on Singing by Mr. F. R.
Cox, another on Notation by Mr. H. C. Lunn, one on
Harmonics by Mr. Lucas. Macfarren's was on the
Structure of a Sonata, though that may not have
236 MACFARREN AS A LECTURER.
been its precise title. The substance of it doubtless
appears in the little brochure on that subject published
by Messrs. Rudall, Rose, and Carte ; originally as an
appendix to a sonata by him for flute and pianoforte,
in No. 5 of the " Journal of the London Society of
Amateur Flute Players."
At about the same period, when Macfarren was on
a visit at Radley College, together with his brother,
Mr. Walter Macfarren, the suggestion was made that
it would be very interesting if he would address the
students ; and he at once assented, and with little pre-
meditation delivered an analytical lecture to the
assembled students and teachers, the late Sir F. A. Gore-
Ouseley being also present, upon Beethoven's Sonaia,
Op. 22, with illustration on the pianoforte by his
brother.
Shortly afterwards, he delivered a similar lecture at
Blackheath, on three of Beethoven's Sonatas for Piano-
forte and Violin, the illustrations being performed by
Mr. Walter Macfarren and Monsieur Sainton. From
that time to the close of his career, his appearances as
a lecturer were somewhat frequent. Not only did he
deliver the course on Harmony, already recorded, at
the Royal Institution, and later on, his various courses,
in his Professorial capacity, in the University of Cam-
bridge, and as Principal of the Royal Academy of
Music, re-delivering his Cambridge lectures to the
students, besides addressing the students and pro-
fessors at the commencement of each academical year ;
but also several courses at the London Institution,
and the College of Organists, and single lectures in
various localities, metropolitan and provincial. Some
of these lectures were prepared at considerable length,
MACFAEREN AS A LECTURER. 237
and with verbal detail, by dictation, and must have been
more or less fully and accurately committed to memory
his memory, so minute and so comprehensive. This
may partly account for his frequent hesitancy, as though
endeavouring to recall an expression with exactitude;
although it may also be surmised that the inability, at
the moment, to determine upon a word the most
fitting for the purpose might equally account for
this hesitancy, which was occasionally somewhat pain-
ful. But many of the lectures probably most of
them were dictated in the form of more or less
copious notes, so as to get the subject in order before
his own mind, and to serve for reference in case of re-
delivery. When it is remembered that it was a blind
man lecturing, not haranguing, but setting forth
facts, dates, names on the one hand ; or theoretical
principles, analyses, illustrated by examples, on the
other, it is all the more to wonder that his fluency
and accuracy this latter, indeed, seldom if ever fail-
ing were such as they were. In later years, at all
events, it was his custom to sit while lecturing ; and
he would rest his face on one hand, thus sometimes
slightly intercepting the outflow of his voice, in itself
not strong, latterly ; and, forgetting that he was
speaking in a comparatively large room, would " chat "
rather than " orate ; " these habits interfering much
with his audibility. But, at his best, it was interest-
ing to listen to him, beyond the interest of the matter
itself, because of the emotional sincerity with which
he delivered himself of his views of the Art that he
loved so well, especially, also, when he was addressing-
sympathetic and reverential students, whom he also
loved so well. He said to me that he liked address-
238 THE LYRICAL DRAMA.
ing the academicians annually, because it seemed the
one way open to him that of sight being denied to
him of being brought into personal intercourse with
them : he might have said " en rapport ; " but he did
not use a French term when one in English was avail-
able : he believed in his own language, like a true
Englishman, as we have already seen. And no small
command of it had he, and extensive acquaintance
with its resources : sometimes peculiarly felicitous
in his choice of terms ; though addicted much to
rather involved, inverted, not to say long-winded,
structure of his sentences, as well as some mannerisms,
such as beginning fresh divisions with " It is now
to speak of/' etc.
In the year 1867, in which the six lectures on
Harmony were delivered, he also gave, during March,
an important course of four lectures on the " Origin
and Development of the Lyrical Drama," at the
London Institution, of which the syllabus, as in a
former instance, will give the best account.
"LECTURE I.
" Illustrated by
" Miss ROBERTINE HENDERSON and Mr WILBYE COOPER.
" The Greek Drama. Chanted declamation, engrafted
upon the Dithyrambic and other Hymns, was essentially
lyrical. It was a religious institution, and therefore opposed
by the Christians. The mediaeval drama was also a reli-
gious institution, being a form of instruction in morals and
in sacred history employed by the Church ; and the drama
of the first Reformers, especially that instituted by Calvin
at Geneva, had the same tendency. The songs or ballads
of the people, the music of which was identical with that
of their dances, were always distinct from the music of the
THE LYRICAL DRAMA. 239
Church, although they were only appropriated, as a basis
of contrapuntal elaboration, to ecclesiastical use. The first
secular dramas were interspersed with music ; ' Le jeu de
Eobin et de Marion,' by Adam de la Hale, 1240 1287,
and ' Orfeo,' by Angelo Poliziano, 1483. The foundation
of the Oratorio by Animuccia, 1556, analogous to that of
the Greek drama. Many of the plays of Shakespeare and
his predecessors and contemporaries include songs that
were popular before the plays were written. The imme-
diate effect of the Renaissance upon music was the inven-
tion of recitative, to emulate the declamation of the Greeks.
This was applied to dramatic purposes in the Oratorio of
Emilio del Cavaliere, 1600, and in the Operas of this com-
poser, Giulio Caccini, Jacopo Peri, and Claudio Monte-
verde, 1590 1607. These were the first dramas set
throughout to music. Signification of the term ' Opera.'
The court masques of James I. and Charles I. were set to
recitative by Laniere and Ferabosco. The court ballets of
Louis the XIV. were composed in the same style by Lully.
Milton's ' Comus,' with incidental music by Henry Lawes,
1634 ; Aria parlante or arioso. Lully followed Mailly and
Cambert in the composition of French Operas, which con-
sisted of recitative, airs, and choruses, and always included
dancing; 'Psyche,' 1678; couplets. The ' Siege of Rhodes,'
the first English Opera, with Mrs. Colman, the first female
that appeared on the English stage, was brought out under
the sanction of Cromwell, 1646. Henry Purcell's first
Opera, ' Dido and .ZEneas,' 1680, consisted of recitative,
songs, and choruses ; subsequently he wrote incidental
music for spoken dramas. Appropriation of scholastic
forms to dramatic use. Cantata, an alternation of recita-
tive and air."
"LECTURE II.
" Illustrated by
" Madame LOUISA VINNING, Mr. WILBTE COOPEB, and
Mr. J. G. PATEY.
