Skip to main content

Full text of "A dictionary of music and musicians (A.D. 1450-1880) Volume 3"

See other formats 


. 


CANADA 
\ 


\ 


NATIONAL  LIBRARY 
BIBLIOTHEQUE  NATIONALE 


A    DICTIONARY 


OF 


MUSIC  AND   MUSICIANS 


DICTIONARY 


OF 


MUSIC    AND    MUSICIANS 


(A.D.  1450—1883) 


BY  EMINENT  WRITERS,  ENGLISH  AND  FOREIGN. 


WITH     ILLUSTRATIONS    AND     WOODCUTS. 


EDITED   BY 


SIR   GEORGE   GROVE,   D.C.L. 

DIEECTOE   OF   THE  ROYAL   COLLEGE   OF   MUSIC. 


IN     FOUR    VOLUMES. 


VOL.    III. 


MACMILLAN    AND     CO. 

1883. 

[  The  Right  of  Translation  and  Reproduction  is  reserved.  ] 


OXFORD: 

E.    PIOKAED     HALL,    M.A.,    AND    J.    H.    STACY, 
PRINTERS    TO   THE   UNIVERSITY. 


LIST   OF   CONTRIBUTORS. 

SIR  JULIUS  BENEDICT 

JOSEPH  BENNETT,  ESQ.   . .  J-  •**. 

JAMES  R.  STEENDALE-BENNETT,  ESQ. 

DAVID  BAPTIE,  ESQ.,  Glasgow 

MRS.  WALTER  CARR        ....  M.  C.  ( 

WILLIAM  CHAPPELL,  ESQ.,  F.S.A.          . .  W.  C. 

ALEXIS  CHITTY,  ESQ.      ......  A.  C. 

M.   GUSTAVE   CHOUQUET,    Keeper  of  the   Museum  of  the   Con 
servatoire  de  Musique,  Paris 

ARTHUR  DUKE  COLERIDGE,  ESQ.,  Barrister-at-Law     . .  A.  D.  C, 

FREDERICK  CORDER,  ESQ.,  Mendelssohn  Scholar,  1875-79     .. 
GEORGE  ARTHUR  CRAWFORD,  Major     . .          . .  . .  G.  A.  C. 

WILLIAM  H.  CUMMINGS,  ESQ.    . .         . .          . .          .  •          •  •  W.  H.  C. 

W.    G.    CUSINS,    ESQ.,    late     Conductor    of   the    Philharmonic 

Society;    Master  of  the  Music  to  the  Queen  W.  G.  C. 

EDWARD  DANNREUTHER,  ESQ.    . .          . .          . .          . .          •  •  E.  D. 

HERR  PAUL  DAVID 

JAMES  W.  DAVISON,  ESQ.  . .          . .          . .          . .  J.  W.  D. 

HARRY  COLLINS  DEACON,  ESQ.  . .          . .          . .  H.  C.  D. 

EDWARD  H.  DONKIN,  ESQ. 

H.  SUTHERLAND  EDWARDS,  ESQ.  . .         . .          . .          . .  H.  S.  E. 

HENRY  FREDERICK  FROST,  ESQ.,  Organist  of  the  Chapel  Eoyal,  Savoy     H.  F.  F. 

J.  A.  FULLER-MAITLAND,  ESQ.    ..          ..          ..          ..          ..  J.  A.  F.-M. 

JOHN  T.  FYFE,  ESQ.       . .          . .          . .          . .          . .          . .  J.  T.  F. 

CHARLES  ALLAN  FYFFE,  ESQ.,  Barrister-at-Law          . .          . .  C.  A.  F. 

DR.  FRANZ  GEHRING,  Vienna     . .          . .          . .          . .          . .  F.  G. 

J.  C.  GRIFFITH,  ESQ.       . .          . .         . .         . .          . .          . .  J.  C.  G. 

REV.  THOMAS  HELMORE,  Master  of  the  Children  of  the  Chapels  Royal 

WILLIAM  HENDERSON,  ESQ.        . .          . .          . .          . .          . .  W.  H. 

GEORGE  HERBERT,  ESQ. 


vi  LIST    OF   CONTRIBUTORS. 

DR.  FERDINAND  HTLLER,  Cologne          . .          . .          . .          . .  H. 

A.  J.  HIPKINS,  ESQ.       . .         . .          . .          . .          . .         . .  A.  J.  H. 

EDWARD  JOHN  HOPKINS,  ESQ.,  Organist  to  the  Temple         . .  E.  J.  H. 

REV.  CANON  PERCY  HUDSON      . .          . .          . .          . .          . .  T.  P.  H. 

FRANCIS  HUEFFER,  ESQ.  . .          . .          . .          . .          . .  F.  H. 

JOHN  HULLAH,  ESQ.,  LL.D.       . .          . .          . .          . .          . .  J.  H. 

WILLIAM  H.  HUSK,  ESQ.,  Librarian  to  the  Sacred  Harmonic  Society     W.  H.  H. 

F.  H.  JENKS,  ESQ.,  Boston,  Mass.,  U.  S.  A.      . .          . .          . .  F.  H.  J. 

JAMES  LECKY,  ESQ.          . .          . .          . .          . .          . .          . .  J.  L. 

HENRY  ,T.  LINCOLN,  ESQ.  . .          . .          . .          . .          . .  H.  J.  L. 

STANLEY  LUCAS,  ESQ.,  late  Secretary  to  the  Philharmonic  Society         S.  L. 

HERCULES  MAC!)ONNELL,  ESQ.  . .          . .          . .          . .  H.  M.  D. 

SlR  GEORGE   ALEXANDER   MACFARREN,    MllS.  Doc.,   Professor   of 

Music  in  the  University  of  Cambridge,  &c.,  &c.  . .  G.  A.  M. 

CHARLES  MACKESON,  ESQ.,  F.S.S.          . .          . .          . .          . .  C.  M. 

HERR  A.  MACZEWSKI,  late  Concert-director,  Kaiserslautern  . .  A.  M. 

JULIAN  MARSHALL,  ESQ.  . .          . .          . .          . .          . .  J.  M. 

MRS.  JULIAN  MARSHALL  ..          ..          ..          ..          ..  F.  A.  M. 

RUSSEL  MARTINEAU,  ESQ.  . .          . .          . .          . .          . .  R.  M. 

SIGNOR  GIANNANDREA  MAZZUCATO        . .          . .          . .          . .  G.  M. 

REV.  JOHN  HENRY  MEE,  Mus.  Bac.,  M.A.       . .          . .          . .  J.  H.  M. 

Miss  LOUISA  M.  MIDDLETON     . .          . .          . .          . .          . .  L.  M.  M. 

EDWIN  G.  MONK,  ESQ.,  Mus.  Doc.,  Organist  of  York  Cathedral  E.  G.  M. 
SIR  HERBERT  S.  OAKELEY,  Mus.  Doc.,  Professor  of  Music  in  the 

University  of  Edinburgh  . .          . .  . .  . .  H.  S.  0. 

REV.  SIR  FREDERICK  A.  GORE  OUSELEY,  BART.,  Mus.  Doc.,  Professor 

of  Music  in  the  University  of  Oxford    . .  . .          . .  F.  A.  G.  O. 

C.  HUBERT  H.  PARRY,  ESQ.,  Mus.  Doc.  . .          . .          . .  C.  H.  H.  P. 

HERR  ERNST  PAUER        . .          . .          . .          . .          . .          . .  p. 

EDWARD  JOHN  PAYNE,  ESQ.,  Barrister-at-Law. .          ..  ..  E.  J.  P. 

REV.  HUGH  PEARSON,  late  Canon  of  Windsor  . .  H.  P. 

EDWARD  H.  PEMBER,  ESQ.,  Q.C.  E.  H.  P. 

Miss  PHILLIMORE  C.  M.  P. 

HERR    C.    FERDINAND    POHL,    Librarian    to    the    Gesellschaft   der 

Musikfreunde,  Vienna      . .  . .          . .  C.  F.  P. 

WILLIAM  POLE,  ESQ.,  F.R.S.,  Mus.  Doc W.  P. 

VICTOR    DE    PONTIGNY,    ESQ.  .  .  V.  DE  P. 


LIST   OF    CONTRIBUTORS.  vii 

EBENEZER  PKOUT,  ESQ.  . .         . .          . .          . .          . .          . .  E.  P. 

REV.  WILLIAM  PULLING  . .          . .          . .          . .          . .  "W.  Pg. 

CHAELES  H.  PURDAY,  ESQ.       . .          . .          . .          . .          . .  C.  H.  P. 

EDWARD  F.  RIMBAULT,  ESQ.,    LL.D.    . .          . .          . .          . .  E.  F.  R. 

LUIGI  RICCI,  ESQ.          . .         . .         . .          . .         . .         . .  L.  R. 

W.  S.  ROCKSTRO,  ESQ.  . .         . .          . .          . .          . .          . .  W.  S.  R. 

DESMOND  LUMLEY  RYAN,  ESQ.  . .          . .          . .          . .          . .  D.  L.  R. 

CARL  SIEWERS,  ESQ.       . .          . .          . .          . .          . .          . .  C.  S. 

DR.  PHILIPP  SPITTA,  Berlin  ;  Professor  in  the  University  ;  Se 
cretary  to  the  Royal  Academy  of  Arts ;  and  Managing- 
Director  of  the  Royal  High-School  for  Music..  ..  P.  S. 

W.  BARCLAY  SQUIRE,  ESQ.         ..          ..          ..          ..          ..  W.  B.  S. 

JOHN  STAINER,  ESQ.,  Mus.  Doc.,  Oxon  . .          . .          . .  J.  S. 

H.  H.  STATHAM,  ESQ.    . .          . .          . .          . .          . .          . .  H.  H.  S. 

SIR  ROBERT  P.  STEWART,  Mus.  Doc.,  Professor  of  Music  in  Dublin 

University  . .          . .          . .          . .  . .  . .  R.  P.  S. 

T.  L.  STILLIE,  ESQ.,  Glasgow    . .          . .          . .  . .  T.  L.  S. 

WILLIAM  H.  STONE,  ESQ.,  M.D.  . .          . .          . .          . .  W.  H.  S. 

SIR  ARTHUR  SEYMOUR  SULLIVAN,  Mus.  Doc.,  late  Principal  of  the 

National  Training  School  of  Music       . .          . .          . .  S. 

FRANKLIN  TAYLOR,  ESQ.  F.  T. 

ALEXANDER   W.    THAYER,   ESQ.,    United   States    Consul,    Trieste, 

Author  of  the  Life  of  Beethoven          ..          ..          ..  A.  W.  T. 

Miss  BERTHA  THOMAS  . .          . .          . .          . .          . .          . .  B.  T. 

C.  A.  W.  TROYTE,  ESQ.  C.  A.  W.  T. 

COLONEL  H.  WARE,  Public  Library,  Boston,  Mass.,  U.  S.  A.  H.  W. 

MRS.  EDMOND  WODEHOUSE        A.  H.  W. 

J.  Mum  WOOD,  ESQ.,  Glasgow J.  M.  W. 

THE  EDITOR  GK 


29  Bedford  Street,  Covent  Garden, 
July,  1883. 


DICTIONARY 


MUSIC   AND    MUSICIANS. 


PLANCHE,  JAMES  ROBINSON,  of  French  de 
scent,  born  in  London  Feb.  27,  i 796 ;  made  Eouge 
Croix  Pursuivant  of  Arms  1854,  and  Somerset 
Herald  1866  ;  died  in  London,  May  30,  1880. 
Mr.  Planches  many  dramas  and  extravaganzas 
do  not  call  for  notice  in  these  pages ;  but  he 
requires  mention  as  the  author  of  the  librettos 
of  '  Maid  Marian,  or  the  Huntress  of  Harlingford, 
an  Historical  Opera/  for  Bishop  (Covent  Garden, 
Dec.  3,  1822),  and'Oberon,  or  The  Elf-King's 
Oath,  a  Romantic  and  Fairy  Opera,'  for  Weber 
(Covent  Garden,  April  12,  1826).  In  1838  he 
also  wrote  for  Messrs.  Cliappell  a  libretto  founded 
on  the  Siege  of  Calais  by  Edward  III.,  with  a 
view  to  its  being  set  by  Mendelssohn.  Mendels 
sohn  however  was  not  satisfied  with  the  book, 
and  it  was  ultimately  transferred  to  Mr.  Henry 
Smart,  by  whom  a  large  portion  was  composed. 
The  correspondence  between  Mendelssohn  and 
Planche  may  be  read  in  the  Autobiography  of 
the  latter  (1872  ;  chap.  21).  [G.] 

PLANQUETTE,  ROBERT,  born  in  Paris, 
July  31,  1850 ;  passed  rapidly  through  the 
Conservatoire,  and  first  appeared  as  a  composer 
of  songs  and  chansonettes  for  the  Cafes -concerts. 
Encouraged  by  the  popularity  accorded  to  the 
bold  rhythm  and  slightly  vulgar  melody  of  these 
songs,  he  rose  to  operettas, — 'Valet  de  cour,' 
'  Le  Serment  de  Mme.  Grdgoire,'  and  '  Paille 
d'avoine.'  The  decided  progress  evinced  by  this 
last  piece  was  confirmed  by  '  Les  Cloches  de 
Corneville,'  a  3-act  operetta,  produced  with  im 
mense  success  at  the  Folies  dramatiques  on 
April  19,  1877,  adapted  to  the  English  stage  by 
Farnie  and  Reece,  and  brought  out  at  the  Folly 
Theatre,  London,  Feb.  23,  1878,  with  equally 
extraordinary  good  fortune.  Planquette  has 
since  composed  and  published  '  Le  Chevalier 
Gaston,'  i  act  (Monte  Carlo,  Feb.  8,  1879),  and 
'Les  Voltigeurs  de  la  32me.'  3  acts  (Theatre 
de  la  Renaissance,  Jan.  7,  1880).  It  is  to  be 
hoped  that  he  will  aim  higher  than  he  has 

VOL.  III.    FT.  I. 


hitherto  done,  and  add  refinement  to  his  un 
doubted  gift  of  melody.  [G.  C.] 
PLANTADE,  CHARLES  HENRI,  born  at  Pon- 
toise,  Oct.  14,  1764;  was  admitted  at  8  to  the 
school  of  the  king's  '  Pages  de  la  musique,'  where 
he  learned  singing  and  the  cello.  On  leaving  this 
he  studied  composition  with  Honore  Langle"  (born 
at  Monaco,  1741,  died  at  Yilliers  leBel,  1807),  a 
popular  singing-master,  the  pianoforte  with  Hull- 
mandel  (born  at  Strassburg,  1751,  died  in  London, 
1823),  an  excellent  teacher,  and  the  harp,  then  a 
fashionable  instrument,  from  Petrini  (born  in 
1744,  died  in  Paris,  1819).  Having  started  as  a 
teacher  of  singing  and  the  harp,  he  published  a 
number  of  romances,  and  nocturnes  for  2  voices, 
the  success  of  which  procured  him  admission  to  the 
stage,  for  at  that  time  the  composer  of '  Te  bien 
aimer,  0  ma  chere  Zelie,'  or  some  such  simple 
melody,  was  considered  perfectly  competent  to 
write  an  opera.  Between  I791  a]Qd  1815  Plan- 
tade  produced  a  dozen  or  so  dramatic  works, 
three  of  which,  '  Palma,  ou  le  voyage  en  Grece,' 
2  acts  (1798),  '  Zoe,  ou  la  pauvre  petite'  (1800), 
and  'Le  Mari  de  circonstance'  (1813),  I  act  each, 
were  engraved.  The  whole  of  this  fluent  but  in 
sipid  music  has  disappeared.  His  numerous 
sacred  compositions  are  also  forgotten ;  out  of 
about  a  dozen  masses,  the  '  Messe  de  Requiem ' 
alone  was  published,  but  the  Conservatoire  has 
the  MS.  of  a  'Te  Deum'  (1807),  several  motets, 
and  5  masses.  From  these  scores  it  is  evident 
that  with  an  abundance  of  easy-flowing  melody, 
Plantade  had  neither  force  nor  originality.  He 
had  a  great  reputation  as  a  teacher,  was  a 
polished  man  of  the  world,  and  a  witty  and  bril 
liant  talker.  Queen  Hortense,  who  had  learned 
singing  from  him,  procured  his  appointment  as 
Maitre  de  Cbapelle  to  her  husband,  and  also  as 
professor  at  the  Conservatoire  (i  799) .  He  gave  up 
his  class  in  1807,  but  resumed  it  in  1815;  was  dis 
missed  on  April  1, 1816,  reinstated  Jan.  I,  1818, 
and  finally  retired  in  1828.  He  was  decorated 


2  PLANTADE. 

with  the  Legion  of  Honour  by  Louis  XVIII. 
in  1814.  His  best  pupil  was  the  celebrated 
Mme.  Cinti-Damoreau.  He  died  in  Paris,  Dec.  18, 
1839,  leaving  two  sons,  one  of  whom,  CHAKLES 
FRANCIS, — born  in  Paris  April  14,  1787,  died 
March  25,  1870, — composed  numerous  chansons 
and  chansonnettes,  some  of  which  have  been 
popular.  [G.C.] 

PLAYFORD,  JOHN,  stationer,  bookseller,  mu- 
sicseller  and  publisher,  is  commonly  said  to  have 
been  born  in  1613.  He  was  really  born  in  1623, 
as  is  evidenced  by  portraits  taken  at  various 
dates  on  which  his  age  is  stated.  He  carried  on 
business  '  at  his  shop  in  the  Inner  Temple,  near 
the  Church  door.'  In  middle  life,  probably  from 
about  1663  to  1679,  he  had  a  house  at  Islington, 
where  his  wife  kept  a  ladies'  school,  and  after 
wards,  from  1680,  resided  'in  Arundel  Street, 
near  the  Thames  side,  over  against  the  George.' 
His  first  musical  publications  were  issued  in 
1652,  and  comprised  Hilton's  'Catch  that  catch 
can,'  '  Select  Musicall  Ayres  and  Dialogues,'  and 
*  Musick's  Recreation  on  the  Lyra  Violl.'  On 
Oct.  29,  1653,  he  was  chosen  clerk  of  the  Tem 
ple  Church.  In  1654  he  published  his  'Breefe 
Introduction  to  the  Skill  of  Musick  for  Song  and 
Viall.'  Of  that  impression  but  one  copy  is  now 
known,  which  was  for  many  years  in  the  posses 
sion  of  the  late  Dr.  Rimbault,  and  produced  10 
guineas  at  the  sale  of  his  library  in  1877.  In 
1655  Playford  published  an  enlarged  edition  of 
it,  which  long  passed  as  the  first.  It  is  divided 
into  two  books,  the  first  containing  the  principles 
of  music,  with  directions  for  singing  and  playing 
the  viol ;  the  second  the  art  of  composing  music 
in  parts,  by  Dr.  Campion,  with  additions  by 
Christopher  Sympson.  The  book  acquired  great 
popularity;  in  1730  it  reached  its  I9th  edition, 
independent  of  at  least  six  intermediate  unnum 
bered  editions.  There  are  variations  both  of  the 
text  and  musical  examples,  frequently  extensive 
and  important,  in  every  edition.  In  the  loth  edi 
tion,  1683,  Campion's  tract  was  replaced  by  'A 
brief  Introduction  to  the  Art  of  Descant,  or  compos 
ing  Music  in  parts,'  without  author's  name,  which 
in  subsequent  editions  appeared  with  considerable 
additions,  by  Henry  Purcell.  The  7th  edition 
contained,  in  addition  to  the  other  matter,  *  The 
Order  of  performing  the  Cathedral  Service, '  which 
was  continued,  with  a  few  exceptions,  in  the 
later  editions.  Five  different  portraits  of  the  au 
thor,  taken  at  various  periods  of  his  life,  occur  in 
the  several  editions.  In  1 66 7  Playford  republished 
Hilton's  '  Catch  that  catch  can,'  with  extensive 
additions  and  the  second  title  of  '  The  Musical 
Companion,'  and  a  second  part  containing  '  Dia 
logues,  Glees,  Ayres,  and  Ballads,  etc. ' ;  and  in 
1672  issued  another  edition,  with  further  addi 
tions,  under  the  second  title  only.  Some  com 
positions  by  Playford  himself  are  included  in  this 
work.  In  1671  he  edited  'Psalms  and  Hymns 
in  solemn  musick  of  four  parts  on  the  Common 
Tunes  to  the  Psalms  in  Metre :  used  in  Parish 
Churches '  ;  and  a  few  years  later,  '  The  Whole 
Book  of  Psalms,  with  the  ....  Tunes  ....  in 
three  parts,'  which  passed  through  many  editions. 


PLEYEL. 

In  1673  he  took  part  in  the  Salmon  and  Lock 
controversy,  by  addressing  a  letter  to  the  former, 
'  by  way  of  Confutation  of  his  Essay,  etc.,'  which 
was  printed  with  Lock's  'Present  Practice  of 
Musick  Vindicated.'  The  style  of  writing  in  this 
letter  contrasts  very  favourably  with  the  writings 
of  Salmon  and  Lock.  In  place  of  abuse  we  have 
quiet  argument  and  clear  demonstration  of  the 
superiority  of  the  accepted  notation.  Playford 
published  the  greater  part  of  the  music  produced 
in  his  day,  besides  reprints  of  earlier  works.  His 
last  publication  appears  to  have  been  the  sth  book 
of  'Choice  Ayres  and  Dialogues/  published  in 
1684-5,  in  tne  Preface  to  which  he  says  that  age 
and  infirmity  compel  him  to  leave  his  business  to 
his  son  and  Carr,  the  publisher's  son.  He  died 
in  1693  or  94.  In  his  will  (made  in  1686,  proved 
Aug.  14,  1694)  he  expresses  fear  that  owing  to 
'  losses  and  crosses  '  his  estate  will  disappoint  the 
expectations  of  those  who  succeed  him.  His 
burial-place  has  eluded  all  inquiry.  [See  Musio- 
PRINTING,  vol.  ii.  p.  435.] 

HENRY,  his  second,  but  eldest  surviving  son, 
born  May  5,  baptized  May  14,  1657,  had  for 
godfathers  Henry  Lawes  and  Henry  Playford. 
He  succeeded  to  his  father's  business  in  1685  in 
partnership  with  Robert,  son  of  John  Carr,  music 
publisher  at  the  Middle  Temple  Gate,  and  one 
of  the  King's  band  of  music.  Their  first  publica 
tion  was  '  The  Theater  of  Music,'  1685.  After  a 
few  years  Henry  Playford  removed  to  the  Tem 
ple  Change,  Fleet  Street,  and  carried  on  business 
alone.  In  1698  he  advertised  a  lottery  of  music 
books.  He  published  several  important  musical 
works,  among  which  were  Purcell' s  '  Ten  Sonatas,' 
and  '  Te  Deum  and  Jubilate  for  St.  Cecilia's  day,' 
1697;  'Orpheus  Britannicus,'  1698-1702;  and 
Blow's  'Ode  on  the  Death  of  Purcell,'  1696,  and 
'Amphion  Anglicus,'  1700.  In  1703  he  issued 
proposals  for  publishing  monthly  collections  of 
songs  and  instrumental  music  by  an  annual  sub 
scription  of  one  guinea.  He  resided  in  his  father's 
house  in  Arundel  Street,  and  is  supposed  to  have 
died  about  1710,  but  the  precise  date  cannot  be 
ascertained. 

JOHN,  the  youngest  child  of  John  Playford, 
baptized  at  Islington  Oct.  6,  1665,  was  a  printer 
of  music.  About  1 68 1  he  entered  into  business 
with  Anne,  widow  of  William  Godbid,  of  Little 
Britain,  and  with  her,  and  afterwards  alone, 
printed  several  of  the  publications  of  his  father. 
He  died  early  in  1686.  An  elegy  on  his  death, 
by  Nahum  Tate,  with  music  by  Henry  Purcell, 
was  published  in  1687.  [W.H.H.] 

PLEAS  ANTS,  THOMAS,  born  1648,  became 
about  1676  organist  and  master  of  the  choristers 
of  Norwich  Cathedral.  He  died  Aug.  5,  1689, 
and  was  buried  in  the  cathedral.  [W.H.H.] 

PLEYEL,  IGNAZ  JOSEPH,  a  most  prolific  instru 
mental  composer,  born  June  I,  1757,  the  24th 
child  of  the  village  schoolmaster  at  Ruppersthal 
in  Lower  Austria.  His  musical  talent  showed 
itself  early.  He  learnt  to  play  the  clavier  and 
violin  in  Vienna,  the  former  from  Van  Hal,  or 
Wanhall,  and  found  a  patron  in  the  then  Count 
Erdody,  who  put  him  under  Haydn,  as  a  pupil 


PLEYEL. 

in  composition,  in  1774.  After  remaining  several 
years  with  Haydn  he  went  to  Italy,  where  he 
fully  imbibed  the  taste  of  the  Italian  opera,  and 
lived  in  intercourse  with  the  best  singers  and 
composers.  In  1783  he  was  called  to  Strassburg 
as  Capellmeister  to  the  cathedral.  In  1791  he 
was  invited  to  London  to  take  the  control  of  the 
Professional  Concerts  of  the  following  season. 
He  was  probably  not  aware  of  the  fact  that  his 
appointment  was  a  blow  aimed  at  Salomon,  and 
that  he  would  be  in  competition  with  Haydn. 
The  blow,  however,  missed  its  aim.  Pleyel  con 
ducted  his  first  Professional  Concert  Feb.  13, 
1792.  Haydn  was  present,  and  the  programme 
contained  3  symphonies,  by  Haydn,  Mozart, 
and  Pleyel  himself  (composed  expressly  for  the 
concert).  On  May  14  he  took  his  benefit.  The 
visit  was  a  satisfactory  one,  both  in  an  artistic 
and  a  pecuniary  point  of  view.  On  his  return 
to  France  he  found  himself  denounced  as  an 
enemy  to  the  Republic,  and  was  forced  to  fly. 
He  succeeded  in  clearing  himself  from  the  charge, 
and  at  length  settled  in  Paris  as  a  music-seller. 
In  1 800  the  musicians  of  the  opera  proposed  to 
perform  Haydn's  'Creation,'  and  Pleyel  was 
selected  to  arrange  that  Haydn  should  himself 
conduct  the  performance.  He  got  as  far  as 
Dresden  on  the  road  to  Vienna,  but  all  the  in 
fluence  of  Haydn  and  Artaria  failed  to  obtain 
a  pass  for  him  any  further,  and  the  direction 
of  the  performance  came  finally  into  the  hands 
of  Steibelt.  The  evening  of  the  concert — 3  Ni- 
v6se,  or  Dec.  24,  1800 — was  a  memorable  one, 
since  on  his  road  to  the  opera  house,  in  the  Rue 
Nicaise,  Bonaparte  nearly  met  his  death  from  an 
infernal  machine.  Pleyel  was  the  first  to  publish 
the  complete  collection  of  Haydn's  quartets 
(except  the  three  last,  of  which  two  had  not  then 
been  printed,  and  the  third  was  not  composed 
till  some  time  afterwards).  The  edition,  in  sepa 
rate  parts  only,  has  a  portrait  of  Haydn  by 
Darcis  after  Guerin,  and  is  dedicated  to  the  First 
Consul.  It  was  followed  by  30  quartets  and  5 
symphonies  in  score.  In  1807  Pleyel  founded 
the  pianoforte  factory  which  has  since  become  so 
widely  celebrated.  [See  PLEYEL  &  Co.]  He  died 
Nov.  14,  1831. 

Haydn  considered  Pleyel  as  his  dearest  and 
most  efficient  pupil.  He  writes  from  London: 
'Since  his  arrival  (Dec.  23,  1791),  Pleyel  has 
been  so  modest  to  me  that  my  old  affection  has 
revived ;  we  are  often  together,  and  it  does  him 
honour  to  find  that  he  knows  the  worth  of  his 
old  father.  We  shall  each  take  our  share  of 
success,  and  go  home  satisfied.'  Pleyel  dedicated 
to  Haydn  his  opera  2,  six  quartets  '  in  segno  di 
perpetua  gratitudine.'  When  Pleyel's  first  six 
string  quartets,  dedicated  to  his  patron,  Count 
Ladislaus  Erdody,  appeared  in  Vienna,  Mozart 
wrote  to  his  father  (April  24,  1784):  'Some 
quartets  have  come  out  by  a  certain  Pleyel, 
a  scholar  of  Jos.  Haydn's.  If  you  don't  already 
know  them,  try  to  get  them,  it  is  worth  your 
while.  They  are  very  well  written,  and  very  agree 
able  ;  you  will  soon  get  to  know  the  author. 
It  will  be  a  happy  thing  for  music  if,  when  the 


PLEYEL.  3 

time  arrives,  Pleyel  should  replace  Haydn  for 
us.'  This  wish  was  not  destined  to  be  fulfilled. 
In  his  later  works  Pleyel  gave  himself  up  to 
a  vast  quantity  of  mechanical  writing,  vexing 
Haydn  by  copying  his  style  and  manner  without 
a  trace  of  his  spirit,  and  misleading  the  public 
into  neglecting  the  works  of  both  master  and 
scholar,  including  many  of  Pleyel's  own  earlier 
compositions,  which  were  written  with  taste  and 
care,  and  deserve  a  better  fate  than  oblivion. 

Pleyel  was  emphatically  an  instrumental  com 
poser,  and  wrote  an  enormous  number  of  sym 
phonies,  concertanti,  and  chamber  pieces,  of 
which  a  list  will  be  found  in  Fe'tis,  comprising 
29  symphonies ;  5  books  of  quintets ;  and  7  of 
quartets,  some  of  them  containing  as  many  as 
1 2  compositions  each ;  6  flute  quartets  ;  4  books 
of  trios  ;  8  concertos  ;  5  symphonies  concertanti ; 
8  books  of  duets  for  strings  ;  10  books  of  sonatas 
for  PF.  solo,  and  12  sonatas  for  PF.  and  violin. 
When  in  Italy  he  wrote  an  opera,  'Iphigenia 
in  Aulide,'  which  was  performed  at  Naples. 
A  '  Hymn  to  Night,'  probably  a  revolutionary 
piece,  was  published  by  Andre^  at  Offenbach  in 
1797-  A  series  of  12  Lieder,  op.  47,  was  pub 
lished  at  Hamburg  by  Giinther  and  Bohme. 
It  has  never  yet  been  mentioned  that  his  intro 
duction  to  the  world  as  a  vocal  composer  was 
with  an  opera  for  the  Marionette  theatre  at 
Esterha"z  in  1 7  76,  '  Die  Fee  Urgele,'  containing 
a  quantity  of  vocal  pieces.  A  portrait  of  him, 
painted  by  H.  Hardy  and  engraved  by  W. 
Nutter,  was  published  by  Bland  during  Pleyel's 
residence  in  London. 

CAMILLE,  eldest  son  of  the  foregoing,  born  at 
Strassburg  1792,  took  over  the  music  business  in 
1824,  associating  himself  with  Kalkbrenner  for 
the  pianoforte  department.  He  had  had  a  good 
musical  education  from  his  father  and  Dussek  ; 
he  lived  for  some  time  in  London,  and  published 
several  pieces  which  evince  considerable  talent. 
He  died  at  Paris  May  4,  1855,  leaving  AUGUST 
WOLFF  at  the  head  of  the  firm. 

His  wife,  Marie  Felicite"  Denise  Moke,  known 
as  MADAME  PLEYEL,  was  born  at  Paris,  July  4, 
1811,  and  at  an  early  age  developed  an  extraor 
dinary  gift  for  playing.  Herz,  Moscheles,  and 
Kalkbrenner,  were  successively  her  masters,  and 
she  learnt  much  from  hearing  Thalberg ;  but  her 
own  unwearied  industry  was  the  secret  of  her 
success.  Her  tourndes  in  Russia,  Germany,  Au 
stria,  Belgium,  France,  and  England,  were  so 
many  triumphal  progresses,  in  which  her  fame 
continually  increased.  Mendelssohn  in  Leipzig, 
and  Liszt  at  Vienna,  were  equally  fascinated  by 
her  performances ;  Liszt  led  her  to  the  piano, 
turned  over  for  her,  and  played  with  her  a  duet 
by  Herz.  Not  less  marked  was  the  admiration 
of  Auber  and  Fe'tis,  the  latter  pronouncing  her 
the  most  perfect  player  he  had  ever  heard.  In 
this  country  she  made  her  first  appearance  at 
the  Philharmonic,  June  27,  1846,  in  Weber's 
Concertstiick.  To  Brussels  she  always  felt  an 
attraction,  and  in  1848  took  the  post  of  teacher 
of  the  PF.  in  the  Conservatorium  there,  which  she 
retained  till  1872.  Her  pupils  were  numerous, 

B  2 


4  PLEYEL. 

and  worthy  of  her  remarkable  ability.     She  died 
near  Brussels,  March  30,  1875.  [C.F.P.] 

PLEYEL  &  CO.  This  distinguished  Parisian 
firm  of  pianoforte-makers  is  now  styled  PLEYEL 
WOLFF  ET  CIE.,  and  from  particulars  supplied  by 
M.  Wolff — formerly  a  pianist  and  professor  at 
the  Conservatoire,  and  for  many  years  head  of 
the  house — its  founder  was  Ignaz  Pleyel,  the 
composer,  who  established  it  in  1807.  The 
Pleyel  firm  is  remarkable  for  having  always  been 
directed  by  musicians,  such  as  Camille  Pleyel, 
who  became  his  father's  partner  in  1821,  and 
Kalkbrenner,  who  joined  them  three  years  later. 
At  starting,  the  pianoforte-maker,  HENRI  PAPE, 
lent  valuable  aid.  The  influence  of  Chopin,  who 
made  his  debut  in  Paris  at  Pleyel's  rooms,  in  1831, 
has  remained  a  tradition  in  the  facile  touch  and 
peculiar  singing  tone  of  their  instruments.  Camille 
Pleyel  was  succeeded  in  the  control  of  the  business 
by  M.  A.  Wolff  above  mentioned,  who  has  much 
improved  the  Pleyel  grand  pianos  in  the  direction 
of  power,  having  made  them  adequate  to  the 
modern  requirements  of  the  concert  room,  with 
out  loss  of  those  refined  qualities  to  which  we 
have  referred-  The  firm  has  had  since  1876  an 
agency  in  London.  [A.J.H.] 

PLICA  (literally,  a  Fold,  or  Plait).  A  cha 
racter,  mentioned  by  Franco  of  Cologne,  Joannes  de 
Muris,  and  other  early  writers,  whose  accounts 
of  it  are  not  always  very  easily  reconciled  to  each 
other.  Franco  describes  four  kinds :  (i)  the  'Plica 
longa  ascendens,'  formed  by  the  addition,  to  a 
square  note,  of  two  ascending  tails,  of  which  that 
on  the  right  hand  is  longer  than  that  on  the  left ; 
(2)  the  '  Plica  longa  descendens,'  the  tails  of  which 
are  drawn  downwards,  that  on  the  right  being, 
as  before,  longer  than  that  on  the  left ;  (3)  the 
'  Plica  brevis  aseendens,'  in  which  the  longer  of 
the  ascending  tails  is  placed  on  the  left  side  ; 
and  (4)  the  '  Plica  brevis  descendens,'  in  which 
the  same  arrangement  obtains  with  the  two  de 
scending  tails. 

1.  2.  3.  4. 


• 

n 

B 

. 

Joannes  de  Muris  describes  the  Plica  as  a 
sign  of  augmentation,  similar  in  effect  to  the 
Point.  Franco  tells  us  that  it  may  be  added 
at  will  to  the  Long,  or  the  Breve  ;  but  to  the 
Semibreve  only  when  it  appears  in  Ligature. 
Some  other  writers  apply  the  term  '  Plica '  to 
the  tail  of  a  Large,  or  Long.  The  Descending 
Plica  is  sometimes  identified  with  the  Cephalicus, 
which  represents  a  group  of  three  notes,  whereof 
the  second  is  the  highest.  [See  NOTATION,  vol.  ii. 
pp.  467,  468.]  [W.S.R.] 

PLINTIVO,  'plaintive.'  A  direction  in  use 
among  the  '  sentimental '  class  of  writers  for  the 
pianoforte,  of  which, however,no  specimen  isfound 
in  the  works  of  the  great  masters.  [J.A.F.M.] 

PLUS  ULTRA.  A  sonata  in  Ab  by  Dussek 
for  pianoforte  solo,  op.  71.  The  motto  'Plus 
Ultra '  appears  to  have  been  provoked  by  that  of 
WoelfTs  sonata,  NON  PLUS  ULTRA;  but  whether 


PNEUMATIC  ACTION. 

it  was  affixed  by  the  composer  or  by  the  pub 
lishers  is  not  certainly  known ;  probably  by  the 
latter,  as  the  work  was  first  published  in  Paris, 
to  which  Dussek  had  recently  returned,  with  the 
title  '  Le  Retour  a  Paris.'  The  title-pages  of  the 
two  works  are  as  follows  : — 

'  Non  Plus  Ultra.  A  Grand  Sonata  for  the 
Pianoforte,  in  which  is  introduced  the  favourite 
Air  Life  let  us  Cherish,  with  Variations.  Com 
posed  and  dedicated  to  Miss  E.  Binny  by  J. 
Woelfl.  Op.  41.  London  :  Printed  and  sold  for 
the  author  by  J.  Lavenu.' 

'  Plus  Ultra.  A  Sonata  for  the  Pianoforte, 
composed  and  dedicated  to  Non  Plus  Ultra,* 
by  J.  L.  Dussek.  Op.  71.  London:  Cianchetti 
and  Sperati. 

*  It  alludes  to  a  Sonata  published  under  this  title.* 

The  dates  of  publication  of  the  two  works  are 
probably  1800  and  1808  respectively.  [G.] 

PNEUMA  (from  the  Greek  irvevfjia,  a  breath 
ing;  Lat.  Pneuma,  velNeuma).  Aform  of  Ligature, 
sung  at  the  end  of  certain  Plain  Chaunt  Melo 
dies,  to  an  inarticulate  vowel-like  sound,  quite 
unconnected  with  the  verbal  text ;  in  which  par 
ticular  it  differs  from  the  Perielesis,  which  is 
always  sung  to  an  articulate  syllable.  [See  LIGA 
TURE  ;  PERIELESIS.] 

The  use  of  the  Pneuma  can  be  traced  back  to  a 
period  of  very  remote  antiquity — quite  certainly 
as  far  as  the  age  of  S.  Augustine  (350-430). 
Since  then,  it  has  been  constantly  employed  in  the 
Offices  of  the  Roman  Church ;  more  especially 
at  High  Mass,  on  Festivals,  in  connection  with 
the  Alleluia  of  the  Gradual,  from  which  it  takes 
its  Tone,  as  in  the  following  Alleluia  (Tone  i), 
sung  on  Easter  Sunday  : — 


Al     -     le   - 
Pneuma. 


-  -    lu    -    -    -    -    ia. 


-^h 


^ J  • 


The  Alleluia  is  first  sung  twice  by  two  Cantors, 
and  then  repeated,  in  full  Choir,  with  the  ad 
dition  of  the  Pneuma,  also  sung  twice  through. 
The  two  Cantors  then  intone  the  Versus,  and  the 
Choir  respond  ;  after  which  the  Alleluia  is  again 
sung  by  the  Cantors,  and  the  Pneuma  by  the  Choir. 
The  Preface  to  the  Ratisbon  Gradual  directs  that 
the  Pneuma  shall  be  sung  upon  the  vowel  A. 
There  is  no  connection  between  this  kind  of 
Neuma  and  that  described  under  NOTATION, 
vol.  ii.  p.  467.  [W.S.R.] 

PNEUMATIC  ACTION.  A  contrivance  for 
lessening  the  resistance  of  the  keys,  and  other 
moveable  parts  of  an  organ,  previously  attempted 
by  others,  and  brought  into  a  practical  shape  by 
CHAKLES  S.  BARKER  between  1832  and  41,  in 
which  latter  year  it  was  first  applied  by  Cavaille'- 
Coll  to  the  organ  of  S.  Denis.  The  necessity  of 
some  such  contrivance  may  be  realised  from  the 
fact  that  in  some  of  the  organs  on  the  old  sys 
tem,  a  pressure  of  several  pounds  was  required  to 
force  down  each  key.  In  Willis's  Organ  at  the 


PNEUMATIC  ACTION. 

Alexandra  Palace,  London,  if  there  were  no 
pneumatic  levers,  the  resistance  to  the  finger  at 
middle  C  with  the  couplers  drawn  would  be  25  Ibs. 
For  a  description  of  the  invention  see  ORGAN, 
vol.  ii.  p.  599.  [&•] 

POCO,  a  little ;  rather ;  as  poco  adagio,  not 
quite  so  slow  as  adagio  itself;  poco  sostenuto, 
somewhat  sustained.  It  is  the  opposite  of  Assai. 
POCHETTINO  is  a  diminutive  of  poco  and  implies 
the  same  thing  but  in  a  smaller  degree.  This  is 
a  refinement  of  very  modern  invention.  [G.] 

PODATUS  (Pedatus,  Pes.  A  Foot,  or  Footed- 
note).  A  form  of  Ligature,  much  used  in  Plain 
Chaunt,  and  derived  from  a  very  antient  Neuma, 
which  will  be  found  figured  at  vol.  ii.  p.  467. 

The  Podatus  consists  of  two  notes,  of  which  the 
second  is  the  highest ;  and,  in  the  square  form  of 
Notation  now  in  use,  is  represented  thus — 
Written.  Sung. 


The  two  notes  may  be  of  the  same,  or  different 
lengths ;  but,  as  a  general  rule,  the  second  note 
is  the  longest,  more  especially  when  the  Liga 
ture  ascends  only  one  Degree.  [See  LIGATURE, 
NOTATION.]  [W.S.R.] 

POELCHATJ,  GEORG,  a  distinguished  ama 
teur,  born  July  5,  1773,  at  Cremon  in  Livonia, 
left  Russia  during  the  reign  of  the  Emperor  Paul, 
and  settled  in  Hamburg,  where  he  formed  an 
intimacy  with  Klopstock.  On  the  death  of  Em 
manuel  Bach  he  bought  the  whole  of  his  music, 
which  contained  many  autographs  of  his  father's. 
In  1813  he  settled  in  Berlin,  in  1814  became  a 
member  of  the  Singakaclemie,  and  assumed  the 
charge  of  its  library  in  1833.  At  the  request  of 
the  Crown  Prince  he  searched  the  royal  libraries 
for  the  compositions  of  Frederic  the  Great,  and 
found  1 20  pieces.  He  died  in  Berlin,  on  Aug.  12, 
1836,  and  his  collection,  of  music  was  bought  by 
the  Royal  Library  and  the  Singakademie.  In 
1855  the  Singakademie  sold  their  collection  of 
the  autographs  of  the  Bach  family  to  the  Royal 
Library,  which  now  has  a  larger  number  of  these 
treasures  than  any  other  institution.  There  is  a 
bust  of  Poelchau  in  one  of  the  rooms.  [F.G.] 

POHL,  CARL  FERDINAND,  writer  on  musical 
subjects,  born  at  Darmstadt,  Sept.  6, 1819,  comes 
of  a  musical  family,  his  grandfather  having  been 
the  first  maker  of  glass  harmonicas,  his  father 
(died  1869)  chamber-musician  to  the  Duke  of 
Hesse  at  Darmstadt,  and  his  mother  a  daughter 
,  of  the  composer  Beczwarzowsky.  In  1841  he 
settled  in  Vienna,  and  after  studying  under 
Sechter  became  in  1849  organist  of  the  new 
Protestant  church  in  the  Gumpendorf  suburb. 
At  this  date  he  published  Variations  on  an  old 
'  Nachtwachterlied '  (Diabelli),  and  other  pieces. 
He  resigned  the  post  in  1855  on  account  of  his 
health,  and  devoted  himself  exclusively  to  teach 
ing  and  literature.  In  1862  he  published  in 
Vienna  an  interesting  pamphlet  '  On  the  history 
of  the  Glass  harmonica.'  From  1863  to  1866  he 
lived  in  London,  occupied  in  researches  at  the 
British  Museum  on  Haydn  and  Mozart ;  the 


POINT.  5 

results  of  which  he  embodied  in  his  '  Mozart  und 
Haydn  in  London,'  2  vols.  ( Vienna, Gerold,  1867), 
a  work  full  of  accurate  detail,  and  indispensable 
to  the  student.  Through  the  influence  of  Jahn 
and  von  Kochel,  and  of  his  intimate  friend 
the  Ritter  von  Karajan,  Mr.  Pohl  was  appointed 
in  January  1866  to  the  important  post  of  ar 
chivist  and  librarian  to  the  Gesellschaft  der 
Musikfreunde  in  Vienna.  [See  vol.  i.  591.]  To 
his  care  and  conscientiousness  the  present  highly 
satisfactory  condition  of  the  immense  collections 
of  this  great  institution  is  due.  In  connection 
therewith  he  has  published  two  works,  which, 
though  of  moderate  extent,  are  full  of  interest, 
and  are  marked  by  that  accuracy  and  sound 
judgment  which  distinguish  all  Mr.  Pohl's  works, 
namely,  '  Die  Gesellschaft  der  Musikfreunde  und 
ihr  Conservatorium  in  Wien '  (Braumtiller,  1871), 
and  'Denkschrift  aus  Anlass  des  100  jahrigen 
Bestehens  der  Tonkiinstler  Societat  in  Wien' 
(Gerold,  1871).  He  has  been  for  many  years 
occupied  on  a  biography  of  Haydn,  which  he  un 
dertook  at  the  instigation  of  Jahn,  and  of  which 
vol.  i.  was  published  in  1875  (Berlin,  Sacco ;  since 
transferred  to  Breitkopf  &  Hartel).  The  main 
facts  are  contained  in  his  article  on  Haydn  in 
this  Dictionary  (vol.  i.  702-722).  The  summaries 
of  the  musical  events  of  each  year  which  Mr. 
Pohl  furnishes  to  the '  Signale  fur  die  musikalische 
Welt/  of  which  he  is  the  Vienna  correspondent, 
are  most  careful  and  correct,  and  it  would  be  a 
boon  to  the  student  of  contemporary  music  if 
they  could  be  republished  separately.  Mr.  Pohl's 
courtesy  to  students  desiring  to  collate  MSS.,  and 
his  readiness  to  supply  information,  are  well  known 
to  the  musical  visitors  to  Vienna.  [F.  G.] 

POHL,  DR.  RICHARD,  a  German  musical  critic 
well  known  for  his  thoroughgoing  advocacy  of 
Wagner.  We  learn  from  M.  Pougin's  supplement 
to  Fe"tis  that  he  was  born  at  Leipzig,  Sept.  12, 
1826,  that  he  devoted  himself  to  mathematics, 
and  after  concluding  his  course  at  Gottingen 
and  Leipzig  was  elected  to  a  professorial  chair 
at  Gratz.  This  he  vacated  for  political  reasons, 
and  then  settled  at  Dresden  and  Weimar  as  a 
musical  critic.  He  is  one  of  the  editors  of  the 
'Neue  Zeitschrift  fur  Musik,'  and  a  frequent 
contributor  to  the  musical  periodicals.  He  began 
his  Autobiography  in  the  'Mus.  Wochenblatt' 
for  Dec.  30,  1880.  [G.] 

POINT  or  DOT  (Lat.  Punctus,  vel  Punctum ; 
Ital.  Punto  ;  Germ.  Punct ;  Fr.  Point}.  A  very 
antient  character,  used  in  mediaeval  Music  for 
many  distinct  purposes,  though  its  office  is  now 
reduced  within  narrower  limits. 

The  Points  described  by  Zarlino  and  various 
early  writers  are  of  four  different  kinds. 

I.  The  POINT  OF  AUGMENTATION,  used  only 
in  combination  with  notes  naturally  Imperfect, 
was  exactly  identical,  both  in  form,  and  effect, 
with  the  modern  '  Dot ' — that  is  to  say,  it 
lengthened  the  note  to  which  it  was  appended 
by  one -half,  and  was  necessarily  followed  by  a 
note  equivalent  to  itself  in  value,  in  order  to 
complete  the  beat.  The  earliest  known  allu 
sion  to  it  is  to  be  found  in  the  '  Ars  Cantus 


6  POINT. 

mensurabilis '  of  Franco  of  Cologne,  the  analogy 
between  whose  Tractulus,  and  the  Punctus  aug- 
mentationis  of  later  writers,  is  so  close  that  the 
two  may  be  treated  as  virtually  identical. 

II.  The  POINT  OF  PERFECTION  (Punctus  Per- 
fectionis)  was  used  in  combination  with  notes, 
Perfect  by  the  Time  Signature,  but  rendered  Im 
perfect  by  Position,  for  the  purpose  of  restoring 
their  Perfection.  In  this  case,  no  short  note 
was  needed  for  the  purpose  of  compensation,  as 
the  Point  itself  served  to  complete  the  triple 
beat.  Now,  in  mediaeval  Music,  a  Breve,  pre 
ceded  or  followed  by  a  Semibreve,  or  a  Semi- 
breve  by  a  Minim,  though  perfect  by  virtue 
of  the  Time  Signature,  becomes  Imperfect  by 
Position.  As  the  following  example  is  written  in 
the  Greater  (or  Perfect)  Prolation,  each  of  its 
Semibreves  is  naturally  equal  to  three  Minims ; 
but,  by  the  rule  we  have  just  set  forth,  the 
second  and  fourth  notes  become  Imperfect  by 
Position — i.  e.  they  are  each  equal  to  two  Mi 
nims  only.  The  fourth  note  is  suffered  to  remain 
so,  but  the  second  is  made  Perfect  by  a  Point  of 
Perfection. 


Written. 


The  term  'Punctus  Perfections '  is  also  applied 
to  the  Point  placed,  by  mediaeval  Composers, 
in  the  centre  of  a  Circle,  or  Semicircle,  in  order 
to  denote  either  Perfect  Time,  or  the  Greater 
Prolation. 

III.  The  POINT  OF  ALTERATION,  or  Point  of 
Duplication  (Punctus  Alterationis,  vel  Punctus 
Duplicationis),  differs  so  much,  in  its  effect,  from 
any  sign  used  in  modern  Music,  that  it  is  less 
easy  to  make  it  clear.  In  order  to  distinguish  it 
from  the  Points  already  described,  it  is  sometimes 
written  a  little  above  the  level  of  the  note  to 
which  it  refers.  Some  printers,  however,  so  place 
it,  that  it  is  absolutely  indistinguishable,  by  any 
external  sign,  from  the  Point  of  Augmentation. 
In  such  cases  it  is  necessary  to  remember  that 
the  only  place  in  which  it  can  possibly  occur  is 
before  the  first  of  two  short  notes,  followed  by  a 
longer  one — or  placed  between  two  longer  ones — 
in  Perfect  Time,  or  the  Greater  Prolation ;  that 
is  to  say,  in  Ternary  Rhythm,  of  whatever  kind. 
But  its  chief  peculiarity  lies  in  its  action,  which 
concerns,  not  the  note  it  follows,  but  the  second 
of  the  two  short  ones  which  succeed  it,  the  value 
of  which  note  it  doubles — as  in  the  following 
example,  from  the  old  melody,  'L'Homme  arme,' 
in  which  the  note  affected  by  the  Point  is  dis 
tinguished  by  an  asterisk. 

Written.  * 


Sung, 


-A    n             j 

rTj         f^. 

.,-) 

1  —  ^    * 

POINT  D'ORGUE. 

IV.  The  POINT  OF  DIVISION,  sometimes  called 
the  Point  of  Imperfection  (Punctus  Divisionis, 
vel  Imperfectionis ;  Divisio  Modi),  is  no  ^  less 
complicated  in  its  effect  than  that  just  described, 
and  should  also  be  placed  upon  a  higher  level 
than  that  of  the  notes  to  which  it  belongs,  though, 
in  practice,  this  precaution  is  very  often  neg 
lected.  Like  the  Point  of  Alteration,  it  is  only 
used  in  Ternary  Measure;  but  it  differs  from 
the  former  sign,  in  being  always  placed  be 
tween  two  short  notes,  the  first  of  which  is 
preceded,  and  the  second  followed,  by  a  long  one. 
Its  action  is,  to  render  the  two  long  notes  Im 
perfect.  But,  a  long  note,  in  Ternary  Rhythm, 
is  always  Imperfect  by  Position,  when  either 
preceded  or  followed  by  a  shorter  one  :  the  use 
of  the  Points,  therefore,  in  such  cases,  is  alto 
gether  supererogatory,  and  was  warmly  resented 
by  mediaeval  Singers,  who  called  all  such  signs 
Puncti  asinini. 


Sung. 


In  spite,  however,  of  its  apparent  complication, 
the  rationale  of  the  Sign  is  simple  enough.  An 
examination  of  the  above  passage  will  show  that 
the  Point  serves  exactly  the  same  purpose  as  the 
Bar  in  modern  Music ;  and  we  can  easily  under 
stand  that  it  is  called  the  Point  of  Division, 
because  it  removes  all  doubt  as  to  the  division 
of  the  Rhythm  into  two  Ternary  Measures. 

The  Composers  of  the  I5th  and  i6th  centuries 
frequently  substituted,  for  the  Points  of  Aug 
mentation,  Alteration,  and  Division,  a  peculiar 
intermixture  of  black  and  white  notes,  which 
will  be  found  fully  described  in  vol.  ii.  pp. 
472,  473  of  this  Dictionary;  and  the  Student 
will  do  well  to  make  himself  thoroughly  ac 
quainted  with  them,  since,  without  a  clear 
understanding  of  these  and  other  similar  expe 
dients,  it  is  impossible  to  decipher  Music,  either 
MS.  or  printed,  of  earlier  date  than  the  be 
ginning  of  the  1 7th  century.  [W.S.R.] 

POINT  D'ORGUE,  organ  point,  appears  to 
have  two  different  meanings  in  French,  and  to  be 
used  (i)  for  an  organ  point  or  pedal,  that  is,  a 
succession  of  harmonies  carried  over  a  holding 
note  [PEDAL]  ;  and  (2),  with  what  reason  is  not 
plain,  for  the  cadenza  in  a  concerto — the  flourish 
interpolated  between  the  chords  of  the  6-4  and 
7-3  of  the  cadence — the  place  for  which  is  indi 
cated  by  a  pause  T\.  Rousseau  gives  a  clue  to  the 
origin  of  the  term  by  explaining  (under  '  Cou- 
ronne')  that  when  the  above  sign,  which  he  de 
nominates  '  Couronne,'  was  placed  over  the  last 
note  of  a  single  part  in  the  score  it  was  then 
called  Point  d'orgue,  and  signified  that  the  sound 
of  the  note  was  to  be  held  on  till  the  other  parts 
had  come  to  the  end.  Thus  the  note  so  held  on 
became  a  pedal,  and  is  so  in  theory.  [G.] 


POINTS. 

POINTS.  A  term  applied,  in  modern  Music, 
to  the  opening  notes  of  the  Subject  of  a  Fugue, 
or  other  important  Motive,  to  which  it  is  neces 
sary  that  the  attention  of  the  Performer  should 
be  particularly  directed  by  the  Conductor. 

For  instance,  one  of  the  most  striking  Subjects 
in  the  '  Hallelujah  Chorus,'  is  that  adapted  to  the 
words  '  For  the  Lord  God  Omnipotent  reigneth.' 
After  this  has  been  twice  enuntiated  by  the  whole 
body  of  Voices,  in  unison,  the  '  Point '  is  taken 
up  at  the  22nd  Bar  by  the  Sopranos,  at  the  25th 
by  the  Tenors  and  Basses  in  unison,  and  at  the 
29th,  by  the  Altos  and  Tenors.  These,  then,  are 
three  of  the  most  important  'Points'  in  the 
Hallelujah  Chorus. 

The  term  '  Point'  is  also  applicable  to  features 
of  quite  another  kind.  Thus,  the  entrance  of 
the  Horns  in  the  First  Movement  of  the  Over 
ture  to  '  Der  Freischiitz,'  and  that  of  the  First 
Clarinet  at  the  6oth  Bar  of  the  Molto  Vivace,  are 
'  Points '  of  such  vital  importance  that  a  careless 
reading  on  the  part  of  their  interpreters  would 
entirely  fail  to  convey  the  Composer's  meaning, 
and  render  the  performance  spiritless  and  unin 
teresting  to  the  last  degree. 

These  remarks  concern,  not  only  the  performance 
of  Orchestral  and  Church  Music.  They  apply, 
with  equal  force,  to  Solo  Performances  of  every 
kind  :  to  Pianoforte  Sonatas,  and  Organ  Fugues, 
Violin  Concertos,  and  Solos  for  the  Flute  or  Oboe. 
In  these,  the  Performer,  having  no  Conductor 
to  prompt  him,  must  think  for  himself,  and 
the  success  of  his  performance  will  depend  en 
tirely  upon  the  amount  of  his  capacity  for 
doing  so.  [W.S.R.] 

POISE,  FERDINAND,  born  at  Nlmes,  June  3, 
1828,  as  a  child  showed  a  turn  for  music,  but  was 
only  allowed  to  adopt  it  after  taking  his  degree 
as  a  bachelier-es-lettres  of  Paris.  He  entered  the 
Conservatoire  in  1850,  and  in  1852  gained  the 
second  prize  for  composition,  under  Adolphe 
Adam,  from  whom  he  derived  his  taste  for  easy, 
flowing  melody.  'Bonsoir  Voisin,'  a  pleasing 
little  opera  produced  at  the  Theatre  Lyrique, 
Sept.  18,  1853,  was  followed  at  the  same  theatre 
by  'Les  Charmeurs'  (March  15,  1855),  also  a  suc 
cess.  He  next  produced  '  Polichinelle '  (1856)  at 
the  Bouffes  Parisiens  ;  and  at  the  Opera  Comique, 
'Le  Roi  Don  Pedre'  2  acts  (1857) ;  '^e  Jar" 
dinier  Galant,'  2  acts  (March  4,  1861);  'Les 
Absents,'  a  charming  piece  in  one  act  (Oct.  26, 
1864)  ;  '  Corricolo  '  3  acts  (Nov.  28,  1868)  ;  '  Les 
trois  Souhaits'  (1873) ;  'La  Surprise  de  1'  Amour,' 
2  acts  (Oct.  31,  1878);  and  'L' Amour  Me"decin' 
(Dec.  20,  1880).  The  two  last,  arranged  by  Poise 
and  Monselet  from  Marivaux  and  Moliere,  give  a 
high  idea  of  his  powers.  He  has  also  composed 
another  pretty  little  opera,  'Les  deux  Billets' 
(1858),  revived  at  the  Athende  in  Feb.  1870. 
In  their  ease  and  absence  of  pretension  his  works 
resemble  those  of  Adolphe  Adam,  but  there  the 
comparison  ends ;  the  latter  had  a  real  vein  of 
comedy,  while  Poise's  merriment  has  the  air  of 
being  assumed  to  conceal  his  inward  melancholy. 
Nevertheless  his  music  is  flowing  and  happy; 
and  being  well-scored,  and  never  vulgar,  it  is 


POLIUTO.  7 

listened  to  with  pleasure,  and  is  remembered.  It 
would  be  more  generally  popular  if  M.  Poise 
exerted  himself  more  ;  but  his  health  is  delicate, 
he  lives  in  retirement,  writes  only  when  so  dis 
posed,  and  instead  of  aspiring  to  fame  and  fortune, 
seeks  only  to  secure  his  independence,  and  to  en 
joy  the  refined  pleasures  of  music.  [G.C.] 

POLACCA  (Italian  for  POLONAISE).  Polac- 
cas  may  be  defined  as  Polonaises  treated  in  an 
Italian  manner,  but  still  retaining  much  of  the 
rhythm  characteristic  of  their  Polish  origin.  Po- 
laccas  are  both  vocal  and  instrumental,  and  are 
generally  of  a  brilliant  and  ornate  description, 
gaining  in  brilliancy  what  they  lose  in  national 
character.  Thus  Chopin,  in  a  letter  from  War 
saw,  dated  Nov.  14,  1829  (Karasowski,  vol.  i.), 
speaks  of  an  'Alia  Polacca'  with  cello  accom 
paniment  that  he  had  written,  as  '  nothing  more 
than  a  brilliant  drawing-room  piece — suitable  for 
the  ladies,'  and  although  this  composition  is  pro 
bably  the  same  as  the  '  Introduction  et  Polonaise 
Brillante  pour  Piano  et  Violoncello'  (op.  3)  in 
C  major,  yet  from  the  above  passage  it  seems  as 
if  Chopin  did  not  put  it  in  the  same  class  as  his 
poetical  compositions  for  the  pianoforte  which 
bear  the  same  name.  [W.B.S.] 

POLE,  WILLIAM,  Mus.  Doc.,  F.E.S,  an  instance 
of  the  successful  union  of  science,  literature,  and 
music.  He  was  born  at  Birmingham  in  1814,  and 
was  bred  to  the  profession  of  Civil  Engineer 
ing,  in  which  he  has  become  eminent.  He  has 
written  many  works  and  papers  on  scientific  sub 
jects,  and  is  a  contributor  to  the  leading  Reviews, 
and  an  F.R.S.  of  London  and  Edinburgh. 

His  taste  for  music  developed  itself  early  ;  he 
studied  hard  at  both  theoretical  and  practical 
music,  and  was  organist  in  a  London  West  End 
church  for  many  years.  He  graduated  at  Oxford 
as  Mus.  Bac.  in  1860,  and  as  Mus.  Doc.  in  1867. 
He  was  appointed  Reporter  to  the  Jury  on  Mu 
sical  Instruments  at  the  International  Exhibition 
of  1862,  and  is  one  of  the  Examiners  for  Musical 
Degrees  in  the  University  of  London,  author  of 
a  Treatise  on  the  Musical  Instruments  in  the 
Exhibition  of  1851,  'The  Story  of  Mozart's  Re 
quiem,'  1879,  'The  Philosophy  of  Music,'  1879, 
and  various  minor  critical  essays,  three  of  which, 
written  in  1858,  on  certain  works  of  Mozart  and 
Beethoven  have  been  mentioned  in  the  article 
ANALYSIS.  His  only  musical  compositions  printed 
are  a  well-known  motet  for  8  voices  on  the 
'  Hundredth  Psalm,'  and  some  four-handed  PF. 
accompaniments  to  classical  songs.  [G.] 

POLIUTO.  An  opera  in  3  acts ;  the  libretto 
conceived  by  Adolphe  Nourrit  (who  designed 
the  principal  r6le  for  himself),  and  carried  out 
by  Cammarano ;  the  music  by  Donizetti.  It 
was  completed  in  1838,  but  the  performance  was 
forbidden  by  the  Censure  of  Naples.  It  was 
then  translated  into  French  by  Scribe,  and  under 
the  title  of  'Les  Martyrs/  was  produced  at  the 
Grand  Opdra  (4  acts),  April  10,  1840;  at  the 
Theatre  Italien,  as  'I  Martiri,'  April  14,  1859; 
in  London,  as  '  I  Martiri,'  at  the  Royal  Italian 
Opera,  April  20,  1852.  [G.] 


8 


POLKA. 


POLKA,  a  well-known  round  dance,  said  to 
be  of  Bohemian  origin.  According  to  Alfred 
Waldaw  ('Bohmische  Nationaltanze,'  Prague, 
1859  and  I86o)  the  polka  was  invented  in  the  year 
1830  by  a  servant  girl  who  lived  at  Elbeteinitz, 
the  music  being  written  down  by  a  local  musician 
named  Neruda.  The  original  name  by  which 
the  polka  was  known  in  its  birthplace  and  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Jicin,  Kopidlno,  andDimokury, 
was  the  'Nimra.'  This  was  derived  from  the 
song  to  which  it  was  danced,  the  first  lines  of 
which  ran  as  follows  : 

Strejcek  Nimra 

Kou^il  simla 

Za  pul  p£ta  tolaru.1 

In  1835  it  was  danced  in  Prague,  where  it  first 
obtained  the  name  of  '  Polka,'  which  is  probably 
a  corruption  of  the  Czech  '  pulka '  (half),  a  char 
acteristic  feature  of  the  dance  being  its  short  half- 
steps.    According  to  another  account  the  polka 
was  invented  in  1834  by  a  native  of  Moksic,  near 
Hitschin  in  Bohemia,  and  was  from  that  place  in 
troduced  into  Prague  by  students.  In  1839  it  was 
brought  to  Vienna  by  the  band  of  a  Bohemian 
regiment  under  its  conductor,  Pergler ;  in  1840  it 
was  danced  at  the  Ode'on  in  Paris  by  the  Bohemian 
Kaab ;  and  in  1844  **  found  its  way  to  London. 
Wherever  the  polka  was  introduced,  it  suddenly 
attained  an  extraordinary  popularity.     Vienna, 
Paris,  and  London   were   successively  attacked 
by  this  curious  '  polkamania ' ;  clothes,  hats,  and 
streets  were  named  after  the  dance,  and  in  Eng 
land  the  absurdity  was  carried  so  far  that  public 
houses  displayed  on  their  signs  the '  Polka  Arms.' 
In  the  'Illustrated  London  News'  for  March  23, 
1844,  will  be  found  a  polka  by  Offenbach,  'a, 
celebrated  French  artiste,'  headed  by  two  rather 
primitive  wood-cuts,  to  which  the  following  de 
scription  of  the  dance  is  appended  :   '  The  Polka 
is  an  original  Bohemian  peasant  dance,  and  was 
first  introduced  into  the  fashionable  saloons  of 
Berlin   and   St.   Petersburg   about   eight  years 
since.2     Last   season   it   was  the   favourite    at 
Baden-Baden.    The  Polka  is  written  in  2-4  time. 
The  gentleman  holds  his  partner  in  the  manner 
shown  in  the  engraving ;  each  lift  first  the  right 
leg,  strike  twice  the  left  heel  with  the  right 
heel,  and  then  turn  as  in  the  waltz' — a  perform 
ance  which  must  have  presented  a  rather  curious 
appearance.     On  April  13  the  same  paper,  re 
viewing  a  polka  by  Jullien,  says :  '  It  is  waste 
of  time  to  consider  this  nonsense.    The  weather 
cock  heads  of  the  Parisians  have  been  delighted 
always  by  any  innovation,  but  they  never  im 
ported  anything  more  ridiculous  or  ungraceful 
than  this  Polka.     It  is  a  hybrid  confusion  of 
Scotch  Lilt,  Irish  Jig,  and  Bohemian  Waltz,  and 
needs  only  to  be  seen  once  to  be  avoided  for 
ever  ! '    In  spite  of  this  criticism  the  popularity 
of  the  dance  went  on  increasing,  and  the  papers 
of  the  day  are  full  of  advertisements  professing 
to  teach  *  the  genuine  polka.'     It  was  danced  at 
Her  Majesty's  Opera  by  Cerito,  Carlotta  Grisi, 

1  Translation:  'Uncle  Nimra  bought  a  -white  horse  for  five  and  a 
half  Thalers.' 

2  If  this  is  true,  the  dates  of  Waldau's  account  of  the  origin  of  the 
dance  can  hardly  be  correct. 


POLKA. 

and  Perrot,  and  the  following  was  published  as 
'  the  much  celebrated  Polka  Dance,  performed  at 
Her  Majesty's  Theatre,  by  Carlotta  Grisi  and  M. 
Perrot,  composed  and  arranged  for  the  Pianoforte 
by  Alberto  Sowinsky.' 


Fine. 


D.C. 


Many  ways  of  dancing  the  polka  seem  to  have 
been  in  use,  and  in  order  to  settle  all  disputes 
on  the  important  matter,  the  'Illustrated  London 
News '  on  May  1 1  (having  changed  its  opinions 
since  April)  was  'much  gratified  in  being  enabled 
to  lay  before  its  readers  an  accurate  descrip 
tion  of  the  veritable,  or  Drawing-room  Polka,  as 
danced  at  Almack's,  and  at  the  balls  of  the  nobility 
and  gentry  in  this  country.'  According  to  this 
description,  which  is  accompanied  by  three  very 
amusing  illustrations,  the  polka  began  with  an 
introduction  (danced  vis  a  vis),  and  consisted 
of  five  figures.  Of  these,  the  'heel  and  toe '  step, 
which  was  the  most  characteristic  feature  of  the 
dance,  has  been  quite  abandoned,  probably  owing 
to  the  difficulty  in  executing  it  properly,  which 
(according  to  'Punch,'  vol.  vii.  p.  I723)  gene 
rally  caused  it  to  result  in  the  dancers  '  stamping 
their  own  heels  upon  other  people's  toes.'  The 
account  of  the  polka  concludes  as  follows  :  '  In 
conclusion  we  would  observe  that  La  Polka  is 
a  noiseless  dance ;  there  is  no  stamping  of  heels, 
toes,  or  kicking  of  legs  in  sharp  angles  forward. 
This  may  do  very  well  at  the  threshold  of  a 
Bohemian  auberge,  but  is  inadmissible  into  the 
salons  of  London  or  Paris.  La  Polka,  as  danced 
in  Paris,  and  now  adopted  by  us,  is  elegant, 
graceful  and  fascinating  in  the  extreme ;  it  is 
replete  with  opportunities  of  showing  care  and 
attention  to  your  partner  in  assisting  her  through 
its  performance.'  The  rage  for  the  polka  did 
not  last  long,  and  the  dance  gradually  fell  into 
disuse  in  England  for  many  years.  It  has  how 
ever  recently  come  once  more  into  vogue,  but 
the  'toe  and  heel'  step  has  happily  not  been 
revived  with  it. 

The  music  of  the  polka  is  written  in  2-4  time ; 
according  to  Cellarius  ('La  Danse  des  Salons,' 
Paris,  1847)  the  tempo  is  that  of  a  military 
march  played  rather  slowly ;  Maelzel's  metro 
nome,  J  =  iO4.  The  rhythm  is  characterised  by 
the  following  2-bar  figures : 


3  See  also  'Punch,'  vol.  vi,  for  an  admirable  cartoon  by  Leech, 
representing  Lord  Brougham  dancing  the  polka  with  the  woolsack. 


POLKA. 


3« 


The  music  can  be  divided  into  the  usual  8-bar 
parts.     In  all  early  polkas  the  figure 


9*       2. 

&       p     p 

p      1 

^4  _ 

is  found  in  the  accompaniment  of  the  4th  and 
8th  bars  of  these  parts,  marking  a  very  slight 
pause  in  the  dance,  but  in  recent  examples  this 
pause  has  disappeared,  owing  to  the  dance  being 
performed  somewhat  faster,  and  more  in  the  spirit 
of  a  waltz  or  galop.  The  first  polka  which  was 
published  is  said  to  have  been  composed  by  Franz 
Hilmar,  a  native  of  Kopildno  in  Bohemia.  The 
best  national  polkas  are  those  by  Labitzky,  Lieb- 
mann,  Prochaska,  Swoboda,  and  Titl.  [W.B.S.] 

POLLEDRO,  GIOVANNI  BATTISTA,  an  emi 
nent  violinist,  was  born  at  Piova"  near  Turin 
June  10,  1781  (or  according  to  another  source 
1776).  He  received  his  first  instruction  from  local 
musicians,  at  15  studied  for  a  short  time  under 
Pugnani,  and  soon  entered  the  royal  band  at 
Turin.  In  1804  ^e  became  first  violin  in  the 
Theatre  at  Bergamo,  and  after  a  short  stay  there 
began  to  travel.  In  Russia  he  remained  for 
five  years,  and  in  1814  accepted  the  appointment 
of  leader  of  the  band  at  Dresden,  where  he 
remained  till  1824.  In  that  year  he  accepted  a 
brilliant  engagement  as  Director  general  of  the 
royal  orchestra  at  Turin.  He  died  at  his  native 
village  Aug.  15,  1853. 

Polledro  was  an  excellent  violinist  and  sound 
musician.  He  had  the  great  tone  and  dignified 
style  of  the  classical  Italian  school.  All  con 
temporaneous  critics  praise  his  faultless  and 
brilliant  execution  not  less  than  the  deep  feel 
ing  with  which  he  played.  In  1812  he  met 
Beethoven  at  Carlsbad,  and  played  with  him 
one  of  Beethoven's  violin-sonatas  (see  Thayer's 
Life  of  Beethoven,  iii.  208).  His  published  com 
positions  consist  of  three  concertos,  some  airs 
varies,  trios  and  duos  for  stringed  instruments, 
and  a  set  of  exercises  for  the  violin  ;  a  Miserere 
and  a  Mass  for  voices  and  orchestra,  and  a 
Sinfonia  pastorale  for  full  orchestra.  [P.  D.] 

POLLINI,  FRANCESCO,  born  at  Lubiano,  in 
Ulyria,  in  1763  (1774  or  1778),  and  a  pupil  of 
Mozart.  He  became  a  skilful  pianist  at  an  early 
age,  his  style  having  combined  some  of  the  dis 
tinguishing  characteristics  of  that  of  his  pre 
ceptor,  of  dementi  and  of  Hummel,  each  of  whom 
he  surpassed  in  some  forms  of  the  mere  mechan 
ism  of  the  art.  Pollini  indeed  may,  in  this  respect, 
be  considered  as  an  inventor,  having  anticipated 
Thalberg  in  the  extended  grasp  of  the  keyboard 
by  the  use  of  three  staves  (as  in  Thalberg's 
Fantasia  on  'God  save  the  Queen,'  and  'Rule 
Britannia') — thus  enabling  the  player  to  sustain 
a  prominent  melody  in  the  middle  region  of  the 
instrument,  while  each  hand  is  also  employed 
with  elaborate  passages  above  and  beneath  it. 
This  remarkable  mode  of  producing  by  two  hands 


POLO.  9 

almost  the  effect  of  four,  appears  indeed  to  have 
been  ^originated  by  Pollini  in  his  '  Uno  de'  tren- 
tadue  Esercizi  in  forma  di  toccata,'  brought  out  in 
1820.  This  piece  was  dedicated  to  Meyerbeer; 
the  original  edition  containing  a  preface  ad 
dressed  to  that  composer  by  Pollini,  which 
includes  the  following  passage  explanatory  of 
the  construction  of  the  Toccata : — '  I  propose  to 
offer  a  simple  melody  more  or  less  plain,  and 
of  varied  character,  combined  with  accompani 
ments  of  different  rhythms,  from  which  it  can  be 
clearly  distinguished  by  a  particular  expression 
and  touch  in  the  cantilena  in  contrast  to  the 
accompaniment.'  Dehn  appears  to  have  been  the 
first  to  draw  attention  to  Pollini's  specialty,  in 
his  preface  to  the  original  edition  of  Liszt's 
pianoforte  transcriptions  of  the  six  great  organ 
Preludes  and  Fugues  of  Bach. 

Pollini's  productions  consist  chiefly  of  piano 
forte  music,  including  an  elaborate  instruction 
book,  many  solo  pieces,  and  some  for  two  per 
formers.  These  works  are  included  in  the 
catalogue  of  Ricordi,  of  Milan.  Pollini  also 
produced  some  stage  music,  and  a  Stabat  Mater. 
He  was  highly  esteemed — professionally  and 
personally — by  his  contemporaries.  Bellini  de 
dicated  his  '  Sonnarnbula'  '  al  celebre  Francesco 
Pollini.'  The  subject  of  this  notice  died  at  Milan 
in  April  1847.  [H.J.L.] 

POLLY,  a  Ballad-opera,  written  by  John  Gay 
as  a  second  part  of  his  '  Beggar's  Opera.'  When 
about  to  be  rehearsed  a  message  was  received 
from  the  Lord  Chamberlain  that  the  piece  '  was 
not  allowed  to  be  acted  but  commanded  to  be 
suppressed,'  the  prohibition  being  supposed  to 
have  been  instigated  by  Sir  Robert  Walpole, 
who  had  been  satirised  in  '  The  Beggar's  Opera.' 
Failing  to  obtain  a  reversal  of  the  decree  Gay 
had  recourse  to  the  press,  and  in  1729  published 
the  piece  in  4to.,  with  the  tunes  of  the  songs, 
and  a  numerous  list  of  subscribers,  by  which  he 
gained  at  least  as  much  as  he  would  have  done 
by  representation.  Like  most  sequels,  'Polly' 
is  far  inferior  to  the  first  part,  and  when  in  1777 
it  was  produced  at  the  Haymarket  theatre,  with 
alterations  by  the  elder  Colman,  it  was  so  un 
successful  that  it  was  withdrawn  after  a  few 
representations.  It  was  revived  at  the  same 
theatre  June  II,  1782,  and  again  at  Drury  Lane 
(for  Kelly's  benefit),  June  16,  1813.  [W.H.H.] 

POLO  or  OLE,  a  Spanish  dance  accompanied 
by  singing,  which  took  its  origin  in  Andalusia. 
It  is  said  to  be  identical  with  the  Romalis, 
which  is  'danced  to  an  old  religious  Eastern 
tune,  low  and  melancholy,  diatonic,  not  chro 
matic,  and  full  of  sudden  pauses,  which  are 
strange  and  'startling,'  and  is  only  danced  by 
the  Spanish  gipsies.  It  resembles  the  oriental 
dances  in  being  full  of  wild  energy  and  contor 
tions  of  the  body,  while  the  feet  merely  glide  or 
shuffle  along  the  ground.  The  words  ('  coplas ') 
of  these  dances  are  generally  of  a  jocose  char 
acter,  and  differ  from  those  of  the  Seguidilla 
in  wanting  the  ' estrevillo,'  or  refrain;  several 

i  Walter  Thornbury,  'Life  in  Spain.' 


10 


POLO. 


examples  of  them  may  be  found  in  Preciso's 
'Coleccionde  Las  Mejores  Coplasde  Seguidillas, 
Tirauas  y  Polos'  (Madrid,  1816).  They  are 
sung  in  unison  by  a  chorus,  who  mark  the  time 
by  clapping  their  hands.  Some  characteristic 
examples  of  the  music  of  the  Polo  will  be  found  in 
J.  Gansino's  'La  Joya  de  Andalucia'  (Madrid, 
Bomero).  [W.B.S.] 

POLONAISE,  a  stately  dance  of  Polish  origin. 
According  to  Sowinski  ('  Les  Musiciens  Polo- 
nais ')  the  Polonaise  is  derived  from  the  ancient 
Christmas  carols  which  are  still  sung  in  Poland. 
In  support  of  this  theory  he  quotes  a  carol, 
'  W  zlobie  lezy,'  which  contains  the  rhythm  and 
close  characteristic  of  the  dance ;  but  the  fact 
that  although  in  later  times  they  were  accom 
panied  by  singing,  yet  the  earliest  Polonaises 
extant  are  purely  instrumental,  renders  it  more 
probable  than  the  generally  received  opinion  as 
to  their  courtly  origin  is  correct.  According  to 
this  latter  view,  the  Polonaise  originated  under 
the  following  circumstances.  In  15  73,  Henry  III. 
of  Anjou  was  elected  to  the  Polish  throne,  and 
in  the  following  year  held  a  great  reception  at 
Cracow,  at  which  the  wives  of  the  nobles 
marched  in  procession  past  the  throne  to  the 
sound  of  stately  music.  It  is  said  that  after 
this,  whenever  a  foreign  prince  was  elected  to 
the  crown  of  Poland  the  same  ceremony  was 
repeated,  and  that  out  of  it  the  Polonaise  was 
gradually  developed  as  the  opening  dance  at 
court  festivities.  If  this  custom  was  introduced 
by  Henry  III.,  we  may  perhaps  look  upon  the 
Polonaise,  which  is  so  full  of  stateliness,  as  the 
survival  of  the  dignified  Pavans  and  Passomezzos 
which  were  so  much  in  vogue  at  the  French 
court  in  the  I5th  century.  Evidence  is  not 
wanting  to  prove  that  the  dance  was  not  always 
of  so  marked  a  national  character  as  it  assumed 
in  later  times.  Book  vii.  of  Be~sard's  '  The 
saurus  Harmonious  Divini  Laurencini  Romani' 
(Cologne  1603)  consists  of  *  Selectiores  aliquot 
chorese  quas  Allemande  vocant,  germanico  saltui 
maxime  accomodatee,  una  cum  Polonicis  aliquot 
et  aliis  ab  hoc  saltationis  genere  haud  absimi- 
libus,'  and  these  '  chorese  Polonicse '  (which  are 
principally  composed  by  one  Diomedes,  a  natural 
ised  Venetian  at  the  court  of  Sigismund  III.)  ex 
hibit  very  slightly  the  rhythm  and  peculiarities  of 
Polish  national  music.  During  the  1 7th  century, 
although  it  was  no  doubt  during  this  time  that 
it  assumed  the  form  that  was  afterwards  destined 
to  become  so  popular,  the  Polonaise  has  left  no 
mark  upon  musical  history,  and  it  is  not  until 
the  first  half  of  the  iSth  century  that  examples 
of  it  begin  to  occur.1  In  Walther's  Lexicon 
(1732)  no  mention  is  made  of  it,  or  of  any  Polish 
music ;  but  in  Mattheson's  '  Volkommener  Ca- 
pellmeister'  (1739)  we  ^^  ^  (as  *ne  author 
himself  tells  us)  described  for  the  first  time. 
Mattheson  notices  the  spondaic  character  of  the 


i  In  the  Koyal  Library  at  Berlin  there  is  preserved  a  MS.  volume 
•which  bears  the  date  1725,  and  formerly  belonged  to  Bach's  second 
wife,  Anna  Magdalena.  In  it  are  six  Polonaises,  written  in  the 
owner's  autograph ;  but  it  is  improbable  that  they  are  all  of  Se 
bastian  Bach's  composition. 


POLONAISE. 

rhythm,  and  remarks  that  the  music  of  the  Polo 
naise  should  begin  on  the  first  beat  of  the  bar  : 
he  gives  two  examples  (one  in  3-4,  the  other 
in  common  time)  made  by  himself  out  of  the 
chorale  '  Ich  ruf '  zu  dir,  Herr  Jesu  Christ.'  At 
this  time  the  Polonaise  seems  suddenly  to  have 
attained  immense  popularity,  probably  owing  to 
the  intimate  connexion  between  Saxony  and 
Poland  which  was  caused  by  the  election  (1733) 
of  Augustus  III.  to  the  Polish  throne.  In  1 742- 
43  there  was  published  at  Leipzig  a  curious 
little  collection  of  songs  entitled,  '  Sperontes 
Singende  Muse,'  which  contains  many  adapta 
tions  of  Polish  airs  :  in  the  following  example 
(from  the  second  part  of  the  work)  some  of  the 
peculiarities  of  the  Polonaise  may  be  traced. 

i^=S 


rf 


*  • 


w 

Deine     Blicke        Sind  die  Stricke,     All  -  er  -  an  -  ge 


nehmstes  Kind,  Die          die  Liebe        so  bezwingend  nicht 


Nimmt         mehr  Herzen  ein,     Als     des         Mo  -   gols  Macht 


Volk  an  sich  gebracht,  TJnd  der  grOsste  Feldherr     und     Sol  -  dat. 


Noch  zur  Zeit  jemals     be  -  zwungen  hat. 

From  this  time  the  Polonaise  has  always  been 
a  favourite  form  of  composition  with  instru 
mental  composers,  and  has  not  been  without 
influence  on  vocal  music,  especially  in  Italian 
opera.  [SeePoLACCA.]  Bach  wrote  two  Polonaises 
(orchestral  Partita  in  B  minor,  and  French  Suite, 
No.  6),  besides  a  'Polacca'  (Brandenburg  Con 
certos,  No.  i,  Dehn);  and  there  are  also  ex 
amples  by  Handel  (Grand  Concerto,  No.  3,  in 
E  minor),  Beethoven  (op.  89,  Triple  Concerto,  and 
Serenade  Trio,  op.  8),  Mozart  ('Kondeau  Polo 
naise,'  Sonata  in  D  minor),  Schubert  (Polonaises 
for  4  hands),  Weber  (op.  21,  and  the  Polacca 
Brillante,  op.  72),  Wagner  (for  4  hands,  op.  2), 
as  well  as  by  the  Polish  composers  Kurpinski 
and  Ogniski,  and  above  all  by  Chopin,  under 
whose  hands  it  reached  what  is  perhaps  the 
highest  development  possible  for  mere  dance- 
forms.  Attracted  by  its  striking  rhythmical  capa 
bilities,  and  imbued  with  the  deepest  national 
sympathy,  Chopin  animated  the  dry  form  of  the 
old  Polonaise  with  a  new  and  intensely  living 
spirit,  altering  it  as  (in  a  lesser  degree)  he 
altered  the  Waltz  and  the  Mazurka,  and  chang 
ing  it  from  a  mere  dance  into  a  glowing  tone- 


POLONAISE. 


POLSKA. 


11 


picture  of  Poland,  her  departed  glory,  her  many 
wrongs,  and  her  hoped-for  regeneration.  Kara- 
sowski  (Life  of  Chopin,  vol.  ii.)  divides  his 
Polonaises  into  two  classes.  The  first  (which 
includes  those  in  A  major,  op.  40,  No.  i ;  F$ 
minor,  op.  44,  and  Ab  major,  op.  53)  is  charac 
terised  by  strong  and  martial  rhythm,  and  may 
be  taken  to  represent  the  feudal  court  of  Poland 
in  the  days  of  its  splendour.  The  second  class 
(including  the  Polonaises  in  Cjf  minor  and 
Eb  minor,  op.  26  ;  in  C  minor,  op.  40,  No.  2  ; 
in  D  minor,  Bb  major  and  F  minor,  op.  71)  is 
distinguished  by  dreamy  melancholy,  and  forms 
a  picture  of  Poland  in  her  adversity.  The 
Fantaisie  Polonaise  (Ab  major,  op.  61)  is  dif 
ferent  in  character  to  both  classes,  and  is  said 
to  represent  the  national  struggles  ending  with 
a  song  of  triumph. 

As  a  dance,  the  Polonaise  is  of  little  interest : 
it  consists  of  a  procession  in  which  both  old  and 
young  take  part,  moving  several  times  round  the 
room  in  solemn  order.  It  does  not  depend  upon 
the  execution  of  any  particular  steps,  although 
it  is  said  to  have  been  formerly  danced  with 
different  figures,  something  like  the  English 
country  dances.  It  still  survives  in  Germany, 
and  is  danced  at  the  beginning  of  all  court  balls. 
In  Mecklenburg  a  sort  of  degenerate  Polonaise 
is  sometimes  danced  at  the  end  of  the  evening ; 
it  is  called  '  Der  Auskehr'  ('The  Turn-out'), 
and  consists  in  a  procession  of  the  whole  com 
pany  through  the  house,  each  person  being  armed 
with  some  household  utensil,  and  singing  in 
chorus  '  Un  as  de  Grotvare  de  Grotmoder  nahm.' 
[See  GROSSVATEK  TANZ.] 

The  tempo  of  the  Polonaise  is  that  of  a  march, 
played  between  Andante  and  Allegro :  it  is 
nearly  always  written  in  3-4  time,1  and  should 
always  begin  on  the  first  beat  of  the  bar.  It 
generally  consists  of  two  parts,  sometimes  fol 
lowed  by  a  trio  in  a  different  key  ;  the  number 
of  bars  in  each  part  is  irregular.  The  chief 
peculiarity  of  the  Polonaise  consists  in  the  strong 
emphasis  falling  repeatedly  on  the  half-beat  of 
the  bar,  the  first  beat  generally  consisting  of  a 
quaver  followed  by  a  crotchet  (see  the  Polo 
naise  given  below).  Another  peculiarity  is 
that  the  close  takes  place  on  the  third  beat, 
often  preceded  by  a  strong  accent  on  the  second 
beat.  The  last  bar  should  properly  consist  of 
four  semiquavers,  the  last  of  which  should  fall  on 
the  major  seventh,  and  be  repeated  before  the 
concluding  chord,  thus : 


:p==!= 


The  accompaniment  generally  consists  of  quavers 
and  semiquavers  in  the  following  rhythm  : 

r  r  r  r 


The  following  example,  although  not  conforming 
entirely  with  the  above  rules,  is  nevertheless 
interesting  as  a  genuine  Polonaise  danced  and 

i  Mattheson  says  it  may  be  written  in  common  time. 


sung  at  weddings  in  the  district  of  Krzeszowice 
in  Poland  at  the  present  day. 


' 


Poja  7  lem  sobie       nieprzeplacona,        Ksiedza  plebana 


ryf^f  ,  |  J  j  JpJb 

|CJ  ^_tJ4-i— ug 


siostrg  rodgona.    Dal  ci  mi  tyle    da  tyle  wiana,  ocipke     sloniny 


i  wiaz  kg  siana.  Moji    sa        siedzi          osadz    cie    lepiej. 


niechze  mi  choc  da  zagonek   rzepy.2 


The  notes  printed  in  small  type  are  variations 
of  the  tune  which  are  performed  in  some  dis 
tricts.  [W.B.S.] 

POLONINI,  ENTIMIO,  a  singer  who  began 
his  career  in  England  April  13,  1847,  a^  Covent 
Garden  as  Eaimondo  in  'Lucia,'  with  fair  suc 
cess,  and  displayed  '  a  very  sonorous  voice  which 
told  well  in  the  concerted  music.'3  He  next 
played,  May  8,  De  Fiesque,  on  the  production 
in  England  of  Donizetti's  'Maria  di  Bob  an,' 
Fiorello  ('II  Barbiere'),  Antonio  ('Le  Nozze') 
etc.  'He  has  a  fine  bass  voice  and  sings  like 
a  thorough  musician.'4  For  the  space  of  21 
years  he  sang  at  the  Royal  Italian  Opera,  and 
proved  of  great  service  in  small  but  not  altogether 
unimportant  parts,  besides  the  above,  such  as, 
Masetto,  II  Ministro  (Fidelio),  Melcthal,  Mathi- 
sen  (Prophete)'  Alberto  (La  Juive),  Borella 
(Masaniello)  etc.,  and  occasionally  in  those  of 
more  importance,  with  success,  viz.  Orbazzano 
and  Alidoro,  on  the  revivals  of  '  Tancredi,'  '  La 
Cenerentola/  Leporello,  St.  Bris,  etc.  The  rest  of 
the  year  he  was  engaged  either  at  Paris,  or  St. 
Petersburg,  etc.  The  enumeration  of  his  parts  is 
sufficient  to  show  that  Signer  Polonini,  in  addition 
to  his  good  qualities  as  a  singer,  was  a  versatile 
actor.  He  was  characterised  by  Mr .  Chorley  as '  one 
of  the  most  valuable  artists  of  a  second  class  ever 
possessed  by  a  theatre.'  He  has  for  some  years 
retired  from  public  life.  A  son  of  his,  ALES- 
SANDRO,  a  baritone,  has  appeared  in  Italy  and 
elsewhere.  [A.C.] 

POLSKA,  a  national  Swedish  dance,  popular 
in  West  Gothland,  something  like  a  Scotch  reel 
in  character.  Polskas  are  usually  written  in 
minor  keys,  although  they  are  occasionally  found 
in  the  major.  The  example  which  is  given  below 
('  Neckens  Polska ')  is  well  known,  as  Ambroise 

2  Translation:—!  have  taken  for  my  wife  the  reverend  Parson's 
own  sister.  He  gave  me  as  her  marriage  portion  a  piece  of  bacon  and 
a  bundle  of  hay.  My  neighbours,  what  do  you  think  ?  The  fellow 
has  refused  to  give  me  even  a  little  plot  of  land  sown  with  turnips. 

J  '  Musical  World,'  April  17, 1847.  4  Ib.  Aug.  21, 1847. 


12 


POLSKA. 


Thomas  has  introduced  it  in  Ophelia's  mad  scene 
in  'Hamlet.'  Other  examples  will  be  found  in 
Ahlstrom's  '  Walda  Svenska  Folksanga '  (Stock 
holm,  1850). 


•*-*- 


[W.B.S.] 

POLYEUCTE.  Opera  in  5  acts ;  the  words 
(founded  on  Corneille's  tragedy)  by  Barbier  and 
Carre',  the  music  by  Gounod.  Produced  at  the 
Opera,  Paris,  October  7,  1878.  The  name  is  the 
same  as  POLIUTO.  [G,] 

^  POLYPHONIA  (Eng.  Polyphony,  from  the 
Gr.  TTO\.VS,  many,  </>o>i/7),  a  voice).  A  term  ap 
plied,  by  modern  Musical  Historians,  to  a  cer 
tain  species  of  unaccompanied  Vocal  Music,  in 
which  each  Voice  is  made  to  sing  a  Melody 
of  its  own;  the  various  Parts  being  bound 
together,  in  obedience  to  the  laws  of  Counter 
point,  into  an  harmonious  whole,  wherein  it  is 
impossible  to  decide  which  Voice  has  the  most 
important  task  allotted  to  it,  since  all  are 
equally  necessary  to  the  general  effect.  It  is  in 
this  well-balanced  equality  of  the  several  Parts 
that  Polyphonia  differs  from  Monodia ;  in 
which  the  Melody  is  given  to  one  Part  only, 
while  supplementary  Voices  and  Instruments 
are  simply  used  to  fill  up  the  Harmony.  ("See 
MONODIA.] 

The  development  of  Polyphony  from  the  first 
rude  attempts  at  Diaphonia,  Discant,  or  Orga- 
num,   described  by  Franco   of  Cologne,   Guido 
d'Arezzo,  and  others,  was  so  perfectly  natural, 
that,  notwithstanding  the  slowness  of  its  progress, 
we  can  scarcely  regard  the  results  it  eventually 
attained  in  any  other  light  than  that  of  an  in 
evitable   consequence.     The   first   quest   of  the 
Musicians   who    invented    <  Part  -Singing '   was 
some  method  of  making  a  Second  Voice   sing 
notes  which,  though  not  identical  with  those  of 
the  Canto  fermo,  would  at  least  be  harmonious 
with  them.     While  searching  for  this,  they  dis 
covered  the  use  of  one  Interval  after  another, 
and  employed  their  increased  knowledge  to  so  good 
purpose,  that,  before  long,  they  were  able  to  assign 
to  the  Second  Voice  a  totally  independent  Part. 
It  is  true,  that,  to  our  ears,  the  greater  number  of 
their  progressions  are  intolerable ;  less,  however, 
because  they  mistook  the  character  of  the  Inter 
vals  they  employed,  than  because  they  did  not 


POLYPHONIA. 

at  first  understand  the  proper  method  of  using 
them  in  succession.  They  learned  this  in  course 
of  time ;  and,  discarding  their  primitive  Sequences 
of  Fifths  and  Fourths,  attained  at  last  the  power 
of  bringing  two  Voice  parts  into  really  harmoni 
ous  relation  with  each  other.  The  rate  of  their 
progress  may  be  judged  by  the  two  following 
examples,  the  first  of  which  is  from  a  MS.  of 
the  end  of  the  nth  or  beginning  of  the  I2th 
century,  in  the  Ambrosian  Collection  at  Milan ; 
and  the  second,  from  one  of  the  I4th,  in  the  Paris 
Library. 

(i)  llth  or  12th  cent. 


(2) 


yi   h  o 

1 

|(1V      :> 

r^ 

3 

22                        <^ 

3 

VSl/ 

^iJ 

^^) 

J 

Mi  -  ra        le  - 

ge, 

mi  -  ro     mo  -  do,    De 

-US 

*Y 

"•  i     O 

f-^ 

-'  -  (j   & 

1  

1 

1  — 

3  — 

\\ 

i 

B" 

f^     • 

£? 
for  - 

mat 

"T"  "^  :s: 

ho  -  mi  -  nem. 

c-i                 '^       F-*      "^       H 

-+-«  — 

1  H  

II 

Now,  in  both  these  cases,  the  two  Parts  are  equally 
melodious.  There  are  no  long  chains  of  reiterated 
notes,  merely  introduced,  as  Guido  would  have 
introduced  them,  for  the  purpose  of  supporting 
the  Melody  upon  a  Pedal-Point  :  but,  each  Part 
has  its  own  work  to  do ;  and  it  cannot  fairly  be 
said  that  one  is  more  important  than  the  other. 
[See  ORGANTJM.]  Equal  care  was  taken  to  pre 
serve  an  absolutely  independent  Melody,  in  each 
several  Part,  when,  at  a  later  period,  Composers  at 
tempted  the  production  of  Motets,  and  other  similar 
works,  in  three  and  four  Parts.  We  find  no 
less  pains  bestowed  upon  the  Melody  of  the  Tri- 
plum,1  in  such  cases,  than  upon  that  of  the 
Tenor,  or  Motetus ;  and  very  rarely  indeed  does 
the  one  exhibit  more  traces  of  archaic  stiffness 
than  the  other.  The  following  example  from 
a  Mass  composed  by  Guillaume  de  Machault 
for  the  Coronation  of  Charles  V,  in  the  year 
1364,  shews  a  remarkable  freedom  of  Melody — 
for  the  time — in  all  the  Parts. 

A  Triplum. 


f\       (~\                  J 

4b-U_ 

»^  Motetus.  M 
Et 

in 

TgTg-^ 

Contratenor. 

^§1     ^^ 

pax. 

t—            ^^"^ 

1  That  is,  the  Third  Part— whence  our  English  word,  Treble.  The 
Fourth  Part  was  sometimes  called  Quadruplum,  and  the  'Fifth 
Quincuplum.  The  principal  part,  containing  the  Canto  fermo  was 
sometimes  called  Tenor,  and  sometimes  Motetus.  The  term  Contra- 
tenor  was  applied  to  the  part  which  lay  nearest  the  Tenor,  whether 
immediately  above,  immediately  below,  or  exactly  of  equal  compass 
with  it.  This  part  was  also  frequently  called  Medius. 


POLYPHONIA. 


POLYPHONIA. 


13 


b 

!      i 

IT          i     i 

1          J 

5C         p—  ^ 

J    •    •    J 

^             •      • 

1 

<ZJ               tl    9          m 

ii                    ~     •        .  I-TI 

>in  - 

jfgf 

1XT31— 

J      I     ! 

-0                              ^         • 

—V5><-- 

s*<             «          ' 

•  .—  —  j                                hZi 

\-              k"1 

b 

| 

1        i               i        1 

b 

^        *    •    J 

J 

i  i    i 

CG3            3CZ22 

-s>- 
-  nse     vo  - 

~&r&"&"F~ 
Ib     1        Ib     ' 
lun  -  ta  -  tis. 

]     J        J 

f^i 

Lau  -  damus       Te,        etc. 

>TJ      £?      >T3       .  — 

^-^     *--i                   i 

S     B£    *  .      s: 

&      P      &      P 

|C5      1-    •       « 

Rude  as  this  is,  it  manifests  a  laudable  de 
sire  for  the  attainment  of  that  melodious  motion 
of  the  separate  Parts,  which,  not  long  after  the 
death  of  its  Composer,  became  the  distinguishing 
characteristic  of  mediaeval  Music.  With  all  their 
stiffness,  and  strange  predilection  for  combina 
tions  now  condemned  as  intolerable,  we  cannot 
but  see  that  the  older  writers  did  their  best  to 
provide  every  Singer  with  an  interesting  Part. 
Nevertheless,  true  Polyphony,  was  not  yet  in 
vented.  For  that,  it  was  necessary,  not  only 
that  every  Voice  should  sing  a  melodious  strain ; 
but,  that  each  should  take  its  share  in  the 
elucidation  of  one  single  idea,  not  singing  for 
itself  alone,  but  answering  its  fellow  Voices,  and 
commenting,  as  it  were,  upon  the  passages  sung 
by  them.  In  other  words,  it  was  necessary  that 
every  voice  should  take  up  a  given  Subject, 
and  assist  in  developing  it  into  a  Fugue,  or 
Canon,  or  other  kind  of  composition  for  which 
it  might  be  best  suited.  This  was  the  one 
great  end  and  aim  of  true  Polyphony;  and, 
for  the  practical  realisation  of  the  idea,  we  are 
undoubtedly  indebted  to  the  Great  Masters  of 
the  early  Flemish  School,  to  whose  ingenuity 
we  owe  the  invention  of  some  of  the  most  attrac 
tive  forms  of  Imitation  and  Fugal  Device  on  re 
cord.  The  following  quotation  from  a  '  Chanson 
a  trois  voix'  by  one  of  the  earliest  of  them, 
Antonius  Busnois,  who  is  known  to  have  been 
employed  as  a  Singer  in  the  Chapel  of  Charles 
the  Bold,  Duke  of  Burgundy,  in  the  year  1467, 
will  serve  to  shew  the  enormous  strides  that  Art 
was  making  in  the  right  direction. 

Triplum. 


y  '        .y— 

i  1  1  r 

1                    ) 

^  —  f 

Tenor. 

:):,(*     ^. 

suis      venut      vers         mon 

'       £-.     r~^>     F^\     f-f  -  ^  ]£ 

Je     suis 

^  b  v  —  —  -^- 

Contratenor. 

1  1  

*  m^ 

ve  -  nut    vei 

—  ~^      ^^~    f^ 

s         a         mon  a  -my     etc. 

Here  we  see  a  regular  Subject  started  by  the 
lenor,  and  answered  by  the  Triplurn,  note  for 

note,  with  a  clearness  which  at  once  shews  the 
unity  of  the  Composer's  design.  When  this  stage 
was  reached  the  Polyphonic  School,  may  be  said 
to  have  been  fairly  established ;  and  it  only  re 
mained  to  bring  out  its  resources  by  aid  of  the 
genius  of  the  great  writers  who  practised  it.  The 
list  of  these  Masters  is  a  long  one ;  but  certain 
names  stand  out  before  all  others,  as  borne  by  men 
whose  labours  have  left  an  indelible  impression 
upon  the  Schools  to  which  they  belonged.  Of 
these  men,  Guillaume  Dufay  was  one,  and  Ocken- 
heim  another;  but  the  greatest  genius  of  the  I5th 
century  was  undoubtedly  Josquin  des  Prds,  the  in 
genuity  of  whose  contrupuntal  devices  has  never 
been  exceeded.  Uberto  Waelrant,  Jacques  Arch- 
adelt,  and  Adrian  Willaert,  wrote  in  simpler 
form,  but  bequeathed  to  their  successors  an 
amount  of  delicate  expression  which  was  turned 
to  excellent  account  by  their  scholars  in  Italy. 
Their  gentler  fervour  was  eagerly  caught  up 
by  Costanzo  Festa,  Giovanni  Croce,  Luca  Ma- 
renzio,  and  a  host  of  others  whos.e  talents  were 
scarcely  inferior  to  theirs  ;  while,  facile  prin- 
ceps,  Palestrina  rose  above  them  all,  and  clothed 
Polyphony  with  a  beauty  so  inimitable,  that 
his  name  has  been  bestowed  upon  the  School  as 
freely  as  if  he  had  lived  in  the  1 5th  century  to 
inaugurate  it. 

A  careful  study  of  the  works  of  this  great 
writer  will  shew  that,  when  regarded  from  a 
purely  technical  point  of  view,  their  greatest 
merit  lies  in  the  strictness  with  which  the  Poly 
phonic  principle  has  been  carried  out,  in  their 
development.  Of  course,  their  real  excellence 
lies  in  the  genius  which  dictated  them :  but, 
setting  this  aside,  and  examining  merely  their 
mechanical  structure,  we  find,  not  only  that 
every  Part  is  necessary  to  the  well-being  of  the 
whole,  but,  that  it  is  absolutely  impossible  to  say 
in  which  Part  the  chief  interest  of  the  Com 
position  is  concentrated.  In  this  respect,  Pales 
trina  has  carried  out,  to  their  legitimate  con 
clusion,  the  principles  we  laid  down  in  the 
beginning  of  our  article,  as  those  upon  which 
the  very  existence  of  Polyphony  depended.  It 
would  seem  impossible  that  Art  could  go  beyond 
this ;  and,  in  this  particular  direction,  it  never  has 
gone  beyond  it.  It  is  impossible,  now,  even  to 
guess  what  would  have  happened  had  the  Poly 
phonic  School  been  cultivated,  in  the  1 7th 
century,  with  the  zeal  which  was  brought  to 
bear  upon  it  in  the  i6th.  That  it  was  not  so 
cultivated  is  a  miserable  fact  which  can  never  be 
sufficiently  deplored.  Palestrina  died  in  1594; 
and,  as  early  as  the  year  1600,  his  work  was 
forgotten,  and  its  greatest  triumphs  contemned 
as  puerilities.  Monteverde  sapped  the  founda 
tions  of  the  School  by  his  contempt  for  contra 
puntal  laws.  Instrumental  Accompaniment  was 
substituted  for  the  ingenuity  of  pure  vocal 
writing.  The  Choir  was  sacrificed  to  the  Stage. 
And,  before  many  years  had  passed,  the  Poly 
phonic  School  was  known  no  more,  and  Monodia 
reigned  triumphant.  Happily,  the  laws  to  which 
Palestrina  yielded  his  willing  obedience,  and  to 
the  action  of  which  his  Music  owes  so  much  of 


14 


POLYPHONIA. 


its  outward  and  technical  value,  are  as  well 
understood  now  as  in  the  days  in  which  he 
practised  them.  There  is,  therefore,  no  reason 
why  the  practice  of  the  purest  Polyphony  should 
not,  some  day,  be  revived  among  us.  We  see 
but  little  promise  of  such  a  consummation  at  the 
present  moment;  but  it  is  something  to  know 
that  it  is  not  impossible.  [W.S.R.] 

POMPOSO,  'pompously,'  is  used  by  Schumann 
in  the  Humoreske,  op.  20,  for  pianoforte.  He 
marks  the  last  movement  but  one  '  Mit  einigem 
Pomp,'  or  'Un  poco  pomposo.'  Handel  had 
employed  the  term  a  century  before  in  the  first 
movement  of  the  overture  to  Samson.  It  is  also 
used  by  Sterndale  Bennett  as  the  title  of  the  trio 
in  the  Symphony  G-  minor,  op.  43.  [J.A.F.M.] 

PONCHIELLI,  AMILCAKE,  was  born  at 
Paderno  Fasolaro,  Cremona,  Sept.  I,  1834.  In 
Nov.  1843  he  entered  the  Conservatorio  of  Milan, 
and  remained  there  till  Sept.  1854.  Two  years 
afterwards,  on  Aug.  30,  1856,  he  was  able  to 
produce  at  the  Concordia  at  Cremona  his  first 
opera,  '  I  promessi  Sposi.'  His  next  were  '  La 
Savojarda,'  Cremona,  Jan.  19,  1861  ;  'Roderico,' 
Piacenza,  1864 ;  and  '  La  Stella  del  Monte,' 
in  1867.  Hitherto  Signor  Ponchielli's  reputa 
tion  had  been  confined  to  the  provinces;  but  in 
1872  he  was  fortunate  enough  to  find  an  oppor 
tunity  of  coming  before  the  general  public  at 
the  opening  of  the  New  Theatre  '  Dal  Verme ' 
at  Milan,  where  his  'Promessi  Sposi'  was  per 
formed  Dec.  5.  He  rewrote  a  considerable  por 
tion  of  the  opera  for  the  occasion,  and  its  success 
was  immediate  and  complete.  The  managers 
of  the  theatre  of  '  La  Scala '  at  Milan  at  once 
commissioned  him  to  write  a  ballet,  '  Le  due 
Gemelle/  which  was  produced  there  Feb.  1873, 
received  with  frantic  enthusiasm,  and  immedi 
ately  published  (Ricordi).  This  was  followed 
by  a  ballet,  '  Clarina'  (Dal  Verme,  Sept.  1873)  ; 
a  ('  Scherzo '  or  comedy,  '  II  parlatore  eterno ' 
'  Lecco,  Oct.  18,  1873);  and  a  piece  in  3  acts, 
'  I  Lituani,'  given  with  immense  success  at  the 
Scala,  March  7,  1874.  In  the  following  year  he 
wrote  a  cantata  for  the  reception  of  the  remains 
of  Donizetti  and  Simone  Mayr  at  Bergamo,  a 
work  of  some  extent  and  importance,  which  was 
performed  there  Sept.  13,  1875.  On  April  8, 
1876,  he  produced  a  new  opera  at  the  Scala 
called  '  Gioconda,'  with  the  same  success  as 
before;  and  on  Nov.  17,  1877,  he  gave  at  the 
'Dal  Verme,'  the  scene  of  his  first  triumph,  a 
3-act  piece  called  'Lina,'  which  was  a  r6chauff& 
of  his  early  opera  '  La  Savojarda,'  and  does  not 
appear  to  have  pleased.  His  last  opera,  '  II 
Figliuol  prodigo,'  was  produced  at  the  Scala, 
Dec.  26,  1880,  with  astonishing  success. 

Signor  Ponchielli  is  married  to  Teresina  Bram- 
billa,  a  singer,  and  a  member  of  the  musical 
family  of  that  name.  He  enjoys  a  position 
in  Italy  second  only  to  Verdi,  whose  successor 
he  is  universally  regarded  as  being.  Out  of 
Italy  his  works  have  as  yet  hardly  begun  to 
penetrate.  In  England,  the  '  Danze  delle  Ore,' 
some  brilliant  and  elegant  ballet  music  from  his 


PONS. 

'  Gioconda,'  played  at  the  Crystal  Palace,  Oct.  25, 
1879,  and  a  selection  from  'Le  due  Gemelle,' 
also  played  at  the  Crystal  Palace,  Nov.  5,  1880, 
are  probably  the  only  productions  of  his  that  have 
been  heard  in  public. 

The  above  notice  is  indebted  to  Paloschi's  '  An- 
nuario '  and  Pougin's  Supplement  to  Fe*tis.  [G.] 

PONIATOWSKI,  JOSEPH  MICHAEL  XAVIER 
FRANCIS  JOHN — nephew  of  the  Prince  Poniatow- 
ski  who  was  a  marshal  of  the  French  army  and  died 
in  the  battle  of  Leipzig,  Oct.  19, 1812,  and  whose 
portrait  was  found  by  Mendelssohn  at  Wyler1 
inscribed  '  Brinz  Baniadofsgi ' — Prince  of  Monte 
Rotondo,  born  at  Rome,  Feb.  20,  1816.  He 
devoted  himself  so  entirely  to  music  that  he  can 
hardly  be  called  an  amateur.  He  regularly 
attended  the  musical  classes  at  the  Lyce'e  at 
Florence,  and  also  studied  under  Ceccherini.  He 
made  his  de*but  at  the  Pergola,  Florence,  as  a 
tenor  singer ;  produced  his  first  opera, '  Giovanni 
da  Procida' — in  which  he  sang  the  title  role — at 
Lucca  in  1838,  and  from  that  time  for  more  than 
30  years  supplied  the  theatres  of  Italy  and  Paris 
with  a  large  number  of  operas.  After  the  Revo 
lution  of  48  he  settled  in  Paris  as  plenipotentiary 
of  the  .Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany,  and  was  made 
Senator  under  the  Empire.  After  Sedan  he  fol 
lowed  his  friend  Napoleon  III.  to  England,  pro 
duced  his  opera  'Gelmina'  at  Covent  Garden, 
June  4,  1872,  his  operetta  *  Au  travers  du  mur' 
at  St.  George's  Hall,  June  6,  1873,  and  selections 
from  his  Mass  in  F  at  Her  Majesty's  Theatre, 
June  27, 1873,  and  died  July  3  of  the  same  year. 
He  was  buried  at  Chislehurst. 

His  operas  are  'Giovanni  da  Procida'  (Florence 
and  Lucca  1838);  'Don  Desiderio'  (Pisa  1839, 
Paris  1858);  'Ruy  Bias'  (Lucca  1842);  'Boni- 
fazio'  (Rome  1844);  'I  Lambertazzi'  (Florence 
1845) ;  '  Malek  Adel'  (Genoa  1846) ;  '  Esmeralda' 
(Leghorn  1847);  'La  Sposa  d'Abido'  (Venice 
1847);  'Pierre  de' Medicis'  (Paris  1860);  'Au 
travers  du  mur'  (Ibid.  1861);  '  L' A  venturier ' 
(Ibid.  1865);  'La  Contessina'  (Ibid.  1868). 

His  music  evinces  much  melody  and  knowledge 
of  the  voice,  considerable  familiarity  with  stage 
effect,  fluency  and  power  of  sustained  writing 
— everything  in  short  but  genius  and  indivi 
duality.  His  manners  were  remarkably  simple 
and  affable,  and  he  was  beloved  by  all  who  knew 
him.  [G.C.] 

PONS,  JOSE,  a  Spanish  musician,  born  at 
Gerona,  Catalonia,  in  1768.  He  studied  under 
Balins,  chapel-inaster  at  Cordova.  Pons  was 
chapel-master  of  the  cathedral  of  his  native  town, 
a  post  which  he  left  for  that  at  Valentia,  where  he 
died  in  1818.  He  is  distinguished  for  his  Vilhan- 
cicos  or  Christmas  pieces,  a  kind  of  oratorios  for 
voices  with  orchestra  or  organ,  which  are  said  to 
be  still  extensively  performed  in  his  own  country. 
He  wrote  also  Misereres  for  the  Holy  Week. 
Eslava  (Liro  Sacro-hispana  iv.)  gives  a  'Letrida' 
of  his,  '  0  madre, '  for  8  voices,  and  characterises 
him  as  the  typical  composer  of  the  Catalan  school, 
as  opposed  to  that  of  Valencia.  [G.] 

i  Letter,  Aug.  9, 1831. 


PONTE. 

PONTE,  LORENZO  DA,1  the  elegant  poet  who 
wrote  the  words  for  three  of  Mozart's  operas — 
Figaro,  Don  Giovanni,  and  Cosl  fan  tutte — was 
born  at  Ceneda,  in  the  Venetian  States,  March 
10,  1749.    He  borrowed  his  name  from  a  bishop, 
his  benefactor,  but  was  the  child  of  very  poor 
parents,    and   was   left   without   any  education 
till  he  was  fourteen.     He  was  then  allowed  to 
enter  the  Seminary  of  his  native  town,  and  after 
studying  five  years  went  to  Venice  to  seek  his 
fortune  by  the  aid  of  his  pen.     In  this  gay  city, 
the  home  of  theatres  and  every  kind  of  pleasure, 
he  had  a  number  of  amorous  adventures,  and 
was  at  last  obliged  to  escape  to  Treviso,  where  he 
was  appointed  professor  of  rhetoric.     But  having 
spoken  against  the  government  of  the  Republic, 
he  was  ordered  to  leave.     He  then  took  refuge 
in  Vienna,  where  Salieri2  presented  him  to  the 
Emperor  Joseph  II.,  who  made  him  court  poet  in 
place  of  Metastasio  recently  deceased.    Here,  not 
withstanding  the  difference  of  their  characters,  he 
became  an  intimate  friend  of  Mozart,  and  wrote 
the  libretti  for  the  three  operas  above  named. 
Michael  Kelly,  then  in  Vienna,  says3  that  he  was 
a  great  coxcomb,  supposed  to  be  originally  a  Jew 
who  had  turned  Christian  and  dubbed  himself 
an  abbe".     After  the  death  of  the  Emperor,  Feb. 
•20,  I79°>  he  was  obliged  to  quit  Vienna,  and  at 
Trieste  married  an  English  lady.     Finding  no 
prospect  of  permanent  employment  in  Austria, 
he  took  his  wife  to  Paris  in  August  1792.     Bat 
Paris  was  then  too  stormy  for  him,  and  he  soon 
left  for  London.     Here  he  became  a  favourite 
teacher  of  the  Italian  language,  and  was   ap 
pointed  poet  to  the  Italian  Opera,  then  under 
Taylor's  management.     As  part  of  his  duty  he 
travelled  in  Italy  in  1798*  in  search  of  singers. 
In  1 80 1  he  took  a  part  of  Domenico  Corri's  music 
shop  to  sell  Italian  books,  but  this  soon  ended  in 
pecuniary  difficulties.     He  was  in  the  habit  of 
getting  bills  discounted  for  Taylor,  and  was  im 
prudent  enough  to  endorse  them,  thus  making 
himself  liable  for  several  thousand  pounds.     As 
Taylor  was  not   accustomed  to  pay  his  debts, 
Da  Ponte  naturally  got  into  great  difficulties, 
and  his  only  resource  was  to  join  his  wife  at 
New  York.     So  on  March  5,  i8o3,5  this  strange 
man  sailed  for  America,  and  after  a  miserable 
passage  of  86  days  arrived  at  Philadelphia  en 
route  to  New  York.     Here  he  was  unsuccessful 
as  a  dealer  in  tea,  tobacco,  and  drugs,  but  became 
a  great  favourite  as  professor  of  Italian.     In  1 8 1 1 
he  wenttoSunbury  (Pennsylvania)  to  manufacture 
liqueurs,  but  as  usual  lost  his  money,  and  returned 
to  his  pupils  at  New  York.     He  now  began  to 
feel  the  weight  of  years  and  the  disrepute  into 
which  his  conduct  had  brought  him,  when  in 
1826   Manuel  Garcia   arrived  with   his  family 
in  New  York.    Though  they  had  never  met,  Da 

1  -In  his  autobiography  ('  Memorie  di  L.  da  Ponte,'  New  York  1829-30) 
he  spells  his  name  thus,  and  so  do  all  other  writers,  except  M.  de  la 
Chavanne,  his  translator  ('Memoires  de  L.  d'Aponte,'  Paris  1860). 

2  P.  Scudo,  in  his  charming  account  of  Da  Ponte  and  society  in 
Venice  in  the  18th  century  ('  Critique  et  Litte'rature  Musicales,'  Paris 
1856),  says  Sarti,  but  Da  Ponte  in  his  autobiography  says  Salieri. 

3  'Reminiscences,'  London  1826. 

*  Date  in  Meyer's  'Grosses  Conversations  Lexicon,'  Hilburghausen 
1850. 
5  Mendel, '  Musikalisches  Conversations  Lexicon,'  says  1805. 


POPPER. 


15 


Ponte  rushed  to  Garcia's  lodgings,  and  announced 
himself  as  '  Da  Ponte,  author  of  the  libretto  of 
Don  Giovanni,  and  the  friend  of  Mozart.'  Garcia 
embraced  the  poet,  singing  'Fin  ch'  han  dal 
vino,'  and  ultimately  the  opera  was  performed 
at  New  York,  Garcia  playing  the  part  of  Don 
Giovanni,  and  his  daughter  (afterwards  Madame 
Malibran)  that  of  Zerlina.  This  was  the  last 
happy  day  for  Da  Ponte.  He  died  at  New  York 
August  17,  1838,  aged  89,  neglected  and  in  the 
deepest  misery.  [V.  de  P.] 

PONTICELLO  (Ital.  for  the  bridge  of  a 
stringed  instrument)  or  '  STJL  PONTICELLO  ' — a 
term  indicating  that  a  passage  on  the  violin, 
tenor,  or  violoncello,  is  to  be  played  by  crossing 
the  strings  with  the  bow  close  to  the  bridge.  In 
this  way  the  vibration  of  the  string  is  partially 
stopped,  and  a  singular  hissing  sound  produced. 
It  occurs  in  solo  pieces  as  well  as  in  concerted 
music.  The  closing  passage  of  the  Presto,  No.  5 
of  Beethoven's  Quartet  in  Cfl  minor,  op.  131,  is  a 
well-known  instance.  [P-D.] 

PONTIFICAL  CHOIR.   See  SISTINB  CHOIR. 

POOLE,  ELIZABETH,  a  very  favourite  English 
actress  and  mezzo-soprano  singer,  born  in  London 
April  5,  1820,  made  her  first  appearance  in  a 
pantomime  at  the  Olympic  Theatre  in  1827,  and 
continued  for  some  years  to  play  children's  parts — 
Duke  of  York  to  Kean's  Richard;  Albert  to 
Macready's  Tell ;  Ariel,  etc.  In  1834  she  came 
out  in  opera  at  Drury  Lane,  as  the  Page  in 
'Gustavus';  in  1839  visited  the  United  States 
and  sang  in  '  Sonnambula '  and  other  operas  ; 
in  1841  was  engaged  by  Mr.  Bunn  for  his  English 
operas  at  Drury  Lane.  Here  she  sang  many 
parts,  especially  Lazarillo  in  'Maritana.'  At 
the  same  time  her  ballads  and  songs  were  highly 
popular  at  concerts,  both  in  London  and  the  Pro 
vinces.  Miss  Poole  appeared  at  the  Philhar 
monic,  June  15,  1846.  She  was  a  leading  singer 
in  the  operas  brought  out  at  the  Surrey  Theatre 
by  Miss  Homer,  in  1852,  where  she  sang  in  '  The 
Daughter  of  the  Regiment,  "Huguenots, 'etc.,  and 
was  also  much  engaged  by  Charles  Kean,  F.  Chat- 
terton,  and  German  Reed.  Miss  Poole  (then  Mrs. 
Bacon)  retired  from  public  life  in  1870,  and  is  still 
living.  She  was  a  clever,  indefatigable,  artist, 
always  to  be  relied  upon.  Her  voice  was  good, 
extensive,  and  very  mellow  and  sympathetic  in 
quality  ;  her  repertoire  in  opera  was  very  large, 
and  in  English  songs  and  ballads  she  had  no 
rival.  Her  portrait  is  preserved  in  the  collection 
of  the  Garrick  Club.  [G.] 

POOLE,  Miss.  See  DICKONS,  MBS.,  vol.  i. 
p.  444  6. 

POPPER,  DAVID,  born  June  18,  1846,  at 
Prague,  in  the  Conservatorium  of  which  place  he 
received  his  musical  education.  He  learnt  the 
violoncello  under  Goltermann,  and  soon  gave 
evidence  of  the  possession  of  a  remarkable  talent. 
In  1863  he  made  his  first  musical  tour  in  Ger 
many,  and  quickly  rose  to  very  high  rank  as 
a  player.  In  the  course  of  the  journey  he  met 
von  Billow,  who  was  charmed  with  his  playing, 


16 


POPPER. 


POKPOPvA. 


performed  with  him  in  public,  and  induced  Prince 
Hohenzollern  to  make  him  his  '  Kammervirtuos.' 
Popper  afterwards  extended  his  tour  to  Holland, 
Switzerland,  and  England.  At  the  festival 
conducted  by  Liszt  at  Carlsruhe  in  1 864,  he  was 
allowed  to  be  the  best  of  all  the  solo-players.  In 
1867  he  played  for  the  first  time  in  Vienna, 
where  he  was  made  first  solo-player  at  the  Hof- 
oper,  a  post,  however,  which  he  resigned  after  a 
few  years,  that  he  might  continue  his  concert 
tours  on  a  great  scale.  His  tone  is  large  and  full 
of  sentiment ;  his  execution  highly  finished,  and 
his  style  classical.  His  compositions  are  eminently 
suited  to  the  instrument,  and  are  recognised  as 
such  by  the  first  living  cello-players.  His  most 
popular  pieces  are  the  Sarabande  and  Gavotte 
(op.  10),  Drei  Stiicke  (op.  n),  and  a  Concert 
Polonaise  (op.  28).  [C.F.P.] 

Early  in  1872  Popper  married  Fraulein  SOPHIE 
MENTER,  a  very  distinguished  pianoforte-player, 
daughter  of  Joseph  Menter  the  cellist,  who  was 
born  at  Munich  July  29,  1848,  and  after  a 
childhood  of  great  precocity  entered  the  Munich 
Conservatorium  under  Professor  Leonhard.  At 
1 3  she  left  that  establishment  for  private  tuition 
under  Niest,  and  at  a  later  period  under  Liszt ; 
in  her  1 5th  year  took  her  first  artistic  tournie  ; 
in  1867  appeared  at  the  Gewandhaus,  Leipzig, 
and  has  since  taken  her  place  throughout  Ger 
many  as  one  of  the  great  players  of  the  day.  [G.] 

POPULAR  ANCIENT  ENGLISH  MUSIC. 

The  classical  work  on  this  subject  is1  entitled 
'  Popular  Music  of  the  Olden  Time  :  a  Collection 
of  the  Ancient  Songs,  Ballads,  and  Dance  Tunes, 
illustrative  of  the  National  Music  of  England. 
With  short  introductions  to  the  different  reigns, 
and  notices  of  the  Airs  from  writers  of  the  1 6th 
and  1 7th  centuries.  Also  a  Short  Account  of  the 
Minstrels.  By  W.Chappell,E.S.A.  The  whole  of 
the  airs  harmonized  by  G .  A.  Macfarren.  London: 
Cramer,  Beale  and  Chappell.'  The  foundation  of 
the  above  work  was  published  in  1838-40  under 
the  title  of '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.'  This 
work  contains  245  tunes,  and  was  out  of  print 
in  about  14  years  time  from  the  date  of  its  pub 
lication.  The  'Popular  Music'  was  published 
in  17  parts  (2  large  8vo.  volumes,  and  797  pages) 
and  contains  more  than  400  airs  with  five  fac 
similes  of  music  and  two  copious  Indexes.  The 
following  are  the  headings  of  the  chapters  : — 


VOL.  I. 

Minstrelsy  from  the  Saxon  pe 
riod  to  the  reign  of  Edward  I. 
Music  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and 
Music  in  England  to  the  end  of 
the  13th  century. 

English  Minstrelsy  from  1270  to 
1480,  and  the  gradual  extinction 
of  the  old  minstrels. 

Introduction  to  the  reigns  of 
Henry  VII.,  Henry  VIH.,  Edward 
VI.,  and  Queen  Mary. 


Songs  and  Ballads  of  the  reigns 
of  Henry  VII.,  Henry  VIII.,  Ed 
ward  VI.,  and  Queen  Mary. 

Introduction  to  the  reign  of 
Queen  Elizabeth. 

Songs  and  Ballads  of  the  reign  of 
Queen  Elizabeth. 

Introduction  to  the  reign  of 
James  I. 

Songs  and  Ballads  of  the  reigns 
of  James  1.  and  Charles  I. 


i  The  title  has  been  somewhat  modified  In  later  editions. 


VOL.  n. 

Conjectures  as  to  Eobin  Hood. 

Ballads  relating  to  the  adven 
tures  of  Kobin  Hood. 

Puritanism  in  its  effect  upon 
Music  and  its  accessories ;  and  In 
troduction  to  the  Commonwealth 
Period. 

Songs  and  Ballads  of  the  Civil 
War,  and  of  the  time  of  Cromwell. 


Introduction 
Charles  II. 


to  the   reign    of 


Songs  and  Ballads  from  Charles 
II.  to  William  and  Mary. 
Bemarks  onAnglo-Scotch  Songs. 
of    Anglo  -  Scotch 


Introduction  to  the  reigns  of 
QueenAnne,  George  I.,  and  George 
II. 

Songs  and  Ballads  of  the  reigns 
of  Queen  Anne,  George  I.,  and 
George  II. 

Traditional  Songs  of  uncertain 
date. 

Keligious  Christmas  Carols. 

Appendix,  consisting  of  addi 
tions  to  the  Introductions,  and  of 
further  remarks  upon  the  tunes 
included  in  both  volumes. 

Characteristics  of  National  Eng 
lish  Airs,  and  summary. 

[W.B.S.] 


Specimens 
Songs. 

PORPORA,  NiccoLA,1  or  NICCOLO,  ANTONIO, 
composer  and  celebrated  teacher  of  singing,  was 
born  at  Naples  August  19,  1686.  His  father,  a 
bookseller  with  a  numerous  family,  obtained  ad 
mission  for  him  at  a  very  early  age  to  the  Con- 
servatorio  of  S.  M.  di  Loreto,  where  he  received 
instruction  from  Gaetano  Greco,  of  Venice,  Padre 
Gaetano  of  Perugia,  and  Francesco  Mancini,  all 
former  pupils  of  the  same  school.  His  first  opera 
was  'Basilio,  re  di  Oriente,'  writtenfor  the  theatre 
'  de'  Fiorentini.'  On  the  title-page  of  this  work 
he  styles  himself  'chapel-master  to  the  Portu 
guese  Ambassador.'  The  opera  of  'Berenice,' 
written  in  1710  for  the  Capranica  theatre  at 
Rome,  attracted  the  notice  and  elicited  the  com 
mendation  of  Handel.  It  was  followed  by  'Flavio 
Anicio  Olibrio'  (1711) ;  by  several  masses,  mo 
tets  and  other  compositions  for  the  church  ;  by 
'Faramondo'  (1719)  and  'Eumene'  (1721),  on 
the  title-page  of  which  last  work  he  calls  him 
self  '  Virtuoso  to  the  Prince  of  Hesse  Darmstadt.' 
Having  been  appointed  master  of  the  Conser- 
vatorio  of  San  Onofrio,  he  wrote  for  it  an  oratorio, 
'La  Martiria  di  Santa  Eugenia,'  which  had 
much  success  on  its  first  performance  there  in 
1722.  In  1723  he  wrote  for  the  wedding  of 
Prince  Montemiletto  a  cantata,  in  which  Farinelli 
sang.  He  had,  before  this  time,  established  the 
school  for  singing  whence  issued  those  wonder 
ful  pupils  who  have  made  their  master's  name 
famous.  After  'L'Imeneo'  came  'Amare  per 
regnare'  and  'Semiramide'  (according  to  Villa- 
rosa)  ;  and  a  MS.  in  the  Conservatoire  of  Paris 
gives  evidence  of  another  opera,  '  Adelaida,'  be 
longing  to  1723  and  performed  at  Rome.  In 
1724  Hasse  arrived  at  Naples,  with  the  avowed 
intention  of  becoming  Porpora's  pupil.  After  a 
short  trial  however  he  deserted  this  master  hi 
favour  of  Alessandro  Scarlatti,  a  slight  which 
Porpora  never  forgave,  and  for  which,  in  later 
years,  he  had  abundant  opportunity  of  revenging 
himself  on  Hasse.  [See  HASSE.] 

Porpora's  natural  gifts  were  united  to  an 
extremely  restless,  changeable  disposition.  He 
seems  never  to  have  remained  very  long  in  one 
place,  and  the  dates  of  many  events  in  his  life 
are  uncertain.  It  appears  that  in  1 7  2  5  he  set  off 
for  Vienna,  but  he  must  have  stopped  at  Venice 
on  his  way,  as  there  is  evidence  to  show  that  he 
was  appointed  to  the  mastership  of  one  of  the 
four  great  singing-schools  for  girls  there,  that  of 
'  La  Pieta.'  He  hoped  to  get  a  hearing  for  some 

i  In  his  autographs  Niccola,  but  on  the  title-pages  of  works  pub 
lished  by  himself,  and  in  contemporary  MS.  copies,  Niccolo. 


PORPORA. 

of  his  music  at  Vienna,  but  the  Emperor  Charles 
VI.  disliked  his  florid  style  and  profuse  employ 
ment  of  vocal  ornament,  and  gave  him  no  en 
couragement  to  remain.  He  therefore  returned 
as  far  as  Venice,  where  he  produced  his  opera 
'Siface,'  and  was  appointed  master  to  another  of 
the  schools  above  mentioned,  that  of  the  'In- 
curabili.'  For  his  pupils  at  this  institution  he 
wrote  the  vocal  cantatas,  twelve  of  which  he  pub 
lished  in  London  in  1735,  and  which  are  among 
his  best  compositions. 

In  1728  he  set  out  for  Dresden,  where  the 
Electoral  Princess,  Marie  Antoinette,  was  eager 
to  receive  instruction  from  the  famous  maestro. 
On  the  way  thither  he  revisited  Vienna,  hoping 
for  a  chance  of  effacing  the  unfavourable  impres 
sion  he  had  formerly  made ;  but  the  Emperor's 
prejudice  against  him  was  so  strong,  and  carried 
so  much  weight,  as  to  make  it  seem  probable 
that  he  would  once  more  find  nothing  to  do.  He 
found  a  friend,  however,  in  the  Venetian  am 
bassador,  who  not  only  received  him  under  his 
own  roof,  but  succeeded  in  obtaining  for  him  an 
Imperial  commission  to  write  an  oratorio,  ac 
companied  by  a  hint  to  be  sparing  in  the  use  of 
trills  and  flourishes.  Accordingly,  when  the 
Emperor  came  to  hear  the  work  rehearsed,  he 
was  charmed  at  finding  it  quite  simple  and 
unadorned  in  style.  Only  at  the  end  a  little 
surprise  was  reserved  for  him.  The  theme 
of  the  concluding  fugue  commenced  by  four 
ascending  notes,  with  a  trill  on  each.  The 
strange  effect  of  this  series  of  trills  was  increased 
as  each  part  entered,  and  in  the  final  stretto 
became  farcical  outright.  The  Emperor's  gravity 
could  not  stand  it,  he  laughed  convulsively,  but 
forgave  the  audacious  composer  and  paid  him 
well  for  his  work.  The  name  of  this  oratorio 
is  lost. 

Porpora   was    warmly   received    at   Dresden, 
where  he  was  specially  patronised  by  his  pupil, 
the  Electoral  Princess,  to  whom  he  taught  not 
only  singing,  but  composition.     So  it  happened 
that  when  H  asse,  with  his  wife  Faustina,  appeared 
on  the  scene  in  1730,  he  found  his  old  master, 
who  had  never  forgiven  his  pupil's  defection,  in 
possession  of  the  field.     A  great  rivalry  ensued, 
the  public  being  divided  between  the  two  maestri, 
who  themselves  lost  no  opportunity  of  exchanging 
offices  anything  but  friendly.     The  erratic  Por 
pora  however  did  not  by  any  means  spend  his 
whole  time  in  the  8axon  capital.     Early  in  1729 
he  had  produced   'Semiramide   riconosciuta'  at 
Venice,    and   in   April  of  the   same   year   had 
obtained  leave  of  absence  in  order  to  go  to  Lon 
don,  there  to  undertake  the  direction  of  the  opera- 
house   established   by   an  aristocratic   clique   in 
opposition   to   that    presided  over    by   Handel. 
The  speculation  was  a  failure,  and  both  houses 
suffered  serious  losses.    Porpora  never  was  popu 
lar  in   England   as   a  composer,  and   even   the 
presence  of  Senesino  among  his  company  failed 
to  ensure  its  success,  until,  during  a  sojourn  in 
Dresden,  he  succeeded  in   engaging   the  great 
Farinelli,    who   appeared   in   London   in   1734, 
with  Senesino  and  Signora  Cuzzoni,  and  saved 

VOL.  III.  PT.  I. 


PORPORA.  1 7 

the  house.  Porpora  got  his  Dresden  engagement 
cancelled  in  order  to  remain  in  London,  but  that 
he  must  have  paid  several  visits  to  Venice  is  cer 
tain,  as  'Annibale'  was  produced  there  by  him 
in  1731,  and  'Mitridate'  was  written  there  in 
1733.  It  seems  that  he  finally  quitted  England 
in  1736,  at  the  end  of  Farinelli's  third  and  last 
season  in  that  country,  and  that  he  established 
himself  again  at  Venice ;  for  on  the  title-page 
of  a  MS.  in  the  Conservatoire  at  Paris  dated 
1 744,  he  is  described  as  director  of  the  '  Ospeda- 
letto '  schqol  of  music  there.  About  1 745  he  once 
more  went  to  Vienna,  this  time  in  the  suite  of 
the  Venetian  ambassador,  Correr.  During  a 
sojourn  there  of  some  years  he  published  a  set 
of  twelve  sonatas  for  violin,  with  figured  bass, 
one  of  his  most  esteemed  compositions,  of  which 
he  says  in  the  dedicatory  epistle  that  they  are 
written  'in  the  diatonic,  chromatic  and  enhar 
monic  styles ' ;  describing  himself  as  now  chapel- 
master  to  the  King  of  Poland.  At  this  time  he 
became  acquainted  with  the  young  Haydn,  whom 
he  helped  with  instruction  and  advice.  [See  vol.  i. 
p.  7046.] 

He  returned  to  Naples,  his  native  town,  be 
tween  1755  and  1760.  Gazzaniga,  his  pupil,  in 
a  biographical  notice,  says  it  was  in  1759,  and 
that  in  1760  he  succeeded  Abos  in  the  chapel- 
mastership  of  the  cathedral  of  Naples  and  of 
the  Conservatorio  of  San  Onofrio.  In  the  same 
year  his  last  opera  'Camilla'  was  represented, 
with  no  success,  After  that  he  wrote  nothing 
but  one  or  two  pieces  for  the  Church.  He  had 
outlived  his  reputation  as  a  composer.  His  latest 
years  were  passed  in  extreme  indigence,  a  fact 
hard  to  reconcile  with  that  of  his  holding  the 
double  appointment  named  above,  but  which  is 
vouched  for  by  contemporary  writers,  and  by 
Villarosa,  and  is  a  disgrace  to  the  memory  of 
his  pupils,  especially  Farinelli  and  Caffarelli, 
who  owed  their  fame  and  their  vast  wealth  in 
great  measure  to  his  instructions.  Villarosa 
says  that  he  died  of  pleurisy  in  1767:  Gazza 
niga  affirms  that  his  death  was  the  result  of  an  in 
jury  to  his  leg  in  i  766.  Both  may  be  true  :  it 
is  at  least  certain  that  a  subscription  was  raised 
among  the  musicians  of  the  town  to  defray  the 
expenses  of  the  poor  old  maestro' s  burial. 

Thirty-three  operas  of  Porpora's  are  mentioned 
by  Florimo,  but  he  probably  wrote  many  more. 
They  may  have  been  popular  with  singers  as  show 
ing  off  what  was  possible  in  the  way  of  execution, 
but  he  was  devoid  of  dramatic  genius  in  composi 
tion.  Nothing  can  be  more  tedious  than  to  read 
through  an  opera  of  his,  where  one  conventional, 
florid  air  succeeds  another,  often  with  no  change 
of  key  and  with  little  change  of  time ;  here  and 
there  a  stray  chorus  of  the  most  meagre  descrip 
tion.  When  not  writing  for  the  stage  he  achieved 
better  things.  His  cantatas  for  a  single  voice, 
twelve  of  which  were  published  in  London  in 
1735,  have  merit,  and  elevation  of  style,  and  the 
same  is  asserted  of  the  sonatas  published  at 
Vienna,  for  violin,  with  bass.  The  'six  free 
fugues'  for  clavichord  (first  published  by  Clementi 
in  his  'Practical  Harmony,'  afterwards  by  M. 

C 


18 


POKPOKA. 


Farrenc,  in  the  first  number  of  the  'Tresor  des 
Pianistes')  will  repay  attention  on  the  part  of 
the  modern  student.  There  is  a  freshness  and 
piquancy  about  them  which  contrasts  strangely 
with  his  operas,  and  give  an  idea  of  what  the 
talent  was  that  so  impressed  his  contemporaries. 
Specimens  of  his  violin  music  will  be  found  in 
Choron's  'Principes,'  David's  '  Hoheschule,'  and 
Alard's  '  Maitres  classiques1 ;  and  6  Latin  duets 
on  the  Passion,  and  some  Solfeggi,  were  edited  by 
Nava  and  published  by  Breitkopfs. 

Porpora  was  well  educated,  and  conversant 
with  Latin  and  Italian  literature ;  he  wrote 
verses  with  success,  and  spoke  with  ease  the 
French,  German,  and  English  languages.  In 
his  youth  he  was  bold,  spirited,  and  gay,  full  of 
wit  and  vivacity,  but  in  age  his  disposition  and 
temper  became  soured  by  misfortune.  He  was 
celebrated  for  his  power  of  repartee.  The  fol 
lowing  anecdote,  extracted  from  the  'Dictionary 
of  Musicians,'  has  been  told  of  other  people 
since  his  time,  but  seems  to  be  true  of  him  : — 
'  Passing  one  day  through  an  abbey  in  Germany, 
the  monks  requested  him  to  assist  at  their  office, 
in  order  to  hear  their  organist,  whose  talents 
they  greatly  extolled.  The  office  finished, 
Well,  what  think  you  of  our  organist  ?  said  the 
prior.  Why,  replied  Porpora,  he  is  a  clever  man. 
And  likewise,  interrupted  the  prior,  a  good  and 
charitable  man,  and  his  simplicity  is  really  evan 
gelical.  Oh  !  as  for  his  simplicity,  replied  Por 
pora,  I  perceived  that ;  for  his  left  hand  knoweth 
not  what  his  right  hand  doeth.' 

In  one  department  he  has  earned  for  himself 
an  unique  and  lasting  fame.    He  was  the  greatest 
singing-master  that  ever  lived.     No  singers,  be 
fore  or  since,  have  sung  like  his  pupils.     This  is 
made  certain  by  the  universal  contemporary  testi 
mony  as  to  their  powers,  by  the  music  which  was 
written  for  them  and  which  they  performed,  and 
by  the  fact  that  such  relics  of  a  grand  pure  style  of 
vocalisation  as  remain  to  us  now,  have  been  handed 
down  in  direct  succession  from  these  artists.     He 
has  left  us  no  written  account  of  his  manner  of 
teaching,  and  such  solfeggi  of  his  as  we  possess 
differ  only  from  those  of  his  contemporaries  by 
being  perhaps  more   exclusively  directed   than 
others  are  towards  the  development  of  flexibility 
in  the  vocal  organ.     In  musical  interest  they 
are  inferior  to  those  of  Scarlatti  and  Leo,  and 
to  some  of  those  of  Hasse.     There  is  little  dif 
ference  between  them  and  his  songs,  which  are 
for  the  most  part  only  so  many  solfeggi.     The 
probability  is  that  he  had  no  peculiar  method  of 
his  own,  but  that  he  was  one  of  those  artists 
whose  grand  secret  lies  in  their  own  personality. 
To  a  profound  knowledge  of  the  human  voice  in  its 
every  peculiarity,  and  an  intuitive  sympathy  with 
singers,  he  must  have  united  that  innate  capacity 
of  imposing  his  own  will  on  others  which  is  a 
form  of  genius.     Powerful  indeed  must  have  been 
the  influence  that  could  keep  a  singer  (as  he  is 
said  to  have  kept  Caffarelli)  for  five  years  to  one 
sheet  of  exercises.     And  if  we  are  inclined  to 
think  that  when  Caffarelli  was  dismissed  with 
the  words  'You  may  go,  you  are  the   greatest 


PORTER. 

singer  in  Europe,'  there  must  still  have  been  a 
good  deal  for  him  to  learn  which  that  sheet 
of  exercises  could  not  teach  him,  still,  no  mechan 
ical  difficulty  then  stood  between  him  and  the 
acquisition  of  these  qualities ;  the  instrument 
was  perfect.  And  the  best  proof  of  this  is  that 
when  Charles  VI.  expressed  to  Farinelli  his 
regret  that  so  consummate  a  vocalist  should  de 
vote  himself  entirely  to  exhibitions  of  skill  and 
bravura,  and  Farinelli,  struck  by  the  truth  of 
the  criticism,  resolved  to  appeal  more  to  emotion 
and  less  to  mere  admiration,  the  vocal  instrument 
proved  adequate  to  the  new  demand  made  upon 
it,  and  its  possessor  '  became  the  most  pathetic,  as 
he  had  been  the  most  brilliant  of  singers.' 

Porpora  himself  aspired  to  be  remembered  by 
his  compositions  rather  than  by  the  solid  work 
which  has  immortalised  his  name.  To  be  useful 
to  others  was  a  lot  not  brilliant  enough  to  satisfy 
his  restless  ambition,  and  that  in  this  usefulness 
lay  his  real  genius  was  a  truth  he  never  could 
willingly  accept. 

Lists  of  his  works  are  to  be  found  in  Villa- 
rosa's  notice  of  his  life,  and  in  those  by  Farrenc 
(Tre"sor  des  Pianistes,  i.)  and  Fetis.  Probably 
the  most  complete  is  that  given  in  Florimo's 
'Cenno  storico  sulla  Scula  di  Napoli,'  1869, 
pp.  376-80.  [F.A.M.] 

PORTA,  FRANCESCO  BELLA,  organist  and 
church  composer,  born  in  Milan  about  1590, 
as  is  conjectured  from  his  having  published  in 
1619  a  collection  of  '  Villanelle  a  i,  2,  e  3  voci, 
accommodate  per  qualsivoglio  stromento '  (Rome, 
Robletti).  This  fact  seems  to  confute  Fe"tis  and 
Mendel,  who  place  his  birth  in  the  beginning  of 
the  1 7th  century.  His  master  was  Ripalta, 
organist  of  Monza,  and  he  became  organist  and 
maestro  di  capella  of  more  than  one  church  in 
Milan,  where  he  died  in  1666.  He  published 
Salmi  a  capella,  motets,  ricercari,  etc. ;  and  was 
one  of  the  first  composers  to  make  practical  use 
of  the  basso  continue.  [F.  G.] 

PORTAMENTO  (Fr.  Porte  de  voix).  A 
gradual  'carrying  of  the  sound  or  voice  with 
extreme  smoothness  from  one  note  to  another* 
[see  vol.  i.  p.  43,  note],  which  can  only  be  really 
executed  by  the  voice  or  by  a  bowed  instrument. 
It  is  of  frequent  occurrence  as  a  musical  direction 
in  vocal  music  or  in  that  for  stringed  instru 
ments,  and  also  appears  in  music  for  keyed  in 
struments.  In  old  music  one  of  the  AGREMENS 
(see  article  before  referred  to)  was  so  called, 
though  of  course  it  was  always  a  very  poor  re 
presentation  of  the  proper  effect.  [J.A.F.M.] 

PORTENSE.  The  FLORILEGIUM  PORTENSB 
is  a  vast  collection  of  church  music  published  by 
BODENSCHATZ  in  1603  and  1621.  He  belonged 
to  Schulpforta  near  Leipzig,  and  hence  the  name 
of  his  collection.  For  the  list  of  its  contents  see 
vol.  i.  p.  253.  [G.] 

PORTER,  SAMUEL,  born  at  Norwich  in  1733, 
was  a  pupil  of  Dr.  Greene.  In  1757  he  was 
elected  organist  of  Canterbury  Cathedral.  In 
1803  he  resigned  in  favour  of  Highmore  Skeats, 
organist  of  Salisbury  Cathedral.  He  died  Dec.  1 1 , 


POUTER. 

1810,  and  was  buried  in  the  cloisters  at  Canter 
bury.  A  volume  of  his  '  Cathedral  Music,'  con 
taining  2  Services,  5  Anthems,  a  Sanctus,  Kyrie, 
Suffrages,  and  9  chants,  with  his  portrait  on  the 
title,  was  published  by  his  son,  Rev.  WILLIAM 
JAMES  PORTER,  Head  Master  of  the  College 
School,  Worcester,  who  also  published  two  an 
thems  and  four  chants  of  his  own  composition,  on 
the  title-page  of  which  he  is  described  as  '  of  the 
King's  School,  Canterbury.'  Porter's  Service  in 
D,  which  is  of  a  pleasing  character,  is  still  (1880) 
frequently  performed.  [W.  H.H.] 

PORTER,  WALTER,  son  of  Henry  Porter, 
Mus.  Bac.  Oxon.  1600,  was  on  Jan.  5,  1616, 
sworn  gentleman  of  the  Chapel  Royal  without 
pay,  '  for  the  next  place  that  should  fall  void  by 
the  death  of  any  tenor';  a  contingency  which 
happened  on  Jan.  27,  I'Ji'J,  in  the  person  of 
Peter  Wright,  and  Porter  was  sworn  in  his 
place  on  Feb.  I.  In  1632  he  published  'Madri- 
gales  and  Ayres  of  two,  three,  foure  and  five 
voyces,  with  the  continued  bass,  with  Toccatos, 
Sinfonias  and  Rittornelles  to  them  after  the 
manner  of  Consort  Musique.  To  be  performed 
with  the  Harpsechord,  Lutes,  Theorbos,  Basse- 
Violl,  two  Violins  or  two  Viols.'  Both  Hawkins 
•and  Burney  mention  a  collection  bearing  the 
title  of  '  Airs  and  Madrigals  for  two,  three,  four 
and  five  voices,  with  a  thorough  bass  for  the 
organ  or  Theorbo  Lute,  the  Italian  way,'  dated 
1639,  which  may  probably  have  been  a  second 
edition  of  the  same  work.  In  1639  Porter  was 
appointed  Master  of  the  Choristers  of  West 
minster  Abbey.  After  losing  both  his  places  on 
the  suppression  of  choral  service  in  1644  he  found 
a  patron  in  Sir  Edward  Spencer.  In  1657  he 
published  '  Mottets  of  Two  Voyces  for  Treble  or 
Tenor  and  Bass  with  the  Continued  Bass  or  Score. 
To  be  performed  to  an  Organ,  Harpsycon,  Lute, 
or  Bass-Viol.' 

Porter  was  buried  at  St.  Margaret's  Church, 
Westminster,  Nov.  30,  1659.  His  work,  'The 
Psalms  of  George  Sandys  set  to  Music  for  two 
Voyces  with  a  Thorough-bass  for  the  Organ,'  was 
published  about  1670.  [W.  H.H.] 

PORTMAN,  RICHARD,  a  pupil  of  Orlando 
Gibbons,  in  1633  succeeded  Thomas  Day  as 
organist  of  Westminster  Abbey.  In  1638  he 
was  admitted  a  gentleman  of  the  Chapel  Royal 
upon  the  death  of  John  Tomkins.  A  complete 
Service  by  him,  including  a  Venite,  is  contained 
in  the  Tudway  Collection  (Harl.  MS.  7337), 
where  his  Christian  name  is  erroneously  given 
as  William ;  some  of  his  anthems  are  extant  in 
cathedral  choir  books  and  elsewhere,  and  the 
words  of  some  may  be  found  in  Clifford's  'Divine 
Services  and  Anthems,'  1663,  and  in  Harl.  MS. 
6346.  It  is  presumed  that  he  was  deprived  of 
his  appointments  on  the  suppression  of  choral 
service  in  1644.  [W.H.H.] 

PORTMAN  N,  JOHANN  GOTTLIEB,  Cantor,  and 
writer  on  the  theory  of  music,  born  Dec.  4,  1739, 
at  Ober-Lichtenau  near  Konigsbriick  in  Saxony. 
He  received  his  musical  education  at  the  Kreuz- 
schule  in  Dresden,  and  then  went  to  Darmstadt, 


PORTOGALLO. 


19 


where  he  became  first  court-singer,  and  in  1768 
Cantor,  and  Collaborator  of  the  Padagogium. 
He  died  at  Darmstadt,  Sept.  28, 1798.  His  theo 
retical  works,  which  were  not  unknown  in  Eng 
land,  are  full  of  thought,  and  as  a  rule  clear  and 
helpful  to  the  student  of  harmony  and  counter 
point.  They  include  'Kurzer  musikalischer  Un- 
terricht  fur  Anfanger,'  etc.  with  28  plates  of 
examples  engraved  by  himself  (Darmstadt,  pub 
lished  by  himself,  1785;  2nd  ed.,  enlarged  by 
Wagner;  Heyer,  Darmstadt,  1799);  'Leichtes 
Lehrbuch  der  Harmonie,  Composition,  und  Gene- 
ralbass,'  etc.,  with  numerous  examples  (Darm 
stadt,  1789;  2nd  ed.,  Heyer,  1799);  and  'Die 
neuesten  und  wichtigsten  Entdeckungen  in  der 
Harmonie,  Melodie,  und  Contrapunkt'  (Darm 
stadt,  1798).  He  also  published  the  following 
compositions  — '  Neues  Hessen-Darmstadtisches 
Choralbuch  '  (Darmstadt  1786);  'Musik  auf  das 
Pfingstfest,'  in  score  (about  1793)  ;  and  a  Mag 
nificat  (1790).  As  a  contributor  to  the  'Allge- 
meine  deutsche  Bibliothek/  he  was  much 
dreaded  for  the  severity  of  his  criticisms.  Among 
his  pupils  were  G.  A.  Schneider — born  in  Darm 
stadt  1770,  became  Kapellmeister  to  the  King  of 
Prussia,  and  bandmaster  of  the  Guards,  and  died  in 
Berlin,  Jan.  19,  1839 — and  Carl  Wagner,  a  horn- 
player,  Hofmusikus,  and  afterwards  Capellmeister 
at  Darmstadt,  where  he  died  in  1822.  [C.F.P.] 

PORTOGALLO.  The  sobriquet  of  a  Portu 
guese  musician  named  SIMAO,  who,  residing  in 
Italy,  was  known  as  II  Portogallo — '  the  Portu 
guese.'  He  was  born  at  Lisbon  in  1763,  learned 
singing  from  Borselli  of  the  Opera,  and  counter 
point  from  Orao,  maitre  de  chapelle  in  the  Cathe 
dral.  At  20  years  of  age  he  followed  Borselli  to 
Madrid,  and  became  accompanyist  at  the  opera 
there.  The  Portuguese  ambassador  sent  him  to 
Italy  in  1 78  7,  and  he  began  his  career  with '  L'Eroe 
Cineso'  (Turin,  1 788)  and  'LaBachettaportentosa' 
(Genoa,  1788).  After  composing  other  operas 
and  gaining  a  reputation,  he  paid  a  visit  to  Lisbon 
in  1 790,  and  was  made  chapel-master  to  the  king. 
He  returned  to  Italy  and  composed  opera  after 
opera  with  great  success  at  Parma,  Rome,  Venice, 
and  Milan.  Fetis  quotes  '  Fernando  in  Messico,' 
written  for  our  Mrs.  Billington  (Rome,  1797)  as 
his  chef-d'oeuvre.  His  duties  called  him  occa 
sionally  to  Lisbon,  but  Italy  was  the  country  of 
his  choice.  In  1807,  however,  the  royal  family 
were  driven  to  Brazil  by  the  French  invasion. 
Portogallo  accompanied  them,  and  remained  at 
Rio  Janeiro  till  1815.  He  then  returned  to  Italy 
and  resumed  his  position  at  Milan  with  'Adriano 
in  Siria.'  On  the  return  of  the  king  he  again 
went  to  Lisbon,  and  died  there  at  the  end  of  1829 
or  beginning  of  1830.  Fe"tis  gives  a  list  of  26  of 
his  operas. 

Portogallo  was  not  unknown  in  London.  His 
'Fernando  in  Messica'  was  played  at  Mrs.  Bil- 
lington's  benefit,  Mar.  31,  1803;  his  'Argenide 

Serse,'  Jan.  25,  1806;  'Semiramide,'  Dec. 
13,  1806;  'La  rnorte  di  Mitridato,' at  Catalani's 
benefit,  April  16,  1807;  and  'Barseni,  Regina  di 
Lidia,'  June  3,  1815. — His  brother  wrote  for  the 
church. 

C2 


20 


POSAUNE. 


POSAUNE.  The  German  name  for  the  Trom 
bone,  also  occasionally  used  for  organ  reedstops 
of  a  like  character.  [See  TROMBONE.]  [W.  H.  S.] 

POSITIONS,  or  Shifts.  In  order  to  reach  the 
different  parts  of  the  fingerboard  of  the  violin, 
the  left  hand  must  be  moved  about,  or  placed 
in  various  'positions.'  The  hand  is  said  to  be 
in  the  first  position,  when  the  thumb  and  ist 
finger  are  at  the  extreme  end  of  the  neck  of  the 
violin,  close  to  the  nut.  In  this,  the  first  position, 
on  an  instrument  which  is  tuned  in  the  usual 
way  (as  at  No.  i),  the  ist  finger  produces  the 
four  notes  shown  at  No.  2,  or  their  chromatic 
alterations.  The  compass1  thus  attainable  by  the 
four  fingers  in  the  first  position  extends  from  A 
to  B  (as  at  No.  3).  The  open  strings  are  in 
dependent  of  the  position  of  the  left  hand. 

If  by  an  upward  movement  of  the  hand  the 
1st  finger  is  put  on  the  place  which,  in  the  first 
position,  was  occupied  by  the  2nd  finger,  and  the 
whole  hand  is  similarly  advanced,  the  four  notes 
shown  at  No.  4  will  be  produced,  and  the  hand 
(No.  1)  (No.  2)  (No.  3)  (No.  4) 

j^— » 

_f^> 


-<&>- 


(No.  6)      .a. 

(No.  7)  ^ 

8' 



IfU 

S3Z 

is  said  to  be  in  the  second  position  ;  and  while  in 
this  position  an  additional  note  is  reached  on 
the  ist  string  (see  No.  5),  on  the  other  hand,  the 
low  A — produced  in  the  first  position  by  the  ist 
finger  on  the  4th  string — is  lost.  The  notes  which 
were  taken  in  the  first  position  on  the  other  three 
strings  by  the  ist  finger,  are  now  produced  by 
the  4th  finger  on  the  next  lower  string  ;  the  2nd 
finger  takes  the  place  of  the  3rd,  and  the  3rd  the 
place  of  the  4th. 

The  third  position  extends  from  C  to  D  (see 
No.  6),  and  stands  in  exactly  the  same  relation 
to  the  second  position,  as  the  second  stood  to  the 
first.  And  so  does  every  following  position  to 
the  one  below  it. 

Eleven  different  positions  exhaust  all  capabil 
ities  of  the  violin,  and  represent  a  compass  from 
G  to  E  in  altissimo  (see  No.  7).  Notes  beyond 
this  compass  are  almost  always  reached  from 
lower  positions,  or  harmonics  are  substituted  for 
them.  But  even  the  positions  above  the  seventh 
are  but  rarely  employed. 

The  term  'half -position'  (German Sattel-Lage) 
is  used  for  a  modified  first  position,  in  which 
the  2nd,  3rd,  and  4th  finger  takes  the  places 
generally  taken  by  the  1st,  2nd,  and  3rd  finger. 
It  facilitates  the  execution  of  pieces  in  certain 
keys.  A  passage  like  this — 


2432 

i  Besides  the  natural  compass  of  a  position,  notes  which  really  lie 
beyond  it  are  frequently  reached  by  extension  of  the  fingers,  without 
the  hand  leaving  its  position. 


POSITIONS. 

is   best  played  in  the  half-position,   with   the 
fingering  as  marked. 

It  wiU  appear  from  the  above  that  the  same 
note  can  be  produced  in  different  positions, 
on  different  strings,  and  by  different  fingers. 

-1=2- 


For  example  :  the  note 


,  naturally  taken 


in  the  first  position  by  the  2nd  finger  on  the  1st 
string,  can  also  be  produced 

1.  On  ist  string  by  ist  finger  in  2nd  position. 

2.  On  2nd  string  by  4th        „         3rd         „ 

3rd        »        4th 
2nd       „        fth 

ist        „        6th        „ 

3.  On  3rd  string  by  4th       „        7th         „ 

3rd        „        8th 

4.  On  4th  string  by  4th        „       nth2       „ 
Theoretically  every  single  note  lying  within 

the  compass  of  a  position  can  be  produced  in 
that  position;  but  practically  the  choice  of  position 
for  the  rendering  of  a  given  phrase  or  passage 
is  made 

1.  On   grounds   of  absolute    mechanical  ne 

cessity,  or 

2.  of  convenience,  or 

3.  to  satisfy  the  requirements  of  good  phrasing, 

or  of  a  special  musical  character. 
I.  Absolute    necessity.      Many    double-stops 
formed    by   notes   within    the    compass   of    the 
first  or  any  other  position,  cannot  be  executed 
in  that  position — 

(a)  if,  in  that  position,  both  notes  li^on  the 

same  string.     Such  double-stops  as  33 

must  be  played  in  the  second  position  (2nd  and 
4th  finger)  or  in  the  third  position  (ist  and  3rd 
finger),  in  either  of  which  positions  each  note 
lies  on  a  separate  string,  while  in  the  first  position 
they  are  both  on  one  and  the  same  string,  and 
cannot  therefore  be  sounded  simultaneously. 

(6)  Double-stops  formed  by  notes  which  He 
in  one  position  on  non-contiguous  strings  (ist 
and  3rd,  or  2nd  and  4th)  cannot  be  played  in 
that  position,  but  must  be  played  in  a  position 
where  the  notes  lie  on  strings  that  can  be  sounded 


together.     This  double-stop 


is  there 


fore  impossible  in  the  first  position,  where  F  lies 
on  the  ist  and  G  on  the  3rd  string.      But  it  is 
easily  given  in  the  third  position,  where  F  lies 
on  the  2nd  and  G  on  the  3rd  string. 
Again,  in  a  passage  like  this — 

MOZART,  Violin  Concerto. 


in  order  to  sound  the  open  G-string  at  the  same 
time,  the  whole  of  the  upper  part  must  be  played 
on  the  3rd  string,  thereby  necessitating  an  ascent 
to  the  seventh  position. 

2  Generally  taken  as  a  harmonic. 


POSITIONS. 

2.  Convenience.  Many  passages,  especially 
those  in  which  notes  of  widely  different  range 
succeed  each  other  rapidly,  would  be  impractic 
able  but  for  the  use  of  higher  positions,  even 
for  those  notes  which  might,  theoretically  speak 
ing,  be  taken  in  lower  positions. 

In  a  passage  like  this — 


POSTHORN. 


21 


the  three  lower  notes  of  each  group  might  be 
played  in  the  first  position,  if  by  themselves ; 
but  in  connexion  with  the  two  high  notes,  the 
jump  from  the  first  to  the  fifth  position,  which  is 
absolutely  necessary  in  order  to  reach  them,  would 
make  a  smooth  execution  of  the  phrase,  even  at 
a  moderately  rapid  pace,  quite  impossible.  If 
started  at  once  in  the  fifth  position  there  is  no 
difficulty  at  all. 

3.  The  tasteful  and  characteristic  rendering  of 
many  phrases  and  passages  requires  a  careful 
choice  of  positions,  based  on  the  distinct  and 
contrasting  qualities  of  sound  of  the  four  dif 
ferent  strings.  Where  sameness  of  sound  is 
required,  the  change  from  one  string  to  another 
will,  if  possible,  be  avoided ;  where  contrast  is 
wanted,  different  strings  will  be  used  even  in 
cases  where  one  string  could  give  all  the  notes. 

A  phrase  like  this — 

^——i     ^  BEETHOVEN, 

Kreutzer  Sonata. 


Tf-f 


etc. 


though  lying  entirely  within  the  compass  of  the 
first  position,  must,  in  order  to  sound  as  cantabile 
as  possible,  be  played  entirely  on  the  2nd  string, 
in  the  first  and  third  or  second  position  alter 
nately.  In  the  first  position  a  constant  change 
from  the  1st  to  the  2nd  string  would  be  necessary, 
and  the  phrase  would  thereby  sound  jerky  and 
uneven,  the  very  opposite  of  what  it  ought  to  be. 
Or  this  passage  in  Spohr's  Scena  Cantate 
Concerto — 


if  not  played  entirely  on  the  sonorous  4th  string, 
would  absolutely  lose  its  peculiar  character.  In 
other  instances  the  meaning  of  a  passage  is  only 
made  intelligible  by  its  being  played  in  the  proper 
position.  The  following  is  from  Bach's  Preludium 
in  E  (bars  13  and  14) : — 

ooooo        oooooo 
1st  string 


.  2nd  string 


In  this  instance,  unless  the  whole  of  the  lower 
part  is  played  on  the  2nd  string  in  higher  positions, 
the  necessary  contrast  to  the  pedal  note  E, 
which  is  strongly  given  by  the  open  string, 


cannot  be  properly  marked.  It  will  thus  clearly 
appear  that  a  complete  command  of  the  finger 
board  in  all  positions  is  one  of  the  chief  tech 
nical  requirements  of  the  art  of  violin-playing, 
and  that  the  right  choice  of  position,  on  which 
a  truly  musical,  tasteful,  and  characteristic 
rendering  of  every  composition  largely  depends, 
is  one  of  the  main  tests  of  a  violinist's  artistic 
feeling  and  judgment.  Studies  in  all  the  usual 
positions  are  given  in  every  good  violin  school. 
The  best  known  are  those  in  Baillot's  '  L'art  du 
Violon,'  but  they  have  the  defect  of  being  all 
written  in  C  major.  [P.D.] 

POSITIVE  ORGAN  (Fr.  Positif;  Ger.  Posi- 
tiv).  Originally  a  stationary  organ,  as  opposed 
to  a  portative  or  portable  instrument  used  in 
processions.  [See  ORGAN,  p.  575&.]  Hence  the 
term  'positive '  came  to  signify  a  'chamber  organ' ; 
and  later  still,  when  in  a  church  instrument  a 
separate  manual  was  set  aside  for  the  accom 
paniment  of  the  choir,  this  also  was  called  a 
'positive,'  owing  no  doubt  to  the- fact  that  it 
generally  had  much  the  same  delicate  voicing  as 
a  chamber  organ,  and  contained  about  the  same 
number  and  disposition  of  stops.  By  old  English 
authors  the  term  is  generally  applied  to  a  chamber 
organ ;  the  '  positive '  of  our  church  instru 
ments  being  called  from  its  functions  the  '  choir 
organ.'  When  placed  behind  the  player  (Ger. 
Riickpositiv)  it  was  often  styled  a  '  chair  organ,' 
but  it  is  difficult  to  say  whether  this  name 
arose  from  a  play  upon  the  terms  '  choir '  and 
'  chair,'  or  from  a  misunderstanding  as  to  the 
origin  of  its  distinctive  title.  With  the  French 
the  'Clavier  de  positif  is  our  'Choir  manual.' 
Small  portable  organs  were  called  Regals.  [See 
REGAL.]  [J.S.] 

POSTANS,  Miss.    See  SHAW,  MRS.  ALFRED. 

POSTHORN.  A  small  straight  brass  or 
copper  instrument,  varying  in  length  from  two  to 
four  feet,  of  a  bore  usually  resembling  the  conical 
bugle  more  than  the  trumpet,  played  by  means 
of  a  small  and  shallow-cupped  mouthpiece. 
Originally  intended  as  a  signal  for  stage-coaches 
carrying  mails,  it  has  to  a  limited  extent  been 
adopted  into  light  music  for  the  production  of 
occasional  effects  by  exceptional  players. 

Its  pitch  varies  according  to  length  from  the 
four-foot  C  to  its  two-foot  octave.  The  scale  con 
sists  of  the  ordinary  open  notes,  commencing 
with  the  first  harmonic.  The  fundamental  sound 
cannot  be  obtained  with  the  mouthpiece  used. 
Five,  or  at  most  six,  sounds,  forming  a  common 
chord,  are  available,  but  no  means  exist  for 
bridging  over  the  gaps  between  them.  In  a 
four-foot  instrument  such  as  was  commonly  used 
by  mail  guards,  the  sequence  would  be  as 
follows — 


(Not 
used.) 


(Difficult.) 


A  post -horn  galop  was  played  on  this  instrument 
by  the  late  Mr.  Koenig.  Mr.  T.  Harper,  the 
eminent  trumpet-player,  has  composed  another, 


22 


POSTHORN. 


named  '  Down-tlie-road  Galop,'  with  obbligato 
parts  for  two  posthorns,  one  in  F  and  another 
in  A.  Beethoven  has  quoted  a  post-horn  solo. 
[See  POSTILLONS.]  [W.H.S.] 

POSTHUMOUS.  A  term  applied  to  works 
published  after  the  death  of  the  author.  It  is 
frequently  used  with  reference  to  Beethoven's 
last  five  quartets,  though  the  term  is  in  no  way 
applicable  to  the  first  of  the  five — op.  127,  in 
Eb — which  was  published  by  Schott  &  Sons, 
on  March  26,  1826,  exactly  a  year  before  Bee 
thoven's  death,  March  26,  1827.  The  following 
table  of  the  order  of  composition,  date  of  publica 
tion,  and  opus-nuinber,  of  these  five  exceptional 
works  may  be  useful. 


Key. 

Date  of  publication. 

Opus-number. 

Eb 

March  26,  1826 

Op.  127 

A  minor 

Sept.  1827 

„     132 

Bb 

May  7,  1827 

„    130 

C#  minor 

April,  1827 

„    131 

F 

Sept.  1827 

,,    135 

Schubert  died  Nov.  19,  1828,  and  all  works 
by  him  after  op.  88  are  Posthumous,  excepting 
« Winterreise '  part  I  (1-12)  ;  op.  90  (nos.  i  and 
2);  ops.  91,  92,  93,  94,  95,  96,  97,  TOO,  101,  105, 
1 06,  1 08.  Mendelssohn's  posthumous  works  be 
gin  with  op.  73;  Schumann's  with  op.  136.  [G.] 

POSTILLON  DE  LONGJUMEAU,  LE.  An 
opeVa-comique  in  3  acts,  or  rather  perhaps  an 
extravaganza ;  words  by  De  Leuven  and  Bruns 
wick,  music  by  A.  Adam.  Produced  at  the  Opdra 
Comique,  Oct.  13,  1836.  [G.] 

POSTILLONS.  '  Symfonie  allegro  Postilions ' 
is  Handel's  autograph  inscription  to  the  piece  of 
orchestral  music  which  precedes  the  entry  of  the 
Wise  Men  in  'Belshazzar,'  and  begins  as  follows :— 


/) 

-« 

• 

9. 

^                           f         ' 

•-     -*- 

I                                                                       | 

TJ      «        »  >         • 

_ 

KS\/        *-|-     ^ 

kia 

t 

Q 

••       1    LLi 

A.     X" 

? 

». 

- 

» 

- 

i'"" 

i       i 

-  < 

> 

* 

It  is  written  for  the  strings,  with  oboes  in 
unison  ;  no  horn  is  employed  ;  some  of  the  later 
passages  resemble  those  which  can  be  played  on 
the  ordinary  posthorn ;  but  there  is  nothing  to 
say  whether  this  was  the  origin  of  the  indication, 
or  whether  it  refers  to  the  haste  in  which  the 
Wise  Men  may  be  supposed  to  have  arrived,  or 
contains  some  allusion  now  lost. 

Sebastian  Bach,  in  his  Capriccio  describing 
the  departure  of  his  brother,  has  introduced  an 
'Aria  di  Postiglione'  and  a  'Fuga  all'  imita- 
zione  delle  cornetta  di  Postiglione.'  One  of  the 
figures  in  the  former  has  some  likeness  to  that 
quoted  above. 


Beethoven,  in  a  sketch-book  of  1812,  quoted 
by   Nottebohm   (Mus.  Wochenblatt,   April    25, 


POTTER. 

1879),  has  quoted  a  nourish  of  the  'Postilion 
von  Karlsbad ' : — 


But  this  is  a  mere  ordinary  phrase,  and  may  be 
heard  from  many  a  postilion  or  driver  in  Germany 
of  less  renown  than  the  one  from  whose  instru 
ment  Beethoven  is  supposed  to  have  taken  it 
down.  (See  Thayer,  'Beethoven,'  iii.  183,  with 
the  remarks  of  Nottebohm,  as  above.)  [G.] 

POSTLUDE,  a  piece  played  after  service,  an 
outgoing  voluntary.  The  term  is  an  adaptation 
from  the  Latin-German  '  Postludium.'  Henry 
Smart  has  occasionally  employed  it.  [G.] 

POT-POURRI.  A  name  first  given  by  J.  B. 
Cramer  to  a  kind  of  drawing-room  composition 
consisting  of  a  string  of  well-known  airs  from 
some  particular  opera,  or  even  of  national  or 
other  familiar  tunes  having  no  association  with 
each  other.  These  were  connected  by  a  few 
showy  passages,  or  sometimes  by  variations  on 
the  different  themes.  The  pot-pourri  was  a  less 
ambitious  form  of  composition  than  the  (modern) 
fantasia,  as  there  was  little  or  no  working-out  of 
the  subjects  taken,  and  very  little  '  fancy '  was 
required  in  its  production.  It  had  its  own  class 
of  admirers,  and  was  at  one  time  a  very  popular 
form  of  composition.  Peters's  Catalogue  contains 
38  by  V.  Felix,  and  64  by  Ollivier,  on  all  the 
chief  operas.  Chopin,  in  a  letter,  calls  his  op.  13 
a  'Potpurri'  on  Polish  airs.  The  pot-pourri 
has  been  invaded  by  the  'transcription,'  which 
closely  resembles  it  in  form  although  taking  only 
one  subject  as  a  rule,  instead  of  many.  '  Olla 
podrida'  was  another  name  for  the  same  sort  of 
production.  [J.A.F.M.] 

POTT,  AUGUST,  born  November  7,  1806,  at 
Nordheim,  Hanover,  where  his  father  was  Stadt- 
musikus.  He  adopted  the  violin  as  his  instrument, 
and  shortly  after  Spohr's  appointment  to  be  Hof- 
Capellmeister  at  Cassel,  went  there  as  his  pupil, 
and  there  made  his  first  public  appearance  in 
1824.  He  occupied  the  next  few  years  in  travel 
ling  through  Denmark  and  Germany.  In  1832  he 
was  appointed  Concertmeister  to  the  Duke  of 
Oldenburg,  and  afterwards  advanced  to  the  post 
of  Capellmeister  at  the  same  court.  This  he 
resigned  in  1861,  and  is  now  (1880)  living  at 
Gratz.  In  1838  he  visited  England,  and  played 
Lipinski's  concerto  in  B  minor  at  the  Philhar 
monic  on  May  21  with  great  applause.  The 
critic  of  the  '  Musical  World'  speaks  with  enthu 
siasm  of  the  extraordinary  power  of  his  tone, 
his  great  execution,  and  the  purity  of  his  style. 
He  has  published  two  Concertos,  and  various 
smaller  pieces  for  the  violin  with  and  without 
orchestra.  [G.] 

POTTER,  PHILIP  CIPRIANI  IHAMBLY,  born  in 
London  in  1792,  began  his  musical  education  at  7, 
under  his  father,  a  teacher  of  the  pianoforte.  He 

i  He  derived  this  name  from  his  godmother,  a  sister  of  J.  B.  Cipriani 
the  painter. 


POTTER. 

afterwards  studied  counterpoint  under  Attwood, 
and  theory  under  Callcott  and  Crotch,  and  on 
Woelfl's  arrival  in  England  received  instruction 
from  him  during  five  years.  In  1816  an  overture 
by  Mr.  Potter  was  commissioned  and  performed 
(March  n)  by  the  Philharmonic  Society,  and 
on  April  29  of  the  same  year  he  made  his  first 
public  appearance  as  a  performer  at  the  Society's 
concert,  and  played  the  pianoforte  part  in  a 
sestet  of  his  own  composition,  for  pianoforte  and 
stringed  instruments.  He  again  performed  March 
10,  1817.  Shortly  after  this  he  went  to  Vienna 
and  studied  composition  under  Forster,  receiving 
also  friendly  advice  from  Beethoven.  Writing 
to  Hies  in  London,  on  March  5,  1818,  the 
great  man  says,  'Potter has  visited  me  several 
times:  he  seems  to  be  a  good  man,  and  has 
talent  for  composition.'  After  visiting  other 
German  towns  he  made  a  tour  in  Italy,  and 
returned  to  London  in  1821,  when  he  performed 
Mozart's  Concerto  in  D  at  the  Philharmonic 
(Mar.  12).  In  1822  he  was  appointed  professor 
of  the  pianoforte  at  the  Royal  Academy  of  Music, 
and  on  the  resignation  of  Dr.  Crotch  in  June 
1832  succeeded  him  as  Principal.  The  latter 
office  he  resigned  in  1859,  in  favour  of  Stern- 
dale  Bennett. 

Mr.  Potter's  published  works  extend  to  op.  29, 
and  include  2  sonatas,  9  rondos,  2  toccatas,  6  sets 
of  variations,  waltzes,  a  polonaise,  a  Targe  num 
ber  of  impromptus,  fantasias,  romances,  amuse 
ments,  etc.,  and  two  books  of  studies1  composed 
for  the  Royal  Academy  of  Music — all  for  PF. 
solo.  Also  a  'Duet  Symphony'  in  D,  and  4  other 
duets,  besides  arrangements  of  2  of  his  symphonies 
and  an  overture — all  for  4  hands  ;  a  fantasia  and 
fugue  for  2  PFs. ;  a  trio  for  3  players  on  the  PF. ; 
a  sestet  for  PF.  and  instruments  ;  a  duo  for  PF. 
and  V. ;  a  sonata  for  PF.  and  horn,  3  trios,  etc.,  etc. 
His  MS.  works  comprise  9  symphonies  for  full 
orchestra,  of  which  6  are  in  the  Philharmonic 
Library ;  4  overtures  (3  ditto) ;  3  concertos,  PF. 
and  orch.  (ditto) ;  a  concertante,  PF.  and  cello ; 
a  cantata,  '  Medora  e  Corrado' ;  an  Ode  to  Har 
mony  ;  additional  accompaniments  to  '  Acis  and 
Galatea,'  and  many  other  pieces  of  more  or  less 
importance.  These  compositions,  though  well 
received,2  and  many  of  them  in  their  time 
much  in  vogue,  are  now  forgotten,  except  the 
studies. 

As  a  performer  he  ranked  high,  and  he  had 
the  honour  to  introduce  Beethoven's  Concertos 
in  C,  C  minor,  and  G,  to  the  English  public  at 
the  Philharmonic.  As  a  conductor  he  is  most 
highly  spoken  of,  and  it  may  be  worth  mentioning 
that  he  beat  time  with  his  hand  and  not  with  a 
baton.  He  died  Sept.  26,  1871.  His  fresh  and 
genial  spirit,  and  the  eagerness  with  which  he 
welcomed  and  tried  new  music  from  whatever 
quarter,  will  not  be  forgotten  by  those  who  had 


1  Recently  analysed  by  Mr.  W.  H.  Holmes  in  'Notes  upon  Notes' 
(1880).    The  studies  are  24  in  number  and  are  arranged  for  a  key  and 
its  relative  minor— No.  1,  C  major;  2,  A  minor  ;    3,  Db  major ;  4,  Bb 
minor,  etc. 

2  The  Symphonies  were  played  at  the  Philharmonic  as  follows:— 
In  — ,  May  29,  1826,  Jan.  8,  '35 ;  in  A,  May  27,  '33 ;  in  G  minor,  May  19, 
'34.  May  28.  '55;  in  D,  Mar.  21,  '36,  Ap.  22,  '50.  May  3,  '69. 


POUGIN. 


23 


the  pleasure  and  profit  of  his  acquaintance.  One 
of  the  last  occasions  on  which  he  was  seen  in 
public  was  assisting  in  the  accompaniment  of 
Brahms's  Requiem,  at  its  first  performance  in 
London,  not  three  months  before  his  death.  He 
contributed  a  few  papers  to  periodicals — '  Recol 
lections  of  Beethoven,'  to  the  Musical  World, 
April  29,  1836  (reprinted  in  Mus.  Times,  Dec.  i, 
1861)  ;  'Companion  to  the  Orchestra,  or  Hints 
on  Instrumentation,'  Musical  World,  Oct.  28, 
Dec.  23,  1836,  Mar.  10,  May  12,  1837.  Mr. 
Potter  edited  the  '  Complete  Pianoforte  Works  of 
Mozart,' for  Messrs.  Novello;  and  Schumann's 
'Album  fur  die  Jugend'  (op.  68)  for  Messrs. 
Wessel  &  Co.  in  1857. 

In  1860  a  subscription  was  raised  and  an 
Exhibition  founded  at  the  Royal  Academy  of 
Music  in  honour  of  Mr.  Potter.  It  is  called 
after  him,  and  entitles  the  holder  to  one  year's 
instruction  in  the  Academy.  [W.H.H.] 

POUGIN,  ARTHUR,  born  Aug.  6,  1834,  at 
Chateauroux,  where  he  is  registered  as  Francois 
Auguste  Arthur  Paroisse-Pougin.  As  the  son 
of  an  itinerant  actor  he  had  few  educational 
advantages,  and  his  literary  attainments  are 
therefore  due  to  his  own  exertions  alone ;  his 
knowledge  of  music  was  partly  obtained  at  the 
Paris  Conservatoire,  where  he  passed  through 
the  violin-class  and  harmony  with  Henri  Reber. 
From  the  age  of  13  he  played  the  violin  at  a 
theatre  ;  and  at  21  became  conductor  of  the 
Theatre  Beaumarchais,  which  however  he  soon 
quitted  for  Musard's  orchestra.  From  1856  to 
59  he  was  vice- conductor  and  r&pititeur  (or  con 
ductor  of  rehearsals)  at  the  Folies  Nouvelles. 
Pougin  soon  turned  his  attention  to  musical 
literature,  beginning  with  biographical  articles 
on  French  musicians  of  the  i8th  century  in  the 
'Revue  et  Gazette  Musicale.'  Musical  biography 
remains  his  favourite  study,  but  he  has  been  an 
extensive  writer  on  many  other  subjects.  At 
an  early  period  of  his  career  he  gave  up  teach 
ing,  and  resigned  his  post  among  the  violins  at 
the  Opdra  Comique  (1860  to  63)  in  order  the 
better  to  carry  out  his  literary  projects.  Besides 
his  frequent  contributions  to  the  '  Me'nestrel,' 
'  La  France  musicale,'  '  L'Art  musical,'  and 
other  periodicals  specially  devoted  to  music,  he 
edited  the  musical  articles  in  the  '  Dictionnaire 
universel'  of  Larousse,  and  has  been  succes 
sively  musical  feuilletoniste  to  the  *  Soir,'  the 
'Tribune,'  '  L'Evenement,'  and,  since  1878,  to 
the  'Journal  Officiel '  where  he  succeeded  Eugene 
Gautier. 

Among  his  numerous  works,  the  following  may 
be  specified  : — '  Meyerbeer,  notes  biographiques ' 
(1864,  I2mo);  'F.HaleVy,  e'crivain '(1865,  Svo) ; 
'W.  Vincent  Wallace,  e"tude  biographique  et 
critique'  (1866, 8vo);  '  Bellini,  sa  vie,  ses  ceuvres' 
(1868,  I2mo);  'Albert  Grisar,  <Stude  artistique ' 
(1870,  I2mo)  ;  '  Rossini,  notes,  impressions,  etc.* 
(1871,  8vo);  <Boieldieu,sa  vie,  etc'  (1875,  i2mo); 
'Figures  d'ope'ra-comique :  Elleviou;  Mme.  Du- 
gazon ;  la  tribu  de  Gavaudan'  (1875,  8vo) ;  •  Ra- 
meau,  sa  vie  et  ses  ceuvres'  (1876,  i6mo); 
'  Adolphe  Adam,  sa  vie,  etc.'  (1876,  I2mo),— all 


POUGIN. 


PILETORIUS. 


published  in  Paris  ;  and  finally  the  '  Supplement 
et  Complement '  to  the  '  Biographic  Universelle 
des  Musiciens '  of  Fetis,  a  work  of  great  extent 
and  industry,  and  containing  a  mass  of  new 
names  and  information  (2  vols.  Svo,  Paris, 
1878-80).  [G.C.] 

POWELL,  WALTER,  born  at  Oxford  in  1697, 
was  on  July  I,  1704  admitted  a  chorister  of 
Magdalen  College.  In  1714  he  was  appointed  a 
clerk  in  the  same  college.  On  April  16,  1718  he 
was  elected  Yeoman  Bedell  of  Divinity  and  on 
Jan.  26,  1732  Esquire  Bedell  of  the  same  faculty. 
He  was  also  a  member  of  the  choirs  of  Christ 
Church  and  St.  John's  Colleges.  In  July  1733 
he  sang  in  the  oratorios  given  by  Handel  during 
his  visit  to  Oxford,  and  later  in  the  year  at  the 
Meeting  of  the  Three  Choirs  at  Gloucester.  He 
is  said,  but  erroneously,  to  have  been  afterwards 
appointed  a  gentleman  of  the  Chapel  Royal.  His 
voice  (countertenor)  and  singing  were  greatly  ad 
mired.  He  died  Nov.  6, 1 744,  and  was  buried  at 
St.  Peter's  in  the  East,  Oxford.  [W.H.H.] 

PRACTICAL  HARMONY,  INTRODUCTION 
TO.  The  title  of  a  treatise,  and  collection  of 
pieces  by  masters  of  different  schools,  edited 
and  arranged  by  Muzio  dementi,  in  4  volumes, 
oblong  quarto.  The  original  title  is  '  dementi's 
Selection  of  Practical  Harmony,  for  the  Organ  or 
Piano  Forte ;  containing  Voluntaries,  Fugues, 
Canons  and  other  Ingenious  Pieces.  By  the 
most  eminent  composers.  To  which  is  prefixed 
an  Epitome  of  Counterpoint  by  the  Editor. 
(Here  follow  5  lines  from  Paradise  Lost,  Bk.  xi). 
London  printed  by  Clementi,  Banger,  Hyde, 
Collard  &  Davis,  No.  26  Cheapside.'  The  price 
of  each  volume  was  one  guinea.  Vols.  i  and  2 
alone  are  in  the  British  Museum.  The  following 
is  a  complete  catalogue  of  the  contents. 


Vol.  I. 

Treatise  on  Harmony  and  Coun 

terpoint  by  Clementi. 
Kirnberger.    2  Voluntaries  in  F 
4  Fugues,  in   Cjf  minor, 
minor,   Bb,  and   D  minor 
Gavotte  in  D  minor.    Fugu 
in  D.    Prelude  and  Fugue  in 
G.    Fugue  and  Polonaise  in 
Eb.     Fugue  and  Polonaise 
in  F  minor  and  major.    Pre 
lude  and  Fugue  in  C. 
A  set  of  Canons  by  C.  P.  E.  Bach 
Fasch.Turini.Padre  Martini 
and  A.  da  Vallerano. 
Caresano.    Double  Fugue  in  C. 
Perti,  Antonio.    Fugue  in  D. 
Bach,  C.  P.  E.    Canon  in  G- 
Haydn,  Joseph.    Minuet  and  Trio 

in  E  minor. 

Bach,  C.  P.  E.    Two  minuets. 
Handel.    Fugue  in  B  minor. 
Porpora.    6  Fugues,  in  A,  G,  D, 

Bb,  G  minor  and  C. 
Albrechtsberger.    9  Fugues,  in  B 
minor,  E,  A  minor,  F,  C, 
E  b,  0,  A  minor,  and  A. 
Telemann.    Fughetta  in  D. 
Eberlin,  J.  E.    5  Voluntaries  and 
Fugues,  in  D  minor,  A  minor, 
E  minor,  C,  and  F. 
Umstatt.    Voluntary  and  Fugue 

in  G  minor. 

Sfarpurg.  Prelude  and  Fugue  in  G. 
Mozart.    Fugue  in  D  minor  from 
the  Requiem,  arranged  by 
Clementi. 

Bach,  C.  P.  E.  2  Voluntaries  and 
Fugues,  in  A  and  D  minor. 
Fantasia  and  Fugue  in  G 


minor.  Voluntary  and  Fugue 

in  F  minor. 
Bach,  Ernest.  Fantasia  and 

Fugue  in  F. 
Bach,  Job.  Seb.  Organ  Fantasia 

in  G,  arranged.     Suite  (5th 

French)  in  G. 

Vol.  II. 

Albrechtsberger,  6  Fugues,  in  G, 
B  minor,  G,  G  minor,  D,  and 
D  minor. 
Eberlin.  4  Voluntaries  and  Fugues, 
in  G  minor,  D,  G,  and  E 
minor. 

Mozart.    Fantasia  in  F  minor,  ar 
ranged. 

Bach,  C.  P.  E.  Fantasia  and 
Fugue  in  C  minor.  Fantasia 
in  C.  Voluntary  and  Fugue 
in  0  minor.  Organ  Sonata 
inBb. 
Bach,  Joh.  Seb.  Toccata  and 

Fugue  in  D  minor. 
Handel.    11  Fugues,  in  G  minor, 
C  minor,  B   ,  A  minor,  G, 
B  minor,  G  minor,  F$  minor, 
D  minor,  F,  and  F  minor, 
adre  Martini.     4  Sonatas,  in  F 
minor,  G  minor,   A  and  E 
minor. 

Scarlatti,  A.    Fugue  in  F  minor. 
Scarlatti,  D .    2  Fugues  in  D  minor 
and   G   minor   (the   '  Cat's 
Fugue '). 

Frescobaldi.  2Canzone  in  G  minor 
and  G.  3  Fugues,  in  D  minor, 
G  minor,  and  E  minor.  Can- 
zona  in  F.  Corrente  in  F 
minor.  Toccata  in  F. 


Vol.  III. 

Bach,  W.  F.  Fugue  and  Capriccio 
in  D  minor.  2  Polonaises  in 
F.  Fugue  in  D.  Adagio  in 
B  minor.  Vivace  in  D. 
Polonaise  in  D.  Fugue  and 
Polonaise  in  C.  2  Fugues,  in 
C  minor  and  Bb.  2  Polon 
aises  in  Bb  and  G  minor. 
Fugue  and  Polonaise  in 
Eb.  Fugue  and  Polonaise 
in  E  minor.  Polonaise  in  E. 
Fugue  and  Polonaise  in  F 
minor.  Fugue  and  Polon 
aise  in  C  minor. 

Bach,  C.  P.  E.  Fantasia  in  C 
minor.  Fugue  in  C  minor 
for  organ  [by  J.  S.  Bach, 
wrongly  attributed  to  C.P.E. 
Bach].  Kondo  in  C  minor, 
Fantasia  in  C.  Fugue  in  C 
minor  on  the  name  '  Bach.' 
Allegro  in  C.  Andantino  in 
0  minor.  Presto  in  C  minor. 
Allegro  in  C.  Sonata  in  F, 
and  Sinfonia  in  F. 


Bach,  J.  C.  F.    Fugue  in  C  minor. 

Eondo  fn  C.     Minuet  in  C. 

Polonaise  in  G.  Sonata  in  C. 
Bach,    J.  Christoph  (third  son  of 

J.  S.  Bach).    2  Sonatas,  in  E 

and  C  minor. 
Bach,  J.  S.    2  Fugues,  in  A  minor 

andC. 

Vol.  IV. 

Padre  Martini.  9  Sonatas— in  E 
minor,  B  minor,  D,  D  minor, 
B  b,  G,  C  minor,  C  and  F. 

Albrechtsberger.  21  Fugues— in 
F,  F  minor,  G,  G  minor.  A 
and  A  minor;  (these  preceded 
by  '  Cadenzas  or  Preludes ') 
in  D,  A,  E,  E  minor,  G,  Bti 
and  C  ;  (these  with  Preludes) 
in  D  minor,  E  minor,  G.  A 
minor,  B  minor ;  (the  rest 
without  Preludes)inD  minor 
— '  Christus  resurrexit,'  in  C 
—'Alleluja,'  inC— '  Alleluja' 
— '  Ite  Missa  est.' 


[J.A.F.M.] 

PRAEGER,  FERDINAND  CHRISTIAN  WILHELM, 
son  of  Heinrich  Aloys  Praeger,  violinist,  com 
poser,  and  capellmeister,  was  born  at  Leipzig, 
Jan.  22, 1815.  His  musical  gifts  developed  them 
selves  very  early  ;    at  nine  he  played  the  cello 
with  ability,  but  was  diverted  from  that  instru 
ment  to  the  piano  by  the  advice  of  Hummel.   At 
sixteen  he  established  himself  as  teacher  at  the 
Hague,  meanwhile  strenuously  maintaining  his 
practice  of   the  piano,  violin,  and  composition. 
In  1834  he  settled  in  London,  where  he  still  re 
sides,  a  well-known  and  much  esteemed  teacher. 
But  though  living  in  London  Mr.  Praeger  has 
not  broken  his  connexion  with  the  Continent :  he 
is  still  correspondent  of  the  '  Neue  Zeitschrift  fur 
Musik,'  a  post  for  which  he  was  selected  by  Schu 
mann  himself  in  1842.     In  Jan.  1851  he  gave 
a  recital  in  Paris  of  his  own  compositions  with 
success;    in  1852  he  played  at  the  Gewandhaus, 
Leipzig,  and  at  Berlin,  Hamburg,  etc. ;  and  later, 
in  1867,  a  new  PF.  trio  of  his  was  selected  by  the 
United  German  Musicians,  and  performed  at  their 
festival  at  Meiningen.     He  has  always  been  an 
enthusiast  for  Wagner,  and  it  was  partly  owing  to 
his  endeavours  that  Wagner  was  engaged  to  con 
duct  the  Philharmonic  Concerts  in  1855.     He  ig 
beloved  by  his  numerous  pupils,  and  a  concert  of 
his  compositions  was  organised  by  them  in  his 
honour,  on  July  10,  1879,  *n  London.     An  over 
ture  from  his  pen  entitled  'Abellino'  was  played 
at  the  New  Philharmonic  Concerts  of  May  24, 
1854,  and  July  4,  1855  (under  Lindpaintner  and 
Berlioz) ;  and  a  Symphonic  Prelude  to  Manfred 
at  the  Crystal  Palace,  April  17,  1880.     A  selec 
tion  of  his  best  pieces  is  published  in   2  vols. 
under  the  title  of  the  '  Praeger  Album  '  (Kahnt, 
Leipzig).  [G.] 

PR^NESTINUS.  The  Latinised  form  of  the 
name  of  the  great  Italian  composer,  derived  from 
the  town  of  Prseneste,  one  of  the  most  ancient 
cities  of  Italy,  and  now  called  Palestrina. 
'  Johannes  Petrus  Aloisius  Praanestinus '  answers 
to  the  Italian  'Giovanni  Pier  Luigi  da  Pales 
trina.' 


PR^TORIUS,     or     PRATORIUS.        The 
assumed  surname  of  more  than  one  family   of 


PR.ETORIUS. 

distinguished    German    Musicians,   whose    true 
patronymic  was  Schultz.1 

Of  the  numerous  Composers  whoso  works  are 
published  under  this  name,  the  most  celebrated 
was  MICHAEL  PR.ETORIUS,  a  learned  and  indus 
trious  writer,  of  whose  personal  history  very  little 
is  known,  beyond  the  facts,  that  he  was  born  at 
Creutzberg  in  Thuringia,  on  Feb.  15,  157*!  that 
he  began  his  artistic  career,  in  the  character  of 
Kapellmeister,  at  Luneburg ;  that  he  afterwards 
entered  the  service  of  the  Duke  of  Brunswick, 
first  as  Organist,  and  then  as  Kapellmeister  and 
Secretary;  was  appointed  Prior  of  the  Monastery 
of  Ringelheim,  near  Gozlar,  without  necessity  of 
residence ;  and  died  at  Wolfenbuttel,  on  his  fiftieth 
birthday,  Feb.  15,  1621. 

The  Compositions  of  Michael  Praetorius  are 
very  voluminous.  He  himself  has  left  us,  at  the 
end  of  his  '  Syntagma  Musicum,'  a  catalogue,  the 
most  important  items  of  which  are,  15  volumes 
of  '  Polyhymnia,'  adapted  partly  to  Latin,  and 
partly  to  German  words  ;  16  volumes  of  'Musse 
Sioniae,'  of  which  the  first  five  are  in  Latin,  and 
the  remainder  in  German ;  9  volumes  of  a  saecular 
work,  called  '  Musa  Aonia,'  of  which  the  several 
books  are  entitled  'Terpsichore'  (2  vols.),  'Cal 
liope'  (2  vols.),  'Thalia'  (a  vols.),  'Erato'  (i  vol.), 
'  Diana  Teutonica '  (i  vol.),  and '  Regensburgische 
Echo'  (i  vol.)  ;  and  a  long  list  of  other  works, 
'  partly  printed,  and  partly,  through  God's  mercy, 
to  be  printed.'  The  first  of  these  is  the  '  Syntagma 
Musicum'  (Musical  Treatise)  itself — a  book  the 
excessive  rarity  and  great  historical  value  of 
which  entitle  it  to  a  special  notice. 

The  full  title  of  this  remarkable  work  is, 
'Syntagma  Musicum ;  ex  veterum  et recentiorum 
Ecclesiasticorum  autorum  lectione,  Polyhistorum 
consignatione,  Variarum  linguarum  notatione, 
Hodierni  seculi  usurpatione,  ipsius  denique 
Musicae  artis  observatione :  in  Cantorum,  Or- 
ganistarum,  Organopceorum,  ceterorumque  Mu- 
sicam  scientiam  amantium  &  tractantium  gratiam 
collectum ;  et  Secundum  generalem  Indicem  toti 
Operi  praefixum,  In  Quatuor  Tomos  distributum, 
a  Michaele  Praetorio  Creutzbergensi,  Coenobii 
Ringelheimensis  Priori,  &  in  aula  Brunsvicensi 
Chori  Musici  Magistro.  [VVitteberg£e(stc),Anno 
1615.]'  Notwithstanding  this  distinct  mention 
of  four  volumes,  it  is  morally  certain  that  no  more 
than  three  were  ever  printed,  and  that  the  much 
coveted  copy  of  the  fourth,  noticed  in  Forkel's 
catalogue,  was  nothing  more  than  the  separate 
cahier  of  plates  attached  to  the  second. 

TOM.  I.  (Wittenberg,  1615),  written  chiefly  in 
Latin,  but  with  frequent  interpolations  in  Ger 
man,  is  arranged  in  two  principal  Parts,  each  sub 
divided  into  innumerable  minor  sections.  Part  I. 
is  entirely  devoted  to  the  consideration  of  Ec 
clesiastical  Music  ;  and  its  four  sections  treat, 
respectively,  (i)  of  Choral  Music  and  Psalmody, 
as  practised  in  the  Jewish,  ^Egyptian,  Asiatic,2 
Greek,  and  Latin  Churches ;  (2)  of  the  Music  of 
the  Mass ;  (3)  of  the  Music  of  the  Antiphons, 

1  The  word  SchuUze  signifies  the  Head-man  of  a  village  or  small 
town ;  and  may  therefore  be  translated  by  Praetor. 

2  Called,  in  the  German  index,  the  Arabian  Church. 


PR.ETORIUS. 


25 


Psalms,  Tones,  Responsoria,  Hymns,  and  Can 
ticles,  as  sung  at  Matins  and  Vespers,  and  the 
Greater  and  Lesser  Litanies  ;  and  (4),  of  Instru 
mental  Music,  as  used  in  the  Jewish  and  early 
Christian  Churches,  including  a  detailed  descrip 
tion  of  all  the  Musical  Instruments  mentioned 
either  in  the  Old,  or  the  New  Testament.  Part  II. 
treats  of  the  Ssecular  Music  of  the  Antients,  in 
cluding,  (i)  Dissertations  on  the  Invention  and 
Inventors  of  the  Art  of  Music,  its  most  eminent 
Teachers,  its  Modes,  and  Melodies,  its  connection 
with  Dancing  and  the  Theatre,  its  use  at  Funeral 
Ceremonies,  and  many  other  kindred  matters; 
and  (2),  Descriptions  of  all  the  Instruments  used 
in  antient  Saecular  Music,  on  the  forms  and  pecu 
liarities  of  some  of  which  much  light  is  thrown  by 
copious  quotations  from  the  works  of  Classical 
Authors. 

Ton.  II.,  printed  at  Wolfenbuttel  in  15 18,3 
and  written  wholly  in  German,  is  called  Organo- 
graphia,  and  divided  into  five  principal  sections. 
Part  I.  treats  of  the  nomenclature  and  classifica 
tion  of  all  the  Musical  Instruments  in  use  at  the 
beginning  of  the  I7th  century  —  that  critical 
period  in  the  History  of  Instrumental  Music 
which  witnessed  the  first  development  of  the 
Operatic  Orchestra,  and  concerning  which  we  are 
here  furnished  with  much  invaluable  information. 
Part  II.  contains  descriptions  of  the  form,  com 
pass,  quality  of  tone,  and  other  peculiarities  of 
all  these  Instruments,  seriatim ;  including,  among 
Wind  Instruments,  Trombones  of  four  different 
sizes,  the  various  kinds  of  Trumpet,  Horns  (Jager 
Trommetten),  Flutes,  both  of  the  old  and  the 
transverse  forms,  Cornets,  Hautboys,  both  Treble 
and  Bass  (here  called  Pommern,  Bombardoni, 
andSchalmeyen),  Bassoons  and  Dolcians,  Double 
Bassoons  and  Sordoni,  Doppioni,  Racketten,  and 
the  different  kinds  of  Krumhorn  (or  Lituus), 
Corna-muse,  Bassanello,  Schreyerpfeiffe,  and  Sack- 
pfeiffe,  or  Bagpipes.  These  are  followed  by  the 
Stringed  Instruments,  divided  into  two  classes — 
Viole  da  Gamba,  or  Viols  played  between  the 
knees,  and  Viole  da  Brazzo,  played  upon  the  arm. 
In  the  former  class  are  comprised  several  different 
kinds  of  the  ordinary  Viol  da  Gamba,  the  Viol- 
bastarda,  and  the  Violone,  or  Double  Bass:  in  the 
latter,  the  ordinary  Viola  da  Braccio,  the  Violino 
da  Braccio,  the  Violetta  picciola,  and  the  Tenor 
Viola  da  Braccio.  The  Lyres,  Lutes,  Theorbas 
(sic),  Mandolins,  Guitars,  Harps,  and  other  In 
struments  in  which  the  strings  are  plucked  by  the 
fingers  or  by  a  Plectrum,  are  classed  by  them 
selves  ;  as  are  the  Keyed  Instruments,  including 
the  Harpsichord  (Clavicymbalum),  Spinet  (Vir- 
ginall),Clavicytherium,  Claviorganum,  Arpichor- 
dum,  the  '  Niirmbergisch  Geigenwerck,'  and 
Organs  of  all  kinds,  beginning  with  the  antient 
Regall,  and  Positieff.  Part  III.,  carrying  on  the 
subject  with  which  the  former  division  ended, 
treats  of  antient  Organs,  in  detail,  giving  much 
valuable  information  concerning  their  form  and 
construction.  Part  IV.  gives  a  minute  description 
of  modern  Organs — i.  e.  Organs  which  were  con 
sidered  modern  260  years  ago — with  details  of 

s  Fe~tis  says,  1519 ;  but  this  is  an  error. 


26 


PR/ETORIUS. 


their  construction,  the  form  of  their  Pipes,  the 
number  and  quality  of  their  Stops,  or  Registers, 
and  other  equally  interesting  and  important 
matters  relating  to  them.  Part  V.  treats  of  certain 
individual  Organs,  celebrated  either  for  their  size 
or  the  excellence  of  their  tone,  with  special  ac 
counts  of  more  than  30  Instruments,  including 
those  in  the  Nicolaikirche  and  Thomaskirche  at 
Leipzig,  the  Cathedrals  of  Ulm,  Liibeck,  Magde 
burg,  and  Brunswick,  and  many  other  well-known 
Churches. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  exaggerate  the  interest 
of  this  part  of  the  work,  which  is  rendered  still 
more  valuable  by  an  Appendix,  printed  at  Wolfen- 
biittel  in  1620,  two  years  after  the  publication 
of  Tom.  II.  and  III.,  under  the  title  of 'Theatrum 
Instrumentorum,  seu  Sciagraphia,  Michaelis 
Prsetorii,  C.'  This  consists  of  42  well-executed 
plates,  exhibiting  woodcuts  of  all  the  more  im 
portant  instruments  previously  described  in  the 
text,  drawn  with  sufficient  clearness  of  detail  to 
give  a  fair  idea  of  many  forms  now  so  far  obso 
lete  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  a  real 
specimen  in  anything  like  working  order.  Among 
these,  there  are  few  more  curious  than  the  en 
graving  of  the  '  Nurmbergisch  Geigenwerck,'  in 
which  the  clumsiness  of  the  Treadle  (mentioned 
under  PIANO-VIOLIN,  vol.  ii.  pp.  745-746),  is 
brought  into  very  strong  relief. 

TOM.  III.,  also  printed  at  Wolfenbiittel,  in  1618, 
is  arranged  in  three  main  sections.  Part  I.  treats 
of  all  the  different  kinds  of  Saecular  Composition 
practised  during  the  first  half  of  the  i7th  century, 
in  Italy,  France,  England,  and  Germany;  with 
separate  accounts  of  the  Concerto,  Motet,  Faux- 
bourdon,  Madrigal,  Stanza,  Sestina,  Sonnet,  Dia 
logue,  Canzone,  Canzonetta,  Aria,  Messanza, 
Quodlibet,  Giustiniano,  Serenata,  Ballo  or 
Balletto,  Vinetto,  Giardiniero,  Villanella,  Pre"- 
lude,  Phantasie,  Capriccio,  Fuga,  Ricercare, 
Symphonia,  Sonata,  Intrada,  Toccata,  Padovana, 
Passamezzo,  Galliarda,  Bransle,  Courante,  Volta, 
Allemanda,  and  Mascherada,  the  distinctive 
peculiarities  of  each  of  which  are  described  with 
a  clearness  which  throws  much  light  on  cer 
tain  forms  now  practically  forgotten.  Part  II. 
deals  with  the  technical  mysteries  of  Solmisation, 
Notation,  Ligatures,  Proportions,  Sharps,  Flats, 
Naturals,  Modes  or  Tones,  Signs  of  all  kinds, 
Tactus  or  Rhythm,  Transposition,  the  Arrange 
ment  of  Voices,  the  Management  of  Double, 
Triple,  and  Quadruple  Choirs,  and  other  like 
matters.  Part  III.  is  devoted  to  the  explanation 
of  Italian  technical  terms,  the  arrangement  of  a 
complete  Cappella,  either  Vocal,  or  Instrumental, 
the  Rules  of  General-Bass  (Thorough-Bass),  and 
the  management  of  a  Concert  for  Voices  and 
Instruments  of  all  kinds ;  the  whole  concluding 
with  a  detailed  list  of  the  author's  own  Com 
positions,  both  Sacred  and  Saecular ;  and  a  com 
pendium  of  rules  for  the  training  of  Boys'  Voices, 
after  the  Italian  Method. 

TOM.  IV.,  had  it  been  completed,  was  to  have 
treated  of  Counterpoint. 

The  chief  value  of  the  '  Syntagma  Musicum ' 
lies  in  the  insight  it  gives  us  into  the  technical 


PRATT. 

history  of  a  period  lying  midway  between  the 
triumphs  of  the  Polyphonic  School  and  the  full 
development  of  Modern  Music — an  epoch  less 
rich  in  such  records  than  either  that  which  pre 
ceded,  or  that  which  followed  it.  It  has  now 
become  exceedingly  scarce.  There  is  no  copy1  in 
the  British  Museum,  nor,  so  far  as  we  have  been 
able  to  discover,  in  any  other  Library  in  London ; 
but  one  is  preserved  in  the  Euing  Library  in 
Anderson's  University,  Glasgow.  For  the  use  of 
the  remarkably  fine  examplar  which  served  as 
the  basis  of  our  description,  we  are  indebted  to 
the  Rev.  Sir  F.  A.  Gore  Ouseley,  who  placed  it 
unreservedly  at  our  disposal.  One  of  the  volumes 
contains  the  autograph  of  a  Bach,  and  another 
of  Telemann.  Not  less  scarce  and  costly  are 
the  Author's  Compositions.  There  is  rather  an 
extensive  collection  of  separate  volumes  in  the 
British  Museum ;  but,  of  Part  IX.  of  the  '  Musse 
Sioniaa,'  embracing  several  of  the  last  volumes, 
it  is  doubtful  whether  a  copy  is  anywhere  to 
be  found. 

Of  the  other  Composers,  who  have  written 
under  the  name  of  Prsetorius,  one  of  the  most 
celebrated  was  GODESCALCUS  PR.ETORIUS  (or 
SCHULZ),  born  at  Salzburg,  in  1528,  and  for  many 
years  Professor  of  Philosophy  at  Wittenberg.  He 
published,  at  Magdeburg,  in  1556,  a  volume 
entitled  '  Melodise  Scholasticse,'  in  the  prepara 
tion  of  which  he  was  assisted  by  Martin  Agricola. 
He  died  July  8,  1573. 

The  famous  Organist,  HIERONTMUS  PR^ETORIUS 
(JEROM  SOHULZ),  was  born,  in  1560,  at  Hamburg, 
where,  after  attaining  an  extraordinary  reputa 
tion,  he  died,  in  1629.  Among  his  numerous 
Compositions,  the  best-known  is  a  Christmas 
Carol  for  8  voices,  'Ein  Kindelein  so  losbelich,' 
Hamburg,  i6i32. 

JACOB  PR2ETORius  (or  SCHULZ),  the  son  of 
Jerom,  whose  talent  as  an  Organist  he  richly 
inherited,  was  born  at  Hamburg,  in  the  year 
1600;  attained  a  great  reputation  in  his  native 
city;  and  died  there  in  1651.  He  is  best  known 
by  a  '  Choralbuch,'  which,  in  conjunction  with 
Hieron.  Praetorius,  Joachim  Becker,  and  David 
Scheidemann,  he  published  at  Hamburg  in  1604. 

BARTHOLOM^EUS  PR^TORIDS  is  known  as  the 
Composer  of  'Newe  liebliche  Paduanen,  und 
Galliarden,  mit  5  Stimmen.'  Berlin,  1617. 

JOHANN  PRJETORIUS,  a  man  no  less  remarkable 
for  the  depth  of  his  learning  than  for  his  great 
musical  talent,  was  born  at  Quedlinburg,  in 
1634;  and,  after  holding  several  important  ap 
pointments  at  Jena,  Gotha,  and  Halle,  produced 
an  Oratorio  called  'David'  in  the  last-named 
city,  in  1681,  and  died  there  in  1705.  [W.S.R.] 

PRATT,  JOHN,  son  of  Jonas  Pratt,  music- 
seller  and  teacher,  was  born  at  Cambridge  in 
1772.  In  1780  he  was  admitted  a  chorister  of 
King's  College.  After  quitting  the  choir  he 
became  a  pupil  of,  and  deputy  for,  Dr.  Randall, 
the  college  organist,  and  on  his  death  in  March 
1 799  was  appointed  his  successor.  In  September 
following  he  was  appointed  organist  to  the  Uni- 

1  Except  of  the  cahier  of  Plates. 

2  Gerber  erroneously  attributes  this  work  to  Michael  Prsetorius. 


PRATT. 

versity,  and  in  1813  organist  of  St.  Peter's  College. 
He  composed  several  services  and  anthems.  He 
published  'A  Collection  of  Anthems,  selected 
from  the  works  of  Handel,  Haydn,  Mozart,  Clari, 
Leo  and  Carissimi'  (an  adaptation  to  English 
words  of  detached  movements  from  the  masses, 
etc.  of  those  composers),  and  a  selection  of  psalm 
and  hymn  tunes  entitled  '  Psalmodia  Canta- 
brigiensis.'  He  died  March  9,  1855,  possessed  of 
a  good  local  reputation.  [W.H.H.] 

PRATTEN,  ROBERT  SIDNEY,  a  very  distin 
guished  English  flute-player,  born  Jan.  23,  1824, 
at  Bristol,  where  his  father  was  a  professor  of 
music.  The  boy  was  considered  a  prodigy  on 
the  flute,  and  in  his  I2th  year  was  much  in 
request  at  the  Concerts  at  Bath  and  Bristol. 
From  thence  he  migrated  to  Dublin,  where  he 
played  first  flute  at  the  Theatre  Royal  and 
musical  societies.  In  1846  he  came  to  London, 
and  was  soon  engaged  as  first  flute  at  the  Royal 
Italian  Opera,  the  Sacred  Harmonic  and  Phil 
harmonic  Societies,  the  Musical  Society  of  Lon 
don,  Mr.  Alfred  Mellon's  Concerts,  etc.  Through 
the  kindness  of  the  Duke  of  Cambridge,  Mr. 
Pratten  passed  some  time  in  Germany  in  the 
study  of  theory  and  composition,  and  became 
a  clever  writer  for  his  instrument.  His  Con- 
certstuck  and  Fantasia  on  Marie  Stuart  are 
among  the  best  of  his  productions.  He  died  at 
Ramsgate,  Feb.  10,  1868,  beloved  by  a  large 
circle.  Mr.  Pratten  had  a  very  powerful  tone 
and  remarkable  power  of  execution.  His  ear 
was  extraordinarily  sensitive,  and  in  consequence 
his  intonation  and  the  gradation  of  his  nuances 
were  perfect,  though  his  taste  was  perhaps  a  trifle 
too  florid.  His  widow  is  a  well-known  professor 
of  the  guitar. — His  brother,  Frederick  Sidney 
Pratten  was  an  eminent  contrabassist,  engaged 
in  the  same  orchestras  as  himself.  He  died  in 
London,  Mar.  3,  1873.  [G.] 

PREAMBULUM.    See  PRELUDE. 

PRE  ATJX  CLERCS,  LE.  An  opdra  comique 
in  3  acts  ;  words  by  Planard,  music  by  Hdrold. 
Produced  at  the  Ope'ra  Comique,  Dec.  15,  1832, 
a  few  weeks  before  the  composer's  death,  Jan.  19, 
1833.  The  loooth  representation,  Oct.  10,  1871. 
Given  in  London  (in  French)  at  the  Princess's, 
May  2, 1849,  and  in  Italian  (same  title)  at  Covent 
Garden,  June  26,  1880.  [G.] 

PRECENTOR  (Greek,  Protopsaltes  and  Ca- 
nonarcha ;  French,  Grand  Ckantre ;  Spanish, 
Chantre,  Caput  scholae  or  Capiscol ;  German,  Pri- 
micier;  at  Cologne,  Chorepiscopus).  The  director 
of  the  choir  in  a  cathedral,  collegiate,  or  monastic 
church.  In  the  English  cathedrals  of  the  old 
foundation,  as  well  as  in  the  cathedrals  of  France, 
Spain,  and  Germany,  the  Precentor  was  always  a 
dignitary,  and  ranked  next  to  the  Dean,  although 
in  a  few  instances  the  Archdeacons  preceded  him. 
At  Exeter  the  Precentor  installed  the  Canons  ; 
at  York  he  installed  the  Dean  and  other  dig 
nitaries  ;  and  at  Lichfield  even  the  Bishop  re 
ceived  visible  possession  of  his  office  from  his 
hands.  At  Paris  the  Precentor  of  Notre  Dame 
divided  with  the  Chancellor  the  supervision 


PREGHIERA. 


27 


of  the  schools  and  teachers  in  the  city,  and  of  the 
respondents  in  the  university.  The  dignity  of 
Precentor  was  established  at  Exeter,  Salisbury, 
York,  and  Lincoln  in  the  nth  century;  at 
Rouen,  Amiens,  Chichester,  Wells,  Lichfield,  and 
Hereford  in  the  I2th  century  ;  and  at  St.  David's 
and  St.  Paul's  (London)  in  the  I3th  century.  In 
cathedrals  of  the  new  foundation  (with  the  excep 
tion  of  Christ  Church,  Dublin)  the  Precentor  is  a 
minor  canon  appointed  by  the  Dean  and  Chapter, 
and  removable  at  their  pleasure.  The  duties  of  the 
Precentor  were  to  conduct  the  musical  portion  of 
the  service,  to  superintend  the  choir  generally,  to 
distribute  copes  and  regulate  processions ;  on  Sun 
days  and  great  festivals  to  begin  the  hymns, 
responses,  etc.,  and  at  Mass  to  give  the  note  to 
the  Bishop  and  Dean,  as  the  Succentor  did  to  the 
canons  and  clerks.  In  monasteries  the  Precentor 
had  similar  duties,  and  was  in  addition  generally 
chief  librarian  and  registrar,  as  well  as  super 
intendent  of  much  of  the  ecclesiastical  discipline 
of  the  establishment.  In  some  French  cathedrals 
he  carries  a  silver  or  white  staff,  as  the  badge  of 
his  dignity.  In  the  Anglican  Church  his  duties 
are  to  superintend  the  musical  portions  of  the 
service,  and  he  has  the  general  management  of 
the  choir.  His  stall  in  the  cathedral  corresponds 
with  that  of  the  Dean.  (Walcott, '  Sacred  Archae 
ology  ' ;  Hook, '  Church  Dictionary.')  [W.  B.  S.] 

PRECIOSA.  A  play  in  4  acts  by  P.  A.  Wolff, 
with  overture  and  music  by  Weber ;  music  com 
pleted  July  15,  1820-  Produced  in  Berlin,  Mar. 
14,  1821,  at  the  Royal  Opera-house.  In  Paris, 
in  1825,  at  the  Ode"on,  adapted  and  arranged  by 
Sauvage  and  Cremont ;  and  April  16,  1858,  at 
Theatre  Lyrique,  reduced  to  one  act  by  Nuitter 
and  Beaumont.  In  London,  in  English,  at  Covent 
Garden,  April  28,  1825. 

In  the  autograph  of  the  overture  the  March 
is  stated  to  be  from  a  real  gipsy  melody.  [Gr.] 

PREDIERI,  LUC-ANTONIO,  born  at  Bologna, 
Sept.  13,  1688,  became  maestro  di  capella  of  the 
cathedral,  and  on  the  recommendation  of  Fux 
was  appointed  by  the  Emperor  Charles  VI.  vice- 
Capellmeister  of  the  court-chapel  at  Vienna  in 
Feb.  1 739.  He  was  promoted  to  the  chief  Capell- 
meistership  in  1746,  but  dismissed  in  1751  with 
title  and  full  salary,  apparently  in  favour  of 
Reutter.  He  returned  to  Bologna,  and  died  there 
in  1769.  Among  the  MSS.  of  the  Gesellschaft 
der  Musikfreunde  at  Vienna  are  many  scores  of 
his  operas,  oratorios,  feste  di  camera,  serenatas, 
etc.,  which  pleased  in  their  day,  and  were  for  the 
most  part  produced  at  court.  [C.  F.P.] 

PREGHIERA,  a  prayer.  A  name  which 
some  modern  writers  for  the  pianoforte  (Rubin 
stein  among  them)  have  chosen  to  prefix  to 
drawing-room  pieces,  consisting,  as  a  rule,  of  a 
well-defined  melody,  adorned  with  more  or  less 
showy  passages.  The  form  of  piece  is,  as  its 
name  implies,  supposed  to  be  solemn  in  character, 
but  the  display  which  for  some  unaccountable 
reason  is  seldom  separate  from  it  quite  destroys 
any  devotional  feeling  which  may  have  given  rise 
to  the  piece  and  to  its  name.  [J.A.  F.M.] 


23 


PREINDL. 


PREINDL,  JOSEPH,  born  1758  at  Marbach 
on  the  Danube,  a  pupil  of  Albrechtsberger  in 
Vienna,  became  in  1790  choirmaster  of  the 
Peterskirche,  and  in  1809  Capellmeister  of  St. 
Stephen's,  in  which  post  he  died  Oct.  26,  1823. 
He  was  a  solid  and  correct  composer,  a  skilled 
pianist  and  organist,  and  a  valued  teacher  of 
singing.  His  compositions  include  masses,  a 
requiem,  smaller  church  pieces,  and  pianoforte 
and  organ-music,  partly  published  in  Vienna. 
He  also  printed  a  '  Gesanglehre  '  (2nd  ed.  Stei- 
ner),  and  '  Melodien  aller  deutschen  Kirchen- 
lieder  welche  in  St.  Stephansdom  in  Wien 
gesungen  werden,'  with  cadences,  symphonies, 
and  preludes,  for  organ  or  pianoforte  (Diabelli, 
3rd  ed.  revised  and  enlarged  by  Sechter).  Sey- 
fried  edited  his  posthumous  work  '  Wiener  Ton- 
schule,'  a  method  of  instruction  in  harmony, 
counterpoint,  and  fugue  (Haslinger,  1827;  2nd 
ed.  1832).  [C.F.P.] 

PRELLEUR,  PETER,  was  of  French  extrac 
tion  and  in  early  life  a  writing  master.  About 
1728  he  was  elected  organist  of  St.  Alban,  Wood 
Street,  and  shortly  afterwards  engaged  to  play 
the  harpsichord  at  Goodman's  Fields  Theatre, 
which  he  continued  to  do  until  the  suppression  of 
the  theatre  under  the  Licensing  Act  in  1 737,  com 
posing  also  the  dances  and  occasional  music.  In 
1730  he  published  '  The  Modern  Musick  Master, 
or,  the  Universal  Musician/  containing  an  intro 
duction  to  singing,  instructions  for  playing  the 
flute,  German  flute,  hautboy,  violin,  and  harpsi 
chord,  with  a  brief  History  of  Music,  and  a 
Musical  Dictionary.  In  1735  he  was  elected 
the  first  organist  of  Christ  Church,  Spitalfields. 
After  the  closing  of  Goodman's  Fields  Theatre 
he  was  engaged  at  a  newly  opened  place  of 
entertainment  in  Leman  Street  close  by,  called 
the  New  Wells,  for  which  he  composed  some 
songs,  and  an  interlude  entitled  'Baucis  and 
Philemon,'  containing  a  good  overture  and  some 
pleasing  songs  and  duets,  the  score  of  which  he 
published.  Fifteen  hymn  tunes  by  him  were 
included  in  a  collection  of  twenty-four  published 
by  one  Moze,  an  organist,  in  1758,  under  the 
title  of  'Divine  Melody,'  in  which  he  is  spoken 
of  as  if  then  dead.  [W.  H.  H.] 

PRELUDE  (Fr.  Prdude;  It.  Preludio;  Lat. 
Preludium;  Ger.  Vorspiel).  A  preliminary  move 
ment,  ostensibly  an  introduction  to  the  main  body 
of  a  work,  but  frequently  of  intrinsic  and  indepen 
dent  value  and  importance.  [See  INTRODUCTION, 
OVERTURE.]  The  term  is  rarely  used  in  connec 
tion  with  oratorio^  cantata,  or  opera,  either  as  a 
synonym  for  overture  or  as  a  title  for  the  in 
strumental  introduction  taking  the  place  of  an 
overture  in  regular  form.  Wagner,  however, 
employs  the  word  Vorspiel  in  the  majority  of 
his  music  dramas,  notably  in  '  Lohengrin '  and 
'  Die  Meistersinger.'  In  each  of  these  several 
instances  the  movement  so  denominated  is  not 
only  of  extreme  significance,  but  is  capable,  like 
an  overture,  of  being  performed  apart  from  the 
opera.  In  '  Tristan  und  Isolde '  he  prefers 
Einleitung  (Introduction),  but  in  the  four  sections 


PRELUDE. 

of  '  Der  Ring  des  Nibelungen '  we  have  Vorspiel, 
and  the  terms  in  an  operatic  sense  may  be  con 
sidered  practically  interchangeable. 

The  Prelude  was  for  a  long  period  a  charac 
teristic  portion  of  the  Sonata  or  Suite.  For 
example,  Corelli  in  his  '  Sonate  da  Camera,3  com 
mences  almost  invariably  with  a  Preludio,  that 
is,  an  introduction  of  8,  12,  or  16  bars,  largo  or 
adagio,  leading  generally  into  an  Allemande. 
In  the  works  of  Corelli's  •  successors,  Italian  and 
German,  we  find  the  Prelude  more  developed,  but 
it  seems  to  have  been  a  matter  of  choice  with  the 
composer  whether  a  movement  so  named  should 
precede  the  Allemande.  Bach,  whose  command 
ing  genius  led  him  to  improve  upon  the  lines  of 
his  predecessors,  has  left  some  masterly  preludes 
in  what  is  generally  known  as  the  ancient  binary 
or  sonata  form  ;  these  movements  being  as  im 
portant  and  interesting  as  any  in  his  suites.  [See 
SONATA,  SUITE.]  But  the  term  is  used  in  another 
sense,  which  must  be  dealt  with  here — that  is,  as 
a  title  to  the  movement  introductory  to  a  fugue. 
The  Wohltemperirte  Clavier  of  Bach  affords 
a  great  variety  of  forms  and  styles  included 
under  the  same  heading.  In  some  instances,  as 
for  example  Book  I.  No.  i  in  C,  No.  2  in  C 
minor,  and  No.  3  in  Cj,  the  prelude  is  a  mere 
study  in  arpeggios  ;  in  others  it  is  in  regular 
form,  as  in  Book  II.  No.  5  in  D  and  No.  9  in  E. 
Sometimes  it  is  of  greater  length  than  the  suc 
ceeding  fugue,  of  which  Book  II.  No.  17  in  Ab, 
is  an  instance  in  point. 

The  organ  preludes  of  Bach  are  of  far  greater 
interest  than  even  his  masterly  compositions  for 
the  clavichord.  In  Book  II.  of  the  complete  organ 
works  there  are  some  magnificent  preludes,  es 
pecially  those  in  A  minor,  E  minor,  G  minor  and 
B  minor.  The  contrapuntal  ingenuity  and  musical 
beauty  of  the  one  last-named  are  greater  than 
they  are  in  the  fugue  following.  But  perhaps 
the  finest  of  the  entire  series  is  that  in  Eb, 
Book  III.,  associated  with  the  fugue  popularly 
known  as  '  St.  Ann's/  The  form  of  the  move 
ment  is  very  nearly  that  of  the  modern  rondo, 
and  in  regard  to  symmetrical  proportion,  melodic 
beauty,  and  depth  of  feeling,  it  has  few  rivals  in 
the  instrumental  works  of  any  composer.  But  a 
lengthy  treatise  might  be  penned  on  the  organ 
preludes  of  John  Sebastian  JBach.  Among  the 
multitudinous  imitations  by  recent  composers 
the  three  preludes  of  Mendelssohn  in  op.  37  hold 
the  foremost  place.  His  six  Preludes  (and  Fugues) 
for  piano  (op.  35)  are  also  interesting,  more 
especially  that  in  E  minor  No.  I,  which  almost 
deserves  a  place  among  the  'Lieder  ohne  Worte/ 
Chopin,  who  was  a  law  unto  himself  in  many 
things,  has  left  a  series  of  Preludes,  each  of  which 
is  complete  in  itself,  and  not  intended  as  an 
introduction  to  something  else.  The  apparent 
anomaly  may  be  forgiven,  out  of  consideration  to 
the  originality  of  the  pieces,  which  whether  they 
were  suggested  by  his  visit  to  Majorca  or  not, 
are  among  the  most  characteristic  of  Chopin's 
compositions.  It  will  be  seen  by  the  foregoing 
remarks  that  the  title  of  Prelude  has  never  been 
associated  with  any  particular  form  in  music,  but 


PRELUDE. 


PREVOST. 


29 


is  equally  applicable  to  a  phrase  of  a  few  bars  or 
an  extended  composition  in  strict  or  free  style. 

Occasionally  the  synonymous  word  PREAM- 
BULUM  is  employed,  of  which  the  most  salient 
modern  instance  occurs  in  Schumann's  '  Carnaval,' 
op.  9.  Prelude  is  sometimes  used  to  signify  the 
introductory  bars  of  symphony  in  a  song  or  other 
vocal  piece  ;  also  the  brief  improvisation  of  a  player 
before  commencing  his  performance  proper.  Bee 
thoven's  two  Preludes  through  the  12  keys,  op. 
39,  are  in  the  improvisatory  style.  [H.F.F.] 

PRELUDES,  LES.  The  third  of  Liszt's 
'  Symphonic  Poems  '  (Symphonische  Dichtnngen) 
for  full  orchestra ;  probably  composed  in  the 
winter  of  1849,  and  first  performed  at  Weimar, 
Feb.  23,  1854.  [G-] 

PREPARATION.  The  possibility  of  using  a 
very  large  proportion  of  the  dissonant  combina 
tions  in  music  was  only  discovered  at  first  through 
the  process  of 'suspension,'  which  amounts  to  the 
delaying  of  the  progression  of  a  part  or  voice  out  of 
a  concordant  combination  while  the  other  parts 
move  on  to  a  fresh  combination ;  so  that  until 
the  delayed  part  moves  also  to  its  destination  a 
dissonance  is  heard.  As  long  as  the  parts  which 
have  moved  first  wait  for  the  suspended  notes  to 
move  into  their  places  before  moving  further,  the 
group  belongs  to  the  order  of  ordinary  suspensions 
(Ex.  i)  ;  but  when  they  move  again  while  the 
part  which  was  as  it  were  left  behind  moves  into 
its  place,  a  different  class  of  discords  is  created 
(Ex.  2).  In  both  these  cases  the  sounding  of  the 


Ex.1. 


Ex.2. 


A       *       *      « 

Jm 

•    • 

1(1) 

"V             (^ 

, 

• 

•)  r  r 

r  '  r 

*  V 

En 

'•      •        £=> 

P 

I 

K 

.     19 

discordant  note  in  the  previous  combination  (i.  e. 
the  upper  C  in  the  first  chord  of  both  examples) 
is  called  the  'preparation'  of  the  discord,  and  the 
latter  class  are  sometimes  distinguished  especially 
as  prepared  discords.  The  note  which  prepares 
a  discord  must  be  ultimately  capable  of  being 
taken  without  preparation ;  hence  for  a  long- 
while  only  absolutely  concordant  notes  could  be 
used  for  the  purpose.  But  when  by  degrees  the 
Dominant  seventh,  and  later  the  major  and 
minor  ninths  of  the  Dominant,  and  some  similarly 
constructed  chromatic  chords  of  seventh  and  ninth, 
came  to  be  used  as  freely  as  concords,  their  dis 
cordant  notes  became  equally  available  to  prepare 
less  privileged  discords.  [C.H.H.P.] 

PRESA  (literally,  'a  Taking').  A  sign,  used 
to  indicate  the  places  at  which  the  Guida  (or 
Subject)  of  a  Canon  is  to  be  taken  up  by  the 
several  Voices. 

The  following  are  the  forms  most  frequently 
adopted  : — 

•S-         :S:         '$'         +         % 

In  the  famous  '  Enimme,'  or  ^Enigmatical 
Canons,  of  the  I5th  and  i6th  centuries,  an  In 


scription  is  usually  substituted  for  the  Presa, 
though  in  many  cases  even  this  is  wanting,  and 
the  Singer  is  left  without  assistance.  [See  INSCRIP 
TION.]  [W.S.R.] 

PRESTISSIMO,  '  very  quickly,'  indicates  the 
highest  rate  of  speed  used  in  music.  It  is  used, 
like  Presto,  generally  for  the  whole  movement, 
which  is  as  a  rule  the  finale.  Examples  in 
Beethoven's  sonatas  are,  Op.  2,  No.  i,  and 
Op.  53.  It  is  used  for  the  second  movement  of 
Op.  109.  [J.A.F.M.] 

PRESTO,  'fast,'  indicates  a  rate  of  speed 
quicker  than  allegro,  or  any  other  sign  except 
prestissimo.  It  is  generally  used  at  the  begin 
ning  of  movements,  such  movements  being  as 
a  rule  the  last  of  the  work,  or  the  finale,  as  for 
instance,  Beethoven's  sonatas,  Op.  10,  No.  2;  Op. 
27,  No.  2  ;  Op.  31,  No.  3.  It  is  used  as  the  ist 
movement  in  Sonata,  Op.  10,  No.  3,  and  in  Op. 
79.  When  the  time  becomes  faster  in  the 
middle  of  a  movement,  Piti  presto  is  used,  as  for 
instance  in  Beethoven's  Quartet  in  Eb  (Op.  74), 
3rd  movement  (Presto),  where  the  direction  for 
the  part  of  the  movement  that  serves  as  the  trio 
is  '  Piu  presto  quasi  prestissimo.'  A  curious 
instance  of  the  use  of  this  direction  is  in  the 
pianoforte  sonata  of  Schumann,  Op.  22,  where 
the  ist  movement  is  headed  'II  piu  presto 
possibile,'  and  in  German  below  'So  rasch  wie 
mbglich.'  At  41  bars  from  the  end  of  the  move 
ment  comes  'Piu  mosso,"  translated  'Schneller,' 
and  again,  25  bars  from  the  end,  '  Ancora  piu. 
mosso,'  '  Noch  schneller.'  [J.A.F.M.] 

PREVOST,  EUGENE,  born  in  Paris,  Aug.  23, 
1809,  studied  harmony  and  counterpoint  at  the 
Conservatoire  with  Seuriot  and  Jelensperger, 
and  composition  with  Lesueur ;  took  the  second 
Grand  prix  in  1829,  and  the  Prix  de  Rome  in 
1831  for  his  cantata  '  Bianca  Capella.'  Previous 
to  this  he  had  produced  'L'Hotel  des  Princes,' 
and  'Le  Grenadier  de  Wagram' — i-act  pieces 
containing  pretty  music — both  with  success,  at 
the  Ambigu-Comique.  On  his  return  from 
Italy,  'Cosimo,'  an  ope'ra-bouffe  in  2  acts,  was 
well  received  at  the  Opera  Comique,  and  followed 
by  '  Le  bon  Gar9on,'  I  act,  of  no  remarkable 
merit.  After  his  marriage  with  Eleonore  Colon, 
sister  of  the  favourite  singer  Jenny  Colon,  PreVost 
left  Paris  to  become  conductor  of  the  theatre 
at  Havre.  His  unusually  retentive  memory 
proved  a  disadvantage  in  this  post,  for  in  con 
stantly  studying  the  works  of  others  he  lost  his 
originality.  In  1838  he  left  Havre  for  New 
Orleans,  where  he  remained  20  years.  He  was 
in  great  request  as  a  singing-master,  conducted 
the  French  theatre  at  New  Orleans,  and  produced 
with  marked  success  a  mass  for  full  orchestra,  and 
several  dramatic  works,  including  '  Esmeralda,' 
which  contained  some  striking  music.  None  of 
these  were  engraved.  When  the  war  broke  out 
he  returned  to  Paris,  and  became  favourably 
known  as  a  conductor.  He  directed  the  concerts 
of  the  Champs  Elysees,  and  the  fantasias  which  he 
arranged  for  them  show  great  skill  in  orchestration. 


30 


PROVOST. 


'L'lllustre  Gaspard'  (i  act)  was  produced  at  the 
Op^ra  Comique  (Feb.  IT,  1863),  but  the  fellow 
pupil  of  Berlioz,  Reber,  and  A.  Thomas,  had  vir 
tually  fallen  out  of  the  race.  His  son  Leon,  also  a 
good  conductor,  recalled  him  to  New  Orleans, 
where  he  settled  finally  towards  the  end  of  1867, 
and  died  July  1872.  [G.C.] 

PREYER,  GOTTFRIED,  born  at  Hausbrunn  in 
Lower  Austria,  March  15,  1808.  He  studied  at 
Vienna  with  Sechter,  became  in  1835  organist  of 
the  Reformed  Church,  in  1844  supernumerary 
vice-Capellmeister  to  the  court,  in  1846  court- 
organist,  in  1862  vice-Capellmeister,  and  retired 
on  a  pension  in  1876.  Since  1853  he  has  been, 
and  still  is  (1880),  Capellmeister  of  the  Cathedral. 
His  connection  with  the  Conservatorium  dates 
from  1838,  when  he  became  professor  of  harmony 
and  counterpoint,  and  conductor  of  the  pupils' 
concerts  ;  from  1844  to  48  he  directed  the  insti 
tution.  The  Tonkunstler-Societat  performed  his 
oratorio  'Noah'  in  1842,  45,  and  51.  He  has 
printed  a  symphony,  op.  16  (Diabelli);  several 
masses  and  smaller  church  pieces ;  music  for 
pianoforte  and  organ,  choruses,  and  a  large  quan 
tity  of  popular  Lieder  (chiefly  Diabelli) ;  and 
'  Hymns  for  the  Orthodox  Greek  Church,'  in  3 
vols.,  Vienna,  1847  ;  a  grand  mass  for  four  male 
voices  with  organ,  op.  76,  etc.  He  has  a  grand 
opera  among  his  MSS.  [C.F.P.] 

PRICK  SONG.  The  name  given  by  old 
writers  upon  music  to  divisions  or  descant  upon 
a  Plain-song  or  Ground,  which  were  written, 
or  pricked,  down,  in  contradistinction  to  those 
which  were  performed  extemporaneously.  (See 
Morley's  Introduction,  Second  Part.)  The  term 
is  derived  from  the  word  'prick,'  as  used  to  ex 
press  the  point  or  dot  forming  the  head  of  the 
note.  Shakspere  (Romeo  and  Juliet,  Act  ii. 
Sc.  4)  makes  Mercutio  describe  Tybalt  as  one 
who  'fights  as  you  sing  prick  song,  keeps  time, 
distance,  and  proportion  ;  rests  me  his  minim  rest 
one,  two,  and  the  third  in  your  bosom.'  The 
term  'pricking  of  musick  bookes'  was  formerly 
employed  to  express  the  writing  of  them.  Pay 
ments  for  so  doing  are  frequently  found  in  the  ac 
counts  of  cathedral  and  college  choirs.  [W.H.  H.] 

PRIEST,  JOSIAS,  a  dancing-master  connected 
with  the  theatres  in  the  last  quarter  of  the  1 7th 
century,  who  also  kept  a  boarding-school  for 
gentlewomen  in  Leicester  Fields,  which  he  re 
moved  in  1680  to  Chelsea.  Priest's  claim  to 
notice  is  his  having  engaged  Henry  Purcell  to 
compose  his  first  opera,  'Dido  and  ^Eneas,'  for 
performance  at  his  school.  He  invented  the 
dances  for  Purcell's  operas,  'The  Prophetess,' 
'  King  Arthur,'  and  'The  Fairy  Queen,'  and  other 
pieces.  [W.  H.  H.] 

PRIME  (Lat.  Prima  ;  Hora  prima.  Officium 
(vel  Oratio)  ad  Horam  primam).  The  first  of 
the  'Lesser  Hours  '  in  the  Roman  Breviary. 

The  Office  of  Prime  consists  of  the  Versicle 
and  Response,  'Deus  in  adjutorium';  a  Hymn, 
'  Te  lucis  orto  sidere,'  which  never  changes ; 
and  three  Psalms,  sung  under  a  single  Antiphon. 


PRINCE  DE  LA  MOSKOWA. 

These  are  followed,  on  Sundays,  by  the  Hymn 
'Quicunque  vult,'  commonly  called  the  Creed  of 
S.  Athanasius.  On  other  occasions  the  Antiphon 
is  immediately  succeeded  by  the  Capitulum  and 
Responsorium  breve.  The  disposition  of  the 
next  division  of  the  Office,  including  the  Preces 
and  the  Martyrologium  for  the  day,  depends 
entirely  upon  the  rank  of  the  Festival  on  which 
it  is  sung.  Certain  Prayers  are  said,  next  in 
order  ;  and  the  whole  concludes  with  the  Lectio 
brevis  and  the  Benediction. 

The  Plain  Chaunt  Music  for  Prime  will  be 
found  in  the  '  Antiphonarium  Romanum '  and 
the  '  Directorium  Chori.'  [W.S.R.] 

PRIMER — from  primus,  first — a  first  or  ele 
mentary  book  for  beginners.  The  first  of  Messrs. 
Novello  &  Go's.  Music  Primers,  edited  by  Dr. 
Stainer,  was  issued  Aug.  I,  1877,  and  the 
following  have  appeared  to  Dec.  31,  1880: — 
Pianoforte  (Pauer),  Rudiments  of  Music  (Cum- 
mings),0rgan  (Stainer),  Harmonium  (King Hall), 
Singing  (Randegger),  Speech  in  Song  (Ellis), 
Musical  Forms  (Pauer),  Harmony  (Stainer), 
Counterpoint  (Bridge),  Fugue  (Higgs),  Scientific 
Basis  of  Music  (Stone),  Church-Choir  Training 
(Troutbeck),  Plain  Song  (Helmore),  Instrumen 
tation  (Prout),  Elements  of  the  Beautiful  in 
Music  (Pauer),  The  Violin  (Berthold  Tours), 
Tonic  Sol-fa  (J.  Curwen),  Lancashire  Sol-fa 
(Greenwood),  Composition  (Stainer),  Musical 
Terms  (Stainer  and  Barrett). 

That  on  Pianoforte  Playing  by  Mr.  Franklin 
Taylor  forms  one  of  Messrs.  Macmillan's  series 
of  Shilling  Primers,  and  was  issued  Sept.  26, 1877. 
(Published  inGerman  by  J.J.Weber,  Leipzig.)  [G.j 

PRIMO,  'first,'  is  used  in  two  ways  in  music, 
(i)  In  pianoforte  duets,  Primo  or  imo  is  gene 
rally  put  over  the  right-hand  page,  and  then 
means  the  part  taken  by  the  '  treble '  player, 
while  Secondo  or  2do  is  put  over  that  for  the 
'  bass.'  (2)  In  the  reprise  of  the  first  section  of  a 
movement,  a  few  bars  are  often  necessary  before 
the  double-bar  to  lead  back  to  the  repetition, 
which  are  not  required  the  second  time  of  play 
ing  the  section.  The  words  Primo,  imo,  ima 
volta,  or  1st  time  are  then  put  over  all  these 
bars,  so  that  when  the  repeated  portion  reaches 
this  direction,  the  player  goes  on  to  the  part 
after  the  double-bar,  leaving  out  the  bars  over 
which  '  Primo '  is  written.  The  first  few  bars 
after  the  double-bar  are  frequently,  but  not 
always,  labelled  Secondo,  2do,  or  2nd  time.  The 
'Primo'  varies  greatly  in  length.  Beethoven 
often  does  without  it  at  all  (C  minor  and  Pastoral 
Symphonies) ;  in  his  No.  2  Symphony  it  is  2  bars 
long,  in  his  No.  4  it  is  14  bars  long,  and  in  Men 
delssohn's  Italian  Symphony  23  bars  (ist  move 
ment  in  all  cases).  [J.A.F.M.] 

PRINCE  DE  LA  MOSKOWA,  JOSEPH  NAPO 
LEON  NET,  eldest  son  of  Marshal  Ney,  born  in 
Paris,  May  8,  1803.  As  a  lad  he  showed  great 
aptitude  for  music,  and  composed  a  mass,  which 
was  performed  at  Lucca,  where  he  lived  after 
his  father's  death.  In  1831  he  was  made  'Pair 
de  France,'  but  sought  distinction  in  a  totally 


PRINCE  DE  LA  MOSKOWA. 


PRINCIPAL. 


31 


different  line  from  that  of  his  brother  the  Due 
d'Elchingen.  He  contributed  to  various  period 
icals,  especially  some  articles  in  the  '  Revue  des 
deux  Mondes '  and  the  '  Constitutional,'  which 
excited  considerable  interest.  His  love  of  sport 
was  great,  and  he  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
Jockey  Club  of  Paris.  In  1828  he  married  the 
only  daughter  of  Laffitte,  the  banker.  The  ser 
vices  rendered  by  the  Prince  to  music  are  con 
siderable.  In  connexion  with  Adolphe  Adam  he 
founded  the  '  Socie"te  des  Concerts  de  musique 
religieuse  et  classique,'  an  association  for  the 
practice  of  vocal  music,  and  to  this  he  devoted 
a  great  amount  of  learning,  taste,  and  judgment. 
We  append  a  catalogue  of  the  works  contained 
in  this  fine  collection  (n  vols.  8vo.),  published 
for  the  Society  by  the  Prince,  which  has  now 
become  very  scarce.1  The  Prince  lived  on  in 
timate  terms  with  Delsarte  the  singer,  and 
with  Niedermeyer  the  composer,  whom  he  ma 
terially  assisted  in  the  foundation  of  his  '  Ecole 
de  musique  religieuse.'  In  1831  a  mass  of  his 
for  voices  and  orchestra  was  executed  by  the 
pupils  of  Choron,  and  called  forth  the  strong 
encomiums  of  M.  Fe'tis.  Although  naturally 
inclined  to  the  madrigal  style  and  sacred  music, 
he  also  attempted  the  theatre,  producing  at  the 
Ope'ra  Comique,  '  Le  Cent  -  Suisse '  (June  7, 
1840),  a  one-act  piece,  which  had  a  considerable 
run,  and  'Yvonne'  (March  16,  1855),  a  one-act 
op^ra  comique,  a  clever  imitation  of  the  antique 
style.  The  Prince  died  July  25,  1857,  at  St. 
Germain-en-Laye. 

Recueil  des  morceaux  de  mu.iique  ancienne,  etc., 
vols.  i  to  xi,  8vo. 


Allegri  .    .    .   . 

Do 

Anerio    .    .    .    . 

Do 

Anonymous    .    . 

Do 

Do 

Do 

Do 

Arcadelt    .    .    . 

Do 

J.Sebastian  Bach 

Do 

Barbieri  .  .  . 
Benevoli  .  .  . 
Buononcini  .  . 
Carissimi  .  .  . 

Do 

Do 

Do 

Clari 

Do 

Do 

Do 

Du  Caurroy   .    . 
Colonna     .    .    . 
Donate  .... 
Don  Juan  IV.     . 
Durante     .    .    . 
Gabrieli  A,     .    . 
Do. 
Do. 
Gabrieli  G. 

Do. 

Callus 

Do. 

Do. 

Gastoldi     .    .    . 
Gesualdo    .    .    . 

Do 

Gibbons,  Orlando 


De  Lamentatlone  Jeremise,  4  4     ....  il.  153 

Miserere,  '2  choirs ii.  168 

Ave  regina  coelorum,  2  choirs vi.  18S 

Adoramus,  a  4 vi.  203 


Songs  of  the  Moravian  Brothers,  a  4      .    .  ii.  235 

Alia  Trinita  beata,  a  4 ii.  248 

Belle  qui  tiens  ma  vie.    Pavane  a  4  ...  v.  82 

From  an  old  Noel,  sop.  solo  and  chor.  .    .  x.  95 

Se  questa  valle  di  miseria x.  115 

Ave  Maria,  a  4 ii.  251 

II  bianco  e  dolce  cigno,  a  4 v.  97 

Tantum  ergo,  a  4 ii.  279 

Qui  presso  (Matthew  Passion) iv.  426 

Veni  de  Libano,  a  6 vi.  271 

Sanctus,  a  16 xi.  289 

In  te  Domine,  a  4 viii.  461 

0  1'elix  anima,  a  3 vi.  266 

Gaudeamus,  a  4 viii.  429 

Surgamus,  eamus,  a  3 viii.  450 

Conjugation  of  hie  and  hoc,  a  4      ....  xi.  309 

Cantando  un  dl,  4  2  ..........  jjj.  295 

Non  te  sdegnar,  a  2 m.  303 

Addio  compagne  amene,  a3 ii.  312 

Gratias  agimus,  a  5 viij.  535 

Noel !  Noel !  a  4 x.  107 

Domine,  a  5 viii.  478 

Villote  neapolitana,  a  4 x.  119 

Crux  fidelis,  a  4 vi.  263 

Christe  eleison,  a  4 vi.  278 

Magnificat,  3  choirs vi.  135 

Benedictus,  do vi.  163 

Sento  un  rumor,  a  8 xi.  389 

Magnificat,  a  8 ix.  105 

Miserere,  a  6 ix.  129 

Media  vita,  2  choirs vi.  211 

Adoramus,  a  6 vi.  223 

Eccequomodo  moritur  Justus,  a  4    ...  vi.  228 

Vivsr  lieto  voglio,  a  5 x.  123 

Gelo  ha  ma  donna,  a  5 v.  102 

Come  esser  suo,  a  5 v.  108 

Le  vieux  chasseur  (I  tremble  not)    ...  xi.  357 


There  is  a  espy  of  this  Collection  in  the  British  Museum, 


Gibbons,  Orlando  Le  croise1  captif  (The  silver  swan) 


ii.  369 


Gluck 
Handel  . 

Do.      . 

Do.      . 

Do.     . 

Do.      . 
Haydn    . 

Do.      . 

Do.      . 

Do.      . 

Do.      . 

Do.      . 

Do.      . 
Jannequin 

Do.      . 
Josquin  des  Pre"s 
Leisring 


Madrigal  (Orphf!e) iii.  399 

Lascia  ch'io  pianga,  aria iii.  341 

Ah !   mio  cor,  aria  (Alcina)      iii.  346 

Tutta  raccolta  ancor,  aria iii.  352 

Che  vai  cercando,  duet iii.  355 

Alleluia,  chorus iii.  375 

E  Dio,  air  (Creation) iv.  444 

Trio  and  chorus  (Creation) iv.  459 

Insanse  et  vanse  curse,  a  4 iv.  483 

Vidit  suum  dulcem  natum,  air  (Stabat)  .  iv.  515 

Fac  me  vere,  air  (Stabat) iv.  520 

Virgo  virginum,  4tet  (Stabat) iv.  527 

Quando  corpus,  4tet  and  chorus  (Stabat) .  jy.  58 

Labataille  de  MarignaYi,  a  4 v.  13 

Le  chant  des  oiseaux,  a  4 xl.  333 

La  defloration  de  Jean  Ockeghem,  chorus  v.  2 

O  filii,  2  choirs ii.  26 


Leo Sicut  erat,  a  10 viii.  489 


Lotti Spirto  di  Dio,  madrigal,  a  4 


Do. 

Do.      . 
Do.      . 

Lupus     . 
Maill  art 
Marcello 

Do.     . 

Do.  . 
Marenzio 
Nanini  . 
Orlando  Lasso 


Miserere,  a  4  .  .  . 
Benedictus,  a  4  .  . 
Christe  Eleison,  a  5 


v.  120 
x.  51 
x.  79 

xl.  305 


Audivi  vocem,  a  6 vi.  233 

'  Tout  au  rebours,' Canon  a  5 xi.  382 

Donde  cotanto  fremito.  chorus    ....  iii.  322 

I  cieli  immensi,  solo  and  chorus  ....  iii.  333 

Ei  fuor  dell'  acque,  a  3  bassi v.  114 

Ahi  dispietata xi.  442 

Diffusa  est,  motet,  a  4 vi.  173 

Regina  cceli,  a  4 ii.  186 


Do Salve  regina,  a  4 

Do.  .    Miserere,  a  4 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 


Sais-tudirel'Ave?  a4.     .    .    . 
Si  le  long  temps,  a  4      .... 

Ce  faux  amour,  a  4 

Fuyons  tous  d'amour  le  jeu,  a  4 


Do Bonjour  mon  cceur,  a  4 

Do Le  temps  peut  bien,  a  4 


ii.  192 
ii.  199 
v.42 
v.  44 
v.  49 
v.  55 
V.  56 
V.6S 
T.  67 
v.  73 
v.  76 
vi.  176 
ix.  150 
i.  1 
i.  69 
1.105 
i.  131 
1.144 
i.  146 
1.149 
v.85 
v.  92 
vii.  282 


Do Je  1'aime  bien,  a  4 

Do.     .    .    .    ,  Si  vous  n'6tes  en  bon  point,  a  4    ... 

Do Per  pianto,  madrigal,  a  5 

Do Quia  cinerem,  a  5 

Do De  Psalmls  poenitentialibus.a  3  and  a  4 

Palestrina .    .    .   Messe  du  pape  Marcell,  a  6 

Do Messe  '  Sterna  Christ!,' a  4     .... 

Do Stabat,  2  choirs 

Do Fratres  ego  enim,  2  choirs 

Do Adoramus,  a  4 

Do Pleni  sunt,  a  3 

Do Alia  riva  del  Tebro,  madrigal,  a  4.    .    . 

Do Vaghi  pensier,  a  4 

Do La  ver  1'aurora,  a  4 

Do Tribularer  si  nescirem,  a  6 

Do Agnus  Dei,  a  8 vii.  312 

Do Popule  meus,  2  choirs vii.  331 

Do Canite  tuba,  a  5 vii.  351 

Do Vinea  mea,  a  4 vii.  355 

Do Una  hora,  a  4 vii.  355 

Do Tantum  ergo,  a  5 vii.  363 

Do In  monte  Oliveti,  a  4 vii.  367 

Do Tristis  est  anima,  a  4 vii.  378 

Do Esurientes, a  5 vii.  373 

Do Corporis  mysterium,  a  4 vii.  383 

Do O  bone  Jesu,  a  4 vii.  388 

Do Sicut  erat,  a  6 vii.  390 

Do Dei  mater  alma,  a  4 vii.  369 

Do Lauda  anima,  a  5 vii.  399 

Do Hodie  Christus  natus  est,  2  choirs    .    .    .      vii.  407 

Do.      ....    Gloria  Patri,  2  choirs vii.  426 


Do Missa  canonica,  a  4 

Do Requiem,  a  5 

Do.     .  . 

Do.     .  . 

Do.     .  . 

Do.     .  . 

Do.  .  . 

Scarlatti  . 

Stradella  . 

Tall  is  .  . 

Vittoria  . 

Do.     .  . 

Do.     .  . 

Do. 


ix.  1 

ix.  49 
x.l 
x.  11 

X.  17 
x.  23 
x.  31 

ii.  269 


Dies  sanctiflcatus,  a  4 

Sicut  cervus,  a  4 

Idem  (in  Ah) 

Laus,  honor,  a  6 

Veni  sponsa,  a  4 

Cor  mio,  madrigal  a  5 

Pieta,  Signore,  aria iii.  283 

Kyrie  eleison,  a  4 iii.  283 

Jesu  dulcis  memoria,  a  4 vi.  207 

Pueri  Hebrseorum,  a  4 ii.  254 

O  vos  omnes,  a  4 ii.  259 

Gloria  Patria,  a  6 vi.  253 

Do O  quam  gloriosum,  a  4 vi,  259 

Do Vere  languores,  a  4 x.  45 

Vulpius     .    .    .    Exultate  justi,  &4 vi.  240 

[G.C.] 

PRINCIPAL.     A  word  with  various  mean 
ings. 

I.  An  organ   stop.      In   Germany   the   term 
is  very  properly  applied  to  the  most  important 


32 


PEINCIPAL. 


8-feet  stops  of  open  flue-pipes  on  the  manuals, 
and  to  open  i6-feet  stops  on  the  pedals,  thu 
corresponding  to  our  ;  open  diapasons.'  But  in 
this  country  the  Principal  is,  with  very  few 
exceptions,  the  chief  open  metal  stop  of  4-feel 
pitch,  and  should  more  properly  be  termed  an 
Octave  or  Principal  octave,  since  it  sounds  an 
octave  above  the  diapasons.  [J.S. 

II.  PRINCIPAL     or    PRINZIPALE.       A    term 
employed  in  many  of  Handel's   scores  for  the 
third    trumpet   part.       This   is   not    usually   in 
unison  with  the  first  and  second  trumpets,  which 
are  designated  as  Tromba  imo  and  2Bdo.     It  is 
often  written  for  in  the  old  soprano  clef  with  C 
on  the  lowest  line,  and  has  a  range  somewhat 
lower  than  the  trombe.     The  older  works  on  in 
strumentation,  such  as  those  of  Schilling,  Koch, 
Schladebach  and  Lichtenthal,  recognise  the  dif 
ference  and  draw  a  distinction  between '  Principal- 
Stimme'  and    '  Clarin-Stimme.'      It   is   obvious 
that  whereas  the  tromba  or  clarino  represented 
the  old  small-bored  instrument  now  obsolete,  for 
which  the  majority  of  Handel's  and  Bach's  high 
and  difficult  solos  were  composed,  the  Principal, 
in  tone  and  compass,  more  nearly  resembled  the 
modern  large-bored  military  trumpet.     The  con 
trast  can  easily  be  recognised  by  an  examination 
of    the    overture    to    the    Occasional   Oratorio 
Arnold's  edition,  or  that  of  the    Dettingen  Te 
Deum   as    published    by  the   German   Handel 
Society.      In  the  latter  the  old  soprano,  in  the 
former  the  usual  treble  clef,  is  adopted. 

III.  Principals, in  modern  musical  language,  are 
the  solo  singers  or  players  in  a  concert.  [W.H.S.] 

PEING,  JACOB  CUBITT,  Mus.  Bac. ;  JOSEPH, 
Mus.  Doc.;  and  ISAAC,  Mus.  Bac.,  sons  of  James 
Pring,  were  all  choristers  of  St.  Paul's  under 
Robert  Hudson. 

JACOB  CUBITT  PRING,  born  at  Lewisham  in 
1771,  was  organist  of  St.  Botolph,  Aldgate.  He 
graduated  at  Oxford  in  1797,  was  the  composer 
of  several  anthems,  glees,  and  other  vocal  pieces, 
and  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Concentores  So- 
dales.  He  published  a  set  of  eight  anthems. 
Seven  glees  and  a  catch  by  him  are  included  in 
Warren's  Collections.  He  died  1 799. 

JOSEPH  PRING,  born  at  Kensington,  Jan.  15, 
1776,  was  on  April  i,  1793  appointed  organist 
of  Bangor  Cathedral  on  the  resignation  of  Olive, 
but  not  formally  elected  until  Sept.  ?8,  1810. 
In  1805  he  published  'Twenty  Anthems,'  and 
on  Jan.  27,  1808  accumulated  the  degrees  of 
Mus.  Bac.  and  Mus.  Doc.  at  Oxford.  In  June 
1813  he  and  three  of  the  vicars-choral  of  Bangor 
Cathedral  presented  a  petition  to  the  Court"  of 
Chancery  for  the  proper  application  of  certain 
tithes  which  had,  by  an  act  of  Parliament  passed 
in  1685,  been  appropriated  for  the  maintenance 
of  the  cathedral  choir,  but  had  been  diverted  by 
the  capitular  body  to  other  purposes.  The  suit 
lasted  until  1819,  when  Lord  Chancellor  Eldon, 
setting  at  naught  the  express  provisions  of  the 
Act,  sanctioned  a  scheme,  which  indeed  gave  to 
the  organist  and  choir  increased  stipends,  but 
yet  kept  them  considerably  below  the  amounts 
they  would  have  received  if  the  Act  had  been 


PROFESSOR. 

fully  carried  out.  Dr.  Pring,  in  1819,  printed 
copies  of  the  proceedings  in  the  suit,  and  other 
documents,  with  annotations,  forming  a  history 
of  the  transactions,  which  has  long  been  a  scarce 
book.  He  died  at  Bangor,  Feb.  13,  1842. 

ISAAC  PRING,  born  at  Kensington,  1777,  be 
came  in  1794  assistant  organist  to  Dr.  Philip 
Hayes  at  Oxford,  and  on  his  death  in  1797 
succeeded  him  as  organist  of  New  College. 
He  graduated  at  Oxford  in  March,  1799,  an(^ 
died  of  consumption  Oct.  18,  in  the  same 
year.  [W.H.H.] 

PROCH,  HEINRICH,  well-known  composer  of 
Lieder,  Capellmeister,  and  teacher  of  singing, 
born  July  22,  1809,  in  Vienna  ;  was  destined  for 
the  law,  but  studied  the  violin  with  enthusiasm, 
and  in  1833-34  frequently  played- in  public  in 
Vienna.  He  became  in  1837  Capellmeister  of 
the  Josephstadt  theatre,  Vienna,  and  in  1840 
of  the  Court  opera,  retiring  with  a  pension  in 
1870.  On  the  foundation  of  the  shortlived  Comic 
Opera  in  1874  he  was  appointed  its  Capellmeister. 
His  popularity  is  mainly  due  to  his  Lieder, 
among  the  best-known  of  which  we  may  cite 
'Das  Alpenhorn.'  He  trained  a  large  number 
of  celebrated  singers — among  others  Dustmann, 
Csillag,  and  Tietjens.  Several  good  German 
translations  of  Italian  operas — the  Trovatore  for 
example — are  from  his  pen.  Proch  died  Dec.  18, 
1878.  His  daughter  LOUISE  is  a  singer  and 
actress  of  some  ability,  with  a  powerful  mezzo- 
soprano  voice.  [F.G.] 

PRODIGAL  SON,  THE.  An  oratorio  by 
Arthur  Sullivan,  composed  for  the  Worcester 
Festival,  1869,  and  produced  there  Sept.  8.  The 
subject  has  been  treated  by  Gaveaux,  Auber,  and 
others,  under  the  title  of  'L'Enfant  prodigue'; 
and  by  Ponchielli,  whose  'Figliuol  prodigo'  was 
produced  at  the  Scala,  Milan,  Dec.  26,  1880. 
[See  vol.  i.  488  a.]  [G.] 

PROFESSOR.  At  Oxford,  the  Professorship 
of  Music  was  founded  by  Dr.  William  Heather 
in  1626.  The  first  Professors  were  college 

O 

organists,  not  known  outside  the  University. 
Crotch,  who  took  the  office  in  1797,  and  held  it 
till  1848,  was  the  first  musician  of  eminence. 
His  successor  was  Bishop.  The  present  Professor, 
Sir  F.  A.G.Ouseley,  Bt.,was  appointed  on  Bishop's 
death  in  1855.  During  a  long  period  the  office 
was  a  sinecure.  In  the  reforms  carried  out  about 
25  years  ago,  it  was  attempted  to  restore  reality  to 
the  School  of  Music  at  Oxford  by  requiring  the 
Professor  to  lecture  at  least  once  in  each  term, 
and  by  instituting  musical  performances  under 
the  superintendence  of  the  Choragus.  [See  CHO- 
RAGUS.]  The  latter  part  of  the  scheme  has  totally 
failed;  so  that  the  Professor's  lectures,  about 
three  a  year,  and  the  examinations  for  Musical 
degrees,  are  the  only  form  in  which  the  Uni 
versity  advances  the  study  of  music.  The  terminal 
lectures,  which  are  usually  illustrated  by  an 
orchestra,  bear  rather  the  character  of  an  inter 
esting  public  entertainment  than  that  of  technical 
nstruction.  The  more  strictly  academic  work 
of  the  Professor  consists  in  the  examination  for 


PROFESSOR. 

Musical  degrees.    [See  DEGREES.]    The  endow 
ment  of  the  chair  is  little  more  than  nominal. 

The  Cambridge  Professorship  was  founded  by 
the  University  in  1684,  and  has  been  held  by 
Staggins  (1684),  Tudway  (1705),  Greene  (1730), 
Randall  (1755),  Hague  (1799),  Clarke -Whitfeld 
(1821),  Walmisley  (1836),  Sterndale  Bennett 
(1856),  andG.  A.  Macfarren  (1875),  successively. 
The  duties,  like  those  at  Oxford,  consist  chiefly 
in  examining  candidates  for  Musical  degrees,  and 
in  prescribing  those  objects  of  musical  study  in 
which  changes  are  made  from  time  to  time.  The 
salary  of  the  Professor  is  £200  per  annum. 

The  Edinburgh  Professorship  was  endowed  by 
General  Reid  in  1839.  The  Professor  is  ap 
pointed  by  the  University  Court.  Sir  Herbert 
Oakeley,  the  present  occupant  of  the  chair,  was 
elected  in  1865  :  his  predecessors  were  John 
Thomson,  1839;  Sir  H.  R.  Bishop,  1841;  H. 
H.  Pierson,  1844;  John  Donaldson,  1845.  Un 
like  the  non-resident  Professors  at  Oxford  and 
Cambridge,  the  Professor  at  Edinburgh  is  a  mem 
ber  of  the  educational  staff  of  the  University.  He 
receives  a  salary  of  £420  per  annum,  and  a  further 
sum  of  £200  per  annum  is  allowed  for  assistants 
and  for  class-expenses.  There  is  a  regular  double 
course  of  musical  instruction  : — (i)  Lectures  by 
the  Professor  on  the  history  and  development  of  the 
art  and  science  of  music  ;  the  various  schools  and 
styles ;  the  history  and  construction  of  the  prin 
cipal  musical  instruments  ;  the  modern  orchestra, 
etc.,  or  on  the  works  of  the  great  masters.  Or 
gan  performances,  with  instructive  remarks  in 
programmes,  are  given  from  time  to  time  during 
the  session.  (2)  Separate  and  individual  instruc 
tion  in  organ  or  pianoforte-playing  is  given  to  a 
certain  number  of  the  younger  students.  To 
these  the  theory  of  music  is  practically  imparted. 
Sir  Herbert  Oakeley  is  also  president  and  con 
ductor  of  the  Edinburgh  University  Musical 
Society,  established  in  1867. 

The  Dublin  Professorship  was  dormant  till 
1764,  when  Lord  Mornington  was  appointed. 
He  held  office  for  ten  years,  after  which  time 
the  Professorship  again  sank  into  oblivion.  It 
was  revived  in  1 845,  in  the  person  of  Dr.  Smith, 
and  a  few  examinations  of  a  rudimentary  charac 
ter  were  held,  and  degrees  given.  It  was,  how 
ever,  reserved  for  the  present  Professor,  Sir 
Robert  Stewart,  elected  in  1862,  to  raise  the 
standard  of  musical  science  in  Dublin  by  ex 
amining  in  history,  counterpoint,  orchestration, 
and  all  that  is  included  in  modern  musical  study. 
Although  the  statutory  duties  of  the  Professor 
are  conh'ned  to  examinations  and  to  the  conduct 
of  business  relating  to  Musical  degrees,  and 
although  there  exists  no  endowment  at  Dublin 
like  that  which  defrays  class-expenses  at  Edin 
burgh,  yet  the  actual  condition  of  musical  study 
at  Dublin  resembles  that  of  Edinburgh  rather 
than  the  two  English  Universities.  Sir  Robert 
Stewart*  who  is  resident  at  the  University,  and 
is  the  organist  of  Trinity  College  Chapel,  both 
delivers  courses  of  lectures  and  imparts  practical 
instruction  by  training  the  University  Choral 
Society,  and  conducting  the  orchestral  concerts, 

VOL.  III.   PT.  I. 


PROGRAMME. 


33 


which,  after  weekly  rehearsals,  are  held  from 
three  to  five  times  during  the  season.  The  im 
portant  change  lately  made  at  Oxford  and  Cam 
bridge,  by  introducing  literary  elements  into  the 
examination  for  Musical  degrees,  was  effected  at 
Dublin  by  the  present  Professor  many  years 
before.  [C.A.F.] 

PROGRAMME(from7r/><$,'before,'and7/>a/^a, 
'  a  writing').  A  list  of  the  pieces  to  be  performed 
at  a  concert,  usually  accompanied  by  the  names 
of  the  performers.  The  term  seems  to  have  come 
into  use  in  this  connexion  in  the  present  century, 
and  is  now  often  further  applied  to  the  books 
containing  the  words,  and  the  remarks  on  the 
pieces,  which  are  becoming  so  usual.  It  is  not 
however  used  for  the  book  of  words  of  an  oratorio 
or  opera. 

Programmes  are  now  commonly  restricted  in 
length  to  2  hours  or  2^.  The  concerts  of  the 
Philharmonic  Societies  of  London  and  Vienna, 
the  Gewandhaus  at  Leipsic,  and  the  Conservatoire 
at  Paris,  are  of  that  length,  usually  containing  a 
symphony  and  a  smaller  orchestral  piece,  a  solo 
concerto,  two  or  three  vocal  pieces  for  solo  or 
chorus,  and  one  or  two  overtures.  This  is  some 
times  divided  into  two  parts,  sometimes  goes  on 
without  break. 

Formerly  concerts  were  of  greater  length.  In  the 
old  days  of  the  Philharmonic  two  symphonies  were 
de  rigueur,  and  even  such  colossi  as  Beethoven's 
Eroica,  No.  7,  and  No.  9,  were  accompanied  by  a 
symphony  of  Haydn,  Mozart,  or  Spohr,  besides 
4  vocal  pieces,  2  overtures  (the  concluding  one 
often  styled  a  'Finale'),  a  concerto,  and  some 
such  trifle  as  Beethoven's  Septet.  This  was  a 
survival  from  an  older  order  of  things.  The 
Haydn-Salomon  Concerts  of  1792-6  contained 
each  2  (once  at  least  3)  Symphonies,  and  a  final 
orchestral  piece,  2  concertos,  and  4  vocal  pieces ; 
and  these  again  were  modelled  on  the  programmes 
of  the  petty  German  Concerts.  Jahn  in  his  Life  of 
Mozart  (i.  294)  mentions  that  at  Vienna  about 
1778,  Count  Firmian's  soire'es  lasted  for  6  hours  ; 
at  one  of  them  'several  symphonies'  by  Christian 
Bach,  and  four  by  Martini,  were  performed  ;  at 
another  '  twelve  new  Violin  Concertos '  by  Benda. 
At  a  private  concert  at  Dresden,  Sept.  21,  1772, 
given  for  the  benefit  of  Dr.  Burney  (Tour,  ii.  44), 
the  programme  was  in  two  parts,  each  containing 
a  symphony,  a  violin  solo,  a  flute  concerto,  and  an 
oboe  concerto;  and,  in  addition,  'by  way  of  a  bonne 
boucke,  Fischer's  well-known  rondeau  minuet.' 
It  must  be  remembered  that  these  pieces  were 
probably  not  nearly  so  long  as  those  which  now 
go  by  the  same  names.  Our  next  instance,  how 
ever,  contains  pieces  of  which  we  can  all  judge. 
It  is  the  programme  of  a  concert  given  by 
Mozart  at  Vienna,  on  March  22,  1783.  All  the 
pieces  are  by  him. 

1.  The  Hafner  Symphony  (Allegro  and  Andante). 

2.  Air  from  Idomeneo  '  Se  il  padre.'    Mad.  Lange. 

3.  PF.  Concerto  in  C. 

4.  Scena  and  Aria,  '  Misera  dove  son.'     Herr  Adam- 

berger. 

5.  Andante  grazioso  and  Rondo  allegro,  from  Serenade 

in  D ;  for  orchestra. 

6.  The  favourite  PF.  Concerto  in  D. 

7.  Scena, '  Parto'  (Lucio  Silla.'.  Mad.  Teyber. 


34 


PROGRAMME. 


8.  Extempore  Fantasia  on  the  PF.  on  an  air  by  Paisiello ; 

encored,  when  Mozart  again  extemporised  on  an  air 
by  Gluck  (10  variations). 

9.  Scena  and  Aria,'  Mia  speranzaadorata.'  Mad.  Lange- 
10.  The  Hafner  Symphony  (Minuet  and  Finale). 

Beethoven  indulged  in  long  programmes  when 
his  own  compositions  were  concerned.  At  the  con 
cert,  in  March  1807,  at  which  his  Bb  Symphony 
was  first  performed,  the  new  work  was  preceded  by 
all  the  three  foregoing  ones  !  Later,  on  Nov.  29, 
1813,  he  gave  the  Symphony  in  A,  the  'Glor- 
reiche  Augenblick'  (7  nos.),  and  the  'Battle  of 
Vittoria,'  in  the  same  programme.  But  then, 
these  were  his  own  music,  and  orchestral  con 
certs  were  rare.  That  his  judgment  on  this 
subject,  when  unbiassed,  was  as  sound  as  it  was 
elsewhere,  is  evident  from  the  note  prefixed  to 
the  score  of  the  Eroica  Symphony,  in  which  he 
requests  that  it  may  be  played  near  the  begin 
ning  of  the  programme,  and  be  accompanied  only 
by  an  Overture,  an  Air  and  a  Concerto,  that  it 
may  not  fail  to  produce  its  '  own  intended  effect.' 
If  this  was  his  sober  judgment  we  may  doubt 
whether  he  would  have  approved  such  a  pro 
gramme  as  that  in  which  a  great  artist  lately  played 
the  whole  of  the  five  last  Sonatas  (op.  101,  106, 
109,  no,  in)  consecutively,  without  any  relief — 
magnificent  interpretations,  but  surely  an  undue 
strain  on  both  player  and  hearer.  A  recent 
performance  of  the  Choral  Symphony  twice  in 
one  programme,  with  an  interval  of  half  an  hour, 
is  more  excusable,  for  who  ever  heard  that  mag 
nificent  work  without  wishing  to  hear  it  all  over 
again  ?  The  arrangement  of  a  programme  is  not 
without  its  difficulties,  as  the  effect  of  the  pieces 
may  be  much  improved  by  judicious  contrast  of 
the  keys,  the  style,  and  the  nature  of  the  compo 
sition.  We  have  elsewhere  mentioned  Mendels 
sohn's  fastidious  care  on  these  points,  and  all  are 
agreed  that  his  Programmes  when  he  conducted  at 
the  Gewandhaus  were  models.  [See  vol.  ii.  297  6.] 
He  is  said  to  have  proposed  to  write  the  music  for 
an  entire  Programme,  in  which  he  would  no  doubt 
have  completely  satisfied  his  canons  of  taste. 

Of  Benefit  Concerts  we  say  nothing.  They 
have  been  known  in  this  country  (1840-50)  to 
contain  40  pieces,  played  or  sung  by  nearly  as 
many  solo  artists,  and  to  last  more  than  5  hours ! 

It  was  once  the  custom  in  France,  and  even 
in  Germany,  occasionally  to  divide  the  piece  de 
resistance  of  the  programme  into  two,  and  play 
half  a  symphony  at  the  beginning  of  the  concert 
and  half  at  the  end.  Mozart  himself  gives  an 
example  in  the  programme  quoted  above.  But 
now-a-days  such  an  attempt  would  be  treated 
by  any  good  audience  with  merited  displeasure. 

When  Beethoven's  Violin  Concerto  was  first 
played  (Dec.  23,  1806)  by  Clement,  to  whom  it 
is  dedicated,  the  selection  was  as  follows  : — • 

Overture    ....        Clement 
Violin  Concerto       .       .       Beethoven 
Extempore  piece       .        .        Clement 
Sonata  on  one  string,  with  the  Violin 
reversed. 

But  the  curiosities  of  programmes  are  endless.  [G.] 

PROGRAMME-MUSIC  is  an  epithet  origin 
ally  intended  to  apply  to  that  small  but  interest 
ing  class  of  music  which,  while  unaccompanied 


PROGRAMME  MUSIC. 

by  words,  seeks  to  pourtray.  or  at  least  suggest 
to  the  mind,  a  certain  definite  series  of  objects 
or  events.  But  the  term  is  also  applied,  with 
deplorable  vagueness  of  meaning,  to  all  dra 
matic,  characteristic,  or  imitative  music  what 
ever.  It  must  always  remain  an  open  question 
how  far  music  is  able  of  itself  to  influence  the 
mind's  eye,  for  the  simple  reason  that  some 
imaginations  are  vastly  more  susceptible  than 
others,  and  can  therefore  find  vivid  pictures 
where  others  see  and  hear  nothing.  Also,  in 
programme-music  of  all  kinds,  the  imagination 
is  always  turned  in  the  required  direction  by 
the  title  of  the  piece,  if  by  nothing  else.  It  is 
held  by  some  that  music  should  never  seek  to 
convey  anything  beyond  the  '  concourse  of  sweet 
sounds,'  or  at  least  should  only  pourtray  states 
of  feeling.  But  what  is  the  opinion  of  the  bulk 
of  audiences,  who,  though  artistically  ignorant, 
are  not  of  necessity  vulgar-minded?  To  the 
uninitiated  a  symphony  is  a  chaos  of  sound,  re 
lieved  by  scanty  bits  of  '  tune ' ;  great  then  is 
their  delight  when  they  can  find  a  reason  and 
a  meaning  in  what  is  to  them  like  a  poem  in 
a  foreign  tongue.  A  cuckoo  or  a  thunderstorm 
assists  the  mind  which  is  endeavouring  to  conjure 
up  the  required  images.  And  two  other  facts 
should  be  bDrne  in  mind  :  one  is  that  there  is  a 
growing  tendency  amongst  critics  and  educated 
musicians  to  invent  imaginary  '  programmes ' 
where  composers  have  mentioned  none — as  in 
the  case  of  Weber's  Concertstiick  and  Schubert's 
C  major  Symphony,  for  instance — and  another, 
that  music,  when  accompanied  by  words,  can  never 
be  too  descriptive  or  dramatic,  as  in  Wagner's 
music-dramas  and  the  '  Faust '  of  Berlioz. 

May  it  not  at  least  be  conceded  that  though 
it  is  a  degradation  of  art  to  employ  music  in 
imitating  the  sounds  of  nature — illustrious  ex 
amples  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding — it  is  a 
legitimate  function  of  music  to  assist  the  mind, 
by  every  means  in  its  power,  to  conjure  up 
thoughts  of  a  poetic  and  idealistic  kind  ?  If  this 
be  granted,  programme-music  becomes  a  legiti 
mate  branch  of  art,  in  fact  the  noblest,  the  nature 
of  the  programme  being  the  vital  point. 

The  'Leit-motif  is  an  ingenious  device  to 
overcome  the  objection  that  music  cannot  paint 
actualities.  If  a  striking  phrase  once  accom 
pany  a  character  or  an  event  in  an  opera,  such  a 
phrase  will  surely  be  ever  afterwards  identified 
with  what  it  first  accompanied.  The  'Zarniel 
motive '  in  '  Der  Freischiitz '  is  a  striking  and 
early  example  of  this  association  of  phrase  with 
character.  [For  a  full  consideration  of  this  sub 
ject  see  LEIT-MOTIF.] 

But  admirable  as  this  plan  may  be  in  opera, 
where  the  eye  assists  the  ear,  it  cannot  be  said 
that  the  attempts  of  Liszt  and  Berlioz  to  apply 
it  to  orchestral  music  have  been  wholly  suc 
cessful.  It  is  not  enough  for  the  composer  to 
label  his  themes  in  the  score  and  tell  us,  as  in  the 
'Dante'  Symphony  for  instance,  that  a  mono 
tone  phrase  for  Brass  instruments  represents 
'All  hope  abandon,  ye  who  enter  here,'  or  that 
a  melodious  phrase  typifies  Francesca  da  Rimini. 


PROGKAMME-MUSIC. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  quite  possible  for  a 
musical  piece  to  follow  the  general  course  of  a 
poem  or  story,  and,  if  only  by  evoking  similar 
states  of  mind  to  those  induced  by  considering 
the  story,  to  form  a  fitting  musical  commentary 
on  it.  Such  programme  pieces  are  Sterndale 
Bennett's  '  Paradise  and  the  Peri '  overture,  Von 
Billow's  'Sanger's  Fluch/  and  Liszt's  'Mazeppa.' 
But  as  the  extent  to  which  composers  have 
gone  in  illustrating  their  chosen  subjects  differs 
widely,  as  much  as  the  '  Eroica '  differs  from 
the  'Battle  Symphony,'  so  it  will  be  well  now 
to  review  the  list  of  compositions — not  a  very 
bulky  one  before  the  present  century — written 
with  imitative  or  descriptive  intention,  and  let 
each  case  rest  on  its  own  merits. 

Becker,  in  his  '  Hausmusik  in  Deutschland ' 
mentions  possessing  a  i6-part  vocal  canon  'on 
the  approach  of  Summer/  by  a  Flemish  com 
poser  of  the  end  of  the  I5th  century,  in  which 
the  cuckoo's  note  is  imitated,  but  given  incor 
rectly.  This  incorrectness — D  C  instead  of  Eb  C 
— may  perhaps  be  owing  to  the  fact  (discussed 
some  time  ago  in  the  '  Musical  Times')  that  this 
bird  alters  her  interval  as  summer  goes  on.1  It 
is  but  natural  that  the  cuckoo  should  have 
afforded  the  earliest  as  well  as  the  most  frequent 
subject  for  musical  imitation,  as  hers  is  the  only 
bird's  note  which  is  reducible  to  our  scale, 
though  attempts  have  been  made,  as  will  be 
seen  further  on,  to  copy  some  others.  Another 
canonic  part-song,  written  in  1540  by  Lemlin, 
'Der  Gutzgauch  auf  dem  Zaune  sass,'  Becker 
transcribes  at  length.  Here  two  voices  repeat 
the  cuckoo's  call  alternately  throughout  the 
piece.  He  also  quotes  a  part-song  by  Antonio 
Scandelli  (Dresden,  1570)  in  which  the  cackling 
of  a  hen  laying  an  egg  is  comically  imitated 
thus :  '  Ka,  ka,  ka,  ka,  ne-ey !  Ka,  ka,  ka,  ka, 
ne-ey  ! '  More  interesting  than  any  of  these  is  the 
'Dixieme  livre  des  chansons'  (Antwerp,  1545) 
to  be  found  in  the  British  Museum,  which  con 
tains  'La  Bataille  a  Quatre  de  Clem.  Jannequin' 
(with  a  5th  part  added  by  Ph.  Verdelot),  'Le 
chant  des  oyseaux '  by  1ST.  Gombert,  '  La  chasse 
de  lievre,'  anonymous,  and  another  '  Chasse  de 
lievre '  by  Gombert.  Two  at  least  of  these  part- 
songs  deserve  detailed  notice,  having  been  re 
cently  performed  in  Paris.  The  first  has  been 
transcribed  in  score  by  Dr.  Burney2  in  his  '  Mu 
sical  Extracts '(Add.  MS.  11,588),  and  is  a  descrip 
tion  of  the  battle  of  Marignan.  Beginning  in  the 
usual  contrapuntal  madrigal  style  with  the  words 
'Escoutez,  tous  gentilzGallois,  la  victoire  du  noble 
roy  Franfoys/ at  the  words  '  Sonney  trompettes 
et  clairons '  the  voices  imitate  trumpet-calls  thus, 


PROGRAMME-MUSIC.               35 

war-cries.     Two  bars  of  quotation  will  perhaps 
convey  some  idea. 

•—      "fc  1  1  1-1—  1  i  i 

•— 

—  *           . 

,  i 

t±  —  3  —  p  — 

r     i 

1 

^    • 

i      * 

1      1 

i 

1 

flj                    chippe  choppe  torche    lorgne 

chippe  choppe  torche 

•     •     < 

1      4 

*•  • 

t  ~  -i      —  '  '            P 

i      r 

i 

r 

•    ' 

1      1      ' 

i 

t  i 

1                   ' 

pa  -ti-pa  -toe         trique  trique  trac  pa-ti-pa. 

Sfr  1  1  i  

1 

'  —  1*1 

—  r^  — 

—  fS  1£?  — 

—p=n 

4-?J   '    •    •    J    • 

1  

| 

—  ^-M 

-&)— 

pa  -ti-pa  -toe       trique    trac 

lu                   i              i                            ' 

zin        zin 

trique 

"11  h.                     1 

i      i  - 

1              1 

u  \n        j        j 

J 

—  «-J 

ni     i      • 

•    •    t 

C    • 

•           •     ' 

'     • 

• 

la    pa-ti  -  pa-toe  pa-ti-pa-  toe  pa 

-ti-pa  -  toe  pa-ti  -  pa- 

*"V 

i    j 

.    m  j 

'•  1 

h    J    i 

*   r 

r  M  1 

2     5 

.  .«!    . 

, 

•     • 

*  ( 

Frere-le-le  Ian  fan,  frere-le-le  Ian  fan 

and  the  assault  is  described  by  a  copious  use  of 
onomatopeias,  such  as  'pon,  pon,  pon/  'patipatoc/ 
and  '  farirari,'  mixed  up  with  exclamations  and 

1  Spohr,  In  his  Autobiography,  has  quoted  a  cuckoo  in  Switzerland 
vhich  gave  the  intermediate  note— G,  F,  E. 
i  Reprinted  in  the  Prince  de  la  Moskowa's  collection. 


pa-ti-pa  -  toe  pa-ti-pa  -  toe  pa-ti  -  pa- 

This  kind  of  thing  goes  on  with  much  spirit  for 
a  long  while,  ending  at  last  with  cries  of  '  Vic 
toire  au  noble  roy  Frai^ois !  Escampe  toutte 
frelon  bigot ! '  Jannequin  is  said  to  have  written 
some  other  descriptive  pieces,  in  the  list  of  which 
the  'Chant  des  oyseaux '  of  Gombert  is  wrongly  in 
cluded.  [See  JANNEQUIN.]  This  latter  composition 
is  chiefly  interesting  for  the  manner  in  which  the 
articulation  of  the  nightingale  is  imitated,  the  song 
being  thus  written  down  :  'Tar,  tar,  tar,  tar,  tar, 
fria,  fria,  tu  tu  tu,  qui  lara,  qui  lara,  huit  huit 
huit  huit,  oyti  oyti,  coqui  coqui,  la  vechi  la  vechi, 
ti  ti  cu  ti  ti  cu  titi  cu,  quiby  quiby,  tu  fouquet 
tu  fouquet,  trop  coqu  trop  coqu,'  etc.  But  it  is  a 
ludicrous  idea  to  attempt  an  imitation  of  a  bird 
by  a  part-song  for  Soprano,  Alto,  Tenor  and  Bass, 
although  some  slight  effort  is  made  to  follow  the 
phrasing  of  the  nightingale's  song.  The  'Chasse 
de  lievre '  describes  a  hunt,  but  is  not  otherwise 
remarkable. 

The  old  musicians  do  not  display  much  ori 
ginality  in  their  choice  of  subjects,  whether  for 
imitation  or  otherwise.  *  Mr.  Bird's  Battle  '  is 
the  title  of  a  piece  for  virginals  contained  in  a 
MS.  book  of  W.  Byrd's  in  the  Christ  Church 
Library,  Oxford.  The  several  movements  are 
headed  '  The  soldiers'  summons — the  March  of 
footmen — of  horsemen — the  Trumpets — the  Irish 
march — the  Bagpipe  and  Drum — etc.'  and  the 
piece  is  apparently  unfinished.  Mention  may 
also  be  made  of  '  La  Battaglia '  by  Francesco 
di  Milano  (about  1530)  and  another  battle- 
piece  by  an  anonymous  Flemish  composer  a 
little  later.  Eckhard  or  Eccard  (1589)  is  said 
to  have  described  in  music  the  hubbub  of  the 
Piazza  San  Marco  at  Venice,  but  details  of  this 
achievement  are  wanting.  The  beginning  of  the 
1 7th  century  gives  us  an  English  '  Fantasia  on 
the  weather,1  by  John  Mundy,  professing  to  de 
scribe  ' Faire  Wether,'  'Lightning,'  'Thunder/ 
and  'A  faire  Day.'  This  is  to  be  seen  in  'Queen 
Elizabeth's  Virginal  Book.'  The  three  subjects 
quoted  overleaf  alternate  frequently,  giving  thir 
teen  changes  of  weather,  and  the  piece  ends 
with  a  few  bars  expressing  '  a  cleare  day.' 

D  2 


36 


PROGRAMME-MUSIC. 


].  Faire  wether. 


3: 


etc. 


2.  Lightning. 


There  is  also  '  A  Harmony  for  4  Voices '  by 
Ravenscroft,  '  expressing  the  five  usual  Recrea 
tions  of  Hunting,  Hawking,  Dancing,  Drinking, 
and  Enamouring  ' :  but  here  it  is  probable  that 
the  words  only  are  descriptive.  A  madrigal  by 
Leo  Leoni  (1606)  beginning  'Dimmi  Clori  gen  til' 
contains  an  imitation  of  a  nightingale.  Then 
the  Viennese  composer  Froberger  (d.  1667)  is 
mentioned  by  several  authorities  to  have  had  a 
marvellous  power  of  pourtraying  all  kinds  of 
incidents  and  ideas  in  music,  but  the  sole  speci 
men  of  his  programme-music  quoted  by  Becker 
— another  battle-piece — is  a  most  feeble  produc 
tion.  Adam  Krieger  (1667)  gives  us  a  four-part 
vocal  fugue  entirely  imitative  of  cats,  the  subject 
being  as  follows — 


mi   -------    au, 


-    -   -   -   -    au! 


Titles  now  begin  to  be  more  impressive,  and  the 
attempt  of  Buxtehude  (b.  1637)  to  describe  'the 
Nature  and  Properties  of  the  Planets'  in  a  series 
of  seven  Suites  for  Clavier  would  be  very  ambi 
tious  had  it  extended  further  than  the  title-page. 
Kuhnau's  '  Biblische  Historien  '  are  more  notice 
able.  These  were  six  Organ  Sonatas  describing 
various  scenes  in  the  sacred  narrative.  '  David 
playing  before  Saul '  is  one — a  good  musical  sub 
ject  ;  '  Jacob's  wedding '  is  more  of  a  programme 
piece,  and  contains  a  '  bridal  song '  for  Rachel. 
'  Gideon '  is  of  the  usual  order  of  battle-pieces,  and 
'  Israel's  death '  is  not  very  descriptive.  Burney 
gives  '  David  and  Goliath  '  and  '  The  ten  plagues 
of  Egypt '  as  the  titles  of  the  other  two. 

Amongst    descriptive     vocal   pieces    of    this 
period  should   be  noticed  the  Frost  scene  in 


PROGRAMME-MUSIC. 

Purcell's  '  King  Arthur,'  in  which  the  odd  effect 
of  shivering  and  teeth -chattering  is  rendered  by 
the  chorus.  Also  the  following  aria  from  an 
opera  by  Alessandro  Melani  (1660-96)  :— 

Talor  la  granochiella  nel  pantano 
Per  allegrezza  canta  qua  qua  re, 
Tribbia  il  grille  tri  tri  tri, 
L'Agnellino  fa  be  be; 
L'Usignuolo  chiu  chiu  chiu, 
Ed  il  gal  curi  cbi  chi. 

These  imitations  are  said  to  have  created  much 
delight  among   the  audience.     Coming  now  to 
the  great  masters  we  find  singularly  few  items  for 
our  list.     J.  S.  Bach  has  only  one,  the  '  Capriccio 
sopra  la  lontananza  del  suo  fratello  diletissimo,' 
for  pianoforte  solo,  in  which  occurs  an  imitation 
of  a  posthorn.    We  cannot  include  the  descriptive 
choruses  which  abound  in  cantatas  and  oratorios, 
the  catalogue  would  be  endless.     We  need  only 
mention  casually  the  '  Schlacht  bei  Hochstadt '  of 
Em.  Bach,  and  dismiss  Couperin  with  the  remark 
that  though  he  frequently  gives  his  harpsichord 
pieces   sentimental    and    flowery   names,   these 
have  no  more  application  than  the  titles  be 
stowed  so  freely  and  universally  on  the  '  drawing- 
room'  music  of  the  present  day.     D.  Scarlatti 
wrote  a  well-known  '  Cat's  Fugue.'    Handel  has 
not  attempted  to  describe  in  music  without  the 
aid  of  words — for  the  '  Harmonious  Blacksmith ' 
is   a  mere  after-invention,  but  he  occasionally 
follows  not  only  the  spirit  but  the  letter  of  his 
text  with  a  faithfulness  somewhat  questionable, 
as  in  the  setting  of  such  phrases  as  '  the  hail 
ran  along  upon  the  ground,'  '  we  have  turned,' 
and  others,  where  the  music  literally  executes 
runs  and  turns.     But  this  too  literal  following 
of  the   words  has   been   even    perpetrated  by 
Bach   ('Mein    Jesu    ziehe    mich,    so    will    ich 
laufen'},   and   by  Beethoven  (Mass  in  D,  'et 
ascendit  in  ccelum ')  ;   and  in  the  present  day 
the  writer  has  heard   more   than  one  organist 
at  church  gravely  illustrating  the  words  'The 
mountains  skipped  like  rams '  in  his  accompani 
ment,  and  on  the  slightest  allusion  to  thunder 
pressing    down    three    or  four   of   the    lowest 
pedals  as  a  matter  of  course.     Berlioz  has  ridi 
culed  the  idea  of  interpreting  the  words  '  high ' 
and  'low'  literally  in  music,  but  the   idea  is 
now  too  firmly  rooted  to   be  disturbed.     Who 
would  seek  to  convey  ethereal  or  heavenly  ideas 
other  than  by  high  notes  or  soprano  voices,  and 
a  notion  of  'the  great  deep'  or  of  gloomy  subjects 
other  than  by  low  notes  and  bass  voices  t 

A  number  of  Haydn's  Symphonies  are  distin 
guished  by  names,  but  none  are  sufficiently  de 
scriptive  to  be  included  here.  Characteristic  music 
there  is  in  plenty  in  the  'Seasons/  and  'Creation,' 
but  the  only  pieces  of  actual  programme-music 
—and  those  not  striking  specimens — are  the 
Earthquake  movement,  'II  Terremoto,'  in  the 
'Seven  Last  Words/  and  the  'Representation  of 
Chaos '  in  the  '  Creation/  by  an  exceedingly  un- 
chaotic  fugue.  Mozart  adds  nothing  to  our  list, 
though  it  should  be  remembered  how  greatly  he 
improved  dramatic  music.  We  now  come  to 
the  latter  part  of  the  i8th  century,  when  pro 
gramme  pieces  are  in  plenty.  It  is  but  natural 


PROGRAMME-MUSIC. 


PROQRAMME-MUSIC. 


37 


that  the  numerous  battles  of  that  stormy  epoch 
should  have  been  commemorated  by  the  arts, 
and  accordingly  we  find  Battle  Sonatas  and  Sym 
phonies  by  the  dozen.  But  first  a  passing  mention 
should  be  made  of  the  three  symphonies  of 
Ditters  von  Dittersdorf  (1789)  on  subjects  from 
Ovid's  Metamorphoses,  viz.  The  four  ages  of  the 
world ;  The  fall  of  Phaeton ;  and  Action's  Me 
tamorphosis  into  a  stag. 

In  an  old  volume  of  pianoforte  music  in  the 
British  Museum  Library  (g.  138)  may  be  seen 
the  following  singular  compositions  : — 

i.  'Britannia,  an  Allegorical  Overture  by  D. 
Steibelt,  describing  the  victory  over  the  Dutch 
Fleet  by  Admiral  Duncan.'  In  this,  as  well  as  all 
other  similar  pieces,  the  composer  has  kindly  sup 
plied  printed  'stage  directions'  throughout.  Thus 
— '  Adagio :  the  stillness  of  the  night.  The  waves 
of  the  sea.  Advice  from  Captain  Trollope' 
(which  is  thus  naively  depicted) : — 


-      1-   m 

<=  n                     .  .  -~  

f=>  H 

• 

;*=;     II 

I      •—  ' 

SS—U                                     -.                   - 

-     i-  C 

11 

1    7- 

33dtt 

'  Sailing  of  the  Dutch  Fleet  announced  (by  a 
march!).  Beat  to  arms.  Setting  the  sails, "  Britons, 
strike  home."  Sailing  of  the  Fleet.  Songs  of  the 
sailors.  Roaring  of  the  sea.  Joy  on  sight  of 
the  enemy.  Signal  to  engage.  Approach  to  the 
enemy.  Cannons.  Engagement.  Discharge  of 
small  arms.  Falling  of  the  mast  (a  descending 
scale  passage).  Cries  of  the  wounded :— 


« 


-•-n 


£ 


Heat  of  the  action.  Cry  of  victory.  "  Rule 
Britannia,"  (interrupted  by)  Distress  of  the  Van- 
quished.  Sailing  after  victory.  Return  into  port 
and  acclamation  of  the  populace.  "  God  save  the 
King."  This  composer  has  also  written  a  well- 
known  descriptive  rondo,  '  The  Storm,'  as  well 
as  other  programme  pieces,  the  titles  of  which  will 
be  found  under  PIANOFORTE  Music  [vol.ii.  7256]. 
2.  '  The  Royal  Embarkation  at  Greenwich,  a 
characteristic  Sonata  by  Theodore  Bridault.' 
This  piece  professes  to  describe  'Grand  Saluta 
tion  of  Cannon  and  Music.  The  barge  rowing  off 
to  the  Yatch.  "  Rule  Britannia."  His  Majesty 
going  on  board.  Acclamations  of  the  people' 
(apparently  not  very  enthusiastic). 


3.  'The  Battle  of  Egypt,  by  Dr.  Domenico 
Briscoli.'    This  is  a  piece  of  the  same  kind,  with 
full  descriptions,  and  ending,  as  usual,  with  '  God 
save  the  King.' 

4.  '  The  Landing  of  the  Brave  42nd  in  Egypt. 
Military  Rondo  for  Pianoforte,  by  T.  H.  Butler.' 
The  programme   is    thus  stated :    '  Braving  all 
opposition  they  land  near  Fort  Aboukir,  pursue 
the  French  up  the  sand-hills,  and  in  a  bloody 
battle  conquer  Buonaparte's  best  troops.' 

5.  Another  'Admiral  Duncan's  Victory,'  by 
J.  Dale. 

6.  '  Nelson  and  the  Navy,  a  Sonata  in  com 
memoration  of  the  glorious  1st  of  August,  1798, 
by  J.  Dale.'    A  similar  sea-piece,  in  which  the 
blowing  up  of  L'Orient  is  represented  by  a  grand 
ascending  scale  passage. 

7.  A  third  'Admiral  Duncan,'  by  Dussek. 

8.  'The  Sufferings  of  the  Queen  of  France,' 
by  Dussek.     This  is  a  series  of  very  short  move 
ments   strung  together,  each  bearing  a  name. 
A  deep  mourning  line  surrounds  the  title-page. 
'  The   Queen's  imprisonment   (largo).     She  re 
flects  on  her  former  greatness  (maestoso).     They 
separate  her  from  her  children  (agitato  assai). 
Farewell.    They  pronounce  the  sentence  of  death 
(allegro  con  furia).     Her  resignation  to  her  fate 
(adagio  innocente).   The  situation  and  reflections 
the  night  before  her  execution  (andante  agitato). 
The  guards  come  to  conduct  her  to  the  place  of 
execution.    They  enter  the  prison  door.    Funeral 
March.     The  savage  tumult  of  the  rabble.    The 
Queen's  invocation  to  the  Almighty  just  before 
her  death  (devotamente).     The  guillotine  drops 
(a  ^ZissawcZo  descending  scale).  The  Apotheosis.' 

9.  'A  complete  delineation  of  the  Procession 
....  in  the  Ceremony  of  Thanksgiving,  1797,' 
by  Dussek.     The  full  title  nearly  fills  a  page. 
Here  we  have  horses  prancing  and  guns  firing, 
and  the  whole  concludes  with  Handel's  Corona 
tion  Anthem. 

10.  '  A  Description  in  Music  of  Anacreon's 
L' Amour  piqud  par  une  abeille,'  by  J.  Mugnie". 
This  is  perhaps  the  first  attempt  to  illustrate 
a  poem,  and  as  such  is  commendable. 

11.  'The  Chace,  or  Royal  Windsor  Hunt,'  by 
H.  B.  Schroeder  ;  a  descriptive  hunting-piece. 

12.  13.   'The    Siege    of   Valenciennes,'    and 
'  Nelson's  Victory,'  anonymous. 

Far  more  famous,  though  not  a  whit  superior 
to  any  of  these,  was  Kotzwara's  '  Battle  of 
Prague.'  It  seems  to  be  a  mere  accident  that  we 
have  not  a  piece  of  the  same  kind  by  Beethoven 
on  the  Battle  of  Copenhagen  ! x  There  is  also  a 
'  Conquest  of  Belgrade,'  by  Schroetter ;  and  a 
composition  by  Bierey,  in  which  one  voice  is  ac 
companied  by  four  others  imitating  frogs — '  qua- 
qua ! ' — belongs  also  to  this  period.  Mr.  Julian 

i  See  his  letters  to  Thomson,  in  Thayer,  iii.  448,  9.  He  asked  50  gold 
ducats  for  the  job. 


38 


PROGRAMME-MUSIC. 


Marshall  possesses  a  number  of  compositions  of 
an  obscure  but  original-minded  composer  of  this 
time  (though  perhaps  a  Prince),  Signor  Sampieri. 
He  appears  to  have  been  a  pianoforte  teacher 
who  sought  to  make  his  compositions  interest 
ing  to  his  pupils  by  means  of  programmes,  and 
even  by  illustrations  placed  among  the  notes. 
One  of  his  pieces  is  '  A  Grand  Series  of  Musical 
Compositions  expressing  Various  Motions  of  the 
Sea.'  Here  we  have  '  Promenade,  Calm,  Storm, 
Distress  of  the  Passengers,  Vessel  nearly  lost,' 
etc.  Another  is  modestly  entitled  'A  Novel, 
Sublime,  and  Celestial,  Piece  of  Music  called 
NIGHT  ;  Divided  into  5  Parts,  viz.  Evening, 
Midnight,  Aurora,  Daylight,  and  The  Rising  of 
the  Sun.'  On  the  cover  is  given  '  A  short  Ac 
count  how  this  Piece  is  to  be  played.  As  it  is 
supposed  the  Day  is  more  Chearful  than  the 
Night,  in  consequence  of  which,  the  Evening, 
begins  by  a  piece  of  Serious  Music. — Midnight, 
by  simple  and  innocent,  at  the  same  time  shew 
ing  the  Horror  &  Dead  of  the  Night.  Aurora, 
by  a  Mild  encreasing  swelling  or  crescendo 
Music,  to  shew  the  gradual  approach  of  the  Day. 
Daylight,  by  a  Gay  &  pleasing  Movement,  the 
Rising  of  the  Sun,  concludes  by  an  animating  & 
lively  Rondo,  &  as  the  Sun  advance  into  the 
Centre  of  the  Globe,  the  more  the  Music  is 
animating,  and  finishes  the  Piece.' 

In  this  composition  occur  some  imitations  of 
birds.     That  of  the  Thrush  is  not  bad  : 


8m 


L 


m 


The  Blackbird  and  the  Goldfinch  are  less  happily 
copied.  Other  works  of  this  composer  bear  the 
titles  of  'The  Elysian  Fields,'  'The  Progress  of 
Nature  in  various  departments,"  '  New  Grand 
Pastorale  and  Rondo  with  imitation  of  the  bag 
pipes  ' ;  and  there  is  a  curiously  illustrated  piece 
descriptive  of  a  Country  Fair,  and  all  the 
amusements  therein. 

Coming  now  to  Beethoven,  we  have  his  own 
authority  for  the  fact,  that  when  composing  he 
had  always  a  picture  in  his  mind,  to  which  he 
worked.1  But  in  two  instances  only  has  he  de 
scribed  at  all  in  detail  what  the  picture  was. 
These  two  works,  the  Pastoral  and  the  Battle 
Symphonies,  are  of  vastly  different  calibre.  The 
former,  without  in  the  slightest  degree  departing 
from  orthodox  form,  is  a  splendid  precedent  for 
programme-music.  In  this,  as  in  most  works  of 
the  higher  kind  of  programme-music,  the  composer 
seeks  less  to  imitate  the  actual  sounds  of  nature 
than  to  evoke  the  same  feelings  as  are  caused  by 
the  contemplation  of  a  fair  landscape,  etc.  And 
with  such  consummate  skill  is  this  intention 
wrought  out  that  few  people  will  be  found  to 
agree  with  a  writer  in  the  '  Encyclopaedia 
Britannica '  (former  edition)  who  declares  that  if 
this  symphony  were  played  to  one  ignorant  of 
the  composer's  intention  the  hearer  would  not 

i  In  a  conversation  with  Neate,  in  the  fields  near  Baden  (Thayer, 
lii.  343).  '  Ich  habe  immer  ein  Gemalde  in  meinen  Gedanken,  weun 
ich  am  componiren  bin,  uad  arbeite  nach  demselben.' 


PROGRAMME-MUSIC. 

be  able  to  find  out  the  programme  for  himself. 
But  even  were  this  the  case — as  it  undoubtedly 
is  with  many  other  pieces — it  would  be  no  ar 
gument  against  programme-music,  which  never 
professes  to  propound  conundrums.  It  may  be 
worth  mentioning  that  the  Pastoral  Symphony 
has  actually  been  '  illustrated '  by  scenes,  ballet 
and  pantomime  action  in  theatres.  This  was 
done  at  a  festival  of  the  Kiinstler  Liedertafel  of 
Diisseldorf  in  1863  'by  a  series  of  living  and 
moving  tableaux  in  which  the  situations  de 
scribed  by  the  Tone-poem  are  scenically  and 
pantomimically  illustrated.'2  A  similar  enter 
tainment  was  given  by  Howard  Glover  in  Lon 
don  the  same  and  following  year. 

Another  interesting  fact  concerning  the  Pas 
toral    Symphony   is   the    identity   of   its    pro 
gramme  with  that  of  the  'Portrait  Musical  de 
la  Nature'  of  Knecht,  described  below.     The 
similarity    however    does    not    extend    to    the 
music,  in  which  there  is  not  a  trace  of  resem 
blance.     Mention  has   elsewhere  been  made  of 
an  anticipation  of  the  Storm  music  in  the  '  Pro 
metheus '  ballet  music,  which  is  interesting  to 
note.      Some    description    of    the    little-known 
'  Battle    Symphony '  may  not   be  out   of  place 
here.      It    is    in    two    parts ;    the    first   begins 
with  '  English  drums  and  trumpets '  followed  by 
'  Rule   Britannia,'   then    come    '  French   drums 
and  trumpets '  followed  by  '  Malbrook.'     More 
trumpets  to  give  the  signal  for  the  assault  on 
either  side,  and  the  battle  is  represented  by  an 
Allegro  movement  of  an  impetuous  character. 
Cannon  of  course  are  imitated— Storming  March 
— Presto — and    the    tumult    increases.       Then 
Malbrook  is  played  slowly  and  in  a  minor  key, 
clearly,  if  somewhat  inadequately,  depicting  the 
defeat  of  the  French.     This  ends  the  ist  part. 
Part    2    is    entitled  '  Victory   Symphony '   and 
consists  of  an  Allegro  con  brio  followed  by  '  God 
save  the  King' — a  melody,  it  may  be  remarked, 
which  Beethoven  greatly  admired.     The  Allegro 
is  resumed,  and  then  the  anthem  is  worked  up 
in  a  spirited  fugato  to  conclude. 

Of  the  other  works  of  Beethoven  which  are 
considered  as  programme,  or  at  least  characteristic 
music,  a  list  has  been  already  given  at  p.  206  &  of 
vol.  i.  It  is  sufficient  here  to  remark  that  the 
'Eroica'  Symphony  only  strives  to  produce  a 
general  impression  of  grandeur  and  heroism,  and 
the  '  Pathetic '  and  '  Farewell '  Sonatas  do  but 
pourtray  states  of  feeling,  ideas  which  music  is 
peculiarly  fitted  to  convey.  The  title  'Wuth 
liber  den  verlorenen  Groschen,'  etc.,  given  by 
Beethoven  to  a  Rondo  (op.  1 29)  is  a  mere  joke. 

Knecht's  Symphony  here  demands  a  more  de 
tailed  notice  than  has  yet  been  given  it.  The 
title-page  runs  as  follows — 

Le  Portrait  Musical  de  la  Nature,  ou  Grande  Simphonie  . .  .  (For 
ordinary  orchestra  minus  clarinets.)  Laquelle  va  exprimer  par  le 
moyen  des  sons : 

1.  Une  belle  Contre'e  ou  le  Soleil  luit,  les  doux  Zephirs  voltigent, 
les  Kuisseaux  traversent  le  vallon,  les  oiseaux  gazouillent,  un  torrent 
tombe  du  haut  en  murmurant,  le  berger  siffle,  les  moutons  sautent, 
et  la  bergere  fait  entendre  sa  douce  voix. 

2.  Le  ciel  commence  £  devenir  soudain  et  sombre,  tout  le  voisin- 
age  a  de  la  peine  de  respirer  et  s'effraye,  les  images  noirs  montent. 

2  See  '  Beethoven  im  Malkasten '  by  Jahn, '  Gesam.  AufsStze.' 


PROGRAMME-MUSIC. 

les  vents  se  mettent  a  faire  un  bruit,  le  tonnerre  gronde  de  loin  et 
1'orage  approche  a  pas  lents. 

3.  L'orage  accompagne1  des  vents  murmurans  et  des  pluies  bat- 
tans  gronde  avec  toute  la  force,  les  sommets  des  arbres  font  un  murm, 
et  le  torrent  roule  ses  eaux  avec  un  bruit  e'pouvantable. 

4.  L'orage  s'appaise  peu  a  peu  les  nuages  se  dissipent  et  le  ciel 
devient  clair. 

5.  La  Nature  transported  de  la  joie  e"le"ve  sa  voix  vers  le  ciel  et 
rend  au  cre"ateur  les  plus  vives  graces  par  des  chants  doux  et  agre'ables. 

Dedie"e  a  Monsieur  1" Abbe"  Vogler  Premier  Maitre  de  Chapelle  Elec 
torate  de  Palatin-Bavar,  par  Justin  Henri  Knecht. 

[See  KNECHT,  vol.  ii.  p.  66.] 

In  spite  of  these  elaborate  promises  the  sym 
phony,  regarded  as  descriptive  music,  is  a  sadly 
weak  affair ;  its  sole  merit  lying  in  the  oi'igin- 
ality  of  its  form.  In  the  first  movement  (G 
major,  Allegretto)  instead  of  the  '  working  out ' 
section  there  is  an  episode,  Andante  pastorale, 
D  major  (a),  formed  from  the  first  subject  (6)  by 
metamorphosis,  thus — 

.» 


PROGRAMME-MUSIC. 


39 


The  Abb^  Vogler,  to  whom  this  composition  is 
dedicated,  was  himself  a  great  writer  of  pro 
gramme-music,  having  described  in  his  Organ 
Concertos  such  elaborate  scenes  as  the  drowning 
of  the  Duke  Leopold  in  a  storm,  the  Last  Judge 
ment,  with  graves  opening,  appearance  of  the 
mystic  horsemen  and  choruses  of  damned  and 
blessed — and  a  naval  battle  in  the  fashion  of 
Dussek  and  the  rest. 

Coming  now  to  modern  times,  we  find  a  perfect 
mania  for  giving  names  to  pieces — showing  the 
bias  of  popular  taste.  Every  concert  overture 
must  have  a  title,  whether  it  be  programme- 
music  or  not.  Every  '  drawing -room'  piece,  every 
waltz  or  galop,  must  have  its  distinctive  name, 
till  we  cease  to  look  for  much  descriptiveness  in 
any  music.  It  cannot  be  said  that  all  Mendels 
sohn's  overtures  are  programme-music.  The 
Midsummer  Night's  Dream,  with  its  tripping 
elves  and  braying  donkey,  certainly  is,  but  the 
' Meeresstille,'  'Hebrides,'  and  'Melusine'  are 
only  pieces  which  assume  a  definite  colour  or 
character,  the  same  as  his  'Italian'  and  'Scotch' 
symphonies.  To  this  perfectly  legitimate  extent 
many  modern  pieces  go  ;  and  some  term  like 
'  tinted  music '  should  be  invented  for  this  large 
class  of  compositions,  which  includes  the  greater 
part  of  Schumann's  pianoforte  works,  for  instance. 
The  '  Carneval '  is  decidedly  programme-music, 
so  are  most  of  the  '  Kinderscenen '  and  '  Wald- 
scenen';  while  others,  despite  their  sometimes 
extravagant  titles,  are  purely  abstract  music  :  for 
it  is  well  known  that  Schumann  often  invented 
the  titles  after  the  pieces  were  written.  Such 
pieces  as  the  '  Fantasia  in  C '  and  the  longer 
'  Novelletten,'  from  their  poetic  cast  and  free 
form  give  a  decided  impression  of  being  intended 
for  descriptive  music. 

Spohr's  Symphony  '  Die  Weihe  der  Tone '  (The 
Consecration  of  Sound)  bears  some  relation  to  the 


Pastoral  Symphony  in  its  first  movement ;  the 
imitations  of  Nature's  sounds  are  perhaps  some 
what  too  realistic  for  a  true  work  of  art,  but 
have  certainly  conduced  to  its  popularity.  For 
no  faults  are  too  grave  to  be  forgiven  when 
a  work  has  true  beauty.  His  '  Seasons  '  and 
'  Historical '  Symphonies  are  less  characteristic. 

Felicien  David's  wonderful  ode-symphonie  '  Le 
Desert'  must  not  be  omitted,  though  it  is  almost 
a  cantata,  like  the  '  Faust '  of  Berlioz.  Modern 
dramatic  music,  in  which  descriptiveness  is  car 
ried  to  an  extent  that  the  old  masters  never 
dreamed  of,  forms  a  class  to  itself.  This  is  not 
the  place  to  do  more  than  glance  at  the  wonder 
ful  achievements  of  Weber  and  Wagner. 

Berlioz  was  one  of  the  greatest  champions  of 
programme -music ;  he  wrote  nothing  that  was 
not  directly  or  indirectly  connected  with  poetical 
words  or  ideas ;  but  his  love  of  the  weird  and 
terrible  has  had  a  lamentable  effect  in  repelling 
public  admiration  for  such  works  as  the  '  Francs 
Juges '  and  '  King  Lear '  overtures.  Music 
which  seeks  to  inspire  awe  and  terror  rather  than 
delight  can  never  be  popular.  This  remark 
applies  also  to  much  of  Liszt's  music.  The 
novelty  in  construction  of  the  '  Symphonische 
Dichtungen '  would  be  freely  forgiven  were  simple 
beauty  the  result.  But  such  subjects  as  '  Pro 
metheus '  and  'The  Battle  of  the  Huns,'  when 
illustrated  in  a  sternly  realistic  manner,  are  too 
repulsive,  the  latter  of  these  compositions  having 
indeed  lately  called  forth  the  severe  remark  from 
an  eminent  critic  that  '  These  composers  (Liszt 
etc.)  prowl  about  Golgotha  for  bones,  and,  when 
found,  they  rattle  them  together  and  call  the 
noise  music.'  But  no  one  can  be  insensible  to 
the  charms  of  the  preludes  'Tasso,'  'Dante,' 
and  '  Faust,'  or  of  some  unpretentious  pianoforte 
pieces,  such  as  'St.  Fra^ois  d'Assise  predicant 
aux  oiseaux,'  '  Au  bord  d'une  source,'  *  Waldes- 
rauschen,'  and  others. 

Stern  dale  Bennett's  charming  'Paradise  and 
the  Peri '  overture  is  a  good  specimen  of  a  work 
whose  intrinsic  beauty  pulls  it  through.  An  un 
musical  story,  illustrated  too  literally  by  the 
music, — yet  the  result  is  delightful.  Raff,  who 
ought  to  know  public  taste  as  well  as  any  man,  has 
named  seven  out  of  his  nine  symphonies,  but  they 
are  descriptive  in  a  very  unequal  degree.  The 
'Lenore'  follows  the  course  of  Burger's  well- 
known  ballad,  and  the  '  Im  Walde '  depicts  four 
scenes  of  forest  life.  Others  bear  the  titles  of 
'The  Alps,'  'Spring,'  'Summer,'  etc.,  but  are 
character-music  only.  Raff,  unlike  Liszt,  re 
mains  faithful  to  classical  form  in  his  symphonies, 
though  this  brings  him  into  difficulties  in  the 
Finale  of  the  '  Forest '  symphony,  where  the 
shades  of  evening  have  to  fall  and  the  '  Wild 
Hunt '  to  pass,  twice  over.  The  same  difficulty 
is  felt  in  Bennett's  Overture. 

That  the  taste  for  'music  that  means  some 
thing'  is  an  increasing,  and  therefore  a  sound 
one,  no  one  can  doubt  who  looks  on  the  enormous 
mass  of  modern  music  which  comes  under  that 
head.  Letting  alone  the  music  which  is  only 
intended  for  the  uneducated,  the  extravagant 


40 


PEOGRAMME-MUSIC. 


programme  quadrilles  of  Jullien,  and  the  clever, 
if  vulgar,  imitative  choruses  of  Offenbach  and  his 
followers,  it  is  certain  that  every  piece  of  music 
now  derives  additional  interest  from  the  mere 
fact  of  having  a  distinctive  title.  Two  excellent 
specimens  of  the  grotesque  without  vulgarity  in 
modern  programme-music  are  Gounod's  '  Funeral 
March  of  a  Marionette '  and  Saint- Saens' '  Danse 
Macabre.'  In  neither  of  these  is  the  mark  over 
stepped.  More  dignified  and  poetic  are  the  other 
'  Poemes  Symphoniques  '  of  the  latter  composer, 
the  '  Rouet  d'Omphale '  being  a  perfect  gem  in 
its  way.  We  may  include  Goldmark's  'Land- 
liche  Hochzeit '  symphony  in  our  list,  and  if  the 
Characteristic  Studies  of  Moscheles,  Liszt,  Henselt 
and  others  are  omitted,  it  is  because  they  belong 
rather  to  the  other  large  class  of  character-pieces. 
It  will  be  noticed,  on  regarding  this  catalogue, 
how  much  too  extended  is  the  application  of  the 
term  '  programme-music '  in  the  present  day.  If 
every  piece  which  has  a  distinct  character  is  to 
be  accounted  programme-music,  then  the  'Eroica' 
Symphony  goes  side  by  side  with  Jullien's 
'British  Army  Quadrille,'  Berlioz's  'Episode  de 
la  vie  d'un  Artiste '  with  Dussek's  '  Sufferings  of 
the  Queen  of  France,'  or  Beethoven's  'Turkish 
March '  with  his  '  Lebewohl '  sonata.  It  is  ab 
surd,  therefore,  to  argue  for  or  against  programme- 
music  in  general,  when  it  contains  as  many  and 
diverse  classes  as  does  abstract  music.  As 
before  stated,  theorising  is  useless — the  result  is 
everything.  A  beautiful  piece  of  music  defies  the 
critics,  and  all  the  really  beautiful  pieces  in  the 
present  list  survive,  independently  of  the  ques 
tion  whether  programme-music  is  a  legitimate 
form  of  art  or  not.  [F.C.] 

PROGRESSION  is  motion  from  note  to  note, 
or  from  chord  to  chord.  The  term  is  sometimes 
used  to  define  the  general  aspect  of  a  more  or  less 
extended  group  of  such  motions.  It  is  also  used 
of  a  group  of  modulations,  with  reference  to 
the  order  of  their  succession.  The  expression 
'progression  of  parts'  is  used  with  special  re 
ference  to  their  relative  motion  in  respect  of  one 
another,  and  of  the  laws  to  which  such  relative 
motion  is  subject.  [See  MOTION.]  [C.H.H.P.] 

PROLATION  (Lat.  Prolatio;  Ital.  Prola- 
zione).  A  subdivision  of  the  rhythmic  system, 
which,  in  Mediaeval  Music,  governed  the  pro 
portionate  duration  of  the  Semibreve  and  the 
Minim. 

Prolation  was  of  two  kinds,  the  Greater,  and 
the  Lesser — called  by  early  English  writers,  the 
More,  and  the  Lesse,  and  by  Italians,  Prolazione 
Perfetta,  and  Imperfetta.  In  the  former — usually 
indicated  by  a  Circle,  or  Semicircle,  with  a  Point 
of  Perfection  in  its  centre — the  Semibreve  was 
equal  to  three  Minims.  In  the  latter — distin 
guished  by  the  same  signs,  without  the  Point — 
it  was  equal  to  two.  [See  POINT.]  The  signs, 
however,  varied  greatly  at  different  periods.  In 
the  latter  half  of  the  i6th  century,  for  instance, 
the  Circle  was  constantly  either  used  in  con 
nection  with,  or  replaced  by,  the  figure  3,  to  which 
circumstance  we  owe  the  presence  of  that  figure 


PROMENADE  CONCERTS. 

in   our   own   Time-Signatures,    the    Time    now 
known  as  3-2  being,  in  fact,  the  exact  modern 
equivalent  of  the  Greater  Prolation,  and  that 
commonly  called  Alia  Breve,  (£,  of  the  Lesser. 
The  Greater  Prolation.  The  Lesser  Prolation. 


Prolation  was  generally  intermixed  with  Mode, 
and  Time,  in  curiously  intricate  proportions, 
which  however  were  greatly  simplified  by  the 
best  Masters  of  the  best  Period.  [See  MODE, 
TIME,  PROPORTION,  NOTATION.]  [W.S.R.] 

PROMENADE  CONCERTS.  Although  the 
concerts  given  at  Yauxhall,  Ranelagh,  Maryle- 
bone,  and  other  public  gardens,  might  be  placed 
under  this  head,  the  class  of  entertainment  now 
so  well  known  in  this  country  under  the  name 
was  introduced  into  London  from  Paris.  In 
1838  some  of  the  leading  London  instrumen 
talists  gave  concerts  at  the  English  Opera  House 
(Lyceum)  under  the  title  of  '  Promenade  Concerts 
a  la  Musard.'  The  pit  was  boarded  over  and  an 
orchestra  erected  upon  the  stage  in  the  manner 
now  familiar  to  all,  though  then  so  strange. 
The  band  consisted  of  60  performers,  including 
many  of  the  most  eminent  professors;  Mr.  J.  T. 
Willy  was  the  leader,  and  Signer  Negri  the 
conductor;  the  programmes  were  composed  ex 
clusively  of  instrumental  music,  each  consist 
ing  of  4  overtures,  4  quadrilles  (principally  by 
Musard),  4  waltzes  (by  Strauss  and  Lanner), 
and  a  solo,  usually  for  a  wind  instrument.  The 
first  of  the  concerts  was  given  on  Dec.  12,  and 
they  were  continued,  with  great  success,  daring 
the  winter.  Early  in  1 839  the  band  of  Valen 
tino,  the  rival  of  Musard,  came  to  London,  and 
gave  concerts  at  the  Crown  and  Anchor  Tavern ; 
the  programmes  being  composed  of  music  of  a 
higher  class,  the  first  part  usually  including  a 
symphony  ;  but  they  met  with  little  support.  In 
Oct.  1839  the  original  speculators  resumed  opera 
tions  at  the  Lyceum.  On  June  8,  1840,  'Concerts 
d'Ete"'  were  commenced  at  Drury  Lane  under 
the  conductorship  of  Eliason,  the  violinist,  with 
Jullien  as  his  assistant,  and  a  band  of  nearly 
100,  and  a  small  chorus.  Some  dissensions 
among  the  original  managers  led  to  concerts  of 
the  same  class  being  given  by  Mr.  Willy  in  the 
autumn  and  winter  at  the  Princess's  Theatre, 
the  majority  of  the  band  however  still  perform 
ing  at  the  Lyceum.  About  the  same  period 
promenade  concerts  were  given  at  Drury  Lane, 
and  M  usard  was  brought  over  to  conduct  them.  In 
Jan.  1841  'Concerts  d'Hiver'  were  given  in  the 
same  house  by  Jullien,  who  soon  firmly  esta 
blished  himself  in  public  favour  ami  continued 
to  give  this  class  of  concerts  until  1859.  [^ee 
JULLIEN.]  In  1851  promenade  concerts  conducted 
by  Balfe  were  given  at  Her  Majesty's  Theatre 
under  the  title  of  'National  Concerts';  a  large 
band  and  chorus  and  some  eminent  principal 
-singers  were  engaged,  but  the  speculation  proved 
unsuccessful.  Since  Jullien's  retirement,  pro 
menade  concerts  have  been  annually  given  in  the 
autumn  at  Covent  Garden,  with  Alfred  Mellon 


PROMENADE  CONCERTS. 

as  conductor  until  1866,  and  afterwards  under 
various  conductors,  Signer  Arditi,  M.  Hervd, 
Mr.  Arthur  Sullivan,  M.  Riviere,  etc.  [W.H.H.] 

PROMETHEUS.  Beethoven's  only  Ballet 
(op.  43)  ;  designed  by  Salvatore  Vigano ;  com 
posed  in  1800,  and  produced,  for  Mile.  Casentini's 
benefit,  March  28,  1801,  in  the  Burg- theater, 
Vienna,  under  the  title  of  '  Die  Geschb'pfe  des 
Prometheus.'  It  contains  an  overture,  an  'Intro 
duction,'  and  1 6  numbers.  The  title  of  the  first 
edition,  an  arrangement  for  the  piano  (Vienna, 
1801,  numbered  in  error  op.  24),  is  '  Gli  Uomini 
di  Prometeo';  English  edition,  'The  men  of 
Prometheus.'  If  Beyle — who  under  the  name 
of  Bombet  wrote  the  famous  letters  on  Haydn — 
may  be  trusted,  the  representation  of  Chaos  from 
the  '  Creation '  was  interpolated  by  Vigano  into 
Beethoven's  Ballet  at  Milan,  to  express  'the  first 
dawn  of  sentiment  in  the  mind  of  beauty '  (what 
ever  that  may  mean).1 

No.  5  is  a  very  early  instance  of  the  use  of 
the  Harp  with  the  Orchestra. — The  Introduction 
contains  a  partial  anticipation  of  the  Storm  in 
the  Pastoral  Symphony. — The  Finale  contains 
two  tunes  which  Beethoven  has  used  elsewhere; 
the  first  of  these,  in  Eb,  appears  as  a  Contre- 
tanz,  No.  7  of  12  ;  as  the  theme  of  15  variations 
and  a  fugue  for  the  PF.  in  Eb  (op.  35,  composed 
in  1802);  and  as  the  principal  theme  in  the 
Finale  to  the  Eroica  Symphony.  The  second — 
in  G — appears  as  a  Contretanz,  No.  n  of  the 
set  first  mentioned.  Such  repetitions  are  rare  in 
Beethoven. — The  autograph  of  Prometheus  has 
disappeared,  but  the  Hofbibliothek  at  Vienna 
possesses  a  transcript  with  Beethoven's  cor 
rections.  [G.] 

PROPHETS,  LE.  Opera  in  5  acts  ;  words  by 
Scribe,  music  by  Meyerbeer.  Produced  at  the 
Opera,  Paris,  April  16,  1849.  IQ  Italian,  in 
4  acts,  at  Covent  Garden,  July  24,  1849.  [G-] 

PROPORTION  (Lat.  Proportio;  Ital.  Pro- 
porzione).  A  term  used  in  Arithmetic  to  express 
certain  harmonious  relations  existing  between  the 
several  elements  of  a  series  of  numbers;  and  trans 
ferred  from  the  terminology  of  Mathematics  to 
that  of  Music,  in  which  it  plays  a  very  prominent 
part.  In  Music,  however,  the  word  is  not  always 
employed  in  its  strict  mathematical  sense :  for, 
a  true  Proportion  can  only  exist  in  the  presence 
of  three  terms ;  in  which  point  it  differs  from  the 
Ratio,  which  is  naturally  expressed  by  two.  Now, 
the  so-called  'Proportions'  of  Musical  Science  are 
almost  always  expressible  by  two  terms  only,  and 
should  therefore  be  more  correctly  called  Ratios ; 
but  we  shall  find  it  convenient  to  assume,  that, 
in  musical  phraseology,  the  two  words  may  be 
lawfully  treated  as  synonymous — as,  in  fact,  they 
actually  have  been  treated,  by  almost  all  who  have 
written  on  the  subject,  from  Joannes  Tinctor,  who 
published  the  first  Musical  Dictionary,  in  the 
year  1474,2  to  the  Theorists  of  the  i8th  and  ipth 
centuries. 

Of  the  three   principal   kinds  of  Proportion 

1  Lettres  sur  Haydn,  No.  18 ;  May  31, 1809. 

a '  PROPORTIO  est  duorum  numerorum habitudo '  (Joannis  Tinctoris , 
'Terminorum  Musicas  Diffinitorium.'    Lit.  P.) 


PROPORTION. 


41 


known  to  Mathematicians,  two  only — the  Arith 
metical  and  Geometrical  species — are  extensively 
used  in  Music :  the  former  in  connection  with 
differences  of  Pitch  and  Rhythm  ;  the  latter,  in 
the  construction  of  the  Time-table,  the  Scale  of 
Organ  Pipes,  and  other  matters  of  importance. 

Thomas  Morley,  in  his  'Plaine  and  easie  In 
troduction  to  Practicall  Musicke'  (London  1597), 


I 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

2 

4 

6 

8 

IO 

12 

14 

16 

18 

20 

3 

6 

9 

12 

IS 

18 

21 

24 

27 

3° 

4 

8 

12 

16 

20 

24 

28 

32 

36 

40 

5 

10 

'S 

20 

25 

3° 

35 

40 

45 

So 

6 

12 

18 

24 

3° 

36 

42 

48 

54 

60 

1 

14 

21 

28 

35 

42 

49 

56 

63 

70 

8 

16 

24 

32 

40 

48 

56 

64 

72 

80 

9 

18 

21 

36 

45 

54 

63 

72 

81 

90 

10 

20 

30 

4° 

5° 

60 

70 

80 

90 

IOO 

gives  a  Table,  which  exhibits,  at  one  view,  all  the 
different  kinds  of  Proportion  then  in  general  use  ; 
thereby  saving  so  much  time  and  trouble,  in  the 
way  of  reference,  that  we  have  thought  it  well  to 


42 


PROPORTION. 


reproduce  his  Diagram,  before  proceeding  to  the 
practical  application  of  our  subject. 

To  use  this  Table,  (i)  When  the  name  of  the 
Proportion  is  known,  but  not  its  constituents, 
find  the  name  in  the  upper  part  of  the  Diagram ; 
follow  down  the  lines  of  the  lozenge  in  which  it 
is  enclosed,  as  far  as  the  first  horizontal  line  of 
figures ;  and  the  two  required  numbers  will  be 
found  under  the  points  to  which  these  diagonal 
lines  lead.  Thus,  Tripla  Sesquialtera  lies  near 
the  left-hand  side  of  the  Diagram,  about  mid 
way  between  the  top  and  bottom ;  and  the 
diagonal  lines  leading  down  from  it  conduct  us 
to  the  numbers  2  and  7,  which  express  the  re 
quired  Proportion  in  its  lowest  terms.  (2)  When 
the  constituents  of  the  Proportion  are  known, 
but  not  its  name,  find  the  two  known  numbers 
in  the  same  horizontal  line;  follow  the  lines 
which  enclose  them,  upwards,  into  the  diagonal 
portion  of  the  Diagram  ;  and,  at  the  apex  of  the 
triangle  thus  formed  will  be  found  the  required 
name.  Thus  the  lines  leading  from  2  and  8  con 
duct  us  to  Quadrupla. 

The  uppermost  of  the  horizontal  lines  comprises 
all  the  Proportions  possible,  between  the  series  of 
numbers  from  I  to  10  inclusive,  reduced  to  their 
lowest  terms.  The  subsequent  lines  give  their 
multiples,  as  far  as  100 ;  and,  as  these  multiples 
always  bear  the  same  names  as  their  lowest  re 
presentatives,  the  lines  drawn  from  them  lead 
always  to  the  apex  of  the  same  triangle. 

By  means  of  the  Proportions  here  indicated, 
the  Theorist  is  enabled  to  define  the  difference  of 
pitch  between  two  given  sounds  with  mathema 
tical  exactness.  Thus,  the  Octave,  sounded  by 
the  half  of  an  Open  String,  is  represented  by  the 
Proportion  called  Dupla ;  the  Perfect  Fifth, 
sounded  by  2-3  of  the  String,  by  that  called 
Sesquialtera ;  the  Perfect  Fourth,  sounded  by 
3-4,  by  Sesquitertia.  These  Ratios  are  simple 
enough,  and  scarcely  need  a  diagram  for  their 
elucidation  ;  but,  as  we  proceed  to  more  complex 
Intervals,  and  especially  to  those  of  a  dissonant 
character,  the  Proportions  grow  far  more  intri 
cate,  and  Morley 's  Table  becomes  really  valuable. 

A  certain  number  of  these  Proportions  are  also 
used  for  the  purpose  of  defining  differences  of 
Rhythm;  and,  in  Mediaeval  Music,  the  latter  class 
of  differences  involves  even  greater  complications 
than  the  former. 

The  nature  of  MODE,  TIME,  and  PROLATION 
will  be  found  fully  explained  under  their  own 
special  headings ;  and  the  reader  who  has  care 
fully  studied  these  antient  rhythmic  systems  will 
be  quite  prepared  to  appreciate  the  confusion 
which  could  scarcely  fail  to  arise  from  their  un 
restrained  commixture.  [See  NOTATION.]  Time 
was,  when  this  commixture  was  looked  upon  as 
the  cachet  of  a  refined  and  classical  style.  The 
early  Flemish  Composers  delighted  in  it.  Jos- 
quin  constantly  made  one  Voice  sing  in  one 
kind  of  Rhythm,  while  another  sang  in  another. 
Hobrecht,  in  his  '  Missa  Je  ne  demande,'  uses 
no  less  than  five  different  Time-signatures  at  the 
beginning  of  a  single  Stave — an  expedient  which 
became  quite  characteristic  of  the  Music  of  the 


PROPORTION. 

1 5th  and  earlier  years  of  the  i6th  centuries.  It 
was  chiefly  for  the  sake  of  elucidating  the  mys 
teries  of  this  style  of  writing  that  Morley  gave 
his  Table  to  the  world ;  and,  by  way  of  making 
the  matter  clearer,  he  followed  it  up  by  a  setting 
of  'Christes  Crosse  be  my  speed,'  for  Three  Voices, 
containing  examples  of  Dupla,  Tripla,  Quadrupla, 
Sesquialtera,  Sesquiquarta,  Quadrupla-Sesqui- 
quarta,  Quintupla,  Sextupla,  Septupla,  Nonupla, 
Decupla,  and  Super tripartiens  quartas,  giving  it 
to  his  pupil,  Philomathes,  with  the  encouraging 
direction — 'Take  this  Song,  peruse  it,  and  sing  it 
perfectly  ;  and  I  doubt  not  but  you  may  sing  any 
reasonable  hard  wrote  Song  that  may  come  to 
your  sight.' 

Nevertheless,  Morley  himself  confesses  that 
these  curious  combinations  had  fallen  quite  into 
disuse  long  before  the  close  of  the  i6th  century. 

Ornithoparcus,  writing  in  I5I7,1  mentions 
eight  combinations  of  Proportion  only,  all  of 
which  have  their  analogues  in  modern  Music, 
though,  the  Large  and  Long  being  no  longer  in 
use,  they  cannot  all  be  conveniently  expressed  in 
modern  Notation,  (i)  The  Greater  Mode  Per 
fect,  with  Perfect  Time;  (2)  the  Greater  Mode 
Imperfect,  with  Perfect  Time ;  (3)  the  Lesser 
Mode  Perfect,  with  Imperfect  Time;  (4)  the 
Lesser  Mode  Imperfect,  with  Imperfect  Time; 

(5)  the  Greater  Prolation,  with  Perfect  Time; 

(6)  the  Greater  Prolation,  with  Imperfect  Time ; 

(7)  Perfect  Time,  with   the  Lesser  Prolation ; 

(8)  Imperfect  Time,  with  the  Lesser  Prolation. 


1. 


2. 


3. 


4. 


5. 


6. 


7.       8. 


Adam  de  Fulda,  Sebald  Hey  den,  and  Hermann 
Finck,  use  a  different  form  of  Signature  ;  distin 
guishing  the  Perfect,  or  Imperfect  Modes,  by  a 
large  Circle,  or  Semicircle  ;  Perfect,  or  Imperfect 
Time,  by  a  smaller  one,  enclosed  within  it ;  and 
the  Greater,  or  Lesser  Prolation,  by  the  presence, 
or  absence,  of  a  Point  of  Perfection  in  the  centre 
of  the  whole  ;  thus  — 


In  his  First  Book  of  Masses,  published  in  1554, 
Palestrina  has  employed  Perfect  and  Imperfect 
Time,  and  the  Greater  and  Lesser  Prolation, 
simultaneously,  in  highly  complex  Proportions, 
more  especially  in  the  '  Missa  Virtute  magna,' 
the  second  Osanna  of  which  presents  difficulties 
with  which  few  modern  Choirs  could  cope  ;  while, 
in  his  learned  *  Missa  L'homme  arme,'  he  has 
produced  a  rhythmic  labyrinth  which  even  Jos- 
quin  might  have  envied.  But,  after  the  pro 
duction  of  the  '  Missa  Papae  Marcelli,'  in  the  year 
1565,  he  confined  himself  almost  exclusively  to 
the  use  of  Imperfect  Time,  with  the  Lesser  Pro 
lation,  equivalent  to  our  Alia  Breve,  with  four 
Minims  in  the  Measure ;  the  Lesser  Prolation, 
alone,  answering  to  our  Common  Time,  with  four 
Crotchets  in  the  Measure;  Perfect  Time,  with 
the  Lesser  Prolation,  containing  three  Semibreves 

i  Micrologus,  lib.  li.  cap.  5. 


PKOPORTION. 

in  the  Measure ;  and  the  Greater  Prolation,  alone 
represented  by  our  3-2.  A  very  little  considera 
tion  will  suffice  to  shew  that  all  these  combina 
tions  are  reducible  to  simple  Dupla,  and  Tripla. 
Our  modern  Proportions  are  equally  unpreten 
tious,  and  far  more  clearly  expressed ;  all  Simple 
Times  being  either  Duple,  or  Triple,  with  Duple 
subdivisions;  and  Compound  Times,  Duple,  or 
Triple,  with  Triple  subdivisions.  Modern  Com 
posers  sometimes  intermix  these  different  species 
of  Rhythm,  just  as  the  Greater  and  Lesser  Pro 
lation  were  intermixed,  in  the  Middle  Ages ;  but, 
the  simplicity  of  our  Time-signatures  deprives  the 
process  of  almost  all  its  complication.  No  one, 
for  instance,  finds  any  difficulty  in  reading  the 
Third  and  Fourth  Doubles  in  the  last  Movement 
of  Handel's  Fifth  Suite  (the  '  Harmonious  Black 
smith'),  though  one  hand  plays  in  Common  Time, 
and  the  other  in  24-16.  Equally  clear  in  its 
intention,  and  intelligible  in  the  appearance  it 
presents  to  the  eye,  is  the  celebrated  Scene  in 
'  Don  Giovanni,'  in  which  the  First  Orchestra 
plays  a  Minuet,  in  3-4 ;  the  Second,  a  Gavotte, 
in  2-4 ;  and  the  Third,  a  Yalse,  in  3-8  ;  all 
blending  together  in  one  harmonious  whole — a 
triumph  of  ingenious  Proportion  worthy  of  a 
Netherlander  of  the  I5th  century,  which  could 
only  have  been  conceived  by  a  Musician  as  re 
markable  for  the  depth  of  his  learning  as  for  the 
geniality  of  his  style.  Spohr  has  used  the  same 
expedient,  with  striking  effect,  in  the  Slow  Move 
ment  of  his  Symphony  '  Die  Weihe  der  Tone ' ; 
and  other  still  later  Composers  have  adopted  it, 
with  very  fair  success,  and  with  a  very  moderate 
degree  of  difficulty — for  our  Rhythmic  Signs  are 
too  clear  to  admit  the  possibility  of  misappre 
hension.  Our  Time-table,  too,  is  simplicity  itself, 
though  in  strict  Geometrical  Proportion — the 
Breve  being  twice  as  long  as  the  Scmibreve,  the 
Semibreve  twice  as  long  as  the  Minim,  and  so 
with  the  rest.  We  have,  in  fact,  done  all  in  our 
power  to  render  the  rudiments  of  the  Art  intelli 
gible  to  the  meanest  capacity :  and  only  in  a  very 
few  cases — such  as  those  which  concern  the  '  Sec 
tion  of  the  Canon,'  as  demonstrated  by  Euclid, 
and  other  writers  on  the  origin  and  constitution 
of  the  Scale ;  the  regulation  of  Temperament ; 
the  Scale  of  Organ  Pipes ;  and  others  of  like  nature 
—are  we  concerned  with  Proportions  sufficiently 
intricate  to  demand  the  aid  of  the  Mathematician 
for  their  elucidation.  [W.S.R.] 

PROPOSTA  (Lat.  Dux;  Eng.  Subject).  A 
term  applied  to  the  Leading  Part,  in  a  Fugue, 
or  Point  of  Imitation,  in  contradistinction  to  the 
Risposta,  or  Response  (Eng.  Answer ;  Lat. 
Comes).  The  Leading  Part  of  a  Canon  is  usually 
called  the  Guida,  though  the  term  Proposta 
is  sometimes  applied  to  that  also.  [W.S.R.] 

PROPRIETAS,  propriety  (Germ.  Eigenheit). 
A  peculiarity  attributed,  by  Mediaeval  writers, 
to  those  Ligatures  in  which  the  first  note 
was  sung  as  a  Breve  :  the  Breve  being  always 
understood  to  represent  a  complete  Measure 
(Lat.  Tactus-,  Old  Eng.  Stroke).  Franco  of 
Cologne  describes  Ligatures  beginning  with 


PRUDENT. 


43 


Breves,    Longs,   and   Semibreves,    as    Ligaturrv 
cum,  sine,  and  cum  opposita  Proprietate,  respec 
tively.  [W.S.R.] 
PROSE.     [See  SEQUENTIA.] 

PROSKE,  KARL,  editor  of  the  celebrated 
collection  of  ancient  church-music  called  MUSICA 
DIVINA,  born  Feb.  1 1,  i 794,  at  Grb'bing  in  Upper 
Silesia,  where  his  father  was  a  wealthy  land 
owner.  Having  studied  medicine  he  made  the 
campaign  of  1813-15  as  an  army  surgeon,  but 
being  compelled  to  retire  by  his  health,  he  took 
his  degree  as  Doctor  of  Medicine  at  Halle,  and 
settled  as  government  physician  at  Oppeln  in 
Upper  Silesia.  Here  he  suddenly  became  a  reli 
gious  enthusiast,  a  change  to  which  his  devotion 
to  church  music  doubtless  contributed.  On 
April  n,  1826,  he  was  ordained  priest  by  Bishop 
Sailer  at  Ratisbon,  where  he  became  vicar-choral 
in  1827,  and  Canon  and  Capellmeister  of  the 
Cathedral  in  1830.  From  this  time,  with  the 
aid  of  his  private  fortune,  he  began  his  cele 
brated  collection  of  church  music,  residing  for 
long  in  Italy  exploring  the  great  MS.  collections 
there,  and  scoring  from  the  voice-parts  many 
very  beautiful,  but  hitherto  unknown  works,  and 
publishing  them  in  a  cheap,  accurate,  and  legible 
form  as  '  Musica  Divina'  [see  vol.  ii.  p.  411]. 
Each  volume  is  preceded  by  introductory  remarks, 
biographical  and  bibliographical.  Attention  has 
been  repeatedly  called  in  this  Dictionary  to  the 
merits  of  this  collection.  [See  among  others 
MASS;  IMPROPERIA."]  Proske  died  of  angina 
pectoris,  Dec.  20,  1861,  bequeathing  his  collec 
tion  to  the  episcopal  library  of  Ratisbon,  of  which 
it  forms  one  of  the  chief  ornaments.  [F.G.] 

PROUT,  EBENEZER,  B.A.,  born  %  at  Oundle, 
Northamptonshire,  March  I,  1835,  graduated 
at  London,  1854.  He  studied  the  pianoforte 
under  Charles  Salaman.  In  1862  he  gained  the 
first  prize  of  the  Society  of  British  Musicians  for 
the  best  string  quartet,  and  in  1865  their  first 
prize  for  pianoforte  quartet.  From  1871  to  1874 
he  was  editor  of  "The  Monthly  Musical  Record,' 
and  since  then  has  been  successively  music 
critic  of  '  The  Academy '  and  '  The  Athenaeum.' 
He  is  conductor  of  the  Borough  of  Hackney 
Choral  Association,  and  Professor  of  harmony 
and  composition  at  the  Royal  Academy  of 
Music  and  the  National  Training  School  of 
Music.  His  compositions  include  String  Quartet 
in  Eb,  op.  i ;  PF.  Quartet  in  C.  op.  2  ;  PF.  Quin 
tet  in  G,  op.  3 ;  Concert  for  Organ  and  Orchestra, 
op.  5  ;  Magnificat  in  C,  op.  7 ;  and  Evening 
Service  in  Eb,  op.  8,  both  with  orchestra  ;  '  Here- 
ward,'  dramatic  cantata,  op.  12  (produced  at 
St.  James's  Hall,  June  4,  1879);  and  two  MS. 
symphonies  in  C  major  and  G  minor.  [W.  H.H.] 

PRUDENT,  EMILE,  born  at  AngoulSme,  April 
3,  1817,  never  knew  his  parents,  but  was  adopted 
by  a  piano-tuner,  who  taught  him  a  little  music. 
He  entered  the  Paris  Conservatoire  at  10,  and 
obtained  the  first  piano  prize  in  1833,  and  the 
second  harmony  prize  in  1 834.  He  had  no  patrons 
to  push  him,  and  his  want  of  education  not  being 
supplied  by  natural  facility,  he  had  a  long  struggle 


44 


PKUDENT. 


with  the  stern  realities  of  life,  but  by  dint  of  pa 
tience  and  perseverance  he  overcame  all  obstacles. 
His  first  performance  in  public  was  at  a  concert 
with  Thai  berg,  whose  style  he  imitated,  and  the 
success  of  his  fantasia  on  'Lucia  di  Lammermoor' 
(op.  8)  established  him  with  the  public.  He  then 
made  constant  excursions  in  France,  and  occa 
sional  trips  abroad,  but  his  home  continued  to  be 
in  Paris,  and  there  he  composed  and  produced  his 
new  pieces.  His  compositions,  about  70  in  num 
ber,  include  a  trio  for  PF.,  violin,  and  cello ;  a 
concerto- symphonic  'Les  trois  Reves'  (op.  67); 
several  brilliant  and  pleasing  morceaux  de  genre, 
such  as  'Les  Bois,'  and  'La  Danse  des  Fees' ;  fan 
tasias  on  opera-airs,  or  themes  by  classical  com 
posers  ;  transcriptions  with  and  without  varia 
tions,  cleverly  calculated  to  display  the  virtuosity 
of  a  pianist ;  and  finally  '  Etudes  de  genre,'  also 
intended  to  show  off  manual  dexterity.  His 
music  is  clear,  melodious,  and  correct ;  pleasing 
the  ear  without  straining  the  attention.  Prudent 
is  no  fiery  or  original  genius,  but  an  artist  with  a 
real  love  for  his  instrument,  and  a  thorough 
understanding  of  its  resources,  and  a  musician  of 
taste  and  progress.  From  Thalberg  to  Mendels 
sohn  is  a  long  way  to  traverse,  and  Prudent 
was  studying  the  latter  composer  with  enthusiasm 
when  he  was  carried  off  after  48  hours'  illness, 
by  diphtheria,  on  May  14,  1863.  His  kind  and 
generous  disposition  caused  him  to  be  universally 
.  regretted.  He  was  a  good  teacher,  and  formed 
several  distinguished  pupils,  especially  ladies ; 
among  these  Mile.  Louise  Murer,  who  took  the 
first  piano  prize  at  the  Conservatoire  in  1854,  was 
the  best  interpreter  of  his  works.  In  England 
he  was  well  known.  He  played  a  concerto  in 
Bb  of  his  own  composition  at  the  Philharmonic, 
May  I,  1848;  returned  in  1852  and  introduced 
his  elegant  morceau  'La  Chasse,'  which  he  re 
peated  at  the  New  Philharmonic  Concert  June  i, 
1853-  [G.C.] 