" Advance of the Opera in Italy. It was imported into
Germany, with ' Daphne,' by Schultz, 1627 ; but scarcely
240 THE LYRICAL DRAMA.
adopted there until the time of Keiser, 1692. Male
Sopranos. Formal character of the aria. Accompanied
recitative first written by Vinci. Conventional construc-
tion of the Opera. The same libretti repeatedly set to
music by different, and even by the same Composers. The
Italian Operas of Handel, consisting of recitative and airs,
represent the smaller forms of the Lyrical Drama of the
day ; his English Oratorios (except those set to Scriptural
texts) having the addition of choruses to the other two
elements, represent the grander form. Distinction between
the Grand Opera, the Opera Comique, and the Vaudeville.
'The Beggar's Opera,' and the many pieces produced in
consequence of its popularity. Arne's English imitation
of the Italian Operas of his time, 1762. Piccini aban-
doned the prescribed form of the aria ; success of ' La
buona Figliuola,' 1760. Gluck's design to reform Dramatic
Music by making it a vehicle for declamation instead of
for vocal display, 1764, was a renewal of the purpose of
the inventors of recitative. His appropriation of dancing,
that was indispensable in French Grand Operas. Rivalry
of the Italian and German styles."
"LECTURE III.
" Illustrated by
" Miss BANKS, Mdlle. CHARLIER, and Miss JULIA ELTON,
" Mr. WILBYE COOPER, Mr. R. WILKINSON, and
Mr. J. Gr. PATEY.
" The embodiment of dramatic action in concerted music
originated by Logroscino, 1747; advanced by Piccini; per-
fected by Mozart in his great finales. This exalts the
Opera, insomuch as music is an expression of character
and sentiment, above every other form of vocal composi-
tion. Melo-drama or accompanied speaking. Beethoven's
'Fidelio' the completest Opera. Rossini's innovations;
his influence on the music of his day ; ' Otello ' the first
Italian Opera accompanied throughout by the orchestra.
Bishop's Operas, spoken dramas with incidental music ;
English dramatic music in his time; the glee. The appro-
THE LYRICAL DRAMA. 241
priation of national character to dramatic purposes by-
Mozart, extended by Weber in ' Preciosa,' ' Der Freischiitz,'
and 'Oberon.' He first incorporated the aria in the action
of the scene, this being an expansion of G-luck's principle.
The romantic Opera. The Overture originated by Lully ;
perfected by Mozart; idealised by Beethoven; popularised
by Weber. Spohr's 'Jessonda' the first German Opera set
throughout to music."
"LECTURE IV.
" Illustrated by
" Miss EDITH WYNNE and Miss JULIA ELTON.
" Mr. T. WHIFFIN and Mr. J. G. PATET.
" The illustration of Pantomime by music, first essayea
by Mouret for the ' nuits blanches ' of the Duchesse du
Maine in ' Les Horaces,' in 1680, was incorporated in the
Opera by Weber in ' Sylvana,' and by Auber in ' Masaniello.'
This work was the first of the class of historico-romantic
Operas.- Resumption of the composition of Operas, pro-
perly so-called, in English, 1834 ; E. J. Loder ; John
Barnett ; Balfe and the ballad ; Benedict ; Wallace.
Mendelssohn's music for the revived tragedies of Sophocles
no restoration of the character of Greek music, but a new
form of composition which had been incompletely antici-
pated in the tragedies of Racine. Paramount importance
of a good dramatic story for operatic purposes. All the
best opera books, save those written for the French stage,
have been adaptations of previously successful dramatic
pieces. Secondary, but yet high importance of the poetry
of an Opera. Consideration of the views of Richard
Wagner. Pernicious influence of the Italian language on
the development of dramatic music ; first shaken off in
France, next in Germany, and now in Russia ; but England
still suffers from its bane, and suffers worse than any other
country has suffered, since the fashion for hearing Operas
in a tongue that cannot be pronounced by the majority of
the singers, nor understood by the majority of the audience,
not only impedes the progress of indigenous productive
R
242 ACCOMPANIMENT OF RECITATIVE.
and executive talent, but compels the distortion of the
German and French works which constitute the staple
performances of our lyrical theatres."
In the year 1880 Macfarren gave a lecture on the
same subject before the Musical Association.
On one subject touched on in the first of these
lectures, he wrote at length, in the " Musical Times,"
of December, 1872, that of " The Accompaniment of
Recitative," advancing the statement that :
" The broad distinction between ancient and modern in
music dates from the invention of recitative in the last
decade of the sixteenth century. Then, an association of
Florentine nobles and gentlemen undertook the interesting
experiment of restoring to the art of song the character-
istics that had marked it in the Grecian age, as opposed to
the qualities to which the music of the period was limited.
These qualities were rhythmical tune, exemplified in the
songs and dances of the people, and the imitations of these
by schooled artists ; and contrapuntal elaboration, exem-
plified in the motets or moving parts, and anthems or
counter-themes, constructed upon ecclesiastical or secular
melodies for church use, and in the madrigals of the musi-
cians. In neither of these was there scope for free decla-
mation, nor for any but the most general expression of
words, which, in classic times, had been the main if not the
sole object of vocal music. The idea was then conceived of
recitative The experiment was so entirely successful
that the new style of declamatory music not only took a
place beside the rigidly ruled art of the period, biit has, to
a great extent, superseded it, and importantly modified the
materials and the structure of subsequent composition.
" To secure the perfect freedom of the singer in his
declamation, to hasten or retard the words as he might be
impelled by the passion they embodied, it was essential that
the accompaniment should be of such a nature as might
in no respect restrict his performance in the matter of mea-
sure, while it might fully guide and support him in the
matter of intonation. Accordingly, it was confined usually
ACCOMPANIMENT OF RECITATIVE. 243
to a single instrument, in most cases the theorbo or large
lute ; and this, in the earliest instances, was played by the
singer himself, whose fingers were moved by the same im-
pulse that directed his vocal utterance."
After tracing the custom of sustaining the harmony
" by the band during the vocal declamation : " that of
accompanying the recitative " on some equivalent to
the pianoforte," " with also a bowed instrument . . .
to support the bass notes, because of the little reso-
nance of the keyed string instruments of the time ;" he
goes on to record that :
" Near the end of the seventeenth century Vinci was the
first to write what in England is called ' Accompanied Re-
citative ' . . . reserved for dramatic passages, while he re-
tained for ordinary colloquy and narration what the Italians
name ' Recitative Parlante.' The distinction is, that in the
latter the instruments just named were used, and in the
former the full orchestra.