PEUME,  FRANCOIS  HUBERT,  violinist,  was 
born  in  1816  at  Stavelot  near  Liege.  Having 
received  his  first  instruction  at  Malme'dy,  he 
entered  in  1827  the  newly  opened  Conservatoire 
at  Liege,  and  in  1830  that  at  Paris,  where  he 
studied  for  two  years  under  Habeneck.  Re 
turning  to  Liege  he  was  appointed  professor  at 
the  Conservatoire,  although  only  seventeen  years 
of  age.  In  1839  ne  began  to  travel,  and  visited 
with  much  success  Germany,  Russia,  and  the 
Scandinavian  countries.  He  died  in  1849  at 
Stavelot.  Prume  was  an  elegant  virtuoso,  with 
most  of  the  characteristic  qualities  of  the  modern 
Franco-Belgian  school.  He  is  chiefly  remem 
bered  as  the  composer  of  '  La  Melancholie '  a 
sentimental  piece  de  salon  which  for-  a  time 
attained  an  extraordinary  popularity,  without 
however  possessing  the  artistic  worth  of  the  rest 
of  Prume's  compositions.  [P.  D.] 

PRUMIER,  ANTOINE,  born  in  Paris  July  2, 
1794,  learned  the  harp  from  his  mother,  and 
afterwards  entered  the  Conservatoire,  and  ob 
tained  the  second  harmony  prize  in  Catel's  class 
in  1812.  After  this  however  he  was  compelled 


PSALTERY. 

by  military  law  to  enter  the  Ecole  poly  technique  ; 
but  in  1815  he  gave  up  mathematics,  re-entered 
the  Conservatoire,  and  finished  his  studies  in 
counterpoint  under  Eler.  He  then  became  harpist 
in  the  orchestra  of  the  Italiens,  and,  on  the  death 
of  Nadermann  in  1835,  professor  of  the  harp  at 
the  Conservatoire.  In  the  same  year  he  migrated 
to  the  Ope"ra  Comique,  but  resigned  his  post  in 
1840  in  favour  of  his  son,  the  best  of  his  pupils. 
Prumier  composed  and  published  about  a  hundred 
fantasias,  rondeau x,  and  airs  with  variations  for 
the  harp — all  well  written  but  now  antiquated. 
He  received  the  Legion  of  Honour  in  1845,  and 
was  vice-president  of  the  Association  des  Artistes 
Musiciens  for  17  years  consecutively.  He  died 
from  the  rupture  of  an  aneurism  at  a  committee 
meeting  of  the  Conservatoire,  Jan.  21,  1868. 
He  had  retired  on  his  pension  the  year  before, 
and  been  succeeded  by  Labarre,  at  whose  death 
(April  1870)  the  professorship  devolved  upon 

CONRAD  PRUMIER,  born  in  Paris,  Jan.  5,  1820, 
and  laurdat  in  1838.  Like  his  father  he  writes 
well  for  the  instrument,  and  is  considered  a 
skilled  performer  and  a  musician  of  taste.  [G.C.] 

PSALTERY  (faXTfjpiov;  Old  English  Sautry; 
French  Psalterion  ;  Ital.  Salterio  ;  Ger.  Psalter). 
A  dulcimer,  played  with  the  fingers  or  a 
plectrum  instead  of  by  hammers.  The  French 
have  adopted  the  Greek  name  without  change. 
There  exists  a  classic  sculptured  representation 
of  the  Muse  Erato,  holding  a  long  ten-stringed 
lyre,  with  the  name  ¥AATPIAN  cut  on  its  base. 
From  this  it  has  been  inferred  that  the  strings  of 
this  lyre  were  touched  by  the  fingers  without 
the  usual  plectrum  of  ivory  or  metal.  Chaucer's 
'  sautrie  '  in  the  Miller's  Tale 1  came  direct  from 
the  East,  perhaps  imported  by  returning  Cru 
saders,  its  kinship  to  the  Persian  and  Arabic 
santir  and  kanun  being  unmistakable.  The 
psaltery  was  the  prototype  of  the  spinet  and 
harpsichord,  particularly  in  the  form  which  is 
described  by  Praetorius  in  his  '  Organographia,' 
as  the  '  Istromento  di  porco,'  so  called  from  its 
Hkeness  to  a  pig's  head. 

The  illustration  is  drawn  from  a  15th-century 
painting  by  Filipino  Lippi  in  the  National  Gal 
lery,  and  represents  a^stromento  di  porco'  strung 
vertically,  a  mode  less  usual  than  the  hori 
zontal  stringing,  but  more  like  that  of  a  harp 
sichord  or  grand  piano.  Notwithstanding  the 
general  use  of  keyed  instruments  in  1650  we 
read  in  the  *  Musurgia '  of  Athanasius  Kircher, 
that  the  psaltery  played  with  a  skilled  hand 
stood  second  to  no  other  instrument,  and  Mer- 
senne,  about  the  same  date,  praises  its  silvery 
tone  in  preference  to  that  of  any  other,  and  its 
purity  of  intonation,  so  easily  controlled  by  the 
fingers. 

No  '  Istromento  di  porco'  being  now  known  to 
exist,  we  have  to  look  for  its  likeness  in  painted 
or  sculptured  representations.  The  earliest  occurs 
in  a  13th-century  MS.  in  the  library  at  Douai. 
It  is  there  played  without  a  plectrum.  From 

1  'And  all  above  ther  lay  a  gay  sautrie 

On  which  he  made  on  nightes  melodic, 
'  So  swetely,  that  all  the  chambre  rong, 
And  Angelus  ad  viryi'nem  he  song.' 


PSALTERY. 

the  1 4th  century  there  remain  frequent  examples, 
notably  at  Florence,  in  the  famous  Organ  Podium 
of  Luca  della  Robbia,  a  cast  of  which  is  in  the 
South  Kensington  Museum. 


PUGNANI. 


45 


But  other  forms  were  admired.  Exactly  like 
an  Arabic  Jcanun  is  a  psaltery  painted  A.D.  1348 
by  that  loving  delineator  of  musical  instruments, 
Orcagna,  himself  a  musician,  in  his  '  Trionfo  della 
Morte,'  at  Pisa.  The  strings  of  the  instrument 
are  in  groups  of  three,  each  group,  as  in  a  grand 
piano,  being  tuned  in  unison  to  make  one  note. 
Sometimes  there  were  groups  of  four,  a  not 
unfrequent  stringing  in  the  DULCIMER.  There  is 
a  good  coloured  lithograph  of  Orcagna's  fresco  in 
'  Les  Arts  au  Moyen  Age/  by  Paul  Lacroix  (Paris, 
1874,  p.  282);  it  is  there  called  '  Le  songe  de 
la  Vie.'  A  fine  representation  of  such  a  psaltery, 
strung  in  threes,  by  Orcagna,  will  be  found  in  our 
National  Gallery  (Catalogue  No.  569).  [A.J.H.] 

PUCITTA,  VINCENZO,  was  born  at  Rome, 
1778,  and  brought  up  at  the  Pieta,  at  Naples, 
under  Fenaroli  and  Sala.  He  wrote  his  first 
opera  for  Sinigaglia,  near  Ancona,  and  from  that 
time  till  his  death  composed  for  the  stage  dili 
gently.  'I  due  Prigionieri'  (Rome  1801)  was 
the  first  to  make  him  widely  known.  He  was, 
however,  often  away  from  Italy,  first  at  Lisbon, 
where  he  brought  out '  L'Andromacca,'  and  then 
in  London,  where  he  became  for  a  time  Director 
of  the  Music  at  the  Opera. 

His  name  first  appears  in  1809,  when  three  of 
his  operas  were  performed — '  I  Villeggiaturi  bi- 
zarri,'  'La  Caccia  d'Enrico  IV,'  and  'Le  quattro 
Nazioni.'  In  1810  we  find  his  '  La  Vestale,'  in 
1811  'La  tre  Sultane,'  in  1812  '  La  Ginevra  di 
Scozia,'  in  1813  'Boadicea,'  and  in  1814  'Aristo- 
demo.'  He  then  left  the  Opera  and  travelled  with 
Madame  Catalani ;  and  when,  in  1 8 1 3,  she  took  the 
direction  of  the  Italian  Opera  at  Paris,  he  became 
accompanyist,  and  three  of  his  works  were  brought 
out  there  in  1815,  16  and  17.  He  then  went  to 
Rome,  and  remained  in  Italy 'till  his  death,  at 


Milan,  Dec.  20,  1861.  Fe'tis  gives  a  list  of  23  of 
his  operas,  and  says  that  his  music  shows  great 
facility  but  no  invention.  Ten  volumes  of  his 
songs,  entitled  '  Mille  Melodie,'  are  published  by 
Ricordi.  [G.] 

PUGET,  LoiSA,  born  at  Paris  about  1810; 
though  an  amateur,  achieved  an  extraordinary 
popularity  in  the  reign  of  Louis  Philippe  by  her 
songs,  composed  to  Gustave  Lemoine's  words. 
Among  the  best  known  of  these  were, '  A  la 
gr§,ce  de  Dieu,'  '  Ave  Maria,'  '  Le  Soleil  de  ma 
Bretagne,'  '  Ta  dot,'  '  Mon  pays,'  'Les  reves 
d'une  jeune  fille,'  etc.  Musically  speaking  they 
are  inferior  to  those  of  Panseron,  Labarre,  or  Ma- 
sini ;  but  the  melodies  were  always  so  natural 
and  so  suited  to  the  words,  and  the  words  them 
selves  were  so  full  of  that  good,  bourgeois  cha 
racter,  which  at  that  time  was  all  the  fashion  in 
France,  that  their  vogue  was  immense.  En 
couraged  by  her  success,  Puget  aspired  to  the 
theatre.  She  took  lessons  from  Adolphe  Adam, 
and  on  Oct.  i,  1836,  produced  at  the  Opera 
Comique  a  one-act  piece,  'Le  mauvais  (Eil,' 
which  was  sung  to  perfection  by  Ponchard  and 
Mme.  Damoreau.  In  1842  she  married  Le- 
moine,  and  finding  the  popularity  of  her  songs 
on  the  wane,  had  the  tact  to  publish  no  more. 
She  broke  silence  only  once  again  with  an  oper 
etta  called  '  La  Veilleuse,  ou  les  Nuits  de  Mi 
lady,'  produced  at  the  Gymnase,.  Sept.  27,  1869. 
Madame  Lemoine  has  for  some  time  resided  at 
Pau,  where  she  is  still  living  (1881).  [G.C.] 

PUGNANI,  GAETANO,  celebrated  violinist, 
was  born  at  Turin  (or  according  to  another 
source  at  Canavese)  in  1727.  He  must  be  con 
sidered  as  one  of  the  best  representatives  of  the 
Piedmontese  School  of  violin-playing.  Being  a 
pupil  first  of  Somis,  who  studied  under  Corelli, 
and  afterwards  of  Tartini,  he  combined  the  pro 
minent  qualities  of  the  style  and  technique  of 
both  these  great  masters.  He  was  appointed 
first  violin  to  the  Sardinian  court  in  1752,  and 
began  to  travel  in  1754.  He  made  lengthened 
stays  at  Paris  and  in  London,  where  he  was 
for  a  time  leader  of  the  opera  band,  produced  an 
opera  of  his  own  (Burney,  Hist.  iv.  494),  and 
published  trios,  quartets,  quintets,  and  sympho 
nies.  In  1770  Burney  found  him  at  Turin,  and 
there  he  remained  as  leader,  conductor,  teacher 
and  composer,,  for  the  rest  of  his  life.  He  died 
in  1803. 

To  Pugnani  more  than  to  any  other  master 
of  the  violin  appears  to  be  due  the  preservation 
of  the  pure  gjand  style  of  Corelli,  Tartini  and 
Vivaldi,  and  its  transmission  to  the  next  genera 
tion  of  violinists.  Apart  from  being  himself 
an  excellent  player  he  trained  a  large  number 
of  eminent  violinists— such  as  Conforti,  Bruni, 
Polledro  and,  above  all,  Viotti.  He  was  also  a 
prolific  composer :  he  wrote  a  number  of  operas 
and  ballets,  which  however  appear  not  to  have 
been  very  successful.  Fe'tis  gives  the  names  of 
9,  and  a  list  of  his  published  instrumental  compo 
sitions  : — one  violin-concerto  (out  of  9),  3  sets  of 
violin-sonatas,  duos,  trios,  quartets,  quintets,  and 
12  symphonies  for  strings,  oboes  and  horns.  [P.D.] 


46 


PUPPO. 


PUPPO,  GIUSEPPE,  eminent  violinist,  was 
born  at  Lucca  in  1749.  He  was  a  pupil  of  the 
Conservatorio  at  Naples,  and  when  still  very 
young  gained  considerable  reputation  in  Italy  as 
a  virtuoso.  He  came  to  Paris  in  1775;  thence 
he  went  to  Spain  and  Portugal,  where  he  is 
reported  to  have  amassed  a  fortune.  After 
having  stayed  for  some  years  in  England  he 
returned  to  Paris  in  1 784,  and  remained  there 
till  1811,  occupying  the  post  of  leader,  first  at 
the  Theatre  de  Monsieur,  which  was  then 
under  Viotti's  direction,  then  at  the  Theatre 
Feydeau,  and  finally  conducting  the  band  at  the 
Theatre  Fran9ais.  As  he  was  an  excellent  ac- 
companyist,  he  was  much  in  request  in  the 
musical  circles  of  the  rich  and  noble,  and  might 
have  secured  for  himself  a  competency  if  it  had 
not  been  for  his  eccentricity  and  unsteadiness, 
which  brought  him  into  constant  troubles.  In 
1811  he  suddenly  left  Paris,  abandoning  his  wife 
and  children  for  ever.  Arrived  at  Naples  he 
was  lucky  enough  to  secure  the  leadership  of  the 
band  at  a  theatre.  He  however  did  not  stay 
long,  but  went  to  Lucca,  thence  to  Florence, 
and  finally  found  employment  as  teacher  at  a 
music  school  at  Ponfcremoli.  After  two  years 
he  threw  up  this  appointment  and  returned 
to  Florence,  was  there  found,  utterly  destitute, 
by  Mr.  Edward  Taylor,  Gresham  Professor  of 
Music,  and  by  his  generosity  was  placed  in  a 
hospice,  where  he  died  in  1827.  Fe"tis  gives 
interesting  details  of  his  adventurous  life,  and 
several  of  his  bon  mots.  It  was  he  who  so 
happily  described  Boccherini  as  '  the  wife  of 
Haydn.'  His  published  compositions  are  few 
and  of  no  importance.  [P.  D.] 

PURCELL.  The  name  of  a  family  of  musi 
cians  in  the  I7th  and  i8th  centuries,  which 
included  amongst  its  members  the  greatest  and 
most  original  of  English  composers. 

1.  The  name  of  '  Pursell,'  presumably  HENRY 
PURCELL  the  elder,  is  first  found  in  Pepys's  diary, 
under  date  Feb.   21,   1660,  where  he  is  styled 
4  Master  of  Musique.'    Upon  the  re-establishment 
of  the  Chapel  Royal  (in  1660)  Henry  Purcell  was 
appointed  one  of  the  Gentlemen.     He  was  also 
Master  of  the  Choristers  of  Westminster  Abbey. 
On  Dec.  21,   1663,  he  succeeded  Signor  Angelo 
as  one  of  the  King's  Band  of  Music.     He  died 
Aug.  n,  1664.  and  was  buried  in  the  east  cloister 
of  Westminster  Abbey,  Aug.  13.  There  is  a  three- 
part  song,   'Sweet  tyranness,  I  now  resign  my 
heart,'  inPlayford's  'Musical  Companion,'  1667, 
which  is  probably  of  his  composition,  although  it 
is  sometimes  attributed  to  his  more  celebrated  son. 
It  was  reprinted  in  Burney's  History,  iii.  486. 

2.  His  eldest  son,  EDWARD,  born  1653,  was 
Gentleman  Usher  to  Charles  II,  and  afterwards 
entered  the  army  and  served  with  Sir  George 
Rooke  at  the  taking  of  Gibraltar,  and  the  Prince 
of  Hesse  at  the  defence  of  it.     Upon  the  death  of 
Queen  Anne  he  retired  and  resided  in  the  house 
of  the  Earl  of  Abingdon,  where  he  died  June  20, 
1717.  He  was  buried  in  the  chancel  of  the  church 
of  Wytham,  near  Oxford. 

3.  HENRY  PURCELL,  the  second  eon  of  Henry 


PURCELL. 

Purcell  the  elder,  is  traditionally  said  to  have 
been  born  in  Old  Pye  Street,  Westminster,  in  or 
about  1658.     He  lost  his  father  before  he  was 
six  years  old,1  and  soon  afterwards  was  admitted 
a   chorister  of  the  Chapel   Royal  under  Capt. 
Henry  Cooke,  after  whose  death,  in  1672,   he 
continued  under  Pelham  Humfrey.     He  is  said 
to  have  composed  anthems  whilst  yet  a  chorister, 
but  there  are  now  no  means  of  verifying  the 
fact,  although  it  is  highly  probable.     He  may 
possibly  have  remained  in  the  choir  for  a  brief 
period  after  the  appointment  of  Blow  as  successor 
to  Humfrey  as  Master  of  the  Children,  but  the 
probability  is   that,  after  quitting  the  choir  on 
the  breaking  of  his  voice,  he  studied  composition 
under  Blow  as  a  private  pupil,  and  so  justified 
the  statement  on  Blow's  monument  that  he  was 
'  master   to   the  famous   Mr.   H.   Purcell.'    In 
1675,  when  only  17  years  of  age,   Purcell  was 
engaged    by  Josias    Priest,    a    dancing-master 
connected  with  the  theatres,  who  also  kept  a 
'  boarding    school   for    young  gentlewomen'  in 
Leicester  Fields,  to  compose  an  opera  written  by 
Nahum  Tate,  called  '  Dido  and  JEneas,'  for  per 
formance  at  his  school.      Purcell  executed  his 
task  in  a  manner  which  would  have  added  to  the 
reputation  of  many  an  older  musician.  The  opera 
is  without  spoken  dialogue,  the  place  of  which 
is  supplied  by  recitative  ;    it  contains  some  beau 
tiful  airs,  and  some  spirited  choruses,  especially 
that   beginning  'To   the   hills   and  the   vales.' 
The  work,  although  not  performed  on  the  public 
stage,   acquired   considerable    popularity,   as  is 
evident  from  the  number  of  manuscript  copies 
in  existence;    but,   with  the   exception  of  one 
song,  printed  in  the  '  Orpheus  Britannicus,'  and 
the  rondo  'Fear  no  danger,'  printed  by  Warren 
and  others,  it  remained  unpublished  until  1840, 
when  it  was  printed  by  the  '  Musical  Antiquarian 
Society.'2  The  production  of  '  Dido  and  ^Eneas' 
led    to    Purcell's    introduction    to    the    public 
theatre.      In    1676   he   was   engaged  to   write 
music  for  Dry  den's  tragedy  '  Aurenge-Zebe,'  and 
for  Shadwell's  comedy  '  Epsom  Wells,'  and  part 
of  the  music  for  his  tragedy  '  The   Libertine.1 
The  latter  contains  the  pleasing  air  'Nymphs 
and  Shepherds,'  and  the  well-known  chorus  '  In 
these  delightful  pleasant  groves.'     In  the  same 
year  a  song  by  him  appeared  in  the  new  edition 
of  Book  I.    of  Playford's  publication,  '  Choice 
Ayres,  Songs  and  Dialogues/     In  1677  ne  ^ur" 
nished  an  overture,  eight  act  and  other  tunes, 
and  songs  for  Mrs.  Behn's  tragedy  'Abdelazor,' 
and  composed  an  elegy  on  the  death  of  Matthew 
Lock,  printed  in  Book  II.  of  the  '  Choice  Ayres,' 
etc.,  1679.   In  1678  he  composed  the  overture  and 
instrumental  music  and  the  masque  in  ShadwelTs 
alteration   of  Shakspere's    'Timon   of  Athens,' 
representing    the   contest    between   Cupid  and 
Bacchus  for  supremacy  over  mankind,  and  their 

1  His  mother,  Elisabeth,  survived  to  -witness  the  -whole  of  her  son's 
career,  and  died  in  August  1699. 

2  Priest  removed  his  school  in  1680  to  Chelsea,  -where  'Dido  and 
.ffCneas '  -was  again  performed,  as  appears  from  an  undated  printed 
sopy  of  the  words  published  in  London.    This  copy  contains  a  pro- 
ogue  for  music  -which  Purcell  does  not  appear  to  have  set.   The 
>iece  was  revived  at  the  R.A.AI.  Concert-room,  London,  Julj  10, 1878, 
>y  Mr.  Malcolm  Lawsun. 


PURCELL. 

ultimate  agreement  to  exercise  a  joint  influence; 
a  very  beautiful  and  characteristic  composition. 
He  does  not  appear  to  have  produced  anything 
for  the  theatre  in  1679,  but  several  of  his  songs 
were  published  in  that  year  in  Playford's  second 
Book  just  named;  and  an  extant  letter,  dated 
Feb.  8,  1678-9,  from  his  uncle  Thomas,  to  the 
Rev.  John  Gostling,  the  celebrated  bass  singer, 
then  at  Canterbury,  shows  that  he  then  produced 
something  for  the  church ;  the  writer  telling 
Gostling  that  his  son,  Henry  (as  he  affectionately 
called  his  nephew),  was  then  composing  and  that 
the  composition  was  likely  to  cause  Gostling  to 
be  called  to  London.  Gostling  was  appointed  a 
gentleman  extraordinary  of  the  Chapel  Royal  Feb. 
25,  1679,  and  a  gentleman  in  ordinary  soon  after 
wards.  It  would  be  very  interesting  to  know 
which  of  Purcell's  anthems  was  then  produced,  but 
at  present  there  seems  no  clue.  In  1680,  however, 
he  composed  music  for  Lee's  tragedy  '  Theodosius,' 
and  the  overture  and  act  tunes  for  D'Urfey's 
comedy  'The  Virtuous  Wife,' and  produced  the  first 
of  his  numerous  odes,  viz.  '  An  Ode  or  Welcome 
Song  for  his  Royal  Highness  [the  Duke  of  York] 
on  his  return  from  Scotland,'  and  'A  Song  to 
welcome  home  His  Majesty  from  Windsor.'  In 
the  same  year  he  obtained  the  appointment  of 
organist  of  Westminster  Abbey,  and  then  gave 
up  his  connection  with  the  theatre,  which  he 
did  not  renew  for  six  years.  In  this  interval 
it  may  be  assumed  that  much  of  his  church 
music  was  composed.  In  1681  he  composed 
another  Ode  or  Welcome  Song  for  the  King, 
'Swifter,  Isis,  swifter  flow.'  On  July  14,  1682, 
he  was  appointed  organist  of  the  Chapel  Royal 
in  the  place  of  Edward  Lowe,  deceased,  but  was 
not  sworn  in  until  Sept.  16  following.  He  com 
posed  an  Ode  or  Welcome  Song  to  the  King  on 
his  return  from  Newmarket,  Oct.  21, — 'The 
summer's  absence  unconcerned  we  bear,' — and 
some  songs  for  the  inauguration  of  the  Lord 
Mayor,  Sir  William  Pritchard,  Oct.  29.  In  1683 
Purcell  came  forward  in  a  new  capacity,  viz.  as 
a.  composer  of  instrumental  chamber  music,  by 
the  publication  of  '  Sonnatas  of  III  parts,  two 
Viollins  and  Basse  to  the  Organ  or  Harpsichord,' 
with  an  engraved  portrait  of  himself,  at  the  age 
of  24,  prefixed.  These  sonatas  are  1 2  in  number, 
and  each  comprises  an  adagio,  a  canzone  (fugue), 
a  slow  movement,  and  an  air  ;  they  are  avowedly 
formed  upon  Italian  models,  as  the  composer  in 
his  preface  says, '  For  its  author  he  has  faithfully 
endeavoured  a  just  imitation  of  the  most  famed 
Italian  masters,  principally  to  bring  the  serious 
ness  and  gravity  of  that  sort  of  musick  into  vogue 
and  reputation  among  our  countrymen,  whose 
humour  'tis  time  now  should  begin  to  loath  the 
levity  and  balladry  of  our  neighbours.  The 
attempt  he  confesses  to  be  bold  and  daring ; 
their  being  pens  and  artists  of  more  eminent 
abilities,  much  better  qualified  for  the  imploy- 
ment  than  his  or  himself,  which  he  well  hopes 
these  his  weak  endeavours  will  in  due  time 
provoke  and  enflame  to  a  more  accurate  under 
taking.  He  is  not  ashamed  to  own  his  unskilful- 
ness  in  the  Italian  language,  but  that  is  the 


PURCELL. 


47 


unhappiness  of  his  education,  which  cannot  justly 
be  counted  his  fault ;  however  he  thinks  he  may 
warrantably  affirm  that  he  is  not  mistaken  in 
the  power  of  the  Italian  notes,  or  elegancy  of 
their  compositions.'  In  the  same  year  he  com 
posed  an  Ode  or  Welcome  Song  for  the  King, 
'  Fly,  bold  Rebellion,'  and  in  July  an  Ode  to 
Prince  George  of  Denmark  on  his  marriage  with 
the  Princess,  afterwards  Queen,  Anne, — '  From 
hardy  climes.'  He  likewise  composed  an  Ode 
by  Christopher  Fishburn,  '  Welcome  to  all  the 
pleasures,'  which  was  performed  Nov.  22  at  the 
annual  celebration  on  St.  Cecilia's^  Day,  the  score 
of  which  he  published  in  the  following  year. 
He  also  composed  another  Ode,  '  Raise,  raise  the 
voice,'  and  a  Latin  Ode  or  motet,  '  Laudate 
Ceciliam,'  in  honour  of  St.  Cecilia,  both  of  which 
still  remain  in  MS.  In  1684  ne  composed  an 
Ode  or  Welcome  Song,  by  Thomas  Flatman,  '  on 
the  King's  return  to  Whitehall  after  his  Summer's 
progress  ' — '  From  these  serene  and  rapturous 
joys' — the  last  production  of  the  kind  he  was  to 
address  to  Charles.  In  1685  he  greeted  the  new 
king,  James,  with  an  Ode  or  Welcome  Song, 
'Why  are  all  the  Muses  mute?'  For  the  coro 
nation  of  James  and  his  queen  on  April  23  he 
produced  two  anthems,  '  I  was  glad,'  and  '  My 
heart  is  inditing,'  both  remarkably  fine  com 
positions.  He  was  employed  in  superintending 
the  erection  of  an  organ  in  the  Abbey  expressly 
for  the  coronation,  and  was  paid — out  of  what 
was  then  termed  the  '  secret  service  money,'  but 
was  really  the  fund  for  defraying  extraordinary 
royal  expenses, — £34  I2S.  od.  'for  so  much  money 
by  him  disbursed  and  craved  for  providing  and 
setting  up  an  organ  in  the  Abbey  church  of 
Westmr.  for  the  solemnity  of  the  coronation,  and 
for  the  removing  the  same,  and  other  services 
performed  in  his  said  Ma' ties  chappell  since  the 
25th  of  March,  1685,  according  to  a  bill  signed 
by  the  Bishop  of  London.'  In  1686  he  returned 
to  dramatic  composition,  and  produced  the  music 
for  Dryden's  revived  tragedy  '  Tyrannic  Love,' 
in  which  is  the  fine  duet  of  the  spirits,  Nakar 
and  Damilcar  (or,  as  Purcell  has  it,  Doridcar), 
'  Hark  !  my  Doridcar,  hark ! '  and  the  pleasing 
air,  'Ah  !  how  sweet  it  is  to  love.'  He  also 
produced  an  Ode  or  Welcome  Song  for  the  King, 
'Ye  tuneful  Muses.'  In  1687  he  composed  an 
other  Ode  of  the  same  kind,  'Sound  the  trumpet, 
beat  the  drum,'  in  which  is  the  duet  for  altos, 
'Let  Cesar  and  Urania  live,'  which  continued 
so  long  in  favour  that  succeeding  composers 
of  odes  for  royal  birthdays  were  accustomed  to 
introduce  it  into  their  own  productions  until 
after  the  middle  of  the  i8th  century.  Later  in 
the  year  Purcell  wrote  his  anthem  'Blessed 
are  they  that  fear  the  Lord,'  for  the  thanksgiving 
for  the  queen's  pregnancy,  in  January  1687-8. 
In  1688  he  composed  the  songs  for  D'Urfey's 
comedy,  'A  Fool's  Preferment.'  With  one  ex 
ception  they  all  belong  to  the  character  of  Lionel, 
a  young  man  mad  for  love,  and  they  express  in 
the  most  admirable  manner  the  varied  emotions 
which  agitate  his  mind — disdain,  despondency, 
tender  affection  and  wild  fantastic  delusion. 


48 


PURCELL. 


They  were  sung  by  William  Mountford,  the 
unfortunate  actor  who  was  murdered  in  the 
street  by  the  ruffians  Lord  Mohun  and  Capt. 
Hill  in  revenge  for  his  having  frustrated  their 
attempted  forcible  abduction  of  the  celebrated 
actress  Mrs.  Bracegirdle,  and  who,  we  learn  from 
Colley  Gibber,  '  sung  a  clear  countertenor,  and 
had  a  melodious  warbling  throat.'  The  music 
was  published  in  4to  in  the  same  year,  and 
appended  to  the  printed  copy  of  the  comedy. 
To  this  year  also  belongs  a  solo  anthem  for  a 
bass  voice  with  chorus,  '  The  Lord  is  king '  (one 
of  the  very  few  of  Purcell's  church  compositions 
of  which  the  date  of  production  is  known),  and 
a  Welcome  Song  for  the  King,  the  last  he  wrote 
for  James  II.  In  1689  he  composed  an  Ode, 
'  Celestial  Music,'  which  was  '  performed  at  Mr. 
Maidwell's,  a  schoolmaster's,  on  the  5th  of  August,' 
and  'A  Welcome  Song  at  the  Prince  of  Denmark's 
coming  home.'  He  also  composed  for  the  annual 
gathering  in  London  of  the  natives  of  the  county 
of  York  the  famous  Ode  in  praise  of  that  county 
and  the  deeds  of  its  sons,  particularly  the  part 
taken  by  them  at  the  Revolution,  which  is  com 
monly  known  as  'The  Yorkshire  Feast  Song,' 
and  which  D'Urfey  (the  author  of  the  words) 
justly  calls  'one  of  the  finest  compositions  he 
ever  made.'  It  was  performed  at  an  expense  of 
£100  sit  the  County  Feast  held  in  Merchant 
Taylors'  Hall,  March  27,  1690.  Many  parts  of 
it  were  printed  in  the  '  Orpheus  Britannicus ' ; 
it  was  printed  entire  by  Goodison  about  1788, 
and  by  the  Purcell  Society  90  years  later,  under 
the  editorial  care  of  Mr.  W.  H.  Cummings.  In 
this  year  Purcell  became  involved  in  a  dispute 
with  the  Dean  and  Chapter  of  Westminster.  He 
had  received  money  from  persons  for  admission 
into  the  organ-loft  to  view  the  coronation  of 
William  and  Mary,  considering  the  organ-loft  as 
his,  in  right  of  hi  s  office ;  but  the  Dean  and  Chapter 
claimed  the  money  as  theirs,  and  called  upon  him 
to  pay  it  over ;  and,  upon  his  declining,  went  the 
length  of  making  an  order,  dated  April  18, 1689, 
that  unless  he  paid  over  the  money  his  place 
should  be  declared  null  and  void,  and  his  stipend 
detained  by  the  Treasurer.  It  is  presumed  that 
the  matter  was  in  some  way  accommodated,  as  he 
retained  his  appointment  until  his  death.  In 
1690  Purcell  composed  new  music  for  Shadwell's 
version  of  '  The  Tempest,'  in  which  the  advan 
tageous  result  of  his  study  of  the  great  Italian 
masters  is  strikingly  apparent.  Smooth  and 
easy  flowing,  yet  nervous  melodies,  clearness 
and  distinctness  of  form,  and  more  varied  ac 
companiment,  are  conspicuous.  Two  of  the  songs, 
'  Come  unto  these  yellow  sands,'  and  ' Full  fathom 
five,'  have  retained  uninterrupted  possession  of 
the  stage  from  the  time  they  were  composed  till 
this  day,  and  much  of  the  remainder  of  the 
music,  especially  that  of  the  concluding  masque, 
has  only  been  laid  aside  because  it  is  allied  to 
verses  not  by  Shakspere,  and  which  the  better 
judgment  of  our  time  has  decreed  shall  no  longer 
be  permitted  to  supplant  his  poetry.  In  the 
same  year  Purcell  produced  the  music  for  the 
'alterations  and  additions  after  the  manner  of 


PURCELL. 

an  opera'  which  Betterton  had  made  to  Beau 
mont  and  Fletcher's  play,  '  The  Prophetess,  or, 
The   History  of  Dioclesian.'     Here   again   the 
great  advance  made  by  the  composer  is  visible. 
He  calls   into  play  larger   orchestral   resources 
than  before ;  some  of  the  movements  are  scored 
for  two  trumpets,  two  oboes,  a  tenor  oboe,  and  a 
bassoon,  beside  the  string  quartet,  and  the  wood 
wind  instruments  are  occasionally  made  responsive 
to  the  trumpets  and  strings  in  a  manner  that 
was  then  new.     The  vocal  music  comprises  some 
fine  songs  and  bold  choruses.     Among  the  songs 
may  be  named  '  What  shall  I  do  to  show  how 
much  I  love  her?'  (the  air  of  which  was  long 
known  from  its  adaptation  to  the  words  '  Virgins 
are  like  the  fair  flower  in  its  lustre,'  in  'The 
Beggar's  Opera')  and  'Sound,  Fame,  thy  brazen 
trumpet,'   with  its  bold  and  difficult  obbligato 
trumpet  accompaniment.     Purcell  published  the 
score  of  this  opera  by  subscription  in  1691,  with 
a  dedication  to  the  Duke  of  Somerset,  in  which 
he  says,  '  Musick  and  Poetry  have  ever  been  ac 
knowledged  sisters,  which,  walking  hand  in  hand, 
support  each  other  ;  As  Poetry  is  the  harmony 
of  words  so  Musick  is  that  of  notes ;    and  as 
Poetry  is  a  rise  above  Prose  and  Oratory,  so  is 
Musick  the  exaltation  of  Poetry.     Both  of  them 
may  excel  apart,  but  surely  they  are  most  ex 
cellent  when  they  are  joyn'd,  because  nothing  is 
then  wanting  to  either  of  their  proportions  ;  for 
thus   they  appear  like  wit  and  beauty  in  the 
same  person.     Poetry  and  Painting  have  arriv'd 
to  perfection  in  our  own  country ;  Musick  is  yet 
but  in  its  nonage,  a  forward  child,  which  gives 
hope  of  what   it  may  be  hereafter  in  England 
when  the  masters  of  it  shall  find  more  encourage 
ment.     'Tis  now  learning  Italian,  which  is  its 
best  master,  and  studying  a  little  of  the  French 
air,  to  give  it  somewhat  more   of  gayety  and 
fashion.     Thus  being  further  from  the  sun  we 
are  of  later  growth  than  our  neighbour  countries, 
and  must  be  content  to  shake  off'  our  barbarity  by 
degrees.     The  present  age  seems  already  disposed 
to  be  refin'd,  and  to  distinguish  between  wild 
fancy  and  a  just,  numerous  composition.'     Here 
we  see  PurcelPs  modest  estimate  of  the  state  of 
English  musical  art  in  his  day,  but  we  may  see 
also  that  although  he  viewed  his  countrymen  as 
standing  only  upon  the  threshold  of  the  temple 
of  music,  he  felt  the  strong  conviction  that  it 
would  be  within  their  power  to  enter  and  explore 
its  innermost  recesses.     The  composer's  desire  to 
please  his  subscribers  occasioned  him  to  fix  the 
subscription  at  so  moderate  a  rate  that  it  scarcely 
sufficed  to  meet  the  expense  of  the  publication. 
He  also  wrote  in  1690  the  fine  bass  song,  'Thy 
genius,  lo  !  from  his  sweet  bed  of  rest,'  for  Lee's 
tragedy 'The  Massacre  in  Paris,'  and  the  over 
ture,  act-tunes  and  songs  for  Dryden's  comedy 
'Amphitryon.'     Besides  these  he  set  D'Urfey's 
Ode  for  the  queen's  birthday,  April  29,  '  Arise, 
my  Muse,' — an  admirable  composition — and  an 
Ode  for  King  William,  '  Sound  the  trumpet.' 

The  next  year  witnessed  the  production  of 
Purcell's  dramatic  chef-d'oeuvre,  'King  Arthur.' 
He  had  previously  composed  music  for  some  of 


PURCELL. 

Dryden's  plays,  but  had  had  merely  to  set  such 
verses  as  the  poet  had  handed  him.  It  is  how 
ever  apparent  from  Dryden's  dedication  of  '  King 
Arthur'  that  in  constructing  that  drama  he  had 
followed  a  different  course,  and  had  consulted 
Purcell  as  to  where,  when,  and  how  music  could 
be  effectively  introduced,  and  had  acted  upon 
his  suggestions.  He  had  supplied  the  composer, 
at  his  desire,  with  variety  of  measure,  and  dis 
posed  the  scenes  so  as  to  afford  striking  contrasts. 
Purcell's  music  is  a  succession  of  beauties  ; — 
the  sacrificial  scene  of  the  Pagan  Saxons ;  the 
martial  song  of  the  Britons,  'Come  if  you  dare' ; 
the  scene  with  the  spirits,  Philidel  and  Grim- 
bald  ;  the  songs  and  dances  of  the  shepherds ; 
the  admirably  bold  and  original  frost  scene  ;  the 
lovely  duet  of  the  Syrens  in  the  enchanted  forest, 
'Two  daughters  of  this  aged  stream,'  and  the 
songs  of  the  other  spirits ;  and  the  varied  and 
well  contrasted  pieces  in  the  concluding  masque 
(including  the  beautiful  melody '  Fairest  isle,  all 
isles  excelling'),  form  a  combination  which  no 
contemporary  musician  was  able  to  equal,  and 
which  for  long  afterwards  remained  unrivalled. 
All  contemporary  testimony  tells  of  the  great 
success  of  '  King  Arthur,'  yet,  with  the  exception 
of  about  a  dozen  songs  which  were  included  in 
the  '  Orpheus  Britannicus,'  and  those  portions  of 
the  music  which  Arne  retained  in  the  version 
made  in  1770,  it  remained  unpublished  until 
1 843,  when  it  was  printed  by  the  Musical  Anti 
quarian  Society,  four  songs,  however,  having 
been  lost  in  the  interval.  Purcell's  other  dramatic 
compositions  in  1691  were  the  overture  and  act 
tunes  for  Elkanah  Settle's  tragedy  '  Distressed 
Innocence,'  and  songs  in  the  comedy  '  The  Gor- 
dian  knot  untyed,'  and  Southerne's  comedy  '  Sir 
Antony  Love.'  He  also  composed  the  Ode  for 
the  queen's  birthday,  '  Welcome,  glorious  morn. ' 
In  1692  he  composed  the  music  for  Howard  and 
Dryden's  *  Indian  Queen,'  in  which  are  the 
recitative  'Ye  twice  ten  hundred  deities'  (which 
Burney  considered  to  be  '  perhaps  the  best  piece 
of  recitative  in  our  language'),  with  the  air  '  By 
the  croaking  of  the  toad,'  and  the  beautiful  little 
rondo '  I  attempt  from  Love's  sickness  to  fly.'  The 
greater  part  of  the  songs  in  '  The  Indian  Queen' 
were  printed  in  1695  by  May  and  Hudgebutt, 
who  prefixed  to  their  publication  a  curious  letter 
to  the  composer  informing  him  that  as  they  had 
met  with  the  score  of  his  work  they  had  printed 
it,  lest  others  should  put  out  imperfect  copies, 
and  craving  his  pardon  for  their  presumption. 
The  entire  work  was  printed  by  Goodison.  He 
also  composed  songs  tor  Dryden's  '  Indian  Em 
peror'  (a  sequel  to  'The  Indian  Queen')  and 
'Cleomenes/  Southerne's  comedy  'The  Wives' 
Excuse,'  and  D'Urfey's  comedy  '  The  Marriage 
Hater  match'd,'  and  the  music  in  the  third  act 
of  Dryden  and  Lee's  tragedy  '(Edipus.'  But  per 
haps  the  most  important  dramatic  composition  he 
produced  this  year  was  the  opera  of  '  The  Fairy 
Queen,'  an  anonymous  adaptation  of  Shakspere's 
'  Midsummer  Night's  Dream '  which  was  very 
well  received  by  the  public,  although  the  great 
expense  incurred  for  scenery,  dresses,  etc.,  ren- 

VOL.  III.  PT.  I. 


PURCELL.  49 

dered  it  but  little  productive  to  the  managers. 
The  composer  published  in  the  same  year  '  Some 
Select  Songs  as  they  are  sung  in  The  Fairy 
Queen/  10  in  number  ;  10  other  pieces  are  in 
the  '  Orpheus  Britannicus/  and  the  instrumental 
music  is  in  the  '  Ayres  for  the  Theatre ' ;  the 
Sacred  Harmonic  Society  possesses  a  MS.  of 
nearly  the  whole  of  the  fourth  act,  but  the 
remainder  of  the  choral  portions  and  two  or 
three  more  songs  are  irretrievably  lost.  The 
score  was  lost  in  or  before  I7°°>  *n  October  of 
which  year  the  patentees  of  the  theatre  offered 
a  reward  of  £20  for  the  recovery  of  it  or  a  copy 
of  it.  That  they  did  not  recover  it  may  be 
inferred  from  the  piece  never  having  been  revived. 
One  of  the  songs  which  has  been  preserved,  '  If 
love's  a  sweet  passion/  long  remained  in  favour : 
Gay  wrote  one  of  the  songs  in  'The  Beggar's 
Opera'  to  the  air.  In  the  same  year  Purcell  set 
Sir  Charles  Sedley's  Ode  for  the  queen's  birth 
day,  '  Love's  Goddess  sure  was  blind/  One  of 
the  airs  in  this  Ode,  'May  her  blest  example 
chase/  has  for  its  bass  the  air  of  the  old  song 
'Cold  and  raw';  the  occasion  of  which  was 
thus : — Queen  Mary  had  one  day  sent  for  Arabella 
Hunt  and  Gostling  to  sing  to  her,  with  Purcell 
as  accompanyist.  After  they  had  performed 
several  fine  compositions  by  Purcell  and  others, 
the  queen  asked  Arabella  Hunt  to  sing  the 
ballad  of  'Cold  and  raw.'  Purcell,  nettled  at 
finding  a  common  ballad  preferred  to  his  music, 
but  seeing  it  pleased  the  queen,  determined  that 
she  should  hear  it  again  when  she  least  expected 
it,  and  adopted  this  ingenious  method  of  effecting 
his  object.  He  also  set  Brady's  Ode  'Hail! 
great  Cecilia/  which  was  performed  at  the  annual 
celebration  on  St.  Cecilia's  day,  Purcell  himself 
singing  the  alto  song  '  'Tis  Nature's  voice/  This 
Ode — one  of  the  finest  of  its  composer's  works  of 
that  class — was  printed  by  the  Musical  Anti 
quarian  Society.  In  1693  Purcell  composed  an 
overture  and  act-tunes  for  Congreve's  comedy 
'The  Old  Bachelor/  and  songs  for  D'Urfey's 
comedy  'The  Richmond  Heiress/  Southerne's 
comedy  '  The  Maid's  Last  Prayer/  and  Bancroft's 
tragedy  '  Henry  the  Second.'  He  also  set  Tate's 
Ode  for  the  queen's  birthday,  '  Celebrate  this 
festival'  (printed  by  Goodison),  and  his  Ode  in 
commemoration  of  the  centenary  of  the  foundation 
of  Trinity  College,  Dublin, '  Great  Parent,  hail ! ' 
(also  printed  by  Goodison),  said  to  have  been 
performed  at  Christ  Church,  Dublin,  Jan.  9, 
1693-4.  Strange  to  say,  Trinity  College  register 
does  not  contain  any  record  of  or  allusion  to  the 
centenary  celebration.  In  1694  Purcell  composed 
portions  of  the  music  for  Parts  I.  and  II.  of 
D'Urfey's  'Don  Quixote'  (Part  {.containing  the 
duet  'Sing,  all  ye  Muses/  and  the  fine  bass  song 
'Let  the  dreadful  engines'),  an  overture,  act- 
tunes  and  songs  for  Congreve's  comedy,  '  The 
Double  Dealer/  and  songs  for  Crovvne's  comedy 
'  The  Married  Beau/  Southerne's  tragedy  '  The 
Fatal  Marriage/  and  Dryden's  play  'Love 
triumphant.'  He  also  composed  the  Ode  for  the 
queen's  birthday,  'Come,  come,  ye  Sons  of  Art' ; 
and,  for  the  Cecilian  celebration,  his  celebrated 

E 


50 


PURCELL. 


'  Te  Deum  and  Jubilate  in  D,'  with  orchestral 
accompaniments — the  first  of  the  kind  produced 
in  this  country.  Queen  Mary  dying  on  Dec.  28 
in  this  year,  Purcell,  immediately  afterwards, 
composed  for  her  funeral  the  passage  from  the 
Burial  Service, '  Thou  knowest,  Lord,  the  secrets 
of  our  hearts,'  in  a  manner  so  solemn,  pathetic, 
and  devout,  that  Croft,  when  setting  the  Burial 
Service,  abstained  from  resetting  the  passage, 
and  adopted  Purcell's  setting.  Purcell  also  com 
posed  for  the  funeral  an  anthem, '  Blessed  is  the 
man.'  Early  in  1695  he  composed  two  Elegies 
upon  the  queen's  death,  which  were  published 
with  one  by  Dr.  Blow.  He  composed  an  Ode 
for  the  birthday  of  the  young  Duke  of  Gloucester, 
son  of  the  Princess  Anne,  July  24,  'Who  can 
from  joy  refrain  ?'  and  also  the  music  for  Powell  s 
adaptation  of  Beaumont  and  Fletcher's  tragedy 
'Bonduca,'1  including  the  famous  war-song 
'  Britons,  strike  home1 ;  and  songs  for  Scott's 
comedy  'The  Mock  Marriage,'  Gould's  tragedy 
'  The  Rival  Sisters,'  Southerne's  tragedy  '  Oroo- 
noko,'  Ravenscroffc's  comedy  c  The  Canterbury 
Guests/  Beaumont  and  Fletcher's  play  'The 
Knight  of  Malta,'  and  Part  III.  of  D'Urfey's 
'  Don  Quixote.'  In  the  latter  is  contained  '  the 
last  Song  that  Mr.  Purcell  sett,  it  being  in  his 
sickness.'  This  was  none  other  than  the  fine 
cantata  'From  rosy  bowers/  one  of  the  greatest 
compositions  he  ever  produced,  and  a  most 
striking  proof  that,  however  the  composer's 
frame  might  be  enfeebled  by  disease,  his  mental 
powers  remained  vigorous  and  unimpaired  to 
the  last. 

Purcell  died  at  his  house  in  Dean's  Yard, 
Westminster,  Nov.  21,  1695.  On  the  day  of  his 
death  he  made  his  will,  whereby  he  bequeathed 
the  whole  of  his  property  to  his  '  loveing  wife, 
Frances  Purcell/  absolutely,  and  appointed  her 
sole  executrix.  It  was  said  that  he  contracted  the 
disorder  of  which  he  died  through  his  wife  having 
purposely  caused  him  to  be  kept  waiting  outside 
his  own  door  because  he  did  not  return  home 
until  a  late  hour.  But  this  seems  inconsistent 
with  the  fact  of  his  having  made  her  his  sole 
legatee,  and  with  her  expressions  respecting  him 
in  the  dedication  of  the  '  Orpheus  Britannicus.' 
Sir  John  Hawkins's  conjecture  that  he  died  of  a 
lingering,  rather  than  an  acute  disease,  probably 
consumption,  is  much  more  likely- to  be  correct, 
and  more  in  accordance  with  the  recorded  fact  of 
Purcell's  ability  to  continue  to  compose  during 
his  mortal  sickness.  He  was  buried  Nov.  26 
in  the  north  aisle  of  Westminster  Abbey,  under 
the  organ.  A  tablet  to  his  memory,  attached  to 
a  pillar,  and  placed  there  by  his  pupil,  Lady 
Howard,  wife  of  Sir  Robert  Howard,  bears  this 
inscription,  attributed,  bub  upon  insufficient 
grounds,  to  Dryden — '  Here  lyes  Henry  Purcell, 
Esq. ;  who  left  this  life,  and  is  gone  to  that 
blessed  place  where  only  his  harmony  can  be  ex 
ceeded.  Obiit  2  imo  die  Novembris,  Anno  ^Etatis 
suss  37mo,  Anno  q  :  Domini,  1695.' 2  On  a  flat 


i  This  was  printed  by  the  Musical  Antiquarian  Society, 
'•a  Other  eminent  composers  have  died  ahout  the  same  a?e  a.s  Fur- 
cel',  e.g.  Pergolesi,  Mozart,  Schubert,  Mendelssohn,  and  Weber. 


PURCELL. 

stone  over  his  grave  was  inscribed  the  following 
epitaph  : — 

Plaudite,  felices  sxiperi,  tanto  hospite,  nostris 

Praefuerat,  vestris  addite  ille  choris : 
Invida  nee  vobis  Purcellum  terra  reposcat, 

Questa  decus  secli,  deliciasque  breves. 
Tam  cito  decessisse,  modo  cui  singula  debet 

Musa,  prophana  suos  religiosa  suos. 
Vivit  lo  et  vivat,  dum  vicina  organa  spirant, 

Dumque  colet  numeris  turba  canora  Deilm.3 

This  having  long  become  totally  effaced  was, 
a  few  years  ago,  renewed  in  a  more  durable 
manner  by  a  subscription  originated  by  Mr. 
James  Turle,  the  present  organist  of  the  Abbey. 
Purcell  had  six  children,  three  of  whom  pre 
deceased  him,  viz.  John  Baptist,  baptized  Aug. 
9,  1682,  buried  Oct.  17,  following;  Thomas, 
buried  Aug.  3,  1 686 ;  and  Henry,  baptized 
June  9,  1687,  buried  Sept.  23,  following.  His 
other  children  are  mentioned  hereafter.  His 
widow  survived  him  until  Feb.  1706.  She  died 
at  Richmond,  Surrey,  and  was  buried  on  Feb.  14, 
in  the  north  aisle  of  Westminster  Abbey,  near 
her  husband. 

The  compositions  of  Purcell  not  before  men 
tioned,  and  irrespective  of  his  sacred  music,  were 
'  Ten  Sonatas  in  four  parts/  published  by  his 
widow  in  1697,  the  ninth  of  which,  called,  for  its 
excellence,  the  Golden  Sonata,  is  given  in  score 
in  Hawkins's  History  (Novello's  edit.  755); 
Lessons  for  the  Harpsichord  or  Spinnet,  pub 
lished  in  1696;  numerous  catches  included  in 
'The  Catch  Club,  or  Merry  Companions,'  and 
other  collections ;  and  many  single  songs  which 
are  to  be  found  in  all  the  collections  of  songs  of 
the  period.  In  1697  his  widow  published,  under 
the  title  of '  A  Collection  of  Ayres  composed  for 
the  Theatre  and  upon  other  occasions/  the  in 
strumental  music  in  the  plays  of  '  Abdelazor/ 
'The  Virtuous  Wife/  'The  Indian  Queen/ 
'Dioclesian/  'King  Arthur,'  'Amphitryon/ 
'  The  Gordian  Knot  unty'd/  '  Distressed  Inno 
cence/  'The  Fairy  Queen/  'The  Old  Bachelor/ 
'The  Married  Beau/  'The  Double  Dealer/ and 
'Bonduca.'  In  1698  she  published,  under  the 
title  of  '  Orpheus  Britannicus/  a  collection  of 
Purcell's  songs  for  one,  two,  and  three  voices, 
chiefly  selected  from  his  odes  and  dramatic 
pieces,  but  including  also  several  single  songs, 
amongst  them  the  famous  'Bess  of  Bedlam.'  A 
second  book  was  published  in  1702.  A  second 
edition  of  the  first  book,  with  large  additions  and 
some  omissions,  appeared  in  1 706,  and  a  second 
edition  of  the  second  book,  with  six  additional 
songs,  in  1 7 1 1 .  A  third  edition  of  both  books, 
now  very  rare,  was  issued  in  1721.  There  is 
another  composition,  which  is  now  pretty  gene 
rally  admitted  to  be  the  work  of  Purcell,  viz. 
the  music  for  the  first  act  of  Charles  Davenant's 
tragedy  '  Circe.'  MS.  scores  are  in  the  Fitz- 
william  Museum  at  Cambridge,  the  Sacred  Har- 

*  Which  has  been  thus  rendered  in  English  :— 

'Applaud  so  great  a  guest,  celestial  pow'rs, 
Who  now  resides  with  you,  but  once  was  ours ; 
Yet  let  invidious  earth  no  more  reclaim 
Her  short-liv'd  lav'rite  and  her  chiefest  fame  ; 
Complaining-  that  so  prematurely  died 
Good-nature's  pleasure  and  devotion's  pride. 
Died  ?  no,  he  lives  while  yonder  organs  sound, 
And  sacred  echoes  to  the  choir  rebound.' 


PURCELL. 

monic  Society's  Library,  and  elsewhere.  It  was 
probably  composed  for  some  projected  revival  of 
the  play,  but,  for  reasons  which  cannot  now  be 
discovered,  the  completion  of  the  work  by  the 
composition  of  music  for  the  remainder  of 
the  piece  was  not  effected.  Purcell  also  made 
some  valuable  additions  to  the  tract  upon  com 
position  in  the  later  editions  of  Playford's  '  In 
troduction  to  the  Skill  of  Musick.' 

Purcell's  sacred  music  consists  of  his  church 
services  and  anthems,  hymns,  songs,  duets,  etc., 
and  Latin  psalms.  His  church  music  may  be 
divided  into  two  classes,  viz.  services  and 
anthems,  with  orchestral  accompaniments,  and 
those  with  organ  accompaniment  only.  The 
former,  with  two  or  three  exceptions  already 
mentioned,  were  composed  for  the  Chapel  Royal, 
the  latter  for  Westminster  Abbey.  Many  of  the 
songs,  duets,  etc.,  and  a  few  anthems  were 
printed  in  the  several  editions  of  '  Harmonia 
Sacra,'  1688,  1693,  1714,  etc.,  and  several  of  the 
services  and  anthems  in  the  collections  of  Boyce, 
Arnold,  and  Page.  The  noble  collection  edited 
by  Vincent  Novello  (1829-1832),  under  the  title 
of  'Purcell's  Sacred  Music,'  includes  the  Te 
Deum  and  Jubilate  for  St.  Cecilia's  day,  3 
services,  5  chants  by  different  members  of  the 
Purcell  family,  a  psalm-tune  known  as  '  Burford,' 
20  anthems  with  orchestral  accompaniments,  32 
anthems  with  organ  accompaniment,  19  songs, 
some  with  choruses,  2  duets,  a  trio,  n  hymns 
for  three  and  four  voices,  2  Latin  psalms,  and 
5  canons.  MS.  copies  of  3  other  anthems,  a 
hymn,  and  2  Latin  motets,  which  Novello  was 
unable  to  meet  with,  are  now  known  to  be  in 
existence. 

It  will  have  been  observed  that  Purcell  es 
sayed  every  species  of  composition.  He  wrote 
for  the  church,  the  theatre,  and  the  chamber. 
His  church  music  exhibits  his  great  mastery  of 
fugue,  canon,  imitation,  and  other  scholastic  de 
vices,  combined  with  fine  harmony  and  expres 
sive  melody,  and  the  introduction  of  novel  and 
beautiful  forms,  enriching  it  whilst  preserving 
its  broad  and  solemn  style.  His  secular  music 
displays  his  imaginative  faculty,  his  singular 
dramatic  instinct  and  skill  in  marking  character, 
his  rare  gift  of  invention,  and  great  powers  of 
expression.  Although  viewed  by  the  light  of 
our  own  day,  his  instrumental  chamber  composi 
tions  appear  of  an  inferior  order,  they  will  yet, 
when  compared  with  those  of  his  predecessors 
and  contemporaries,  be  found  greatly  in  advance 
of  his  time.  We  see  in  him  the  improver  of  our 
cathedral  music ;  the  originator  of  English  me 
lody,  as  the  term  is  now  understood ;  the  esta- 
blisher  of  a  form  of  English  opera  which  was 
almost  universally  adopted  for  upwards  of  a 
century  and  a  half ;  the  introducer  of  a  new  and 
more  effective  employment  of  the  orchestra  in 
accompaniment ;  the  man  who  excelled  all  others 
in  his  accurate,  vigorous,  and  energetic  setting  of 
English  words;  and  the  most  original  and  ex 
traordinary  musical  genius  that  our  country  has 
produced.  It  is  scarcely  possible  to  estimate 
the  loss  to  English  art  by  the  early  death  of 


PURCELL. 


51 


Henry  Purcell.  Had  his  life  been  prolonged  for 
him  to  have  witnessed  the  introduction  into  Eng 
land  of  the  Italian  opera  and  the  early  career  in 
this  country  of  Handel,  what  might  not  have 
been  expected  from  him  ? 

Several  portraits  of  Purcell  are  extant ;  one, 
taken  when  a  chapel  boy,  was  formerly  in  Dul- 
wich  College ;  another,  by  Sir  Godfrey  Kneller 
(engraved  for  Novello's '  Purcell's  Sacred  Music  '), 
was  in  the  possession  of  the  descendants  of  Joah 
Bates  ;  a  third  was  engraved  as  a  frontispiece 
to  the  Sonatas,  1683.  John  Closterman  painted 
two — one,  now  in  the  possession  of  the  Royal 
Society  of  Musicians,  and  engraved  in  mezzotint 
by  Zobel ;  the  other  engraved  by  White  for  the 
*  Orpheus  Britannicus,'  which  we  have  here  repro 
duced.  Another,  formerly  in  Dulwich  College, 
and  engraved  by  W.  N.  Gardiner,  has  now  dis 
appeared. 


4.  EDWARD,  youngest,  but  only  surviving,  son  of 
the  great  Henry  Purcell,  was  baptized  in  West 
minster  Abbey,  Sept.  6, 1689.  He  was  therefore 
(like  his  father)  only  six  years  old  when  his 
father  died.  When  sixteen  years  old  he  lost 
his  mother,  who  by  her  nuncupative  will  stated 
that, '  according  to  her  husband's  desire,  she  had 
given  her  deare  son  good  education,  and  she  alsoe 
did  give  him  all  the  Bookes  of  Musick  in  generall, 
the  Organ,  the  double  spinett,  the  single  spinett, 
a  silver  tankard,  a  silver  watch,  two  pairs  of  gold 
buttons,  a  hair  ring,  a  mourning  ring  of  Dr. 
Busby's,  a  Larum  clock,  Mr.  Edward  Purcell's 
picture,  handsome  furniture  for  a  room,  and  he 
was  to  be  maintained  until  provided  for.'  Em 
bracing  the  profession  of  music,  he  became  organ 
ist  of  St.  Clement,  Eastcheap.  On  July  8,  1726, 
he  was  appointed  organist  of  St.  Margaret's, 
Westminster.  He  died  about  the  end  of  July 
or  beginning  of  August,  1740.  He  left  a 
son,  HENRY,  who  was  a  chorister  of  the  Chapel 
Royal,  under  Bernard  Gates.  On  the  death  of 
his  father  he  succeeded  him  as  organist  of 

E2 


52 


PURCELL. 


St.  Clement,  Eastcheap.  He  afterwards  became 
organist  of  St.  Edmund  the  King,  Lombard  Street, 
and  of  St.  John,  Hackney.  He  died  about  1750. 
Hawkins  says  Edward  Purcell wasagood organist, 
but  his  son  a  very  indifferent  one. 

5.  FRANCES,  eldest  daughter  of  Henry  Purcell, 
the    composer,    was    baptized    in    Westminster 
Abbey    May   30,    1688.      In  1706  her  mother 
appointed  her  her  residuary  legatee  and  her  ex 
ecutrix,  when  she  should  reach  the  age  of  18. 
She  proved  the  will  July  6,  1706.    She  married, 
shortly  after  her  mother's  death,  Leonard  Wel- 
sted,  Gent.,  poet  and  dramatist,  and  died  1724- 
Her  only  daughter,  FRANCES,  born  1708,  died 
unmarried    1726.      Her  younger   sister,    MARY 
PETERS,  was  baptized  in  Westminster  Abbey, 
Dec.  10,  I693.1    It  is  presumed  that  she  survived 
her  father,  but  predeceased  her  mother,  as  she  is 
not  named  in  the  latter's  will. 

6.  DANIEL,  the  youngest  son  of  Henry  Purcell 
the  elder,  born  probably  about  1660,  was  also  a 
musician,  but  from  whom  he  received  instruction 
is  unknown.  -  In  1688  he  was  appointed  organist 
of  Magdalen  College,  Oxford.     In  1693  he  com 
posed  the  music  for  Thomas  Yalden's  Ode  on 
St.  Cecilia's  Day,  which  was  probably  performed 
at  Oxford.     In  1695  he  resigned  his  appointment 
at  Magdalen  College,  and  came  to  London.     In 
1696  he  composed  songs  for  Mary  Pix's  tragedy 
'  Ibrahim   XII.'    and  Gibber's  comedy  '  Love's 
Last  Shift,'  and  the  masque  in  the  fifth  act  of 
'The  Indian  Queen.'     In  1697  he  composed  the 
music  for  Powell  and  Verbruggen's  opera  'Brutus 
of  Alba,'  Settle's  opera  '  The  New  World  in  the 
Moon/ and  the  instrumental  music  for  D'Urfey's 
opera  'Cynthia  and  Endymion.'     In   1698  he 
composed  the  songs  inGildon's  tragedy  'Phaeton, 
or,  The  Fatal  Divorce,'  an  Ode  for  the  Princess 
Anne's  birthday,  and  Bishop's  Ode  on  St.  Cecilia's 
Day.      In  1699  he  joined  with  Jeremiah  Clark 
and  Richard  Leveridge  in  furnishing  the  music 
for  Motteux's  opera  '  The  Island  Princess,'  and 
also  set  Addison's  second  Ode  on  St.  Cecilia's 
Day  for  Oxford.     In   1700   he  set   Oldmixon's 
opera    'The   Grove,'   and  gained  the   third   of 
the  four  prizes  given  for  the  composition  of  Con- 
greve's  masque  'The  Judgment  of  Paris,'  the 
others  being  awarded   to  John  Weldon,   John 
Eccles,  and  Godfrey  Finger.     In  1701  he  wrote 
the  instrumental  music  for  Catherine  Trotter's 
tragedy  'The  Unhappy  Penitent,'  and  in  1702 
that  for  Farquhar's  comedy  'The  Inconstant.' 
In   1707  he  composed  an  Ode  for  St.  Cecilia's 
Day,  which  was  performed  at  St.  Mary  Hall, 
Oxford.      In   1713   he   was   appointed   organist 
of  St.  Andrew,  Holborn,  but  was  displaced  in 
Feb.   1717.     He   published    'The    Psalmes   set 
full  for  the  Organ  or  Harpsicord,  as  they  are 
plaid  in  Churches  and  Chappels  in  the  maner 
given  out,  as  also  with  their  Interludes  of  great 
Variety '  ;   a   very   singular  illustration   of  the 
manner  in  which  metrical  psalms  were  then  per 
formed.     Six  anthems  by  him  are  in  the  choir 
books  of  Magdalen  College,  and  songs  in  '  The 

i  One  '  B.  Peters '  was  one  of  the  witnesses  to  Purcell's  will ; 
probably  he  was  godfather  to  this  girl. 


PURCELL  CLUB. 

Banquet  of  Musiek,'  1689  ;  '  Thesaurus  Musicus' 
and  'Deliciee  Musicae,'  1696;  and  'Thesaurus 
Musicus,'  circa  1750.  He  composed  '  A  Lamen 
tation  for  the  Death  of  Mr.  Henry  PurceD,' 
written  by  Tate,  the  words  of  which  are  prefixed 
to  the  '  Orpheus  Britannicus.'  He  was  also 
author  of  some  sonatas  for  flute  and  bass  and 
violin  and  bass.  He  died  in  1718.  He  was  held 
in  great  repute  in  his  day  as  a  punster. 

7.  KATHERINE,  daughter  of  Henry  Purcell  the 
elder,    was    baptized    in    Westminster   Abbey, 
March   13,   1662.     She  married  in  June  1691 
the  .Rev.  William  Sale,  of  Sheldwich,  Kent,  and 
was  her  mother's  administratrix,  Sept.  7,  1699. 

8.  THOMAS,  brother  to  Henry  Purcell  the  elder, 
was  appointed  Gentleman  of  the  Chapel  Royal  in 
1660.     In  1 66 1  he  was  lay  vicar  of  Westminster 
Abbey  and  copyist.     On  Aug.  8,  1662,  he  was 
appointed,  jointly  with  Pelham  Humfrey,  Com 
poser  in  Ordinary  for  the  Violins  to  His  Majesty, 
and  on  Nov.  29  following,  '  Musician  in  Ordinary 
for  the  Lute  and  Voice  in  the  room  of  Henry 
Lawes,  deceased.'     In  1672  he  was,  with  Hum 
frey,  made  Master  of  the  King's  Band  of  Music. 
He  died  July  31,  and  was  buried  in  the  cloisters 
of  Westminster  Abbey,  Aug.  2,  1682.     He  had 
probably  been   long  before  in  ill-health,  as  on 
May  15,  1681,  he  granted  a  power  of  attorney 
to   his   son   Matthew  to   receive   his  salary  as 
Gentleman  of  the  Chapel  Royal.      He  was  the 
composer  of  the  well-known  Burial  Chant  and 
other  chants.2  [W.H.H.] 

PURCELL  CLUB,  THE,  was  constituted  at  a 
meeting  held  in  August  1836  :  the  first  members 
were  Messrs.  Turle  (conductor),  King,  Bellamy, 
Fitzwilliam,  J.  W.  Hobbs,  and  E.  Hawkins 
(secretary).  The  club  was  limited  to  twenty  pro 
fessional  and  twenty  non-professional  members, 
who  met  twice  a  year ;  on  the  second  Thursday 
in  February,  when  they  dined  together,  and  on 
the  last  Thursday  in  July,  when  they  assembled 
in  Westminster  Abbey,  at  the  morning  service, 
by  permission  of  the  Dean,  for  the  purpose  of 
assisting  in  such  Purcell  music  as  might  be 
selected  for  the  occasion.  On  the  evening  of  the 
same  day  the  members  again  met  to  perform 
secular  music  composed  by  Purcell ;  the  soprano 
parts  were  sung  by  the  chorister-boys  from  West 
minster  Abbey,  the  Chapel  Royal,  and  St.  Paul's 
Cathedral,  but  ladies  were  admitted  amongst  the 
audience. 

On  Feb.  27,  1842,  a  special  meeting  was  held, 
when  Professor  Taylor  was  elected  President,  and 
the  dates  of  meeting  were  changed  to  Jan.  30 
and  the  first  Thursday  in  July.  Interesting 
performances  of  many  of  Purcell's  works  were 
given  year  by  year,  and  a  book  of  words  of  194 
pages  was  privately  printed  for  the  use  of  the 
members,  under  the  editorship  of  Professor 
Taylor.  The  Club  was  dissolved  in  1863,  and 
the  valuable  library,  which  had  been  acquired 

2  I  am  Indebted  to  Colonel  Chester's  Westminster  Abbey  Registers 
for  much  of  the  family  history  contained  in  the  above  article,  and 
I  gladly  avail  myself  of  this  opportunity  ot  acknowledging  my 
obligations  to  that  gentleman  for  the  very  kind  and  ready  manner 
In  which  he  has  furnished  me  with  much  valuable  information  on 
many  other  occasions. 


PURCELL  CLUB. 

by  gift  and  purchase,  was  deposited  at  West 
minster  Abbey,  under  the  guardianship  of  the 
organists  of  Westminster  Abbey  and  St.  Paul's 
Cathedral.  [W.H.C.] 

PURCELL  COMMEMORATION,  THE, 
was  held  on  Jan.  30,  1858,  to  celebrate  the 
bicentenary  of  Purcell's  birth  :  the  members  of 
the  Purcell  Club  and  a  large  number  of  pro 
fessors  of  music  and  of  eminent  amateurs,  anxious 
to  do  honour  to  the  greatest  of  English  musi 
cians  assembled  in  the  evening  at  the  Albion 
Tavern,  Aldersgate  Street,  London,  when,  after 
a  banquet,  a  selection  of  Purcell  music  was  per 
formed,  and  some  interesting  addresses  were 
given  by  Professor  Taylor,  who  presided.  The 
programme  consisted  entirely  of  music  composed 
by  Purcell,  and  was  as  follows  : — Grace,  '  Gloria 
Patri ' ;  anthems  '  0  give  thanks,'  '  0  God,  thou 
hast  cast  us  out,' '  0  sing  unto  the  Lord' ;  song  and 
chorus, '  Celebrate  this  festival' ;  a  selection  from 
'  King  Arthur';  cantata, '  Cupid  the  slyest  rogue 
alive';  song,  '  Let  the  dreadful  engines ';  chorus, 
'  Soul  of  the  world,  inspired  by  thee.'  [W.H.C.] 

PURCELL  SOCIETY,  THE.  Founded  Feb. 
21, 18  76, 'for  the  purpose' — in  the  words  of  the  pro 
spectus — 'of  doing  justice  to  the  memory  of  Henry 
Purcell,  firstly  by  the  publication  of  his  works, 
most  of  which  exist  only  in  MS.,  and  secondly, 
by  meeting  for  the  study  and  performance  of  his 
various  compositions.'  The  'Permanent  Com 
mittee  '  consists  of  the  Rev.  Sir  F.  A.  G.  Ouseley, 
Bart.;  G.  A.  Macfarren;  Sir  Herbert  S.  Oakeley; 
Sir  John  Goss ;  Sir  George  Elvey ;  Joseph  Barnby ; 
Joseph  Bennett ;  J.  F.  Bridge  ;  W.  Chappell ; 
W.  H.  Cummings ;  J.  W.  Davison ;  E.  J.  Hop 
kins  ;  John  Hullah ;  Henry  Leslie ;  A.  H. 
Littleton,  Hon.  Secretary ;  Walter  Macfarren ; 
Julian  Marshall;  E.  Prout;  E.  F.  Rimbault; 
Henry  Smart;  JohnStainer;  Rev.  J.  Troutbeck; 
James  Turle. — The  prospectus,  issued  May  16, 
1876,  contains  a  list  of  Odes  and  Welcome  Songs 
(28),  and  of  Operas  and  Dramas  (45),  by  Purcell ; 
and  an  announcement  that  the  first  works  pub 
lished  would  be  the  Yorkshire  Feast  Song,  and 
the  masque  in  '  Timon  of  Athens,'  both  in  full 
score.  The  Yorkshire  Feast  Song  was  issued  on 
Oct.  14,  1878,  edited,  with  a  preface,  by  Mr. 
Cummings,  and  beautifully  engraved  and  printed. 
'  Timon  of  Athens,'  edited  by  the  Rev.  Sir  F.  A.  G. 
Ouseley,  with  a  preface  by  Mr.  Julian  Marshall, 
is  now  due.  The  subscription  to  the  Society  is 
2  is.  a  year  for  the  publications,  and  105.  6d. 
extra  for  the  music  meetings.  [G.] 

PURFLING  (Fr.  pourfiler}.  The  ornamental 
border  with  which  the  backs  and  bellies  of  stringed 
instruments  are  usually  finished.  It  is  the  only 
remnant  of  the  elaborate  decoration  with  which 
stringed  instruments  were  anciently  covered.  It 
usually  consists  of  a  slip  of  maple  or  sycamore 
glued  between  two  slips  of  ebony.  Some  makers 
used  whalebone,  as  more  pliable.  A  groove  is 
carefully  cut  all  round  the  edges  for  its  insertion, 
and  the  purfling  is  then  let  in.  Next  to  cutting 
the  scroll  this  is  the  most  difficult  operation  in 
nddle-inaking,  as  the  purfling  invariably  breaks 


PYE.  53 

to  pieces  in  the  hands  of  the  unskilled  workman. 
The  secret  consists  in  getting  it  well  bent  to  the 
required  shape  before  letting  it  into  the  groove. 
In  the  works  of  the  best  makers  the  purfling 
is  bold,  even,  solid,  perfectly  finished,  and 
accurately  joined  in  the  angles.  The  prince  of 
purflers  was  Stradivarius.  Many,  old  instru 
ments  have  a  painted  border  instead  of  structural 
purfling,  and  modern  fiddles  of  the  commonest 
class  have  often  only  a  double  line  in  ink  or 
paint  round  the  edges.  Only  a  single  strip  of 
purfling  is  usually  employed ;  but  double  pur 
fling,  which  in  general  injures  the  tone  without 
improving  the  looks  of  an  instrument,  is  often 
found ;  and  instruments  may  be  seen  with  a 
second  row  of  purfling  by  a  different  hand.  The 
purfling  is  not  merely  ornamental,  as  the  groove 
protects  the  body  of  the  violin  by  checking  frac 
tures  proceeding  from  the  edge.  In  ornamental 
instruments  the  purfling  is  sometimes  inlaid  with 
mother  of  pearl.  [E.J.P.] 

PURITANI  DI  SCOZIA,!.  Opera  in  2  acts; 
words  by  Count  Pepoli,  music  by  Bellini.  Written 
for  Grisi,  Rubini,  Tamburini,  and  Lablache,  and 
produced  at  the  Theatre  Italien,  Paris,  Jan.  25, 
1835.  In  London,  at  the  King's  Theatre,  as  'I 
Puritani  ed  I  Cavalieri,'  May  21,  1835.  [G-] 

PURITAN'S  DAUGHTER, THE.  'Agrand 
romantic  drama '  in  3  acts ;  words  by  J.  V.  Bridge- 
man,  music  by  Balfe.  Produced  at  the  English 
Opera  House,  Covent  Garden,  London,  Nov.  30, 
1861  (Pyne  and  Harrison).  [G.] 

PUTZLI.  '  Prince  Fitzli  Putzli '  was  Beetho 
ven's  nickname  for  his  friend  Prince  Lobkowitz. 
See  Thayer's  Beethoven,  iii.  239.  [G.] 

PYE,  KELLOW  JOHN,  well  known  in  London 
musical  circles ;  the  son  of  a  merchant ;  was 
born  at  Exeter,  Feb.  9,  1812.  His  musical  ten 
dencies  showed  themselves  early.  He  entered 
the  Royal  Academy  of  Music,  London,  in  Feb. 
1823,  immediately  after  its  foundation,  and  took 
the  first  pianoforte  lesson  ever  given  within  its 
walls.  This  was  under  Cipriani  Potter.  He 
also  studied  harmony,  counterpoint,  and  compo 
sition  there,  under  Dr.  Crotch,  the  Principal,  and 
remained  a  pupil  till  1829.  He  then  returned 
to  Exeter,  and  for  some  years  enjoyed  consider 
able  local  fame  in  the  south-west  of  England. 
In  1834  he  gained  the  Gresham  medal  for  his 
full  anthem  '  Turn  Thee  again,  0  Lord  *  (No- 
vello),  which  with  other  anthems  of  his  are  in 
use  in  the  Cathedrals.  In  1842  he  took  the 
degree  of  Mus.  Bac.  at  Oxford.  Soon  after  this 
he  came  to  London,  and  though  forsaking  the 
profession  of  music  for  business,  retained  his 
connexion  with  the  art  by  joining  the  direction 
of  the  R.A.M.  where  he  succeeded  Sir  G.  Clerk 
as  chairman  of  the  committee  of  management 
(1864-67).  He  is  also  a  member  of  the  Execu 
tive  and  Finance  Committees  of  the  Royal  and 
National  College  of  Music  (President  H.R.H.  the 
Prince  of  Wales).  His  published  works,  besides 
those  mentioned,  comprise  '  Stray  Leaves,'  1 2  nos. 
(Lamborn  Cock&  Co.),  4  Full  Anthems  (Novello), 
3  Short  Full  Anthems  (Do.),  Songs,  etc.  [G.] 


54  PYNE. 

PYNE,  LOUISA  FANNY,  daughter  of  George 
Pyne  (alto  singer,  born  1790,  died  March  15, 
1877),  and  niece  of  James  Kendrick  Pyne  (tenor 
singer,  died  Sept.  23,  1857),  was  born  in  1832. 
At  a  very  early  age  she  studied  singing  under  Sir 
George  Smart,  and  about  1842  appeared  in  public 
with  her  elder  sister,  Susan  (afterwards  Mrs. 
Galton),  with  great  success.  In  1847  the  sisters 
performed  in  Paris.  In  Aug.  1849  Louisa  made 
her  first  appearance  on  the  stage  at  Boulogne  as 
Amina  in  '  La  Sonnambula.'  On  Oct.  I  follow 
ing  she  commenced  an  engagement  at  the 
Princess's  Theatre  as  Zerlina,  in  an  English  ver 
sion  of  'Don  Juan.'  Her  first  original  part  was 
Fanny  in  Macfarren's  '  Charles  the  Second,'  pro 
duced  Oct.  27,  1849.  QU  March  1850  she  sang 
at  the  Philharmonic  ;  was  engaged  the  same  year 
at  Liverpool,  and  in  1851  at  the  Hay  market. 
On  Aug.  14,  1851,  she  performed  the  Queen 
of  Night  in  'II  Flauto  Magico'  at  the  Royal 
Italian  Opera.  She  also  sang  in  oratorios  and 


POHLENZ. 

at  concerts.  In  Aug.  1854  she  embarked  for 
America  in  company  with  her  sister  Susan,  W. 
Harrison,  and  Borrani.  She  performed  in  the 
principal  cities  of  the  United  States  for  three 
years,  being  received  everywhere  with  the 
greatest  favour.  On  her  return  to  England  she, 
in  partnership  with  Harrison,  formed  a  company 
for  the  performance  of  English  operas,  which 
they  gave  first  at  the  Lyceum  and  afterwards 
at  Drury  Lane  and  Covent  Garden  Theatres, 
until  1862,  when  the  partnership  was  dissolved. 
[See  HARRISON,  WILLIAM,  vol.  i.  p.  6926].  Miss 
Pyne  subsequently  appeared  at  Her  Majesty's 
Theatre.  In  1868  she  was  married  to  Mr.  Frank 
Bodda,  the  baritone  singer.  She  has  now  retired 
from  public  life,  and  devotes  herself  to  teaching. 
Her  voice  was  a  soprano  of  beautiful  quality 
and  great  compass  and  flexibility ;  she  sang 
with  great  taste  and  judgment,  and  excelled 
in  the  florid  style,  of  which  she  was  a  perfect 
mistress.  [W.H.H.] 


PAPPENHEIM,  EUGENIE,  a  soprano  singer 
who  excited  some  attention  in  London  for  a 
couple  of  years.  She  is  an  Austrian  by  birth, 
and  was  first  heard  of  at  Mannheim,  and  then  at 
Hamburg,  where  she  was  one  of  the  opera  troupe 
in  1872-75,  and  in  74  gave  some  'Gastspiele' 
at  Kroll's  Theatre,  Berlin,  with  great  success, 
especially  as  Leonora  (Fidelio).  She  next  went 
to  America  as  a  member  of  a  German  company 
under  Wachtel,  and  remained  there  till  1878,  when 
on  June  1 5  she  made  a  successful  d^but  in  London, 
at  Her  Majesty's  Theatre,  as  Valentine  in  'The 
Huguenots.'  She  followed  this  with  a  perform 
ance  of  Leonora  in  '  Fidelio,'  and  also  appeared 
in  the  following  seasons  as  Donna  Anna,  the 
Countess  (Figaro),  Leonora  (Trovatore),  Aida, 
Eeiza,  Agatha,  and  Elsa  (Lohengrin).  Though 
not  endowed  with  a  voice  of  remarkable  quality 
or  compass,  Madame  Pappenheim  is  thoroughly 
good  and  careful  both  as  a  singer  and  an  actress. 
Her  parts  are  always  studied  with  care  and  con 
scientiousness,  and  she  is  capable  of  considerable 
dramatic  intensity.  She  is  now  a  member  of  the 
German  Theatre  at  Pesth.  [A.C.] 

PISCHEK,  JOHANN  BAPTIST,  a  fine  baritone 
singer,  born  Oct.  14,  1814,  at  Melnick  in  Bo 
hemia,  made  his  de"but  on  the  boards  at  the  age 
of  21.  In  1844  he  was  appointed  Court-singer  to 
the  King  of  Wurtemberg  at  Stuttgart,  an  appoint 
ment  which  he  retained  until  his  retirement 
July  i,  1863.  He  entered  on  his  duties  May  i, 

1 844.  At  a  later  date  he  was  also  made  '  Kam- 
mersanger.'     Pischek  travelled  a  great  deal,  and 
was  known  and  liked  in  all  the  principal  towns 
of    North    and   South   Germany,   especially   at 
Frankfort,  where  we  find  him  singing,  both  oil 
the  stage  in  a  variety  of  parts,  and  in  concerts, 
ytar  after  year  from  1840  to  1848.     In  England 
he  was  a  very  great  favourite  for  several  years. 
He  made  his  first  appearance  here  on  May  i, 

1845,  at  a  concert  of  Madame  Caradori  Allan's ; 


sang  at  the  Philharmonic  on  the  following  Mon 
day  and  thrice  besides  during  the  season  there. 
He  reappeared  in  this  country  in  1846,  47,  and 
49,  and  maintained  his  popularity  in  the  concert- 
room,  and  in  oratorio,  singing  in  49  the  part  of 
Elijah  at  the  Birmingham  festival  with  great 
energy,  passion,  and  effect.  On  the  stage  of  the 
German  opera  at  Drury  Lane  during  the  same 
year  his  Don  Juan  was  not  so  successful,  his  act 
ing  being  thought  exaggerated.  He  was  heard 
again  in  1853  at  the  New  Philharmonic  Concerts. 
He  died  at  Stuttgart,  Feb.  16,  1873. 

In  voice,  enunciation,  feeling,  and  style,  Pischek 
was  first-rate.  His  repertoire  was  large,  embracing 
operas  and  pieces  of  Gluck,  Mozart,  Me'hul,  Bee 
thoven,  Spohr,  Weber,  Donizetti,  HeVold,  Lach- 
ner,  Kreutzer,  Linclpaintner.  In  his  latter  days 
one  of  his  most  favourite  parts  was  Hassan  in 
Benedict's  '  Der  Alte  vom  Berge '  (Crusaders) ; 
others  were  Hans  Heiling,  Ashton  (Lucia),  and 
the  Jager,  in  the  'Nachtlager  von  Granada.'  He 
also  sang  Mendelssohn's  Elijah,  as  already  men 
tioned.  As  an  actor  he  was  prone  to  exaggera 
tion.  But  it  was  in  his  ballads,  especially  in 
Lindpaintner's  'Standard-bearer,'  that  he  carried 
away  his  audience.  His  taste,  as  in  Beethoven's 
'Adelaide,'  was  by  no  means  uniformly  pure,  but 
the  charm  of  his  voice  and  style  always  brought 
down  the  house.  His  voice  was  a  fine  rich  bass, 
with  a  very  pure  falsetto  of  3  or  4  notes,  which  he 
managed  exquisitely.  He  does  not  seem  to  have 
attempted  any  of  the  songs  of  Schubert,  Schu 
mann,  or  Mendelssohn,  which  are  now  so  well 
known.  [A.C.] 

POHLENZ,  CHRISTIAN  AUGUST,  born  July  3, 
1790,  at  Saalgast  in  Lower  Lusatia.  In  1829 
we  find  him  well  established  in  Leipzig  as  a 
singing-master,  a  conductor  of  concerts,  organist, 
director  of  the  Singakademie  and  the  Musik- 
verein,  etc.  At  the  end  of  1834  he  resigned  the 
post  of  Conductor  of  the  Gewandhaus  subscription 


POHLENZ. 

concerts,  which  he  appears  to  have  held  for  nine 
years,  and  in  which  he  was  succeeded  by  Men 
delssohn  in  the  following  October.  After  the 
death  of  Weinlig,  on  March  6,  1842,  and  before 
the  appointment  of  Hauptmann  later  in  the  same 
year,  Pohlenz  filled  the  office  of  Cantor  at  the 
St.  Thomas's  School.  Indeed,  in  the  then  state  of 
music  at  Leipzig,  he  seems  to  have  been  a  person 
of  consideration,  which  is  confirmed  by  the  fact 
of  Mendelssohn's  having  chosen  him  as  teacher  of 


QUANTZ. 


55 


singing  in  the  new  Conservator! um  there,  in  the 
prospectus  of  which  his  name  appears,  in  the  Allg. 
Musikalische  Zeitung  of  Jan.  1 8,  1843.  He  was 
not  however  destined  to  take  part  in  that  good 
work,  for  he  died  of  apoplexy  at  Leipzig  on 
March  9,  1843,  just  three  weeks  before  the  oper 
ations  were  begun.  He  published  Polonaises  for 
the  PF.,  but  his  best  works  are  part-songs  for  equal 
voices,  of  which  one  or  two  good  specimens  are 
given  in  ORPHEUS.  [See  vol.  ii.  p.  613.]  [G.] 


Q. 


QUADRILLE  (German  Contretanz),  a 
dance  executed  by  an  equal  number  of 
couples  drawn  up  in  a  square.  The  name 
(which  is  derived  from  the  Italian  squadra)  was 
originally  not  solely  applied  to  dances,  but  was 
used  to  denote  a  small  company  or  squadron  of 
horsemen,  from  3  to  15  in  number,  magnificently 
mounted  and  caparisoned  to  take  part  in  a 
tournament  or  carrousel.  The  name  was  next 
given  to  4,  6,  8,  or  12  dancers,  dressed  alike, 
who  danced  in  one  or  more  companies  in  the 
elaborate  French  ballets1  of  the  i8th  century. 
The  introduction  of  '  contredanses '  into  the 
ballet,  which  first  took  place  in  the  5th  act  of 
Rousseau's  'Fetes  de  Polymnie'  (1745),  and 
the  consequent  popularity  of  these  dances, 
are  the  origin  of  the  dance  which,  at  first 
known  as  the  '  Quadrille  de  Contredanses '  was 
soon  abbreviated  into  '  quadrille.'  The  quadrille 
was  settled  in  its  present  shape  at  the  begin 
ning  of  the  i pth  century,  and  it  has  undergone 
but  little  change,  save  in  the  simplification 
of  its  steps.  It  was  very  popular  in  Paris 
during  the  Consulate  and  the  first  Empire,  and 
after  the  fall  of  Napoleon  was  brought  to 
England  by  Lady  Jersey,  who  in  1815  danced 
it  for  the  first  time  at  Almack's2  with  Lady 
Harriet  Butler,  Lady  Susan  Ryde,  Miss  Mont 
gomery,  Count  St.  Aldegonde,  Mr.  Montgomery, 
Mr.  Montague,  and  Mr.  Standish.  The  English 
took  it  up  with  the  same  eagerness  which  they 
displayed  with  regard  to  the  polka  in  1845, 
and  the  caricatures  of  the  period  abound  with 
amusing  illustrations  of  the  quadrille  mania.  It 
became  popular  in  Berlin  in  1821. 

The  quadrille  consists  of  five  distinct  parts, 
which  bear  the  name  of  the  '  contredanses '  to 
which  they  owe  their  origin.  No.  I  is  'Le 
Pantalon,'  the  name  of  which  is  derived  from 
a  song  which  began  as  follows : 

Le  pantalon 
De  Madelon 
N'a  pas  de  fond, 

and  was  adapted  to  the  dance.  The  music 
consists  of  32  bars  in  6-8  time.  No.  a  is  'L'EteV 
the  name  of  a  very  difficult  and  graceful 

1  The  Ballets  were  divided  into  5  acts,  each  act  into  3,  6,  9,  or  12 
•entries,'   and    each    'entnSe'   was    performed    by   one   or    more 
'  quadrilles'  of  dancers. 

2  See  Captain  Gronow's  Keminiscences  (1861). 


'  contredanse '  popular  in  the  year  1800;  it  con 
sists  of  32  bars  in  2-4  time.  No.  3  is  'La 
Poule '  (32  bars  in  6-8  time)  which  dates  from 
the  year  1802.  For  No.  4  (32  bars  in  2-4  time) 
two  figures  are  danced,  'La  Tre'nise,'  named 
after  the  celebrated  dancer  Treriitz,  and  '  La 
Pastourelle,'  perhaps  a  survival  of  the  old 
'Pastorale.'  No.  5 — 'Finale' — consists  of  three 
parts,  repeated  four  times.  In  all  these  figures 
(except  the  Finale,  which  sometimes  ends  with 
a  coda)  the  dance  begins  at  the  9th  bar  of  the 
music,  the  first  8  bars  being  repeated  at  the  end 
by  way  of  conclusion.  The  music  of  quadrilles 
is  scarcely  ever  original ;  operatic  and  popular 
tunes  are  strung  together,  and  even  the  works 
of  the  great  composers  are  sometimes  made  use 
of.3  The  quadrilles  of  Musard  are  almost  the 
only  exception;  they  may  lay  claim  to  some 
recognition  as  graceful  original  musical  com 
positions.  [W.B.S.] 

QUANTITY.  The  duration  of  syllables,  and 
therefore  the  varieties  of  metrical  feet.  This  is 
fully  explained  under  the  head  of  METRE.  [G.] 

QUANTZ,  JOHANN  JOACHIM,  celebrated  flute- 
player  and  composer,  born,  according  to  his 
autobiography  in  Marpurg's  '  Beitrage  zur  Auf- 
nahme  derMusik,'  Jan.  30,  1697,  at  Oberscheden, 
a  village  between  Gb'ttingen  and  Miinden.  His 
father,  a  blacksmith,  urged  him  on  his  death-bed 
(1707)  to  follow  the  same  calling,  but,  in  his 
own  words,  '  Providence,  who  disposes  all  for  the 
best,  soon  pointed  out  a  different  path  for  my 
future.'  From  the  age  of  8  he  had  been  in  the 
habit  of  playing  the  double-bass  with  his  elder 
brother  at  village  fetes,  and  judging  from  this 
that  he  had  a  talent  for  music,  his  uncle  Justus 
Quantz,  Stadtmusikus  of  Merseburg,  offered  to 
bring  him  up  as  a  musician.  He  went  to  Merse 
burg  in  August  1708,*  but  his  uncle  did  not  long 
survive  his  father,  and  Quantz  passed  under  the 
care  of  the  new  Stadtmusikus,  Fleischhack,  who 
had  married  his  predecessor's  daughter.  For  the 
next  5 1  years  he  studied  various  instruments, 

3  Some  of  our  readers  may  recollect  the  clever '  Bologna  Quadrilles' 
on  themes  from  Rossini's  'Stabat  Mater,'  which  were  published 
shortly  after  the  appearance  of  that  work.  The  plates  of  these  quad 
rilles  were  destroyed  on  the  publishers  learning  the  source  from 
which  the  author  had  obtained  the  melodies. 

*  Not  1707,  as  Mendel  states. 


56 


QUANTZ. 


Kiesewetter  being  his  master  for  the  pianoforte. 
In  Dec.  1713  he  was  released  from  his  apprentice 
ship,  and  soon  after  became  assistant,  first  to  Knoll, 
Stadtmusikus  of  Radeberg,  and  then  to  Schalle  of 
Pirna  near  Dresden.  Here  he  studied  Vivaldi's 
violin-concertos,  and  made  the  acquaintance  of 
Heine,  a  musician  in  Dresden,  with  whom  he 
went  to  live  in  March  1716.  He  now  had 
opportunities  of  hearing  great  artists,  such  as 
Pi^endel,  Veracini,  Sylvius  Weiss,  Richter  and 
Buffardin,  the  flute-player.  In  1717  he  went, 
during  his  three  months'  leave,  to  Vienna,  and 
studied  counterpoint  in  the  octave  with  Zerlenka, 
a  pupil  of  Fux.  In  1718  he  entered  the  chapel 
of  the  King  of  Poland,  which  consisted  of  12 
players,  and  was  stationed  alternately  in  War 
saw  and  Dresden.  His  salary  was  150  thalers, 
with  free  quarters  in  Warsaw,  but  finding  no 
opportunity  of  distinguishing  himself  either 
on  the  oboe,  the  instrument  for  which  he  was 
engaged,  or  the  violin,  he  took  up  the  flute, 
studying  it  with  Buffardin.  In  1723  he  went 
with  Weiss  to  Prague,  and  the  two  played  in 
Fux's  opera  '  Costanza  e  Fortezza '  performed  in 
honour  of  the  coronation  of  Charles  VI.  Here 
also  he  heard  Tartini.  In  !724Quantz  accom 
panied  Count  Lagnasco  to  Italy,  arriving  in 
Rome  on  July  II,  and  going  at  once  for  lessons 
in  counterpoint  to  Gasparini,  whom  he  describes 
as  a  'goodnatured  and  honourable  man.'  In 
1725  he  went  on  to  Naples,  and  there  made  the 
acquaintance  of  Scarlatti,  Hasse,  Mancini,  Leo, 
Feo,  and  other  musicians  of  a  similar  stamp. 
In  May  1726  we  find  him  in  Regeio  and  Parma, 
whence  he  travelled  by  Milan,  Turin,  Geneva, 
and  Lyons  to  Paris,  arriving  on  Aug.  15.  In 
Paris — where  his  name  was  remembered1  as 
'  Quouance ' — he  remained  seven  months,  and 
occupied  himself  with  contriving  improvements 
in  the  flute,  the  most  important  being  the  ad 
dition  of  a  second  key,  as  described  by  himself 
in  his  '  Versuch  einer  Anweisung  die  Flote  zu 
spielen/  vol.  iii.  chap.  58  (Berlin,  1752).  He  was 
at  length  recalled  to  Dresden,  but  first  visited 
London  for  three  months.  He  arrived  there  on 
March  20,  1727,  when  Handel  was  at  the  very 
summit  of  his  operatic  career,  with  Faustina, 
Cuzzoni,  Castrucci,  Senesino,  Attilio,  and  Tosi  in 
his  train.  He  returned  to  Dresden  on  July  23, 
1727,  and  in  the  following  March  re-entered  the 
chapel,  and  again  devoted  himself  to  the  flute. 
During  a  visit  to  Berlin  in  1728  the  Crown  Prince, 
afterwards  Frederic  the  Great,  was  so  charmed 
with  his  playing,  that  he  determined  to  learn  the 
flute,  and  in  future  Quantz  went  twice  a  year  to 
give  him  instruction.  In  1 741  his  pupil,  having 
succeeded  to  the  throne,  made  him  liberal  offers 
if  he  would  settle  in  Berlin,  which  he  did, 
remaining  till  his  death  on  July  12,  1773.  He 
was  Kammermusicus  and  court-composer,  with 
a  salary  of  2000  thalers,  an  additional  pay 
ment  for  each  composition,  and  100  ducats  for 
each  flute  which  he  supplied.  His  chief  duties 
were  to  conduct  the  private  concerts  at  the 
Palace,  in  which  the  king  played  the  flute,  .and 

i  In  Boivin's  Catalogue. 


QUARTET. 

to  compose  pieces  for  his  royal  pupil.    He  left  in 
MS.  300  concertos  for  one  and  two  flutes — of 
which  277  are  preserved  in  the  Neue  Palais  at 
Potsdam — and  200  other  pieces  ;  flute  solos,  and 
dozens  of  trios  and  quatuors,  of  which  37  are 
to  be  found  at  Dresden.     His  printed  works  are 
three — '  Sei  Sonats*  dedicated  to  Augustus  III. 
of  Poland,  Dresden,  1734;  'Sei  duetti,'  Berlin, 
1 759  ;   a  method  for  the  flute — '  Versuch  einer 
Anweisung  die  Flote  traversiere  zu  spielen'  dedi 
cated  to  Frederick  '  Konige  in  Preussen,'  Berlin, 
1752,  4to,  with  24  copper-plates.      This  passed 
through  three  (or  four)  German  editions,  and  was 
also  published  in  French  and  Dutch.     He  left 
also   a   serenata,  a   few  songs,  music  to   22  of 
Gellert's   hymns,  'Neue  Kirchenmelodien,'  etc. 
(Berlin,  1760),  and  an  autobiography  (in  Mar- 
purg's  Beitragen).     Three  of  the  Melodien  are 
given  by  von  Winter feld,  'Evang.  Kircheng.'  iii. 
272.     Besides  the  key  which  he  added  to  the 
flute,  he  invented  the  sliding  top  for  tuning  the 
instrument.     His  playing,  which  was  unusually 
correct  for  the  imperfect  instruments  of  the  day, 
delighted  not  only  Frederic,  but  Marpurg,  a  more 
fastidious  critic.     He  married,  not  happily,  in 
1737 ;  and  died  in  easy  circumstances  and  gener 
ally  respected  at  Potsdam,  July  12,  1773. 

All  details  regarding  him  may  be  found  in 
'  Leben  und  Werken,'  etc.,  by  his  grandson  Albert 
Quantz  (Berlin,  1877).  [F.G.] 

QUARLES,  CHARLES,  Mus.  Bac.,  graduated 
at  Cambridge  in  1698.  He  was  organist  of 
Trinity  College,  Cambridge.  He  was  appointed 
organist  of  York  Minster,  June  30,  1722  ;  and 
died  early  in  1727.  'A  Lesson  '  for  the  harp 
sichord  by  him  was  printed  by  Goodison  about 
1788.  [W.H.H.] 

QUARTERLY  MUSICAL  MAGAZINE 
AND  REVIEW,  conducted  by  R.  M.  BACON  of 
Norwich.  [See  vol.  i.  288 a ;  vol.  ii.  427(1.]  [G.] 

QUARTET  (Fr.  Quatuor ;  Ital.  Quartetto).  A 
composition  for  four  solo  instruments  or  voices. 

I.  With  regard  to  instrumental  quartets  the 
favourite  combination  has  naturally  been  always 
that  of  2  violins,  viola,  and  cello,  the  chief  repre 
sentatives  since  the  days  of  Monteverde  of  soprano, 
alto,  tenor,  and  bass,  in  the  orchestra  :  in  fact, 
when  '  quartet '  only  is  spoken  of,  the  '  string 
quartet '  is  generally  understood  ;  any  other  com 
bination  being  more  fully  particularised  ;  and  it 
is  to  the  string  quartet  we  will  turn  our  principal 
attention.  The  origin  of  the  quartet  was  the 
invention  of  four-part  harmony,  but  it  was  long 
before  a  composition  for  four  instruments  came 
to  be  regarded  as  a  distinct  and  worthy  means 
for  the  expression  of  musical  ideas.  Even  the 
prolific  J.  S.  Bach  does  not  appear  to  have  favoured 
this  combination,  though  he  wrote  trios  in  plenty. 
With  the  symphony  was  born  the  string  quartet  as 
we  now  understand  it — the  symphony  in  minia 
ture;  and  both  were  born  of  the  same  father, 
Haydn.  Although  24  bars  comprise  all  the  first 
part  of  the  first  movement  of  Haydn's  ist  Quartet, 
we  see  there  the  embryo  which  Beethoven  de 
veloped  to  such  gigantic  proportions, 


QUARTET. 


QUARTET. 


57 


Presto    (1st  subject.)                          ^ 

—  />  —  K~75  —                                           1  t^H  •  •    r~ 

J*J 

J-^ 

/  u"  ft   : 

1 

* 

-j—  »  i 

u~ 

•  —  8n 

((V)'1    ft  —  h  —  s- 

K 

—  • 

^J-^ 

-     1"  1 

B 

»                /-f   -fr   1   f    U      1                p 

L> 

^^- 

FT-P — d^?j-r 

Hn5TTf*r 


-• — »- 


^^ 


^ 

'       ^U 


P 


(Episode  modulating  into  the  dominant.) 


(2nd  subject.) 


^^F^^rF 


i. 


These  first  quartets  of  Haydn  seem  to  us 
sadly  feeble  in  the  present  day ;  there  is  not 
enough  flesh  to  cover  the  skeleton,  and  the  joints 
are  terribly  awkward  ;  but  there  is  the  unmis- 
takeable  infant  quartet,  and  certainly  not  more 
clumsy  and  unpromising  than  the  human  infant. 
The  due  proportions  are  all  there  too — in  fact, 
there  are  5  movements  instead  of  4,  Haydn 
usually  writing  two  minuets  to  these  early 
works.  In  the  course  of  his  long  life  and  in 
cessant  practice  in  symphonic  composition,  Haydn 
made  vast  progress,  so  that  the  later  quartets 
(op.  71,  etc.)  begin  to  show,  in  the  lower  parts, 
some  of  the  boldness  which  had  before  been  only 
allowed  to  the  1st  violin.  83  quartets  of  Haydn 
are  catalogued  and  printed,  while  of  the  93  of  his 
contemporary  Boccherini,  scarcely  one  survives. 

Mozart,  with  his  splendid  genius  for  poly 
phony  as  well  as  melody,  at  once  opened  up  a 
new  world.  In  the  set  of  6  dedicated  to  Haydn 
we  notice,  besides  the  development  in  form,  the 
development  of  the  idea,  which  it  has  only  been 
given  to  Beethoven  fully  to  carry  out— the  mak 
ing  each  part  of  equal  interest  and  importance. 
Theoretically,  in  a  perfect  quartet,  whether  vocal 
or  instrumental,  there  should  be  no  '  principal 
part.'  The  six  quartets  just  spoken  of  were  so 
far  in  advance  of  their  time,  as  to  be  considered 
on  all  sides  as  '  hideous  stuff.'  In  our  time  we 
find  little  that  is  startling  in  them,  except  perhaps 


the  famous  opening  of  No  6,  which  will  always 
sound  harsh  from  the  false  relations  in  the  2nd 
and  4th  bars. 


Adaflio 


Mozart's  26  quartets  all  live,  the  6  dedicated 
to  Haydn,  and  the  last  3  composed  for  the  King 
of  Prussia,  being  immortal. 

Those  writers  whose  quartets  were  simply  the 
echo  of  Mozart's — such  as  Romberg,  Onslow, 
Hies,  and  Fesca — made  no  advance  in  the  treat 
ment  of  the  four  instruments. 

It  is  not  our  province  here  to  speak  of  the 
growth  of  the  symphonic  form  as  exhibited  in  the 
string  quartet,  this  subject  having  been  already 
discussed  under  FORM,  but  rather  to  notice  the 
extraordinary  development  of  the  art  of  part- 
writing,  and  the  manner  in  which  the  most  ela 
borate  compositions  have  been  constructed  with 
such  apparently  inadequate  materials.  In  these 
points  the  quartets  of  Beethoven  so  far  ellipse 
all  others  that  we  might  confine  our  attention 
exclusively  to  them.  In  the  very  first  (op.  18, 
No.  i)  the  phrase 


,/ 

-  "™!J  .^r1 

• 

•   F"' 



/xU 

V-W          •! 

C     ••.'», 

i 

—  -              -^- 

of  the  ist  movement  is  delivered  so  impartially 
to  each  of  the  four  players,  as  though  to  see  what 
each  can  make  of  it,  that  we  feel  them  to  be  on 
an  equality  never  before  attained  to.  If  the  1st 
violin  has  fine  running  passages,  those  of  the  2nd 
violin  and  viola  are  not  a  whit  inferior.  Does 
the  ist  violin  sing  a  celestial  adagio,  the  cello  is 
not  put  off  with  mere  bass  notes  to  mark  the 
time.  All  four  participate  equally  in  the  merri 
ment  of  the  scherzo  and  the  dash  of  the  finale. 
This  much  strikes  one  in  the  earlier  quartetsj 
but  later,  when  such  writing  as  the  following- 
selected  at  random — is  frequent, 


we  find  that  we  are  no  longer  listening  to  four 
voices  disposed  so  as  to  sound  together  harmo 
niously,  but  that  we  are  being  shown  the  outline, 


58 


QUARTET. 


QUARTET. 


the  faint  pencil  sketch,  of  works  for  whose  actual 
presentation  the  most  perfect  earthly  orchestra 
would  be  too  intolerably  coarse.  The  post 
humous  quartets  are  hardly  to  be  regarded  as 
pieces  written  for  violins,  but  we  are  rather  forced 
to  imagine  that  in  despair  of  finding  colours  deli 
cate  and  true  enough  the  artist  has  preferred  to 
leave  his  conceptions  as  charcoal  sketches.  This 
fancy  is  borne  out  when  we  note  how  large  a  com 
pass  the  four  parts  are  constantly  made  to  cover, 
a  space  of  nearly  five  octaves  sometimes  being 
dashed  over,  with  little  care  for  the  poorness  and 
scratchiness  of  tone  thus  produced. 

The  1 6  quartets  of  Beethoven  are  all  con 
stantly  before  the  musical  public,  the  last  four 
naturally  Jess  frequently  than  the  others. 

There  is  a  wide  contrast  between  these  stu 
pendous  works  of  genius  and  the  polished  and 
thoroughly  legitimate  workmanship  of  Schubert's 
quartets.  Here  we  find  everything  done  which 
ought  to  be  done  and  nothing  which  ought  not. 
They  are  indeed  irreproachable  models.  One 
little  point  deserves  notice  here  as  illustrating 
the  comparative  strength  of  two  great  men  :  Bee 
thoven  gives  frequent  rests  to  one  or  two  of  the 
players,  allowing  the  mind  to  fill  in  the  lacking 
harmony,  and  thus  producing  a  clearness,  bold 
ness  and  contrast  which  no  other  composer  has 
attained  ;  Schubert,  on  the  other  hand,  makes  all 
four  parts  work  their  hardest  to  hide  that  thinness 
of  sound  which  is  the  drawback  of  the  quartet. 

Mention  of  Spohr's  quartets  might  almost  be 
omitted  in  spite  of  their  large  number  and  their 
great  beauty.  Technically  they  are  no  more  ad 
vanced  than  those  of  Haydn,  the  interest  lying 
too  often  in  the  top  part.  They  also  lose  much 
through  the  peculiar  mannerism  of  the  com 
poser's  harmon}-,  which  so  constantly  occupies 
three  of  the  parts  in  the  performance  of  pedal 
notes,  and  portions  of  the  chromatic  scale. 

Still  more  than  Schubert  does  Mendelssohn 
seem  to  chafe  at  the  insufficiency  of  four  stringed 
instruments  to  express  his  ideas.  Not  only  this, 
but  he  fails,  through  no  fault  of  his  own,  in 
one  point  needful  for  successful  quartet-writing. 
Beethoven  and  Schubert  have  shown  us  that 
the  theoretically  perfect  string-quartet  should 
have  an  almost  equal  amount  of  interest  in  each 
of  the  four  parts  ;  care  should  therefore  be  taken 
to  make  the  merest  accompaniment-figures  in  the 
middle  parts  of  value  and  character.  Tremolos 
and  reiterated  chords  should  be  shunned,  and 
indeed  the  very  idea  of  accompaniment  is  barely 
admissible.  The  quartet,  though  differing  from 
the  symphony  only  in  the  absence  of  instru 
mental  colouring  and  limitation  of  polyphony, 
is  best  fitted  for  the  expression  of  ideas  of  a  cer 
tain  delicacy,  refinement  and  complexity,  any 
thing  like  boldness  being  out  of  place,  from  the 
weakness  of  the  body  of  tone  produced.  Now 
the  chief  characteristic  of  Mendelssohn's  music 
is  its  broad  and  singing  character,  passage-writing 
is  his  weak  point.  Consequently,  however  good 
his  quartets,  one  cannot  but  feel  that  they  would 
sound  better  if  scored  for  full  orchestra.  Take 
the  opening  of  Op.  44,  No.  i,  for  instance — 


jT— f 


£ 


In  the  first  place,  this  is  not  quartet-writing  at 
all ;  there  is  a  melody,  a  bass,  and  the  rest  is 
mere  fill-up  matter  :  in  the  second,  we  have  here 
as  thorough  an  orchestral  theme  as  could  be  de 
vised — the  ear  yearns  for  trumpets  and  drums  in 
the  fourth  bar.  A  similar  case  occurs  in  the 
F  minor  Quartet  (op.  80),  and  the  expression 
'symphony  in  disguise'  has  accordingly  often  been 
applied  to  these  works.  This  is  curious,  because 
Mendelssohn  has  shown  himself  capable  of  ex 
pressing  his  ideas  with  small  means  in  other 
departments.  The  4-part  songs  for  male  voices, 
for  instance,  are  absolutely  perfect  models  for 
what  such  things  ought  to  be.  Schumann  (op.  41) 
is  the  only  writer  who  can  be  said  to  have  fol 
lowed  in  the  wake  of  Beethoven  with  regard  to 
using  the  quartet  as  a  species  of  shorthand.  All 
his  three  quartets  have  an  intensity,  a  depth 
of  soul,  which,  as  with  Beethoven,  shrinks  from 
plainer  methods  of  expression. 

Of  the  earnest  band  of  followers  in  this  school 
— Brahms  (op.  51,  67),  Bargiel,  Bheinberger— 
all  that  can  be  said  is  that  they  are  followers. 
If  the  quartet  is  yet  capable  of  new  treatment, 
the  second  Beethoven  who  is  to  show  us  fresh 
marvels  has  not  yet  come. 

II.  Quartets  for  strings  and  wind  instruments 
are  uncommon,  but  Mozart  has  one  for  oboe, 
violin,  viola,  and  cello.  Next  to  the  string 
quartet  ranks  the  pianoforte  quartet,  which, 
however,  is  built  on  quite  a  different  principle  : 
here  the  composition  becomes  either  equivalent 
to  an  accompanied  trio,  or  to  a  symphony  in 
which  the  piano  takes  the  place  of  the  '  string 
quartet,'  and  the  other  instruments — usually 
violin,  viola,  and  cello — the  place  of  wind  in 
struments.  In  any  case  the  piano  does  quite 
half  the  work.  Mozart  has  written  two  such 
quartets,  Beethoven  only  one,  besides  three  early 
compositions,  Mendelssohn  three,  while  Brahms 
(op.  23,  26,  60)  and  the  modern  composers  have 
favoured  this  form  of  quartet  still  more. 


QUAKTET. 

III.  Vocal   quartets   are   so   called  whether 
accompanied  by  instruments  or  not.     The  4 -part 
songs    of   Mendelssohn   have   been    mentioned. 
No  modern  oratorio  is  considered  complete  with 
out  its  unaccompanied  quartet,  Spohr  having  set 
the  fashion  with  his  exquisite  '  Blest  are  the  de 
parted'  in  the  'Last  Judgment.'    Modern  opera  is 
learning  to  dispense  with  concerted  music,  Richard 
Wagner  having  set  the  fashion.  To  enumerate  the 
fine  operatic  quartets  from  'Don  Giovanni'  to 
'Faust,' would  be  useless.  In  light  opera  the 'Spin 
ning- wheel'  quartet  in  '  Marta'standspre-eminent. 

IV.  The  whole  body  of  stringed  instruments 
in  the  orchestra  is  often  incorrectly  spoken  of  as 
'  the  Quartet,'  from  the  fact  that  until  the  time 
of  Beethoven  the  strings  seldom  played  in  other 
than  four-part  harmony.     It  is  now  the   usual 
custom  to  write  the  parts  for  cello  and  double 
bass  on  separate  staves,  and  in  Germany  these 
instruments  are  grouped  apart,  a  practice  which 
is  decidedly  unwise,  seeing  that  the  double  bass 
requires  the  support  of  the  cello  to  give  the  tone 
firmness,    more    especially    the    German    four- 
stringed   instrument,  the  tone   of  which   is  so 
wanting  in  body. 

V.  The  term  is  also  applied  to  the  performers 
of  a   quartet,    as   well   as   to    the   composition 
itself.  [F.C.] 

QUARTET,  DOUBLE— for 4  violins,  2  violas, 
and  2  cellos.  This  variety  of  quartet  should  bear 
the  same  relation  to  an  octet  that  a  double 
chorus  bears  to  an  8-part  chorus ;  the  parts 
being  divided  into  two  separate  sets  of  four. 
Spohr's  three  Double  Quartets  (Op.  65,  77,  87) 
are  probably  the  only  specimens  in  print.  [F.C.] 

QUARTETT  ASSOCIATION,  THE.  A 
society  for  the  performance  of  chamber  music, 
started  in  1852  by  Messrs.  Sainton,  Cooper,  Hill, 
and  Piatti,  with  such  eminent  artists  as  Sterndale 
Bennett,  Mile.  Clauss,  Mme.  Pleyel,  Miss  God- 
dard,  Pauer,  Charles  Halle,  etc.,  at  the  pianoforte. 
They  gave  six  concerts  each  season  at  Willis's 
Rooms,  but  ended  with  the  third  season,  the  time 
not  having  yet  arrived  for  a  sufficient  support  of 
chamber  music  by  the  London  public.  The  pro 
grammes  were  selected  with  much  freedom,  em 
bracing  English  composers — Bennett,  Ellerton, 
Loder,  Macfarren,  Mellon,  etc. ;  foreign  musicians 
then  but  seldom  heard — Schumann,  Cherubini, 
Hummel,  etc.,  and  Beethoven's  Posthumous 
Quartets.  The  pieces  were  analysed  by  Mr. 
Macfarren.  [G.] 

QUASI,  as  if—  i.  e.  an  approach  to.  '  Andante 
quasi  allegretto'  or  'Allegretto  quasi  vivace' 
means  a  little  quicker  than  the  one  and  not  so 
quick  as  the  other — answering  to  poco  allegretto, 
or  piu  tosto  allegro.  [G.] 

QUATRE  FILS  AYMON,  LES.  An  opera 
comique  ;  words  by  MM.  Leuven  and  Brunswick, 
music  by  Balfe.  Produced  at  the  Opera  Comique, 
Paris,  July  15, 1844,  and  at  the  Princess's  Theatre, 
London,  as  '  The  Castle  of  Aymon,  or  The  Four 
Brothers,'  in  3  acts,  Nov.  20,  1844.  [G.] 

QUAVER  (Ger.  Achtelnote ;  Fr.  Croche ;  Ital. 
Croma).  A  note  which  is  half  the  length  of  a 


QUAVER. 


59 


crotchet,  and  therefore  the  eighth  part  of  a  semi- 
breve  ;  hence  the  German  name,  which  signifies 
'eighth-note.'  It  is  written  thus  I*,  its  Rest  be 
ing  represented  by  •;. 

The  idea  of  expressing  the  values  of  notes  by 
diversity  of  form  has  been  ascribed  by  certain 
writers  to  De  Muris  (about  1340),  but  this  is 
undoubtedly  an  error,  the  origin  of  which  is 
traced  by  both  Hawkins  (Hist,  of  Music)  and 
Fdtis  (art.  Muris)  to  a  work  entitled  'L'antica 
Musica  ridotta  alia  moderna  Prattica,'  by  Vicen- 
tino  (1555),  in  which  it  is  explicitly  stated  that 
De  Muris  invented  all  the  notes,  from  the  Large 
to  the  Semiquaver.  It  is  however  certain  that 
the  longer  notes  were  in  use  nearly  300  years 
earlier,  in  the  time  of  Franco  of  Cologne  [NOTA 
TION,  vol.  ii,  p.  470],  and  it  seems  equally  clear 
that  the  introduction  of  the  shorter  kinds  is  of 
later  date  than  the  time  of  De  Muris.  The  fact 
appears  to  be  that  the  invention  of  the  shorter 
notes  followed  the  demand  created  by  the  general 
progress  of  music,  a  demand  which  may  fairly 
be  supposed  to  have  reached  its  limit  in  the 
quarter-demisemiquaver,  or  ^  of  a  quaver, 
occasionally  met  with  in  modern  music. 

The  Quaver,  originally  called  Chroma  or  Fiisa, 
sometimes  Unca  (a  hook),  was  probably  invented 
some  time  during  the  I5th  century,  for  Morley 
(i  597)  saystbat'  there  were  within  these  200  years' 
(and  therefore  in  1400)  'but  four1  (notes)  known 
or  used  of  the  musicians,  those  were  the  Long, 
Breve,  Semibreve,  and  Minim' ;  and  Thomas  de 
Walsingham,  in  a  MS.  treatise  written  somewhat 
later  (probably  about  1440),  and  quoted  by  Haw 
kins,  gives  the  same  notes,  and  adds  that  '  of  late 
a  New  character  has  been  introduced,  called  a 
Crotchet,  which  would  be  of  no  use,  would 
musicians  remember  that  beyond  the  minim  no 
subdivision  ought  to  be  made.'  Franchinus  Ga- 
furius  also,  in  his  'Practica  Musicae'  (1496) 
quoting  from  Prosdocimus  de  Beldemandis,  who 
flourished  in  the  early  part  of  the  I5th  century, 
describes  the  division  of  the  minim  into  halves 
and  quarters,  called  respectively  the  greater  and 
lesser  semiminim,  and  written  in  two  ways,  white 
and  black  (Ex.  i).  The  white  forms  of  these  notes 
soon  fell  into  disuse,  and  the  black  ones  have  be 
come  the  crotchet 2  and  quaver  of  modern  music. 

Greater  Lesser 

Semiminim.          Semiminim. 


^  

l—^  N 

The  subdivision  of  the  quaver  into  semiquaver 
and  demisemiquaver  followed  somewhat  later. 
Gafurius,  in  the  work  quoted  above,  mentions 
a  note  ^  of  a  minim  in  length,  called  by  various 

I*       1 

names,  and  written  either  ^  or  4  ,  but  the  true 

v 

1  There  were  really  five,  including  the  Large,  which  Morley  calls 
the  Double  Long. 

2  It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  in  the  ancient  manuscript  by  Eng 
lish  authors  known  as  the  Waltham  Holy   Cross  MS.,  a  note  is 
mentioned,  called  a  '  simple,'  which  has  the  value  of  a  crotchet,  but 
is  written  with  a  hooked  stem  like  a  modern  quaver.    That  a  note  half 
the  value  of  a  minim  should  at  any  period  have  been  written  with  a 
hook  may  help  to  account  for  the  modern  name  crotchet,  which 
being  clearly  derived  from  the  French  croc,  or  crochet,  a  hook,  is 
somewhat  anoma'ous  as  applied  to  *he  note  in  its  present  form, 
which  has  no  hook. 


60 


QUAVER. 


semiquaver  or  semickroma,  the  earliest  form  of 
which  was  P ,  does  not  appear  until  later,  while 

the  demisemiquaver  must  have  been  a  novelty  as 
late  as  1697,  at  least  in  this  country,  judging 
from  the  I3th  edition  of  Playford's  '  Introduction 
to  the  Skill  of  Musick,'  in  which,  after  describing 
it,  the  author  goes  onto  say  'but  the  Printer 
having  none  of  that  character  by  him,  I  was 
obliged  to  omit  it.' 

When  two  or  more  quavers  (or  shorter  notes) 
occur  consecutively,  they  are  usually  grouped 
together  by  omitting  the  hooks  and  drawing  a 
thick  stroke  across  their  stems,  thus  JjjJ.  The 
credit  of  having  invented  this  great  improvement 
in  notation  is  due,  according  to  Hawkins,  to  John 
Playford,  whose  example  in  this  matter  was  soon 
followed  by  the  Dutch,  and  afterwards  by  the 
French  and  Germans.  In  Playford's  '  Introduc 
tion  etc.'  the  notes  are  described  as  '  Tyed  together 
by  a  long  stroke  on  the  Top  of  their  Tails','  and  it 
is  curious  that  in  the  example  he  gives  (Ex.  2)the 
characteristic  hook  of  the  quaver  or  semiquaver 
is  allowed  to  appear  at  the  end  of  each  group. 


As  late  as  the  I3th  edition,  however  (1697),  the 
examples  throughout  Playford's  book,  with  the 
single  exception  of  the  one  just  quoted,  are 
printed  with  separate  quavers  and  semiquavers 
and  it  is  not  until  the  I5th  edition  (1703)  which 
is  announced  as  'Corrected,  and  done  on  the 
New  Ty'd-Note,'  that  the  notes  are  grouped  as 
in  modern  music. 

In  vocal  music,  notes  which  have  to  be  sung 
to  separate  syllables  are  written  detached,  while 
those  which  are  sung  to  a  single  syllable  are 
grouped  ;  for  example — 


The    peo-ple  that  walk-ed  in     dark    -    -    -    ness,  that 

[F.T.] 

QUEISSER,  CARL  TRATJGOTT,  a  great  trom 
bone  player,  was  born  of  poor  parents  at  Doben, 
near  Leipzig,  Jan.  n,  1800.  His  turn  for  music 
showed  itself  early,  and  he  soon  mastered  all  the 
ordinary  orchestral  instruments.  He  ultimately 
confined  himself  to  the  viola,  and  to  the  trombone, 
which  he  may  really  be  said  to  have  created,  since, 
for  instance,  the  solo  in  the  Tuba  mtrum  of 
Mozart's  Requiem  was  before  his  time  usually 
played  on  a  Bassoon.  In  1817  he  was  appointed 
to  play  violin  and  trombone  in  the  town 
orchestra,  and  by  1830  had  worked  his  way 
into  the  other  orchestras  of  Leipzig,  including 
that  of  the  Gewandhaus.  He  played  the  viola 
in  Matthai's  well-known  quartet  for  many  years ; 
was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Leipzig  '  Euterpe,' 
and  led  its  orchestra  for  a  long  time ;  and  in  short 


QUINTET. 

was  one  of  the  most  prominent  musical  figures 
in  Leipzig  during  its  very  best  period. 

As  a  solo  trombone-player  he  appeared  fre 
quently  in  the  Gewandhaus  Concerts,  with  con 
certos,  concertinos,  fantasias  and  variations, 
many  of  them  composed  expressly  for  him  by 
C.  G.  Miiller,  F.  David,  Meyer,  Kummer,  and 
others ;  and  the  reports  of  these  appearances  rarely 
mention  him  without  some  term  of  pride  or 
endearment.  'For  fulness,  purity  and  power  of 
tone,  lightness  of  lip,  and  extraordinary  facility 
in  passages,'  says  his  biographer,1  '  he  surpassed 
all  the  trombone-players  of  Germany.'  There 
was  a  Leipzig  story  to  the  effect  that  at  the  first 
rehearsal  of  the  Lobgesang,  Queisser  led  off  the 
Introduction  as  follows  : — 


— r— 

-23 


•-•pp.  f  •  "^lE 

^-U^— ^ 


to  Mendelssohn's  infinite  amusement.    Se  non.  e 
vei'o,  e  ben  trovato. 

Queisser  was  well-known  throughout  Germany, 
but  appears  never  to  have  left  his  native  country. 
He  died  at  Leipzig  June  12,  1846.  [U.] 

QUICK-STEP  (Fr.  Pas  redouble,  Ger.  Gesch- 
wind  Marscli)  is  the  English  name  for  the  music 
of  the  Quick  march  in  the  army,  a  march  in  which 
116  steps  of  30  inches  go  to  the  minute.  (See 
Boost's  Journal  of  Marches.  Quicksteps,  Dances, 
etc.)  It  may  be  well  to  mention  that  in  the 
Slow  march  there  are  75  steps  of  30  inches,  and 
in  the  '  Double '  165  of  33  inches.  [See  MARCH, 
vol.  ii.  p.  212.]  [G.] 

QUILISMA.  An  antient  form  of  Neuma, 
representing  a  kind  of  Shake.  [See  NOTATION, 
p.  468a.]  [W.S.E.] 

QUINAULT,  PHILIPPE,  eminent  French  dra 
matist,  born  in  Paris  1635,  died  Nov.  26,  1688, 
may  be  considered  the  creator  of  a  new  branch 
of  the  drama,  the  lyric  tragedy.  The  numerous 
operas  which  he  wrote  for  Lully  long  served  as 
models  to  other  French  dramatic  authors,  and 
are  still  worthy  of  notice  for  their  literary  merit, 
and  the  smoothness  and  melody  of  the  versifica 
tion.  [G.C.] 

QUINTA  FALSA  (False  Fifth).  The  for 
bidden  Interval,  between  Mi,  in  the  Hexachordon 
durum,  and  Fa,  in  the  Hexachordon  naturale— 
the  Diminished  Fifth  of  modern  Music.  [See  Mi 
CONTRA  FA.]  [W.S.K.] 

QUINTET  (Fr.  Quintuor-,  Ital.  Quintette).  A 
composition  for  five  instruments  or  voices  with 
or  without  accompaniment. 

I.  Quintets  for  strings  have  been  far  less  written 
than  quartets,  owing  to  the  greater  complexity 
demanded  in  the  polyphony.  Boccherini,  however, 
published  125,  of  which  12  only  were  written  for 
2  violins,  2  violas,  and  I  cello,  the  others  having 
2  cellos  and  i  viola.  The  former  is  the  more 
usual  choice  of  instruments,  probably  because  the 
lower  parts  are  apt  to  be  too  heavy  sounding 
with  two  cellos,  owing  to  the  greater  body  of 

1  Allg.  muslkalische  Zeitung,  July  8. 1846. 


QUINTET. 

tone  in  this  instrument.  Schubert's  noble  Quintet 
in  C  (op.  163),  is  for  2  cellos,  but  the  first  cello 
is  used  constantly  in  its  upper  octave,  soaring 
above  the  viola.  Onslow's — 34  in  number — are 
for  a  double  bass  and  cello. 

Beethoven's  two  Quintets,  in  Eb  and  C,  be 
long  to  his  earlier  periods,  and  have  therefore 
none  of  the  extraordinary  features  of  the  later 
quartets.  Mendelssohn's  Quintet  in  Bb  (op.  87), 
is  so  orchestral  as  to  seem  almost  a  symphony  in 
disguise,  but  that  in  A  (op.  18)  is  an  exquisite 
specimen  of  what  a  string  quintet  should  be. 

Many  other  combinations  of  five  instruments 
have  found  favour  with  musicians,  mostly  in 
cluding  a  pianoforte.  Thus  there  is  Mozart's 
Quintet  in  Eb  for  oboe,  clarinet,  horn,  bassoon, 
and  piano — which  the  composer  esteemed  the 
best  thing  he  ever  wrote, — the  beautiful  one  for 
clarinet  and  strings,  and  another  for  the  piquant 
combination  of  flute,  oboe,  viola,  cello,  and 
musical  glasses.  Perhaps  the  most  effective 
association  is  that  of  piano,  violin,  viola,  cello, 
and  double  bass,  as  in  Schubert's  well-known 
'  Trout '  Quintet  (op.  114).  Beethoven's  Quintet 
for  piano  and  wind  instruments  (op.  16),  in  Eb, 
is  a  noble  representative  of  a  very  small  class. 
Hummel  has  also  written  a  well-known  one. 

II.  In  vocal  music  none  who  have  ever  heard 
it  can  forget  the  admirable  quintet  (for  2  soprani, 
contralto,  tenor,  and  bass)  which  forms  the 
finale  to  Act  I  of  Spohr's  '  Azor  and  Zemira.' 
In  modern  opera  two  most  striking  specimens 
occur  in  Goetz's  '  Widerspanstige  Zahmung,' 
and  Wagner's  '  Meistersinger.'  Five-part  har 
mony  has  a  peculiarly  rich  effect,  and  deserves 
to  be  more  practised  than  it  is,  especially  in 
oratorio  chorus.  It  is,  however,  by  no  means 
easy  to  write  naturally.  [F.C.] 

QUINTOYER  (Old  Eng.  Quinible).  To  sing 
in  Fifths — a  French  verb,  in  frequent  use  among 
extempore  Organizers  during  the  Middle  Ages. 
[See  ORGANUM,  PART-WRITING.]  [W.S.R.] 

QUINTUS  (the  Fifth).  The  Fifth  Part  in 
a  composition  for  five  Voices  :  called  also  Pars 
quinta  and  Quincuplum.  In  Music  of  the  I5th 
and  1 6th  centuries,  the  Fifth  Part  always 
corresponded  exactly,  in  compass,  with  one  of 
the  other  four ;  it  would,  therefore,  have  been 
impossible  to  describe  it  as  First  or  Second 
Cantus,  Altus,  Tenor,  or  Bassus.  [W.S.R.] 

QUINTUPLE  TIME.  The  rhythm  of  five 
beats  in  a  bar.  As  a  rule,  quintuple  time  has 
two  accents,  one  on  the  first  beat  of  the  bar,  and 
the  other  on  either  the  third  or  fourth,  the  bar 
being  thus  divided  into  two  unequal  parts.  On 
this  account  it  can  scarcely  be  considered  a  dis 
tinct  species  of  rhythm,  but  rather  a  compound  of 
two  ordinary  kinds,  duple  and  triple,  employed 
alternately.  Although  of  little  practical  value, 
quintuple  time  produces  an  effect  sufficiently 
characteristic  and  interesting  to  have  induced 
various  composers  to  make  experiments  therein, 
the  earliest  attempt  of  any  importance  being 
probably  an  air  to  the  words  '  Se  la  sorte  mi 
condanna'  in  the  opera  of '  Ariadne'  by  Adolfati, 


QUINTUPLE  TIME. 


61 


written  in  1750,  and  it  is  also  met  in  some  of  the 
national  airs  of  Spain,  Greece,  Germany,  etc. 
Thus  Reicha,  in  a  note  to  No.  20  of  his  set  of  36 
fugues  (each  of  which  embodies  some  curious 
experiment  in  either  tonality  or  rhythm),  states 
that  in  a  certain  district  of  the  Lower  Rhine, 
named  Kochersberg,  the  airs  of  most  of  the 
dances  have  a  well-marked  rhythm  of  five  beats, 
and  he  gives  as  an  example  the  following  waltz— 


T 
• 


In  the  above  example  the  second  accent  falls  on 
the  third  beat,  the  rhythm  being  that  of  2-8  fol 
lowed  by  3-8,  and  the  same  order  is  observed  in  a 
very  charming  movement  by  Hiller,  from  the  Trio 
op.  64,  in  which  the  quintuple  rhythm  is  expressed 
by  alternate  bars  of  2-4  and  3-4,  as  follows — 

Non  troppo  vivo 


s 


£ 


In  Reicha's  fugue  above  referred  to,  the  reverse 
is  the  case,  the  fourth  beat  receiving  the  accent, 
as  is  shown  by  the  composer's  own  time-signature, 
as  well  as  by  his  explicit  directions  as  to  per 
formance.  The  following  is  the  subject  : — 

Allegretto. 


Other  instances  of  quintuple  rhythm  are  to  be 
found  in  a  Trio  for  strings  by  K.  J.  Bischoff,  for 
which  a  prize  was  awarded  by  the  Deutsche 
Tonhalle  in  1853,  in  Chopin's  Sonata  in  C  minor, 
op.  4,  in  Killer's  'Rhythmische  Studien  '  op.  52, 
etc. ;  but  perhaps  the  most  characteristic  example 
occurs  in  the  'Gypsies'  Glee,'  by  W.  Reeve  (i  796), 
the  last  movement  of  which  runs  as  follows. 
Allegro. 

=£=*=£:    " 


' 


Come,  stain  your  cheeks  with    nut       or 


'- 


ber  -  ry. 

N       > 


: 


t 


Come,    stain     your     cheeks    with       nut        or        ber  -  ry. 

This  may  fairly  be  considered  an  example  of 
genuine  quintuple  rhythm,  for  instead  of  the 
usual  division  of  the  bar  into  two  parts,  such  as 
might  be  expressed  by  alternate  bars  of  3-4  and 
2-4,  or  2-4  and  3-4,  there  are  five  distinct  beats 
in  every  bar,  each  consisting  of  an  accent  and  a 
non- accent.  This  freedom  from  the  ordinary 
alternation  of  two  and  three  is  well  expressed  by 
the  grouping  of  the  accompaniment,  which  varies 
throughout  the  movement,  after  the  manner 
shown  in  the  following  extract : — 


62 


QUINTUPLE  TIME. 


[F.T.] 
QUIRE.  Another  mode  of  spelling  CHOIR.  [G.] 

QUODLTBET  (Lat.  'What  you  please'),  also 
called  QUOTLIBET  ('As  many  as  you  please'), 
and  in  Italian  MESSANZA  or  MISTICHANZA  ('A 
mixture').  This  was  a  kind  of  musical  joke  in 
the  1 6th  and  early  part  of  the  I7th  centuries,  the 
fun  of  which  consisted  in  the  extempore  juxta 
position  of  different  melodies,  whether  sacred  or 
secular,  which  were  incongruous  either  in  their 
musical  character,  or  in  the  words  with  which 
they  were  associated ;  sometimes,  however,  the 
words  were  the  same  in  all  parts,  but  were  sung 
in  snatches  and  scraps,  as  in  the  quodlibets  of 
Melchior  Franck.  (See  Prsetorius,  Syntagma 
Musicum,  torn.  iii.  cap.  v.)  There  were  two  ways 
of  performing  this :  one  was  to  string  the  melodies 
together  simply  and  without  any  attempt  at  con 
necting  them  by  passages  such  as  those  found  in 
modern  •  fantasias' ;  the  other,  the  more  elaborate 
method,  consisted  in  singing  or  playing  the  melo 
dies  simultaneously,  the  only  modifications  al 
lowed  being  those  of  time.  The  effect  of  this, 
unless  only  very  skilful  musicians  engaged  in  it, 
must  have  been  very  like  what  we  now  call  a 
'  Dutch  chorus.'  This  pastime  was  a  favourite 
one  with  the  Bachs,  at  whose  annual  family 
gatherings  the  singing  of  quodlibets  was  a  great 
feature.  (See  Spitta,  'J.  S.  Bach,'  i.  152,  ii. 
654.)  Sebastian  Bach  himself  has  left  us  one 
delightful  example  of  a  written-down  quodlibet, 
at  the  end  of  the  '30  variations'  in  G-  major, 
for  a  detailed  analysis  of  which  see  Spitta,  ii.  654. 
The  two  tunes  used  in  it  are  '  Ich  bin  so  lang  bei 
dir  nicht  gewest,'  and  'Kraut  und  Ruben,  Haben 
mich  vertrieben.'  One  of  the  best  modern  ex 
amples,  although  only  two  themes  are  used,  is  in 
Reinecke's  variations  for  two  pianos  on  a  gavotte 
of  Gluck's,  where,  in  the  last  variation,  he  brings 
in  simultaneously  with  the  gavotte  the  well-known 
musette  of  Bach  which  occurs  in  the  third  '  Eng 
lish'  suite.  A  good  instance,  and  one  in  which  the 


RAAFF. 

extempore  character  is  retained,  is  the  singing  of 
the  three  tunes  'Polly  Hopkins,'  'Buy  a  broom,' 
and  'The  Merry  Swiss  Boy,'  together,  which  is 
sometimes  done  for  a  joke.  A  very  interesting 
specimen  of  a  16th-century  quodlibet  by  Johann 
Goldel,  consisting  of  five  chorale-tunes — viz.  (i) 
'  Erhalt  uns.  Heir  bei  deinem  Wort,'  (2)  'Ach 
Gott,  vom  Himmel,'  (3) '  Vater  unser  im  Himmel- 
reich,'  (4) '  Wir  glauben  all,3  (5)  '  Durch  Adam's 
Fall ' — is  given  as  an  appendix  to  Hilgenfeldt's 
Life  of  Bach.  We  quote  a  few  bars  as  an 
example  of  the  ingenuity  with  which  the  five 
melodies  are  brought  together  : — 


au^-j-j.yi  M  j 


J                "           1    " 

- 

-J 

•        •               1 

_l 

1-^    1  ••"'•la  J  &  

?~     ^^    J 

J   b.I 

p*         " 

-_*" 

/T\ 


etc. 


\J/ 


[J.A.F.M.] 


E. 


RAAFF,    ANTON,    one   of  the    most   distin 
guished  tenors  of  his  day;  born  1714  in 
the  village  of  Holzem,  near  Bonn,   and 
educated  for  the  priesthood  at  the  Jesuit  College 
at  Cologne.    There  he  learned  his  notes  for  the 
first   time   at  20   years   old,  having  previously 
sung   by   ear.     His   fine    voice    so    struck   the 
Elector  Clement  Augustus,   that  he   offered   to 
have  him  trained  for  a  singer,  and  after  making 
him  sing  in  an   oratorio,  took  him  to  Munich, 


where  Ferrandini  brought  him  forward  in  an 
opera.  Raaff  then  determined  to  devote  himself 
entirely  to  music,  and  after  studying  for  a  short 
time  with  Bernacchi  at  Bologna,  became  one  of 
the  first  tenors  of  the  day.  In  1738  he  sang  at 
Florence  on  the  betrothal  of  Maria  Theresa,  and 
followed  up  this  successful  de"but  at  many  of  the 
Italian  theatres.  In  1742  he  returned  to  Bonn, 
and  sang  at  several  of  the  German  courts,  par 
ticularly  at  Vienna,  where  he  appeared  in 


RAAFF. 

Jomelli's  'Didone'  (1749),  to  Metastasio's  great 
satisfaction.  In  1752  ne  passed  through  Italy 
to  Lisbon,  where  he  was  engaged  for  three  years 
on  highly  advantageous  terms.  In  1755  he  ac 
cepted  a  summons  to  Madrid,  where  he  remained 
under  Farinelli's  direction,  enjoying  every  possible 
mark  of  favour  from  the  court  and  public.  In 
1759  he  accompanied  Farinelli  to  Naples,  where 
he  afterwards  met  with  Naumann,  and  where  his 
fine  singing  cured  the  Princess  Belmonte  Pigna- 
telli  of  a  profound  melancholy  into  which  she 
had  fallen  on  the  death  of  her  husband.  In  1770 
he  returned  to  Germany  and  entered  the  service 
of  the  elector,  Karl  Theodor,  at  Mannheim.  In 
1778  he  was  in  Paris  with  Mozart,  and  in  17  79 
he  followed  the  court  to  Munich,  where  Mozart 
composed  the  part  of  Idomeneo  for  him.  Soon 
afterwards  he  quitted  the  stage,  and  took  to 
teaching  singing,  but  his  pupils  left  him  on 
account  of  his  extreme  strictness.  Towards  the 
close  of  his  life  he  gave  up  music  entirely,  giving 
away  his  piano  and  his  music,  and  abandoning 
himself  to  contemplation.  He  died  in  Munich, 
May  27,  1797.  '  RaafF's  voice  was  the  finest 
possible  tenor,  full,  pure  in  tone,  and  even 
throughout  the  register,  from  deep  bass  to  ex 
treme  high  notes.  He  was  moreover  a  complete 
master  of  the  art  of  singing,  as  is  shown  by  his 
extraordinary  power  of  reading  at  sight,  by  the 
skill  with  which  he  introduced  variations  and 
cadenzas,  and  by  his  wonderful  expression,  which 
made  his  singing  seem  an  accurate  reflection  of 
his  mind  and  heart.  Another  admirable  quality 
was  his  pure  and  distinct  pronunciation  of  the 
words,  every  syllable  being  audible  in  the  largest 
space.'  Mozart  in  his  letters  speaks  of  him  as 
his  'best  and  dearest  friend,'  especially  in  one 
from  Paris,  dated  June  12,  1778.  He  composed 
for  him  in  Mannheim  the  air,  '  Se  al  labro  mio 
non  credi '  (Kochel  295).  [C.F.  P.] 

RACCOLTA  GENERALE  DELLE  OPERE 
CLASSICHE  MUSICALI.  A  collection  of  pieces  of 
which  the  full  title  is  as  follows  : — '  Collection 
ge"ne"rale  des  ouvrages  classiques  de  musique,  ou 
Choix  de  chefs  d'oeuvres,  en  tout  genre,  des  plus 
grands  compositeurs  de  toutes  les  Ecoles,  recu- 
eillis,  mis  en  ordre  et  enrichis  de  Notices  bis- 
toriques,  par  Alex.  E.  Choron,  pour  servir  de 
suite  aux  Principes  de  Composition  des  e"coles 
d'ltalie.'  A  notice  on  the  wrapper  further 
says  that  the  price  of  the  work  to  subscribers 
is  calculated  at  the  rate  of  5  sous  per  page,  thus 
curiously  anticipating  Mr.  Novello's  famous  re 
duction  of  his  publications  to  2\d.  per  page.  The 
numbers  were  not  to  be  issued  periodically,  but 
the  annual  cost  to  subscribers  was  fixed  at  from 
36  to  40  francs.  The  work  was  in  folio,  en 
graved  by  Gille  fils,  and  published  by  Leduc  &  Co., 
Paris,  Rue  de  Richelieu,  78,  with  agents  at  Bor 
deaux,  Marseilles,  Leipzig,  Munich, Vienna,  Ly on, 
Turin,  Milan,  Rome  and  Naples.  It  was  got  up 
with  great  care  and  taste.  The  parts  are  in 
blue-gray  wrappers,  with  an  ornamental  title. 
The  only  numbers  which  the  writer  has  been 
able  to  discover  are  as  follows  : — No.  I,  Miserere 
a  2  core,  Leo ;  No.  2,  Missa  ad  fugam,  Pales- 


RADZIWIL. 


63 


trina  (a  4)  ;  No.  3,  Stabat,  Palestrina  (8  voices); 
No.  4,  Stabat,  Josquin  (a  5)  ;  No.  5,  Miserere  a 
cinque  voci,  Joinelli ;  No.  6,  Missa  pro  defunctis, 
Jomelli.  It  is  probable  that  the  issue  of  the 
work  did  not  continue  beyond  these  six  pieces. 

For  ALFIERI'S  '  Raccolta  di  inusica  sacra '  see 
Appendix.  [G.] 

RADICAL  CADENCE.  A  term  applied,  in 
modern  Music,  to  a  Close,  either  partial  or  com 
plete,  formed  of  two  Fundamental  Chords.  [See 
CADENCE.]  [W.S.R.] 

RADZIWIL,  ANTON  HEINKICH,  Prince  of, 
Royal  Prussian  'Statthalter'  of  the  Grand  Duchy 
of  Posen,  born  at  Wilna,  June  13,  1775,  married 
in  1 796  the  Princess  Luise,  sister  of  that  dis 
tinguished  amateur  Prince  Louis  Ferdinand  of 
Prussia.  [See  vol.  ii.  p.  1686.]  Radziwil  was 
known  in  Berlin  not  only  as  an  ardent  admirer 
of  good  music,  but  as  a  fine  violoncello  player, 
and  'a  singer  of  such  taste  and  ability  as  is 
very  rarely  met  with  amongst  amateurs.' l  Bee 
thoven  was  the  great  object  of  his  admiration. 
He  played  his  quartets  with  devotion,  made  a 
long  journey  to  Prince  Galitzin's  on  purpose  to 
hear  the  Mass  in  D,  was  invited  by  Beethoven 
to  subscribe  to  the  publication  of  that  work,  and 
indeed  was  one  of  the  seven  who  sent  in  their 
names  in  answer  to  that  appeal.  To  him  Bee 
thoven  dedicated  the  Overture  in  C,  op.  115 
(known  as  '  Namensfeier  '),  which  was  published 
as  '  Grosses  Ouverture  in  C  &UT  gedichtet '  etc.,  by 
Steiner  of  Vienna  in  1.825. 

Further  relations  between  the  Prince  and  the 
composer  there  must  have  been,  but  at  present 
we  know  nothing  of  them.  No  letters  from  Bee 
thoven  to  him  are  included  in  those  hitherto  pub 
lished,  nor  has  Mr.  Thayer  yet  thrown  any  light 
on  the  matter  in  his  biography  of  the  composer. 

Radziwil  was  not  only  a  player,  a  singer, 
and  a  passionate  lover  of  music,  he  was  also  a 
composer  of  no  mean  order.  Whistling's  '  Hand- 
buch'  (1828)  names  3  Romances  for  voice  and 
PF.  (Peters),  and  songs  with  guitar  and  cello 
(B.  &  H.),  and  Mendel  mentions  duets  with  PF. 
accompaniment,  a  Complaint  of  Maria  Stuart, 
with  PF.  and  cello,  and  many  part-songs  com 
posed  for  Zelter's  Liedertafel,  of  which  he  was  an 
2 enthusiastic  supporter,  and  which  are  still  in  MS. 
But  these  were  only  preparations  for  his  great 
work,  entitled  '  Compositions  to  Goethe's  dramatic 
poem  of  Faust.'  This,  which  was  published  in 
score  and  arrangement  by  Trautwein  of  Berlin 
in  Nov.  1835,  contains  25  numbers,  occupying 
589  pages.  A  portion  was  sung  by  the  Sing- 
akademie  as  early  as  May  I,  1810 ;  the  choruses 
were  performed  in  May  1816,  three  new  scenes 
as  late  as  Nov.  21,  1830,  and  the  whole  work 
was  brought  out  by  that  institution  after  the 
death  of  the  composer,  which  took  place  April 
8,  1833.  The  work  was  repeatedly  performed 
during  several  years  in  Berlin,  Dantzig,  Han 
over,  Leipzig,  Prague,  and  many  other  places,  as 
maybe  seen  from  the  index  to  the  A.M.  Zeitung. 

1  A.M.Z.  1831,  July  27.    See  also  1R09,  June  28 ;  1814,  Sept.  28. 

2  Zelter's  Correspondence  with  Goethe  teems  with  notices  of  the 
Prince. 


64 


RADZIWIL. 


It  curiously  made  its  appearance  in  a  performance 
at  Hyde  Park  College,  London,  on  May  21,  1880, 
under  the  direction  of  L.  Martin-Eiffe.  A  length 
ened  analysis  of  it  will  be  found  in  the  A.  M. 
Zeitung  for  1836,  pp.  601,  617;  and  there  is  a 
copy  in  the  British  Museum.  [G.] 

RAFF,  JOSEPH  JOACHIM, born  May  2 7,  i822,at 
Lachen  on  theLake  of  Zurich.  He  received  his  early 
education  at  Wiesenstetten  in  Wiirtemberg,  in  the 
home  of  his  parents,  and  then  at  the  Jesuit  Lyceum 
of  Schwyz,  where  he  carried  off  the  first  prizes 
in  German,  Latin,  and  mathematics^  Want  of 
means  compelled  him  to  give  up  his  classical 
studies,  and  become  a  schoolmaster,  but  he  stuck 
to  music,  and  though  unable  to  afford  a  teacher, 
made  such  progress  not  only  with  the  piano  and 
the  violin,  but  also  in  composition,  that  Men 
delssohn,  to  whom  he  sent  some  MSS.,gave  him  in 
1843  a  recommendation  to  Breitkopf  &  Hartel. 
This  introduction  seems  to  have  led  to  his  ap 
pearing  before  the  public,  and  to  the  first  drops 
of  that  flood  of  compositions  of  all  sorts  and 
dimensions  which  since  1844  he  has  poured  forth 
in  an  almost  unintermitting  stream.  Of  Opus  I 
we  have  found  no  critical  record  ;  but  op.  2  is 
kindly  noticed  by  the  N.  Zeitschrift  (Schumann's 
paper)  for  Aug.  5,  1844,  the  reviewer  finding  in 
it  'something  which  points  to  a  future  for  the 
composer.'  Encouraging  notices  of  ops.  2  to  6 
inclusive  are  also  given  in  the  A.  M.  Zeitung  for 
the  2  ist  of  the  same  month.  Amidst  privations 
which  would  have  daunted  any  one  of  less  deter 
mination  he  worked  steadily  on,  and  at  length 
having  fallen  in  with  Liszt,  was  treated  by  him 
with  the  kindness  which  has  always  marked  his 
intercourse  with  rising  or  struggling  talent,  and 
was  taken  by  him  on  a  concert-tour.  Meeting 
Mendelssohn  for  the  first  time  at  Cologne  in 
1846,  and  being  afterwards  invited  by  him  to 
become  his  pupil  at  Leipzig  he  left  Liszt  for  that 
purpose.  Before  he  could  carry  this  project  into 
effect,  however,  Mendelssohn  died,  and  Raff  re 
mained  at  Cologne,  occupying  himself  inter  alia 
in  writing  critiques  for  Dehn's  Cacilia.  Later 
he  published  'Die  Wagneifrage/  a  pamphlet 
which  excited  considerable  attention.  Lizst's 
endeavours  to  secure  him  a  patron  in  Vienna 
in  the  person  of  Mechetti  the  publisher,  were 
frustrated  by  Mechetti's  death  while  Raff  was 
actually  on  the  way  to  see  him.  Undismayed 
by  these  repeated  obstacles  he  devoted  himself 
to  a  severe  course  of  study,  partly  at  home  and 
partly  at  Stuttgart,  with  the  view  to  remedy  the 
deficiencies  of  his  early  training.  At  Stuttgart 
he  made  the  acquaintance  of  Bu'low,  who  be 
came  deeply  interested  in  him,  and  did  him  a 
great  service  by  taking  up  his  new  Concertstiick, 
for  PF.  and  orchestra,  and  playing  it  in  public. 

By  degrees  Raff  attached  himself  more  and 
more  closely  to  the  new  German  school,  and  in 
1850  went  to  Wtitnar  to  be  near  Liszt,  who  had 
at  that  time  abandoned  his  career  as  a  virtuoso 
and  was  settled  there.  Here  he  remodelled  an 
opera  '  Konig  Alfred,'  which  he  had  composed 
in  Stuttgart  three  years  before,  and  it  was  pro 
duced  at  the  Court  Theatre,  where  it  is  still 


RAFF. 

often  performed.    It  has  also  been  given  else 
where.     Other  works  followed — a  collection  of 
PF.   pieces   called    '  Fruhlingsboten '    in    1852, 
the  first  string  quartet  in  1855,  and  the  first 
grand   sonata   for  PF.  and  violin  (E  minor)  in 
1857.     In  the  meantime  he  had  engaged  himself 
to  Doris  Genast,  daughter  of  the  well  known  actor 
and  manager,  and  herself  on  the  stage ;   and  in 
1856  he  followed  her  to  Wiesbaden,  where  he 
was  soon  in  great  request  as  a  pianoforte  teacher. 
In  1858  he  composed  his  second  violin-sonata, 
and  the  incidental  music  for  'Bernhard  von  Wei 
mar,'  a  drama  by  Wilhelm  Genast,  the  overture 
to  which  speedily  became  a  favourite,  and  was 
much  played  throughout  Germany.     In  1859  he 
married.     In  1863  his  first  symphony  'An  das 
Vaterland'   obtained   the   prize   offered  by  the 
Gesellschaft    der  Musikfreunde  in  Vienna  (out 
of  32  competitors),  and  was  followed  by  the  2nd 
(in  C)  and  the  3rd  (in  F,  '  Im  Walde ')  in  1869, 
the  4th  (in  G  minor)  in  1871,  the  5th  ('  Lenore') 
in  1872,  the  6th  ('Gelebt,  gestrebt,  gelitten,  ge- 
stritten,  gestorben,  umworben')  in  1876,  and  the 
7th  ('Alpensinfonie')  in  1877,  the  8th  ('Friih- 
lingsklange')  in  1878,  and  the  Qth  'Im  Sommer- 
zeit'  in  1 880.  A  loth  ('Zur  Herbstzeit')  was  lately 
played  at  Wiesbaden.     In  1870  his  comic  opera 
'  Dame  Kobold '  was  produced  at  Weimar.    A 
serious  opera  in  5  acts  entitled  '  Samson,'  for  which 
he  himself  wrote  the  libretto,  has  not  yet  been 
performed  in  public.  Two  cantatas,  '  Wachet  auf ' 
and  another  written  for   the   Festival  in  com 
memoration  of  the  battle  of  Leipzig,  were  his 
first  works  for  men's  voices,  and  are  popular  with 
the  choral  societies.     His  arrangement  of  Bach's 
6  violin  sonatas  for  PF.  is  a  work  of  great  merit. 
Detailed  analyses  of  the  first  six  of  these  Sym 
phonies  will  be  found  in  the  '  Monthly  Musical 
Record'  for  1875,  and  from  these  a  very  good 
idea  of  the  composer's  style  may  be  gathered. 
Remembering  his  struggles  and  hard  life  it  is 
only  a  matter  for  wonder  that  he  should  have 
striven  so  earnestly  and  so  long  in  a  path  that 
was   not   his   natural   walk.     A   glance  at  the 
nearly  complete  list  of  his  works  at  the  foot  of 
this  notice  will  explain  our  meaning.     The  enor 
mous  mass  of '  drawing-room  music '  tells  its  own 
tale.     Raff  had  to  live,  and  having  by  nature  a 
remarkable  gift  of  melody  and  perhaps  not  much 
artistic  refinement,  he  wrote  what  would  pay. 
But  on  looking  at  his  works  in  the  higher  branch 
of  music — his  symphonies,  concertos,  and  chamber 
music — one  cannot  but  be  struck  by  the  conscien 
tious  striving  towards  a  very  high  ideal.     In  the 
whole  of  his  nine  published  Symphonies  the  slow 
movements,  without  a  single  exception,  are  of 
extreme  melodic  beauty,  although  weak  from  a 
symphonic  point  of  view :    the  first  movements 
are  invariably  worked  out  with  surprising  tech 
nical  skill,  the  subjects  appearing  frequently  in 
double  counterpoint  and  in  every  kind  of  canon. 
And  however  modern  and  common  his  themes 
may  appear,  they  have  often  been  built  up  with 
the  greatest  care,  note   by  note,   to  this   end; 
showing  that  he  does  not,  as  is  often  said,  put 
down  the  first  thing  that  comes  into  his  mind. 


RAFF. 

Observe  the  following  treatment  of  the  first  sub 
ject  in  his  ist  Symphony  'An  das  Vaterland': — 


RAFF. 


65 


ii 

!§) 

a 
IE 

„:. 

trail 

ite 


etc. 


to' 


a  canon  in  augmentation  and  double  augmenta 
tion.  Such  instances  as  this  are  numerous,  and 
the  art  with  which  these  contrapuntal  devices 
are  made  to  appear  spontaneous  is  consummate. 
In  the  Pianoforte  Concerto  in  C  minor  (op.  185), 
in  each  movement  all  the  subjects  are  in  double 
counterpoint  with  one  another,  yet  this  is  one  of 
Raff's  freshest  and  most  melodious  works.  To 
return  to  the  Symphonies:  the  Scherzos  are,  as 
a  rule,  weak,  and  the  Finales  without  exception 
boisterous  and  indeed  vulgar.  Writing  here,  as 
ever,  for  an  uneducated  public,  Raff  has  for 
gotten  that  for  a  symphony  to  descend  from  a 
high  tone  is  for  it  to  be  unworthy  of  the  name. 

A  remarkable  set  of  30  Songs  (Sanges-Friihling, 
op.  98)  deserves  notice  for  its  wealth  of  fine 
melodies,  some  of  which  have  become  national 
property  ('Kein  Sorg  um  den  Weg';  ' Schon* 
Else,'  etc.)  ;  and  among  his  pianoforte  music  is  a 
set  of  20  Variations  on  an  original  theme  (op.  1 79) 
which  displays  an  astonishing  fertility  of  resource, 
the  theme — of  an  almost  impossible  rhythm  of 
5  and  7  quavers  in  the  bar — being  built  up  into 
canons  and  scherzos  of  great  variety  and  elegance. 

Raff's  Pianoforte  Concerto  is  very  popular, 
and  his  Suite  for  Violin  and  Orchestra  (op.  180) 
only  little  less  so.  His  versatility  need  not  be 
enlarged  upon.  In  all  the  forms  of  musical  com 
position  he  has  shown  the  same  brilliant  qualities 
and  the  same  regretable  shortcomings.  His  gift 
of  melody,  his  technical  skill,  his  inexhaustible 
fertility,  and  above  all  his  power  of  never  repeat 
ing  himself — all  these  are  beyond  praise.  But 
his  very  fertility  is  a  misfortune,  since  it  renders 
him  careless  in  the  choice  of  his  subjects ;  writing 
•pot-boilers'  has  injured  the  development  of  a 
delicate  feeling  for  what  is  lofty  and  refined  :  in 
short,  he  stands  far  before  all  second-rate  com 
posers,  yet  the  conscientious  critic  hesitates  to 
allow  him  a  place  in  the  front  rank  of  all. 

Even  those  who  have  least   sympathy  with 

VOL.  III.  PT.  I. 


Raffs  views  on  art  must  admire  the  energy  and 
spirit  with  which  he  has  worked  his  way  upwards 
in  spite  of  every  obstacle  poverty  could  throw 
in  his  way.  He  is  a  member  of  several  societies, 
and  has  received  various  orders.  In  1877  he  was 
appointed  with  much  e*clat  director  of  the  Hoch- 
conservatoire  at  Frankfort,  a  post  he  still  retains. 
The  first  of  his  large  works  performed  in  this 
country  was  probably  the  Lenore  Symphony  at 
the  Crystal  Palace,  Nov.  14,  1874.  This  was 
followed  by  the  (Im  Walde,'  and  the  PF.  Concerto 
in  C  minor  (Jaell),  at  the  Philharmonic ;  the 
Symphonies  in  G  minor,  'Im  Walde,'  'Fruhlings- 
klange '  and  'Im  Sommerzeit,'  with  the  Concertos 
for  cello  and  violin,  and  the  Suite  for  PF.  and 
orchestra,  at  the  Crystal  Palace.  His  Quintet 
(op.  107),  2  Trios  (op.  102, 112),  Sonata  (op.  128), 
and  other  pieces,  have  been  played  at  the  Monday 
Popular  Concerts.  [F.G.] 


Catalogue  of  Raff's  works.1 


Op.l. 

2. 

8. 
4. 

5. 
6. 

7. 
8. 

9. 
10. 

11. 

12. 
13. 

14. 

15. 
16. 

17. 

18. 
19. 

20. 

21. 

22. 
23. 

24. 
25. 
26. 
27. 


28. 
29. 
30. 
31. 


Serenade.  PP.  solo.  Andre. 
Trois    pieces     caracterist- 

iques.  PF.  solo.  B.  &  H.2 
Scherzo  (0  minor).  PF.solo. 

B.  &H. 
Morceau  de  Salon  .  .  .  sur 

'Maria  de   Kudenz.'    PF. 

solo.    B.  &  H. 
4  Galops.  PF.  solo.  B.&H. 
Morceau  inst.  Fantaisio  et 

Varns.  PF.  solo.  B.  &  H. 
Kondeau  sur  'Io  son  ricco.' 

PF.  solo.    B.  &  H. 
12  Komances  en  form  d'E- 

tudes;  en  2  Cahiers.    PF. 

solo.    B.  &,  H. 
Impromptu  brillant.     PF. 

solo.    B.  &  H. 
Hommage  au  N6oromant- 

isme,  Grand  Caprice.    PF. 

solo.    B.  tc  H. 
Air  suisse,  transcrit.    PF. 

solo.    B.  &  H. 
Morceau  de  Salon.     Fant. 

gracieuse.  PF.  solo.  B.  &  H . 
Valse.     Eondino    sur    'les 

Huguenots.'      PF.     duet. 

B.  &H. 
Sonata  &  Fugue  (Eb  minor). 

PF.  solo.    B.  &  H. 
6  Poemes.  PF.  solo.  Schott. 
Rondeau  on  Saloman's  '  Dia- 

mantkreuz.'    PF. 
Album  Lyrique.    PF.  solo. 

Schuberth  (4  books   con 
taining  9  pieces). 
Paraphrases  (2).    PF.  solo. 

Eck. 
Fantaisie  dramatique.   PF. 

solo.    Litolff. 

2  Morceaux  de  Salon.    Sere 
nade  italienne ;   Air  Bhe- 

nan.    PF.  solo.    Litolff. 
Eoreley,     Dichtung     ohne 

Worte.    PF.  solo.    Spina. 

2  Bhapsodies    ele'giaques. 
PF.  solo.    Spina. 

3  Pieces    caracteristlques. 
PF.  solo.    Kistner. 

Valse   me'lancolique.     PF. 

solo.    Spina. 
Eomance-e'tude.    PF-  solo. 

Spina. 
Den     Manen      Scarlattis. 

Scherzo.    PF.  solo.  Spina. 
Angelens    letzter   Tag    im 

Kloster.  Bin  Cyclus  etc.  (12 

pieces  in  2  books).  PF.  solo. 

Kistner. 


6  Llederubertragen.  PF.solo. 
Ebner. 


32. 

33. 
34. 
35. 


36. 
37. 

38. 
39. 
40. 

41. 

42. 

43. 
44. 

45. 
46. 

47. 
48. 
49. 

50. 

51. 
52. 
53. 
54. 
55. 

56. 
57. 

58. 
59. 
60. 


Am  Bhein,  Bomanze. 
solo.    Spina. 


PF. 


Capriccietto  (on motifs  from 
'Freischiitz').  PF.  solo. 
Schuberth. 

Fantaisie  Militaire  (on  mo 
tifs  from  '  Huguenots '). 
PF.  solo.  Schuberth. 

Melange  (on  motifs  from 
'  Sonnambula ').  PF.  solo. 
Schuberth. 

Grand  Mazourka.  PF.  solo. 
Stoll. 

Nocturne  (on  romance  by 
Liszt).  PF.  solo.  Kistner. 

Capriccietto  a  la  Boh^mi- 
enne.  PF.  solo.  Kistner. 

Bomance.  PF.  solo.  Kistner. 

'  LePretendant' .  .  deKtick- 
en  (3  Nos.).  PF.  solo. 
Kistner. 

Divertissement  sur  '  La 
Juive.'  PF.solo.  Schubertli. 

Fantasina  sur  '  Le  Barbier 
de  Seville.'  PF.  solo.  Schu 
berth. 

Sou veni  r  de  '  Don  Giovanni. ' 
PF.  solo.  Schuberth. 

'La  derniere  Bose'  — (The 
last  rose  of  summer).  Im 
promptu.  PF.  solo.  Cranz. 

S  Lieder  (by  J .  G.Fischer)  for 
Bar.  or  Alto  and  PF.  Senff. 

2  Lieder  for  Voice  and  PF. 
Senff. 

3  Lieder  (by  J.  G.  Fischer) 
for  Voice  and  PF.    Hein- 
richshofen. 

2  Italienische    Lieder    (by 
Sternau)  for  Voice  and  PF. 
Heinrichshofen. 

5  Lieder  for  Voice  and  PF. 
Kistner. 

3  Lieder  for  Voice  and  PF. 
Schlesinger. 

2  Lieder  vom  Ehein  forVoice 
and  PF.    Schloss. 

Tanz-capricen  (4).  PF.  solo. 
Balm. 

Friihlingsboten  — 12  short 
pieces  for  PF.  solo.  Schu 
bert. 

3  Salon  Stilcke.    PF.  solo. 
Bachmann. 

'  Aus  der  Schweiz.'  Fantas- 

tische  Egloge.  Bachmann. 
2Nocturnes.  PF.  and  Violin. 

Schuberth. 
Duo  in  A.    PF.  and  Cello. 

Nagel. 
Schweizerweisen    (9  Nos.). 

PF.  solo.    Schuberth. 


1  The  Editor  desires  to  express  his  obligations  to  Messrs.  Augener  ft 
Co.  for  great  assistance  kindly  rendered  him  in  the  difficult  task  of 
drawing  up  this  list.  2  B.  &  H.=Breitkopt  &  Hartel. 

F 


66 


KAFF. 


RAFF. 


Op.  61.  No.  1.  Wagner's  '  Lohen 
grin,'  Lyrische  Fragments. 
PF.  solo.— No.  2.  Do.  'Tann- 
hauser,'  Fantasie.  PF.  solo. 
No.  3.  Do.  '  Fliegende  Hol 
lander,'  Beminiscenzen. 
PF.  solo.  —  No.  4.  Schu 
mann's  'Genoveva.'  PF. 
solo.  Schuherth. 

62.  Salon -Etuden   from  Wag 

ner's  operas.  PF.  solo. 
Schlesinger.  No.  1.  An 
dante  from  '  Fliegende 
Hollander.'  — No.  2.  Sestet 
from '  Tannhftuser.'— No.3. 
Lohengrin's  farewell. 

63.  Duos  on  motifs  from  Wag 

ner's  operas.  PF.  and  V. 
Siegel.  No.  1.  '  Fliegende 
Hollander.'— No.  2.  'Tann- 
hftuser.'  —  No.  3.  'Lohen 
grin.' 

64.  Capricclo  in  F  minor.    PF. 

solo.    Leuckart. 

65.  No.  1.  Fantaisie  on  motifs 

from  Berlioz's  '  Benvenuto 
Cellini.'  PF.  solo.— No.  2. 
Caprice  on  motjfs  from 
Baff's  'Alfred.'  PF.  solo. 
Schuberth. 

66.  '  Traum  -  KOnig    und    sein 

Lieb' (Geibel).  Voice  and 
PF.  Schott. 

67.  'La Feted' Amour 'Morceau 

caracteristique  pour  Vio 
lin  de  Concert  avec  PF. 
Schott. 

68.  5Transcriptions(Beethoven, 

Gluck,  Mozart,  Schumann 
Spohr).  PF.  solo.  Peters 

69.  *uite.   PF.  solo.    Korner. 

70.  2  Paraphrases  de  Salon  (Tro- 

vatore,  Traviata).  PF.  solo 
Peters. 

71.  Suite  in  C.  PF.solo.  Kuhn 

72.  Suite  in  E  minor.  PF.  solo 

Kuhn. 

73.  1st  Grand  Sonata.  PF.  and 

V.  (E  minor).  Schuberth. 

74.  3   Clavier    solos    (Ballade 

Scherzo,  Metamorphosen) 
PF.  Schuberth. 

75.  Suite  de(12)  Morceaux  pour 

les  petites  mains.  PF.  solo 
Kistner. 

76.  OdeauPrintemps.  Morceau 

de  Concert.  PF.  and  Orch 
Schott. 

77.  Quatuor  (No.l)  in  D  minor 

for  Strings.    Schuberth: 

78.  2nd  Grand  Sonata  for  PF 

and  V.  (in  A).   Schuberth 

79.  Cachoucha,   Caprice.     PF 

solo.    Peters. 

80.  'Wachetauf  (Geibel).  Men'; 

voices,  Solo  Chorus,  am 
Orchestra.  Schott. 

81.  No.  1.  Sicilienne  de  1'Opera 

des  'Vepres  Siciliennes.'— 
No.  2.  Tarantelle  de  ditto 
PF.solo.  Peters. 

82.  Suite  de  (12)  Morceaux  pou 

les  petites  mains.  PF 
duets.  Schuberth. 

83.  Mazourka-Caprice. PF.solo 

Schott. 

84.  'Chant  de  1'Ondin,'  Grand 

Etude  de  1'Arpeggio  tremo 
lando.  PF.  solo.  Peters 

85.  6  Morceaux.     PF.  and  V 

Kistner. 

86.  2Fantaisiestucke,    PF.  an 

Cello.    B.B.1 

87.  Introduction  and  Allo  scher 

zoso.    PF.  solo.    B.  B. 

88.  '  Am  Giessbach,' Etude.  PF 

solo.    B.  B. 

89.  Vilanella.    PF.  solo.    B.  B 

90.  Quartet,   No.  2,  in   A,  fo 

Strings.    Schuberth. 

91.  Suite  in  D.  PF.solo.  Peter 

92.  Capriccio  in  D  minor.   PF 

solo.    Peters. 

93.  'Dans  la  nacelle,'  Beverie- 

Barcarolle.PF.solo.  Peter 

94.  Impromptu  Valse.  PF.  solo 

Peters. 


95.  'La  Polka   de   la   Eeine,' 

Caprice.  PF.solo.  Peters. 

96.  '  An  das  Vaterland.'    Prize 

Symphony  (No.  1).  Schu 
bert. 

97.  10  Lieder  for  Male  Voices. 

Kahnt. 

98.  '  Sanges-Fruhling.'    30  Eo- 

manzen,  Lieder,  Balladen, 
and  GesSnge,  for  Sopr.  and 
PF.  Schuberth. 

99.  3  Sonatilles  (A  minor ;   G ; 

C).    PF.  solo.    Schuberth. 

100.  '  Deutschlands       Auferste- 

hung.'  Fest  Cantate  on  the 
50th  anniversary  of  the 
Battle  of  Leipzig,  for  Male 
Voices  and  Orch.  Kahnt. 

101.  Suite  for  Orchestra.  Schott. 

102.  1st  Grand  Trio,  for  PF.,  V. 

and  Cello.    Schuberth. 

103.  Jubilee   Overture,   for   Or 

chestra.    Kahnt. 

104.  'Le   Galop,'  Caprice.    PF. 

solo.    Peters. 

105.  5Eglogues.  PF.solo. Peters. 

106.  Fantaisie  -  Polonaise.    PF. 

solo.    Peters. 

107.  Grand  Quintuor  (A  minor). 

PF.,  2  W.  Viola  and  Cello. 
Schuberth. 

108.  Saltarello.    PF.  solo.    B.  B. 

109.  Be'verie-Nocturne.  PF.  solo. 

B.B. 

110.  'La  Gitana,' Danse  Espagn. 

Caprice.    PF.  solo.    B.  B. 

111.  Boleros   and    Valse,   2  Ca 

prices.  PF.  solo.  Schu 
berth. 

112.  2nd  Grand  Trio  (in  G).   PF. 

V.  and  Cello.    B.  B. 

113.  Ungarische  Bhapsodie.  PF. 

solo.    Forberg. 

114.  12  Songs  for  2  Voices  and 

PF.    Forberg. 

115.  2  Morceaux  lyriques.    PF. 

solo.    Forberg. 

116.  Valse   Caprice.     PF.   solo. 

Forberg. 

117.  Festival  Overture  (In  A),  for 

Orchestra.    Kistner. 

118.  Valse  favorite.     PF.    solo. 

Kistner. 

119.  Fantasie.  PF.  solo.  Kistner. 
120. 

121.  Illustrations     de    '  L'Afri- 

caine'  (4  Nos.).    PF.  sol 
B.B.  2 

122.  10  Songs  for  Men's  Voices. 

Kahnt. 

123.  Concert  -  Overture   (in   F). 

Siegel. 

124.  Festival-Overture  on  4  fa 

vourite  Student-songs,  for 
the  50th  anniversary  of 
the  '  Deutschen  Burschen- 
schaft.'  PF.  4  hands.  Prae- 
ger. 

125.  Gavotte;  Berceuse;  Espiegle; 

Valse.    PF.  solo.    Siegel. 

126.  3     Clavierstiicke— Menuet, 

Bomance,  Capriccietto.PF. 
solo.  Praeger. 

127.  'Ein'  feste  Burg,'  overture 

to  a  drama  on  the  30-years' 
war.  Orchestra.  Hofmeis- 
ter. 

128.  3rd  Grand  Sonata.   PF.  and 

V.  (in  D).    Schuberth. 

129.  4th  Grand  Sonata.    PF.  and 

V.  '  Ohrom.  Sonate  in  «i- 
nem  Satze.'  (G  minor). 
Schuberth. 

130.  2  Etudes  miSlodiques.    PF. 

solo.    Schuberth. 

131.  Styrienne.    PF.  solo.    Hof- 

meister. 

132.  Marche  brillante.   PF.  solo. 

Hofmeister. 

133.  Ele"gie.  PF.  solo.   Hofmeis 

ter. 

134.  'Vom  Bhein,'   6  Fantasie- 

stiicke.  PF.  solo.  Kistner. 

135.  'Blatter  und  Bliithen,'    12 

pieces  for  PF.solo.  Kahnt. 

136.  3rd  String  quartet  (E  minor) 

Schuberth. 


* 


E.  B.=Bieter-Biedennann  &  Co. 


B.  B.=Bote  &  Bock. 


137.  4th     String      quartet     (A 

minor).    Schuberth. 

138.  5th    String     quartet     (G). 

Schuberth. 

139.  Festmarsch.        PF.     solo. 

Schott. 

140.  2nd  Symphony   (In   C)  for 

Orchestra.    Schott. 

141.  Psalm  130  ('  De  Profundis ') 

8  voices  and  Orch.    Schu 
berth. 

142.  Fantaisie  (Fjf).    PF.   solo. 

Kistner. 

143.  Barcarolle  (Eb).    PF.  solo. 

Kistner. 

144.  Tarantella  (C).    PF.  solo. 

Kistner. 

145.  5thGrand  Sonata.  PF.andV. 

(C  minor).    Schuberth. 

146.  Capriccio  (Bb  minor).    PF. 

solo.    B.B. 

147.  2   Meditations.     PF.   solo. 

B.B. 

148.  Scherzo  in  Eb.     PF.  solo. 

E.B. 

149.  2  Elegies  for  PF.  solo.  B.  B. 

150.  Chaconne  ( A  minor).  2PFs. 

B.B. 

151.  Allegro  agitato.    PF.  solo. 

B.B. 

152.  2  Bomances.  PF.  solo.  B.B. 

153.  3rd  Symphony.  'Im  Walde' 

(F).    Orchestra.   Kistner 

154.  'Dame     Kobold,'      Comic 

opera.    B.  B. 

155.  3rd  Grand  Trio.  PF.  V.  and 

Cello.    B.B. 

156.  Valse  brillante  (Eb).    PF. 

solo.    Bies. 

157.  Cavatine  (Ab)  and    Etude 

'La  Fileuse.'     PF.   solo. 
Seitz. 

158.  4th  Grand  Trio  (D).     PF 

V.  and  Cello.    Seitz. 

159.  1st  Humoreske  (D)  in  Waltz 

form.   PF.  duet.    B.B. 

160.  Beisebilder  (10  Nos.).    PF 

duet.    Siegel. 

161.  Concerto  for  Violin  &  Orch 

(B  minor).    Siegel. 

162.  Suite  in  G  minor.  PF.  solo 

Challier. 

163.  Suite  in  G  major.  PF.  solo 

Seitz. 

164.  Sicilienne,  Bomanze,  Tar 

antelle.    PF.  solo.    B.  B. 

165.  'La   Cicerenella,    Nouveau 

Carnaval.'  PF.solo.  Siegel 

166.  Idylle;    Valse    champetre 

PF.  solo.    Seitz. 

167.  4th  Symphony  (G  minor) 

Orchestra.    Schuberth. 

168.  Fantaisie-Sonate  (D  minor) 

PF.  solo.    Siegel. 

169.  Eomanze  ;  Valse  brillante 

PF.  solo.   Siegel. 

170.  La  Polka  glissante,  Caprice 

PF.  solo.   Siegel. 

171.  'Im  Kahn'  and  '  Der  Tanz 

2  songs  for   Mixed  Choi 
and  Orchestra.    Siegel. 

172.  'Maria  Stuart,  ein  Cyclu 

von  Gesangen'   for  Voic 
and  PF.  (11  Nos.)    Siegel 

173.  8  Gesange  for  Voice  &  PF 

Seitz. 

174.  '  Aus  dem  Tanzsalon,  Phan 

tasie  Stiicke '  (12  Nos.).  PF 
4  hands.    Seitz. 

175.  'Orientales,'    8    Morceaux 

PF.  solo.    Forberg. 

176.  Octet  for  strings  (C).    Seitz 

177.  5th    Symphony     'Lenore 

Orch.    Seitz. 

178.  Sestet.    2  VV.,  2  Violas, 

Cellos.   Seitz. 

179.  Variations  on   an  origina 

theme.    PF.  solo.    Seitz. 

180.  Suite  for  Solo  V.  and  Orch 

Siegel. 

181.  2nd  Humoreske   in  Walt 

form,  '  Todtentanz  (Dans 
macabre).'  PF.duet.  Siege 

182.  2  Bomances  for   Horn  (o 

Cello)  and  PF.    Siegel. 

183.  Sonata  for  PF.  and  Cellc 

Siegel. 

184.  Six   songs   for    3  women 

voices  and  PF.    Siegel. 


185.  Concerto.  PF.  and  Orch.  (C 
minor).  Siegel. 

186a.  Morgenlied.for  mixed  choir 
and  Orch.  Siegel. 

1866.  Einer  entschlai'enen.  So 
prano  solo,  Chor.  and  Orch. 
Siegel. 

187.  Erinnerung  an  Venedig  (6 
Nos.).  PF.  solo.  Siegel. 

188. 

189.  6th   Symphony  (D  minor) 

'  Gelebt,  gestrebt,  gelitten, 
gestritten,  gestorben,  um- 
worben.'  Orch.  B.B. 

190.  Feux  follets,  Caprice-etude. 

PF.  solo.    Siegel. 
191. 

192.  3  String  Quartets.  No.  6.  (C 

minor)  Suite  alterer  Form. 
—No.  7.  (D)  Die  schong 
Mullerin.— No.  8.  (C)  Suits 
in  Canon-form.  Kahnt. 

193.  Concerto  (D  minor).    Cello 

and  Orch.    Siegel. 

194.  2nd   Suite  in  Ungarischer 

Weise  (F).    Orch.    Bahn. 

195.  10  GesSnge  for  men's  voices. 

Kahnt. 

196.  Etude   '  am   Schilf ' ;    Ber 

ceuse  ;  Novelette  ;  Im 
promptu.  PF.  solo.  Seitz. 

197.  Capriccio  (Db).    PF.  solo. 

Seitz. 

198.  10  Gesange  for  mixed  choir. 

Seitz. 

199.  2  Scenes  for  Solo  Voice  and 

Orch.  '  jager-braut '  and 
'  Die  Hirtin.'  Siegel. 

200.  Suite  in    Eb  for  PF.  and 

Orch.    Siegel. 

201.  7th  Symphony,  'In  the  Alps' 

(Bb).    Orch.    Seitz. 

202.  2  Quartets  for  PF.  V.  Va. 

and  Cello  (G).    Siegel. 

203.  'Volker.'cyclischeTondich- 

tung  (9  Nos.).  V.  and  PF. 
Siegel. 

204.  Suite  (Bb).  Orch.  Challier. 

205.  8th  Symphony  'Fruhlings- 

kiange'(A).  Orch.  Siegel. 

206.  2nd  Concerto   for  V.  and 

Orch.  (A  minor).    Siegel. 
207a.  Phantasie  (G  minor).  2PF«. 

Siegel. 
2076.  The  same  arranged  for  PF. 

and  Strings.    Siegel. 
208.  9th   Symphony  (E  minor). 

'ImSommer.'  Orch.  Sie- 

gel. 
209. 
210. 

211.  'Blondel  de  Nesle,'  Cyclus 

von  GesSngen,  Barit.  &PF. 
B.  &H. 

212.  10th      Symphony.       'Zur 

Herbstzeit.' 


Works  without  Opus-number. 

Valse-rondino  on  motifs  from 
Saloman's  '  Diamantkreuz.' 
Schuberth. 

Beminiscences  of  the  'Meister- 
singer '  (4  Pts.).  Schott. 

Valse-impromptu  a  la  Tyrol- 
ienne.  Schott. 

Abendlied  by  Schumann.  Con 
cert-paraphrase.  Schuberth. 

Berceuse  on  an  Idea  of  Gounod's. 
Siegel. 

Improvisation  on  Damrosch's 
Lied 'Der Lindenzweig.'  Lich- 
tenberg. 

Valse  de  Juliette  (Gounod). 
Siegel. 

4  Capriccios  on  Wallachian  (2) 
and  Servian  (2)  themes.  Siegel. 

Introduction  and  Fugue  for  Or 
gan  (E  minor).  B.  B. 

Baff-Album— containing  Op.156; 
157,  Nos.  1,  2 :  166,  No.  2 ;  196, 
Nos.  1—1 ;  197.  Seitz. 

Oper  im  Salon— containing  Op. 
35-37,  43—15,  61,  65.  Schu 
berth. 

Fruhlings-Lied.  Mez.  Sop.  and 
PF.  Schott. 

Standchen  for  Voice  and  PF. 
Cotta. 


RAIMONDI. 

EAIMONDI,  PIETRO,  an  Italian  composer, 
Maestro  di  Capella  at  St.  Peter's,  who  is  charac 
terised  by  Fe"tis  as  possessing  an  extraordinary 
genius  for  musical  combination.  He  was  born 
at  Rome  of  poor  parents,  Dec.  20,  1786.  At 
an  early  age  he  passed  six  years  in  the  Con- 
servatorio  of  the  Pietk  de'  Turchini  at  Naples, 
and  after  many  wanderings,  mostly  on  foot — 
from  Naples  to  Rome,  from  Rome  to  Florence, 
from  Florence  to  Genoa — and  many  years,  he  at 
length  found  an  opportunity  of  coming  before 
the  public  with  an  opera  entitled  '  Le  Bizarrie 
d'Amore,'  which  was  performed  at  Genoa  in  1807. 
After  three  years  there,  each  producing  its  opera, 
he  passed  a  twelvemonth  at  Florence,  and  brought 
out  two  more.  The  next  25  years  were  spent 
between  Rome*  Milan,  Naples,  and  Sicily,  and 
each  year  had  its  full  complement  of  operas 
and  ballets.  In  1824  he  became  director  of  the 
royal  theatres  at  Naples,  a  position  which  he 
retained  till  1832.  In  that  year  the  brilliant 
success  of  his  opera  buffa  '  II  Ventaglio '  (Na 
ples,  1831)  procured  him  the  post  of  Professor  of 
Composition  in  the  Conservatorio  at  Palermo. 
Here  he  was  much  esteemed,  and  trained  several 
promising  pupils.  In  March  1850  he  was  called 
upon  to  succeed  Basil!  as  Maestro  di  Capella 
at  St.  Peter's ;  a  post  for  which,  if  knowledge, 
experience,  and  ceaseless  labour  of  production 
in  all  departments  of  his  art  could  qualify  him, 
he  was  amply  fitted.  Shortly  before  this,  in  1848, 
he  had  after  four  years  of  toil  completed  three 
oratorios,  'Potiphar,'  'Pharaoh,'  and  'Jacob,' 
which  were  not  only  designed  to  be  performed  in 
the  usual  manner,  but  to  be  played  all  three  in 
combination  as  one  work,  under  the  name  of 
'Joseph.'  On  Aug.  7,  1852,  the  new  Maestro 
brought  out  this  stupendous  work  at  the  Teatro 
Argentini.  The  success  of  the  three  single  oratorios 
was  moderate,  but  when  they  were  united — the 
three  orchestras  and  the  three  troupes  forming  an 
ensemble  of  nearly  400  musicians,  the  excitement 
and  applause  of  the  spectators  knewno  bounds,  and 
so  great  was  his  emotion  that  Raimondi  fainted 
away.  He  did  not  long  survive  this  triumph, 
but  died  at  Rome  Oct.  30,  1853. 

The  list  of  his  works  is  astonishing,  and  all  the 
more  so  when  we  recollect  that  Raimondi's  exist 
ence  was  all  but  unknown  on  this  side  of  the 
Alps.  It  embraces  55  operas  ;  21  grand  ballets, 
composed  for  San  Carlo  between  1812  and  1828  ; 
7  oratorios ;  4  masses  with  full  orchestra ;  2  ditto 
with  2  choirs  h.  capella;  2  requiems  with  full 
orchestra;  i  ditto  for  8  and  16  voices;  a  Credo 
for  1 6  voices;  the  whole  Book  of  Psalms,  a  la 
Palestrina,  for  4,  5,  6,  7  and  8  voices ;  many  Te 
Deums,  Stabats,  Misereres,  Tantum  ergos,  psalms 
and  litanies ;  two  books  of  90  partimenti,  each 
on  a  separate  bass,  with  three  different  accom 
paniments  ;  a  collection  of  figured  basses  with 
fugued  accompaniments  as  a  school  of  accom 
paniment  ;  4  fugues  for  4  voices,  each  indepen 
dent  but  capable  of  being  united  and  sung 
together ;  6  fugues  for  4  voices  capable  of  com 
bination  into  I  fugue  for  24  voices ;  a  fugue  for 
1 6  choirs  j  16  fugues  for  4  voices;  24  fugues  for 


RALLENTANDO. 


67 


4,  5,  6,  7  and  8  voices,  of  which  4  and  5  separate 
fugues  will  combine  into  one.  Besides  the  above 
feat  with  the  3  oratorios  he  composed  an  opera 
seria  and  an  opera  buffa  which  went  equally  well 
separately  and  in  combination.  Such  stupendous 
labours  are,  as  M.  Fe"tis  well  remarks,  enough  to 
give  the  reader  the  headache :  what  must  they 
have  done  to  the  persevering  artist  who  accom 
plished  them  ?  But  they  also  give  one  the  heart 
ache  at  the  thought  of  their  utter  futility. 
Raimondi's  compositions,  with  all  their  ingenuity, 
belong  to  a  past  age,  and  we  may  safely  say  that 
they  will  never  be  revived.  His  operas  especially 
belong  to  the  prae-Rossinian  epoch,  and  it  would 
have  been  good  for  them  if  they  had  never  been 
made.  [G.  ] 

RAINFORTH,  ELIZABETH,  bora  Nov.  23, 
1814,  studied  singing  under  George  Perry  and 
T.  Cooke,  and  acting  under  Mrs.  Davison,  the 
eminent  comedian.  After  having  fledged  her 
wings  at  minor  concerts,  she  appeared  upon  the 
stage  at  the  St.  James's  Theatre,  Oct.  27,  1836, 
as  Mandane,  in  Arne's  '  Artaxerxes,'  with  com 
plete  success.  She  performed  there  for  the  re 
mainder  of  the  season,  and  then  removed  to  the 
English  Opera  House.  Subsequently  to  her  public 
appearance  she  took  lessons  from  Crivelli.  In 
1837  she  sang  in  oratorio  at  the  Sacred  Harmonic 
Society,  and  continued  to  do  so  for  several  years. 
She  made  the  first  of  many  appearances  at  the 
Philharmonic,  March  18,  1839.  In  1840  she  was 
introduced  at  the  Concert  of  Ancient  Music,  and 
in  1843  sang  at  the  Birmingham  Festival.  After 
performing  at  Covent  Garden  from  1838  to  1843 
she  transferred  her  services  to  Drury  Lane,  where 
she  made  a  great  hit  by  her  performance  of 
Arline,  in  Balfe's  '  Bohemian  Girl,'  on  its  pro 
duction,  Nov.  27, 1843.  In  1844  she  had  a  most 
successful  season  in  Dublin.  She  was  engaged  as 
prima  donna  at  the  Worcester  Festival  of  1845. 
She  continued  to  perform  in  the  metropolis  until 
about  1852,  when  she  removed  to  Edinburgh, 
where  she  remained  until  about  1856.  She  then 
quitted  public  life,  and  in  1858  went  to  reside 
at  Old  Windsor,  under  the  wing  of  her  friend 
Miss  Thackeray,  and  taught  music  in  Windsor  and 
its  neighbourhood  until  her  complete  retirement 
in  March  1871,  when  she  removed  to  her  father's 
at  Bristol.  Her  voice  was  a  high  soprano,  even 
and  sweet  in  quality,  but  deficient  in  power,  and 
she  possessed  great  judgment  and  much  dramatic 
feeling.  Although  her  limited  power  prevented 
her  from  becoming  a  great  singer,  her  attain 
ments  were  such  as  enabled  her  to  fill  the  first 
place  with  credit  to  herself,  and  satisfaction  to 
her  auditors.  She  died  at  Redland,  Bristol, 
Sept.  22,  1877.  [W.H.H.] 

RALLENTANDO,  RITARDANDO,  RI- 
TENENTE,  RITENUTO  —  '  Becoming  slow 
again,'  'Slackening,'  'Holding  back,'  'Held  back.' 
The  first  two  of  these  words  are  used  quite  in 
differently  to  express  a  gradual  diminution  of  the 
rate  of  speed  in  a  composition,  and  although  the 
last  is  commonly  used  in  exactly  the  same  way, 
it  seems  originallv  and  in  a  strict  sense  to  have 

F2 


63 


RALLENTANDO. 


meant  a  uniform  rate  of  slower  time,  so  that  the 
whole  passage  marked  ritenuto  would  be  taken  at 
the  same  time,  while  each  bar  and  each  phrase  in 
a  passage  marked  rallentando  would  be  a  little 
slower  than  the  one  before  it.  That  there  exists 
a  difference  in  their  uses  is  conclusively  proved 
by  a  passage  in  the  Quartet  op.  131  of  Beethoven, 
where  in  the  7th  movement  (allegro)  a  phrase  of 
three  recurring  minims,  which  is  repeated  in  all 
five  times,  has  the  direction  '  Espressivo,  poco  ri 
tenuto  '  for  its  first  three  appearances,  which  are 
separated  by  two  bars  a  tempo,  and  for  the  last 
two  times  has  ritardando,  which  at  length  leads 
into  the  real  a  tempo,  of  which  the  former  separ 
ating  fragments  were  but  a  presage.  This  is  one 
of  the  very  rare  instances  of  the  use  of  the  word 
ritenuto  by  Beethoven.  The  conclusion  from  it 
is  confirmed  by  a  passage  in  Chopin's  Rondo, 
op.  16,  consisting  of  the  four  bars  which  im 
mediately  precede  the  entry  of  the  second  subject. 
Here  the  first  two  bars  consist  of  a  fragment 
of  a  preceding  figure  which  is  repeated,  so  that 
both  these  bars  are  exactly  the  same  ;  the  last 
two  bars  however  have  a  little  chromatic  cadence 
leading  into  the  second  subject.  The  direction 
over  the  first  two  bars  is  'poco  ritenuto'  and  over 
the  last  two  'rallentando,'  by  which  we  may  be 
quite  sure  that  the  composer  intended  the  repeated 
fragment  to  be  played  at  the  same  speed  in  each 
bar,  and  the  chromatic  cadence  to  be  slackened 
gradually. 

Ritenente  is  used  by  Beethoven  in  the  PF. 
Sonata,  op.  no,  about  the  middle  of  the  first 
movement,  and  again  in  the  Sonata,  op.  in, 
in  the  first  movement,  in  the  seventh  and  fif 
teenth  bars  from  the  beginning  of  the  Allegro 
con  brio.  It  would  seem  that  the  same  effect 
is  intended  as  if  '  ritenuto '  were  employed ;  in 
each  case,  the  words  'meno  mosso'  might  have 
been  used.  Beethoven  prefers  Ritardando  to 
Rallentando,  which  latter  is  common  only  in  his 
earlier  works.  [J.A.F.M.] 

RAMANN,  LINA,  musical  litterateur  and 
educationist,  was  born  at  Mainstockheim,  near 
Kitzingen,  in  Bavaria,  June  24,  1833.  Her  turn 
for  music  and  her  determination  to  succeed  were 
evident  from  a  very  early  age.  It  was  not,  how 
ever,  till  her  seventeenth  year  that  she  had  any 
instruction  in  music.  At  that  time  her  parents 
removed  to  Leipzig,  and  from  1850  to  1853  she 
there  enjoyed  the  advantage  of  pianoforte  lessons 
from  the  wife  of  Dr.  F.  Brendel,  herself  formerly 
a  scholar  of  Field's.  From  this  period  she  adopted 
the  career  of  a  teacher  of  music,  and  studied 
assiduously,  though  without  help,  for  that  end. 

In  1858  she  opened  an  institute  in  Gluckstadt 
(Holstein)  for  the  special  training  of  rnusic- 
mistresses,  and  maintained  it  till  1865,  in  which 
year  she  founded  a  more  important  establish 
ment,  the  Music  School  at  Niirnberg,  in  con 
junction  with  Frau  Ida  Volkmann  of  Tilsit,  and 
assisted  by  a  staff  of  superior  teachers,  under 
MissRamann's  own  superintendence.  With  a  view 
to  the  special  object  of  her  life  she  has  published 
two  works — '  Die  Musik  als  Gegenstand  der 
Erziehung'  (Leipzig,  Merseburger,  1868),  and 


RAMEATJ. 

'Allgemeine  Erzieh-  und  Unterrichts-lehre  der 
Jugend'  (Leipzig,  H.  Schmidt,  1869;  2nd  ed. 
1873),  which  were  both  received  with  favour  by 
the  German  Press.  Since  1860  Miss  Ramann 
has  been  musical  correspondent  of  the  Hamburg 
'  Jahreszeiten.'  A  volume  of  her  essays  con 
tributed  to  that  paper  has  been  collected  and 
published,  under  the  title  of  '  Aus  der  Gegenwart' 
(Niirnberg,  Schmid,  1868).  In  the  early  part  of 
1880  she  published  a  study  of  Liszt's  'Christus' 
(Leipzig,  Kahnt),  and  later  in  the  year  the  first 
volume  of  a  Life  of  Liszt  (1811-1840;  Leipzig, 
Breitkopf  &  Hartel).  This  is  an  important  work. 
It  suffers  somewhat  from  over- enthusiasm,  but  it 
is  done  with  great  care,  minuteness,  and  intelli 
gence,  and  has  obviously  profited  largely  by  direct 
information  from  Liszt  himself.  Her  cousin, 

BRUNO  RAMANN,  was  born  about  1830  at  Er 
furt,  and  was  brought  up  to  commerce,  but  his 
desire  and  talent  for  music  were  so  strong,  that 
in  1857  or  58  he  succeeded  in  getting  rid  of  his 
business  and  put  himself  under  Dr.  F.  Brendel 
and  Riedel,  for  regular  instruction.  He  then  for 
five  years  studied  under  Hauptmann  at  Leipzig, 
and  is  now  a  resident  teacher  and  composer  at 
Dresden.  His  works  have  reached  beyond  op.  50, 
but  they  consist  almost  entirely  of  songs  for  one 
or  more  voices,  and  of  small  and  apparently  senti 
mental  pieces  for  the  pianoforte.  He  does  not  appear 
yet  to  have  attempted  any  large  composition.  [G.] 

RAME  AU,  JEAN  PHILIPPE,  eminent  composer, 
and  writer  on  the  theory  of  music,  born  at  Dijon, 
Sept.  25,  1683,  in  the  house  now  No.  5  Rue  St. 
Michel.  His  father,1  Jean,  was  a  musician, 
and  organist  of  Dijon  cathedral,  in  easy  circum 
stances.  He  intended  Jean  Philippe,  the  eldest 
of  his  three  sons,  to  be  a  magistrate,  but 
his  strong  vocation  for  music  and  obstinacy  of 
character  frustrated  these  views.  According  to 
his  biographers  he  played  the  clavecin  at  seven, 
and  read  at  sight  any  piece  of  music  put  before 
him :  music  indeed  absorbed  him  to  such  an 
extent  when  at  the  Jesuit  College  that  he  neg 
lected  his  classical  studies,  and  was  altogether 
so  refractory  that  his  parents  were  requested  to 
remove  him.  Henceforth  he  never  opened  a 
book,  unless  it  were  a  musical  treatise.  He 
quickly  mastered  the  clavecin,  and  studied  the 
organ  and  violin  with  success,  but  there  was  no 
master  in  Dijon  capable  of  teaching  him  to  write 
music,  and  he  was  left  to  discover  for  himself 
the  laws  of  harmony  and  composition. 

At  the  age  of  1 7  he  fell  in  love  with  a  young 
widow  in  the  neighbourhood,  who  indirectly  did 
him  good  service,  since  the  shame  which  he  felt 
at  the  bad  spelling  of  his  letters  drove  him  to  write 
correctly.  To  break  off  this  acquaintance  his 
father  sent  him,  in  1701,  to  Italy,  where  how 
ever  he  did  not  remain  long,  a  mistake  which, 
in  after  life,  he  regretted.  He  liked  Milan,  and 
indeed  the  attractions  of  so  great  a  centre  of 
music  must  have  been  great ;  but  for  some  un 
known  reason  he  soon  left  with  a  theatrical 
manager  whom  he  accompanied  as  first  violin 
to  Marseilles,  Lyons,  Nimes,  Montpellier,  and 

i  His  mother's  name  was  Claudine  Demartindcourt. 


RAMEAU. 

other  places  in  the  south  of  France.  How  long 
the  tour  lasted  it  is  impossible  to  ascertain,  as 
no  letters  belonging  to  this  period  are  to  be 
found.  From  his  '  Premier  Livre  de  pieces  de 
clavecin'  (Paris,  1706)  we  learn  that  he  was 
then  living  in  Paris,  at  a  wig-maker's  in  the 
Vieille  Rue  du  Temple,  as  Haydn  did  at  Keller's, 
though  without  the  disastrous  results  which  fol 
lowed  that  connexion.  Meantime  he  was  organist 
of  the  Jesuit  convent  in  the  Rue  St.  Jacques,  and 
of  the  chapel  of  the  Peres  de  la  Merci.  No 
particulars,  however,  of  the  length  of  his  stay 
in  Paris  are  known,  nor  how  he  occupied  the 
interval  between  this  first  visit  and  his  return 
about  1717-  In  that  year  a  competition  took 
place  for  the  post  of  organist  of  the  church  of 
St.  Paul,  and  Rameau  was  among  the  candidates. 
Marchand,  then  at  the  head  of  the  organists  in 
Paris,  was  naturally  one  of  the  examiners  ;  and 
either  from  fear  of  being  outshone  by  one  whom  he 
had  formerly  patronised,  or  for  some  other  reason, 
he  used  his  whole  influence  in  favour  of  Daquin, 
who  obtained  the  post.  Mortified  at  the  unjust 
preference  thus  shown  to  a  man  in  all  points  his 
inferior,  Rameau  again  left  Paris  for  Lille,  and 
became  for  a  short  time  organist  of  St.  Etienne. 
Thence  he  went  to  Clermont  in  Auvergne,  where 
his  brother  Claude *  resigned  the  post  of  organist 
of  the  cathedral  in  his  favour.  In  this  secluded 
mountain  town,  with  a  harsh  climate  predis 
posing  to  indoor  life,  he  had  plenty  of  time  for 
thought  and  study.  The  defects  of  his  education 
drove  him  to  find  out  everything  for  himself. 
From  the  works  of  Descartes,  Mersenne,  Zarlino, 
and  Kircher  he  gained  some  general  knowledge 
of  the  science  of  sound,  and  taking  the  equal 
division  of  the  monochord  as  the  starting-point 
of  his  system  of  harmony,  soon  conceived  the 
possibility  of  placing  the  theory  of  music  on  a 
sound  basis.  Henceforth  he  devoted  all  his 
energies  to  drawing  up  his  'Treatise  on  Harmony 
reduced  to  its  natural  principles,'  and  as  soon 
as  that  important  work  was  finished  he  deter 
mined  to  go  to  Paris  and  publish  it.  His  en 
gagement  with  the  chapter  of  Clermont  had 
however  several  years  to  run,  and  there  was 
great  opposition  to  his  leaving,  owing  to  the 
popularity  of  his  improvisations  on  the  organ, 
in  which,  contrary  to  the  usual  course,  his 
theoretical  studies,  instead  of  hampering  his 
ideas,  seemed  to  give  them  greater  freshness  and 
fertility. 

Once  free  he  started  immediately  for  Paris, 
and  brought  out  his  'Traits'  de  1'Harmonie' 
(Ballard,  1722,  4to,  432  pp.).2  The  work  did  not 
at  first  attract  much  attention  among  French 
musicians,  and  yet,  as  Fe'tis  observes,  it  laid 
the  foundation  for  a  philosophical  science  of 

1  Claude  Rameau,  a  man  of  indomitable  will  and  capricious  temper, 
and  a  clever  organist,  lived  successively  at  Dijon,  Lyons,  Marseilles, 
Clermont,  Orleans,  Strassburg,  and  Autun.    His  son  Jean  Francois,  a 
gifted  musician,  but  a  dissipated  man,  is  admirably  portrayed  by 
Diderot  in  his  '  Neveu  de  Rameau.'    He  published  in  1766  a  poem  in  5 
cantos  called  'LeRame"ide,' followed  in  the  same  year  by 'La  nouvelle 
Rame"ide,'  a  parody  by  his  schoolfellow  Jacques  Cazotte.     He  is 
mentioned  by  Mercier  in  his  'Tableau  de  Paris.' 

2  The  Third  Part  of  this  was  translated  into  English  15  years  later 
with  the  title  'A  Treatise  of  Music,  containing  the  Principles  of 
Composition.'    London,  no  date,  8vo,  180  pp. 


RAMEAU. 


69 


harmony.  Rameau's  style  is  prolix  and  obscure, 
often  calculated  rather  to  repel  than  attract  the 
reader,  and  the  very  boldness  and  novelty  of 
his  theories  excited  surprise  and  provoked  criti 
cism.  His  discovery  of  the  law  of  inversion  in 
chords  was  a  stroke  of  genius,  and  led  to  very 
important  results,  although  in  founding  his 
system  of  harmony  on  the  sounds  of  the  common 
chord,  with  the  addition  of  thirds  above  or 
thirds  below,  he  put  both  himself  and  others 
on  a  wrong  track.  In  the  application  of  his 
principle  to  all  the  chords  he  found  himself 
compelled  to  give  up  all  idea  of  tonality,  since, 
on  the  principles  of  tonality  he  could  not  make 
the  thirds  for  the  discords  fall  on  the  notes 
that  his  system  required.  Fe'tis  justly  accuses 
him  of  having  abandoned  the  tonal  successions 
and  resolutions  prescribed  in  the  old  treatises 
on  harmony,  accompaniment,  and  composition, 
and  the  rules  for  connecting  the  chords  based  on 
the  ear,  for  a  fixed  order  of  generation,  attractive 
from  its  apparent  regularity,  but  with  the  serious 
inconvenience  of  leaving  each  chord  disconnected 
from  the  rest. 

Having  rejected  the  received  rules  for  the 
succession  and  resolution  of  chords  which  were 
contrary  to  his  system,  Rameau  perceived  the 
necessity  of  formulating  new  ones,  and  drew 
up  a  method  for  composing  a  fundamental  bass 
for  every  species  of  music.  The  principles  he 
laid  down  for  forming  a  bass  different  from  the 
real  bass  of  the  music,  and  for  verifying  the 
right  use  of  the  chords,  are  arbitrary,  insufficient 
in  a  large  number  of  cases,  and,  as  regards  many 
of  the  successions,  contrary  to  the  judgment  of  the 
ear.  Finally,  he  did  not  perceive  that  by  using 
the  chord  of  the  6-5-3  ^>oth  as  a  fundamental 
chord  and  an  inversion  he  destroyed  his  whole 
system,  as  in  the  former  case  it  is  impossible  to 
derive  it  from  the  third  above  or  below.3  After 
more  study,  however,  particularly  on  the  subject 
of  harmonics,  Rameau  gave  up  many  of  his  earlier 
notions,  and  corrected  some  of  his  most  essential 
mistakes.  The  development  and  modification  of 
his  ideas  may  be  seen  by  consulting  his  works, 
of  which  the  following  is  a  list: — 'Nouveau 
systems  de  musique  theorique  .  .  .  pour  servir 
d'Introduction  au  traits'  d'Harmonie'  (1726, 
4to)  ;  '  Ge'ne'ration  harmonique'  etc.  (1713,  8vo)  ; 
'  Demonstration  du  principe  de  1'harmonie '  ( 1 750, 
8vo)  ;  '  Nouvelles  reflexions  sur  la  demonstration 
du  principe  de  1'harmonie'  (1752,  8vo)  ;  'Ex- 
trait  d'une  re'ponse  de  M.  Rameau  k  M.  Euler 
sur  I'identite'  des  octaves/ etc.  (1753,  8vo) — all 
published  in  Paris.  To  these  specific  works,  all 
dealing  with  the  science  of  harmony,  should  be 
added  the  'Dissertation  sur  les  differentes  me'- 
thodes  d'accompagnement  pour  le  clavecin  ou 
pour  1'orgue'  (Paris,  Boivin,  1732,  4to),  and 
some  articles  which  appeared  in  the  'Mercure 
de  France,'  and  in  the  '  Memoir es  de  Trevoux.' 

The  mere  titles  of  these  works  are  a  proof  of 
the  research  and  invention  which  Rameau  brought 
to  bear  on  the  theory  of  music ;  but  what  was 

3  FfHis  has  explained,  detailed,  and  refuted  Rameau's  system  in  his 
'Esquisse  de  1'Histoire  de  1'Harmonie,'  which  has  been  used  by  the 
writer,  and  to  which  he  refers  his  readeis. 


70 


RAMEAU. 


most  remarkable  in  his  case  is  that  he  succeeded 
in  lines  which  are  generally  opposed  to  each 
other,  and  throughout  life  occupied  the  first 
rank  not  only  as  a  theorist,  but  as  a  player  and 
composer.  Just  when  his  '  Traitd  de  1'Har- 
inonie'  was  beginning  to  attract  attention  he 
arranged  to  make  music  for  the  little  pieces 
which  his  fellow-countryman,  Alexis  Piron,  was 
writing  for  the  Theatre  de  la  Foire,  and  ac 
cordingly,  on  Feb.  3,  1723,  they  produced  'L'En- 
driague,'  in  3  acts,  with  dances,  divertissements, 
and  grand  airs,  as  stated  in  the  title.  In  Jan. 
1724  he  obtained  the  privilege  of  publishing 
his  cantatas,  and  various  instrumental  com 
positions,  amongst  others  his  '  Pieces  de  clavecin, 
avec  une  Me"thode  pour  la  me"canique  des  doigts,' 
etc.,  republished  as  'Pieces  de  Clavecin,  avec 
une  table  pour  les  agrdments'1  (Paris,  1731  and 
1736,  oblong  folio). 

As  the  favourite  music-master  among  ladies 
of  rank,  and  organist  of  the  church  of  Ste.  Croix 
de  la  Bretonnerie,  Rameau's  position  and  pro 
spects  now  warranted  his  taking  a  wife,  and  on 
Feb.  25,  1726,  he  was  united  to  Marie  Louise 
Mangot,  a  good  musician  with  a  pretty  voice. 
The  disparity  of  their  ages  was  considerable,  the 
bride  being  only  1 8,  but  her  loving  and  gentle 
disposition  made  the  marriage  a  very  happy  one. 

A  few  days  later,  on  Feb.  29,  Rameau  pro 
duced  at  the  Theatre  de  la  Foire  a  i-act  piece 
called  L'Enr6lement  d'Arlequin,'  followed  in 
the  autumn  by  'Le  faux  Prodigue,'  2  acts,  both 
written  by  Piron.  Such  small  comic  pieces  as 
these  were  obviously  composed,  by  a  man  of  his 
age  and  attainments  (he  was -now  42),  solely  with 
the  view  of  gaining  access  to  a  stage  of  higher 
rank,  but  there  was  no  hope  of  admission  to 
the  theatre  of  the  Academic  without  a  good 
libretto,  and  this  it  was  as  difficult  for  a  be 
ginner  to  obtain  then  as  it  is  now.  There  is  a 
remarkable  letter  still  extant  from  Rameau  to 
Houdar  de  Lamotte,  dated  Oct.  1727,  asking 
him  for  a  lyric  tragedy,  and  assuring  him  that 
he  was  no  novice,  but  one  who  had  mastered 
the  '  art  of  concealing  his  art.'  The  blind  poet 
refused  his  request,  but  aid  came  from  another 
quarter.  La  Popeliniere,  the  fermier  gtntral, 
musician,  poet,  and  artist,  whose  houses  in  Paris 
and  at  Passy  were  frequented  by  the  most 
celebrated  artists  French  and  foreign,  had  chosen 
Rameau  as  his  clavecinist  and  conductor  of  the 
music  at  his  fetes,  and  before  long  placed  at  his 
disposal  the  organ  in  his  chapel,  his  orchestra, 
and  his  theatre.  He  did  more,  for  through  his 
influence  Rameau  obtained  from  Voltaire  the 
lyric  tragedy  of  'Samson,'  which  he  promptly 
set  to  music,  though  the  performance  was  pro 
hibited  on  the  eve  of  its  representation  at  the 
Academie — an  exceptional  stroke  of  ill-fortune. 
At  last  the  Abb£  Pellegrin  agreed  to  furnish 
him  with  an  opera  in  5  acts,  'Hippolyte  et 
Aricie,'  founded  on  Racine's  'Phedre.'  He 
compelled  Rameau  to  sign  a  bill  for  500  livres 
as  security  in  case  the  opera  failed,  but  showed 

1  Both  Fetis  and  Pougin  have  fallen  into  the  mistake  of  considering 
this  a  separate  work. 


EAMEAU. 

more  sagacity  and  more  heart  than  might  have 
been  expected  from  one 


Qut  dlnait  de  1'antel  et  soupait  d^ 

Le  matin  catholique  et  le  soir  idolatre,2  — 

for  he  was  so  delighted  with  the  music  on  its 
first  performance  at  La  Popeliniere's,  that  he 
tore  up  the  bill  at  the  end  of  the  first  act.  The 
world  in  general  was  less  enthusiastic,  and  after 
having  overcome  the  ill-will  or  stupidity  of  the 
performers,  Rameau  had  to  encounter  the  astonish 
ment  of  the  crowd,  the  prejudices  of  routine,  and 
the  jealousy  of  his  brother  artists.  Campra  alone 
recognised  his  genius,  and  it  is  to  his  honour 
that  when  questioned  by  the  Prince  de  Conti  on 
the  subject,  he  replied,  '  There  is  stuff  enough  in 
Hippolyte  et  Aricie  for  ten  operas  ;  this  man 
will  eclipse  us  all.' 

The  opera  was  produced  at  the  Academic 
on  Oct.  i,  1733.  Rameau  was  then  turned  50 
years  of  age,  and  the  outcry  with  which  his 
work  was  greeted  suggested  to  him  that  he  had 
possibly  mistaken  his  career  ;  for  a  time  he  con 
templated  retiring  from  the  theatre,  but  was 
reassured  by  seeing  his  hearers  gradually  accus 
toming  themselves  to  the  novelties  which  at  first 
shocked  them.  The  success  of  'Les  Indes  galantes' 
(Aug.  23,  1735),  of  'Castor  et  Pollux,'  his  master 
piece  (Oct.  24,  1737),  and  of  'Les  Fetes  d'He"be" 
(May  21,  1739),  however,  neither  disarmed  his 
critics,  nor  prevented  Rousseau  from  making  him 
self  the  mouthpiece  of  those  who  cried  up  Lully  at 
the  expense  of  the  new  composer.  But  Rameau 
was  too  well  aware  of  the  cost  of  success  to  be 
hurt  by  epigrams,  especially  when  he  found  that 
he  could  count  both  on  the  applause  of  the 
multitude,  and  the  genuine  appreciation  of  the 
more  enlightened. 

His  industry  was  immense,  as  the  following 
list  of  his  operas  and  ballets  produced  at  the 
Acade"mie  in  20  years  will  show  :  — 


Dardanus.  5  acts  and  prologue 
(Nov.  19, 1739). 

Les  Ffrtes  de  Polymnie,  3  acts 
and  prologue  (Oct.  12, 1745). 

Le  Temple  de  la  Gloire,  F£te, 
in  3  acts  and  prologue  (Dec.  7, 
1745). 

Za'is,  4  acts  and  prologue  (Feb. 
29, 1748). 

Pygmalion,  1  act  (Aug.  27, 1748). 

Les  F£tes  de  1'Hymen  et  de 
1'Amour,  3  acts  and  prologue  (Nov. 
6. 1748). 


Plate"e,  3  acts  and  prologue  (Feb. 
4, 1749). 

Na'is,  3  acts  and  prologue  (April 
22, 1749). 

Zoroastre,  5  acts  (Dec.  5, 1749). 

La  Guirlande,  ou  les  Fleurs  en- 
chanties,  1  act  (Sept.  21, 1751). 

Acanthe  et  Ce~phise,  3  acts  (Nov. 
18, 1751). 

Les  Surprises  de  1'Amour,  3  acts 
(May  31, 1757). 

Les  Paladins.  3  acts  (Feb.  12, 
1760). 


Besides  these,  Rameau  found  time  to  write  di 
vertissements  for  'Les  Courses  de  TempeY  a 
Pastoral  (Theatre  Fran£ais,  Aug.  1734),  and  'La 
Rose'  (Theatre  de  la  Foire,  March,  1744),  botl1 
by  Piron.  From  1 740  to  1 745  the  director  of  the 
Opera  gave  him  no  employment,  and  in  this 
interval  he  published  his  'Nouvelles  Suites  de 
Pieces  de  clavecin '  and  his  '  Pieces  de  clavecin  en 
concerts  avec  un  violon  ou  une  flute'  (1741),  re 
markable  compositions  which  have  been  reprinted 
by  Mme.  Farrenc  ('  Le  Tre"sor  des  Pianistes')  and 
M.  Poisot.  He  also  accepted  the  post  of  conductor 
of  the  Ope'ra-Comique,  of  which  Monnefc3  was 

2  Who  dined  at  the  altar  and  supped  at  the  theatre ;   Catholic  in 
the  morning,  and  Idolater  at  night. 

3  See  Monnet's  'Supplement  au  Koman  comique,'  51.    This  fact 
seems  to  have  escaped  all  Rameau's  biographers. 


EAMEAU. 

manager,  probably  in  the  hope  of  attracting 
public  attention,  and  forcing  the  management  of 
the  Acade'mie  to  alter  their  treatment  of  him. 
Finally  he  composed  for  the  Court  'Lysis  et 
Delie,'  'Daphnis  et  EgleY  'Les  Sybarites '  (Oct. 
and  Nov.  1753);  'La  Naissance  d'Osiris,'  and 
'Anacreon'  (Oct.  1754),  all  given  at  Fontaine- 
bleau.  Some  years  previously,  on  the  occasion 
of  the  marriage  of  the  Dauphin  with  the  Infanta, 
he  had  composed  '  La  Princesse  de  Navarre ' 
to  a  libretto  of  Voltaire's  (3  acts  and  prologue, 
performed  with  great  splendour  at  Versailles, 
Feb.  23,  1745).  This  was  the  most  successful 
of  all  his  operas  de  circonstance,  and  the  authors 
adapted  from  it  '  Les  Fetes  de  Ramire '  a  i-act 
opera-ballet,  also  performed  at  Versailles  (Dec. 
22,  1745). 

In  estimating  Rameau 's  merits  we  cannot  in 
justice  compare  him  with  the  great  Italian  and 
German  masters  of  the  day,  whose  names  and 
works  were  then  equally  unknown  in  France  ; 
we  must  measure  him  with  contemporary  French 
composers  for  the  stage.  These  writers  had 
no  idea  of  art  beyond  attempting  a  servile  copy 
of  Lully,  with  overtures,  recitatives,  vocal  pieces, 
and  ballet  airs,  all  cast  in  one  stereotyped  form. 
Rameau  made  use  of  such  a  variety  of  means  as 
not  only  attracted  the  attention  of  his  hearers,  but 
retained  it.  For  the  placid  and  monotonous  har 
monies  of  the  day,  the  trite  modulation,  insignifi 
cant  accompaniments,  and  stereotyped  ritornelles, 
he  substituted  new  forms,  varied  and  piquant 
rhythms,  ingenious  harmonies,  bold  modulations, 
and  a  richer  and  more  effective  orchestration.  He 
even  ventured  on  enharmonic  changes,  and  instead 
of  the  time-honoured  accompaniments  with  the 
strings  in  5  parts,  and  flutes  and  oboes  in  2,  and 
with  tuttis  in  which  the  wind  simply  doubled  the 
strings,  he  gave  each  instrument  a  distinct  part 
of  its  own,  and  thus  imparted  life  and  colour  to 
the  whole.  Without  interrupting  the  other 
instruments,  he  introduced  interesting  and  un 
expected  passages  on  the  flutes,  oboes,  and 
bassoons,  and  thus  opened  a  path  which  has 
been  followed  up  with  ever-increasing  success. 
He  also  gave  importance  to  the  orchestral  pieces, 
introducing  his  operas  with  a  well-constructed 
overture,  instead  of  the  meagre  introduction  of 
the  period,  in  which  the  same  phrases  were  re 
peated  ad  nauseam.  Nor  did  he  neglect  the 
chorus;  he  developed  it,  added  greatly  to  its  musi 
cal  interest,  and  introduced  the  syllabic  style  with 
considerable  effect.  Lastly,  his  ballet-music 
was  so  new  in  its  rhythms,  and  so  fresh  and 
pleasing  in  melody,  that  it  was  at  once  adopted 
and  copied  in  the  theatres  of  Italy  and  Germany. 

We  have  said  enough  to  prove  that  Rameau 
was  a  composer  of  real  invention  and  originality. 
His  declamation  was  not  always  so  just  as  that 
of  Lully ;  his  airs  have  not  the  same  grace, 
and  are  occasionally  marred  by  eccentricity  and 
harshness,  and  disfigured  by  roulades  in  doubtful 
taste;  but  when  inspired  by  his  subject  Rameau 
found  appropriate  expression  for  all  sentiments, 
whether  simple  or  pathetic,  passionate,  dramatic, 
or  heroic.  His  best  operas  contain  beauties 


RAMEAU. 


71 


which   defy  the   caprices   of  fashion,    and   will 
command  the  respect  of  true  artists  for  all  time. 

But  if  his  music  was  so  good,  how  is  it  that  it 
never  attained  the  same  popularity  as  that  of 
Lully  ?  In  the  first  place,  he  took  the  wrong  line 
on  a  most  important  point ;  and  in  the  second,  he 
was  less  favoured  by  circumstances  than  his 
predecessor.  It  was  his  doctrine,  that  for  a 
musician  of  genius  all  subjects  are  equally  good, 
and  hence  he  contented  himself  with  uninteresting 
fables  written  in  wretched  style,  instead  of  taking 
pains,  as  Lully  did,  to  secure  pieces  constructed 
with  skill  and  well  versified.  He  used  to  say 
that  he  could  set  the  'Gazette  de  Hollande'  to 
music.  Thus  he  damaged  his  own  fame,  for  a 
French  audience  will  not  listen  even  to  good  music 
unless  it  is  founded  on  an  interesting  drama.  His 
ballet-music,  too,  often  only  serves  to  retard  the 
action  of  the  piece  and  destroy  its  dramatic 
interest. 

Much  as  Rameau  would  have  gained  by  the 
cooperation  of  another  Quinault,  instead  of  having 
to  employ  Cahusac,  there  was  another  reason  for 
the  greater  popularity  of  Lully.  Under  Louis 
XIV.  the  king's  patronage  was  quite  sufficient 
to  ensure  the  success  of  an  artist ;  but  after 
the  Regency,  under  Louis  XV.,  other  authorities 
asserted  themselves,  especially  the  '  philosophes.' 
Rameau  had  first  to  encounter  the  vehement 
opposition  of  the  Lullists  ;  this  he  had  suc 
ceeded  in  overcoming,  when  a  company  of 
Italian  singers  arrived  in  Paris,  and  at  once 
obtained  the  attention  of  the  public,  and  the 
support  of  a  powerful  party.  The  partisans  of 
French  music  rallied  round  Rameau,  and  the 
two  factions  carried  on  what  is  known  as  the 
'  Guerre  des  Bouffons,'  but  when  the  struggle 
was  over,  Rameau  perceived  that  his  victory  was 
only  an  ephemeral  one,  and  that  his  works  would 
not  maintain  their  position  in  the  repertoire  of 
the  Acade'mie  beyond  a  few  years.  With  a  frank 
ness  very  touching  in  a  man  of  his  gifts,  he  said 
one  evening  to  the  Abbd  Arnaud,  who  had  lately 
arrived  in  Paris,  '  If  I  were  20  years  younger 
I  would  go  to  Italy,  and  take  Pergolesi  for  iny 
model,  abandon  something  of  my  harmony,  and 
devote  myself  to  attaining  truth  of  declamation, 
which  should  be  the  sole  guide  of  musicians. 
But  after  sixty  one  cannot  change ;  experience 
points  plainly  enough  the  best  course,  but  the 
mind  refuses  to  obey.'  No  critic  could  have 
stated  the  truth  more  plainly.  Not  having 
heard  Italian  music  in  his  youth,  Rameau  never 
attained  to  the  skill  in  writing  for  the  voice  that 
he  might  have  done  ;  and  he  is  in  consequence 
only  the  first  French  musician  of  his  time,  in 
stead  of  taking  his  rank  among  the  great  com 
posers  of  European  fame.  But  for  this,  he  might 
have  effected  that  revolution  in  dramatic  music 
which  Gluck  accomplished  some  years  later. 

But  even  as  it  was,  his  life's  work  is  one  of  which 
any  man  might  have  been  proud ;  and  in  old  age 
he  enjoyed  privileges  accorded  only  to  talent 
of  the  first  rank.  The  directors  of  the  Ope'ra 
decreed  him  a  pension;  his  appearance  in  his 
box  was  the  signal  for  a  general  burst  of  applause, 


72 


EAMEAU. 


and  at  the  last  performance  of  '  Dardanus ' 
(Nov.  9,  1760)  he  received  a  perfect  ovation 
from  the  audience.  At  Dijon  the  Academic 
elected  him  a  member  in  1761,  and  the  autho 
rities  exempted  himself  and  his  family  for  ever 
from  the  municipal  taxes.  The  king  had  named 
him  composer  of  his  chamber  music  in  1745  > 
his  patent  of  nobility  was  registered,  and  he 
was  on  the  point  of  receiving  the  order  of  St. 
Michel,  when,  already  suffering  from  the  in 
firmities  of  age,  he  took  typhoid  fever,  and 
died  Sept.  12,  1764.  All  France  mourned  for 
him  ;  Paris  gave  him  a  magnificent  funeral,  and 
in  many  other  towns  funeral  services  were  held 
in  his  honour.  Such  marks  of  esteem  are  ac 
corded  only  to  the  monarchs  of  art. 

Having  spoken  of  Rameau  as  a  theorist  and 
composer,  we  will  now  say  a  word  about  him  as 
a  man.  If  we  are  to  believe  Grimm  and  Diderot, 
he  was  hard,  churlish,  and  cruel,  avaricious 
to  a  degree,  and  the  most  ferocious  of  egotists. 
The  evidence  of  these  writers  is  however  sus 
picious  ;  both  disliked  French  music,  and  Diderot, 
as  the  friend  and  colluborateur  of  d'Alembert, 
would  naturally  be  opposed  to  the  man  who 
had  had  the  audacity  to  declare  war  against  the 
Encyclopedists.1  It  is  right  to  say  that,  though 
he  drew  a  vigorous  and  scathing  portrait  of  the 
composer,  he  did  not  publish  it.2  As  to  the 
charge  of  avarice,  Rameau  may  have  been 
fond  of  money,  but  he  supported  his  sister 
Catherine 3  during  an  illness  of  many  years,  and 
assisted  more  than  one  of  his  brother  artists- 
such  as  Dauvergne,  and  the  organist  Balbatre. 
He  was  a  vehement  controversialist,  and  those 
whom  he  had  offended  would  naturally  say  hard 
things  of  him.  He  was  scrupulous  in  the  use  of 
his  time,  and  detested  interruptions ;  at  the 
rehearsals  of  his  operas  he  would  sit  by  himself  in 
the  middle  of  the  pit,  and  allow  no  one  to  speak 
to  him ;  in  the  street  he  would  walk  straight  on, 
and  if  a  friend  stopped  him,  he  seemed  to  awake 
as  if  from  a  trance.  Tall,  and  thin  almost  to 
emaciation,  his  sharply-marked  features  indicated 
great  strength  of  character,  while  his  eyes  burned 
with  the  fire  of  genius.  There  was  a  decided 
resemblance  between  him  and  Voltaire,  and 
painters  have  often  placed  their  likenesses  side 
by  side.  Amongst  the  best  portraits  of  Rameau 
may  be  specified  those  of  Benoist  (after  Restout), 
Caffieri,  Masquelier,  and  Carmontelle  (full  length). 
In  the  fine  oil-painting  by  Chardin  in  the  Museum 
of  Dijon,  he  is  represented  seated,  with  his 
fingers  on  the  strings  of  his  violin,  the  instru 
ment  he  generally  used  in  composing.  The  bust 

1  Kameau  was  asked  to  correct  the  articles  on  music  for  the  Ency- 
clope'die,  but  the  M.SS.  were  not  submitted  to  him.    He  published  in 
consequence:   '  Erreurs  sur  la  musique  dans  1'Encyclope'die '  (1755) ; 
'  Suite  des  Erreurs  etc.'  (1756) ;  '  RiSponse  de  M.  Kameau  a  MM.  les 
e"diteurs  de  1'Encyclopedie  sur  leur  Avertissement '  (1757) ;  'Lettre  de 
M.  d'Alembert  a  M.  Rameau,  concernant  le  corps  sonore,  avec  la 
re"ponse  de  M.  Rameau '  (undated,  but  apparently  1759)— all  printed  in 
Paris. 

2  We  refer  to  Diderot's  violent  satire  on  the  morals  and  philosophic 
tendencies  of  the  18th  century,  entitled  '  Le  Neveu  de  Rameau.'    It  is 
a  curious  fact  that  this  brilliantly  written  dialogue  was  only  known 
in  France  through  a  re-translation  of  Goethe's  German  version.    The 
first  French  edition,  by  Saur,  appeared  in  Paris  only  in  1821. 

3  A  good  player  on  the  clavecin;  she  lived  in  Dijon, and  died  there 
17C2. 


RAMM. 

which  stood  in  the  foyer  of  the  Ope'ra  was  de 
stroyed  when  the  theatre  was  burnt  down  in 
1781  ;  that  in  the  library  of  the  Conservatoire  is 
by  Destreez  (1865).  A  bronze  statue  by  Guil- 
laume  was  erected  at  Dijon  in  1880.  The  fine 
medal  of  him  given  to  the  winners  of  the  grand 
prix  de  Rome  was  engraved  by  Gatteaux. 

There  are  many  biographies  of  Rameau ;  the 
most  valuable  are,  among  the  older,  Chabanon's 
'Eloge'  (1764);  Maret's  'Eloge  historique' 
(1766)  ;  and  the  very  curious  details  contained 
in  De  Croix's  'L'Ami  des  Arts'  (1776);  among 
the  more  modern,  the  notices  of  Adolphe  Adam, 
Fe'tis,  Poisot  (1864),  and  Pougin  (1876). 

Rameau  had  one  son  and  two  daughters,  none 
of  them  musicians.  He  left  in  MS.  4  cantatas, 
3  motets  with  chorus,  and  fragments  of  an  opera 
'  Roland,'  all  which  are  now  in  the  BibliothSque 
Nationale  in  the  Rue  Richelieu.  None  of  his 
organ  pieces  have  survived ;  and  some  cantatas 
mentioned  by  the  earlier  biographers,  besides 
two  lyric  tragedies  '  Abaris  '  and  '  Linus,'  and  a 
comic  opera,  '  Le  Procureur  dupe,'  are  lost;  but 
they  would  have  added  nothing  to  his  fame. 

Some  of  his  harpsichord  pieces  have  been  pub 
lished  in  the  '  Tremor  des  Pianistes  ' ;  in  the  '  Alte 
Klaviermusik '  of  Pauer  (Ser.  2,  pt.  5)  and  of 
Roitsch  ;  also  in  Pauer's  '  Alte  Meister, '  and  in 
the  '  Perles  Musicales'  (51,  52).  [G.C.] 

RAMM,  FKIEDRICH,  eminent  oboe-player,  born 
Nov.  1 8,  i744>  in  Mannheim.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  Elector's  celebrated  band  under  Cannabich, 
first  in  Mannheim,  and  then  in  Munich,  whither 
the  court  removed,  and  where  he  celebrated  his 
fiftieth  year  of  service  in  1808.  His  tone  was 
particularly  pure  and  true,  with  great  roundness, 
softness,  and  power  in  the  lower  notes ;  and  he  was 
also  a  master  of  the  legato  style.  '  Ramm  is  a 
downright  good  fellow,'  writes  Mozart, '  amusing 
and  honourable  too ;  he  plays  finely,  with  a  pretty 
delicate  tone.'  Mozart  sent  him  the  oboe-concerto 
(Kochel,  293)  composed  for  Ferlendi  (which  be 
came  his  cheval  de  bataille),  and  when  in  Paris 
composed  a  symphonie  concertante  for  Wendling, 
Ramm,  Punto,  and  Ritter,  to  be  played  at  the 
Concerts  Spirituels.  It  was  however  never  per 
formed,  and  all  trace  of  it  is  lost  ( Jahn,  i.  476). 
Ramm  played  in  London  at  the  Professional 
Concerts  in  1 784.  In  Vienna  he  gave  a  concert  at 
the  Karnthnerthor  Theatre  in  1787,  and  played 
three  times  at  the  concerts  of  the  Tonkunstler- 
Societat  between  the  years  1776  and  Si. 

He  was  in  Vienna  again,  after  April  I797>  an<^ 
assisted  to  accompany  Beethoven  at  a  perform 
ance  of  his  PF.  Quintet,  op.  16.  At  one  of  the 
pauses  of  the  Finale  Beethoven  went  off  into  a 
long  improvisation,  and  it  was,  says  Ries,*  most 
amusing  to  see  the  players  putting  up  their  in 
struments  to  their  lips  as  they  thought  that 
Beethoven  was  approaching  the  reprise  of  the 
theme,  and  as  regularly  putting  them  down  in 
disappointment  as  he  modulated  off  in  another 
direction.  Ramm  was  especially  annoyed.  [C.F.P.] 

4  Biogr.  Notizen,  p.  80.  The  beginning  of  this  anecdote— Am  nSm- 
lichen  Abend— on  the  same  evening— would  seem  to  show  that  Ries's 
recollections  are  not  printed  iu  the  order  ill  which  he  wrote  them. 


RAMSEY. 

EAMSEY,  EGBERT,  organist  of  Trinity  Col 
lege,  Cambridge,  from  1628  to  1644  inclusive, 
and  '  Magister  Choristarum'  from  1637  to  1644 
inclusive  ;  but  whether  before  or  after  those  dates 
is  not  certain  in  either  case.  He  took  the  degree 
of  Mus.  Bac.  at  Cambridge  about  1639.  ^  Morn 
ing  and  Evening  Service  in  F  by  him  is  contained 
in  the  Tudvvay  Collection  (Barl.  MS.  7340)  and 
in  the  Ely  Library,  where,  and  at  Peterhouse  Col 
lege,  Cambi'idge,  there  are  also  two  anthems  of 
his.  Add.  MS.  11,608  in  the  British  Museum 
also  contains  a  dialogue  between  Saul,  the  witch, 
and  Samuel — '  In  guiltie  night.'  Tudway  mis 
calls  him  John.  [G.] 

RANDALL,  JOHN,  Mus.  Doc.,  born  1715,  was 
a  chorister  of  the  Chapel  Royal  under  Bernard 
Gates.  He  was  one  of  the  boys  who  shared  in 
the  representation  of  Handel's  'Esther '  at  Gates's 
house,  Feb.  23,  1732,  he  himself  taking  the  part 
of  Esther.  He  graduated  as  Mus.  Bac.  at  Cam 
bridge  in  1744,  hi8  exercise  being  an  anthem. 
About  1 745  he  was  appointed  organist  of  King's 
College,  and  on  the  death  of  Dr.  Greene  in  1755 
was  elected  Professor  of  Music  at  Cambridge. 
In  1756  he  proceeded  Mus.  Doc.  He  composed 
the  music  for  Gray's  Ode  for  the  Installation  of  the 
Duke  of  Grafton  as  Chancellor  of  the  University 
in  1768,  and  some,  church  music.  He  died  March 
18,  1799.  His  name  is  preserved  in  England  by 
his  two  Double  Chants.  [W.H.H.] 

RANDALL,  RICHARD,  a  tenor  singer,  born 
Sept.  I,  1736,  whose  life  is  sufficiently  described 
in  the  inscription  to  his  portrait,  published  May 
1812  : — 'This  celebrated  tenor  singer  so  remark 
able  for  his  great  strength  of  voice  and  unrivalled 
comic  humour  was  born  Sepbr  Ist  1736  and  edu 
cated  under  Mr  Bernd  Gates  in  the  Chapel  Royal 
where  he  was  early  noticed  and  became  a  great 
favourite  of  his  late  Majesty  George  the  second, 
by  whose  command  he  sung  many  Solo  Anthems, 
he  is  the  only  remaining  chorister  who  sung  with 
M.  Handel  in  his  Oratorios,  and  whose  composi 
tions  he  still  performs  with  most  wonderfull  effect 
at  the  age  of  76.' 

Randall  died  April  IE;,  1828,  aged  92.  In  his 
last  days  he  was  an  object  of  much  curiosity  as 
having  known  Handel,  regarding  whom  he  told 
several  anecdotes.  [G.] 

RANDALL,  WILLIAM,  an  eminent  publisher 
of  music.  [See  WALSH,  JOHN.] 

RANDALL.  The  name  of  Randall  is  attached 
to  an  anthem  for  6  voices  in  the  British  Museum, 
Add.  MS.  17,792,  probably  dating  from  the  be 
ginning  of  the  1 8th  century.  [G.] 

RANDEGGER,  ALBERTO,  composer,  con 
ductor,  and  singing-master,  was  born  at  Trieste, 
April  13,  1832.  He  began  the  study  of  music  at 
the  age  of  13,  under  Lafont  for  the  PF.,  and 
L.  Ricci  for  composition,  soon  began  to  write,  and 
by  the  year  1852  was  known  as  the  composer  of 
several  masses  and  smaller  pieces  of  Church  music, 
and  of  two  ballets — '  La  Fidanzata  di  Castella- 
mare'  and  'LaSposad'Appenzello,'  both  produced 
at  the  Teatro  grande  of  his  native  town.  In  the 
latter  year  he  joined  three  other  of  Ricci's  pupils 


RANDHARTINGER. 


73 


in  the  composition  of  a  buffo  opera  to  a  libretto 
by  Gaetano  Rossi,  entitled  '  II  Lazzarone,'  which 
had  much  success,  first  at  the  Teatro  Maurona  at 
Trieste,  and  then  elsewhere.  The  next  two  years 
were  occupied  as  musical  director  of  theatres  at 
Fiume,  Zera,  Sinigaglia,  Brescia,  and  Venice.  In 
the  winter  of  1854  he  brought  out  a  tragic  opera  in 
4  acts  called  '  Bianca  Capello '  at  the  chief  theatre 
of  Brescia.  At  this  time  Signor  Randegger  was 
induced  to  come  to  London.  He  gradually  took 
a  high  position  there,  and  has  become  widely 
known  as  a  teacher  of  singing,  conductor,  and  com 
poser,  and  an  enthusiastic  lover  of  good  music  of 
whatever  school  or  country.  He  has  resided  in 
England  ever  since,  and  is  one  of  the  most 
prominent  musical  figures  in  the  metropolis.  In 
1864  he  produced  at  the  Theatre  Royal,  Leeds, 
'  The  Rival  J^taities,'  a  comic  operetta  in  2  acts, 
which  has  hac^much  success  in  London  and 
many  other  places.  In  1868  he  became  Pro 
fessor  of  Singing  at  the  Royal  Academy  of 
Music,  and  has  since  been  made  a  director  of 
that  institution  and  a  member  of  the  Committee 
of  Management.  In  the  autumn  of  1857  Be  con" 
ducted  a  series  of  Italian  operas  at  St.  James's 
Theatre,  and  in  1879-80  the  Carl  Rosa  company 
at  Her  Majesty's  Theatre.  He  has  recently  been 
appointed  conductor  of  the  Norwich  Festival 
vice  Sir  Julius  Benedict  resigned. 

Mr.Randegger's  published  works  are  numerous 
and  important.  They  comprise  a  large  dramatic 
cantata  (words  by  Mad.  Rudersdorff),  entitled 
'  Fridolin,'  composed  for  the  Birmingham  Festi 
val,  and  produced  there  with  great  success,  Aug. 
28,  1873  (Chappell)  ;  two  soprano  scenas — 
'  Medea,'  sung  by  Mad.  Rudersdorff  at  the 
Gewandhaus,  Leipzig,  in  1869,  and  'Saffo,'  sung 
by  Mad.  Lemmens  at  the  British  Orchestral 
Society,  March  31,  1875  ;  the  I5oth  Psalm,  for 
soprano  solo,  chorus,  orchestra  and  organ,  for  the 
Boston  Festival,  1872  ;  Funeral  Anthem  for  the 
death  of  the  Prince  Consort,  twice  performed  in 
London ;  and  a  large  number  of  songs  and  con 
certed  vocal  music  for  voice  and  orchestra  or 
PF.  He  is  also  the  author  of  the  Primer  of 
Singing,  in  Dr.  Stainer's  series  (Novello).  As  a 
teacher  of  singing  Mr.  Randegger  has  a  large 
number  of  pupils  now  before  the  English  public 
as  popular  singers.  [G.] 

RANDHARTINGER,  BENEDICT,  an  Aus 
trian  musician,  memorable  for  his  connexion 
with  Schubert.  He  was  born  at  Ruprechtshofen, 
in  Lower  Austria,  July  27,  1802  ;  at  10  years 
old  came  to  the  Konvict  school  at  Vienna,  and 
was  then  a  pupil  of  Salieri's.  He  afterwards 
studied  for  the  law,  and  for  ten  years  was 
Secretary  to  Count  Sze'chenyi,  an  official  about 
the  Court.  But  he  forsook  this  line  of  life  for 
music;  in  1832  entered  the  Court  Chapel  as  a 
tenor  singer ;  in  1844  became  Vice-Court-Capell- 
meister,  and  in  1862,  after  Assmayer's  death, 
entered  on  the  full  enjoyment  of  that  dignity. 
His  compositions  are  more  than  600  in  number, 
comprising  an  opera,  '  Konig  Enzio  ';  20  masses  ; 
60  motets ;  symphonies ;  quartets,  etc. ;  400  songs, 
76  4-part  songs,  etc.  Of  all  these,  1 24,  chiefly  songs, 


74 


RANDHARTINGER. 


are  published  ;  also  a  vol.  of  Greek  national  songs, 
and  a  vol.  of  Greek  liturgies.  His  acquaintance 
with  Schubert  probably  began  at  the  Konvict,  and 
at  Salieri's  ;  though  as  he  was  Schubert's  junior 
by  five  years,  they  can  have  been  there  together 
only  for  a  short  time  ;  but  there  are  many  slight 
traces  of  the  existence  of  a  close  friendship 
between  them.  He  was  present,  for  example, 
at  the  first  trial  of  the  D  minor  String  Quartet 
(Jan.  29,  1826),  and  he  was  one  of  the  very  few 
friends — if  not  the  only  one — who  visited  Schu 
bert  in  the  terrible  loneliness  of  his  last  illness. 
But  for  Randhartinger  it  is  almost  certain  that 
Schubert's  '  Schone  Miillerin'  would  never  have 
existed.  He  was  called  out  of  his  room  while 
Schubert  was  paying  him  a  visit,  and  on  his 
return  found  that  his  friend  had  disappeared 
with  a  volume  of  W.  Miiller's  poems  which  he 
had  accidentally  looked  into  while  waiting,  and 
had  been  so  much  interested  in  as  to  carry  off. 
On  his  going  the  next  day  to  reclaim  the  book, 
Schubert  presented  him  with  some  of  the  now 
well-known  songs,  which  he  had  composed  during 
the  night.  This  was  in  1823.  It  is  surely  enough 
to  entitle  Randhartinger  to  a  perpetual  memory. 
He  had  a  brother  JOSEF,  of  whom  nothing  is 
known  beyond  this — that  he  was  probably  one  of 
the  immediate  entourage  of  Beethoven's  coffin  at 
the  funeral.  He,  Lachner,  and  Schubert  are  said 
to  have  gone  together  as  torch-bearers  (Kreissle 
von  Hellborn's  '  Schubert,'  p.  266).  [G.] 

RANELAGH  HOUSE  AND  GARDENS 

were  situated  on  the  bank  of  the  Thames,  east 
ward  of  Chelsea  Hospital.  They  were  erected 
and  laid  out  about  1690  by  Richard  Jones,  Vis 
count  (afterwards  Earl  of)  Ranelagh,  who  resided 
there  until  his  death  in  1712.  In  1733  the  pro 
perty  was  sold  in  lots,  and  eventually  the  house 
and  part  of  the  gardens  came  into  the  hands  of 
a  number  of  persons  who  converted  them  into  a 
place  of  public  entertainment.  In  1741  they  com 
menced  the  erection  of  a- spacious  Rotunda  (185 
feet  external,  and  150  feet  internal  diameter), 
with  four  entrances  through  porticos.  Surround 
ing  it  was  an  arcade,  and  over  that  a  covered 
gallery,  above  which  were  the  windows,  60  in 
number.  In  the  centre  of  the  interior  and  sup 
porting  the  roof  was  a  square  erection  containing 
the  orchestra,  as  well  as  fireplaces  of  peculiar 
construction  for  warming  the  building  in  winter. 
Forty-seven  boxes,  each  to  contain  eight  persons, 
were  placed  round  the  building,  and  in  these  the 
company  partook  of  tea  and  coffee.  In  the  garden 
was  a  Chinese  building,  and  a  canal  upon  which 
the  visitors  were  rowed  about  in  boats.  Ranelagh 
was  opened  with  a  public  breakfast,  April  5, 1 742. 
The  admission  was  2s.  including  breakfast.  On 
May  24  following  it  was  opened  for  evening 
concerts  ;  Beard  was  the  principal  singer,  Festing 
the  leader,  and  the  choruses  were  chiefly  from 
oratorios.  Twice  a  week  ridottos  were  given, 
the  tickets  for  which  were  £i  is.  each,  including 
supper.  Masquerades  were  shortly  afterwards  in 
troduced,  and  the  place  soon  became  the  favourite 
resort  of  the  world  of  fashion.  Ranelagh  was 
afterwards  opened  about  the  end  of  February  for 


RANELAGH  HOUSE  AND  GARDENS. 

breakfasts,  and  on  Easter  Monday  for  the  evening 
entertainments.  On  April  10,  1746,  a  new  organ 
by  Byfield  was  opened  at  a  public  morning  re 
hearsal  of  the  music  for  the  season,  and  Parry, 
the  celebrated  Welsh  harper,  appeared.  In  1749, 
in  honour  of  the  Peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  an  en 
tertainment  called  'A  Jubilee  Masquerade  in 
the  Venetian  manner,'  was  given,  of  which  Horace 
Walpole,  in  a  letter  to  Sir  Horace  Mann,  dated 
May  3,  1749,  gave  the  following  lively  descrip 
tion  : — 

'  It  had  nothing  Venetian  about  it,  but  was  by  far  the 
best  understood  and  the  prettiest  spectacle  I  ever  saw ; 
nothing  in  a  fairy  tale  ever  surpassed  it.  ...  It  began 
at  three  o'clock,  and  about  five,  people  of  fashion  began 
to  go.  When  you  entered  you  found  the  whole  garden 
filled  with  masks  and  spread  with  tents,  wliich  remained 
all  night  very  commodely.  In  one  quarter  was  a  May 
pole  dressed  with  garlands,  and  people  dancing  round  it 
to  a  tabor  and  pipe  and  rustic  music,  all  masqued,  as 
were  all  the  various  bands  of  music  that  were  disposed 
in  different  parts  of  the  garden,  some  like  huntsmen 
with  French-horns,  some  like  peasants,  and  a  troop  of 
Harlequins  and  Scaramouches  in  the  little  open  temple 
on  the  mount.  On  the  canal  was  a  sort  of  gondola 
adorned  with  flags  and  streamer3}  and  filled  with  music, 
rowing  about.  All  round  the  outside  of  the  amphitheatre 
were  shops,  filled  with  Dresden  china,  Japan,  etc.,  and 
all  the  shopkeepers  in  mask.  The  amphitheatre  was 
illuminated ;  and  in  the  middle  was  a  circular  bower, 
composed  of  all  kinds  of  firs  in  tubs  from  twenty  to 
thirty  feet  high ;  under  them  orange  trees  with  small 
lamps  in  each  orange,  and  below  them  all  sorts  of  the 
finest  auriculas  in  pots ;  and  festoons  of  natural  flowers 
hanging  from  tree  to  tree.  Between  the  arches,  too, 
were  firs,  and  smaller  ones  in  the  balconies  above. 
There  were  booths  for  tea  and  wine,  gaming-tables  and 
dancing,  and  about  two  thousand  persons.  In  short  it 
pleased  me  more  than  anything  I  ever  saw.  It  is  to  be 
once  more,  and  probably  finer  as  to  dresses,  as  there  has 
since  been  a  subscription  masquerade,  and  people  will 
go  in  their  rich  habits.' 

This  proved  so  attractive  that  it  was  repeated 
several  times  in  that  and  succeeding  years,  until 
the  suppression  of  such  entertainments  after  the 
earthquake  at  Lisbon  in  1755.  In  1751  morning 
concerts  were  given  twice  a  week,  Signora  Frasi 
and  Beard  being  the  singers.  At  that  date  it  had 
lost  none  of  its  charm.  '  You  cannot  conceive,'  says 
Mrs.  Ellison,  in  Fielding's  'Amelia,'  'what  a  sweet 
elegant  delicious  place  it  is.  Paradise  itself  can 
hardly  be  equal  to  it.'  In  1754  an  entertain 
ment  of  singing,  recitation,  etc.  was  given  under 
the  name  of  '  Comus's  Court,'  which  was  very 
successful.  In  1755  a  pastoral,  the  words  from 
Shakspere,  the  music  by  Arne,  was  produced; 
Beard  and  Miss  Young  were  the  singers ;  Han 
del's  '  L' Allegro  ed  II  Pensieroso'  was  introduced 
on  Beard's  benefit  night,  and  Stanley  was  the 
organist.  In  1759  Bonnell  Thornton's  burlesque 
Ode  on  St.  Cecilia's  day  was  performed  with  great 
success.  In  1762  Tenducci  was  the  principal  male 
singer.  In  1764  a  new  orchestra  was  erected  in 
one  of  the  porticos  of  the  Rotunda,  the  original 
one  being  found  inconvenient  from  its  height. 
On  June  29,  1764,  Mozart,  then  eight  years  old, 
performed  on  the  harpsichord  and  organ  several 
pieces  of  his  own  composition  for  the  benefit  of  a 
charity.  In  1770  Burney  was  the  organist.  Fire 
works  were  occasionally  exhibited,  when  the  price 
of  admission  was  raised  to  53.  In  1 777  the  fashion 
able  world  played  one  of  its  strange,  unreasoning 
freaks  at  Ranelagh.  Walpole  wrote  on  June  18 : — 
'  It  is  the  fashion  now  to  go  to  Ranelagh  two  hours 
after  it  is  over.  You  may  not  believe  this,  but  it 


RANELAGH  HOUSE  AND  GARDENS. 

is  literal.  The  music  ends  at  ten,  the  company 
go  at  twelve.'  This  practice  caused  the  concert 
to  be  commenced  at  a  later  hour  than  before.  In 
1 790  a  representation  of  Mount  .ZEtna  in  eruption, 
with  the  Cyclops  at  work  in  the  centre  of  the 
mountain,  and  the  lava  pouring  down  its  side,  was 
exhibited.  The  mountain  was  80  feet  high.  In 
1793  the  Chevalier  d'Eon  fenced  in  public  with 
a  French  professor,  and  about  the  same  time  re 
gattas  on  the  Thames  in  connection  with  the  place 
were  established.  In  1802  the  Installation  Ball 
of  the  Knights  of  the  Bath  was  given  at  Rane- 
lagh,  and  also  a  magnificent  entertainment  by  the 
Spanish  Ambassador.  These  were  the  last  occur 
rences  of  any  importance;  the  fortunes  of  the  place 
had  long  been  languishing,  and  it  opened  for  the 
last  time  July  8,  1803.  On  Sept.  30,  1805,  the 
proprietors  gave  directions  for  taking  down  the 
house  and  rotunda ;  the  furniture  was  soon  after 
sold  by  auction,  and  the  buildings  removed.  The 
organ  was  placed  in  Tetbury  Church,  Gloucester 
shire.  No  traces  of  Ranelagh  remain :  the  site  now 
forms  part  of  Chelsea  Hospital  garden.  [W.H.H.] 

RANK.  A  rank  of  organ-pipes  is  one  com 
plete  series  or  set,  of  the  same  quality  of  tone 
and  kind  of  construction  from  the  largest  to  the 
smallest,  controlled  by  one  draw-stop,  acting  on 
one  slider.  If  the  combined  movement  of  draw- 
stop  and  slider  admits  air  to  two  or  more  such 
series  of  pipes,  an  organ-stop  is  said  to  be  of  two 
or  more  ranks,  as  the  case  may  be.  Occasionally 
the  twelfth  and  fifteenth,  or  fifteenth  and  twenty- 
second,  are  thus  united,  forming  a  stop  of  two 
ranks;  but,  as  a  rule,  only  those  stops  whose 
tones  are  reinforcements  of  some  of  the  higher 
upper-partials  of  the  ground-tone  are  made  to 
consist  of  several  ranks,  such  as  the  Sesquialtera, 
Mixture,  Furniture,  etc.  These  stops  have 
usually  from  three  to  five  ranks  each,  reinforc 
ing  (according  to  their  special  disposition)  the 
ground-tone  by  the  addition  of  its  ijth,  I9th, 
22nd,  24th,  26th,  2gth, — that  is,  of  its  3rd,  5th, 
and  8th  in  the  third  and  fourth  octave  above. 
[See  SESQUIALTERA.]  [J.S.] 

RANSFORD,  EDWIN,  baritone  vocalist,  song 
writer,  and  composer,  born  March  13,  1805,  at 
Bourton-on-the- Water,  Gloucestershire,  died  in 
London  July  1 1,  1876.  He  first  appeared  on  the 
stage  as  an  'extra'  in  the  opera  chorus  at  the 
King's  Theatre,  Haymarket,  and  was  afterwards 
engaged  in  that  of  Covent  Garden  Theatre. 
During  Mr.  Charles  Kemble's  management  of 
that  theatre  he  made  his  first  appearance  as  Don 
Caesar  in  '  The  Castle  of  Andalusia,'  on  May  2  7, 
1829,  and  was  engaged  soon  afterwards  by  Mr. 
Arnold  for  the  English  Opera  House  (now  the 
Lyceum).  In  the  autumn  of  1829,  and  in  1830, 
he  was  at  Covent  Garden.  In  1831  he  played 
leading  characters  under  Elliston  at  the  Surrey 
Theatre,  and  became  a  general  favourite.  In  1832 
he  was  with  Joe  Grimaldi  at  Sadler's  Wells, 
playing  Tom  Truck,  in  Campbell's  nautical  drama 
'  The  Battle  of  Trafalgar,'  in  which  he  made  a 
great  hit  with  Neukomm's  song  of '  The  Sea.'  At 
this  theatre  he  sustained  the  part  of  Captain 
Cannonade  in  Barnett's  opera  'The  Pet  of  the 


RANZ   DES  VACHES. 


75 


Petticoats.'  He  afterwards  fulfilled  important 
engagements  at  Drury  Lane,  the  Lyceum,  and 
Covent  Garden.  At  Covent  Garden  he  played 
the  Doge  of  Venice  in  'Othello/  March  25,  1833, 
when  Edmund  Kean  last  appeared  on  the  stage, 
and  Sir  Harry  in  '  The  School  for  Scandal '  on 
Charles  Kemble's  last  appearance  as  Charles 
Surface.  His  final  theatrical  engagement  was 
with  Macready  at  Covent  Garden  in  1837-38. 
He  wrote  the  words  of  many  songs,  his  best  being 
perhaps  'In  the  days  when  we  went  gipsying.' 
In  later  years  his  entertainments,  '  Gipsy  Life,' 
'Tales  of  the  Sea,'  and  'Songs  of  Dibdin,'  etc., 
became  deservedly  popular.  As  a  genial  bon 
camarade  he  was  universally  liked.  [W.H.] 

RANZ  DES  VACHES,  (Kuhreihen,  Kuhrei- 
gen ;  Appenzell  patois  Chuereiha),  a  strain  of  an 
irregular  description,  which  in  some  parts  of 
Switzerland  is  sung  or  blown  on  the  Alpine  horn 
in  June,  to  call  the  cattle  from  the  valleys  to  the 
higher  pastures.  Several  derivations  have  been 
suggested  for  the  words  ranz  and  reihen  orrelgen. 
Ranz  has  been  translated  by  the  English  '  rant,' 
and  the  French  '  rondeau,'  and  has  been  derived 
from  the  Keltic  root  '  renk '  or  '  rank,'  which 
may  also  be  the  derivation  of  reihen,  in  which 
case  both  words  would  mean  the  '  procession,  or 
march,  of  the  cows.'  Stalder  (' Schweizerisches 
Idiotikon')  thinks  that  reihen  means  'to  reach,' 
or  '  fetch,'  while  other  authorities  say  that  the 
word  is  the  same  as  reigen  (a  dance  accompanied 
by  singing),  and  derive  ranz  from  the  Swiss  patois 
'  ranner,'  to  rejoice. 

The  Ranz  des  Vaches  are  very  numerous,  and 
differ  both  in  music  and  words  in 'the  different 
cantons.  They  are  extremely  irregular  in  char 
acter,  full  of  long  cadences  and  abrupt  changes 
of  tempo.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  they  are 
seldom  strictly  in  tune,  more  particularly  when 
played  on  the  Alpine  horn,  an  instrument  in 
which,  like  the  BAGPIPE,  the  note  represented 
by  F  is  really  an  extra  note  between  F  and  F$. 
This  note  is  very  characteristic  of  the  Ranz  des 
Vaches ;  passages  like  the  following  being  re 
peated  and  varied  almost  ad  infinitum. 


Though  of  little  musical  value,  a  fictitious 
interest  has  been  long  attached  to  the  Ranz 
des  Vaches  owing  to  the  surroundings  in  which 
they  are  generally  heard.  Sung  to  a  piano 
forte  accompaniment  in  a  concert-room,  they 
would  sound  little  better  than  a  string  of  semi- 
barbarous  cadences,  but  heard  at  dawn  or  at 
sunset  in  some  remote  Alpine  valley,  and  sung 
with  the  strange  gradations  of  falsetto  and  chest 
voice  softened  by  distance,  they  possess  a  peculiar 

1  There  is  a  curious  analogy  between  the  above  and  the  following 
strain,  which  is  sung  with  infinite  variations  in  the  agricultural  dis 
tricts  near  London  to  frighten  away  the  birds  from  the  seed.  In  both 
passages  the  F  is  more  nearly  F$  • 


76 


EANZ  DES  VACHES. 


and  undeniable  charm.  The  most  celebrated  of 
them  is  that  of  Appenzell,  a  copy  of  which  is  said 
to  have  been  sent  to  our  Queen  Anne,  with  whom 
it  was  a  great  favourite.  The  first  work  in  which  it 
was  printed  is  Georg  Rhaw's  'Bicinia  '  (Witten 
berg,  1545).  It  is  also  to  be  found  in  a  dissertation 
on  Nostalgia  in  Zwinger's  '  Fasciculus  Disserta- 
tionum  Medicarum'  (Basle,  1710).  Eousseau 
printed  a  version  in  his '  Dictionnaire  de  Musique,' 
which  Laborde  arranged  for  4  voices  in  his  '  Essai 
BUT  la  Musique.'  It  was  used  by  Gretry  in  his 
Overture  to  '  Guillaume  Tell,'  and  by  Adam  in 
his  '  Methode  de  Piano  du  Conservatoire.' l  It 
has  been  also  arranged  by  Webbe,  Weigl,  Eossini 
('Guillaume  Tell ')  and  Meyerbeer.  The  following 
example  is  sung  in  the  Alps  of  Gruyere  in  the 
Canton  of  Friburg: — 
Andante, 


~7f  —  ?J  W~f 

-MIL. 

'   '    r   P     3     1- 

f    \  \            i                                            A             P 

SJ 

2 

vi>  n  "  ^ 

r 

Le"  z'armailli       del              Co  -  lorn 

p    r           * 

^      V 

-  bet  -  t6 

|        g    ~ 

•  =--=  P  — 

—  tp«  —  U  —  gS  

"           "5 

Di5     bon  ma    -    tin       s&      s&n   16   -    - 

^                    -   •              P 

ha.                     Ha 

.                           • 

.p"        P     - 

„             I 

P  •       1 

-.eCE 

-    P               t 

u    • 

__»ptKK^-        ^ 

»   . 

1*    I* 

~V%£P^~ 

ha!            Ha     ha!     v^^        Liauba!   Liauba!    por    a  -  ri- 
r^                   Allegro. 

m                  UP 

*               •            —  • 

P                           A 

in 

1        1        P 

1                               • 

u  

E 

M 

f               ^* 

.   *_.             L. 

a  !                       Vi  -  en  -  d(5      to  -  t6,    Bliantz'    et       na'i  -  re". 

1     •     ^   -  m    - 

P    P             • 

•     •             o 

—  —  r-r-f—  r 

r   r   p     *     •  " 

•       •        i 

k*               ^      '      "      V*                 i* 
Rodz'et  mot-ai  -  16,  Dz'jouvenet    o  -  tro. 

D6  -  zo  on     tsch^-no 

s~  ^                   /T\  /T\ 

•         •         -           A 

p  p        • 

s  •           ^     ..        n 

—  ^S-L^f-^- 

,           -  *-    '      *-    -       .  .  ^-             ^_    -      ^       '  :   B 
Jo'i6     voz'  ar  -  io    Dt§    zo    on  treinblio    'io       "ie     tieintzo  ! 

Andante.              ^                             /T\  /r\ 

m                    •        i             A 

r*T  I     _L*n                S 

f 

i*rr  f         ^ 

f  W"*I^J 

9        L 

P  f  ^  tKi^l 

C3^"^  Liauba  !      Liauba  !  por  ar  -  i  -  a  ! 

jc»                                  ^ 

6-^*^     Liauba! 

•     -      •               • 

•                                    II 

fe 

Liauba!    por     ari    -    a!  2  fW  B  S  1 

EAPPOLDI,  EDUARD,  born  at  Vienna,  Feb. 
21,  1839.  He  was  placed  by  his  father  at  an 
early  age  under  Doleschall,  and  made  his  first 
appearance  in  his  ^th  year  as  violinist,  pianist, 
and  composer.  His  talent  for  the  pianoforte  was  so 
great  as  to  induce  the  Countess  Banffy  to  put  him 

1  Other  examples  and  descriptions  will  be  found  Jn  the  follo-sviag 
works:— Cappeller's  'Pilati  Montis  Historia'  (1757);  Stolberg's  'Eeise 
in  Deutschland,  der  Schweiz,  etc."  (1794) ;   EbeFs  '  Schilderung  der 
GebirgsvOlker  der  Schweiz'  (1798);   Sigmund  von  Wagner's  'Acht 
Schweizer  Kuhreihen*  (1805);  the  article  on  Viotti  in  the  'Decade 
Philosophique '  (An  6) ;  Castelnau's  'Considerations  sur la Nostalgie' 
1806) ;  Edward  Jones's  '  Musical  Curiosities '  (1811) ;  Tarenne's  '  Samm- 
lung  von  Schweizer  Kuhreihen  und  Volksliedern'  (1818);  Huber's 
'Recueil  de  Kanz  de  Vaches'  (1830);  and  Tobler's  '  Appenzellischer 
Sprachschatz'  (1837). 

2  Translation,  by  Fenimore  Cooper:— 'The  cowherds  of  Colombette 
arise  at  an  earJy  hour,  Ha,  ha!  Ha,  ha!  Liauba!  Liauba!  in  order  to 
milk !  Come  s,ll  of  you,  Black  and  white,  Ked  and  mottled,  Young  and 
old ;  Beneath  this  oak  I  am  about  to  milk  you.  Beneath  this  poplar 
I  am  about  to  press.    Liauba !  Liauba !  in  order  to  milk ! ' 


EASOUMOWSKY. 

under  Mittag,  Thalberg's  teacher.    But  the  violin 
was  the  instrument  of  his  choice,  and  he  suc 
ceeded  in  studying  it  under  Jansa,  who  induced 
him  to  go  to  London  in  1850.     Here  he  made  no 
recorded  appearance.     On  his  return  to  Vienna 
he  was  so  far  provided  for  by  the  liberality  of  the 
same  lady,  that  he  became  a  pupil  of  the  Conser 
vatoire  under  Hellmesberger  from  1851  to  1854. 
He  then  put  himself  under  Bb'hm,  and  shortly 
began  to  travel,  and  to  be  spoken  of  as  a  promis 
ing  player.     The  first  real  step  in  his  career  was 
conducting  a  concert  of  Joachim's  at  Rotterdam 
in  1866.     At  the  end  of  that  year  he  went  to 
Liibeck  as  Capellmeister,  in  1867  to  Stettin  in 
the  same  capacity,  and  -in  1869  to  the  Landes- 
theater  at  Prague.     During  this  time  he  was 
working  hard  at  the  violin,  and  also  studying  com 
position  with  Sechter  and  Hiller.    From  1870  to 
77  he  was  a  colleague  of  Joachim's  at  the  Hoch- 
schule   at   Berlin — where  he  proved  himself  a 
first-rate  teacher — and  a  member  of  his  Quartet 
party.     In  1876  he  was  made  Eoyal  Professor, 
and  soon  after  received  a  call  to  a  Concertmeister- 
ship  at  Dresden.      This  however  his   love  for 
Joachim  and  for  Berlin,  where  he  had  advanced 
sufficiently  to  lead  the  Quartets  alternately  with 
his  chief,  induced  him  for  a  long  time  to  hesitate 
to  accept,  notwithstanding  the  very  high  terms 
offered.     At  length,  however,  he  did  accept  it, 
and  is  now  joint  Concertmeister  with  Lauterbach 
at  the  Dresden  opera,  and  chief  teacher  in  the 
Conservatorium.     Though  a  virtuoso  of  the  first 
rank,  he  has  followed  in  the  footsteps  of  Joachim 
by  sacrificing  display  to  the  finer  interpretation 
of  the  music,  and  has  succeeded  in  infusing  a 
new  spirit  into  chamber-music  at  Dresden.    He 
has  composed  symphonies,  quartets,  sonatas,  and 
songs,  some  of  which  hav«  been  printed.    They 
are  distinguished  for  earnestness,  and  for  great 
beauty  of  form,  and  a  quartet  was  performed  in 
Dresden  in  the  winter   of  1878  which  aroused 
quite  an  unusual  sensation.     In  1874  Rappoldi 
married  a  lady  who  is  nearly  as  distinguished  as 
himself — Miss  LAURA  KAHEER,  who  was  born  in 
Vienna  in  1853,  and  whose  acquaintance  he  made 
many  years  before  at  Prague.     Her  talent,  like 
his,  showed  itself  very  early.    On  the  nomination 
of  the  Empress  Elisabeth  she  became  a  pupil  of 
the  Conservatorium  at  Vienna,  under  Dachs  and 
DessofF,  from  1866  to  69.     After  taking  the  first 
prize,  she  made  a  tournee  to  the  principal  towns  of 
Germany,  ending  at  Weimar.    There  she  studied 
under  Liszt,  and  matured  that  beauty  of  touch, 
precision,  fire,  and  intelligence,  which  have  raised 
her  to  the  first  rank  of  pianists  in  Germany,  and 
which  induced  Herr  von  Biilow — no  lenient  critic 
— to  praise  her  playing  of  Beethoven's  op.  106  in 
the  highest  terms.     She  is  the  worthy  colleague 
of  her  husband  in  the  best  concerts   of  Dres 
den.    Mme.  Kahrer-Eappoldi  has  not  yet  visited 
England.  [G.] 

EASOUMOWSKY,3     ANDREAS     KTRILLO- 
VITSCH,  a  Eussian  nobleman  to  whom  Beethoven 

3  Pronounced  Rasumoffsky,  -which  is  Beethoven's  spelling  in  the 
dedication  of  the  5th  and  6th  Symphonies  ;  Rasoumoflsky  in  that  of 
the  Quartets. 


RASOUMOWSKY. 

dedicated  three  of  his  greatest  works,  and  whose 
name  will  always  survive  in  connexion  with  the 
'  Rasoumowsky  Quartets'  (op.  59).  He  was  the 
son  of  Kyrill  (i.e.  Cyril)  Rasum,  a  peasant  of 
Lemeschi,  a  village  in  the  Ukraine,  who,  with 
his  elder  brother,  was  made  a  Count  (Graf)  by 
the  Empress  Elisabeth  of  Russia.  Andreas  was 
born  Oct.  22,  1752,  served  in  the  English  and 
Russian  navies,  rose  to  the  rank  of  admiral,  and 
was  Russian  ambassador  at  Venice,  Naples,  Copen 
hagen,  Stockholm,  and  Vienna.  In  England  his 
name  must  have  been  familiar,  or  Foote  would 
hardly  have  introduced  it  as  he  has  in  'The  Liar' 
(1762).  At  Vienna  he  married,  in  1788,  Elisabeth 
Countess  of  Thun,  one  of  the  'three  Graces,' 
elder  sister  of  the  Princess  Carl  Lichnowsky 
[see  vol.  ii.  132  a];  and  on  March  25,  1792, 
had  his  audience  from  the  Emperor  of  Austria 
as  Russian  ambassador,  a  post  which  he  held 
with  short  intervals  for  more  than  20  years.  He 
was  a  thorough  musician,  an  excellent  player 
of  Haydn's  quartets,  in  which  he  took  2nd 
violin,  not  improbably  studying  them  under 
Haydn  himself.  That,  with  his  connexion  with 
Lichnowsky,  he  must  have  known  Beethoven  is 
obvious  ;  but  no  direct  trace  of  the  acquaintance 
is  found  until  May  26,  1806  (six  weeks  after  the 
withdrawal  of  Fidelio),  which  Beethoven — in  his 
usual  polyglott — has  marked  on  the  first  page 
of  the  Quartet  in  F  of  op.  59,  as  the  date  on 
which  he  began  it — '  Quartet  to  angefangen  am 
26ten  May  1806.' 

In  1808  the  Count  was  in  possession  of  his 
own  palace,  in  the  Landstrasse  suburb,  on  the 
Donau  Canal,  an  enormous  building  'on  which  for 
nearly  20  years  he  lavished  all  his  means,'  now 
the  Geological  Institute;  and  in  the  summer 
or  autumn  of  the  same  year  formed  his  famous 
quartet  party — Suhuppanzigh,  1st  violin  ;  Weiss, 
viola  ;  Lincke,  cello  ;  and  he  himself  2nd  violin1 
— which  for  many  years  met  in  the  evenings,  and 
performed,  among  other  compositions,  Beethoven's 
pieces,  'hot  from  the  fire,'  under  his  own  im 
mediate  instructions. 

In  April  1809  appeared  the  C  minor  and 
Pastoral  Symphonies  (^Nos.  5  and  6),  with  a  dedi 
cation  (on  the  Parts)  to  Prince  Lobkowitz  and 
'  son  excellence  Monsieur  le  Comte  de  Rasum- 
offsky '  (Breitkopf  &  H artel).  These  dedications 
doubtless  imply  that  Beethoven  was  largely  the 
recipient  of  the  Count's  bounty,  but  there  is 
no  direct  evidence  of  it,  and  there  is  a  strange 
absence  of  reference  to  the  Count  in  Beethoven's 
letters.  His  name  is  mentioned  only  once — July 
24,  1813 — and  there  is  a  distant  allusion  in  a 
letter  of  a  much  later  date  (Nohl,  Briefe  B.  1865, 
No.  354).  How  different  to  the  affection,  the 
jokes,  the  grumbling,  the  intimate  character,  of 
his  notes  to  his  other  friends  and  supporters  ! 
In  the  autumn  of  1814  came  the  Vienna  Congress 
(Nov.  1, 1814 — June  9,  1815),  and  as  the  Empress 
of  Russia  was  in  Vienna  at  the  time,  the  Am 
bassador's  Palace  was  naturally  the  scene  of 
special  festivities  It  was  not  however  there 
that  Beethoven  was  presented  to  the  Empress, 

1  Afterwards  played  by  Sina. 


RASOUMOWSKY. 


77 


but  at  the  Archduke  Rodolph's.2  The  Count's 
hospitalities  were  immense,  and,  vast  as  was  his 
palace,  a  separate  wooden  annexe  had  to  be  con 
structed  capable  of  dining  700  persons. 

On  June  3,  1815,  six  days  before  the  signa 
ture  of  the  final  Act  of  the  Congress,  the  Count 
was  made  Prince  (Flirst),  and  on  the  3ist  of  the 
following  December  the  dining-hall  just  mentioned 
was  burnt  down.  The  Emperor  of  Russia  gave 
400,000  silver  roubles  (£40,000)  towards  the 
rebuilding,  but  the  misfortune  appears  to  have 
been  too  much  for  the  Prince  ;  he  soon  after  sold 
the  property,  pensioned  his  quartet,  and  disappears 
from  musical  history.  The  quartet  kept  together 
for  many  years  after  this  date,  Sina  playing  2nd 
violin.  Beethoven  mentions  them  a  propos  to 
the  Gallitzin  Quartets  in  the  letter  to  his  nephew 
already  referred  to,  about  1825.  [A.W.  T.] 

The  three  quartets  to  which  Rasoumowsky's 
name  is  attached  form  op.  59,  and  are  in  F,  E 
minor,  and  C  respectively.  The  first  of  the  three, 
as  already  mentioned,  was  begun  May  26,  1806, 
and  the  whole  three  were  finished  and  had 
evidently  been  played  before  Feb.  27,  1807, the 
date  of  a  letter  in  the  Allg.  mus.  Zeitung  de 
scribing  their  characteristics.3  They  were  pub 
lished  in  Jan.  1808  (Vienna  Bureau  des  Arts ; 
Pesth,  Schreyvogel),  and  the  dedication  (on  the 
Parts)  begins  'Trois  Quatuors  tres  humblement 
dedides  a  son  Excellence  Monsieur  le  Comte,' 
etc.  Beethoven  himself  mentions  them  in  a  letter 
to  Count  Brunswick,  which  he  has  dated  May  1 1 , 
1806,  but  which  Mr.  Thayer  (iii.  u)  sees  reason 
to  date  1807. 

The  Quartet  in  F  is  the  one  which  Bernard 
Romberg  is  said  to  have  thrown  on  the  ground 
and  trampled  upon  as  unplayable. — The  slow 
movement  is  entitled  in  the  Sketchbook  '  Einen 
Trauerweiden  oder  Akazienbaum  aufsGrabmeines 
Bruders ' — A  weeping  willow  or  acacia  tree  over 
the  grave  of  my  brother.  But  which  brother  ?  Au 
gust  died  in  1783,  23  years  before,  Carl  not  till 
10  years  after,  and  Johann  not  till  1848.  Carl's 
marriage-contract  had  however  been  signed  only 
on  May  25,  1806.  Is  it  possible  that  this  in 
scription  is  a  Beethovenish  joke  on  the  occasion  ? 
If  so,  he  began  in  fun  and  ended  in  earnest. — 
Mendelssohn  was  accustomed  to  say  that  this 
Quartet,  and  that  in  F  minor  (op.  95),  were  the 
most  Beethovenish  of  all  Beethoven's  works. — 
The  finale  has  a  Russian  theme  in  D  minor  for 
its  principal  subject : — 

Th£me  russe.  Allegro. 


sempre 


2  Schindler,  i.  233  (quoted  by  Thayer,  iii.  321).    The  statement  under 
BEETHOVEN  [vol.  i.  192  a]  is  incorrect, 

3  They  are  again  alluded  to  in  the  number  for  May  5  as  more  and 
more  successful,  and  possibly  to  be  soon  published  ;  and  then,  with 
astonishing  na'ivett,  follows  '  Eberl's  newest  compositions,  too,  ara 
anticipated  with  great  pleasure '  I 


7S 


RASOUMOWSKY. 


The  2nd  of  the  three  has  a  Russian  theme  in 
E  major  as  the  Trio  of  its  third  movement : — 

(Allegretto).  Theme  russe. 


S2 


•*=-•- 


w 


cresc. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  know  the  original 
names  and  forms  of  these  two  themes:  they  do 
not  appear  to  have  been  yet  identified.  [G.] 

RATAPLAN,  like  Rub-a-dub,  appears  to  be 
an  imitative  word  for  the  sound  of  the  drum,  as 
TAN-TA-RA  is  for  that  of  the  trumpet,  and  Tootle- 
tootle  for  the  flute.1  It  is  hardly  necessary  to 
mention  its  introduction  by  Donizetti  in  the 
'Fille  du  Regiment,'  or  by  Meyerbeer  in  the 
'  Huguenots' ;  and  every  Londoner  is  familiar  with 
it  in  Sergeant  Bouncer's  part  in  Sullivan's  '  Cox 
and  Box,'  especially  in  his  first  song,  'Yes,  yes, 
in  those  merry  days.'  '  Rataplan,  der  kleine 
Tambour  '  is  the  title  of  a  Singspiel  by  Pillwitz, 
which  was  produced  at  Bremen  in  1831,  and  had 
a  considerable  run  both  in  North  and  South 
Germany  between  that  year  and  1836.  [G.] 

RAUZZINI,  VENANZIO,  born  174^,  in  Rome, 
where  he  made  his  d£but  in  1765,  captivating 
his  audience  by  his  fine  voice,  clever  acting, 
and  prepossessing  appearance.  In  1767  he 
sang  in  Vienna,  and  then  accepted  an  engage 
ment  in  Munich,  where  four  of  his  operas  were 
performed.  In  London  he  made  his  first  ap 
pearance  in  1774.  Here  also  he  distinguished 
himself  as  an  excellent  teacher  of  singing,  Miss 
Storace,  Braham,  Miss  Poole  (afterwards  Mrs. 
Dickons),  and  Incledon,  being  among  his  pupils. 
In  1778  and  79  ne  gave  subscription  concerts 
with  the  violinist  Lamotte,  when  they  were  as 
sisted  by  such  eminent  artistes  as  Miss  Harrop, 
Signor  Rovedino,  Fischer,  Cervetto,  Stamitz, 
Decamp,  and  Clementi.  He  also  gave  brilliant 
concerts  in  the  new  Assembly  Rooms  (built  1771) 
at  Bath,  where  he  took  up  his  abode  on  leaving 
London.  Here  he  invited  Haydn  and  Dr.  Burney 
to  visit  him,  and  the  three  spent  several  pleasant 
days  together  in  1794.  On  this  occasion  Haydn 
wrote  a  four-part  canon  (or  more  strictly  a  round) 
to  an  epitaph  on  a  favourite  dog  buried  in  Rauz- 
zini's  garden,  'Turk  was  a  faithful  dog  and  not  a 
man.' a  Rauzzini's  operas  performed  in  London 
were  '  La  Regina  di  Golconda'  (1775);  'Armida' 
(1778);  'Creusa  in  Delfo '  (1782);  and  'La 
Vestale'  (1787).  He  composed  string-quartets, 
sonatas  for  PF.,  Italian  arias  and  duets,  and 
English  songs ;  also  a  Requiem  produced  at  the 
little  Haymarket  Theatre  in  1801,  by  Dr.  Arnold 
and  Salomon.  He  died,  universally  regretted,  at 
Bath  in  1810.  His  brother 

MATTEO,  born  in  Rome  1754,  made  his  first 
appearance  at  Munich  in  1772,  followed  his 
brother  to  England,  and  settled  in  Dublin,  where 

1  Other  forms  are  Patapataplan,  Palalalalan,  Bumberumbumbum. 
gee  the  Dictionnaire  Encyclope'dique  of  Sachs  &  Villatte. 

2  For  this  Round  see  Pohl,  Haydn  in  London,  p.  276. 


RAVINA. 

he  produced  an  opera,  '  II  Re  pastore.'  He 
employed  himself  in  teaching  singing,  and  died 
in  1 79 1.  [C.F.P.] 

RAVENSCROFT,  JOHN,  one  of  the  Tower 
Hamlets  waits,  and  violinist  at  Goodman's  Fields 
Theatre,  was  noted  for  his  skill  in  the  composi 
tion  of  hornpipes,  a  collection  of  which  he  pub 
lished.  Two  of  them  are  printed  in  Hawkins's 
History.  He  died  about  1 740.  [W.H.H.] 

RAVENSCROFT,  THOMAS,  Mus.  Bac.,  born 
about  1582,  was  a  chorister  of  St.  Paul's  under 
Edward  Pearce,  and  graduated  at  Cambridge  in 
1607.     IB  J6o9  he  edited  and  published  'Pam- 
melia.  Musickes  Miscellanie:  or  Mixed  Varietie 
of  pleasant  Roundelayes  and  delightful  Catches 
of  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9,  10  Parts  in  one' — the  earliest 
collection  of  rounds,  catches  and  canons  printed 
in  this  country.     A  second  impression  appeared 
in  1618.     Later  in  1609  he  put  forth  'Deutero- 
melia ;  or  the  Second  Part  of  Musick's  Melodic, 
or  melodius  Musicke  of  Pleasant  Roundelaies; 
K.  H.  mirth,  or  Freemen's  Songs  and  such  de- 
lightfull  Catches ' ;  containing  the  catch,  '  Hold 
thy   peace,   thou    knave,'    sung   in   Shakspere's 
'Twelfth  Night.'     In  1611   he  published  'Me- 
lismata.     Musicall  Phansies,  fitting  the  Court, 
Citie,  and  Countrey  Humours,  to  3,  4  and  5 
Voyces.'     In  1611  he  published  'A  Briefe  Dis 
course    of    the    true    (but    neglected)    use    of 
Charact'ring  the   Degrees  by  their  Perfection, 
Imperfection,   and   Diminution    in    Mensurable 
Musicke  against  the  Common  Practise  and  Cus- 
tome   of  these   Times ;    Examples  whereof  are 
exprest  in  the  Harmony  of  4  Voyces  Concerning 
the  Pleasure  of  5  usuall  Recreations.     I.  Hunt 
ing.     2.  Hawking.     3.   Dancing.     4.  Drinking. 
5.  Enamouring' — a  vain  attempt  to  resuscitate 
an  obsolete  practice.    The  musical  examples  were 
composed  by  Edward  Pearce,  John  Bennet,  and 
Ravenscroft  himself.     In  1621  he  published  the 
work  by  which  he  is  best  known,  '  The  Whole 
Booke   of  Psalmes :    With  the  Hymnes  Evan- 
gelicall  and  Spirituall.     Composed  into  4  parts 
by  Sundry  Authors  with  severall  Tunes  as  have 
been  and  are  usually  sung  in  England,  Scotland, 
Wales,  Germany,  Italy,  France,  and  the  Nether 
lands.'     Another  edition  '  newly  corrected  and 
enlarged'  was  published  in  1633.   Four  anthems 
or  motets  by  Ravenscroft  are  among  the  MSS. 
in  the  library  of  Christ  Church,  Oxford.  The  date 
of  his  death  is  not  known.     It  is  said  by  some 
to  have  been  about  1630,  and  by  others  about 
1635-  [W.H.H.] 

RAVINA,  JEAN  HENRT,  a  pianoforte  com 
poser,  was  born  May  20,  1818,  at  Bourdeaux, 
where  his  mother  was  a  prominent  musician.  At 
the  instance  of  Rode  and  Ziminermann  the  lad 
was  admitted  to  the  Conservatoire  of  Paris  in 
1831.  His  progress  was  rapid— 2nd  prize  for 
PF.  in  1832;  1st  prize  for  the  same  in  1834; 
1st  for  harmony  and  accompaniment  in  1835, 
a  joint  professorship  of  PF.  Nov.  1835.  In  Feb. 
1837  ne  left  ^e  Conservatoire  and  embarked  on 
the  world  as  a  virtuoso  and  teacher.  He  has 
resided  exclusively  at  Paris,  with  the  exception 


EAVINA. 

of  a  journey  to  Russia  in  1853,  and  Spain  in 
1871.      He  received  the  Legion  of  Honour  in 
1 86 1.     His  compositions — of  which  the  latest  is 
op.  80 — are  almost  all  salon  pieces,  many  of  them 
very  favourite  in  their  time,  graceful  and  effective, 
but  with  no  permanent  qualities.     He  has  also 
published  a  4-hand  arrangement  of  Beethoven's 
nine  symphonies.    Ravina  is  still  living  in  Paris. 
The  above  sketch  is  indebted  to  M.  Pougin's  sup 
plement  to  Fe'tis.  [G-] 
RAWLINGS,  or  RAWLINS,  THOMAS,  born 
about   1703,  was  a  pupil   of  Dr.  Pepusch,   and 
a  member  of  Handel's  orchestra  at  both  opera 
and  oratorio  performances.     On  March  14,  1753? 
he  was  appointed  organist  of  Chelsea  Hospital. 
He  died  in  1 767.   His  son,  ROBERT,  born  in  1 742, 
was  a  pupil  of  his  father,  and  afterwards  of  Bar- 
'santi.     At  17  he  was  appointed  musical  page  to 
the  Duke  of  York,  with  whom  he  travelled  on 
the  continent  until  his  death  in  1767,  when  he 
returned  to  England  and  became  a  violinist  in 
the  King's  band  and  Queen's  private  band.     He 
died  in  1814,  leaving  a  son,  THOMAS  A.,  born 
in   17/5,  who  studied  music  under  his  father 
and   Dittenhofer.      He   composed    some   instru 
mental    music    performed    at    the   Professional 
Concerts,  became  a  violinist  at  the  Opera  and 
the  best  concerts,  and  a  teacher  of  the  pianoforte, 
violin  and   thorough-bass.      He   composed    and 
arranged  many  pieces   for  the   pianoforte,  and 
some  songs.                                              [W.H.H.] 

RAYMOND  AND  AGNES,  a  'grand  ro 
mantic  English  Opera  in  3  acts';  words  by  E. 
Fitzball,  music  by  E.  J.  Loder.  Produced  at  St. 
James's  Theatre,  London,  June  n,  1859.  [G-.] 

RE.  The  second  note  of  the  natural  scale  in 
solmisation  and  in  the  nomenclature  of  France 
and  Italy,  as  Ut  (or  Do)  is  the  first,  Mi  the 
third,  and  Fa  the  fourth — • 

r/  queant  laxis  resonare  film's 
Ifrra  gestorum,  /amuli  tuorum. 

By  the  Germans  and  English  it  is  called  D. 

The  number  of  double  vibrations  per  second 
for  D  is  — ;  Paris  diapason  580-7;  London 
Philharmonic  pitch  606-2.  [G.] 

RE  A,  WILLIAM,  born  in  London  March  25, 
1827;  when  about  ten  years  old  learnt  the 
pianoforte  and  organ  from  Mr.  PITTMAN,  for 
whom  he  acted  as  deputy  for  several  years.  In 
about  1843  he  was  appointed  organist  to  Christ- 
church,  Watney  Street,  and  at  the  same  time 
studied  the  pianoforte,  composition,  and  instru 
mentation  under  Sterndale  Bennett,  appearing 
as  a  pianist  at  the  concerts  of  the  Society  oi 
British  Musicians  in  1845.  On  leaving  Christ- 
church  he  was  appointed  organist  to  St.  Andrew 
Undershaft.  In  1849  he  went  to  Leipzig, 
where  his  masters  were  Moscheles  and  Richter ; 
lie  subsequently  studied  under  Dreyschock  at 
Prague.  On  his  return  to  England,  Mr.  Rea.gave 
chamber  concerts  at  the  Beethoven  Rooms,  and 
became  (1853)  organist  to  the  Harmonic  Union. 
In  1856  he  founded  the  London  Polyhymnian 
Choir,  to  the  training  of  which  he  devoted  much 
time,  and  with  excellent  results;  at  the  same  time 


READING. 


79 


ae  conducted  an  amateur  orchestral  society.    In 
1858  he  was  appointed  organist  at  St.  Michael's, 
Stock  well,  and  in  1860  was  chosen  by  competition 
organist  to  the  corporation  of  Newcastle  on  Tyne, 
where  he  also  successively  filled  the  same  post  at 
three  churches  in  succession,  and  at  the  Elswick 
Road  Chapel.    At  Newcastle  Mr.  Rea  has  worked 
hard  to  diffuse  a  taste  for  good  music,  though 
he  has  not  met  with  the  encouragement  which 
his  labours  and   enthusiasm   deserve.     Besides 
weekly  organ  and  pianoforte  recitals,  he  formed 
a  choir  of   eighty   voices,  which   in   1862    was 
amalgamated  with  the  existing  Sacred  Harmonic 
Society  of  Newcastle.       In   1867   he   began   a 
series  of  excellent  orchestral  concerts  which  were 
carried  on   every  season  for  nine  years,  when 
he  was  compelled  to  discontinue  them,  owing  to 
the  pecuniary  loss  which  they  entailed.    In  1876 
he  gave  two  performances  of  '  Antigone '  at  the 
Theatre  Royal,  and  since  then  has  devoted  most 
of  his  time  to  training  his  choir  (200  voices), 
the  Newcastle  Amateur  Vocal  Society,  and  other 
Societies  on  the  Tyne  and  in  Sunderland,  be 
sides  giving  concerts  at  which  the  best  artists 
have  performed.   Mr.  Rea's  published  works  com 
prise  four  songs,  three  organ  pieces,  and  some 
anthems.     At  the  close  of  1880  he  was  appointed 
organist  of  St.  Hilda's,  S.  Shields.          [W.B.S.] 

READING,  JOHN.  There  were  three  mu 
sicians  of  these  names,  all  organists.  The  first 
was  appointed  Junior  Vicar  choral  of  Lincoln 
Cathedral,  Oct.  10,  1667,  Poor  Vicar,  Nov.  28, 
1667,  and  Master  of  the  Choristers,  June  7,  1670. 
He  succeeded  Randolph  Jewett  as  organist  of 
Winchester  Cathedral  in  1675,  and  retained  the 
office  until  1681,  when  he  was  appointed  organist 
of  Winchester  College.  He  died  in  1692.  He  was 
the  composer  of  the  Latin  Graces  sung  before 
and  after  meat  at  the  annual  College  election 
times,  and  the  well-known  Winchester  School 
song,  '  Dulce  Domum' ;  all  printed  in  Dr.  Philip 
Hayes's  'Harmonia  Wiccamica.'  The  second 
was  organist  of  Chichester  Cathedral  from  1674 
to  1720.  Several  songs  included  in  collections 
published  between  1681  and  1688  are  probably 
by  one  or  other  of  these  two  Readings.  The  third, 
born  1677,  was  a  chorister  of  the  Chapel  Royal 
under  Dr.  Blow.  In  1700  he  became  organist  of 
Dulwich  College.  He  was  appointed  Junior  Vicar 
and  Poor  Clerk  of  Lincoln  Cathedral,  Nov.  21, 
1702,  Master  of  the  Choristers,  Oct.  5, 1703,  and 
Instructor  of  the  choristers  in  vocal  music,  Sept. 
28,  1704.  He  appears  to  have  resigned  these 
posts  in  1707  and  to  have  returned  to  London, 
where  he  became  organist  of  St.  John,  Hackney, 
St.  Dunstan  in  the  West,  St.  Mary  Woolchurchaw, 
Lombard  Street,  and  St.  Mary  Woolnoth.  He  pub 
lished  'A  Book  of  New  Songs  (after  the  Italian 
manner)  with  Symphonies  and  a  Thorough  Bass 
fitted  to  the  Harpsichord,  etc.,'  and,  whilst 
organist  of  Hackney, '  A  Book  of  New  Anthems.' 
He  was  also  the  reputed  composer  of  the  hymn 
'Adeste  fideles.'  He  died  Sept.  2,  1764. 

There  was  another  person  named  Reading, 
who  was  a  singer  at  Drury  Lane  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  I7th  century.  In  June  1695  he  and 


80 


BEADING. 


Pate,  another  singer  at  the  theatre,  were  removed 
from  their  places  and  fined  20  marks  each  for 
being  engaged  in  a  riot  at  the  Dog  Tavern,  Drury 
Lane,  but  were  soon  after  reinstated. 

A  Rev.  John  Reading,  D.D.,  Prebendary  of 
Canterbury  Cathedral,  preached  there  a  sermon 
in  defence  of  church  music,  and  published  it  in 
1663.  [W.H.H.] 

REAL  FUGUE.  That  species  of  Fugue  in 
which  the  intervals  of  the  Subject  and  Answer 
correspond  exactly,  without  reference — as  in  Tonal 
Fugue — to  the  Tonic  and  Dominant  of  the  scale 
in  which  they  are  written.  Thus,  in  the  follow 
ing  example,  the  Answer  is  an  exact  reproduction 
of  the  Subject,  in  the  fifth  above  : — 


Subject. 


Answer. 


whereas,  according  to  the  laws  of  Tonal  Fugue, 
the  Tonic  in  the  Subject  should  have  been  re 
presented  in  the  Answer  by  the  Dominant,  and 
vice  versd ;  thus — 


Subject. 


Answer. 


a^i^ 


Real  Fugue  is  an  invention  of  much  older  date 
than  its  tonal  analogue ;  and  is,  indeed,  the  only 
kind  of  Fugue  possible  in  the  Ecclesiastical  Modes. 
For,  in  those  antient  tonalities,  the  Dominant 
differs  widely  from  that  of  the  modern  Scale,  and 
exercises  widely  different   functions ;    insomuch 
that  the  Answer  to  a  given  Subject,  constructed 
with  reference  to  it,  would,  in  certain  Modes,  be 
so  distorted  as  to  set  all  recognition  at  defiance. 
The  idea   of  such   a   Dominant   as    that   upon 
which  we  now  base  our  harmonic  combinations, 
is  one  which  could  never  have  suggested  itself 
to    the    mediaeval   contrapuntist.      Accordingly, 
the  composers  of  the  I5th  and  i6th  centuries 
regulated  their  Subjects   and  Answers  in  con 
formity   with   the   principles   of  the   system   of 
Hexachords.     When   a   strict   Answer  was   in 
tended,  its  Solmisation  was  made  to  correspond 
exactly,   in   one  Hexachord,    with   that   of  the 
Subject  in  another.     Where  this  uniformity  of 
Solmisation  was  wanting — as  was  necessarily  the 
case  when  the  Answer  was  made  in  any  other 
Interval  than  that  of  the  Fourth  or  Fifth  above 
or  below  the  Subject — the  reply  was  regarded 
as  merely  an  imitative  one.1     [See  HEXACHOBD.] 
But,  even  in  imitative  replies,  the  laws  of  Real 
Fugue  required  that  a  Fifth  should  always  be 
answered  by  a  Fifth,  and  a  Fourth  by  a  Fourth  ; 
the  only  license  permitted  being  the  occasional 
substitution  of  a  Tone  for  a  Semitone,  or  a  Major 
for  a  Minor  third.     In  practice  both  the  strict 
and  the  imitative  Answer  were  constantly  em 
ployed  in  the  same  composition :  e.g.  in  the  Kyrie 
of  Palestrina's  'Missa  Brevis,'  already  quoted  as 
an  example  under  HEXACHORD,  the  Subject  is 
given  out  by  the  Alto  in  the  Hexachord  of  C ; 

1  See  the  admirable  exposition  of  the  Laws  of  Fugue,  by  J.  J.  Fux, 
"Gradus  ad  Parnassum,'  Vienna  1725,  pp.  143,  et  seg. 


REAL  FUGUE. 

answered  strictly  by  the  Bass  in  that  of  F;  again 
answered,  in  the  same  Hexachord,  by  the  Treble; 
and  then  imitated,  first  by  the  Tenor,  and  after 
wards  by  the  Bass,  with  a  whole  Tone,  instead 
of  a  Semitone,  between  the  second  and  third 
notes.  Among  the  best  writers  of  the  best  period 
of  Art  we  find  these  mixed  Fugues — which 
would  now  be  called  'Fugues  of  Imitation' — in 
much  more  frequent  use  than  those  which  con 
tinued  strict  throughout,  and  forming  the  founda 
tion  of  some  of  the  finest  polyphonic  Masses  and 
Motets. 

When  the  Imitation,  instead  of  breaking  off  at 
the  end  of  the  few  bars  which  form  the  Subject, 
continues  uninterruptedly  throughout  an  entire 
movement,  the  composition  is  called  a  Perpetual 
Fugue,  or,  as  we  should  now  say,  a  Canon.    A 
detailed  classification  of  the  different  varieties 
of  Real  Fugue,  perpetual,  interrupted,  strict,  or 
free,  in  use  during  the  I4th  and  I5th  centuries, 
would  be  of  very  little  practical  service,  since  the 
student  who  would  really  master  the  subject  must 
of  necessity  consult  the  works  of  the  great  masters 
for  himself.     In  doing  this,  he  will  find  no  lack 
of  interesting  examples,  and  will  do  well  to  begin 
by  making   a   careful   analysis   of  Palestrina's 
'  Missa  ad  Fugam,'  which  differs  from  the  work 
published  by  Alfieri  and  Adrien  de  Lafage  under 
the  title  of  '  Missa  Canonica,'  in  one  point  only, 
and  that  a  very  curious  one.     In  the  '  Missa 
Canonica,'  in   the  First   or  Dorian  mode,  two 
Voices  lead  off  a  Perpetual  Real  Fugue,  which 
the  two  remaining  Voices  supplement  with  an 
other,  distinct  from,  but  ingeniously  interwoven 
with  it ;    the  two  Subjects  proceeding  uninter 
ruptedly  together  until  the  end  of  each  several 
Movement — a  style  of  composition  which  is  tech 
nically  termed   'Canon,   four  in  two.'     In  the 
'Missa  ad  Fugam,'  in  the  Seventh  Mode,  the 
four  Voices  all  start  with  the  same  Subject,  but 
after  a  few  bars  separate  themselves  into  two 
Choirs,  each  of  which  diverges  into  a  Perpetual 
Real  Fugue  of  its  own,  which  continues  unin 
terruptedly  to  the  end  of  the  Movement,  after 
the  manner  of  the  '  Missa  Canonica.' 2 

Though  less  esteemed  by  modern  Composers 
than  Tonal  Fugue,  Real  Fugue  is  still  practised 
with  success  even  in  modern  tonalities.  John 
Sebastian  Bach  has  left  us  many  masterly  ex 
amples,  both  for  Voices— as  in  the  Mass  in  B 
minor — and  for  the  Organ.  Handel  has  done 
the  same  in  some  of  his  finest  Choruses,  as  '  The 
earth  swallowed  them '  in  Israel  in  ^gypt, 
and  the  matchless  'Amen'  in  the  Messiah; 
while  in  no  less  than  five  of  his  six  beautiful 
Fugues  for  the  Pianoforte  (op.  25),  Mendelssohn 
has  forsaken  the  Tonal  for  the  Real  method  of 
construction. 

The  converse  practice,  on  the  part  of  antient 
Composers,  is  exceedingly  rare,  though  instances 
of  pure  Tonal  Fugue  may  be  found,  even  in  the 

2  Choron's  edition  of  the  'Missa  ad  Fugam'  is  out  of  print;  but 
several  copies  of  the  work  are  preserved  in  the  Library  of  the  British 
Museum.  [See  KACCOLTA  GENERALS.]  Albrechtsberger  gives  the 
Second  Agnus  Dei  as  an  example  in  his  'Griindliche  Anweisung  zur 
Composition,'  vol.  ii.  p.  330  of  Merrick's  Eng.  Transl.  (Cocks  &  Co.) 
The  'Missa  Canonica'  is  printed  in  the  'Cinq  Messes  de  Palestrina,' 
edited  by  Adrien  de  Lafage  (Paris,  Launer ;  London,  Schott  &  Co.) 


REAL  FUGUE. 


REBEC. 


81 


1 6th  century ;  as  in  Palestrina's  beautiful,  though 
almost  unknown  Madrigal,  '  Vestiva  i  colli.' l 


Subject. 


-I — I- 


=£=*: 


etc. 


Ves  -  ti-va  i  col    -    li 


Answer. 


E^^^ESESEjE 

I    s>        r     j — «._[_  ,     -p 


etc. 


Ves  -  ti  -  va  i      col    -     li 

The  subject,  in  the  Hypodorian  Mode,  here 
passes  directly  from  the  note  which,  in  modern 
Music,  would  be  the  Dominant,  to  the  Final ; 
while  the  Answer,  in  the  Dorian  Mode,  proceeds 
from  the  Final  to  the  Authentic  Dominant — a 
method  of  treatment  which  anticipates  the  sup 
posed  invention  of  Modern  Fugue  by  more  than 
a  century.  Other  instances  may  occasionally  be 
found  among  the  works  of  cinque  cento  Com 
posers — as  in  the  Qui  tollis  of  J.  L.  Hassler's 
Missa  'Dixit  Maria'2 — but  they  are  very  un 
common  ;  and  indeed  it  is  only  in  certain  Modes 
that  they  are  possible.  [W.S.R.] 

REAY,  SAMUEL,  born  at  Hexham,  Mar.  17, 
1828  ;  was  noted  for  his  fine  voice  and  careful 
singing  as  a  chorister  at  Durham  Cathedral;  and 
under  Henshaw  the  organist,  and  Penson  the  pre 
centor  there,  became  acquainted  with  much  music 
outside  the  regular  Cathedral  services.  After 
leaving  the  choir  he  had  organ  lessons  from  Mr. 
Stimpson  of  Birmingham,  and  then  became  suc 
cessively  organist  at  St.  Andrew's,  Newcastle 
(1845);  St.  Peter's,  Tiverton  (1847);  St.  John's, 
Hampstead  (1854) '  St.  Saviour's,  Southwark 
(1856) ;  St.  Stephen's,  Paddington  ;  Radley  Col 
lege  (1859,  succeeding  Dr.  E.  G.  Monk) ;  Bury, 
Lancashire  (1861) ;  and  in  1864  was  appointed 
'  Song-schoolmaster  and  organist '  of  the  parish 
Church,  Newark,  a  post  which  he  still  holds.  In 
1871  Mr.  Reay  graduated  at  Oxford  as  Mus. 
Bac.  In  1879  he  distinguished  himself  by  pro 
ducing  at  the  Bromley  and  Bow  Institute, 
London,  two  comic  cantatas  of  J.  S.  Bach's 
(' Caffee-cantate  '  and  'Bauern-cantate'),  which 
were  performed  there — certainly  for  the  first  time 
in  England — on  Oct.  27,  under  his  direction,  to 
English  words  of  his  own  adaptation.  Mr.  Reay 
is  noted  as  a  fine  accompanyist  and  extempore 
player  on  the  organ.  He  has  published  a  Morn 
ing  and  Evening  Service  in  F,  several  anthems, 
and  2  madrigals  (all  Novello) ;  but  is  best  known 
as  a  writer  of  part-songs,  some  of  which  ('  The 
clouds  that  wrap,'  '  The  dawn  of  day ')  are  de 
servedly  popular.  [G.] 

REBEC  (Ital.  Ribeca,  Rilelia',  Span.  Rate, 
Rabel.)  The  French  name  (.said  to  be  of  Arabic 
origin)  of  that  primitive  stringed  instrument 
which  was  in  use  throughout  western  Europe  in 
the  middle  ages,  and  was  the  parent  of  the  viol  and 
violin,  and  is  identical  with  the  German '  geige ' 
and  the  English  'fiddle';  in  outline  something 

1  Printed,  with  English  words,  beginning,  'Sound  out  my  voice,'  in 
N.  Yonge's  'Musica  transalpina'  (Lond.  1558). 

2  Nuremberg,  1599.       Keprinted   in  vol.  i.  of  Proske's  '  Mus'ca 
divina.'    Katisbon  1853. 

VOL.  III.  PT.   I. 


like  the  mandoline,  of  which  it  was  probably  the 
parent.  It  was  shaped  like  the  half  of  a  pear,  and 
was  everywhere  solid  except  at  the  two  extremities, 
the  upper  of  which  was  formed  into  a  peg-box 
identical  with  that  still  in  use,  and  surmounted 
by  a  carved  human  head.  The  lower  half  was 
considerably  cut  down  in  level,  thus  leaving  the 
upper  solid  part  of  the  instrument  to  form  a 
natural  fingerboard.  The  portion  thus  cut  down 
was  scooped  out,  and  over  the  cavity  thus  formed 
was  glued  a  short  pine  bell}7,  pierced  with  two 
trefoil -shaped  soundholes,  and  fitted  with  a 


bridge  and  sounclpost.  The  player  either  rested 
the  curved  end  of  the  instrument  lightly  against 
the  breast,  or  else  held  it  like  the  violin,  between 
the  chin  and  the  collar-bone,  and  bowed  it  like 
the  violin.  It  had  three  stout  gut  strings,  tuned 
like  the  lower  strings  of  the  violin  (A.  D,  G). 
Its  tone  was  loud  and  harsh,  emulating  the  female 
voice,  according  to  a  French  poem  of  the  I3th 
century : 

Quidam  rebecam  arcuabant, 
Muliebrem  vocem  confingentes. 

An  old  Spanish  poem  speaks  of  '  el  rabe*  gri- 
tador,'  or  the  'squalling  rebec.'  This  powerful 
tone  made  it  useful  in  the  mediaeval  orchestra ; 
and  Henry  the  Eighth  employed  the  rebec  in 
his  state  band.  It  was  chiefly  used,  however,  to 
accompany  dancing ;  and  Shakspere's  musicians 
in  Romeo  and  Juliet,  Hugh  Rebeck,  Simon 
Catling  (Catgut),  and  James  Soundpost,  were 
undoubtedly  rebec-players.  After  the  inven 
tion  of  instruments  of  the  viol  and  violin  type 
it  was  banished  to  the  streets  of  towns  and  to 
rustic  festivities,  whence  the  epithet  '  jocund ' 
applied  to  it  in  Milton's  L'Allegro.  It  was 
usually  accompanied  by  the  drum  or  tambourine. 
It  was  in  vulgar  use  in  France  in  the  last  cen 
tury,  as  is  proved  by  an  ordinance  issued  by 
Guignon  in  his  official  capacity  as  '  Roi  des 
Violons'  in  1742,  in  which  street-fiddlers  are 
prohibited  from  using  anything  else;  'II  leur 
sera  permis  d'y  jouer  d'une  espece  cVinstrument 
a  trois  cordes  seulement,  et  connu  sous  le  nom. 

G 


82 


EEBEC. 


de  rebec,  sans  qu'ils  puissent  se  servir  d'un 
violon  a  quatre  cordes  sous  quelque  pre"texte  que 
ce  soit.'  A  similar  order  is  extant,  dated  1628, 
in  which  it  is  forbidden  to  play  the  treble  or  bass 
violin,  '  dans  les  cabarets  et  les  mauvais  lieux,' 
but  only  the  rebec.  The  rebec  was  extinct  in 
England  earlier  than  in  France.  It  is  now  totally 
disused,  and  no  specimen  is  known  to  exist.  Re- 
presentations  of  it  in  sculpture,  painting,  manu 
scripts,  etc.,  are  abundant.  The  illustration  is 
from  an  Italian  painting  of  the  I3th  cent,  engraved 
in  Vidal's  '  Instruments  a  Archet.'  [E.  J.P.] 

REBEL,  JEAN  FERRT,  born  in  Paris,  1669. 
After  a  precocious  childhood  entered  the  Opera 
as  a  violinist,  speedily  became  accompanyist,  and 
then  leader.  In  1 703  he  produced  '  Ulysse,'  opera 
in  5  acts  with  prologue,  containing  a  pas  seul  for 
Fran£oise  PreV6t,  to  an  air  called  '.Le  Caprice, '  for 
violin  solo.  The  opera  failed,  but  the  Caprice 
remained  for  years  the  test-piece  of  the  ballerine 
at  the  Ope"ra.  After  this  success,  Rebel  composed 
violin  solos  for  various  other  ballets,  such  as  '  La 
Boutade,'  '  Les  Caracteres  de  la  Danse,' '  Terpsi 
chore,'  'LaFantaisie,'  'LesPlaisirs  Champetres,' 
and  '  Les  Elements.'  Several  of  these  were  en 
graved,  as  were  his  sonatas  for  the  vioiln.  Rebel 
was  one  of  the  '  24  violons,'  and  '  compositeur  de 
la  chambre '  to  the  King.  He  died  in  Paris, 
1747.  His  son, 

FRANCIS,  born  in  Paris,  June  19,  1701,  at 
13  played  the  violin  in  the  Ope"ra  orchestra.  He 
thus  became  intimate  with  Fra^ois  Francoeur, 
and  the  two  composed  conjointly,  and  produced 
at  the  Acaddmie,  the  following  operas : — '  Py- 
rame  et  Thisbe"  (1726);  '  Tarsis  et  Zelie' 
(1728);  ' Scanderheg '  (1735);  'Ballet  de  la 
Paix'  (1738)  ;  'Les  Augustales '  and  fLe  Re- 
tour  du  Roi'  (1744);  'Zelindor,'  '  Le  TropheV 
(in  honour  of  Fontenoy,  1745)  ;  'Ismene'  (1750); 
'Les  Ge"nies  tute'laires '  (1751);  and  'Le  Prince 
de  Noisy'  (1760) ;  most  of  which  were  composed 
for  court  f6tes  or  public  rejoicings. 

From  1733  to  44  Rebel  and  Francoeur  were 
joint  leaders  of  the  Academic  orchestra,  and  in 
1753  were  appointed  managers.  They  soon  how 
ever  retired  in  disgust  at  the  petty  vexations 
they  were  called  upon  to  endure.  Louis  XV. 
made  them  surintendants  of  his  music,  with  the 
order  of  St.  Michel.  In  March  1757  these 
inseparable  friends  obtained  the  privilege  of  the 
Ope"ra,  and  directed  it  for  ten  years  on  their  own 
account,  with  great  administrative  ability. 

Rebel  died  in  Paris  Nov.  7,  1775.  He  com 
posed  some  cantatas,  a  Te  Deum,  and  a  De 
Profundis,  performed  at  the  Concerts  spirituels, 
but  all  his  music  is  now  forgotten,  excepting  a 
lively  air  in  the  first  finale  of  'Pyrame  et  ThisbeV 
which  was  adapted  to  a  much-admired  pas  seul 
of  Mile,  de  Camargo,  thence  became  a  popular 
contredanse — the  first  instance  of  such  adapta 
tion — and  in  this  form  is  preserved  in  the '  Clef  du 
Caveau '  under  the  title  of  '  La  Camargo.'  [G.C.] 

REBER,  NAPOLEON  -HENRI,  born  at  Mul- 
hausen,  Oct.  21, 1807  ;  at  20  entered  the  Conser 
vatoire,  studying  counterpoint  and  fugue  under 


REBER. 

Seuriot  and  Jelensperger,  and  composition  unde? 
Lesueur.    His  simple  manners  and  refined  tastes, 
high  sense  of  honour,  and  cultivated  mind,  gave 
him  the  entree  to  salons  where  the  conversation 
turned  on  art  and  intellectual  subjects,  instead  of 
on  the  commonplaces  of  ordinary  circles.  This  led 
him  to  compose  much  chamber-music,  and  to  set 
poems  by  the  best  French  poets  of  the  period. 
The  success  of  these  elegant  and  graceful  works 
induced   him  to  attempt  symphony  and  opera. 
His  music  to  the  2nd  act  of  the  charming  ballet 
'Le  Diable  amoureux'  (Sept.  23,  1840)  excited 
considerable  attention,  and  was  followed  at  the 
OpeVa-Comique  by  'La  Nuit  de  Noel,'  3  acts 
(Feb.  9,  1848),  '  Le  Pere  Gaillard,'  3  acts  (Sept. 
7,  1852),  '  Les  Papillotes  de  M.  Benolt,'  I  act 
(Dec.  28,   1853),   and   'Les  Dames  Capitaines' 
3  acts  (June  3,  1857).    In  these  works  he  strove 
to  counteract   the  tendency  towards  noise  and 
bombast  then  so  prevalent  both  in  French  and 
Italian  opera,  and  to  show  how  much  may  be 
made  out  of  the  simple  natural  materials  of  the 
old  French  ope'ra-comique  by  the  judicious  use 
of  modern  orchestration. 

In  1851  he  was  appointed  Professor  of  har 
mony  at  the  Conservatoire,  and  in  1853  the 
well-merited  success  of  '  Le  Pere  Gaillard '  pro 
cured  his  election  to  the  Institut  as  Onslow's 
successor.  Soon  after  this  he  renounced  the 
theatre,  and  returned  to  chamber-music  He 
also  began  to  write  on  music,  and  his  'Trait£ 
d' Harmonic  '  (1862),  now  in  its  3rd  edition,  is 
without  comparison  the  best  work  of  its  kind 
in  France.  The  outline  is  simple  and  methodical, 
the  classification  of  the  chords  easy  to  follow  and 
well-connected,  the  explanations  luminously  clear, 
the  exercises  practical  and  well  calculated  to 
develop  musical  taste — in  a  word,  everything 
combines  to  make  it  the  safest  and  most  valuable 
of  instruction-books.  The  second  part  especially, 
dealing  with  '  accidental '  notes — or,  notes  foreign 
to  the  constitution  of  chords — contains  novel 
views,  and  observations  throwing  light  upon 
points  and  rules  of  harmony  which  before  were 
obscure  and  confused. 

In  1862  M.  Reber  succeeded  'HaleVy  as  Pro 
fessor  of  composition  at  the  Conservatoire ;  since 
1871  he  was  also  Inspector  of  the  succursales  or 
branches  of  the  Conservatoire.  He  died  in  Paris, 
after  a  short  illness,  Nov.  24,  1880,  and  was 
succeeded  as  Professor  by  M.  Saint-Saens. 

His  compositions  comprise  4  symphonies,  a 
quintet  and  3  quartets  for  strings,  I  PF.  ditto, 
7  trios,  duets  for  PF.  and  violin,  and  PF. 
pieces  for  2  and  4  hands.  Portions  of  his  ballet 
'  Le  Diable  amoureux '  have  been  published  for 
orchestra,  and  are  performed  at  concerts.  In 
1875  he  produced  a  cantata  called  '  Roland,'  but 
'Le  Me"netrier  h  la  cour/  ope'ra-comique,  and 
'  Nairn,'  grand  opera  in  5  acts,  have  never  been 
performed,  though  the  overtures  are  engraved. 
His  best  vocal  works  are  his  melodies  for  a  single 
voice,  but  he  has  composed  choruses  for  3  and  4 
men's  voices,  and  some  sacred  pieces. 

There  is  an  admirable  portrait   of  this  dis 
tinguished  composer  by  Henri  Lehmann.    [G.C.] 


* 
jr»* 


RECITAL. 

RECITAL,  a  term  which  has  come  into  use 
in  England  to  signify  a  performance  of  solo  music 
by  one  instrument  and  one  performer.  It  was 
probably  first  used  by  Liszt  at  his  performance 
at  the  Hanover  Square  Rooms,  June  9,  1840, 
though  as  applying  to  the  separate  pieces  and 
not  to  the  whole  performance.  The  'advertise 
ment  of  the  concert  in  question  says  that 
'M.  Liszt  will  give  Recitals  on  the  Pianoforte 
of  the  following  pieces.'  The  name  has  since  been 
adopted  by  Mr.  Charles  Halle  and  others. 

The  term  Opera  Recital  is  used  for  a  concert 
in  which  the  music  of  an  opera  is  sung  without 
costume  or  acting.  [G.] 

RECITATIVE  (Ital.  Recitative;  Germ.  Re- 
citativ;  Fr.  Rtcitatif;  from  the  Latin  recitare). 
A  species  of  declamatory  Music,  extensively 
used  in  those  portions  of  an  Opera,  an  Oratorio, 
or  a  Cantata,  in  which  the  action  of  the  Drama 
is  too  rapid,  or  the  sentiment  of  the  Poetry  too 
changeful,  to  adapt  itself  to  the  studied  rhythm 
of  a  regularly-constructed  Aria. 

The  invention  of  Recitative  marks  a  crisis  in 
the  History  of  Music,   scarcely  less  important 
than   that   to  which  we  owe  the   discovery  of 
Harmony.     Whether  the  strange  conception  in 
which  it  originated  was  first  clothed  in  tangible 
form  by  Jacopo  Peri,  or  Emilio  del  Cavaliere, 
is  a  question  which   has   never   been   decided. 
There  is,  however,  little  doubt,  that  both  these 
bold  revolutionists  assisted  in  working  out  the 
theory  upon  which  that  conception  was  based ; 
for,  both  are  known  to  have  been  members  of 
that  aesthetic  brotherhood,  which  met  in  Flo 
rence  during  the  later  years  of  the  i6th  century, 
at  the  house  of  Giovanni  Bardi,  for  the  purpose 
of  demonstrating   the  possibility  of  a   modern 
revival  of  the  Classic  Drama,  in  its  early  purity ; 
and  it  is  certain  that  the  discussions  in  which 
they  then  took  part  led,  after  a  time,  to  the 
invention  of  the  peculiar  style  of  Music  we  are 
now  considering.     The  question,  therefore,  nar 
rows  itself  to  one  of  priority  of  execution  only. 
Now,  the  earliest  specimens  of  true  Recitative 
we  possess   are  to   be  found  in  Peri's  Opera, 
'Euridice,'  and  Emilio's  Oratorio,  'LaRappre- 
sentazione  dell'  Anima  e  del  Corpo,'  both  printed 
in  the  year  1600.     The  Oratorio  was  first  pub 
licly  performed  in  the  February  of  that  year,  at 
Rome :    the  Opera>,  in  December,  at  Florence. 
But  Peri  had  previously  written  another  Opera, 
'  Dafhe,'  in  exactly  the  same  style,  and  caused 
it  to  be  privately  performed,  at   the  Palazzo 
Corsi,  in  Florence,  in  1597.     Emilio  del  Cava 
liere,  too,   is  known  to  have  written  at  least 
three  earlier  pieces — 'II  Satiro/  'La  Dispera- 
zione  di  Fileno,'  and   'II  Giuoco  della  Cieca.' 
No  trace  of  either  of  these  can  now  be  found : 
and,  in  our  doubt  as  to  whether  they  may  not 
have  contained  true  Recitatives,  we  can  scarcely 
do  otherwise  than  ascribe  the  invention  to  Peri, 
who   certainly  did   use   them   in  '  Dafhe,'  and 
whose  style  is,  moreover,   far  more   truly   de 
clamatory  than  the  laboured  and  half  rhythmic 
manner  of  his  possible  rival.    [See  OPERA,  vol.  ii. 
498-500 ;  ORATORIO,  vol.  ii.  534,  535.] 


RECITATIVE. 


83 


Thus  first  launched  upon  the  world,  for  the 
purpose  of  giving  a  new  impetus  to  the  progress 
of  Art,  this  particular  Style  of  Composition  has 
undergone  less  change,  during  the  last  280  years, 
than  any  other.  What  Simple  or  Unaccom 
panied  Recitative  (Recitative  secco)  is  to-day,  it 
was,  in  all  essential  particulars,  in  the  time  of 
'  Euridice.5  Then,  as  now,  it  was  supported  by 
an  unpretentious  Thorough-Bass  (Basso  con- 
tinuo),  figured,  in  order  that  the  necessary  Chords 
might  be  filled  in  upon  the  Harpsichord,  or 
Organ,  without  the  addition  of  any  kind  of  Sym 
phony,  or  independent  Accompaniment.  Then, 
as  now,  its  periods  were  moulded  with  reference 
to  nothing  more  than  the  plain  rhetorical  de 
livery  of  the  words  to  which  they  were  set ; 
melodious  or  rhythmic  phrases  being  everywhere 
carefully  avoided,  as  not  only  unnecessary,  but 
absolutely  detrimental  to  the  desired  effect — so 
detrimental,  that  the  difficulty  of  adapting  good 
Recitative  to  Poetry  written  in  short  rhymed 
verses  is  almost  insuperable,  the  jingle  of  the 
metre  tending  to  crystallise  itself  in  regular  form 
with  a  persistency  which  is  rarely  overcome  ex 
cept  by  the  greatest  Masters.  Hence  it  is,  that 
the  best  Poetry  for  Recitative  is  Blank  Verse  : 
and  hence  it  is,  that  the  same  Intervals,  the 
same  Progressions,  and  the  same  Cadences,  have 
been  used  over  and  over  again,  by  Composers, 
who,  in  other  matters,  have  scarcely  a  trait  in 
common.  We  shall  best  illustrate  this  by  select 
ing  a  few  set  forms  from  the  inexhaustible  store 
at  our  command,  and  shewing  how  these  have 
been  used  by  some  of  the  greatest  writers  of  the 
1 7th,  1 8th,  and  I9th  centuries:  premising  that, 
in  phrases  ending  with  two  or  more  reiterated 
notes,  it  has  been  long  the  custom  to  sing  the 
first  as  an  Appoggiatura,  a  note  higher  than  the 
rest.  We  have  shewn  this  in  three  cases,  but 
the  rule  applies  to  many  others. 


(a) 


Typical  forms. 
(&)  (c) 


N  N 


Ihrc^hH 


^ 


^ 


I 


(a) 


Examples  of  their  occurrence. 

PERI  (1600).      (a)       CAVALIERE  (1600). 


£S 
tntt 


tt 


chetra  pungenti    spini. 


se  fu  meglior  pen-siero. 


6  ft 

CARISSIMI  (16 — ). 


in     victo  - 


(Sunp)  Is  -  ra  -  el. 


3E*£ 


G2 


RECITATIVE. 


RECITATIVE. 


(b)                                         CARISSIMI. 

,                                                      ROSSINT 
(a)  ^^jt^:^?:  m  +.-p.    (c)  |g»--*-  -*-    .  (1816). 

cur  e  -  go  te      Pa  -  ter  de  -  ce  -  pi  ? 

vediam    cosa    scrive.       S'apre  il  bal  -  cone. 

•"">'      ^                           '      .f-.                                  || 

-^  p=  j2  (|: 

^-b^~               »-•-       —  p-       —  -B 

«i 

J.  S.  BACH  (1734). 

•  •«•    • 

?  ^—  IP  —  —F~U 

b                             * 

(6)                                          (C)                                SPOHR(i8l3). 

i    Srlffr: 

gs-^t-^  u    p     M-5-^      -s—  *-,- 

^~&~  —  P"^^^*  1  1  -  h  "i  g  i*  P  F  s*~^~~p  —  j=-  —  »  —  H 

S3Z             '                      *   1                    II               ^ 
they  re-  j  oiced  ex  -  ceedingly  (Suns)  ceed-ing-ly. 

—  1=—  ^      —VJ~                            P  ^  ^  —  P- 

war  das  mein  Ziel  ?           was  Hohes  du  ersonnen  ! 

"^~JZ  5  8~ 

'e                                $ 
('•) 

i  

1                  •  T  f^""  n"f—     ^            r-  '  i*  1    J| 

(6)                                           MENDELSSOHN  (1836). 

7T~f-  '1*  '  'm  im  —  JT~ff«~r~|~~P  ' 

—  =  —  B- 

which  shall  be  to       all  the    people 

.r    "1-f    \>     £—  f  •  ff*—  I   (^     "    B 

in  Temples  made  with     hands. 

*"p  1  n  — 

-1^     11 

ft                   d                                     tf 
(«)                                            (*) 

—  F  —  H  • 

* 

HANDEL  (1713). 

3  —  )?«;,  .   j  ^    •  -| 

6                     B                                       J 
^>—                                                                        ^ 

^  "k^^r  —  £zp~j*~L~ihr'~ivL 

Witt"-,  r=-fl 

/f'     —  *  —  sr  —  sr=  —  jT~«ji»  F= 

il  nemi  -  co  trascorre       A  mi  dunque  Agi-  lea  ? 

and   did        nei  -  ther  eat,    nor  drink. 

b  5 
-.    («)                                                          HAYDN  (1798). 

gg:         p=3qp4fr_p-^-H  -tut*- 

•*}'-  —  '  3}*-^  F  H  1  

i         i                   f     *5 

(a)            .                          p  .             WAGNER  (i«47). 

tff—  i*-*  p£fcE5E=EBi==!^=fc= 

praising  God,      and  say  -ing:—  (Sttnj)  say  -ing. 

*^       m6g'   Gott    bei  dei  -  nem  Schwerte       stehn! 

6                                * 

-f—~  H— 

7 

<6) 

He    made  the  stars  at  -  so. 

'^—^~     -&-       --           ^—  —    =B- 

so      oft     aus  Os  -  ten      traf? 

—  '    '                   1                        J_L         U 

*                   i  * 

,}    (a)                                  (c)                MOZART  (1786). 

^                                 # 
(o) 

Q        -p-             -*-'•»-     m       -*•                                           /7\ 

che  carta  6    quella  ?              Se  il  conte  viene 
.r\:  S«    .       ...  ^^         0     <^  ~                  •  —  i  n 

er     -     scheine    hier    zur      Stell'. 

3^  ;=5^==t- 

1^=.  ^-^ 

__Q    (a)                             (<-')                  BEETHOVEN  (i«o<). 

The  universal  acceptance  of  these,  and  similar 
figures,  by  Composers  of  all  ages,  from  Peri  down 
to  Wagner,  sufficiently  proves  their  fitness  for 
the  purpose  for  which  they  were  originally  de 
signed.     But,  the  staunch  conservatism  of  Red- 
tativo  secco  goes  even  farther  than  this.     Its  Ac 
companiment   has   never   changed.     The  latest 
Composers  who  have  employed  it  have  trusted, 
for  its  support,   to   the   simple  .Basso  continuo, 
which  neither  Peri,  nor  Carissimi,  nor  Handel, 
nor  Mozart,  cared  to  reinforce  by  the  introduction 

Ich  murre  nicht!        besSnftigt  wallt 

mein  Blut.                etc. 

3  p  —  -=j  —  M    i  r-    LP- 

-  —  If51"  Hj*  —  B 

§                * 

'I     V' 

RECITATIVE. 

of  a  fuller  Accompaniment.  The  only  modifi 
cation  of  the  original  idea  which  has  found 
favour  in  modern  times  has  been  the  substitution 
of  Arpeggios,  played  by  the  principal  Violoncello, 
for  the  Harmonies  formerly  filled  in  upon  the 
Harpsichord,  or  Organ — and  we  believe  we  are 
right  in  asserting  that  this  device  has  never  been 
extensively  adopted  in  any  other  country  than 
our  own.  Here  it  ppevailed  exclusively  for  many 
years.  A  return  has  however  lately  been  made 
to  the  old  method  by  the  employment  of  the 
Piano,  first  by  Mr.  Otto  Goldschmidt  at  a  per 
formance  of  Handel's  L' Allegro  in  1863,  and 
more  recently  by  Dr.  Stainer,  at  St.  Paul's,  in 
various  Oratorios. 

Again,  this  simple  kind  of  Recitative  is  as 
free,  now,  as  it  was  in  the  first  year  of  the  1 7th 
century,  from  the  trammels  imposed  by  the  laws 
of  Modulation.  It  is  the  only  kind  of  Music 
which  need  not  begin  and  end  in  the  same  Key. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  usually  begins  upon  some 
Chord  not  far  removed  from  the  Tonic  Harmony 
of  the  Aria,  or  Concerted  Piece,  which  preceded 
it ;  and  ends  in,  or  near,  the  Key  of  that  which  is 
to  follow  :  but  its  intermediate  course  is  governed 
by  no  law  whatever  beyond  that  of  euphony. 
Its  Harmonies  exhibit  more  variety,  now,  than 
they  did  two  centuries  ago  ;  but  they  are  none 
the  less  free  to  wander  wherever  they  please, 
passing  through  one  Key  after  another,  until 
they  land  the  hearer  somewhere  in  the  immediate 
neighbourhood  of  the  Key  chosen  for  the  next 
regularly-constructed  Movement.  Hence  it  is, 
that  Recitatives  of  this  kind  are  always  written 
without  the  introduction  of  Sharps,  or  Flats,  at 
the  Signature ;  since  it  is  manifestly  more  con 
venient  to  employ  any  number  of  Accidentals 
that  may  be  needed,  than  to  place  three  or  four 
Sharps  at  the  beginning  of  a  piece  which  is 
perfectly  at  liberty  to  end  in  seven  Flats. 

But,  notwithstanding  the  unchangeable  cha 
racter  of  Becitativo  secco,  declamatory  Music  has 
not  been  relieved  from  the  condition  which  im 
poses  progress  upon  every  really  living  branch 
of  Art.  As  the  resources  of  the  Orchestra  in 
creased,  it  became  evident  that  they  might  be  no 
less  profitably  employed,  in  the  Accompaniment 
of  highly  impassioned  Recitative,  than  in  that 
of  the  Aria,  or  Chorus  :  and  thus  arose  a  new 
style  of  Rhetorical  Composition,  called  Accom 
panied  Recitative  (Eecitativo  stromentato),  in 
which  the  vocal  phrases,  themselves  unchanged, 
received  a  vast  accession  of  power,  by  means  of 
elaborate  Orchestral  Symphonies  interpolated 
between  them,  or  even  by  instrumental  passages 
designed  expressly  for  their  support.  The  in 
vention  of  this  new  form  of  impassioned  Mono 
logue  is  generally  ascribed  to  Alessandro  Scar 
latti  (1659-1725),  who  used  it  with  admirable 
effect,  both  in  his  Operas  and  his  Cantatas ; 
but  its  advantages,  in  telling  situations,  were  so 
obvious,  that  it  was  immediately  adopted  by 
other  Composers,  and  at  once  recognised  as  a 
legitimate  form  of  Art — not,  indeed,  as  a  sub 
stitute  for  Simple  Recitative,  which  has  always 
been  retained  for  the  ordinary  business  of  the 


RECITATIVE. 


85 


Stage,  but,  as  a  means  of  producing  powerful 
effects,  in  Scenes,  or  portions  of  Scenes,  in  which 
the  introduction  of  the  measured  Aria  would 
be  out  of  place. 

It  will  be  readily  understood,  that  the  sta 
bility  of  Simple  Recitative  was  not  communicable 
to  the  newer  style.  The  steadily  increasing 
weight  of  the  Orchestra,  accompanied  by  a 
correspondent  increase  of  attention  to  Orchestral 
Effects,  exercised  an  irresistible  influence  over 
it.  Moreover,  time  has  proved  it  to  be  no 
less  sensitive  to  changes  of  School,  and  Style, 
than  the  Aria  itself ;  whence  it  frequently  happens 
that  a  Composer  may  be  as  easily  recognised  by 
his  Accompanied  Recitatives  as  by  his  regularly- 
constructed  Movements.  Scarlatti's  Accompani 
ments  exhibit  a  freedom  of  thought  immeasur 
ably  in  advance  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived. 
Sebastian  Bach's  Recitatives,  though  priceless, 
as  Music,  are  more  remarkable  for  the  beauty  of 
their  Harmonies,  than  for  that  spontaneity  of 
expression  which  is  rarely  attained  by  Composers 
unfamiliar  with  the  traditions  of  the  Stage. 
Handel's,  on  the  contrary,  though  generally 
based  upon  the  simplest  possible  harmonic  found 
ation,  exhibit  a  rhetorical  perfection  of  which 
the  most  accomplished  Orator  might  well  feel 
proud :  and  we  cannot  doubt  that  it  is  to  this 
high  quality,  combined  with  a  never-failing 
truthfulness  of  feeling,  that  so  many  of  them 
owe  their  deathless  reputation — to  the  unfair 
exclusion  of  many  others,  of  equal  worth,  which 
still  lie  hidden  among  the  unclaimed  treasures  of 
his  long-forgotten  Operas.  Scarcely  less  success 
ful,  in  his  own  peculiar  style,  was  Haydn,  whose 
'  Creation '  and  '  Seasons,'  owe  half  their  charm 
to  their  pictorial  Recitatives.  Mozart  was  so 
uniformly  great,  in  his  declamatory  passages, 
that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  decide  upon  their 
comparative  merits ;  though  he  has  certainly 
never  exceeded  the  perfection  of '  Die  Weiselehre 
dieser  Knaben,'  or  '  Non  temer.'  Beethoven  at 
tained  his  highest  flights  in  '  Abscheulicher  !  wo 
eilst  du  hin  ? '  and  '  Ah,  perfido  ! '  Spohr,  in 
'Faust,'  and  'Die  letzten  Dinge.'  Weber,  in 
'  Der  Freischutz.'  The  works  of  Cimarosa,  Ros 
sini,  and  Cherubini,  abound  in  examples  of  Ac 
companied  Recitative,  which  rival  their  Airs  in 
beauty :  and  it  would  be  difficult  to  point  out 
any  really  great  Composer  who  has  failed  to 
appreciate  the  value  of  Scarlatti's  happy  in 
vention. 

Yet,  even  this  invention  failed,  either  to  meet 
the  needs  of  the  Dramatic  Composer,  or  to  ex 
haust  his  ingenuity.  It  was  reserved  for  Gluck 
to  strike  out  yet  another  form  of  Recitative, 
destined  to  furnish  a  more  powerful  engine  for 
the  production  of  a  certain  class  of  effects  than 
any  that  had  preceded  it.  He  it  was,  who  first 
conceived  the  idea  of  rendering  the  Orchestra, 
and  the  Singer,  to  all  outward  appearance,  en 
tirely  independent  of  each  other  :  of  filling  the 
Scene,  so  to  speak,  with  a  finished  orchestral 
groundwork,  complete  in  itself,  and  needing  no 
vocal  Melody  to  enhance  its  interest,  while  the 
Singer  declaimed  his  part  in  tones,  which,  however 


86 


RECITATIVE. 


artfully  combined  with  the  Instrumental  Har 
mony,  appeared  to  have  no  connection  with  it 
whatever ;  the  resulting  effect  resembling  that 
which  would  be  produced,  if,  during  the  inter 
pretation  of  a  Symphony,  some  accomplished 
Singer  were  to  soliloquise,  aloud,  in  broken 
sentences,  in  such  wise  as  neither  to  take  an 
ostensible  share  in  the  performance,  nor  to 
disturb  it  by  the  introduction  of  irrelevant 
discord.  An  early  instance  of  this  may  be 
found  in  'Orfeo.'  After  the  disappearance  of 
Euridice,  the  Orchestra  plays  an  excited  Cres 
cendo,  quite  complete  in  itself,  during  the  course 
of  which  Orfeo  distractedly  calls  his  lost  Bride, 
by  name,  in  tones  which  harmonise  with  the 
Symphony,  yet  have  not  the  least  appearance  of 
belonging  to  it.  In  'Iphigenie  en  Tauride,' 
and  all  the  later  Operas,  the  same  device  is 
constantly  adopted ;  and  modern  Composers  have 
also  used  it,  freely — notably  Spohr,  who  opens 
his  'Faust'  with  a  Scene,  in  which  a  Band 
behind  the  stage  plays  the  most  delightful  of 
Minuets,  while  Faust  and  Mephistopheles  sing 
an  ordinary  Recitative,  accompanied  by  the  usual 
Chords  played  by  the  regular  Orchestra  in  front. 
By  a  process  of  natural,  if  not  inevitable 
development^  this  new  style  led  to  another,  in 
which  the  Recitative,  though  still  distinct  from 
the  Accompaniment,  assumed  a  more  measured 
tone,  less  melodious  than  that  of  the  Air,  yet 
more  so,  by  far,  than  that  used  for  ordinary 
declamation.  Gluck  has  used  this  peculiar  kind 
of  Mezzo  Recitativo  with  indescribable  power,  in 
the  Prison  Scene,  in  '  Iphigdnie  en  Tauride.' 
Spohr  employs  it  freely,  almost  to  the  exclusion 
of  symmetrical  Melody,  in  '  Die  letzten  Dinge.' 
Wagner  makes  it  his  cheval  de  bataitle,  intro 
ducing  it  everywhere,  and  using  it,  as  an  ever- 
ready  medium,  for  the  production  of  some  of  his 
most  powerful  Dramatic  Effects.  We  have  al 
ready  discussed  his  theories  on  this  subject,  so 
fully,  that  it  is  unnecessary  to  revert  to  them 
here.  [See  OPERA,  vol.  ii.  pp.  526-529.]  Suffice 
it  to  say  that  his  Melos,  though  generally  pos 
sessing  all  the  more  prominent  characteristics  of 
pure  Recitative,  sometimes  approaches  so  nearly 
to  the  rhythmic  symmetry  of  the  Song,  that— - 
as  in  the  case  of  '  Nun  sei  bedankt,  mein  lieben 
Schwann ! ' — it  is  difficult  to  say,  positively,  to 
which  class  it  belongs.  We  may,  therefore,  fairly 
accept  this  as  the  last  link  in  the  chain  which 
fills  up  the  long  gap  between  simple  'Recitative 
secco,'  and  the  finished  Aria.  [W.S.R.] 

RECITING-NOTE  (Lat.  Kepercussio,  Nota 
dominans).  A  name  sometimes  given  to  that 
important  note,  in  a  Gregorian  Tone,  on  which 
the  greater  portion  of  every  Verse  of  a  Psalm,  or 
Canticle,  is  continuously  recited.1 

As  this  particular  note  invariably  corresponds 
with  the  Dominant  of  the  Mode  in  which  the 
Psalm-Tone  is  written,  the  terms,  Dominant,  and 
Reciting-Note,  are  frequently  treated  as  inter- 

i  In  accordance  with  this  definition,  the  term  should  also  be  ap 
plied  to  the  first  notes  of  the  first  and  third  sections  of  a  Double 
Ohaunt ;  but,  as  the  selection  of  these  notes  is  subject  to  no  rule 
whatever,  the  word  is  very  rarely  used  in  connection  with  them. 


RECORDER. 

changeable.  [See  MODES,  THE  ECCLESIASTICAL, 
vol.  ii.  p.  342.]  The  Reciting-Notes  of  the  first 
eight  Tones,  therefore,  will  be  A,  F,  C,  A,  C,  A, 
D,  and  C,  respectively. 

The  Reciting-Note  makes  its  appearance  twice, 
in  the  course  of  every  Tone :  first,  as  the  initial 
member  of  the  Intonation,  and,  afterwards,  as 
that  of  the  Ending;  as  shewn  in  the  following 
example,  in  which  it  is  written,  each  time,  in  the 
form  of  a  Large. 
Tone  I. 


The  only  exception  to  the  general  rule  is  to  be 
found  in  the  Tonus  Peregrinus  (or  Irregularis), 
in  which  the  true  Dominant  of  the  Ninth  Mode 
(E)  is  used  for  the  first  Reciting-Note,  and  D 
for  the  second. 

The  Reciting-Notes  of  Tones  III,  V,  VII,  VIII, 
and  IX,  are  so  high  that  they  cannot  be  sung,  at 
their  true  pitch,  without  severely  straining  the 
Voice ;  in  practice,  therefore,  these  Tones  are 
almost  always  transposed.  An  attempt  has  been 
sometimes  made  so  to  arrange  their  respective 
pitches  as  to  let  one  note — generally  A — serve 
for  all.  This  plan  may,  perhaps,  be  found  practi 
cally  convenient :  but  it  shews  very  little  concern 
for  the  expression  of  the  words,  which  cannot  but 
suffer,  if  the  jubilant  phrases  of  one  Psalm  are  to 
be  recited  on  exactly  the  same  note  as  the  almost 
despairing  accents  of  another.  [W.  S.  R.] 

RECORDER.  An  instrument  of  the  flute 
family,  now  obsolete.  Much  fruitless  ingenuity 
has  been  exercised  as  to  the  etymology  of  the 
name ;  a  specimen  of  which  may  be  seen  in 
the  Pictorial  Edition  of  Shakespeare,  on  the 
passage  in  Hamlet,  Act  iii,  Sc.  2.  The  English 
verb  '  to  record '  may  be  referred  to  the  Latin 
root  Cor.  '  Recordare  Jesu  pie '  forms  the  opening 
of  one  of  the  hymns  of  the  ancient  church,  em 
bodied  in  the  requiem  or  funeral  mass.  Here 
it  has  simply  the  sense  of '  to  remember ' 2  or  '  to 
take  note  of — a  signification  which  has  descended 
to  the  modern  words  Records  and  Recorder.  But 
there  was  evidently  from  early  times  a  parallel 
meaning  of  '  to  sing,  chant,'  or  '  to  warble  like 
birds.'  This  appears  plainly  in  the  beautiful 
passage  of  Shakespeare  3 — 

To  the  lute 

She  sang,  and  made  the  night-bird  mute 

That  still  records  with  moan. 

'  To  record,'  says  an  old  writer, '  among  fowlers, 
is  when  the  bird  begins  to  tune  or  sing  within 
itself.' 

It  is  possibly  from  this  that  the  name  of  the 
instrument  is  derived.  In  any  case  it  appears 
in  one  of  the  '  proverbis '  written  about  Henry 
VII. 's  time  on  the  walls  of  the  manor  house 
at  Leckingfield.  It  is  there  said  to  'desire' 
the  mean  part,  '  but  manifold  fingering  and  stops 
bringeth  high  notes  from  its  clear  tones.'  In  the  • 
catalogue  of  instruments  left  by  Henry  VIII.  are 
Recorders  of  box,  oak,  and  ivory,  great  and 

2  Compare  the  expression,  'to  get  by  heart.' 

3  Pericles,  Act.  iv. 


RECORDER. 

small,  two  base  Recorders  of  walnut,  and  one 
great  base  Recorder. 

The  passage  in  Hamlet  referring  to  the  instru 
ment  (Act  iii.  Sc.  2),  is  well  known,  and  in  the 
Midsummer  Night's  Dream,  Shakespeare  says  : 
'  He  hath  played  on  his  prologue  like  a  child  on 
a  recorder.'  Sir  Philip  Sidney  describes  how  'the 
shepherds,  pulling  out  recorders,  which  possessed 
the  place  of  pipes,  accorded  their  music  to  the 
others'  voice.'  Bacon,  in  the  Sylva  Sylvarum, 
Century  III.  221,  goes  a.t  length  into  the  mechan 
ism  of  the  instrument.  He  says  it  is  straight, 
and  has  a  lesser  and  a  greater  bore  both  above 
and  below ;  that  it  requires  very  little  breath 
from  the  blower,  and  that  it  has  what  he  calls 
a  '  fipple  '  or  stopper.  He  adds  that  '  the  three 
uppermost  holes  yield  one  tone,  which  is  a  note 
lower  than  the  tone  of  the  first  three.'  This  last 
paragraph  begets  a  suspicion  that  the  learned 
writer  was  not  practically  acquainted  with  the 
method  of  playing  this  instrument.  Milton1 
speaks  of 

The  Dorian  mood 
Of  flutes  and  soft  recorders. 

But  the  most  definite  information  we  possess 
as  to  the  instrument  is  derived  from  two  similar 
works  published  respectively  in  1683  and  1686. 
The  former  is  named  '  The  Genteel  Companion, 
being  exact  directions  for  the  Recorder,  with  a 
collection  of  the  best  and  newest  tunes  and 
grounds  extant.  Carefully  composed  and  gathered 
by  Humphrey  Salter,  London.  Printed  for 
Richard  Hunt  and  Humphrey  Salter  at  the 
Lute  in  St.  Paul's  Churchyard,  1683.'  The  latter 
is  entitled  '  The  delightful  Companion,  or  choice 
New  Lessons  for  the  Recorder  or  Flute,  etc. 
London  :  printed  for  John  Playford  at  his  shop 
near  the  Temple  Church,  and  for  John  Carr  at 
his  shop  at  the  Middle  Temple  Gate  1 686.  Second 
edition  corrected.' 

The  first  of  these  works  has  a  frontispiece  show 
ing  a  lady  and  gentleman  sitting  at  a  table,  with 
two  music  books;  the  gentleman,  with  his  legs 
gracefully  crossed,  is  playing  a  recorder.  The 
lower  end  rests  on  his  knee,  and  the  flageolet- 
shaped  mouthpiece  at  the  top  end  is  between 
his  lips.  The  book  describes  the  peculiarity  of 
the  instrument,  from  which  Mr.  Chappell  considers 
the  name  to  have  been  derived — namely,  a  hole 
situated  in  the  upper  part,  between  the  mouth 
piece  and  the  top  hole  for  the  fingers,  and  ap 
parently  covered  with  thin  bladder,  or  what  is 
now  termed  'goldbeater's  skin,'  with  a  view  of 
affecting  the  quality  of  tone.  Two  scales  or 
gamuts  are  given  in  the  usual  G  clef,  the  former 
containing  13,  the  other  16  notes.  The  lowest 
note  in  both  cases  is  F,  and  the  highest  is  D  in 
the  first  case,  and  G  in  the  second.  There  is  no 


RECTE  ET  RETRO. 


87 


evidence  of  any  keys  for  producing  semitones, 
which   are  shown  by  the  scales  to  have  been 


i  Paradise  Lost,  i.  550. 


obtained  by  cross-fingering.  The  keys  in  which 
the  tunes  are  set  comprise  C,  with  G,  D  and  A 
on  the  sharp  side,  F  and  Bb  on  the  flat  side. 

The  edition  of  'The  delightful  Companion' 
printed  three  years  later  gives  very  explicitly  the 
number  of  holes,  but  omits  mention  of  the  closed 
intermediate  orifice.  It  will  be  remarked  that 
'  Recorder '  and  '  Flute '  are  used  synonymously 
on  this  title-page.  '  Observe',  says  the  writer, 
'  there  is  eight  holes  upon  the  pipe,  viz.  seven 
before,  and  one  underneath  which  we  call  the 
uppermost,  and  is  to  be  stopped  with  your 
thumb,  the  next  with  your  forefinger,'  etc.  Cross- 
fingerings  are  here  also  given  to  produce  the 
first  two  or  there  intermediate  semitones  on 
either  side  of  the  natural  key. 

Mr.  Chappell  quotes  the  late  Mr.  Ward  as  his 
authority  for  having  seen  '  old  English  flutes ' 
with  a  hole  bored  through  the  side  in  the  upper 
part  of  the  instrument,  and  covered  with  a  thin 
piece  of  skin.  An  English  Recorder  of  the  1 7th 
century  was  shown  in  the  Loan  Exhibition  of 
Musical  Instruments  at  South  Kensington.  It 
was  26  inches  in  length — agreeing  well  with 
the  frontispiece  of  the  Genteel  Companion — and 
therefore  not  at  all  like  the  little  pipe  usually 
brought  on  the  stage  in  Hamlet.  Near  the  top, 
about  an  inch  from  the  mouth-hole,  it  was  fur 
nished  with  a  hole  covered  with  thin  bladder  as 
above  described.  [W.H.S.] 

RECTE  ET  RETRO,  PER  (Imitatio  can- 
crizans,  Imitatio  per  Motum  retrogradum,  Imi 
tatio  recurrens ;  Ital.  Imitazione  al  Rovescio,  o 
alia  River sa  ;  Eng.  Retrograde  Imitation). 
A  peculiar  kind  of  Imitation,  so  constructed 
that  the  melody  may  be  sung  backwards  as  well 
as  forwards ;  as  shewn  in  the  following  Two- 
Part  Canon,  which  must  be  sung,  by  the  First 
Voice,  from  left  to  right,  and  by  the  Second, 
from  right  to  left,  both  beginning  together,  but 
at  opposite  ends  of  the  Music. 


J 


3 


:|=t= 


The  earliest  known  instances  of  Retrograde 
Imitation  are  to  be  found  among  the  works  of 
the  Flemish  Composers  of  the  I5th  century,  who 
delighted  in  exercising  their  ingenuity,  not  only 
upon  the  device  itself,  but  also  upon  the  Inscrip 
tions  prefixed  to  the  Canons  in  which  it  was 
employed.  The  Netherlanders  were  not,  however, 
the  only  Musicians  who  indulged  successfully  in 
this  learned  species  of  recreation.  Probably  the 
most  astonishing  example  of  it  on  record  is  the 
Motet,2  '  Diliges  Dominum,'  written  by  William 
Byrd  for  four  voices — Treble,  Alto,  Tenor,  and 
Bass — and  transmuted  into  an  8 -part  composition, 
by  adding  a  Second  Treble,  Alto,  Tenor,  and  Bass, 
formed  by  singing  the  four  First  Parts  backwards. 
It  is  scarcely  possible  to  study  this  complication 
attentively,  without  feeling  one's  brain  turn 

2  Keprinted  by  Hawkins,  'History.'  ch.  96. 


88 


RECTE  ET  RETRO. 


giddy  ;  yet,  strange  to  say,  the  effect  produced 
is  less  curious  than  beautiful. 

There  is  little  doubt  that  the  idea  of  singing 
music  from  right  to  left  was  first  suggested  by  those 
strange  Oracular  Verses1  which  may  be  read  either 
backwards  or  forwards,  without  injury  to  words 
or  metre;  such  as  the  well-known  Pentameter  — 
Roma  tibi  subito  motibus  ibit  amor. 


or  the  cry  of  the  Evil  Spirit 

In  girum  imus  noctu  ecce  ut  consuminiur  igni. 
The  Canons  were  frequently  constructed  in  exact 
accordance  with  the  method  observed  in  these 
curious  lines  ;  and  innumerable  quaint  conceits 
were  invented,  for  the  purpose  of  giving  the 
Singers  some  intimation  of  the  manner  in  which 
they  were  to  be  read.  '  Canit  more  Hebraeorum' 
was  a  very  common  Motto.  '  Misericordia  et  ver- 
itas  obviaverunt  sibi  '  indicated  that  the  Singers 
were  to  begin  at  opposite  ends,  and  meet  in  the 
middle.  In  the  Second  '  Agnus  Dei  '  of  his  '  Missa 
Grsecorum,'  Hobrecht  wrote,  'Aries  vertatur  in 
Pisces  '  —  Aries  being  the  first  Sign  of  the  Zodiac, 
and  Pisces  the  last.  In  another  part  of  the  same 
Masshehasgivenafarmore  mysterious  direction  — 

Tu  tenor  cancriza  et  per  antifrasin  canta, 
Cum  furcis  in  capite  antifrasizando  repete. 


RECTE  ET  EETRO. 

This  introduces  us  to  a  new  complication  ;  the 
secret  of  the  Motto  being,  that  the  Tenor  is  not 
only  to  sing  backwards,  but  to  invert  the  inter 
vals  ('per  antifrasin  canta'),  until  he  reaches 
the  '  Horns ' — that  is  to  say,  the  two  cusps  of 
the  semicircular  Time-Signature — after  which  he 
is  to  sing  from  left  to  right,  though  still  continu 
ing  to  invert  the  Intervals.  This  new  Device,  in 
which  the  Intervals  themselves  are  reversed,  as 
well  as  the  sequence  of  the  notes,  is  called  '  Retro 
grade  Inverse  Imitation '  (Lat.  Imitatio  cancri- 
zans  motu  contrario ;  Ital.  Imitazione  al  contrario 
riverso).  It  might  have  been  thought  that  this 
would  have  contented  even  Flemish  ingenuity. 
But,  it  did  not.  The  Part-Books  had  not  yet 
been  turned  upside  down !  In  the  subjoined 
example,  we  have  endeavoured  to  show,  in  an 
humble  way,  the  manner  in  which  this  most 
desirable  feat  may  also  be  accomplished.  The 
two  Singers,  standing  face  to  face,  hold  the  book 
between  them ;  one  looking  at  it  from  the  ordin 
ary  point  of  view,  the  other,  upsidedown,  and  both 
reading  from  left  to  right — that  is  to  say,  begin 
ning  at  opposite  ends.  The  result,  if  not  strikingly 
beautiful,  is,  at  least,  not  inconsistent  with  the 
laws  of  Counterpoint. 


tuna  - 


'saj    -    aaS     sau    -    mo 


saurao    'ranuimod 


j  -  vp  - 


Lau-da-te     Dominum,  om  -  nes        gen    -    tes,  om  -  nes          gen    -    tes,    lau-da-te    Do -mi -num. 


This  species  of  Imitation  was  indicated  by  the 
Inscriptions,  '  Respice  me,  ostende  mihi  faciem 
tuam,' '  Duo  adversi  adverse  in  unum,'  and  others 
equally  obscure.  The  last-named  Motto  graces 
Morton's  'Salve  Mater' — a  triumph  of  ingenuity 
which,  no  doubt,  was  regarded,  in  its  time,  as  an 
Art-Treasure  of  inestimable  value.  The  style 
was,  indeed,  for  a  long  time,  exceedingly  popular ; 
and,  even  as  late  as  1690,  Angiplo  Berardi  thought 
it  worth  while  to  give  full  directions,  in  his 
'Arcani  Musicali,'  for  the  manufacture  of  Canons 
of  this  description,  though  the  true  artistic  feel 
ing — to  say  nothing  of  the  plain  common-sense — 
of  the  School  of  Palestrina  had  long  since  banished 
them,  not  only  from  the  higher  kinds  of  Eccle 
siastical  Music,  but  from  the  Polyphonic  '  Chan 
son  '  also.  This  reform,  however,  was  not  effected 
without  protest.  There  were  learned  Composers, 
even  in  the  '  Golden  Age,'  who  still  clung  to  the 
traditions  of  an  earlier  epoch  ;  and,  among  them, 
Francesco  Suriano,  the  Second  '  Agnus  Dei '  of 
whose  Missa  '  Super  voces  musicales '  contains 
a  Canon,  with  the  Inscription,  '  Justitia  et  Pax 
osculatee  sunt,'  in  which  the  Guida,  formed  on 
the  six  sounds  of  the  Hexachordon  durum,  is 
sung,  by  the  First  Tenor,  in  the  usual  way,  and 
in  the  Alto  Clef,  while  the  Cantus  Secundus  re 
plies,  reading  from  the  same  copy,  in  the  Treble 
Clef,  backwards,  and  upsidedown.  But,  in  this 
instance,  the  simple  notes  of  the  Guida  are  ac- 

i  Versus  recurrentes,  said  to  have  been  first  invented  by  the 
Greek  Poet,  Sotades.  during  the  reign  of  Ptolemy  Philadelphus.  The 
examples  we  have  quoted  are,  however,  of  much  later  date ;  the 
oldest  of  them  being  certainly  not  earlier  than  the  7th  century. 


companied  by  six  'Free  Parts,'  by  the  skilful 
management  of  which  the  Composer  has  pro 
duced  an  effect  well  worthy  of  his  reputation.2 

Retrograde  Imitation  has  survived,  even  to  our 
own  day ;  and,  in  more  than  one  very  popular 
form.  In  the  year  1791.  Haydn  wrote,  for  his 
Doctor's  Degree,  at  the  University  of  Oxford,  a 
'Canon  cancrizans,  a  tre'  ('Thy  Voice,  0  Har 
mony')  which  will  be  found  in  vol.  i.  p.  7106; 
and  he  has  also  used  the  same  Device,  in  the 
Minuet  of  one  of  his  Symphonies.  Some  other 
modern  Composers  have  tried  it,  with  less  happy 
effect.  But,  perhaps  it  has  never  yet  appeared 
in  a  more  popular  form  than  that  of  the  well- 
known  Double  Chaunt  by  Dr.  Crotch. 


XI               "~"^         C^-i*'       ,-—  ?                   II                       I 

EH                        F^     ^          -^ 

E: 

V^U                    1                            H     •—  '     'TJ     ,-J 

—     II 

-^3           ^                ""                                         ^-  ' 

,        i 

^        P                                  0     ,  P           1 

_ 

It  would  be  difficult  to  point  to  two  Schools 
more  bitterly  opposed  to  each  other  than  those  of 
the  early  Netherlanders,  and  the  English  Cathe 
dral  writers  of  the  I9th  century.  Yet,  here  we 
see  an  Artifice,  invented  by  the  former,  and  used 
by  one  of  the  latter,  so  completely  con  amore, 
that,  backed  by  the  Harmonies  peculiar  to  the 
modern  'free  style,'  it  has  attained  a  position 
quite  unassailable,  and  will  probably  last  as  long 
as  the  Anglican  Chaunt  itself  shall  continue  in 

2  The  entire  Mass  is  reprinted,  from  the  original  edition  of  1609,  in 
vol.  i.  of  Proske's  '  Selectus  novus  Missarum ' ;  and  the  Canon  is  there 
shewn,  both  in  its  senigmatical  form,  and  in  its  complete  resolution. 


RECTE  ET  EETRO. 

use.  With  this  fact  before  us,  we  shall  d6  well 
to  pause,  before  we  consign  even  the  most 
glaring  pedantries  of  our  forefathers  to  obli 
vion.  [W.S.R.] 

REDEKER,  LOUISE  DORETTE  AUGUSTE,  a 
contralto  singer,  who  made  her  first  appearance 
iu  London  at  the  Philharmonic  Concert  of  June 
IQ,  1876,  and  remained  a  great  favourite  until 
she  retired  from  public   life  on   her  marriage, 
Oct.  19,  1879.     She  was  born  at  Duingen,  Han 
over,   Jan.    19,    1853,   and    from    1870    to    73 
studied  in  the  Conservator! um  at  Leipzig,  chiefly 
under   Konewka.     She   sang   first  in  public  at 
Bremen  in  1873.     In  1874  she  made  the  first 
of  several  appearances  at  the  Gewandhaus,  and 
was  much  in  request  for  concerts  and  oratorios 
in  Germany  and  other  countries  during  74  and  75. 
In  England  she  sang  at  all  the  principal  concerts, 
and  at  the  same  time  maintained  her  connexion 
with  the  Continent,  where  she  was  always  well 
received.   Her  voice  is  rich  and  sympathetic  ;  she 
sings  without  effort  and  with  great  taste.       [G.] 

REDFORD,  JOHN,  was  organist  and  almoner, 
and  master  of  the  Choristers  of  •  St.  Paul's 
Cathedral  in  the  latter  part  of  the  reign  of 
Henry  VIII  (1491-1547).  Tusser,  the  author 
of  the  'Hundred  good  points  of  Husbandrie'  was 
one  of  his  pupils.  An  anthem,  'Rejoice  in  the 
Lorde  alway,'  printed  in  the  appendix  to  Haw 
kins's  History  and  in  the  Motett  Society's 
first  volume,  is  remarkable  for  its  melodv  and 

'  V 

expression.  Some  anthems  and  organ  pieces  by 
him  are  in  the  MS.  volume  collected  by  Thomas 
Mulliner,  master  of  St.  Paul's  School,  afterwards 
in  the  libraries  of  John  Stafford  Smith  and 
Dr.  Rimbault,  and  now  in  the  British  Museum. 
A  motet,  some  fancies  and  a  voluntary  by  him 
are  in  MS.  at  Christ  Church,  Oxford.  His 
name  is  included  by  Morley  in  the  list  of  those 
whose  works  he  consulted  for  his  '  Introduc 
tion.'  [W.H.H.] 

REDOUTE.  Public  assemblies  at  which  the 
guests  appeared  with  or  without  masks  at 
pleasure.  The  word  is  French,  and  is  explained 
by  Voltaire  and  Littre'  as  being  derived  from  the 
Italian  ridotto — perhaps  with  some  analogy  to 
the  word  'resort.'  The  building  used  for  the 
purpose  in  Vienna,  erected  in  1748,  and  rebuilt 
in  stone  in  1754,  forms  part  of  the  Burg  or 
Imperial  Palace,  the  side  of  the  oblong  facing 
the  Josephs-Platz.  There  was  a  grosse  and  a 
Meine  Redoutensaal.  In  the  latter  Beethoven 
played  a  concerto  of  his  own  at  a  concert 
of  Haydn's,  Dec.  18,  1795.  The  rooms  were 
used  for  concerts  till  within  the  last  ten  years. 
The  masked  balls  were  held  there  during  the 
Carnival,  from  Twelfth  Night  to  Shrove  Tuesday, 
and  occasionally  in  the  weeks  preceding  Advent ; 
some  being  public,  i.  e.  open  to  all  on  payment  of 
an  entrance  fee,  and  others  private.  Special  nights 
were  reserved  for  the  court  and  the  nobility.  The 
'Redoutentanze' — Minuets.  Allemandes,  Contre- 
danses,  Schottisches,  Anglaises,  and  Landler — 
were  composed  for  full  orchestra,  and  published 


REED. 


89 


(mostly  by  Artaria)  for  pianoforte.  *  Mozart, 
Haydn,  2  Beethoven,  Hummel,  Woelfl,  Gyrowetz, 
and  others,  have  left  dances  written  for  this  pur 
pose.  Under  the  Italian  form  of  Ridotto,  the 
term  was  much  employed  in  England  in  the  last 
century.  [C.F.P.] 

REDOWA,  a  Bohemian  dance  which  was 
introduced  into  Paris  in  1846  or  47,  and  quickly 
attained  for  a  short  time  great  popularity,  both 
there  and  in  London,  although  now  seldom 
danced.  In  Bohemia  there  are  two  variations 
of  the  dance,  the  Rejdovak,  in  3-4  or  3-8  time, 
which  is  more  like  a  waltz,  and  the  Rejdovacka, 
in  2-4  time,  which  is  something  like  a  polka. 
The  following  words  are  usually  sung  to  the 
dance  in  Bohemian  villages  : 

Kami  nicht  frei'n,  well  Eltern 
Nicht  ihr  Jawort  gaben : 
Weil  ich  kommen  k6nnte, 
Wo  kein  Brot  sie  haben— 
Wo  kein  Brot  sie  haben, 
Keine  Kuchen  backen, 
Wo  kein  Heu  sie  niahen 
Und  kein  Brennholz  hacken. 

The  ordinary  Redowa  is  written  in  3-4  time 
(Maelzel's  Metronome  J  =  i6o).  The  dance 
is  something  like  a  Mazurka,  with  the  rhythm 
less  strongly  marked.  The  following  example  is 
part  of  a  Rejdovak  which  is  given  in  Kbhler's 
'  Volkstanze  aller  Nationen  ' — 


=e 


~  i*  -  - 

•      • 

—    ^  •      •      .  ii 

—  Ed_ 

•  — 

• 

—\ 

•  —  i 

=fH  

[W.B.S.] 

REED  (Fr.Anche;  Ital.  Ancia  ;  Germ.  Blatt, 
Rolir*).  The  speaking  part  of  many  instruments, 
both  ancient  and  modern  ;  the  name  being  de 
rived  from  the  material  of  which  it  has  been 
immemorialiy  constructed.  This  is  the  outer 
silicious  layer  of  a  tall  grass,  the  Arundo  Donax 
or  Sativa,  growing  in  the  South  of  Europe.  The 
substance  in  its  rough  state  is  commonly  called 
'cane,'  though  differing  from  real  cane  in  many 
respects.  The  chief  supply  is  now  obtained  from 
Frejus  on  the  Mediterranean  coast.  Many  other 
materials,  such  as  lance-wood,  ivory,  silver,  and 
'  ebonite,'  or  hardened  india-rubber,  have  been  ex 
perimentally  substituted  for  the  material  first 
named;  but  hitherto  without  success.  Organ 
reeds  were  formerly  made  of  hard  wood,  more 
recently  of  brass,  German  silver,  and  steel.  The 
name  Reed  is,  however,  applied  by  organ -builders 
to  the  metal  tube  or  channel  against  which  the 

1  See  Kochel's  Catalogue,  Xo.  599.  etc. 

2  See  Mottebohm's  Thematic  Catalogue.  Section  ii,  pages  135— 1S7. 


90 


EEED. 


vibrating  tongue  beats,  rather  than  to  the  vibra 
tor  itself. 

Reeds   are   divided   into   the   Free   and    the 
Beating ;  the  latter  again  into  the  Single  and  the 
Double  forms.     The  Free  reed  is  used  in   the 
harmonium  and  concertina,  its  union  with  Beat 
ing  reeds  in  the  organ  not  having  proved  success 
ful.    [See  FREE-REED,  vol.  i.  p.  562.]    The  vibra 
tor,  as  its  name  implies,  passes  freely  through 
the  long  slotted  brass  plate  to  which  it  is  adapted ; 
the  first  impulse  of  the  wind  tending  to  push  it 
within  the  slot  and  thus  close  the  aperture.     In 
'percussion'    harmoniums    the    vibrator   is  set 
suddenly  in  motion  by  a  blow  from  a  hammer 
connected  with  the  keyboard.    [See  HARMONIUM, 
vol.  i.  p.  667  &.]      The   Beating   reed  is   that 
of  the  organ  and  clarinet.     In  this  the  edges 
of  the  vibrator  overlap  the  wind-passage  so  as 
to   beat   against  it.     In  the   organ  reed,   how 
ever,  the  brass  tongue  is  burnished  backwards 
so    as    to    leave    a    thin    aperture    between    it 
and  the  point  of  the  channel  against  which  it 
strikes  ;  this  the  pressure  of  wind  at  first  tends 
to  close,  thus  setting  it  in  vibration.     In  the 
clarinet,  the  reed  is  flat  and  spatula-like  (hence 
the   German  name   JBltitt  opposed  to  Bohr  in 
the   oboe  and   bassoon),  the  mouthpiece    being 
curved  backwards  at  the  point  to  allow  of  vibra 
tion.     [See  CLARINET.]     The  Double  reed  has 
already  been  described  under  oboe  and  bassoon 
[See  OBOE  ;  BASSOON.]     It  is  possible  to  replace 
it  in  both  these  instruments  by  a  single  reed  of 
clarinet  shape,  beating  against  a  small  wooden 
mouthpiece.     The   old  Dolcino  or  Alto-fagotto 
was  so  played  in  the  band  of  the  Coldstream 
Guards  by  a  great  artist  still  living,  Mr.  Henry 
Lazarus,  when  a  boy.   The  double  reed,  however, 
much  improves  the  quality  of  tone,  and  gives 
greater  flexibility  of  execution  to  both  the  instru 
ments  named  above.  [W.H.S.] 

REEDSTOP.  When  the  pipes  controlled  by 
a  draw-stop  produce  their  tone  by  means  of  a 
vibrating  reed,  the  stop  is  called  a  Reedstop; 
when  the  pipes  contain  no  such  reeds,  but  their 
tone  is  produced  merely  by  the  impinging  of  air 
against  a  sharp  edge,  the  stop  is  called  a  Flue- 
stop.  Any  single  pipe  of  the  former  kind  is 
called  a  Reed-pipe,  any  single  pipe  of  the  latter 
kind,  a  Flue-pipe.  Pipes  containing  Free  reeds 
are  seldom  used  in  English  organs,  but  are 
occasionally  found  in  foreign  instruments  under 
the  name  of  Physharmonika,  etc.  [See  REED.] 
The  reedstops  consisting  of  '  striking-reeds '  are 
voiced  in  various  ways,  to  imitate  the  sounds  of 
the  Oboe,  Cor  Anglais,  Clarinet,  Bassoon,  Horn, 
Cornopean,  Trumpet,  etc.,  all  of  which  are  of 
8ft.  pitch  (that  is,  in  unison  with  the  diapason). 
The  Clarion  4-ft.  is  an  octave-reedstop.  The 
Double  Trumpet  i6-ft.  is  a  reedstop  one  octave 
lower  in  pitch  than  the  diapason ;  it  is  also 
called  a  Contra-posaune,  or  sometimes  a  Trom 
bone.  Reedstops  of  the  trumpet  class  are  often 
placed  on  a  very  high  pressure  of  wind  under 
such  names  as  Tuba  mirabilis,  Tromba  major, 
etc. ;  such  high-pressure  reedstops  are  generally 
found  on  the  Solo-manual ;  the  reedstops  of  the 


REED. 

Great  organ  being  of  moderate  loudness ;  those 
on  the  Choir  organ  altogether  of  a  softer  cha 
racter.     A  very  much  larger  proportion  of  reed- 
stops   is   usually  assigned  to   the   Swell   organ 
than  to  any  other  manual,  owing  to  the  brilliant 
crescendo  which  they  produce  as  the  shutters  of 
the  swell-box  open.     Reedstops  are  said  to  be 
'  harmonic '  when   the   tubes  of  the   pipes  are 
twice  their  normal  length  and  perforated  half 
way  with  a  small  hole.   Their  tone  is  remarkably 
pure   and   brilliant.     The    best    modern    organ 
builders  have  made  great  improvements  in  the 
voicing  of  reedstops,   which  are  now  produced 
in  almost  infinite  variety  both  as  to  quality  and 
strength  of  tone.  [J.S.] 

REED,  THOMAS  GERMAN,    born   at    Bristol 
June  27,  1817.     His  father  was  a  musician,  and 
the  son  first  appeared,  at  the  age  of  ten,  at  the 
Bath  Concerts  as  a  PF.  player  with  John  Loder 
and  Lindley,  and  also  sang  at  the  Concerts  and  at 
the  Bath  Theatre.     Shortly  after,  he  appeared  at 
the  Haymarket  Theatre,  London,  where  his  father 
was  conductor,  as  PF.  player,  singer,  and  actor 
of  juvenile  parts.     In  1832  the  family  moved  to 
London,  and  the  father  became  leader  of  the 
band  at  the  Garrick  Theatre.     His  son  was  his 
deputy,  and  also  organist  to  the  Catholic  Chapel, 
Sloane  Street.   German  Reed  now  entered  eagerly 
into  the  musical  life  of  London,  was  an  early 
member   of  the   Society   of  British   Musicians, 
studied  bard  at  harmony,  counterpoint,  and  PF. 
playing,  composed  much,  gave  many  lessons,  and 
took  part  in  all  the  good  music  he  met  with.    His 
work  at  the  theatre  consisted  in  great  measure 
of  scoring  and  adapting,   and   getting   up  new 
operas,  such  as  'Fra  Diavolo'  in'i837.     In  1838 
he  became  Musical  Director  of  the  Haymarket 
Theatre,  a  post  which  he  retained  till  1851.    In 
1838  he  also  succeeded  Mr.  Tom  Cooke  as  Chapel- 
master  at  the  Royal  Bavarian  Chapel,  where  the 
music  to  the  Mass  was  for  long  noted  both  for 
quality  and  execution.     Beethoven's  Mass  in  C 
was  produced  there  for  the  first  time  in  England, 
and  the  principal  Italian  singers  habitually  took 
part  in  the  Sunday  services.    At  the  Haymarket, 
for  the  Shakespearian  performances  of  Macready, 
the  Keans,  the  Cushmans,  etc.,  he  made  many  ex 
cellent  innovations,  by  introducing,  as  overtures 
and  entractes,  good  pieces,  original  or  scored  by 
himself,  instead  of  the  rubbish  usually  played  at 
that  date.     During  the  temporary  closing  of  the 
theatre  Reed  did  the  work  of  producing  Pacini's 
opera  of  'Sappho'  at  Drury  Lane  (April  i.  1843 
—Clara  Novello,  Sims  Reeves,  etc.).    In  1844  he 
married  Miss  Priscilla  Horton,  and  for  the  next 
few  years  pursued  the  same  busy,  useful,  miscel 
laneous  life  as  before,  directing  the  production  of 
English  opera  at  the  Surrey,  managing  Sadler's 
Wells  during  a  season  of  English  opera,  with  his 
wife,  Miss  Louisa  Pyne,  Harrison,  etc.,  conduct 
ing  the  music  at  the  Olympic  under  Mr.  Wigan's 
management,  and  making  prolonged  provincial 
tours. 

In  1855  he  started  a  new  class  of  performance 
which,  under  the  name  of '  Mr.  and  Mrs.  German 
Reed's  Entertainment,'  has  made  his  name  widely 


REED. 


KEEL. 


91 


and  favourably  known  in  England.  Its  object 
was  to  provide  good  dramatic  amusement  for  a 
large  class  of  society  who,  on  various  grounds, 
objected  to  the  theatres.  It  was  opened  at  St. 
Martin's  Hall,  April  2,  1855,  as  '  Miss  P.  Hor- 
ton's  Illustrative  Gatherings,'  with  two  pieces 
called  '  Holly  Lodge '  and  '  The  Enraged  Musi 
cian'  (after  Hogarth),  written  by  W.  Brough,  and 
presented  by  Mrs.  Heed,  with  the  aid  of  her 
husband  only,  as  accompanyist  and  occasional 
actor.  In  Feb.  1856  they  removed  to  the  Gallery 
of  Illustration,  Regent  Street,  and  there  produced 
'A  Month  from  Home,'  and  'My  Unfinished 
Opera'  (April  27,  57)  ;  'The  Home  Circuit'  and 
'SeasideStudies'(June20,59) — all  by  W.  Brough; 
'After  the  Ball,'  by  Edmund  Yates  ;  ' Our  Card 
Basket,'  by  Shirley  Brooks ;  '  An  Illustration  on 
Discord'  ('The  Rival  Composers')  by  Brough 
(Ap.  3,  61)  ;  and  'The  Family  Legend,'  by  Tom 
Taylor  (Mar.  31,  62).  They  then  engaged  Mr. 
John  Parry,  and  produced  the  following  series 
of  pieces  specially  written  for  this  company  of 
three,  and  including  some  of  Mr.  Parry's  most 
popular  and  admirable  songs,  in  the  characters  of 
Paterfamilias  at  the  Pantomime,  Mrs.  Roseleaf, 
etc.,  etc. 


'  The  Charming  Cottage.'  Ap.  6, 
1863. 

'  The  Pyramid.'  Shirley  Brooks . 
Feb.  7,  64. 

'The  Bard  and  his  Birthday.' 
W.  Brough.  Ap.  20,  64. 

'  The  Peculiar  family.'  Do.  Mar. 
15,  65. 

'The  Yachting  Cruise.'  P.  C. 
Burnand.  Ap.  2,  66. 


•A  Dream  in  Venice.'  T.  W. 
Robertson.  Mar.  18,  67. 

'  Our  Quiet  Chateau.'  B.  Beece. 
Deo.  26.  67. 

'Inquire  within.'  P.  C.  Bur 
nand.  July  22,  68. 

'  Last  of  the  Paladins.'  R.  Keece. 
Dec.  23, 68. 


At  this  period  the  company  was  further  in 
creased  by  the  addition  of  Miss  Fanny  Holland 
and  Mr.  Arthur  Cecil,  and  soon  after  by  Mr. 
Corney  Grain  and  Mr.  Alfred  Reed.  The  follow 
ing  was  the  repertoire  during  this  last  period  : — 


'  Lischen  and  Fritschen.'  Offen 
bach.  Feb.  8.  59. 

•No  Cards,'  W.  S.  Gilbert,  and 
'  Cox  and  Box."  Burnand  and  Sul 


(A.  Cecil's  1st 


livan.    Mar.  29,  69. 
appearance.) 

'  Ages  Ago.'     W.  S.  Gilbert  and 
F.  Clay.    Nov.  22,  69. 

'Beggar  my  Neighbour.'    F.  C. 
Burnand.    Mar.  28,  70. 

'  Our  Island  Home.'    W.  S.  Gil 
bert.    June  20,  70. 

•The  Bold  Becruit.'     F.  Clay. 
July  19,  70. 

'A  Sensation  Novel."    Do.   Jan. 
30,71. 


'  Near  Relations.'  Arthur  Sketch- 
ley.  Aug.  14,  71. 

'King Christmas.'  PIanch<5. Dec. 
26,  71. 

'Charity  begins  at  Home.'  B. 
Bowe  and  Cellier.  Feb.  7,  72. 

'My  Aunt's  Secret.'  Burnand 
and  Molloy.  Mar.  3,  72. 

'Happy  Arcadia,'  W.  S.  Gilbert 
and  F.  Clay.  Oct.  28,  72. 

'  Very  Catching.'  Burnand  and 
Molloy.  Nov.  18,  72. 

'  Mildred's  Well.'  Burnand  and 
German  Beed.  May  5,  73. 


When  the  lease  of  the  Gallery  of  Illustration 
expired,  the  entertainment  was  transferred  to 
St.  George's  Hall,  and  there  the  following  enter 
tainments  were  produced : — 


'He's  Coming.'  F.  0.  Burnand 
and  German  Reed. 

'  Too  Many  by  One.'  F.  C.  Bur- 
nand  and  F.  Cowan. 

'The  Three  Tenants';  'Ancient 
Britons.'  Gilbert  a  Beckett  and 
German  Beed. 

•A  Tale  of  Old  China.'  F.  0. 
Burnand  and  Molloy. 

'  Eyes  and  no  Eyes.'  W.  B.  GI1- 
bert  and  German  Reed. 

'  A  Spanish  Bond ';  'An  Indian 
Puzzle';  'The  Wicked  Duke.'  Gil 


bert  a  Beckett  and  German 
Beed. 

'Matched  and  Match.'  F.  C. 
Burnand  and  German  Reed. 

'  A  Puff  of  Smoke.'  0.  J.  Rowe 
and  Mme.  Goetz. 

'  Our  Dolls'  House."  C.  J.  Rowe 
and  Cotsford  Dick. 

'A  Night's  Surprise.'  West  Cro- 
mer  and  German  Reed. 

'Foster  Brothers.'  F.  C.  Bur 
nand  and  King  Hall. 

'  Happy  Bungalow."    A.  Law. 


During  the  Galley  of  Illustration  period  a  diver 
sion  was  made  by  the  introduction  of  '  Opere  di 
Camera,'  for  four  characters.  These  comprised : — 


'Jessy  Lea.'  Oxenford  and  Mac-  'Widows  bewitched.'    Virginia 

farren.  Gabriel. 

'  Too  Many  Cooks.'   Offenbach.  '  A  Fair  Exchange ';' A  Happy 

'The  Sleeping  Beauty.'    Balfe.  Result';  'Ching  Chow  Hi.'     All 

'The  Soldier's  Legacy.1     Oxen-  three  by  Offenbach. 

ford  and  Macfarren. 

While  the  entertainment  still  remained  at  the 
Gallery  of  Illustration,  Reed  became  lessee  of  St. 
George's  Hall  for  the  production  of  Comic  Opera. 
He  engaged  an  orchestra  of  40  and  a  strong 
chorus,  and  '  The  Contraband! sta'  (Burnand  and 
Sullivan),  'L'Ambassadrice'  (Auber),  'Ching 
Chow  Hi'  and  the  'Beggar's  Opera1  were  pro 
duced,  but  without  the  necessary  success.  Mr. 
Reed  then  gave  his  sole  attention  to  the  Gallery 
of  Illustration,  in  which  he  has  been  uniformly 
successful,  owing  to  the  fact  that  he  has  carried 
out  his  entertainments,  not  only  with  perfect 
respectability,  but  always  with  great  talent,  much 
tact  and  judgment,  and  constant  variety. 

His  brothers,  ROBERT  HOPKB  and  WILLIAM, 
are  violoncello  players;  Robert  has  been  Principal  . 
Cello  in  the  Crystal  Palace  Band  for  many  years. 

MRS.  GERMAN  REED,  nde  PRISCILLA  HORTON, 
was  born  at  Birmingham,  Jan.  I,  1818.  From  a 
very  early  age  she  showed  unmistakable  qualifi 
cations  for  a  theatrical  career,  in  a  fine  strong 
voice,  great  musical  ability,  and  extraordinary 
power  of  mimicry.  She  made  her  first  appearance 
at  the  age  of  ten,  at  the  Surrey  Theatre,  under 
Elliston's  management,  as  the  Gipsy  Girl  in  'Guy 
Mannering.'  After  this  she  was  constantly  en 
gaged  at  the  principal  metropolitan  theatres  in 
a  very  wide  range  of  parts.  Her  rare  combination 
of  great  ability  as  a  singer,  with  conspicuous  gifts 
as  an  actress,  and  moat  attractive  appearance, 
led  to  a  very  satisfactory  step  in  her  career.  On 
Aug.  16,  1837,  she  signed  an  agreement  with 
Mr.  Macready  for  his  famous  performances  at 
Covent  Garden  and  Drury  Lane,  in  which  she 
acted  Ariel,  Ophelia,  the  Fool 1  in  '  Lear,'  the 
Attendant  Spirit  in  '  Comus,'  Philidel  in  '  King 
Arthur,'  and  Acis  in  'Acis  and  Galatea.'  After 
the  conclusion  of  this  memorable  engagement, 
Miss  Horton  became  the  leading  spirit  in 
Planche's  graceful  burlesques  at  the  Haymarket 
Theatre.  On  Jan.  20,  1844,  she  married  Mr. 
German  Reed,  and  the  rest  of  her  career  has  been 
related  under  his  name.  [G.] 

REEL  (Anglo-Saxon  hreol,  connected  with  the 
Suio-Gothic  rulla,  to  whirl).  An  ancient  dance, 
the  origin  of  which  is  enveloped  in  much  ob 
scurity.  The  fact  of  its  resemblance  to  the 
Norwegian  Hattung,  as  well  as  its  popularity 
in  Scotland,  and  its  occurrence  in  Denmark,  the 
north  of  England,  and  Ireland,  has  led  most 
writers  to  attribute  to  it  a  Scandinavian  origin, 
although  its  rapid  movements  and  lively  character 
are  opposed  to  the  oldest  Scandinavian  dance- 
rhythms.  The  probability  is  that  the  reel  is  of 
Keltic  origin,  perhaps  indigenous  to  Britain,  and 
from  there  introduced  into  Scandinavia.  In  Scot 
land  the  reel  is  usually  danced  by  two  couples ; 
in  England — where  it  is  now  almost  only  found  in 
connection  with  the  Sword  Dance,  as  performed 
in  the  North  Riding  of  Yorkshire — it  is  danced 

i  See  Macready's  Reminiscences,  by  S.r  F.  Pollock,  ii.  97. 


92 


KEEL. 


by  three  couples.  The  figures  of  the  reel  differ 
slightly  according  to  the  locality ;  their  chief 
feature  is  their  circular  character,  the  dancers 
standing  face  to  face  and  describing  a  series  of 
figures  of  eight.  The  music  consists  of  8-bar 
phrases,  generally  in  common  time,  but  occa 
sionally  in  6-4.  The  Irish  reel  is  played  much 
faster  than  the  Scotch  ;  in  Yorkshire  an  ordinary 
hornpipe-tune  is  used.  The  following  example, 
'Lady  Nelson's  Reel,'  is  from  a  MS.  collection 
of  dances  in  the  possession  of  the  present  writer. 


An  example  of  the  Danish  reel  will  be  found  in 
Engel's  '  National  Music'  (London,  1866). 

One  of  the  most  characteristic  Scotch  reels  is 
the  Reel  of  Tulloch  (Thulichan)  :— 


Others,  equally  good,  are  'Colonel  McBean's 
Reel,'  '  Ye're  welcome,  Charlie  Stuart,'  '  The 
Cameronian  Rant,'  'Johnnie's  friends  are  ne'er 
pleased,'  and  '  Flora  Macdonald.' 

For  the  slow  Reel  see  STRATHSPEY.  [W.B.S.] 
REEVE,  WILLIAM,  born  1757  ;  after  quitting 
school,  was  placed  with  a  law  stationer  in  Chan 
cery  Lane,  where  his  fellow  writer  was  Joseph 
Munden,  afterwards  the  celebrated  comedian. 
Determined  however  upon  making  music  his 
profession,  he  became  a  pupil  of  Richardson, 
organist  of  St.  James,  Westminster.  In  1781 
he  was  appointed  organist  of  Totnes.  Devonshire, 
where  he  remained  till  about  1783,  when  he  was 
engaged  as  composer  at  Astley's.  He  was  next 
for  some  time  an  actor  at  the  regular  theatres. 
In  1791,  being  then  a  chorus  singer  at  Covent 
Garden,  he  was  applied  to  to  complete  the  com- 


REEVES. 

position  of  the  music  for  the  ballet-pantomime 
of  '  Oscar  and  Malvina,'  left  unfinished  by  Shield, 
who,  upon  some  differences  with  the  manager, 
had  resigned  his  appointment.  Reeve  thereupon 
produced  an  overture  and  some  vocal  music, 
which  were  much  admired,  and  led  to  his  being 
appointed  composer  to  the  theatre.  In  1792 
he  was  elected  organist  of  St.  Martin,  Lud- 
gate.  In  1802  he  became  part  proprietor  of 
Sadler's  Wells  Theatre.  His  principal  dramatic 
compositions  were  'Oscar  and  Malvina,'  and 
'Tippoo  Saib,'  1791;  'Orpheus  and  Eurydice,' 
partly  adapted  from,  Gluck,  1792;  'The  Ap 
parition,'  '  British  Fortitude,'  '  Hercules  and 
Omphale,'  and  'The  Purse,'  1794;  'Merry 
Sherwood,'  1795  ;  '  Harlequin  and  Oberon,'  1796; 
'  Bantry  Bay,"  'The  Round  Tower,'  and  'Harle 
quin  and  Quixote,'  1 797  ;  '  Joan  of  Arc,'  '  Ramah 
Droog'  (with  Mazzinghi),  1798  ;  'The  Turnpike 
Gate '  (with  Mazzinghi),  and  '  The  Embarkation/ 

1 799  ;  '  Paul  and  Virginia  '   (with  Mazzinghi), 

1800  ;   '  Harlequin's  Almanack,'  'The  Blind  Girl' 
(with  Mazzinghi),  1801  ;  'The  Cabinet'  (with 
Braham,  Davy,  and  Moorehead),  and  'Family 
Quarrels'  (with  Braham  and  Moorehead),  1802; 
'The   Caravan,'    1803;    'The   Dash,'    'Thirty 
Thousand'  (with  Davy  and  Braham),  1804;  'Out 
of  Place'  (with  Braham),   1805;  'The  White 
Plume,'  and  'Au  Bratach,'  1806;  'Kais'  (with 
Braham),  1808  ;  '  Tricks  upon  Travellers '  (part), 
1 8 10  ;  .and  'The  Outside  Passenger '  (with  Whita- 
ker  and  D.  Corri),  1811.     He  wrote  music  for 
some  pantomimes  at   Sadler's  Wells;   amongst 
them  '  Bang  up,"  by  C.  Dibdin,  jun.,  containing 
the  favourite  Clown's  song,  '  Tipitywichet,'  for 
Grimaldi.     He  was  also  author  of '  The  Juvenile 
Preceptor,  or  Entertaining  Instructor,'  etc.    He 
died  June  22,  1815.  [W.H.H.] 

REEVES,  JOHN  SIMS,  son  of  a  musician,  was 
born  at  Shooter's  Hill,  Kent,  Oct.  21,  1822.  He 
received  his  early  musical  instruction  from  his 
father,  and  at  14  obtained  the  post  of  organist 
at  North  Cray  Church,  Kent.  Upon  gaining 
his  mature  voice  he  determined  on  becoming  a 
singer,  and  in  1839  made  his  first  appearance 
in  that  capacity  at  the  Newnastle-upon-Tyne 
Theatre,  as  Count  Rudolpho  in  '  La  Sonnambula,' 
and  subsequently  performed  Dandini  in  '  La 
Cenerentola/  and  other  baritone  parts.  The 
true  quality  of  his  voice,  however,  having  asserted 
itself,  he  placed  himself  under  Hobbs  and  T. 
Cooke,  and  in  the  seasons  of  1841-42  and  1842-43 
was  a  member  of  Macready's  company  at  Drury 
Lane,  as  one  of  the  second  tenors,  performing  such 
parts  as  the  First  Warrior  in  Purcell's  '  King 
Arthur,'  Ottocar  in  'Der  Freischiitz,'  and  the 
like.  He  then  went  to  the  continent  to  prose 
cute  his  studies,  and  in  a  short  time  afterwards 
appeared  at  Milan  as  Edgardo  in  Donizetti's 
'Lucia  di  Lammermoor'  with  marked  success. 
Returning  to  England  he  was  engaged  by  Jullien 
for  Drury  Lane,  where  he  made  his  first  appear 
ance  on  Monday,  Dec.  6, 1847,  as  Edgar  in  'The 
Bride  of  Lammermoor,'  and  at  once  took  position 
as  an  actor  and  singer  of  the  first  rank.  '  His 
voice  had  become  a  pure  high  tenor  of  delicious 


REEVES. 

quality,  the  tones  vibrating  and  equal  throughout, 
very  skilfully  managed,  and  displaying  remark 
ably  good  taste.  His  deportment  as  an  actor  was 
natural  and  easy,  his  action  manly  and  to  the 
purpose,  and  exhibiting  both  passion  and  power, 
without  the  least  exaggeration.'  A  fortnight  later 
he  performed  his  first  original  part,  Lyonnel  in 
Balfe's  '  Maid  of  Honour.'  In  1848  he  was  en 
gaged  at  Her  Majesty's  Theatre,  and  came  out 
as  Carlo  in  Donizetti's  'Linda  di  Chamounix.' 
In  the  autumn  he  was  engaged  at  the  Norwich 
Musical  Festival,  where  he  showed  his  ability 
as  an  oratorio  singer  by  an  extraordinarily 
fine  delivery  of  '  The  enemy  said '  in  '  Israel  in 
Egypt.'  On  Nov.  24  following  he  made  his  first 
appearance  at  the  Sacred  Harmonic  Society  in 
Handel's  '  Messiah.'  The  rapid  strides  which  he 
was  then  making  towards  perfection  in  oratorio 
were  shown — to  take  a  few  instances  only — 
by  his 'performance  in  'Judas  Maccabeus'  and 
'  Samson,'  'Elijah,'  'St.  Paul/  and  'Lobgesang,' 
and  'Eli'  and  'Naaman'  (both  composed  ex 
pressly  for  him).  But  his  greatest  triumph 
was  achieved  at  the  Handel  Festival  at  the 
Crystal  Palace  in  1857,  when,  after  singing 
in  '  Messiah '  and  '  Judas  Maccabeus  '  with  in 
creased  reputation,  he  gave  '  The  enemy  said ' 
in  '  Israel  in  Egypt '  with  such  remarkable 
power,  fire,  and  volume  of  voice,  breadth  of  style, 
and  evenness  of  vocalisation,  as  completely  elec 
trified  his  hearers.  He  repeated  this  wonderful 
performance  at  several  succeeding  festivals.  On 
the  stage  he  has  been  uniformly  successful  in 
all  styles,  from  the  simplest  old  English  ballad 
opera  to  the  most  complex  modern  grand  pro 
duction.  A  recent  letter  from  Mr.  Reeves,  pub 
lished  in  the  Times  in  Nov.  1880,  speaks  of 
his  intended  retirement  from  public  life  as  an 
artist  in  1882,  and  shows  in  its  whole  tenor  how 
deep  an  interest  is  felt  by  this  great  singer  in  the 
welfare,  in  his  own  country,  of  the  art  in  which 
he  himself  has  been  so  successful.  Mr.  Reeves 
married,  Nov.  2,  1850,  Miss  EMMA  LUCOMBE, 
soprano  singer,  who  had  been  a  pupil  of  Mrs. 
Blane  Hunt,  and  appeared  at  the  Sacred  Har 
monic  Society's  concert  of  June  19,  1839,  and 
sang  there  and  at  other  concerts  until  1845,  when 
she  went  to  Italy.  She  returned  in  1848,  and 
appeared  in  opera  as  well  as  at  concerts.  Mrs. 
Reeves  has  for  some  years  past  retired  from  public 
life  and  occupied  herself  as  a  teacher  of  singing, 
for  which  she  has  a  deservedly  high  reputation. 
His  son  HERBERT,  after  a  careful  education  under 
his  father  and  at  Milan,  made  his  successful  debut 
at  one  of  Mr.  Ganz's  concerts  (June  12,1 880),  and 
has  already  met  with  great  favour  from  the  public. 
His  voice,  though  not  yet  so  strong  as  his  father's, 
is  of  beautiful  quality,  and  in  taste,  intelligence 
and  phrasing  he  is  all  that  might  be  expected 
from  his  parentage  and  education.  [W.H.H.] 

REFORMATION  SYMPHONY,  THE. 
Mendelssohn's  own  name,  and  that  adopted  in 
England,  for  his  Symphony  in  D  minor,  written 
with  a  view  to  performance  at  the  Tercentenary 
Festival  of  the  Augsburg  Protestant  Confession, 
which  was  intended  to  be  celebrated  throughout 


REGIBO. 


93 


Germany  on  June  25,  1830.  The  first  mention 
of  it  appears  to  be  in  a  letter  of  his  own  from 
North  Wales,  Sept.  2,  1829.  On  May  15,  1830, 
he  writes  from  Weimar  that  it  is  finished,  and 
when  copied  will  be  sent  to  Leipzig.  It  was  not 
however  then  performed ;  the  political  troubles 
of  that  year  prevented  any  festive  demonstra 
tions.  In  January  and  March,  1832,  it  was  in 
rehearsal  in  Paris,  but  it  did  not  come  to  actual 
performance  till  Nov.  1832,  when  it  was  played 
under  his  own  direction  at  Berlin.  It  was  not 
repeated  during  his  life,  but  was  revived  at  the 
Crystal  Palace,  Sydenham,  Nov.  30,  1867.  It 
was  published  in  score  and  parts  by  Novello 
&  Co.,  and  by  Simrock  as  '  Symphony  No.  5 ' — 
Op.  107,  No.  36  of  the  posthumous  works.  The 
first  Allegro  is  said  to  represent  the  conflict 
between  the  old  and  new  religions,  and  the 
Finale  is  founded  on  Luther's  Hymn,  '  Ein' 
veste  Burg  ist  unser  Gott.'  [G.] 

REFRAIN  (Fr.  Refrain;  Germ.  ReimJcehr}. 
This  word  is  used  in  music  to  denote  what  in 
poetry  is  called  a  '  burden,'  i.  e.  a  short  sentence 
or  phrase  which  recurs  in  every  verse  or  stanza. 
It  was  probably  first  employed  in  music  in  order 
to  give  roundness  and  unity  to  the  melody,  and 
was  then  transferred  to  the  poetry  which  was 
written  especially  for  music.  Such  collections  as 
the  '  Echos  du  temps  passe" '  give  an  abundance 
of  examples  in  French  music,  where  songs  with 
refrains  are  most  frequently  to  be  found.  '  Lil- 
liburlero '  may  be  cited  as  one  English  instance 
out  of  many.  [See  vol.  ii.  p.  138.]  [J.  A.F.M.] 

REGAL  (Fr.  Regale;  It.  Regale  or  Ninfale). 
An  old  German  name  for  a  very  small  organ — 
also  called  '  Bibelorgan '  or  '  Bibelregal,'  because 
it  was  sometimes  so  small  as  to  fold  up  into  the 
size  of  a  Church  Bible.  It  had  a  single  rank  of 
reed-pipes  only.  Praetorius  in  his  Syntagma, 
vol.  iii.  pi.  iv.  gives  a  view  of  one,  which  in  its 
extended  condition,  bellows  and  all,  appears  to  be 
about  3  ft.  6  in.  by  3  ft.  He  ascribes  (ii.  p.  73)  the 
invention  to  a  nameless  monk ;  others  give  it  to 
Roll,  an  organ-builder  at  Nuremberg  in  1575. 
The  specimen  preserved  in  the  Muse'e  of  the 
Conservatoire  at  Paris  is  said  to  date  from  the 
end  of  the  i6th  century,  and  has  a  compass  of 

4  octaves.     The  instrument  has  been  long  since 
extinct,  but  the  name  '  regal '  is  still  applied  in 
Germany  to  certain  reedstops. 

In  the  inventory  of  Henry  VIII's  musical 
instruments  we  find  13  pairs  of  single  regalls 
(the  _  '  pair '  meant  only  one  instrument)  and 

5  pair  of  double  regalls  (that  is  with  two  pipes 
to  each  note).     The  name  continued  in  use  at 
the  English  Court  down  to  1773,  the  date   of 
the  death  of  Bernard  Gates,  who  was  '  tuner  of 
the  Regals  in  the  King's  household.'  [G.] 

REGAN,  ANNA,  soprano  singer.  [See 
SCHIMON,] 

REGIBO,  ABEL  BENJAMIN  MARIE,  born  at 
Renaix  in  Belgium,  April  6,  1835,  received  his 
first  lessons  in  music  from  his  father,  who  was 
director  of  the  choir  of  the  College  of  St.  Hermes 
in  that  town.  From  infancy  Regibo  showed  a 


94 


REGIBO. 


great  inclination  to  music.  In  1848  lie  entered 
the  Conservatoire  at  Ghent,  where  he  was  placed 
for  piano  under  Max  Heyndericks ;  and  in  two 
years,  while  following  the  instruction  of  Joseph 
Mengal,  he  obtained  the  prize  for  harmony.  Ge- 
vaert  gave  him  lessons  in  counterpoint.  In  1854 
his  father  removed  him  to  the  Conservatoire  at 
Brussels,  where  Lemmens  taught  him  the  organ, 
and  Fe"tis  composition.  Among  his  numerous 
compositions,  the  fruit  of  these  studies,  there  is 
a  trio  for  piano,  harmonium,  and  cello,  dedicated 
to  Eetis.  A  second  trio  for  the  same  combina 
tion  is  dedicated  to  Gevaert.  In  1856  Regibo 
contracted  for  two  years  with  Messrs  Mercklin 
and  Schiitze  to  display  their  organs'  and  har 
moniums,  and  was  publicly  heard  on  the  latter 
in  Holland,  in  London  and  in  Paris.  Having 
found  in  a  garret  of  his  father's  house  a  spinet 
by  Albert  Delin  of  Tournai,  dated  1756,  which 
had  been  the  musical  instrument  of  his  childhood, 
he  conceived  the  idea  of  collecting  all  the  old 
Belgian  clavecins,  spinets  and  dulcimers  possible 
—an  idea  the  successful  carrying  out  of  which  is 
likely  to  make  his  name  widely  known.  Regibo 
has  proposed  to  himself  the  patriotic  task  of  re 
deeming  the  works  of  the  old  Belgian  makers  from 
their  unmerited  obscurity,  and  after  a  quarter 
of  a  century's  research  he  has  now  the  largest 
collection  existing  of  the  clavecins  of  the  great 
Antwerp  makers,  including  the  greatest  of  all,  the 
family  of  Ruckers.  [See  RUCKERS  ;  also  COLLEC 
TIONS  in  the  Appendix.]  To  justify  the  import 
ance  of  his  object  he  is  now  engaged  upon  a 
technical  treatise,  soon  to  be  published,  upon  the 
last  three  centuries  of  this  instrumental  art  of  his 
native  country,  which  has  no  early  rival  even  of 
approximate  importance  except  the  still  earlier 
efforts  of  Northern  Italy  in  the  same  direction. 
In  1872  Regibo  was  summoned  to  his  native  town 
to  take  the  direction  of  the  School  of  Music,  a 
post  which  he  still  holds  (1881).  [A.  J.H.] 

REGISTER,  of  an  organ.  Literally,  a  set 
of  pipes  as  recorded  or  described  by  the  name 
written  on  the  draw -stop ;  hence,  in  general,  an 
organ-stop.  The  word  '  register '  is  however  not 
quite  synonymous  with  'stop,'  for  we  do  not  say 
'  pull  out,  or  put  in,  a  register,'  but,  « a  stop,'' 
although  we  can  say  indifferently  '  a  large 
number  of  registers '  or  '  of  stops.'  The  word  is 
also  used  as  a  verb ;  for  example,  the  expression 
'  skill  in  registering '  or  '  registration '  means 
skill  in  selecting  various  combinations  of  stops 
for  use.  The  word  '  stop  '  is  however  never  used 
as  a  verb,  in  this  sense.  [J.S.] 

REGISTER  is  now  employed  to  denote  a 
portion  of  the  scale.  The  'soprano  register,' 
the  'tenor  register,'  denote  that  part  of  the 
scale  which  forms  the  usual  compass  of  those 
voices  ;  the  '  head  register '  means  the  notes 
which  are  sung  with  the  head  voice ;  the  '  chest 
register,'  those  which  are  sung  from  the  chest ; 
the  '  upper  register '  is  the  higher  portion  of  the 
compass  of  an  instrument  or  voice,  and  so  on. 
How  it  came  to  have  this  meaning,  the  writer 
has  not  been  able  to  discover.  [G.] 


REGISTRATION. 

REGISTRATION  (or  REGISTERING)  is 
the  only  convenient  term  for  indicating  the  art  of 
selecting  and  combining  the  stops  or  '  registers ' 
in  the  organ  so  as  to  produce  the  best  effect  and 
contrast  of  tone,  and  is  to  the  organ  what  '  or 
chestration  '  is  to  the  orchestra.  The  stops  of 
an  organ  may  be  broadly  clased  under  the  two 
divisions  of  '  flue-stops '  and  '  reed-stops.'  [See 
OKGAN.]  The  flue-stops  again  may  be  regarded 
as  classed  under  three  sub-divisions — those  which 
represent  the  pure  organ  tone  (as  the  diapasons, 
principal,,  fifteenth,  and  mixtures),  those  which 
aim  at  an  imitation  of  string  or  of  reed  tone  (as 
the  viol  one,  viola,  gamba,  etc.),  and  those  which 
represent  flute  tone.  In  considering  the  whole 
of  the  stops  en  masse,  a  distinction  may  again  be 
drawn  between  those  which  are  intended  to  com 
bine  in  the  general  tone  ('  mixing  stops ')  and 
those,  mostly  direct  imitations  of  orchestral  in 
struments,  which  are  to  be  regarded  as  'solo 
stops '  to  be  used  for  special  effects,  as  the 
clarinet,  orchestral  oboe,  vox  humana,  etc.  Some 
stops,  such  as  the  harmonic  flute,  are  capable  of 
effective  use,  with  certain  limitations,  in  either 
capacity. 

The  use  of  the  pure  solo  stops  is  guided  by 
nearly  the  same  aesthetic  considerations  as  the 
use  in  the  orchestra  of  the  instruments  which 
they  imitate  [see  OKCHESTKATION],  by  suitability 
of  timbre  for  the  expression  and  feeling  of  the 
music.  These  stops  form,  however,  the  smallest 
and  on  the  whole  the  least  important  portion  of 
the  instrument. 

In  the  combination  of  the  general  mass  of  stops 
there  are  some  rules  which  are  invariable — e.  g.  a 
'  mutation  stop,'  such  as  the  twelfth,  can  never  be 
used  without  the  stop  giving  the  unison  tone  next 
above  it  (the  fifteenth),  and  the  mixtures  can 
never  be  used  without  the  whole  or  the  principal 
mass  of  the  stops  giving  the  sounds  below  them, 
except  that  on  the  swell  manual  the  mixture 
may  sometimes  be  used  with  the  8-feet  stops 
only,  to  produce  a  special  effect.  On  the  great- 
organ  manual  it  is  generally  assumed  that  the 
stops  are  added  in  the  order  in  which  they  are 
always  placed,  the  unison  diapason  stops  and  the 
i6-feet  stops  lowest,  the  principal,  twelfth,  fif 
teenth,  and  mixtures  in  ascending  order  above 
them  ;  and  the  reeds  at  the  top,  to  be  added  last, 
to  give  the  full  power  of  the  instrument.  But 
this  general  rule  has  its  exceptions  for  special 
purposes.  If  it  be  desired  to  play  afugato  passage 
with  somewhat  of  a  light  violin  effect,  the  fif 
teenth  added  to  the  8-feet  steps,  omitting  the 
principal  and  twelfth,  has  an  excellent  effect,1 
more  especially  if  balanced  by  a  light  i6-feet 
stop  beneath  the  diapasons.  The  8-feet  reeds, 
again,  may  be  used  with  the  diapasons  only,  with 
very  fine  effect,  in  slow  passages  of  full  harmony. 
The  harmonic  flute  of  4-feet  tone  is  usually 
found  on  the  great  manual,  but  should  be  used 
with  caution.  It  often  has  a  beautiful  effect  in 
addition  to  the  diapasons,  floating  over  them  and 

1  For  this  reason  the  twelfth  and  fifteenth  should  never  be  com 
bined  on  one  slide,  as  is  occasionally  done  for  the  sake  of  economy 
in  mechanism. 


REGISTRATION. 

brightening  up  their  tone,  but  should  be  shut  off 
when  the  4-feet  principal  is  added,  or  when  the 
'full  to  fifteenth'  is  used,  as  the  two  tones  do  not 
amalgamate.  The  1 6-feet  stops  on  the  manuals 
are  intended  to  give  weight  and  gravity  of  tone, 
and  are  always  admirable  with  the  full  or  nearly 
the  full  organ.  In  combination  with  the  diapasons 
only  their  use  is  determined  by  circumstances ; 
with  a  very  full  harmony  they  cause  a  muddy 
effect ;  with  an  extended  harmony  in  pure  parts 
they  impart  a  desirable  fullness  and  weight  of 
tone,  and  seem  to  fill  in  the  interstices  of  the 
unison  stops  :  e.  g. — 

g^UJ- 


REGISTRATION. 


95 


t 


.2^1 


r 


No.  I  would  be  injured  by  the  addition  of  a 
i6-feet  stop  below  the  diapasons ;  No.  2  would 
be  improved  by  it. 

The  swell  organ  stops  are  very  like  the  great 
organ  in  miniature,  except  that  the  reed-stops 
predominate  more  in  tone,  and  are  more  often 
used  either  alone  or  with  diapasons  c::ly,  the 
stronger  and  more  pronounced  tone  of  the  reeds 
being  requisite  to  bring  out  the  full  effect  of 
the  crescendo  on  opening  the  swell  box.  The 
oboe  alone,  in  passages  of  slow  harmony,  has  a 
beautiful  effect,  rich  yet  distant.  The  choir 
organ  is  always  partially  composed  of  solo  stops, 
and  the  bulk  of  its  stops  are  usually  designed 
for  special  effects  when  used  separately,  though 
with  a  certain  capability  of  mixing  in  various 
combinations.  It  may  be  observed  that  qualities 
of  tone  which  mix  beautifully  in  unison  will  often 
not  mix  in  different  octaves.  The  union  of  one 
of  the  soft  reedy-toned  stops,  of  the  gamba  class, 
with  an  8-feet  clarabella  flute,  has  a  beautiful 
creamy  effect  in  harmonised  passages,  but  the 
addition  of  a  4-feet  flute  instead  is  unsatisfactory ; 
and  the  combination  with  the  clarabella,  though 
so  effective  for  harmony,  would  be  characterless 
as  a  solo  combination  for  a  melody.  The  effect 
of  a  light  4-feet  flute  over  a  light  8-feet  stop  of 
not  too  marked  character  is  often  admirable  for 
the  accompanying  harmonies  to  a  melody  played 
on  another  manual ;  Mendelssohn  refers  to  this 
in  the  letter  in  which  he  speaks  of  his  delight  in 
playing  the  accompaniment  in  Bach's  arrange 
ment  of  the  chorale  'Schmucke  dich'  in  this  way ; 
the  flute,  he  observes,  'continually  floating  above 
the  chorale.'  This  class  of  effect  is  peculiar  to 
the  organ ;  it  is  quite  distinct  from  that  of  dou 
bling  a  part  with  the  flute  an  octave  higher  in  the 
orchestra;  in  the  organ  the  whole  harmony  is 
doubled,  but  in  so  light  and  blending  a  manner 
that  the  hearer  is  not  conscious  of  it  as  a  dou 
bling  of  the  parts,  but  only  as  a  bright  and  liquid 
effect. 

In  contrasting  the  stops  on  the  different 
manuals,  one  manual  may  be  arranged  so  as  to 


#                1  —      *— 

f 

•- 

^ 

^ 

-K= 

m 

H 

•• 

: 

KB 
f> 

1 

t- 

13 

V  #  5 

* 

'•  ** 

i 

""     J        * 

*       r 

I 
Swell  with  Reeds,  8-feet 

be  an  echo  or  light  repetition  of  the  other,  as  when 
a  selection  of  stops  on  the  swell  manual  is  used 
as  the  piano  to  the  forte  of  a  similar  selection  on 
the  great  manual  ;  but  more  often  the  object  is 
contrast  of  tone,  especially  when  the  two  hands 
use  two  manuals  simultaneously.  In  such  case 
the  stops  must  be  selected,  not  only  so  as  to  stand 
out  from  each  other  in  tone,  but  so  that  each 
class  of  passage  may  have  the  tone  best  fitted 
for  its  character.  In  this  example,  from  Smart's 
Theme  and  Variations  in  A,  for  instance- 
Great  Organ  Flute,  &. 
8-feet.  -!•-  _ 


if  the  registering  were  reversed,  the  chords  played 
on  the  flute-stop  and  the  brilliant  accompaniment 
on  the  swell  reeds,  it  would  not  only  be  ineffec 
tive  but  aesthetically  repugnant  to  the  taste,  from 
the  sense  of  the  misuse  of  tone  :  this  of  course 
would  be  an  extreme  example  of  misuse,  merely 
instanced  here  as  typical.  The  use  of  flute  tone 
over  reed  tone  on  another  keyboard  is  often 
beautiful  in  slow  passages  also ;  e.  g.  from  1Rhein- 
berger's  Sonata  in  Fjf : — 

Adagio  non  troppo 


A  ft 

^  — 

^ 

y  #».  o 

I"    • 

I 

j\ 

r     f 

[ 

1 

ff\  \                 •* 

KJ 

1 

'• 

• 

xNL/             i~f 

^^ 

*J      8-feet  Flute, 

Great  or  Solo  Organ. 

£?                 ^^^^ 

^ 

)'  Su.  9 

j.i 

f'J- 

1  —  *&  

—  p  

•Z      J  Tt 

'  * 

*  4- 

\^ 

^T 

fe 

^ 

^vl                

i 

i                i 

Swell,  Soft  8-feet  Reed  only. 

'  ~\*  ^L      *f 

v 

z±3tS 

Pedal  Bourdon,  coupled  to  Swell. 

where  the  flute  seems  to  glide  like  oil  over  the 
comparatively  rough  tones  of  the  reed.  Differing 
tones  may  sometimes  be  combined  with  good 
effect  by  coupling  two  manuals ;  swell  reeds 
coupled  to  great-organ  diapasons  is  a  fine  com 
bination,  unfortunately  hackneyed  by  church 
organists,  many  of  whom  are  so  enamoured  of  it 
that  they  seldom  let  one  hear  the  pure  diapason 
tone,  which  it  must  always  be  remembered  is 
the  real  organ  tone,  and  the  foundation  of  the 
whole  instrument.  Special  expression  may  some 
times  be  obtained  by  special  combinations  of 
pitch.  Slow  harmonies  played  on  1 6-feet  and  8-feet 
flutes,  or  flute-tuned  stops,  only,  produce  a  very 
funereal  and  weird  effect.2  Brilliant  scale  pas 
sages  and  arpeggios,  accompanying  a  harmony 
on  another  keyboard,  may  be  given  with  an 
effect  at  once  light  and  bizarre,  with  the  1 6-feet 
bourdon  and  the  fifteenth  three  octaves  above 
it,  Saint-Saens,  in  his  first  '  Rhapsodic,'  writes 

1  The  registering  is  our  own  ;  the  composer  gives  no  indication. 

2  See  a  little  piece  entitled  'Adagio  Elegiaeo,'  in   Best's  'Organ 
Pieces  for  Church  Use.' 


REGISTRATION. 


REGISTRATION. 


an  arpeggio  accompaniment  for  flutes  in  three 
octaves — 


Flutes,  8.  4,  and  2  feet. 


Swell  Eeed. 

though  it  is  perhaps  better  with  the  4-feet  flute 
omitted.  The  clarinet,  though  intended  as  a  solo 
stop,  may  occasionally  be  used  with  great  effect 
in  harmonised  passages  (in  combination  with  a 
light  flue-stop  to  fill  up  and  blend  the  tone),  and 
should  therefore  always  be  carried  through  the 
whole  range  of  the  keyboard,  not  stopped  at 
tenor  C,  as  most  builders  do  with  it.  The 
vox-humana  should  never  be  combined  with  any 
other  stop  on  the  same  manual ;  the  French 
organists  write  it  so,  bufc  it  is  a  mistake ;  and,  it 
may  be  added,  it  should  be  but  sparingly  used 
at  all.  It  is  one  of  the  tricks  of  organ  effect, 
useful  sometimes  for  a  special  expression,  but 
very  liable  to  misuse.  The  modern  introduction 
of  a  fourth  keyboard,  the  '  solo  manual,'  entirely 
for  solo  stops,  puts  some  new  effects  in  the  hands 
of  the  player,  more  especially  through  the  medium 
of  brilliant  reed-stops  voiced  on  an  extra  pressure 
of  wind.  These  give  opportunity  for  very  fine 
effects  in  combination  with  the  great-organ 
manual  ;  sometimes  in  bringing  out  a  single  em 
phatic  note,  as  in  a  passage  from  Bach's  A  minor 
Fugue — 

tr  Solo  Organ,  Tuba  Reed,  ff 

Gt. 


y. 


Great  Organ,  Full  to  Mixtures. 


1 


Pedal  ff 


where  the  long  blast  from  the  solo  reed,  sounding 
above  the  sway  and  movement  of  the  other  parts, 

i  In  this  case  the  solo  reed  is  supposed  to  be  coupled  to  the  choir 
manual  (immediately  below  the  great  manual),  and  the  lower  notes 
on  the  treble  stave  are  taken  by  the  first  finger  ot  the  right  hand,  the 
fourth  finger  ot  the  same  hand  continuing  to  hold  the  E  on  the  lower 
manual.  In  some  modern  organs  the  solo  manual  is  placed  imme 
diately  above  or  below  the  great  manual,  in  order  to  facilitate  such  a 
combination,  which  is  often  exceedingly  useful. 


has  a  magnificent  effect.  The  solo  reeds  may  be 
used  also  to  give  contrast  in  repeated  phrases  in 
full  harmony,  as  in  this  passage  from  the  finale 
of  Mendelssohn's  first  Sonata — 


Solo  Organ 


Great  Organ  ff          Reeds. 

1  Great  Organ. 

_ 

1         i 

1 

1 

^n      *~i 

Za       J 

/a       « 

^         m  1  J 

lQ) 

»  jf    ^ 

-M-.   •-^H-.—  ? 

~^-.«  ..-->.;  *  . 

-F  —  •-'-•1- 
1  -^       -^  -^ 

p        , 

±  r  ?w 

-  *     J-  J  !  -T3 

-^i  —  L- 

• 

P       • 

p   S   P 

w      g      w-- 

r  v        i 

p" 

—  h 

1 

••  1       1 

Pedal. 

•y 

•    P 

r         •   P 

'•  i 

i 

• 

•S  h 

1 

1     r 

PL_        «_ 

^2 

Combinations  and  effects  such  as  these  might 
be  multiplied  ad  infinitum  ;  in  fact,  the  possible 
combinations  on  an  organ  of  the  largest  size  are 
nearly  endless ;  and  it  must  be  observed  that 
organs  vary  so  much  in  detail  of  tone  and  balance, 
that  each  large  instrument  presents  to  some  ex 
tent  a  separate  problem  to  the  player. 

It  is  remarkable  that  in  the  great  organ  works 
of  Bach  and  his  school  there  is  hardly  an  indi 
cation  of  the  stops  to  be  employed.  It  is  perhaps 
on  this  account  that  it  was  long  the  custom,  and  is 
so  still  with  a  majority  of  players,  to  treat  Bach's 
fugues  for  the  organ  as  if  they  were  things  to  be 
mechanically  ground  out  without  any  attempt  at 
effect  or  colouring ;  as  if,  as  we  heard  a  distin 
guished  player  express  it,  it  were  sufficient  to 
pull  out  all  the  stops  of  a  big  organ  'and  then 
wallow  in  it.'  It  is  no  wonder  under  these  cir 
cumstances  that  many  people  think  of  organ 
fugues  as-  essentially  '  dry.'  The  few  indications 
that  are  given  in  Bach's  works,  as  in  the  Toccata 
in  the  Doric  mode,  show,  however,  that  he  was 
fully  alive  to  the  value  of  contrast  of  tone  and 
effect ;  and  with  all  the  increased  mechanical 
facilities  for  changing  and  adjusting  the  stops  in 
these  days,  we  certainly  eught  to  look  for  some 
more  intelligent  '  scoring '  of  these  great  works 
for  the  organ,  in  accordance  with  their  style  and 
character,  which  is  in  fact  as  various  as  that  of 
any  other  branch  of  classical  music,  and  to  get 
rid  of  the  idea  that  all  fugues  must  necessarily 
be  played  as  loud  as  possible.  Many  of  Bach's 
organ  works  are  susceptible  of  most  delicate  and 
even  playful  treatment  in  regard  to  effect ;  and 
nearly  all  the  graver  ones  contain  episodes  which 
seem  as  if  purposely  intended  to  suggest  variety 
of  treatment.  There  must,  however,  be  a  dis 
tinction  made  between  fugues  which  have  'epi 
sodes/  and  fugues  which  proceed  in  a  regular 
and  unbroken  course  to  a  climax.  Some  of  Bach'?! 
organ  fugues,  and  nearly  all  of  Mendelssohn's, 
are  of  the  latter  class,  and  require  to  be  treated 
accordingly. 

In  arranging  the  effective  treatment  of  organ 
music  of  this  class,  it  is  necessary  often  to  make 
a  special  study  of  the  opportunities  for  changing 
the  stops  so  as  to  produce  no  perceptible  break 
in  the  flow  of  the  whole.  The  swell-organ  is  the 
most  useful  bridge  for  passing  from  loud  to  soft 


REGISTRATION. 

and  back  again  ;  when  open  it  should  be  powerful 
enough  to  be  passed  on  to  from  the  great  organ 
without  a  violent  contrast,  when  the  tone  can  be 
reduced  gradually  by  closing  it ;  the  reverse  pro 
ceeding  being  adopted  in  returning  to  the  great- 
manual.  It  is  possible  to  add  stops  on  the  great- 
manual  in  the  course  of  playing,  so  as  hardly  to 
make  any  perceptible  break,  by  choosing  a  mo 
ment  when  only  a  single  note  is  being  sounded  ; 
the  addition  of  a  stop  at  that  moment  is  hardly 
noticed  by  the  hearer,  who  only  finds  when  the 
other  parts  come  in  again  that  the  tone  is  more 
brilliant.  If  it  be  a  flue-stop  that  is  to  be 
added,  a  low  note  is  the  best  opportunity,  as 
the  addition  of  a  more  acute  stop  of  that  class 
is  least  felt  there ;  if  a  reed  is  to  be  added,  it 
should  be  drawn  on  a  high  note,  as  the  reed 
tone  is  most  prominently  felt  in  the  lower  part 
of  the  scale.  It  should  be  added  that  it  is  abso 
lutely  inadmissible  to  delay  or  break  the  tempo 
to  gain  time  for  changing  a  stop  ;  the  player  must 
make  his  opportunities  without  any  such  license. 

Tolerably  close  imitations  of  orchestral  effects 
are  possible  on  the  organ,  and  an  immense  num 
ber  of  'arrangements'  of  this  kind  have  been 
made  ;  but  as  it  is  at  best  but  an  imperfect 
imitation,  this  is  not  a  pursuit  to  be  encouraged. 
On  the  other  hand,  arrangements  of  piano  music 
for  the  organ,  provided  that  a  careful  selection  is 
made  of  that  which  is  in  keeping  with  the  charac 
ter  of  the  instrument,  may  often  be  very  inter 
esting  and  artistically  valuable,  as  giving  to  the 
music  a  larger  scale  and  new  beauties  of  tone  and 
expression,  and  affording  scope  for  the  unfettered 
exercise  of  taste  and  feeling  in  the  invention  of 
effects  suitable  to  the  character  of  the  music. 

The  foregoing  remarks  may,  we  hope,  afford 
some  answer  to  the  question  so  often  asked  by 
the  uninitiated,  '  how  do  you  know  which  stops 
to  use  ? '  but  it  must  be  added  that  a  sensitive 
ear  for  delicacies  of  timbre  is  a  gift  of  which  it 
may  be  said,  nascitur,  non  fit ;  and  no  one  will 
acquire  by  mere  teaching  the  perception  which 
gives  to  each  passage  its  most  suitable  tone- 
colouring.  [H.H.S.] 

•  REGONDI,  GIULIO,  of  doubtful  parentage, 
bora  at  Geneva  in  1822.  His  reputed  father  was 
a  teacher  in  the  Gymnasium  of  Milan.  The  child 
appears  to  have  been  an  infant  phenomenon  on 
the  guitar,  and  to  have  been  sacrificed  by  his 
father,  who  took  him  to  every  court  of  Europe, 
excepting  Madrid,  before  he  was  nine  years  old. 
They  arrived  in  England  in  1831  or  1832;  and 
Giulio  seems  never  to  have  left  the  United  King 
dom  again  except  for  two  concert  tours  in  Ger 
many,  one  with  Herr  Lidel,  the  violoncello  player 
in  1841,  the  other  with  Mad.  Dulcken  in  1846. 
On  the  former  of  these  tours  he  played  both  the 
guitar  and  the  melophone  (whatever  that  may 
have  been),  and  evoked  enthusiastic  praises  from 
the  correspondents  of  the  A.  M.  Zeitung  in 
Prague  and  Vienna  for  his  extraordinary  execu 
tion  on  both  instruments,  the  very  artistic  and 
individual  character  of  his  performance,  and  the 
sweetness  of  his  cantabile.  The  concertina  was 
patented  by  Sir  Charles  Wheats  tone  in  1829  [see 

VOL.  III.    PT.  I. 


REHEARSAL. 


97 


CONCERTINA"!,  but  did  not  come  into  use  till 
Regondi  took  it  up.  He  wrote  two  concertos 
for  it,  and  a  very  large  number  of  arrange 
ments,  as  well  as  of  original  compositions, 
among  which  a  graceful  piece,  'Les  Oiseaux,' 
was  perhaps  the  most  favourite.  He  also 
taught  it  largely,  and  at  one  time  his  name  was 
to  be  seen  in  almost  all  concert  programmes. 
He  was  a  great  friend  of  Molique's,  who  wrote 
for  him  a  Concerto  for  the  Concertina  (in  G) 
which  he  played  with  great  success  at  the  Concert 
of  the  Musical  Society  of  London,  Apr,  20,  1864. 
When  he  went  abroad  for  his  second  tour,  his 
performance  and  the  effect  which  he  got  out  of 
so  unpromising  and  inartistic  an  instrument  as 
tonished  the  German  critics.  (See  the  A.  M. 
Zeitung  for  1846,  p.  853.)  Regondi  appears  to 
have  been  badly  treated  by  his  father  and  to 
have  had  wretched  health,  which  carried  him 
off  on  May  6,  1872.  He  was  a  fine  linguist 
and  a  very  attractive  person.  His  talent  was 
exquisite,  and  in  better  circumstances  he  might 
have  been  one  of  the  really  great  artists.  [G.] 

REHEARSAL  (Fr.  Edpetition,  Ger.  Probe). 
In  the  case  of  Concerts,  a  performance  pre 
liminary  to  the  public  one,  at  which  each  piece 
included  in  the  programme  is  played  through 
at  least  once,  if  in  MS.  to  detect  the  errors  in 
evitable  in  the  parts,  and  in  any  case  to  study 
the  work  and  discover  how  best  to  bring  out 
the  intentions  of  the  composer,  and  to  ensure 
a  perfect  ensemble  on  the  part  of  the  performers. 
In  England,  owing  to  many  reasons,  but  princi 
pally  to  the  over-occupation  of  the  players,  suffi 
cient  rehearsals  are  seldom  given  to  orchestral 
works.  The  old  rule  of  the  Philharmonic  Society 
(now  happily  to  be  altered)  was  to  have  one  re 
hearsal  on  Saturday  morning  for  the  performance 
on  Monday  evening,  and  this  perhaps  set  the  ex 
ample.  Unless  the  music  is  familiar  to  the  players 
this  is  not  enough.  No  new  works  can  be  effici 
ently  performed  with  less  than  two  rehearsals ; 
and  in  the  case  of  large,  intricate,  and  vocal  works, 
many  more  are  requisite.  We  have  it  on  record 
that  Beethoven's  Eb  Quartet,  op.  127,  was  re 
hearsed  seventeen  times  before  its  first  perform 
ance  ;  the  players  therefore  must  have  arrived  at 
that  state  of  familiarity  and  certainty  which  a 
solo  player  attains  with  a  concerto  or  sonata. 

An  ingenious  method  of  adding  to  the  attrac 
tion  of  a  series  of  concerts  has  been  sometimes 
adopted  in  England  of  late  years  by  making  the 
rehearsals  public ;  but  a  rehearsal  in  face  of  a 
large  well-dressed  audience,  unless  the  conductor 
and  performers  are  above  ordinary  human  weak 
nesses,  is  no  rehearsal  in  the  true  sense  of  the 
word,  and  can  be  of  little  or  no  avail  for  the 
efficient  performance  of  the  music. 

In  the  case  of  Operas,  every  practice  of  either 
chorus,  principals,  or  orchestra,  separately  or 
together,  is  termed  a  rehearsal.  These  will  some 
times  continue  every  day  for  six  weeks  or  two 
months,  as  the  whole  of  the  voice-music,  dialogue, 
and  action  has  to  be  learnt  by  heart.  Whilst  the 
chorus  is  learning  the  music  in  one  part  of  the 
theatre,  the  principals  are  probably  at  work  with 

II 


98 


REHEARSAL. 


the  composer  at  a  piano  in  the  Green-room,  and 
the  ballet  is  being  rehearsed  on  the  stage.  It  is 
only  when  the  music  and  dialogue  are  known  by 
heart  that  the  rehearsals  on  the  stage  with  action 
and  business  begin.  The  orchestra  is  never  used 
until  the  last  two  or  three  rehearsals,  and  these 
are  termed  Full  Band  Rehearsals  (Germ.  General- 
probe).  Last  of  all,  before  the  public  production 
of  the  work,  comes  the  Full  Dress  Rehearsal, 
exactly  as  it  will  appear  in  performance.  [G.] 

REICHA,  ANTON  JOSEPH,  born  at  Prague, 
Feb.  27, 1770,  lost  his  father  before  he  was  a  year 
old ;  his  mother  not  providing  properly  for  his 
education  he  left  home,  and  took  refuge  with  his 
grandfather  at  Glattow,  in  Bohemia.  The  means 
of  instruction  in  this  small  town  being  too  limited, 
he  went  on  to  his  uncle  Joseph  Reicha  (born  in 
Prague,  1746,  died  at  Bonn,  1795),  a  cellist,  con 
ductor,  and  composer,  who  lived  at  Wallerstein 
in  Bavaria.  His  wife,  a  native  of  Lorraine,  speak 
ing  nothing  but  French,  had  no  children,  so 
they  adopted  the  nephew,  who  thus  learned  to 
speak  French  and  German  besides  his  native  Bo 
hemian.  He  now  began  to  study  the  violin, 
pianoforte,  and  flute  in  earnest.  On  his  uncle's 
appointment,  in  1788,  as  musical  director  to  the 
Elector  of  Cologne,  he  followed  him  to  Bonn, 
and  entered  the  Chapel  of  Maximilian  of  Austria 
as  second  flute.  The  daily  intercourse  with  good 
music  roused  the  desire  to  compose,  and  to  become 
something  more  than  an  ordinary  musician,  but 
his  uncle  refused  to  teach  him  harmony.  He 
managed,  however,  to  study  the  works  of  Kirn- 
berger  and  Marpurg  in  secret,  gained  much 
practical  knowledge  by  hearing  the  works  of 
Handel,  Mozart,  and  Haydn,  and  must  have 
learned  much  from  his  constant  intercourse  with 
Beethoven,  who  played  the  viola  in  the  same 
baud  with  himself  and  was  much  attached  to  him. 
At  length  his  perseverance  and  his  success  in 
composition  conquered  his  uncle's  dislike.  He 
composed  without  restraint,  and  his  symphonies 
and  other  works  were  played  by  his  uncle's 
orchestra.1 

On  the  dispersion  of  the  Elector's  Court  in 
1794,  Reicha  went  to  Hamburg,  where  he  re 
mained  till  1799.  There  the  subject  of  instruc 
tion  in  composition  began  to  occupy  him,  and 
there  he  composed  his  first  opera,  '  Obaldi,  ou 
les  Fran9ais  en  Egypte'  (2  acts).  Though  not 
performed,  some  numbers  were  well  received,  and 
on  the  advice  of  a  French  e'migre',  he  started  for 
Paris  towards  the  close  of  1799,  in  the  hope  of 
producing  it  at  the  Theatre  Feydeau.  In  this 
he  failed,  but  two  of  his  symphonies,  an  overture, 
and  some  '  Scenes  italiennes,'  were  played  at 
concerts.  After  the  successive  closing  of  the 
Theatre  Feydeau  and  the  Salle  Favart,  he  went 
to  Vienna,  and  passed  six  years  (1802-1808),  in 
renewed  intimacy  with  Beethoven,  and  making 
friends  with  Haydn,  Albrechtsberger,  Salieri,  and 
others.  The  patronage  of  the  Empress  Maria 
Theresa  was  of  great  service  to  him,  and  at  her 
request  he  composed  an  Italian  opera,  'Argina, 

See  an  interesting  uotice  Dj  Ka.stner.  quoted  ty  Tbajei;  'Bee- 

'  i.  I.Vfc 


REICHA. 

regina  di  Granata.'  During  this  happy  period 
of  his  life  he  published  symphonies,  oratorios,  a 
requiem,  6  string  quintets,  and  many  solos  for 
PF.  and  other  instruments.  He  himself  attached 
great  importance  to  his  '36  Fugues  pour  le  piano,' 
dedicated  to  Haydn,  but  they  are  not  the  inno 
vations  which  he  believed  them  to  be  ;  in  placing 
the  answers  on  any  and  every  note  of  the  scale 
he  merely  reverted  to  the  Ricercari  of  the  I7th 
century,  and  the  only  effect  of  this  abandonment 
of  the  classic  laws  of  the  Real  fugue  was  to 
banish  tonality. 

The  prospect  of  another  war  induced  Reicha 
to  leave  Vienna,  and  he  settled  finally  in  Paris  in 
1808.  He  now  realised  the  dream  of  his  youth, 
producing  first '  Cagliostro  '  (Nov.  27,  1810),  an 
ope*ra-comique  composed  with  Dourlen ;  and  at 
the  Academic,  'Natalie'  (3  acts,  July  30,  1816), 
and  'Sapho'  (Dec.  16,  1822).  Each  of  these 
works  contains  music  worthy  of  respect,  but  they 
had  not  sufficient  dramatic  effect  to  take  with 
the  public. 

Reicha's    reputation    rests    on   his   chamber- 
music,  and   on   his   theoretical  works.     Of  the 
former  the   following  deserve  mention  :   a  die- 
cetto  for  5  strings  and  5  wind  instruments ;  an 
ottet  for  4  strings  and  4  wind  instruments ;  24 
quintets  for  flute,  oboe,  clarinet,  horn,  and  baa- 
soon ;   6  quintets  and   20  quartets  for  strings; 
i  quintet  for  clarinet  and  strings  ;  I  quartet  for 
PF.,  flute,  cello,  and  bassoon  ;  I  do.  for  4  flutes; 
6  do.  for  flute,  violin,  tenor,  and  cello  ;  6  string 
trios;  i  trio  for  3  cellos;    24  do.  for  3  horns; 
6  duets  for  2  violins;    22  do.  for  2  flutes;   11 
sonatas   for  PF.  and  violin,  and  a  number  of 
sonatas  and  pieces  for  PF.  solo.     He  also  com 
posed  symphonies  and  overtures.     These  works 
are  more  remarkable  for  novelty  of  combinatioa 
and  striking  harmonies,  than  for  abundance  and 
charm  of  ideas.     Reicha  was  fond  of  going  out  of 
his  way  to  make  difficulties  for  the  purpose  of 
conquering  them  ;  for  instance,  iAthe  ottet  the 
strings  are  in  G,  and  the  wind  in  E  minor,  and 
in  the  sestet  for  2  clarinets  concertanti  one  is  in 
A,  and  the  other  in  B.     This  faculty  for  solving 
musical  problems  brought  him  into  notice  among  • , 
musicians  when  he  first  settled  in  Paris,  and  in 
1818  he  was  offered  the  professorship  of  counter 
point  and  fugue  at  the  Conservatoire.    Among 
his  pupils  there  were  Boilly,  Jelensperger,  Bien- 
aime,  Millaut,  Lefebvre,  Elwart,  Pollet,  Lecar- 
pentier,  Dancla,  and  others ;  Barbereau,  Seuriot, 
Blanchard,  Mme.  de  Montgeroult,  Bloc,  Musard, 
and  George  Onslow,  were  private  friends. 

His  didactic  works,  all  published  in  Paris, 
are  :  /Traite"  de  Melodic,'  etc.  (4to,  1814) ;  'Cours 
de  composition  musicale,'  etc.  (1818) ;  '  Trait^  de 
haute  composition  musicale'  (ist  part  1824,  2n^ 
1826),  a  sequel  to  the  two  first;  and  'Art  du 
compositeur  dramatique,'  etc.  (410,  1833). 

F£tis  has  criticised  his  theories  severely,  and 
though  highly  successful  in  their  day,  they  are 
now  abandoned,  but  nothing  can  surpass  the 
clearness  and  method  of  his  analysis,  and  those 
who  use  his  works  will  always  find  much  to 
be  grateful  for.  Czerny  published  a  German 


REICHA. 

translation  of  the  «  Traitd  de  haute  composition' 
(Vienna,  1834,  4  vols.  folio),  and  in  his  'Art 
d'iinproviser '  obviously  made  use  of  Reicha's 
'Art  de  varier' — 57  variations  on  an  original 
theme. 

Reicha  married  a  Parisian,  was  naturalised  in 
1829,  and  received  the  Legion  of  Honour  in  1831. 
He  presented  himself  several  times  for  election 
to  the  Institut  before  his  nomination  as  Boiel- 
dieu's  successor  in  1835.  H-e  on^J  enjoyed  his 
honours  a  short  time,  being  carried  off  by  in 
flammation  of  the  lungs,  May  28,  1836.  His 
death  was  deplored  by  the  many  friends  whom 
his  trustworthy  and  honourable  character  had 
attached  to  him.  A  life-like  portrait,  somewhat 
spoiled  by  excessive  laudation,  is  contained  in  the 
'Notice  sur  Reicha'  (Paris,  1837,  8vo),  by  his 
pupil  Delaire.1  [G.C.] 

REICHARDT,  ALEXANDER,  a  tenor  singer, 
was  born  at  Packs,  Hungary,  April  17,  1825. 
He  received  his  early  instruction  in  music  from 
an  uncle,  and  made  his  first  appearance  at  the 
age  of  1 8  at  the  Lemberg  theatre  as  Rodrigo  in 
Rossini's  '  Otello.'  His  success  there  led  him  to 
Vienna,  where  he  was  engaged  at  the  Court  Opera, 
and  completed  his  education  under  Gentiluomo, 
Catalani,  etc.  At  this  time  he  was  much  re 
nowned  for  his  singing  of  the  Lieder  of  Beethoven 
and  Schubert,  and  was  in  request  at  all  the 
soire'es ;  Prince  Esterhazy  made  him  his  Kammer- 
sanger.  In  1846  he  made  a  townee  through  Ber 
lin,  Hanover,  etc.,  to  Paris,  returning  to  Vienna. 
In  1851  he  made  his  first  appearance  in  England, 
singing  at  the  Musical  Union,  May  6,  and  at 
the  Philharmonic  May  12,  at  many  other  con 
certs,  and  lastly  before  Her  Majesty.  In  the 
following  season  he  returned  and  sang  in  Ber 
lioz's  '  Romeo  and  Juliet,'  at  the  new  Philharmonic 
Concert  of  April  14,  also  in  the  Choral  Symphony, 
Berlioz's  '  Faust,'  and  the  '  Walpurgisnight,'  and 
enjoyed  a  very  great  popularity  both  in  songs 
and  in  more^-ious  pieces.  From  this  time  until 
1857  he  passed  each  season  in  England,  singing 
at  concerts,  and  at  the  Royal  Opera,  Drury  Lane, 
and  Her  Majesty's  Theatre,  where  he  filled  the 
parts  of  the  Count  in  'The  Barber  of  Seville,'  Raoul 
in  '  The  Huguenots,'  Belmont  in  '  The  Seraglio,' 
Florestan  in '  Fidelio,'  Don  Ottavio  in  '  Don  Juan,' 
etc.  etc.  His  Florestan  was  a  very  successful 
impersonation^  and  in  this  part  he  was  said  '  to 
have  laid  the  foundation  of  the  popularity  which 
he  has  so  honourably  earned  and  maintained  in 
London.'  He  also  appeared  with  much  success 
in  oratorio.  In  the  provinces  he  became  almost 
as  great  a  favourite  as  in  London.  In  1857  he 
gave  his  first  concert  in  Paris,  in  the  Salle  Erard, 
and  the  following  sentence  from  Berlioz's  report 
of  the  performance  will  give  an  idea  of  his  style 
and  voice.  '  M.  Reichardt  is  a  tenor  of  the  first 
water — sweet,  tender,  sympathetic  and  charming. 
Almost  all  his  pieces  were  rederuanded,  and  he 
sang  them  again  without  a  sign  of  fatigue.'  Shortly 
after  this  he  settled  in  Boulogne,  where  he  is  now 

'  DELAIRE,  JACQDES  AUOCSTE,  died  in  1864,  is  kncmn  as  the 
author  oi  a  'Histoire  de  la  Romance'  and  other  pamphlets  on 
music, 


REICHARDT. 


99 


residing.  Though  he  has  retired  from  the  active 
exercise  of  his  profession,  he  is  not  idle.  He  has 
organised  a  Philharmonic  Society  at  Boulogne ; 
he  is  President  of  the  Academic  Communale  de 
Musique,  and  his  occasional  concerts  for  the 
benefit  of  the  hospital — where  one  ward  is  en 
titled  'Fondation  Reichardt' — are  not  only  very 
productive  of  funds  but  are  the  musical  events  of 
the  town.  M.  Reichardt  is  a  composer  as  well 
as  a  singer.  Several  of  his  songs,  especially  'Thou 
art  so  near,'  were  very  .popular  in  their  day.  [G.] 
REICHARDT,  JOHANN  FRIEDRICH,  composer 
and  writer  on  music ;  son  of  a  musician ;  born 
Nov.  25,  1752,  at  Kb'nigsberg,  Prussia.  From 
childhood  he  showed  a  great  disposition  for  music, 
and  such  intelligence  as  to  interest  influential 
persons  able  to  further  his  career.  Under  these 
auspices  he  was  educated  and  introduced  into 
good  society,  and  thus  formed  an  ideal  both  of 
art  and  of  life  which  he  could  scarcely  have 
gained  had  he  been  brought  up  among  the  petty 
privations  incident  to  his  original  position.  Un 
fortunately,  the  very  gifts  which  enabled  him  to 
adopt  these  high  aims,  fostered  an  amount  of 
conceit  which  often  led  him  into  difficulties.  His 
education  was  more  various  than  precise ;  music 
he  learned  by  practice  rather  than  by  any  real 
study.  His  best  instrument  was  the  violin,  on 
which  he  attained  considerable  proficiency,  under 
Veichtner,  a  pupil  of  Benda's;  but  he  was  also  a 
good  pianist.  Theory  he  learned  from  the  organist 
Richter.  On  leaving  the  university  of  Konigs 
berg  he  started  on  a  long  tour,  ostensibly  to  see 
the  world  before  choosing  a  profession,  though  he 
had  virtually  resolved  on-  becoming  a  musician. 
Between  1771  and  1 774  he  visited  Berlin,  Leipzig, 
Dresden,  Vienna,  Prague,  Brunswick,  and  Ham 
burg,  made  the  acquaintance  of  the  chief  nota 
bilities — musical,  literary,  and  political — in  each 
place,  and  became  himself  in  some  sort  a  celebrity, 
after  the  publication  of  his  impressions  in  a  series 
of  '  confidential  letters ' — '  Vertraute  Briefen  eines 
aufmerksamen  Reisenden/  in  2  parts  (1774  and 
76).  On  his  return  to  Konigsberg  he  went  into 
a  government  office,  but  hearing  of  the  death  of 
Agricola  of  Berlin,  he  applied  in  person  to  Frederic 
the  Great  for  the  vacant  post  of  Capellmeister 
and  Court-composer,  and  though  barely  24  ob 
tained  it  in  1776.  He  at  once  began  to  introduce 
reforms,  both  in  the  Italian  opera  and  the  court 
orchestra,  and  thus  excited  much  opposition  from 
those  who  were  more  conservative  than  himself. 
While  thus  occupied  he  was  indefatigable  as 
a  composer,  writer,  and  conductor.  In  1783  he 
founded  the  'Concerts  Spirituels'  for  the  perform 
ance  of  unknown  works,  vocal  and  instrumental, 
which  speedily  gained  a  high  reputation.  He 
published  collections  of  little-known  music,  with 
critical  observations,  edited  newspapers,  wrote 
articles  and  critiques  in  other  periodicals,  and 
produced  independent  works.  But  enemies,  who 
were  many,  contrived  to  annoy  him  so  much  in 
the  exercise  of  his  duties,  that  in  1 785  he  obtained 
a  long  leave  of  absence,  during  which  he  visited 
London  and  Paris,  and  heard  Handel's  oratorios 
and  Gluck'e  operas,  both  of  which  he  heartily 

H2 


100 


REICHARDT. 


admired.   In  both  places  lie  met  with  great  success 
as  composer  and  conductor,  and  was  popular  for 
his  social  qualities ;  but  neither  of  his  two  French 
operas  '  Tamerlan '  and  '  Panthe'e,'  composed  for 
the  Academic,  were  performed.    On  the  death  of 
Frederic  the  Great  (1786)  his  successor  confirmed 
Reichardt  in  his  office,  and  he  produced  several 
new  operas,  but  his  position  became  more  and 
more  disagreeable.   His  vanity  was  of  a  peculiarly 
offensive  kind,  and  his  enemies  found  a  weapon 
ready  to  their  hand  in  his  avowed  sympathy  with 
the  doctrines  of  the  French  Revolution.     The 
attraction  of  these  views  for  a  buoyant,  liberal 
mind  like  Reichardt's,  always  in  pursuit  of  high 
ideals,  and  eager  for  novelty,  is  obvious  enough ; 
but  such  ideas  are  dangerous  at  court,  and  after 
further  absence,  which  he  spent  in  Italy,  Ham 
burg,  Paris,  and  elsewhere,  he  received  his  dis 
missal  from  the  Capellmeistership  in  1794.*     He 
retired  to  his  estate,  Giebichenstein,  near  Halle, 
and  occupied  himself  with  literature  and  com 
position,  and  occasional  tours.  In  1 796  he  became 
inspector  of  the  salt  works  at  Halle.    After  the 
death  of  Frederic  William  II.  he  produced  a  few 
more  operas  in  Berlin,  but  made  a  greater  mark 
with  his  Singspielen,  which  are  of  real  importance 
in  the  history  of  German  opera.     In  1808  he 
accepted  the  post  of  Capellmeister  at  Cassel  to 
Jerome  Bonaparte,  refused  by  Beethoven,   but 
did  not  occupy  it  long,  as  in  the  same  year  we 
find  him  making  a  long  visit  to  Vienna.     On  his 
return  to  Giebichenstein  he  gathered  round  him 
a  pleasant  and  cultivated  society,  and  there,  in 
the  midst  of  his  friends,  he  died,  June  17,  1814. 
Reichardt  has  been,  as  a  rule,  harshly  judged  ; 
he  was  not  a  mere  musician,  but  rather  a  com 
bination  of  musician,  litterateur,  and  man  of  the 
world.    His  overweening  personality  led  him  into 
many  difficulties,  but  as  a  compensation  he  was 
endued  with  great  intelligence,  and  with  an  ardent 
and  genuine  desire  for  progress  in  everything — • 
music,  literature,  and  politics.   As  a  composer  his 
works  show  cultivation,  thought,  and  honesty ; 
but  have  not  lived,  because  they  want  the  ne 
cessary  originality.    This  is  specially  true  of  his 
instrumental  music,  which  is  entirely  forgotten. 
His  vocal  music,  however,  is  more  important,  and 
a  good  deal  of  it  might  well  be  revived,  especially 
his  Singspielen  and  his  Lieder.     The  former  ex 
ercised  considerable  influence  in  the  development 
of  German  opera,  and  the  latter  are  valuable, 
both  as  early  specimens  of  what  is  now  written 
by  every  composer,  and  for  their  own  individual 
merit.     The  Goethe-Lieder  in  particular  show  a 
rare  feeling  for  musical  form.     Mendelssohn  was 
no  indulgent  critic,  but  on  more  than  one  occasion 
he  speaks  of  J:\eichardt  with  a  warmth  which  he 
seldom  manifests  even  towards  the  greatest  mas 
ters.     He  never  rested  until  he  had  arranged  for 
the  performance  of  Reichardt's  Morning  Hymn, 
after  Milton,  .at  the  Cologne  Festival  of  1835; 

i  There  was  apparently  some  dissatisfaction  with  Keichardt's 
efficiency  as  a  musician  as  well  as  with  his  political  opinions,  for 
Blozart's  remark  that  the  King's  band  contains  great  virtuosi,  but 
the  effect  would  be  better  if  the  gentlemen  played  tog-ether,'  certainly 
implied  a  reflection  on  the  conductor.  Neither  does  Beichardt  seem 
to  have  appreciated  JZozart  iJ  aim's  'Mozart,'  ii.  410), 


REID. 

and  his  enthusiasm  for  the  composer  and  his  wrath 
at  those  who  criticised  him,  are  delightful  to  read.3 
Years  afterwards,  when  his  niind  had  lost  the 
ardour  of  youth,  and  much  experience  had  sobered 
him,  he  still  retained  his  fondness  for  this  com 
poser,  and  few  things  are  more  charming  than 
the    genial    appreciation    with    which    he    tells 
Reichardt's  daughter   of   the    effect   which  her 
father's   songs  had   had,   even  when  placed  in 
such  a  dangerous  position  as  between  works  of 
Haydn  and   Mozart,  at  the  Historical  Concert 
at   the  Gewandhaus  in  Feb.  1847.      It  is  the 
simplicity,  the  naivete",  the  national  feeling  of 
this  true  German  music  that  he  praises,  and  the 
applause  with  "which  it  was  received  shows  that 
he  was  not  alone  in  his  appreciation.     Amongst 
Reichardt's   numerous   works  are   8  operas;   8 
Singspielen,  including  4  to  Goethe's  poems,  'Jery 
und  Bately,'  '  Erwin  und  Elmire,'  '  Claudine  von 
Villabella '   and   '  Lilla' ;    5    large  vocal  works, 
including  Milton's  *  Morning  Hymn/  translated 
by  Herder,  his  most  important  work,  in  1835  ;  a 
large   number   of  songs,   many  of  which  have 
passed  through  several  editions,  and  been  pub 
lished  in  various  collections. 

Reichardt's  writings  show  critical  acumen, 
observation,  and  judgment.  Besides  the  letters 
previously  mentioned,  he  published — '  Das  Kunst- 
magazin,'  8  numbers  in  2  vols.  (Berlin,  1782  and 
91)  ;  '  Studien  fiir  Tonkiinstler  und  Musik- 
freunde/  a  critical  and  historical  periodical  with 
39  examples  (i  792) ; '  Vertraute  Briefe  aus  Paris,' 
3  parts  (1802-3);  'Vertr.iute  Briefe  auf  einer 
Reise  nach  Wien,  etc.'  (1810);  fragments  of 
autobiography  in  various  newspapers ;  and  in 
numerable  articles,  critiques,  etc.  The  '  Briefe ' 
are  specially  interesting  from  the  copious  details 
they  give,  not  only  on  the  music,  but  on  the 
politics,  literature,  and  society  of  the  various 
places  he  visited.  A  biography,  'J.  F.  Reichardt, 
sein  Leben  und  seine  musikalische  Thatigkeit/ 
by  Herr  Schletterer,  Capellmeister  of  the  cathe 
dral  of  Augsburg,  is  in  progress,  the  ist  vol.  having 
been  published  at  Augsburg  in  1865.  [A.M.] 

REID,  GENERAL  JOHN,  born  towards  the 
middle  of  last  century,  formerly  Colonel  of  the 
88th  Regiment,  a  great  lover  of  music.  By 
his  will  made  in  1803  he  directed  his  trustees,  in 
the  event  of  his  daughter  dying  without  issue,  to 
found  a  Professorship  of  Music  in  the  Univer 
sity  of  Edinburgh,  'for  the  purpose  also,  after 
completing  such  endowment  as  hereinafter  is 
mentioned,  of  making  additions  to  the  library  of 
the  said  University,  or  otherwise  promoting  the 
general  interest  and  advantage  of  the  University 
in  such  .  .  .  manner  as  the  Principal  and  Profes 
sors  .  .  .  shall  .  .  .  think  most  fit  and  proper.'  In 
a  codicil,  dated  1 806,  he  adds — '  After  the  de 
cease  of  my  daughter  ...  I  have  left  all  my 
property  ...  to  the  College  of  Edinburgh  where 
I  had  my  education  .  .  .  and  as  I  leave  all  my 
music  books  to  the  Professor  of  Music  in  that 
College,  it  is  my  wish  that  in  every  year  after  his 
appointment  he  will  cause  a  concert  of  music  to 
be  performed  on  the  1 3th  of  February,  being  my 

2  Letters.  Dec,  28, 1833;  April  S,  1835. 


REID. 

birthday.'  He  also  directed  that  at  this  annual 
'  Reid  Concert '  some  pieces  of  his  own  compo 
sition  should  be  performed  '  by  a  select  band.' 

When  by  the  death  of  General  Reid's  daughter 
in  1838  some  £70,000  became  available,  it  seems 
to  have  been  handed  over  to  the  University  au 
thorities  without  sufficient  attention  to  the  itali 
cised  portion  of  the  following  instruction  in  the 
will :  '  that  .  .  .  my  said  Trustees  . .  .  shall  and 
do,  by  such  instrument  or  instruments  as  may  be 
required  by  the  law  of  Scotland  make  over  the 
residue  of  my  .  .  .  personal  estate  to  the  Principal 
and  Professors  of  the  said  University.'  And  as 
no  particular  sum  was  specified  for  foundation 
and  maintenance  of  the  Chair  of  Music,  con 
siderable  latitude  being  allowed  to  the  discretion 
of  the  University  authorities,  the  secondary  object 
of  the  bequest  received  far  greater  care  and 
attention  than  the  primary  one,  and  for  years  the 
Chair  was  starved.  The  Professorship  was  insti 
tuted  in  1839,  when  the  first  Professor,  Mr.  John 
Thomson,  was  appointed.  He  lived  only  a  short 
time  after  his  election,  and  in  1842  was  succeeded 
by  Sir  Henry  Bishop,  who  resigned  after  two  years. 
Mr.  H.  H.  Pierson  was  elected  in  1844,  but  he  also 
resigned  shortly  after.  In  1 845  Mr.  John  Donald 
son,  an  advocate,  and  a  good  theoretical  musician, 
received  the  appointment,  and  from  the  first  seems 
to  have  resolved  to  obtain  a  more  just  and  satis 
factory  bestowal  of  the  bequest.  It  would  be 
out  of  place  to  allude  further  to  the  state  of  mat 
ters  existing  up  to  1855.  Suffice  it  to  say  that 
in  1851,  anticipating  Mr.  Donaldson's  intention 
of  petitioning  Parliament,  the  Edinburgh  Town 
Council,  as  '  Patrons  '  of  the  University,  raised  an 
action  against  the  Principal  and  Professors  for 
alleged  mismanagement  and  misappropriation  of 
the  Reid  Fund.  A  long  litigation  followed,  and  by 
decree  of  the  Court  of  Session  in  1855  the  Uni 
versity  authorities  were  ordered  to  devote  certain 
sums  to  the  purchase  of  a  site,  and  the  erection  of 
a  building  for  the  Class  of  music.  The  class-room 
and  its  organ  were  built  in  1861,  and  the  Pro 
fessor's  salary — which  had  been  fixed  at  the  very 
lowest  sum  suggested  by  the  Founder,  viz. 
£300 — as  well  as  the  grant  for  the  concert,  were 
slightly  raised,  and  a  sum  set  apart,  by  order  of 
the  Court,  for  expenses  of  class-room,  assistants, 
instruments,  etc. 

These  hardly-earned  concessions  are  mainly  due 
to  the  determined  energy  of  Prof.  Donaldson,  who 
seems  to  have  considered  them  sufficient  when 
compared  with  what  formerly  existed.  He  at  all 
events  obtained  for  the  Chair  a  far  better  position 
than  that  which  it  occupied  before  the  lawsuit. 
But  the  disappointments  and  mortifications  to 
which  he  was  subjected  by  such  long  and  painful 
conflicts  not  improbably  shortened  his  life,  and  he 
died  in  1865.  In  that  year  Mr.  Herbert  Oakeley 
was  elected,  who  has  held  the  appointment  up  to 
the  present  time.  [H.S.O.] 

REID  CONCERTS.  These  concerts  have  not 
reached  their  present  high  position  without  vicis 
situdes  almost  as  unfortunate  as  those  to  which 
the  Reid  Professorship  was  subjected.  The  earliest 
concerts  under  Professors  Thomson  and  Bishop, 


REID  CONCERTS. 


101 


considering  the  then  musical  taste  of  Scotland, 
were  not  unworthy  of  General  Reid's  munifi 
cent  bequest.  The  £200  allowed  out  of  the 
Reid  Fund  was  wholly  inadequate  to  the  cost  of 
a  grand  concert  400  miles  from  London.  The 
Senate  therefore  decided  that,  besides  this  grant, 
all  the  tickets  should  be  sold,  and  that  the  pro 
ceeds  should  assist  Professor  Thomson  in  giving 
a  fine  concert ;  and  the  following  note  was  printed 
in  the  first  Reid  Concert  Book1  in  1841 : — 'The 
Professors  desire  it  to  be  understood  that  the 
whole  of  these  sums  '• — i.e.  the  grant  and  the  pro 
ceeds — 'is  to  be  expended  on  the  concert;  and 
th;it  in  order  to  apply  as  large  a  fund  as  possible 
for  the  purpose,  they  have  not  reserved  any  right 
of  entry  for  their  fa-iuilies  or  friends.' 

This  system  was  continued  by  Sir  H.  ^. 
Bishop,  and  in  1842  and  43  the  sale  of  tickets 
enabled  him  to  give  concerts  which  were  at 
least  creditable  for  the  time  and  place. 

Upon  Professor  Donaldson's  accession,  a  plan 
was  initiated  by  him  which  proved  most  un 
fortunate.  He  altered  the  system  of  admission 
by  payment  to  that  of  invitation  to  the  whole 
audience ;  and  in  consequence  the  Reid  Concerts 
began  to  decline,  and  became  an  annual  source 
of  vexation  to  the  University,  public,  and  Pro 
fessor.  The  grant,  which  under  legal  pressure 
afterwards  seems  to  have  been  raised  to  £300, 
was  then  only  £200,  and  therefore  not  only  was 
it  impossible  to  give  an  adequate  concert  with 
out  loss,  but  the  distribution  of  free  tickets 
naturally  caused  jealousies  and  heartburnings  to 
'town  and  gown,'  and  the  Reid  Concert  became 
a  byword  and  the  hall  in  which  it  was  held  a 
bear-garden.  Matters  seem  to  have  culminated  in 
1865,  when  a  large  number  of  students,  who 
thought  that  they  had  a  right  of  entry,  broke  into 
the  concert-hall. 

Such  was  the  state  of  matters  on  Professor 
Oakeley's  appointment  in  1865.  Finding  it 
impossible  after  twenty  years  to  return  to  the 
original  system  of  Thomson  and  Bishop,  he 
made  a  compromise,  by  giving  free  admissions 
to  the  Professors,  the  University  Court,  the  stu 
dents  in  their  fourth  year  at  college,  and  a  few 
leading  musicians  in  the  city,  and  admitting  the 
rest  of  the  audience  by  payment.  From  this  date 
a  new  era  dawned  on  the  Reid  Concerts ;  the 
university  and  the  city  were  satisfied,  and  the 
standard  of  performance  at  once  rose. 

In  1867  a  practical  beginning  was  made,  by 
the  engagement  of  Mr.  Manns  and  a  few  of  the 
Crystal  Palace  orchestra,  with  very  good  results. 

Since  1 869  Mr.  C.  Halle  and  his  band  have  been 
secured,  and  each  year  the  motto  seems  '  Excel 
sior.'  The  demand  for  tickets  soon  became  so 
great  that  the  present  Professor  organised  two 
supplementary  performances  on  the  same  scale 
as  the  '  Reid,'  and  thus,  from  concerts  which  on 
some  occasions  seem  to  have  been  a  mere  per 
formance  of  ballads  and  operatic  music  by  a 
starring  party,  the  Reid  Concert  has  grown  into 
the  '  Edinburgh  Orchestral,'  or  '  Reid  Festival,' 

i  Remarkable  as  the  first  programme  issued  la  Great  Britain  with 
analytical  uotes. 


102 


REID  CONCERTS. 


an  annual  musical  gathering  on  the  cotnpletest 
and  most  satisfactory  scale  as  to  materials,  selec 
tion,  and  execution  —  one  which  would  do 
honour  to  any  city  either  of  Great  Britain  or  Ger 
many.  To  have  achieved  so  splendid  a  result  in 
the  teeth  of  so  many  difficulties  does  honour  to 
the  tact,  ability,  and  devotion  of  Sir  Herbert 
Oakeley,  and  is  sufficient,  even  without  his  popu 
larisation  of  the  organ,  to  perpetuate  his  name 
in  Scotland.  [&•] 

REINAGLE,  JOSEPH,  son  of  a  German 
musician  resident  in  England,  was  born  at 
Portsmouth.  He  was  successively  trumpeter  and 
horn-player,  violoncellist,  violinist,  and  violon 
cellist  again,  and  a  very  able  performer.  About 
1 785  he  visited  Dublin,  where  he  remained  two 
years.  Returning  to  London  he  obtained  a 
prominent  position  in  the  best  orchestras,  and 
was  principal  cello  at  Salomon's  concerts  when 
directed  by  Haydn.  He  afterwards  settled  at 
Oxford.  He  composed  violin  concertos,  violon 
cello  concertos,  string  quartets,  duets  and  trios 
for  violin  and  pianoforte,  etc.,  and  was  author 
of '  A  Treatise  on  the  Violoncello.' 

His  younger  brother,  HUGH,  an  eminent  vio 
loncellist,  died  at  an  early  age  at  Lisbon,  where 
he  had  gone  for  the  benefit  of  his  health. 

His  son,  ALEXANDER  ROBERT,  born  atBrighton, 
Aug.  21,  1799,  for  some  time  organist  of  St. 
Peter -in-the  East,  Oxford,  was  the  composer  of 
several  psalm  and  hymn  tunes.  He  retired  to 
Kidlington,  near  Oxford,  where  he  died  April  6, 
1877.  [W.H.H.] 

REINE  DE  CHYPRE,  LA.  Opera  in  5  acts ; 
words  by  Saint-Georges,  music  by  Hale'vy.  Pro 
duced  at  the  Grand  Ope'ra,  Paris,  Dec.  22, 
1846.  [G.] 

HEINE  DE  SABA,  LA.  Opera  in  4  acts ; 
words  by  Barbier  and  Carrd,  music  by  Gounod. 
Produced  at  the  Ope'ra  Feb.  28,  1862.  It  was 
adapted  to  English  words  under  the  title  of 
'  Irene'  by  H.  B.  Farnie,  and  in  this  form  was 
produced  as  a  concert  at  the  Crystal  Palace, 
Aug.  12,  1865.  The  beautiful  A"irs  de  ballet 
contain  some  of  Gounod's  best  music,  and  are  fre 
quently  played  at  the  same  place.  [G.] 

REINE  TOPAZE,  LA.  Opera  comique  in  3 
acts  ;  words  by  Lockroy  and  Battes,  music  by 
Victor  Masse".  Produced  at  the  The'atre  Lyrique 
Dec.  27, 1856.  In  English,  as  Queen  Topaze,  at 
Her  Majesty's  Theatre,  Dec.  24,  1860.  [-G.] 

REINECKE,  KARL,  composer,  conductor,  and 
performer,  director  of  the  Gewandhaus  concerts 
at  Leipzig,  the  son  of  a  musician,  born  June  23, 
1827,  at  Altona,  was  from  an  early  age  trained 
by  his  father,  and  at  II  performed  in  public. 
As  a  youth  he  was  a  first-rate  orchestral  violin 
player.  At  18  he  made  a  concert  tour  through 
Sweden  and  Denmark,  with  especial  success  at 
Copenhagen.  In  1843  he  settled  in  Leipzig, 
where  he  studied  diligently,  and  eagerly  em 
braced  the  opportunities  for  cultivation  afforded 
by  the  society  of  Mendelssohn  and  Schumann, 
with  a  success  which  amply  shows  itself  in  his 
music.  In  1 844  he  made  a  professional  tour  with 


REINHOLD. 

Wasielewski  to  Riga,  returning  by  Hanover  and 
Bremen.  He  was  already  in  the  pay  of  Christian 
VIII.  of  Denmark,  and  in  1846  he  again  visited 
Copenhagen,  and  played  before  the  court.  On 
both  occasions  he  was  appointed  court-pianist. 
In  1851  he  went  with  Otto  von  Konigslow  to 
Italy  and  Paris  ;  and  on  his  return  Hiller  secured 
him  for  the  professorship  of  the  piano  and  coun 
terpoint  in  the  conservatoire  of  Cologne.  In 
1854  he  became  conductor  of  the  Concertgesell- 
schaft  at  Barmen,  and  in  1859  Musikdirector  to 
the  University  of  Breslau.  On  Julius  Rietz's  de 
parture  from  Leipzig  to  Dresden  in  1 860  Reinecke 
succeeded  him  as  conductor  at  the  Gewandhaus, 
and  became  at  the  same  time  professor  of  com 
position  in  the  Conservator]  um.  Between  the 
years  1867  and  1872  he  made  extensive  tourne'es; 
in  England  he  played  at  the  Musical  Union, 
Crystal  Palace,  and  Philharmonic,  on  the  6th, 
1 7th,  and  1 9th  of  April,  1869  respectively,  and 
met  with  great  success  both  as  a  virtuoso  and 
a  composer.  He  reappeared  in  this  country  in 
1872  and  was  equally  well  received. 

Reinecke's   industry  in  composition  is  great, 
his  best  works,  as  might  be  expected,  being  those 
for  piano  ;  his  three  PF.  sonatas  indeed  are  ex 
cellent  compositions,  carrying  out  Mendelssohn's 
technique  without  indulging  the  eccentricities  of 
modern  virtuosi ;   his  pieces  for  2  PFs.  are  also 
good ;  his  PF.  Concerto  in  F#  minor  is  a  well- 
established  favourite  both  with  musicians  and  the 
public.  Besides  other  instrumental  music — quin 
tets,  quartets,  concertos  for  violin  and  cello,  etc. — 
he  has  composed  an  opera  in  5  acts,  '  Kb'nig  Man 
fred,'  and  two  in  one  act  each  'Der  vierjahrigen 
Posten'  (after  Korner)  and  '  Ein  Abenteuer  Han 
del's  ' ;  incidental  music  to  Schiller's  '  Tell ' ;  an 
oratorio, '  Belsazar ' ;  a  cantata  for  men's  voices, 
'  Hakon  Jarl ' ;  overtures,  'Dame  Kobold,'  '  Ala- 
din,'  'Friedensfeier';  2  masses,  and  2  symphonies; 
and  a  large  number  of  songs  and  of  pianoforte 
pieces  in  all  styles,  including  valuable  studies  and 
educational  works,  numbering  in  all  more  than 
1 60.  His  style  is  refined,  his  mastery  over  counter 
point  and  form  is  absolute,  and  he  writes  with 
peculiar  clearness  and  correctness.     He  has  also 
done  much  editing  for  Breitkopf's  house.    His 
position  at  Leipzig  speaks  for  his  ability  as  a 
conductor ;  as  an  accompanyist  he  is  first-rate ; 
and  as  an  arranger  for  the  pianoforte  he  is  recog 
nised  as  one  of  the  first  of  the  day.  [E.G.] 
REINHOLD,  HUGO,  a  very  promising  young 
Austrian   musician,    born   at  Vienna   March  3, 
1854.     He  began,  like  Haydn  and  Schubert,  by 
being  a  choir -boy  in  the  Imperial  Chapel,  after 
which,  in  1868,  at  the  instance  of  Herbeck,  he 
entered  the  Conservatorium,  under  the  endow 
ment  of  the  Duke  of  Coburg-Gotha,  where  he  was 
put  under  Bruckner,  Dessoff,  and  Epstein,  re 
mained  till  1874,  an<^  obtained  a  silver  medal. 
His  published  works  have  reached  op.  18.     They 
consist  of  pianoforte  music  and  songs  ;  of  a  suite 
in  five  movements  for  pianoforte  and  strings,  of 
a  prelude,  minuet  and  fugue  also  for  stringed 
orchestra,  and  of  a  string-quartet  in  A  (op.  18). 
The  two  larger  works  were  played  at  the  Vienna 


REINHOLD. 

Philharmonic  concerts  of  Dec.  9,  1877,  and  Nov. 
17,  1878,  respectively.  The  composer  was  loudly 
called  for  on  both  occasions,  and  they  are  praised 
by  the  intelligent  and  impartial  Vienna  critic  of 
the  'Monthly  Musical  Record'  for  their  delicate 
character  and  absence  of  undue  pretension.  The 
quartet  was  recently  executed  by  Hellmes- 
berger.  [G.] 

REINHOLD,  THOMAS,  born  at  Dresden  about 
1690,  was  the  reputed  nephew,  or,  as  some 
said,  son,  of  the  Archbishop  of  that  city.  He 
had  an  early  passion  for  music,  and  having  met 
Handel  at  the  Archbishop's  residence  conceived 
so  strong  a  liking  for  him  that  after  a  time  he 
quitted  his  abode  and  sought  out  the  great 
composer  in  London,  who  received  him  with 
favour.  In  July  1731  he  appeared  at  the  Hay- 
market  Theatre  as  a  singer  in  'The  Grub  Street 
Opera,'  and  afterwards  sang  at  the  King's 
Theatre.  He  was  one  of  the  original  singers 
of  'The  Lord  is  a  man  of  war,'  in  Handel's 
1  Israel  in  Egypt,' and  the  original  representative 
of  the  following  characters  in  Handel's  works  : — 
Harapha  in  '  Samson ' ;  Somnus  in  '  Semele ' ; 
Cyrus  and  Gobryas  in  '  Belshazzar ' ;  Chelsias 
and  the  Second  Elder  in  '  Susanna ' ;  Caleb  in 
'Joshua';  Simon  in  'Judas  Maccabeus';  the 
Levite  in  '  Solomon ' ;  and  Valens  in  '  Theodora.' 
He  died  in  Chapel  Street,  Soho,  in  1751. 

His  son,  CHARLES  FREDERICK,  born  in  1737, 
received  his  musical  education  first  in  St.  Paul's, 
and  afterwards  in  the  Chapel  Royal.  On  Feb.  3, 
1755,  he  made  his  first  appearance  on  the  stage 
at  Drury  Lane  as  Oberon  in  J.  C.  Smith's  opera, 
'The  Fairies,'  being  announced  as  'Master  Rein- 
hold.'  He  afterwards  became  organist  of  St. 
George  the  Martyr,  Bloomsbury.  In  1759  he 
appeared  as  a  bass  singer  at  Marylebone  Gardens, 
where  he  continued  to  sing  for  many  seasons. 
He  afterwards  performed  in  English  operas,  and 
sang  in  oratorios,  and  at  provincial  festivals,  etc. 
He  was  especially  famed  for  his  singing  of 
Handel's  song,  '  0  ruddier  than  the  cherry.' 
He  was  one  of  the  principal  bass  singers  at  the 
Commemoration  of  Handel  in  1784.  He  retired 
in  1797,  and  died  in  Somers  Town,  Sept.  29, 
1815.  [W.H.H.] 

REINKEN,  JOHANN  ADAM,  eminent  German 
organist,  born  at  Deventer,  in  Holland,  April 
27,  1623,  a  pupil  of  Swelinck  at  Amsterdam, 
became  in  1654  organist  of  the  church  of  St. 
Catherine  at  Hamburg,  and  retained  the  post 
till  his  death,  Nov.  24,  1722,  at  the  age  of  99. 
He  was  a  person  of  some  consideration  at  Ham 
burg,  both  on  account  of  his  fine  playing,  and  of 
his  beneficial  influence  on  music  in  general,  but 
his  vanity  and  jealousy  of  his  brother  artists  are 
severely  commented  on  by  his  contemporaries. 
So  great  and  so  widespread  was  his  reputation 
that  Sebastian  Bach  frequently  walked  to  Ham 
burg  from  Liineburg  (1700  to  1703),  and  Cothen 
(1720),  to  hear  him  play.  Reinken  may  be  con 
sidered  the  best  representative  of  the  North- 
German  school  of  organists  of  the  i7th  cen 
tury,  whose  strong  points  were,  not  the  classic 


REISSIGER. 


103 


placidity  of  the  South-German  school,  but  great 
dexterity  of  foot  and  finger,  and  ingenious  com 
binations  of  the  stops.  His  compositions  are 
loaded  with  passages  for  display,  and  are  de 
fective  in  form,  both  in  individual  melodies  and 
general  construction.  His  works  are  very  scarce  ; 
'  Hortus  Musicus,'  for  2  violins,  viola  and  bass 
(Hamburg  1 704)  is  the  only  one  printed ;  and 
even  in  MS.  only  five  pieces  are  known — 2  on 
Chorales,  i  Toccata,  and  2  Variations  (for  Clavier).1 
Of  the  first  of  these,  one — on  the  chorale  'An 
Wasserfliissen  Baby  Ions '-- is  specially  interest 
ing,  because  it  was  by  an  extempore  perform 
ance  on  that  chorale  at  Hamburg  in  1722  that 
Bach  extorted  from  the  venerable  Reinken  the 
words,  'I  thought  that  this  art  was  dead,  but 
I  see  that  it  still  lives  in  you.'  [A.  M.] 

REINTHALER,  KARL,  conductor  of  the 
Private  Concerts  at  Bremen,  born  Oct.  13,  1822, 
in  Luther's  house  at  Erfurt,  was  early  trained  in 
music  by  G.  A.  Ritter,  then  studied  theology  in 
Berlin,  but  after  passing  his  examination,  devoted 
himself  entirely  to  music.  His  first  attempts  at 
composition,  some  psalms  sung  by  the  Cathe 
dral  choir,  attracted  the  attention  of  King  Frede 
ric  William  IV.,  and  procured  him  a  travelling 
grant.  He  visited  Paris,  Milan,  Rome,  and 
Naples,  taking  lessons  in  singing  from  Geraldi 
and  Bordogni.  On  his  return  in  1853  he  ob 
tained  a  post  in  the  Conservatoire  of  Cologne,  and 
in  1858  became  organist  in  the  Cathedral  of  Bre 
men.  He  had  already  composed  an  oratorio 
'  Jephta  '  (performed  in  London  by  Mr.  Hullah, 
April  1 6,  1856,  and  published  with  English 
text  by  Novellos),  and  in  1875  his  opera  '  Edda' 
was  played  with  success  at  Bremen,  Hanover, 
and  elsewhere.  His  '  Bismarck -hymn '  obtained 
the  prize  at  Dortmund,  and  he  has  composed  a 
symphony,  and  a  large  number  of  part-songs. 
Reinthaler's  style  bears  a  considerable  resem 
blance  to  that  of  Mendelssohn  and  Gade.  [F.G.] 

REISSIGER,  KARL  GOTTLIEB,  son  of  Christian 
Gottlieb  Reissiger,  who  published  3  symphonies 
for  full  orchestra  in  1790.  Born  Jan.  31,  1798, 
at  Belzig  near  Wittenberg,  where  his  father  was 
Cantor,  he  became  in  1 8 1 1  a  pupil  of  Schicht  at  the 
St.  Thomas  School,  Leipzig.  In  1818  he  removed 
to  the  University  with  the  intention  of  studying 
theology,  but  some  motets  composed  in  1815  an^ 
1816  had  already  attracted  attention,  and  the 
success  of  his  fine  baritone  voice  made  him  de 
termine  to  devote  himself  to  music.  In  1821  he 
went  to  Vienna  and  studied  opera  thoroughly. 
Here  also  he  composed  '  Das  Rockenweibchen.' 
In  1822  he  sang  an  aria  of  Handel's,  and  played 
a  PF.  concerto  of  his-  own  composition  at  a  con 
cert  in  the  Karnthnerthor  theatre.  Soon  after 
he  went  to  Munich,  where  he  studied  with  Peter 
Winter,  and  composed  an  opera  'Dido,'  which 
was  performed  several  times  at  Dresden  under 
Weber's  conductorship.  At  the  joint  expense 
of  the  Prussian  government  and  of  his  patron 
von  Altenstein,  a  musician,  he  undertook  a  tour 
through  Holland,  France,  and  Italy,  in  order  to 

1  Spitta's  Bach,  1. 195, 196. 


104 


EEISSIGER. 


report  on  the  condition  of  music  in  those  coun 
tries.  On  his  return  he  was  commissioned  to 
draw  up  a  scheme  for  a  Prussian  national  Conser 
vatoire,  but  at  the  same  time  was  offered  posts 
at  the  Hague  and  at  Dresden.  The  latter  he 
accepted,  replacing  Marschner  at  the  opera,  where 
he  laboured  hard,  producing  both  German  and 
Italian  operas.  In  1827  he  succeeded  C.  M.  von 
Weber  as  conductor  of  the  German  Opera  at 
Dresden.  Among  his  operas,  '  Ahnenschotz,' 
'  Sibella,' '  Turandot,' '  Adele  von  Foix,'  and  '  Der 
Schiffbruch  von  Medusa,'  had  great  success  in 
their  day,  but  the  term  '  Kapellmeistermusik ' 
eminently  describes  them,  and  they  have  almost 
entirely  disappeared.  The  overture  to  the  Fel- 
senmiihle,  a  spirited  and  not  uninteresting  piece, 
is  occasionally  met  with  in  concert  programmes. 
Masses  and  church  music,  a  few  Lieder,  and  par 
ticularly  some  graceful  and  easy  trios  for  PF. 
violin  and  cello,  made  his  name  very  popular  for 
a  period.  He  is  generally  supposed  to  have  been 
the  composer  of  the  piece  known  as  'Weber's  Last 
Waltz.'  Reissiger  died  Nov.  7,  1859,  an^  was 
succeeded  at  Dresden  by  Julius  Rietz.  [F.G.] 

REISSMANN,  AUGUST,  musician  and  writer 
on  music,  born  Nov.  14,  1825,  at  Frankenstein, 
Silesia,  was  grounded  in  music  by  Jung,  the 
Cantor  of  his  native  town.  In  1843  he  removed 
to  Breslau,  and  there  had  instruction  from 
Mosewius,  Baumgart,  Ernst  Richter,  Liistner, 
and  Kohl,  in  various  branches,  including  piano 
forte,  organ,  violin,  and  cello.  He  at  first  pro 
posed  to  become  a  composer,  but  a  residence  in 
1850-52  at  Weimar,  where  he  came  in  contact 
with  the  new  school  of  music,  changed  his  plans 
and  drove  him  to  literature.  His  first  book  was 
'From  Bach  to  Wagner'  (Berlin,  1861)  ;  rapidly 
followed  by  a  historical  work  on  the  German 
song,  'Das  deutsche  Lied,'  etc.  (1861),  rewritten 
as  '  Geschichte  des  Deutschen  Liedes'  (1874). 
This  again  was  succeeded  by  his  General  History 
of  Music — 'Allg.  Musikgeschichte '  (3  vols.  1864, 
Leipzig),  with  a  great  number  of  interesting 
examples;  and  that  by  ' Compositionslehre '  (3 
vols.  Berlin,  1866-70).  His  recent  works  have 
been  of  a  biographical  nature,  attempts  to  show 
the  gradual  development  of  the  life  and  genius 
of  the  chief  musicians — Schumann  (1865),  Men 
delssohn  (1867),  Schubert  (1873),  Haydn  (1879). 
All  books  about  these  great  men  are  inter 
esting,  especially  when  written  by  practical  and 
intelligent  musicians;  and  Dr.  Reissmann's  are 
illustrated  by  copious  examples  (in  Schubert's 
case  from  MS.  sources),  which  much  increase 
their  value.  In  1877  he  published  a  volume  of 
lectures  on  the  history  of  music,  delivered  in  the 
Conservator! um  of  Berlin,  where  he  has  resided 
since  1863.  His  chief  employment  since  1871 
has  been  the  completion  of  the  '  Musik  Conver- 
sationslexikon,'  in  which  he  succeeded  Mendel 
as  editor,  after  the  death  of  the  latter.  The 
nth  volume,  completing  the  work,  appeared  in 
1879,  and  it  will  long  remain  as  the  most  com 
prehensive  Lexicon  of  music.  Dr.  Reissmann 
unfortunately  thought  it  necessary  to  oppose  the 
establishment  of  the  Royal  High  School  for 


RELATION. 

Music  at  Berlin  in  1875,  and  to  enforce  his 
opposition  by  a  bitter  pamphlet,  which  however 
has  long  since  been  forgotten.  [See  MUSIK, 

KONIGLICHE    HOCHSCHULE   FUR,  vol.  ii.  p.  4376.] 

As  a  practical  musician  Dr.  Reissmann  has  been 
almost  as  industrious  as  he  has  been  in  literature. 
The  list  given  in  the  Lexicon  comprises  2  grand 
operas  and  one  comic  ditto ;  an  oratorio ;  2  dra 
matic  scenes  for  solos,  male  chorus,  and  orchestra ; 
a  concerto  and  a  suite  for  solo  violin  and  or 
chestra  ;  2  sonatas  for  pianoforte  and  violin  ;  and 
a  great  quantity  of  miscellaneous  pieces  for  piano 
solo  and  for  the  voice — in  all  nearly  50  published 
works.  He  is  now  (1881)  at  Leipzig,  editing  an 
Illustrated  History  of  German  music.  [G.] 

RELATION  is  a  general  term  implying  con 
nection  between  two  or  more  objects  of  consider 
ation,  through  points  of  similarity  and  contrast.  In 
other  words,  it  is  the  position  which  such  objects 
appear  to  occupy  when  considered  with  reference 
to  one  another.  It  is  defined  by  its  context. 

The  relations  of  individual  notes  to  one  another 
may  be  described  in  various  ways.  For  instance, 
they  may  be  connected  by  belonging  to  or  being 
prominent  members  of  the  diatonic  series  of  any 
one  key,  and  contrasted  in  various  degrees  by 
the  relative  positions  they  occupy  in  that  series. 
A  further  simple  relation  is  established  by  mere 
proximity,  such  as  may  be  observed  in  the 
relations  of  grace-notes,  appoggiaturas,  turns, 
and  shakes  to  the  essential  notes  which  they 
adorn  ;  and  this  is  carried  so  far  that  notes  alien 
to  the  harmony  and  even  to  the  key  are  freely 
introduced,  and  are  perfectly  intelligible  when 
in  close  connection  with  characteristic  diatonic 
notes.  The  relations  of  disjunct  notes  may  be 
found,  among  other  ways,  by  their  belonging  to 
a  chord  which  is  easily  called  to  mind ;  whence 
the  successive  sounding  of  the  constituents  of 
familiar  combinations  is  easily  realised  as  melody; 
while  melody  which  is  founded  upon  less  obvious 
relations  is  not  so  readily  appreciated. 

The  relations  of  chords  may  be  either  direct  or 
indirect.  Thus  they  may  have  several  notes  in 
common,  as  in  Ex.  I,  or  only  one,  as  in  Ex.  2, 
Ex.  1.  Ex.  2.  Ex.  8. 


to  make  simple  direct  connection,  while  the  diver 
sity  of  their  derivations,  or  their  respective  de 
grees  of  consonance  and  dissonance,  afford  an 
immediate  sense  of  contrast.  Or  they  may  be 
indirectly  connected  through  an  implied  chord  or 
note  upon  which  they  might  both  converge ;  as 
the  common  chord  of  D  to  that  of  C  through  G, 
to  which  D  is  Dominant,  while  G  in  its  turn  is 
Dominant  to  C  (Ex.  3).  The  relation  thus  es 
tablished  is  sufficiently  clear  to  allow  the  major 
chord  of  the  supertonic  and  its  minor  seventh 
and  major  and  minor  ninth  to  be  systematically 
affiliated  in  the  key,  though  its  third  and  minor 
ninth  are  not  in  the  diatonic  series. 


RELATION. 

A  further  illustration  of  the  relations  of 
chords  is  afforded  by  those  of  the  Dominant  and 
Tonic.  They  are  connected  by  their  roots  being 
a  fifth  apart,  which  is  the  simplest  interval, 
except  the  octave,  in  music ;  but  their  other  com 
ponents  are  entirely  distinct,  as  is  the  compound 
tone  of  the  roots,  since  none  of  their  lower  and 
more  characteristic  harmonics  are  coincident. 
They  thus  represent  the  strongest  contrast  in 
the  diatonic  series  of  a  key,  and  when  taken 
together  define  the  tonality  more  clearly  than  any 
other  pair  of  chords  in  its  range. 

The  relations  of  keys  are  traced  in  a  similar 
manner  ;  as,  for  instance,  by  the  tonic  and  perfect 
fifth  of  one  being  in  the  diatonic  series  of  another, 
or  by  the  number  of  notes  which  are  common  to 
both.  The  relations  of  the  keys  of  the  minor  third 
and  minor  sixth  to  the  major  mode  (as  of  Eb  and 
Ab  with  reference  to  C)  are  rendered  intelligible 
through  the  minor  mode  ;  but  the  converse  does 
not  hold  good,  for  the  relations  of  keys  of  the  major 
mediant  or  submediant  to  the  minor  mode  (as  of 
E  minor  and  A  minor  with  reference  to  C  minor) 
are  decidedly  remote,  and  direct  transition  to  them 
is  not  easy  to  follow.  In  fact  the  modulatory 
tendency  of  the  minor  mode  is  towards  the  con 
nections  of  its  relative  major  rather  than  to  those 
of  its  actual  major,  while  the  outlook  of  the 
major  mode  is  free  on  both  sides.  The  relation 
of  the  key  of  the  Dominant  to  an  original  Tonic 
is  explicable  on  much  the  same  grounds  as  that 
of  the  chords  of  those  notes.  The  Dominant  key 
is  generally  held  to  be  a  very  satisfactory  com 
plementary  or  contrast  in  the  construction  of  a 
piece  of  music  of  any  sort,  but  it  is  not  of  uni 
versal  cogency.  For  instance,  at  the  very  out 
set  of  any  movement  it  is  almost  inevitable  that 
the  Dominant  harmony  should  early  and  empha 
tically  present  itself;  hence  when  a  fresh  section 
is  reached  it  is  sometimes  desirable  to  find  another 
contrast  to  avoid  tautology.  With  some  such 
purpose  the  keys  of  the  mediant  or.  submediant 
have  at  times  been  chosen,  both  of  which  afford 
interesting  phases  of  contrast  and  connection ; 
the  connection  being  mainly  the  characteristic 
major  third  of  the  original  tonic,  and  the  contrast 
being  emphasised  by  the  sharpening  of  the  Dom 
inant  in  the  first  case,  and  of  the  Tonic  in  the 
second.  The  key  of  the  subdominant  is  avoided 
in  such  cases  because  the  contrast  afforded  by  it 
is  not  sufficiently  strong  to  have  force  in  the  total 
impression  of  the  movement. 

The  relations  of  the  parts  of  any  artistic  work 
are  in  a  similar  manner  those  of  contrast  within 
limits  of  proportion  and  tonality.  For  instance, 
those  of  the  first  and  second  section  in  what  is 
called  '  first  movement '  or  '  sonata '  form  are 
based  on  the  contrast  of  complementary  tonal 
ities  as  part  of  the  musical  structure,  on  the  one 
hand ;  and  on  contrast  of  character  and  style  in 
the  idea  on  the  other ;  which  between  them 
establish  the  balance  of  proportion.  The  rela 
tion  of  the  second  main  division — the  '  working- 
out'  section — to  the  first  part  of  the  movement  is 
that  of  greater  complexity  and  freedom  in  con 
trast  to  regularity  and  definiteness  of  musical 


RELATION. 


105 


structure,  and  fanciful  discussion  of  characteristic 
portions  of  the  main  subjects  in  contrast  to  formal 
exposition  of  complete  ideas ;  and  the  final  section 
completes  the  cycle  by  returning  to  regularity  in 
the  recapitulation. 

The  relations  of  the  various  movements  of  a 
large  work  to  one  another  are  of  similar  nature. 
The  earliest  masters  who  wrote  Suites  and  Senate 
di  Camera  or  di  Chiesa  had  but  a  rudimentary 
and  undeveloped  sense  of  the  relative  contrasts 
of  keys ;  consequently  they  contented  themselves 
with  connecting  the  movements  by  putting  them 
all  in  the  same  key,  and  obtained  their  contrasts 
by  alternating  quick  and  slow  movements  or 
dances,  and  by  varying  the  degrees  of  their  seri 
ousness  or  liveliness:  but  the  main  outlines  of  the 
distribution  of  contrasts  are*  in  these  respects 
curiously  similar  to  the  order  adopted  in  the 
average  modern  Sonata  or  Symphony.  Thus  they 
placed  an  allegro  of  a  serious  or  solid  character 
at  or  near  the  beginning  of  the  work,  as  typified 
by  the  Allemande ;  the  slow  or  solemn  movement 
came  in  the  middle,  as  typified  by  the  Sarabande  ; 
and  the  conclusion  was  a  light  and  gay  quick 
movement,  as  typified  by  the  Gigue.  And  further, 
the  manner  in  which  a  Gourante  usually  followed 
the  Allemande,  and  a  Gavotte  or  Bourre'e  or 
Passepied,  or  some  such  dance,  preceded  the  final 
Gigue,  has  its  counterpart  in  the  Minuet  or 
Scherzo  of  a  modern  work,  which  occupies  an 
analogous  position  with  respect  either  to  the  slow 
er  last  movement.  In  modern  works  the  force  of 
additional  contrast  is  obtained  by  putting  central 
movements  in  different  but  allied  keys  to  that  of 
the  first  and  last  movements;  the  slow  movement 
most  frequently  being  in  the  key  of  the  Sub- 
dominant.  At  the  same  time  additional  bonds 
of  connection  are  sometimes  obtained,  both  by 
making  the  movements  pass  without  complete 
break  from  one  to  another,  and  in  some  cases 
(illustrated  by  Beethoven  and  Schumann  especi 
ally)  by  using  the  same  characteristic  features  or 
figures  in  different  movements. 

The  more  subtle  relations  of  proportion,  both 
in  the  matter  of  the  actual  length  of  the  various 
movements  and  their  several  sections,  and  in  the 
breadth  of  their  style ;  in  the  congruity  of  their 
forms  of  expression  and  of  the  quality  of  the 
emotions  they  appeal  to ;  in  the  distribution  of 
the  qualities  of  tone,  and  even  of  the  groups  of 
harmony  and  rhythm,  are  all  of  equal  import 
ance,  though  less  easy  either  to  appreciate  or  to 
effect,  as  they  demand  higher  degrees  of  artistic 
power  and  perception;  and  the  proper  adjust 
ment  of  such  relations  are  as  vital  to  operas, 
oratorios,  cantatas,  and  all  other  forms  of  vocal 
music,  as  to  the  purely  instrumental  forms. 

The  same  order  of  relations  appears  in  all 
parts  of  the  art ;  for  instance,  the  alternation  of 
discord  and  concord  is  the  same  relation,  implying 
contrast  and  connection,  analogous  to  the  relation, 
between  suspense  or  expectation  and  its  relief; 
and  to  speak  generally,  the  art  of  the  composer 
is  in  a  sense  the  discovery  and  exposition  of 
intelligible  relations  in  the  mutifarious  material 
at  his  command,  and  a  complete  explanation  of 


106 


RELATION. 


the  word  would  amount  to  a  complete  theory  of 
music.  [C.H.H.P.] 

RELFE,  JOHN — whose  father,  Lupton  Relfe 
(died,  Oct.  1805),  was  f°r  fifty  years  organist  of 
Greenwich  Hospital — was  born  about  1 766.  He 
received  his  first  instruction  from  his  father,  and 
at  eighteen  was  articled  to  Keeble,  organist  of 
St.  George's,  Hanover  Square.  About  1810  he 
was  appointed  one  of  the  King's  band  of  music. 
He  had  much  reputation  as  a  teacher  of  the 
pianoforte,  and  composed  some  sonatas,  a  popu 
lar  ballad,  'Mary's  Dream,'  and  other  pieces. 
In  1 798  he  published  '  The  Principles  of  Har 
mony,'  in  which  nearly  the  whole  theoretical 
plan  of  Logier,  so  far  as  it  was  connected  with 
offering  elementary  instruction  through  the 
medium  of  exercises,  was  anticipated.  He  was 
also  author  of  'Remarks  on  the  Present  State 
of  Musical  Instruction,'  1819,  and  'Lucidus 
Ordo,'  an  attempt  to  divest  thorough-bass  and 
composition  of  their  intricacies,  1819.  He  died 
about  1837.  [W.H.H.] 

RELLSTAB.  Two  remarkable  people,  father 
and  son.  The  father,  JOHANN  KAKL  FRIEDRICH, 
was  one  of  those  active  intellects  who  are  so 
influential  in  their  locality ;  he  was  born  in  Berlin 
Feb.  27,  1759.  His  father,  a  printer,  wished  him 
to  succeed  to  the  business,  but  from  boyhood  his 
whole  thoughts  were  devoted  to  music.  He  was 
on  the  point  of  starting  for  Hamburg  to  complete 
his  studies  with  Emmanuel  Bach  when  the  death 
of  his  father  forced  him  to  take  up  the  business. 
He  then  added  a  music  printing  and  publishing 
branch  ;  was  the  first  to  establish  a  musical  lend 
ing  library  (1783);  founded  a  Concert-Society, 
on  the  model  of  Killer's  at  Leipzig,  and  called  it 
'Concerts  for  connoisseurs  and  amateurs,'  an  un 
usually  distinctive  title  for  those  days.  The  first 
concert  took  place  April  1 6, 1787,  at  the  Englische 
Haus,  and  in  course  of  time  the  following  works 
were  performed: — Salieri's  'Armida,'  Schulz's 
'Athalia,'  Naumann's  'Cora,'  Basse's  'Conver- 
sione  di  San  Agostino,'  Bach's  'Magnificat,'  and 
Gluck's  '  Alceste,'  which  was  thus  first  introduced 
to  Berlin.  The  Society  at  last  merged  in  the  Sing- 
akademie.  He  wrote  musical  critiques  for  the 
Berlin  paper,  signed  with  his  initials ;  and  had 
concerts  every  other  Sunday  during  the  winter  at 
his  own  house,  at  which  such  works  as  Haydn's 
'Seasons'  were  performed;  but  these  meetings 
were  stopped  by  the  entry  of  the  French  in  1806, 
when  he  frequently  had  20  men,  and  a  dozen 
horses  quartered  on  him ;  lost  not  only  his  music 
but  all  his  capital,  and  had  to  close  his  printing- 
press.  In  time,  he  resumed  his  concerts ;  in  1 809 
gave  lectures  on  harmony;  in  1811  travelled  to 
Italy,  and  his  letters  in  Voss's  newspaper  first 
drew  attention  to  Fraulein  Milder,  and  thus 
brought  about  her  invitation  to  Berlin.  Not  long 
after  his  return  he  was  struck  with  apoplexy  while 
walking  at  Charlottenburg,  Aug.  19,  1813,  and 
found  dead  on  the  road  some  hours  afterwards. 
As  a  composer  he  left  3  cantatas,  a  '  Passion,' 
a  Te  Deum,  and  a  Mass.  Also  an  opera  ;  songs 
too  numerous  to  specify ;  vocal  scores  of  Graun's 


RELLSTAB. 

'Tod  Jesu,'  and  Gluck's  '  Iphigenie ';  a  German 
libretto  of  Gluck's  '  Orphe"e  '  apparently  from  his 
own  pen.  Of  instrumental  music  he  published — 
marches  for  PF.,  symphonies  and  overtures;  a 
series  of  pieces  with  characteristic  titles,  'Ob 
stinacy,'  'Sensibility,'  etc.;  24  short  pieces  for 
PF.,  violin  and  bass,  etc.  Also  A  'Treatise 
on  Declamation';  'A  Traveller's  observations  on 
church-music,  concerts,  operas,  and  chamber-music 
at  the  Palace  in  Berlin'  (i  789);  and  'A  guide  to 
Bach's  system  of  fingering  for  the  use  of  pianists' 
(1790).  These  works,  for  the  most  part  biblio 
graphical  curiosities,  are  very  instructive. 

Rellstab  had  three  daughters,  of  whom  CARO 
LINE,  born  April  18,  1793  or  94,  was  a  singer,  dis 
tinguished  for  her  extraordinary  compass.  His  son, 

HEINRICH  FRIEDRICH  LUDWIG,  born  April  13, 
1799,  in  Berlin,  though  delicate  in  health,  and 
destined  for  practical  music,  was  compelled  by 
the  times  to  join  the  army,  where  he  became 
ensign  and  lieutenant.  In  1816,  after  the  peace, 
he  took  lessons  on  the  piano  from  Ludwig 
Berger,  and  in  1819  and  20  studied  theory  with 
Bernhard  Klein.  At  the  same  time  he  taught 
mathematics  and  history  in  the  Brigadeschule 
till  1821,  when  he  retired  from  the  army  to 
devote  himself  to  literature.  He  also  composed 
much  part-music  for  the  'jiingere  Liedertafel' 
which  he  founded  in  conjunction  with  G.  Rei- 
chardt  in  1819,  wrote  a  libretto,  'Dido,'  for  B. 
Klein,  and  contributed  to  Marx's  '  Musikzeitung.' 
A  pamphlet  on  Madame  Sontag  procured  him  3 
months'  imprisonment  in  1825,  on  account  of  its 
satirical  allusions  to  a  well-known  diplomatist. 
In  1826  he  joined  the  staff  of  Voss's  newspaper, 
and  in  a  short  time  completely  led  the  public 
opinion  on  music  in  Berlin.  His  first  article  was 
a  report  on  a  performance  of 'Euryanthe,'  Oct.  31, 
1826,  followed  on  Nov.  13  by  another  on  a  soiree 
at  the  Jagor  Hall,  at  which  Mendelssohn  played 
Beethoven's  9th  Symphony  on  the  piano,  and 
thus  introduced  that  gigantic  work  to  Berlin. 
Twenty -two  years  later  Rellstab  wrote : — 

That  evening  made  an  indelible  impression  on  my 
mind,  and  the  recollection  of  it  is  as  fresh  as  of  an  event 
of  yesterday— nay  of  to-day.  The  most  accomplished 
musicians  of  Berlin,  including  Berger  and  Klein,  were 
present.  The  wonderful,  almost  awe-inspiring  wcrk, 
exacted  the  homage  due  to  it,  but  the  attention  of  all 
present  was  rivetted  upon  the  young  artist  dealing  with 
unmistakeable  mastery  with  that  mighty  score,  as  I 
related  at  the  time,  though  in  far  too  measured  terms, 
my  pen  being  then  unpractised.  His  eager  glance  took 
in  the  whole  of  each  page,  his  ear  '  penetrated  like  a 
gimlet '  (to  use  an  expression  of  Zel  ter's)  into  the  very 
essence  of  the  music,  his  fingers  never  erred. 

Two  years  later  he  wrote  a  cantata  for  Hum- 
boldt's  congress  of  physicists,  which  Mendelssohn 
set  to  music. 

Rellstab  was  a  warm  supporter  of  classical 
music,  and  strongly  condemned  all  undue  at 
tempts  at  effect.  He  quarrelled  with  Spontini 
over  his  'Agnes  von  Hohenstauffen '  (Berlin 
'Musikalische  Zeitung'  for  1827,  Nos.  23,  24, 
26,  and  29),  and  the  controversy  was  maintained 
with  much  bitterness  until  Spontini  left  Berlin, 
when  Rellstab,  in  his  pamphlet  'Ueber  mein 
Verhaltniss  als  Kritiker  zu  Herm  Spontini,' 
acknowledged  that  he  had  gone  too  far. 


RELLSTAB. 

Rellstab's  novels  and  essays  are  to  be  found 
for  the  most  part  in  his  '  Gesammelte  Schriften ' 
24  vols.  (Leipzig,  Brockhaus).  A  musical  peri 
odical,  '  Iris  im  Reiche  der  Tonktmst,'  founded  by 
him  in  1830,  survived  till  1842.  His  recollections 
of  Berger,  Schroeder  -  Devrient,  Mendelssohn, 
Klein,  Dehn,  and  Beethoven  (whom  he  visited 
in  March  1825)  will  be  found  in  'Aus  meinem 
Leben '  (2  vols.  Berlin,  1861).  He  was  thoroughly 
eclectic  in  his  taste  for  music,  and,  though  not  an 
unconditional  supporter,  was  no  opponent  of  the 
modern  school  of  Liszt  and  Wagner.  He  died 
during  the  night  of  Nov.  27, 1860.  [E.G.] 

REMENYI,  EDUARD,  a  famous  violinist,  was 
born  in  1830  at  Hewes  (according  to  another 
account  at  Miskolc")  in  Hungary,  and  received 
his  musical  education  at  the  Vienna  Conservatoire 
during  the  years  1842-1845,  where  his  master 
on  the  violin  was  Joseph  Bb'hm,  the  same  who 
instructed  Joachim.  In  1848  he  took  an  active 
part  in  the  insurrection,  and  became  adjutant  to 
the  famous  general  Gorgey,  under  whom  he  took 
part  in  the  campaign  against  Austria.  After 
the  revolution  had  been  crushed  he  had  to  fly  his 
country,  and  went  to  America,  where  he  resumed 
his  career  as  a  virtuoso.  In  1853  he  went  to 
Liszt  in  Weimar,  who  at  once  recognised  his 
genius  and  became  his  artistic  guide  and  friend. 
In  the  following  year  he  came  to  London  and 
was  appointed  solo  violinist  to  the  Queen.  In 
1860  he  obtained  his  amnesty  and  returned  to 
Hungary,  where  some  time  afterwards  he  received 
from  the  Emperor  of  Austria  a  similar  distinction 
to  that  granted  him  in  England.  After  his  return 
home  he  seems  to  have  retired  for  a  time  from 
public  life,  living  chiefly  on  an  estate  he  owned  in 
Hungary.  In  1865  he  appeared  for  the  first  time 
in  Paris,  where  he  created  a  perfect  furore  in  the 
salons  of  the  aristocracy.  Repeated  artistic  tours 
in  Germany,  Holland,  and  Belgium  further  tended 
to  spread  his  fame.  In  1875  he  settled  temporarily 
in  Paris,  and  in  the  summer  of  1877  came  to 
London,  where  also  he  produced  a  sensational 
effect  in  private  circles.  The  season  being  far 
advanced  he  appeared  in  public  only  once,  at  Mr. 
Mapleson's  benefit  concert  at  the  Crystal  Palace, 
where  he  played  a  fantasia  on  themes  from  the 
'Huguenots.'  In  the  autumn  of  1878  he  again 
visited  London,  and  played  at  the  Promenade 
Concerts,  He  was  on  his  way  to  America,  where 
he  has  been  giving  concerts  for  the  last  three 
years  and  still  resides  (1881).  As  an  artist 
M.  Remenyi  combines  perfect  mastery  over  the 
technical  difficulties  of  his  instrument  with  a 
strongly  pronounced  poetic  individuality.  His 
soul  is  in  his  playing,  and  his  impulse  carries  him 
away  with  it  as  he  warms  to  his  task,  the  impres 
sion  produced  on  the  audience  being  accordingly 
in  an  ascending  scale.  He  never  tires,  and  one 
never  tires  of  him.  The  stormier  pieces  of 
Chopin  transferred  by  him  from  the  piano  to  the 
violin  are  given  by  Reme'nyi  with  overpowering 
effect.  But  tenderer  accents  are  not  wanting; 
the  nocturnes  of  Chopin  and  Field,  arranged  in 
the  same  way,  he  gives  with  the  suavest  dreami 
ness,  interrupted  at  intervals  only  by  accents  of 


RE  PASTORE. 


107 


passion.  Another  important  feature  in  Reme'nyi'a 
playing  is  the  national  element.  He  strongly 
maintains  against  Liszt  the  genuineness  of  Hun 
garian  music,  and  has  shown  himself  thoroughly 
imbued  with  that  spirit  by  writing  several  '  Hun 
garian  melodies,'  which  have  been  mistaken  for 
popular  tunes  and  adopted  as  such  by  other  com 
posers.  The  same  half-Eastern  spirit  is  ob 
servable  in  the  strong  rhythmical  accentuation  of 
Remenyi's  style,  so  rarely  attained  by  artists  of 
Teutonic  origin.  For  this  and  other  reasons  the 
arrangements  of  Chopin's  mazurkas  and  similar 
pieces  are  more  congenial  to  him  than  the 
classical  works  of  Beethoven,  Schumann,  Men 
delssohn,  which,  as  a  matter  of  course,  are  in  his 
re'pertoire.  Altogether  his  genius  will  be  most 
appreciated  in  a  drawing-room,  where  his  marked 
individuality  is  felt  more  immediately  than 
in  a  large  concert-hall.  Reme'nyi's  fame  is  ac 
cordingly  of  a  somewhat  peculiar  kind.  It  re 
sembles  that  of  our  non-exhibiting  painters. 
Most  English  amateurs  have  heard  his  name 
and  know  that  he  ranks  amongst  the  leading 
artists  of  the  day,  but  few  can  vouch  for  the 
general  impression  by  their  personal  experience. 
Moreover,  Remenyi  is  of  too  migratory  a  nature 
to  follow  up  his  success  in  any  given  place.  He 
is  the  wandering  musician  par  excellence,  and  at 
intervals,  when  the  whim  takes  him,  will  disap 
pear  from  public  view  altogether.  But  although 
somewhat  of  the  nature  of  a  comet,  he  is  un 
doubtedly  a  star  of  the  first  magnitude  in  his 
own  sphere.  Reme'nyi's  compositions  are  of  no 
importance,  being  mostly  confined  to  arrange 
ments  for  his  instrument  and  other  pieces  written 
for  his  own  immediate  use. 

REMPLISSAGE,  'filling  up.'  A  term  some 
times  met  with  in  musical  criticism,  which  means 
what  is  colloquially  called '  padding,'  or  passages — 
generally  of  a  florid  and  modulatory  character — • 
put  by  composers  of  inferior  degree  into  their 
compositions,  whether  from  barrenness  of  ideas, 
or  from  want  of  skill  in  using  those  they  have, 
whereby  the  bulk  of  the  work  is  increased,  but 
not  its  interest  or  value.  [J.A.F.M.1 

RENDANO,  ALFONSO,  born  April  5,  1853,  at 
Carolei,  near  Cosenza,  studied  first  at  the  Con- 
servatorio  at  Naples,  then  with  Thalberg,  and 
lastly  at  the  Leipzig  Conservatorium.  He  played 
at  the  Gewandhaus  with  marked  success  on  Feb. 
8,  1872.  He  then  visited  Paris  and  London,  per 
formed  at  the  Musical  Union  (April  30, 1872),  the 
Philharmonic  (March  9,  73),  the  Crystal  Palace, 
and  other  concerts,  and  much  in  society;  and 
after  a  lengthened  stay  returned  to  Italy.  He 
was  a  graceful  and  refined  player,  with  a  delicate 
touch,  a  great  command  over  the  mechanism  of 
the  piano,  and  a  pleasing  melancholy  in  his  ex 
pression.  His  playing  of  Bach  was  especially 
good.  He  has  published  some  piano  pieces  of  no 
importance.  [G.] 

RE  PASTORE,  IL.  A  dramatic  cantata  to 
Metastasio's  words  (with  compressions),  com 
posed  by  Mozart  at  Salzburg  in  1775,  in  honour 
of  the  Archduke  Maximilian.  First  performed 


108 


RE  PASTORE. 


April  23,  1775.  It  contains  an  overture  and 
14  numbers.  The  autograph  is  in  the  Royal 
Library  at  Berlin,  and  the  work  is  published  in 
Breitkopf's  complete  edition  as  Series V.  No.  10. 

Aminta's  air,  '  L'amerb,'  was  at  one  time  a 
favourite  with  Madame  Lind-Goldschmidt.     [G.] 

REPEAT,  REPETIZIONE,  REPLICA  (Ger. 

Wiederholung  ;  Fr.  Repetition,  which  also  means 
'  rehearsal').  In  the  so-called  sonata-form,  there 
are  certain  sections  which  are  repeated,  and 
are  either  written  out  in  full  twice  over,  or  are 

at  the 


written  only  once,  with  the  sign  — H 

end,  which  shows  that  the  music  is  to  be  repeated 
either  from  the  beginning  or  from  the  previous 
occurrence  of  the  sign.  The  sections  which,  ac 
cording  to  the  strict  rule,  are  repeated,  are — the 
first  section  of  the  first  movement,  both  sections 
of  the  minuet  or  scherzo  at  their  first  appear 
ance,  and  both  sections  of  the  trio,  after  which 
the  minuet  or  scherzo  is  gone  once  straight  through 
without  repeats.  The  last  half  of  the  first  move 
ment,  and  the  first,  or  even  both,  of  the  sections 
in  the  last  movement,  may  be  repeated  ;  see  for 
instance  Beethoven's  Sonatas  Op.  2,  No.  2;  Op.  10, 
No.  2  ;  Op.  78 ;  Schubert's  Symphony  No. 9.  Also, 
where  there  is  an  air  and  variations,  both  sections 
of  the  air  and  of  all  the  variations,  should,  strictly 
speaking,  be  repeated.  Although  it  is  a  regular 
custom  not  to  play  the  minuet  or  scherzo,  after  the 
trio,  with  repeats,  Beethoven  thinks  fit  to  draw 
attention  to  the  fact  that  it  is  to  be  played  straight 
through,  by  putting  after  the  trio  the  words  'Da 
Capo  senza  repetizione,'  or  '  senza  replica,'  in  one 
or  two  instances,  as  in  Op.  10,  No.  3,  where  more 
over  the  trio  is  not  divided  into  two  sections,  and 
is  not  repeated;  in  Op.  27,  No.  2,  where  the 
Allegretto  is  marked  '  La  prima  parte  senza  re 
petizione  '  (the  first  part  without  repeat).  In  his 
4th  and  7th  Symphonies  he  has  given  the  trio 
twice  over  each  time  with  full  repeats.  [J.  A.F.M.] 

REPETITION  (PIANOFORTE).  The  rapid 
reiteration  of  a  note  is  called  repetition ;  a 
special  touch  of  the  player  facilitated  by  me 
chanical  contrivances  in  the  pianoforte  action ; 
the  earliest  and  most  important  of  these  having 
been  the  invention  of  SEBASTIAN  ERARD.  [See  the 
diagram  and  description  of  Erard's  action  under 
PIANOFORTE,  vol.  ii.  p.  722.]  By  such  a  con 
trivance  the  hammer,  after  the  delivery  of  a  blow, 
remains  poised,  or  slightly  rises  again,  so  as  to  allow 
the  hopper  to  fall  back  and  be  ready  to  give  a 
second  impulse  to  the  hammer  before  the  key  has 
nearly  recovered  its  position  of  rest.  The  parti 
cular  advantages  of  repetition  to  grand  pianos  have 
been  widely  acknowledged  by  pianoforte  makers, 
and  much  ingenuity  has  been  spent  in  inventing 
or  perfecting  repetition  actions  for  them  :  in  up 
right  pianos  however  the  principle  has  been  rarely 
employed,  although  its  influence  has  been  felt 
and  shown  by  care  in  the  position  of  the  '  check  ' 
in  all  check  action  instruments.  The  French  have 
named  the  mechanical  power  to  rapidly  repeat  a 
note,  'double  echappement ';  the  drawbacks  to 
double  escapement— which  the  repetition  really 


REPETITION. 

is— are  found  in  increased  complexity  of  me 
chanism  and  liability  to  derangement.  These 
may  be  overrated,  but  there  always  remains  the 
drawback  of  loss  of  tone  in  repeated  notes ;  the 
repetition  blow  being  given  from  a  small  depth 
of  touch  compared  with  the  normal  depth,  is 
not  so  elastic  and  cannot  be  delivered  with 
so  full  a  forte,  or  with  a  piano  or  pianissimo  of 
equally  telling  vibration.  Hence,  in  spite  of  the 
great  vogue  given  to  repetition  effects  by  Herz 
and  Thalberg,  other  eminent  players  have  dis 
regarded  them,  or  have  even  been  opposed  to 
repetition  touches,  as  Chopin  was  and  L)r.  Hans 
von  Billow  is — see  p.  7,  §  10  of  his  commentary 
on  selected  studies  by  Chopin  (Aibl,  Munich, 
i88o\  where  he  designates  double  escapement 
as  a  '  deplorable  innovation.' 

A  fine  example  of  the  best  use  of  repetition 
is  in  Thalberg' s  A  minor  Study,  op.  45  : — 


o 

s 

dm*- 


R.H. 


^ 


•1  •  ol 


etc. 


X.H. 


where  the  player,  using  the  first  two  fingers 
and  thumb  in  rapid  succession  on  each  note, 
produces  by  these  triplets  almost  the  effect  of 
a  sustained  melody  with  a  tremolo.  It  is  this 
effect,  produced  by  mechanical  means  only,  that 
is  heard  in  Signer  Caldera's  MELOPIANO  as  made 
by  Herz  in  Paris,  and  Kirkman  in  London. 
Repetition  is  however  an  old  device  with  stringed 
instruments,  having  been,  according  to  Bunting, 
a  practice  with  the  Irish  harpers,  as  we  know 
it  was  with  the  common  dulcimer,  the  Italian 
mandoline  and  the  Spanish  bandurria. 

A  remarkable  instance  may  be  quoted  of  the 
effective  use  of  repetition  in  the  Fugato  (piano 
solo)  from  Liszt's  'Todtentanz'  (Danse  Macabre) 
Vivace. 


REPETITION. 

But  there  need  be  no  difficulty  in  playing  this 
on  a  well-regulated  and  checked  single  escape 
ment.  With  a  double  escapement  the  nicety  of 
checking  is  not  so  much  required.  [A.  J.H.] 

REPRISE,  repetition ;  a  term  which  is  occa 
sionally  applied  to  any  repetition  in  music,  but  is 
most  conveniently  confined  to  the  recurrence  of 
the  first  subj/ect  of  a  movement  after  the  conclu 
sion  of  the  working  out  or  Durchfuhrung.  In 
that  sense  it  is  used  in  this  work.  [G.] 

REQUIEM  (Lat.  Missa  pro  Defunctis  ;  Ital. 
Messa  per  i  Defonti;  Fr.  Hesse  des  Morts; 
Germ.  Todtenmesse).  A  solemn  Mass,  sung,  an 
nually,  in  Commemoration  of  the  Faithful  De 
parted,  on  All  Souls'  Day  (Nov.  2) ;  and,  with 
a  less  general  intention,  at  Funeral  Services, 
on  the  anniversaries  of  the  decease  of  particular 
persons,  and  on  such  other  occasions  as  may  be 
dictated  by  feelings  of  public  respect,  or  indi 
vidual  piety. 

The  Requiem  takes  its  name1  from  the  first 
word  of  the  Introit — 'Requiem  eeternam  dona 
eis,  Domine.'  When  set  to  Music,  it  naturally 
arranges  itself  in  nine  principal  sections  :  (i)  The 
Introit — '  Requiem  teternam  ' ;  (2)  the  '  Kyrie ' ; 
(3)  the  Gradual,  and  Tract — '  Requiem  aeter- 
nam,'  and  'Absolve,  Domine ' ;  (4)  The  Sequence 
or  Prose — 'Dies  irse';  (5)  The  Offertorium — 
' Domine  Jesu  Christi' ;  (6)  the  'Sanctus ' ;  (7)  the 
'Benedictus';  (8)  the  'Agnus  Dei' ;  and  (9)  the 
Communio — 'Lux  seterna.'  To  these  are  some 
times  added  (10)  the  Responsorium,  'Liberame,' 
which,  though  not  an  integral  portion  of  the 
Mass,  immediately  follows  it,  on  all  solemn  oc- 
,.  casions;  and  (n)  the  Lectio* — 'Tsedet  animam 
'•  meam,'  of  which  we  possess  at  least  one  example 
•  of  great  historical  interest. 

The  Plain  Chaunt  Melodies  adapted  to  the 
nine  divisions  of  the  Mass  will  be  found  in  the 
Gradual;  together  with  that  proper  for  the 
Responsorium.  The  Lectio,  which  really  belongs 
to  a  different  Service,  has  no  proper  Melody,  but 
is  sung  to  the  ordinary  '  Tonus  Lectionis.'  [See 
ACCENTS.]  The  entire  series  of  Melodies  is  of 
rare  beauty ;  and  produces  so  solemn  an  effect, 
when  sung,  in  Unison,  by  a  large  body  of  Grave 
Equal  Voices,  that  most  of  the  great  Polyphonic 
Composers  have  employed  its  phrases  more  freely 
than  usual,  in  their  Requiem  Masses,  either  as 
Canti  fermi,  or,  in  the  form  of  unisonous 
passages  interposed  between  the  harmonised 
portions  of  the  work.  Compositions  of  this  kind 
are  not  very  numerous ;  but  most  of  the  examples 
we  possess  must  be  classed  among  the  most 
perfect  productions  of  their  respective  authors. 

Palestrina's  'Missa  pro  Defunctis,'  for  5  Voices, 
first  printed  at  Rome  in  1591,  in  the  form  of  a 
supplement  to  the  Third  Edition  of  his  '  First 
Book  of  Masses,'  was  reproduced  in  1841  by 
Alfieri,  in  the  first  volume  of  his  'Raccolta  di  Mu 
sica  Sacra';  again,  by  Lafage,  in  a  valuable  Svo. 
volume,  entitled  '  Cinq  Messes  de  Palestrina ' ; 2 

1  That  is  to  say,  its  name  as  a  special  Mass.    The  Music  of  the 
ordinary  Polyphonic  Mass  always  bears  the  name  of  the  Canto  feimo 
on  which  it  is  founded. 

2  Paris,  Launer  et  Cie. ;.  London,  Bchott  A  Co. 


REQUIEM. 


109 


and  by  the  Prince  de  la  Moskowa  in  the  gth 
volume  of  his  collection  [see  p.  31  of  the  present 
vol.],  and  has  since  been  advertised,  by  Messrs. 
Breitkopf  &  Hartel,  of  Leipzig,  as  part  of  the 
contents  of  their  complete  edition.  This  beautiful 
work  is,  unhappily,  very  incomplete,  consisting 
only  of  the '  Kyrie/  the '  Offertorium ,'  the '  Sanctus,' 
the  '  Benedictus,'  and  the  '  Agnus  Dei.'  We  must 
not,  however,  suppose  that  the  Composer  left  his 
work  unfinished.  It  was  clearly  his  intention 
that  the  remaining  Movements  should  be  sung,  in 
accordance  with  a  custom  still  common  at  Roman 
Funerals,  in  unisonous  Plain  Chaunt :  and,  as  a 
fitting  conclusion  to  the  whole,  he  has  left  us  two 
settings  of  the  'Libera  me,'  in  both  of  which  the 
Gregorian  Melody  is  treated  with  an  indescribable 
intensity  of  pathos.3  One  of  these  is  preserved,  in 
MS.,  among  the  Archives  of  the  Pontifical  Chapel, 
and  the  other,  among  those  of  the  Lateran  Basilica. 
After  a  careful  comparison  of  the  two,  Baini  ar 
rived  at  the  conclusion  that  that  belonging  to 
the  Sistine  Chapel  must  have  been  composed  very 
nearly  at  the  same  time  as,  and  probably  as  an 
adjunct  to,  the  five  printed  Movements,  which  are 
also  founded,  more  or  less  closely,  upon  the  original 
Canti  fermi,  and  so  constructed  as  to  bring  their 
characteristic  beauties  into  the  highest  possible 
relief — in  no  case,  perhaps,  with  more  touching 
effect  than  in  the  opening  '  Kyrie,'  the  first  few 
bars  of  which  will  be  found  at  page  78  of  our 
second  volume. 

Next  in  importance  to  Palestrina's  Requiem, 
is  a  very  grand  one,  for  6  Voices,  composed  by 
Vittoria,  for  the  Funeral  of  the  Empress  Maria, 
widow  of  Maximilian  II.  This  fine  work — un 
doubtedly  the  greatest  triumph  of  Vittoria's 
genius — comprises  all  the  chief  divisions  of  the 
Mass,  except  the  Sequence,  together  with  the 
Responsorium,  and  Lectio  ;  and  brings  the  Plain 
Chaunt  Subjects  into  prominent  relief,  through 
out.  It  was  first  published,  at  Madrid,  in  1605 
— the  year  of  its  production.  In  1869  the  Lectio- 
was  reprinted  at  Ratisbon,  by  Joseph  Schrems, 
in  continuation  of  Proske's  '  Musica  divina.'  A 
later  cahier  of  the  same  valuable  collection  con 
tains  the  Mass  and  Responsorium ;  both  edited 
by  Haberl,  with  a  conscientious  care  which  would 
leave  nothing  to  be  desired,  were  it  not  for  the 
altogether  needless  transposition  with  which 
the  work  is  disfigured,  from  beginning  to  end. 
The  original  volume  contains  one  more  Move 
ment — 'Versa  est  in  luctum' — which  has  never 
been  reproduced  in  modern  notation ;  but,  as 
this  has  now  no  place  in  the  Roman  Funeral 
Service,  its  omission  is  not  so  much  to  be  re 
gretted. 

Some  other  very  fine  Masses  for  the  Dead, 
by  Francesco  Anerio,  Orazio  Vecchi,  and  Giov. 
Matt.  Asola,  are  included  in  the  same  collection, 
together  with  a  somewhat  pretentious  work,  by 
Pitoni,  which  scarcely  deserves  the  enthusiastic 
eulogium  bestowed  upon  it  by  Dr.  Proske.  A 
far  finer  Composition,  of  nearly  similar  date,  is 
Colonna's  massive  Requiem  for  8  Voices,  first 
printed  at  Bologna  in  1684 — a  copy  of  which 

3  See  Alfieri, '  Raccolta  dl  Musica  Sacra.'   Tom.  vii. 


110 


REQUIEM. 


is  preserved  in  the  Library  of  the  Sacred  Har 
monic  Society. 

Our  repertoire  of  modern  Requiem  Masses,  if 
not  numerically  rich,  is  sufficiently  so,  in  quality, 
to  satisfy  the  most  exacting  critic.  Three  only 
of  its  treasures  have  attained  a  deathless  reputa 
tion;  but,  these  are  of  such  superlative  excel 
lence,  that  they  may  be  fairly  cited  as  examples 
of  the  nearest  approach  to  sublimity  of  style  that 
the  i  Qth  century  has  as  yet  produced. 

(l.)  The  history  of  Mozart's  last  work  is  sur 
rounded  by  mysteries  which  render  it  scarcely  less 
interesting  to  the  general  reader  than  the  Music 
itself  is  to  the  student.  Thanks  to  the  attention 
drawn  to  it  by  recent  writers,  the  narrative  is 
now  so  well  known,  that  it  is  needless  to  do 
more  than  allude  to  those  portions  of  it  which 
tend  to  assist  the  critic  in  his  analysis  of  the 
Composition.  Its  outline  is  simple  enough.  In 
the  month  of  July,  1791,  Mozart  was  com 
missioned  to  write  a  Requiem,  by  a  mysterious- 
looking  individual,  whom,  in  the  weakness  con 
sequent  upon  his  failing  health  and  long-con 
tinued  anxiety,  he  mistook  for  a  visitant  from 
the  other  world.  It  is,  now,  well  known  that 
the  '  Stranger '  was,  really,  a  certain  Herr 
Leutgeb,  steward  to  Graf  Franz  von  Walsegg, 
a  nobleman  residing  at  Stuppach,  who,  having 
lately  lost  his  wife,  proposed  to  honour  her 
memory  by  foisting  upon  the  world,  as  his  own 
Composition,  the  finest  Funeral  Mass  his  money 
could  procure.  This,  however,  did  not  tran 
spire  until  long  after  Mozart's  death.  Suspect 
ing  no  dishonourable  intention  on  the  part  of 
his  visitor,  he  accepted  the  commission ;  and 
strove  to  execute  it,  with  a  zeal  so  far  beyond 
his  strength,  that  worn  out  with  over-work  and 
anxieties,  and  tormented  by  the  idea  that  he  was 
writing  the  Music  for  his  own  Funeral,  he  died 
while  the  MS.  still  remained  unfinished.  His 
widow,  fearing  that  she  might  be  compelled  to 
refund  the  money  already  paid  for  the  work  in  ad 
vance,  determined  to  furnish  the  'Stranger'  with 
a  perfect  copy,  at  any  risk  ;  and,  in  the  hope  of 
accomplishing  this  desperate  purpose,  entrusted 
the  MS.,  first,  to  the  Hofkapellmeister,  Jos.  von 
Eybler,  and  afterwards  to  Franz  Xavier  Siiss- 
mayer,  for  completion.  Von  Eybler,  after  a  few 
weak  attempts,  gave  up  the  task  in  despair. 
Sussmayer  -was  more  fortunate.  He  had  watched 
the  progress  of  the  Requiem  through  each  suc 
cessive  stage  of  its  development.  Mozart  had 
played  its  various  Movements  to  him  on  the 
Pianoforte,  had  sung  them  with  him  over  and 
over  again,  and  had  even  imparted  to  him  his 
latest  ideas  on  the  subject,  a  few  hours,  only, 
before  his  death.  Sussmayer  was  an  accomplished 
Musician,  intimately  acquainted  with  Mozart's 
method  of  working :  and  it  would  have  been  hard, 
if,  after  having  been  thus  unreservedly  admitted 
into  the  dying  Composer's  confidence,  he  had 
been  unable  to  fill  up  his  unfinished  sketches  with 
sufficient  closeness  of  imitation  to  set  the  widow's 
fears  of  detection  at  rest.  He  did  in  fact,  place 
in  her  hands  a  complete  Requiem,  which  Count 
Walsegg  accepted,  in  the  full  belief  that  it 


REQUIEM. 

was  in  Mozart's  handwriting  throughout.     The 
'  Requiem '  and  '  Kyrie '  were  really  written  by 
Mozart ;  but  the  remainder  was  skilfully  copied 
from   sketches — now    generally   known    as   the 
'  Urschriften ' — which,  everywhere  more  or  less 
unfinished,  were  carefully  filled  in,  as  nearly  as 
possible    in    accordance    with    the    Composer's 
original  intention.     The  widow  kept  a  transcript 
of  this  MS.,  and  afterwards  sold  it  to  Messrs. 
Breitkopf  &  Hartel,  of  Leipzig,  who  printed  it, 
in  full  score,  in  1800.   But,  notwithstanding  the 
secrecy  with   which   the   affair   had   been  con 
ducted,  rumours  were  already  afloat,  calculated 
to  throw  grave  doubts  upon  the  authenticity  of 
the  work.    Sussmayer,  in  reply  to  a  communica 
tion  addressed  to  him  by  Messrs.  Breitkopf  & 
Hartel,    laid   claim   to    the   completion    of  the 
'Requiem,'   'Kyrie,'  'Dies  irse,'    and   'Domine,' 
— of  which  he  said  that  Mozart  had  '  fully  com 
pleted  the  four  Vocal  Parts,  and  the  Fundamental 
Bass,  with  the  Figuring,  but  only  here  and  there 
indicated  the  motivi  for  the  Instrumentation,' — 
and  asserted  that   the   'Sanctus,'   'Benedictus,' 
and   'Agnus  Dei,'   were  entirely  composed  by 
himself  (ganz  nea  von  mir  verfertigt).    This  bold 
statement,  however,  did  not  set  the  dispute  at 
rest.     It  was  many  times  revived,  with  more  or 
less  acerbity;  until,   in  1825,  Gottfried  Weber 
brought  matters  to  a  climax,  by  publishing  a 
virulent  attack  upon  the    Requiem,  which  he 
denounced   as  altogether   unworthy  of  Mozart, 
and   attributed   almost   entirely   to  Sussmayer. 
To  follow  the  ensuing  controversy  through  its 
endless  ramifications  would  far  exceed  our  present 
limits.      Suffice  it  to  say,  that  we  are  now  in 
possession  of  all  the  evidence,    documentary  or 
otherwise,  which  seems  at  all  likely  to  be  brought 
forward  on  either  side.     With  the  assistance  of 
Mozart's   widow   (then   Madame   von   Nissen), 
Joh.  Andre',  of  Offenbach,   published,  in  1826, 
a  new  edition   of  the   Score,   based   upon  that 
previously  printed  by  Messrs.  Breitkopf  &  Hartel, 
but   corrected,    by   careful   comparison,   in   the 
presence  of  the  Abbs'  Stadler,  with  that  originally 
furnished  to  the  Graf  von  Walsegg,  and  marked,  on 
the  Abbe"s  authority,  with  the  letters,  '  M.'  and 
'  S.'  to  distinguish  the  parts  composed  by  Mozart 
from  those  added  by  Sussmayer.     In  1829,  Herr 
Andre'  conferred  another  benefit  upon  the  artistic 
world  by   publishing,   with    the    widow's    per 
mission,  Mozart's  original  sketches  of  the  'Dies 
irse,' '  Tuba  mirum,'  and  '  Hostias,'  exactly  as  the 
Composer  left  them.     All  these  publications  are 
still  in  print,  together  with  another  Score,  lately 
published   by   Messrs.  Breitkopf  &    Hartel   in 
their  complete  edition  of  Mozart,  in  which  the  dis 
tinction  between  Mozart's  work  and  Sussmayer's 
is  very  clearly  indicated,  as  in  Andre's  earlier  edi 
tion,  by  the  letters  '  M.'  and  'S.'     Happily,  the 
original  MSS.  are  now  in  safe  keeping,  also.    In 
1834,  the  Abbs'  Stadler  bequeathed  the  autograph 
sketch  of  tbe  entire  '  Dies  irse,'  with  the  exception 
of  the  last  Movement,  to  the  Imperial  Library 
at  Vienna.     Hofkapellmeister  von  Eybler  soon 
afterwards   presented  the   corresponding   MSS. 
of  the   '  Lacrymosa,'   the  '  Doruine  Jesu,'   and 


REQUIEM. 

the  '  Hostias.'  The  collection  of  '  Urschriften,' 
therefore,  needed  only  the  original  autographs  of 
the  'Requiem'  and  'Kyrie,'  to  render  it  com 
plete.  These  MSS,  alone,  would  have  been  a 
priceless  acquisition;  but,  in  1838,  the,  same 
Library  was  still  farther  enriched  by  the  purchase, 
for  50  ducats,  of  the  complete  MS.  originally 
sold  to  Count  von  Walsegg ;  and  it  is  now  con 
clusively  proved  that  the  '  Requiem '  and  '  Kyrie,' 
with  which  this  MS.  begins,  are  the  original 
autographs  needed  to  complete  the  collection  of 
'  Urschriften ' ;  and,  that  the  remainder  of  the 
work  is  entirely  in  the  hand-writing  of  Stiss- 
mayer.  It  is,  therefore,  quite  certain,  that, 
whatever  else  he  may  have  effected,  Siissmayer 
did  not  furnish  the  Instrumentation  of  the 
'Requiem'  and  'Kyrie,'  as  he  claims  to  have 
done.1 

In  criticising  the  merits  of  the  Requiem  as  a 
work  of  Art,  it  is  necessary  to  weigh  the  import 
of  these  now  well-ascertained  facts,  very  care 
fully  indeed,  against  the  internal  evidence  af 
forded  by  the  Score  itself.  The  strength  of  this 
evidence  has  not,  we  think,  received,  as  yet,  full 
recognition.  Gottfried  Weber,  dazzled,  perhaps, 
by  the  hypothetic  excellence  of  another  Requiem 
of  his  own  production,  roundly  abused  the 
entire  Composition,  which  he  described  as  a  dis 
grace  to  the  name  of  Mozart.  Few  other 
Musicians  would  venture  to  adopt  this  view; 
though  many  have  taken  exception  to  certain 
features  in  the  Instrumentation — more  especially, 
some  Trombone  passages  in  the  '  Tuba  mirum ' 
and  '  Benedictus ' —  even ,  in  one  case,  to  the 
extent  of  doubting  whether  they  may  not  have 
been  purposely  introduced,  as  a  mask,  '  to  screen 
the  fraud  of  an  impostor.'  Yet,  strange  to  say, 
the  first  of  these  very  passages  stands,  in  the 
Vienna  MS.  in  Mozart's  own  handwriting.3 

k-.  V 


EEQUIEM. 


Ill 


/T\ 


Trombone  Tenore,  solo 
Voce. 


So 


1 


num. 


S^^f- 


£ 


_p — . 


:£: 


-    -    -    ba     mi-rum     spar-gens 


r        r 


± 


•     f!- 


=r= 


r 

1  The  full  details  of  the  remarkable  history,  which  we  have  here 
given  in  the  form  of  a  very  rapid  sketch,  will  be  found  in  a  delightful 
little  brochure,  entitled  '  The  Story  of  Mozart's  Requiem,'  by  William 
Pole.  F.R.S.,  Mus.  Doc.,  Oxon.    (NoreUo  &  Co.) 

2  We  make  this  statement  on  the  authority  of  Messrs.  Breitkopf  & 
Hfirtel's  latest  Score,  having  had  no  opportunity  of  verifying  it,  by 
comparison  with  the  original  MS.,  before  going  to  press. 


so-num,         Fer  se-pul-chra           regi   - 

*  r   r   f    ?   r    r  4 

o  -  num,          Coget 

J    r    r   i  etc. 

•        ,      a 

r 

I*                               T^ 

_ 

f*     r     r 

i      r     r     \— 

-»   i-    r 

i  1 

i      '      '      '       i 

Such  passages  as  these,  though  they  may,  per 
haps,  strengthen  Siissmayer's  claim  to  have  filled 
in  certain  parts  of  the  Instrumentation,  stand  on 
a  very  different  ground  to  those  which  concern  the 
Composition  of  whole  Movements.  The  '  Lacry- 
mosa '  is,  quite  certainly,  one  of  the  most  beau 
tiful  Movements  in  the  whole  Requiem — and 
Mozart  is  credited  with  having  only  finished  the 
first  8  bars  of  it !  Yet  it  is  impossible  to  study 
this  movement,  carefully,  without  arriving  at 
Professor  Macfarren's  conclusion,  that  'the  whole 
was  the  work  of  one  mind,  which  mind  was 
Mozart's.'  Siissmayer  may  have  written  it  out, 
perhaps ;  but  it  must  have  been  from  the  recol 
lection  of  what  Mozart  had  played,  or  sung  to 
him ;  for,  we  know  that  this  very  Movement 
occupied  the  dying  Composer's  attention,  almost 
to  the  last  moment  of  his  life.  In  like  manner, 
Mozart  may  have  left  no  '  Urschriften  '  of  the 
'Sanctus,'  'Benedictus,'  and  'Agnus  Dei' — 
though  the  fact  that  they  have  never  been  dis 
covered  does  not  prove  that  they  never  existed — 
and  yet  he  may  have  played  and  sung  these 
Movements  often  enough  to  have  given  Siiss 
mayer  a  very  clear  idea  of  what  he  intended  to 
write.  We  must  either  believe  that  he  did  this, 
or  that  Siissmayer  was  as  great  a  genius  as  he ;  for 
not  one  of  Mozart's  acknowledged  Masses  will 
bear  comparison  with  the  Requiem,  either  as  a 
work  of  Art,  or  the  expression  of  a  devout  religious 
feeling.  In  this  respect,  it  stands  almost  alone 
among  Instrumental  Masses,  which  nearly  always 
sacrifice  religious  feeling  to  technical  display. 

(2.)  Next  in  importance  to  Mozart's  immortal 
work  are  the  two  great  Requiem  Masses  of  Cheru- 
bini.  The  first  of  these,  in  C  minor,  was  written 
for  the  Anniversary  of  the  death  of  King  Louis 
XVI.  (Jan.  21,  1793),  and  first  sung,  on  that 
occasion,  at  the  Abbey  Church  of  Saint-Denis,  in 
1817  ;  after  which  it  was  not  again  heard  until 
Feb.  14,  1820,  when  it  was  repeated,  in  the  same 
Church,  at  the  Funeral  of  the  Due  de  Berri. 
Berlioz  regarded  this  as  Cherubini's  greatest 
work.  It  is  undoubtedly  full  of  beauties.  Its 
general  tone  is  one  of  extreme  mournfulness,  per 
vaded,  throughout,  by  deep  religious  feeling.  Ex 
cept  in  the  '  Dies  irae  '  and  '  Sanctus '  this  style 
is  never  exchanged  for  a  more  excited  one ;  and, 
even  then,  the  treatment  can  scarcely  be  called 
dramatic.  The  deep  pathos  of  the  little  Move 
ment,  interposed  after  the  last  '  Osanna,'  to  fulfil 
the  usual  office  of  the  'Benedictus' — which  is 
here  incorporated  with  the  '  Sanctus  * — exhibits 
the  Composer's  power  of  appealing  to  the  feelings 
in  its  most  affecting  light. 


112 


EEQUIEM. 


The  second  Eequiem,  in  D  minor,  for  three 
Male  Voices,  is.  in  many  respects,  a  greater  work 
than  the  first ;  though  the  dramatic  element  per 
vades  it  so  freely,  that  its  character  as  a  Reli 
gious  Service  is  sometimes  entirely  lost.  It  was 
completed  on  Sept.  24,  1836,  a  few  days  after  the 
Composer  had  entered  his  7  7th  year ;  and,  with  the 
exception  of  the  Sixth  Quartet,  and  the  Quintet 
in  E  minor,  was  his  last  important  work.  The 
'  Dies  irae  '  was  first  sung  at  the  Concert  of  the 
Conservatoire,  March  19,  1837,  and  repeated  on 
the  24th  of  the  same  month.  On  March  25,  1838, 
the  work  was  sung  throughout.  In  the  January 
of  that  year,  Mendelssohn  had  already  recom 
mended  it  to  the  notice  of  the  Committee  of 
the  Lower  Rhine  Festival;  and,  in  1872  and 
1873,  it  was  sung,  as  a  Funeral  Service,  in  the 
Roman  Catholic  Chapel,  in  Farm  Street, London. 
It  is  doubtful  whether  Cherubini's  genius  ever 
shone  to  greater  advantage  than  in  this  gigantic 
work.  Every  Movement  is  replete  with  interest ; 
and  the  '  whirlwind  of  sound'  which  ushers  in 
the  '  Dies  irse '  produces  an  effect,  which,  once 
heard,  can  never  be  forgotten. 


Vivo. 


^_^^_?M—r- 


J_J 


•  —  *. 



M= 

ff  Di  - 

es 

i    -    r 

•  — 

etc. 

p  

1 

(3.)  It  remains  only  to  notice  a  work,  which, 
though  a  Requiem  only  in  name,  takes  high  rank 
among  the  greatest  productions  of  the  present  day. 

The  '  German  Requiem '  of  Johannes  Brahms 
is,  in  reality,  a  Sacred  Cantata,  composed  to 
words  selected  from  Holy  Scripture,  in  illustra 
tion  of  the  joys  of  the  Blessed,  and  the  glories  of 
the  Life  to  Come.  It  prefers  no  claim  to  be 


REQUIEM. 

considered  as  a  Religious  Service,  in  any  sense 
of  the  word ;  and  must,  therefore,  be  criticised, 
like  the  great  Mass  of  Sebastian  Bach,  as  a 
shorter  form  of  Oratorio.  So  considered,  it 
is  worthy  of  all  praise ;  and  exhibits,  through 
out,  a"  striking  originality,  very  far  removed 
from  the  eccentricity  which  sometimes  passes 
under  that  name,  and  too  frequently  consists 
in  the  presentation  of  forms  rejected  by  older 
Composers  by  reason  of  their  ugliness.  The 
general  style  is  neither  dramatic,  nor  sensu 
ously  descriptive:  but,  in  his  desire  to  shadow 
forth  the  glories  of  a  higher  state  of  existence, 
the  Composer  has  availed  himself  of  all  the 
latest  resources  of  modern  Music,  including  the 
most  complicated  Orchestral  Effects,  and  Choral 
Passages  of  almost  unconquerable  difficulty.  In 
the  first  Movement,  an  indescribable  richness  of 
tone  is  produced  by  the  skilful  management  of 
the  Stringed  Band,  from  which  the  violins  are  alto 
gether  excluded.  In  the  Funeral  March,  a  strange 
departure  from  recognised  custom  is  introduced, 
in  the  use  of  Triple  Time,  which  the  Composer 
has  compelled  to  serve  his  purpose,  so  completely, 
that  the  measured  tramp  of  a  vast  Procession  is 
as  clearly  described,  and  as  strongly  forced  upon 
the  hearer's  attention,  as  it  could  possibly  have 
been  by  the  ordinary  means.  The  next  division  of 
the  work  introduces  two  Choral  Fugues,  founded 
upon  Subjects  which  each  embrace  a  compass  of 
eleven  notes,  and  differ,  in  many  very  important 
points,  both  of  construction  and  treatment, 
from  the  Motivi  employed  by  other  adepts  in 
this  particular  style  of  Composition.  The  Cre 
scendo  which  separates  these  two  Movements,  is, 
at  the  same  time,  one  of  the  most  beautiful,  and 
one  of  the  most  fearfully  difficult  passages  in  the 
entire  work.  No.  4  is  an  exquisitely  melodious 
Slow  Movement,  in  Triple  Time  ;  and  No.  5, 
an  equally  attractive  Soprano  Solo  and  Chorus. 
No.  6  is  a  very  important  section  of  the  work, 
comprising  several  distinct  Movements,  and  de 
scribing,  with  thrilling  power,  the  awful  events 
connected  with  the  Resurrection  of  the  Dead. 
Here,  too,  the  f  ugal  treatment  is  very  peculiar ; 
the  strongly  characteristic  Minor  Second  in  the 
Subject,  being  most  unexpectedly  represented  by 
a  Major  Second  in  the  Answer.  The  Finale, 
No.  7,  concludes  with  a  lovely  reminiscence  of 
the  First  Movement,  and  brings  the  work  to  an 
end,  with  a  calm  pathos  which  is  the  more  effec 
tive  from  its  marked  contrast  with  the  stormy 
and  excited  Movements  by  which  it  is  preceded. 
It  is  impossible  to  study  this  important  Com 
position  in  a  truly  impartial  spirit  without 
arriving  at  the  conclusion  that  its  numerous 
unusual  features  are  introduced,  not  for  the  sake 
of  singularity,  but,  with  an  honest  desire  to  pro 
duce  certain  effects,  which  undoubtedly  are  pro 
ducible,  when  the  Chorus  and  Orchestra  are  equal 
to  the  interpretation  of  the  author's  ideas.  The 
possibility  of  bringing  together  a  sufficiently 
capable  Orchestra  and  Chorus  has  already  been 
fully  demonstrated,  both  in  England  and  in  Ger 
many.  The '  Deutsches  Requiem,'  first  produced 
at  Bremen,  on  Good  Friday,  1 868,  was  first  heard, 


REQUIEM. 

in  this  country,  at  the  house  of  Lady  Thompson, 
London,  July  7,  1871,  Miss  Began  and  Stock- 
hausen  singing  the  solos,  and  Lady  Thompson 
and  Mr.  Cipriani  Potter  playing  the  accompani 
ment  d  quatre  mains.  It  was  next  performed  at 
the  Philharmonic  Society's  Concert,  April  2,  1873, 
and  has  since  been  most  effectively  given  by 
the  Bach  Choir,  and  the  Cambridge  University 
Musical  Society.  The  excellence  of  these  per 
formances  plainly  shows  that  the  difficulties  of 
the  work  are  not  really  insuperable.  They  may, 
probably,  transcend  the  power  of  an  average  coun 
try  Choral  Society  ;  but  we  have  heard  enough  to 
convince  us  that  they  may  be  dealt  with  suc 
cessfully  by  those  who  really  care  to  overcome 
them,  and  we  are  thus  led  to  hope  that  after  a 
time  the  performance  of  the  work  may  not  be 
looked  upon  as  an  unusual  occurrence.  [W.S.R.] 

RESOLUTION  is  the  process  of  relieving 
dissonance  by  succeeding  consonance.  All  dis 
sonance  is  irritant  and  cannot  be  indefinitely 
dwelt  upon  by  the  mind,  but  while  it  is  heard 
the  return  to  consonance  is  awaited.  To  conduct 
this  return  to  consonance  in  such  a  manner  that 
the  connection  between  the  chords  may  be  intel 
ligible  to  the  hearer  is  the  problem  of  resolution. 

The  history  of  the  development  of  harmonic 
music  shows  that  the  separate  idea  of  resolution 
in  the  abstract  need  not  have  been  present  to 
the  earliest  composers  who  introduced  discords 
into  their  works.  They  discovered  circumstances 
in  which  the  flow  of  the  parts,  moving  in  con 
sonance  with  one  another,  might  be  diversified 
by  retarding  one  part  while  the  others  moved  on 
a  step,  and  then  waited  for  that  which  was  left 
behind  to  catch  them  up.  This  process  did  not 
invariably  produce  dissonance,  but  it  did  conduce 
to  variety  in  the  independent  motion  of  the 
parts.  The  result,  in  the  end,  was  to  establish 
the  class  of  discords  we  call  suspensions,  and 
their  resolutions  were  inevitably  implied  by  the 
very  principle  on  which  the  device  is  founded. 
Thus  when  Josquin  diversified  a  simple  succes 
sion  of  chords  in  what  we  call  their  first  position, 
as  follows  — 


Ex.1. 


RESOLUTION. 


113 


it  seems  sufficiently  certain  that  no  such  idea  as 
resolving  a  discord  was  present  to  his  mind.  The 
motion  of  D  to  C  and  of  C  to  B  was  predeter 
mined,  and  their  being  retarded  was  mainly  a 
happy  way  of  obtaining  variety  in  the  flow  of  the 
parts,  though  it  must  not  be  ignored  that  the 
early  masters  had  a  full  appreciation  of  the 
actual  function  and  effect  of  the  few  discords 
they  did  employ. 

Some  time  later  the  device  of  overlapping  the 
succeeding  motions  of  the  parts  was  discovered, 
by  allowing  some  or  all  of  those  which  had  gone 
on  in  front  to  move  again  while  the  part  which 

VOL.  III.   PT.  I. 


had  been  left  behind  passed  to  its  destination ; 
as  by  substituting  (b)  for  (a)  in  Ex.  2. 
Ex.2. 

P) 


This  complicated  matters,  and  gave  scope  for 
fresh  progressions  and  combinations,  but  it  did 
not  necessarily  affect  the  question  of  resolution, 
pure  and  simple,  because  the  destination  of  the 
part  causing  the  dissonance  was  still  predeter 
mined.  However,  the  gradually  increasing  fre 
quency  of  the  use  of  discords  must  have  habituated 
hearers  to  their  effect  and  to  the  consideration 
of  the  characteristics  of  different  groups,  and  so 
by  degrees  to  their  classification.  The  first 
marked  step  in  this  direction  was  the  use  of  the 
Dominant  seventh  without  preparation,  which 
showed  at  least  a  thorough  appreciation  of  the 
fact  that  some  discords  might  have  a  more  inde 
pendent  individuality  than  others.  This  appears 
at  first  merely  on  this  side,  of  occasionally  dis 
carding  the  formality  of  delaying  the  note  out  of 
a  preceding  chord  in  order  to  introduce  the 
dissonance ;  but  it  led  also  towards  the  consider 
ation  of  resolution  in  the  abstract,  and  ultimately 
to  greater  latitude  in  the  process  of  returning  to 
consonance.  Both  their  instinct  and  the  par 
ticular  manner  in  which  the  aspects  of  discords 
presented  themselves  at  first  led  the  earlier  com 
posers  to  pass  from  a  discordant  note  to  the 
nearest  available  note  in  the  scale,  wherever  the 
nature  of  the  retardation  did  not  obviously  imply 
the  contrary;  and  this  came  by  degrees  to  be 
accepted  as  a  tolerably  general  rule.  Thus  the 
Dominant  seventh  is  generally  found  to  resolve  on 
the  semitone  below ;  and  this,  combined  with  the 
fact  that  the  leading  note  was  already  in  the  chord 
with  the  seventh,  guided  them  to  the  relation  of 
Dominant  and  Tonic  chords  ;  although  they  early 
realised  the  possibility  of  resolving  on  other  har 
mony  than  that  of  the  Tonic,  on  special  occasions, 
without  violating  the  supposed  law  of  moving  the 
seventh  down  a  semitone  or  tone,  according  to  the 
mode,  and  raising  the  leading  note  to  what  would 
have  been  the  Tonic  on  ordinary  occasions.  How 
ever,  the  ordinary  succession  became  by  degrees  so 
familiar  that  the  Tonic  chord  grew  to  be  regarded 
as  a  sort  of  resolution  in  a  lump  of  the  mass  of 
any  of  the  discords  which  were  built  on  the  top 
of  a  Dominant  major  concord,  as  the  seventh  and 
major  or  minor  ninth,  such  as  are  now  often  called 
Fundamental  discords.  Thus  we  find  the  follow 
ing  passage  in  a  Haydn  Sonata  in  D — 
Ex.  3. 


Ss=?  —    J  1   2    J   ~ 

tftf  frJ-fT-9—*— 

(  

fj                           -jgg-g^ 

.•vli.       -^     '•-        "  " 

-  '•  **j*                                r 

jf 

1                  4 

^N,^-,- 

114 


RESOLUTION. 


in  which  the  Dominant  seventh  is  not  resolved 
by  its  passing  to  a  near  degree  of  the  scale,  but 
by  the  mass  of  the  harmony  of  the  Tonic  fol 
lowing  the  mass  of  the  harmony  of  the  Dominant. 
Ex.  4  is  an  example  of  a  similar  use  by  him  of  a 
Dominant  major  ninth. 


Ex.  4. 


RESOLUTION. 

Tonic;  so  that  no  actual  harmony  is  heard  in 
the  movement  after  the  seventh  has  been  sounded. 
An  example  of  treatment  of  an  inversion  of  the 
major  ninth  of  the  Dominant,  which  is  as  un 
usual,  is  the  following  from  Beethoven's  last 
Quartet,  in  F,  op.  135. 
Ex.7. 


/U    »  J  —  =— 

H-r-lH-- 

.  — 

vMy                 • 

J^I> 

Jlr 

r          I 

-Ir  + 

1         etc. 
& 

* 

t^r 


There  remain  to  be  noted  a  few  typical  devices 
by  which  resolutions  are  either  varied  or  ela 
borated.  One  which  was  more  common  in  early 
stages  of  harmonic  music  than  at  the  present 
day  was  the  use  of  representative  progressions, 
which  were  in  fact  the  outline  of  chords  which 
would  have  supplied  the  complete  succession  of 
parts  if  they  had  been  filled  in.  The  following' 


A   more   common  way  of  dealing  with    the 
resolution  of  such  chords  was  to  make  the  part 
having  the  discordant  note  pass  to  another  posi 
tion  in  the  same  harmony  before  changing,  and 
allowing  another  part  to  supply  the  contiguous 
note  ;  as  in  Ex.  5,  from  one  of  Mozart's  Fantasias 
in  C  minor. 

Ex.  5.                                Ex.  5  a. 

A    In                 •r"  •                  1              Hi] 

is  a  remarkable  example  from  the  Sarabande  c 
J.  S.  Bach's  Partita  in  Bb. 

Ex.  8.         -w                 w              __U._ 

-^-rtr-^-jiT  jj  ^  —  i  *  'ij  "'  \>t>,    n~^n~"i^""J~ 

i                         i                                 .             etc 

*^y    u  8*5-               t                  '   •!  -                  ti          i 

i'  i  n    #•                 r                        ,.,-..    w.   .      | 

"   b                                                           "  ]•        *^ 

Y  \  u      LI                               J       II  y  i      nm      1 

p—  —            - 

/I  b  K    d«  •           •          *      II  /K  b                        (" 

-•- 
which  might  be  interpreted  as  follows  :  — 
Ex.9. 

itn    "     "fr             _r                   HfuV               1 

V-U            H    -i    |    ^                     HVMy                 I        ' 

1               1 

fl0«                                 f        4 

t%  zzr^i  —  ^_         J—  H^fc   3    ^  —  »—  „ 

—^HJ  —  F-                     n^—s  —  '  —  —  '  — 

f/£^=its~     —  P      -d       "^  :==l 

U.  1-  1  1  U  J  

Some  theorists  hold  that  the  passage  of  the 
ninth  to  the  third  —  as  Db  to  E  in  Ex.  5  a  (where 
the  root  C  does  not  appear)  —  is  sufficient  to  con 
stitute  resolution.     That  such  a  form  of  resolu 
tion  is  very  common  is  obvious  from  theorists 
having  noticed  it,  but  it  ought  to  be  understood 
that  the  mere  change  of  position  of  the  notes  of 
a  discord  is  not  sufficient  to  constitute  resolution 
unless  a  real  change  of  harmony  is  implied  by 
the  elimination  of  the  discordant  note  ;  or  unless 
the  change  of  position  leads  to  fresh  harmony, 
and  thereby  satisfies  the  conditions  of  intelligible 
connection  with  the  discord. 
A  much  more  unusual  and  remarkable  resolu 
tion  is  such  as  appears  at  the  end  of  the  first 
movement  of  Beethoven's  F  minor  Quartet   as 
follows  — 
Ex  6 

^  —  "3  ifc"      ~  s~~$*— 

^           -  —  -cjf    f 

-n.-  ,  —  ferfl  J  c  ,-J  1 

-^~rr-^»  

^  b                                                                      » 

i;              1                                                                                    .    .             ,        m                     ..| 

Another  device  which  came  early  into  use,  anc 
was  in  great  favour  with  Bach  and  his  sous  anc 
their  contemporaries,  and  is  yet  an  ever  fruitfu 
source  of  variety,  is  that  of  interpolating  notes 
in  the  part  which  has  what  is  called  the  discor- 
.dant  note,  between  its  sounding   and  its  final 
resolution,  and  either  passing  direct  to  the  note 
which  relieves  the  dissonance  from  the  digression, 
or  touching  the  dissonant  note  slightly  again  at 
the  end  of  it.     The  simplest  form  of  this  device 
was  the  leap  from  a  suspended  note  to  another 
note  belonging  to  the  same  harmony,  and  then 
back  to  the  note  which  supplies  the  resolution, 
as  in  Ex.  10  ;  and  this  form  was  extremely  com 
mon  in  quite  the  early  times  of  polyphonic  music. 
Ex.  10.                                .         ^ 

1  }  i  h  b  j—                 —  i  n— 

g£t_  J_,  *  ^-^^===: 

•y  b      ijj             ^        1              y 

:  —  k-Jr-                    ~f-  — 

r  T^r      J 

where  the  chord  of  the  Dominant  seventh  con 
tracts  into  the  mere  single  note  which  it  repre 
sents,  and  that  proceeds  to  the  note  only  of  the 

Kff;'  i'ir  i   ^ 

But  much  more  elaborate  forms  of  a  similar 
nature  were  made  use   of  later.     An  example 
from  J.  S.  Bach  will  be  found  at  p.  678  of  vol.  i, 

RESOLUTION. 

of  this  Dictionary ;  the  following  example,  from 
a  Fantasia  by  Emanuel  Bach,  illustrates  the  same 
point  somewhat  remarkably,  and  serves  also  as 
an  instance  of  enharmonic  resolution. 


Ex.11. 


RESPONSE. 


115 


The  minor  seventh  on  C  in  this  case  is  ulti 
mately  resolved  as  if  it  had  been  an  augmented 
sixth  composed  of  the  same  identical  notes  accord 
ing  to  our  system  of  temperament,  but  derived 
from  a  different  source  and  having  consequently 
a  different  context.  This  manner  of  using  the 
same  group  of  notes  in  different  senses  is  one  of 
the  most  familiar  devices  in  modern  music  for 
varying  the  course  of  resolutions  and  obtaining 
fresh  aspects  of  harmonic  combinations.  [For 
further  examples  see  MODULATION,  CHANGE,  EN 
HARMONIC.] 

An  inference  which  follows  from  the  use  of 
some  forms  of  Enharmonic  resolution  is  that  the 
discordant  note  need  not  inevitably  move  to  reso 
lution,  but  may  be  brought  into  consonant  rela 
tions  by  the  motion  of  other  parts,  which  relieve 
it  of  its  characteristic  dissonant  effect ;  this  is 
illustrated  most  familiarly  by  the  freedom  which 
is  recognised  in  the  resolution  of  the  chord  of  the 
sixth,  fifth  and  third  on  the  subdominant,  called 
sometimes  the  added  sixth,  and  sometimes  an  in 
version  of  the  supertonic  seventh,  and  sometimes 
an  inversion  of  the  eleventh  of  the  Dominant,  or 
even  a  double -rooted  chord  derived  from  Tonic 
and  Dominant  together. 

It  is  necessary  to  note  shortly  the  nse  of 
vicarious  resolutions — that  is,  of  resolutions  in 
which  one  part  supplies  the  discordant  note  and 
another  the  note  to  which  under  ordinary  cir 
cumstances  it  ought  to  pass.  This  has  been 
alluded  to  above  as  common  in  respect  of  the 
so-called  fundamental  discords,  but  there  are 
instances  of  its  occurring  with  less  independent 
combinations.  The  Gigue  of  Bach's  Partita  in 
E  minor  is  full  of  remarkable  experiments  in 
resolution  ;  the  following  is  an  example  which 
illustrates  especially  the  point  under  consider 
ation. 


— P- — 1 25* >- 


The  inference  tobe  drawn  from  the  above  examples 
is  that  the  possible  resolutions  of  discords,  espe 
cially  of  those  which  have  an  individual  status, 
are  varied,  but  that  it  takes  time  to  discover 
them,  as  there  can  hardly  be  a  severer  test  of  a 
true  musical  instinct  in  relation  to  harmony 
than  to  make  sure  of  such  a  matter.  As  a  rule, 
the  old  easily  recognisable  resolutions,  by  motion 
of  a  single  degree,  or  at  least  by  interchange  of 
parts  of  the  chord  in  supplying  the  subsequent 
consonant  harmony,  must  preponderate,  and  the 
more  peculiar  resolutions  will  be  reserved  for 
occasions  when  greater  force  and  intensity  are 
required.  But  as  the  paradoxes  of  one  genera 
tion  are  often  the  truisms  of  the  next,  so  treat 
ment  of  discords  such  as  is  utterly  incredible  to 
people  who  do  not  believe  in  what  they  are  not 
accustomed  to,  is  felt  to  be  obvious  to  all  when 
it  becomes  familiar ;  and  hence  the  peculiarities 
which  are  reserved  for  special  occasions  at  first 
must  often  in  their  turn  yield  the  palm  of  specialin- 
terest  to  more  complex  instinctive  generalisations. 
Such  is  the  history  of  the  development  of  musical 
resources  in  the  past,  and  such  it  must  be  in  the 
future.  The  laws  of  art  require  to  be  based 
upon  the  broadest  and  most  universal  generalisa 
tions;  and  in  the  detail  under  consideration  it 
appears  at  present  that  the  ultimate  test  is 
thorough  intelligibility  in  the  melodic  progres 
sions  of  the  parts  which  constitute  the  chords,  or 
in  a  few  cases  the  response  of  the  harmony  repre 
senting  one  root  to  that  representing  another, 
between  which,  as  in  Examples  3  and  4,  there  is 
a  recognised  connection  sufficient  for  the  mind  to 
follow  without  the  express  connection  of  the  flow 
of  the  parts.  Attempts  to  catalogue  the  various 
discords  and  their  various  resolutions  must  be 
futile  as  long  as  the  injunction  is  added  that  such 
formulas  only  are .  admissible,  for  this  is  to  insist 
upon  the  repetition  of  what  has  been  said  before ; 
but  they  are  of  value  when  they  are  considered 
with  sufficient  generality  to  help  us  to  arrive  at 
the  ultimate  principles  which  underlie  the  largest 
circle  of  their  multifarious  varieties.  The  imaofin- 

o 

ationcan  live  and  move  freely  within  the  bounds 
of  comprehensive  laws,  but  it  is  only  choked  by 
the  accumulation  of  precedents.  [C.H.H.P.] 

PtESPONSE,  in  English  church  music,  is,  in 
its  widest  sense,  any  musical  sentence  sung  by 
the  choir  at  the  close  of  something  read  or 
chanted  by  the  minister.  The  term  tlius  in 
cludes  the '  Amen'  after  prayers,  the  '  Kyrie3  after 
each  commandment  in  the  Communion  Service, 
the  '  Doxology '  to  the  Gospel,  and  every  reply  to 
a  Versicle,  or  to  a  Petition,  or  Suffrage.  In  its 
more  limited  sense  the  first  three  of  the  above 
divisions  would  be  excluded  from  the  term,  and 

12 


116 


RESPONSE. 


the  last-named  would  fall  naturally  into  the 
following  important  groups  :  (i)  those  which  im 
mediately  precede  the  Psalms,  called  also  the 
Preces  ;  (2)  those  following  the  Apostles'  Creed 
and  the  Lord's  Prayer ;  (3)  those  following  the 
Lord's  Prayer  in  the  Litany ;  (4)  and  the  Re 
sponses  of  the  first  portion  of  the  Litany,  which 
however  are  of  a  special  musical  form  which  will  be 
fully  explained  hereafter.  Versicles  and  Responses 
are  either  an  ancient  formula  of  prayer  or  praise 
as,  '  Lord,  have  mercy  upon  us,'  etc.,  '  Glory  be 
to  the  Father,'  etc.,  or  a  quotation  from  Holy 
Scripture,  as, 

V.    O  Lord,  open  Thou  our  lips. 

R.    And  our  mouth  shall  shew  forth  Thy  praise. 

which  is  verse  15  of  Psalm  li ;  or  a  quotation  from 
a  church  hymn,  as, 

V.    O  Lord,  save  Thy  people. 

R.    And  bless  Thine  inheritance. 

which  is  from  the  Te  Deum ;  or  an  adaptation  of 
a  prayer  to  the  special  purpose,  as, 

V.    Favourably  with  mercy  hear  our  prayers. 
R.    O  Son  of  David,  have  mercy  upon  us. 

The  musical  treatment  of  such  Versicles  and 
Responses  offers  a  wide  and  interesting  field  of 
study.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  all  the 
inflections  or  cadences  to  which  they  are  set 
have  been  the  gradual  development  of  an  original 
monotonal  treatment,  which  in  time  was  found 
to  be  uninteresting  and  tedious  (whence  our 
term  of  contempt 'monotonous'),  or  was  designedly 
varied  for  use  on  special  occasions  and  during 
holy  seasons.  At  the  time  of  the  Reformation 
the  musical  system  of  the  Roman  Church,  with 
its  distinct  and  elaborate  inflections  for  Orations, 
Lections,  Chapters,  Gospels,  Epistles,  Antiphons, 
Introits,  etc.,  etc.  [see  the  article  on  PLAIN - 
SONG],  was  completely  overthrown,  and  out  of 
the  wreck  only  a  few  of  the  most  simple  cadences 
were  preserved.  Even  the  response  '  Alleluia ' 
was  sometimes  extended  to  a  considerable  length : 
here  is  a  specimen — 


1L 


Al  -     lo    -   -   -    lu 


ia. 


The  word  '  Alleluia '  is  found  as  a  Response  in 
the  Prayer-book  of  1549,  for  use  between  Easter 
and  Trinity,  immediately  before  the  Psalms ; 
during  the  remainder  of  the  year  the  translation 
of  the  word  was  used.  Here  is  Marbecke's 
music  for  it  (1550)  : — 


Prayse  ye     the   Lorde 


When  this  was  in  later  editions  converted  into 
a  Versicle  and  Response,  as  in  our  present 
Prayer-book,  the  music  was,  according  to  some 
uses,  divided  between  the  Versicle  and  Response, 
thus, 


-r 


"  V,    Praise  ye  the  Lord.       B.    The  Lord's  name    be    praised. 

But  as  a  matter  of  fact  these  '  Preces '  in  our 
Prayer-book  which  precede   the   daily   Psalms 


RESPONSE. 

have  never  been  strictly  bound  by  the  laws  of 
*  ecclesiastical  chant,'  hence,  not  only  are  great 
varieties  of  plain-song  settings  to  be  met  with, 
gathered  from  Roman  and  other  uses,  but 
also  actual  settings  in  service-form  (that  is, 
like  a  motet),  containing  contrapuntal  devices 
in  four  or  more  parts.  Nearly  all  the  best 
cathedral  libraries  contain  old  examples  of  this 
elaborate  treatment  of  the  Preces,  and  several 
have  been  printed  by  Dr.  Jebb  in  his  '  Choral 
Responses.' 

As  then  the  Preces  are  somewhat  exceptional, 
we  will  pass  to  the  more  regular  Versicles  and 
Responses,  such  as  those  after  the  Apostles' 
Creed  and  the  Lord's  Prayer.  And  here  we  at 
once  meet  the  final  'fall  of  a  minor  third,"  which 
is  an  ancient  form  of  inflection  known  as  the 
Accentus  Medialis : — 


This  is  one  of  the  most  characteristic  progres 
sions  in  plain-song  versicles,  responses,  con 
fessions,  etc.,  and  was  actually  introduced  by 
Marbecke  into  the  closing  sentences  of  the  Lord's 
Prayer.  It  must  have  already  struck  the  reader 
that  this  is  nothing  more  or  less  than  the  '  note ' 
of  the  cuckoo.  This  fact  was  probably  in  Shake- 
spere's  mind  when  he  wrote, 

The  finch,  the  sparrow,  and  the  lark, 
The  plain-song  cuckoo  gray. 

This  medial  accent  is  only  used  in  Versicles 
and  Responses  when  the  last  word  is  a  poly 
syllable  ;  thus — 

Medial  Accent. 


R.     And  grant  us  Thy  salva-tion 

When  the  last  word  is  a  monosyllable,  there 
is  an  additional  note,  thus — 

Moderate  Accent. 


B.      As  we  do  put  our  trust  ia    Thee. 


This  may  be  said  to  be  the  only  law  of  the 
Accentus  Ecclesiaslicus  which  the  tradition  of  our 
Reformed  Church  enforces.  It  is  strictly  observed 
in  most  of  our  cathedrals,  and  considering  its 
remarkable  simplicity,  should  never  be  broken. 
The  word  '  prayers '  was  formerly  pronounced  as 
a  dissyllable ;  it  therefore  took  the  medial  accent 
thus — 


Favourably  with  mercy  hear  our  pray-ers. 

but  as  a  monosyllable  it    should   of  course  be 
treated  thus — 


Favourably  with  mercy  hear  our  prayers. 

In  comparing  our  Versicles  and  Responses  with 
the  Latin  from  which  they  were  translated,  it  is 
important  to  bear  this  rule  as  to  the  '  final  word' 
in  mind.  Because,  the  Latin  and  English  of  the 


BESPONSE. 


RESPONSE. 


117 


same  Versicle  or  Response  will  frequently  take 
different  'accents'  in  the  two  languages.  For 
example,  the  following  Versicle  takes  in  the 
Latin  the  medial  accent ;  but  in  the  translation 
will  require  the  moderate  accent. 

Latin  form. 
-fr* 


Ab  inimicis  nostris  defende  nos  Chris  -  te. 
English  form. 


From  our  enemies  defend  us.  O       Christ. 

It  has  been  just  stated  that  the  early  part  of 
the  Litany  does  not  come  under  the  above  laws 
of  '  accent.'  The  principle  melodic  progression 
is  however  closely  allied  to  the  above,  it  having 
merely  an  additional  note,  thus — 


~^r- 


3 


This  is  the  old  and  common  Response 


O  -    ra      pro      no-bis 

and  to  this  are  adapted  the  Responses, '  Spare  us, 
good  Lord ' ;  'Good  Lord,  deliver  us ';  '  We  beseech 
Thee  to  hear  us,  good  Lord ' ;  'Grant  us  Thy  peace ' ; 
'Have  mercy  upon  us';  'O  Christ  hear  us'  (the 
first  note  being  omitted  as  redundant) ;  and '  Lord 
have  mercy  upon  us ;  Christ  have  mercy  upon  us.' 
At  this  point,  the  entry  of  the  Lord's  Prayer 
brings  in  the  old  law  of  medial  and  moderate 
accents;  the  above  simple  melody  therefore  is 
the  true  Response  for  the  whole  of  the  first  (and 
principal)  portion  of  the  Litany.  It  is  necessary 
however  to  return  now  to  the  preliminary  sen 
tences  of  the  Litany,  or  the  '  Invocations,'  as  they 
have  been  called.  Here  we  find  each  divided  by 
a  colon,  and,  in  consequence,  the  simple  melody 
last  given  is  lengthened  by  one  note,  thus  : 


£3_ 


3E 


This  is  used  without  variation  for  all  the  Invo 
cations.  The  asterisk  shows  the  added  note, 
which  is  set  to  the  syllable  immediately  pre 
ceding  the  colon.  It  happens  that  each  of  the 
sentences  of  Invocation  contains  in  our  English 
version  a  monosyllable  before  the  colon ;  but  it 
is  not  the  case  in  the  Latin,  therefore  both  Ver- 
fiicle  and  Response  differ  from  our  use,  thus — 


Pater  de  ccBlis    De  -  us 

In  the  petitions  of  the  Litany,  the  note  marked 
with  an  asterisk  is  approached  by  another  addition, 
for  instead  of 


we  hav 


•$$=~ 

J— 

W--& 

•-r^~ 

-5!-^- 

with       us       for      ever. 

The  whole  sentence  of  music  therefore  stands 
thus — 


(Petition  chanted  by 
Priest.) 


(Response  by  Choir  and 
People.) 


We  have  now  shortly  traced  the  gradual  growth 
of  the  plain-song  of  the  whole  of  our  Litany,  and 
it  is  impossible  not  to  admire  the  simplicity  and 
beauty  of  its  construction. 

But  the  early  English  church-musicians  fre 
quently  composed  original  musical  settings  of 
the  whole  Litany,  a  considerable  number  of 
which  have  been  printed  by  Dr.  Jebb ;  nearly 
all  however  are  now  obsolete  except  that  by 
Thomas  Wanless  (organist  of  York  Minster  at 
the  close  of  the  iyth  century),  which  is  occa 
sionally  to  be  heard  in  our  northern  cathedrals. 
The  plain-song  was  not  always  entirely  ignored 
by  church-musicians,  but  it  was  sometimes  in 
cluded  in  the  tenor  part  in  such  a  mutilated 
state  as  to  be  hardly  recognisable.  It  is  gene 
rally  admitted  that  the  form  in  which  Tallis' 
responses  have  come  down  to  us  is  very  impure, 
if  not  incorrect.  To  such  an  extent  LS  this  the 
case  that  in  an  edition  of  the  '  people's  part '  of 
Tallis,  published  not  many  years  since,  the  editor 
(a  cathedral  organist)  fairly  gave  up  the  task  of 
finding  the  plain-song  of  the  response,  '  We  be 
seech  Thee  to  hear  us,  good  Lord,'  and  ordered 
the  people  to  sing  the  tuneful  superstructure — 


*>         We     be  -  seech  Thee   to     bear    us,   good  Lord. 

It  certainly  does  appear  impossible  to  combine 
this  with 


^^ 


"We  beseech  Thee  to  hear     us,      good  Lord. 

But  it  appears  that  this  ancient  form  existed- 


Chris  -  te    ex  -  au  -  di     nos. 

This,  if  used  by  Tallis,  will  combine  with  his 
harmonies;  thus — 


£ 

/h  J  ^  3  —  « 

n  —  •— 

-3  1  

—  >.  —  ,)  —  „  —  <9  —  a  — 

?£      &       &  - 

—tst        j  ri  &-4 

V\)          5=    • 

^"  T   r~?  r  r 

W«        be  -  seech  Thee   to 

-)      J     J  ^_J    -! 

-^    *    .  —  &—u  — 

~^&- 

hear   us,    good    Lord. 
|        |      _l  „  „  

(  0  God  the  1    .                (  have  mercy  upon  1 
1  Father,  of  }   »»»««  :  I       us,  miser-       j  a'ble  slnners- 

Latin. 

^.  —  f^-^—^  —  f*  — 

I  K_ 
1  •- 

—  T^  1  —  1  —      f^' 

s     •        •    • 



i  1  —  1  — 

(Plain-sone  in  Tenor 

*        l 

L.            .    - 

Having  now  described  the  Preces,  Yersicles 
and  Responses,  and  Litany,  it  only  remains  to 
say  a  few  words  on  (i)  Amens,  (2)  Doxology  to 
Gospel,  (3)  Responses  to  the  Commandments, 


113 


RESPONSE. 


all  of  which  we  have  mentioned  as  being  responses 
of  a  less  important  kind,  (i)  Since  the  Reforma 
tion  but  two  forms  of  Amen  have  been  used  in  our 
church,  the  monotone,  and  the  approach  by  a 
semitone,  generally  harmonised  thus — 


rf  

a.. 

A  -   men. 
.-_£  

- 


A   -   men. 

is  1 

-^—  ^  \  : 

The  former  of  these  'Amens '  in  early  times  was 
used  when  the  choir  responded  to  the  priest ;  the 
latter,  when  both  priest  and  choir  sang  together 
(as  after  the  Confession,  Lord's  Prayer,  Creed, 
etc.).  Tallis,  however,  always  uses  the  mono- 
tonic  form,  varying  the  harmonies  thrice.  In 
more  modern  uses,  however,  the  ancient  system 
has  been  actually  reversed,  and  (as  at  St.  Paul's 
Cathedral)  the  former  is  only  used  when  priest 
and  choir  join ;  the  latter  when  the  choir  re 
sponds.  In  many  cathedrals  no  guiding  prin 
ciple  is  adopted  ;  this  is  undesirable. 

(2)  The  Doxology  to  the  Gospel  is  always  mono 
tone,  the  monotone  being  in  the  Tenor,  thus — 


{?!1<aayks}betoThee'OLord- 


There  are,  however,  almost  innumerable  original 
settings  of  these  words  used  throughout  the 
country. 

(3)  The  Responses  to  the  Commandments  are 
an  expansion  of  the  ancient — 

Kyrie  eleisqn, 

Christe  eleison, 
Kyrie  eleison, 

made  to  serve  as  ten  responses  instead  of  being 
used  as  one  responsive  prayer.  The  ancient 
form  actually  appears  in  Marbecke  (1550),  and 
the  so-callod  Marbecke's  '  Kyrie  '  now  used  is  an 
editorial  manipulation.  Being  thrown  on  their 
own  resources  for  the  music  to  these  ten  re 
sponses,  our  composers  of  the  reformed  church 
always  composed  original  settings,  sometimes 
containing  complete  contrapuntal  devices.  At 
one  period  of  vicious  taste,  arrangements  of 
various  sentences  of  music,  sacred  or  secular, 
were  pressed  into  the  service.  The  'Jomelli 
Kyrie '  is  a  good — or  rather,  a  bad — example.  It 
is  said  to  have  been  adapted  by  Attwood  from  a 
chaconne  by  Jomelli,  which  had  already  been 
much  used  on  the  stage  as  a  soft  and  slow 
accompaniment  of  weird  and  ghostly  scenes.  The 
adaptation  of  '  Open  the  heavens '  from  '  Elijah' 
is  still  very  popular,  and  may  be  considered  a 
favourable  specimen  of  an  unfavourable  class. 

The  re-introduction  of  choral  celebrations  of 
Holy  Communion  has  necessitated  the  use  of 
various  inflections,  versicles,  and  responses,  of 
which  the  music  or  method  of  chanting  has, 
almost  without  exception,  been  obtained  from 
pre-Reformation  sources.  [  J.  S.] 


REST. 

RESPONSORIUM.  A  species  of  Antiphon, 
sung  in  many  parts  of  the  Roman  Office, 
and  particularly  after  each  of  the  nine  Lessons  at 
Matins,  in  which  Service  it  forms  a  very  im 
portant  feature,  more  especially  during  Holy 
Week,  when  the  Lessons  are  taken  from  the 
Lamentations  of  Jeremiah,  and  the  Responsoria 
are  so  arranged  as  to  explain  their  connection 
with  the  sad  History  of  the  Passion.  [See 
LAMENTATIONS.] 

The  number  of  Responsoria  used  throughout 
the  Ecclesiastical  Year  is  very  great.  The 
Plain  Chaunt  Melodies  adapted  to  them  will  be 
found  in  the  Antiphonarium,  the  Directorium 
Chori,  the  Officium  Hebdomadae  Sanctse,  and 
other  similar  Office  Books.  They  have  also  been 
frequently  treated  in  the  Polyphonic  Style,  with 
very  great  effect,  not  only  by  the  Great  Masters 
of  the  1 6th  century,  but  even  as  late  as  the  time 
of  Colonna,  whose  Responsoria  of  the  Office  for 
the  Dead,  for  8  Voices,  are  written  with  intense 
appreciation  of  the  solemn  import  of  the  text. 

A  large  collection  of  very  fine  examples — in 
cluding  an  exquisitely  beautiful  set  for  Holy 
Week,  by  Vittoria — will  be  found  in  vol.  iv.  of 
Proske's  <  Musica  Divina.'  [W.S.E.] 

REST  (Fr.  Silence,  Pause ;  Ger.  Pause  ;  Ital. 
Pausa'].  The  sign  of  silence  in  music,  the  dura 
tion  of  the  silence  depending  upon  the  form  of 
the  character  employed  to  denote  it.  The  employ 
ment  of  the  rest  dates  from  the  invention  of 
'measured  music,'  that  is,  music  composed  of 
notes  of  definite  and  proportionate  values.  [See 
MUSICA  MENSURATA;  NOTATION,  p.  470.]  In 
earlier  times  the  cantus  was  sung  without  pauses, 
or  with  only  such  slight  breaks  as  were  necessary 
for  the  due  separation  of  the  sentences  of  the 
text,  but  so  soon  as  the  relative  duration  of  the 
notes  was  established,  the  employment  of  rests  of 
like  proportionate  values  became  a  necessity. 
Franchinus  Gafurius,  in  his  '  Practica  Musics; ' 
(1496),  says  that  the  Rest  'was  invented  to  give 
a  necessary  relief  to  the  voice,  and  a  sweetness 
to  the  melody ;  for  as  a  preacher  of  the  divine 
word,  or  an  orator  in  his  discourse,  finds  it  neces 
sary  oftentimes  to  relieve  his  auditors  by  the 
recital  of  some  pleasantry,  thereby  to  make  them 
more  favourable  and  attentive,  so  a  singer,  inter 
mixing  certain  pauses  with  his  notes,  engages 
the  attention  of  his  hearers  to  the  remaining 
parts  of  his  song.'  (Hawkins,  *  Hist,  of  Music,' 
chap.  63.)  Accordingly  we  find  rests  correspond 
ing  in  value  to  each  of  the  notes  then  in  use,  as 
shown  in  the  following  table. 


Maxima 

Longa. 

3 
=  —  i  

Brevls. 

H 

—  i  — 

SemfbrevlJ. 

0 

a  ' 

—  i  — 

i            i  

Maxima.    Longa  perlecta.    Longa  imperfecta.     Pausa.    Semipausa. 


Minima. 

Semiminima. 

Fusa. 

Semifusa. 

t 
|=    =F~- 

1 

K  

L 

\ 

1  
Suspirium. 

Semisuspirlum. 

Pausa  Fusee. 

Fausa  Semifusa. 

REST. 

Of  these  rests,  two,  the  semipausa  and  suspi- 
rium,  have  remained  in  use  until  the  present 
day,  and  appear,  slightly  increased  in  size  but  of 
unchanged  value,  as  the  semibreve  and  minim 
rests.  Two  of  the  longer  rests  are  also  occasion 
ally  used  in  modern  music,  the  pausa,  or  breve 
rest,  to  express  a  silence  of  two  bars'  duration, 
and  the  longa  imperfecta  a  silence  of  four.  These 
rests  are  called  in  French  batons,  and  are  spoken 
of  as  '  baton  a  deux  mesures,'  '  a  quatre  mesures.' 

The  rests  employed  in  modern  music,  with 
their  names  and  values  in  corresponding  notes, 
are  shown  in  the  table  below.1 

By  a  license  the  semibreve  rest  is  used  to  ex 
press  a  silence  of  a  full  bar  in  any  rhythm  (hence 
the  German  name  Taktpause) ;  its  value  is 
therefore  not  invariable,  as  is  the  case  with  all 
the  other  rests,  for  it  may  be  shorter  than  its 
corresponding  note,  as  when  used  to  express  a 
bar  of  2-4  or  6-8  time,  or  longer,  as  when  it  occurs 

(o)  (»>  00  00 


RESULTANT  TONES. 


119 


in  3-2  time.  To  express  a  rest  of  longer  duration 
than  one  bar,  either  the  bdtons  of  two  or  four 
bars  are  employed  (Ex.  a),  or,  more  commonly, 
a  thick  horizontal  line  is  drawn  in  the  stave,  and 
the  number  of  bars  which  have  to  be  counted  in 
silence  is  written  above  it  (Ex.  &). 
00  (&)  10  ' 


I 


Like  the  notes,  the  value  of  a  rest  can  be  in 
creased  by  the  addition  of  a  dot,  and  to  the  same 
extent,  thus  -»-  •  is  equal  to  ---[-,  [•  '  to  j-  *i  ,  and 
so  on. 

In  the  earlier  forms  of  the  ancient  '  measured 
music  '  rests  were  used  as  a  part  of  the  time- 
signature,  and  placed  immediately  after  the  clef. 
In  this  position  they  did  not  denote  silence, 
but  merely  indicated  the  description  of  Mode 
to  be  counted.  [See  NOTATION,  MODE,  TIME- 
SIGNATURE.] 


(/) 


to) 


£5  

r 

r 

c    n 

i* 

1    i    j 

g 

ENGLISH. 

(a)  Semibreve  rest. 
(I)  Minim  rest. 

(c)  Crotchet  rest. 

(d)  Quaver  rest. 

(e)  Semiquaver  rest. 

(/)  Demisemiquaver  rest. 
(g)  Semidemisemiquaver  rest. 


FRENCH. 
(a)  Pause. 
(6)  Demi-pause. 

(c)  Soupir. 

(d)  Demi-soupir. 

(e)  Quart-de-soupir. 

(/)  Demi-quart-de-soupir. 
(g)  Seizieme-de-soupir. 


GERMAN. 
(a)  Taktpause. 
(6)  Halbe  Pause. 

(c)  Viertelpause. 

(d)  Achtelpause. 

(e)  Sechszentelpause. 

(/)  Zweiunddreissigstheilpause. 
(g)  Vierundsechszigstheilpause. 


ITALIAN. 

(a)  Pausa  della  Semibreve. 
(6)  Pausa  della  Minima. 

(c)  Pausa  della  Semiminima,  or  Quarto. 

(d)  Pausa  della  Croma,  or  Mezzo  Quarto. 

(e)  Pausa  della  Semicroma,  or  Respiro. 
(/)  Pausa  della  Biscroma. 

(gr)  Pausa  della  Semibiscroma.    [FT] 


RESULTANT  TONES  (Fr.  Sons  rdsultans ; 
Ger.  Combinationstone)  are  produced  when  any 
two  loud  and  sustained  musical  sounds  are  heard 
at  the  same  time.     There  are  two  kinds  of  re 
sultant  tones,  the  Differential  and  the  Summa- 
tional.     The  '  Differential  tone '  is  so  called  be 
cause  its  number  of  vibrations  is  equal  to  the 
difference  between  those  of  the  generating  sounds. 
The  'Summational  tone'  is  so  called  because  its 
number  of  vibrations  is  equal  to  the  sum  of  those 
of  the  generating  sounds.      The  following  dia 
gram  shows  the  pitches  of  the  differential  tones 
of  the  principal  consonant  intervals  when  in  per 
fect  tune. 


Generators. 


-10—  r-v*^  v  —  u  

T 

1 

1                    II 

,^  '/b 

S>-  5 

^ 

-  9                -&-  4 

•V     J'1'1 

U      -4 

^/» 

/• 

h—  fl  

Differentials. 


If  the  interval  be  wider  than  an  octave,  as  in 
the  last  two  examples,  the  differential  is  inter 
mediate  between  the  sounds  which  produce  it. 
These  tones  can  be  easily  heard  on  the  ordinary 
harmonium,  and  also  on  the  organ.  They  are 
not  so  distinct  on  the  piano,  because  the  sounds 
of  this  instrument  are  not  sustained.  By  prac- 

"•  The  German  form  of  the  crotchet  rest  differs  from  the  English, 
being  usually  written  thus  j'.  Rousseau  also  gives  Italian  forms  of 
the  semiquaver  and  demisemiquaver  rests,  thus  f  and  T;  these 
ar«  however  not  common. 


tice,  however,  the  resultant  tones  can  be  dis 
tinguished  on  the  piano  also. 

Dissonant  as  well  as  consonant  intervals  pro 
duce  resultant  tones.  Taking  the  minor  Seventh 
in  its  three  possible  forms  the  differentials  are  as 
follows  : — 


The  ist  form  of  minor  Seventh  is  obtained  by 
tuning  two  Fifths  upwards  (C-G-D)  and  then  a 
major  Third  downwards  (D-/Bb)  :  its  differential 
tone  is  /Ab,  an  exact  major  Third  below  C.  The 
2nd  form  is  gob  by  two  exact  Fourths  upwards 
(C-F-Bb) :  the  differential  is  then  \Ab,  which 
is  flatter  than  the  previous  /Ab  by  the  interval 
35  :  36.  The  3rd  form  is  the  so-called  Harmonic 
Seventh  on  C,  whose  differential  is  G,  an  exact 
Fourth  below  C.  The  marks  \,  /,  here  used  to 
distinguish  notes  which  are  confused  in  the  or 
dinary  notation,  will  be  found  explained  under 
TEMPERAMENT. 

Hitherto  we  have  spoken  only  of  the  differen 
tial  tones  which  are  produced  by  the  funda 
mentals  or  prime  partial  tones  of  musical  sounds. 
[See  PARTIAL  TONES.]  But  a  differential  may 
also  arise  from  the  combination  of  any  upper 
partial  of  one  sound  with  any  partial  of  the  other 
sound  ;  or  from  the  combination  of  a  differential 
with  a  partial,  or  with  another  differential. 


120 


RESULTANT  TONES. 


Thus  the  major  Third  C-E 
ing  differential  tones  :  — 

may  have  the  follow- 

y                                     u 

f[         J                            II 

V  \s        .*•  —  !                                     U 

* 

. 

All  these  tones  are  heard  simultaneously ;  but 
for  convenience  the  differentials  of  the  ist,  and, 
3rd,  and  4th  orders  are  written  with  notes  of 
different  length.  We  see,  then,  that  the  number 
of  possible  resultant  tones  is  very  great ;  but  only 
those  which  arise  from  the  primes  of  musical 
sounds  are  sufficiently  strong  to  be  of  practical 
importance. 

In  enabling  the  ear  to  distinguish  between 
consonant  and  dissonant  intervals,  the  differential 
tones  are  only  less  important  than  the  upper 
partials.  Thus  if  the  chord  G-E-C  be  accurately 
tuned  as  3:5:8,  the  differential  of  G-C  coin 
cides  with  E,  and  that  of  E-C  with  G.  But  if 
the  intervals  be  tempered  the  differentials  are 
thrown  out  of  tune,  and  give  rise  to  beats. 
These  beats  are  very  loud  and  harsh  on  the  or 
dinary  harmonium,  tuned  in  equal  temperament. 
Again,  in  the  close  triad  C-E-G-  the  differentials 
of  C-E  and  of  E-G  coincide  and  give  no  beats  if 
the  intervals  be  in  perfect  tune.  On  a  tempered 
instrument  the  result  is  very  different.  If  we 
take  C  to  have  264  vibrations,  the  tempered  E 
has  about  332|,  and  the  tempered  G  about  39 5 1 
vibrations.  The  differential  of  C-E  is  then  68|, 
and  that  of  E-G  63.  These  two  tones  beat  5± 
times  each  second,  and  thus  render  the  chord  to 
some  extent  dissonant. 

In  the  minor  triad,  even  when  in  just  intona 
tion,  several  of  the  resultant  tones  do  not  fit  in 
with  the  notes  of  the  chord,  although  they  may 


be  too  far  apart  to  beat.  In  the  major  triad,  on 
the  contrary,  the  resultant  tones  form  octaves 
with  the  notes  of  the  chord.  To  this  difference 
Helmholtz  attributes  the  less  perfect  consonance 
of  the  minor  triad,  and  its  obscured  though  not 
inharmonious  effect. 

The  origin  of  the  differential  tones  has  been 
the  subject  of  much  discussion.  Thomas  Young 
held  that  when  beats  became  too  rapid  to  be 
distinguished  by  the  ear,  they  passed  into  the  re 
sultant  tone.  This  view  prevailed  until  the  pub 
lication  in  1856  of  Helmholtz's  investigations, 
in  which  many  objections  to  Young's  theory  were 
brought  forward.  To  explain  what  these  ob 
jections  are,  it  would  be  necessary  to  treat  at 
some  length  of  the  nature  of  beats,  and  the  reader 
is  therefore  referred  to  the  Appendix,  Article 
BEATS,  for  this  side  of  the  question.  The  new 


BESULTANT  TONES. 

mathematical  theory  given  by  Helmholtz  is  too 
abstruse  to  admit  of  popular  exposition. 

It  was  also  part  of  Young's  theory  that  the 
differential  tone  was  produced  in  the  ear  alone, 
and  not  in  the  external  air.  But  Helmholtz 
found  that  stretched  membranes  and  resonators 
responded  very  clearly  to  differentials  produced 
by  the  siren  or  the  harmonium.  This  he  con 
siders  to  prove  the  existence  of  vibrations  in  the 
external  air  corresponding  to  the  differential 
tones.  But  when  the  two  generating  tones  were 
produced  by  separate  instruments,  the  differential, 
though  powerfully  audible,  hardly  set  the  reso 
nator  in  vibration  at  all.  Hence  Helmholtz  con 
cludes  that  the  differential  tone  is  for  the  most 
part  gen  erated  in  the  ear  itself.  He  further  points 
out  that  certain  features  in  the  construction  of 
the  ear  easily  permit  the  action  of  the  law  which 
he  has  stated.  The  unsymmetrical  form  of  the 
drum-skin  of  the  ear,  and  the  loose  attachment 
of  the  ossicles  are,  he  thinks,  peculiarly  favour 
able  to  the  production  of  resultant  tones. 

As  a  consequence  of  his  theory,  Helmholtz  de 
duced  a  different  series  of  resultant  tones,  which 
he  calls  summational  tones,  because  their  number 
of  vibrations  is  the  sum  of  those  of  the  generators. 
The  existence  of  the  summational  tones  which 
Helmholtz  believes  he  has  verified  experimentally, 
has  recently  been  called  in  question  by  Dr. 
Preyer.  He  points  out  that  in  some  intervals,  as 
for  instance,  1:2,  1:3,  1:5,  there  will  be  a 
partial  tone  present  of  the  same  pitch  as  the 
presumed  summational  tone,  and  these  cases 
therefore  prove  nothing.  Again,  if  we  take  2  :  3, 
the  note  5  is  not  necessarily  a  summational  tone, 
but  may  be  the  differential  of  4  and  9  which  are 
the  2nd  partial  of  2  and  the  3rd  of  3  respectively. 
Dr.  Preyer  was  unable  to  find  any  trace  of  the 
summational  tones  when  care  had  been  taken  to 
exclude  the  upper  partials.  But  to  do  this  he 
could  only  use  sounds  of  tuning-forks  gently 
bowed,  which  were  far  too  weak  to  produce  any 
resultant  tones  in  the  air.  The  question,  how 
ever,  is  one  of  theoretic  interest  merely. 

Not  only  the  origin,  but  also  the  discovery  of 
differential  tones  has  been  disputed.  The  earliest 
publication  of  the  discovery  was  made  by  a 
German  organist  named  Sorge  in  1745.  Then 
came  Romieu,  a  French  savant,  in  1751.  Lastly, 
the  great  Italian  violinist  Tartini  made  the 
phenomenon  the  basis  of  his  Treatise  on  Harmony 
in  1754.  But  Tartini  explicitly  claims  priority 
in  these  words  : — 'In  the  year  1714,  when  about 
twenty-two  years  of  age,  he  discovered  this  phe 
nomenon  by  chance  on  the  violin  at  Ancona, 
where  many  witnesses  who  remember  the  fact 
are  still  living.  He  communicated  it  at  once, 
without  reserve,  to  professors  of  the  violin.  He 
made  it  the  fundamental  rule  of  perfect  tuning 
for  the  pupils  in  his  school  at  Padua,  which  was 
commenced  in  1728  and  which  still  exists;  and 
thus  the  phenomenon  became  known  throughout 
Europe.'1 

Tartini  in  some  cases  mistook  the  pitch  of  the 
differential  tone ;  but  there  does  not  appear  to 

i  De  Principii  dell'  Annonia,  Padova,  1767.  p.  36. 


RESULTANT  TONES. 

be  any  reason  for  taking  from  him  the  credit  of 
the  discovery  which  has  so  long  been  associated 
with  his  name.  [J.  L.] 

RETARDATION  is   a  word  used  by  some 
theorists  to  distinguish  a  small  group  of  discords 
which  are  similar  in  nature  to  suspensions,  but 
resolve  upwards,  as  in  Ex.  i. 
Ex.  1.  Ex.  2. 


^ 


J     J—ft-^rF3 

S35 £=—      -*ZZ^-  ^^2 


The  ground  for  making  this  sub-class  is  that 
it  appears  inaccurate  to  describe  as  suspensions 
notes  which  are  delayed  or  retarded  in  ascending. 
A  comparison  of  Ex.  2,  which  would  be  distin 
guished  as  a  suspension,  with  Ex.  I  will  show 
the  identity  of  principle  which  underlies  the  two 
discords ;  while  the  fact  of  their  ascending  or 
descending  is  clearly  not  an  attribute  but  an 
accident.  So  in  this  case  there  is  no  other 
ostensible  reason  for  breaking  up  a  well-defined 
class  but  the  fact  that  the  common  designation  in 
use  is  supposed,  perhaps  erroneously,  to  be  insuffi 
cient  to  denote  all  that  ought  to  come  under  it.  On 
the  other  hand  it  requires  to  be  noted  that  as  all 
discords  of  this  class  are  discords  of  retardation, 
and  as  those  which  rise  are  very  much  less  com 
mon  than  those  which  descend  in  resolution,  the 
name  which  might  describe  the  whole  class  is 
reserved  for  the  smallest  and  least  conspicuous 
group  in  that  class.  [C.H.H.P.] 

REUTTER,  GEORG,  born  1656  at  Vienna, 
became  in  1686  organist  of  St.  Stephen's,  and  in 
1 700  Hof-  and  Kammer-organist.  He  also  played 
the  theorbo  in  the  Hof-Kapelle  from  1697  to 
1703.  In  1712  he  succeeded  Fux  as  Capell- 
meister  to  the  Gnadenbild  in  St.  Stephen's,  and 
in  1715  became  Capellmeister  of  the  cathedral 
itself.  He  died  Aug.  29,  1738.  His  church 
music  was  sound,  without  being  remarkable.  In 
Jan.  1695  he  was  knighted  in  Rome  by  Count 
Francesco  Sforza,  on  whose  family  Pope  Paul  III. 
bestowed  the  privilege  of  conferring  that  honour 
in  1539.  The  name  of  Reutter  is  closely  con 
nected  with  that  of  Haydn,  through  his  son, 

GEORG  KARL  (generally  known  by  his  first 
name  only),  who,  according  to  the  cathedral 
register,  was  born  in  Vienna  April  6,  1 708,  be 
came  Court-composer  in  I73I>  and  succeeded  his 
father  in  1738  as  Capellmeister  of  the  cathedral. 
In  1746  he  was  appointed  second  Court-capell- 
meister,  his  duty  being  to  conduct  the  music  of 
the  Emperor's  church,  chamber,  and  dinner- table. 
On  Predieri's  retirement  in  1^51  Reutter  exer 
cised  the  functions  of  chief  Court-capellmeister, 
but  did  not  receive  the  title  till  the  death  of  the 
former  in  1769.  As  an  economical  measure  he 
was  allowed  the  sum  of  20,000  gulden  (£2,000) 
to  maintain  the  court-capelle  (the  whole  body  of 
musicians,  vocal  and  instrumental),  and  he  enjoys 
the  melancholy  distinction  of  having  reduced  the 
establishment  to  the  lowest  possible  ebb.  Reutter 


REVUE  ET  GAZETTE  MUSICALE.  121 

composed  for  the  court  numerous  operas,  cantatas 
d 'occasion,  and  Italian  oratorios  for  Lent ;  also  a 
requiem,  and  smaller  dramatic  and  sacred  works. 
His  grand  masses  are  showy,  with  rapid  and 
noisy  instrumentation,  so  much  so  that  '  rushing 
(rauschende)  violins  d.  la  Reutter '  became  a 
proverb.  Burney  heard  one  of  them  during  his 
visit  to  Vienna  in  1772,  and  says  'it  was  dull, 
dry,  stuff;  great  noise  and  little  meaning  cha 
racterised  the  whole  performance.'  (Present 
State  of  Music  in  Germany,  i.  36I.)1  In  1731 
Reutter  married  Theresia  Holzhauser,  a  court 
singer  of  merit,  who  died  in  1782.  His  own 
death  took  place  March  12,  1772.  He  was  much 
favoured  at  court  owing  to  his  great  tact ;  and 
Maria  Theresa  ennobled  him  in  1 740  as  '  Edler 
von  Reutter.'  As  stated  above,  his  name  is  in 
separably  associated  with  that  of  Haydn,  whom 
he  heard  sing  as  a  boy  in  the  little  town  of 
Hainburg,  and  engaged  for  the  choir  of  St. 
Stephen's,  where  he  sang  from  1740  to  1748. 
His  treatment  of  the  poor  chorister,  and  his 
heartless  behaviour  when  the  boy's  fine  voice 
had  broken,  are  mentioned  under  HAYDN,  vol.  i. 
703-  [C.F.P.] 

REVEILLE.     See  SIGNALS. 

REVERSE.     See  ROVESCIO. 

REVUE  ET  GAZETTE  MUSICALE,  the 
oldest  and  most  complete  of  French  musical  pe 
riodicals.  This  branch  of  literature  has  taken 
root  in  France  with  great  difficulty.  So  far  back 
as  Jan.  1770,  M.  de  Breuilly  and  other  amateurs 
founded  the  'Journal  de  Musique'  (monthly,  Svo), 
which  after  a  troubled  existence  of  three  years  was 
dropped  till  1777,  and  then  resumed  for  one  year 
more.  In  1810  Fayolle  started  'Les  Tablettes 
de  Polymnie '  (Svo),  but  it  did  not  survive  beyond 
1 8 1 1 .  Undeterred  by  these  failures,  Fe"tis  brought 
out  the  first  number  of  the  '  Revue  musicale '  in 
January  1827.  It  appeared  four  times  a  month, 
each  number  containing  24  pages  8vo.,  till  Feb.  5, 
1831,  when  it  was  published  weekly,  in  small  4to, 
double  columns.  '  La  Gazette  musicale  de  Paris,' 
started  Jan.  5, 1834,  was  similar  in  size  to  Fe'tis's 
'  Revue,'  and  also  weekly,  but  issued  on  Sunday 
instead  of  Saturday.  The  two  were  united  on 
Nov.  i,  1835,  since  which  date  the  'Revue  et 
Gazette  musicale,'  has  twice  enlarged  its  form, 
in  1841  and  in  1845,  a^  which  date  it  became 
what  it  was  till  its  last  number,  Dec.  31,  1880. 

The  property  of  the  publishers  Schlesinger  and 
Brandus,  this  periodical  has  always  been  noted 
for  the  reputation  and  ability  of  its  editors. 
Amongst  its  regular  contributors  have  been : 
Anders,  C.  Bannelier,  C.  Beauquier,  Berlioz, 
P.  Bernard,  H.  Blanchard,  A.  Botte,  M.  Bourges, 
Chouquet,  Comettant,  Cristal,  Danjou,  Ernest 
David,  F.  J.  Fetis,  0.  Fouque,  Heller,  He"quet, 
A.  Jullien,  Kastner,  Lacome,  A.  de  La  Fage, 
Lavoix  fils,  Liszt,  de  Monter,  d  Ortigues,  Pougin, 
Monnais  ('  Paul  Smith '),  Richard  Wagner,  and 
Johannes  Weber.  A  careful  reader  of  the  47 
volumes  will  easily  recognise  the  sentiments 

i  It  is  Burney  who  is  responsible  for  the  absurd  dleeresis  with  which 
this  name  is  usually  spelt  in  England— Beiitter. 


122  REVUE  ET  GAZETTE  MUSICALE. 

of  the  various  editors  through  whose  hands  it 
passed  ;  among  those  deserving  special  mention 
are  Fe"tis,  Edouard  Monnais,  and  M.  Charles 
Bannelier,  who  conducted  it  from  1872  with  equal 
learning  and  taste.  The  indexes  given  with  each 
volume  are  a  great  boon,  and  constitute  one  of 
its  advantages  over  other  French  periodicals  of  the 
same  kind. 

The  cessation  of  this  excellent  periodical  is  an 
event  which  all  lovers  and  students  of  music  will 
deeply  regret.  We  trust  that  the  hope  of  a  pos 
sible  revival,  held  out  by  the  publishers  in  their 
farewell  address,  may  be  speedily  fulfilled.  [G-.C.] 

REYER,  ERNEST,  whose  real  name  is  Rey, 
was  born  at  Marseilles,  Dec.  I,  1823.    As  a  child 
he  learned  solfeggio  at  the  free  school  of  music 
founded  byBarsotti  (born  in  Florence  1786,  died 
at  Marseilles  1868),  and  became  a  good  reader, 
though  he  did  not  carry  his  musical  education  far. 
At  1 6  he  went  to  Algiers  as  a  government  official, 
but  continued  his  pianoforte  practice,  and  began 
to    compose    without   having    properly   learned 
harmony  and  counterpoint.     He  was  soon  able 
to  write  romances  which  became  popular,  and 
composed  a  mass  which  was  solemnly  performed 
before  the  Duke  and  Duchess  d'Aumale.     Had 
he  remained  in  Algiers  he  would  probably  never 
have  been  anything  beyond  a  mere  amateur,  but 
the  Revolution  of   1848  depriving  him  of  the 
support  of  the  Governor-General,  he  returned  to 
Paris,  and  placed  himself  in  the  hands  of  his 
aunt  Mme.  Louise  Farrenc,  who  completed  his 
musical  education,  and  before  long  he  found  an 
opportunity  of  coming  before  the  public.     From 
his  friend   Theophile  Gautier  he  procured  the 
libretto  of  'Le  Selam,'  an  oriental  'Symphony'  in 
4  parts,  on  the  model  of  David's  '  Le  Ddserfc.'  It 
was  produced  with  success  April  5, 1850,  and  then 
Me"ry  furnished   him  with    'Maitre   Wolfram,' 
a  i -act  opera,  which  was  also  successful,  at  the 
Theatre  Lyrique,  May  20, 1854.     His  next  work 
was  'Sacountala'  (July  20,   1858),  one  of  the 
charming  ballets  of  The'ophile  Gautier ;  but  his 
full  strength  was  first  put  forth  in  '  La  Statue,' 
a  3-act  opera  produced  at  the  Theatre  Lyrique, 
April  ii,  1 86 1,  and  containing  music  which  is 
both  melodious  and  full  of  colour.     '  Erostrate  ' 
(2  acts)  was  performed  at  Baden  in  1862,  and 
reproduced  at  the  Academic,  Oct.  1 6,  1871,  for 
two  nights  only.     The  revival  of  '  La  Statue '  at 
the  Opera  in  1878  was  also  a  failure,  and  M. 
Reyer  may  find  it  difficult  to  secure  the  per 
formance  of  'Sigurd,'  of  which  the  overture  and 
some  of  the  more  important  numbers  have  been 
heard.     To  complete  the  list  of  his  compositions 
we  may  mention  '  Victoire,'  a  cantata  (the  Opera, 
June  27,  1859)  ;  a  'Recueil  de  10  Melodies'  for 
voice  and  PF. ;  songs  for  a  single  voice;  and  some 
pieces  of  sacred  music. 

Besides  being  reckoned  among  the  most  poetical 
of  French  musicians,  M.  Reyer  is  an  accom 
plished  feuilletoniste.  After  writing  successively 
for  the  '  Presse,'  the  '  Revue  de  Paris,'  and  the 
'  Courrier  de  Paris,'  he  became  musical  critic  to 
the  'Journal  des  De"bats'  after  the  death  of 
Berlioz.  His  articles  are  not  only  pleasant  reading, 


RHYTHM. 

but  evince  both  intellect  and  culture.  He  is 
librarian  to  the  Ope*ra,  and  succeeded  his  first 
model,  David,  at  the  Institufc  in  1876.  [G.C.] 

REYNOLDS,  JOHN,  gentleman  of  the  Chapel 
Royal  from  1765  to  1770,  was  composer  of  the 
pleasing  anthem,  '  My  God,  my  God,  look  upon 
me,'  printed  in  Page's  '  Harmonia  Sacra,'  Hul- 
lah's  Part  Music,  vol.  ii.  and  elsewhere.  Nothing 
more  of  his  is  known.  [W.H.H.] 

RHEINBERGER,  JOSEPH,  born  March  17, 
1859,  a*  Vaduz,  the  capital  of  the  principality 
of  Liechtenstein.     He  was  so  precocious  that  he 
began  to  learn  the  pianoforte  at  the  age  of  five; 
at  seven  years  old  he  was  organist  at  the  church 
of  his  native  place,  where,  as  his  legs  were  too 
short  to  reach  down  to  the  pedals,  a  second  set 
of  pedals  was   fixed  above  the  ordinary  ones; 
and  very  shortly  afterwards  he  composed  a  mass 
in  three  parts  with  organ  accompaniment.    His 
first  teacher  was  Herr  Pohly,  who  still  resides 
and  teaches  in  the  Tyrol.     At  the  age  of  twelve 
Rheinberger  was  sent  to  the  Munich  Conserva- 
torium,  where  he  studied  until  he  was  nineteen, 
under  Herzog,  Leonhard,  and  J.  J.  Maier ;  he  was 
then  appointed  pianoforte  teacher  in  the  same 
institution,  and,  about  the  same  time,  became 
organist  in  the  Hofkirche  of  St.  Michael,  and 
subsequently  Director  of  the  Munich  Oratorien- 
verein.  He  is  at  present  professor  of  counterpoint 
and  of  the  higher  school  of  organ-playing  in  the 
Royal  School  of  Music,  and   conductor  of  the 
court  band  (not  of  the  opera)  at  Munich.    Up 
to  the  present  time  he  has  published  116  com 
positions,  among  which  are — 2  symphonies, '  Wai- 
lenstein  '  and  'Florentinische  Sinfonie  ';  2  operas, 
'  Die   sieben  Raben '  and  '  Thti rmer's  Tochter- 
lein ' ;  incidental  music  to  a  drama  of  Calderon's, 
and  to   one  of  Raimond's ;    several   overtures, 
'  The  Taming  of  the  Shrew,'  '  Demetrius,'  etc. ; 
many  pianoforte  works ;  a  concerto  for  piano  and 
orchestra  ;    much    chamber   music   and  church 
music  (among  the  latter  a  Grand  Requiem  for 
those  who  fell  in  the  war  of  1870-71),  a  Stabat 
Mater  and  a  Mass  in  8  parts  (dedicated  to  Pope 
Leo  XIII.)  ;  5  organ  sonatas,  and  various  works 
for  chorus  and  for  male  voices.  Many  of  his  pupils 
have  attained  eminence  in  their  profession.    His 
Quartet    in  Eb   (op.  38)    for  PF.   and    strings 
is   a   favourite   work   at  the   Monday  Popular 
Concerts,  and  has  been  performed  there  almost 
annually   since  1874.      -^  Sonata  for  PF.  and 
violin  in  the  same  key  (op.  77)  has  also  been 
played  there.  [J.A.F.M.] 

RHEINGOLD,  DAS.  The  Vorspiel,  or  Pre 
lude,  of  the  Tetralogie  of  Wagner's  '  Niebelungen 
Ring' — Rheingold,  Walkure,  Siegfried,  and 
Gotterdammerung.  It  was  first  performed  at 
Munich,  Sept.  22,  1869,  under  the  baton  of 
Herr  Franz  WtiUner.  [G.] 

RHINE  FESTIVALS.     See  NIEDEBRHEIN- 

ISCHE  MUSIKFESTE,  vol.  ii.  p.  455. 

RHYTHM.  This  much-used  and  many- 
sided  term  may  be  defined  as  '  the  systematic 
grouping  of  notes  with  regard  to  duration.'  It 
is  often  inaccurately  employed  as  a  synonym  for 


BHYTHM. 

its  two  sub-divisions,  ACCENT  and  TIME,  and 
in  its  proper  signification  bears  the  same  relation 
to  these  that  metre  bears  to  quantity  in  poetry. 

The  confusion  which  has  arisen  in  the  em 
ployment  of  these  terms  is  unfortunate,  though 
so  frequent  that  it  would  appear  to  be  natural, 
and  therefore  almost  inevitable.  Take  a  number 
of  notes  of  equal  length,  and  give  an  emphasis  to 
every  second,  third,  or  fourth,  the  music  will 
be  said  to  be  in  '  rhythm'  of  two,  three,  or  four- 
meaning  in  time.  Now  take  a  number  of  these 
groups  or  bars  and  emphasize  them  in  the  same 
way  as  their  sub-divisions  :  the  same  term  will 
still  be  employed,  and  rightly  so.  Again,  instead 
of  notes  of  equal  length,  let  each  group  consist 
of  unequal  notes,  but  similarly  arranged,  as  in  the 
following  example  from  Schumann — 


or  in  the  Vivace  of  Beethoven's  No.  7  Symphony: 
the  form  of  these  groups  also  is  spoken  of  as  the 
'  prevailing  rhythm,'  though  here  accent  is  the 
only  correct  expression. 

Thus  we  see  that  the  proper  distinction  of  the 
three  terms  is  as  follows  : — 

Accent  arranges  a  heterogeneous  mass  of  notes 

into  long  and  short ; 

Time  divides  them  into  groups  of  equal  dura 
tion  ; 
Rhythm  does  for  these  groups  what  Accent  does 

for  notes. 

In  short,  Rhythm  is  the  Metre  of  Music. 
This  parallel  will  help  us  to  understand  why 
the  uneducated  can  only  write  and  fully  compre 
hend  music   in   complete   sections  of  four  and 
eight  bars. 

Rhythm,  considered  as  the  orderly  arrange 
ment  of  groups  of  accents — whether  bars  or  parts 
of  bars — naturally  came  into  existence  only  after 
the  invention  of  time  and  the  bar-line.    Barbarous 
music,   though  more   attentive   to  accent  than 
melody,  plain-chant  and  the  polyphonic  church 
music  of  the   i6th   century,   fugues   and  most 
music  in  polyphonic  and  fugal  style,  all  these 
present  no   trace   of  rhythm  as  above  defined. 
In  barbarous  music  and  plain-chant  this  is  be 
cause  the  notes  exist  only  with  reference  to  the 
words,  which   are  chiefly  metre-less  :    in  poly 
phonic  music  it  is  because  the  termination  of 
one  musical  phrase  (foot,  or  group  of  accents) 
is   always  coincident  with  and  hidden  by  the 
commencement  of  another.     And  this  although 
the  subject  may  consist  of  several  phrases  and 
be  quite  rhythmical  in  itself,  as  is  the  case  in 
Bach's  Organ  Fugues  in  G  minor  and  A  minor. 
The  Ehythmus  of  the  ancients  was  simply  the 
accent  prescribed  by  the  long  and  short  syllables 
of  the  poetry,  or  words  to  which  the  music  was 
set,  and  had  no  other  variety  than  that  afforded 
by  their  metrical  laws.     Modern  music,  on  the 
other  hand,  would  be  meaningless  and  chaotic — 
a  melody  would  cease  to  be  a  melody — could  we 
not.  plainly  perceive  a  proportion,  in  the  length 
of  the  phrases. 


RHYTHM. 


123 


The  bar-line  is  the  most  obvious,  but  by  no 
means  a  perfect,  means  of  distinguishing  and 
determining  the  rhythm  ;  but  up  to  the  time  of 
Mozart  and  Haydn  the  system  of  barring  was 
but   imperfectly    understood.      Many    even    of 
Handel's  slow  movements  have  only  half  their 
proper  number   of  bar-lines,   and   consequently 
terminate  in  the  middle  of  a  bar  instead  of  at 
the  commencement ;  as  for  instance,  '  He  shall 
?eed  His  flock'  (which  is  really  in  6-8  time),  and 
'Surely  He  hath  borne  our  griefs'  (which  should 
be  4-8  instead  of  £).     Where  the  accent  of  a 
piece  is  strictly  Unary  throughout,   composers, 
3ven  to  this  day,  appear  to  be  often  in  doubt  about 
the  rhythm,  time,   and  barring  of  their  music. 
The  simple  and  unmistakable  rule  for  the  latter 
is  this  :  the  last  strong  accent  will  occur  on  the 
first  of  a  bar,  and  you  have  only  to  reckon  back 
wards.     If  the  piece  falls  naturally  into  groups 
of  four  accents  it  is  four  in  a  bar,  but  if  there  is 
an  odd  two  anywhere  it  should  all  be  barred  as 
two  in  a  bar.     Ignorance  or  inattention  to  this 
causes  us  now  and  then  to  come  upon  a  sudden 
change  from  (3  to  2-4  in  modern  music. 

With  regard  to  the  regular  sequence  of  bars 
with  reference  to  close  and  cadence — which  is 
the  true  sense  of  rhythm — much  depends  upon 
the  character  of  the  music.  The  dance-music  of 
modern  society  must  necessarily  be  in  regular 
periods  of  4,  8,  or  16  bars.  Waltzes,  though 
written  in  3-4  time,  are  almost  always  really  in 
6-8,  and  a  dance -music  writer  will  sometimes, 
from  ignorance,  omit  an  unaccented  bar  (really 
a  half-bar),  to  the  destruction  of  the  rhythm. 
The  dancers,  marking  the  time  with  their  feet, 
and  feeling  the  rhythm  in  the  movement  of  their 
bodies,  then  complain,  without  understanding 
what  is  wrong,  that  such  a  waltz  is  '  not  good 
to  dance  to.' 

In  pure  music  it  is  different.     Great  as  are 
the  varieties  afforded  by  the  diverse   positions 
and  combinations  of  strong  and  weak  accents,  the 
equal  length  of  bars,  and  consequently  of  musical 
phrases,  would  cause  monotony  were  it  not  that 
we  are  allowed  to  combine  sets  of  two,  three, 
and  four  bars.    Not  so  freely  as  we  may  combine 
the  different  forms  of  accent,  for  the  longer  divi 
sions  are  less   clearly  perceptible ;    indeed   the 
modern  complexity  of  rhythm,  especially  in  Ger 
man  music,  is  one  of  the  chief  obstacles  to  its 
ready   appreciation.      Every   one,    as   we  have 
already  said,   can  understand  a  song   or   piece 
where  a  half-close  occurs  at  each  fourth  and  a 
whole  close  at  each  eighth  bar,  where  it  is  ex 
pected  ;    but  when  an  uneducated  ear   is  con 
tinually  being   disappointed   and   surprised    by 
unexpected    prolongations    and     alterations    of 
rhythm,  it  soon  grows  confused  and  unable  to 
follow  the   sense   of  the    music.     Quick   music 
naturally  allows — indeed  demands — more  variety 
of  rhythm  than  slow,  and  we  can  scarcely  turn 
,  to  any  Scherzo  or  Finale  of  the  great  composers 
',  where  such  varieties  are  not  made  use  of.  Taking 
two-bar  rhythm  as  the  normal  and  simplest  form 
— just  as  two  notes  form  the  simplest  kind  of 
,  accent — the  first  variety  we  have  to  notice  is 


124 


RHYTHM. 


where  one  odd  bar  is  thrust  in  to  break  the  con 
tinuity,  as  thus  in  the  Andante  of  Beethoven's  C 
minor  Symphony : 


$& 


*£3i 

-JJ ::r-. 


ft=t 


this  may  also  be  effected  by  causing  a  fresh 
phrase  to  begin  with  a  strong  accent  on  the 
weak  bar  with  which  the  previous  subject  ended, 
thus  really  eliding  a  bar,  as  for  instance  in  the 
minuet  in  Haydn's  '  Reine  de  France '  Symphony : 


(a) 


r 


Here  the  bar  marked  (a)  is  the  overlapping  of 
two  rhythmic  periods. 

Combinations  of  two-bar  rhythm  are  the 
rhythms  of  four  and  six  bars.  The  first  of  these 
requires  no  comment,  being  the  most  common  of 
existing  forms.  Beethoven  has  specially  marked 
in  two  cases  (Scherzo  of  9th  Symphony,  and 
Scherzo  of  CjJ  minor  Quartet)  '  Ritmo  de  4  bat- 
tute,'  because,  these  compositions  being  in  such 
short  bars,  the  rhythm  is  not  readily  perceptible. 
The  six-bar  rhythm  is  a  most  useful  combination, 
as  it  may  consist  of  four  bars  followed  by  two, 
two  by  four,  three  and  three,  or  two,  two  and  two. 
The  well-known  minuet  by  Lulli  (from  '  Le  Bour 
geois  Gentilhomme')  is  in  the  first  of  these  com 
binations  throughout. 

1st  lime.  2nd  time. 


ffi 


^E 


And  the  opening  of  the  Andante  of  Bee 
thoven's  ist  Symphony  is  another  good  example. 
Haydn  is  especially  fond  of  this  rhythm,  es 
pecially  in  the  two  first-named  forms.  Of  the 
rhythm  of  thrice  two  bars  a  good  specimen  is 
afforded  by  the  Scherzo  of  Schubert's  C  major 
Symphony,  where,  after  the  two  subjects  (both 
in  four-bar  rhythm)  have  been  announced,  the 
strings  in  unison  mount  and  descend  the  scale 
in  accompaniment  to  a  portion  of  the  first  theme, 
thus  : 


7T  

—  r-  ± 

-{?—*$- 

\  r  

tr 

=§= 

r+t*=E                          =B^ 

A  still  better  example   is   the  first  section  of 
'  God  save  the  Queen.' 

This  brings  us  to  triple  rhythm,  uncombined 
with  double. 


RHYTHM. 

Three -bar  rhythm,  if  in  a  slow  time,  conveys 
a  very  uncomfortable  lop-sided  sensation  to  the 
uncultivated  ear.  The  writer  remembers  an  in 
stance  when  the  band  could  hardly  be  brought 
to  play  a  section  of  an  Andante  in  9-8  time  and 
rhythm  of  three  bars.  The  combination  of  3  x  3  x  3 
was  one  which,  their  sense  of  accent  refused  to 
acknowledge.  Beethoven  has  taken  the  trouble 
in  the  Scherzo  of  his  9th  Symphony  to  mark 
'  Ritmo  di  tre  battute,'  although  in  such  quick 
time  it  is  hardly  necessary  ;  the  passage, 


fl 

f 

.   ^^    1* 

JL 

f 

I/ 

•        m 

1 

i 

1 

h 

BH 

-L- 

being  understood  as  though  written — 


Numerous  instances  of  triple  rhythm  occur, 
which  he  has  not  troubled  to  mark  ;  as  hi  the 
Trio  of  the  C  minor  Symphony  Scherzo  : — 


Rhythm  of  five  bars  is  not,  as  a  rule,  produc 
tive  of  good  effect,  and  cannot  be  used — any 
more  than  the  other  unusual  rhythms — for  long 
together.  It  is  best  when  consisting  of  four  bars 
followed  by  one,  and  is  most  often  found  in 
compound  form — that  is,  as  eight  bars  followed 
by  two. 

Minuet,  Mozart's  Symphony  in  C  (No.  6). 


n        p      ^           1           !           .        ,      J    V-       , 

• 

^  j 

p 

™ 

• 

•I 

* 

™ 

•     4    ( 

v.  iy 

i-  > 

f 

f 

F     F 

O              '  ^-      -•---  r   i         l                 11 

1    '  r         7 

tr  tr 

U, 


=£=N 

—i E-t- 


-•— •- 


F 


^-p— - 


I       f 

A  very  quaint  effect  is  produced  by  the  un 
usual  rhythm  of  seven.  An  impression  is  con 
veyed  that  the  eighth  bar — a  weak  one — has  got 
left  out  through  inaccurate  sense  of  rhythm,  as 
so  often  happens  with  street-singers  and  the  like. 
Wagner  has  taken  advantage  of  this  in  his  '  Tanz 
der  Lehrbuben'  ('Die  Meistersinger'),  thus:— 


It  is  obvious  that  all  larger  symmetrical  groups 
than  the  above  need  be  taken  no  heed  of,  as  they 
are  reducible  to  the  smaller  periods.  One  more 
point  remains  to  be  noticed,  which,  a  beauty  in 
older  and  simpler  music,  is  becoming  a  source  of 
weakness  in  modern  times.  This  is  the  disguising 
or  concealing  of  the  rhythm  by  strong  accents  or 
change  of  harmony  in  weak  bars.  The  last  move- 


RHYTHM. 


125 


ment  of   Beethoven's   Pianoforte   Sonata  in   D 
minor  (op.  31)  affords  a  striking  instance  of  this. 
At  the  very  outset 

^       ~~ 

• 

•      i          r    •       • 

a            •  1 

J\      n     ft 

r      H                         • 

H 

CO)          R              *      1 

-L  —  -  —  *-4—  9 

—  2  —  *  

Us*-1 

-dsH 

m'                   A 

i*  i     ft       *(    »H 

r-     «.^  —  > 

'^  h  K       *\ 

1*                p 

*                   ^ 

Q 

1 

__^              x  s 

* 

f  m  * 

1      1          *  •  1 

P       a 

i       H                1 

i         H 

i* 

r                P 

Ha 

us. 

f  -     '  P 

"        .-1 

i    --,  —  ,< 

^  —  -r 

•  >         P 

>                > 

e 

• 

p 

F 

we  are  led  to  think  that  the  change  of  bass  at 
the  fourth  bar,  and  again  at  the  eighth,  indicates 
a  new  rhythmic  period,  whereas  the  whole  move 
ment  is  in  four-bar  rhythm  as  unchanging  as  the 
semiquaver  figure  which  pervades  it.  The  device 
has  the  effect  of  preventing  monotony  in  a  move 
ment  constructed  almost  entirely  on  one  single 
figure.  The  same  thing  occurs  in  the  middle  of 
the  first  movement  of  the  Sonatina  (op.  79,  Presto 
alia  Tedesca).  Now  in  both  of  these  cases  the 
accent  of  the  bars  is  so  simple  that  the  ear  can 
afford  to  hunt  for  the  rhythm  and  is  pleased  by 
the  not  too  subtle  artifice ;  but  in  slower  and  less 
obviously  accented  music  such  a  device  would  be 
out  of  place:  there  the  rhythm  requires  to  be 
impressed  on  the  hearer  rather  than  concealed 
from  him. 

On  analysing  any  piece  of  music  it  will  be 
found  that  whether  the  ultimate  distribution  of 
the  accents  be  binary  or  ternary,  the  larger  divi 
sions  nearly  always  run  in  twos,  the  rhythms 
of  three,  four,  or  seven  being  merely  occasionally 
used  to  break  the  monotony.  This  is  only  na 
tural,  for,  as  before  remarked,  the  comprehensi- 
bility  of  music  is  in  direct  proportion  to  the 
simplicity  of  its  rhythm,  irregularity  in  this 
point  giving  a  disturbed  and  emotional  character 
to  the  piece,  until,  when  all  attention  to  rhythm 
is  ignored,  the  music  becomes  incoherent  and 
incomprehensible,  though  not  of  necessity  dis 
agreeable.  In  'Tristan  and  Isolde'  Wagner  has 
endeavoured,  with  varying  success,  to  produce 
a  composition  of  great  extent,  from  which  rhythm 
in  its  larger  signification  shall  be  wholly  absent. 
One  consequence  of  this  is  that  he  has  written 
the  most  tumultuously  emotional  opera  extant  j 
but  another  is  that  the  work  is  a  mere  chaos  to, 
the  hearer  until  it  is  closely-  studied.  Actual 
popularity  and  general  appreciation  for  such 
music  is  out  of  all  question  for  some  generations 
to  come.  [F.  C.] 

RIBATTUTA  (re-striking),  an  old  contrivance 
in  instrumental  music,  gradually  accelerating  the 
pace  of  a  phrase  of  two  notes,  until  a  trill  was 
arrived  at.  Beethoven  has  preserved  it  for  ever  in 
the  Overture  to  Leonore '  No.  3 '  (bar  75  of  A  llegro). 


#/P  A/P  */f»  / 

.•  fe  A-  £  -S*-  ^~f-S=&  fir  ff  rf-  ^> 

-^H     V,;    p^^p^-TT^FgB^ 


See  too  another  passage  further  on,  before  the 
Flute  solo.  [See  TRILL.]  [G.] 

EIBS  (Fr.  Eclisses ;  Germ.  Zarge).  The  sides 
of  stringed  instruments  of  the  violin  type,  con 
necting  the  back  and  the  belly.  They  consist 
of  six  (sometimes  only  five)  pieces  of  maple,  and 
should  be  of  the  same  texture  as  the  back,  and 
if  possible  cut  out  of  the  same  piece.  After 
being  carefully  planed  to  the  right  thickness, 
they  are  bent  to  the  required  shape,  and  then 
glued  together  on  the  mould  by  means  of  the 
corner  and  top  and  bottom  blocks,  the  angles 
being  feather-edged.  The  back,  the  linings  and 
the  belly  are  then  added,  and  the  body  of  the 
violin  is  then  complete.  The  ribs  ought  to  be 
slightly  increased  in  depth  at  the  broader  end  of 
the  instrument,  but  many  makers  have  neglected 
this  rule.  The  flatter  the  model,  the  deeper  the 
ribs  require  to  be ;  hence  the  viol  tribe,  having 
perfectly  flat  backs  and  bellies  of  slight  elevation, 
are  very  deep  in  the  ribs.  The  oldest  violins  were 
often  very  deep  in  the  ribs,  but  many  of  them 
have  been  since  cut  down.  Carlo  Bergonzi  and 
his  contemporaries  had  a  fashion  of  making 
shallow  ribs,  and  often  cut  down  the  ribs  of 
older  instruments,  thereby  injuring  their  tone 
beyond  remedy.  Instruments  made  of  ill-chosen 
and  unseasoned  wood  will  crack  and  decay  in  the 
ribs  sooner  than  in  any  other  part  :  but  in  the 
best  instruments  the  ribs  will  generally  outlast 
both  belly  and  back.  Some  old  makers  were  in 
the  habit  of  glueing  a  strip  of  linen  inside  the 
ribs.  [E.J.P.] 

RICCI,  LUIGI,  born  in  Naples  June  8,  1805, 
in  1814  entered  the  Royal  Conservatorio,  then 
under  Zingarelli,  of  which  he  became  in  1819 
one  of  the  sub-professors  together  with  Bellini. 
His  first  work,  '  L'Impresario  in  angustie,'  was 
performed  by  the  students  of  the  Conservatorio 
in  1823,  and  enthusiastically  applauded.  In 
the  following  four  years  he  wrote  '  La  Cena  fra- 
stornata,'  'L'Abate  Taccarella/  still  very  popular, 
'II  Diavolo  condannato  a  prender  moglie,'  and 
'La  Lucerna  d'Epitteto,'  all  for  the  Teatro  Nuovo. 
In  1828  his  '  Ulisse,'  at  the  San  Carlo,  was  a 
failure.  In  1829  'II  Colombo'  in  Parma  and 
'L'Orfanella  di  Ginevra'  in  Naples  were  both 
successful,  the  latter  being  still  performed  in 
many  Italian  theatres.  The  winter  of  1829-30 
was  disastrous  for  Ricci,  his  four  new  operas  ('  II 
Sonnambulo,'  'L'Eroina  del  Messico,'  'Annibale 
in  Torino,'  and  'La  Neve ')  being  all  unsuccessful. 
In  the  autumn  of  1831  he  produced  at  La  Scala 
of  Milan  '  Chiara  di  Rosemberg,'  and  this  opera, 
performed  by  Grisi,  Sacchi,  Winter,  Badioli,  etc., 
was  greatly  applauded,  and  soon  became  successful 
in  all  the  theatres  of  Italy.  '  II  nuovo  Figaro ' 


126 


RICCI. 


failed  in  Parma  in  1832.  In  it  sang  Rozer,  who 
afterwards  married  Balfe.  The  same  fate  at 
tended  'I  due  Sergenti'  at  La  Scala  in  1833, 
where  the  following  year  he  gave  '  Un'  Av ventura 
di  Scaramuccia,'  which  was  a  very  great  success, 
and  was  translated  into  French  by  Flotow.  The 
same  year  '  Gli  esposti/  better  known  as  '  Eran 
due  ed  or  son  tre,'  was  applauded  in  Turin,  whilst 
'  Chi  dura  vince,'  like  Rossini's  immortal  '  Bar- 
biere/  was  hissed  at  Rome.  It  was  afterwards 
received  enthusiastically  at  Milan  and  in  many 
other  opera-houses  of  Europe.  It  was  dedicated 
to  Louise  Vernet,  the  wife  of  the  great  painter 
Paul  Delaroche,  the  friend  of  Ricci.  In  1835 
'  Chiara  di  Montalbano'  failed  at  the  Scala,  while 
'  La  serva  e  1'ussero '  was  applauded  in  Pavia. 
Ricci  had  thus  composed  twenty  operas  when 
only  thirty  years  old  ;  and  although  many  of  his 
works  had  met  with  a  genuine  and  well-deserved 
success,  he  was  still  very  poor  and  had  to  accept 
the  post  of  Kapellmeister  of  the  Trieste  Cathedral 
and  conductor  of  the  Opera.  In  1838  his  'Nozze 
di  Figaro '  was  a  fiasco  in  Milan,  where  Rossini 
told  him  that  its  fall  was  due  to  the  music  being 
too  serious. 

For  the  next  six  years  Ricci  composed  nothing. 
In  1844  he  married  Lidia  Stoltz,  by  whom  he  had 
two  children,  Adelaide,  who  in  1867  sang  at  the 
Theatre  des  Italiens  in  Paris,  but  died  soon  after, 
and  Luigi,  who  resides  in  London.  '  La  Solitaria 
delle  Asturie'  was  given  in  Odessa  in  1844; 
'II  Birraio  di  Preston'  in  Florence  in  1847; 
and  in  1852  'La  Festa  di  Piedigrotta'  was  very 
successful  in  Naples.  His  last  opera  '  II  Diavolo 
a  quattro  '  was  performed  in  Trieste  in  1859. 

Luigi  Ricci  composed  in  collaboration  with  his 
brother  FEDERICO  '  II  Colonnello,' given  in  Rome, 
and  '  M.  de  Chalumeaux,'  in  Venice,  in  1835  ;  in 
1836  'II  Disertore  per  amore '  for  the  San  Carlo 
in  Naples,  and  '  L' Amante  di  richiamo  '  given  in 
Turin  in  1 846.  Of  these  four  operas,  '  II  Colon 
nello  '  alone  had  a  well-deserved  reception.  But 
Ricci's  masterpiece,  the  opera  which  has  placed 
him  in  a  very  high  rank  among  Italian  com 
posers,  is  '  Crispino  e  la  Comare,'  written  in  1850 
for  Venice,  and  to  which  his  brother  Federico 
partly  contributed.  This  opera,  one  of  the  best 
comic  operas  of  Italy,  is  always  and  everywhere 
applauded,  being  a  happy  mixture  of  fairy  tales, 
laughter,  grace,  and  comicality. 

Shortly  after  the  production  of  'II  Diavolo  a 
quattro'  in  1859,  however,  symptoms  of  insanity 
showed  themselves,  and  the  malady  soon  became 
violent.  He  was  taken  to  an  asylum  at  Prague, 
his  wife's  birthplace,  and  died  there  Dec.  31, 
1859.  He  was  much  mourned  at  Trieste;  a 
funeral  ceremony  was  followed  by  a  performance 
of  selections  from  his  principal  works,  his  bust 
was  placed  in  the  lobby  of  the  Opera-house,  and 
a  pension  was  granted  to  his  widow.  He  pub 
lished  two  volumes  of  vocal  pieces  entitled  '  Mes 
Loisirs'  and  'Les  inspirations  du  The''  (Ricordi), 
and  he  left  in  MS.  a  large  number  of  composi 
tions  for  the  cathedral  service.  His  brother, 

FEDERICO,  was  born  in  Naples,  Oct.  22,  1809, 
entered  the  Royal  Couservatorio  of  that  town, 


RICERCARE. 

where  his  brother  was  then  studying,  and  had  the 
good-fortune  to  receive  his  musical  education  from 
Bellini  and  Zingarelli.     In  1829  he  went  to  live 
with  his  brother  until  the  marriage  of  the  latter 
in  1844.     In  1837  he  gave  *  La  Prigione  d'Edim- 
burgo'  in  Trieste.     The  barcarola  of  this  opera, 
'Sulla  poppa  del  mio  brick,'  is  one  of  the  most 
popular  melodies  of  Italy.     In  1839  his  'Duello 
sotto  Richelieu '  was  only  moderately  successful 
at  La  Scala,  but  in  1841  'Michelangelo  e  Rolla1 
was  applauded  in  Florence.     In  it  sang  Signora 
Strepponi,  who  afterwards  married  Verdi.    '  Cor- 
rado  d'Altamura,'  a  lyric  drama  of  some  merit, 
was  given  at  La  Scala  before  delighted  audiences. 
At  the  personal   request   of  Charles  Albert  he 
composed  in  r  842  a  cantata  for  the  marriage  of 
Victor  Emmanuel,  and  another  for  a  court  festival. 
In  1843   his  'Vallombra'   failed  at  La  Scala. 
'  Isabella  de'  Medici'  (1844)  in  Trieste, '  Estella" 
(1846)  in  Milan,  'Griselda'  (1847)  and  'I  due 
ritratti '  (1850)  in  Venice,  were  all  failures.    'II 
Marito  e  1' Amante'   was  greatly  applauded  in 
Vienna  in  1852,  but  his  last  opera,  'II  paniere 
d'amore,'  given  there  the  following  year,  did  not 
succeed.     He  was  then  named  Musical  Director 
of  the  Imperial  Theatres  of  St.  Petersburg,  which 
post  he  occupied  for  many  years.     Of  the  operas 
written  in  collaboration  with  his  brother  we  have 
already  spoken. 

He  however  did  not  give  up  composing,  but 
brought  out  at  the  Fantaisies-Parisiennes,  Paris, 
'Une  Folie  a  Rome'  Jan.  30,  1869,  with  great 
success.  Encouraged  by  this  he  produced  an 
opera-comique  in  3  acts,  'Le  Docteur  rose' 
(Bouffes  Parisiens,  Feb.  10,  1872)  and  '  Une  Fete 
a  Venise,'  a  reproduction  of  his  earlier  work,  'H 
Marito  e  1' Amante'  (Athene'e,  Feb.  15,  1872), 
but  both  were  entire  failures.  Shortly  after  this 
Federico  left  Paris  and  retired  to  Conegliano  in 
Italy,  where  he  died  Dec.  10,  1877.  He  was 
concerned  partially  or  entirely  in  19  operas.  Of 
his  cantatas  we  have  spoken.  He  also  left  2 
masses,  6  albums  or  collections  of  vocal  pieces 
(Ricordi),  and  many  detached  songs.  [L.B.] 

RICERCARE  or  RICERCATA  (from  new 
care,  '  to  search  out '),  an  Italian  term  of  the 
1 7th  century,  signifying  a  fugue  of  the  closest 
and  most  learned  description.  Frescobaldi's 
Ricercari  (1615),  which  are  copied  out  in  one 
of  Dr.  Burney's  note-books  (Brit.  Mus.  Add. 
MS.  11,588),  are  full  of  augmentations,  diminu 
tions,  inversions,  and  other  contrivances,  in  fact 
recherchts  or  full  of  research.  J.  S.  Bach  has 
affixed  the  name  to  the  6-part  Fugue  in  his 
'  Musikalisches  Opfer,'  and  the  title  of  the  whole 
contains  the  word  in  its  initials — Regis  lussu 
Cantio  Et  Reliqua  Canonica  Arte  Resoluta.  But 
the  term  was  also  employed  for  a  fanta-da  on  some 
popular  song,  street-cry,  or  such  similar  theme. 
Mr.  Cummings  has  a  MS.  book,  dated  1580-1600, 
containing  22  ricercari  by  Cl.  da  Coreggio,  Gia- 
netto  Palestina,  A.  Vuillaert,  0.  Lasso,  Clemens 
non  Papa,  Cip.  Rore,  and  others — fugues  in  4  and 
5  parts,  on  '  Ce  moy  de  May,'  '  Vestiva  i  colli,' 
'  La  Rossignol,' '  Susan  un  jour,'  and  other  appar 
ently  popular  songs.  This  use  of  the  word  appear* 


RICERCARE. 

to  have  been  earlier  than  the  other,  as  pieces  of 
the  kind  by  Adriano  (1520-67)  are  quoted.    [G.] 

RICH,  JOHN,  son  of  Christopher  Rich,  patentee 

of  Drury  Lane  Theatre,  was  born  in  1692.    His 

father,  having  been   compelled  to    quit   Drury 

Lane,  had  erected  a  new  theatre  in  Lincoln's  Inn 

Fields,  but  died  in  17 14  when  it  was  upon  the 

eve  of  being  opened.     John  Rich  then  assumed 

the  management  and  opened  the  house  about  six 

weeks  after  his  father's  death.     Finding  himself 

unable  to  contend  against  the  superior  company 

engaged  at  Drury  Lane,  he  had  recourse  to  the 

introduction  of  a  new  species  of  entertainment — 

pantomime — in  which  music,  scenery,  machinery 1, 

and  appropriate  costumes  formed  the  prominent 

features.     In  these  pieces  he  himself,  under  the 

assumed  name  of  Lun,  performed  the  part  of 

Harlequin  with   such   ability  as   to  extort   the 

admiration  of  even  the  most  determined  opponents 

of  that  class  of  entertainment.     [See  LINCOLN'S 

INN  FIELDS  THEATRE,  ii.  140;   PANTOMIME,  ii. 

645  6.]  Encouraged  by  success  he  at  length  decided 

upon  the  erection  of  a  larger  theatre,  the  stage  of 

which  should  afford  greater  facilities  for  scenic 

and  mechanical  display,  and  accordingly  built 

the  first  Covent  Garden  Theatre,  which  he  opened 

Dec.  7,  1732.     Hogarth  produced  a  caricature  on 

the  occasion  of  the  removal  to  the  new  house, 

entitled  '  Rich's  Glory,  or  his  Triumphal  Entry 

into  Covent  Garden,'  a  copy  of  which  will  be 

found  in  Wilkinson's  '  Londina  Illustrata.'     He 

conducted  the  new  theatre  with  great  success 

until  his  death,  relying  much  upon  the  attraction 

of  his  pantomimes  and  musical  pieces,  but  by  no 

means  neglecting  the   regular  drama.      In   his 

early  days  he  had  attempted  acting,  but  failed. 

He  died  Nov.  26, 1761,  and  was  buried  Dec.  4  in 

Hillingdon  churchyard,  Middlesex.       [W.H.H.] 

RICHARD  CCEUR  DE  LION.  An  opdra- 
coinique  in  3  acts ;  words  by  Sedaine,  music  by 
Gre"try.  Produced  at  the  Opdra  Comique  Oct.  21, 
1784.  The  piece  has  a  certain  historical  value. 
One  of  the  airs,  'Une  fievre  brulante,'  was  for 
long  a  favourite  subject  for  variations.  Beetho 
ven  wrote  a  set  of  8  upon  it  (in  C  major),  pub 
lished  in  Nov.  1798,  having  probably  heard  the 
air  at  a  concert  of  Weigl's  in  the  preceding  March. 
Another  set  of  7  (also  in  C)  were  for  long  attri 
buted  to  Mozart,  but  are  now  decided  not  to  be 
by  him.  The  air  '  O  Richard,  o  mon  roi,  1'univers 
t'abbandonne  '  was  played  on  a  memorable  occa 
sion  in  the  early  stage  of  the  French  Revolution— 
at  the  banquet  at  Versailles  on  Oct.  1, 1 789.  [G.] 

RICHARDS,  BRINLET,  son  of  Henry  Richards, 
organist  of  St.  Peter's,  Carmarthen,  was  born  in 
1819,  and  intended  for  the  medical  profession, 
but  preferred  the  study  of  music,  and  became  a 
pupil  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Music,  where 
he  obtained  the  King's  scholarship  in  1835,  and 
again  in  1837.  He  soon  gained  a  high  position  in 
London  as  a  pianist.  As  a  composer  he  has  been 
very  successful,  his  song  '  God  bless  the  Prince  of 

1  Most  of  Rich's  machinery  was  invented  by  John  Hoole.  the  trans 
lator  of  Tasso's  '  Gerusalemme  Liberata '  and  other  works,  and  his 
father,  Samuel  Hoole,  an  eminent  -watchmaker. 


EICHAULT. 


127 


Wales  '  having  reached  a  high  pitch  of  popularity, 
even  out  of  England,  and  his  sacred  songs,  part 
songs,  and  pianoforte  pieces  having  been  most 
favourably  received.  He  compooed  additional 
songs  for  the  English  version  of  Auber's  '  Crown 
Diamonds,'  when  produced  at  Drury  Lane  in 
1846.  He  has  especially  devoted  himself  to  the 
study  of  Welsh  music  (upon  which  he  has 
lectured),  and  many  of  his  compositions  have 
been  inspired  by  his  enthusiastic  love  for  his 
native  land.  He  exerted  himself  greatly  in  pro 
moting  the  interests  of  the  South  Wales  Choral 
Union  on  its  visits  to  London  in  1872  and  1873, 
when  they  successfully  competed  at  the  National 
Music  Meetings  at  the  Crystal  Palace.  As  a 
teacher  Mr.  Richards  is  deservedly  esteemed  anu 
has  a  very  large  clientele  in  London.  [W.H.H.] 

RICHARDSON,  JOSEPH.  An  eminent  flute- 
player,  born  in  1814,  and  died  March  22,  1862. 
He  was  engaged  in  most  of  the  London  orchestras, 
was  solo  player  at  Jullien's  concerts  for  many 
years,  and  afterwards  became  principal  flute  in  the 
Queen's  private  band.  His  neatness  and  rapidity 
of  execution  were  extraordinary,  and  were  the 
great  features  of  his  playing.  He  composed 
numerous  fantasias  for  his  instrument,  usually 
of  an  extremely  brilliant  and  difficult  character. 
Some  of  his  variations  are  still  popular  among 
flute-players,  such  as  *  There's  nae  luck  about  the 
house ' — to  which  no  one  but  Richardson  himself 
has  ever  done  justice,  Auber's  '  Les  Montagnards,' 
the  Russian  National  Hymn,  etc.  [G.] 

RICHARDSON,  VAUGHAN,  was  in  1685  a 
chorister  of  the  Chapel  Royal,  under  Dr.  Blow. 
He  was  possibly  a  nephew  of  Thomas  Richard 
son  (alto  singer,  gentleman  of  the  Chapel  Royal 
from  1664  to  his  death,  July  23,  1712,  and  lay 
vicar  of  Westminster  Abbey),  and  a  brother  of 
Thomas  Richardson,  who  was  his  fellow  chorister. 
About  1695  he  was  appointed  organist  of  Win 
chester  Cathedral.  In  1701  he  published  'A 
collection  of  Songs  for  one,  two  and  three  voices,' 
accompany'd  with  instruments.'  He  was  author 
of  some  church  music :  a  fine  anthem,  '  0  Lord 
God  of  my  salvation,'  and  an  Evening  Service  in 
C  (composed  in  1713),  are  in  theTudway  Collec 
tion  (Harl.  MSS.  7341  and  7342),  and  another 
anthem,  'O  how  amiable,'  also  in  Tudway,  and 
printed  in  Page's  '  Harmonia  Sacra ' ;  others  are 
in  the  books  of  different  cathedrals.  He  was  also 
composer  of 'An  Entertainment  of  new  Musick, 
composed  on  the  Peace  '  [of  Ryswick],  1697  ;  'A 
Song  in  praise  of  St.  Cecilia,'  written  for  a  cele 
bration  at  Winchester  about  1700,  and  a  '  set  of 
vocal  and  instrumental  music,'  written  for  a  like 
occasion  in  1703.  He  died  in  1729,  and  not,  as 
commonly  stated,  in  1715.  [W.H.H.] 

RICHAULT,  CHARLES  SIMON,  head  of  a 
family  of  celebrated  French  music-publishers, 
born  at  Chartres,  May  10,  1780,  came  early  to 
Paris,  and  served  his  apprenticeship  in  the  music- 
trade  with  J.  J.  Momigny.  From  him  he  ac 
quired  a  taste  for  the  literature  of  music  and 
chamber  compositions ;  and  when  he  set  up  for 
himself  at  No.  7,  Rue  Grange  Bateliere  in  1805, 


128 


RICHAULT. 


the  first  works  lie  published  were  classical.  He 
soon  perceived  that  there  was  an  opening  in 
Paris  for  editions  of  the  best  works  of  German 
musicians,  and  the  early  efforts  of  French  com 
posers  of  promise.  His  calculation  proved  cor 
rect,  and  his  judgment  was  so  sound  that  his 
business  increased  rapidly,  and  he  was  soon 
obliged  to  move  into  larger  premises  in  the  Boule 
vard  Poissonniere,  first  at  No.  16,  and  then  at 
No.  26.  Here  he  published  Mozart's  Concertos 
in  8vo  score,  and  other  works  of  the  classical 
composers  of  Germany,  and  acquired  the  bulk  of 
the  stock  of  the  firms  of  Frey,  Naderman,  Sieber, 
Pleyel,  Petit,  Erard,  and  Delahante.  He  moved 
in  1862  to  No.  4  in  the  Boulevard  des  Italiens, 
at  the  precise  spot  where  the  Boulevard  Hauss- 
mann  would  have  come  in  if  it  had  been  finished. 
In  this  house  he  died,  Feb.  20,  1866,  well-known 
as  a  publisher  of  judgment  and  ability,  a  man 
of  keen  intellect,  and  a  pleasant  social  companion. 
His  son, 

GUILLAUME  SIMON,  born  in  Paris  Nov.  2, 
1806,  had  long  been  his  father's  partner,  and 
continued  in  the  old  line  of  serious  music.  At 
the  same  time  he  realised  that  in  so  important  a 
business  it  was  well  that  the  Italian  school  should 
be  represented,  and  accordingly  bought  the  stock 
of  the  publisher  Pacini.  On  the  death  of  this  good 
man,  Feb.  7,  1877,  his  son, 

LEON,  born  in  Paris  Aug.  6,  1839,  resolved  to 
give  a  fresh  impetus  to  the  firm,  which  already 
possessed  18,000  publications.  Bearing  in  mind 
that  his  grandfather  had  been  the  first  to  publish 
Beethoven's  Symphonies  and  Mozart's  Concertos 
in  score ;  to  make  known  in  France  the  oratorios 
of  Bach  and  Handel,  and  the  works  of  Schubert, 
Mendelssohn,  and  Schumann ;  to  bring  out  the 
first  operas  of  Ambroise  Thomas  and  Victor 
Masse" ;  to  encourage  Berlioz  when  his  c  Dam 
nation  de  Faust'  was  received  with  contempt, 
and  to  welcome  the  orchestral  compositions  of 
Reber  and  Gouvy ;  M.  Le"on  Bichault  above  all 
determined  to  maintain  the  editions  of  the  Ger 
man  classical  masters  which  had  made  the  for 
tune  of  the  firm.  Retaining  all  the  works — 
didactic,  dramatic,  sacred,  vocal,  and  instru 
mental — which  still  do  honour  to  his  establish 
ment,  he  has  carefully  eliminated  all  obsolete 
and  forgotten  music.  He  has  moreover  already 
begun  to  issue  new  editions  of  all  compositions 
of  value  of  which  the  plates  are  worn  out.  His 
intelligent  administration  of  his  old  and  honour 
able  business  procured  him  a  silver  medal  at  the 
International  Exhibition  of  1878,  the  highest 
recompense  open  to  music-publishers,  the  jury 
having  refused  them  the  gold  medal. 

A  new  catalogue  of  Richault's  publications  is 
in  preparation,  the  old  ones  having  long  become 
obsolete.  It  will  form  a  large  volume,  and  will 
not  in  all  probability  be  ready  till  1882.  [G.  C.] 

RICHTER,  ERNST  FRIEDRICH  EDUARD,  son  of 
a  schoolmaster,  born  Oct.  24,  1808,  at  Grosschonau 
in  Lusatia  ;  from  his  eleventh  year  attended  the 
Gymnasium  at  Zittau,  managed  the  choir,  and 
arranged  independent  performances.  In  1831  he 
went  to  Leipzig  to  study  with  Weinlig,  the  then 


RICHTER. 

Cantor,  and  made  such  progress  that  soon  after 
the  foundation  of  the  Conservatorium,  in  1843, 
he  became  one  of  the  professors  of  harmony  and 
counterpoint.    Up  to  1847  he  conducted  the  Sinff. 
akademie ;    he  was  afterwards  organist   of  the 
Nicolai  and  Peters  Neukirchen.     After  Haupt- 
mann's  death,  Jan.  3,  1868,  he  succeeded  him  as 
Cantor  of  the  St.  Thomas  school.     Of  his  books, 
the  '  Lehrbuch   der  Harmonielehre '    (i2th  ed. 
1876)  has  been  translated  into  Dutch,  Swedish, 
Italian,  Russian,  Polish,  and  English.  The '  Lehre 
von  der  Fuge '  has  passed  through  three  editions, 
and  '  Vom  Contrapunct '  through  two.   The  Eng 
lish   translations  of  all  these  are   by  Franklin 
Taylor,  and  were  published  by  Cramer  &  Co.  in 
1864,  1878,  and  1874  respectively.    Richter  also 
published  a  '  Catechism  of  Organ-building.'    Of 
his  many  compositions  de  circonstance  the  best 
known  is  the  Cantata  for  the  Schiller  Festival 
in  1859.  Other  works  are — an  oratorio,  'Christus 
der  Erloser '  (March  8,  1849),  masses,  psalms, 
motets,  organ-pieces,  string-quartets,  and  sonatas 
for  PF.   He  became  one  of  the  King's  Professors 
in  1868,  died  at  Leipzig,  April  9,  1879,  and  was 
succeeded  as  Cantor  by  W.  RUST.  [E.G.] 

RICHTER,  HANS,  celebrated  conductor,  born 
April  4,  1843,  at  Raab  in  Hungary,  where  his 
father  was  Capellmeister  of  the  cathedral.    His 
mother  was  also  musical,  and  is  still  a  teacher  of 
singing  at  Pesth.     The  father  died  in  1853,  and 
Hans  was  then  placed  at  the  Lowenburg  Convict- 
School  in  Vienna.    Thence  he  went  into  the  choir 
of  the  Court  chapel,  and  remained  there  for  four 
years.     In  1859  he  entered  the  Conservatorium, 
and  studied  the  horn  under  Kleinecke,  and  theory 
under  Sechter.  After  a  lengthened  engagement  as 
horn-player  in  the  orchestra  of  the  Karnthnerthor 
opera  he  was  recommended  by  Esser  to  Wagner, 
went  to  him  at  Lucerne,  remained  there  from 
Oct.  1866  to  Dec.  1867,  ar|d  made  the  first  fair 
copy  of  the  score  of  the  '  Meistersinger.'  In  1868 
he  accepted  the  post  of  conductor  at  the  Hof-  und 
National  Theatre,  Munich,  and  remained  there 
for  some  length  of  time.     He  next  visited  Paris, 
and   after   a   short    residence   there,   proceeded 
to  Brussels  for  the  production  of  'Lohengrin' 
(March  22, 1870).     He  then  returned  to  Wagner 
at   Lucerne,   assisted   at   the  first  performance 
of  the  'Siegfried  Idyll'  (Dec.  1870),  and  made 
the   fair  copy  of  the  score  of  the   'Niebelun- 
gen  Ring'  for  the  engraver.     Early  in  1871  he 
went  to  Pesth  as  chief  conductor  of  the  National 
Theatre,  a  post  to  which  he  owes  much  of  his 
great  practical  knowledge  of  the  stage  and  stage 
business.     In  Jan.  18/5  he  conducted  a  grand 
orchestral  concert  in  Vienna,  which  had  the  effect 
of  attracting  much  public  attention  to  him,  and 
accordingly,    after   the  retirement    of  Herbeck 
(April   1875)  from   the  direction   of  the  Court 
Opera    Theatre — where   he   was   succeeded  by 
Jauner — and  of  Dessoff  from  the  same  theatre, 
Richter  was  invited  to  take  the  post  vacated  by 
the  latter,  which  he  entered  upon  in  the  autumn 
of  1875,  concurrently  with  the  conductorship  of 
the  Philharmonic  Concerts.   He  had  already  been 
conducting  the  rehearsals  of  the  'Niebelungen 

[F.GJ 


RICHTER. 

Ring'  at  Bayreuth,  and  in  1876  he  directed  the 
whole. of  the  rehearsals  and  performances  of  the 
Festival  there,  and,  at  the  close  of  the  third  set 
of  performances,  received  the  order  of  Maximilian 
from  the  King  of  Bavaria,  and  that  of  the  Falcon 
from  the  Grand  Duke  of  Weimar.  In  1877  he 
produced  the  Walkyrie  in  Vienna,  and  followed 
it  in  1878  by  the  other  portions  of  the  tetralogie. 
In  1878  he  was  made  capellmeister,  and  received 
the  order  of  Franz  Josef.  In  1879  (May  5-12), 
80  (May  10- June  14),  and  81  (May  9 -June  23) 
he  conducted  important  orchestral  concerts  in 
London,  which  excited  much  attention,  chiefly  for 
his  knowledge  of  the  scores  of  Beethoven's  sym 
phonies  and  other  large  works,  which  he  con 
ducted  without  book. 

Herr  Richter  is  certainly  one  of  the  very  first 
of  living  conductors.  He  owes  this  position  in 
great  measure  to  the  fact  of  his  intimate  practical 
acquaintance  with  the  technik  of  the  instruments 
in  the  orchestra,  especially  the  wind,  to  a  degree 
in  which  he  stands  alone.  As  a  musician  he  is 
a  self-made  man,  and  enjoys  the  peculiar  advan 
tages  which  spring  from  that  fact.  His  devotion 
to  his  orchestra  is  great,  and  the  present  high 
standard  and  position  of  the  band  of  the  Vienna 
opera  house  is  due  to  him.  He  is  a  great  master 
of  crescendo  and  decrescendo.  Perhaps  he  leans 
too  much  to  the  encouragement  of  '  virtuosity'  in 
his  orchestra.  But  as  a  whole,  what  he  directs 
will  always  be  finely  played. 

In  correction  of  a  previous  statement  we  may 
say  that  his  mother,  Mine.  Richter  von  Innffeld, 
formerly  a  distinguished  soprano  singer,  now  lives 
in  Vienna  as  a  teacher  of  singing.  Her  method  of 
producing  the  voice — affecting  especially  the  soft 
palate  and  other  parts  of  the  back  of  the  mouth — 
has  been  very  successful,  and  attracted  the  notice 
of  Prof.  Helmholtz,  who  in  1872  investigated  it, 
and  wrote  her  a  letter  of  strong  approval.  [F.  G.] 

RICORDI,  GIOVANNI,  founder  of  the  well- 
known  music-publishing  house  in  Milan,  where 
he  was  born  in  1785,  and  died  March  15,  1853. 
He  made  his  first  hit  with  the  score  of  Mosca's 
'  Pretendenti  delusi."  Since  that  time  Ricordi 
lias  published  for  all  the  great  Italian  maestri, 
down  to  Verdi  and  Bo'ito,  and  has  far  out 
stripped  all  rivals.  His  '  Gazetta  musicale,' 
edited  with  great  success  by  Mazzucati,  has 
had  much  influence  on  his  prosperity.  The 
firm  possesses  the  whole  of  the  original  scores  of 
the  operas  they  have  published — a  most  inter 
esting  collection.  Giovanni's  son  and  successor 
TITO  further  enlarged  the  business,  and  at  this 
moment  the  stock  consists  of  over  40,000,000 
pages,  or  nearly  50,000  items,  of  music.  The 
catalogue  issued  in  1875  contains  738  pages  large 
8vo.  For  some  years  past  Tito  has  been  disabled 
by  illness,  and  the  present  head  of  the  firm  is 
his  son  GIDLIO  DI  TITO,  born  in  1835,  who  is  a 
practised  writer,  a  skilled  draughtsman,  a  com 
poser  of  drawing-room  music,  and  in  all  respects 
a  thoroughly  cultivated  man. 

This  notice  must  not  end  without  a  mention  of 
Paloschi's 'Annuario  musicale,'  a  useful  and  ac 
curate  calendar  of  musical  date,s,  published  by 

VOL.  III.   PT.  2. 


RIEDEL. 


129 


this  excellent  firm,  the  second  edition  of  which 
was  issued  in  1878.  [F.G.] 

RIDOTTO,  an  Italian  term  for  an  assembly 
with  music,  and  usually  with  masks. 

They  went  to  the  Kidotto— 'tis  a  hall 
"Where  people  dance  and  sup  and  dance  again  ; 
The  proper  name,  perhaps,  were  a  mask'd  ball, 
But  that 's  of  no  importance  to  my  strain, 

says  Byron  in  '  Beppo,'  writing  from  Venice  in 
1817.  They  were  known  in  Italy  much  earlier 
than  that,  and  had  spread  to  both  Germany  and 
England.  They  are  frequently  mentioned  by 
Horace  Walpole  under  the  name  'Ridotto,'  and 
were  one  of  the  attractions  at  Vauxhall  and 
Ranelagh  in  the  middle  of  the  last  century.  In 
Germany  and  France  a  French  version  of  the 
name  was  adopted — REDOUTE.  [See  p.  89].  [G.] 

RIEDEL,  CARL,  born  Oct.  6, 1827,  at  Kronen- 
berg  in  the  Rhine  provinces.     Though  always 
musically  inclined  he   was  educated  for  trade, 
and  up  to  1848  pursued  the  business  of  a  silk 
dyer.     Being  in  Lyons  during  the  Revolution  of 
that  year  the  disturbance  to  his  business  and  the 
excitement  of  the  moment   drove   him   to   the 
resolution  of  forsaking  trade  and  devoting  him 
self  to   music   as   a   profession.      He   returned 
home  and  at  once  began  serious  study  under  the 
direction  of  CARL   WILHELM,  then  an  obscure 
musician  at  Crefeld,  but  destined  to  be  widely 
known  as  the  author  of  the  '  Wacht  am  Rhein.' 
Late  in  1849  Riedel  entered  the  Leipzig  Con- 
servatorium,  where  he  made  great  progress  under 
Moscheles,    Hauptmann,    Becker,    and    Plaidy. 
After  leaving  the  Conservatorium  the  direction 
of  his  talent  was  for  some  time  uncertain.     He 
had  however  for  long  had  a  strong  predilection 
for   the  vocal   works  of  the   older   masters   of 
Germany  and  Italy.    Early  in  1854  ne  practised 
and  performed  in  a  private  society  at  Leipzig 
Astorga's    'Stabat,'   Palestrina's    '  Improperia/ 
and  Leo's  '  Miserere,'  and  this  led  him  to  found 
a  singing  society  of  his  own,  which  began  on 
May  17,  1854,  with  a  simple  quartet  of  male 
voices,  and  was  the  foundation  of  the  famous 
Association    which,    under    the    name    of   the 
4  Riedelsche  Verein,'  was  so  celebrated  in  Leip 
zig.  Their  first  public  concert  was  held  in  Novem 
ber,  1855.     '^'ne  reality  of  the  attempt  was  soon 
recognised ;   members    flocked    to   the    society ; 
and  its  first  great  achievement  was  a  performance 
of  Bach's  B  minor  Mass,  April  10,  1859.     At 
that  time  Riedel  appears  to  have  practised  only 
ancient  music,  but  this  rale  was  by  no  means 
maintained;   and  in  the  list  of  the  works  per 
formed  by  the  Verein  we  find  Beethoven's  Mass 
in  D,  Kiel's  '  Christus,'  Berlioz's  Requiem,  and 
Liszt's  '  Graner  Mass '  and  '  St.  Elizabeth.'    Rie- 
del's  devotion  to  his  choir  was  extraordinary: 
he  was  not  only  its  Conductor,  but  Librarian, 
Secretary,  Treasurer,  all  in  one.  .  His  interest 
in  societies  outside  his  own,  and  in  the  welfare 
of  music,  was  always  ready  and  always  effective, 
and   many  of  the   best  Vocal  Associations   of 
North  Germany  owe  their  success  to  his  advice 
and  help.     The  programmes  of  the  public  per 
formances  of  his  society  show  the  fin  mes  of  many 

K 


130 


RIEDEL. 


composers  who  were  indebted  to  him  for  their 
first  chance  of  being  heard,  and  of  much  music 
which  but  for  him  would  probably  have  slum 
bered  on  the  shelf  till  now.  He  was  one  of 
the  founders  of  the  '  Beethovenstiftung,'  and 
an  earnest  supporter  of  the  Wagner  perform 
ances  at  Bayreuth  in  1876.  His  own  compo 
sitions  are  chiefly  part-songs  for  men's  voices, 
but  he  has  edited  several  important  ancient 
works  by  Praetorius,  Franck,  Eccard,  and  other 
old  German  writers,  especially  a  '  Passion '  by 
Heinrich  Schutz,  for  which  he  selected  the  best 
portions  of  4  Passions  by  that  master — a  pro 
ceeding  certainly  deserving  all  that  can  be  said 
against  it.  [G.] 

EIEM,  WILHELM  FRIEDRICH,  born  at  Colleda 
in  Thuringia,  Feb.  17,  1779,  was  one  °^-  ^-  ^&~ 
ler's  pupils  in  the  St.  Thomas  school  at  Leipzig. 
In  1807  he  was  made  organist  of  the  Reformed 
church  there,  and  in  1814  of  the  St.  Thomas 
school  itself.  In  1822  he  was  called  to  Bremen  to 
take  the  cathedral  organ  and  be  Director  of  the 
Singakademie,  where  he  remained  till  his  death, 
April  20,  1837.  He  was  an  industrious  writer. 
His  cantata  for  the  anniversary  of  the  Augs 
burg  Confession  1830  (for  which  Mendelssohn's 
Reformation  Symphony  was  intended)  is  dead ; 
so  are  his  quintets,  quartets,  trios,  and  other 
large  works,  but  some  of  his  8  sonatas  and  12 
sonatinas  are  still  used  for  teaching  purposes. 
He  left  2  books  of  studies  for  the  PF.,  which 
are  out  of  print,  and  16  progressive  exercises.  [G.] 

RIENZI  DER  LETZTE  DER  TRIBUNEN 

(the  last  of  the  Tribunes).  An  opera  in  5  acts  ; 
words  (founded  on  Bulwer's  novel)  and  music  by 
Wagner.  He  adopted  the  idea  in  Dresden  in 
1837  ;  two  acts  were  finished  early  in  1839,  and 
the  opera  was  produced  at  Dresden  Oct.  20, 1842. 
'Rienzi'  was  brought  out  in  French  (Meitter  and 
Guillaume)  at  the  Theatre  Lyrique,  April  6, 1 869, 
and  in  English  at  Her  Majesty's  Theatre,  London 
(Carl  Rosa),  Jan.  27,  1879.  [G.] 

RIES.     A  distinguished  family  of  musicians. 

I.  JOHANN  RIES,  native  of  Benzheim  on  the 
Rhine,  born  1723,  was  appointed  Court  trumpeter 
to  the  Elector  of  Cologne  at  Bonn,  May  2,  1 747, 
and  violinist  in  the  Capelle,  Mar.  5,  1754.  On 
April  27,  1764,  his  daughter  Anna  Maria  was 
appointed  singer.  In  1 774  she  married  Ferdinand 
Drewer,  violinist  in  the  band,  and  remained 
first  soprano  till  the  break-up  in  1794.  Her 
father  died  1786  or  7.  Her  brother,  FRANZ 
ANTON,  was  born  at  Bonn,  Nov.  10,  1755,  an(^ 
died  there  Nov.  i,  1846.  He  was  an  infant 
phenomenon  on  the  violin  ;  learned  from  J.  P. 
Salomon,  and  was  able  to  take  his  father's 
place  in  the  orchestra  at  the  age  of  n.  His 
salary  began  when  he  was  19,  and  in  1779  it  was 
1 60  thalers  per  annum.  At  that  date  he  visited 
Vienna,  and  made  a  great  success  as  a  solo  and 
quartet  player.  But  he  elected  to  remain,  on 
poor  pay,  in  Bonn,  and  was  rewarded  by  having 
Beethoven  as  his  pupil  and  friend.  During  the 
poverty  of  the  Beethoven  family,  and  through  the 


RIES. 

misery  caused  by  the  death  of  Ludwig's  mother 
in  1787,  Franz  Ries  stood  by  them  like  a  real 
friend.  In  1794  the  French  arrived,  and  the 
Elector's  establishment  was  broken  up.  Some  of 
the  members  of  the  band  dispersed,  but  Ries 
remained,  and  documents  are  1  preserved  which 
show  that  after  the  passing  away  of  the  invasion 
he  was  to  have  been  Court-musician.  Events 
however  were  otherwise  ordered ;  he  remained 
in  Bonn,  and  at  Godesberg,  where  he  had  a  little 
house,  till  his  death ;  held  various  small  offices, 
culminating  in  the  Bonn  city  government  in 
1800,  taught  the  violin,  and  brought  up  his 
children  well.  He  assisted  Wegeler  in  his  No 
tices  of  Beethoven,  was  present  at  the  unveiling 
of  Beethoven's  statue  in  1845,  had  a  Doctor's 
degree  and  the  order  of  the  Red  Eagle  conferred 
on  him,  and  died,  as  we  have  said,  Nov.  I,  1846, 
aged  91  all  but  9  days. 

2.  Franz's  son  FERDINAND,  who  with  the  Arch 
duke  Rudolph  enjoys  the  distinction  of  being 
Beethoven's  pupil,  was  born  at  Bonn  Nov.  28, 
1784.  He  was  brought  up  from  his  cradle  to 
music.  His  father  taught  him  the  pianoforte  and 
violin,  and  B.  Romberg  the  cello.  In  his  child 
hood  he  lost  an  eye  through  the  small-pox.  After 
the  break-up  of  the  Elector's  band  he  remained 
three  years  at  home,  working  very  hard  at  theo 
retical  and  practical  music,  scoring  the  quartets 
of  Haydn  and  Mozart,  and  arranging  the  Creation, 
the  Seasons,  and  the  Requiem  with  such  ability 
that  they  were  all  three  published  by  Simrock. 

In  1801  he  went  to  Munich  to  study  under 
Winter,  in  a  larger  field  than  he  could  com 
mand  at  home.  Here  he  was  so  badly  off  as  to 
be  driven  to  copy  music  at  ^d.  a  sheet.  But 
poor  as  his  income  was  he  lived  within  it,  and 
when  after  a  few  months  Winter  left  Munich 
for  Paris,  Ries  had  saved  7  ducats.  With  this  he 
went  to  Vienna  in  October  1801,  taking  a  letter 
from  his  father  to  Beethoven.  Beethoven  re 
ceived  him  well,  and  when  he  had  read  the 
letter  said,  *  I  can't  answer  it  now ;  but  write 
and  tell  him  that  I  have  not  forgotten  the  time 
when  my  mother  died" ;  and  knowing  how  miser 
ably  poor  the  lad  was,  he  on  several  occasions 
gave  him  money  unasked,  for  which  he  would 
accept  no  return.  The  next  three  years  Ries  spent 
in  Vienna.  Beethoven  took  a  great  deal  of  pains 
with  his  pianoforte-playing,  but  would  teach  him 
nothing  else.  He  however  prevailed  on  Albrechts- 
berger  to  take  him  as  a  pupil  in  composition. 
The  lessons  cost  a  ducat  each ;  Ries  had  in  some 
way  saved  up  28  ducats,  and  therefore  had  28 
lessons.  Beethoven  also  got  him  an  appointment 
as  pianist  to  Count  Browne  the  Russian  charg^ 
d'affaires,  and  at  another  time  to  Count  Lich- 
nowsky.  The  pay  for  these  services  was  prob 
ably  not  over-abundant,  but  it  kept  him,  and  the 
position  gave  him  access  to  the  best  musical 
society.  Into  Ries's  relations  with  Beethoven  we 
need  not  enter  here.  They  are  touched  upon  in 
the  sketch  of  the  great  master  in  vol.  i.  of  this 
work,  and  they  are  fully  laid  open  in  Ries's  own 

1  See  the  curious  and  important  lists  and  memorandums,  pub 
lished  for  the  first  time  in  Thayer's  'Beethoven,'  i.  248. 


HIES. 

invaluable  notices.  He  had  a  great  deal  to  bear, 
and  considering  the  secrecy  and  imperiousness 
which  Beethoven  often  threw  into  his  intercourse 
with  every  one,  there  was  probably  much  un 
pleasantness  in  the  relationship.  Meantime  ^  of 
course  Hies  must  have  become  saturated  with 
the  music  of  his  great  master ;  a  thing  which 
could  hardly  tend  to  foster  any  little  originality 
he  may  ever  have  possessed. 

As  a  citizen  of  Bonn  he  was  amenable  to  the 
French  conscription,  and  in  1805  was  summoned 
to  appear  there  in  person.    He  left  in  Sept.  1805, 
made  the  journey  on  foot  via  Prague,  Dresden,  and 
Leipzig,  reached  Coblentz  within  the  prescribed 
limit  of  time,  and  was  then  dismissed  on  account 
of  the  loss  of  his  eye.   He  then  went  on  to  Paris, 
and  existed  in  misery  for  apparently  at  least  two 
years,  at  the  end  of  which  time  he  was  advised 
to  try  Russia.     On  Aug.  27,  1808,  he  was  again 
in  Vienna,  and  soon  afterwards  received  from 
Eeichardt  an  offer  of  the  post  of  Kapellmeister 
to  Jerome  Bonaparte,   King  of  Westphalia,  at 
Cassel,  which   Reichardt  alleged  had  been  re 
fused  by  Beethoven.    Hies  behaved  with  perfect 
loyalty  and  straightforwardness  in  the  matter. 
Before  replying,   he   endeavoured   to   find  out 
from  Beethoven  himself  the  real  state  of  the 
case ;  but  Beethoven  having  adopted  the  idea 
that  Ries  was  trying  to  get  the  post  over  his 
head,  would  not  see  him,  and  for  three  weeks 
behaved  to  him  with  an  incredible  degree  of 
cruelty  and  insolence.     When  he  could  be  made 
to  listen  to  the  facts  he  was  sorry  enough,  but 
the  opportunity  was  gone. 

The  occupation  of  Vienna  (May  12,  1809)  by 
the  French  was  not  favourable  to  artistic  life. 
Ries  however,  as  a  French  subject,  was  free  to 
wander.  He  accordingly  went  to  Cassel,  pos 
sibly  with  some  lingering  hopes,  played  at  Court, 
and  remained  till  the  end  of  February  1810, 
very  much  applauded  and  feted,  and  making 
money — but  had  no  offer  of  a  post.  From  Cassel  he 
went  by  Hamburg  and  Copenhagen  to  Stockholm, 
where  we  find  him  in  Sept.  1810,  making  both 
money  and  reputation.  He  had  still  his  eye  on 
Russia,  but  between  Stockholm  and  Petersburg 
the  ship  was  taken  by  an  English  man-of-war, 
and  all  the  passengers  were  turned  out  upon  an 
island  in  the  Baltic.  In  Petersburg  he  found 
Bernhard  Romberg,  and  the  two  made  a  successful 
townee,  embracing  places  as  wide  apart  as  Kieff, 
Reval  and  Riga.  The  burning  of  Moscow  (Sept. 
1812)  put  a  stop  to  his  progress  in  that  direction, 
and  we  next  find  him  again  at  Stockholm  in  April 
1813,  en  route  to  England.  By  the  end  of  the 
month  he  was  in  London. 

Here  he  found  his  countryman  and  his  father's 
friend,  Salomon,  who  received  him  cordially  and 
introduced  him  to  the  Philharmonic  Concerts. 
His  first  appearance  there  was  March  14,  1814, 
in  his  own  PF.  Sestet.  His  symphonies,  over 
tures,  and  chamber  works  frequently  occur  in  the 
programmes,  and  he  himself  appears  from  time 
to  time  as  a  PF.  player,  but  rarely  if  ever  with 
works  of  Beethoven's.  '  Mr.  Ries,'  says  a  writer 
in  the  'Harmonicou'  of  March  1824,  'is  justly 


RIES. 


131 


celebrated  as  one  of  the  finest  pianoforte  per 
formers  of  the  day ;  his  hand  is  powerful  and  his 
execution  certain,  often  surprising ;  but  his  playing 
is  most  distinguished  from  that  of  all  others  by 
its  romantic  wildness.'  Shortly  after  his  arrival 
he  married  an  English  lady  of  great  attractions, 
and  he  remained  in  London  till  1824,  one  of  the 
most  conspicuous  figures  of  the  musical  world. 

His  sojourn  here  was  a  time  of  herculean  labour. 
His  compositions  numbered  at  their  close  nearly 
1 80,  including  6  fine  symphonies;  4  overtures; 
6  string  quintets,  and  14  do.  quartets;  9  con 
certos  for  PF,  and  orchestra ;  an  octet,  a  septet, 

2  sextuors,  and  a  quintet,  for  various  instruments ; 

3  PF.  quartets,  and  5  do.  trios;    20  duets  ^ for 
PF.  and  violin ;  10  sonatas  for  PF.  solo ;  besides 
a  vast  number  of  rondos,  variations,  fantasias, 
etc.,  for  the  PF.  solo  and  a  4  mains.     Of  thevse 
38  are  attributable  to  the  tune  of  his  residence 
here,  and  they  embrace  2  symphonies,  4  concertos, 
a  sonata,  and  many  smaller  pieces.     As  a  pianist 
and  teacher  he  was  very  much  in  request.     He 
was   an  active   member   of   the    Philharmonic 
Society.      His  correspondence  with  Beethoven 
during  the  whole  period  is  highly  creditable  to 
him,  proving  his  gratitude  towards  his  master, 
and  the  energy  with  which  he  laboured  to  promote 
Beethoven's  interests.     That  Beethoven  profited 
so  little  therefrom  was  no  fault  of  Ries's. 

Having  accumulated  a  fortune  adequate  to  the 
demands  of  a  life  of  comfort,  he  gave  a  farewell 
concert  in  London,  April  8,  1824,  and  removed 
with  his  wife  to  Godesberg,  near  his  native  town, 
where  he  had  purchased  a  property.  Though 
a  loser  by  the  failure  of  a  London  Bank  in 
1825-6,  he  was  able  to  live  independently.  About 
1830  he  removed  to  Frankfort.  His  residence 
on  the  Rhine  brought  him  into  close  contact  with 
the  Lower  Rhine  Festivals,  and  he  directed  the 
performances  of  the  years  1825,  29,  30,  32,  34, 
and  37,  as  well  as  those  of  1826  and  28  in  con 
junction  with  Spohr  and  Klein  respectively.  [See 
the  list,  vol.  ii.  p.  457.]  In  1834  he  was  appointed 
head  of  the  town  orchestra  and  Singakademie 
at  Aix-la-Chapelle.  But  he  was  too  independent 
to  keep  any  post,  and  in  1836  he  gave  this  up 
and  returned  to  Frankfort.  In  1837  he  assumed 
the  direction  of  the  Cecilian  Society  there  on  the 
death  of  Schelble,  but  this  lasted  a  few  months 
only,  for  on  Jan.  13,  1838,  he  died  after  a  short 
illness. 

The  principal  works  which  he  composed  after 
his  return  to  Germany  are  '  Die  Rauberbraut ' 
(the  Robber's  bride),  which  was  first  performed 
in  Frankfort  probably  in  1829,  then  in  Leipzig, 
July  4,  and  London,  July  15,  of  the  same 
year,  and  often  afterwards  in  Germany ;  another 
opera,  known  in  Germany  as  'Liska,'  but  pro 
duced  at  the  Adelphi,  London,  in  English,  as 
'The  Sorcerer,'  by  Arnold's  Company,  Aug.  4, 
1831 ;  an  oratorio,  'Der  Sieg  des  Glaubens'  (the 
Triumph  of  the  Faith),  Berlin,  1835  ;  and  a 
second  oratorio,  '  Die  Kb'nige  Israels '  (the  Kings 
of  Israel),  Aix-la-Chapelle,  1837.  All  these 
works  however  are  dead.  Beethoven  once  said 
of  his  compositions.  '  he  imitates  me  too  much.' 

K2 


132 


RIES. 


He  caught  the  style  and  the  phrases,  but  he 
could  not  catch  the  immortality  of  his  master's 
work.  Technically  great  as  much  that  he  com 
posed  was,  that  indescribable  something,  that 
touch  of  nature,  which,  in  music  as  elsewhere, 
makes  the  whole  world  kin,  was  wanting.  One 
work  of  his,  however,  will  live — the  admirable 
'  Biographical  Notices  of  Ludwig  van  Beethoven,' 
which  he  published  in  conjunction  with  Dr. 
Wegeler  (Coblentz,  1838).  The  two  writers, 
though  publishing  together,  have  fortunately  kept 
their  contributions  quite  distinct;  Ries's  occupies 
from  pp.  76  to  163  of  a  little  duodecimo  volume, 
and  of  these  the  last  35  pages  are  occupied  by 
Beethoven's  letters.  His  own  portion,  short  as 
it  is,  is  excellent,  and  it  is  hardly  too  much  to 
say  that  within  his  small  limits  he  is  equal  to 
Boswell.  The  work  is  translated  into  French  by 
Le  Gentil  (Dentu,  1862),  and  partially  into  Eng 
lish  by  Moscheles,  as  an  Appendix  to  his  version 
of  Schindler's  Life  of  Beethoven.  [  A.W.T.] 

3.  HUBERT,  brother  of  the  preceding,  was  born 
at  Bonn  in  1802.  He  made  his  first  studies  as  a 
violinist  under  his  father,  and  afterwards  under 
Spohr.  Hauptmann  was  his  teacher  in  composi 
tion.  Since  1824  he  has  lived  at  Berlin.  In  that 
year  he  entered  the  band  of  the  Konigstadter 
Theatre,  and  in  the  following  year  became  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Royal  band.  In  1835  he  was  appointed 
Director  of  the  Philharmonic  Society  at  Berlin. 
In  1 836  he  was  nominated  Concertmeister,  and  in 
1839  elected  a  member  of  the  Royal  Academy  of 
Arts.  A  thorough  musician  and  a  solid  violinist, 
he  has  ever  since  been  held  in  great  esteem  as  a 
leader,  and  more  especially  as  a  methodical  aftd  con 
scientious  teacher.  His  Violin-School  for  beginners 
is  a  very  meritorious  work,  eminently  practical, 
and  widely  used.  He  has  published  two  violin- 
concertos,  studies  and  duets  for  violins,  and  some 
quartets.  An  English  edition  of  the  Violin-School 
appeared  in  1873  (Hofmeister).  Three  of  his  sons 
have  gained  reputation  as  musicians  : — 

Louis,  violinist,  born  at  Berlin  in  1830,  pupil 
of  his  father  and  of  Vieuxtemps,  has,  since  1852, 
been  settled  in  London,  where  he  enjoys  great 
and  deserved  reputation  as  violinist  and  teacher. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Quartet  of  the 
Musical  Union  from  1855  to  1870,  and  has 
held  the  second  violin  at  the  Monday  Popular 
Concerts  from  their  beginning  in  1859,  to  the  pre 
sent  time.  He  played  a  solo  at  the  Crystal  Palace 
Oct.  29,  1864. 

ADOLPH,  pianist,  born  at  Berlin  in  1837.  He 
is  a  pupil  of  Kullak  for  the  piano,  and  of  Boehmer 
for  composition,  and  lives  in  London  as  a  piano 
forte  teacher.  He  has  published  a  number  of 
compositions  for  the  piano,  and  some  songs. 

FRANZ,  violinist  and  composer,  was  born  at 
Berlin  in  1846.  He  studied  first  under  his 
father  (violin),  and  under  Boehmer  and  Kiel 
(composition).  He  afterwards  entered  the  Con 
servatoire  at  Paris  as  a  pupil  of  Massart,  and 
gained  the  first  prize  for  violin-playing  in  1868. 
Some  of  his  compositions,  especially  two  suites 
for  violin,  have  met  with  considerable  success,  i 
He  visited  London  in  1870  and  played  at  the 


RIETZ. 

Crystal  Palace.  He  has  published  an  overture, two 
quartets,  a  quintet,  and  a  large  number  of  songs. 
Compelled  by  ill -health  to  give  up  violin -playing 
entirely,  he  established  a  music-publishing  busi 
ness  at  Dresden  in  1874.  [P-D-] 

RIETER-BIEDERMANN.      An     eminent 
German  firm  of  music-publishers.     The  founder 
was  Jacob    Melchior  Rieter-Biedermann   (born 
May    14,    1811  ;  died  Jan.  25,  1876),   who  in 
June  1849  opened  a  retail  business  and  lending- 
library  at  Winterthur.    The  first  work  published 
by  the  house   was  Kirchner's    'Albumblatter/ 
op.  7,  on  April  29,  1 856  ;  since  then  the  business 
has   continually  improved   and   increased.     On 
March  i,  1862,  a  publishing  branch  was  opened 
at  Leipzig.      The  stock  catalogue  of  the  firm 
includes  music  by  Berlioz,  Brahms  (PF.  Concerto, 
PF.  Quintet,   Requiem,    Magelone,    Romanzen, 
May-songs,   etc.) ;    A.  Dietrich  ;    J.  0.  Grimm  ; 
Gernsheim  ;  Herzogenberg  ;  F.  Hiller ;  Holstein ; 
Kirchner  ;   Lachner ;    F.  Marschner ;    Mendels 
sohn  (op.  98,  nos.  2,  3 ;  op.  103, 105, 1 06,  108,  115, 
116);    Raff;    Reinecke ;    Schumann    (op.  130, 
137,  138,  140,   142)  ;   Schultz-Beuthen,  etc. — in 
all  more  than  1 200  works.  [G.] 

RIETZ  (originally  RITZ  l)  EDUAED,  the  elder 
brother  of  Julius  Rietz,   an  excellent  violinist, 
was  born  at  Berlin  in  1801.     He  studied  first 
under  his  father,  a  member  of  the  royal  band,  and 
afterwards  for  some  time  under  RODE.     He  died 
too  young  to  acquire  a  more  than  local  reputa 
tion,  but  his  name  will  always  be  remembered 
in  connection  with  Mendelssohn,  who  had  the 
highest  possible   opinion   of   his   powers  as  an 
executant,2  and   who  counted  him  amongst  his 
dearest  and  nearest  friends.    It  was  for  Ritz  that 
he  wrote  the  Octet,  which  is  dedicated  to  him, 
as  well  as  the  Sonata  for  PF.  and  Violin,  op.  4. 
For  some  years  Rietz  was  a  member  of  the  royal 
band,  but  as  his  health  failed  him  in  1824  he 
had  to  quit  his  appointment  and  even  to  give  up 
playing.    He  founded  and  conducted  an  orchestral 
society  at  Berlin,  with  considerable  success — but 
continued  to  sink,  and  died  of  consumption  Jan. 
23,   1832.     Mendelssohn's   earlier  letters  teem 
with   affectionate   references    to   him,    and  the 
news  of  his  death,  which  he  received  at  Paris  on 
his  birthday,  affected  him  deeply.3    The  Andante 
in  Mendelssohn's  String   Quintet,   op.  1 8,  was 
composed  at  Paris  '  in  memory  of  E.  Ritz,'  and 
is  dated  on  the  autograph  'Jan.  23,  1832,'  and 
entitled  'Nachruf.'  [P.D.] 

RIETZ,  JULIUS,  younger  brother  of  the  pre 
ceding,  violoncellist,  composer,  and  eminent  con 
ductor,  was  born  at  Berlin  Dec.  28,  1812. 
Brought  up  under  the  influence  of  his  father  and 
brother,  and  the  intimate  friend  of  Mendelssohn, 
tie  received  his  first  instruction  on  the  violoncello 
Prom  Schmidt,  a  member  of  the  royal  band,  and 
afterwards  from  Bernhard  Romberg  and  Moritz 

1  Uniformly  so  spelt  by  Mendelssohn. 

2  'I  long  earnestly,'  says  he,  in  a  letter  from  Rome,  'for  his  vioMnand 
lis  depth  of  feeling  ;  they  come  vividly  before  my  mind  when  I  see 

his  beloved  neat  handwriting.' 

;  :\lt-n<1elssohn's  Letters  from  Italy  and  Switzerland,  English  Trans 
lation,  p. 327. 


RIETZ. 

Ganz.     Zelter  was  his  teacher  in  composition. 
Having  gained  considerable  proficiency  on  his 
instrument,  he  obtained,  at  the  age  of  16,   an 
appointment   in  the  band  of  the  Konigstadter 
Theatre,  where  he  also  achieved  his  first  success 
as  a  composer  by  writing  incidental  music  for 
Holtei's  drama,  '  Lorbeerbaum  und  Bettelstab.' 
In  1834  he  went  to  Diisseldorf  as  second  con 
ductor  of  the  opera.     Mendelssohn,  who  up  to 
his  death  showed  a  warm  interest  in  Rietz,  was 
at  that  time  at  the  head  of  the  opera,  and  on  his 
resignation  in  the  summer  of  1835,  R-ietz  became 
his  successor.     He  did  not  however  remain  long 
in  that  position,  for,  as  early  as  1836,  he  accepted, 
under  the  title  of  'Stadtischer  Musikdirector,' 
the  post  of  conductor  of  the  public  subscription- 
concerts,  the  principal  choral  society,   and  the 
church-music  at  Diisseldorf.     In  this  position  he 
remained  for  twelve  years,  gaining  the  reputation 
of  an  excellent  conductor,  and  also  appearing  as 
a  solo  violoncellist  in  most  of  the  principal  towns 
of  the  Rhine-province.     During  this  period  he 
wrote  some  of  his  most  successful  works — inci 
dental  music  to  dramas  of  Goethe,   Calderon, 
Immermann  and  others ;  music  for  Goethe's  Lie- 
derspiel '  Jery  and  Bately ' — a  kind  of  drawing- 
room  opera,  and  a  very  graceful  work ;  his  1st 
Symphony  in  G  minor ;  three  overtures — '  Hero 
and  Leander,'1  Concert  overture  in   A  major, 
Lustspiel-overture — the  latter  two  perhaps  the 
freshest  and  most  popular  of  his  compositions ; 
the  '  Altdeutscher  Schlachtgesang '  and  'Dithy- 
rambe ' — both  for  men's  voices  and  orchestra,  and 
still  stock-pieces  in  the  repertoires  of  all  German 
male  choral  societies.     He  was  six  times  chief 
conductor,  of  the  Lower  Rhine  Festivals — in  1845, 
56,  and  69  at  Diisseldorf;  in  1864,  67  and  73  at 
Aix.     [See  vol.  ii.  p.  547.] 

In  1847,  after  Mendelssohn's  death,  he  took 
leave  of  Diisseldorf,  leaving  Ferdinand  Hiller  as 
his  successor,  and  went  to  Leipzig  as  conductor 
of  the  opera  and  the  Singakadeniie.  From  1848 
we  find  him  also  at  the  head  of  the  Gewand- 
haus  orchestra,  and  teacher  of  composition  at  the 
Conservator! urn.  In  this  position  he  remained 
for  thirteen  years.  Two  operas,  '  Der  Corsar ' 
and  'Georg  Neumark,'  were  failures,  but  his 
Symphony  in  Eb  had  a  great  and  lasting  success. 
At  this  period  he  began  also  to  show  Ms  eminent 
critical  powers  by  carefully  revised  editions  of 
the  scores  of  Mozart's  symphonies  and  operas,  of 
Beethoven's  symphonies  and  overtures  for  Breit- 
kopf  &  Hartel's  complete  edition,  and  by  the 
work  he  did  for  the  Bach  and  German  Handel 
Societies.  His  editions  of  Handel's  scores  con 
trast  very  favourably  with  those  of  some  other 
editors.  An  edition  of  Mendelssohn's  complete 
works  closed  his  labours  in  this  respect. 

In  1860  the  King  of  Saxony  appointed  him 
Conductor  of  the  Royal  Opera  and  of  the  music 
at  the  Roman  Catholic  Court-church  at  Dresden. 
He  also  accepted  the  post  of  Artistic  Director 
of  the  Dresden  Conservator!  um.  In  1876  the 
title  of  General-Musikdirector  was  given  to  him. 
The  University  of  Leipzig  had  already  in  1859 
i  See  Mendelssohn's  Letters,  ii.  p.  234  (Eng.  ed,). 


RIETZ. 


133 


conferred  on  him  the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Philosophy. 

Rietz  was  for  some  time  one  of  the  most  influ 
ential  musicians  of  Germany.  He  was  a  good 
violoncellist,  but  soon  after  leaving  Diisseldorf 
he  gave  up  playing  entirely.  As  a  composer  he 
showed  a  rare  command  of  all  the  resources  of  the 
orchestra  and  a  complete  mastery  of  all  techni 
calities  of  composition.  Mendelssohn^  in  his 
friendly  but  candid  criticism  in  the  published 
letter  already  referred  to,  says,  '  There  is  some 
thing  so  genuinely  artistic  and  so  genuinely 
musical  in  your  orchestral  works';  and  further 
on, '  You  understand  how  to  give  a  really  musical 
interest  to  every  second  oboe  or  trumpet.'  Indeed 
some  of  his  music,  especially  the  two  overtures 
already  mentioned,  the  Symphony  in  Eb,  and 
some  of  his  choral  works,  has  won  general  and 
deserved  success,  mainly  by  the  qualities  Men 
delssohn  praises  in  them,  and  by  a  certain  vigour 
and  straightforwardness  of  style.  Yet  we  gather 
clearly  enough  from  Mendelssohn's  friendly  re 
marks  the  reason  why  so  few  of  Rietz's  works 
have  shown  any  vitality.  As  a  composer  he  can 
hardly  be  said  to  show  distinct  individuality  ; 
his  ideas  are  wanting  in  spontaneity,  his  themes 
are  generally  somewhat  dry,  and  their  treatment 
often  rather  diffuse  and  laboured.  In  fact  Rietz 
was  an  excellent  musician,  and  a  musical  intellect 
of  the  first  rank — but  not  much  of  a  poet.  His 
great  reputation  rested,  first,  on  his  talent  for  con 
ducting,  and  secondly  on  his  rare  acquirements 
as  a  musical  scholar.  An  unfailing  ear,  imper 
turbable  presence  of  mind,  and  great  personal 
authority,  made  him  one  of  the  best  conductors 
of  modern  times.  The  combination  of  practi 
cal  musicianship  with  a  natural  inclination  for 
critical  research  and  a  pre-eminently  intellectual 
tendency  of  mind,  made  him  a  first-rate  judge 
on  questions  of  musical  scholarship.  After 
Mendelssohn  and  Schumann,  Rietz  has  probably 
done  more  than  anybody  else  to  purify  the  scores 
of  the  great  masters  from  the  numerous  errors 
of  text  by  which  they  were  disfigured.  He  was 
an  absolute  and  uncompromising  adherent  of  the 
classical  school,  and  had  but  little  sympathy 
with  modern  music  after  Mendelssohn 4  and  even 
in  the  works  of  Schubert,  Schumann  and  Brahms 
was  over-apt  to  see  the  weak  points.  As  to  the 
music  of  the  newest  German  School,  he  held  it  in 
abhorrence,  and  would  show  his  aversion  on  every 
occasion.  He  was,  however,  too  much  of  an  opera- 
conductor  not  to  feel  a  certain  interest  in  Wagner, 
and  in  preparing  his  operas  would  take  a  special 
pride  and  relish  in  overcoming  the  great  and  pecu 
liar  difficulties  contained  in  Wagner's  scores. 

Rietz  had  many  personal  friends,  but,  as  will 
appear  natural  with  a  man  of  so  pronounced  a 
character  and  opinions,  also  a  number  of  bitter 
enemies.  He  died  at  Dresden  Oct.  i,  1877,  leaving 
a  large  and  valuable  musical  library  which  was 
sold  by  auction  in  Dec.  1877.  Besides  the  works 
already  mentioned  he  published  a  considerable 
number  of  compositions  for  the  chamber,  songs, 
concertos  for  violin  and  for  various  wind-instru 
ments.  He  also  wrote  a  great  Mass.  [P-D.] 


134 


RIGADOON. 


RIGADOON  (French  Rigadon  or  Rigaudon), 
a  lively  dance,  which  most  probably  came  from 
Provence  or  Languedoc,  although  its  popularity 
in  England  has  caused  some  writers  to  suppose 
that  it  is  of  English  origin.  It  was  danced 
in  France  in  the  time  of  Louis  XIII,  but  does 
not  seem  to  have  become  popular  in  England 
until  the  end  of  the  i7th  century.  According 
to  Rousseau  it  derived  its  name  from  its  inventor, 
one  Rigaud,  but  others  connect  it  with  the 
English  '  rig,'  i.  e.  wanton,  or  lively. 

The  Rigadoon  was  remarkable  for  a  peculiar 
jumping  step  (which  is  described  at  length  in 
Compan's  '  Dictionnaire  de  la  Danse,'  Paris, 
1802);  this  step  survived  the  dance  for  some 
time.  The  music  of  the  Rigadoon  is  in  2-4  or  C 
time,  and  consists  of  three  or  four  parts,  of  which 
the  third  is  quite  short.  The  number  of  bars  is 
unequal,  and  the  music  generally  begins  on  the 
third  or  fourth  beat  of  the  bar.  The  follow 
ing  example  is  from  the  3rd  Part  of  Henry 
Playford's  'Apollo's  Banquet'  (6th  edition, 
1690).  The  same  tune  occurs  in  '  The  Dancing 
Master,'  but  in  that  work  the  bars  are  incor 
rectly  divided. 


«  4f-fr££££ 


F* 


[W.B.S.] 


RIGBY,  GEORGE  VERNON,  born  Jan.  21,  1840, 
when  about  9  years  old  was  a  chorister  of  St.  Chad's 
Cathedral,  Birmingham,  where  he  remained  for 
about  7  years.  In  1860,  his  voice  having  changed 
to  a  tenor,  he  decided  upon  becoming  a  singer, 
and  tried  his  strength  at  some  minor  concerts  in 
Birmingham  and  its  neighbourhood,  and  succeeded 
so  well  that  in  1861  he  removed  to  London,  and 
on  March  4  appeared  at  the  Alhambra,  Leicester 
Square  (then  a  concert  room,  managed  by  E.  T. 
Smith),  and  in  August  following  at  Mellon's 
Promenade  Concerts  at  Covent  Garden.  In  1865 
he  sang  in  the  provinces  as  a  member  of  H.  Corri's 
Opera  Company,  until  November,  when  he  went 
to  Italy  and  studied  under  San  Giovanni  at  Milan, 
where  in  Nov.  1866  he  appeared  at  the  Carcano 
Theatre  as  the  Fisherman  in  Rossini's  '  Guglielmo 
Tell.'  He  next  went  to  Berlin,  and  in  Jan.  1867 
appeared  at  the  Victoria  Theatre  there,  in  the 
principal  tenor  parts  in  'Don  Pasquale,'  'La 
Sonnambula,'  and  '  L'ltaliana  in  Algieri.'  He 
then  accepted  a  three  months  engagement  in  Den 
mark,  and  performed  11  Conte  Almaviva  in  the 


RIGHINI. 

'Barbiere,'  II  Duca  in  'Rigoletto,'  and  other 
parts,  in  Copenhagen  and  other  towns.  He  re 
turned  to  England  in  Sept.  1867,  and  sang  at 
various  places.  In  1868  he  was  engaged  at  the 
Gloucester  Festival  with  Sims  Reeves,  whose 
temporary  indisposition  afforded  him  the  oppor 
tunity  of  singing  the  part  of  Samson  in  Handel's 
oratorio,  in  which  he  acquitted  himself  so  ably 
that  he  was  immediately  engaged  by  the  Sacred 
Harmonic  Society,  where  he  appeared,  Nov.  27, 
1868,  with  signal  success,  and  immediately  es 
tablished  himself  as  an  oratorio  singer.  In  1869 
he  appeared  on  the  stage  of  the  Princess's 
Theatre  as  Acis  in  Handel's  'Acis  and 
Galatea.5  He  has  since  maintained  a  prominent 
position  at  all  the  principal  concerts  and  festivals 
in  town  and  country.  His  voice  is  of  fine  quality, 
full  compass,  and  considerable  power,  and  he 
sings  with  earnestness  and  care.  [W.H.H.] 