" Let it not be supposed that the practice ever was, in
colloquial recitative, to sustain the chords on any instru-
ment from semibreve to semibreve, as they were habitually
written . . . ; these extensive notes imply the prevalence
but not the sustenance of the same harmony, which har-
mony was and is to be repeated according to the punctua-
tion of the words, whenever their sense indicates a breath-
ing place for the singer."
After various historical details concerning the growth
of recitative, he goes on to trace the rise and preva-
lence of the custom of accompanying colloquial recita-
tive mainly by the violoncello, to the displacement of
the pianoforte ; animadverts upon the undesirable-
ness of that method, and urges that
" According to the size and uses of the building, and the
gaiety or gravity of the subject, the pianoforte or the organ
ought to be the accompanying instrument in colloquial re-
244 ACCOMPANIMENT OF RECITATIVE.
citative. Let it be hoped that before long its restitution
may be universal, when the richer tone and the fuller re-
sonance of the Pianoforte than of the ancient Harpsi-
chord, especially in the lower range of its compass, will
render the bowed basses entirely dispensable."
He instances occasions, then recent, of the experi-
ment (if such it may be termed) being successfully
made under Herr Otto Goldschmidt, Sir Sterndale
Bennett, and Mr. Joseph Barnby, in Handel's
" I/ Allegro " and Bach's " Passion."
It will not be inopportune to insert here some re-
marks on this same subject occurring in the Preface to
Macfarren's "Analysis of Haydn's ' Creation,' " written
for the Sacred Harmonic Society, dated February,
1854:
" One might discuss at some length the setting of most
of the Scriptural passages, surely the most important por-
tions of the text, in the unimportant form, of unaccom-
panied Recitative ; but that the present purpose is to con-
sider how the subject is, not how it might have been,
treated. As, however, there is so much of this form of Reci-
tative without orchestra in the Oratorio, it is desirable to
offer some remarks upon the manner in which it is in
England, and on that in which it should be accompanied.
The custom was, I am told, introduced by Mr. Lindley, and
confirmed by Signer Dragonetti, of accompanying this style
of Recitative with the solo violoncello and double bass ;
and, to those who play the violoncello and double bass, this
custom may be sufficiently amusing ; to those, however, who
require the fulfilment of a composer's intention, and to
those, less scrupulous, who look for musical effect, the said
custom has nothing to recommend, nor even to justify it
it is peculiar to this country, and it is a peculiarity upon .
which we have no cause to plume ourselves. The proper way
of performing this style of Recitative the way that is still
practised out of England is for the harmony to be played
upon + he organ or upon the pianoforte ; in witness whereof,
ACCOMPANIMENT OF RECITATIVE. 245
let me recur to the occasional direction, Senza Cembalo,
that we find in composers' scores (since there could be no
occasion to direct that a particular passage should be played
without the pianoforte, if it were not the general custom
for the pianoforte to be played) ; the constant announce-
ment in our old programmes that he, who is now called the
Conductor, would preside ' at the organ or pianoforte ; '
the recollection of every one of some forty or fifty years'
familiarity with musical performances ; and the daily ex-
perience of any one who hears the execution of these Reci-
tatives in Italy or Germany. I can only suggest to an
a.udience, that they imagine the effect of complete and sus-
tained harmony in these accompaniments, and, if their
imagination be lively, they may form some idea of the effect
intended.'
In the Preface to the " Performing Edition of the
Messiah/' an important work undertaken by Mac-
farren, he remarks :
" Composers of this class of music, till far later than
Handel's time, meant not that the harmony should be sus-
tained as semibreves or minims, though they wrote such
notes for the bass, but intended that a chord should prevail
for the length of the written notes, and be repeated or not,
according to the punctuation of the voice part, or accord-
ing to the singer's need of support. Neither meant they
that the chord should be struck with the final note of a
phrase whereon the harmony changes, as is often the habit
of inexperienced accompanists to do, by which the enuncia-
tion of the last word is rendered indistinct ; the chords
should be played after, rather than with, the voice at the
conclusion, and before the voice at the commencement of
a sentence."
This is exemplified in the notation in the edition
itself, as well as in a similar edition of Haydn's " Crea-
tion," in the Preface to which he remarks to the same
effect :
" The chords were to be played after the vocal closes, ex-
246 LODER, WAGNER.
cepting only if the harmony changed in the course of a
phrase, and the singer was to recommence after the chord
had been sounded, and thus the edges of the enunciation
were not to be blunted by the striking of the instruments
together with the vocal utterance."
With reference to one item in the syllabus of the
Fourth Lecture, some remarks of Macfarren's may be
relevantly quoted from the programme of Mr. Walter
Macfarren's Third Concert of Pianoforte Music, June
llth, 1861, which may be taken in connection with
those on John Barnett, at the close of Chapter X.
" Mr. Loder's Opera of 'Nourjahad,' produced in 1834,
was the inaugural work of the institution of modern English
Opera ; and is therefore remembered with gratification by
all who take interest in the progress among us of dramatic
music. His 'Francis the First' was brought out in 1838,
and his ' Night Dancers,' the most successful, and there-
fore the best known, and in many respects the best of his
operas, was first played in 1846. ' Puck ' and ' Raymond
and Agnes ' are further examples of his labours in the same
branch of art."
Macfarren's non-acceptance of the theories of Richard
Wagner, and of much of his Music-Drama composition,
is well-known ; and was, at times, so vehemently as-
serted as to lay him open to charges of prejudice, non-
progressiveness, and even inability to comprehend the
advanced thought of the time. He remarked to me :
" I know that they think me a rabid old Tory." But
he was not insensible to excellence or beauty of any
kind, and discriminated in his judgment even of that
which he could not wholly accept. Thus, in a notice
of the Prelude to " Lohengrin," in the Programme of
the British Orchestral Society's second Concert,
December 19, 1872, he remarks:
SACRED AND SECULAR ART. 247
"It may be regarded rather as a study of orchestral
effect than as a composition. Its entire plan consists of
three presentations of this one theme, [quoted] ....
Every recurrence of the theme introduces it with some
novelty of treatment, consisting not merely in a varied
distribution of the instruments, but in the engrafting of
new passages upon the original, which are remarkable for
their skilful contrivance as much as for their good effect.
In its orchestration, this piece commands respect for the
knowledge of the capabilities and the relative qualities of
the several instruments, and for the careful thoughts in
its appliance, that are evinced in every combination ; just
as a painting is to be esteemed for its colouring, apart
from its drawing and its composition, is this Prelude to be
considered for its instrumental effect, wherein a special
but unquestionable quality of imagination is displayed."