RIGHINI,  VINCENZO,  a  well-known  conductor 
of  the  Italian  opera  in  Berlin,  born  at  Bologna 
Jan.  22,  1756.  As  a  boy  he  had  a  fine  voice, 
but  owing  to  injury  it  developed  into  a  tenor 
of  so  rough  and  muffled  a  tone,  that  he  turned 
his  attention  to  theory,  which  he  studied  with 
Padre  Martini.  In  1776  he  sang  for  a  short 
time  in  the  Opera  buffa  at  Prague,  then  under 
Bustelli's  direction,  but  was  not  well  received. 
He  made  a  success  there  however  with  three 
operas  of  his  composition,  '  La  Vedova  scaltra,' 
'La  Bottega  del  Caffe,'  and  'Don  Giovanni,' 
also  performed  in  Vienna  (Aug.  1777),  whither 
Righini  went  on  leaving  Prague.  There  he  be 
came  singing-master  to  Princess  Elisabeth  of 
Wiirtemberg,  and  conductor  of  the  Italian  opera. 
He  next  entered  the  service  of  the  Elector 
of  Mayence,  and  composed  for  the  Elector  of 
Treves  '  Alcide  al  Bivio '  (Coblenz)  and  a  mass. 
In  April  1 793  he  was  invited  to  succeed  Ales- 
sandri  at  the  Italian  Opera  of  Berlin,  with  a 
salary  of  3000  thalers  (about  £450).  Here 
he  produced  '  Enea  nel  Lazio  '  and  '  II  Trionfo 
d'Arianna  (1793),  '  Armida  '  (1799),  'Tigrane' 
(1800),  'Gerusalemme  liberata,'  and  'La  Selva 
incantata3  (1803).  The  last  two  were  pub 
lished  after  his  death  with  German  text  (Leipzig, 
Herklotz). 

In  1794  Righini  married  Henriette  Kneisel 
(born  at  Stettin  in  1767,  died  of  consumption  at 
Berlin  Jan.  25,  1801),  a  charming  blonde,  and, 
according  to  Gerber,  a  singer  of  great  expression. 
After  the  death  of  Friedrich  Wilhelm  II.  (179?) 
his  post  became  almost  a  sinecure,  and  in  1806 
the  opera  was  entirely  discontinued.  Eighini 
was  much  beloved.  Gerber  speaks  in  high  terms 
of  his  modesty  and  courtesy,  and  adds,  '  It 
is  a  real  enjoyment  to  hear  him  sing  his  own 
pieces  in  his  soft  veiled  voice  to  his  own  ac 
companiment.'  As  a  composer  he  was  not  of 
the  first  rank,  and  of  course  was  eclipsed  by 
Mozart.  His  best  point  was  his  feeling  fur 
ensemble,  of  which  the  quartet  in  '  Gerusalemme ' 
is  a  good  example.  He  was  a  successful  teacher 
of  singing,  and  counted  distinguished  artists 
among  his  pupils.  After  the  loss  of  a  promising 
son  in  1810,  his  health  gave  way,  and  in  1812  he 


RIGHINI. 

was  ordered  to  try  the  effects  of  his  native  air  at 
Bologna.  When  bidding  goodbye  to  his  colleague, 
Anselm  Weber,  he  said,  '  It  is  my  belief  that  I 
shall  never  return;  if  it  should  be  so,  sing  a 
Requiem  and  a  Miserere  for  me ' — touching  words 
too  soon  fulfilled  by  his  death  at  Bologna,  Aug. 
19, 1812.  His  own  Requiem  (score  in  the  Berlin 
Library),  was  performed  by  the  Singakademie  in 
his  honour. 

Besides  20  operas,  of  which  a  list  is  given  by 
Fe'tis,  Righini  composed  church  music — a  Te 
Deum  and  a  Missa  Solennis  are  published  and  still 
known  in  Germany — several  cantatas,  and  innu 
merable  Scenas,  Lieder,  and  songs;  also  a  short 
ballet, '  Minerva  belebt  die  Statuen  des  Dadalus,' 
and  some  instrumental  pieces,  including  a  sere 
nade  for  2  clarinets,  2  horns,  and  2  bassoons 
(i799,Breitkopf  &  Hartel).  One  of  his  operas, 
'II  Convitato  di  pietra,  osia  il  dissoluto,'  will 
always  be  interesting  as  a  forerunner  of  Mozart's 
'Don  Giovanni.'  It  was  produced  at  Vienna, 
Aug.  21,  1777  (ten  years  before  Mozart's),  and 
is  described  by  Jahn  (Mozart,  ii.  333).  His 
best  orchestral  work  is  his  overture  to  'Tigranes,' 
which  is  still  occasionally  played  in  Germany 
and  England.  Breitkopf  &  Hartel's  Catalogue 
shows  a  tolerably  long  list  of  his  songs,  and 
his  exercises  for  the  voice  (1804)  are  amongst 
the  best  that  exist.  English  amateurs  will 
find  a  duet  of  his,  '  Come  opprima,'  from  '  Enea 
nel  Lazio,'  in  the  'Musical  Library,'  vol.  i. 
p.  8,  and  two  airs  in  Lonsdale's  '  Gemme  d' Anti- 
chita.'  He  was  one  of  the  63  composers  who 
set  the  words  'In  questa  tomba  oscura,'  and 
his  setting  was  published  in  1878  by  Ritter  of 
Magdeburg.  [F.G.] 

RIGOLETTO.  An  opera  in  3  acts  ;  libretto 
by  Piave  (founded  on  V.  Hugo's  '  Le  Roi 
sn amuse'),  music  by  Verdi.  Produced  at  the 
Teatro  Fenice,  Venice,  March  n,  1851,  and 
given  in  Italian  at  Covent  Garden,  May  14, 1853, 
and  at  the  Italiens,  Paris,  Jan.  19,  1857.  [G.] 

RIMBAULT,  EDWARD  FRANCIS,  LL.D,  son 
of  Stephen  Francis  Rimbault,  organist  of  St. 
Giles  in  the  Fields,  was  born  in  Soho,  June  13, 
1816.  He  received  his  first  instruction  in  music 
from  his  father,  but  afterwards  became  a  pupil 
of  Samuel  Wesley.  At  16  years  old  he  was 
appointed  organist  of  the  Swiss  Church,  Soho. 
He  early  directed  his  attention  to  the  study 
of  musical  history  and  literature,  and  in  1838 
delivered  a  series  of  lectures  on  the  history  of 
music  in  England.  In  1840  he  took  an  active 
part  in  the  formation  of  the  Musical  Antiquarian 
and  Percy  Societies,  of  both  which  he  became 
secretary,  and  for  both  which  he  edited  several 
works.  In  1841  he  was  editor  of  the  musical  pub 
lications  of  the  Motett  Society.  In  the  course 
of  the  next  few  years  he  edited  a  collection  of 
Cathedral  Chants ;  The  Order  of  Daily  Service 
according  to  the  use  of  Westminster  Abbey  ;  a 
reprint  of  Low's  Brief  Direction  for  the  per 
formance  of  Cathedral  Service;  Tallis's  Re 
sponses;  Merbeck's  Book  of  Common  Prayer, 
noted ;  a  volume  of  unpublished  Cathedral 
Services;  Arnold's  Cathedral  Music ;  andtheora- 


RINFORZANDO. 


135 


torios  of  '  Messiah,'  '  Samson,'  and '  Saul,'  for  the 
Handel  Society.  In  1842  he  was  elected  an 
F.S.A.  and  member  of  the  Academy  of  Music 
in  Stockholm,  and  obtained  the  degree  of  Doctor 
in  Philosophy.  He  was  offered,  but  declined, 
the  appointment  of  Professor  of  Music  in  Har 
vard  University,  U.  S.  A.  In  1848  he  received 
the  honorary  degree  of  LL.  D.  He  lectured  on 
music  at  the  Collegiate  Institution,  Liverpool ; 
the  Philosophic  Institute,  Edinburgh  ;  the  Royal 
Institution  of  Great  Britain,  and  elsewhere.  He 
published  '  The  History  and  Construction  of  the 
Organ '  (in  collaboration  with  Mr.  E.  J.  Hopkins), 
'  Notices  of  the  Early  English  Organ  Builders^ ; 
'History  of  the  Pianoforte,'  'Bibliotheca  Mad- 
rigaliana,'  '  Musical  Illustrations  of  Percy's 
Reliques,' '  The  Ancient  Vocal  Music  of  England,' 
'The  Rounds,  Catches  and  Canons  of  England' 
(in  conjunction  with  Rev.  J.  P.  Metcalfe),  two 
collections  of  Christmas  Carols,  *  A  Little  Book 
of  Songs  and  Ballads,'  etc.,  etc.  He  edited  North's 
'  Memoirs  of  Musick,'  Sir  Thomas  Overbury's 
Works,  the  Old  Cheque  Book  of  the  Chapel 
Royal,  and  two  Sermons  by  Boy  Bishops.  He  ar 
ranged  many  operas  and  other  works,  was  author 
of  many  elementary  books,  and  an  extensive 
contributor  to  periodical  literature.  His  com 
positions  were  but  few,  the  principal  being  an 
operetta,  'The  Fair  Maid  of  Islington,'  1838, 
and  a  posthumous  cantata,  'Country  Life.'  His 
pretty  little  song,  'Happy  land,'  had  an  extensive 
popularity.  After  his  resignation  of  the  organist- 
ship  of  the  Swiss  Church,  he  was  successively 
organist  of  several  churches  and  chapels.  He 
died,  after  a  lingering  illness,  Sept.  26,  1876, 
leaving  a  fine  musical  library,  which  was  sold 
by  auction.  [W.H.H.] 

RINALDO.  Handel's  first  opera  in  England; 
composed  in  a  fortnight,  and  produced  at  the 
King's  Theatre  in  the  Haymarket  Feb.  24, 1711. 
The  libretto  was  founded  on  the  episode  of 
Rinaldo  and  Armida  in  Tasso's  '  Jerusalem  De 
livered  '  (the  same  on  which  Gluck  based  his 
'Armida').  Rossi  wrote  it  in  Italian,  and  it  was 
translated  into  English  by  Aaron  Hill.  The 
opera  was  mounted  with  extraordinary  magnifi 
cence,  and  had  an  uninterrupted  run  of  1 5  nights 
— at  that  time  unusually  long.  The  march,  and 
the  air  '  II  tricerbero,'  were  long  popular  as  '  Let 
us  take  the  road'  (Beggar's  Opera),  and  'Let  the 
waiter  bring  clean  glasses.'  '  Lascia  ch'io  pianga ' 
— made  out  of  a  saraband  in  Handel's  earlier 
opera  '  Almira'  (1704) — is  still  a  favourite  with 
singers  and  hearers.  [G.] 

RINFORZANDO,  '  reinforcing '  or  increasing 
in  power.  This  word,  or  its  abbreviations,  rinf. 
or  rfz.  is  used  to  denote  a  sudden  and  short-lasting 
crescendo.  It  is  applied  generally  to  a  whole 
phrase  however  short,  and  has  the  same  meaning 
as  sforzando,  which  is  only  applied  to  single  notes. 
It  is  sometimes  used  in  concerted  music  to  give  a 
momentary  prominence  to  a  subordinate  part,  as 
for  instance  in  the  Beethoven  Quartet,  op.  95,  in 
the  Allegretto,  where  the  violoncello  part  is 
marked  rinforzando,  when  it  has  the  second 


136 


RINFORZANDO. 


section  of  the   principal  subject  of  the  move 
ment.  [J.A.F.M.] 

RINK  or  RINCK,  JOHANN  CHRISTIAN  HEIN- 
BICH,  the  celebrated  organist  and  composer  for 
his  instrument,  born  at  Elgersburg  in  Saxe-Gotha, 
Feb.  1 8,  1770,  and  died  at  Darmstadt,  Aug.  7, 
1846.  His  talent  developed  itself  at  an  early 
period,  and,  like  JOHANN  SCHNEIDER  [see  that 
name],  he  had  the  advantage  of  a  direct  tradi 
tional  reading  of  the  works  of  Sebastian  Bach, 
having  studied  at  Erfurt  under  Kittel,  one  of 
the  great  composer's  best  pupils.  Rink  having  sat 
at  the  feet  of  Forkel  at  the  University  of  Gottin- 
gen,  obtained  in  1 789  the  organistship  of  Giessen, 
where  he  held  several  other  musical  appointments. 
In  1806  he  became  organist  at  Darmstadt,  and 
'professor'  at  its  college;  in  1813  was  appointed 
Court  organist,  and  in  1817  chamber  musician 
to  the  Grand  Duke  (Ludwig  I).  Rink  made 
several  artistic  tours  in  Germany,  his  playing 
always  eliciting  much  admiration.  At  Treves,  in 
1827,  he  was  greeted  with  special  honour.  He 
received  various  decorations, — in  1831  member 
ship  of  the  Dutch  Society  for  Encouragement 
of  Music ;  in  1838  the  cross  of  the  first  class 
from  his  Grand  Duke ;  in  1840  '  Doctor  of  Philo 
sophy  and  Arts '  from  the  University  of  Giesseu. 
Out  of  his  125  works  a  few  are  for  chamber, 
including  sonatas  for  PF.,  violin,  and  violoncello, 
and  PF.  duets.  But  his  reputation  is  based 
on  his  organ  music,  or  rather  on  his  '  Practical 
Organ  School,'  a  standard  work.  Rink's  compo 
sitions  for  his  instrument  show  no  trace  of  such 
sublime  influence  as  might  have  been  looked  for 
from  a  pupil,  in  the  second  generation,  of  Bach ; 
indeed  throughout  them  fugue-writing  is  con 
spicuous  by  its  absence.  But  without  attaining 
the  high  standard  which  has  been  reached  by 
living  composers  for  the  instrument  in  Ger 
many,  his  organ-pieces  contain  much  that  is 
interesting  to  an  organ  student,  and  never  de 
generate  into  the  debased  and  flippant  style  of 
the  French  or  English  organ-music  so  prevalent 
at  present. 

Rink's  name  will  always  live  as  that  of  an 
executant,  and  of  a  safe  guide  towards  the  form 
ation  of  a,  sound  and  practical  organ-player  ; 
and  his  works  comprise  many  artistic  studies. 
Amongst  these  the  more  important  are  the 
'Practical  Organ  School,'  in  six  divisions  (op. 
55),  and  'Preludes  for  Chorales,'  issued  at  vari 
ous  periods.  He  also  composed  for  the  church 
a  'Pater  Noster'  for  four  voices  with  organ 
(op.  59) ;  motets,  '  Praise  the  Lord'  (op.  88) 
and  'God  be  merciful'  (op.  109);  12  chorales  for 
men's  voices,  etc.  [H.S.O.] 

RIOTTE,  PHILIPP  JACOB,  born  at  St.  Mendel, 
Treves,  Aug.  16,  1776.  Andre  of  Offenbach  was 
his  teacher  in  music,  and  he  made  his  first 
appearance  at  Frankfort  in  Feb.  1 804.  In  1 806 
he  was  music-director  at  Gotha.  In  1808  he 
conducted  the  French  operas  before  the  assembled 
royalties  at  the  Congress  of  Erfurt.  In  April 
1809  his  operetta  'Das  Grenzstadtchen '  was 
produced  at  the  Karnthnerthor  Theatre,  Vienna, 
and  thenceforward  Vienna  was  his  residence.  In 


RISPOSTA. 

1818  he  became  eonductor  at  the  Theatre  an- 
der-Wien,  beyond  which  he  does  not  seem  to 
have  advanced  up  to  his  death,  Aug.  20.  1856. 
The  list  of  his  theatrical  works  is  immense. 
His  biography  in  Wurzbach's  Lexicon  enumer 
ates,  between  1809  and  1848,  no  less  than  48 
pieces,  operas,  operettas,  ballets,  pantomimes, 
music  to  plays,  etc.,  written  mostly  by  himself,  and 
sometimes  in  conjunction  with  others.  In  1852 
he  wound  up  his  long  labours  by  a  cantata  '  The 
Crusade,'  which  was  performed  in  the  great 
Redoutensaal,  Vienna,  with  much  applause.  In 
other  notices  he  is  said  to  have  produced  an 
opera  called  'Mozart's  Zauberflote'  at  Prague 
about  1820.  He  left  also  a  symphony  (op.  25), 
9  solo-sonatas,  6  do.  for  PF.  and  violin,  3  con 
certos  for  clarinet  and  orchestra,  but  these  are 
defunct.  He  became  very  popular  by  a  piece 
called  '  The  Battle  of  Leipzig,'  for  PF.  solo,  which 
was  republished  over  half  Germany,  and  had  a 
prodigious  sale. 

In  a  letter  to  the  Archduke  Rudolph  (Thayer, 
iii.  195),  Beethoven  mentions  that  the  fineness  of 
the  day  and  his  going  in  the  evening  to  '  Wanda' 
at  the  theatre  had  prevented  his  attending  to 
some  wish  of  the  Archduke's.  '  Wanda,  Queen  of 
the  Samartians'  was  a  tragedy  of  Z.  Werner's, 
with  music  by  Riotte,  played  from  March  16  to 
April  20,  1812.  [G.] 

RIPIENO,  'supplementary.'  The  name  given 
to  the  accompanying  instruments  in  the  orches 
tras,  and  especially  in  the  orchestral  concertos  of 
the  1 7th  and  i8th  centuries,  which  were  only 
employed  to  fill  in  the  harmonies  and  to  support 
the  solo  or  '  concertante '  parts.  [See  CONCER- 
TANTE,  vol.  i.  p.  3856.]  [J.A.F.M.] 

RISELEY,  GEORGE,  born  at  Bristol,  Aug.  28, 
1 845  ;  elected  chorister  of  Bristol  Cathedral  in 
1852,  and  in  Jan.  1862  articled  to  Mr.  John  Davis 
Corfe,  the  Cathedral  organist,  for  instruction  in 
the  organ,  pianoforte,  harmony,  and  counterpoint. 
During  the  next  ten  years  he  was  organist  at 
various  churches  in  Bristol  and  Clifton,  at  the 
same  time  acting  as  deputy  at  the  Cathedral.  In 
1870  he  was  appointed  organist  to  the  Colston 
Hall,  Bristol,  where  he  started  weekly  recitals  of 
classical  and  popular  music,  and  in  1876  suc 
ceeded  Mr.  Corfe  as  organist  to  the  Cathedral. 
During  the  last  five  years,  Mr.  Riseley  has 
devoted  his  energies  to  the  improvement  of 
orchestral  music  in  Bristol,  where  he  has  now 
collected  an  excellent  orchestra  of  fifty  players. 
In  1877  he  started  his  orchestral  concerts,  which 
have  won  for  him  a  well- deserved  reputation. 
Notwithstanding  considerable  opposition,  and^no 
small  pecuniary  risk,  he  has  continued,  during 
each  season,  to  give  fortnightly  concerts,  at  which 
the  principal  works  of  the  classical  masters  have 
been  well  performed,  and  a  large  number  of 
interesting  novelties  by  modern  writers,  both 
English  and  foreign,  produced.  [W.B.S.] 

RISPOSTA  (Lat.  Comes;  Eng.  Answer).  The 
Answer  to  the  Subject  of  a  Fugue,  or  Point  of 
Imitation.  [See  PROPOSTA.] 

In   Real   Fugue,    the    Answer   imitates  the 


EISPOSTA. 

Subject,  Interval  for  Interval.  In  Tonal  Fugue 
the  Tonic  is  always  answered  by  the  Dominant, 
and  vice  versa.  In  both,  the  Imitation  is  usually 
conducted,  either  in  the  Fifth  above  the  Proposta, 
or  the  Fourth  below  it,  when  the  Subject  begins 
upon  the  Tonic ;  and,  in  the  Fourth  above,  or 
the  Fifth  below,  when  it  begins  upon  the  Domi 
nant.  [See  FUGUE,  REAL  FUGUE,  TONAL  FUGUE, 
SUBJECT.]  [W.S.R." 

RITARDANDO  ;  RITENENTE ;  RITEN- 
UTO.     [See  RALLENTANDO.] 

RITORNELLO  (Abbrev.  Eitornel,  Eitor. 
Fr.  Ritournelle).  I.  An  Italian  word,  literally 
signifying,  a  little  return,  or  repetition ;  but 
more  frequently  applied,  in  a  conventional  sense, 

(1)  to   a   short   Instrumental    Melody,    played 
between  the  Scenes  of  an  Opera,  or  even  during 
their  action,  either  for  the  purpose  of  enforcing 
some  particular  dramatic  effect,  or  of  amusing 
the  audience  during  the  time  occupied  in  the 
preparation  of  some  elaborate  'Set-Scene';  or, 

(2)  to  the  symphonies  introduced  between  the 
vocal  phrases  of  a  Song,  or  Anthem. 

i .  The  earliest  known  use  of  the  term,  in  its 
first  sense,  is  to  be  found  in  Peri's  '  Euridice,' 
in  connexion  with  a  melody  for  3  flutes,  which, 
though  called  a  '  Zinfonia'  on  its  first  appear 
ance,  is  afterwards  repeated  under  the  title  of 
'  Ritornello.1  '  Euridice  '  was  first  printed  at 
Florence  in  1600,  and  at  Venice  in  1608.  [For 
the  Zinfonia,  see  vol.  ii.  of  this  Dictionary,  p. 

499-1 . 

A  similar  use  of  the  term  occurs  soon  after 
wards  in  Monteverde's  '  Orfeo,'  printed  at  Venice 
in  1609,  and  republished  in  1615.  In  this  work, 
the  Overture — there  called  Toccata — is  followed 
by  a  '  Ritornello'  in  5  parts,  the  rhythmic  form 
of  which  is  immeasurably  in  advance  of  the  age 
in  which  it  was  produced. 


RITTER. 


137 


I    is 


^*=&E^ 

rLKTTfr 


p 


±A 


t-t 


•^ 


f^ 


A4JJ. 


rr 


5ff 


i 


ft 


£FPFF 


fT=f 


it 


33 


J— «L 


*  At  this  mark,  the  two  upper  Parts  cross,  and  remain  inverted, 
until  the  sign  0. 

2.  When  Vocal  Music  with  Instrumental  Ac 
companiment  became  more  extensively  culti 
vated,  the  word  was  brought  into  common  use,  in 
its  second  sense,  as  applied  to  the  Instrumental 


Symphonies  of  a  Song,  or  other  Composition  for 
a  Solo  Voice.  Ritornelli  of  this  kind  were  freely 
used  by  Cavalli,  Cesti,  Carissirni,  and  many  other 
Composers  of  the  early  Venetian  Dramatic  School, 
who  imitated  their  manner.  An  example  from 
Cavalli's  '  II  Giasone,'  will  be  found  at  page  503 
of  our  second  volume.  Towards  the  close  of  the 
1 7th  century  such  instrumental  interpolations 
became  very  common,  in  all  styles  and  countries. 
For  instance,  in  early  editions  of  the  Verse 
Anthems  of  Croft,  Greene,  and  other  English 
Composers,  of  the  iyth  and  i8th  centuries,  we 
constantly  find  the  words  '  Ritornel.',  '  Ritor.',  or 
'  Rit.',  printed  over  little  Interludes,  which,  un 
known  in  the  more  severe  kind  of  Ecclesiastical 
Music,  formed  a  marked  feature  in  works  of  this 
particular  School,  frequently  embodying  some  of 
its  choicest  scraps  of  Melody,  as  in  Dr.  Boyce's 
Anthem,  'The  Heavens  declare  the  glory  of 
God':— 


Organ 


^ 


j=. 


S 


r—  t—  t 

^=F^ 

"^T 

—&  —  7^  

^l  i 
*    •* 

.    L  —  [ 

t- 
—  •  — 

=t=± 

-1-  

T  

In  later  editions  the  term  disappears,  its  place 
being  supplied,  in  the  same  passages,  by  the 
words  '  Organ,'  or  '  Sym.' ;  which  last  abbre 
viation  is  almost  invariably  found  in  old  copies 
of  Handel's  Songs,  and  other  similar  Music,  in 
which  the  Symphonies  are  interpolated,  as  often 
as  opportunity  permits,  upon  the  line  allotted  to 
the  Voice. 

IL  An  antient  form  of  Italian  Verse,  in  which 
each  Strophe  consists  of  three  lines,  the  first  and 
third  of  which  rhyme  with  each  other,  after  the 
manner  of  the  Terza  rima  of  Dante.  Little  Folk- 
Songs  of  this  character  are  still  popular,  under 
the  name  of  'Ritornelli'  or  '  Stornelli/  among 
the  peasants  of  the  Abruzzi  and  other  mountain 
regions  of  Italy.  [W.  S.  R.] 

RITTER,  FKEDERIO  Louis,  born  at  Strasburg, 
1834.  His  paternal  ancestors  were  Spanish,  and 
the  family  name  was  originally  Caballero.  His 
musical  studies  were  begun  at  an  early  age  under 
Hauser  and  Schletterer,  and  continued  at  Paris 
(whither  he  was  sent  when  16  years  of  age)  under 
the  supervision  of  his  cousin,  Georges  Kastner. 
Possessed  with  the  idea  that  beyond  the  Rhine 
he  would  find  better  opportunities  for  the  study 
of  composition,  he  ran  away  to  Germany,  where 
be  remained  for  two  years,  assiduously  pursuing 
bis  studies  with  eminent  musicians,  and  attending 
concerts  whenever  good  music  could  be  heard. 
Returning  to  Lorraine,  aged  1 8,  he  was  nominated 
Drofessor  of  music  in  the  Protestant  seminary  of 
Fenestrange,  and  invited  to  conduct  a  Socie"t£  de 


133 


HITTER. 


Concerts  at  Bordeaux.  The  representations  made 
by  some  of  his  family  who  had  settled  in  America 
induced  him  to  visit  the  New  World.  He  spent 
a  few  years  in  Cincinnati,  where  his  enthusiasm 
worked  wonders  in  the  development  of  taste.  The 
Cecilia  (choral)  and  Philharmonic  (orchestral) 
Societies  were  established  by  him,  and  a  large 
number  of  important  works  presented  at  their 
concerts  for  the  first  time  in  the  United  States. 
In  1862  Hitter  went  to  New  York,  becoming 
conductor  of  the  Sacred  Harmonic  Society  for 
seven  years,  and  of  the  Arion  Choral  Society 
(male  voices),  and  instituting  (1867)  the  first 
musical  festival  held  in  that  city.  In  1867  he 
was  appointed  director  of  the  musical  department 
of  Vassar  College,  Poughkeepsie,  whither  he  re 
moved  in  1874  on  resigning  his  conductorships. 
The  University  of  the  City  of  New  York  con 
ferred  on  him  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Music  in 
1878.  He  still  retains  (1881)  the  directorship  of 
the  musical  studies  ab  Vassar  College.  Hitter's 
literary  labours  have  included  articles  on  musical 
topics  printed  in  French,  German  and  American 
periodicals.  His  most  important  work  is  '  A 
History  of  Music,  in  the  Form  of  Lectures' — 
vol.  i.  1870  ;  vol.  ii.  1874,  Boston  J  both  repub- 
lished  by  W.  Keeves,  London,  1876;  vol.  iii.  is 
in  preparation.  As  a  composer,  Hitter  may  be 
classed  with  the  modern  Franco-German  school. 
The  following  works  have  appeared  in  the 
catalogues  of  Hamburg,  Leipzig,  Mayence  and 
New  York  publishers  : — 


Op.  1.  'Hafis,'  cyclus  of  Persian 
songs. 

2.  Preambule  Scherzo,  PF. 

3.  10  children's  songs. 

4.  Fairy  Love. 

5.  8  PF.  pieces. 

6.  6  songs. 

7.  5  choruses,  male  voices. 

8.  Psalm  xxiii,  female  voices. 


Op.  10.  6  songs.  10  Irish  Melodies, 
with  new  PF.  acct. 

11.  Organ  fantasia  and  fugue. 

12.  Voices  of  the  Night,  PF. 
'  0  Salutaris,'  baritone,  organ. 

'  Ave  Maria,'  mezzo-sopr.,  organ. 
'  Parting,'  song,  mezzo-soprano. 
A  Practical  Method  for  the  In 
struction  of  Chorus-classes. 


The   following   are   his    most    important  un 
published  compositions  : — 


3  Symphonies— A,  E  minor,  E  b. 
'  Stella,'  Poeme-symphonique, 
d'apres  V.  Hugo. 
Overture, '  Othello.' 


Concerto,  PF.  and  orch. 
Fantasia,  bass  clarinet  and  orch. 
1  string  quartet ;  3  do. 
Psalm  xlvi,  solo,  chor.  and  orch. 


All  of  the  above  were  produced  at  the  concerts 
of  the  New  York  and  Brooklyn  Philharmonic 
Societies,  1867-1876. 

Dr.  Hitter's  wife,  n£e  Raymond,  is  known 
under  the  name  of  FANNY  RAYMOND  HITTEK  as 
an  author  and  translator  of  works  on  musical 
subjects.  She  has  brought  out  translations  of 
Ehlert's  'Letters  on  Music,  to  a  Lady';  and  of 
Schumann's  Essays  and  Criticisms — '  Music  and 
Musicians  ' ;  and  a  pamphlet  entitled  '  Women 
as  a  Musician '  —  all  published  by  Reeves, 
London.  [F.H.J.] 

ROBERT  BRUCE.  A  pasticcio  adapted  by 
Niedermeyer  from  four  of  Rossini's  operas  — 
'Zelmira,'  the  'Donna  del  Lago,'  'Torvaldo  e 
Dorliska,'  and  'Bianca  e  Faliero.'  Produced 
without  success  at  the  Academic  Royale,  Dec. 
30,  1846.  It  is  published  in  Italian  as  '  Roberto 
Bruce '  by  Ricordi.  [G.] 

ROBERT  LE  DIABLE.  Opera  in  5  acts; 
words  by  Scribe,  music  by  Meyerbeer.  Pro- 


HOBIN  AD  AIR. 

duced  at  the  Acade'mie,  Paris,  Nov.  21,  1831. 
In  London,  and  in  English,  imperfectly,  as  '  The 
Demon,  or  the  Mystic  Branch '  at  Drury  Lane, 
Feb.  20,  1832,  and  as  'The  Fiend  Father,  or 
Robert  of  Normandy'  at  Covent  Garden  the 
day  following ;  as  '  Robert  the  Devil '  at  Drury 
Lane  (Bunn),  March  I,  1845.  In  French,  at 
Her  Majesty's,  June  n,  1832,  with  Nourrit, 
Levasseur,  Damoreau.  In  Italian,  at  Her  Ma 
jesty's,  May  4,  1847  (first  appearance  of  Jenny 
Lind  and  Staudigl — Mendelssohn  was  in  the 
house).  [G.] 

ROBERTO  DEVEREUX,  CONTE  D'ES- 
SEX.  An  opera  in  3  acts  ;  libretto  by  Camerano 
from  Thomas  Corneille's  '  Comte  d'Essex,'  music 
by  Donizetti.  Produced  in  Naples  in  1836 ;  at  the 
Italiens,  Paris,  Dec.  27, 1838  ;  at  Her  Majesty's 
Theatre,  London,  June  24,  1841.  The  overture 
contains  the  air  of '  God  save  the  King.'  [G.] 

ROBERTS,  J.  VAKLEY,  Mus.  Doc.,  native  of 
Stanningley,  near  Leeds,  born  Sept.  25,  1841. 
He  exhibited  much  early  ability  for  music,  and 
at  twelve  was  appointed  organist  of  S.  John's, 
Farsley,  near  Leeds.  In  1862  he  became  organist 
of  S.  Bartholomew's,  Armley,  and  in  1868  re 
ceived  his  present  appointment  of  organist  and 
choirmaster  of  the  parish  church,  Halifax,  after 
a  competitive  trial,  Dr.  E.  G.  Monk  acting  as 
umpire.  In  1871  he  graduated  Mus.  Bac.,  and 
in  1876  Mus.  Doc.,  at  Christ  Church,  Oxford. 
During  his  organistship  at  Halifax,  upwards  of 
£3000  have  been  raised  to  enlarge  the  organ, 
originally  built  by  Snetzler  —  the  instrument 
upon  which  Sir  Wm.  Herschel,  the  renowned 
astronomer,  formerly  played — and  it  is  now- 
one  of  the  finest  and  largest  in  the  North  of 
England. 

In  1876  Dr.  Roberts  became  a  Fellow  in  the 
College  of  Organists,  London.  He  has  pub 
lished  a  sacred  cantata,  '  Jonah/  for  voices  and 
orchestra  (Novello);  an  Appendix  and  a  Sup 
plement  to  Cheetham's  Psalmody ;  a  Morning 
Communion  and  Evening  Service  in  D;  an 
Evening  Service  in  F ;  anthems,  organ  volun 
taries,  and  songs.  [G.] 

ROBIN  ADAIR  or  EILEEN  AHOON.  This 
air  first  became  popular  in  England  in  the  second 
half  of  the  last  century,  through  the  eminent 
Italian  singer  Tenducci.  He  was  one  of  the 
original  singers  in  Arne's  opera  of '  Artaxerxes/ 
produced  in  1762,  and  was  afterwards  engaged 
by  Dr.  Arne  to  accompany  him  to  Ireland,  where 
he  probably  learnt  this  song.  It  is  certain  that 
he  sang  'Eileen  Aroon'  in  the  Irish  language, 
the  words  being  written  out  phonetically  for  him. 
He  sang  also  at  Ranelagh  Gardens,  and  an  edi 
tion  with  the  Irish  words  '  sung  by  Signer  Ten 
ducci,'  was  published  in  London  with  music  on 
a  half  sheet.  In  Ireland  he  had  drawn  especial 
attention  to  the  air,  and  among  the  English- 
speaking  part  of  the  population  several  songs  of 
local  interest  were  written  to  it,  making  Robin 
Adair  the  burthen.  For  these,  which  do  not 
in  any  way  concern  the  tune,  the  curious  are 
referred  to  the  indexes  to  the  3rd,  4th,  and  5th 


ROBIN  ADAIE. 

series  of '  Notes  and  Queries.'   It  is  here  sufficient 
to  show  by  the  correspondence  between  the  poet 
Burns  and  George  Thomson,  that  the  air  was 
known  as  'Robin  Adair'  before  Braham  reintro- 
duced  it  here.     In  the  published  correspondence 
between  Thomson  the  music  publisher,  for  whom 
Haydn  and  Beethoven  both  harmonized  Scotch 
airs,  and  Burns,  Thomson,  writing  in  August, 
1793,  says,  'I  shall   be  glad  to  see  you  give 
Robin  Adair  a  Scottish  dress.    Peter  [Pindar]  is 
furnishing  him  with  an  English  suit  for  a  change, 
and  you  are  well  matched  together.     Robin's  air 
is  excellent,  though  he  certainly  has  an  out-of- 
the-way  measure  as  ever  poor  Parnassian  wight 
was  plagued  with.'     To  this  Burns  answered  in 
the  same  month :    '  I  have  tried   my  hand   on 
"Robin  Adair,"  and,   you  will   probably  think 
with  little  success ;  but  it  is  such  a  cursed,  cramp, 
out-of-the-way  measure,  that  I  despair  of  doing 
anything  better  to  it.'     He  then  sends  '  Phillis 
the  fair,'  and,  a  few  days  later,  writes  again, 
'That  crinkum-crankum  tune,  "  Robin  Adair," 
has  been  running  in  my  head,  and  I  succeeded 
so  ill  on  my  last  attempt,  that  I  have  ventured, 
in  this  morning's  walk,  one  essay  more.'     He 
then  encloses  '  Had  I  a  cave.' 

It  is  difficult  to  tell  who  wrote  the  words  of 
the  present  song  of  Robin  Adair.  The  name  of 
the  author  is  not  upon  the  original  title-page. 
Peter  Pindar's  songs  (Dr.  John  Wolcott's)  are 
not  included  in  his  collected  works,  being  then 
the  copyright  of  Messrs  Goulding  &  D'Al- 
maine,  who  bought  all  for  an  annuity  of  £250, 
and,  as  Peter  was  christened  in  1738  and  died 
in  1819,  it  was  a  dear  bargain.  The  popularity 
of  Robin  Adair  dates  from  Braham's  benefit  at 
the  Lyceum  Theatre  on  December  17,  1811. 
He  then  sang  the  air  with  great  applause,  but 
as  the  vowels  are  long  in  '  Eileen,'  and  short  in 
'Robin,'  he  introduced  the  acciaccatura,  which 
Dr.  Burney  calls  the  '  Scotch  snap.'  The  change 
will  be  more  intelligible  in  notes  than  in  de 
scription.  Thus  : — 


ROBINSON. 


139 


3 


g 


Tuc-ee    non  von  -  ee  tu,  Ei  -  leen      A    -     roon. 


E 


fl — £3- 

fcpt 


What  's  this  dull  town  to  me,  Bo  -  bin  's   not        near. 


We  give  the  line  in  its  accurate  translitera 
tion,  as  kindly  supplied  by  Dr.  P.  W.  Joyce,  the 
eminent  Irish  collector  : — 

Tiocu-faidh  n6'n  bhfan  faidh  tu,  Eibhlin  a  ruin  ? 

[W.C.] 

ROBIN  DES  BOIS.  The  title  of  the  French 
version  of  '  Der  Freischtitz '  at  its  first  appear 
ance  in  Paris  (Ode~on,  Dec.  7,  1824;  Ope"ra 
Comique,  Jan.  15, 1835  ;  Lyrique,  Jan.  24, 1855). 
The  libretto  was  made  by  Sauvage ;  the  names 
of  the  characters  were  changed,  the  action  and 
the  story  were  altered,  portions  of  '  Preciosa '  and 
'  Oberon '  were  introduced,  and  the  piece  was 
made  to  end  happily.  The  alterations  were  due 
to  Castil  Blaze,  who  to  save  expense  scored  the 


music  himself  from  a  PF.  copy.  Nevertheless, 
with  all  these  drawbacks,  so  great  was  the  popu 
larity  of  the  music  that  Castil  Blaze  made  a  large 
sum  of  money  by  it.  For  the  translation  by  Pacini 
and  Berlioz  see  FBEISCHUTZ,  vol.  i.  p.  562.  [G.] 

ROBIN  HOOD.  An  opera  in  3  acts ;  words 
by  John  Oxenford,  music  by  G.  A.  Macfarren. 
Produced  at  Her  Majesty's  Theatre,  London, 
Oct.  n,  1860,  and  had  a  very  great  run.  [G.] 

ROBINSON,  ANASTASIA,  was  daughter  of  a 
portrait  painter,  who,  becoming  blind,  was  com 
pelled  to  qualify  his  children  to  gain  their  own 
livelihood.  Anastasia  received  instruction  from 
Dr.  Croft,  Pier  Giuseppe  Sandoni,  and  the  singer 
called  The  Baroness,  successively.  She  appeared 
as  Ariana  in  Handel's  'Amadigi,'  May  25, 1715; 
and  in  1720  at  the  King's  Theatre  as  Echo  in 
Domenico  Scarlatti's  opera,  '  Narcisso.'  She 
afterwards  sang  in  the  pasticcio  of  '  Muzio  Scse- 
vola.'in  Handel's  'Ottone,' '  Floridante,'  'Flavio,' 
and  'Giulio  Cesare';  in  Buononcini's  'Crispo' 
and  'Griselda,'  and  other  operas.  Her  salary  was 
£1000  for  the  season,  besides  a  benefit-night.  She 
possessed  a  fine  voice  of  extensive  compass,  but 
her  intonation  was  uncertain.  She  quitted  the 
stage  in  1723,  on  being  privately  married  to  the 
Earl  of  Peterborough,  who  did  not  avow  the  mar 
riage  until  shortly  before  his  death  in  1735,  al 
though,  according  to  one  account,  she  resided 
with  him  as  mistress  of  the  house,  and  was 
received  as  such  by  the  Earl's  friends.  Accord 
ing  to  another  account,  she  resided  with  her 
mother  in  a  house  near  Fulham,  which  the  Earl 
took  for  them,  and  never  lived  under  the  same 
roof  with  him,  until  she  attended  him  in  a 
journey  in  search  of  health,  a  short  time  before 
his  death.  The  Countess  survived  until  1750. 
There  is  a  fine  portrait  of  her  by  Faber  after 
Vanderbank,  172  7- 

Her  younger  sister,  MARGARET,  intended  for  a 
miniature  painter,  preferred  being  a  singer.  She 
studied  under  Buononcini,  and  afterwards  at  Paris 
under  Rameau ;  but  though  an  excellent  singer, 
was  said  to  have  been  prevented  by  timidity  from 
ever  appearing  in  public.1  A  fortunate  marriage, 
however,  relieved  her  from  the  necessity  of  ob 
taining  her  own  subsistence.  [W.  H.  H.] 

ROBINSON,  JOHN,  born  1682,  was  a  chorister 
of  the  Chapel  Royal  under  Dr.  Blow.  He  subse 
quently  became  organist  of  St.  Lawrence,  Jewry, 
and  St.  Magnus,  London  Bridge.  Hawkins,  in 
his  History,  describes  him  as  '  a  very  florid  and 
elegant  performer  on  the  organ,  inasmuch  that 
crowds  resorted  to  hear  him ' ;  and  elsewhere 
says :  '  In  parish  churches  the  voluntary  between 
the  Psalms  and  the  First  Lesson  was  anciently  a 
slow,  solemn  movement,  tending  to  compose  the 
minds  and  excite  sentiments  of  piety  and  devo 
tion.  Mr.  Robinson  introduced  a  different  prac 
tice,  calculated  to  display  the  agility  of  his  fingers 
in  allegro  movements  on  the  cornet,  trumpet, 


l  A  'Miss  Rohinson,  jun.,'  appeared  at  Drury  Lane,  Jan.  2, 1729,  as 
Ariel  in  '  The  Tempest.'  It  is  possible  that  this  was  Margaret  Eobin- 
son. 


140 


ROBINSON. 


sesquialtera,  and  other  noisy  stops,  degrading  the 
instrument,  and  instead  of  the  full  and  noble 
harmony  with  which  it  was  designed  to  gratify 
the  ear,  tickling  it  with  mere  airs  in  two  parts, 
in  fact  solos  for  a  flute  and  a  bass.'  On  Sept.  30, 
1727,  Robinson  was  appointed  to  succeed  Dr. 
Croft  as  organist  of  Westminster  Abbey.  He 
had  an  extensive  practice  as  a  teacher  of  the 
harpsichord,  and  will  be  long  remembered  in  the 
English  Church  by  his  double  chant  in  Eb.  He 
died  April  30,  1762,  and  was  buried,  May  13,  in 
the  north  aisle  of  Westminster  Abbey.  He 
married,  Sept.  6,  1716,  Ann,  youngest  daughter 
of  William  Turner,  Mus.  Doc.  She  was  a  singer, 
and  appeared  at  the  King's  Theatre  in  1720  in 
Domenico  Scarlatti's  opera  'Narcissus,'  being  de 
scribed  as  '  Mrs.  Turner-Bobinson '  to  distinguish 
her  from  Anastasia  Robinson,  who  sang  in  the 
same  opera.  She  died  Jan.  5,  and  was  buried 
Jan.  8,  174!)  in  the  west  cloister  of  Westminster 
Abbey.  Robinson  had  a  daughter,  who  was  a 
contralto  singer  and  the  original  representative  of 
Daniel  in  Handel's  oratorio  '  Belshazzar,'  1745, 
and  also  sang  in  others  of  his  oratorios.  [W.H.H.] 

ROBINSON,  JOSEPH,  was  the  youngest  of 
four  brothers,  born  and  resident  in  Dublin. 
Their  father  Francis  was  an  eminent  professor 
of  music,  and  in  1810  was  mainly  instrumental 
in  founding  'the  Sons  of  Handel,'  probably  the 
earliest  society  established  there  for  the  execution 
of  large  works.  His  son  Francis,  Mus.  Doc., 
had  a  tenor  voice  of  great  beauty  and  sympathetic 
quality  ;  was  a  vicar-choral  of  the  two  Dublin 
Cathedrals ;  and,  at  the  Musical  Festival  in 
Westminster  Abbey,  in  June  1834,  sang  a  prin 
cipal  part.  Another  son,  William,  had  a  deep 
bass  of  exceptional  volume;  while  John,  the 
organist  of  both  Cathedrals  and  of  Trinity  Col 
lege,  had  a  tenor  ranging  to  the  high  D.  The 
four  brothers  formed  an  admirable  vocal  quartet, 
and  were  the  first  to  make  known  the  German 
Part-songs  then  rarely  heard  either  in  England 
or  Ireland. 

JOSEPH  ROBINSON — born  in  Aug.  1816 — was 
a  chorister  of  St.  Patrick's  at  the  early  age  of 
eight,  and  afterwards  a  member  of  all  the  choirs, 
where  his  fine  delivery  of  recitative  was  always 
a  striking  feature.  He  also  played  in  the 
orchestra  of  the  Dublin  Philharmonic.  But  it 
is  as  a  conductor  that  his  reputation  is  best 
established.  In  1834  he  founded  the  'Antient 
Society,'  of  which  he  was  conductor  for  29  years, 
and  which  ceased  to  exist  soon  after  his  resigna 
tion.  It  commenced  its  meetings  in  a  private 
house,  then  took  a  large  room,  now  the  Royal 
Irish  Academy  of  Antiquities,  and  in  1843  had 
made  such  progress  that  it  purchased  and  re 
modelled  the  building  since  known  as  the  'Antient 
Concert  Rooms.'  Many  of  the  standard  works  of 
the  old  masters  were  produced,  but  thos&of  modern 
genius  were  not  excluded.  Thus  Mendelssohn's 
'  Elijah '  was  performed  in  1 847,  the  year  after  its 
first  production  at  Birmingham.  The  '  Hymn  of 
Praise,' '  The  Sons  of  Art,'  and  '  St.  Paul '  were  all 
given  at  early  dates.  The  society  was  not  large ; 
rather  a,  choir  than  a  chorus ;  but  it  was  the  first  , 


ROBINSON. 

to  teach  the  Dublin  public  what  beauty  could  be 
developed  in  the  execution  of  a  work,  by  attention 
to  the  conductor's  baton,  with  every  gradation 
of  effect.  Amongst  the  last  things  written  by 
Mendelssohn  was  the  instrumentation  of  his 
'  Hear  my  Prayer '  (originally  composed  for 
voices  and  organ  only),  expressly  for  Mr. 
Robinson  to  produce  at  the  '  Antients.'  It  did 
not  reach  him  till  after  the  composer's  death. 
[See  MENDELSSOHN,  vol.  ii.  2836.]  In  1837116 
became  conductor  of  the  '  University  Choral  So 
ciety,'  founded  by  the  students.  At  one  of  its 
concerts  the  music  of 'Antigone'  was  given  for 
the  first  time  out  of  Germany.  He  continued  to 
conduct  the  Society  for  10  years,  and  it  still 
flourishes  under  Sir  Robert  Stewart. 

In  1849  a  y°uno  pianiste,  Miss  FANNY 
ARTHUR  (born  Sept.  1831),  arrived  in  Dublin 
from  Southampton,  and  made  her  first  successful 
appearance  there — Feb.  19, 1849.  Mr.  Robinson 
and  she  were  married  July  17  following,  and 
she  continued  for  30  years  to  be  an  extraordinary 
favourite.  Her  first  appearance  in  London  was 
at  the  Musical  Union,  June  26,  1855,  when  she 
played  Beethoven's  Sonata  in  F  (op.  24),  with 
Ernst,  and  received  the  praises  of  Meyerbeer ; 
also  at  the  New  Philharmonic,  where  she  played 
Mendelssohn's  Concerto  in  D.  In  1852,  at  the 
opening  of  the  Cork  Exhibition,  Mr.  Robinson 
conducted  the  music,  which  was  on  a  large 
scale,  and  included  a  new  cantata  by  Sir  Robert 
Stewart.  In  1853,  an  International  Exhibi 
tion  was  opened  in  Dublin  ;  there  he  assembled 
1000  performers,  the  largest  band  and  chorus 
yet  brought  together  in  Ireland,  and  produced 
a  fine  effect. 

In  1856  efforts  were  made  to  revive  the 
'Irish  Academy  of  Music,'  founded  in  1848,  but 
languishing  for  want  of  funds  and  pupils.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Robinson  joined  as  Professors,  and 
created  Vocal  and  Pianoforte  Schools  of  great 
excellence.  Nearly  all  the  Irish  artists,  in  both 
lines,  who  appeared  during  their  tune,  owed  both 
training  and  success  to  their  teaching ;  and  when, 
after  20  years,  Mr.  Robinson  resigned,  the  In 
stitution  was  one  of  importance  and  stability. 

In  1859,  f°r  the  Handel  Centenary,  he  gave 
the  '  Messiah,'  with  Jenny  Lind  and  Belletti 
among  the  principals.  The  net  receipts  amounted 
to  £900,  an  unprecedented  sum  in  Dublin.  In 
1865  the  large  Exhibition  Palace  was  opened 
by  the  Prince  of  Wales,  and  Mr.  Robinson  con 
ducted  the  performance  with  a  band  and  chorus 
of  700. 

After  the  cessation  of  the  'Antients,'  there  was 
no  society  to  attempt  systematically  the  worthy 
production  of  great  works.  To  remedy  this  a 
chorus  was  trained  by  Mr.  Robinson,  and  estab 
lished  in  1876  as  the  'Dublin  Musical  Society.' 
It  gives  three  concerts  each  year,  with  300  per 
formers.  It  produces  great  choral  works,  new 
and  old,  is  attracting  a  regular  audience,  and  is 
steadily  educating  the  public  to  a  higher  tone. 
Some  time  since,  the  members  presented  Mr. 
Robinson  with  an  address  and  a  purse  of  100 
sovereigns.  The  purse  was  returned  by  him  with 


ROBINSON. 


ROCHLITZ. 


141 


warm  expressions  of  gratitude,  but  with  the  cha 
racteristic  words  '  While  I  think  a  professional 
man  should  expect  his  fair  remuneration,  yet  his 
chief  object  may  be  something  higher  and  nobler 
— the  advancement  of  art  in  his  native  city.' 

He  has  written  a  variety  of  songs,  concerted 
pieces  and  anthems,  beside  arranging  a  number 
of  standard  songs  and  Irish  melodies. 

Mrs.  Robinson  also  passed  a  very  active  musi 
cal  life,  though  often  interrupted  by  nervous  ill 
ness.  In  teaching  she  had  a  peculiar  power  of 
infusing  her  own  ideas  into  others.  She  played 
from  time  to  time  at  concerts  of  a  high  class, 
and  herself  gave  a  very  successful  concert  in 
Paris,  at  the  Salle  Erard  (Feb.  4, 1864).  Her 
pianoforte  compositions  are  numerous  and 
graceful.  Her  sacred  cantata,  '  God  is  Love,'  has 
been  repeatedly  performed  throughout  the  king 
dom,  and  has  realised  for  charities  about  £1000. 

On  Oct.  31,  1879,  she  met  a  sudden  and  tragic 
end,  which  caused  profound  regret.  On  her 
tomb  is  inscribed  the  motivo  of  the  Chorus  of 
Angels  from  her  own  Cantata  : — 


^s 


II 


Rest       in       the     Lord,  Blessed    in     the       Lord. 

[H.M.D.] 

ROBINSON,  THOMAS,  was  author  of  a  curious 
work  published  at  London  in  folio  in  1603,  bear 
ing  the  following  title — '  The  Schoole  of  Musicke: 
wherein  is  taught  the  perfect  method  of  the  true 
fingering  of  the  Lute,  Pandora,  Orpharion,  and 
Viol  de  Gamba;  with  most  infallible  general 
rules  both  easie  and  delightfull.  Also,  a  method, 
how  you  may  be  your  own  instructer  for  Prick- 
song  by  the  help  of  your  Lute  without  any  other 
teacher;  with  lessons  of  all  sorts  for  your  further 
and  better  instruction.'  Nothing  is  known  of  his 
biography.  [W.H.H.] 

ROCHE,  EDWARD,  born  at  Calais  Feb.  20, 
1828,  died  at  Paris  Dec.  16,  1861,  began  life  as 
a  violin  player,  first  as  Habeneck's  pupil  at  the 
Conservatoire,  but  quickly  relinquished  music 
for  literature.  Roche  translated  the  libretto  of 
Tannhauser  under  the  eyes  of  Wagner  himself, 
for  its  representation  at  the  Ope"ra,  March  13, 
1 86 1,  and  in  a  preface  to  his  'Poe'sies  post- 
humes'  (Paris,  Le>y,  1863)  M.  Sardou  has 
described  the  terrible  persistence  with  which 
Wagner  kept  his  translator  to  his  task.  (See  the 
article  in  Pougin's  supplement  to  Fe'tis.)  The 
opera  failed,  and  Roche's  labour  was  in  vain ;  he 
had  not  even  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  his  name 
in  print,  in  connexion  with  the  work,  for  even 
Lajarte  (Bibl.  Mus.  de  1'Opera,  ii.  230)  gives 
Nuitter  as  the  author  of  the  French  words. 
Besides  the  poems  contained  in  the  volume  cited, 
Roche  contributed  critical  articles  to  several 
small  periodicals.  [G.] 

ROCHLITZ,  FRTEDRICH  JOHANN,  critic,  and 
founder  of  the  '  Allgemeine  musikalische  Zeitung,' 
born  of  poor  parents  at  Leipzig,  Feb.  12,1 769.  His 
fine  voice  procured  his  admission  at  13  to  the  St. 
Thomas-school,  under  the  Cantorship  of  Doles, 


where  he  spent  six  years  and  a  half.  He  began  to 
study  theology  in  the  University,  but  want  of 
means  compelled  him  to  leave  and  take  a  tutor 
ship,  which  he  supplemented  by  writing.  He  also 
attempted  composition,  and  produced  a  mass,  a 
Te  Deum,  and  a  cantata,  '  Die  Vollendung  des 
Erlb'sers.'  In  1/98  he  founded  the  *  Allgemeine 
musikalische  Zeitung'  (Breitkopf  &  Hartel), 
and  edited  it  till  1818,  during  which  period  his 
articles  largely  contributed  totheimproved  general 
appreciation  of  the  works  of  the  three  great 
Austrian  composers,  Haydn,  Mozart,  and  Bee 
thoven,  in  North  Germany.  The  best  of  these 
were  afterwards  re-published  by  himself  under 
the  title  of  'Fur  Freunde  der  Tonkunst' — 
for  friends  of  music — in  4  vols.  (1824  to  1832, 
reprinted  later  by  Dorffel).  It  contains,  amongst 
other  matter,  an  interesting  account  of  a  visit 
to  Beethoven  at  Vienna  in  1822.  Another  im 
portant  work  was  a  collection  in  3  vols.  (Schott, 
1838  to  1840)  of  vocal  music,  from  Dufay  to 
Haydn,  in  chronological  order,  of  which  the  con 
tents  are  given  below.  The  first  two  volumes 
of  the  A.  M.  Z.  contain  a  series  of  anecdotes  on 
Mozart,  whose  acquaintance  he  made  during 
Mozart's  visit  to  Leipzig ;  but  Jahn,  in  the  pre 
face  to  his  'Mozart,'  has  completely  destroyed  the 
value  of  these  as  truthful  records. — Rochlitz  was 
a  good  connoisseur  of  paintings  and  engravings. 
In  1830  he  was  one  of  the  committee  appointed 
by  the  Council  of  Leipzig  to  draw  up  a  new 
hymn-book,  and  some  of  the  hymns  are  from  his 
own  pen.  He  also  wrote  the  librettos  for  Schicht's 
'  Ende  des  Gerechten, '  Spohr's  '  Last  Judgment ' 
and  '  Calvary,'  and  for  Bierey's  opera  '  Das  Blu- 
menmadchen. '  He  was  a  Hofrath  of  Saxony,  and 
died  Dec.  16,  1842.  [F.  G.] 

The  following  are  the  contents  of  the  collec 
tion  mentioned  above — '  Sammlung  vorzuglicher 
Gesangstiicke  vom  Ursprung  gesetzmassiger  Har- 
monie  bis  auf  die  neue  Zeit '  (Important  Pieces 
from  the  origin  of  regular  Harmony  to  modern 
times). 

FIRST  PERIOD  (1380-1550). 
1.  Dufay.    Kyrie,  a  4.    Se  la  face    9.  O.  Lasso.  Angelas  pastores,  a  5. 


ay  pale. 
Do.    Kyrie,   & 
arme1.' 


4.     '  L'omme 


3.  Ockeghem.  Kyrie  and  Christe, 

a  4. 

4.  Josquin  de  Pres.   Hymnus,  a  4. 

Tu  pauperum  refugium. 
6.    Do.  Zwischengesang  einer  der 
grOssten  Messen  des  Meisters, 
et  Incarnatus,  a  4, 

6.  Do.    Motet,  Misericordias  Do 

mini,  a  4. 

7.  0.  Lasso.    Regina  Cceli,  a  4. 

8.  Do.    Salve  Regina,  a  4. 


10.  Do.    Miserere,  Amplius,  Cor 

mundum,  Ne  proficeas,  Redde 
mihi,  etc.,  a  5. 

11.  C.    Goudimel.     Domine    quid 

multiplicati,  a  4. 

12.  Ch.  de  Morales.  Kyrie  et  Christe, 

a4. 
Do.    Gloria. 

14.  T.  Tallis.    Verba  mea,  a  4. 

15.  L.  Send.    Motet  on  a  Choral, 

'  Mag  ich  ungluck,'  a  4. 

16.  Do.    Deus  propitius  esto,  a  5. 

17.  Do.   Nunc  dimittis,  a  4. 


SECOND  PERIOD  (1550-1630). 


DO. 
Do. 


Falestrina.   Adoramus,  a  4. 

Do.    Gloria,  2  choirs,  a  4. 
Pleni  sunt,  a  3. 
O  bone  Jesu,  a  4. 

Do.  Populemeus,  2  choirs,  a  4. 

Do.    Madrigal,  '  Cedro  gentil,' 
a  5. 

Do.    Lauda  anima  mea,  a  4. 
G.  M.Nanini.  Stabat  mater,  a  4. 

Do.    Exaudi  nos,  a  4. 

Do.    Hsec  dies,  a  5. 
Vittoria.    Jesu  dulcis,  a  4. 

Do.   O  quam  gloriosum,  a  4. 
F.  Anerio.    Adoramus,  a  4. 

Do.    Christus  factus  est,  a  4. 
Allegri.  Miserere,  2  choirs,  a  5. 


16.  Gabrieli.    In  excelsis.  Soprano 

solo.  Tenor  solo  and  chorus, 
a  4,  with  3  horns,  2  trombones 
and  violins. 

17.  Do.    Benedictus,  3  choirs,  a  4. 

18.  BOhm.  Briider.     2  Lieder,  a  4: 

Der  Tag  vertreibt ;  Die  Nacht 
ist  kommen. 

19.  Do.  2  Lieder,  a  4 :  Verleih'  uns 

Frieden ;  mimm'  von  uns. 

20.  Walther.    ^terno  gratias,  a  4. 

21.  Gesfinge  Martin  Luthers,  a  4: 

Mit  Fried  und  Freud  ;  Es 
vroll'  uns  Gott :  Nun  komm 
der  Heiden  Heiland;  Christ 
lag ;  Jesus  Christus. 


142 


EOCHLITZ. 


22.  Callus.  Eccequomodomoritur 

Justus,  .1  4. 

23.  Do.    Adoramus,  &  6. 

24.  Do.    Media  vita,  2  choirs,  a  4. 

25.  Vulpius.    Exultate  justi,  ft  4. 

26.  Do.  SurrexitChristus,  2  choirs, 

a  4. 

27.  Walliser.     Gaudent  in  coelis,  2 

choirs,  ft  4. 


28.  Prastorius.    Ecce  Dominus,  48. 

Appendix. 

Palestrina.     Et    incarnatus,   etc. 
(from  mass  'Assumpta  est ').  &  6. 
Prsetorius.    O  vos  omnes. 


THIED  PERIOD  (1600-1700). 


5. 
6. 


1.  Caccini.    Solo  and  chorus,  Fu- 

neste  piaggie. 

2.  Do.    Chorus,  Blondo  arcier. 
8.  Carissimi.       Eecitative      and 

chorus,  Turbabuntur  (from 

Cantata    'Plaintes    des    re- 

prouveV). 
4.    Do.    Ardens  est  cor,  4  solos 

and  chorus. 
Do.    O  sacrum  convivium,  3 

solo  voices. 
Do.    Cantemus  omnes,  chorus 

and  scena  (JeBa). 
Plorate,  a  6. 

7.  Benevoli.  Sanctus,  4  choirs,  a  4. 

8.  Do.    Christe,  a  4. 

9.  Bernabei.    Alleluja,  il  4. 

10.  Do.    Salve  regina,  ft  4. 

11.  A.  Scarlatti.    Kyrie.  ft  4. 

Do.    Gloria,  a  5. 

Do.    Vacuum  est,  Canto  solo 

and  chorus,  with  violins. 
Do.    Sanctus,  ft  4,:  and  Agnus. 

ft  7. 

15.  Caldara.    Salve  regina,  a  3. 

16.  Do.    Agnus,  alto  and  tenor. 

17.  Do.    Qui  tollis.  ft  *. 


12. 
13. 

14. 


18.  Astorga.    Stabat. 

19.  Do.    Fac  me. 

20.  Do.    O  quam. 

21.  Durante.    Kyrie. 

22.  Do.    Kegina  angelorum. 

23.  Do.    Bequiem  aeternam. 

24.  Do.    Domine  Jesu. 

25.  Lotti.    Crucifixus,  a  6. 

26.  Do.    Qui  tollis,  a  4. 

27.  Do.    Crucifixus,  ft  8. 

28.  Marcello.     TJdir'  le    orecchie, 

Ps.  xliv,  ft  4. 

29.  Do.    Et  incarnatus,  ft  4. 

30.  Hasler.    Pater  noster,  ft  7. 

31.  H.    Schiitz.      6elig    slnd    die 

Todten,  ft  4. 

32.  Do.    Chorus,  Christus  isthier, 

ft  4. 

33.  Do.  Psalm,  Was  betrttbst  du  ? 

34.  Do.    Vater  unser. 

35.  V.  Leisring.     Trotz   sey  dem 

Teufel,  2  choirs,  ft  4. 

36.  Grimm.    Gloria,  ft  5. 

37.  J.  J.  Fux.    Domine  Jesu,  ft  4. 

38.  Do.     Tremd   la    terra,   Coro 

from  oratorio  'La  Deposi- 
zione.' 


FOURTH  PERIOD  (1700-1760). 


1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

6. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 
10. 
11. 

12. 

13. 
14. 

15. 

16. 
17. 

18. 

19. 
20. 
21. 

22. 


Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 


Handel.      Te    Deum,    in    D, 

Glorias  tuae. 

Do.  He  sent  a  thick  darkness. 
He  rebuked  the  Red  Sea. 
And  Israel  saw. 
Behold  the  Lamb  of  God. 
He  was  despised. 
Thy  rebuke. 
Lift  up  your  heads. 
Hear  Jacob's  God. 
Zadok  the  Priest. 
Christoph  Bach.   Ich  lasse  dich 

nicht. 
J.  S.  Bach.    :Nimm'  von  uns 

Herr. 

Do.    Mache  dich  mein  Geist. 
Do.    Wir  setzen  uns  Thriinen 

nieder. 
Do.  Wie  sich  ein  Vater.  Lobet 

den  Herrn. 
Zelenka.    Credo. 
Telemann.    Amen,    lob  und 

Ehre,  ft  8. 
Stolzel.    Gloria." 
Homilius.    Vater  unser,  ft  4. 
Pasterwitz.    Requiem. 
Basse.     Duet  and  Chorus,  Le 

porteanoi. 
Do.  Alto  solo.Ad  te  clamamus. 


23.  Basse.    Miserere,  and  Benigni. 

24.  Do.    Te  Deum,  ft  4. 

25.  Graun.  Machet  die  Thure  welt. 

26.  Do.    Tu  rex  glorias,  ft  4. 

27.  Do.    Freuet  euch  (Tod  Jesu). 

28.  Do.    Wir  hier  liegen.    Do. 

29.  Rolle.    Der  Herr  ist  KOnig. 

30.  Do.  Welt-Richter  (Tod  Abel). 

31.  Wolf.    Laus  et  perennis  gloria, 

ft  4. 

32.  Do.    Des  Lebens  Fiirsten. 

33.  C.  P.  E.  Bach.   Et  misericordia, 

ft  6,  from  Magnificat. 

34.  Do.    Heilig,  2  choirs,  ft  4. 

35.  M.  Haydn.    Salvos  fac  nos. 

36.  Do.    Tenebrae  factse. 

37.  Do.    Miserere. 

38.  Leo.    Coro,    Di  quanta  pena. 

(S.  Elena). 

39.  Do.    Et  incarnatus. 

4ft,    Do.  Miserere ;  Ecce  enim.ft  8. 

41.  Jomelli.    Confirma  hoc  Deus,  5 

solos  and  chorus. 

42.  Do.    Miserere. 

43.  Pergolesi.      Eja    ergo    (Salve 

Eegina). 

44.  Do.    Qui  tollis.  ft  6. 

45.  •  Do.   Stabat  Mater. 


[G.] 

ROCK,  MICHAEL,  was  appointed  organist  of 
St.  Margaret's,  Westminster,  June  4,  1802,  in 
succession  to  William  Eock,  junr.,  who  had  filled 
the  office  from  May  24,  1774.  He  composed 
some  popular  glees — '  Let  the  sparkling  wine  go 
round '  (which  gained  a  prize  at  the  Catch  Club 
in  1 794),  '  Beneath  a  churchyard  yew,'  etc.  He 
died  in  March,  1809.  [W.H.H.] 

BODE,  PIERRE,  a  great  violinist,  was  born 
at  Bourdeaux,  Feb.  26,  1774.  When  8  years  of 
age  he  came  under  the  tuition  of  Fauvel  aine',  a 
well-known  violinist  of  his  native  town,  and 
studied  under  him  for  six  years.  In  1788  he  was 
sent  to  Paris.  Here  Punto  (or  Stich),  the  famous 
horn-player,  heard  him,  and  being  struck  with  the 
boy's  exceptional  talent,  gave  him  an  introduc 
tion  to  Viotti,  who  at  once  accepted  him  as  his 
pupil.  With  this  great  master  he  studied  for  two 


PtODE. 

years,  and  in  1790  made  his  first  public  appear 
ance,  when  he  played  Viotti's  1 3th  Concerto  at 
the  Theatre  de  Monsieur  with  complete  success. 
Although   then   but   16  years   of  age,  he  was 
appointed  leader  of  the   second   violins  in  the 
excellent  band  of  the  Theatre  Feydeau.     In  this 
position,  appearing  at  the  same  time  frequently 
as  soloist,  he  remained  till  1 794,  and  then  started 
for  his  first  tour  to  Holland  and  the  north  of 
Germany.     His  success,  especially  at  Berlin  and 
Hamburg,  was  great.     From  the  latter  place 
he  took  passage  to  his  native  town.     But  the 
vessel    was    compelled    by    adverse    winds   to 
make  for  the  English  coast.     So  Rode  came  to 
London ;  but  he  only  once  appeared  in  public, 
at  a  concert  for  a  charitable  purpose,  and  left 
England  again  for  Holland  and  Germany.  Finally 
he  returned  to  France  and  obtained  a  professor 
ship  of  the  violin  at  the  newly  established  Con 
servatoire  at  Paris.     In  1 799  he  went  to  Spain, 
and  at  Madrid  met  Boccherini,  who  is  said  to 
have  written  the  orchestration  for  Rode's  earlier 
concertos,  especially  for  that  in  B  minor.     On 
his  return  to  Paris   in  1800  he  was  appointed 
solo-violinist  to  the  First  Consul,  and  it  was  at 
that  period  that  he  achieved  his  greatest  success 
in  the  French  capital.     A  special  sensation  was 
created  by  his  joint  performance  with  Kreutzer 
of  a  Duo  concertante  of  the  latter's  composition. 
In  1803  he  went  with  Boieldieu  to  Petersburg. 
Spohr  heard  him  on  his  passage  through  Bruns 
wick,  and  was  so  impressed  that  for  a  considerable 
time  he  made  it  his  one  aim  to  imitate  his  style 
and  manner  as  closely  as  possible.    Arrived  at 
the  Russian  capital  Rode  met  with  a  most  enthusi 
astic  reception,  and  was  at  once  attached  to  the 
private  music  of  the  Emperor  with  a  salary  of 
5000  roubles  (about  750?.).    But  the  fatigues  of 
life  in  Russia  were  so  excessive  that  from  this 
period  a  decline  of  his  powers  appears  to  have 
set  in.    On  his  return  to  Paris  in  1808  his  recep 
tion  was  less  enthusiastic  than  in  former  times, 
and  even  his  warmest  friends  and  admirers  could 
not  but  feel  that  he  had  lost  considerably  in  cer 
tainty  of  execution  and  vigour  of  style.    From 
1811  we  find  him  again  travelling  in  Germany' 
Spohr,  who  heard  him  in  1813  at  Vienna,  says 
in  his  autobiography  (i.  178) :  '  I  awaited  with 
feverish  excitement  the  performance  of  Rode, 
to   whom   ten   years   before    I   had  looked  up 
to  as  my  highest  ideal.     But  he  had  hardly 
finished  his  first  solo  before  I  thought  that  he 
had  much  fallen  off.     His  playing  appeared  to 
me  cold  and  manneristic.     I  missed  his  former 
boldness  in  the  execution  of  technical  difficulties, 
nor   could   I  feel   satisfied   with   his  cantilene. 
The   concerto  also  which  he  played  appeared 
to  me  in  no  way  equal  to  his  7th  in  A  minor, 
and  when  he  played  his  variations  in  E  major— 
the  same  I  had  heard  him  play  ten  years  ago — 
I  felt  sure  that  he  had  lost  much  of  his  execu 
tion  ;  for  he  not  only  had  simplified  many  of  the 
difficult  passages,  but  even  in  this  modified  form 
played  them  in  a  timid  and  uncertain  manner. 
The  audience  also  seemed  hardly  satisfied.  By  the 
incessant  repetition  of  the  same  few  pieces  his 


RODE. 

style  had  become  to  such  a  degree  manneristic, 
as  to  present  almost  a  caricature  of  what  it  used 
to  be.' 

In  Vienna  Rode  came  into  contact  with  Bee 
thoven,  who  finished  the  great  Sonata  in  G,  op. 
96,  expressly  for  him.  It  was  played  by  Rode 
and  the  Archduke  Rudolph,  Beethoven's  pupil, 
at  a  private  concert,  but  as  far  as  the  violin  part 
was  concerned,  not  much  to  the  composer's  satis 
faction.  Soon  afterwards,  at  any  rate,  Beethoven 
requested  the  Archduke  to  send  the  violin  part 
to  Rode  that  he  might  play  it  over  before  a 
second  performance,  and  he  adds :  '  he  will  not 
take  it  amiss ;  certainly  not !  would  to  God  there 
were  reason  to  beg  his  pardon  for  doing  so.'1 
Fe'tis's  statement  that  Beethoven  wrote  a  Ro 
mance  for  Rode,  probably  rests  on  a  confusion 
of  the  G  major  Sonata  with  the  Romanza  in  the 
same  key. 

In  1814  Rode  went  to  Berlin,  married,  and  re 
mained  for  some  time.  He  then  retired  to  his 
native  place.  At  a  later  date  he  made  an  ill- 
advised  attempt  to  resume  a  public  career.  But 
his  appearance  at  Paris  proved  a  complete  failure, 
and  Mendelssohn,  writing  from  thence  in  April 
1825,  says  that  he  was  fixed  in  his  resolution 
never  again  to  take  a  fiddle  in  hand.2  This 
failure  he  took  so  much  to  heart,  that  his  health 
began  to  give  way,  and  he  died  at  Bourdeaux, 
Nov.  25,  1830. 

Rode  was  one  of  the  greatest  of  all  violinists. 
During  the  earlier  part  of  his  career,  he  displayed 
all  the  best  qualities  of  a  grand,  noble,  pure,  and 
thoroughly  musical  style.  His  intonation  was 
perfect ;  his  tone  large  and  pure ;  boldness  and 
vigour,  deep  and  tender  feeling,  characterised  his 
performances.  In  fact  he  was  no  mere  virtuoso, 
but  a  true  artist.  His  truly  musical  nature  shows 
itself  equally  in  his  compositions.  Although  his 
general  musical  education  appears  to  have  been, 
like  that  of  most  French  violinists,  deficient 
(we  have  already  mentioned  that  Boccherini 
added  the  simple  orchestration  to  his  earlier  con 
certos),  yet  his  works,  especially  his  concertos, 
have  a  noble  dignified  character  and  considerable 
charm  of  melody,  while  it  need  hardly  be  added, 
they  are  thoroughly  suited  to  the  nature  of  the 
violin.  On  the  other  hand,  they  hardly  show  high 
creative  power;  of  thematic  treatment  there  is 
very  little,  the  form,  though  not  unsymmetrical, 
is  somewhat  loose,  and  the  instrumentation  poor. 

He  published  10  concertos ;  5  sets  of  quartets ; 
7  sets  of  variations ;  3  books  of  duos  for  2  violins, 
and  the  well-known  24  caprices. 

Of  his  concertos,  the  7th,  in  A  minor,  is 
still  in  the  repertoire  of  some  eminent  violinists. 
The  variations  in  G  major — the  same  which  the 
famous  singer  Catalani  and  other  celebrated 
vocalists  after  her  have  made  their  cheval  de 
bataille — still  enjoy  popularity.  But  above  all, 
his  '24  caprices  or  Etudes'  will  always,  along 
with  Kreutzer's  famous  40  caprices,  hold  their 
place  as  indispensable  for  a  sound  study  of  the 
violin. 

»  Thayer,  life  of  Beethoven,  UL  p.  223. 
2  '  Die  Familie  Mendelssohn,'  i.  p.  149, 


ROECKEL. 


143 


Although,  owing  to  his  life  of  travel,  he  had 
but  few  direct  pupils,  his  influence  through  his 
example  and  compositions  on  the  violinists  of 
France,  and  move  especially  of  Germany,  was 
very  great  indeed,  Bohm,  the  master  of  J  oachim, 
and  Eduard  Rietz,  the  friend  of  Mendelssohn, 
both  studied  under  him  for  some  time.  [P-D.j 

RODWELL,  GEORGE  HERBERT  BONAPARTE, 
born  Nov.  15,  1800,  son  of  Thos.  Rodwell,  part 
proprietor  and  manager  of  the  Adelphi  Theatre, 
London,  and  author  of  several  dramatic  pieces, 
was  for  many  years  mUsic  director  of  the  Adelphi, 
On  the  death  of  his  father,  in  March  1825,  he 
succeeded  to  his  share  in  the  theatre.  He  was 
the  composer  of  very  many  operettas  and  other 
dramatic  pieces,  of  which  the  following  are  the 
principal ;  viz.  '  The  Bottle  Imp '  and  '  The 
Mason  of  Buda  *  (partly  adapted  from  Auber's 
'Le  Ma9on'),  1828;  'The  Spring  Lock,'  'The 
Earthquake,'  and  'The  Devil's  Elixir,'  1829; 
'The  Black  Vulture,'  1830;  'My  Own  Lover,' 
and  'The  Evil  Eye,'  1832;  'The  Lord  of  the 
Isles,'  1834;  'Paul  Clifford'  (with  Blewitt), 
1835;  'The  Sexton  of  Cologne,'  1836;  'Jack 
Sheppard,'  1839;  and  'The  Seven  Sisters  of 
Munich,'  1847.  In  1836  he  was  director  of  the 
music  at  Covent  Garden.  He  was  author  of 
several  farces  and  other  dramatic  pieces,  amongst 
which  were  'Teddy  the  Tiler '  (written  for  Tyrone 
Power,  and  eminently  successful),  'The  Chimney- 
piece,'  'My  Own  Lover,'  'The  Pride  of  Birth,' 
'The  Student  of  Lyons,'  'My  Wife's  out,'  and 
'The  Seven  Maids  of  Munich';  of  three  novels, 
'  Old  London  Bridge,'  '  Memoirs  of  an  Umbrella/ 
and  '  Woman's  Love ' ;  and  of  '  The  Eirst  Rudi 
ments  of  Harmony,'  1830.  He  composed  also 
two  collections  of  songs :  '  Songs  of  the  Sabbath 
Eve,'  and  'Songs  of  the  Birds.'  His  compo 
sitions  abound  in  pleasing  melodies.  He  for 
many  years  persistently  advocated  the  establish 
ment  of  a  National  Opera.  He  married  the 
daughter  of  Liston,  the  comedian;  died  in  Upper 
Ebury  Street,  Pimlico,  Jan.  22,  1852,  and  was 
buried  at  Brompton  Cemetery.  [W.H.H.] 

ROECKEL,  Professor  JOSEPH  AUGUSTUS,  was 
born  Aug.  28,  1783,  at  Neumburg  vorm  Wald,  in 
the  Upper  Palatinate.  He  was  originally  in 
tended  for  the  church,  but  in  1803  entered  the 
diplomatic  service  of  the  Elector  of  Bavaria  as 
Private  Secretary  to  the  Bavarian  Charge"  d' Af 
faires  at  Salzburg.  On  the  recall  of  the  Salzburg 
Legation  in  1804,  he  accepted  an  engagement  to 
sing  at  the  An-der-Wien  Theatre  at  Vienna, 
where,  March  29, 1806,  he  appeared  as  Florestan 
in  the  revival  of  Beethoven's  'Fidelio.'3  In  1823 
Roeckel  was  appointed  Professor  of  Singing  at 
the  Imperial  Opera ;  in  1828  he  undertook  the 
direction  of  the  opera  at  Aix-la-Chapelle,  and  in 
the  following  year  made  the  bold  experiment  of 
producing  German  operas  in  Paris  with  a  complete 
German  company.  Encouraged  by  the  success  of 
this  venture,  Professor  Roeckel  remained  in  Paris 
until  1832,  when  he  brought  his  company  to 

8  For  Roeckel's  own  account  of  his  intercourse  with  Beethoven,  see 
Thayer,  vol.  ii.  p.  294,  and  vol.  iii.  269. 


144 


KOECKEL. 


London,  and  produced  'Fidelio,'  '  Der  Freischiitz,' 
and  other  masterpieces  of  the  German  school,  at 
the  King's  Theatre ;  the  principal  artists  being 
Schroder -Devrient  and  Haitzinger,  with  Hummel 
(Roeckel's  brother-in-law)  as  conductor.  In 
1835  he  retired  from  operatic  life,  and  in  1853 
finally  returned  to  Germany,  where  he  died,  at 
Anhalt-Cothen,  in  September,  1870. 

AUGUSTUS,  the  eldest  son  of  the  above,  was 
born  Dec.  I,  1814,  at  Gratz.  He  was  joint 
Kapellmeister  at  the  Dresden  Opera  with  Richard 
Wagner,  but  being,  like  the  latter,  involved  in 
the 'Revolution  of  1848,  he  abandoned  music  and 
devoted  himself  entirely  to  politics.  He  died  at 
Buda  Pesth  on  June  18,  1876. 

EDWABD,  the  second  son  of  Professor  Roeckel, 
was  born  at  Treves  on  Nov.  20, 1816,  and  received 
his  musical  education  from  his  uncle  J.  N.  Hum 
mel.  He  came  to  London  in  1835,  and  gave  his 
first  concert  in  1836  at  the  King's  Theatre.  He 
subsequently  went  on  a  concert-tour  in  Germany, 
and  performed  with  great  success  at  the  courts 
of  Prussia,  Saxony,  Saxe-Weimar,  Anhalt-Dessau, 
etc.  In  1848  Mr.  Roeckel  settled  in  England, 
and  resides  at  Bath,  where  he  succeeded  the  late 
Henry  Field.  He  is  known  as  the  composer  of 
a  considerable  quantity  of  pianoforte  music,  and 
is  otherwise  much  esteemed. 

JOSEPH  LEOPOLD,  the  youngest  son  of  Professor 
Roeckel,  was  born  in  London  in  the  year  1838. 
He  studied  composition  at  Wiirzburg  under 
Eisenhofer,  and  orchestration  under  Gotze,  at 
Weimar.  Like  his  brother,  Mr.  J.  L.  Roeckel 
has  settled  in  England,  and  lives  at  Clifton ;  he 
is  well  known  as  a  teacher,  and  a  voluminous 
composer  of  songs.  His  orchestral  and  instru 
mental  compositions  are  less  well  known,  but  his 
cantatas  '  Fair  Rosamond,'  '  Ruth,'  '  The  Sea 
Maidens,'  'Westward  Ho/  and  'Mary  Stuart,' 
have  been  received  with  much  favour.  The  first 
of  these  was  performed  at  the  Crystal  Palace  in 
1871.  [W.B.S.] 

RONTGEN,  ENGELBERT,  born  Sept.  30,  1829, 
.at  Deventer  in  Holland,  entered  the  Conserva- 
torium  at  Leipzig  in  1 848  ;  as  a  pupil  of  David's 
became  a  first-rate  violinist,  and  in  1869  took 
David's  place  as  Concerfcmeister  in  the  Gewand- 
haus  orchestra.  He  is  now  a  teacher  in  the 
Conservator ium.  He  married  a  daughter  of 
Moritz  Klengel,  himself  Concertmeister  at  the 
Gewandhaus  for  many  years.  Their  son, 

JULIUS,  was  born  at  Leipzig  May  9,  1855,  and 
soon  displayed  a  great  gift  for  music.  His  parents 
were  his  first  teachers,  and  he  afterwards  learned 
from  Hauptmann,  Richter,  Plaidy  and  Reinecke. 
In  1872  he  went  to  Munich,  and  remained  there 
for  some  time  studying  counterpoint  and  compo 
sition  under  Franz  Lachner.  A  tour  with  Stock - 
hausen  in  1873-4,  during  which  he  played 
chiefly  his  own  compositions,  launched  him  fa 
vourably  before  the  world.  He  now  lives  in 
Amsterdam.  His  published  works  amount  to  18, 
almost  all  of  a  serious  character.  They  are,  for 
the  PF.~ a  duet  for  4  hands,  in  4  movements, 
(op.  16)  ;  two  sonatas  (op.  2,  10),  a  phantasie 
^op.  8)  ;  a  suite  (op.  7) ;  a  ballade  (op.  5), 


ROGER. 

a  cyclus  of  pieces  (op.  6),  and  a  theme  with 
variations  (op.  17),  etc.  etc.;  a  sonata  for  PF. 
and  violin  (op.  i)  and  for  PF.  and  cello  (op.  3); 
a  concerto  for  PF.  and  orchestra  (op.  18)  ;  a 
serenade  for  7  wind  instruments  (op.  14) ;  'Tos- 
kanische  Rispetti,'  a  Liederspiel  (op.  9)  ;  9  songs 
(op.  15)  etc.  etc.  The  cello  sonata  was  played 
at  the  Monday  Popular  Concert  of  Feb.  14, 1881, 
and  was  well  received.  [G.] 

ROGEL,  JOSE,  Spanish  conductor  and  com 
poser,  born  at  Orihuela,  Alicante,  Dec.  24,  1829; 
began  music   under  Cascales  and  Gil,  organist 
and  conductor  of  the  cathedral,  and  made  great 
progress,  till  sent  to  Valencia  by  his  father  to 
study  law.     The  six  years  which  he  spent  there 
were  however  devoted  much  more  to  music  than 
to  law,  under  the  guidance  of  Pascual  Perez,  a 
musician  of  ability,  from  whom  he  learned  com 
position  and  other  branches  of  practical  music. 
After  completing  his  legal  course  and  taking  his 
degree  at  Madrid,   Rogel  was  able  to  indulge 
his    taste,    plunged     into    music    without    re 
straint  and  became,  or  at  any  rate  acted  as,  con 
ductor  and  composer  to  several  theatres.    The 
notice  of  him  in  M.  Pougin's  supplement  to  Fe'tis, 
from  which  this  notice  is  taken,  enumerates  no 
less  than  61  zarzuelas  or  dramatic  pieces  of  his 
composition,  14  of  them  in  three  acts,  8  in  two 
acts,  and  the  remainder  in  one  act,  besides  a 
dozen  not  yet  brought  out.     The  titles  of  the 
pieces  are  of  all  characters,  ranging  from  '  Revista 
de  un  rnuerto'  and  '  Un  Viage  de  mil  demonios' 
to  '  El  General  Bumbum.'    No  criticism  is  given 
on  the  merits  of  the  music,  but  it  must  at  least 
be  popular.  [G.j 

ROGER,  GUSTAVE  HIPPOLITE,  eminent  French 
singer,  born  Dec.  17,  1815,  at  La  Chapelle-Saint- 
Denis,  Paris.  He  was  brought  up  by  an  uncle,  and 
educated  at  the  Lyce"e  Charlemagne  for  the  legal 
profession,  but  his  studies  were  so  neglected  for 
an  amateur  theatre  of  which  he  was  the  leading 
tenor  and  self-constituted  manager,  that  he  was 
at  length  allowed  to  follow  his  real  vocation. 
He  entered  the  Conservatoire  in  1836,  and  after 
studying  for  a  year  under  Martin  carried  off  the 
first  prizes  both  for  singing  and  ope'ra-comique. 
He  obtained  an  immediate  engagement,  and 
made  his  de'but  at  the  Op^ra  Comique,  Feb.  16, 
1838,  as  Georges  in  'L'Eclair.'  To  a  charming 
voice  and  distinguished  appearance  he  added 
great  intelligence  and  stage  tact,  qualities  which 
soon  made  him  the  favourite  tenor  of  the  Parisian 
world,  and  one  of  the  best  comedians  of  the  day. 
Ambroise  Thomas  composed  for  him  'Le  Per- 
ruquier  de  la  Re'gence  '  and  *  Mina,'  Halevy  gave 
him  capital  parts  in  '  Les  Mousquetaires  de  la 
Reine  '  and  '  Le  Guitarrero,'  and  Auber,  always 
partial  to  gentlemanlike  actors,  secured  him  for 
'Le  Domino  Noir,'  'La  Part  du  Diable,'  'La 
Sirene,'  and  'Hayde'e.'  Clapisson  too  owed  to 
him  the  success  of  his  '  Gibby  la  cornemuse.1 
In  '  Hayde'e  '  the  tenor  of  the  Theatre  Favart  so 
distinguished  himself  as  Lore'dan  that  Meyer 
beer  declared  him  to  be  the  only  French  artist 
capable  of  creating  the  part  of  John  of  Leyden. 
In  consequence,  after  ten  years  of  uninterrupted 


ROGER. 

success,  Koger  left  the  Opdra  Comique  for  the 
Academie,  where  on  April  16,  1849,  he  created 
an  immense  sensation  with  Mine.  Viardot,  in 
'Le  Prophete.'  His  acting  was  quite  as  good 
in  tragedy  as  it  had  been  in  comedy,  but  his 
voice  could  not  stand  the  wear  and  tear  of  the 
fatiguing  repertoire  he  had  now  to  undertake. 
During  the  next  ten  years  however  he  was  in 
valuable  at  the  Ope"ra,  creating  new  parts  in 
the  '  Enfant  prodigue,1  the  '  Juif  errant,'  and 
many  more.  His  best  creation  after  John  of 
Leyden,  and  his  last  part  at  the  Ope"ra,  was 
Helios  in  David's '  Herculanum '  (March  4, 1859). 
In  the  following  autumn  he  lost  his  right  arm 
while  shooting,  by  the  bursting  of  a  gun ;  he 
reappeared  with  a  false  one,  but  with  all  his 
skill  and  bravery  he  could  not  conceal  his  mis 
fortune,  and  found  himself  compelled  to  bid  fare 
well  to  the  Academic  and  to  Paris. 

He  went  once  more  to  Germany,  which  he 
had  been  in  the  habit  of  visiting  since  1850,  and 
where  he  was  invariably  successful,  partly  owing 
to  his  unusual  command  of  the  language.  After 
this  he  sang  in  the  principal  provincial  theatres 
of  France,  and  in  1861  reappeared  at  the  Ope"ra 
Comique  in  his  best  parts,  especially  that  of 
Georges  Brown  in  '  La  Dame  Blanche,'  but  it 
was  evident  that  the  time  for  his  retirement  had 
arrived.  He  then  took  pupils  for  singing,  and 
in  1868  accepted  a  professorship  at  the  Conser 
vatoire,  which  he  held  till  his  death,  Sept.  12, 

1879- 

Roger  was  of  an  amiable  and  benevolent  dis 
position.  He  talked  well,  wrote  with  ease,  and 
was  the  author  of  the  French  translation  to 
Haydn's  '  Seasons,'  and  of  the  words  of  several 
romances  and  German  Lieder.  His  book,  '  Le 
Garnet  d'un  tenor'  (Paris,  011endorff,iS8o),isapor- 
tion  of  his  autobiography.  It  contains  an  account 
of  his  visits  to  England  in  1847  (June),  and  1848 
(June — Nov.),  when  he  sang  at  the  Royal  Italian 
Opera,  and  made  an  artistic  tour  in  the  provinces 
with  Mile.  Jenny  Lind,  and  other  artists.  [G.C.] 

ROGERS,  BENJAMIN,  Mus.  Doc.,  eon  of  Peter 
Rogers,  lay-clerk  of  St.  George's  Chapel,  Windsor, 
was  born  at  Windsor  in  1614.  He  was  a  chorister 
of  St.  George's  under  Dr.  Giles,  and  afterwards  a 
lay-clerk  there.  He  next  became  organist  of 
Christ  Church,  Dublin,  whe"re  he  continued  until 
the  rebellion  in  1641,  when  he  returned  to 
Windsor  and  obtained  a  lay-clerk's  place  there ; 
but  on  the  breaking  up  of  the  choir  in  1644  he 
taught  music  in  Windsor  and  its  neighbourhood, 
and  obtained  some  compensation  for  the  loss  of 
his  appointment.  In  1653  he  composed  some 
airs  in  4  parts  for  violins  and  organ,  which  were 
presented  to  the  Archduke  Leopold,  afterwards 
Emperor  of  Germany,  and  favourably  received 
by  him.  In  1658  he  was  admitted  Mus.  Bac.  at 
Cambridge.  In  1660  he  composed  a  'Hymnus 
Eucharisticus '  in  4  parts,  to  words  by  Dr.  Na 
thaniel  Ingelo,  which  was  performed  at  Guildhall 
when  Charles  II.  dined  there  on  July  5.1  About 

»  This  hymn  was  different  from  that,  bearing  the  same  title,  which 
Rogers  afterwards  set  for  Magdaien  College,  Oxford. 
VOL.  UI.   FT.  2. 


KOI  DES  VIOLONS. 


145 


the  same  time  he  became  organist  of  Eton  College. 
On  Oct.  21,  1662,  he  was  reappointed  a  lay -clerk 
at  St.  George's,  Windsor,  his  stipend  being  aug 
mented  by  half  the  customary  amount ;  and  he 
also  received  out  of  the  organist's  salary  £i  per 
month  as  deputy  organist.  On  July  22,  1664,  he 
was  appointed  Informator  Choristarum  and  or 
ganist  of  Magdalen  College,  Oxford.  On  July  8, 
1669,  he  proceeded  Mus.  Doc.  at  Oxford.  In 
Jan.  1685  he  was  removed  from  his  place  at 
Magdalen  College  on  account  of  irregularities, 
the  College  however  assuring  to  him  an  annuity 
of  £30  for  life.  He  survived  until  June,  1698, 
on  the  2  ist  of  which  month  he  wras  buried  at  St. 
Peter-le-Bailey.  His  widow,  whom  the  College 
had  pensioned  with  two-thirds  of  his  annuity,  sur 
vived  him  only  seven  months,  and  was  laid  by  his 
side  Jan.  5, 1699. — Rogers  composed  much  church 
music ;  four  services  are  printed  in  the  collec 
tions  of  Boyce,  Rimbault,  and  Sir  F.  Ouseley  ; 
another,  an  Evening  Verse  Service  in  G,  ap 
pears  to  be  at  Ely  in  MS.  Some  anthems  were 
printed  in  'Cantica  Sacra,'  1674,  and  by  Boyce 
and  Page ;  and  many  others  are  in  MS.  in  the 
books  of  various  cathedrals  and  college  chapels. 
Four  glees  are  contained  in  Playford's  '  Musical 
Companion,'  1673,  an(^  niany  instrumental  com 
positions  in  'Courtly  Masquing  Ayres,'  1662. 
His  '  Hymnus  Eucharisticus '  (the  first  stanza  of 
which,  commencing  'Te  Deum  Patrem  colimus/ 
is  daily  sung  in  Magdalen  College  Hall  by  way 
of  grace  after  dinner,  and  is  printed  in  the  Ap 
pendix  to  Hawkins's  History)  is  sung  annually  on 
the  top  of  Magdalen  tower  at  five  in  the  morning 
of  May  i.  His  service  in  D  and  some  of  his 
anthems,  which  are  pleasing  and  melodious  in 
character,  are  still  sung  in  cathedrals.  [W.H.H.] 

ROGERS,  JOHN,  a  famous  lutenist,  born  in 
London,  was  attached  to  the  household  of  Charles 
II.  He  resided  near  Aldersgate,  and  died  there 
about  1663.  [W.H.H.] 

ROGERS,  SIR  JOHN  LEMAN.Bart.,  born  April 
18,  1780,  succeeded  his  father  in  the  baronetcy  in 
1797-  He  became  a  member  of  the  Madrigal 
Society  in  1819,  and  in  1820  was  elected  its 
permanent  President  (being  the  first  so  ap 
pointed),  and  held  the  office  until  1841,  when  he 
resigned  on  account  of  ill  health.  He  composed 
a  cathedral  service,  chants,  anthems,  madrigals, 
glees,  and  other  vocal  music.  [See  Hullah's  PAKT 
Music,  Class  A,  and  VOCAL  SCORES.]  He  was 
an  ardent  admirer  of  the  compositions  of  Tallis, 
and  by  his  exertions  an  annual  service  was  held 
for  several  years  in  Westminster  Abbey,  the 
music  being  wholly  that  of  Tallis.  He  died 
Dec.  10,  1847.  [W.H.H.] 

ROI  DES  VIOLONS— 'King  of  the  violins  '— 
a  title  of  great  interest  as  illustrating  the  struggle 
between  Art  and  Authority.  On  Sept.  14,  1321, 
the  menestriers  or  fiddlers  of  France  formed  them 
selves  into  a  regular  corporation,  with  a  code  of 
laws  in  1 1  sections,  which  was  presented  to  the 
Prevot  of  Paris,  and  by  him  registered  at  the 
Chatelet.  The  Confraternity,  founded  by  37 
jongleurs  &ndjonyleresses,  whose  names  have  been 


146 


HOI  DES  VIOLONS. 


preserved,  prospered  so  far  as  in  1330  to  pur 
chase  a  site  and  erect  on  it  a  hospital  for  poor 
musicians.  The  building  was  begun  in  1331, 
finished  in  1335,  and  dedicated  to  St.  Julien  and 
St.  Genest.  The  superior  of  this  '  Confre'rie  of 
St.  Julien  des  me'ne'triers'  was  styled  '  king,'  and 
the  following  were  'Hois  des  me'ne'triers'  in  the 
I4th  century :— Robert  Caveron,  1338  ;  Copin  du 
Brequin,  1349;  Jean  Caumez,  1387;  and  Jehan 
Portevin,  1392. 

In  1407  the  musicians,  vocal  and  instrumental, 
separated  themselves  from  the  mountebanks  and 
tumblers  who  had  been  associated  with  them  by 
the  statutes  of  1321.  The  new  constitution  re 
ceived  the  sanction  of  Charles  VI.,  April  24, 
1407,  and  it  was  enacted  that  no  musician  might 
teach,  or  exercise  his  profession,  without  having 
passed  an  examination,  and  been  declared  suffisant 
by  the  '  Roi  des  me'nestrels'  or  his  deputies. 
These  statutes  continued  in  force  down  to  the 
middle  of  the  I7th  century.  History  however 
tells  but  little  about  the  new  corporation.  The 
only  '  rois '  whose  names  have  been  preserved  in 
the  charters  are — Jehan  Boissard,  called  Verde- 
let,  1420  ;  Jehan  Facien,  the  elder,  and  Claude  de 
Bouchardon,  oboes  in  the  band  of  Henri  III,  1575 ; 
Claude  Nyon,  1590 ;  Claude  Nyon,  called  Lafont, 
1600;  Franfois  Rishomme,  1615;  and  Louis 
Constantin,  'roi'  from  1624  to  1655.  Constantin, 
who  died  in  Paris  1657,  was  a  distinguished  artist, 
violinist  to  Louis  XIII.,  and  composer  of  pieces 
for  strings  in  5  and  6  parts,  several  of  which 
are  preserved  in  the  valuable  collection  already 
named  under  PHILIDOR. 

In  1514  the  title  was  changed  to  'roi  des 
me'nestrels  du  royaume.'  All  provincial  musicians 
were  compelled  to  acknowledge  the  authority  of 
the  corporation  in  Paris,  and  in  the  i6th  century 
branches  were  established  in  the  principal  towns 
of  France  under  the  title  of  'Confre'rie  de  St. 
Julien  des  me'ne'triers.'  In  Oct.  1658,  Louis  XIV. 
confirmed  Constantin 's  successor,  Guillaume  Du- 
manoir  I.,  in  the  post  of  '  Roi  des  violons,  maitres 
a  danser,  et  joueurs  d'instruments  tant  haut  que 
bas,'  ordaining  at  the  same  time  that  the  'Roi 
des  violons '  should  have  the  sole  privilege  of 
conferring  the  mastership  of  the  art  throughout 
the  kingdom ;  that  no  one  should  be  admitted 
thereto  without  serving  an  apprenticeship  of  4 
years,  and  paying  60  livres  to  the  '  roi,'  and  10 
livres  to  the  masters  of  the  Confre'rie  ;  the  masters 
themselves  paying  an  annual  sum  of  30  sous  to 
the  corporation,  with  a  further  commission  to  the 
'  roi '  for  each  pupil.  The  masters  alone  were 
privileged  to  play  in  taverns  and  other  public 
places,  and  in  case  this  rule  were  infringed,  the 
'  roi '  could  send  the  offender  to  prison  and  destroy 
his  instruments.  This  formidable  monopoly  ex 
tended  even  to  the  King's  band,  the  famous 
'  24  violons,'  who  were  admitted  to  office  by  the 
*  roi '  alone  on  payment  of  his  fee.  [See  VINGT 
QUATRE  VIOLONS.] 

So  jealously  did  Guillaume  Dumanoir  I.  guard 
his  rights,  that  in  1662  he  commenced  an  action 
against  1 3  dancing-masters,  who,  with  the  view  of 
throwing  off  the  yoke  of  the  corporation,  had 


ROI  DES  VIOLONS. 

obtained  from  Louis  XIV.  permission  to  found 
an  '  Academic  de  danse.'    The  struggle  gave  rise 
to  various  pamphlets,1  and  Dumanoir  was  beaten 
at  all  points.     He  bequeathed  a  difficult  task  to 
his   son   Michel  Guillaume  Dumanoir  II.,  who 
succeeded  him  as  'roi'  in  1668,  and  endeavoured 
to  enforce  his  supremacy  on  the  instrumentalists 
of  the  Academic  de  Musique,  but,  as  might  have 
been  expected,  was  overmatched  by  Lully.    After 
his  difficulties  with  the  director  of  the  OpeYa, 
Dumanoir  II.,  like  his  father,  came  into  collision 
with   the   dancing-masters.      In    1691   a  royal 
proclamation  was  issued  by  which  the  elective 
committee  was  abolished,  and  its  place  filled  by 
hereditary  officials,  aided  by  four  others  appointed 
by  purchase.   Against  this  decree  the  corporation 
and  the  13  members  of  the  Acade"mie  de  danse 
protested,  but  the  Treasury  was  in  want  of  funds, 
and  declined  to  refund  the  purchase  money.  Find 
ing  himself  unequal  to  such  assaults  Dumanoir 
resigned  in  1693,  and  died  in  Paris  in  1697.   He 
delegated  his  powers  to  the  privileged  committee 
of  1691,  and  thus  threw  on  them  the  onus  of  sup 
porting  the  claims  of  the  Confre'rie  over  the  clave- 
cinists  and  organists  of  the  kingdom ;  a  parlia 
mentary  decree  of  1695,  however,  set  free  the  com 
posers  and  professors  of  music  from  all  dependence 
on  the  corporation  of  the  mdn&t/riers.  This  struggle 
was  several  times  renewed.  When  Pierre  Guignon 
(born  1702,  died  1775),  a  good  violinist,  and  a 
member  of  the  King's  chamber-music,  and  of  the 
Chapel    Royal,   attempted   to  reconstitute   the 
Confrerie  on  a  better  footing,  it  became  evident 
that  the  musicians  as  a  body  were  determined  to 
throw  off  the  yoke  of  the  association.    Guignon 
was  appointed  '  Roi  des  violons '  by  letters  patent, 
June  15, 1741,  was  installed  in  1742,  and  in  1747 
endeavoured  to  enforce  certain  new  enactments, 
but  a  parliamentary  decree  of  May  30,  i75°>  Put 
an  end  to  his  pretended  authority  over  clave- 
cinists,  organists,   and  other  serious  musicians. 
The  corporation  was  maintained,  but  its  head 
was  obliged  to  be  content  with  the  title  of  '  Koi 
et  maitre  des  me'ne'triers,  joueurs  d'instruments 
tant  haut  que  bas,  et  hautbois,  et  communaut^ 
des  maitres  a  danser.'  Roi  Guignon  still  preserved 
the  right  of  conferring  on  provincial  musicians 
the  title  of  '  lieutenants  ge'ne'raux  et  particuliers' 
to  the  '  roi  des  violons,'  but  even  this  was  abro 
gated  by  a  decree  of  the  Conseil  d'Etat,  Feb.  I3» 
1773.     The   last  'roi  des  violons'  at  once  re 
signed,  and  in  the  following  month  his  office  was 
abolished  by  an  edict  of  the  King  dated  from 
Versailles. 

This  hasty  sketch  of  a  difficult  subject  may  be 
supplemented  by  consulting  the  following  works; 
'Abre'ge'  historique  de  la  Mdnestrandie '  (Ver 
sailles,  1774,  i-zmo)  ;  'Statuts  et  re"glements  des 
maitres  de  danse  et  joueurs  d'instruments  .  .  • 
registry's  au  Parlement  le  22  Aout  1659'  (Paris, 

1  Of  these  the  principal  are  '  Etablissement  de  1' Academic  royale  de 
dance  [sic]  en  la  ville  de  Paris,  avec  un  discours  Acad^mique  pour 
prouver  que  la  dance,  dans  sa  plus  noble  partie.  n'a  pas  besoin  del 
instruments  de  musique,  et  qu'elle  est  en  tout  absolumeut  ind^pen- 
dante  du  violon '  (Paris,  1663,  4to),  and  'Le  mariage  de  la  musique  et 
de  la  dance,  contenant  la  r6ponce  [tic]  au  livre  des  treize  pretendui 
academicians  touchauts  ces  deux  arts '  (Paris.  1664, 12mo). 


ROT  DES  VIOLONS. 

1753);  ' Recueil  d'e"dits,  arrets  du  Conaeil  du  roi, 
lettres  paten  tes,  ...  en  faveur  des  musiciens  du 
Royaume'  (Ballard,  1774,  8vo) ;  and  'Les 
Instruments  a  archet'  by  A.  Vidal  (i.  and  ii. 
Paris,  1876,  77;  4to"),  which  last  contains  nearly 
all  the  necessary  information.  [G.  C.] 

ROKITANSKY,  VICTOR,  FREIHERR  VON,  of 
Hungarian  origin,  the  son  of  a  celebrated  phy 
sician  at  Vienna,  where  he  was  born,  July  9, 
1836.      He  studied  singing  chiefly  at  Bologna 
and  Milan.     He  first  appeared  in  England  at 
concerts   in  1856.      In  62  he  made  his  de"but 
at  Prague  in   'La  Juive,'  and  fulfilled  a  very 
successful  engagement  there  of  two  years.     In 
63  he  made  a  few  appearances  at  Vienna,  and 
in  64  obtained  an  engagement  there,   and  has 
been  a  member  of  the  opera  company  ever  since. 
His  voice  is  a  basso-profondo  of  great  compass 
and  volume,  very  equal  in  all  its  range ;  he  has  a 
commanding  presence,  and  is  an  excellent  actor. 
His  operas  include  La  Juive,  Robert  le  Diable, 
Les  Huguenots,   Don  Juan,  Zauberflote,  Guil- 
laume  Tell,  Le  Prophete,  Aida,  Faust,  Medea, 
and  Wagner's  operas. 

On  June  17,  65,  he  reappeared  in  London  at 
Her  Majesty's  as  Marcel  with  very  great  success, 
and  then  sang  there  for  four  consecutive  seasons, 
and  was  greatly  esteemed.  He  played  with 
success  as  Rocco,  Sarastro,  Leporello,  II  Commen- 
datore,  Oroveso,  Falstaff,  Osmin  (June  30,  66,  on 
production  in  Italian  of  Mozart's  '  Entfiihrung'), 
and  Padre  Guardiano  in  '  La  Forza  del  Des- 
tino.'  He  returned  for  the  seasons  of  '76  and 
'77  in  some  of  his  old  parts,  and  played  for  the 
first  time  the  King  in  'Lohengrin,'  and  Giorgio 
in  '  I  Puritani.' 

From  1871  to  1880  he  filled  the  post  of 
Professor  of  Singing  at  the  Conservatorium  of 
Vienna,  but  has  now  relinquished  that  position 
for  private  tuition,  where  he  employs  the 
Italian  method  which  has  formed  the  basis 
of  his  own  great  success.  [A.C.] 

ROLLA,  ALESSANDRO,  violinist  and  com 
poser,  born  at  Pavia,  April  6,  1757.  He  first 
studied  the  pianoforte,  but  soon  exchanged  it  for 
the  violin,  which  he  learned  under  Renzi  and 
Conti.  He  had  also  a  great  predilection  for  the 
viola,  and  wrote  and  performed  in  public  con 
certos  for  that  instrument.  For  some  years  he 
was  leader  of  the  band  at  Parma,  and  it  was 
there  that  Paganini  was  for  some  months  his 
pupil.  [See  PAGANINI.]  In  1802  he  went  to 
Milan  as  leader  and  conductor  of  the  opera  at 
La  Scala,  in  which  position  he  gained  a  great 
reputation.  He  was  also  for  many  years  a  pro 
fessor  at  the  Conservatorio  of  Milan,  and  died 
in  that  town,  September  15,  1841,  aged  84.  His 
compositions,  now  entirely  forgotten,  had  con 
siderable  success  in  their  time ;  they  consist  of 
a  large  number  of  violin  duets,  some  trios, 
quartets  and  quintets  for  stringed  instruments, 
and  concertos  for  the  violin  and  for  the  viola. 
His  son  and  pupil,  ANTONIO,  violinist,  was 
born  at  Parma,  April  18,  1798  ;  from  1823  till 
1835  wa3  leader  of  the  Italian  Opera  band  at 
Dresden,  and  died  there,  May  19,  1837.  He 


ROMANCE. 


147 


published  concertos  and  other  solo  pieces  for  the 
violin.  [P.D.] 

ROLL-CALL.     [See  SIGNALS.] 

ROLLE.     A  German  musical   family.     The 
father  was   town  musician   of  Quedlinburg  and 
of  Magdeburg  in  1721,  and  died  there  in  1752. 
Of  his  three   sons,  CHRISTIAN   CARL,    born   at 
Quedlinburg  in  1714,  was  Cantor  of  the  Jeru 
salem  Church,  Berlin,  but  was  apparently  of  no 
account.     He  had  sons,  of  whom   FRIEDRICH 
HEINRICH  left  a  biography  of  his  father  ;  while 
CHRISTIAN  CARL  (the  younger)  succeeded  him 
as  Cantor.     2.  A  second  son  is  mentioned,  but 
not  named.      3.  The  third,  JOHANN  HEINRICH, 
was  born  at  Quedlinburg,  December  23,  1718, 
and  at  an  early  age  began  to  play  and  to  write. 
He  got  a  good  general  education  at  the  High 
School  in  Leipzig,  and  migrated  to  Berlin  in 
hopes  of  some  legal  post ;   but  this  failing  he 
adopted  music  as  his  career,   and  entered  the 
Court    chapel    of   Frederick    the    Great    as    a 
chamber  musician.    There  he  remained  till  1 746, 
and  then  took  the  organist's  place  at  St.  John's, 
Magdeburg.     On  the   death  of  his   father   he 
stepped  into  his  post  as  town-musician,  worked 
there  with  uncommon  zeal  and  efficiency,  and 
died  at  the  age  of  67,  December  29,  1785. — His 
industry  seems   almost  to  have  rivalled  that  of 
Bach  himself.     He  left  several  complete  annual 
series  of  church  music  for  all  the  Sundays  and 
Festivals ;    cantatas    for    Easter,   Whitsuntide, 
and  Christmas,  of  which  many  are  in  the  Royal 
Library  at  Berlin ;  5  Passions,  and  at  least  60 
other  large  church  compositions.     Besides  these 
there  exist  21  large  works  of  his,  of  a  nature 
between  oratorio  and  drama,  such  as  '  Saul,  or 
the  power  of  Music,'  'Samson,'  '  David  and  Jona 
than,'  '  The  Labours  of  Hercules,'  'Orestes  and 
Pylades,'  '  Abraham  on  Moriah,'  '  The  Death  of 
Abel,'  etc.  The  last  two  were  for  many  years  per 
formed  annually  at  Berlin,  and  were  so  popular 
that  the  editions  had  to  be  renewed  repeatedly. 
In  addition  to  these  he  left  many  songs  and  com 
positions  for  organ,  orchestra,  and  separate  instru 
ments.     All  have  now  as  good  as  perished ;    but 
those  who  wish  to  know  what  kind  of  music  they 
were  will  find  a  specimen  in  Hullah's  '  Vocal 
scores,'  '  The  Lord  is  King.'   It  has  a  good  deal  of 
vigour,  but  no  originality  or  character.  Others  are 
given  in  the  Collections  of  Sander  and  Rochlitz, 
and  a  set  of  twenty  motets  for  4  voices  was  pub 
lished  at  Magdeburg  by  Rebling  (185 1-66.)    [G.] 

ROMANCE  (Germ.  Romanze).  A  term  of  very 
vague  signification,  answering  in  music  to  the 
same  term  in  poetry,  where  the  characteristics  are 
rather  those  of  personal  sentiment  and  expression 
than  of  precise  form.  The  Romanze  in  Mozart's 
D  minor  PF.  Concerto  differs  (if  it  differs)  from 
the  slow  movements  of  his  other  Concertos  in 
the  extremely  tender  and  delicate  character  of 
its  expression ;  in  its  form  there  is  nothing  at  all 
unusual :  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  Beethoven's 
two  Romances  for  the  violin  and  orchestra  in  G 
and  F  (op.  40  and  50),  and  of  Schumann's  '  Drei 
Romanzen'  (op.  28).  Schumann  has  also  affixed 

L2 


148 


ROMANCE. 


the  title  to  3  movements  for  oboe  and  PF.(op.94% 
and  to  a  well-known  piece  in  D  minor  (op.  32, 
no.  3),  just  as  he,  or  some  one  of  his  followers, 
has  used  the  similar  title,  '  in  Legendenton.'  The 
Romance  which  forms  the  second  movement  of 
his  symphony  in  D  minor,  is  a  little  poem  full  of 
sentimental  expression. 

In  vocal  music  the  term  is  obviously  derived 
from  the  character  or  title  of  the  words.  In 
English  poetry  we  have  few  '  romances, '  though 
such  of  Moore's  melodies  as  '  She  is  far  from  the 
land  where  her  young  hero  sleeps  'might  well  bear 
the  title.  But  in  France  they  abound,  and  some 
composers  (such  as  Puget  and  Panseron)  have 
derived  nine-tenths  of  their  reputation  from  them. 
'  Partant  pour  la  Syrie '  may  be  named  as  a  good 
example,  well  known  on  this  side  the  water.  Men 
delssohn's  'Songs  without  Words'  are  called  in 
France  'Romances  sans  Paroles.'  [G-] 

ROMANI,  FELICE,  a  famous  Italian  litte'ra- 
teur,  born  at  Genoa,  January  31,  1788.  He 
was  educated  for  the  law,  but  soon  forsook  it  for 
more  congenial  pursuits,  and  was  in  early  life 
appointed  to  the  post  of  poet  to  the  royal 
theatres,  with  a  salary  of  6000  lire.  The  fall  of 
the  French  government  in  Italy  drove  him  to 
his  own  resources.  He  began  with  a  comedy, 
'  L'Amante  e  1'Impostore,'  which  was  very  suc 
cessful,  and  the  forerunner  of  many  dramatic 
pieces.  But  his  claim  to  notice  in  a  dictionary 
of  music  rests  on  his  opera-librettos,  in  which 
he  was  for  long  the  favourite  of  the  Italian  com 
posers.  For  Simone  Mayer  he  wrote  '  Medea ' 
(1812),  'La  Rosa  bianca  e  la  Rosa  rossa,'  and 
others;  for  Rossini,  'Aureliano  in  Palmira,' 
and  '  II  Turco  in  Italia '  ;  for  Bellini,  '  Bianca  e 
Faliero,'  '  La  Straniera,'  '  La  Sonnambula,'  '  II 
Pirata,'  '  Norma,'  '  I  Capuletti,'  and  '  Beatrice 
di  Tenda ' ;  for  Donizetti,  '  Lucrezia,'  '  Anna 
Bolena,'  '  L'Elisir  d'amore,'  and  '  Parisina ' ;  for 
Mercadante,  '  II  Conte  d' Essex ' ;  for  Ricci,  '  Un 
Avventura  di  Scaramuccia ' ;  and  many  others, 
in  all  fully  a  hundred.  As  editor  for  many 
years  of  the  'Gazzetta  Piemontese,'  he  was  a 
voluminous  writer. 

In  the  latter  part  of  his  life  he  became  blind, 
and  was  pensioned  by  government,  and  spent 
his  last  years  in  his  family  circle  at  Moneglia, 
on  the  Riviera,  where  he  died  full  of  years  and 
honours,  January  28,  1865.  [G.] 

ROMANO,  ALESSANDRO — known  under  the 
name  of  ALESSANDRO  BELLA  VIOLA — a  composer 
and  performer  on  the  viola,  was  born  at  Rome 
about  the  year  1530.  He  was  an  ecclesiastic, 
and  a  member  of  the  order  of  Monte  Oliveto. 
His  published  works  (according  to  Fe'tis)  are — 
two  books  of  Canzoni  Napolitane  for  5  voices 
(Venice,  1572  and  1575);  a  set  of  motets  in 
5  parts  (Venice,  1579).  -A-  5-part  madrigal  by 
him,  '  Non  pur  d'almi  splendori,'  is  published  in 
the  '  Libro  terzo  delle  Muse'  (Venice,  Gardano, 
1561).  [P.D.] 

ROMANTIC  is  a  term  which,  with  its  anti 
thesis  CLASSICAL,  has  been  borrowed  by  music 
from  literature.  But  so  delicate  and  incorporeal 


ROMANTIC. 

are  the  qualities  of  composition  which  both  words 
describe  in  their  application  to  music,  and  so 
arbitrary  has  been  their  use  by  different  writers, 
that  neither  word  is  susceptible  of  very  precise 
definition.  The  best  guide,  however,  to  the 
meaning  of  '  romantic  '  is  supplied  by  its  etymo 
logy.  The  poetic  tales  of  the  middle  ages, 
written  in  the  old  Romance  dialects,  were  called 
Romances.  In  them  mythological  fables  and 
Christian  legends,  stories  of  fairyland,  and  ad 
ventures  of  Crusaders  and  other  heroes  of  chivalry, 
were  indiscriminately  blended,  and  the  fantastic 
figures  thus  brought  together  moved  in  a  dim 
atmosphere  of  mystic  gloom  and  religious  ecstasy. 
These  mediaeval  productions  had  long  been  neg 
lected  and  forgotten  even  by  scholars,  when, 
about  the  close  of  the  last  century,  they  were 
again  brought  into  notice  by  a  group  of  poets,  of 
whom  the  most  notable  were  the  brothers 
August  Wilhelm  and  Friedrich  von  Schlegel, 
Ludwig  Tieck,  and  Friedrich  Novalis.  They  set 
themselves  to  rescue  the  old  romances  from 
oblivion,  and  to  revive  the  spirit  of  medieval 
poetry  in  modern  literature  by  the  example  of 
their  own  works.  Hence  they  came  to  be  called 
the  Romantic  School,  and  were  thus  distinguished 
from  writers  whose  fidelity  to  rules  and  models 
of  classic  antiquity  gave  them  a  claim  to  the 
title  of  Classical. 

It  was  not  long  before  the  term  Romantic  was 
introduced  into  musical  literature ;  and  it  was 
understood  to  characterise  both  the  subjects  of 
certain  musical  works  and  the  spirit  in  which 
they  were  treated.  Its  antithetical  significance 
to  the  term  Classical  still  clung  to  it ;  and 
regard  to  perfection  of  form  being  often  subordi 
nated  by  so-called  romantic  composers  to  the 
object  of  giving  free  play  to  the  imaginative  and 
emotional  parts  of  our  nature,  there  grew  up 
around  the  epithet  Romantic  the  notion  of  a 
tendency  to  depart  more  or  less  from  the  severity 
of  purely  classical  compositions.  But,  in  truth, 
no  clear  line  divides  the  romantic  from  the 
classical.  As  we  shall  endeavour  to  show,  the 
greatest  names  of  the  Classical  school  display  the 
quality  of  romanticism  in  the  spirit  or  expression 
of  some  of  their  works,  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  compositions  of  the  Romantic  school  are  fre 
quently  marked  by  scrupulous  adherence  to  the 
;  forms  of  traditional  excellence.  Again,  as  the 
associations  of  the  word  Classical  convey  the 
highest  meed  of  praise,  works  at  first  pronounced 
to  be  romantic  establish,  by  general  recognition 
of  their  merit,  a  claim  to  be  considered  clas 
sical.  What  is  'romantic'  to-day  may  thus  grow, 
although  itself  unchanged,  to  be  'classical'  to 
morrow.  The  reader  will  thus  understand  why, 
in  Reicliardt's  opinion,  Bach,  Handel  and  Gluck 
were  classical,  but  Haydn  and  Mozart  romantic; 
why  later  critics,  in  presence  of  the  fuller 
romanticism  of  Beethoven,  placed  Haydn  and 
Mozart  among  the  classical  composers ;  and  why 
Beethoven  himself,  in  his  turn,  was  declared  to 
be  classical. 

The  propriety  of  applying  the  term  Romantic 
to  operas  whose  subjects  are  taken  from  romantic 


ROMANTIC. 

literature,  or  to  songs  where  music  is  set  to 
romantic  words,  will  not  be  questioned.  And 
from  such  works  it  is  easy  to  select  passages 
which  present  romantic  pictures  to  the  mind,  as, 
for  instance,  the  Trumpet  passage  on  the  long 
Bb  in  the  bass  in  the  great  Leonore  overture,  or 
the  three  Horn  notes  in  the  overture  to  '  Oberon,' 
or  the  three  Drum  notes  in  the  overture  to  '  Der 
Freischiitz.'  But  in  pure  instrumental  music  the 
marks  of  romanticism  are  so  fine,  and  the  recog 
nition  of  them  depends  so  much  on  sympathy  and 
mental  predisposition,  that  the  question  whether 
this  or  that  work  is  romantic  may  be  a  subject 
of  interminable  dispute  among  critics.  Some 
times  the  only  mark  of  romanticism  would  seem 
to  be  a  subtle  effect  of  instrumentation,  or  a 
sudden  change  of  key,  as  in  the  following  pas 
sage  from  the  Leonore  Overture: — 


KOMANTIC. 


149 


Another  example  from  B  ethoven  is  supplied 
by  the  opening  bars  of  the  PF.  Concerto  in  G 
major,  where  after  the  solo  has  ended  on  the 
dominant  the  orchestra  enters  pp  with  the  chord 
of  B  major,  thus — 


Solo 


Strings 


The  whole  of  the  Slow  Movement  of  this  Con 
certo  is  thoroughly  romantic,  but  perhaps  that 
quality  is  most  powerfully  felt  in  the  following 
passage  : — 


tion — as  for  instance,  in  this  passage  from  the 
Adagio  of  the  gth  Symphony: — 


P  dim  ' 


etc. 


Mi: 


faoS 


rTTif^-fi*-  r  *  fTr^t^^^f1 

»-fc.  •%-+-•  -Pt-  T—  -t-  *J     ^9- -*-- 9-    -4-^-+- 

tr  •    T*'-£1r.  .;*-:£:  £  y 

Yet  so  subtle  is  the  spell  of  its  presence  here 
that  it  would  be  difficult  to  define  where  its 
intense  romanticism  lies,  unless  it  be  in  the 
abrupt  change  both  in  key  (A  minor  to  F 
major),  and  in  the  character  of  the  phrase,  al 
most  forcing  a  scene,  or  recollection,  or  image, 
upon  the  hearer.  Indeed,  to  romantic  music 
belongs  in  the  highest  degree  the  power  of  evok 
ing  in  the  mind  some  vivid  thought  or  concep- 


where  the  transition  into  Db  seems  to  say, 
'Vanitas  vanitatum,  omnia  vanitas';  and  again 
in  the  Eroica,  where  at  the  end  of  the  Trio,  the 
long  holding  notes  and  peculiar  harmony  in  the 
horns  seem  to  suggest  the  idea  of  Eternity: — 

Strings 


(5>— '— &-- !-&--: 


etc. 


Many  mpre  illustrations  might  be  taken  from 
Beethoven's  works,  and  never  has  the  romantic 
spirit  produced  more  splendid  results  than  in  his 
five  last  Sonatas  and  in  his  Symphony  No.  7. 
But  with  regard  to  our  choice  of  examples  we 
must  remind  the  reader  that,  where  the  stand 
point  of  criticism  is  almost  wholly  subjective, 
great  diversities  of  judgment  are  inevitable. 

It  was  not  until  after  the  appearance  of 
the  works  of  Carl  Maria  von  Weber,  who  lived 
in  close  relation  with  the  romantic  school  of 
literature,  and  who  drew  his  inspirations  from 
their  writings,  that  critics  began  to  speak  of 
a  'romantic  school  of  music.'  Beethoven  had 
by  this  time  been  accepted  as  classical,  but  in 
addition  to  Weber  himself,  Schubert,  and  after 
wards  Mendelssohn,  Schumann,  and  Chopin  were 
all  held  to  be  representatives  of  the  romantic 
school.  Widely  as  the  composers  of  this  new 
school  differed  in  other  respects,  they  were  alike 
in  their  susceptibility  to  the  tone  of  thought  and 
feeling  which  so  deeply  coloured  the  romantic 
literature  of  their  time.  None  of  them  were 
strangers  to  that  weariness,  approaching  to  dis 
gust,  of  the  actual  world  around  them,  and  those 


150 


KOMANTIC. 


yearnings  to  escape  from  it,  which  pursued  so 
many  of  the  finest  minds  of  the  generations  to 
•which  they  belonged.    To  men  thus  predisposed, 
it  was  a  relief  and  delight  to  live  in  an  ideal 
world  as  remote  as  possible  from  the  real  one. 
Some  took  refuge  in  mediaeval  legends,  where  no 
border  divided  the  natural  from  the  supernatural, 
where  the  transition  from  the  one  to  the  other 
was  as  delicate  and  yet  as  real  as  that  in  the 
passage    quoted    from     Beethoven's     Overture, 
and  where  nothing  could  be  incongruous  or  im 
probable  ;  some  in  the  charms  and  solitudes  of 
nature ;  and  others  in  the  contemplation  of  peace 
and  beatitude   beyond   the  grave.     But   in  all 
there  was  the  same  impatience  of  the  material 
and    mundane    conditions    of    their    existence, 
the    same   longing  to   dwell   in    the    midst  of 
scenes   and    images    which   mortals    could   but 
dimly   see    through    the   glass   of  religious    or 
poetic     imagination.      As     might    have    been 
expected   of  works  produced  under  such   influ 
ences,  indistinctness  of  outline  was  a  common 
attribute  of  compositions  of  the  romantic  school. 
The  hard,  clear  lines  of  reality  were  seldom  met 
with  in   them,  and  the  cold  analysis   of  pure 
reason  was  perpetually  eluded.     It  was  equally 
natural  that  the  creations  of  minds  withdrawn 
from  contact  with  the  actual  world  and  wrapt  in 
the  folds  of  their  own   fancies,  should   vividly 
reflect  the  moods  and  phases  of  feeling  out  of 
which    they   sprang — that  they   should    be,   in 
short,    intensely   subjective.     Nor   was   it    sur 
prising  that  when  impatience  of  reality,  indis 
tinctness  of  outline,  and  excessive  subjectivity  ! 
co-existed,  the  pleasures  of  imagination  sometimes 
took  a  morbid  hue.     Such   conditions  of  origin 
as  we  have  been  describing  could  not   fail   to 
affect  the  forms  of  composition.     It  was  not  that 
the   romanticists   deliberately  rejected   or   even  \ 
undervalued  classic  models,  but  that,  borne  onward 
by  the  impulse  to  give  free  expression  to  their 
own  individuality,  they  did  not  suffer  themselves 
to  be  bound  by  forms,  however  excellent,  which 
they   felt   to   be   inadequate   for  their  purpose. 
Had  the  leaders  of  the  romantic  school  been  men 
of  less  genius,  this  tendency  might  have  degene 
rated  into  disregard   of  form ;    but   happily   in 
them  liberty  did  not  beget  license,  and  the  art 
of  music  was  enriched  by  the  addition  of  new 
forms.     'The  extremes,'   says  Goethe,  speaking 
of  the  romantic  school  of  literature,  '  will  disap 
pear,  and  at  length   the   great   advantage  will 
remain  that  a  wider  and  more  varied  subject- 
matter,   together  with   a    freer    form,    will    be 
attained.'     Goethe's  anticipations  were  equally 
applicable  to  music. 

Among  masters  of  the  romantic  school,  Weber 
stands  second  to  none.  In  youth  he  surrendered 
himself  to  the  fascination  of  literary  romanticism, 
and  this  early  bias  of  his  mind  was  confirmed  in 
later  years  by  constant  intercourse  at  Dresden 
with  Holtei,  Tieck,  E.  T.  A.  Hoffmann,  and  other 
men  of  the  same  cast  of  thought.  How  ex 
clusively  the  subjects  of  Weber's  operas  were 
selected  from  romantic  literature,  and  how  the 
'  Romantic  Opera,'  of  which  Germany  has  so 


KOMANTIC. 

much  reason  to  be  proud,  owed  to  him  its 
origin  and  highest  development,  although  the 
names  of  Spohr,1  Marschuer,  Lindpaintner, 
and  others  are  justly  associated  with  it,  are 
points  on  which  we  need  not  linger,  as  they  are 
fully  discussed  in  the  article  on  OPERA.  Neither 
is  it  necessary  to  repeat  what  has  been  said  in 
the  article  on  ORCHESTRATION  of  the  romantic 
effects  which  Weber  could  produce  in  his  instru 
mentation.  Never,  even  in  the  least  of  his 
pianoforte  works,  did  he  cease  to  be  romantic. 

Though  Weber  holds  the  first  place  in  the 
opera  of  the  romantic  school,  he  was  excelled  in 
other  branches  of  composition  by  his  contem 
porary,  Franz  Schubert.  Pure  and  classic  as 
was  the  form  of  Schubert's  symphonies  and 
sonatas,  the  very  essence  of  romanticism  is  dis 
closed  in  them  by  sudden  transitions  from  one  key 
to  another  (as  in  the  first  movement  of  the  A 
minor  Sonata,  op.  143),  and  by  the  unexpected 
modulations  in  his  exquisite  harmony.  That 
wealth  of  melody,  in  which  he  is  perhaps  with 
out  a  rival,  was  the  gift  of  romanticism.  It 
gave  him  also  a  certain  indefiniteness  and,  as  it 
were,  indivisibility  of  ideas,  which  some  critics 
have  judged  to  be  a  failing,  but  which  were  in 
fact  the  secret  of  his  strength,  because  they  en 
abled  him  to  repeat  and  develope,  to  change  and 
then  again  resume  his  beautiful  motifs  in  long 
and  rich  progression,  without  pause  and  without 
satiety.  None  have  known,  as  he  knew,  how  to 
elicit  almost  human  sounds  from  a  single  instru 
ment — as  for  instance,  in  the  well-known  passage 
for  the  horn  in  the  second  movement  of  the  C 
major  Symphony,  of  which  Schumann  said  that 
'  it  seems  to  have  come  to  us  from  another  world.' 
Many  glorious  passages  might  be  pointed  out  in 
this  Symphony,  the  romanticism  of  which  it 
would  be  difficult  to  surpass ;  for  instance,  the 
second  subject  in  the  first  movement,  the 
beginning  of  the  working  out  in  the  Finale, 
etc.  etc.  And  the  complete  success  with  which 
he  produced  entirely  novel  effects  from  the 
whole  orchestra  is  the  more  astonishing  when  we 
remember  that  few  of  his  orchestral  works  were 
ever  performed  in  his  lifetime.  In  '  Song'  Schu 
bert  stands  alone,  while  Schumann  and  Robert 
Franz  come  nearest  to  him.  Even  from  boyhood 
he  had  steeped  his  soul  in  romantic  poetry ;  and 
so  expressive  was  the  music  of  his  songs  that 
they  required  no  words  to  reveal  their  deeply 
romantic  character.  Few  were  the  thoughts  or 
feelings  which  Schubert's  genius  was  unable  to 
express  in  music.  'He  was'  (to  quote  Schumann 
again)  '  the  deadly  enemy  of  all  Philistinism,  and 
after  Beethoven  the  greatest  master  who  made 
music  his  vocation  in  the  noblest  sense  of  the 
word.' 

Schumann's  own  enmity  to  Philistinism  was 
not  less  deadly  than  that  of  Schubert,  and  ro 
manticism  was  its  root  in  both  men.  So  strongly 
did  Schumann  resent  the  popularity  of  Herz, 
Hiinten,  and  other  Philistines,  whose  works  were 
in  vogue  about  the  year  1830,  that  he  founded 

1  Spohr's  claim  to  priority  of  invention  of  the  Romantic  opera  is 
discussed  in  OPEEA.  vol.  ii.  p.  520  6. 


EOMANTIC. 

the  '  Davidsbund '  to   expose  the  hollowness  of 
their  pretensions.     And  equally  dissatisfied  with 
the  shallow  and  contracted  views  of  the  musical 
critics  of  that  day,  he  started  his  '  Neue  Zeit- 
schrift  fur  Musik  '  to   vindicate   the  claims   of 
music  to  freedom  from  every  limitation,  except 
the  laws  of  reason  and  of  beauty.     Even  in  child 
hood   Schumann   was   an   eager  reader  of   ro 
mantic  literature,  and  the  writings  of  Hoffmann 
and  Jean  Paul  never  lost  their  charm  for  him. 
He  told  a  correspondent  that  if  she  would  rightly 
understand  his  '  Papillons,'  op.  2,  she  must  read 
the  last  chapter  of  Jean  Paul's  '  Flegeljahre' ; 
and  from   Hoffmann    he  borrowed  the  title  of 
'  Kreisleriana.'    It  was  not  however  the  imagin 
ary  sufferings  of  Dr.  Kreissler,  but  the  real  deep 
sorrows  of  Schumann's  own  soul  which  expressed 
themselves  in  these   noble  fantasias.      Though 
perfect  in  form,  they  are  thoroughly  romantic  in 
thought  and  spirit.     Not  less  romantic  were  the 
names  he  gave  to  his  pianoforte  pieces.     These 
names,  he  said,  were  scarcely  necessary — 'for  is 
not  music  self-sufficing  ?  does  it  not  speak  for 
itself? ' — but  he  admitted  that  they  were  faithful 
indexes  to  the  character  of  the   pieces.      The 
clearest  tokens  of  the  same  source  of  inspiration 
may  be  found  in  his  Fantasie,  op.  1 7,  which  bears 
as  its  motto  a  verse  from  Schlegel.     In  the  last 
part   a   deeply  moving    effect    is  produced   by 
the  abrupt  change  of  key  in  the  arpeggios  from 
the  chords  of  C  to  A  and  then  to  F.  But  changes 
of  key  were  not  his  only  resource  for  the  produc 
tion  of  romantic  effects.     Excepting  Beethoven, 
none  have  illustrated  the  power  of  rhythm  so 
well  as  Schumann.     He  often  imparts  a  strange 
and  entirely  novel  significance  to  commonplace 
or  familiar  phrases    by    syncopated    notes,   by 
putting  the  emphasis  on  the  weak  part  of  the  bar, 
or  by  accents  so  marked  as  to  give  the  impres 
sion  of  a  simultaneous  combination  of  triple  and 
common    time.      These    strong    and    eccentric 
rhythms  appear  in  all  his  works ;  and  the  frequent 
directions  Marcato  assai  or  Molto  marcato  show 
what  stress  he  laid  upon  emphasis.    The  influence 
of  Jean  Paul  may  be  traced  also  in  Schumann's 
sometimes  grave  and  sometimes  playful  humour. 
Many  of  his  pianoforte  pieces  are  marked  mit 
Humor  or  mit  vielem  Humor.     And  in  this  re 
spect  he  is  inferior  only  to  Beethoven,  of  whose 
'romantic  humour'   he  so  often   speaks  in  his 
'Gesammelte  Schriften.'     The  romantic  bias  of 
Schumann's  mind   was   not   less  evident  in  his 
treatment  of  Oriental  subjects.     The  colouring 
of  his   '  Paradise    and    the   Peri,'    and   of  his 
'  Oriental  Pictures '  (Bilder  aus  Osten),  is  vividly 
local.      And    of  his    songs    we    may   cite    the 
'  Waldesgesprach'  (Op.  39,  No.  3)  as  an  example 
of  the  purest  essence  of  romance.     Full  as  the 
poem  is  in  itself  of  romantic  feeling  and   ex 
pression,  the  music  interprets  the  words,  rather 
than  the  words  interpret  the  music. 

The  romantic  spirit  found  a  less  congenial 
abode  in  the  happy,  equable  disposition,  and 
carefully  disciplined  imagination  of  Mendels 
sohn  ;  but  his  genius  was  too  sensitive  and  deli 
cate  to  remain  unaffected  by  the  main  currents 


ROMANTIC. 


151 


of  his  age.1  Take,  for  example,  the  first  four 
chords  in  the  overture  to  'A  Midsummer  Night's 
Dream.'  And  could  it  indeed  be  possible  to 
illustrate  Shakespeare's  romantic  play  in  music 
with  fuller  success  than  Mendelssohn  has  done  ? 
The  overtures  'The  Hebrides,'  'The  Lovely 
Melusine,' and  'Calm  Sea  and  Prosperous  Voyage,' 
are  likewise  full  of  the  brightest  qualities  of 
romanticism. 

Not  unlike  Mendelssohn  was  William  Sterndale 
Bennett ;  and  the  points  of  resemblance  between 
them  were  strict  regard  to  form,  clearness  of 
poetic  thought,  and  cultivated  refinement  of  taste. 
Romantic  too  Bennett  certainly  was ;  as  may  at 
once  be  seen  in  his  overtures,  '  The  Naiads '  and 
'The  Wood  Nymphs.'  So  tranquil,  clear  and 
perfect  in  detail  are  most  of  Bennett's  com 
positions,  so  delicate  was  the  touch  which 
fashioned  them,  that  they  have  been  likened  to 
the  landscapes  of  Claude  Lorraine :  and  in 
illustration  of  what  is  meant,  we  may  mention 
his  '  Three  Musical  Sketches,'  op.  10  ('  The  Lake, 
the  Millstream  and  the  Fountain').  Yet  there 
were  rare  moments  when  Bennett's  habitual 
reserve  relaxed,  and  the  veil  was  lifted  from  his 
inner  nature.  To  the  inspiration  of  such  moments 
we  may  ascribe  parts  of  his  G  minor  Symphony, 
and  above  all  his  beautiful  '  Paradise  and  the 
Peri '  overture.  His  '  Parisina'  overture  betrays 
the  latent  fire  which  burned  beneath  a  wontedly 
calm  surface,  and  many  romantic  passages 
might  be  pointed  out  in  it.  One  such  is  to  be 
found  at  the  beginning  of  the  working  out,  where 
the  theme,  which  before  was  in  Fjf  minor  and 
the  very  soul  of  melancholy — 


K     S 

- 

-     _  . 

2Z]  3 

li- 

«/ 

*^^ 

f 

•--^M^-ej^ 

,     I  f^ 

1          ! 

1  4 

fes  r^ 

1       t: 

1 

3    r 

•^.  • 

I 

is  now  given  in  A  major,  the  CjJ  of  the  cadence 
seeming  for  the  moment  to  brighten  it  as  with 
the  inspiration  of  hope — 


^J^- 

--  — 

—  •  — 

—  

—  .  — 

w^ 

i= 

«J 

^"^_^ 

r 

f  -\.  ^  tf 

ft 

\fSf 

:p|L^ 

^N 

^ 

iJE 

L_T- 

—  ^ 

,^^. 

-4- 

Notice  of  the  modern  German  composers  on 
whom  the  stamp  of  Schumann  is  so  unmistake- 
able,  would  lead  us  too  far.  Wagner  we  pass  by, 
because  he  can  hardly  be  counted  among  the 
followers  of  the  romantic  school,  and  we  could 
not,  within  the  limits  of  this  article,  show  the 
points  wherein  he  differs  from  former  romanticists; 

1  In  describing  to  Eeichardt's  daughter  the  success  of  her  father's 
'  Morgengesang '  at  the  Khiue  Festival,  Mendelssohn  adds :  '  at  the 
words  Und  schlich  in  dieser  Nacht  the  music  becomes  so  romantic 
and  poetical  that  every  time  I  hear  it,  I  am  more  touched  and 
charmed.' 


152 


EOMANTIC. 


but  mention  is  made  under  ORCHESTRATION 
of  some  of  the  beautiful  and  truly  romantic 
effects  which  he  knows  how  to  produce  in  his 
instrumentation.  [See  also  OPERA,  and  WAGNER.] 
We  may  however  designate  one  of  the  greatest 
living  composers  as  one  of  the  greatest  living 
romanticists ;  and  it  is  no  disparagement  to  the 
individuality  of  Johannes  Brahms  to  say  that  he 
is  in  many  respects  the  disciple  of  Schubert  and 
Schumann.  The  romanticism  of  such  productions 
as  the  beautiful  romances  from  Tieck's  '  Magelone' 
(op.  33)  or  the  cantata  '  Rinaldo'  (op.  50)  is  of 
course  visible  at  a  glance,  but  Brahms's  roman 
ticism  generally  lies  too  deep  to  be  discovered  with 
out  attentive  and  sympathetic  study.  As  a  rule, 
he  is  more  concerned  to  satisfy  the  judgment  than 
kindle  the  imagination,  more  anxious  to  move  the 
heart  than  please  the  ear.  Close  observation  will 
often  find  an  adequate  reason  and  justification  for 
seeming  harshnesses  in  Brahms's  works,  and  re 
flective  familiarity  with  them  will,  in  the  same 
way,  surely  discover  the  genuine  romantic  spirit  in 
passages  where  its  presence  would  wholly  escape 
the  unpractised  eye  and  ear. 

Chopin  holds  a  solitary  position  in  romantic 
art.  No  school  can  claim  him  wholly  for  its 
own,  and  the  best  poetic  gifts  of  the  French, 
German,  and  Sclavonic  nationalities  were  united 
in  him.  Chopin,  says  Liszt,  refused  to  be  bound 
by  deference  to  rules  which  fettered  the  play  of 
his  imagination,  simply  because  they  had  been 
accepted  as  classical.  But  the  classic  training 
and  solid  studies  of  his  youth,  combined  with  his 
exquisite  taste  and  innate  refinement,  preserved 
him  from  abuse  of  the  liberty  which  he  was 
determined  to  enjoy.  The  mental  atmosphere  of 
his  life  in  Paris  may  be  felt  in  his  works.  In 
hatred  of  whatever  was  commonplace  and 
ordinary,  he  was  one  with  the  French  romantic 
school ;  but  unlike  them  he  would  allow  nothing, 
whose  only  merit  was  originality,  to  stand  in  his 
compositions.  Beauty  there  must  always  be  to 
satisfy  him  ;  and  he  would  have  recoiled  from 
the  crudities  and  barbarisms  which  disfigure  some 
works  of  the  French  romantic  period.  So  uni 
formly  romantic  was  Chopin  in  every  stage  of 
his  career,  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  illustrate 
this  quality  of  his  music  by  extracts. 

The  French  romantic  school  of  literature  was 
of  later  date  than  the  German,  and  was  con 
siderably  affected  by  it.  The  general  features 
of  the  two  schools  were  very  similar,  but  the 
French  authors  wrote  even  more  than  the  Ger 
man  in  the  mediaeval  and  mystic  vein,  and  were 
more  prone  to  unhealthy  exaggeration.  In  France, 
moreover,  the  antagonism  between  the  romantic 
and  classical  schools  was  carried  to  a  pitch  which 
had  no  parallel  in  Germany.  The  completeness 
and  universality  of  the  empire  which  classic  ex 
ample  and  tradition  had  gained  over  the  educated 
public  of  France,  intensified  the  revolt  against 
them,  when  at  last  it  arrived.  The  revolt  was 
as  widespread  as  it  was  uncompromising  :  there 
was  not  a  field  of  art  or  literature  in  which  the 
rebel  flag  of  the  new  school  was  not  unfurled, 
and  a  revolutionary  temper,  inflamed  perhaps  by 


EOMANTIC. 

the  political  storms  of  that  time,  was  manifest  in 
i  all  that  they  did.  In  the  false  simplicity  and 
sickly  sentimentality,  in  the  stilted  diction  and 
threadbare  forms  of  expression  affected  by  the 
reigning  school,  the  insurgent  authors  had  indeed 
much  to  provoke  them.  But  in  the  vehemence 
of  their  reaction  against  such  faults  they  were 
apt  to  fall  into  an  opposite  extreme;  and  thus, 
finish  of  form,  clearness  of  outline,  and  coherent 
sequence  of  thought  are  too  often  absent  from 
their  works. 

With  respect  to  music,  Berlioz  is  the  typical 
name  of  the  renaissance  of  1830  ;  but  Liszt,  on 
whom  the  French  school  exercised  so  strong  an 
influence,  may  be  associated  with  him.  So  far 
were  these  composers  and  their  countless  fol 
lowers  borne  by  the  revolutionary  impulse,  that 
they  did  not  shrink  at  times  from  a  total  rejection 
of  the  old  traditional  forms  in  their  instrumental 
music  ;  but  it  cannot  be  said  that  very  valuable 
results  were  obtained  by  their  hardihood.  They 
chose  indeed  romantic  subjects  for  musical  repre 
sentation,  as  Weber  and  Schumann  had  done,  but 
there  the  resemblance  ceased.  They  aimed  not, 
as  the  earlier  masters  did,  to  reproduce  the  feel 
ings  stirred  in  them  by  external  objects,  but 
rather  to  present  the  objects  themselves  to  the 
minds  of  an  audience ;  and  an  undoubted  loss 
of  romantic  effect  was  the  consequence  of  their 
innovation.  But  while  we  cannot  acquit  the 
younger  romanticists  of  the  charge  of  an  exces 
sive  realism,  which  too  readily  sacrificed  artistic 
beauty  to  originality  and  vivid  representation, 
nor  deny  the  frequent  obscurity  and  incoherence 
of  their  compositions,  we  are  unable  to  acquiesce 
in  the  imputation  so  often  fastened  upon  them 
that  their  romanticism  was  merely  the  veil  of 
ignorance,  and  that  they  violated  rules  because 
they  knew  no  better.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  even 
those  among  them  who  pushed  extravagance  to 
the  farthest  point  were  thorough  masters  of  the 
strictest  rules  and  severest  forms  of  musical  com 
position. 

To  sum  up,  in  conclusion,  our  obligations  to 
the  romantic  school,  we  must  acknowledge  that 
they  saved  music  from  the  danger  with  which  it 
was  at  one  time  threatened  of  being  treated  as 
an  exact  but  dry  and  cold  science  ;  that  they 
gave  it  a  freer  and  more  elastic  form  ;  that  they 
developed  the  capabilities  and  technique  of 
various  instruments ;  that  being  themselves 
always  filled  with  a  deep  reverence  for  their  own 
art  they  rescued  from  unmerited  neglect  some  of 
the  finest  works  of  earlier  composers ;  and  that  by 
their  own  genius  and  labour  they  have  added 
many  a  noble  masterpiece  to  the  treasures  of 
music.1  [A.H.W.] 


1  For  the  foregoing  article  the  following  works  have  been  consulted : 
—Schumann,  '  Gesammelte  Schritten  ' ;  Liszt,  'Chopin';  Hostinsky, 
'  Die  Lehre  der  formalen  Aesthetik ' ;  Kiister.  '  Populare  Vortrage ' ; 
La  Mara,  '  Musikalische  Studien-ko'pfe' ;  Wasielewski,  'Schumann'; 
Weber,  Max  v.,  '  C.  M.  v.  Weber ' ;  Hoffmann, '  Kreisleriana ' ;  Gautier, 
'Histoire  du  Romantisme' ;  N.  Zeitschrift  f.  Musik,  1834-1839  ;  Riehl, 
'  Charakterkdpfe  ' ;  Brockhaus,  '  Conversationslexicon' ;  Eckermann, 
'Gespruche  mit  Goethe';  Mendel, 'Lexicon' ;  Brendel,  'Geschichte 
der  Musik ' ;  Marx, '  Musik  des  Neunzehnteu  Jahrhunderts' ;  KOstlin, 
•  Geschichte  der  Musik ' ;  Weitzmann,  '  Geschichte  des  Glavierspiels ' ; 
Reissmann, '  Von  Bach  bis  Waguer ' ;  Letters  from  Dr.  Zopff  and  Dr. 
Ludwig. 


ROMBERG. 

ROMBERG.  One  of  those  musical  families  of  • 
whom,  from  the  Bachs  downwards,  so  many  are  , 
encountered  in  Germany.  The  founders  were 
ANTON  and  HEINRICH,  a  pair  of  inseparable 
brothers,  who  dressed  alike,  and  lived  together  in 
Bonn.  They  were  still  alive  in  1792.  Another 
ANTON,  a  bassoon-player,  born  in  Westphalia  in 
1745,  lived  at  Dinklage  (Duchy  of  Oldenburg), 
gave  concerts  at  Hamburg,  and  died  in  1812, 
living  long  enough  to  play  a  concerto  for  two 
bassoons  with  his  youngest  son  ANTON,  born  17/7. 
His  eldest  son,  BERNHARD,  born  Nov.  1 1, 1 767,  at 
Dinklage,  is  justly  regarded  as  head  of  the  school 
of  German  violoncellists.  When  only  fourteen  he 
attracted  considerable  attention  in  Paris  during 
a  visit  there  with  his  father;  from  1790  to  1793 
he  was  in  the  band  of  the  Elector  of  Cologne  at 
Bonn,  at  the  same  time  with  Ferdinand  Ries, 
Reicha  and  the  two  Beethovens.  During  the 
French  invasion  he  occupied  himself  in  a  profes 
sional  tour  in  Italy,  Spain,  and  Portugal,  and  was 
well  received,  especially  in  Madrid,  where  Ferdi 
nand  VII.  accompanied  him  on  the  violin.  His 
cousin  Andreas  went  with  him,  and  on  their  return 
through  Vienna  late  in  1796,  they  gave  a  con 
cert  at  which  Beethoven  played  (Thayer,  ii.  16). 
After  his  return  Bernhard  married  Catherine 
Ramcke  at  Hamburg.  From  1801  to  1803  he 
was  a  professor  in  the  Paris  Conservatoire,  and 
we  next  find  him  in  the  King's  band  at  Berlin. 
Spohr  (Autob.  i.  78)  met  him  there  at  the  end 
of  1 804,  and  played  quartets  with  him.  Perhaps 
the  most  remarkable  fact  he  mentions  is  that 
after  one  of  Beethoven's  early  quartets  (op.  18) 
Romberg  asked  how  Spohr  could  play  'such 
absurd  stuff'  (barockes  Zeug).  It  is  of  a  piece 
with  the  well-known  anecdote  of  his  tearing  the 
copy  of  the  first  Rasoumowsky  quartet  from  the 
stand  and  trampling  on  it. 

The  approach  of  the  French  forces  in  1 806  again 
drove  Romberg  on  the  world,  and  in  1807  he  was 
travelling  in  South  Russia,  but  returned  to  Berlin, 
and  was  Court-Capellmeister  till  1817,  when  he 
retired  into  private  life  at  Hamburg.  In  1822 
he  went  to  Vienna,  in  1825  to  St.  Petersburg 
and  Moscow,  and  in  1839  to  x London,  and  Paris, 
where  his  Method  for  the  cello  (Berlin,  Trautwein, 
1 840)  was  adopted  by  the  Conservatoire.  He  died 
at  Hamburg,  August  13,  1841. 

The  great  importance  of  B.  Romberg  both  as 
composer  and  executant  arises  from  the  fact  that 
he  materially  extended  the  capabilities  of  the 
violoncello.  His  celebrated  concertos  may  be 
said  to  contain  implicitly  a  complete  theory 
of  cello  playing,  and  there  are  few  passages 
known  to  modern  players  the  type  of  which  may 
[  not  be  found  there.  Probably  no  better  know 
ledge  of  the  fingerboard  could  be  gained  than 
by  studying  these  concertos.  Although  they  are 
now  seldom  played  in  public,  being  somewhat 
too  old-fashioned  to  hit  the  taste  of  modern 
artists  and  audiences,  they  are  yet  of  considerable 
merit  as  compositions,  and  contain  passages  of 

1  He  does  not  seem  to  have  played  in  London  ;  but  a  slight  trace  of 
As  presence  is  perhaps  discoverable  in  an  overture  of  his  nephew's, 
which  closes  the  Philharmonic  programme  ot  June  17, 1839. 


ROMBERG. 


153 


distinct  grace  and  charm.  There  is  probably  no 
means  now  of  learning  at  first  hand  what  Rom- 
berg's  own  playing  was  like.  But  it  may  be 
gathered  from  the  character  of  his  compositions, 
that  his  tone  was  not  so  full  and  powerful  as 
that  of  artists  who  confined  themselves  more  to 
the  lower  register  of  the  instrument,  and  to  pas 
sages  of  less  complication.  As  an  indication  that 
this  view  agrees  with  that  which  prevailed  during 
his  lifetime,  we  find  him  for  instance  spoken  of 
as  follows  by  a  correspondent  of  the  Allgemeine 
Musikalische  Zeitung  for  1817,  who  had  heard 
him  play  at  Amsterdam: — 'The  visit  of  B.  Rom 
berg  had  long  been  eagerly  looked  for.  The 
immense  reputation  which  preceded  him,  caused 
his  first  concert  to  be  crowded  to  excess.  He 
played  a  concerto  (die  Reise  auf  den  Bernhards- 
berg)  and  a  capriccio  on  Swedish  national  airs. 
In  regard  to  the  perfection  and  taste  of  his  per 
formance,  to  the  complete  ease  and  lightness  of 
his  playing,  our  great  expectations  were  far  ex 
ceeded — but  not  so  in  respect  of  tone — this,  espe 
cially  in  difficult  passages,  we  found  much  weaker 
than  the  powerful  tone  of  our  own  Rauppe,  and 
indeed  scarcely  to  compare  with  it.'  At  a  second 
concert  Romberg  played  his  well-known  Military 
Concerto,  and  the  same  view  was  reiterated. 

Bernhard  Romberg  composed  cello  solos  of  vari 
ous  kinds;  string  quartets;  PF.  quartets;  a  funeral 
symphony  for  Queen  Louise  of  Prussia;  a  concerto 
for  2  cellos  (Breitkopf  &  Ha'rtel),  his  last  work ; 
and  operas — 'Die  wiedergefundene  Statue,' words 
by  Gozzi  von  Sch  wick  (1790),  and 'DerSchiffbrueh' 
(1791,  Bonn),  'Don  Mendoce,'  with  his  cousin 
Andreas  (Paris),  'Alma,'  'Ulysses  und  Circe' 
(July  27,  1807),  and  '  Rittertreue,'  3  acts  (Jan. 
31,  1817,  Berlin).  His  son  KARL,  also  a  cellist, 
born  at  St.  Petersburg  Jan.  17,  1811,  played  in 
the  court-band  there  from  1832  to  1842,  and 
afterwards  lived  at  Vienna. 

Anton  Romberg  the  younger  had  a  brother 
GERHARD  HEINRICH,  born  1748,  a  clarinet- 
player,  and  Musikdirector  at  Miinster,  who 
lived  with  him  for  some  time  at  Bonn,  and 
had  several  children,  of  whom  the  most  cele 
brated  was  ANDREAS,  a  violinist,  born  April  27, 
1767,  at  Vechte,  near  Miinster.  When  only 
seven  he  played  in  public  with  his  cousin  Bern- 
hard,  with  whom  he  remained  throughout  life 
on  terms  of  the  closest  friendship.  At  seventeen 
he  excited  great  enthusiasm  in  Paris,  and  was 
engaged  for  the  Concerts  Spirituels  (1/84).  In 
1790  he  joined  his  cousin  at  Bonn,  played  the 
violin  in  the  Elector's  band,  and  accompanied  him 
to  Italy  in  1793.  In  Rome  they  gave  a  concert 
at  the  Capitol  (Feb.  17,  1796)  under  the  patron 
age  of  Cardinal  Rezzonico.  Andreas  then  made 
some  stay  in  Vienna,  where  Haydn  showed  great 
interest  in  his  first  quartet.  In  179  7  he  went  to 
Hamburg,  and  in  1 798  made  a  tour  alone.  In 
1800  he  followed  Bernhard  to  Paris,  and  com 
posed  with  him  'Don  Mendoce,  ou  le  Tuteur 
portugais.'  The  opera  failed,  and  the  success  of 
their  concerts  was  but  partial,  so  Andreas  left 
for  Hamburg,  where  he  married,  and  remained 
for  fifteen  yeurs.  He  next  became  Coui't-Capell- 


154 


ROMBERG. 


meister  at  Gotha,  where  he  died,  in  very  great 
destitution,  Nov.  10,  18-21.  Concerts  were  given 
in  various  towns  for  the  benefit  of  his  widow  and 
children.  The  university  of  Kiel  gave  him  a 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Music.  He  composed  six 
symphonies,  quartets,  quintets,  church  music ;  a 
Te  Deum,  Psalms,  a  Dixit,  Magnificat,  and 
Hallelujah,  in  4,  5,  8  and  16  parts;  several 
operas — 'Das  graue  Ungeheuer '  (1790,  Bonn), 
'Die  Macht  derMusik'  (1791),  'Der  Rabe,'  ope 
retta  (1792),  'Die  Grossmuth  des  Scipio,'  and 
'Die  Ruinen  zu  Paluzzi,' — the  two  last  not  per 
formed.  His  best-known  work  is  the  music  for 
Schiller's  '  Song  of  the  Bell,'  which  still  keeps  its 
place  in  concert  programmes.  His  music  is  solid, 
but  not  original,  being  too  closely  modelled  on 
Mozart.  His  larger  works  are  well-known  in 
England.  The  Lay  of  the  Bell  was,  in  the  early 
days  of  the  Choral  Harmonists'  Society,  to  be  often 
found  in  its  programmes,  and  is  still  occasionally 
heard.  That,  with  '  The  Transient  and  the  Eter 
nal,'  '  The  Harmony  of  the  Spheres,'  '  The  Power 
of  Song,'  and  a  Te  Deum  (in  D),  are  all  pub 
lished  with  English  words  by  Novellos.  His 
Toy- symphony  is  now  and  then  played  as  an 
alternative  to  Haydn's,  and  was  chosen  for  per 
formance  by  an  extraordinary  company,  em 
bracing  most  of  the  great  artists  of  London,  May 
14,  1880.  Two  sons,  CIPKIANO  and  HEINKICH  are 
mentioned  in  the  Allg.  musikalische  Zeitung. 
Andreas's  brother  BALTHASAR,  born  1775,  and 
educated  for  a  cellist,  died  aged  seventeen.  His 
sister  THERESE,  born  1781,  had  a  considerable 
reputation  as  a  pianist.  [F.G.] 

ROMEO  AND  JULIET.   A  subject  often  set 
by  opera  composers  ;  e.  g. — 

1.  Romeo  et  Juliette;    3  acts;   words  by  de 
Se'gur,  music  by  Steibelt.     Feydeau,  Paris,  Sept. 

io,  1793. 

2.  '  Giulietta  e  Romeo.'    Opera  seria  In  3  acts, 
by  Zingarelli.     Produced  at  the  Scala,  Milan, 
Carnival,  1796.   It  was  one  of  Napoleon's  favour 
ite  operas,  when  Crescentini  sang  in  it. 

3.  'Giulietta  e  Romeo,' by  Vaccaj.    Produced 
at  the  Scala,    Milan,  spring   of  1826  ;    King's 
Theatre,  London,  April  io,  1832. 

4.  '  I   Capuletti  ed  i   Montecchi,'  in  3  acts ; 
libretto  by  Romani,  music  by  Bellini.     Produced 
at  Venice,  March  12,1 830.     It  was  written  for 
the  two   Grisis   and  Rubini.     King's  Theatre, 
London,  July  20,  1833. 

5.  'Romeo  et  Juliette,'  in  5  acts;    words  by 
Barbier  and  Carre,  music  by  Gounod.    Produced 
at  theThdatreLyrique,  April27,iS67.  In  London, 
at  Covent  Garden,  in  Italian,  July  u,  1867. 

6.  In  addition  to  these  it  has  been  made  the 
subject  of  a  work  by  Berlioz,  his  5th  Symphony — 
'Rome'o  et  Juliette.  Symphonic  dramatique,  avec 
choeurs,  solos  de  chant,  et  prologue  en  re'citatif 
choral,  op.  17.'  Dedicated  to  Paganini.  The  words 
are  Berlioz's  own,  versified  by  Emil  Deschamps. 
It  was  composed  in  1839,  and  performed  three 
times  consecutively  at   the  Conservatoire.      la 
England  the  First  Part  (4  numbers)  was  executed 
\mder  M.  Berlioz's  direction  at  the  New  Phil 
harmonic  Concerts  of  March  24,  and  April  28, 


RONCONI. 

1852,  and  the  entire  work  by  the  Philharmonic 
Society  (Cusins)  March  io,  1881.  [G.J 

ROMER,  EMMA,  soprano  singer,  pupil  of  Sir 
George  Smart,  born  in  1814,  made  her  first 
appearance  at  Covent  Garden  Oct.  16,  1830,  as 
,  Clara  in  '  The  Duenna.'  She  met  with  a  favour 
able  reception,  and  for  several  years  filled  the 
position  of  prima  donna  at  Covent  Garden,  the 
English  Opera  House,  and  Drury  Lane,  with 
great  credit.  In  1852  she  took  the  management 
of  the  Surrey  Theatre,  with  a  company  con- 
i  taining  Miss  Poole  and  other  good  singers,  and 
brought  out  a  series  of  operas  in  English.  Miss 
Homer  was  rarely  heard  in  the  concert-room, 
but  appeared  at  the  Westminster  Abbey  Festival 
in  1834.  She  was  the  original  singer  of  the 
title-parts  in  Barnett's  '  Mountain  Sylph'  and 
'Fair  Rosamond.'  Her  performance  of  Amina 
in  the  English  version  of  Bellini's  'Sonnambula' 
was  much  admired.  She  married  a  Mr.  Almond, 
and  died  at  Margate,  April  n,  1868.  [W.H.H.] 

RONCONI,  a  family  of  distinguished  singers. 

DOMENICO,  a  tenor,  was  born  July  II,  1772, 
at  Lendinara-di-Polesine  in  Venetia.  He  first 
appeared  on  the  stage  in  1797  at  La  Fenice, 
Venice,  and  obtained  great  renown  both  as  a 
singer  and  actor,  there  and  in  other  Italian  cities. 
He  sang  in  Italian  opera  at  St.  Petersburg  and 
Munich,  and  afterwards  became  a  professor  of 
singing  at  the  Conservatoires  in  those  cities,  and 
at  Milan,  where  he  died,  April  13,  1839.  Of  Ms 
three  sons, 

FELICE,  born  in  1811,  at  Venice,  under  the 
direction  of  his  father  devoted  himself  to  in 
struction  in  singing,  and  became  a  professor  in 
1837  at  Wurzburg,  at  Frankfort,  and,  in  1844-8, 
at  Milan.  He  was  similarly  engaged  for  some  years 
in  London,  and  finally  at  St.  Petersburg,  where 
he  died  Sept.  io,  1875.  He  was  the  author  of  a 
Method  of  teaching  singing,  and  of  several  songs, 
His  second  brother, 

GIORGIO,  the  celebrated  baritone,  was  born  at 
Milan,  Aug.  6,  1810.  He  received  instruction  in 
singing  from  his  father,  and  began  his  dramatic 
career  in  1831,  at  Pavia,  as  Arturo  in  'La 
Straniera,'  He  played  in  some  of  the  small 
Italian  cities,  then  at  Rome,  where  Donizetti 
wrote  for  him  'II  Furioso,'  'Torquato  Tasso,' 
and  'Maria  di  Rohan/  in  which  last,  as  Due  de 
Chevreuse,  he  obtained  one  of  his  greatest 
triumphs- — also  at  Turin,  Florence,  Naples,  etc.  In 
the  last  city  Ronconi  was  married,  Oct.  18, 1837. 
to  Signorina  Giovannina  Giannoni,  a  singer  who 
had  played  in  London  the  previous  year,  in 
opera-buffa  at  the  St.  James's  Theatre.  He 
began  his  career  in  England  at  Her  Majesty's, 
April  9,  1842,  as  'Enrico'  in  Lucia,  and  was 
well  received  during  the  season  in  that  character 
and  in  those  of  Filippo  (Beatrice  di  Tenda), 
Belcore  (L'Elisir),  Basilio,  Riccardo  (Puritani), 
Tasso,  etc.  In  the  last  opera  his  wife  played 
with  him,  but  neither  then,  nor  five  years  later 
as  Maria  di  Rohan,  did  she  make  the  least  im 
pression  on  the  English  public.  He  then  made  a 
provincial  tour  with  her,  Thalberg,  and  John 
Parry.  In  the  winter  he  played  at  the  '  Italians,' 


RONCONI. 

Paris,  with  such  success  that  he  was  engaged 
there  for  several  subsequent  seasons,  and  at  one 
time  was  manager  of  the  theatre,  and  was  also 
engaged  at  Vienna,  Pesth,  Madrid  (where  he  was 
manager),  Barcelona  and  Naples.  He  reappeared 
in  England  April  13,  1847,  a^  Co  vent  Garden, 
as  Enrico,  and  also  played  Figaro  (Barbiere), 
May  8,  De  Chevreuse  on  the  production  in 
England  of  '  Maria  di  Rohan,'  and  the  Doge 
on  the  production  of  Verdi's  '  I  due  Foscari,' 
June  19,  in  which  'by  his  dignity  and  force  he 
saved  the  opera  .  .  .  from  utter  condemnation* 
(Chorley).  '  There  are  few  instances  of  a  voice 
so  limited  in  compass  (hardly  exceeding  an 
octave),  so  inferior  in  quality,  so  weak,  so 

habitually  out  of  tune The  low  stature, 

the  features,  unmarked  and  commonplace  when 
silent,  promising  nothing  -to  an  audience,  yet 
which  could  express  a  dignity  of  bearing,  a 
tragic  passion  not  to  be  exceeded,  or  an  exu 
berance  of  the  wildest,  quaintest,  most  whimsical, 

most  spontaneous  comedy These  things 

we  have  seen,  and  have  forgotten  personal  insigni 
ficance,  vocal  power  beyond  mediocrity,  every 
disqualification,  in  the  spell  of  strong,  real  sensi 
bility '  (Ib.).  There  have  been  few  such  examples 
of  terrible  courtly  tragedy  as  '  Signor  Ronconi's 
Chevreuse — the  polished  demeanour  of  his  earlier 
scenes  giving  a  fearful  force  of  contrast  to  the 
latter  ones  .  .  .  .  '  (Ib.)  He  sang  at  the  Italian 
Opera  every  season  until  1866  inclusive  ex 
cepting  1855  and  62,  in  all  the  great  comic 
operas,  as  Don  Juan,  Leporello,  Masetto,  Na- 
bucco,  Faust  (Spohr),  Rigoletto,  Lord  Allcash 
(Fra  Diavolo),  Dandolo  (Zampa),  Barberino 
(Stradella),  and  Crispino  (Crispino  e  la  Comare), 
etc.  In  the  last  six  parts  he  was  the  original 
interpreter  at  the  Italian  Opera,  and  in  many 
of  the.se,  such  as  Rigoletto,  the  Lord,  Figaro, 
and  the  Podesta  (LaGazza)  of  Rossini,  and  those 
of  Donizetti  he  remained  a  favourite.  Of  his 
classical  parts,  his  Don  Juan  alone  was  a  dis 
appointment.  He  afterwards  went  to  America, 
and  remained  there  some  time,  well  received. 
He  returned  to  Europe  in  1874,  and  was  ap 
pointed  a  teacher  of  singing  at  the  Conservatorio 
at  Madrid,  which  post  he  still  holds.  Some  years 
previously  he  founded  a  school  of  singing  at 
Uranada.1 

SEBASTIANO,  the  other  son,  also  a  baritone, 
born  May  1814,  at  Venice,  received  instruction 
from  his  father  and  the  elder  Romani,  and  made 
his  first  appearance  in  1836,  at  Teatro  Pantera, 
Lucca,  as  Torquato  Tasso,  in  which  part  through 
out  his  career  he  made  one  of  his  greatest  successes. 
He  enjoyed  considerable  popularity  in  his  own 
country,  at  Vienna,  and  in  Spain,  Portugal,  and 
•  America,  as  an  able  artist  in  the  same  line  of 
parts  as  his  brother — unlike  him  in  personal 
appearance,  being  a  tall  thin  man,  but  like  him 
in  the  capability  of  his  face  for  great  variety 
of  expression.  He  appeared  in  England  in  1860 
at  Her  Majesty's,  and  was  fairly  well  received  as 
Rigolelto  (in  which  he  made  his  de"but,  May  1 2th), 

l  Not  Cordova,  as  according  to  Ft:tis. 


RONDO. 


155 


Masetto,  and  Griletto  (Prova  d'un  Opera  Seria). 
He  retired  from  public  life  after  a  career  of  35 
years,  and  is  at  the  present  time  a,  teacher  of 
singing  at  Milan.2  [A.C.] 

RONDEAU.  The  French  name  for  a  short 
poem  of  six  or  eight  lines,  containing  but 
two  rhymes,  and  so  contrived  that  the  open 
ing  and  closing  lines  were  identical,  thus  form 
ing  as  it  were  a  circle  or  round.  The  name 
has  come  to  be  used  in  music  for  a  movement 
constructed  on  a  somewhat  corresponding  plan. 
[See  RONDO.]  [G.] 

RONDO  (Fr.  Eondeau).  A  piece  of  music 
having  one  principal  subject,  to  which  a  return 
is  always  made  after  the  introduction  of  other 
matter,  so  as  to  give  a  symmetrical  or  rounded 
form  to  the  whole. 

From  the  simplicity  and  obviousness  of  this 
idea  it  will  be  readily  understood  that  the  Rondo- 
form  was  the  earliest  and  most  frequent  definite 
mould  for  musical  construction.  For  a  full  tracing 
of  this  point  see  FORM  [i.  541,  552].  In  fact  the 
First  Movement  and  the  Rondo  are  the  two 
principal  types  of  Form,  modifications  of  the 
Rondo  serving  as  the  skeleton  for  nearly  every 
piece  or  song  now  written.  Dr.  Marx  ('Allge- 
meine  Musiklehre')  distinguishes  five  forms  of 
Rondo,  but  his  description  is  involved,  and, 
in  the  absence  of  any  acknowledged  authority 
for  these  distinctions,  scarcely  justifiable. 

Starting  with  a  principal  subject  of  definite 
form  and  length,  the  first  idea  naturally  was  to 
preserve  this  unchanged  in  key  or  form  through 
the  piece.  Hence  a  decided  melody  of  eight  or 
sixteen  bars  was  chosen,  ending  with  a  full  close 
in  the  tonic.  After  a  rambling  excursion  through 
several  keys  and  with  no  particular  object,  the 
principal  subject  was  regained  and  an  agreeable 
sense  of  contrast  attained.  Later  on  there  grew 
out  of  the  free  section  a  second  subject  in  a  re 
lated  key,  and  still  later  a  third,  which  allowed 
the  second  to  be  repeated  in  the  tonic.  This 
variety  closely  resembles  the  first-movement 
form,  the  third  subject  taking  the  place  of  the 
development  of  subjects,  which  is  rare  in  a 
Rondo.  The  chief  difference  lies  in  the  return 
to  the  first  subject  immediately  after  the  second, 
which  is  the  invariable  characteristic  of  the 
Rondo.  The  first  of  these  classes  is  the  Rondo 
from  Couperin  to  Haydn,  the  second  and  third 
that  of  Mozart  and  Beethoven.  The  fully  deve 
loped  Rondo-form  of  Beethoven  and  the  modern 
composers  may  be  thus  tabulated  :— 


'  Coda' 


In  the  case  of  a  Rondo  in  a  minor  key,  the  second 
subject  would  naturally  be  in.  the  relative  major 
instead  of  in  the  dominant. 

One  example  —  perhaps  the  clearest  as  well 
as  the  best  known  in  all  music  —  will  suffice  to 
make  this  plan  understood  by  the  untechnical 
reader.  Taking  the  Rondo  of  Beethoven's 

2  We  are  indebted  to  him  aod  Mr.  J.  C.  Griffith  for  much  of  the 
above  iutormauuu  with  regard  to  his  family. 


156 


RONDO. 


RONDO. 


'Sonata  Pathetique  '  (op.  13)  we  find  the  first  '  the  Rondo  of  the  Sonata  in  A  (op.  2,  No.  2),  the 


subject  in  C  minor  :  — 


this  is  of  1 7|  bars  in  length  and  ends  with  a  full 
close  in  the  key.  Six  bars  follow,  modulating 
into  Eb,  where  we  find  the  second  subject,  which 
is  of  unusual  proportions  compared  with  the  first, 
consisting  as  it  does  of  three  separate  themes  : — 


etc. 


etc. 


After  this  we  return  to  the  ist  subject,  which 
ends  just  as  before.  A  new  start  is  then  made  with 
a  third  subject  (or  pair  of  subjects  ?)  in  Ab  : — 


this  material  is  worked  out  for  24  bars  and 
leads  to  a  prolonged  passage  on  a  chord  of  the 
dominant  seventh  on  G,  which  heightens  the 
expectation  of  the  return  of  the  ist  subject  by 
delaying  it.  On  its  third  appearance  it  is  not 
played  quite  to  the  end,  but  we  are  skilfully  led 
away,  the  bass  taking  the  theme,  till,  in  the 
short  space  of  four  bars,  we  find  the  whole  of  the 
2nd  subject  reappearing  in  C  major.  Then, 
as  this  is  somewhat  long,  the  1st  subject  conies 
in  again  for  the  fourth  time  and  a  Coda  formed 
from  the  2nd  section  of  the  2nd  subject  concludes 
the  Rondo  with  still  another  'positively  last 
appearance '  of  No.  i . 

Beethoven's  Rondos  will  all  be  found  to  present 
but  slight  modifications  of  the  above  form.  Some 
times  a  '  working-out '  or  developznent  of  the 
2nd  subject  will  take  the  place  of  the  3rd 
subject,  as  in  the  Sonata  in  E  (op.  90),  but  in 
every  case  the  principal  subject  will  be  presented 
in  its  entirety  at  least  three  times.  But  as  this 
was  apt  to  lead  to  monotony — especially  in  the 
case  of  a  long  subject  like  that  in  the  Sonata 
just  quoted— Beethoven  introduced  the  plan  of 
varying  the  theme  slightly  on  each  repetition,  or 
of  breaking  off  in  the  middle.  It  is  in  such 
delicate  and  artistic  modifications  and  improve 
ments  as  these  that  the  true  genius  shows  itself, 
and  not  in  the  complete  abandonment  of  old 
rules.  In  the  earliest  example  we  can  take 


form  of  the  opening  arpeggio  is  altered  on  every 
recurrence,  while  the  simple  phrase  of  the  third 
and  fourth  bars 


lent 


'   • 


is  thus  varied  : — 


In  the  Rondo  of  the  Sonata  in  E  b  (op.  7)  again, 
we  find  the  main  subject  cut  short  on  its  second 
appearance,  while  on  its  final  repetition  all  sorts 
of  liberties  are  taken  with  it ;  it  is  played  an 
octave  higher  than  its  normal  place,  a  free  varia 
tion  is  made  on  it,  and  at  last  we  are  startled  by 
its  being  thrust  into  a  distant  key — EJJ.  This 
last  effect  has  been  boldly  pilfered  by  many  a 
composer  since — Chopin  in  the  Rondo  of  his 
E  minor  Pianoforte  Concerto,  for  instance.  It  is 
needless  to  multiply  examples  :  Beethoven  shows 
in  each  successive  work  how  this  apparently  stiff 
and  rigid  form  can  be  invested  with  infinite 
variety  and  interest;  he  always  contradicted  the 
idea  (in  which  too  few  have  followed  him) 
that  a  Rondo  was  bound  in  duty  to  be  an 
8-bar  subject  in  2-4  time,  of  one  unvarying, 
jaunty,  and  exasperatingly  jocose  character.  The 
Rondo  of  the  Eb  Sonata  is  most  touchingly 
melancholy,  so  is  that  to  the  Sonata  in  E  (op.  90), 
not  to  mention  many  others.  There  will  always 
remain  a  certain  stiffness  in  this  form,  owing  to 
the  usual  separation  of  the  subject  from  its  sur 
roundings  by  a  full  close.  When  this  is  dispensed 
with,  the  piece  is  said  to  be  in  Rondo-form,  but 
is  not  called  a  Rondo  (e.g.  the  last  movement  of 
Beethoven's  Sonata  op.  i,  No.  3). 

Modern  composers,  like  Chopin,  with  whom 
construction  was  not  a  strong  point,  often  omit 
the  central  section,  or  third  subject,  together  with 
the  repetition  of  the  first  subject  which  accom 
panies  it,  and  thus  what  they  call  a  Rondo  is 
merely  a  piece  on  the  plan  of  a  French  overture; 
that  is  to  say,  having  produced  all  his  material 
in  the  first  half  of  the  piece,  the  composer  repeats 
the  whole  unchanged,  save  that  such  portions  as 
were  in  the  Dominant  are,  in  the  repetition, 
given  in  the  Tonic.  Chopin's  '  Rondeau  brill- 
ante'  in  Eb,  the  'Adieu  a  Varsovie' — indeed  all 
his  Rondos — show  this  construction,  or  rather, 
want  of  construction.  [F.C.] 


PvONZI. 

RONZI.     [See  BEGNIS,  DE.] 

ROOKE,  WILLIAM  MICHAEL,  son  of  John 
Rourke,  a  Dublin  tradesman,  was  born  in  South 
Great  George's  Street,  Dublin,  Sept.  29, 1 794.  His 
bent  for  rnusic,  which  displayed  itself  at  an  early 
age,  was  sternly  discouraged  by  his  father,  who 
wished  him  to  follow  his  own  avocation,  but 
before  he  was  sixteen,  he  was,  by  his  father's 
death,  left  free  to  follow  his  own  inclination. 
He  studied,  almost  unaided,  so  assiduously,  that 
in  1813  he  took  to  music  as  a  profession,  learned 
counterpoint  under  Dr.  Cogan,  a  Dublin  professor, 
and  became  a  teacher  of  the  violin  and  piano 
forte.  Among  his  pupils  on  the  former  in 
strument  was  Ealfe,  then  a  boy.  In  1817 
he  was  appointed  chorus-master  and  deputy 
leader  at  the  theatre  in  Crow  Street,  Dublin, 
and  soon  afterwards  composed  a  polacca,  '  Oh 
Glory,  in  thy  brightest  hour,'  which  was  sung 
b}7  Braham,  and  met  with  great  approbation.  A 
few  years  later  he  removed  to  England.  In  1826 
he  was  leading  oratorios  at  Birmingham,  and  in 
the  same  year  came  to  London,  and  sought  the 
appointment  of  chorus-master  at  Drury  Lane,  and 
established  himself  as  a  teacher  of  singing.  About 
this  period  he  composed  his  opera,  '  Amilie,  or 
The  Love  Test,'  which,  after  he  had  waited 
many  years  for  an  opportunity  of  producing  it, 
was  brought  out  at  Covent  Garden,  Dec.  2,  1837, 
with  decided  success,  and  at  once  established  his 
reputation  as  a  composer  of  marked  ability.  He 
immediately  commenced  the  composition  of  a 
second  opera,  and  on  May  2,  1839  produced  at 
Covent  Garden  '  Henrique,  or,  The  Love  Pilgrim,' 
which  although  most  favourably  received,  was 
withdrawn  after  five  performances  on  account  of 
a  misunderstanding  with  the  manager.  He  com 
posed  a  third  opera  entitled '  Cagliostro,'  which  has 
never  been  performed.  He  died  Oct.  14, 1847,  and 
was  buried  in  Brompton  Cemetery.  [W.H.H.] 

ROOT.  The  classification  of  the  chords  which 
form  the  structural  material  of  modern  harmonic 
music  is  attained  by  referring  them  to  what  are 
called  their  roots  ;  and  it  is  mainly  by  their  use 
that  these  harmonic  elements  are  brought  within 
the  domain  of  intelligible  order. 

As  long  as  the  purely  polyphonic  system  was 
in  full  force,  the  chordal  combinations  were  merely 
classified  according  to  recognized  degrees  of  con 
sonance  and  dissonance,  without  any  clear  idea 
of  relationship  :  but  as  that  system  merged  by 
degrees  into  the  harmonic  system,  it  was  found 
that  fresh  principles  of  classification  were  in 
dispensable  ;  and  that  many  combinations  which 
at  first  might  appear  to  have  quite  a  distinct 
character  must  somehow  be  recognised  as  having 
a  common  centre.  This  centre  was  found  in  an 
ultimate  bass  note,  namely,  the  bass  note  of  the 
complete  chord  in.  what  would  be  considered  its 
natural  or  first  position  ;  and  this  was  called  the 
Root,  and  served  as  the  common  indicator  of  all 
the  various  portions  of  the  complete  chord  which 
could  be  detached,  and  their  test  of  closest  pos 
sible  relationship.  Further,  these  roots  were 
themselves  classified  according  to  their  status  in 
any  given  key ;  and  by  this  means  a  group  of 


ROOT. 


157 


chords  which  were  related  to  one  another  most 
closely  by  having  the  same  root,  might  be  shown 
to  be  related  severally  and  collectively  to  the 
group  which  belonged  to  another  root ;  and  the 
degree  of  relationship  could  be  easily  and  clearly 
ascertained  according  to  the  known  nearness  or 
remoteness  of  the  roots  in  question.  By  this 
means  the  whole  harmonic  basis  of  a  piece  of 
music  can  be  tested ;  and  it  must  be  further 
noted  that  it  is  only  by  such  means  that  the 
structural  principles  of  that  kind  of  music  which 
has  been  called  'absolute'  because  of  its  dis 
sociation  from  words,  is  rendered  abstractedly 
intelligible. 

The  principle  upon  which  modern  Instrumental 
Music  has  been  developed  is  that  a  succession  of 
distinct  tunes  or  recognizable  sections  of  melody 
or  figures  can  be  associated  by  the  orderly  distri 
bution  of  harmonies  and  keys  in  such  a  manner 
that  the  mind  can  realise  the  concatenation  as  a 
complete  and  distinct  work  of  art.  It  is  obvious 
that  fine  melodic  material  is  a  vital  point ;  but 
it  is  not  so  obvious  that  where  the  dimensions  of 
the  work  are  such  that  a  continuous  flow  of 
melody  of  a  uniform  character  is  impossible,  the 
orderly  arrangement  of  the  materials  in  suc 
cessions  of  keys  and  harmonies  is  no  less  vital. 
The  harmonic  structure  requires  to  be  clearly 
ascertainable  in  works  of  art  which  are  felt  to 
be  masterpieces  of  form,  and  to  be  perfectly 
understood  and  felt  by  those  who  attempt  to 
follow  such  models  :  hence,  in  discussing  the 
structure  of  works  of  this  kind,  the  frequent 
use  of  such  terms  as  Tonic,  or  Dominant  or  Sub- 
dominant  harmony,  which  is  only  a  short  way 
of  describing  harmony  of  which  these  respective 
notes  are  the  roots. 

The  simplest  and  most  stable  of  complete  com 
binations  in  music  are  the  chords  consisting  of 
a  bass  note  with  its  third  and  perfect  fifth ;  and 
of  these  the  bass  note  is  considered  the  root. 
In  most  cases  such  a  root  is  held  to  be  the  funda 
mental  sound  of  the  series  of  harmonics  which 
an  essential  chord  may  be  taken  to  represent. 
For  instance,  the  chord  of  the  major  third  and 
perfect  fifth  on  any  note  is  supposed  to  represent 
the  ground  tone  or  generator  with  two  of  its 
most  distinct  and  characteristic  lower  harmonics; 
and  whatever  be  the  positions  of  the  individual 
notes  in  respect  of  one  another,  they  are 
still  referred  to  this  ground-tone  as  a  root. 
Thus  the  chord  GBD  (a)  would  be  taken 


-C2. 


158 


ROOT. 


to  be  the  representative  of  the  ground-tone 
G  with  its  second  and  fourth  harmonics  (6); 
and  every  transposition  or  'inversion'  of  the 
same  notes,  such  as  BDG,  or  DGB  in  close  or 
open  order  (as  in  c),  or  even  lesser  portions 
to  which  the  implication  of  a  context  would 
afford  a  clue,  would  be  referred  alike  to  this 
same  root.  If  F  be  added  (d)  to  the  above 
chord  it  may  be  taken  to  represent  the  sixth 
harmonic  (6\  and  similar  'inversions'  of  the 
component  portions  of  the  chord  will  similarly 
be  referred  to  the  note  G.  If  A  be  added  further 
above  the  F  of  the  preceding  chord,  producing 
G  B  D  F  A  (as  in  e),  that  is  commonly  taken  as  a 
yet  more  complete  representation  of  the  group 
of  harmonics  generated  by  the  sounding  of  G, 
of  which  it  is  the  eighth;  and,  as  before,  all  the 
different  portions  which  could  be  intelligibly 
isolated,  and  all  the  transpositions  of  its  component 
notes,  would  be  still  referable  to  the  one  root  G. 
If  Ab  had  been  taken  instead  of  Afl,  the  same 
general  explanation  would  hold  good,  though 
the  special  question  might  remain  open  whether 
it  was  a  representative  of  the  i6th  harmonic, 
which  is  four  octaves  from  the  fundamental  sound, 
or  an  artificial  softening  of  the  clear  and  strong 
major  ninth,  At].  Some  theorists  carry  the  same 
principles  yet  further,  and  include  the  C  above 
A,  and  even  the  E  and  Eb  above  that  in  the 
group  which  represents  the  harmonic  series  of 
G,  calling  them  respectively  the  eleventh  and 
major  and  minor  thirteenths  of  that  note. 

The  discords  contained  in  the  above  series  are 
frequently  styled  fundamental,  from  this  sup 
posed  representation  of  the  group  of  harmonics 
generated  by  their  fundamental  or  root  note ; 
they  are  characterised  among  discords  by  the 
peculiar  freedom  of  the  notes  of  which  they  are 
composed,  on  both  sides.  It  will  be  observed 
that  they  are  all  members  of  the  Diatonic  series 
of  the  key  of  C,  major  or  minor  ;  and  as  G,  their 
root  note,  is  the  Dominant  of  that  key,  they  re 
present  the  scope  of  what  is  called  the  Dominant 
harmony  of  C,  which  of  course  has  its  counter 
part  in  every  other  key.  No  other  note  than 
the  Dominant  serves  to  this  extent  as  the  root 
of  chords  of  this  class  which  are  Diatonic.  The 
Tonic,  for  instance,  can  only  supply  the  third  and 
fifth,  and  even  the  minor  seventh  is  a  chromatic 
note.  Nevertheless  this  chromatic  chord  and  the 
ninths  which  are  built  upon  it  are  commonly 
used  as  if  they  belonged  to  the  key  of  C  ;  and  the 
same  remark  applies  to  the  similar  discords 
founded  on  the  Supertonic  root  (as  D  in  the  key 
of  C)  ;  and  these  are  most  readily  intelligible 
through  their  close  connection  as  Dominant  har 
mony  to  the  Dominant  of  C. 

The  roots  of  the  various  combinations  which 
are  arrived  at  by  modifying  the  intervals  of  such 
distinct  and  essential  harmonies  as  the  above,  are 
of  course  the  same  as  those  of  the  unmodified 
harmonies.  Thus  the  roots  of  suspensions  are 
the  same  as  those  of  the  harmonies  upon  which 
they  are  said  to  resolve,  because  they  are  modifi 
cations  of  that  which  follows  in  its  complete 
state,  and  not  of  that  which  precedes ;  and  the 


ROOT. 

same  applies  to  the  combinations  produced  by 
adventitious  notes,  such  as  appoggiaturas  and 
the  like. 

The  combinations  which  arise  from  the  simul 
taneous  occurrence  of  ordinary  passing  notes  must 
find  their  root  in  the  chord  which  precedes,  as 
that  has  possession  of  the  field  till  new  harmony 
presents  itself. 

From  these  considerations  it  will  be  obvious 
that  a  very  considerable  variety  of  apparently 
different  combinations  are  referable  to  a  single 
root.  In  fact  a  great  portion  of  music  is  built 
upon  very  few  roots ;  many  examples  of  good 
popular  music  especially  do  not  exceed  the  limits 
of  Tonic  and  Dominant  harmony  with  an  occa 
sional  move  as  far  as  the  Sub-dominant,  and 
next  to  no  modulation.  Even  in  works  which 
belong  to  the  domain  sometimes  distinguished  as 
high  art  a  great  deal  is  often  done  within  very 
narrow  limits.  For  instance,  the  whole  of  the 
first  section  of  a  violin  and  pianoforte  sonata  of 
Mozart's  in  A  is  based  on  six  successive  alterna 
tions  of  Tonic  and  Dominant  harmony,  and 
modulation  to  the  new  key  for  the  second  section 
is  effected  merely  by  the  Dominant  and  Tonic 
harmony  of  that  key. 

Notwithstanding  the  importance  which  attaches 
to  a  clear  understanding  of  the  classification  of 
chords  according  to  their  roots,  there  are  some 
combinations  upon  whose  derivation  doctors  dis 
agree  ;  and  it  must  be  confessed  that  the  theory 
of  music  is  yet  far  from  that  complete  and  settled 
sta.oe  which  would  admit  any  hope  of  a  decisive 
verdict  in  the  matter  at  present.  In  such  cir 
cumstances  variety  of  opinion  is  not  only  inevit 
able  but  desirable  ;  and  though  the  multitude  of 
counsellors  is  a  little  bewildering  there  are 
consolations  ;  for  it  happens  fortunately  that 
these  differences  of  opinion  are  not  vital.  Such 
chords,  for  instance,  as  augmented  sixths  have 
so  marked  and  immediate  a  connection  with 
the  most  prominent  harmonies  in  the  key,  that 
the  ascertainment  of  their  roots  becomes  of 
secondary  importance ;  and  even  with  the  chord 

D) 
C 

which  stands  as  A    >  in  the  key  of  C  for  instance 

( 

F  J 

(/),  it  is  not  so  indispensable  to  decide 
whether  G  or  F  or  D  is  the  root,  or  whether 
indeed  it  is  even  a  double-rooted  chord,  because, 
among  other  reasons,  the  very  attention  which 
has  been  called  to  it  and  the  very  character 
istics  which  have  made  it  difficult  to  classify 
have  given  it  a  prominence  and  a  unique  indi 
viduality  which  relieves  it  of  the  need  of  being 
assigned  to  any  category  ;  and  even  when  it  IB 
an  important  factor  in  the  harmonic  structure, 
the  process  of  analysis  need  not  be  rendered 
doubtful  because  its  actual  position  in  the  key  is 
so  thoroughly  realised.  Other  disputed  points 
there  are  having  reference  to  roots,  which  are 
even  of  less  importance.  For  instance,  whether 
what  is  called  an  augmented  fifth  is  really 
an  augmented  fifth  or  a  minor  thirteenth ;  or 
whether  the  augmented  octave  which  Mozart 


BOOT. 


ROSA. 


159 


uses  with  such  marked  emphasis  in  the  3rd  bar 
of  the  Allegro  in  the  overture  to  Don  Giovanni 
is  properly  a  minor  ninth,  as  some  maintain — 
since  happily  the  roots  would  be  the  same  in 
both  cases.  '  [C.H.H.P.J 

RORE,  CIPRTANO  DI,  composer  of  the  Venetian 
school,  born  at  Mechlin  in  1516.  He  studied 
under  Willaert,1  chapel-master  of  St.  Mark's, 
Venice,  and  was  probably  in  early  life  a  singer 
in  that  cathedral.  In  1542  he  brought  out  his 
first  book  of  madrigals  (a  4),  a  work  long  held  in 
favour,2  and  for  the  next  7  or  8  years  published 
continually.3  About  1550*  he  appears  to  have 
left  Venice  for  the  court  of  Hercules  II.  Duke 
of  Ferrara,  and  for  some  years  we  hear  nothing 
of  him.5  In  1559  he  returned  to  Venice  to  assist 
Willaert  in  his  duties  at  St.  Mark's,  and  on  the 
death  of  that  master,  was  appointed  his  successor, 
Oct.  1 8,  1563.  He  resigned  this  position  almost 
immediately,  and  went  to  the  court  of  Parma, 
where  in  a  few  months  he  died,  at  the  age  of  49. 
He  was  buried  in  the  cathedral  of  that  city,  and 
the  following  epitaph  gives  an  authentic  sketch 
of  his  life. 

Cypriano  Roro,  Flandro 

Artia  Musicae 
Viro  omnium  peritissimo, 
Cujus  nomen  famaque 
Nee  vetustate  obrui 
Nee  oblivione  deleri  poterit, 
Hercules    Ferrariens.    Duels  II. 
Deinde  Venetorum, 

Postremo 
Octavi  Earnest  Parmae  et  Placentise 

Duels  II  Chori  Prsefecto. 
Ludovicus  frater,  fil.  et  hseredes 

Moestissimi  posuerunt. 
Obiit  anno  MDLXV.  setatis  XLIX. 

The  position  to  which  Rore  attained  at  St. 
Mark's,  and  the  rank  as  a  musician  which  con 
temporary  writers  assigned  him,  point  to  his 
having  been  something  besides  a  madrigal  com 
poser.  Yet  of  his  church  compositions  either  in 
print  or  in  MS.  few  have  survived.6  We  only 

1  See  title-page  '  Fantesie  e  Recerchari  etc.  composts  da  lo  Eccell. 
A.  Vuigliart  e  Cipria.no  tuo  Ditcepolo  etc.  Venetiis  1549 '  (Brit.  Mus. 
A.  287,1. 

2  The  Fells  library  at  Brussels  contains  imperfect  copies  of  three 
editions  1552,  69  and  82.    The  edition  in  the  British  Museum  is  1575. 

3  The  following  list  of  books  of  motets  and  madrigals  is  taken  from 
Feiis'  Biographic,  Eitner's  Bibliographic,  and  the  catalogues  of  the 
British  Museum  and  F4tis  libraries.    Borne  contain  work  by  other 
composers,  but  in  all  cases  they  bear  Cipriano's  name,  and  he  is  the 
chief  contributor.    The  date  given  is  that  of  the  supposed  1st  edition. 

Motets.  Bk.  I,  a  5,  Venice  1544  (Brit.  Mus.) ;  Bk.  II,  a 4  and 5,  Venice 
1547  (Fetis  Biogr.) ;  Bk.  HI,  a  5,  Venice  1559  (Eitner). 

Madrigals.  Bk.  I,  a  4,  Venice  1542  (F«5tis  Biogr.) ;  Bk.  n,  a  5,  Venice 
1544  (Brit.  Mus.  The  words  on  title-page,  'novamente  posti  in  luce,' 
point  to  this  being  the  1st  edition,  though  Fetis  gives  the  date  1543. 
Eitner  knows  of  no  edition  earlier  than  1551) ;  Bk.  Ill,  a  5.  Venice 
1544  (F«5tis  Bibl.  The  1562  edition  in  Brit.  Mus.);  Bks.  IV  and  V 
(Venice  1568,  according  to  Eitner  and  Fe"tis,  but  title-pages  prove 
these  not  to  be  1st  editions.  The  fifth  book  contains  an  ode  to  the 
Duke  of  Parma,  and  from  the  events  of  the  composer's  life,  we  may 
assume  this  volume  to  be  one  of  his  latest  publications). 

Chromatic  madrigals.  Bk.  I,  a  5, 1544  (Brit.  Mus.  The  word  'rls- 
tampato'  on  title-page  shows  that  even  this  is  not  Istedition,  though 
FtStis  knows  of  none  earlier  than  1560.  Be  quotes  5  books  of  these 
madrigals,  Venice  1560—68).  The  first  book  was  reprinted  as  late  as 
1592  (F(5tis  library).  Burney  has  inserted  one  number  in  his  History. 

4  In  this  year  a  reprint  of  his  1st  book  of  madrigals  was  brought  out 
at  Ferra'ra. 

5  Except  the  publication  of  2  Passions  (Paris  1557)  with  the  following 
curious  titles :   '  Passio  D.  N.  J.  Ohristi  in  qua  solus  Johannes  canens 

Introducitur  cum  quatuor  vocibus  '  and  '  Passio inquaiutro- 

ducuntur  Jesus  et  Oudaei  canemes,  cum  duabus  et  sex  vocibus.' 

s  Fe~tis  mentions  a  book  of  Cipriano's  masses,  a  4,  5,  6  (Venice  1566) 
on  the  authority  of  Draudius' '  Bibliotheca  Classica.'  This  is  probably 
'Liber  Missarum'  a 4,  5,  6  (Venice  1566)  to  which  Cipriano  only  con 
tributes  th«  1st  mas*  '  Doulce  memoyre.' 


know  that  they  were  held  in  high  esteem  in  the 
court  chapel  at  Munich,  and  were  constantly 
performed  there  under  Lassus'  direction.7  Duke 
Albert  of  Bavaria  caused  a  superb  copy  of  Rore's 
motets  to  be  made  for  his  library,  where  it 
remains  to  this  day,  with  a  portrait  of  the  com 
poser  on  the  last  page,  by  the  court  painter 
Mielich.  [J.R.S.-B.] 

ROSA  (ROSE),  GAEL  AUGUST  NICOLAS,  was 
born  at  Hamburg,  March  22,  1843,  was  educated 
as  a  violin  player  and  made  such  progress  as  to 
be  sent  to  the  Leipzig  Conservatorium,  which  he 
entered  in  1859.  ^n  J866  he  came  to  England 
and  appeared  as  a  solo  player  at  the  Crystal 
Palace  on  March  10.  After  a  short  stay  in 
London  he  joined  Mr.  Bateman  in  a  concert- 
tour  in  the  United  States,  and  there  met 
Madame  Parepa,  whom  he  married  at  New  York, 
in.  Feb.  1867.  His  wife's  success  on  the  stage 
led  to  the  formation  of  a  company  under  the 
management  and  conductorsliip  of  Mr.  Rose, 
which  during  its  early  campaigns  could  boast 
such  names  as  Parepa,  Wachtel,  Santley,  Ronconi 
and  Formes  among  its  artists. 

Early  in  1871  Mr.  Rose — who  by  this  time 
had  changed  his  name  to  Rosa  to  avoid  mistakes 
in  pronunciation — returned  to  England  with  his 
wife,  and  then  made  a  lengthened  visit  to  Egypt 
for  health.  After  this  they  again  returned  to 
London,  but  only  for  the  lamented  death  of 
Madame  Parepa-Rosa,  which  took  place  Jan.  21, 
1874.  Mr.  Rosa  however  was  resolved,  not 
withstanding  this  serious  blow,  to  test  the 
fortunes  of  English  opera  in  London,  and  on 
Sept.  n,  1875,  he  opened  the  Princess's  Theatre 
with  a  company  including  Miss  Rose  Hersee  as 
prima  donna,  Mr.  Santley,  and  other  good 
singers.  He  closed  on  Oct.  30,  having  produced 
Figaro,  Faust,  *  The  Porter  of  Havre  (Cagnoni), 
Fra  Diavolo,  Bohemian  Girl,  Trovatore,  *The 
Water  Carrier  (Cherubini),  and  Siege  of  Rochelle. 

The  season  of  1876  was  undertaken  at  the 
Lyceum  (Sept.  n-Dec.  2).  It  included  The 
Water  Carrier ;  The  Lily  of  Killarney  (with 
additions) ;  Sonnambula ;  Faust ;  *  Giralda 
(Adam) ;  Bohemian  Girl ;  *  Flying  Dutchman  ; 
Zampa  ;  Trovatore  ;  Montana  ;  *  Joconde  (Ni- 
colb) ;  Fidelio ;  Fra  Diavolo  ;  *  Pauline  (Co wen)  ; 
Porter  of  Havre.  The  next  season  was  at  the 
Adelphi  Theatre  (Feb.  n-April  6,  1878).  It 
included  *The  Golden  Cross,  by  Briill ;  The 
Merry  Wives ;  The  Flying  Dutchman  ;  The  Lily 
of  Killarney,  and  others  of  those  already  named. 
For  the  fourth  season  Mr.  Rosa  took  Her 
Majesty's  Theatre  (Jan.  27-March  22,  1879), 
brought  out  *  Rienzi,  *  Piccolino  (by  Guiraud) 
and  *  Carmen,  and  played  The  Golden  Cross, 
Huguenots,  Lily  of  Killarney,  etc.,  etc.  His 
fifth  season  was  at  the  same  theatre  (Jan.  10- 
March  6, 1880) ;  *  Mignon  (Thomas),  *  Lohengrin 
and  *Aida  were  all  produced  for  the  first  time 
in  English;  and  The  Taming  of  the  Shrew 

7  Discorsi  delli  triomphi  etc.  nelle  nozze  dell'  lllustr.  duca  Gugl. 
etc.  da  Massimo  Trojano  (Monaco,  Berg.  150H). 

*  Denotes  that  the  works  had  not  been  before  produced  in  England, 
at  least  in  English. 


160 


ROSA. 


(Goetz),  Carmen,  Rienzi,  etc.  were  performed. 
The  artists  engaged  at  the  season  of  1880  in 
cluded  Miss  Minnie  Hauk,  Miss  Julia  Gay  lord, 
Mad.  Dolaro,  Herr  A.  Schott,  Mr.  Maas,  etc., 
etc.  The  careful  way  in  which  the  pieces  are 
put  on  the  stage,  the  number  of  rehearsals,  the 
eminence  of  the  performers  and  the  excellence  of 
the  performances  have  begun  to  bear  their 
legitimate  fruit,  and  the  'Carl  Rosa  Opera 
Company'  bids  fair  to  become  a  permanent 
English  institution. 

ROSALIA  (Germ.  Vetter  Michel,  Schuster- 
flcck}.  A  form  of  Melody,  Vocal  or  Instrumental, 
'in  which  a  Figure  is  repeated  several  times  in 
succession,  transposed  a  note  higher  at  each 
reiteration. 

The  name  is  derived  from  an  old  Italian  Canto 
popolare,  '  Rosalia,  mia  cara,'  the  Melody  of  which 
is  constructed  upon  this  principle. 


tr 


«-H»j 


3 


The  well-known  German  Volkslied,  'Gestern 
Abend  war  Vetter  Michel  da,'  begins  with  a  simi 
lar  repetition,  and  hence  the  figure  is  frequently 
called  in  Germany, '  Vetter  Michel.'  These  titles, 
as  well  as  that  of  '  Schusterfleck ' — a  cobble- 
are  of  course  given  to  it  in  derision — for  writers 
on  Composition  regard  its  frequent  introduction 
as  indicative  of  poverty  of  inventive  power. 
Nevertheless,  it  is  frequently  employed,  by  the 
Great  Masters,  with  charming  effect,  as  may  be 
seen  in  the  following  example  from  the  Minuet 
in  Handel's  'Ariadne  : — 


afTS      |      !     qSt 

S3E:  EEBESi: 


tr 


r 


[j-jgj:^ 


rrr 


j  ^ 


etc. 


* 


^*E 


It  will  be  observed  that  the  Figure  is  here 
suffered  to  appear  three1  times  only  in  succes 
sion.  Almost  all  great  writers  have  imposed 
this  limit  upon  its  employment,  experience  hav 
ing  proved  that  a  four-fold  repetition  generally 
tends  to  render  the  passage  wearisome.  Strik 
ingly  effective  instances  of  three-fold  repetition 
will  be  found,  in  Mozart's  Requiem,  at  the  words 
'  Ingemisco  tamquam  reus ' ;  in  Spohr's  '  Last 
Judgment,'  at  '  The  grave  gives  up  its  dead ' ; 
and  in  a  remarkably  forcible  passage  in  the  '  Ri- 

i  Sometimes  called  '  Les  trois  Ke've'rences.' 


ROSALIA. 

gaudon'  from  Rameau's  'Dardanus.'  Still,  this 
restriction  is  frequently  disregarded.  Vallerano 
has  left  a  Canon,2  which  ascends  a  Tone  higher  at 
each  repetition,  ad  infinitum ;  and  the  resulting 
effect  is  far  from  inharmonious,  though  the  work 
must  be  regarded  rather  as  a  musical  curiosity 
than  a  serious  Composition. 

Closely  allied  to  this  Figure  is  another,  in 
which  the  leading  phrase  is  transposed  one  or 
more  notes  lower  at  each  repetition ;  as  in 
'  Habbiam  vinto'  from  Handel's  'Scipio,'  in 
which  the  transposition  proceeds  by  Thirds. 


tr 


tr 


-^=^ 


^ 


•-=- 


^r 


-•; 


Here,  again,  the  Figure  breaks  off  after  a 
three-fold  reiteration ;  and,  in  two  cases  in  which 
Mozart  has  employed  the  same  device,  in  his 
Requiem — at  the  words  '  Qui  Mariam  absolvisti,' 
and  '  Oro  supplex  et  acclinis' — it  is  relinquished 
after  the  second  enunciation.  This  kind  of  Imita 
tion  is,  indeed,  subject  to  exactly  the  same  form 
of  treatment  as  the  true  Rosalia ;  though  it  would 
be  inexact  to  call  it  by  that  name,  and  equally  so 
to  apply  the  term  to  the  regular  ascents  or 
descents  of  a  Sequence — as  constantly  exhibited  in 
the  Fugues  of  Seb.  Bach  ;  or  to  those  of  vocal 
Divisions — as  in  '  Every  valley,'  or  Rossini's 
'  Quis  est  homo  ' ;  or  to  the  anomalous  Scene,  in 
'  Tannhauser ' — happily,  the  only  instance  of  such 
treatment  known — in  which  the  first  Verse  of 
'Dir  tone  Lob '  is  sung  in  Db,  the  second,  in  Dfi, 
the  third,  in  Eb,  and  a  still  later  one  in  E  t|. 

Schumann  has  been  recently  accused  of  writing 
Rosalie,  usque  ad  nauseam.  He  does  employ  them 
very  frequently  :  but,  how  often — as  in  the  open 
ing  ef  his  'Arabeske'  (op.  18) — with  an  effect 
which  true  genius  alone  could  have  dictated. 
This  is  not  the  place  for  a  detailed  criticism  of 
Schumann's  principles  of  composition :  but  when, 
as  in  a  bitter  article,  by  Joseph  Rubinstein, 
which  lately  appeared  in  Wagner's  '  Bayreuther 
Blatter,'  his  masterly  use  of  this  particular  device 
is  made  to  serve  as  an  excuse  for  its  unqualified 
condemnation,  as  a  '  vicious  monotony-producing 
repetition  of  Musical  Phrases  on  related  degrees, 
which  the  Student  of  Composition  loves  to  intro 
duce  in  his  first  exercises,'  we  naturally  revolt 
from  a  conclusion  so  illogical.  That  a  form  which 
neither  Handel,  nor  Mozart,  nor  Beethoven,  nor 
any  other  great  writer  has  disdained  to  employ, 
can  possibly  be,  in  its  own  nature,  '  vicious/  we 

2  Reprinted  iu  rol.  i.  of  Clemeuti's  '  Practical  Harmon}'.' 


ROSALIA. 

cannot  believe.  With  equal  reason  might  we 
condemn  the  '  monotony-producing '  effect  of  a 
regular  Figure.  It  is,  indeed,  quite  possible  to 
make  such  a  Figure  monotonous  to  the  last  degree ; 
yet  nearly  the  whole  of  Beethoven's  '  Andante 
in  F'  (op.  34),  is  founded  on  the  rhythmic  form 
of  the  first  four  notes  of  the  opening  Subject — 


ROSEINGRAVE. 


161 


The  truth  is,  that,  in  the  hands  of  a  Great 
Master,  all  such  devices  are  made  productive  of 
pure  and  beautiful  effects;  while  all  are  'vicious,' 
when  viciously  misused.  [W.S.E.] 

ROSAMUNDE  FURSTIN  VON  CYPERN 

(Rosamond,  Princess  of  Cyprus).  A  romantic  play 
in  4  acts ;  written  by  Wilhelmine  Christine 
Chezy,  the  overture  and  incidental  music  by 
Franz  Schubert  (op.  26).  Produced  at  the  Theatre 
an-der-Wien,  Vienna,  Dec.  20,  1823,  and  only 
performed  twice.  The  music  as  then  played  is 
as  follows  : — 

*  1.  Overture  (D  minor). 

i  2.  Entracte  between  Acts  1  and  2  (B  minor), 
t  3.  Ballo  (B  minors,  and  Andante  un  poco  assai  (&). 
4.  Entracte  between  Acts  2  and  3  (D). 

*  5.  Romance   for  soprano    'Der  Vollmond   strahlt' 

(F  minor). 

*  6.  Chorus  of  Spirits. 

*  7.  Entracte  between  Acts  3  and  i  (B  b). 
8.  Shepherds'  Melody. 

*  9.  Shepherds'  Chorus. 
*10.  Huntsmen's  Chorus, 
til.  Air  de  Ballet  (G). 

The  overture  played  at  the  performances  was 
published  in  1827,  for  PF.  4  hands,  by  Schubert 
himself,  as  op.  52,  under  the  title  of  'Alphonso 
und  Estrella '  (now  op.  69).  The  overture  (in  C), 
known  as  the  '  Overture  to  Rosamund e '  (op.  26) 
was  composed  for  the  melodrama  of  the  'Zauber- 
harfe,'  or  Magic  Harp  (produced  Aug.  19, 1820), 
and  was  published  by  Schubert  with  its  present 
name  and  opus-number  for  PF.  4  hands,  in  1828. 
The  pieces  marked  have  been  published — those 
marked  with  *  by  Schubert  himself,  as  op.  26  ; 
those  marked  with  t  more  recently.  For  parti 
culars  see  Nottebohm's  Thematic  Catalogue,  p.  46, 
84.  The  Entracte  in  B  minor  is  one  of  the  finest  of 
all  Schubert's  works  ;  the  Romance,  the  Entracte 
no.  7,  the  Shepherds'  Melody,  and  the  Air  de  Bal 
let  in  G,  are  all  admirable,  the  Shepherds'  Melody 
for  2  clarinets  especially  characteristic.  The  2nd 
Trio  to  the  Entracte  no.  7  was  previously  composed, 
in  May  1816,  as  a  song,  '  Der  Leidende.'  [G.] 

ROSE  or  KNOT  (Fr.  Rosace;  Fr.  and  Germ. 
Rosette ;  Ital.  Rosa).  The  ornamental  device  or 
scutcheon  inserted  in  the  soundhole  of  the  belly 
of  stringed  instruments,  such  as  the  lute,  guitar, 
mandoline,  dulcimer,  or  harpsichord,  serving 
not  only  a  decorative  purpose,  but — in  the 
Netherlands  especially — as  the  maker's  'trade 
mark.'  In  the  harpsichord  and  spinet  there  was 
usually  but  one  soundhole  with  its  rose ;  but 
owing  to  the  origin  of  these  keyboard  instruments 
from  the  psaltery,  their  analogy  with  the  lute, 
and  the  fact  of  the  Roman  lutes  having  three, 
several  soundholes  were  sometimes  perforated.  In 
fact,  a  clavicembalo  dated  1531  was  lately  seen  in 

VOL.  HI.  JET.  2. 


Italy  by  the  eminent  art  critic,  Mr.  T.  J.  GulHck, 
which  possessed  no  less  than  five,  each  with  a 
rose  inserted.  From  the  analogy  above  referred 
to,  the  old  Italian  harpsichord  makers  named 
the  bottom  of  the  instrument  'cassa  armonica' 
(soundchest)  ;  as  if  its  office  were  like  that  of  the 
back  of  the  lute  or  viol,  while  the  belly  was  the 
'piano  armonico'  (soundflat).1  The  Flemings, 
retaining  the  soundhole,  doubtless  adhered  more 
or  less  to  this  erroneous  notion  of  a  soundchest. 
The  Hitchcocks  in  England  (1620  and  later) 
appear  to  have  been  the  first  to  abandon  it ; 
no  roses  are  seen  in  their  instruments.  Kivkman 
in  the  next  century  still  adhered  to  the  rose  and 
trade  scutcheon,  but  Shudi  did  not.  In  the 
'Giornale  cle'  Litterati  d' Italia'  (Venice,  1711, 
torn,  v.),  Scipione  Maffei,  referring  to  Cristofori, 
who  had  recently  invented  the  pianoforte,  ap 
proves  of  his  retention  of  the  principle  of  the  rose 
in  his  ordinary  harpsichords,  although  contem 
porary  makers  for  the  most  part  had  abandoned 
it.  But  Cristofori,  instead  of  a  large  rose,  to 
further,  as  he  thought,  the  resonance,  used  two 
small  apertures  in  the  front.  Under  the  head 
RUCKERS  will  be  found  illustrations  of  the  rose  or 
rosace,  as  used  by  those  great  makers.  [A.  J.H.] 

ROSE  OF  CASTILE.  An  opera  in  3  acts ; 
compiled  by  Messrs.  Harris  and  Falconer  (from 
Le  Muletier  de  Tolecle),  music  by  M.  W.  Balfe. 
Produced  at  the  Lyceum  Theatre  (Pyne  and 
Harrison),  London,  Oct.  29,  1857.  [G.] 

ROSEINGRAVE,      or       ROSINGRAVE, 

DANIEL,  was  educated  in  the  Chapel  Royal  under 
Pelham  Humfrey.  In  1693  he  became  organist 
of  Salisbury  Cathedral,  which  appointment  he 
quitted  in  1698  and  was  chosen  organist  and 
vicar-choral  of  St.  Patrick's  Cathedral,  Dublin. 
He  held  these  posts  for  20  years,  when  he  resigned 
them  in  favour  of  his  son  RALPH,  who  held  them 
from  April  1719  until  his  death  in  Oct.  1747. 

THOMAS,  another  son,  received  his  early  mu 
sical  education  from  his  father,  and  manifesting 
great  aptitude,  was  allowed  a  pension  by  the 
Dean  and  Chapter  of  St.  Patrick's  to  enable  him 
to  travel  for  improvement.  He  went  to  Italy  in 
1710,  and  at  Rome  was  on  friendly  terms  with 
the  Scarlattis.  In  1 71 2  he  composed,  at  Venice, 
an  anthem,  'Arise,  shine,'  preserved  in  the  Tud- 
way  collection  (Harl.  MS.  7342).  In  1720  we 
find  him  in  London,  bringing  out  at  the  King's 
Theatre  an  adaptation  of  D.  Scarlatti's  opera 
'  Narcissus,'  with  additional  songs  composed  by 
himself.  In  1725  he  was  selected,  from  seven 
competitors,  as  the  first  organist  of  St.  George's, 
Hanover  Square,  at  a  salary  of  £45  per  annum ; 
the  judges  were  Drs.  Croft  and  Pepuseh,  with 
Buononcini  and  Geminiani,  each  of  whom  gave 
a  subject  upon  which  the  candidates  were  to  make 
an  extempore  fugue.  Some  years  afterwards,  a 
disappointment  in  love  so  seriously  affected  Rose- 
ingrave's  reason  that  he  was  compelled  to  desist 
from  his  duty,  and  from  1737  it  was  performed 
by  Keeble,  who  received  half  the  salary.  Rosein- 

1  In  modern  Italian  we  more  frequently  meet  with  '  tompaguo," 
'  tavula  armonica,'  and  '  fondo,'  meaning  '  belly '  or  '  soundboard.' 

M 


162 


ROSEINGRAVE. 


grave  died  about  1750.  He  published  'Volun 
taries  and  Fugues  for  the  Organ  or  Harpsichord ' ; 
'  Italian  Cantatas,'  2  books  of  6  each ;  and  1 2  solos 
for  the  German  flute  ;  also  a  collection  of '  42  Suits 
of  Lessons  for  the  harpsichord  composed  by  Sign. 
Domenico  Scarlatti,' with  an  introduction  by  him 
self.  He  was  an  enthusiastic  admirer  of  Pales- 
trina,  and  hung  his  bedroom  with  pieces  of  paper 
containing  extracts  from  his  works.  [W.H.H.] 

ROSELLEN,  HENRI,  son  of  a  PF.  maker,  born 
in  Paris,  Oct.  13,  181 1 ;  took  2nd  PF.  prize  at  the 
Conservatoire  1827,  and  ist  harmony  do.  1828. 
Was  a  pupil  and  imitator  of  Herz.  He  published 
nearly  200  works  for  PF.  including  a  'Me"thode 
de  Piano'  (Heugel),  a  collection  of  progressive 
exercises  entitled  '  Manuel  des  Pianistes '  (ibid.), 
and  many  separate  pieces  of  drawing-room  cha 
racter,  one  of  which,  a  Reverie  (op.  31,  no.  i), 
enjoyed  an  extraordinary  popularity  for  many 
years  over  the  whole  of  Europe.  He  died  March 
20,  1876.  [Gr.] 

ROSENHAIN,  JACOB,  eldest  son  of  a  banker, 
was  born  at  Mannheim,  December  2,  1813.  His 
teachers  were  Jacob  Schmitt,  Kalliwoda,  and 
Schnyder  von  Wartensee.  His  first  appearance 
as  a  pianoforte -player  was  at  Stuttgart  in  1825, 
after  that  at  Frankfort,  where  his  success  induced 
him  to  take  up  his  residence.  A  one-act  piece  of 
his,  '  Der  Besuch  im  Irrenhause,'  was  produced 
at  Frankfort,  December  29,  1834,  with  great 
success ;  his  second,  '  Liswenna,'  3  acts,  was 
not  so  fortunate.  In  1837  he  came  to  London, 
played  at  the  Philharmonic,  April  i7th,  and  was 
much  heard  in  the  concerts  of  the  day.  After 
this  he  took  up  his  abode  in  Paris,  where  he 
became  very  prominent,  giving  chamber  con 
certs  in  combination  with  Alard,  Ernst,  and  other 
eminent  players,  and  carrying  on  a  school  of  piano 
forte-playing  in  conjunction  with.  J.  B.  Cramer. 
His  early  opera, '  Liswenna,'  was  provided  with  a 
new  libretto  (by  Bayard  and  Arago),  and  brought 
out  at  the  Grand  Opera  as '  Le  De'mon  de  la  Nuit,' 
March  1 7,  1 85 1 .  It  had  however  but  a  moderate 
success,  and  was  withdrawn  after  four  represen 
tations,  though  afterwards  occasionally  played 
in  Germany.  Another  one-act  piece,  '  Volage  et 
Jaloux,'  produced  at  Baden-Baden,  August  3, 
1863,  completes  the  list  of  his  works  for  the 
stage.  In  instrumental  music  he  was  much  more 
prolific.  He  has  composed  3  symphonies — in  G 
minor  (op.  42),  played  at  the  Gewandhaus,  Leip 
zig,  under  Mendelssohn's  direction,  January  31, 
1846;  in  F  minor  (op.  43),  played  at  Brussels, 
and  at  the  Philharmonic,  London,  April  24,  1854  ; 
'  Im  Friihling,'  iu  F  minor  (op.  61),  rehearsed  at 
Conservatoire,  but  not  played.  4  trios  for  PF. 
and  strings  ;  I  PF.  concerto  ;  3  string  quartets ; 
i  cello  sonatas ;  12  characteristic  studies  (op.  17) 
and  24  Etudes  melodiques  (op.  20),  both  for  PF. 
solo.  Also  various  pieces  for  ditto,  entitled, 
'  Poe"mes,'  '  Reveries,'  etc. ;  a  biblical  cantata, 
and  various  songs,  etc.  M.  Fe"tis  credits  him 
with  a  broad  and  pure  (style  of  playing,  and 
with  knowledge  and  ambition  in  composition. 
Schumann  has  criticised  several  of  his  pieces 
with  kindness  and  liberality.  [G.] 


ROSSETOR. 

ROSES,  JOSE,  priest  and  musician,  born  at 
Barcelona  Feb.  9,  1791,  learned  music  from 
Sampere,  chapelmaster  at  Barcelona ;  was  first 
organist  of  the  monastery  of  San  Pablo  and  then 
succeeded  his  master  at  Santa  Maria  del  Pino, 
a  post  which  he  held  for  thirty  years.  During 
this  time  he  composed  a  large  quantity  of  music — 
masses,  requiems,  motets,  graduals,  etc.,  which  are 
preserved  in  MS.  in  the  church.  Among  his  pupils 
may  be  mentioned  Calvo,  Puig,  Rius,  Casanovas, 
etc.  He  died  at  his  native  city  Jan.  2,  1856.  [G.] 

ROSIN  (Fr.  Colophane),  a  preparation  applied 
to  the  hair  of  the  violin  bow  to  give  it  the  neces 
sary  '  bite '  upon  the  strings.  Without  some  such 
agent,  the  horsehair  would  slip  noiselessly  over 
the  catgut.  Rosin  is  the  residuary  gum  of  tur 
pentine  after  distillation.  The  ordinary  rosin  of 
commerce  is  a  coarse,  hard  substance,  quite  use 
less  to  the  fiddler,  for  whom  the  rough  material 
undergoes  a  process  of  refinement.  The  ancient 
English  recipe  was  to  boil  rough  rosin  down  in 
vinegar,  a  process  no  longer  in  vogue,  as  excellent 
French  rosin  is  now  to  be  had  at  a  very  trifling 
cost.  It  is  prepared  by  dissolving  the  rough 
article  in  a  glazed  earthen  vessel  over  a  slow 
charcoal  fire.  As  it  melts,  it  is  strained  through 
coarse  canvas  into  a  second  vessel  also  kept  at  a 
moderate  heat,  from  which  it  is  poured  into  paste 
board  or  metal  moulds.  The  process  requires  some 
delicacy  of  eye  and  hand,  and  the  greatest  care  in 
handling  so  inflammable  a  material,  and  is  usually 
entrusted  to  women .  Some  players  affect  to  prefer 
the  rosin  of  Gand,  others  that  of  Vuillauine,  but 
both  are  made  of  the  same  material  and  at  the 
same  factory.  Rosin  should  be  transparent,  of  a 
darkish  yellow  colour  in  the  mass,  and  quite  white 
when  pulverised :  it  ought  to  fall  from  the  bow, 
when  first  applied  to  the  strings,  in  a  very  fine 
white  dust :  when  crushed  between  the  fingers  it 
ought  not  to  feel  sticky.  The  best  rosin  is  made 
from  Venetian  turpentine.  The  same  sort  of 
rosin  serves  for  the  violin,  viola,  and  violoncello. 
The  double-bass  bow  requires  a  stiffer  preparation 
than  pure  rosin,  and  accordingly  double-bass 
rosin  is  made  of  ordinary  rosin  and  white  pitch 
in  equal  proportions.  Emery  powder  and  other 
matters  are  sometimes  added  in  the  composition 
of  rosin,  but  are  quite  unnecessary,  and  even  in 
jurious  to  the  tone.  A  liquid  rosin,  applied  to  the 
bow  with  a  camel's-hair  brush,  has  recently  been 
invented,  and  has  its  advocates.  [E.J.P.] 

ROSS,  JOHN,  born  at  Newcastle-upon-Tyne 
in  1764,  was  placed  in  his  eleventh  year  under 
Hawdon,  organist  of  St.  Nicholas  Church,  a  dis 
ciple  of  Charles  Avison,  with  whom  he  studied  for 
seven  years.  In  1783  he  was  appointed  organist 
of  St.  Paul's  Chapel,  Aberdeen,  where  he  re 
mained  for  half  a  century.  He  composed  '  An 
Ode  to  Charity,'  pianoforte  concertos  and  sonatas, 
songs,  canzonets,  hymns,  waltzes,  etc.  [W.H.H.] 

ROSSETOR,  PHILIP,  a  lutenist,  who  in  1601 
issued  '  A  Booke  of  Ayres,  set  foorth  to  be  song 
to  the  Lute,  Orpherian,  and  Base  Violl,' contain 
ing  42  songs,  the  poetry  and  music  of  the  first 
21  by  Campion,  and  the  rest  by  Rossetor  himself. 


ROSSETOR. 

In  1609  ne  published  *  Lessons  for  Consort :  Made 
by  sundry  excellent  Authors,  and  set  to  sixe  seve- 
rall  instruments ;  Namely,  the  Treble  Lute,  Treble 
Violl,  Base  Violl,  Bandora,  Citterne,  and  the 
Flute.'  On  Jan.  4,  1610,  a  patent  was  granted 
to  him  and  others  appointing  them  Masters  of 
the  Children  of  the  Queen's  Revels,  under  which 
they  carried  on  dramatic  performances  at  the 
theatre  in  Whitefriars.  In  March,  1612,  Ros- 
setor's  company  was  joined  by  '  The  Lady  Eliza 
beth's  Servants,'  but  the  union  lasted  for  a  year 
only.  In  1616  a  privy  seal  for  a  patent  for  the 
erection  of  a  theatre  in  Blackfriars  was  granted 
to  Rossetor,  Philip  Kingman,  Robert  Jones  and 
Ralph  Reeve,  but  the  Lord  Mayor  and  Aldermen 
compelled  them  to  surrender  it.  [See  JONES, 
ROBERT,  vol.  ii.  p.  39&.J  [W.H.H.] 

ROSSI,  FRANCESCO,  born  at  Bari  about  1645, 
canon  there  1680;  author  of  4  operas — 'II  Se- 
jano  moderno'  (Venice,  1680")  ;  'La  Pena  degli 
Oechi'  (Ib.,  1688^;  'La  Carilda '  (Ib.,  1688); 
'Mitrane'  (Ib.,  1689).  Also  of  Psalms  and  a 
Requiem,  k  5,  printed  1688  ;  and  an  oratorio 
'  La  Caduta  dei  Gigante.'  (MS.)  The  fine  and 
•well-known  scena '  Ah !  rendimi '  is  from  Mitrane, 
and  gives  a  high  idea  of  Rossi's  power.  [G.] 

ROSSI,  LAURO,  an  Italian  composer,  who, 
like  Raimondi,  although  the  author  of  nu 
merous  operas,  and  famous  from  end  to  end  of 
Italy,  is  hardly  so  much  as  known  by  name 
on  this  side  the  Alps.  He  was  born1  at  Ma- 
cerata,  near  Ancona,  February  20,  1812,  and 
was  taught  music  at  the  Conservatorio  of  Naples 
under  Crescentini,  Furno,  and  Zingarelli.  He 
began  to  write  at  once,  and  at  1 8  had  his  first 
two  operas — '  Le  Contesse  Villane '  and  '  La  Vil- 
lana  Contessa' — performed  at  the  Fenice  and 
Nuovo  Theatres  of  Naples  respectively.  Other 
pieces  followed ;  one  of  them,  '  Costanza  ed 
Uringaldo,'  being  written  expressly  for  the  San 
Carlo  at  the  request  of  Barbaja.  On  the  recom 
mendation  of  Donizetti,  Rossi  was  engaged  for 
the  Teatro  Valle  at  Rome,  and  there  he  remained 
for  1832  and  1833,  and  composed  4  operas  and 
an  oratorio.  In  1834  he  moved  to  Milan,  and 
brought  out  '  La  Casa  disabitaj;a '  (or  '  I  falsi 
Monetari '),  which,  though  but  moderately  suc 
cessful  at  the  Scala,  was  afterwards  considered 
his  chef  d'ceuvre,  and  spoken  of  as  '  Rossi's  Bar- 
biere  di  Siviglia.'  It  pleased  Malibran  so  much 
that  she  induced  Barbaja  to  bespeak  another 
opera  from  Rossi  for  the  San  Carlo,  in  which  she 
should  appear.  The  opera  was  composed,  and 
was  named  '  Amelia  ' ;  but  owing  to  her  caprice 
was  a  failure.  She  insisted  on  having  a  pas  de 
deux  inserted  for  her  and  Mathis.  The  theatre 
was  crowded  to  the  ceiling  to  see  the  great 
singer  dance;  but  her  dancing  did  not  please 
the  public,  and  the  piece  was  damned.  This 
disappointment,  though  somewhat  alleviated  by 
the  success  of  his  'Leocadia'  (1834)  seems  to 
have  disgusted  Rossi  with  Italy,  he  accepted 
an  engagement  from  Mexico,  left  Europe  Oct. 

i  His  parents'  names  were  Vincenzo  and  Santa  Monticelli,  so  that 
'  Lossi '  would  seem  to  be  a  sobriquet. 


ROSSI-SCOTTI. 


163 


15,  1835,  and  arrived  at  Vera  Cruz  the  6th  of 
the  following  January.  From  Mexico  he  went 
to  the  Havannah,  New  Orleans,  and  Madras ; 
married  in  1841,  and  returned  to  Europe,  land 
ing  at  Cadiz,  Feb.  3,  1843.  He  began  again  at 
once  to  compose — 'Cellini  aParigi'  (Turin  1845), 
etc.,  but  with  very  varying  success.  In  1846  he 
reappeared  at  the  Scala  at  Milan  with  '  Azema 
di  Granata,'  '  II  Borgomaslro  di  Schiedam,'  and 
three  or  four  other  operas  in  following  years. 
His  great  success  however  appears  to  have  been 
made  with  '  II  Domino  nero,'  at  one  of  the  Mi 
lanese  Theatres.  In  1850  he  was  called  to  be 
Director  of  the  Conservatorio  at  Milan.  For 
this  institution  he  published  a  '  Guida  di  ar- 
monia  pratica  orale'  (Kicordi  1858),  and  be 
tween  1850  and  1859  composed  a  great  many 
operas,  and  detached  pieces  for  voices  and  for 
instruments.  After  the  death  of  Mercadante  in 
1870,  Rossi  succeeded  him  as  head  of  the  Con 
servatorio  at  Naples.  This  office  he  is  said  to 
have  resigned  in  1878.  Lists  of  his  works  are 
given  by  Florimo  (Cenni  Storici,  p.  948-962) 
and  Pougin.  They  comprise  29  operas,  a  grand 
mass,  and  a  dozen  miscellaneous  compositions, 
including  six  fugues  for  strings,  2  sets  of  vocal 
exercises,  and  the  Guide  to  Harmony  already 
mentioned.  His  best  works  are  '  Cellini  a  Parigi,' 
'  I  falsi  Monetari,'  and  '  II  Domino  nero.'  One 
of  his  operas, '  La  Figlia  di  Figaro/  is  said  to  have 
been  produced  at  the  Karnthnerthor  Theatre, 
Vienna,  April  17,  1846;  and  another,  'Biorn,' 
was  announced  for  performance  at  the  Queen's 
Theatre,  London,  Jan.  17,  1877  —  English  ver 
sion  by  Frank  Marshall ;  but  no  notice  of  either 
performance  can  be  found.  [G.] 

ROSSI,  LUIGI,  was  a  contemporary  of  Caris- 
simi's,  born  at  Naples  towards  the  end  of  the 
1 6th  century,  and  found  at  Rome  about  1620. 
His  works  known  at  present  are  chiefly  can 
tatas,  for  one  or  more  voices  with  clavier  ac 
companiments,  often  of  great  length  and  in 
many  movements.  Thirty-five  of  these  are  to  be 
found  in  the  British  Museum  (Harl.  MSS.  1265, 
1273,  1501,  1863),  and  not  less  than  112  in  the 
Library  of  Christ  Church,  Oxford.  They  are 
said  to  be  beautiful  music,  quite  equal  to  that  of 
Scarlatti.  The  Magliabecchi  Library  at  Florence 
contains  a  scene  extracted  from  a  'spiritual  opera' 
of  his,  '  Giuseppe  figlio  di  Giacobbe ' ;  and  the 
library  of  the  Sacred  Harmonic  Society  of  London 
contains  '  II  Palazzo  incantato,  overo,  La  Guer- 
riere  amante'  (MS.),  an  opera  by  Giulio  Ruspig- 
liosi,  music  by  Rossi,  performed  at  Rome  1642. 
Gevaerfc,  in  '  Les  Gloires  d'ltalie,'  gives  two 
cantatas  for  a  single  voice.  [G.] 

ROSSI-SCOTTI,  GIOVANNI  BATTISTA,  Conte 

di,  was  born  Dec.  27,  1836,  at  Perugia,  where 

he  still  resides.     He  is  an  amateur  of  taste  and 

knowledge,  who  will  be  long  remembered  for  the 

biography  of  his  fellow  -  townsman,  Morlacchi — 

'Delia  vita  e   delle  opere   del   Cav.  Francesco 

Morlacchi  ....  Memorie  istoriche  precedute 

i  dalla  biografia  e  bibliografia  musicale  Perugina' 

1  (Perugia;   Bartelli,   1861)— a  copy  of  which  is 

'M2 


164 


KOSSI-SCOTTI. 


in  the  South  Kensington  Library.  He  has  also 
published  pamphlets  on  Morlacchi  (1878),  and 
Bontempi  (1879).  [G-.] 

ROSSINI,  GIOACHINO  ANTONIO,  one  of  the 
brightest  musical  luminaries  of  the  I9th  century, 
was  born  Wednesday,  February  29,  1792,  at 
Pesaro,  a  small  town  on  the  Adriatic,  N.W.  of 
Ancona,  and  was  the  only  child  of  Giuseppe 
Rossini  of  Lugo,  and  Anna  Guidarini  of  Pesaro. 
The  position  of  his  parents  was  of  the  humblest ; 
his  father  was  town-trumpeter  (trombadore)  and 
inspector  of  slaughter-houses,  and  his  mother 
a  baker's  daughter,  but  their  life  was  a  happy 
one,  and  so  irrepressible  were  the  good  humour 
and  fun  of  the  town-trumpeter  that  he  was 
known  among  his  friends  as  '  the  jolly  fellow.' 
The  political  struggles  of  1796,  however,  in 
vaded  even  this  lowly  household ;  the  elder 
Rossini  declared  himself  for  the  French,  and 
for  republican  government,  and  during  the  re 
action  of  the  Austrian  party  in  the  States  of  the 
Church  was  naturally  sent  to  gaol.  His  wife, 
thus  deprived  of  her  means  of  subsistence,  was 
driven  to  turn  her  voice  to  account.  She  went 
with  her  little  Gioachino  to  Bologna,  and  there 
made  her  de"but  as  '  prima  donna  buffa '  with 
such  success  as  to  procure  her  engagements  in 
various  theatres  of  the  Romagna  during  the 
Carnival.  Meantime  the  trombadore  had  re 
gained  his  liberty  and  was  engaged  as  horn- 
player  in  the  bands  of  the  theatres  in  which 
his  wife  sang ;  the  child  remaining  at  Bologna, 
in  the  charge  of  an  honest  pork  butcher,  while 
his  parents  were  occupied  in  campaigns  not  un 
like  those  of  the  'Roman  comique'  of  Scarron. 
Such  surroundings  were  hardly  favourable  to 
education,  and  it  is  not  wonderful  that  Gioachino's 
learning  was  confined  to  reading,  writing,  and 
arithmetic.  Music  he  acquired  from  a  certain 
Prinetti  of  Novara,  who  gave  him  harpsichord 
lessons  for  three  years ;  but  the  lessons  must  have 
been  peculiar,  for  Prinetti  was  accustomed  to 
play  the  scale  with  two  fingers  only,  combined 
his  music- teaching  with  the  sale  of  liquors,  and 
had  the  convenient  habit  of  sleeping  as  he  stood. 
Such  a  character  was  a  ready  butt  for  the  son  of 
a  joker  like  Giuseppe  Rossini ;  and  so  incor 
rigible  was  Gioachino's  love  of  mimicking  his 
master  that  at  length  he  was  taken  from  Prinetti, 
and  apprenticed  to  a  smith. 

Such  was  his  shame  at  this  result  and  his 
sorrow  at  the  distress  of  his  mother,  that  he 
resolved  from  that  time  forward  to  amend  and 
apply.  In  Angelo  Tesei  h.e  fortunately  found  a 
clever  master,  able  to  make  singing  and  practical 
harmony  interesting  to  his  pupil :  in  a  few  months 
he  learned  to  read  at  sight,  to  accompany  fairly 
on  the  piano,  and  to  sing  well  enough  to  take  solos 
in  church  at  the  modest  price  of  three  pauls  per 
service.  He  was  thus  able,  at  the  age  of  ten,  to 
assist  his  parents,  who,  owing  to  a  sudden  change 
in  his  mother's  voice,  were  again  in  misfortune. 
In  his  desire  to  help  them  he  seized  every  oppor 
tunity  of  singing  in  public,  and  eagerly  accepted 
an  offer  to  appear  at  the  theatre  of  the  Commune 
as  Adolfo  in  Paer's  '  Camilla.'  This  was  his 


ROSSINI. 

first  and  only  step  in  the  career  of  a  dramatic 
singer,  but  it  must  have  been  often  difficult  to 
resist  taking  it  up  again,  when  he  saw  singers  re 
ceiving  a  thousand  ducats  for  appearing  in  operas 
which  he  both  composed  and  conducted  for  fifty. 

Thus  at  the  age  of  thirteen  Rossini  was  a  suf 
ficiently  good  singer  to  be  well  received  at  the 
theatre ;  he  also  played  the  horn  by  his  father's 
side,  and  had  a  fair  reputation  as  accompanyist. 
At  this  time  he  acquired  a  valuable  friend  in  the 
Chevalier  Giusti,  commanding  engineer  at  Bo 
logna,  who  took  a  great  affection  for  the  lad, 
read  and  explained  the  Italian  poets  to  him,  and 
opened  his  fresh  and  intelligent  mind  to  the 
comprehension  of  the  ideal ;  and  it  was  to  the 
efforts  of  this  distinguished  man  that  he  owed 
the  start  of  his  genius,  and  such  general  knowledge 
as  he  afterwards  possessed.  After  three  years 
with  Tesei  he  put  himself  under  a  veteran  tenor 
named  Babbini  to  improve  his  singing.  Shortly 
after  this  his  voice  broke,  at  the  end  of  the 
autumn  of  1 8  06,  during  a  tourne"e  in  which  he 
accompanied  his  father  as  chorus -master  and 
maestro  al  cembalo,  an  engagement  in  which  the 
daily  income  of  the  two  amounted  to  n  pauls, 
about  equal  to  4  shillings.  The  loss  of  his  voice 
cost  him  his  engagements  in  church;  but  it 
gave  him  the  opportunity  of  entering  the  Con- 
servatorio,  or  Liceo  communale,  of  Bologna.  On 
March  20,  1807,  he  was  admitted  to  the  counter 
point  class  of  Padre  Mattel,  and  soon  after  to 
that  of  Cavedagni  for  the  cello.  He  little  anti 
cipated  when  he  took  his  first  lesson  that  his 
name  would  one  day  be  inscribed  over  the  en 
trance  to  the  Liceo,  and  give  its  title  to  the 
adjacent  square. l 

His  progress  on  the  cello  was  rapid,  and  he  was 
soon  able  to  take  his  part  in  Haydn's  quartets; 
but  his  counterpoint  lessons  were  a  trouble  and  a 
worry  to  him  from  the  first.  Before  he  entered 
Mattel's  class  he  had  composed  a  variety  of  things 
— little  pieces  for  two  horns,  songs  for  Zambini, 
and  even  an  opera,  called  'Demetrio,'  forhis  friends 
the  Mombellis.  A  youth  at  once  "so  gifted  and  so 
practised  deserved  a  master  who  was  not  merely 
a  learned  musician,  but  whose  pleasure  it  should 
be  to  introduce  his  pupil  into  the  mysteries  of 
the  art  with  as  little  trouble  as  possible.  Un 
fortunately  Mattel  was  a  pedant,  who  could  see 
no  reason  for  modifying  his  usual  slow  me 
chanical  system  to  suit  the  convenience  of  a 
scholar  however  able  or  advanced.  His  one 
answer  to  his  pupil's  enquiry  as  to  the  reason 
of  a  change  or  a  progression  was,  '  It  is  the 
rule.'  The  result  was  that  after  a  few  months 


of  discouraging  labour  Gioachino  began  to  look 
to  instinct  and  practice  for  the  philosophy,  or 
at  least  the  rhetoric,  of  his  art.  The  actual 


parting  is  the  subject  of  an  anecdote  which  is 
not  improbably  true.  Mattel  was  explaining 
that  the  amount  of  counterpoint  which  his  pupil 
had  already  acquired  was  sufficient  for  a  com 
poser  in  the  '  free  style '  ;  but  that  for  church- 
music  much  severer  studies  were  required; 
'What,'  cried  the  boy,  'do  you  mean  that  I 

l  By  order  of  Count  Pepoli,  Aug.  21, 1864. 


KOSSINI. 

know  enough  to  write  operas?'    'Certainly,'  was 
the  reply.      '  Then   I  want   nothing   more,   for 
operas  are  all  that  I  desire  to  write.'     There 
was  in  this  something  of  the  practical  wisdom 
which  distinguished   the   Rossini  of  later   life. 
Meantime   it   was   necessary   that    he    and    his 
parents  should  live,   and   he  therefore  dropped 
counterpoint  and  returned  to  his  old  trade  of 
accompanyist,  gave  lessons,  and  conducted  per 
formances   01    chamber    music.      He   was   even 
bold  enough  to  lead  an  orchestra,  and  took  the 
direction    of  the    '  Accadeniia  dei  Concordi ' — in 
other  words,  of  the  Philharmonic  Society  of  Bo 
logna.     There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  it  was 
more  by  scoring  the  quartets  and  symphonies  of 
Haydn  and  Mozart  than  by  any  lessons  of  Padre 
Matfcei's  that  Ptossini  learned  the  secrets  and  the 
magic  of  the  orchestra.     His  fame  at  the  Liceo 
increased  day  by  day.  and  at  the  end  of  his  first 
year  his  cantata  '  II   Pianto   d'armonia  per   la 
mnrte  d'Orfeo  '-—the  lament  of  Harmony  over  the 
death  of  Orpheus — was  not  only  rewarded  with 
the  prize,  but  was  performed  in  public,  Aug.  8, 
1808.  He  was  then  in  his  seventeenth  year.  The 
cantata  was  followed — not  by  a  symphony,  as  is 
sometimes  said,  but — by  an  overture  in  the  fugued 
style,  in  imitation  of  that  to  Mozart's  'Magic 
Flute,'  but  so  weak,  that  after  hearing  it  played 
he  lost  no  time  in  destroying  it.     The  same  fate 
probably  attended  some  pieces  for  double  bass  and 
strings,  and  a  mass,  both  written  at  the  instance 
of  Signor  Triossi  of  Ravenna,  a   distinguished 
amateur  of  the  double  bass.    Rossini  had  hitherto 
been  known  at  Bologna  as  '  il  Tedeschino  ' — '  the 
little  German ' — for  his  devotion  to  Mozart ;  but 
such  serious  efforts  as  composing  a  mass,   and 
conducting  a  work  like  Haydn's  Seasons  at  the 
Philharmonic  Society,  were    probably  intended 
as  hints  that  he  wished  to  be  looked  upon  no 
longer  as  a  scholar,  but  as  a  master  waiting  his 
opportunity  for  the  stage. 

It  may  be  easier  to  enter  on  a  career  in  Italy 
than  elsewhere,  but  even  there  it  is  not  without 
its  difficulties.  Rossini  by  his  wit  and  gaiety 
had,  in  one  of  his  tourne'es,  made  a  friend  of  the 
Marquis  Cavalli,  who  had  promised  him  his 
interest  whenever  it  should  be  wanted.  The 
time  was  now  come  to  claim  the  fulfilment  of  the 
promise,  and  Rossini's  delight  may  be  imagined 
when  he  received  an  invitation  to  compose  an 
opera,  from  the  manager  of  the  San  Mosfc  Theatre, 
at  Venice.  He  hastened  to  prepare  the  piece, 
and  '  La  Cambiale  di  Matrimonio  '  or  the  '  Ma 
trimonial  Market'  was  produced  there  in  the 
autumn  of  1810.  The  piece  was  an  opera  buffa 
in  one  act ;  it  was  supported  by  Morandi,  Ricci, 
De  Grecis,  and  Raffanelli,  and  had  a  most  en 
couraging  reception.  After  this  feat  he  returned 
to  Bologna,  and  there  composed  for  Esther  Mom- 
belli's  benefit  a  cantata  called  '  Didone  abban- 
donata.'  In  1811  he  wrote  for  the  Teatro  del 
Corso  of  Bologna  an  opera  buffa  in  two  acts, 
'L'Equivoco  stravagante,'  which  closed  the  season 
with  success,  and  in  which  both  he  and  Marcolini 
the  contralto  were  highly  applauded. 

1812  was  Rossini's  twentieth  year,  and  with 


ROSSINI. 


165 


it  begins  what  may  be  called  his  Epoch  of  Im 
provisation.     Early  in   that  year  he  produced, 
at   the   San   Mose   Theatre,  Venice,  two   buffa 
operas — '  L'Inganno    felice,'    and    '  L'occasione 
fa    il    Ladro,    ossia    il    Cambio    della    valigia.' 
The  first  of  these,  a  Farsa,  a  trifle  in  one  act, 
was    well    sung    and    much    applauded,    espe 
cially   an   air   of  Galli's,    'Una  voce,'    a    duet 
for  the  two  basses,  and  a  trio  full  of  force  and 
original  melody.     After  the  Carnival  he  went 
to   Ferrara,  and   there   composed   an   Oratorio, 
'Giro   in   Babilonia,'   which   was    brought    out 
during  Lent,  and  proved  a  fiasco.     So  did  'La 
Scala  di  Seta,'  an  opera  buffa  in  one  act,  pro 
duced  at  Venice  in  the  course  of  the  spring ;  but 
on  the  other  hand,  '  Demetrio  e  Polibio,'  brought 
out  at  the  Teatro  Valle,  Rome,  by  his  old  friends 
the  Mombellis,  was  well    received.     The  piece 
was  not  improbably  the  same  that  we  have  men 
tioned  his  writing  at  the  age  of  fifteen  to  words 
by  Mme.  Mombelli,  retouched  according  to  his 
new  lights.     At  any  rate  a  quartet  among  its 
contents  was  at  once  pronounced  a  masterpiece, 
and  a  duet,  '  Questo  cor,'  which  followed  it,  pro 
duced  an  excellent  effect.     Rossini  however  did 
not  waste  time  in  listening  to  applause.     While 
the   Mombellis   were   engaged   on    this    serious 
opera,  he  flew  off  to  Milan  to  fulfil  an  engage 
ment  which  Marcolini  had  procured  for  him,  by 
writing,  for  her,  Galli,  Bonoldi,  and  Parlamagni, 
a  comic  piece  in  two  acts  called  '  La  Pietra  del 
Paragone,'   which   was   produced   at   the   Scala 
during  the  autumn  of  181 2,  with  immense  success. 
It  was   his  first  appearance  at   this  renowned 
house,  and  the  piece  is  underlined  in  the  list  as 
'  musica  nuova  di  Gioachino  Rossini,  di  Pesaro.' 
The  numbers  most  applauded  were  a  cavatina, 
'  Ecco  pietosa,'  a  quartet  in  the  second  act,  the 
duel-trio,  and  a  finale  in  which  the  word  '  Sigil- 
lara'  recurs  continually  with  very  comic  effect. 
This  finale  is  memorable  as  the  first  occasion  of 
his  employing  the  crescendo,  which  he  was  ulti 
mately  to  use  and  abuse  so  copiously.     Mosca 
has   accused   Rossini   of  having   borrowed  this 
famous  effect  from  his  'Pretendenti  delusi,'  pro 
duced  at  the  Scala  the  preceding  autumn,  for 
getting  that  Mosca  himself  had  learned  it  from 
Generali    and    other    composers.      Such   accusa 
tions,  however,  were  of  little  or  no  importance 
to  Rossini,  who  had  already  made  up  his  mind 
to  adopt  whatever  pleased  him,  wheresoever  he 
might  find  it.     In  the  meantime   he  took   ad 
vantage  of  his  success  to  pass  a  few  days  at 
Bologna  with  his  parents,  en  route  for  Venice ; 
and  thus  ended  the  year  1812,  in  which  he  had 
produced  no  less  than  six  pieces  for  the  theatre. 

Nor  was  1813  less  prolific.  It  began  with  a 
terrible,  mystification.  He  had  accepted  a  com 
mission  of  500  francs  for  a  serious  opera  for  the 
Grand  Theatre  at  Venice,  but  the  manager  of 
San  Mose,  furious  at  his  desertion,  in  pursuance 
of  some  former  agreement,  forced  on  him  a 
libretto  for  that  theatre,  'I  due  Brnschini,  o  il 
figlio  per  azzardo,'  which,  if  treated  as  intended, 
would  inevitably  have  been  the  death  of  the 
music.  From  this  dilemma  Rossini  ingeniously 


166 


ROSSINI. 


extricated  himself  by  reversing  the  situations, 
and    introducing    all     kinds     of    tricks.       The 
second  violins  mark   each   bar  in  the   overture 
by  a  stroke   of  the   bow  on  the   lamp    shade; 
the  bass  sings  at  the  top  of  his  register  and  the 
soprano  at  the  bottom  of  hers  ;  a  funeral  march 
intrudes  itself  into  one  of  the  most  comical  scenes  ; 
and  in  the  finale  the  words  '  son  pentito '  are  so 
arranged  that  nothing  is  heard  but  'tito,  tito,  tito.' 
Those  of  the  audience  who  had  been  taken  into  the 
secret  were  in  roars  of  laughter,  but  the  strangers 
who  had   paid   for   their  places  in  good  faith, 
were  naturally  annoyed  and  hissed  loudly.     But 
no  complaints  were  of  any  avail  with   Rossini, 
he   only  laughed   at   the   success   of   his   joke. 
'  I  due   Bruschini '    disappeared   after   the   first 
night,   and    the   remembrance   of   it   was   very 
shortly  wiped  out  by  the  appearance  of  'Tan- 
credi '     at    the    Fenice    during    the    Carnival. 
The  characters  were  taken  by  Manfredini,  Ma- 
lanotte,  Todran,  and  Bianchi.     A  work  so  im 
portant  and  so  full  of  spirit,  effect,  and  melody, 
was  naturally  received  with  enthusiasm,  and  no 
body  had  time  to  notice  that  the  long  crescendo  of 
the  finale  strongly  resembled  that  of  Paisiello's 
'  Rk  Teodoro,'  that  a  phrase  in  the  first  duo,  to 
the    words    '  Palesa    almen,'  is   borrowed   from 
Paer's  '  Agnese,1  and  that  the  allegro  in  E  flat  of 
the  grand  duet,  'Si  tu  sol  crudel,'  is  also  borrowed 
from    the    '  Sofonisba '    of  the   same   composer. 
Such  criticisms  as  these  were  lost  in  the  general 
admiration  at  the  new  and  spirited  character  of 
the  music.     It  was  in  fact  the  first  step  in  the 
revolution  which  Rossini  was  destined  to  effect  in 
Italian  opera.      All  Venice,  and  very  soon  all 
Italy,  was  singing  or  humming  '  Mi  rivedrai,  ti 
rivedro.'    Hardly  any  one  now  remembers  that  it 
is  only  to  the  happy  accident  that  Malanotte  was 
dissatisfied  with  her  air,  and  insisted  on  its  being 
rewritten,  that  we   owe  the  '  Di  tanti  palpiti,' 
which  was  nicknamed  the  'aria  de'rizzi,'  because 
it  was  said  to  have  been  dashed  off  while  waiting 
for  a  dish  of  rice.     One  must  read  the  accounts 
of  the  day  to  understand  the  madness — for  it  was 
nothing  else — which  '  Tancredi  '  excited  among 
the  Venetians.     '  I  fancied,'  said  Rossini,  with 
his  usual  gaiety,  'that  after  hearing  my  opera 
they  would  put  me  into  a  madhouse — on  the  con 
trary,  they  were  madder  than  I.' 

Henceforward  he  was  as  much  feted  for  his 
social  qualities  as  for  his  music.  But  he  did  not 
give  way  to  such  dissipations  for  long.  His  next 
work  was  '  L'ltaliana  in  Algeri,'  an  opera  buffa 
produced  at  the  San  Benedetto  theatre,  Venice, 
in  the  summer  of  1813.  Its  greatest  novelty  was 
the  famous  trio  '  Papataci,'  a  cha,rming  union  of 
melody  and  genuine  comedy;  while  the  patriotic 
air,  '  Pensa  alia  Patria,'  which  closes  the  work, 
spoke  not  less  powerfully  to  the  hearts  of  his 
countrymen. 

'Aureliano  in  Palmira'  and  'II  Turco  in  Italia' 
both  belong  to  1814,  and  were  brought  out  at  the 
Scala,  Milan,  the  first  in  the  Carnival,  the  second 
in  the  autumn  season,  before  an  audience  some 
what  more  critical  than  that  at  Venice.  '  Aure 
liano,'  though  it  contains  some  fine  things,  which 


ROSSINI. 

were  afterwards  utilised  in  '  Elisabetta'  and  the 
'  Barbiere,'  was  a  fiasco.    The  '  Turco'  too  was  not 
received  with  the  applause  which  it  afterwards 
commanded.   Rossini,  however,  was  greatly  feted 
during  his  stay  in  Milan,  and  among  his  '  ami 
able    protectresses' — to    use    the    expression   of 
Stendhal — was  the  Princess  Belgiojoso,  for  whom 
he  composed  a  cantata  entitled  '  Egle  ed  Irene.' 
His  next  opera,    'Sigismondo,'  written  for  the 
Fenice  at  Venice,  in  the  Carnival  of  1815,  was 
unsuccessful,  and  the  failure  so  far  affected  him 
as  to  make  him  give  up  work  for  a  time,  and 
retire  to  his  home  at"  Bologna.     There  he  en 
countered  Barbaja,  who  from  being  a  waiter  at 
a  coffee-house  had   become  the    farmer   of  the 
public  gaming-tables  and  impresario  of  the  Na 
ples  theatre.    Barbaja  though  rich  was  still  bent 
on  making  money ;  he  had  heard  of  the  success 
of  the  young  composer,  and  of  his  brilliant  talents, 
and  was  resolved  to  get  hold  of  him ;  and  Ros 
sini,  with  the  support  of  his  parents  on  his  hands, 
was  ready  enough  to  listen  to  any  good  proposal. 
He  accordingly  engaged  with  Barbaja  to  take 
the  musical  direction  of  the  San  Carlo  and  Del 
Fondo  theatres  at  Naples,  and  to  compose  an 
nually  an  opera  for  each.    For  this  he  was  to  re 
ceive  200  ducats  (about  £35)  per  month,  with  a 
small  share  in  the  gaming-tables,  amounting  in 
addition  to   some   1000  ducats  per  annum,  for 
which    however   he    obtained   no   compensation 
after  the  tables  were  abolished  in  1820. 

During  Murat's   visit    to   Bologna   in   April 
1815    Rossini    composed    a    cantata    in  favour 
of  Italian  independence ;   but  politics  were  not 
his  line,  and  he  arrived    in  Naples   fully  con 
scious  of  this,  and  resolved  that  nothing  should 
induce    him    to    repeat    the    experiment.    The 
arrival  of  a  young   composer  with  so  great  a 
reputation   for    originality   was    not  altogether 
pleasing  to  Zingarelli,  the  chief  of  the  Conser 
vatoire,  or  to  the  aged  Paisiello.   But  no  intrigues 
could  prevent  the  brilliant  success  of  '  Elisabetta, 
regina  d'Inghilterra/  which  was  produced  before 
the  Court  for  the  opening  of  the  autumn  season, 
1815,  and  in  which  Mile.  Colbran,  Dardanelli, 
Manuel  Garcia,  and  Nozzari  took  the  principal 
parts.   The  libretto  of  this  opera  was  by  a  certain 
Schmidt,  and  it  is  a  curious  fact  that  some  of 
its  incidents  anticipate  those  of  '  Kenilworth,' 
which  was  not  published  till  several1}' ears  later; 
a  coincidence  still  more  remarkable   when  the 
difference   between   the   two   authors   is  taken 
into  account — Walter  Scott  gay,  romantic,  and 
famous,   Schmidt   unknown    and    obscure,   and, 
though  not  wanting  in  imagination,  so  gloomy 
as  to  have  damped  the  spirits  of  Rossini  by  his 
mere   appearance   and   conversation.     Two  his 
torical  facts  should  be  noted  in  regard  to  '  Elisa 
betta.'     It  is  the  first  opera  in  which  Rossini  so 
far  distrusted  his  singers  as  to  write  in  the  or 
naments  of  the  airs ;  and  it  is  also  the  first  in 
which  he  replaced  the  recitative  secco  by  a  reci 
tative  accompanied  by  the  stringed  quartet.    The 
overture  and  the  finale  to  the  first  act  of 
betta'  are  taken  from  'Aureliano.' 

1  January,  1821. 


ROSSINI. 

Shortly  before  Christmas  Rossini  left  Naples 
for  Rome  to  write  and  bring  out  two  works  for 
which  he  was  under  engagement.  The  first  of 
these,  'Torvaldo  e  Dorliska,'  produced  at  the 
Teatro  Valle,  Dec.  26,  1815,  was  coldly  received, 
but  the  second,  '  Almaviva,  ossia  1'inutile  precau- 
zione,'  founded  on  Beaumarchais'  '  Barber  of 
Seville,'  by  Sterbini,  which  made  its  first  ap 
pearance  at  the  Argentina  Feb.  5,  1816,  was 
unmistakeably  damned.  The  cause  of  this  was 
the  predilection  of  the  Romans  for  Paisiello,  and 
their  determination  to  make  an  example  of  an 
innovator  who  had  dared  to  reset  a  libretto  al 
ready  treated  by  their  old  favourite.  Rossini, 
with  excellent  taste  and  feeling,  had  inquired  of 
Paisiello,  before  adopting  the  subject,  whether  his 
doing  so  would  annoy  the  veteran,  whose  '  Bar- 
biere'  had  been  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  the 
favourite  of  Europe,  and  not  unnaturally  believed 
that  after  this  step  he  was  secure  from  the  ill- 
will  of  Paisiello's  friends  and  admirers.1  But 
the  verdict  of  a  theatre  crammed  with  partisans 
is  seldom  just.  It  is  also  as  changeable  as  the 
winds,  or  as  Fortune  herself.  Though  hissed  on 
the  first  night,  'Almaviva'  was  listened  to  with 
patience  on  the  second,  advanced  in  favour  night 
by  night,  and  ended  by  becoming,  under  the  title 
of 'The  Barber  of  Seville,' one  of  the  most  popu 
lar  comic  operas  ever  composed,  and  actually 
eclipsing  in  spirit  and  wit  the  comedy  on  which 
it  is  founded.  It  was  acted  by  Giorgi-Righetti 
(Rosina),  Rossi  (Berta),Zamboni  (Figaro), Garcia 
(Almaviva),  Botticelli  (Bartolo)  and  Vitarelli 
(Basilio).  The  original  overture  was  lost,  and 
the  present  one  belongs  to  '  Elisabetta '  ;  the  open 
ing  of  the  cavatina  'Ecco  ridente '  is  borrowed 
from  the  opening  of  the  first  chorus  in  '  Aureliano.' 
It  is  in  the  delicious  andante  of  this  cavatina 
that  Rossini  first  employs  the  modulation  to  the 
minor  third  below,  which  afterwards  became  so 
common  in  Italian  music.  The  air  of  Berta, 
'  II  vechiotto  cerca  moglie,'  was  suggested  by  a 
Russian  tune,  and  the  eight  opening  bars  of  the 
trio  '  Zitti,  zitti '  are  notoriously  taken  note  for 
note  from  Simon's  air  in  Haydn's  '  Seasons.' 
Indeed  it  is  astonishing  that,  with  his  extra 
ordinary  memory,  his  carelessness,  and  his  ha 
bitual  hurry,  Rossini  should  not  have  borrowed 
oftener  than  he  did.  He  received  400  scudi 
(£80)  for  '  The  Barber,'  and  it  was  composed 
and  mounted  in  a  month.  When  some  one  told 
Donizetti  that  it  had  been  written  in  thirteen 
days,  '  Very  possible,'  was  his  answer,  '  he  is  no 
lazy: 

Lazy  as  he  was,  Rossini  was  destined  to  write 
twenty  operas  in  eight  years,  1815-1823.  On 
his  return  to  Naples  after  the  Carnival  of  1816, 
and  the  gradual  success  of  '  The  Barber,'  he 
found  the  San  Carlo  theatre  in  ashes,  to  the 
great  distress  of  the  King  of  Naples,  who  justly 
considered  it  one  of  the  ornaments  of  his  capi 
tal.  Barbaja,  however,  undertook  to  rebuild  it 
more  magnificently  than  before  in  nine  months. 

1  We  have  Rossini's  own  authority  for  this,  and  for  the  opera 
having  been  written  in  13  days,  in  his  letter  to  M.  Scitivaux.  See 
'  Musical  World.'  Nov.  6, 1875,  p.  751. 


ROSSINI. 


167 


He  kept  his  word,  and  thus  acquired  not  only 
the  protection  but  the  favour  of  the  king. 
Rossini  obtained  the  same  boon  by  composing 
a  grand  cantata  entitled  '  Teti  e  Peleo  '  for  the 
marriage  of  the  Duchess  de  Berry.  No  sooner 
had  he  completed  this  than  he  dashed  off  a  2-act 
comic  opera  entitled  'La  Gazzetta'  to  a  libretto 
by  Tottola,  which  was  produced  at  the  Teatro 
dei  Fiorentini,  Naples,  and  which,  although  in, 
the  hands  of  a  clever  and  charming  actress  like 
Chambrand,  and  of  two  such  public  favourites 
as  Pellegrini  and  Casaccia,  was  but  moderately 
successful.  The  work  however  contained  some 
admirable  passages,  which  were  afterwards  util 
ised  by  the  composer.  Rossini  completed  his 
reform  of  serious  opera  by  his  '  Otello,'  which 
was  brought  out  at  the  Teatro  del  Fondo, 
Naples,  in  the  autumn  of  1816,  with  Isabella 
Colbran,  Nozzari,  Davide,  Cicimarra,  and  Bene- 
detti  as  its  interpreters.  In  this  opera,  of  which 
the  third  act  is  the  finest,  the  recitatives  are  fewer 
and  shorter  than  before,  and,  in  accompanying 
them,  the  wind  instruments  are  occasionally  added 
to  the  strings.  Some  of  the  most  remarkable 
features  of  this  grand  work,  such  as  the  finale 
of  the  first  act,  the  duet  'Non  m'inganno,'  a  ad 
the  passionate  trio  of  defiance,  were  not  at  first 
appreciated:  the  touching  air  of  Desdemona,  'Se 
il  padre,'  doubly  effective  after  the  paternal  curse 
which  precedes  it,  and  the  romance  of  the  Willow, 
with  the  harp  accompaniment — then  quite  a 
novelty — were  better  received ;  but  the  tragic 
termination  of  the  whole  was  very  distasteful 
to  the  public,  and  when  the  opera  was  taken 
to  Rome,  it  was  found  necessary  to  invent  a 
happy  conclusion.  This  curious  fact  deserves 
mention  for  the  light  which  it  throws  on  the 
low  condition  of  dramatic  taste  in  Italy  at  that 
period. 

The  machinery,  and  power  of  rapidly  chang 
ing  the  scenes,  were  at  that  time  so  very  im 
perfect  in  smaller  Italian  theatres,  that  Rossini 
would  only  accept  the  subject  of  Cinderella  when 
proposed  to  him  by  the  manager  of  the  Teatro 
Valle  at  Rome,  on  condition  that  the  super 
natural  element  was  entirely  omitted.  A  new 
comic  piece  was  therefore  written  by  Ferretti 
under  the  title  of  '  Cenerentola,  ossia  la  bonta 
in  trionfo ' ;  Rossini  undertook  it,  and  it  was 
produced  at  the  beginning  of  1817.  Its  success 
was  umnistakeable,  though  the  cast  was  by  no 
means  extraordinary — Giorgi,  Catarina  Rossi, 
Guglielmi,  De  Begnis,  Verni,  and  Vitarelli. 

In  the  profusion  and  charm  of  its  ideas  tins 
delicious  work  is  probably  equal  to  the  'Bar- 
biere,'  but  it  appears  to  us  to  be  inferior  in  unity 
of  style.  No  doubt  this  is  partly  owing  to  the 
fact  that  many  of  the  pieces  were  originally 
composed  to  other  words  than  those  to  which 
they  are  now  sung.  The  duet  '  Un  soave  non 
sb  che,'  the  drinking-chorus,  and  the  mock  pro 
clamation  of  the  Baron,  are  all  borrowed  from 
'  La  Pietra  del  Paragone ' ;  the  air  '  Miei  ram- 
polli'  is  from  'La  Gazzetta,'  where  it  was 
inspired  by  the  words  '  Una  prima  ballerina ' ; 
the  air  of  Eamiro  recalls  that  to  '  Ah  !  vieni '  in 


168 


ROSSINI. 


the  trio  in  '  Otello '  ;  the  delightful  stretto  of  the 
finale,  the  duet  'Zitto,  zitto,'  the  sestet 
'Quest'  e  un  nodo  avvilupato5 — a  truly  admir 
able  morceau — and  various  other  incidental 
passages,  originally  belonged  to  the  '  Turco  in 
Italia  ' ;  and  the  humorous  duet  '  Un  segreto  '  is 
evidently  modelled  on  that  in  Cimarosa's  '  Ma- 
trimonio.'  Such  repetitions  answered  their  pur 
pose  at  the  moment,  but  while  thus  extempor 
ising  his  operas  Rossini  forgot  that  a  day  would 
arrive  when  they  would  all  be  published,  and 
when  such  discoveries  as  those  we  have  men 
tioned,  and  as  the  existence  of  the  principal 
motif  of  the  duet  of  the  letter  in  '  Otello '  in  the 
Agitato  of  an  air  from  '  Torvaldo  e  Dorliska,' 
would  inevitably  be  made.  As  he  himself  con 
fessed  in  a  letter  about  this  time,  he  thought  he 
had  a  perfect  right  to  rescue  any  of  his  earlier 
airs  from  operas  which  had  either  failed  at  the 
time  or  become  forgotten  since.  Whatever  force 
there  may  be  in  this  defence,  the  fact  remains 
that  '  Cenerentola '  and  the  '  Barber '  share 
between  them  the  glory  of  being  Eossini's  chefs 
d'ceuvre  in  comic  opera. 

From  Rome  he  went  to  Milan,  to  enjoy  the 
triumph  of  the  'Gazza  ladra,' — libretto  by  Gher- 
ardini — which  was  brought  out  in  the  spring  of 
1817  at  the  Scala.  The  dignified  martial  cha 
racter  of  the  overture,  and  the  prodigious  rolls  of 
the  drum,  produced  an  immense  effect ;  and  the 
same  may  be  said  of  all  the  numbers  which 
are  concerned  with  strong  emotion  : — give  the 
public  a  strong  impression,  and  it  will  not  stop 
to  discriminate.  Nor  did  the  Milanese,  at  these 
early  representations,  find  any  difference  be 
tween  the  really  fine  parts  of  the  opera  arid 
those  which  are  mere  remplissage — of  which  the 
'  Gazza  ladra '  has  several.  Nor  would  any  one 
have  noticed,  even  had  they  had  the  necessary 
knowledge,  that  in  the  first  duet  and  the  finale 
— as  was  the  case  also  in  the  finale  to  the 
'Cenerentola' — Rossini  had  borrowed  an  effect 
from  the  Poco  adagio  of  Mozart's  Symphony 
in  C  (Kochel,  425)  by  maintaining  a  sustained 
accompaniment  in  the  wind  while  the  strings 
and  the  voices  carry  on  the  ideas  and  the 
ornaments. 

From  Milan  he  returned  to  Naples,  and  pro 
duced  'Armida'  during  the  autumn  season,  a 
grand  opera  in  3  acts,  with  ballet,  which  was 
mounted  with  great  splendour,  and  enjoyed  the 
advantage  of  very  good  singers.  The  duet 
'  Amor,  possente  Nume  ! ' — which  was  soon  to 
be  sung  though  the  length  and  breadth  of  Italy, 
the  air  'Non  soffiro  1'offensa,'  the  incantation 
scene,  the  chorus  of  demons,  and  the  airs  de 
ballet,  would  alone  have  been  sufficient  to  excite 
the  Neapolitans ;  but  these  were  not  the  only 
pieces  applauded,  and  the  remarkable  trio  '  In 
quale  aspetto  imbelle,'  written  for  three  tenors 
with  extraordinary  ease,  a  pretty  chorus  of 
women  'Qui  tutto  e  calma,'  and  a  scena  with 
chorus,  'Germano  a  te  richiede' — afterwards  em 
ployed  in  the  French  version  of  '  Mo'ise' — all 
deserve  mention. 

This  fine  work  had  hardly  made  its  appear- 


ROSSINI. 

ance  before  Rossini  had  to  dash  off  two  more — 
< Adelaide  di  Borgogna,'  sometimes  known1  as 
'  Ottone  Re  d'  Italia,'  and  an  oratorio — '  Mosfe 
in  Egitto.3  'Adelaide'  was  produced  at  the 
Argentina  at  Rome,  in  the  Carnival  of  1818, 
was  well  sung  and  warmly  received.  'Mose' 
was  written  for  the  San  Carlo  at  Naples,  and 
brought  out  there  in  Lent  with  an  excellent  cast 

O 

— Isabella  Colbran,  Benedetti,  Porto,  and  Noz- 
zari.  Here  for  the  first  time  Rossini  was  so 
much  pressed  as  to  be  compelled  to  call  in 
assistance,  and  employed  his  old  and  tried  friend 
Carafa  in  the  recitatives  and  in  Pharaoh's  2air 
'  Aspettar  nii.'  The  scene  of  the  darkness  was 
another  step  onwards,  and  the  whole  work  was 
much  applauded,  with  the  exception  of  the 
passage  of  the  Red  Sea,  the  representation  of 
which  was  always  laughed  at,  owing  to  the  im 
perfection  of  the  theatrical  appliances  already 
spoken  of.  At  the  resumption  of  the  piece, 
therefore,  in  the  following  Lent,  Rossini  added 
a  chorus  to  divert  attention  from  the  wretched 
attempt  to  represent  the  dividing  waves,  and  it 
is  to  the  sins  of  the  Neapolitan  stage  machinists 
that  we  owe  the  universally  popular  prayer  'Dal 
tuo  stellato  soglio,'  which  is  not  only  in  itself  a 
most  important  piece  of  music,  but  shows  the 
value  which  Rossini  attached  to  the  rest  of  the 
work,  which  is  indeed  one  of  his  very  finest. 

As  some  relaxation  after  this  serious  effort  he 
undertook,  in  the  summer  of  1818,  a  one-act 
piece,  'Adina,  oilCaliffo  di  Bagdad,'  for  the  San 
Carlos  Theatre,  Lisbon ;  and  immediately  after, 
'Ricciarclo  e  Zoraide'  for  San  Carlo,  Naples, 
which  was  sung  to  perfection  at  the  autumn 
season  there  by  Isabella  Colbran,  Pisaroni 
(whose  excessive  plainness  was  no  bar  to  her 
splendid  singing),  Nozzari,  Davide,  and  Cici- 
marra.  Davide's  air,  the  trio,  the  duet  for  the 
two  women,  and  that  of  the  two  tenors,  were  all 
applauded  to  the  echo. 

'  Ricciardo'  was  extraordinarily  full  of  ornament, 
but '  Ermione,'  which  was  produced  at  San  Carlo 
in  the  Lent  of  1819,  went  quite  in  the  opposite 
direction,  and  affected  an  unusual  plainness  and 
severity.  The  result  showed  that  this  was  a 
mistake.  Though  splendidly  sung,  'Ermione' 
was  not  so  fortunate  as  to  please,  and  the  single 
number  applauded  was  the  one  air  in  which 
there  was  any  ornamentation.  So  much  for  the 
taste  of  Naples  in  1819  !  An  equally  poor  re 
ception  was  given  to  a  cantata  written  for  the 
re-establishment  of  the  health  of  the  King  of 
Naples,  and  sung  at  the  San  Carlo  Feb.  20, 
1819.  It  consisted  of  a  cavatina  for  Isabella 
Colbran,  and  an  air  with  variations,  which  was 
afterwards  utilised  in  the  bnllet  of  the  '  Viaggio 
a  Reims.'  The  piece  was  hastily  thrown  off,  and 
was  probably  of  no  more  value  in  the  eyes  of  its 
author  than  was  an  opera  called  '  Eduardo  e 
Cristina'  which  was  brought  out  at  the  San 
Benedetto,  Venice,  this  same  spring,  and  was  in 
reality  a  mere  pasticcio  of  pieces  from  'Ermione,' 

1  Zanolini  is  wrong  in  placing  'Ottone'  in  his  Catalogue  as  a  dis 
tinct  work. 

2  Omitted  in  the  Italian  score  published  in  Paris. 


ROSSINI. 

'  Ricciardo,'  and  other  operas,  hitherto  unheard  in 
Venice,  attached  to  a  libretto  imitated  from 
Scribe.  Fortunately  the  opera  pleased  the 
audience,  and  sent  Rossini  back  to  Naples  in 
good  spirits,  ready  to  compose  a  new  cantata 
fur  the  visit  of  the  Emperor  of  Austria.  The 
new  work  was  performed  on  May  9,  1819,  at  the 
San  Carlo,  and  was  sung  by  Colbran,  Davide, 
and  Rubini,  to  the  accompaniment  of  a  military 
band.  This  Rossini  probably  accepted  as  a 
useful  experience  for  his  next  new  opera,  the 
'  Donna  del  Lago/  in  the  march  of  which  we  hear 
the  results  of  his  experiments  in  writing  for  a  wind 
band.  The  title  of  the  new  work  seems  to  show 
that  Scott's  works  were  becoming  popular  even 
in  Italy.1  Rossini  at  any  rate  was  not  insensible 
to  their  beauties  ;  and  in  his  allusions  to  the  land 
scape  of  the  lake,  and  the  cavatina  '0  mattutini 
albori '  seems  to  invite  attention  to  his  use  of 
local  colour.  Even  at  the  present  day  the  first 
act  of  the  opera  is  well  worthy  of  admiration,  and 
yet  the  evening  of  Monday,  Oct.  4,  1819,  when 
it  was  first  given,  with  the  magnificent  cast  of 
Colbran,  Pisaroni,  Nozzari,  Davide,  and  Benedetti, 
was  simply  one  long  torture  of  disappointment 
to  the  composer,  who  was  possibly  not  aware  that 
the  storm  of  disapprobation  was  directed  not 
against  him  so  much  as  against  Barbaja  the 
manager,  and  Colbran  his  favourite.  Felix  qui 
potttit  rerum  cognoscere  causas. 

On  the  following  evening  the  hisses  became 
bravos,  but  of  this  Rossini  knew  nothing,  as  by 
that  time  he  was  on  his  road  to  Milan.  The 
Scala  opened  on  Dec.  26,  1819,  for  the  Carnival 
season  with  '  Bianca  e  Faliero,'  libretto  by  Ro- 
mani,  which  was  admirably  sung  by  Camporesi 
and  others.  No  trace  of  it,  however,  now  re 
mains  except  the  fine  duet  and  equally  good 
quartet,  which  were  afterwards  introduced  in  the 
'  Donna  del  Lago,'  and  became  very  popular  at 
concerts. 

His  engagement  at  Milan  over,  he  hurried 
back  toNaples,  to  produce  the  opera  of  'Maometto 
secondo,'  befoi'e  the  close  of  the  Carnival.  It  had 
been  composed  in  great  haste,  but  was  admirably 
interpreted  by  Colbran,  Chaumel  (afterwards 
Madame  Rubini),  Nozzari,  Cicimarra,  Benedetti, 
and  F.  Galli,  whose  Maometto  was  a  splendid 
success.  It  was  the  last  opera  but  one  that 
Rossini  was  destined  to  give  at  Naples  before 
the  burst  of  the  storm2  of  the  2Oth  July,  1820, 
Avhich  obliged  the  King  to  abandon  his  capital, 
ruined  Barbaja  by  depriving  him  at  once  of  a 
powerful  patron  and  of  the  monopoly  of  the 
gambling -houses,  and  drove  Rossini  to  make 
important  changes  in  his  life.  But  to  return. 
Having  for  the  moment  no  engagement  for  the 
Scala,  he  undertook  to  write  '  Mathilde  di 
3  Shahran '  for  Rome.  Torlonia  the  banker  had 
bought  the  Teatro  Tordinone,  and  was  con 
verting  it  into  the  Apollo;  and  it  was  for  the 
inauguration  of  this  splendid  new  house  that 
Rossini's  opera  was  intended.  The  opening  took 

1  'The  Lady  of  the  Lake'  was  published  in  1810. 

2  Eevolt  of  the  Carbonari,  under  Pepe. 

*  So  written,  though  prouounoed  Sabran  by  the  Italians. 


ROSSINI. 


169 


place  on  the  first  night  of  the  Carnival  of  1821. 
The  company,  though  large,  contained  no  first- 
rate  artists,  and  Rossini  was  therefore  especially 
careful  of  the  ensemble  pieces.  The  first  night 
was  stormy,  but  Rossini's  friends  were  in  the 
ascendancy,  Paganini  conducted  in  splendid  style, 
and  the  result  was  a  distinct  success. 

On  his  return  to  Naples,  Rossini  learned  from 
Barbaja  his  intention  of  visiting  Austria,  and 
taking  his  company  of  singers  to  Vienna. 
Rossini's  next  opera, '  Zelmira,'  was  therefore  to  be 
submitted  to  a  more  critical  audience  than  those 
of  Italy,  and  with  this  in  view  he  applied  himself 
to  make  the  recitatives  interesting,  the  harmonies 
full  and  varied,  and  the  accompaniments  expres 
sive  and  full  of  colour,  and  to  throw  as  much 
variety  as  possible  into  the  form  of  the  move 
ments.  He  produced  the  opera  at  the  San  Carlo 
before  leaving,  in  the  middle  of  December  1821. 

• 

It  was  sung  by  Colbran,  Cecconi,  Da  vide,  Nozzari, 
Ambrosi  and  Benedetti,  and  was  enthusiastically 
received.  On  the  27th  of  the  same  month,  he  took 
his  benefit,  for  which  he  had  composed  a  special 
cantata  entitled  '  La  Riconoscenza ' ;  and  the  day 
after  left  for  the  North.  He  was  accompanied  by 
Isabella  Colbran,  with  whom  he  had  been  in  love 
for  years,  whose  influence  over  him  had  been  so 
great  as  to  make  him  forsake  comedy  for  tragedy, 
and  to  whom  he  was  married  on  his  arrival  at 
Bologna.  The  wedding  took  place  in  the  chapel 
of  the  Archbishop's  palace,  and  was  celebrated  by 
Cardinal  Opizzoni.  Rossini  has  been  accused  of 
marrying  for  money,  and  it  is  certain  that  Colbran 
had  a  villa  and  £500  a  year  of  her  own,  that  she 
was  seven  years  older  than  her  husband,  and  that 
her  reputation  as  a  singer  was  on  the  decline. 

However  this  may  be,  the  two  Rossinis,  after 
a  month's  holiday,  started  for  Vienna,  where  they 
arrived  about  the  end  of  February,  1822.  He 
seems  to  have  made  his  debut  before  the  Vienna 
public  on  the  3Oth  of  March,  as  the  conductor  of 
his  'Cenerentola,'  in  the  German  version,  as 
'Aschenbrodel,'  and  his  tempi  were  found  some 
what  too  fast  for  the  '  heavy  German  language.' 
'  Zelmira '  was  given  at  the  Karnthnerthor  opera- 
house  on  April  13,  with  a  success  equal  to  that 
which  it  obtained  at  Naples.  The  company  was 
the  same,  excepting  Cecconi  and  Benedetti,  who 
were  replaced  by  Mile.  Ekerlin  and  Botticelli. 
An  air  was  added  for  the  former  to  words  fur 
nished  by  Carpani,  who  was  thus  secured  as  an 
enthusiastic  partisan  of  the  Italian  composer. 
Rossini  was  not  without  violent  opponents  in 
Vienna,  but  they  gave  him  no  anxiety,  friends  and 
enemies  alike  were  received  with  a  smile,  and 
his  only  retort  was  a  good-humoured  joke.  He  is 
said  to  have  visited  Beethoven,  and  to  have  been 
much  distressed  by  the  condition  in  which  he 
found  the  great  master.  The  impression  which 
he  made  on  the  Viennese  may  be  gathered  from 
a  paragraph  in  the  Leipzig  '  Allgemeine  musik. 
Zeitung'4  of  the  day,  in  which  he  is  described  as 
'  highly  accomplished,  of  agreeable  manners  and 
pleasant  appearance,  full  of  wit  and  fun,  cheerful, 
obliging,  courteous,  and  most  accessible.  He  is 

*  May  8, 1822,  reporting  the  early  part  of  March. 


170 


ROSSINI. 


much  in  society,  and  charms  every  one  by  his 
simple  unassuming  style.'  After  the  close  of  the 
Vienna  season,  the  Rossinis  returned  to  Bologna, 
where  his  parents  had  resided  since  1798.  There, 
at  the  end  of  September,  he  received  a  flattering 
letter  from  Prince  Metternich,  entreating  him  to 
come  to  Verona,  and  '  assist  in  the  general  re- 
establishment  of  harmony.'  Such  invitations,  so 
couched,  are  not  to  be  refused,  and  accordingly 
the  chief  composer  of  Italy  yielded  to  the  request 
of  the  chief  diplomatist  of  Austria,  and  arrived 
at  the  Congress  in  time  fur  its  opening,  Oct.  20, 
1822.  Rossini's  contribution  to  the  Congress  was 
a  series  of  cantatas,  which  he  poured  forth 
without  stint  or  difficulty.  The  best-known  of 
these  is  'II  vero  Omaggio';  others  are  'L'Augurio 
felice,'  'La  sacra  Alleanza,'  and  'II  Bardo.'  One 
was  performed  in  the  Amphitheatre,  which  will 
accommodate 50,000 spectators,  and  wasconducted 
by  Rossini  himself.  Work,  however,  never  seems 
to  have  prevented  his  going  into  society,  and  we 
find  that  during  this  occasion  he  acquired  the 
friendship  not  only  of  Metternich,  but  of 
Chateaubriand  and  Madame  de  Lie"ven. 

The  Congress  at  an  end  he  began  to  work  at 
'Semiramide,'  which  was  brought  out  at  the 
Fenice,  Venice,  Feb.  3,  1823,  with  Madame 
Rossini,  the  two  Marianis,  Galli,  and  Sinclair  the 
English  tenor,  for  whom  there  were  two  airs. 
The  opera  was  probably  written  with  more  care 
than  any  of  those  which  had  preceded  it ;  and 
possibly  for  this  very  reason  was  somewhat 
coldly  received.  The  subject  no  doubt  would 
seem  sombre  to  the  gay  Venetians,  and  they 
even  omitted  to  applaud  the  fine  quartet  (which 
Verdi  must  surely  have  had  in  his  mind  when 
writing  the  Miserere  in  the  '  Trovatore '),  the 
finale,  and  the  appearance  of  Ninus,  the  final 
trio,  at  once  so  short  and  so  dramatic,  the  cava- 
tina  with  chorus,  and  all  the  other  new,  bold, 
bright  passages  of  that  remarkable  work.  Ros 
sini  was  not  unnaturally  much  disappointed  at 
the  result  of  his  labour  and  genius,  and  resolved 
to  write  no  more  for  the  theatres  of  his  native 
country.  The  resolution  was  hardly  formed 
when  he  received  a  visit  from  the  manager  of 
the  King's  Theatre,  London  (Sigr.  Benelli),  and 
a  proposal  to  write  an  opera  for  that  house,  to  be 
called  '  La  Figlia  dell'  aria,'  for  the  sum  of  £  240 — 
£40  more  than  he  had  received  for  'Semiramide,' 
a  sum  at  the  time  considered  enormous.  The 
offer  was  promptly  accepted,  and  the  Rossinis 
started  for  England  without  delay,  naturally 
taking  Paris  in  their  road,  and  reaching  it  Nov. 
9,  1823.  Paris,  like  Vienna,  was  then  divided 
into  two  hostile  camps  on  the  subject  of  the 
great  composer.  Berton  always  spoke  of  him  as 
'M.  Crescendo,'  and  he  was  caricatured  on  the 
stage  as  '  M.  Vacarmini ' ;  but  the  immortal 
author  of  the  'Barbiere'  could  afford  to  laugh 
at  such  satire,  and  his  respectful  behaviour  to 
Cherubini,  Lesueur,  and  Reicha.  as  the  heads  of 
the  Conservatoire,  his  graceful  reception  of  the 
leaders  of  the  French  School,  his  imperturbable 
good  temper,  and  good  spirits,  soon  conciliated 
every  one.  A  serenade,  a  public  banquet,  tri- 


EOSSINI. 

umphant    receptions    at    the    opera    house,   a 
special  vaudeville  ('  Rossini  a  Paris,  ou  le  Grand 
Diner ') — everything  in  short  that  could  soothe 
the  pride  of  a  stranger,  was  lavished  upon  him 
from  the  first.     He  in  his  turn  was  always  kind 
and    amiable,    consenting   for   instance   at   tlie 
request  of  Panseron — an  old  colleague  at  Rome 
— to  act  as  accompanyist  at  a  concert  with  the 
object  of  saving   Panseron's   brother  from  the 
conscription.     Under  the  hands  of  Rossini  the 
piano  became  as  effective  as  an  orchestra ;  and  it 
is  on  record  that  the  first  time  that  Auber  heard 
him  accompany  himself  in  a  song  he  walked  up 
to  the  instrument  and  bent  down  over  the  keys 
to  see  if  they  were  not  smoking.     Paris  how 
ever  was  not  at  present  his  ultimate  goal,  and 
on  Dec.  7,  1823,  Rossini  and  his  wife  arrived  in 
London.     They  were  visited  immediately  by  the 
Russian  ambassador,  M.  de  Lieven,  who  gave  the 
composer  barely  time  to  recover  from  the  fatigues 
of  the  journey   before   he    carried   him   off  to 
Brighton  and  presented  him  to  the  King.  George 
IV.  believed  himself  to  be  fond  of  music,  and 
received  the  author  of  'The  Barber  of  Seville'  in 
the  most  flattering  manner.     The  royal  favour 
naturally  brought  with  it  that  of  the  aristocracy, 
and  a  solid  result  in  the  shape  of  two  grand 
concerts  at  Almack's,  at  two  guineas  admission. 
The  singers  on  these  occasions  were  Mme.  Rossini, 
Mme.  Catalan!,  Mme.  Pasta,  and  other  first-rate 
artists,  but  the  novelty,  the  attraction,  was  to  h^ar 
Rossini  himself  sing  the  solos1  in  a  cantata  which 
he  had  composed  for  the  occasion,  under  the  title 
of '  Homage  to  Lord  Byron.'     He  also  took  pi.rfc 
with  Catalan!  in  a  duet  from  Cimarosa's  '  Matri- 
monio '  which  was  so  successful  as  to  be  encored 
three  times.    While  the  court  and  the  town  were 
thus   disputing    for   the   possession   of   Rossini, 
'  Zelmira '  was  brought  out  at  the  Opera  (Jan. 
24,  1824) ;  but  the  manager  was  unable  to  finish 
the   season,  and   became   bankrupt  before  dis 
charging   his   engagements  with  Rossini.    Nor 
was  this  all.     Not  only  did  he  not  produce  the 
'  Figlia  dell'  aria,'  but  the  music  of  the  first  act 
unaccountably  vanished,  and  has  never  since  been 
found.     It  was  in  vain  for  Rossini  to  sue  the 
manager ;  he  failed  to  obtain  either  his  MS.  or 
a  single  penny  of  the  advantages  guaranteed  to 
him  by  the  contract.     True,  he  enjoyed  a  con 
siderable  set-off  to  the  loss  just  mentioned  in  the 
profits  of  the  countless  soire'es  at  which  he  acted 
as  accompanyist  at  a  fee  of  £50.     At  the  end 
of  five  months  he  found  himself  in  possession  of 
£7000;    and  just  before  his  departure  was  ho 
noured  by  receiving  the  marked  compliments  of 
the  king  at  a  concert  at  the  Duke  of  Welling 
ton's,  for  which  His  Majesty  had  expressly  come 
up  from  Brighton. 

In  leaving  England  after  so  hearty  ami 
profitable  a  reception,  Rossini  was  not  taking 
a  leap  in  the  dark ;  for  through  the  Prince  de 
Pidignac,  French  ambassador  in  England,  he 
had  already  concluded  an  agreement  for  the 

i  This  recalls  the  visit  of  a  great  composer  in  1746,  when  Gluck  g»« 
a  concert  at  the  King's  Theatre,  at  which  the  great  attraction  was 
his  solo  on  the  musical  glasses !  [See  vol.  i.  p. 601  a.] 


ROSSINI. 

musical  direction  of  the  Theatre  Italien,  Paris, 
for  eighteen  months  at  a  salary  of  £800  per 
annum.  In  order  to  be  near  his  work  he  took 
a  lodging  at  No.  28  Rue  Taitbout,  and  at  once 
set  about  making  a  radical  reform  in  the  ages  of 
the  singers  in  his  company.  Knowing  that  Paer 
was  his  enemy,  and  would  take  any  opportunity 
of  injuring  him,  he  was  careful  to  retain  him  in 
his  old  post  of  maestro  al  Cembalo ;  but  at  the 
same  time  he  engaged  He'rold  (then  a  young 
man  of  25)  as  chorus-master,  and  as  a  check  on 
the  pretensions  of  Madame  Pasta  he  brought  to 
Paris  Esther  Mombelli,  Schiassetti,  Donzelli,  and 
Rubini,  successively.  To  those  who  sneered  at 
his  music  he  replied  by  playing  it  as  it  was 
written,  and  by  bringing  out  some  of  his  operas 
which  had  not  yet  made  their  appearance  in 
Paris,  such  as  'La  Donna  del  Lago'  (Sept.  7> 
1824),  'Semiramide'  (Dec.  8,  1825),  and  '  Zel- 
mira'  (Mar.  14,  1826).  And  he  gave  much 
eclat  to  his  direction  by  introducing  Meyerbeer's 
'  Crociato ' — the  first  work  of  Meyerbeer's  heard 
in  Paris — and  by  composing  a  new  opera,  'II 
Viaggio  a  Reims,  ossia  1'Albergo  del  giglio  d'oro,' 
which  he  produced  on  June  19,  1825,  during  the 
fetes  at  the  coronation  of  Charles  X.  The  new 
work  is  in  one  act,  and  three  parts  ;  it  is  written 
for  14  voices,  which  are  treated  with  marvellous 
art.  It  was  sung  by  Mines.  Pasta,  Schiassetti, 
Mombelli,  Cinti,  Amigo,  Dotti,  and  Rossi  ; 
and  by  MM.  Levasseur,  Zucchelli,  Pellegrini, 
Graziani,  Auletta,  Donzelli,  Bordogni,  and  Scudo 
— a  truly  magnificent  assemblage.  In  the  ballet 
he  introduced  an  air  with  variations  for  two 
clarinets,  borrowed  from  his  Naples  cantata  of 
1819,  and  played  by  Gambaro  (a  passionate 
admirer  of  his)  and  by  F.  Berr.  In  the  hunt 
ing  scene  he  brought  in  a  delicious  fanfare 
of  horns,  and  the  piece  winds  up  with  '  God 
save  the  King,'  'Vive  Henri  quatre/  and  other 
national  airs,  all  newly  harmonised  and  accom 
panied. 

The  King's  taste  was  more  in  the  direction  of 
hunting  than  of  music,  and  the  result  was  that 
the  '  Viaggio  '  was  only  given  two  or  three  times  ; 
but  it  had  been  a  work  of  love  with  Rossini,  and 
we  shall  presently  see  how  much  he  valued  it. 
Meantime  we  may  mention  that  after  the  Revolu 
tion  of  ]  848  the  words  were  suitably  modified  by 
H.  Dupin,  and  the  piece  appeared  in  two  acts  at 
the  Tneatre  Italien  as  'Andremo  noi  a  Parigi,' 
on  Oct.  26  of  that  year.1 

After  the  expiration  of  Rossini's  agreement  as 
director  of  the  Theatre  Italien,  it  was  a  happy 
idea  of  the  Intendant  of  the  Civil  List  to  confer 
upon  him  the  sinecure  posts  of  '  Premier  Composi- 
teur  du  Roi '  and  '  Inspecteur  General  du  Chant 
en  France,'  with  an  annual  income  of  20,000 
francs,  possibly  in  the  hope  that  he  might  settle 
permanently  at  Paris,  and  in  time  write  operas 
expressly  for  the  French  stage.  This  was  also  an 
act  of  justice,  since  in  the  then  absence  of  any 

'  The  score  of  '  Andremo  noi  a  Parigi '  is  in  the  Library  of  the  Con 
servatoire,  but  the  finale  of  the  'Viaggio,'  which  we  have  mentioned 


ROSSINI. 


171 


law  of  international  2  copyright  his  pieces  were 
public  property,  and  at  the  disposal  not  only 
of  a  translator  like  Castil- Blaze,  but  of  any 
manager  or  publisher  in  the  length  and  breadth 
of  France  who  chose  to  avail  himself  of  them. 
Fortunately  the  step  was  justified  by  the  event. 
The  opera  of  '  Maometto' — originally  written  by 
the  Duke  of  Ventagnano,  and  produced  at  Naples 
in  1820 — had  never  been  heard  in  France.  Ros 
sini  employed  MM.  Soumet  and  Balocchi  to  give 
the  libretto  a  French  dress  ;  he  revised  the 
music,  and  considerably  extended  it ;  and  on 
Oct.  9,  1826,  the  opera  was  produced  at  the 
Academic  as  '  Le  Si^ge  de  Corinthe,'  with  a  cast 
which  included  Nourrit  and  Mile.  Cinti,  and 
with  great  success.  The  new  opera  (for  which 
Rossini  received  6,000  francs  from  Troupenas) 
was  written  at  No.  10,  Boulevard  Montmartre,  a 
five -storied  house  which  contained  the  residences 
of  Boieldieu  and  Carafa,  and  was  the  birthplace 
of  'La  Dame  Blanche/  ' Masaniello,'  and 
'Guillaume  Tell.'  It  has  since  been  destroyed 
in  constructing  the  Passage  Jouffroy. 

After  this  feat  Rossini  turned  to  another  of  his 
earlier  works,  as  not  only  sure  of  success  but 
eminently  suited  to  the  vast  space  and  splendid 
mise  en  scene  of  the  Grand  Opera.  This  was 
'  Mose.'  He  put  the  revision  of  the  libretto  into 
the  hands  of  Etienne  Jouy  and  Balocchi,  and 
settled  the  cast  as  follows : — Anai,  Mile.  Cinti 
—  with  a  new  air  (4th  act);  Sinaide,  Mme. 
Dabadie;  Marie,  Mile.  Mori;  Amtmophis,  A. 
Nourrit;  Moise,  Levasseur;  Pharaon,  Dal  a  lie  ; 
Eliezer,  Alexis.  'Moise'  was  produced  March  27, 
1827,  and  created  a  profound  impression.  True, 
it  had  been  heard  in  its  original  form  at  the 
Italiens  five  years  before,  but  the  recollection  of 
this  only  served  to  bring  out  more  strongly  the 
many  improvements  and  additions  in  the  new 
version — such  as  the  Introduction  to  the  ist 
act ;  the  quartet  and  chorus ;  the  chorus  '  La 
douce  Aurore';  the  inarch  and  chorus,  etc.  The 
fine  finale  to  the  3rd  act,  an  English  critic  has 
pronounced  to  have  no  rival  but  the  finale  to 
Beethoven's  C  minor  Symphony.  The  airs  de 
ballet  were  largely  borrowed  from  '  Armida ' 
(1817)  and  'Ciro  in  Babilonia'  (1812).  This 
magnificent  work  gave  Rossini  a  sort  of  imperial 
position  in  Paris.  Bub  it  was  necessary  to 
justify  this,  and  he  therefore  resolved  to  try  a 
work  of  a  different  character,  and  according  to 
the  axiom  of  Boileau,  to  pass 

From  grave  to  gay,  from  lively  to  severe— 
not  in  the  direction  of  comic  but  of  lyric  opera. 
With  this  view  he  employed  Scribe  and  Poirson 
to  develope  a  vaudeville  which  they  had  written 
in  1816  to  the  old  legend  of  '  Le  Comte  Ory,' 
adapting  to  that  lively  piece  some  of  his  fa 
vourite  music  in  the  '  Viaggio  a  Reims,' — the 
introduction  and  finale  of  the  ist  act,  the  duet 
of  the  Count  and  Countess,  and  the  famous 
narrative  of  Raimbaut  when  he  brings  up  the 

2  The  custom  in  Italy  in  those  days  was  to  sell  an  opera  to  a  man 
ager  for  two  years,  with  exclusive  right  of  representation  ;  after  that 
it  became  public  property.  The  only  person  who  derived  no  profit 


containing  natinna   airs,  is  not  there,  and  this  curious  teat  has   '  from  this  arrangement  was  the  umurtunate  composer.    Sic  vos  non 
probably  vanished  ior  ever.  j  volls. 


172 


ROSSINI. 


wine  from  the  cellar,  which  it  is  difficult  to 
believe  was  in  its  first  form  applied  to  the 
taking  of  the  Trocade'ro  !  Adolphe  N  ourrit,  who 
was  not  only  a  great  artist,  but  a  poet  of  very 
considerable  dramatic  power,  was  privately  of 
much  assistance  to  Rossini  in  the  adaptation  of 
his  old  music  to  the  new  words,  and  in  the  actual 
mounting  of  the  piece  in  which  he  was  to  take 
so  important  a  share.  '  Le  Comte  Ory '  was 
produced  at  the  Acade'mie,  Aug.  20,  1828,  and 
the  principal  characters  were  taken  by  Mine. 
Damoreau-Cinti,  Miles.  Jawurek  and  Mori, 
Adolphe  Nourrit,  Levasseur,  and  Dabadie.  The 
Introduction — in  place  of  an  Overture  proper — 
is  based  on  the  old  song  which  gives  its  name  to 
the  piece.  In  the  second  act,  the  grace  and 
charm  of  the  melodies  more  than  atone  for  the 
very  doubtful  incidents  of  the  libretto ;  and  this 
was  the  most  successful  portion  of  the  work. 
'Charming!'  'Divine!'  are  the  usual  comments 
on  its  performance  ;  but  no  one  seems  yet  to  have 
noticed  that  the  most  delicious  passage  of  the 
drinking  chorus  (/C'est  charmant !  c'est  divin  !') 
is  borrowed  from  the  Allegretto  scherzando  of 
Beethoven's  8th  Symphony.  Rossini  was  at 
that  time  actually  engaged  with  Habeneck,  the 
founder  of  the  Concerts  of  the  Conservatoire, 
and  his  intimate  friend,  in  studying  the  Sym 
phonies  of  Beethoven ;  and  it  is  easy  to  under 
stand  how  impossible  it  must  have  been  to  forget 
the  fresh  and  graceful  movement  referred  to,  in 
the  termination  of  which  many  have  indeed 
recognised  a  distinct  allusion  to  Rossini  himself. 

The  study  of  Beethoven  was  at  any  rate  not  a 
bad  preparation  for  the  very  serious  piece  of  work 
•which  was  next  to  engage  him,  and  for  a  great 
portion  of  which  he  retired  to  the  chateau  of  his 
friend  Aguado  the  banker  at  Petit-Bourg.  Schiller 
had  recently  been  brought  into  notice  in  France 
by  the  translation  of  M.  de  Barante  ;  and  Rossini, 
partly  attracted  by  the  grandeur  of  the  subject, 
partly  inspired  by  the  liberal  ideas  at  that  mo 
ment  floating  through  Europe,  especially  from  the 
direction  of  x  Greece,  was  induced  to  choose  the 
Liberator  of  the  Swiss  Cantons  as  his  next  sub 
ject.  He  accepted  a  libretto  offered  him  by 
Etienne  Jouy,  Spontini's  old  librettist,  who  in 
this  case  was  associated  with  Hippolyte  Bis. 
Their  words,  however,  were  so  unmusical  and 
unrhythmical,  that  Rossini  had  recourse  to  Ar- 
mand  Marrast,  at  that  time  Aguado's  secretary, 
and  the  whole  scene  of  the  meetino-  of  the 
conspirators — one  of  the  best  in  operatic  litera 
ture,  and  the  only  thoroughly  satisfactory  part  of 
'G-nillaume  Tell' — was  rewritten  by  him,  a  fact 
which  we  are  glad  to  make  public  in  these 
pages. 

This  grand  opera,  undoubtedly  Rossini's  master 
piece,  was  produced  at  the  Acade'mie  on  Aug.  3, 
1829,  with  the  following  cast: — Arnold,  Nourrit, • 
Walter  Fiirst,  Levasseur ;  Tell,  Dabadie ;  Ruodi, 
A.  Dupont ;  Rodolphe,  Massol ;  Gessler,  Provost ; 

1  Evidence  of  the  extent  to  which  liberal  ideas  had  seized  society  at 
this  date  is  to  be  found  in  the  tact  that  Carafa's  'Masaniello'  and 
Auber's  'Muette  de  Portici'— both  bearing  directly  on  popular  insur 
rection,  were  produced  in  Paris  on  Dec.  27,  1827,  and  Feb.  29,  1828, 
respectively. 


EOSSINL 

Leutold,    Prev6t ;     Mathilde,    Damoreau-Cinti  ; 
Jemmy,  Dabadie  ;  Hedwige,  Mori. 

'  Tell '  has  now  become  a  study  for  the  mu 
sician,  from  the  first  bar  of  the  overture  to  the 
storm  scene  and  the  final  hymn  of  freedom. 
The  overture  is  no  longer,  like  Rossini's  former 
ones,  a  piece  of  work  on  a  familiar,  well-worn 
pattern,  but  a  true  instrumental  prelude,  which 
would  be  simply  perfect  if  the  opening  and 
the  fiery  peroration  were  only  as  appropriate  to 
the  subject  as  they  are  tempting  to  the  execu 
tant.  We  find  no  absurdities  like  those  in 
'Mo'ise' — no  song  of  thanksgiving  accompanied 
by  a  brilliant  polonaise,  no  more  cabalettas,  no 
more  commonplace  phrases  or  worn-out  modula 
tions, — in  short,  no  more  padding  of  any  kind. 
True,  it  would  not  be  difficult  to  criticise  the 
length  of  the  duet  in  the  2nd  act,  which  recalls 
the  duet  in  '  Semiramide,'  and  breathes  rather 
the  concert -room  than  the  stage — or  the  style  of 
the  finale  of  the  3rd  act,  which  is  not  appropriate 
to  the  situation.  But  in  place  of  thus  searching 
for  spots  on  the  sun  we  prefer  to  bask  in  his 
radiance  and  enjoy  his  beneficent  warmth. 

The  spectacle  of  a  great  master  at  the  zenith 
of  his  glory  and  in  the  very  prime  of  life  thus 
breaking  with  all  the  traditions  of  his  genius  and 
appearing  as  in  a  second  avatar  is  indeed  a  rare 
and  noble  one.  The  sacrifice  of  all  the  means  of 
effect  by  which  his  early  popularity  had  been 
obtained  is  one  which  Rossini  shares  with  Gluck 
and  Weber,  but  which  our  former  experience  of 
his  character  would  hardly  have  prepared  us  for. 
He  seems  at  length  to  have  discovered  how  an 
tagonistic  such  effects  were  to  the  simplicity 
which  was  really  at  the  base  of  the  great  musical 
revolution  effected  by  him  ;  but  to  discover,  and 
to  act  on  a  discovery,  are  two  different  things, 
and  he  ought  to  have  full  credit  for  the  courage 
and  sincei-ity  with  which,  at  his  age,  he  forsook 
the  flowery  plains  in  which  his  genius  had  for 
merly  revelled,  for  loftier  and  less  accessible 
heights. 

But  though  deserting,  as  he  does  in  'Tell,' 
the  realm  of  pure  sensation,  and  discarding  the 
voluptuous  music  of  his  early  operas,  Rossini 
remains  still  the  fresh  and  copious  melodist  that 
he  always  was.  In  fact,  he  is  more.  The 
strains  in  which  he  has  depicted  the  Alps  and 
their  pastoral  inhabitants  are  fresher,  more  grace 
ful,  more  happy  than  ever ;  the  notes  which 
convey  the  distress  of  the  agonised  father;  the 
enthusiastic  expression  of  the  heroes  of  Switzer 
land  ;  the  harrowing  phrases  which  convey  the 
anguish  of  a  son  renouncing  all  that  he  holds 
most  dear  ;  the  astonishing  variety  of  the  colours 
in  which  the  conspiracy  is  painted ;  the  lofty 
strains  of  the  purest  patriotism  ;  the  grandeur  of 
the  outlines ;  the  severity  of  the  style ;  the  co 
existence  of  so  much  variety  with  such  admir 
able  unity  ;  the  truly  Olympian  dignity  which 
reigns  throughout — all  surpass  in  their  different 
qualities  anything  that  he  ever  accomplished 
before.  But  what  might  not  be  expected  from 
a  composer  who  at  thirty-seven  had  thus  vo 
luntarily  submitted  himself  to  the  severity  of 


ROSSINI. 

French   taste,  and   was  bent   on  repaying   our 
hospitality  with  so  magnificent  a  masterpiece  ? 

But  the  career  thus  splendidly  inaugurated 
was  not  destined  to  be  pursued;  circumstances, 
political  and  domestic,  stopped  him  on  the  thres 
hold.  He  was  anxious  to  visit  once  more  the 
city  in  which  his  beloved  mother  died  in  1827, 
and  where  his  father,  who  had  soon  tired  of 
Paris,  was  awaiting  him.  With  this  view  he 
resigned  his  office  as  inspector  of  singing  in 
France,  and  made  an  arrangement  with  the 
Government  of  Charles  X.,  dating  from  the  be 
ginning  of  1829,  by  which  he  bound  himself  for 
ten  years  to  compose  for  no  other  stage  but  that 
of  France,  nnd  to  write  and  bring  out  an  opera 
every  two  years,  receiving  for  each  such  opera 
the  sum  of  15,000  francs.  In  the  event  of  the 
Government  failing  to  carry  out  the  arrange 
ment  he  was  to  receive  a  retiring  pension  of 
6000  francs.  'Guillaume  Tell'  was  thus  to  be 
the  first  of  a  series  of  five  operas. 

After  a  serenade  from  the  opera  orchestra, 
Rossini,  therefore,  left  Paris  for  Bologna.  Here 
he  was  engaged  in  considering  the  subject  of 
'Faust,'  with  a  view  to  his  next  work,  when  he 
received  the  sudden  news  of  the  abdication 
of  Charles  X.,  and  the  revolution  of  July  1830. 
The  blow  shattered  his  plans  and  dissipated  his 
fondest  hopes.  He  flattered  himself  that  he  had 
regenerated  the  art  of  singing  in  France.  What 
would  become  of  it  again  under  a  king  who  could 
tolerate  no  operas  but  those  of  Grdtry  ?  Anxious 
to  know  if  his  friend  Lubbert  was  still  at  the 
head  of  the  Acade'mie  de  Musique,  and  if  the 
new  Intendant  of  the  Civil  List  would  acknow 
ledge  the  engagements  of  his  predecessor,  he  re 
turned  to  Paris  in  Nov.  1830  ;  and  intending 
only  to  make  a  short  stay,  took  up  his  quarters 
in  the  upper  storey  of  the  Theatre  des  Italiens, 
of  which  his  friend  Severini  was  then  director. 
Here  however  he  was  destined  to  remain  till 
Nov.  1836.  The  new  government  repudiated 
the  agreement  of  its  predecessor,  and  Rossini 
had  to  carry  his  claim  into  the  law-courts. 
Had  his  law-suit  alone  occupied  him,  it  would 
not  have  been  necessary  to  stay  quite  so  long, 
for  it  was  decided  in  his  favour  in  Dec.  1835. 
But  there  was  another  reason  for  his  remain 
ing  in  Paris,  and  that  was  his  desire  to  hear 
'The  Huguenots  '  and  ascertain  how  far  Meyer 
beer's  star  was  likely  to  eclipse  his  own.  It  is 
impossible  to  believe  that  a  mere  money  ques 
tion  could  have  detained  him  so  long  at  a  time 
when  almost  every  day  must  have  brought  fresh 
annoyances.  After  reducing  'Guillaume  Tell' 
from  five  acts  to  three,  they  carried  their  love  of 
compression  so  far  as  to  give  only  one  act  at  a  time, 
as  a  lever  d?  rideau,  or  accompaniment  to  the 
ballet.  This  was  indeed  adding  insult  to  injury. 
'  I  hope  you  won't  be  annoyed,'  said  the  Director 
of  the  Opera  to  him  one  day  on  the  boulevard, 
'but  to-night  we  play  the  second  act  of  Tell.' 
'  The  whole  of  it  ?'  was  the  reply.  How  much 
bitter  disappointment  must  have  been  hidden 
under  that  reply !  During  the  whole  of  this  un 
happy  interval  he  only  once  resumed  his  pen, 


ROSSINI. 


173 


namely  in  1832  for  the  'Stabat  Mater,'  at  the 
request  of  his  friend  Aguado,  who  was  anxious 
to  serve  the  Spanish  minister  Seiior  Valera.  He 
composed  at  that  time  only  the  first  six  numbers, 
and  the  other  four  were  supplied  by  Tadolini. 
The  work  was  dedicated  to  Valera,  with  an 
express  stipulation  that  it  should  never  leave 
his  hands.  In  1834  he  allowed  Troupenas  to 
publish  the  'Soire'es  musical es,'  12  lovely  vocal 
pieces  of  very  original  form  and  harmony,  several 
of  which  have  still  retained  their  charm. 

The  rehearsals  of  the  Huguenots  lingered  on, 
and  it  was  not  till  Feb.  29,  1836,  that  Rossini 
could  hear  the  work  of  his  new  rival.  He  re 
turned  to  Bologna  shortly  after,  taking  Frankfort 
in  his  way,  and  meeting  Mendelssohn.1  He  had 
not  been  long  in  Bologna  before  he  heard  of  the 
prodigious  success  of  Duprez  in  the  revival  of 
'Guillaume  Tell'  (April  17).  Such  a  triumph 
might  well  have  nerved  him  to  fresh  exertions. 
But  it  came  a  year  too  late  ;  he  had  already  taken, 
an  unfortunate  and  irrevocable  resolution  never 
again  to  break  silence.  It  would  be  very  wrong 
to  conclude  from  this  that  he  had  lost  his  in 
terest  in  music.  The  care  which  he  bestowed 
on  the  Liceo  of  Bologna,  of  which  he  was  ho 
norary  director,  show  that  the  art  still  exercised 
all  its  claims  on  him.  He  was  especially  anxious 
to  improve  the  singing  of  the  pupils,  and  among 
those  who  are  indebted  to  his  care,  Marietta 
Alboni  holds  the  first  rank. 

Rossini's  father  died  April  29,  1839,  and  he 
soon  afterwards  learned  to  his  disgust  that  the 
MS.  of  the  Stabat  had  been  sold  by  the  heirs  of 
Seiior  Valera,  and  acquired  by  a  Paris  publisher 
for  2000  francs.  He  at  once  gave  Troupenas  full 
power  to  stop  both  publication  and  performance, 
and  at  the  same  time  completed  the  work  by 
composing  the  last  four  movements,  which,  as  we 
have  already  said,  were  originally  added  by 
Tadolini.  The  first  six  movements  were  produced 
at  the  Salle  Herz,  Paris,  Oct.  31,  1841,  amidst 
very  great  applause.  Troupenas1  bought  the  entire 
score  for  6000  francs.2  He  sold  the  right  of 
performance  in  Paris  during  three  months  to 
the  Escudiers  for  8000,  which  they  again  dis 
posed  of  to  the  director  of  the  Theatre  Italien 
for  20,000.  Thus  three  persons  were  enriched 
by  this  single  work.  It  was  performed  complete 
for  the  first  time  at  the  Salle  Ventadour,  Jan.  7, 
1842,  by  Grisi,  Albertazzi,  Mario  and  Tamburini. 

Notwithstanding  its  brilliant  success,  .some 
critics  were  found  to  accuse  the  composer  of  im 
porting  the  strains  of  the  theatre  into  the  church ; 
but  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  religion  in  the 
South  is  a  very  different  thing  from  what  it  is  in 
the  North.  Mysticism  could  have  no  place  in 
the  mind  of  the  man  who  had  revived  and  im 
mortalised  the  legend  of  Comte  Ory.  Such  a 
man  will  naturally  utter  his  prayers  aloud,  in  the 
sunshine  of  noon,  rather  than  breathe  them  to 
himself  in  the  gloom  and  mystery  of  night.  The 

1  See  Killer's  'Mendelssohn,'  and  M.'s  own  letter,  July  14, 1836. 

2  We  have  mentioned  that  he  paid  6,000  francs  for  the    Siege  of 
Corinth.'    For  '  Moise '  he  gave  only  2,400 ;  but,  on  the  other  haud, 
the  '  Cumte  Ory '  cost  him  12,000,  and '  Guillaume  Tell'  24,000. 


174 


ROSSINI. 


prayer  and  the  scene  of  the  darkness  in  '  Mo'ise, 
as  well  as  the   first  movement   and  the  unac 
companied  quartet  in  the   Stabat,  will   always 
hold  their  place  as  religious  music  ;  and  are  o; 
themselves  sufficient  to  show  that  Rossini,  sceptic 
as  he  was,  was  not  without  religious  feeling. 

But  no  triumphs  from  without  or  gratifications 
from  within  can  shield  us  from  physical  ills.     At 
the  very  moment  that  the  Stabat  was  making 
its  triumphant  progress  round  the  world,  Rossini 
began  to  suffer  tortures  from  the  stone,  which  in 
creased  to  such  an  extent  as  to  force  him  in  May 
1843,  to  Paris,  where  he  underwent  an  operation 
which  proved  perfectly  satisfactory.     We  next 
find    him   writing  a  chorus   to  words   by  Mar- 
chetti  for  the  anniversary  festival  of  Tasso  at 
Turin,  on  March  13,  1844.     On  the  2nd  of  the 
following    September    '  Othello '    was    produced 
in    French    at     the    Academic     with    Duprez, 
Barroilhet,  Levasseur,  and  Mine.  Stoltz.     Ros 
sini  however  had  nothing  to  do  with  this  adapt 
ation,    and    the    divertissement    was    arranged 
entirely  by  Benoist  from  airs  in  '  Mathilde  de 
Sabran  '  and   '  Armida.'     Two  interpolations  in 
the  body  of  the  piece— the  cavatina  from  'L'lta- 
liana  in  Algeri '  in  the  part  of  Desdernona,  and 
an   air  from    the  '  Donna  del  Lago '  in  that  of 
lago — were  neither  appropriate  nor  satisfactory. 
While  'Othello'  was  thus  on  the  boards  of  the 
opera,  Troupenas  brought  out  '  La  Foi,  1'Espe'r- 
ance  et  la  Charite  '  (Faith,  Hope,  and  Charity), 
three  choruses  for  women's  voices,  the  two  first 
composed  many  years  previously  for  an  opera  on 
the    subject   of    (Edipus.      These   choruses   are 
hardly  worthy  of  Rossini.    They  justify  Berlioz's 
sarcasm — '  his  Hope  has  deceived  ours  ;  his  Faith 
will  never  remove  mountains ;  his  Charity  will 
never  ruin  him.'     Troupenas  also  brought  out  a 
few  songs  hitherto   unpublished,  and   these  re- 
attracted  the  attention   of  the  public   in   some 
degree  to  the  great  composer.     His  statue  was 
executed  in   marble1  by  Etex,   and  was   inau 
gurated  at  the  Academic  de  Musique,  June  9, 
1846.    A  few  months  later  (Dec.  30),  by  his  per 
mission,  a  pasticcio  adapted  by  Niedermeyer  to 
portions  of  the  '  Donna  del  Lago,'  '  Zelmira,'  and 
'Armida,'  and  entitled  '  Robert  Bruce,'  was  put  on 
the  stage  of  the  Opera,  but  it  was  not  successful, 
and  Mme.  Stoltz  was  even  hissed.     From  his 
seclusion  at  Bologna  Rossini  kept  a  watchful  eye 
upon  the  movements  of  the  musical  world.     It 
would    be  interesting  to  know   if  he   regretted 
having  authorised  the  manufacture  of  this  pas 
ticcio.     If  we  may  judge   from  the  very  great 
difficulty  with  which  some  time  later  Mery  ob 
tained  his  permission  to  translate  '  Semiramide  ' 
and  produce  it  on  the  French  stage  (July  9,  1860), 
he  did.     It  is  certain  that  during  his  long  resi 
dence  at  Bologna  he  only  broke  his  vow  of  silence 
for  the  '  Inno  popolare  a  Pio   IX.'     The  com 
mencement  of  this  was  adapted  to  an  air  from  'La 
Donna  del  Lago,'  and  its  peroration  was  borrowed 
from  'Robert  Bruce,'  which   gives   ground   for 
supposing  that  he  himself  was  concerned  in  the 

i  It  represented  him  seafed  in  an  easy  attitude.    It  was  destroyed 
when  the  opera-house  was  burnt  down  in  1873. 


ROSSINI. 

arrangement   of  that   opera,   and    explains  his 
unnoyance  at  its  failure. 

The  political  disturbances  which  agitated  the 
Romagna  at  the  end  of  1847  compelled  Rossini 
to  leave  Bologna.     He  quitted  the  town  in  much 
irritation.      His  turn   for   speculation,   and  his 
farming  the  fisheries,  in  order,  as  he  said,  that 
he  might  always  have  fresh  fish,  had  given  much 
offence.     After  the  death  of  his  wife   (Oct.  7, 
1845),  he  married  (in  1847)  Olympe  Pelissier, 
with  whom  he  had  become  connected  in  Paris  at 
a  time  when  she  was  greatly  in  public  lavour, 
and  when  she  sat  to  Vernet  for  his  picture  of 
Judith  and  Holofernes.     In  fact  at  this  time  the 
great  musician  had  to  a  great  extent  disappeared 
in  the  voluptuary.   From  Bologna  he  removed  to 
Florence,  and  there  it  was  that  this  writer  visited 
him  in  1852.     He  lived  in  the  Via  Larga,  in  a 
house  which  bore  upon  its  front  the  words  Ad 
rotum.     In  the  course  of  a  long  conversation  Le 
snoke  of  his  works  with  no  pretended  indifference, 
but  as   being  well  aware  of   their  worth,  and 
knowing  the  force  and  scope  of  his  genius  Letter 
than  any  one  else.     He  made  no  secret  of  his 
dislike  to  the  violent  antivocal  element  in  modern 
music,   or  of  the  pleasure  he  would  feel  when 
'  the  Jews  had  finished  their  Sabbath.'     It  was 
also  evident  that  he  had  no  affection  for  the  capital 
of  Tuscany,  the  climate  of  which  did  not  suit  him. 
At  length,  in  1855,  he  crossed  the  Alps  and 
returned  to  Paris,  never  again  to  leave  it.    His 
reception  there  went  far  to  calm  the  nervous  irrit 
ability  that  had  tormented  him  at  Florence,  and 
with  the  homage  which  he  received  from  Auber 
and  the  rest  of  the  French  artists  his  health  re 
turned.     His  house,  No.  2  in  the  Rue  Chaussee 
d  Antin,  and  at  a  later  date  his  villa  at  Passy, 
were  crowded  by  the  most  illustrious  representa 
tives  of  literature    and  art,  to  such  an  extent 
that  even  during  his  lifetime  he  seemed  to  assist 
at  his  own  apotheosis.     Was  it  then  mere  idle 
ness  which  made  him  thus  bury  himself  in  the 
Capua  of  his  past  successes  ?   No  one  who,  like 
the  present  writer,  observed  him  coolly,  could 
be  taken  in  by  the  comedy  of  indifference  and 
modesty  that  it  pleased  him  to  keep  up.     We 
have  already  said  that,  after  Meyerbeer's  great 
success,    Rossini   had    taken   the    resolution  of 
writing  no  more  for  the  Academic  de  Musique 
and  keeping  silence. 

The  latter  part  of  this  resolution  he  did  not 
however  fully  maintain.  Thus  he  authorised 
the  production  of  '  Bruschino '  at  the  B<iuffes 
Parisiens  on  Dec.  28,  1857,  though  he  would  not 
be  present  at  the  first  representation.  '  I  have 
given  my  permission,'  said  he,  '  but  do  not  ask 
me  to  be  an  accomplice.3  The  discovery  of  the 
piece — which  is  nothing  else  but  his  early  farce 
of  'II  figlio  per  azzardo'  (Venice,  1813)— was 
due  to  Prince  Poniatowski,  and  some  clever 
librettist  was  found  to  adapt  it  to  the  French 
taste.  A  year  or  two  later  MeVy  with  difficulty 
obtained  his  permission  to  transform  'Semi- 
ramide '  into  '  Se'miramis,'  and  the  opera  in  its 
new  garb  was  produced  at  the  Academic  July  9. 
1860,  with  Carlotta  Marchisio  as  Semiramis, 


ROSSINI. 


ROSSINI. 


175 


her  sister  Barbara  as  Arsace,  and  Ob'n  as  Assnr. 
In  this  transformation  Rossini  took  no  ostensible 
part.  Carafa  at  his  request  arranged  the  reci 
tatives,  and  wrote  the  ballet  music.  These  were 
mere  revivals.  Not  so  the  sacred  work  which 
he  brought  out  at  the  house  of  M.  Pillet-Will 
the  banker  on  March  14,  1864,  and  at  the  re 
hearsals  of  which  he  presided  in  person.  We 
r.llude  to  the  'Petite  messe  solennelle,'  which 
though  so  called  with  a  touch  of  Rossinian 
pleasantry  is  a  mass  of  full  dimensions,  lasting 
nearly  two  hours  in  performance.  Rossini  had 
always  been  on  good  terms  with  the  bankers  of 
Paris,  and  after  Rothschild  and  Aguado  he 
became  very  intimate  with  the  Count  Pillet-Will 
(1781-1860),  a  rich  amateur,  passionately  fond 
of  music,  who  had  learned  the  violin  from 
Baillot,  and  amused  himself  with  composing 
little  pieces  for  that  instrument.  His  son,  more 
retiring  but  not  less  enthusiastic  than  his  father, 
had  always  been  one  of  Rossini's  most  devoted 
admirers,  and  on  the  occasion  of  the  inauguration 
of  his  magnificent  house  in  the  Rue  Moncey, 
it  was  a  happy  thought  of  the  composer  to  allow 
his  'Petite  messe  solennelle'  to  be  heard  there 
for  the  first  time.  This  important  composition, 
comprising  solos  and  choruses,  was  written  with 
the  accompaniment  of  a  harmonium  and  two 
pianos.  On  this  occasion  it  was  sung  by  the  two 
Marchisios,  Gardoni,  and  Agnesi,  and  was  much 
applauded;  the  Sanctus  and  Agnus  were  re- 
demanded,  the  chorus  portions  of  the  Credo  were 
much  admired,  and  the  fluent  style  of  the  fugued 
passages  in  the  Gloria — perhaps  the  best  portion 
of  the  work — was  a  theme  of  general  remark. 
Rossini  afterwards  scored  it  with  slight  altera 
tions  for  the  full  orchestra — perhaps  a  little 
heavily — and  in  this  shape  it  was  performed  for 
the  first  time  in  public  at  the  The'atre  Italien, 
on  the  evening  of  Sunday  Feb.  28,  1869,  on  the 
78th  birthday  of  the  composer,  as  nearly  as  that 
could  be,  seeing  that  he  was  born  in  a  leap 
year,  on  Feb.  29. 

In  the  last  years  of  his  life  Rossini  affected 
the  piano,  spoke  of  himself  as  a  fourth-rate 
pianist,  and  composed  little  else  but  pianoforte 
pieces.  Most  of  these  were  in  some  sense  or 
other  jeux  d? esprit ;  some  were  inscribed  to  his 
parrot,  or  had  the  most  fanciful  titles — '  Valse 
anti  dansante,'  'Fausse  couche  de  Polka-ma 
zurka,'  •  Etude  asthmatique,'  '  Echantillon  de 
blague,'  etc.  The  whole  were  arranged  in  cases 
with  such  quaint  names  as  '  Album  olla  podrida,' 
'Les  quatre1  mendiants,'  '  Quatre  hors-d  ceuvre,' 
'Album  de  Chateau,'  'Album  de  Chaumiere,' 
etc.  For  the  Exposition  universelle  of  1867, 
however,  he  wrote  a  Cantata,  which  was  per 
formed  for  the  first  time  at  the  ceremony  of 
awarding  the  prizes  on  July  i,  and  was  also 
executed  at  the  opera  at  the  free  performances 
on  August  15,  1867  an(i  68.  It  opens  with  a 
hymn  in  a  broad  style,  in  which  the  author  of 
'Semiramis'  and  'Moise'  is  quite  recognisable, 
but  winds  up  with  a  vulgar  quick-step  on  a 
motif  not  unlike  the  country  dance  known  as 

1  Dried  fruits  for  dessert. 


'  L'  Ostenc!ai«e.'  The  title,  which  we  give  from 
the  autograph,  seems  to  show  that  the  son  of  the 
jolly  '  trombadore  '  of  Pesaro  was  quite  aware  of 
the  character  of  the  finale  of  his  last  work. 

A  Napoleon  III 

et 
&  son  vaillant  Peuple. 

Hymne 

avec  accompagnement  d'orchestre  et  musique  militaire 
pour  baryton  (solo),  un  Pontife, 

chceur  de  Grands  PrStres 
chceur  de  Vivandieres,  de  Soldats,  et  de  Peuple. 

A  la  fin 

Danse,  Cloches,  Tambours  et  Canons. 
Excusez  du  peu ! ! 

The  final  touch  is  quite  enough  to  show  that 
Rossini  to  the  last  had  more  gaiety  than  pro 
priety,  more  wit  than  dignity,  more  love  of 
independence  than  good  taste.  He  preferred  the 
society  of  artists  to  any  other,  and  was  never  so 
happy  as  when  giving  free  scope  to  his  caustic 
wit  or  his  Rabelaisian  humour.  His  bons  mots 
were  abundant,  and  it  is  surprising  that  no  one 
has  yet  attempted  to  collect  them.  It  is  a  task 
which  we  commend  to  M.  Joseph  Vivier,  the 
eminent  horn-player,  himself  a  master  of  the  art, 
and  formerly  one  of  the  liveliest  and  most  inti 
mate  of  the  circle  at  Passy.  One  or  two  may  find 
place  here.  When  that  charming  actress  Mme. 
Arnould  Plessy  met  Rossini  for  the  first  time  she 
was  a  little  embarrassed  at  not  knowing  exactly 
how  to  address  him.  'To  call  you  Monsieur 
would  be  absurd,  and  unfortunately  I  have  no 
right  to  call  you  my  master.'  '  Call  me.'  said  he, 
•mon  petit  lapin.'  One  day,  in  a  fit  of  the 
spleen,  he  cried  out,  'I  am  miserable;  my  nerves 
are  wrong,  and  every  one  offers  me  string  in 
stead.'  D'Ortigue,  the  author  of  the  Dictionary 
of  Church  Music,  had  been  very  severe  on  him 
in  an  article  in  the  '  Correspondant '  entitled 
'  Musical  royalties,'  and  an  enthusiastic  admirer 
of  the  Italian  School  having  replied  some 
what  angrily,  Rossini  wrote  to  him,  'I  am 
much  obliged  to  you  for  your  vigorous  treat 
ment  (lavement]  of  the  tonsure  of  my  friend 
the  Cure"  d'Ortigue.'  A  number  of  friends  were 
disputing  as  to  which  was  his  best  opera,  and 
appealed  to  him  : — '  You  want  to  know  which 
of  my  works  I  like  best  ?  Don  Giovanni ! '  He 
took  extreme  delight  in  his  summer  villa  at  Passy, 
which  stood  in  the  avenue  Ingres,  and  had  a  fine 
garden  of  about  three  acres  attached  to  it.  Here 
he  was  abundantly  accessible  to  every  one  who 
had  any  claims  on  his  notice,  and  the  younger  and 
gayer  his  visitors  the  more  he  seemed  to  enjoy 
them.  More  than  one  young  English  musician  has 
cause  to  remember  the  charming  familiarity  of  the 
great  composer  with  his  'jeune  confrere.'  In  that 
house  he  died  on  Friday  Nov.  13,  1868,  at  9  p.m. 
after  a  long  day  of  agony.  His  funeral  was 
magnificent.  As  Foreign  Associate  of  the  In 
stitute  (1833)  ;  Grand  Officer  of  the  Legion  of 
Honour  (1864"),  and  the  orders  of  St.  Maurice 
and  St.  Lazare;  commander  of  many  foreign 


176 


ROSSINI. 


orders,  and  honorary  member  of  a  great  number 
of  Academies  and  musical  institutions — Rossini 
had  a  right  to  every  posthumous  honour  possible. 
The  funeral  took  place  at  the  church  of  the 
Trinity  on  Saturday  Nov.  21,  1868 ;  it  was 
gorgeous,  and  was  attended  by  several  deputa 
tions  from  Italy.  Tamburini,  Duprez,  Gardoni, 
Bonnehe'e,  Faure,  Capoul,  Belval,  Obin,  Delle 
Sedie,  Jules  Lefort,  Agnesi,  Alboni,  Adelina 
Patti,  Nilsson,  Krauss,  Carvalho,  Bloch,  and 
Gross:,  with  the  pupils  of  the  Conservatoire, 
sang  the  Prayer  from  'Mo'ise.'  Nilsson  gave 
a  fine  movement  from  the  '  Stabat '  of  Per- 
golesi,  but  the  most  impressive  part  of  the 
ceremony  was  the  singing  of  the  'Quis  est  homo' 
from  Rossini's  own  'Stabat  mater'  by  Patti  and 
Alboni.  To  hear  that  beautiful  music  rendered 
by  two  such  voices,  and  in  the  presence  of  such 
artists,  over  the  grave  of  the  composer,  was  to 
feel  in  the  truest  sense  the  genius  of  Rossini, 
and  the  part  which  he  has  played  in  the  music 
of  the  ipth  century. 

At  the  opening  of  his  career  Rossini  had  two 
courses  before  him,  either,  like  Simone  Mayer 
and  Paer,  to  follow  the  footsteps  of  the  old 
Neapolitan  masters,  or  to  endeavour  to  revolu 
tionise  the  Italian  opera,  as  Gluck  and  Mozart 
had  revolutionised  those  of  France  and  Germany. 
He  chose  the  latter.  We  have  described  the 
eagerness  with  which  he  threw  himself  into  the 
path  of  innovation  and  the  audacity  with  which 
while  borrowing  a  trait  of  harmony  or  of  piquant 
modulation  from  Majo  (1745-74)  or  the  skeleton 
of  an  effect  from  General!  (1783-1832)  he  extin 
guished  those  from  whom  he  stole,  according  to 
the  well-known  maxim  of  Voltaire.  His  great 
object  at  first  was  to  carry  his  hearers  away, 
and  this  he  did  by  the  crescendo  and  the  ca- 
baletta,  two  ready  and  successful  methods.  We 
have  already  mentioned  his  innovations  in  the 
accompaniment  of  the  recitatives,  first,  in  '  Elisa- 
betta,'  the  full  quartet  of  strings,  and  next  in 
'  Otello '  the  occasional  addition  of  the  wind  in 
struments.  This  was  a  great  relief  to  the  mo 
notony  of  the  old  secco  recitative.  But  his 
innovations  did  not  stop  there  :  he  introduced 
into  the  orchestra  generally  a  great  deal  more 
movement,  variety,  colour,  combination,  and  (it 
must  be  allowed)  noise,  than  any  of  his  prede 
cessors  had  done,  though  never  so  as  to  drown 
the  voices.  In  Germany  the  orchestra  was  well 
understood  before  the  end  of  the  i8th  century; 
and  we  must  not  forget  that — not  to  speak  of 
Mozart's  operas,  of  Fidelio,  or  of  Cherubini's 
masterpieces — before  the  production  of  the  Bar- 
biere  (1816),  eight  of  Beethoven's  Symphonies 
were  before  the  world.  But  in  Italy  instrumen 
tation  was  half  a  century  behind,  and  certainly 
none  of  Rossini's  predecessors  in  that  country 
ever  attempted  what  he  did  in  his  best  operas, 
as  for  instance  in  the  finale  to  Semiramide 
(1823),  where  the  employment  of  the  four  horns 
and  the  clarinets,  and  the  astonishingly  clever 
way  in  which  the  orchestra  is  handled  generally, 
are  quite  strokes  of  genius.  The  horns  are 


ROSSINI. 

always  favourites  of  his,  and  are  most  happily 
used  throughout '  Guillaume  Tell,'  where  we  may 
point  to  the  mixture  of  pizzicato  and  bowed  notes 
in  the  Chorus  of  the  1st  act,  the  harp  and  bell  iu 
the  Chorus  of  the  2nd  act,  and  other  traits  in, 
the  Conspiracy  scene  as  marks  of  real  genius,  for 
the  happy  and  picturesque  effects  produced  by 
very  simple  means.      Rossini  had  further,  like 
all  the  great  masters,  a  strong  feeling  for  rhythm, 
as  the  most  powerful  of  all  aids  to  interest  and 
success,  and  was  fond  of  quick  movements  and 
of  triple  time.1     But  an  excessive  love  of  jewels 
is  apt  to  lead  to  the  use  of  sham  diamonds,  and 
his  incessant  pursuit  of  effect  led  him  to  ex 
cessive  ornamentation,  to  noise,  and  to  a  passion 
for  attractive  forms  rather  than  for  the  feeling 
which  should  lie  at  the  root  of  them.     Much  of 
this,  however,  was  atoned  for  in  his  early  operas 
by  his  masterly  way  of  writing  for  the  voices,  by 
the  strength  of  his  melody,  the  copious  flow  of 
his  ideas,  and  the  irresistible  contagion  of  his 
good  spirits,  especially  in  comic  opera.     Having 
thus  secured  his  position  in  public  favour,  his 
next  step — a  very  legitimate  one — was  to  .satisfy 
the  demands  of  his   own  taste  and  conscience. 
During  this  second   period  the   subjects   of  his 
operas  increase  in  interest.     In  £Mose'  he  deals 
with   the  religious   sentiment.     In   the  'Donna 
del  Lago '  he  rivals  Walter  Scott  on  his  own 
field  ;  and  in  '  Semiramide '  he  has  recourse  to 
oriental  history  in  his  endeavour  to  give  an  in 
dependent    value    to    his    drama.      During  this 
period  his  melodies  drop  some  of  their  former 
voluptuous   character,  but   in  return   are  more 
pathetic   and  more  full  of  colour,  though  still 
wanting  in  tenderness  and  depth. 

Lastly,  in  his  Paris  operas,  and  especially  in 
'Guillaume  Tell/  the  influence  of  French  ta>te 
makes  itself  strongly  felt,  and  we  find  a  clear 
ness,  a  charm,  a  delicacy  in  the  small  details, 
a  sense  of  proportion  and  of  unity,  a  breadth 
of  style,  an  attention  to  the  necessities  of  the 
stage,  and  a  dignity — which  raise  this  epoch  of 
his  career  far  higher  than  either  of  the  others. 

Rossini's  music,  as  we  have  already  said,  has 
been  very  differently  estimated.  Ingres,  in  whose 
view  honesty  in  art  held  almost  as  high  a  place 
as  genius  or  originality,  has  called  it  '  the  music 
of  a  dishonest  (malhonnete)  man.'  Berlioz  would 
gladly  have  burnt  it  all,  and  Rossini's  followers 
with  it.2  On  the  other  hand,  Schubert,  though 
fully  alive  to  his  weaknesses,  as  his  caricatures 
of  Rossini's  overtures  show,  and  with  every 
reason  to  dislike  him  from  the  fact  that  the 
Rossini  furore  kept  Schubert's  own  works  off  the 
stage — contrasts  his  operas  most  favourably  with 
the  '  rubbish  '  which  filled  the  Vienna  theatres  at 
that  time,  and  calls  him  emphatically  'a  rare 
genius.'  '  His  instrumentation,'  he  continues,  'is 
often  extremely  original,  and  so  is  the  voice  writing, 

1  The  English  reader  will  find  these  points  happily  touched  on  in 
Mr.  Sutherland  Edwards's  '  History  of  the  Opera,'  chap.  xvi.   Bo'' 
sini's  use  of  the  solo  bass  voice,  in   which,  consciously  or  not,  he 
followed  the  lead  of  Mozart,  has  been  already  mentioned  in  this 
Dictionary,  vol.  i.  p.  149. 

2  Berlioz,  'Memoires,'  chap.  xiv.    The  abuse  of  the  'brutale 
caisse  de  Itossiui '  sounds  oddly  from  Berlioz's  pen.. 


ROSSINI. 

nor  can  Ifindany  fault  with  the  music  (of  Otello)  if 
I  except  the  usual  Italian  gallopades  and  a  few 
reminiscences  of  Tancredi.' 1    Mendelssohn  too,  as 
is  well  known,  would  allow  no  one  to  depreciate 
Rossini.     Even  Schumann,  so  intolerant  of  the 
Italian  School,  is  enthusiastic  over  one  of  his 
operas,  and  calls  it    '  real,  exhilarating,  clever 
music.'     Such  exaggerations  as  those  of  Ingres 
and  Berlioz  are  as  bad  as  intentional  injustice ; 
it  is  better  to  recollect  the  very  difficult  circum 
stances  which  surrounded  an  Italian  composer 
eighty  years  ago,  and  to  endeavour  to  discover 
why  music  which  was  once  so  widely  worshipped 
has  now  gone  out  of  fashion.     Is  it  the  fault  of 
his  librettos?     No  doubt  he  would  have  been 
wiser  to  stick  to  comic  subjects,  like  that  of'  The 
Barber  of  Seville,'  and  to  have  confined  himself 
for  his  librettos  to  the  poets  of  his  own  family. 
Is  it  the  elaborate  ornamentation  of  much  of 
his  music?     No   doubt  ornamented  music   de 
cays  sooner  than  that  of  a  plainer  style,  and  it 
is  always  dangerous,  though  tempting,  to  adopt 
the  fashionable  forms.     But  one  main  reason  is 
to  be  found  in  the  deterioration  of  the  art  of 
singing ;  the  Paris  opera  can  now  boast  neither 
'  te'nor  de  force '  nor  '  te"nor  de  grace ' ;  and  the 
recent  revival  of  the  'Comte  Ory'  (Oct.  29, 1880) 
showed  conclusively  the  mediocrity  of  the  present 
singers  at  the  Academic.     In  fact  Rossini  is  now 
expiating  his  fault  in  having  demanded  too  much 
from  his  singers.2     Some  feeling  of  remorse  on 
this  head  seems  to  have  prompted  his  efforts 
to  improve  the  art  of  singing  both  in  Paris  and 
Bologna.     Indeed  so  keenly  alive  was  he  to  the 
tendencies  which  have  degraded  the  stage  since 
1830,  and  so  anxious  to  further  the  love  of  fresh 
melody  and  the  prosecution   of  sound  musical 
study,  that  he  bequeathed  to  the  Institute  an 
annual  sum  of  6000  francs  (£240)  for  a  competi 
tion  both  in  dramatic  poetry  and  composition, 
specifying  particularly  that   the   object   of  the 
prize  should  be  to  encourage  composers  with  a 
turn  for  melody.     The  prize  was  given  on  the 
first  occasion  to  M.  Paul  Collin,  author  of  the 
libretto  of  the  'Daughter  of  Jairus,'  and  to  the 
Countess  de  Grandval,  a  distinguished  musician, 
but  hardly  a  remarkable  melodist.     The  greater 
part   of   his  property  Rossini    devoted   to    the 
foundation   and   endowment  of  a  Conservatoire 
of  Music  at  his  native  town, '  Pesaro,  of  which 
A.  Bazzini  has  just  (June  iSSi)  been  appointed 
Director. 

In  order  to  complete  this  sketch  it  is  neces 
sary  to  give  as  complete  a  list  as  possible  of  his 
works.  N.B.  In  the  column  after  the  names,  (i) 
signifies  that  the  score  has  been  engraved;  (2) 
that  it  is  published  for  voices  and  piano;  (3)  that 
it  is  still  in  manuscript. 

1  Letter  in  Kreissle's  Biography  of  Schubert,  chap.  vi!. 

2  It  is  amusing  to   find  Eossini  accused  in  his  own  time,  as 
both  Beethoven  and  Wagner  have  been,  of  being  a  destroyer  of  the 
voice.   The  correspondent  of  the  Allg.  Musik.  Zeitung,  writing  from 
Venice  in  April  1819,  mentions  a  certain  Countess  Dieterichstein  at 
Koine,  who  pronounced  that  his  passages  were  so  straining  and  ruinous 
for  both  throat  and  chest  that  if  he  wrote  operas  for  ten  years  longer 
there  would  be  no  more  singers  left  in  Italy.  Giorgi,  continues  the  cor 
respondent,  for  whom  he  wrote  the  Cenerentola,  is  already  completely 
ruined. 

VOL.  III.  PT.  2. 


ROSSINI. 


I.    OPERAS. 


177 


Title. 

l=Full. 
Score 
2=PF. 
do 
B-=MS. 

First 
representation. 

First 
performance 
in  London 
at  King's 
Tlieatre. 

Adelaide  di  Borgogna, 

-2,  S 

Home,  Car.  1818 

or  Ottone  B6  d'ltalia 

Adina  (farsa) 

—  2,  3 

Lisbon,  1818 

Armida 

—  2,  3 

Naples,  Aut.  1817 

Assedio  di  Corinto,  L' 

—  2,  S 

Milan,  Dec.  26,  1828 

June  5,  1834 

Aureliano  in  Palmira 

-2,3 

Milan,  Dec.  26,  1813 

June  22,  1826 

Barbiere  di  Siviglia.  11 

—  2,  3 

Home,  Feb.  5,  1816  1 

Jan.  27,  1818 

Barbier  de  Seville,  Le 

1,2.- 

Lyons,  Sept.  19,1829 

Paris,  May  6,  1824 

Bianca  e  Faliero 

—  2,  3 

Milan,  Dec.  26,  1819 

Bruschini,  I  due  (farsa) 



Venice,  1813 

Bruschino 

—  2,— 

Paris,  Dec.  28,  1857 

Cambiale    di    matri- 

—  2,  3 

Venice,  Aut.  3810 

monio,  La  (farsa) 

Cambio  della  valigia, 

-2,  3 

Venice,  1812 

11,  or  L'occasione,  etc. 

(farsa) 

Cenerentola,  I/a 

-2,  3 

Borne,  Car.  1817 

Jan.  8,  1820 

Cendrillon 

2  

Comte  Ory,  le 

1.  2i- 

Paris,  Aug.  20,  1828 

Feb.  28.  1829 

Conte  Ory,  11 

—  2,  3 

Milan,          1828  (?) 

Dame  du  Lac,  La 

1,  

Paris,  Oct.  21,  1825 

Demetrio  e  Polibio 

-2,  3 

Borne,              1x12 

Donna  del  Lago,  La 

-2,  3 

Naples,  Oct.  4,  1819 

Feb.  18,  1823 

Edoardo  e  Cristina 

-2,  S 

Venice,  Car.  1819 

Elisabetta 

-2,3 

Naples,  Aut.  1815 

Apr.  20,  1818 

Equivoco  stravagante 

-2,  3 

Bologna,  Aut.  1811 

Ermione 

'~~  «(    O 

Naples,  Lent,  1819 

Gazza  ladra,  La 

-2,3 

Milan,  May  31,  1817 

Mar.  10,  1821 

Gazzetta.  La 

-2,3 

Naples,  1816 

Guglielmo  Tell 

1,2,  3 

Milan,          1829  (?) 

July  11,  1839 

Guillaume  Tell 

1,2,— 

Paris,  Aug.  3,  1829 

Ingannofelice,L'(farsa) 

-2,  3 

Venice,  Car.  1812 

July  1,1819 

Isabelle,  adapted  from 

-2,- 

do. 

Italiana  in  Algeri,  L' 

-2,3 

Venice,  1813 

Jan.  27,  1819 

Maometto  Secondo 

-2,3 

Naples,  Car.  1820 

Matilde  di  Shabrau 

—  2,  3 

Kome,  Car.  1821 

July  3,  1823 

Mathilde  de  Sabran 

—  2,— 

Paris,           1857 

Moi'se 

1,2,— 

Paris,  Mar.  27,  1827 

Mos&  in  Egitto  (2  or 

-2.3 

Naples,  Lent,  1818 

(Pietro  1'Ere- 

4  acts) 

mita)    Apr. 

23,  1822 

Do.  2nd  Italian  libretto 

Paris,  1827 

Occasione   fa  il  ladro, 

Venice,  1812 

L',  or  11  cambio,  etc. 

(farsa) 

Otello 

—  2,  3 

Naples,  Aut.  1816 

May  6,  1822 

Otello,  ou  le  More  de 

Lyons,  Dec.  1,  1823 

Venise  (Castil-Blaze) 

Othello 

Othello  (Royer&Waez) 

-2,- 

Paris,  Sept.  2,  1844 

Ottone   Re    d'   Italia 

(see  Adelaide) 

Pietra  del  Paragone.La 

-2,  3 

Milan,  Sept.  26,  1812 

- 

Pietro  1'Eremita 

Apr.  23,  1822 

Pie  voleuse,  La 

1  

Paris,  1822 

Ricciardo  e  Zoraide 

-2,8 

Naples,  Aut.  1818 

June  5,  1823 

Bobert  Bruce 

Paris,  Dec.  30,  1846 

Boberto  Bruce 

1847 

Scala  di  seta,  La(farsa) 

-2,3 

Venice,  Car.  1812 

Semiramide 

—  2,  3 

Venice,  Feb.  3,  1823 

July  15,  1824 

Se"miramis 

—  2,  3 

Paris,  July  9,  1860 

Sie'ge  de  Corinthe,  Le 

1,2,- 

Paris,  Oct.  9,  1826 

Sigismondo 

—  2,  3 

Venice,  Car.  1815 

Tancredi 

-2,3 

Venice,  Car.  1813 

May  4,  1820 

Torvaldo  e  Dorliska 

—  2,  3 

Rome,  Dec.  26,  1815 

Turco  in  Italia,  11 

-2,3 

Milan,  Aug.  14,  1814 

May  19,  1821 

ZeVmira 

-2.3 

Naples,  Dec.  1821 

Jan.  24,  1824 

II.    CANTATAS  AND  ORATORIOS. 


l=Full  Score 

Title. 