Macfarren delivered four lectures on " Sacred and
Secular Art, as exemplified in Music," at the London
Institution, in February and March, 1869. "Taking
his stand on the principle that all the fine arts have a
twofold application to Sacred and Secular subjects, he
proceeded to define and exemplify these distinctions
under the several heads of music for worship music
for illustrating characters and incidents in sacred
story, and moral and religious sentiments music for
depicting the passions and personalities of men and
music for stimulating our emotions and developing
our faculties in the circle of home." In the first
lecture, on Church Music, he contended that :
" The first music employed in our Reformed Church was
an adaptation, or in some instances, perhaps, an imitation
of the Plain Song of Roman use to the text of the English
Liturgy, by John Merbeck. The people's love of musical
combination prompted the construction of more or less
florid counterpoint upon these ancient Church tunes, and
many musicians won distinction by their ingenious efforts
248 SACRED AND SECULAR ART.
in this class of composition, whose names are now known
only to the antiquary, because the style in which they wrote,
with the themes they elaborated, has become obsolete."
Tallis, Byrd, and others, being instanced, who :
" Made original settings of the Canticles, Creed, and
other invariable portions of the service, which have the
technical peculiarities of their age, but are equally remark-
able for the solemn simplicity of their treatment of the
text. The fugitives from Mary's persecution imported, on
their return from Frankfort and Geneva the practice of
Hymn-singing, which spread so rapidly among their
countrymen, that it was authoritatively ' permitted ' in
public worship by Elizabeth's Injunction of 1559. A
collection of tunes, fitted to the entire book of Psalms, was
consequently printed in 1563, the custom having been at
first for congregations to sing these without harmony ; but
in the next year, the same were reprinted in harmony of
four parts by several composers. In this and all elabora-
tions of Psalmody for congregational use, of this period,
the tune, or Plain Song, or Church Part, is set for the
tenor voice. It is only assigned to the cantus, or highest
part, in the harmony, in arrangements for domestic use.
The substitution of the word ' Anthem ' for ' Hymn,' and
its definition as ' a little thing in metre,' in a later Prayer
Book of Elizabeth, imply that the first Anthems were
harmonized Psalm-tunes, and the earliest original com-
positions described as Anthems are so simple in form as
almost to belong to the same class. . . . Church Music,
after the Restoration, gives noble signs of the advance of
art, and of the illustrious brightness of English genius,
[but] all branches of Church music, like every other
department of the art in England, degenerated under the
influence of our German rulers, or at least, from the date
of their accession."
The second lecture was on "The Opera;" and the
Lecturer contended that :
" In the boundless range it affords for the portrayal of
every phase of character, and the opportunity for bringing
SACRED AND SECULAR ART. 249
these into contrast and combination, the Opera may be
regarded as the highest class of composition."
" II Don Giovanni" was selected for illustrative
analysis.
The third lecture was on " The Oratorio." After
historical allusion to its origin, he advanced that " the
Oratorio is of two kinds the didactic or narrative,
and the dramatic ; " the former being exemplified in
the periodical recitation of the story of the Passion in
the Roman Church, in Bach's setting of the account
by Matthew of the Passion that of John not being
alluded to, apparently being then unknown to the
lecturer in Handel's " Messiah," and in Men-
delssohn's " St. Paul : " the latter (the dramatic) being
exemplified firstly by " La Rappresentazione di Anima
e di Corpo," by Cavalieri (1600), and, subsequently,
by nearly all the Oratorios of Handel and the Italian
composers of his and a far later time. Handel's
" Jephtha " was selected as an instance of the
dramatic Oratorio ; and Mendelssohn's " Lobgesang"
of the didactic. Macfarren admits that " Mendelssohn,
in a letter, denies the classification of this work as an
Oratorio because it is not dramatic;" but contends
that he " must have done so without considering the
wide use of the term."
The concluding lecture was on Chamber music ;
the Fugue, the Suite de Pieces, the Symphony or
Sonata : conciser forms employed in instrumental
music of the present day, the Song without words,
being discussed ; compositions exclusively for the
Orchestra being described by analogy with their cor-
responding types in music for the Chamber.
250 CHURCH MUSIC.
He prefaced the first lecture by saying that :
" The people of this country are more interested in the
art appliances of the English Church than in those of any
other devotional institution ; " and, therefore, the lecture
was " limited to the classification of our national ecclesi-
astical music, and a brief sketch of its historical develop-
ment."
In pursuance of this purpose, he took much the
same line as in an earlier lecture, on " the Music of
the Church of England," delivered at the Royal
Institution, April 20th, 1866, in which he premised
that :
" The objects of Church music are : 1st, passively to
stimulate the hearer to the highest emotions : 2nd, actively
to engage the worshipper in the most powerful expression
of such emotions : "
and then proceeded :
" A secondary, and not unworthy object of Church
music has been, from the days of S. Aldhelm, Abbot of
Malmesbury, A.D., 700, or earlier, to the present time, to
form an attraction for the laity to enter the sacred
building, etc."
After a historical glance at "the importation of
music into the Western Church by St. Ambrose/' he
contends that " certainly the music that was sung was
that of the Greek Theatre ; " the proofs being :
" First, that the musical scale was divided, by the ancient
Jews, and the nations among whom they sojourned, into
smaller intervals than those of the Greek diatonic genus,
whereas the Ambrosian Chant exactly accords with this
genus ; second, that the four modes employed bv St.
CHURCH MUSIC. 251
Ambrose the Dorian, the Phrygian, the Lydian, and the
Mixo-Lydian are identical with the Greek modes so named,
and are applied, in ecclesiastical use, each to the expression
of the same sentiment as in the Greek Theatre. St.
Ambrose was an innovator in incorporating music in the
service of the Church ; and he appropriated the pagan
music which was accessible to his congregation, and indeed
familiar."
Macfarren incurred some obloquy in certain circles
for his outspoken views on this matter; but he never
flinched from the position here taken up.
He next notices the labours of St. Gregory in
"adding four additional modes of the Greeks to those
of Ambrose, and perpetuating his revised and extended
system by inventing a method of notation ; " and the
introduction, several centuries later, of harmony, "in
the form of extempore descant upon the Gregorian
Chant ; and long after this, the rules of written
Counterpoint were instituted/'
Following upon this introductory survey, "the
adoption of music in the English Church at the Re-
formation, in the first instance, direct from the Church
of Rome," is recorded, the labours of John Merbeck,
Tallis, and others, being referred to ; then the singing
of Hymns, of the metrical versions of the Psalms,
etc. Of the various derivations of the word :
" ' Anthem,' substituted for Hymn in the later Prayer
Book of Elizabeth, that is to be preferred which assigns its
origin to Antithema, implying that it first denoted free
counterpoint against a given theme the harmony to the
Psalm-tune analogous to Motet, the Motettus or moving
part against the Cantw Fermus of the Roman Church.