2=PF.  do. 

First 
representation. 

Augurio  felice  L' 

Verona,  1823 

Bardo,  11 

"Verona,  1823 

Didone  abbandonata 

—  3 

Bologna,  1810 

Pastori,  I 

Naples,  1820  (?) 

Pianto  delle  Muse,  11 

London,  1823 

Riconoscenza,  La 

—  —  S 

1821 

Sacra  Alleanza,  La 

Verona.  1823 

"Vero  Ommaggio,  11 

Verona,  1823 

Giro  in  Babilonia  (Ora 

-    2,  S 

Ferrara,  Lent.  1812 

torio) 

i  This  is  the  correct  date,  not  Dec.  26, 1816.    [See  vol.  i.  138  b.\ 

N 


178 


EOSSINI. 


HI.    SACKED  MUSIC. 

Stabat  Mater,  1832-41.    1,  2,  3.       ment  of  the  service  in  the  church 
La  Foi,  L'Espe'rance,  et  la  Cha-  'of  S.  Francesco  dei  Minor!  con- 

rite",  1844.   2,  3.    Instrumented  by  ventuali. 

Balbi. 


Petite  Messe    Solennelle,  1864. 
2,  3. 
Tantum  ergo,  for  2  tenors  and 


Quoniam,  bass  solo  and  or 
chestra.  1,  2,  3. 

O  Salutaris,  4  solo  voices.  Pub 
lished  at  Paris  in  'La  Maitrise,' 


bass,  with  orchestra.  1,2,3.  Com-  and  reproduced  in  facsimile   by 
posed  at  Bologna,  and  performed  j  Azevedo  in  his  '  Rossini." 
Nov.  28, 1847.  for  the  re-establish- ' 

IV.    MISCELLANEOUS  VOCAL  MUSIC. 

Gorgheggi  e  Solfeggi.    Acollec-i    Les  Soire'es  musicales.  8  ariettas 
tion  of  exercises  for  the  voice.          and  4  duets. 

II  pianto  delle  Muse,  for  solo  (    Inno  populare,  on  the  accession 
and  chorus.     Composed  on   the  of  Pius  IX.    Chorus, 
occasion  of  Byron's  death.  Dall'  Oriente  I'astro  del  giorno, 

Kon  posso  o  Dio,  resistere.  Can-  a  4. 
tata. 

Oh  quanto  son  grate.  Duettino. 

Irene  ed  Egle.    Cantata  for  so 
prano  and  mezzo  soprano. 


Cara  Patria.    Cantata. 
Chant  des  Titans.    Chorus. 
Se  il  vuol  la  Molinara.—  Rossini's 
first  composition. 
La  Separazione.  Dramatic  song. 


Ridiamo,  cantiamo,  a  4. 
Alle  voci  della  gloria.    Scena  ed 
Aria. 

Various  other  airs  and  pieces,  thirty  or  forty 
in  number,  will  be  found  in  the  catalogues  of 
Blcordi,  Lucca,  Brandus  (Troupenas),  and  Escu- 
dier,  which  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  enumerate 
here. — Probably  no  composer  ever  wrote  so  much 
in  albums  as  did  Kossini.  The  number  of  these 
pieces  which  he  threw  off  while  in  London  alone 
is  prodigious.  They  are  usually  composed  to 
some  lines  of  Metastasio's,  beginning  'Mi  lagnera 
tacendo  della  sorte  amara,'  which  he  is  said  to 
have  set  more  than  a  hundred  times. 

We  have  stated  that  during  the  latter  years 
of  his  life  Rossini  composed  a  great  quantity  of 
music  for  the  PF.  solo,  both  serious  and  comic. 
These  pieces  were  sold  by  his  widow  en  masse  to 
Baron  Grant  for  the  sum  of  £4000.  After  a 
time  the  whole  was  put  up  to  auction  in  London 
and  purchased  by  Ricordi  of  Milan,  M.  Paul 
Dalloz,  proprietor  of  a  periodical  entitled  'La 
Musique/  at  Paris,  and  other  persons. 

V.    INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC. 

March  (Pas  redouble')  composed 


Le  rendezvous  de  chasse.  A  fan 
fare  for  4  trumpets,  composed  at 
Compiegne  in  1828  for  M.  Schikler, 
and  dedicated  to  him. 

3  Marches  for  the  marriage  of 
H.R.H.  the  Duke  of  Orleans.  Ar 
ranged  for  PF.  a  4  mains. 


for  H.I.M.  the  Sultan  Abdul  Med- 
jid.  Arranged  for  PF.  solo  (Bene 
dict),  and  a  4  mains. 

5  String  Quartets,  arranged  as 
Sonatines  for  thePF.  by  Mockwitz 


(Breitkopf  &  Hftrtel). 

To  enumerate  and  elucidate  all  the  biographical 
and  critical  notices  of  Rossini  would  require  a 
volume,  we  shall  therefore  confine  ourselves  to 
mentioning  these  of  importance  either  from  their 
authority,  their  ability,  or  the  special  nature  of 
their  contents ;  and  for  greater  convenience  of 
reference  we  have  arranged  them  according  to 
country  and  date. 

I.  Italian. 

G.  Carpani.  Lettera  all'  anonimo  autore  dell'  articolo 
sul '  Tancredi '  di  Rossini.  Milan,  1818,  8vo. 

G-.  Carpani.  Le  Eossiniane,  ossia  Lettere  musico- 
teatrali.  Padua,  1824, 130  pages,  Svo.  Portrait. 

Nic.  Bettoni.  Bossini  e  la  sua  musica.  Milan,  1824, 
8vo. 

P.  Brighenti.  Della  musica  rossiniana  e  del  suo  au 
tore.  Bologna,  1830,  Svo. 

Lib.  Musumeci.  Parallelo  tra  i  maestri  Rossini  e  Bel 
lini.  Palermo,  1832,  Svo. 

Anon.  Osseryazioni  sul  merito  musicale  dei  maestri 
Bellini  e  Rossini,  in  riposta  ad  un  Parallelo  tra  i  mede- 
simi.  Bologna,  1834.  Svo.  This  pamphlet  was  translated 
into  French  by  M.  de  Ferrer,  and  published  as  '  Rossini 
et  Bellini.'  Paris,  1835.  Svo. 


ROSSINI. 

Anon.  Rossini  e  la  sua  musica ;  una  Passeggiata  con 
Rossini.  Florence,  1841, 16mo. 

Anon.  Dello  Stabat  Mater  di  Gioachino  Rossini,  Let 
tere  Storico-critiche  di  un  Lombardo.  Bologna,  1842,  Svo. 

Giov.  Raffaelli.    Rossini,  canto.   Modena,  1844,  Svo. 

Fr.  Regli.  Elogio  di  Gioacchlno  Rossini.  We  have 
not  been  able  to  discover  how  far  Regli  (1804-66)  has 
used  this  work  in  his  Dizionario  biografico '  (1860). 

E.  Montazio.  Gioacchino  Rossini.  Turin,  1862, 18mo, 
Portrait. 

Giul.  Vanzolini.  Della  vera  Patria  di  G.  Rossini 
Pesaro,  1873,  Svo. 

Ferrucci.  Giudizio  perentorio  sulla  verita  della  Patria 
di  G.  Rossini  impugnata  dal  Prof.  Giul.  Vanzolini.  Flo 
rence,  1874 ;  an  Svo  pamphlet  of  20  pages. 

Sett.  Silvestri.  Della  vita  e  delle  opere  di  G.  Rossini. 
Milan,  1874,  Svo. ;  with  portrait  and  fac-similes. 

Ant.  Zanolini.  Biografia  di  Gioachino  Rossini.  Bo 
logna,  1875,  Svo  ;  with  portrait  and  fac-similes. 

II.  French. 

Papillon.   Lettre  critique  sur  Rossini.  Paris,  1823, 8vo. 

Stendhal.  Vie  de  Rossini.  Paris,  1823,  Syo.  Stendhal, 
whose  real  name  was  Henri  Beylej  compiled  this  work 
from  Carpani.  In  many  passages  in  fact  it  is  nothing 
but  a  translation,  and  Beyle's  own  anecdotes  are  not 
always  trustworthy.  It  was  translated  into  English 
(London.  12mo,  1826)  and  German  (Leipzig,  1824),  in  the 
latter  case  by  Wendt,  who  has  added  notes  and  cor 
rections. 

Berton.  De  la  musique  me"canique  et  de  la  musique 
philosophique.  Paris,  1824,  Svo;  24  pages. 

Ditto,  followed  by  an  Ejitre  a  un  celebre  compositeur 
franc.ais  (Boieldieu).  Paris,  1826,  Svo ;  48  pages. 

Imbert  de  Laphale'que.  De  la  Musique  en  France: 
Rossini,  Guillauine  Tell.  ('  Revue  de  Paris,'  1829.) 

J.  d'Ortigue.  De  la  guerre  des  dilettanti,  ou  de  la  16- 
volution  oper^e  par  M.  Rossini  dans  1'op^ra  francaia. 
Paris,  1829,  Svo. 

N.  Bettoni.  Rossini  et  sa  musique.  Paris,  Bettoni, 
1836,  Svo. 

Anon.  Vie  de  Rossini,  etc.  Anyers,  1839,  12mo;  215 
pages.  By  M.  Van  Damme,  who  in  his  turn  has  bor 
rowed  much  from  Stendhal. 

L.  de  Lorne'nie.  M.  Rossini,  par  un  homme  de  rien. 
Paris,  1842,  Svo. 

Aulagnier.  Quelques  observations  sur  la  publication 
du  '  Stabat  mater1  de  Rossini.  Paris,  1842,  4to. 

Anon.  Observations  d'un  amateur  non  dilettante  au 
sujet  du  'Stabat'  de  M.  Rossini.  Paris,  1842,  Svo. 

E.  Troupenas.  Resume*  des  opinions  de  la  Presae  sur 
le  '  Stabat '  de  Rossini.  Paris,  1842,  Svo ;  75  pages. 

Escudier  freres.  Rossini,  sa  vie  et  ses  osuvres.  Paris, 
1854,  12mo ;  338  pages. 

Eug.  de  Mirecourt.    Rossini.    Paris,  1855,  32mo. 

A.  Azevedo.  G.  Rossini,  sa  vie  et  ses  oeuvres.  Paris, 
1865,  large  Svo;  310 pages,  with  portraits  and  facsimiles. 
This  is  the  most  complete  and  eulogistic  work  on 
Rossini.  It  appeared  originally  in  the  Mdnestrel,'  but 
was  discontinued  there,  the  editor  not  approving  of  a 
violent  attack  on  Meyerbeer,  which  Azevedo  (1873' 1875) 
included  in  it. 

Virmaitre  et  Elie  Fre'bault.  Les  maisons  comiques  de 
Paris,  1868, 12mo.  One  chapter  is  devoted  to  the  house 
of  Rossini. 


N.  Roqueplan.    Rossini.    Paris,  1869, 12mo. ;  16 ; 
E.  Beule".    Eloge  de  Rossini.    Paris,  1869. 

A.  Pougin.  Rossini,  Notes,  impressions,  souvenirs, 
commentaires.  Paris,  1870,  Svo  ;  91  pages.  The  detailed 
and  annotated  chronological  list  mentioned  on  p.  8  has 
not  yet  been  published. 

O.  Moutoz.  Rossini  et  son  '  Guillaume  Tell.'  Bourg, 
1872,  Svo. 

Vander  Straeten.    La  melodie  populaire  dans  1'op^ra 
Guillaume  Tell '  de  Rossini.    Paris,  1879,  Svo. 

III.  German. 

Oettinger.  Rossini,  Komischer  Roman.  Leipzig,  1847. 
A  satirical  work  translated  into  Danish  by  Marlow 
(Copenhagen,  1849,  2  vols.  8vo) ;  into  Swedish  by  Land- 
berg  (Stockholm,  1850,  2  vols.  8vo> ;  and  into  French  by 
Royer  'Rossini,  1'homme  et  1'artiste'  (Brussels,  1858, 
3  vols.  16mo). 


ROSSINI. 

OttoGumprecht.  Musikalische  Charakterbilder.  Lei  p. 
2ig,  18G^>,  Svo. 

Fd.  Hiller.  Plaudereien  rait  Rossini.  Inserted  (with 
date  1856)  in  Hiller's  '  Aus  dem  Tonleben  unserer  Zeit ' 
(Leipzig,  1868) ;  translated  into  French  by  Ch.  Schwartz 
in  '  La  France  musicale,'  1855 ;  and  into  English  by  Miss 
M.  E.  von  Glenn  in  '  Once  a  Week,'  1870. 

A.  Struth.  Bnssini,  sein  Leben,  seine  "Werke  und 
Charakterziige.  Leipzig. 

La  Mara.  Musikalische  Studienkopfe.  Leipzig,  1874- 
76,  2  vols.  12ruo.  See  vol.  ii. 

IV.  English. 

Hogarth.  Memoirs  of  the  Musical  Drama.  London, 
1838,  2  vols.  8vo. 

H.  S.  Edwards.  Rossini's  Life.  London,  I860,  8vo; 
portrait.— History  of  the  Opera,  Ib.  1862,  2  vols.  Svo. 
—Rossini  and  his  School,  1881. 

Portraits  of  Rossini  are  frequent  at  all  periods 
of  his  life.  Marochetti's  statue,  in  which  he  is 
represented  sitting,  was  erected  in  his  native  town 
in  1864.  There  is  a  good  bust  by  Bartolini  of 
Florence.  In  the  'foyer'  of  the  Opera  in  the 
Hue  Le  Peletier,  Paris  (now  destroyed),  there 
was  a  medallion  of  Rossini  by  Chevalier  ;  a  du 
plicate  of  this  is  in  the  possession  of  the  editor 
of  the  '  Me"nestrel.'  The  front  of  the  new  opera 
house  has  a  bronze-gilt  bust  by  M.  Evrard. 
A  good  early  engraving;  of  him  is  that  from  an 
oil-painting  by  Mayer  of  Vienna  (1820).  Of  later 
ones  may  be  mentioned  that  by  The'venin  after 
Ary  Scheffer  (1843)  :  still  later,  a  full  length 
drawn  and  engraved  by  Masson,  and  a  photo 
graph  by  Erwig,  engraved  as  frontispiece  to  the 
PF.  score  of  Semiramis  (Heugel).  Among  the 
lithographs  the  best  is  that  of  Grevedon  ;  and  of 
caricatures  the  only  one  deserving  mention  is 
that  by  Dantan.  [G-.C.] 

ROTA,  or  ROTTA  (Fr.  Rote ;  Germ.  Rotte). 
Not,  as  might  be  supposed  from  its  name,  a 
species  of  vielle  or  hurdy-gurdy,  but  a  species  of 
psaltery  or  dulcimer,  or  primitive  zither,  employed 
in.  the  middle  ages  in  church  music.  It  was  played 
with  the  hand,  guitar-fashion,  and  had  seven  strings 
mounted  in  a  solid  wooden  frame.  [E.J.P.] 

ROUGET  DE  LISLE,  CLAUDE  JOSEPH, 
author  of  the  MARSEILLAISE,  born  at  Montaigu, 
Lons-le-Saulnier,  May  10,  1760.  He  entered 
the  School  of  Royal  Engineers  ('  Ecole  royale  du 
ge"nie')  at  Mezieres  in  1782,  and  left  it  two 
years  later  with  the  rank  of  'aspirant -lieu 
tenant.'  Early  in  1789  he  was  made  second 
lieutenant,  and  quartered  at  Joux,  near  Be- 
san9on.  At  Besangon,  a  few  days  after  the 
taking  of  the  Bastille  (July  14,  1789),  he  wrote 
his  first  patriotic  song  to  the  tune  of  a  fa 
vourite  air.  In  1790  he  rose  to  be  first  lieu 
tenant,  and  was  moved  to  Strassburg,  where  he 
soon  became  very  popular  in  the  triple  capacity 
of  poet,  violin-player,  and  singer.  His  hymn, 
'  a  la  LiberteY  composed  by  Ignace  Pleyel,  was 
sung  at  Strassburg  at  the  fete  of  Sept.  25,  1791. 
While  there  he  wrote  three  pieces  for  the 
theatre,  one  of  which,  'Bayard  en  Bresse,'  was 
produced  at  Paris  Feb.  21,  1791,  but  without  suc 
cess.  In  April  1792  he  wrote  the  MARSEIL 
LAISE,  of  which  an  account  has  been  given  else 
where.  [See  vol.  ii.  p.  219.]  As  the  son  of  royalist 
parents,  and  himself  belonging  to  the  coustitu- 


ROUND. 


179 


tional  party,  Rouget  de  Lisle  refused  to  take 
the  oath  to  the  constitution  abolishing  the  crown ; 
he  was  therefore  stripped  of  his  military  rank, 
denounced,  and  imprisoned,  only  to  escape  after 
the  fall  of  Robespierre.  After  this  he  re-entered 
the  army,  and  made  the  campaign  of  La  Vendee 
under  General  Hoche ;  was  wounded,  and  at  length, 
under  the  Consulate,  returned  to  private  life  at 
Montaigu,  where  he  remained  in  the  depth  of 
solitude  and  of  poverty  till  the  second  Restoration. 
His  brother  then  sold  the  little  family  property, 
and  Rouget  was  driven  to  Paris ;  and  there  would 
have  starved  but  for  a  small  pension  granted  by 
Louis  XVIII.  and  continued  by  Louis  Philippe, 
and  for  the  care  of  his  friends  Beranger,  David 
d1  Angers,  and  especially  M.  and  Mad.  Voiart, 
in  whose  house  at  Choisy-le-Roi  he  died,  June 
27,  1836. 

Besides  the  works  already  mentioned,  he  pub 
lished  in  1797  a  volume  of  '  Essais  eii  vers  et  en 
prose  '  (Paris,  F.  Didot,  an  V  de  la  Re"publique) 
dedicated  to  Mdhul,  and  now  extremely  rare  ;  so 
also  is  his  'Cinquante  chants  Franc_ais'  (1825, 
4to.),  with  PF.  accompaniment.  One  of  these 
songs,  'Roland  a  Roncevaux/  was  written  in 
1/92,  and  its  refrain— 

Mourir  pour  la  patrie, 
C'est  le  sort  le  plus  beau,  le  plus  digne  d'envie — 

was  borrowed  by  the  authors  of  the  '  Chant  des 
Girondins,'  which  was  set  to  music  by  Varney, 
and  played  a  distinguished  part  in  the  Revolution 
of  1848.  [SeeVARNBY.]  The 'Cinquante  chants' 
is  his  most  important  work,  but  we  must  not 
omit  to  mention  two  others,  '  Macbeth/  a  lyrical 
tragedy  (1827,  Svo),  and  'Relation  du  de'sastre  de 
Quiberon,'  in  vol.  ii.  of  the  'Me'moires  de  tous.' 

There  exists  a  fine  medallion  of  Rouget  by 
David  d5 Angers,  which  is  engraved  in  a  pamphlet 
by  his  nephew,  entitled  '  La  ve"rite  sur  la  pater- 
nite*  de  la  Marseillaise'  (Paris,  1 865).  Statues  will 
probably  be  erected  to  him  at  Lons-le-Saulnier, 
and  at  Choisy  le  Roi.  See  the  volume  of  M.  Le 
Roy  de  Ste.Croix  (Strassburg,  1880).  [G.C.] 

ROUND.  I.  'A  species  of  canon,  in  the 
unison,  so-called  because  the  performers  begin 
the  melody  at  regular  rhythmical  periods,  and 
return  from  its  conclusion  to  its  commencement, 
so  that  it  continually  passes  round  and  round 
from  one  to  another  of  1them.'  Rounds  and 
Catches,  the  most  characteristic  forms  of  English 
music,  differ  from  canons  in  only  being  sung  at 
the  unison  or  octave,  and  also  in  being  rhyth 
mical  in  form.  Originating  at  a  period  of  which 
we  have  but  few  musical  records,  these  composi 
tions  have  been  written  and  sung  in  England 
with  unvarying  popularity  until  the  present  day. 
The  earliest  extant  example  of  a  round  is  the 
well-known  '  Sumer  is  i-cumen  in,'  as  to  the 
date  of  which  there  has  been  much  discussion, 
although  it  is  certainly  not  later  than  the  middle 

i  'The  Rounds,  Catches,  and  Canons  of  England;  a  Collection  of 
Specimens  of  the  sixteenth,  seventeenth,  and  eighteenth  centuries 
adapted  to  Modern  Use.  The  Words  revised,  adapted,  or  re-written 
by  the  Rev.  J.  Powell  Metcalfe.  The  Music  selected  and  revised,  and 
An  Introductory  Essay  on  the  Rise  and  Progress  of  the  Round 
Catch  and  Canon;  also  Biographical  Notices  of  the  Composers, 
written  by  Edward  F.  Rimbault,  LL.D.,'  from  which  work  much  of 
the  information  contained  iu  the  above  article  has  been  derived. 

N2 


180 


BOUND. 


of  the  I3th  century.  This  ingenious  and  in 
teresting  composition  (which  is  printed  in  fac 
simile  in  Chappell's  'Popular  Music'  and  in 
score  in  Hawkins)  is  preserved  in  the  Harleian 
MSS.  (978)  in  the  British  Museum.  It  is  (as  the 
late  Dr.  Rimbault  has  pointed  out)  founded  on 
the  old  ecclesiastical  litany  chant  'Pater  de  ccelis 
Deus,'  and  is  written  for  six  voices,  four  of  which 
sing  the  round  proper  or  '  rota '  (as  it  is  termed 
in  the  Latin  directions  for  singing  it),  whilst  the 
other  two  sing  an  accompanying  ground  or  '  pes.' 
Amongst  early  writers  on  music,  the  terms 
'  round '  and  '  catch '  were  synonymous,  but  at 
the  present  day  the  latter  is  generally  under 
stood  to  be  what  Hawkins  (vol.  ii)  defines  as 
that  species  of  round  '  wherein,  to  humour  some 
conceit  in  the  words,  the  melody  is  broken, 
and  the  sense  interrupted  in  one  part,  and 
caught  again  or  supplied  by  another,'  a  form 
of  humour  which  easily  adapted  itself  to  the 
coarse  tastes  of  the  Restoration,  at  which  period 
rounds  and  catches  reached  their  highest  popu 
larity.  That  catches  were  immensely  popular 
with  the  lower  classes  is  proved  by  the  numerous 
allusions  to  '  alehouse  catches '  and  the  like  in 
the  dramas  of  the  i6th  and  i;th  centuries.  Ac 
cording  to  Drayton  ('  Legend  of  Thomas  Crom 
well,'  Stanza  29)  they  were  introduced  into  Italy 
by  the  Earl  of  Essex  in  1510. 

The  first  printed  collection  of  rounds  was  that 
edited  by  Thomas  Bavenscroft,  and  published  in 
1609  under  the  title  of  'Pammelia.  Musicks 
Miscellanie :  or  Mixed  Varietie  of  pleasant 
Boundelayes  and  delightfull  Catches,  of  3.  4.  5. 
6.  7.  8.  9.  10.  Parts  in  one.5  This  interesting 


BOUND,  CATCH,  AND  CANON  CLUB. 

collection  contains  many  English,  French,  and 
Latin  rounds,  etc.,  some  of  which  are  still  po 
pular.  Amongst  them  there  is  also  a  curious 
'Bound  of  three  Country  Dances  in  one'  for 
four  voices,  which  is  in  reality  a  Quodlibet  on 
the  country-dance  tunes  '  Bobin  Hood/  '  Now 
foot  it,'  and  'The  prampe  is  in  my  purse.' 
'Pammelia'  was  followed  by  two  other  collec 
tions  brought  out  by  Bavenscroft,  'Deufcero- 
melia'  in  1609,  and  'Melismata'  in  1611,  and 
the  numerous  publications  of  the  Playfords,  the 
most  celebrated  of  which  is  'Cntch  that  catch 
can,  or  the  Musical  Companion'  (1667),  which 
passed  through  many  editions.  The  most  com 
plete  collection  of  rounds  and  catches  is  that 
published  by  Warren  in  32  monthly  and  yearly 
numbers,  from  1763  to  1794*  which  contains 
over  800  compositions,  including  many  admir 
able  specimens  by  Purcell,  Blow,  and  other 
masters  of  the  English  school.  It  is  to  be  re 
gretted  that  they  are  too  often  disfigured  by  an 
obscenity  of  so  gross  a  nature  as  to  make  them 
now  utterly  unfit  for  performance.  The  Bound 
has  never  been  much  cultivated  by  foreign  com 
posers.  One  or  two  examples  are  however  well 
known,  amongst  them  may  be  mentioned  Cheru 
bim's  '  Perfida  Clori.' 

The  quartet  in  Fidelio,  'Mir  ist  so  wunderbar,' 
as  well  as  Curschmann's  trios,  'Ti  prego'  and 
'  L'Addio, '  though  having  many  of  the  charac 
teristics  of  rounds,  are  not  in  true  round -form, 
inasmuch  as  they  are  not  infinite,  but  end  in 
codas.  They  are  canons,  not  rounds.  A  good 
specimen  of  the  round  proper  is  Dr.  William 
Hayes's  '  Wind,  gentle  evergreen.' 


& 


i 


•fr-tfr 


-1 h 


Wind,  gentle 


e  -  ver-green     to     form   a  shade    A  -  round      the    tomb       where    So  -  phocles    is     laid. 


gweet  i  -  vy,    bend  thy  boughs  and    in  -  ter    -    twiue    With  blush  -  ing   ros  -  es  and         the      clustering   vine. 


3E 


5 


9? 


Thus  will     thy      last  -    ing  leaves  with  beauties  hung,   Prove  grate  -   ful     em    - 


TJ..  -&   9  •  #  ' 
blems     of    the  lays  he 


sung. 


II.  Any  dance  in  which  the  dancers  stood  in  a 
circle  was  formerly  called  a  round  or  roundel.1 
The  first  edition  of  the  '  Dancing  Master'  (1651) 
has  thirteen  rounds,  for  six,  eight,  or  'as  many 
as  will.'  Subsequent  editions  of  the  same  book 
have  also  a  dance  called  '  Cheshire  Bounds/  and 
Part  II.  of  Walsh's  '  Compleat  Country  Dancing 
Master'  (1719)  has  Irish  and  Shropshire  rounds. 
These  latter  dances  are  however  not  danced 
in  a  ring,  but  '  longways/  i.  e.  like  '  Sir 
Boger  de  Coverley.'  In  Jeremiah  Clarke's 
'  Choice  Lessons  for  the  Harpsichord  or 
Spinett'  (1711),  and  similar  contemporary  pub 
lications,  the  word  rondo  is  curiously  corrupted 
into  '  Bound  0.'  [W.B.S.] 

1  'Come  now  a  roundel  and  a  fairy  song.' 

Midsummer  Night's  Dream,  act.  ii.  sc.  2. 


BOUND,  CATCH,  AND  CANON  CLUB. 
A  society  founded  in  1843,  by  the  late  Enoch 
Hawkins,  for  the  purpose  of  singing  the  new 
compositions  of  the  professional  members  and 
others  written  in  the  form  of  Bound,  Catch,  and 
Canon ;  hence  the  title  of  the  Club.  Among  the 
original  members  were  Messrs.  Enoch  Hawkins, 
Hobbs,  Bradbury,  Handel  Gear,  Henry  Phillips, 
Addison,  D'Almaine,  and  F.  W.  Collard.  The 
meetings  were  originally  held  at  the  Crown  and 
Anchor  Tavern,  whence  the  Club  removed  to 
Freemasons'  Tavern,  thence  to  the  Thatched 
]  House,  again  to  Freemasons'  Tavern,  and  lastly 
r  to  St.  James's  Hall,  where  it  still  assembles 
every  fortnight  from  the  first  Saturday  in  No 
vember  until  the  end  of  March,  ten  meetings 
being  held  in  each  season.  In  the  earlier  years  of 


ROUND,  CATCH,  AND  CANON  CLUB. 

its  existence  the  number  both  of  professional  and 
non- professional  members  at  each  dinner  rarely 
exceeded  eighteen,  but  now  from  sixty  to  seventy 
dine  together.  The  management  of  the  Club 
devolves  upon  the  professional  members,  each  of 
whom  in  turn  takes  the  chair,  and  is  alone 
responsible  for  the  entertainment.  The  musical 
programmes  now  consist  mainly  of  glees,  although 
an  occasional  catch  is  introduced. 

The  professional  members  at  the  present  time 
are  Messrs.  Winn,  Baxter,  Fred.  Walker,  Coates, 
and  Hilton.  The  officers  are — Mr.  Winn,  'Clerk 
of  the  Eecords ' ;  Mr.  Baxter,  '  Librarian ' ;  and 
Mr.  Coates,  '  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer.'  Mr. 
William  Winn,  vicar-choral  of  St.  Paul's  Cathe 
dral,  in  1876  succeeded  to  the  post  of  '  Clerk'  on 
the  resignation  of  Mr.  Francis  after  twenty-eight 
years  of  valuable  service  to  the  Club.  The  chair 
man  of  the  evening  is  addressed  as '  Mr.  Speaker.' 
The  Club  has  from  time  to  time  offered  prizes  for 
the  composition  of  glees:  in  1869  the  first  prize 
was  won  by  Mr.  Winn,  and  the  second  by  Mr. 
Coates;  in  1870  the  competition  had  the  same 
result;  and  in  iSSo  the  first  prize  was  awarded 
to  Mr.  Coates,  and  the  second  to  Mr.  Winn. 
For  the  non-professional  members,  who  must  be 
nominated  and  seconded  by  two  members,  there 
is  an  entrance  fee  of  three  guineas,  and  an  annual 
subscription,  for  the  ten  meetings  and  dinners,  of 
five  guineas.  [C.M.] 

EOUSSEAU,  JEAN  JACQUES,  born  at  Geneva, 
June  28, 1712,  died  at  Ermenonville,  near  Paris, 
July  3,  1778,  five  weeks  after  Voltaire.  The 
details  of  his  life  are  given  in  his  '  Confessions'; 
we  shall  here  confine  ourselves  to  his  compo 
sitions,  and  his  writings  on  music.  Although, 
like  all  who  learn  music  late  in  life  and  in  a 
desultory  manner  without  a  master,  Eousseau 
remained  to  the  end  a  poor  reader  and  an 
indifferent  harmonist,  he  exercised  a  great 
influence  on  French  music.  Immediately  after 
his  arrival  in  Paris  he  read  a  paper  before  the 
Academie  des  Sciences  (Aug.  22,  1742)  on 
a  new  system  of  musical  notation,  which  he 
afterwards  extended  and  published  under  the 
title  of  'Dissertation  sur  la  musique  moderns' 
(Paris,  1743,  Svo.).  His  method  of  representing 
the  notes  of  the  scale  by  figures — I,  2,  3,  4,  5, 
6,  7 — had  been  already  proposed  by  Souhaitty, 
but  Eousseau's  combinations,  and  especially  his 
signs  of  duration,  are  so  totally  different  as 
entirely  to  redeem  them  from  the-  charge  of 
plagiarism.  A  detailed  analysis  and  refutation 
of  the  system  may  be  found  in  Eaymond's  '  Des 
principaux  systemes  de  notation  musicale'  (Turin, 
1824,  Svo),  to  which  the  reader  is  referred;  but 
it  is  evident  that  however  convenient  notation  by 
means  of  figures  may  be  for  writing  a  simple 
melody,  it  becomes  as  complicated  as  the  old 
system  when  modulation  or  polyphony  are  at 
tempted.  Its  very  uniformity  also  deprives  the 
reader  of  all  assistance  from  the  eye  ;  the  sounds 
must  be  spelt  out  one  by  one,  and  the  difficulty 
of  decyphering  orchestral  combinations  or  com 
plicated  harmonies  becomes  almost  insuperable. 

Copying  music  had  been  Rousseau's  means  of 


EOUSSEAU. 


181 


livelihood,  and  this  led  him  to  believe  that  the 
best  way  to  learn  an  art  is  to  practise  it ;  at  any 
rate  he  composed  an  opera  '  Les  Muses  galantes,' 
which  was  produced  at  the  house  of  La  Pope- 
liniere,  when  Eameau,  who  was  present,  declared 
that  some  pieces  showed  the  hand  of  a  master, 
and  others  the  ignorance  of  a  schoolboy. 
Not  being  able  to  obtain  access  to  any  of 
the  theatres,  Eousseau  undertook  to  write  the 
articles  on  music  for  the  'Encyclopedic,'  a  task 
which  he  accomplished  in  three  months,  and 
afterwards  acknowledged  to  have  been  done 
hastily  and  unsatisfactorily.  We  have  mentioned 
under  the  head  of  EAMEAU  [vol.  iii.  p.  72  a]  the 
expose"  by  that  great  musician  of  the  errors  in 
the  musical  articles  of  the  '  Encyclopedic' ;  Eous- 
seau's  reply  was  not  published  till  after  his 
death,  but  it  is  included  in  his  complete  works. 

Three  months  after  the  arrival  in  Paris  of  the 
Italian  company  who  popularised  the  '  Serva  pa- 
drona'1  in  France,  Eousseau  produced  'Le  Devin 
du  village'  before  the  King  at  Fontainebleau, 
on  Oct.  1 8  and  24,  1752.  The  piece,  of  which 
both  words  and  music  were  his  own,  pleased 
the  court,  and  was  quickly  reproduced  in  Paris. 
The  first  representation  at  the  Academie  took 
place  March  I,  1753,  and  the  last  in  1828,  when 
some  wag2  threw  an  immense  powdered  perruque 
on  the  stage  and  gave  it  its  deathblow.  [DEVIN 
DU  VILLAGE,  vol.  i.  441  o.]  It  is  curious  that 
the  representations  of  this  simple  pastoral  should 
have  coincided  so  exactly  with  the  vehement  dis 
cussions  to  which  the  performances  of  Italian 
opera  gave  rise.  We  cannot  enter  here  upon  the 
literary  quarrel  known  as  the  '  Guerre  des  Bouf- 
fons,'  or  enumerate  the  host  of  pamphlets  to 
which  it  gave  rise,3  but  it  is  a  strange  fact,  only 
to  be  accounted  for  on  the  principle  that  man  is 
a  mass  of  contradictions,  that  Eousseau,  the  au 
thor  of  the  '  Devin  du  Village/  pronounced  at 
once  in  favour  of  Italian  music. 

His  '  Lettre  sur  la  musique  Fran<jaise'  (1753) 
raised  a  storm  of  indignation,  and  not  unnatu 
rally,  since  it  pronounces  French  music  to  have 
neither  rhythm  nor  melody,  the  language  not 
being  susceptible  of  either ;  French  singing  to  be 
but  a  prolonged  barking,  absolutely  insupport 
able  to  an  unprejudiced  ear;  French  harmony 
to  be  crude,  devoid  of  expression,  and  full  of 
mere  padding;  French  airs  not  airs,  and  French 
recitative  not  recitative.  'From  which  I  con 
clude,'  he  continues,  'that  the  French  have  no 
music,  and  never  will  have  any ;  or  that  if  they 
ever  should,  it  will  be  so  much  the  worse  for 
them.'  To  this  pamphlet  the  actors  and  mu 
sicians  of  the  Ope"ra  replied  by  hanging  and 
burning  its  author  in  effigy.  His  revenge  for 
this  absurdity,  and  for  many  other  attacks,  was 
the  witty  'Lettre  d'un  symphoniste  de  1'Aca- 
de'mie  royale  de  musique  a  ses  camarades  de 


1  It  has  been  generally  supposed  that  the  '  Serva  padrona'  was  not 
heard  in  Paris  before  1752 :  this  however  is  a  mistake ;  it  had  been 
played  so  far  back  as  Oct.  4, 1746,  but  the  Italian  company  who  per 
formed  it  was  not  satisfactory,  and  it  passed  almost  unnoticed. 

2  Supposed  to  have  been  Berlioz,  but  he  exculpates  himself  in  his 
'  Me'moires,'  chap.  xr. 

s  See  Chouquet's  '  Histoire  de  la  musique  dramatique,'  ISi  and  434. 


182 


ROUSSEAU. 


1'orchestre'  (1753),  which  may  still  be  read  with 
pleasure.  The  aesthetic  part  of  the  '  Dictionnaire 
de  inusique,'  which  he  finished  in  1 764  at  Motiers- 
Travers,  is  admirable  both  for  matter  and  style. 
He  obtained  the  privilege  of  printing  it  in  Paris, 
April  15,  1765,  but  did  not  make  use  of  the 
privilege  till  1 768  ;  the  Geneva  edition,  also  in 
one  vol.  4to,  came  out  in  1767.  In  spite  of  mis 
takes  in  the  didactic,  and  serious  omissions  in 
the  technical  portions,  the  work  became  very 
popular,  and  was  translated  into  several  lan 
guages;  the  English  edition  (London,  1770,  8vo.) 
being  by  Waring. 

Rousseau's  other  writings  on  music  are :  'Lettre 
a  M.  Grimm,  au  sujet  des  remarques  ajoute'es  a 
sa  Lettre  sur  Omphale,'  belonging  to  the  early 
stage  of  the  'Guerre  des  Bouffons';  '  Essai  sur 
I'origine  des  langues,'  etc.  (1753),  containing 
chapters  on  harmony,  on  the  supposed  analogy 
between  sound  and  colour,  and  on  the  music  of 
the  Greeks ;  '  Lettre  a  M.  I'Abbe'  Raynal  au 
sujet  d'un  nouveau  mode  de  musique  invent^  par 
M.  Blainville/  dated  May  30,  i754>  ar>d  first 
printed  in  the  '  Mercure  de  France  ' ;  '  Lettre  a 
M.  Burney  sur  la  Musique,  avec  des  fragments 
d'Observations  sur  1'Alceste  italien  de  M.  le 
chevalier  Gluck/  an  analysis  of'  Alceste'  written 
at  the  request  of  Gluck  himself;  and  'Extrait 
d'une  re'ponse  du  Petit  Faiseur  a  son  Prete-Nom, 
sur  un  rnorceau  de  1'Orphe'e  de  M.  le  chevalier 
Gluck/ dealing  principally  with  a  particular  modu 
lation  in  '  Orphe'e.'  From  the  two  last  it  is  clear 
that  Rousseau  heartily  admired  Gluck,  and  that 
he  had  by  this  time  abandoned  the  exaggerated 
opinions  advanced  in  the  '  Lettre  sur  la  musique 
Fran£aise.'  The  first  of  the  above  was  issued  in 
1752,  the  rest  not  till  after  his  death ;  they  are 
now  only  to  be  found  in  his  'Complete  Works.5 

On  Oct.  30, 1775,  Rousseau  produced  his  'Pyg 
malion  '  at  the  Comedie  Franyaise ;  it  is  a  lyric 
piece  in  one  act,  and  caused  some  sensation  owing 
to  its  novelty.  Singing  there  was  none,  and  the 
only  music  were  orchestral  pieces  in  the  inter 
vals  of  the  declamation.  He  also  left  fragments 
of  an  opera  'Daphnis  et  Chlo^'  (published  in 
score,  Paris,  1 780,  folio),  and  a  collection  of  about 
a  hundred  romances  and  detached  pieces,  to  which 
he  gave  the  title  'Consolations  des  Miseres 
de  ma  vie '  (Paris,  1781,  Svo),  all  now  forgotten. 
Rousseau  was  accused  of  having  stolen  the 
'  Devin  du  Village '  from  a  musician  of  Lyons 
named  Granet,  and  the  greater  part  of  '  Pyg 
malion  '  from  another  Lyonnais  named  Coigniet. 
Among  his  most  persistent  detractors  is  Casstil- 
Blaze  (see  'Moliere  musicien,'  ii.  409),  but  he  says 
not  a  word  of  the  '  Consolations.'  Now  any  one 
honestly  comparing  these  romances  with  the 
'  Devin  du  Village,'  will  inevitably  arrive  at  the 
conviction  that  airs  at  once  so  simple,natural,  and 
full  of  expression,  and  so  incorrect  as  regards  har 
mony,  not  only  may,  but  must  have  proceeded 
from  the  same  author.  There  is  no  doubt,  how 
ever,  that  the  instrumentation  of  the  '  Devin ' 
was  touched  up,  or  perhaps  wholly  re-written,  by 
Francoeur,  on  whose  advice,  as  well  as  on  that  of 
Jelyotte  the  tenor  singer,  Rousseau  was  much  in 


ROUSSELOT. 

the  habit  of  relying. — 'Rousseau's  Dream'  was 
at  one  time  a  popular  tune  in  this  country.  An 
air  ('de  trois  notes')  and  a  duettino,  melodious 
and  pretty  but  of  the  simplest  style,  are  given  in 
the  '  Musical  Library,'  vol.  iii.  ("G.C.] 

ROUSSEAU'S  DREAM.  A  very  favourite  air 
in  England  in  the  early  part  of  this  century.  Its 
first  appearance  under  that  name  is  presumably 
as  '  an  Air  with  Variations  for  the  Pianoforte, 
composed  and  dedicated  to  the  Rt.  Hon.  the 
Countess  of  Delaware,  by  J.  B.  Cramer.  London, 
Chappell'  [1812]. 


But  it  is  found  (with  very  slight  changes)  a 
quarter  of  a  century  earlier,  under  the  title  of 
'  Melissa.  The  words  by  Charles  James,  Esq., 
adapted  to  the  Pianoforte,  Harp,  or  Guitar. 
London,  J.  Dale,  1788.'  Whether  the  air  is 
Rousseau's  or  not  the  writer  has  not  ascertained. 
It  is  not  in  his  '  Les  Consolations/  etc.  (Paris, 
1781).  [G.] 

ROUSSELOT,  SCIPION,  was  born  about  the 
commencement  of  this  century,  entered  the  Con 
servatoire  at  Paris  as  a  pupil  of  Baudiot  on  the 
cello,  and  took  the  first  prize  in  1823.  He  then 
studied  composition  under  Reicha,  and  on  Feb. 
9,  1834,  produced  a  symphony  of  his  composition 
at  the  concert  of  the  Conservatoire;  he  also 
attempted  opera,  but  was  not  happy  in  that 
department,  though  he  is  said  to  have  rendered 
important  assistance  to  Bellini  in  the  instru 
mentation  and  harmonious  arrangement  of  'I 
Puritani.'  His  quartets,  quintets,  variations  for 
the  cello,  and  other  chamber  music,  were  much 
esteemed  and  played  in  Paris.  In  1844  or  45, 
Rousselot  came  to  England ;  he  took  the  cello 
at  the  Musical  Union  concerts  of  the  latter 
year.  He  was  one  of  the  party  with  Vieuxtemps, 
Sivori,  Sainton,  and  Hill,  who  performed  the 
whole  of  Beethoven's  quartets  at  the  house  of 
Mr.  Alsager,  in  a  series  of  meetings  beginning 
April  28,  1845,  and  a  prime  mover  in  that  me 
morable  undertaking,  which  introduced  Bee 
thoven's  later  quartets  to  England.  After  Mr. 
Alsager's  death  early  in  1847,  Rousselot  carried 
on  the  performances  at  his  own  risk,  under  the 
name  of  the  'Beethoven  Quartet  Society';  and 
on  May  4,  1 847,  gave  a  concert  to  Mendelssohn 
of  his  own  works — the  Quartet  in  D  op.  44,  no.  i ; 
the  Trio  in  C  minor,  op.  66;  and  the  Ottet,  op.  20; 
Mendelssohn  himself  playing  Beethoven's  32 
1  variations,  besides  joining  in  the  Trio,  etc.  Rous 
selot  was  deservedly  popular  in  London,  not 
only  with  the  public  but  with  his  fellow  artists; 
but  the  increasing  admiration  for  Piatti's  su 
perior  playing  withdrew  attention  from  him, 

1  Mendelssohn  played  without  book,  and  left  out  Var.  30,  iu  3-4,  as  h« 
admitted  afterwards  to  Mr.  J.  w,  Davison. 


EOUSSELOT. 

and  in  1848  or  1849  ne  returned  to  Paris, 
where  he  has  since  led  a  very  retired  life. 
While  in  London  he  started  a  musical  publishing 
business  in  Regent  Street,  but  it  did  not  succeed. 
— His  brother,  JOSEPH  FRANCOIS,  a  horn-player 
of  great  note,  was  born  Feb.  6,  1803.  He  also 
was  a  pupil  of  the  Conservatoire,  specially  under 
Daupret,  and  obtained  the  first  prize  in  1823. 
He  has  belonged  to  all  the  principal  orchestras  of 
Paris,  lived  for  many  years  at  Argenteuil,  and 
died  there  in  Sept.  1880.  [G.] 

ROVEDINO,  CARLO,  an  excellent  bass-singer, 
born  in  1751,  appears  on  the  Italian  Opera 
stage  in  London  as  early  as  1778,  and  remained 
there,  distinguished  in  serious  and  comic  opera 
alike,  for  many  years.  He  was  also  greatly  in 
request  for  concerts,  and  his  name  is  frequent 
in  the  best  bills  of  the  last  decade  of  the  century, 
both  in  town  and  country.  He  sang  at  Haydn's 
last  benefit  concert,  May  4,  1795.  He  is  said 
to  have  sung  in  Paris  in  1790,  and  he  probably 
divided  his  time  between  the  two  capitals. 
England,  however,  was  his  home;  he  died  in 
London,  Oct.  6,  1822,  and  was  buried  in  the 
churchyard  of  Chelsea  New  Church. 

One  of  his  daughters  married  C.Weichsel,  brother 
of  Mrs.  Billington,  and  leader  of  the  orchestras  at 
the  Italian  Opera  and  Philharmonic.  [G.] 

ROVELLI.  A  family  of  eminent  Italian 
musicians.  GIOVANNI  BATTISTA  was  first  violin 
in  the  orchestra  of  the  church  of  S.  Maria  Mag- 
giore  of  Bergamo,  at  the  beginning  of  this  cen 
tury.  GIUSEPPE,  his  son,  was  a  cellist,  born  at 
Bergamo  in  1753,  and  died  at  Parma,  Nov.  12, 
1806.  Of  ALESSANDRO  we  only  know  that  he 
was  at  one  time  director  of  the  orchestra  at 
Weimar,  and  that  he  was  the  father  of  PIETRO, 
who  was  born  at  Bergamo,  Feb.  6,  1793,  and 
received  his  first  lessons,  both  in  violin-playing 
and  the  general  science  of  music,  from  his  grand- 


ROWLAND. 


183 


father.  By  an  influential  patron  he  was  sent 
to  Paris  to  study  under  R.  Kreutzer,  and  his 
playing  attracted  much  attention  there.  On 
his  father's  appointment  to  Weimar  he  joined 
him  for  a  time.  At  the  end  of  1814  we  find 
him  at  Munich,  playing  with  great  applause. 
He  remained  there  for  some  years,  and  was 
made  'Royal  Bavarian  chamber-musician,'  and 
'  first  concerto  -  player.'  In  Feb.  1817  he  was 
playing  at  Vienna  ;  there  he  married  Micheline, 
daughter  of  E.  A.  Forster,  and  a  fine  PF. -player, 
and  in  1819  went  on  to  Bergamo,  took  the  place 
once  occupied  by  his  grandfather,  and  seems  to 
have  remained  there,  suffering  much  from  bad 
health,  till  his  death,  Sept.  8,  1838.  The  writer 
in  the  Allg.  mus.  Zeitung  for  Dec.  26,  1838, 
from  whom  the  above  facts  have  been  mainly 
taken,  characterises  his  play  as  '  simple,  expres 
sive,  graceful,  noble ;  in  a  word,  classical — a 
style  which  takes  instant  possession  of  the  heart 
of  the  hearer.'  In  other  notices  in  the  same 
periodical,  he  is  said  to  have  inherited  the  pure, 
singing,  expressive  style  of  Viotti,  and  practised 
it  to  perfection.  Molique  was  his  pupil  at 
Munich.  [G.] 

ROVESCIO,  AL.  A  term  used,  in  instru 
mental  music,  to  express  two  different  things, 
(i)  An  imitation  by  contrary  motion,  in  which 
every  descending  interval  in  the  leading  part  is 
imitated  by  an  ascending  one,  and  vice  versa ; 
see  Moscheles's  Etude  'La  Forza,'  op.  51.  (2) 
A  phrase  or  piece  which  may  be  played  back 
wards  throughout.  It  is  then  synonymous  with 
CANCRIZANS.  An  interesting  example  occurs  in 
the  minuet  of  a  Sonata  for  PF.  and  violin  by 
Haydn,  in  which,  on  the  repetition  after  the 
Trio,  the  minuet  is  played  backwards,  so  as  to 
end  on  the  first  note,  Haydn's  indication  being 
Menuetto  D.O.  wird  zurucltgespielt.  [See  RECTE 
ET  RETRO.] 


Menuetto  al  Rovescii 

?. 

j 

, 

!    !    ' 

'      J 

— 

!  J  J 

JL                   ^ 

i     a,     • 

el 

1       •     ^       !       • 

H 

C  / 

> 

^-^ 

||     • 

S     * 

» 

a  • 

/\                 'f^\        * 

4 

1*     • 

22    • 

/^v, 

• 

f-^    • 

•     •              • 

P 

<S?!     .             1 

Zj 

• 

1       ? 

, 

. 

£>                  H 

-tS<- 

: 

:.i 

_ 

1 

-« 

»-   1 

> 

I       f" 

•    •  f  ' 

A 

f-  f1   +- 

1 

•- 

r            - 

| 

|       ' 

to         »   i    =3 

II 

K  -Jt-Jt—  _h£_ 

» 

j  P_ 

1     1     '   - 

=F—  R1  1 

-__._ 

±na 

•  —  < 

-^-   J-  . 

( 

^'•—  fj 

J—  J  «sL  ^J  1-  .-  ^J-  1  !l 

M 

\  

' 

4=i 

t  

f*^^       " 

fr  • 

—t~- 

_»    p_            •    *  - 

!j  —  l—^-^   • 

f 

i               i 

&  -^ 

s>-       -*-  ^: 
—       -i-  -F  - 

i           i 

•                             •  -•-    -*-  "f1 

i  r  i 

E 

A         !•     t              1 

1 

B 

t 

• 

•            •     i 

—  j  

.J-  .  . 

,  1  —  L.  1  w  1 

ROWLAND,  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL,  born  at 
Trinidad,  W.  I.,  Jan.  i,  1826.  His  father  served 
as  bandmaster  through  the  Peninsular  campaign, 
was  a  fine  clarinet  player,  and  good  practical 
musician.  The  lad  was  brought  to  London  at 
a  very  early  age,  in  1831  began  to  learn  the 
violin  and  side-drum,  and  in  1833  entered  the 
orchestra  of  the  Queen's  Theatre,  as  player  on 


[F.T.] 

both  instruments,  and  soon  became  known  for 
his  solos  at  the  Lent  Oratorios,  the  Promenade 
and  other  Concerts,  and  other  occasions.  In 
1839  he  had  the  honour  of  some  special  hints 
from  Spohr  as  to  the  drum  part  in  his  Concertino 
'  Sonst  und  Jetzt,'  at  the  Norwich  Festival.  (See 
Spohr's  Autobiography,  part  i.  p.  220.)  From 
1842  to  1846  he  was  a  member  of  Jullien's  band, 


184 


EOWLAND. 


playing  cornet,  timpani,  and  viola,  all  which,  as 
well  as  the  pianoforte  and  organ,  he  had  added 
to  the  repertoire  of  his  instruments.  At  this 
time,  with  characteristic  energy,  he  learned 
scoring  for  a  military  band  from  Waetzig  of  the 
Life  Guards,  and  also  mastered  the  trombone, 
and  one  or  two  other  instruments.  In  1846  he 
began  the  double  bass,  under  Casolani,  and  by 
that  instrument  he  is  most  generally  known. 
In  1847  he  became  a  member  of  the  orchestras 
of  the  Royal  Italian  Opera,  Philharmonic,  Sacred 
Harmonic  Society,  etc.;  in  1850  was  PF.  ac- 
companyist,  and  solo  double-bass  player  at  the 
National  Concerts,  and  became  double-baas  at 
H.M.  Theatre  in  March  1851.  In  1852  he 
performed  a  solo  before  the  Queen  and  Prince 
Albert  at  Windsor.  In  1854,  finding  the  strain 
of  the  constant  practice  on  the  thick  three- 
stringed  English  bass  too  severe,  Mr.  Rowland 
retired  to  Southampton,  and  devoted  himself  to 
teaching  the  piano,  violin,  harmony,  and  sing 
ing,  in  which  he  has  been  very  successful  up  to 
the  present  time.  But  he  did  not  at  once  give  up 
his  connexion  with  London.  On  April  29,  1861, 
he  appeared  at  the  Philharmonic  Concert,  and 
performed  Mayseder's  Violin  Concerto  (op.  40) 
on  the  double-bass.  His  position  as  principal 
double-bass  to  the  Society  he  retained  till  the 
resignation  of  Sir  W.  S.  Bennett,  in  1866,  when 
he  also  resigned,  and  has  since  confined  himself 
to  his  country  practice  at  Southampton. 

Mr.  Rowland  has  published  the  /oth  Psalm  for 
voices  and  orchestra  (Ashdown  &  Parry) ;  the  first 
part  of  a  Double-bass  Tutor  (L.  Cock  &  Co.),  the 
second  part  of  which  is  now  in  the  press ;  also  a  set 
of  waltzes  composed  for  and  played  by  Jullien's 
band  in  1841.  He  has  also  composed  an  overture, 
and  various  vocal  pieces  which  have  been  per 
formed  at  Southampton,  but  are  not  published. 
He  is  the  leading  professor  there,  and  much 
esteemed  by  the  musicians  and  amateurs  of  the 
place.  [G-.] 

ROW  OF  KEYS.  A  single  clavier  or  manual. 
An  instrument  having  two  or  more  rows  of  keys 
is  one  having  two  or  more  manuals.  The  term 
'  row  of  keys '  is,  when  speaking  of  an  organ,  not 
applied  to  a  pedal-clavier  from  the  simple  fact 
that  one  '  row  of  keys '  is  all  that  is  required  by 
the  feet ;  two  rows  of  pedal-keys  have,  it  is  true, 
been  sometimes  constructed,  but  they  have 
always  been  found  unnecessary,  and  generally 
unmanageable.  Harpsichords  had  often  two 
rows  of  keys,  one  sounding  less  noisy  wires  than 
the  other ;  some  mechanical  change  of  that  sort 
being  the  only  means  of  obtaining  a  softer  or 
louder  tone  in  that  instrument.  [J.S.] 

ROYAL  ACADEMY  OF  MUSIC,  1720- 
1728.  From  1717  to  1720  there  was  no  Italian 
Opera  in  London,  but  in  the  latter  year  a  sum  of 
£50,000  was  raised  by  subscription,  and  an  estab 
lishment  was  founded  for  the  performance  of 
Italian  operas.  This  was  the  first  Royal  Academy 
of  Music.  It  consisted  of  a  Governor,  a  Deputy- 
Governor,  and  20  Directors.  The  first  governor 
was  the  Duke  of  Newcastle,  the  deputy -governor 
was  Lord  Bingley,  and  the  directors  included  the  , 


ROYAL  ACADEMY  OF  MUSIC. 

leaders   of  society  at   the   Court   of  George  I. 
Buononcini  was  invited  to  England  from  Rome, 
Ariosti  from  Berlin,  and  Handel  left  Cannons  and 
went  to  Dresden  to  engage  singers.     Under  these 
brilliant  auspices  the   Academy  opened  at  the 
King's  Theatre  in  the  Haymarket,  on  April  2, 
1720,  with  Giovanni  Porta's  '  Numitor,'  and  the 
following    strong   cast : — Senesino,   Durastanti, 
Boschi,  and  Berenstadt.     The  season  ended  on 
June  25.     It  was  remarkable  for  the  production 
of  Handel's    '  Radamisto '   and    D.    Scarlatti's 
'  Narcisso,'  the  latter  conducted  by  Roseingrave, 
and  including  Mrs.  Anastasia  Robinson  in  the 
cast.      The  second  season  lasted  from  Nov.  19, 
1720,  to  July  5,  1721.   The  new  works  performed 
were  '  Astarto  '  (Buononcini),  '  Arsace  '  (a  pas 
ticcio),   '  Muzio  Scaevola '  (Ariosti,  Buononcini, 
and  Handel),  and  '  Giro'  (Ariosti).     During  the 
first  year  of  the  undertaking  £15,000  of  the  sub 
scription  had  been  spent.   The  third  season  began 
Nov.  I,  1721,  and  ended  June  16,  1722.     The 
new  operas   were  Handel's   'Floridante,'  Buo 
noncini's  'Crispo'  and  'Griselda.'     The  fourth 
season  lasted  from  Nov.   7,   1722,  to  June  15, 
1723,  and  was  remarkable  for  the  first  appear 
ance  in  England  of  Cuzzoni,  who  sang  in  Handel's 
'Ottone'    on  Jan.   12.     The  other   new  works 
(besides    '  Ottone  *)   were  Ariosti's   '  Coriolano,' 
Buononcini's  'Erminia,'  and  Handel's  '  Flavio.' 
In  the  fifth  season  (Nov.  27,  1723,  to  June  13, 
1724)  Buononcini's  '  Farnace,'  Ariosti's  'Vespa- 
siano,'  and  a  pasticcio  called  '  Aquilio,'  were  pro 
duced.     At  the  end  of  the  season  Mrs.  Robinson 
retired  from  the  stage.     The  sixth  season  (Oct. 
31,  1724,  to  May  19, 1725)  opened  with  Handel's 
' Tamerlano.'    Ariosti's  '  A rtaserse ' and  'Dario' 
(partly  by  Vivaldi),  Handel's  'Rodelinda,'  Buo 
noncini's  '  Calfurnia,'  and  Vinci's  '  Elpidia'  were 
the  other   new  works  produced.     The  seventh 
season  (November    1725    to  June  1726)  ended 
abruptly,  owing  to  the  illness  of  Senesino,  but  it 
was  remarkable  for  the  first  appearance  of  the 
celebrated  Faustina  Hasse,  who  sang  in  Handel's 
'Alessandro'  on  May  5.     Handel's  'Scipione' 
was  also  produced  in  March.     Owing  to  Sene- 
sino's  absence,  the  operas  were  suspended  till 
Christmas,  and  the  next  season  ended  on  June 
6,    1727.      Ariosti's    'Lucio     Vero/     Handel's 
'  Admeto,'   and   Buononcini's   'Astyanax'  (the 
last  of  his  operas  performed  at  the  Academy) 
were  the  chief  works  ;  but  the  season,  although 
short,  was  enlivened  by  the  continual  disturb 
ances  caused  by  the  rivalry  between  Cuzzoni  and 
Faustina.     The  ninth  season  lasted  from  Oct.  3, 
1727,  to  June  i,  1728.      The  operas  were  en 
tirely   under   Handel's    direction :    his    '  Siroe,' 
'  Tolomeo,'  and  '  Ricardo  I '  were  produced,  but 
the  success  of  the  '  Beggar's  Opera  '  at  Lincoln's 
Inn  Fields  Theatre,  as  well  as  the  continual  dis 
putes  and  dissensions  amongst  the  singers,  caused 
the  season  to  be  more  than  usually  disastrous. 
At  the  end  of  it,  the  whole  sum  subscribed,  as 
well  as  the  receipts,  was  found  to  have  been 
entirely  spent.     The    company  was    dispersed, 
and  although  a  few  meetings  of  the  court  were 
held   during  the  year,    the   establishment  was 


EOYAL  ACADEMY  OF  MUSIC. 

allowed  to  die  gradually,  and  was  never  re 
vived.1  [W.B.S.] 

EOYAL  ACADEMY  OF  MUSIC.  The 
original  plan  for  this  institution  was  proposed 
by  Lord  Westmorland  (then  Lord  Burghersh)  at 
a  meeting  of  noblemen  and  gentlemen  held  at 
the  Thatched  House  Tavern,  London,  on  July  5, 
1822.  The  proposal  meeting  with  approval,  at  a 
second  meeting,  July  12,  rules  and  regulations 
were  drawn  up  and  a  committee  was  appointed 
to  carry  out  the  undertaking.  According  to 
the  rules  adopted,  the  constitution  of  the  new 
Academy  was  to  be  modelled  upon  the  British 
Institution.  The  king  was  announced  as  the 
principal  Patron,  the  government  was  to  consist 
of  a  committee  of  twenty-five  Directors  and  a 
sub-committee  of  nine  subscribers,  and  the  school 
was  to  be  supported  by  subscriptions  and  dona 
tions.  There  was  also  to  be  a  Board,  consisting 
of  the  Principal  and  four  professors,  and  the 
number  of  pupils  was  not  to  exceed  forty  boys 
and  forty  girls,  to  be  admitted  between  the 
ages  of  10  and  15,  and  all  to  be  boarded  in 
the  establishment.  A  sub- committee,  the  mem 
bers  of  which  were  Lord  Burghersh,  Sir  Gore 
Ouseley,  Count  St.  Antonio,  Sir  Andrew  Barnard, 
Sir  John  Murray,  and  the  Hon.  A.  Macdonald, 
was  empowered  to  form  the  Institution.  Dr. 
Crotch  was  appointed  the  first  Principal,  and  by 
September  I,  the  sum  of  £4312  105.  had  been 
collected,  with  an  annual  subscription  of  £510, 
including  100  guineas  from  George  IV.,  which 
has  been  continued  by  his  successors,  William  IV. 
and  Queen  Victoria.  In  November  the  house, 
No.  4,  Tenterden  Street,  Hanover  Square,  was 
taken  for  the  new  school,  but  the  opening  was 
deferred  until  March  1823,  on  the  24th  of  which 
month  the  first  lesson  was  given  by  Mr.  Cipriani 
Potter  to  Mr.  Kellow  Pye. 

The  Academy  began  its  labours  with  the  fol 
lowing  staff:— Head  Master — Rev.  John  Miles. 
Governess — Mrs.  Wade.  Principal— Dr.  Crotch. 
Board  of  Professors— Messrs.  Attwood,  Greatorex, 
Shield,  and  Sir  George  Smart.  Supplementary 
members  of  the  Board — Messrs.  Horsley  and  J.  B. 
Cramer.  Professors — Messrs.  Anfossi,  Andrew, 
Bishop,  Bochsa,  Crivelli,  F.  Cramer,  dementi, 
Coccia,  Cerruti,  Dragonetti,  Dizi,  Griesbach, 
Hawes,  Ireland,  C.  Kramer,  Liverati,  Lindley, 
Loder,  Mori,  Macintosh,  Nicholson,  Cipriani 
Potter,  Puzzi,  Ries,  H.  Smart,  Spagnoletti, 
Watts,  Willmann,  and  Caravita.2 

The  Foundation  students  who  were  first  elected 
were  the  following.  Girls — M.  E.  Lawson,  C. 
Smith,  M.  Chancellor,  S.  Collier,  E.  Jenkyns, 
M.  A.  Jay,  C.  Bromley,  H.  Little,  J.  Palmer, 
C.  Porter.  Boys— W.  H.  Holmes,  H.  A.  M. 
Cooke,3  A.  Greatorex,  T.  M.  Mudie,  H.  G.  Bla- 

1  Further  information  as  to  the  Eoyal  Academy  of  Music  will  be 
found  in  Burney's  History  of  Music,  vol  iv,  from  which  the  above  is 
compiled. 

2  Although  the  above  was  published  in  the  '  Morning  Post'  as  the 
st  of  professors,  instruction  seems  only  to  have  been  given  by  the 

following:— Dr.  Crotch,  Messrs.  Lord,  Potter,  Haydon,  Crivelli,  F. 
Cramer,  Spagnoletti,  Lindley,  Bochsa,  Cooke,  Caravita,  Cicchetti, 
Goodwin.  J.  B.  Cramer,  Beale,  and  Finart ;  and  by  Mmes.  Biagioli, 
Beguandin,  and  Miss  Adams.  (See  First  Beport  of  the  Committee, 
June  2, 1823.) 

3  Known  as  '  Grattan  Cooke.' 


ROYAL  ACADEMY  OF  MUSIC.     185 

grove,  Kellow  J.  Pye,  W.  H.  Phipps,  A.  Devaux, 
C.  Seymour,  E.  J.  Neilson,  and  C.  S.  Packer. 
The  pupils  were  divided  into  two  classes,  those 
on  the  foundation  paying  10  guineas  per  annum, 
while  extra  students  paid  20  guineas,  or  if  they 
lodged  and  boarded  in  the  establishment,  38 
guineas.  Although  the  first  Report  of  the  Com 
mittee  (June  2, 1823)  was  satisfactory,  yet  finan 
cial  difficulties  soon  made  themselves  felt.  In 
March,  1824,  the  Committee  reported  a  deficiency 
for  the  current  year  of  £1600,  if  the  institution 
were  conducted  on  the  same  plan  as  before.  To 
meet  this,  the  difference  between  the  students' 
payments  was  abolished,  and  the  fees  were  fixed 
for  all  at  £40,  the  professors  at  the  same  time 
giving  their  instruction  gratis  for  three  months. 
Lord  Burghersh  also  applied  to  the  government 
for  a  grant,  but  without  effect.  In  1825  further 
alterations  were  made  as  to  the  admission  of 
students,  by  which  the  numbers  amounted  in 
four  months'  time  to  a  hundred,  and  Lord  Bur 
ghersh  made  another  appeal  for  a  government 
grant.  In  spite  of  this,  the  year's  accounts  still 
showed  an  unsatisfactory  financial  condition. 
During  the  latter  part  of  the  year  Moscheles 
was  included  among  the  staff  of  professors. 
Early  in  1826  the  increased  number  of  students 
compelled  the  Academy  to  enlarge  its  premises, 
the  lease  4  of  No.  5  Tenterden  Street  was  bought, 
and  the  two  houses  were  thrown  into  one.  In 
February  the  government  were  petitioned  for  a 
charter.  In  reply  it  was  stated  that  though 
unwilling  to  give  a  grant,  they  were  ready 
to  defray  the  cost  of  a  charter.  In  1827 
the  financial  condition  of  the  Academy  was 
so  disastrous  that  it  was  proposed  to  close 
the  institution ;  but  a  final  appeal  to  the 
public  procured  a  loan  of  £1469,  beside  further 
donations,  enabling  the  Directors  to  carry  on 
the  undertaking  on  a  reduced  scale  and  with 
increased  fees.  Henceforward  the  state  of  things 
began  to  mend.  The  charter  was  granted  on 
June  23,  1830.  By  this  document  the  mem 
bers  of  the  Academy  and  their  successors  were 
incorporated  and  declared  to  be,  and  for  ever 
hereafter  to  continue  to  be  by  the  name  of  the 
'  Royal  Academy  of  Music/  under  the  govern 
ment  of  a  Board  of  Directors,  consisting  of  thirty 
members,  with  power  to  make  rules  and  regu 
lations  ;  a  Committee  of  Management,  with  full 
power  over  the  funds  and  both  students  and 
professors  ;  and  a  Treasurer. 

In  1832  Dr.  Crotch  resigned  his  post-  of  Prin 
cipal,  and  was  succeeded  by  Cipriani  Potter,  who 
retained  office  until  his  resignation  in  1859.  r^ne 
financial  position  of  the  Academy,  although  not 
prosperous,  remained  on  a  tolerably  secure  foot 
ing.  In  1834,  William  IV.  directed  that  a  quarter 
of  the  proceeds  of  the  Musical  Festival  held  in 
Westminster  Abbey  should  be  handed  over 
to  the  institution.  This  sum,  amounting  to 
£2250,  was  devoted  by  the  Committee  to  the 
foundation  of  four  King's  Scholarships,  to  be  com 
peted  for  by  two  male  and  two  female  students. 
Instead,  however,  of  being  invested  separately, 
«  Relinquished  in  or  before  1853. 


186     ROYAL  ACADEMY  OF  MUSIC. 

the  fund  was  merged  in  the  general  property  of 
the  Academy,  a  mistake  which  eventually  led  to 
the  discontinuance  of  the  scholarships.  For  the 
next  ten  years  the  financial  condition  of  the 
Academy  continued  to  fluctuate.  In  July  1853  the 
Committee  of  Management  (which  was  totally 
unprofessional  in  its  constitution)  summoned 
the  professors,  revealed  to  them  the  decline  of 
the  funded  property,  and  asked  their  counsel  as 
to  the  remedies  to  be  adopted.  The  professors 
advised  that  the  management  should  be  made 
entirely  professional.  This  course  was  so  far 
adopted  that  a  Board  of  Professors  was  appointed 
to  advise  the  Committee. 

The  first  act  of  this  Board  (Sept.  1853) 
was  to  recommend  the  discontinuance  of  the 
practice  of  students  lodging  and  boarding  on  the 
premises.  This  recommendation  was  adopted, 
and  since  that  time  the  Academy  only  re 
ceives  day  students.  The  Board  formed  in 
1853  was  disbanded  by  Lord  Westmorland 
in  1856,  but  after  his  death  in  1859,  a  new 
Board  was  formed  ;  this,  however,  found  itself 
obliged  to  resign  in  1864.  Before  its  resigna 
tion  it  drew  up  a  memorial  to  government, 
praying  for  an  annual  grant.  After  a  conference 
with  a  deputation  of  Professors,  Mr.  Gladstone, 
then  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  inserted  in 
the  estimates  for  the  year  a  sum  of  £500  'to 
defray  the  charge  which  will  come  in  course 
of  payment  during  the  year  ending  March  31, 
1865,  for  enabling  the  Directors  of  the  Royal 
Academy  of  Music  to  provide  accomodation 
for  the  Institution.'  In  1866,  upon  the  change 
of  Administration,  suggestions  were  made  to 
the  Committee  on  the  part  of  the  govern 
ment,  and  were  renewed  personally  in  1867 
by  the  then  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer, 
in  consequence  of  which  the  Committee  was 
induced  to  expend  the  whole  of  its  funds,  in 
order  to  accommodate  the  institution  to  the  de 
signs  in  which  it  was  invited  to  participate.  In 
1867,  Lord  Beaconsfield  (then  Mr.  Disraeli),  in 
reply  to  a  question  as  to  the  grant,  announced 
in  the  House  of  Commons  that '  the  Government 
were  of  opinion  that  they  would  not  be  authorised 
in  recommending  any  enlargement  of  the  grant, 
the  results  of  the  institution  not  being  in  fact 
of  a  satisfactory  character.'  This  was  followed 
by  the  tofrd  withdrawal  of  the  grant,  in  order 
(to  quote  from  an  official  letter  addressed  to  Sir 
Sterndale  Bennett)  '  simply  to  give  effect  to  the 
opinion  that  it  was  not  so  expedient  to  subsidise 
a  central  and  quasi-independent  association,  as  to 
establish  a  system  of  musical  instruction  under 
the  direct  control  of  some  Department  of  Govern 
ment.'  In  this  emergency  the  Committee  de 
cided  to  close  the  establishment.  The  funds 
(including  the  sum  devoted  to  the  King's  Scholar 
ships)  were  totally  exhausted.  The  Professors 
met  in  1868  to  consider  what  could  be  done,  and 
generously  offered  to  accept  a  payment  pro  ratd. 
It  was  then  however  announced  that  the  Com 
mittee  had  resigned  the  Charter  into  the  hands  of 
the  Queen.  Upon  this  the  Professors  obtained 
a  legal  opinion,  to  the  effect  that  the  Charter 


ROYAL  ACADEMY  OF  MUSIC. 

could  not  be  resigned  without  the  consent  of 
every  member  of  the  Academy.  As  many  of  the 
members  protested  at  the  time  against  the  re 
signation  of  the  Charter,  it  was  returned,  and 
by  great  exertions  on  the  part  of  the  Professors, 
a  new  Board  of  Directors  was  formed  under  the 
Presidency  of  the  Earl  of  Dudley,  who  appointed 
a  new  Committee  of  Management,  in  which  the 
professional  element  formed  an  important  in 
gredient.  From  the  time  of  this  change  the  in 
stitution  has  continued  to  prosper.  In  1868,  on 
the  return  to  office  of  the  Liberal  Ministry,  Mr. 
Gladstone  restored  the  annual  grant  of  £500. 
In  1876  the  number  of  pupils  had  so  increased, 
that  the  lease  of  the  house  adjoining  the  pre 
mises  in  Tenterden  Street  had  to  be  repurchased 
out  of  the  savings  of  the  institution.  This  house 
was  joined  on  to  the  original  premises,  and  a 
concert-room  was  formed  out  of  part  of  the  two 
houses,  which  though  small  has  proved  a  great 
boon  not  only  to  the  students  for  their  regular 
concerts,  but  to  many  concert-givers  for  whose 
purposes  the  more  extensive  rooms  of  St.  James's 
Hall,  Exeter  Hall,  etc.,  are  too  large.  In  July 
1880  Mr.  William  Shakespeare  was  appointed 
conductor  of  the  Students'  Concerts,  vice  Mr. 
Walter  Macfarren. 

The  following  have  been  the  Principals  of  the 
Academy  from  its  foundation  to  the  present 
time  : — Dr.  Crotch  (1823-1832),  Cipriani  Potter 
(1832-1859),  Charles  Lucas  (1859-1866),  Wil 
liam  Sterndale  Bennett  (1866-1875),  George 
Alexander  Macfarren  (1875). 

The  Academy  is  supported  by  the  Government 
grant,  subscriptions,  donations,  and  fees  from 
students.  It  is  under  the  direction  of  a  Presi 
dent  (Earl  Dudley),  three  Vice-Presidents  (Sir 
Thos.  Gladstone,  Sir  T.  T.  Bernard,  and  the 
Rev.  Sir  F.  A.  G.  Ouseley,  Bt.),  and  twenty-four 
Directors,  amongst  whom  are  Sir  Julius  Benedict, 
Sir  G.  J.  Elvey,  Professor  Macfarren,  and  Messrs. 
Cusins,  Garcia,  Halle,  W.  H.  Holmes,  W. 
Macfarren,  Osborne,  Randegger,  and  Brinley 
Richards.  The  Committee  of  Management  con 
sists  of  the  Principal,  Sir  Julius  Benedict,  and 
Messrs.  Cox,  Dorrell,  Garcia,  Leslie,  Low,  Lunn, 
W.  Macfarren,  Randegger,  Brinley  Richards, 
Sainton,  Sparrow,  Wood,  and  Dr.  Steggall.  There 
are  seventy-eight  Professors  (including  assistant 
and  sub-professors),  and  the  course  of  instruction 
comprises  harmony  and  composition,  singing, 
pianoforte,  organ,  harp,  violin,  viola,  violoncello, 
double  bass,  flute,  oboe,  clarinet,  bassoon,  horn, 
trumpet  and  cornet,  trombone,  military  music, 
elocution,  acoustics,  and  the  English,  French,  Ger 
man,  and  Italian  languages.  There  are  also  classes 
for  sight-singing,  string  quartets,  and  opera.  The 
annual  fee  for  the  entire  course  of  study  is  thirty 
guineas,  with  an  entrance  fee  of  five  guineas,  the 
only  extras  being  two  guineas  a  term  for  the 
operatic  class,  and  one  guinea  for  the  classes 
for  the  study  of  English,  French,  German, 
Italian,  and  acoustics.  The  library  of  the  insti 
tution  has  been  noticed  in  the  article  on  MUSICAL 
LIBRARIES  (vol.  ii.  p.  420). 

The  following  are  the  principal  Scholarships 


EOYAL  SOCIETY  OF  MUSICIANS. 

and  Exhibitions  offered  for  competition  : — the 
Westmorland  Scholarship  of  £10,  for  female 
vocalists  between  the  ages  of  18  and  24;  the 
Potter  Exhibition  of  £12,  for  male  and  female 
candidates  in  alternate  years ;  the  Sterndale 
Bennett  Scholarship,  of  two  years'  free  education 
in  the  Academy,  for  male  candidates  between  the 
ages  of  14  and  21 ;  the  Parepa-Rosa  Scholarship, 
of  two  years'  free  education  in  the  Academy,  for 
British-born  females  between  the  ages  of  1 8  and 
22;  the  Sir  John  Goss  Scholarship  of  15  guineas, 
awarded  triennially  to  male  organists  under  18  ; 
the  Thalberg  Scholarship  of  £20,  for  male  and 
female  pianists  at  alternate  elections,  between  the 
ages  of  14  and  21  ;  the  Novello  Scholarship,  of 
three  years'  free  education  at  the  Academy,  for 
male  candidates  between  the  ages  of  14  and  18  ; 
the  Lady  Goldsmid  Scholarship,  of  one  year's  free 
education  in  the  Academy,  for  female  pianists  ; 
the  Balfe  Scholarship  for  composition,  of  one 
year's  free  education  at  the  Academy,  for  British- 
born  males  between  the  ages  of  14  and  21  ; 
and  the  Hine  Gift  of  £12,  given  annually  for 
the  best  English  ballad  composed  by  pupils 
under  17.  In  addition  to  these,  several  prizes 
are  offered  for  competition,  and  certificates  of 
merit,  silver  and  bronze  medals,  are  awarded 
annually. 

Public  performances  have  been  given  by  the 
pupils  of  the  Royal  Academy  at  various  intervals 
from  the  date  of  its  foundation.  Their  locality 
was  sometimes  in  the  Hanover  Square  Rooms 
and  sometimes  at  Tenterden  Street.  The  present 
custom  is  to  have  two  concerts  of  chamber  and 
choral  music  at  the  Academy,  and  one  orchestral 
concert  at  St.  James's  Hall  every  term.  From 
1828  to  1831  operatic  performances  were  given 
in  public  by  the  students,  but  since  then  they 
have  been  discontinued,  the  performances  of  the 
operatic  class  being  held  privately  once  or  twice 
in  each  term.  There  is  orchestral  and  choral 
practice  twice  a  week  throughout  the  year,  at 
which  pupils  have  the  opportunity  of  hearing 
their  own  instrumental  or  vocal  compositions 
and  of  performing  concertos  and  songs  with 
orchestral  accompaniments.  The  number  of 
pupils  has  increased  from  300  in  1876,  to  400  in 
1881.  [W.B.S.] 

ROYAL  SOCIETY  OF  MUSICIANS  OF 
GREAT  BRITAIN,  THE,  was  founded  by  the 
exertions  of  Festing  the  violinist,  and  Weidemann 
the  flutist,  who  were  struck  by  the  appearance  of 
two  little  boys  driving  milch  asses,  who  proved 
to  be  orphans  of  a  deceased  oboe-player  named 
Kytch.  [See  FESTING,  vol.  i.  p.  5156.]  They 
immediately  raised  subscriptions  to  relieve  the 
family,  and  feeling  that  some  permanent  establish 
ment  was  required  to  meet  similar  cases,  induced 
the  most  eminent  music-professors  of  the  day 
to  associate  themselves  together  as  a  Society  for 
that  purpose.  This  excellent  work  was  formally 
accomplished  on  April  19,  1738,  and  amongst 
its  first  members  were  Handel,  Boyce,  Arne, 
Christopher  Smith,  Carey,  Cooke,  Edward 
Purcell,  Leveridge,  Greene,  Reading,  Hayes, 
Pepusch,  and  Travers.  In  1739  the  members 


ROYAL  SOCIETY  OF  MUSICIANS.     187 

of  the  Society  executed  a  '  deed  of  trust,'  which 
was  duly  enrolled  in  the  Court  of  Chancery ;  the 
signatures  of  the  members,  226  in  number,  in 
clude  the  most  eminent  professors  of  music  of  the 
time.  The  deed  recites  the  rules  and  regulations 
for  membership  and  for  the  distribution  of  the 
funds,  and  provides  for  regular  monthly  meetings 
at  the  sign  of  Saint  Martin,  in  St.  Martin's 
Lane.  Handel  took  an  especial  and  active  in 
terest  in  the  welfare  of  the  Society,  composing 
concertos  and  giving  concerts  for  the  benefit  of 
its  funds,  and  at  his  death  bequeathing  to  it  a 
legacy  of  £1,000.  The  Handel  Commemoration 
held  in  Westminster  Abbey  in  1784  brought  a 
further  addition  of  £6,000.  In  1 789  George  III. 
granted  the  Society  a  charter,  by  virtue  of  which 
its  management  is  vested  in  the  hands  of  the 
'Governors'  and  *  Court  of  Assistants.'  In  1804 
the  funds  of  the  Society  not  being  in  a  flourish 
ing  condition,  the  king  gave  a  donation  of  500 
guineas.  Considerable  sums  have  been  given 
or  bequeathed  to  the  Society  by  members  of 
the  music-profession,  especially  Signora  Storace 
£1,000,  Crosdill  £1,000,  Begrez  £1,000,  Schulz 
£r,ooo;  the  latest  and  largest  amount,  1,000 
guineas,  being  that  of  Mr.  Thomas  Molineux 
(Feb.  10,  1881),  now  resident  in  London,  but 
for  many  years  an  eminent  performer  on  the 
bassoon  and  double-bass  at  Manchester. 

The  Society  pays  away  annually  to  relieve 
distress  over  £3,000,  which  amount  is  provided 
by  donations  from  the  public,  subscriptions  and 
donations  of  members  of  the  Society,  and  in 
terest  (about  £2,500  per  annum)  on  the  Society's 
funded  property. 

Members  of  the  Society  must  be  professional 
musicians,  and  are  of  both  sexes,  the  Royal 
Society  of  Female  Musicians  having  been  affi 
liated  to  the  elder  institution  in  1 866.  [See  ROYAL 
SOCIETY  OF  FEMALE  MUSICIANS.]  There  is,  says 
Dr.  Burney,  *  no  lucrative  employment  belonging 
to  this  Society,  excepting  small  salaries  to  the 
secretary  and  collector,  so  that  the  whole  pro 
duce  of  benefits  and  subscriptions  is  nett,  and 
clear  of  all  deductions  or  drawbacks.'  The  large 
staff  of  physicians,  surgeons,  counsel,  solicitors, 
give  their  gratuitous  services  to  the  Society. 
The  present  secretary  is  Mr.  Stanley  Lucas,  and 
the  honorary  treasurer  Mr.  W.  H.  Cummings. 
The  Society's  rooms  are  at  No.  12  Lisle  Street, 
Leicester  Square,  and  contain  some  interesting 
memorials  of  music,  as  well  as  a  collection  of 
portraits,  including  Handel,  by  Hudson  ;  Haydn  ; 
Corelli,  by  Howard  ;  Geminiani,  by  Hudson  ; 
Purcell,  by  Closterman  ;  C.  E.  Horn,  by  Pocock ; 
John  Parry,  the  elder ;  Sir  W.  Parsons  ;  J.  Sin 
clair,  by  Harlowe;  Gaetano  Crivelli,  by  Part 
ridge;  Domenico  Francesco  Maria  Crivelli ;  J.  S. 
Bach,  by  Clark  of  Eton  ;  Beethoven,  with  auto 
graph  presenting  it  to  C.  Neate ;  W.  Dance  by 
his  brother  ;  and  a  life-size  painting  of  George 
III.  by  Gainsborough.  [W.  H.  C.] 

ROYAL  SOCIETY  OF  FEMALE  MU 
SICIANS,  THE,  was  established  in  1839  by 
several  ladies  of  distinction  in  the  musical  pro 
fession,  amongst  others  Mrs.  Anderson,  Miss 


188    ROYAL  SOCIETY  OF  MUSICIANS. 

Birch,  Miss  Dolby,  and  Miss  Mounsey  (now  Mrs. 
Bartholomew),  in  consequence  of  the  Hoy al  Society 
of  Musicians  having  made  no  provision  in  their 
laws  for  the  admission  of  female  members. 
Practically  it  soon  became  evident  that  the 
co-existence  of  two  separate  societies  with  the 
same  aim  was  resulting  in  considerable  loss 
of  sympathy  and  support ;  and  that  one  ex 
penditure  would  suffice  for  the  management 
of  both  institutions,  if  they  could  be  amalga 
mated.  With  the  consent  of  the  trustees  and 
members  this  happy  union  was  effected  in 
1866,  and  the  two  societies  have  now  become 
one.  [W.H.C.] 

EOZE,  MARIE,  nfa  PONSIN,  born  March  2, 
1846,  at  Paris;  received  instruction  in  singing 
from  Molker  at  the  Conservatoire,  and  in  1865 
gained  1st  prizes  in  singing  and  comic  opera. 
She  made  her  debut  Aug.  16  of  that  year  at  the 
Opera  Comique  as  Marie,  in  He'rold's  opera  of 
that  name,  and  at  once  concluded  an  engagement 
for  the  next  four  years  there,  during  which  she 
appeared  in  '  L'Ambassadrice,'  'Joseph,'  'La 
Dame  Blanche,'  'Le  Domino  Noir,'  '  Fra  Dia- 
volo,'  etc.  She  created  the  part  of  Djalma  in 
'Le  Premier  jour  de  Bonheur'  of  Auber,  at  his 
request,  on  Feb.  15,  1868  ;  also  that  of  Jeanne  in 
Flotow's  'L' Ombre,'  July  7,  1870.  She  was 
greatly  admired  at  the  Ope"ra  Comique  for  her 
sympathetic  voice  and  natural  charm  of  person 
and  manner.  Her  next  engagement  was  at  the 
Grand  Opera,  where  she  played  Marguerite  in 
'  Faust.'  At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  she  left  the 
opera  for  the  army,  and  served  with  zeal  in  the 
ambulance.  After  the  war  she  sang  for  a  season 
at  the  Theatre  de  la  Monnaie,  Brussels,  and  on 
April  30,  1872,  first  appeared  in  England  at  the 
Italian  Opera,  Drury  Lane,  as  Marguerite,  and 
as  Marcelline  in  'Les  Deux  Journees,'  on  its 
short-lived  production,  June  20,  1872.  The  en 
suing  seasons,  until  1877,  she  passed  at  Drury 
Lane,  where  she  made  a  distinct  success,  June  1 1, 
1874,  as  Berengaria  in  Balfe's  'II  Talismano,' 
at  Her  Majesty's,  and  in  the  provinces,  singing 
both  in  Italian  and  English  in  opera  or  the  concert- 
room.  In  the  winter  of  1877  she  made  a  highly 
successful  visit  to  America,  returning  in  1879  to 
Her  Majesty's  Theatre,  where  she  is  now  (1881) 
engaged.  Her  parts  include  Donna  Anna,  Donna 
Elvira,  Pamina,  Susanna,  Alice,  Leonora  (Verdi), 
Agatha,  Mignon,  Carmen,  A'ida,,  Ortrud,  etc., 
Madame  Eoze  has  been  married,  1st  to  Mr.  Julius 
Perkins,  an  American  bass  singer  of  great  pro 
mise,  who  died  in  1875  ;  and  2ndly  to  Mr.  Henry 
Mapleson.  On  April  17,  1880,  at  Mr.  Ganz's 
orchestral  concert,  she  revived  with  great  success 
the  '  Divinites  du  Styx '  from  Gluck's  '  Alceste ' 
(last  sung  here  in  1871  by  Viardot  Garcia),  and 
an  air  from  Mozart's  'II  Re  Pastore,'  which  was 
formerly  a  favourite  with  Madame  Lind-Gold- 
schmidt.  [A.C.] 

RUBATO,  lit.  'robbed'  or  'stolen,'  referring 
to  the  values  of  the  notes,  which  are  diminished 
in  one  place  and  increased  in  another.  The  word 
is  used,  chiefly  in  instrumental  music,  to  indicate 
a  particular  kind  of  licence  allowed  in  order  to 


RUBINELLI. 

emphasise   the   expression.     This  consists  of  a 
slight  ad  libitum  slackening  or  quickening  of  the 
time   in   any  passage,  in  accordance  with  the 
unchangeable  rule  that  in  all  such  passages  any 
bar  in  which  this  licence  is  taken  must  be  of 
exactly  the  same  length  as  the  other  bars  in  the 
movement,  so  that  if  the  first  part  of  the  bar 
be  played  slowly,  the  other  part  must  be  taken 
quicker  than  the  ordinary  time  of  the  movement 
to  make  up  for  it ;    and  vice  versa,  if  the  bar  be 
hurried  at  the  beginning,  there  must  be  a  ratten- 
tando  at  the  end.     In  a  general  way  this  most 
important  and  effective  means  of  expression  is 
left  entirely  to  the  discretion  of  the  performer, 
who,  it  need  scarcely  be  said,  should  take  great 
care  to  keep  it  within  due  limits,  or  else  the 
whole  feeling  of  time  will  be  destroyed,  and  the 
emphasis  so  desirable  in  one  or  two  places  will 
fail  of  its  effect  if  scattered  over  the  whole  com 
position.     Sometimes,    however,  it   is  indicated 
by  the  composer,  as  in  the  1st  Mazurka  in  Chopin's 
op.  6  (bar  9),  etc.     This  licence  is  allowable  ia 
the  works  of  all  the  modern  '  romantic  '  masters, 
from  Weber  downwards,  with  the  single  excep 
tion  of  Mendelssohn,  who  had  the  greatest  dis 
like  to  any  modification  of  the  time  that  he  had 
not  specially  marked.     In  the  case  of  the  older 
masters,  it  is  entirely  and  unconditionally  inad 
missible,  and  it  may  be  doubted  whether  it  should 
be  introduced  in  Beethoven,  although  many  great 
interpreters  of  his  music  do  not  hesitate  to  use 
it.     [See  TEMPO.]  [J.A.F.M.] 

RUBINELLI,  GIOVANNI  BATTISTA,  cele 
brated  singer,  born  at  Brescia  in  1753,  made 
his  first  appearance  on  the  stage  at  the  age  of 
1 8,  at  Stuttgart,  in  Sacchini's  'Calliroe.'  For 
some  years  he  was  attached  to  the  Duke  of 
Wiirtemberg's  chapel,  but  in  1774  ^e  sana  a* 
Modena  in  Paisiello's  '  Alessandro  nelle  Indie ' 
and  Anfossi's  '  Demofoonte.'  His  success  was 
very  great ;  and  during  the  next  few  years  he 
performed  at  all  the  principal  theatres  in  Italy. 
In  1786  he  came  to  London,  after  a  journey 
from  Rome  by  no  means  propitious.  The  weather 
was  unusually  severe,  and,  in  going  through 
France,  his  travelling  chaise  was  overturned  at 
Macon;  besides  which,  when  approaching  Dover, 
the  boat  that  landed  him  was  upset,  and  the 
unlucky  singer  remained  for  a  time  up  to  his  chin 
in  the  water.  In  spite  of  these  perils  he  made  a 
successful  debut  in  a  pasticcio  called  '  Virginia,' 
his  own  part  in  which  was  chiefly  composed  by 
Tarchi.  He  next  sang  with  Mara,  in  '  Armida,' 
and  in  Handel's  'Giulio  Cesare,'  revived  for 
him,  with  several  interpolations  from  Handel's 
other  works.  These  are  said  to  have  been  most 
admirably  sung  by  Rubinelli.  '  He  possessed  a 
contralto  voice  of  fine  quality,  but  limited  com 
pass.  It  was  full,  round,  firm,  and  steady  in  slow 
movements,  but  had  little  agility,  nor  did  he  at 
tempt  to  do  more  than  he  could  execute  perfectly. 
His  style  was  the  true  cantabile,  in  which  few 
could  excel  him ;  his  taste  was  admirable,  and 
his  science  great ;  his  figure  tall  and  commanding, 
his  manner  and  action  solemn  and  dignified.  In 
short  he  must  be  reckoned,  if  not  the  first,  yet  of 


RUBINELLI. 


RUBINI. 


189 


the  first  class  of  fine  singers.'  (Lord  Mount-Edge- 
cumbe.)  Burney  says  that  his  voice  was  better 
in  a  church  or  a  theatre,  where  it  could  expand, 
than  in  a  room  ;  and  continues,  '  There  was  dig 
nity  in  his  appearance  on  the  stage,  and  the 
instant  the  tone  of  his  voice  was  heard  no  doubt 
remained  with  the  audience  that  he  was  the 
first  singer.  His  style  was  grand,  and  truly 
dramatic,  his  execution  neat  and  distinct,  his 
taste  and  embellishments  new,  select,  and  mas 
terly,  and  his  articulation  so  pure  and  well 
accented  that,  in  his  recitatives,  no  one  conver 
sant  in  the  Italian  language  ever  had  occasion 
to  look  at  the  book  of  the  words  while  he  was 
singing.  Rubinelli,  from  the  fulness  of  his  voice 
and  greater  simplicity  of  style,  pleased  a  more 
considerable  number  of  hearers  than  Pacchierotti, 
though  none,  perhaps,  so  exquisitely  as  that 
singer  used  to  delight  his  real  admirers.  Rubi- 
nelli,  finding  himself  censured  on  his  first  arrival 
in  England,  for  changing  and  embellishing  his 
airs,  sang  "  Return,  0  God  of  Hosts  "  in  West 
minster  Abbey,  in  so  plain  and  unadorned  a 
manner,  that  even  those  who  venerate  Handel 
the  most  thought  him  insipid.' 

After  his  season  in  London  he  returned  to 
Italy,  where  he  had  enormous  success  at  Vicenza 
and  Verona,  in  1791  and  1792,  in  'La  Morte  de 
Cleopatra '  of  Nasolini,  and  '  Agesilao '  of  An- 
dreozzi.  In  1800  he  left  the  stage,  and  settled 
at  Brescia,  where  he  died  in  1829. 

The  following  lines,  some  of  which  are  well 
known  (suggested  by  the  occasion  of  Carbonelli 
the  violinist  having  relinquished  the  musical 
profession  to  become  a  wine  merchant),  bear 
witness  to  the  powers  and  the  popularity  of 
Rubinelli.  They  are  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wake, 
whose  quaint  spelling  has  been  followed. 

Let  Rubinelli  charm  the  ear, 
And  sing  as  erst  with  voice  divine, 

To  Carbouelli  I  adhear, 
Instead  of  musick,  give  me  wine. 

And  yet  perhaps  with  wine  combined, 
Sweet  musick  would  our  joys  improvej 

Let  both  together  then  be  joined, 
And  feast  we  as  the  gods  above. 

Anacreon-like  I'll  sit  and  quaff, 
Old  age  and  wrinkles  I  '11  despise, 

Devout  the  present  hours  to  laugh, 
And  learn  to-morrow  to  be  wise. 

[F.A.M.] 

RUBINI,  GIOVANNI  BATTISTA,  the  most  cele 
brated  of  modern  tenor  singers,  was  born  at 
Romano,  near  Bergamo,  on  April  7,  1795.  The 
son  of  a  professor  of  music,  he  learned  the  rudi 
ments  of  his  art  from  his  father,  and  at  eight  years 
old  could  sing  in  church  choirs  and  play  the  violin 
in  an  orchestra.  He  was  then  placed  as  a  pupil  with 
one  Don  Santo,  a  priest,  organist  at  Adro,  who 
however  soon  sent  him  home  again,  saying  that 
he  had  no  talent  for  singing.  In  spite  of  this,  the 
father  persisted  in  teaching  his  unpromising  son, 
and  allowed  him,  at  the  age  of  twelve,  to  appear 
in  public  at  the  Romano  theatre  in  a  woman's 
part.  The  boy  was  next  engaged  at  Bergamo  as 
chorus -singer,  and  to  play  violin  solos  in  the 
entr'actes.  It  happened  while  he  was  here  that 
in  a  new  drama  that  was  brought  out,  an  air  by 


Lamberti,  of  considerable  difficulty,  had  to  be 
introduced,  for  which  it  was  not  easy  to  find 
a  singer.  The  song  was  finally  entrusted  to 
young  Rubini,  who  acquitted  himself  with  much 
applause,  and  was  rewarded  by  the  manager 
with  a  present  of  five  francs.  In  after  life  he 
was  fond  of  singing  this  song,  in  memory  of 
his  first  triumph.  His  elation  at  the  time 
must  have  been  sadly  damped  just  afterwards 
by  the  refusal  of  a  Milan  manager  to  engage 
him  as  chorus-singer,  because  of  his  insufficient 
voice. 

After  belonging  for  a  time  to  a  strolling  com 
pany,  and  making  an  unsuccessful  attempt  at  a 
concert  tour  with  a  violinist  called  Madi,  he  got 
a  small  engagement  at  Pavia,  then  another  at 
Brescia  for  the  Carnival ;  he  next  appeared  at  the 
San  Mose  theatre  at  Venice,  and  lastly  at  Naples, 
where  the  director,  Barbaja  (according  to  Escu- 
dier),  engaged  him  to  sing  with  Pellegrini  and 
Nozzari,  in  two  operas  written  for  him  by  Fiora- 
vanti.  (The  name  of  one  of  these  operas, '  Adelson 
e  Salvina,'  is  identical  with  that  of  an  early  work 
of  Bellini's  produced  about  this  time.)  With  the 
public  Rubini  was  successful,  but  so  little  does 
Barbaja  appear  to  have  foreseen  his  future  great 
ness  that  he  wished  to  part  with  him  at  the  end  of 
the  first  year's  engagement,  and  only  consented  to 
retain  his  services  at  a  reduced  salary.  Rubini 
preferred  making  some  sacrifice  to  leaving  Naples, 
where  he  was  taking  lessons  of  Nozzari,  and  he 
acceded  to  Barbaja's  conditions,  which  very  soon, 
however,  had  to  be  rescinded,  owing  to  Rubini's 
brilliant  successes  at  Rome  (in  '  La  Gazza  ladra  ') 
and  at  Palermo.  Some  time  in  1819  he  married 
Mdlle.  Chomel,  known  at  Naples  as  La  Comelli, 
a  singer  of  some  contemporary  celebrity,  a  French 
woman  by  birth,  and  pupil  of  the  Paris  Con 
servatoire. 

His  first  appearance  at  Paris  was  on  October 
6,  1825,  in  the  '  Cenerentola,'  and  was  followed 
by  others  in  '  Otello '  and  '  La  Donna  del  Lago.' 
He  was  hailed  unanimously  as  '  King  of  Tenors,' 
and  began  here  the  series  of  triumphs  which 
lasted  as  long  as  his  stage  career.  He  was  still 
bound  by  his  engagement  with  Barbaja,  who  by 
this  time  had  become  aware  of  his  worth,  and 
only  yielded  him  for  six  months  to  the  Thdatre 
I  tali  en,  claiming  him  back  at  the  end  of  that 
time  to  sing  at  Naples,  then  at  Milan,  and  at 
Vienna. 

Up  to  this  time  his  laurels  had  been  won  in 
Rossini's  music,  on  which  his  style  was  first 
formed,  and  it  was  not  till  now  that  he  found  his 
real  element,  the  vehicle  most  congenial  to  his 
special  individuality,  and  thanks  to  which  he  was 
to  reach  the  summit  of  his  fame.  Rubini  was  the 
foundation  and  raison  d'etre  of  the  whole  phase 
of  Italian  opera  that  succeeded  the  Rossinian 
period.  He  and  Bellini  were  said  to  have  been 
born  for  one  another,  and  in  all  probability 
Rubini  was  not  more  captivated  by  the  tender, 
pathetic  strains  of  Bellini,  than  the  sensitive 
Bellini  was  influenced  by  Rubini's  wonderful 
powers  of  expression.  Such  a  singer  is  an  actual 
source  of  inspiration  to  a  composer,  who  heart,  his 


190 


RUBINI. 


own  ideas  not  only  realised,  but,  it  may  be, 
glorified.  During  the  whole  composition  of  'II 
Pirata,'  Rubini  stayed  with  Bellini,  singing'  each 
song  as  it  was  finished.  To  this  fortunate  com 
panionship  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  we  owe  '  La 
Sonnambula '  and  '  I  Puritani.'  Donizetti,  again, 
achieved  no  great  success  until  the  production  of 
'Anna  Bolena,'  his  thirty -second  opera,  in  which 
the  tenor  part  was  written  expressly  for  Rubini, 
who  achieved  in  it  some  of  his  greatest  triumphs. 
It  was  followed  by  '  Lucia,'  '  Lucrezia,'  '  Marino 
Faliero,'  and  others,  in  which  a  like  inspiration 
was  followed  by  the  same  result. 

Rubini  first  came  to  England  in  1831,  when 
freed  from  his  engagement  with  Barbaja,  and 
from  that  time  till  1843  he  divided  each  year 
between  Paris  and  this  country,  singing  much  at 
concerts  and  provincial  festivals,  as  well  as  at 
the  Opera,  and  creating  a  furore  wherever  he 
went. 

His  voice — more  sweet  than  'robust,'  save  on 
the  rare   occasions  when  he   put  forth  his  full 
power — extended   from   E   of  the    bass   clef  to 
B  of  the  treble,  in   chest    notes,  besides    com 
manding  a  falsetto  register  as  far  as  F  or  even  G 
above  that.     A  master  of  every  kind  of  florid 
execution,  and  delighting  at  times  in  its  display 
no  one  seems  ever  to  have  equalled  him  when  he 
turned  these  powers  into  the  channel  of  emotional 
vocal  expression,  nor  to  have  produced  so  magical 
an  effect  by  the  singing  of  a  simple,   pathetic 
melody,   without  ornament  of  any  kind  soever. 
He  indulged  too  much  in  the  use  of  head-voice, 
but  '  so  perfect  is  his  art,'  says  Escudier,  writing 
at  the  time,  '  that  the  transition  from  one  register 
to  the  other  is  imperceptible  to  the  hearer.  .  .  . 
Gifted  with  immense  lungs,  he  can  so  control  his 
breath  as  never  to  expend   more  of  it  than   is 
absolutely    necessary  for  producing    the    exact 
degree  of  sound  he  wishes.     So  adroitly  does  he 
conceal  the  artifice  of  respiration  that  it  is  im 
possible  to  discover  when  his  breath  renews  it 
self,  inspiration  and  expiration  being  apparently 
simultaneous,  as  if  one  were  to  fill  a  cup  with  one 
hand  while  emptying  it  with  the  other.     In  this 
manner  he  can   deliver    the  longest   and  most 
drawn-out  phrases  without  any  solution  of  con 
tinuity.'     His  stage  appearance  was  not  impos 
ing,  for  his  figure  was  short  and  awkward,  his 
features  plain  and  marked  with  small -pox.  He  was 
no  actor,  and  seems  rarely  to  have  even  tried  to 
act.     His  declamation   of  recitative  left  some 
thing  to  be  desired.     'In  concerted  pieces  he 
does  not  give  himself  the  trouble  of  singing  at 
all,  and  if  he  goes  as  far  as  to  open  his  mouth,  it 
is  only  to  preserve   the  most  absolute  silence.' 
(Escudier.)      '  He  would  walk  through   a  good 
third  of  an   opera  languidly,   giving    the  notes 
correctly  and  little  more, — in  a  duet  blending  his 
voice  intimately  with  that  of  his  partner  (in  this 
he  was  unsurpassed)  ;  but  when  his  own  moment 
arrived  there  was  no  longer  coldness  or  hesitation, 
but  a  passion,  a  fervour,  a  putting  forth  to  the 
utmost  of  every  resource  of  consummate  vocal  art 
and  emotion,  which  converted  the  most  incredulous, 
and  satisfied  those  till  then  inclined  to  treat  him 


RUBINI. 

as  one   whose  reputation   had  been  overrated.' 
(Chorley.)    Some  of  his  greatest  effects  were  pro 
duced  by  an  excessive  use  of  strong  contrasts 
between  piano   and  forte,    'which  in  the  last 
years  of  his  reign  degenerated  into  the  alternation 
of  a  scarcely-audible  whisper  and  a  shout.'    He 
was  the  earliest  to  use  that  thrill  of  the  voice 
known  as  the  vibrato  (with  the  subsequent  abuse 
of  which  we  are  all  of  us  too  familiar),  at  first  as 
a  means  of  emotional  effect,  afterwards  to  conceal 
the    deterioration    of  the    organ.       To  him  too 
was  originally  due  that  species  of  musical  sob 
produced  by  the  repercussion  of  a  prolonged  note 
before  the  final  cadence,   which,  electrifying  at 
first  as  a  new  effect,  has  become  one  of  the  com 
monest  of  vocal  vulgarisms.     But  such  was  his 
perfection    of   finish,    such    the  beauty  of  his 
expression,  such   his    thorough  identification  of 
himself,   not  with  his  dramatic  impersonations 
but  with  his  songs,  that  his  hold  on  the  public  re 
mained  unweakened  to  the  last,  even  when  his 
voice   was   a   wreck   and   his   peculiarities  had 
become   mannerisms.      He   has   had   one  great 
successor,  very  different  from  himself,  in  some  of 
his  principal  parts,    and   numberless  imitators, 
but  no  rival  in  the  art  of  gathering  up  and  ex 
pressing  in  one  song  the  varied  emotions  of  a 
whole  opera,  and  to  this  may  be  due  the  fact  that 
he  was  as  much  worshipped,  and  is  as  affection 
ately  remembered  by  numbers  who  never  set  foot 
in  a  theatre  as  by  the  most  constant  of  opera- 
goers. 

In  1843  he  started  with  Liszt  on  a  tour  through 
Holland  and  Germany,  but  the  two  separated  at 
Berlin,  and  Rubini  went  on  alone  to  St.  Peters 
burg,  where  he  created  an  enthusiasm  verging 
on  frenzy.  By  his  first  concert  alone  he  realised 
54,000  francs.  The  Emperor  Nicholas  made  him 
'  Director  of  Singing '  in  the  Russian  dominions, 
and  a  colonel  into  the  bargain. 

In  the  summer  of  this  year  Rubini  went  to 
Italy,  giving  some  representations  at  Vienna  by 
the  way.  He  returned  to  Russia  in  the  winter 
of  1 844,  but  finding  his  voice  permanently  affected 
by  the  climate  resolved  to  retire  from  public 
life.  He  bought  a  property  near  Romano,  where 
he  passed  his  last  years,  and  died,  on  March  3, 
1854,  leaving  behind  him  one  of  the  largest 
fortunes  ever  amassed  on  the  operatic  stage, 
which,  unlike  too  many  of  his  brother  artists,  he 
had  not  squandered.  He  seems  to  have  been  a 
simple,  kindly-natured  man,  and  letters  of  his, 
still  extant,  show  that  he  was  ready  and  willing 
to  assist  needy  compatriots. 

His  imitators  have  brought  discredit  on  their 
great  original,  among  those  who  never  heard 
him,  by  aping  and  exaggerating  his  mannerisms 
without  recalling  his  genius,  so  that  his  name  is 
associated  with  an  impure  and  corrupt  style 
of  vocalisation.  This  has  helped,  among  other 
influences,  in  bringing  .about  the  twofold  reac 
tion,  in  composers  as  well  as  singers,  in  favour 
of  dramatic  opera,  and  of  vocal  declamation 
rather  than  singing,  in  the  sense  in  which 
that  word  would  have  been  understood  by  RU' 
bini.  [F.A.M.] 


RUBINSTEIN. 

RUBINSTEIN,  ANTON  GKEGOR,  an  eminent 
composer  and  one  of  the  greatest  pianists  the 
world  has  ever  seen,  was  born  Nov.  30,  1829,  of 
Jewish  parents,  at  Wechwotynetz,  near  Jassy. 
He  received  his  first  musical  instruction  from  his 
mother,  and  afterwards  from  a  pianoforte -teacher 
in  Moscow  named  Villoing.     So  early  as  1839  he 
made  his  first  concert- tour  with  his  teacher,  jour 
neying  to  Paris,  where  he  made  the  acquaint 
ance  of  Liszt,  who  was  then  teaching  in  that  city, 
and  under  whose  advice  he  there  pursued  his 
studies.     A  year  later  he  made  a  more  extended 
tour,  going  to  England  (1842),  and  thence  to 
Holland,  Germany,  and   Sweden.     In   1845  he 
went  to  study  composition  with  Professor  Dehn 
in  Berlin.     From  1846-8  he  passed  in  Vienna 
and   Pressburg,  teaching  on   his   own  account. 
In    1848    he    returned    to    Russia,   where    the 
Grand  Duchess  Helen  nominated  him  Kammer- 
Virtuos.     After  studying  diligently  in  St.  Peters 
burg   for   eight  years   he  appeared  as  a  fully- 
fledged  artist  with  piles  of  original  compositions, 
first  in  Hamburg  and  then   all   over  Germany, 
where  he  found  enthusiastic  audiences  and  will 
ing   publishers.      From  this   time   his   fame   as 
a    pianist    and    composer    spread    rapidly   over 
Europe  and  America.    He  again  visited  England 
in  1857,  and  made  his  first  appearance  at  the 
Philharmonic  on  May  18.     In  1858  he  returned 
home  again,  gave  brilliant  concerts  in  St.  Peters 
burg,  Moscow,  etc.,  and   settled  in  the  former 
city.     At  this  period  he  was  appointed  Imperial 
Concert-director,  with  a   life -pension.     Thence 
forward  he  worked  in  conjunction  with  his  late 
friend  Carl  Schuberth,  for  the  advancement  of 
music  in  Russia,  and  had  the  merit  of  being  the 
founder  of  the  St.  Petersburg  Conservatoire  in 
1862,  remaining  its  Principal  until  1867.     The 
Russian  Musical  Society,  founded  in  1861,  was 
also  his.     On  leaving  Russia  he  made  another 
triumphant  tour   through   the   greater  part   of 
Europe,  which   lasted  till   the   spring  of  1870. 
When  in  his  native  country,  in  1869,  the  Em 
peror  decorated  him  with  the  Vladimir  Order, 
which  raised  him  to  noble  rank.     In  1870  he 
rested  awhile,   and   expressed   the  intention  of 
retiring  from  public  life ;  but  it  was  not  likely 
that  this  desire  could  be  fulfilled.     He  held  the 
Directorship  of  the  Philharmonic  Concerts  and 
Choral  Society  in  Vienna  for  the  next  year  or 
two,  and  this   was   followed   by  fresh    concert 
tours.    Every  year  the   same  threat   of  retire 
ment  is  made,  but  the  entreaties  of  the  public, 
and,  probably,  the  desire  of  providing  for  his 
wife  and  family,  brings  the  gifted  genius  before 
us  again  and  again.     He  has  recently  extended 
his  tours  as  far  as  the  south  of  Spain,  from  whence 
he  hastened  back  for  the  funeral  of  his  brother 
Nicolas.     Of  late  years  he  has  been  threatened 
with  the  loss  of  his  eyesight,  a  misfortune  caused 
in  some  measure  by  his  excessive  application  to 
composition  ;  such  a  deprivation,  however,  would 
not  prove  an  overwhelming  catastrophe,  as  his 
memory  is  phenomenal. 

Rubinstein's  playing  is  not  only  remarkable 
for  the  absolute  perfection  of  technique,  in  which 


RUBINSTEIN. 


191 


he  is  the  only  rival  Liszt  ever  had,  but  there 
is  the  fire  and  soul  which  only  a  true  and  genial 
composer  can  possess.  He  can  play  a  simple 
piece  of  Haydn  or  Mozart  so  as  to  positively 
bring  tears  into  the  eyes  of  his  hearers,  but  on 
the  other  hand,  he  will  sometimes  Jail  a  prey  to 
a  strange  excitement  which  causes  him  to  play 
in  the  wildest  fashion.  An  example  (though 
hardly  a  commendable  one)  of  his  perfect  mastery 
over  tone  is  to  be  found  in  his  performance  of 
the  Funeral  March  of  Chopin's  Sonata  in  Bb 
minor.  This  well-known  piece,  regardless  of 
the  composer's  intentions,  he  begins  ppp,  proceed 
ing  crescendo,  with  perfect  gradation,  up  to  the 
Trio,  after  which  he  recommences  ff  and  with 
an  equally  long  and  subtle  diminuendo  ends  as 
softly  as  he  began.  As  an  effect — the  idea  of 
a  band  passing — this  is  stale  and  unworthy  of 
an  artist,  but  as  a  tour  de  force  it  can  only  be 
justly  appreciated  by  those  who  have  heai'd  it 
done  and  then  sought  to  imitate  it.  It  is  an 
impossible  feat. 

The  compositions  of  Rubinstein  are  not  yet 
sufficiently  mellowed  by  time  for  us  to  judge 
them  fairly.  Their  style  may  be  considered  as 
the  legitimate  outcome  of  Mendelssohn ;  there 
is  a  fine  broad  vein  of  melody  which  is  sup 
ported  by  true  and  natural  harmony,  and  a 
thorough  technical  skill.  But  there  is  also  the 
fatal  gift  of  fluency,  and  the  consequent  lack  of 
that  self-criticism  and  self-restraint  which  alone 
make  a  composer  great.  Rubinstein  has  written 
in  every  department  of  music,  but  as  yet  his 
songs  and  chamber-music  are  all  that  can  be 
called  really  popular,  excepting  always  his '  Ocean 
Symphony,'  which  is  known  all  over  the  world.1 
This  is  undoubtedly  one  of  his  very  best  works, 
the  ideas  throughout  being  vivid  and  interesting, 
while  the  workmanship  shows  unusual  care. 
From  the  composer's  having  added  an  extra 
Adagio  and  Scherzo  after  the  first  appearance 
of  this  Symphony  we  may  presume  he  has  a 
particular  regard  for  it,  though  to  risk  wearying 
an  audience  by  inordinate  length  is  scarcely  the 
way  to  recommend  a  work  to  their  favour.  The 
'  Dramatic '  Symphony  (op.  95)  has  been  admired, 
but  is  not  frequently  performed,  while  of  the  other 
three  symphonies  the  ist  and  5th  have  each  only 
been  performed  once  in  England.  His  Piano 
forte  Concertos  are  very  brilliant  and  effective, 
especially  that  in  G  (op.  45)  ;  they  will  perhaps 
in  time  take  a  permanent  position.  His  Violin 
Concerto  (op.  46)  is  a  very  fine  work,  though 
but  little  known.  The  Persian  Songs  (op.  34) 
are  perhaps  the  most  popular  of  his  vocal  works, 
but  there  are  many  very  striking  and  success 
ful  specimens  among  his  other  songs — 'Es 
blinkt  der  Thau'  and  'Die  Waldhexe'  for 
instance — and  the  duets  are  full  of  beauty  and 
passion.  The  numerous  drawing-room  pieces 
which  he  has  written  for  the  piano  are  far  su 
perior  to  most  of  their  class,  his  writing  for  the 
instrument  being  invariably  most  brilliant,  as  is 

1  First  performed  in  London  by  Musical  Art  Union  (Klindworth) 
May  31, 1861 ;  with  extra  movements,  Crystal  i'alace,  April  12,  1877  ; 
Philharmonic,  June  11, 1879. 


192 


RUBINSTEIN. 


RUBINSTEIN. 


but  natural  in  so  great  a  pianist.  His  chamber- 
music  is  not  yet  much  known  in  England,  and 
he  is  apt  to  give  the  piano  an  undue  prominence 
in  it;  the  Quintet  in  F  (op.  55)  is  almost  a 
Pianoforte  Concerto  in  disguise.  His  operas  and 
oratorios  have  as  yet  met  with  but  qualified 
success,  seeming  to  lack  dramatic  force.  This 
is  in  some  measure  due  to  his  antagonism  to 
the  theories  and  practice  of  Wagner  and  the 
modern  German  school.  He  has  a  preference 
for  sacred  subjects,  which  are  but  ill  fitted  for 
the  stage,  but  as  these  works  are  all  amongst  his 
most  recent  productions  it  is  manifestly  impossible 
to  give  any  decided  opinion  as  to  their  eventual 
success.  The  operas  not  included  in  the  list  of  his 
works  with  opus-numbers  are  '  The  Demon '  (in 
rehearsal  at  Covent  Garden,  June  1881),  'Fera- 
mors'  (Lalla  Rookh),  'The  Children  of  the  Heath,' 
'  The  Maccabees,'  '  Dimitri  Donskoi,'  and  *  Nero.' 
There  are  also  about  a  dozen  songs,  and  as 
many  fugitive  pieces  for  piano  without  opus- 
number,  besides  some  small  works  published 
during  the  composer's  youthful  days  and  reckoned 
separately  as  ops.  i-io. 

The  complete  list  of  Rubinstein's  numbered 
works  is  as  follows  : — 


Op.l.  6  little  Songs  in  Low  Ger 
man  dialect.  Voice  and 
PF.  Schreiber. 

2.  2    Fantasias     on    Russian 

themes.  PF.  solo.  Schrei 
ber. 

3.  2  Melodies  for  PF.  solo  (F 

B).    Schreiber. 

4.  Mazourka- Fantaisie.     PF. 

solo  (G).    Schreiber. 
6.  Polonaise,  Cracovienne  and 
Mazurka.  PF.  solo.  Schrei 
ber. 

6.  Tarentelle,   -PF.  solo    (B). 

Schreiber. 

7.  Impromptu-Caprice, '  Hom- 

mage  a  Jenny  Lind.'  PF. 
solo  (A  minor).  Schreiber. 

8.  6   Songs   (words  from   the 

Russian).  Voice  and  PF. 
Senff. 

8.  Octet  in  D  for  PF.,  V.,  Vi 
ola,  Cello,  Bass,  Fl.,  Clar., 
and  Horn.  Peters. 

10.  Kamennoi-Ostrow.  24  Por 
traits  for  PF.  Schott. 

1L  3  Pieces  for  PF.  and  V. ;  3 
do.  for  PF.  and  Cello  ;  3  do. 
for  PF.  and  Viola.  Schu- 
berth. 

12.  1st  Sonata  for  PF.  solo  (E). 

Peters. 

13.  1st  Sonata  for  PF.  and  V(G). 

Peters, 

14.  'The  Ball'  Fantasia  in  10 

Nos.  for  PF.  solo.    B.  B.  1 

15.  2  Trios.   PF.,  V.,  and  Cello 

(F,  G  min.).    Hofmeister. 

16.  Impromptu,  Berceuse  and 

Serenade.  PF.  solo.  Hof 
meister. 

17.  3  String  Quartets  (G,  C  min., 

F).    B.  &H.2 

18.  1st  Sonata  for  PF.and  Cello 

(D).    B.&H. 

19.  2nd  Sonata  for  PF.  and  V. 

(A  min.).    B.  &  H. 

20.  2nd  Sonata  for  PF.  solo  (C 

min.).    B.  &  H. 

21.  3  Caprices  for  PF.  solo  (Ftt, 

D.Eb).    B.&H. 

22.  3  Serenades  for  PF.  solo  (F, 

Gmin.,  Eb).    B.&H. 

23.  6  Etudes  for  PF.  solo.    Pe 

ters. 

24.  6  Preludes    for   PF.   solo. 

Peters. 


25.  1st  PF.  Concerto  (E).    Pe 

ters. 

26.  Bomance  and  Impromptu. 

PF.   solo  (F,    A    minor). 
Schreiber. 

27.  9  Songs  (words  from  Bus- 

sian).      Voice    and    PF. 
Schreiber. 

28.  Nocturne  (Gb)  and  Caprice 

(E  b)  for  PF.  solo.  Kistner. 

29.  2   Funeral    Marches.     PF. 

solo.— 1.  For  an  Artist  (F 

min.);  2.  For  a  Hero  (C 

min.).    Kistner. 
80.  Barcarolle  (F  min.);   Allo 

Appass.  (D  min.)  for  PF. 

solo.    Kistner. 
SI.  6    4-part    Songs  for   Male 

Voices.    Kistner. 
32.  6  Songs  from  Heine.    Voice 

and  PF.    Kistner. 
S3.  6   Songs.     Voice   and  PF. 

Kistner. 

34.  12  Persian  Songs.     V.  and 

PF.    Kistner. 

35.  2nd     PF.     Concerto     (F). 

Schreiber. 

36.  12  Songs  from  the  Bussian. 

Voice  and  PF.    Schreiber. 

37.  Akrostichon     (Laura)    for 

PF.  solo.    Schreiber. 

38.  Suite  (10  Nos.)  for  PF.  solo. 

Schott. 

39.  2nd    Sonata    for   PF.   and 

Cello  (G).    B.&H. 

40.  1st  Symphony  for  Orchestra 

(F).    Kahnt. 

41.  3rd  Sonata  for  PF.  solo  (F). 

B.&H. 

42.  2nd     Symphony,     'Ocean' 

(C).    Senff. 

43.  Triumphal     Overture    for 

Orchestra  (       ).    Schott. 

44.  '  Soire~es  a  St.  Petersbourg,' 

for    PF.  solo   (6    pieces) 
Kahnt. 

45.  3rd  PF.  Concerto  (G).  B.  B. 

46.  Concerto,  Violin  and  Orch. 

(G).    Peters. 

47.  3  String  Quartets  (Nos.  4, 

6,  6,  E  min.,  Bb,  D  min.). 
B.  &  H. 

48.  12   Two-part  Songs   (from 

the    Bussian)    with    PF. 
Senff. 

49.  Sonata  for  PF.  and  Viola 

(F  min.)    B.  &  H. 


l  B.  B.  =Bote  &  Bock.         2  B.  i  H.=Breitkopf  &  HarteL 


Op.  50. 6  '  Charakter-Bilder.'   PF. 
duet.    Kahnt. 

51.  6  Morceaux  for  PF.    Senff. 

52.  3rd  Trio.    PF.  and  Strings 

(Bb).    Senff. 

53.  6  Preludes  and  Fugues  in 

freestyle.  PF.solo.  Peters 

54.  'Paradise     Lost.'       Sacred 

Opera  after  Milton,  in 
parts.    Senff. 

55.  Quintet  for  PF.  and  Wind 

(F).    Schuberth. 

56.  3rd  Symphony  (A).    Schu- 

berth. 

57.  6   Songs.     Voice  and  PF. 

Senff. 

58.  Scena  ed  Aria,  '  E  dunque 

vero?'    Sop.    and    Orcb 
Schott. 

59.  String  Quintet  (F).    Senff. 

60.  Concert   Overture    in    Bb 

Senff. 

61.  3  Part-songs  for  Male  Voices 

Schreiber. 

62.  6    Part-songs    for    Mixed 

Voices.    Schreiber. 

63.  '  Die  Nixe.'    Alto  Solo,  Fe 

male   Chorus,  and   Orch. 
Senff. 

64.  5  Fables  by  Kriloff.    Voice 

andPF.    Senff. 

65.  1st  Concerto  for  Cello  and 

Orch.  (A  min.).    Senff. 

66.  Quartet.     PF.  and  Strings 

(C).    Senff. 

67.  6  Two-part  Songs  with  PF. 

Senff. 

68.  'Faust.'     Musical  portrait, 

for  Orch.    Siegel. 

69.  5  Morceaux   for  PF.  solo. 

Siegel. 

70.  4th  PF.  Concerto  (D  min.). 

Senff. 

71.  3  Morceaux.  PF.solo.    Sie 

gel. 

72.  6  Songs  for  a  Low  Voice  and 

PF.    Senff. 

73.  Fantaisie  for  2  Pianos  (F). 

Senff. 

74.  'Der  Morgen."    Cantata  for 

Male    Voices    and    Orch. 
(from  the  Bussian).   Senff. 

75.  'Album    de    Peterhof.'    12 

pieces.    PF.  solo.    Senff. 

76.  6  Songs  for  Voice  and  PF. 

Senff. 

77.  Fantaisie  for  PF.  (E  min.) 

Senff. 

78.  12  Songs  from  the  Eussian. 

Voice  and  PF.    Senff. 

79.  'Ivan  the  Terrible.'    Musi 

cal  portrait  for  Orch.  B.  B. 

80.  'The  Tower  of  Babel.'    Sa 

cred   opera   in   one    act. 
Senff.    Chappell. 


81.  6  Etudes  for  PF.  solo.  B.  B. 

82.  Album  of  National  Dances 

(6)  for  PF.  solo.    B.  B. 

83.  10   Songs.     Voice  and  PP 

B.  B. 

84.  Fantasia  for  PF.  and  Orch 

(C).    Senff. 

85.  4th  Trio.    PF.  and  Strings 

(A).    Lewy. 

86.  Bomance  and  Caprice  for 

Violin  and  Orch.   Senff. 

87.  'Don     Quixote.'     Musical 

portrait,  Humoreske  for 
Orch.  Senff. 

88.  Theme  and  Variations  for 

PF.  solo(G).    Senff. 

89.  Sonata  for  PF.  duet  (D) 

Senff. 

90.  2  String  Quartets  (Nos.  7,  8, 

G  min.,  E  min.).   Senff. 

91.  Songs    and    Requiem    for 

Mignon  (from  Goethe's 
'  Wilhelm  Meister ')  for 
Solos,  Chorus,  and  PF 
Senff. 

92.  2  Scenas  for  Contralto  and 

Orchestra.  No.  1.  'Hecu 
ba';  No.  2.  'Hagar  in  the 
desert.'  Senff. 

93.  9  Books   of  Miscellaneous 

Pieces  (12)  for  PF.  solo. 
Senff. 

94.  5th    PF.    Concerto    (Eb). 

Senff. 

95.  4th  Symphony,  '  Dramatic ' 

(D  min.).    Senff. 

96.  2nd    Concerto.    Cello  and 

Orch.    Senff. 

97.  Sextuor    for    Strings    (D). 

Senff. 

98.  3rd  Sonata.    PF.  and  V.  (B 

min.).    Senff. 

99.  Quintet.     PF.  and  Strings 

G  min.).    Senff. 

100.  4th  Sonata  for  PF.  solo  (A 

min.).    Senff. 

101.  12  Songs.     Voice  and  PF. 

Senff. 

102.  Caprice    Eusse.    PF.  and 

Orch.    Senff. 

103.  Bal  costume"  Set  of  charac 

teristic  pieces  (20)  for  PF. 
4  hands.  B.  B. 

104.  Elegie  ;  Variations ;  Etude. 

PF.  solo.    B.  B. 

105.  A  series  of  Russian  songs. 

Voice  and  PF.    B.  B. 

106.  2  Ptring  Quartets  (Nos.  9, 

10,  Ab,  Fmin.) 

107.  5th  Symphony  (G  min.)  In 

memory  of  the  Grand- 
duchess  He'lene  Paulowna. 
Senff. 


Rubinstein's  appearance  is  remarkable.  His 
head  is  of  a  very  Russian  type,  massive  and  noble, 
without  beard  or  moustache,  but  with  a  thick 
shock  of  dark  brown  hair  which  as  yet  shows  no 
gray.  In  general  look  his  face  resembles  the 
ideal  Beethoven  of  the  sculptors.  He  is  well 
read,  and  his  very  wide  travels  have  given  him 
much  knowledge  of  men  and  things.  His  man 
ner  is  simple  and  genial,  and  he  has  the  true 
modesty  of  genius. 

We  have  said  that  Rubinstein's  first  visit  to 
London  was  in  1842.  He  was  then  only  just  12. 
Mendelssohn  and  Thalberg  were  both  here,  and 
the  Philharmonic  was  thus  naturally  already  oc 
cupied.  No  doubt  he  played  in  public ;  but  the 
periodicals  are  silent  about  him,  and  the  only 
printed  mention  of  him  to  be  found  is  in  Mo- 
scheles's  diary  for  1842  ('Leben,'  ii.  90),  where 
he  is  spoken  of  by  that  genial  master  as  'a  rival 
to  Thalberg  ...  a  Russian  boy  whose  fingers  are 
as  light  as  feathers,  and  yet  as  strong  as  a  man's.' 
He  did  not  return  to  this  country  till  1857,  when 


RUBINSTEIN. 

he  appeared  at  the  Philharmonic  on  May  18, 
playing  his  own  Concerto  in  G.  He  came  back 
in  the  following  year,  played  again  at  the  Phil 
harmonic  on  June  7,  and  at  the  Musical  Union 
May  II.  In  1869  he  came  a  fourth  time,  and 
played  at  the  Musical  Union  only  (May  18,  June 
i).  In  1876  he  made  his  fifth  visit,  played  at 
the  Philharmonic  May  I,  and  gave  four  Eecitals 
in  St.  James's  Hall.  In  1877  he  had  again  re 
citals,  and  also  conducted  his  '  Ocean '  Symphony 
(6  movements),  and  played  Beethoven's  Concerto 
in  G,  at  the  Crystal  Palace  on  June  4.  In  1881 
he  has  given  another  series  of  Recitals  at  St. 
James's  Hall,  his  opera  'The  Demon'  was  brought 
out  in  Italian  at  Covent  Garden  on  June  21,  and 
his  '  Tower  of  Babel,'  with  other  music,  at  the 
Crystal  Palace  on  June  n. 

Of  his  Symphonies  four  have  been  heard  here, 
the  last  (op.  107)  at  the  Crystal  Palace, May  1 88 1. 
The  third  Symphony,  in  A,  has  not  yet  been 
played  in  England.  Of  his  PF.  Concertos  four 
out  of  five  have  been  heard,  that  in  G  three 
times ;  the  first  alone  has  not  yet  been  played. 
Of  his  Overtures  that  in  Bb  (op.  60),  that  in  C 
(op.  43),  and  that  to  '  Dimitri  Donskoi '  have  all 
been  played  at  the  Crystal  Palace,  as  well  as  the 
Ballet  music  of  '  Feramors '  and  '  The  Demon/ 
and  '  Don  Quixote.'  Of  his  chamber-music  the 
favourite  pieces  at  the  Monday  Popular  Con 
certs  are,  Cello  Sonata  in  D  (6  times),  three 
pieces  for  PF.  and  cello  (op.  II,  4  times),  Bb 
Trio  (4  times),  and  PF.  Quintet  (op.  99,  twice). 
NICHOLAS,  his  younger  brother,  who  settled  in 
Moscow,  was  also  a  fine  pianist  and  no  mean 
composer,  though  overshadowed  by  the  fame  of 
his  great  brother.  He  studied  under  Kullak  and 
Dehn  in  Berlin  during  1845  and  6.  In  1859  ne 
founded  at  Moscow  the  Russian  Musical  Society, 
which  gives  twenty  concerts  each  year ;  and  in 
1864  the  Conservatoire,  and  was  head  of  both  till 
his  death.  In  1861  he  visited  England,  and 
played  twice  at  the  Musical  Union  (June  4,  18). 
In  1878  he  gave  four  orchestral  concerts  of 
Russian  music  in  the  Trocade"ro  at  Paris  with 
great  success.  He  died  of  consumption  in  Paris, 
Mar.  23,  1 88 1,  on  his  way  to  Nice  for  his  health, 
widely  and  deeply  lamented.  His  latest  published 
work  is  op.  17 — 'Scene  du  Bal,  Polonaise/ 

RUBINSTEIN,  JOSEPH— no  relation  to  the 
foregoing — has  acquired  some  fame  as  a  pianist 
and  composer  of  drawing-room  music.  He  has 
also  obtained  an  unenviable  notoriety  through 
certain  newspaper  articles  in  the  '  Bayreuther 
Blatter '  signed  with  his  name  (though  believed 
by  some  to  have  emanated  from  a  more  famous 
pen),  and  attacking  Schumann  and  Brahms  in  a 
most  offensive  and  vindictive  manner.  [F.C.] 
RUCKERS,  clavecin  makers  of  Antwerp, 
who  were  working  as  masters  between  15/9  and 
1667  or  later,  the  first  of  whom,  Hans  Ruckers, 
is  always  credited  with  great  improvements  in 
keyboard  instruments.  It  is  certain  that  the 
tone  of  the  Ruckers  clavecins  has  never  been 
surpassed  for  purity  and  beauty  of  tone-colour 
(timbre) ;  and  from  this  quality  they  remained  in 
use  in  England,  as  well  as  in  France  and  the 
VOL.  in.  PT.  2. 


RUCKERS. 


193 


Netherlands,  until  harpsichords  and  spinets  were 
superseded,  at  the  end  of  last  century,  by  the 
pianoforte.  The  art  of  harpsichord  making,  as 
exemplified  in  London  by  Kirkman  and  Shudi, 
was  directly  derived  from  Antwerp  and  the 
Ruckers.  Time  seemed  to  have  no  effect  with 
the  Ruckers  instruments.  They  were  decorated 
with  costly  paintings  in  this  country  and  France, 
when  a  hundred  years  old  and  more.  New  keys 
and  new  jacks  replaced  the  old  ones  ;  so  long  as 
the  soundboard  stood  lasted  the  'silvery  sweet' 
tone.  It  has  done  so  in  some  insta.nces  until 
now,  but  modern  conditions  of  life  seem  to  be 
inimical  to  the  old  wood ;  it  will  be  difficult,  if 
not  impossible,  to  preserve  any  of  these  old  in 
struments  much  longer.  As  a  work  of  piety  we 
have  catalogued  all  that  we  have  seen  or  can 
hear  of,  appending  the  list  to  this  notice. 

In  John  Broadwood's  books,  1772-3,  are 
several  entries  concerning  the  hiring  of  Ruker, 
Rooker,  and  Rouker  harpsichords  to  his  cus 
tomers  ;  to  the  Duchess  of  Richmond,  Lady 
Pembroke,  Lady  Catherine  Murray,  etc.,  etc. 
In  1790  Lord  Camden  bought  a  '  double  Ruker' : 
in  1792  Mr.  Williams  bought  another,  the  price 
charged  for  each  being  25  guineas.  These  entries 
corroborate  the  statement  of  James  Broadwood 
('Some  Notes,'  1838,  printed  privately  1862")  that 
many  Ruckers  harpsichords  were  extant  and  in 
excellent  condition  fifty  years  before  he  wrote. 
He  specially  refers  to  one  that  was  twenty  years 
before  in  possession  of  Mr.  Preston,  the  pub 
lisher,  reputed  to  have  been  Queen  Elizabeth's, 
and  sold  when  Nonsuch  Palace  was  demolished. 
To  have  been  hers  Hans  Ruckers  the  elder  must 
be  credited  with  having  made  it. 

If  the  tone  caused,  as  we  have  said,  the  long 
preservation  of  the  Ruckers  clavecins,  on  the 
other  hand  the  paintings  which  adorned  them 
not  unfreqiiently  caused  their  destruction.  A 
case  in  point  is  the  instrument  of  the  Parisian 
organist,  Balbastre,  whom  Burney  visited  when 
on  his  famous  tour.  Burney  says  it  was  painted 
inside  and  out  with  as  much  delicacy  as  the 
finest  coach  or  snuffbox,  he  had  ever  seen.  In 
side  the  cover  was  the  story  of  Rameau's  'Castor 
and  Pollux,'  the  composer,  whom  Burney  had 
seen  some  years  before,  being  depicted  lyre  in 
hand  and  very  like.  He  describes  the  tone  as 
delicate  rather  than  powerful  (he  would  be  ac 
customed  in  London  to  the  sonorous-  pompous 
Kirkmans,  which  he  so  much  admired),  and  the 
touch,  in  accordance  with  the  French  practice  of 
quilling,  as  very  light.  This  instrument  was 
then  more  than  a  hundred  years  old,  perhaps  more 
than  a  hundred  and  fifty.  We  learn  the  fate 
of  it  from  Rimbault  ('The  Pianoforte,'  1860, 
p.  76),  who  tells  us  that  it  became  the  property 
of  Mr.  Goding  of  London,  who  sacrificed  Ruckers' 
work,  to  display  the  paintings  by  Boucher  and 
Le  Prince  that  had  adorned  it,  on  a  new  grand 
piano  made  for  the  purpose  by  Zeitter.  This 
maker  showed  respect  for  his  predecessor  by  pre 
serving  the  soundboard,  which  he  converted  into 
a  music  box,  the  inscription  '  Joannes  Ruckers 
me  fecit  Antverpiae '  being  transferred  to  the 


194 


RUCKERS. 


back.  This  box  ultimately  became  Rimbault's  ; 
the  piano  was  sold  at  Coding's  sale  by  Christie 
&  Manson  in  1857. 

It  was  this  intimate  combination  of  the  deco 
rative  arts  with  music  that  led  to  the  clavecin 
and  clavichord  makers  of  Antwerp  becoming 
members  of  the  artists'  guild  of  St.  Luke  in  that 
city.  They  were  enrolled  in  the  first  instance 
as  painters  or  sculptors.  We  must  however  go 
farther  back  than  Hans  Ruckers  and  his  sons  to 
truly  estimate  their  position  and  services  as  cla 
vecin  makers.  For  this  retrospect  the  pamphlet 
of  the  Chevalier  Le"on  de  Burbure — '  Recherches 
sur  les  Facteurs  de  Clavecins  et  les  Luthiers 
d'Anvers'  (Brussels,  1863),  supplies  valuable  in 
formation.  We  learn  that  at  the  end  of  the  1 5th 
and  beginning  of  the  i6th  centuries,  precisely 
as  in  England  and  Scotland  at  the  same  period, 
the  clavichord  was  in  greater  vogue  than  the 
clavecin  ;  possibly  because  clavecins  were  then 
always  long,  and  the  oblong  clavichord  recom- 
•mended  itself  as  more  convenient  and  cheap  for 
ordinary  use ;  just  as  is  now  the  case  with  grand 
and  upright  pianos.  But  about  the  year  1500 
the  clavecin  had  been  made  in  the  clavichord 
shape  in  Venice,  and  called  Spinet.  [See  SPINET.] 
This  new  form  must  have  soon  travelled  to  the 
Low  Countries,  and  have  superseded  the  Clavi 
chord,  as  it  did  in  England  and  France  about  the 
same  epoch. 

A  clavecin  maker  named  Josse  Carest  was 
admitted  in  1523  to  the  St.  Luke's  guild  as  a 
sculptor  and  painter  of  clavichords  (literally 
'  Joos  Kerrest,  clavecordmaker,  snyt  en  scildert').1 
Another  Carest  had  been  accepted  in  1519  as 
an  apprentice  painter  of  clavecins  ('  Goosen 
Kareest,  schilder  en  Klavecimbelmaker,  gheleert 
by  Peeter  Mathys').  This  is  an  earlier  instance 
of  the  name  Clavecin  than  that  quoted  by  M.  de 
Burbure  as  the  oldest  he  had  found  in  Belgium, 
viz.  a  house  in  the  parish  of  Notre  Dame,  Ant 
werp,  which,  in  1532,  bore  the  sign  of  '  de  Clavi- 
zimbele.'  No  doubt  at  that  time  both  clavecins 
and  clavichords  were  in  use  in  Antwerp,  but  in 
a  few  years  we  hear  of  the  latter  no  more  ;  and 
the  clavecin  soon  became  so  important  that,  in 
*557»  Josse  Carest  headed  a  petition  of  the  cla 
vecin-makers  to  be  admitted  to  the  privileges  of 
the  guild  as  such,  and  not,  in  a  side  way,  merely 
as  painters  and  sculptors  of  their  instruments. 
Their  prayer  was  granted,  and  the  ten  peti 
tioners  were  exempted  from  the  production  of 
'  masterworks,'  but  their  pupils  and  all  who 
were  to  come  after  them  2  were  bound  to  exhibit 
masterworks,  being  clavecins,  oblong  or  with 
bent  sides  ('  viercante  oft  gehoecte  clavisimbale,' 
square  or  grand  as  we  should  say),  of  five  feet 
long  or  more  ;  made  in  the  workshops  of  master 
experts,  of  whom  two  were  annually  elected; 
and  to  have  the  mark,  design,  or  scutcheon, 
proper  to  each  maker  (syn  eygen  marck,  teecken, 

1  See  'De  LIggeren  en  andere  Historische  Archieven  der  Antwerp- 
sche  Sint  Lucasgilde.'  Kombouts  en  Van  Lerius.  2vols.  Baggerman, 
Antwerp ;  Nijhoff,  The  Hague. 

2  Later  on,  tuners  also  became  members  of  the  guild.  For  instance, 
Michel  Colyns,  Claversingehtelder.  in  1631-2;  who  was  however  the 
SOB  of  a  member. 


RUCKERS. 

oft  wapene),  that  is,  a  recognised  trade-mark  on 
each  instrument.  We  will  give  these  trade 
marks  of  the  members  of  the  Ruckers  family 
from  sketches  kindly  supplied  by  M.  Abel  Be"- 
gibo,  of  Renaix  in  Belgium  ;  three,  belonging  to 
Hans  and  his  two  sons,  having  been  already 
published  by  M.  Edmond  Vander  Straeten  in 
his  monumental  work  '  La  Musique  aux  Pays 
Bas,'  vol.  in.  (Brussels,  i875).3  It  is  at  once 
evident  that  such  regulations  tended  to  sound 
work.  The  trade-marks  we  have  more  particu 
larly  described  under  ROSE.  They  were  usually 
made  of  lead,  gilt,  and  were  conspicuous  in  the 
soundholes  of  the  instruments. 

Some   of  the   cotemporary  Italian  keyboard- 
instruments  might  be  taken  to  give  a  general 
idea  of  what  the  Antwerp  ones  were  like  prior 
to  the  improvements  of  Hans  Ruckers  the  elder. 
In  the  preparation  of  the  soundboards  the  notion 
of  the  soundchest  of  LUTE  and  PSALTERY  pre 
vailed.     Ruckers  adhered  to  this  principle,  but 
being  a  tuner  and  perhaps  a  builder  of  organs,  he 
turned  to  the  organ  as  a  type  for  an  improved 
clavecin,  and  while  holding  fast  to  timbre  as  the 
chief  excellence  and  end  of  musical  instrument 
making,  introduced  different   tone-colours,  and 
combined  them  after  organ   analogies   and  by 
organ  contrivances  of  added  keyboards  and  re 
gisters.   The  octave  stop  had  been  already  copied 
in  the  little  octave  spinets  which  Praetorius  tells 
us  were  commonly  used  to  reinforce  the  tone 
of  larger  instruments,  but  the  merit  of  Hans 
Ruckers,   traditionally  attributed   to   him,  and 
never  gainsaid,  was  his  placing  the  octave  as  a 
fixture  in  the  long  clavecin,  boldly  attaching  the 
strings  to  hitchpins  on  the  soundboard  (strength 
ened  beneath  for  the  purpose),  and  by  the  addi 
tion  of  another  keyboard,  also  a  fixture,  thus 
establishing  a  model  which  remained  dominant  for 
large  instruments  until  the  end  of  the  clavecin 
manufacture.4 

An  interesting  chapter  is  devoted  to  the  Euck- 
ers  family  by  M.  Edmond  Vander  Straeten  in 
the  work  already  referred  to  (vol.  iii.  p.  325  etc.) 
He  has  gathered  up  the  few  documentary  no 
tices  of  the  members  of  it  discovered  by  MM. 
Rombouts  and  Van  Lerius,  by  M.  Ge"nard  and 
by  M.  Le"on  de  Burbure,  with  some  other  facts 
that  complete  all  that  is  known  about  them. 

The  name  Ruckers,  variously  spelt  Rukers, 
Rueckers,  Ruyckers,  Ruekaers,  Rieckers,  and 
Rikaert,  is  really  a  contraction  or  corruption  of 
the  Flemish  Ruckaerts  or  Ryckaertszoon,  equi 
valent  to  the  English  Richardson.  Hans  the 
elder  was  certainly  of  Flemish  origin,  being  the 
son  of  Francis  Ruckers  of  Mechlin.  He  can 
hardly  have  been  born  later  than  1555.  Married 
at  Notre  Dame  (the  cathedral),  Antwerp,  June 
25, 1575,  as  Hans  Ruckaerts,  to  Naenken  Cnaeps, 
he  was  admitted  as  Hans  Ruyckers,  '  clavisinbal- 
makerre,'  to  the  Lucas  guild  in  1579.  It  ap 
pears  strange  that  he  was  not  enrolled  a  citizen 

3  Burney  refers  to  these  marks  when  •writing  about  the  Ruckers. 

•*  The  end  of  the  manufacture  for  Antwerp  is  chronicled  by  M.  de 
Burbure  in  one  seen  by  him — he  does  not  say  whether  single  01 
double— made  by  a  blind  man,  and  inscribed  '  Joannes  Heineman 
me  fecit  A°1795,  Antwerp!®.' 


RTJCKERS. 


RUCKERS. 


195 


until  1594,  but  this  may  have  been,  as  M.  de 
Burbure  suggests,  a  re-admission,  to  repair  the 
loss  of  a  record  burnt  when  the  Spaniards  sacked 
the  H6tel  de  Ville  in  1576.  In  those  troubled 
times  there  could  have  been  but  little  to  do  in 
clavecin-making.  May  we  see  in  this  a  reason 
for  his  acquiring  that  knowledge  of  the  organ 
which  was  to  lead  ultimately  to  his  remodelling 
the  long  clavecin  ? 

He  had  four  sons,  Francis,  Hans,  Andries, 
and  Anthony.  It  is  only  with  Hans  (baptized 
Jan.  13,  1578)  and  Andries  (baptized  Aug.  30, 
1579)  that  we  are  concerned,  since  they  became 
clavecin  makers  of  equal  reputation  with  their 
father.  We  learn  that  in  1591  Hans  Ruckers 
the  elder  became  tuner  of  the  organ  in  the 
Virgin's  chapel  of  the  Cathedral,  and  that  in 
1593  he  added  14  or  15  stops  to  the  large  organ 
in  the  same  church.  In  1598  and  1599  either 
he  or  his  son  Hans  (the  records  do  not  specify 
which)  had  charge  of  the  organs  of  St.  Bavon, 
and  from  1617  to  1623  of  St.  Jacques.  The  like 
doubt  exists  as  to  the  Hans  who  died  in  1642. 
We  believe  that  this  date  refers  to  the  son,  as 
the  latest  clavecin  we  have  met  with  of  his 
make  is  Mr.  Ley  land's 
beautiful  instrument  (1.) 
dated  that  year ;  the 
latest  date  of  the 
father's  clavecins  at 
present  found  being 
either  1632  (doubt 
ful,  see  No.  8)  or  1 6 14. 
The  earliest  is  1590, 
with  which  date  three 
existing  instruments 
are  marked.  The 
trade-mark  of  Hans 
the  elder,  is  here  represented. 

Of  the  instruments  catalogued  below  it  will  be 
observed  that  eleven  are  probably  by  Hans  the 
elder.  The  long  ones  are  provided  with  the 
octave  stop  and,  perhaps  without  exception  (one 


being  without  details),  have  the  two  keyboards 
identified  with  him  as  the  inventor.  But  it  is 
interesting  to  observe  the  expedients  agreeing 
with  the  statement  of  Prsetorius,  that  octave 
instruments1  were  employed  with  and  in  the 
oblong  clavecins.  These  expedients  doubtless 
originated  before  Hans  Kuckers  ;  indeed  in  the 
Museum  at  Nuremberg,  there  is  an  oblong  cla 
vecin  of  Antwerp  make,  signed  'Martinus  Vander 
Biest,'  and  dated  1580,  that  has  an  octave  spinet 
in  it.a  '  Merten '  Vander  Biest  entered  the 
Guild  in  Antwerp,  as  one  of  the  ten  clavecin 
makers,  in  1558.  Now  Messrs.  Chappell  of  Lon 
don  own  such  an  instrument,  No.  9  in  appended 
catalogue,  made  by  Hans  Ruckers,  certainly  the 
elder.  No  keys  remain,  but  the  scale  of  both,  the 
fixed  and  movable  keyboards  is  the  same,  four 
octaves  marked  near  the  wrestpins  si-si  (B-B). 
In  this  clavecin  it  is  the  left  hand  keyboard 
which  is  removable  and  is  tuned  an  octave  higher. 
In  the  Museum  of  the  Conservatoire,  Brussels, 
there  is  an  oblong  clavecin  by  Hans  the  elder 
(No.  4)  wherein  the  octave  spinet  is  above  and 
not  by  the  side  of  the  fixed  one — according  to  M. 
Victor  Mahillon  a  later  addition,  though  the  work 
of  the  maker  himself.  This  curious  instrument 
formerly  belonged  to  Fe"tis,  and  is  dated  1610. 
While  on  the  subject  of  these  removable  octave 
spinets  we  will  refer  to  one  with  keyboards  side 
by  side  made  by  Hans  the  younger  (No.  13), 
and  dated  1619,  the  property  of  M.  Regibo, 
and  another,  a  long  clavecin,  also  by  Hans  the 
younger  (No.  26),  not  dated,  belonging  to  M. 
Snoeck  of  Renaix,  that  has  the  octave  spinet  fixed 
in  the  angle  side,  precisely  as  in  a  more  modern 
one,  made  by  Coenen  of  Ruremonde,  which  may 
be  seen  in  the  Plan  tin  museum,  Antwerp. 

Hans  Ruckers  the  younger — known  to  the 
Belgian  musicologists  as  Jean,  because  he  used 
the  initials  J.  R.  in  his  rose,  while  the  father,  as 
far  as  we  know,  used  H.  R. — was,  as  we  have 
said,  the  second  son.  M.  Regibo  has  supplied 
us  with  three  of  his  roses. 


(2.) 


(3.) 


We  have  given  the  date  of  his  baptism  in  the  married  to  Marie  Waelrant,  of  the  family  of  the 
cathedral  in  1578,  but  have  no  further  details  ,  musician  Hubert  Waelrant,3  in  the  cathedral, 
to  record  beyond  the  ascertained  facts  that  he  was  Nov.  14,  1604;  that  either  he  or  his  brother 


'  We  hesitate  to  accept  Praetorius'  statement  literally  as  to  such 
spinets  being  tuned  a  fifth  as  well  as  an  octave  higher.  This  more 
likely  originates  in  the  fact  that  the  F  and  C  instruments  had  before 
his  time  been  made  at  one  and  the  same  pitch,  starting  from  the  lowest 
key,  although  the  disposition  of  the  keyboards  and  names  of  the 
notes  were  different ;  as  in  organs,  where  pipes  of  the  same  measure 
ment  had  been  actually  used  for  the  note  F  or  the  note  C.  See 
Arnold  Schlick's  'Spiegel  der  Orgelmacher,'  1511. 

*  A  woodcut  of  this  rare  instrument  is  given  in  Part  ix.  of  Dr.  A. 
Keissmann's  'Illustrirte  Geschichte  der  deutschen  Musik,'  Leipzig, 


1881.  Both  keyboards,  side  by  side,  are  apparently  original,  with 
white  naturals  and  compass  of  4  octaves  C-C.  It  is  the  right-hand 
keyboard  that  is  tuned  the  octave  higher  and  is  removable  like  a 
drawer.  A  full  description  of  this  double  instrument  is  reproduced 
In  Reissmann's  work,  copied  from  the  '  Anzeiger  fur  Kunde  der  deut 
schen  Vorzeit '  (Nuremberg,  1879,  No.  9). 

3  Dr.  John  Bull  succeeded  Rumold  Waelrent  as  organist  of  the 
cathedral  In  1617,  and  retained  the  post  until  his  death  in  1628.  He 
must  have  known  Hans  Ruckers  and  his  two  sons  well,  and  been  well 
acquainted  with  their  instruments. 

02 


196 


RUCKERS. 


RUCKERS. 


Andries  was  admitted  as  a  master  in  the  Guild  in 
161 1  ;  and  that  he  was  employed  to  tune  the  organ 
of  St.  Jacques  from  1631  until  1642.  There  is  also 
evidence  as  to  his  having  died  in  that  year,  and  not 
the  father,  who  would  seem  to  have  died  before. 

Mr.  Vander  Straeten  has  however  brought  us 
nearer  Hans  the  younger,  by  reference  to  Sains- 
bury's  collection  of '  Original  unpublished  papers 
illustrative  of  the  life  of  Sir  Peter  Paul  Rubens' 
(London,  1859,  p.  208  etc.),  wherein  are  several 
letters  which  passed  in  1638  between  the  painter 
Balthazar  Gerbier,  at  that  time  at  Brussels,  and 
the  private  secretary  of  Charles  I.,  Sir  F.  Winde- 
bank.  They  relate  to  the  purchase  of  a  good 
virginal  from  Antwerp  for  the  King  of  England. 
Be  it  remembered  that  up  to  this  time,  and  even 
as  late  as  the  Restoration,  all  clavecins  in  England, 
long  or  square,  were  called  Virginals.  [See  VIR 
GINAL.]  Gerbier  saw  one  that  had  been  made  by 
Hans  Ruckers  the  younger  ('Johannes  Rickarts'), 
for  the  Infanta.  He  describes  it  as  having  a 
double  keyboard  placed  at  one  end,  and  four  stops ; 
exactly  what  we  should  now  call  a  double  harpsi 
chord.  There  were  two  paintings  inside  the 
cover,  the  one  nearest  the  player  by  Rubens  ; 
the  subject  Cupid  and  Psyche.  The  dealer  asked 
£30  for  it,  such  instruments  without  paintings 
being  priced  at  £15.  After  some  correspond 
ence  it  was  bought  and  sent  over.  Arrived  in 
London  it  was  found  to  be  wanting  6  or  7 
keys,  and  to  be  insufficient  for  the  music,1  and 
Gerbier  was  requested  to  get  it  exchanged  for 
one  with  larger  compass.  Referring  to  the  maker, 
Gerbier  was  informed  that  he  had  not  another  on 
sale  and  that  the  instrument  could  not  be  altered. 
So  after  this  straightforward  but  rather  gruff  an 
swer  Gerbier  was  written  to  not  to  trouble  himself 
further  about  it.  Mr.  Vander  Straeten  enquires 
what  has  become  of  this  jewel  ?  We  agree  with  him 
that  the  preservation  of  the  pictures  has  probably 
long  since  caused  the  destruction  of  the  instru 
ment.  With  such  decoration  it  would  hardly  re 
main  in  a  lumber  room.  Mr.  Vander  Straeten 
himself  possesses  a  Jean  Ruckers  single  harpsi 
chord,  restored  by  M.  Ch.  Meerens,  of  which  he 
has  given  a  heliotype  illustration  in  his  work.  It 
is  a  splendid  specimen  of  Hans  the  younger. 

Andries  Ruckers  (the  elder,  to  distinguish  him 
from  his  son  Andries),  the  third  son  of  Hans,  was, 
as  we  have  said,  baptized  in  1579,  and  perhaps 
became  a  master  in  1611.  It  is  certain  that  in 
1619  a  clavecin  was  ordered  from  him,  for  the 
reunions  and  dramatic  representations  of  the 
guild  and  purchased  by  subscription.  As  a 
member  of  the  confraternity  of  the  Holy  Virgin 
in  the  cathedral  he  was  tuning  the  chapel  organ 
gratuitously  in  1644.  His  work,  spite  of  Bur- 
ney's  impression  about  the  relative  excellence 
of  his  larger  instruments,  was  held  in  as  great 
esteem  as  that  of  his  father  and  brother,  as  the 
above-mentioned  commission  shows.  In  1671, 
Jean  Cox,  choirmaster  of  the  cathedral,  left  by 
will,  as  a  precious  object,  an  Andre"  Ruckers 
clavecin.  Handel,  many  years  after,  did  the 

i  The  Hitchcocks  were  at  this  time  making  spinets  in  London  with 
five  octaves.  G— G. 


(5 


(6.) 


same.   Within  the  writer's  recollection  there  have 
been  three  honoured  witnesses  in  London  to  this 

maker's  fame,  viz. 
Handel's  (No.  47), 
dated  1651,  given  by 
Messrs.  Broadwood 
to  South  Kensington 
Museum ;  Col.  Hop- 
kinson's  (No.  31) 
dated 1 6 14;  and  Miss 
Twining's,  a  single 
keyboard  one  (No. 
'45),  dated  1640,  still 
at  Twickenham.2  A 
tradition  exists  that 
Handel  had  also 
played  upon  both  the 
last  -  named  instru 
ments.  We  do  not 
know  when  Andries 
Ruckers  the  elder 
died.  He  was  cer 
tainly  living  in  1651, 
since  that  date  is  on 
his  harpsichord  (Han 
del's)  at  South  Kem- 
sington.  His  roses 
are  here  given. 

Of  Andries  Ruckers  the  younger,  the  informa 
tion  is  most  meagre.  Born  in  1607,  we  think  he 
became  a  master  in  1636.  The  Christian  name  is 
wanting  to  the  entry  in  the  ledger,  but  as  the 
son  of  a  master,  the  son  of  Andries  the  elder  is 
apparently  indicated.  The  researches  of  M. 
Gdnard  have  proved  the  birth  of  a  daughter  to 
Hans  the  younger,  but  not  that  of  a  son.  It 
might  be  Christopher,  could  we  attribute  to  him 
a  master  for  a  father.  Regarding  him,  however, 
as  living  earlier,  we  are  content  to  believe  that 
Andries  the  younger  then  became  free  of  the  Guild; 
but  as  his  known  instruments  are  of  late  date  it 
is  possible  that  he  worked  much  with  his  father. 
We  know  from  a  baptism  in  1665  that  the  younger 
Andries  had  married  Catherina  de  Vriese,  per 
haps  of  the  family  of  Dirck  or  Thierri  de  Vries,  a 

clavecin-maker  whose 
death  is  recorded  in 
1628.  Fetis  (Bio- 
graphic  universelle, 
2nd  edit,  vii.,  346^) 
says  he  had  seen  a 
fine  clavecin  made  by 
Andries  the  younger, 
dated  1667.  M.  Be"- 
gibo  possesses  un 
doubted  instruments 
by  him,  and  has  sup 
plied  a  copy  of  his  rose 
(7).  He  has  done  the  same  for  Christopher  Poickers 
(8),  of  whose  make  he  owns  a  specimen.  M.  Vander 

"  This  instrument  formerly  belonged  to  the  Rev.  Thomas  Twining, 
Rector  of  St.  Mary,  Colchester,  who  died  in  1804.  A  learned  scholar 
(he  translated  Aristotle's  'Poetics')  and  clever  musician,  he  enjoyed 
the  friendship  of'Burney  and  valued  highly  his  favourite  harpsichord, 
on  which  the  great  Handel  had  played.  Mr.  Charles  Salaman  used 
both  this  instrument  and  Messrs.  Broadwood's  in  his  admirable 
lectures  given  in  1855-6  in  London  and  the  provinces. 


(7 


RUCKERS. 


RUCKERS. 


197 


^ 


Straeten  refers  to  another  in  the  Museum  at 
Namur.  We  can 
not  determine  Chris 
topher's  relationship 
to  the  other  Ruckers, 
but  he  might  have 
been  the  her  Chris- 
tofel  Ruckers,  organ 
ist  and  clockmaker 
of  Termonde,  where 
he  set  up  a  carillon 
in  1549 — possibly  a 
priest,  at  least  the 
title  'her'  would  in 


dicate  a  person  regarded  with  veneration.  The 
same  writer,  in  the  5th  vol.  p.  393  of  'La  Musique 
aux  Pays-Bas,'  continues,  '  who  knows  if  this 
Christopher  did  not  own  a  workshop  for  clavecin 
making.  The  priest  was  everything  at  that 
epoch,  and  a  scholar  an  organ  or  spinet  builder 
seems  to  us  quite  natural  and  normal.' 

We  will  now  give  the  list  of  the  existing  Ruckers 
instruments,  as  complete  as  we  have  been  able 
to  make  it.  The  kind  and  never  tiring  help  of 
MM.  Mahillon,  Meerens,  and  Vander  Straeten 
of  Brussels,  and  of  MM.  Snoeck  and  Re"gibo  of 
Renaix,  as  well  as  of  other  friends,  in  compiling 
it,  is  gratefully  acknowledged. 


Catalogue  of  Ruckers  Clavecins,  still  existing  (iSSi),  as  far  as  possible  according  to  date.    Extreme 

measurements  of  length  and  width. 

In  all  the  soundboards  are  painted  with  devices,  generally  of  fruit,  birds,  and  flowers. 

I.  HANS  RUCKERS  DE  OUDK  (the  Elder). 


No. 

Form. 

Dale. 

Dimensions. 

General  Description. 

Present  Owner. 

Source  of  inform 
ation. 

ft.  in.       ft.  In. 

1 

Bent  side. 

1590 

74     by   2    9 

2  keyboards,  not  original  ;  black  naturals  ;  4| 

Collection  of  M.  Re"gibo, 

A.  R<5gibo. 

octaves,  G  —  E  ;  finely  painted.    Rose  No.  1. 

Renaix. 

2 

Bent  side. 

1590 

7   9     by    2  10| 

2  keyboards,  not  original;  black  naturals  ;  5oct.  ; 

Muscle    du    Conserva 

G.  Chouquet. 

extended    by    Blanchet.i       Inscribed    HANS 

toire,  Paris. 

RUCKEHS  ME  FECIT  ANTVERPIAE  ;  Rose  No.  1. 

3 

Bent  side. 

1590 

2  keyboards  ;   case  '  en  laque  de  Chine'  ;   5  stops 

Chateau  de  Pau,  France. 

Spire  Blondel,  'La 

'agenouillere.' 

Revue      Britan- 

nique,'  Oct.  1880.2 

4 

Oblong. 

1610 

57     by    1    7 

2  keyboards  one  above  the  other  ;  white  naturals  ; 

Muse'e    d«    Conserva 

V.  Mahillon. 

4.^  oct.  ,C—F  each.  The  upper  and  octave  instru 

toire,  Brussels. 

ment  a  later  addition  by  the  maker.   Inscribed 

HANS  RUCKERS  ME  FECIT  ANTVERPIAE,  1610. 

5 

Oblong. 

1611 

56     by    1    74 

1  keyboard  ;  3j  oct.,  E—  C  ;  case  patterned  paper. 

Muse'e  du  Steen,  Anfr- 

E.  Vander  Straeten 

Inscribed  JOANNES  RUCKERS  FECIT  ANTVER 

werp. 

and  V.  Mahillon. 

PIAE,  1611  ;  H.  R.  rose. 

6 

Oblong. 

1614 

5   5i  by    1   7£ 

1  keyboard  ;  3j  oct.,  E—  C  ;  white  naturals. 

M.  Snoeck,  Renaix. 

C.  Meerens. 

7 

Bent  side. 

1614 

7    4-jj   by    3    3" 

2  keyboards  ;    not  original  ;    5  oct.,  etc.,  F—  G  ; 

M.  Snoeck,  Renaix. 

0.  Meereus. 

white  naturals  ;   curved  bent  side  and  round 

narrow  end  ;  2  genouilleres  and  a  sourdine  of 

the  last  century.  Rose  No.  1. 

8 

1632 

TOD  painted.    (The  date  inclines  us  to  attribute 

M.  De  Breyne,  Ypres. 

E.  Vander  Straeten. 

this  one  to  Hans  the  Younger)  ;  the  rose  is  not 

described. 

9 

Oblong. 

Un 

57     by    1    5} 

2  keyboards  side  by  side,  the  left-hand  one  re 

Messrs.  Chappell  &  Co., 

A.  J.  Hipkins. 

dated 

movable,  having  its  own  belly  and  rose.  but  to  be 

London. 

tuned  an  8ve.  higher  than  the  fixed  instrument  ; 

no  keys  left  ;  4  oct.,  B—  B.    Both  stretchers  in 

scribed  JOANNES  ROCKERS  ME  FECIT.    2  roses 

No.  1.  (See  No.  13.)   Good  paintings.   Stand,  an 

arcade  with  6  balusters. 

10 

Bent  side. 

74     by    2   7 

2  original  keyboards  ;  4£  oct.,  C—  F  (5  keys  added); 

M.  Re"gibo,  Renaix. 

A.  R<§gibo. 

white  naturals  ;  3  stops. 

II. 

11 

Bent  side. 

1817 

68     by    3   7  * 

12 

Oblong. 

1618 

2    8}  by    1    3 

13 

Oblong, 

1619 

74     by    2   7 

14 

Oblong. 

1619 

35     by    1    8£ 

15 

Oblong. 

1622 

67     by   1    74 

HANS  RUCKERS  DE  JONGE  (the  Younger). 


2  keyboards  ;  white  naturals, 
nis  Martin,  lately  removed. 


Paintings  in  Ver- 


M.  Pilette,  Brussels, 
1878,  since  sold,  Hotel 
Drouot. 

Muse'e  du  Conserva 
toire,  Paris. 


1  original   keyboard ;    3$  oct.,   E— C  ;     white 
naturals.  Inscribed  JOANNES  RUCKERS  FECIT. 
Rose  No.  2. 

2  original  keyboards  side  by  side,  4  stops  to  the     M.  Re"gibo,  Renaix. 
fixed  one,  the  other  tuned  8ve.  higher  ;  4i  Oct., 

C— F;  white  naturals.  Roses  No.  4.  (See  No.  9.) 

1  original  keyboard  ;  3j  oct.,  E— C  ;  white  natu 
rals.  Rose  No.  2. 

1  keyboard  ;  4£  Oct.,  C— F  ;  white  naturals.  In 
scribed  JOANNES  RUCKERS  FECIT  ANTVERPIAE, 
1622,  and  OMNIS  SPIRITUS  LAUDET  DOMINUM. 


M.  Re"gibo,  Renaix. 

M.    Victor     Mahillon, 
Brussels. 


Victor  Mahillon. 
G.  Chouquet. 
A.  Re"gibo. 

A.  Rtfgibo. 
V.  Mahillon. 


1  It  is  believed  by  MM.  Snoeck,  Vander  Straeten,  Re"gibo,  and  V. 
Mahillon,  that  few  of  the  Huckers  clavecins  are  of  the  original 
compass  of  keys.  The  statements  of  compass  in  this  list  and  also  in 
KEYBOARD  should  be  qualified  by  this  remark.  The  increase  was, 
however,  made  long  ago,  and  in  some  instances  possibly  by  the 
maker  himself.  M.  Vander  Straeten,  p.  348,  has  a  quoted  passage 
from  Van  Blankenburg:  'This  was  at  the  time  when  clavecins  had 
11  a  narrow  keyboard.  In  the  present  day  (1739?)  it  would  be 
ifficult  to  meet  with  one  of  this  kind  ;  all  the  keyboards  having 
been  lengthened.'  Again,  white  naturals  are  believed  to  be  original 
In  these  instruments.  Upon  very  old  alterations  it  is  not  easy  to  decide. 


\Ve  are  of  opinion  that  black  naturals  and  ivory  sharps  were  occa 
sionally  substituted  when  the  paintings  were  done.  In  dealing  with 
these  questions,  however,  it  is  best  to  refrain  from  generalising ; 
many  errors  having  arisen  from  too  hasty  conclusions. 

2  M.  Spire  Blondel  (Histoire  Anecdotique  du  Piano)  mentions  a 
Ruckers  clavecin,  painted  by  Gravelot,  as  finding  a  buyer  at  the 
sale  of  Blondel  d'Azincourt.  M.  du  Sommerard  in  a  private  letter 
refers  to  one  found  in  a  village,  probably  a  Hans  Ruckers.  There 
are  more  in  France,  as  M.  Chouquet  has  heard  of  three,  but  has  no 
particulars  of  them  to  communicate.  Enquiry  has  failed  to  discover 
one  in  Holland  or  the  Rhenish  provinces. 


193 


RUCKERS. 


No. 

.Form. 

Date. 

Dimensions. 

General  Descriptions. 

Present  Owner. 

Source  of  inform 
ation. 

ft.  in.       ft.  in. 

16 

Bent  side. 

1627 

6   0     by    2   7-i 

1  original  keyboard  ;  4£  Oct.,  C-E  ;  white  natu 

M.     Vander    Straeten 

E.  Vander  Straeten. 

rals  ;  2  stops  ;  Kose  No.  4  ;  painting  inside  tup, 

Brussels'. 

drawn  in  '  La  Musique  aux  Pays-Bas,'  tome  3. 

Inscribed  as  No.  15,  and  M0SICA  DON  DM  DEI. 

17 

Oblong. 

1628 

59     by    1    7£ 

1  keyboard  ;  4}  oct.,  C—  F,  without  lowest  C  #; 

M.  L£on  Jouret,  Brus 

V.  Mahillon. 

appears  to  have  been  extended  by  the  maker 

sels. 

from  Sf  oct.,  E—  C.  A  sourdine  '  a  genouillere.' 

18 

Bent  side. 

1630 

4  10i  by   2  10 

2  keyboards  ;    4J  Oct.,   G—  E  ;   black  naturals  ; 

Baroness     James     de 

Georges  Pfeiffer. 

painting  inside  top  said  to  be  by  Lancret.   In 

Rothschild,  Paris. 

scribed  JOANNES  ROCKERS  ME  FECIT  ANTVER- 

PIAE.    Case  and  top  black  and  gold  lacquer, 

Chinese.    Drawn  in  '  I/Illustration  '  13  March, 

1858,  and  as  frontispiece  to  Chevalier  de  Bur- 

bure's  pamphlet. 

19 

Bent  side. 

1632 

82     by    3    3 

2  keyboards  ;  5  oct.  and  1  note,  F—  G  ;   white 

M.  Snoeck,  Renaix. 

C.  Meerens. 

naturals  ;  4  stops  '  a  genouillere.'  Rose  No.  3. 

20 

Bent  side. 

1637 

61     by    2    9i 

1  keyboard  ;  4^  oct..  A—  F  ;  white  naturals.    In 

John  Callcott  Horsley, 

J.  C.  Horsley. 

scribed  as  No!  18,  with  date. 

Esq.,  R.A.,  London. 

21 

Oblong. 

1638 

59     by    1    7 

1  keyboard  ;  4  oct.,  etc,,  C—  D;   white  naturals. 

.11.  Snoeck,  Renaix. 

C.  Meerens. 

Inscribed  as  No.  15,   with  date,  and   MusiCA 

MAGNORUM  EST  SOLAMEN  DULCE  LABORUM. 

Rose  No.  2. 

22 

Bent  side. 

1639 

59     by    2   ?i 

1  keyboard;  no  keys;  4  stops;  Rose  No.  4;  black 

South  Kensington  Mu 

A.  J.  Hipkins. 

and  gold  case. 

seum  (gift  of  Messrs. 

Kirkman). 

23 

Bent  side. 

1642 

7   4£  by    2    8 

2  keyboards  ;  4%  oct.,  B—  D  ;  4  stops  at  the  side  as 

F.  R.   Leyland,    Esq., 

A.  J.  Hipkins. 

originally  placed  ;  Rose  No.  4  ;  paintings. 

London. 

24 

Bent  side. 

Un 

7  11     by    3   0 

2  keyboards  ;  5  oct.,  F  —  F  ;  painted  outside  by 

Muse'e    du    Conserva 

G.  Chouquet. 

dated 

Teniers  or  Brouwer,  inside  by  Breughel  and 

toire,  Paris  (Clapis- 

Paul  Bril.  Rose  No.  3. 

son  Collection). 

25 

Bent  side. 

71     by    2   7 

1  keyboard  ;  4£  oct.,  G—  D  ;  black  naturals  ;  Rose 

Mus(5e    de    1'Hotel   de 

A.  J.  Hipkins. 

No.  4  ;  blackwood  case  with  incrusted  ivory;  ac 

Cluny,   Paris.      Cat. 

cording  to  M.  du  Sommerard,  Italian  work. 

1875,  No.  2825. 

26 

Bent  side, 

•  •  • 

5  11     by    2   54 

2  keyboards  ;  each  3J  oct.,  E—  C  ;  black  naturals  ; 

M.  Snoeck,  Renaix. 

C.  Meerens. 

with  oblong 

2  stops  to  the  bent  side  instrument  and  Rose 

clavecin  at 

No.  4  ;  to  the  oblong  one,  Rose  No.  2  ;  superbly 

tached. 

painted.    The  two  instruments  together  form 

an  oblong  square. 

27 

Bent  side. 

•  .  . 

5  11     by    2   7$ 

4^  oct.,  C—  E  ;  white  naturals  ;  superb  paintings. 

M.  Snoeck,  Renaix. 

C.  Meerens. 

28 

Bent  side. 

t  •  • 

60     by    2   7 

1  original  keyboard,  4£  oct.,  C—  F  ;  5  keys  added 

M.  Regibo,  Reuaix. 

A.  Regibo 

in  treble  ;  white  naturals  ;  3  stops  ;  Rose  No.  2  ; 

painting  of  Orpheus  playing  a  bass  viol. 

29 

Bent  side. 

1  original  keyboard  ;  4£  oct.,  C—  F  ;  4  keys  added 

M.  Ri5gibo,  Renaix. 

A.  Regibo. 

in  treble  ;  Rose  No.  3,  cut  in  hard  wood. 

III.  ANDBIES  RUCKEKS  DE  OUDE  (the  Elder). 


M) 

31 

UDlong, 
Bent  side. 

1613 

1614 

3    8£  by 
7    6     by 

1    4$ 

2    8 

32 

Bent  side. 

1615 

4    0     by 

33 

Bent  side. 

1618 

7    4     by 

2  10 

34 

Bent  side. 

1619 

8  10i  by 

2  10 

35 
36 

Bent  side. 
Oblong. 

1620 
1620 

510     by 
4   1     by 

2    8 

1   3i 

37 

Oblong. 

1623 

5   7$  by 

1    7£ 

38 

Bent  side. 

1623 

7   9     by 

3    1 

39 

Bent  side. 

1624 

8    0     by 

2  10 

40 

Oblong. 

1626 

4    0     by 

3    l£ 

41 

Oblong. 

1632 

5   8     by 

1    74 

42 
43 

Oblong. 

1633 
1634 

2    l£  by 

1    6 

1  keyboard  ;  4  Oct.,  C— C  ;  white  naturals.    In 
scribed  ANDREAS  RUCKERS  ME  FECIT  ANTVER- 
PIAE,  3613.    Belonged  to  the  clavecinist  and 
carilloneur,  Matthias  Vanden  Gheyn,  who  put 
his  mark  upon  it  in  1740. 

2  keyboards,  not  original ;  4£  oct.,  A— E  ;  white 
naturals ;  buff  leather,  lute  and  octave  stops  ; 
pedal,  not  original ;  case  veneered  last  century. 
Inscribed  as  No.  30.  Rose  No.  6.  Painting  inside 
top  attributed  to  Van  der  Meulen. 

Inscribed  CONCOKDIA  RES  .  PARVAE  .  CRESCUNT  . 

DISCORDIA  .  MAXIMAE  .  DILABUNTUR  ;  was  in  the 

Collegiate  Church  of  St.  Jacques,  Antwerp. 

4j  oct.,  C— F ;  white  naturals.  Inscribed  SOLI 
DEO  GLORIA. 

2  keyboards  ;  5  Oct.,  C— C  ;  the  lowest  note  8ve. 
below  cello  C  ;  belly  gilt  and  diapered  in  Moor 
ish  style ;  painting  of  Orpheus  outside.  In 
scribed  as  No.  30,  with  date.  Rose  No.  5. 

4i  oct.,  C— F  ;  white  naturals  ;  4  stops. 

1  keyboard  ;  3J  oct.,  E— C  ;  white  naturals.  In 
scribed  as  No.  30,  and  inside  the  top  Sic  TRAN 
SIT  GLORIA  MDNDI. 

1  keyboard  ;  4  oct.,  C— 0  ;  -white  naturals.    In 
scribed  as  No.  30,  with  date. 

2  keyboards  ;  5  oct.,  F— F  ;  white  naturals ;  3 
stops ;  pedal  not  original ;  case  veneered  last 
century.  Rose  No.  6. 

5  oct.,  F— F ;  3  stops.  Inscribed  MUSICA  LAE- 
TITIAE  COMES,  MEDICINA  DOLORUM. 

1  keyboard  ;  3i  oct.  and  2  notes ;  at  least  an  8ve. 
added  in  the  last  century.  Inscribed  as  No.  30, 
and  inside  top  as  No.  36.  The  stand  a  row  of 
five  balusters. 

1  original  keyboard  to  right  hand  of  front ;  4j 
oct.,  C— F  ;  white  naturals.  Inscribed  inside 
top  MUSICA  .  MAGNORUM  .  SOLAMEN  .  DULCE  . 
I/ABORUM.  Rose  No.  6. 

1  original  keyboard  to  left  hand  of  front ;  4  £  oct., 
C— F ;  white  naturals.  Inscribed  ANDREAS 
RUCKERS  FECIT  ANTVERPIAE.  Hardwood  jacks 
of  double  thickness  ;  painting  inside  top. 
Rose  No.  6. 

Inscribed  ANDEEAS  RUCKERS  ANTVERPIAE. 


Muse'e    du    Conserva 
toire,  Brussels. 


Colonel       Hopkinson, 
London. 


M.  Snoeck,  Renaix. 
M.  Regibo,  Renaix. 


M.  Snoeck,  Renaix. 
M.  Alfred  Campo,  Brus 
sels. 

MM.  Victor  and  Joseph 

Mahillon,  Brussels. 
Dr.  Hullah,  London. 


Muse'e   Arche'ologique, 
Bruges. 


M.  Regibo,  Renaix. 


M.  Regibo,  Renaix. 


In  a  village  in  Flanders. 


V.  Mahillon. 


A.  J.  Hipkins. 


L6on   de  Buibure. 
p.  26. 

C.  Meerens. 
A.  Regibo. 


C.  Meerens. 
V.  Mahillon. 


V.  Mahillon. 
H.  Holiday. 

V.  Mahillon. 
E.Vander  Straetco. 


A. 


A.  Regibo. 


E.Vander  Straeten. 


RUCKERS. 


199 


Ho. 

Form. 

Date.1 

Dimension*. 

General  Description. 

Present  Owner. 

Source  of  inform 
ation. 

— 

ft.  in.      ft.  in. 

44 

Bent  side. 

1636 

2  keyboards  not  original  ;  5  oct.  ;  black  naturals  ; 

.    .    .   Dijon,  France. 

E.Vander  Straeten. 

stops    and    legs    like    Taskin's  ;    beautifully 

painted.    Inscribed  as  No.  30,  with  date. 

45 

Bent  side. 

1640 

60     by    2   5 

1  original  keyboard  ;  4  oct.,  etc.,  C—  D  ;  white 

Miss     Twining,      Dial 

A.  J.  Hipkins. 

naturals.    Inscribed  ANDREAS  KUKERS,  1640  ; 

House,  Twickenham. 

and  inside  top  MUSICA  LAETITIAE  COMES  ME- 

DICINA  DOLORUM  ;  inside  flap  CONCOEDIA  Mcsis 

AMICA.   2  stops  ;  Rose  No.  6  •,  case  patt.  paper. 

46 

Oblong. 

1644 

58     by    I    8 

1  keyboard  ;  4  oct.,  C—  C.    Inscribed  ANDREAS 

M.    Victor     Mahillon, 

V.  Mahillon. 

BUCKERS,  ANNO  1644. 

Brussels. 

47 

Bent  side. 

1651 

68     by    3   0 

2  keyboards  not  original  ;  nearly  5  oet..  G  —  F, 

South  Kensington  Mu 

A.  J.  Hipkins. 

lowest  G$  wanting  ;  white  naturals.  Inscribed 

seum  (gift,  as  having 

as  No.  30,  with  date,  and  Sic  TRANSIT  GLORIA. 

been     Handel's,     of 

MUNDI,  MUSICA  DONUM    DEI,    and   formerly 

Messrs.  Broadwood). 

ACTA  VIRUM  PBOBANT.    Concert  of  monkeys 

on  the  belly,  one  conducting.    Hose  No.  6. 

48 

Oblong. 

Un 

27     by    1    3J 

1  original  keyboard  placed  in  the  middle  ;  4  Oct., 

M.  Re'gibo,  Renaix. 

A.  Re'gibo. 

dated 

C—  C  ;  white  naturals.  Rose  No.  6. 

49 

Bent  side. 

... 

76     by   2   7 

2  keyboards  ;  the  lower  4  oct.,  etc.,  B—  C,  the 

Muse'e  'du  Steen,  Ant 

V.  Mahillon. 

upper  3j  oct.,  E—  C  ;  only  one  key,  a  white 

werp. 

natural,  left  ;  &  stops  ;  no  name  or  rose,  but 

style  of  work  of  A.  R.  Inscribed  OMNISSPIRITCS 

LACDET  DOMINUM  CONCORDIA  KES  PARVAB 

CRESCUNT  DISCORDIA  MAXIMAE  DILABUNTUR. 

50 

Bent  side. 

73    by    2  11 

2  keyboards,  not  original  ;  5  oct.,  F—  F  ;  black 

Le  Baron  de  G8er,  Cha 

V.  Mahillon. 

•  •  • 

naturals  ;  inscribed  as  No.  30  ;  date  of  renova 

teau  de  Velu,  Fas  de 

tion,  1758,  marked  on  a  jack  ;  fine  paintings. 

Calais,  France. 

K1 

iii          i 

SQ         V»IT       1        K. 

1  keyboard  ;  4ioct.,  C—  F  ;  white  naturals;  in 

V.  Mahillon. 

UA 

Oblong. 

.  .  • 

o     by    i    o 

scribed  as  No.  30. 

52 

Bent  side. 

66     by    2   8 

2  keyboards  ;   4£  oct.,  B—  F  ;    white  naturals  ; 

M.  Snoeck,  Renaix. 

0.  Meerens. 

name  and  rose  wanting  ;  attributed  to  A.  K. 

by  the  work. 

53 

Oblong. 

.  .  . 

S   8     by    1    4 

1  keyboard  3J  oct..  E—  C.  Rose  No.  6. 

M.  Snoeck,  Renaix. 

0.  Snoeck. 

v^ 

AJCUU  01UC. 

.LWW 

55 

Bent  side. 

1656 

5   4£  by   2    2£ 

56 

Bent  side. 

1659 

5  10     by    2    4 

57 

Oblong. 

49     by    1    5£ 

Oblong,     I  Un-     3   7     by    1 


IV.  ANDRIES  RUCKERS  DE  JONGE  (the  Younger). 

Case  painted  in  blue  camaieu  in  rococo  style ; 

attribution  to  the  younger  A.  R.  from  the  late 

date. 
1  original  keyboard;  4oct.,C— C  ;  white  naturals; 

painting  inside  top.   Rose  No.  7. 
1  original  keyboard  ;  4oct.,C— C  ;  white  naturals. 

Rose  No.  7. 
1  original  keyboard  to  the  left ;  4  Oct.,  etc.,  D— E ; 

white  naturals.  Rose  No.  7. 

V.  CHRISTOFEL  RUCKERS. 

1  original  keyboard  to  the  right ;  4  oct.,  E— E, 
without  the  highest  D  jj ;  white  naturals ;  Rose 
No.  8 ;  soundboard  and  top  renewed. 


M.  Lavignfie  (from  the 
Chateau  de  Perceau, 
pres  Cosne). 
M.  Re'gibo,  Renaix. 

S.  Blondel. 
A.  Re'gibo, 

M.  Rfigvbo,  Renaix. 

A.  R6gibo. 

M.  Re'gibo,  Renaix. 

A.  Re'gibo. 

M.  Re'gibo,  Renaix. 


A.  Re'gibo. 

[A.J.H.] 


RUDERSDORFF,  HERMINE,  born  Dec.  12, 
1822,  at  Ivanowsky  in  the  Ukraine,  where  her 
father,  Joseph  Rudersdorff,  a  distinguished 
violinist  (afterwards  of  Hamburg),  was  then 
engaged.  She  learned  singing1  at  Paris  from 
Bordogni,  and  at  Milan  from  de  Micherout,  also 
master  of  Clara  Novello,  Catherine  Hayes,  etc. 
She  first  appeared  in  Germany  in  concerts,  and 
sang  the  principal  soprano  music,  on  production 
of  Mendelssohn's  '  Lobgesang  '  at  Leipzig,  June 
5,  1840.  The  next  year  she  appeared  on  the 
stage  at  Carlsruhe  with  great  success,  and  then 
at  Frankfort — where  in  1844  s^e  Carried  Dr. 
Kiichenmeister,  a  professor  of  mathematics, — and 
at  Breslau.  Her  parts  consisted  of  Agatha, 
Reiza,  Valentine,  Isabella,  Elvira  (Puritani), 
etc.  From  1852  to  54  she  sang  at  the  Friedrich- 
Wilhelmstadt  Theatre,  Berlin,  with  great  success, 
in  light  French  operas  of  Adam,  Auber,  Boiel- 
dieu,  Harold,  and  Thomas,  as  Juliet  (Bellini),  and 
in  new  German  operas,  such  as  Bertalda  in 
Lortzing's  '  Undine,'  etc.,  besides  playing  at  Aix- 
la-Chapelle,  Cologne  and  Dantzic.  On  May  23, 
54,  she  first  appeared  in  England  in  German 
opera  at  Drury  Lane,  as  Donna  Anna,  and  was 
fairly  well  received  in  that  and  her  subsequent 
parts  of  Constance  in  Mozart's  '  Entfiihrung,' 


Agatha,  Fidelio,  and  Margaret  of  Valois,  and  in 
English  as  Elvira  in  '  Masaniello.'  She  took  up  her 
residence  in  England  for  several  years,  only  occa 
sionally  visiting  Germany  for  concerts  and  festi 
vals.  She  sang  at  the  Royal  Italian  Opera  in 
1855,  also  from  1861  to  65,  as  Donnas  Anna  and 
Elvira,  Jemmy,  Bertha,  Natalia  (L'Etoile  du 
Nord),  etc.  ;  and  in  English  at  St.  James's 
Theatre  for  a  few  nights  in  Loder's  opera, 
'  Raymond  and  Agnes.'  But  it  was  as  a  concert 
singer  that  she  was  best  appreciated,  her  very 
powerful  voice  (not  always  pleasing),  combined 
with  admirable  powers  of  declamation  and  cer 
tainty  of  execution,  and  thorough  musicianship 
having  enabled  her  to  take  high  rank  as  a  singer 
of  oratorio.  Conspicuous  may  be  mentioned,  her 
rendering  of  the  opening  soprano  recitatives  in 
the  '  Messiah  '  and  of  the  air  following,  '  Rejoice 
greatly,'  and  of  the  final  air  and  chorus  in  the 
'  Israel,'  especially  at  the  Handel  Festivals,  when 
her  voice  would  tell  out  with  wonderful  effect 
against  the  powerful  band  and  choir.  In  concerts, 
whatever  she  undertook  she  always  showed  herself 
a  thorough  artist,  being  devoted  to  her  art,  in 
which  she  worked  with  untiring  industry.  This 
she  proved  by  her  revival  of  Mozart's  fine  scenas 
'  AM  lo  previdi  '  and  '  Misera  dove  son,'  and  of 


200 


RUDERSDORFF. 


Handel's  air  from  'Semele,'  'O  Sleep,'  or  by  the 
introduction  in  their  own  tongue  of  Danish 
melodies  and  the  Spanish  songs  of  Yradier. 
She  was  engaged  at  the  Boston  festivals  of 
1871  and  72,  and  after  the  latter  took  up  her 
permanent  abode  in  the  States,  where  she  now 
resides.  At  the  Birmingham  Festival  of  73  she 
wrote  the  libretto  of  Signer  Randegger's  cantata 
'  Fridolin,'  founded  on  Schiller's  '  Gangnach  dem 
Eisenhammer.'  She  had  previously  introduced, 
in  1869,  at  the  Gewandhaus  concerts,  Leipzig,  the 
same  composer's  scena  '  Medea,'  which  she  sang 
also  at  the  Crystal  Palace  and  in  72  at  Boston. 
She  has  now  retired  from  public  life,  and  devotes 
herself  to  teaching  singing.  Among  her  pupils 
are  Mesdames  Anna  Drasdil,  Emma  Thursby, 
and  Isabel  Fassett.  [A.C.] 

RUDHALL.  A  family  of  bell  founders  of 
this  name  carried  on  business  in  Bell  Lane, 
Gloucester,  from  1648  until  late  in  the  i8th  cen 
tury.  Its  successive  members  were  Abraham, 
sen.,  Abraham,  jun.,  Abel,  Thomas,  and  John. 
From  catalogues  published  by  them  it  appears 
that  from  1648  to  Lady  day,  1751,  they  had 
cast  2972  bells  'for  sixteen  cities'  and  other 
places  '  in  forty-four  several  counties,'  and  afc 
Lady  day  1774  the  number  had  increased  to 
3594.  The  principal  metropolitan  peals  cast  by 
them  were  those  of  St.  Bride,  St.  Dunstan  in  the 
East,  and  St.  Martin  in  the  Fields.  The  most 
eminent  member  of  the  family  was  Abraham 
junior,  who  brought  the  art  of  bell-casting  to  great 
perfection.  He  was  born  1657,  and  died  Jan.  25, 
1736,  'famed  for  his  great  skill,  beloved  and 
esteemed  for  his  singular  good  nature  and  in 
tegrity,'  and  was  buried  in  Gloucester  Cathedral. 
His  daughter,  Alicia,  married  William  Hine,  the 
cathedral  organist.  [See  HINE,  WILLIAM.]  The 
bells  of  the  Rudhalls  were  distinguished  for  their 
musical  tone.  [W.H.H.] 

RUDOLPH  JOHANN  JOSEPH  RAINER, 

ARCHDUKE  of  Austria,  born  at  Florence,  Jan.  8, 
1788,  died  suddenly  at  Baden,  Vienna,  July  24, 
1831,  was  the  youngest  child  of  Leopold  of 
Tuscany  and  Maria  Louisa  of  Spain.  On  the 
death  of  the  Emperor  Joseph  II.,  Feb.  20,  1790, 
Leopold  succeeded  his  brother  as  Emperor  Leopold 
II.,  and  thus  Rudolph  received  an  exclusively 
German  education.  Music  was  hereditary  in 
his  family.  His  great-grandfather,  Carl  VI., 
so  accompanied  an  opera  by  Fux,  that  the  com 
poser  exclaimed  :  '  Bravo  !  your  Majesty  might 
serve  anywhere  as  chief  Kapellmeister ! '  '  Not 
so  fast,  my  dear  chief  Kapellmeister,'  replied 
the  Emperor ;  '  we  are  better  off  as  we  are ! ' 
His  grandmother,  the  great  Maria  Theresa,  was 
a  well-educated  dilettante,  and  a  fine  singer ; 
her  children,  from  very  early  age,  sang  and 
performed  cantatas  and  little  dramas,  to  words 
by  Metastasio,  on  birthdays  and  fetes.  His 
uncle,  Max  Franz,  was  Elector  of  Cologne, 
viola-player,  and  organiser  of  that  splendid  or 
chestra  at  Bonn,  to  which  the  Rombergs,  Rieses, 
Reichas  and  Beethovens  belonged.  It  was  his 
father,  Leopold,  who,  after  the  first  performance 
of  Cimarosa's  '  Matrimonio  segreto,'  gave  all  those 


RUDOLPH,  ARCHDUKE. 

who  took  part  in  the  production  a  supper,  and 
then  ordered  the  performance  to  be  repeated,- 
and  it  was  his  aunt,  Marie  Antoinette,  who 
supported  Gluck  against  Piccinni  at  Paris. 

Like  the  other  children  of  the  Imperial  family, 
Rudolph  was  instructed  in  music  by  Anton 
Teyber,  and  tradition  says  that,  as  early  as 
twelve  or  fourteen  he  played  in  the  salons  of 
his  friends  with  credit  to  himself.  In  later  years 
he  gave  ample  proof  of  more  than  ordinary  musical 
talent  and  taste ;  but  none  greater  than  this — 
that  as  soon  as  he  had  liberty  of  choice  he  ex 
changed  Teyber  for  Beethoven.  The  precise  date 
and  circumstances  attending  this  change  have 
eluded  investigation ;  but  in  his  I  /th  year  he 
received  a  separate  establishment  from  his  elder 
brother,  then  Emperor  Francis  I.  of  Austria 
(succeeded  March  I,  1792),  as  'Coadjutor'  of  the 
Prince  Archbishop  Colloredo  of  Olrnutz.  From 
the  notices  of  Ries  and  other  sources,  it  seems 
probable  that  the  connection  between  Rudolph, 
a  youth  of  sixteen,  and  Beethoven,  a  man  of 
thirty-four,  began  in  the  winter  of  1803-4. 

Ries  relates  that  Beethoren's  breaches  of  court 
etiquette  were  a  constant  source  of  trouble  to 
his  pupil's  chamberlains,  who  strove  in  vain  to 
enforce  its  rules  on  him.  He  at  last  lost  all 
patience,  pushed  his  way  into  the  young  Arch 
duke's  presence,  and,  excessively  angry,  assured 
him  that  he  had  all  due  respect  for  his  person, 
but  that  the  punctilious  observance  of  all  the 
rules  in  which  he  was  daily  tutored,  was  not  his 
business.  Rudolph  laughed  good  -  humouredly 
and  gave  orders  that  for  the  future  he  should  be 
allowed  to  go  his  own  way. 

Beethoven  in  1817  told  Fraulein  Giannatasio, 
that  he  had  struck  his  pupil's  fingers,  and,  upon 
Rudolph's  resenting  the  affront,  had  defended 
himself  by  pointing  to  a  passage  in  one  of  the 
poets  (Goethe  ?)  which  sustained  him. 

Beethoven's  triple  concerto,  op.  56  (1804), 
though  dedicated  to  Prince  Lobkowitz,  was 
written,  says  Schindler,  for  the  Archduke,  Seidler, 
and  Kraft.  The  work  does  not  require  great 
execution  in  the  piano  part,  but  a  youth  of  six 
teen  able  to  play  it  must  be  a  very  respectable 
performer. 

The  weakness  of  the  Archduke's  constitution 
is  said  to  have  been  the  cause  of  his  entering 
the  Church.  The  coadjutorship  of  Olmtitz  se 
cured  to  him  the  succession ;  and  the  income 
of  the  position  was  probably  not  a  bad  one; 
for,  though  his  allowance  as  Archduke  in  a 
family  so  very  numerous  was  of  necessity  com 
paratively  small,  yet,  in  the  spring  of  1809, 
just  after  completing  his  2ist  year,  he  sub 
scribed  1500  florins  to  Beethoven's  annuity. 
[See  vol.  ii.  p.  59.]  In  1818  Beethoven  deter 
mined  to  compose  a  solemn  Mass  for  the  in 
stallation  service  of  his  pupil,  a  year  or  two  later. 
On  Sept.  28,  1819,  the  Cardinal's  insignia  arrived 
from  the  Pope,  and  the  installation  was  at  length 
fixed  for  March  g,1  1820.  But  the  Mass  had  as 
sumed  such  gigantic  proportions  thatthe  ceremony 

1  This  date  is  from  the  report  of  the  event  in  the  '  Wiener  musical- 
ische  Zeitung '  oi  March  25,  1820. 


RUDOLPH,  ARCHDUKE. 

had  passed  nearly  two  years  before  it  was  com 
pleted.1  [See  SOLENNIS.]  Instead  of  it,  the 
music  performed  was  a  Mass  in  Bb,  by  Hummel ; 
a  'Te  Deum'  in  C,  by  Preindl ;  '  Ecce  Sacerdos 
magnus,'  by  a  '  Herr  P.  v.  R.' ;  and  Haydn's 
Offertorium  in  D  minor.  The  orchestra  was 
increased  for  the  occasion  to  84  players.  What 
an  opportunity  was  here  lost  by  Beethoven  ! 

Besides   the    annuity,    Rudolph's    purse   was 
probably  often  opened  to  his  master;    but  the 
strongest  proofs  of  his  respect  and  affection  are 
to  be  found  in  his  careful  preservation  of  Bee 
thoven's  most  insignificant  letters;   in  the  zeal 
with  which  he  collected  for  his  library  every 
thing   published   by  him;    in   his  purchase   of 
the   calligraphic  copy  of  his   works2   made  by 
Haslinger ;  and  in  his  patience  with  him,  under 
circumstances  that  must  often  have  sadly  tried 
his  forbearance.     For  Beethoven,  notwithstand 
ing  all  his  obligations  to  his  patron,  chafed  under 
the  interference  with  his  perfect  liberty,  which 
duty  to  the  Archduke-Cardinal  occasionally  im 
posed.     There  are  passages  in  his  letters  to  Ries 
and  others  (suppressed  in  publication),  as  well 
as  in   the  conversation-books,  which  show  how 
galling  even  this  light  yoke  was  to  Beethoven ; 
and  one  feels  in  perusing  those  addressed  to  the 
Archduke  how  frivolous  are  some  of  the  excuses 
for  not  attending  him  at  the  proper  hour,  and 
how   hollow   and   insincere    are   the    occasional 
compliments,  as  Rudolph  must  have  felt.     That 
Beethoven  was  pleased  to  find  the  Forty  Varia 
tions  dedicated  to  him  by  '  his  pupil,  R.  E.  H.' 
(Rudolph  Erz-Herzog),  was  probably  the  fact  ; 
but  it  is  doubtful  whether  his  satisfaction  war 
ranted   the   superlatives  in  which  his  letter  of 
thanks  is  couched.     Other  letters  again  breathe 
throughout  nothing  but  a  true  and  warm  affection 
for  his  pupil.     Kochel  sensibly  remarks  that  the 
trouble  lay  in  Beethoven's  'aversion  to  the  en 
forced  performance  of  regular  duties,  especially 
to  giving  lessons,   and  teaching  the  theory  of 
music,  in  which  it  is  well  known  his  strength  did 
not  lie,  and  for  which  he  had  to  prepare  himself.' 
When  the  untamed  nature  of  Beethoven,  and 
his  deafness,  are  considered,  together  with  his 
lack  of  worldly  wisdom  and  his  absolute  need 
of  a  Maecenas,  one  feels  deeply  how  fortunate 
he  was  to  have  attracted  and  retained  the  sym 
pathy  and  affection  of  a  man  of  such  sweet  and 
tender  qualities  as  Archduke  Rudolph. 

We  can  hardly  expert  an  Archduke-Cardinal 
to  be  a  voluminous  composer,  but  the  Forty 
Variations  already  mentioned,  and  a  sonata  for 
PF.  and  clarinet,  composed  for  Count  Ferdinand 
Troyer,  both  published  by  Haslinger,  are  good 
specimens  of  his  musical  talents  and  acquirements. 
He  was  for  many  years  the  '  protector '  of  the 
great  'Society  of  the  Friends  of  Music '  at  Vienna, 
and  bequeathed  to  it  his  very  valuable  musical 
library.  He  was  also  extremely  fond  of  engraving, 
and  several  copper  plates  designed  and  engraved 

i  Beethoven  announces  its  completion  in  a  letter  to  the  Archduke 
Feb.  27,  1822. 

-  These,  a  splendid  series  of  red  folio  volumes,  beautifully  copied, 
are  conspicuous  in  the  Library  of  the  Gesellschal't  der  Jlusikfreunde 
at  Vienna. 


RUDORFF. 


201 


Concerto  for  PF.  and  Orchestra, 
No.  4,  in  G  (op.  58). 

Do.,  do.,  No.  5,  in  Eb  (op.  73). 

Sonata  for  PF.  solo,  'LesAdieux, 
I/ Absence,  et  le  Ketour,'  in  Eb 
(op.  81  a). 

PF.  arrangement  of  Fidelio  (op. 
726). 

Sonata  for  PF.  and  Cello,  in  G 
(op.  96). 


by  him  have  been  preserved  to  testify  to  very 
considerable  taste  and  skill  in  that  art. 

A  son  of  his,  for  thirty  years  past  a  well- 
known  contributor  to  the  German  musical  pe 
riodical  press,  still  living  (1881),  possesses  an 
oil  portrait  of  his  father.  It  shows  a  rather 
intellectual  face,  of  the  Hapsburg  type,  bub  its 
peculiarities  so  softened  as  to  be  more  than  or 
dinarily  pleasing,  and  even  handsome.3 

The  Archduke's  published  works  are  the  two 
alluded  to  above  : — Theme  by  L.  van  Beethoven, 
with  40  variations — for  PF.  solo  (Haslinger) ; 
Sonata  for  PF.  and  clarinet,  op.  2,  in  A  (Has 
linger). 

Those  dedicated  to  him  by  Beethoven  are  as 
follows — a  noble  assemblage — 

Trio  for  PF.,  V.,  and  Cello,  in 
Bbfop.  97). 

Grand  Sonata  for  the  Hammer- 
klavier,  inBb  (op.  106). 

Canon,  'Alles  Gute.' 

Missa  Solennis,  in  D  (op.  123). 

Grand  Fugue  for  Quartet  (op. 
133),  and  4-hand  arrangement  of 
same. 

Song,  'Gedenke  mein.' 

[A.W.T.] 

RUDORFF,  ERNST,  was  born  in  Berlin  Jan. 
1 8,  1840  ;  his  family  was  of  Hanoverian  ex 
traction.  A.t  the  age  of  five  he  received  his  first 
musical  instruction  from  the  daughter  of  Pro 
fessor  Lichtenstein  and  god-daughter  of  C.  M.  von 
Weber,  an  excellent  pianist  and  of  a  thoroughly 
poetical  nature.  From  his  twelfth  to  his  seven 
teenth  year  he  was  a  pupil  of  Bargiel  in  PF. 
playing  and  composition.  A  song  and  a  PF. 
piece  composed  at  this  period  he  afterwards 
thought  worthy  of  publication  (Op.  2,  No.  I ; 
Op.  10,  No.  4).  For  a  short  time  in  1858  he 
had  the  advantage  of  PF.  lessons  from  Mme. 
Schumann,  and  from  his  twelfth  to  his  fourteenth 
year  learned  the  violin  under  Louis  Ries.  At 
Easter,  1857,  he  entered  the  first  class  of  the 
Friedrichs  Gymnasium,  whence  at  Easter,  1859, 
he  passed  to  the  Berlin  university.  During  the 
whole  of  this  time  his  thoughts  were  bent  on 
the  musical  profession.  When  Joachim  visited 
Berlin  in  1852  Rudorff  had  played  before  him, 
and  had  made  such  a  favourable  impression  that 
Joachim  advised  his  being  allowed  to  follow  the 
musical  profession.  His  father  was  at  first  op 
posed  to  this,  but  at  length  consented  that  he 
should  go  at  Michaelmas,  1859,  and  attend  the 
Conservatorium  and  the  University  at  Leipzig. 
After  two  terms  of  theology  and  history  he 
devoted  himself  exclusively  to  music,  and  on 
leaving  the  Conservatorium  at  Easter,  1861, 
continued  his  musical  studies  for  a  year  under 
Hauptmann  and  Reinecke.  The  summer  of 
1862  he  passed  at  Bonn,  and  returned  to  Berlin 
without  any  fixed  employment  beyond  that  of 
cultivating  his  musical  ability.  Stockhausen  was 
then  conductor  of  a  choral  society  at  Hamburg. 
Rudorff  went  to  him.  early  in  1864,  conducted 
those  of  the  Society's  concerts  in  which  Stock 
hausen  himself  sang,  and  finally  made  concert 
tours  with  him.  In  1865  he  became  professor  at 

3  For  a  more  detailed  notice  see  the  '  Musical  World  '  April  2, 1881. 


202 


RUDORFF. 


the  Cologne  Conservatorium,  and  there  in  1867 
he  founded  the  Bach  Society,  whose  performance 
at  their  first  concert  in  1869  caused  a  great 
sensation,  and  gave  such  satisfaction  to  Ru- 
dorff  himself  that  he  at  first  refused  an  ap 
pointment  as  professor  in  the  new  Hoch  Schule 
at  Berlin  under  Joachim's  direction.  He  after 
wards  changed  his  mind,  and  since  Oct.  1869  has 
been  first  professor  of  PF.-playing  and  director 
of  the  piano  classes  in  that  institution,  besides 
conducting  part  of  the  orchestral  practices,  and 
in  Joachim's  absence  directing  the  public  perform 
ances.  In  the  summer  of  1880,  on  Max  Bruch's 
appointment  as  director  of  the  Liverpool  Philhar 
monic  Society,  Rudorff  succeeded  him  as  conduc 
tor  of  the  Stern  Singing-Society  in  Berlin,  but 
without  resigning  his  post  at  the  High  School. 

The  surroundings  among  which  Rudorff  grew 
up  were  in  many  respects  most  favourable.  His 
father,  a  pupil  of  Savigny  and  a  distinguished 
professor  at  the  Berlin  University,  was  not  only 
deeply  learned  but  was  endowed  with  a  poetical 
mind  and  a  natural  gift  for  music.  His  mother,  a 
granddaughter  of  J.  F.  Reichardt,  and  a  friend  of 
the  Mendelssohns,  was  devoted  to  music.  Among 
the  relations  of  the  family  were  Tieck,  H.  Steffens, 
and  K.  von  Raumer ;  while  Achim  von  Arnim, 
Schleiermacher  and  the  brothers  Grimm  were 
intimate  friends  of  his  father's  and  constantly  in 
the  house.  The  influence  of  such  characters  as 
these  on  a  boy  of  intellect  and  susceptibility  is 
obvious,  and  they  may  be  said  to  have  formed 
him  both  morally  and  intellectually.  He  himself 
has  made  some  not  unsuccessful  attempts  at 
literature,  of  which  his  essay  '  On  the  Relation 
of  Modern  Life  to  Nature'  (Preuss.  Jahrbucher, 
1880,  p.  261)  is  a  good  example. 

As  a  musician  he  certainly  ranks  among 
the  most  distinguished  of  living  Germans. 
He  has  much  talent  for  PF.-playing,  though  an 
unfortunate  nervousness  prevents  him  from  ex 
ercising  it  much  in  public.  His  tone  is  beau 
tiful,  and  his  conception  poetical,  and  he  pos 
sesses  considerable  power  of  execution,  never 
degenerating  into  display.  He  is  a  very  good 
teacher,  and  numbers  Miss  Janotha  among 
his  pupils.  But  his  greatest  gifts  are  shown  in 
composition.  His  musical  style  is  founded 
throughout  upon  the  romantic  school  of  Chopin, 
Mendelssohn  and  Schumann,  and  especially  of 
Weber.  There  prevails  to  a  considerable  ex 
tent  in  Germany  a  foolish  inclination  to  under 
value  that  great  genius  on  account  of  some  weak 
points  in  his  music  ;  indeed,  among  the  younger 
generation  of  German  composers,  Rudorff  is  the 
only  one  in  whom  we  can  trace  his  direct  influ 
ence,  and  we  owe  to  him  the  first  edition  of  the 
score  of 'Euryan the'  (Berlin,  Schlesinger,  1866). 
In  addition  to  these  the  genius  of  Bach  has 
influenced  him  powerfully.  Rudorff  however  is 
no  antiquated  Romanticist.  There  is  in  Germany 
at  present  a  widespread  effort  to  throw  off  the 
romantic  style  which  characterised  the  first  half 
of  the  century.  The  leader  of  this  movement  is 
Brahms,  who  has  lately  almost  openly  abandoned 
the  romantic  style.  This  is  not  the  case  with 


RUDORFF. 

Rudorff;  his  sentiment  is  that  of  the  Romanticists. 
But  he  agrees  with  Brahms  in  endeavouring  to 
combine  the  sentiment  of  the  romantic  school 
with  classical  form.     In  this  he  has  succeeded 
better    in  instrumental    than    in   vocal  music. 
Rudorff's  sentiment  is  much  too  complicated  to 
admit  of  his  producing  any  really  satisfactory 
compositions   of    a   kind   for   which   he    never 
theless   has  a  predilection,   viz.  unaccompanied 
part-songs.      His   part-songs   interest   by  their 
elegance  and  thoughtfulness,   but  few,  if  any, 
leave  a  pleasant  impression  on  the  mind.    This  is 
true  also  of  his  solo  songs.     He  has  an  almost 
feminine  horror  of  anything  rough  or  common, 
and  often  carries  this  to  such  a  pitch  as  seriously 
to    interfere    with    simplicity    and  naturalness. 
He  has  deeply  imbibed  the  romantic  charm  of 
Weber's  music,  but  the  bold  easy  mirth  which 
at  times  does  not  shrink  from  trivialities  is  unfor 
tunately  utterly  strange  to  him.     His  melodies 
are   intricate,   and  so  artificially  treated  as  to 
avoid  natural  development.     Or  they  are  so  in 
geniously  harmonised  as  to  give  to  what  is  really 
simple  an  appearance  of  singularity;  and  thus, 
owing  to  his  vivid  and  passionate  sentiment,  his 
compositions  often  seem  overstrained  or  extrava 
gant.      To  this  criticism,  however,  his  earliest 
songs  (op.  2  and  3)  are  not  open.     True,  they 
follow   closely  in   Schumann's  steps,    but  they 
are  among  the  most  beautiful  that  have  been 
written  in  his  style. 

But  it  is  through  his  instrumental  music  that 
Rudorff  will  be  longest  known.  He  has  produced 
a  number  of  remarkable  and  distinguished  works; 
PF.  pieces,  a  sextet  for  strings,  a  romance 
for  violoncello,  etc.,  two  overtures,  a  serenade, 
and  variations  on  an  original  theme,  all  for  or 
chestra  ;  a  ballad  for  orchestra  and  a  piano 
fantasia  composed  about  the  same  time  are 
less  happy.  His  first  overture — in  many  re 
spects  the  most  charming  thing  he  has  written 
—fails  here  and  there  in  respect  to  structure, 
but  in  his  later  orchestral  works  he  shows  a 
complete  mastery  over  forms,  from  the  simplest 
to  the  most  complicated.  That  the  sense  of  form 
should  be  so  strong  in  a  nature  of  so  rich 
and  wide  a  subjectivity  is  characteristic  of  this 
composer.  In  general  his  talent  leads  him  to 
create  that  which  is  elegant,  dreamy  and  tender, 
rather  than  that  which  is  manly,  powerful,  and 
impetuous.  The  choral  work  with  orchestral  ac 
companiment,  'Der  Aufzug  der  Romanze,'  fails 
at  the  beginning  and  end  in  those  broad  decided 
forms  which  are  necessary  to  the  style  of  the 
composition ;  but  the  middle  part,  which  treats 
of  spring  and  love,  is  of  singular  beauty.  Through 
the  '  Gesang  an  die  Sterne '  there  breathes  that 
solemn  devotion  to  nature  which  was  first  illus 
trated  in  music  by  Beethoven. 

Rudorff's  works  are  for  the  most  part  of  great 
technical  difficulty.  This  is  principally  because 
the  composer,  we  will  not  say  over -loads  them 
with  detail,  but  over-elaborates  them.  This  has 
kept  his  works  from  being  as  well  known  as  they 
deserve.  But  he  is  sure  to  make  a  name  in  the 
future,  even  though  he  should  never  compose  again. 


RUDORFF. 

Rudorif  is  however  in  the  prime  of  life,  and  there 
is  happily  no  prospect  of  his  laying  down  his 
pen.  The  following  is  a  list  of  his  published 
works: — 

Op.  I,  variations  for  2  PFs. ;  op.  2,  six  songs  ; 
op.  3,  six  do.  from  Eichendorff ;  op.  4,  six  duets 
for  PF.;  op.  5,  sextet  for  strings;  op.  6,  four 
part-songs  for  mixed  voices  ;  op.  7,  romance  for 
cello  and  orchestra;  op.  8,  overture  to  'Der 
blonde  Ekbert '  for  orchestra  ;  op.  9,  six  part- 
songs  for  female  voices ;  op.  10,  eight  Fantasie- 
stiicke  for  PF. ;  op.  1 1,  four  part-songs  for  mixed 
voices;  op.  12,  overture  to  '  Otto  der  Schiitz'  for 
orchestra;  op.  13,  four  part-songs  for  mixed 
voices;  op.  14,  fantasie  for  PF.;  op.  15,  ballade 
for  full  orchestra;  op.  16,  four  songs;  op.  17, 
four  do.;  op.  18,  'Der  Aufzog  der  Romanze,' 
from  Tieck,  for  solos,  chorus  and  orchestra ;  op.  20, 
serenade  for  orchestra ;  op.  2  2,  six  3-part  songs 
for  female  voices ;  op.  24,  variations  on  an 
original  theme  for  orchestra ;  op.  25,  four  6-part 
songs;  op.  26,  'Gesang  an  die  Sterne,'  by 
Riickert,  for  6-part  chorus  and  orchestra  ;  op.  27, 
six  4-part  songs;  op.  27,  No.  i  £tude  for  PF.  ; 
No.  2  concert  e'tude  for  do.  He  has  also  arranged 
Schubert's  4-hand  fantasia  in  F  minor  (op.  103) 
for  orchestra.  [P.S.] 

RUBEZAHL.  An  opera  in  2  acts;  words 
by  J.  G.  Rhode,  music  composed  by  C.  M.  von 
Weber,  at  Breslau,  between  October  1804  and 
May  1806.  Weber's  autograph  list  shows  that 
the  first  act  contained  15  scenes,  the  second  12. 
Of  these  pieces  of  music,  however,  only  3  have 
survived  (in  MS.) — a  Chorus  of  Spirits,  a  Recita 
tive  and  Arietta,  and  a  Quintet.  Of  the  overture 
(in  D  minor)  only  the  last  1 1  bars  of  the  first  violin 
part  exist :  it  was  recast  into  the  overture  called 
'  The  Ruler  of  the  Spirits.'  (See  Jahns's  List,  nos. 
44>  45,  46>  I22  J  Anhang  2,  no.  27.)  [G.] 

RUFFO,  VINCENZO,  an  Italian  composer  of 
the  1 6th  century,  included  by  Baini  among  the 
'good  musicians'  of  his  4th  Epoch.  He  is 
stated  by  Fe'tis  to  have  been  born  at  Verona,  and 
to  have  become  maestro  di  capella,  first  of  the 
cathedral  at  Milan,  and  then  of  that  of  his  native 
place.  Eitner  gives  the  date  of  the  latter  as 
1554.  Another  notice  makes  him  also  Maestro  di 
Capella  at  Pistoja.  Nine  separate  original  pub 
lications  of  his  works  are  mentioned  by  Fe'tis  and 
Pougin,  embracing  a  mass  ;  2  books  of  motets ; 
i  do.  of  Magnificats ;  I  do.  of  psalms ;  4  do.  of 
madrigals;  and  ranging  in  date  from  1550  to 
1583.  The  Catalogue  of  the  Fetis  Library,  how 
ever,  contains  (No.  2213)  a  book  of  madrigals, 
dated  Venice,  1545.  The  psalms  and  the  mass 
are  stated  in  the  prefaces  (1568,  74)  to  have  been 
written  for  his  patron  Card.  Borromeo,  in  accord 
ance  with  the  decrees  of  the  Council  of  Trent 
(1563).  An  'Adoramus'  has  been  reprinted 
by  Luck,  and  a  madrigal,  '  See  from  his  ocean 
bed,'  for  4  voices,  was  edited  by  Oliphant,  and  is 
given  in  Hullah's  '  Part  Music,  Class  A.'  The 
Library  of  Ch.  Ch.,  Oxford,  has  a  MS.  motet  a  3 
of  his,  and  the  Sacred  Harmonic  Society  (No. 


RULE,  BRITANNIA? 


203 


1940)  two  madrigals. 


[G.] 


RUGGIERI,  the  name  of  a  celebrated  family 
of  violin-makers,  who  flourished  at  Cremona  and 
Brescia.  The  eldest  was  FRANCESCO,  commonly 
known  as  '  Ruggieri  il  Per '  (the  father),  whose 
instruments  date  from  1668  to  1720  or  there 
abouts.  JOHN  BAPTIST  (1700-1725)  and  PETER 
(1700-1720),  who  form  the  second  generation  of 
the  family,  were  probably  his  sons ;  and  John 
Baptist  (called  '  il  buono'),  who  was  indisputably 
the  best  maker  in  the  family,  claims  to  have  been 
a  pupil  of  Nicholas  Amati.  Besides  these,  we 
hear  of  GUIDO  and  VINCENZO  Ruggieri,  both  of 
Cremona,  early  in  the  eighteenth  century.  The 
instruments  of  the  Ruggieri,  though  differing 
widely  among  themselves,  bear  a  general  resem 
blance  to  those  of  the  Amati  family.  They  rank 
high  among  the  works  of  the  second-rate  makers, 
and  are  often  passed  off  as  Ainatis.  [E.  J.P.] 

RUINS  OF  ATHENS,  THE.  A  dramatic 
piece  (Nachspiel)  written  by  Kotzebue,  and  com 
posed  by  Beethoven  (op.  113),  for  the  opening 
of  a  new  theatre  at  Pesth,  February  9,  1812, 
when  it  was  preceded  in  the  ceremony  by  '  King 
Stephen'  (op.  117).  It  contains  an  overture  and 
8  numbers,  and  was  probably  composed  late  in 
1811.  The  '  Marcia  alia  turca,'  No.  4,  is  founded 
on  the  theme  of  the  Variations  in  D,  op.  76,  which 
was  composed  two  years  earlier.  The  March 
and  Chorus,  no.  6,  were  used  in  1822,  with 
the  Overture,  op.  124,  for  the  opening  of  the 
Josephstadt  Theatre,  Vienna.  The  Overture  to 
'The  Ruins  of  Athens'  and  the  Turkish  March 
were  published  in  1823,  but  the  rest  of  the  music 
remained  in  MS.  till  1846.  [G.] 

RULE,  BRITANNIA!  The  music  of  this 
noble  'ode  in  honour  of  Great  Britain,'  which, 
according  to  Southey,  '  will  be  the  political  hymn 
of  this  country  as  long  as  she  maintains  her 
political  power,'  was  composed  by  Arne  for  His 
masque  of  'Alfred'  (the  words  by  Thomson  and 
Mallet),  and  first  performed  at  Cliefden  House, 
Maidenhead,  Aug.  i,  1740.  Cliefden  was  then 
the  residence  of  Frederick,  Prince  of  Wales,  and 
the  occasion  was  to  commemorate  the  accession  of 
George  I,  and  the  birthday  of  Princess  Augusta. 
The  masque  was  repeated  on  the  following  night, 
and  published  by  Millar,  Aug.  19,  1740. 

Dr.  Arne  afterwards  altered  the  masque  into 
an  opera,  and  it  was  so  performed  at  Drury  Lane 
Theatre  on  March  20,  1745,  for  the  benefit  of 
Mrs.  Arne.  In  the  advertisements  of  that  per 
formance,  and  of  another  in  April,  Dr.  Arne 
entitles  'Rule,  Britannia!'  'a  celebrated  ode,' 
from  which  it  may  be  inferred  that  it  had  been 
especially  successful  at  Cliefden,  and  had  made 
its  way,  though  the  masque  itself  had  not  been 
performed  in  public.  Some  detached  pieces  had 
been  sung  in  Dublin,  but  no  record  of  a  public 
performance  in  England  has  been  discovered. 

The  year  1745,  in  which  the  opera  was  pro 
duced,  is  memorable  for  the  Jacobite  rebellion  in 
the  North,  and  in  1746  Handel  produced  his 
'  Occasional  Oratorio,'  in  which  he  refers  to  its 
suppression,  'War  shall  cease,  welcome  Peace,' 
adapting  those  words  to  the  opening  bars  of 


204 


RULE,  BRITANNIA ! 


'  Rule,  Britannia  ! ' — in  itself  a  great  proof  of  the 
popularity  of  the  air. 


War  shall       cease. 


wel    -    come    Peace. 


fcfc  fynp  =;->-•— 

ff^-^-  =ua 


When  Britain      first 


at  Heav'n's    com  -  mand 


By  a  singular  anachronism,  Mr.  Schcelcher,  in 
his  'Life  of  Handel1  (p.  299),  accuses  Arne  of 
copying  these  and  other  bars  in.  the  song  from 
Handel,  instead  of  Handel's  quoting  them  from 
Arne.  He  says  also :  '  Dr.  Arne's  Alfred,  which 
was  an  utter  failure,  appears  to  have  belonged 
to  1751.'  It  was  not  Arne's  *  Alfred'  that  failed 
in  1751,  but  Mallet's  alteration  of  the  original 
poem,  which  he  made  shortly  after  the  death  of 
Thomson.  Mallet  endeavoured  to  appropriate  the 
credit  of  the  masque,  as  he  had  before  appro 
priated  the  ballad  of'  William  and  Margaret,'  and 
thereby  brought  himself  into  notice.1  Mallet's 
version  of  'Alfred'  was  produced  in  1751,  and, 
in  spite  of  Garrick's  acting,  failed,  as  it  deserved 
to  fail.2 

Mr.  Schoelcher's  primary  mistake  led  him  to 
search  further  for  resemblances  between  the 
music  of  Handel  and  of  Arne.  He  found 


for   -   za  avr>. 

in  Handel,  and 


Will 


slaves. 


ia  Arne.  Not  knowing  that  this  cadence  was  the 
common  property  of  the  whole  world,  he  imagined 
that  Arne  must  have  copied  it  from  Handel. 
His  objections  have  been  answered  by  Mr.  Husk, 
Mr.  Roffe,  and  others  in  vols.  iv.  and  v.  of '  Notes 
and  Queries,'  2nd  Series,  to  which  the  curious  may 
be  referred.  Even  the  late  M.  Fetis,  who  had 
Anglophobia  from  his  youth,  and  who  repaid  the 
taunts  of  Dr.  Burney  upon  French  music  with 
sneers  upon  English  composers,  admits  that « Arne 
eut  du  moins  le  me'rite  d'y  mettre  un  cachet  par- 
ticulier,  et  de  ne  point  se  borner,  comme  tous  les 
compositeurs  Anglais  de  cette  epoque,  a  imiter 
Purcell  ou  Hasndel.'  M.  Fe"tis's  sneer  at  the 
other  English  composers  of  'cette  e'poque'  as 
copyists  of  Handel  is  quite  without  foundation. 
Handel's  music,  even  with  other  words,  was  pub 
lished  under  his  name  as  its  recommendation  ; 
English  church  musicians  would  have  thought  it 
heresy  to  follow  any  other  models  than  those  of 
their  own  school,  and  English  melodists  could  not 
find  what  they  required  in  Handel.  Ballad  operas, 
Arne's  Shakespearian  songs,  Vauxhall  songs,  bal- 

1  For  'William  and  Margaret,'  with  and  without  Mallet's  altera 
tions,  see  Appendix  to  vol.  iii.  of  '  Roxburghe  Ballads,'  reprinted  for 
the  Ballad  Society  ;  also  an  article  in  No.  1  of  the  periodical  entitled 
'The  Antiquary.' 

2  See  Chappell's  '  Popular  Music  of  the  Olden  Time.' 


RULE,  BRITANNIA ! 

lads,  and  Anglo-Scottish  songs,  were  the  order  of 
the  day  '  a  cette  e'poque,'  and  Handel's  purse  suf 
fered  severely  from  their  opposition. 

The  score  of '  Rule,  Britannia  ! '  was  printed  by 
Arne  at  the  end  of  'The  Judgment  of  Paris,' 
which  had  also  been  produced  at  Cliefden  in 
1740.  The  air  was  adopted  by  Jacobites  as 
well  as  Hanoverians,  but  the  former  parodied,  or 
changed,  the  words.  Among  the  Jacobite  paro 
dies,  Ritson  mentions  one  with  the  chorus — 

Rise,  Britannia!  Britannia,  rise  and  fight! 
Restore  your  injured  monarch's  right. 

A  second  is  included  in  '  The  True  Loyalist  or 
Chevalier's  favourite,'  surreptitiously  printed 
without  a  publisher's  name.  It  begins  : — 

Britannia,  rouse  at  Heav'ns  command ! 

And  crown  thy  native  Prince  again ; 
Then  Peace  shall  bless  thy  happy  land, 

And  plenty  pour  in  from  the  main ; 
Then  shalt  thou  be— Britannia,  thou  shalt  be— 

From  home  and  foreign  tyrants  free !  etc. 

Another  is  included  in  the  same  collection. 

A  doubt  was  raised  as  to  the  authorship  of  the 
words  of  '  Rule,  Britannia  ! '  by  Dr.  Dinsdale, 
editor  of  the  re-edition  of  Mallet's  Poems  in  1851. 
Dinsdale  claims  for  Mallet  the  ballad  of  '  William 
and  Margaret,'  and  '  Rule,  Britannia  ! '   As  to  the 
first  claim,  the  most  convincing  evidence  against 
Mallet — unknown  when  Dinsdale  wrote — is  now 
to  be  found  in  the  Library  of  the  British  Museum. 
In  1878  I  first  saw  a  copy  of  the  original  ballad 
in  an  auction  room,  and,  guided  by  it,  I  traced 
a  second  copy  in  the  British  Museum,  where  it  is 
open  to  all  enquirers.     It  reproduces  the  tune, 
which  had  been  utterly  lost  in  England,  as  in 
Scotland,  because  it  was  not  fitted  for  dancing, 
but  only  for  recitation.     Until  Dinsdale  put  in 
a  claim  for  Mallet,  '  Rule,  Britannia  ! '  had  beer 
universally  ascribed  to  Thomson,  from  the  adver 
tisements  of  the  time  down  to  the  •'  Scotch  Songs' 
of  Ritson — a  most  careful  and  reliable  authority 
for  facts.     Mallet  left  the  question  in  doubt. 
Thomson  was  but  recently  dead,  and  consequently 
many  of  his  surviving  friends  knew  the  facts. 
'According  to  the  present  arrangement  of  the 
fable,'  says  Mallet,  'I  was  obliged  to  reject  a  great 
deal  of  what  I  had  written  in  the  other  ;  neither 
could  I  retain  of  my  friend's  part  more  than  three 
or  four  single  speeches,  and  a  part  of  one  song.1 
He  does  not  say  that  it  was  the  one  song  of  the 
whole  that  had  stood  out  of  the  piece,  and  had 
become  naturalised,  lest  his  'friend'  should  have 
too  much  credit,  but  'Rule,  Britannia!'  comes 
under  this  description,  because  he  allowed  Lord 
Bolingbroke  to  mu  tilate  the  poem,  by  substituting 
three  stanzas  of  his  own  for  the  4th,  5th  and  6th 
of  the  original.    Would  Mallet  have  allowed  this 
mutilation  of  the  poem  had  it  been  his  own? 
Internal  evidence  is  strongly  in  favour  of  Thom 
son.    See  his  poems  of '  Britannia,'  and '  Liberty.' 
As  an  antidote  tc  Dinsdale's  character  of  David 
Mallet,  the  reader  should  compare  that  in  Chal 
mers's  '  General  Biographical  Dictionary.' 

Beethoven  composed  5  Variations  (in  D)  upon 
the  air  of  '  Rule,  Britannia ! '  and  many  minor 
stars  have  done  the  like.  [VV.C.J 


RUMMEL. 

EUMMEL.    A  German  musical  family,     (i) 
CHRISTIAN  FRANZ  LUDWIG  FRIEDRICH  ALEX 
ANDER  was  bora  at  Brichsenstadt,  Bavaria,  Nov. 
27>  J?^?-     He  was  educated  at  Mannheim,  and 
seems  to  have  had  instruction  from  the  Abbe* 
Vogler.     In  1806  he  took  the  post  of  bandmaster 
to  the  2nd  Nassau  infantry,  made  the  Peninsular 
Campaign,  married  in  Spain,  was  taken  prisoner, 
released,  and  served  with  his  regiment  at  Water 
loo.     He  was  then   employed  by  the  Duke  of 
Nassau  to  form  and  lead   his   court  orchestra, 
which  he  did  with  great  credit  to  himself  till 
1841,  when  it  was  dissolved.    Christian  Rummel 
died  at  Wiesbaden  Feb.  13,  1849.     He  was  not 
only  an  able  conductor  and  a  composer  of  much 
ability  and  industry,  but  a  fine  clarinetist  and  a 
good  pianoforte-player.     His  works  are  numer 
ous,  and  embrace  pieces  for  military  band,  con 
certos,  quintets   and  other  pieces   for   clarinet, 
many  pianoforte   compositions,  especially  a   so 
nata  for  4  hands  (op.  20)  waltzes,  variations,  etc. 
and  a  Method  for  the  PF.     (2)  His  daughter 
JOSEPHINE  was  born  at  Manzanares  in  Spain 
during  the  Peninsular  War,  May  12,  1812.     She 
was  pianist  at  the  Court  at  Wiesbaden,  and  died 
Dec.  19,  1877.     (3)  His  son  JOSEPH,  born  Oct.  6, 
1818,  was  educated  by  his  father  in  music  gene 
rally,  and  in  the  clarinet  and  PF.  in  particular, 
on  both  of  which  he  was  a  good  player.    He  was 
for  many  years  Kapellmeister  to  the  Prince  of 
Oldenburg,  then  residing  at  Wiesbaden — a  post 
in  which  he  was  succeeded  by  Adolphe  Henselt. 
Up  to  1842  he  lived  in  Paris,  and  then  removed 
to  London  for  five  years.     In  1847  he  returned 
to  Paris,  and  remained  there  till  driven  back  to 
London  by  the  war  in  1870 ;  and  in  London  he 
resided  till  his  death,  March  25,  1880.     Joseph 
Hummel  wrote  no  original   music,  but  he  was 
one  of  the  most  prolific  arrangers  of  operas  and 
operatic  selections  for  the  PF.  that  ever  existed. 
For  nearly  40  years  he  worked  incessantly  for 
the  houses  of  Schott  and  Escudier,  publishing 
about  400  pieces  with  each  house  under  his  own 
name,  besides  a  much  larger  number  under  noms 
de  plume.     His  arrangements  and  transcriptions 
amount  in  all  to  fully  2000.     He  wrote  also  a 
series  of  exercises  for  Augener  &  Co.,  and  for 
Escudier.    (4)  Joseph's  sister  FRANZISKA,  born  at 
Wiesbaden,  Feb.  4,  1821,  was  educated  by  her 
father  until  she  went  to  Paris  to  study  singing 
under  Bordogni,  and  afterwards  to  Lamperti  at 
Milan.     She   became   principal   singer   at    the 
Court  of  Wiesbaden,  and  at    length    married 
Peter  Schott,  the  well-known   music  publisher 
at  Brussels,  whodiedin  1873.     (5)  Another  son, 
AUGUST,  became  a  merchant  in  London,  -where 
he  still  lives,  and  where  (6)  his  son  FRANZ  was 
born,  Jan.  n,  1853. 

FRANZ  RUMMEL  at  the  age  of  14  went  to 
Brussels  to  study  the  PF.  under  Brassin,  first  as  a 
private  pupil  and  afterwards  in  the  Conservatoire. 
He  took  the  first  prize  for  PF.-playing  there  in 
1872,  and  afterwards  became  one  of  the  staff  of 
teachers.  He  made  his  first  public  appearance  at 
Antwerp  Dec.  2  2, 1 8 7  2 ,  in  Henselt's  PF.  Concerto ; 
in  July  1873  played  the  Schumann  Concerto  at 


BUST. 


205 


the  Albert  Hall  Concerts,  London  ;  and  again  at 
Brussels,  before  the  King  and  Queen  of  the  Bel 
gians,  with  great  distinction.  He  remained  at 
the  Conservatoire  as  professor  till  1876,  when  on 
the  advice  of  Rubinstein  he  threw  up  his  post 
and  began  to  travel,  playing  in  the  Rhine  Pro 
vinces,  Holland,  and  France.  Early  in  1877  ne 
came  to  London,  and  played  at  the  Crystal 
Palace  on  April  7.  Next  year  he  went  to  Ame 
rica,  where  he  met  with  great  success,  though 
interrupted  by  a  serious  accident.  He  returned 
in  1 88 1,  and  played  again  at  the  Crystal  Palace 
on  April  30.  His  repertoire  is  large,  embracing 
the  works  of  Tschaikowsky,  Raff,  Rubinstein, 
Liszt,  as  well  as  those  of  the  more  established 
classical  masters.  [G.] 

RUNGENHAGEN,  CARL  FRIEDBICH.     See 

SlNGAKADEMIE. 

RUSSELL,  WILLIAM,  Mus.  Bac.,  son  of  an 
organ  builder  and  organist,  was  born  in  London 
in  1777-  He  was  sucessively  a  pupil  of  Cope, 
organist  of  St.  Saviour's  Southward,  Shrubsole, 
organist  of  Spa  Fields  Chapel,  and  Groombridge, 
organist  of  Hackney  and  St.  Stephen's,  Coleman 
Street.  In  1789  he  was  appointed  deputy  to  his 
father  as  organist  of  St.  Mary,  Aldermanbury, 
and  continued  so  until  1793,  when  he  obtained 
the  post  of  organist  at  the  chapel  in  Great  Queen 
Street,  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields,  which  he  held  until 
1798,  when  the  chapel  was  disposed  of  to  the 
Wesleyan  body.  In  1797  he  became  a  pupil  of 
Dr.  Arnold,  with  whom  he  studied  for  about 
three  years.  In  1 798  he  was  chosen  organist  of 
St.  Ann's,  Limehouse.  In  1800  he  was  engaged 
as  pianist  and  composer  at  Sadler's  Wells,  where 
he  continued  about  four  years.  In  1 801  he  was  en 
gaged  as  pianist  at  Covent  Garden  and  appointed 
organist  of  the  Foundling  Hospital  Chapel.  He 
took  his  Mus.  Bac.  degree  at  Oxford  in  1808. 
He  composed  two  oratorios, '  The  Redemption  of 
Israel ;  and  '  Job ' ;  an  '  Ode  to  Music/  an  '  Ode 
to  the  Genius  of  Handel,'  Christopher  Smart's 
'  Ode  on  St.  Cecilia's  day,'  and  an  '  Ode  to  Har 
mony,'  several  glees,  songs,  and  organ  voluntaries, 
and  about  20  dramatic  pieces,  chiefly  spectacles 
and  pantomimes.  He  edited  in  1809  'Psalms, 
Hymns  and  Anthems  for  the  Foundling  Chapel.' 
He  was  much  esteemed  both  as  pianist  and 
organist.  He  died  Nov.  21, 1813.  [W.H.H.] 

RUSLAN  I  LYUDMILA.  A  Russian 
romantic  opera,  in  5  acts,  based  on  a  poem  by 
Pushkin,  the  music  by  Glinka.  Produced  at 
St.  Petersburg,  Nov.  27,  1842.  The  scene  is 
laid  in  the  Caucasus,  in  fabulous  times,  and  the 
music  is  said  to  partake  strongly  of  the  Asiatic, 
oriental,  character.  The  overture  was  played 
at  the  Crystal  Palace,  Sydenham,  London,  July 
4,  1874.  [G.] 

RUST.  A  distinguished  German  musical 
family.  FRIEDRICH  WILHELM  was  born  at  Wor- 
litz,  Dessau,  July  6,  1739;  his  father  was  a 
person  of  eminence,  and  he  received  a  first-rate 
education.  He  was  taught  music  by  his  elder 
brother,  who,  as  an  amateur,  had  played  the 
violin  in  J.  S.  Bach's  orchestra  at  Leipzig ;  and 


206 


RUST. 


at  13  he  played  the  whole  of  the  Well -tempered 
clavier  without  book.  Composition,  organ,  and 
clavier  he  learned  from  Friedemann  and  Em 
manuel  Bach,  and  the  violin  from  Hockh  and 
F.  Benda;  and  in  1765,  during  a  journey  to 
Italy,  from  G.  Benda,  Tartini,  and  Pugnani. 
In  1766  he  returned  to  Dessau,  and  became  the 
life  and  soul  of  the  music  there.  On  Sept.  24, 
1774,  a  new  theatre  was  opened  through  his 
exertions,  to  which  he  was  soon  after  appointed 
music-director.  He  married  his  pupil,  Henriette 
Niedhart,  a  fine  singer,  and  thenceforward,  with 
a  few  visits  to  Berlin,  Dresden,  etc.,  his  life  was 
confined  to  Dessau,  where  he  died,  Feb.  28,  1796. 
His  compositions  include  a  Psalm  for  solo, 
chorus,  and  orchestra ;  several  large  Church 
Cantatas;  DuodramasandMonodramas;  Operas; 
music  to  Plays  ;  Prologues  and  Occasional  pieces, 
etc.  ;  Odes  and  Songs  (2  collections) ;  Sonatas 
and  Variations  for  the  PF.  solo — '4  dozen'  of 
the  former  and  many  of  the  latter — Concertos, 
Fugues,  etc.,  etc. ;  and  three  Sonatas  for  the 
violin  solo,  which  have  been  republished  by  his 
grandson  (Peters),  and  are  now  the  only  music 
by  which  Rust  is  known ;  that  in  D  minor  has 
been  often  played  at  the  Monday  Popular  Con 
certs.  His  last  composition  was  a  violin  sonata 
for  the  E  string,  thus  anticipating  Paganini. 
A  list  of  his  works,  with  every  detail  of  his  life, 
extending  to  6|  large  pages,  is  given  in  Mendel. 
His  eldest  son  was  drowned;  the  youngest, 
WILHELM  KARL,  born  at  Dessau,  April  29, 
3787,  began  music  very  early  ;  and  besides  the 
teaching  he  naturally  got  at  home,  learned 
thorough-bass  with  Turk  while  at  Halle  Uni 
versity.  In  Dec.  1807  he  went  to  Vienna,  and 
in  time  became  intimate  with  Beethoven,  who 
praised  his  playing  of  Bach,  and  recommended 
him  strongly  as  a  teacher.  Amongst  other 
pupils  he  had  Baroness  Ertmann  and  Maximi 
lian  Brentano.  His  letters  to  his  sister  on  Bee 
thoven  are  very  interesting,  and  are  given  by 
Thayer,  iii.  35-6.  He  remained  in  Vienna  till 
1827,  when  he  returned  to  his  native  place,  and 
lived  there,  teaching  and  making  music,  much 
beloved  and  sought  after  till  his  death,  April 
1 8,  1855.  His  memory  appears  to  have  been 
extraordinarily  retentive  and  accurate,  and  an 
anecdote  is  given  by  his  nephew  in  Mendel  of 
his  recollecting  a  composition  of  Palestrina's  after 
48  years.  He  published  little  or  nothing. 

WILHELM  RUST  is  the  son  of  Karl  Ludwig, 
brother  of  the  foregoing,  himself  an  advocate, 
and  fine  amateur-player  on  both  violin  and  PF. 
Wilhelm  was  born  Aug.  15,  1822,  at  Dessau; 
he  learned  music  from  his  uncle,  Wilhelm  Karl, 
and  F.  Schneider.  After  a  few  years  wandering 
he  settled  in  Berlin,  where  he  soon  joined  the 
Singakademie.  He  played  at  the  Philharmonic 
Society  of  Berlin,  Dec.  5,  1849,  and  was  soon 
much  in  request  as  a  teacher.  In  Jan.  1861  he 
became  organist  of  the  St.  Luke's  church,  and 
twelvemonths  afterwards  director  of  Vierling's 
Bach  Society,  which  he  conducted  till  1874, 
performing  a  large  number  of  fine  works  by  Bach 
and  other  great  composers,  many  of  them  for 


RYAN. 

the  first  time.  The  list  of  occasional  concerts 
conducted  by  him  is  also  very  large.  With 
1870  he  undertook  the  department  of  counter 
point  and  composition  in  the  Stern  Conserva 
tor!  um  at  Berlin,  and  in  1879  succeeded  E. 
F.  E.  Richter  as  Cantor  of  the  St.  Thomas 
school,  Leipzig,  where  he  now  resides.  He 
has  been  long  connected  with  the  Leipzig  Bach- 
gesellschaft,  and  has  edited  vols.  v,  vii,  ix — xxiii, 
and  xxv.  His  original  works  have  reached  op. 
33,  of  which  eight  are  for  the  PF.  and  the  rest 
for  voices.  [G.l 

RUY  BLAS.  A  play  by  Victor  Hugo,  to 
which  Mendelssohn  composed  an  Overture,  and 
a  Chorus  for  soprano  voices  and  orchestra.  The 
Overture  (op.  95),  is  in  C  minor,  and  the  Chorus 
(op.  77,  no.  3)  in  A.  Both  pieces  were  conceived, 
written,  copied,  rehearsed,  and  executed,  in  less 
than  a  week  (see  Letter,  March  18,  1839).  The 
first  performance  was  Monday,  March  u,  1839. 
Mendelssohn  brought  it  to  London  in  MS.  in 
1844,  and  it  was  tried  at  a  Philharmonic  Ee- 
hearsal,  but  for  some  reason  was  not  performed 
till  a  concert  of  Mrs.  Anderson's,  May  25,  1849, 
and  is  now  in  the  library  at  Buckingham  Palace. 
The  MS.  differs  inafew  passages  from  the  published 
score,  which  was  not  printed  till  after  Mendels 
sohn's  death  (No.  5  of  the  posth.  works).  [G.] 

RUZICKA,1  WENZEL,  deserves  a  corner  for 
his  connexion  with  Schubert.  He  was  born  at 
Jarmeritz  in  Moravia,  where  his  father  was 
schoolmaster,  Sept.  8,  1758,  and  died  at  Vienna, 
July  21,  1823.  At  14  he  was  sent  to  Vienna  to 
support  himself  by  music,  which  he  did,  con 
triving  at  the  same  time  to  make  himself  a 
thorough  proficient  in  the  rules  of  composition. 
In  1783  he  was  playing  the  violin,  and  in  1797 
the  viola,  at  the  Hofburg  theatre.  He  then 
appears  to  have  gone  to  Veszprim  in  Hungary, 
and  become  chorus-master  and  military  band 
master,  and  to  have  put,  or  assisted  to  put,  the 
famous  Rakoczy  march  into  its  present  shape. 
And  there  he  composed  his  one  large  work,  an 
opera,  '  Bela  futiCs,'  which  was  first  performed  at 
Pesth,  Feb.  22,  1862,  and  holds  a  high  place  in 
Hungary.  On  Dec.  I,  1792,  he  was  made  Ad 
junct,  and  on  April  i,  1793,  First  organist  to  the 
Court  at  Vienna,  a  post  which  he  held  till  his 
death.  He  had  a  great  reputation  as  a  teacher 
of  composition,  and  when  Salieri  discovered 
Schubert's  easy  aptitude  for  music  he  handed 
him  to  Ruzicka  for  instruction.  Ruzicka,  how 
ever,  did  not  keep  the  lad  long,  but  returned  him, 
saying  much  as  Holzer  had  done  before  him. 
'  He  knows  everything  already,  God  Almighty 
has  taught  him.' — A  sonata  of  Ruzicka's  for  PF. 
and  violin  is  published  by  Mechetti.  [&] 

RYAN,  MICHAEL  DESMOND,  dramatic  and 
musical  critic,  was  born  at  Kilkenny,  March  3, 
1 8 1 6,  one  of  the  numerous  offspring  of  Dr.  Michael 
Ryan,  a  physician  of  some  position  in  the  county. 
On  the  completion  of  his  academical  education  at 
an  early  age,  he  entered  the  University  of  Edin 
burgh,  early  in  the  year  1832,  for  the  purpose 

1  Spelt  also  Kucsicska,  Kutschitschka.  etc. 


EYAN. 

of  studying  medicine.  He  remained  in  Edin 
burgh  steadily  pursuing  his  studies  for  some 
three  years,  and  had  made  satisfactory  progress 
until  it  came  to  the  dissecting  room,  at  which 
his  sensitive  nature  revolted.  Being  fairly  well 
read,  a  dabbler  in  literature,  an  enthusiastic 
admirer  of  art,  a  good  amateur  musician,  and 
a  keen  follower  of  the  stage,  Mr.  Ryan  deter 
mined  to  quit  Edinburgh  and  try  his  fortune  in 
London.  Here  he  arrived  in  1836,  by  chance 
met  with  Mr.  J.  W.  Davison,  and  commenced  an 
intimate  friendship  winch  lasted  until  dissolved 
by  death.  Mr.  Ryan  now  entered  upon  his 
literary  career  in  earnest,  writing  articles  and 
poems  for  Harrison's  Miscellany,  etc.,  and  pro 
ducing  verses  for  songs,  original  and  translated, 
in  teeming  abundance.  His  'Christopher  among 
the  Mountains,'  in  which  he  satirised  Professor 
Wilson's  criticism  upon  the  last  canto  of  '  Childe 
Harold,'  and  his  parody  of  the  '  Noctes  Am- 
brosianse,'  were  among  his  first  ambitious  efforts. 
A  set  of  twelve  sacred  songs,  versified  from  the 
Old  Testament  and  set  to  music  by  Edward  Loder 
(D'Almaiae),  may  also  be  mentioned.  The 
'  Songs  of  Ireland '  (D'Almaine),  in  which,  in 
conjunction  with  F.  N.  Crouch,  new  verses 
were  fitted  to  old  melodies,  is  another  example 
of  effective  workmanship.  In  1844  Mr.  Ryan 
became  a  contributor  to  '  The  Musical  World,' 
and  two  years  later  sub-editor,  a  post  which 
he  filled  as  long  as  he  lived.  For  years  he 
was  a  contributor  to  the  'Morning  Post,'  'Court 
Journal,'  'Morning  Chronicle,'  and  other  peri 
odicals,  writing  criticisms  on  the  drama  and 
music,  which  had  the  merit  of  being  trenchant, 
sound,  and  erudite.  In  1849  ^e  wrote  the 


SACCHINI. 


207 


libretto  of  '  Charles  II.'  for  Mr.  G.  A.  Macfarren. 
The  subject  was  taken  from  a  well-known  comedy 
by  Howard  Payne,  rendered  popular  at  Covent 
Garden  by  Charles  Kemble's  acting  some  quarter 
of  a  century  before.  A  short  time  afterwards 
Mr.  Ryan  was  commissioned  by  M.  Jullien  to 
provide  the  libretto  of  a  grand  spectacular  opera, 
on  the  subject  of  '  Peter  the  Great' — brought 
out  at  the  Royal  Italian  Opera  on  August  17, 
1852,  under  the  title  of  '  Pietro  il  Grande.'  The 
fact  of  the  book  having  been  written  in  English, 
and  translated  into  Italian  (by  Signor  Maggioni) 
for  the  performance  at  Covent  Garden,  IB  a  cir 
cumstance  rare  in  itself  if  not  absolutely  unique. 
With  the  late  Mr.  Frank  Mori,  Mr.  Ryan  col 
laborated  in  an  opera  called  'Lambert  Simnel,' 
originally  intended  for  Mr.  Sims  Reeves,  but 
destined  never  to  see  the  light.  Of  the  various 
other  works,  completed  or  mapped  out,  which  he 
produced,  nothing  need  be  said  ;  the  name  of  Des 
mond  Ryan  will  be  best  remembered  as  that  of  an 
intelligent  critic,  whose  judgment  was  matured 
by  experience  and  dictated  by  a  seldom  failing 
instinct.  In  1857  he  formed  his  first  association 
with  the  'Morning  Herald,'  and  its  satellite, 
the  '  Standard,'  and  became  permanently  con 
nected  with  those  journals  in  1862,  as  musical 
and  dramatic  critic.  Few  temperaments,  how 
ever,  can  sustain  the  excitement  and  toil  de 
manded  in  these  days  of  newspaper  activity,  and 
after  a  painful  and  prolonged  illness,  Mr.  Ryan 
quitted  this  life  on  Dec.  8,  1868,  followed  to  the 
grave  by  the  regretful  memories  of  those  who 
had  known  and  esteemed  his  character.  Des 
mond  Ryan  was  twice  married,  and  left  to  mourn 
him  a  widow  and  eight  children.  [D.  L.  R.] 


S. 


Q  ACCHINI,  ANTONIO  MARIA  GASPARE,  born 
^  at  Pozzuoli,  near  Naples,  on  July  23,  1734. 
This  'graceful,  elegant,  and  judicious  com 
poser  '  as  Burney  calls  him,  who  enjoyed  great 
contemporary  fame,  and  was  very  popular  in  this 
country,  was  the  son  of  poor  fisherpeople  who  had 
no  idea  of  bringing  him  up  to  any  life  but  their 
own.  It  chanced  however  that  Durante  heard 
the  boy  sing  some  popular  airs,  and  was  so  much 
struck  with  his  voice  and  talent  that  he  got  him 
admitted  into  the  Conservatorio  of  San  Onofrio, 
at  Naples.  Here  he  learned  the  violin  from  Nic- 
colo  Forenza,  and  acquired  a  considerable  mastery 
over  the  instrument,  which  he  subsequently 
turned  to  good  account  in  his  orchestral  writing. 
He  studied  singing  with  Gennaro  Manna ;  har 
mony  and  counterpoint  with  Durante  himself, 
who  esteemed  him  highly,  holding  him  up  to  his 
other  pupils,  among  whom  were  Jommelli,  Pic- 
cinni  and  Guglielmi,  as  their  most  formidable 
rival.  Durante  died  in  1755,  and  in  the  follow 
ing  year  Sacchini  left  the  Conservatorio,  but  not 
until  he  had  produced  an  Intermezzo,  in  two 
parts,  'Fra  Donate,'  very  successfully  performed 
by  the  pupils  of  the  institution.  For  some  years 


he  supported  himself  by  teaching  singing,  and 
writing  little  pieces  for  minor  theatres,  till,  in 
1762,  he  wrote  a  serious  opera  for  the  Argentina 
theatre  at  Rome.  This  was  so  well  received 
that  he  remained  for  seven  years  attached  to  the 
theatre  as  composer,  writing  operas  not  only  for 
Rome  but  many  other  towns.  Among  these, 
'  Alessandro  nelle  Indie,'  played  at  Venice  in  1 768, 
was  especially  successful,  and  obtained  for  its 
composer,  in  1 769,  the  directorship  of  the  *  Ospe- 
daletto '  school  of  music  there.  He  seems  to 
have  held  this  office  for  two  years  only,  but 
during  that  time  formed  some  excellent  pupils, 
among  whom  may  be  mentioned  Gabrieli,  Canti, 
and  Pasquali. 

In  1771  he  left  Venice,  and  proceeded  by  way 
of  Munich,  Stuttgart,  and  other  German  towns, 
to  England,  arriving  in  London  in  April  1772. 
His  continental  fame  had  preceded  him  to  this 
country,  and  a  beautiful  air  of  his,  '  Care  luci/ 
introduced  by  Guarducci  into  the  pasticcio  of 
'  Tigrane,'  as  early  as  1767,  had,  by  its  popular 
ity,  paved  the  way  for  his  music.  True,  a 
strong  clique  existed  against  the  new  composer, 
but  he  soon  got  the  better  of  it.  '  He  not  only 


208 


SACCHINI. 


supported  the  high  reputation  he  had  acquired 
on  the  Continent,  but  vanquished  the  enemies  of 
his  talents  in  England.  His  operas  of  the  "  Cid  " 
and  "Tamerlano,"  were  equal,  if  not  superior,  to 
most  of  the  musical  dramas  performed  in  any 
part  of  Europe  ;  indeed  each  of  these  dramas 
was  so  entire,  so  masterly,  and  yet  so  new  and 
natural,  that  there  was  nothing  left  for  criticism 
to  censure,  though  innumerable  beauties  to  point 
out  and  admire.'  (Burney.) 

In  addition  to  the  operas  named  above,  he 
produced  here  '  Lucio  Vero '  and  '  Nitetti  e 
Perseo.'  His  perfect  comprehension  of  the  art 
of  writing  for  the  voice,  and  the  skill  with  which 
he  adapted  his  songs  to  their  respective  expo 
nents,  contributed  an  important  element  to  the 
success  of  his  music,  even  indifferent  singers 
being  made  to  appear  to  advantage.  His  popu 
larity,  however,  was  undermined  after  a  time, 
from  a  variety  of  causes.  Jealousy  led  to  cabals 
against  him.  '  Upon  a  difference  with  Rauzzini, 
this  singer,  from  a  friend,  became  a  foe,  declar 
ing  himself  to  be  the  author  of  the  principal 
songs  in  all  the  late  operas  to  which  Sacchini 
had  set  his  name,  and  threatening  to  make  an 
affidavit  of  it  before  a  .magistrate.  The  utmost 
of  this  accusation  that  can  be  looked  upon  as 
true  may  have  been  that  during  Sacchini's  severe 
fits  of  the  gout,  when  he  was  called  upon  for  his 
operas  before  they  were  ready,  he  employed 
Rauzzini,  as  he  and  others  had  done  Anfossi 
in  Italy,  to  fill  up  the  parts,  set  some  of  the 
recitatives,  and  perhaps  compose  a  few  of  the 
airs  for  the  under  singers.'  (Burney.)  He  would 
probably  have  lived  down  this  calumny,  prompted 
as  it  was  by  personal  spite,  but  his  idle  and 
dissolute  habits  estranged  his  friends,  impaired 
his  health,  and  got  him  deeply  into  debt,  the 
consequence  of  which  was  that  he  left  this  coun 
try  and  settled  in  Paris — Burney  says  in  1784; 
Fe'tis  in  1782.  It  seems  probable  that  this  last 
date  is  correct,  as  several  of  his  operas  were 
produced  in  the  French  capital  during  1783-4. 
He  had  been  there  on  a  visit  in  1781,  when  his 
( Isola  d'Amore,'  translated  by  Frame'ry  and 
adapted  to  the  French  stage,  was  played  there 
successfully,  under  the  name  of  'La  Colonie.' 
His  'Olimpiade'  is  said  to  have  been  deprived  of 
a  hearing  through  the  jealousy  of  Gluck.  Burney 
says,  that  in  Paris  Sacchini  was  almost  adored. 
His  works  were  often  performed  and  widely 
popular  there  after  his  death,  but  during  his  life 
his  luck  seems  to  have  been  almost  invariably 
bad.  He  started  with  an  apparent  advantage 
in  the  patronage  of  Joseph  II.  of  Austria,  who 
was  in  Paris  at  the  time,  and  recommended  the 
composer  to  the  protection  of  his  sister,  Marie 
Antoinette.  Thanks  to  this,  he  obtained  a  hear 
ing  for  his  'Rinaldo'  (rearranged  and  partly  re 
written  for  the  French  stage  as  '  Renaud '),  and 
for  '  II  gran  Cid,'  which,  under  the  name  of 
'Chimene,'  was  performed  before  the  Court  at 
Fontainebleau.  Both  of  these  works  contained 
great  beauties,  but  neither  had  more  than  a 
limited  success.  '  Dardanus,'  a  French  opera,  was 
not  more  fortunate,  in  1784.  '  (Edipe  a  Colone' 


SACCHINI. 

was  finished  early  in  1785.  This,  his  master 
piece,  brought  him  his  bitterest  disappointment. 
The  Queen  had  promised  that  '  (Edipe '  should  be 
the  first  opera  at  the  royal  theatre  during  the 
Court's  next  residence  at  Fontainebleau.  The 
time  was  approaching,  but  nothing  was  said 
about  it,  and  Sacchini  remarked  with  anxiety 
that  the  Queen  avoided  him  and  seemed  uneasy 
in  his  presence.  Suspense  became  intolerable, 
and  he  sought  an  audience,  when  the  Queen 
unwillingly  and  hesitatingly  confessed  the  truth. 
'  My  dear  Sacchini,  I  am  accused  of  showing 
too  much  favour  to  foreigners.  I  have  been  so 
much  pressed  to  command  a  performance  of  M. 
Lemoine's  "Phedre"  instead  of  your  "(Edipe" 
that  I  cannot  refuse.  You  see  the  situation ; 
forgive  me.'  Poor  Sacchini  controlled  himself  at 
the  moment,  but  on  arriving  at  home  gave  way 
to  despair.  The  Queen's  favour  lost,  he  believed 
his  only  chance  gone.  He  took  to  his  bed  then 
and  there,  and  died  three  months  afterwards,  on 
October  7,  1786. 

It  is  very  difficult  to  form  a  just  estimate  of 
this  composer,  whose  merits  were  great,  yet 
whose  importance  to  the  history  of  Art  seems  now 
so  small.  The  dramatic  music  of  the  end  of  the 
last  century  is  summed  up  to  us  in  the  operas 
of  Gluck  and  Mozart,  exclusive  of  many  others, 
akin  to  these  in  style  and  tendency,  deficient 
only,  in  the  vital  element  which  makes  one  work 
live  while  others  die  out.  At  the  time  of  their 
production  the  line  may  have  seemed  more 
difficult  to  draw.  One  drop  of  essence  may 
be  distilled  from  a  large  quantity  of  material, 
yet  without  the  proportion  of  material,  that 
drop  would  not  be  obtained.  Among  the  second- 
rate  writers  of  this  transition  period,  Sacchini 
must  rank  first.  A  little  more  force,  perhaps  a 
little  less  facility,  and  he  might  have  been  a 
great,  instead  of  a  clever,  or  a  '  graceful,  elegant 
and  judicious  '  composer.  He,  better  than  most 
Italians,  seems  to  have  understood  the  dawning 
idea  of  the  ( poetical  basis  of  music ' ;  unfor 
tunately  the  musical  ideas,  of  which  the  super 
structure  must  (after  all)  consist,  while  good  and 
appropriate  as  far  as  they  went,  were  limited. 
His  dramatic  sense  was  keen  and  just,  but  was 
not  backed  by  sufficient  creative  power  to  make 
a  lasting  mark.  Fear,  remorse,  love,  hatred, 
revenge, — these  things  repeat  themselves  in  the 
world's  drama  from  Time's  beginning  to  its  end, 
but  their  expressions  are  infinite  in  variety. 
They  repeat  themselves,  too,  in  Sacchini's  operas, 
but  always  in  very  much  the  same  way.  In  his 
later  works,  the  influence  of  Gluck's  spirit  is 
unmistakeable.  There  is  a  wide  gulf  between 
such  early  Italian  operas  as  '  L'Isola  d'Amore, 
consisting  of  the  usual  detached  series  of  songs, 
duets,  and  concerted  pieces,  and  the  '  (Edipe  & 
Colone/  where  each  number  leads  into  the  next, 
and  where  vigorous  accompanied  recitative  and 
well-contrasted,  dialogued  choruses  carry  on  and 
illustrate  the  action  of  the  drama,  while  keeping 
alive  the  interest  of  the  hearer.  Burney  remarks 
that  Sacchini,  '  observing  how  fond  the  English 
were  of  Handel's  oratorio  choruses,  introduced 


SACCHINL 

solemn  and  elaborate  choruses  into  gome  of  his 
operas  ;  but,  though  excellent  in  their  kind,  they 
never  had  a  good  effect ;  the  mixture  of  English 
singers  with  the  Italian,  as  well  as  the  awkward 
figure  they  cut  as  actors,  joined  to  the  difficulty 
of  getting  their  parts  by  heart,  rendered  those 
compositions  ridiculous  which  in  still  life  would 
have  been  admirable.'  In  Paris  they  managed 
these  things  better,  for  in  all  the  operas  of  Sac- 
chiui's  which  were  composed  or  arranged  for  the 
French  stage,  choruses  are  used  largely  and  with 
admirable  effect,  while  in  '  (Edipe  '  they  are  the 
principal  feature.  A  somewhat  similar  transition 
to  this  is  apparent  in  comparing  Piccinnr's  earlier 
and  later  works  ;  but  his  French  operas  are  only 
Italian  ones  modified  and  enlarged.  Sacchini 
had  far  more  dramatic  spirit,  and  took  more 
kindly  to  the  change.  He  bears  the  kind  of 
relation  to  Gluck  that  Piccinni  does  to  Mozart, 
but  he  approached  his  model  more  nearly,  for 
he  handled  Cluck's  theory  almost  as  well  as 
Gluck  himself:  had  he  possessed  the  one  thing 
lacking — force  of  originality,  there  might  have 
been  more  in  his  works  for  '  criticism  to  censure/ 
but  they  might  not  now  have  been  forgotten. 
As  it  was,  they  made  a  hard  struggle  for  life. 
The  '  QEdipe  '  was  continuously  on  the  boards  of 
the  Acade'mie  for  43  years  (from  1787  to  1830), 
which  can  be  said  of  no  other  opera.  During 
this  time  it  had  583  representations.  It  was 
revived  in  July  1843,  and  was  performed  six 
times  in  that  year  and  once  in  May,  1844. 

Sacchini  understood  orchestral  as  well  as  choral 
effect.  His  scores  are  small,  oboes,  horns,  and 
sometimes  trumpets  and  bassoons,  being  the  only 
additions  to  the  string  quartet,  but  the  treat 
ment  is  as  effective  as  it  is  simple.  His  part- 
writing  is  pure  and  good,  while  the  .care  and 
finish  evident  in  his  scores  is  hard  to  reconcile 
with  the  accounts  of  his  idle  and  irregular  ways. 
The  same  technical  qualities  are  shown  in  his 
compositions  for  the  church,  which  in  other  ways 
are  less  distinguished  than  his  operas  from  con 
temporary  works  of  a  similar  kind. 

Much  of  Sacchini's  music  is  lost.  Fe'tis  gives 
a  list  of  21  sacred  contpositions,  and  the  names 
of  41  operas,  the  chief  of  which  have  been  men 
tioned  here,  but  Burney  puts  the  number  of 
these  much  higher.  The  last  of  them,  'Arvire 
et  Evelina,'  was  left  unfinished.  It  was  com 
pleted  by  J.  B.  Key,  and  performed  with  success 
after  the  composer's  death  (April  29,  1788).  He 
also  left  six  trios  for  two  violins  and  bass ;  six 
quartets  for  two  violins,  tenor  and  bass;  and  two 
sets,  each  of  six  harpsichord  sonatas,  with  violin, 
as  well  as  twelve  sonatas  (ops.  3  and  4)  for  clavier 
solo.  These  were  all  published  in  London.  One 
of  the  sonatas,  in  F,  is  included  in  Pauer's  'Alte 
Meister.'  [See  the  list,  vol.  ii.  247  &.]  A  couple 
of  cavatinas  are  given  by  Gevaert  in  his  '  Gloires 

1  1  T 

d  italic,'  and  an  antiphon   for   two   voices    by 
Choron  in  his  '  Journal  de  Chant.'         [F.A.M.] 

^  SACKBUT  (Fr.  Saguebute,  Samlmque ;  Span. 
Sacabuche  ;  Ital.  Trombone;  Ger.  Posaune).    An 
old  name  for  the  Trombone  or  Bass-trumpet, 
VOL.  in.  PT.  2. 


SACRED  HARMONIC  SOCIETY.    209 

There  is  good  evidence  that,  besides  the  Tuba 
and  Lituus,  the  Romans  had  instruments  of  the 
trumpet  family,  provided  with  a  slide  for  altering 
their  pitch.  Indeed  a  fine  specimen,  discovered 
in  the  ruins  of  Herculaneum,  and  presented  to 
George  III.  is  now  in  possession  of  Her  Majesty 
the  Queen.  Some  such  instrument  was  known  to 
Shakespeare,  who  has  the  passage  : 

The  trumpets,  sackbuts,  psalteries,  and  fifea 
Make  the  sun  dance.— Coriolanus. 

It  is  also  named  by  Burton  in  his  '  Anatomy  of 
Melancholy':  'As  he  that  plaies  upon  a  Sagbut 
by  pulling  it  up  and  down  alters  his  tones  and 
tunes.'  The  word  translated  Sackbut  in  the 
English  Bible  is  sabeca,  which  was  probably  a 
stringed  instrument,  and  which  some  identify 
with  the  aanfivKri  of  the  Greeks. 

It  is  a  singular  fact  that  the  sackbut  or  trom 
bone,  though  known  in  Germany,  a  century  ago 
had  in  this  country  fallen  into  disuse.  This  is 
clearly  proved  by  the  following  extract  from  Dr. 
Burney's  'Account  of  the  musical  performances 
in  Westminster  Abbey  and  the  Pantheon  on  May 
26,  27,  29,  and  June  3  and  5,  1784'  : 

In  order  to  render  the  band  as  powerful  and  complete 
as  possible  it  was  determined  to  employ  every  species  of 
instrument  that  was  capable  of  producing  grand  effects 
in  a  great  orchestra  and  spacious  building.  Among 
these  the  SACEUT  or  DOUBLE  TRUMPET  was  sought; 
but  so  many  years  had  elapsed  since  it  had  been  used 
in  this  kingdom,  that  neither  the  instrument  nor  a 
performer  upon  it  could  easily  be  found.  It  was  how 
ever  discovered  .  .  that  in  his  Majesty's  private  military 
band  there  were  six  musicians  who  played  the  three 
several  species  of  sacbut,  tenor,  bass,  and  double  bass.1 

On  referring  to  the  band -list  the  following  entry 
is  found : 


TROMBONI  OR  SACBUTS. 


Mr.  Karst. 
Kneller. 


Mr.  Moeller. 
Neibour. 


Mr.  Pick. 
Zink. 


These  performers  played  on  other  instruments  when  the 
Sacbuts  were  not  wanted. 

For  musical  details,  see  TEOMBONE.       [W.H.S.] 

SACRED  HARMONIC  SOCIETY.  This 
Society  was  originated  by  Thomas  Brewer, 
Joseph  Hart,  W.  Jeffreys,  Joseph  Surman,  and 
—  Cockerell,  who  first  met,  with  a  view  to  its 
establishment,  on  Aug.  21,  1832.  Its  practical 
operations  did  not  however  commence  until 
Nov.  20  following.  Its  first  meetings  were  held 
in  the  chapel  in  Gate  Street,  Lincoln's  Inn 
Fields,  many  years  since  converted  into  a  music 
hall.  Its  first  concert  was  given  in  the  chapel 
on  Tuesday  evening,  Jan.  15,  1833.  The  pro 
gramme  comprised  selections  from  Handel's 
'Messiah'  and  'Funeral  Anthem,"  and  from 
Perry's  'Fall  of  Jerusalem'  and  'Death  of 
Abel,'  with  Attwood's  Coronation  Anthem,  '  O 
Lord,  grant  the  king  a  long  life,'  and  the  hymn 


1  '  The  most  common  Sacbut,  -which  the  Italians  call  Tromlone,  and 
the  Germans  Posaune,  is  an  octave  below  the  common  trumpet ;  its 
length  eight  feet  when  folded,  and  sixteen  straight.  There  is  a 
manual  by  which  a  note  can  be  acquired  a  fourth  lower  than  the 
usual  lowest  sound  on  the  trumpet,  and  all  the  tones  and  semitone  > 
ol  the  common  scale.'  (Footnote  in  the  original.) 


210    SACRED  HARMONIC  SOCIETY. 

'Adeste  fideles.'  The  names  of  the  principal 
singers  were  not  published;  Thomas  Harper 
was  engaged  as  solo  trumpeter.  The  then  officers 
of  the  Society  were  John  Newman  Harrison, 
president;  Thomas  Brewer,  secretary;  J.  G. 
Moginie,  treasurer ;  Joseph  Surman,  conductor  ; 
George  Perry,  leader  of  the  band ;  and  F.  C. 
Walker,  organist.  In  Nov.  1833,  the  permission 
to  meet  in  the  chapel  being  suddenly  withdrawn, 
the  Society  removed  to  a  chapel  in  Henrietta 
Street,  Brunswick  Square,  and  shortly  afterwards 
to  a  room  belonging  to  the  Scottish  Hospital  in 
Fleur  de  Lys  Court,  Fleet  Street ;  but  at  Mid 
summer,  1834,  it  migrated  to  Exeter  Hall,  which 
was  its  home  until  Michaelmas,  1880.  The  con 
certs  were  for  the  first  two  years  given  in  the 
Minor  Hall,  and  consisted  principally  of  selec 
tions,  in  which  a  few  short  complete  works  were 
occasionally  introduced,  such  as  Handel's  '  Det- 
tingen Te  Deum,'  Haydn's '  Mass,'  No.  i,  Bishop's 
'Seventh  Day,'  and  Romberg's  '  The  Transient 
and  the  Eternal.'  The  Society  having  on  June  28, 
1836,  given  a  concert  in  the  Large  Hall  in  aid  of 
a  charity  with  very  great  success,  was  shortly 
afterwards  induced  to  give  its  own  concerts 
there.  At  the  same  time  an  important  change 
in  its  policy  was  effected,  viz.  the  abandonment 
of  miscellaneous  selections  for  complete  oratorios, 
a  change  which  was  received  by  the  public  with 
great  favour.  Up  to  that  period,  even  at  the 
provincial  festivals,  it  was  very  rarely  that  any 
complete  oratorio,  except  Handel's  '  Messiah ' 
was  performed,  whilst  the  programmes  of  the 
so-called  '  Oratorios '  at  the  two  patent  theatres 
on  the  Wednesdays  and  Fridays  in  Lent  were  a 
mongrel  mixture  of  oratorio  songs  and  choruses, 
secular  songs  of  all  kinds,  and  instrumental  solos. 
The  first  concert  given  in  the  Large  Hall  on  the 
Society's  own  account  was  Handel's  '  Messiah,' 
on  Dec.  20,  1836,  the  orchestra  consisting  of 
about  300  performers.  In  1837  the  works 
performed  included  Mendelssohn's  '  St.  Paul ' 
(March  7)*  f°r  the  first  time  in  London  and 
second  in  England,  Handel's  'Messiah,'  'Israel 
in  Egypt,'  and  'Dettingen  Te  Deum,'  Haydn's 
'Creation/  and  the  Mass  known  as  Mozart's 
1 2th.  On  Sept.  1 2  another  performance  of  '  St. 
Paul'  was  given,  in  the  composer's  presence 
[see  MENDELSSOHN],  of  which  he  wrote  to  the 
Committee  of  the  Society — '  I  can  hardly  express 
the  gratification  I  felt  in  hearing  my  work  per 
formed  in  so  beautiful  a  manner, — indeed,  I 
shall  never  wish  to  hear  some  parts  of  it  better 
executed  than  they  were  on  that  night.  The 
power  of  the  choruses, — that  large  body  of  good 
and  musical  voices, — and  the  style  in  which  they 
sang  the  whole  of  my  music,  gave  me  the  highest 
and  most  heartfelt  treat ;  while  I  reflected  on  the 
immense  improvement  which  such  a  number  of 
real  amateurs  must  necessarily  produce  in  the 
country  which  may  boast  of  it.'  During  the 
year  the  number  of  performers  was  increased  to 
500.  In  the  same  year  the  formation  of  a 
musical  library  was  commenced,  and  Robert 
Kanzow  Bowley  appointed  honorary  librarian. 
In  1838  Handel's  'Judas  Maccabeus,'  'Samson,' 


SACRED  HARMONIC  SOCIETY. 

and  'Solomon'  were  revived,  and  Beethoven's 
'Mass  in  C,'  Spohr's  'Last  Judgment,'  and 
Perry's  'Fall  of  Jerusalem'  introduced.  1839 
witnessed  the  revival  and  repetition  of  Handel's 
'  Joshua.'  A  new  organ  was  built  for  the  Society 
by  Walker,  and  opened  Jan.  23,  1840,  with  a 
performance  by  Thomas  Adams.  Handel's  'Saul' 
was  revived,  and  Elvey's  'Resurrection  and 
Ascension,'  and  Perry's  '  Thanksgiving  Anthem 
on  the  birth  of  the  Princess  Royal '  introduced. 
1841  was  distinguished  by  a  revival  of  Handel's 
'Jephthah,'  and  by  two  performances  of  a 
selection  of  anthems.  The  latter  was  received 
with  great  interest,  public  attention  having  been 
then  lately  drawn  to  our  cathedral  music.  The 
programme  was  chronologically  arranged  and 
exhibited  the  various  changes  in  the  style  of 
English  church  music  from  Tallis  to  Samuel 
Wesley,  a  period  of  two  centuries  and  a  half. 
It  is  true  that  a  performance  of  a  so-called 
'Selection  of  Anthems'  had  been  given  in  the 
preceding  year,  but  the  programme  being  in 
judiciously  arranged — a  few  anthems  being  inter 
spersed  with  songs  and  other  pieces  in  no  wise 
connected  with  church-music, — had  produced 
but  little  effect :  the  distinguishing  feature  of  it 
was  two  admirable  performances  upon  the  organ 
by  Mendelssohn.  Perry's  '  Death  of  Abel,'  waa 
also  brought  forward  in  1841.  In  1842  Handel's 
'  Jubilate  Deo,'  and  Beethoven's  '  Mount  of 
Olives'  (the  'Engedi'  version),  were  introduced. 
In  1843  Spohr's  'Fall  of  Babylon'  was  produced, 
conducted  by  the  composer,  who  was  then 
on  a  visit  to  England ;  Dr.  Crotch's  anthem, 
'  The  Lord  is  king,'  was  performed  for  the  first 
time ;  Mendelssohn's  '  Hymn  of  Praise '  was 
introduced,  and  also  Handel's  'Deborah.'  The 
new  introductions  in  1844  were  a  Coronation 
Anthem  and  an  organ  concerto  by  Handel,  Men 
delssohn's  42nd  Psalm,  and  Haydn's  Mass,  No. 
1 6  ;  but  the  season  was  chiefly  distinguished  by 
two  performances  of  Mendelssohn's  'St.  Paul,' 
conducted  by  the  composer.  Handel's  'Atha- 
liah,'  Purcell's  'Jubilate  in  D,'  and  cantata 
'Saul  and  the  Witch  of  Endor,'  Neukomm's 
'  David,'  and  a  new  selection  of  anthems,  were 
brought  forward  for  the  first  time  in  1845.  In 

1846  the  new  introductions  comprised  Perry's 
'Belshazzar's  Feast,'  Mendelssohn's  I  I4th  Psalm, 
Haydn's  Mass,  No.  2,  and  some  minor  pieces. 

1847  was  an  important  epoch  in  the  Society's 
annals  ;  Handel's  '  Belshazzar '  was  revived,  and 
a  new  selection  of  anthems  given,  but  the  greatest 
event  was  the  production  for  the  first  time  in  its 
improved  form  of  Mendelssohn's  '  Elijah,'  under 
his  own  personal  direction.     Four  performances 
of  it  were  given,  and  it  at  once  took  that  firm 
position  which   it   has   ever   since  maintained. 
Subsequently  Spohr  visited  this  country  at  the 
invitation  of  the  Society  and  conducted  two  per 
formances  of  his  'Fall  of  Babylon'  and  one  of 
his  'Christian's  Prayer'  and  'Last  Judgment' 
(the  last  for  the  only  time  in  England),  and  pro 
duced  his  '  84th  Psalm,  Milton's  version,'  com 
posed  expressly  for  the  occasion.    An  occurrence 
also  took  place  during  this  year  which  eventually 


SACRED  HARMONIC  SOCIETY. 

led  to  changes  which  had  an  important  influence 
on  the  fortunes  of  the  Society.     A  committee, 
appointed  to  investigate  the  conduct  of  Joseph 
Surman,  both  in  respect  of  his  dealings  with  the 
Society  and  his  execution  of  the  office  of  con 
ductor,  having  unanimously  reported  adversely 
to  him,  he  was  removed  from  his  office  Feb.  15, 
1848.  [SuRMAN.]  Pending  a  regular  appointment 
the  remaining  concerts  of  the  season  were  con 
ducted  by  the  leader  of  the  band,  George  Perry. 
Mr.  (now  Sir  Michael)  Costa  was  elected  con 
ductor,  Sept.  22,  1848.     Very  beneficial  results 
followed  this  appointment :  both  band  and  chorus 
were  strengthened  and  improved,  and  the  number 
of  performers  was  augmented  to  nearly  700.   The 
performances  of  the  season  consisted  principally 
of  more  effective  renderings  of  the  stock  pieces, 
but  Mendelssohn's  music  for '  Athalie'  was  intro 
duced  with  great  success.     In  1850  nothing  new 
was  given  but  Mendelssohn's  'Lauda  Sion'  in 
an  English  dress.     1851  was  chiefly  remarkable 
for  the  number  of  concerts  given — 31 ;  '  Messiah,' 
'Elijah,'  and  the  'Creation'  having  been  per 
formed  alternately,  one  in  each  week,  from  May 
to  September  for  the  gratification  of  visitors  to 
the  Great  Exhibition  in  Hyde  Park.     Later  in 
the  year  Haydn's  'Seasons'  was  introduced  for 
the  first  time.     In  1852  Spohr's  'Calvary 'and 
the  fragments  of  Mendelssohn's  '  Christus '  were 
introduced.     In  1853  some  changes  took  place 
in  the  officers  of  the  Society,  R.  K.  Bowley  be 
coming  treasurer,  and  W.  H.  Husk  succeeding 
him  as  librarian  :   Mozart's  '  Requiem '  was  first 
brought  forward   this  year.     1854  was  distin- 
tinguished  by  two  performances  of  Beethoven's 
Mass  in   D.     Griesbach's    '  Daniel '  was    also 
brought  forward,  and  the  Society  undertook  the 
performance  of  the  music  at  the  opening  of  the 
Crystal  Palace  on  May  10.     In  1856  Costa's 
'  Eli '  was  performed  for  the  first  time  in  London 
with  marked  success.    In  1857  Rossini's  '  Stabat 
Mater'  was  introduced,  and  the  Society  under 
took  the   musical   arrangements   for    the    first 
Handel  Festival  at  the  Crystal  Palace.     [See 
HANDEL    FESTIVAL.]      In    1862     Beethoven's 

*  Mount  of  Olives'  was  given  with  its  proper 
libretto.    Costa's  'Naaman'  was  introduced  to 
a  London  audience  in  1865.    In  1867  Benedict's 
'Legend  of  St.  Cecilia'  was  given  for  the  first 
time  in  London.     In  1870  Beethoven's  Mass  in 
D  was  again  performed.     The  Society  sustained 
the  loss,  by  death,  of  three  of  its  principal  officers, 
J.  N.  Harrison,  president,  R.  K,  Bowley,  treasurer, 
and  T.  Brewer,  secretary  and,  for  a  few  weeks, 
president.      They   were    replaced   by   D.   Hill, 
president,  W.  H.  Withall,  treasurer,  and  J.  F. 
Puttick,   secretary.      In    1873    the   last-named 
died,  and  E.  H.  Mannering  was  appointed  in 
his  stead.    Bach's  St.  Matthew  'Passion'  was 
given  for  the  first  time.     In  1874  Dr.  Crotch's 

*  Palestine '   was    introduced,   and    Macfarren's 
'  St.  John  the  Baptist '  given  for  the  first  time 
in  London.  Mozart's  Litany  in  Bb,  in  an  English 
dress,  was  introduced  in  1877.    In  1878  Rossini's 
'Moses  in  Egypt'  was  restored  to  its  original 
position    as    an    oratorio.      Nothing    new   was 


SAGGIO  DI  CONTRAPPUNTO.     211 

brought  forward  in  the  season  of  1879-80,  which 
ended  on  April  30,  1880,  with  'Israel  in  Egypt.' 
Owing  to  a  change  in  the  proprietorship  of  Exeter 
Hall  the  Society  had  to  quit  that  building,  and 
the  concerts  of  the  season  1 880-81  were  given  in 
St.  James's  Hall,  the  number  of  performers  being 
reduced,  on  account  of  the  limited  space  of  the 
orchestra,  to  about  300.  The  first  concert  was 
on  Dec.  3.  Sullivan's  '  Martyr  of  Antioch  '  (first 
time  in  London)  and  Cherubini's  Requiem  in  C 
minor  were  brought  out  during  the  season. 

The  Society's  library,  in  the  44  years  which 
have  elapsed  since  its  formation,  has  become  the 
largest  collection  of  music  and  musical  literature 
ever  gathered  together  by  a  musical  body  in 
England.  Space  does  not  allow  here  of  even  a 
brief  list  of  its  principal  contents,  and  the  reader 
is  therefore  referred  to  the  last  edition  of  its 
printed  catalogue,  issued  in  1872.  [See  also 
MUSICAL  LIBRARIES,  vol.  ii.  p.  420(1.]  The 
Society  also  possesses  some  interesting  original 
portraits,  statuary,  and  autograph  letters.  It 
is  in  constitution  an  essentially  amateur  body, 
none  but  amateurs  being  eligible  for  member 
ship,  and  the  governing  committee  being  chosen 
by  and  from  the  members.  Every  member  is 
required  to  take  some  part  in  the  orchestra, 
and  a  strict  examination  as  to  his  qualification 
for  so  doing  is  made  prior  to  his  admission.  The 
most  eminent  professors  are  engaged  as  principal 
vocalists  and  instrumentalists,  the  rest  of  the 
band  and  the  whole  of  the  chorus  being  amateurs. 
The  members  are  comparatively  few  in  number, 
the  majority  of  the  amateurs  being  assistants, 
who  give  their  gratuitous  services,  but  pay  no 
subscription.  The  subscription  of  members,  ori 
ginally  £i,  is  now  £2  2s.  od.  per  annum.  Sub 
scribers  to  the  concerts  pay  £3  35.  od.,  £2  I2s.6c?., 
or  £2  2s.  od.  per  annum,  according  to  the  posi 
tion  of  their  seats.  [W.H.H.] 

SACRED  HARMONIC  SOCIETY,  THE 
BENEVOLENT  FUND  OF  THE,  was  instituted  March 
14,  1855,  for  the  aid  of  necessitous  persons  who 
had  at  any  time  been  connected  with  the  Sacred 
Harmonic  Society.  It  differs  from  a  benefit 
society  in  the  fact  that  relief  is  not  restricted  to  sub 
scribers  to  the  Fund,  and  that  none  are  entitled 
to  the  receipt  of  stated  sums  upon  the  happening 
of  stated  events.  Each  applicant's  case  is  con 
sidered  on  its  merits,  and  either  a  temporary 
grant  or  a  small  continuous  pension  awarded  as 
circumstances  may  require.  The  management 
of  the  Fund  is  entrusted  to  an  independent 
committee,  chosen  by  the  Governors  of  the  Fund 
from  the  members  of  the  Sacred  Harmonic 
Society.  An  annual  subscription  of  IDS.  6d. 
constitutes  a  Governor,  and  a  donation  of  £5  55.  at 
one  time  a  Life  Governor.  The  claims  upon  the 
Fund  have  been  so  numerous  and  urgent  that  it 
has  been  impossible  to  increase  its  capital  to  the 
desired  extent.  [W.H.H.] 

SAGGIO  DI  CONTRAPPUNTO  (Pattern 
of  Counterpoint).  A  very  important  work,  pub 
lished,  at  Bologna,  in  1774-5,  by  the  Padre 
Giambattista  Martini,  in  two  large  4to  volumes, 
dedicated  to  Cardinal  Vincenzo  Malvezzi,  and 

P2 


212     SAGGIO  DI  CONTRAPPUNTO. 


SAINT  ANNE'S  TUNE. 


now  becoming  very  scarce.  The  full  title,  '  E- 
semplare,  o  sia  saggio  fondamentale  pratico  di 
contrappunto  sopra  il  canto  fermo,'  etc.,  suffi 
ciently  explains  the  design  of  the  work,  in  which 
the  author  endeavours  to  teach  the  Art  of 
Counterpoint,  rather  by  reference  to  the  most 
perfect  obtainable  models,  than  by  any  code  of 
written  laws.  The  method  adopted  for  this  pur 
pose  is  above  all  praise.  The  bulk  of  the  volume 
consists  of  a  series  of  examples,  in  the  form  of 
Motets,  Madrigals,  Movements  from  Masses,  and 
other  similar  Compositions,  selected  from  the 
works  of  the  greatest  Masters  of  the  i6th  and 
I  yth  centuries,  beautifully  printed,  from  move- 
able  types,  in  lozenge-headed  notes,  resembling 
those  found  in  Italian  Part-Books  of  the  best 
period,  but,  without  the  Ligatures  which  render 
those  books  so  puzzling  to  the  modern  Musician. 
The  Masters  selected  are,  Agostini,  Animuccia, 
Barbieri,  Baroni,  Benevoli,  Bernabei,  Caresana, 
Cifra,  Clari,  Corvo,  Falconio,  Foggia,  Gabussi, 
Gesualdo,  Lotti,  Marcello,  Marenzio,  Minarti, 
Monteverde,  Morales,  Navarro  di  Siviglia,  Ni- 
trami,  Olstani,  Ortiz,  Pacchioni,  Palestrina,  P. 
Pontio  Parmigiano,  Pasquale,  Perti,  Piocchi, 
Porta,  Predieri,  Eiccieri,  Rota,  A.  Scarlatti, 
Stradella,  Turini,  Vittoria,  Willaert,  Zarlino,  and 
several  Anonymi.  The  works  are  arranged  in 
accordance  with  the  characteristics  of  their  re 
spective  Schools  ;  and  each  Movement  is  illus 
trated  by  a  copious  series  of  annotations,  explain 
ing  its  general  design,  pointing  out  the  various 
devices  employed  in  its  construction,  and  calling 
particular  attention  to  its  merits,  and  the  lessons 
to  be  learned  from  it.  The  amount  of  sound 
scholarship,  and  able  criticism,  displayed  in  these 
annotations,  renders  the  work  extremely  valuable 
for  purposes  of  study ;  while  the  rarity  of  the 
original  edition  suggests  the  desirableness  of  a 
careful  reprint.  [W.  S.  R.] 

SAINT  ANNE'S  TUNE.  This  well-known 
tune,  in  accordance  with  a  practice  of  which 
there  are  several  examples,1  was  constructed  by 
the  addition  of  a  new  continuation  to  a  fragment 
of  an  older  melody.  A  seven-part  motet  of 
Palestrina 's,  published  in  May  1569,  leads  off 
in  the  first  treble  with  this  phrase 


A-    »    /*                      -             (-^    r^  P^             1        ~ 

jfTTS     *     l.j       £3     '         -£?      ^3     \                                          tSC 

?H 

S3?                         <^                   '                              t? 

1     1  1 

t'*m      I*         —  -  .        o  -                 P*      1                           -T       .          tS 

7~i 

^           tf      ^7        <-"        p'      1                                                                <!y         1      f^ 

O  -rj 

*                                  \                           '                                    ^J                        1 

J 

i              1                      II                          ••->                       "f^'                       ^-> 

II 

,.A                             2ZZZE.IZ  —                ^     F^     «--> 

(^  •  •  II 

<;::?.  4*^-1      Ci>                                     p7                                       p^ 

u 

Jp?              n                '             -     -L        1   .-- 

n 

n  —  ^  ?"^—  i  f9  —  '"2  —  TZ~ 

—  \—K  \  fg—  f^  \  ^  r—\  —  P- 

-^-H 

•  —  j            i  •   -          i          '         i 

II 

<--'  i     f^>  \         '         i 

n 

^  

«     A     p^    I               eZ*      ll-''1      1 

^^                                4                 \ 

1                              I 

Tu       es       Pet  -  rus 


identical  with  the  first  phrase  of  St.  Anne's; 
«,fter  which  the  resemblance  ceases.  The  entire 
first  strain  of  the  tune  is  said  to  be  traceable  to 
a  French  chanson  of  the  i6th  century.  It  was 
adopted  by  J.  S.  Bach  as  the  subject  of  an  organ 
fugue,  known  in  England  as  '  St.  Anne's  fugue ' — 
a  misleading  title,  as,  except  in  the  identity  of 
its  subject  with  the  first  strain  of  St.  Anne's, 
the  fugue  has  no  connection  with  the  hymn-tune. 
As  early  as  1638  the  same  strain  was  employed 
by  Henry  Lawes  as  the  commencement  of  the 
tunes  set  by  him  to  the  gth  and  I36th  Psalms  in 
Sandys's  '  Paraphrase  upon  the  Psalmes  of  David. ' 

i  The  'Old  Hundredth'  psalm  tune  is  another  instance.    Its  first 
strain  is  the  commencement  of  several  distinct  tunes. 


St.  Anne's  tune,  under  that  name,  is  first 
found  in  '  A  Supplement  to  the  New  Version  of 
the  Psalms,'  sixth  edition,  much  enlarged,  1708. 
Dr.  Croft's  name  is  not  mentioned  in  the  work, 
but  he  is  believed  to  have  been  the  musical 
editor  of  this  edition  of  the  Supplement:  the 
name  of  the  tune  is  probably  derived  from  that 
of  the  parish,  St.  Anne's,  Westminster,  of  which 
he  was  then  organist,  and  the  tune  itself  is 
directly  ascribed  to  him  by  his  contemporaries, 
viz.  Philip  Hart  in  '  Melodies  proper  to  be  sung 
to  any  of  ye  Versions  of  ye  Psalms  of  David,'  cir. 
1716,  and  John  Church  in  his  'Introduction  to 
Psalmody,'  1723.  The  tune  appears  in  the  '  Sup 
plement  '  in  the  following  form  : — 

Psalm  xlii.      St.  Anne's  Tune. 


That  this  arrangement  is  by  Croft  cannot  be 
doubted. 

Of  late  years  some  doubt  has  been  thrown  on 
the  authorship  of  the  tune  from  its  having  been 
found  in  Abraham  Barber's  '  Book  of  Psalm 
Tunes,'  a  Yorkshire  collection,  of  which  the 
license  bears  date  Feb.  14,  1687,  when  Croft  was 
but  ten  years  of  age.  Here  the  tune  appears 
under  the  name  of  '  Leeds '  and  is  ascribed  to 
'Mr.  Denby,'  whose  name  some  editors  of 
hymnals  have  too  hastily  substituted  for  that  of 
Croft.  The  edition,  however,  of  Barber's  Psalms 
which  contains  the  tune  is  the  seventh,  dated 
1715,  or  seven  years  after  the  publication  of  the 
'  Supplement '  already  mentioned.  This  edition 
contains,  besides  tunes  for  Canticles,  Psalms, 
etc.,  28  hymn-tunes  arranged  in  four  parts,  with 
the  melody  in  the  tenor.  Of  these  tunes  three 
only  have  a  composer's  name  prefixed,  and  these 
three,  which  bear  the  names  of  northern  towns 
('Leverpool,'  '  Hallifax,'  and  'Leeds'),  are  all 
ascribed  to  'Mr.  Denby.'  It  may  be  observed 
that  while  the  melody  of  'Leeds'  is  identical 
with  that  of  St.  Anne's  in  the  'Supplement,' 
the  modulation  at  the  end  of  the  3rd  strain  is 
different. 

Leerls  Tune.  MR. 


SAINT  ANNE'S  TUNE. 


SAINT-GEORGES. 


213 


The  supposition,  however,  that  *  Leeds '  was 
originally  in  Barber's  Psalm-book  has  been 
disproved  by  the  recent  discovery  of  a  copy  of 
an  early  edition  of  the  collection,  which  from  the 
evidence  of  the  preface  appears  to  be  either  the 
third  or  fourth,  and  to  have  been  published  about 
I6Q6.1  The  title-page  is  unfortunately  missing. 
This  volume,  a  smaller  book  than  the  edition  of 
1715,  contains  but  twelve  hymn- tunes  arranged 
in  two  parts,  and  neither  the  tune  in  question 
nor  Denby1  s  name  occurs  in  it.  Until  therefore 
an  edition  of  Barber's  Psalms  is  found,  contain 
ing  '  Leeds,'  and  of  earlier  date  than  1 708,  Denby 
must  be  regarded  as  merely  the  author  of  a  re 
arrangement  of  Croft's  tune. 

o 

That  some  confusion  existed  respecting  the 
authorship  may  perhaps  be  inferred  from  the 
fact  that  Dr.  Miller,  a  Yorkshire  organist,  in  his 
'  Psalms  of  David/  1 790,  gives  '  St.  Ann's,  Dr. 
Croft '  on  one  page,  and  opposite  to  it  '  Leeds, 
Denby,'  in  triple  time  and  as  a  different  tune. 
On  the  other  hand  it  may  be  noticed  that  in 
another  Yorkshire  collection,  John  and  James 
Green's  '  Collection  of  choice  Psalm  Tunes ' 
(Sheffield,  3rd  ed.  1715),  St.  Anne's  tune  is  quoted 
under  that  name.  Dr.  Sullivan  has  employed 
St.  Anne's  with  excellent  effect  in  his  Te  Deum 
performed  at  St.  Paul's  in  the  Thanksgiving 
Service,  Feb.  27,  1872,  on  occasion  of  the  re 
covery  of  the  Prince  of  Wales ;  and  in  another 
piece  ('The  Son  of  God')  has  harmonised  the 
tune  with  varying  effects  in  successive  verses  in 
an  admirable  manner.  [G.A.C.] 

SAINT- AUBIN,  JEANNE  CHARLOTTE  SCHRCE- 
DER,  a  very  remarkable  opera-singer,  born  in 
Paris,  Dec.  9,  1 764.  She  was  daughter  of  a  thea 
trical  manager,  began  to  act  as  a  mere  child,  and 
when  only  9,  charmed  Louis  XV.  by  her  preco 
cious  talent.  In  1782  she  married  Saint-Aubin, 
an  actor  in  Mdlle.  Montansier's  company,  and 
in  1786  made  her  first  appearance  at  the  Aca- 
de'mie,  in  '  Colinette  a  la  Cour,'  but  perceiving 
that  she  was  not  qualified  for  so  large  a  stage, 
had  the  good  sense  to  cancel  her  engagement 
with  the  Opera,  and  transfer  herself  to  the  Co- 
me"die  Italienne.  There  her  pleasing  and  ex 
pressive  face,  refined  and  graceful  acting,  and 
singing,  always  intelligent  and  in  tune,  could  be 
properly  appreciated,  and  she  speedily  became  a 
favourite  both  with  the  public  and  the  dramatists. 
No  actress  ever  created  a  greater  number  of 
roles;  sentimental,  pathetic,  ingenues,  soubrettes, 
grandes  coquettes,  or  burlesque  characters — all 
came  alike  to  her.  Her  singing  was  not  so  re 
markable  as  her  acting,  but  she  sang  romances 

i  The  preface  speaks  of  'former  editions,'  and  adds— 'since  the 
Psalmes  in  metre  are  this  last  year  much  refin'd  as  to  the  English 
by  some  good  grave  Divine  Persons  who  hath  only  left  out  all  the  old 
words  and  made  the  meter  good  English.'  The  preface  to  the  seventh 
edition  is  a  different  one. 


with  great  charm  of  expression,  and  by  taste  and 
skill  supplied  the  lack  of  power  in  her  voice, 
became  the  acknowledged  star  of  the  company 
and  its  most  profitable  member.  She  was,  how 
ever,  badly  treated  by  the  management,  for  though 
admitted  as  sodetaire  to  the  fourth  of  a  share  in 
1788,  she  was  not  advanced  to  a  full  share  till 
1798,  after  her  success  in  'Le  Prisonnier.' 

In  1 800  she  lost  all  her  savings  by  the  bank 
ruptcy  of  the  Theatre  Favart,  but  on  the  union 
of  the  two  comedy-companies  she  retained  her 
position  as  sodetaire,  and  was  appointed  one  of 
the  five  members  of  the  management,  a  post  which 
she  resigned  on  Mnie.  Dugazon's  retirement,  not 
wishing  to  be  the  only  woman  on  the  board.  At 
her  farewell  benefit  (April  2,  1808)  she  took  the 
part  ofMme.  Belmontin  'Le  Prisonnier,'  leaving 
Rosine,  her  own  creation,  to  her  second  daughter, 
Alexandrine.  Her  elder  daughter  also  appeared 
in  the  '  Concert  interrompu. '  Her  modest  pension 
of  1900  francs  was  increased  by  Louis  XVIII.  to 
3000.  She  took  her  final  farewell,  assisted  by 
her  eldest  daughter,  Mme.  Duret,  on  Nov.  7, 
1818,  in  'Uneheure  de  mariage,'  and  was  as  much 
applauded  as  ever.  Mme.  Saint-Aubin  lived  to 
a  great  age,  and  died  in  Paris,  Sept.  n,  1850. 
Three  of  her  children  distinguished  themselves  ; 
the  son,  JEAN  DENIS,  born  at  Lyons  in  1783,  a 
violinist  and  composer  of  great  promise,  died  at 
Paris  in  1810. 

The  elder  daughter,  CECILE,  born  at  Lyons  in 
1785,  a  pupil  of  Garat,  made  her  de"but  in  1805 
at  the  Ope"ra  Comique  in  'Le  Concert  interrompu,' 
but  went  back  to  the  Conservatoire  to  study,  and 
did  not  reappear  till  1808.  In  the  interval  she 
gained  both  style  and  taste  in  singing,  but  re 
mained  an  indiiferent  actress.  Under  the  name 
of  Mme.  Duret  she  rose  for  a  short  time  to  dis 
tinction  as  the  favourite  singer  of  Nicolo  Isouard, 
who  composed  several  important  and  difficult 
parts  for  her.  Her  best  creations  were  in  '  Le 
Billet  de  Loterie,'  and  'Jeannot  et  Colin.'  Her 
voice  was  of  considerable  compass,  even  and  son 
orous,  though  rather  heavy ;  she  vocalized  with 
skill,  and  articulated  distinctly,  but  her  breath 
was  short  and  drawn  with  effort.  She  retired  in 
1820.  Her  sister  ALEXANDRINE,  born  at  Paris 
1793,  made  a  brilliant  debut  at  the  Theatre  Fey- 
deau  in  1809,  and  in  the  following  year  excited 
great  enthusiasm  in  Isouard's  '  Cendrillon.'  This 
was  however  the  only  original  part  in  which  she 
distinguished  herself,  and  on  her  marriage  with  an 
actor  at  the  Vaudeville  in  1812,  she  retired  from 
the  stage.  [G.  C.] 

SAINT-GEOEGES,  JULES  HENRI  VERNOY, 
MARQUIS  DE, — not  to  be  confounded  with  the 
notorious  Chevalier  de  Saint-Georges  (1745-1799 
or  1801) — born  in  Paris  1801,  died  there  1875, 
writer  of  novels,  and  author  of  numerous  librettos 
for  operas  and  operas-comiques,  was  the  favourite 
collaborateur  of  Halevy.  Among  his  120  libret 
tos  we  need  only  specify  those  for  Donizetti's 
'  Fille  du  Regiment '  J  Adolphe  Adam's  '  La 
Marquise,'  'Cagliostro,''Le  Bijou  perdu,'  operas; 
and  '  Giselle,'  '  La  jolie  Fille  de  Gand,'  and  'Ee 
Corsaire,'  ballets  ;  Auber's  '  L'Ambassadrice,' 


214 


SAINT-GEORGES. 


« Zanetta,*  and  *  Les  Diamants  de  la  Couronne/ 
with  Scribe ;  Grisar's  '  Lady  Melvil,'  '  Le  Caril- 
lonneur  de  Bruges,'  and  'Les  Amours  du  Diable' ; 
Clapisson's  '  La  Fanchonnette ' ;  and  HaleVy's 
'L'Eclair,'  'Les  Mousquetairea  de  la  Reine,'  'Le 
Val  d'Andorre,'  'La  Fe"e  aux  Roses,'  'Le  Juif 
errant,'  'Le  Nabab/  and  <  Jaguarita  1'Indienne.' 

From  this  list  it  will  appear  that  Saint-Georges 
was  the  most  prolific,  as  he  was  the  ablest,  of 
all  French  contemporary  librettists  after  Scribe. 
No  one  has  yet  appeared  competent  to  supply  the 
place  of  either  of  these  clever  writers.  [G.C.] 

SAINT  1HUBERTY,  ANTOINETTE  C^CILE, 
an  eminent  French  operatic  actress,  whose  real 
surname  was  Clavel,  was  born  at  Toul,  about 
1756.  Her  father,  who  had  previously  served  in 
the  army,  became  stage  manager  to  a  French 
opera  company  at  Mannheim,  and  afterwards 
at  Warsaw,  where  she  studied  for  four  years 
with  Lemoyne,  conductor  of  the  orchestra.  Her 
first  public  appearance  was  in  an  opera  of  his  '  Le 
Bouquet  de  Colette.'  She  then  went  to  Berlin, 
and  is  said  to  have  been  married  there  to  a 
certain  Chevalier  de  Croisy,  of  whom,  however, 
nothing  is  heard  in  her  subsequent  history.  For 
three  years  she  sang  at  Strassburg,  as  Mile. 
Clavel,  and  thence  went  to  Paris,  and  made  her 
ddbut  at  the  Acaddmie  as  'un  demon,  un  plaisir' 
in  the  first  performance  of  Gluck's  'Armide' 
(Sept.  23, 1777).  For  a  considerable  tune  she  only 
played  in  subordinate  parts.  Her  appearance 
was  not  striking ;  she  was  fair,  thin,  and  below 
middle  height,  with  a  face  expressive,  but  not 
beautiful.  Her  voice  was  produced  badly  and 
with  effort,  her  stage  action  was  spasmodic  and 
exaggerated,  and  she  had  a  strong  German  accent. 
But  Gluck  found  in  this  ill- trained  actress  some 
qualities  he  may  have  vainly  sought  for  in  more 
finished  singers.  She  appeared  one  morning  at 
rehearsal  in  an  old  black  gown  in  the  last  stage 
of  patched  decrepitude.  '  Here  comes  Madame 
la  Ressource,'  remarked  some  gay  rival  (alluding 
to  the  character  of  that  name  in  'Le  Joueur'). 
'  Well  said,'  answered  Gluck  ;  '  that  woman  will 
some  day  be  the  resource  of  the  opera.'  Perhaps 
she  heard  the  words — we  may  be  sure  she  heard 
of  them.  She  laboured  to  improve  herself,  and 
on  the  retirement  of  two  leading  singers  suc 
ceeded  to  their  parts.  Her  first  great  success 
was  as  Angelique  in  Piccinni's  '  Roland,'  and 
was  followed  by  others  in  Floquet's  '  Le  Seigneur 
Bienfaisant,'  Gossec's  'Thesee'  (March  I,  1782), 
and  Edelmann's  'Ariane*  (Sept.  24,  1782),  all 
tragic  roles ;  while  as  Rosette  in  Gre'try's  '  L'Em- 
barras  des  Richesses'  (Nov.  26, 1782),  she  showed 
all  the  versatility  and  vivacity  necessary  for 
comedy.  As  Armide  (in  Sacchini's  '  Renaud '), 
in  '  Didon,'  '  Chimene,'  '  Les  Dana'ides,'  'Al- 
ceste,'  and  'Phedre,'  she  had  a  succession  of 
triumphs.  '  Didon,'  Piccinni's  masterpiece,  made 
no  impression  till  she  undertook  the  title  rdle, 
and  the  composer  declared  that,  without  her, 
his  opera  was  'without  Dido.'  On  her  first 
appearance  in  that  part  (Jan.  16,  1784)  she 

i  How  she  obtained  this  name  is  not  known. 


ST.  JAMES'S  HALL  CONCERT  ROOMS. 

was  crowned  upon  the  stage.  She  was  never  a 
perfect  vocalist ;  '  less  violent  and  extravagant 
in  her  singing  than  the  generality  of  French 
singers,  but  still  with  too  much  of  the  national 
style,'  says  Lord  Mount-Edgecumbe,  who  admits 
however  that  she  was  an  excellent  musician. 
But  her  power  lay  in  her  extreme  sensibility. 
In  truth  and  force  of  expression  she  was  un 
equalled  ;  her  declamation  was  impassioned,  her 
by- play  '  terrible,'  her  silence  '  eloquent.' 

In  1785  she  made  a  journey  to  Marseilles, 
which  resembled  a  royal  progress.  The  excite 
ment  she  created  amounted  to  frenzy,  and  when 
she  left  Provence  she  carried  away  more  than  a 
hundred  crowns,  many  of  them  of  great  value. 

But  on  her  return  to  Paris  she  found  new 
rivals  to  dispute  her  sway.  She  failed,  too,  as 
Clytemnestra,  a  part  altogether  unsuited  to  her. 
It  ended  four  years  later  by  her  marrying  the 
Comte  d'Entraigues,  of  strong  royalist  sympathies, 
in  which  she  participated  warmly.  In  1790  he 
had  emigrated  to  Lausanne,  and  there  their 
marriage  took  place,  at  the  end  of  that  year.  It 
was  only  acknowledged,  however,  in  1797,  after 
the  Count,  imprisoned  at  Milan  by  Bonaparte, 
had  been  released  by  his  wife,  who  found  means 
of  enabling  him  to  escape,  and  of  preserving  his 
portfolio,  full  of  political  papers.  For  this  ser 
vice  she  was  rewarded  by  Louis  XVIII.  with  the 
Order  of  St.  Michel  and,  it  seems,  by  her  hus 
band  with  the  recognition  of  their  marriage. 

The  Count  afterwards  entered  the  Russian 
diplomatic  service,  and  was  employed  on  secret 
missions.  The  peace  of  Tilsit  changed  his  tactics. 
He  possessed  himself  in  some  manner  of  a  copy 
of  the  secret  articles  of  the  Treaty,  and  hastened 
with  them  to  England  to  communicate  them  to 
the  government.  For  this  he  is  said  to  have  re 
ceived  a  pension.  He  established  himself, with  his 
wife,  at  Barnes,  near  Richmond,  where,  July  22, 
1812,  they  were  assassinated  by  their  servant, 
who  stabbed  them  as  they  were  getting  into 
their  carriage,  and  blew  out  his  own  brains 
afterwards.  This  man  had  been  bribed  by  emis 
saries  of  Fouche"s,  sent  to  watch  the  proceedings 
of  the  Count  d'Entraigues,  and  had  allowed  them 
to  take  copies  of  correspondence  with  the  Foreign 
Office,  entrusted  to  his  care  by  his  master.  He 
had  reason  to  think  that  his  treachery  was  being 
discovered,  and  fear  of  the  consequences  probably 
prompted  him  to  the  dreadful  deed.  [F.A.M.] 

SAINT  JAMES'S  HALL  CONCERT 
ROOMS  were  erected,  at  the  cost  of  a  company 
with  limited  liability,  from  designs  by  Owen 
Jones.  Messrs.  Lucas  were  the  builders. 

The  project  was  taken  up  by  two  of  the 
music-publishing  firms,  Messrs.  Beale  &  Chappell 
of  Regent  Street,  and  Chappell  &  Co.  of  New 
Bond  Street ;  and  the  company  was  formed 
mainly  by  them,  and  among  their  friends. 
Messrs.  T.  F.  Beale  and  W.  Chappell  became 
the  tenants  of  the  Crown  for  the  land,  holding 
it  in  trust  for  the  Company.  The  capital  was 
fixed  at  £40,000,  because  the  original  estimate 
for  the  new  building  was  £23,000,  and  the  re 
mainder  was  supposed  to  be  an  ample  sum  for 


ST.  JAMES'S  HALL  CONCERT  ROOMS. 

compensations,  working  expenses,  etc.  It  was 
then  unknown  that  between  Regent  Street  and 
Piccadilly  was  the  ancient  boundary  of  Thorney 
Island  with  its  quicksand,  but  this  was  en 
countered  in  the  course  of  the  building,  and  had 
to  be  saturated  with  concrete  at  great  cost,  in 
order  to  make  a  sure  foundation.  Other  demands 
raised  the  cost  of  the  building  to  beyond  £70,000. 
The  Great  Hall  was  opened  to  the  public  on 
March  25,  1858,  with  a  concert  for  the  benefit 
of  Middlesex  Hospital,  given  in  presence  of  the 
Prince  Consort. 

The  principal  entrance  to  the  Great  Hall  is 
from  Regent  Street,  and  that  to  the  Minor  Hall 
from  Piccadilly — the  former  street  being  higher 
than  the  latter.  The  dimensions  of  the  Great 
Hall  are  139  feet  in  length,  60  in  height,  and 
60  in  breadth.  It  will  seat  on  the  Ground 
Floor  noo  ;  in  the  Balcony  517  ;  in  the  Gallery 
210;  in  the  Orchestra  300;  total  2127.  The 
above  is  as  the  numbered  benches  and  seats 
are  usually  arranged,  but,  by  placing  the  seats 
closer  together,  many  more  persons  can  be  seated. 
Under  the  further  part  of  the  Great  Hall  is 
the  Minor  Hall,  60  feet  by  57,  having  also  a 
Gallery,  an  Orchestra,  and  a  small  room.  Under 
the  Regent  Street  end  of  the  Great  Hall  is  one 
of  the  dining  rooms,  60  feet  by  60,  and  on  the 
Regent  Street  level  is  another  dining  room  40  feet 
by  40,  with  a  large  banquetting  •  room  on  the 
floor  above,  etc. 

In  1860  alterations  and  additions  were  made 
to  the  Restaurant  attached  to  the  Concert  Rooms, 
at  a  further  outlay  of  £5000.  The  Company 
was  eventually  enabled  to  pay  these  charges, 
through  the  uncovenanted  liberality  of  some  of 
the  directors,  in  accepting  personal  responsibility 
to  mortgagees  and  bankers,  while  they  dimi 
nished  the  debt  annually  through  the  receipts 
of  the  Hall.  Many  concerts  were  given  for  the 
express  purpose  of  engaging  the  Hall  on  off- 
nights,  especially  the  Monday  Popular  Concerts, 
which  have  now  become  an  institution,  but  were 
originally  started  by  Chappell  &  Co.  to  bring 
together  a  new  public  to  fill  the  Hall  on  Monday 
nights.  In  1874  three  more  houses  in  Piccadilly 
were  purchased  to  add  to  the  Restaurant.  The 
rebuilding  of  these  entailed  a  further  expenditure 
of  £45,000,  so  that  the  total  cost  has  exceeded 
£  1 20,000.  Mr.  George  Leslie  has  been  Secretary 
to  the  Company  from  its  first  institution,  and  so 
continues.  [W.C.] 

SAINT-SAENS,  CHARLES  CAMILLE,  born  Oct. 
9t  T835,  in  the  Rue  du  Jardinet  (now  No.  3) 
Paris.  Having  lost  his  father,  he  was  brought 
up  by  his  mother  and  a  great-aunt,  whom 
he  called  'bonne  maman.'  She  taught  him 
the  elements  of  music,  and  to  this  day  the  com 
poser  keeps  the  little  old- fashioned  instrument 
on  which  this  dearly-loved  relative  gave  him 
his  first  lessons.  At  seven  he  began  to  study 
the  piano  with  Stamaty,  and  afterwards  had 
lessons  in  harmony  from  Maleden.  Gifted  with 
an  excellent  ear  and  a  prodigious  memory,  he 
showed  from  childhood  a  marvellous  aptitude 
for  music,  and  an  unusual  thirst  for  knowledge. 


SAINT-SAfiNS. 


215 


In  1847  he  entered  Benoist's  class  at  the  Conserva 
toire  (the  only  one  he  attended)  and  obtained  the 
second  organ-prize  in  1849,  an(^  ^ne  ^rs^  m  I85i- 
He  left  in  the  following  year,  but  competed  for  the 
Prix  de  Rome,  which  was  however  won  by  Ldonce 
Cohen,  his  senior  by  six  years.  He  was  not  more 
fortunate  at  a  second  trial  in  1864,  although  by 
that  time  he  had  made  a  name  in  more  than  one 
branch  of  composition.  These  academic  failures 
are  therefore  of  no  real  importance,  and  we 
merely  mention  them  because  it  is  remarkable 
that  the  most  learned  of  French  contemporary 
musicians  should  have  gained  every  possible  dis 
tinction  except  the  Grand  Prix  de  Rome. 

Saint-Saens  was  only  sixteen  when  he  com 
posed  his  first  symphony,  which  was  performed 
with  success  by  the  Societ£  de  Sainte  Ce'cile. 
In  1853  he  became  organist  of  the  church  of 
St.  Merri,  and  shortly  after  accepted  the  post  of 
pianoforte  professor  at  Niedermeyer's  Ecole  re- 
ligieuse.  Though  overwhelmed  with  work  he 
found  time  for  composing  symphonies,  chamber- 
music,  and  vocal  and  instrumental  pieces — and 
for  playing  at  concerts,  where  he  became  known 
as  an  interpreter  of  classical  music.  In  1858 
he  became  organist  of  the  Madeleine,  and  dis 
tinguished  himself  as  much  by  his  talent  for 
improvisation  as  by  his  execution.  He  only 
resigned  this  coveted  post  in  1877,  when  he  was 
much  gratified  by  the  appointment  of  Theodore 
Dubois,  a  solid  musician,  worthy  in  every  respect 
to  be  his  successor. 

The  stage  in  Paris  being  the  sole  road  to  fame 
and  fortune,  all  French  musicians  naturally  aim 
at  dramatic  composition.  Saint-Saens  was  no 
exception  to  this  rule.  He  was  in  the  first  rank 
of  pianists  and  organists,  and  his  cantata  '  Les 
Noces  de  Prome'the'e '  had  been  awarded  the 
prize  by  the  International  Exhibition  of  1867, 
and  performed  with  great  e"clat,  but  these  suc 
cesses  could  not  content  him,  and  he  produced 
'La  Princesse  jaune,'  i  act,  at  the  Opera  Com- 
ique,  June  12,  1872,  and  'Le  Timbre  d'argent,' 
a  fantastic  opera  in  4  acts,  at  the  Theatre  Lyrique 
Feb.  23,  1877.  Both  operas  were  comparative 
failures ;  and,  doubtless  discouraged  by  so  harsh  a 
judgment  from  the  Parisian  public,  he  produced 
his  next  work, '  Samson  et  Dalila,'  a  sacred  drama 
(Dec.  1877),  at  Weimar,  and  'Etienne  Marcel,' 
opera  in  4  acts  (Feb.  8,  1879),  a*  Lyons. 

Whether  as  a  performer  or  a  conductor,  M. 
Saint-Saens  likes  a  large  audience,  and  this 
desire  has  led  him  to  become  an  extensive 
traveller.  He  has  been  in  Russia,  Spain,  and 
Portugal,  besides  paying  repeated  visits  to  Ger 
many,  Austria,  and  England,  so  that  he  may 
be  truly  said  to  have  acquired  a  European 
reputation.  His  fame  mainly  rests  on  bis  instru 
mental  music,  and  on  his  masterly  and  effective 
manner  of  dealing  with  the  orchestra.  He  is  an 
excellent  contrapuntist,  shines  in  the  construction 
of  his  orchestral  pieces,  has  a  quick  ear  for 
picturesqueness  of  detail,  and  has  written  enough 
fine  music  to  procure  him  an  honourable  position 
among  French  composers.  He  has  very  great 
power  of  combination,  and  of  seizing  instanta- 


216 


SAINT-SAENS. 


neously  all  the  latent  capacities  of  a  given  theme, 
both  in  the  way  of  melody  and  harmony.1 

In  addition  to  his  other  claims  to  distinction, 
Saint-Saens  is  a  first-rate  musical  critic,  and  has 
contributed  articles  to  '  La  Renaissance,'  '  L'Es- 
tafette,'  and  'Le  Voltaire,'  the  best  of  which  he 
intends  to  publish  separately.  He  was  elected 
member  of  the  Institute,  vice  Henri  Reber,  Feb. 
19,  1881. 

The  printed  catalogue  of  his  works  includes 
64  opus  numbers,  besides  many  unnumbered 
pieces.  From  it  the  following  list  has  been 
compiled  and  classified. 


Dramatic  and  lyric:— The  4 
operas  already  mentioned,  and 
'  Les  Noces  de  Promethee '  (Cirque 
du  Champs  E1yse"es,  Sept.  1, 1807) ; 
1  Le  Deluge '  (1876) ;  '  La  Lyre  et  la 
Harpe,"  cantata  composed  for  the 
Birmingham  Festival  (Aug.  28, 
1879).  Another,  -written  for  the 
Centenary  of  General  Hoche  (Ver 
sailles,  June  24, 186S),  has  not  been 
published. 

Orchestral :— 2  Symphonies,  in 
Eb  and  A  minor;  'Occident  et 
Orient,'  march  for  military  band 
and  orchestra  (performed  at  the 
giving  away  of  the  prizes  at  the 
Paris  Exhibition  of  1878) ;  '  Marche 
h^ro'ique ' ;  '  Suite  pour  orchestre ' 
(Prelude,  Sarabande,  Gavotte. 
Romance,  and  Finale)';  4  poemes 
symphoniques,  '  Le  Rouet  d'Om 
phale,'  'Phae'ton,'  '  Danse  Ma 
cabre,'  and  'La  Jcunesse  d'Her- 
cule ' ;  a  very  important  '  Suite 
Alg(5rienne'  (Prelude,  Rhapsodie 
Mauresque,  Reverie  du  Soir,  and 
Marche  militairefrancaise);  'Une 
Nuit  a  Lisbonne,'  barcarolle ;  'La 
Jota  Aragonesa,'  transcription. 
Also  a  prize  symphony  in  F  (1856) 
for  the  Societe  Sainte  C(5cile  at 
Bordeaux,  a  MS.  overture  '  Spar- 
tacus,'  awarded  the  prize  by  the 
same  society,  and  several  minor 
pieces. 

Sacred  music  :— '  Messe  a  4  voix' 
for  solos,  chorus,  orchestra,  full 
organ,  and  'orgue  d'accompagne- 
ment';  'Messe  de  Requiem.'  for 
solos,!chorus,  and  orchestra ;  '  Ora 
torio  de  Noel '  for  ditto  ;  '  Tantum 
ergo  '  in  B  b,  for  chorus  and  organ  ; 
Psalm  xix,  '  Coeli  enarrant.'  for 
solos,  chorus,  and  orchestra.  Also 
13  motets,  and  several  pieces  for 
full  organ,  including  'Benediction 
nuptiale '  (op.  9)  and  '  Elevation ' 
(op.  13). 

Concerted  music  with  orchestra : 
— 4  PF.  concertos  (in  D,  G  minor, 
E  b,  and  C  minor) ;  3  violin  concer 


tos  (in  A,  O.and  B  minor) ;  'Intro 
duction  et  Rondo  '  (op.  28),  '  Mor- 
ceau  tie  concert '  (op.  62),  and 
'  Romance '  (op.  48),  all  for  violin ; 
Cello-Concerto  (A  minor) ;  '  Ro 
mance'  for  horn  or  cello  (op.  36, 
in  F) ;  'Romance  '  for  flute  or  vio 
lin  (op.  37  in  Db);  and  'Taren- 
telle '  for  flute  and  clarinette 
(op.  6). 

Chamber  music :— Quintet  for 
PF.,  2  violins,  viola,  and  cello  (op. 
14) ;  S(5ri5nade  for  PF.,  organ,  vio 
lin,  and  viola,  or  cello  (op.  15) ; 
Trio  in  F  for  PF.  and  strings; 
Quartet  in  B  b  for  PF.  and  ditto 
(op.  41) ;  Suite  for  PF.  and  cello 
(op.  16) ;  Romance  for  PF.,  organ, 
and  violin  (op.  27) ;  Sonata  in  0 
minor  for  PF.  and  cello  (op.  32) ; 
Berceuse  in  B  b  for  PF.  and  violin 
(op.  38) ;  '  Allegro  appassionato ' 
for  PF.  and  cello  (op.  43);  Ro 
mance  in  D  for  ditto  (op.  51) ; 
Septet  for  PF.,  5strings,  and  trum 
pet  obligate  (the  minuet  very  ori 
ginal). 

Pianoforte  :— Op.  3 ;  11  (Duet- 
tino  in  U,  4  hands) ;  21  (1st  Mazur 
ka)  ;  23  (Gavotte) ;  24  (2nd  Mazur 
ka)  ;  35  (Variations  sur  un  theme 
de  Beethoven  for  2  PFs— a  gem) ; 
52  (Etudes) ;  56  (Menuet  et  Valse) ; 
and  59  (Ballade,  4  hands) ;  besides 
several  transcriptions  of  classical 
or  popular  airs,  and  12  transcrip 
tions  from  Bach's  cantatas  and 
sonatas. 

Vocal :— Scena   from    '  Horace ' 


(op.  10) ;  '  Melodies  Persanes ' 
26) ;  '  Les  Soldats  de  Ge"de"on' 


(op. 
(op. 


46,  double  chorus  for  men's  voices, 
without  acct.) ;  'Chanson  de 
Grand  Pere,'  chorus  for  women's 
voices ;  '  Chanson  d'AncStre," 
chorus  for  men's  voices,  and  bari 
tone  solo  (op.  53,  with  acct.  for 
orchestra  or  PF.) ;  more  than  40 
songs  to  French,  Italian,  and  Eng 
lish  words,  and  several  duettinos 
and  trios. 


M.  Saint-Saens  is  a  dark,  nervous-looking  man, 
with  delicate,  almost  sharp  features,  and  bright 
intelligent  eyes.  In  England  he  is  no  stranger. 
He  first  appeared  here  at  the  Musical  Union,  in 
1871.  In  1874  he  played  Beethoven's  Concerto 
in  G  at  the  Philharmonic,  and  again,  on  July  2, 
1879,  his  own  PF.  Concerto  in  G  minor,  and 

i  The  writer  retains  a  delightful  recollection  of  his  improvisations 
at  the  Madeleine,  and  will  never  forget  a  tour  de  force  he  himself 
witnessed  in  1867.  At  a  party  where  several  eminent  musicians  were 
assembled,  some  one  begged  Schulhoff  to  play  anything  that  came 
into  his  head.  After  a  little  pressing  the  fascinating  pianist  sat 
down  to  the  instrument,  and  began  to  prelude  in  the  bass,  when 
.Saint-Saens  drew  near,  and  still  standing,  accompanied  in  the  treble 
'the  melodies  which  Schulhoff  was  playing;  then  sitting  down  in  his 
turn  he  improvised  on  the  improvisation  of  his  partner  in  a  manner  to 
captivate  the  most  hypercritical  ear.  There  was  indeed  occasionally 
a  slight  clashing  of  keys,  but  even  these  double  modulations  with 
contrary  resolutions  added  to  the  interest.with  an  audience  composed 
entirely  of  practised  musicians.  It  was  the  most  extraordinary  ex 
hibition  of  this  kind  of  power  which  ever  came  within  the  writer's 
observation. 


SAINTON. 

Bach's  Prelude  and  Fugue  in  A  minor  on  the 
organ.  Later  in  the  same  year,  Dec.  6,  he 
played  the  same  work,  and  conducted  his  'Rouet 
d'Omphale'  at  the  Crystal  Palace.  The  Con 
certo  was  first  introduced  there  by  Miss  Helen 
Hopekirk,  a  very  rising  pianist,  Mar.  15,  1879  '•> 
the  Cello  Concerto  in  A  was  played  by  Herr 
Hollman,  Nov.  27,  1880,  and  the  Overture  to 
the  '  Princesse  jaune '  on  the  6th  of  the  same 
month.  At  the  Popular  Concerts  three  of  his 
works  are  known,  the  Cello  Sonata  (op.  32) ;  a 
trio  for  PF.  and  strings  in  F  (op.  18),  and  a 
string  quartet  in  Bb  (op.  41).  [G.C.] 

SAINTON,  PROSPER  PHILIPPE  CATHERINE, 
an  eminent  violin-player,  born  June  5,  1813,  at 
Toulouse,  where  his  father  was  a  merchant.  He 
received  his  education  at  the  College  of  Toulouse, 
and  was  destined  to  the  law,  but  his  great  talent 
for  music,  combined  with  other  reasons,  for 
tunately  altered  this,  and  in  1832  he  entered  the 
Conservatoire  at  Paris,  and  studied  the  violin 
under  Habeneck,  taking  the  first  prize  in  1834. 
For  two  years  after  this  he  was  a  member  of 
the  orchestra  of  the  Societe"  des  Concerts,  and 
the  Grand  Ope"ra;  and  then  made  an  extended 
tour  through  Italy,  Germany,  Russia,  Finland, 
Sweden,  Denmark,  and  Spain,  with  great  suc 
cess.  In  1840  he  was  appointed  Professor  of  the 
violin  in  the  Conservatoire  of  his  native  city. 
In  1844  he  made  his  first  visit  to  England  and 
played  at  the  Philharmonic  on  June  10  and  July 
8  of  that  memorable  season,  under  the  baton  of 
Mendelssohn.  The  following  year  he  returned, 
was  appointed  Professor  at  the  Royal  Academy 
of  Music,  and  settled  in  London,  where,  with 
occasional  visits  to  the  continent,  he  has  resided 
ever  since.  He  took  the  ist  and  2nd  violin 
alternately  with  Sivori,  Ernst,  Molique,  and 
Vieuxtemps,  at  the  performances  of  Beethoven's 
quartets,  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Alsager  in  1845 
and  46,  which  resulted  in  the  '  Beethoven  Quartet 
Society.'  He  was  also  a  constant  leader  at  the 
performances  of  the  Musical  Union,  the  Quartet 
Association,  the  Monday  Popular  Concerts,  etc., 
etc.  On  the  establishment  of  the  Royal  Italian 
Opera  at  Covent  Garden,  April  6,  1847,  Mr. 
Sainton  became  leader  of  the  orchestra,  a  post 
which  he  held  until  1871,  when  he  accompanied 
Sir  Michael  Costa  to  the  rival  house,  and  re 
mained  there  till  1880.  He  was  leader  of  the 
Philharmonic  band  from  1846  to  1854  inclu 
sive,  and  of  the  Sacred  Harmonic  Society  since 
1848,  conducting  the  performances  of  the  latter 
Society  in  the  absence  of  his  chief,  as  he  did  those 
of  the  Opera.  He  has  been  also  for  many  years 
leader  of  the  Birmingham  Festivals,  and  other 
provincial  musical  performances.  From  1848  to 
55  he  was  conductor  of  the  State  Band  and 
Violin  Solo  to  the  Queen,  resigning  the  post  of 
his  own  accord.  At  the  opening  of  the  Inter 
national  Exhibition  of  1862  Mr.  Sainton  con 
ducted  the  performance  of  Sterndale  Bennett's 
Ode  (to  Tennyson's  words)  and  was  presented  by 
the  composer  with  the  autograph  of  the  work  as 
a  token  of  his  gratitude  and  consideration. 
Among  the  many  pupils  whom  he  has  formed 


SAINTON. 

during  his  long  career  as  Professor  of  the  Violin 
at  the  Royal  Academy  may  be  mentioned  H. 
Weist  Hill  [see  WEIST  HILL],  F.  Amor,  A.  C. 
Mackenzie,  A.  Burnett,  Miss  Gabrielle  Vaillant, 
W.  Sutton,  and  many  more  good  players.  His 
works  comprise  2  Concertos  for  the  violin  with 
orchestra  ;  a  Solo  de  Concert ;  a  Rondo  mazurka ; 
3  Romances ;  several  airs  with  variations  ;  and 
numerous  Fantasias  on  operas.  In  1860  Mr. 
Sainton  married  Miss  Dolby  the  well-known 
English  contralto  singer.  [G.] 

SAINTON-DOLBY,  CHARLOTTE  HELEN,  was 
born  in  London  in  1821,  and  gave  signs  of  pos 
sessing  decided  musical  talent  when  still  young. 
Her  earliest  instructress  was  a  Mrs.  Montague, 
from  whom  she  received  pianoforte  lessons.  On 
the  death  of  her  father  Miss  Dolby  determined 
to  adopt  the  musical  profession,  and  in  1832 
entered  the  Royal  Academy  of  Music,  where  she 
first  studied  under  Mr.  J.Bennett  and  Mr.  Elliott, 
and  then  under  Signor  Crivelli.  In  1837  so- 
great  was  her  promise  that  she  was  elected  a 
King's  Scholar,  although  her  voice  was  still 
weak  and  not  fully  developed.  She  remained 
at  the  Academy  for  five  years,  and  after  leaving 
was  elected  an  honorary  member  of  the  institu 
tion.  Almost  from  the  date  of  her  first  appear 
ance  in  public,  until  her  retirement  in  1870, 
Miss  Dolby  remained  unrivalled  as  a  singer  of 
oratorio  and  English  ballads.  The  admirable 
skill  with  which  she  controlled  a  powerful 
contralto  voice,  the  exquisite  intonation,  perfect 
enunciation,  and  noble  declamation  which  dis 
tinguished  her  singing,  c<iused  her  to  take  a 
very  high  place,  not  only  among  English,  but 
among  European  artists  of  the  present  century. 
She  made  her  first  appearance  at  the  Philhar 
monic  in  a  quartet,  June  14,  1841,  and  in  a 
solo,  April  14,  1842.  In  the  winter  of  1846-7, 
Mendelssohn,  who  had  been  delighted  by  her 
singing  in  'St.  Paul,'  obtained  for  her  an  engage 
ment  at  the  Gewandhaus  Concerts  at  Leipzig, 
where  she  appeared  with  as  great  success  as 
she  had  done  in  England.  About  this  time 
Mendelssohn  dedicated  to  her  his  Six1  Songs 
(op.  57) >  besides  writing  the  contralto  music  in 
'  Elijah '  with  the  special  view  to  her  singing 
it.  Her  success  in  Leipzig  was  followed  by 
several  concert  tours  in  France  and  Holland, 
in  both  of  which  countries  Miss  Dolby  esta 
blished  her  reputation  as  a  singer  of  the  first 
rank.  In  1860  she  married  M.  Prosper  Sainton, 
the  eminent  violinist,  and  ten  years  later  she 
retired  from  public  life.  In  1872  Mme.  Sainton 
opened  her  Vocal  Academy,  at  which  she  has 
successfully  trained  many  excellent  artists  in  the 
admirable  school  of  pure  vocalisation,  of  which 
she  ^  is  herself  so  distinguished  an  example. 
Besides  her  labours  in  connection  with  this 
Academy,  Mme.  Sainton  has  of  late  years  ap 
peared  before  the  world  as  a  composer.  Her 
cantatas  'The  Legend  of  St.  Dorothea,'  and 
'The  Story  of  the  Faithful  Soul,'  produced 
respectively  at  St.  James's  Hall  on  June  14, 

1  Also  dedicated  to  Mme.  Livia  Frege. 


SALAMAN. 


217 


1876,  and  Steinway  Hall  on  June  19,  1879, 
have  been  performed  in  the  provinces  and  the 
colonies  with  unvaried  success.  Mme.  Sainton 
has  also  written  many  ballads  and  songs,  and  is 
(iSSi)  engaged  upon  a  work  of  more  importance 
than  she  has  yet  attempted.  [W.B.S.] 

SAL  A,  NICOLA,  born  at  a  little  village  near 
Benevento,  Naples,  in  i/oi,  and  brought  up  in 
the  Conservatorio  della  Pieta  de'  Turchini  under 
Fago,  Abos,  and  Leo.  He  died  in  1800,  and 
devoted  the  whole  of  a  long  life  to  his  Conser 
vatorio,  in  which  he  succeeded  Fago  as  second 
master,  and  Cafaro,  in  1787,  as  first  master. 
The  great  work  to  which  all  his  energies  were 
devoted  was  his  '  Regole  del  contrappunto 
prattico,'  in  3  large  volumes,  containing  methodi 
cal  instruction  in  the  composition  of  fugues, 
canons,  etc.,  which  was  published  in  1794. 
During  the  disturbances  in  Italy  the  engraved 
plates  vanished  for  a  time  and  were  supposed  to 
be  lost.  Choron  then  reprinted  the  work  (Paris 
1808),  but  the  plates  were  afterwards  discovered. 
Both  editions  are  in  the  Library  of  the 
Sacred  Harmonic  Society.  Sala  wrote  little 
besides  this  work.  Three  operas,  'Volog-ero,' 
1737;  'Zenobia,'  1761;  and  'Merope,'  1769;  an 
oratorio,  '  Giuditta/  1780  ;  3  '  Prologues'  on  the 
births  of  kings  of  Naples ;  a  Mass,  a  Litany, 
and  a  few  smaller  pieces,  are  mentioned  by 
Florimo  (Cenno  storico,  562).  [G.] 

SALAMAN,  CHARLES  KENSINGTON,  born 
in  London,  March  3,  1814  ;  began  music  early — 
violin,  PF.,  and  composition.  In  1824  was  elected 
student  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Music,  but 
soon  left  it  and  became  pupil  of  Mr.  Neate,  the 
friend  of  Beethoven.  He  made  his  first  public 
appearance  at  Blackheath,  in  1828,  as  a  PF. 
player ;  then  went  to  Paris  and  took  lessons  of 
Herz,  and  in  the  following  summer  returned  to 
London  and  began  teaching,  playing,  and  writing. 
In  1830  he  composed  an  ode  for  the  Shakespeare 
commemoration,  which  was  performed  atStratford- 
on-Avon  April  23,  and  was  repeated  in  London. 
From  1833  to  1837  ne  gave  annual  orchestral 
concerts  in  London,  at  one  of  which  he  played 
Mendelssohn's  G  minor  Concerto  for  the  third 
time  in  England — the  former  two  performances 
having  been  by  the  composer  himself.  In  1846, 
7,  and  8  he  resided  at  Rome,  and  while  conduct 
ing  Beethoven's  Symphony  No.  2  (for  the  first 
time  in  Rome),  the  concert  was  interrupted  by 
the  news  of  Louis  Philippe's  flight  from  Paris. 
On  March  18,  1850,  he  played  at  the  Philhar 
monic.  In  1855  he  began  a  series  of  lectures  on 
the  History  of  the  Pianoforte,  and  other  musical 
subj'ects,  which  he  continued  both  in  London  and 
the  country  for  several  years.  In  1858  he  was 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  MUSICAL  SOCIETY  OP 
LONDON,  and  acted  as  secretary  to  i-t  until  the 
year  1865.  He  is  now  one  of  the  Committee 
of  the  MUSICAL  ASSOCIATION.  Mr.  Salaman  has 
been  for  many  years  a  well-known  professor  and 
teacher  of  music  in  London.  He  has  composed 
many  songs,  sonae  to  words  by  Horace,  Catullus, 
and  Anacreon  ;  Psalms  (the  84th,  2pth)  ;  and 


218 


SALAMAN. 


various  PF.  pieces.  He  contributed  to '  Concordia,' 
during  its  existence,  and  still  occasionally  writes 
in  the  '  Musical  Times.'  [G.] 

SALCIONAL  or  SALICET,  a  soft-toned 
organ-stop  of  a  reedy  quality.  The  pipes  are  of 
a  very  small  scale,  the  tenor  C  being  of  about  the 
same  diameter  as  the  middle  C  of  an  ordinary 
open  diapason.  The  mouth  is  also  much  more 
'cut  up'  than  that  of  a  diapason  pipe.  The 
origin  of  the  word  Salicet  is  plain ;  to  this  day 
country  boys  make  toy  wind-instruments  out  of 
'withy';  but  withy  is  also  called  'sally,'  and 
'sally'  is  salix  a  willow.  In  some  counties  a 
willow  is  called  (by  combining  both  names)  a 
'  sally-withy.'  A  Salicet  is  therefore  a  stop  made 
to  imitate  a  rustic  '  willow-pipe.'  The  introduc 
tion  of  the  Salcional  or  Salicet  was  later  than 
that  of  the  Dulciana  (said  to  have  been  invented 
by  Snetzler),  and  it  must  be  considered  merely 
as  a  variety  of  that  stop.  It  is  of  8  ft.  or  unison 
pitch.  [J.S.] 

SALE,  JOHN,  born  at  Gainsborough,  March  19, 
1734,  was  admitted  in  1766  a  lay  clerk  of  St. 
George's  Chapel,  Windsor,  and  held  that  post 
until  his  death,  Oct.  2,  1802. 

His  son,  JOHN,  born  in  London  in  1758,  was 
in  1767  admitted  a  chorister  of  St.  George's 
Chapel,  Windsor,  and  Eton  College  under  William 
Webb,  and  so  continued  until  1775.  In  1777  he 
obtained  a  lay  clerk's  place  in  both  choirs.  On 
July  12,  1783,  he  was  admitted  a  gentleman  of 
the  Chapel  Royal  in  the  room  of  Nicholas  Lade  or 
Ladd ;  in  1 794  he  succeeded  John  Soaper  as  vicar 
choral  of  St.  Paul's ;  and  in  1 796  John  Hindle  as  lay 
vicar  of  Westminster  Abbey.  At  Christmas  1 7  96  he 
resigned  his  appointments  at  Windsor  and  Eton. 
In  1800  he  succeeded  Richard  Bellamy  as  almoner 
and  master  of  the  choristers  of  St.  Paul's.  On 
Jan.  14,  1812,  he  was  appointed  successor  to 
Samuel  Webbe  as  secretary  to  the  Catch  Club, 
and  soon  afterwards  resigned  his  places  of  almoner 
and  master  of  the  choristers  of  St.  Paul's.  He 
was  also  conductor  of  the  Glee  Club.  He  pos 
sessed  a  rich,  full,  and  mellow-toned  bass  voice, 
and  sang  with  distinct  articulation  and  energetic 
expression.  He  was  for  thirty  years  a  principal 
singer  at  the  Concert  of  Ancient  Music  and  other 
leading  concerts  in  London,  and  at  various  pro 
vincial  festivals.  He  composed  several  glees, 
which  were  included,  with  glees  by  Lord  Mor- 
nington  and  other  composers,  in  collections 
published  by  him.  He  died  Nov.  u,  1827.  He 
left  two  sons,  viz. — 

JOHN  BERNARD,  born  at  Windsor,  1779,  and 
admitted  a  chorister  of  St.  George's  Chapel, 
Windsor,  and  Eton  College  in  1785.  In  1800  he 
succeeded  Richard  Bellamy  as  lay  vicar  of  West 
minster  Abbey;  on  Jan.  19,  1803  was  admitted 
a  gentleman  of  the  Chapel  Royal,  in  the  place  of 
Samuel  Champness,  and  in  1806,  on  the  death  of 
Richard  Guise,  obtained  a  second  lay  vicar's  place 
at  Westminster  Abbey.1  On  March  30,  1809,  he 

i  In  order  to  understand  how  one  person  could  perform  the  duties 
Of  two  in  the  same  choir  it  is  necessary  to  explain  that  by  long- 
,  standing  custom  each  lay  vicar  attends  during  six  months  of  the 
'year  only,  i.  e.  in  each  alternate  month. 


SALIERI. 

succeeded  Michael  Kock  as  organist  of  St 
Margaret's,  Westminster.  About  1826  he  wai 
appointed  musical  instructor  to  the  Princess  (ncro 
Queen)  Victoria.  In  1838  he  was  admittec 
organist  of  the  Chapel  Royal  on  the  death  o 
Attwood.  His  voice  was  a  powerful  bass,  anc 
his  style  of  singing  chaste  and  refined;  h< 
excelled  in  anthems,  glees  and  other  part  singing 
He  was  for  many  years  principal  second  bass  al 
the  Concert  of  Ancient  Music.  He  long  enjoyec 
a  high  reputation  as  a  teacher  of  singing  and  th< 
pianoforte.  His  compositions  were  few,  consisting 
only  of  some  chants,  psalm-tunes,  Kyries,  glees 
songs  and  duets.  One  of  his  duets, '  The  Butterfly, 
was  long  in  favour.  In  1837  he  published  a  col 
lection  of  psalm  and  hymn  tunes,  chants,  etc. 
with  a  concise  system  of  chanting.  He  died  Sept, 
16,  1856.  Of  his  three  daughters,  two,  MABI 
ANNE  and  SOPHIA,  were  organists  and  teachers 
of  music;  Sophia  died  May  3, 1869.  The  youngest, 
LAURA,  was  the  wife  of  William  John  Thorns, 
the  antiquary,  and  originator  of  'Notes  and 
Queries.' 

The  other  son,  GEORGE  CHARLES,  born  at 
Windsor  in  1796,  was  admitted  a  chorister  oi 
St.  Paul's  under  his  father  in  1803.  He  afterwards 
became  a  skilful  organist,  in  1817  succeeded  Dr. 
Busby  as  organist  of  St.  Mary,  Newington,  and  in 
1826  was  appointed  organist  of  St.  George's,  Han 
over  Square.  He  died  Jan.  23, 1869.  [W.H.H.] 

SALIERI,  ANTONIO,  Court-capellmeister  at 
Vienna,  son  of  a  wealthy  merchant,  born  Aug. 
19,  1750,  at  Legnano  in  the  Venetian  territory, 
learnt  music  early  from  his  brother  Franz,  a 
pupil  of  Tartini.  After  the  death  of  his  parents 
a  friend  of  the  family  named  Mocenigo  took  him 
to  Venice,  where  he  continued  his  studies,  and 
made  the  acquaintance  of  Gassmann,  composer 
and  late  Capellmeister  to  the  Emperor,  who  be 
came  much  interested  in  him,  and  took  him  to 
Vienna  in  June  1766.  Here  Gassmann  con 
tinued  his  fatherly  care,  provided  his  protegd 
with  teachers  and  himself  instructed  him  in 
composition,  made  him  acquainted  with  Meta- 
stasio,  and  introduced  him  to  the  Emperor 
Joseph,  whose  chamber-concerts  he  henceforth 
attended,  and  often  took  an  active  part  in. 
While  Gassmann  was  in  Rome,  composing  an 
opera  for  the  Carnival  of  1770,  Salieri  conducted 
the  rehearsals  for  him,  and  composed  his  own 
first  comic  opera,  'Le  Donne  letterate,'  which 
received  the  approval  of  Gluck  and  Calsabigi, 
and  was  performed  with  success  at  the  Burg- 
theater.  On  Gassmann's  death  in  1774  Salieri 
returned  his  paternal  kindness  by  doing  all  in 
his  power  for  the  family,  and  educating  the  two 
daughters  as  opera  singers.  In  the  same  year 
the  Emperor  appointed  him  court  composer,  and 
on  Bonno's  death  in  1788  he  became  Court- 
capellmeister.  He  was  also  a  director  of  the 
Opera  for  24  years,  till  1790,  when  he  resigned, 
and  out  of  compliment  to  him  the  post  waa 
given  to  his  pupil  Weigl.  In  1778  Salieri  was 
in  Italy,  and  composed  five  operas  for  Venice, 
Milan,  and  Rome.  For  the  Emperor's  newly- 
founded  National-Singspiel  he  wrote '  Der  Bauch' 


SALIERI. 

fangkehrer'  (1781),  and  for  a  fete  at  Schb'nbrunn 
'Prima  la  musica,  poi  le  parole'  (I786).1    When 
the  Academic  de   Musique  in  Paris  requested 
Gluck  to  suggest  a  composer  who  could  supply 
them  with  a  French  opera  in  wbich  his  own  prin 
ciples  should  be  carried  out,  he  proposed  Salieri, 
who   accordingly  received  the  libretto  of  'Les 
Dana'ides'   from   Moline,  worked   at    it    under 
Gluck's    supervision,    and    personally    superin 
tended  its  production  in  Paris  (April  26,  1784). 2 
He  was  entrusted  with  librettos  for  two  more 
operas,  and  returned  with   a  great  increase  of 
fame  to  Vienna,  where  he  composed  an  opera 
buffa,  'La  Grotto  di  Trofonio'  (Oct.  12,  1785), 
the  best  of  its  kind  and  one  of  his  finest  works, 
wbich  had  an   extraordinary  success,  and  was 
engraved  by  Artaria.     In  1787  he  again  visited 
Paris,  where  the  first  of  his  operas, '  Les  Horaces,' 
had  failed  (Dec.  7,  1 786),  owing  to  a  variety  of 
untoward  circumstances,  a  failure  amply  retrieved 
however  by  the  brilliant  success  of  'Axur,  Be 
d'Ormus'  (June  8,  1787)  or  'Tarare,'  as  it  was 
first  called.     This,  which  has  remained  his  most 
important  work,  was  first  performed  in  Vienna, 
Jan.  8,  1788.    Another  work  composed  in  Vienna 
for  Paris  was  a  cantata, '  Le  Dernier  Jugement ' 3 
(libretto  by  Chevalier  Roger),  ordered  by  the 
Societ^  d'Apollon,  and  performed  there  and  at 
the  Concerts  Spirituels  with  great  applause  from 
the    connoisseurs.     In    1801    Salieri    went    to 
Trieste  to  conduct  an   opera  composed  for  the 
opening  of  a  new  opera-house.     This  was  his 
last  Italian  opera,  and  'Die  Neger'  (Vienna, 
1804)  his  last   German  one,  for  owing  to  his 
dislike    to    the    change    of    taste    in    dramatic 
music,  he    devoted    himself   chiefly   to    church 
music,  composing  also  a  few  instrumental  pieces, 
choruses,  and  canons  in  various  parts,  published 
as  'Scherzi  armonici.'     On  June   16,  1816,  he 
celebrated  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  com 
mencement  of  his   career  in  Vienna,  when  he 
was    decorated    with    the    gold    '  Civil-Ehren- 
medaille '  and  chain,  and  honoured  by  a  fete,  at 
which  were   performed  special  compositions  by 
each  of  his  pupils,  including  Schubert.4     Salieri 
was  also  vice-president  of  the  Tonkiinstler  So- 
ciet'at,  and  till  1818  conducted  nearly  all  the 
concerts.     For  the  twenty -fifth   anniversary  of 
its  foundation  (1796)   he  composed   a  cantata 
'La  Riconoscenza/  and  for  the  fiftieth  (1821)  a 
part-song,  '  Zu  Ehren  Joseph  Haydn,'  to  whom 
the  society  was  largely  indebted.     Salieri  was 
also  a  generous  contributor  to  the  funds.     He 
took  great  interest  in   the  foundation  of  the 
Conservatorium   (1817)    and  wrote    a   singing- 
method  for  the  pupils.     He  lost  his  only  son 

i  Mozart's  '  Schauspieldirector '  was  given  the  same  evening. 

The  play-bill  of  the  first  12  performances  described  it  as  an  opera 
by  Gluck  and  Salieri,  in  accordance  with  a  stipulation  of  the  pub- 
;sher  Deslauriers,  but  before  the  13th  representation  Gluck  publicly 
stated  in  the  '  Journal  de  Paris '  that  Salieri  was  the  sole  author. 

The  following  anecdote  is  connected  with  this  cantata.  Salieri 
was  talking  over  the  difficulties  of  the  work  with  Gluck,  especially  as 
to  the  voice  to  be  assigned  to  the  part  of  Christ,  for  which  he  finally 
proposed  a  high  tenor.  Gluck  assented,  adding,  half  in  joke,  half  in 
earnest,  '  Before  long  I  will  send  you  word  from  the  other  world  in 
what  key  our  Saviour  speaks.'  Four  days  later,  Nov.  15, 1787,  he  was 
dead. 

•>  The  autograph  of  Schubert's  Cantata— both  words  and  music  by 
him-was  sold  by  auction  in  Paris,  May  H,  1881. 


SALIEKI. 


219 


in  1805,  and  his  wife  in  1807,  and  never  re 
covered  his  spirits  after  it.  During  his  latter 
years  he  suffered  much,  but  never  failed  to 
derive  comfort  from  the  beauties  of  nature,  for 
which  he  had  always  a  great  taste.  On  June 
14,  1824,  after  fifty  years  of  service  at  court, 
he  was  allowed  to  retire  on  his  full  salary,  and 
not  long  afterwards  died,  May  7,  1825. 

His  biographer,  Edler  von  Mosel  ('Ueber  das 
Leben  und  die  Werke  des  Anton  Salieri,'  Vienna, 
1827),  describes  him  as  a  methodical,  active,  re 
ligious-minded,  benevolent,  and  peculiarly  grate 
ful  man,  easily  irritated,  but  as  quickly  pacified. 
He  was  very  fond  of  sweets,  especially  pastry  and 
sugar-plums,  and  drank  nothing  but  water.  We 
have  seen  how  he  discharged  his  obligations  to 
Gassmann.  He  gave  gratuitous  instruction  and 
substantial  aid  of  various  kinds  to  many  poor 
musicians,  and  to  the  library  of  the  Tonkiinstler 
Societat  he  bequeathed  41  scores  in  his  own 
handwriting  (34  operas,  and  7  cantatas)  now  in 
the  Hofbibliothek.  In  accordance  with  his  own 
wish  his  Requiem  was  performed  after  his  death 
at  the  Italian  church.  He  remained  throughout 
on  cordial  terms  with  Haydn,  whose  two  great 
oratorios  he  often  conducted,  and  Beethoven  de 
dicated  to  him  in  1799  three  sonatas  for  PF.  and 
violin,  op.  12  (Artaria).  In  the  first  vol.  of  his 
'Beethoven's  Studien'  (Rieter-Biedermann,  1873), 
Mr.  Nottebohm  has  printed  ten  Italian  vocal 
pieces,  submitted  by  Beethoven  to  Salieri,  with 
the  corrections  of  the  latter.  These  chiefly  con 
cern  the  arrangement  of  the  notes  to  the  words, 
so  as  to  conform  to  the  rules  of  Italian  prosody, 
and  produce  the  best  effect.  The  pieces  are 
undated,  but  internal  evidence  fixes  them  to 
the  period  between  1793  and  1802.  It  appears 
that  as  late  as  1809  the  great  composer  con 
sulted  his  old  adviser  as  to  the  arrangement  of 
his  Italian,  probably  in  the  'Four  Ariettas  and 
Duet'  of  op.  82;  and  that  even  then,  when 
Beethoven  was  so  fiercely  independent  of  all 
other  musicians,  their  relations  were  such  that  he 
voluntarily  styled  himself  '  Salieri's  pupil.' 5  As 
regards  Mozart,  Salieri  cannot  escape  censure,  for 
though  the  accusation  of  having  been  the  cause 
of  his  death  has  been  long  ago  disproved,  it  is 
more  than  possible  that  he  was  not  displeased 
at  the  removal  of  so  formidable  a  rival.  At 
any  rate  though  he  had  it  in  his  power  to  in 
fluence  the  Emperor  in  Mozart's  favour,  he  not 
only  neglected  to  do  so,  but  even  intrigued 
against  him,  as  Mozart  himself  relates  in  a  letter 
to  his  friend  Puchberg.6  After  his  death  how 
ever,  Salieri  befriended  his  son,  and  gave  him  a 
testimonial,  which  secured  him  his  first  appoint 
ment.7 

5  See  Moscheles's  Life,  1. 10.          «  Nottebohm's  '  Mozartiana,'  64. 

7  '  lo  qui  sottoscritto  faccio  fede  che  il  giovine  Signor  Wolfgango 
Amadeo  Mozart,  gia  bravo  suonator  di  Pianoforte,  ha  un  talento  raro 
per  la  musica;  che  perfezionarsi  in  quest'  arte,  di  cui  egli  fa  pro- 
fessione,  dopo  aver  studiato  le  regole  del  contrappunto  sotto  la 
scuoia  del  Signor  Albrechtsberger  Maestro  di  Capella  di  S.  Stefano, 
ora  pratico  sotto  di  me,  e  che  ne  prognostico  una  riuscita  non  in- 
feriore  a  quella  del  suo  celebre  Padre.  ANTONIO  SALIERI,  primp 
Maestro  di  Cappella  della  corte  imperiale  di  Vienna.  Vienna,  30 
Marzo,  1807.'—'  I  the  undersigned  certify  that  the  young  Signor  W.  A. 
Mozart,  already  a  good  player  on  the  PF.,  has  a  rare  talent  for 
music,  to  perfect  himself  in  which,  having  studied  the  rules  of 
counterpoint  iu  the  school  of  Sig.  Albrechtsberger,  Maestro  di  Capella 


220 


SALIERI. 


His  works  were  too  much  in  accordance  with 
the  taste,  albeit  the  best  taste,  of  the  day  to 
survive.  He  drew  up  a  catalogue  of  them  in 
1818.  They  comprise  5  Masses,  a  Requiem, 

3  Te  Deums,  and  several  smaller  church  works; 

4  oratorios    (^including   *  La   Passione   di  Gesu 
Christo,'  performed  by  the  Tonkiinstler  Societat 
in   1777);   I   French,   3  Italian,  and  2    German 
cantatas,  and  5  patriotic  part-songs  ;  several  in 
strumental  pieces;  3  operas  to  French,  and  33 
to  Italian  words  ;  I  German  Singspiel,  I  German 
opera  ('Die  Neger'),  and  numerous  vocal  pieces 
for  one  or  more  voices,  choruses,  canons,  frag 
ments  of  operas,  etc.  [C.F.P.J 

SALMON,  ELIZA,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Munday,  was  born  at  Oxford  in  1787.  Her 
mother's  family  had  produced  several  good 
musicians;  her  uncle,  William  Mahon  (born 
1753,  died  at  Salisbury,  May  2,  1816),  was  the 
best  clarinetist  of  his  day  ;  her  aunts,  Mrs. 
Warton,  Mrs.  Ambrose,  and  Mrs.  Second,  were 
excellent  singers  of  the  second  rank.  She  was 
a  pupil  of  John  Ashley,  and  made  her  first 
appearance  at  Covent  Garden  in  the  Lenten 
concerts  given  by  him  under  the  name  of 
'oratorios,'  March  4,  1803.  About  1805  she 
married  James  Salmon,  and  went  to  reside  at 
Liverpool,  where  she  became  distinguished  as  a 
concert  singer,  occasionally  appearing  in  London, 
and  rapidly  attaining  the  highest  popularity.  In 
1812  she  sang  at  Gloucester  Festival,  and  in 
1815  at  the  Concert  of  Ancient  Music.  From 
that  time  to  the  close  of  her  career  her  services 
were  in  constant  request  at  nearly  all  the 
concerts,  oratorios,  and  festivals  in  town  and 
country.  Her  voice  was  a  pure  soprano  of  the 
most  beautiful  quality,  of  extensive  compass, 
very  brilliant  tone,  and  extraordinary  flexibility. 
She  excelled  in  songs  of  agility,  and  was  unsur 
passed  for  the  rapidity,  neatness,  and  certainty 
of  her  execution,  and  the  purity  of  her  taste  in 
the  choice  of  ornament.  In  the  higher  and  more 
intellectual  qualities  of  singing,  expression  and 
feeling,  she  was  wanting.  But  she  extorted 
admiration,  even  from  those  most  sensible  of  her 
deficiencies,  by  the  exquisite  loveliness  of  her 
voice  and  the  ease  with  which  she  executed  the 
most  difficult  passages.  She  unfortunately 
acquired  the  habit  of  intemperance,  which  even 
tually  occasioned  derangement  of  the  nervous 
system,  and  in  1825  she  suddenly  lost  her  voice. 
She  visited  the  continent,  hoping  by  change  and 
rest  to  recover  it,  but  in  vain ;  the  jewel  was 
gone  never  to  be  regained.  She  endeavoured  to 
gain  a  livelihood  by  teaching  singing,  but, 
although  she  was  well  qualified  for  it,  the 
ignorant  public  concluded  that,  as  she  herself 
had  lost  the  power  of  singing,  she  was  incapable 
of  instructing  others.  She  re-married  a  Rev. 
Mr.  Hinde,  who  died  leaving  her  totally  destitute. 
A  concert  was  given  for  her  relief,  June  24, 
1840,  which  proved  a  complete  failure.  She 
Gradually  sank  into  a  state  of  the  greatest 

at  S.Stephen's,  he  is  now  practising  under  me,  to  that  degree  that  I 
predict  a  result  not  inferior  to  that  of  his  celebrated  father.  ANTONIO 
SALLERI.  principal  Maestro  di  Cupella  of  the  Imperial  Court  of  Vienna, 
Vienna,  March  30, 


SALOMON. 

poverty,  and  was  dependent  upon  the  bounty 
of  those  who  had  known  her  in  prosperity  for 
subsistence.  In  1845  an  effort  was  made  to 
raise  a  fund  to  purchase  an  annuity  for  her.  but 
it  was  only  partially  successful.  She  died  at 
No.  33  King's  Road  East,  Chelsea,  June  5, 
1849.  Her  death  was  registered  in  the  names 
of  Eliza  Salmon  Hinde. 

Her  husband,  JAMES  SALMON,  son  of  James 
Salmon  (gentleman  of  the  Chapel  Royal,  Nov. 
30,  1789,  vicar  choral  of  St.  Paul's,  and  lay  clerk 
of  St.  George's  Chapel,  Windsor,  died  1827), 
received  his  early  musical  education  as  a 
chorister  of  St.  George's,  Windsor.  In  1805  he 
was  appointed  organist  of  St.  Peter's,  Liverpool, 
and  was  in  much  esteem  as  a  performer.  In 
1813,  having  fallen  into  embarrassed  circum 
stances  (by  some  attributed  to  his  wife's 
extravagance,  and  by  others  to  his  own  irregu 
larities),  he  enlisted  as  a  soldier  and  went  with 
his  regiment  to  the  West  Indies,  where  he  died. 

WILLIAM,  another  son  of  James  Salmon,  sen., 
born  1789,  was  also  a  chorister  of  St.  George's. 
He  was  admitted  a  gentleman  of  the  Chapel 
Royal,  May  28,  1817,  and  was  also  lay  vicar  of 
Westminster  Abbey  and  lay  clerk  of  St.  George's, 
Windsor.  With  an  ungrateful  voice  he  sang 
with  much  taste  and  expression,  and  was  an 
excellent  singing  master.  He  died  at  Windsor, 
Jan.  26,  1858.  [W.H.H.] 

SALO,  GASPARO  DI,  a  celebrated  violin-maker 
of  Brescia,  probably  born  at  Salo,  a  small  town 
on  the  lake  of  Garda.     The  date  of  his  birth  is 
unknown,  but  he  is  supposed  to  have  worked  dur 
ing  the  latter  years  of  the  i6th  and  earlier  years 
of  the  i  7th  century.    Gasparo  cli  Salo  was  one  of 
the  earliest  makers  of  stringed  instruments  who 
employed  the  pattern  of  the  violin  as  distin 
guished  from  that  of  the  viol.     His  works  are  of 
a  primitive  pattern,  more  advanced  than  that  of 
Zanetto  and  other  old  Brescian  makers,  but  totally 
different  from  that  of  the  contemporary  Amati 
family.    The  model  varies,  being  sometimes  high, 
sometimes  flat  :  the  middle  curves  are  shallow, 
and  the  sound-holes  straight  and  angular.    The 
wood  is  generally  well  chosen,  and  the  thick 
nesses  are  correct ;  and  the  tone  of  the  instrument, 
when  of  the  flat  model  and  in  good  preservation, 
peculiarly  deep  and  penetrating.     The  pattern  of 
Gasparo  di  Salo  was  partially  revived  in  the  last 
century,  owing  no  doubt  to  its  great  tone-produc 
ing  capacity,  by  the  celebrated  Joseph  Guarnerius 
(see  that  article),  and  to  a  less  extent  by  some 
of  the  French  makers.    As  a  maker  of  tenors  and 
double-basses  Gasparo  di  Salo  has  never  had  an 
equal,  and  his  instruments  of  these  classes  are 
eagerly  sought  after.    The  objection  to  his  tenors 
is  their  great  size,  but  their  effect  in  a  quartet  is 
unrivalled.    The  two  finest  specimens  known,  for 
merly  in  the  possession  of  Dr.  Steward  of  Wolver- 
hampton,  are  now  in  the  collection  of  Mr.  John 
Adam  of  Blackheath.    Gaspare's  violins,  which 
are  mostly  of  small  size,  are  not  in  request  for 
practical  purposes.  [E.J.P-] 

SALOMON,   JOHANN    PETER,    a    name  in 
separably  connected  with  that  of  Hay.cln,  born 


SALOMON. 

at  Bonn,1  Feb.   1745  (christened  Feb.  2),  early 
became   an   expert  violinist,   and   in   1758   was 
admitted  into  tlie  orchestra  of  the  Elector  Clement 
August.     In  1765  he   made  a   concert-tour  to 
Frankfort    and    Berlin ;    and  Prince   Henry    of 
Prussia,  who  had  an  orchestra  and  a  small  French 
opera -company   at   Rheinsberg,   made    him    his 
Concertmeister,  and  composer  of  operettas.     He 
had  already  showed  his  appreciation  for  Haydn 
by  introducing  his  symphonies  whenever  he  could. 
On  the  prince's  sudden  dismissal  of  his  band, 
Salomon  went  to  Paris,  where  he  was  well  re 
ceived,  but  being  so  near  London  he  determined 
to  go  on  there,  and  on  March  23,  1781,  made  his 
first  appearance  at  Covent-Garden  Theatre.    The 
pieces  on  this  occasion  were  Mason's  '  Elfrida,' 
set  to  music  by  Dr.  Arne,  and  Collins's  '  Ode 
on  the   Passions,'  with   solos  and  choruses  by 
Dr.  Arnold,  both  of  which  he  led,  besides  play 
ing  a  solo  in  the  middle.    The  '  Morning  Herald,' 
says  of  him  '  He  does  not  play  in  the  most  grace 
ful  style,  it  must  be  confessed,  but  his  tone  and 
execution  are  such  as  cannot  fail  to  secure  him 
a  number   of  admirers  in   the  musical  world.' 
From    this    time    he    frequently    appeared    at 
concerts   as  soloist,  quartet -player  (violin   and 
viola)  and  conductor.     He  quarrelled  with  the 
directors  of  the  Professional  Concerts,  soon  after 
their  foundation,  and  thenceforward  took  an  in 
dependent  line.     During  Mara's  first  season  in 
London,  in  1784,  he  conducted  and  played  solos 
at  all  her  concerts.     The  'Morning  Chronicle' 
says,  in  1785,  'Salomon's  solo,  though  perhaps 
not  excelling  in  tone,  was  in  the  greatest  point, 
in  pathetic  impression,  excelled  by  none !  Whose 
violin-playing    approaches    nearer    the    human 
voice  ?  On  the  whole  Salomon  is  a  mannerist,  but 
he  has  much  originality — he  is  very  susceptible 
— he  is  a  genius.'     In  1786  he  gave  a  series  of 
subscription  concerts   at    the   Hanover   Square 
Rooms,   and  produced    symphonies   by  Haydn 
and    Mozart.     From   that   time    he    contented 
himself  with  an  annual  benefit  concert,  but  acted 
as  leader   at    others,    both  in   London,    as    at 
the  A  cademy  of  Ancient  Music  in  1 789  ;    and 
elsewhere,  as   at  the   Oxford   Commemoration, 
Winchester  and  Dublin.     A  grand  chorus  com 
posed   by   him    in    honour   of  the    King's   re 
covery,  performed  by  the  New  Musical  Fund 
in  1789,  and  repeated  at  his  own  concert,  was 
his  one  successful  vocal  piece.     He  removed  in 
1790  to  No.  1 8  Great  Pulteney  Street  (opposite 
Broadwood's),   in   which   house   Haydn   stayed 
with  him  in  the  following  year.     The  two  had 
long  been   in   correspondence,  Salomon   endea 
vouring  in  vain  to  secure  the   great  composer 
for  a  series   of  concerts ;    but    as   he   was   at 
Cologne  on  his  way  from  Italy,  where  he  had 
been  to  engage  singers  for  the  Italian  Opera, 
he   saw   in    the   papers   the    death    of    Prince 
Esterhazy,    hurried    to    Vienna,    and    carried 
Haydn  back  in  triumph  with  him  to  London. 
This  period  of  Haydn's  stay  in  England  was  the 
most  brilliant  part  of  Salomon's  career  as  an 

1  Th°  Salomons'  house  was  515  BonngassB,  the  same  in  which 
Beethure.i  vras  burn. 


SALTAEELLO. 


221 


artist,  and  after  the  return  of  the  former  to 
Vienna  the  two  continued  the  best  of  friends. 
In  1796  Salomon  resumed  his  concerts,  at  which 
he  was  assisted  by  Mara,  the  young  tenor 
Braham,  and  his  own  promising  pupil  Pinto. 
On  April  21,  1800,  he  produced  Haydn's  'Crea 
tion  '  at  the  King's  Theatre,  though  not  for  the 
first  time  in  England,  as  he  had  been  forestalled 
by  John  Ashley  (Covent  Garden,  March  28). 
Salomon's  active  career  closes  with  the  founda 
tion  of  the  Philharmonic  Society,  in  which  he 
took  a  great  interest,  playing  in  a  quintet  of 
Boccherini's,  and  leading  the  orchestra,  at  the 
first  concert  in  the  Argyll  Rooms,  March  8, 
1813.  Up  to  the  last  he  was  busy  planning 
an  Academy  of  Music  with  his  friend  Ayrton. 
A  fall  from  his  horse  caused  a  long  illness, 
from  which  he  died  Nov.  28,  1815,  at  his  house 
No.  70  Newman  Street.  He  was  buried  Dec.  2 
in  the  south  cloister  of  Westminster  Abbey.  He 
bequeathed  his  house  to  the  Munchs  of  Bonn, 
his  next  of  kin ;  £200  to  F.  Hies,  for  the  benefit 
of  his  brother  Hubert ;  and  his  Stradivarius  violin 
(said  to  have  belonged  to  Corelli,  and  to  have 
his  name  upon  it)  to  Sir  Patrick  Blake,  Bart., 
of  Bury  S.  Edmunds.2 

Salomon  was,  on  the  whole,  a  first-rate  solo- 
player,  but  his  special  field  was  the  quartet,  in 
which  he  showed  himself  a  solid  and  intelligent 
musician.  Haydn's  last  quartets  were  composed 
especially  to  suit  his  style  of  playing. 

He  was  a  man  of  much  cultivation,  and 
moved  in  distinguished  society.  Bland  published 
an  engraving  of  him  by  Facius  from  Hardy's 
picture.  Another  portrait  by  Lansdale  was  sent 
by  Salomon  himself  to  the  Museum  at  Bonn. 
His  best  epitaph  is  contained  in  a  letter  from 
Beethoven  to  his  pupil  Ries  in  London  (Feb.  28, 
1816)  :  'Salomon's  death  grieves  me  much,  for 
he  was  a  noble  man,  and  I  remember  him  ever 
since  I  was  a  child.' 3  [C.F.P.] 

SALTARELLO  or  SALTARELLA  (Latin 
saltare,  to  jump). 

I.  In  16th-century  collections  of  dance  tunes 
the  melodies  usually  consist  of  two  distinct  divi 
sions,  the  first  of  which  is  written  in  common 
time,  the  second  in  3  time.  The  former  was 
probably  danced  like  our  English  country-dances 
(i.e.  the  dancers  standing  in  two  lines  facing 
each  other)  and  bore  the  distinguishing  name  of 
the  dance,  while  the  latter  was  like  the  modern 
round  dance  and  was  variously  entitled  Nachtanz, 
Proportio,  Hoppeltanz,  or  Saltarello,  the  first 
three  being  the  German  and  the  last  the  Italian 
names  for  the  same  movement.  Thus  in  Bern- 
hard  Schmidt's  Tabulaturbuch  (Strasburg,  1577) 
are  found  the  following  dances :  '  Possomezzo 
Coniun'  with  fll  suo  Saltarello';  'Ein  guter 
Hofdantz'  with  'Nachdantz';  '  Alemando  no- 
vello.  Ein  guter  neuer  Dantz'  with  'Proportz 
darauf ' ;  and  '  Ein  guter  neuer  Dantz  '  with 
'  Hoppeldantz  darauf.'  Similarly  in  Queen  Eliza- 

2  See  the  'Westminster  Abbey  Registers,'  by  3.  L.  Chester,  D.C.L. 
Sir  P.  Blake's  property  was  sold  after  his  death,  and  nothing  is  now 
known  by  the  family  about  the  vioHn. 

3  Pohl's  '  Haydn  in  London,'  73  to  85. 


222 


SALTAEELLO. 


beth's  Virginal  Book  (preserved  at  Cambridge 
in  the  Fitzwilliam  Museum)  there  is  an  elaborate 
'  Galiarda  Passamezzo '  by  Peter  Philips  (dated 
1502)  which  consists  of  ten  8-bar  'divisions,'  the 
9th  of  which  is  entitled  '  Saltarella. '  The  Salta- 
rello,  or  Proportio,  was  always  founded  on  the  air 
of  the  first  part  of  the  dance,  played  in  3  time 
with  a  strong  accent  on  the  first  beat  of  the  bar. 
The  manner  in  which  this  was  done  will  be  seen 
by  examining  the  following  example,  from  the 
2nd  book  of  Caroso  da  Sermoneta's  •  Nobilta  di 
Dame'  (Venice,  1600).  It  is  part  of  a  Balletto 
'  Laura  Soave,'  the  second  part  of  which  (a  Gag- 
liarda)  and  the  last  40  bars  of  the  SaltareUo  are 
not  printed  here  for  want  of  space. 


Si  torna  dfar  un  altra  volta. 


Gagliarda.        Saltarella. 


m 


jBunBl 


etc. 


II.  A  popular  Roman  dance,  in  3-4  or  6-8 
time,  danced  by  one  or  two  persons,  generally  a 
man  and  a  woman,  the  latter  of  whom  holds  up 
her  apron  throughout  the  dance.  The  step  is 
quick  and  hopping,  and  the  dance  gradually  in 
creases  in  rapidity  as  the  dancers  move  round  in 
a  semicircle,  incessantly  changing  their  position, 
and  moving  their  arms  as  violently  as  their  legs. 
The  music  is  generally  in  the  minor,  and  is  played 
on  a  guitar  or  mandoline,  with  tambourine  ac 
companiment.  The  finale  to  Mendelssohn's  Ita 
lian  Symphony  contains  two  Saltarellos — 

I.  -  3  -.3 


etc. 


etc. 


in  each  of  which  the  jumping  or  hopping  step 
is  very  apparent.  In  contrast  to  these  is  a 
Tarantella,  used  as  a  third  subject,  a  continuous 
flow  of  even  triplets.  [W.B.S.] 

SALVAYRE,  GERVAIS  BERNARD,  born  June 
24,  1847,  at  Toulouse,  and  educated  at  the 
Maitrise  and  the  Conservatoire,  where  he  stu 
died  the  piano  and  harmony,  and  took  a  first 
prize  for  cello.  He  then  went  to  Paris,  entered 


SALVE  KEGINA. 

the  Conservatoire,  and  studied  composition  under 
Ambroise  Thomas,  and  the  organ  under  Benoist. 
He  made  his  way  upwards  slowly,  taking  the 
first  organ-prize  in  1868,  and  the  Grand  Prix 
not  till  1872,  though  he  had  been  a  competitor 
since  1867.  At  that  time  Bazin  was  professor  of 
composition,  Thomas  having  become  director  of 
the  Conservatoire.  During  his  two  years  in 
Rome  Salvayre  learned  the  mandoline,  and  made 
himself  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  lella 
lingua  Romana ;  and  his  first  publications  (Milan, 
Ricordi)  were  some  Italian  songs — '  Sospiri  miei,' 
'  Inamoramento,'  '  Dolore  del  tradimento,' '  Sere- 
nata  romana,'  and  '  Serenata  di  Francesca  da 
Rimini.'  Industrious  to  a  degree,  he  brought 
back  (besides  the  regulation  compositions  as 
government  student,  which  he  had  punctually 
forwarded)  a  number  of  compositions  in  various 
styles,  and  was  thus  ready  for  any  opportunity 
which  might  bring  him  into  notice.  Among 
these  Roman  works  were  a  '  Stabat  Mater ' ;  an 
orchestral  piece,  'Les  Bacchantes';  the  H3th 
Psalm  for  orchestra,  solos  and  chorus ;  and  an 
oratorio,  '  Le  Jugement  dernier,'  which  he  subse 
quently  remodelled,  and  produced  at  the  Chatelet 
concerts  as  'La  Resurrection'  (1876).  Other 
compositions  were  an  'Ouverture  Symphonique' 
(Concerts  populaires),  and  a  brilliant  divertisse 
ment  for  the  ballet  inserted  in  Grisar's  '  Amours 
du  Diable*  on  its  revival  (Chatelet,  Nov.  1874). 
Having  at  length  found  his  way  to  the  boards, 
Salvayre  produced  at  the  Gaiete'  (then  recently 
transformed  into  an  opera  under  Albert  Vizentini) 
«  Le  Bravo  '  (April  1 8,  1877),  libretto  by  Blavet, 
from  Cooper's  novel.  The  piece  was  transformed 
from  an  opera  comique  into  a  spectacular  drama, 
and  had  an  immense  success,  partly  owing  to  the 
singing  of  Bouhy  the  baritone,  and  Heilbron  the 
prima  donna.  It  has  since  been  performed  at 
several  theatres  of  importance  both  in  France 
and  elsewhere.  '  Le  Fandango,'  a  one-act  ballet 
(Opera,  Nov.  26,  1877),  was  ^ess  fortunate.  So 
far  M.  Salvayre's  gift  seems  rather  for  stage  and 
dramatic  music  than  for  light  comedy,  or  more 
poetical  conceptions.  [G.C.] 

SALVE  REGINA.  One  of  the  'Antiphons 
of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,'  appointed,  in  the 
Roman  Breviary,  to  be  sung,  from  the  Feast  of 
the  Holy  Trinity  to  the  Saturday  before  the  First 
Sunday  in  Advent,  either  at  the  end  of  Compline, 
or,  when  Compline  is  not  sung,  at  the  end  of 
Vespers. 

The  Plain  Chaunt  Melody  of  'Salve  Regina' 
—a  noble  example  of  the  use  of  the  Mixed 
Dorian  Mode — rarely  fails,  by  its  melodious 
Intervals,  and  rich  Ligatures,  to  attract  the  at 
tention  of  English  visitors  to  foreign  Cathedrals. 

Modus  I  et  II. 


Sal   -   -    -   ve     Ee 


gi 


na, 


^  "  ^ 


ma  -  ter    mi  -  se  -  ri  -  cor    --------    dl-«e,  etc. 


SALVE  REGINA. 

Since  the  I5th  century,  it  has  been  frequently 
treated,  in  the  Motet  style,  with  excellent  effect. 
Palestrina  has  left  us  five  superb  settings,  four 
of  which  are  included  in  Messrs.  Breitkopf  & 
Hartel's  new  edition  of  his  works ;  and  most  of 
the  other  great  Masters  of  the  Polyphonic  Schools 
have  left  at  least  an  equal  number.  It  has  also 
been  a  favourite  subject  with  modern  Composers, 
many  of  whom  have  treated  it,  more  or  less  hap 
pily,  with  Accompaniments  for  the  Orchestra,  or 
Organ.  Pergolesi's  last  composition  was  a  '  Salve 
Eegina,'  which  is  generally  regarded  as  his  great 
est  triumph  in  the  direction  of  Church  Music. 

What  has  been  said  of  the  'Salve  Regina' 
applies,  with  equal  force,  to  the  Antiphons  for 
the  Seasons  of  Advent,  Lent,  and  Easter — 'Alma 
Eedemptoris  Mater,'  '  Ave  Regina,'  and  '  Regina 
coeli';  the  last  of  which,  especially,  has  been 
a  great  favourite,  both  with  Polyphonic  and 
Modern  Composers.  [W.S.R.] 

SAMSON.  Oratorio  by  Handel,  words  com 
piled  by  Newburgh  Hamilton  from  Milton's 
Samson  Agonistes,  Hymn  on  the  Nativity,  and 
Lines  on  a  Solemn  Musick.  The  autograph  of 
the  work  is  in  the  Buckingham  Palace  Library, 
and  contains  the  following  dates: — end  of  ist 
part,  'Sept.  29,  1741'  (N.B.  Messiah  was  fin 
ished  1 4th  of  same  month) ;  end  of  2nd  part 
'  ©  (i.e.  Sunday)  Oct.  II,  1741'  ;  end  of  chorus 
'Glorious  hero,'  Tine  dell'  Oratorio,  S.  D.  G., 
London,  G.  F.  Handel,  11  (i.e.  Thursday)  Oct. 
29,  I741'  j  then  the  words  '  Fine  dell'  Oratorio' 
have  been  struck  out,  and  'Come,  come,' '  Let  the 
bright,'  and  '  Let  their  celestial '  added,  with  a 
note  at  end, '  S.  D.  G.— G.  F.  Handel,  Oct.  1 2, 1 742 .' 
It  was  produced  at  Covent  Garden,  Lent  1743 — 
the  first  after  Handel's  return  from  Ireland. 

Handel  esteemed  it  as  much  as  the  Messiah, 
and  after  his  blindness  wept  when  he  heard  the 
air  '  Total  eclipse.'  It  was  revived  by  the  Sacred 
Harmonic  Society,  Nov.  14,  1838,  and  has  often 
been  performed  since.  The  score  was  published 
by  Wright ;  by  Arnold  in  his  edition ;  by  the 
Handel  Society  (edited  by  Rimbault,  1852)  ;  and 
by  Breitkopf  &  Hartel  (Chrysander,  1861).  [G.] 
SAN  CARLO,  the  largest  and  most  beauti 
ful  theatre  of  Naples,  has  almost  the  same  pro 
portions  as  La  Scala  of  Milan,  with  which  it 
contends  for  the  theatrical  primacy  in  Italy.  It 
was  built  in  1737  by  the  architect  Carasale,  on 
plans  by  Medrano,  a  General  of  the  R.  E.,  and 
was  completed  with  extraordinary  celerity  in  only 
nine  months.  Some  alterations  and  improvements 
were  made  in  it  by  Fuga  and  Niccolini  towards 
the  end  of  the  last  century.  It  was  completely 
burnt  down  in  1816,  and  rebuilt  even  more 
elegantly  and  quickly  than  before,  in  six  months, 
by  the  said  Antonio  Niccolini.  In  1844  San 
Carlo  underwent  a  thorough  restoration  and  con 
siderable  improvement.  It  has  now  6  tiers  of 
boxes,  each  tier  numbering  32,  without  reckoning 
the  large  and  handsome  royal  box  in  their  centre. 
The  theatre  has  also  attached  to  it  a  large 
ridotto  or  hall,  notorious  in  former  times  for  the 
reckless  gambling  which  took  place  there. 
The  best  days  of  San  Carlo  were  those  in 


SANCTUS. 


223 


which  it  was  under  the  management  of  the  great 
impresario  Domenico  Barbaja  from  iSioto  1839. 
During  that  period  the  greatest  singers  appeared 
on  its  stage,  amongst  whom  we  need  only  name 
Colbran,  Sontag,  Grisi,  Tamburini,  Rubini  and 
Lablache.  Of  many  operas  written  expressly  for 
San  Carlo  and  first  produced  there,  we  may 
mention,  besides  those  named  under  Rossini, 
Bellini's  first  opera,  '  Bianca  and  Fernando,'  in 
1826;  Donizetti's  'Lucia  di  Lammermoor '  in 
1835,  and  his  last  opera,  '  Caterina  Cornaro,' 
in  1844;  Mercadante's  '  L'Apoteosi  d'Ercole '  in 
1819;  and  Ricci's  'L'Orfanella  di  Ginevra*  in 
1829,  and  '  La  Festa  di  Piedigrotta'  in  1852. 

The  true  cause  of  the  decadence  of  this  great 
theatre  is  to  be  found  in  the  inability  of  the 
Neapolitan  public  to  pay  sufficiently  high  prices 
for  the  services  of  the  great  artists  of  our  days. 
The  writer  of  this  notice  still  remembers  with 
what  uproar  and  protest  the  rise  in  the  prices  of 
the  stalls  to  45.  was  received  by  the  public  of 
Naples  in  1860.  Previously  to  that  date  the 
ticket  for  a  stall  cost  only  the  ridiculous  sum  of 
2s.  Thus,  notwithstanding  the  annual  subvention 
granted  by  the  municipality  of  Naples  to  the 
lessee  of  San  Carlo,  he  is  unable  to  engage  a  great 
star,  the  theatre  not  paying  sufficiently  for  him 
to  incur  such  great  expense. 

Another  of  the  opera-houses  of  Naples  is  the 
theatre  of  IL  FONDO,  built  at  the  royal  expense 
in  1778  by  the  architect  Securo,  and  restored  in 
1849.  The  f°rm  is  quite  round,  with  5  tiers  of 
boxes.  II  Fondo  is  sometimes  used  for  opera, 
and  sometimes  for  drama.  Here  Mercadante's 
first  work,  a  cantata,  was  produced  in  1818. 
IL  TEATRO  Noovo,  built  in  1724  by  Carasale, 
the  architect  of  San  Carlo,  is  wholly  consecrated 
to  the  representation  of  opera  buft'a.  Destroyed 
by  fire  in  1861,  it  has  been  lately  rebuilt.  An 
other  opera  house,  SAN  FERDINANDO,  is  a  stand 
ing  example  of  the  mistake  of  building  theatres 
in  unsuitable  localities,  this  theatre  bringing  to 
ruin  every  lessee  who  has  taken  it,  and  being 
left  empty,  however  good  the  artists  performing 
on  its  stage.  It  was  built  in  1791,  and  is  shut 
the  greater  part  of  the  year.  Numerous  other 
small  houses  there  are  in  Naples,  where  a  kind 
of  musical  medley  is  often  performed,  mostly  in 
the  Neapolitan  dialect,  and  where  the  lower 
classes  nightly  crowd.  The  music  of  such  operettas 
is  generally  lively  and  tuneful,  but  hardly  de 
serves  any  other  remark.  [L.R.] 

SANCTUS.  I.  The  name  given  to  that  portion 
of  the  Mass  which  immediately  follows  the  Pre 
face,  and  precedes  the  Consecration  of  the  Host. 
[See  MASS.]  The  music  of  the  Sanctus  derives, 
from  the  solemnity  of  the  text,  and  the  import 
ance  of  its  position  in  the  Service,  a  peculiar  sig 
nificance,  which  has  been  rarely  overlooked,  by 
Composers  of  any  country,  or  period.  In  Plain 
Chaunt  Masses,  the  Melody  to  which  it  is  adapt 
ed  is  marked  by  a  grave  simplicity  which  renders 
it  capable  of  being  sung,  with  good  effect,  at  a 
pace  considerably  slower  than  that  of  the  'Kyrie' 
or  '  Christe.' 

The  Great  Masters  of  the  Polyphonic  Schools 


224 


SANCTUS. 


have  almost  always  treated  it  in  Real  Fugue,  of 
a  peculiarly  reverent  character,  not  unlike  that  of 
the  '  Kyrie,3  but  developed  at  greater  length, 
with  frequent  repetitions  of  the  text,  and  three 
distinct  Subjects,  adapted  to  the  words, '  Sanctus,' 
'  Dominus  Deus  Sabaoth,'  and  '  Pleni  sunt  coeli 
et  terra.'  Sometimes— as  in  Palestrina's  Masses, 
'  Veni,  sponsa  Christ!,'  and  'Dum  complerentur' — 
the  '  Pleni  sunt  coeli '  forms  a  separate  Movement, 
assigned  to  three  or  four  Solo  Voices  ;  sometimes 
the  nature  of  the  Subject  indicates  an  accelerated 
Tempo,  without  an  actual  solution  of  continuity, 
as  in  the  same  Composer's  '  ^Eterna  Christ! 
munera.'  The  '  Osanna,'  with  which  the  whole  con 
cludes,  is  either  treated  as  a  supplementary  Move 
ment,  quite  distinct  from  the  'Sanctus'  itself; 
or,  less  frequently,  aids  in  the  development  of  the 
'Fugue,  by  the  addition  of  a  fourth  Subject,  with 
out  disturbing  the  homogeneity  of  the  whole.  In 
the  former  case,  the  same  '  Osanna '  usually  serves 
both  for  the  '  Sanctus '  and  the  '  Benedictus,' *  as 
in  the  '  Missa  Papse  Marcelli,'  and  Vittoria's 
'  Simile  est  regnum  coelorum '  :  in  the  latter,  the 
treatment  is  usually  of  a  very  subdued  character, 
as  in  Palestrina's  '  Tu  es  Petrus,'  '  Assumpta  est 
Maria,'  '  ^Rterna  Christi  munera,'  and  '  Missa 
brevis.'  These  instances  are  particularly  fine 
ones ;  and,  indeed,  it  may  be  doubted  whether 
even  Palestrina's  genius  ever  rose  to  greater 
sublimity  of  conception  than  in  this  part  of  the 
'  Missa  brevis,'  which,  when  interpreted  by  a 
large  body  of  Voices,  singing  in  the  most  delicate 
attainable  pianissimo,  presents  us  with  the  highest 
ideal  of  the  Song  of  the  Heavenly  Host  that  has 
yet  been  reached. 

The  treatment  of  the  'Sanctus,'  by  modern 
Composers,  exhibits  an  infinite  variety  of  styles  ; 
yet  the  Movement  is,  nearly  always,  the  most 
solemn  one  in  the  Mass.  In  Bach's  great  work 
in  B  minor,  an  indescribably  massive  effect  is 
produced  by  the  passages  of  sustained  Chords, 
beginning  at  the  seventeenth  and  thirty-fifth  Bars. 
Very  different  is  the  idea  developed  in  the  cor 
responding  division  of  Beethoven's  Mass  in  D. 
The  awe-struck  character  of  the  opening  '  Adagio. 
Mit  Andacht,'  however  closely  it  may  border  upon 
the  dramatic,  can  scarcely  impress  the  hearer 
with  any  other  feeling  than  that  of  the  most  pro 
found  reverence  ;  while  the  '  Allegro  pesante '  of 
the  'Pleni  sunt  coeli'  is  conceived  in  strict  ac 
cordance  with  the  literal  meaning  of  the  words, 
though  nothing  could  possibly  be  more  unsuited 
to  their  position  in  the  Service.  This  deplorable 
incongruity  is,  however,  more  or  less  observable 
in  all  Masses  with  Instrumental  Accompaniment. 
The  same  objection  may  be  urged  with  equal  pro 
priety,  against  the  combined  'Sanctus'  and  ' Bene 
dictus,'  in  Cherubini's  Requiem  in  C  minor  ;  a 
comparatively  unpretending  Movement,  the  per 
sistent  fortissimo  of  which  can  scarcely  fail  to 
distract  the  mind  far  more  seriously  than  even 

i  In  order  to  explain  the  intimate  connection  between  these  Move 
ments,  it  is  necessary  to  remind  the  reader  that  the  first  '  Osanna '  is 
immediately  followed  by  the  Consecration  of  the  Host,  which  takes 
place  in  silence.  This  completed,  the  'Benedictus,'  and  second 
'  Osanna,'  are  sung,  in  continuation  of  the  same  train  of  ideas,  and 
not  with  the  intention  of  introducing  a  new  subject  of  contem 
plation. 


SANDERSON. 

the  sensuous  beauty  of  a  Movement  like  that  in 
Rossini's  '  Messe  Solennelle.'  2 

To  particularise  the  varied  readings  of  the 
'  Sanctus/  to  be  found  in  the  Masses  of  even  the 
greatest  Composers  of  modern  times,  would  be 
impossible.  The  examples  to  which  we  have 
called  attention  will  serve  as  types  of  many 
others  ;  and  will,  moreover,  be  valuable,  as  illus 
trations  of  the  one  practical  point  of  divergence 
which,  more  than  any  other,  distinguishes  the 
reading  prevalent  in  the  i6th  century  from  that 
most  common  in  the  I9th — the  devotional  piano, 
from  the  pompous  forte.  So  long  as  Drums  and 
Trumpets  are  permitted  to  take  part  in  the  Accom 
paniments  of  the  '  Sanctus,'  so  long  will  it  fail  to 
attain  that  aesthetic  consistency  which  alone  can 
ensure  its  ultimate  perfection  as  a  work  of  Art. 

II.  In  Anglican  '  Services,'  the  Sanctus  is 
usually  a  very  unpretending  Movement,  written, 
for  the  most  part,  in  simple  Harmony,  without 
any  attempt  at  Fugal  treatment,  or  even  Imita 
tion  ;  though,  in  the  works  of  such  Masters  as 
Tallis,  Byrd,  Farrant,  Gibbons,  and  their  con 
temporaries,  it  is  always  noted  for  a  quiet  dignity 
well  worthy  of  the  solemnity  of  the  text.  In 
practice,  it  is  too  often  removed  from  the  place 
assigned  to  it  in  the  Prayer-Book,  and  sung  be 
tween  the  Litany  and  the  Office  for  the  Celebration 
of  the  Holy  Communion — an  abuse  which  has,  of 
late  years,  excited  much  reprehension.  [W.S.R.] 

SANDERSON,    JAMES,    born    in    1769   at 
Workington,  Durham,  had  from  early  childhood 
a  passion  for  music,  and,  without  the  assistance 
of  masters,  so  qualified  himself  that  in  1783  he 
was    engaged    as  violinist    at    the   Sunderland 
Theatre.      In    1784   he  went   to   Shields  as  a 
teacher  of  the  violin  and  pianoforte,  and  met 
with  much  success.     In  1787  he  was  engaged  as 
leader  at  the  Newcastle-upon-Tyne  Theatre,  and 
in  1788  at  Astley's  Amphitheatre.  'In  1789  he 
made  his  first  attempt  at  dramatic  composition 
by  writing  instrumental  interludes  to  illustrate 
the  several  parts  of  Collins's  '  Ode  on  the  Passions,' 
which  the  eminent  tragedian,  George  Frederick 
Cooke,  was  to   recite   on  his   benefit  night  at 
Chester.     His  next   work   was   'Harlequin  in 
Ireland*  at  Astley's  in  1792.     In  1793  he  was 
engaged   at   the   Royal   Circus,"  afterwards  the 
Surrey  Theatre,  as  composer  and  music  director, 
a  post  which  he  retained  for  many  years.    His 
principal  productions   during  that  period  were 
' Blackboard,'  1798;   'Cora,'  1799;  '  Sir  Francis 
Drake,'  1800  (in  which  was  the  song,  'Bound 
'prentice  to  a  waterman,'  which  became  so  great 
a  favourite  with  stage  representatives  of  British 
sailors  that  it  was  constantly  introduced  into 
pieces  in  which  a  seaman  formed   one  of  the 
characters  for  fully  half  a  century),  and  'Hal 
lowe'en.'     His  'Angling  Duet,'  originally  com 
posed  for  '  The  Magic  Pipe,'  a  pantomime  pro 
duced  at  the  Adelphi,  also  enjoyed  a  long  popu 
larity.     He  composed  many  pieces  for  the  violin. 
He  died  in  or  about  1841.  [W.H.H.] 

2  We  say  nothing,  here,  of  the  strikingly  beautiful  Movements  in 
Mendelssohn's  '  Elijah,'  and  Spohr's  '  Last  Judgment,'  because,  not 
withstanding  their  opening  words,  the  term  'Sauctus'  cannot  D 
fairly  applied  to  them,  in  its  technical  sense. 


SANDYS. 

SANDYS,  WILLIAM,  F.S.A.,  born  1792, 
educated  at  Westminster  School,  and  afterwards 
called  to  the  bar,  is  entitled  to  mention  here  as 
editor  of  '  Christmas  Carols,  Ancient  and  Modern, 
including  the  most  popular  in  the  West  of 
England,  with  the  Tunes  to  which  they  are  sung. 
Also  specimens  of  French  Provincial  Carols,' 
1833  ;  author  of '  Christmastide,  its  history,  festi 
vities,  and  carols,'  with  12  carol  tunes,  1852 ;  and 
joint  author  with  Simon  Andrew  Forster  of  '  The 
History  of  the  Violin  and  other  instruments 
played  on  with  the  bow.  .  .  .  Also  an  account  of 
the  principal  makers,  English  and  foreign,'  1864. 
He  died  Feb.  18,  1874.  [W.H.H.] 

SANG  SCHOOLS,  an  old  Scottish  institution, 
dating  from  the  1 3th   century.      A  '  scule '  for 
teaching  singing  existed  in  almost  every  one  of 
the  cathedral  cities  in  Scotland,  and  in  many  of 
the  smaller   towns,  such   as  Ayr,  Dumbarton, 
Lanark,  Cupar   and  Irvine.      Even  in  the  far 
north  in  1544  Bishop  Reid  founded  and  endowed 
a  'Sang  School'  in  Orkney.     Prior  to  the  Re 
formation  the  teaching  in  these  schools  was  prin 
cipally  confined  to  '  musick,  meaners,  and  vertu,' 
but  at  a  later  date  it  extended  to  the  proverbial 
'  three  R's.'     Music,  however,  seems  to  have  been 
the  chief  course  of  instruction,  and  the  original 
idea  of  confining  its  study  to  the  cathedral  singers 
was  so  far  enlarged,  that  laymen  were  admitted 
to  the  schools,  in  which  the  Gregorian  chant  had 
naturally  an   early  and  important  place.     The 
master  of  the  school  was  held  in  high  esteem, 
and  was  occasionally  selected  from  the  clergy, 
the  appointment  at  times  leading  to  important 
preferment — thus  William  Hay,  master  of  the 
Old  Aberdeen  School  in  1658,  was  made  Bishop 
of  Moray  ;  and  John  Leslie,  Bishop  of  Ross,  was 
once  a  teacher  in  the  Aberdeen  School. 

Great  attention  seems  to  have  been  paid  by 
the  parliament  of  the  day  to  the  study  of  music, 
for  a  statute  was  passed  in  1574  'instructing 
the  provest,  baillies,  and  counsale,  to  sett  up  ane 
sang  scuill,  for  instruction  of  the  youth  in  the 
art  of  musick  and  singing,  quhilk  is  almaist 
decayit  and  sail  schortly  decay  without  tymous 
remeid  be  providit.'  Comparatively  little  in 
terest  seems  to  have  attended  either  the  Edin 
burgh  or  Glasgow  schools,  and  from  a  minute  of 
the  Town  Council  of  the  latter  we  gather  that 
the  institution  collapsed  in  1588,  'the  scuile 
•-umtyme  callit  the  sang  scuile'  being  sold  to 
efray  the  expenses  incidental  to  the  heavy  visit 
ation  of  a  plague.  The  Aberdeen  school  appears 
to  have  been  the  one  of  chief  celebrity,  attracting 
teachers  of  even  continental  fame,  and  the  Burgh 
records  contain  references  of  a  curious  and  amus 
ing  description.  The  school  existed  so  early  as 
the  year  1370,  its  class  of  pupils  being  the  same 
as  those  attending  the  grammar  school.  Both 
vocal  and  instrumental  music  were  taught,  as 
we  learn  from  the  title  of  Forbes' s  scarce 
work,  '  Cantus,  Songs  and  Fancies  both  apt  for 
Voices  and  Viols  as  is  taught  in  the  Music 
School  of  Aberdeen  '  (1662).  About  this  period, 
Mace,  in  his  'Musick's  Monument,'  directed 
the  attention  of  his  countrymen  to  the  sang 
VOL.  in.  PT.  2. 


SANTINI. 


225 


school  of  Scotland  as  an  institution  well  worthy 
of  imitation  south  of  the  Tweed.  A  few 
excerpts  from  the  Burgh  records  of  Aberdeen 
and  other  places  may  not  be  uninteresting,  and 
we  give  the  following  as  a  fair  example  of  the 
attention  paid  by  the  civic  authorities  of  the  day 
to  the  subject  of  music.  On  Oct.  7.  1496,  a  con 
tract  was  entered  into  between  the  Town  Council 
of  Aberdeen  and  Robert  Huchosone,  sangster, 
'  who  obliges  himself  by  the  faith  of  his  body 
all  the  days  of  his  life  to  remain  with  the  com 
munity  of  the  burgh,  upholding  matins,  psalms, 
hymns,'  etc.  etc.,  the  council  also  giving  him  the 
appointment  of  master  of  the  Sang  School.  The 
four  following  extracts  are  also  from  the  Aber 
deen  Burgh  records,  as  faithfully  transcribed  by 
the  editors  of  the  Spalding  Club  publications. 

4th  October,  1577. 

The  said  day  the  consell  grantit  the  soume  of  four 
poundis  to  the  support  of  James  Symsonne,  doctour  of 
thair  Sang  Scuill,  to  help  to  buy  him  cloythis. 

23  Novr.,  1597. 

The  maister  of  the  sang  schoole  sail  serve  bayth  the 
Kirkis  in  uptacking  of  the  psalmes  theirin. 

1594. 
Item  to  the  Maister  of  the  sang  schoile  xiiij. 

1609. 

'  The  bairnis  and  scoleris  of  the  sang  schoollis '  are 
ordered  to  find  caution  for  their  good  behaviour. 

From  Dundee  Records,  1602. 
Item  to  the  master  of  the  sang  scule  Ixxx  Ibs. 

From  Air  Records,  1027. 

Item  to  the  Mr  of  musick  scule  for  teaching  of  the 
musick  scule  and  tacking  rip  the  psalmes  in  the  kirk  x 
bolls  victuall  and  xiiij  of  silver. 

From  Irving  Records,  1633. 
Our  doctour  and  musicianer  jcii. 

The  stipend  of  the  master  of  the  Edinburgh 
sang  school  appears  to  have  been  the  modest 
allowance  of  ten  pounds  in  sterling  money.  It 
may  be  worth  mentioning  that  the  building  in 
Aberdeen  so  long  identified  with  the  musical 
interests  of  the  day  was  sold  only  in  1758,  and 
those  acquainted  with  the  Granite-city  may  also 
be  interested  in  knowing  the  site  of  the  sang 
school — a  feu  near  the  churchyard  wall  in  the 
Back  Wynd.  An  attempt  was  recently  made  to 
form  a  connecting  link  with  the  past  in  the  shape 
of  a  proposed  revival  of  the  sang  school.  The 
promoter  of  the  movement  purchased  a  hall,  which 
received  the  name  of -'Song  School,'  but  he  has 
not  been  encouraged  to  carry  his  spirited  scheme 
to  a  successful  issue.  [J.T.F.] 

SANTA  CHIARA.  Opera  in  3  acts;  words 
by  Mad.  Birch  Pfeiffer,  music  by  H.R.H.  Ernest, 
Duke  of  Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.  Produced  at  Co- 
burg,  Oct.  15, 1854 ;  at  the  Opera,  Paris  (French 
translation  by  Oppelt),  Sept.  27,  1855,  an^,  in- 
Italian,  at  Co  vent  Garden,  June  30, 1877.  [G.] 

SANTINI,  FORTUNATO,  the  Abbe",  a  learned 
musician,  born  in  Rome,  July  5,  1778,  early  lost 
his  parents,  and  was  brought  up  in  an  orphanage, 
but  showed  such  talent  for  music  that  he  was 
put  to  study  with  Jannaconi,  and  received  into 
the  Collegio  Salviati.  During  his  stay  there 
(until  1798)  he  occupied  himself  in  copying  and 
scoring  the  church-music  of  the  great  masters, 
and  after  his  ordination  in  1801  devoted  his 

Q 


226 


SANTINI. 


whole  life  to  music,  copying,  collating,  and  com 
piling  with  unwearied  industry.  As  an  ecclesi 
astic  he  had  the  entree  to  many  libraries  and 
collections  generally  inaccessible,  and  set  himself 
to  the  task  of  scoring  all  important  works  then 
existing  only  in  parts.  In  1820  he  issued  a 
catalogue  (46  pp.,  1000  Nos.)  of  his  music,  the 
MS.  of  which,  containing  more  than  the  printed 
one,  is  in  the  collection  of  the  writer.1  A  MS. 
copy  of  a  'Catalogo  della  musica  antica,  sacra, 
e  madrigalesca,  che  si  trova  in  Roma  via  dell' 
anima  no.  50  presso  Fortunato  Santini,'  is  in 
the  Fe'tis  collection,  No.  5166.  His  learning, 
and  practical  knowledge  of  church-music,  made 
his  assistance  invaluable  to  all  engaged  in 
musical  research.  He  did  much  to  make  German 
music  known  in  Italy,  translating  Ranamler's 
'  Tod  Jesu '  into  Italian,  and  helping  the  intro 
duction  of  Graun's  music.  Mendelssohn  writes 
('  Letters,'  Rome,  Nov.  2,  1830) ;  'The  Abbe"  has 
long  been  on  the  look-out  for  me,  hoping  I  should 
bring  the  score  of  Bach's  '  Passion.'  And  again 
(Nov.  8),  '  Santini  is  a  delightful  acquaintance ; 
his  library  of  old  Italian  music  is  most  complete, 
and  he  gives  or  lends  me  anything  and  everything.' 
Then  he  tells  how  Santini  is  trying  to  get  Bach's 
compositions  performed  at  Naples,  and  goes  on 
(Nov.  1 6),  'Old  Santini  continues  to  be  courtesy 
personified  ;  if  some  evening  in  company  I  praise 
anything,  or  say  I  do  not  know  such  and  such  a 
piece,  the  very  next  morning  he  comes  knocking 
gently  at  my  door  with  the  identical  piece 
folded  up  in  his  blue  handkerchief.  Then  I  go 
to  him  in  the  evenings,  and  we  are  really  fond 
of  each  other.'  In  the  well-known  letter  to 
Zelter,  Mendelssohn  says,  'He  is  anxious  to  make 
other  German  music  known  here,  and  is  at  this 
moment  translating  your  motet,  'Der  Mensch 
lebet,'  and  Bach's  'Singet  demHerrn,'  into  Latin, 
and  'Judas  Maccabeus'  into  Italian.  He  is  kind 
ness  itself,  and  a  very  charming  old  gentleman. 
.  .  .  Just  now  his  whole  mind  is  absorbed  in 
plans  for  making  German  music  known  in  Italy.' 
Santini  even  composed  pieces  in  five,  six,  and 
eight  real  parts,  much  praised  by  Fetis.  The 
Singakademie  of  Berlin  elected  him  an  honorary 
member.  On  the  death  of  his  sister  he  sold  his 
valuable  collection,  stipulating  however  for  the 
use  of  it  for  life.  He  is  no  longer  living,  but  the 
date  of  his  death  is  not  known.  His  library  is  in 
the  episcopal  palace  at  Minister  in  Westphalia. 
A  pamphlet,  '  L'Abbe"  Santini  et  sa  collection 
musicale  a  Rome'  (Florence,  1854),  giying  a 
useful  resume  of  its  contents,  was  published 
by  a  Russian  amateur  named  Wladimir  Stas- 
soff.  [F.G.] 

SANTLEY,  CHAKLES,  born  at  Liverpool,  Feb. 
28,  1834,  *s  the  possessor  of  a  baritone  voice  of 
fine  quality,  extensive  compass,  and  great  power. 
He  quitted  England  for  Italy,  Oct.  1855,  and 
studied  at  Milan  under  Gaetano  Nava  ;  returned 
Oct.  1857,  and  took  lessons  from  Manuel  Garcia. 
He  appeared  at  St.  Martin's  Hall  as  Adam  in 
Haydn's  'Creation,'  Nov.  16,  1857,  an(l  on  Jan. 

i  His  address  is  there  given  Roma,  Via  Vittoria,  No.  49,  while  in 
the  Fe'tis  collection  it  is  Via  dell*  anima,  Xo.  50. 


SARABAND. 

8,  1858,  sang  the  two  parts  of  Raphael  and  Adam 
in  the  same  work  at  the  Sacred  Harmonic 
Society.  He  first  appeared  on  the  English  stage 
at  Covent  Garden,  in  the  Pyne  and  Harrison 
company,  as  Hoel  in  '  Dinorah,'  in  Sept.  1859; 
and  sang  in  '  Zampa,'  '  The  Waterman,'  and 
'  Peter  the  Shipwright,'  at  the  Gaiety  in  1870. 
His  first  essay  in  Italian  opera  was  at  Covent 
Garden  in  1862,  but  later  in  the  same  season  he 
transferred  his  services  to  Her  Majesty's  Theatre. 
He  first  sang  at  the  Meetings  of  the  Three 
Choirs  at  Worcester  in  1863,  at  Birmingham 
Festival  in  1864,  and  at  the  Handel  Festival  at 
the  Crystal  Palace  in  1862,  and  has  since  main 
tained  his  position  as  the  first  English  singer  of 
his  class,  and  during  a  tour  in  the  United  States 
in  1871  reaped  substantial  honours  there  also. 
Mr.  Santley's  accomplishments  are  not  confined 
to  music.  He  has  adapted  '  Joconde '  to  the 
English  stage,  and  is  an  enthusiastic  amateur 
painter.  On  April  9,  1859,  he  married  Miss 
Gertrude  KEMBLE,  daughter  of  John  Mitchell 
Kemble,  the  eminent  Anglo-Saxon  scholar,  and 
granddaughter  of  Charles  Kemble.  She  ap 
peared  as  a  soprano  singer  at  St.  Martin's  Hall 
in  the  '  Messiah,'  in  Dec.  1857,  but  on  her  mar 
riage  retired  from  public  life.  [W.H.H.] 

SAPHO.  Opera  in  3  acts ;  words  by  Emile  Au- 
gier,  music  by  Gounod.  Produced  at  the  Ope"ra, 
April  1 6, 1 8  5 1 .  It  was  reduced  to  2  acts  and  repro 
duced  July  26,  1858.  In  Italian,  as  'Saffo,'at 
Covent  Garden,  Aug.  9,  1851.  [G.] 

SARABAND,  a  stately  dance  once  very 
popular  in  Spain,  France  and  England.  Its 
origin  and  derivation  have  given  rise  to  many 
surmises.  Fuertes  ('Historia  de  la  Musica 
Espaiiola,'  Madrid,  1859)  savs  that  *ne  ^ance 
was  invented  in  the  middle  of  the  i6th  century 
by  a  dancer  called  Zarabanda,  who,  according  to 
other  authorities  was  a  native  of  either  Seville 
or  Guayaquil,  and  after  whom  it  was  named. 
Others  connect  it  with  the  Spanish  Sarao  (an 
entertainment  of  dancing),  and  Sir  William 
Ouseley  (Oriental  Collections,  1728,  vol.  ii. 
p.  197,  misquoted  by  Mendel,  under  'Saraband'), 
in  a  note  to  a  Turkish  air  called  '  Ser-i-Kha"neh,' 
or  'the  top  of  the  house,'  has  the  following:— 
'Some  tunes  are  divided  into  three  parts  and 
are  marked  Kkdne-i  tfdni  "  the  second  part "  and 
Khdne-i  Mlitf  "  the  third  part ";  near  the  con 
clusion  of  several  we  also  find  the  Persian  words 
ser-band,  from  which,  without  doubt,  our  sara 
band  has  been  derived.'2 

Whatever  its  origin  may  have  been,  it  is 
found  in  Europe  at  the  beginning  of  the  i6th 
century,  performed  in  such  a  manner  as  to  render 
its  oriental  source  highly  probable.  This  may 
be  gathered  from  the  following  extract  from 
Chapter  xii.  '  Del  baile  y  cantar  llamado  Zara 
banda/  of  the  'Tratado  contra  los  Juegos  Pub- 
licos'  ('Treatise  against  Public  Amusements') 
of  Mariana  (1536-1623)  :  'Entre  las  otras  in- 
venciones  ha  salido  estos  anos  un  baile  y  cantar 
tan  lacivo  en  las  palabras,  tan  feo  en  las  meneos, 

2  In  a  MS.  collection  of  dances  in  the  Music  School  at  Oxford  is  a 
Saraband  by  Coleman,  entitled  '  Seribran.' 


SAKABAND. 

que  basta  para  pegar  fuego  aun  a"  las  personas 
muy  honestas'  ('  amongst  other  inventions  there 
has  appeared  during  late  years  a  dance  and  song, 
so  lascivious  in  its  words,  so  ugly  in  its  move 
ments,  that  it  is  enough  to  inflame  even  very 
modest  people').  This  reputation  was  not  con 
fined  to  Spain,  for  Marini  in  his  poem  'L'Adone' 
(1623) says : 

Chiama  qnesto  sno  gioco  empio  e  profano 
Saravanda,  e  Ciaccona,  il  nuova  Ispano.1 

Padre  Mariana,  who  believed  in  its  Spanish 
origin,  says  that  its  invention  was  one  of  the 
disgraces  of  the  nation,  and  other  authors  attri 
bute  its  invention  directly  to  the  devil.  The  dance 
was  attacked  by  Cervantes  and  Guevara,  and 
defended  by  Lope  de  Vega,  but  it  seems  to  have 
been  so  bad  that  at  the  end  of  the  reign  of  Philip 
II.  it  was  for  a  time  suppressed.  It  was  soon 
however  revived  in  a  purer  form,  and  was  in 
troduced  at  the  French  court  in  1588,  where 
Richelieu,  wearing  green  velvet  knee-breeches, 
with  bells  on  his  feet,  and  castanets  in  his  hands, 
danced  it  in  a  ballet  before  Anne  of  Austria. 

In  England  the  Saraband  was  soon  trans 
formed  into  an  ordinary  country -dance.  The 
first  edition  of  Playford's  'Dancing  Master' 
(1651)  has  two  examples,  one,  to  be  danced 
'longwayes  for  as  many  as  will'  (i.e.  as  'Sir 
Roger  de  Coverley '  is  now  danced),  and  the  other, 
'  Adson's  Saraband,'  to  be  danced  '  longwayes 
for  six.'  It  was  at  about  this  time  that  the 
Saraband,  together  with  other  dances,  found  its 
way  into  the  Suite,  of  which  it  formed  the  slow 
movement,  placed  before  the  concluding  Gigue. 
In  this  form  it  is  remarkable  for  its  strongly 
accentuated  and  majestic  rhythm,  generally  as 
follows  : — 


SARASATE. 


227 


It  is  written  either  in  the  major  or  the  minor 
key,  in  3-2  or  3-4  time,  although  Walther 
(Lexicon,  1732)  says  that  it  may  be  also  written 
in  2-4  time.  It  usually  consists  of  two  8-  or  12- 
bar  divisions,  begins  on  the  down-beat,  and 
ends  on  the  second  or  third  beat.  Bach,  in  the 
'  Clavieriibung  '  Pt.  I.  (Bachges.  iii.  76)  has  a 
Saraband  beginning  on  the  up-beat,  and  Handel 
(Suite  XI)  has  one  with  variations.  Those  by 
Corelli  do  not  conform  to  the  established  rules, 
but  are  little  more  than  Sicilianas  played  slowly. 

The  following  Saraband  for  the  guitar  is  printed 
in  Fuertes'  '  Historia  de  la  Musica  Espanola.' 


=te 

J4- 

^4=^ 

T^ 

^T* 

^ 

^ 

^^~ 

-*U 

-<  —  ! 

^r 

f*^ 

t-^w 

™ 

W\ 

^ 

^ 

fef3 

fc^t 

^ 

-^  1 

^  r 

3=*±i 
™ 

f 

Vi 

^r      - 

; 

rLf 

3  1 

l  'New  Spain '  is  Castile. 


r 


Handel's  noble  air  'Lascia  ch'io  pianga,'  in 
'  Rinaldo,'  is  taken  with  no  material  alteration 
from  a  Saraband  in  his  earlier  opera  of  '  Almira,' 
in  which  the  majestic  rhythm  mentioned  reigns  in 
all  its  dignity  : — 


XI    ft  fl                 ]    1"  _i 

~*-i    ^—    f«"     i 

1     frf'     r"   j 

1     M 

(f\)¥  -£•  ^  ^      •- 

<&    j&    i     g- 

r 

^J     ^v 

•  • 

0-j  1  1  1  j. 

(TS 

p 

*   n    '  r          UL 

r^ 

—  ' 

1         1    — 

-    \       1        ' 

1 

C3I2Z    •  J 

",  1            ~, 

c^     -^J 

See  Chrysander's 

Handel  i.  121. 

[W.B.S.] 

SARASATE,  MARTIN  MELiTON,born  at  Pam- 
peluna,  March  10,  1844,  came  to  France  as  a 
child,  and  entered  the  Paris  Conservatoire,  Jan.  i, 
1856.  The  following  year  he  became  the  favourite 
pupil  of  Alard,  and  gained  the  first  prizes  for 
solfeggio  and  violin.  He  then  entered  Reber's 
harmony  class,  and  secured  a  premier  accessit 
in  1859,  but  shortly  after  relinquished  the  study 
of  composition  for  the  more  tempting  career  of 
a  concert  player.  His  beautiful  tone,  retentive 
memory,  immense  execution,  and  certainty  of 
finger,  added  to  the  singularity  of  his  manners 
and  appearance,  ensured  his  success  in  Paris,  the 
French  provinces,  and  the  Peninsula.  The  Span 
iards  naturally  honoured  an  artist  whom  they 
looked  upon  as  their  own  countryman,  but 
Sarasate  aspired  to  make  his  name  known  wher 
ever  music  was  appreciated,  as  well  as  in  the  two 
countries  especially  his  own  by  birth  and  adoption. 
No  violinist  has  travelled  more  than  he  ;  besides 
making  his  way  through  Europe,  from  the  re 
motest  corner  of  Portugal  to  Norway,  and  from 
London  to  Moscow,  he  has  visited  America, 
North  and  South.  In  all  his  wanderings  he  has 
contrived  to  carry  on  his  cultivation,  and  de- 
velope  his  great  natural  gifts.  To  London  his 
first  visit  was  in  1874,  when  he  played  at 
the  Philharmonic  Concert,  May  1 8,  and  at  the 
Musical  Union,  June  9,  etc.  He  returned  in  1877 
(Crystal  Palace,  Oct.  13),  and  78  (Philharmonic, 
Mar.  28),  since  when  he  has  not  crossed  the 
channel. 

Sarasate's  distinguishing  characteristics  are  not 
so  much  fire,  force,  and  passion,  though  of  these 
he  has  an  ample  store,  as  purity  of  style,  charm, 
flexibility,  and  extraordinary  facility.  He  sings 
on  his  instrument  with  taste  and  expression,  and 
without  that  exaggeration  or  affectation  of  sen 
timent  which  disfigures  the  playing  of  many 
violinists.  He  is  not,  however,  quite  free  from  a 

Q2 


228 


SARASATE. 


tendency  to  trick,  such  as  tremolo,  which  is  very 
regrettable  in  an  artist  of  genius  and  sensibility, 
—and  from  over-rapidity  in  quick  movements. 
His  repertoire  is  varied,  comprising  the  concertos 
of  the  classical  masters — Viotti,  Beethoven,  Spohr, 
and  Mendelssohn — and  the  works  of  the  modern 
French  and  Belgian  schools.  Among  the  latter 
his  favourites  are  Max  Bruch's  concertos,  those  of 
Saint-Saens  and  Lalo,  and  the  Symphonic  Espag- 
nole  of  the  last-named  composer.  Sarasate  has 
composed  for  his  instrument  romances,  fantaisies, 
and  especially  transcriptions  of  Spanish  airs  and 
dances  (Simrock,  Bonn),  all  calculated  to  display 
his  skill  as  a  virtuoso.  [G.C.] 

SARTI,  GIUSEPPE,  born  at  Faenza,  Dec.  I, 
1729,  a  date  differing  from  that  given  by  most 
of  his  biographers,  but  furnished  by  Sarti's  own 
grandson  to  the  writer,  who  has  taken  great 
pains  to  verify  it.  The  son  of  a  jeweller  who 
played  the  violin  in  the  cathedral,  he  early 
learned  music,  and  had  lessons  in  composition 
— from  Vallotti  according  to  his  own  family, 
from  Padre  Martini  according  to  his  biographers. 
Whether  at  Padua  or  at  Bologna  (the  respective 
homes  of  the  two  masters),  he  completed  his 
studies  at  an  early  age,  for  we  learn  from  the 
chapter  archives,  still  preserved  in  the  library 
of  Faenza,  that  he  was  organist  of  the  cathedral 
from  1748  to  April  1750.  In  1751  he  composed 
his  first  opera,  'Pompeo  in  Armenia,'  which  was 
enthusiastically  received  by  his  fellow  towns 
men,  and  followed  by  several  more  serious 
works,  and  '  II  Re  pastore'  (Venice,  1753)  which 
had  an  immense  success.  So  quickly  did  his 
fame  spread  that  when  he  was  only  24  the 
King  of  Denmark  (Frederic  V.)  invited  him 
to  Copenhagen  as  Capellmeister  to  the  Prince 
Royal,  and  director  of  the  Italian  opera;  and, 
on  the  closing  of  the  latter  in  two  years,  made 
him  Court-capellmeister.  In  the  summer  of  1765 
the  king  determined  to  reopen  the  opera,  and 
Sarti  went  back  to  Italy  after  an  absence  of 
twelve  years  to  engage  singers ;  but  his  plans 
were  upset  by  the  deaths  first  of  the  king  in 
1766,  and  then  of  his  own  mother  in  1767,  so 
that  it  was  not  till  1768  that  he  returned  to 
Copenhagen.  These  three  years  of  trouble  were 
not  unfruitful,  as  he  composed  five  operas,  of 
which  two,  '  I  Contratempi '  and  '  Didone  abban- 
donata,'  were  given  in  Venice,  where  he  seems 
chiefly  to  have  resided. 

Overskou's  carefully  compiled  'History  of  the 
Danish  l stage'  informs  us  that  Sarti  directed 
the  Danish  court-theatre  from  1770  to  May  20, 
1775,  when  he  was  summarily  dismissed.  A 
favourite  with  Christian  VII. ,  'and  the  protege" 
of  Struensee  and  Queen  Caroline  Matilda,  he  was 
too  artless  and  straightforward  to  curry  favour 
with  the  queen  dowager  and  the  ambitious 
Ove  Gulberg ;  so  after  the  catastrophe  of  1772 
he  found  his  position  gradually  becoming  worse 
and  worse,  and  when  the  oligarchical  party  had 
secured  the  upper  hand,  imprisoning  the  queen, 
and  reducing  the  king  to  a  mere  cipher,  he  had, 

i  Thomas  Overskou.  '  Deti  danske  Skueplads  in  dens  Historic,'  8vo. 
Copenhagen.  1851—. 


SARTI. 

with  other  court  favourites,  to  endure  much  ill 
treatment,  and  was  finally  banished.  During 
this  second  stay  at  Copenhagen  he  married 
Camilla  Pasi,  by  whom  he  had  two  daughters. 

Returning  to  Italy  in  the  summer  of  1775  he 
went  first  to  Venice,  became  at  once  director  of 
the  Ospedaletto  Conservatorio,  and  administered 
it  with  great  success  for  four  years.     In  1779  the 
post  of  maestro  di  capella  of  the  cathedral  of 
Milan  fell  vacant  through  the  death  of  Fioroni, 
and  Sarti  was  pronounced  successful  at  a  compe 
tition  held  before  the  Conservatorio  of  Naples. 
This  victory  over  Paisiello  and  other  eminent  mu 
sicians,  greatly  increased  his  reputation,  and  pro 
cured  him  many  distinguished  pupils,  Cherubini 
among  the  number,  who  indeed  was  not  only  his 
pupil,  but  for  some  years  his  assistant.2    In  1784 
he  received  an  invitation  from  Russia  too  ad 
vantageous   to   be  refused,  but  the   nine  years 
spent  in  Milan  were  the  most  brilliant  of  his 
whole  career,  and  the  most  prolific,  including  as 
they  do  his  most  successful  operas,  '  Le  Gelosie 
3villane  '  and  'Farnace'  (Venice,  1776) ;  'Achille 
in  Sciro'  (Florence,  Oct.  17/9) ;  'Giulio  Sabino' 
(Venice  1781),  and  '  Le  Nozze  di  Dorina'  (ib. 
1782).     To  complete  the  list,  at  least  ten  more 
operas   and   several   cantatas  on   a   large  scale 
should  be  added,  works  for  the  cathedral  choir, 
including  several  masses,  a  Miserere  k  4,  and 
some  important  motets. 

On  his  way  to  St.  Petersburg,  Sarti  made  some 
stay  at  Vienna,  where  Joseph  II.  received  him 
graciously,  and  granted  him  the  proceeds  of  a 
performance   of  'I  Litiganti,'  which  had  long 
maintained  its  place  at  the  Burgtheater,  and  had 
helped  to  fill  its  coffers,  as  the  monarch  politely 
told    the  composer.      He   there  made  the  ac 
quaintance  of  Mozart,  then  in  the  very  prime  of 
life,  who  speaks  of  him  as  an  '  honest,  good  man,' 
and  who  not  only  played  to  him  a  good  deal,  but 
adopted  an  air  from  his  '  Due  litiganti '  as  the 
theme  of  a  set  of  Variations  (Kochel,  460),  and 
as  a  subject  in  the  Second  Finale  of  '  Don  Juan.' 
His  pleasure  in  Mozart's  playing  did  not,  how 
ever,  place  him  on  Mozart's  level ;  and  when  the 
famous  six  quartets  were  published,  Sarti  was  one 
of  the  loudest  to  complain  of  their  '  barbarisms.' 
His  examination  remains   mostly  in  MS.,  but 
some  extracts  are  given  in  the  A.  M.  Z.  for  1832 
(p.  373),  including  19  mortal  errors  in  36  bars, 
and  showing  how  difficult  it  is  even  for  a  very 
clever  composer  to  apprehend  the  ideas  of  one 
greater  than  himself. 

Catherine  II.  received  him  with  even  greater 
marks  of  favour  than  Joseph,  which  he  repaid 
by  composing  several  important  works  for 
her  own  choir,  and  by  bringing  the  Italian 
opera  into  a  state  of  efficiency  it  had  never 
attained  before.  Among  his  sacred  compositions 
of  this  period  may  be  mentioned  an  oratorio  for 
two  choirs,  full  orchestra,  and  band  of  Russian 
horns  ;  a  Te  Deum  for  the  taking  of  Otchakow 
by  Potemkin ;  and  a  Requiem  in  honour  of  Louis 

2  See  Oherubini's  preface  to  the  Catalogue  of  his  works. 

3  Mozart,  in  1791,  wrote  a  final  chorus  for  this,  of  which,  however, 
nothing  has  survived  but  the  5  bars  in  his  autograph  catalogue.  (See 
KOchel,  615.) 


SARTI. 

XVI.  It  was  in  the  Te  Deum  that  Sarti  em 
ployed  fireworks  and  the  discharge  of  cannon  to 
heighten  the  martial  effect  of  the  music.  Among 
his  operas  produced  at  St.  Petersburg  were  '  Ar- 
mida '  ( 1 786),  which  had  an  immense  success,  and 
was  sung  to  perfection  by  the  celebrated  Todi — 
and  'Olega,'  the  libretto  of  which  was  by  the 
Empress  herself.  In  this  opera  Sarti  endeavoured 
to  imitate  the  music  of  the  ancient  Greeks,  and 
made  use  of  some  of  their  modes.  A  skilled 
mathematician  and  physicist,  he  was  fond  of  ex 
plaining  to  the  Empress  his  theories  of  acoustics, 
which  he  illustrated  by  many  ingenious  experi 
ments.  He  invented  a  machine  for  counting 
the  vibrations  of  sounds,  and  fixed  436  vibra 
tions1  for  the  A,  as  the  normal  pitch  for  his 
orchestra.  For  this  invention  he  was  elected  an 
honorary  member  of  the  Academy  of  Science  in  St. 
Petersburg.  Many  other  honours  were  conferred 
upon  him,  including  those  of  councillor  of  the  Uni 
versity,  chief  maitre  de  chapelle  to  the  court,  and 
nobility  of  the  ist  class.  Todi's  intrigues  caused 
him  temporary  inconvenience,  but  he  consoled 
himself  for  a  short  period  of  disgrace  by  going  to  a 
village  in  theUkraine,givenhimbyPrincePotem- 
kin,  and  founding  there  a  school  of  singing  which 
turned  out  some  remarkable  singers.  In  1793 
the  Empress  restored  him  completely  to  favour, 
and  placed  him  at  the  head  of  a  Conservatoire 
planned  after  the  model  of  those  in  Italy.  After 
her  death  and  that  of  her  son  Paul  I.,  Sarti  de 
termined  to  revisit  his  native  land,  and  in  the 
spring  of  1802  left  Russia,  where  he  had  lived  for 
1 8  years  without  a  break.  At  Berlin  he  formed 
an  intimacy  with  the  Court-capellmeister,  Noel 
Mussini  (born  at  Bergamo,  1765,  died  at  Flo 
rence,  1837),  who  fell  in  love  with  his  daughter 
Giuliana,  and  became  his  son-in-law.2  Imme 
diately  after  the  marriage  the  kind  and  gentle 
Sarti,  who  was  as  absent  as  La  Fontaine,  fell 
seriously  ill  of  gout,  and  died  July  28,  1802,  aged 
73-  He  was  buried  in  the  Catholic  church  of 
St.  Edwige,  where  his  ashes  still  remain. 

From  some  unexplained  cause  very  few  of 
Sarti's  compositions  have  been  engraved.  His 
Te  Deuni  was  printed  with  Russian  words  at 
St.  Petersburg,  and  Breitkopf  &  Hartel  have 
published  two  of  his  sacred  pieces,  one  in  8,  the 
other  in  6  real  parts.  A  French  translation  of 
the  'Nozze  di  Dorina' — apparently  the  only 
opera  of  his  that  has  been  engraved — appeared 
in  Paris,  but  Ricordi  of  Milan  has  copies  of  '  Ar- 
micla  e  Rinaldo';  'I  finti  Eredi';  '  Le  Gelosie 
villane';  '  Nitteti,'  and  '  Vologeso.'  These  scores, 
as  well  as  those  of ' Adriano  in  Sciro,'  'Alessandro,' 
'Gli  Amanti  consolati,'  'Castore  e  Polluce,'  'I 
Contratempi,'  'Didone  abbandonata,'  'Erifile,' 
'Fra  due  Litiganti,'  '  Giulio  Sabino,'  '  Idalide,' 
'Irigenia,'  'II  Medonte,'  'II  Militare  bizzarre,' 
'  Mitridate,'  '  Le  Nozze  di  Dorina,'  and 
'Scipione,'  and  also  of  nearly  all  his  sacred 

'  The  'diapason  normale'  of  France  at  this  moment  fixes  435 
vibrations  for  the  same  note. 

2  The  articles  on  Sarti  and  Mussini  in  F<5tis  are  full  of  errors  and 
omissions.  We  have  corrected  the  most  glaring  mistakes  from 
family  papers  kindly  furnished  by  the  distinguished  painter  L.  Mus 
sini,  director  of  the  Museo  at  Siena,  and  grandson  of  the  composer. 


SATURDAY  CONCERTS. 


229 


works,  are  in  the  library  of  the  Paris  Conserva 
toire,  from  which  circumstance  the  writer  is 
able  to  pronounce  upon  his  style.  The  part- 
writing  is  eminently  vocal,  and  the  most  difficult 
combinations  are  mastered  with  ease,  but  the 
scientific  element  is  never  unduly  forced  into 
notice,  owing  to  Sarti's  gift  of  fresh  and  spon 
taneous  melody.  Most  of  his  operas  contain 
numbers  well  constructed  with  a  view  to  stage 
effect,  and  full  of  expression  and  charm  ;  indeed 
so  much  of  his  music  might  still  be  heard  with 
pleasure  that  it  seems  strange  that  no  great 
artist  has  attempted  to  revive  it. 

His  masses  alone  retain  their  hold  on  public 
favour,  and  one  was  performed  on  Easter  Day  1 880 
in  Milan  Cathedral,  which  still  has  all  the  MSS. 

Sarti  left  six  sonatas  for  the  Clavier  solo 
(London,  1762).  An  Allegro  from  these  is  in 
cluded  in  Pauer's  'Alte  Meister.'  Cherubini 
quotes  a  '  Cum  Sancto'  a  8  of  his  in  his 
'Theory  of  Counterpoint';  and  Fe"tis  a  Kyrie 
from  the  same  mass  in  his  treatise.  Breitkopf 
has  published  a  Fugue  for  8  voices,  a  Hymn  and 
a  Miserere,  and  the  overture  to  '  Giro  ricono- 
sciuto.'  A  Rondo  for  mezzo  soprano  will  be  found 
in  Gevaert's  '  Gloires  d'  Italic,'  and  a  Cavatina 
from  'Giulio  Sabino'  in  the  '  Gemme  d'Antichita.' 

The  Mussini  family  possess  a  fine  oil  painting 
of  the  composer,  taken  in  1786  by  Tonci,  an 
Italian  painter  settled  in  St.  Petersburg.  '  Le 
Chevalier  Sarti,'  a  novel  by  P.  Scudo,  appeared 
first  in  the  '  Revue  des  Deux  Mondes,'  and  has 
since  been  published  separately  (Paris,  Hachette, 
1857).  [G.C.] 

SARTORETTI,  a  Mantuan  lady  who  deserves 
to  be  rescued  from  oblivion  for  her  conduct  to 
Mozart  when  he  visited  Mantua  in  January 
1 770  as  a  boy  of  not  quite  14.  She  invited  him 
to  dinner,  sent  him  a  dish  containing  a  garland 
of  choice  flowers  tied  with  red  ribands,  and  in  the 
midst  of  the  ribands  a  medal  worth  four  ducats, 
and  a  copy  of  verses  by  herself  headed  Al  Signor 
Amadeo  Wolfgango  Mozart,  Anacreontica.  His 
hands  were  at  the  time  severely  chapped  with 
the  cold,  and  she  gave  him  some  pomade  which 
quickly  restored  them.  The  verses  are  printed 
by  Jahn  in  his  Mozart,  App.  III.  A,  6.  [G.] 

SARTORIS,  MKS.,  actress,  singer,  and  friend 
of  Mendelssohn's.  She  died  Aug.  6,  1879.  [See 
KEMBLE,  ADELAIDE.]  [W.H.H.] 

SATANELLA,  OR  THE  POWER  OF  LOVE. 

A  '  New  Original  Romantic  Opera,'  in  4  acts ; 
words  by  Harris  and  Falconer,  music  by  Balfe. 
Produced  at  the  National  English  Opera,  Covent 
Garden  (Pyne  and  Harrison),  Dec.  20,1858.  The 
story  is  a  version  of  the  Diable  boiteux.  [G.] 

SATURDAY  CONCERTS,  CRYSTAL 
PALACE.  For  these  see  vol.  i.  p.  422  a.  They 
continue  on  the  same  footing  as  there  described ; 
and  since  that  date  (Oct.  1878)  Brahms's  Second 
Symphony,  Academic  and  Tragic  Overtures, 
and  Violin  Concerto ;  Raff's  '  Im  Walde,'  '  Fruh- 
lingsklange,'  and  '  Im  Sommer,'  Symphonies ; 
Liszt's  '  Ideale ' ;  Rubinstein's  '  Tower  of  Babel,' 


230 


SATURDAY  CONCERTS. 


'  Dramatic '  Symphony,  and  PF.  Concerto  in  G  ; 
Goetz's  Symphony,  PF.  Concerto,  Overtures ; 
Bandini's  '  Eleonore  ' ;  Smetana's  '  Vltava ' ;  Bi 
zet's  '  Roma ' ;  Sullivan's  '  Martyr  of  Antioch ' ; 
Cowen's  Scandinavian  Symphony ;  Schubert's  8 
Symphonies  in  chronological  order,  and  many  other 
new  works  have  been  brought  forward.  [G.] 
SATURDAY  POPULAR  CONCERTS,  THE, 
the  enterprise  of  the  Messrs.  Chappell,  and  held 
in  St.  James's  Hall,  London,  at  3  on  Saturday 
afternoons  in  winter  and  spring,  are  an  offshoot 
of  the  MONDAY  POPULAR  CONCERTS.  They  began 
in  1865,  when  three  performances  were  given, 
on  March  n,  18,  25.  This  practice  continued, 
with  a  gradual  increase  in  the  number,  and  an 
occasional  extra  concert  before  Christmas,  till 
1876-7,  when  the  number  was  raised  to  seven 
teen,  given  between  Nov.  n  and  March  24  in 
clusive,  in  fact  alternating  with  the  Monday 
Popular  Concerts  through  the  season.  In  pro 
grammes  and  performances  the  two  sets  of  con 
certs  are  alike.  [G.] 
SAUER  &  LEIDESDORF,  a  formerly- 
existing  firm  of  music-publishers  in  Vienna. 
Schubert  published  the  following  works  with 
them,  beginning  in  1823  : — op.  20-30  (including 
the  '  Schb'ne  Mullerin'  in  5  parts)  ;  35,  40,  59,  69 
(the  overture  only,  for  PF.  4  hands,  as  op.  52). 
Sauer  then  retired,  and  Leidesdorf  continued  the 
business  alone,  publishing  for  Schubert  op.  92, 
94,  108  ;  and  after  his  death  119  (Oct.  1829). 
Leidesdorf  was  a  prolific  writer  of  PF.  pieces, 
much  esteemed  by  amateurs.  After  the  last- 
mentioned  date  he  went  to  Florence,  and  died  there 
Sept.  26,  I84O.1  His  relations  to  Beethoven  are 
mentioned  under  LEIDESDORF.  [C.F.P.] 

SAUL.  An  oratorio ;  -words  attributed  both 
to  Jennens  and  Morell,  music  by  Handel.  The 
composition  was  begun  July  23,  1738.  The  2nd 
act  was  completed  Aug.  28,  and  the  whole  on 
Sept.  27,  of  the  same  year.  First  performance  at 
the  King's  Theatre,  Tuesday,  Jan.  16,  i739> 
at  Dublin,  May  25,  1742.  Revived  by  the 
Sacred  Harmonic  Society,  March  20,  1840.  The 
autograph  is  in  the  library  at  Buckingham 
Palace.  The  overture  ('Sinfonia')  is  Handel's 
longest ;  it  is  in  4  movements,  and  the  organ  is 
largely  employed  in  it  as  a  solo  instrument. 
There  seems  to  have  been  some  secret  connexion 
between  the  organ  and  the  oratorio,  as  it  is  more 
than  once  announced  '  with  several  concertos  on 
the  organ.'  The  'Dead  March  in  Saul'  (in  C 
major)  has  been  perhaps  more  widely  played, 
and  is  more  universally  known  than  any  other 
piece  of  music.  [G.] 

SAURET,  EMILE,  violinist,  born  at  Dun  le 
Roi,  Cher,  France,  May  22,  1852,  soon  attracted 
the  notice  of  De  Beriot,  and  became  his  pupil, 
the  last  he  ever  had.  He  began  to  travel  at  an 
early  age,  playing  in  the  chief  towns  of  France 
and  Italy,  in  Vienna  and  in  London,  where  he 
made  his  first  appearance  at  Alfred  Mellon's  Con 
certs,  Covent  Garden,  in  Aug.  1866.  In  1872 
he  made  his  first  visit  with  Strakosch  to  the  ; 

I  Not  1839.  as  stated  in  vol.  ii.  p.  114  o. 


SAUZAY. 

United  States,  and  his  second  in  1874,  remain 
ing  there  till  Jan.  1876.  In  New  York  he 
made  the  acquaintance  of  von  Billow  and  Rubin 
stein,  and  on  his  return  to  Leipzig  was  welcomed 
by  the  latter,  then  engaged  in  the  rehearsals  of 
his  'Paradise  Lost.'  Sauret  made  his  ddbutia. 
the  Gewandhaus  in  May  1876  in  Mendelssohn's 
Concerto,  and  was  most  warmly  received.  He 
however  returned  immediately  to  America,  and 
it  was  not  till  he  came  back  again  in  1877,  and 
went  through  Germany  and  Austria  in  two  long 
and  most  successful  tournees,  that  his  reputation 
was  established  in  his  native  country.  He  has 
played  at  the  Gewandhaus  every  year  since  1876, 
and  is  a  great  and  desired  favourite  with  that 
very  critical  audience.  In  Holland  also  he  is  well 
known.  In  England  he  reappeared  in  1880,  and 
played  at  the  Crystal  Palace,  April  24,  and  Phil 
harmonic  (Bruch's  Concerto  No.  i)  on  the  28th. 

Liszt  has  shown  him  much  kindness,  and  they 
have  often  made  music  together.  In  1879 
Sauret  married  Miss  Emma  Hotter  of  Dusseldorf^ 
and  since  that  date  has  taken  up  his  abode  in 
Berlin,  where  he  is  teacher  of  the  violin  in 
Kullak's  Academy. 

His  published  works  embrace  a  Concerto  in 
G  minor  ;  a  Ballade,  a  Legende  ;  and  a  Serenade 
in  G — all  for  solo  violin  and  orchestra ;  Caprice 
de  Concert  in  D  ;  Scherzo  fantastique ;  Valse- 
caprice;  Barcarolle-mazurka,  and  many  other 
drawing-room  pieces,  as  well  as  transcriptions 
from  Mendelssohn,  Rubinstein,  Wagner,  etc.  [G.] 

SAUZAY,  CHARLES  EUGENE,  an  eminent 
French  violinist,  was  born  at  Paris,  July  14, 
1809.  In  J823  he  entered  the  Conservatoire, 
and  in  his  second  year  became  the  pupil  of 
Baillot  and  of  Reicha.  He  obtained  the  2nd 
violin  prize  in  1825,  the  ist  do.,  and  the  second 
for  fugue,  in  1827.  A  few  years  later  he  joined 
Baillot's  quartet,  first  as  second  violin  and  then 
as  tenor,  vice  Urban,  married  Mile.  Baillot,  and 
continued  one  of  her  father's  party  till  its  dis 
solution  in  1 840.  He  soon  rose  rapidly  both  in 
society  and  as  a  professor.  In  1840  he  was 
made  first  violin  to  Louis  Philippe,  and  after 
wards  leader  of  the  second  violins  to  the  Em 
peror  Napoleon  III.  In  1860  he  succeeded 
Girard  as  professor  at  the  Conservatoire.  His 
own  quartet  party  started  after  the  termination 
of  Baillot's,  embracing  his  wife  and  Boely 
as  pianists,  Norblin  and  Franchomme ;  gave  its 
concerts,  sometimes  with  and  sometimes  without 
orchestra,  in  the  Salle  Pleyel.  Sauzay  is  men 
tioned  by  Hiller  as  one  of  Mendelssohn's  ac 
quaintances  during  his  stay  in  Paris  in  1830. 
He  was  greatly  sought  after  both  as  a  player  and 
a  teacher.  His  publications  are  not  important, 
and  consist  of  incidental  music  to  '  Georges  Dan- 
din  '  and  '  Le  Sicilien,'  cleverly  written  in  the 
style  of  Lully  to  suit  the  date  of  the  pieces; 
fan-tasias  and  romances;  a  PF.  trio;  songs; 
'  Haydn,  Mozart,  Beethoven  ;  Etude  sur  le  qua- 
tuox '  (Paris  1861),  a  disappointing  work  from  the 
pen  of  a  musician  of  so  much  eminence  and 
experience ;  '  L'e'cole  de  raccompagnement ' 
(Paris  1869),  a  sequel  to  the  foregoing.  He 


SAUZAY. 

has  now  in  the  press  a  series  of '  Etudes  harmon- 
iques '  for  the  violin.  [G.] 

SAVART,  FELIX,  a  French  philosopher,  who 
distinguished  himself  by  researches  in  acoustics. 
He  was  born  at  Me'zieres  June  30,  1791,  and 
was  the,  son  of  a  mathematical  instrument  maker 
of  some  repute.  He  at  first  practised  medicine, 
but  subsequently  devoted  himself  in  preference 
to  general  philosophical  pursuits,  obtained  the 
post  of  professor  at  the  College  of  France,  and 
was  admitted  a  member  of  the  French  Academy 
of  Sciences  in  November  1827. 

Following  in  the  steps  of  Chladni,  whose 
labours  had  particularly  attracted  his  attention, 
he  made  many  investigations  in  acoustics,  which 
are  recorded  in  the  several  publications  bearing 
his  name.  He  appears  particularly  to  have 
thrown  light  on  the  nature  of  that  complicated 
relation  between  a  vibrating  body  which  is  the 
source  of  sound,  and  other  bodies  brought  into 
connexion  with  it,  by  virtue  of  which  the  original 
sound  is  magnified  in  intensity  and  modified  in 
quality;  well-known  examples  of  such  an  arrange 
ment  being  furnished  by  the  soundboards  of  the 
violin  tribe  and  the  pianoforte. 

Savart's  name  is  also  connected  with  an  in 
genious  little  device  for  measuring,  in  a  manner 
easily  appreciable  by  a  lecture-audience,  the 
number  of  vibrations  corresponding  to  a  given 
musical  note.  A  wheel,  caused  to  rotate  quickly 
by  ordinary  mechanical  contrivances,  is  furnished 
on  its  circumference  with  teeth  or  ratchets, 
against  which  a  tongue  of  pasteboard  or  some 
other  elastic  substance  is  brought  into  contact. 
The  passage  of  each  tooth  gives  a  vibration  to 
the  tongue,  and  if  the  wheel  revolve  fast  enough, 
the  repetition  of  these  vibrations  will  produce  a 
musical  sound.  Hence,  as  the  number  of  rotations 
of  the  wheel  in  a  given  time  can  be  easily  counted, 
the  number  of  vibrations  corresponding  to  the 
note  produced  can  be  experimentally  ascertained, 
with  tolerable  precision.  This  mode  of  deter 
mining  vibration  numbers  has  been  since  super 
seded  by  the  more  elegant  instrument,  the  SYREN, 
and  by  other  modes  known  to  modern  acoustic 
physicists,  but  from  the  simplicity  of  its  demon 
strations  it  is  still  often  used. 

Savart  also  investigated  with  some  attention 
and  success  the  acoustical  laws  bearing  on  wind 
instruments,  and  on  the  production  of  the  voice. 
He  died  in  March  1841.  [W.P.] 

SAVILE,  JEREMY,  a  composer  of  the  middle 
of  the  1 7th  century,  some  of  whose  songs  are  in 
cluded  in  '  Select  Musicall  Ayres  and  Dialogues,' 
1653,  is  now  only  known  by  his  4-part  song, 
'  The  Waits,'  printed  in  Play  ford's  '  Musical 
Companion,'  which,  by  long-standing  custom  is 
the  last  piece  sung  at  the  meetings  of  the  Madri 
gal  Society  and  similar  bodies.  [W.  H.H.] 

SAVOY.    [See  OLD  HUNDREDTH,  THE.] 

SAVOY  CHAPEL  ROYAL.  At  the  present 
day  commonly  accepted  as  one  of  Her  Majesty's 
Chapels  Royal,  the  Savoy  has  a  constitution 
differing  widely  from  the  chapels  of  St.  James 
and  Whitehall.  While  these  are  maintained  out 


SAX. 


231 


of  the  Civil  List,  the  Savoy  Chapel  derives  its 
sustenance  from  Her  Majesty's  Privy  Purse,  and 
thus  in  one  respect  has  even  greater  claim  to 
the  appellation  of  Royal.     The  salient  points  in 
the  history  of  the  Savoy  may  be  given  in  few 
words,  which   may  tend  to  remove  much  pre 
vailing  misconception  on  the  subject.      In  1246 
Henry  III.  made  a  grant  of  land  on  the  banks  of 
the  Thames  to  his  wife's  uncle,  Count  Peter  of 
Savoy,  and  a  palatial  residence  was  erected  on  the 
site.     After  Peter's  death  the  estate  came  into 
the  possession  of  Queen  Eleanor,  who  bestowed 
it  upon  her  son  Edmund  of  Lancaster,  and  it 
remained  in  the  possession  of  the  Lancastrian 
branch   of  the  royal  family  until   1381,  when, 
owing  to  the  unpopularity  of  John  of  Gaunt,  the 
palace  was  wrecked  by  th-e  insurgents   under 
Wat  Tyler.     Under  the  provisions  of  the  will  of 
Henry  VII.,  a  hospital  was  founded  there,  but 
though  richly  endowed,  it  did  not  flourish,  and 
the  foulest  abuses  prevailed  until  1702,  when  the 
institution  was  dissolved.     The  Chapel  had  been 
used  from  1564  until  1717  by  the  parishioners 
of  St.  Mary's,  but  in  1773  George  III.  issued  a 
patent  constituting  it  a  Chapel  Royal,  and  its 
title  is  therefore  beyond  dispute.     From  time 
to  time  the  reigning  sovereigns  contributed  to 
wards  its  maintenance,  but  the  place  attracted 
little  general  notice   until    1864,  when   it  was 
partially  destroyed  by  fire.     Restored  from  de 
signs  by  Sir  Sidney  Smirke,  at  a  cost  to  Her 
Majesty  of  about  £7000,  the  Chapel  was  reopened 
for  Divine  Service  on  December  3,  1865.     The 
peculiarity  of  the  Services,  as  at  present  con 
ducted,  calls  for   some   mention  in  this  place. 
In  the  absence   of  any  provision  for  the  full 
choral  rendering   of  the   ritual,  congregational 
singing  is  promoted  to  the  fullest  extent.     The 
choir  consists  of  boys  only,  and  the  psalms,  can 
ticles,  hymns,  etc.,  are  sung  strictly  in  unison. 
The  chants  and  tunes  are  selected  from  every 
available  source,  the  most  worthy  examples  of 
the   older   school   being    utilised    equally   with 
modern  compositions  of  sufficient  melodic  beauty 
to  appeal  to  the  vocal  capabilities  of  a  mixed 
congregation.  The  various  Church  Offices  of  Bap 
tism,   Confirmation,  Matrimony,  Burial  of  the 
Dead,  etc.,  are  never  rendered  at  the  Savoy  with 
out  the  musical  additions  suggested  by  the  rubrics, 
and  strangers  to  the  Chapel  who  seek  its  minis 
trations  are  frequently  surprised  at  the  aid  thus 
spontaneously  given.     The  organ,  at  present  in 
complete,  is  by  Willis.  [H.F.F.] 
SAX,  CHARLES  JOSEPH,  a  Belgian  musical- 
instrument  maker  of  the  first  rank,  born  at  Dinant 
in  Belgium,  Feb.  i,  1791,  died  in  Paris,  April  26, 
1865.     He  was  first  a  cabinet-maker,  then  a  me 
chanic  in  a  spinning-machine  factory,  and  then 
set  up  in  Brussels  as  a  maker  of  wind-instruments. 
He  had  served  no  apprenticeship  to  the  trade,  and 
his  only  qualification  was  that  he  could  play  the 
serpent ;   he  was   therefore   obliged   to   investi 
gate  for  himself  the  laws  concerning  the  bore  of 
instruments ;   but  as  he  had  great  manual  dex 
terity,  and  a  turn  for  invention,  he  was  soon  able 
to  produce  serpents  and  flutes  of  fair  quality.  He 


232 


SAX. 


quickly  attracted  notice  by  his  clarinets  and  bas 
soons,  which  gained  him  a  medal  at  the  Industrial 
Exhibition  of  1820,  and  the  title  of  musical- 
instrument  maker  to  the  court  of  the  Nether 
lands,  who  also  encouraged  him  by  advancing 
him  capital.  In  1822  he  began  to  make  all 
kinds  of  wind-instruments,  brass  and  wood,  and 
in  1824  invented  an  'omnitonic  horn'  which  he 
continued  to  perfect  till  1 846.  This  instrument 
can  be  adjusted  to  any  key  by  means  of  a 
piston  sliding  backwards  or  forwards  on  a  gra 
duated  scale  of  about  half  an  inch  long,  which 
sets  the  body  of  the  instrument  in  communication 
with  tubes  of  different  lengths  corresponding  to 
all  the  major  keys.  On  a  separate  elbow  is  a 
moveable  register  which  the  player  fixes  opposite 
the  number  of  the  key  he  wishes  to  use,  and  the 
tube  of  that  key  being  at  once  brought  into 
position,  the  instrument  is  played  exactly  like 
an  ordinary  horn.  Sax  also  invented  brass 
instruments  producing  every  note  in  the  scale, 
without  crooks,  pistons,  or  cylinders.  He  took 
out  patents  for  a  keyed  harp,  and  a  piano  and  a 
guitar  on  a  new  system,  but  his  efforts  were 
mainly  directed  to  perfecting  the  clarinet,  especi 
ally  the  bass  clarinet,  and  discovering  new  methods 
of  boring  brass  and  wood  wind-instruments  with 
a  view  to  make  them  more  exactly  in  tune.  His 
exertions  were  crowned  with  success,  and  he 
obtained  gratifying  distinctions  at  the  Brussels 
Industrial  Exhibition  of  1835. 

Charles  Sax  was  the  father  of  II  children,  of 
whom  two  sons  were  distinguished  in  the  same 
line.  The  eldest  of  these, 

ANTOINE  JOSEPH,  known  as  ADOLPHE  SAX, 
born  at  Dinanfc  Nov.  6,  1814,  was  brought  up  in 
his  father's  workshop,  and  as  a  child  was  remark 
able  for  manual  skill,  and  love  of  music.  He 
entered  the  Brussels  Conservatoire  and  studied 
the  flute  and  clarinet, — the  latter  with  Bender, 
who  considered  him  one  of  his  best  pupils.  Like 
his  father  his  efforts  were  directed  mainly  to  the 
improvement  of  that  instrument,  especially  the 
bass  clarinet,  and  he  even  designed  a  double-bass 
clarinet  in  Bb.  In  the  course  of  his  endeavours 
to  improve  the  tune  of  his  favourite  instrument 
he  invented  an  entire  family  of  brass  instruments 
with  a  new  quality  of  tone,  which  he  called  Sax 
ophones.  The  hope  of  making  both  fame  and 
money  led  him  to  Paris;  he  arrived  in  1842, 
and  established  himself  in  the  Rue  St.  Georges, 
in  small  premises  which  he  was  afterwards 
forced  to  enlarge.  He  had  no  capital  beyond  his 
brains  and  fingers,  which  he  used  both  as  a  man 
ufacturer  and  an  artist ;  but  he  had  the  active 
support  of  Berlioz,  HaleVy,  and  G.  Kastner,  and 
this  soon  procured  him  money,  tools  and  workmen. 
He  exhibited  in  the  French  Exhibition  of  1844, 
and  obtained  a  silver  medal  for  his  brass  and  wood 
wind-instruments,  a  great  stimulus  to  a  man  who 
looked  down  upon  all  his  rivals,  and  aimed  not 
only  at  eclipsing  them,  but  at  securing  the  mono 
poly  of  furnishing  musical  instruments  to  the 
French  army.  In  1845  he  took  out  a  patent  for 
the  Saxhorn,  a  new  kind  of  bugle,  and  for  a 
family  of  cylinder  instruments  called  Saxo- 


SAX. 

trombas,  intermediate  between  the  Saxhorn  and 
the  cylinder  trumpet.  On  June  22,  1846,  he  re 
gistered  the  Saxophone,  which  has  remained  his 
most  important  discovery.  A  man  of  such  inven 
tive  power  naturally  excited  much  jealousy  and 
ill-feeling  among  those  whose  business  suffered 
from  his  discoveries,  but  his  tact  and  wisdom 
made  numerous  and  powerful  friends,  among 
others  General  de  Rumigny,  Aide-de-camp  to 
Louis  Philippe,  and  a  host  of  newspaper  writers 
who  were  perpetually  trumpeting  his  praises. 
He  lost  no  opportunity  of  vaunting  the  supe 
riority  of  his  instruments  over  those  in  use  in 
the  French  military  bands,  at  a  special  com 
petition  held  between  the  two  ;  and  the  supe 
riority,  whether  deserved  or  nob,  soon  resulted 
in  a  monopoly,  the  first  effect  of  which  was  to 
banish  from  the  military  bands  all  horns,  oboes, 
and  bassoons.  Hence,  outside  the  Conservatoire, 
there  is  no  longer  a  supply  of  skilled  performers 
on  those  classical  and  indispensable  instruments, 
on  which  the  various  French  orchestras  may  draw. 

The  Paris  Industrial  Exhibition  of  1849,  at 
which  Sax  obtained  a  gold  medal,  brought  his 
three  families  of  instruments  still  more  into  notice ; 
and  he  received  the  Council  Medal  at  the  Great 
Exhibition  of  1851.  In  spite  of  these  merited 
honours,  he  became  bankrupt  in  1852.  He  soon, 
however,  made  an  arrangement  with  his  creditors, 
and  on  re-commmencing  business  entered  for  the 
Paris  Exhibition  of  1855,  and  gained  another 
gold  medal.  When  the  pitch  was  reformed  in 
1859  every  orchestra  and  military  band  in  France 
had  to  procure  new  wind-instruments  —  an 
enormous  advantage,  by  which  any  one  else  in 
Sax's  place  would  have  made  a  fortune;  but  with 
all  his  ability  and  shrewdness  he  was  not  a  man 
of  business,  and  his  affairs  became  more  and  more 
hopelessly  involved.  There  was  full  scope  for  his 
inventive  faculties  under  the  Second-Empire,  and 
he  introduced  various  improvements  into  the  dif 
ferent  piston  instruments,  only  one  of  which  need 
be  specified,  viz.  the  substitution  of  a  single 
ascending  piston  for  the  group  of  descending  ones. 
This  principle  he  adapted  to  both  conical  and 
cylindrical  instruments.  He  also  invented  instru 
ments  with  seven  bells  and  six  separate  pistons; 
instruments  with  rotatory  bells  for  altering  the 
direction  of  the  sound,  and  a  host  of  smaller  im 
provements  and  experiments,  all  detailed  in  Fetis's 
'  Rapports  de  1'Exposition '  and  '  Biographie  Uni- 
verselle.' 

At  the  London  International  Exhibition  of 
1862,  Sax  exhibited  cornets,  saxhorns,  and  saxo- 
trombas,  with  3  pistons,  and  with  2,  3,  4,  and  5 
keys;  and  at  Paris  in  1867  he  took  the  Grand 
Prix  for  specimens  of  all  the  instruments  invented 
or  improved  by  him.  Since  then  his  projects  have 
been  repeatedly  before  the  public,  but  he  has  lost 
his  powerful  patrons  and  declined  in  prosperity 
year  after  year.  He  has  been  obliged  to  give  up 
his  vast  establishment  in  the  Rue  St.  Georges 
(No.  50)  and  to  sell  (Dec.  1877)  his  collection 
of  musical  instruments.  The  printed  catalogue 
contains  467  items,  and  though  not  absolutely 
correct  is  interesting,  especially  for  the  view  it 


SAX. 


SAXOPHONE. 


233 


gives  of  the  numerous  infringements  of  his  patents.  ' 
The  typical  instruments  of  the  collection  were 
bought  by  the  Museum  of  the  Paris  Conservatoire, 
the  Muse'e  Instrumental  of  Brussels,  and  M.Cesar 
Snoeck  of  Renaix,  a  wealthy  Belgian  collector. 

Among  the  numerous  works  written  to  adver 
tise  the  merits  of  Adolphe  Sax's  instruments  we 
need  only  mention  two — Comettant's  '  Histoire 
d'un  inventeur  au  XlXme  Siecle'  (Paris  1860, 
552  pp.  8vo.  with  a  fair  likeness  of  Sax) ;  and  Pon- 
te'coulant^s  '  Organographie'  (Paris  1861,  2  vols. 
8vo). 

ALPHONSE  SAX,  JUIL,  worked  with  his  brother 
for  some  years,  and  seems  to  have  devoted  his 
attention  especially  to  ascending  pistons.  He  set 
up  for  himself  in  the  Hue  d'Abbeville  (No.  5  bis), 
but  did  not  succeed.  He  published  a  pamphlet 
'  Gymnastique  des  poumons;  la  Musique  instru- 
mentale  au  point  de  vue  de  1'hygiene  et  la  creation 
des  orchestres  f&ninins'  (Paris  1865),  which  is 
merely  a  disguised  puff.  [G.C.] 

SAXHORN  (Saxhtba,  Saxotromba).  The 
name  given  to  a  family  of  brass  instruments 
with  valves,  invented  by  the  late  M.  Sax. 

'  No  one  can  be  ignorant/  say  the  editors  of  the 
Method  for  Saxhorn  and  Saxo-tromba,  '  of  the  de 
plorable  state  in  which  brass  instruments  were 
when  M.  Sax's  method  made  its  appearance.  No 
^,oherence,  no  unity  between  the  individual  mem 
bers  of  the  group ;  in  one  case  keys,  in  another 
valves  ;  a  small  compass,  an  imperfect  scale,  lack 
of  accurate  intonation  throughout,  bad  quality  of 
tone,  variations  of  fingering  requiring  fresh  study 
in  passing  from  one  instrument  to  another.  The 
keyed  bugle,  built  on  false  proportions,  offered 
no  prospect  of  improvement ;  the  mechanism  of 
the  valves  themselves,  by  their  abrupt  angles,  de 
teriorated  the  quality  of  tone ;  and  the  absence 
of  intermediate  instruments  caused  gaps  in  the 
general  scale,  and  at  times  false  combinations.' 

Sax's  first  advice  to  players  exhibits  the  power 
of  his  new  instruments — that  namely  of  playing 
in  every  key  without  using  '  crooks,'  as  in  the 
French-horn  and  Trumpet.  [See  HORN.]  He 
also  attacked  the  problem  of  true  intonation,  in 
valve  instruments,  by  means  of  what  he  terms 
a  compensator.  Besides  these  improvements  he 
planned  all  the  tubes  and  mechanism  on  a  far 
sounder  acoustical  basis  than  had  been  attempted 
in  the  fortuitous  and  disconnected  contrivances  of 
former  periods.  The  valve  or  piston  was  indeed 
known,  but  was  open  to  the  objection  stated 
above,  and  was  at  best  but  a  clumsy  machine. 
He  unquestionably  simplified  it  by  causing  fewer 
turns  and  corners  to  interfere  with  the  free 
course  of  the  vibrating  column  of  air.  It  is  to 
be  noted,  however,  that  all  the  instruments  of 
the  Sax  family,  like  the  ordinary  cornet-a-pistons, 
•utilise  the  harmonic  octave  below  that  in  which 
the  trumpet  and  French  horn  speak,  and  thus 
obtain  power  and  facility  somewhat  at  the  ex 
pense  of  quality. 

Six  or  even  more  instruments  of  different  size 
compose  the  Sax  family,  the  chief  of  these  being 
the  soprano  in  F,  Eb,  or  D,  the  contralto  in  C 
and  Bb,  the  tenor  in  F  and  Eb,  the  barytone  in 


C  and  Bb,  the  bass  in  F  and  Eb,  and  the  contra 
bass,  or  circular  bass,  in  Bb.  Several  of  these  are 
known  under  special  nam  es ;  the  tenor  for  instance 
as  the  Althorn ;  the  smaller  bored  Barytone  under 
that  appellation ;  the  larger  bored  of  similar  pitch 
as  the  Euphonium  ;  the  bass  or  double  bass  as  the 
Bombardon  or  Contra  Bombardon. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  inventor  of  the 
Saxhorn  added  greatly  to  the  compass,  richness, 
and  flexibility  of  the  military  brass  and  reed 
bands.  But  it  is  a  question  whether  the  tone  of 
these  powerful  auxiliaries  blends  so  well  with  the 
stringed  instruments  as  that  of  the  trumpet, 
French  horn,  and  trombone — and  hence  their  com 
parative  neglect.  The  compass  of  all  the  Saxhorns 
is  very  large,  but  especially  that  of  the  Euphonium, 
amounting,  according  to  Sax's  own  statement,  to 
more  than  five  octaves.  This  is  increased  by  the 
numerous  keys  in  which  the  various  members 
of  the  family  are  originally  made,  reaching  from 


to 


These  instruments  are  furnished  with  3,  4,  or 
even  5  valves,  as  already  described.  [See  EUPHO 
NIUM  ;  PISTON.] 

It  has  been  already  said  that  their  chief  use  is 
in  military  music.  For  the  reasons  given  they  are 
easy  to  play  on  the  march,  or  even  on  horse-back, 
where  an  oboe  or  a  contrafagotto  would  be  im 
possible.  But,  in  the  orchestra, only  the  euphonium 
and  the  bombardon  in  Eb,  much  patronised  by 
Wagner  in  his  pompous  marches,  and  other  parade 


music,  have  held  their  ground. 


[W.H.S.] 


SAXOPHONE.  Another  instrument  invented 
by  Sax,  It  consists  essentially  of  a  conical  brass 
tube  furnished  with  twenty  lateral  orifices  covered 
by  keys,  and  with  six  studs  or  finger-plates  for  the 
first  three  fingers  of  either  hand,  and  is  played  by 
means  of  a  mouthpiece  and  single  reed  of  the 
clarinet  kind. 

Like  the  Saxhorns,  it  is  made  in  a  number  of 
sizes,  representing  in  all  seven  different  keys  ; 
namely,  the  sopranino  in  C  and  Bb  ;  the  soprano 
in  F  and  Eb  ;  the  mezzo  soprano  in  C  and  Bb  ; 
the  contralto  in  F  and  Eb  ;  the  barytone  in  C 
and  Eb  ;  the  bass  in  F  and  Eb,  and  the  double 
bass  or  bourdon  in  C  and  Bb.  The  last  of  these 
can  be  played  with  a  double-bassoon  reed. 

Those  most  used  are  the  contralto  and  bary 
tone  varieties.  In  French  military  bands,  how 
ever,  five  or  more  are  in  use ;  having  to  a  great 
degree  superseded  the  more  difficult  but  more 
flexible  clarinet,  and  having  quite  replaced  the 
bassoon. 

The  compass  of  the  five  highest  Saxophones  is 
the  same,  viz.  from 


to 


with  all  the  chromatic  intervals.     The  bass  and 
double  bass  ones  descend  to  the  C  below  the  bass 


234 


SAXOPHONE. 


stave,  and  reach  upwards  to  the  same  F  as  the 
rest  of  the  family.  In  the  former  case  the  scale 
is  of  19  notes,  in  the  latter  of  18,  or  of  31  or  30 
semitones  in  all.  The  fingering  adopted  is  the 
same  for  all,  being  that  somewhat  erroneously 
named  after  Boehm.  [See  FLUTE  ;  CLARINET.] 

The  Saxophone,  though  inferior  in  compass, 
quality,  and  power  of  articulation  to  the  clarinet, 
and  bassethorn,  and  especially  to  the  bassoon,  has 
great  value  in  military  combinations.  It  repro 
duces  on  a  magnified  scale  something  of  the 
violoncello  quality,  and  gives  great  sustaining 
power  to  the  full  chorus  of  brass  instruments,  by 
introducing  a  mass  of  harmonic  overtones  very 
wanting  in  Sax's  other  contrivance.  In  the 
orchestra,  except  to  replace  the  bass  clarinet,  it 
is  all  but  unknown.  [W.H.S.] 

SAYNETE.  A  Spanish  term  for  a  little 
comic  intermezzo  for  the  theatre.  Littr^  con 
nects  the  word  with  sain  or  sain-doux,  fat ;  in 
which  case  it  answers  to  the  vulgar  English  ex 
pression  '  a  bit  of  fat,'  meaning  something  extra 
enjoyable.  [G-.] 

SCALA,  LA.  The  proprietors  of  the  Ducal 
Theatre  of  Milan,  which  was  burnt  in  1776, 
obtained,  by  a  decree  of  July  15,  1776,  from 
the  Empress  Maria  Theresa  of  Austria,  leave  to 
build  a  new  opera-house  on  the  site  of  the 
church  of  S.  Maria  della  Scala.  The  celebrated 
architect,  Piermarini  of  Foligno,  made  the  de 
signs,  and  it  was  inaugurated  Aug.  3,  1778. 
The  building  was  not  only  the  grandest  theatre 
then  existing  in  Europe,  but  the  most  artis 
tically  beautiful  and  complete.  Levati  and 
Beina  painted  the  ceiling,  the  boxes,  and  the 
great  hall,  or  ridotto;  and  the  curtain,  repre 
senting  Parnassus,  was  the  work  of  Riccardi. 
The  cost  of  the  whole  amounted  to  one  million 
lire  (£40,000),  an  enormous  sum  for  that  time. 
Until  1857  the  principal  entrance  of  La  Scala  was 
from  a  bye-street,  but  since  that  date  it  opens 
on  to  a  large  and  beautiful  piazza,  or  square. 

The  interior  of  the  house  is  in  the  horseshoe 
form,  with  five  tiers  of  boxes  and  a  gallery 
above  them,  all  in  white,  relieved  by  gilded 
ornaments.  The  lowest  three  tiers  have  each 
36  boxes,  and  a  royal  box  above  the  entrance  to 
the  stalls.  The  fourth  and  fifth  tiers  have  each 
39  boxes,  and  there  are  four  on  each  side  of  the 
proscenium,  making  a  total  of  194  boxes,  be 
sides  the  large  royal  box  and  the  gallery,  each 
box  having  a  private  room  at  its  back  for  the 
convenience  of  its  occupants. 

The  length  of  the  whole  building  is  330  ft., 
and  its  width  122  ft.  The  height  from  the  floor 
to  the  ceiling  is  65  ft.  The  stage,  with  the 
proscenium,  is  145  ft.  long  and  54  wide  between 
the  columns  of  the  proscenium,  but  is  98  ft. 
wide  further  behind.  The  ridotto,  a  large 
hall  for  promenading  between  the  acts,  is  82  ft. 
long  and  30  ft.  wide.  The  house  holds  620 
stalls,  and  in  place  of  a  pit  there  is  standing- 
room  for  600  persons.  The  boxes  can  accommo 
date  1900  spectators,  and  the  gallery  500  more; 
so  that  the  total  capacity  of  the  house  for  opera 
tic  representations  is  3,600.  But  the  same 


SCALA,  LA. 

theatre,  when  changed  into  a  ball-room,  can 
contain  more  than  7000  persons.  This  immense 
institution  permanently  employs  922  persons  on 
its  staff,  distributed  in  the  following  way: — 
Artist-singers,  20;  orchestra,  100;  band,  28; 
choristers,  no;  'comparse,'  120;  ballet,  140; 
dressmakers  and  tailors,  150;  doctors,  6;  ser 
vants,  36,  etc. 

The  gentlemen  who  provided  the  funds  for 
the  building  of  La  Scala  enjoy  the  use  of  its 
boxes  at  a  nominal  rental  whenever  the  theatre 
is  open,  each  box  having  its  owner.  In  all  other 
respects  the  theatre  has  been  the  property  of 
the  town  of  Milan  since  1872.  The  municipality 
grants  to  its  lessee  an  annual  sum  of  £9,800, 
and  the  owners  of  the  boxes  pay  £2,920  ;  and 
thus  La  Scala  enjoys  an  endowment  of  £12,720 
a  year.  The  theatre  is  controlled  by  a  Com 
mission  elected  by  the  Common  Council  of  Milan 
and  the  owners  of  its  boxes. 

Annexed  to  the  theatre  is  a  celebrated  dancing 
school,  with  60  pupils,  where  the  most  famous 
ballet-dancers  have  been  trained,  and  a  singing 
school  for  about  50  choristers.  Two  charitable 
institutions — /  Filar monici,  founded  by  Mar- 
chesi  in  1783,  and  the  Teatrale,  by  Modrone  in 
1829 — are  also  dependent  for  their  income  upon 
the  greatest  theatre  of  Italy. 

The  theatre  has  undergone  no  fundamental 
change  since  its  erection,  except  occasional  ne 
cessary  restorations,  the  latest  of  which  took 
place  in  1878,  when  it  was  regilt  throughout, 
statutes  erected  to  Rossini  and  Donizetti,  etc. 

If  La  Scala  boasts  of  being  -the  largest  and 
most  beautiful  theatre  of  Jtaly,  it  has  also  the 
honour  of  having  produced  on  its  stage  the  largest 
number  of  new  and  successful  operas  and  of  great 
singers.  We  shall  only  mention  here  the  most 
successful  operas  and  ballets  which,  being  written 
expressly  for  that  stage,  were  first  performed 
there ;  remembering  that  as  the  theatre  has  been 
open  every  year  for  103  years,  many  other  operas 
were  given  with  varying  success. 


Tear. 

Title  of  Work. 

Composer. 

1778 

Europa  riconosciuta 

Salieri. 

1787 

11  Vecchio  geloso 

Alessandri. 

1784 

I  due  supposti  Coirti 

Cimarosa. 

1787 

Ifigenia  in  Aulide 

Zingarelli. 

1791 

Le  Morte  di  Cesare 

Do. 

1792 

Pirro,  Re  di  Epiro 

Do. 

11  Mercato  di  Moufregoso 

Do. 

1793 

La  Secchia  rapita 

Do. 

1794 

Artaserse 

Do. 

1796 

Giulietta  e  Romeo 

Do. 

1801 

Baccanali  di  Roma 

NicolinL 

1807 

Adelasia  ed  Abramo 

Mayr. 

1808 

11  rivale  di  se  stesso 

"Weigl. 

1812 

La  vedova  stravagante 

General!. 

La  Pietra  del  Paragone 

Rossini. 

1814 

Aureliano  in  Palmira 

Do. 

11  Turco  in  Italia 

Do. 

1817 

La  Gazza  ladra 

Do. 

1820 

Margherita  d'Anjou 

Meyerbeer. 

1821 

Elisa  e  Claudio 

Mercadante. 

1823 

La  Vestale 

Pacini. 

1827 

Gli  Arabi  nelle  Gallie 

Do. 

11  Pirata 

Bellini. 

1829 

La  Straniera 

Do. 

1831 

Chiara  di  Kosemberg 

Ricci. 

1832 

Norma 

Bellini. 

1834 

Lucrezia  Borgia 

Donizetti. 

f  f 

Un  Awentura  di  Scaramuccia 

Ricci. 

1835 

Gemma  di  Vergy 

Donizetti. 

1837 

11  Giuramente 

Mercadante. 

1839 

11  Bravo 

Do. 

SCALA,  LA. 


SCALE. 


235 


T«ar. 

Title  of  Work. 

Composer. 

1839 

Oberto,  Conte  di  S.  Bonifacio 

Verdi. 

1842 

Nabuco 

Do. 

1843 

I  Lombard! 

Do. 

1856 

L'Assedio  di  Leida 

Fetrella. 

1858 

lone 

Do. 

1868 

Mefistofele. 

Boito. 

1869 

Kuy  Bias. 

Marchetti. 

1876 

La  Gioconda. 

FonchieUi. 

1880 

11  Figliuol  prodigo. 

Do. 

La  Scala  has  always  been  renowned  for  its 
splendid  and  gorgeous  ballets,  amongst  which 
were  most  successful — 


1778 
178T 
1797 
1807 
1809 
1812 
1820 
1833 
1845 
1854 
1856 
1865 
1864 
1867 
1881 


I  Prigionieri  di  Cipro 

I  due  Avari 

II  General  Colli  in  Eoma 
Enea  e  Turno 

Cesare  in.  Egitto 

Gli  Strelitzi 

La  Conquista  di  Malacca 

Guglielmo  Tell 

Esmeralda 

tfn  fallo 

Shakespeare 

Flik  e  Flok 

Velleda 

Sardanapalo 

Excelsior. 


SalierL 

Eiccl. 

Lefevre. 

Gallet. 

Gioia. 

Vigano. 

S.  Taglioni. 

Henry. 

Pugni. 

Giorza. 

Do. 

Hertel. 
Dall  'Argine. 
Hertel. 
Marenco. 


We  should  unduly  prolong  this  article  were 
we  to  mention  the  names  of  all  the  great  artists 
who  have  gained  their  merited  applause  on  the 
boards  of  La  Scala.  It  is  sufficient  -to  state  that 
few  great  artists  can  be  found  within  the  last 
hundred  years  who  have  not  deemed  it  an  honour 
and  a  duty  to  appear  on  that  celebrated  stage, 
and  win  the  approval  of  the  Milanese  public. 
Further  information  may  be  obtained  from  the 
'Teatro  alia  Scala  1778-1862,'  by  Luigi  Romani 
(Milan,  1862) ;  and  the  'Reali  Teatri  di  Milano' 
by  Cambiasi  (Ricordi,  Milan,  1881). 

Besides  La  Scala,  Milan  boasts  of  several  other 
theatres,  where  operas  are  performed  either  ex 
clusively,  or  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year, 
instead  of  dramas.  These  theatres  are,  La 
Canobbiana,  II  Carcano,  Dal  Verrae,  Santa  Re- 
degonda,  Re  Nuovo,  and  Fossati.  At  the  Filo- 
drammatici  and  San  Simone  are  given  amateur 
performances  of  operatic  and  orchestral  music, 
to  which  admission  is  obtained  only  by  invita 
tion.  The  Milanese  Societa  del  Quartette  has 
ohtained  great  reputation  for  its  masterly  per 
formances  of  classical  music,  especially  in  recent 
years.  [L.E.] 

SCALCHI,  SOFIA,  was  born  Nov.  29,  1850,  at 
Turin ;  received  instruction  in  singing  from 
Augusta  Boccabadati,  and  made  her  de"but  at 
Mantua  in  1866  as  Ulrica  in  'Un  Ballo  in 
Maschera.'  She  afterwards  sang  at  Verona,  Bo 
logna,  Faenza,  Nice,  etc.,  and  in  England  for  the 
first  time  Sept.  16,  1868,  at  the  Promenade  Con 
certs,  Agricultural  Hall,  with  very  great  success. 
At  the  Royal  Italian  Opera,  Covent  Garden,  she 
first  appeared  Nov.  5  of  the  same  year,  as  Azu- 
cena,and  after  that  as  Pierrotto  (Linda),  Urbano, 
CJn  Caprajo  (Dinorah),  etc.  She  is  a  great 
favourite  at  that  theatre,  and  has  remained  there 
until  the  present  time.  Her  voice  is  of  fine 
quality  and  of  the  compass  of  two  octaves  and 
a  half  from  low  F  to  B  in  alt,  enabling  her  to 
take  both  the  mezzo-soprano  and  contralto  parts. 
She  is  also  a  fair  actress.  In  Sept.  1875  she 


married  Signer  Lolli,  a  gentleman  of  Ferrara. 
Among  her  repertoire  may  be  named  Leonora 
(Favorita),  which  she  played  July  19,  1871,  at 
Mario's  farewell  appearance ;  EstelleinCampana's 
Esmeralda,  June  14,  1870;  Leonora  in  Cima- 
rosa's  '  Le  Astuzie  feminili,'  July  15, 1871 ,  Meala 
in  Masses  'Paul  et  Virginie,'  June  i,  1878; 
Mrs.  Page,  July  14,  77  ;  and  Fides,  June  24,  78, 
on  the  respective  revivals  of  Nicolai's  Lustige 
Weiber,  and  of  Le  Prophete;  also  Arsace,  Amne- 
ris,  Maffeo  Orsini,  Siebel,  etc.  She  has  had  fre 
quent  engagements  in  Italy,  St.  Petersburg, 
Moscow,  Vienna,  etc.  [A.C.] 

SCALE  (from  the  Latin  Scala,  a  staircase  or 
ladder;  Fr.  Gamme;  Ger.  Tonleiter,  i.e.  sound- 
ladder  ;  Ital.  Scala).  A  term  denoting  the  series 
of  sounds  used  in  musical  compositions. 

The  number  of  musical  sounds  producible,  all 
differing  in  pitch,  is  theoretically  infinite,  and  is 
practically  very  large ;  so  that  in  a  single  octave 
a  sensitive  ear  may  distinguish  50  to  100  different 
notes.  But  if  we  were  to  take  a  number  of  these 
at  random,  or  if  we  were  to  slide  by  a  continuous 
transition  from  one  sound  to  another  consider 
ably  distant  from  it,  we  should  not  make  what 
we  call  music.  In  order  to  do  this  we  must  use 
only  a  certain  small  number  of  sounds,  forming 
a  determinate  series,  and  differing  from  each 
other  by  well-defined  steps  or  degrees.  Such 
a  series  or  succession  of  sounds  is  called  a  scale, 
from  its  analogy  with  the  steps  of  a  ladder. 

It  is  unnecessary  here  to  enter  into  the  aes- 
thetical  reason  for  this ; 1  it  must  suffice  to  state 
that  all  nations,  at  all  times,  who  have  made 
music,  have  agreed  in  adopting  such  a  selection, 
although  they  have  not  always  selected  the  same 
series  of  sounds.  As  a  first  step  towards  the 
selection  all  musical  peoples  appear  to  have  ap 
preciated  the  intimate  natural  relation  between 
sounds  which  lie  at  that  distance  apart  called 
an  octave  ;  and  hence  replicates  of  notes  in  octaves 
are  found  to  form  parts  of  all  musical  scales.  The 
differences  lie  in  the  intermediate  steps,  or  the 
various  ways  in  which  the  main  interval  of  the 
octave  has  been  substituted. 

For  modern  European  music,  in  ascending 
from  any  note  to  its  octave  above,  we  employ, 
normally,  a  series  of  seven  steps  of  unequal 
height,  called  the  diatonic  scale,  with  the  power 
of  interposing,  accidentally,  certain  intermediate 
chromatic  steps  in  addition.  The  diatonic  scale 
is  of  Greek  origin,  having  been  introduced  about 
the  middle  of  the  sixth  century  B.C.  The  main 
divisions  of  the  octave  were  at  the  intervals  called 
the  fifth  and  the  fourth,  and  the  subdivisions  were 
formed  by  means  of  two  smaller  divisions  called  a 
tone  and  a  hemitone  respectively.  The  tone  was 
equal  to  the  distance  between  the  fourth  and  the 
fifth,  and  the  hemitone  was  equal  to  a  fourth 
minus  two  tones.  The  octave  was  made  up  of  five 
tones  and  two  hemitones,  and  the  entire  Greek 
diatonic  scale  of  two  octaves,  as  settled  by  Pytha 
goras,  may  be  accurately  represented  in  modern 
notation  as  follows  : — 

1  More  complete  information  on  the  subject  generally  may  be 
found  in  Helmholtz's  '  Tonempfindungea,'  or  in  '  The  Philosophy  of 
Music/  by  W.  Pole  (London,  18T79). 


236 


SCALE. 


SCALE. 


Tlie  Greek  Diatonic  Scale. 


- 


o 

. 
: 


] 

: 


- 

- 
O 

- 

a 

a 


I 

c 
- 


• 

: 


SO) 
c: 

S        o 
A.      +a 


I 

: 


Thus  the  essence  of  the  diatonic  scale  was  that 
it  consisted  of  tones,  in  groups  of  two  and  three 
alternately,  ench  group  being  separated  by  a 
hemitone  from  the  adjoining  one  ;  and,  combining 
consecutive  intervals,  any  two  tones  with  a 
hemitone  would  form  a  fourth,  any  three  tones 
with  a  hemitone  would  form  a  fifth,  and  any 
complete  cycle  of  five  tones  with  two  hemitones, 
would  form  a  perfect  octave. 

Now  it  is  obvious  that  in  this  series  of  notes, 
proved  to  be  in  use  above  two  thousand  years 
ago,  we  have  essentially  our  diatonic  scale  ;  the 
series  corresponding  in  fact  with  the  natural  or 
white  keys  of  our  modern  organ  or  pianoforte. 
And  as  this  series  formed  the  basis  of  the 
melodies  of  the  Greeks,  so  it  forms  the  basis  of 
the  tunes  of  the  present  day. 

Although,  however,  the  general  aspect  of  the 
diatonic  series  of  musical  sounds  remains  un 
altered,  it  has  been  considerably  affected  in  its 
mode  of  application  by  two  modern  elements — 
namely,  Tonality  and  Harmony. 

First,  a  glance  at  the  Greek  scale  will  show  that 
there  are  seven  different  diatonic  ways  in  which 
an  octave  may  be  divided;  thus,  from  A  to  the 
A  above  will  exhibit  one  way,  from  B  to  B 
another,  from  C  to  C  a  third,  and  so  on — keep 
ing  to  the  white  keys  alone  in  each  case;  and  all 
these  various  '  forms  of  the  octave '  as  they  were 
called,  were  understood  and  used  in  the  Greek 
music,  and  formed  different  '  modes.'  In  modern 
times  we  adopt  only  two  —  one  corresponding 
with  C  to  C,  which  we  call  the  Major  mode, 
the  other  corresponding  with  A  to  A,  which  we 
call  the  Minor  mode.  And  in  each  case  we  attach 
great  importance  to  the  notes  forming  the  ex 
tremities  of  the  octave  series,  either  of  which  we 
call  the  Tonic  or  Keynote.  We  have,  therefore, 
in  modern  music,  the  two  following  '  forms  of  the 
octave'  in  common  use.  And  we  may  substitute 
for  the  Greek  word  '  hemitone '  the  modern  term 
'  semitone,'  which  means  the  same  thing. 

Intervals  of  the  Diatonic  Scale  for  the  Major  Mode. 


ASM          "-* 

Key     ' 
note.   • 

0) 

a 


i 
g 


I 

- 
. 


-. 
C 
- 


<D 

i 


g     Key 
§   note. 

•U 

fi 
o 


Intervals  of  the  Diatonic  Scale  for  the  Minor  Mode. 


Key 
note. 


-. 
- 
: 


1 


E 

- 
C 


I 

a 

o 


<D 

g 

-*J 

1 
<U 


Key 
note. 


§         S 
£       5 


Although  these  differ  materially  from  each 
other,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  original  Greek 
diatonic  form  of  the  series  is  in  each  perfectly 
preserved.  It  must  be  explained  that  the  minor 
scale  is  given,  under  particular  circumstances, 
certain  accidental  variations  [see  ASCENDING 
SCALE],  but  these  are  of  a  chromatic  nature; 
the  normal  minor  diatonic  form  is  as  here 
shown.  The  choice  of  particular  forms  of  the 
octave,  and  the  more  prominent  character  given 
to  their  limiting  notes,  constitute  the  important 
feature  of  modern  music  called  Tonality. 

Secondly,  a  certain  influence  has  been  exer 
cised  on  the  diatonic  scale  by  modern  Harmony. 
When  it  became  the  practice  to  sound  several 
notes  of  the  scale  simultaneously,  it  was  found 
that  some  of  the  intervals  of  the  Greek  series 
did  not  adapt  themselves  well  to  the  combina 
tion.  This  was  particularly  the  case  with  the 
interval  of  the  major  third,  C  to  E  :  according 
to  the  Greek  system  this  consisted  of  two  tones, 
but  the  perfect  harmonious  relation  required  to 
be  a  little  flatter.  The  correction  was  effected 
in  a  very  simple  manner  by  making  a  slight 
variation  in  the  value  of  one  of  the  tones,  which 
necessitated  also  a  slight  alteration  in  the  value 
of  the  semitone.  Other  small  errors  have  been 
corrected  in  a  similar  way,  so  as  to  make  the 
whole  conform  to  the  principle,  that  every  note 
of  the  scale  must  have,  as  far  as  possible,  con 
cordant  harmonious  relations  to  other  notes;  and 
in  determining  these,  the  relations  to  the  tonic 
or  keynote  are  the  more  important. 

The  diatonic  series,  as  thus  corrected,  is  as 
follows : — 

Major  Sia'onic  Scale  as  corrected  for  Modern  Harmony. 


C 

C 


o 

1? 
a 


03 

a 

o 

-*d 
-— 
: 
0 


a 

§ 


a 
g 


•2        S 


i 
- 
o 


a 
S 


i 
~ 


The  several  intervals,  reckoned  upwards  from 
the  lower  keynote,  are — 

C  to  D,  Major  tone, 

„  E,  Major  third, 

„  F,  Perfect  Fourth, 

„  G,  Perfect  Fifth, 

,,  A,  Major  sixth, 

„  B,  Major  seventh, 

„  C,  Octave. 

It  has  been  stated,  however,  that  for  modern 
European  music,  we  have  the  power  of  adding, 
to  the  seven  sounds  of  the  diatonic  scale,  certain 
other  intermediate  chromatic  notes.  Thus  be 
tween  C  and  D  we  may  add  two  notes  called 
CJf  and  Db.  Between  G  and  A  we  may  add  Gjf  and 
Ab,  and  so  on.  In  order  to  determine  what  the 
exact  pitch  of  these  notes  should  be,  it  is  neces 
sary  to  consider  that  they  may  be  used  for  two 
quite  distinct  purposes,  i.e.  either  to  embellish 
melody  without  change  of  key,  or  to  introduce 
new  diatonic  scales  by  modulation.  In  the 
former  case  the  pitch  of  the  chromatic  notes  is 


SCALE. 

indeterminate,  and  depends  on  the  taste  of  the 
performer  ;  but  for  the  second  use  it  is  obvious 
that  the  new  note  musb  be  given  its  correct 
harmonic  position  according  to  the  scale  it 
belongs  to  :  in  fact  it  loses  its  chromatic  cha 
racter,  and  becomes  strictly  diatonic.  For 
example,  if  an  Fjf  be  introduced,  determining 
the  new  diatonic  scale  of  G,  it  must  be  a  true 
major  third  above  D,  in  the  same  way  that  in 
the  scale  of  C,  B  is  a  major  third  above  G.  In 
this  manner  any  other  chromatic  notes  may  be 
located,  always  adhering  to  the  same  general 
principle  that  they  must  bear  concordant  har 
monic  relations  to  other  notes  in  the  diatonic 
scale  they  form  part  of. 

Proceeding  in  this  way  we  should  obtain  a 
number  of  chromatic  notes  forming  a  considerable 
addition  to  the  diatonic  scale.  For  example,  in 
order  to  provide  for  eleven  keys,  all  in  common 
use,  we  should  get  ten  chromatic  notes  in  addition 
to  the  seven  diatonic  ones,  making  seventeen  in 
all,  within  the  compass  of  a  single  octave.  This 
multiplication  of  notes  would  produce  such  a 
troublesome  complication  in  practical  music,  that 
in  order  to  get  rid  of  it  there  has  been  adopted  an 
ingenious  process  of  compromising, which&iwpliiies 
enormoxisly  the  construction  of  the  scale,  par 
ticularly  in  its  chromatic  parts.  In  the  first 
place  it  is  found  that  the  distance  between  the 
diatonic  notes  E  and  F,  and  between  B  and  C  is 
nearly  half  that  between  C  and  D,  or  G  and  A ; 
and  secondly,  it  is  known  that  the  adjacent 
chromatic  notes  Cjf  and  Db,  GjJ  and  Ab,  etc., 
are  not  very  different  from  each  other.  Putting 
all  these  things  together,  it  follows  that  if 
the  octave  be  divided  into  twelve  equal  parts, 
a  set  of  notes  will  be  produced  not  much  dif 
fering  in  pitch  from  the  true  ones,  and  with 
the  property  of  being  applicable  to  all  keys 
alike.  Hence  has  arisen  the  modern  chro 
matic  scale,  according  to  what  is  called  equal 
temperament,  and  as  represented  on  the  key 
board  of  the  ordinary  pianoforte.  According 
to  this,  the  musical  scale  consists  of  twelve 
semitones,  each  equal  to  a  twelfth  part  of  an 
octave  ;  two  of  these  are  taken  for  the  tone 
of  the  diatonic  scale,  being  a  very  little  less 
in  value  than  the  original  major  tone  of  the 
Greek  divisions. 

This  duodecimal  division  of  the  octave  was 
known  to  the  Greeks,  but  its  modern  revival, 
which  dates  about  the  sixteenth  century,  has 
been  one  of  the  happiest  and  most  ingenious 
simplifications  ever  known  in  the  history  of 
music,  and  has  had  the  effect  of  advancing  the 
art  to  an  incalculable  extent.  Its  defect  is  that 
certain  harmonic  combinations  produced  by  its 
notes  are  slightly  imperfect  and  lose  the  satis 
factory  effect  produced  by  harmonies  perfectly 
in  tune.  The  nature  and  extent  of  this  defect, 
and  the  means  adopted  to  remedy  it  will  be 
more  properly  explained  under  the  article 
TEMPERAMENT,  which  see.  [W.P.] 

SCAEAMUCCIA,  UN'  AVVENTUEA  DI. 
A  comic  opera  in  3  acts  ;  libretto  by  F.  Eomani, 
music  by  L.  Eicci.  Produced  at  the  Scala, 


SCARLATTI. 


237 


Milan,  Sept.  6,  1834,  with  great  success.  In 
French  (by  Forges),  'Une  aventure  de  Scara- 
mouche,'  Versailles,  June  1842  ;  and  in  Italian, 
Theatre  des  Italiens,  Feb.  26, 1846.  [G.] 

SCAEIA,  EMIL,  born  in  1838  at  Gratz, 
Styria,  studied  at  the  Conservatorium,  Vienna, 
under  Gentiluomo,  made  his  de"but  at  Pesth  as 
St.  Bris  in  '  The  Huguenots,'  and  afterwards  sang 
at  Brunn  and  Frankfort.  In  1860  he  came  to 
London  for  the  purpose  of  further  study  under 
Garcia,  where  he  was  heard  by  Abt,  who  pro 
cured  him  an  engagement  in  1862  at  Dessau. 
He  next  played  at  Leipzig,  and  from  1865  to  72 
at  Dresden.  Among  his  best  parts  were  Hercules 
(Alceste),  Sarastro,  Leporello,  Caspar,  Eocco, 
Landgrave  (Tannhauser),  Pogner  (Meistersiiiger) 
Burgomaster  (Czaar  und  Zimmermann),  Dulca 
mara,  Geronimo  (II  Matrimonio  segreto),  and 
Falstaff,  in  which  last  a  critic  remarks  that  he 
made  one  of  his  greatest  successes  ....  when  he 
was  at  Dresden,  and  made  ib  in  great  measure 
by  his  really  excellent  acting  of  the  character. 
From  1872  till  now  (1881)  he  has  been  en 
gaged  at  Vienna,  where  he  has  established  his 
reputation  as  a  versatile  singer  and  actor  in  both 
baritone  and  bass  parts,  but  best  in  the  latter, 
as  his  'carefully  deadened  high  notes  form 
so  great  a  contrast  to  the  vigorous  notes  of 
his  lower  and  middle  register '  (Hanslick). 
Among  his  more  recent  parts  are  Hans  Sachs 
(Meistersinger)  Wotan  (Nibelungen) — for  which 
character  he  was  originally  selected  by  Wagner 
for  Bayreuth — Micheli  (Wassertrager)  Escamillo, 
Marcel,  Bertram,  and  (1879)  Seneschal  (Jean  de 
Paris).  He  has  played  in  the  principal  German 
and  Austrian  cities,  also  in  Italian  opera  at 
St.  Petersburg.  [A.C.] 

SCAELATTI,  ALESSANDRO,  a  musician  of 
great  importance,  and  the  creator  of  modern 
opera.  Of  his  early  life  nothing  is  known 
beyond  what  may  be  gathered  from  his  tomb 
stone  *  in  the  St.  Cecilia  chapel  of  the  Church 
of  Monte  Santo  in  Naples : 

HEIC  SITVS  EST 

EQVES    ALEXANDER    SCARLACTVS 
VIR  MODERATIONE   BENEFICENTIA 

PIETATE   INS  IGNIS 

MVSICES    INSTAVRATOR    MAXIMVS 

QVI  SOLIDIS  VETERVM   NVMERIS 

NOVA  AC  MIRA  SVAVITATE 

MOLLITIS 

ANTIQVITATI  GLORIAM  POSTERITATI 

IMITANDI     SPEM     ADEMIT 

OPTIMATIBVS  REGIBVSQ 

APPRIME  CARVS 
TANDEM  ANNOS   NATVM   LXVI   EXTINXIT 

SVMMO  CVM  ITALIAE  DOLORE 

IX    KAI/*    NOVEMBEIS    CI3IOCCXXV 

MORS  MODIS  FLECTI  NESCIA 


1  For  a  facsimile  of  this  inscription,  now  first  correctly  published, 
and  differing  much  from  the  transcriptions  of  Fe"tis,  Villarosa,  and 
Tlorimo,  we  are  indebted  to  Dr.  Dohrn,  chief  of  the  Koyal  Aquarium, 
Naples.  We  have  also  to  thank  Sig.  Minervini,  Mad.  Zampini-Salazaro, 
and  Mr.  WreforJ  for  kind  services  in  reference  to  it.  [G.] 


238 


SCARLATTI. 


From  a  Maltese  cross  engraved  at  the  foot  of 
the  inscription  it  may  be  supposed  that  he  was 
a  Knight  of  the  order  of  Malta. 

Since  'ix.  Kal.  Novembris  cioioccxxv'  means 
Oct.  24,  1725,  it  follows  that  Scarlatti  was  born 
in  1659,  and  we  learn  from  the  score  of  'Pom- 
peo  '  (in  the  possession  of  Gaspare  Selvaggio,  and 
also    verified   by  Florimo)   that  his   birthplace 
was  Trapani  in  Sicily.    As  to  his  musical  educa 
tion,  some  maintain,  though  without  citing  any 
authority,  that  he  studied  in  Parma,  while  others 
declare  that  he  was  a  pupil  of  Carissimi  (born 
1604)    in    Rome.      The    eminent    antiquarian 
Villarosa   ('Memorie   dei   compositori   ...  del 
regno  di  Napoli ')  states  (without  quoting  his 
authority)  that  when  Scarlatti  moved  with  his 
family  to  Naples   he  was   a   celebrated   singer 
and  player  on  the  harp  and  harpsichord.     The 
first  ascertained  fact  in  his  life  is  that  he  was 
commissioned  to  compose  for  Christina,  Queen 
of  Sweden,   an  opera  '  L'  Onestk   nell1   amore ' 
performed  in    1680    at    her   palace    in    Rome, 
and   it   is    a   probable   inference    that    he  was 
even  at  that  time  a  composer  of  some   mark. 
Cramer's  '  Musikalisches  Magazin  '   (2nd   year, 
668)  states  that  he  composed  an  opera  for  Munich 
in  the  same  year,  an  assertion  which,  like  many 
others   concerning    Scarlatti,    has    been    copied 
without  verification  from  one  book  to  another. 
Fe"tis  doubted  the  fact,  and  it  has  been  com 
pletely  disproved  by  Rudhart  ('  Geschichte  der 
Oper  am  Hofe  zu   Miinchen').     The   court  of 
Bavaria  had  at  that  time  as  representative  in 
Rome  an  Abbe"  Scarlatti,    whose   name   occurs 
frequently  in   the   accounts  as   receiving  large 
sums   of  money.     At  a  brilliant  fete  given  by 
this  Abbe  Scarlatti  (Pdre  Mene"trier's   '  Repre 
sentations  en  musique,'  252)  on  Aug.  22,  1680, 
at   the   Vigna   della  Pariola  near  Rome,    'La 
Baviera  trionfante,  componimento  per  musica ' 
was  performed,  a  fact  which  has  given  rise  to  a 
series  of  misstatements,  originating  with  Lipow- 
sky,    who   in   his   '  National  Garde  Jahrbuch ' 
(1814)  cites  the  Abbe"  as  Alessandro  Scarlatti, 
and   changes   the    locality  to   Munich,   though 
he  states  in  his  '  Bayrisches  Musiklexicon '  that 
no  opera  of  Scarlatti's  was  produced  in  Munich 
before  1721.     '  Pompeo '  was  performed  at  the 
royal  palace  at  Naples,  Jan.  30,  1684  (Fetis's 
copy  is  dated  1683),  an^  on  *ne  libretto  Scarlatti 
is  styled  Maestro  di   capella  to  the   Queen  of 
Sweden.     In  1693  he  composed  an  oratorio  '  I 
dolori  di  Maria  sempre  Vergine '  for  the  Con- 
gregazione   dei    sette   Dolori   di   San   Luigi   di 
Palazzo  in  Rome,  and  an  opera,  '  Teodora,'  :  in 
which  may  be  found  many  airs  having  the  first 
part  Da  capo  after  the  second,  a  practice  logi 
cally  and   musically  correct,  and,   according   to 
Kiesewetter  first  brought  into  general  use  by 
Scarlatti,  though  instances  of  it  do  occur  before 
his  time.     In  '  Teodora '  we  find  also  the  first 
orchestral  ritornel,  and  the  germ  of  the  'recitative 
obligate,'  with   the   entire   orchestra   employed 
to   accompany   the   recitative.     Violins,   violas, 

i  Abramo  Basevi,  of  Florence,  has  a  contemporaneous  copy. 


SCARLATTI. 

and    basses    formed    the    groundwork    of    his 
orchestra,  with  oboes  and  flutes  (seldom  found 
together,  though  an  instance  occurs  in '  Tigrane'), 
horns,  bassoons,  trumpets,   and   drums.     Queen 
Christina  died  in   1688,   and  in  1694  Scarlatti 
was  maestro  di  capella  to  the  Viceroy  of  Naples, 
as  we  learn  from  the  libretto  of  Legrenzi's  opera 
'  Odoacre '  to  which  Scarlatti  added  some  son^s 
for  a  performance  at  San  Bartolomeo  (Jan.  5, 
1694)  stating  in  the  preface  with  commendable 
modesty  that  the  airs   thus  added  are  distin 
guished  by  an   asterisk,   'for  fear  of  damaging' 
Legrenzi's   reputation,    which   was   to  him    an 
object  of  boundless  respect.'     Other  operas  were 
'Pirrho  e  Demetrio  '  (1697),  '  II  Prigionero  for- 
tunato '    (1698),     and     'Laodicea   e   Berenice' 
(1701),  which  added   enormously   to  his  fame, 
and  in  which  there  was  a  tenor  solo  with  an 
obligate  violin  accompaniment,  played  by  Corelli, 
but  with  so  little  success  that  Scarlatti  after 
wards  substituted  another  air  for  it.     On  Dec. 
31,  1703,  he  became  assistant  maestro  di  capella 
to  Antonio  Foggia  at  Santa  Maria  Maggiore  in 
Rome,   and   succeeded   to   the   chief  post  May 
1707.      Cardinal    Ottoboni   also   took  him  up, 
and  made  him  his  private  maestro  di  capella,  as 
we  learn  from  the  libretto  of  his  '  Trionfo  della 
Liberta'  (Venice  1707).     Soon  after  this  he  re 
ceived  the  order  of  the  Golden  Spur.2  He  resigned 
Santa  Maria  Maggiore    in    1709,    returned  to 
Naples,  and  died  Oct.  24,  1725. 

Scarlatti's  fertility  was  enormous.  '  Tigrane ' 
(1715)  is  called  on  the  libretto  his  io6th  opera, 
and  there  were  in  all  115,  of  which  only  41  are 
extant,  including,  besides  those  already  men 
tioned  : — 


11  Prigionero  superbo  (Naples) 
Equivoche  nel  sembiante ;  Eraclea 
(with  all  the  instruments  men 
tioned,  except  drums,  1700;  score 
in  the  F6tis  Collection,  Brussels) ; 
Nozze  col  nemico ;  Mitridate ;  II 
Figlio  delle  selve  (1702);  La  Ca- 
duta  dei  Decemviri  (1706) ;  11  Medo 
(1708,  much  praised  by  Fe'tis) ; 
Martirio  di  Santa  Cecilia  (Home) 
and  Teodosio  (Naples  1709); 
Giro  riconosciuto  (Borne  1712); 
Porsenna,  -with  Lotti  (San  Barto 
lomeo,  Naples,  1713);  Scipione  nelle 
Spagne,  Amor  generoso,  and  Ar- 
rninio  (Naples  1714) ;  Carlo  R£ 
d'Allemania,  and  Virtu  trionfante 
dell'  odio  e  dell'  amore  (1716); 


Trionfo  dell'  Onore  Fiorentini,  and 
Telemacco  (Naples  and  Borne  1718) 
interesting  for  its  comic  inter 
mezzo  in  the  Neapolitan  dialect; 
Tersites  ;  Attilio  Regolo,  and  Cam- 
bisio  (1719),  also  with  comic  inter 
mezzo  ;  Tito  Sempronio  Graccho, 
with  ballets,  and  Turno  Aricinio 
(1720);  Principessa  fedele,  and 
Griselda  (Rome  1721) ;  Didone  ab- 
bandonata  (1721). 

Undated  .-—Amor  volubile  e  ti- 
ranno  (in  the  Pa  ris  Conservatoire); 
Olitorio ;  Massimo  Puppieno ;  Non 
tutto  male  vien  per  nuocere,  and 
Amazone  guerriera  (Jlonte  Cas- 
sino) ;  Diana  ed  Endimione ;  La 
Merope  (Heal  Collegio,  Naples). 


No  less  prolific  as  a  composer  of  church-music, 
he  left  over  200  masses,  of  which  few  have  sur 
vived.  Jommelli  pronounced  his  masses  and 
motets  the  best  he  knew  in  the  concertante  style, 
and  Hauptmann3  in  regard  to  them  happily 
compares  him  and  Palestrina  as  Virgil  and 
Homer.  His  secular  cantatas  were  equally  numer 
ous.  Burney  saw  the  original  MSS.  of  35,  each 
composed  in  a  single  day  during  a  visit  at  Tivoli 
in  the  autumn  of  1704  to  Andrea  Adami  (da 
Bolsena),  then  a  well-known  singer  in  the  Pope  s 
choir  ;  and  a  Neapolitan  amateur  told  Quantz  in 
1725  that  he  possessed  400.  His  other  works 


\VI_TC  :- 


2  Also  bestowed  on  Gluck  and  Mozart. 

3  Letters  to  Hauser,  i.  137. 


SCAKLATTL 


SCARLATTI. 


239 


Oratorios.— Dolori  di  Maria  ;  Sa- 
crifizio  d'Abramo  (Burney  gives  a 
Cavatina  therefrom,  History,  iv. 
121) ;  Martirio  di  Santa  Teodosia 
(Paris,  Bibliotheque  Rationale) ; 
Concezzioni  della  beata  Vergine  ; 
Sposa  dei  sagri  cantici ;  San  Fi- 
lippo  di  Neri  (Borne  1718);  Ver 
gine  addolorata  (Naples  1722) ; 
Stabat  Mater,  a  4  (Eome  1723); 
ditto  a  2 ;  Passio  sec.  Johannem. 

Church  Music.— Several  Masses 
in  the  archives  of  the  Keal  Col- 
legio,  Naples,  including  one  a  10 
voci,  for  2  choirs,  violin,  and  or 
gan.  Also  Concert!  Sacri,  for  1,  2, 


S,  and  4  voices  (Koger,  Amster 
dam),  now  in  the  F6tis  Collection; 
Psalms— 'Ave  Begina,'  and  '  Lau 
dato,'  once  iu  Abbate  Santini's  pos 
session  ;  and  a  Miserere,  composed 
for  the  Pope's  Choir  in  1680. 

Secular  Music.  —  Madrigals  for 
various  voices  (Padre  Martini 
gives  one  for  2  soprani  and  2  con- 
tralti  in  his  'Esemplare  di  Con- 
trapunto  fugato');  Serenate  a  4 
for  the  baptism  of  the  Prince  of 
Sicily  (1723.  Monte  Cassino) ;  Du- 
ette  (14Nos.).  and  Cantatas  (8  vols.) 
are  in  the  Bibliotheque  Rationale 
Paris. 


Scarlatti  became  in  process  of  time  teacher  at 
three  of  the  Naples  Conservatories — San  Ono- 
frio,  I  Poveri,  and  Loreto.  Among  his  numer 
ous  pupils  were — Logroscino,  Hasse,  Leo, 
Durante,  Carapello,  Greco,  Gizzi,  Abos,  Feo, 
Porpora,  Sarri,  and  Contumacci.1  An  idea  of 
his  skill  in  teaching  may  be  gathered  from 
a  pamphlet,  unfortunately  circulated  in  MS. 
only,  'Discorso  di  musica  sopra  un  caso  parti- 
colare  in  arte  del  Sig.  Cav.  Alessandro  Scarlatti, 
maestro  della  real  capella  di  Napoli '  (1717,  28 
pp.  folio  with  17  of  music),  in  which  he  gave 
judgment  on  a  dispute  referred  to  his  arbitra 
tion,  between  two  Spanish  musicians  about  a 
striking  dissonance  employed  by  one  of  them. 

Maier  published  (Schlesinger,  Berlin)  a  comic 
duet  from  'Laodicea  e  Berenice,'  and,  besides 
those  already  given  there  are  at  Monte  Cassino 
'  Serenata  a  3,  Venere,  Adoni,  Amore ' ;  Sere- 
nata  a  3,  with  instruments,  for  the  opening  of  a 
theatre  at  Posilippo  (1696);  'Genio  di  Parte- 
none'  (Matteo  Sassoni) ;  'Gloria  di  Sebeto ' 
(Vittoria  Bombare) ;  'Piacere  di  Mergellina' 
(Domenico  1'Aquilano) ;  'Massimo  Puppieno,' 
opera,  3  acts ;  '  Scipione  nelle  Spagne,'  i  st  act ; 
and  '  Porsenna '  2nd  act,  recitatives  by  Antonio 
Lotti.  '  36  Ariettas  for  a  single  voice,  with  a 
Thorough  Bass  for  the  Harpsichord,'  were  pub 
lished  in  London  about  1 750. 

Large  portions  of  a  mass  by  Scarlatti  are  given 
by  Rochlitz  in  his  2nd  vol.  Another  was  printed 
entire  by  Proske  (Ratisbon,  1841)  ;  a  'Laetatus' 
and  an  '  Exultate '  are  given  in  Proske's  '  Musica 
Divina';  and  a  '  Tu  es  Petrus'  for  8  voices 
(characterised  by  Hauptmann  as  '  very  grand,  as 
if  hewn  in  stone')  in  Commer's  'Musica  Sacra,' 
Hi.  96.  His  instrumental  music  remains  almost 
entirely  unpublished.  A  Fugue  in  F  minor  is 
given  by  Pauer  in  his  'Alte  Klaviermusik.' 

His  portrait,  after  Solimena,  may  be  found  in 
the  '  Biographia  degli  Uomini  illustri  del  Regno 
di  Napoli'  (1810).  [F.G.] 

SCARLATTI,  DOMENICO,  or,  according  to 
2Quadrio,  GIEOLAMO,  son  of  Alessandro,  born 
apparently  in  Naples,  1683,  first  learned  from 
his  father,  and  later  from  Gasparini.  He  has 
been  called  a  pupil  of  Bernardo  Pasquini, 
but  that  seems  most  improbable,  seeing  that 
Pasquini  was  of  the  school  of  Palestrina,  and 
wrote  entirely  in  the  contrapuntal  style,  whereas 
Domenico  Scarlatti's  chief  interest  is  that  he  was 
the  first  composer  who  studied  the  peculiar  cha- 

1  Fi5tis  calls  Leo  a  pupil  of  Pitoni,  an  error  corrected  by  Florimo. 

2  Storia  . . .  d'ogni  poesia,  vii.  249. 


racteristics  of  the  free  style  of  the  harpsichord. 
His  bold  style  was  by  no  means  appreciated  in 
Italy,  for  Burney  remarks  ('State  of  Music  in 
France  and  Italy ')  that  the  harpsichord  was  so 
little  played  that  it  had  not  affected  the  organ, 
which  was  still  played  in  the  grand  old  tradi 
tional  style.  The  first  work  on  which  Domenico 
is  known  to  have  been  engaged  was  that  of  re 
modelling  for  Naples,  in  1704,  Polaroli's  opera 
'Irene'  (Venice  1695).  In  1710  he  composed 
for  the  private  theatre  of  Maria  Casimira,  Queen 
Dowager  of  Poland,  a  dramma  pastorale 
'Sylvia'  (libretto  in  the  Paris  Bibliotheque 
Nationale),  which  was  followed  by  '  Orlando ' 
(1711),  '  Fatide  in  Sciro'  (1712),  '  Ifigenia 
in  Aulide'  and  'in  Tauride '  (1713),  'Amor 
d'un  ombra,'  and  'Narciso'  (1714),  and  'Am- 
leto'  (1715,  Teatro  Capranico),  interesting  as 
the  first  musical  setting  of  that  subject.  In 
1708  he  was  in  Venice  with  Handel,  then  on  his 
way  from  Florence,  which  he  left  in  January,  to 
Rome,  where  he  arrived  in  March,  his  'Agrip- 
pina '  being  performed  27  times  in  Venice. 
Domenico  seems  to  have  accompanied  him  to 
Rome,  for  Cardinal  Ottoboni  held  a  kind  of 
competition  between  the  two,  at  which  the 
victory  was  undecided  on  the  harpsichord,  but 
when  it  came  to  the  organ,  Scarlatti  was  the  first 
to  acknowledge  his  rival's  superiority,  declaring 
that  he  had  no  idea  such  playing  as  Handel's 
existed.  The  two  became  fast  friends  from  that 
day,  they  remained  together  till  Handel  left 
Italy,  and  met  again  in  London  in  1720.  Even 
in  extreme  old  age  Handel  spoke  with  pleasure 
of  D.  Scarlatti,  and  Mainwaring  ('Memoirs,* 
61)  relates  that  when  Scarlatti  was  in  Spain,  if 
his  own  playing  was  admired,  he  would  turn  the 
conversation  on  Handel's,  crossing  himself  at  the 
same  time  as  a  sign  of  his  extreme  reverence.  In 
January  1715  he  succeeded  Baj  as  maestro  di 
capella  of  St.  Peter's  in  Rome,  where  he  com 
posed  Masses,  Salve  Reginas,  etc.  In  1719  he 
went  to  London,  where  his  'Narciso'  was  per 
formed  (May  30,  1720),  and  in  1721  to  Lisbon, 
where  he  became  a  court  favourite.  The  long 
ing  for  home  and  kindred  however  drove  him 
back  to  Naples,  where  Hasse  heard  him  play 
the  harpsichord  in  1725.  In  1729  he  was 
invited  to  the  Spanish  court,  and  appointed 
music-master  to  the  Princess  of  the  Asturias, 
whom  he  had  formerly  taught  in  Lisbon.  Ac 
cording  to  the  'Gazetta  musicale'  of  Naples 
(Sept.  15,  1838)  he  returned  to  Naples  in  1754, 
and  died  there  in  1757.  Being  an  inveterate 
gambler  he  left  his  family  in  great  destitution, 
but  Farinelli  came  to  their  assistance.  (Sacchi's 
'Vita  di  Don  Carlo  Broschi.') 

As  we  have  said,  Scarlatti  was  in  some  sense 
the  founder  of  modern  execution,  and  his  in 
fluence  may  be  traced  in  Mendelssohn,  Liszt, 
and  many  other  masters  of  the  modern  school. 
He  made  great  use  of  the  crossing  of  the  hands, 
and  produced  entirely  new  effects  by  this  means. 
His  pieces,  unlike  the  suites  of  Handel  and  his 
predecessors,  were  all  short.  Santini  possessed 
349  of  them.  Of  these  Scarlatti  himself  only 


240 


SCARLATTI. 


published  one  book  of  30  pieces,  entitled  <  Eser- 
cizii  per  gravicembalo,'  etc.,  printed  according  to 
Burney  in  Venice,  but  at  any  rate  before  Aug. 
1 746,  when  the  Prince  of  the  Asturias,  whose 
name  is  on  the  title-page,  ascended  the  throne. 
In  the  Fe"tis  collection  is  a  Paris  edition,  'Pieces 
pour  le  clave9in,'  2  vols.,  published  by  Mme. 
Boivin  (who  died  Sept.  1733)  and  Le  Clerc.1 
'  42  Suits2  of  Lessons'  were  printed  by  B.  Cooke, 
London,  under  the  supervision  of  Scarlatti's 
friend  Roseingrave  (between  1730  and  i_737> 
when  Roseingrave  went  out  of  his  mind). 
Czerny's  edition  (Haslinger,  Vienna,  1839),  con 
taining  200  pieces,  was  re-edited  (Paris,  Sauer, 
Girod)  and  revised  by  Mme.  Farrenc  from  Rosein- 
grave's  edition,  and  MSS.  then  in  possession 
of  Rimbault.  There  are  also  130  pieces  in  Far- 
renc's  'Tre'sor  des  Pianistes'  (1864)  ;  60  Sonatas 
are  published  by  Breitkopf;  and  1 8  pieces, 
grouped  as  Suites  by  von  Billow,  by  Peters. 

Though  the  technique  of  pianoforte -pi  ay  ing 
owes  so  much  to  Domenico  Scarlatti,  he  did 
nothing  towards  the  development  of  the  sonata. 

There  seem  to  have  been  other  musicians  of 
this  name,  as  Mr.  Habeil  of  Ratisbon  saw^in 
Rome  a  melodrama  'Agnus  occisus  ab  origine 
Mundi,'  signed  Francesco  Scarlatti,  and  there  is 
at  Monte  Cassino  a  score  by  Pietro  Scarlatti, 
'Clitarro,'  with  intermezzi' by  Hasse.  [F.G.] 

SCARLATTI,  GIUSEPPE,  grandson  of  Ales 
sandro,  born  at  Naples  1712.  Of  his  artistic  life 
but  little  is  known.  He  settled  in  Vienna  in 
1757,  up  to  which  date  he  had  produced  the 
following  operas  : — '  Pompeo  in  Arrnenio '  (Rome, 
1747);  '  Adriano in Siria' (Naples,  1752);  'Ezio' 
(Ib.  1754);  '  Gli  effetti  della  gran  Madre  Natura ' 
(Venice,  1754);  'Merope'  (Naples,  1755) ;  'Chi 
tutto  abbraccia  nulla  stringe'  (Venice,  1756). 
In  Vienna  he  brought  out  eight  more  at  the 
court  theatre  : — '  II  mercato  di  malmantile,'  and 
'L'isola  disabitata'  (1757);  'La  serva  scaltra' 
(1759);  'Issipile'  and  'La  Clemenza  di  Tito' 
(1760);  'Artaserse'  (1763);  'Gli  stravaganti' 
(1765);  'La  moglie  padrona'  (1768).  He  died 
at  Vienna  Aug.  17,  1777.  [C.F.P.] 

SCENA  (Gr.  3/t 771/77 ;  Lat.  Scena ;  Ital.  Scena, 
Teatro,  Palco ;  Ger,  Buhne,  Auftritt ;  Fr.  Scdne, 
Thddtre ;  Eng.  Scene,  Stage).  A  term,  which,  in 
its  oldest  and  fullest  significance,  applies  equally 
to  the  Stage,  to  the  Scenery  it  represents,  and  to 
the  Dramatic  Action  which  takes  place  upon  it. 
Hence,  the  long  array  of  synonyms  placed  at  the 
beginning  of  this  article. 

I.  Classical  authors  most  frequently  use  the 
word  in  its  first  sense,  as  applying  to  that  part  of 
a  Greek  or  Roman  Theatre  which  most  nearly 
answers  to  what  we  should  now  call  the  Stage ; 
and  the  classical  tendencies  of  the  Renaissance 
movement  led  to  its  similar  use  in  the  i6th  cen 
tury.  Thus,  in  Peri's  'Euridice,'  printed  in  1600, 
we  find  the  following  direction :  '  Tirsi  viene  in 
Scena,  sonando  la  presente  Zinfonia  con  un  Tri- 
flauto ' — '  Thyrsis  comes  upon  the  Stage,  playing 

1  No,  10  in  vol.  ii.  is  an  organ  fugue  by  Alessandro  Scarlatti. 

2  Which  are  not '  Suites,'  but  single  movements. 


SCENA. 

the  present  Symphony  upon  a  Triple  Flute.   [See 
OPERA.] 

II.  In  its  second  sense,  the  word  is  commonly 
applied,  in  England,  to  those  divisions  of  a  Drama 
which  are  marked  by  an  actual  change  of  Scenery ; 
a  method  of  arrangement  which  is  even  extended 
to  English  translations  of  foreign  works. 

III.  In  the  Italian,  German,  and  French  The 
atres,  the  word  is  more  frequently  used,  in  its 
third  sense,  to  designate  those  subordinate  divi 
sions   of  an   Act3    which   are    marked  by  the 
entrance,  or  exit,  of  one  or  more  members  of  the 
'Dramatis  personae' ;  a  new  Scene  being  always 
added  to  the  list,  when  a  new  Character  appears 
upon,  or  quits  the  Stage,  though  it  be  only  a 
Messenger,  with  half-a-dozen  words  to  say,  or 
sing.     The  ostensible  number  of  Scenes,  there 
fore,  in  an  Italian,  or  German  Opera,  is  always 
far  greater  than  that  indicated  in  an  English 
version  of  the  same  work.     For  instance,  in  the 
original  Libretto  of  'Der  Freischxitz'  7  Scenes 
are  enumerated  in  the  First  Act,  6  in  the  Second, 
and  1 7  in  the  Third  ;  whereas  the  popular  English 
translation    only   recognises    I    in   Act  I,   2   in 
Act  II,  and  3  in  Act  III.     An  attempt  to  intro 
duce   the   Continental   practice   to  the  English 
Theatre  was  made,  some  years  ago,  in  the  col 
lection  of  Operas  called  '  The   Standard  Lyric 
Drama '    (Boosey  &  Co.) ;   and,  as  it  has  been 
revived  in  the  excellent  8vo  editions  now  pub 
lishing  by  Messrs.  Novello,  it  is  to  be  hoped  that 
uniformity  of  custom  may  be  eventually  esta 
blished,  at  least  in  all  translated  works. 

IV.  In  a  more  limited  sense,  the  term  Scena 
is  applied,  by  Operatic  Composers,  to  an  Accom- 
paniedRecitative,  either  interspersed  with  passages 
of  Rhythmic  Melody,  or  followed  by  a  regular 
Aria.     In  the  former  case,  the  word  is  generally 
used  alone — and  always  in  its  Italian  form :  in 
the  latter  the  Composition  is  sometimes  called 
'  Scena  ed  Aria.'     Less  frequently,  the  place  of 
pure  Recitative  is  supplied  by  the  introduction 
of  short  strains  of  Melody,  with  strongly-marked 
variations   of  Tempo.     But,    in   all  cases,  it  is 
de  rigueur  that  the  character  of  the  Composition 
should  be    essentially   and    unmistakably  dra 
matic  throughout.     The  Scena,  thus  defined,  is 
as  old  as  the  Opera  itself;  for  the  name  might 
very  well  be  given  to  the  Scene  from  '  Euridice,' 
already   alluded   to;    or   to   the    'Lamento'  in 
Monteverde's  'Ariana.'    A  very  fine  example, 
much  in  advance  of  its  age,  will  be  found  in 
'  Ah  reudimi  quel  core,'  from  Francesco  Rossi's 
'  Mitrane '  (1688).     Handel  used  the  Scena,  with 
telling  effect,  both  in  Opera  and  Oratorio ;  as  in 
'Solitudini  amate/  in  '  Alessandro ' ;  'II  poter 
quelche   brami,'  in  '  Scipio,'  and  '  Deeper  and 
deeper  still'  and  'Farewell  ye  limpid  streams,' 
in    'Jephtha.'      Mozart's  peculiar  aptitude  for 
this  kind  of  Composition  is  well  exemplified  in 
his  wonderful  Scena  for  two  Voices,  '  Die  Weise- 
lehre  dieser  Knaben,'  in  'Die  Zauberflote';  in 
innumerable   delightful   instances    in  his  other 
Operas;   and  in  a  large  collection  of  detached 

3  Ital.  Atto ;  Fr.  Acte ;  Ger.  Aufzug— in  allusion  to  the  raising  of 
the  curtain. 


SCENA. 

pieces,  such   as  'Ch'io  mi  scordi,'  'Bella   mia 
fiamma,'  '  Ahi,  lo  previdi,'  '  Misera,  dove  son  ? ' 
and  others,  too  numerous  to  mention,  most  of 
them  written   for  the  Stage,  though  some   are 
clearly    intended    for    the    Concert-room,    not 
withstanding  their  powerful  dramatic  expression. 
To  this  latter  class  of  Scenas  must  be  referred 
Beethoven's  magnificent    'Ah,  perfido!'  which 
ranks,  with  the  Scenas  for  Leonore,  and  Florestan, 
in  '  Fidelio,'  among  his  most  passionate  Composi 
tions  for  Voice  and  Orchestra.     The  Scena  was, 
unquestionably,  Weber's  strongest  point — wit 
ness  his  three  magnificent  examples,  '  Durch  die 
W  alder,'  '  Wie  nahte  mir  die  Schlummer,'  and 
'Ocean,   du  Ungeheuer,'  and  his  six   'Concert 
Arien' — of  which,  however,  five  only  have  as  yet 
been   published.     The  grand  Scena,  in  Bb,  for 
Kunegunde  in  'Faust,'  is  one  of  Spohr's  most 
notable  masterpieces :  and  the  same  Composer's 
impassioned  Instrumental  Scena,  for  Violin  and 
Orchestra,  stands  quite  alone,  as  an  inspiration 
of  the  highest  order.     He  also  wrote  a  very  fine 
Scena    for    the   Concert-room  —  '  Tu   m'abban- 
doni5  (op.  71):   and  Mendelssohn  has  left  us  a 
priceless  treasure  of  this  class,  in  his  'Infelice,' 
which  embodies  an  amount  of  scenic  power  no 
less  remarkable  than  that  thrown  into  the  nu 
merous  similar  movements  in  his  Oratorios.   The 
secret  of  success,  in  all  these  cases,  lies  in  the 
intensity  of  dramatic  expression  embodied  in  the 
work.  When  this  is  present,  no  really  great  Com 
poser  ever  fails  to  hit  his  mark.     In  its  absence, 
the  outward  form  of  the  Scena  becomes  a  mean 
ingless  absurdity — a  truth  which  has  not  been 
sufficiently  considered  by  some  writers  of  later 
date.  [W.S.R.] 

SCENARIO.  An  Italian  term,  meaning  a 
sketch  of  the  scenes  and  main  points  of  an  opera 
libretto,  drawn  up  and  settled  preliminary  to 
filling  in  the  detail.  [G.] 

SCHABLONE.  The  German  term  for  a 
stencil  or  pattern,  and  thence  in  musical  criticism 
often  applied  to  music  written  with  too  much 
adherence  to  mechanical  form  or  manner,  whether 
the  composer's  own,  or  some  one  else's — made 
on  a  cut  and  dried  pattern.  The  term  capell- 
meister-musik  is  used  by  the  German  critics  for  a 
similar  thing.  With  a  slightly  different  metaphor 
we  should  say,  '  cast  in  the  same  mould.'  [G.] 

SCHACHTNER,  JOHANN  ANDREAS,  from 
1754  trumpeter  to  the  Archbishop  of  Salzburg, 
and  previously,  according  to  a  letter  of  Mozart's 
(Oct.  17,  1777)  in  the  church-choir  at  Irigolstadt, 
where  he  was  brought  up  in  the  Jesuit  school. 
He  died  in  1795.  -He  was  a  thorough  musician 
(much  greater  knowledge  was  required  to  play  the 
trumpet  then  than  now)  and  had  literary  tastes 
besides.  Being  intimate  with  the  Mozart  family 
he  watched  with  great  interest  the  extraordinary 
early  development  of  Wolfgang's  genius,  and  20 
years  later  wrote,  at  the  request  of  Mozart's  sister, 
a  letter1  to  which  we  owe  a  host  of  characteristic 
and  touching  details.  His  affection  was  fully 
returned,  for  '  Wolfgangerl '  would  ask  him  a 

i  Dated  April  24, 1792.    Given  in  full  by  Jahn,  i.  19. 
VOL.  HI.  PT.  2. 


SCHACK. 


241 


dozen  times  a  day  if  he  was  really  fond  of  him, 
and  when  Schachtner  would  sometimes  in  fun 
say  '  No,'  the  tears  would  start  into  his  eyes  '  so 
loving  and  so  tender  was  his  little  heart.'  When 
the  two  were  carrying  his  toys  from  one  room  to 
the  other  Wolfgang  would  insist  on  their  either 
singing  or  fiddling  a  march.  To  Schachtner  too 
the  father  showed  the  blotted  MS.  of  the  first 
PF.  concerto,  and  related  the  little  fellow's 
answer  to  his  objection  that  it  was  too  difficult 
— '  That  is  just  why  it  is  called  a  concerto;  people 
must  practise  till  they  can  play  it,'  upon  which 
he  set  to  work  to  try  and  play  it  himself.  At 
this  time  he  was  4,  and  two  years  later,  after  his 
return  from  Vienna,  when  some  trios  by  a  friend 
were  being  tried,  he  begged  to  be  allowed  to 
play  the  second  violin,  and  cried  at  his  father's 
refusal  (he  had  had  absolutely  no  instruction  in 
the  violin),  till  at  Schachtner 's  intercession  Leo 
pold  Mozart  gave  way,  saying,  'You  may  play 
with  Herr  Schachtner ;  but  you  must  do  it  softly 
so  that  nobody  may  hear  you.'  Schachtner  soon 
found  himself  superfluous,  and  was  not  surprised 
to  see  tears  of  joy  in  the  father's  eyes.  Among 
other  traits,  Schachtner  relates  as  a  proof  of  the 
extreme  delicacy  of  the  boy's  ear  his  pointing 
out  that  Schachtner's  violin  was  a  half-a-quarter 
of  a  tone  lower  than  his  own,  and  on  another 
occasion  his  fainting  at  the  sound  of  the  trumpet, 
of  which  up  to  ten,  he  had  a  positive  dread. 
Schachtner  wrote  the  libretto  of  an  opera 2  which 
Mozart  intended  for  Vienna,  and  had  made  great 
progress  with,  and  translated  the  libretto  of 
'  Idomeneo '  into  German,  thus  enabling  Leopold 
Mozart  to  say  (letter  to  Breitkopf,  Aug.  10, 1781) 
that  it  was  entirely  the  work  of  persons  living  in 
Salzburg, '  the  poetry  by  Court-chaplain  Varesco, 
the  music  by  my  son,  and  the  German  trans 
lation  by  Herr  Schachtner.'  (Jahn's  'Mozart,' 
i.  564.)  [C.F.P.] 

SCHACK,  BENEDICT,  the  first  Tamino,  and 
one  of  the  party3  who  stood  round  Mozart's  bed 
the  night  before  his  death,  and  at  his  request 
sang  the  completed  portions  of  the  '  Requiem ' 
as  far  as  the  first  bars  of  the  '  Lacrimosa,'  when 
he  broke  into  violent  weeping  at  the  thought 
that  he  should  never  finish  it.  Schack,  who  was 
born  in  1758,  was  a  man  of  general  cultivation, 
a  thorough  musician,  and  a  good  flute-player. 
He  composed  several  operas  for  Schikaneder's 
theatre.  Mozart  was  on  intimate  terms  with 
him,  and  would  often  come  and  fetch  him  for  a 
walk,  and  while  waiting  for  Schack  to  dress, 
would  sit  down  at  his  desk  and  touch  up  his 
scores.  Schack's  voice  was  a  fine  tenor,  flexible 
and  sonorous,  and  his  execution  thoroughly  ar 
tistic,  but  he  was  a  poor  actor.4  In  1787  he  was 
taking  second  parts  only;  in  1792  he  sang 
Tamino,  Count  Almaviva,  and  Don  Ottavio 
(Don  Gonsalvo  in  the  German  translation)  after 
which  we  hear  no  more  of  him  as  a  singer.  His 

J  Completed  by  Andre"  as  '  Zaide.'    Jahn  thinks  it  was  most  likely 
adapted  from  the  French. 

3  The  others  were  Mozart's  brother-in-law,  Hofer,  the  violinist,  and 
Franz  Xaver  Qerl,  a  bass-singer,  and  the  first  Sarastro.    Mozart  him 
self  sang  the  alto. 

4  Jahn's  '  Mozart,'  ii.  510. 

R 


242 


SCHACK. 


Operas  or  Singspiele  came  between   1789  and 
93  ;  some  were  written  with  Gerl.1          [C.F.P-] 

SCHARWENKA,  PHILIPP,  born  Feb.  25, 
1847,  at  Samter,  Posen,  East  Prussia.  His  taste 
for  music  showed  itself  early,  but  he  was  unable 
to  cultivate  it  seriously  till  the  removal  of  his 
family  to  Berlin  in  1865,  when  he  entered 
Kullak's  '  New  Academy.'  On  completing  his 
course  he  remained  on  the  staff  of  the  Academy, 
and  is  now  teacher  of  the  rudiments  and  of  com 
position.  His  works  are  chiefly  for  PF. — dances 
and  other  drawing-room  pieces  ;  the  latest  being 
an  'Album  polonais/  op.  33.  But  he  has  also 
published  songs ;  3  concert  pieces  for  violin  and 
PF.  (op.  17);  a  serenade  (op.  19);  studies  for 
violin,  and  for  cello,  and  has  written  two  sym 
phonies.  Herr  Scharwenka  is  also  an  accom 
plished  caricaturist,  and  has  illustrated  'Anton 
Notenquetscher,'  a  satirical  poem  by  Alex.  Mos- 
kowsld  (Berlin,  1881),  with  some  very  comic 
woodcuts.  [G.] 

SCHARWENKA,  XAVER,  was  also  born  at 
Samter,  Jan.  6,  1840;  and  like  his  brother  was 
at  Kullak's  Academy  at  Berlin,  where  he  was 
known,  while  still  a  pupil,  for  his  PF.  playing 
and  his  compositions.  He  made  his  first  appear 
ance  in  public  at  Berlin,  in  1869,  and  remained 
for  some  time  in  the  Academy  as  a  teacher,  until 
compelled  to  leave  it  for  his  military  duties  in 
1873.  After  this  he  began  to  travel,  and  was 
soon  renowned  as  a  fine  and  brilliant  player, 
and  a  '  young  composer  of  remarkable  endow 
ments.'  In  1877  he  produced  his  first  Concerto 
for  the  PF.  (in  Bb  minor,  op.  32),  playing  it  to 
the  meeting  of  German  musicians  at  Hanover 
in  May ;  it  was  played  in  England  for  the  first 
time  by  Mr.  Dannreuther  at  the  Crystal  Palace 
(both  place  and  player  well-known  in  this  country 
for  their  chivalrous  welcome  of  new  works)  Oct. 
27,  1877.  In  1878,  Feb.  14,  Scharwenka  him 
self  played  it  at  the  Gewandhaus,  Leipzig.  In 
1879  he  made  his  first  appearance  in  England, 
played  the  same  work  at  the  Crystal  Palace, 
March  I,  and  played  at  the  Musical  Union, 
April  29.  In  1880  he  returned  and  played  at 
the  Philharmonic  Feb.  19,  and  elsewhere.  In 
1 88 1  he  made  a  third  visit  and  played  his  second 
Concerto  (in  C  minor,  op.  56,  which  he  had 
produced  at  the  Gesellschafts  concert  at  Vienna 
Dec.  12,  1880) — at  the  Philharmonic,  Feb.  24. 
His  stay  was  shortened  by  his  recall  to  Germany 
for  his  military  duties  (a  cruel  anomaly  for  an 
artist !),  but  he  found  time  to  appear  several 
times,  and  deepened  the  favourable  impression 
which  he  had  previously  made. 

Scharwenka's  published  works  number  52. 
Opus  i  is  a  Trio  in  Ffl  minor  for  PF.,  violin 
and  cello,  and  op.  2  a  Sonata  for  PF.  and 
violin,  in  D  minor.  He  has  published  a  second 
PF.  trio  (in  A  minor,  op.  45),  a  quartet  for 
PF.  and  strings  (in  F,  op.  37),  a  sonata  for 
PF.  and  cello  (E  minor,  op.  46)  ;  7  original  PF. 
duets  ;  2  sonatas  (in  Cj  minor  and  Eb,  op.  6  and 

i  Gerl  sang  Osmin  in  1787  at  the  same  theatre  in  the  Freihaus, 
where  was  produced  in  1797  his  comic  opera  in  3  acts  '  Die  Mas- 
kerade,'  by  '  a  former  member  of  this  theatre.' 


SCHEBEK. 

36),  2  scherzos,  and  a  large  mass  of  studies, 
dances,  romances,  and  other  pieces  all  for  PF. 
solo.  The  first  PF.  concerto  is  op.  32  ;  the 
second  is  not  yet  printed.  [G.] 

SCHAUROTH,  DELPHINE  (Adolphine)  VON, 
a  Bavarian  lady  of  noble  family,  a  great  piano 
forte  player,  with  whom  Mendelssohn  flirted  (se 
riously,  even  for  him)  and  played  duets,  during 
his  visit  to  Munich  in  June  i83o.2  She  and 
Josephine  Lang  are  the  two  most  prominent 
figures  in  his  letters  of  that  date.  He  reached 
Venice  on  Oct.  10,  and  on  the  i6th  wrote  the 
well-known  '  Venetianisches  Gondellied'  (Songs 
without  Words,  bk.  i.  no.  6),  which  on  the  MS., 
though  not  in  print,  bears  the  words  '  fur  Del- 
phine  Schauroth.'  Their  acquaintance  was  re 
newed  on  his  return  in  the  following  3  October, 
and  the  G  minor  Concerto,  written  at  Munich, 
is  dedicated  to  her.  She  was  born  at  Magdeburg 
in  1814,  and  was  a  pupil  of  Kalkbrenner.  Before 
1835  she  married  Mr.  Hill  Handley,  an  English 
man,  but  the  union  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
happy,  and  was  soon  dissolved.  Schumann,  in 
noticing  her  Sonate  brillante  in  C  minor  (Diabelli) 
and  her  Caprice  (Ibid.),  in  his  'Neue  Zeitschrift 
fur  Musik'  (ii.  1 25 ;  v.  132),  while  kindly  quizzing 
her  consecutive  fifths,  false  relations,  and  other 
marks  of  inexperience  in  composing,  pardons  them 
all  for  the  thoroughly  musical  nature — '  Musik 
in  ihrem  Wesen/  'der  eigentliche  musikalische 
Nerv' — which  her  pieces  display.  Indeed  he 
goes  so  far  as  to  class  her  with  Clara  Wieck  as 
'two  Amazons  in  a  brilliant  procession.'  In 
1839  she  played  the  Eb  Concerto  at  a  concert 
given  in  Munich  for  the  Beethoven  monument, 
with  great  brilliancy  and  success  (A.  M.  Z.  xli. 
488).  In  1870  she  gave  a  recital  at  Leipzig  on 
Mendelssohn's  birthday,  in  reference  to  which 
the  Signale  speaks  of  her  own  pieces  and  two  of 
Chopin's  as  having  special  charm.  She  is  now 
(1881)  living  at  Charlottenburg.  It  is  matter  of 
great  regret  that  a  life  which  began  so  brilliantly 
should,  to  all  appearance,  be  so  much  overclouded 
at  its  close.  [G.] 

SCHAUSPIELDIRECTOR,  DER,  'Comodie 
mit  Musik  in  i  Act'  (The  Manager,  a  Comedy 
with  Music  in  one  Act)  ;  containing  an  overture 
and  4  numbers  ;  words  by  Stephanie,  jun.,  music 
by  Mozart.  Produced  at  a  Court  festival  at 
Schonbrunn,  Feb.  7,  1786.  Over  the  terzet 
(No.  3)  is  the  date,  Jan.  18,  1786.  It  was 
adapted  to  a  Frencli  libretto  under  the  name  of 
'  L'lmpresario,'  and  produced  in  Paris  in  1856. 
[See  vol.  i.  p.  768.]  A  careful  version  of  the  entire 
piece  from  the  German  original,  by  W.  Grist, 
was  brought  out  at  the  Crystal  Palace,  London, 
on  Sept.  14,  1877,  as  'The  Manager,'  and  re 
peated  several  times  there  and  elsewhere. 

An  interesting  little  work,  full  of  details  on 
this  opera  and  Mozart  in  general,  is  'Mozart's 
Schauspieldirector,  von  Dr.  R.  Hirsch '  (Leipzig, 

1859)-  [<*•] 

SCHEBEK,    EDMUND,    a  distinguished    and 

influential   Austrian  amateur,    Doctor  of  Law, 

2  '  Familie  Mendelssohn,'  Letters,  June  11,  26, 1830. 

3  Letter  of  Oct.  6, 1831. 


SCHEBEK. 

Imperial  councillor,  and  secretary  to  the  Chamber 
of  Commerce  at  Prague,  was  born  Oct.  22,  1819, 
at  Petersdorf  in  Moravia.  He  began  his  musical 
career  as  head  of  a  Society  at  Olmiitz,  and  con 
tinued  it  at  Prague,  where  in  conjunction  with 
Weiss,  the  superior  of  the  Capuchins,  and  Krejci, 
he  has  revived  much  of  the  best  old  Italian 
church  music.  He  has  devoted  his  attention 
specially  to  the  construction  of  the  violin,  in 
relation  to  which  he  has  published  very  inter 
esting  treatises — On  the  Orchestral  Instruments 
in  the  Paris1  Exhibition  of  1855  ;  On  the  Cre- 
monese  instruments,  a  propos  to  the  Vienna 
Exhibition  of  1873,  and  'the  Italian  Violin 
manufacture  and  its  German  origin.'2  He  has 
also  published  a  valuable  little  pamphlet  on 
Froberger.  Dr.  Schebek  possesses  a  fine  collec 
tion  of  ancient  stringed  instruments,  Beethoven 
autographs,  etc.  [G.] 

SCHEBEST,  AGNES,  born  at  Vienna,  Feb.  15, 
1813,  became  attached  at  a  very  early  age  to  the 
Court  Theatre  at  Dresden,  first  in  the  chorus, 
and  then  as  singer  of  small  solo  parts.  Here  she 
had  the  inestimable  advantage  of  frequently 
hearing  and  seeing  the  great  Schroeder-Devrient. 
In  1833  she  left  Dresden  for  Pesth,  and  from 
1836  to  41  starred  throughout  Germany  with 
very  great  applause.  Her  voice  was  a  fine  mezzo- 
soprano,  her  style  and  method  were  good,  her 
best  parts  heroic,  with  much  energy  and  passion. 
In  1841  she  married  the  great  theologian  Dr. 
David  Strauss  (himself  a  keen  amateur,  and 
author  of  an  interesting  paper  on  the  Ninth  Sym 
phony),  and  died  Dec.  22,  1869,  at  Stuttgart. 
She  left  an  account  of  her  career — 'Aus  dem 
Leben  einer  Kiinstlerin'  (1857).  [G.] 

SCHECHNER-WAAGEN,  NANETTE,  dra 
matic  singer,  born  at  Munich  in  1806.  She  was 
employed  in  the  chorus-scenes  of  the  opera,  and, 
on  the  occasion  of  Madame  Grassini's  visit,  was 
chosen  to  second  her  in  some  selections  from 
Cimarosa's  'Gli  Orazzi  e  Curiazi.'  Schechner's 
beautiful  voice  made  a  great  impression,  and 
won  for  her  a  patroness  in  the  Queen  of 
Bavaria.  After  some  study  in  singing  and  in 
Italian,  she  appeared  in  Italian  opera  in  Munich, 
until  1827,  after  which  she  devoted  herself  to 
German  opera.  In  1826  she  was  in  Vienna,  if  a 
curious  story,  related  by  Schindler,  of  a  scene  in 
the  theatre  there,  a  propos  to  an  air  written  for 
her  by  Schubert,  may  be  believed.  [See  SCHU 
BERT.]  It  is  related  by  Fe*tis  that,  when  she  first 
appeared  in  Berlin  in  Weigl's  'Schweizerfamilie,' 
the  first  act  was  played  to  an  almost  empty  house ; 
but  such  enthusiasm  did  her  Emmeline  arouse 
in  the  few  listeners,  that  the  report  of  it  spread 
to  the  neighbouring  cafe's  during  the  entr'acte, 
a  large  audience  was  drawn  to  the  theatre  for 
the  rest  of  the  performance,  and  the  singer's 
success  was  complete.  Her  Donna  Anna,  Eury- 
anthe,  Fidelio,  Reiza,  Vestalin  and  Iphigenie  in 
Tauris  excited  great  admiration  in  Berlin  and 

'Die  Orchester-Instrumente  auf  der  Pariser  Weltausstellung  1m 
Jahre  1855 '  (Vienna,  Staatsdruckerei,  1858). 

!  '  Der  Geigenbau  in  Italien  und  sein  deutscher  Urspvung '  (Vienna 
1S72  and  1874.). 


SCHEIBLER. 


243 


I  Munich.  In  1832  she  married  Waagen,  a 
lithographer  and  painter. 

Madame  Schechner's  voice  was  powerful,  even 
massive  in  its  tones,  her  acting  was  earnest  and 
natural.  She  took  a  place  in  the  first  rank  of 
German  singers,  but  her  brilliant  career  lasted 
no  longer  than  ten  years.  A  severe  illness 
injured  her  voice  ;  she  retired  from  the  stage  in 
1835,  and  died  in  1860. 

Mendelssohn  heard  her  at  Munich  in  1830,  and 
while  he  found  her  voice  much  gone  off  and  her 
intonation  false,  says  that  her  expression  was  still 
so  touching  as  to  make  him  weep.3  [L.M.M.] 

SCHEIBLER,  JOHA.NN  HEINRICH,  born  at 
Montjoie  or  Montschau,  near  Aix-la-Chapelle, 
Nov.  n,  1777,  died  Nov.  20,  1837,  silk  manu 
facturer,  after  many  travels  settled  down  at  Cre- 
feld,  where  he  was  first-assistant-Biirgermeister. 
In  1812-13,  after  some  interesting  experiments 
with  Jews-harps,  he  turned  his  attention  to  the 
imperfections  of  existing  means  of  tuning.  He 
first  tried  a  monochord,  but  finding  that  he  could 
not  always  get  the  same  note  from  the  same 
division  of  his  monochord,  he  endeavoured  to 
help  himself  by  beats,  and  discovered  that  each 
beat  corresponded  to  a  difference  of  two  simple 
vibrations  or  one  double  vibration  in  a  second. 
His  plan  was  to  fix  the  monochord  by  finding  the 
stopped  length  which  would  give  a  note  beating 
four  times  in  a  second  with  his  own  fork.  Then, 
after  endless  trials  and  calculations,  he  found 
similar  places  for  all  the  divisions  of  the  scale, 
and  finally  from  the  monochord  made  forks  for 
each  note  of  the  perfectly  equally  tempered  scale. 
By  repeated  comparisons  with  his  forks  he  found 
that  it  was  impossible  to  make  a  mathematically 
accurate  monochord,  or  to  protect  it  from  the 
effects  of  temperature.  He  then  hit  upon  the  plan 
of  inserting  forks  between  the  forks  of  his  scale, 
from  the  lowest  A  of  the  violin  to  the  open  A,  and 
counting  the  beats  between  them.  It  was  this 
counting  that  was  the  trouble,  but  by  highly 
ingenious  mechanical  contrivances  he  was  en 
abled  to  complete  the  count  of  his  fifty-two  forks 
within  from  '0067  to  '00083  beats  or  double  vibra 
tions  in  a  second,  and  hence  to  tune  a  set  of  twelve 
forks  so  as  to  form  a  perfectly  equal  scale  for  any 
given  pitch  of  A.  The  particulars  of  his  forks, 
and  the  mode  of  counting  them  are  contained  in 
his  little  pamphlet  'Der  physikalische  undmusik- 
alische  Tonmesser'  (Essen,  Badeker,  1834,  p.  80, 
with  lithographic  plates),*  from  which  the  pre 
ceding  history  has  been  gathered.  During  his 
lifetime  he  issued  four  smaller  tracts,  showing 
how  to  tune  organs  by  beats,  which  were  collected 
after  his  death  as  '  H.  Scheibler's  Schriften,  etc.' 
(Crefeld,  Schmiiller,  1838).  This  is  quite  out  of 
print,  but  copies  of  the  former  book  are  still  to  be 
bought.  His  wonderful  tonometer  of  fifty-two 
forks  has  completely  disappeared.  But  another 
one,  of  fifty- six  instead  of  fifty-two  forks,  which 

3  Letter,  June  6, 1886. 

4  '  The  physical  and  musical  Tonometer,  which  proves  visibly  by 
means  of  the  pendulum,  the  absolute  numbers  of  vibrations  of 
musical  tones,  the  principal  kinds  of  combinational  tones,  and  the 
most  rigid  exactness  of  equally  tempered  and  mathematical  just 
Chords.' 

B2 


244 


SCHEIBLER. 


belonged  to  Scheibler  still  exists,  and  was  in 
herited  by  his  daughter  and  grandson,  who  lent  it 
to  Herr  Amels,  formerly  of  Crefeld,  who  again  lent 
it  to  Mr.  Alexander  J.  ElHs,  who  counted  it,  and 
having  checked  his  results  by  means  of  M°Leod's 
and  Mayer's  machines  for  measuring  pitch,  gave 
the  value  of  each  fork  in  the  Journal  of  the  Society 
of  Arts  for  March  5,  1880,  p.  300,  correct  to  less 
than  one-tenth  of  a  double  vibration.  The  two 
extreme  forks  of  this  s6-fork  tonometer  agree  in 
pitch  precisely  with  those  of  the  52-fork  tono 
meter,  but  no  other  forks  are  alike,  nor  could  the 
forks  of  the  52-fork  tonometer  have  been  easily 
converted  into  those  of  the  other  one.  In  1834, 
at  a  congress  of  physicists  at  Stuttgart,  Scheibler 
proposed  with  approval  the  pitch  A  440  at  69°  F. 
(=A  440-2  at  59°  F.)  for  general  purposes,  and 
this  has  been  consequently  called  the  Stuttgart 
pitch.1  [A.J.H.] 

SCHELBLE,  JOHANN  NEPOMUK,  a  thoroughly 
excellent  and  representative  German  musician, 
born  May  16,  1789,  at  HofEngen  in  the  Black 
Forest,  where  his  father  was  superintendent  of 
the   House   of  Correction.     His   strict  musical 
education  was  begun  in  the  Monastery  of  March- 
thai  1800-03;  and  continued  at  Donaueschingen, 
under  Weisse.     He  then  spent  some  time,  first 
with  Vogler  at  Darmstadt,  and  then  with  Krebs, 
a  distinguished  singer  at  Stuttgart,  and  there,  in 
1812,  he  filled  the  post  of  elementary  teacher  in 
the  Royal  Musical  Institution,  a  very  famous  and 
complete   school   of  those  times.2     In  1813   he 
went  to  Vienna,  lived  in  intimate  acquaintance 
with  Beethoven,  Moscheles,  Weigl,  Spohr,  etc., 
composed  an  opera  and  many  smaller  works,  and 
went  on  the  stage,  where  however  his  singing, 
though  remarkable,  was  neutralised  by  his  want 
of  power  to  act.     From  Austria  in  1816  he  went 
to  Frankfort,  which  became  his  home.    Here  the 
beauty  of  his  voice,  the  excellence  of  his  method, 
and  the  justness  of  his  expression,  were  at  once 
recognised.     He  became  the  favourite  teacher, 
and  in  1817  was  made  director  of  the  Musical 
Academy.     This  however  proved  too  desultory 
for  his  views,  and  on  July  24,  1818,  he  formed 
a  Society  of  his  own,  which  developed  into  the 
famous  '  Csecilian  Society '  of  Frankfort,  and  at 
the  head  of  which  he  remained  till  his  death.  The 
first  work  chosen  by  the  infant  institution  was 
the'Zauberflote';  then  Mozart's  Requiem ;  then 
one  of  his  Masses  ;  and  then  works  by  Handel, 
Cherubini,    Bach,    etc.      In    1821    the    Society 
assumed  the  name  of  the  '  Cacilienverein  * ;  the 
repertoire  was  increased  by  works  of  Palestrina, 
Scarlatti,   and    other  Italian    masters,    and   at 
length,  on  March  10,  1828,  Mozart's  '  Davidde 
penitente '  and  the  Credo  of  Bach's  Mass  in  B 
minor  were  given;  then,  May  2, 1829  (stimulated 
by  the  example  of  Mendelssohn  in  Berlin),  the 
Matthew  Passion  ;  and  after  that   we  hear  of 
' Samson*  and  other  oratorios  of  Handel,  Bach's 
motets,    and   choruses    of   Mendelssohn,   whose 

i  He  selected  it  as  the  mean  of  the  variation  of  pitch  5n  pianos  as 
then  tuned  at  Vienna,  and  not  from  the  fact  that  it  enables  the  scale 
filC  major,  in  just  intonation,  to  be  expressed  in  whole  numbers,  as 
has  been  sometimes  stated. 

2SeetheA.  ,U.Z.  1812,  334. 


SCHENCK. 

genius  Schelble  was  one  of  the  first  to  recognise, 
and  whose  '  St.  Paul  '  was  suggested  to'  him  by 
the  Cdscilian  Association,  doubtless  on  the  motion 
of  its  conductor.  Whether  the  Society  ever  at 
tempted  Beethoven's  mass  does  not  appear,  but 
Schelble  was  one  of  the  two  private  individuals 
who  answered  Beethoven's  invitation  to  subscribe 
for  its  publication.'  [See  vol.  i.  p.  197  note  ;  vol.  ii. 


His  health  gradually  declined,  and  at  length, 
in  the  winter  of  1835,  it  was  found  necessary  to 
make  some  new  arrangement  for  the  direction 
of  the  Society.  Mendelssohn  was  asked  (Letters, 
Feb.  18,  1836),  and  undertook  it  for  six  weeks 
during  the  summer  of  1836.  Mendelssohn's 
fondness  and  esteem  for  the  man  whose  place  he 
was  thus  temporarily  filling  is  evident  in  every 
sentence  referring  to  him  in  his  letters  of  this 
date.  Schelble  died  Aug.  7,  1837.  His  great 
qualities  as  a  practical  musician,  a  conductor, 
and  a  man,  are  well  summed  up  by  Hiller3  in 
his  book  on  Mendelssohn,  to  which  we  refer  the 
reader.  His  compositions  have  not  survived  him. 
His  biography  was  published  shortly  after  his 
death  —  '  J.  N.  Schelble,  von  Weissmann  '  (Frank 
fort,  1838).  [G.] 

SCHELLER,  JAKOB,  born  at  Schettat,  Ea- 
konitz,  Bohemia,  May  12,  1759,  a  very  clever 
violinist.  He  was  thrown  on  his  own  resources 
from  a  very  early  age,  and  we  hear  of  him  at 
Prague,  Vienna,  and  Mannheim,  where  he  re 
mained  for  two  years  playing  in  the  court  band, 
and  learning  composition  from  Vogler.  After 
more  wandering  he  made  a  stay  of  three  years  in 
Paris,  studying  the  school  of  Viotti.  He  then, 
in  1785,  took  a  position  as  Concert-meister,  or 
leading  violin,  in  the  Duke  of  Wiirtemberg'sband 
at  Stuttgart,  which  he  retained  until  the  esta 
blishment  was  broken  up  by  the  arrival  of  the 
French  in  1792.  This  forced  him  to  resume  his 
wandering  life,  and  that  again  drove  him  to  in 
temperance,  till  after  seven  or  eight  years  more 
he  ended  ^miserably,  being  even  obliged  to  borrow 
a  fiddle  at  each  town  he  came  to.  He  was  more 
celebrated  for  his  tricks  and  tours  de  force  than 
for  his  legitimate  playing.  Spohr  (Autob.  i.  280) 
speaks  of  his  flageolet-tones,  of  variations  on  one 
string,  of  pizzicato  with  the  nails  of  the  left  hand, 
of  imitations  of  a  bassoon,  an  old  woman,  etc.  ; 
and  Fe"tis  mentions  a  trick  in  which  by  loosening 
the  bow  he  played  on  all  four  strings  at  once.  By 
these,  and  probably  also  by  really  fine  playing, 
he  excited  so  much  enthusiasm,  that  it  used  to 
be  said  of  him  '  one  God  ;  one  Scheller.'  The 
same  things  have  been  done  since  by  really  great 
artists,  such  as  Ole  Bull,  and  even  Paganini,  and 
with  similar  effect  on  their  audiences.  [G.] 

SCHENCK,  JOHANN,  interesting  from  his 
connection  with  Beethoven,  was  born  of  poor 
parents,  Nov.  30,  1753,  at  Wiener  Neustadt  in 
Lower  Austria,  and  at  an  early  age  was  ad 
mitted  into  the  Archbishop's  choir  at  Vienna. 
In  1778  he  produced  his  first  mass,  which  he 

3  '  Mendelssohn  '  translated  by  Miss  M.  E.  von  Glehn,  p-  8. 

4  Kochtitz,  'Fur  Freuude  d.  Tonkunst.'  ii. 


SCHENCK. 

followed  by    other  sacred  pieces  and  by  many 
Singspiele  and  Operas  (ending  with  '  Der  Fass- 
binder'  1802),  which  gained  him  a  considerable 
name,  and  rank  with  those  of  Dittersdorf  and 
Wenzel  Miiller.      The  « Dorf  bar  bier '   (Karnth- 
nerthor,  Nov.  6,  1796)  was  always  popular,  and 
is  still  in  use.    In  addition  he  wrote  symphonies, 
concertos,  quartets,  lieder,  etc.     The  autographs 
of  many  of  these  are  in  the  Gesellschaft  der 
Musikfreunde  at  Vienna,  with  that  of  a  theo 
retical   work,    'Grundsatze   des   Generalbasses.' 
The    anecdote    of    his    kissing    Mozart's    hand 
during  the  overture  on  the  first  night  of  the 
'  Zauberflote '  has  been  already  related.      [See 
MOZAET,  ii.  394,  note.]     His  first  meeting  with 
Beethoven  is  told  in  Bauernfeld's  biographical 
sketch  of  Schenck  in  the  '  Wiener  Zeitschrift  fur 
Kunst'  for    1837  (Nos,  5,  6,  and  7).     Gelinek 
mentioned  to  Schenck  that  he  had  found  a  young 
man  whose  playing  excelled  anything  ever  heard 
before   excepting  Mozart's,  and  who  had  been 
studying  counterpoint  for  six  months  with  Haydn, 
but  to  so  little  purpose  that  it  would  be  a  great 
kindness  if  Schenck  would  give  him  some  help. 
A  meeting  was  arranged  at  Gelinek's  house,  when 
Beethoven  improvised  for  over  half  an  hour  in  so 
remarkable  and  unusual  a  manner  that  forty  years 
afterwards  Schenck  could  not  speak  of  it  without 
emotion.     Schenck  next  went  to  see  the  young 
artist.   Himself  a  model  of  neatness  he  was  rather 
taken  aback  by  the  disorderliness  of  the  room,  but 
Beethoven's  reception  was  cordial  and  animated. 
On  the  desk  lay  some  short  exercises  in  counter 
point,  in  which  on  the  first  glance  Schenck  de 
tected  a  few  errors.     Beethoven's  troubles  soon 
came  out.     He  had  come  to  Vienna  aware  of  his 
own  ability,  but  anxious  to  learn ;  had  at  once 
put  himself  in  the  hands  of  the  first  master  to  be 
got,  and  yet  was  making  no  progress.     Schenck 
at  once  agreed  to  help  him,  and  took  him  through 
Fux's  '  Gradus  ad  Parnassum,'  with  which  indeed 
Haydn  was  familiar  enough.    As  it  was  essential 
that  Haydn  should  not  be  entirely  thrown  over, 
Beethoven  copied  exercises  partly  corrected  by 
1  Schenck,  and  Haydn  was  then   able  to  con 
gratulate  himself  on   the   progress   of  his  hot 
headed  pupil.     The  affair  was   of  course  kept 
strictly  secret,  but  Beethoven  having  fallen  out 
with  Gelinek  the  latter  gossipped,  and  Schenck 
was  deeply  annoyed.    Beethoven,  however,  when 
on  the  point  of  following  Haydn  to  Eisenstadt 
wrote 2  very  gratefully  to  Schenck,  and  the  two 
remained  on  pleasant  terms.    It  is  interesting  to 
know  that  besides  Mozart  and  Beethoven,  Schenck 
was  acquainted  with  Schubert.   Bauenfeld  intro 
duced  them,  and  so  congenial  were  they  that  after 
an  hour's  talk  they  parted  like  old  friends. 

Very  unassuming  in  his  ways,  Schenck  was 
respected  as  a  thorough  though  somewhat  pe 
dantic  teacher  of  the  piano  and  composition. 
His  portrait  in  the  Museum  of  the  Gesellschaft 

i  This  surely  says  a  great  deal  for  Beethoven's  patience,  and  for  his 
desire  not  to  offend  Haydn. 

'•  '  I  wish  I  were  not  starting  to-day  for  Eisenstadt.  I  should  like 
to  have  had  more  talk  with  you.  In  the  meantime  you  may  count 
upon  my  gratitude  for  the  kindness  you  have  shown  me.  I  shall  do 
all  in  my  power  to  return  it.  I  hope  to  see  you  and  enjoy  your 
society  again  soon.  Farewell,  and  do  not  forget  your  BEETHOVEN.' 


SCHERZO. 


245 


der  Musikfreunde,  in  Vienna,  shows  a  pleasing 
countenance.  When  over  80  he  still  took  pleasure 
in  work,  and  set  about  remodelling  his  '  Jagd,' 
for  which  he  got  Bauernfeld  to  write  him  a  new 
libretto.  He  had  finished  the  first  act  when  he 
died,  Dec.  29,  1836.  [C.F.P.] 

SCHERZANDO,  SCHERZOSO,  playful,  lively; 
a  direction  of  frequent  occurrence,  indicating  a 
passage  of  a  light  and  cheerful  character.  It  is 
occasionally  used,  in  combination  with  some 
other  direction,  to  indicate  the  style  of  a  whole 
movement,  as  Allegro  scherzando,  Allegretto  seller- 
zando  (Beethoven,  Symphony  No.  8),  etc.,  but 
its  more  usual  and  characteristic  application  is 
to  a  phrase  which  is  to  be  played  in  a  lively 
manner,  in  contrast  to  the  rest  of  the  movement 
or  to  some  other  phrase.  In  such  passages,  as 
a  rule,  the  time  is  intended  to  be  taken  more 
freely  than  usual,  while  an}^  marks  of  phrasing 
which  occur  should  be  strictly  adhered  to.  In 
fact  the  phrasing  of  a  scherzando  passage  is  of 
paramount  importance,  for  by  it  alone  can  the 
proper  character  be  given. — The  word  is  found, 
where  one  would  little  expect  it,  in  the  'Et 
vitam  venturi'  of  Beethoven's  Mass  in  D,  near 
the  beginning,  in  the  old  editions ;  but  on  refer 
ence  to  Breitkopf  &  Hartel's  complete  edition 
it  turns  out  to  have  been  read  in  error  for 
sforzando !  [J.A.F.M.] 

SCHERZO.  An  Italian  word  signifying  'jest ' 
or  '  joke.'  Its  application  in  music  is  extensive, 
and — as  is  the  case  with  many  other  musical  titles 
— often  incorrect.  Most  of  the  movements,  from 
the  time  of  Mendelssohn  onwards,  would  be  better 
designated  as  '  Caprices '  or  '  Capriccios.'  Obvi 
ously  the  word  signifies  that  the  piece  to  which  it 
applies  is  not  merely  of  a  light  and  gay  character, 
but  is  of  the  nature  of  a  joke,  in  that  it  possesses 
that  rare  quality  in  music,  humour.  But,  exclu 
sive  of  Haydn  and  Beethoven,  what  musician  shows 
humour,  real  unaffected  drollery,  in  his  music  ? 

The  term  seems  to  have  been  first  employed 
(Scherzando)  merely  as  a  direction  for  perform 
ance,  but  there  are  early  instances  of  its  use  as  a 
distinctive  title.  The  light  Italian  canzonets 
popular  in  Germany  in  the  I7th  century  were 
called  Scherzi  musicali.  In  1688  Johann  Schenk 
published  some  '  Scherzi  musicali  per  la  viola  di 
gamba.'  Later,  when  each  movement  of  an  instru 
mental  composition  had  to  receive  a  distinctive 
character,  the  directions  Allegretto  scherzando 
and  Presto  scherzando  became  common,  several 
examples  occurring  in  the  Sonatas  of  Ph.  Em. 
Bach.  But  even  in  the  '  Partitas '  of  his  great 
father,  we  find  a  Scherzo  preceded  by  a  Burlesca 
and  a  Fantaisie,  though  few  modern  ears  can 
discover  anything  of  humour  or  fancy  in  either 
of  these.  The  Scherzo  commences 


etc. 


246 


SCHERZO. 


and  might  as  well  have  been  termed  a  Gavotte. 
There  is  another  Scherzo  among  the  doubtful 
works  beginning  thus : 


& 


Many  of  the  Gigues  are  far  more  frolicsome  than 
these  would-be  jests.  In  Peters's  edition  of  Scar 
latti's  Clavecin  pieces,  will  be  found  a  piece  with 
the  following  theme  for  principal  subject,  which 
the  editor,  von  Bulow,  has  entitled  a  Scherzo  : — 


Vivace 


The  initial  figure  of  this  theme,  treated  in  free 
imitation,  runs  through  the  movement.  As  a 
similar  phrase  forms  so  distinctive  a  feature  of 
the  Scherzo  to  Beethoven's  7th  Symphony  it  is  not 
unfair  to  compare  the  two,  and  remark  the  differ 
ence  between  a  merely  bright  little  piece  with  no 
particular  qualities,  and  a  true  Scherzo  which  fills 
the  heart  with  lively  and  delightful  thoughts.  In 
the  same  volume  will  be  found  a  Capriccio  (No.  4) 
which  is  a  real  Scherzo  in  all  but  name. 

Coming  now  to  the  period  of  the  Symphony  it 
may  be  as  well  to  remind  the  reader  of  a  fact 
which  will  be  more  enlarged  upon  under  that 
heading,  namely,  that  the  presence  of  the  Minuet 
or  Scherzo  in  works  of  the  symphonic  class,  is  a 
matter  of  natural  selection,  or  survival  of  the 
fittest.  In  the  old  Suites  the  Minuet,  being  of 
rather  shorter  rhythm  than  the  other  dances, 
was  seized  upon,  perhaps  unconsciously,  by  the 
great  masters  who  tied  themselves  down  to  the 
old  form,  and  was  exaggerated  out  of  all  recogni 
tion  for  the  sake  of  contrast.  The  actual  Minuet, 
as  danced  from  the  1 6th  century  up  to  the  present 
day  (if  any  one  still  learns  it),  is  in  the  time  of 
that  famous  specimen  in  Mozart's  Don  Juan,  or 
say  M.  M. «!  =  80.  Yet  even  in  the  Suites  of  Bach 
one  finds  quick  and  slow  Minuets,  neither  having 
any  regard  to  the  requirements  of  the  dance. 
When  we  come  to  Haydn  the  term  Minuet  ceases 
to  have  any  meaning ;  the  stateliness  and  char 
acter  of  the  dance  are  quite  gone,  and  what  we 
should  call  a  Waltz  appears.  But  with  the 
true  instinct  of  an  artist,  Haydn  felt  that  in  a 
work  containing  such  heavy  subtleties  (for  even 
Haydn  was  deemed  heavy  and  subtle  once)  as 
the  ordinary  first  movement  and  slow  movement, 
a  piece  of  far  lighter  character  was  imperatively 
demanded.  So  lighter  and  quicker  and  more 
sportive  grew  the  Minuets,  till  Beethoven  crowned 
the  incongruous  fashion  with  the  '  Minuet '  of  his 
ist  Symphony,  It  should  be  mentioned,  however, 
that  Mozart  never  departed  nearly  so  far  from 
the  true  Minuet  as  Haydn,  whose  gaiety  of 
musical  thought  drove  him  into  really  inventing 
the  Scherzo,  though  he  did  not  use  the  name. 
The  Minuets  of  many  of  the  String  Quartets  of 
Haydn  exhibit  indeed  those  quaint  and  fanciful 


SCHEKZO. 

devices  of  unexpected  reiteration,  surprises  of 
rhythm,  and  abrupt  terminations,  which  are  the 
leading  characteristics  of  the  Scherzo,  and  are 
completely  opposed  to  the  spirit  of  the  true 
Minuet.  One  which  begins  and  ends  each  part 
with  these  bars 


rr 

8ve  basso. 

is  a  strong  instance  in  point. 

Beethoven  quickly  gave  the  Scherzo  the  per 
manent  position  in  the  Symphony  which  it  now 
occupies.  He  also  settled  its  form  and  character. 
As  to  form,  why,  the  old  Minuet  and  Trio  was 
as  good  a  skeleton  as  any  other  ;  for  what  matters 
the  shape  of  the  bones  when  we  are  dazzled  by 
the  form  which  covers  them  ?  It  is  a  good 
answer  to  those  who  consider  the  classical  forms 
worn  out  and  irksome  to  the  flow  of  inspira 
tion  to  point  out  that  in  the  Scherzo,  where 
full  rein  is  given  to  the  individual  caprice  of 
the  musician,  there  is  as  much  attention  given 
to  construction  as  anywhere.  In  fact,  either 
the  bold  and  masculine  First-movement  form,  or 
its  sister,  the  weaker  and  more  feminine  Rondo 
form  must  be  the  backbone  of  every  piece  of 
music  with  any  pretensions  to  the  name.  But, 
lest  the  light  and  airy  character  of  the  Scherzo 
should  be  spoilt  by  the  obtrusion  of  the  ma 
chinery,  the  greater  composers  have  sought  to 
obscure  the  form  artistically  by  several  devices, 
the  most  frequent  and  obvious  being  the  humor 
ous  persistent  dwelling  on  some  one  phrase — 
generally  the  leading  feature  of  the  first  subject— 
and  introducing  it  in  and  out  of  season,  mixed 
up  with  any  or  all  of  the  other  subjects.  Wit 
ness  the  Scherzo  of  Beethoven's  gth  Symphony, 
quoted  below,  where  the  opening  phrase  is  used 
as  an  accompaniment  to  the  2nd  subject — indeed 
as  a  persistent  '  motto '  throughout.  Apart  from 
this  there  is  not  the  slightest  departure  from  rigid 
First-movement  form  in  this  great  movement. 

The  Trio,  which  is  a  relic  of  the  Minuet  and 
takes  the  position  of  third  subject  or  middle  sec 
tion  in  a  Rondo,  survives  because  of  the  natu 
rally  felt  want  of  a  contrast  to  the  rapid  rhythm 
of  the  Scherzo.  Many  modern  composers  affect 
to  dispense  with  it,  but  there  is  usually  a  central 
section  answering  to  it,  even  though  it  be  not 
divided  off  from  the  rest  by  a  double  bar.  Men 
delssohn  has  been  the  most  successful  in  writing 
Scherzos  without  Trios.  The  main  idea  was 
to  have  a  movement  in  extremely  short  and 
marked  rhythm,  for  which  purpose  triple  time 
is  of  course  the  best.  In  the  Pianoforte  Sonatas 
the  Scherzo  to  that  in  Eb  (Op.  31,  No.  3)  is 
the  only  instance  where  Beethoven  has  employed 
2-4.  The  Trios  to  the  Scherzos  of  the  Pasto 
ral  and  Choral  Symphonies  are  2-4  and  C  f°r 
special  reasons  of  effect  and  contrast.  It  may 
be  worth  noticing  that  Beethoven  invariably 
writes  3-4  even  where  6-8  or  3-8  could  equally 
well  have  been  employed.  This  is  no  doubt  in 
order  that  the  written  notes  should  appeal  to  the 


SCHERZO. 


SCHERZO. 


247 


eye  as  much  as  the  sounded  notes  to  the  ear.  In 
fact  three  crotchets,  with  their  separate  stems, 
impress  far  more  vividly  on  the  mind  of  the 
player  the  composer's  idea  of  tripping  lightness 
and  quick  rhythm  than  three  quavers  with 
united  tails.  Having  once  ousted  the  Minuet, 
Beethoven  seldom  re-introduced  it,  the  instances 
in  which  he  has  done  so  being  all  very  striking, 
and  showing  that  a  particularly  fine  idea  drove 
him  to  use  a  worn-out  means  of  expression.  In 
several  cases  (PF.  Sonatas  in  Eb,  op.  7  ;  in  F, 
op.  10,  etc.)  where  there  is  no  element  of 
humour  he  has  abstained  from  the  idle  mockery 
of  calling  the  movement  a  Minuet,  because  it  is 
not  a  Scherzo,  as  others  have  done  ;  yet,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  third  movements  of  both  the 
ist,  4th,  and  8th  Symphonies  are  called  Minuets 
while  having  little  or  nothing  in  common  with 
even  the  Symphony  Minuets  of  Haydn  and 
Mozart.  Amongst  Beethoven's  endless  devices  for 
novelty  should  be  noticed  the  famous  treatment 
of  the  Scherzo  in  the  C  minor  Symphony  ;  its 
conversion  into  a  weird  and  mysterious  terror, 
and  its  sudden  reappearance,  all  alive  and  well 
again,  in  the  midst  of  the  tremendous  jubilation 
of  the  Finale.  Symphony  No.  8,  too,  presents 
some  singular  features.  The  second  movement 
is  positively  a  cross  between  a  slow  movement 
and  a  Scherzo,  partaking  equally  of  the  senti 
mental  and  the  humorous.  But  the  Finale  is 
nothing  else  than  a  rollicking  Scherzo,  teeming 
with  eccentricities  and  practical  jokes  from  be 
ginning  to  end,  the  opening  jest  (and  secret  of 
the  movement)  being  the  sudden  unexpected 
entry  of  the  basses  with  a  tremendous  C  sharp, 
afterwards  turned  into  D  flat,  and  the  final  one, 
the  repetition  of  the  chord  of  F  at  great  length 
as  if  for  a  conclusion,  and  then,  when  the  hearer 
naturally  thinks  that  the  end  is  reached,  a  start 
off  in  another  direction  with  a  new  coda  and 
wind-up. 

As  a  specimen  of  true  Scherzo  —  that  is,  a 
movement  in  strict  form  and  with  quaint  and 
whimsical  humorous  devices  springing  up  un 
expectedly,  but  naturally,  throughout,  —  the 
Scherzo  of  the  9th  Symphony  must  ever  stand 
without  a  rival.  The  tiny  phrase  which  is  the 
nucleus  of  the  whole  is  thus  eccentrically  in 
troduced  :  — 


Str.  Jf 
£V 


Tutti 


j,_3   jt-H*-!* 


£: 


Timp. 


fr-r-a- 


*-="«-«- 


C! 

preparing  us  at  the  outset  for  all  manner  of 
starts  and  surprises.  The  idea  of  using  the 
drums  for  this  phrase  seems  to  have  tickled  Bee 
thoven's  fancy,  as  he  repeats  it  again  and  again. 
Humour  is  more  unexpected  in  Schubert  than 
in  Beethoven,  and  perhaps  because  of  its  un 
expectedness  we  appreciate  it  the  more.  The 
Scherzo  of  the  C  major  Symphony  is  full  of 
happy  thoughts  and  surprises,  as  fine  as  any 
of  Beethoven's,  and  yet  distinct  from  them. 
The  varied  changes  of  rhythm  in  2,  3  and  4 
bars,  the  piquant  use  of  the  wood  wind,  and 


above  all  the  sudden  and  lovely  gleam  of  sun 
shine — 


Flute  b<2_« 


fef. 


-V  :  1  1    -   1 

1  —  T-V-4- 

*y 

Oboe  

1            II                       in 

EP         •!! 

1       r 

1 

1            'II 

•II 

combine  to  place  this  movement  among  the 
things  imperishable.  The  Scherzos  of  the  Octet, 
the  Quintet  in  C,  and  above  all,  the  PF.  Duet 
in  C,  which  Joachim  has  restored  to  its  rightful 
dignity  of  Symphony,  are  all  worthy  of  honour. 
The  last-named,  with  its  imitations  by  inversion 
of  the  leading  phrase,  and  its  grotesque  bass 


a 


m 


is  truly  comical. 

It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  the  more 
modern  composers  have  lost  sight  of  the  true 
bearing  of  the  Scherzo  so  completely.  Mendels 
sohn  indeed  has  given  it  an  elfish  fairy  cha 
racter,  but  though  this  is  admirable  in  the 
*  Midsummer  Night's  Dream,'  it  is  perhaps  a 
little  out  of  place  elsewhere.  Lightness  and 
airy  grace  his  Scherzos  possess  to  admiration, 
in  common  with  his  Capriccios,  which  they  closely 
resemble ;  but  the  musical  humour  which  vents 
itself  in  unexpected  rhythms  and  impudent  up- 
startings  of  themes  in  strange  places,  neither 
he  nor  any  later  composer  seems  to  have  had 
an  idea  of.  Mendelssohn  has  not  used  the  title 
'Scherzo'  to  either  of  his  five  symphonies,  though 
the  'Vivace  non.  troppo'  of  the  Scotch,  the 
'Allegretto'  of  the  Lobgesang,  and  the  'Allegro 
Vivace '  of  the  Reformation  are  usually  called 
Scherzos.  It  is  sufficient  to  name  the  String 
Octet,  the  two  PF.  Trios  and  the  two  Quintets 
for  Strings,  as  a  few  of  his  works  which  contain 
the  most  striking  specimens  in  this  line.  As 
before  mentioned,  his  Capriccios  for  Piano  are 
pieces  of  the  same  order,  and  No.  4  of  the 
'  Sieben  Charakter-stiicke '  (op.  7)  may  be  classed 
with  them. 

With  Schumann  we  find  ourselves  again  in  a 
new  field.  Humour,  his  music  seldom,  if  ever, 
presents,  and  he  is  really  often  far  less  gay  in 
his  Scherzos  than  elsewhere.  He  introduced  the 
innovation  of  two  Trios  in  his  Bb  and  C  Symphon 
ies,  PF.  Quintet,  and  other  works,  but  although 
this  practice  allows  more  scope  to  the  fancy  of 
the  composer  in  setting  forth  strongly  contrasted 
movements  in  related  rhythm,  it  is  to  be  depre 
cated  as  tending  to  give  undue  length  and  con 
sequent  heaviness  to  what  should  be  the  light 
est  and  most  epigrammatic  of  music.  Beethoven 
has  repeated  the  Trios  of  his  4th  and  7th  Sym 
phonies,  but  that  is  quite  another  thing.  Still, 
though  Schumann's  Scherzos  are  wanting  in  light 
ness,  their  originality  is  more  than  compensation. 
The  Scherzos  of  his  orchestral  works  suffer  also 
from  heavy  and  sometimes  unskilful  instrument- 


248 


SCHEEZO. 


ation,  but  in  idea  and  treatment  are  full  of  charm. 
Several  of  his  Kreisleriana  and  other  small  PF. 
pieces,  are  to  all  intents  and  purposes  Scherzos. 

Though  the  modern  composers  have  not  pro 
duced  many  remarkable  Scherzos,  it  is  not  for 
want  of  trying.  Eubinstein  has  a  very  pretty 
idea  in  6-4  time  in  his  Pianoforte  Octet,  and  a 
very  odd  one  in  his  A  major  Trio.  The  'Ocean ' 
Symphony  has  two  Scherzos,  in  excellent  con 
trast,  the  first  being  in  2-4  time,  and  slightly 
Schumannish,  and  the  second  in  3-4  time,  with 
quite  a  Beethoven  flavour.  The  first  of  these  is 
not,  however,  entitled  Scherzo  by  the  composer 
any  more  than  is  the  second  movement  of  his 
'Dramatic'  Symphony,  which  begins  with  the 
following  really  humorous  idea  : — 

2 


TT'b  a  • 

i  J 

C()       4-r     |     |           —  T- 

B       • 

i  .  j_ 

-*  — 

^  —  ^^~r 

=tSJT 

-g-d— 

'  c 

•  »  j  •  * 

J  J  J  JB* 

J 

2 

K»JI» 

9 

g- 

i  —  •         s 

—JBjfHS- 

—^ 

b-^li  2-H        hi 

1  • 

-p  r-i 

r^  — 

—  P- 

Eaff  has — as  frequently  in  other  cases — spoilt 
many  fine  ideas  by  extravagances  of  harmony 
and  lack  of  refinement.  The  two  PF.  Quar 
tets  (op.  202)  show  him  at  his  very  best  in 
Scherzo,  while  his  wonderful  and  undeservedly 
neglected  Violin  Sonatas  have  two  eccentric 
specimens.  The  1st  Sonata  (E  minor,  op.  73)  has 
a  Scherzo  with  bars  of  2,  3,  4,  and  5  crotchets  at 
random ;  thus  : — 


-*-+- 


while  the  Trio,  which  is  in  3-4  time,  is  played  so 
a  tempo  rubato  as  to  appear  equally  timeless 
with  the  above.  In  the  Scherzo  of  the  2nd 
Sonata  (A  major,  op.  78)  occurs  an  odd  effect. 
For  no  less  than  56  bars  the  Violin  sustains  its 
low  G  as  a  pedal,  while  continuing  a  bagpipe 
melody  against  brilliant  running  accompaniment. 
In  the  Symphonies  the  '  Dance  of  Dryads'  of  the 
'  Im  Walde '  is  perhaps  the  best  Scherzo,  most 
of  the  others  being  too  bizarre  and  artificial. 

Unlike  Schubert  and  Beethoven,  Brahms  seldom 
rises  sufficiently  from  his  natural  earnestness  to 
write  a  really  bright  Scherzo,  but  he  has  pub 
lished  one  for  PF.  solo  (op.  4)  which  is  very  odd 
and  striking.  The  2nd  Symphony  has  a  move 
ment  which  is  a  combination  of  Minuet  and 
Scherzo,  and  certainly  one  of  his  most  charming 
ideas.  On  somewhat  the  same  principle  is  the 
Scherzo  of  the  2nd  String  Sextet  (op.  36)  which 
begins  in  2-4  as  a  kind  of  Gavotte,  while  the 
Trio  is  3-4  Presto,  thus  reversing  the  ordinary 
practice  of  making  the  Trio  broader  and  slower 
than  the  rest  of  the  piece. 

Quite  on  a  pedestal  of  their  own  stand  the 
four  Scherzos  for  piano  by  Chopin.  They  are 
indeed  no  joke  in  any  sense  ;  the  first  has  been 
entitled  'Le  Banquet  infernal,'  and  all  four  are 


SCHEUEMANN. 

characterised  by  a  wild  power  and  grandeur 
which  their  composer  seldom  attained  to. 

Among  recent  productions  may  be  noticed  the 
Scherzo  for  orchestra  by  Goldmark,  the  so-called 
Intermezzo  of  Goetz's  Symphony,  the  Scherzos 
in  Dvorak's  Sextet,  and  other  chamber  works. 
We  have  omitted  mention  of  the  strangely  in 
strumented  '  Queen  Mab '  Scherzo  of  Berlioz — 
more  of  a  joke  in  orchestration  than  anything. 

The  position  of  the  Scherzo  in  the  Symphony — 
whether  second  or  third  of  the  four  movements — 
is  clearly,  a  matter  of  individual  taste,  the  sole 
object  being  contrast.  Beethoven,  in  the  large 
majority  of  cases,  places  it  third,  as  affording 
relief  from  his  mighty  slow  movements,  whereas 
most  modern  composers  incline  to  place  it  as  a 
contrast  between  the  first  and  slow  movements. 
The  matter  is  purely  arbitrary.  [F.C.] 

SCHEUEMANN,  GUSTAV,  a  native  of 
Prussia,  commenced  the  practical  working  of  his 
patent  processes  of  type-music-printing  in  1856, 
at  86  Newgate  Street,  where  he  had  been  long 
established  as  a  music  publisher,  and  keeper  of  a 
circulating  library  of  music.  Feeling  that  music- 
printing  was  capable  of  much  improvement,  he 
devoted  himself  with  extraordinary  zeal  to  the 
perfecting  of  the  various  features  of  his  patents 
(May  17,  and  Oct.  n,  1856).  His  chief  aims 
were  the  production  of  an  inexpensive  kind  of 
music-type,  which  would  cost  less  for  setting  up  ; 
an  easy  mode  of  transposing  to  various  keys ;  and 
a  marked  improvement  in  the  general  appearance 
of  the  music.  Everything  was  done  under  his 
own  supervision.  Punch-cutters,  type-founders, 
compositors,  pressmen,  and  electrotypers  were 
engaged,  and  rapid  progress  made,  the  various 
processes  being  carried  out  upon  the  premises. 
The  mode  of  procedure  was  to  set  up  the  notes 
and  various  characters  in  one  'forme,'  and  the 
staves,  formed  of  brass  rules,  in  another,  bringing 
the  two  together  for  proofs  or  printing.  The 
press  used  for  this  purpose  was  one  of  peculiar 
construction.  Both  '  formes '  were  placed  upon 
the  same  '  table,'  and,  by  a  very  simple  arrange 
ment,  good  register  secured  in  two  pulls.  The 
main  feature  of  the  process  consisted  in  impress 
ing  the  two  'formes'  into  one  mould,  and  from 
that  mould  producing  a  perfect  electro  music- 
plate.  [See  MUSIC-PRINTING,  vol.  ii.  p.  433.] 


Nothing  could  exceed  the  perfection  of  the  speci 
mens  obtained  by  double  printing ;  there  being  no 
joins,  each  type  represented  an  entire  character. 


SCHEURMANN. 

Large  '  spaces,'  the  depth  of  the  stave,  divided 
the  various  characters  from  each  other,  so  that 
they  could  be  set  up  and  spaced  out  like  ordinary 
type,  a  great  saving  of  time  being  thus  effected. 
In  perfecting  the  process  up  to  double-printing  an 
important  stage  was  reached ;  but  the  production 
of  equally  good  work  from  the  perfected  plates, 
in  one  printing,  proved  an  insurmountable  diffi 
culty,  the  slightest  variation  in  the  impression 
or  register  being  enough  to  destroy  the  beauty  of 
the  whole.  Machine  after  machine  was  tried ; 
Mr.  John  Rennie,  the  engineer,  giving  all  the 
assistance  in  his  power,  but  without  success.  The 
process,  up  to  double-printing,  was  all  that 
could  be  desired,  as  far  as  appearance  was  con 
cerned,  but  was  too  expensive  for  the  production 
of  cheap  music.  Mr.  Scheurmann  risked  and 
lost  all  he  possessed  in  resolving  to  be  satisfied 
with  nothing  less  than  the  full  accomplishment 
of  his  patent.  Messrs.  Henderson  &  Rait,  of 
Marylebone  Lane,  both  of  whom  had  more  or 
less  to  do  with  the  working  of  the  patents,  exhi 
bited  all  that  then  remained  of  the  plant  at 
the  Caxton  Celebration  at  South  Kensington  in 
1878.  The  beautiful  punches  are  almost  com 
plete  ;  but  most  of  the  matrices  have  disappeared. 
Although  Mr.  Scheurmann's  efforts  were  not 
fully  successful,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that, 
indirectly,  he  was  the  means  of  many  improve 
ments  being  made  in  the  ordinary  music  founts 
during  the  past  thirty  years.  [W.H.] 

SCHICHT,  JOHANN  GOTTFKIED,  born  at 
Eeichenau,  Zittau,  Sept.  29,  1753,  owed  his 
education  to  an  uncle ;  went  to  Leipzig  univer 
sity  intending  to  study  law,  but  gradually 
adopted  music,  and  was  soon  chosen  by  Adam 
Hiller  as  solo  clavier  player  at  his  concerts. 
On  Killer's  retirement  he  succeeded  him,  and 
at  length  in  1810  rose  to  the  head  of  his  pro 
fession  as  Cantor  of  the  St.  Thomas  School. 
He  died  Feb.  16,  1823,  leaving  a  good  memory 
and  many  original  large  works,  as  well  as  a  trans 
lation  of  the  PP.  Schools  of  Pleyel  and  dementi, 
and  of  Pellegrini,  Celoni's  Singing  Method,  etc., 
but  only  one  which  will  live,  his  edition  of  J.  S. 
Bach's  motets,  five  for  8  and  one  for  5  voices 
(Breitkopf  &  Hartel  1802,  3),  in  which  however 
No.  3  '  Ich  lasse  dich  nicht '  is  not  by  John 
Sebastian,  but  by  John  Christopher,  Bach.  [G.] 

SCHIEDMAYER.    There  are  now  two  firms 

^  of  this  name  in  Stuttgart,  both  enjoying  wide  re 
putation  as  pianoforte-makers,  viz.  '  Schiedmayer 
&  Sons/  and  'Schiedmayer,  Pianofortefabrik ; 

i  vormals,  J.  &  P.  Schiedmayer.'  The  heads  of 
these  firms  are  the  grandsons  and  great-grandsons 

f  of  Johann  David  Schiedmayer,  who  towards  the 
close  of  last  century  was  a  musical  instrument 

'  maker  at  Erlangen,  and  afterwards  at  Nuremberg, 
where  he  died  in  1806.  His  son  Johann  Lorenz, 
went  after  this  for  two  years  to  Vienna  as  a  work 
man,  and  in  1809  established  a  business  at  Stutt 
gart  in  partnership  with  C.  F.  Dieudonne'  (who 
died  in  1 825).  Before  that  time  pianoforte-making 

jt  was  as  good  as  unknown  in  Stuttgart;  those  who 
required  satisfactory  instruments  obtaining  them 


SCHIKANEDER. 


249 


from  Vienna.  Lorenz  Schiedmayer's  intelligence 
and  aptness  for  business  gained  a  position  for  his 
firm,  and  it  soon  became  one  of  the  first  in  Germany. 
In  1845  Lorenz  united  his  two  eldest  sons,  Adolf 
and  Hermann,  to  himself,  and  '  Schiedmayer  & 
Sons'  soon  became  as  well  known  in  foreign  coun 
tries  as  in  Wiirtemberg.  Lorenz  died  in  1 860  and 
his  son  Hermann  in  1 861 .  The  sons  of  the  brothers 
Adolf  and  Hermann,  bearing  the  same  Christian 
names,  have  been  for  some  years  the  directors  of 
this  firm,  which  has  made  both  concert  and  or 
dinary  instruments,  and  has  competed  with  success 
in  London  and  Paris  and  other  exhibitions.  The 
two  younger  sons,  Julius  and  Paul,  at  first  devoted 
themselves  to  harmonium-making,  a  practical 
knowledge  of  which,  then  of  recent  introduction, 
had  been  gained  by  Paul  in  Paris.  They  started 
together  in  1854,  but  after  the  death  of  the  father, 
in  1860,  turned  to  pianoforte-making  in  competi 
tion  with  the  elder  firm.  Julius  died  in  January 
1878,  and  the  younger  firm  has  since  been  known 
as  'Schiedmayer,  Pianofortefabrik.' 

Special  mention  must  be  made  of  Julius  Schied 
mayer's  prominence  as  an  expert  in  the  Juries  of 
the  great  Exhibitions  of  London  1862,  Paris  1867, 
Vienna  1873,  and  Philadelphia  1876.  [A.J.H.] 

SCHIKANEDER,  EMMANUEL,  theatrical 
manager,  playwright,  actor,  and  singer,  born 
1751  at  Ratisbon,  began  life  as  a  poor  wandering 
musician,  joined  some  strolling  players  at  Augs 
burg  in  1773,  married  the  adopted  daughter  of 
the  manager,  and  at  length  undertook  the 
direction  himself.  In  1780  his  wanderings 
brought  him  to  Salzburg,  where  he  fell  in  with 
the  Mozarts,  and  at  once  began  to  make  a  profit 
out  of  Wolfgang's  talents.  In  1784  we  find  him 
in  Vienna,  giving  with  Kumpf  a  series  of  ex 
cellent  performances  of  German  opera,  comedy, 
etc.,  at  the  Karnthnerthor  theater.  He  appeared 
on  the  boards  both  here  and  at  the  Burgtheater, 
where  however  he  did  not  succeed.  He  next 
took  the  management  of  the  theatre  at  Ratisbon, 
but  was  recalled  to  Vienna  by  his  wife,  who  had 
undertaken  the  little  theatre  lately  built  in  the 
grounds  of  Prince  Starhemberg's  house  in  the 
suburb  of  Wieden,  for  which  Schikaneder  re 
ceived  a  privilegium  or  licence.1  He  had  no 
scruples  as  to  the  means  to  be  adopted  to  make  a 
hit,  but  in  spite  of  large  receipts  was  continually 
in  difficulty.  On  one  such  occasion  (March 
1791)  he  had  recourse  to  Mozart,  whom  he 
implored  to  set  to  music  a  libretto  adapted  by 
himself  from  a  piece  by  Giesecke,  a  member  of 
his  company.  Mozart,  always  goodnatured, 
especially  to  a  brother -mason,  consented,  and 
from  that  moment  till  its  completion  Schi 
kaneder  stuck  closely  to  him,  and  did  all  he 
could  to  keep  him  amused  over  his  work.  The 
history  of  the  ' Zauberflote '  is  well  known; 
Schikaneder  made  various  suggestions  in  the 
composition,  took  the  part  of  Papageno,  and  found 
himself  saved  from  ruin  by  the  success  of  the 
opera  ;  but  he  showed  little  gratitude  to  Mozart, 
and  after  his  death,  instead  of  helping  the 

i  It  was  popularly  called  Schikaneder's  theatre. 


250 


SCHIKANEDER. 


widow  of  the  man  by  whom  he  had  benefitted  so 
materially,  contented  himself  with  loud  and 
vain  lamentations.  In  1800  he  entered  into 
partnership  with  a  merchant  named  Zitterbarth, 
who  at  a  short  distance  from  the  small  theatre 
just  mentioned,  built  the  present  'Theater  an 
der  Wien,'  opened  June  13,  1801.  Zitterbarth 
then  bought  the  privileging  from  Schikaneder, 
who  managed  it  for  him  till  1806.  His  next 
project  was  to  build,  with  the  assistance  of  some 
wealthy  friends,  a  new  theatre  in  the  Joseph- 
stadt  suburb,  but  this  he  did  not  carry  out.  On 
his  way  to  Pesth,  whither  he  had  been  invited 
to  undertake  a  theatre,  he  went  mad,  was 
brought  beck  to  Vienna,  and  died  in  great 
misery  Sept.  21,  1812. 

Schikaneder  wrote  the  librettos  for  many 
popular  operas,  Singspiele,  and  fairy-pieces,  the 
list  of  which,  with  year  of  performance,  is  here 
published  for  the  first  time : 

'Anton  der  dumme  Gartner' 
(SchackandGerl),1789;  'Diebeiden 
Antons'  (with  4  sequels),  'Jakob 
und  Nannerl,'  and  '  Der  Stein  der 
Weisen,"  or  'Die  Zauberinsel' 


(Schack  and  others),  1790; 
Zauberflote '  (Mozart),  1791 ; 


Die 
Der 


wohlthiitige  Derwisch,'  or  '  Die 
Schel!enkappe  '(Schack,  Gerl,  and 
others),  1792;  'Die  EisenkOnigin,' 
'  Die  WaldmKnner,'  and  '  Der  Zau- 
berpfeil '  (Lickl),  1793 ; '  Der  Spiegel 
von  Arkadien'  (Siissmayer),  and 
'Die  Hirten  am  Khein,'  1794; 
•  Der  Scheerenschleifer '  (Henne- 
berg),  '  Der  KGnigssohn  aus  Itha- 
ka'  (A.  F.  Hoffmeister),  and  '  Der 
HSlIenberg'  (Wolffl),  1795;  'Der 
Tyroler  Wastel'  (Haibel),  and  a 
2nd  part '  Oesterreich's  treue  Brii- 
der,'  1796 ;  '  Das  medizinische  Con- 
silium '  (Haibel),  'Der  Lowenbrun- 
nen'  (Seyfried),  and  'Babylons 
Pyramiden'  (Act.  i.  Gallus,  Act.  ii. 
Peter  Winter),  1797;  'Das  Laby 
rinth,'  or  '  Kampf  mit  den  Ele- 
menten'  (2nd  part  of  'Zauber- 


fl8te.' Winter),  1798 ;  'Die  Ostin- 
dier  vom  Spittelberg '  1  (Seyfried, 
Stegmayer,  etc.),  'Conrad  Lang- 
barth,'  or  'Der  Burggeisf  (Hen- 
neberg),  'Minna  und  Peru,'  or 
'  Konigspflicht'  (Act  i.  Henneberg, 
Act  ii.  Seyfried),  and  '  Der  Wun- 
dermann  am  Wasserfall'  (Sey 
fried),  1799;  'Amors  Schiffchen ' 
(Seyfried),  1800,  At  the  Theater 
an -der -Wien— opening  night— 
'Alexander'  (Teyber)  and  'Thes- 
pis  Traum,'  and  'Proteus  und 
Arabiens  SOhne  '(Stegmayer),  1801; 
'Tsching!  Tsching''  (Haibel), 
1802 ;  '  Die  Entlarvten,'  a  continu 
ation  of  the  'Waldmanner'  (An 
ton  Fischer),  and  '  Pfandung  und 
Personalarrest '  (Teyber),  1803  ; 
'Der  Stein  der  Weisen'  (Schack 
and  others),  1804  ;  '  Swetards  Zau- 
berthal '  (Fischer),  1805 ;  '  Die  Ei- 
senkonigin '  (Henneberg),  and 
'  Die  Kurgaste  am  Sauerbrunnen ' 
(Anton  Diabelli),  Schikaneder's 
last  piece,  given  for  his  benefit, 
1806. 


[C.F.P.] 

SCHILLING,  DR.  GUSTAV,  author  of  a 
book  much  esteemed  in  Germany,  though  little 
known  in  England — '  Encyclopadie  der  gesamm- 
ten  musikalischen  Wissenschaften,  oder  Uni 
versal  Lexikon  der  Tonkunst.'2  He  was  born 
Nov.  3,  1805,  at  Schwiegershausen,  Hanover, 
where  his  father  was  clergyman.  He  was  brought 
up  at  Gottingen  and  Halle,  and  in  1830  settled 
in  Stuttgart  as  director  of  Stopel's  Music  School. 
In  1857  he  went  to  America,  and  is  now  living 
in  Montreal.  He  has  published  several  other 
works  bearing  on  music,  but  none  of  the  im 
portance  of  that  already  mentioned.  [G.] 

SCHIMON,  ADOLF,  son  of  an  Austrian 
artist,  well-known  for  his  portraits  of  Beethoven, 
Weber,  Spohr,  etc.,  was  born  on  Feb.  29,  1820, 
at  Vienna.  At  16  he  went  to  Paris  and  entered 
the  Conservatoire  as  a  pupil  of  Berton  and 
HaleVy.  In  1844  he  brought  out  an  opera  called 
Stradella  at  the  Pergola  in  Florence.  In  1850 
he  was  in  London,  and  took  a  provincial  tour 
with  Balfe,  Reeves,  and  Clara  Novello.  From 
1854  to  59  he  was  attached  to  the  Italian  opera 

J  A  locality  in  one  of  the  suburbs  of  Vienna. 
2  Encyclopaedia  of  General  Musical  Knowledge,  or  Universal  Lexi 
con  of  Music  (7  vols.  8vo.  Stuttgart,  1835-iO). 


SCHINDELMEISSER. 

in  Paris,  and  in  1858  produced  a  comic  opera, 
'  List  urn  List,'  which  was  successful  in  North 
Germany.     In  1872  we  find  him  again  at  Flor 
ence,  where  he  married  Miss  Anna  Regan.    (See 
below.)     From  1874  to   77  he   was  teacher  of 
singing  in  the  Conservatorium  at  Leipzig,  and 
from  thence  was  called  to  Munich,  where  he  is 
now  professor  of  singing  in  the   Royal  Music 
School.    His  original  compositions  embrace  quar 
tets,  trios,  and  solos  for  the  PF.,  and  songs  in 
various  languages,  and  he  has  edited  many  vocal 
pieces  by  Scarlatti,  Porpora,  Paradies,  and  other 
old  Italian  masters.     His  wife,  ANNA  REGAN- 
SCHIMON,  was  born  at  Aich,  near  Carlsbad,  Sept. 
1 8,  1841,  and  was  brought  up  in  the  house  of 
Dr.  Anger  in  Carlsbad  till  1859,  when  she  was 
placed  as  a  pupil  with  Mine.  Schubert  (nee  Mas- 
chinka-Schneider)  in  Dresden.     In  the  following 
year  she  accompanied   Mad.  Sabatier-UNGHER, 
the  great  contralto,  to  Florence,  where  she  re 
mained  under  the  care  of  that  eminent  artist  till 
Feb.  1864.     During  this  time  she  made  her  first 
attempts  on  the  stage  at  Siena,  her  success  in 
which  encouraged  her  in  further  study.    From 
1864  to  67  she  was  engaged  at  the  Court  theatre 
at  Hanover.     Then  as  Kammersangerin  to  the 
Grand  Duchess  Helena  in  St.  Petersburg,  where 
she  sang  at  three  of  the  seven  concerts  given  by 
Berlioz.     In  1869  she  visited  London  in  com 
pany   with   her   old  friend   and   teacher,  Mad. 
Sabatier,  sang  twice  at  the  Philharmonic  Bnd 
three  times  at  the  Crystal  Palace,  and  at  Mr.  C. 
Halle's  Recitals,  etc.     From  this  time  till  1875 
she  was   frequently  in  England,  widely-known 
and  much  liked  for  her  exquisite  delivery  of  Schu 
bert's  and  other   songs.     In    1870   and  71  she 
visited  Vienna  with  great  success,  and  in  1872 
married    Dr.    Schimon.     Since   then,   excepting 
two   brilliant   tournees   with   Monbelli,  Sivori, 
Trebelli,  etc.,  in  the  winters  of  1872  and  1873, 
she  has  almost  retired  from  public  appearance, 
save  only  at  the  Gewandhaus  Concerts  at  Leip 
zig,  where   she  is   a  regular  and  very  favourite 
singer.  [G.] 

SCHINDELMEISSER,  Louis,  was  born  at 
Kb'nigsberg,  Dec.  8,  1811,  and  educated  at  the 
Gymnasium  at  Berlin.  Music  he  learned  from 
a  French  musician  named  Hostie",  and  from 
Gahrich.  He  first  adopted  the  clarinet,  but 
afterwards  took  a  wider  range.  From  1832  to 
1837  he  filled  Capellmeister's  posts  at  Salzburg, 
Innspruck,  Gratz,  then  at  Berlin  (Konigstadt 
theatre),  and  at  Pesth,  where  he  remained  for 
nine  years.  He  at  length  came  to  an  anchor  as 
Court-capellmeister  at  Darmstadt,  where  he  died 
March  30,  1864.  His  works  embrace  six 
operas— '  Mathilde,'  'Ten  happy  days,'  'Peter 
von  Szapary'  (Pesth,  1839),  'Malvina'  (Pesth, 
1851),  ' The  Avenger,'  'Melusine';  an  oratorio, 
' S.  Boniface ' ;  an  overture  to  '  Uriel  Acosta,'  and 
incidental  music  to  various  plays ;  Concerto  for 
clarinet  and  orchestra  ;  and  a  concertante  for 
four  clarinets  and  orchestra ;  songs,  PF.  pieces 
etc.  The  overture  to  '  Uriel  Acosta  '  was  much 
played  in  Germany,  and  was  formerly  often  to 
be  heard  at  the  Crystal  Palace. 


SCHINDLEE. 

SCHINDLER,  ANTON,  the  devoted  friend  and 
biographer  of  Beethoven,  was  born  in  1769  at 
Modi,  Neustadt,  Moravia,  where  his  father  was 
cantor  and  schoolmaster.    He  began  the  study  of 
music  and  the  violin  early  in  life.     While  quite 
young  he  entered  the  Vienna  University  to  study 
law,  and  assiduously  kept  up  his  music  by  practice 
in  an  amateur  orchestra.  His  introduction  to  Bee 
thoven  took  place  accidentally  in  1814,  when  he 
was  asked  to  take  a  note  from  Schuppanzigh  to 
the  great  composer.     This  was  followed   by  a 
ticket  to  Schuppanzigh's  concert,  at  which  Schin 
dler  was  recognised  by  Beethoven.    Later  in  the 
year  he  played  in  Beethoven's  two  concerts  of 
Nov.  29  and  Dec.  2  ;  early  in  1815  he  accepted  a 
situation  as  teacher  at  Brunn,  but  being  ques 
tioned  by  the   police  on  his   acquaintances   at 
Vienna,  and   his   papers   not   being  in   perfect 
order,  he  was  detained  for  some  weeks,  and  had 
to  return  to  Vienna.     Beethoven  sent  for  him, 
and  conversed  with  him  on  the  subject.     They 
met  often,  Schindler  accompanied  him  in   his 
walks  and  the  intimacy  increased  until,  early  in 
1819,  on  the  recommendation  of  Dr.  Bach,  he 
became  a  kind  of  secretary  to  Beethoven,  and  at 
length,  in  1822,  took  up  his  residence  in  the 
master's  house.     He  then  became  conductor  at 
the    Josephstadt    Theatre,    where    he    studied 
several  of  Beethoven's  great   works  under  his 
own    direction.     Beethoven,    however,    at    last 
began  to  tire  of  his  young  friend,  and  after  much 
unpleasantness,  in  1824,  after  the  failure  of  the 
concert  of  May  23,  the  breach  came.    Beethoven 
behaved  with  great  violence  and  injustice,  and 
Schindler  was  driven  from  him  till  Dec.  1826, 
•when  he  arrived  in  Vienna  from  Gneixendorf 
to  die.     Schindler  at  once  resumed  his  position, 
attended  him  with  devotion  till  his  death,  wrote 
several  betters  to  Moscheles  on  the  details  of 
the  event,  and  in  company  with  Breuning  took 
charge  of  Beethoven's  papers.     Breuning  died, 
and  then  the  whole  came  into  Schindler's  hands. 
In  1831  he  wrote  some  interesting  articles  on 
Beethoven  and  Schubert  in  Bauerle's  Theater- 
zeitung.  In  December  he  left  Vienna  and  became 
capellrneister  to  the  cathedral  at  Mtinster,  a  post 
which  he  exchanged  four  years  later  for  that 
of  music  director  at  Aix-la-Chapelle.    After  some 
years  he  relinquished  this,  became  first  a  private 
teacher  and  then  went  entirely  into  private  life. 
He  lived  in  various  towns  of  Germany,  and  at 
length  in  Bockenheim,  near  Frankfort,  where  he 
died  Jan.  16,  1864. 

His  book  on  Beethoven  was  entitled  '  Bio- 
graphie  von  Ludwig  van  Beethoven.  Mit  dem 
Portrat  Beethoven's  und  zwei  Facsimilen'  (Miin 
ster,  1840,  i  vol.  8vo).2  This  was  followed  by 
'Beethoven  in  Paris  .  .  .  ein  Nachtrag  zur  Bio- 
graphie  Beethoven's'  etc.  (Miinster,  1842  ;  i  thin 
vol.  8vo.)  and  that  by  a  second  edition  of  the 
'Biographie'  with  additions  (Miinster,  1845, 
i  vol.  Svo.).  The  third,  and  last,  edition  appeared 

1  Printed  in  Moscheles's  Life,  i.  145-179. 

2  This  is  the  book  which  was  translated  or  adapted  by  Moscheles 
(London,  Oolburn,  1841),  strange  to  say  with  no  mention  of  Scb.iud.ler 

on  the  title-page. 


SCHIEA. 


251 


in  1860 — 'Dritte,  neu  bearbeitete  und  vermehrte 
Auflage'  (Miinster,  1860;  in  2  vols.),  with  a 
portrait  and  2  facsimiles.  Being  so  long  about 
Beethoven  he  accumulated  many  autographs  and 
other  papers  and  articles  of  interest,  and  these 
he  disposed  of  to  the  library  at  Berlin  for  an 
annuity.  His  sister  was  a  singer,  who  in  the 
year  1830  was  engaged  at  the  Konigstadt 
Theatre,  Berlin. 

Schindler  has  been  the  object  of  much  obloquy 
and  mistrust,  but  it  is  satisfactory  to  know,  on 
the  authority  of  Mr.  Thayer,  that  this  is  un 
founded,  and  that  his  honesty  and  intelligence 
are  both  to  be  trusted.  The  article  in  which 
this  is  set  forth  at  length  and  conclusively, 
arrived  too  late  to  be  inserted  here,  but  will  be 
printed  in  the  Appendix.  The  well-known  story 
of  his  visiting  card  being  engraved  '  A.  Schindler, 
Ami  de  Beethoven,'  turns  out  to  be  a  mere 
joke.  [G.] 

SCHIRA,3  FRANCESCO,  long  resident  and  es 
teemed  in  London  as  composer,  conductor,  and 
professor  of  singing,  was  born  at  Malta,  Sept. 
19,  1815,  received  his  early  education  at  Milan,* 
and  was  placed  at  the  age  of  nine  (1824)  in  the 
Conservatorio,  where  he  learned  counterpoint 
under  Easily,  principal  of  that  institution.  At  1 7, 
having  completed  his  studies,  Francisco  was 
commissioned  to  write  an  opera  for  the  Scala, 
which  was  produced  Nov.  17, 1832.  That  'Elena 
e  Malvina'5  won  favourable  recognition  may  be 
inferred  from  the  fact  that  a  Lisbon  impresario 
being  at  Milan,  with  the  object  of  forming  a 
company  for  the  Santo  Carlos,  contracted  an  en 
gagement  with  Schira  for  the  forthcoming  season 
as  '  Maestro  Direttore,  Compositore  e  Conduttore 
della  Musica.'  He  remained  eight  years  in  the 
Portuguese  capital,  where  he  was  also  appointed 
Professor  of  Harmony  and  Counterpoint  at  the 
Conservatory,  composing  '  I  Cavalieri  di  Valenza ' 
and  'II  Fanatico  per  la  Musica/  for  the  Santo 
Carlos,  besides  ballets,  cantatas,  etc.  During  his 
stay  in  Portugal  he  occasionally  conducted  operatic 
performances  at  the  Teatro  della  Citta  di  Oporto. 

In  January  1842  Schira  quitted  Lisbon  for 
Paris,  with  the  idea  of  obtaining  some  book  in 
the  French  language  which  he  might  set  to  music. 
In  Paris  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  Mr.  Mad- 
dox,  then  in  quest  of  artists  for  the  Princess's 
Theatre.6  This  led  to  an  offer  from  the  London 
manager,  and  Schira  was  appointed  director  of 
music  and  orchestral  chief  at  that  establishment. 
On  Monday,  Dec.  26,  1842,  the  Princess's  opened 
as  a  lyric  theatre,  and  Schira's  appearance  at  the 
conductor's  desk  was  his  first  introduction  to  the 
English  public.  The  opera  chosen  was  an  English 
version  of  'La  Sonnambula,'  the  leading  characters 
sustained  by  Mine.  Eugenie  Garcia,  Mme.  Feron, 
Mr.  Templeton,  Mr.  Walton  and  Mr.  Weiss; 

3  The  name  is  sometimes  spelt  Schirra. 

<  He  was  the  youngest  of  four  children,  two  of  them  sisters.  The 
•BiographieTJniverselle  desMusiciens'  makes  Francesco  die  of  cholera 
at  Lisbon ;  but  Pougin  ('  Supplement  et  Complement ')  more  correctly 
attributes  that  fate  to  Vincenzo,  the  elder,  whom  Fe'tis  does  not 
mention,  confounding  the  two  together  as  one. 

s  Pougin  gives  that  opera  to  Vincenzo,  but  a  printed  copy  of  the 
libretto  (in  our  possession)  states  explicitly  'musica  del  maestro 
Francesco  Schira.' 

6  Previously  known  as  the  Oxford  Street  Theatre. 


252 


SCHIRA. 


Mr.  Loder  (father  of  Edward  Loder)  being  prin 
cipal  violin.  This  was  but  the  commencement 
of  a  series  of  adaptations  from  foreign  works, 
diversified  by  novelties  from  indigenous  pens. 
Among  notable  incidents  during  Schira's  term 
of  conductorship  may  be  specified  the  memorable 
debut  of  Anna  Thillon  in  an  English  version  of 
Auber's  'Diamans  de  la  Couronne'  (May  1844), 
that  of  Mile.  Nau  in  'La  Sirene'  (Nov.  1844), 
and  the  production  of  two  operas  by  Balfe,  ori 
ginally  composed  for  the  Paris  Ope"ra  Comique — 
'Le  Puits  d'Amour,'  rechristened  'Geraldine' 
(Nov.  1843),  and  '  Les  Quatre  Fils  d'Aymon,'  re- 
christened  'The  Castle  of  Aymon'  (Nov.  1844). 
At  the  end  of  1844  Schira  accepted  an  engage 
ment  from  Mr.  Alfred  Bunn,  then  lessee  of  Drury 
Lane,  to  fill  the  place  left  vacant  by  Mr.  (now 
Sir  Julius)  Benedict,  who  resigned  immediately 
after  Balfe's  'Daughter  of  St.  Mark'  was  brought 
out.  At  Drury  Lane  he  remained  until  the  spring 
of  1847,  when  Mr.  Bunn  seceded  from  the  manage 
ment,  the  committee  having  entertained  the 
proposal  of  M.  Jullien  to  become  future  lessee ; 
and  here  several  adaptations  of  foreign  operas, 
besides  a  good  number  of  works  by  English  com 
posers,  were  produced.  From  the  latter  it  will 
suffice  to  name  Wallace's '  Maritana'  and  'Matilda 
of  Hungary,'  Macfarren's  'Don  Quixote,'  Bene 
dict's  '  Crusaders,'  Lavenu's  '  Loretta '  (composed 
for  Mine.  Anna  Bishop),  Balfe's  '  Enchantress,' 
etc. ;  among  the  former,  Flotow's  '  Stradella '  and 
'  Martha.'  In  Sept.  1848  Mr.  Bunn  took  Covent 
Garden  Theatre,  and  Schira  was  again  appointed 
conductor.  The  season  only  lasted  two  months, 
but  was  not  without  interest.  It  comprised  the 
first  theatrical  engagement  after  his  brilliant  suc 
cess,  the  year  before,  at  Drury  Lane,  of  Mr.  Sims 
Reeves,  for  whom  an  adaptation  of  Auber's 
'HaydeV  was  produced,  the  great  English  tenor 
assuming  the  part  of  Loredano ;  another  English 
adaptation  of  Rossini's  '  Donna  del  Lago ' ;  and 
an  entirely  new  opera,  called  '  Quentin  Durward,' 
the  composition  of  Mr.  Henri  Laurent.  '  The 
success  of  the  enterprise  was  not  in  proportion 
to  the  expectations  of  the  manager ;  '  Quentin 
Durward'  was  by  no  means  a  hit,  and  though 
Bunn  had  lowered  his  prices  the  house  was  pre 
maturely  closed.  Thus  an  opera,  entitled  '  Kenil- 
worth,'  from  Schira's  own  pen,  which  had  already 
been  put  into  rehearsal,  with  Sims  Reeves  in  the 
part  of  Leicester,  was  lost  to  the  public,  and  no 
more  English  opera  was  heard  at  Covent  Garden 
until  Miss  Pyne  and  Mr.  Harrison  migrated  from 
the  Lyceum,  to  carry  on  their  undertaking  in  a 
more  spacious  arena. 

Although  he  had  severed  his  connection  with 
the  Princess's  as  musical  director,  in  which 
position  his  worthy  successor  was  Mr.  Edward 
Loder,  Schira  wrote  two  original  works  for  the 
theatre  in  Oxford  Street — 'Mina,'  produced  in 

1849,  and  'Theresa,  or  the  Orphan  of  Geneva,'  in 

1850,  both,  the  latter  especially,  received  with 
marked  favour.     The  leading  singers  in  'Mina' 
were  Miss  Louisa  Pyne,  Mme.  Weiss,  Messrs.  W. 
Harrison,  Weiss  and  H.  Corri ;  in  'Theresa'  Miss 
Louisa  Pyne,  Messrs.  Allen,  Weiss,  H.  Corri, 


SCHIRA. 

and  Wynn  (brother  of  Mr.  G.  A.  Sala,  and  a 
humourist  in  his   way).     Mr.  Bunn,  however, 
having  once  more  become  lessee  of  '  Old  Drury,' 
naturally  looked    back  for   his   old    and    tried 
adviser.     Schira  was  once  more  engaged  as  con 
ductor,  with  W.  Lovell  Phillips  as  chorus-master. 
The  theatre  opened  on  Jan.  23,  1852,  with  an 
English  version  of  '  Robert  le  Diable,'  succeeded 
by  'Fra  Diavolo,'  with  Mr.  Sims  Reeves  (Brigand 
Chief),  and  Miss  Lucombe.  The  principal  incident 
that  marked  the  season  was  the  production  of '  The 
Sicilian  Bride,'  by  Balfe,  in  no  respect  one  of  his 
most  successful  efforts.     From  this  time  Schira 
devoted  himself  specially  to  giving  instructions 
in  the  vocal  art.    He  nevertheless  did  not  neglect 
composition,  as  testified  in  a  number  of  charming 
songs,  duets,  trios,  etc.,  some  of  which  have  at 
tained   wide   popularity.      He   also  was  busily 
employed  in  the  composition  of  a  grand  opera, 
called  'Niccolb  de'  Lappi,'  performed  with  marked 
applause  at  Her  Majesty's  Theatre  in  May  1863. 
For  the  Carnival  at  Naples,  two  years  later,  he 
wrote  another  grand  opera,  entitled  '  Selvaggia,' 
which  was  given  with  brilliant  success,  and  re 
presented  at  Milan,  Barcelona   and  elsewhere. 
The  reception  accorded  to  '  Selvaggia  '  led  to  his 
being  asked  to  write  another  opera,  '  Lia,'  for 
Venice.      This,    also    brought    out    during  the 
Carnival,  was  hardly  so  much  to  the  taste  of  the 
Venetians  as  its  precursor.     Nevertheless  there 
are    amateurs    who    regard   '  Lia  '  as   Schira's 
capo  di  lavdro. 

The  managers  of  the  Birmingham  Festival 
having  commissioned  Schira  to  write  a  cantata 
for  the  meeting  of  1873  the  work  was  undertaken 
with  ready  zeal,  and  performed  under  the  com 
poser's  own  direction  on  the  evening  of  the  first 
day  (Aug.  26).  The  cantata  is  entitled  'The 
Lord  of  Bmieigh,'  the  libretto,  by  Mr.  Desmond 
Lumley  Ryan,  being  founded  upon  the  Laureate's 
well-known  poem,  though  not  a  line  has  been 
appropriated  from  Tennyson,  save  the  motto 
which  heads  the  title-page  of  the  printed  edi 
tion.  The  piece  was  received  with  distinguished 
favour,  two  numbers  were  encored,  and  the  com 
poser  called  back  with  unanimity  to  the  platform. 
Since  then  Schira  has  been  almost  silent  as  a 
producer  for  the  stage,  the  only  exception  being 
an  operetta,  entitled  'The  Ear-ring, 'performed at 
the  St.  George's  Hall  Theatre.  Anything  like 
a  catalogue  of  his  miscellaneous  pieces  would 
occupy  too  much  space.  Enough  that  Francesco 
Schira  is  a  composer  of  the  genuine  Italian  type; 
Italian  by  birth  he  is  also  Italian  by  predilection 
— a  true  child  of  the  sunny  land  to  which  we  owe 
Piccinni,  Cimarosa,  Paisiello,  Rossini,  Bellini 
and  Verdi.  His  music,  while  revealing  the  hand 
of  one  who  has  thoroughly  mastered  the  prin 
ciples  of  his  art,  is  free  from  all  pretence,  relying 
upon  its  unaffected  simplicity  and  grace  for  the 
impression  it  seldom  fails  to  create.  His  most 
important  works  having  been  referred  to,  a  re 
capitulation  would  be  superfluous.  As  an  in 
structor  in  singing  Schira  has  always  maintained 
a  high  position,  many  a  public  vocalist  of  note 
having  profited  by  his  counsels.  In  his  own 


SCHIRA. 

country  and  elsewhere  abroad,  he  holds  the  in 
signia  of  several  orders  of  merit,  the  most  prized 
of  which  is  that  of  '  Commendatore  della  Corona 
d'  Italia ' — prized  the  more  because  conferred  by 
King  Humbert,  motu  proprio.  [J.W.D.] 

SCHIRMACHER,  DORA,  pianoforte  player, 
horn  Sept.  i,  1857,  at  Liverpool,  where  her 
father  is  an  esteemed  professor  of  music ;  early 
developed  an  original  talent,  but  was  not  regu 
larly  educated  for  music  till  later.  At  length, 
after  thorough  instruction  from  her  father,  she 
went  in  1872  to  the  Conservatorium  at  Leipzig. 
After  passing  with  e"clat  through  the  course,  she 
played  at  the  Gewandhaus,  Feb.  i,  1877^  On 
March  31  of  the  same  year  she  made  her  de"but 
in  London  at  the  Crystal  Palace,  and  at  the 
Monday  Popular  Concert  on  Dec.  3.  At  both 
these  places  she  has  played  more  than  once  since 
those  dates.  In  Liverpool,  Manchester,  and 
other  provincial  English  towns,  and  in  Amster 
dam,  Leipzig,  Frankfort,  Stuttgart,  and  other 
German  places,  she  is  often  heard,  and  greatly 
esteemed  for  her  poetical  rendering  and  her 
varied  repertoire.  [G.] 

SCHLADEBACH,  JULIUS,  born  at  Dresden, 
1810,  was  brought  up  as  a  physician.  In  1854 
he  projected  a  Universal  Lexicon  of  Music,  and 
published  a  few  numbers  of  it  (Leipzig,  1855-) 
after  which  it  was  completed  by  Bernsdorf.  It 
contains  both  music  and  musicians,  and  is  to  a 
certain  point  an  excellent  work.  [G.] 

SCHLEIFER.    See  SLIDE. 

SCHLEINITZ,  CONRAD,  Dr.  juris,  although 
not  a  professional  musician  was,  in  the  words  of 
Ferdinand  1Hiller,  'one  of  the  most  accomplished 
of  living  amateurs,'  and  in  any  case  deserves  a 
high  place  in  a  Dictionary  of  Music,  since  it  was 
in  great  measure  through  his  discernment  and 
perseverance  that  the  Gewandhaus  Concerts  at 
Leipzig  were  put  into  Mendelssohn's  hands,  and 
that  the  arrangements  were  maintained  in  such 
efficiency,  whereby  an  immense  impetus  was 
given  to  orchestral  music  throughout  Europe. 
He  was  also  greatly  instrumental  in  the  found 
ation  of  the  Conservatorium,  of  which  he  was 
President  for  many  years  up  to  the  time  of  his 
death. 

Dr.  Schleinitz  was  born  Oct.  I,  1805,  at  Zasch- 
witz  in  Saxony,  and  died  in  his  house  at  Leipzig 
on  the  morning  of  May  13,  1881.  He  was  bred 
to  the  law,  took  the  degree  of  '  Dr.  juris,'  and  is 
always  mentioned  in  the  German  papers  as  '  Heir 
Advokat  Schleinitz,'  and  it  is  shown  from  a 
letter  of  Mendelssohn's  (Aug.  I,  1838)  that  his 
business  was  at  one  time  a  good  and  improving 
one.  He  appears  to  have  been  a  good  tenor 
singer,  and  as  such  we  find  him  among  the  solo 
performers  at  the  Festival  at  Halle  in  1830 ;  at 
Leipzig  on  Good  Friday  1835,  and  in  Mendels 
sohn's  '  Elijah  '  on  the  same  day,  1848.  We  may 
form  some  idea  of  the  energy  and  intelligence  of 
his  style  as  a  singer,  and  his  general  know 
ledge  of  music,  from  Mendelssohn's  remarks  on 

1  F.  Killer's  'Mendelssohn,'  translated  by  Miss  M.  E.  von  Glehn, 
p.  152. 


SCHLESINGER. 


253 


the  first  performance  of '  St.  Paul '  in  a  letter  to 
him  July  5,  1836. 

His  first  communication  with  Mendelssohn  as 
to  the  concerts  was  very  early  in  1835.  Men 
delssohn's  answer  to  it,  and  to  a  subsequent  letter, 
will  be  found  in  his  printed  Letters,  under  date 
Jan.  26,  and  May  18  of  the  same  year.  His  first 
concert  was  on  Oct.  4,  1835,  and  from  that  time  till 
his  death,  in  1847,  the  intercourse  between  him 
and  Schleinitz  was  never  interrupted.  Schleinitz 
throughout  those  twelve  years  showed  himself 
always  the  thoughtful,  devoted  assistant  of  his 
great  friend,  relieving  him  of  anxiety  as  to  the 
business  arrangements  of  the  concerts,  and 
smoothing  his  path  to  the  best  of  his  ability. 
That  their  intercourse  did  not  stop  there  may  be 
gathered  from  an  expression  or  two  in  Mendels 
sohn's  correspondence,  and  from  the  recollection 
of  those  still  living  who  were  in  Leipzig  at  that 
time.  The  four  printed  letters  bear  no  proportion 
to  the  mass  which  were  in  Dr.  Schleinitz's  posses 
sion,  and  which  the  writer  was  privileged  to  see 
when  collecting  materials  for  the  sketch  of  Men 
delssohn  in  this  Dictionary — some  of  which  will 
possibly  be  published.  Mendelssohn  dedicated 
the  Midsummer  Night's  Dream  music  to  him, 
and  a  book  of  6  songs  (op.  47)  to  his  wife,  and 
Dr.  Schleinitz  was  in  possession  of  several  more 
or  less  important  pieces  of  music  of  his  still  un 
published.  The  'Nachtlied'  (op.  71,  no.  6)  was 
composed  and  written  for  his  birthday,  Oct.  i, 
1847,  and  is  therefore  the  last 2  work  of  the  great 
composer.  Schleinitz  was  with  his  friend  when  he 
died,  and  was  one  of  the  Committee  for  dealing 
with  his  unpublished  works.  In  the  Allg.  mus. 
Zeitung  of  Dec.  27,  1848  (the  last  No.  of  the  old 
series)  he  published  the  statutes  of  a  Mendelssohn 
Fund,  in  connexion  with  the  Conservatorium  of 
Leipzig,  with  a  letter  from  the  King  approving 
and  authorising  the  scheme. 

In  his  later  years  Dr.  Schleinitz  was  nearly 
blind,  but  this  did  not  interfere  with  his  devotion 
to  the  Conservatorium  and  the  Gewandhaus  Con 
certs,  nor,  as  the  writer  is  glad  to  mention,  with 
his  eager  kindness  towards  those  who  wished  to 
know  about  Mendelssohn. 

He  was  a  Knight  of  the  Royal  Saxon  Order  of 
Merit.  [G.] 

SCHLESINGER.  A  well-known  musical- 
publishing  house  in  Berlin.  It  was  founded  in 
1795  by  MARTIN  ADOLPH  SCHLESINGER,  a  man 
of  very  original  character  and  great  ability. 
Among  the  principal  works  issued  by  him  is  his 
edition  of  the  Great  Passion  music  (Matthew)  of 
J.  S.  Bach,  one  of  the  fruits  of  Mendelssohn's 
revival 3  of  it,  and  an  astonishingly  bold  under 
taking  for  those  days — which  Schlesinger  brought 
out,  according  to  his  favourite  expression,  'for 
the  honour  of  the  house.'  It  was  announced 
in  Sept.  1829,  and  published  soon  afterwards  both 
in  Full  and  PF.  score.  He  also  founded  the 
Berliner  Allg.  mus.  Zeitung,  which  under  the 
editorship  of  A.  B.  Marx  had  for  7  years  (1824- 


2  See  vol.  ii.  p,  292,  note  5. 

3  March  11, 1829.    See  Marx's  '  Erinnerungen,'  ii.  pp.  50,  87. 


254 


SCHLESINGER. 


30)  much  influence  for  good  in  Germany.     [See 
vol.  ii.  430.]     He  died  in  1839. 

His  second  son,  HEINRICH  (born  1807),  carried 
on  the  business  till  his  death  in  1879.  He  founded 
the  '  Echo'  in  1851,  a  periodical  which  remained 
in  his  hands  till  1865, 

The  eldest  son,  MORITZ  ADOLPH,  left  Berlin, 
and  in  1819  entered  the  bookselling  house  of 
Bossan.oe  pere  at  Paris.  In  1823  he  endeavoured 
to  found  a  similar  business  for  himself.  Police 
difficulties  prevented  him  from  carrying  out  his 
intention,  and  he  founded  a  music  business  in 
stead,,  which  for  many  years  has  had  the  lead 
among  French  publishers,  and  is  now  nearly  as 
famous  as  Paris  itself.  He  brought  his  German 
tastes  with  him,  and  an  unusual  degree  of  en 
terprise.  His  first  serious  effort  was  an  edition  of 
Mozart's  operas  in  PF.  score,  for  which  Horace 
Vernet  designed  the  titlepage.  This  was  followed 
by  editions  of  the  complete  works  of  Beethoven, 
Weber,  Hummel,  etc.,  and  a  '  Collection  de  chefs 
d'ceuvre '  in  24  vols.  He  published  also  the  full 
scores  of  Meyerbeer's  '  Robert,'  and  '  Les  Hu 
guenots ';  HaleVy's  'L'EcIair,'  '  La  Juive,'  'Les 
Mousquetaires,'  '  La  Heine  de  Chypre,'  '  Guido 
et  Ginevra,'  '  Charles  VI ' ;  Donizetti's  '  La  Fa 
vorite  ' ;  Berlioz's  '  Symphonic  fantastique,'  and 
overture  to  the  '  Carnaval  Romain ' ;  the  ar 
rangements  of  Wagner ;  the  chamber-music  of 
Onslow,  Reissiger,  and  a  host  of  other  pieces 
of  all  descriptions,  for  which  the  reader  must  be 
referred  to  the  catalogue  of  the  firm.  Amongst 
the  educational  works  the  '  Me'thode  des  Me"- 
thodes'  is  conspicuous.  On  Jan.  5,  1843,  he 
issued  the  first  number  of  the  'Gazette  Musicale,' 
which  in  a  few  months  was  united  to  the  '  Revue 
Musicale,'  and  ran  a  useful  and  successful  course 
till  its  expiry  in  1 88 1.  [See  vol.  iii.  1216.]  In 
1846  M.  Schlesinger  sold  the  business  to  MM. 
Brandus  and  Dufour,  and  retired  to  Baden  Baden, 
where  he  died  in  Feb.  1871.  [G.] 

SCHLOESSER,  Louis,  born  at  Darmstadt  in 
1800,  learnt  music  there  from  Rinck,  and  in 
Vienna  from  Seyfried,  Salieri,  and  Mayseder.  In 
due  time  he  entered  the  Conservatoire  at  Paris, 
and  attended  the  violin  class  of  Kreutzer  and 
the  composition  class  of  Lesueur.  He  then  went 
to  Darmstadt  and  became  first  leader  and  then 
conductor  of  the  Court  band.  His  works  com 
prise  5  operas,  a  melodrama,  music  to  Faust,  a 
mass,  a  ballet,  and  a  quantity  af  instrumental 
music  of  all  descriptions.  His  son,  CARL  WILHELM 
ADOLPH,  was  born  at  Darmstadt  Feb.  I,  1830. 
He  was  educated  by  his  father,  and  in  1847  esta 
blished  himself  at  Frankfort.  In  1854  he  went 
to  England,  where  he  has  been  ever  since  settled 
in  London  as  an  esteemed  teacher. 

He  has  published  both  in  England  and  Ger 
many  a  great  number  of  PF.  works,  both  solos 
and  duets ;  including  a  suite  dedicated  to  Cipriani 
Potter,  and  a  set  of  24  studies  ;  many  songs  and 
vocal  pieces,  including  '  Merrily,  merrily  over  the 
snow'  and  an  'Ave  Maria ' — and  has  many  larger 
works  in  MS.  His  '  Schumann  Evenings '  were 
well  known,  and  did  much  to  advance  the  know 
ledge  of  Schumann  in  England.  [G.] 


SCHMITT. 

SCHMID,  ANTON,  Custos  of  the  Hofbibliothek 
in  Vienna,  born  at  Pihl,  near  Leipa  in  Bohemia, 
Jan.  30,  1787,  entered  the  Imperial  Library  at 
Vienna  in  1818,  became  Scriptor  in  1819,  Custos 
in  1844,  and  died  at  Salzburg,  July  3,  1857. 
His  department  as  a  writer  was  the  history  and 
literature  of  music  and  hymns.  He  contributed 
to  the  following  works  : — Dr.  Ferdinand  Wolf's 
'Ueber  die  Lais,  Sequenzen,  und  Leiche'  (Heidel 
berg,  1841)  ;  Becker's  '  Darstellung  der  musikal- 
ischen  Literatur'  (supplement,  Leipzig,  1839); 
A.  Schmidt's  '  Allg.  Wiener  musik.  Zeitung ' 
(from  1842  to  48);  Dehn's  'Cacilia'  (from  1841 
to  48  ;  Mayence,  Schott) ;  and  the  '  Oesterreich. 
Blatter  fur  Lit.  und  Kunst '  (1844,  45)-  His  in 
dependent  works  are  '  Ottaviano  dei  Petrucci  of 
Fossombrone,  the  inventor  of  moveable  metal 
types  for  printing  music,  and  his  successors' 
(Vienna,  Rohrmann,  1845) ;  'Joseph  Haydn  und 
Nicolo  Zingarelli,'  proving  that  Haydn  was  the 
author  of  the  Austrian  national  hymn  (Vienna, 
Rohrmann,  1847);  '  Christoph  Willibald  Ritter 
von  Gluck,  his  life  and  musical  works.  A  bio 
graphical  sesthetical  study  (Leipzig,  Fleischer, 
1 854) ;  also  a  work  on  chess, '  Tschaturanga-vidja' 
(Vienna,  Gerold,  1847). 

Schmid  was  of  a  modest  and  retiring  disposition, 
and  distinguished  in  his  official  capacity  for  con 
scientiousness,  industry,  and  courtesy.  To  him 
in  the  first  instance  is  due  the  orderly  and  sys 
tematic  arrangement  of  the  musical  archives  of 
the  Hofbibliothek.  In  recognition  of  his  un 
wearied  industry  and  research  he  was  made  a 
member  of  the  Historische  Verein  of  Upper 
Bavaria,  of  the  Dom-Musikverein  and  the  Mo- 
zarteum  of  Salzburg,  of  the  Congregazione  ed 
Accademia  Pontifica  di  Santa  Cecilia  of  Some, 
of  the  Societa  litteraria  dell'  Areopago  of  Genoa, 
and  of  the  Archaeological  Societies  of  Vienna, 
Nuremberg,  etc.  [C.F.P.] 

SCHMITT,  a  German  musical  family.  The 
founder  of  it  was  Cantor  at  Obernburg  in  Bava 
ria.  His  son  ALOIS  was  born  at  Erlenbach  on 
the  Main  in  1789,  and  taught  to  play  by  his 
father ;  he  then  learned  composition  from  Andre 
of  Offenbach,  and  in  1816  established  himself  in 
Frankfort  as  a  PF.  teacher.  After  a  few  suc 
cessful  years  there — during  which,  among  others, 
he  had  taught  Ferdinand  Hiller — and  much  tra 
velling,  he  migrated  to  Berlin,  then  to  Hanover, 
where  he  held  the  post  of  Court  Organist,  and 
lastly  back  to  Frankfort,  where  he  died  July  25, 
1866.  His  reputation  as  a  teacher  was  great, 
though  he  had  a  passion  for  journeys,  and  Ms 
pupils  complained  of  his  frequent  absences.  He 
composed  more  than  100  works,  chiefly  instru 
mental,  of  all  descriptions,  including  some  useful 
PF.  studies. 

His  brother  JAKOB,  born  at  Obernburg  Nov. 
2,  1803,  was  a  pupil  of  Alois.  He  settled  in 
Hamburg,  where  he  brought  out  an  opera 
(Alfred  the  Great)  and  a  prodigious  amount  of 
music,  including  many  sonatas  for  the  piano, 
solo  and  with  violin,  variations,  three  books  of 
studies,  etc.,  in  all  more  than  300  works;  and 
died  June  1853. 


SCHMITT. 

The  son  of  Alois,  GEORG-  ALOIS,  was  born 
Feb.  2, 1827,  during  his  father's  residence  at  Han 
over.  Music  came  naturally  to  him,  bub  it  was 
not  till  after  some  time  that  he  decided  to  follow 
it.  He  was  then  at  Heidelberg  university,  and 
put  himself  under  Vollweiler  to  serious  study  of 
counterpoint.  His  first  attempt  was  an  operetta 
called  '  Trilby,'  which  was  performed  at  Frank 
fort  in  1850,  with  great  success.  He  then  passed 
some  years  in  various  towns  of  Germany,  and  at 
length,  in  1856,  was  called  by  Flotow  to  Schwerin 
as  Court-capellmeister,  where  he  still  resides. 
In  1860  he  visited  London,  and  played  with 
6clat  before  the  Queen,  and  elsewhere.  He  is 
much  valued  through  the  whole  of  Mecklen 
burg,  and  has  kept  up  the  reputation  of  his 
family  by  writing  a  quantity  of  music  of  all 
classes,  from  a  Festival  Cantata  (Maienzauber) 
downwards.  Emma  Brandes,  now  Mad.  Engel- 
mann,  the  eminent  pianist,  was  his  pupil.  His 
wife,  CORNELIA  SCHMITT,  nee  Csa"nyi,  was  born  in 
Hungary,  Dec.  6,  1851.  Her  father  took  a  main 
part  in  the  Revolution,  and  was  imprisoned  for  10 
years,  but  the  mother,  finding  remarkable  gifts 
for  music  in  her  daughters,  found  means  to  take 
them  to  Vienna  for  their  education.  There 
Cornelia  learnt  singing  from  Caroline  Pruckner. 
Engagements  at  Pressburg  and  Schwerin  fol 
lowed,  and  her  marriage  was  the  result.  Since 
then  she  has  left  the  boards  and  taken  to  concert 
singing.  [G.] 

SCHNEIDER,  FRIEDRICH  JOHANN  CHRIS 
TIAN,  composer,  teacher,  and  conductor,  born 
Jan.  3,  1786,  at  Alt-Waltersdorf,  near  Zittau, 
composed  a  symphony  as  early  as  10.  In  1798 
entered  the  Gymnasium  of  Zittau,  and  studied 
music  with  Schonfelder,  and  linger.  In  1804 
he  published  3  PF.  sonatas,  and  having  entered 
the  University  of  Leipzig  in  1805  carried  on  his 
musical  studies  to  such  purpose  that  in  1807  he 
became  organist  of  St.  Paul's,  in  1810  director 
of  the  Seconda  opera,  and  in  1812  organist  of 
St.  Thomas's  church.  There  he  remained  till 
1821,  when  he  became  Capellmeister  to  the 
Duke  of  Dessau,  whose  music  he  much  improved, 
and  founded  in  the  town  a  Singakademie,  a  school 
master's  choral  society,  and  a  Liedertafel.  In 
1829  he  founded  a  musical  Institute,  which 
succeeded  well,  and  educated  several  excellent 
musicians,  Robert  Franz  among  the  number. 
Schneider  was  also  an  industrious  composer,  his 
works  comprising  oratorios — 'Das  Weltgericht' 
(1819),  'Verlorne  Paradies'  (1824),  'Pharao' 
(1828),  'Christus  das  Kind,'  and  'Gideon' 
(1829),  'Getsemane  und  Golgotha'  (1838);  14 
masses;  Glorias  and  Te  Deums;  25  cantatas;  5 
hymns;  13  psalms,  7  operas;  23  symphonies; 
60  sonatas  ;  6  c<  mcertos ;  400  Lieder  for  men's 
voices,  and  200  ditto  for  a  single  voice — all  now 
forgotten  except  the  men's  part-songs.  Schnei 
der  directed  the  musical  festivals  of  Magdeburg 
(1825),  Nuremberg  (1828),  Strasburg  (1830), 
Halle  (1830  and  35),  Halberstadt  (1830),  Des 
sau  (1834),  Wittenberg  (1835),  Coethen  (1838 
and  46),  Coblenz  and  Hamburg  (1840),  Meissen 
(1841),  Zerbst  (1844),  and  Liibeck  (1847).  He 


SCHNEIDER. 


255 


also  published  didactic  works — *  Elementarbuch 
der  Harmonie  und  Tonsetzkunst '  (1820),  trans 
lated  into  English  (London,  (1828)  ;  '  Vorschule 
der  Musik  '  (1827) ;  and  '  Handbuch  des  Organ- 
isten'  (1829-30).  The  oratorio  of  the  'Siind- 
fluth'  was  translated  into  English  as  'The  Deluge' 
by  Professor  E.  Taylor,  published  in  London 
and  probably  performed  at  one  of  the  Norwich 
festivals. 

Schneider  was  a  doctor  of  music,  and  a  member 
of  the  Berlin  and  several  other  Academies.  He 
died  Nov.  23,  1853.  Some  traits  of  his  curious 
jealous  temper  will  be  found  in  Schubring's 
Reminiscences  of  Mendelssohn,  in  '  Daheim '  for 
1866,  No.  26.  He  was  vexed  with  Mendelssohn 
for  his  revival  of  Bach's  Passion — but  the  feel 
ing  passed  away  ;  and  in  the  '  Signale'  for  1866, 
Nos.  46,  47,  48,  there  are  eight  letters  (1829-45) 
from  Mendelssohn  to  him  showing  that  they 
were  on  very  good  terms.  When  Mendelssohn's 
body  passed  through  Dessau,  on  its  way  to 
Berlin,  Schneider  met  it  at  the  station,  with  his 
choir,  and  a  lament  was  sung,  which  he  had  pur 
posely  composed,  and  which  will  be  found  in  the 
A.M.Z.  for  1847,  No.  48.  [F.G.] 

SCHNEIDER,  JOHANN  GOTTLOB,  the  cele 
brated  Dresden  organist,  brother  of  the  preceding, 
was  born  at  Alt-gersdorf,  Oct.  28,  1789.  His 
musical  talent  was  manifest  at  the  age  of  5  years, 
when  he  began  to  learn  the  organ,  pianoforte, 
violin,  and  some  of  the  orchestral  wind-instru 
ments.  His  first  master  for  organ  was  Unger,  of 
Zittau,  and  in  his  22nd  year  he  was  appointed 
organist  to  the  University  church  at  Leipzig. 
From  this  period  he  seems  to  have  aspired  to 
the  highest  rank  as  organ-player,  and  between 
I  Si  6  and  1820  gave  many  concerts  in  Saxony 
and  elsewhere,  always  being  recognised  as  one 
of  the  first  organists  of  the  day.  At  the  Elbe 
Musical  Festival  held  at  Magdeburg  in  1825  he 
played  so  finely  as  to  receive  shortly  afterwards 
the  appointment  of  Court  organist  to  the  King 
of  Saxony,  a  post  which  he  held  with  honour  and 
renown  to  his  death  in  April  1864.  Lovers  of 
music  at  Dresden  will  remember  among  the  most 
interesting  and  edifying  of  their  experiences  there 
the  grand  extempore  preludes  to  the  opening 
chorale  at  the  principal  Lutheran  church,  where 
the  great  organist  might  be  heard  on  Sunday 
mornings.  On  those  occasions  that  particular 
form  of  improvisation  which  since  the  time  of 
Bach  has  been  made  a  special  study  and  feature 
in  Germany,  and  which  is  scarcely  cultivated  in 
other  countries,  might  be  heard  to  the  greatest 
advantage.  The  instrument,  one  of  Silbermann's, 
though  old-fashioned  as  to  mechanism  is  of  superb 
tone,  and  is  well  placed  in  a  gallery.1  As  a  player 
of  Bach,  Schneider  was  perhaps  the  first  authority 
of  his  day,  and  he  possessed  a  traditional  reading 
of  the  organ  works  of  that  sublime  master,  with 
all  of  which  he  appeared  to  be  acquainted.  As 
a  teacher,  it  may  be  recorded  of  him  (by  one  who 
was  his  last  pupil)  that  the  elevation  and  nobility 
of  his  style,  the  exclusion  of  everything  derogatory 

i  For  an  interesting  chapter  onSchneider  and  his  organ,  see  Chorley's 
Mod.  German  Music,  i.  320. 


256 


SCHNEIDER. 


to  the  instrument,  whether  as  regards  composi 
tion  or  performance,  his  care  in  never  overlooking 
an  awkwardly  fingered  or  pedalled  passage,  and 
his  reverence  and  enthusiasm  for  the  great  music 
he  delighted  to  teach,  combined  with  other  emi 
nent  qualities  to  place  him  in  the  foremost  rank. 
It  was  his  much-appreciated  custom  to  play  any 
composition  by  Bach  which  the  pupil  might  ask 
to  hear  after  each  lesson,  which  in  itself  was  a 
practice  of  priceless  value  as  to  inaccurately 
printed  passages,  tempi,  and  registration  of  those 
glorious  works.  Having  given  instruction  to  some 
of  the  first  organists  of  the  day,  Schneider  could 
relate  interesting  anecdotes  of  them  and  of  many 
great  composers,  including  Mendelssohn,  who  was 
one  of  his  most  devoted  admirers.  In  the  year 
1 86 1,  the  fiftieth  of  Schneider's  artistic  career  and 
73rd  of  his  birth,  a  remarkable  testimony  to  his 
powers  was  shewn  in  the  presentation  to  him  of  a 
'  Jubel- Album  fur  die  Orgel,'  containing  about 
thirty  original  pieces,  all  in  classical  form,  by 
some  of  his  best  pupils,  including  Topfer,  Van 
Eyken,  Faisst,  Fink,  Herzog,  Merkel,  E.  F. 
Eichter,  Schellenberg,  Liszt,  A.  G.  Hitter,  Schaab, 
Hering,  Naumann,  Schurig,  and  Schutze  (editor). 
The  subscribers  were  750,  and  included  the  names 
of  the  late  king  and  royal  family  of  Saxony. 

Schneider's  very  few  published  works  comprise 
an  '  answer  of  thanks '  to  this  collection,  in  the 
form  of  a  fugal  treatment  of  '  Nun  danket  alle 
Gott';  a  Fantaisie  and  Fugue,  op.  i;  Do.  Do. 
in  D  minor,  op.  3 — a  masterly  work ;  '  Twelve 
easy  pieces  for  use  at  divine  service,'  op.  4, 
etc.  etc.  [H.S.O.] 

SCHNYDER  VON  WARTENSEE,  XAVIEB, 
so  called  from  his  castle  at  the  S.E.  end  of  the 
Lake  of  Constance,  was  born  at  Lucerne,  of  a 
noble  family,  April  18,  1786.  His  career  would 
naturally  have  been  one  in  accordance  with  his 
rank,  but  the  Revolution,  and  a  strong  inward 
feeling,  drove  him  in  the  direction  of  music.  Until 
1810  he  had  no  teaching  but  what  he  could  get 
from  books  and  practice.  In  that  year  he  went 
to  Zurich,  and  then  to  Vienna,  with  the  wish  to 
become  a  pupil  of  Beethoven.  He  was  however 
compelled  to  take  lessons  from  Kienlen — perhaps 
a  better  teacher  than  Beethoven  would  have  been. 
After  a  few  years  in  the  Austrian  capital  he 
returned  to  Switzerland,  made  the  campaign  of 
1815  against  the  French,  then  became  teacher 
in  the  Pestalozzian  institute  at  Yverdun,  and  at 
length  in  1817  settled  at  Frankfort,  and  lived 
there  as  teacher  of  composition  and  director  of 
various-  musical  institutions  till  his  death,  Aug. 
30,  1868.  During  this  latter  period  he  was 
much  esteemed  as  a  teacher,  and  had  many 
pupils,  among  them  our  countryman  PEAESALL. 

Schnyder  appears  to  have  been  a  man  of  ex 
ceptional  ability,  but  his  life  was  too  desultory  to 
admit  of  his  leaving  anything  of  permanent  value, 
and  there  was  always  a  strong  amateur  element 
about  him.  His  compositions  are  numerous  and 
of  all  classes:  an  opera  'Fortunatus'  (1829),  an 
oratorio  for  men's  voices — both  brought  to  perform  - 
ance,  and  the  opera  to  publication;  symphonies, 
which  were  played  in  Frankfort ;  solo  and  part- 


SCHOBERLECHNER. 

songs,  etc.  He  wrote  much,  both  poetry  and  prose, 
and  many  of  his  articles  on  musical  subjects  were 
contributed  to  the  '  Allg.  musik.  Zeitung '  and 
'  Caecilia.'     He  was  also  a  wit,  and  Hauptmann 
has  preserved  one  story  which  is  worth  repeating, 
considering  the  date  of  its  occurrence.   After  one 
of  the  early  performances  of  Tannhauser,  Schnyder 
wasasked  his  opinion.  '  Well,  said  he,  I  put  Wagner 
above  Goethe  and  Beethoven.     Yes;    he  com 
poses  better  than  Goethe  and  writes  verse  better 
that  Beethoven.1   A  romance  and  duet  and  a  song 
from  Fortunatus  are  given  in  the  A.  M.  Z.  for 
1832,  and  the  former  of  the  two  is  reprinted  in 
the  Musical  Library,  iii.  133.      They  are  both 
melodious  and  well  accompanied.  [G.] 

SCHOBER,  FRANZ  VON,  an  Austrian  poet, 
the  youngest  child  of  four,  born  at  Torup,  near 
Malmoe,  in  Sweden,  May  17,  1798.     His  mother 
lost  her  fortune  during  the  French  occupation  of 
Hamburg — the  same  which  drove  the  Mendels 
sohn  s  to  Berlin — and  Franz  had  but  a  desultory 
education.     She  returned  to  Austria,  and  he  be 
came  tutor  in  the  Festetics  and  Urmenyi  and 
other  Hungarian  families.     He  first  knew  Schu 
bert  as  early  as  1813,  by  meeting  with  some  of 
his  songs  at  the  house  of  Spaun ;   he  at  once 
made  his   personal  acquaintance,   and  induced 
Schubert  to  live  with  him  for  a  few  months,  till 
the  return  of  Schober's  brother.     This  was  the 
beginning  of  an  intimacy  which  lasted  till  Schu 
bert's  death,   and  during  the   greater  part  of 
which  he  had  always  his  room  in  Schober's  house. 
The  two,  being  so  nearly  of  an  age,  became  very 
intimate ;    Schober   was   devoted  to   him,   and 
Schubert  set   several  of  his   poems  to  music,1 
besides  the  libretto  of  'Alfonso  and  Estrella.' 
He  was  chief  mourner   at  the   funeral  of  his 
friend  in  1828.     In  1843  we  find  him  at  Weimar 
with  Liszt,  and  in  the  service  of  the  Grand  Duke. 
In  1856. he  settled  in  Dresden  for  a  few  years; 
in  1860  removed  to  Pesth  ;   in  1869  to  Munich ; 
and  since  then   has  lived   in  Gratz  and  other 
places.     His  works  embrace  poems  (8vo.  1842, 
1865),  and  various  occasional  pamphlets.      [&.] 

SCHOBERLECHNER,  FRANZ,  born  at 
Vienna,  July  21,  1797.  Hummel  composed  for 
him  his  2nd  Concerto,  in  C,  which  he  performed 
in  public  with  success  when  only  ten  years  old. 
The  precocious  child  was  taken  under  the  patron 
age  of  Prince  Esterhazy,  and  sent  to  Vienna,  to 
study  under  Forster.  From  1814  he  travelled 
in  Austria  and  Italy.  While  at  Florence  he 
composed  a  requiem,  and  a  buffo,  opera,  '  I  Vir 
tuosi  teatrali.'  In  the  next  year,  having  been 
appointed  chapel-master  to  the  Duchess  of 
Lucca,  he  wrote  '  Gli  Arabi  nelle  Gallie,'  and 
subsequently,  at  Vienna,  in  1820,  '  Der  junge 
Onkel.'  In  1823  he  went  to  Russia.  He  seems 
to  have  written  to  Beethoven,  before  starting,  for 
letters  of  introduction.  The  maestro,  however, 
wrote  across  his  letter,  'an  active  fellow  requires 
no  other  recommendation  than  from  one  respect 
able  family  to  another,'  and  gave  it  back  to 

1  Op.  16,  No.  1 ;  23,  No.  4 ;  88,  No.  4 ;  96,  No.  2 ;  102  ;  104 ;  108,  No.  2; 
109,  Nos.  1,  2  ;   123  ;  lief.  10,  No.  6;  IS,  No.  1 ;  21,  No.  2;  24,  No.l; 

'  Trost  im  Liede.' 

[F.A.M.J 


SCHOBERLECHNER. 

Schindler,  who  showed  it  to  Schoberlechner,  and, 
no  doubt  at  his  desire,  again  urged  Beethoven  to 
comply  with  the  request.  Beethoven  however  did 
not  know  Schoberlechner,  and  had  no  very  high 
opinion  of  him,  as  he  played  chiefly  bravura 
pieces,  and  pompously  paraded  all  his  titles  and 
decorations,  which  gave  occasion  for  many  a 
sarcastic  remark  from  Beethoven.1 

At  St.  Petersburg  he  recommended  himself  to 
dall'  Occa,  a  professor  of  singing,  whose  daughter 
he  married  in  1824.  After  travelling  in  Germany 
and  Italy,  the  pair  returned  to  St.  Petersburg 
in  1827,  where  Mme.  Schoberlechner  was  en 
gaged  for  three  years  at  the  Italian  Opera  at 
a  salary  of  20,000  roubles.  Her  husband  com 
posed  for  her  an  opera,  '  II  Barone  di  Dolzheim,' 
which  had  some  success.  After  a  few  more 
years  wandering,  Schoberlechner  retired  to  a 
country  house  near  Florence.  His  last  opera 
was  '  Rossane,'  produced  at  Milan,  Feb.  9,  1839. 
He  died  at  Berlin  on  Jan.  7,  1843. 

His  published  works  are  chiefly  for  the  piano 
forte  ;  a  list  of  them  is  to  be  found  in  Fetis's 
'Biographic  des  Musiciens.'  His  wife, 

Madame  SOPHIE  SCHOBERLECHNER,  daughter 
of  Signor  dall'  Occa,  as  above  stated,  was  born 
at  St.  Petersburg  in  1807.  She  was  her  father's 
pupil,  and  married  in  1824.  Up  to  1827  she 
appeared  only  in  concerts,  but  was  then  engaged 
at  the  Italian  Opera  of  St.  Petersburg,  as  we 
have  also  already  mentioned.  She  had  a  very 
beautiful  voice,  and  for  twelve  or  thirteen  years 
sang  with  unvarying  success  in  almost  all  the 
principal  towns  of  Germany  and  Italy,  but  her 
organ  was  too  delicate  for  such  constant  usage, 
It  deteriorated  early,  and  in  1840  she  left  the 
stage,  retired  to  her  husband's  property  in  Tus 
cany,  and  died  at  Florence  in  1863.  [F.A.M.] 

SCHOBERT— or  CHOBERT  in  Mozart's  or 
thography2— a  player  on  the  harpsichord,  whose 
sonatas  were  the  delight  of  our  great-grand 
mothers.  His  Christian  name  does  not  appear, 
and  little  is  known  of  his  biography.  He  is 
said  to  have  been  born  and  brought  up  at  Strass- 
burg.  He  settled  in  Paris  before  1761,  in  which 
year  his  first  works  were  published  there,  where 
he  was  in  the  service  of  the  Prince  de  Oonti. 
On  the  occasion  of  his  death,  Aug.  1767,  Grimm, 
no  mean  judge  of  music,  inserts  in  his  '  Corre- 
spondance'  a  very  high  eutogium  on  his  merits  as 
a  player.  He  praises  him  for  '  his  great  ability, 
his  brilliant  and  enchanting  execution,  and  an 
unequalled  facility  and  clearness.  He  had  not 
the  genius  of  our  Eckard,  who  is  undoubtedly 
the  first  master  in  Paris ;  but  Schobert  was 
more  universally  liked  than  Eckard,  because  he 
was  always  agreeable,  and  because  it  is  not  every 
one  who  can  feel  the  power  of  genius.'  This  is 
the  description  of  a  pleasant  brilliant  player  who 
never  soared  above  the  heads  of  his  audience. 
He  left  1 7  sonatas  for  PF.  and  violin ;  1 1  for 
PF.,  violin  and  cello ;  3  quartets  for  PF.,  2 
violins  and  cello  ;  6  '  sinfonies '  for  PF.,  violin 
and  2  horns ;  6  PF.  concertos,  and  4  books  of 

1  See  Note  to  Beethoven's  letters,  translated  by  lady  "Wallace, 
tol.  li.  p.  118.  2  See  letter,  Oct.  17, 1777. 

VOL.  III.    PT.  3. 


SCHCELCHER. 


257 


sonatas  for  PF.  solo.3  These  seem  to  have  been 
originally  published  in  Paris,  but  editions  of 
many  of  them  appeared  in  London  between  1770 
and  1780.  The  particulars  of  his  death  are 
given  by  Grimm.  It  was  occasioned  by  eating 
some  fungi  which  he  gathered  near  Paris,  and 
which  killed  his  wife,  his  children,  a  friend,  the 
servant,  and  himself.*  Schobert  and  Eckard 
are  alike  forgotten  by  modern  musicians.  A 
Minuetto  and  Allegro  molto  in  Eb  have  been 
reprinted  in  Pauer's  'Alte  Meister,'  other  move 
ments  in  the  'Maitres  du  Clavecin,'  and  a  Sonata, 
so-called,  in  the  Musical  Library.  These  pieces 
are  tuneful  and  graceful,  but  very  slight  in  con 
struction,  the  harmonies  consisting  chiefly  of  al 
ternations  of  tonic  and  dominant,  seldom  in  more 
than  three  parts,  often  only  in  two.  Burney 
(Hist.  iv.  591,  597)  remarks  that  his  music  is 
essentially  harpsichord  music,  and  that  he  was 
one  of  the  few  composers  who  were  not  influenced 
by  Emanuel  Bach.  It  is  incredible  that  Fetis 
can  have  discovered  any  likeness  between  Scho 
bert  and  Mozart.  [G.] 

SCHGELCHER,  VICTOR,  French  writer  and 
politician,  son  of  a  manufacturer  of  china,  was 
born  in  Paris,  July  21,  1804,  educated  at  the 
College  Louis  le  Grand,  and  well  known  as  an 
ultra-republican.  On  the  accession  of  the  Em 
peror  Napoleon  III.  he  was  expelled  both  from 
France  and  Belgium,  but  took  refuge  in  London, 
where  he  brought  out  his  '  Histoire  des  crimes 
du  2  Ddcembre'  (1853),  and  an  English  pamphlet 
entitled  '  Dangers  to  England  of  the  Alliance 
with  the  men  of  the  Coup  d'Etat'  (1854). 

Schcelcher  remained  in  England  till  August 
1870,  returning  to  Paris  immediately  before  the 
Revolution  of  Sept.  4.  As  staff-colonel  of  the 
Garde  Nationale  he  commanded  the  Legion  of 
Artillery  throughout  the  siege  of  Paris.  After 
Jan.  31,  1871,  he  was  elected  to  the  Assemblee 
Nationale  by  the  Department  of  the  Seine,  Mar 
tinique,  and  Cayenne,  and  sat  for  Martinique  till 
elected  a  life-senator  (Dec.  16, 1875). 

His  claim  to  a  place  in  this  work  however  is 
as  a  distinguished  amateur.  His  devotion  to 
art  of  all  kinds  was  proved  by  his  articles  in 
'L' Artiste'  (1832),  and  'La  Revue  de  Paris' 
(5833)'  and  he  made  during  his  travels  a  most 
interesting  collection  of  foreign  musical  instru 
ments.  His  long  stay  in  England  had  a  still 
more  remarkable  result  in  his  enthusiasm  for 
Handel.  Up  to  1850  two  or  three  detached 
choruses  from  the  '  Messiah  *  and  '  Judas  Macca 
beus'  were  the  only  pieces  of  Handel's  known 
in  Paris  ;  M.  Schcelcher  heard  the  fine  perform 
ances  of  entire  oratorios  which  are  native  to 
England,  and  at  once  resolved  to  do  something 
to  remove  this  reproach  from  France.  He  accord 
ingly  made  a  collection  of  Handel's  works,  and 
of  books  and  pamphlets  bearing  on  his  life  and 
music,  a  list  of  which  he  gives  in  the  beginning 
of  his  book.  Among  them  he  was  fortunate 
enough  to  acquire  the  MS.  copies  of  the  scores  of 
the  oratorios  which  had  been  used  by  Handel  in 

3  Weitzmann, '  Geschichte  des  Clavierspiels.* 
*  Grimm  (new  ed.)  vii.  422. 

S 


258 


SCHCELCHER. 


conducting.  To  the  autographs  in  Buckingham 
Palace  and  the  Fitzwilliam  Museum  at  Cam 
bridge,  and  to  the  copies  by  Smith  now  in  pos 
session  of  Mr.  H.  B.  Lennard,  he  obtained 
access,  and  thus  provided,  published  'The  Life 
of  Handel,  by  Victor  Schoelcher,'  London, 
Triibner,  8vo.,  1857.  The  author  was  materially 
assisted  by  Mr.  Rophino  Lacy,1  whose  labours 
are  amply  acknowledged  in  the  preface  (p.  xxii). 
The  work  was  written  by  M.  Schoelcher  in  French 
and  translated  by  Mr.  James  Lowe.  ^  It  con 
tains  much  infonnation  beyond  what  is  indicated 
in  the  title,  especially  with  regard  to  Italian 
opera  and  music  in  genera)  in  England  during  the 
1 8th  century.  The  French  MS,  'Handel  et  son 
temps,'  was  handed  over  to  '  La  France  Musicale,' 
which  (Aug.  19,  1860)  published  the  first  four 
chapters,  and  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  (Nov. 
2,  1862),  but  there  broke  off,  doubtless  for  poli 
tical  reasons.  The  MS.  was  supposed  to  have 
been  destroyed,  till  May  25,  1881,  when  it  was 
offered  for  sale  by  M.  Charavay,  and  at  once 
bought  for  the  library  of  the  Conservatoire,  thus 
completing  M.  Schcelcher's  magnificent  gift 
(Nov.  1872)  of  all  the  works,  in,  print  or  MS, 
used  by  him  in  preparing  the  book,  and  his  col 
lection  of  foreign  instruments.  He  has  since 
added  a  quantity  of  music  and  rare  books  bearing 
on  the  history  of  Italian  opera  in  London,  and 
on  singing  and  pianoforte-playing  in  the  United 
Kingdom.  The  '  Fonds  Schcelcher,'  as  it  is  called, 
contains  in  all  500  volumes  uniformly  bound  with 
the  initials  of  the  donor,  and  has  already  been  of 
immense  service  to  French  artists  and  music 
ologists,  whose  knowledge  of  the  madrig;»l  writers 
and  pianists  of  the  English  school,  and  indeed  of 
Handel  himself,  is  as  a  rule  but  imperfect.  [G.  C.] 

M.  Schcelcher's  work,  though  the  only  modern 
English  biography  of  Handel,  is  very  inadequate 
to  its  purpose.  The  author  was  no  musician,  and 
was  therefore  compelled  to  depend  on  the  labours 
and  judgment  of  another.  His  verdicts  are  de 
formed  by  violent  and  often  ludicrous  partisan 
ship  ;  and  his  style,  which  is  extremely  French, 
has  had  but  small  assistance  from  his  trans 
lator.2  No  man  can  write  a  serious  book  on  a 
great  subject  without  its  being  of  some  value, 
and  Mr.  Schoelcher's  dates  and  lists  are  alone 
enough  to  make  the  student  grateful  to  him; 
but  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  before  long  some  one 
may  be  found  to  produce  a  life  of  Handel  which 
shall  steer  midway  between  the  too  detailed 
compilation  of  Dr.  Chrysander  and  the  curious 
farrago  of  the  French  Republican  senator.  It 
is  a  great  pity  that  M.  Schoelcher's  original 
French  work  is  not  published.  [G.] 

SCHONSTEIN,  CARL,  BARON  VON  (son  of 
Baron  Franz  Xaver,  who  died  in  1825),  was  born 
June  26,  1797,  was  Imperial  Chamberlain  arid 
Ministerial  Councillor,  was  twice  married,  re- 

1  M.  Schcelcher's   statement  as   to   Mr.  Lacy's  assistance  should 
materially  modify  our  inferences  from  his  account  of  his  own  part  in 
the  examination  of  Handel's  MSS..  p.  xxi. 

2  Who   did    not  do  his  work  well.     Instead   of  modifying  the 
natural  over-exuberance  of  the  author  he  has  rather  exaggerated  it, 
and  has  allowed  a  number  of  sentences  to  pass  which  no  literary  man 
of  any  pretension  should  have  written. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

tired  on  his  pension  in  1867,  and  died  July  19, 
1876.      Schb'nstein  was    one   of  the   Esterhazy 
circle  in  the  time  of  Franz  Schubert,  and  was 
noted  as  being  at  that  time,  with  the  single  ex 
ception  of  Vogl,  the  finest  singer  of  Schubert's 
songs.     He  had,  says  Kreissle,  like  Vogl,  a  spe 
cial  set  of  songs  which  exactly  suited  his  voice, 
such   as   the  '  Schb'ne   Miillerin ' — dedicated  to 
him — '  Standchen/  '  Der  ziirnenden  Diana,'  etc. ; 
while  Vogl  was  more  attached  to  the  dramatic 
and     expressive    'Winterreise,'    '  Zwerg,'    etc. 
Schbnstein's  position  in  society  enabled  him  to 
introduce    Schubert's    music    into    the   highest 
circles.    In  1838  Liszt  heard  him  in  Vienna,  and 
wrote  as  follows  to  the  'Gazette  Musicale':— 'In 
the  salons  here  I  have  often  heard  Schubert's 
songs  given  by  the  Baron  Schonstein,  always  with 
the  liveliest  pleasure,  and  often  with  an  emotion 
which  moved  me  to  tears.     The  French  version 
gives  but  a  very  poor  idea  of  the  manner  in 
which  Schubert,  the  most  poetical  musician  that 
ever  lived,  has  united  his  music  to  the  words  of 
these  poems,  which  are  often  extremely  beautiful. 
The  German  language  is  admirable  for  sentiment, 
and  it  is  all  but  impossible  for  any  one  not  a  Ger 
man  to  enter  into  the  naivete'  and  fancy  of  many 
of  these  compositions,  their  capricious  charm,  their 
depth  of  melancholy.  The  Baron  gives  them  with 
the  declamatory  science  of  a  great  artist,  and  the 
simple  feeling  of  an  amateur  who  thinks  only  of 
his  own  emotions  and  forgets  the  public.'      [G.] 

SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION.  In  Music, 
as  in  other  Arts,  the  power  of  invention,  even 
when  displayed  in  its  most  original  form, 
has  a  never-failing  tendency  to  run  in  certain 
recognised  channels,  the  study  of  which  enables 
the  technical  historian  to  separate  its  mani 
festations  into  more  or  less  extensive  groups, 
called  Schools,  the  limits  of  which  are  as  clearly 
defined  as  those  of  the  well-known  Schools  of 
Painting,  or  of  Sculpture.  These  Schools  natu 
rally  arrange  themselves  in  two  distinct  Classes; 
the  first  of  which  embraces  the  works  of  the 
Polyphonic  Composers  of  the  I4th,  r5th,  and 
1 6th  centuries,  written  for  Voices  alone ;  the 
second,  those  of  Composers  of  later  date,  written, 
either  for  Instruments  alone,  or  for  Voices 
supported  by  Instrumental  Accompaniments. 
The  critical  year,  i6co,  separates  the  two  classes 
so  distinctly,  that  it  may  fairly  be  said  to  have 
witnessed  the  destruction  of  the  one,  and  the 
birth  of  the  other.  It  is  true  that  some  fifty 
years  or  more  elapsed,  before  the  traditions  of 
the  earlier  style  became  entirely  extinct ;  but 
their  survival  was  rather  the  result  of  skilful 
nursing,  than  of  healthful  reproductive  energy; 
while  the  newer  method,  when  once  fairly 
launched  upon  its  career,  kept  the  gradual  de 
velopment  of  its  limitless  resources  steadily  in 
view,  with  a  persistency  which  has  not  only 
continued  unabated  to  the  present  day,  but  may 
possibly  lead  to  the  accomplishment,  in  future 
ages,  of  results  far  greater  than  any  that  have 
been  yet  attained. 

The  number  of  distinct  Schools  into  which 
these  two  grand  Classes  may  be  subdivided  is 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION.      259 


very  great — so  much  too  great  for  detailed  criti 
cism,  that  we  must  content  ourselves  with  a 
brief  notice  of  those  only  which  have  exercised 
the  most  important  influence  upon  Art  in  general. 
In  making  a  selection  of  these,  we  have  been 
guided,  before  all  things,  by  the  principles  of 
aesthetic  analogy,  though  neither  local  nor  chro 
nological  coincidences  have  been  overlooked,  or 
could  possibly  have  been  overlooked,  in  the  con 
struction  of  the  following  scheme,  in  accordance 
with  which  we  propose  to  arrange  the  order  of 
our  leading  divisions. 

CLASS  I.    THE  POLYPHONIC  SCHOOLS. 

I.  The  First  Flemish  School  (1370— 1430\ 
II.  The  Second  Flemish  School  (1430—1480). 

III.  The  Third  Flemish  School  (1480-15iO). 

IV.  The  Fourth  Flemish  School  (1520-1590). 
V.  The  Early  Roman  School  (1517—1565). 

VI.  The  Later  Roman  School  (1565—1594), 
VII.  The  Venetian  School  (1527—1609). 
VIII.  The  Early  Florentine  School  (circa  1539- 1600) . 
IX.  The  Schools  of  Lombardy  (circa  1500—1600). 
X.  The  EarlyNeapolitan  School  (circa  1434-1600), 
XI.  The  School  of  Bologna  (circa  1500—1600). 
XII.  The  German  Polyphonic  Schools  (1480—1568). 
XIII.  The  Schools  of  Munich  and  Nuremberg  (1557— 

1612). 

XTV.  The  Early  French  School  (circa  1500—1572). 
XV.  The  Spanish  School  (1.540—1605). 
XVI.  The  Early  English  Schools  (1226-1625). 
XVII.  The  Schools  of  the  Decadence  (1600,  et  seq.}. 

CLASS  II.    THE  MONODIC,  DRAMATIC,  AND 
INSTRUMENTAL  SCHOOLS. 

XVIII.  The  Monodic  School  of  Florence  (1597—1600). 
XIX.  The  School  of  Mantua  (1607—1613). 
XX.  The  Venetian  Dramatic  School  (1637—1700). 
XXI.  The  Neapolitan  School  of  the  17th  century 

(1659—1725), 

XXII.  The    German  Schools  of   the  17th  century 
(1620—1700). 

XXIII.  The  French  School  of  the  17th  century  (1650— 

1687). 

XXIV.  The  English  School  of  the  17th  century  (7660— 

17CO),  including  that  of  the  Restoration, 
XXV.  The  Italian  Schools  of  the  18th  century  (circa 

1700—1800). 
XXVI.  The   German   Schools  of  the  18th   century 

(circa  1700—1800). 

XXVII.  The  School  of  Vienna  (1750-1828). 
XXVIII.  The  French  School  of  the  18th  century  (circa 
1700—1800). 

XXIX.  The    English    School   of  the   18th   century 
(circa  1700— 1800). 

XXX.  The  Modern  German  School  (1800,  et  seq.). 
XXXI.  The  Romantic  School  (1821,  et  seq.}. 
XXXII.  The  Modern  Italian  School  (1800,  et  seq.}. 

XXXIII.  The  Modern  French  School  (1800,  et  seq.). 

XXXIV.  The  Modern  English  School  (1800,  et  seq.). 
XXXV.  The  Schools  of  the  Future. 

I.  The  Art  of  Composition  was  long  supposed 
to  have  owed  its  origin  to  the  intense  love  of 
Music  which  prevailed  in  the  Low  Countries, 
during  the  latter  half  of  the  I4th  century.  The 
researches  of  modern  criticism  have  proved  this 
hypothesis  to  be  groundless,  so  far  as  its  leading 
proposition  is  concerned  :  yet,  it  contains  so  much 
collateral  truth,  that,  while  awaiting  the  results 
of  farther  investigation,  we  are  still  justified  in 
representing  Flanders  as  the  country  whence  the 
cultivation  of  Polyphony  was  first  disseminated 
to  other  lands.  If  the  Netherlanders  were  not  the 
earliest  Composers,  they  were,  at  least,  the  first 


Musicians  who  taught  the  rest  of  Europe  how  to 
compose.  And,  with  this  certain  fact  before  us, 
we  have  no  hesitation  in  speaking  of  THE  FIRST 
FLEMISH  SCHOOL  as  the  earliest  manifestation  of 
creative  genius  which  can  be  proved  to  have  ex 
ercised  a  lasting  influence  upon  the  history  of  Art. 
The  force  of  this  assertion  is  in  no  wise  invalidated 
by  the  strong  probability  that  the  Faux-bourdon 
was  first  sung  in  France,  and  exported  thence,  at 
a  very  early  period,  to  Italy.  For  the  primitive 
Faux-bourdon,  though  it  indicated  an  immense  ad 
vance  in  the  practice  of  Harmony,  was,  technically 
considered,  no  more  than  a  highly -refined  develop 
ment  of  the  extempore  Organum,  or  Discant,  of 
the  nth  and  I2th  centuries,  and  bore  very  little 
relation  to  the  true  '  Cantus  super  librum,'  to 
which,  alone,  the  term  Composition  can  be  logi 
cally  applied.  We  owe,  indeed,  a  deep  debt  of 
gratitude  to  the  Organizers,  and  Discanters,  by 
whom  it  was  invented  ;  for,  without  the  mate 
rials  accumulated  by  their  ingenuity  and  patience, 
later  Composers  could  have  done  nothing.  They 
first  discovered  the  harmonic  combinations  which 
have  been  claimed,  as  common  property,  by  all 
succeeding  Schools.  The  misfortune  was  that 
with  the  discovery  their  efforts  ceased.  Of  sym 
metrical  arrangement,  based  upon  the  lines  of  a 
preconceived  design,  they  had  no  idea.  Their 
highest  aspirations  extended  no  farther  than  the 
enrichment  of  a  given  Melody  with  such  Har 
monies  as  they  were  able  to  improvise  at  a 
moment's  notice:  whereas  Composition,  properly 
so  called,  depends,  for  its  existence,  upon  the 
invention — or,  at  least,  the  selection — of  a  de 
finite  musical  idea,  which  the  genius  of  the  Com 
poser  presents,  now  in  one  form,  and  now  in 
another,  until  the  exhaustive  discussion  of  its 
various  aspects  produces  a  work  of  Art,  as  con 
sistent,  in  its  integrity,  as  the  conduct  of  a 
Scholastic  Thesis,  or  a  Dramatic  Poem.  Upon 
this  plan,  the  Flemish  Composers  formed  their 
style.  They  delighted  in  selecting  their  themes 
from  the  popular  Ditties  of  the  period — little 
Volkslieder,  familiar  to  men  of  all  ranks,  and 
dear  to  the  hearts  of  all.  These  they  developed, 
either  into  Saecular  Chansons  for  three  or  more 
Voices,  or  into  Masses  and  Motets  of  the  most 
solemn  and  exalted  character  ;  with  no  more 
thought  of  irreverence,  in  the  latter  case,  than 
the  Painter  felt,  when  he  depicted  Our  Lady, 
resting,  during  her  Flight  into  yEgypt,  amidst  the 
familiar  surroundings  of  a  Flemish  hostelry.  At 
this  period,  representing  the  Infancy  of  Art,  the 
Subject,  or  Canto  fermo,  was  almost  invariably 
placed  in  the  Tenor,  and  sung  ia  long- sustained 
notes,  while  two  or  more  supplementary  Voices 
accompanied  it  with  an  elaborate  Counterpoint, 
written,  like  the  Canto  fermo  itself,  in  one  or 
other  of  the  antient  Ecclesiastical  Modes,  and 
consisting  of  Fugal  Passages,  Points  of  Imi 
tation,  or  even  Canons,  all  suggested  by  the 
primary  idea,  and  all  working  together  for  a  com 
mon  end.  This  was  Composition,  in  the  fullest 
sense  of  the  word;  and,  as  the  truth  of  the 
principle  upon  which  it  was  based  has  never  yet 
been  disputed,  the  Musicians  who  so  successfully 

S2 


260      SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

practised  it  are  entitled  to  our  thanks  for  the 
cultivation  of  a  mode  of  treatment  the  technical 
value  of  which  is  still  universally  acknowledged. 
The  reputed  Founder  of  the  School,  and  un 
questionably  its  greatest  Master,  was  Gulielmus 
Dufay,  a  native  of  Chimay,  in  Hennegau,  who, 
after  successfully  practising  his  Art  in  his  own 
country,  and  probably  also  at  Avignon,  carried 
it  eventually  to  Koine,  where,  in  1380,  he  ob 
tained  an  appointment  in  the  Papal  Choir,  and 
where  he  appears  to  have  died,  at  an  advanced 
age,  in  1432,  leaving  behind  him  a  goodly  num 
ber  of  disciples,  well  worthy  of  so  talented  a 
leader.  The  most  eminent  of  these  were,  Egy- 
dius  Bianchoys,  Vincenz  Faugues,  Egyd  Flannel 
(called  L'Enfant),  Jean  Redois,  Jean  de  Curte 
(called  L'Ami),  Jakob  Kagot,  Eloy,  Brasart,  and 
others,  many  of  whom  sang  in  the  Papal  Chapel, 
and  did  their  best  to  encourage  the  practice  of 
their  Art  in  Italy.  A  valuable  collection  of  the 
works  of  these  early  Masters  is  preserved  among 
the  Archives  of  the  Sistine  Chapel,  but  very  few 
are  to  be  found  elsewhere,1  with  the  exception  of 
some  interesting  fragments  printed  by  Kiese- 
wetter,  Ambros,  Coussemaker,  and  some  other 
writers  on  the  History  of  Music.  The  following 
passage  from  Dufay's  'Missa  1'omme  arme" — one 
of  the  greatest  treasures  in  the  Sistine  Collection 
— will  serve  to  exemplify  the  "remarks  we  have 
made  upon  the  general  style  of  the  period. 


f\      T      (  \             f~~~      * 

"^J           ~~* 

s-_J 

f--J       s^2 

c/                        c^ 

IVnor,  Canto  Ferm 
'  Vomme 

3. 

arm^.' 

1 

„, 

^•^                      . 

-**^   «    v  J 

i 

1 

If 

^ 

!l            1                                      1 

i 

- 

/T3        <^ 

^J       ^                    1 

i    j             223T2 

.^' 

S           ^J    <=••      J 

J^t           c-1 

•gp-        ^:  -p-  f^'TT 

s  « 

^. 

1     (I  1     h> 

IP            .22.                   etc. 

~K~3  £•**  — 

•         * 

C7 

II.  The  system  thus  originated  was  still  more 
fully  developed  in  THE  SECOND  FLEMISH  SCHOOL, 
under  the  bold  leadership  of  Joannes  Okenheim 
(or  Ockeghem),  of  whom  we  first  hear,  as  a 
member  of  the  Cathedral  Choir  at  Antwerp, 
in  the  year  1443.  Okenheim's  style,  like  that 
of  his  fellow -labourers,  Antoine  Busnoys,2  Jakob 
Hobrecht,  Philipp  Basiron,  Jean  Cousin,  Jacob 
Barbireau,  Erasmus  Lapicida,  Antoine  and 
Robert  de  Fevin,  Firmin  Caron,  Joannes  Regis, 
and  others,  of  nearly  equal  celebrity,  was  more 
elaborate,  by  far,  than  that  of  either  Dufay 
himself,  or  the  most  ambitious  of  his  colleagues  ; 

1  Six  of  Dufay's  Masses  are,  however,  preserved  in  theKoyal  library 
8,t  Brussels;  and  the  'Gloria'  of  another,  at  Cambray.    Rochlitz 
has  printed  the  '  Eyrie '  from  his  Mass  '  Si  la  face  ay  pale '  in  vol.  i.  of 
the  '  Sammlung  vorzuglichsten  Gesangstiicke.' 

2  Baini  places  Busnnys  among  the  Masters  of  the  early  School. 
Kiesewetter  regards  him,  with  Hobrecht,  and  Caron,  as  belonging 
to  a  transitional  epoch.    Ambros  describes  him  as  the  leader  of  a 
distinct  School,  interposed  between  those  of  Dufay  and  Okenheim. 
We  do  not  think  that  the  amount  of  influence  he  exercised  upon  Art 
justifies  this  last-named  arrangement. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

and  there  is  little  doubt  that  the  industry  of 
these    pioneers  of  Art   assisted,   materially,  in 
preparing  the  way  for  the  splendid  creations  of 
a  later  epoch.     The  ingenuity  displayed  by  the 
leader  of  the  School  in  the  construction  of  Canons 
and  Imitations  of  every  conceivable  kind,  led  to 
the  extensive  adoption  of  his  method  of  working 
by  all  who  were  sufficiently  advanced  to  enter 
into  rivalry  with  him ;    and,  for  many  years, 
no   other   style   was    tolerated.      He,   however, 
maintained  his  supremacy  to  the  last ;   and  if, 
in  his  desire  to   astonish,  he  sometimes  forgot 
the  higher  aims  of  Art,  he  at  least  bequeathed 
to  his  successors  an  amount  of  technical  skill 
which  enabled  them  to  overcome  with  ease  many 
difficulties,  which,  without  such  a  leader,  would 
have  been  insurmountable.     The  greater  num 
ber  of  his  Compositions   still  remain  in   MS., 
among  the  Archives  of  the  Pontifical  Chapel,  in 
the  Brussels  Library,  and  in  other  collections ; 
but   some   curious   examples    are   preserved  in 
Petrucci's  '  Odhecaton,'  and  '  Canti  C.  No.  cento 
cinquanta,'  and    in    the    '  Dodecachordon '    of 
Glareanus;    while  others,  in  modern  notation, 
will  be  found  in  Burney,  vol.  ii.  pp.  474-479,  in 
vol.  i.  of  Rochlitz's  *  Sammlung  vorziiglichen  Ge- 
sangstiicke,'  and  in  the  Appendix  now  in  course 
of  publication,  by  Otto  Kade,  in  continuation  of 
Ambros' s  '  Geschichte  der  Musik.' 

III.  To  Okenheim  was  granted  the  rare 
privilege,  not  only  of  bringing  his  own  School  to 
perfection,  but  also  of  educating  the  orginator  of 
another,  which  was  destined  to  exercise  a  still 
stronger  influence  upon  the  future  of  Polyphony. 
In  his  famous  disciple,  Josquin  des  Pre"s,  he 
left  behind  him  a  successor,  no  less  learned  and 
ingenious  than  himself,  and  infinitely  richer  in 
all  those  great  and  incommunicable  gifts  which 
form  the  distinguishing  characteristics  of  true 
genius.  All  that  one  man  could  teach  another, 
he  taught  the  quondam  Chorister  of  S.  Quentin ; 
but  a  comparison  of  the  works  of  the  two  Com 
posers  will  clearly  show,  that  the  technical  per 
fection  beyond  which  the  teacher  never  dreamed 
of  penetrating  was  altogether  insufficient  to 
satisfy  the  aspirations  of  the  pupil,  in  whose 
Music  we  first  find  traces  of  a  desire  to  please 
the  ear,  as  well  as  the  understanding.  It  is  the 
presence  of  this  desire,  joined  with  improved 
symmetry  of  form,  and  increased  freedom  of 
development,  which  distinguishes  THE  THIBD 
FLEMISH  SCHOOL,  of  which  Josquin  was  the  life 
and  soul,  from  its  ruder  predecessors.  This  was 
the  first  School  in  which  any  serious  attempt  was 
made  to  use  learning  as  a  means  of  producing 
harmonious  effect ;  and  it  was  rich  in  Masters, 
who,  however  great  their  inferiority  to  their  un 
approachable  leader,  caught  not  a  little  of  his  fire. 
Pierre  de  la  Hue  (Petrus  Platensis),  Antonius 
Brumel,  Alexander  Agricola,  Loyset  Compere, 
Johann  Ghiselin,  Du  Jardin  (Ital.  De  Orto), 
Matthaus  Pipelare,  Nicolaus  Craen,  and  Johann 
J  apart,  though  the  greatest,  were  by  no  means 
the  only  great  writers  of  the  age ;  and  the  list  of 
less  celebrated  names  is  interminable.  The 
works  of  these  Masters,  though  not  easily 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION.      261 


accessible  to  the  general  reader,  are  well  repre 
sented  in  the  'Dodecachordon.'  Petrucci,  too, 
has  printed  three  entire  volumes  of  Josquin's 
Masses,  besides  many  others  by  contemporary 
writers  ;  and  the  same  publisher's  '  Odhecaton,' 
and  'Canti  B.  and  C.'  contain  a  splendid  collec 
tion  of  saecular  Chansons  by  all  the  best  Com 
posers  of  the  period.  The  most  important 
example,  in  modern  Notation,  is  Choron's  re 
print  of  Josquin's  '  Stabat  Mater,'  the  general 
style  of  which  is  well  shown  in  the  following 
brief  extract.1 


MODUS  XIII  (vel  XI)  Transp.2 


do  -  lo   •   TO     •     sa, 


* 


^ 


Sta  -  bat  ma  -  ter 


a  -   bat 


Canto  Fermo. 


Sta 


bat 


ma 


^ 


££ 


I  j 
*=*£ 


Sta  -  bat   ma  -  ter        do    -    lo    -    -    to    -    -    -    - 

Jux- 


r 


--Z& 


ma 

£t 


-   -   -   ter 


do  -  lo  -  ro  -  sa.        Jus  -  ta      cru- 


• 


! 


^1 


ta  era  -  cem  la  -  cry  -  mo   - 


sa 


-  cem  la  -   cry   -  -   mo    -    -    sa 


etc. 


etc. 


m 


^&-\-& — G> — « 

I >-—->—  -        -• 


la  -    cry   -   -    mo    -    -    sa. 


cem 


IV.  The  style  of  THE  FOURTH  FLEMISH 
SCHOOL  presents  a  strong  contrast  to  that  of  its 
predecessor.  The  earlier  decads  of  the  i6th 
century  did,  indeed,  produce  many  writers,  who 
slavishly  imitated  the  ingenuity  of  Josquin,  in 
utter  ignorance  of  the  real  secret  of  his  strength  ; 
but  the  best  Masters  of  the  time,  finding  it 
impossible  to  compete  with  him  upon  his  own 

1  Performed  by  the  '  Gluck  Society '  on  May  24, 1881 ;  and  reprinted 
In  the  '  N<  tenbeilagen '  to  Ambros's  '  Geschichte.' 

2  Zarlino  quotes  this  Composition  as  an  example  of  the  Eleventh 
Mode ;  the  Ionian,  and  Hypoionian  Modes  being  numbered,  in  his 
system,  XI,  and  XII,  instead  of  XIII  and  XIV.     [See  vol.  ii.  p.  342  a.] 
Pietro  Aron,  ignoring  the  Transposition,  and  evidently  regarding  the 
Bb  as  an  often-recurring  Accidental,  speaks  of  the  work  as  being 
written  in  the  Fifth  Mode.    The  Student  of  Antient  Music  will  at 
once  understand  that  this  divergence  of  opinion  involves  no  theoreti 
cal  incongruity. 


ground,  struck  out  an  entirely  new  manner,  the 
chief  characteristic  of  which  was,  extreme  sim 
plicity  of  intention,  combined  with  a  greater 
purity  of  Harmony  than  had  yet  been  attempted, 
and  a  freedom  of  melody  which  lent  a  fresh 
charm,  both  to  the  Ecclesiastical  and  the  Saecular 
Music  of  the  period.  The  greatest  Masters  of 
this  School  were,  Nicolaus  Gombert,  Cornelius 
Canis,  Philippus  de  Monte,  Jacobus  de  Kerle, 
Clemens  non  Papa ;  the  great  Madrigal  writers, 
P  hilipp  Verdelot,  Giach  es  de  Wert,  Huber  to  Wael- 
rant,  and  Jacques  Archadelt;  Adrian  Willaert, 
the  Flemish  Founder  of  the  Venetian  School ;  and 
the  last  great  genius  of  the  Netherlands,  Roland 
de  Lattre  (Orlando  di  Lasso),  of  whose  work  we 
shall  have  occasion  to  speak  at  a  later  period.  To 
these  industrious  Netherlanders  the  outer  world 
was  even  more  deeply  indebted  than  to  those  of 
the  preceding  century,  for  its  knowledge  of  the 
Art,  which,  so  well  nurtured  in  the  Low  Coun 
tries,  spread  thence  to  every  Capital  in  Europe; 
and  it  is  chiefly  by  the  peculiar  richness  of  their 
otherwise  unpretending  Harmonies  that  their 
works  are  distinguished  from  those  of  earlier 
date — a  characteristic  which  is  well  illustrated  in 
the  following  example,  from  Philippus  de  Monte's 
'  Missa,  Mon  cueur  se  recommande  a  vous,'  and 
to  which  we  call  special  attention,  as  we  shall  fre 
quently  have  occasion  to  refer  to  it,  hereafter,  in 
tracing  the  relationship  between  cognate  schools. 


-/TTj'  [ 

—  ^  ^-"            ~^--i      -^-i 

—  (»-{=: 

-&-&- 

I7\\      I 

/           M 

r*->    C-S-— 

,  s 

VMJ         ' 

« 

\<~2 

'  i~^  U£5-,  • 

W  Jj- 

^•r 

t/ 

0- 

|              l|"    "If-*  |f=* 
san-na           in     ex  -  eel 

i1*^   "-^-1 
-  sis. 

l*r~ 

*  V 

'•>    ( 

4 

i 

I 

^      U    I 

J 

^P 


,J  ,  -ey  -  1 
^   — 


J- 


\            1             1 

—  &=—  H  — 

—  '-£*>. 

—  '"^  —  '  ^s'  — 

_J 

^j!'*  n'.  • 

B 

—  _  -.   *—<&  

:  

That  the  style  we  have  described  was  the 
result  of  a  reaction,  neither  unhealthy  in  its 
nature,  nor  revolutionary  in  its  tendency,  though 
not  altogether  free  from  violence,  there  can  be 
no  doubt.  Singers  were  growing  weary  of  the 
conundrums  which  had  so  long  been  offered  to 
them  as  substitutes  for  the  truer  Music  which 
alone  can  reach  the  heart.  In  the  hands  of 
Josquin,  these  puzzles  had  never  lacked  the 
impress  of  true  genius.  In  those  of  his  imitators, 
they  were  as  dry  as  dust.  With  him,  the 
solution  of  the  senigma  led  always  to  some 
harmonious  result ;  while  they  were  perfectly 


262      SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

satisfied,  provided  no  rules  were  unnecessarily 
broken.  The  best  men  of  the  period,  fully  alive 
to  the  importance  of  this  distinction,  aimed  at 
the  harmonious  effect,  and  succeeded  in  attaining 
it,  without  the  intervention  of  the  conundrum. 
And  thus  arose  a  School,  so  simple  in  its  con 
struction,  that  more  than  one  modern  ^cri  tic  has 
accused  its  leaders  of  poverty  of  invention.  The 
injustice  of  this  charge  is  palpable;  for  when  it 
answered  the  purpose  of  these  Composers  to  write 
in  a  more  learned  manner,  they  invariably  found 
themselves  equal  to  the  occasion,  though  they 
cared  nothing  for  ingenuity  for  its  own  sake. 
And  the  result  of  their  spirit  of  self-control  is, 
that  though  their  Church  Music  may  be  deficient 
in  the  breadth  and  grandeur  which  were  attained, 
at  a  later  period,  in  Italy,  their  Madrigals  are 
among  the  finest  in  the  world. 

Beyond  this  point,  Art  made  no  great  ad 
vance  in  Flanders.  We  must  seek  for  the  traces 
of  its  farther  progress  in  Italy.  [See  POLY- 
PHONIA;  MASS;  MADRIGAL;  JOSQOIN;  OBRECHT; 
OKEGHEM;  etc.  etc.] 

V.  The  formation  of  THE  EARLY  ROMAN 
SCHOOL  was  one  of  the  most  important,  as 
well  as  the  most  obviously  natural  results  of 
the  employment  of  Flemish  Musicians  in  the 
Pontifical  Chapel.  It  was  not,  however,  until 
many  years  after  the  return  of  the  Papal  Court 
from  Avignon,  that  Italian  Composers  were 
able  to  hold  their  ground  successfully  against 
their  foreign  rivals.  When  they  did  begin  to  do 
so,  the  style  they  most  affected  was  so  strongly 
influenced  by  that  then  prevalent  in  the  Nether 
lands,  that  it  is  not  always  easy  to  distinguish 
works  of  the  one  School  from  those  of  the  other, 
as  a  comparison  of  the  following  passage  from 
Costanzo  Festa's  Madrigal,  'Quando  ritrovo  la 
mia  pastorella,' l  with  the  opening  of  Archadelt's 
'  Vaghi  pensier,'2  will  sufficiently  demonstrate. 

COSTANZO  FESTA.  (Venice  1541.) 
Quan  -do     ri  -  tro  -   -   TO-     la       mi  -  a     pas  -  to  - 


rel  -  la, 


At 


pra  -  to    con  le      pe  -  cor" 


1  Though  this  is,  probably,  the  best-known  Madrigal  in  the  world, 
we  are  unable  to  find  any  printed  edition,  of  later  date  than  the  16th 
century,  to  which  we  can  refer,  in  illustration  of  our  remarks.    The 
popular  English  translation  is  irreproachable,  so  far  as  the  verses  are 
concerned  ;  but.  the  Music  is  so   much  altered,   to  accommodate 
them,  that  its  rhythm  is  scarcely  recognisable.    We  therefore  give 
a  few  of  the  opening  bars,  as  they  stand  in  the  original ;  referring 
the  reader,  for  the  remainder,  to  Dr.  Burney's  MS.  Score,  in  the 
British  Museum.    Compare  the  extract  also  with  the  example  from 
Archadelt's  'II  bianco  e  dolce  cigno,'  given  in  vol.  ii.  pp.  188:9. 

2  This  Madrigal  will  also  be  found  in  Archadelt's  Third  Bo.k. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

In     pas  -  tu   -   ra,      lo       mi  gli  ac-cos  t  'e    pres  -  to    la     sa  - 


»-  i^-^i          r  r -p-pr 


-   lu     -      to, 


La      mi    ris  -  pon  -  de,      tu     sia   ben  ve  - 

— |- r ! 1 — i : — '•^-i 


& 


F? 


t 


ffcf^F 


JACQUES  ARCHADELT.  (Venice  1541.) 


Va  -  ghi    pen  -  sier  che    co  -  si 


pas  -  1  so 


pas  -  so,  che    co  -  si    pas  -  so       pas 


Scor  -  to  m'ha  -  ve  -  te     ra  -  gio  -  nar' 


In  the  distribution  of  their  Vocal  Parts,  the 
massive  weight  of  their  Harmonies,  the  persistent 
crossing  of  the  Melodies  by  which  those  Har 
monies  are  produced,  the  bright  swing  of  their 
Rhythm,  and  other  similar  technicalities,  these 
two  examples  resemble  each  other  so  closely, 
that,  had  they  been  printed  anonymously,  no  one 
would  ever  have  supposed  that  they  could  pos 
sibly  have  belonged  to  different  Schools.  The 
secret  is  explained  by  their  simultaneous  publi 
cation  in  Venice.  The  Netherlander  had  long 
found  a  ready  market  for  their  Art  Treasures,  in 
Italy.  The  Italians  had,  by  this  time,  learned 
how  to  produce  similar  treasures  for  themselves  ; 
and  Costanzo  Festa's  talent  placed  his  works  at 
least  on  a  level  with  those  of  his  instructors,  if  not 
above  them.  His  genius  was  incontestable  :  he 
was  equally  remarkable  for  his  power  of  adaptation. 
Though  by  no  means  wanting,  either  in  learning, 
or  ingenuity,  he  here  shows  himself  willing  to 
reduce  his  Madrigal  to  the  simplicity  of  a  Faux- 
bourdon,  in  order  to  secure  the  harmonic  richness 
so  highly  prized  at  this  particular  epoch.  He  did 
so,  constantly,  and  always  with  success  ;  for,  to 
the  purity  of  style  cultivated  by  the  best  of  his 
contemporaries  in  the  North  of  Europe,  Festa 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

added  a  Southern  grace,  which  has  gained  him 
a  high  place  among  the  Masters  of  early  Italian 
Art.  He  had,  indeed,  but  few  rivals  among  his 
own  countrymen.  With  the  exception  of  Gio 
vanni  Animuccia,  and  some  few  Italian  writers 
of  lesser  note,  nearly  all  the  best  Composers 
for  the  great  Roman  Choirs,  at  thi*  period,  were 
Spaniards.  Among  these,  we  find  the  names  of 
Bartolommeo  Escobedo,  Francesco  Salinas,  Juan 
Scribano,  Cristofano  Morales,  Francesco  Guer 
rero,  Didaco  Ortiz,  and  Francesco  Soto  —  all 
Masters  of  the  highest  rank,  of  whom,  notwith 
standing  their  close  imitation  of  Flemish  models, 
we  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  again,  when 
treating  of  the  Spanish  School ;  though  none  of 
them  were  so  worthy  as  Festa  himself  to  sustain 
the  honour  of  this  most  interesting  phase  of 
artistic  development — the  first  in  which  his  coun 
try  asserted  her  claim  to  special  notice. 