Several illustrations of this definition prove the concise
character originally purposed for the Anthem, and point
252 ENGLISH CHURCH MUSIC.
to the dereliction from this in the lengthy and com-
plicated compositions of later times."
This latter pronouncement may be recommended to
all whom it may concern : as may also that which
succeeds : though the persons herewith concerned
are not those concerned in the last.
" The corruption of English Church Music has its root
in the retention of the precentorship as a priestly office at
the time of the Reformation, the period at which the study
of Music, like all other civil studies, first became common
among the laity. The effect of this first great fundamen-
tal evil was not felt till much later ; but there can be now
no question of the impropriety of committing the entire
control of the singers, the choice of the music, and every
arrangement and responsibility of this highly important
element of the Church Service to an officer who is not com-
pulsorily acquainted with music. That some few precen-
tors have a knowledge of the subject which it is their duty
to direct only aggravates the ill-working of the system,
since it gives countenance to the very many more who are
equally ignorant, and either indifferent or prejudiced.
The contributions to Psalmody by persons of little musical
education, or with none, began early in the last century,
and have tended seriously to vulgarise and emasculate this
noble branch of Church Music. The misappropriation of
the G-lee style of writing to church composition has done
equally much to deteriorate the music special to the cathe-
dral. The admission of Solo Anthems has tended to make
the church an arena for the display of the singers, and for
the indulgence of the audience, who have attended service
more for the amusement of criticism than for the edifica-
tion of prayer. The adaptation of irrelevant words to
nuisic from the florid Masses of composers of later times,
from Oratorios, and from instrumental works, has perverted
the composer's designed expression, which is the highest
quality in music, and has thus degraded the Art and its
influences. The introduction of compositions by clerical
amateurs or their friends, whose social position has com-
ENGLISH CHURCH MUSIC. CHORAL. 253
manded attention to their productions, has often made the
church a medium for the gratification of vanity, at the ex-
pense of genuine artistry. The attempt to revive the use
in the church of the Greek system of music, (which Am-
brose introduced, and Gregory continued, because there
was then none other accessible), produces, if not an affec-
tation of sanctity, at least a pedantic assumption of anti-
quarianism that is as remote from devotion."
This distribution of censure pretty well all round
derives its severity from its justice ; and it is easier
to evade its hard hits by asking whether Macfarren
was specially qualified to pronounce judgment in this
matter, seeing that he was not an habitual church
attendant, or by some other tu quoque retorts, than
to rebut the terse sentences by denial or argument.
Much of that which has been quoted applies equally
to Noncomformist practices in the matter of Psalmody
and congregational anthem-singing. But the criti-
cisms and principles themselves are sound, and worthy
of consideration by very many concerned, whether in
the Established Church or in the Free Churches.
In a review which bears internal evidence of being
Macfarren's, he makes some observations which were
very timely when written, and, even now, are not un-
timely in their reproduction :
"A choral is, to the best of our belief, a hymn-tune sung by
the people in chorus in the service of the Lutheran Church.
Chorals are for the most part, old, and they are also, for
the most part, each associated with its own poem. It has
been common for the musicians of North Germany, almost
from the date of the Reformation, to employ the choral
tunes as themes for elaboration in their vocal, as much as
instrumental works. Some of the oldest and best of them
are thus introduced by Mendelssohn in his ' St. Paul,' and
their insertion is justified, and their interest induced in
254 CHORAL.
the situation of their occurrence, by the German people's
intimacy with them in connection with the words to which
they have habitually sung them, every man from childhood
onwards. When this oratorio was imported into England,
folks thought it necessary to preserve the definition of the
Chorals, since they were unlike in character, form, and
extent, to any pieces in oratorios with which the English
public was familiar ; and to secure the German pronuncia-
tion of the word with the accent on the final syllable, an
' e ' was added at the end, which must have been meant to
be mute. The public, however, misunderstood the ortho-
epic intention of the English editors, read the extended
word, Chorale, as a tri-syllable, and took to pronouncing
its new and peculiarly English addition as they do in
' Charley.' Since Mendelssohn's first oratorio, his ' Hymn
of Praise ' and his Organ Sonatas, in which some specimens
of the old Choral appear to have helped to make their
definition in its English three-syllable form familiar, and
this familiarity is strongly confirmed by the knowledge,
recently becoming general, of Bach's 'Music of the Passion, 1
wherein examples abound of the ancient Lutheran Choral
tune. Respect for these works, and for others from the
same source, has, we may suppose, been the prompting to
some of our best English composers to emulate the pre-
cedent of the great Germans ; and they have incorporated
in like manner, in some of their extensive works, pieces
that might serve for hymn-tunes, and these they anoma-
lously entitle ' Chorale(y)s,' unmindful that they are not
venerable tunes of Lutheran use, that they are not old
hymn-tunes at all, that they can never call to remembrance
particular poems, since they have never been associated
with any words whatever, and seeming to forget that the
said melodies are their own, the said composers' original
productions. Now, if such misuse of the term chorale (y)
is not an affectation, it is surely a mistake ; since the word
so applied is a misnomer. We earnestly suggest, then, to
our native musicians of experience and credit to discontinue
the example to their younger brethren of a misuse which
savours so strongly of affectation as to imbue those who
practise it with its odour. Hymn-tune is a good enough
term, and hymn, without tune, is a better ; moreover they
ORGAN IN CHURCH. CHURCH MODES. 255
have both been English since further back than it is easy
to trace their use ; and we urge that either of these would
be appropriate to the pieces that writers of latest times
have taken to calling Chorale(y)s."
In reply to an inquiry, the nature of which may be
surmised, Macfarren addressed the following to Mr.
Gilbert Scott, in the year 1879 :
" On the question proposed to me, I think that if the
object be to lead congregational singing, or, more properly
expressed, to drown the inaccuracies of unskilled vocalists,
a large, coarse-toned organ may be highly desirable. If
the object be to produce the effect of musical beauty, by
judicious accompaniment of a trained choir, then an organ
of moderate power, but of good tone, and with full pedal
compass, is very greatly to be preferred to a larger and
louder instrument, which no player with a real feeling for
his task would use at the full for such a purpose. If a
sum of money be contributed for musical ends in any
church, I believe it would be far better applied in some
investment that would yield an annual fund to be spent
upon choir- training than on the increase of an organ, inas-
much as it would lead to the efficient performance of
admirable compositions, and the taste of hearers as well as
executants would thereby be exalted. This opinion, being
framed more upon general principles than upon experience
in church music, is offered with diffidence, but I believe it
would have the concurrence of persons better versed in this
particular branch of the subject than myself."
Macfarren's account of, and views about the Eccle-
siastical Modes are succinctly stated in his analysis,
written in the programme of the second performance
of the Quartet Association, May 12th, 1852, of the
third movement of Beethoven's Quartet in A minor,
Op. 132 ; the movement in question being indicated
by Beethoven as e in modo Lidico ' in the Lydian
256 ECCLESIASTICAL MODES.
Mode. The analyst avails himself of the opportunity
to say :
"It is now-a-days no novelty to speak of the Gregorian
Tones and the Ecclesiastical Modes. Many, however, who
may have been in the very midst of the contest that has for
some while prevailed upon this subject, may be unaware of
the musical grounds upon which all persons of cultivated
taste, or even of common sense, must, when they become
acquainted with the principle, denounce the restoration of
G-regorianism as an act of the most absurd, and either
wilful or ignorant barbarity. It would, of course, be wholly
out of place to enter here upon any lengthened discussion
of this curious point of musical antiquity. But it is indis-
pensable to the understanding of the present Adagio, that
I should advance a few of the principles of the style of
music which it emulates ; and this I shall do as succinctly
as possible.
St. Gregory, and St. Ambrose before him, knew nothing
of the inflection of notes by sharps and flats. They had
the notes of our present scale of C and none other. They
found, however, that from many causes, of which, probably,
monotony was not the least important, it was impossible to
restrict themselves exclusively to the key of C, as we now
understand it, and therefore employed the several Modes of
the more ancient Greek diatonic music, rejecting the chro-
matic and the enharmonic systems that were in use with
the heathen musicians. These Modes, bearing still the
original Greek names, are on the six first notes of our scale
of C, each being treated as a tonic or key-note, in so far as
that a composition begins and ends upon it ; but having,
as I have said, no sharps and flats this Lydian Mode, in
which this movement is written said to be the most gentle
and plaintive in character, whence the line of the poet
" Softly sweet in Lydian measure "-
answers to what would be our key of F without a B flat,
the unsatisfactory, not to say disagreeable, effect of which
savage artifice is, at least, strange and uncouth, and
irreconcilable to ears accustomed to the modern scale of
nature. It is not to be wondered that the fashionable
ORATORIOS IN CHURCH. 257
dilettanti, and the astute critics of the Olympic Games,
thought so favourably of the sweetness of the Lydian Mode,
as we find expressed by Milton, who in this is the representa-
tive of a host of classic authorities, since, whatever be the
effect of this upon us, who have very different associations
to direct our judgment, it is the very perfection of propriety,
when compared to that of the keys of D and A and E
without sharps, which were, to express different sentiments,
equally in use, not only among the Greeks, but, until some
two or three centuries ago, in the Christian Church, from
which they have been gradually banished as from secular
music also by the gradual advance of the art, and indeed
of the science of music."
The views of Macfarren on Church Music, as thus
enunciated, were by no means unchallenged, how-
ever; but were the occasion of a correspondence,
perhaps not wholly free from acrimony, in the " Choir "
of September 21st, October 5th, 19th, and November
2nd, 1867 ; the discussion being opened by Rev.
S. S. Greatheed, calling forth a reply from Macfarren,
a rejoinder from Rev. S. S. Greatheed, with an article
by James Finn on the " Origin of Gregorian Music,"
and a final reply from Macfarren.
With reference to the introduction of Oratorios in
Church, is to be recorded that Macfarren wrote an
article in the " Musical Times " for March 1872 ;
commencing :
"What is an oratorio? Originally, a musical compo-
sition to be performed in the oratory.
" What is an oratory ? A place set apart for prayer in a
private dwelling; a portion of a church appropriated to
special uses such as that of the meetings instituted in
Rome by S. Philippo Neri, where oratorios were performed,
which took their defining title from that of the place
wherein they were heard.
s
258 ORATORIOS IN CHURCH.
" What is a church ? ' The Lord's house ; ' a building
dedicated to public worship and to religious edification.
Since some churches include an oratory, and since the
oratory gave rise and definition to the oratorio, it is at
least anomalous that certain well-meaning and thoughtful
persons should publicly protest against the performance of
oratorios in ecclesiastical buildings. The history of the
development of this grand class of musical composition,
and of its influence, furnishes argument against the pro-
test ; let me glance at the history and hint at the argument."
The historical sketch is copious, including not only
the origination of the Oratorio, and its two forms, but
passing in review its secularizing in Italy, till it be-
came distinctly an Opera upon a Biblical subject : its
introduction into Germany in the time of Luther,
who
" Aimed to conserve and perpetuate all that he deemed
good and pure in Roman use ; hence many choral tunes of
Roman origin are associated with his name ; hence, too,
the recital of the story of the Passion at Eastertide, with
all possible earnestness, solemnity, and vitality of effect : "
The music for these recitals by Handel "the name
dearest to us all," and by other composers : " the
culmination of this gradual ascent in character and in
importance of the Oratorio for Holy Week ... in
Bach's setting of two, if not three, of the Biblical
versions of the Passion/' the " Matthew Passion "
of Bach being pronounced " the Author's master-
piece " : the introduction of the Oratorio into England
by Handel, in 1720, by the performance of his
" Esther " : the Lent performances in Covent Garden
Theatre : the performance of the " Messiah,"- first
in Dublin, then in London, March 23rd, 1743 : and he
continues :
THE MESSIAH." 259
" This oratorio has done and still does far more than
any other, more even than any work of other arts, more I
believe thau any literary essays or spoken discourses, to
popularise throughout England the Scripture texts which
most strongly bear upon the Christian story ; and it has
thus been of infinite consequence in the dissemination of
Christian lore, in making familiar to every one, of every
rank and station, of every sect, of every degree of educa-
tion and ignorance, the revered words whereon is based
the whole of the Church's teaching. Aversion was so
strong, however, from the supposed profanation of this
holiest of themes, that it was deemed indecorous to an-
nounce the work by the title to which it had been written,
. . . . and it was accordingly advertised as 'A Sacred
Oratorio,' a name that Handel reserved for this one work
alone. In spite of this evasion, the repugnance of the
London world was so strong against the public presenta-
tion of the 'Messiah,' that though its name was withheld,
its success was indifferent. It was heard but thrice, and
that coldly, in the year of its production, and once in
1745 ; then it lay by for four years, and was brought
forward again as the ' Messiah,' in 1 749, but with no
happier result. In 1750, when the composer opened the
organ he had presented to the chapel of the Foundling
Hospital, the ' Messiah ' was reproduced in that building,
when, for the first time, it was felt to be in its natural and
legitimate home. All prejudice against it was dispelled,
crowds thronged to witness its performance, and from
that notable 1st of May, all England has acknowledged the
equal importance to Christianity and to art of this glorious
monument to its author's genius. Now, when we hear the
' Messiah ' texts, as they occur incidentally in the Daily
Service, they fall upon our ear as quotations from the
oratorio ; for all that is most significant has been so
happily chosen, and has been so effectively brought together
in this work, that it is a complete epitome of the subject,
and we hear the sacred words in association with notes of
Handel so frequently, that it is all but impossible to part
either from other, in our recollection, or in the impression
they make."