VI.  Italy  was  once  represented,  by  general 
consent,  as  the  birthplace  of  all  the  Arts.  We 
have  shown,  that,  with  regard  to  Polyphony,  this 
was  certainly  not  the  Ccise.  We  are  now,  however, 
approaching  a  period  in  which  she  undoubtedly 
took  the  lead,  and  kept  it.  The  middle  of  the 
1 6th  century  witnessed  a  rapid  advance  towards 
perfection,  in  many  centres  of  technical  activity; 
but  the  triumphs  of  this,  and  all  preceding  epochs, 
were  destined,  ere  long,  to  be  entirely  forgotten 
in  those  of  THE  LATER  ROMAN  SCHOOL. 

We  have  seen  Polyphonic  Art  nurtured,  in 
its  infancy,  by  the  protecting  care  of  Dufay;  in 
its  childhood,  by  that  of  Okenheim ;  in  the 
bright  years  of  its  promising  adolescence,  by  the 
stronger  support  of  Josquin,  and  of  Festa.  We 
are  now  to  study  it,  in  its  full  maturity,  en 
riched  by  the  genius  of  one,  compared  with  whom 
all  these  were  but  as  experimenters,  groping  in 
the  dark.  The  train  of  events  which  led  to  the 
recognition  of  the  School  justly  held  to  repre- 
se.nt  '  The  Golden  Age  of  Art '  has  already  been 
discussed,  at  some  length,  1elsewhere;  but  it  is 
necessary  that  we  should  refer  to  it  again,  in 
order  to  render  the  sequence  of  our  narrative 
intelligible  to  the  general  reader.  We  have 
shown  that  the  process  of  technical  development 
which  was  gradually  bringing  the  Motet  and 
the  Madrigal  to  absolute  perfection  of  outward 
form,  had  never  been  interrupted.  Unhappily, 
the  spirit  which  should  have  prompted  the  Com 
poser  of  the  1 6th  century  to  draw  the  necessary 
line  of  demarcation  between  Ecclesiastical  and 
Ssecular  Music,  and  to  render  the  former  as 
worthy  as  possible  of  the  purpose  for  which  it 
was  intended,  attracted  far  less  attention  than 
the  advantage  to  be  derived  from  structural 
improvement.  Among  the  successors  of  Josquin, 
there  were  many  cold  imitators  of  his  mechanism, 
who,  as  we  have  already  shown,  were  totally 
unable  to  comprehend  the  true  greatness  of  his 
style.  By  these  soulless  pedants — more  nume 
rous,  by  far,  than  their  more  earnest  contem 
poraries — the  Music  of  the  Mass  was  degraded 
into  a  mere  learned  conundrum  ;  enlivened,  con 
stantly,  by  the  introduction,  not  only  of  secular 

i  See  Tol.  ii.  pp.  22»-9. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION.      263 

subjects,  but  of  profane  words  also.  Other 
practices,  equally  vicious  and  equally  irreverent, 
were  gradually  bringing  even  the  primary  in 
tention  of  Religious  Art  into  disrepute.  For, 
surely,  if  Church  Music  be  not  so  conceived  as 
to  assist  in  producing  devotional  feeling,  it  must 
be  something  very  much  worse  than  worthless : 
and,  to  suppose  that  any  feeling,  other  than 
that  of  hopeless  bewilderment,  could  possibly 
be  produced  by  a  Mass,  or  Motet,  exhibiting  a 
laboured  Canon,  worked  out,  upon  a  long-drawn 
Canto  fer mo,  by  four  or  more  Voices,  all  singing 
different  sets  of  words  entirely  unconnected 
with  each  other,  would  be  simply  absurd.  The 
Council  of  Trent,  dreading  the  scandal  which 
such  a  style  of  Music  must  necessarily  introduce 
into  the  public  Services  of  the  Church,  decided 
that  it  would  be  desirable  to  interdict  the  use  of 
Polyphony  altogether,  rather  than  suffer  the  abuse 
to  continue.  And  the  prohibition  would  actually 
have  been  carried  into  effect,  had  not  Palestrina 
saved  the  Art  he  practised,  by  showing,  in  the 
'  Missa  Papse  Marcelli/how  learning  as  profound 
as  that  of  Okenheim  or  Josquin,  might  be  com 
bined  with  a  greater  amount  of  devotional  feeling 
than  had  ever  before  been  expressed  by  a  Choir 
of  human  Voices.  It  was  this  great  Mass  which 
inaugurated  the  later  Roman  School ;  and  the 
year  1565,  in  which  it  was  produced,  has  always 
been  regarded  as  marking  a  most  important 
crisis  in  the  history  of  Art,  a  crisis  which  it 
behoves  us  to  consider  very  carefully,  since  its 
nature  has  generally  been  discussed,  either  so 
superficially  as  to  give  the  enquiring  student  no 
idea  whatever  of  its  distinctive  character,  or  with 
blind  adherence  to  a  foregone  conclusion  equally 
fatal  to  the  just  appreciation  of  its  import. 

A  century  ago,  the  genius  of  Palestrina  was 
very  imperfectly  understood.  The  spirit  of  the 
cinquecentisti  no  longer  animated  even  the  best 
Composers  for  the  Church  ;  and  modern  criticism 
had  not,  as  yet,  made  any  attempt  to  bring  itself 
en  rapport  with  it.  Hawkins,  less  trustworthy 
as  a  critic  than  as  an  historian,  tells  us,  that  the 
great  Composer  '  formed  a  style,  so  simple,  so 
pathetic,  and  withal  so  truly  sublime,  that  his 
Compositions  for  the  Church  are  even  at  this  day 
looked  upon  as  the  models  of  harmonical  perfec 
tion.1  It  is  quite  true  that  his  style  is  'truly 
sublime/  and,  where  deep  feeling  is  needed,  un 
utterably  '  pathetic' :  but,  though  it  may  appear 
'  simple  '  to  the  uninitiated,  it  is  really  so  learned 
and  ingenious  that  it  needs  a  highly  accom 
plished  contrapuntist  to  unravel  its  complications. 
Burney,  though  generally  no  less  remarkable  for 
the  fairness  of  his  criticism,  than  for  the  inde 
fatigable  perseverance  with  which  he  collected 
the  evidence  whereon  it  rests,  tells  us,  in  like 
manner,  that  the  '  Missa  Papse  Marcelli '  is  '  the 
most  simple  of  all  Palestrina's  works':  yet,  a 
glance  at  the  Score  will  suffice  to  show  that 
much  of  it  is  written  in  Real  Fugue,  and  close 
Imitation,  of  so  complex  a  texture  as  to  approach 
the  character  of  Canon.2  Not  very  long  ago,  this 

2  Amhros  (ii.  xv)  goes  so  far  as  to  say  that  'the  Basses  in  the 
"Kyrie"  are  carried  on  in  Canon  all'  unisono.'    They  do,  indeed. 


264      SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

wonderful  Mass  was  supposed  to  possess  certain 
constructive  peculiarities  which  not  only  marked 
it  out  as  the  greatest  piece  of  Church  Music  that 
ever  was  conceived — as  it  undoubtedly  is — but 
which  also  interposed,   between  Music  written 
before,  and  that  produced  after  it,  a  gulf  as  un 
fathomable  as  that  which  separates  the  Polyphony 
of  the   1 6th  century  from  the  Monodia  of  the 
1 7th.     No  idea  can  possibly  be  more  fallacious. 
The  true  Ecclesiastical  Style,  as  determined  by 
the  'Missa  Papse  Marcelli,'  differs  from  that  which 
preceded  it,  not  in  its  technical,  but  in  its  aesthetic 
character.    In  so  far  as  its  external  mechanism  is 
concerned,  it  exhibits  no  contrivances  which  were 
not  already  well  known  to  Okenheim,  Josquin 
des  Pre"s,  Goudimel,  and  a  hundred  other  writers 
of  inferior  reputation.    It  was  not  for  the  sake 
of  its  faultless  symmetry,  that  it  was  selected 
as  the  model  of  Ecclesiastical  purity.     Ambros, 
indeed,  denies  that  it  ever  served  as  a  model  at 
all;  that  it  effected  any  reform  whatever  in  the 
style  of  Ecclesiastical  Music ;  or  even  that  any 
such  reform  was  needed,  at  the  time  of  its  pro 
duction.     This  position,  however,  is  untenable. 
The  opinion  of  a  critic  so  learned,  so  talented, 
and,  generally,  so  unprejudiced  as  Ambros,  must 
not  be  lightly  contravened :    but,  it  is  certain 
that  the  Council  of  Trent  did  not  exaggerate  the 
necessity  for  a  reform,  immediate,  stern,  and  un 
compromising  ;  and,  equally  so,  that  that  reform 
was  effected  by  means  of  this  Mass  alone.    What, 
then,  was  the  secret  of  this  wondrous  revolution  ? 
It  lay  in  the  subjugation  of  Art  to  the  service 
of  Nature,  of  learning  to  effect,   of  ingenuity 
to   the    laws    of   beauty.     Palestrina  was   the 
first  great  genius  who  so  concealed  his  learn 
ing  as  to  cause  it  to  be  absolutely  overlooked 
in    the    beauty   of  the  resulting   effect.     If  it 
was    given    to     Okenheim    to    unite    the    dry 
bones  of  Counterpoint  into  a  wondrously  articu 
lated  skeleton,  and  to  Josquin  to  clothe  that 
skeleton  with  flesh ;  to  Palestrina  was  committed 
the  infinitely  higher  privilege  of  endowing  the 
perfect  form  with  the  spirit  which  enabled  it, 
not  only  to  live,  but  to  give  thanks  to  God  in 
strains  such  as  Polyphony  had  never  before  ima 
gined.     It  was  not  the  beauty  of  its  construc 
tion,  but  the  presence  of  the  SOUL  within  it, 
that   rendered   his  Music   immortal.      He  was 
as  much  a  master  of  contrivance  as  the  most 
accomplished    of  his    predecessors ;    but   while 
they  loved  their  clever   devices  for  their  own 
sake,  he  only  cared  for  them  in  so  far  as  they 
served  as  means  for  the  attainment  of  something 
better.  And,  though  his  one  great  object  in  intro 
ducing  this  new  feature  as  the  basis  of  his  School 
was  the  regeneration  of  Church  Music,  it  was 
impossible  that  his  work  should  rest  there.     In 
establishing  the  principle  that  Art  could  only  be 
rightly  used  as  the  handmaid  of  Nature,  he  not 
only  provided  that  the  Mass  and  the  Motet  should 
be  devotional ;  but,  also,  that  the  Chanson  and 

move  in  very  close  Imitation,  answering,  in  many  places.  Interval  for 
Interval,  with  the  most  perfect  exactness :  but,  as  this  exactness  is 
aot  carried  out  continuously,  the  passage  cannot  fairly  be  called  a 
Canon. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

the  Madrigal  should  be  sad,  or  playful,  in  ac 
cordance  with  the   sentiment   of  the  verses  to 
which  they  were  adapted.     His  reform,  there 
fore,  though  first  exemplified  in  the  most  perfect 
of  Masses,  extended  afterwards  to  every  branch 
of  Art.     The   Canzonetta  felt  it  as  deeply  as 
the  Offertorium ;   the  Frottola,   as  certainly  as 
the  Faux-bourdon.     Henceforth,  Imitation  and 
Canon,  and  the  endless  devices  of  which  they 
form  the  groundwork,  were  estimated  at  their 
true  value.     They  were  cultivated  as  precious 
means,  for  the  attainment  of  a  still  more  precious 
end.     And,  the  new  life  thus  infused  into  the 
Art  of  Counterpoint,   in   Italy,  extended,  in  a 
wonderfully  short  space  of  time,  to  every  con 
temporary   centre   of  development  in  Europe  ; 
though  the  great  Roman  School  monopolised,  to 
the  last,  the  one  strong  characteristic  which,  more 
than  any  other,  separates  it  from  all  the  rest — 
the  absolute  perfection  of  that  ars  artem  celandi 
which  is  justly  regarded  as  the  most  difficult  of 
all  arts.     In  this,  Palestrina  excelled,  not  only 
all  his  predecessors  and  contemporaries,  without 
exception,  but  all  the  Polyphonic  Composers  who 
have  ever  lived.    Nor  has  he  ever  been  rivalled  in 
the  perfect  equality  of  his  Polyphony.    Whatever 
may  be  the  number  of  Parts  in  which  he  writes, 
none  ever  claims  precedence  of  another.    Neither 
is  any  Voice  ever  permitted  to  introduce  itself 
without   having    something    important    to   say. 
There  is  no  such  thing  as  a  'filling  up  of  the 
Harmony '  to  be  found  in  any  one  of  his  Com 
positions.     The  Harmony  is  produced  by  the  in 
terweaving  of  the  separate  Subjects  ;  and  when, 
astonished    by   the    unexpected   effect  of  some 
strangely  beautiful  Chord,  we  stop  to  examine 
its  structure,  we  invariably  find  it  to  be  no  more 
than  the  natural  consequence  of  some  little  Point 
of  Imitation,  or  the  working  out  of  some  melodious 
Response,  which  fell  into  the  delicious  combina 
tion  of  its  own  accord.     In  no  other  Master  is 
this  peculiarity  so  strikingly  noticeable.     It  is 
no  uncommon  thing  for  a  great  Composer  to  de 
light  us  with  a  lovely  point  of  repose.    The  later 
Flemish  Composers  do  this  continually.    But  they 
always  put  the  Chord  into  its  place,  on  purpose; 
whereas  Palestrina's  loveliest  Harmonies  come  of 
themselves,  while  he  is  quietly  fitting  his  Sub 
jects  together,  without,  so  far  as  the  most  careful 
criticism  can  ascertain,  a  thought  beyond  the 
melodic  involutions  of  his  vocal  phrases.    How 
far  the  Harmonies  form  a  preconceived  element 
in  those  involutions  is  a  question  too  deep  for 
consideration  here. 

The  features  to  which  we  have  drawn  atten 
tion,  as  most  strongly  characteristic  of  Pale 
strina's  peculiar  style,  were  imitated,  without 
reserve,  by  the  greatest  Composers  of  his  School ; 
and  though,  in  no  case,  does  the  Scholar  ever 
approach  the  perfection  reached  by  the  Master, 
we  find  the  same  high  qualities  pervading  the 
works  of  Vittoria,  Giovanni  Maria  and  Berna- 
dino  Nanini,  Felice  and  Francesco  Anerio,  Luca 
Marenzio,  and  all  the  best  writers  of  the  period. 
The  School  continued,  in  full  prosperity,  until 
he  closing  years  of  the  i6th  century;  and  its 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

traditions  were  gratefully  followed,  even  late  into 
the  1 7th, by  a  few  loyal  disciples,  whose  line  closed 
with  Gregorio  Allegri,  in  1652.  These,  however, 
were  but  the  last  devoted  lovers  of  an  Art  which 
ceased  to  live  within  a  very  few  years  after  the 
death  of  the  gifted  writer  who  brought  it  to  per 
fection.  With  the  age  of  Palestrina,  the  reign 
of  true  Polyphony  came  to  an  end.  But  it 
took  firm  root,  and  bore  abundant  fruit,  during 
his  lifetime,  in  many  distant  countries  ;  and  the 
Schools  in  which  it  was  most  successfully  culti 
vated  were  those  which  most  carefully  carried 
out  the  principle  of  his  great  reform. 

VII.  The  Flemish  descent  of  THE  VENETIAN 
SCHOOL  is  even  more  clearly  traceable  than  that 
of  its  Roman  sister;   notwithstanding  the  well- 
known  fact  that  Italian  Musicians  were  employed 
in  the  service  of  the  Republic,  long  before  the 
time  of  Dufay.     For,  though  the  Archives   of 
S.  Mark's  prove  the  existence  of  a  long  line  of 
Organists,  stretching  back  as  far  as   the  year 
1318,  when  the  office  was  held  by  a  Venetian, 
described  as  Mistro  Zuchetto,1  we  meet  with  no 
sign  of  the  formation  of  a  School,  before   the 
third  decad  of  the  i6th  century,  by  which  time 
the  Art  of  the  Low  Countries  had  made  its  mark 
in   every  city  in   Europe.     This   circumstance, 
however,  reflects  no  discredit  upon  the  earlier 
virtuosi,  whose  extempore  performances  upon  the 
Organ,  though  famous  enough  in  their  day,  left,  of 
course,  no  permanent  record  behind  them.   Even 
the  first  Maestro  di  Cappella,  Pietro  de  Fossis — a 
Netherlander,  of  high  reputation,  who  was  pre 
sented  with  the  appointment,  together  with  that 
of  Master  of  the  Choristers,  in  1491 — seems  to 
have  been  less  celebrated  as  a  Composer,  than 
as  a  Singer.     At  any  rate,  since  no  trace  of  his 
productions  can  now  be  discovered,  either  printed 
or  in  MS.,  the  title  of  the  Founder  of  the  School 
justly  devolves  upon  his  successor,  Adriano  Wil- 
laert,  than  whom  a  stronger  leader  could  scarcely 
have  been  found.     Born,  at  Bruges,  in  I48o,2 
and  received  as  a  pupil,  first,  by  Okenheim,  and 
afterwards,  in  Paris,  by  Josquin  des  Pre"s — or,  as 
some  imagine,  by  Mouton — this  great  represen 
tative  of  Flemish  genius  succeeded  De  Fossis,  as 
Maestro  di  Cappella,  in  1527,  and,  during  thirty- 
five  years  of  unwearied  industry,  enriched  the 
Library  of  S.Mark's  with  a  magnificent  repertoire 
of  Masses,  Motets,  Psalms,  Canticles,  and  other 
Ecclesiastical  Music,  besides  delighting  the  world 
with    innumerable    Madrigals,   Canzonets,   and 
other  saecular  pieces,  among  which  his  '  Villanellse 
Neapolitanae,'    a   4,    stand    almost    unequalled 
for  prettiness  and  freedom.     His  style  presents 
all  the  best  characteristics  of  the  Later  Flemish 
School,  tempered  by  a  rich  warmth  which  was 
doubtless  induced  by  his  long  residence  in  the 
most  romantic  city  in  the  world.    Unfortunate^, 
though  many  volumes  of  his  works  were  pub 
lished  during  his   lifetime,  but  few  have  been 
reproduced  in  modern  Notation.     A  Motet,  a  4, 

i  One  of  Mistro  ( =Magister)  Zuchetto's  successors,  Bernardo  di 
Stefanino  Murer,  who  held  the  appointment  from  1445  to  1459,  is 
accredited  with  the  invention  of  the  Pedal-board.  (See  Caffi,  j.  62.) 
Ambros  calls  him  Bernhard  der  Deutsche,  and  gives  1470  as  the  date 
of  his  discovery  (iil.  433).  2  Or,  according  to  Ambros,  in  1490. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION.      265 

will,  however,  be   found   at  p.  474,  vol.  ii.  of 
Hawkins's  History.    [See  WILLAERT.] 

Willaert's  successors  in  office  were,  Cipriano 
di  Rore,  who  held  the  appointment  from  1563 
to  1565;  Zarlino,  (1565-1590);  Baldassare 
Donati,  (1590-1603),  and  the  last  great  Master 
of  the  School,  Giovanni  dalla  Croce,  who  was 
unanimously  elected  in  1603,  and  died,  after 
five  years  service,  in  1609.  These  accomplished 
Musicians,  together  with  Andrea  Gabrieli,  who 
played  the  second  Organ  from  1566  to  1586, 
and  his  nephew,  Giovanni,  who  presided  over 
the  first  from  1585  to  1612,  proved  themselves 
faithful  disciples  of  their  venerable  leader,  culti 
vating,  to  the  last,  a  style  which  combined  the  rich 
Harmony  of  the  Netherlands  with  not  a  little  of 
the  melodic  independence  which  we  have  de 
scribed  as  peculiarly  characteristic  of  the  best 
Roman  period.  Upon  this  was  engrafted,  in  the 
finest  examples,  a  certain  tenderness  of  manner, 
in  which  Croce,  especially,  has  scarcely  ever 
been  surpassed.  Still,  it  is  always  evident  that 
the  harmonious  effect  is  the  result  of  the  Com 
poser's  primary  intention,  and  not,  as  in  the 
greatest  works  of  the  Roman  School,  of  the  inter 
weaving  of  still  more  important  melodic  elements ; 
a  feature  which  is  well  illustrated  by  comparing 
the  extract  from  the  'Missa  Papae  Marcelli,'  given 
at  vol.  ii.  page  230,  with  the  following  fragment 
from  Andrea  Gabrieli's  '  Missa  Brevis.' 


f\  y  (                                    -  *  *  J 

^2   *  *  ,^!\ 

-z£—&  J*f  J~J 

t^           -<^-    {^^  -/^?- 
Pa  -  trem  om  •  nl  •  po  •  ten   •   • 

J     1       !  J 

-p  1     1  I  1  J 

tern,  factorem  coa  - 

_,  ^  UJ 

&  —  0  f}.     ^  <S.  ^  

i  1  •  —  (^  P*-i 

-&—&-^  H 

n  \s              \^             C-^    S~D     ^^ 

t  ~-     ~ 

^      '     .   _      j 

i    i 
J 

1 

i  -  —  -  1 

"\ 

-  1*3  •  -  r      —•>    (^       \ 

\   ^>  : 

~  f~"    i        _j  ^  ~  * 

*    *    «r                 "^ 

22Z32         '       \^>          ^    ^         P 

m  m   »-  —  ,    (£i  —  i- 

-(S>-  ---   1    ^--l 
11      et    ter   -  -  -  rae.f 

~s     1                                                     III 
^,-  -£2-   O-             ..-3.          <Zs   ^^""^J 

(((  r  (^ 

etc. 

J  !  1     1     1 

*—  *_*       ^=3       «""7  -"-— 

E£ 

r       r 

1     r  ..  r: 

VIII.  THE  EARLY  FLORENTINE  SCHOOL, 
though  far  less  important  than  that  of  Venice, 
is  not  destitute  of  special  interest.  A  gorgeous 
MS.,  once  the  property  of  Giuliano  de'  Medici, 
and  still  in  excellent  preservation,  contains  Com 
positions  by  no  less  than  seven  Florentine  Musi 
cians  of  the  i4th  century.  Many  works  of 
antient  date  are  also  extant,  in  the  collections  of 
Petrucci,  and  other  early  printers.  The  beauties 
of  these  are,  however,  entirely  forgotten,  in  those 
of  the  more  celebrated  School,  founded  by  Fran 
cesco  Corteccia,  who,  in  the  earlier  half  of  the 
1 6th  century  wrote  some  excellent  Church  Music, 
and  a  number  of  beautiful  Madrigals,  the  style 
of  which  differs,  very  materially,  from  that  cul 
tivated  in  other  parts  of  Italy,  assimilating, 
indeed,  far  less  closely  to  the  character  of  the 
true  Madrigal,  than  to  that  of  the  Frottola — a 
lighter  kind  of  composition,  more  nearly  allied 


266      SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

to  the  Villanella,  or  Fa  la.  On  the  occasion  of 
the  marriage  of  Cosmo  I.  de'  Medici  with  Leonora 
of  Toledo,  in  1539,  Corteccia,  in  conjunction  with 
Matteo  Rampollini,  Pietro  Masaconi,  Baccio 
Moschini,  and  the  Roman  Composer,  Costanzo 
Festa,  wrote  the  Music  for  an  entertainment 
consisting  almost  entirely  of  Madrigals,  inter 
mixed  with  a  few  Instrumental  pieces,  the  whole 
of  which  were  printed  at  Venice,  by  Antonio 
Gardane.  A  similar  performance  graced  the 
marriage  of  Francesco  de'  Medici  with  Bianca 
Capello,  in  1579,  on  which  occasion  Palestrina 
contributed  his  Madrigal  'O  felica  ore.'  For  such 
festivities  as  these,  the  Florentines  were  always 
ready ;  but  their  greatest  triumph  was  reserved 
for  a  later  period,  which  must  be  discussed  in 
the  second  division  of  our  subject. 

IX.  THE  SCHOOLS  or  LOMBARDY  were  always 
very  closely  allied  to  those  of  Venice  :  indeed, 
the  geographical  relations  of  the  two  Provinces 
favoured  an  interchange  of  Masters  which  could 
scarcely  fail  to  produce  a  close  similarity,  if  not 
identity  of  style.     Costanzo  Porta,  the  greatest 
of  Lombard  Masters,  though  a  native   of  Cre 
mona,  spent  the  most  productive  portion  of  his 
life   at    Padua.     Orazio  Vecchi   wrote   most  of 
his  best  works  at  Moilena.     Apart  from  these, 
the  best  writers   of  the  School  were  Ludovico 
Balbo  (Porta's  greatest  pupil),  Giac.  Ant.  Pic- 
cioli,   Giuseppe    Caiino,   Giuseppe    Biffi,    Paolo 
Cima,  Pietro   Pontio,  and,  lastly,  Giangiacomo 
Gastoldi,  who  brought  the  Fa  la,  the  Frottola, 
and  the  'Balletto,  to  a  degree  of  perfection  which 
has  rarely,  if  ever,  been  equalled.    The  Lombard 
School  also  claims  as  its  own  the  famous  Theo 
rist,  Franchinus  Gafurius,  who  wrote  most  of  his 
more   important   works   at   Milan,  though   the 
earliest  known  edition  of  his  earliest  production 
appeared  at  Naples,  in  1480. 

X.  To    THE    NEAPOLITAN    SCHOOL    belongs 
another  Theorist  of  distinction,  Joannes  Tinctoris, 
the  compiler  of  the  first  Musical  Dictionary  on 
record.1     Naples  also  claims  a  high  place,  among 
her  best  Composers,  for  Fabricio  Dentice,  who 
lived  so  long  in  Rome,  that  he  is  usually  classed 
among  the  Roman  Masters,  though  he  was  un 
doubtedly,  by  birth,  a  Neapolitan,  and  a  bright 
ornament   of  the  School ;    as  were   also  Giov. 
Leon,  Primavera,  Luggasco  Luggaschi,  and  other 
accomplished  Madrigalists,  whose  lighter  works 
take  rank   with  the  best  Balletti  and  Frottole 
of  Milan  and  Florence. 

XI.  THE  SCHOOL  OP  BOLOGNA  exhibits  so  few 
characteristics  of  special  interest,  that  we  may 
safely  dismiss  it,  with  those  of  other  Italian  cities 
of  less  importance,  from   our  present  enquiry, 
and  proceed  to  study  the  progress  of  Polyphony 
in  other  countries. 

XII.  The  Founder  of  THE  GERMAN  POLY 
PHONIC  SCHOOL  was  Adam  de  Fulda,  born  about 
1460;   a  learned  Monk,  more  celebrated  as   a 
writer  on  subjects  associated  with  Music,  than 
as  a  Composer,  though  his  Motet,  '  O  vera  lux 

1  Joan.  Tinctoris  'Terminorum  Musicae  diffinitorium.'  No  date. 
Only  a  very  few  copies  are  believed  to  be  in  existence  :  but  a  cheap 
reprint  may  be  had  of  Messrs.  Cocks  &  Co.,  New  Burlington  Street. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

et  gloria,'  printed  by  Glareanus,  shows  that  his 
knowledge  of  Counterpoint  was  not  confined  to 
its  theoretical  side.     This  remarkable  Composi 
tion,  like  the  more  numerous  works  of  Heinrich 
Finck   (a    contemporary   writer,   of  great    and 
varied  talent),  Thomas  Stolzer,  Hermann  Finck 
(a  nephew  of  Heinrich),  Heinrich  Isaak,  Ludvrig 
Senfl,  and  others  long  forgotten  even  by  their  own 
countrymen,  bears  so  close  an  analogy  to  the 
style  cultivated  in  the  Netherlands,  that  it  is  im 
possible  to  imagine  the  German  Masters  obtaining 
their  knowledge  from  any  other  source  than  that 
provided  by  their  Flemish  neighbours.    Isaak — 
born  about  1440 — was  one  of  the  most  learned 
Contrapuntists  of  the  period,  and,  in  all  essential 
particulars,  a  follower  of  the  Flemish  School; 
though  his  talent  as  a  Melodist  was  altogether 
exceptional.     It  seems  quite  certain  that  he  was 
the  Composer  of  the  grand  old  Tune,  '  Inspruck, 
ich   muss   Dich    lassen,'   afterwards   known  as 
'  Nun  ruhen  alle  Walder/and  '  0  Welt,  ich  muss 
Dich  lassen,'  and  treated  over  and  over  again  by 
Sebastian  Bach,  in  his  Cantatas.2     And  this  cir 
cumstance  introduces  us  to  an  entirely  new  and 
original  feature  in  the  German  School.    The  pro 
gress  of  the  Reformation  undoubtedly  retarded  the 
development  of  the  higher  branches  of  Polyphony 
very  seriously.    With  the  discontinuance  of  the 
Mass,  the  demand  for  ingenuity  of  construction 
came  to  an  end ;   or  was,  at  best,  confined  to  the 
Seecular  Chanson.     But,  at  the  same  time,  there 
arose  a  pressing  necessity  for  that  advanced  form 
of  the  Faux-bourdon  which  so  soon  developed 
itself  into  the  Four-part  Choral ;   and,  in  this, 
the  German  Composers  distinguished  themselves, 
if  not  above  all  others,  at  least  as  the  equals  of 
the  best  contemporary  writers — witness  the  long 
list  of  Choral  books,  from  the  time  of  Walther 
to  the  close  of  the  i7th  century.     We  all  know 
to  what  splendid  results  this  new  phase  of  Art 
eventually  led ;  but,  for  the  time  being,  it  acted 
only  as  a  hindrance  to  healthful  progress;  and, 
notwithstanding    the    good   work  wrought   by 
Nicholas  Paminger,  the  last  great  Master  of  the 
School,  who  died  at  Passau  in  1608,  it  would, 
in  all  probability,  have  produced  a  condition  of 
absolute  stagnation,  but  for  an  unforeseen  in 
fusion  of  new  life  from  Italy. 

XIII.  THE  SCHOOLS  OF  MUNICH  AND 
NUREMBERG  must  be  regarded,  not  as  later  de 
velopments  of  Teutonic  Art,  but  as  foreign  im 
portations,  to  which  Germany  was  indebted  for  ^ 
an  impulse  which  afterwards  proved  of  infinite 
service  to  her.  They  were  founded,  respectively, 
by  Orlando  di  Lasso,  and  Hans  Leo  Hasler ;  the 
first  a  Netherlander,  and  the  last  a  true  Ger 
man.  Of  Orlando  di  Lasso,  so  much  has  al 
ready  been  recorded,  in  our  second  volume,  that 
it  is  unnecessary  to  dilate  upon  his  history  here. 
Suffice  it  then  to  say,  that,  thanks  to  his  long 
residence  in  Italy,  his  style  united  all  the  best 
qualities  of  the  Flemish  and  the  Italian  Schools, 
and  enabled  him  to  set  an  example,  at  Munich, 
which  the  Germans  were  neither  too  cold  to 
appreciate,  nor  too  proud  to  turn  to  their  own 

2  See  vol.  i.  p.  7016. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

advantage.  Hasler  was  born,  at  Nuremberg,  in 
1564;  but  learned  his  Art  in  Venice,  under 
Andrea  Gabrieli,  whose  nephew,  Giovanni,  was 
his  fellow  pupil,  and  most  intimate  friend.  So 
thoroughly  did  he  imbibe  the  principles  and  man 
ner  of  the  School  in  which  he  studied,  that  the 
Venetians  themselves  considered  him  as  one  of 
their  own  fraternity,  Italianising  his  name  into 
Gianleone.  His  works  possess  all  the  rich  Har 
mony  for  which  Gabrieli  himself  is  so  justly 
famous,  and  all  the  Southern  softness  which  the 
Venetian  Composers  so  sedulously  cultivated;  and 
are,  moreover,  filled  with  evidences  of  consum 
mate  contrapuntal  skill,  as  are  also  those  of  his 
countrymen,  Jakob  Handl  (  =  Jacobus  Gallus), 
Adam  Gumpeltzheimer,  Gregor  Aichinger,  and 
many  others,  who,  catching  the  style  from  him, 
spread  it  abroad  throughout  the  whole  of  Ger 
many.1  Of  its  immediate  effect  upon  the  native 
Schools,  we  can  scarcely  speak  in  more  glowing 
terms  than  those  used  by  the  German  historians 
themselves.  Of  its  influence  upon  the  future  we 
shall  have  more  to  say  hereafter. 

XIV.  The  history  of  THE  EARLY  FRENCH 
SCHOOL  is  so  closely  bound  up  with  that  of  its 
Flemish  sister,  that  it  is  no  easy  task  to  separate 
the  two.  Indeed,  it  is  sometimes  impossible  to 
ascertain  whether  a  Composer,  with  a  French - 
sounding  name,  was  a  true  Frenchman,  a  true 
Netherlander,  or  a  native  of  French  Flanders. 
Not  only  is  this  the  case  with  the  numerous 
writers  whose  works  are  included  in  the  collec 
tions  published  by  Pierre  Attaignant,  Adrian  le 
Koy,  and  Ballard ;  but  there  is  a  doubt  even 
about  the  birth  of  Jean  Mouton,  who  is  de 
scribed  by  Glareanus  as  a  Frenchman,  and  by 
other  writers  as  a  Fleming.  The  doubt,  how 
ever,  involves  no  critical  confusion,  since  the 
styles  of  the  two  Schools  were  precisely  the 
same.  Both  Josquin  des  Prds  and  Mouton 
spent  some  of  the  most  valuable  years  of  their 
lives  in  Paris  ;  and  taught  their  Art  to  French 
men  and  Netherlanders  without  distinction. 
Pierre  Carton,  Clement  Jannequin,  Noe  Faignient, 
Eustache  du  Caurroy,  and  other  Masters  of  the 
i6th  century,  struck  out  no  new  line  for  them 
selves  :  while  Elziario  Genet  (II  Carpentrasso), 
the  greatest  of  all,  might  easily  pass  for  a  born 
Netherlander.  A  certain  amount  of  originality 
was,  however,  shown  by  a  few  clever  Composers 
who  attached  themselves  to  the  party  of  the 
Huguenots,  and  set  the  Psalms  of  Clement  Marot 
and  Beza  to  Music,  for  the  use  of  the  Calvinists, 
as  Walther  and  his  followers  had  already  set 
Hymns  for  the  Lutherans.  The  number  of 
these  writers  was  so  small,  that  they  cannot  lay 
claim  to  be  classed  as  a  national  School ;  but, 
few  though  they  were,  they  carried  out  their 
work  in  a  thoroughly  artistic  spirit.  The  Psalms 
of  Claudin  Lejeune — of  which  an  example  will  be 
found  in  vol.  i.  p.  762 — are  no  trifles,  carelessly 
thrown  off,  to  serve  the  purpose  of  the  moment ; 
but  finished  works  of  Art,  betraying  the  hand  of 

1  A  comprehensive  selection  of  works  of  this  School  will  be  found 
In  Bodenschatz's  •  Florile-iium  Portense,'  and  a  few  flue  examples 
In  Proske's '  Musica  Divlna/  [See  vol.  i.  253 ;  vol.  11. 411.] 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION.       267 

the  Master  in  every  note.  Some  of  the  same 
Psalms  were  also  set  by  Claude  Goudimel,  but 
in  a  very  different  style.  The  Calvinists  de 
lighted  in  singing  their  Metrical  Psalmody  to 
the  simplest  Melodies  they  could  find ;  yet  these 
are  veritable  Motets,  exhibiting  so  little  sym 
pathy  with  Huguenot  custom,  that,  if  it  be  true, 
as  tradition  asserts,  that  their  author  perished, 
at  Lyons,  on  S.  Bartholomew's  Day,  1572,  one 
is  driven  to  the  conclusion  that  he  must  have 
been  killed,  like  many  a  zealous  Catholic,  by  mis 
adventure.  He  was  one  of  the  greatest  Composers 
the  French  School  ever  produced,  and  excelled 
by  very  few  in  the  rest  of  Europe.  Scarcely 
inferior,  in  technical  skill,  to  Okenheim  and  Jos- 
quin,  he  was  infinitely  their  superior  in  fervour 
of  expression,  and  depth  of  feeling.  His  claim 
to  the  honour  of  having  instructed  Palestrina  has 
already  been  discussed  elsewhere.  Considered  in 
connection  with  that  claim,  the  following  speci 
men  of  his  style,  printed,  at  Antwerp,  by  Tylman 
Susato,  in  1554,  is  especially  interesting.  [See 
vol.  i.  p.  612  ;  vol.  ii.  p.  635.] 


1  A   r>    i 

T 

"I 

.     —  -J— 

i(u       *• 

1       <*3    .    f3 

ez            •  i  - 

1     •  j 

22±I22ld 

vy      2 

-<=J 

_  —  1 

~      c^     c*>         c^      c? 

& 

Dom  -  i    •     ne,  quid  muT-   ti  -  pll  - 

ca   -    ti 

*  "%• 

| 

1 

• 

i 

2~i  —  ( 

-I 

—  1  — 

a    >j 

i 

-      e-^  —  **)— 

\    *y    &    <d 

t*^J            f^S       •         ~. 

^_                               _-Q    £*>    &                            r 
\^  ^->  ~^~           '(^  ~\~                  -&-  '       1 

/*^?         /^5        *t5 

n 


-£2_ 


*± 


'-^                                    •—  •* 

=2     ^f~\     0 

A    _ 

^J                           f^j                    ^S 

i        If     A                               A 

FIJI 

d  —  ^  —  i 

•»-                   '* 
etc. 

J  J  _ 

XV.  The  Eoman  origin  of  THE  SPANISH 
SCHOOL  is  so  clearly  manifest,  that  it  is  un 
necessary  to  say  more  on  the  subject  than  has 
been  already  said  at  page  263.  After  the  re 
turn  of  the  Papal  Court  from  Avignon,  in  1377, 
Spanish  Singers  with  good  Voices  were  always 
sure  of  a  warm  welcome  in  Rome  ;  learned 
Counterpoint,  in  the  Eternal  City,  first,  from 
the  Flemings  there  domiciled,  and  afterwards, 
from  the  Romans  themselves  ;  practised  their 
Art  with  honour  in  the  Sistine  Chapel;  and, 
not  unfrequently,  carried  it  back  with  them  to 


268      SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

Spain.  So  completely  are  the  Spaniards  identi 
fied  with  the  Romans,  that  the  former  are  neces 
sarily  described  as  disciples  of  the  School  of 
Festa,  or  that  of  Palestrina,  as  the  case  may  be. 
To  the  former  class  belong  Bartolomeo  Escobedo, 
Francesco  Salinas,  Juan  Scribano,  Cristofano 
Morales,  Francesco  Guerrero,  and  Didaco  Ortiz  : 
the  greatest  genius  of  the  latter  was  Ludovico 
da  Vittoria,  who  approached  more  nearly  to  Pa 
lestrina  himself  than  any  other  Composer,  of  any 
age  or  country.  Many  of  these  great  writers — 
including  Vittoria— ended  their  days  in  Spain, 
after  long  service  in  the  Churches  of  Rome  :  and 
thus  it  came  to  pass  that  the  Roman  style  of 
Composition  was  cultivated,  in  both  countries, 
with  equal  zeal,  and  almost  equal  success.1 

XVI.  Our  rapid  sketch  of  the  progress  of 
Polyphony  on  the  Continent  will  serve  materially 
to  simplify  a  similar  account  of  its  development 
in  England,  in  which  country  it  was  practised, 
as  we  have  already  promised  to  show,  at  an 
earlier  period  than  even  in  the  Netherlands. 

A  hundred  years  ago,  when  few  attempts  had 
been  made  to  arrange  the  general  History  of  Music 
in  a  systematic  form,  attention  was  drawn  to  the 
curious  'Rota' — or,  as  we  should  now  call  it, 
Canon — '  Sumer  is  icumen  in/  contained  in  vol. 
978  of  the  Harleian  MSS.  Burney  estimated 
the  date  of  this,  in  rough  terms,  as  probably 
not  much  later  than  the  I3th  or  I4th  cen 
tury.  His  opinion,  however,  was  a  mere  guess  ; 
while  that  of  Hawkins  was  so  vague  that  it  may 
safely  be  dismissed  as  valueless.  Ritson,  whose 
authority  cannot  be  lightly  set  aside,  believed 
the  document — now  known  as  '  The  Reading 
MS. ' — to  be  at  least  as  old  as  the  middle  of 
the  I3th  century;  and  accused  both  Burney, 
and  Hawkins,  of  having  intentionally  left  the 
question  in  doubt,  from  want  of  the  courage 
necessary  for  the  expression  of  a  positive  opinion. 
Chappell  gives  the  same  date  ;  and  complains 
bitterly  of  Burney's  tergiversation.  The  late 
Sir  Frederick  Madden  was  of  opinion  that  that 
portion  of  the  MS.  which  contains  the  'Rota' 
was  written  about  the  year  1240,  and  has  left 
some  notes,  to  that  effect,  on  the  fly-leaf  of  the 
volume.2  Ambros,  in  the  second  volume  of  his 
'Geschichte  der  Musik,'  published  in  1862,  re 
ferred  the  MS.  to  the  middle  of  the  1 5th 
century,  thus  making  it  exactly  synchronous 
with  the  Second  Flemish  School.  Meanwhile, 
Coussemaker,3  aided  by  new  light  thrown  upon 
the  subject  from  other  sources,  arrived  at  the 
conclusion  that  the  disputed  page  could  not  have 
been  written  later  than  the  year  1226 ;  and  that 
the  '  Rota '  was  certainly  composed,  by  a  Monk 
of  Reading,  some  time  before  that  date  :  and 
this  position  he  defended  so  valiantly,  that 

1  A  large  collection  of  the  Music  of  the  Spanish  School  will  be 
found  in  Eslava's  'Liro  sacro-hispana.'    [See  vol.  i.  494.] 

2  We  think  it  desirable,  in  so  hotly-disputed  a  case,  to  give  Sir 
Frederick  Madden's  remarks,  verbatim.    He  first  says—'  The  whole  is 
of  the  thirteenth  century,  except  some  writing  on  ff.  15-17.— F.  M.' 
And,  again— ' In  all  probability,  the  earlier  portion  of  this  volume 
was  written  in  the  Abbey  of  Reading  about  the  year  1210.    Compare 
the  Obits  in  the  Calendars  with  those  in  the  Calendar  of  the  Cartulary 
of  Beading  in  the  MS.  Cott.  Vesp.  B.  V.— F.  M.  April  1862.' 

a  'L'Art  Harmonique  aux  xii  et  xiii  siecles/  Paris,  1865,  pp.  144, 150. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

Ambros,  most  cautious  of  critics,  accepted  the 
new  view,  without  hesitation,  in  his  third  volume, 
printed  in  1868. 

Assuming  this  view  to  be  correct,  THE  EARLY 
ENGLISH   SCHOOL  was  founded   a  full  century 
and  a  half  before  the   admission  of  Dufay  to 
the  Pontifical  Chapel.     But,  while  giving  this 
discovery  its  full  weight,  we  must  not  value  it 
at  more  than  it  is  wrorth.    It  does  not  absolutely 
prove  that  the  Art  of  Composition   originated 
in  England.     We  have  already  said  that  the  in 
vention  of  Counterpoint  has  hitherto  eluded  all 
enquiry.     It  was,  in  fact,  invented  nowhere— if 
we  are  to  use  the  word  '  invention  '  in  the  sense 
in  which  we  should  apply  it  to  gunpowder,  or  the 
telescope.    It  was  evolved,  by  slow  degrees,  from 
Diaphonia,  Discant,  and  Organum.     All  we  can 
say  about  it  as  yet  is,  that  the  oldest  known 
example — or,  at  least,  the  oldest  example  to  which 
a  date  can  be  assigned  with  any  approach  to 
probability — is  English.4    An  earlier  record  may 
be  discovered,  some  day  ;  though,  thanks  to  the 
two-fold  spoliation   our  Ecclesiastical  Libraries 
have  suffered  within   the   last  350  years,  it  is 
scarcely  likely  that  it  will  be  found  in  England. 
Meanwhile,  we  must  content  ourselves  with  the 
reflection  that,  so  far  as  our  present  knowledge 
goes,  the  Early  English  School  is  the  oldest  in  the 
world ;  though  the  completeness  of  the  Composi 
tion  upon  which  this  statement  is  based,  proves 
that  Art   must  have   made  immense  advances 
before  it  was  written.     For,  the  '  Reading  Rota' 
is  no  rude  attempt  at  Vocal  Harmony.    It  is 
a   regular  Composition,    for    six   Voices;    four 
of  which  sing  a  Canon   in  the  Unison,  while 
the  remaining  two  sing  another  Canon — called 
'  Pes ' — which  forms  a  kind  of  Ground  Bass  to 
the  whole.     Both  Hawkins  and  Burney  have 
printed   the   solution   in   Score.     We  think  it 
better  to  present  our  readers  with  an  accurate 
fac-simile  of  the  original  MS. ;  leaving  them  to 
score  it  for  themselves,  in  accordance  with  the 
directions  given  in  the  margin,  and  to  form  their 
own   opinion   of  the   evidence  afforded  by  the 
style  of  its  Caligraphy.    In  the  original  copy, 
the  Clefs,  Notes,  and  English  words,  are  written 
in  black ;    as  are  also   the  directions  for  per 
formance,   beginning   'Hanc  rotam,'  etc.    The 
six  Lines  of  the  Stave,  the  Cross  placed  to  show 
where  the  second  Voice  is  to  begin,  the  Latin 
words,  the  second  initial  S,  the  word  Pes,  and 
the    directions    beginning    'Hoc   repetit,'    and 
'  Hoc  dicit,'  are  red.     The  first  initial  S  is  blue, 
as  is  also  the  third.     Ambros  believes  the  Latin 
words,    and    the    directions    beginning    'Hanc 
rotam,'  to  have  been  added,  at  a  later  period, 
by   another   hand.     Many  years  have   elapsed 
since  our  own  attention  was  first  directed  to  the 
MS.,  which  we  have  since  subjected  to  many 
searching    examinations.      At   one    period,  we 
ourselves  were  very  much  inclined  to  believe  in 

•»  The  lately-discovered  'Montpellier  MS.'  is  referred,  by  Cousse 
maker,  to  the  last  third  of  the  13th  century.    To  the  very  sntiei 
copy  of  the  'Prose  de  1'ane'  now  in  the  possession  of  Big.  Paccni- 
arotti,  of  Padua,  and  sometimes  quoted  as  the  oldest  specimen  < 
Part-Music  in  existence,  it  is  absolutely  impossible  to  assign  a  fl«<" 
date  with  any  probability.    [See  vol.  ii.  p.  462.J 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 


269 


L  Vwcrtftomum  m- 


JRL 

^    1  * 

1 

505     , 

^ 

I*  if 

^  ""1 

t  ^    ^ 

IF  —  ^ 

:  "    f 

utoT 


1      '             -        -        i  _"    *    IS 

*-t:    i 

*             1       ' 

-—  ^->—          .g.  , 

"^ 

«f 

tnora^    'VKao—  -Qjucayauop 


camycgimw^  in  cr  jg 


S.  ..fef^^ffl  natam 


the  presence  of  a  second  hand-writing.  But,  the 
evidence  afforded  by  a  photograph  taken  during 
our  investigations  convinces  us  that  we  did  not 


make  sufficient  allowance  for  the  different  ap 
pearance  of  the  black  and  red  letters,  which, 
reduced  to  the  same  tone  by  the  process  of  photo- 


270      SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

graphy,  resemble  each  other  so  closely,  that  we 
now  feel  assured  that  the  entire  page  was  written 
by  the  same  hand.  Coussemaker  seems  toentertain 
no  doubt  that  this  was  the  hand  of  John  Forn- 
sete,  a  Reading  Monk,  of  whom  we  have  intel 
ligence  in  the  Cartulary,  down  to  the  year  1236, 
but  no  other  record  later  than  1226.  It  seems 
rash  to  append  this  learned  Ecclesiastic's  name 
to  the '  Rota,'  until  some  farther  evidence  shall  be 
forthcoming:  but  it  is  gratifying  to  find  that  the 
mystery  in  which  the  subject  has  hitherto  been 
shrouded  is  gradually  disappearing. 

Besides  the  above  Rota,  and  a  few  specimens 
of  unisonous  Plain  Chaunt,  the  volume  we  have 
described  contains  three  Motets,  '  Regina  cle- 
mencie,'  'Dum  Maria  credidit,'  and ' Ave  gloriosa 
virginum ' — at  the  end  of  the  last  of  which  are 
three  sets  of  Parts  for  '  Cantus  superius,'  and 
three  for  '  Cantus  inferius,'  added  in  a  different 
hand-writing  ;  and  another  Motet,  'Ave  gloriosa 
Mater,'  written  in  Three-Part  Score,  on  a  Stave 
consisting  of  from  thirteen  to  fifteen  lines  as 
occasion  demands,  with  a  Quadruplum  (or  fourth 
Part),  added,  in  different  writing,  at  the  end.1 
Beyond  these  precious  reliques,  we  possess  no 
authentic  record  of  what  may  be  called  the  First 
Period  of  the  development  of  Art  in  England. 
Either  the  School  died  out,  or  its  archives  have 
perished. 

The  Second  Period,  inaugurated  during  the 
earlier  half  of  the  I5th  century,  and  therefore 
contemporary  with  the  School  of  Dufay,  is  more 
fully  represented,  and  boasts  some  lately-discovered 
reliques  of  great  interest.  Its  leader  was  John 
of  Dunstable,  a  man  of  no  ordinary  talent,  whose 
identity  has  been  more  than  once  confused  with 
that  of  S.  Dunstan!  though  we  have  authentic 
records  of  his  death,  in  1453,  an(i  burial  in  the 
Church  of  S.  Stephen,  Walbrook,  London.  In  the 
time  of  Burney,  it  was  supposed  that  two  frag 
ments  only  of  his  works  survived ;  one  quoted 
by  Gafurius,  the  other  by  Morley.  Baini,  how 
ever,  discovered  a  set  of  Saecular  Chansons  a  3, 
in  the  Vatican  Library ;  and  a  very  valuable 
codex  in  the  Liceo  Filarmonico,  at  Bologna,  is 
now  found  to  contain  four  of  his  Compositions 
for  the  Church,  besides  a  number  of  works  by 
other  English  Composers  of  the  period,  most  of 
whom  are  otherwise  unknown. 

The  Third  Period  is  more  bare  of  records  than 
the  First.  No  trace  of  its  Compositions  can  be 
discovered  ;  and  the  only  interest  attaching  to  it 
arises  from  the  fact  that  its  leaders,  John  Ham- 
boys,  Mus.  Doc.,  Thomas  Saintwix,  Mus.  Doc., 
and  Henry  Habengton,  Mus.  Bac.,  who  all 
flourished  during  the  reign  of  King  Edward  IV. 
were  the  first  Musicians  ever  honoured  with 
special  Academical  Degrees. 

The   best    writer  of  the   Fourth   Period   was 

1  The  'Regina  clemencie'  will  be  found  on  fol.  41  of  the  MS.; 
'Dum  Maria  credidit,'  on  fol.  5;  'Ave  gloriosa  virginum/  on  fol.  6; 
the  three  sets  of  Parts  fur  Cantus  Superius,  and  Inferius,  on  76 
and  8;  'Ave  gloriosa  Mater,'  on  86,  and  9 ;  and  the  Rota  itself,  on 
fol.  10.  All  therefore,  are  included  in  'the  earlier  portion  of 'the 
MS,"  as  described  by  Sir  Frederick  Madden.  (See  page  268  o,  note  2.) 
A  later  copy  of '  Ave  gloriosa  Mater,'  without  the  added  Quadruplum, 
has  been  discovered  in  the  '  Montpellier  MS.,'  and  Is  ascribed,  by 
Cou&seznaker,  to  Franco  of  Cologne. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

Dr.  Fayrfax,  who  took  his  Degree  in  1511,  and 
is  well  represented  by  some  Masses,  of  consider 
able  merit,  in  the  Music  School  at  Oxford,  and  a 
collection  of  Saecular  Songs,  in  the  well-known 
'  Fayrfax  MS.,'  which  also  contains  a  number  of 
similar  works  by  Syr  John  Phelyppes,  Gilbert 
Banester,  Rowland  Davy,  William  of  Newark, 
and  other  writers  of  the  School.  The  style  of 
these  pieces  is  thoroughly  Flemish ;  but  wanting, 
alike  in  the  ingenuity  of  Okenheim,  and  the  ex 
pression  of  his  followers.  Still,  the  School  did 
its  work  well.  England  had  not  fulfilled  the 
promise  of  her  first  efforts ;  but  she  now  made 
a  new  beginning,  evidently  under  Flemish  in 
struction,  and  never  afterwards  betrayed  her 
trust. 

Good  work  never  fails  to  produce  good  fruit. 
If  the  labours  of  Fayrfax  and  Phelyppes  brought 
forth  little   that   was   worth  preserving  on  its 
own  account,  they  at  least  prepared  the  way 
for   the    more   lasting   triumphs    of  the    Fifth 
Period,   the   Compositions   of  which  will  bear 
comparison  with  the  best  contemporaneous  pro 
ductions,  either  of  Flanders,  or  of  Italy.    This 
epoch  extends  from  the  beginning  of  the  i6th 
century,  to   the   period  immediately  preceding 
the  appearance  of  Tallis  and  Byrd  ;  correspond 
ing,  in  this  country,  with  the  dawn  of  the  aera, 
known    in    Rome    as    '  The   Golden  Age.'     It 
numbered,  among  its  writers,  a  magnate  of  no 
less    celebrity    than    King    Henry  VIII,  who 
studied  Music,  diligently,  at  that  period  of  his 
life  during  which  it  was  supposed  that  he  was 
destined  to  fill  the  See  of  Canterbury,  and  never 
afterwards  neglected  to  practise  it.    No  doubt, 
this  early  initiation  into  the  mysteries  of  Art 
prompted  the  imperious  monarch  to  extend  a 
more  than  ordinary  amount  of  encouragement  to 
its  votaries,  in  later  life ;  and  to  this  fortunate  cir 
cumstance  we  are  probably  largely  indebted  for 
that  general  diffusion  of  the  taste  for  good  Music, 
so  quaintly  described  by  Morley,  which,  taking 
such   firm   hold   on   the   hearts    of  the  people 
that   it   was   considered   disgraceful  not  to  be 
able  to  take  part  in  a  Madrigal,  led,  ere  long, 
to  the  final  emergence  of  our  School  from  the 
trammels  of  bare  mechanical  industry  into  the 
freedom  which  true  inspiration  alone  can  give. 
The  Composers  who  took   the  most  prominent 
part   in   this    great    work   were   John   Thorne, 
John    Redford    (Organist    of  Old   St.  Paul's), 
George  Etheridge,  Robert  Johnson,  John  Taver- 
ner,    Robert  Parsons,  John  Mar  beck  (Organist 
of  St.  George's  Chapel,  Windsor),  Richard  Ed- 
wardes,  and  John  Shepherde — all  men  of  mark, 
and  enthusiastic  lovers  of  their  Art. 

Contemporaries  of  Archadelt  and  Waelrant, 
in  Flanders,  of  Willaert,  in  Venice,  and  of  Festa, 
in  Rome,  these  men  displayed,  in  their  works, 
an  amount  of  talent  in  no  degree  inferior  to  that 
shown  by  the  great  Continental  Masters. 

Redford's  Anthem,  '  Rejoice  in  the  Lord 
alway,'  first  printed  by  Hawkins,  and  since  re- 
published  by  the  Motet  Society,  is  a  model 
of  the  true  Ecclesiastical  style,  one  of  the 
finest  specimens  of  the  grand  old  English  School 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION.       271 


of  Cathedral  Music  we  possess.  The  graceful 
contour  of  its  Subjects,  the  purity  of  the  Har 
mony  produced  by  their  mutual  involutions, 
and,  above  all,  the  beauty  of  its  expression, 
entitle  it,  not  only  to  the  first  place  among  the 
Compositions  of  its  own  period,  but  to  a  very 
high  one  as  compared  with  those  of  the  still 
more  brilliant  epoch  which  was  to  follow.  That 
the  writer  of  such  an  Anthem  as  this  should 
have  been  an  idle  man  is  impossible.  He  must 
have  produced  a  host  of  other  treasures.  Yet, 
it  is  by  this  alone  that  he  is  known  to  us ;  and 
it  is  much  to  be  feared  that  he  will  nevermore  be 
represented  by  another  work  of  equal  magnitude, 
though  it  would  be  well  worth  while  to  collect 
together  the  few  fragments  of  his  writings  which 
are  still  preserved  in  MS.1 

Equally  scarce  are  the  works  of  Richard  Ed- 
wardes,  known  chiefly  by  one  of  the  loveliest 
Madrigals  that  ever  was  written — '  In  going  to 
my  naked  bedde.'  We  have  already  had  occasion 
to  call  attention  to  the  beauties  of  this  delightful 
work,2  which  rivals — we  might  almost  say  sur 
passes — the  finest  Flemish  and  Italian  Madrigals 
of  the  Period,  and  was  certainly  never  excelled, 
before  the  time  of  Palestrina  or  Luca  Marenzio. 
For  this,  also,  we  have  to  thank  the  research 
and  discrimination  of  Hawkins,  who  gives  it  in 
his  fifth  volume:  but  it  has  since  been  reprinted, 
many  times  ;  and  it  is  not  likely  that  it  will 
ever  again  be  forgotten. 

Johnson  was  one  of  the  most  learned  Contra 
puntists  of  the  period,  and  excelled  almost  all 
his  contemporaries  in  the  art  of  writing  Imita 
tions  upon  a  Canto  fermo.  Of  the  writings  of 
Taverner  and  Parsons,  good  specimens  will  be 
found  in  the  Psalters  of  Este  and  Ravenscroft, 
as  well  as  in  the  Histories  of  Burney  and 
Hawkins ;  while  many  more  remain  in  MS. 
Among  the  latter,  a  Madrigal  for  five  Voices, 
by  Parsons — '  Enforced  by  love  and  feare  ' — pre 
served  in  the  Library  of  Christ  Church,  Oxford, 
is  particularly  interesting,  as  establishing  the 
writer's  title  to  an  honourable  place  among  the 
leaders  of  a  School  of  Ssecular  Music  with  which 
his  name  is  not  generally  associated. 


1 — — H — H — l &-*-\ — — PH 1—* 


En-forced    by       love  and  feare 


A  few  of  Shepherde's  Compositions  may  be 
found  in  a  work  entitled  'Mornyng  and  Eve- 
nyng  Prayer  and  Communion,'  London,  1565. 
He  is  also  well  represented  in  the  Christchurch 
Library,  in  a  series  of  MS.  Compositions  of  a 
very  high  order  of  merit.  Most  of  them  are 
Motets,  with  Latin  words  ;  but  a  few  are  English 
Anthems  —  possibly,  adaptations  —  from  one  of 
which  we  have  selected  the  following  example. 


o 


God,  be  mer-cl-ful 


O 


1  A  Motet— Vest!  precinct!— for  five  Voices  has  been  found  in  a 
set  of  16th-century  Part-Books,  at  Christ  Church,  Oxford;  but,  un 
happily,  the  Tenor  volume  is  missing. 

2  See  vol.  ii,  p.  192. 


e 

(r          * 

Jl 

1: 

\ 

£^      £3                        '     \ 

*^Z? 

-   \   \ 

-&-  -&-  P  1*   j 

iu-J-_j_j 

r  i    && 

\              ^^ 

'    ' 

P       sLmsznz2 

•                        fi*7 

t  /i 

^^^ 

^  >         P 

•                          t^ 

^-  ^ 

G 

\ 

\  i    i 

O     God,    be 

od,    be  mer-ci  -  ful 
,       J 

mer  -  ci  -  ful,     O 
un  -  to     us. 

i    i 

God,    be  mer-ci-ful 

i        i 

J   <& 

-J     -J 

I 

— 

-J      ,-d     * 

L 

__  ^_, 

"3T  •* 

t        i     1 

1    •  ~^3- 

n  TS     i 

J  -      J 

^-^ 

^f                f^T 

=;          ^j   1 

— 

K 

*-•'              r^-1     (^? 

£3 

1 

un  -  to      us. 

1      -   1           t 

t       I 

l 

1                 1 

\      ~ 

J     J     ^  .    ^4            \ 

-ed 

^                -    *~3       -J 

^J      S_Z3tffl 

•     ^^L 

rc  j 

_fj"    Ij    r,    ^ 

J~               .^-l 

_^^,                           °5^    T 

r^m   r^    (^    ^ 

f^f^    /«*^ 

r*      '^           e_! 

-  i 

r^    ^ 

1     i        1        1    - 

<=^      \   i 

L  -  -    -' 

—  -- 

!       i        i 

r^ 

1        i 

—  ««—                4  - 

i     i     -     "f 

^    ,-j  m  j 

_J    _i     J 

"3      -4       e=j 

22     ^   :Z«     >-) 

i    i  i  r 

^^     -~-.       .^* 

|    i  etc. 

^•^ 

^  •  •    cs    &~ 

^  

~=  —  r    F^  P  P  1 

.     .     j  ..  .  |           cj          -              _         '        i   :    i     i   j  . 

Since  the  restoration  of  Anglican  Plain  Chaunt, 
Dy  the  Rev.  T.  Helmore,  Marbeck's  name  has 
seen  a  'household  word'  among  English  Church 
men  ;  but  only  in  connection  with  his  strictly 
unisonous    '  Booke    of  Common   Praier   noted.' 
No  one  seems  to  know  that  he  was  not  only  a 
distinguished  Contrapuntist,  but  also  one  of  the 
most  expressive  Composers  of  the  English  School. 
The  very  few  specimens  of  his  style  which  we 
possess  are  of  no  common  order  of  merit.     The 
example  selected  is  from  a  MS.  Mass,  '  Missa, 

272       SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 


Per  arma  Justitise/  preserved  at  Oxford,  in  a 
set  of  very  incorrectly-written  Parts,  from  which 
Dr.  Burney  scored  a  few  extracts.  As  Marbeck 
was  a  zealous  follower  of  the  new  religion,  it  is 
clear  that  this  Mass  must  have  been  written  dur 
ing  his  early  life.  Where,  then,  is  his  English 
Church  Music  ?  It  is  impossible  to  believe  that 
so  ardent  a  reformer,  and  so  great  a  Musician, 
took  no  part  in  the  formation  of  that  School  of 
purely  English  Cathedral  Music  to  which  all  the 
best  Composers  of  the  period  gave  so  much  at 
tention.  Surely,  some  fragments,  at  least,  of  his 
works  must  remain  in  our  Chapter  Libraries. 


-tzL   3£. 


„ 


-I — 1- 


t  t 


f  f  - , 


=3= 


etc. 


The  Notes  marked  *,  are  sung  by  the  Bass  ;  those  marked  t. 
by  the  Tenor. 

We  regret  that  we  can  find  no  room  for 
more  numerous,  or  more  extended  examples, 
selected  from  the  works  of  a  period  which  has 
not  received  the  attention  it  deserves  from 
English  Musicians :  but,  we  trust  that  we  have 
said  and  quoted  enough  to  show  that  this 
long-neglected  School,  supported  by  the  learning 
of  Johnson,  the  flowing  periods  of  Marbeck,  and 
the  incomparable  expression  of  Bedford  and 
Edvvardes,  can  hold  its  own,  with  honour,  against 
any  other  of  the  time  ;  and  we  are  not  without 
hope  that  our  countrymen  may  some  day  become 
alive  to  the  importance  of  its  monuments,  and 
strive  to  rescue  from  final  oblivion  Compositions 


certainly  not  unworthy  of  our  regard,  as  precursors 
of  those  which  glorified  the  greatest  Period  of  all 
—  the  Period  which  corresponded  with  that  of 
the  '  Missa  Papse  Marcelli  '  in  Italy. 

The  leader  of  the  Sixth  Period  was  Christopher 
Tye,  whose  genius  prepared  the  way,  first,  for  the 
works  of  Robert  Whyte,  and,  through  these,  for 
those  of  the  two  greatest  writers  who  have  ever 
adorned  the  English  School  —  Thomas  Tallis,  and 
William   Byrd.      Tye's    Compositions   are  very 
numerous.     His  best-known  work  is  a  Metrical 
Version  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  in  which 
the  simplicity  of  the  Faux-bourdon  is  combined 
with  a  purity  of  Harmony  worthy  of  the  best 
Flemish  Masters,  and  a  spirit  all  his  own.    Two 
of  these  under  other  titles  —  '  Sing  to  the  Lord  in 
joyful  strains/  and  "Mock  not  God's  Name/  are 
included   in   Hullah's    'Part  Music/  and  well 
known  to  Part-singers.  Besides  these,  the  Library 
of  ChristchurchjOxford,  contains  7  of  hisAnthems, 
and  14  Motets,  for  3,  4,  ^  and  6  Voices  ;  and  that 
of  the  Music  School,  a  Mass,  '  Euge  bone,'  for  6 
Voices,  which  is,  perhaps,  the  greatest  of  his  sur 
viving  works.     A  portion  of  the  '  Gloria  '  of  this 
Mass,  scored  by  Dr.  Burney,  in  his  second  volume, 
and  reprinted  in  Hullah's  'Vocal  Scores,'  will 
well  repay  careful  scrutiny.     One  of  its  Subjects 
corresponds,   very   curiously,  with   a  fragment, 
called  'APoynt/  by  John  Shepherde,  written, 
most  probably,  for  the  instruction  of  some  ad 
vanced  pupils,  and  printed  by  Hawkins.    It  is 
interesting  to  compare  the  grace  of  Shepherde's 
unpretending  though  charming  little  example, 
with  the  skilfully  constructed  network  of  Imita 
tion  with  which  Tye  has  surrounded  the  Subject. 
We  need  not  transcribe  the  passages,  as  they 
may  so  easily  be  found  in  the  works  we  have 
named  ;  but,  the  following  less  easily  accessible 
example  of  Tye's  broad  masculine  style  will  serve 
still  better  to  exemplify  both  the  quiet  power  and 
the  melodious  grace  of  his  accustomed  manner. 


Ascendo  ad  Patrem.    Motet  d  5. 


st^rq 


-g^-r- 


tl 

^ 


5 


L 


J- 


etc. 


Still  greater,  in  some  respects,  than  Tye,  was 
Robert  Whyte ;  known  only — we  shame  to  say 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

it ! — by  an  Anthem  for  5  Voices, '  Lord,  who  shall 
dwell  in  Thy  tabernacle?'  printed  in  the  third 
volume  of  Burney's  History,  and  a  few  pieces  pre 
served  by  Barnard ;  though  no  less  than  35  of  his 
Compositions,  comprising  4  Anthems,  25  Motets, 
and  6  Lamentations,  lie  in  MS.  in  the  Library 
of  Christ  Church,  Oxford,  without  hope  of  pub 
lication.  These  works  are  models  of  the  best 
English  style,  at  its  best  period.  Not  merely 
remarkable  for  their  technical  perfection,  but 
full  of  expression  and  beauty.  Yet  these  fine 
Compositions  have  been  left  to  accumulate  the 
dust,  while  the  inspirations  of  Kent  and  Jackson 
have  been  heard  in  every  Church  in  England,  to 
say  nothing  of  later  Compositions,  which  would 
be  very  much  the  better  for  a  little  infusion  of 
Kent's  spontaneity  and  freshness.  In  order  to 
give  some  idea  of  the  tenderness  of  Whyte's 
general  style,  we  subjoin  an  extract  from  an 
Anthem- — 'The Lorde  blesse  us, and  keepe  us' — 
included  in  Barnard's  collection,  but  neither 
mentioned  in  the  Christ  Church  Catalogue,  nor 
noticed  by  Burney,  though  it  is  contained  in  the 
valuable  and  beautifully-transcribed  set  of  Part- 
Books  which  furnished  him  with  the  text,  of  the 
only  Composition  by  Whyte  that  has  until  now 
been  printed  in  modern  form.1  The  pathetic 
character  of  the  Hypoasolian  Mode  was  probably 
never  more  strongly  exhibited  than  in  this  beau 
tiful  passage. 


MODUS  X. 


The 


Lorde  blesse 


A     I 

v  -    i 

BB3 

—  r" 

•  * 

The    Lorde     blesse 

j 

us 

*l 

and     keepe  us 

i                   8 

—  -^  1  &  -r-^  

*•  t 

»                       • 

(         

ZL   I 

The     Lorde 


blesse 


<T3  ~^~ 


The  Lorde         blesse 


r     r 


u  * 


us       (and  keepe     us 

i  This  set  of  Part-Books,  dated  1581,  and  still  In  excellent  preser 
vation,  consists  of  five  small  oblong  4to  volumes,  beautifully  tran 
scribed,  and  embellished  with  quaint  old  Latin  verses,  and  mottos, 
expressed  In  penmanship  so  delicate  that  it  might  easily  be  mistaken, 
for  copper-plate  engraving.  It  contains  20  Compositions  by  Whyte, 
55  by  Byrde,  1  by  Bruster,  1  by  Dr.  John  Bull,  2  by  Farrant.  1  by 
tferrabpsco,  1  by  W.  Giles,  1  by  Johnson,  3  by  Orlando  dl  Lasso.  1  by 
Mallorie,  1  by  W.  Mundaie,  1  by  Francesco  Mocheni,  8  by  R.  Parsons, 
1  by  Phillips,  1  by  Shepard,  1  by  Strogers,  1  by  Tailer,  5  by  Tallis,  6  by 
Dr.  Tye,  2  by  Woodcock,  and  19  by  Anonymous  Authors.  Burney 
mentions  it  (Hist.  vol.  iii.  p.  66,  note  o),  with  a  graceful  tribute  of 
thanks  to  the  Dean  and  Chapter,  by  whose  courtesy  he  was  per 
mitted  to  use  It  in  any  way  he  pleased.  We  ourselves  are  indebted  to 
the  kindness  of  the  present  Librarian  for  a  similar  privilege,  which 
has  proved  of  infinite  value  in  the  preparation  of  our  analysis  of  the 
works  of  the  Early  English  School. 

The  same  rich  Library  contains  another  set  of  Part-Books,  of  at 
least  equal  interest,  one  of  the  six  volumes  of  which— the  Tenor— is 
unhappily  missing. 

VOL.  III.  PT.  3. 


% 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION.      273 

tf 


3 


^=£-- 


^FgTZP"^ 
*W&    ^ 


-&-  -G-. 


£fe 


-£S- 

•zy 
9 


3 


& 


f- 


22: 


5LI 


— •*•& 


1 


J   t 

• — -£5 


-£*-!. — •- 


=A 


^  fgr*^ 
1     IP    G 


i 


\ 


:& 


-ts>-    jm- 


J 


^ 


^ 


I 


~~&y     i 


etc. 


T 

But,  neither  Tye  nor  Whyte  reached  to  the 
height  attained  by  Tallis ;  who  is,  perhaps,  better 
known,  and  more  fairly  judged,  than  any  other 
English  Composer  of  the  time,  though  his  most 
popular  works  are  not  in  all  cases  his  best. 
To  speak  to  English  Organists  of  his  .Responses, 
his  Litany,  or  his  Service  in  the  Dorian  Mode, 
would  be  superfluous.  But,  how  many  are  equally 
well  acquainted  with  his  Motet, '  Salvator  mundi/ 
or  his  fearfully  intricate  Canon, '  Miserere  nostri '? 
How  many  know  that  the  original  of  'I  call  and 
cry  'is  an  '  0  sacrum  convivium '  worthy  of  any 
Church  Composer  in  the  world  short  of  Palestrina 
himself?  How  many  have  looked  into  the  '  Can- 
tiones  Sacrse,'  which  he  wrote  in  conjunction 
with  his  pupil  Byrd,  and  the  MS.  treasures 
scored  in  Burney's  '  Extracts,'  or  the  '  Matthias 
Collection '  ?  Yet  it  is  here  that  we  must  look 
for  Tallis,  if  we  wish  to  form  any  idea  of  his 
true  greatness.  The  world  has  not  seen  many 
more  accomplished  Contrapuntists  than  he  ;  nor 
has  he  ever  been  excelled  in  the  exquisite  '  sur 
prises '  of  his  Harmony.  We  have  said  that 
Palestrina  so  interwove  his  phrases  together  as 
to  give  birth  to  some  wonderful  Chord  at  every 


274 

Voc.        First  Choir. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 


2 
3 
4 


' 


f 


-  sj.  J*1  -«- 


Y    T 


r 


Second  Choir. 


6 
7 
8 
9 
10 


11 
12 
13 
14 
15 


16 
17 

18 
19 


f| 


F 1 • &- 

^=gj=E-=j=^ 
-=^=^- 


.. 

*  i^ 


f- 


Third  Choir. 


A J. 


•Lj- 


E2 


r    r—  F 


r  J    J. 

- 


f    ^> 
' 

J       J 


Fourth  Choir. 

EE  E3EE3 


> 


J 


Fifth  Choir. 


22 
23 

24 
25 


26 
27 
28 
29 
30 


Sixth  Choir. 


-G>- 


t= 


J 


^ 


Seventh  Choir. 


31 
32 
33 
34 
35 


ff^ 


r^r  r '  r 


J 

*£*T 


Eighth  Choir. 


37 
38 
39 

40 


-^=^==±s^ 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

turn.  Tallis  could  not  approach  the  great  Italian 
Master  in  this.  No  one  ever  did.  But,  he 
managed  to  place  some  wonderful  Chord,  at  every 
turn ;  and,  so  to  place  it,  that  the  ear  could  not 
fail  to  be  ravished  by  its  beauty.  It  is  worthy  of 
notice,  that  those  of  his  Compositions,  in  which 
this  peculiarity  is  most  strongly  developed,  are 
the  best  known,  and)  the  most  highly  prized. 
They  are,  indeed,  preeminently  beautiful.  But, 
so  are  many  others,  of  which  the  very  names 
have  long  since  been  forgotten ;  while  some,  well 
known  by  name,  are  just  as  much  forgotten,  in 
reality,  as  the  rest.  Among  these  last  is  one 
— the  famous  Motet,  '  Spem  in  alium  non  habui,' 
for  40  Voices — which  has  been  very  frequently 
mentioned,  though  rarely  described  with  the 
accuracy  desirable  in  a  case  of  such  exceptional 
interest.  Hawkins's  account  of  it  is  too  vague 
to  be  of  any  technical  value  whatever.  Burney, 
though  sufficiently  minute  in  his  attention  to 
details,  seems  to  have  strangely  misunderstood 
his  author,  in  one  very  important  particular. 
He  tells  us  that  the  Voices  are  not  arranged  in 
separate  Choirs,  but  treated  as  a  single  mass. 
No  statement  can  possibly  be  more  incorrect  than 
this.  The  40  Voices  are,  beyond  all  controversy, 
disposed  in  eight  distinct  Five-Part  Choirs, 
which  sometimes  answer  each  other  antiphonally 
— one  or  more  whole  Choirs  resting,  for  a  con 
siderable  number  of  bars  together,  while  others 
continue  the  development  of  the  various  Subjects 
— and,  sometimes,  sing  together,  in  vast  '  Quadri- 
gesimal  Harmony,'  no  less  real  than  that  which 
Burney  so  well  describes,  but  infinitely  more 
complicated,  being  compounded  of  eight  quin 
tuple  masses,  each,  as  a  general  rule,  complete 
in  itself,  though  cases  will  be  found  in  which 
the  Bass  of  one  Choir  is  needed  to  support  the 
Harmonies  sung  by  another — e.g.  in  the  last 
Bar,  where,  without  the  lower  G,  sung  by  the 
Third,  Fifth,  and  Eighth  Choirs,  the  First  and 
Sixth  Choirs  would  present  a  forbidden  Chord  of 
the  6-4,  while  the  Seventh  Choir  would  end  with 
a  Chord  of  the  Sixth.1 

The  leading  Subject  is  proposed  by  the  Altus 
of  the  First  Choir,  and  answered  in  turn  by  the 
Cantus,  the  Tenor,  the  Quintus  (in  this  case  repre 
sented  by  a  Duplicate  Altus),  and  the  Bass.  The 
Second  Choir  enters,  after  three  and  a  half  bars 
rest,  with  the  same  Subject,  answered  in  the 
same  order.  The  Third  Choir  enters,  one  Voice 
at  a  time,  in  the  middle  of  the  eleventh  bar; 
the  Fourth,  at  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth 
bar;  the  Fifth,  at  the  twenty-third  bar;  the 
Sixth,  in  the  middle  of  the  twenty -fourth  bar  ; 
the  Seventh,  at  the  beginning  of  the  twenty- 
eighth  bar ;  and  the  Eighth,  at  the  beginning  of 
the  thirty-third  bar;  no  two  Parts  ever  making 
their  entry  at  the  same  moment.  The  whole  body 
of  Voices  is  now  employed,  for  some  considerable 
time,  in  40  real  Parts.  A  new  Subject  is  then 
proposed,  and  treated  in  like  manner.  The 
final  climax  is  formed  by  a  long  and  highly 
elaborate  passage  of  '  Quadrigesimal  Harmony/ 
culminating  in  a  Plagal  Cadence  of  gigantic  pro- 

i  A  similar  licence  is  taken  in  Bar  13,  and  many  other  places. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION.      275 

portions,  and  concluding  with  an  Organ  Point, 
of  moderate  length,  which  we  present  to  our 
readers,  entire.  It  would  be  manifestly  im 
possible  to  write  in  so  many  Parts,  without 
taking  an  infinity  of  Licences  forbidden  in  or 
dinary  cases.  Many  long  passages  are  neces 
sarily  formed  upon  the  reiterated  notes  of  a  single 
Harmony;  and  many  progressions  are  introduced, 
which,  even  in  eight  Parts,  would  be  condemned 
as  licentious.  Still,  the  marvel  is,  that  the  Parts 
are  all  real.  Whatever  amount  of  indulgence 
may  be  claimed,  no  two  Voices  ever  *  double' 
each  other.  Whether  the  effect  produced  be 
worth  the  labour  expended  upon  it,  or  not,  the 
Composition  is,  at  any  rate,  exactly  what  it 
asserts  itself  to  be — a  genuine  example  of  Forty- 
Part  Counterpoint :  and  the  few  bars  we  have 
selected  for  our  example  will  show  this  as  clearly 
as  a  longer  extract.2  (See  opposite  page.) 

As  Tallis  is  chiefly  known  by  his  Litany  and 
Kesponses,  so  is  his  great  pupil,  William  Byrd,  by 
'  Non  nobis,  Domine,'  a  '  Service,'  and  a  few^ 
Anthems,  translated  from  the  Latin ;  while  the 
greater  number  of  his  'Cantiones  Sacrae,'  his 
Mass  for  5  Voices,  and  his  delightful  Madrigals, 
are  recognised  only  as  antiquarian  curiosities. 
The  only  known  copies  of  his  two  Masses  for 
3  and  4  Voices  seem,  indeed,  to  be  hopelessly 
lost ;  nothing  having  been  heard  of  them,  since 
they  were  '  knocked  down '  to  Triphook,  at  the 
sale  of  Bartleman's  Library,  in  1822.  But,  a 
goodly  number  of  his  works  may  very  easily 
be  obtained,  in  print ;  while  larger  collections  of 
his  MS.  productions  are  preserved  in  more  than 
one  of  our  Collegiate  Libraries.  We  ought  to 
know  more  of  these  fine  Compositions,  the  grave 
dignity  of  which  has  never  been  surpassed.  It 
is  in  this  characteristic  that  their  chief  merit 
lies.  They  are  less  expressive,  in  one  sense, 
than  the  more  tender  inspirations  of  Tallis ;  but-, 
while  they  lose  in  pathos,  they  gain  in  majesty. 
If  they  sometimes  seem  lacking  in  grace,  they 
never  fail  to  impress  us  by  the  solidity  of  their 
structure,  and  the  grandeur  of  their  massive 
proportions.  Fux  makes  Three-Part  Counter 
point  (Tricinium)  the  test  of  real  power.3  Was 
ever  more  effect  produced  by  three  Voices  than 
in  the  following  example,  from  the  'Songs  of 
Sundrie  Natures.'  (Lond.  1589.) 


From 


depths 


of      sinne,       O    Lorde, 


-/KP-C 

*     L-  I 

b^  =q 

^p—  i 

i'  r"*!  

,  H 

«7 

£2. 

—  «. 

•^' 

" 

r 

x- 

-^-          -gjr    cJ 

•v 

*  5^ 

^*> 

l^"  J-          ^^-J          ^*   J 

^*  i    /^ 

A       4 

Si        " 

2:  ^  \ 

9    F 

r::,  T 

2  A  complete  Score  will  be  found  In  the  library  of  the  Sacred 
Harmonic  Society.    In  a  copy,  purchased  for  the  British  Museum,  in 
1876,  the  Music  allotted  to  each  Choir  is  scored  separately ;   and 
the  volume  concludes  with  a  complete  set  of  the  separate  Parts.  In 
both  these  examples,  the  original  Latin  words  are  wanting,  and  the 
Music  is  adapted  to  some  English  doggrel  verses  of  the  time  of  King 
Charles  I  or  II.    An  older,  and  once  very  famous  copy,  in  the  hand 
writing  of  John  Immyns,  seems  to  have  hopelessly  disappeared. 

The  Composition  was  performed,  in  London,  many  years  ago. 
under  the  direction  of  the  late  William  Hawes ;  and  again,  oa. 
May  15, 1879,  under  that  of  Mr.  Henry  Leslie. 

3  Gradus  ad  1'aruassum,  p.  81. 

T2 


276      SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 


to  thee. 

^        9                                  s— 

-n-rTTd-H- 

^j  1  ^  ^  ~>  ^~ 

1  J  •!     '  £* 

£-  '       -^J       ^^"       *-^        /"^        /*^*       .rf'-j 

~x-»-^_fLJ?        4 

i^^                  I     ^     j\             i            ^^ 

Y        Tf 

r            ' 

fCi  •      •     ",      I'                           

—  -,             f                    „                   ' 

^ 

*                       1           !    b, 

--                  i 

'                                    ^^J 

,-,                '    ^      j  ^j  .  j 

r                   ' 

^^               **">         ™   r*"! 

i  p  f  i  r  '  - 

-  '     "  h    r         -^=^            . 
0 

-^2- 

•P--&-    -^~        „ 

r-7 

1                       1               1—  *1 

_       1 

'  .~ 

ff 

J 

—  ,-j  1  

~"       ^       |-=y-          J     h^~~   1 

~^3"   Cj       -^  

,-3    P?    SZ^oltS                    £2       • 

1  rrr 

i                f    i 

I      —  -3?  <&-.    -»-  — 
1      i      I      -<s>-  f     -s1-  i         T*~  -<^- 

1                           I 

—  -  : 

rn      14=^-**  — 

a 

Though  Byrd  survived  the  i6th  century  by 
more  than  20  years,  he  was  not  the  last  great 
Master  who  cultivated  the  true  Polyphonic  style 
in  England.  It  was  practised,  with  success,  by 
men  who  were  young  when  he  was  old,  yet  who 
did  not  all  survive  him.  We  see  a  very 
enchanting  phase  of  it,  in  the  few  works  of 
Kichard  Farranfc  which  have  been  preserved  to 
us.  His  style  is,  in  every  essential  particular, 
Venetian;  and  so  closely  resembles  that  of 
Giovanni  Croce,  that  one  might  well  imagine  the 
two  Masters  to  have  studied  together.  Farrant 
is  best  known  by  some '  Services,'  and  three  lovely 
Anthems,  the  authenticity  of  one  of  which — 
'Lord,  for  Thy  tender  mercies'  sake ' — has  lately 
been  questioned,  we  think  on  very  insufficient 
grounds,  and  certainly  in  defiance  of  the  internal 
evidence  afforded  by  the  character  of  its  Har 
monies.  Besides  these,  very  few  of  Farrant's 
works  are  known  to  be  in  existence.  The  Organ 
Part  of  a  Verse-Anthem — '  When  as  we  sate  in 
Babylon ' — is  preserved  in  the  Library  at  Christ 
Church ;  together  with  two  Madrigals,  or,  rather, 
one  Madrigal  in  two  parts — 'Ah!  Ah!  alas/ 
and  '  You  salt  sea  gods '  j  but  such  treasures  are 
exceedingly  rare. 

'  When  as  we  sate  in  Babylon.*  FARRANT. 


'v 


Versus 


. 

J.  4,A 


-J-, 


Chorus. 


m 

•^ES=^=^^ 

fJ       (ZS       <Z>~* 

.j.  ^etc-    r,  ',  n 

=£=r^  1,  -  <*  4jgq 

±I_  U—  f^^HiEE 

SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

fa 


Farrant  died  in  1580,  three  years  before  the 
birth  of  Orlando  Gibbons,  with  whom  the  School 
finished  gloriously  in   1625.      By  no  Composer 
was   the   dignity   of  English   Cathedral  Music 
more  nobly  maintained  than  by  this  true  Poly- 
phonist ;    who  adhered  to  the  good  old  rules, 
while  other  writers  were  striving  only  to  exceed 
each  other  in  the  boldness  of  their  licences.    He 
took  licences  also.     No  really  great  Master  was 
ever  afraid  of  them.    Josquin  wrote  Consecutive 
Fifths.     Palestrina  is  known  to  have  proceeded 
from  an  Imperfect  to  a  Perfect  Concord,  by  Simi 
lar  Motion,   in  Two-part  Counterpoint.    Luca 
Marenzio  has  written  whole  chains  of  Ligatures, 
which,  if  reduced  to  Plain  Counterpoint,  in  ac 
cordance  with  the  stern  test  demanded  by  Fux, 
would  produce  a   dozen  Consecutive  Fifths  in 
succession.    Orlando  Gibbons  has  claimed  no  less 
freedom,  in  these  matters,  than  his  predecessors. 
In  the  '  Sanctus  '  of  his  '  Service  in  F,'  he  wrote, 
between  bars  4  and  5,  the  most  deliberate  Fifths 
that  ever  broke  the  rule.     But  he  has  never  de 
graded  the  pure  Polyphonic  style  by  the  admixture 
of  foreign  elements  incompatible  with  its  inmost 
essence.    He  had  the  good  taste  to  feel  what  the 
later  Italian  Polyphonists  never  did  feel,  and 
never  could  be  made  to  understand — that  the  oil 
of  the  old  system  could  never,  by  any  possibility, 
be  persuaded  to  combine  with  the  wine  of  the 
new.    Of  the  nauseous  mixtures,  compounded  by 
Monteverde  and  the  Prince  of  Venosa,  we  find 
no  trace,  in  any  one  of  his  writings.    Free  to 
choose  whichever  style  he  pleased,  he  attached 
himself  to  that  of  the  Old   Masters,  and  con 
scientiously  adhered  to  it,  in  spite  of  the  tempta 
tions  by  which  he  was  surrounded  on  every  side. 
That  he  fully  appreciated  all  that  was  good  in 
the  newer  method  is  sufficiently  proved  by  his 
Instrumental  Music.    His 'Fantasies  of  III  Parts 
for  Viols,'  and  his  Pieces  for  the  Virginals,  in  'Par- 
thenia,'  are  full  of  quaint  fancy,  and  greatly  in 
advance  of  the  age.     But  in  his  Vocal  Composi 
tions,  he  was  as  true  a  Polyphonist  as  Tallis  him 
self.    Had  he  taken  the  opposite  course,  he  would, 
no  doubt,  have  been  equally  successful ;  for  he 
would,  most  certainly,  have  been  equally  con- 
istent.    As  it  was,  he  not  only  did  honour  to  the 
cause  he  espoused,  but  he  established  an  incontest 
able  claim  to  our  regard  as  one  of  its  brightest 
ornaments.     His  exquisitely  melodious  Anthem, 
br  4  Voices,  'Almighty  and  everlasting  God,' 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

his  8-part  Anthem,  '0  clap  your  hands,'  and 
his  magnificent  'Hosanna  to  the  Son  of  David,' 
for  6  Voices,  are  works  which  would  have  done 
honour  to  the  Roman  School,  in  its  most  brilliant 
period ;  and,  in  purity  of  intention,  and  truth 
fulness  of  expression,  stand  almost  unrivalled. 
It  is  not  often  that  a  School  ends  so  nobly :  but 
in  England,  as  in  Venice,  the  last  representative 
of  Polyphony  was  not  its  weakest  champion.  No 
Composer  of  the  period  ever  wrote  anything  more 
worthy  of  preservation  than  the  too-much-for 
gotten  contents  of  '  The  First  Set  of  Madrigals 
and  Mottets,' l  from  which  we  have  selected  the 
following  passage,  as  strikingly  characteristic  of 
the  tender  pathos  with  which  this  great  master 
of  expression  was  wont  to  temper  the  breadth  of 
his  massive  Harmonies,  when  the  sentiment  of  the 
words  to  which  they  were  adapted  demanded  a 
more  gentle  form  of  treatment  than  would  have 
been  consistent  with  the  sternness  of  his  grander 
utterances. 


£**—-         —  t^1—  - 

JP-J                          f^      •                 _                 ^r-, 

ft__ 

V—*-                                   1                                         V                    Co* 

f' 

L 

i     r^T      "| 

1 

jj*.     ^:     j^T  ^    "^a 

ii             •              p 

^                        ^ 

/*   ^ 

?^2 

<r?        ' 

j-—  ^; 

^2 

'r 

db= 


-• — &- 


A  ±.J, 


^F=tf 


-f-*- 


etc. 


It  would  be  manifestly  impossible,  within  the 
limits  of  a  sketch  like  the  present,  to  give  ex 
amples,  or  even  passing  notices,  of  the  works  of 
one  tenth  of  the  Composers  who  have  adorned 
the  six  great  Periods  of  the  Early  English  School. 
With  great  reluctance,  we  must  necessarily  pass 
over  the  names  of  John  Bull,  John  Mundy,  El  way 
Bevin,  Ellis  Gibbons,  John  Hilton,  Michael  Este, 
and  Adrian  Batten ;  of  Douland,  Morley, Weelkes, 
Wilbye,  Bennet,  Forde,  and  our  noble  array  of 
later  Madrigal  writers ;  and  of  many  others,  too 
numerous  to  mention,  though  much  too  talented  to 
be  forgotten :  and  we  grieve  the  more  to  do  so, 
because  these  men  have  not  been  fairly  treated, 
either  by  their  own  countrymen  or  by  foreigners. 

1  London,  1612.   No  trace  of  the  publication  of  any  Second  Set  can 
be  discovered. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION.      277 

The  former  have  sinned  against  their  School,  by 
neglecting  its  monuments.  The  latter,  by  con 
temptuously  ignoring  the  subject,  without  taking 
the  trouble  to  enquire  whether  we  possess  any 
monuments  worth  preservation,  or  not.  Time 
was,  when  a  Venetian  Ambassador,  writing  from 
the  Court  of  King  Henry  VIII.,  could  say  'We 
attended  High  Mass,  which  was  sung  by  the 
Bishop  of  Durham,  with  a  right  noble  Choir  of 
Discanters.'  And,  again,  'The  Mass  was  sung 
by  His  Majesty's  Choristers,  whose  Voices  are 
more  heavenly  than  human.  They  did  not  chaunt, 
like  men,  but  gave  praise2  like  Angels.  I  do 
not  believe  the  grave  Bass  Voices  have  their 
equals  anywhere.'  If  an  Italian  could  thus 
write  of  us,  in  the  i6th  century,  it  is  clear  that 
we  were  not  always  'an  utterly  unmusical 
nation.'3  And,  if  we  make  it  possible  that  such 
a  character  should  be  foisted  upon  us,  now,  it 
can  only  be,  because  we  have  so  long  lacked  the 
energy  to  show  that  we  did  great  things,  once, 
and  can — and  mean  to — do  them  again.  English 
Musicians  are  very  angry,  when  foreigners  tauut 
them  with  want  of  musical  feeling  :  but,  surely, 
they  cannot  hope  to  silence  their  detractors, 
while  they  not  only  leave  the  best  works  of  their 
Old  Masters  unpublished,  and  unperformed,  but 
do  not  even  care  to  cultivate  such  an  acquaint 
ance  with  them  as  may  at  least  justify  a  critical 
reference  to  their  merits,  when  the  existence 
of  English  Art  is  called  in  question.  We  have 
an  early  School,  of  which  we  need  not  be 
ashamed  to  boast,  in  presence  of  those  either 
of  Italy,  or  the  Netherlands.  If  we  do  not  think 
it  worth  while  to  study  its  productions,  we  can 
scarcely  expect  Italians  or  Germans  to  study 
them  for  us;  nor  can  we  justly  complain  of 
German  or  Italian  critics,  because,  when  they 
hear  the  inanities  too  often  sung  in  our  most 
beautiful  Cathedrals,  they  naturally  suppose  that 
we  have  nothing  better  to  set  before  them.  In 
a  later  division  of  our  subject,  we  shall  have 
occasion  to  speak  of  wasted  opportunities  of 
later  date.  But  we  think  we  have  here  con 
clusively  proved,  that,  if  our  Polyphonic  Schools 
have  not  obtained  due  recognition  upon  the 
Continent,  in  modern  times,  the  fault  lies,  in  a 
great  measure,  at  our  own  door.* 


2  '  Non  cantavano,  ma  giubilavano,'  etc. 

s  '  Vom  Anbeginn  der  Dinge,  bis  auf  den  heutigen  Tag,  eln  durcb 
und  durcb.  unmusikalisches  Laud.'  (Atnbros,  '  Geschichte  der 
Musik,'  Tom.  lii.  p.  440.)  It  is  true  that  Ambros  gives  this,  rather  as 
the  expression  of  an  universal  opinion,  on  the  Continent,  than  his 
own  ;  and,  that  he  afterwards  criticises  our  best  writers  more  fairly 
than  any  other  German  author  with  whose  works  we  are  acquainted. 
But,  bis  Chapter  on  English  Music  is  little  more  than  an  exposition 
of  his  own  opinion  of  the  light  thrown,  by  modern  criticism,  upon 
the  statements  made  by  Burney  and  Hawkins.  A  stronger  instance 
could  hardly  be  given  of  the  ignorance  of  the  English  school  on  the 
part  of  German  musicians  than  the  fact  that  so  laborious  an  investi 
gator  as  Bitner,  in  his  '  Catalogue  of  republications  of  antient  music ' 
(Berlin  1871)  omits  all  mention  of  such  important  collections  as 
Barnard's  'Selected  Church  Musick,'  Boyce's  'Cathedral  Music,' 
Arnold's  'Cathedral  Music,'  Novello's  'Fitzwilliam  Music,'  Hullah's 
Part  Music,  Vocal  Scores,  and  Singers'  Library :  while  in  his  Cata 
logue  of  works  printed  during  the  16th  and  17th  centuries  (Berlin, 
1877),  Tallis  and  Gibbons  are  absolutely  ignored,  and  Byrd  is  men 
tioned  only  iu  connection  with  two  Madrigals  in  the  Collection  of 
Thomas  Watson. 

Since  this  article  was  written,  -we  have  met  with  an  advertise 
ment,  mentioning  the  publication,  at  Leipzig,  of  19  Madrigals,  by 
Dowland,  Morley,  and  other  English  Composers,  adapted  to  German 
words,  and  edited  by  J.  J.  Meier. 


273      SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

XVII.  A  long  series  of  progressive  triumphs 
is  invariably  followed,  in  the  History  of  Art, 
by  a  period  of  fatal  reaction.  As  a  general  rule, 
the  seeds  of  corruption  germinate  so  slowly  that 
their  effect  is,  at  first,  almost  imperceptible. 
There  are,  however,  exceptions  to  this  law. 
In  the  Music  Schools  of  Italy,  the  inevitable 
revolution  was  effected  very  swiftly.  Scarcely 
had  the  grave  closed  over  the  mortal  remains 
of  Palestrina,  before  the  principles  upon  which 
he  founded  his  practice  were  laughed  into  obli 
vion  by  a  band  of  literary  savants,  themselves 
incapable  of  writing  an  artistic  Bass  to  a  Canto 
fermo.1  The  most  eloquent,  if  not  the  earliest 
advocates  of  'reform'  were,  Vincenzo  Galilei, 
and  Giovanni  Battista  Doni :  but  it  was  not  to 
them  that  Polyphony  owed  its  death-blow.  The 
true  Founder  of  THE  SCHOOLS  OF  THE  DECADENCE 
was  Claudio  Monteverde,  in  whose  Madrigals 
the  rule  which  forbids  the  use  of  Unprepared 
Discords  in  Strict  Counterpoint  was  first  openly 
disregarded.  In  the  next  division  of  our  subject, 
we  shall  have  occasion  to  describe  this  once  cele 
brated  Composer  as  a  genius  of  the  highest  order : 
but  we  cannot  so  speak,  here,  of  the  ruthless 
destroyer  of  a  system  which,  after  so  many 
years  of  earnest  striving  for  perfection,  attained 
it,  at  last,  in  the  Later  Roman  School.  It  was 
in  building  up  a  new  School,  on  a  new  founda 
tion,  that  Monteverde  showed  his  greatness,  not 
in  his  attempts  to  improve  upon  the  praxis  of  the 
Polyphonic  Composers.  Without  good  Counter 
point,  good  Polyphony  cannot  exist:  and  his 
Counterpoint,  even  before  he  boldly  set  its  laws 
at  defiance,  was  so  defective,  that  the  conclusion 
that  he  discarded  it,  in  despair  of  ever  satisfacto 
rily  mastering  its  difficulties,  is  inevitable.  It  is, 
indeed,  much  to  be  regretted  that  he  did  not 
give  up  the  struggle  at  an  earlier  period,  and 
devote  to  the  advancement  of  Monodia  the  ener 
gies,  which,  when  brought  to  bear  upon  the 
work  of  his  immediate  predecessors,  were  pro 
ductive  of  nothing  but  evil :  for,  however  grate 
fully  we  may  welcome  his  contributions  to  the 
Lyric  Drama,  we  cannot  quite  so  cordially  thank 
him  for  such  attempts  to  *  rival  the  harmonies 
of  midnight  cats,'  as  the  following  passage  from 
his  '  Vesperse,'  composed  for  the  Cathedral  of 
S.  Mark — a  triumph  of  cacophony  which  the 
Prince  of  Venosa  himself  might  justly  have 
envied. 


S3" 

-  :  gi     ^ 

-S- 

-.    -pr   -^ 

etc. 

-  —  £= 

i^  —  — 

i  See  MONODIA  ;  MONTEVEEDE  ;  MASS,  vol.  ii.  p.  231. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

In  one  country  alone  did  the  Period  of  the 
Decadence  produce  fruit  worthy  of  preservation. 
Its   effect   upon  Venetian   Music   is   shown  in 
these  'Vesperse.'     In  Rome,  it  formed  so  serious 
an  hindrance  to  productive  power,  that  it  con 
tributed  absolutely  nothing  to  the  repertoire  of 
the  Pontifical  Chapel.     But,  in  England,  it  gave 
birth  to  the  Glee,  a  form  of  Composition  quite 
distinct  from  the  German  Part-Song,  and  of  in 
finitely  higher  interest ;  and  of  so  truly  national 
a  character,  that   it   has   never,  in   one  single 
instance,  been  produced  in  any  other  country 
than   our  own,  or   set  to  other  than  English 
words,  for  which  reasons  it  is  doubtful  whether 
full  justice   could   be   done  to  it   by  any  but 
English  Singers.     The  true  relation  of  the  Glee 
to  the  older  forms  of  Polyphony  will  be  best  un 
derstood  by  comparing  the  latest  English  Madri 
gals  with  the  works  of  the  earliest  Glee  writers ; 
using  the  Canzonets  of  such  Composers  as  Dow- 
land  and  Ford,  as  connecting  links  between  the 
productions  of  Weelkes,  Bateson,  and  Morley,  on 
the  one  hand,  and  those  of  Battishill,  Stevens, 
and  Cooke,  on  the  other.     This  will  show,  that, 
notwithstanding  the  length  of  time  interposed  be 
tween  the  two  styles,  and  the  consequent  diverg 
ence  of  their  tonalities — the  use  of  the  Antient 
Modes  having  died  out  with  the  Madrigal — the 
newer  form  could  by  no  possibility  have  come 
into  existence  except  upon  the  ruins  of  the  older 
one  ;  and  it  is  strange  that  this  last  remnant  of 
Polyphony  should  be  found  in  the  country  which 
boasts  the  earliest  specimen  of  the  Art  that  has 
as  yet  been  brought  to  light. 

With  this  beautiful  creation,  the  old  rfyime 
came  absolutely  to  an  end :  and  it  now  remains  for 
us  to  trace  the  rise  and  progress  of  the  Monodic 
Schools. 

XVIII.  THE  MONODIC  SCHOOL  OF  FLORENCE 
presents  one  of  the  strangest  anomalies  to  be 
found  in  the  annals  of  Art ;  inasmuch  as  it 
originated  in  no  natural  process  of  development, 
but  owed  its  existence  to  a  theory,  which,  though 
altogether  wild  and  visionary  in  itself,  led  to  re 
sults  both  practical  and  enduring,  and  culminated 
in  the  invention  of  the  Lyric  Drama.3  The 
Founders  of  the  School  were  Peri  and  Caccini, 
with  whom  its  first  period  expired.  Its  prin 
ciples  were  so  violently  opposed  to  those  by 
which  alone  the  greatest  Composers  of  the  two 
preceding  centuries  had  been  guided,  that  we 
can  only  look  upon  it  as  an  entirely  new  mani 
festation  of  genius — a  new  beginning,  cut  off,  by 
an  impassable  gulf,  from  all  that  had  previously 
existed.  Its  disciples,  holding  Counterpoint  in 
undisguised  contempt,  substituted,  in  its  place, 
a  simple  form  of  irregularly-constructed  Melody, 
easy  to  sing,  but  stiff  and  unattractive  to  the 
last  degree,  and  supported  only  by  a  Thorough 
bass,  as  simple  as  itself,  and,  if  possible,  still 
more  devoid  of  interest.  This,  as  exemplified 
in  the  'Nuove  Musiche'  of  Caccini,  and  Peri's 
'  Euridice,'  was  a  poor  exchange,  indeed,  for  the 
glories  of  Polyphony.  But,  the  life  and  soul  of  the 
School  lay  in  its  declamatory  power.  By  means 
a  See  vol.  ii.  pp.  497—500.  Also.  MONODIA,  PEEI,  CACCINI. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

of  this,  its  leaders  appealed,  at  once,  to  the  hearts 
of  their  hearers.  If  they  did  not,  themselves, 
attain  to  the  expression  of  deep  pathos,  or  grand 
dramatic  truth,  they  led  the  way  to  both.  And, 
in  this  new  feature,  lay  the  secret,  not  only  of 
their  own  immediate  success,  in  Florence,  but, 
of  the  amazing  rapidity  with  which  their  prin 
ciples  gained  ground,  elsewhere,  and  the  avidity 
with  which  they  were  received  by  the  most 
talented  writers  of  the  period.  In  spite  of  its 
monotony,  its  crudeness,  its  poverty,  its  faults  of 
every  conceivable  kind,  the  Monodic  School  of 
Florence,  dowered  with  this  one  virtue,  was  en 
abled,  even  in  its  infancy,  to  make  an  impres 
sion  upon  Art  which  has  never  yet  been  ob 
literated  :  and  nowhere  is  that  impression  more 
clearly  traceable  than  upon  the  latest  produc 
tions  of  our  own  enlightened  age. 

XIX.  Of  THE  SCHOOL  OF  MANTUA,  Monte- 
verde  was  the  beginning,  and  the  end.1    Though 
he  did  not  originate  the  idea  of  the  Opera,  he 
won  for  it  such  high  distinction,  at  the  Court  of 
Vincenzo  Gonzaga,  that  the  efforts  of  its  Floren 
tine  parents  attracted,  thenceforward,  but  very 
little  notice.     In  presence  of  his  '  Orfeo'  it  was 
impossible  that  Peri's  '  Euridice'  could  continue 
to  live.     Neither  in  dramatic  power,  nor  in  com 
mand  of  the  heterogeneous  orchestra  of  the  period, 
did  any  contemporaneous  writer  approach  him; 
and  to  this  circumstance  he  was  mainly  indebted 
for  his  most  brilliant  successes.     He  seemed  to 
have  been  created  for  the  age,  and  the  age  for 
him.     Since  the  Florentine  Masters  had  shown 
that  dramatic  effect  was  possible,  Artists  saw  a 
new  world  open  to  them  ;  and,  in  their  eagerness 
to  enter  it,  were  ready  to  cast  down  and  destroy 
every  obstacle  that  lay  in  their  way.     Monte- 
verde  had  wisdom  enough  to  seize  the  oppor 
tunity,  and  genius  enough  to  use  it  splendidly. 
He  wrote   with   growing   appreciation    of   the 
capabilities  of  the  Stage ;   and  introduced  new 
ideas  into  every  new  work.     A  nd  therefore  it  is, 
that,  though  the  School  of  Mantua  boasts  only 
a  very  few  achievements,  and  these  all  by  one 
Composer,  we  look  upon  it  as  one  of  the  most 
important  Schools  that  have  ever  existed. 

XX.  THE    VENETIAN    DRAMATIC    SCHOOL 
was  founded,  in  the  year  1637,  by  Benedetto 
Ferrari,  and  Francesco  Manelli,  whose  labours 
were  crowned,  from  the  first,  with  abundant  suc 
cess,  though  the  merits  of  their  Compositions 
were  eclipsed  in  1639  by  the  triumphant  recep 
tion  of  Monteverde's  *  L'Adone/  and  an  almost 
equally  popular  work,  '  Le  Nozze  di  Peleo  e  di 
Tetide,'   by  his    pupil   Cavalli.2      The  veteran 
Monteverde,  then   Maestro   di  Cappella   at  S. 
Mark's,   won  scarcely  less   honour  in  Venice 
than  he  had  already  earned  at  Mantua.    Cavalli 
proved  himself  a  worthy  disciple  of  so  distin 
guished  a  Master ;  and,  though  he  found  a  for 
midable  rival  in  Marc   Antonio  Cesti,  one   of 
Carissimi's  most  talented  pupils,  he  secured  to 
himself  a  long-enduring  fame.     Monteverde  died 


1  See  MONTEVEBDE.   Also,  vol.  ii.  pp.  500-501. 

2  See  vol.  ii.  pp.  602-504. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION.      279 

in  1643  ;  but  under  Cesti  and  Cavalli,  and  a 
long  line  of  successors  fully  capable  of  carrying 
on  their  work,  the  School  retained,  for  many 
years,  the  prestige  of  its  early  successes,  and  was 
long  regarded  as  the  best  in  Italy.  During 
its  reign,  a  more  flowing  style  of  Melody  gradu 
ally  replaced  the  monotonous  Recitative  of  Cac- 
cini  and  Peri.  The  Eitornello3  was  accepted  as 
an  adjunct  to  the  Aria.  And  many  other  improve 
ments  were  added,  from  time  to  time,  until,  by 
the  close  of  the  century,  the  Lyric  Drama  had 
attained  a  position  in  Venice  which  excited  the 
envy  of  every  rival  School  in  Europe. 

XXI.  The  early  records  of  THE  NEAPOLITAN 
DRAMATIC  SCHOOL  are  very  imperfect ;  but,  our 
ignorance  of  the  work  effected  by  its  older  Masters 
is  of  little  importance,  in  the  presence  of  its  most 
brilliant  ornament,  Alessandro  Scarlatti,  who, 
though  he  laboured  so  long  in  Rome,  is  justly 
claimed  by  the  Neapolitans  as  their  own  inalien 
able  property.  The  vocal  works  of  this  great 
genius  are  known,  to  most  of  us,  only  through 
a  few  fragmentary  Songs,  which,  though  they 
delight  all  who  hear  them,  have  not  yet  tempted 
any  publisher  to  issue  a  more  extended  selec 
tion  from  his  works,  very  few  of  which  were 
printed,  even  during  his  own  lifetime.  It  is  only 
by  a  very  rare  chance  that  one  is  fortunate 
enough,  nowadays,  to  meet  with  an  Opera  by 
Scarlatti,  even  in  MS.  We  have,  however,  a 
few  trustworthy  Scores,  in  some  of  our  public 
libraries.  A  complete  copy  of  'II  Prigioniero 
fortunate'  will  be  found  among  the  Dragonetti 
MSS.  in  the  British  Museum ;  and  the  Library 
of  Christ  Church,  Oxford,  possesses  a  Serenata, 
12  Cantatas,  and  three  perfect  Operas — '  Gerone' 
(dated  '1692  e  scritta  1693'),  'II  Flavio  Cuni- 
berto,'  and  'La  Teodora  Augusta,'  all  deeply 
interesting  to  the  student,  and  rich,  not  only  in 
fine  Songs,  but  also  in  charming  Ritornelli,  for  the 
Stringed  Band,  interposed  between  the  various 
Scenes  of  the  Drama.  '  II  Flavio  Cuniberto '  be 
gins  with  a  regular  Overture,  called  e  Sinfonia 
avanti  V  Opera,'  and  consisting  of  a  Fugue,  on 
two  Subjects,  in  B  Minor,  and  a  Minuet,  in  6-8 
Time,  in  the  same  key.  '  Gerone,'  and  '  La 
Teodora  Augusta,'  both  contain  Airs,  for  So 
prano,  with  Trumpet  Obbligato,  exhibiting  more 
than  the  germ  of  that  Art-form  which  afterwards 
culminated  in '  Hor  la  tromba,'  and '  Let  the  bright 
Seraphim.'  '  La  Teodora '  contains  a  Sinfonia, 
with  an  Obbligato  Trumpet.  The  following  ex 
tract  is  from  the  Trumpet  Air  in  '  Gerone.' 


,  Tromba 


3  See  vol.  ill.  p.  137. 


280      SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 


-•-(- 


etc. 


etc 


Scarcely  less  talented  than  Scarlatti  himself  was 
Francesco  de'  Rossi,  a  Canon  of  Bari,whose  Operas, 
'II  Sejano  moderno  della  Tracia,'  'Clorilda,'  'La 
pena  degl'  oechi,'  and  'Mitrane,'  met  with  great 
success,  in  the  latter  half  of  the  I7th  century. 
'  Mitrane'  contains  a  Scena,  'Ah,  rendimi  quel 
core,'  far  in  advance  of  its  age,  and  even  now  a 
great  favourite  with  Contralto  Singers  equal  to 
its  demands.1  Fr.  de'  Rossi  also  wrote  much 
excellent  Sacred  Music ;  though,  in  this  he  was 
excelled  by  Alessandro  Stradella,  who  was  cer 
tainly  a  Neapolitan  by  birth,  if  not  by  residence.2 
The  earnest  labours  of  these  able  men  prepared 
the  way  for  still  greater  work  in  the  future.  Not 
only  were  Artists  alive  to  the  importance  of  the 
Musical  Drama  ;  but,  the  people  themselves  were 
taught  to  love  it,  until  it  became  as  dear  to  them 
as  the  fun  of  the  Carnival.  And  when,  in  later 
years,  a  race  of  Composers  arose,  who  appealed 
directly  to  their  sympathies,  the  Sovereignty  of 
Art  was  gradually  transferred  from  Venice  to 
Naples,  which,  in  the  next  century,  became  a 
more  important  centre  of  production  than  the 
City  of  the  Doges. 

XXII.  The  services  rendered  to  the  cause  of 
Art  by  the  Polyphonic  Schools  of  Germany 
seem  very  poor  indeed,  compared  with  the  work 
wrought,  at  a  later  period,  in  her  Schools  of  In 
strumental  Music,  which  speedily  rose  to  emin 
ence,  after  the  death  of  Hans  Leo  Hasler,  of 
whose  long-felt  influence  we  have  already  spoken 
in  Section  XIII  of  the  present  Article. 

The  most  noticeable  feature  in  THE  GERMAN 
SCHOOLS  OF  THE  I7TH  CENTURY  was  the  great 
prominence  given  to  the  Organ,  in  all  their  pro 
ductions.  After  the  Reformation,  the  Choral 
was  always  supported  by  an  Organ  Accom 
paniment  ;  and  the  mechanism  of  the  Instrument 
attained,  in  Germany,  a  degree  of  perfection  else 
where  unknown,  except  perhaps  in  Venice.  But 
the  Organ  was  not  employed  alone.  The  '  Syn 
tagma  musicum '  ofMichaelPrsetorius,  printed  in 
161 2-18,  contains  descriptions,  and  engravings,  of 
'  all  manner  of  Instruments '  in  common  use  at 
the  time  it  was  written ;  and  thus  throws  much 
valuable  light,  not  only  upon  the  progress  of 
Instrumental  Music  among  the  author's  own 
countrymen,  but,  upon  the  Orchestras  employed 
by  the  Composers  of  the  Monodic  School  in 
Italy.  Prsetorius  himself  wa-s  an  ardent  sup 
porter  of  the  rising  School,  and  enriched  it  with 
a  long  list  of  Compositions,  most  of  which  are 
now  utterly  unknown  ;  partly,  no  doubt,  on  ac 
count  of  the  extreme  rarity  of  the  original 

i  See  SCENA,  TV,  vol.  iii.  p.  210. 

z  gee  vol.  il.  pp.  501-505,  and  537-538. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

editions,  which  have  never  been  reprinted;  but 
more,  it  is  to  be  feared,  because  critical  writers, 
even  in  Germany,  have  been  too  much  blinded 
by  the   splendid   achievements   of  Graun,   and 
the  Bach  family,  to  give  due  attention  to  the 
period  which  prepared  the  way  even  for  Seb. 
Bach  himself.     Yet,  the  annals  of  this  period 
account  for  facts  in  the  history  of  to-day,  which, 
without  their  help,  would  be  inexplicable.    It 
has  long  been  assumed  that  Melody  and  Har 
mony,  form  the  distinguishing  characteristics  of 
Italian  and  German  Music,  respectively;   and, 
that  this  circumstance  is  to  be  accounted  for  by 
the  light  and  careless  nature  of  the  Italians,  and 
the  studious  habits  of  the  Germans.     There  may 
be  a  certain  amount  of  surface  truth  involved  in 
the  idea  :  but  we,  who  live  in  the  century  which 
produced  an  Italian  Baini,  and  a  German  Offen 
bach — both  types  of  tolerably  large  classes — can 
scarcely  be  persuaded  to  receive  it  uncondition 
ally.  The  difference  between  German  and  Italian 
Music  is  traceable,  step  by  step,  to  a  far  more 
definite  and  satisfactory  origin  than  this.     In 
toxicated  with  the  prejudices  of  the  Renaissance, 
the  leaders  of  the  Florentine  Monodic  School  held 
Counterpoint  in  equal  hatred  and  contempt ;  not 
from  any  logical  objection  to  its  laws — which  they 
never  troubled  themselves  to  learn — but,  because 
the  Art  was  unknown   to  Classical  Antiquity. 
They  therefore  determined  to   reject,  entirely, 
the   experience   of  the    Masters  who  preceded 
them,  and  to  build  their  style  upon  a  new  foun 
dation,    which    demanded    nothing    beyond  a 
Melody,  more  or  less  expressive,  supported  by  a 
more  or  less  simple  Accompaniment ;  and  this 
principle  has  been  accepted,  as  the  basis  of  the 
Italian  style,  from  their  day  to  ours.    But,  no 
such  principle  was  ever  accepted  in  Germany. 
The  lithe  motion  of  Hasler's  contrapuntal  invo 
lutions  was  as  much  appi-eciated,  in  Vienna,  as  in 
Nuremberg :  and,  when  the  progress  of  Instru 
mental  Music  demanded  still  greater  freedom, 
the  laws  of  Counterpoint  were  modified  to  suit 
the  exigencies  of  the  occasion ;  the  antient  Modes 
were  abandoned  in  favour  of  more  modern  tonal 
ities  ;  and  just  so  much  innovation  as  was  found 
absolutely  necessary  was  freely  permitted,  while 
everything  in  the  older  system  not  essentially 
incompatible  with  the  change  of  circumstances 
was  thankfully  retained,  not  from  respect  for  its 
antiquity,  but  from  sincere  conviction  of  its  last 
ing  value.      Unlike  Peri,  and  Monteverde,  the 
German  Masters  destroyed  nothing.     They  were 
content  to  work  on,  upon  the  old  foundations ;  in 
troducing,  from  time  to  time,  whatever  changes 
the  spirit  of  the  age  dictated,  and  wholly  undis 
turbed  by  that  visionary  restoration  of  Hellenic 
Tragedy  which  formed  the  mainspring  of  the 
Italian  revolution.     And  thus  it  happened,  that 
the  Strict  Counterpoint  of  the  i6th  century  gave 
place  to  the  modern  system  of  Part- writing,  which 
Las,  ever  since,  formed  the  true  strength,  not  only 
of  every  German  School,  but  every  German  Com 
poser,  from  Bach  to  Brahms ;  while,  by  confining 
its  attention  entirely  to  Melody,  thepedantryofthe 
Renaissance  gave  birth,  in  Italy,  to  another  style, 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

from  which  every  Italian  Composer,  from  Mon- 
teverde  to  Rossini,  has  drawn  his  most  graceful 
inspirations,  and  his  most  captivating  effects. 
Let  us  be  equally  thankful  for  both ;  while,  by 
a  careful  study  of  their  respective  histories,  we 
strive  to  attain  the  power  of  justly  appreciating 
their  respective  merits. 

XXIII.   Jean  Baptiste  Lulli,  the  founder  of 
THE  FRENCH  SCHOOL  OF  THE  17™  CENTURY, 
though  an  Italian  by  birth,  was  so  thoroughly  a 
Frenchman  in  taste  and  feeling,  as  well  as  by 
education,  that  his  actual  parentage  may  well  be 
forgotten,  in  his  attachment  to  the  country  of 
his  naturalisation.    His  style,  though  resembling 
in  certain  technical  points  that  of  the  Monodic 
School   of  Italy,  differs   so  widely  from  it   in 
character  and  expression,  that  it  can  only  be 
fairly  judged  as  an  original  creation.    Moreover, 
his  instrumental  works,  and  especially  the  Over 
tures  to  his  dramatic  pieces,  prove  him  to  have 
attained  considerable  proficiency  in  the  modern 
ised  form  of  Counterpoint  called  Part-writing, 
and  to  have  known  how  to  use  it  with  so  much 
originality  of  form,  and  breadth  of  effect,  that  the 
particular  type  of  Orchestral  Prelude  which  he 
undoubtedly  invented,  soon  came  to  be  regarded 
as   an  indispensable  introduction  to  the  Lyric 
Drama.      Technically,     this     Fugued     Prelude 
brought  him  into  somewhat  close  relation  with 
the  German  Schools  ;  yet,  his  manner  was  even 
less  German  than  Italian.     In  truth,  his  obliga 
tions  to  the   great  Masters  of  other  countries 
were  so  slight,  that  the  style  he  gave  to  France 
may  be  described  as,  in  every  essential  particular, 
hia  own.     That  he  trained  no  body  of  admiring 
disciples  to  follow  in  his  steps  will  not  seem  sur 
prising  to  those  who  have  read  his  biography; 
and  so  it  happened,  that,  for  nearly  half  a  cen 
tury  after  his  death,  very  little,  if  any  progress 
was  made  :  yet,  he  none  the  less  gave  France  a 
national  School,  in  which  her  own  children  were 
not  slow  to  distinguish  themselves,  at  a  later 
period.     Both   the   'Opera   Comique,'   and   the 
'Vaudeville,'  though  moulded  into  their  now 
universally  accepted  forms  at  a  period  long  subse 
quent  to  his  decease,  owe  much  of  their  distinctive 
character  to  the  impress  of  his  genius ;  which 
also  exercised  a  remarkable  influence  upon  the 
development  of  the  'Grand  Ope"ra,'  not  only  in 
its  earlier  stages,  but  even  after  it  had  made 
considerable  advance  towards  maturity.   Indeed, 
the  principles  upon  which  he  worked  have  under 
gone  wonderfully  little  radical  change  since  the 
close  of  the  I7th  century;    while  the  general 
characteristics  of  his  School  are  clearly  recog 
nisable  in  works  which  have  long  been  accepted 
as  embodiments  of  the  popular  taste  of  a  far 
more  modern  epoch.    For  instance,  the  following 
bright  little  Melody  from  his  once  popular  Opera, 
'  Roland,'  breathes  the  spirit  of  Lutetian  gaiety 
no  less  freely  than  many  a  set  of  Couplets  by 
Boieldieu,   or  He"rold,   though   it    was   written 
more  than  a  century  before  even  Gluck's  first 
appearance  in  Paris.1 

i  MS.  Scores  of  8  of  LulH's  Operas  will  be  found  in  the  Dragonetti 
Collection,  in  the  British  Museum. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION.      281 


$ 

/>     :     P     --.--•     —  1  *-!•  r 

Tl  1 

tJ 
Ai-mez,  ai-mez,  Ro-land  a    vo-tre 

)'tf  /*   :  ^  13  =r— 

tour,  11  n'est 

—  ^  :  r  -T  ^— 

6 

— 

*"•      m     in      -f^      P     r                 i    i     Pi 

•        *       A       '(I 

—    •   F                i      j       L-)    r  j 

1    r        1      'II 

j___        1      i       1   _  '               —  '    ta^ 

point  de  cli-  mats    oil  sa    gloi  -  re      ne         vo  -   -   -   le: 

. 

•  i 

—  iis'  —  —  ^  —      ~  ff^-  —           "  ~t 

s^  -^1 

6                                                        56 

\       \    \   r^>      *     »     Jt_              « 

rd       a     •                                »,       » 

'   "  0 

•1          c>       •     * 

1                               ' 

Du     moins  la   fier  -  t6     se  con  -  so  -  le,  Quand  la    gloi  -re  I'o  - 
-<5>--        -       ... 

r-"  •        i*                                        *     < 

, 

•                                                           * 

f°-  • 

"                     _                                           1 

, 

1 

1  .             II 

6        »               6       B                          * 

\        k_                     i 

(^                  ^      , 

«  •     a                           £ 

•       -rJ      •                ^4   • 

blige       a      ce  -  -  der     a   1'a  -  mour.         etc. 

V      "4                                                    " 

^a 

_  -                  H           '" 

6                        ait        •&- 

XXIV.  THE  ENGLISH  SCHOOL  OF  THE 
CENTURY  was,  in  many  respects,  a  very  advanced 
one ;  though  its  triumphs  were  of  a  varied  charac 
ter.  Orlando  Gibbons  cannot  be  reckoned 
among  its  Masters,  because,  although  he  lived 
until  the  year  1625,  his  method,  his  style,  and 
his  predilections,  were  wholly  with  the  cinquecen- 
tisti.  The  period  which  followed  was  not  pro 
mising.  The  disturbed  state  of  the  kingdom, 
during  the  reign  of  Charles  I.,  and  the  progress 
of  the  Great  Rebellion,  necessarily  exercised  a 
fatal  influence  on  the  development  of  Art ;  yet, 
the  latter  half  of  the  century  was  extraordinarily 
productive,  and  the  period  which  we  shall  dis 
tinguish  as  that  of  THE  SCHOOL  OF  THE  RESTORA 
TION  gave  birth  to  a  distinct  race  of  Composers 
of  more  than  ordinary  talent,  as  well  as  to  a  new 
style,  which  owes  so  many  of  its  distinguishing 
features  to  the  political  and  social  changes  of  the 
period,  that,  without  recalling  these,  it  would 
be  impossible  to  explain  how  it  ever  came  into 
existence  at  all. 

The  healthy  and  universal  love  for  Art,  which, 
in  the  beginning  of  the  century,  led  to  the  recog 
nition  of  the  Madrigal  as  a  national  institution, 
and  the  Anthem  as  an  indispensable  feature  in 
the  Services  of  the  Church,  died  out  completely, 
during  the  short  but  eventful  period  of  neglect 
and  confusion  interposed  between  the  death  of 
King  Charles  I.  and  the  Restoration.  The  Puri 
tans  hated  the  Music  of  the  Anglican  Church 
most  cordially.  They  regarded  the  destruction 
of  every  Organ  and  Office-Book  which  fell  into 
their  hands,  as  a  religious  duty ;  and,  to  the 
zeal  with  which  they  carried  out  their  infamous 
system  of  spoliation,  we  are  indebted  for  the 
loss  of  many  a  treasure  bequeathed  to  us  by 
our  older  Schools.  Condemning  all  aspirations 
after  the  Beautiful  as  snares  of  the  Evil  One, 
they  would  not  even  suffer  their  children  to  be 


282      SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

taught  to  sing ;  and  those  who  had  been  taught, 
in  happier  times,  were  speedily  losing  the  youth 
ful  freshness  of  their  Voices,  now  doomed  to  per 
petual  silence.  This  bigotry  of  the  Roundheads 
put  an  end  to  all  hope  of  progress :  but,  happily, 
their  term  of  power  came  to  an  end,  before  the 
traditions  of  the  past  were  entirely  forgotten. 
Men,  who  had  done  good  service,  before  their 
career  was  interrupted  by  the  Civil  War,  were 
still  living,  when,  in  the  year  1660,  the  Restora 
tion  of  Charles  II.  inaugurated  a  brighter  future 
for  music  ;  and,  to  one  of  these  the  '  Merrie 
Monarch '  wisely  entrusted  the  reconstruction  of 
the  Choir  of  the  Chapel  Royal.1 

Henry  Cook,  the  new  *  Master  of  ye  Children,' 
had  himself  sung  in  the  Chapel,  as  a  Chorister, 
in  the  days  of  King  Charles  I. ;  and  afterwards 
attained  some  reputation  as  a  Composer :  but,  on 
the  breaking  out  of  the  Rebellion,  he  relinquished 
his  studies,  for  the  purpose  of  joining  the  Royal 
Army;  and  in  1642  obtained  a  Captain's  Commis 
sion,  on  which  account  he  was  afterwards  known  as 
Captain  Cook.    It  has  been  said  that  his  military 
prowess  was  greater  than  his  musical  talent ;  yet 
it  is  certain  that  he  trained  more  than  one  of  the 
best  Composers  of  the  rising  School,  and  trained 
them  well,  though  not  without  the  assistance  of 
able  coadjutors.  Among  these  learned  colleagues 
were  three  quondam  Choristers — Edward  Lowe, 
Christopher  Gibbons  (the  son  of  Orlando),  and 
William  Child,  who,  on  the  King's  return,  were 
appointed  joint  Organists  of  the  Chapel.    Another 
member  of  the  older  staff — Henry  Lawes — was 
restored  to  Office,  as  Clerk  of  the  Cheque,  and 
commissioned  to  compose  the  Music  for  the  ap 
proaching  Coronation.2    The  Music  played  by  the 
'Sagbutts  and  Cornets,'  during  the  triumphal 
Procession  from  the  Tower  to  Whitehall,  was 
written  by  an  old  Chorister  of  Exeter  Cathedral, 
Matthew  Lock.     This  accomplished   Musician 
performed  his  task  so  successfully,  that  he  was 
immediately  promoted  to  the  Office  of  Composer 
in  ordinary  to  the  King ;  and,  in  that  capacity,  at 
once  began  to  furnish  new  Music  for  the  resus 
citated  Choir,   and   to  assist  his  trusty  fellow- 
labourers  in  their  endeavour  to  recover  the  ground 
which  had  been  lost.     But,  there  were  grave 
difficulties  in  the  way.    So  many  old  Part-Books 
had  been  destroyed,  that,  had  it  not  been  for  Bar 
nard's  '  First  Book  of  Selected  Church  Musick,'3 
there  would  have  been  little  left  to  sing.     More 
over,  the  difficulty  of  procuring  Choir-Boys,  in 
the  face  of  Puritan  superstition,  was  almost  in 
superable.     In  many  Cathedrals,  this  dearth  of 
Treble  Voices  led,  not  only  to  the  extensive  em 
ployment  of  adult  falsetti,  but  even  to  the  sub 
stitution  of  Cornets  for  the  Vocal  Parts.    Captain 
Cook,  however,  was  fortunate  enough  to  secure, 
for  the  Chapel  Royal,  a  small  body  of  Choristers, 


1  That  Is  to  say,  the  Chapel  attached  to  the  Palace  at  Whitehall, 
destroyed  by  fire  Jan.  5, 1698. 

2  According  to  Sir  Eichard  Baker's  Chronicle.  Matthew  Lock  com 
posed  the  Music  for  King  Charles's  public  entry;  and  Captain  Cook, 
that  sung  at  the  Coronation.   Probably,  Cook  and  Lawes  each  con 
tributed  a  portion  of  the  latter.    At  any  rate,  it  is  certain  that 
Lawes  composed  the  Anthem,  'Zadok  the  Priest.' 

3  See  vol.  i.  p.  140. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

of  superlative  excellence,  three  of  whom — Pel- 
ham  Humfrey,  John  Blow,  and  Michael  Wise — 
came  at  once  to  the  front,  and,  before  many 
years  had  passed,  were  openly  recognised  as  the 
Founders  of  the  new  School.     Strengthened  by 
the  Voices  of  these  talented  Boys,  the  Choir  could 
scarcely  fail  to  flourish ;  though  its  management 
was  no  easy  task.     The  King,  whose  taste  had 
been  formed  on  the  Continent,  regarded  the  grand 
conceptions  of  Tallis  and  Byrd,  and  the  solemn 
tones  of  the  Organ,  with  far  less  favour  than  the 
lighter  strains  of  the  contemporary  French  School, 
and  the  more  brilliant  effect  of  a  full  Orchestra. 
He  therefore  filled  the  Organ-loft  of  the  Chapel 
Royal  with  a  band  of  Viols,  Sagbutts,  and  Cornets; 
and,  in  order  that  they  might  produce  the  greater 
effect,  commanded  his  Composers  to  intersperse 
their  Anthems  with  a  goodly  proportion  of  cheer 
ful   Ritornelli,   adapted   to   the   powers  of  the 
new  Instruments.      They  obeyed,  of  course,  to 
the  best  of  their  ability.     But,  neither  Lowe, 
nor  Chr.  Gibbons,  nor  even  the  more  melodious 
Child,  took  kindly  to  the  new  French  style,  which 
must  have  sounded  strange  indeed  to  ears  so  long 
accustomed  to  the  Polyphony  of  a  byegone  age. 
The  two  first-named  Organists,  indeed,  contri 
buted  comparatively  little  Music  of  any  kind  to 
the  repertoire  of  the  newly-organised  Choir :  but 
Dr.  Child  was  a  voluminous  Composer ;  and  his 
works,   though  they  will   not  bear  comparison 
with  those  of  Orlando  Gibbons,  retain  much  of 
his  breadth   of  manner,  and,   notwithstanding 
their  flowing  vein  of  melody,  show  little  affinity 
with  the  more  modern  Monodia  which  the  King 
desired  his  Musicians  to  cultivate.   Henry  Lawes, 
on  the  contrary,  was  a  zealous  disciple  of  the 
Monodic  School;   and  chiefly  delighted  in  the 
confection  of  Ssecular  Songs,  which,  though  cele 
brated  enough  in  their  own  day,  and  commended, 
by  some  of  the  best  Poets  of  the  age,  for  their 
prosodial  accuracy,  lack  the  genial  freshness  which 
alone  can  invest  such  works  with  enduring  in 
terest.     There  can  be  no  doubt  that  in  England, 
as  well  as  in  Italy,  the  earliest  productions  of  the 
Monodic  sera  were  pervaded  by  a  perhaps  un 
avoidable  spirit   of   pedantry,   which,  however 
valuable  it  may  have  been  as  a  preparation  for 
better  things,  proved  fatal  to  their  own  longevity. 
Beyond    this    transitional    point   Lawes   never 
soared  ;   and  hence  it  is,  that,  while  his  Songs 
are  now  known  only  to  the  Antiquary,  some  of 
those  written  by  his  contemporary,  Matthew  Lock 
— who  was,  in  every  way,  a  greater  Musician, 
and  gifted  with  an  infinitely  richer  imagination, 
and  a  far  more  liberal  share  of  natural  talent — 
are  as  popular  to-day,  as  they  were  200  years 
ago.      There    are,    indeed,   passages  in  Lock's 
Music  to  Macbeth,  which  can  never  grow  old. 
Such  Movements  as  '  When  cattle  die,  about  we 
go,'  'Let's  have  a  dance  upon  the  heath,' and  the 
Echo   Chorus,    'At   the   Night-Raven's  dismal 
voice, 'would  have  been  welcomed  as  delightful 
novelties,  in   the   days   of  Sir  Henry  Bishop; 
while  the  dramatic  power  exhibited  in  the  Music 
to  the  Third  Act  is  quite  strong  enough  to  give 
colour  to  the  theory  which  has  been  sometimes 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

entertained,  that  Purcell  himself  made  a  tran 
script  of  the  work,  in  the  days  of  his  youth,  for 
purposes  of  study.1 

Yet,  even  this  was  not  enough  to  meet  the 
demands  of  the  age.     Subsequent  events  proved 
that   the   King   expected  greater    things   than 
either  Lawes  or  Lock  could  produce;   and  he 
gained  his   end  by  a  clever  stroke  of  policy. 
Attracted  by  the   evident   talent  of  the   new 
'  Children,'   he   encouraged   them,  not  only  to 
sing  their  best,  but  to  make  attempts  at  Com 
position,  also.     An  opportunity  for  testing  their 
proficiency  in  this  more  difficult  branch  of  Art 
was  soon  found.     To  celebrate  a  Victory  over 
the  Dutch  Fleet,2  a  Thanksgiving  Anthem  was 
needed,  at  a  few  hours'  notice.     The  news  of  the 
capture  of  the  Enemy's  ships  arrived  on  a  Satur 
day;   and,  finding  that  the  King  expected  the 
Music  to  be  performed  on  the  following  day,  the 
Composers  attached  to  the  Chapel  unanimously 
declined  the  task  of  furnishing  it.     The  Choir 
had,  by  this  time,  been  reinforced  by  a  second 
set  of  Choristers,  among  whom  were  Thomas 
Tudway,  William  Turner,  and  the  greatest  genius 
of  the  age,  Henry  Purcell.     Such  a  company  of 
Choir-Boys  had  probably  never  before,  and  has, 
certainly,  never  since,  been  gathered  together. 
And  its  youthful  members  must  have  been  well 
aware  of  their  own  value ;  for  three  of  them — 
Humfrey,  Blow,  and  Turner — undertook  the  task 
which  their  elders  had  declined,  and  jointly  pro 
duced  the  so-called  'Club-Anthem,'  'I  will  alway 
give 3  thanks,'  Humfrey  furnishing  the  first  Move 
ment,  Turner  the  second,  and  Blow  the  concluding 
Chorus.   This,  at  least,  is  the  origin  ascribed  to  that 
once-famous  Composition,  by  Dr.  Tudway :  and, 
though  the  authority  of  his  personal  recollection 
must  be  weighed  against  certain  chronological 
difficulties  with  which  the  subject  is  surrounded,4 
it  is  clear  that  the  youth  of  the  associated  Com 
posers  tends  in  no  wise  to  diminish  the  credibility 
of  the  story;  for,  as  early  as  Nov.  22, 1663,  Pepys 
tells  us  that '  The  Anthem  was  good  after  Ser 
mon,  being  the  5ist  Psalme,  made  for  five  Voices 
by  one  of  Captain  Cooke's  Boys,  a  pretty  Boy. 
And  they  say  there  are  four  or  five  of  them  that 
can  do  as  much.'     The  '  pretty  Boy '  was,  in  all 
probability,  Pelham  himself,  then  between  15  and 
16  years  old  :  and  we  are  quite  safe  in  regarding 
him,  and  his  'four  or  five'  fellow-Choristers,  as  the 
true  Founders  of  the  School  of  the  Restoration. 

The  basis  upon  which  this  School  was  built 
was  an  entirely  new  Art-form,  as  original  in  its 
conception,  and  as  purely  English  in  its  charac 
ter,  as  the  Glee.  What  the  Motet  was,  to  the 
School  which  preceded  the  change  of  Religion, 
and  the  Full- Anthem  to  that  which  immediately 
followed  it,  the  Verse- Anthem  was  to  the  School 
we  are  now  considering.  Designed,  in  the  first 
instance,  to  gratify  King  Charles's  'brisk  and 
airy'  taste,  this  new  creation,  notwithstanding 

1  See  vol.  H.  pp.  183—185. 

3  Possibly,  the  capture  of  135  Dutch  vessels,  In  1664,  before  war 
was  actually  declared. 

3  A  copy  of  this  Authem  will  be  found  in  vol.  1U.  of  the  'Tudway 
Collection,'  in  the  British  Museum. 

*  See  vol.  i.  p.  797.  note. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION.      283 

the  name  universally  applied  to  it,  bore  far  less 
resemblance  to  the  Anthem,  properly  so  called, 
than  to  the  more  modern  Cantata  ;  from  which 
it  differed,  chiefly,  in  that  it  was  written,  in  most 
cases,  for  a  greater  number  of  Voices,  that  it  was 
supported  by  an  Organ  Accompaniment,  and  that 
it  invariably  terminated,  even  if  it  did  not  begin, 
with  a  Chorus.  Its  Movements  were  usually 
short ;  and  written  in  a  style  partaking  pretty 
equally  of  the  more  salient  features  of  rhythmic 
Melody  and  Accompanied  Recitative.  Frequent 
Ritornelli  were  introduced,  in  obedience  to  the 
King's  express  command  ;  and  the  general  cha 
racter  of  the  whole  was  more  florid,  by  many 
degrees,  than  anything  that  had  yet  been  heard 
in  English  Church  Music,  and  so  ai-ranged  as  to 
display  the  Solo  Voices  to  the  best  advantage. 

Verse  passages — i.e.  passages  for  Solo  Voices — 
were  also  freely  introduced  into  the  newer  '  Ser 
vices,'  from  which  the  Fugal  Imitations  of  the 
1 6th  century  were  gradually  eliminated,  in  order 
to  prepare  the  way  for  a  more  flowing  style  of 
Melody.  Sometimes,  though  not  very  frequently, 
these  passages  were  varied,  as  in  the  Verse  An 
them,  by  the  interpolation  of  .Instrumental  Ritor 
nelli;  while  the  venerable  Gregorian  Psalm-Tones 
were  gradually  replaced,  first  by  the  Single,  and 
afterwards  by  the  Double  Chaunt. 

Pelham  Humfrey  was  the  first  Composer  who 
achieved  any  real  success  in  this  new  style  of 
Composition.  On  the  breaking  of  his  Voice,  he 
was  sent,  at  the  King's  expense,  to  the  Continent, 
where  he  studied,  for  some  time,  under  Lulli. 
Pepys  speaks  of  his  return  to  England, '  an  abso 
lute  Monsieur,'  in  November,  1667.  That  he 
was  by  that  time  thoroughly  imbued,  both  with 
the  principles  and  the  practice  of  the  French 
School,  there  can  be  no  doubt.  But,  he  was  no 
servile  imitator,  even  of  Lulli.  There  is  a  grace, 
even  in  his  boldest  Licences,  that  at  once  pro 
claims  him  a  true  genius  ;  and  an  originality  in 
his  method  which  would  have  stamped  him  fbr 
ever  as  a  Master,  even  had  he  found  no  followers 
to  assist  him  in  forming  a  School.  He  delighted 
in  the  use  of  the  Chromatic  Semitone,  and  other 
Intervals  rigidly  excluded  from  the  works  of  the 
older  Contrapuntists ;  and  produced  new,  and  ex 
tremely  pleasing  effects,  by  the  constant  alter 
nation  of  his  Solo  Voices,  to  which  he  allotted 
short  responsive  phrases,  contrasted  together  in 
delightful  variety,  and  always  so  contrived  as  to 
give  due  prominence  to  the  meaning  of  the  Sacred 
Text.  All  these  peculiarities  of  manner  he  shared 
so  liberally  with  his  Choir-mate,  Michael  Wise, 
that  the  points  of  resemblance  between  the  styles 
of  the  two  Masters  are  almost  innumerable.  In 
flowing  grace,  and  tenderness  of  expression,  they 
were  so  nearly  equal  that  it  is  sometimes  impos 
sible  to  choose  between  them.  In  no  essential 
particular  does  the  method  of  Part- writing  origi 
nated  by  the  one  differ  from  that  adopted  by  the 
other.  Their  works  are  designed  upon  an  exactly 
similar  plan,  and  are  evidently  based  upon  ex 
actly  similar  intentions.  But,  in  sustaining 
power,  the  advantage  was  decidedly  in  Humfrey 'a 
favour.  His  phrases  are  always  compact,  and 


284      SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

firmly  knit  together  in  true  logical  sequence; 
while,  as  a  general  rule,  the  Anthems  of  Wise 
are  broken  into  an  infinity  of  fragmentary  pas 
sages,  which,  despite  their  pleasing  changes  of 
expression,  lack  the  continuity  of  idea  which 
undoubtedly  gives  a  higher  tone  to  many  of 
Humfrey's  more  fully  developed  Movements. 

Blow  treated  the  Verse   Anthem  somewhat 
differently.   Without  seriously  interfering,  either 
with  its  general  intention,  or  with  the  rough 
outline  of  its  curiously  irregular  form,  he  not 
only  developed  it  at  greater  length  than  had 
before  been  attempted,  but  contrived  to  clothe 
it  with  a  certain  individuality  which  marks  a 
clear  stage  on  the  path  of  progress.     Though 
unable  to  compete  with  Humfrey,  or  Wise,  in 
gentleness  of  expression,  he  was  always  melo 
dious,  and  always  interesting  ;  and  if,  in  some  of 
his  more  ambitious  works  —  as,  for  instance,  his 
two  most  popular  Anthems,  '  I  was  in  the  spirit,' 
and,  'I  beheld,  and  lo!  a  great  multitude"  —  he 
failed  to  reach  the  sublimity  of  the  Text  he  illus 
trated,  he  undoubtedly  prepared   the  way  for 
greater  things.    His  full  Anthems  —  such  as  'The 
Lord  hear  thee,'  and  '  God  is  our  hope  '  —  are 
written  in  a  style  more  broad  and  forcible  than 
that  of  either  of  his  talented  rivals;   and  his 
Services  are  admirable  :  yet  he  has  not  always 
received  full  justice  at  the  hands  of  modern  critics. 
Burney,  generally  so  fair,  and  courteous,  even  in 
his  censures,  fills  four  crowded  pages  with  ex 
amples  of  '  Dr.  Blow's  crudities';  a  large  propor 
tion  of  which  are  less  harsh,  by  far,  than  many 
a  cutting  discord  in  daily  use  among  more  modern 
Composers;   while  others  —  like  the  'monstrous 
combinations  'so  severely  condemned  by  the  editor 
of  Byrd's  'Cantiones  Sacrse'  —  are  clearly  founded 
upon  clerical  errors  in  the  older  copies.     The 
truth  is,  neither  Burney,  nor  Horsley,  seem  to 
have  attached  sufficient  significance  to  the  fact, 
that,  in  the  matter  of  Licences,  our  English 
composers  were  always  in  advance  of  their  Con 
tinental  contemporaries.1    We  cannot  ignore  this 
peculiarity  :  and,  (making  due  allowance  for  self- 
evident  misprints,)  it  would  be  much  better  to 
accept  it  as  a  characteristic  of  our  national  style  — 
which^t  certainly  is  —  than  to  join  with  Burney  in 
abusing  the  taste  of  our  forefathers,  or  to  say, 
with  Horsley,  that  '  their  practice  was  bad,'  with 
regard  to  progressions,  which,  even  when  satis 
factorily  proved  against  them,  are  found,  in  many 
cases,  to  be  perfectly  defensible.    There  is,  surely, 
very  little  to  censure,  in  the  following  example  J 
from  Blow;  while  the  'monstrous'  G|j,  in  that 
from  Byrd,  is  evidently  intended  for  E,  in  response 
to  the  Altus  in  the  preceding  bar. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 


(Condemned  by  Dr.  Burney). 


DR.  BLOW. 


_,  i%—  ^5—  v-^f—  •—  «— 

-ii.:  ' 

{(  )  *    "  .  •                            —  •  
My  heart  is   af  -  flict   -  ed 

etc. 

P=JJSZ-+—  •  r  —  1 

—  i  _  —  _ 

1  See  vol.  ii.  p.  1926.  We  must,  however,  except  the  progressions 
affected  by  Monteverde,  and  Gesualdo,  Prince  of  Venosa— two  Com 
posers  whose  taste  for  cacophony  has  never  been  rivalled. 


(Condemned  by  W.  Horsley.) 
se  -  de   sane    -    tu 
n                        1       i    A          _        Kl         (W.  BVRD. 

H-  _1  1  &£  <=)  ,  1  1  

_^?.. 

'  ^"fljs  

S^-T^    z=t-ef-jr- 

se  -  de      sane   -    tu. 

•JLJ. 

rp—  ftP"  ~  ^  ^  |i 

^-nr 

F=fy?= 

uS.  etc- 

rfg.  \(S~-  

3  «  

Passing  on  to  the  second  set  of  Choristers,  we 
find  Drs.  Turner  and  Tudway  doing  good  work 
in  their  generation,  though  distinguished  by  far 
less  brilliant  talents  than  their  more  illustrious 
predecessors.  But,  the  works  of  these  really  ac 
complished  writers  will  bear  no  comparison  with 
those  of  their  great  contemporary,  Henry  Purcell, 
a  genius  of  whom  any  country  might  well  have 
been  proud. 

It  is  difficult  to  say  whether  the  English  School 
owes   most    to  PurcelTs  Compositions    for  the 
Church  or  for  the  Theatre ;  for  he  wrote  with 
equal  success  for  both ;  displaying  in  his  Sacred 
Music  the  gravity  inseparable  from  a  devout 
appreciation   of  its  true  purpose ;    and   in  his 
Operas  a  greater  amount  of  dramatic  power  than 
had  ever  before  been  exhibited  by  any  of  his 
countrymen,  and  more  than  had  often  been  heard, 
even  in  Venice.     In  every  branch  of  the  Art  he 
practised  he  was  invariably  in  advance  of  his  age ; 
not  by  a  few  short  decads,  but,  by  little  less  than 
a  century.    This  assertion  may  seem  extravagant, 
but  it  is  capable  of  plain  demonstration.    Pur- 
cell  wrote  his  Music  to  '  The  Tempest,'  including 
'  Full  fathom  five'  and  '  Come  unto  these  yellow 
sands/  in  1690.     Dr.  Arne  wrote  his,  including 
'  Where  the  bee  sucks,'  in  1 746.     Yet,  the  style 
is  as  advanced — we  might  almost  say,  as  modern 
— in  the  one  case,  as  in  the  other,  and  as  little 
likely  to  be  set  aside  as  '  old-fashioned.'    It  may 
be  said  that  the  difference  of  calibre  between 
Purcell  and  Arne  is  too  great  to  justify  the 
mention  of  their  names   in  the    same  breath. 
It  may  be  so.     But  our  argument  extends  to 
greater  men  than  Arne.     Seb.  Bach,  who  was 
exactly  10  years  and  8  months  old  on  the  day  of 
Purcell's  death,  astonishes  us  by  the  flexibility 
of  his  Part- writing,  in  which  the  most  beautiful 
effects   are  constantly   produced   by  means  of 
Intervals  sedulously  avoided  by  the  older  Contra 
puntists.     In  all  this,  Purcell  was   beforehand 
with  the  German  Master.     In  his  well-known 
Anthem, '  O  give  thanks,'  he  uses  the  Diminished 
Fourth,  at  the  words,  '  He  is  gracious/  with  an 
effect  as  pathetic  as  that  which  Bach  draws  from 
it  in  the  *  Passion  Music.'     We  do  not  say  that 
he  was  the  first  to  employ  this  beautiful  Interval 
— for  it  was  used  by  Orlando  Gibbons  :2  but,  he 
was  the  first  to  make  it  a  prominent  feature; 
and  the  first  to  demonstrate  its  true  place  in  the 
Gamut  of  Expression.     Again,  in  the  splendid 
'Te   Deum'  and    'Jubilate'    composed  for  S. 
Cascilia's  Day,   1694,  and  afterwards   sung,  for 
1 8  years  successively,  in  S.  Paul's  Cathedral,  at 
the  Festival  of  the  Sons  of  the  Clergy,  there  are 

2  See  the  last  bar  but  one  of  our  example,  on  p.  277  of  this  volume. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

passages  of  the  most  advanced  character :  notably 
one,  beginning  at  the  eighth  bar  of  the  intro 
ductory  Symphony,  in  which  the  Discords  struck 
by  the  Trumpets  are  resolved  by  the  Violins, 
and  vice  versa,  with  a  boldness  which  has  never 
been  exceeded. 


Trumpets  Violins 

r      r 


Tr. 


Viol.  Tr. 

jJ^JLjCSi 


Tutti 


J 

r 

!  J 

fs 

«« 

*  < 

1  1  . 

*  • 

—  "^ 

* 

z 

p 

L 

r-' 

r^l 

r 

etc. 

F 

—  1  

—  1- 

—  &  — 

657 


It  would  be  difficult  to  find  two  passages  more 
unlike  each  other,  in  detail  and  expression,  than 
this,  and  the  alternate  Chords  for  Stringed  and 
Wind  Instruments  in  Beethoven's  1  Symphony  in 
C  minor :  yet,  in  principle,  they  are  absolutely 
identical,  both  owing  their  origin  to  a  construc 
tive  peculiarity  which  Purcell  turned  to  good 
account  more  than  a  hundred  years  before  the 
idea  suggested  itself  to  Beethoven.  And  this  is 
not  the  only  remarkable  point  in  the  first  English 
'Te  Deum'  that  was  ever  enriched  with  full 
Orchestral  Accompaniments.  The  alternation 
of  Solo  Voices  and  Chorus  is  managed  with  ex 
quisite  skill ;  and  sometimes — as  at  the  words 
'To  Thee  Cherubim,'  and  'Holy,  Holy,  Holy,'— * 
produces  quite  an  unexpected,  though  a  perfectly 
legitimate  effect.  The  Fugal  Points,  in  the  more 
important  Choruses,  though  developed  at  no 
great  length,  are  treated  with  masterly  clearness, 
and  a  grandeur  of  conception  well  worthy  of  the 
sublime  Poetry  to  which  the  Music  is  wedded. 
The  Instrumentation,  too,  is  admirable,  through 
out,  notwithstanding  the  limited  resources  of  the 
Orchestra ;  the  clever  management  of  the  Trum- 
-pets — the  only  Wind  Instruments  employed — 
producing  an  endless  variety  of  contrast,  which, 
conspicuous  everywhere,  reaches  its  climax  in 
the  opening  Movement  of  the  '  Jubilate  ' — an 
Alto  Solo,  with  Trumpet  oblligato — in  which  the 
colouring  is  as  strongly  marked  as  in  the  master 
pieces  of  the  1 8th  century.  Judged  as  a  whole, 
this  splendid  work  may  fairly  be  said  to  unite 
all  the  high  qualities  indispensable  to  a  Com- 
•position  of  the  noblest  order.  The  simplicity  of 
its  outline  could  scarcely  be  exceeded  ;  yet  it  is 
conceived  on  the  grandest  possible  scale,  and 
elaborated  with  an  earnestness  of  purpose  which 
proves  its  Composer  to  have  been  not  merely  a 
learned  Musician,  and  a  man  of  real  genius,  but 
also  a  profound  thinker.  And  it  is  precisely  to 
this  earnestness  of  purpose,  this  careful  thought, 
this  profound  intention,  that  PurcelTs  Music 
»  See  vol.  11.  p.  5706. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION.      285 

owes  its  immeasurable  superiority  to  that  of  the 
best  of  his  fellow-labourers.  We  recognise  the 
influence  of  a  great  Ideal  in  everything  he 
touches ;  in  his  simplest  Melodies,  as  clearly  as 
in  his  more  highly  finished  Cantatas ;  in  his 
Birthday  Odes,  and  Services,  no  less  than  in  his 
magnificent  Verse  Anthems — the  finest  examples 
of  the  later  School  of  English  Cathedral  Music 
we  possess.  The  variety  of  treatment  displayed 
in  these  charming  Compositions  is  inexhaustible. 
Whatever  may  be  the  sentiment  of  the  words, 
the  Music  is  always  coloured  in  accordance  with 
it ;  and  always  worthy  of  its  subject.  It  has 
been  said  that  he  errs,  sometimes,  in  attempting 
too  literal  an  interpretation  of  his  text,  as  in 
the  Anthem,  'They  that  go  down  to  the  sea 
in  ships,'  which  begins  with  a  Solo  for  the  Bass 
Voice,  starting  upon  the  D  above  the  Stave,  and 
descending,  by  degrees,  two  whole  Octaves,  to 
the  D  below  it.  No  doubt,  this  passage  is  open 
to  a  certain  amount  of  censure — or  would  be  so, 
if  it  were  less  artistically  put  together.  Direct 
imitation  of  Nature,  in  Music,  like  Onomatopoiea 
in  Poetry,  is  incompatible  with  the  highest  as 
pirations  of  Art.  Still,  there  is  scarcely  one  of 
our  greatest  Composers  who  has  not,  at  some 
time  or  other,  been  tempted  to  indulge  in  it — 
witness  Handel's  Plague  of  Flies,  Haydn's  imi 
tation  of  the  crowing  of  the  2Cock,  Beethoven's 
Cuckoo,  Quail,  and  Nightingale,  and  Mendels 
sohn's  Donkey.  We  all  condemn  these  passages, 
in  theory,  and  not  without  good  reason  :  yet 
we  always  listen  to  them  with  pleasure.  Why  ? 
Because,  apart  from  their  materialistic  aspect, 
which  cannot  be  defended,  they  are  good  and 
beautiful  Music.  A  listener  unacquainted  with 
the  song  of  the  Cuckoo,  or  the  bray  of  the 
Donkey,  would  accept  them,  as  conceived  in  the 
most  perfect  taste  imaginable.  And  we  have 
only  to  ignore  the  too  persistent  realism  in 
Purcell 's  passage  also,  in  order  to  listen  to  it 
with  equal  satisfaction ;  for,  it  is  not  only  grandly 
conceived,  but  admirably  fitted,  by  its  breadth 
of  design,  and  dignity  of  expression,  to  serve  as 
the  opening  of  an  Anthem  which  teems  with 
noble  thoughts,  from  beginning  to  end.3 

This  peculiar  feature  in  Purcell's  style  natur 
ally  leads  us  to  the  consideration  of  another,  and 
a  very  brilliant  attribute  of  his  genius — its  in 
tense  dramatic  power.  His  Operas  were  no  less 
in  advance  of  the  age  than  his  Anthems,  his 
Odes,  or  his  Cantatas,  his  keen  perception  of  the 
proprieties  of  the  Stage  no  less  intuitive  than 
Mozart's.  The  history  of  his  first  Opera,  '  Dido 
and  jEneas,'  written,  in  1675,  for  the  pupils  at 
a  private  boarding-school  in  Leicester  Fields,  is 
very  suggestive.  Though  he  produced  this  fine 
work  at  the  early  age  of  1 7,  it  not  only  shows  no 
sign  of  youthful  indecision,  but  bears  testimony, 
in  a  very  remarkable  manner,  to  the  boldness  of 
his  genius.  Scorning  all  compromise,  he  was  not 
content  to  produce  a  Play,  with  incidental  Songs, 

2  Quoted  under  OBOE,  vol.  H.  p.  488  a. 

8  The  passage  was  written  for  the  quite  exceptional  Voice  of  the 
Kev.  John  Gostllng,  Sub-Dean  of  S.  Paul's.  Few  Bass  singers  can  do 
it  justice;  but  many  of  our  readers  must  remember  Its  admirable 
interpretation  by  the  late  Mr.  Adam  Leffler. 


286      SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

after  the  fashion  of  the  times ;  but  set  the  whole 
of  the  Dialogue  in  Recitative.  Now,  among  the 
numerous  qualifications  indispensable  to  a  really 
great  dramatic  Composer,  the  most  important,  by 
far,  is  that  innate  perception  of  rhetorical  truth 
without  which  good  declamation  is  impossible. 
Perfect  elocution  is  as  necessary  to  the  develop 
ment  of  scenic  power  as  perfect  acting:  and 
Recitative,  which,  instead  of  assisting  the  effec 
tive  delivery  of  the  text,  serves  only  as  an 
hindrance  to  it,  must  be  radically  bad.  Lulli, 
following  the  example  of  the  Italian  Monodic 
Composers,  bore  this  carefully  in  mind,  and 
hence,  in  great  measure,  his  Operas  were  so  ex 
traordinarily  successful.  Pelham  Humfrey  had 
seen  enough  of  Lulli,  in  Paris,  to  understand 
this  position,  perfectly;  and,  no  doubt,  he  im 
parted  much  of  his  experience  to  his  promising 
pupil :  but  Purcell,  from  the  very  first,  took 
higher  ground  than  either  Humfrey,  or  even 
Lulli  himself.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that 
the  declamatory  consistency  of  his  Recitative 
has  never  been  surpassed.  It  is  so  true  to 
Nature,  and  shows  so  intimate  an  acquaintance 
with  the  genius  of  the  English  language,  that 
no  good  Singer,  resigning  himself  to  its  lead, 
can  possibly  misconceive  his  part.  Its  command 
of  delineation  is  unlimited.  Passing,  constantly, 
from  the  unaccompanied  to  the  accompanied 
form,  and,  from  this,  to  the  more  highly-wrought 
phrases  of  Recitative  a  tempo,  or  Aria  parlante, 
it  becomes,  alternately,  a  vehicle  for  the  ex 
pression  of  profound  pathos,  or  passionate  ex 
citement.  Moreover,  its  adaptability  to  the 
individual  character  of  the  Scene,  even  in  situa 
tions  of  the  most  powerful  dramatic  interest,  is 
very  remarkable.  In  many  of  PurcelTs  Operas, 
we  meet  with  very  near  approaches  to  the 
Romantic.  And  the  Music  is  always  equal  to 
the  emergency.  One  of  the  highest  flights  he 
ever  attempted,  in  this  particular  direction,  is 
to  be  found  in  the  Frost  Scene  in  'King  Arthur' ; 
in  which  the  shivering  Voice  of  the  Genius  of 
Cold  is  brought  into  contrast  with  the  bright 
Song  of  Cupid,  by  means  as  legitimate  as  those 
used,  in  the  'Zauberflote,'  for  the  purpose  of 
contrasting  the  '  Hm,  hm,  hm,  hm, '  of  Papageno 
with  the  Voices  of  the  Three  Boys.  This,  how 
ever,  is  only  one  case,  out  of  many.  Wherever 
the  necessity  for  a  master-stroke  presents  itself, 
Purcell  is  invariably  found  ready  to  meet  it. 

In  summing  up  our  estimate  of  the  genius  of 
this  most  gifted  writer,  we  cannot  but  be  struck 
by  its  wonderful  versatility.  His  Overtures  and 
Act-Tunes  are  as  interesting  as  his  Choruses. 
His  Instrumental  Chamber  Music,  if  inferior  to 
that  of  Corelli,  ranks  far  above  that  of  any  other 
writer  of  the  period  ;  and,  in  the  difficult  art  of 
writing  upon  a  Ground  Bass,  he  was  never  even 
approached,  before  the  time  of  Handel — the  only 
Composer  who  has  ever  yet  succeeded  in  in 
vesting  that  particular  form  of  construction  with 
a  perfectly  unfettered  aspect.  That  he  was 
largely  indebted  to  Lulli,  in  the  first  instance, 
there  can  be  no  doubt ;  and  he  himself  made 
no  seci^t  of  his  admiration  for  the  works  of  the 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

Italian  Monodic  Composers  :  but,  he  passed  them 
all,  as  Handel  passed  Ariosti,  and  Haydn,  Por- 
pora.  The  only  one  of  his  contemporaries  who 
can  fairly  claim  to  be  placed  by  his  side  is 
Alessandro  Scarlatti ;  between  whose  work  and 
his  own  a  strong  analogy  may  be  traced.  But, 
Scarlatti  lived  66  years,  and  Purcell  only  37. 
How  he  contrived  to  accomplish  so  vast  an 
amount  of  work  in  so  short  a  life-time  is  a  secret 
which  we  shall  best  understand  by  comparing 
his  career  with  that  of  Schubert,  to  whom  he  is 
very  closely  allied,  by  his  indefatigable  industry, 
the  exhaustless  range  of  his  productive  power, 
the  spontaneity  of  his  conception,  and  the  inten 
sity  of  his  devotion  to  an  Art  which,  from  first 
to  last,  formed  the  mainspring  of  his  existence. 

We  have  dwelt  so  long  upon  the  work  of  our 
greatest  native  Musician,  that  we  have  but  little 
space  left  for  the  consideration  of  that  accom 
plished  by  his  successors,  though  some  of  these 
have  left  us  Compositions  which  we  could  ill 
afford  to  lose.     We  have  already  spoken  of  two 
sets  of  Choristers,  educated  in  the  Chapel  Eoyal. 
That  famous  nursery  of  Art  produced  yet  a  third 
set,  educated,  for  the  most  part,  under  Dr.  Blow.1 
Among  these  were,  Jeremiah  Clarke,  and  William 
Croft,  Mus.Doc. ;  the  former,  celebrated  for  the 
exquisite  tenderness  of  his  style,  which  finds  its 
most   touching   expression    in    the    well-known 
Anthem,  for  Treble,  Solo,   and  Chorus,  'How 
long  wilt  thou  forget  me ' — an  embodiment  of 
pathos  only  too  applicable  to  the  sad  history  of 
the  Composer's  life ;  the  latter,  one  of  the  most 
conscientious,  as  well  as  the  most  prolific  of  our 
Cathedral  writers,  whose  Anthems  and  Services, 
all  characterised  by  masterly  workmanship,  true 
musicianlike  feeling,  and  even — as  in  '  Cry  aloud 
and    shout  ' — by   something    approaching   sub 
limity,  are  little  less  popular  at  the  present  day 
than  they  were  a  hundred  years  ago.    To  the 
names  of  these  Composers  must  be  added  those 
of  some  excellent  Musicians,  who,  though  edu 
cated  in  other  Choirs,  almost  all  become  Gentle 
men  of  the  Chapel  Royal  in  later  life ;  notably, 
those  of  Drs.  Greene,  Boyce,  and  Nares,  John 
Goldwin,  John  Weldon,  and  the  clerical  ama 
teurs,  Drs.  Holder,  Creyghton,  and  Aldrich,  who 
all  did  good  service  to  their  Church,  and  their 
Art,  and   are  gratefully  remembered  in  every 
Choir  in   England.      Had   Purcell's    life   been 
spared,  these  men  would  have  supplemented  his 
work  with  no  ignoble  contributions  to  the  archives 
of  the   School.     Greene,  and  Nares,  though  a 
little  too  much  inclined  to  ssecularity  of  manner, 
were  thorough  masters  of  Melody;  the  few  Coin- 
positions  we  possess,  by  Creyghton,  are  marked 
by  an  originality  which  could  not  but  have  led 
to  excellent  results,  had  his  pen  been  more  pro 
ductive  ;    while   Weldon,   Boyce,   and  Aldrich, 
needed  only  a  greater  breadth  of  style  to  raise 
their  works  to  a  more  than  satisfactory  level. 
But  their  leader  was   taken   from  their  head. 


I  After  the  death  of  Captain  Cook,  In  I6T2,  Pelham  Humfrey  held 
the  Office  of  Master  of  the  Children,  until  his  early  death  in  1674. 
Humfrey  was  succeeded,  in  turn,  by  Dr.  Blow,  Dr.  Croft,  J.  Church, 
Bernard  Gates,  Dr.  Nares,  and  Dr.  Ayrton. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION.       287 


Purcell  left  no  one  behind  him  capable  of  raising 
the  School  to  a  higher  level  than  it  had  already 
attained,  or  even  of  worthily  supporting  it  at 
the  point  indicated  by  his  own  magnificent  be 
ginning.  A  period  of  decadence  was,  therefore, 
inevitable  ;  and  no  more  successes  were  recorded, 
after  his  early  death,  in  1694,  until  an  unex 
pected  importation  of  foreign  talent  so  changed 
the  aspect  of  affairs  that  the  brightest  triumphs 
of  the  past  were  forgotten  in  the  anticipation  of 
a  still  more  splendid  future. 

XXV.  Though  THE  ITALIAN  SCHOOLS  OF  THE 
i8iH  CENTUBY  are  most  noticeable  for  the  in 
fluence  they  exercised  upon  the  Opera  Buffa,  in 
the  earlier  stages  of  its  development,  they  also 
witnessed  a  steady  advance,  in  Serious  Music 
of  all  kinds.      In  the   Sacred  Music   of  Leo 
and  Feo,  and  still  more  in  that  of  Marcello  and 
Durante,  we  find  the  sober  gravity  of  Carissimi 
and  Alessandro  Scarlatti  clothed  with  a  grace 
unknown  to  any  of  the  Composers  of  the  preced 
ing  century ;  a  happy  union  of  the  best  qualities 
of  the  Monodic  style  with  the  stronger  features 
of  a  modified  system  of  Counterpoint,  not  alto 
gether  unlike  that  which  was  already  preparing 
so  great  a  future  for  Germany.     Leo  and  Feo — 
both  pupils  of  Pitoni,  one  of  the  last  survivors  of 
the  Polyphonic  sera — inclined  most  lovingly  to 
the  massive  combinations  which  alone  can  invest 
a  full  Chorus  with  becoming  dignity ;  support 
ing  their  Voice  Parts  by  an  Instrumental  Ac 
companiment,  equally  remarkable  for  the  breadth 
of  its  conception,  and  the  purity  of  its  effect. 
Marcello,  caring  less  for  the  sublime  than  the 
beautiful,  engrafted  upon  the  softer  graces  of  the 
Venetian  manner  a   polished  ease  entirely  his 
own ;  and,  never  losing  sight  of  the  calm  sobriety 
of  treatment  without  which  good  Sacred  Music 
cannot  exist,   invented  a  style  too  refined,  like 
that  of  Durante,  to  become  '  old-fashioned,'  even 
in  our  own  day.1  Nearly  all  these  Composers,  ex 
cept  Durante,  wrote  for  the  Theatre,  as  well  as  for 
the  Church  ;  as  did  also  their  fellow-countrymen, 
Porpora,    Domenico    Scarlatti,   Vinci,   Jomelli, 
and  many  others  of  less  celebrity ;    and  their 
united  efforts   gradually  formed  a  style  which 
found  its  way  into  many  distant  parts  of  Europe. 
Increased  attention  had  long  been  given  to  the 
cultivation  of  the  Voice ;  and  Airs,  demanding 
powers  of  execution   before   unnecessary,   were 
now  expected,  as  a  matter  of  course,  not  only  in 
the  Opera,  but  in  the  Oratorio.     New  Divisions 
were  daily  invented,  for  the  purpose  of  exhibiting 
the  dexterity  of  Singers,  who  vied  with  each  other 
in  their  determination  to  overcome  difficulties 
before  unheard  of.    Arie  di  bravura  2  were  gradu 
ally  substituted  for  the  more  simple  and  declama 
tory  Melodies  of  an  earlier  period.     These  Airs, 
however,  were  always  well  constructed,  enriched 
by  judiciously  arranged  Accompaniments,  and 
often  full  of  genuine  dramatic  fire,  as  may  be 
seen  in  the  following  passage  from  a  once  famous 
but  long  forgotten  example  by  Vinci. 

i  One  of  his  melodies,  from  the  22nd  Psalm,  sounds  perfectly  in 
Its  place  when  used  notatim  by  Bossini  in  his  Overture  to  the  '  Siege 
of  Corinth.'  2  gee  vol.  ii.  p.  510. 


Allegro  Andante. 


^ 


J   j     r     p 

*  -  »     -  •         I      -K- 


st 


-• — 0 •- 


Vo        «ol  -   -  cando  il  mar  cru  -de  -  le,  Sen  -  za 


-»— g— S~S~rg~l!~l 
-S=3=:t=5r  ifctq 


- 


I  —  I  -  • 


In  an  age  which  boasted  sufficient  facility  of 
invention  to  produce  such  passages  as  these,  and 
Singers  capable  of  doing  them  justice,  the  step 
from  Opera  Seria  to  Opera  Buffa  was  but  a 
short  one.  It  needed  only  the  exuberant  spirits 
of  some  bright  Neapolitan  Composer  to  strike 
out  a  new  idea  worth  cultivating,  and  such  a 
Composer  was  found  in  Logroscino.  We  have 
already  mentioned  the  radical  change  effected  in 
the  constitution  of  the  Lyric  Drama  by  this 
talented  writer's  invention  of  the  Concerted 
Finale.3  To  that,  and  to  the  transcendant  genius 
of  Pergolesi,  and  his  successors,  Galuppi,  Sacchini, 
Piccinni,  Paisiello,  and  Cimarosa,  the  Neapolitan 
and  other  Italian  Schools  owe  the  extraordinary 
excellence  of  their  Opera  Buffa.  Equally  guiltless 
of  the  triviality  by  which  its  foreign  imitations 
have  been  degraded  on  the  one  hand,  and  the 
heaviness  which  has  oppressed  them  on  the  other, 
the  lighter  forms  of  Italian  Opera  have  never 
lost  either  the  sprightly  gaiety  or  the  inde 
scribable  refinement  imparted  to  them  by  the 
Masters  who  first  showed  the  possibility  of  pre 
senting  Comedy,  as  well  as  Tragedy,  in  a  Lyric 
dress :  and  hence  it  is  that  the  true  Opera 
Buffa,  notwithstanding  its  extreme,  and  some 
times  extravagant  lightness,  still  claims  an  ar 
tistic  status  which  cannot  fairly  be  accorded  to 
the  Comic  Operas  produced  in  any  country  north 
of  the  Alps. 

XXVI.  In  turning  from  the  Italian  to  THE 
GEKMAN  SCHOOLS  OF  THE  i8TH  CENTUKT,  one 
cannot  but  be  struck  by  the  strange  contrasts 
presented  in  the  history  of  Sacred  Music  in  the 
two  countries.  With  Leonardo  Leo,  the  grand 
Italian  style  died  out.  Neither  Durante,  Per 
golesi,  nor  Jomelli,  made  any  attempt  to  culti 
vate  it ;  and  the  travesties  of  Guglielmi  corre 
spond  too  closely  with  the  history  of  his  life  to 
conduce  to  the  dignity  of  Sacred  Art.  The  best 
period  of  the  grand  German  style,  on  the  con 
trary,  was,  at  this  epoch,  only  just  beginning  to 
dawn.  It  originated,  as  we  have  seen,  in  the 
days  of  Michael  Prsetorius,  with  a  growing  taste 
for  Vocal  Music  with  Instrumental  Accompani 
ment.  The  elder  Bachs,  and  their  contemporaries, 
took  care  that  this  did  not  degenerate  into  the 


3  See  vol.  il.  p.  514.  One  of  the  earliest  known  instances  of  the 
introduction  of  the  Concerted  Finale  into  Opera  Seria  occurs  in 
Paisiello's'Plrro.' 


288      SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

weakness  inseparable  from  unrelieved  Monodia. 
Bearing  in  mind  the  lessons  imported  from 
Venice  by  Hasler,  they  fully  appreciated  the 
grandeur  of  effect  producible  by  the  simulta 
neous  motion  of  a  multiplicity  of  independent 
Parts ;  and  having  learned  by  experience  the 
secret  of  accommodating  that  motion  to  the  vary 
ing  character  of  the  Instruments  they  employed, 
and  of  justly  balancing  against  each  other  their 
masses  of  Vocal  and  Instrumental  Harmony, 
they  succeeded,  within  a  very  short  space  of 
time,  in  laying  the  foundations  of  a  School  the 
essential  features  of  which  have  lasted  to  the 
present  day. 

Passing  from  the  works  of  this  transitional 
period  to  those  produced  but  a  very  few  years 
later,  we  find  the  more  prominent  features  of  the 
style  exhibited,  in  fullest  perfection,  in  the  Com 
positions  of  two  writers  who  are  sometimes  erro 
neously  supposed  to  have  invented  it.  Sebastian 
Bach,  and  Henrich  Graun,  having  passed  their 
infancy  among  the  earlier  Masters  of  this  new 
Polyodic  School,1  had  learned  its  secrets  so 
thoroughly,  that,  on  thei  rarrival  at  an  age  which 
enabled  them  to  think  for  themselves,  they  found 
no  difficulty  in  turning  them  to  such  account  as 
had  never  before  been  contemplated.  Among 
these  secrets  were  two,  of  greater  importance 
than  the  rest,  which  seem  simple  enough,  to  us, 
though  their  development  into  fixed  principles 
was  a  slow  one. 

(1)  That  Voices,  supported  by  Instrumental 
Accompaniment,  can  sing  many  Intervals  which 
cannot  be  safely  entrusted  to  them  without  the 
aid  of,  at  least,  a  Thorough-Bass. 

(2)  That  there  are,  nevertheless,  certain  Inter 
vals,  which  do  not  produce  a  good  effect,  without 
some  kind  of  Instrumental  Accompaniment,  even 
though  sung  by  Voices  capable  of  taking  them  in 
tune,  without  adventitious  aid. 

No  doubt,  these  two  truisms — as  we  should 
now  call  them — had  been  impressed  upon  Seb. 
Bach's  mind,  from  the  days  of  his  youth.  At 
any  rate,  he  made  such  good  use  of  them,  that 
the  Diminished  Fourth  became  as  practicable 
and  as  plastic  in  his  hands,  as  the  Minor  Sixth 
in  those  of  Palestrina.  His  successors  have  ad 
mitted  their  validity,  also ;  but  not  in  an  equal 
degree.  No  objection  has  ever  been  raised  against 
the  first  law :  but,  neglect  of  the  second  has  led 
to  the  manifest  inferiority  of  the  German  Part- 
Song  to  the  English  Glee. 

Seb.  Bach  wrote  comparatively  little  Ssecular 
Music,  of  any  kind,  and  none  for  the  Theatre. 
Graun  wrote  many  Operas,  both  German  and 

1  The  terms  'Polyodic'  and  'Polyphonic,'  though  etymologically 
almost  interchangeable,  are  not  so  in  their  technical  sense.  At  the 
beginning  of  the  present  century,  all  Music,  whether  Vocal  or  Instru 
mental,  in  which  the  interest  was  not  confined  to  a  single  Part,  was 
called  'Polyodic.'  The  word  'Polyphonic'  is  of  much  more  recent 
origin ;  and  is  applied  exclusively  to  Vocal  Music,  without  Accom 
paniment,  written  in  Strict  Counterpoint,  In  which  the  Melody  is 
equally  distributed  between  all  the  Parts.  No  less  important  is  the 
technical  distinction  between  the  terms  'Monodic'  and  'Homo- 
phonic';  the  former  being  correctly  applicable  only  to  Vocal,  or 
Instrumental  Music,  in  which  the  Melody  is  confined  to  a  single  Part  j 
and  the  latter,  to  Vocal  Music,  without  Accompaniment,  written  in 
Strict  Counterpoint  of  the  First  Order— Note  against  Note.  A  care 
ful  use  of  the  terms  Homophonia,  Polyphonia,  Monodia,  and  Poly- 
odia.  Is  a  great  desideratum  in  musical  criticism. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

Italian.    Most  of  these  were  successful:  but,  long 
before  his  time,  the  German  Opera  had  already 
been  established,  on  a  firm  basis,  at  Hamburg, 
by  Reinhard  Keiser,  an  account  of  whose  work 
will  be  found  at  pp.  507-8  of  our  second  volume, 
with  some  mention  of  that  effected  by  Matthe- 
son,   and   other  writers  who  flourished   at  the 
beginning   of  the   century.     After  their  disap 
pearance,    the   farther   development  of  Serious 
Opera  in  Germany  depended  almost  entirely  on 
the  exertions  of  the  indefatigable  Graun;  for 
Hasse,  though  he  was  born  in  North  Germany, 
and  attained  his  high  reputation  in  Dresden,  was 
as  much  a  disciple  of  the  Neapolitan  School  as 
Durante,   or    Porpora ;     while    Gluck,   though 
equally  devoted  to  the  Italian  School  in  early 
life,  achieved   his  greatest  triumph  in  that  of 
France.     Meanwhile,  a  distinct  School  of  Comic 
Opera  was   established,   at  Leipzig,  by  Adam 
Hiller;   the  originator  of  that  peculiar  form  of 
'  Singspiel,'  with  spoken  Dialogue,  which  repre 
sents  the  German  idea  of  the  Musical  Drama  as 
distinctly  as  the  'Dramma  per  la  musica'  does 
the  Italian.  [Vol.  ii.  p.  519.] 

And  no  less  rich  was  the  Germany  of  the  iSth 
century  in  her  Instrumental  than  in  her  Vocal 
Schools.  The  long  line  of  Bachs  handed  down 
their  victories  over  the  difficulties  of  the  Organ, 
from  father  to  son,  until  Johann  Sebastian  played 
as  no  man  had  ever  played  before  him,  brought 
the  Instrumental  Fugue  to  a  degree  of  perfection 
which  has  never  since  been  equalled,  and  dowered, 
not  only  the  Organ  and  Harpsichord,  but  many 
a  Stringed  and  Wind  Instrument  also,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  full  Orchestra,  with  a  whole  library 
of  Compositions,  the  worth  of  which  has  not  even 
yet  been  fully  appreciated.  No  man  then  living 
was  able  to  compete  on  equal  terms  with  the 
author  of  these  stupendous  works ;  yet  there 
was  no  dearth  of  gifted  writers,  whose  readiness 
to  build  upon  the  foundation  provided  for  them 
by  his  marvellous  industry  led  to  very  important 
results.  Johann  Christian  Bach  carried  on  his 
father's  work,  in  London,  with  earnestness,  and 
success.  Carl  Philipp  Emanuel  followed  it  up, 
still  more  effectively,  in  Berlin,  and  Hamburg; 
and,  by  his  refined  style  of  playing,  no  less  than 
by  his  delightful  Compositions,  raised  the  repu 
tation  of  his  favourite  Instrument,  the  Harpsi 
chord,  to  very  nearly  the  highest  point  it  was 
destined  to  attain,  before  the  career  of  the  fine 
old  '  Clavicembalo'  was  abruptly  terminated  by 
the  irresistible  attractions  of  the  newly-invented 
Piano-Forte.  And  thus  arose  a  style  of  Music, 
so  well  adapted  to  the  capabilities  of  the  Key 
board,  that  we,  with  the  Piano-forte  within  our 
reach,  are  thankful  to  return  to  it,  and,  wearied 
with  the  frivolities  of  a  too  facile  execution,  to 
refresh  our  ears  with  passages  designed  rather  to 
please  than  to  astonish. 

XXVII.  But,  during  the  second  half  of  the 
century,  the  remembrance  of  all  these  Masters 
was  completely  swept  away  by  the  rising  fame  of 
Haydn  and  Mozart — two  giants,  who  placed  be 
tween  THE  SCHOOL  OF  VIENNA  and  that  of  the 
Bachs  a  fathomless  abyss  which  no  amount  of 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

critical  ingenuity  will  ever  satisfactorily  bridge 
over. 

Of  Haydn  we  shall  speak  more  particularly, 
when  treating  of  the  structural  change  by  which 
he  revolutionised  Instrumental  Music ;  though  his 
Dramatic  Works,  written  for  Prince  Esterhazy's 
Theatre,  deserve  more  attention  than  has  yet  been 
devoted  to  them.     To  Mozart,  the  German  Lyric 
Drama  owes,  not  only  its  most  precious  posses 
sions,  but  its  splendid  position  at  the  head  of  the 
Schools  of  Europe.  His  genius,  breaking  down  all 
distinctions  of  manner,  whether  popular  or  scho 
lastic,  acknowledged  no  law  but  that  of  Nature.  By 
pure  instinct  he  learned  so  to  blend  the  brightness 
of  Italian  Melody  with  the  sterner  combinations 
suggested  by  German  Thought,  that  it  is  impos 
sible  either  to  affiliate  him  to  any  recognised  family 
of  Composers,  or  to  decide  upon  the  nationality  of 
his  style.   To  say,  as  critics  have  said,  that  he  was 
more  Italian  than  German,  is  absurd :  yet  the 
converse  would  be  no  nearer  the  truth.     As  a 
dramatic  writer  he  stands  alone.     He  was  not 
the  mere  creator  of  a  School :  he  was  the  School 
itself — the  source  of  its  inspiration,  its  moving 
principle,  its  inmost  soul.   He  did  not  even  invent 
it,  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the  word.    It  came  to 
him  as  a  part  of  his  nature — a  wealth  of  genius, 
which,  added  to  that  bequeathed  by  Haydn  and 
Beethoven,  made  the  School  of  Vienna  the  richest 
in  the  world.     If  ever  there  was  a  case  in  which 
the  glorious  freedom  of  natural  talent  carried  all 
before  it,  it  was  his.    The  dry  formality,  too  often, 
engendered  by  the  cultivation  of  learning  at  the 
expense  of  feeling  and  expression,  vanished,  in  his 
presence,  like  mist  before  a  sunbeam.     Learned 
he  was,  indeed,  beyond  the  wisest  of  his  contem 
poraries  :  yet  he  wrote,  not  from  the  head,  but 
from  the  heart ;  and  almost  always  produced  his 
happiest  effects  by  means  before  untried.  Whether 
we  study  him  in  his  instrumental  or  vocal  phrases, 
in  his  Symphonies  or  his  Masses,  his  Quartets  or 
his  Operas,  we  always  find  him  pressing  resolutely 
forward,  on  untrodden  paths,  in  pursuit  of  some 
new  ideal  beauty  which  he  alone  had  power  to 
conceive.    One  good  thing  only  did  he  condescend 
to  borrow.     For  the  outward  form  of  his  Instru 
mental  Movements  he  was  indebted  to  the  in 
genuity  of  another  mind,  as  fertile  as  his  own : 
a  mind  which  exercised  so  vast  an  influence  over 
the  whole  realm  of  Art,  that  it  is  impossible  to 
exaggerate  the  importance,  either  of  the  principles 
it  enuntiated,  or  the  mission  it  accomplished. 

And  here  it  is  that  Haydn  asserts  his  claim  to 
notice,  as  one  of  the  greatest  musical  reformers 
of  any  age. 

Sebastian  Bach  died  in  1750,  when  the  Com 
poser  of  'The  Creation'  was  just  eighteen 
years  and  five  months  old — a  chronological  cer 
tainty  to  which,  if  it  rested  on  internal  evi 
dence,  we  should  refuse  credence.  With  the 
'  Suites  Fran9aises '  of  the  one  Master,  and  the 
'  Twelve  Grand  Symphonies '  of  the  other,  before 
us,  we  might  well  expect  to  find  two  such  works 
separated  by  at  least  a  century  of  thought  and 
progress.  Yet  Bach  was  still  alive,  while  Haydn, 
in  his  garret  in  the  Kohlmarkt,  was  patiently 
VOL.  III.  PT.  3. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION.      289 

working  out,  by  his  own  unaided  genius,  that 
justly  famous 'Sonata-form/ which  holds,  inMusic, 
a  place  analogous  to  that  of  the  Vertebrate  Skele 
ton  in  the  Animal  Kingdom,  serving,  in  one  or 
other  of  its  countless  modifications,  as  the  basis 
of  every  great  Instrumental  Composition  that 
has  been  given  to  the  world  since  it  was  first 
evolved  from  the'  AUemande/  the  '  Courante,'  and 
the  'Allegro'  of  the  old  'Suite  de  Pieces.'  We 
need  not  stay  to  analyse  this  ingenious  device, 
which  is  fully  described  elsewhere.1  Our  present 
purpose  extends  no  farther  than  the  indication 
of  its  just  position  in  the  technical  History  of 
Music.  No  gift  so  precious  has  since  been 
offered  at  the  Shrine  of  Art.  Its  value  has  been 
acknowledged  by  the  practice  of  every  great  Com 
poser,  from  Mozart's  day  to  our  own :  and  it  is 
noticeable  that  every  Composer  is  seen  at  his 
greatest,  when  he  most  freely  acknowledges  his 
obligation  to  the '  Father  of  the  Symphony.'  This 
argues  no  want  of  originality  among  later  Masters. 
For  '  Papa  Haydn's '  invention  is  founded  upon 
a  great  principle  :  and,  until  some  still  greater 
one  shall  be  discovered,  the  Composer  who  ignores 
it  runs  the  risk  of  producing  an  ill-planned  Move 
ment,  the  defects  of  which  can  no  more  be  con 
doned  by  the  perfection  of  its  details,  than  the 
monstrosities  of  an  ill- formed  skeleton  can  be  con 
cealed  by  the  softness  of  the  fur  which  covers  it. 
The  1 8th  century  may  therefore  be  said  to  govern 
the  Instrumental  Schools  of  the  present  day,  by 
means  of  this  invaluable  contrivance,  not  only  in 
Germany,  but  throughout  Europe. 

XXVIII.  The  history  of  THE  FRENCH  SCHOOL 
OF  THE  i8TH  CENTURY  divides  itself  into  two  dis 
tinct  periods,  quite  unconnected  with  each  other. 

Too  jealous  to  endure  the  thought  of  a  rival, 
the  Italian,  Lulli,  worked  for  himself  alone,  and 
left  neither  disciple  nor  worthy  successor.  It  is 
true  that  his  fame  long  outlived  him  ;  but,  mean 
while,  Art  was  at  a  stand-still :  and  it  was  not 
until  .many  years  after  his  death  that  France 
herself  produced  a  genius  capable  of  advancing 
his  work.  The  right  man  was  found  at  last  in 
Rameau,  who  was  recognised  as  one  of  the  most 
learned  Theorists  in  Europe,  long  before  he  at 
tempted  to  lay  the  foundation  of  a  new  School  of 
Dramatic  Composition,  and  was,  therefore,  the 
better  fitted  to  carry  out  his  task  with  dignity. 
Yet,  notwithstanding  his  reputation,  he  found  it 
difficult  to  obtain  a  hearing :  and  it  was  not  until 
the  production  of  his  '  Hippolyte  et  Aricie,'  in 
1733,  that  his  talent  received  its  due  reward. 
Then,  indeed,  his  name  became  deservedly  popu 
lar  ;  and,  in  his  '  Castor  et  Pollux,'  '  Dardanus,' 
and  many  later  Operas,  he  introduced  improve 
ments  in  form,  expression,  management  of  the 
Orchestra,  and  general  dramatic  effect,  which 
Lulli  had  never  anticipated,  and  which  soon 
raised  the  French  Opera  to  a  level  it  had  never 
before  seemed  likely  to  attain.  The  sudden 
ness  of  his  success  was  probably  in  a  great 
measure  due  to  the  strongly-marked  character 
of  his  well-arranged  ideas.  The  'Eigaudon'2 

i  See  vol.  i.  p.  547  el  seq. ;  also  SONATA. 

s  Recently  reprinted  by  Messrs.  Cocks  &  Co. 

u 


290      SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

in  'Dardanus'  is  as  full  of  genuine  fire  as  a 
Bourree  from  the  Suites  of  Seb.  Bach.  One 
can  readily  understand  how  such  Movements  a 
this  must  have  taken  the  Parisians,  accustomed 
to  the  dead-level  of  Lulli's  poorest  imitators,  by 
storm.  The  misfortune  was,  that  Kameau,  like 
Lulli,  found  no  one  to  succeed  him ;  and  it  was 
not  until  ten  years  after  his  death  that  French 
Opera  owed  another  regeneration  to  another 
foreigner. 

The  arrival  of  Gluck  in  Paris,  in  1774,  marks 
one  of  the  most  important  epochs  in  the  History 
of  Music,  and  one  of  the  most  curious  anomalies 
in  that  of  national  Schools.  Born  a  German, 
with  all  a  German's  love  for  solid  Harmony, 
Gluck  studied  in  Italy,  wrote  Italian  Operas, 
conceived  the  first  idea  of  his  great  reform  in 
England,  tried  in  vain  to  introduce  it  in  his  own 
country,  and  finally,  with  the  aid  of  a  French 
Librettist,  achieved  his  greatest  triumph  in  French 
Opera,  at  Paris.  The  history  of  that  triumph  is 
too  well  known  to  need  repetition.1  But  it  is 
impossible  to  lay  too  much  stress  upon  the  fact, 
that,  from  circumstance,  and  not  from  choice,  it 
was  French  Opera  that  Gluck  reformed.  Germany 
would  have  nothing  to  say  to  his  improvements. 
France  received  them.  And,  notwithstanding 
the  opposition  of  the  Piccinists,  it  was  the 
French  School  that  reaped  the  first  benefit  of  a 
movement  which  will  probably  leave  its  mark 
upon  Art  as  long  as  the  Opera  shall  last.  What 
is  this  mark  ?  It  is  necessary  that  we  should  be 
able  to  recognise,  not  only  its  outward  form,  but 
the  spirit  of  which  that  form  is  the  symbol :  for, 
if  rightly  understood,  it  will  furnish  us  with  a 
key  to  more  than  one  very  difficult  problem 
connected  with  our  present  position ;  whereas,  if 
misinterpreted,  it  cannot  fail  to  lead  us  into 
fatal  error. 

From  the  moment  in  which  he  first  entertained 
the  idea  of  remodelling  the  Lyric  Drama,  until 
that  of  his  greatest  triumph,  Gluck  had  but  one 
end  in  view — the  presentment  of  pure  dramatic 
truth.    To  secure  this,  he  was  willing  to  sacrifice 
symmetry  of  Form,  continuity  of  Melody,  re 
gularity  of  Khythm,  flexibility  of  Voice,  or  any 
other  means  of  effect  which  he  felt  to  be  un- 
suited  to  the  situation  with  which  he  had  to 
deal.     But,   under   no   circumstances   whatever 
was  he  prepared  to  sacrifice  euphony.    Neither  in 
his  practice,  nor  in  the  detailed  exposition  of  his 
theory  which  he  has  given  to  the  world,  does  he 
ever  hint  at  the  possibility  of  this.     Yet  it  has 
become  a  common  thing  to  cite  his  authority  in 
justification  of  enormities  which  would  have  made 
his  hair  stand  on  end.     The  best  answer  to  this 
misconstruction  will  be  found  in  the  Operas  he 
wrote  after  he  had  cast  aside  the  trammels  of 
conventional  treatment,  and  learned  to  think  for 
himself.     In  these  great  works,  planned  in  full 
accordance  with  the  principles  laid  down  in  his 
preface  to  'Alceste/  he  does  indeed,  over  and 
over  again,  refrain  from  introducing  a  telling 
Melody  into  a  Score  unsuited  to  its  character; 


See  vol.  i.  pp.  601-603;  11.  pp.  514-517. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

but  he  takes  care  that  the  Music  which  sup 
plies  its  place  shall  always  be  good  and  beau 
tiful  ;  and  it  is  precisely  because  this  condition 
is  too  often  neglected,  by  some  who  profess  them 
selves  his  most  devoted  admirers,  that  we  feel 
bound  to  lay  more  than  ordinary  stress  upon  it 
here.  In  discussing  the  peculiarities  of  later 
Schools,  we  shall  probably  refer  to  the  subject 
once  more.  Meanwhile,  let  it  be  clearly  under 
stood,  that,  whatever  may  be  the  opinion  of  more 
modern  authorities,  Gluck,  at  least,  never  be 
lieved  ideal  beauty  to  be  incompatible  with 
dramatic  truth. 

XXIX.  THE  ENGLISH  SCHOOL  OF  THE  ISTH 
CENTURY  also  owes  its  chief  glories  to  a  foreigner, 
who,  naturalised  in  this  country,  found  his  at 
tempts  to  meet  and  lead  the  taste  of  an  English 
audience  rewarded  by  inspirations  grander  than 
any  with  which  he  had  been  previously  visited. 

Handel  made  his  first  public  appearance  in 
London  on  Feb.   24,    1711,    fifteen  years  and 
three  months  after  the  sad  day  on  which  the 
brightest   prospects  of  the  School  of  the  Ee- 
storation  had   been    clouded   by  the   death  of 
Henry  Purcell.     During  this  period  of  respect* 
able  stagnation,  no  native  Musician  had  ventured, 
either  to  strike  out  a  new  path,  or  to  take  up 
the  work,  on  the  old  lines,  where  Purcell  had 
left  it.     Yet  it  is  certain  that,  notwithstanding 
this,  the   national  taste  had   not  deteriorated. 
Purcell  had  so  far  raised  its  standard,  that,  when. 
Handel  demanded  a  hearing,  he  found  an  intelli 
gent  and  thoroughly  appreciative  audience  only 
too  glad  to  do  him  justice.     He  achieved  his 
earliest  successes  at  the  Queen's  Theatre,  in  the 
Haymarket.     But  we  need  not  speak  of  these. 
Had  we  not  already  described  his  Operas2  we 
should  scarcely  feel  justified  in  classing  them 
among  the   productions  of  an  English  School: 
for,  though  composed  in  England,  for  an  Eng* 
lish  audience,  performed  at  an  English  theatre, 
and  printed  exclusively  (until  within  the  last 
few  years)  by  English  music-sellers,  they  were 
written  in  the  Italian  language,  to  be  sung  by 
Italian  Vocalists.     But,  side  by  side  with  these 
Italian  pieces  grew  up  a  collection  of  English 
works,  in   a   style    which  has  never   yet   been 
fully  appreciated,  save  in  the  land  of  its  birth. 
A  style   more   impressive   than   any  that  had 
been    conceived,    since   the  decadence   of  Poly 
phony  ;  more  colossal  in  its  proportions  than  the 
grandest  combinations   of  Leo,  or  Colonna,  or 
the  most  elaborate  productions  of  the  German 
Polyodic  period;    and  more  true  to  Nature,  in 
its   endless    varieties    of   expression,   than  any 
form  of  Dramatic  Music  previously  cultivated. 
We  first  find  this  new  phase   of  thought  dis 
tinctly    asserted    in    the    'Utrecht    Te    Deum 
and  Jubilate,'  composed  in  1713 — though  traces 
of  it  are  not  wanting  in  the  'Birthday  Ode,' 
produced  a  few  months  earlier.     In  the  twelve 
Chandos  Anthems,'  written   in    1718-20,  for 
the  Chapel  at  Cannons,  it  is  present  throughout ; 
and,  in  'Esther,'  and  'Acis  and  Galatea,'  com- 

2  See  vol.  11.  p.  507. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

posed  for  the  Duke  of  Chandos  in  1720  and 
1 7  2 1 ,  we  should  feel  inclined  to  say  that  it  had 
reached  its  full  perfection,  but  for  the  still 
greater  degree  of  sublimity  attained  in  'Deborah,' 
in  1733.  After  this,  Handel's  genius  never 
flagged.  Though  his  works  succeeded  each  other 
with  astonishing  rapidity,  no  weakness  or  haste 
was  perceptible  in  any  of  them  :  and,  in  all 
his  Oratorios,  Odes,  Anthems,  and  other  choral 
works,  with  English  words,  this  massive  style 
was  used  as  the  basis  of  everything.  It  dif 
fered  from  the  method  of  Seb.  Bach,  in  many 
essential  particulars ;  and  may  easily  be  distin 
guished  from  that  of  synchronous  Masters  by  its 
stupendous  breadth,  and  its  scrupulous  avoid 
ance  of  harsh  collisions.  Its  grandest  effects 
are  almost  always  produced  when  the  means 
used  seem  the  most  simple:  for  Handel  never 
wrote  a  multitude  of  notes  when  a  few  would 
answer  his  purpose.  And  hence  it  is  that  his 
Music  bears,  towards  the  greatest  monuments  of 
German  Art,  a  relation  not  unlike  that  which 
Lord  Prudhoe's  Lions  bear  to  those  in  Trafalgar 
Square — a  single  touch,  in  the  one,  producing 
the  effect  which,  in  the  other,  cost  fifty.  Yet  the 
touches  were  never  rough.  No  less  conspicuous 
than  their  strength  was  their  unbroken  Wohl- 
Tclang — their  never-failing  pleasantness  of  sound. 
Even  throughout  the  part  of  Polyphemus — and, 
surely,  we  may  look  upon  that  as  an  extreme 
case — the  actual  progressions  are  as  smooth  as 
Art  can  make  them;  and  produce  their  effect, 
without  the  aid  of  that  strange  power  of  draw 
ing  Harmony  out  of  Discord  which  forms  so 
prominent  a  feature  in  the  method  of  Seb.  Bach. 
It  is  to  the  joint  effect  of  this  perfect  Harmony 
and  gigantic  scale,  that  the  style  owes  the  recog 
nition  it  has  so  long  commanded.  It  is  certain 
that  our  great-great-grandfathers  liked  it;  and 
it  says  much  for  the  audiences  of  the  1 8th  century, 
that  they  were  able  to  take  pleasure  in  the  un 
adorned  sublimity  of  many  a  grand  conception, 
which  can  only  be  made  endurable  to  the  general 
public  in  the  iQth,  by  the  aid  of  a  Regimental 
Band.1  No  School  can  possibly  be  formed,  where 
there  are  no  willing  listeners :  and,  in  this  case,  the 
genius  of  the  Founder  met  its  complement  in  the 
appreciative  power  of  the  audiences  that  gathered 
around  him,  at  the  King's  Theatre,  and  Vauxhall, 
and  the  Chapel  of  the  Foundling  Hospital.  But, 
as  with  Lulli  in  France,  so  it  was  with  Handel 
in  England.  The  School  died  out  with  the  Master. 
Arne  was  in  earnest,  and  did  his  best :  yet,  how 
could  a  man  of  ordinary  stature  carry  on  the 
work  of  a  giant  ?  Arnold  and  the  Hayes  family 
were  pigmies,  even  compared  with  Arne.  There 
was  no  one  else  to  take  the  lead  in  Sacred 
Music :  but  the  Opera  was  not  altogether  neg 
lected.  In  the  hands  of  Storace,  Dibdin,  Hook, 


1  When,  during  the  latter  half  of  the  century,  some  few  of  Handel's 
works  were  produced  at  Vienna,  it  was  with  Mozart's  'Additional 
Accompaniments.'  Still,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  these  Ac 
companiments  were  written  under  the  pressure  of  a  real  necessity. 
There  was  no  Organ  in  the  Orchestra ;  and  it  was  absolutely  indis 
pensable  that  the  Harmonies  should  be  supported  by  some  Instru 
ment  possessing  both  greater  volume  of  tone,  and  greater  sustaining 
power,  than  the  Pianoforte. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION.      291 

and  Shield — four  talented  Composers,  whose  fresh 
and  graceful  Melodies  earned  for  them  a  vast 
popularity — it  assumed  a  form  quite  different 
from  that  practised  in  any  Continental  School, 
yet  by  no  means  destitute  of  merits.  Encumbered 
with  a  superfluity  of  spoken  Dialogue,  in  which 
nearly  the  whole  of  the  action  was  carried  on,  it 
contented  itself  with  an  artistic  status  far  below 
that  of  the  German  '  Singspiel,'  or  the  French 
'  Ope'ra  Comique ' :  but  it  yielded  to  neither  in 
the  spontaneity  of  its  conception ;  and,  if  it  fell 
beneath  them  in  breadth  of  design,  it  was  their 
equal  in  freshness  of  idea  and  geniality  of  treat 
ment.  Its  Melodies  were  essentially  English  :  so 
much  so,  that  we  still  cherish  many  of  them,  as 
the  happiest  and  most  expressive  Ballads  we 
possess.  But  its  one  great  fault  was  the  almost 
total  absence  of  dramatic  power.  Where  this  is 
wanting,  the  Lyric  Drama  can  never  achieve  real 
greatness :  and,  that  it  was  wanting  here,  must 
be  evident  to  all  who  study  the  period.  But 
for  this,  it  is  probable  that  the  School  we  are 
describing  might  have  led  to  something  very  much 
better.  As  it  is,  it  has  passed  away  for  ever. 

We  have  dwelt  thus  long  upon  the  history  of 
the  1 8th  century,  because  it  was  as  much  th« 
'  Golden  Age '  of  Modern  Music  as  the  1 6th  was 
of  Polyphony.  It  witnessed  the  early  efforts  of 
all  the  greatest  of  the  Great  Masters — the  bluest 
blood  of  Art — with  one  exception  only ;  and  the 
culminating  point  in  the  career  of  all  but  two. 
Its  records  are  those  of  the  brightest  triumphs  of 
the  later  development.  No  new  principles  have 
been  discovered  since  its  close ;  no  new  types  de 
vised  ;  and  no  new  form  of  expression,  save  that  of 
'  Romanticism,'  conceived.  The  work  of  the  igth 
century  has  been  the  fuller  illustration  of  truths 
set  forth  in  the  i8th.  That  work  is  still  in  pro 
gress  ;  and  we  have  now  to  consider  its  influence 
upon  a  few  of  the  leading  Schools  of  Europe. 

XXX.  One  great  name  connects  itself  so  closely 
with  THE GEKMAN  SCHOOLS  OF  THE  IQTHCENTUKT, 
and  exercises  so  lordly  a  dominion  over  them, 
that,  like  the  Jupiter  of  the  system,  it  makes 
us  forget  the  size  of  inferior  Planets,  by  the 
immensity  of  its  own  huge  mass.  Let  us  try  to 
put  away  from  us  all  thought  of  hero-worship, 
and,  with  all  possible  fairness  to  later  authors, 
consider,  not  Beethoven's  own  merits,  but  his 
influence  upon  the  School  he  founded.  We  shall 
be  able  to  do  this  the  more  satisfactorily,  if  we 
go  back  one  generation,  and  enquire  what  in 
fluence  the  preceding  School  had  upon  him. 

Beginners,  who  find  some  difficulty  in  correct 
ing  Consecutive  Fifths,  and  still  more  in  detect 
ing  their  presence,  are  never  weary  of  parading 
Beethoven's  '  contempt  for  rules,'  in  justification 
of  their  own  ignorance  of  the  first  principles  of 
Art.  Yet  we  possess,  even  now,  no  less  than 
245  of  his  exercises,  written,  under  Haydn's 
guidance,2  on  Fux's  'Gradus  ad  Parnassum,' 
besides  263,  written  on  Albrechtsberger's  '  An- 
weisung  zur  Composition,'  under  the  super- 

2  Many  of  these  Exercises  are  written  In  the  old  Ecclesiastical 
Modes,  upon  the  study  of  which  it  is  clear  that  Haydn  insisted,  no 
less  strongly  than  Fux. 

U2 


292      SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

intendence  of  its  author.  It  is  plain,  therefore, 
that  he  took  care  to  study  the  rules,  before  he 
broke  them :  and,  that  his  Counterpoint,  at  any 
rate,  was  not  uninfluenced  by  his  predecessors 
In  like  manner,  he  is  constantly  glorified  for  his 
'freedom  from  set  forms.'  Yet  no  one  ever  more 
thoroughly  understood,  or  more  deeply  valued,  the 
orthodox  Sonata-form,  than  he.  Here,  again,  he 
was  neither  ashamed  to  learn  from  his  predeces 
sors,  nor  to  acknowledge  the  obligation.  How, 
then,  can  a  writer,  who  hands  down  no  new  prin 
ciple,  be  said  to  have  founded  a  new  School  ?  Our 
answer  to  this  question  involves  no  anomaly  : 
for,  the  School  of  which  we  are  now  speaking 
differed  from  those  which  preceded  it  in  its 
aesthetic  character  only.  Beethoven  was,  em 
phatically,  a  Child  of  Genius — not  a  Votary  of 
Science.  His  fathomless  Imagination — the  most 
prominent  feature  of  his  style — was  the  free  gift 
of  Nature.  His  power  of  conception  cost  him 
nothing.  But,  for  the  Art  which  enabled  him  to 
set  forth  his  ideas  with  such  perfect  logical  ac 
curacy  that  no  intelligent  mind  can  fail  to  under 
stand  them,  he  found  it  necessary  to  work — and 
that  with  the  most  indefatigable  industry.  And, 
in  acquiring  that  Art,  he  discovered  what  no 
one  else  had  before  suspected — that  the  Sonata- 
form  was  not  only  the  most  symmetrical,  but 
also  the  most  elastic  in  existence.  These  con 
siderations  enable  us  to  sum  up  the  results  of 
our  enquiry  in  a  very  few  words.  In  his 
mechanism,  Beethoven  was  influenced  by  the 
Schools  of  the  i8th  century.  In  his  imaginative 
power,  he  stood  alone.  In  the  elasticity  he  im 
parted  to  the  Forms  of  his  predecessors,  he  laid 
the  foundation  of  a  Style  before  unknown.  And 
the  influence  of  that  Style  not  only  separated  the 
later  School  of  Vienna  from  every  system  that  had 
preceded  it,  but  extended  rapidly  to  every  other 
centre  of  production  in  Europe,  and  before  many 
years  had  passed,  exercised  an  authority  which 
may  fairly  be  described  as  universal. 

XXXI.  THE  ROMANTIC  SCHOOL  followed  the 
profoundly  Imaginative  Style  of  which  we  have 
been  speaking,  so  closely,  that  it  may  almost 
be  said  to  form  part  of  it.  We  have,  indeed, 
mentioned  Weber  as  the  undoubted  Founder 
of  Romantic  Opera.  But,  Romanticism  exhibits 
itself  in  Instrumental,  as  well  as  in  Dramatic 
Music :  and,  without  the  elasticity  of  Form 
suggested  by  Beethoven,  its  manifestation,  in  the 
Sonata,  the  Symphony,  or  even  the  Overture, 
would  have  been  impossible.1 

Let  us  clearly  understand  the  distinction  be 
tween  Romantic  Music,  properly  so  called,  and 
Music  that  is  purely  Imaginative.  In  poetical 
expression,  in  depth  of  feeling,  in  direct  appeal 
to  the  varied  emotions  which  excite  the  human 
soul  to  highest  exaltation  or  profoundest  de 
pression,  the  two  styles  possess  so  many  at 
tributes  in  common,  that  the  superficial  observer 
is  in  constant  danger  of  mistaking  the  one  for 
the  other:  but  no  careful  critic  can  be  thus 
easily  misled,  for,  even  when  both  styles  are 

1  See  rol.  ii.  pp.  620-522;  vol.  iii.  pp.  148-152. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

present — as   they  very  frequently   are — in  the 
same  work,  they  are  separated  by  a  line  of  de 
marcation  as  clearly  recognisable  as  that  which 
distinguishes  the  Major  from  the  Minor  Mode. 
The  actual  thought  may  be  as  wild,  as  visionary, 
as  mysterious,  as  far  removed  from  the  surround 
ings  of  ordinary  life,  in  the  one  case,  as  in  the 
other.     The  Imaginative  Composer's  idea  is  fre 
quently  even  more  '  romantic ' — using  the  word 
in  its  every-day  sense — than  that  of  his  brother 
Artist.     But,  it  is  not  treated  in  the  same  way. 
The  Romantic  Composer  paints  his  picture  with 
the   richest  colours  his  orchestral  palette  can 
command ;   horrifies  us   with  the  depth  of  his 
sombre  shadows  ;    enthrals  our  senses  with  his 
most  delicious  fancies ;   excites  us  to  delirium 
with  a  crash  of  Trumpets ;  or  drives  us  to  despair 
with  the  roll  of  a  muffled  Drum.    If  he  be  a  true 
Master,  he  depicts  the  Scene  before  him  with 
such  exceeding  clearness  that  it  becomes  a  visible 
reality  to  the  dullest  of  his  hearers  ;   a  living 
truth  presented  to  the  eye,  through  the  medium 
of  the  ear.     But,  he  neither  expects  nor  desires 
that  his  audience  shall  see   the  picture  in  any 
other  light  than  that  in  which  he  presents  it : 
and,  in  point  of  fact,  his  influence  over  others 
will  generally  be  found  to  bear  a  direct  relation 
to  the  clearness  of  his  power  of  definition.    The 
Imaginative  Composer,  on  the  other  hand,  de 
fines  nothing.     The  Scene  he  would  depict  has 
no  real  existence.     Its  details,  drawn  entirely 
from  the  region  of  his  own  individual  Fancy,  can 
be  comprehended  only  by  those  who  are  able  to 
follow  him  into  that  region.     Unable  to  commu 
nicate   the   thought   which   underlies  them,  iii 
words,  he  expresses  it  in  Music  ;  enduing  sound 
with    all    the    passionate   yearnings    denied  to 
human  language ;  conveying  his  hearers  into  a 
world  filled  with  utterances  of  a  meaning  too 
subtle  to  be  clothed  in  speech ;  and  thus  for  ever 
dwelling  in  depths  of  Poetry  accessible  only  to 
those  who  can  think,  and  feel,  while  the  vulgar 
are  content  to  stare.      There  is  nothing  anta 
gonistic  between  these  two  great  phases  of  modern 
musical  thought.   They  both  have  the  same  high 
aim;    and  they  both  deal  with  the  same  lofty 
subjects.     But,  the  treatment  of  the  one  is  ob 
jective  ;  and  that  of  the  other,  subjective.    The 
one  busies  itself  with  the  Seen  ;  the  other,  with 
the  Unseen.     Yet,  strange  to  say,  the  greatest 
Masters  have  been  Masters  of  both.     We  need 
only  cite  two  Symphonies  of  Beethoven,  in  illus 
tration  of  our  meaning.    The  man  who,  listening 
to  the  '  Sinfonia  Pastorale,'  cannot  see  the  beau 
tiful  landscape,  sit  down  beside  the  brook,  dance 
with   the  peasants,  get  drenched  through  and 
through  with  the  storm,  and  give  thanks  to  God 
when  the  rainbow  first  gleams  in  the  sky,  must 
be  dead  alike  to  every  sense  of  Poetry  and  of 
Art.     How  different   is   the   Symphony  in  A! 
We  cannot  tell — no  human  tongue  can  tell,  in 
words — the  meaning  of  the  wonderful  Allegretto. 
No  language  can  express  the  depth  of  thought 
enshrined  in  that  awful  episode  in  the  delicious 
Scherzo,  universally  recognised  as  the  highest 
manifestation  of  the  Sublime  as  yet  afforded  by 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 


the  Art-life  of  the  iQth  century.  But,  we  can 
understand  it.  It  speaks  to  us  in  accents  far 
stronger  than  words.  And,  in  listening  to  it,  we 
are  brought  into  closer  communion  with  the 
Composer's  inmost  soul  than  we  could  have 
gained  through  any  amount  of  personal  inter 
course  with  him  during  his  life  -time. 

We  have  thought  it  necessary  to  call  attention 
to  these  aesthetic  subtleties,  with  more  than 
ordinary  earnestness,  because,  without  a  full  ap 
preciation  of  their  import,  it  would  be  absolutely 
impossible  to  attain  a  clear  understanding  of  our 
present  position  with  regard  to  the  great  Masters 
who  originated  the  dual  train  of  thought  we  have 
endeavoured  to  describe  —  the  teachers  who  first 
directed  their  inventive  powers  into  two  well- 
defined  channels,  which,  running  side  by  side, 
and  sometimes  even  intermingling,  have  never  lost 
one  particle  of  the  individuality  bestowed  on  them 
when  they  first  parted  at  the  fountain  head. 

Upon  these  two  Schools  —  the  Imaginative  and 
the  Romantic  —  the  German  Music  of  the  present 
century  almost  entirely  depends  for  its  distinc 
tive  character.  Schubert  identified  himself  with 
both  ;  and  was  enabled,  by  the  freshness  and 
spontaneity  of  his  ideas,  and  the  inexhaustible 
extent  of  his  inventive  power,  to  use  the  strongest 
points  of  both  so  profitably,  that  it  is  impossible 
to  determine  the  side  towards  which  his  natural 
bias  most  forcibly  attracted  him.  Perhaps  we 
shall  not  be  far  wrong,  if  we  say  that,  as  a 
general  rule,  his  Vocal  Music  is  most  freely 
pervaded  by  the  spirit  of  Romanticism,  while 
that  of  Imagination  is  more  clearly  discernible 
in  his  Instrumental  Compositions.  Without  in 
stancing  such  works  as  '  Die  junge  Nonne,'  or 
'Der  Erl-Konig,'  the  very  first  bar  of  which 
transports  us  into  the  Region  of  Romance  before 
we  have  heard  the  first  word  of  the  Poetry,  we 
need  only  point,  in  confirmation  of  this  view,  to 
some  of  the  least  pretentious  of  his  shorter  Songs 
—  those  gorgeous  '  trifles/  which,  like  the  sketches 
of  Raffaelle,  contain,  sometimes,  more  Art  than 
many  a  more  elaborate  work.  '  Ueber  alien  Gip- 
feln  ist  Ruh  '  is  as  true  a  Romance  as  Schiller's 
'Fridolin':  while  the  '  Impromptus,'  and  '  Mo- 
inens  Musicals,'  so  often  played,  and  so  rarely 
interpreted,  contain  passages  as  deeply  imagina 
tive  as  those  in  the  Ottet,  or  the  Symphony 
in  C  major.  We  quote  these  well-known  ex 
amples,  in  the  hope  of  tempting  our  readers  to 
seek  out  others  for  themselves  :  and  they  will 
find  no  difficulty  in  doing  so  ;  for  it  is  impossible 
to  take  up  a  volume  of  Schubert's  Compositions, 
without  finding,  on  every  page,  evidence  to  prove 
that  he  was  equally  ready,  at  any  moment,  to 
pursue  the  course  of  either  stream,  or  to  exchange 
it  for  its  fellow  channel. 

Every  really  great  German  Master  —  Weber, 
Spohr,  Marschner,  Schumann,  Mendelssohn, 
Brahms,  Raff,  Goetz,  Wagner,  —  has  more  or  less 
strictly  carried  out  the  same  principle  to  its 
legitimate  conclusion,  and  used  either  the  ideal 
freedom  of  Imagination,  or  that  of  Romanticism, 
as  a  stepping-stone  to  his  own  individual  great 
ness. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION.      293 

Weber's  strongest  sympathies  were  with  the 
Romantic  School.  As  a  rule,  his  Instrumental 
Music — excepting,  of  course,  the  Overtures  to 
his  matchless  dramatic  inspirations — is  brilliant, 
rather  than  imaginative ;  presenting,  at  every 
turn,  some  sparkling  passage  suggestive,  of  all 
that  is  light,  and  bright,  and  beautiful,  in  Nature, 
and  thus  continually  hovering  around  the  borders 
of  Romanticism,  though  rarely  descending  to 
wards  those  sombre  depths  in  which  Beethoven 
so  frequently  delighted  to  dwell.  But,  in  his 
dramatic  works,  no  sooner  does  some  weird  idea 
present  itself  to  his  mind,  than  he  yields  himself 
to  its  influence,  body  and  soul,  and  paints  it  in 
such  wild  fantastic  colours,  that  his  audience 
cannot  choose  but  dream,  or  shrink,  or  shudder, 
at  his  will. 

Spohr's  genius  led  him  into  quite  another  path. 
Like  Schubert,  he  was  equally  ready  to  clothe 
his  ideas  in  the  language  either  of  Imagination 
or  Romanticism,  or  even  of  both  together.  A 
deeper  Philosopher  than  Weber,  he  exercised,  in 
a  certain  sense,  a  stronger  power  over  the  minds 
of  his  hearers  :  but,  he  could  not  terrify  them, 
as  Weber  could ;  simply  because  he  was,  himself, 
too  deep  a  Philosopher  to  feel  terrified,  even  when 
dealing  with  the  Supernatural  in  its  ghastliest 
and  most  unholy  manifestations.  In  one  respect, 
however,  the  two  were  entirely  of  the  same  mind. 
They  both  knew  the  value  of  Form  too  well  to 
neglect  it,  either  in  their  greater  works,  or  in 
those  of  comparatively  small  pretension ;  and,  for 
this  reason,  their  writings  are  invaluable,  as  ex 
amples  of  the  unlimited  freedom  of  thought  which 
may  be  made  compatible  with  the  most  perfect 
structural  symmetry. 

Heinrich  Marschner,  though  neither  so  in 
spired  a  poet  as  Weber,  nor  so  deep  a  philoso 
pher  as  Spohr,  did  good  service,  in  his  generation, 
to  the  cause  of  Romantic  Opera.  His  two  greatest 
works,  '  Der  Vampyr,'  and  '  Der  Templer  und 
die  Jiidin,'  though  fast  losing  their  popularity, 
even  in  the  land  of  their  birth,  might  be  studied, 
with  advantage,  by  some  who  are  not  likely  to 
equal,  either  their  richness  of  imagery  or  their 
musician-like  structure.  There  are  passages,  in 
the  former  Opera,  grim  enough  to  make  the 
hearer  shudder;  while  the  latter  breathes  the 
pure  spirit  of  Chivalry  in  every  Scene.  The 
passage  which  describes  the  midnight  carousal  of 
The  Black  Knight  and  Friar  Tuck,  is  a  stroke 
of  genius  not  lightly  to  be  consigned  to  oblivion. 

If  Schumann  cared  less  for  accepted  forms 
than  Weber  or  Spohr,  it  was  only  because  his 
rich  vein  of  original  thought  enabled  him  to 
strike  out  new  modifications  of  a  general  design, 
compacted  together  with  no  less  care  than  that 
adopted  by  his  predecessors,  though  arranged 
on  lines  peculiarly  his  own.  It  would  seem, 
sometimes,  as  if  the  richness — one  might  almost 
say  the  redundancy — of  his  inventive  power 
tempted  him  to  overleap  the  bounds  within  which 
the  most  gifted  of  his  associates  was  perfectly  con 
tented  to  dwell.  But  he  neither  underrated  the 
value  of  self-restraint,  nor  refrained  from  turn 
ing  it  to  account,  in  some  of  his  best  and  most 


294      SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

important  works.  And  hence  it  is,  that,  with  all 
his  freedom  of  expression,  his  contempt  for  con 
ventionality,  and  his  inexhaustible  fancy,  he  is  one 
of  the  last  to  be  cited  as  an  authority  by  those 
who  recognise  no  law  beyond  their  own  caprice. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  imagine  two  lines  of 
thought  more  divergent  than  those  pursued 
by  Schumann  and  Mendelssohn.  The  differ 
ence  may  be  partly  explained  by  the  different 
circumstances  under  which  the  two  Masters  were 
trained.  The  course  of  Schumann's  education  was 
so  changeful,  so  irregular,  that  nothing  short  of 
unconquerable  determination  would  have  enabled 
him  to  profit  by  it  at  all.  Mendelssohn,  on  the 
contrary,  enjoyed  every  advantage  that  care  and 
counsel  could  place  at  his  disposal.  From  his 
earliest  youth  he  was  made  to  understand  that 
natural  gifts,  untrained  by  study,  would  sooner  or 
later  develope  themselves  into  dangerous  snares. 
And  he  understood  this  so  well,  that,  even  in  his 
earliest  works,  we  find  an  obedience  to  law,  as 
strict  as  that  which  distinguished  him  in  his  prime. 
To  his  well-ordered  mind,  this  subjection  to  fixed 
principles  conveyed  no  idea  in  the  least  degree 
inconsistent  with  perfect  moral  freedom.  The 
right  to  think  for  himself  had  never  been 
denied  to  him ;  nor  could  he,  under  any  circum 
stances,  have  forborne  to  exercise  it.  But  he 
was  equally  ready,  even  in  his  full  maturity,  to 
study  the  thoughts  of  others,  and  to  learn  from 
them  all  that  it  is  given  to  man  to  learn  from  his 
fellow.  And  so  it  was,  that,  while  maintaining, 
throughout,  his  own  strong  masterful  individu 
ality,  he  drew,  from  the  accumulated  experience 
of  his  predecessors,  a  store  of  knowledge  well 
fitted  to  serve  as  a  bulwark  against  the  self- 
sufficiency  which  too  often  ruins  a  youthful  genius, 
before  his  talents  have  had' time  to  produce  the 
effect  that  might  fairly  have  been  expected  from 
them.  From  Haydn  he  learned  that  perfection 
of  Form  which,  from  his  first  work  to  his  last, 
clothed  the  sequence  of  his  ideas  with  logical 
consistency.  From  Mozart  and  Beethoven  he 
learned  a  system  of  Instrumentation  which,  like 
a  wheel  within  a  wheel,  enabled  him  to  work 
out  another  system,  entirely  his  own.  From 
.Seb.  Bach  he  learned  that  admirable  method  of 
Part-writing  which  raised  his  Compositions  far 
above  the  level  attained  by  the  best  Masters  of 
the  period,  and  entitled  him  to  rank  beside  men 
whose  position  had  long  been  regarded  as  im 
pregnable.  Dowered  with  this  store  of  technical 
resources,  his  natural  genius  carried  everything 
before  it,  and,  while  yet  a  youth,  he  was  unanim 
ously  accepted  as  the  leader  of  the  German 
Schools.  Reading  his  history  with  the  experience 
of  half  a  century  to  guide  us,  we  can  now 
understand  the  true  bearings  of  many  things 
which  could  not  possibly  have  been  foreseen 
during  the  eventful  years  of  his  early  residence 
at  Berlin.  Times  have  changed  very  much  since 
then.  The  freedom  from  restraint  which  we 
are  now  taught  to  reverence,  would  have  been 
condemned  as  midsummer  madness,  in  1830. 
Mendelssohn  was  no  pedant ;  but,  he  never 
encouraged  the  slightest  approach  to  this  licen- 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

tious  anomaly.     Bad  Part-writing  he  could  not 
endure  ;   and,  by  way  of  safeguard  against  so 
miserable   an  error  he  has  not  only  shown  us 
that  Bach's  grand  style  of  Part-writing  is  per 
fectly  compatible  with  Haydn's  clear  principle  of 
symmetrical  design ;  but  has  so  entwined  the  two, 
that  they  have  enabled  him   to  form  a   style, 
which,  drawing  its  strength  from  both,  presents 
an  aspect  so  free  from  borrowed  charms  that  we 
are  compelled  to  accept  it  as  an  original  creation. 
Not  a  whit  less  dangerous  is  the  doctrine  that 
clearness  of  design  is  by  no  means  indispensable, 
provided  its  absence  be  duly  compensated  by  the 
expression  of  some  mystic  sentiment,  which,  if 
necessary,  may  be  explained,  in  so  many  words, 
at  the  beginning  of  a  work,  with  a  perspicacity 
worthy  of  the  limner  who  wrote   beneath  his 
picture,  '  This  is  a  house.'     Against  this  heresy 
Mendelssohn  waged  implacable  war ;  and  he  has 
left  us,  in  his  four  Concert  Overtures,  an  antidote 
sufficiently  strong  to  neutralise  its  poison  to  the 
end  of  time.    We  need  only  point  to  one  of  them. 
The  Overture  to  'A  Midsummer  Night's  Dream ' 
contains,  in  its  first  ten  bars,  more  Poetry,  more 
Imagination,  more  Romance,  more  Fancy,  than 
a  hundred  thousand  pages  of  the  jargon  which 
is  forced  upon  us  under   the  garb   of  modern 
sestheticism ;  though  its  design  is  as  symmetrical 
as  that  of  the  Overture  to  '  Figaro,'  and  as  clear 
as  that  of  '  La  Reine  de  France.'    Yet  nowhere 
is  the  Form  permitted  to  obscure,  or  be  obscured 
by,  the  primary  intention  of  the  Composition ; 
which  aims  at  nothing  lower  than  the  perfect 
illustration  of  Shakespeare's  meaning.     If,  then, 
Mendelssohn  could  make  shapeliness  of  contour, 
and  purity  of  Harmony,   smoothness   of  Part- 
writing,  and  clearness  of  Instrumentation,  subserve 
the  purposes  of  an  aim  so  lofty  as  this,  there  must 
surely  be  something  wrong  in  the  theory  which 
represents  these  qualities  as  intrinsically  opposed 
to  all  advance  beyond  the  rudest  forms  of  pedantry 
— the  ' rule-and-compass  work'  suggestive  of  a 
return  to  the  period  when  Art  was  in  its  infancy, 
and  its  union  with  Poetry  impossible. 

Had  Mendelssohn  lived  long  enough  to  endow 
THE  SCHOOL  OF  LEIPZIG  with  a  patrimony  as 
rich  as  that  possessed  by  its  Viennese  proge 
nitor,  his  earnest  work  must  necessarily  have 
exerted  a  purifying  influence  upon  every  centre 
of  Art  in  Europe.  Even  now,  we  cannot  say 
that  it  has  wholly  failed  to  do  so  ;  for  there  are 
men  still  living,  who  have  made  his  principles 
their  own,  and — allowing  fair  scope  for  individu 
ality — are  conscientiously  striving  to  work  them 
out,  whether  the  outer  world  cares  to  accept 
them  or  not.  First  among  these  stands  Gade, 
who,  though  by  birth,  education,  and  national 
sympathies,  a  Dane,  spent  so  interesting  a  portion 
of  his  life  in  Leipzig,  and  worked  so  earnestly  there, 
in  conjunction  with  Mendelssohn,  that  it  is  im 
possible  to  overlook  his  relationship  to  the  Classical 
German  School.  This  relationship,  however,  ex 
tends  no  farther  than  technical  construction.  In 
their  inner  life,  his  Compositions  are  too  intensely 
Scandinavian  to  assimilate  with  those  of  any  Ger 
man  author,  antient  or  modern.  His  Overture, 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

'Nachklange  aus  Ossian '  is  a  Runic  Poem,  worthy 
of  recitation  in  the  Walhalla.  Its  bold  fierce  Sub 
ject  breathes  the  spirit  of  the  Northern  Myth  so 
clearly,  that  we  may  safely  accept  it — in  com 
mon  with  the  lovely  Melodies  of  '  Comala,'  which 
form  its  natural  complement — as  an  inspiration 
from  the  land  of  the  Aurora  borealis  and  the 
Midnight  Sun.  But,  in  the  matter  of  outward 
form,  he  has  thought  it  no  treason  to  enter  into 
an  openly-confessed  alliance  with  his  German 
neighbours.  Strikingly  original  in  his  system  of 
Instrumentation,  he  has  never  suffered  it  to  lead 
him  into  extravagance  or  confusion ;  nor  has  he 
ever  used  his  glowing  vein  of  Poetry  as  an  excuse 
for  negligent  arrangement  of  his  harmonic  com 
binations,  or  for  rudeness  of  design.  In  all  that 
concerns  the  technique  of  his  delightful  produc 
tions,  he  has  been  loyal,  from  first  to  last,  to  the 
principles  he  adopted  on  his  first  entrance  into 
the  artistic  world ;  and  there  is  good  hope  that 
his  work  will  outlive  the  caprice  of  fashion  which 
has  brought  these  principles,  for  the  moment,  into 
something  very  nearly  allied  to  contempt. 

It  was  of  immense  advantage  to  the  cause  of 
Art,  that  Mendelssohn's  interpretation  of  its 
classical  form  and  spirit  should  be  perpetuated 
by  men  like  Gade,  and  Hauptmann,  and  Hiller, 
and  Sterndale  Bennett ;  that  his  memory  should 
be  reverenced  by  Schumann,  and  the  proselytes 
of  a  newer  faith ;  and,  that  his  works  should  be 
held,  both  in  Germany  and  England,  in  higher 
reputation  than  those  of  any  other  writer  of  the 
age.  But  they  were  not  destined  to  escape  hostile 
criticism.  Before  the  production  of  'Elijah,'  more 
than  one  promising  young  Composer  had  ventured 
to  claim  the  right  of  thinking  for  himself.  One  of 
the  most  talented  of  these  was  Johannes  Brahms; 
from  whom  great  things  were  expected,  even 
before  his  views  were  sufficiently  matured  to 
enable  him  to  stand  forth  as  the  originator  of  a 
special  line  of  thought.  Though  attached  to  the 
Conservative  Party  by  many  noble  sympathies, 
his  conceptions  were  too  original,  and  his  indi 
viduality  too  strong,  to  admit  of  his  working 
on  any  other  lines  than  those  laid  down  by  him 
self.  It  soon  became  evident  that  his  affections 
were  entirely  with  the  Imaginative  School ;  and 
his  attachment  to  it  has  remained  undiminished. 
Like  all  earnest  sympathisers  with  its  aim  and 
spirit,  he  has  used  elasticity  of  Form  freely; 
but  always  with  a  healthy  recognition  of  the 
boundary  line  which  distinguishes  elasticity  from 
distortion.  His  First  Symphony,  in  C  minor 
(op.  68)— a  work  produced  after  his  genius  had 
attained  its  full  maturity — is  a  case  in  point. 
Departing,  in  no  essential  particular,  from  the 
accepted  model,  it  presents  so  many  traits  of 
original  thought,  so  many  welcome  novelties, 
both  of  idea  and  construction,  that,  while  recog 
nising  it  as  a  legitimate  descendant  of  the  Schools 
of  Leipzig  and  Vienna,  we  cannot  but  feel  that 
it  leads  us  into  regions  hitherto  unexplored.  The 
fertility  of  invention  which  forms  one  of  its  most 
prominent  characteristics  could  scarcely  have 
failed  to  tempt  a  Composer  of  ordinary  calibre 
into  hopeless  departure  from  a  consistent  line  of 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION.      295 

argument ;  but  it  did  not  so  tempt  Brahms. 
With  all  its  wealth  of  imagery,  the  work  pro 
claims  its  raison  d'etre  in  the  first  seven  bars 
of  its  introductory  '  Un  poco  sostenuto  ' ;  and, 
from  the  thesis  there  proposed,  it  never  diverges. 
The  text  is  illustrated,  at  every  turn,  by  some 
unexpected  comment,  often  extremely  beautiful, 
and  always  pertinent  and  welcome  ;  but  it  works 
out  its  appointed  meaning,  without  interruption, 
from  beginning  to  end  ;  and  by  no  means  in  unor 
thodox  fashion.  The  First  Part  of  the  Allegro 
is  duly  repeated ;  the  customary  return  to  the 
primary  Subject  is  made  in  the  accustomed 
manner ;  and  the  Movement  fulfils  all  the  needful 
conditions  of  Classical  Form,  while  the  Composer 
gives  free  scope  to  his  Imagination,  throughout. 
The  '  Andante  sostenuto,'  in  the  unexpected  Key 
of  E  Major,  fulfils  the  same  conditions  to  the  letter. 
The  '  Un  poco  Allegretto  e  grazioso/  in  Ab,  takes 
the  place,  and  satisfactorily  performs  the  office, 
of  the  Scherzo.  And  the  work  concludes  with  a 
noble  Finale,  in  C  major,  which  forms  a  fitting 
climax  to  the  whole.  But  here,  again,  the  author 
introduces  an  unexpected  feature.  The  Finale  is 
so  constructed,  that  it  would  scarcely  have  made 
the  logical  sequence  of  the  intended  climax  ap 
parent,  had  it  fallen  into  its  place  in  the  usual 
way.  Therefore  the  Composer  has  prepared  it  by 
an  introductory  '  Adagio,'  perhaps  the  most  in 
teresting  member  of  the  entire  work.  As  the  whole 
essence  of  the  First  Allegro  was  compressed  into 
the  opening  bars  of  its  Preface,  so  is  the  whole 
essence  of  the  Finale  compressed  into  this  beau 
tiful  Adagio,  which  thus  forms  the  support  of  the 
entire  work,  the  clue  to  its  consistent  interpre 
tation,  and  the  most  important  link  in  the  chain 
of  continuity  which  binds  its  elements  together 
so  closely,  that,  to  understand  it  at  all,  we  must 
understand  it  as  the  natural  development  of  a 
single  thought.  In  the  Second  Symphony,  in  D 
(op.  73),  we  find  the  same  regularity  of  design, 
the  same  fixity  of  purpose,  the  same  exuberance 
of  subsidiary  ideas,  and  the  same  .depth  of  Ima 
gination.  The  same  broad  characteristics  are 
exhibited,  in  a  marked  degree,  in  the  '  Tragic 
Overture'  (op.  81),  in  combination  with  a  direct 
and  irresistible  appeal  to  feelings,  which,  though 
subjectively  treated  in  the  Score,  may  be  very 
easily  invested  with  an  objective  sense  by  the 
hearer,  who  has  only  to  connect  the  Music  with 
some  deeply  tragic  history  of  his  own  invention, 
in  order  to  transfer  it  from  the  Imaginative  to 
the  Romantic  School — a  curious  illustration  of 
the  line  which  parts  the  School  to  which  Brahms 
has  attached  himself  from  that  adopted  by  some 
other  German  writers  of  whom  we  shall  speak 
presently. 

The  beauty  of  all  these  Compositions  is  greatly 
enhanced  by  the  character  of  their  Instrumenta 
tion.  A  Score  by  Brahms  presents,  at  the  first 
glance,  an  appearance  not  unlike  that  of  a  Vocal 
Composition  for  several  distinct  Choirs.  The 
masses  of  Stringed  and  Wind  Instruments  are 
so  often  treated  antiphonally,  that  the  contrasts 
presented  by  their  differences  of  tone  serve  as  a 
valuable  means  of  imparting  clearness  to  passages 


296       SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

which,  without  such  aid,  would  lose  force  through 
their  too  great  complexity.  While  the  balance  be 
tween  these  subdivisions  of  the  Orchestra  is  always 
maintained,  the  Stringed  foundation  is  so  solidified 
as  to  afford,  at  all  times,  a  sufficient  support  to  the 
entire  mass  of  Harmony;  and  the  whole  is  thus 
invested  with  a  dignity  too  real  to  be  injured  by 
the  constant  variety  of  effect,  which,  if  less  artis 
tically  managed,  would  degenerate  into  restless 
ness.  In  the  intermediate  'Adagio'  of  the  First 
Symphony,  the  Violins  are  employed  con  sordini, 
and  the  Tenors,  divisi,  with  a  delicacy  of  effect 
which  has  sometimes  led  to  a  comparison  of  the 
Movement  with  similar  passages  by  Wagner. 
But,  in  truth,  the  arrangement  has  long  been 
received  as  common  property ;  and  it  is  only  by 
marked  novelty  of  treatment  that  it  can  be  justly 
claimed  as  a  private  possession. 

We  have  already  described  Brahms's  most 
important  Choral  Composition — the  '  Deutsches 
Kequiem' — at  some  considerable  length.1  Many 
more  of  his  Vocal  works  are  well  worth  separate 
examination ;  but  it  must  be  confessed  that  his 
real  greatness  shines  forth  most  clearly  in  his 
Instrumental  Music.  His  choral  passages — often 
furiously  difficult,  and  sometimes  all  but  im 
possible — are,  as  a  general  rule,  constructed  with 
so  little  consideration  for  the  Singer,  that,  even 
when  their  crudities  are  successfully  overcome, 
they  fail  to  produce  an  effect  worth  the  labour  of 
mastering  them.  This  misfortune  is  the  more 
to  be  regretted,  because,  in  some  of  these  very 
works,  the  Orchestral  Accompaniments  embody 
his  best  conceptions.  There  are  but  few  passages 
in  the  '  Schicksalslied' — for  example — which 
would  fail  to  produce  a  very  striking  effect, 
though  the  Vocal  Parts  were  eliminated  from  the 
Score.  But  surely  it  cannot  be  right,  that,  when 
Voices  are  employed,  they  should  be  treated  with 
less  consideration  than  the  Instruments  which 
accompany  them.  This  evil,  however,  is  too 
general  to  admit  of  discussion  here ;  and  is,  un 
happily,  gaining  ground  everywhere. 

While  Brahms,  as  yet  unknown  beyond  the 
limits  of  a  small  circle  of  admirers,  was  steadily 
working  out  the  theories  upon  which  his  adopted 
style  was  based,  Joachim  Raff's  strong  sym 
pathy  with  the  Eomantic  School  led  him  into 
a  very  different  path,  and  necessarily  tempted 
him  to  demand  a  considerable  amount  of  free 
dom  from  scholastic  restraint.  But,  he  has 
never  allied  himself  with  the  advocates  of  law 
lessness.  Nor  has  he  claimed  exemption  from 
established  formulae,  except  when  compelled  to 
follow  out  a  self-imposed  rule  of  conduct  by  the 
character  of  the  subject  he  designed  to  treat.  His 
Fourth  Symphony,  in  G  minor  (op.  167),  is  a 
miracle  of  regularity — making  due  allowance  for 
the  age  in  which  it  was  produced.  Save  only 
that  the  First  Part  of  the  Allegro  is  not  repeated, 
it  might  serve  as  a  model  of  the  orthodox  mode 
of  treatment.  If  its  Subjects  are  not  strikingly 
original,  they  are  surrounded  by  so  much  new  and 
varied  Instrumentation,  and  so  much  careful  and 

1  See  vol.  iii.  p.  112. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

ingenious  Part-writing,  that  they  are  constantly 
presented  in  an  original  aspect.  The  Andante 
flows  on,  in  an  uninterrupted  stream  of  Melody, 
from  beginning  to  end  ;  and  the  strongest  points 
of  the  Allegro  are  reflected,  with  increased  in 
terest,  in  the  spirited  Finale.  This  particular 
work,  however,  cannot  be  accepted  as  the  true 
reflex  of  the  Composer's  favourite  style.  He  is 
never  so  happy  as  when,  with  some  weird  Legend 
in  his  mind,  he  throws  his  whole  soul  into  the 
task  of  depicting  its  shadowy  incidents.  And 
the  tints  in  which  he  presents  them  are  rich 
indeed ;  for  his  power  of  tone-painting  is  un 
bounded,  and  his  command  of  orchestral  colouring 
unlimited. 

In  the  'Lenore  Symphony'  (op.  177),  we  see 
all  these  qualities  exhibited  to  perfection.  The 
wayward  character  of  Burger's  heroine  is  painted 
to  the  life.  The  first  two  Movements  present  the 
varying  phases  of  her  feverish  love,  in  moods, 
all  more  or  less  earnest,  yet  always  savouring 
rather  of  the  passionate  caprice  of  a  self-willed 
child  than  the  modest  affection  of  a  well-trained 
maiden.  Then  comes  the  parting.  The  soldier- 
lover  is  summoned  to  the  war.  In  the  midst  of 
the  March  which  describes  his  departure,  the 
unhappy  girl  bemoans  her  misery  before  all  the 
world,  while  the  young  hero  vainly  strives  to 
comfort  her,  in  accents  as  gentle  and  sensuous 
as  her  own.  It  is  the  same  wild  passion  over 
again.  We  knew,  all  along,  that  she  would  lose 
all  self-control  when  the  moment  of  trial  came. 

But  this  is  only  the  preamble  to  the  story. 
The  Finale  takes  it  up,  at  the  moment  in  which 
Biirger's  Ballad  begins.  The  lurid  sunrise  brings 
no  comfort  to  the  wretched  dreamer.  We  hear 
her  sighs,  interrupted  by  the  approach  of  the 
Spectre  Bridegroom,  whose  identity  with  the 
Lover  of  the  previous  Scene  is  proclaimed  by 
a  shadowy  allusion  to  the  March.  Then  follows 
the  invitation  to  the  wedding  feast.  The  Phantom 
Charger  paws  the  ground,  impatient  to  be  gone. 
The  Lovers  mount ;  and  he  carries  them  off, 
in  an  infernal  gallop  which  introduces  us  to  the 
finest  part  of  the  Symphony.  The  ghastly  ride  is 
described  by  the  Violoncellos,  in  persistent  groups 
of  a  Quaver  and  two  Semiquavers,  which  never 
cease  until  the  catastrophe  of  the  story  is  at  hand. 
This  passage  forms  the  life  of  the  picture,  through 
out.  Constant  in  its  rhythmic  ictus,  though  not 
confined  to  any  fixed  series  of  notes,  it  represents 
the  entire  course  of  the  fearful  journey;  thus 
intensifying  in  the  Music,  the  idea  of  headlong 
speed,  which,  in  the  Poem,  is  so  powerfully  en 
forced  by  the  reiteration  of  its  most  famous  Stanza. 
When  the  excitement  of  the  situation  increases, 
the  Violoncellos  are  strengthened  by  the  Violas. 
When  a  climax  is  reached,  the  Figure  is  taken 
up  by  the  entire  Stringed  Band.  When  the  ex 
pression  of  some  particular  incident  demands  its 
retirement,  it  fades  into  pianissimo.  Meanwhile, 
the  scenery  of  the  eldritch  phantasmagoria  is 
pictured  by  the  Wind  Instruments.  The  shrieks 
of  the  nightbirds,  by  long  shrill  trills  upon  the 
Wood  Wind.  The  ghostly  Funeral,  by  a  Hymn 
for  the  Dead,  first  sadly  moaned  by  the  Trombones, 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

and  then  repeated  with  the  united  strength  of  the 
full  Orchestra,  while  the  dagmoniac  gallop  rushes  on, 
through  it  all.  The  fetter-dance  of  the  gibbetted 
malefactors  is  represented  by  a  transient  change 
to  Triple  Time,  the  rhythm  of  the  gallop  remain 
ing  undisturbed.  At  times,  when  these  unholy 
sounds  are  hushed,  the  terrified,  yet  still  unsub 
dued  Lenore  murmurs  soft  reminiscences  of  the 
love-passages  in  the  earlier  Movements;  and, 
sometimes,  she  and  her  grisly  Bridegroom  dis 
course  in  little  passages  of  well-constructed  Canon. 
At  last,  when  dawn  begins  to  break,  the  gallop 
ceases ;  the  Fiery  Steed  melts  into  vapour ;  and 
an  awful  moment  of  silence  ensues.  The  lonely 
Churchyard  is  reached.  Again,  we  have  another 
and  a  far  more  solemn  Funeral  Hymn,  this  time 
sung  for  Lenore  herself.  The  soft  etherial  motion 
of  the  accompanying  Violins  gives  it  a  celestial 
meaning,  impossible  to  be  mistaken.  And,  as 
in  the  closing  lines  of  the  Poem  itself,  we  are 
told  that  the  sinner  is  forgiven. 

The  same  power  is  proclaimed  in  Raff's  Third 
Symphony,  'Im  Walde'  (op.  153).     The  First 
Movement  depicts  the  Woods  in  their  noontide 
beauty.     The  Second,  their  appearance   in  the 
Twilight.     The  Third,  a  Dance  of  Dryads.     The 
Finale,  the  deepening  shades  of  Night.     These 
shades,  however,  are  haunted  by  a  horror  as  grue 
some  as  that  in  'Lenore.'     The  stillness  of  the 
Forest  is  represented  by  a  quiet  Fugal  Subject, 
treated  with  exceeding  ingenuity  and  skill,  and 
suggestive  of  repose,  unbroken  by  the  rustling  of 
a  leaf.     Suddenly,  the  weird  notes  of  a  hellish 
tumult  are  faintly  heard  in  the  distance.     The 
Wild  Huntsman,  with  his  spectral  Host,  is  ap 
proaching.     He  draws  nearer  and  nearer,  until 
the  whole  air  is  filled  with  the  yells  of  his  un 
earthly  followers.      We  hear  them    above   our 
heads,  behind,  around,  and    everywhere,   until 
the  hideous  throng  has   passed,  and  its  howls 
have  died  away  in  the  distance.    The  silence  of 
night  descends  once  more  upon  the  Forest,  but 
again,  in   strict   accordance  with   the   Legend, 
the  Fiendish    Bout  returns,  draws    nearer,   as 
before,  and  vanishes  in  the  opposite  direction : 
after  which,    the   Symphony  concludes   with  a 
burst    of   Sunrise.      And    here,    whether   con 
sciously  or   unconsciously  we  cannot  tell,   but 
with  equal  merit  in  either  case,  Raff  has  esta 
blished  a   great  Romantic  truth.      The   Wild 
Huntsman  first  became  identified  with  modern 
Art,  in  '  Der  Freischiitz.'     At  the  casting  of  the 
Fifth  Bullet,  he  is  represented,  on   the  Stage, 
with  the  best  effect  permitted  by  circumstances, 
and,  in  the  Orchestra,  with  such  consummate 
power  of  Instrumental  imagery,  that  we  need 
not  look  towards  the  Stage,  in  order  to  realise 
his  presence.    Now,  Kaff 's  Music  bears  no  ex 
ternal  resemblance  whatever  to  Weber's ;    yet, 
it  brings  us  face  to  face  with  the  same  Wild 
Huntsman.    We  recognise  him  at  a  glance ;  and 
that,  in  the  absence   of  the  slightest  taint  of 
plagiarism.     Had  Titian,  and  Giorgione,  been 
commissioned  to  paint  the  portrait  of  the  same 
Doge,  they  would  each  have  enabled  us  to  re 
cognise  the  individual,  though  theirpictures  would 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION.      297 

have  been  altogether  different.  So  it  is  in  this 
case.  And  we  cannot  but  think,  that,  though 
Weber's  conceptions  stand  unrivalled,  Raff  also 
has  shown  himself  a  consummate  Master. 

Brahms  and  Raff  may  be  accepted  as  the 
greatest  living  representatives  of  the  Imagina 
tive  and  Romantic  Schools,  respectively.  But 
they  do  not  stand  alone.  Another  young  Com 
poser  has  been  called  away,  too  soon,  alas !  for 
Art ;  though  not  before  he  had  attained  a  solid 
reputation.  Goetz  first  attracted  public  attention 
by  the  production  of  a  clever  Comic  Opera,  '  The 
Taming  of  the  Shrew,'  performed  at  Mannheim 
in  1874,  under  the  title  of '  Der  Widerspanstigen 
Zahinung,'  a  work  planned  neither  upon  the  old 
lines  nor  the  new.  It  differs  from  the  traditional 
form  of  Comic  Opera  in  being  written  for  full 
Orchestra,  throughout,  without  either  Recitativo 
seccoy  or  spoken  dialogue ;  in  passing  continuously 
from  Scene  to  Scene,  with  no  break  whatever, 
until  the  fall  of  the  Curtain  at  the  end  of 
an  Act;  in  dispensing,  for  the  most  part, 
with  symmetrical  Movements  of  the  older  forms ; 
and,  in  substituting  for  them  long  passages  of 
Accompanied  Recitative.  On  the  other  hand,  it 
departs  from  the  principles  laid  down  by  the 
latest  leaders  of  fashion,  in  that  it  relieves  the 
monotony  of  its  declamatory  passages  by  fre 
quent  long  strains  of  tuneful  Measured  Music, 
consisting,  not  of  mere  snatches  of  Melody,  but 
of  continuous  and  well-constructed  phrases,  so 
consistently  put  together,  as  to  invest  the  whole 
chain  of  Movements  with  a  character  not  un 
like  that  of  an  unnaturally  developed  Finale. 
Moreover,  it  is  something  to  be  able  to  say 
that  the  vocal  passages  are  always  really  vocal, 
and  framed  with  real  care  for  the  Voice.  That 
we  miss,  even  in  the  most  broadly  comic  Scenes 
the  racy  abandon  of  the  Italian  Opera  Buffa — 
the  refined  sense  of  humour  which  would  have 
made  such  a  subject,  in  the  hands  of  Cimarosa, 
or  Rossini,  simply  irresistible — is  to  be  attri 
buted  rather  to  the  effect  of  national  than  indi 
vidual  temperament.  In  fact,  there  are  reasons 
for  believing,  that,  had  the  Composer's  life  been 
prolonged,  he  would  have  distinguished  himself 
more  highly  in  Serious  than  in  Comic  Opera.  His 
greater  Instrumental  Works  are  pervaded  by  a 
tone  of  earnest  thought  which  promise  much  for 
the  future.  His  Symphony  in  F  (op.  9),  is  full 
of  feeling,  clear  in  design,  and  abounding  in  pas 
sages  of  rich  and  varied  Instrumentation.  In 
some  respects,  his  Pianoforte  Concerto  in  Bb 
(op.  1 8),  is  still  finer;  and,  though  less  homo 
geneous  in  structure,  even  more  full  of  interest, 
in  its  treatment,  both  of  the  Solo  Instrument  and 
the  Orchestra.  Still  we  cannot  believe  that  any 
of  these  works,  or  even  the  unfinished  Opera 
'Francesca  di  Rimini,'  indicate,  either  the  full 
extent  of  the  young  Composer's  ideal,  or  the  point 
he  was  capable  of  reaching ;  though  they  prove 
how  much  we  have  lost  by  his  early  death. 

Anton  Rubinstein,  first  known  to  the  world  as 
a  Pianist  of  altogether  exceptional  power,  and 
afterwards  as  a  writer  of  Pianoforte  Music  of 
more  than  ordinary  interest,  now  claims  our 


298      SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

attention  as  the  Composer  of  a  long  succession 
of  works,  designed  on  a  scale  much  grander  than 
that   foreshadowed   in   his   earlier   efforts,    and 
worthy  of  much  more  serious  study — as  furnish 
ing  clearer  indications  of  the  principles  by  which 
he  is  guided.     Unmoved  by  the  revolutionary 
tendencies  of  an  age  which  has  identified  itself 
with  swift  progress  and  violent  reform,  Rubin 
stein  has  consistently  abstained  from  fraternising 
with  any  prominent  party :  not,  like  a  dry  pedant, 
blindly  following  in  the  wake  of  greater  men.  than 
himself ;  but,  as  an  original  thinker,  honestly  con 
vinced,  that,  within  certain  limits,  classical  forms 
are  the  best  forms,  and  expressing  this  conviction, 
in  his  works,  with  a  boldness  which  has  secured 
him  the  respect  of  many  advanced  'reformers' 
who  are  very  far  from  agreeing  either  with  his 
practice  or  his  principles.     These  latter  may  be 
briefly  described  as  the  unconscious  result  of  a 
determination  to  reject,  as  heterodox,  no  means 
of  developing  the  capabilities  of  an  original  idea, 
provided  only  that  neither  the  idea  nor  the  mode 
of  treatment  refuse  to  submit  to  some  sort  of 
orderly  arrangement.     The  effects  of  this  deter 
mination  are  as  patent  in  Rubinstein's  Chamber 
Music,  as  in  his  Concertos  or  his  Symphonies. 
All  are  essentially  modern  in  style,  and,  it  must  be 
confessed,  marred  not  unfrequently  by  a  violence 
of  expression  savouring  rather  of  impulse  than  of 
careful  thought.     Yet  the  design,  even  of  his 
'  Ocean   Symphony ' — probably   the   finest,   and 
certainly  the  most  imaginative  of  all — betrays  a 
familiarity  with  classical  models  which  the  de 
scriptive  character  of  the   piece  may  disguise, 
but  certainly  does  not  neutralise.     Though  his 
latest  Opera,  'Demonic,'  is  so  strikingly  original, 
that  it  has  been  described  as  belonging  to  no 
School  whatever,  its  strong  dramatic  character, 
tinged    with   a   curiously   Tartar   colouring,   in 
illustration  of  the  story,  does  not  prevent  him 
from  using  many  familiar  forms,  consecrated,  by 
long   tradition,   to   the  Lyric  Stage,   and   thus 
making  the  Music  valuable,  for  its  own  sake, 
apart  from  its  primary  office  of  assisting   the 
Action  of  the  piece.     It  is  impossible  but  that 
the  well-planned  conduct  of  such  Music  should 
tend  to  its  longevity ;  though,  at  present,  public 
opinion  runs  strongly  in  the  opposite  direction. 

We  speak  of  Rubinstein  in  our  notice  of  the 
German  School,  because,  notwithstanding  his 
nationality,  his  sympathies  are  evidently  with 
the  greatest  German  Masters.  For  the  same 
reason  we  speak  of  Anton  1  Dvorak — another 
strong  advocate  for  the  retention  of  the  princi 
ples  by  which  the  great  family  of  Classical  Com 
posers  has  so  long  been  guided.  The  numerous 
instrumental  works  of  this  talented  Bohemian 
prove  him  to  be  one  of  the  greatest  Masters  of 
modern  Part-writing  now  living ;  and  are  re 
markable  for  a  continuity  of  treatment,  inex 
pressibly  refreshing  in  these  days  of  spasmodic 
phrasing  and  broken  Melody,  suggestive  rather 
of  the  unfinished  sentences  of  a  faltering  orator 
than  of  a  well-studied  work  of  Art.  The  most 
marked  characteristic  of  Dvorak's  style  is  singu- 

l  Pronounced  Dvorshak.   [See  Appendix,  DvolUK.] 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

larly  antagonistic  to  that  of  Brahms.  We  have 
said  that  Brahms  delights  in  illustrating  his  Sub 
ject  with  a  copious  embroidery  of  lateral  motivi. 
Dvorak,  on  the  contrary,  makes  his  Subject 
illustrate  itself,  to  the  almost  total  exclusion  of 
all  ideas  not  directly  traceable  to  its  outward 
configuration.  In  both  cases,  the  device  is  legiti 
mate,  and  valuable ;  and,  in  both,  it  clearly 
emanates  from  a  source  inseparable  from  the 
Composer's  natural  temperament. 

Did  space  permit,  we  would  gladly  speak,  in 
detail,  of  Hiller,  the  friend  of  Mendelssohn  and 
Chopin  ;  of  Kiel,  whose  '  Second  Requiem '  has 
lately  produced  so  marked  an  effect  in  Berlin  ;  of 
Briill,  Goldmark  and  Scharwenka  ;  of  Reinecke, 
R.  Franz,  Julius  Rbntgen,  and  many  another 
worshipper  at  the  Shrine  of  Art.  But  it  is  time 
that  we  should  turn  to  a  class  of  Composers  whose 
works  have  attracted  more  attention  than  those 
of  any  other  writers  of  the  present  day. 

Chopin's  close  sympathy  with  the  Imaginative 
School  is  evident  at  a  glance ;  yet  it  is  with  its 
inner  life  alone  that  he  claims  relationship.   Not 
only  does  he  utterly  repudiate  its  external  me 
chanism,  its  harmonic  combinations,  its  methods 
of  development,  one  and  all;  but,  he  does  not 
even  accord  with  it  in  his  manner  of  expressing 
a  simple  idea.     The  more  closely  we  study  his 
works,  the  more  plainly  shall  we  see,  that,  with 
him,  the  idea  and  its  treatment  invariably  owed 
their  origin  to  the  inspiration  of  a  single  thought. 
Both  suggested  themselves  at  the  same  moment; 
and  therefore  remained  for  ever  indivisible.    To 
this,  his  writings  are  indebted  for  a  personality 
which   sets   imitation  at   defiance.     He  stands 
alone.     But,  the  inspirations  of  his  loneliness  are 
open  to  all  who  are  capable  of  sympathising  with 
the  Poetry  of  Art ;  and,  for  these,  the  charm  of 
his  Music  will  never  pass  away. 

A  certain  analogy  is  traceable  between  the 
genius  of  Chopin  and  that  of  Liszt.  A  strong 
feeling  of  personality  pervades  the  Music  of  both. 
But  Chopin's  personality  has  never  changed. 
We  see  the  same  man,  in  his  first  work  and  his 
last ;  whereas  Liszt's  Ideal  has  changed  a  hun 
dred  times.  Much  of  his  Music  is,  in  the  highest 
degree,  both  Romantic,  and  Imaginative,  at  the 
same  moment.  In  technical  matters,  he  submits 
to  no  law  whatever.  The  Compositions  which 
seem  most  faithfully  to  represent  the  man  him 
self  are  absolutely  amorphous.  Yet  one  rarely 
finds,  even  in  them,  the  spontaneity  so  obvious 
in  all  the  works  of  Chopin.  The  idea  seems  to 
have  been  worked  out — though  in  some  way 
unknown  to  the  laws  of  Art.  With  all  this, 
Liszt  stands  as  much  alone  as  Chopin.  He  has 
had,  and  still  has,  disciples ;  but  his  ideas,  and 
his  method  of  treating  them,  are  too  much  a 
part  of  himself  to  admit  the  possibility  of  his 
founding  a  School. 

We  have  already  spoken  freely  of  the  theories, 
and  productions,  of  Richard  Wagner,  in  another 
place.2  No  one  who  has  thought  upon  the  subject 
at  all  will  attempt  to  controvert  Wagner's  main 
proposition,  that  Dramatic  Truth  is  the  first 
2  See  vol.  ii.  pp.  526-529. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

necessity  of  Dramatic  Music ;  and,  that  all  minor 
considerations  must  be  sacrificed  to  it.     For  this 
principle  Peri  fought  the  Madrigalists,  whose  true 
place  was  clearly  not  on  the  Stage.    Through  his 
hearty  recognition  of  this,  Monteverde  became 
the  most  popular  Composer  in  Italy.     For  the 
sake  of  re-habilitating  this,  Gluck  forsook  his  own 
people,  and  taught  the  Parisians  what  an  Opera 
ought  to  be.     Truly,   the   considerations   these 
great  men  were  ready  to  sacrifice  were  no  mean 
ones.   The  Italians  immolated  Polyphony ;  while 
Gluck  risked  the  reputation  of  a  life-time,  by 
spurning  the  popular  demand  for  an  Opera,  in  the 
guise  of  a  Concert  of  detached  and  inconsequent 
Songs.     But,  even  Gluck  was  not  prepared  to 
sacrifice  everything.  We  have  already  shown  that 
he  was  not  prepared  to  sacrifice  Euphony.1     Nor 
was  he  willing  to  dispense  with  definite  form — 
except  when  definite  form  was  manifestly  out  of 
place.     The  dullest  hearer  must  have  felt  that  it 
was  lamentably  out  of  place,  when,  as  in   the 
Operas  of  Hasse,  the  Action  of  the  Drama  was 
brought  to  a  dead-lock,  in  order  that  its  hero 
might  amuse  his  audience  with  a  brilliant  Eondo. 
But,   we  cannot   feel  much  respect  for  critics 
who  tell  us  that  the  Action  of  'Le  Nozze  di 
Figaro  '  is  stopped  by  '  Non  piu  andrai,'  or  that 
of  'II  Don  Giovanni,'  by  'La  ci  darem.'    It  is 
precisely  because  such  pieces  as  these  carry  on 
the  Action  of  the  Drama  so  delightfully,   that 
they  produce  so  much  more  effect  on  the  Stage 
than  in  the  Concert-Boom :  and,  in  the  case  of 
'  Non  piu  andrai,'  the  Rondo  form  adds  immensely 
to  the  dramatic  interest  of  the  Song.  Why,  then, 
eliminate   the  Rondo   form,   after  Mozart   has 
shown  how  much  can  be  done  with  it  ?     Why 
not  rather  try  to  write  Rondos  as  good,  as  beau 
tiful,  and  as  dramatic,  as  his  ?     We  know  one 
man  who  could  write  a  Rondo  worthy  to  live 
for  ever,  if  only  he  chose  to  throw  his  heart 
into  the   task ;    and,    unless   the  experience   of 
all  history  lies  to  us,  that  man  will  be  lovingly 
remembered,  by  Senta's  Ballad,  'Traft  ihr  das 
Scbiff,'  ages  after  his  Operas  have  ceased  to  be 
performed  in  their  entirety.   If  evil  combinations, 
and  unconnected  arguments,  and  a  weary  waste 
of  interminable  Recitative,  be  really  necessary  to 
the  existence  of  Dramatic  Music — so  necessary, 
that  genius  capable  of  delighting  us  with  pleasant 
Harmony,  and  structural  symmetry,  and  Melodies 
of  acknowledged  beauty,  must  needs  deny  us  these 
luxuries,  in  order  that  the  Lyric  Drama  may  rest 
upon  a  philosophical  basis — there  are  not  a  few 
among  us  quite  ready  to  vote  for  the  retention  of 
the  luxuries,  even  at  the  cost  of  leaving  the  Lyric 
Drama  in  the  condition  to  which  Mozart  and  Weber 
reduced  it.     Granted  that  the  combinations  are 
not  always  evil,  the  argument  not  always  un 
connected,   the  Recitative   not   always   dreary, 
nor  always  unrelieved  by  tuneful  episodes  and 
delicious  Instrumentation ;   still,  there  must  be 
something  radically  wrong  in  a  system  which 
admits  the  introduction  of  deformity,  under  any 
circumstances  whatever.     Now,  deformity — the 
natural  antithesis  of  shapeliness — can  and  often 

i  See  p.  290  a. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION.      299 

does,  co-exist  with  perfect  beauty  of  constituent 
parts.     Whether  these  parts  be,  in  themselves, 
ugly,  or  beautiful,  if  they  be  not  fitly  joined 
together,  they  unite  to  form  a  monster.     It  is 
only  when  artistically  arranged,  that  euphonious 
words  are  transformed  into  Poetry,  or  radiant 
colours  into  Painting.     We  have  been  told,  of 
late  years,  that  this  law  does  not  apply  to  Music, 
which  must  not  be  clothed  in  the  frigid  formality 
peculiar  to  the  Plastic  Arts ;  but  this  reasoning 
is  false,  and  would  degrade  Music  to  the  level 
of  a  mere   sensual  enjoyment.     If  Music  is  to 
reach  the  intellect,  it  needs  the  evidence  of  a  pre 
conceived  and  carefully-considered  design.     The 
symmetrical  form  of  the  Eroica  Symphony  is  as 
necessary  to  its   perfection,   as  a  work  of  Art 
intended  to  appeal  to  the  understanding  through 
the  medium  of  the  ear,  as  the  curves  of  the  Venus 
of  Milo  are,  to  one  intended  to  speak  to  it  through 
the  medium  of  the  eye.     Without  its  curves,  the 
statue  would  be  a  shapeless  block   of   marble. 
Without  its  plan,    the   Symphony  would   be  a 
chain  of  meaningless  Chords.     And  what  is  true 
of  the  Symphony,  is  true  of  all  other  kinds  of 
Music.     If  it  could  really  be  demonstrated  that 
Music,  addressed  to  the  intellect  by  means  of 
the    logical   development    of   a   well-considered 
thesis,  was  antagonistic  to  the  progress  of  the 
Lyric  Drama,  the  demonstration  would  amount 
to  a  positive  proof  that  Music  and  the  Drama 
were  incompatible   existences  ;    and,   this  once 
proved,  all  subsequent  attempts  to  present  them 
in   combination  would    savour,    not   merely   of 
aesthetic  inconsistency,  but  of  treason   to  Art 
itself.     Some  critics,  denying  the  charge  of  in 
consistency,  affirm  that  the  antagonism  of  which 
they  complain  is  incontestable.    But  it  is  not  so. 
Neither  in  Instrumental  nor  Dramatic  Music  is 
symmetry  incompatible    with   expression.     We 
need  not  go  back  to  the  classical  age,  for  proofs 
of  so  manifest  a  truism ;    for,  some  of  the  ablest 
living   Composers   are   proving  it,   every   day. 
Brahms  and  Raff  are  not  the  only  writers  who 
have  found  full  freedom  for  the  inner  life  of  the 
Imaginative  and  Romantic  Schools,  within  the 
limits  of  strict  symphonic  propriety.    MaxBruch 
has  even  gone  beyond  them,  in  the  same  direction. 
In  his  Violin  Concerto  in  G  minor,  dedicated  to 
Joachim,  he  discusses  his  Subjects  so  thoroughly, 
and  with  such  minute  attention  to  their  bearing 
upon  the  general  design,  that   his  Movements 
stand  forth  as  a  living  protest  against  the  crippled 
invention   which  mistakes  the  transposition  of 
some  eight  or  ten  inconsequent  notes,  into  so 
many  incongruous  keys,  for  a  well  ordered  and 
interesting  construction.     Yet,  no  one  who  has 
listened  to  the  first  two  pages  of  the  introductory 
Allegro  will  deny   its   imaginative  power.     In 
the  domain  of  Dramatic  Music,  Bruch  manifests 
— as  in  his  Scenic  Cantata,  '  Odysseus' — a  closer 
and  more  genuine  sympathy  with  the  canons  laid 
down  by  Gluck,  than  we  find  in  the  works  of 
many  writers  who  profess  to  look  upon  Gluck 
himself  as   a  beginner.     All   that   Gluck   has 
claimed,  in  connection  with  the  Stage,  Bruch 
has  here  used,  apart  from  it ;  and,  so  well  that 


300      SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

we  miss  neither  the  Scenery  nor  the  Action. 
This  power  of  writing  good  Dramatic  Music  for 
the  Concert-Room  is  not  common.  Mendelssohn 
exhibits  it  in  the  '  Walpurgis  Nacht,'  Gade  in 
'Comala,'  and  Bruch  in  'Odysseus':  but  most 
young  aspirants  either  overshoot  the  mark,  or 
fall  below  it.  Bruch  has  fallen  into  neither  error ; 
and,  meanwhile,  has  taken  good  care  that  his 
Music  shall  not  fail  through  want  of  constructive 
cohesion.  In  citing  him  as  an  authority,  we  are 
actuated  by  no  controversial  spirit,  nor  desire  for 
an  invidious  comparison.  But  the  important 
appointment  which  Bruch  is  now  filling  at  Liver 
pool,  gives  his  works  the  opportunity  of  becoming 
as  popular  in  England  as  they  are  in  Germany, 
and  thus  renders  them  apt  illustrations  of  the 
point  in  question.  In  many  respects,  an  inferior 
Composer  would  have  served  our  purpose  equally 
well.  We  frequently  find  many  poor  ideas 
grouped  together  with  the  most  perfect  regu 
larity;  while  rich  ones  are  exhibited  in  a  con 
fused  heap,  destitute  of  any  arrangement  at  all. 
In  the  one  case,  the  result  fails  through  the 
weakness  of  its  conception  ;  in  the  other,  through 
the  inconsequence  of  its  argument.  The  one 
appeals  too  little  to  the  senses  ;  the  other,  too 
little  to  the  intellect.  The  senses  may  be  per 
fectly  satisfied,  so  long  as  each  character  in  the 
Drama  is  labelled  with  a  distinct  melodic  phrase, 
as  each  locality  was  labelled,  in  the  days  of 
Shakspeare  :  but,  the  intellect  demands  some 
thing  more  than  this ;  and  that  something  more 
is,  a  clearness  of  narration,  which,  apart  from 
the  extraneous  influence  of  new  Instruments  in 
troduced  into  the  Orchestra,  of  alternate  crashes 
and  tremolos,  and  of  declamation  continued  ad 
nauseam,  shall  appeal  to  the  mind  as  well  as  to 
the  passions,  and  thus  prevent  the  Lyric  Drama 
from  sinking,  eventually,  to  the  level  of  a  Serious 
Extravaganza,  or  a  Tragic  Pantomime. 

To  sum  up  our  argument,  we  see  that  the 
pedigree,  even  of  this  latest  development  of 
modern  progress,  descends  to  us,  in  a  direct  line, 
from  the  time  of  Prastorius,  through  the  chain  of 
the  Bachs,  Haydn,  Mozart,  Beethoven,  Schubert, 
Spohr,  and  Mendelssohn.  The  modern  system  of 
Part-writing,  now  universally  accepted  in  place  of 
the  Counterpoint  of  the  1 6th  century,  originated 
in  the  growing  taste  for  Instrumental  Music  con 
cerning  which  we  learn  so  much  from  the  details 
handed  down  to  us  in  the  '  Syntagma.'  Under 
Seb.  Bach,  this  system  reached  its  culminating 
point,  in  the  Fugue.  For  this,  Haydn  substituted 
the  Sonata-form;  giving  it,  in  Ssecular  Music, 
the  office  performed  by  the  Fugue  in  the  Oratorio. 
Over  this  form  Mozart  obtained  an  absolute 
mastery:  but  he  did  not  leave  it  where  he 
found  it.  It  was  he  who  first  invested  it  with 
dramatic  power,  and  first  succeeded  in  making 
that  power  subservient  to  the  expression  of  every 
shade  of  passion,  or  of  feeling,  demanded  by  his 
subject.  Witness  his  Overture  to  *  II  Don  Gio 
vanni,'  which  depicts  the  determined  resistance  of 
the  hero  of  the  piece  to  the  warnings  of  the  Statue, 
the  threatenings  of  Don  Ottavio,  and  the  gentler 
counsels  of  Zerlina,  and  Donna  Elvira,  with  such 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

life-like  accuracy,  that  the  Movement  serves  as  an 
epitome  of  the  entire  story.  Moreover,  he  showed, 
in  the  Overture  to  '  Die  Zauberflote,'  and  the 
Finale  to  the  'Jupiter  Symphony,'  that  the  two 
great  manifestations  of  the  older  and  the  newer 
systems  were  neither  antagonistic  nor  incapable 
of  amalgamation :  and  thus  produced, in  one  splen 
did  inspiration  of  genius,  a  third  form,  identical 
with  neither,  though  compounded  of  both — the 
Symphonic  Fugue.  Beethoven  next  demonstrated 
the  permissibility  of  extending  the  limits  of  the 
Sonata-form,  in  any  desired  direction,  so  widely, 
that,  while  offering  no  restraint  whatever  to  the 
wildest  flights  of  his  Imagination,  it  enabled  him 
to  express  his  ideas  with  a  clearness  of  argument 
which  has  never  been  exceeded.     His  immediate 
successors  accepted  this  position  in  its  fullest 
significance  :  and,  attaching  themselves  either  to 
the  Imaginative  or  to  the  Romantic  School,  de 
manded  the  freedom  from  restraint  which  true 
Genius  claims  as  its  birthright,  and  which  no  true 
Child  of  Genius  has  ever  yet  been  known  to  betray. 
In  so  far  as  this  freedom  has  tended  to  clothe  the 
comparative  meagreness  of  earlier  forms  with  a 
richer  veil  of  poetical  imagery,  its  influence  has 
never  been  otherwise  than  healthy  and  invigor 
ating.     But,  it  has  not  always  been  thus  wisely 
employed.     It  has  tempted  the  neophyte  to  in 
dulge  his  fancy,  when  he  ought  to  have  been 
writing  Thorough-bass  exercises,  as  Beethoven 
did  before  him  ;   and  to  abuse  gifts,  which,  pro 
perly  cultured,  might   have   led   to  something 
worth  preservation.  It  has  tempted  false  teachers 
to  tell  him  that  the  Sonata-form  itself  is  an  archaic 
monstrosity,  unworthy  of  his  respect,  and  only 
used  by  Beethoven  himself,  under  the  influence 
of  some  strange  hallucination  the  root  of  which 
it  is  impossible  to  discover.     That  such  abuses 
are  only  too  prevalent,  experience  has  abundantly 
proved  ;  and  it  is  to  be  feared  that  they  are  in 
separable  from   this   peculiar  manifestation  of 
artistic   power :    in  which  case,  their  presence 
must  be  accepted  as  a  proof  that  the  modern 
German  Schools  contain  within  themselves  the 
elements  of  their  own  destruction. 

XXXII.In  forming  THE  ITALIAN  SCHOOL  OFTHE 
IQTH  CENTURY,  Rossini — perhaps  unwittingly- 
borrowed  not  a  little  from  his  Teutonic  brethren. 
His  Instrumental  Accompaniments  far  exceed, 
both  in  volume  and  complication,  the  modest 
standard  adopted  by  Cimarosa,  and  certainly  owe 
something  to  the  influence  of  Haydn  and  Mozart. 
His  Harmony,  too,  is  both  richer  and  more 
varied  than  that  of  his  Italian  contemporaries ; 
and  is  probably  indebted  to  Vienna  for  something 
more  than  an  occasional  suggestion.  Yet  the 
basis  of  his  style,  in  all  essential  particulars,  is 
thoroughly  Italian,  and  thoroughly  his  own- 
Italian,  in  the  airy  lightness  of  its  Melodies ;  his 
own,  in  its  unwonted  freshness,  even  for  Italy, 
and  in  the  passionate  expression  which  adds  so 
much  to  its  dramatic  power,  without  diminishing 
its  briUiancy.  What  the  Romanticism  of  Weber 
and  Spohr  is  to  the  German  School,  this  despe 
rate  passion  is  to  the  later  Schools  of  Italy.  I* 
must  always  seem  extravagant,  to  those  whose 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

taste  is  formed  on  Northern  models.  But  it  is  no 
ignoble  characteristic ;   for  it  is  founded   upon 
Nature,  as  exhibited  in  the  impulsive  tempera 
ment  of  the  South.    And,  it  is  always  true.    The 
climax  always  comes  in  the  right  place  ;  and  the 
moment  of  exhaustion  follows,  naturally,  in  due 
course.   Rossini  first  made  it  a  necessity.   Bellini 
threw  his  whole  soul  into  it.    Donizetti — a  more 
cultivated  Musician  than  Bellini,  though,  with 
less  exceptional  natural  gifts — used  it  no  less 
skilfully  than  his  predecessors.     And  time  has 
proved  that  these  defenders  of  the  true  Italian 
style  were  in  the  right.     Mercadante  felt  this 
strongly,  and  turned  his  conviction  to  account : 
while  a  host  of  inferior  Composers  followed  the 
leading  of  these  powerful  Chiefs;  some  doing 
good  work  of  an  inferior  grade ;  others  doing  their 
best  to  vulgarise  that  which  really  contains  the 
very  essence  of  refinement ;  but  none  venturing 
to  dispute  the  one  great  principle,  that,  deprived 
of  its  passionate  expression,  its  melodious  grace, 
and  its  perfect  adaptation  of  vocal  passages  to 
vocal  capabilities,  their  School  could  no  longer 
exist.     When  Grisi  and  Mario   were  in   their 
prime,  and  Verdi  on  his  trial,  the  truth  of  this 
principle  was  universally  accepted.     Among  the 
most  popular  Composers  then  living,  there  was 
not  one,  in  any  part  of  Italy,  strong  enough  to 
set  it  at  defiance.    No  Italian  Opera,  destitute  of 
passion,  of  melody,  or  of  vocal  propriety,  would 
have  lived  through  its  first  night.     But,  within 
the  last  few  years,  a  notable  revolution  has  taken 
place.  It  is  impossible  to  say  whether  the  change 
was  due   to   the   Italians  themselves ;    or  was 
imported  into  Italy  from  foreign  sources.   But,  it 
is  manifestly  unfair  to  assert,  as  some  have  done, 
that  the  movement  is  due  to  the  influence  of 
Wagner.     It  is  true  that  its  promoters  have,  to 
a  certain  extent,  adopted  the  theories  proposed 
by  the  German  Master  ;  inasmuch  as  they  regard 
the  symmetrically-constructed  Aria   as   incom 
patible  with  the   healthy  development   of  the 
Lyric  Drama,  and,  on  that  account,  eliminate  it, 
in  favour  of  declamatory  Recitative,  and  Instru 
mental  Tone-painting,  subordinating  the  claims, 
even  of  these  powerful  vehicles  of  expression,  in 
their  turn,  to  those  of  the  Poetry,  the  Scenery, 
and  the  Action  of  the  Story.     But  these  restric 
tions,  proclaimed  by  Peri,  in  the  i6th  century, 
and  advocated  by  Gluck,  in  the  i8th,  are  not 
altogether  ignored  by  Meyerbeer  and  Gounod; 
and,  since  it  is  notorious  that  the  best  modern 
Italian  Singers  have  achieved  great  successes  in 
the  Operas  of  these  two  Composers,  it  is  more 
reasonable  to  believe  that  the  latest  Italian  writers 
have   been   tempted,   by  this   circumstance,    to 
modify  their  style,   than  to  suppose  that  they 
adopted  their  ideas  from  Munich.     Be  this  as 
it  may,  the  movement  is  a  res  facta ;   and  the 
present  Italian   Composers  no    longer  care   to 
write  in  the  true  Italian  manner. 

The  standard  of  revolt  was  first   raised,  by 

Verdi,  at  Venice,  in  the  year  1857;    and  the 

result  of  his  experiment  was,  the  utter  failure 

of  his  Opera  '  Simone  Boccanegra.' 

But  Verdi  was  not  the  only  believer  in  the 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION.       301 

new  theory — the  hated  avvenerismo  of  the  Ita 
lian  dilettanti.  A  formidable  body  of  young 
Composers  soon  joined  the  insurgent  ranks,  and 
laboured  so  enthusiastically  in  the  cause  of  '  pro 
gress,'  that  they  have  already  secured  a  strong 
revulsion  of  public  feeling  in  its  favour.  Fore 
most  amongst  these  are  Arrigo  Boi'to,  Alfredo 
Catalani,  Filippo  Marchetti,  Amilcare  Pon- 
chielli,  Anteri-Manzocchi,  and  the  clever  Contra- 
bassist,  Bottesini ;  Composers  who  have  all  made 
more  or  less  impression  upon  the  public,  and 
whose  works,  whether  good  or  bad,  have  at  least 
sufficient  individuality  to  secure  them  against 
the  charge  of  servile  plagiarism. 

That  the  success  of  the  Italian  reform — if 
'reform'  it  may  be  called — is  almost  entirely 
due  to  Verdi's  clear-sightedness  and  persever 
ance,  there  can  be  no  doubt.  Well  knowing  the 
goal  to  which  his  new  ideas  must  lead,  he  was 
not  to  be  deterred  from  reaching  it,  by  the  dis 
approval  of  a  Venetian  audience.  His  earlier 
Operas  were  uniformly  indebted,  for  their  repu 
tation,  to  a  few  catching  Melodies,  adapted  to 
the  taste  of  the  period ;  the  Music  apportioned 
to  the  Action  of  the  Drama  being  put  together 
with  so  little  care  that  it  was  difficult  for  a  cul 
tivated  audience  to  listen  to  it.  In  '  Simone 
Boccanegra'  the  new  convert  endeavoured  to 
remedy  this  defect,  not  by  any  startling  change 
of  style  or  method,  but  by  devoting  serious  atten 
tion  to  points  which  he  had  too  much  neglected 
in  his  youthful  works.  These  innovations  were 
small  indeed  compared  with  those  destined  to 
follow.  We  have  seen  how  the  audience  received 
them.  We  have  now  to  see  how  Verdi  received 
the  judgment  of  the  audience.  In  his  later 
Operas,  he  gradually  introduced  a  real  change  of 
style.  Yet,  some  of  these  have  achieved  a  far 
more  lasting  success  than  that  which  followed  the 
most  popular  of  his  earlier  efforts.  In  judging 
these  transitional  works,  we  cannot  but  see  that 
he  still  felt  doubts  as  to  the  mode  in  which  they 
might  be  most  effectively  treated.  As  time  pro 
gressed,  these  doubts  merged,  one  by  one,  into 
certainties  ;  until,  in  'Aida,'  first  produced  at 
Cairo  in  1872,  we  find  the  fullest  enuntiation  of 
the  principles  at  issue,  which  the  Composer  has 
hitherto  given  to  the  world.  It  would  not  be 
safe  to  regard  even  'Ai'da'  in  any  other  light  than 
that  of  a  tentative  production  ;  but  it  at  least 
discloses  Verdi's  idea  of  the  goal  to  which  the 
new  movement  is  tending ;  and  it  is  especially 
interesting  as  a  proof  that  his  ideal  differs,  very 
materially,  in  one  point — the  most  important  of 
all — from  the  standard  aimed  at  by  the  most 
ambitious  and  the  most  prominent  of  his  fellow- 
reformers.  He  has  given  up  the  orthodox  form 
of  the  Aria  d'entrata,  the  Cabbaletta,  and  the 
Canzonetta;  he  has  welded  his  Movements  to 
gether,  so  as  to  produce  the  effect  of  a  continuous 
dramatic  whole  ;  he  has  centred  more  interest  in 
his  declamatory  passages,  and  his  orchestral  pic 
tures,  than  in  his  passages  of  flowing  Melody — 
but,  that  stream  of  Melody  is  never  wanting.  It 
may  be  broken  into  a  thousand  scattered  phrases ; 
it  may  lack  the  continuity  necessary  to  ensure  a 


302      SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

good  effect  apart  from  its  Stage  surroundings  ; 
but  it  is  always  there.  And  so  long  as  Verdi 
preserves  it  as  an  indispensable  feature  in  his 
work,  so  long  will  that  work  outlive  the  greatest 
successes  of  the  best  of  his  imitators.  That  he 
means  to  preserve  it  is  evident ;  for,  not  many 
months  ago,  he  brought  out  at  Milan  a  revised 
edition  of  '  Simone  Boccanegra,'  with  a  new  Li 
bretto  by  his  friend  Boito,  in  which  the  original 
Melodies  are  retained,  while  the  dramatic  por 
tions  of  the  work  are  brought  into  even  greater 
prominence  than  the  corresponding  divisions  of 
'  Aida' :  and  in  this  form  the  Opera  has  achieved 
an  immense  success. 

Of  the  '  Requiem,'  composed  in  honour  of 
Manzoni,  we  shall  speak  elsewhere.  But,  what 
ever  our  opinion  of  Verdi's  merits,  as  a  Composer 
of  Sacred  Music,  it  seems  certain,  that,  in  his 
later  dramatic  works,  he  has  proved  himself  a 
convert  to  opinions,  which,  thirty  years  ago,  he 
would  probably  have  emphatically  condemned. 

We  have  said,  that  the  Libretto  of  '  Simone 
Boccanegra'  was  remodelled,  not  long  ago,  by 
Arrigo  Bo'ito.     This  profound  Scholar,  and  true 
Italian  Poet,  exercises,  upon  the  Lyric  Drama 
of  the  present  day,  an  influence  somewhat  ana 
logous  to  that  of  Metastasio  upon  the  '  Opera 
seria'   of   the   zyth  century.      He  it   was  who 
furnished  Bottesini  with  the  Libretto  of  'Hero 
and    Leander,'    and    Ponchielli    with    that    of 
'Gioconda' — both    Poems    worthy  to    live    for 
their  own  sake.     It  is  much  to  be  able  to  say 
this  ;  for  there  are  but  few  Libretti  endurable, 
in  the  absence  of  the  Music  to  which  they  are 
adapted.     But  Boito's  Poems  are  different  indeed 
from  those  which  have  served  as  the  basis  of 
most  Italian  Operas,  for  many  years  past.     He 
is   a   profound   thinker,    as  well   as   a   learned 
scholar ;   a  Philosopher,  as  well  as  a  Poet.     In 
a   fourth   Libretto,   more   carefully   constructed 
than  either   of  the  three  we  have  mentioned, 
he    has    given    us    an    Italian    illustration    of 
Goethe's  '  Faust.'     This  famous  Libretto  he  has 
himself  set  to  Music.     And  here  we  have   to 
grapple  with  one  of  the  greatest  difficulties  with 
which  the  later  Schools  of  Dramatic  Music  are 
called  upon  to  contend.     Their  demands  upon 
the  individual  are  excessive.     How  can  one  man 
shine,  in  the  first  rank,  as  a  Poet  and  a  Musician, 
a  Philosopher  and  a  Machinist,  a  Maestro  di  Canto 
and  a  designer  of  Scenery  ?     Had  Bo'ito  studied 
Music  as  he  has  studied  Poetry,  'Mefistofele' 
would  have  been  simply  immortal.     As  it  is,  it 
can  only  give  pleasure  to  those  who  are  incapable 
of  listening  with  patience  to  'Fidelio*  or  '  II  Don 
Giovanni.'  We  will  not  stay  to  analyse  its  Music. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  Libretto  has  been  written 
with  so  clear  an  insight  into  Goethe's  meaning, 
and  so  conscientious  a  desire  to  do  justice  to  his 
intention,  that  it  cannot  but  be  regarded  as  a 
valuable  commentary  upon  the  Poem.     It  has 
been  said  that  very  great  Music  may  sometimes 
save  a  very  bad  Libretto.    It  remains  to  be  seen 
whether  the  converse  of  the  proposition  te  equally 
true. 

Among  the  most  conscientious  adherents  to 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

the  principles  of  the  new  School,  we  find  a  num 
ber  of  young  Composers,  who  have  already  earned 
a  reputation  which  bids  fair  to  increase  very 
rapidly.  First  among  these  stands  Ponchielli, 
whose  three  best  works,  '  I  promessi  Sposi,' '  Gio 
conda,'  and  'II  Figluol  prodigo,'  exhibit,  in  their 
highest  development,  the  most  prominent  charac 
teristics  of  the  movement.  Bottesini,  in  his '  Hero 
and  Leander '  and  '  La  Regina  del  Nepal, '  inclines 
rather  to  the  standard  adopted  by  Verdi,  striving 
hard  to  attain  dramatic  power,  but  refusing  to 
betray  the  cause  of  Italian  Melody.  Catalani, 
happily  for  his  successful  Opera,  '  Elda/  pro 
duced  in  1880,  has  hitherto  chosen  the  same  line 
of  action,  which  has  been  even  more  fully  carried 
out  by  Anteri-Manzocchi,  in  his  really  melodious 
works  '  Dolores'  and  '  Stella.'  Marchetti,  on  the 
other  hand,  has  attached  himself  to  the  most  ad 
vanced  section  of  the  party,  and,  in  his  'Buy 
Bias '  and  '  Don  Giovanni  d' Austria,'  acts  as  the 
champion  of  its  most  violent  utterances. 

Reviewing  the  School,  as  a  whole,  we  can 
not  but  see  that  it  must  necessarily  exercise  a 
powerful  influence  upon  the  Future  of  Dramatic 
Art.    It  has  its  weak  points,  as  well  as  its  Strong 
ones  :  and,  if  it  is  ever  to  attain  real  greatness,  its 
supporters  must  dare  to  look  the  former  resolutely 
in  the  face,  and  fight  with  them,  hand  to  hand. 
Among  the  weakest  of  these  weak  points  are 
three  which  merit  more  than  ordinary  attention : 
neglect  of  Melody ;  neglect  of  that  indispensable 
care  for  the  Voice,  and  its  possibilities,  without 
which  the   Opera   must   eventually  degenerate 
into  a  mere  vulgar  crash  of  Instrumental  inani 
ties  ;     and    neglect   of  that   careful   system  of 
Part-writing,  which,  in   the  Italian   School  of 
fifty  years  ago,  was  less  indispensable  than  it  has 
since  become.     A  very  slight  knowledge  of  the 
Theory  of  Music  sufficed  for  the  enrichment  of  a 
graceful  Melody  with  a  passable  Accompaniment. 
But  the  new  School  aims  at  higher  things  than 
this;  and  study  is  needed  for  their  attainment. 
Hitherto,  Part- writing  has  not  been  very  deeply 
studied  in  Italy.     It  must  be  cultivated,  now; 
or  the  School  must,  sooner   or   later,  collapse. 
Music  has  its  Grammar  as  well  as  Poetry ;  and 
the  rules  of  the  one  can  no  more  be  neglected 
than  those  of  the  other.  What  would  the  author 
of  'Mefistofele'   think  of  an  Italian  Libretto, 
beginning  with  the  words — 

Avi  Signer  delle  Angelo  ed  della  Santi? 

What,  then,  must  an  educated  Musician,  ac 
customed  to  the  Harmonies  of  Mozart  and  Bee 
thoven,  think  of  such  a  passage  as  the  following  ? 


Surely  this  passage,  and  a  similar  one  in  the 
Scene  at  the  beginning  of  the  Prologue  of 'Me 
fistofele,'  must  have  been  written,  like  the  Scherzo 
sung  by  the  Cherubim,  for  fun. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

In  strange  contrast  to  these  crudities,  the  news 
is  brought  to  us  of  the  discovery  of  an  unfinished 
Opera— '  II  Duca  d'Alba' — by  Donizetti.  The 
authenticity  of  the  MS.  has  been  established, 
beyond  all  doubt;  and  the  possibility  of  com 
pleting  and  performing  the  work  has  already 
been  discussed.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  task 
of  supplying  the  missing  portions  will  be  entrusted 
to  an  Artist  capable  of  thoroughly  sympathising 
with  the  intentions  of  a  Composer  who  never 
heard  of  avvenerismo,  and,  if  he  had,  could  not 
have  countenanced  it ;  for,  its  introduction  into 
one  of  his  tuneful  inspirations  would  have  been 
like  the  introduction  of  vitriol  into  the  human  eye. 
Should  this  point  be  borne  in  mind,  and  should  the 
Opera  prove  to  be  in  the  Master's  best  style,  it 
will  come  upon  us  like  a  Voice  from  the  Dead, 
and  may  do  much  towards  the  direction  of  Italian 
taste  into  a  characteristic  Italian  channel. 

XXXIII.  THE  FRENCH  SCHOOL  OF  THE  IQTH 
CENTURY  is  a  very  important  one,  for  it  represents 
the  'Grand  Ope"ra'  in  a  very  interesting  phase  of 
its  development,  and  the  'Opera  Comi(j[ue'  in  the 
nearest  approach  it  has  made  to  perfection. 

The  history  of  the  'Grand  Opera'  is  remark 
able  for  the  long  periods  of  almost  unredeemed 
sterility  interposed  between  its  most  brilliant 
triumphs.  Forty-six  years  elapsed  between  the 
death  of  Lulli  and  the  production  of  Rameau's 
'  Hippolyte  et  Aricie' ;  ten  between  the  death  of 
Eameau'  and  the  first  performance  of  Gluck's 
'  Tphige"nie  en  Aulide,'  and  twenty-five  between 
Gluck's  last  Opera,  'Echo  et  Narcisse,'  and 
Cherubini's  '  Anaereon,'  produced  in  1803. 
'  Anacreon '  was  succeeded,  after  an  interval  of 
four  years,  by  Spontini's  '  La  Vestale ' ;  and  this, 
two  years  later,  by  the  same  Composer's  '  Ferdi 
nand  Cortez ' :  works  which  remained  deservedly 
popular,  until  the  appearance  of  Rossini's  'Guil- 
laume  Tell,'  in  1829,  caused  all  earlier  successes 
to  be  forgotten.  It  is  singular  that  this  beautiful 
Composition  should  alone  retain  its  place  upon 
the  stage,  as  the  permanent  representative  of  a 
period  which  owes  more  to  Cherubim,  Spontini, 
and  Rossini,  than  to  any  other  Composer,  whether 
native  or  foreign  ;  for  even  the  best  productions 
of  later  years,  notwithstanding  their  extraordinary 
popularity,  will  bear  no  comparison  with  those  of 
these  three  masters,  on  purely  artistic  grounds.1 
Nevertheless,  these  later  works  must  not  be 
lightly  esteemed  ;  nor  must  the  names  of  the 
Masters  who  produced  them  be  passed  over  with 
out  due  notice.  For  many  years,  Auber  and 
HaleVy  enjoyed  an  almost  exclusive  monopoly  of 
popular  favour.  The  lead  was  afterwards  trans 
ferred  to  Meyerbeer,  who,  having  once  obtained 
a  hearing,  suffered  no  rival  to  approach  him.  It 
was  no  small  thing  for  a  German  Composer, 
attracted— like  Gluck — at  the  outset  of  his  career, 
by  the  graces  of  the  Italian  School,  to  settle  down 
into  a  style  so  well  adapted  to  Parisian  tastes 
that  a  Librettist,  like  Scribe,  French  to  the  back 
bone,  should  find  himself  immortalised  by  the  con 
nection  of  his  Verses  with  the  stranger's  powerful 

I8eevol.it.  p.  525. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION.      303 

Music.  The  cosmopolitan  spirit  that  dictated  this 
vigorous  course  deserved  success,  and  commanded 
it — being  based  upon  a  foundation  of  undeniable 
talent.  For  Meyerbeer's  French  Operas  are  no 
weak  rehabilitations  of  an  effete  formula.  They 
teem  with  Melodies  which,  however  eccentric  in 
construction,  haunt  the  ear  too  effectually  to  be 
easily  forgotten.  Their  grasp  of  the  business 
of  the  Stage,  too  comprehensive  to  overlook  the 
smallest  detail,  never  fails  to  penetrate  the  in 
most  depth  of  the  situation,  be  it  what  it  may. 
And — most  important  of  all,  when  we  remember 
the  character  of  the  audiences  to  which  they 
were  originally  addressed — they  rise,  where  dra 
matic  truth  demands  that  they  should  do  so,  to 
a  climax  which  carries  everything  before  it. 
How  many  Composers  could  have  continued  the 
Action  of  the  Drama,  with  increasing  interest, 
after  the  fervid  passion  of '  Robert  toi  que  j'aime'? 
Yet  'Robert  toi  que  j'aime'  is  but  an  episode 
in  a  powerful  Duet,  which  itself  is  but  a  single 
member  of  a  still  more  exciting  Finale.  How 
many,  after  the  '  Blessing  of  the  Poignards,'  could 
have  escaped  the  chill  of  a  wretched  anti-climax  ? 
Yet  it  is  only  after  the  last  crash  of  Orchestra 
and  Chorus  has  been  silenced,  that  the  Scene 
begins  to  work  up  to  its  true  culminating-point, 
in  the  Duet  which  concludes  the  Act.  Truly 
these  are  master-strokes  :  and  the  Composer  who 
imagined  them  deserves  to  live. 

Meyerbeer's  legitimate  successor  is  Gounod, 
a  genius  of  a  very  different  order,  but  of  no 
mean  capability.  Like  Meyerbeer,  he  has  listened 
to  the  counsels  of  Gluck,  and  profited  by  them 
largely;  though,  no  doubt,  in  many  cases,  un 
consciously.  But,  this  remark  applies  only  to 
the  theoretical  principles  by  which  his  practice 
is  guided.  In  the  details  of  his  work,  he  has 
taken  counsel  from  no  one.  His  style  is  essen 
tially  his  own  ;  and,  if  it  be  tinged,  sometimes, 
with  a  shade  of  mannerism,  the  peculiarity  is 
only  just  strong  enough  to  enable  us  to  recognise 
our  author  with  pleasure.  It  is  impossible  to 
mistake  the  tone  of  his  harmonic  colouring.  Even 
when  he  writes  progressions  which  bear  not  the 
most  distant  resemblance  to  each  other,  we 
constantly  find  him  using  the  Chords  he  most 
delights  in,  for  the  production  of  certain  sensuous 
effects,  certain  shades  of  pathetic  expression, 
which  distinguish  his  Music  so  plainly  that 
it  cannot  be  misunderstood.  The  dramatic 
power  exhibited  in  '  Faust '  is  very  striking  ; 
and  much  of  its  Music  is  quite  good  enough  to 
live,  apart  from  the  Stage — a  quality  growing 
daily  more  and  more  rare,  and  regarded,  by 
advanced  thinkers,  as  a  sign  of  weakness,  though 
it  is  difficult  to  understand  why  really  good 
Music  should  not  sound  good,  anywhere.  At  any 
rate,  Gounod's  inspirations  are  always  welcome, 
either  in  the  Theatre,  or  the  Concert  Room ; 
whether  from  'Faust,'  or  '  Mireille,'  or  'La 
Nonne  Sanglante,'  or  other  Operas  less  known 
here  :  and  though  '  Faust '  is  the  work  on  which 
his  fame  chiefly  rests,  he  has  done  so  much,  in 
other  ways,  that  we  cannot  believe  he  will  re 
main  contented  with  the  laurels  he  has  already 


304      SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

won.  The  difficulty  of  winning  such  laurels,  on  a 
Stage  which  has  witnessed  so  many  shipwrecks, 
is  no  slight  one.  Ambroise  Thomas  had  suc 
ceeded,  over  and  over  again,  in  lighter  pieces, 
before  he  established  his  reputation  by  the  pro 
duction  of  'Hamlet';  and  the  'chute  Iclatante'  of 
Berlioz's  '  Benvenuto  Cellini,'  meant  nothing  less 
than  ruin.  But  we  have  not  yet  seen  the  last  of 
the  traditional  '  Grand  Ope'ra/ 

The  'Ope'ra  Comique,'  still  more  prosperous, 
in  some  respects,  than  its  graver  sister  at  the 
'  Academic,'  was  raised  to  a  high  aesthetic  level 
by  Boieldieu,  Gre"try,  and  Me'hul,  at  a  very  early 
period ;  and,  even  before  the  ipth  century  began, 
had  given  fair  promise  of  a  brilliant  future, 
destined  to  be  speedily  realised  by  the  genius 
of  Cherubim,  whose  '  Lodoiska,' '  Elise,'  'Mede"e,' 
'  Faniska,'  and,  above  all,  '  Les  deux  Journeys, ' 
rise  far  above  his  best  contributions  to  the  r6- 
pertoire  of  the  '  Grand  Ope'ra.'  In  these  great 
works,  the  triumphs  of  this  form  of  the  Lyric 
Drama  culminate.  No  one  has  attempted  to 
compete  with  their  author,  in  his  own  style ; 
and  no  new  style  has  been  conceived  worthy  to 
be  discussed  in  connection  with  it.1  The  train 
of  thought  pursued  by  He'rold,  Auber,  and  their 
countless  followers,  led  them  in  so  different  a 
direction,  that  one  is  tempted  to  wish  some  more 
appropriate  name  had  been  invented,  to  distin 
guish  their  respective  styles,  and  thus  prevent 
the  appearance  of  an  unfair  comparison  of  works 
which  bear  no  nearer  relation  to  each  other 
than  the  Tragedy  bears  to  the  Ballad.  Never 
theless,  the  number  of  successes  achieved,  of  late 
years,  in  the  lighter  style,  is  very  great.  Six 
years  ago,  the  hopes  of  French  Musicians  were 
excited  by  the  production  of  Bizet's  'Carmen'; 
than  which  no  work  of  similar  character  could 
possibly  have  been  more  exactly  adapted  to  the 
one  great  need  of  the  present  crisis — the  support, 
and  continuation,  of  a  long-established  School. 
Pleasing  enough  to  attract,  yet  not  sufficiently 
so  to  stifle  the  memory  of  standard  successes ; 
original  enough  to  command  attention,  yet  not  so 
new  as  to  suggest  the  birth  of  a  newer  School ; 
it  takes  its  place  among  the  best  productions 
of  its  class,  and  honourably  maintains  it,  with 
out  disturbing  the  relations  of  existing  styles. 
A  School  in  Music  bears  a  very  close  analogy 
to  a  Species  in  Zoology.  Its  line  of  demarcation 
is  a  very  elastic  one.  Countless  modifications  of 
form  may  be  introduced  without  transgressing 
its  limits.  But,  there  is  a  point  which  cannot 
be  overstepped.  We  have  seen  that  Wagner 
has  placed  himself  beyond  the  pale  of  the 
Komantic  School ;  and  Bo'ito,  beyond  that  of  the 
Italian  School  of  Melody.  Bizet  has  thought  for 
himself  ;  but  has  not  overstepped  the  boundaries 
of  the  '  Ope'ra  Comique.'  With  sufficient  char 
acter  to  stamp  them  as  his  own,  his  ideas 
evince  sufficient  originality  to  entitle  them  to 
consideration,  as  belonging  to  a  School  already 
formed.  His  power  of  expressing  passion  is  very 
remarkable  :  not  Italian  passion ;  but  the  agita- 

i  Bee  vol.  li.  pp.  522,  523. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

tion  which  goads  a  soul  to  madness.  And  the 
quaint  piquancy  of  some  of  his  lighter  conceptions 
is  delightfully  refreshing ;  as  in  the  Chorus  of 
Gamins,  in  the  First  Act — a  jeu  d'esprit  which 
makes  us  long  to  know  how  he  would  have 
treated  such  a  character  as  Petit  Gavroche,  had 
it  fallen  in  his  way.  But,  alas  !  like  Goetz,  he 
lived  only  just  long  enough  to  see  his  talent 
appreciated. 

Notwithstanding   the    associations    connected 
with  its  title,  it  is  by  no  means  de  rigueur  that 
the  subject  of  the  '  Ope'ra  comique '  should  be  a 
ludicrous,  or  even  a  cheerful  one :  but,  this  in 
dulgence  is  not  extended  to  the  lighter  form  of 
entertainment  called  the  '  Ope'ra  bouffe,'  now  so 
extravagantly  popular  in  Paris,  and  so  frequently 
presented,  elsewhere,  in  the  guise  of  an  English 
or  German  translation.     In  general  design,  the 
'Ope'ra  bouffe'  bears  much  the  same  relation  to 
the  Farce,  that  the  '  Ope'ra  comique'  bears  to 
legitimate  Comedy ;  but  it  also  borrows  largely 
from  the  Ballet  and  the  Melodrama,  and  not  a 
little  from  the  Extravaganza  and  Burlesque.  Its 
Music  is,  as  a  general  rule,  too  trivial  for  serious 
criticism ;    though,  within  the   last   few  years, 
much  of  it  has  attained  almost  unexampled  popu 
larity  in  the  hands  of  Offenbach,  Hervd,  Lecocq, 
and  other  aspirants  for  public  favour. 

Though  the  French   School  has  produced  in 
numerable  Instrumentalists,  of  European  reputa 
tion,   it  has  given  birth  to  comparatively  few 
Instrumental  Composers.     It  is  true,  that  the 
Orchestral  Preludes  to  Cherubini's  Operas  rank 
among  the  finest  inspirations  of  his  genius ;  but, 
they  stand  almost  alone.     Neither  the  Quartet 
nor   the   Sonata  have   ever  found  a  congenial 
home  in  France  ;  nor  can  the  Symphony  be  said 
to  have  firmly  taken  root  in  that  country,  though 
the  meteor-like  genius  of  Berlioz  invested  it,  for 
a  moment,  with  a  passing  interest  of  altogether 
exceptional   character.     The  style  of  this  irre 
pressible   free-lance    differs,   root    and   branch, 
from  that  of  every  other  known  Composer,  Ger 
man,  French,  English,  or  Italian;  yet  its  most 
salient  features  may  be  summed  up  in  a  very 
few  words.     It  is  a  French  paraphrase  of  the 
most  pronounced  development  of  the  German 
Romantic  School :    German,  in  its  deep  cogita 
tion,  its  philosophical  moods,  its  wild  imagery, 
its   power  of  Tone-painting,   and  its  new  and 
finished  system  of  Instrumentation — French,  in 
its  violent  outbursts,  its  fervid  excitement,  its 
uncontrollable  agitation,  its  polished  refinement, 
and,   above    all,    its   ineffable  Mzarreries.    Its 
analogue,  in  Literature,  would  be  a  paraphrase 
of  'Faust,'   by  Victor  Hugo.     It  exceeds  all 
previous  revolutionary  manifestations,  in  its  mad 
contempt  for  all  authority,  save  that  dictated  by 
its  own  caprice.    In  the  fearlessness  of  its  concep 
tions,  it  stands  unrivalled.    And,  in  painting  its 
vivid  pictures,  it  avails  itself  at  one  moment  of 
the  deepest  Poetry,  and  at  another  of  the  grossest 
Realism,  with  a  calm  assurance  which  sets  all 
sober  criticism  at  defiance,  but  seldom  fails  to 
hit  its  mark.     Are  we  not  made  to  feel,  instinc 
tively,  in  '  Le  Carnaval  Remain,'  that  the  shower 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

of  confetti  is  a  sham?  that  the  bon-t>ons  are  fic 
titious,  and  probably  aimed  at  our  eyes?  Can 
the  coldest  of  us  listen,  unmoved,  to  the  March 
in  'La  Damnation  de  Faust'  ?  In  '  Harold  en 
Italie,'  the  finest  picture  of  all,  does  not  the 
Viola  obUigata  impersonate  the  hero  of  the 
Poem,  as  he  could  have  been  impersonated  by  no 
other  means  ?  Could  we  obtain  a  clearer  insight 
into  his  morbid  train  of  thought,  if  we  were  per 
mitted  to  converse  with  him  in  the  flesh  ?  It  has 
been  said,  that  genius,  capable  of  producing  such 
works  as  these,  would  expire  if  trammelled  by 
the  conventional  Rules  of  Art.  We  do  not  believe 
it.  We  believe,  that,  if  Berlioz  had  worked  at 
those  Eules,  as  hard  as  Beethoven  did,  he  might 
have  taken  rank  among  the  greatest  writers  of 
the  century.  Casting  them  aside,  he  shines  forth 
as  the  producer  of  works  which  may  astonish, 
and  even  delight,  for  the  moment,  but  which  can 
not  last,  because,  like  the  caprices  of  the  author 
himself,  they  can  never  be  thoroughly  understood. 

Another    bright    ornament    of    the    Modern 
French  School,   Camille   Saint  Saens,  has  also 
given  much  attention  to  this  particular  branch 
of  Art ;  though  it  is  not  generally  in  his  purely 
descriptive  Music  that  he  shows  himself  at  his 
best.     For  instance,  his  Pianoforte  Concerto  in 
Eb — which,  notwithstanding  its  charmingly  pic 
turesque  character,  claims  no  connection  what 
ever  with  the  Romantic  School — strikes  out  an 
idea,  so  original,  so  reasonable,  and  so  full  of 
artistic  interest,  that  one  cannot  but  regard  it 
as  marking  a  distinct  stage  of  progress  in  the 
development  of  Instrumental  Composition.     Its 
grasp  of  the  mutual  relations  existing  between 
the  Solo  Instrument  and  the  Orchestra,  its  exact 
measurement  of  the  capabilities  of  both,  and  its 
skilful  adaptation  of  the  one  to  the  other,  unite 
in  producing  a  variety  of  effect,  which  is  height 
ened  every  moment  by  the  introduction  of  some 
new  and   unexpected   combination ;    while   the 
richness    of  the   general    tone    is   not   a  little 
enhanced  by  the   excellence   of  the   '  writing,' 
throughout.    Saint  Sae'ns  has  written  many  other 
works  on  a  scale  as  extended  as  this,  and  rarely 
failed  to  strike  out  some  original  idea  well  worth 
remembering ;    but  this  Concerto  carries  out  a 
principle  so  valuable,  that  we  cannot  doubt  that 
it  will  take  its  place  among  the  accepted  truths 
of  Art.     On  the  other  hand,  the  meaning  of  his 
descriptive  works  is  often  very  obscure.    For  in 
stance,    his   Poeme   Symphonique,    'Le    Rouet 
d'Omphale,'  is  lamentably  deficient  in  the  clear 
ness  which  is  indispensable  in  a  work  of  the  ad 
vanced  Romantic  School.    Even  with  prefatorial 
references  to  guide  us  to  the  exact  bars  in  which 
we  are  to  look  for  'Hercules   groaning   under 
the  bonds  which  he  cannot  break,"  and  '  Om- 
phale  deriding  his  efforts,'  we  fail  to  recognise  the 
true  moral  of  the  Scene  ;  while  the  passage  for 
Stringed  Instruments  which  represents  the  mo 
tion  of  the  Wheel,  is,  after  all,  no  more  than 
the  repetition  of  an  idea  already  worked  out  to 
perfection   in   the  First  Movement   of  Spohr's 
'  Weihe^der  Tone.'  But,  if  the  Composer  has  mis 
taken  his  strong  point  in  this,  he  has  announced 

VOL.  in.  PT.  3. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION.      305 

it  so  forcibly  in  other  works,  that  French  or 
chestral  Composers  must  be  apathetic  indeed  if 
they  do  not  follow  his  example,  in  striving  to 
secure  some  share  of  the  fame  which  has  hitherto 
been  exclusively  reserved,  in  Paris,  for  writers 
of  Dramatic  Music. 

XXXIV.  THE  ENGLISH  SCHOOLS  OP  THE  ipxn 
CENTURY  have  passed  through  so  many,  and  such 
various  transitions,  that  it  would  be  impossible  to 
give  a  mere  general  sketch  of  their  history. 
They  must  be  treated  in  detail,  or  not  at  all. 

We  have  seen  that  the  death  of  Handel  was 
followed  by  a  long  period  of  comparative  inaction, 
relieved  only  by  the  introduction  of  a  new 
School  of  Dramatic  Music,  essentially  English  in 
character,  and,  though  overflowing  with  Melody, 
sadly  deficient  in  scenic  power.  This  School  did 
not  die  out  with  the  i8th  century,  but  was  carried 
well  into  the  iQth,  by  Dibdin  and  Shield  ;  and  in 
the  hands  of  Braham,  C.  E.  Horn,  and  Bishop, 
became  even  more  popular  than  before.  Braham, 
indeed,  did  little  for  it,  beyond  the  introduction 
of  some  spirited  Songs,  to  which  his  matchless 
Voice,  and  perfect  method  of  phrasing,  lent  a 
charm  which  atoned  for  much  weak  Instrumenta 
tion,  and  many  still  more  serious  shortcomings. 
But  Bishop  was  a  thorough  Musician,  a  perfect 
master  of  the  Orchestra,  and,  in  many  respects,  a 
true  genius.  His  invention  was  unlimited.  His 
Melodies  were  always  graceful,  and  pleasing; 
and  his  Concerted  Pieces  were  skilfully  put  to 
gether,  with  that  instinctive  tact,  which  never 
fails  to  produce  the  best  effect  attainable  with 
the  means  at  its  command.  Witness  that  de 
lightful  Finale  in  'Guy  Mannering,'  in  which 
the  Comic  and  the  Sentimental  are  blended  to 
gether,  with  such  exquisite  perception,  that  one 
can  only  wonder  how  the  Composer  failed  to  take 
rank  as  the  greatest  dramatic  writer  of  the  period. 
Rooke  followed,  worthily,  with  '  Amilie,  or  The 
Love-test,'  'Henrique,  or  The  Love-pilgrim, 'and 
'Cagliostro' — works  full  of  merit,  though  no 
more  likely  to  be  revived  than  their  prede 
cessors.  If  then,  even  when  reinforced  by  such 
exceptional  talent,  the  old  English  Opera  rose  to 
no  satisfactory  artistic  level,  it  must  clearly  have 
been  in  consequence  of  some  radical  defect  in  its 
constitution.  And  this  was  the  exact  truth.  It 
demanded,  for  its  effective  representation,  a  prac 
tical  impossibility.  Due  justice  could  only  be 
rendered  to  the  impersonation  of  its  principal 
characters,  by  a  company  of  performers,  equally 
accomplished  as  Vocalists  and  Rhetoricians. 
And  hence  it  was,  that,  when  '  Guy  Mannering' 
was  revived,  some  five  and  thirty  years  ago,  at  the 
Princess's  Theatre,  the  piece  owed  its  success  en 
tirely  to  the  wonderful  delineation  of  the  parts  of 
Meg  Merrilies  and  Dominie  Sampson  by  two  cele 
brated  Comedians,  neither  of  whom  could  sing  a 
single  note — in  other  words,  it  succeeded,  not  as 
an  Opera,  but  as  a  Play.  Neither  in  Germany 
nor  France,  would  this  perversion  of  styles  have 
been  possible  :  for,  neither  in  the  modern  form  of 
the  'Singspiel,'  nor  in  the  '  OpeYa  comique,'  is  any 
really  important  part  of  the  Action  of  the  Drama 
transacted  in  spoken  Dialogue.  The  approach  of 


306      SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

a  scenic  climax  is  always  heralded  by  a  return  to 
the  more  powerful  language  of  Music ;  and  it 
was  simply  to  the  neglect  of  this  condition  that 
the  older  School  of  English  Opera  owed  its  ruin. 
A  foolish  prejudice  against  English  Recitative 
had  long  been  prevalent  in  musical  circles ;  and 
had,  by  this  time,  become  so  general,  that  when 
'  Der  Freischiitz '  was  produced  at  Covent  Garden 
in  1824,  it  was  mutilated  in  the  most  shame 
less  manner  to  meet  the  popular  taste,  the  last 
grand  Finale  being  represented  solely  by  its  con 
cluding  Chorus.  Even  the  Libretto  of'  Oberon' 
(by  Planche")  contained  scenes  in  which  the  whole 
interest  was  centred  in  the  Dialogue ;  and,  when 
German,  Italian,  or  French  Operas,  were  'adapted 
to  the  English  Stage,'  their  finest  movements  were 
excised,  in  obedience  to  this  Procrustean  law. 
What  wonder  that  a  School  based  on  so  false  a 
foundation  should  fall  to  the  ground ! 

Without  one  tithe  of  Bishop's  talent,  or  a 
vestige  of  his  reverence  for  Art,  Balfe  saw 
this  weak  point ;  and  remedied  it,  by  substi 
tuting  Music  for  Dialogue,  in  the  more  impor 
tant  situations  of  the  Drama,  and  thus  assimi 
lating  it  more  nearly  to  the  lighter  phases  of  the 
'  Ope'ra  comique.'  In  this  he  certainly  did  well. 
Compared  with  Bishop's,  his  Music  was  worth 
less.  But,  by  introducing  it  in  the  right  places, 
he  saved  the  English  Opera — a  work  in  which 
he  was  ably  supported  by  Benedict,  whose  earlier 
Operas  were  based  upon  similar  views.  Wallace 
followed  with  '  Maritana'  and  '  Lurline' ;  Lucas, 
with  'The  Regicide';  Lavenu,  with  'Loretta'; 
Howard  Glover,  with  '  Ruy  Bias,'  'Aminta,' 
'  Once  too  often,'  and  '  The  Coquette ' ;  Henry 
Smart  with  'The  Gnome  of  Harzburg' ;  Hatton, 
with  'Pascal  Bruno' — produced  at  Vienna — and 
'Rose,  or  Love's  Ransom' ;  Mellon,  with  'Vic- 
torine ' ;  and  Edward  Loder,  with  '  The  Night- 
Dancers.'  Our  best  Composers  were,  by  this  time, 
fully  convinced,  that,  if  any  good  was  to  be  effected 
for  the  English  Lyric  Drama,  it  could  only  be 
by  the  full  recognition  of  principles,  which,  ages 
before,  had  been  received  as  canons  of  Art  in  every 
other  country  in  Europe.  The  performances  of  a 
German  Opera  Company,  in  London,  in  1840- 
1842,  did  much  towards  the  illustration  of  these 
principles,  in  a  form  both  practical  and  instructive. 
The  German  'Singspiel'  was  heard,  in  its  normal 
purity,  interpreted  by  German  Singers  of  highest 
rank.  The  objectors  to  English  Recitative  were 
put  out  of  Court ;  for  the  Dialogue  of  the 
'  Singspiel '  is  spoken.  We  know,  now,  that  this 
is  a  mistake ;  and,  that  the  only  true  principle 
is  that  maintained  by  the  Italians,  who  insist 
that  everything  must  be  sung,  or  nothing.  But, 
in  those  days,  it  was  a  great  thing  that  even 
the  German  theory  should  be  accepted ;  and  its 
acceptance  was  followed  by  great  results. 

The  eyes  of  John  Barnett  had  already  been 
opened  to  the  necessity  of  this  modification  of 
form,  as  early  as  1834,  when  he  brought  out  his 
best  Opera,  'The  Mountain  Sylph,'at  the  Lyceum. 
Before  this,  he  had  produced  a  lengthy  series  of 
dramatic  works,  abounding  in  beautiful  Songs, 
but  based  upon  the  approved  English  model,  and 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

therefore  doomed  to  speedy  extinction.     But  in 
'The  Mountain  Sylph'  he  proved  himself  the 
possessor  of  an  unsuspected  amount  of  dramatic 
power ;  and,  while  faithful  to  his  melodic  talent, 
took  care  to  employ  it — as  in  the  clever  Trio, 
'This  magic- wove  scarf — in  combination  with 
sufficient  Action  to  ensure  its  good  effect.     But, 
though  the  Opera  proved  a  great  success,  the 
new  principle  was  not  followed  up,  until,  after 
the  arrival  of  the  German  Company,   English 
audiences  became  alive  to  its  immense  import 
ance.     Then  it  was  that  George  Macfarren  ap 
peared  upon  the  scene,  with  his  '  Don  Quixote'; 
a  delightful  work,  which  was  received  at  Drury 
Lane  in  1846  with  acclamation.     No  less  suc 
cessful  were  his  '  Charles  the  Second,'  produced 
at  the  Princess's  Theatre  in  1849,  and  '  Robin 
Hood,'  at   'Her   Majesty's   Theatre'  in  1860. 
These,  and  some  later  works  of  similar  tendency, 
are  all  written  in  true  English  style ;  but  with 
an  honest  appreciation  of  the  form  which  pre 
vailed   uninterruptedly  in   Germany,  from  the 
time  of  Mozart  until  the  first  outbreak  of  the 
revolution  which  has  condemned  it  as  a  relique 
of  the  dark  ages.  With  this  revolution,  Macfarren 
has  never  shown  the  slightest  sympathy,  either  in 
theory  or  practice :  but,  honestly  striving  to  carry 
out  the  principles  which  underlie '  Der  Freischiitz,' 
'  Die  Entfiihrung,'  and  '  Les  deux  Journe"es,'  he 
has  accomplished  a  work  which  may  possibly  be 
more  fully  appreciated  after  a  certain  inevitable 
reaction  has  set  in,  than  it  is  now. 

Not  many  English  Operas  of  note  have  been 
produced    in    London    since    Macfarren's  later 
works ;   but  within  the  last  few  years  a  taste 
has  been  developed  for  a  lighter  kind  of  Operetta, 
the  success  of  which  has  surpassed  anything  thai 
the  most  devoted  admirers  of  playful  Music  could 
have  anticipated.     In  nothing  does  a  true  Artist 
declare  himself  more  unmistakeably,  than  in  his 
power  of  adapting  himself  to  circumstances.   We 
all  know  that  Opera  buffa  is  a  lower  form  of  Art 
than   Opera  seria;   yet   Cimarosa  and; Rossini 
achieved  some  success  in  it,  to  say  nothing  of 
Mozart.     In  like  manner,  though  we  do  not  say 
that  English  Comic  Operetta  is,  in  itself,  a  noble 
conception,  we  do  say,  that,  since  the  English 
public  is  determined  to  have  it,  Arthur  Sullivan 
has  proved  himself  a  true  Artist,  by  meeting  the 
demand  in  so  conscientious  a  spirit  that  his  re 
putation  as  a  Musician  will  rest,  eventually,  on 
his  Operettas,  as  much  as  on  his  more  serious 
Compositions.     A  strong  affinity  may  be  traced 
between  these  pretty  trifles,  and  the  older  forms 
of  Italian  Opera  buffa.    The  Tunes  are  catching, 
in   the  highest  degree.     If  they  were  not  so, 
no  Operetta   would   live   a   week.     But,  they 
are  also   put   together   with   so  much  genuine 
Musician-like  feeling,  that,  though  they  may  be 
ground  on  the  barrel-organ,  and  whistled  in  the 
street,  they  can  never  sound  vulgar.     And,  the 
brightest  fun  of  the  piece,  the  real  vis  comica, 
lies — as  in  'H  Barbie  re,'  and  '  La  Cenerentola' 
—not  in  the  words,  but  in  the  Music.     '  Hardly 
ever'  would  not  have  passed  into  a  proverb,  if 
it  had  been  spoken.     It  makes  us  laugh,  only 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

because,  like  all  the  other  good  things  in '  H.  M.  S. 
Pinafore,'  it  is  so  set  to  Music  that  the  Singer 
has  no  choice  but  to  turn  it  into  fun.  And 
it  is  exactly  the  same  with  'Patience,'  and 
'  Cox  and  Box.'  Their  Music  overflows  with 
witty  passages ;  passages  which  would  make  the 
words  sound  witty,  were  they  ever  so  tame. 
The  fun  of  very  clever  people  is  always  the 
richest  fun  of  all.  Its  refinement  is  a  thousand 
times  more  telling  than  the  coarser  utterances  of 
ordinary  humour.  And  so  it  has  always  been 
with  the  greatest  Masters  of  Opera  buffa.  Paisi- 
ello  and  Cimarosa  are  accepted  as  Classical  Com 
posers;  yet  their  sprightliness  exceeds  that  of 
all  the  farce-writers  that  ever  existed.  Arthur 
Sullivan  has  made  every  one  in  London  laugh ; 
yet,  the  predominating  quality  in  the  Music  of 
'  H.M.S.  Pinafore '  is  reverence  for  Art — con 
scientious  observance  of  its  laws,  in  little  things. 
It  may  sound  absurd  to  say  so  :  but,  no  one 
who  takes  the  trouble  to  examine  the  Score  can 
deny  the  fact- 

It  is  said  that  the  Composer  of  these  popular 
Operettas  is  contemplating  a  Serious  Opera, 
planned  upon  an  extensive  scale.  It  is  to  be 
hoped  that  the  report  may  prove  true ;  for, 
with  his  great  reputation,  he  can  hardly  fail  to 
obtain  a  hearing,  though  there  is  not  much  hope, 
in  England,  for  aspirants  of  lesser  celebrity.  That 
Stanford's  '  Veiled  Prophet '  should  have  been 
performed,  for  the  first  time,  at  Hanover,  in 
the  form  of  a  German  translation,  is  a  reproach 
to  our  national  taste.  Had  the  work  proceeded 
from  an  untried  hand,  managers  might  have  been 
forgiven  for  refusing  to  risk  the  production  of  a 
piece  demanding  such  costly  scenic  preparation. 
But  Stanford's  name  was  not  unknown;  and 
'The  Veiled  Prophet'  proved  to  be  something 
better  than  a  poor  commonplace  imitation  of 
foreign  models.  Though  original,  in  the  best  sense 
of  the  word,  ifc  never  descends  to  eccentricity. 
While  giving  free  expression  to  any  amount  of 
necessary  dramatic  colouring,  the  Composer  never 
forgets  that  there  is  another  side  to  the  question 
— that  even  dramatic  colouring  must  conform  to 
laws  which  have  been  ordained  in  order  that  Art 
may  never  degrade  herself  by  the  presentation  of 
that  which  is  hideous,  or  even  unlovely.  This 
wholesome  restraint  is  exemplified,  in  a  very  re 
markable  way,  in  the  Music  allotted  to  Mokanna. 
The  temptation  to  represent  physical  ugliness  by 
ugly  progressions  would  have  been  too  strong  for 
many  a  young  Composer  to  resist ;  yet,  here,  with 
no  suspicion  of  such  revolting  symbolism,  we  are 
still  made  to  realise  the  horror  of  the  Scene  in  its 
fullest  significance.  There  is  a  determined  cha 
racter  about  the  Watchman's  Song  which  stamps 
it,  throughout,  as  an  original  inspiration.  The 
same  may  be  said  of  the  Music  designed  to 
accompany  the  rising  of  the  magic  moon ;  while 
the  more  regularly  developed  Movements — such 
as  the  Duet  between  Zelica  and  Azim,  in  the 
Second  Act — show  evidence  of  a  preconceived 
design,  which  greatly  augments  the  musical  in 
terest  of  the  piece.  Judged  as  a  whole,  the  Opera 
takes  rank  as  a  legitimate  product  of  theKomantic 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION.      307 

School,  original  enough  to  claim  our  hearty  re 
cognition,  on  its  own  merits,  yet  obedient  enough 
to  scholastic  law  to  show  that  its  author  has  not 
neglected  the  study  of  classical  models. 

Want  of  space  compels  us  to  pass  over  the 
Dramatic  Works  of  Cowen,  and  Alfred  Cellier, 
and  many  another  rising  Artist,  without  detailed 
notice  ;  but,  with  so  many  young  Composers  in 
the  full  strength  of  their  artistic  life,  and  so  many 
clever  librettists  ready  to  cast  in  their  lot  with 
them,  we  cannot  but  think  that  there  is  good 
hope  for  the  future  of  English  Opera. 

During  the  earlier  decads  of  the  ipth  century, 
England  did  but  little  for  Sacred  Music.  In  one 
important  point,  however,  she  was  faithful  to 
tradition.  She  alone  kept  alive  that  love  for 
Handel  which  was  elsewhere  absolutely  extinct. 
The  Csecilian  Society,  and,  after  it,  the  Sacred 
Harmonic  Society,  did  more  good  than  could  have 
been  achieved  by  any  number  of  lukewarm  Com 
posers.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  some  of  the 
finest  Music  we  possess  must  have  been  delivered 
over  to  oblivion,  had  it  not  been  kept  before  the 
world  by  these  two  Associations,  until  its  beauties 
were  recognised  elsewhere,  and  Germany  began 
that  splendid  edition  of  Handel's  works,  which 
ought,  years  ago.  to  have  been  printed  in  London. 
All  honour  to  Dr.  Chrysander  for  his  labour  of 
love !  But  we  must  not  forget  that  the  English 
were  the  first  to  promote,  in  one  way,  the  work 
which  Germany  is  now  promoting  in  another ;  for 
it  is  to  the  enterprise  of  London  publishers  that 
we  owe  those  octavo  editions  of  Handel's  Ora 
torios,  the  cheapness  of  which  places  them  in 
the  hands  of  every  one,  while  their  enormous 
circulation  shows  how  wonderfully  the  taste  for 
good  Music  must  be  on  the  increase.  Moreover, 
the  weakness,  which,  fifty  or  sixty  years  ago, 
lowered  the  tone  of  English  Sacred  Music  so 
deplorably,  has  given  place  to  a  more  promising 
power  of  healthy  production.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  that  this  reaction  is  mainly  traceable  to  the 
first  performance,  in  1846,  of  Mendelssohn's 
'  Elijah,'  an  event  which  impressed  the  British 
public  with  a  deeper  reverence  for  the  higher 
branches  of  Art  than  it  had  previously  enter 
tained.  The  audiences  assembling  at  Exeter 
Hall  knew  some  dozen  Oratorios — the  finest  in 
the  world — and  honestly  appreciated  them.  But, 
they  did  not  care  to  hear  anything  they  did  not 
know.  They  were  afraid  to  pass  judgment  on 
Music  with  which  they  were  not  familiar,  lest, 
by  criticising  it  too  favourably,  they  should  com 
promise  their  taste.  The  appearance  of  '  Elijah' 
put  an  end  to  this  unsatisfactory  state  of  things. 
The  Oratorio  proved  to  be  superb ;  and  no  one 
was  afraid  to  acknowledge  it.  The  reaction  was 
complete.  The  eyes  of  a  large  section  of  the 
Musical  public  were  opened ;  and  many  who  had 
never  before  entertained  the  idea  of  such  a  ques 
tion,  began  to  ask  whether  the  creative  faculty 
might  not  still  be  found  within  the  pale  of  the 
English  School.  It  was  found;  and,  one  by  one, 
works  were  produced,  quite  strong  enough  to 
give  fair  promise  of  the  ultimate  formation  of  a 
new  School  of  English  Oratorio.  To  Sterndale 

X2 


308      SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

Bennett  we  owe  '  The  Woman  of  Samaria ' ;  to 
C.E.Horsley,  'David,'  'Joseph,'  and  'Gideon';  to 
Macfarren, '  S.  John  the  Baptist, '  '  The  Resurrec 
tion,'  and  'Joseph';  to  Benedict,  'Saint  Csecilia' 
and  ' S.Peter';  to  Ouseley,  'Saint  Polycarp  '  and 
'Hagar  ' ;  to  Sullivan,  '  The  Prodigal  Son'  and 
'  The  Light  of  the  World' ;  to  John  Francis  Bar- 
nett,  '  The  Raising  of  Lazarus ' ;  to  Bexfield, 
'  Israel  restored' ;  to  Chipp,  '  Job '  and  '  Naomi'; 
to  Dearie,  '  Israel  in  the  Wilderness ' ;  to  Costa, 
'Eli'  and  'Naaman';  to  Henry  Leslie,  'Im- 
manuel '  and  'Judith  ' ;  to  Barnby,  '  Rebekah ' ; 
to  Joseph  Parry,  '  Emanuel ' ;  to  Bridge, « Mount 
Moriah ' ;  to  Armes, '  Saint  John  the  Evangelist'; 
to  Pierson,  'Jerusalem,'  and  the  unfinished  Ora 
torio  'Hezekiah.'  Were  we  to  speak  of  these 
works,  or  any  of  them,  as  on  a  level  with  '  Saint 
Paul,'  or  '  Elijah,'  their  Composers  would  be  the 
first  to  contradict  us.  But  we  do  say,  that,  with 
such  a  list  before  us — a  list  far  from  complete- 
it  would  be  absurd  to  speak  of  the  English  Ora 
torio  ;is  extinct. 

In  order  to  supply  a  pressing   need  at  our 
Provincial  Musical  Festivals,  the  Oratorio  has 
been  supplemented,  of  late  years,  by  the  Choral 
Cantata,  in  which  some  of  our  best  English  Com 
posers  have  attained  considerable  success.  Among 
the  best  examples  produced  within  the  last  thirty 
years,  we  may  mention  Dr.  Stainer's  '  Daughter 
of  Jairus';   Caldicott's  'Widow  of  Nam';   Dr. 
Bridge's  'Boadicea';  Macfarren's  'Lenora,'  'May 
Day,'  '  The  Sleeper  awakened/  '  Christmas,'  and 
'The  Lady  of  the  Lake';    Sterndale  Bennett's 
'May  Queen';  Benedict's  'Undine'  and  'Richard 
Cceur  de  Lion' ;  John  Francis  Barnett's  'Paradise 
and  the  Peri/  'The  Ancient  Mariner/  and  '  The 
Building  of  the  Ship' ;  Hodson's'  Golden  Legend '; 
Hubert  Parry's  'Prometheus Unbound' ;  Cowen's 
'  Corsair/  '  S.  Ursula,'  and  '  The  Rose  Maiden'; 
Madame  Sain  ton-Dolby's  '  Legend  of  Saint  Doro 
thea/    'The   Story   of  the  Faithful  Soul/   and 
'  Thalassa ' ;  Gadsby's  'Alcestis/  and  '  The  Lord 
of   the    Isles';    Prout's    'Here ward';    Leslie's 
'Holyrood/  and  'The  Daughter  of  the  Isles'; 
H.  Smart's  '  Jacob/  '  Bride  of  Dunkerron/  '  King 
Renews  daughter,'  and   'The  Fisher  Maidens'; 
Mackenzie's  'The  Bride' ;  Sullivan's  'Kenilworth' 
and  '  Martyr  of  Antioch';  and  many  others. 

The  extraordinary  number  of  these  ambitious 
works  may  be  partly  explained  by  the  increasing 
zeal  for  the  cultivation  of  Part-Singing  mani 
fested  by  all  classes  of  English  Society.  Forty 
years  ago,  the  Art  was  scarcely  known  beyond 
the  limits  of  the  Sacred  Harmonic  Society,  and 
the  Choirs  assembling  at  the  greater  Provincial 
Festivals.  But,  in  1840,  Mr.  Hullah — already 
well  known  to  the  public  by  his  '  Village  Co 
quettes  '  and  some  other  Operas — first  set  on  foot 
the  famous  Classes,  which,  beginning  at  the 
Training  College  at  Battersea,  have  since  spread 
to  the  remotest  parts  of  the  country  ;  insomuch 
that  there  are  lew  parishes  in  England,  which 
have  not,  at  some  time  or  other,  boasted  a  Class 
on  the  'Hullah  System/  and  few  towns  destitute 
of  a  respectable  '  Choral  Society.'  So  great  was 
the  success  of  the  movement,  that,  aided  by  his 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

friend,  E.  C.  May,  and  other  coadjutors,  Mr. 
Hullah  was  able,  within  a  very  few  years,  to 
raise  the  system  of  training  to  a  standard  much 
higher  than  that  which  he  had  originally  contem 
plated  ;  and,  drafting  his  best  pupils  into  a  more 
advanced   Choir,   to   perform   the   Oratorios   of 
Handel,  and  other  great  works,  first  at  Exeter 
Hall,  and  then  at  S.  Martin's,  in  a  style  which 
did  honour  to  the  Association,  even  in  the  face  of 
the  Sacred  Harmonic   Society.     The   effect  of 
these  energetic  proceedings  was  to  educate,  not 
only  the  taste,  but  the  Voices  of  the  people,  also, 
to  a  point  which  prepared  the  way  for  the  Choirs 
founded    by  Leslie,   Barnby,   and    others,  for 
smaller  gatherings,  for  the  Gluck  Society,  and 
for  the  now  firmly  established  Bach  Chuir,  which, 
under  the  able  direction  of  Otto  Goldschmidt, 
with    Madame    Lind- Goldschmidt    consenting, 
from  pure  love  of  Art,  to  lead  its  Sopranos,  has 
achieved  its  well-known   success  in  the  inter 
pretation  of  choral  works  of  the  highest  order. 
Moreover,  this  increased  and  increasing  love  for 
Choral  Singing  has  already  led  to  the  produc 
tion  of  countless  Anthems,  Services,  and  other 
pieces  of  Choral  Music,  many  of  which  are  in 
favour  with  our  Church  Choirs. 

During  the  first  half  of  the  I9th  century  In 
strumental  Music  was  chiefly  rep  resented,  in  Eng 
land,  by  Clementi,  John  Field,  John  Cramer,  the 
elder  Wesley,  Dr.  Crotch,  Thos.  Attwood,  G.  E. 
Griffin,  and  B.  Jacob.      To  these  succeeded  Mo- 
scheles  and  Cipriani  Potter ;  after  whose  retirement 
a  newer  style  was  developed,  under  the  leadership 
of  Sterndale  Bennett.     He  first  showed  us  how, 
to  the  refined  technique  of  his  predecessors,  a  new 
grace  might  be  added  more  captivating  than  all 
the  rest :   and,  crystallising  this,  in  his  written 
works,  he  has   breathed    a  spirit   into  English 
Music  which  will  not  be  soon  forgotten.    It  is 
not  too  much  to  say,  that,  in  perfection  of  form, 
clearness   of   design,    symmetry  of   proportion, 
and  delicacy  of  detail,  his  style  has  never  been 
rivalled,  since  the  death  of  Mendelssohn.    These 
four  great  qualities — especially  the  last — distin 
guish  it  from  all  contemporary  methods.     And 
these    qualities    served    him,    even    before   he 
left  the  Royal  Academy,  as   a  fortress,  under 
shelter  of  which  he  might  safely  give  free  scope 
to  his  genius,  in  any  desired  direction.     Pro 
tected  by  this,  lie  fearlessly  suffered  his  Fancy  to 
lead  him  into  the  very  heart  of  the  Romantic 
School.  Not  towards  the  spectre-haunted  region  so 
familiar  to  Weber  and  Marschner,  but  into  the 
bright  realm  of  Nymphs,  and  Sprites,  and  Faeries, 
and  all  the  beautiful  creatures  of  the  woods ;  the 
dwellers  in  lonely  streams;  the  dancers  in  the 
moonlit   meadow ;    ethereal  essences  which  he 
knew  how  to  paint  in  colours  as  bright  and  beau 
tiful  as  themselves.     Where  Weber  shows  us  a 
Dragon,    Bennett   points   to  the   gambols  of  a 
Squirrel;  but  it  is  only  just  to  say  that  we  are 
made  to  see  the  one  picture  as  clearly  as  the 
other.    Still,  Bennett  was  no  realist.    He  painted 
Ms  pictures  with  an  exactness  of  definition  which 
compels  our  instant  recognition  ;   but,  he  dealt 
with  the  Unseen,  as  well  as  with  the  Seen,  and 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

thus  affiliated  himself  to  the  Imaginative  School 
as  closely  as  to  her  Eomantic  sister.  There  are 
thoughts  in  his  Concertos,  in  the  Symphony  in 
G  Minor,  and  in  many  of  his  pieces  of  Chamber 
Music,  which  neither  words,  nor  pictures,  can 
communicate  from  mind  to  mind ;  thoughts  which 
can  only  be  rendered  intelligible  through  the 
medium  of  Music,  and  which,  so  communicated, 
unite  the  inmost  soul  of  the  hearer  with  that  of 
the  Composer.1  No  doubt,  this  is  the  highest 
result  that  Music  can  hope  to  reach — certainly, 
the  most  intellectual.  But,  this  view  of  the  case 
detracts  nothing,  either  from  the  merit,  or  the 
charm,  of  Romantic  pictures,  so  delicately  painted 
as  the  Overtures  to  'The  Naiads,'  'The  Wood- 
nymphs,'  'Paradise  and  the  Peri,'  or  'Parisina' — 
in  which  last  sad  inspiration  the  deepest  depths 
of  Tragedy  are  reached  as  certainly  as  the  per 
fection  of  beauty  is  reached  in  the  others.  The 
'  Three  Musical  Sketches '  stand  forth  like  three 
little  Water  Colour  Drawings  from  the  pencil  of 
Turner,  who  himself  could  have  thrown  no  more 
poetical  expression  into  the  calm  ripple  on  'The 
Lake,'  the  rush  of  'The  Mill-stream,'  or  the 
brilliant  sparkle  of '  The  Fountain,'  than  Bennett 
has  done  by  means  of  the  simplest  possible  form 
of  Tone-Painting.  Yet,  even  from  these,  the 
taint  of  vulgar  realism  is  entirely  excluded.  The 
only  satisfactory  test  that  can  be  applied,  in  such 
cases,  is  the  question,  '  Would  the  Music  sound 
good,  and  beautiful,  and  interesting,  to  a  man 
who  had  never  seen,  or  heard  of,  a  Lake,  a  Mill- 
stream,  or  a  Fountain  ?'  And  there  can  be  only 
one  answer — of  course  it  would.  Bennett  never 
once,  during  the  whole  course  of  his  artistic  life, 
descended  to  anything  that  was  beneath  the 
dignity  of  his  Art.  One  may  read  noblesse  oblige 
in  every  bar  he  ever  wrote.  And  we,  who  knew 
him  intimately,  can  confidently  assert,  that, 
though  his  whole  heart  was  full  of  gentleness, 
the  kindness  of  his  disposition  never  tempted  him 
to  condone,  in  others,  what  he  would  himself 
have  rejected  as  unworthy  of  an  Artist.  On  the 
other  hand,  if  he  could  not  tolerate  bad  Part- 
writing,  or  vicious  Harmony,  or  hideous  malform 
ation  disguised  under  the  title  of  freedom  from 
archaic  bondage,  he  never  refused  to  do  justice 
to  a  grand  idea,  because  it  was  new.  Indeed,  so 
far  removed  was  his  loyal  Conservatism  from  the 
blindness  which  can  see  no  good  in  anything  not 
yet  consecrated  by  the  lapse  of  time,  that  he  him 
self  was  always  ready  to  welcome  new  ideas; 
and  to  deal  with  them  in  such  sort,  that,  in 
many  respects,  his  Music  was  very  much  in  ad 
vance  of  its  age. 

Under  such  a  leader,  it  would  have  been 
shameful  if  the  English  School  had  produced  no 
Instrumental  Music.  It  has  produced  much. 
Macfarren's  Overtures  to  'Chevy  Chase,'  'The 
Merchant  of  Venice,'  'Romeo  and  Juliet,'  'Ham 
let,'  and  'Don  Carlos';  John  Francis  Barnett's 
'Symphony  in  A  Minor,'  'Overture  Symphon- 
ique,1  Overture  to  '  A  Winter's  Tale,'  and  '  Con 
certo  in  D  minor';  Stanford's  Symphonies,  his 

i  See  Mendelssohn's  Letter  to  Souchay,  Oct.  15. 1842. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION.      309 

Sonata  for  Pianoforte  and  Violin,  in  D  (op.  n), 
his  Violoncello  Sonata,  in  A  (op.  9),  and  his  other 
pieces  for  the  Chamber,  are  all  works  worthy  of 
recognition.  Best's  Organ  Music,  even  apart 
from  its  Musician-like  construction,  and  pure 
artistic  feeling,  shows  an  intimate  acquaintance 
with  the  character  and  capabilities  of  the  In 
strument,  which  cannot  but  secure  for  it  a  long 
term  of  favour.  Meanwhile,  we  owe  much  to  a 
large  and  daily  increasing  class  of  Organists, 
once  led  by  Drs.  Gauntlett  and  S.  S.  Wesley,  and 
now  well  represented  by  E.  J.  Hopkins,  W.  Rea, 
Drs.  Stainer,  Bridge,  Gladstone,  and  many  ta 
lented  associates,  whose  executive  power,  and 
knowledge  of  practical  Organ-building,  have,  for 
many  years  past,  reacted  upon  each  other,  pro 
ducing,  in  the  end,  a  School  of  Organ-playing, 
the  excellence  of  which  is  not  surpassed  in  any 
part  of  Europe* 

Arthur  Sullivan,  who  has  done  so  much  for 
the  lighter  forms  of  Opera,  and  for  Vocal  Music 
of  almost  every  class,  has  not  been  idle  with  re 
gard  to  Instrumental  Music,  but  has  produced 
works — such  as  his  Music  in  '  The  Tempest5  and 
the  '  Merchant  of  Venice,'  his  Symphony  in  E,  his 
Overtures '  di  Ballo,'  and '  In  Metnoriam,' — which 
show  that,  if  he  would,  he  might  rival  any  one 
in  this  department  of  the  art.  His  treatment  of 
the  Orchestra  shows  an  intimate  acquaintance 
with  the  nature  of  its  Instruments,  and  a  genius 
for  their  combination,  such  as  few  contemporary 
masters  have  surpassed ;  and  we  sincerely  trust 
that  the  success  of  no  possible  number  of  Operettas 
may  prevent  him  from  continuing  to  labour  in 
the  more  serious  field  in  which  he  has  already 
won  so  many  honours. 

Frederick  Cowen  is  also  worthily  supplement 
ing  his  Choral  works,  and  his  early  and  success 
ful  Opera,  'Pauline,'  by  numerous  Instrumental 
Compositions,  some  of  which  have  received  marks 
of  special  favour  at  the  Philharmonic  Society 
and  elsewhere.  Among  the  most  important  of 
these  are  his  3  Symphonies,  his  Sinfonietta,  and 
his  Orchestral  Suite — a  series  of  significant  pro 
ductions,  though  not  all  of  equal  pretension.  In 
close  sympathy  with  the  modern  system  of  Tone- 
painting,  Cowen  delights  in  connecting  his  work 
by  a  thread  of  Romance,  which,  weaving  itself 
through  the  entire  sequence  of  Movements, 
gives  a  clue  to  the  intention  of  the  whole :  but, 
with  a  wholesome  dread  of  realism,  he  usually 
leaves  his  audience  to  fill  in  the  details  of  the 
picture  for  themselves.  For  instance,  in  his 
Orchestral  Suite, '  The  Language  of  Flowers' — 
where  distinct  imitation  of  Nature,  if  not  im 
possible,  would  have  bordered  upon  the  ludicrous 
—poetical  symbolism  is  used,  with  excellent  and 
perfectly  intelligible  effect.  The  Scandinavian. 
Symphony  (No.  3,  in  C  minor),  though  confess 
edly  a  more  descriptive  work,  owes  more  to  the 
effect  of  subtle  suggestion  than  to  the  presenta 
tion  of  a  definite  picture.  It  is  true  that  we  are 
introduced,  in  the  Slow  Movement,  to  a  merry 
boating-party ;  and,  in  the  Scherzo,  to  the  in 
cidents  of  a  sleigh  journey :  but,  in  the  opening 
Allegro,  we  are  invited  to  contemplate  the  sombre 


310      SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

scenery  of  the  North,  and,  in  the  Finale,  to  dream 
of  its  heroic  Legends,  with  no  assistance  from 
the  Composer  beyond  the  suggestion  of  a  fitting 
frame  of  mind,  which  we  cannot  mistake,  but 
which,  nevertheless,  leaves  our  fancy  unfettered. 
It  is  by  this  fixity  of  intention,  rather  than  by 
any  more  material  quality,  that  we  must  measure 
the  true  value  of  Cowen's  works,  which,  already 
very  numerous,  will,  we  trust,  continue  to  mul 
tiply  and  advance.1 

Hubert  Parry,  pursuing  the  path  least  likely  to 
lead  to  evanescent  popularity,  has  published  a 
Pianoforte  Trio  in  E  minor,  some  Sonatas2  full  of 
earnest  thought,  and  a  Grand  Duo  for  two  Piano 
fortes,  in  which  the  twin  Instruments  are  made 
to  '  play  up  to  each  other '  by  means  of  a  very 
much  greater  amount  of  ingenious  Part-writing 
than  one  generally  expects  to  find  in  Composi 
tions  of  this  class,  while  the  well-marked  character 
of  the  Subjects  employed  enhances  its  interest  as  a 
contribution  to  our  store  of  advanced  Pianoforte 
Music.  He  has  also  written  an  Overture,  a  Piano 
forte  Concerto,  and  other  pieces,  which,  though 
several  times  performed  in  London,  remain  still 
in  MS. 