260 FESTIVAL OF THE THREE CHOIRS.
This is all eloquently stated, as is much more in
this paper : for instance, at the " Festival of the
three Choirs "- Worcester, Hereford, and Gloucester,
in the cathedrals of which cities, alternately,
" Thousands of persons are yearly brought together to
witness the performance of the noblest works in sacred
art, on a grander scale, and with a nearer approach to
perfection, than is elsewhere to be heard, save under ex-
ceptional, and somewhat analogous circumstances. The
grandeur of the works themselves, and of their presenta-
tion is enormously enhanced by the site where they take
place ; the gorgeous effect of sound within those superb
buildings, the associations wherewith they are invested,
and the scene they present, all swell the solemnity of the
occasion and aid in the impression of the hour, and its
lasting influence. People receive thus the highest moral
education in the refinement of their taste, and the nurture
of their intellect, and the highest religious education in the
implanting in their hearts of the Church's principles with
such healthful adjuncts that they may not easily be eradi-
cated. I have met with devout men and trivial, learned
and uninstructed, some who have sought edification and
some mere amusement, who have all concurred in the
admission that they hare been far more deeply impressed
by oratorios when they have heard them in these holy
piles than on any other occasion, and a deep impression is
the seed of an ever-green memory."
The beauty of this last axiomatic clause will at
once strike the reader.
After alluding to the Commemoration of Handel in
Westminster Abbey, and the Festival in the same
building in 1834, he proceeds to the then recent per-
formance therein, on Maunday Thursday, of Bach's
Matthew Passion- Music, which he reverts to "with
an intense feeling of gratitude."
" The ' Passion ' of Sebastian Bach has no element of
FUTURE OF ENGLISH MUSIC 261
popular effect, makes no appeal to vulgar appreciation,
but aims ever at the most exalted expression of the purest
ideas, and aims not in vain. In that vast area, one felt by
sympathy and sympathy's language is the universal silent
speech that can never be misinterpreted that a single
emotion conjoined the thousands of hearts which beat there
as with one pulse, and that all were for the time translated
out of their ordinary selves into a nobler state of being."
There is much more to the same purpose ; and the
paper concludes with an earnest peroration :
" I believe in a great future for English Music ; I think
that the Church may be its field ; and I know that, except
the opportunities be greatly widened for oratorio perfor-
mances, there can be no use for the grandest class of
musical works, nor fair scope for the exercise of musical
genius in their composition. It would be a mighty and a
glorious task for those who are to come, were they to be
called upon to supplement the repertory of masterpieces to
which allusion has been made, and to be assured that
kindred excellence to these would be a guarantee for the
presentation of such newly created works on the occasions
to which they were appropriate. These works would have
a preference over productions of elder times in their being
written in the technical idiom of the age in which they
were produced, and in the expressing the feelings of that
age, and of the generation to which they were addressed.
To men who love their art, to men who love their religion,
to men who love their country, this should not be a trifling
argument ; let me hope at least that it may weigh with
others which have been adduced in the consideration of
persons who examine the important question as to the
propriety of the presentation of Oratorios in Church."
It is impossible, or at all events would be out of
place here to discuss the questions, ecclesiastical,
religious, and other, which are involved in the subject
of this paper. It is here quoted copiously in order to
supplement the views advanced by Macfarren in his
262 ROSSINI'S MESSE SOLENNELLE.
Lecture on the Music of the Church of England ; and
the concluding paragraph may, in some sense, sup-
plement his views, elsewhere presented in this volume,
as to English Music generally, and its prospects. He
again urged his views on the subject of Oratorios in
Church, in an article in the " Musical Times," January,
1873, forecasting the performance of Mendelssohn's
" St. Paul," or a selection therefrom, in St. Paul's
Cathedral, on the 25th of that month.
Mention may appropriately be made here of an
elaborate criticism which Macfarren wrote, in the
" Musical Times," of May and June, 1869, of Rossini's
then recently published " Messe Solennelle : " con-
cerning which, among other depreciatory comments,
he says :
" Among audiences, they who make the boarding-school
distinction between singing and music, loving sound for
its physical beauty, rather than for its intellectual influ-
ence, for its effect upon the senses more than for its
embodiment of sense, will be enraptured with this com-
position, which is from end to end a course of vocalization
pure singing for the sake of vocal display ; devoid entirely
of the encumbrance of declamation and expression ; inter-
rupted only with such demonstrations of supposed learning
as will afford convenient moments of repose to the hearers
who may talk, during which, of the exquisite performance
of the last solo piece, and think the chorus then proceeding
too profound for their comprehension."
Reference has been made to Macfarren's incidental
animadversion upon the Glee, a specially English
form of composition. More general assent will be
given to his animadversion upon the importation of
the Glee style into the music of the Church. Perhaps
it would now be more exact to characterize such im-
MACFARREN' S CHURCH MUSIC, ETC. 263
portation as the Part-song style. But, as we have
already seen, Macfarren has elsewhere expressed him-
self strongly upon the fragmentary character of English
Glees, even those which were at one time in great
vogue.
Although Macfarren was not a church-goer, he
himself contributed not a little to Church Music ;
Services, Anthems, Introits (a complete series, adapted
to the Festivals of the Church of England, the words
selected by Dr. E. G. Monk) , Psalm- tunes, and Chants.
His Oratorios will be subsequently spoken of.
Indeed, in conjunction with his work as an analyst
and critic, his work as a producer of music continued
with little or no intermission. During the period of
lecturing and article-writing, dealt with in this and
the preceding chapters, Macfarren produced not only,
as we have seen, several dramatic works, but also the
Quartet in G minor, which was so favourably received
at its first performance, 1 that it was repeated during
the same season, " by particular desire." The slow
movement is described by one who has heard it as " a
lovely little song." The programme gives the subjects
of this movement as follows :
SECOND SUBJECT.
CJAUUHU DIUMBVT ^.
/.,..! r j r ji r t
tr-
1 See p. 197.
264 DON CARLOS AND FESTIVAL OVERTURES.
The programme in which the first performance forma
an item contains also the above-quoted remarks on
the Gregorian modes.
In 1856, when Sterndale Bennett was appointed
Conductor of the Philharmonic Society's Concerts, he
expressed a wish that, at the first performance directed
by him, a work by his old fellow-student should be
played ; and Macfarren selected an overture written
by him some years previously, that to Schiller's " Don
Carlos ; " which, indeed, had been tried by the Society
of British Musicians, under the conductorship of Mr.
Walter Macfarren, during the composer's absence in
America, and subsequently performed at one of John
Hullah's concerts at St. Martin's Hall, and again at a
New Philharmonic concert.
A " Festival Overture" was composed for and per-
formed at the Liverpool Festival, 1874 ; but, accord-
ing to contemporary account, that performance was
not satisfactory, the audience were inattentive, and
success consequently not great, although Macfarren's
name was in the ascendant, as a result of the recent
production of " St. John the Baptist." The " Festival
Overture " was, however, repeated, with better success,
at one of the Novello Concerts at the Royal Albert
Hall, under the directorship of Mr. Barnby ; at one of
Mr. Henry Leslie's Concerts ; at a Royal Academy
Concert ; and at a Concert by the British Orchestral
Society, April 7th, 1875. One very agreeable subject
is as follows :
SYMPHONIES AND CONCERTOS.
265
t^r
rfl-
>* i
At the British Orchestral Society, also, in 1874,
March 26th, under the conductorship of Mr. George
Mount, was produced Macfarren's Symphony in E
minor, composed for the occasion; the sixth or seventh
of his Symphonies ; which was again performed by the
Philharmonic Society in 1879. A Symphony in D
was composed at an earlier period for the Amateur
Musical Society, conducted by Mr. Henry Leslie.
Nor must a Flute Concerto, composed for Mr. Rad-
cliffe, and a Violin Concerto, in G minor, composed
for Herr Ludwig Straus, be overlooked : the latter
was first played by Herr Straus, at a Philharmonic
Concert, May 12th, 1873 ; and again, May 28th, 1877.
Concerning the E minor Symphony, a critic wrote :
" Our distingxuslied musician earns his greatest triumphs
at a period in life when mental activity might be considered
to be on the wane. . . . Mr. Macfarren's Symphony is
ambitious and imposing; it possesses undoubted grandeur,
both in the original conception and the method of its
treatment ; it is elaborated, as only a master hand could
have worked it out, and it possesses those abstract
principles which bespeak the nature of its ideas as not
266 SYMPHONY IN E MINOR.
lying merely upon the surface, but penetrating to 'stilly
depths ' unfathomable save by the expert. . . . There
is something in the conception of Mr. Macfarren's work
which is almost terrible in its intensity ; the opening phrase,
like the curse in ' Bigoletto,' interrupts the serenity of the
lighter portions, and interposes a direful obstacle which
nothing can surmount. Throughout the Symphony this
haunting phrase occurs, like the ever-active sword of
Damocles, ' Swift to strike, if not to kill.' Any such
element as ' prettiness ' in such a work as this would be
out of place : the first movement is restless, agitated, and
mournful; the second (serenade, andante), though melo-
dious in character, cannot escape the influence of destiny
as embodied in the phrase to which we have alluded ; the
third, Gavotte : musette : Gavotte da capo, with coda (in
place of the usual scherzo), is perhaps the lightest section
of a serious work ; but the final allegro is, despite the
flowing nature of its themes, as sorrowful and as agitated
as the opening movement. Taken all in all the Symphony
in E minor represents the nature of a ' man of sorrow, and
acquainted with grief more than anything else; its episodes
are futile to contend against the overwhelming mournful-
ness of the subjects, and the Symphony runs its course in
an atmosphere of sadness and regret. The quiet and
meditative beauties of various isolated portions we cannot
here deal with."
The Serenade was pronounced by another critic " a
charming song throughout."
The " direful obstacle " theme of the opening
movement is :
n J^'~^
/frV^- t
If *
F==^=^==3
"" .r
i i 1 1
P^
Among smaller works, of which Macfarren was
continually issuing examples, may be mentioned two
ORGAN COMPOSITIONS, ETC. 267
Romances, not published together, for Concertina and
Pianoforte, written for Mr. Richard Blagrove, about
1856 and 1859 respectively. Also two songs with
Pianoforte and Clarinet (or Harmonium) obbligato
accompaniment. That admirable artist, Mr. Henry
Lazarus, asked him to write a song with accompani-
ment for his instrument : " A widow bird," to words
by Shelley, was the result. But the eminent clari-
nettist was not satisfied without a more gay song to
follow ; and ' ' Pack clouds away," words by Thomas
Heywood, followed. To this mention of some of the
compositions of this period must be added two Sonatas
for Pianoforte and Violin, in A and C respectively ; one
being dedicated to his brother Walter. And, further, he
contributed a Sonata for the Organ to the ' ' Organist's
Quarterly Journal of Original Compositions ; " con-
cerning which a critic wrote :
" Mr. Macfarren's Sonata is a piece of some pretension,
and by no means easy to play. We must say that we
think it a very grand and striking composition. It is
surprising that the composer, who is no performer himself,
should have so completely hit off the character and capa-
bilities of the instrument for which he was writing. But
true genius can accomplish anything."
Other works written for the Organ were a " Re-
ligious March " in E flat, with a Trio (or Alternative)
in which the Old Hundredth is treated contrapuntally,
the Pedal part being partly in Canon with the
Melody : an " Andante in G : " " Secular March " in
A : and " Variations on the tune ' Windsor/ " the
last variation being fugal.
He also lent his name as editor, doubtless doing
more than this, however, to " The Mother's Book
268 MADRIGALS. MOZART ] S REQUIEM, ETC.
of Song : two-part Songs for little singers, on the
Kindergarten School system. Music by Lady
Baker."
Macfarren himself published " Three Madrigals "
to the words of Nursery Rhymes : <f Sing a Song of
Sixpence : " " Girls and Boys come ont to play : "
"The Man of Edmonton:" the first having been
written for Hullah's " Part- Music : " but these were by
no means for "Kindergarten/' or even for juvenile use.
And, ever interested in all musical questions, and
especially any concerning Mozart, he wrote a some-
what detailed letter to Dr. Pole, in connection with
that gentleman's interesting and exhaustive researches
about the matter, giving emphatic expression of his
opinion that the Requiem was entirely the composi-
tion of Mozart, though the orchestration indicates
another hand in some places ; giving this opinion on
intrinsic, not extrinsic evidence.
In June, 1859, the Council of the Society of Arts
appointed a Committee " to consider the present state
of musical pitch in England : " the musical profession
being represented by Professor W. Sterndale Bennett,
Sir George Sma 