Of  the  works  of  Henry  Smart,  Walter  Macfar- 
ren,  Hatton,  GOBS,  Ouseley,  Leslie — whose  Sym 
phony  in  D,  entitled  '  Chivalry,'  has  lately  been 
successfully  performed — and  a  score  of  other 
Composers  of  the  day,  we  would  gladly  speak  in 
detail  did  our  space  permit.  Our  object,  how 
ever,  is  not  to  call  attention  to  the  productions 
of  individual  writers,  however  excellent  and  in 
teresting  they  may  be  in  themselves;  but,  to 
show,  by  reference  to  actual  facts,  the  present 
position  of  our  English  School,  as  compared  with 
the  Schools  of  other  countries.  We  have  proved 
that  its  descent  is  as'pure  as  that  of  any  School 
in  Europe  :  that  we  can  trace  back  its  pedigree, 
link  by  link,  from  its  living  representatives, 
through  Sterndale  Bennett,  Horn,  Bishop,  Dib- 
din,  Arne,  Boyce,  Purcell,  and  the  School  of  the 
Restoration,  to  the  Polyphonic  Composers,  Gib 
bons,  Tallis,  Byrd,  Whyte,  Tye,  Edwardes,  Fayr- 
fax,  and  John  of  Dunstable,  and  back,  through 
these,  to  the  oldest  Composer  of  whom  the  world 
has  any  record,  that  John  of  Fornsete  to  whom 
we  owe  the  most  antient  example  of  Polyphonic 
Composition  yet  discovered.  We  have  shown— 
and  shall  presently  show  more  plainly  still — that, 
at  the  present  moment,  it  is  more  active  than 
it  has  ever  been  before ;  doing  excellent  work  ; 
and  giving  rich  promise  for  the  future.  There 
has  never  been  a  time  at  which  English  Com 
posers  have  more  faithfully  fulfilled  the  trust 
committed  to  them  than  now.  They  have  con 
ducted  us,  step  by  step,  to-  a  very  high  position 
indeed.  We  shall  be  cowards,  if  we  recede  from 
it.  In  order  to  prevent  such  a  disaster,  we  have 
only  to  bear  the  work  of  our  forefathers  in  mind ; 
and,  so  long  as  this  is  healthily  remembered,  we 
need  entertain  but  little  dread  of  retrogression. 

XXX Y.  Is  retrogression  then  possible,  in 
THE  SCHOOLS  OF  THE  FUTUEE,  after  the  wonderful 
advances  that  have  already  been  made  ? 

i  For  list,  see  vol.  i.  p.  413.  2  For  list,  see  vol.  ii.  p.  651. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

Undoubtedly  it  is.     By  hard  work,  and  con 
tinued  perseverance,  we  may  postpone  its  advent 
to  an  indefinite  date.     But,  sooner  or  later,  it 
will  certainly  come  upon  us.     If  the  History  of 
Art  prove  nothing  else,  it  most  certainly  will 
never  cease  to  prove  this,  to  the  end  of  time : 
and  we  have  written  to  small  purpose,    if  we 
have  failed  to  establish  the  fact.    After  more 
than  two  centuries  of  steady  progress,  Polyphony 
attained  perfection,  in  the  School  of  Palestrina; 
and,  within  fifty  years  after  his  death,  became  a 
thing  of  the  past.     In  the  fourth  half-century  of 
its  existence,  the  Monodic  School  received,  at  the 
hands  of  Rossini,  so  notable  an  infusion  of  German 
power,  that,  in  its  later  phases,  its  essential  prin 
ciples,  scarcely  less  dead  than  those  of  Polyphony, 
are  barely  recognisable.     Not  only  have  the  Poly- 
odic  Schools  of  Handel  and  Bach  languished,  for 
lack  of  disciples ;  but  it  is  even  doubtful  whether 
any  Composer  of  the  present  day  would  care  to 
make   common   cause  with   them,  if  he   could. 
The  same  thing   has  happened  in  the  case  of 
every  direct  manifestation  of  a  special  form  of 
Art.      Is  the  School  of  Beethoven — which  has 
served,  more  or  less,  as  the  basis  of  all  the  best 
work  done  during  the  last  fifty  years — condemned 
to  suffer  with  the  rest  ?     It  must  so  suffer,  or 
contradict  the  experience  of  all  past  history.   The 
question  is,  not  whether  it  is  doomed  to  extinc 
tion — for  of  that  we   are  firmly  assured — but, 
whether  it  has  already  reached  its  culminating 
point.     Is  room  still  left  for  greater  work  than 
any  that  has  as  yet  been  accomplished  in  this 
direction  ?     If  so,  we  may  hope,  that,  sooner  or 
later,  a  Master  will  arise  among  us,  great  enough 
to  accomplish  it.    If  not,  the  period  of  decadence 
cannot  be  very  far  distant :  for,  no  School  can 
exist,  for  any  length  of  time,  upon  a  dead  level. 
If  it  be  not  progressing  towards  greater  things, 
it  must  be  dying  out ;  and  the  sooner  some  new 
manifestation  of  genius  supersedes  it,  the  better. 
Let  us  try  to  cast  aside  all  prejudice,  in  either 
direction  ;  and  dispassionately  weigh  our  chance 
of  advancement  on  the  old  lines  against  that  of 
the  discovery  of  a  new  path. 

The  most  sanguine  believer  in  progress  wilt 
scarcely  venture  to  assert  that  the  labours  of  the 
last  fifty  years  have  effected  any  improvement 
in  the  Symphony,  the  Quartet,  or  the  Sonata. 
Yet,  the  average  efficiency  of  Instrumentalists, 
of  all  kinds,  and  in  all  countries,  is  probably 
greater,  at  this  moment,  than  it  has  ever  been 
before.  Setting  aside  Paganini,  as  an  exceptional 
phenomenon,  rather  than  a  Classical  Virtuoso,  no 
greater  Violinist  than  Joachim  has  ever  lived ; 
nor,  bearing  his  great  Concerto  and  other  im 
portant  works  in  mind,  can  we  speak  lightly  of 
him  as  a  Composer.  Except  for  his  unrivalled 
powers,  which  admit  of  no  comparison  with  those 
of  any  other  Artist,  there  are  many  others  whom 
we  should  thankfully  place  in  the  highest  rank 
of  all ;  and  who  really  are  second  to  him  alone. 
It  is  doubtful  whether  the  Violoncello  was  ever 
played  as  it  is  now  played  by  Piatti ;  and  those 
who  do  not  remember  Dragonetti  will  be  quite 
prepared  to  believe  the  same  of  Bottesini  and 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

the  Double -Bass.  What  Joachim  is  to  the  Violin, 
Clara  Schumann  is  to  the  Pianoforte — the  most 
poetical  interpreter  now  living  of  the  great  works 
of  the  Classical  Schools;  and,  judging  as  well 
as  we  can  by  the  traditions  handed  down  to  us, 
the  most  perfect,  in  some  respects,  on  record. 
Scarcely  less  remarkable,  as  the  representative 
of  a  newer  School,  is  Hans  von  Billow,  who,  not 
withstanding  his  strong  predilections  in  favour 
of  Liszt  and  Wagner,  is  rivalled  by  few  in  his 
reading  of  the  works  of  the  older  Masters,  from 
Bach  to  Beethoven.  Even  Liszt  himself,  the 
Paganini  of  the  Pianoforte,  and  the  greatest 
executant  of  the  century,  still  possesses  powers, 
which,  despite  his  seventy  years,  one  sometimes 
half  expects  to  welcome  once  more  in  all  the 
glories  of  a  second  youth  ;  and  of  which  we  do, 
in  a  manner,  see  a  strange  revival  in  the  per 
formances  of  Rubinstein.  We  speak  of  the  giants 
only,  having  no  room  tp  chronicle  the  facts  at 
our  command.  Yet  who  can  forget  the  names 
of  Halle,  and  Madame  Norman -Neruda,  of 
Arabella  Goddard,  Agnes  Zimmermann,  Marie 
Krebs,  and  a  hundred  other  conservative  Artists 
who  delight  us  every  day;  and  not  these  only, 
but  a  host  of  players  on  every  Orchestral  In 
strument,  so  accomplished  in  their  generation, 
that  many  of  the  Second  Violins  of  to-day  would 
have  been  thankfully  accepted  as  Leaders,  not 
so  very  many  years  ago.  Whence,  then,  in  pre 
sence  of  so  splendid  an  array  of  Virtuosi,  the 
manifest  decline  in  Instrumental  Compositions  of 
the  highest  order  ?  We  shall  best  explain  it  by  an 
illustration  drawn  from  the  history  of  another  Art. 
The  Instrumental  Movements  of  Beethoven  and 
Schumann,  present,  towards  those  of  Haydn 
and  Mozart,  a  contrast  curiously  analogous  to  that 
which  the  voluptuous  chiaroscuro  of  Correggio 
presents  to  the  clearer  definitions  of  Pietro 
Perugino,  and  the  youthful  Raffaelle.  Now  Cor 
reggio  was,  himself,  so  consummate  a  draughts 
man,  that,  knowing,  to  a  hair's  breadth,  where 
his  contours  would  fall,  he  could  afford  to  throw 
them  into  shadow,  whenever  he  pleased,  without 
running  the  slightest  risk  of  injuring  his  'draw 
ing.'  But,  among  his  would-be  imitators  were 
certain  very  poor  draughtsmen,  who  found  it 
much  easier  to  throw  in  a  shadow,  than  to  fix 
the  place  of  a  correct  outline.  So,  the  contours 
of  the  early  Masters  were  condemned,  as  '  hard ' ; 
and  the  chiaroscuro  of  Correggio  was  used  to 
cover  a  multitude  of  incorrect  outlines;  and  so 
it  came  to  pass,  that  a  notable  degradation  of 
Art  was  once  referred  to  this  great  Master's 
School.  In  like  manner,  Beethoven,  having  a 
perfect  symmetrical  form  at  command,  could 
afford  to  clothe  it,  to  any  extent,  with  those 
deeply  imaginative  passages  which  formed  the 
very  essence  of  his  genius,  without  running  the 
slightest  risk  of  distorting  its  fair  proportions. 
But,  among  some  later  Composers,  this  reverence 
for  form  has  either  passed  unnoticed,  or  fallen 
into  contempt,  as  a  relique  of  barbarism ;  and 
the  stringing  together  of  passages,  supposed  to 
be  imaginative,  has  been  held  to  be  all  that 
is  necessary  for  the  production  of  a  Work  of  Art. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION.      311 

There  can  be  no  more  fatal  error  than  this  :  and 
Beethoven's  own  history  proves  it.  We  know 
that  he  worked  hard  at  Fux's  'Gradus,'  and 
Albrechtsberger's  'Anweisung';  and  that,  after 
wards,  he  produced  many  wonderful  works.  And 
we  know  that  some  of  his  followers,  whose  works 
are  not  at  all  wonderful,  have  not  worked  hard, 
either  at  Albrechtsberger  or  Fux.  Of  course, 
this  may  be  merely  a  coincidence.  The  merest 
beginner  will  tell  us,  now-a-days,  that  Fux  and 
Albrechtsberger  were  superseded,  long  ago.  No 
doubt,  Beethoven  used  their  miserable  books  as 
the  basis  of  his  method,  because  no  better  ones 
had  then  been  published.  Still,  he  seems  to 
have  got  some  small  amount  of  good  out  of  them. 
At  any  rate,  so  far  as  the  Symphony  is  concerned 
— to  go  no  farther — there  is  '  writing '  in  the  im 
mortal  Nine  which  has  not  yet  been  equalled,  but 
which,  nevertheless,  must  be  more  than  equalled, 
if  the  School  has  not  yet  entered  upon  the  period 
of  its  decline. 

In  considering  the  future  of  Sacred  Music,  it 
is  difficult  to  arrive  at  a  satisfactory  conclusion, 
with  regard  to  the  coming  history,  either  of  the 
Oratorio  or  the  Mass.  We  cannot  but  look  for 
ward  with  deep  interest  to  the  production  of 
Gounod's  new  work,  'The  Redemption,'  at  the 
Birmingham  Festival  of  1882  ;  nor  can  we  doubt 
that  it  will  be  worthy  of  its  Composer's  reputa 
tion.  Still,  it  must  be  evident  to  every  one, 
that,  since  the  year  1846,  the  Oratorio  has  not 
shown  a  tendency  to  rise,  either  in  England  or 
in  Germany,  to  a  higher  Ideal  than  that  which 
was  presented  to  us  at  the  memorable  Birmingham 
Festival  of  that  year.  Many  reasons  may  be  ad 
duced  for  this — among  them,  a  technical  one,  of 
trenchant  force.  The  chief  strength  of  an  Oratorio 
lies  in  its  Choruses.  Where  these  are  weak,  no 
amount  of  beautiful  Airs  will  save  the  work .  And, 
they  always  will  be  weak,  unless  they  rest  upon  a 
firm  contrapuntal  foundation.  This  fact  enables 
us  to  predict,  without  fear  of  contradiction,  that, 
cceteris  paribus,  the  best  Contrapuntist  will  write, 
not  only  the  best  Oratorio,  but  the  best  Mass ; 
for  the  same  law  applies,  with  equal  force,  to  the 
modern  Mass  with  Orchestral  Accompaniments. 
No  one  will  attempt  to  say  that  the  sensuous 
beauty,  either  of  Rossini's  '  Messe  Solennelle, '  or 
Gounod's,  is  the  highest  type  of  perfection  to  which 
a  Choral  Composer  can  aspire.  Verdi's  '  Requiem ' 
is  as  theatrical  as  '  Aida ' — far  more  so  than  '  II 
Trovatore,'  or  '  La  Traviata.'  Anomalies  such  as 
these  invariably  present  themselves,  in  Sacred 
Music,  where  contrapuntal  skill  is  wanting;  for, 
in  this  kind  of  Composition,  inventive  power  will 
prove  of  no  avail,  without  an  equal  amount  of  con 
structive  power  to  support  it.  How  is  this  power 
to  be  acquired  ?  At  this  moment,  there  is  no 
Master  in  Europe  capable  of  taking  Hauptmann's 
place,  as  a  teacher  of  Counterpoint;  and,  were 
such  a  Master  to  arise  among  us,  it  is  doubtful 
whether,  in  the  present  state  of  public  feeling, 
his  learning  would  meet  with  adequate  recogni 
tion.  This  is  an  evil,  the  continuance  of  which  no 
School  can  survive.  If  the  Oratorio  is  to  rise 
higher  than  it  has  yet  done,  our  next  generation 


312      SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

of  Composers  must  take  the  difficulty  into  serious 
consideration,  and  not  affect  to  think  lightly  of 
the  only  means  by  which  success  has  hitherto 
been  attained. 

Since  the  downfall  of  the  Polyphonic  Schools, 
the  true  Church  Style — the  'Stilo  alia  Cappella'  of 
the  1 6th  century — has  lain  entirely  dormant: 
but,  within  the  last  few  years,  attempts  have 
been  made  to  revive  it,  both  in  Germany,  in 
France,  and  in  England.  In  Germany,  the  move 
ment  was  begun  in  1853  by  Dr.  Karl  Proske, 
who  printed  a  large  collection  of  the  finest  works 
of  the  1 6th  century,1  and  introduced  them,  with 
great  effect,  into  the  Services  of  the  Cathedral  at 
Regensburg,  of  which  he  was  Canon,  and  Kapell 
meister.  After  his  death  the  work  was  carried 
on  by  the  '  Caecilien  Verein,'  which  has  done  much 
towards  the  dissemination  of  a  taste  for  the  pro 
ductions  of  the  true  Polyphonic  School,  and  led 
to  their  constant  performance  in  all  parts  of 
Germany. 

In  France,  the  increased  love  for  Plain  Chaunt, 
which  manifested  itself,  some  thirty  years  ago,  in 
the  Dioceses  of  Paris,  Rouen,  Rheims,  Cambrai, 
and  other  parts  of  the  country,  has,  to  a  great 
extent,  supplanted  the  frivolous  style  of  Music 
once  so  miserably  popular. 

In  England,  the  movement  began,  about  thirty- 
five  years  ago,  with  the  introduction  of  Gregorian 
Tones  to  the  Psalms,  at  Margaret  Street  Chapel, 
S.  Paul's,  Knightsbridge,  S.  Barnabas',  Pimlico, 
and  some  other  London  Churches,  including  the 
Chapel  of  S.  Mark's  College,  Chelsea.  After  a 
time,  and  mainly  through  the  zeal  of  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Helmore,  the  taste  for  this  kind  of 
Music  spread  rapidly;  and  this  taste — assisted, 
perhaps,  by  party  feeling — soon  made  'Grego- 
rians'  so  popular,  that  it  would  be  impossible  to 
number  the  Churches  in  which  they  were  sung. 
Unhappily,  the  present  leaders  of  the  movement 
seem  utterly  blind  to  the  fact  that  '  Gregorians' 
cannot,  without  entirely  losing  their  distinctive 
character,  be  sung  with  modern  Harmonies  fit 
only  for  the  Theatre.  The  only  hope  for  success 
lies  in  the  stern  prohibition  of  this  vulgar  and  in 
tolerable  abuse ;  the  perpetuation  of  which  would 
be  a  far  greater  evil  than  an  immediate  return  to 
the  '  Double  Chaunt '  of  fifty  years  ago. 

But,  the  most  interesting  question  at  present 
is  that  which  concerns  the  future  prospects  of 
the  Lyric  Drama.  We  have  seen,  that  Wagner, 
and  Bo'ito,  the  leaders  of  the  extreme  section 
of  the  Neo-Teutonic,  and  Neo-Italian  parties,  are 
in  favour  of  sacrificing  everything  to  dramatic 
effect;  of  substituting  an  elaborate  form  of 
Recitative  for  continuous  Melody ;  of  height 
ening  the  effect  of  this  by  rich  and  varied  Or 
chestral  Accompaniments ;  and,  of  supplying  the 
place  of  regular  form  by  allotting  certain  special 
phrases  to  every  character  in  the  Drama.2  We 
have  seen,  that,  within  a  comparatively  short 
space  of  time,  they  have  almost  entirely  banished 
the  older  forms  of  Italian  and  German  Opera 
from  the  Stage ;  and,  that  even  Verdi,  who  once 


See  MUSICA  DIVINA,  vol.  ii.  p.  411. 


2  See  LEITMOTIF. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

depended  wholly  upon  Melody  for  his  success, 
has,  to  a  certain  extent,  adopted  their  principles.8 
On  the  other  hand,  we  have  seen  that  a  more 
moderate  party,  numbering  among  its  ranks  some 
young    Composers    of    acknowledged   merit,   is 
neither  prepared  to  sacrifice  dramatic  truth  to 
musical  symmetry,  nor  musical  symmetry  to  dra 
matic  truth:  but  is  determined  to  use  Melody, 
Harmony,  and  Form,  as  means  of  enforcing  Ex 
pression,  Action,   and   the   varied   demands  of 
scenic   propriety — not   as  hindrances  to  them  ; 
and,  in  so  doing,  to  work  out  the  main  principles 
adopted  by  Mozart  and  Weber,  without  com 
mitting  itself  to  any  peculiarities  of  style,  or 
method,  beyond  those  dictated  by  the  talent  or 
fancy  of  the  writer.     There  is  much  hope  that 
these  reasonable  views  may  lead  to  a  careful  re 
consideration  of  many  things,  which,  in  the  heat 
of  recent  controversy,  have  been  too  violently 
debated  on  both  sides.     That  a  reaction  of  some 
kind  must  take   place,  sooner  or  later,  seems 
certain ;  and  it  is  of  immense  importance  that  it 
should  be  a  temperate  one,    otherwise  it  will 
leave  us  in  greater  doubt  than  ever. 

In  passing  from  the  future  of  Dramatic  Music 
to  that  of  Vocal  Music  generally,  we  find  our 
selves  face  to  face  with  a  new  difficulty.    On 
every  Instrument  in   use,  except  the  common 
Slide-Trumpet,  we  have   attained  a  facility  of 
execution,  infinitely  in  advance  of  that  which 
prevailed  fifty  years  ago.     But,  within  the  same 
period,  our  Schools  of  Vocalisation  have  sensibly 
degenerated.     Leaving  Catalan!,  Pasta,  Sontag, 
and  Jenny  Lind  out  of  the  question,  there  is  no 
Theatre  in  Europe  which,  at  this  moment,  could 
bring  together  such  a  body  of  Singers  as  formed 
the  average  Company  of  Her  Majesty's  Theatre, 
under  the  Lumley  management.      Where  can 
we  hear  'II  Don  Giovanni'  sung,  as  it  used  to 
be  sung,  season  after  season,  by  Grisi,  Persiani, 
Rubini,  Tamburini,  and  Lablache  ?     There  is  no 
such  Quintet  attainable  :  not  so  much  from  lack 
of  Voices  as  from  lack  of  method.    A  good  many 
of  us  are  to  blame  for  this.     Our  'Maestri  di 
canto,'  in  the  first  instance,  of  course;  and  our 
Singers  also.     But,  are  our  Composers  guiltless? 
Was  there  ever  a  period  at  which  the  capabilities 
of  the  Voice  were  so  contemptuously  disregarded, 
as  they  are  at  this  moment  ?     The  evil  began  in 
Germany.     We  dare  hardly  write  the  name  of 
the  giant  who  originated  it ;  but,  if  Beethoven's 
disregard   of  vocal  capabilities   has   materially 
hindered — as  it  most  certainly  has — the  perform 
ance  of  two,  at  least,  of  his  greatest  works,  how 
can  men  of  ordinary  genius  hope  to  succeed  in 
spite  of  it  ?   Time  was,  when  Composers  regarded 
the  study  of  the  Voice  as  indispensable  to  their 
education  ;  and  surely,  the  course  of  study  which 
led  to   such  splendid  results,  in   the   cases  of 
Handel,  Haydn,  Mozart,  Cimarosa,  and  Rossini, 
must  have  reacted  upon  the  Singers  for  whom 
they  wrote,  and  tended  to  perpetuate  a  School  of 
Vocalists  capable  of  doing  full  justice  to  their 
Music.     We  know  that  it  did  so ;  since  it  was 

3  See  p.  301 6. 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

not  until  after  Rossini  retired  from  public  life, 
that  the  degradation  of  which  we  complain  began. 
Composers,  and  performers,  who  thoroughly  un 
derstand  and  sympathise  with  each  other,  may 
accomplish  anything :  but,  what  can  be  expected 
from  a  Singer  who  finds  his  Voice  treated  like  a 
Clarinet1?  It  is  scarcely  worth  his  while  even  to 
try  to  find  out  what  his  Voice  can  do,  and  what 
it  cannot. 

In  summing  up  the  results  of  our  enquiry,  we 
cannot  fail  to  see  that  a  glorious  Future  lies  open 
before  us,  if  we  will  only  take  the  pains  to  work 
for  it.  There  is  a  greater  amount  of  activity  in  the 
musical  world,  at  this  moment,  than  the  longest- 
lived  among  us  has  ever  known  before ;  probably 
more  than  ever  before  existed.  One  remarkable 
sign  of  it  is  to  be  found  in  the  unceasing  demand 
for  the  works  of  the  Great  Masters,  which  leads 
to  their  continual  republication,  in  every  con 
ceivable  form,  in  Germany,  in  France,  and  in 
England.  Augener's  cheap  editions  of  the  Piano 
forte  Classics;  the  Svo  Oratorios  and  Cantatas 
published  by  Novello,  and  Pv.  Cocks ;  the  enor 
mous  collection  of  standard  works  issued  by 
Litolff,  Richault,  Peters,  etc. ;  Breitkopf  &  Har- 
tel's  complete  editions  of  Palestrina,  Handel, 
Bach,  Mozart,  and  Beethoven  ;  Michaelis's  of 
the  early  French  Operas — these,  and  many  like 
collections,  all  have  their  tale  to  tell.  If  we 
do  not  play  and  sing  grand  Music,  it  is  not 
from  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  copies.  And  not 
less  remarkable  are  the  additions  to  our  Musical 
Literature.  The  publication,  in  English,  of  such 
works  as  Jahn's  '  Life  of  Mozart,'  Holmes's 
volume  on  the  same  subject,  Spitta's  'Life  of 
Bach,'  Hensel's  '  Mendelssohn  Family,'  and 
other  important  treatises  on  Musical  Science 
and  Biography,  is  very  significant. 

But  this  is  only  one  manifestation  of  energy. 
Whatever  may  be  our  own  peculiar  views,  we 
must  admit  that  the  amount  of  zeal  displayed 
by  Wagner,  Richter,  von  Bulow,  and  other 
prominent  members  cf  the  advanced  party,  in 
Germany,  is  enormous.  Brahms,  Raff,  and 
Hiller,  are  all  doing  something.  Liszt  is  busy, 
in  his  own  peculiar  way ;  while  the  chiefs  of 
the  rising  Dramatic  School  are  equally  so,  in 
theirs.  Gounod,  Saint  Sae'ns,  and  Delibes,  are 
active  in  France,  and  many  clever  musicians  in 
America.  [See  UNITED  STATES.]  We  do  not 
say  that  all  this  feverish  exertion  will  last.  It 
cannot.  Nor  is  it  even  desirable  that  it  should. 
But  it  is  a  sign  of  immense  vitality.  To  go  no 
farther  than  our  own  country,  the  daily  life  of 
Art  among  us  is  almost  incredible.  In  every 
Cathedral  in  England,  and  many  Parish  Churches, 
there  are  two  full  Choral  Services  every  day.  At 
Oxford,  and  still  more  at  Cambridge,  the  study 
of  Music  is  enthusiastically  prosecuted.  Not 
very  long  ago,  Music  was  unknown  at  our  Public 
Schools ;  now,  it  is  fully  recognised  at  Eton,  and 
Harrow,  and  many  others.  Our  Provincial  Fes 
tivals,  once  brought  into  notice  by  Sir  George 
Smart  and  Prof.  E.Taylor,  and  now  spread  even 
to  Scotland,  are  not  only  more  numerous  and  suc 
cessful  than  ever,  but  are  more  wisely  managed, 


SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION.      313 

in  every  way,  and  rarely  pass  without  bringing 
forward  some  new  work,  not  always  of  the  highest 
order,  but  always  worth  listening  to,  if  only  as 
a  sign  that  some  young  Composer  is  trying  to 
do  his  best.  To  this  must  be  added,  the  work 
done  in  London,  at  the  two  Italian  Opera 
Houses,  during  the  Season,  and,  in  the  Winter, 
by  Carl  Rosa's  spirited  Company ;  the  enormous 
amount  of  Orchestral  and  Choral  Music  presented 
to  the  public  by  the  Philharmonic,  the  New 
Philharmonic,  the  Crystal  Palace  Concerts,  the 
Sacred  Harmonic  Society,  the  Bach  Choir,  and 
the  Richter  Concerts ;  the  Performances  directed 
by  Barnby,  and  Henry  Leslie ;  the  Musical 
Union,  which,  under  Ella's  direction,  first  in 
troduced  to  London  in  1845  that  most  instruc 
tive  key  to  the  better  understanding  of  our 
Classical  Concerts,  the  '  Analytical  Programme,' 
and  has  since  given  a  hearty  welcome  to  all  the 
best  Continental  Virtuosi  who  have  visited  this 
country  ;  and  the  perfect  Chamber  Music  at  the 
Monday  and  Saturday  Popular  Concerts,  Chas. 
Halle's  Recitals,  and  Dannreuther's  Musical 
Evenings.  Nor  do  our  rulers  grudge  the  money 
necessary  for  the  encouragement  of  Music  among 
those  who  are  unable  to  provide  the  luxury  for 
themselves.  We  do  not  say  that  the  money  voted 
by  Parliament  for  this  purpose  is  so  well  spent  as 
it  might  be.  That  the  grant  is  strangely  misap 
plied  there  can  be  no  doubt.  But,  these  are  not 
days  in  which  confusion  of  any  kind  can  be  long 
continued.  The  matter  must,  and  most  certainly 
will,  be  carefully  considered ;  and  the  grant  so 
used  as  to  ensure  the  utmost  amount  of  good 
fruit  that  can  be  extracted  from  it.  Meanwhile, 
the  fact  remains,  that,  whether  the  result  of  the 
expenditure  be  satisfactory,  or  not,  the  astounding 
sum  of  £130,000  is  annually  voted  by  Govern 
ment,  for  the  purpose  of  elementary  musical 
education;  and  the  time  surely  cannot  be  far 
distant,  when  it  will  be  so  applied  as  to  produce 
a  proportionate  result.  The  reports  on  the  state 
of  Music,  in  England,  and  on  the  Continent, 
drawn  up  by  Dr.  Hullah,  for  the  Education 
Department,  show  the  great  interest  with  which 
the  subject  is  regarded  by  those  who  have  it 
in  their  power  to  exert  a  lasting  influence  upon 
the  time  to  come.  Lastly,  a  more  hopeful  sign 
of  life  than  any  we  have  mentioned  is  to  be 
found  in  the  proposal  for  a  Royal  College  of 
Music.  Discussed,  then  dropped, resumed,  dropped 
again,  but  always  advancing  a  little  nearer  to 
maturity,  the  scheme  has  now,  for  some  con 
siderable  time,  attracted  the  attention  of  lovers 
of  Art,  who  are  thoroughly  in  earnest  in  their 
devotion  to  its  interests  ;  and,  at  last,  there  seems 
good  hope  of  bringing  the  discussion  to  a  success 
ful  issue.  The  late  great  meeting  at  Manchester, 
in  which  three  members  of  the  Royal  Family  took 
so  prominent  a  part,  has  done  much  towards  the 
attainment  of  this  end.  In  fact,  should  the 
scheme  be  put  into  execution,  on  a  suitable  scale, 
as  there  is  every  reason  to  hope  it  will,  our  Eng 
lish  School  will  maintain  itself,  in  such  sort  as 
not  only  to  do  credit  to  its  early  ancestry,  but 
to  bring  forward  a  later  generation  capable  of 


3H      SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

winning  for  it  a  more  honourable  name  than  it 
has  ever  yet  boasted. 

But,  the  greater  our  privileges,  the  greater 
our  responsibilities,  and  the  more  arduous  our 
duties.  We  must  first  work  for  our  College,  in 
order  that  our  School  may  have  a  worthy  home. 
Having  secured  that,  we  must  work  for  our  School ; 
and  our  School  must  work  for  Art.  It  is  here  that 
the  difficulty  lies  ;  not  only  in  England,  but  in 
every  School  in  Europe.  If  the  actual  work  ac 
complished,  during  the  last  thirty  years,  bore  any 
reasonable  proportion  to  the  zeal  and  activity 
displayed,  we  should  indeed  have  good  cause  for 
present  thankfulness,  and  hope  for  the  time  to 
come.  But  it  does  not.  In  spite  of  all  that  has  been 
done — and  we  have  not  been  slow  to  acknowledge 
the  value  of  this — a  million  times  more  has  been 
left  undone.  We  have  been  too  easily  tempted  to 
mistake  activity  for  progress,  and  zeal  for  honest 
labour :  too  readily  beguiled  by  the  mad  desire  to 
rush  into  print,  into  the  Orchestra,  the  Theatre, 
the  Cathedral  itself,  when  we  ought  to  have 
known  that  our  proper  place  was  in  the  school 
room.  To  remedy  this  misguided  enthusiasm, 
we  need  a  centre  of  study,  governed  by  a  body 
of  Professors  possessing  sufficient  experience  to 
justify  our  fullest  confidence,  and  sufficient  learn 
ing  to  give  it  an  authority  to  which  the  rising 
generation  may  bow  without  endangering  its  own 
independence.  This  point  is  of  immense  import 
ance.  At  the  present  moment,  we  have  no  Court 
of  Appeal,  in  the  competency  of  which  ouryounger 
Composers  feel  any  confidence  whatever.  It  is 
indispensable  that  we  should  establish  such  a 
Court,  in  order  that  we  may  centralise  both  the 
ripe  experience  and  the  rising  talent  of  the 
country ;  thus  using  the  one  as  a  means  of  in 
definitely  increasing  the  value  and  efficiency  of 
the  other.  With  such  a  point  oTappui,  there  is 
no  reason  why  England  should  not  take  the  lead, 
and  keep  it.  If,  when  our  College  is  established, 
on  a  firm  and  reasonable  basis,  its  Professors  will 
consistently  inculcate  the  superiority  of  law  to 
anarchy ;  of  reverence  to  conceit ;  of  common- 
sense  to  dreams,  and  fogs,  and  rhapsodies  a  tue 
t&te  ;  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  it  from  satis 
factorily  working  out  the  problem  on  which  the 
Art-life  of  the  forthcoming  twenty  years  depends, 
for  its  triumph  or  its  downfall.  We  have  shown 
that,  if  the  experience  of  the  Past  be  worth  any 
thing  at  all,  there  are  but  two  Paths  by  which 
the  glories  of  the  Future  can  be  reached.  Now 
it  is  certain  that  no  sign  of  a  new  path  has  as  yet 
been  vouchsafed  to  us.  It  may  be  discovered,  any 
day ;  but  it  has  not  been  discovered,  yet :  and, 
as  we  have  maintained  throughout,  the  boldest 
attempt  hitherto  made  to  discover  it  has  only  led 
back  to  a  very  old  path  indeed.1  For  the  present, 
therefore,  our  chief  hope  lies  in  going  onwards : 
and,  surely,  should  we  succeed  in  founding  the 
Institution  in  question,  we  ought  to  do  something 
in  this  direction  !  We  have  greater  facilities  for 
study  than  ever  before  were  placed  within  the 
reach  of  the  happiest  neophyte ;  so  clear  an  insight 

i  See  vol.  11.  p.  527. 


SCHOTT. 

into  the  history  of  the  Past,  that  the  experience 
of  centuries  is  open  to  every  one  of  us ;  so  vast  a 
collection  of  examples,  in  every  style,  that  the 
poorest  of  us  may  buy,  for  a  few  shillings,  works 
which  our  fathers  were  thankful  to  copy  out, 
for  themselves,  when  they  could  get  the  chance. 
In  return  for  all  this,  one  thing  only  is  required 
of  us — hard  study.     The  study  of  History — that 
we  may  learn  what  led  to  success,  in  times  past, 
and  what  did  not.     The  study  of  Counterpoint 
—that  we  may  be  able  to  write,  in  the  language 
of  Art,  and  not  in  a  patois  fit  only  for  a  rustic 
merry-making.     The  study  of  Form — that  we 
may  learn  how  to  present  our   ideas  in  intel 
ligible  sequence,  and  to  emulate,  in  so  doing,  the 
conciseness  of  true  logicians.    The  study  of  Style 
— that  we   may  not   only  learn   to   distinguish 
works  of  one  School  from  those  of  another,  but 
may  be  able,  also,  to  seize  upon  that  which  is 
good,  wheresoever  it  may  present  itself  to  our 
notice,    while    we    reject    that    which   is   evil. 
We  need  entertain  no  fear  for  the  Future,  so 
long  as  these  things  are  conscientiously  studied 
by  those  who  are  destined  to  be  its  leaders.   But 
if,  in  the  absence  of  such  studies,  the  work  which 
ought  to  be  done  by  the  intellect  be  entrusted  to 
the  ear — in  accordance  with  a  vicious  practice. 
which,  defended  by  a  still  more  vicious  theory, 
seems  to  be  daily  gaining  ground — no  reasonable 
hope  will  be  left  to  us.   And,  in  that  case,  it  would 
be  infinitely  to  our  advantage  that  Composers 
should  cease  to  produce  anything  at  all,  and 
leave  us  to  subsist  upon  the  heirlooms  which 
have,  from  time  to  time,  been  handed  down  to 
us  by  our  forefathers,  until  some  new  and  worthy 
manifestation   shall  declare   itself.     The  Great 
Masters  have  left  us  quite  enough  to  live  upon : 
but,  we  cannot  live  upon  the  produce  of  a  School 
of  Mediocrity.  [W.S.R.] 

SCHOTT,  ANTON,  born  June  25, 1846,  at  Stau- 
feneck  in  Suabia,  was  educated  at  the  military 
academy  at  Ludwigsburg,Wiirtemberg,  and  served 
as  an  artillery  officer  through  the  war  of  1866. 
Some  time  after,  his  voice  attracted  the  attention 
of  Pischek,  and  of  the  wife  of  Professor  David 
Strauss,  well  known  in  Germany  before  her 
marriage  as  Agnes  Schebest,  a  singer  of  note, 
from  the  latter  of  whom  he  had  much  instruction 
preparatory  to  his  appearance  on  the  stage.  On 
May  8,  1870,  Herr  Schott  made  his  de"but  at 
Frankfort,  as  Max  in  '  Der  Freischiitz,'  with  such 
success  that  he  determined  to  abandon  the  army 
in  favour  of  music,  though  prevented  for  a  time  by 
the  outbreak  of  the  war  of  1 8  70,  through  which  he 
served  and  obtained  his  captaincy.  At  the  close 
of  the  war  he  left  the  army  and  appeared  at  the 
opera  in  Berlin,  Schwerin,  and  Hanover,  where 
he  is  now  engaged.  He  has  also  played  in  Vienna 
and  elsewhere  in  Germany  and  Austria,  with 
great  success.  He  sang  in  England,  June  16, 
1879,  at  a  piano  recital  given  by  Dr.  von  Billow 
at  St.  James's  Hall,  at  a  second  recital,  and  at  a 
New  Philharmonic  concert,  in  all  which  he  was 
well  received.  He  appeared  Jan.  10,  1880,  at 
Her  Majesty's  Theatre  (Carl  Eosa),  as  Rienzi, 
and  afterwards  as  Lohengrin;  but  though  his 


SCHOTT. 

appearance  and  voice  are  both  magnificent,  his 
singing  had  hardly  the  success  which  might  have 
been  expected  from  his  reputation  in  Germany. 
There  he  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  best  operatic 
tenors  of  the  day,  especially  in  '  heroic  parts ' ; 
his  repertoire  is  large,  and  consists,  besides  those 
mentioned,  of  Tannhauser,  John  of  Leyden, 
Eaoul,  Robert,  Vasco  di  Gama,  Manrico,  Masa- 
niello,  Ferdinand  Cortez,  and  Benvenuto  Cellini 
— the  last  on  its  production  at  Hanover  under 
Dr.  Hans  von  Biilow.  More  recently  he  has 
studied  further  with  Professor  Blume,  and  on 
Feb.  8,  1 88 1,  created  the  part  of  Azim  in  Stan 
ford's  '  Veiled  Prophet  of  Khorassan/  on  its  pro 
duction  at  Hanover.  [A.C.] 

SCHOTT  (B.  SCHOTT'S  SOHNE),  the  well- 
known  firm  of  music-publishers  at  Mayence.  This 
business,  the  largest  of  the  kind  except  Breitkopf 
&  Hartel's,  was  founded  in  1773  by  BERNHARD 
SCHOTT,  and  carried  on  after  his  death  in  1817 
by  his  sons  ANDREAS  (born  1781,  died  1840), 
and  JOHANN  JOSEPH  (born  1782,  died  1855), 

who  in  the  early  part  of  this  century  set  up  a 
house  of  their  own  at  Antwerp  (afterwards  re 
moved  to  Brussels)  which  gave  them  an  advan 
tage  both  in  suppressing  pirated  editions,  and  in 
dealing  with  the  French  and  Italian  composers 
then  in  vogue.  In  1838  they  founded  a  branch 
in  London,  superintended  by  a  third  brother, 
ADAM,  and  conducted  with  great  success  since 
1849  by  J.  B.  Wolf  (born  1815,  died  1881). 
Another  branch  in  Paris  soon  followed.  PETER, 
a  younger  brother  of  FRANZ  PHILIPP,  and  grand 
son  of  Bernhard,  lived  in  Brussels  and  managed 
the  business  of  the  branches  there  and  in  Paris, 
forwarding  at  the  same  time  the  circulation  of 
the  Mayence  publications.  Besides  these  four  in 
dependent  houses  the  firm  has  depots  in  Leipzig, 
Rotterdam,  and  New  York.  FRANZ  PHILIPP  (born 
18 1 1 ),  grandson  of  Bernhard, took  part  in  the  busi 
ness  from  1825,  and  managed  it  after  the  death 
of  his  father  Andreas,  first  in  partnership  with 
his  uncle  Johann  Joseph,  and  after  his  death  by 
himself.  Since  his  death  in  Milan  in  1874  the 
business  has  been  carried  on  with  the  old 
traditions  by  PETER  SCHOTT  (a  son  of  the 
Brussels  Peter),  FRANZ  VON  LANDWEHR  (a 
nephew  of  the  family),  and  DR.  L.  STRECKER. 
The  Schotts  have  for  long  been  music-publishers 
to  the  court. 

At  a  time  when  the  book  and  music  trade 
was  regulated  by  no  fixed  laws,  the  correct  and 
elegant  editions  of  Mayence  found  a  ready  en 
trance  into  foreign  countries,  and  the  firm  was 

;  thus  stimulated  to  keep  ahead  of  rivals  by 
making  constant  improvements  in  music-printing 
and  engraving.  They  were  the  first  to  use 
li thography  for  this  purpose,  an  important  turning- 
point  in  the  printing  of  music.  Their  copyright 
publications  now  amount  to  over  23,000,  in 
cluding  Beethoven's  latest  quartets,  pth  Sym 
phony,  and  Mass  in  D,  nearly  all  the  operas  of 
Donizetti,  Rossini,  Adam,  and  Auber,  most  of 
Rink'a  organ-music,  and,  to  come  to  later  times, 

:  Wagner's  '  Meistersinger '  and  '  Ring  des  Nibe- 
lungen.'  The  establishment  has  been  enlarged 


SCHRODER. 


315 


by  the  addition  of  a  printing-office  (where  have 
been  printed,  among  others,  Gottfried  Weber's 
theoretical  works,  the  periodical  'Cacilia,'  1824- 
1848,  etc.)  and  in  1829  of  a  piano-factory,  which 
however  was  given  up  in  1860  on  account  of  the 
extension  of  the  main  business. 

The  Schotts,  besides  innumerable  services  to 
art  and  artists,  have  done  good  work  in  a  smaller 
circle  by  fostering  music  in  Mayence  itself. 
Franz  and  his  wife  Betty  (nee  Braunrasch,  born 
1820,  died  1875)  left  a  considerable  sum  for  the 
maintenance  of  a  permanent  orchestra  and  con 
ductor  of  eminence,  in  order  that  Mayence  might 
hold  its  own  in  music  with  the  richer  cities  of 
the  Rhine  provinces.  [C.F.P.] 

SCHOTTISCHE  ('The  Scotch  dance'),  a 
round  dance  very  similar  to  the  polka.  It  must 
not  be  confounded  with  the  Ecossaise,  which  was 
a  country  dance  of  Scotch  origin  introduced  into 
France  towards  the  end  of  the  last  century.  The 
Schottische  was  first  danced  in  England  in  1848, 
when  it  was  also  known  as  the  German  Polka. 
It  does  not  seem  to  have  been  danced  in  Paris, 
as  Cellarius  (La  Danse  des  Salons,  Paris  1847) 
does  not  include  it  amongst  the  dances  he  de 
scribes.  The  music  is  almost  the  same  as  that 
of  the  polka,  but  should  be  played  rather  slower. 
The  following  is  the  tune  to  which  it  was  ori 
ginally  danced  in  England. 


[W.B.S.] 

SCHRODER -DEVRIENT,  WILHELMINE,  a 
highly-gifted  dramatic  singer,  was  born  at  Ham 
burg,  December  I8O4.1  Her  father,  Friedrich 
Schroder — who  died  in  1818 — had  been  an  excel 
lent  baritone  singer,  a  favourite  in  many  operas, 
especially  in  Mozart's  '  Don  Juan,'  which  he  was 
the  first  to  act  in  German.  Her  mother  was 
Antoinette  Sophie  Burger,  a  celebrated  actress, 
sometimes  called  '  die  grosse  Schroder '  and  '  the 
German  Siddons.' 

Wilhelmine  was  the  eldest  of  four  children. 
She  enjoyed  great  advantages  of  training ;  danc 
ing  lessons,  and  public  appearances  in  ballets  in 
early  childhood,  helped  her  to  mastery  of  atti 
tude  and  elasticity  of  movement;  afterwards, 
when  her  parents'  wanderings  led  them  to  Vienna, 
she  took  such  parts  as  Ophelia,  and  Aricia 
(Schiller's  '  Phadra  '),  at  the  Hofburgtheater,  re 
ceiving  careful  instruction  in  gesture  and  delivery 

1  According  to  her  own  account,  as  quoted  in  GlUmer's  'Erin- 
nerungen,'  and  not  in  October  1805,  as  stated  by  F6tis. 


316 


SCHRODER. 


from  her  mother,  who  afterwards  superintended 
her  study  of  operatic  parts. 

Thus  there  was  no  trace  of  the  debutante,  when, 
in  1821,  Wilhelmine  made  a  brilliant  first  ap 
pearance  at  the  Vienna  opera-house  in  'Die  Zau- 
berflbte.'  The  freshness  of  her  well  -  developed 
soprano,  her  purity  of  intonation  and  certainty 
of  attack,  astonished  the  public.  '  It  was  as  if  a 
singer  had  fallen  from  the  clouds.'  Other  early 
triumphs  were  Emmeline  (Weigl's  'Schweizer- 
familie '),  where  the  representation  was  described 
as  'masterly,  ideal  and  full  of  truth;  in  dress 
and  bearing  klyllically  picturesque';  Marie 
(Gre'try's  'Barbe  bleu'  *),  where  she  showed  her 
self  worthy  of  all  praise  'as  well  in  singing  as  in 
acting,  especially  in  parts  demanding  passionate 
expression.'  As  Agathe  (Der  Freischiitz)  her  glori 
ous  voice  and  charming  appearance  won  great 
approval,  not  only  from  the  public  '  who  already 
loved  her,'  but  from  Weber,  who  presided  over 
the  performance  at  Vienna,  March  7>  *822. 
But  her  great  achievement  was  the  creation  of 
the  part  of  Leonore,  on  the  revival  of  '  Fidelio'  at 
Vienna  later  in  the  year.  Hitherto  connoisseurs 
had  failed  to  discover  the  merits  of  Beethoven's 
opera.  Mdlle.  Schroder's  impersonation  of  the 
heroine,  besides  laying  the  foundation  of  her  own 
fame,  redeemed  the  music  from  the  imputation 
of  coldness,  won  for  the  work  the  praise  so 
long  withheld,  and  achieved  its  ultimate  popu 
larity  by  repeated  performances  in  Germany, 
London,  and  Paris.  The  story  of  her  first  appear 
ance  in  the  part  has  often  been  quoted  from 
Gliimer's  'Erinnerungen  an  Wilhelmine  Schroder 
Devrient.'  Beethoven  was  present  at  the  per 
formance.  'He  sat  behind  the  conductor,  and 
had  wrapped  himself  so  closely  in  the  folds  of  his 
cloak  than  only  his  eyes  could  be  seen  flashing 
from  it.'  Schroder's  natural  anxiety  only  height 
ened  the  effect  of  her  play.  A  breathless  stillness 
filled  the  house  until  Leonore  fell  into  the  arms 
of  her  husband,  when  a  storm  of  applause  broke 
out  which  seemed  unceasing.  To  Beethoven 
also  had  his  Leonore  been  revealed  in  the  glowing 
life  of  Schroder's  representation.  He  smilingly 
patted  her  cheek,  thanked  her,  and  promised  to 
write  an  opera  for  her.  Would  that  he  had  1 

In  1823  she  went  to  Dresden  to  fulfil  a  con 
tract  to  sing  at  the  Court  Theatre  for  two  years, 
at  a  salary  of  2000  thalers.  (At  a  later  period 
she  received  4000  thalers  at  the  same  house,  for 
her  connection  with  Dresden  never  entirely 
ceased  as  long  as  she  was  on  the  stage.)  She  mar 
ried  Karl  Devrient,  an  excellent  actor  whom  she 
met  in  Berlin  during  an  engagement  there  that 
year.  Four  children  were  born,  but  the  marriage 
was  not  a  happy  one,  and  was  dissolved  in  1828. 
During  the  next  eight  years  she  delighted  her 
audiences  by  her  appearance  in  the  great  classical 
characters  which  ever  remained  her  most  suc 
cessful  parts.  In  Weber's  operas,  as  Preciosa, 
Euryanthe  and  Reiza,  she  is  said  to  have  thrown 
a  new  light  over  both  story  and  music,  gradually 
heightening  the  interest  of  the  work  until  a 

«  'Baoul  Barbe  bleu'  (1789),  Germanized  into  'Raoul  der  Blau- 
tart.' 


SCHRODER. 

torrent  of  inspiration  carried  all  before  it.  ] 
Spontini's  '  Vestale,'  she  was  the  very  personii 
cation  of  the  spirit  of  the  antique.  Yet  no  lei 
did  she  succeed,  in  Paer's  comic  opera,  '  Sargino 
in  singing  with  so  much  finish,  and  acting  wit! 
so  much  humour,  that  it  became  a  matter  of  dig 
pute  whether  tragedy  or  comedy  was  her  forte. 

In  1820  she  passed  through  Weimar  and  sanj 
to  Goethe  on  her  way  to  Paris  to  join  Rocket 
German  company.  With  an  exalted  sense  o 
the  importance  of  her  mission,  she  wrote:  '] 
had  to  think  not  only  of  my  own  reputation,  bul 
to  establish  German  music,  My  failure  would 
have  been  injurious  to  the  music  of  Beethoven, 
Mozart  and  Weber.3  This  date  was  an  epoch  in 
the  history  of  music  in  Paris.  Bouquets — then 
an  extraordinary  manifestation  of  approval — were 
showered  upon  the  triumphant  singer.  In  her 
subsequent  visits  to  Paris,  1831  and  32,  she  sang 
in  Italian  opera. 

In  1832,  Schroder-Devrient  was  heard  at  the 
King's  Theatre  in  London,  engaging  with  Mr. 
Monck  Mason  to  sing  ten  times  monthly  during 
May,  June  and  July,  for  £'8oo  and  a  benefit. 
Chelard  was  conductor.     'Fidelio,'  'Don  Juan/ 
and  Chelard's  '  Macbeth '  were  repeatedly  given, 
but  Chorley  ('Musical  Recollections')  says,  'Fi 
delio  was  the  solitary  success  of  a  disastrous  en 
terprise.  . . .  The  sensation  is  not  to  be  forgotten. 
The  Italians  (not  very  strong  that  year),  were 
beaten  out  of  the  field  by  the  Germans.    The 
intense  musical  vigour  of  Beethoven's  opera  was 
felt  to  be  a  startling  variety,  wrought  out  as  it 
was  in  its  principal  part  by  a  vocalist  of  a  class 
entirely  new  to   England.     This   was  Madame 
Schroder-Devrient.     Within   the  conditions  of 

her  own  school  she  was  a  remarkable  artist 

She  was  a  pale  woman ;  her  face,  a  thoroughly 
German  one,  though  plain,  was  pleasing,  from 
the  intensity  of  expression  which  her  large 
features  and  deep  tender  eyes  conveyed.  She 
had  profuse  fair  hair,  the  value  of  which  she 
thoroughly  understood,  delighting,  in  moments 
of  great  emotion,  to  fling  it  loose  with  the  wild 
vehemence  of  a  Maenad.  Her  figure  was  superb 
though  full,  and  she  rejoiced  in  its  display.  Her 
voice  was  a  strong  soprano,  not  comparable  in 
quality  to  some  other  German  voices  of  its 

class but  with  an  inherent  expressiveness 

of  tone  which  made  it  more  attractive  on  the 

stage  than  many  a  more  faultless  organ 

Her  tones  were  delivered  without  any  care,  save 
to  give  them  due  force.  Her  execution  was  bad 
and  heavy.  There  was  an  air  of  strain  ana 
spasm  throughout  her  performance.' 

The  '  Queen  of  Tears '  (so  she  was  styled)  was 
heard  next  season  in  'Der  Freischiitz,'  'Pie  Zau- 
berflote/  'Euryanthe/  and  'Otello.'  The  engage 
ment  was  to  sing  for  Mr.  Bunn  at  Covent  Garden 
twenty-four  times  at  £40  a  night,  and  once  for 
the  benefit  of  the  speculators.  However,  all 
London  was  under  the  spell  of  Taglioni  and  of 
Fanny  Elsler.  Malibran  in  the  English  opera; 
Pasta,  Cinti-Damoreau,  Rubini,  and  Tamburim, 
in  the  Italian  opera,  sang  to  empty  houses. 
Again  in  1837,  after  Malibran's  death,  Mr.  Bunn 


SCHRODER. 

engaged  Schroder-Devrient  at  a  double  salary. 
'Fidelio,'  'La  Sonnambula '  and  'Norma'  were 
performed  in  English.  She  broke  down  in  health 
before  the  season  was  over.  It  is  said  that  Bunn 
forced  himself  into  her  sick-room  one  night,  to 
insist  on  her  showing  herself  in  character  upon 
the  stage  for  one  moment,  to  enable  him  to  put 
off  the  performance  '  on  account  of  the  sudden 
indisposition  of  the  singer' — and  yet  keep  the 
entrance  money.  After  a  rest,  too  short  to  be 
beneficial,  she  resumed  her  work,  and  was  car 
ried  home  insensible  from  the  theatre.  She  was 
able  however  to  give  a  farewell  performance  of 
'Fidelio,'  with  the  last  act  of  the  'Montecchi 
e  Capuletti,'  and  then  discovered  that  Mr. 
Bunn  had  declared  himself  bankrupt  and  could 
pay  her  nothing.  In  his  book,  '  The  Stage 
both  before  and  behind  the  Curtain/  Mr.  Bunn 
complains  of  the  singer's  attempts  at  extor 
tion  ;  says  that  she  demanded  the  fourth  part 
of  the  proceeds  of  each  night,  but  on  this  sum 
proving  to  fall  short  of  the  fixed  salary,  asked 
for  £  i  oo. 

From  1837  a  gradual  decline  in  power  was 
observed  in  Madame  Schroder-Devrient,  though 
she  continued  to  delight  her  audiences  all  over 
Germany  in  the  parts  she  had  identified  herself 
with.  Of  Wagner's  operas  she  only  appeared 
in  '  Rienzi/  as  Adriano  Colonna,  in  'Der  fliegende 
Hollander,'  as  Senta,  and  in  'Tannhauser,'  as 
Venus.  His  later  dramas  would  have  been  a 
fitting  field  for  her  dramatic  genius.  Gluck's 
masterpieces  were  among  her  latest  studies.  Her 
last  appearance  in  Dresden  was  in  his  '  I  phi- 
genie  in  Aulis,'  in  1847  ;  her  last  appearance  on 
any  stage  took  place  at  Riga,  where  she  played 
Romeo.  Her  concert  singing  was  greatly  ad 
mired,  and  one  of  the  liveliest  passages  in 
Mendelssohn's  letters *  describes  the  furore 
caused  by  her  impromptu  execution  of '  Adelaide ' 
in  her  ordinary  travelling  dress  at  the  Gewand- 
haus  Concert  of  Feb.  II,  1841. 

Madame  Schroder-Devrient  had  made  a  second 
marriage  with  Herr  von  Doling,  a  worthless 
person,  who  immediately  seized  upon  his  wife's 
earnings  and  pension,  and  left  her  almost  desti 
tute,  to  recover  what  she  could  in  a  long  lawsuit. 
The  marriage  was  dissolved  at  her  wish.  In 
1850  she  again  married  Herr  von  Bock,  a  man 
of  culture,  who  took  her  to  his  property  in 
Livonia.  The  union  promised  great  happiness, 
and  Madame  von  Bock  entered  with  ardour  on  her 
new  duties.  But  she  found  herself  unfitted  for  a 
quiet  country  life,  and  sought  relief  in  travelling. 
Passing  through  Dresden,  she  was  arrested  on 
account  of  the  sympathy  she  had  shown  with 
the  revolution  of  1848.  An  examination  in 
Berlin  resulted  in  her  being  forbidden  to  return 
to  Saxony  ;  in  the  meantime  she  was  exiled  from 
Russia.  Her  husband's  exertions  and  sacrifices 
secured  a  reversal  of  this  sentence.  In  1856  she 
visited  some  German  towns,  singing  Lieder  in 
public  concerts.  Her  interpretations  of  Beetho 
ven's  'Adelaide 'and  of  Schubert's  and  Schumann's 

i  Letter,  Feb.  14. 1811. 


SCHRODER, 


317 


songs  were  immensely  admired,  though  by  some 
thought  too  dramatic.  When  at  Leipzig  her 
strength  succumbed  to  a  painful  illness.  She 
was  devotedly  nursed  by  a  sister  and  a  friend  at 
Coburg,  and  died  Jan.  21,  1860. 

Schroder-Devrient's  voice,  even  in  her  best 
days,  was  of  no  extraordinary  compass,  but,  to 
the  last,  the  tones  of  the  middle  notes  were  of 
exceptionally  fine  quality.  Mazatti's  teaching, 
with  further  instruction  from  Radichi  and  from 
Miksch  (the  Dresden  Chorus -master),  had  not 
been  sufficient  training  for  the  young  girl,  who 
had  besides  been  disinclined  to  the  drudgery  of 
scale-singing.  The  neglect  of  system  and  of 
careful  vocal  exercise  resulted  in  faulty  execu 
tion  and  too  early  loss  of  the  high  notes.  This 
might  have  been  less  observable  had  she  kept  to 
such  simple  roles  as  Pamina  and  Agathe.  But 
there  seemed  a  discrepancy  between  the  delicate 
organization  of  her  voice  and  the  passionate 
energy  of  her  temperament.  By  force  of  will 
she  accomplished  more  than  was  warranted  by 
her  natural  powers.  'A  portion  of  her  life  was 
exhausted  in  every  song.'  As  a  musical  instru 
ment  the  voice  was  not  under  her  command  ;  as 
a  vehicle  of  expression  it  was  completely  so.  It 
was  the  dramatic  genius  of  this  artist  which  won 
for  her  an  European  reputation.  She  infused  a 
terrible  earnestness 2  into  the  more  pathetic  im 
personations,  while  an  almost  unerring  instinct 
of  artistic  fitness,  combined  with  a  conscientious 
study  of  the  parts,  secured  a  perfection  of  per 
formance  which  reached  every  detail  of  bye-play. 
It  could  be  said  of  her  that  she  never  ceased 
learning,  for  she  toiled  at  her  art  to  the  end. 
She  once  wrote  as  follows  :  '  Art  is  an  eternal 
race,  and  the  artist  is  destroyed  for  art  as  soon 
as  he  entertains  the  delusion  that  he  is  at  the 
goal.  It  were  certainly  comfortable  to  lay  down 
the  task  with  the  costume,  and  let  it  rest  until 
its  turn  comes  round  again  in  the  repertoire.  I 
have  never  been  able  to  do  this.  How  often, 
when  the  public  have  shouted  approval  and 
showered  bouquets  on  me,  have  I  retired  in 
confusion,  asking  myself :  "  Wilhelmine,  what 
have  you  been  about  again  ?" — then  there  would 
be  no  peace  for  me,  but  brooding  the  livelong 
days  and  nights  until  I  had  hit  upon  something 
better.' 

Her  good  faith  and  earnestness  led  her  to 
condemn  a  fellow- actress  for  disrespect  to  her  art 
when  she  carelessly  threw  down  behind  the 
scenes  a  handkerchief  which  had  served  on  the 
stage  as  a  Signal  of  Love.  Schroder-Devrient's 
play  generally  inspired  others  with  her  own 
spirit.  On  one  occasion  it  moved  a  Bluebeard 
to  forget  the  ordinary  artifice  used  in  dragging 
his  Marie  off  the  stage,  and  to  take  her  literally 
by  the  hair.  'Almost  unconscious  with  pain 
and  covered  with  blood,  the  artist  endured  this 
torture  rather  than  spoil  the  effect  of  the  tableau.' 


2  Sometimes  perhaps  a  trifle  too  much,  as  indeed  Mendelssohn 
hints  in  the  sequel  of  the  passage  quoted  above.  Even  in  the  Con 
cert-room  this  was  so.  'The  old  Declamalrice,'  writes  Mendelssohn, 
on  Nov.  28, 1842,  'thoroughly  delighted  us  all  by  the  great  strength 
aud  vigour  of  her  voice  and  her  whole  style.' 


318 


SCHRODER. 


It  was  easier  for  her  to  forgive  an  injury  arising 
thus  from  excess  of  feeling,  than  to  tolerate  the 
inadequate  support  of  a  first  tenor,  'half  sponge 
half  wood ';  or  to  allow  the  sleepy  play  of  a 
prima  donna  to  go  unpunished  :  as  when,  in 
Romeo,  she  was  guilty  of  tickling  the  feet  of  a 
too  unemotional  Giulietta,  during  the  caresses  o1 
the  last  scene  of  Bellini's  opera.  (See  also  Mo- 
scheles'  Life,  i.  270.)  An  audience  of  '  lederne 
Seelen  '  was  her  abhorrence,  and  the  ignorance 
of  fashionable  London  forty  years  ago  tried  her 
sorely.  (Ib.  263.) 

In  his  '  Modern  German  Music,'  Chorley 
enters  upon  an  analysis  of  some  of  Madame 
Schroder-Devrient's  parts.  He  and  Berlioz  (the 
latter  in  letters  to  the  Journal  des  De"bats,  1843) 
concur  in  condemning  the  mannerisms  which 
grew  upon  her  as  time  went  on.  Rellstab  has 
devoted  an  article  to  her  ('  Ges.  Schriften,'  ix.). 
A.  von  Wolzogen's  '  Wilh.  Schroeder-Devrient ' 
(Leipzig,  1863)  is  the  best  life,  and  gives  a  cir 
cumstantial,  impartial,  and  interesting  account ; 
while  Wagner's  '  Ueber  Schauspieler  und  San- 
ger  '  eulogises  her  depth  of  feeling  and  power  oi 
interpretation.  [L.  M.  M.] 

SCHROETER,  CHKISTOPH  GOTTLIEB,  born  at 
Hohenstein,  Saxony,  Aug.  10,  1699,  long  enjoyed 
in  Germany  the  honour  of  having  invented  the 
pianoforte.    His  claims,  first  published  by  himself 
in  Mitzler's  '  Musikalische  Bibliothek'  (Leipzig, 
1738)    and   repeated   in   Marpurg's    '  Kritische 
Brief'e  '  (Berlin,  1764)  have  been  examined  and 
set  aside  in  favour  of  Cristofori.  [See  PIANOFORTE, 
vol.  ii.  p.  712.]     We  learn  from  Schroeter's  auto 
biography  that  at  seven  years  of  age  he  was 
placed  as  a  chorister  at  Dresden,  under  Kapell 
meister  Schmidt,  and  that  Graun  was  his  com 
panion.    The  clavichord  early  became  his  greatest 
pleasure.    When  he  lost  his  voice  he  entered  the 
Kreuz-schule  to   study   thorough-bass,  that   is, 
accompaniment  as  then  practised,  and  learned  to 
quill  and  tune  harpsichords,  which  led  him  to 
the  monochord  and  systems  of  temperament.  On 
the  wish  of  his  mother  that  he  should  study  the 
ology,  he  went  to  Leipzig  for  that  purpose  in  1 7 1 7, 
but  after  her  death  resumed  music,  returned  to 
Dresden,  and  was  accepted  by  Lotti  to  copy  for 
him,  and  write  his  middle  parts.    It  was  at  this 
time  that  he  endeavoured  to  combine  the  charac 
teristics  of  the  harpsichord  and  clavichord,  by 
inventing  two   hammer   actions,  the  models  of 
which  he  deposited  at  the  Saxon  Court  in  1721  ; 
but    immediately   afterwards   he   left   Dresden, 
taking  service  with  a  Baron  whom  he  does  not 
name,    to    travel    in    Germany,    Holland,    and 
England.     In  1724  he  went  to  the  University  of 
Jena  and  began  writing  upon  musical  subjects  ; 
in  1726  he  took  the  organist's  place  at  Minden, 
removing  in  1732  to  Nordhausen,  where  he  re 
mained  until  his  death  in  1782.    A  complete  list 
of  his  numerous  writings  is  to  be  found  in  Gerber's 
Lexicon   der  Tonkiinstler   (Leipzig,    1792),    ii. 
454-5-  [A.J,H.] 

SCHROETER,  JOHANN  SAMUEL,  an  esteemed 
pianoforte-player  and  composer  for  that  instru 
ment,  was  born  in  1750  of  German  parents  at 


SCHUBART. 

Warsaw,  where    his  father,  Johann  Friedric 
was  oboist  in  the  royal  orchestra.      About  171 
he  accompanied  his  father  and  sister  to  Leipzi 
and  sang  there  in   the  Gewandhaus  Concerl 
On  the  breaking  of  his  voice  he  devoted  Lim« 
entirely  to   the   piano,  and  travelled  with  h 
father,  brother  and  sister,  performing  as  th( 
went,  through  Holland  to  London.     There  the 
made  their  debut  in  the  concerts  of  Bach  an 
Abel  at  the  Thatched  House,  St.  James's  Stree 
May  2,   1772,  Schroeter  playing  a  concerto  o 
the  *  Forte  Piano,'  which  J.  Christian  Bach  ha 
first  performed  in  1767,  the  brother  John  Hem 
on  the  violin,  and  the  sister,  Corona,  afterward 
a  celebrated  vocalist,  singing.    Bumey  (in  Bees' 
Cyclopaedia)  says  that  '  he  may  be  said  to  hav 
been  the  first  who  brought   into  England  th 
true   art   of  treating   that   instrument.'    Afte 
J.  C.  Bach's  death  in  1782,  he  succeeded  hie 
as  music  master  to  the  Queen.      'Six  Sonata 
for   the   harpsichord    or    piano    forte'   are  an 
nounced  by  W.  Napier  in  the  '  Public  Adver 
tiser'  in  1776  as  his  op.  I,     This  was  followet 
in  1778  by  op.  3,  'Six  Concertos  with  an  accom 
paniment  for  2  violins  and  a  bass';  and  this 
again  by  op.  5  (Berlin),  op.  6  (Paris),  op.  2,  sis 
trios  (Amsterdam),  op.  9  two  ditto  (Do.).    The 
'ABC  Dario'  (p.  144)  says  of  him,  'He  has 
composed  the  harpsichord  parts  of  some  con 
certos  ;  the  accompaniments  are  by  Bach ;  they 
are  neither   new  nor  very  striking.     He  plays 
in  an  elegant  and  masterly  style ;  his  cadences 
are  well  imagined,  and  if  his  penchant  was  not 
rather  to  play  rapidly  than  al  core,  he  would 
excel  on  the  pianoforte.'     Burney,  on  the  other 
hand  (in  Rees),  says,  'He  became  one  of  the 
neatest  and  most  expressive  players  of  his  time, 
and   his  style  of  composition,  highly  polished, 
resembles  that  of  Abel  more  than  any  other, 
It  was  graceful  and  in  good  taste,  but  so  chaste 
as  sometimes  to  seem  deficient  in  fire  and  in 
vention.'     He  did  not  remain  long  before  the 
public  in  consequence  of  his  marriage  with  one 
of  his  pupils,  a  young  lady  of  birth  and  fortune, 
after  which  he  played  only  at  the  concerts  of  the 
Prince  of  Wales  and  a  few  others  of  the  nobility. 
He  died  Nov.  2,  1788,  in  his  own  house  at  Pirn- 
lico,  having  lost  his  voice  some  years  before  hy 
a  severe  cold.     His  marriage  was  a  clandestine 
one,  and  brought   him  into   collision  with  his 
wife's  family,  the  result  of  which  was  his  sur 
rendering  all  his  rights  for  an  annuity  of  £5°°' 
She  is  the  lady  who  took  lessons  from  Haydn 
during  his  residence  in  London,  and  fell  violently 
in  love  with  him.     Haydn  spoke  of  her  many 
years  after  as  a  very  attractive  woman,  and  still 
handsome,  though  over  sixty ;  '  had  I  been  free, 
said   the   patriarch,   'I    should    certainly  have 
married  her ' — she  was  then  a  widow.    He  dedi 
cated  to  her  three  clavier  trios  (B.  &  H.,  Nos.  i, 
2,6).     [See  vol.  i.  p.  711.]  [C.F.J 

SCHUBART,  CHRISTIAN-  FRIEDEICH  VASIXI, 
aorn  at  Obersontheim  in  Suabia,  Nov.  22,  i743> 
and  brought  up,  not  as  a  musician,  at  Nord- 
ingen,  Nuremberg,  and  Erlangen.  In  1 768  we 
ind  him  as  organist  at  Ludwigsburg.  His  hie 


SCHUBART. 

seems  to  have  been  a  very  wild  and  irregular 
one,  but  lie  must  have  been  a  man  of  great  talent 
and  energy  to  justify  the  eulogies  on  him  so  fre 
quent  in  the  early  volumes  of  the  Allg.  musik- 
alische  Zeitung  of  Leipzig  (see  ii.  78,  98,  etc.), 
and  the  constant  references  of  Otto  Jahn  in  his 
Life  of  Mozart.  He  lived  in  Mannheim,  Munich, 
Augsburg,  and  Ulm ;  was  more  than  once  in 
confinement  for  his  misdeeds,  and  at  length  was 
imprisoned  from  1777  to  1787  at  Hohenasperg. 
He  died  shortly  after  his  release,  Oct.  10,  1797. 
His  compositions  are  few  and  unimportant.  A 
work  of  his  on  musical  aesthetics,  '  Ideen  zu  einer 
Aesthetik  der  Tonkust,'  was  published  after  his 
death  by  his  son  Ludwig  (Vienna,  1806).  From 
the  notices  of  it  in  the  A.  M.Z.  (viii.  801,  xiii. 
53,  etc.)  and  Jahn's  citations,  it  appears  to  be 
partly  a  dissertation  on  the  styles,  abilities,  and 
characteristics  of  great  musicians  and  artists. 
It  also  contains  some  fanciful  descriptions  of 
the  various  keys,  which  Schumann  notices  (G-es. 
Schriften,  i.  180)  only  to  condemn.  But  Schubart 
will  always  be  known  as  the  author  of  the  words 
of  one  of  F.  Schubert's  most  favourite  songs — 
'  Die  Forelle '  (op.  32).  The  words  of  'An  den 
Tod'  and  '  Grablied  auf  einen  Soldaten'  are  also 
his.  His  son  further  published  2  vols.  of  his  'Ver- 
mischte  Schrif ten '  (Zurich,  1812).  [Gr.] 

SCHUBERT,1  FRANZ  PETER,  the  one  great 
composer  native  to  Vienna,  was  born  Jan.  31, 
1797,  in  the  district  called  Lichtenthal,  at  the 
house  which  is  now  2  numbered  54  of  the  Nuss- 
dorfer  Strasse,  on  the  right,  going  out  from  Vienna. 
There  is  now  a  gray  marble  tablet  over  the  door, 
with  the  words  '  Franz  Schuberts  Geburtshaus'  in 
the  centre ;  on  the  left  side  a  lyre  crowned  with 
a  star,  and  on  the  right  a  chaplet  of  leaves  con 
taining  the  words,  '31  Janner  1797.'  He  eame 
of  a  country  stock,  originally  belonging  to  Zuk- 
mantel  in  Austrian  Silesia.  His  father,  Franz, 
the  son  of  a  peasant  at  Neudorf  in  Moravia, 
was  born  about  1764,  studied  in  Vienna,  and 
in  1784  became  assistant  to  his  brother,  who 
kept  a  school  in  the  Leopoldstadt.  His  ability 
and  integrity  raised  him  in  1786  to  be  parish 
schoolmaster  in  the  parish  of  the  'Twelve  holy 
helpers'  in  the  Lichtenthal,  a  post  which  he 
kept  till  1817  or  18,  when  he  was  appointed  to 
the  parish  school  in  the  adjoining  district  of  the 
Kossau,  and  there  he  remained  till  his  death, 
July  9,  1830.  He  married  early,  while  still 
helping  his  brother,  probably  in  1783,  Elisa 
beth  Vitz,  or  Fitz,  a  Silesian,  who  was  in  service 
in  Vienna,  and  was,  like  Beethoven's  mother, 

1  The  following  abbreviations  are  used  in  the  notes  to  this  ar 
ticle  :- 

K.H.  =  Kreissle  -von  Hellborn.  The  first  reference  to  the  German 
edition;  the  second,  in  brackets,  to  Coleridge's  translation. 

Ferd.  =  Ferdinand  Schubert,  in  his  biographical  sketch  ia  Schu 
mann's  Neue  Zeitschrift  fur  die  Musik,  x.  p.  129,  etc. 

A.M.Z.  =•  Allgemeine  Musikalische  Zeitung. 

N.Z.M.=-Neue  Zeitschrift  fiir  Musik. 

W.Z.K.  =  Wiener  Zeitschrift  fiir  Kunst,  etc. 

2  The  Nussdorfer  Strasse  runs  north  and  -south.    At  the  time  of 
Schubert's  birth  it  was  called  '  Auf  dem  Himmelpfortgrund,'  and 
the  house  was  No.  72.    The  '  Himmelpfortgrund '  itself  (the  '  gate  of 
heaven')  was  a  short  street  running  out  of  it  westwards  towards  the 
fortifications— the  same  which  is  now  the  '  Saulengasse.'  The  present 
Schubertgasse  did  not  then  exist  beyond  the  opening  into  the  main 
street.  I  find  all  this  on  a  large  map  of  the  date  in  the  British  Museum. 


SCHUBERT. 


319 


a  cook.  Their  first  child,  Ignaz,  was  born  in 
1784.  Then  came  a  long  gap,  possibly  filled 
by  children  who  died  in  infancy — of  which  they 
lost  nine  in  all;  then,  Oct.  19,  I794>  another 
boy,  Ferdinand ;  then  in  96,  Karl,  then  Franz, 
and  lastly,  a  daughter,  Theresia,  Sept.  17,  1801, 
who  died  Aug.  7,  1878.  The  hard- worked  mother 
of  these  1 4  children  lived  till  1812.  Soon  after  her 
death  her  husband  was  married  again,  to  Anna 
Klayenbok,  a  Viennese,  and  had  a  second  family 
of  5  children,  of  whom  3  grew  up,  viz.  Josefa 
(+  1861),  Andreas,  an  accountant  in  one  of  the 
public  offices,  and  Anton,  a  Benedictine  priest, 
'Father  s Hermann' — the  last  two  still  living 
(1881). 

Ignaz  and  Ferdinand  followed  their  father's 
calling,  and  inherited  with  it  the  integrity,  fru 
gality,  and  modesty,  which  had  gained  him 
such  respect.  Of  the  former  we  do  not  hear 
much  ;  the  one  letter  by  him  that  is  preserved 
(Oct.  12,  1818),  shows  him  very  free-thinking, 
very  tired  of  schoolmastering,  very  much  at 
tached  to  his  home  and  his  brother.4  He  re 
mained  at  the  Rossau  school  till  his  death  in 
1844.  Ferdinand,  on  the  other  hand,  rose  to  be 
director  of  the  chief  normal  school  of  St.  Anna 
in  Vienna,  and  played  a  considerable  part  in  the 
life  of  his  celebrated  brother,  by  whom  he  was 
fondly  loved,  to  whom  he  was  deeply  attached, 
and  whose  eyes  it  was  given  to  him  to  close  in 
death. 

Little  Franz  was  no  doubt  well  grounded  by  his 
father,  and  to  that  early  training  probably  owed 
the  methodical  habit  which  stuck  to  him  more  or 
less  closely  through  life,  of  dating  his  pieces,  a 
practice  which  makes  the  investigation  of  them 
doubly  interesting.3  As  schoolmasters  the  father 
and  his  two  eldest  sons  were  all  more  or  less  musi 
cal.  Ignaz  and  Ferdinand  had  learned  the  violin 
with  other  rudiments  from  the  father,  and  Franz 
was  also  taught  it  by  him  in  his  turn,  and  the 
'clavier'  (i.  e.  probably  the  pianoforte — for  Bee 
thoven's  op.  31  was  published  before  Schubert  had 
passed  his  6th  year)  by  Ignaz,  who  was  twelve 
years  his  senior.  But  his  high  vocation  quickly 
revealed  itself;  he  soon  outstripped  these  simple 
teachers,  and  was  put  under  Michael  Holzer, 
the  choirmaster  of  the  parish,  for  both  violin  and 
piano,  as  well  as  for  singing,  the  organ,  and 
thorough  bass.  On  this  good  man,  who  long  out 
lived  him,  he  made  a  deep  impression.  '  When 
I  wished  to  teach  him  anything  fresh,'  he  would 
say,  '  he  always  knew  it  already.  I  have  often 
listened  to  him  in  astonishment.' 6  Holzer 
would  give  him  subjects  to  extemporise  upon, 

3  Author  of  a  sermon  on  the  1400th  anniversary  of  the  birth  of  St. 
Benedict  (Vienna,  18?0),  in  which  he  is  styled  '  Capitularpriester  des 
Stiftes  Schotten ;  Curat  und  Prediger  an  derStiftspfarre ;  Besitzer  des 
gold.  Verdienstkreuzes  m.  d.  Krone." 

4  K.H.  146  (i.  149). 

5  His  usual  practice  was  to  write  the  title  of  the  piece,  the  date, 
and  his  name,  '  F rz  Schubert  Mpia,'  at  the  head  of  the  first  page,  on 
beginning  to  compose.    In  his  earlier  years  he  added  the  full  date  of 
completion  at  the  end,  even  when  it  was  the  same  day.    See  nos.  1,  2, 
and  5  of  the  '  6  Lieder '  (Muller)— all  three  belonging  to  1813,  as  given 
in  Nottebohm's  Catalogue,  p.  243.    Sometimes  he  has  dated  each 
movement,  as  in  the  String  Quartet  in  B  b  (op.  168),  described  under 
1814.    With  1815,  however,  this   minute  dating  in  great  measure 
ceases,  and  as  a  rule  we  find  the  year  or  at  most  the  month  stated. 

6  N.Z.M. 


320 


SCHUBERT. 


and  then  his  joy  would  know  no  bounds,  and  he 
would  cry  '  the  lad  has  got  harmony  at  his 
fingers'  ends.' *  Such  astonishment  was  natural 
enough,  but  it  would  have  been  far  better  if  he 
had  taught  him  counterpoint.  Ignaz  too — and 
an  elder  brother  is  not  always  a  lenient  judge 
of  his  junior — bears  similar  testimony.  '  I  was 
much  astonished/  says  he,  '  when  after  a  few 
months  he  told  me  that  he  had  no  more  need  of  any 
help  from  me,  but  would  go  on  by  himself ;  and 
indeed  I  soon  had  to  acknowledge  that  he  had 
far  surpassed  me,  beyond  hope  of  competition.' 

Before  he  became  eleven  he  was  first  soprano 
in  the  Lichtenthal  choir,  noted  for  the  beauty 
for  his  voice  and  the  appropriateness  of  his 
expression.  He  played  the  violin  solos  when 
they  occurred  in  the  service,  and  at  home  com 
posed  little  songs,  and  pieces  for  strings  or  for 
PF.  For  a  child  so  gifted,  of  people  in  the 
position  of  the  Scbuberts,  the  next  step  was 
naturally  the  Imperial  Convict,  or  school2  for 
educating  the  choristers  for  the  Court-chapel;  and 
to  the  Convict  accordingly  Franz  was  sent  in 
Oct.  1808,  when  II  years  and  8  months  old.  He 
went  up  with  a  batch  of  other  boys,  who,  while 
waiting,  made  themselves  merry  over  his  gray 
suit,  calling  him  a  miller,  and  otherwise  crack 
ing  jokes.  But  the  laugh  soon  ceased  when  the 
'  miller'  came  under  the  examiners,  the  Court- 
capellmeisters  Salieri  and  Eybler,  and  Korner  the 
singing-master.  He  sang  the  trial-pieces  in  such 
a  style  that  he  was  at  once  received,  and  henceforth 
the  gray  frock  was  exchanged  for  the  gold-laced 
uniform  of  the  imperial  choristers.  The  music 
in  the  Convict  had  been  a  good  deal  dropt  in 
consequence  of  the  war,  but  after  the  signing  of 
the  treaty  of  peace,  Oct.  14,  1809,  it  regained  its 
old  footing,  and  then  Franz  soon  took  his  right 
place  in  the  music-school.  There  was  an  orchestra 
formed  from  the  boys,  which  practised  daily 
symphonies  and  overtures  of  Haydn,  Mozart, 
Krommer,  Kozeluch,  MeTiuI,  Cherubini,  etc.,  and 
occasionally  Beethoven.  Here  his  home  practice 
put  him  on  a  level  with  older  boys  than  himself. 
The  leader  of  the  band,  behind  whom  he  sat, 
several  years  his  senior,  turned  round  the  first 
day  to  see  who  it  was  that  was  playing  so 
cleverly,  and  found  it  to  be  'a  small  boy  in 
spectacles  named  Franz  Schubert.'3  The  big 
fellow's  name  was  Spaun,  and  he  soon  became 
intimate  with  his  little  neighbour.  Franz  was 
extremely  sensitive,  and  one  day  admitted  to  his 
friend,  very  confused  and  blushing  deeply,  that 
he  had  already  composed  much  ;  that  indeed  he 
could  not  help  it,  and  should  do  it  every  day  if 
he  could  afford  to  get  music-paper.  Spaun  saw 
the  state  of  matters,  and  took  care  that  music- 
paper  should  be  forthcoming ;  for  which  and  other 
kindnesses  his  name  will  be  long  remembered. 
Franz  in  time  became  first  violin,  and  when 


1  K.H.  5  (i.  5). 

2  In  the  Piaristengrasse  in  the  Josephstadt.     See  a  very  full  and 
interesting  account  of  this  school  in   Hanslick's  excellent  book, 
'Geschichte  des  Concertwesens  in  Wien '  (Vienna,  1869),  p.  141. 

3  From  a  sketch  by  von  KOchel,  entitled  'Nachruf  an  Joseph  von 
Spaun,' Vienna  (privately  printed),  1866.    I  owe  the  sight  of  this  to 
my  excellent  trieiid  Mr.  PohL 


SCHUBERT. 

Ruzicka,  the  regular  conductor,  was  absent,  he 
took  his  place.     The  orchestral  music  must  have 
been  a  great  delight  to  him,  but  we  only  hear  that 
he  preferred  Kozeluch  to  Krommer,  and  that 
his  particular  favourites  were  some  adagios  of 
Haydn's,  Mozart's  G  minor  Symphony,  in  which 
he  said   '  you   could  hear  the   angels   singing,' 
and  the  overtures  to  Figaro  and  the  Zauberflote. 
It  is  also  evident  from  his  earliest  symphonies 
that  the  overture  to  Prometheus  had  made  its 
mark  on  his  mind.     On  Sundays  and  holidays  he 
went  home,  and  then  the  great  delight  of  the 
family  was  to  play  quartets,  his  own  or  those  of 
other  writers,  in  which  the  father  took  the  cello, 
Ferdinand  and  Ignaz  the  first  and  second  violins, 
and  Franz  the  viola,  as  Mozart  did  before  him, 
and  Mendelssohn  after  him.     The  father  would 
now  and  then  make  a  mistake  ;    on  the  first 
occasion  Franz  took  no  notice,  but  if  it  recurred 
he  would  say  with  a  smile,  in  a  timid  way,  'Herr 
Vater,  something  must  be  wrong  there." 

From  a  very  early  date  Beethoven  was  an  ob 
ject  of  his  deepest  reverence.  Shortly  before  he 
entered  the  School  the  boys'  orchestra  had  been 
taken  to  Schbnbrunn  for  a  performance  in  Bee 
thoven's  presence,  and  Franz  was  never  tired  of 
hearing  the  details  of  the  story  from  those  who 
were  there.  A  few  months  later,  after  some  of 
his  boyish  songs  to  Klopstock's  words  had  been 
sung,  he  asked  a  friend  if  it  was  possible  that  he 
himself  ever  would  do  anything ;  and  on  the  friend 
replying  that  he  could  already  do  a  great  deal, 
answered,  '  Perhaps  :  I  sometimes  have  dreams 
of  that  sort ;  but  who  can  do  anything  after 
Beethoven?'4  With  this  feeling  it  is  doubly 
strange  that  his  juvenile  works  should  show  so 
few  traces  of  Beethoven's  direct  influence. 

The  instruction  in  the  Convict  was  by  no  means 
only  musical.  There  was  a  Curator,  a  Director 
(Rev.  Innocenz  Lang),  a  Sub-director,  an  In> 
spector,  a  staff  of  preachers  and  catechists ;  and 
there  were  teachers  of  mathematics,  history  and 
geography,  poetry,  writing,  drawing,  French, 
and  Italian.5  In  fact  it  was  a  school,  apart  from 
its  music  department.  Franz  of  course  took  his 
part  in  all  this  instruction,  and  for  the  first  year 
is  said  to  have  acquitted  himself  with  credit, 
but  his  reputation  in  the  school  fell  off  as  it 
increased  in  the  musical  department.  The  ex 
traordinary  thirst  for  composition,  which  is  so 
remarkable  throughout  his  life,  began  to  assert 
itself  at  this  time,  and  appears  to  have  been 
limited  only  by  his  power  of  obtaining  paper ; 
and  it  not  unnaturally  interfered  with  his  general 
lessons.  His  first  pianoforte  piece  of  any  dimen 
sions,  and  apparently  his  earliest  existing  compo 
sition,  was  a  4-hand  phantasia,  containing  more 
than  a  dozen  movements,  all  of  different  charac 
ters,  and  occupying  32  pages  of  very  small  writing. 
It  is  dated  8  April — i  May  1810,  and  was  fol 
lowed  by  two  smaller  ones.6  His  brother  re 
marks  that  not  one  of  the  three  ends  in  the  key 


<  See  K.H.  258  (i.  260*. 
s  See  the  list  of  names  in  K.H.  13  (i.  13). 

6  Ferd.  p.  133.    Keissmann  (p.  7)  gives  the  inscriptions-Ten  8, 
Aprill  angefangen.    Den  1.  Hay  yollbracht.  1810.' 


SCHUBERT. 

in  which  it  began.  The  next  is  a  long  vocal  piece 
for  voice  and  PR,  called '  Hagars  Klage' — Hagar's 
lament  over  her  dying  son — dated  March  30, 1811, 
also  containing  1 2  movements,  with  curious  un 
connected  changes  of  key ;  and  another,  of  even 
grimmer  character,  attributed  to  the  same  year, 
is  called  '  Leichenfantasie,'  or  Corpse-fantasia,  to 
the  words  of  Schiller's  gruesome  juvenile  poem 
of  the  same  name : — 

Mit  eratorbnem  Scheinen 
Steht  der  Mond  auf  todtenstillen  Hainen, 
Seufzend  streicht  der  Nachtgeist  durch  die  Luft — 
Nebenvolken  schauern, 
Sterne  traitern 
Bleich  herab,  wie  Lampen  in  der  Graft. 

With  a  deathlike  glimmer 
Stands  the  mpou  above  the  dying  trees, 
Sighing  wails  the  Spirit  through  the  night ; 
Mists  are  creeping, 
Stars  are  peeping 
Pale  aloft  like  torches  in  a  cave. 

and  so  forth.  This  has  1 7  movements,  and  is  quite 
as  erratic  in  its  changes  of  key  and  disregard 
of  the  compass  of  the  voice  as  the  preceding.1 
The  reminiscences  of  Haydn's  'Creation/  Mo 
zart's  opera  airs,  and  Beethoven's  Andantes,  are 
frequent  in  both.  A  fourth  is  'Der  Vater- 
morder' — the  Parricide — for  voice  and  PF.,  '26 
December,  1811,'  a  pleasant  Christmas  piece! 
a  decided  advance  on  the  two  previous  songs 
in  individuality  of  style,  and  connection.  1811 
also  saw  the  composition  of  a  quintet-over 
ture,  a  string  quartet,  a  second  phantasia  for 
4  hands,  and  many  songs.2  For  1812  the  list 
is  more  instrumental.  It  contains  an  overture 
for  orchestra  in  D  ;  a  quartet  overture  in  Bb  ; 
string  quartets  in  C,  Bb,  and  3D ;  a  sonata  for 
PF.,  violin,  and  cello  ;  variations  in  Eb,  and  an 
andante,  both  for  PF.  ;  a  Salve  Regina  and  a 
Kyrie.  In  1813  an  octet*  for  wind;  3  string 
quartets  in  C,  Bb,  Eb  and  D;  minuets  and 
trios  for  orchestra  and  for  PF. ;  a  third  phan 
tasia  for  the  PF.  4  hands  ;  several  songs,  terzets, 
and  canons ;  a  cantata  in  two  movements,  for 
3  male  voices  and  guitar,  for  his  father's  birth 
day,  Sept.  27 — both  words  and  music  his  own; 
and  his  first  symphony  in  5D,  intended  to  cele 
brate  the  birthday  of  Dr.  Lang,  and  finished  on 
Oct.  28.  With  this  very  important  work  his  time 
at  the  Convict  ended.  He  might  have  remained 
longer ;  for  it  is  said  that  the  Emperor,  who 
took  an  interest  in  the  lads  of  his  chapel,  had 
specially  watched  the  progress  of  this  gifted 
boy  with  the  lovely  voice  and  fine  expression, 
and  that  a  special  decision  had  been  registered 
in  his  favour  on  Oct.  21,  assuring  him  a  founda 
tion  scholarship  in  the  school,  provided  that 

1  The  autographs  of  both  are  In  possession  of  Herr  Nicholas  Dumba 
Of  Vienna.  2  ferd.  p.  138. 

s  Kieissle  expressly  states  this  (p.  550)  and  gives  the  date— 'Nov.  19, 
1812.' 

*  This  octet,  dated  Sept.  19,  is  said  to  be  mentioned  by  Ferdinand 
Bchubert  as  '  Franz  Schubert's  LeichenbegSngniss '  (funeral  cere 
mony).  It  is  supposed  by  Kreissle  (p.  31)  to  have  been  composed  for 
the  funeral  of  his  mother ;  but  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that  the  words 
'which  he  wrote  for  his  father's  birthday  ode,  eight  days  later,  would 
haye  had  no  reference  to  the  mother's  death— which  they  certainly 
have  not— if  it  had  occurred  at  that  date. 

5  Adagio  and  Allegro  vivace  (D) ;  Andante  (G) ;  Minuet  and  Trio 
(D) ;  Finale,  Allegro  vivace  (D).  The  work  was  played  from  MS.  at 
the  Crystal  Palace,  Feb.  6,  1881.  The  autograph  is  in  possession  of 
Herr  Dumba,  Vienna. 

VOL.  III.   PT.  3. 


SCHUBERT. 


321 


during  the  vacation  he  should  study  sufficiently 
to  pass  an  examination.6  This  however  he  de 
clined,  possibly  at  the  instignatiou  of  Korner  the 
poet,  who  was  in  Vienna  at  this  time,  and  is 
known  to  have  influenced  him  in  deciding  to 
throw  himself  entirely  into  music.7  He  accord 
ingly  left  the  Convict  (between  Oct.  26  and 
Nov.  6),  and  returned  home.  His  mother  died 
in  1812,  but  we  hear  nothing  of  the  event, 
unless  the  octet  just  named  refers  to  it.  The 
father  married  again  in  about  a  year,  and  the 
new  wife,  as  we  shall  see,  did  her  duty  to  her 
stepson  Franz  fully,  and  apparently  with  affec 
tion. 

Franz  was  now  just  completing  his  seven 
teenth  year,  and  what  has  been  rightly  called  the 
first  period  of  his  life.  The  Convict  has  much 
to  answer  for  in  regard  to  Schubert.  It  was  en 
trusted  with  the  most  poetical  genius  of  modern 
times,  and  it  appears  to  have  allowed  him  to 
take  his  own  course  in  the  matter  of  composition 
almost  unrestrained.  Had  but  a  portion  of  the 
pains  been  spent  on  the  musical  education  of 
Schubert  that  was  lavished  on  that  of  Mozart  or 
of  Mendelssohn,  we  can  hardly  doubt  that  even 
his  transcendent  ability  would  have  been  en 
hanced  by  it,  that  he  would  have  gained  that  con 
trol  over  the  prodigious  spontaneity  of  his  genius 
which  is  his  only  want,  and  have  risen  to  the 
very  highest  level  in  all  departments  of  com 
position,  as  he  did  in  song-writing.  But  though 
Eybler  andSalieri  were  the  conductors  of  the  choir 
in  chapel,  it  does  not  appear  that  they  had  any 
duties  in  the  school,  and  Ruzicka,  the  thorough 
bass  master,  like  Holzer,  was  so  prostrated  by 
Schubert's  facility  as  to  content  himself  with  ex 
claiming  that  his  pupil  already  knew  all  he  could 
teach  him,  and  must  have  '  learned  direct  from 
heaven.'  If  all  masters  adopted  this  attitude  to 
wards  their  pupils,  what  would  have  become  of 
some  of  the  greatest  geniuses?  The  discomforts  of 
the  school  appear  to  have  been  great  even  for  that 
day  of  roughness.  One  of  the  pupils  speaks  of  the 
cold  of  the  practice-room  as  '  dreadful'  (schauer- 
lich)  ;  and  Schubert's  own  earliest  letter,  dated 
Nov.  24,  1812,  to  his  brother  Ferdinand,  shows 
that  these  young  growing  lads  were  allowed  to 
go  without  food  for  8|  hours,  between  'a  poor 
dinner  and  a  wretched  supper.'  There  was  not 
even  sufficient  music  paper  provided  for  the 
scholars,  and  Schubert  was,  as  we  have  seen, 
dependent  on  the  bounty  of  the  richer  pupils. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  motets  and  masses  in 
the  service,  the  rehearsals  in  the  school,  such 
teaching  as  there  was,  and  the  daily  practisings, 
must  have  been  both  stimulating  and  improving, 
and  with  all  its  roughness  a  good  deal  of  know 
ledge  could  not  but  have  been  obtainable.  One 
advantage  Schubert  reaped  from  the  Convict — the 
friends  which  he  made  there,  many  of  them  for 
life,  Spaun,  Senn,  Holzapfel,  Stadler,  and  others, 
all  afterwards  more  or  less  eminent,  who  at 
tached  themselves  to  him  as  every  one  did  who 

fl  K.H.  33  (I.  83). 

7  On  Spavin's  authority.    There  Is  no  mention  of  Schubert  In 
Korner's  letters  from  Vienna. 


322 


SCHUBERT. 


came  into  contact  with  him ;  a  band  of  young 
adorers,  eager  to  play,  or  sing,  or  copy  anything 
that  he  composed  ;  the  earnest  of  the  devoted 
friends  who  surrounded  him  in  later  years,  and 
helped  to  force  his  music  on  an  ignorant  and 
preoccupied  public.  Nor  did  the  enthusiasm 
cease  with  his  departure ;  for  some  years  after 
wards  the  orchestral  pieces  which  he  had  written 
while  at  the  school  were  still  played  by  the 
boys  from  his  own  MS.  copies.  Outside  the 
school  he  had  sometimes  opportunities  of  going 
to  the  opera.  The  first  opera  which  he  is  said 
to  have  heard  was  Weigl's  '  Waisenhaus,'  played 
Dec.  12,  1810  ;  but  this  was  eclipsed  by  the 
'Schweitzer-familie'  of  the  same  composer,  July  8, 
1811  ;  that  again  by  Spontini's  '  Vestalin,'  with 
Milder,  Oct.  1, 1 812  ;  and  all  of  them  by  Gluck's 
'  Iphigenie  auf  Tauris/  which  he  probably  heard 
first  April  5,  1815,  with  Milder  and  Vogl  in  the 
two  principal  parts,  and  which  made  a  deep  and 
ineffaceable  impression  upon  him,  and  drove  him 
to  the  study  of  Gluck's  scores.1  During  the  same 
years  there  were  also  many  concerts,  including 
those  at  which  Beethoven  produced  his  5th,  6th, 
and  7th  Symphonies,  the  Choral  Fantasia,  por 
tions  of  the  Mass  in  C,  the  Overture  to  Coriolan, 
and  others  of  his  greatest  compositions.  Schubert 
probably  heard  all  these  works,  but  it  is  very 
doubtful  whether  he  heard  them  with  the  same 
predilection  as  the  operas  just  mentioned.  We 
might  infer  with  certainty  from  the  three  earliest 
of  his  symphonies,  that  Beethoven's  style  had  as 
yet  taken  but  little  hold  on  him,  notwithstanding 
the  personal  fascination  which  he  seems  to  have 
felt  for  the  great  master  from  first  to  last.  But, 
indeed,  we  have  his  own  express  declaration  to 
that  effect.  Coming  home  after  a  performance  of 
an  oratorio  of  Salieri's,  June  16,  1816,  he  speaks 
of  the  music  in  terms  which  can  only  refer  to  Bee 
thoven,  as '  of  simple  natural  expression,  free  from 
all  that  bizarrerie  which  prevails  in  most  of  the 
composers  of  our  time,  and  for  which  we  have  al 
most  solely  to  thank  one  of  our  greatest  German 
artists  ;  that  bizarrerie  which  unites  the  tragic 
and  the  comic,  the  agreeable  and  the  repulsive, 
the  heroic  and  the  petty,  the  Holiest  and  a 
harlequin ;  infuriates  those  who  hear  it  instead 
of  dissolving  them  in  love,  and  makes  them 
laugh  instead  of  raising  them  heavenwards.' 
Mozart  was  at  the  time  his  ideal  composer; 
this  too  is  plain  from  the  symphonies,  but  here 
also  he  leaves  us  in  no  doubt.  Three  days 
earlier  we  find  in  the  same  2  diary,  a  propos  to 
one  of  the  quintets  of  that  great  master : — 'Gently, 
as  if  out  of  the  distance,  did  the  magic  tones 
of  Mozart's  music  strike  my  ears.  With  what 
inconceivable  alternate  force  and  tenderness  did 
Schlesinger's  masterly  playing  impress  it  deep, 
deep,  into  my  heart !  Such  lovely  impressions 
remain  on  the  soul,  there  to  work  for  good, 
past  all  power  of  time  or  circumstances.  In 
the  darkness  of  this  life  they  reveal  a  clear, 
bright,  beautiful  prospect,  inspiring  confidence 
and  hope.  0  Mozart,  immortal  Mozart  I  what 

1  From  Bauernfeld,  In  W.Z.K. 

I  Quoted  by  K.H.  103. 101  (i.  105. 103). 


SCHUBERT. 

countless  consolatory  images  of  a  bright  better 
world  hast  thou  stamped  on  our  souls.'     There 
is  no  doubt  to  which  of  these  two  great  masters 
he  was  most  attached  at  the  time  he  wrote  this. 
We  have  seen  what  a  scourge  the  conscription 
proved  in  the  case  of  Ries  (iii.  I3ia\  and  the 
uneasiness  of  Mendelssohn's  family  till  the  risk 
of  it  was  over  in  his  case  (ii.  2626).     To  avoid 
a  similar  danger3  Schubert  elected  to  enter  his 
father's  school,  and   after  the   necessary  study 
for  a  few  months  at  the  Normal  School  of  St. 
Anna,  did  so,  and  actually  remained  there  for 
three  years  as  teacher  of  the  lowest  class.    The 
duties    were   odious,   but   he    discharged  them 
with  strict  regularity,   and    not   with   greater 
severity   than   might    reasonably    be    expected 
from  the  irritable   temperament  of  a  musician 
condemned  to  such  drudgery.     The  picture  of 
Pegasus  thus  in  vile  harness,  and  the  absence 
of  any  remark  on  the  anomaly,  throws  a  curious 
light  on   the  beginnings  of  a  great  composer. 
Out  of  school  hours,  however,  he  had  his  re 
laxations.     There  was  a  family  in  the  Lichten- 
thal  named  Grob — a  mother,  son,  and  daughter 
— whose  relations  to  him  were  somewhat  like 
those  of  the  Breunings  to  Beethoven  (i.  164  a). 
The   house  was  higher  in   the   scale  than  his 
father's,    and  he   was    quite    at    home    there. 
Therese,  the  daughter,  had  a  fine  high  soprano 
voice,  and  Heinrich  Grob  played  both  PF.  and 
cello  ;  the  mother  was  a  woman  of  taste,  and  a 
great  deal  of  music   was  made.     It  is  not  im 
possible  that  Therese  inspired  him  with  a  softer 
feeling.4     The  choir  of  the  Ijichtenthal  church, 
where   his   old   friend   Holzer  was   still  choir 
master,   was    his    resort  on  Sundays  and  feast 
days,  and  for  it  he  wrote  his  first  mass,  in  F 
— begun   May  17,   finished  July  22,  1814  — a 
fitting  pendant  to  the  symphony  of  the  previous 
October.      He  was  not   yet  eighteen,  and  the 
mass  is  pronounced  by  a  trustworthy  critic 5  to 
be  the  most  remarkable  first  mass  ever  produced, 
excepting  Beethoven's  in  C,  and  as  striking  an 
instance  of  the  precocity  of  genius  as  Mendels 
sohn's    Overture    to    the    Midsummer   Night's 
Dream.     It  seems  to  have  been  first  performed 
on  Oct.  1 6,  the  first  Sunday  after  St.  Theresa's 
day,  1814 — May  seder,  then  25,  and  an  acknow 
ledged  virtuoso,  leading  the  first  violins;   and 
was  repeated  at  the  Augustine  Church  ten  days 
after.     This  second  performance  was  quite  an 
event.     Franz  conducted,  Holzer  led  the  choir, 
Ferdinand  took  the  organ,  Therese  Grob  sang, 
the  enthusiasm  of  the  family  and  friends  was 
great,  and  the  proud  father  presented  his  happy 
son  with  a  five-octave  piano.6     Salieri  was  pre 
sent  and  loud  in  his  praises,  and  claimed  Schu 
bert  as  his  pupil.     He  had  indeed  begun  to  take 
some  interest  in  the  lad  before 7  he  left  the  Con 
vict,  and  continued  it  by  daily  lessons  '  for  a  8loug 
time.'  That  interest  was  probably  much  the  same 


3  He  was  three  times  summoned  to  enlist.    See  Ferd.  p.  133. 

«  See  K.H.  141  (i.  144). 

s  Mr.  Prout.  in  •  Monthly  Musical  Record,1  Jan.  and  Feb.  1871. 

«  Ferd.  1336.  i  K.H.  i.  27n<X«. 

6  Bauernfeld,  in  W.Z.K.  June  9. 1829. 


SCHUBERT. 

that  be  had  shown  to  Beethoven  1 5  years  before, 
making  him  write  to  Metastasio's  words,  and  cor 
recting  the  prosody  of  his  music.  But  there 
must  have  been  some  curious  attraction  about 
the  old  man,  to  attach  two  such  original  geniuses 
as  Beethoven  and  Schubert  to  him,  and  make 
them  willing  to  style  themselves  'scholars  of 
Salieri.'1  His  permanent  influence  on  Schubert 
may  be  measured  by  the  fact  that  he  warned 
him  against  Goethe  and  Schiller,  a  warning  which 
Schubert  attended  to  so  far  as  to  compose  67 
songs  of  the  one  poet,  and  54  of  the  other ! 

Franz's  next  effort  was  an  opera — a  light  and 
absurd  supernatural  '  ope'ra  comique '  in  3  acts, 
'Des  Teufels  Lustschloss,'  words  by  Kotzebue. 
He  probably  began  it  while  at  the  Convict,  the 
first  act  having  been  completed  Jan.  n,  1814; 
the  second,  March  16;  and  the  third,  May  15. 
Two  days  afterwards  he  began  the  mass.     That 
over,  he  had  leisure  to  look  again  at  the  earlier 
work.      The  experience  gained  in  writing  the 
mass  probably  revealed  many  an  imperfection  in 
the  opera.     He  at  once  rewrote  it,  and  finished 
the  redaction  of  it  on  Oct.  22.     The  work  has 
never  been  performed,  nor  can  it  now  ever  be  so, 
since  the  second  act,  like  the  MS.  of  the  first 
volume  of  Carlyle's  French  Revolution,  was  used 
by  an  officious  maid-servant  for  lighting  the  fires 
as  late  as  1848.   With  all  these  and  other  labours 
he  found  time  to  visit  the2  Convict  in  the  evenings, 
take  part  in  the  practices,  and  try  over  his  new 
compositions.     Besides  the  pieces  already  men 
tioned,  the  productions  of  1814  embrace  a  Salve 
Regina  for  tenor  and  orchestra.     Also  2  string- 
quartets  in  D  and  C  minor,  still  in  MS.,  and  a 
third  in  Bb,  published  as  op.  168,  and  remarkable 
for  the  circumstances  of  its  composition.     It  was 
begun  as  a  string  trio,  and  ten  lines  were  written 
in  that  form.      It  was  then  begun  again  and 
finished  as  a  quartet.     The  movements  are  more 
full}'  dated  than  usual.3    Also  5  minuets  and  6 
Deutsche  (or  waltzes)  for  strings  and  horns  ;  and 
1 7  songs,  among  them  '  Gretchen  am  Spinnrade ' 
(Oct.  19),  and  Schiller's  'Der  Taucher,"  a  com 
position  of  enormous  length,  begun  Sept.  1813, 
and  finished  in  the  following  August.   On  Dec.  10 
he  began  his  second  symphony,  in  Bb.4    The 
autograph  shows  that  the  short  Introduction  and 
Allegro  vivace  were  finished  by  the  26th  of  the 
same  month,  but  its  completion  falls  in  1815. 
Before  the  year  closed  he  made  the  acquaint 
ance  of  Mayrhofer,  a  man  of  eccentric,  almost 
hypochondriac  character,  and  a  poet  of  grand 
and  gloomy  cast,  who  became  his  firm  friend, 
and  54  of  whose  5 poems  (besides  the  operas  of 
'Adrast'  and  'Die  beiden  Freunde  von  Sala- 

1  For  Beethoven  see  vol.  5.  p.  168  o.  Schubert  so  styles  himself  on 
the  title-pages  of  his '  Fernando'  and '  Claudine  von  Villabeila.' 

a  K.H.  18  U.  19). 

3  The  Allegro  has  at  beginning  '5  Sept.  1814,'  at  end  '  den6  Sept.  in 
4$  Stunden  angefertigt,'  apparently  implying  that  it  was  dashed  off 
before  and  after  12  o'clock  at  night.  Andante,  at  beginning  'den 
6  Sept.  1814, '  at  end  '  den  10  Sept.  1814.'  Minuet,  at  end  '  11  Sept.  1814.' 
Finale,  at  end  '  den  13  Sept.  1814.'  Autograph  with  Spina. 

«  At  beginning,  '10  Dec.  1814';  at  end  of  Allegro,  '  26  Dec.  1814 ';  at 
teginning  of  Finale,  '25  Feb.  1815,'  and  at  end,  '24  March  1815.'  The 
Movements  are  Largo  and  Allegro  vivace  (B  fc);  Andante  (Eh);  Minuet 
fcnd  Trio  (C  minor) ;  Finale,  Presto  vivace  (Bb).  Played  from  MS.  at 
the  Crystal  Palace,  Oct.  20, 1877.  Autograph  with  Heir  Dumba. 

'  48  published,  and  6  in  MS. 


SCHUBERT. 


323 


manca'),  fortunately  for  Mayrhofer 's  immortality, 
he  set  to  music — some  of  them  among  his  very 
finest  songs.  The  acquaintance  began  by  Schu 
bert's  setting  Mayrhofer' s  '  Am  See.'  He  com 
posed  it  on  the  /th  December,  and  a  few  days 
afterwards  visited  the  poet  at  his  lodgings  in  the 
Wipplinger  Strasse  420  (since  destroyed),  a  small 
dark  room  rendered  illustrious  by  being  the  resi 
dence  of  Theodore  Korner,  and  afterwards  of 
Schubert,  who  lived  there  in  1819  and  20.  The 
visit  was  the  beginning  of  a  friendship  which 
ended  only  with  Schubert's  death. 

1815  is  literally  crowded  with  compositions. 
Two  orchestral  symphonies  of  full  dimensions, 
Nos.  2  and  3  (that  in  Bb  ended  March  24,  that 
in  6D,  May  24-July  19);  a  string  quartet  in  G 
minor  (March  25-April  i) ;  PF.  sonatas  in  C,  F, 
E  (Feb.  u)  and  E  (Feb.  18)  ;  an  adagio  in  G 
(April  8),  12  Wiener  Deutsche,  8  Ecossaises 
(Oct.  3),  and  10  variations  for  PF.  solo;  2 
masses,  in  G7  (Mar.  2-7)  and  Bb  (Nov.  n-); 
a  new  '  Dona ' 8  for  the  mass  in  F ;  a  Stabat 
Mater  in  G  minor  (April  4)  ;  a  Salve  Regina 
(July  5)  ;  5  large  dramatic  pieces — '  Der  vier- 
jahrige  Posten,  i-act  operetta  (ended  May  16); 
'Fernando/  i -act  Sit>gspiel(  July  3-9);  'Claudine 
von  Villabeila,'  3-act  Singspiel  (Act  i,  July  26- 
Aug.  5),  originally  composed  complete,  but  Acts 
•2  and  3  perished  in  the  same  manner  as  the 
'Teufels  Lustschloss';  'Die  beiden  Freunde  von 
Salamanca,'  a  2-act  Singspiel  by  Mayrhofer 
(Nov.  i8-Dec.  31);  'Der  Spiegelritter,'  3-act 
opera,  of  which  8  numbers  are  with  the  Gesell- 
schaft  der  Musikfreunde  at  Vienna  ;  perhaps 
also  a  Singspiel  called  Die  *  Minnesanger,'  and 
'Adrast,'  an  opera  by  Mayrhofer,  of  which  but 
two  numbers  exist.9  In  addition  to  all  these  there 
are  no  less  than  137  songs — 67  printed,  and  70 
still  in  MS.  In  August  alone  there  are  29,  of 
which  8  are  dated  the  I5th,  and  7  the  I9th{ 
And  of  these  137  songs  some  are  of  such  enor 
mous  length  as  would  seem  to  have  prevented 
their  publication.  'Minona'  (MS.,  Feb.  8),  the 
first  one  of  the  year,  contains  1 6,  and  'A  del  wold 
and  Emma '  (MS.,  June  5)  no  less  than  ^5  closely 
written  sides.  Of  those  published,  *  Die  Biirg- 
schaft'  ('Aug.  1815')  fills  22  pages  of  Litolffs 
edition,  '  Elysium  *  1 3,  and  '  Loda's  Gespenst '  1 5 
of  the  same.  It  was  the  length  of  such  compo 
sitions  as  these — 'pas  une  histoire,  mais  des 
histoires' — that  caused  Beethoven's  exclamation 
on  his  deathbed :  '  Such  long  poems,  many  of 
them  containing  ten  others,'  by  which  he  meant 
as  long  as  ten.  [See  p.  346  6.]  And  this  mass  of 
music  was  produced  in  the  mere  intervals  of  his 

'  It  Is  in  the  usual  number  of  movements:  Adagio  maestoso  and 
Allegro  con  brio  (D) ;  Allegretto  (G);  Minuet  and  Trio(D);  Finale, 
Presto  vivace  (D).  Dates :— Allegro,  at  beginning,  '24  May  1815'; 
end,  '  July  12, 1815.'  Allegretto,  at  beginning, 'July  15, 1815.'  End  of 
Finale,  'July  19, 1815.'  Autograph  with  Uerr  Dumba. 

i  Published  by  M  Berra,  of  Prague,  in  1846,  as  the  composition  of 
B.  Fuhrer.  [See  vol.  i.  566 b.\  The  fraud  was  not  exposed  till  1847, 
when  it  was  announced  by  Ferd.  Schubert  in  the  Allg.  Wiener  Musik- 
zeituug  of  Dec.  14.  Ferdinand  mentions  this  mass  in  his  list  under 
1815.  A  copy,  evidently  copied  closely  from  the  autograph,  but  nvith 
the  addition  of  oboes  (or  clarinets)  and  bassoons  by  Kerd.  Schubert 
(July  23, 1847),  is  in  the  Library  of  the  Gesellschaft  der  Musiktreunde. 

8  Mentioned  by  Ferdinand.  139  a. 

s  Autographs  of  Fernando,  Teufels  Lustschloss,  and  Adrast,  are 
with  Berr  Dumba. 

Y2 


324 


SCHUBERT. 


school  drudgery!  Well  might  his  brother  say 
that  the  rapidity  of  his  writing  was  marvellous. 
Amidst  all  this  work  and,  one  might  be  tempt 
ed  to  believe,  all  this  hurry,  it  is  astonishing  to 
find  that  some  of  the  songs  of  these  boyish  years 
are  amongst  the  most  permanent  of  his  produc 
tions.  'Gretchen  am  Spinnrade,'  a  song  full  of 
the  passion  and  experience  of  a  lifetime,  was 
written  (as  we  have  said)  in  Oct.  1814,  when  he 
was  17.  The  'Erl  King'  itself  in  its  original 
form  (with  a  few  slight  l  differences)  belongs  to 
the  winter  of  1815,  and  the  immortal  songs  of 
the  'Heidenrbslein,'  'Rastlose  Liebe,'  'Schafers 
KIagelied,'the  grand  Ossian  songs,  and  others  of 
his  better-known  works,  fall  within  this  year. 
The  Mass  in  G,  too,  though  composed  for  a  very 
limited  orchestra,  and  not  without  tokens  of 
hurry,  is  a  masterpiece.  The  dramatic  works 
contain  many  beautiful  movements,  and  are  full 
of  striking  things,  but  the  librettos  are  so  bad, 
that  in  their  present  condition  they  can  never 
be  put  on  the  stage.  The  symphonies,  though 
not  original,  are  not  without  original  points; 
and  are  so  sustained  throughout,  so  full  of  fresh 
melody  and  interesting  harmony,  and  so  extra 
ordinarily  scored  considering  their  date,  that  in 
these  respects  a  man  of  double  Schubert's  age 
might  be  proud  to  claim  them. 

The  habit  of  writing  to  whatever  words  came 
in  his  way  was  one  of  Schubert's  characteristics, 
especially  in  the  earlier  part  of  his  career.  With 
his  incessant  desire  to  sing;  with  an  abundant 
fountain  of  melody  and  harmony  always  well 
ing  up  in  him  and  endeavouring  to  escape,  no 
wonder  that  he  grasped  at  any  words,  and  tried 
any  forms,  that  came  in  his  way,  and  seemed 
to  afford  a  channel  for  his  thoughts.  If  good, 
well;  if  bad,  well  too.  The  reason  why  he 
wrote  8  operas  in  one  year  was  no  doubt  in  great 
measure  because  he  happened  to  meet  with  8 
librettos ;  had  it  been  4  or  1 2  instead  of  8  the 
result  would  have  been  the  same.  The  variety 
in  the  productions  even  of  this  early  year  is  truly 
extraordinary.  A  glance  at  the  list  is  sufficient  to 
show  that  he  tried  nearly  every  form  of  composi 
tion,  while  the  songs  he  set  range  from  gems  like 
Goethe's  '  Meeresstille '  and  Schiller's  '  Freudvoll 
und  leidvoll,'  to  the  noisy  ballads  of  Bertrand  ; 
from  Mayrhofer's  stern  classicality  and  the  gloomy 
romance  of  Ossian,  to  the  mild  sentiment  of 
Klopstock.  No  doubt,  as  Schumann  says,  he  could 
have  set  a  2  placard  to  music.  The  spectacle  of 
so  insatiable  a  desire  to  produce  has  never  before 
been  seen ;  of  a  genius  thrown  naked  into  the 
world  and  compelled  to  explore  for  himself  all 
paths  and  channels  in  order  to  discover  by  ex 
haustion  which  was  the  best — and  then  to  die. 

During  this  year  he  taught  diligently  and 
punctually  in  his  father's  school,  and  attended 
Salieri's  lessons.  His  relations  to  the  Lichten- 
thai  remained  as  before.  The  Mass  in  G,  like 

1  The  Berlin  Library  possesses  an  autograph  of  the  earlier  form, 
and  Mad.  Schumann  one  of  the  later  (with  triplet  accompaniment). 
The  former  was  published  In  facsimile  by  Espagne  (Berlin,  Miiller). 

2  'Qu'on  me  donne  la  Gazette  de  Hollande,'  says  Eameau.    But 
Schubert  could  have  thrown  poetry  into  an  advertisement !  '  Give  me 
the  words,'  said  Mozart, '  aud  I'll  put  the  poetry  to  them.' 


SCHUBERT. 

that  in  F,  was  written  for  the  parish  church,  and 
according  to  the  testimony  of  one3  of  his  old 
friends  was  especially  intended  for  those  of  his 
companions  who  had  been  pupils  of  Holzer's  with 
him.     A  pleasant  relic  of  his  home  life  exists 
in  a  piece  of  music  written  for  his  father's  birth 
day,  Sept.  27, 1815,  for  4  voices  and  orchestra — 
'  Erhabner,  verehrter  Freund  der  Jugend.' 4    He 
kept  up  his  intercourse  also  with  the  Convict, 
and  when  he  had  written  anything  special  it  was 
one  of  the  first  places  to  which  he  would  take 
it.     There  possibly  his  Symphonies  were  tried, 
though  it  is  doubtful  if  a  juvenile  orchestra  would 
contain  clarinets,  bassoons,  trumpets,  and  horns, 
all  which  are  present  in  the  scores  of  the  first 
four  Symphonies.     There,  thanks  to  the  memo 
randum  of  another  old  '  Convicter,'  we  can  assist 
at  the  first  hearing  of  the  Erl  King.     Spaun 
happened  to  call   one   afternoon,  in  this  very 
winter,  at  the  elder  Schubert's  house  in  theHim- 
melpfortgrund,  and  found  Franz  in  his  room,  in 
a  state  of  inspiration  over  Goethe's  ballad,  which 
he  had  just  seen  for  the  first  time.     A  few  times 
reading  had  been  sufficient  to  evoke  the  music, 
which  in  the  rage  of  inspiration  he  was  whelming 
down5  on  to  the  paper  at  the  moment  of  Spaun's 
arrival;    indeed  it  was  already  perfect  except 
the  mere  filling  in  of  the  accompaniment.    This 
was  quickly  done ;  and  it  was  finished  in  the  form 
in  which   we  can  now  see  it  in  the  Berlin6 
Library.     In  the  evening  Schubert  brought  it 
to  the  Convict,  and  there  first  he  and  then  Holz- 
apfel  sang  it  through.    It  was  not  altogether  well 
received.     No  wonder ;    the  form  was  too  new, 
the  dramatic  spirit  too  strong,  even  for  that  cir 
cle  of  young  Schubert-admirers.     At  the  words 
'  Mein  Vater,  mein  Vater,  jetzt  fasst  er  mich  an ! ' 
where  Gb,  Ft]  and  Eb  all  come  together,  there 
was  some  dissent,  and  Ruzicka,  as  teacher  of 
harmony,  had  to  explain  to  his  pupils,  as  best  he 
might,  a  combination  which  now  seems  perfectly 
natural  and  appropriate. 

1816  was  passed  much  as  1815  had  been,  in 
a  marvellous  round  of  incessant  work.  The 
drudgery  of  the  school  however  had  become  so  in 
supportable  that  Schubert  seized  the  opportunity 
of  the  opening  of  a  government  school  of  music, 
at  Laibach,  near  Trieste,  to  apply  for  the  post  of 
director,  with  a  salary  of  500  Vienna  florins — £2! 
a  year.  The  testimonials  which  he  sent-in  in 
April  from  Salieri,  and  from  Joseph  Spendou, 
Chief  Superintendent  of  Schools,  were  so  cold 
in  tone  as  to  imply  that  however  much  they 
valued  Schubert,  they  believed  his  qualifica 
tions  not  to  be  those  of  the  head  of  a  large  esta 
blishment.7  At  any  rate  he  failed,  and  the  post 

3  Heir  Doppler.  I  cannot  refrain  from  mentioning:  this  gentle 
man,  who  in  1867  was  shopman  at  Spina's  (formerly  Diabelli's).  I 
shall  never  forget  the  droll  shock  I  received  when  on  asking  him  it 
he  knew  Schubert,  he  replied, '  Know  him  ?  I  was  at  his  christening . 
Kreissle's  Life  is  indebted  to  him  for  many  a  trait  which  would  other 
wise  have  been  lost. 

*  Now  in  the  Imperial  Library,  Berlin.    Ho  doubt  there  was  o 
every  year,  though  that  of  1814  has  been  lost. 

5  Hinzuwuhlend  is  Kreissle's  word,  doubtless  from  Spaun's  lips. 

6  If  indeed  this  be  the  actually  first  original.   The  omission  of  b 

!,  and  its  subsequent  insertion,  however,  as  well  as  the  clean  regular 
look  of  the  whole,  seem  to  point  to  its  being  a  transcript, 
rK.H.107(i.l<»). 


SCHUBEKT. 

was  given,  on  the  recommendation  of  Salieri,  to 
a  certain  Jacob  Schaufl.  Schubert  found  com 
pensation,  however,  in  the  friendship  of  Franz 
von  Schober,  a  young  man  of  good  birth  and 
some  small  means,  who  had  met  with  his  songs 
at  the  house  of  the  Spauns  at  Linz,  and  had 
ever  since  longed  to  make  his  personal  acquaint 
ance.  Coming  to  Vienna  to  enter  the  University, 
apparently  soon  after  the  Laibach  rebuff,  he 
called  on  Schubert,  found  him  in  his  father's 
house,  overwhelmed  with  his  school  duties,  and 
with  apparently  no  time  for  music.  There,  how 
ever,  were  the  piles  of  manuscript — operas,  masses, 
symphonies,  songs,  heaped  up  around  the  young 
schoolmaster  composer,  and  Schober  saw  at  once 
that  some  step  must  be  taken  to  put  an  end  to  this 
cruel  anomaly,  and  give  Schubert  time  to  devote 
himself  wholly  to  the  Art  of  which  he  was  so  full. 
Schober  proposed  that  his  new  friend  should  live 
with  him;  Franz's  father — possibly  not1  over- 
satisfied  with  his  son's  performances  as  a  teacher 
of  the  alphabet  to  infants — consented  to  the  plan, 
and  the  two  young  men  (Schober  was  some  four 
months  Franz's  junior)  went  off  to  keep  house 
together  at  Schober's  lodgings  in  the  Landkron- 
gasse.  A  trace  of  this  change  is  found  on  two 
MS.  songs  in  the  Musik  Verein  at  Vienna, '  Leiden 
der  Trennung '  and  '  Lebenslied,'  inscribed  '  In 
Herr  v.  Schober's  lodging,'  and  dated  Nov.  1816. 
Schubert  began  to  give  a  few  lessons,  but  soon 
threw  them  2  up,  and  the  household  must  have 
been  maintained  at  Schober's  expense,  since  there 
was  obviously  as  yet  no  sale  for  Schubert's  compo 
sitions.  He  had  good  friends,  as  Beethoven  had 
had  at  the  same  age,  though  not  so  high  in  rank 
— Hofrath  von  Kiesewetter,  Matthaus  von  Collin, 
Graf  Moritz  Dietrichstein,  Hofrath  Hammer  von 
Purgstall,Pyrker,  afterwards  Patriarch  of  Venice 
and  Archbishop  of  Erlau,  Frau  Caroline  Pichler 
— all  ready  and  anxious  to  help  him  had  they 
had  the  opportunity.  But  Schubert  never  gave 
them  the  opportunity.  He  was  a  true  Viennese, 
born  in  the  lowest  ranks,  without  either  the  art 
or  the  taste  for  '  imposing '  on  the  aristocracy 
(Beethoven's  3  favourite  phrase)  that  Beethoven 
had  ;  loving  the  society  of  his  own  class,  shrink 
ing  from  praise  or  notice  of  any  kind,  and  with 
an  absolute  detestation  of  teaching  or  any  other 
stated  duties. 

But  to  know  him  was  to  love  and  value  him. 
Three  little  events,  which  slightly  diversify  the 
course  of  this  year,  are  of  moment  as  showing 
the  position  which  Schubert  took  amongst  his  ac 
quaintances.  The  first  was  the  5Oth  anniversary 
of  Salieri's  arrival  in  Vienna,  which  he  had  en 
tered  as  a  boy  on  June  16,  1766.  [See  SALIERI, 
Hi.  2186.]  On  Sunday,  June  16,  1816,  the  old 
Italian  was  invested  with  the  Imperial  gold 
medal  and  chain  of  honour,  in  the  presence  of 
the  whole  body  of  Court-musicians ;  and  in  the 
evening  a  concert  took  place  at  his  own  house,  in 
which,  surrounded  by  his  pupils,  Weigl,  Assmayer, 
Anna  Frohlich,  Schubert,  and  many*  others,  both 

1  There  Is  ground  for  this  supposition. 

2  Bauernfeld,  W.Z.K.  3  imponiren.    Thayer,  ii.  318. 

*  There  was  a  Liszt   among  Salieri's   pupils  at  this  time,  but 
hardly  the  future  AbW,  who  was  then  but  five  years  old.   Franz  Liszt 


SCHUBERT. 


825 


male  and  female,  he  snuffed  up  the  incense  of  his 
worshippers,  and  listened  to  compositions  in  his 
honour  by  his  scholars  past  and  present.  Among 
these  were  pieces  sent  by  Hummel  and  Moscheles, 
and  a  short  cantata,  both  words  and  music  by 
Schubert.5 

Eight  days  afterwards,  on  July  24,  there  was 
another  festivity  in  honour  of  the  birthday  of  a 
certain  6  Herr  Heinrich  Watteroth,  a  distin 
guished  official  person,  for  which  Schubert  had 
been  employed  to  write  a  cantata  on  the  subject 
of  Prometheus,  words  by  Philipp  Draxler,  another 
official  person.  The  cantata  has  disappeared; 
but  from  a  description  of  it  by  Leopold  Sonn- 
leithner,  communicated  to  '  Zellner's  Blatter  fiir 
Theater,'  etc.  (no.  19),  and  reprinted7  separately, 
it  seems  to  have  been  written  for  two  solo  voices, 
soprano  (Gaa),  and  bass  (Prometheus),  chorus, 
and  orchestra,  and  to  have  contained  a  duet  in 
recitative,  two  choruses  for  mixed  and  one  for  male 
voices  (the  disciples  of  Prometheus).  This  last  is 
described  as  having  been  in  the  form  of  a  slow 
march,  with  original  and  interesting  treatment. 
The  performance  took  place  in  the  garden  of  Wat- 
teroth's  house  in  the  Erdberg  suburb  of  Vienna. 
As  all  the  persons  concerned  in  the  festivity  were 
people  of  some  consideration,  and  as  the  music  was 
very  well  received,  it  may  have  been  an  important 
introduction  for  the  young  composer.  A  con 
gratulatory  poem  by  von  Schlechta,  addressed  to 
Schubert,  appeared  a  day  or  two  later  in  the 
'  Theaterzeitung.'  Schubert  had  already,  in  the 
previous  year,  set  a  song  of  Schlechta's — 'Auf 
einem  Kirchhof '  (Lief.  49,  no.  2).  and  he  promptly 
acknowledged  the  compliment  by  adopting  one 
of  more  moment  from  Schlechta's  '  Diego  Manza- 
nares,''Wo  irrst  du  durch  einsame  Schatten?' 
(40  Lieder,  no.  25),  his  setting  of  which  is  dated 
July  30,  i8i6.8  Schubert  evidently  was  fond 
of  his  cantata.  It  was  performed  at  Innspruck 
by  Gansbacher,  and  at  Vienna  by  Sonnleithner 
in  1819.  Schubert  wished  to  give  it  at  -the 
Augarten  in  1820,  and  had  sent  it  somewhere 
for  performance  at  the  time  of  his  death.  He 
was  paid  100  florins,  Vienna  currency  (or  £4) 
for  it,  and  he  notes  in  his  journal  that  it  was 
the  first  time  he  had  composed  for  money. 

The  third  event  was  the  composition  of  a  cantata 
on  a  larger  scale  than  either  of  the  others.  It  was 
addressed  to  Dr.  Joseph  Spendou,  in  his  character 
of  Founder  and  Principal  of  the  Schoolmasters* 
Widows'  Fund,  and  contained  8  numbers,  with 
solos  for  two  sopranos  and  bass,  a  quartet  and 
choruses,  all  with  orchestral  accompaniment. 
Whether  it  was  performed  or  not  is  uncertain, 

and  Schubert  met  once— In  the  curious  collection  of  variations  on 
Diabelli's  waltz,  to  which  50  Austrian  composers  contributed,  Bee 
thoven's  contribution  being  the  S3  variations,  op.  120.  Liszt's  varia 
tion  is  No.  24,  and  Schubert's  No.  88.  Liszt  has  been  throughout  an 
indefatigable  champion  for  Schubert. 

5  The  autograph  of  this  little  curiosity  was  sold  In  Paris,  by  auction. 
May  14, 1881.    The  words  are  given  by  Kreissle,  p.  82  (i.  83),  but  are 
not  worth  quoting.  They  do  not  possess  the  individuality  of  thought 
which  makes  Schubert's  later  verses  so  interesting,  in  spite  of  the 
crudity  of  their  expression. 

6  His  birthday  was  July  12,  but  the  performance  was  put  off  on 
account  of  the  weather. 

i  I  am  indebted  for  this  reprint  to  my  ever-kind  friend  Mr.  0.  F. 
Pohl,  of  the  Gesellschaft  der  Musikfreunde,  Vienna. 
6  He  returned  to  this  poet  in  1820, 1825, 1826, 1828. 


326 


SCHUBERT. 


but  it  was  published  in  1830  in  PF.  score  by 
Diabelli,  as  op.  128.     The  other  compositions  of 
the  year  1816  are  as  numerous  as  usual.     A  fine 
trio    for    S.S.  A.    and    PF.    to    the    words    of 
Klopstock's  'grosses  Halleluja'  (Lf.  41,  no.  2); 
a  Salve  Regina  in  F,  to  German  words,  for  4 
voices  and  organ1  (Feb.  21,  1816)  ;  the  Angels' 
chorus  from  Faust,  'Christ  ist  erstanden,'  2  dated 
June  1816 — are  also  among  the  printed  works. 
A  Stabat  Mater  in  F  minor,  to  Klopstock's  Ger 
man  words,  dated  Feb.  28,  1816,  is  still  in  MS. 
It  is  written  for  soprano,  tenor,  and  bass  solo,  and 
chorus,  and  for  an  orchestra  of  the  usual  strings, 
2  flutes,  2  oboes,   2  bassoons,   i  contra-bassoon, 
2  horns,    3  trombones,    2  trumpets  and   drums. 
These  however  are  not  uniformly  employed  :  the 
trumpets  and  drums  only  appear  for  a  few  chords 
in  Nos.  9  and  12  ;    No.  5,  an  8-part  chorus,  is 
accompanied  by  the  wind  alone,   and  No.  6,  a 
tenor  air,  by  the  strings,  with  oboe  solo.     This 
interesting  looking  work  was  performed  in  1841 
by  the  Musik-Verein  of  Vienna,  and  in  1863  at 
the  Altlerchenfelder  church  there,  but  has  not 
yet  been  published.     Two  other  MS.  works  are  a 
Magnificat  in  C,  for  solos,  chorus,  and  orchestra, 
dated   Oct.   1816,  and  a  duet  for  soprano  and 
tenor  with  orchestra,  to  Latin  words,  'Auguste 
jam  Ccelestium,'  dated  Sept.  1816,  both  much 
tinctured  by  Mozart.     There  is  also  a  '  Tantum 
ergo'  in  C  for  4  voices  and  orchestra,  Aug.  I  Si  6, 
and  a  fragment  of  a  Requiem  in  Eb,  July  1816 ; 
the  first  pages  are  wanting,  and  it  ends  with  the 
2nd  bar  of  the  2nd  Kyrie.3 

Of  operas  we  find  only  one  in  1816,  probably 
because  only  one  libretto  came  in  his  way.  It 
is  called  '  Die  Biirgschaft,'  and  is  in  3  acts.  The 
author  of  the  words  is  not  known;  and  the  quota 
tions  in  Kreissle  show  that  they  are  in  great  part 
absolute  rubbish.  Schubert  continued  his  task  to 
the  3rd  act,  15  numbers,  and  there  stopped.  The 
autograph,  in  Herr  Dumba's  possession,  is  dated 
May  1816,  and  no  portion  of  it  is  printed. 

The  Symphonies  of  1816  are  two — the  4th,  in 
C  minor,  *  entitled  'Tragic  Symphony/  and  dated 
April  1816;  and  the  5th,  in  Bb,  for5  small  or 
chestra,  dated  Sept.  1816 — Oct.  3, 1816.  The  first 
of  ^  these — hardly  '  tragic '  so  much  as  '  pathetic ' 
— is  a  great  advance  on  its  predecessors;  the 
Andante  is  individual  and  very  beautiful,  and  the 
Finale  wonderfully  spirited.  The  other,  though 
full  of  Mozart,  is  as  gay  and  untrammelled  as  all 
Schubert's  orchestral  music  of  that  day.  It  is 
sometimes  entitled  'without  Trumpets  or  Drums,' 
and  is  said  to  have  been  composed  for  the  orchestra 
at  the  Gundelhof,  which  grew  out  of  the  Schubert 
Sunday  afternoon  quartets.6  Neither  work  has  yet 

1  Nottebohm's  Catalogue,  p.  226. 

2  First  printed  by  Schumann  as  Appendix  to  his  newspaper   the 
N.Z.M.,  for  June  18, 1839. 

3  In  Mr.  Brahnis's  possession.    The  date  is  quoted  from  the  Cata 
logue  of  the  accurate  Nbttebohm.    I  am  bound  to  say  that  I  saw  no 
date,  and  Mr.  Brahms  judged  it  to  be  later  than  1816. 

*  April  3816.— Adagio  molto  and  Allegretto  vivace  in  C  minor;  An 
dante  in  Ab ;  Menuet  and  Trio  in  Eb ;  Finale  in  C.— The  autograph 
has  vanished. 

5  Sept.  1816.— Fine  den  3  Oct.  1816.    Allegro  Bt> ;  Andante  con  moto 
Eb;    Menuet  and  Trio  G  minor  and  G  major;   Finale  Allegretto 
vivace  Bb.    Autograph  with  Peters  &  Co. 

6  Hanslick,  '  Concertwesen.'  142. 


SCHUBERT. 

been  published  in 7  score,  but  they  have  often  been 
played  at  the  Crystal  Palace,  under  Mr.  Manns  a 
direction,  and  are  among  the  favourite  works  in 
the  repertoire  of  that  establishment.     A  string 
quartet  in  F ;   a  string  trio  in  Bb,  apparently 
very  good  ;  a  rondo  in  A  for  violin  solo  and  quartet 
(June  1816)  ;  a  violin  concerto  in  C  ;  3  sonatinas 
for  PF.  and  violin  (op.  137);  a  PF.  sonata  in  F, 
two  movements  of  another  in  E  ;  various  marches 
for  PF. ;  i  T.  Deutsche  (waltzes) ;  6  Ecossaises,  with 
the  inscriptions  '  Composed  while  a  prisoner  in 
my  room  at  Erdberg '  and  'Thank  God'— pro 
bably  the  relic  of  some  practical  joke — are  still 
existing. 

Very  little  of  the  above,  however  interesting, 
can  be  said  to  be  of  real,  first-rate,  permanent 
value.      But  when  we   approach   the  songs  of 
i  Si  6  the  case  is  altered.     There  are  not  quite  so 
many  with  this  date  as  there  were  with  that  of 
1815,  but  there  are  99  in  all — 41  printed  and  58 
in  MS.    Of  Goethe  there  are  splendid  specimens, 
the  three  songs  of  the  Harper,  in  '  Wilhelm  Meis- 
ter'  (op.  12,  Sept.  6),  Mignon's  '  Sehnsucht'  song 
(op.  62,  no.  4) ;  Der  Fischer ;  Der  Ktinig  in  Thule 
(op.  5,  no.  5),  Jagers  Abendlied,  and  Schafers- 
klagelied  (op.  3),  Wanderer's  Nachtlied  (op.  4), 
Schwager  Kronos  (op.  19).     Of  Schiller  there  are 
the  beautiful  Kitter  Toggenburg,  Thekla's  song 
(op.  58),  etc.,  and  to  name  only  one  other,  the 
far-famed  '  Wanderer,'  by  Schmidt  of  Lubeck. 

These  magnificent  pieces  are  well  known  to 
every  lover  of  Schubert,  but  they  are  not  more 
valued  than  such  exquisitely  simple  and  touching 
little  effusions  as  '  An  eine  Quelle '  of  Claudius 
(op.  109,  no.  3),  'Der  Abend '  of  Kosegarten  (op. 
1 1 8,  no.  2),  or  'Der  Leidende1  of  Holty  (Lief.  50, 
no.  2),  all  equally  bearing  his  stamp. 

The  lists  of  the  songs  of  these  two  years  throw 
a  curious  light  on  Schubert's  musical  activity  and 
mode  of  proceeding.    Dr.  Johnson  was  said  when 
he  got  hold  of  a  book  to  '  tear  the  heart  out  of 
it,'  and  with  Schubert   it  was  very  much  the 
same.     To  read  a  poem,  and  at  once  to  fasten 
upon  it  and  transcribe  it  in  music,  seems  to  have 
been  his  natural  course  ;   and  having  done  one 
he  went   at   once   to   the  next.     A  volume  of 
Holty,  or  Claudius,  or  Kosegarten  came  into  his 
hands ;  he  tore  from  it  in  a  moment  what  struck 
him,  and  was  not  content  with  one  song,  but 
must  have  three,  four,  or  five.     Thus,  in  Oct. 
1815,    he    evidently   meets  with   Kosegarten's 
poems,   and   between   the   I5th   and   I9th  sets 
seven  of  them.     In  March  1816  he  sets  five 
songs  by  Salis ;  in  May,  six  by  Holty ;  in  No 
vember,  four  by  Claudius,  three  by  Mayrhofer, 
and  so  on.     To  read  these  lists  gives  one  a  kind 
of  visible  image  of  the  almost  fierce  eagerness 
with  which  he  attacked  his  poetry,  and  of  the 
inspiration  with  which  the  music  rushed  from 
his  heart  and  through  his  pen — '  everything  that 
he  touched,'  says  Schumann, '  turning  into  music.' 
Thus,  at  a  later  date,   calling  accidentally  on 
Randhartinger,  and  his  friend  being  summoned 
from  the  room,  Schubert,  to  amuse  himself  in  the 

7  Except  the  Andante  of  the  '  Tragic  '  which  is  published  in  score  bj 
Peters,  No.  1004. 


SCHUBERT. 

interval,  took  up  a  little  volume  which  lay  on  the 
table.     It  interested  him  ;  and  as  his  friend  did 
not  return  he  carried  it  off  with  him.     Anxious 
for  his  book,  Randhartinger  called  next  morning 
at  Schubert's  lodgings,  and  found  that  he  had 
already    set    several     pieces    in    it    to    music. 
The  volume  was  Wilhelm  M  tiller's  poems ;  the 
songs  were  part  of  the  '  Schone  Miillerin.'     A 
year  or  two  after  this,  in  July  1826 — it  is  his  old 
friend  Doppler  who  tells  the  story — returning  from 
a  Sunday  stroll  with  some  friends  through  the  vil 
lage  of  Warning^  he  saw  a  friend  sitting  at  a  table 
in  the  beer- garden  of  one  of  the  taverns.     The 
friend,  when  they  joined  him,  had  a  volume  of 
Shakespeare  on  the  table.     Schubert  seized  it, 
and  began  to  read;   but  before  he  had  turned 
over  many  pages  pointed  to  'Hark,  hark,  the 
lark,'  and  exclaimed,  '  Such  a  lovely  melody  has 
eome  into  my  head,  if  I  had  but  some  music 
paper.'     Some   one  drew  a  few  staves  on  the 
back  of  a  bill  of  fare,  and  there,  amid  the  hubbub 
of  the  beer-garden,  that  beautiful  song,  so  per 
fectly  fitting  the  words,  so  skilful  and  so  happy 
in  its  accompaniment,  came  into  perfect  existence. 
Two  others  from  the  same  poet  not  improbably 
followed  in  the  evening.1 

It  has  been  said  that  Schubert  never  heard 
his  Symphonies  played.  This  is  no  doubt  true 
of  the  beautiful  unfinished  one  in  B  minor,  of 
the  Gastein  Symphony,  and  of  the  great  one  in 
C,  no.  10 ;  but  of  the  first  six  it  is  not  so  correct. 
There  was  always  the  pupils'  band  at  the  Convict, 
where,  as  we  have  seen,  parts  in  his  handwriting 
are  said  to  have  lingered ;  and  there  was  also  a 
flourishing  amateur  society,  which,  though  their 
execution  may  not  have  had  the  precision  of  first- 
rate  artists,  yet  probably  played  well  enough  to 
enable  a  composer  to  judge  if  his  effects  were  what 
he  intended  them  to  be.  Vienna  amateurs  were 
by  no  means  contemptible.  A  society  who  met 
at  the  Mehlgrube  even  ventured  on  bringing  out 
Buch  works  as  Beethoven's  Overture  to  Coriolan 
for  the  first  time.  Another,  assembling  at 
the  Romische  Kaiser,  performed  the  Mount  of 
Olives,  Beethoven  himself  conducting. 

It  seems  that  the  Quartet  afternoons  at  the 
house  of  Schubert  the  elder  had  gradually  ex 
tended  themselves  into  performances  of  Haydn's 
Symphonies,  arranged  as  quartets  and  played 
with  doubled  parts,  players  of  ability  and 
name  joined,  and  a  few  hearers  were  admitted. 
After  a  time,  the  modest  room  became  incon 
veniently  crowded,  and  then  the  little  society 
migrated  to  the  house  of  a  tradesman  named 
Frischling  (Dorotheengasse  1105),  wind  instru 
ments  were  added,  and  the  smaller  works  of 
Pleyel,  Haydn,  and  Mozart  were  attacked. 
In  the  winter  of  1815  another  move  became 
necessary,  to  the  house  of  Otto  Hatwig,  one 
of  the  violins  of  the  Burgtheater,  at  the  Schot- 
tenthor,  and  in  the  spring  of  1818,  to  his  new 
residence  in  the  Gundelhof,  and  later  still  at 
Pettenkofer's  house  in  the  Bauernmarkt.  The 

I  The  drinking-song  from  Antony  and  Cleopatra  (marked  '  WShring, 
July  26'),  and  the  lovely  'Sylvia'  ('July  1826').  The  anecdote  Is  In 
Krelssle. 


SCHUBERT. 


327 


band  now  contained  some  good  professional 
players,  and  could  venture  even  on  Beethoven's 
two  first  symphonies,  and  the  overtures  of  Cheru- 
bini,  Spontini,  Boieldieu,  Weigl,  etc.  Schubert 
belonged  to  it  all  through,  playing  the  viola,  and 
it  was  probably  with  the  view  to  their  perform 
ance  by  the  society  that  he  wrote  the  two  sym 
phonies  of  1816  (nos.  4  and  5),  two  overtures  in 
the  winter  of  1817,  and  his  6th  symphony  in  the 
spring  of  1818. 

Schober  and  Mayrhofer  were  Schubert.' s  first 
friends  outside  the  immediate  circle  of  his  youth 
ful  associates.     He  was  now  to  acquire  a  third, 
destined  to  be  of  more  active  service  than  either 
of  the  others.    This  was  Vogl.    He  was  20  years 
Franz's  senior,  and  at  the  time  of  their  meeting 
was  a  famous  singer  at  the  Vienna  Opera,  ad 
mired  more  for  his  intellectual  gifts  than  for  the 
technical  perfection  of  his  singing,  and  really 
great  in  such  parts  as  Orestes  in  '  Iphigenie,' 
Almaviva  in  'Figaro,'  Creon  in  'Medea,'  and 
Telasko  in  the  '  Vestalin.'    About  the  year  1816 
— the   date   is   not  precisely  given — Vogl   was 
induced  by  Schober  to  come  to  their  lodgings, 
and  see  the  young  fellow  of  whom  Schober  was 
always  raving,  but  who  had  no  access  to  any  of 
the  circles  which  Vogl  adorned  and  beautified  by 
his  presence.  The  room  as  usual  was  strewed  with 
music.     Schubert  was  confused  and  awkward ; 
Vogl,   the  great  actor  and  man  of  the  world, 
gay,  and  at  his  ease.     The  first  song  he  took  up 
— probably  the  first  music  of  Schubert's  he  had 
ever  seen — was  Schubart's  '  Augenlied '  (Lf.  50, 
no.  3).     He   hummed  it   through,  and  thought 
it  melodious,  but  slight — which  it  is.     '  Gany- 
med '  and  the  '  Schaf  ersklage  '  made  a  deeper 
impression  ;  others  followed,  and  he  left  with  the 
somewhat  patronising  but  true  remark,  'There  is 
stuff  in  you  ;  but  you  squander  your  fine  thoughts 
instead  of  making  the  most  of  them.'     But  the 
impression  remained,  he  talked  of  Schubert  with 
astonishment,  soon  returned,  and  the  acquaintance 
grew  and  ripened  till  they  became  almost  insepar 
able,  and  until  in  their  performances  of  Schubert's 
songs,  'the  two  seemed,'  in  Schubert's  own  words, 
'  for  the  moment  to  be  one.'   In  those  days  songs 
were  rarely  if  ever  sung  in  concert -rooms  ;   but 
Vogl  had  the  entree   to  all  the  great  musical 
houses  of  Vienna,  and  before  long  his  perform 
ances  of  the  Erl  King,  the  Wanderer,  Ganymed, 
Der  Kampf,  etc.,  with  the  composer's  accompani 
ment,  were  well  known.  What  Vogl's  opinion  of 
him  ultimately  became,  may  be  learnt  from  a  pas 
sage  in  his  diary : — '  Nothing  shows  so  plainly  the 
want  of  a  good  school  of  singing  as  Schubert's 
songs.     Otherwise,  what  an  enormous  and  uni 
versal  effect  must  have  been  produced  throughout 
the   world,  wherever  the  German  language  is 
understood,  by  these  truly  divine  inspirations, 
these  utterances  of  a  musical  clairvoyance  \   How 
many  would  have  comprehended,  probably  for 
the  first  time,  the  meaning  of  such  expressions  as 
'speech  and  poetry  in  music,'  '  words  in  harmony/ 
'ideas  clothed  in  music/  etc.,  and  would  have 
learnt  that  the  finest  poems  of  our  greatest  poets 
may  be  enhanced  and  even   transcended  when 


328 


SCHUBERT. 


translated  into  musical  language?  Numberless 
examples  may  be  named,  but  I  will  only  mention 
The  Erl  King,  Gretchen,  Schwager  Kronos,  the 
Mignon  and  Harper's  songs,  Schiller's  Sehnsucht, 
Der  Pilgrim,  and  Die  Burgschaft/ 

This  extract  shows  how  justly  Vogl  estimated 
Schubert,  and  how,  at  that  early  date,  his  dis 
cernment  enabled  him  to  pass  a  judgment  which 
even  now  it  would  be  difficult  to  excel.  The 
word  clairvoyance,  too,  shows  that  he  thoroughly 
entered  into  Schubert's  great  characteristic.  In 
hearing  Schubert's  compositions  it  is  often  as  if 
one  \vere  brought  more  immediately  and  closely 
into  contact  with  music  itself  than  is  the  case 
in  the  works  of  others;  as  if  in  his  pieces 
the  stream  from  the  great  heavenly  reservoir 
were  dashing  over  us,  or  flowing  through  us, 
more  directly,  with  less  admixture  of  any  medium 
or  channel,  than  it  doe's  in  those  of  any  other 
writer — even  of  Beethoven  himself.  And  this 
immediate  communication  with  the  origin  of 
music  really  seems  to  have  happened  to  him. 
No  sketches,  no  delay,  no  anxious  period  of 
preparation,  no  revision,  appear  to  have  been 
necessary.  He  had  but  to  read  the  poem,  to  sur 
render  himself  to  the  torrent,  and  to  put  down 
what  was  given  him  to  say,  as  it  rushed  through 
his  mind.  This  was  the  true  '  inspiration  of  dic 
tation,'  as  much  so  as  in  the  utterance  of  any 
Hebrew  prophet  or  seer.  We  have  seen  one 
instance  in  the  case  of  the  Erl  King.  The  poem 
of  the  Wanderer  attracted  him  in  the  same  way, 
and  the  song  was  completed  in  one  evening.  In  a 
third  case,  that  of  Goethe's  '  Rastlose  Liebe,'  the 
paroxysm  of  inspiration  was  so  fierce  that  Schu 
bert  never  forgot  it,  but  reticent  as  he  often  was, 
talked  of  it  years  afterwards.1  It  would  seem  that 
the  results  did  not  always  fix  themselves  in  th  e  com 
poser's  memory  as  permanently  as  if  they  had  been 
the  effect  of  longer  and  more  painful  elaboration. 
Vogl2  tells  an  anecdote  about  this  which  is  very 
much  to  the  point.  On  one  occasion  he  received 
from  Schubert  some  new  songs,  but  being  other 
wise  occupied  could  not  try  them  over  at  the 
moment.  When  he  was  able  to  do  so  he  was 
particularly  pleased  with  one  of  them,  but  as  it 
was  too  high  for  his  voice,  he  had  it  copied  in  a 
lower  key.  About  a  fortnight  afterwards  they 
were  again  making  music  together,  and  Vogl 
placed  the  transposed  song  before  Schubert  on 
the  desk  of  the  piano.  Schubert  tried  it  through, 
liked  it,  and  said,  in  his  Vienna  dialect,  '  I  say ! 
the  song's  not  so  bad ;  whose  is  it  ?'  so  completely, 
in  a  fortnight,  had  it  vanished  from  his  mind  ! 
Sir  Walter  Scott  attributed  a  song  of  his  own  to 
Byron;  but  this  was  in  1828,  after  his  mind  had 
begun  to  fail.3 

1817  was  comparatively  an  idle  year.  Its 
great  musical  event  was  the  arrival  of  Rossini's 
music  in  Vienna.  'L'Inganno  felice'  was  pro 
duced  at  the  Hof  theatre,  Nov.  26,  1816,  and 
'Tancredi,'  Dec.  1 7 ;  'L'ltaliana  in  Algeri,'  Feb.  i, 
1817,  and  'Giro  in  Babilonia,'  June  18 ;  and  the  en 
thusiasm  of  the  Viennese — like  that  of  all  to  whom 

i  Bauernfeld,  W.Z.K.  2  In  Kreissle,  119  (i.  123). 

3  Lockhart's  Life  of  Scott,  vii.  129. 


SCHUBERT. 

these  fresh  and  animated  strains  were  brought — 
knew  no  bounds.  Schubert  admired  Rossini's 
melody  and  spirit,  but  rather  made  fun  of  his 
orchestral  music,  and  a  story  is  told — not  impossi 
bly  4  apocryphal — of  his  having  written  an  over 
ture  in  imitation  of  Rossini,  before  supper,  after 
returning  from  '  Tancredi.'  At  any  rate  he  has 
left  two  '  Overtures  in  the  Italian  style  '  in  D  and 
C,  dated  Sept.5  and  Nov.  1817  respectively,  which 
were  much  played  at  the  time.  Schubert  made 
4-hand  PF.  arrangements  of  both,  and  that  in  0 
has  been  since  published  in  score  and  parts  as 
op.  1 70,  and  has  been  played  at  the  Crystal  Palace 
(Dec.  i,  66,  etc.)  and  elsewhere.  Its  caricature 
of  Rossini's  salient  points,  including  of  course 
the  inevitable  crescendo,  is  obvious  enough ;  but 
nothing  could  transform  Schubert  into  an  Italian, 
and  the  overture  has  individual  and  character 
istic  beauties  which  are  immediately  recognisable. 
The  influence  of  Rossini  was  no  mere  passing 
fancy,  but  may  be  traced  in  the  6th  Symphony, 
mentioned  below,  and  in  music  of  his  later  life — 
in  the  two  Marches  (op.  121),  the  Finale  to  the 
Quartet  in  G  (op.  161),  and  elsewhere. 

A  third  Overture  in  D  belongs  to  1817,  and 
though  still  in  MS.,  has  also  been  played  at  the 
Crystal  Palace  (Feb.  6, 69,  etc.).  It  is  in  two  move 
ments,  Adagio,  and  Allo.  giusto,  and  the  former 
is  almost  a  draft  of  the  analogous  movement  in 
the  overture  known  as  '  Rosamunde '  (op.  26), 
though  really  the  '  Zauberharfe.'  There  the  re 
semblance  ceases. — What  led  Schubert  to  the 
pianoforte  this  year  in  so  marked  a  manner  is 
not  known,  but  his  devotion  to  it  is  obvious,  for 
no  fewer  than  6  sonatas  belong  to  this  period. 
Of  these,  3  are  published — op.  122,  in  Eb ;  op. 
I47,6  inB  (August) ;  op.  164,  in  A  minor.7  Those 
still  in  MS.  are  in  F,  Ab,  and  E  minor  (June). 

Schubert's  6th  Symphony,  in  C,8  completed  in 
February  1 818,  appears  to  have  been  begun  in  the 
preceding  October.  It  is  the  first  one  which  he  has 
marked  as  '  Grand ' — 'Grosse  Sinfonie ' — though 
hardly  with  reason,  as  both  in  form  and  orchestra 
it  is  the  same  as  the  early  ones.  It  is  an  advance 
on  the  others,  and  the  Scherzo  shows  the  first  de 
cided  signs  of  Beethoven's  influence.  Passages 
may  also  be  traced  to  Rossini  and  the  Italian  opera. 

The  catalogue  of  the  instrumental  compositions 
of  this  year  closes  with  2  sonatas  for  PF.  and 
violin,  op.  137,  nos.  I  (March)  and  2 ;  a  string  Trio9 
and  a  Polonaise  for  the  violin,  both  in  MS.  In  the 
number  of  the  vocal  compositions  of  1817  there  is 
an  equal  falling  off.  Rossini's  popularity  for  the 
time  shut  the  door  against  all  other  composers, 
and  even  Schubert's  appetite  for  bad  librettos  was 
compelled  to  wait.  Not  only,  however,  are  there 
no  operas  this  year,  there  is  no  church  music,  and 
but  47  songs  (32  printed,  and  15  in  MS.).  In 
quality,  however,  there  is  no  deterioration  in  the 

4  K.H.  129  (1. 133). 

e  Kreissle  says  May.  September  Is  Mr.  Nottebohm's  date:  but 
there  is  another  Overture  In  D,  and  it  seems  doubtful  which  of  the 
two  is  dated  May,  and  which  September. 

fl  Autograph  in  possession  of  31r.  Brahms. 

i  Published,  by  Spina,  as  '7th  Sonata.' 

8  Adagio  and  Allegro  in  0  j  Andante  in  F  ;  Scherzo  In  0,  and  Trio 
in  E  major ;  Finale  in  0. 

9  In  Bb.    Played  at  the  Monday  Popular  Concert  of  Feb.  IB.  1869. 


SCHUBEKT. 

songs.  The  astonishing  'Gruppe  aus  dem  Tar 
tarus,'  and  the  'Pilgrim'  of  Schiller;  the  '  Gany- 
med'  of  Goethe;  the  'Fahrtzum  Hades,'  'Mem- 
non,'  and  '  Erlafsee  '  of  Mayrhofer ;  and  '  an  die 
Musik '  of  Schober,  are  equal  to  any  that  come 
before  them.  Among  the  MS.  songs  is  one 
showing  the  straits  to  which  Schubert  was  some 
times  put,  either  by  the  want  of  materials  or  by 
the  sudden  call  of  his  inspiration.  It  is  the 
beginning  of  a  setting  of  Schiller's  '  Entziickung 
an  Laura,'  and  is  written  on  the  front  page  of 
the  2nd  violin  part  of  a  duet-fugue  by  Fux,  the 
words  *  Fuga.  Duetto.  Violino  Secundo.  Del : 
Sing  : l  Fux.'  appearing  in  the  copyist's  formal 
handwriting  through  Schubert's  hasty  notes.  It 
is  superscribed  '  Entztickung  an  Laura  Abschied 
August  1817.  Schubert  Mpia' — interesting  as 
showing  that  in  'Abschied,'  he  has  added  his 
own  comment  to  Schiller's  words  ;  that  he  dated 
his  pieces  at  the  moment  of  beginning  them; 
and  that  he  sometimes  signed  his  name  without 
the  '  Franz.' 

His  circle  of  intimate  friends  was  increased 
about  this  date  by  Anselm  and  Joseph  Hiitten- 
brenner  and  Joseph  Gahy.  Anselm,  four  years  his 
senior,  was  a  pupil  of  Salieri's,  and  there  they  had 
met  in  1815.  With  the  younger  brother,  Joseph, 
he  became  acquainted  in  the  summer  of  i8i7.2 
Both  were  men  of  independent  means,  and  An- 
selm  was  a  musician  by  profession.  Gahy  was 
in  the  government  employment,  an  excellent 
pianoforte  player,  of  whom  Schubert  was  for  long 
very  fond.  The  younger  Hiittenbrenner  was 
bewitched  by  Schubert,  much  as  Krumpholz  and 
Schindler  were  by  Beethoven ;  and  was  ever  ready 
to  fetch  and  carry  for  his  idol,  and  to  praise 
whatever  he  did,  till  the  idol  would  turn  on  his 
worshipper,  and  be  so  cruel  as  to  get  the  nick 
name  of  '  The  Tyrant '  from  the  rest  of  the  set. 

How  Schubert  existed  since  he  threw  up  his 
place  at  the  school  and  left  his  father's  house 
is  a  point  on  which  we  are  in  entire  ignorance. 
His  wants  were  few,  but  how  even  those  few 
were  supplied  is  a  mystery.  We  have  seen  that 
he  lived  rent-free  with  Schober  for  a  few  months 
in  1816,  but  the  return  of  Schober 's  brother  put 
an  end  to  the  3  arrangement,  and  from  that  date 
he  must  have  been  indebted  to  Spaun,  or  some 
friend  better  off  than  himself,  for  lodgings,  for 
existence,  and  for  his  visits  to  the  theatre,  for 
there  is  no  trace  of  his  earning  anything  by 
teaching  in  1817,  and  the  few  pounds  paid  him 
for  the  Watteroth  cantata  is  the  only  sum  which 
he  seems  to  have  earned  up  to  this  date. 

In  the  summer  of  1818,  however,  on  the  recom 
mendation  of  Unger,  the  father  of  Mad.  Unger- 
Sabatier,  the  great  singer,  Schubert  accepted  an 
engagement  as  teacher  of  music  in  the  family 
of  Count  Johann  Ester  hazy,  to  pass  the  summer 
at  his  country  seat  at  Zele"sz,  in  Hungary,  on -the 

1  For '  Sign.'    A  facsimile  is  given  by  Beissmann. 

*  So  Kreissle,  1. 128.   But  does  not  the  dedication  of  the  song, '  Die 
Erwartung,'  composed  Feb.  27,  1815,— 'to  his  friend'  J.  H.— show 
that  the  acquaintance  was  of  much  earlier  date  ?    True,  it  was  not 
published  till  the  April  after  Schubert's  death ;  and  the  song  may 
nave  been  prepared  by  him  for  publication  shortly  before,  and  the 
oedication  added  then. 

*  K.H.  109  (i.  112). 


SCHUBERT. 


329 


Waag,  some  distance  east  of  Vienna,  and  the 
winter  in  town.  He  was  to  be  a  member  of  the 
establishment  and  to  receive  two  gulden  for  every 
lesson.  The  family  consisted  of  the  Count  and 
Countess,  two  daughters,  Marie,  13,  and  Caro 
line,  u,  and  a  boy  of  5.  All  were  musical. 
The  Count  sang  bass,  the  Countess  and  Caro 
line  contralto,  Marie  had  a  fine  soprano,  and 
both  daughters  played  the  piano.  Baron  von 
Schonstein,  their  intimate  friend,  slightly  older 
than  Schubert,  a  singer  of  the  highest  qualities, 
with  a  noble  baritone  voice,  made  up  the  party, 
which  certainly  promised  all  the  elements  of 
enjoyment.  It  was  a  pang  to  Schubert  to  part 
from  the  circle  of  his  companions,  to  whom  he 
was  devoted,  but  it  is  not  difficult  to  imagine 
how  pleasant  he  must  have  found  the  comfort 
and  generous  living  of  the  Esterhazy  house, 
while  at  the  same  time  there  would  be  oppor 
tunities  of  retirement,  and  abundant  means  of 
diversion  in  a  beautiful  country,  a  new  people, 
and  the  Hungarian  and  gipsy  melodies. 

When  they  left  town  does  not  appear.4  Schu 
bert's  Mass  in  5C,  his  4th,  written  like  the 
others,  for  Holzer,  is  dated  'July,  1818';  but 
there  is  nothing  to  show  whether  it  was  finished 
in  Vienna  or  in  the  country.  A  set  of  MS.  Sol 
feggi  for  the  Countess  Marie,  also  dated  July, 
is  perhaps  evidence  that  by  that  time  they  were 
settled  at  Zele*sz.  Two  letters  to  Schober  are 
printed  by  6Bauernfeld,  and  are  dated  Aug.  3, 
and  Sept.  1 8,  1818.  The  first  is  addressed  to  his 
home  circle,  his  'dearest  fondest  friends . .  Spaun, 
Schober,  Mayrhofer,  and  Senn  .  .  .  you  who  are 
everything  to  me.'  There  are  messages  also  to 
Vogl,  and  to  Schober's  mother  and  sister,  and  to 
'  all  possible  acquaintances,'  and  an  urgent  en 
treaty  to  write  soon — '  every  syllable  of  yours  is 
dear  to  me.'  He  is  thoroughly  well  and  happy,  and 
'  composing  like  a  god.  .  .  Mayrhofer 's  Einsam- 
keit  is  ready,  and  I  believe  it  to  be  the  best  thing 
I  have  yet  done,  for  I  was  without  anxiety*  (ohne 
Sorge — the  italics  are  his  own).  'Einsamkeit' 
(Lf.  32)  is  a  long  ballad,  filling  19  close  pages  of 
print,  with  a  dozen  changes  of  tempo  and  as  many 
of  signature  ;  perhaps  not  quite  coming  up  to  his 
own  estimate  of  it,  though  both  words  and  music 
are  often  very  striking.  The  length  of  this  and 
other  ballads  will  probably  always  hinder  their 
wealth  of  melody,  dramatic  effects,  and  other 
striking  beauties,  from  being  known  by  the  world 
at  large. 

The  other  letter,  seven  weeks  later,  throws  more 
light  on  his  position  at  Zelesz,  'as  composer, 
manager,  audience,  everything,  in  one.'  '  No  one 
here  cares  for  true  Art,  unless  it  be  now  and  then 
the  Countess ;  so  I  am  left  alone  with  my  be 
loved,  and  have  to  hide  her  in  my  room,  or  my 

*  There  is  an  Interesting  autograph  copy  of  the  'Forelte'  song 
dated  at  A.  Huttenbrenner's  Lodgings  (in  Vienna)  midnight  Feb.  21. 
1818,  and  besprinkled  with  ink  Instead  of  sand.  It  has  been  published 
in  photography.  But  the  '  Forelle '  really  dates  from  1817.  (Notte- 
bohm,  in  the  Them.  Catalogue.) 

B  Published  in  1826  as  op.  48.  Schubert  wrote  a  new  and  most 
beautiful  Benedictus  to  it  in  1828,  only  a  few  months  before  his 
death. 

'  6  m  •  Die  Presse.'  Vienna,  Ap.  17. 1869.   Reprinted  in  the  '  gignale,' 
Nov.  16. 1869. 


330 


SCHUBERT. 


piano,  or  my  own  breast.  If  this  often  makes 
me  sad,  on  the  other  hand  it  often  elevates  me  all 
the  more.  Several  songs  have  lately  come  into 
existence,  and  I  hope  very  successful  ones.'  He 
is  evidently  more  at  home  in  the  servants'  hall 
than  the  drawing-room.  'The  cook  is  a  pleasant 
fellow ;  the  ladies'-maid  is  thirty ;  the  housemaid 
very  pretty,  and  often  pays  me  a  visit;  the 
nurse  is  somewhat  ancient ;  the  butler  is  my 
rival ;  the  two  grooms  get  on  better  with  the 
horses  than  with  us.  The  Count  is  a  little  rough ; 
the  Countess  proud,  but  not  without  heart ;  the 
young  ladies  good  children.  I  need  not  tell  you, 
who  know  me  so  well,  that  with  my  natural 
frankness  I  am  good  friends  with  everybody.' 
The  letter  ends  with  an  affectionate  message 
to  his  parents. 

The  only  songs  which  can  be  fixed  to  this 
autumn,  arid  which  are  therefore  doubtless  those 
just  referred  to,  besides  the  great  '  Einsamkeit,' 
are  the  'Blumenbrief '  (Lief.  21,  no.  i),  'Blon- 
del  und  Maria,'  'Das  Marienbild'  and  'Litaney,' 
'  Das  Abendroth ' — for  a  contralto,  evidently 
composed  for  the  Countess ;  '  Vom  Mitleiden 
Maria,'  and  three  Sonnets  from  Petrarch  (MS.). 
The  Hungarian  national  songs  left  their  mark 
in  the  '  36  original  dances/  or  '  First  Waltzes ' 
(op.  9),  some  of  which  were  written  down  in 
the  course  of  the  next  year.  The  '  Divertisse 
ment  a  la  hongroise,'  and  the  Quartet  in  A  minor 
(op.  29),  in  which  the  Hungarian  influence  is  so 
strong,  belong — the  first  apparently,  the  second 
certainly — to  a  much  later  period. 

A  third  letter  of  this  date,  hitherto  unprinted, 
with  which  the  writer  has  been  honoured  by  the 
granddaughter1  of  Ferdinand  Schubert,  to  whom 
it  was  addressed,  is  not  without  interest,  and  is 
here  printed  entire.  The  Requiem  referred  to 
'was  by  Ferdinand,  and  had  evidently  been  sent 
to  his  brother  for  revision.  The  letter  throws 
a  pleasant  light  on  the  strong  link  existing  be 
tween  Franz  and  his  old  home,  and  suggests  that 
assistance  more  solid  than  'linen'  may  often 
have  reached  him  from  his  fond  step-mother 
in  his  poverty  in  Vienna.  In  considering  the 
pecuniary  result  of  the  engagement,  it  must  be 
remembered  that  the  florin  was  at  that  time  only 
worth  a  franc,  instead  of  two  shillings.  The 
month's  pay  therefore,  instead  of  being  £20,  was 
really  only  about  £8.  Still,  for  Schubert  that 
was  a  fortune. 


DEAR  BROTHER  FERDINAND, 


24  Aug.  1818. 


It  is  half- past  11  at  night,  and  your  Kequiem  is 
ready.  It  has  made  me  sorrowiul-as  you  may  believe, 
for  I  sang  it  with  all  my  heart.  What  is  wanting  you 
can  fill  in,  and  put  the  words  under  the  music  and  the 
signs  above.  And  if  you  want  much  rehearsal  you  must 
do  it  yourself,  without  asking  me  in  Zetesz.  Things  are 
not  going  well  with  you ;  I  wish  you  could  change  with 
me,  so  that  for  once  you  might  be  happy.  You  should 
find  all  your  heavy  burdens  gone,  dear  brother ;  I  heartily 
wish  it  could  be  so. — My  foot  is  asleep,  and  I  am  mad  with 
it.  If  the  fool  could  only  write  it  wouldn't  go  to  sleep ! 

Good  morning,  my  boy,  I  have  been  asleep  with  my 
foot,  and  now  go  on  with  my  letter  at  8  o'clock  on  the  25th. 
I  have  one  request  to  make  in  answer  to  yours.  Give 

i  Frfiuleln  Caroline  Geisler,  daughter  of  Linus  Geisler  and  Fer 
dinand's  second  daughter,  Elise. 


SCHUBERT. 

my  love  to  my  dear  parents,  brothers,  sisters,  friends,  and 
acquaintances,  especially  not  forgetting  Carl.  Didn't 
he  mention  me  in  his  letter  ?  As  for  my  friends  in  the 
town,  bully  them,  or  get  some  one  to  bully  them -well,  till 
they  write  to  me.  Tell  my  mother  that  my  linen  is 
•well  looked  after,  and  that  I  am  well  off,  thanks  to 
her  motherly  care.  If  I  could  have  some  more  linen 
I  should  very  much  like  her  to  send  me  a  second 
batch  of  pocket-handkerchiefs,  cravats,  and  stockings. 
Also  I  am  much  in  want  of  two  pair  of  kerseymere 
trowsers.  Hart  can  get  the  measure  wherever  he  likes. 
I  would  send  the  money  very  soon.  For  July,  with  the 
journey-money,  I  got  200  florins. 

It  is  beginning  already  to  be  cold,  and  yet  we  shall 
not  start  for  Vienna  before  the  middle  of  October.  Next 
month  I  hope  to  have  a  few  weeks  at  Freystadt,  which 
belongs  to  Count  Erdody,  the  uncle  of  my  count.  The 
country  there  is  said  to  be  extraordinarily  beautiful. 
Also  I  hope  to  get  to  Pesth  while  we  are  at  the  vintage 
at  Bpsczniedj,  which  is  not  far  off.  It  would  be  delight 
ful  if  I  should  happen  to  meet  Herr  Administrator 
Taigele  there.  I  am  delighted  at  the  thought  of  the 
vintage,  for  I  have  heard  so  much  that  is  pleasant  about 
it.  The  harvest  also  is  beautiful  here.  They  don't  stow 
the  corn  into  barns  as  they  do  in  Austria,  but  make 
immense  heaps  out  in  the  fields,  which  they  call  Tristen. 
They  are  often  80  to  100  yards  long,  and  30  to  40  high 
and  are  laid  together  so  cleverly  that  the  rain  all  runs  on 
without  doing  any  harm.  Oats  and  so  on  they  bury  in  the 
ground. 

Though  I  am  so  well  and  happy,  and  every  one  so  good 
to  me,  yet  I  shall  he  immensely  glad  when  the  moment 
arrives  for  going  to  Vienna.  Beloved  Vienna,  all  that  is 
dear  and  valuable  to  me  is  there,  and  nothing  but  the 
actual  sight  of  it  will  stop  my  longingl  Again  entreating 
you  to  attend  to  all  my  requests,  I  remain,  with  much  love 
to  all,  your  true  and  sincere, 

FRANZ  Mpia. 

A  thousand  greetings  to  your  good  wife  and  dear  Eesi, 
and  a  very  hearty  one  to  aunt  Schubert  and  her  daughter. 

The  inscription  'Zele'sz,  Nov.  1818'  on  the 
song  '  Das  Abendroth'  shows  that  the  return  to 
Vienna  was  not  till  nearly  the  end  of  the  year. 
He  found  the  theatre  more  than  ever  in  posses 
sion  of  Rossini.  To  the  former  operas,  'Elisabetta' 
was  added  in  the  autumn,  and  '  Otello '  early  in 
Jan.  1819.     But  one  of  the  good  traits  in  Schu 
bert's  character  was  his  freedom  from  jealousy, 
and  his  determination  to  enjoy  what  was  good, 
from  whatever  quarter  it  came,  or  however  much 
it  was  against  his  own  interest.  A  letter  of  his  to 
Hiittenbrenner,  written  just  after  the  production 
of  '  Otello,'  puts  this  in  very  good  light.    'Otello 
is  far  better  and  more  characteristic  than  Tan- 
credi.     Extraordinary  genius  it  is  impossible  to 
deny  him.     His  orchestration  is  often  most  origi 
nal,  and  so  is  his  melody  ;  and  except  the  usual 
Italian  gallopades,   and  a  few  reminiscences  of 
Tancredi,  there  is  nothing  to  object  to.'    But  he 
was  not  content  to  be  excluded  from  the  theatre 
by  every  one,  and  the  letter  goes  on  to  abuse  the 
'  canaille  of  Weigls  and  Treitschkes,'  and  '  other 
rubbish,  enough  to  make  your  hair  stand  on  end, 
all  which   were   keeping  his  operettas  off  the 
boards.    Still,  it  is  very  good-natured  abuse,  and 
so  little  is  he  really  disheartened,  that  he  ends 
by  begging  Hiittenbrenner  for  a  libretto;  nay, 
he   had  actually  just   completed  a  little  piece 
called    'Die    Zwillingsbriider '    ('the   Twins'), 
translated    by  Hofmann    from  the   French— a 
Singspiel   in   one    act,   containing    an   overture 
and  10  numbers.    He  finished  it  on  Jan.  19, 1819, 
and  it  came  to  performance  before  many  months 
were  over. 

Of  his  daily  life  at  this  time  we  know  nothing. 
We  must  suppose  that  he  had  regular  duties 
with  ius  pupils  at  the  Esterhazys'  town  house. 


SCHUBERT. 

but  there  is  nothing  to  say  so.  We  gather1 
that  he  joined  Mayrhofer  in  his  lodgings,  420 
in  the  Wipplingerstrasse,  early  in  the  year. 
It  was  not  a  prepossessing  apartment.  '  The 
lane  was  gloomy ;  both  room  and  furniture  were 
the  worse  for  wear ;  the  ceiling  drooped ;  the 
light  was  shut  out  by  a  big  building  opposite — 
a  worn-out  piano,  and  a  shabby  bookcase.'  The 
only  relief  is  the  name  of  the  landlady — Sans- 
souci,  a  Frenchwoman.  No  wonder  that  Mayr- 
hofer's  poems  —  he  was  ten  years  Schubert's 
senior — were  of  a  gloomy  cast. 

The  two  friends  were  on  the  most  intimate 
terms,  and  addressed  each  other  by  nicknames. 
What  Mayrhofer's  appellation  may  have  been 
we  do  not  know,  but  Schubert,  now  and  later, 
was  called  'the  Tyrant,'  for  his  treatment  of 
Hiittenbrenner  ;  also  'Bertl,'  'Schwammerl,'  and, 
best  of  all,  '  Kanevas ' — because  when  a  stranger 
came  into  their  circle  his  first  question  always 
was,  '  Rann  er  was  ? '  '  Can  he  do  anything  ? ' 
Their  humour  took  all  sorts  of  shapes,  and  odd 
stories  are  told  of  their  sham  fights,  their  howls, 
their  rough  jokes  and  repartees.2  Mayrhofer  was 
a  Government  employe",  and  went  to  his  office 
early,  leaving  his  fellow-lodger  behind.  Schubert 
began  work  directly  he  awoke,  and  even  slept  in 
his  spectacles  to  save  trouble  ;  he  got  at  once  to 
his  writing,  sometimes  in  bed,  but  usually  at  his 
desk.  It  was  so  still,  when  Hiiler3  called  on 
him  eight  years  later.  '  Do  you  write  much  ? ' 
said  the  boy,  looking  at  the  manuscript  on  the 
standing  desk — they  evidently  knew  little  in 
North  Germany  of  Schubert's  fertility.  '  I  com 
pose  every  morning,  was  the  reply;  and  when 
one  piece  is  done,  I  begin  another.'  And  yet  this 
was  the  musicien  le  plus  poete  que  jamais — it 
might  have  been  the  answer  of  a  mere  Czerny ! 
Add  to  this  a  trait,  communicated  to  the  writer 
by  Schubert's  friend,  Franz  Lachner,  of  Munich, 
that  when  he  had  completed  a  piece,  and  heard 
it  sung  or  played,  he  locked  it  up  in  a  drawer, 
and  often  never  thought  about  it  again. 

This  close  work  went  on  till  dinner-time — two 
o'clock — after  which,  as  a  rule,  lie  was  free  for  the 
day,  and  spent  the  remainder  either  in  a  country 
walk  with  friends,  or  in  visits — as  to  Sofie  Miiller, 
and  Mad.  Lacsny  Buchwieser,  whom  we  shall  en 
counter  further  on ;  or  at  Schober's  rooms,  or 
some  coffee-house — in  his  later  days  it  was  Bog- 
ner's  Caft;  in  the  Singerstrasse,  where  the  droll 
cry  of  a  waiter  was  a  never-ending  pleasure  to 
him.  But  no  hour  or  place  was  proof  against  the 
sudden  attack  of  inspiration  when  anything  hap 
pened  to  excite  it.  An  instance  occurs  at  this  very 
time,  Nov.  1819,  in  an  overture  for  4  hands  in  F 
(°P-  34).  which  he  has  inscribed  as  *  written  in 
Joseph  Hiittenbrenner's  room  at  the  City  Hos 
pital  in  the  inside  of  three  hours ;  and  dinner 
missed  in  consequence.'  *  If  the  weather  was  fine 
he  would  stay  in  the  country  till  late,  regardless 


'  In  a  letter  to  Mayrhofer  from  Linz,  dated  Aug.  19,  1819,  he  says, 
'  Let  the  bearer  have  my  bed  while  he  stays  with  you.'  K.H.  159 
(i.  IfiO).  The  bed  must  have  been  his  before  he  left  town. 

2  K.H.  61  (i.  51).  3  in  Hiller's  '  Kiinstlerleben/  p.  49. 

<  K.H.  160  (i.  162). 


SCHUBERT. 


331 


of  any  engagement  that  he  might  have  made  in 
town. 

The  only  compositions  that  can  be  fixed  to 
the  spring  of  1819  are  5  songs  dated  February, 
and  one  dated  March ;  a  very  fine  quintet  for 
equal  voices,  to  the  'Sehnsucht'  song  in  '  Wilhelm 
Meister' — a  song  which  he  had  already  set  for  a 
single  voice  in  1816,  and  was  to  set  twice  more 
in  the  course  of  his  life  (thus  rivalling  Beethoven, 
who  also  set  the  same  words  four  times) ;  an 
equally  fine  quartet  for  men's  voices,  '  Ruhe, 
schonstes  Gliick  der  Erde,'  dated  April ;  and  four 
sacred  songs  by  Novalis,  dated  May. 

The  earnings  of  the  previous  summer  allowed 
him  to  make  an  expedition  this  year  on  his  own 
account.  Mayrhofer  remained  in  Vienna,  and 
Vogl  and  Schubert  appear  to  have  gone  together 
to  Upper  Austria.  Steyr  was  the  first  point  in 
the  journey,  a  town  beautifully  situated  on  the 
Enns,  not  far  south  of  Linz.  They  reached  it 
early  in  July ;  it  was  Yogi's  native  place,  and 
he  had  the  pleasure  of  introducing  his  friend 
to  the  chief  amateurs  of  the  town,  Paumgartner, 
Roller,  Dornfeld,  Schellmann — substantial  citi 
zens  of  the  town,  with  wives  and  daughters, 
'  Pepi  Roller,' 4  Frizi  Dornfeld,'  '  the  eight  Schell 
mann  girls,'  etc.,  who  all  welcomed  the  musician 
with  real  Austrian  hospitality,  heard  his  songs 
with  enthusiasm,  and  themselves  helped  to  make 
music  with  him.  His  friend  Albert  Stadler  was 
there  also  with  his  sister  Kathi.  How  thoroughly 
Schubert  enjoyed  himself  in  this  congenial  bour 
geois  society,  and  in  such  lovely  country — he 
mentions  its  beauties  each  time  he  writes — we 
have  ample  proof  in  two  letters.5  Among  other 
drolleries  the  Erl  King  was  sung  with  the  parts 
distributed  amongst  Vogl,  Schubert,  and  Pepi 
Roller.  Perhaps  too  Schubert  gave  them  his 
favourite  version  of  it  on  a  comb.  Vogl's  birth 
day  (Aug.  10)  was  celebrated  by  a  cantata  in  C, 
containing  a  terzet,  2  soprano  and  2  tenor  solos, 
and  a  finale  in  canon,  pointed  by  allusions  to  his 
various  operatic  triumphs,  words  by  Stadler,  and 
music  by  Schubert.6  After  this  the  two  friends 
strolled  on  to  Linz,  the  home  of  the  Spauns,  and 
of  Renner  and  Ottenwald,  whose  verses  Franz 
had  set  in  his  earlier  days ;  and  thence  perhaps 
to  Salzburg,  returning  to  Steyr  about  the  end  of 
the  month.  Nor  did  the  joviality  of  these  good 
Austrians  interfere  with  composition.  Besides 
the  impromptu  cantata  just  mentioned,  the  well- 
known  PF.  quintet  (op.  114),  in  which  the  air 
of  '  Die  Forelle '  is  used  as  the  theme  of  the 
Andantino,  was  written  at  Steyr,  possibly  as  a 
commission  from  the  good  Paumgartner,  and  was 
performed  by  the  Paumgartner  party.  Schubert 
achieved  in  it  the  same  feat  which  is  somewhere 
ascribed  to  Mozart,  of  writing  out  the  separate 
parts  without  first  making  a  score,  and  no  doubt 
played  the  pianoforte  part  by  heart.  The  date  of 
their  departure,  Sept.  14,  is  marked  by  an  entry 
in  the  album  of  Miss  Stadler,  when  Schubert  de 
livered  himself  of  the  following  highly  correct 
sentiment: — 'Enjoy  the  present  so  wisely,  that 

5  K.H.  158-159  (i.  159, 160). 

6  Published  to  other  words, '  Herrlich  prang*,'  as  op.  158. 


332 


SCHUBERT. 


the  past  may  be  pleasant  to  recollect,  and  the 
future  not  alarming  to  contemplate.'  This  may 
pair  off  with  a  sentence  written  by  Mozart,  in 
English,  in  the  Album  of  an  English  Freemason, 
which  has  not  yet  been  printed  : — '  Patience  and 
tranquility  of  mind  contribute  more  to  cure  our 
distempers  as  the  whole  art  of  medicine.  Wien, 
den  3Ote  Marz  I787.'1 

A  few  days  more  saw  them  again  settled  in 
Vienna.  Each  of  the  two  letters  preserved  from 
the  journey  contains  an  obvious  allusion  to  some 
love  affair ;  but  nothing  is  known  of  it.  He  could 
hardly  have  adopted  a  more  effectual  diversion 
from  such  sorrows  than  the  composition  of  a 
mass,  on  an  extended  scale ;  that  namely  in  Ab 
— his  5th — which  he  began  this  month  under 
the  serious  title  of '  Missa  Solemnis ' ;  but  he  seems 
to  have  dawdled  over  it  more  than  over  any  other 
of  his  works ;  as  it  was  not  finished  till  Sept. 
1822,  and  contains  many  marks  of  indecision. 

The  most  pregnant  musical  event  of  this  year 
is  the  fact  that  on  Feb.  28,  1819,  a  song  of 
Schubert's  was  sung  in  public — the  'Schafers 
Klagelied,'  sung  by  Jager  at  Jail's  concert,  at 
5  p.m.  at  the  '  Romische  Kaiser,'  Vienna.  It  was 
Schubert's  first  appearance  before  the  public  in 
any  capacity,  and  is  noticed  by  the  Leipzig  A.  M.  Z. 
in  these  terms  : — '  Goethe's  Schafers  Klagelied  set 
to  music  by  Herr  Franz  Schubert — the  touching 
and  feeling  composition  of  this  talented  young 
man  was  sung  by  Herr  Jager  in  a  similar  spirit.' 
Such  is  the  first  utterance  of  the  press  on  one 
who  has  since  evoked  so  much  enthusiasm  !  In 
the  course  of  this  year  Schubert  appears  to  have 
forwarded  the  three  songs,  'Sch  wager  Kronos,' 
'  Ueber  Thai '  (Mignon),  and  '  Ganymed,' — after 
wards  published  as  op.  19, — to  Goethe;  but  no 
notice  was  taken  by  the  poet  of  one  who  was  to 
give  some  of  his  songs  a  wider  popularity  than 
they  could  otherwise  have  enjoyed,  a  popularity 
independent  of  country  or  language;  nor  does 
Schubert's  name  once  occur  in  all  the  6  vols.  of 
Goethe's  correspondence  with  Zelter.2 

1820  was  again  a  year  of  great  activity. 
Owing  to  Vogl's  influence,  Schubert  was  gra 
dually  attracting  the  attention  of  the  managers. 
The  '  Zwillingsbriider '  had  been  written  for  the 
Karnthnerthor  theatre  (see  p.  330  5),  and  it  was 
not  long  before  the  regisseur  of  the  rival  opera- 
house,  the  Theatre  an-der-Wien,  suggested  to  him 
a  libretto  called  the  'Zauberharfe,'  or  'Magic 
harp,'  a  melodrama  in  3  acts,  by  the  same 
Hofmann  who  had  translated  the  former  piece. 
To  receive  such  a  proposal  and  to  act  upon  it 
was  a  matter  of  course  with  Schubert,  and  the 
'Zauberharfe'  is  said  to  have  been  completed 
in  a  fortnight.3  But  before  this,  early  in  the 
year,  he  had  met  with  the  works  of  A.  H. 
Niemeyer,  Professor  of  Theology  at  Halle,  and 
had  adopted  the  poem  of  '  Lazarus,  or  the  Feast 
of  the  Resurrection '  for  an  Easter  Cantata. 
Easter  fell  that  year  on  April  2,  and  his  work  is 
dated  '  February,'  so  that  he  was  in  ample  time. 

1  I  owe  this  to  my  good  friend  Mr.  Pohl,  of  Vienna. 

2  Search  should  be  made  in  the  Goethe  Archiv  at  Weimar  for  the 
autograph  of  these  songs,  and  the  letter  which  doubtless  accompanied 
them.  3  Autograph  in  Herr  Dumba's  collection. 


SCHUBERT. 

The  poem— or  drama,  for  there  are  seven  distinct 
characters — is  in  three  parts.   I.  The  sickness  and 
death.     2.  The  burial  and  elegy.     3.  The  resur 
rection.     Of  these  the  ist  and  a  large  portion  of 
the  2nd  were  completed  by  Schubert,  apparently 
without   the  knowledge  of  any  of  his  friends. 
Ferdinand  mentions  the  first  part  in  his  list,* 
but  the  existence  of  the  second  was  unknown, 
till,  through  the  instrumentality  of  Mr.  Thayer, 
it  was  unearthed  in  1861.      These  have  been 
5  published,  but  no  trace  of  the  3rd  act  has  yet 
been  found,  and  the  work  was  not  performed  till 
long  after  the  composer's  death — viz.  in  1863. 

On  June  14  the  'Zwillingsb  ruder'  or  'Zwil- 
linge '  was  produced  at  the  Karnthnerthor  theatre. 
It  is  a  comic  operetta  ('Posse'),  with  spoken 
dialogue,  in  one  act,  containing  an  overture  and 
10  numbers,  and  turns  on  the  same  plot  that  has 
done  duty  in  '  Box  and  Cox '  and  a  dozen  other 
farces,  the  confusion  between  two  twin-brothers, 
who  were  both  acted  by  Vogl.     The  overture 
was  encored  on  the  first  night,  and  Vogl's  two 
songs  were  much  applauded,  but  the  piece  was 
virtually  a  fiasco,    and   was    withdrawn   after 
six    representations.      Schubert    took    so   little 
interest  in  its  production  that,  like  Mendelssohn 
at  the  '  Wedding  of  Camacho,'  he  did  not  even 
stay   in   the  house,    and  Vogl  had   to   appear 
instead  of  him  in  front   of  the  curtain.     The 
libretto,  though  overburdened  with  characters, 
is  sadly  deficient  in  proportion,  and  contains  very 
little   action.     Schubert's  music,  on   the  other 
hand,  is   light,  fresh,  and   melodious,  pointed, 
unusually  compact,  and  interesting  throughout. 
In  the  concerted  numbers  there  is  evidence  of 
great  dramatic  power.     To  condemn  it,  as  the 
critics  of  the  day  do,  as  wanting  in  melody,  and 
constantly  striving  after   originality,  is  to  con 
tradict  Schubert's  most  marked  characteristics, 
and  is  contrary  to  the  facts.     There  is  possibly 
more  justice  in  the  complaint  that  the  accom 
paniments   were   too  loud,  though  that  is  cer 
tainly  not  the  fault  in  his  masses,  his  only  other 
published  works  with  orchestral  accompaniments 
anterior  to  this  date.     The  work  has  been  pub 
lished  in  vocal  score  by  Peters  (1872). 

On  August  19  the  Zauberharfe  was  produced 
at  the  Theatre  an-der-Wien.  It  is  said  to  con 
sist  chiefly  of  chorus  and  melodrama,  with  only 
a  few  solos,  among  them  a  romance  for  tenor 
which  was  highly  praised.  There  is  a  fine  over 
ture  (in  0),  original,  characteristic,  and  full  of 
beauty,  which  was  published  before  1828  as  pp. 
26,  under  the  name  of  'Rosamunde,'  to  which 
it  seems  to  have  no  6 claim.  The  piece  was  occa 
sionally  brought  forward  till  the  winter,  and  was 
then  dropped.  These  three  vocal  works^  appear 
so  far  to  have  whetted  Schubert's  appetite  that 
in  the  autumn  he  attacked  the  more  important 
libretto  of  '  Sakontala,'  a  regular  opera  in  3  acts, 
by  P.  H.  Neumann,  founded  on  the  Indian  drama 
of  that  name.  He  sketched  2  acts,  and  there  it 
remains ;  the  MS.  is  in  Herr  Dumba's  possession. 

<  N.Z.M.  139  a.  «  In  1866,  by  Spina. 

e  The  overture  played  to  the  Kosamunde  music  is  in  D  minor,  an 
•was  afterwards  published  as  '  Alfonso  &  Estrella.'  There  is  perna 
another  in  existence.  See  the  letter  to  von  Mosel  quoted  further  on. 


SCHUBERT. 

Another  important  and  very  beautiful  piece  is 
the  23rd  l  Psalm,  set  for  2  sopranos  and  2  altos 
with  PF.  accompaniment,  at  the  instigation  of 
the  sisters  Frohlich,  and  dated  at  the  beginning 
'23  Dec.  1820' — perhaps  with  a  view  to  some 
private  concerts  given,  now  or  later,  at  the  old 
hall  of  the  Musikverein.  Another  is  the  '  Gesang 
der  Geister  uber  denWassern'  of  Goethe  (op.  167). 
This  fine  and  mystical  poem  had  a  strong  attrac 
tion  for  Schubert.  He  set  it  for  4  equal  voices  in 
1817  ;  then  he  reset  it  for  4  tenors  and  4  basses 
with  2  violas,  2  cellos,  and  bass,  in  Dec.  1820  ;  and 
lastly  revised  this  in  Feb.  1821.  It  was  first  pro 
duced  on  March  7,  1821,  and  found  no  favour,  to 
Schubert's  disgust.  It  was  again  performed  on 
March  30,  before  a  more  receptive  audience, 
with  a  far  better  result.  It  was  revived  at 
Vienna  in  1858  by  Herbeck,  and  in  England 
was  performed  with  success  on  March  22,  1881, 
under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Prout.  It  is  enor 
mously  difficult,  and,  though  perfectly  in  cha 
racter  with  the  poem,  will  probably  never  be 
attractive  to  a  mixed  audience.  Another  work 
of  1820  were  some  antiphons  (op.  113)  for  Palm 
Sunday  (March  26),  composed  for  Ferdinand, 
who  had  been  recently  appointed  Choirmaster  at 
the  Altlerchenfelder  Church,  and  found  the  duties 
rather  too  much  for  him.  They  are  written  with 
black  chalk,  on  coarse  gray  wrapping-paper ;  and 
the  tradition  is  that  they  and  two  motets  were 
written  in  great  haste,  just  in  time  for  the  service. 
On  Easter  Sunday  Franz  attended  and  conducted 
the  mass  for  his  brother. 

The  Fantasie  in  C  for  PF.  solo  (op.  15),  con 
taining  Variations  on  Schubert's  own  '  Wanderer/ 
is  probably  a  work  of  this  year.  It  was  written 
for  von  Liebenberg,  a  PF.  player,  to  whom  Schu 
bert  dedicated  it.  This  fine  piece  has  lately  been 
brought  into  vogue  by  Liszt's  arrangement  of  it 
for  PF.  and  orchestra  as  a  concerto ;  but  it  is 
doubtful  if  it  is  improved  by  the  process.  Schu 
bert  never  could  play  it ;  he  always  stuck  fast  in 
the  last  movement;  and  on  one  occasion  jumped 
up  and  cried  '  let  the  devil  himself  play  it ! ' 
Another  piece  is  an  Allegro  for  strings  in  C  minor, 
dated  Dec.  1820,  the  first  movement  of  a  quartet, 
of  which  there  exist  besides  41  bars  of  the  An 
dante,  in  Ab.  The  Allegro  is  of  first-rate  quality, 
and  Schubert  in  every  bar.  It  was  published  in 
1868  by  Senff.  The  MS.  is  in  Mr.  Brahms's  fine 
collection  of  autographs. 

The  songs  of  1820,  17  in  all,  though  not  so  nu 
merous  as  those  of  previous  years,  are  very  fine. 
They  contain ' Der  Jungling  auf  dem  Hugel'  (op. 
8,  no.  i),  'Der  Schiffer'  (Lf.  33,  no.  i),  'Liebes- 
lauschen'  (Lf.  15,  no.  2),  3  grand  songs  to  Mayr- 
hofer's words,  'Orest  auf  Tauris,'  'Der  entsuhnte 
Orest,'  and  'Freiwilliges  Versinken '  (Lf.  1 1),  and 
4  Italian  Canti,  written  for  Frl.  von  Romer,  who 
afterwards  married  Schubert's  friend  Spaun,  and 
since  published  with  one  which  was  probably 
written  under  Salieri's  eye  as  early  as  1813.  The 
most  remarkable  of  all  is  'Im  Walde'  or '  Waldes- 
nacht'  (Lf.  16),  a  very  long  song  of  extraordinary 
beauty,  variety,  force,  and  imagination. 
l  To  Moses  Mendelssohn's  translation.  < 


333 


SCHUBERT. 


With  February  1821  Schubert  entered  his  sp 
year,  and  it  was  a  good  omen  to  receive  such 
a  birthday  present  as  the  three  testimonials  of 
this  date  which  Kreissle  has  2  preserved.  The 
first  is  from  von  Mosel,  then  Court  Secretary; 
the  second  from  Weigl,  Director  of  the  Court 
Opera,  Salieri,  and  von  Eichthal ;  the  third  from 
Moritz  Count  Dietrichstein,  whom  Beethoven 
addresses  as  '  Hofmusikgraf,'  and  who  appears 
to  have  been  a  sort  of  Jupiter-Apollo  with 
general  sway  over  all  Court  music.  These  in 
fluential  personages  warmly  recognise  his  emi 
nent  ability,  industry,  knowledge,  feeling,  and 
taste,  and  profess  the  best  intentions  towards 
him.  The  three  documents  were  enclosed  by  the 
Count  in  a  letter  to  Vogl,  full  of  good  wishes 
for  the  future  of  his  friend.  Still  more  grati 
fying  was  the  prospect,  which  now  at  last  opened, 
of  the  publication  of  his  songs.  It  was  the  first 
good  epoch  in  Schubert's  hitherto  struggling 
life.  He  had  now  been  writing  for  more  than 
seven  years,  with  an  industry  and  disregard  of 
consequences  which  are  really  fearful  to  contem 
plate  ;  and  yet,  as  far  as  fame  or  profit  were 
concerned,  might  almost  as  well  have  remained 
absolutely  idle.  Here  at  length  was  a  break  in 
the  cloud.  It  was  not  less  welcome  because 
it  was  mainly  due  to  his  faithful  friends,  the 
Sonnleithners,  who  had  made  his  acquaintance 
through  the  accident  of  Leopold  Sonnleithner's 
being  at  school  with  him,  and  ever  since  che 
rished  it  in  the  most  faithful  and  practical 
way,  Ignaz,  the  father,  having,  since  1815, 
had  large  periodical  music-meetings  of  artists 
and  amateurs  in  his  house  at  the  Gundelberg, 
which  were  nothing  less  than  Schubert  pro 
paganda.  Here,  before  large  audiences  of  tho 
roughly  musical  people,  Schubert's  pieces  were 
repeatedly  performed,  and  at  length,  on  Dec.  I, 
1820,  the  'Erl  King'  was  sung  by  Gymnich,  a 
well-known  amateur,  with  a  spirit  which  fired 
every  one  of  the  audience  with  the  desire  to 
possess  the  song,  and  appears  to  have  suggested 
to  Leopold  and  Gymnich  the  possibility  of  find 
ing  a  publisher  for  the  inspirations  which  had 
for  so  long  been  their  delight  and  astonishment. 
They  applied  to  Diabelli  and  Haslinger,  the 
leading  houses  of  Vienna,  but  without  success ; 
the  main  objections  being  the  insignificance  of 
the  composer,  and  the  difficulty  of  his  PF.  ac 
companiments.  On  this  they  resolved  to  take 
the  matter  into  their  own  hands ;  and,  probably 
not  without  misgivings,  had  the  '  Erl  King '  en 
graved.  The  fact  was  announced  at  the  next 
Concert  at  the  Gundelberg,  and  a  hundred  copies 
were  at  once  subscribed  for  in  the  room — suf 
ficient  to  defray  the  cost  of  the  engraving  and 
printing,  and  of  engraving  a  second  song  as 
well.  Meantime  the  '  Erl  King '  had  been  sung 
in  public  (for  the  concerts  at  the  Gundelberg 
were,  strictly  speaking,  private,  limited  to  the 
friends  of  the  host)  by  Gymnich,  at  an  evening 
concert  of  the  Musikverein,  in  one  of  the  public 
rooms  of  the  city,  on  Jan,  25,  1821,  Schubert 
himself  appearing  on  the  platform,  and  playing 

2  K.H.  201  (I.  203). 


334 


SCHUBERT. 


the  accompaniment.  Everything  was  done  by 
the  young  enthusiasts  to  foster  the  Schubert 
furore,  even  to  the  publication  of  a  set  of 
'  Erl  King  waltzes'  by  A.  Huttenbrenner,  which 
at  any  rate  must  have  made  the  name  familiar, 
though  they  provoked  Schubert,  and  drew  from 
him  some  satirical  hexameters  and  pentameters 
which  may  be  read  in  Kreissle.1  On  Feb.  8  the 
programme  of  the  Musikverein  Conceit  included 
three  songs  of  his,  the  '  Sehnsucht '  by  Schiller, 
'Gretchen  am  Spinnrade,'  and  'Der  Jiingling 
auf  dem  Hiigel ' ;  and  on  March  8  the  '  Gruppe 
aus  dem  Tartarus.'  On  March  7  the  'Erl  King' 
was  again  sung,  this  time  by  Vogl  himself,  at 
an  unmistakeable  public  concert,  at  the  Kiirnth- 
nerthor  theatre,  a  concert  supported  by  all  the 
most  distinguished  ladies  of  the  Court,  who 
received  the  song  with  loud  applause.  Think 
what  the  first  appearance  of  these  godlike 
pieces  must  have  been  !  It  was  the  rising  of 
the  Sun!  He  is  now  an  every-day  sight  to  us; 
but  how  was  it  the  first  time  that  he  burst  in 
all  his  brightness  on  the  eyes  of  mortals  ?  In 
the  midst  of  all  this  enthusiasm  the  '  Erl  King ' 
was  published  on  the  1st  of  April,  1821,  by 
Cappi  and  Diabelli,  on  commission.  It  was 
dedicated  to  Count  Moritz  Dietrichstein,  whose 
kindness  well  deserved  that  recognition.  On 
April  30,  '  Gretchen  am  Spinnrade '  appeared 
as  op.  2.  The  succeeding  publications — each 
made  to  depend  on  the  success  of  the  last — 
were  as  follows: — 

May  29.    Op.  3.  Schafers  Klagelied  ;  Meeres- 
Stille ;  Heidenroslein ;  Jagers  Abend- 
lied. 
Do.         Op.  4.  Der  Wanderer ;  Morgenlied ; 

Wanderers  Nachtlied. 

July  9.       Op.  5.    .Rastlose   Liebe;   Nahe  des 
Geliebten ;  Der  Fischer ;  Erster  Ver- 
lust ;  Der  Kb'nig  in  Thule. 
•A-Ug.  23.    Op.    6.    Memnon;     Antigone   und 

Oedip  ;  Am  Grabe  Anselmos. 
Nov.  27.    Op.  7.  Die  abgebliihte  Linde ;  Der 
Flug   der  Zeit;   Der  Tod  und  das 
Madchen. 

Here  the  publication  by  commission  stopped, 
the  Diabellis  being  evidently  convinced  that  the 
risk  might  be  profitably  assumed  ;  and  accord 
ingly  op.  8  appears  on  May  9,   1822,  as   'the 
property  of  the  publishers.'     The  dedications  of 
the  first  seven  numbers  no  doubt  furnish   the 
names  of  Schubert's  most  influential  supporters  : 
I.  Graf  von  Dietrichstein;  2.  Reichsgraf  Moritz 
von  Fries  ;  3.  Ignaz  von  Mosel ;  4.  Johann  La- 
dislaus  Pyrker,  Patriarch  of  Venice  ;  5.  Salieri  ; 
6.  Michael  Vogl ;   7.  Graf  Lud wig  Sze'che'nyi.    It 
must  be  admitted  that  the  above  are  very  good 
lists,   and   that    if  Schubert   had   waited  long 
for  the  publication  of  his  works,   the  issue  of 
twenty  songs  in  eight  months,  under  the  patron 
age  of  seven  such  eminent  personages,   was  a 
substantial  compensation.    We  do  not  hear,  how 
ever,  that  much  money  came  into  his  hands  from 
the    publication.      The    favourable    impression 
made  by  the  publication  may  be  gathered  from 

l  Hauslick,  '  Concertwesen,'  284 ;  and  K.  H.  60  (1.  60). 


SCHUBERT. 

the  long,  intelligent,  and  sympathetic  criticism, 
'  Blick  auf  Schuberts  Lieder,'  by  F.  von  Hentl, 
which  appeared  in  the  '  Wiener  Zeitschrift  fur 
Kunst/etc. — a  periodical  belonging  to  Diabelli's 
rivals,  Steiner  &  Co. — for  March  23,  1822. 

Schubert  was  now  a  good  deal  about  the 
theatre,  and  when  it  was  determined  to  produce 
a  German  version  of  Harold's  '  Clochette/  as  '  Das 
Zauberglb'ckchen,'  at  the  Court-opera,  he  was 
not  unnaturally  called  upon  to  insert  a  couple  of 
pieces  to  suit  the  Vienna  audience.  It  was  what 
Mozart  often  did  for  the  Italian  operas  of  his  day 
—what  indeed  we  know  Shakspeare  to  have  done 
in  more  than  one  case.  The  opera  was  produced 
on  June  20.  The  interpolated  pieces  were  a 
long  air  for  tenor, 2  in  3  movements — Maestoso, 
Andante,  and  Allegro — full  of  passion  and  ima 
gination,  and  a  comic  duet  (said  to  be  very 
comic)  between  the  princes  B  flat  and  C  natural 
(Bedur  and  Cedur).  They  were  more  applauded 
than  anything  else  in  the  work,  but  Schubert's 
name  was  not  divulged ;  the  opera  as  a  whole 
did  not  please,  and  was  soon  withdrawn. 

The   little   Variation  which    he   contributed, 
as  no.  38,  to  Diabelli's  collection  of  50  Varia 
tions  —  the   same   for   which    Beethoven  wrote 
his  33    (op.   120)  —  should   not  be  overlooked. 
Though  not  published  till  1823,  the  autograph, 
now  in  the  Hofbibliothek  at  Vienna,   is  dated 
'March    1821.'      The    variation    is    fresh   and 
pretty,  in  the  minor  of  the  theme,  but  is  more 
noticeable  from  its  situation  than  from  its  own 
qualities.      A    few    dances   for    PF.    solo    are 
dated  '  8th  March  '  and  '  July '  in  this  year,  and 
a  collection  of  36,  containing  those  alluded  to, 
and  others  of  1816  and  1819,  was  published  by 
Cappi  and  Diabelli  on  Nov.  29,  as  op.  18.    Some 
of  these  are  inscribed  in  the  autograph  'Atzen- 
brucker  Deutsche,  July  1821,'  indicating  a  visit 
to  Atzenbruck,  the  seat  of  an  uncle  of  Schober's, 
near  Abstetten,  between  Vienna  and  St.  Pb'lten, 
where  a  three  days'  annual  festivity  was  held,  to 
which  artists  of  all  kinds  were  invited,  and  where 
Schubert's  presence  and  music  were  regarded  as 
indispensable. 

Whether  after  this  he  and  Schober  returned 
to  Vienna  we  know  not,  no  letters  remain ;  but 
the  next  event  of  which  any  record  remains  is 
the   composition   of  a  Symphony,  his  seventh, 
in  E,  which  is  marked,  without  note  of  place, 
as  begun  in  August.     He  did  not  complete  the 
writing  of  it,  and  indeed  it  is  probable  that  it 
did  not  occupy  him  more  than  a  few  hours ;  but 
the  autograph,  which  is  in  the  writer's  posses 
sion,3  is  a  very  curious   manuscript,   probably 
quite  unique,   even  among  Schubert's  feats  of 
composition.    It  occupies  167  pages  of  42  sheets, 
(10  quires  of  4,  and  i  of  2),  and  is  in  the  usual 
movements — Adagio  in  E  minor,  and  Allegro  in 
E  major  ;  Andante  in  A  ;  Scherzo  in  C,  and  Trio 
in  A ;    and  Allegro  giusto  in  E  major.     The 
Introduction  and  a  portion  of  the  Allegro  are 
fully  scored  and  marked;  but  at  the  iioth  bar 

2  Introduced  Into  'Alfonso  und  Estrella'  in  1881  by  Joh.  Fuchs. 

3  I  received  it  in  1868  from  the  late  Paul  Mendelssohn,  Felli'i 
brother,  into  whose  hands  it  came  after  his  brother's  death.   Felix 
Mendelssohn  had  it  from  Ferdinand  Schubert  direct. 


SCHUBERT. 

— the  end  of  a  page — Schubert  appears  to  Lave 
grown  impatient  of  this  regular  proceeding,  and 
from  that  point  to  the  end  of  the  work  has 
made  merely  memoranda.  But  these  memo 
randa  are,  in  their  way,  perfectly  complete  and 
orderly  to  the  end  of  the  Finale.  Every  bar 
is  drawn-in  ;  the  tempi  and  names  of  the  instru 
ments  are  fully  written  at  the  beginning  of  each 
movement ;  the  nuances  are  all  marked ;  the 
very  double  bars  and  flourishes  are  gravely 
added  at  the  end  of  the  sections,  and  *  Fine '  at 
the  conclusion  of  the  whole ;  and  Schubert  evi 
dently  regarded  the  work  as  no  less  complete 
on  the  paper  than  it  was  in  his  mind.  And 
complete  it  virtually  is;  for  each  subject  is 
given  at  full  length,  with  a  bit  of  bass  or  accom 
paniment-figure,  or/ugato  passage.  There  is  not  a 
bar  from  beginning  to  end  that  does  not  contain 
the  part  of  one  or  more  instruments ;  at  all  crucial 
places  the  scoring  is  much  fuller ;  and  it  would  no 
doubt  be  possible  to  complete  it  as  Schubert  him 
self  intended.  It  is  said  that  Mendelssohn  con 
templated  doing  so,  but  this  is  probably  a  mere 
legend,  and  Mendelssohn  was  too  practical  to 
give  his  time  to  a  work  which  at  the  best  could 
only  be  regarded  as  a  curiosity.  Though  con 
taining  much  that  is  original,  and  as  deeply 
imbued  throughout  with  melody  and  spirit  as 
any  of  the  preceding  six,  this  symphony  is, 
like  them,  virtually  a  work  of  the  old  school, 
and  it  required  another  year  before  Schubert 
could  break  with  the  past,  and  in  the  two  move 
ments  of  his  unfinished  8th  Symphony  in  B  minor, 
and  the  great  Entr'acte  to  '  Rosamunde,'  in  the 
same  key,  appear  in  the  orchestra  in  his  own 
individual  and  native  shape,  as  he  had  done  in 
the  Song  so  many  years  before.1 

We  next  find  the  two  friends  at  the  castle  of 
Ochsenburg,  a  few  miles  south  of  St.  Polten,  the 
seat  of  the  Bishop,  who  was  a  relative  of  Schober's ; 
and  there  and  in  St.  Polten  itself  they  passed 
a  thoroughly  happy  and  healthy  holiday  of 
some  weeks  in  September  and  October.  The 
Bishop  and  Baron  Mink,  a  local  magnate,  were 
congenial  hosts,  and  the  visit  of  the  two  clever 
young  men  was  the  signal  for  various  festivities, 
in  which  all  the  aristocracy  of  the  country  side — 
'a  princess,  two  countesses,  and  three  baronesses,' 
in  Schober's  enumeration — took  part,  and  in 
which  the  music  and  drollery  of  Schubert  and 
his  friend  delighted  every  one.  The  great  result 
of  the  visit  however  was  the  composition  of  an 
opera  to  Schober's  words,  on  a  romantic  subject 
of  battles,  love,  conspiracy,  hunting,  peasant  life, 
and  everything  else,  so  natural  in  opera  librettos, 
so  impossible  in  real  life.  It  was  called  '  Alfonso 
and  Estrella,'  and  two  acts  were  completed  be 
fore  their  return  to  town.  The  first  act  is  dated 
at  the  end  of  the  autograph  Sept.  20,  and  the 
second  Oct.  20.  A  week  later  they  were  back 
again  in  Vienna. 

1  The  change  In  this  symphony  from  the  Scherzo  In  C  to  the  Trio 
In  A,  by  an  E  in  octaves  in  the  oboes  lasting  4  bars,  is  an  anticipation 
of  the  similar  change  iu  the  same  place  in  the  great  C  major  Sym 
phony  of  1828,  and  a. curious  instance  of  the  singular  way  in  which 
many  of  Schubert's  earlier  symphonies  lead  up  to  his  crowning 
eflort. 


SCHUBERT. 


335 


The  songs  composed  in  1821  are  very  im 
portant,  and  comprise  some  of  his  very  finest, 
and  in  the  most  various  styles.  It  is  sufficient 
to  name  among  the  published  ones  '  Grenzen 
der  Menschheit'  (Feb.,  Lf.  14,  no.  i)  ;  <Ge- 
heimes1  (March,  op.  14,  no.  2);  Suleika's  two 
songs  (ops.  14,  31);  '  Sey  mir  gegrusst'  (op.  20, 
no.  i) ;  and  '  Die  Nachtigal,'  for  four  men's 
voices  (op.  II,  no.  2) — all  of  the  very  highest 
excellence,  of  astonishing  variety,  and  enough 
of  themselves  to  make  the  fame  of  any  ordinary 
coinposer.  A  fine  setting  of  '  Mahomet's  song,' 
by  Goethe,  for  bass  (possibly  for  Lablache),  was 
begun  in  March,  but  remains  a  MS.  fragment. 

The  third  act  of  'Alfonso  and  Estrella'  was 
finished  on  Feb.  27,  1822.  The  fact  that  a 
thoroughly  worldly,  mercenary,  money-making 
manager  like  Barbaja,  who  was  at  the  same  time 
a  firm  believer  in  Rossini,  had  become  lessee 
of  the  two  principal  theatres  of  Vienna,  augured 
badly  for  Schubert's  chance  of  success  in  that 
direction.  But  indeed  the  new  piece  seems  to 
have  been  calculated  to  baffle  any  manager,  not 
only  in  Vienna,  but  everywhere  else.  It  caused, 
as  we  shall  see,  a  violent  dispute,  eighteen  months 
later,  between  Schubert  and  Weber,  which  but 
for  Schubert's  good  temper  would  have  led  to  a 
permanent  quarrel.  Anna  Milder,  to  whom  Schu 
bert  sent  a  copy  of  the  work  in  1825,  tells  him, 
in  a  letter  full  of  kindness  and  enthusiasm,  that 
the  libretto  will  not  suit  the  taste  of  the  Berliners, 
'  who  are  accustomed  to  the  grand  tragic  opera, 
or  the  French  ope"ra  comique.'  Nor  was  the 
libretto  the  only  drawback.  Schubert,  like  Bee 
thoven  in  'Fidelio/ was  in  advance  of  the  modest 
execution  of  those  days.  At  Gratz,  the  abode 
of  the  Huttenbrenners,  where  there  was  a  foyer 
of  Schubert-enthusiasts,  the  opera  got  as  far  as 
rehearsal,  and  would  probably  have  reached  the 
stage,  if  the  accompaniments  had  not  proved 
impossible  for  the  band.2  No  performance  took 
place  until  twenty-six  years  after  poor  Schubert's 
death,  namely  at  Weimar,  on  June  24,  1854, 
under  the  direction  of  Liszt,  who.  with  all  his 
devotion  to  the  master,  had  to  reduce  it  much 
for  performance.  It  was  very  carefully  studied, 
and  yet  the  success,  even  in  that  classical 
town,  and  with  all  Liszt's  enthusiasm  and  in 
fluence,  seems  to  have  been  practically  nil.  At 
last,  however,  its  time  came.  Twenty-five  years 
later,  in  1879,  ^  was  again  taken  in  hand  by 
Capellmeister  Johann  Fuchs  of  the  Court  opera, 
Vienna,  who  entirely  rewrote  the  libretto,  and 
greatly  curtailed  the  work ;  and  in  this  form  it 
was  brought  to  performance  at  Carlsruhe  in 
March  1881,  with  great  success.  Several  num 
bers  were  extremely  applauded,  and  the  opera 
now  bids  fair  to  become  a  stock  piece  in  the 
German,  and  let  us  hope  the  English,  theatres. 

But  to  return  to  Schubert  and  1822.  Early 
in  the  year  he  made  the  acquaintance3  of 

2  K.H.  249  (i.  252). 

3  For  their  meeting  we  have  the  authority  of  Weber's  son  In  his 
biography,  ii.  4'->0.    But  his  statement  that  Schubert  was  alienated 
from  Weber  by  Weber's  critio.ism  on  Rosamunde   is   more   than 
doubtful,  because  Eosamunde  was  probably  not  composed  till  soma 
19  months  later,  aud  because  it  was  not  Schubert's  habit  to  tako 
offence  at  criticism. 


336 


SCHUBERT. 


Weber,  who  spent  a  few  weeks  of  February  and 
March  in  Vienna  to  arrange  for  the  production  of 
his  Euryanthe.  No  particulars  of  their  intercourse 
on  this  occasion  survive.    With  Beethoven  Schu 
bert  had  as  yet  hardly  exchanged  words.     And 
this  is  hardly  to  be  wondered  at,  because,  though 
Vienna  was  not  a  large  city,  yet  the  paths  of  the 
two  men  were  quite  separate.     Apart  from  the 
great  difference  in  their  ages,  and  from  Beethoven's 
peculiar  position  in  the  town,  his   habits   were 
fixed,  his  deafness  was  a  great  obstacle  to  inter 
course,  and,  for  the  last  five  or  six  years,  what 
with  the  lawsuits  into  which  his  nephew  dragged 
him,  and  the  severe  labour  entailed  by  the  com 
position  of  the  Mass  in  D,  and  of  the  Sonatas 
ops.  106,  109,  no,  and  in — works  which  by  no 
means  flowed  from  him  with  the  ease  that  masses 
and  sonatas  did  from  Schubert — he  was  very  in 
accessible.     Any  stranger  arriving  from  abroad, 
with   a    letter   of  introduction,   was   seen    and 
treated  civilly.     But  Schubert  was  a  born  Vien 
nese,  and  at  the  time  of  which  we  speak,  Bee 
thoven  was  as  much  a  part   of  Vienna  as  St. 
Stephen's  tower,  and  to  visit  him  required  some 
special  reason,  and  more  than  special  resolution. 
A  remark  of  Rochlitz's1  in  the  July  of  this  year 
shows  that  Schubert  was  in  the  habit  of  going  to 
the  same  restaurant  with  Beethoven,  and  wor 
shipping  at  a  distance ;    but   the   first    direct 
evidence  of  their  coming  into  contact  occurs  at 
this  date.    On  April  19,  1822,  he  published  a  set 
of  Variations  on  a  French  air  as  op.  10,  and  de 
dicated  them  to  Beethoven  as  '  his  admirer  and 
worshipper '  (sein  Verehrer  und  Bewunderer).  The 
Variations  were  written  in  the  preceding  winter, 
and  Schubert  presented  them  in  person  to  the 
great  master.     There  are  two  versions   of  the 
interview,  2Schindler's  and  J.  Hiittenbrenner's. 
Schindler  was  constantly  about  Beethoven.     He 
was  devoted  to  Schubert,  and  is  very  unlikely  to 
have    given    a    depreciating    account    of    him. 
There  is  therefore  no  reason  for  doubting  his 
statement,  especially  as  his  own  interest  or  vanity 
were  not  concerned.      It  is  the  first  time  we 
meet  Schubert  face  to  face.      He  was  accom 
panied   by  Diabelli,  who    was  just    beginning 
to   find  out  his  commercial   value,   and   would 
naturally  be  anxious  for  his  success.     Beethoven 
was  at  home,  and  we  know  the  somewhat  over 
whelming  courtesy  with  which  he  welcomed  a 
stranger.     Schubert  was  more  bashful  and  retir 
ing  than  ever  ;  and  when  the  great  man  handed 
him    the    sheaf  of  paper    and   the   carpenter's 
pencil  provided  for  the  replies  of  his  visitors, 
could  not   collect   himself  sufficiently  to  write 
a  word.     Then  the  Variations  were  produced, 
with  their  enthusiastic  dedication,  which  prob 
ably  added  to  Beethoven's  good  humour.     He 
opened  them   and    looked    through  them,  and 
seeing  something   that  startled  him,  naturally 
pointed  it  out.     At  this  Schubert's  last  remnant 
of  self-control  seems  to  have  deserted  him,  and 
he  rushed  from  the  room.     When  he  got  into 

1  'FurFreundederTonkunst/iv.  S52.    See  the  lifelike  and  touch- 
Ing  picture  by  Braun  von  Braun  given  in  Nohl's  Beethoven,  iii.  682. 

2  Scoindler's  'Beethoven,' ii,  176. 


SCHUBERT. 

the  street,  and  was  out  of  the  magic  of  Bee 
thoven's  personality,   his   presence  of  mind  re 
turned,  and  all  that  he  might  have  said  flashed 
upon  him,  but  it  was  too  late.     The  story  is 
perfectly    natural,    and    we    ought    to    thank 
Beethoven's  Boswell  for  it.     Which  of  us  would 
not  have  done  the  same  ?    Beethoven  kept  the 
Variations  and  liked  them ;  and  it  must  have 
been  some  consolation  to  the  bashful  Franz  to 
hear  that  he  often  played  them  with  his  nephew. 
Hiittenbrenner's  3  story  is  that  Schubert  called, 
but  found  Beethoven  out ;  which  may  have  been 
an  invention  of  Diabelli's  to  shield  his  young 
client. 

This  autumn  Schubert  again  took  up  the  Mass 
in  Ab,  which  was  begun  in  1819;  finished  it,  and 
inscribed  it  lim  Jb  822  beendet.'  *  Not  that  that 
was  the  final  redaction  ;  for,  contrary  to  his 
usual  practice — in  fact  it  is  almost  a  solitary 
instance — he  took  it  up  again  before  his  death, 
and  made  material  improvements5  both  in  the 
position  of  the  voice-parts  and  in  the  instru 
mentation,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  autograph 
score  now  in  the  Library  of  the  Gesellschaft  der 
Musikfreunde. 

This  year  seems  to  have  been  passed  entirely  in 
Vienna,  at  least  there  are  no  traces  of  any 
journey ;  and  the  imprisonment  in  the  broiling 
city,  away  from  the  nature  he  so  dearly  loved, 
was  not  likely  to  improve  his  spirits.  What 
events  or  circumstances  are  alluded  to  in  the  in 
teresting  piece  called  '  My  6 dream,'  dated  'July 
1822,'  it  is  hard  to  guess.  It  may  not  improbably 
have  been  occasioned  by  some  dispute  on  re 
ligious  subjects  of  the  nature  of  those  hinted  at 
in  his  brother  Ignaz's  letter7  of  Oct.  12,  1818. 
At  any  rate  it  is  deeply  pathetic  and  poetical. 

During  this  summer  Joseph  Hiittenbrenner 
was  active  in  the  cause  of  his  friend.  He  made 
no  less  than  four  endeavours  to  bring  out  the 
'Teufels  Lustschloss'  —  at  the  Josefstadt  and 
Court  theatres  of  Vienna,  at  Munich,  and  at 
Prague.  At  Prague  alone  was  there  a  gleam 
of  hope.  Hollbeiu,  the  manager  there,  requests 
to  have  the  score  and  parts  sent  to  him,  at  the 
same  time  regretting  that  during  a  month  which 
he  had  passed  in  Vienna,  Schubert  had  not  once 
come  near  him.  Huttenbrenner  also  urged 
Schubert  on  Peters,  the  publisher,  of  Leipzig, 
who  in  a  tedious  egotistical  letter,  dated  Nov.  14, 
1822,  gives  the  usual  sound  reasons  of  a  cautious 
publisher  against  taking  up  with  an  unknown 
composer — for  in  North  Germany  Schubert  was 

8  K.H.  261  (i.  264).  4  7  b  stands  for  September. 

5  This  was  kindly  pointed  out  to  the  writer  by  Mr.  Brahms,  who  bu 
an  early  copy  of  the  score,  made  by  Ferdinand  Schubert  from  the 
autograph  in  its  original  condition.     In  this  shape  Mr.  Brahms  re 
hearsed  the  mass,  but  found  many  portions  unsatisfactory,  and  fl 
interested  to  discover  subsequently  from  the  autograph  that  Schu 
bert  had  altered  the  very  passages  alluded  to,  and  made  them  prac 
ticable.— He   made  three   attempts   at  the   'Cum  Sancto'  befoi 
succeeding,  each  time  in  fugue,  and  always  with  a  different  subject. 
Of  the  first  there  are  4  bars ;  of  the  second  199 ;  the  third  is  th 
printed  in  Schreiber's  edition.     This  edition  is  unfortunately  very 
incorrect.    Not  only  does  it  swarm  with  misprints,  but  whole  P 
sages,  and  those  most  important  ones  (as  in  the  Horns  and  Trom 
bones  of  the  Dona),  are  clean  omitted.    The  nuances  also  are  shame* 
fully  treated.  .  , 

e  First  printed  by  B.  Schumann  in  the  'NeueZeitschiiftfttrMusiK 
for  Feb.  5, 1839.    See  also  K.H.  333  (ii.  16). 

7  E.U..  146  (i.  148). 


SCHUBERT. 


SCHUBERT. 


337 


still  all  but  unknown.     One  is  sorry  to  hear  of  a 
little  rebuff  which  he  sustained  at  this  time  from 
the  Gesellschaft  der  Musikfreunde  of  Vienna,  to 
whom  he  applied  to  be  admitted  as  a  practising 
member  (on  the  viola),  but  who  refused  him  on 
the  ground  of  his  being  a  professional,  and  there 
fore  outside  their  rules.1     A  somewhat  similar 
repulse   was   experienced   by  Haydn   from  the 
Tonkiinstler  Societ'at.   [See  vol.  i.  707  ct.]    On  the 
other  hand,  the  musical  societies  both  of  Linz  and 
Gratz  elected  him  an  honorary  member.    To  the 
latter  of  these  distinctions  we  owe  the  two  beauti 
ful  movements  of  the  Symphony  No.  8,  in  B  minor, 
which  was  begun  at  Vienna  on  Oct.  30,  1822,  and 
intended  as  a  return  for  the  compliment.    The 
Allegro  and  Andante  alone  are  finished,  but  these 
are  of  singular  beauty  and  the  greatest  originality. 
In  them,  for  the  first  time  in  orchestral  composi 
tion,  Schubert  exhibits  a  style  absolutely  his  own, 
untinged  by  any  predecessor,  and  full  of  that 
strangely  direct  appeal  to  the  hearer  of  which 
we  have  already  spoken.     It  is  certain  that  he 
never  heard    the    music   played,   and   that  the 
new  and  delicate  effects  and  orchestral  combina 
tions  with  which  it  is  crowded,  were  the  result 
of  his  imagination  alone.     The  first  movement  is 
sadly  full  of  agitation  and  distress.  It  lay  hidden 
at  Gratz  for  many  years,   until   obtained  from 
Anselm  Hiittenbrenner  by  Herbeck,   who  first 
produced  it  in  Vienna   at   one   of  the  Gesell 
schaft  concerts  in  i865.2     It  was  published  by 
the  excellent  Spina  early  in  1867;  was  played 
at  the  Crystal  Palace,  Sydenham,  April  6,  1867, 
and  elsewhere  in  England,  and  always  with  in 
creasing  success.      In  fact  no  one  can  hear  it 
without  being  captivated  by  it. 

The  Songs  composed  in  1822 — 14  printed  and 
2  in  MS. — comprise  'Epistel  von  Collin'  (Lf.  46; 
Jan.) ;  'Heliopolis'  (Lf.  37,  no.  I ;  April);  'Todes- 
musik,'  with  a  magnificent  opening  (op.  108,  no.  2; 
Sept.);  'Schatzgrabers  Begehr'  (op.  23,  no.  4  ; 
Nov.)  with  its  stately  bass;  'Willkommen  und 
Abschied'  (op.  56,  no.  i ;  Dec.)  ;  'Die  Rose'  (op. 
73)and'DerMusensohn'  (op.  92).  The  concerted 
pieces,  'Constitutionslied '  (op.  157;  Jan.), 'Geist 
der  Liebe'  (op.  n,  No.  3),  'Gott  in  der  Natur' 
(°P-  J33)>  and  'Des  Tages  Weihe'  (op.  146),  all 
belong  to  this  year. 

Publication  went  on  in  1822,  though  not  so 
briskly  as  before.  The  Variations  dedicated  to 
Beethoven  (op.  10)  were  first  to  appear,  on  April 
19.  They  were  followed  by  op.  8  (4  songs)  on 
May  9,  and  op.  II  (3  part-songs)  on  June  12. 
Then  came  a  long  gap  till  Dec.  13,  on  which 
day  ops.  12,  13,  and  14,  all  songs,  appeared  at 
once.  We  have  not  space  to  name  them.  But 
with  such  accumulated  treasures  to  draw  upon,  it 
is  unnecessary  to  say  that  they  are  all  of  the  first 
class.  The  pecuniary  result  of  the  publications 
of  1821  had  been  good  ;  2000  gulden  were  real 
ised,  and  of  the  '  Erl  King '  alone  more  than  800 
copies  had  been  sold ;  and  if  Schubert  had  been 
provident  enough  to  keep  his  works  in  his  own 
possession  he  would  soon  have  been  out  of  the 
reach  of  want.  This  however  he  did  not  do. 


K.  H.  280  (i.  283). 
VOL.  III.  PT.  3. 


2  See  Hauslick,  'Concertsaal,'  350. 


Pressed  by  the  want  of  money,  in  an  incautious 
moment  he  sold  the  first  12  of  his  3  works  to 
Diabelli  for  800  silver  gulden  (£80),  and  en 
tered  into  some  injudicious  arrangement  with 
the  same  firm  for  future  publications.  His  old 
and  kind  friend  Count  Dietrichstein  about  this 
time  offered  him  a  post  as  organist  to  the  Court 
Chapel,  but  he  refused  it,  and  he  was  probably 
right,  though  in  so  doing  he  greatly  distressed 
his  methodical  old  father.  His  habits,  like 
Beethoven's,  made  it  absurd  for  him  to  under 
take  any  duties  requiring  strict  attendance. 

The  Vienna  Theatre  being  closed  to  Alfonso 
and  Estrella,  Schubert  turned  his  thoughts  in 
the  direction  of  Dresden,  where  his  admirer 
Anna  Milder  was  living,  and  where  Weber  was 
Director  of  the  Opera ;  and  we  find  him  in  a 
letter  of  Feb.  28,  1823  (recently  published  4  for 
the  first  time)  asking  his  old  patron  Herr  von 
Mosel  for  a  letter  of  recommendation  to  Weber. 
He  is  confined  to  the  house  by  illness,  and  apolo 
gises  for  not  being  able  to  call.  There  are  no 
traces  of  reply  to  this  application,  but  it  probably 
led  to  nothing,  for,  as  we  shall  see,  the  score 
of  the  opera  was  still  in  his  hands  in  October. 
He  was  evidently  now  set  upon  opera.  In  the 
letter  just  mentioned  he  implores  von  Mosel  to 
entrust  him  with  a  libretto  'suitable  for  his 
littleness';  and  though  he  seems  never  to  have 
obtained  this,  he  went  on  with  the  best  he  could 
get,  and  1823  saw  the  birth  of  no  less  than 
three  dramatic  pieces.  The  first  was  a  one-act 
play  with  dialogue,  adapted  from  the  French  by 
Castelli,  and  called  '  die  Verschworenen,'  or  '  the 
Conspirators.'  The  play  was  published  in  the 
'Dramatic  Garland' — an  annual  collection  of 
dramas — for  1823.  Schubert  must  have  seen  it 
soon  after  publication,  and  by  April  had  finished 
the  composition  of  it.  The  autograph,  in  the  British 
Museum,  has  at  the  end  the  words  '  Aprill  1823. 
F.  Schubert,  Ende  der  Oper.'  It  contains  an  over 
ture  and  II  numbers,  and  appears  from  Bauern- 
feld's  testimony  to  have  been  composed  with  a 
view  to  representation  at  the  Court-theatre.  The 
libretto  is  a  very  poor  one,  with  but  few  dramatic 
points,  and  confines  the  composer  mainly  to  the 
Chorus.  The  licensers  changed  its  title  to  the  less 
suspicious  one  of  '  Die  hausliche  Krieg '  or  '  The 
domestic  Struggle,'  and  it  was  duly  sent  in  to  the 
management,  but  it  returned  in  twelve  months 
without  examination.  It  did  not  come  to  per 
formance  at  all  during  Schubert's  lifetime,  nor 
till  1 86 1.  In  that  year  it  was  given,  under  Her- 
beck's  direction,  by  the  Musikverein,  Vienna,  on 
March  i  and  1 2 ;  and  on  the  stage  at  Frankfort 
on  Aug.  29;  since  then  at  the  Court-theatre, 
Vienna,  at  Munich,  Salzburg,  and  other  German 
towns;  in  Paris,  Feb.  3,  1868,  as  <  La  Croisade 
des  Dames,'  and  at  the  Crystal  Palace,  Syden 
ham,  March  2,  1872  as  'The  Conspirators.' 
In  less  than  two  months  after  throwing  off 

3  So  say  the  books ;  but  the  works  published  on  commission  were 
ops.  1—7,  containing  20  songs. 

•>  In  the  Neue  Ereie  Presse  of  Vienna,  Nov.  19,  1881.  The  letter, 
though  formal  in  style,  is  curiously  free  in  some  of  its  expressions. 
It  mentions  the  overture  to  the  1st  Act  of  Alfonso  and  Estrella. 
What  can  this  be?  The  overture  known  under  that  name  (op.  69)  is 
dated  'Dec.  1823,'  and  is  said  to  have  been  written  fur  Rosamunde. 


338 


SCHUBERT. 


this  lively  Singspiel,  Schubert  had  embarked 
in  something  far  more  serious,  a  regular  3-act 
opera  of  the  '  heroico-romantic '  pattern — also 
with  spoken  dialogue — the  scene  laid  in  Spain, 
with  Moors,  knights,  a  king,  a  king's  daughter, 
and  all  the  usual  furniture  of  these  dreary 
compilations.  The  libretto  of  'Fierabras,'  by 
Josef  Kupelwieser— enough  of  itself  to  justify 
all l  Wagner  s  charges  against  the  opera  books  of 
the  old  school — was  commissioned  by  Barbaja  for 
the  Court-theatre.  The  book  was  passed  by  the 
Censure  on  July  21 ;  but  Schubert  had  by  that 
time  advanced  far  in  his  labours,  and  had  in  fact 
completed  more  than  half  of  the  piece.  He  began 
it,  as  his  own  date  tells  us,  on  May  25.  Act  i, 
filling  304  pages  of  large  oblong  paper,2  was  com 
pletely  scored  by  the  3 1st  of  the  month  ;  Act  2, 
in  5  days  more,  by  June  5  ;  and  the  whole  3  acts, 
fully  1000  pages,  and  containing  an  overture  and 
23  numbers,  were  entirely  out  of  hand  by  Oct.  2. 
And  all  for  nothing !  Schubert  was  not  even 
kept  long  in  suspense,  for  early  in  the  following 
year  he  learnt  that  the  work  had  been  dis 
missed.  The  ground  for  its  rejection  was  the 
badness  of  the  libretto  ;  but  knowing  Barbaja's 
character,  and  seeing  that  Kupelwieser  was 
secretary  to  a  rival  house  (the  Josefstadt),  it  is 
difficult  not  to  suspect  that  the  commission  had 
been  given  by  the  wily  Italian,  merely  to  faci 
litate  the  progress  of  some  piece  of  business  be 
tween  the  two  establishments. 

It  is,  as  Liszt  has  remarked,  extraordinary 
that  Schubert,  who  was  brought  up  from  his 
youth  on  the  finest  poetry,  should  have  unhesi 
tatingly  accepted  the  absurd  and  impracticable 
librettos  which  he  did,  and  which  have  kept  in 
oblivion  so  much  of  his  splendid  music.  His 
devotion  to  his  friends,  and  his  irrepressible 
desire  to  utter  what  was  in  him,  no  doubt  help 
to  explain  the  anomaly,  but  an  anomaly  it  will 
always  remain.  It  is  absolutely  distressing  to 
think  of  such  extraordinary  ability,  and  such 
still  more  extraordinary  powers  of  work,  being 
so  cruelly  thrown  away,  and  of  the  sickening 
disappointment  which  these  repeated  failures 
must  have  entailed  on  so  simple  and  sensitive  a 
heart  as  his.  Fortunately  for  us  the  strains  in 
which  he  vents  his  griefs  are  as  beautiful  and  en 
dearing  as  those  in  which  he  celebrates  his  joys : — 

He  wore  no  less  a  loving  face 
Because  so  broken  hearted. 

His  work  this  summer  was  not  however  to  be 
all  disappointment.  If  the  theatre  turned  a  deaf 
ear  to  his  strains  there  were  always  his  beloved 
songs  to  confide  in,  and  they  never  deceived  him. 
Of  the  Song  in  Schubert's  hands  we  may  say  what 
Wordsworth  so  well  says  of  the  Sonnet : — 

With  this  key 

Shakespeare  unlocked  his  heart ;  the  melody 
Of  this  small  lute  gave  ease  to  Petrarch's  wound. 
•        ••••••  • 

and  when  a  damp 

Fell  round  the  path  of  Milton,  in  his  hand 
The  thing  became  a  trumpet,  whence  he  blew 
Soul-animating  strains,  alas  too  few ! 

— with  the  notable  difference  that  it  was  given 

1  Hanslick,  '  Concertsaal,"  160. 

2  The  autograph  was  shown  to  Mr.  Sullivan  and  the  writer  by  that 
energetic  Schubert  apostle,  Heir  Johann  Herbeck,  in  1868.  , 


SCHUBERT. 

to  Schubert  to  gather  up  and  express,  in  his  one 
person  and  his  one  art,  all  the  various  moods  and 
passions  which  Wordsworth  has  divided  amongst 
so  many  mighty  poets. 

And  now,  in  the  midst  of  the  overwhelming 
tumult  and  absorption  which  inevitably  accom 
pany  the  production  of  so  large  a  work  of  imagin 
ation  as  a  three-act  opera,  brought  into  being  at 
so  extraordinarily  rapid  a  pace,  he  was  to  stop, 
and  to  indite  a  set  of  songs,  which  though  not  of 
greater  worth  than  many  others  of  his,  are  yet 
so  intelligible,  so  expressive,  address  themselves 
to  such  universal  feelings,  and  form  so  attractive 
a  whole,  that  they  have  certainly  become  more 
popular,  and  are  more  widely  and  permanently 
beloved,  than   any   similar   production   by  any 
other   composer.     We   have    already  described 
the  incident  through  which  Schubert  made  ac 
quaintance  with  the  Miiller-lieder 3  of  Wilhelm 
Miiller,  twenty   of  which   he   selected  for  the 
beautiful  series   or  'Cyclus,'  so  widely  known 
as  the  '  Schb'ne  Miillerin.'     We  have  seen  the 
enduring  impatience  with  which  he  attacked  a 
book  when  it  took  his  fancy,  and  the  eagerness 
with  which  he  began  upon  this  particular  one. 
We  know  that  the  Miiller-lieder  were  all  com 
posed  this  year ;  that  some  of  them  were  written 
in  hospital ;  that  No.  1 5  is  dated  '  October ' ;  that 
a  considerable  interval  elapsed  between  the  2nd 
and  3rd  Act  of 'Fierabras' — probably  the  best  part 
of  July  and  August.  Putting  these  facts  together 
it  seems  to  follow  that  the  call  on  Randhartinger 
(see  p.  32  7  a)  and  the  composition  of  the  first  num 
bers  of  the  '  Schone  Miillerin '  took  place  in  May, 
before  he  became  immersed  in  '  Fierabras.1    Then 
came  the  first  two  Acts  of  that  opera  ;  then  his 
illness,  and  his  sojourn  in  the  hospital,  and  more 
songs ;    then  the  third  Act  of  the  opera ;   and 
lastly  the  completion  of  the  Lieder. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  there  was  no  lack  of  occu 
pation  for  Schubert  after  he  had  put  'Fierabras' 
out  of  hand.  Weber  arrived  in  Vienna  late  in 
September  1823,  and  on  Oct.  3  began  the  rehear 
sals  of '  Euryanthe';  and  for  a  month  the  musical 
world  of  Austria  was  in  a  ferment.  After  the 
first  performance,  on  Oct.  25,  Weber  and  Schu 
bert  came  somewhat  into  collision.  Schubert, 
with  characteristic  frankness,  asserted  that  the 
new  work  wanted  the  geniality  and  grace  of 
'  Der  Freischiitz,'  that  its  merit  lay  mainly  in  its 
harmony,4  and  that  he  was  prepared  to  prove 
that  the  score  did  not  contain  a  single  original 
melodv-  Weber  had  been  much  tried  by  the 

•        •  •  i       i_    1  * 

rehearsals,  by  the  growing  conviction  that  his 
work  was  too  long,  and  by  the  imperfect  success 
of  the  performance ;  and  with  a  combination  of 
ignorance  and  insolence  which  does  him  no  credit 
replied, '  Let  the  fool  learn  something  himself  before 
he  criticises  me/  Schubert's  answer  to  this  was  to 

8  The  Muller-lleder.  23  in  number,  with  Prologue  and  Epilogue  in 
addition,  are  contained  in  the  1st  vol.  of  the  'Gedichte  aus  « 
hinterlassenen  Papieren   eiues   reisenden   Waldhornisten '  i 
found  among  the  papers  of  a  travelling  French-horn-player),  wmcn 
were  first  published  at  Dessau,  1821.    Schubert  has  omitted  the  rro 
logue  and  Epilogue,  and  3  poems— 'Das  Muhlenleben'  after 
Neugierige ' ;  '  Erster  Schmerz,  letzter  Scherz,'  after  '  Eifersucht  un 
Stolz ' ;  and  '  Bliimlein  Vergissmein  '  after  '  Die  bOse  Farbe.' 

<  See  Mendelssohn's  opinion,  in  '  The  Mendelssohn  Family,'  i.  237. 


SCHUBERT. 

go  off  to  Weber  with  the  score  of  '  Alfonso  and 
Estrella.'  When  they  had  looked  through  this, 
Weber  returned  to  Schubert's  criticisms  on  'Eury- 
anthe,'  and  finding  that  the  honest  Franz  stuck 
to  his  point,  was  absurd  enough  to  lose  his 
temper,  and  say,  in  the  obvious  belief  that  the 
score  before  him  was  Schubert's  first  attempt,  '  I 
tell  you  the  first  puppies  and  the  first  operas  are 
always  drowned.'  Franz,  it  is  unnecessary  to 
gay,  bore  no  malice,  even  for  so  galling  a  speech, 
and  it  is  due  to  Weber  to  state  that  he  took 
some  pains  later  to  have  the  work  adopted  at 
the  Dresden  theatre.1 

Schubert  did  not  yet  know  the   fate  which 
awaited  '  Fierabras ' ;  all  was  at  present  couleur 
de  rose ;  and  the  fascination  of  the  theatre,  the 
desire  innate  in  all  musicians,  even  one  so  self- 
contained  as  Schubert,  to  address  a  large  public, 
sharpened  not  improbably  by  the  chance  recently 
enjoyed  by  the  stranger,  was  too  strong  to  be 
resisted,  and   he   again,   for  the  third  time  in 
ten  months,   turned   towards  the   stage.     This 
time  the  temptation  came  in  the  shape  of  'Rosa- 
munde,   Princess  of  Cyprus,'  a  play   of  ultra- 
romantic    character,    by   Madame   von    Chezy, 
authoress  of  '  Euryanthe,'  a  librettist  whose  lot 
seems  to  have  been  to  drag  down  the  musicians 
connected  with  her.     The  book  of  '  Rosamunde ' 
must  have  been  at  least  as  inefficient  as  that 
with  which  Weber  had  been  struggling,  to  cause 
the  failure  of  such  magnificent  and  interesting 
music  as  Schubert  made  for  it.     The  drama  has 
disappeared,  but  Kreissle2  gives  the  plot,  and  it  is 
both  tedious  and  improbable.  It  had  moreover  the 
disadvantage  of  competition  with  a  sensational 
spectacular  piece,  written  expressly  to  suit  the  taste 
of  the  suburban  house,  the  Theatre  an-der-Wien, 
at  which  '  Rosamunde '  was  produced,  and  which, 
since  the  time  when  Schikaneder  induced  Mozart 
to  join  him  in  the  'Magic  3Flute,'  had  a  reputa 
tion   for   such    extravaganzas.      Schubert    com 
pleted  the  music  in  five  days.*     It  consists  of  an 
5 Overture  in  D,  since  published  as  'Alfonso  and 
Estrella/  op,  69 ;    3  Entr'actes ;    2  numbers  of 
ballet  music ;  a  little  piece  for  clarinets,  horns, 
and  bassoons,  called  a  '  Shepherds'  Melody,'  of 
bewitching  beauty  ;  a  Romance  for  soprano  solo, 
and   3  Choruses.     The  Romance  (op.   26),  the 
Shepherds'  Chorus,  the  Entr'acte  in  Bb,  and  the 
Air  de  Ballet  in  G,  are  not  only  very  beautiful 
but  very  attractive ;  and  the  Entr'acte  in  B  minor, 
of  a  grand,  gloomy,  and  highly  imaginative  cast, 
is  one  of  the  finest  pieces  of  music  existing.   The 
play  was  brought  out  on  Dec.   20,  1823  ;   the 
overture,  though  the  entire  orchestral  part  of  the 
music  had  only  one  rehearsal  of  two  hours,  was 
twice  redemanded,  other  numbers  were  loudly 
applauded,    and    Schubert    himself  was    called 
for  at  the  close ;  but  it  only  survived  one  more 
representation,  and  then  the  parts  were  tied  up 
and  forgotten  till  the  year  1867,  when  they  were 
discovered  by  two  English  travellers  in  Vienna. 

1  K  H.  246  (1.  249)  note.  2  Ibid.  285  (i.  288),  etc. 

Produced  at  the  Theatre  an-der-Wien,  Sept.  30, 1791. 
4  So  sars  Wilhelm  von  Chezy,  the  son  of  the  librettist,  who  was  on 
terms  with  Schubevt.  See  his  Journal,  '  Erianerungen/  etc.  1863. 
*  The  autograph  is  dated  '  Dec.  1823.' 


SCHUBERT. 


339 


Besides  the  Miillerlieder  several  independent 
songs  of  remarkable  beauty  belong  to  1823. 
Conspicuous  among  these  are  'Viola*  (Schnee- 
glbcklein ;  op.  123),  a  long  composition  full  of 
the  most  romantic  tenderness  and  delicacy, 
with  all  the  finish  of  Meissonnier's  pictures, 
and  all  his  breadth  and  dignity.  Also  the  'Zwerg' 
(op.  22,  no.  i),  by  Matthias  von  Collin,  in  which 
Schubert  has  immortalised  the  one  brother,  as 
Beethoven,  in  his  overture  to  '  Coriolan,'  did  the 
other.  This  long,  dramatic,  and  most  pathetic 
ballad,  which  but  few  can  hear  unmoved,  was 
written  absolutely  a  Vimproviste,  without  note  or 
sketch,  at  the  top  of  his  speed,  talking  all  the 
while  to  Randhartinger,  who  was  waiting  to  take 
him  out  for  a  walk.6  Equal,  if  not  superior,  to  these 
in  merit,  though  of  smaller  dimensions,  are  '  Dass 
sie  hier  gewesen'  (op.  59,  no.  2)  ;  'Du  bist  die 
Ruh'  (do.  no.  3) ;  the  Barcarolle, '  Auf  dem  Wasser 
zu  singen '  (op.  72),  to  which  no  nearer  date  than 
'  1823  '  can  be  given.  Below  these  again,  though 
still  fine  songs,  are  '  Der  ziirnende  Barde '  (Lf. 
9,  no.  i  ;  Feb.) ;  'Drang  in  die  Feme'  (op.  71  ; 
Mar.  25)  ;  '  Pilgerweise  '  (Lf.  18,  no.  I  ;  April) ; 
4  Vergissmeinnicht '  (Lf.  21,  no.  2;  May).  The 
fine  Sonata  in  A  minor  for  PF.  solo,  published  as 
op.  143,  is  dated  Feb.  1823,  and  the  sketch  of  a 
scena  for  tenor  solo  and  chorus  of  men's  voices 
with  orchestra,  dated  May  1823.  The  latter  was 
completed  by  Herbeck,  and  published  in  1868  by 
Spina  as  'Riidiger's  Heimkehr.' 

Ten  works  (op.  15-24)  were  published  in  1823. 
The  earliest  was  a  collection  of  dances,  viz.  1 2 
Waltzes,  9  Ecossaises,  and  17  Landler,  op.  1 8, 
published  Feb.  5;  the  PF.  Fantasia,  op.  15, 
followed  on  Feb.  24.  The  rest  are  songs,  either 
solo — op.  20,  April  10;  op.  22,  May  27;  op.  23, 
Aug.  4;  op.  24,  Oct.  7;  op.  1 6,  Oct.  9;  op.  19, 
21  (no  dates) — or  part-songs,  op.  17,  Oct.  9.  With 
op.  20,  the  names  of  Sauer  &  Leidesdorf  first 
occur  as  publishers. 

The  year  1824  began  almost  exclusively  with 
instrumental  compositions.  An  Introduction  and 
Variations  for  PF.  and  flute  (op.  1 60),  on  the 
'Trockne  Blumen'  of  the  'Scho'ne  Miillerin,' 
are  dated  '  January,'  and  were  followed  by  the 
famous  Octet  (op.  1 66),  for  clarinet,  horn,  bas 
soon,  2  violins,  viola,  cello,  and  contrabass, 
which  is  marked  as  begun  in  February,  and 
finished  on  March  I.  It  was  written — not,  let 
us  hope,  without  adequate  remuneration,  though 
that  was  probably  the  last  thing  of  which  its 
author  thought — for  Count  F.  Troyer,  chief 
officer  of  the  household  to  the  Archduke  Rudolph, 
Beethoven's  patron.  In  this  beautiful  compo 
sition  Schubert  indulges  his  love  of  extension.  It 
contains,  like  Beethoven's  Septet,  8  movements  ; 
but,  unlike  the  Septet,  it  occupies  more  than 
an  hour  in  performance.  But  though  long,  no 
one  can  call  it  tedious.7  The  Count  played  the 
clarinet,  and  must  have  been  delighted  with  the 
expressive  melody  allotted  to  him  in  the  Andante. 
The  work  was  performed  immediately  after  its 

«  Kreissle,  Sketch,  p.  154  note. 

i  Published  by  Spina  in  1854.    It  is  a  great  favourite  at  the  Popular 
Concerts  in  London,  baying  been  played  18  times  since  March  4, 1867. 

22 


340 


SCHUBERT. 


composition,  with  Schuppanzigh,  Weiss,  and 
Linke,  three  of  the  famous  Rassomofsky  quartet, 
amongst  the  players.  His  association  with  the 
members  of  this  celebrated  party  may  well  have 
led  Schubert  to  write  string-quartets;  at  any 
rate  he  himself  tells  us  that  he  had  written  two 
before  the  3ist  March,1  and  these  are  doubtless 
those  in  Eb  and  E  (op.  125),  since  the  only  other 
quartet  bearing  the  date  of  1824 — that  in  A  mi 
nor — has  so  strong  a  Hungarian  flavour  as  to 
point  to  his  visit  to  Zsel&sz  later  in  the  year. 
How  powerfully  his  thoughts  were  running  at 
present  on  orchestral  music  is  evident  from  the 
fact  that  he  mentions  both  octet  and  quartets  as 
2 studies  for  'the  Grand  Symphony,'  which  was 
then  his  goal,  though  he  did  not  reach  it  till 
eighteen  months  later. 

A  bitter  disappointment  however  was  awaiting 
him  in  the  rejection  of  'Fierabras,'  which,  as 
already  mentioned,  was  returned  by  Barbaja, 
ostensibly  on  account  of  the  badness  of  its 
libretto.  Two  full-sized  operas — this  and  'Al 
fonso  and  Estrella' — to  be  laid  on  the  shelf 
without  even  a  rehearsal !  Whatever  the  cause, 
the  blow  must  have  been  equally  severe  to  our 
simple,  genuine,  composer,  who  had  no  doubt 
been  expecting,  not  without  reason,  day  by  day 
for  the  last  four  months,  to  hear  of  the  acceptance 
of  his  work.  His  picture  of  himself  under  this 
temporary  eclipse  of  hope  is  mournful  in  the 
extreme,  though  natural  enough  to  the  easily 
depressed  temperament  of  a  man  of  genius.  After 
speaking  of  himself  as  'the  most  unfortunate, 
most  miserable  being  on  earth,'  he  goes  on  to 
say,  '  think  of  a  man  whose  health  can  never 
be  restored,  and  who  from  sheer  despair  makes 
matters  worse  instead  of  better.  Think,  I  say, 
of  a  man  whose  brightest  hopes  have  come  to 
nothing,  to  whom  love  and  friendship  are  but 
torture,  and  whose  enthusiasm  for  the  beautiful 
is  fast  vanishing ;  and  ask  yourself  if  such  a  man 
is  not  truly  unhappy. 

My  peace  is  gone,  my  heart  is  sore, 
Gone  for  ever  and  evermore. 

This  is  my  daily  cry;  for  every  night  I  go  to 
sleep  hoping  never  again  to  wake,  and  every 
morning  only  brings  back  the  torment  of  the  day 
before.  Thus  joylessly  and  friendlessly  would 
pass  my  days,  if  Schwind  did  not  often  look  in, 
and  give  me  a  glimpse  of  the  old  happy  times. 
.  .  .  Your  brother's  opera' — this  is  a  letter  to 
Kupelwieser  the  painter,  and  the  allusion  is  to 
Fierabras — 'turns  out  to  be  impracticable,  and 
my  music  is  therefore  wasted.  Castelli's  '  Ver- 
schworenen'  has  been  set  in  Berlin  by  a  com 
poser  there,  and  produced  with  success.  Thus 
I  have  composed  two  operas  for  nothing.'  This 
sad  mood,  real  enough  at  the  moment,  was 
only  natural  after  such  repulses.  It  was  as 
sisted,  as  Schubert's  depression  always  was,  by 
the  absence  of  many  of  his  friends,  and  also,  as 
he  himself  confesses,  by  his  acquaintance  with 
Leidesdorf  the  publisher  (in  Beethoven's  banter 

1  In  his  letter  to  Leopold  Kupelwieser  of  March  31.  K.  H.  321  (11. 5). 

2  '  In  this  manner  I  shall  prepare  the  way  to  the  Grand  Symphony 
(zur  grossen  SinfbnieV   Ibid. 


SCHUBERT. 

'  Dorf  des  Leides,'  a  very  '  village  of  sorrow '), 
whom  he  describes  as  a  thoroughly  good,  trust 
worthy  fellow,  'but  so  very  melancholy  that  I 
begin  to  fear  I  may  have  learnt  too  much  from 
him  in  that  direction.'    It  must  surely  have  been 
after  an  evening  with  this  worthy  that  he  made  the 
touching  entries  in  his  journal  which  have  been 
preserved;  e.g.  'Grief  sharpens  the  understand 
ing  and  strengthens  the  soul :  Joy  on  the  other 
hand  seldom  troubles  itself  about  the  one,  and 
makes  the  other  effeminate  or  frivolous.'     'My 
musical  works  are  the  product  of  my  genius  and 
my  misery,  and  what  the  public  most  relish  is 
that  which  has  given  me  the  greatest  distress.' 
Fortunately,  in  men  of  the   genuine  composer- 
temperament,  the  various  moods  of  mind  follow 
one  another  rapidly.     As  soon  as  they  begin  to 
compose  the  demon  flies  and  heaven  opens.  That 
gloomy  document  called  'Beethoven's  Will,'  to 
which    even   Schubert's   most   wretched  letters 
must  yield  the  palm,  was  written  at  the  very 
time   that  he   was   pouring    out    the   gay  and 
healthy  strains  of  his  2nd  Symphony.     Schubert 
left  town  with  the  Esterhazys  in  a  few  weeks 
after  these  distressing  utterances,  and  for  a  time 
forgot  his  troubles  in  the  distractions  of  country 
life  in  Hungary.    At  Zsele'sz  he  remained  for  six 
months,  but  his  life  there  is  almost  entirely  a 
blank  to  us.     We  can  only  estimate  it  by  the 
compositions  which  are  attributable  to  the  period, 
and    by   the   scanty  information  conveyed   by 
his   letters,  which,  though  fuller  of  complaint 
than  those  of  1818,  are  even  less  communicative 
of  facts  and  occurrences.     To  this  visit  is  to  be 
ascribed  that  noble  composition  known  as  the 
'Grand  Duo'  (op.  140),  though  designated  by  him 
self  as  '  Sonata  for  the  PF.  for  four  hands.  Zsele's, 
June  1824' ;  a  piece  which,  though  recalling  in 
one  movement  Beethoven's  2nd,  and  in  another 
his  yth  Symphony,  is  yet  full  of  the  individu 
ality  of  its  author ;  a  symphonic  work  in  every 
sense  of  the  word,  which,  through  Joachim's  in 
strumentation,   has   now  become   an  orchestral 
symphony,  and  a  very  fine  one.     To  Zsel&z  also 
is  due  the  Sonata  in  Bb  (op.  30,  May  or  June), 
the  Variations  in  Ab  (op.  35,  'middle  of  1824')* 
2  Waltzes  (in  op.  33,  '1824,  July'),  and4Landler 
('July,  1824,'  Nott.  p.  215)— all  for  PF.  4  hands; 
other  Waltzes  and  Landler  in  the  same  collections 
for  2  hands ;  and  the  '  Gebet '  of  Lamotte  Fouqu£ 
(op.   I39a),   signed    'Sept.   1824,  at  Zele'sz  in 
Hungary1 — all  evidently  arising  from  the  ne 
cessity  of  providing  music  for  the  Count's  family 
circle.     The  young  Countesses  were  now  nine 
teen   and   seventeen,    and   doubtless  good  per 
formers,  as  is  implied  in  the  duet-form  of  the 
pianoforte  works.    We  are  probably  right  in  also 
attributing  the  lovely  String  Quartet  in  A  minor 
(op.  29),  and  the  4-hand  'Divertissement  a  la 
hongroise'  (op.  54),  to  this  visit,  at  any  rate 
to  its  immediate  influence.     Both  are  steeped  in 
the   Hungarian  spirit,  and  the  Divertissement 
contains  a  succession  of  real  national  tunes,  one 
of  which  he  heard  from  the  lips  of  a  maidservant 
as  he  passed  the  kitchen  with  Baron  Scho'nstein 
in  returning  from  a  walk.     For  the  Baron  was 


SCHUBERT. 

at  Zselesz  on  this  as  on  the  last  occasion,  and 
frequent  and  exquisite  must  have  been  the  per 
formances  of  the  many  fine  songs  which  Schubert 
had  written  in  the  interval  since  his  former  visit. 

The  circumstances  attending  the  composition 
of  the  vocal  quartet  ('  Gebet,'  op.  139)  just  men 
tioned  are  told  by  Kreissle,  probably  on  the 
authority  of  Schbnstein,  and  they  give  a  good 
instance  of  Schubert's  extraordinary  facility. 
At  breakfast  one  morning,  in  Sept.  1824,  the 
Countess  produced  Lamotte  Fouque"s  poem,  and 
proposed  to  Schubert  to  set  it  for  the  family 
party.  He  withdrew  after  breakfast,  taking 
the  book  with  him,  and  in  the  evening,  less 
than  ten  hours  afterwards,  it  was  tried  through 
from  the  score  at  the  piano.  The  next  evening  it 
was  sung  again,  this  time  from  separate  parts, 
which  Schubert  had  written  out  during  the  day. 
The  piece  is  composed  for  quartet,  with  solos  for 
Mad.  Esterhazy,  Marie,  Schonstein,  and  the 
Count,  and  contains  209  bars.  A  MS.  letter  of 
Ferdinand's,1  dated  July  3,  full  of  that  strong 
half-reverential  affection  which  was  Ferdinand's 
habitual  attitude  towards  his  gifted  brother,  and 
of  curious  details,  mentions  having  sent  him 
Bach's  fugues  (never-cloying  food  of  great  com 
posers),  and  an  opera-book,  'Der  kurze  Mantel.' 
Strange  fascination  of  the  stage,  which  thus,  in 
despite  of  so  many  failures,  could  keep  him  still 
enthralled ! 

The  country  air  of  the  Hungarian  mountains, 
and  no  doubt  the  sound  and  healthy  living 
and  early  hours  of  the  chateau,  restored  Schu 
bert's  health  completely,  and  in  a  letter  of 
Sept.  2 1  to  Schober  he  says  that  for  five  months 
he  had  been  well.  But  he  felt  his  isolation,  and 
the  want  of  congenial  Vienna  society  keenly; 
speaks  with  regret  of  having  been  '  enticed  '  into 
a  second  visit  to  Hungary,  and  complains  of  not 
having  a  single  person  near  to  whom  he  could 
say  a  sensible  word.  How  different  from  the 
exuberant  happiness  of  the  visits  to  Steyr  and 
St.  Pb'lten,  when  every  one  he  met  was  a  demon 
strative  admirer,  and  every  evening  brought  a 
fresh  triumph  ! 

Now,  if  ever,  was  the  date  of  his  tender 
feeling  for  his  pupil  Caroline  Esterhazy,  which 
his  biographers  have  probably  much  exagge 
rated.  She  was  seventeen  at  the  time,  and 
Bauernfeld  represents  her  as  the  object  of  an 
ideal  devotion,  which  soothed,  comforted,  and 
inspirited  Schubert  to  the  end  of  his  life.  Ideal 
it  can  only  have  been,  considering  the  etiquette 
of  the  time,  and  the  wide  distance  between  the 
stations  of  the  two ;  and  the  only  occasion  on 
which  Schubert  is  ever  alleged  to  have  approached 
anything  like  a  revelation  of  his  feelings,  is  that 
told  by  Kreissle — on  what  authority  he  does 
not  say,  and  it  is  hard  to  conceive — when  on 
her  jokingly  reproaching  him  for  not  having 
dedicated  anything  to  her,  he  replied,  'Why 
should  I  ?  everything  I  ever  did  is  dedicated 
to  you.'  True,  the  fine  Fantasia  in  F  minor, 
published  in  the  March  following  his  death  as 

i  For -which  I  again  gladly  acknowledge  the  kindness  of  Frl.  Caroline 
Geisler,  of  Vienna,  Schubert's  grandniece. 


SCHUBERT. 


341 


op.  103,  is  dedicated  to  her  'by  Franz  Schubert,' 
a  step  which  the  publishers  would  hardly  have 
ventured  upon  unless  the  MS. — probably  handed 
to  them  before  his  death — had  been  so  inscribed 
by  himself.  But  it  is  difficult  to  reconcile  the 
complaints  of  isolation  and  neglect  already 
quoted  from  his  letter  to  Schober  with  the  exist 
ence  of  a  passion  which  must  have  been  fed 
every  time  he  met  his  pupil  or  sat  down  to  the 
piano  with  her.  We  must  be  content  to  leave 
each  reader  to  decide  the  question  for  himself. 

Vocal  composition  he  laid  aside  almost  entirely 
in  1824.  The  only  songs  which  we  can  ascer 
tain  to  belong  to  it  are  four — the  fine  though 
gloomy  ones  called  'Auflbsung'  (Lf.  34,  no.  i). 
and  'Abendstern'  (Lf.  22,  no.  4),  both  by 
Mayrhofer;  another  evening  song,  'Im  Abend- 
roth,'  by  Lappe  (Lf.  20,  no.  i),  all  three  in 
March;  and  the  bass  song,  'Lied  einesKrieger's' 
(Lf.  20,  no.  2),  with  which  he  closed  the  last2  day 
of  the  year.  Of  part-songs  there  are  two,  both 
for  men's  voices  ;  one  a  '  Salve  regina,'  written 
in  April,  before  leaving  town;  and  the  other, 
the  '  Gondelfahrer,'  or  Gondolier,  a  very  fine 
and  picturesque  composition,  of  which  Lablache 
is  said  to  have  been  fond. — A  Sonata  for  PF.  and 
Arpeggione,  in  A  minor,  dated  Nov.  1824,  was 
probably  one  of  his  first  compositions  after  re 
turning  to  town.3 

The  publications  of  1824  embrace  ops.  25  to 
28  inclusive,  all  issued  by  Sauer  &  Leidesdorf. 
Op.  25  is  the  'Schbne  Miillerin,'  20  songs  in 
five  numbers,  published  March  25;  op.  26  is  the 
vocal  music  in  'Rosamunde,'4  the  romance  and 
three  choruses;  op.  27,  three  fine  'heroin  marches,1 
for  PF.  4  hands ;  op.  28,  '  Der  Gondelfahrer,'  for 
four  men's  voices  and  PF.,  Aug.  12. 

1825  was  a  happy  year  to  our  hero — happy 
and  productive.  He  was  back  again  in  his  dear 
Vienna,  and  exchanged  the  isolation  of  Zselesz  for 
the  old  familiar  life,  with  his  congenial  friends 
Vogl,  Schwind,  Jenger,  Mayrhofer,  etc.  (Schober 
was  in  Prussia,  and  Kupelwieser  still  at  Rome), 
in  whose  applause  and  sympathy  and  genial  con 
viviality  he  rapidly  forgot  the  disappointments  and 
depression  that  had  troubled  him  in  the  autumn. 
Sofie  Muller,  one  of  the  great  actresses  of  that 
day,  evidently  a  very  accomplished,  cultivated 
woman,  was  then  in  Vienna,  and  during  February 
and  March  her  house  was  the  resort  of  Schubert, 
Jenger,  and  Vogl,  who  sang  or  listened  to  her 
singing  of  his  best  and  newest  Lieder, — she  her 
self  sang  the  '  Junge  Nonne  '  at  sight  on  March 
3 — and  lived  a  pleasant  and  thoroughly  artistic 
life.5  Others,  which  she  mentions  as  new,  and 
which  indeed  had  their  birth  at  this  time,  are 
'  Der  Einsame,'  and  '  Ihr  Grab,'  The  '  new  songs 
from  the  Pirate,'  which  she  heard  on  March  i, 
may  have  been  some  from  the  Lady  of  the  Lake, 
or  '  Norna's  song,'  or  even  '  Anna  Lyle,'  usually 
placed  two  years  later.  Schubert  published  some 

2  The  autograph,  so  dated,  belongs  to  Mr.  C.  J.  Hargitt,  London. 

3  Gotthard,  1871.    Autograph  in  Musik  Verein. 

*  Besides  the  vocal  music,  the  overture  was  published  about  1828, 
and  the  Entractes  and  Ballet  music  in  1866. 

5  See  her  interesting  Journal,  in  her  '  Leben  und  nachgelassene 
Papiere  herausg.  von  Johann  Grafen  Majlath'  (Vienna  1832). 


342 


SCHUBERT. 


important  works  early  in  this  year,  the  Overture 
in  "F  for  4  hands  (op.  34) ;  also  the  Sonata  in  Bb  (op. 
30),  and  the  Variations  in  Ab  (op.  35),  both  for  4 
hands ;  and  the  String  Quartet  in  A  minor  (op.  29) 
— fruits  of  his  sojourn  in  Hungary.  The  last  of 
these,  the  only  quartet  he  was  destined  to  pub 
lish  during  his  life,  is  dedicated  'to  his  friend 
I.  Schuppanzigh,'  a  pleasant  memorial  of  the 
acquaintance  cemented  by  the  performance  of 
the  octet,  a  twelvemonth  before.  And  as  on 
such  publications  some  amount  of  money  passes 
from  the  publisher  to  the  composer,  this  fact  of 
itself  would  contribute  to  enliven  and  inspirit 
him.  In  addition  to  these  instrumental  works 
some  noble  songs  were  issued  in  the  early  part 
of  1825  — '  Der  ziirnenden  Diana,'  and  the 
'  Nachtstuck,'  of  Mayrhofer ;  *  Der  Pilgrim'  and 
•Der  Alpenjager,'  of  Schiller;  and  Zuleika's 
second  song.  The  two  beautiful  solo  sonatas  in 
A  minor  and  in  C — the  latter  of  which  he  never 
succeeded  in  completely  writing  out,  but  the 
fragment  of  which  is  of  first-rate  quality — also 
date  from  this  time. 

As  if  to  revenge  himself  for  his  sufferings  at 
the  Esterhazys',  he  planned  an  extensive  tour  for 
this  summer,  in  his  favourite  district,  and  in 
the  company  of  his  favourite  friend.  Vogl  on 
March  31  started  for  his  home  at  Steyr.  Schu 
bert  1  soon  followed  him,  and  the  next  five  months, 
to  the  end  of  October,  were  passed  in  a  delightful 
mixture  of  music,  friends,  fine  scenery,  lovely 
weather,  and  absolute  ease  and  comfort,  in 
Upper  Austria  and  the  Salzkammergut,  partly 
amongst  the  good  people  who  had  welcomed  him 
so  warmly  in  1819,  partly  among  new  friends  and 
new  enthusiasm.  Taking  Steyr  as  their  point 
d'appui  they  made  excursions  to  Linz,  Steyreck, 
Gmunden,  Salzburg,  and  even  as  far  as  Gastein, 
etc.,  heartily  enjoying  the  glorious  scenery  by  day, 
received  everywhere  on  arrival  with  open  arms, 
and  making  the  best  possible  impression  with 
their  joint  performances.  The  songs  from  'The 
Lady  of  the  Lake,'  were  either  composed  before 
starting  or  on.  the  road.  At  any  rate  they  formed 
the  chief  programme  during  the  excursion.  If 
the  whole  seven  were  sung  or  not  is  2  un 
certain  ;  but  Schubert  particularly  mentions  the 
'  Ave  Maria/  a  propos  to  which  he  makes  an 
interesting  revelation.  '  My  new  songs,'  says 
he,  '  from  Walter  Scott's  Lady  of  the  Lake, 
have  been  very  successful.  People  were  greatly 
astonished  at  the  devotion  which  I  have  thrown 
into  the  Hymn  to  the  Blessed  Virgin,  and  it 
seems  to  have  seized  and  impressed  everybody. 
I  think  that  the  reason  of  this  is  that  I  never 
force  myself  into  devotion,  or  compose  hymns  or 
prayers  unless  I  am  really  overpowered  by  the  feel 
ing  ;  that  alone  is  real,  true  devotion.'  It  is  during 
this  journey,  at  Salzburg,  that  he  makes  the  re 
mark,  already  noticed,  as  to  the  performance  of 
Vogl  and  himself.  At  Salzburg  too,  it  was  the  'Ave 
Maria '  that  so  rivetfced  his  hearers.  '  We  pro 
duced  our  seven  pieces  before  a  select  circle,  and 

1  The  dates  of  the  early  part  of  the  tour  are  not  to  be  made  out. 

2  Schubert  speaks  of  them  as  'unsere  sieben  Sachen'  (Latter  to 
Ferdinand,  Kreissle  363) ;  but  Nos.  3  and  4  are  for  chorus. 


SCHUBERT. 

all  were  much  impressed,  especially  by  the  Ave 
Maria,  which  I  mentioned  in  my  former  letter. 
The  way  in  which  Vogl  sings  and  I  accompany, 
so  that  for  the  moment  we  seem  to  be  one,  is 
something  quite  new  and  unexpected  to  these 
good  people.'  Schubert  sometimes  performed 
alone.  He  had  brought  some  variations  and 
marches  for  4  hands  with  him,  and  finding  a 
good  player  at  the  convents  of  Florian  and 
Kremsmunster,  had  made  a  great  effect  with 
them.  But  he  was  especially  successful  with  the 
lovely  variations  from  the  solo  Sonata  in  A  minor 
(op.  42);  and  here  again  he  lets  us  into  his 
secret.  'There  I  played  alone,  and  not  without 
success,  for  I  was  assured  that  the  keys  under 
my  hands  sang  like  voices,  which  if  true  makes 
me  very  glad,  because  I  cannot  abide  that  ac 
cursed  thumping,  which  even  eminent  players 
adopt,  but  which  delights  neither  my  ears  nor  my 
judgment.'  He  found  his  compositions  well  known 
throughout  Upper  Austria.  The  gentry  fought  for 
the  honour  of  receiving  him,  and  to  this  day  old 
people  are  found  to  talk  with  equal  enthusiasm  of 
his  lovely  music,  and  of  the  unaffected  gaiety 
and  simplicity  of  his  ways  and  manners. 

The  main  feature  of  the  tour  was  the  excursion 
to  Gastein  in  the  mountains  of  East  Tyrol.  To 
Schubert  this  was  new  ground,  and  the  delight 
in  the  scenery  which  animates  his  description 
is  obvious.  They  reached  it  about  Aug.  18,  and 
appear  to  have  remained  three  or  four  weeks, 
returning  to  Gmunden  about  Sept.  10.  At 
Gastein,  among  other  good  people,  he  found  his 
old  ally  Ladislaus  Pyrker,  Patriarch  of  Venice, 
and  composed  two  songs  to  his  poetry,  'Heimweh' 
and  '  Allmaeht '  (op.  79).  But  the  great  work  of 
this  date  was  the  '  Grand  Symphony '  which  had 
been  before  him  for  so  long.  We  found  him  18 
months  ago  writing  quartets  and  the  octet  as 
preparation  for  it,  and  an  allusion  in  a  letter3 
of  Schwind's  shows  that  at  the  beginning  of 
August  he  spoke  of  the  thing  as  virtually  done. 
That  it  was  actually  put  on  to  paper  at  Gastein 
at  this  date  we  know  from  the  testimony  of 
*Bauerafeld,  who  also  informs  us  that  it  was  a 
special  favourite  with  its  composer.  Seven  songs 
in  all  are  dated  in  this  autumn,  amongst  them 
two  fine  scenes  from  a  play  by  W.  von  Schutz 
called  '  Lacrimas '  (op.  1 24),  not  so  well  known 
as  they  deserve. 

The  letters  of  this  tour,  though  not  all  preserved, 
are  unusually  numerous  for  one  who  so  much 
disliked  writing.  One  long  one  to  his  father  and 
mother;  another,  much  longer,  to  Ferdinand;  a 
third  to  Spaun,  and  a  fourth  to  Bauernfeld,  are 
printed  by  Kreissle,  and  contain  passages  of  real 
interest,  showing  how  keenly  he  observed  and  how 
thoroughly  he  enjoyed  nature,  and  displaying 
throughout  a  vein  of  good  sense  and  even  5  prac 
tical  sagacity,  and  a  facility  of  expression,  which 
are  rare  in  him. 

3  K.  H.  358  (H.  43).    '  To  your  Symphony  we  tire  looking  forward 
eagerly.'  implying  that  Schubert  had  mentioned  it  in  a  former  letter. 

4  W.  Z.  K.,  June  9—13,  1829. 

5  See  his  shrewd  reasons  for  not  at  once  accepting  Bauernfeld's 
proposition  that  he,  Schwind  and  Schubert   should  all  live  together. 
K.  H.  370  (ii.  57).    Also  the  whole  letter  to  Spaun. 


SCHUBERT. 

At  length  the  summer  and  the  money  came  to 
an  end,  Vogl  went  off  to  Italy  for  his  gout,  and 
Schubert,  meeting  Gahy  at  Linz,  returned  with 
him  and  the  MS.  Symphony  to  Vienna  in  an  Ein- 
spdnner,  to  find  Schober  and  Ku  pel  wieser  both  once 
more  settled  there.  The  first  thing  to  be  done 
was  to  replenish  his  purse,  and  this  he  soon  did 
by  the  sale  of  the  seven  songs  from  '  The  Lady  of 
the  Lake,'  which  he  disposed  of  on  Oct.  29  to 
Artaria,  for  200  silver  gulden  —  just  £20  !  Twenty 
pounds  however  were  a  mine  of  wealth  to  Schu 
bert;  and  even  after  repaying  the  money  which 
had  been  advanced  by  his  father,  and  by  Bauern- 
feld  for  the  rent  of  the  lodgings  during  his  ab 
sence,  he  would  still  have  a  few  pounds  in  hand. 

During  Schubert's  absence  in  the  country  his 
old  friend  Salieri  died,  and  was  succeeded  by 
Eybler.  The  Court  organist  also  fell  ill,  and 
Schwind  wrote  urging  him  to  look  after  the 
post  ;  but  Schubert  makes  no  sign,  and  evidently 
did  nothing  in  the  matter,  though  the  organist 
died  on  Nov.  19.  He  obviously  knew  much 
better  than  his  friends  that  he  was  absolutely 
unfit  for  any  post  requiring  punctuality  or  re 
straint.  In  the  course  of  this  year  he  was 
made  '  Ersatzmann,'  or  substitute  —  whatever  that 
may  mean  —  by  the  Musik-Verein,  or  Gesellschaft 
der  Musikfreunde.  Of  what  happened  from  this 
time  till  the  close  of  1825  we  have  no  certain 
information.  He  set  two  songs  by  Schulze  (Lf. 
13,  nos.  I,  2)  in  December;  and  it  is  probable 
that  the  Piano  Sonata  in  D  (op.  53),  and  the 
noble  funeral  march  for  the  Emperor  of  Russia 
(op.  55),  whose  death  was  known  in  Vienna  on 
Dec.  14,  both  belong  to  that  month.  What 
gave  him  his  interest  in  the  death  of  Alexander 
is  not  known,  but  the  march  is  an  extraordinarily 
fine  specimen.  A  piece  for  the  Piano  in  F,  serving 
as  accompaniment  to  a  recitation  from  a  poem  by 
Pratobevera,  a  series  of  graceful  modulations  in 
arpeggio  form,  also  dates  from  this  year.1 

The  compositions  of  1825  may  be  here  summed 
up  :  —  Sonata  for  PF.  solo  in  A  minor  (op.  42)  ; 
ditto  in  D  (op.  53)  ;  ditto  in  A  (op.  120);  un 
finished  ditto  in  C  ('  Reliquie,'  Nott.  p.  211)  ;  a 
funeral  march,  4  hands,  for  the  Emperor  Alex 
ander  of  Russia  (op.  55).  Songs  —  'Des  Sangers 
Habe,'  by  Schlechta,  and  '  Im  Walde,'  by  E. 
Schulze;  7  from  '  The  Lady  of  the  Lake'  (op.  52)  ; 
another  from  2  Scott's  '  Pirate';  'Auf  der  Briicke,' 
by  Schulze;  '  Flille  der  Liebe,'  by  Schlegel; 
'Allmacht'  and  'Heimweh,'  by  Pyrker;  two 
scenes  from  '  Lacrimas,'  by  W.  von  Schutz  ;  and 
'  Abendlied  fur  die  Entfernte,'  by  A.  W.  Schlegel  ; 
'Die  junge  Nonne,'  '  Todtengrabers  Heimweh,' 
and  'Der  blinde  Knabe,'  all  by  Craigher;  'Der 
Einsame,'  by  Lappe;  and,  in  December,  'An 
mein  Herz  '  and  '  Der  liebliche  Stern,'  both  by 
Ernst  Schulze.  It  is  also  more  than  probable 
that  the  String-  quartet  in  D  minor  was  at  least 
begun  before  the  end  of  the  year. 

The  publications  of  1825  are:  —  In  January, 
°ps-  32>  30,  345  Feb-  TI»  °PS-  36  and  37  ;  May  9, 


SCHUBERT. 


343 


1  Printed  by  Keissmann  In  his  book. 

2  So  says  Sofie  Milller  (under  date  of  Mar.  1)  ;  but  perhaps  it  was 
her  mistake  for  Norman's  song  in  '  The  Lady  of  the  Lake.' 


op.  38;  July  25,  op.  43;  Aug.  12,  op.  31 ;  and, 
without  note  of  date,  ops.  29  and  33.  Op.  29  is 
the  lovely  A  minor  Quartet ;  and  it  is  worthy  of 
note  that  it  is  published  as  the  first  of  'Trois 
quatuors.'  This  was  never  carried  out.  The 
two  others  were  written,  as  we  have  already  seen 
(p.  340  a),  but  they  remained  unpublished  till 
after  the  death  of  their  author. 

1826  was  hardly  eventful  in  any  sense  of  the 
word,  though  by  no  means  unimportant  in 
Schubert's  history.  It  seems  to  have  been  passed 
entirely  in  Vienna.  He  contemplated  a  trip  to 
Linz  with  Spaun  and  Schwind,  but  it  did  not 
come  off.  The  weather  of  this  spring  was  extra 
ordinarily  bad,  and  during  April  and  May  he 
composed  nothing.3  The  music  attributable  to 
1826  is,  however,  of  first-rate  quality.  The 
String  Quartet  in  D  minor,  by  common  consent 
placed  at  the  head  of  Schubert's  music  of  this 
class,  was  first  played  on  Jan.  29,  and  was  there 
fore  doubtless  only  just  completed.*  That  in  G 
(op.  161),  Schubert  himself  has  dated  as  being 
written  in  ten  days  (June  20  to  June  30),  a  work 
teeming  with  fresh  vigour  after  the  inaction  of  the 
preceding  two  months,  as  full  of  melody,  spirit, 
romance,  variety,  and  individuality,  as  anything 
he  ever  5  penned,  and  only  prevented  from  taking 
the  same  high  position  as  the  preceding,  by  its 
great  length — due  to  the  diffuseness  which  Schu 
bert  would  no  doubt  have  remedied  had  he 
given  himself  time  to  do  so.  One  little  point 
may  be  mentioned  en  passant  in  both  these  noble 
works— the  evidence  they  afford  of  his  lingering 
fondness  for  the  past.  In  the  D  minor  Quartet 
he  goes  back  for  the  subject  and  feeling  of  the 
Andante  to  a  song  of  his  own  of  1816,  and  the 
Finale  of  the  G  major  is  curiously  tinged  with 
reminiscences  of  the  Rossini- fever  of  1819. 

The  'Rondeau  brillant'  in  B  minor  for  PF. 
and  violin  (op.  70),  now  such  a  favourite  in  the 
concert-room,  also  belongs  to  this  year,  though  it 
cannot  be  precisely  dated  ;  and  so  does  a  piece  of 
still  higher  quality,  which  is  pronounced  by 
Schumann  to  be  its  author's  '  most  perfect  work 
both  in  form  and  conception,'  the  Sonata  in  G 
major  for  PF.  solo,  op.  78,  usually  called  the  'Fan 
tasia,'  owing  to  a  freak  of  the  publisher's.  The 
autograph  is  inscribed,  in  the  hand  of  its  author, 
'IV.  Senate  fur  Pianoforte  allein.  Oct.  1826, 
Franz  Schubert';  above  which,  in  the  writing 
of  Tobias  Haslinger,  stands  the  title  '  Fantasie, 
Andante,  Menuetto  und  Allegretto.'  We  may 
well  say  with  Beethoven,  '  0  Tobias ! ' 

By  the  side  of  these  undying  productions  the 
'Marche  heVoique,'  written  to  celebrate  the 
accession  of  Nicholas  I.  of  Russia,  and  the 
Andantino  and  Rondo  on  French  motifs — both 
for  PF.  4  hands,  are  not  of  great  significance. 

An  attack  of  song-writing  seems  to  have  come 
upon  him  in  March,  which  date  we  find  attached 

3  See  his  letter  to  Bauernfeld  and  Mayrhofer,  In  'Die  Presse,'  April 
21, 1869. 

4  K.  H.  391(ii.77).  The  finale  was  voted  too  long,  to  which  Schubert, 
after  a  few  minutes  consideration,  agreed,  and  '  at  once  cut  out  a  good 
part.'   (Hauer's  information.)    The  autograph  has  disappeared. 

6  Played  at  the  Monday  Popular  Concerts  of  Dec.  14, 68,  and  Jan.  13, 
79 ;  Joachim  leading  on  both  occasions. 


344 


SCHUBERT. 


to  six  songs ;  or,  if  the  rest  of  those  to  Seidl's 
words  forming  ops.  105  and  80,  and  marked 
merely  '  1826,'  were  written  at  the  same  time  (as, 
from  Schubert's  habit  of  eviscerating  his  books, 
they  not  improbably  were)  —  twelve.  Three 
Shakspeare  songs  are  due  to  this  July — 'Havk! 
hark!  the  lark,'1  from  'Cymbeline';  'Who  is 
Sylvia  ? '  from  the  '  Two  Gentlemen  of  Verona ' ; 
and  the  Drinking-song  in  'Antony  and  Cleopatra' 
—the  first  two  perhaps  as  popular  as  any  single 
songs  of  Schubert's.  The  circumstances  of  the  com 
position,  or  rather  creation,  of  the  first  of  these  has 
already  been  mentioned  (p.  327  a).  The  fact  of 
three  songs  from  the  same  volume  belonging  to  one 
month  (not  improbably  to  one  day,  if  we  only 
knew)  is  quite  a  la  Schubert. — A  beautiful  and 
most  characteristic  piece  of  this  year  is  the '  Nacht- 
helle '  (or  Lovely  night),  written  to  words  of  Seidl's 
—not  improbably  for  the  Musikverein,  through 
Anna  Frohlich — for  tenor  solo,  with  accompani 
ment  of  4  men's  voices  and  pianoforte,  which 
would  be  a  treasure  to  singing  societies,  for  its 
truly  romantic  loveliness,  but  for  the  inordinate 
height  to  which  the  voices  are  taken,  and  the  great 
difficulty  of  executing  it  with  sufficient  delicacy. 
A  song  called  '  Echo  '  (op.  1 30),  probably  written 
in  1826,  was  intended  to  be  the  first  of  six 
'  humorous  songs  '  for  Weigl's  firm.2 

We  hear  nothing  of  the  new  Symphony  during 
the  early  part  of  this  year.  No  doubt  it  was 
often  played  from  the  MS.  score  at  the  meetings 
of  the  Schubert  set,  but  they  say  no  more  about  it 
than  they  do  of  the  Octet,  or  Quartets,  or  Sonatas, 
which  were  all  equally  in  existence  ;  and  for 
aught  we  know  it  might  have  been  '  locked  in  a 
drawer,'  which  was  often  Schubert's  custom  after 
completing  a  work — 'locked  in  a  drawer  and 
never  thought  about  again.'3  It  was  however 
destined  to  a  different  fate.  On  the  Qth  Sept. 
1826,  at  one  of  the  first  meetings  of  the  Board 
of  the  Musik  Verein  after  the  summer  recess, 
Hofrath  Kiesewetter  reports  that  Schubert  desires 
to  dedicate  a  symphony  to  the  Society ;  upon 
which  the  sum  of  100  silver  florins  (£10)  is  voted 
to  him,  not  in  payment  for  the  work,  but  as  a 
token  of  sympathy,  and  as  an  encouragement. 
The  letter  conveying  the  money  is  dated  the 
1 2th,  and  on  or  even  before  its  receipt  Schubert 
brought  the  manuscript  and  deposited  it  with  the 
Society.  His  letter  accompanying  it  may  here 
be  quoted  : — 

To  the  Committee  of  the  Austrian  Musical  Society.— 
Convinced  of  the  noble  desire  of  the  Society  to  give  its 
best  support  to  every  effort  in  the  cause  of  art,  I  venture, 
as  a  native  artist,  to  dedicate  this  my  Symphony  to  the 
Society,  and  most  respectfully  to  recommend  myself  to 
its  protection.  With  the  highest  esteem,  Your  obedt. 

FRANZ  SCHUBERT. 

In  accordance  with  this,  the  MS.  probably  bears 
his  formal  dedication  to  the  Verein,  and  we  may 
expect  to  find  that  though  so  long  talked  of,  it 
bears  marks  of  having  been  written  down  as 
rapidly  as  most  of  his  other  productions.*  At 

1  Entitled  '  Serenade,'  but  more  accurately  an  '  Aubade.' 

2  See  Nottebohm's  Catalogue  under  op.  130. 

3  Lachner's  expression  to  my  friend  Mr.  C.  A.  Barry  In  1881. 

4  The  documents  on  which  these  statements  are  based  are  given  by 
Herr  C.  F.  Pohl  in  his  History  of  the  Gesellschaft  der  Musikfreunde 


SCHUBERT. 

present  however  all  trace  of  it  is  gone ;  not  even 
its  key  is  known.  There  is  no  entry  of  it  in  the 
catalogue  of  the  Society's  Library,  and  except  for 
the  minute  and  letter  given  above,  and  the  posi 
tive  statements  of  Bauernfeld  quoted  below5  it 
might  as  well  be  non-existent.  That  it  is  an 
entirely  distinct  work  from  that  in  C,  written 
2 1  years  later,  can  hardly  admit  of  a  doubt. 

Of  the  publications  of  1826,  the  most  re 
markable  are  the  seven  songs  from  '  The  Lady 
of  the  Lake,'  for  which  Artaria  had  paid  him 
200  florins  in  the  preceding  October,  and  which 
appeared  on  the  5th  of  this  April,  in  two  parts, 
as  op.  52.  They  were  succeeded  immediately, 
on  April  8,  by  the  PF.  Sonata  in  D  (op.  53),  and 
the  'Divertissement  a  la  hongroise'  (op.  54), 
both  issued  by  the  same  firm.  For  these  two 
splendid  works  Schubert  received  from  the 
penurious  Artaria  only  300  Vienna  florins,  equal 
to  £12.  Songs  issued  fast  from  the  press  at 
this  date ;  for  on  the  6th  of  April  we  find  op.  56 
(3  songs)  announced  by  Pennauer,  and  ops.  57 
and  58  (each  3  songs)  by  Weigl  ;  on  June 
10,  op.  60  ('  Greisengesang  '  and  '  Dithyrambe ') 
by  Cappi  and  Czerny ;  in  Sept.  op.  59  (4  songs, 
including  *  Dass  sie  hier  gewesen,'  '  Du  bist  die 
Ruh,'  and  'Lachen  und  Weinen ')  by  Leidesdorf ; 
and  op.  64  (3  part-songs  for  men's  voices)  by 
Pennauer  ;  and  on  Nov.  24,  op.  65  (3  songs) 
by  Cappi  and  Czerny.  Some  of  these  were  com 
posed  as  early  as  1814,  15,  16;  others  again 
in  1820,  22,  and  23.  The  Mass  in  C  (op.  48), 
and  three  early  pieces  of  church  music,  '  Tantum 
ergo'  (op.  45),  '  Tot  us  in  corde'  (op.  46),  and 
'Salve  Regina'  (op.  47),  were  all  issued  in  this 
year  by  Diabelli.  Of  dances  and  marches  for 
piano  there  are  8  numbers  : — a  Galop  and  8 
Ecossaises  (op.  49) ;  34  Valses  sentimentales 
(op.  50)  ;  *  Hommage  aux  belles  Viennoises'  (16 
Landler  and  2  Ecossaises,  op.  67) ;  3  Marches 
(4  hands,  op.  51) — all  published  by  Diabelli; 
the  2  Russian  Marches  (op.  55,  56),  by  Pen 
nauer  ;  6  Polonaises  (op.  61),  Cappi  and  Czerny; 
and  a  Divertissement,  or  'Marche  brillante  et 
raisonne'e,'  on  French  motifs  (op.  63),  Weigl. 
In  all,  22  publications,  divided  between  6  pub 
lishers,  and  containing  106  works.  c 

We  have  been  thus  particular  to  name  the 
numbers  and  publishers  of  these  works,  because 

—or  Musikverein— Vienna  1871,  p.  16 ;  and  by  Ferdinand  Schubert  in 
the  Neue  Zeitschrift  fur  Husik  for  April  30. 1839.  p.  140. 

5  Bauernfeld.  in  an  article  '  Ueber  Franz  Schubert '  in  the  '  Wiener 
Zeitschrift  fur  Kunst,  Literatur,  Theater,  und  Mode,'  for  9,  11,  13 
June.  1829  (Nos.  69,  70,  71),  says  as  follows:— 'To  the  larger  works  of 
his  latter  years  also  belongs  a  Symphony  written  in  1825  at  Gastein, 

for  which  its  author  had  an  especial  predilection At  a  great 

concert  given  by  the  Musik  Verein  shortly  after  his  death  a  Sym 
phony  in  C  was  performed,  which  was  composed  as  early  as  1817 
118181.  and  which  he  considered  as  one  of  his  less  successful  works.  .  . 
Perhaps  the  Society  intends  at  some  future  time  to  make  us  ac 
quainted  with  one  of  the  later  Symphonies,  possibly  the  Gastein  cue 
already  mentioned.'  [N.B.  The  two  movements  of  the  B  minor  Sym 
phony  (1822)  -were  not  at  this  time  known,  so  that  by  '  later  Sym 
phonies'  Bauerufeld  must  surely  intend  the  two  of  1825  and  1828.] 
At  the  end  of  the  article  he  gives  a  '  chronological  list  of  Schubert^ 
principal  works  not  yet  generally  known.'  Amongst  these  are  '1825, 
Grand  Symphony.'  .  .  '1828,  Last  Symphony  '—'Grand '  (grosse) being 
the  word  used  by  Schubert  himself  in  his  letter  to  Kupelwieser 
referred  to  above  (p. 340  a).  It  Is  plain  therefore  that  at  this  time,  seven 
months  after  Schubert's  death,  the  Gastein  Symphony  of  1825,  and 
that  in  C  major  of  1828,  were  known  as  distinct  works.  The  present 
writer  has  collected  the  evidence  for  the  existence  of  the  Symphony 
in  a  letter  to  the  London  '  Athenaeum '  of  Nov.  19, 1881. 


SCHUBERT. 

they  show   conclusively   how   much   Schubert's 
music  was  coining  into  demand.     Pennauer  and 
Leidesdorf  were  his  personal  friends,  and  may 
possibly  have  printed  his  pieces  from  chivalrous 
motives;  but  no  one  can  suspect  hard  and  ex 
perienced   men    of    business   like   Diabelli   and 
Artaria  of  publishing  the  music  of  any  one  at 
their  own  risk  unless  they  believed  that  there 
was  a  demand  for  it.     The  list  is  a  remarkable 
one,  and   will  compare  for  extent  and  variety 
with   that   of  most   years   of  Beethoven's  life. 
And  even  at  the  incredibly  low1  prices  which  his 
publishers  gave  for  the  exclusive  copyright  of 
his  works,  there  is  enough  in  the  above  to  pro 
duce  an  income  sufficient  for  Schubert's  wants. 
But  the  fact  is  that  he  was  mixed  up  with  a  set 
of  young  fellows  who  regarded  him  as  a  Croesus,2 
and  who  virtually  lived   upon  his   carelessness 
and   good-nature,  under   the   guise   of  keeping 
house  in  common.     Bauernfeld,  in  an  article  in 
the  Vienna  'Presse'  of  April  17,  1869,  has  given 
us  the  account  with  some  naivete.     A  league  or 
partnership  was  made  between  himself,  Schwind 
the  painter,  and  Schubert.     They  had  nominally 
their  own  lodgings,  but  often  slept  all  together  in 
the  room  of  one.  The  affection  between  them  was 
extraordinary.     Schubert  used  to  call  Schwind 
'  seine  Geliebte  * —  his  innamorata  I    A  kind  of 
common  property  was  established  in  clothes  and 
money ;  hats,  coats,  boots,  and  cravats  were  worn 
in  common,  and  the  one  who  was  in  cash  paid  the 
score  of  the  others.    As  Schwind  and  Bauernfeld 
were  considerably  younger  than  Schubert,  that 
duty  naturally  fell  on  him.     When  he  had  sold 
a  piece  of  music  he  seemed  to  this  happy  trio  to 
'swim  in  money,'  which  was  then  spent  'right 
and  left '  in  the  most  reckless  manner,  till  it  was 
all  gone,  and  the  period  of  reverse  came.     Under 
these  circumstances  life  was  a  series  of  fluctua 
tions,  in  which  the  party  were  never  rich,  and 
often  very  poor.      On  one  occasion  Bauernfeld 
and  Schubert   met   in  a  coffee-house   near  the 
Karnthnerthor  theatre,   and  each  detected  the 
other  in  ordering  a  melange  (cafi  au  lait)  and 
biscuits,  because  neither  had  the  money  to  pay 
for  dinner.     And  this  in  Schubert's  2Qth  year, 
when  he  had  already  written  immortal  works 
quite  sufficient  to  make  a  good  livelihood !     Out 
side  the  circle  of  this  trio  were  a  number  of 
other  young  people,  artists  and  literary  men, 
Schober,  Jenger,  Kupelwieser,  etc.,  attracted  by 
Schubert's  genius,  good-nature,  and  love  of  fun, 
and  all  more  or  less  profiting  by  the  generosity 
of  one  who  never  knew  what  it  was  to  deny  a 
friend.     The  evenings  of  this  jolly  company  were 
usually  passed  in  the  Gasthaus,  and  then  they 
would  wander  about,  till  daybreak  drove  them 
to  their  several  quarters,  or  to  the  room  of  one 

1  It  is  said  by  Schindler  that  the  prices  agreed  on  with  him  were 
10  Vienna  gulden  per  Heft  of  songs,  and  12  per  pianoforte  piece.  (The 
Vienna  gulden  was  then  worth  just  1  franc.  '  Heft '  meant  then  a  single 
song,  not  a  'Part'  of  two  or  three.  This  is  conclusively  proved  by 
Ferdinand  Schubert's  letter  of  1824.)  These  prices  were  not  adhered 
to.  Thus  for  the  7  '  Lady  of  the  Lake '  songs  he  had  500  paper  gulden = 
20J.,  or  nearly  81.  per  song.  Even  that  is  low  enough.  On  the  other 
hand,  F.  Lachner  told  Mr.  Barry  that  in  the  last  year  of  Schubert's 
life,  he  took  half-a-dozen  of  the  '  Winterreise '  songs  to  Haslinger  at 
Schubert's  request,  and  brought  back  1  gulden  a  piece  (=10£)  for  them ! 

*  The  expression  is  Bauemfeld's. 


SCHUBERT. 


345 


of  the  party.  It  would  be  absurd  to  judge  Vienna 
manners  from  an  English  point  of  view.  The 
Gasthaus  took  the  place  of  a  modern  club,  and 
the  drink  consumed  probably  did  not  much 
exceed  that  which  some  distinguished  Vienna 
artists  now  imbibe  night  after  night,  and  does 
not  imply  the  excess  that  it  would  infallibly 
lead  to  in  a  Northern  climate ;  but  it  must  be 
obvious  that  few  constitutions  could  stand  such 
racket,  and  that  the  exertion  of  thus  trying  his 
strength  by  night  and  his  brain  by  day,  must 
have  been  more  than  any  frame  could  stand.  In 
fact  his  health  did  not  stand  the  wear  and  tear. 
We  have  seen  that  in  Feb.  1823  he  could  not 
leave  the  house  ;  that  in  the  summer  of  the  same 
year  he  was  confined  to  the  hospital;  that  in 
March  1824  he  speaks  of  his  health  as  irrecover 
ably  gone ;  and  the  dedication  of  the  six  4-hand 
Marches,  op.  40,  to  his  friend  Bernhardt,  doctor 
of  medicine,  'as  a  token  of  gratitude,'  is  strong 
evidence  that  in  1826,  the  year  of  their  publi 
cation,  he  had  had  another  severe  attack. 

It  was  probably  a  sense  of  the  precarious 
nature  of  such  a  life  that  led  some  of  his  friends 
in  the  autumn  of  1826  to  urge  Schubert  to  stand 
for  the  post  of  Vice-capellmeister  in  the  Imperial 
Court,  vacant  by  the  promotion  of  Eybler  to  that 
of  principal  capellmeister ;  but  the  application, 
like  every  other  of  the  same  kind  made  by  him, 
was  a  failure,  and  the  place  was  given  to  Joseph 
Weigl  by  the  Imperial  decree  of  Jan.  27,  1827. 

Another  opportunity  of  acquiring  a  fixed  in 
come  was  opened  to  him  during  the  same  autumn, 
by  the  removal  of  Karl  August  Krebs3  from 
the  conductorship  of  the  Court  theatre  to  Ham 
burg.  Vogl  interested  Duport,  the  adminis 
trator  of  the  theatre,  in  his  friend,  and  the 
appointment  was  made  to  depend  on  Schubert's 
success  in  composing  some  scenes  for  the  stage. 
Madame  Schechner,  for  whom  the  principal  part 
was  intended,  and  whose  voice  at  that  time  was 
on  the  wane,  at  the  pianoforte  rehearsals  objected 
to  some  passages  in  her  air,  but  could  not  induce 
the  composer  to  alter  them.  The  same  thing 
happened  at  the  first  orchestral  rehearsal,  when 
it  also  became  evident  that  the  accompaniments 
were  too  noisy  for  the  voice.  Still  Schubert  was 
immovable.  At  the  full -band  rehearsal  Schech 
ner  fairly  broke  down,  and  refused  to  sing  any 
more.  Duport  then  stept  forward,  and  formally 
requested  Schubert  to  alter  the  music  before  the 
next  meeting.  This  he  refused  to  do ;  but 
taking  the  same  course  as  Beethoven  had  done 
on  a  similar  occasion,  said  loudly,  'I  will  alter 
nothing,'  took  up  his  score  and  left  the  house. 
After  this  the  question  of  the  conductorship 
was  at  an  end.  Schubert's  behaviour  in  this 
matter  has  been  strongly  censured,  -but  we  do 
not  see  much  in  it.  Such  questions  will  always 
depend  on  the  temperament  of  the  composer. 
Had  it  been  either  Mozart  or  Mendelssohn  we 
cannob  doubt  that  all  would  have  gone  smoothly ; 
the  prima  donna  would  not  only  not  have  been 
ruffled,  but  would  have  felt  herself  complimented, 
and  the  music  would  have  been  so  altered  as  to 

3  Father  of  Miss  Mary  Krebs  the  pianist. 


346 


SCHUBEHT. 


meet  every  one's  wish,  and  yet  sound  as  well  as 
before.  On  the  other  hand,  had  it  been  Beethoven 
or  Schumann  we  may  be  equally  sure  that  not  a 
note  would  have  been  changed,  and  that  every 
thing  would  have  ended  in  confusion.  With  all 
Schubert's  good-nature,  when  his  music  was  con 
cerned  he  was  of  the  same  mind  as  Beethoven 
and  Schumann.  There  are  other  instances  of  the 
same  stubbornness,  which  will  be  noticed  later. 

Some  set-off  to  these  disappointments  was  af 
forded  by  the  ready  way  in  which  his  Gastein 
Symphony  was  received  by  the  Musik-Verein, 
and  the  sympathetic  resolution  and  prompt  dona 
tion  which  accompanied  its  acceptance,  although 
no  attempt  to  perform  or  even  rehearse  it  can  now 
be  traced.  The  beautiful  '  Nachthelle,'  already 
referred  to,  which  he  composed  in  September, 
was  rehearsed  during  the  early  winter  months, 
and  performed  by  the  Society  on  Jan.  -25,  1827. 

Some  little  gratification  also  he  not  improbably 
derived  from  the  letters  which  during  this  year 
he  began  to  receive  from  publishers  in  the  north. 
Probst  of  Leipzig — one  of  Beethoven's  publishers, 
predecessor  of  the  present  firm  of  Senff — was  the 
first  to  write.  His  letter  is  dated  Aug.  26,  and 
is  followed  by  one  from  Breitkopf  &  Hartel  of 
Sept.  7-  True,  neither  are  very  encouraging. 
Probst  speaks  of  his  music  as  too  often  '  peculiar 
and  odd,'  and  'not  intelligible  or  satisfactory  to  the 
public';  and  begs  him  to  write  so  as  to  be  easily 
understood;  while  Breitkopf  stipulates  that  the 
only  remuneration  at  first  shall  be  some  copies  of 
the  works.  Still,  even  with  this  poor  present 
result,  the  fact  was  obvious  that  he  had  begun  to 
attract  attention  outside  of  Austria. 

As  to  Schubert's  life  in  the  early  part  of  1827 
we  have  little  to  guide  us  beyond  the  scanty 
inferences  to  be  drawn  from  the  dated  compo 
sitions.  The  first  of  these  of  any  moment  are  8 
Variations  (the  8th  very  much  extended)  on  a 
theme  in  Herold's  opera  '  Marie/  for  PF.  4 
hands  (op.  82).  'Marie'  was  produced  on  the 
Vienna  boards  Jan.  18,  1827;  and  Schubert's 
Variations  are  dated  'February,'  and  are  dedicated 
to  one  of  his  friends  in  Upper  Austria,  Prof. 
Cajetan  Neuhaus  of  Linz.  The  next  and  still 
more  important  work  is  the  first  half  of  the 
'  Winterreise,'  12  songs  ('Gute  Nacht'  to  'Ein- 
samkeit'),  marked  as  begun  in  Feb.  1827.  Franz 
Lachner  remembers  that  '  half  a  dozen  '  of  them 
were  written  in  one  morning,  and  that  Diabelli 
gave  a  gulden  (that  is  a  franc)  apiece  for  them. 
The  poems  which  form  the  basis  of  this  work  are 
by  Wilhelm  Miiller,  the  poet  of  the  'Schone  Miil- 
lerin,'  which  the  Winterreise  closely  approaches 
in  popularity,  and  which  it  would  probably  equal 
if  the  maiden  of  the  Winter-walk  were  as  definite 
a  creation  as  the  miller's  daughter  is.  They  are 
24  in  *  all,  and  appear  under  their  now  immortal 
name  in  the  2nd  volume  of  the  work  of  which 
vol.  i.  contained  the  'Schone  Miillerin,'  and  which 
has  the  quaint  title  already  quoted  (p.  338  b).  The 
and  vol.  was  published  at  Dessau  in  1824,  and 
did  not  at  once  attract  Schubert's  notice.  When 
ifc  did,  he  made  short  work  of  it.  Another  im- 

i  The  order  of  the  songs  is  much  changed  in  the  music. 


SCHUBERT. 

portant  composition  of  this  month  (dated  Feb. 
28)  is  the  Schlachtlied  (battle-song)  of  Klopstock, 
set  for  2  choirs  of  male  voices,  sometimes  answer 
ing,  sometimes  in  8  real  parts,  of  immense  force 
and  vigour,  and  marked  by  that  dogged  adherence 
to  rhythm  so  characteristic  of  Schubert. 

He  can  scarcely  have  finished  with  this  before 
the  news  that  Beethoven  was  in  danger  spread 
through  Vienna.     The  great  musician  got  back 
to  his  rooms  in  the  Schwarzspanierhaus  from  his 
fatal  expedition  to  Gneixendorf  in  the  first  week 
of  December,  became  very  ill,  and  during  January 
was  tapped  for  the  dropsy  three  times.    Then 
Malfatti  was  called  in,  and  there  was  a  slight 
improvement.  During  this  he  was  allowed  to  read, 
and  it  was  then  that  Schindler,  a  zealous  Schubert- 
propagandist,  took  the  opportunity  to  put  some 
of  Schubert's  songs  into  his  hands.1     He  made  a 
selection  of  about  60,  in  print  and  MS.,  including 
'  Iphigenie,'    '  Grenzen   der    Menschheit,'  '  All- 
macht,'  'Die  junge2Nonne,'  'Viola,'  the  'Miiller- 
lieder,'  etc.    Beethoven  up  to  this  time  probably 
did  not  know  half  a  dozen  of  Schubert's  composi 
tions,  and  his  astonishment  was  extreme,  especi 
ally  when  he  heard  that  there  existed  at  least 
500  of  the  same  kind.     ( How  can  he  find  time, 
said  he,  to  set  such  long  poems,  many  of  them 
containing  ten  others'?'  i.  e.  as  long  as  ten  separate 
ones  ;   and  said  over  and  over  again, '  If  I  bad 
had   this  poem  I  would  have   set  it  myself; 
'  Truly  Schubert  has  the  divine  fire  in  him.'   He 
pored  over  them  for  days,  and  asked  to  see  Schu 
bert's  operas  and  PF.  pieces,  but  the  illness  re 
turned  and  it  was  too  late.     But  from  this  time 
till  his  death  he  spoke  often  of  Schubert,  regret 
ting  that  he  had  not  sooner  known  his  worth,  and 
prophesying  that  he  would  make  much  stir  in 
the  world.8     Schubert  was  sure  to  hear  of  these 
gratifying  utterances,  and  they  would  naturally 
increase  his  desire  to  come  into  close  contact 
with  the  master  whom  he  had  long  worshipped 
at  a  distance.     It  is  possible  that  this  embold 
ened  him  to  visit  the  dying  man.     He  seems  to 
have   gone   twice  ;    first  with  Ansehn  Hiitten- 
brenner    and    Schindler.     Schindler    told  Bee 
thoven  that  they  were  there,  and  asked  who  he 
would  see  first.     'Schubert  may  come  in  first' 
was  the  answer.     At  this  visit  perhaps,  if  ever/ 
it  was,  that  he  said,  in  his  affectionate  way,  'You, 
Anselna,  have  my  mind  (Geist),  but  Franz  has 
my  soul  (Seele).'    The  second  time  he  went  with 
Josef  Hiittenbrenner  and  Teltscher  the  painter. 
They   stood  round   the  bed.      Beethoven  was 
aware    of  their  presence,   and  fixing  his  eyes 
on  them,  made  some  signs  with  his  hand.    No 
one  however   could   explain   what  was  meant, 
and  no  words  passed  on  either  side.    Schubert 
left  the  room  overcome  with  emotion.    In  about 


1  Schindler.  'Beethoven,'  il.  136. 

2  Schindler's  list  of  the  songs  perused  by  Beethoven  differs  in  hi 
two  accounts.    Compare  his  'Beethoven,'  ii.  136,  with  K.H.  264  ( 
266). 

3  Schindler,  in  BSuerle's  Theaterzeitung  (Vienna),  May  3, 1831. 

4  See  von  Leitner,  '  Anselm  Hiittenbrenner,'  Ciratz,  1868,  p.  5.  I 
story  has  an  apocryphal  air,  but  Hiittenbrenner  was  so  thorough!) 
trustworthy,  that  it  is  difficult  to  reject  it.    At  any  rate,  B-ethove 
is  not  likely  to  have  thus  expressed  himself  before  he  had  made  ac 
quaintance  with  Schubert's  music. 


SCHUBERT. 

three  weeks  came  the  end,  and  then  the  funeral. 
Schubert  was  one  of  the  torch-bearers.  Franz 
Lachner  and  Eandhartinger  walked  with  him 
to  and  from  the  Cemetery.  The  way  back  lay 
by  the  Himmelpfortgrund,  and  close  by  the 
humble  house  in  which  he  had  drawn  his  first 
breath.  They  walked  on  into  the  town,  and 
stopped  at  the  'Mehlgrube,'  a  tavern  in  the 
Karnthnerthorstrasse,  now  the  Hotel  Munsch. 
There  they  called  for  wine,  and  Schubert  drank 
off  two  glasses,  one  to  the  memory  of  Beethoven, 
the  other  to  the  first  of  the  three  friends  who  should 
follow  him.  It  was  destined  to  be  himself. 

Lablache  was  also  one  of  the  torch-bearers 
at  the  funeral.  This  and  the  part  which  he  took 
in  the  Kequiem  for  Beethoven  [vol.  i.  201  a]  may 
have  induced  Schubert  to  write  for  him  the  '  3 
Italian  Songs  for  a  Bass  voice,'  which  form  op.  83, 
and  are  dedicated  to  the  great  Italian  basso. 

Hummel  and  Hiller  were  in  Vienna  during 
March  1827,  and  Hiller  describes  meeting  Schu 
bert  and  Vogl  at  Madame  Lacsny-Buchwieser's, 
and  his  astonishment  at  their  joint  performance. 
'Schubert,'  says  l  Hiller,  'had  little  technique,  and 
Vogl  but  little  voice ;  but  they  had  both  so  much 
life  and  feeling,  and  went  so  thoroughly  into  the 
thing,  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  render  these 
wonderful  compositions  more  clearly  and  more 
splendidly.  Voice  and  piano  became  as  nothing  ; 
the  music  seemed  to-  want  no  material  help,  but 
the  melodies  appealed  to  the  ear  as  a  vision  does 
to  the  eye.'     Not  only  did  the  boy  think  it  the 
deepest  musical  impression  he  had  ever  received, 
but  the  tears  coursed  down  the  cheeks  even  of 
the  veteran   Hummel.     Either  then    or  a   few 
evenings  afterwards,  Hummel  showed  his  appre 
ciation  by  extemporising  on  Schubert's  '  Blinde 
Knabe,'  which  Vogl  had  just  sung — to  Franz's 
delight. 

In  April  Schubert  wrote  the  beautiful '  Nacht- 
gesang  im  Walde '  (op.  139  &)  for  4  men's  voices 
and  4  horns;  and  a  'Spring  Song,'  also  for  men's 
voices,  still  ia  MS.  In  July  we  have  the  very 
fine  and  characteristic  serenade  '  Zogernd  leise' 
(op.  135)  for  alto  solo  and  female  voices,  a  worthy 
pendant  to  the  '  Nachthelle,'  and  written  almost 
a  I'lmprovisfe?  A  fete  was  to  be  held  for  the 
birthday  of  a  young  lady  of  Dobling.  Grillparzer 
had  written  some  verses  for  the  occasion,  and 
Schubert,  who  was  constantly  in  and  out  of  the 
Frohlichs'  house,  was  asked  by  Anna  to  set  them 
for  her  sister  Josephine  and  her  pupils.  He  took 
the  lines,  went  aside  into  the  window,  pushed  up 
his  spectacles  on  to  his  brow,  and  then,  with  the 
paper  close  to  his  face,  read  them  carefully  twice 
through.  It  was  enough :  '  I  have  it,  said  he, 
it's  done,  and  will  go  famously.'  A  day  or  two 
afterwards  he  brought  the  score,  but  he  had  em 
ployed  a  male  chorus  instead  of  a  female  one, 
and  had  to  take  it  away  and  transpose  it.  It 
was  sung  in  the  garden  by  moonlight,  to  the 
delight  of  every  one,  the  villagers  thronging  round 
the  gate.  He  alone  was  absent. 

1827  witnessed  another  attempt  at  an  opera — 
the  '  Graf  von  Gleichen,'  written  by  Bauernfeld, 

i  KOnstlerleben  (1880),  p,  49.  2  K.H.  474  (it.  160). 


SCHUBERT. 


347 


apparently  in  concurrence3  with  Mayrhofer. 
Schubert  had  the  libretto  in  August,  1826,  sub 
mitted  it  to  the  management  of  the  Royal  Opera- 
house,  and  arranged  with  Grillparzer,  in  case  the 
Censure  should  cause  its  rejection,'  to  have  it  ac 
cepted  by  the  Konigstadt  Theatre.  Owing  pos 
sibly  to  the  delay  of  the  Censure  it  was  nearly  a 
year  before  he  could  begin  the  composition.  The 
MS.  sketch,  now  in  Herr  Dumba's  collection,  is 
dated  at  the  beginning  '17  Juni  1827.'  The  opera 
is  sketched  throughout,  and  he  played  portions 
of  it  to  Bauernfeld.  Forty  years  later  the  sketch 
came  into  the  hands  of  Herbeck,  and  he  began 
to  score  it  after  Schubert's  indications — of  which 
there  are  plenty — but  was  prevented  by  death. 

A  correspondence  had  been  going  on  for  long 
between  the  Schubert  circle  at  Vienna  and  the 
Pachler  family  in  Gratz,  the  capital  of  Styria, 
as  to  an  expedition  thither  by  Schubert,  and  afc 
length  it  was  arranged  for  the  autumn  of  this 
year.     Carl  Pachler  was  one  of  those  cultivated 
men  of  business  who  are  such  an  honour  to  Ger 
many  ;  an  advocate,  and  at  the  head  of  his  pro 
fession,  yet  not  ashamed  to  be  an  enthusiastic 
lover  of  music  and  musicians,  and  proud  to  have 
them  at  his  house  and  to  admit  them  to  his  inti 
mate  friendship.     Amongst  his  circle  was  An- 
selm  Hiittenbrenner,  the  brother  of  Schubert's 
friend  Josef,  himself  an  earnest  admirer  of  Franz, 
whose  last  visit  to  Vienna  had  been  to  close  the 
eyes  of  his  old  friend   Beethoven.    The  house 
was  open  to  painters,  singers,  actors,  and  poets, 
'  the  scene  of  constant  hospitalities,  the  head 
quarters   of   every  remarkable   person   visiting 
Gratz/     Such  was  the  family  whose  one  desire 
was  to  receive  Schubert  and  Jenger.  The  journey, 
now  accomplished  in  5^  hours,  was  an  affair  of 
two  days  and  a  night,  even  in  the  fast  coach. 
They  left    on   Sunday  morning,    Sept.    2,   and 
reached  Gratz  on  Monday  night.  The  next  three 
weeks  were  spent  in  the  way  which  Schubert 
most  enjoyed,   excursions  and  picnics  by  day 
through  a  beautiful  country,  and  at  night  inces 
sant  music  ;    good  eating  and  drinking,  clever 
men  and  pretty  women,  no  fuss,  a  little  romping, 
a  good  piano,  a  sympathetic  audience,  and  no 
notice  taken  of  him — such  were  the  elements 
of  his  enjoyment.     The  music  was  made  mostly 
by  themselves,  Schubert  singing,  accompanying, 
and  playing  duets  with  Jenger,  and  extemporis 
ing  endless  dance  tunes.     He  does  not  appear 
to   have  composed  anything  of  great  moment 
during  the  visit.     A  galop  and  twelve  waltzes, 
published  under  the  titles  of  the '  Gratzer  Waltzer* 
(op.  91)  and  the  'Gratzer*  Galoppe';  3  songs 
(op.  106,  i,  2,  3 — the   last  a  particularly  fine 
one)   to  words  by  local  poets— and  the    '  Old 
Scottish  ballad '   by  Herder  (op.   165,    no.  5), 
were  probably  all  that  he  penned  during  this 
festive  fortnight ;  unless  perhaps  some  of  those 
exquisite  little   pieces    published   in   1828   and 
1838  as  'Impromptus'  and  'Momens  musicals' 
are  the  result  of  this  time.     Two  songs,  written 

3  See  Schubert's  letter  [May,  1826]  with  Bauernfeld's  statements,  in 
the  '  Presse '  of  April  21. 1869.  and  '  Signale,'  Nov.  1869. 
<  Published  by  Hasliuger,  as  No.  10  of  the  'Favorite  Galops,'  1828. 


348 


SCHUBEKT. 


a  couple  of  years  before,  'Im  Walde,'  and  'Auf 
der  Briicke,'  of  the  purest  Schubert,  proved,  and 
justly  proved,  such  favourites  that  he  had  them 
lithographed  and  published  in  the  place.1  The 
visit  is  further  perpetuated  by  the  titles  of  the 
dances  just  mentioned,  and  by  the  dedication  to 
Mad.  Pachler  of  op.  106,  a  collection  of  four  songs, 
the  three  already  named,  and  the  lovely  'Sylvia.' 
Schubert  seems  to  have  had  this  set  of  songs 
lithographed  without  name  of  place  or  publisher, 
shortly  after  his  return,  on  purpose  for  his  hostess.2 
The  journey  home  was  a  triumphal  progress, 
and  by  the  syth  they  were  back  in  Vienna. 
Schubert  then  wrote  the  second  part  of  the 
'  Winterreise '  (nos.  13-24),  completing  that  im 
mortal  work.  The  shadows  lie  much  darker  on 
the  second  than  on  the  first  part,  and  the  '  Weg- 
weiser,'  'Das  Wirthshaus,'  'Die  Krahe,'  'Die 
Nebensonnen,'  and  'Der  Leiermann,'  are  unsur 
passed  for  melancholy  among  all  the  songs.  Even 
in  the  extraordinary  and  picturesque  energy  of 
'Die  Post'  there  is  a  deep  vein  of  sadness.  Schu 
bert  here  only  followed  faithfully,  as  he  always 
does,  the  character  of  the  words. 

On  October  1 2  he  wrote  a  little  4-hand  march 
as  a  souvenir  for  Faust  Pachler,  the  son  of  his 
host,  a  trifle  interesting  only  from  the  circum 
stances  of  its  composition.  In  the  same  month 
he  composed  his  first  PF.  trio,  in  Bb  (op.  99),  and 
in  November  the  second,  in  Eb  (op.  loo).  They 
were  both  written  for  Booklet,  Schuppanzigh,  and 
Lincke,  and  were  first  heard  in  public,  the  one 
early  in  January,  the  other  on  March  26,  1828. 
The  year  was  closed  with  an  Italian  cantata, 
dated  Dec.  26,  '  alia  bella  Irene,'  in  honour  of 
Miss  Kiesewetter  (afterwards  Mad.  Prokesch  v. 
Osten),  the  daughter  of  his  friend  the  Hofrath, 
sponsor  to  the  Gastein  Symphony  (p.  344  a).  It 
is  still  in  MS.,  and  is  probably  more  interesting 
for  its  accompaniment  for  two  pianos  than  for 
anything  else. 

The  communications  with  Probst  of  Leipzig 
went  on.  There  is  a  letter  from  him  dated 
Jan.  15,  and  he  himself  paid  a  visit  to  Vienna 
later  in  the  season,  and  made  Schubert's3  personal 
acquaintance,  but  the  negotiations  were  not 
destined  to  bear  fruit  till  next  year.  But  a 
proof  that  Schubert  was  making  his  mark  in 
North  Germany  is  afforded  by  a  letter  from 
Bochlitz,  the  critic — editor  of  the  Leipzig  Allge- 
meine  Musikalische  Zeitung,  and  a  great  person 
age  in  the  musical  world  of  Saxony— dated  Nov.  7, 
1827,  proposing  that  Schubert  should  compose  a 
poem  by  him,  called  '  Der  erste  Ton,'  or  '  The 
first  Sound,'  a  poem  which  Weber  had  already 
set  without  success,  and  which  Beethoven  had 
refused.  Rochlitz's  letter  was  probably  inspired 
by  the  receipt  of  three  of  his  songs  set  by  Schubert 
as  op.  81,  and  published  on  May  27.  The  pro 
position  however  came  to  nothing. 

Coincident  with  these  communications  from 
abroad  came  a  gratifying  proof  of  the  improve- 

1  They  stood  originally  in  Bb  minor  and  A(?,  but  on  republication 
by  Diabelli  after  his  death,  as  op.  93,  the  keys  were  changed  to  Q 
minor  and  G  major. 

2  Compare  Jenger's  letter  in  K.H.  (it.  103),  note,  with  Nottebohm's 
notice  under  op.  103.  »  K,H.  421  (ii.  107). 


SCHUBERT. 

ment  in  his  position  at  home,  in  his  election  as  a 
member  of  the  representative  body  of  the  Musi- 
cal  Society  of  Vienna.  The  date  of  election  is 
not  mentioned;  but  Schubert's  reply,  as  given 
by  Herr  Pohl,4  is  dated  Vienna,  June  12,  1827, 
and  runs  as  follows  : — 

The  Managing  Committee  of  the  Society  of  Friends 
of  Music  of  the  Austrian  Empire  having  thought  me 
worthy  of  election  as  a  Member  of  the  Representative 
Body  of  that  excellent  Society,  I  beg  herewith  to  state 
that  I  feel  myself  greatly  honoured  by  their  choice,  and 
that  I  undertake  the  duties  of  the  position  with  much 
satisfaction. 

FRANZ  SCHUBERT,  Compositeur. 

We  have  mentioned  the  more  important  com 
positions  of  1827.  There  remain  to  be  named 
two  songs  by  Schober  (op.  96,  no.  2 ;  Lf.  24, 
no.  i),  and  one  by  Reil  (op.  115,  no.  i);  a  comic 
trio,  'Die  Hochzeitsbraten '  (op.  104),  also  by 
Schober ;  and  an  Allegretto  in  C  minor  for  PF. 
solo,  written  for  his  friend  Walcher,  '  in  remem 
brance  of  April  26,  1827,'  and  not  published  till 
1870. 

The  publications  of  1827  are  as  follow:— 
the  Overture  to  '  Alfonso  and  Estrella '  (op.  69) ; 
Rondeau  brillant,  for  PF.  and  violin  (op.  70); 
songs — 'Der  Wachtelschlag '  (op.  68,  March  2), 
'Drang  in  die  Feme'  (op.  71,  Feb.),  '  Auf  dem 
Wasser  zu  singen'  (op,  72,  Feb.),  'Die  Rose' 
(op.  73,  May  10) — all  four  songs  previously  pub 
lished  in  the  Vienna  Zeitschrift  fur  Kunst ;  four 
Polonaises,  for  PF.  4  hands  (op.  75);  Overture 
to '  Fierabras,'  for  PF.  4  hands,  arranged  by  Czerny 
(op.  76);  12  '  Valses  Nobles,'  for  PF.  solo  (op. 
77,  Jan.)  ;  Fantasie,  etc.  for  PF.  in  G  (op.  78); 
2  songs,  'Das  Heimweh,'  'Die  Allmacht'  (op.  79, 
'May  1 6');  3  songs  (op.  80,  May  25);  3  ditto 
(op.  8 1,  May  28) ;  Variations  on  theme  ofHerold's 
(op.  82,  Dec.);  3  Italian  songs  (op.  83,  Sept.  12); 
4  songs  (op.  88,  Dec.  12). 

We  have  now  arrived  at  Schubert's  last  year, 
1828.  It  would  be  wrong  to  suppose  that  he 
had  any  presentiment  of  his  end ;  though,  if  a 
passion  for  work,  an  eager  use  of  the  '  day,'  were 
any  sign  that  the  '  night '  was  coming  '  in  which 
no  man  could  work,'  we  might  almost  be  justi 
fied  in  doing  so.  We  hear  of  his  suffering  from 
blood  to  the  head,  but  it  was  not  yet  enough  to 
frighten  any  one.  He  returned  to  the  extra 
ordinary  exertions,  or  rather  to  the  superabun 
dant  productions  of  his  earlier  years,  as  the  fol 
lowing  full  list  of  the  compositions  of  1828,  in 
order,  as  far  as  the  dates  permit,  will  show. 

Jan.         Songs,  'Die  Sterne1  (op.  96,  no.  1);   'Der  Winterabend' 

(Lf.  26). 
March.     Symphony  in  C,  no.  9. 

Oratorio,  Miriam's  Siegesgesang. 

Song, '  Auf  dem  Strom,'  Voice  and  Horn  (op.  119). 
May.        Lebenssturme,  PP.  duet  (op.  144). 

Hymn  to  the  Holy  Ghost  (op.  l&t),  for  2  Choirs  and  Wind. 

2  Clavierstiicke. 

Song,  '  Widerschein '  (lief  15,  no.  1). 
June.       Mass  in  E  b  (begun). 

Fugue  in  E  minor,  PF.  duet,  op.  152  ('  Baden,  Juny.  1828  )• 

Grand  Rondeau,  PF.  duet  (op.  107). 
July.        Psalm  92,  in  Hebrew,  for  Baritone  and  Chorus. 
August.   Songs,  '  Schwanengesang,'  nos.  1—13. 
Sept.        PF.  Sonata  in  C  minor. 

Ditto  in  A. 

Ditto  in  B  b  ('  Sept.  26 '). 

«  'Die  Gesellschaft  der  Musikfreunde,'  etc.,  p.  16. 


SCHUBERT. 

Oct.        Song, '  Schwanengesang,'  No.  14. 

New  Benedictus  to  Mass  in  C. 

*Der  Hirt  auf  den  Felsen.'  Voice  and  Clarinet  (op.  129). 
'1828'  only.     String  Quintet  in  C  (op.  163). 

This  truly  extraordinary  list  includes  his  great 
est  known  symphony,  his  greatest  and  longest 
mass,  his  first  oratorio,  his  finest  piece  of  chamber 
music,  3  noble  PF.  sonatas,  and  some  astonishingly 
fine  songs.  The  autograph  of  the  symphony,  218 
pages  in  oblong  quarto,  is  now  one  of  the  treasures 
of  the  Library  of  the  Musik-verein  at  Vienna. 
It  has  no  title  or  dedication,  nothing  beyond  the 
customary  heading  to  the  first  page  of  the  score 
'Symfonie  Marz  1828,  Frz.  Schubert  Mpia,'  mark 
ing  the  date  at  which  it  was  begun.  If  it  may  be 
taken  as  a  specimen,  he  took  more  pains  this  year 
than  he  did  formerly.  In  the  first  three  movements 
of  this  great  work  there  are  more  afterthoughts 
than  usual.  The  subject  of  the  Introduction  and  the 
first  subject  of  the  Allegro  have  both  been  altered. 
In  several  passages  an  extra  bar  has  been  stuck 
in — between  the  Scherzo  and  the  Trio,  2  bars  ;  in 
the  development  of  the  Scherzo  itself  16  bars  of 
an  exquisite  episode — first  sketched  in  the  Octet — 
have  been  substituted.  The  Finale  alone  remains 
virtually  untouched.1  But  such  alterations,  always 
rare  in  Schubert,  are  essentially  different  from  the 
painful  writing,  and  erasing,  and  rewriting,  which 
we  are  familiar  with  in  the  case  of  Beethoven's 
finest  and  most  spontaneous  music.  This,  though 
the  first  draft,  is  no  rough  copy ;  there  are  no  traces 
of  sketches  or  preparation ;  the  music  has  evidently 
gone  straight  on  to  the  paper  without  any  inter 
vention,  and  the  alterations  are  merely  a  few  im 
provements2  en  passant.  It  is  impossible  to  look 
at  the  writing  of  the  autograph,  after  Schubert 
has  warmed  to  his  work,  especially  that  of  the 
Finale,  and  not  see  that  it  was  put  down  as  an 
absolute  impromptu,  written  as  fast  as  the  pen 
could  travel  on  the  paper. 

It  seems  that  Schubert's  friends  used  to  lec 
ture  him  a  good  deal  on  the  diifuseness  and  want 
of  consideration  which  they  discovered  in  his 
works,  and  were  continually  forcing  Beethoven's 
laborious  processes  of  composition  down  his  throat. 
This  often  made  him  angry,  and  when  repeated, 
evening  after  evening,  he  would  say,  '  So  you're 
going  to  set  upon  me  again  to  day  J  Go  it,  I  beg 
you ! '  But,  for  all  his  annoyance,  the  remon 
strances  appear  to  have  had  some  effect;  and  after 
Beethoven's  death  he  asked  3  Schindler  to  show 
him  the  MS.  of  Fidelio.  He  took  it  to  the 
piano,  and  pored  over  it  a  long  time,  making  out 
the  passages  as  they  had  been,  and  comparing 
them  with  what  they  were  ;  but  it  would  not 
do;  and  at  last  he  broke  out,  and  exclaimed 
that  for  such  drudgery  he  could  see  no  reason 
under  any  circumstances ;  that  he  thought  the 
music  at  first  just  as  good  as  at  last ;  and  that 
for  his  part  he  had  really  no  time  for  such  cor 
rections.  Whether  the  amendments  to  the  Great 
Symphony  were  a  remorseful  attempt  on  Schu- 

1  See  details  by  the  present  writer  in  Appendix  to  the  Life  of 
Schubert,  translated  by  A.  D.  Coleridge,  Esq.,  vol.  ii.  p.  320. 

2  The  original  MS.  orchestral  parts  show  at  any  rate  that  the 
alterations  in  the  score  were  made  before  they  were  copied  from  it. 
Mr.  Stanford  kindly  examined  them  for  me  with  that  view. 

3  Schindler,  '  Erinnerungen,'  in  '  Niederrneinische  Musikze'itung,' 
1837,  pp.  73-78;  81-85. 


SCHUBERT. 


349 


bert's  part  to  imitate  Beethoven  and  satisfy  the 
demands  of  his  friends  we  cannot  tell ;  but  if  so 
they  are  very  unlike  the  pattern. 

The  autograph  of  the  Eb  Mass,  in  the  Bib- 
liothek  at  Berlin,  does  not  show  at  all  the  same 
amount  of  corrections  as  that  in  Ab  (see  p.  336  6), 
nor  do  the  fugal  movements  appear  to  have  given 
any  special  trouble.  True,  the  '  Cum  Sancto ' 
was  recommenced  after  the  erasure  of  7  bars,* 
but  apparently  merely  for  the  sake  of  changing 
the  tempo  from  C  to  (J*,  and  the  larger  part  of 
the  movement  was  evidently  written  with  great 
rapidity.  In  the  '  Et  vitam '  there  are  barely  a 
dozen  corrections,  and  the  '  Osanna '  has  every 
mark  of  extreme  haste.  Some  of  the  erasures 
in  this  work  are  made  with  the  penknife — surely 
an  almost  unique  thing  with  Schubert !  The 
4 -hand  PF.  fugue  in  E  minor  (op.  152,  dated 
'Baden,  June  1828')  is  not  improbably  a  trial 
of  counterpoint  with  reference  to  this  Mass. 

The  Songs  of  1828  are  splendid.  It  does  not 
appear  that  the  14  which  were  published  after 
his  death  with  the  publisher's  title  of '  Schwan- 
engesang' — 'the  Swan's  song' — were  intended  by 
him  to  form  a  series  of  the  same  kind  as  the 
Schone  Miillerin  and  Winterreise ;  but  no  lover 
of  Schubert  can  dissociate  them,  and  in  the 
Liebesbothschaffc,  Aufenthalt,  Standchen,  etc., 
we  have  some  of  the  most  beautiful,  and  in  the 
Atlas,  Am  Meer,  Doppelganger,  etc.,  some  of  the 
most  impressive,  of  his  many  songs.  The  words 
of  some  are  by  Rellstab,  and  the  origin  of  these 
is  thus  told  by  Schindler.5  Schubert  had  been 
much  touched  by  Schindler's  efforts  to  make  Bee 
thoven  acquainted  with  his  music,  and  after  the 
great  master's  death  the  two  gradually  became 
intimate.  Schindler  had  possession  of  many  of 
Beethoven's  papers,  and  Schubert  used  to  visit 
him  in  familiar  style,  to  look  over  them.  Those 
which  specially  attracted  him  were  the  poems 
and  dramas  sent  in  at  various  times  for  con 
sideration;  amongst  others  a  bundle  of  some 
20  6  anonymous  lyrics  which  Beethoven  had 
intended  to  set,  -and  which  therefore  attracted 
Schubert's  particular  notice.  He  took  them  away 
with  him,  and  in  two  days  brought  back  the 
Liebesbothschaft,  Kriegers  Ahnung,  and  Aufent 
halt,  set  to  music.  This  account,  which  is  per 
fectly  natural  and  consistent,  and  which  Mr.  Thayer 
allows  me  to  say  he  sees  no  reason  to  question, 
has  been  exaggerated7  into  a  desire  expressed 
by  Beethoven  himself  that  Schubert  should  set 
these  particular  songs;  but  for  this  there  is  no 
warrant.  Ten  more  quickly  followed  the  three 
just  mentioned;  and  these  thirteen — 7  to  Rell- 
stab's  and  6  to  Heine's  words  (from  the  '  Buch8 

4  The  omission  of  the  words  'Jesu  Christe'  at  the  end  of  the 
'  Quoniam,'  and  other  omissions,  show  that  he  had  not  conquered  the 
carelessness  as  to  the  treatment  of  the  words,  so  frequent  in  his  early 
Masses.  5  Schindler,  '  Erinnerungen/  etc.,  as  before. 

6  They  proved  afterwards  to  be  by  Bellstab. 

7  See  Kellstab's  '  An  m.  Leben'  ii.  245. 

8  Baron  Schonstein  relates— K.  H.  447  (ii.  135)— that  he  found  Heine's 
'Buch  der  Lieder'  on  Schubert's  table  some  years  before  this  date, 
and  that  Schubert  lent  them  to  him  with  the  remark  '  that  he  should 
not  want  them  again.'    But  such  reminiscences  are  often  wrong  in 
point  of  date:  the  fact  remains  ineffaceable  in  the  mind,  the  date 
easily  gets  altered.     In  fact  Heine's  'Buch  der  Lieder'  was  first 
published  in  1827.    The  6  songs  which  Schubert  took  from  it  are  all 
from  the  section  entitled  '  Der  Heimkehr.' 


350 


SCHUBERT. 


der  Lieder'),  were,  on  Mr.  Nottebohm's  authority, 
written  in  August.  The  last  is  by  Seidl  ;  it  is 
dated  '  Oct.  1828,'  and  is  probably  Schubert's 
last  song. 

But  it  is  time  to  return  to  the  chronicle  of  his 
life  during  its  last  ten  months.  Of  his  doings 
in  January  we  know  little  more  than  can  be 
gathered  from  the  following  letter  to  Anselm 
Hiittenbrenner,  the  original  of  which  is  in  the 

British  Museum. 

VIENNA,  Jan,  18,  1828. 

My  dear  old  Hiittenbrenner.  You  will  wonder  at  my 
writing  no  w  ?  So  do  I.  But  if  I  write  it  is  because  I  am 
to  get  something  by  it.  Now  just  listen;  a  drawing- 
master's  place  near  you  at  Gr'atz  is  vacant,  and  compe 
tition  is  invited.  My  brother  Karl,  whom  you  probably 
know,  wishes  to  get  the  place.  He  is  very  clever,  both 
as  a  landscape-painter  and  a  draughtsman.  If  you  could 
do  anything  for  him  in  the  matter  I  should  be  eternally 
obliged  to  you.  You  are  a  great  man  in  Gratz,  and 
probably  know  some  one  in  authority,  or  some  one  else 
who  has  a  vote.  My  brother  is  married,  and  has  a 
family,  and  -would  therefore  be  very  glad  to  obtain  a  per 
manent  appointment.  I  hope  that  things  are  all  right 
with  you,  as  well  as  with  your  dear  family,  and  your 
brothers.  A  Trio  of  mine,  for  Pianoforte,  Violin,  and 
Violoncello,  has  been  lately  performed  by  Schuppanzigh, 
and  was  much  liked.  It  was  splendidly  executed  by 
Boklet,  Schuppanzigh,  and  Link.  Have  you  done  nothing 
new  ?  A  propos,  why  doesn't  1  Greiner,  or  whatever  his 
name  is,  publish  the  two  songs?  "' 
Sapperment  1 


, 
"What's  the  reason? 


SCHUBERT. 

I  repeat  my  request:  recollect,  what  you  do  for  my 
brother,  you  do  for  me.  Hoping  for  a  favorable  answer, 
I  remain  your  true  friend,  till  death, 

FRANZ  SCHUBERT  Mpia. 
of  Vienna. 

The  expression  'till  death,'  which  appears 
here  for  the  first  time  in  his  letters,  and  the 
words  '  of  Vienna,'  added  to  his  name,  are  both 
singular. 

On  the  24th,  at  an  evening  concert  at  the 
Musik-Verein,  the  serenade  for  contralto  solo  and 
female  chorus  just  mentioned  was  performed, 
and  is  spoken  of  by  the  correspondent  of  the 
Leipzig  A.  M.  Z.  as  'one  of  the  most  charming 
works  of  this  favourite  writer.'  In  February  we 
find  three  letters  from  North  Germany,  one  from 
Probst  of  Leipzig,  and  two  from  Schott.  They 
show  how  deep  an  impression  Schubert  was 
making  outside  Austria.  Both  firms  express 
warm  appreciation  of  his  music,  both  leave  the 
terms  to  be  named  by  him,  and  Schott  orders 
a  list  of  9  important  pieces. 

On  March  26  Schubert  gave,  what  we  wonder 
he  never  gave  before,  an  evening  concert  on  his 
own  account  in  the  Hall  of  the  Musik-Verein. 
The  following  is  the  programme  exactly  reprinted 
from  the  original. 


Einladung 

zu  dem  Privat  Concerto,  welches  Franz  Schubert  am 

26.  Marz,  Abends  7  Uhr  im  Locale  des  oesterreichischen  Musikvereina 

unter  den  Tuchlauben  No.  558  zu  geben  die  Ehre  haben  wird. 

Vorkomtnende  Stiicke. 

1.  Erster  Satz  eines  neuen  Streich  Quartetts  vorgetragen  von. 
den  Herren  Bohm,  Holz,  Weiss,  und  Linke. 

2.  a.  Der  Kreutzzug,  von  Leitner  ~|  Gesange  mit  Begleittmg  dea 

b.  Die  Sterne,          von  demselben         I  Piano  Forte,  vorgetragen  yon 

c.  Fischerweise,     von  Bar.  Schlechta  |  Herrn  Vogl,  k.  k.  pensionirten 

d.  Fragment  aus  dem  Aeschylus          J  Hofopernsanger. 

3.  Standchen  von  GriUparzer,  Sopran-Solo  und  Chor,  vorgetragen  von 
Fraulein  Josephine  Frohlich  und  den  Schillerinnen  des  Con- 
servatoriums. 

4.  Neues  Trio  fur  das  Piano  Forte,  Violin  und  Violoncelle, 
vorgetragen  von  den  Herren  Carl  Maria  von  Boklet,  Bohm  und  Linke. 

5.  Auf  dem  Strome  von  Eellstab.     Gesang  mit  Begleitung 
des  Horns  und  Piano  Forte,  vorgetragen  von  den  Herren 
Tietze,  und  Lewy  dem  Jimgeren. 

6.  Die  Allmacht,  von  Ladislaus  Pyrker,  Gesang  mit  Begleitung 
des  Piano  Forte,  vorgetragen  von  Herren  Vogl. 

7.  Schlachtgesang  von  Klopfstock,  Doppelchor  fiir  Manner stimmen. 

Sammtliche  Musikstlicke  sind  von  der  Composition  des  Concertgebers. 

Eintrittskarten  zu  fl.  3.  W.  W.  sind  in  den  Kunsthandlungen 
der  Herren  Haslinger,  Diabelli  und  Leidesdorf  zu  haben. 


This  programme  attracted  'more  people  than 
the  hall  had  ever  before  been  known  to  hold,' 
and  the  applause  was  very  great.  The  net 
result  to  Schubert  was  800  gulden,  Vienna  cur 
rency,  equal  to  about  £32.  This  put  him  in 
funds  for  the  moment,  and  the  money  flowed 
freely.  Thus,  when,  three  days  later,  Paganini 
gave  his  first  concert  in  Vienna,  Schubert  was 
there,  undeterred,  in  his  wealth,  by  a  charge  of  5 
gulden.  Nay,  he  went  a  second  time,  not  that 
he  cared  to  go  again,  but  that  he  wished  to  treat 
Bauernfeld,  who  had  not  5  farthings,  while  with 
him  '  money  was  as  plenty  as  blackberries.' 2 

This  month  he  wrote,  or  began  to  write,  his 

1  A  publisher  in  Grfitz.    His  name  was  Kienreich,  and  the  two 
songs,  1m  Walde,  and  Auf  der  Briicke  (op.  93),  appeared  in  May. 

2  See  Bauernfeld's  Letter  in  the  '  JPresie,'  April  17, 1869.  H&ckerling, 
chaff,  is  Schubert's  word. 


last  and  greatest  Symphony,  in  C.  He  is  said 
to  have  offered  it  to  the  Society  for  performance, 
and  in  so  doing  to  have  expressed  himself  to  the 
effect  that  henceforth  he  wished  to  have  nothing 
more  to  do  with  songs,  as  he  was  now  planted  firmly 
in  Opera  and  Symphony.  This  rests  on  the  au 
thority  of  Kreissle  ;3  the  silence  of  Herr  Pohl  in 
his  history  of  the  Society  shows  that  its  minute- 
books  contain  no  express  mention  of  the  reception 
of  the  work,  as  they  do  that  of  the  Symphony  in 
Oct.  1826.  There  is  no  doubt,  however,  that  it 
was  adopted  by  the  Society,  and  is  entered  in 
the  Catalogue,  under  the  year  1828,  as  xiii.  8024.* 
But  this  prodigious  work  was  far  beyond  the 
then  powers  of  the  chief  musical  institution  of 

3  K.  H.  445  (ii.  132). 

*  See  Herr  Pohl's  letter  to  'The  Times'  of  Oct.  17, 188L 


SCHUBERT. 

Vienna.  The  parts  were  copied,  and  some  re 
hearsals  held;  but  both  length  and  difficulty  were 
against  it,  and  it  was  soon  withdrawn,  on  Schu 
bert's  own  advice,  in  favour  of  his  earlier  Sym 
phony,  No.  6,  also  in  C.  Neither  the  one  nor  the 
other  was  performed  till  after  his  death. 

March  also  saw  the  birth  of  the  interesting  Ora 
torio  '  Miriam's  Song  of  Victory,'  to  Grillparzer's 
words.1  It  is  written,  as  so  many  of  Schubert's 
choral  pieces  are,  for  a  simple  pianoforte  accom 
paniment  ;  but  this  was  merely  to  suit  the  means 
at  his  disposal,  and  is  an  instance  of  his  practical 
sagacity.  It  is  unfortunate,  however,  since  the 
oratorio  has  become  a  favourite,  that  we  have  no 
other  orchestral  accompaniment  than  that  after 
wards  adapted  by  Lachner,  which  is  greatly 
wanting  in  character,  and  in  the  picturesque  ele 
ments  so  native  to  Schubert.2  A  song  to  Rell 
stab's  words,  '  Auf  dem  Strom'  (op.  119),  for 
soprano,  with  obbligato  horn  and  PF.  accompani 
ment,  written  for  Lewy,  a  Dresden  horn-player, 
belongs  to  this  month,  and  was  indeed  first  heard 
at  Schubert's  own  concert,  on  the  2 6th,  and 
afterwards  repeated  at  a  concert  of  Lewy's,  on 
April  20,  Schubert  himself  playing  the  accom 
paniment  each  time. 

To  April  no  compositions  can  be  ascribed,  un 
less  it  be  the  Quintet  in  C  for  strings  (op.  163), 
which  bears  only  the  date  '1828.'  This  is  now 
universally  accepted  not  only  as  Schubert's  finest 
piece  of  chamber  music,  but  as  one  of  the  very 
finest  of  its  class.  The  two  cellos  alone  give 
it  distinction ;  it  has  all  the  poetry  and  ro 
mance  of  the  G  major  Quartet,  without  the  ex 
travagant  length  which  will  always  stand  in  the 
way  of  that  noble  production  ;  while  the  Adagio 
is  so  solemn  and  yet  so  beautiful  in  its  tone,  so 
entrancing  in  its  melodies,  and  so  incessant  in  its 
interest,  and  the  Trio  of  the  Scherzo,  both  from 
itself  and  its  place  in  the  movement,  is  so 
eminently  dramatic,  that  it  is  difficult  to  speak 
of  either  too  highly. 

In  May  we  have  a  grand  battle-piece,  the 
'Hymn  to  the  Holy  Ghost/  for  8  male  voices, 
written  for  the  Concert  Spirituel  of  Vienna,  at 
first  with  PF.,  in  October  scored  by  the  com 
poser  for  a  wind  band,  and  in  1847  published 
as  op.  154.  Also  a  'Characteristic  Allegro'  for 
the  PF.  4  hands,  virtually  the  first  movement  of 
a  Sonata — issued  some  years  later  with  the  title 
'  Lebensstiirme'  (op.  144) ;  an  Allegro  vivace  and 
Allegretto,  in  Eb  minor  and  major,  for  PF.  solo, 
published  in  1868  as  ist  and  2nd  of  '3  Clavier- 
stiicke';  and  a  song  '  Widerschein'  (Lf.  15,  i). 

In  June,  probably  at  the  request  of  the  pub 
lisher,  he  wrote  a  4-hand  Rondo  for  PF.  in  A, 
since  issued  as  'Grand  Rondeau,  op.  107';  and 
began  his  sixth  Mass,  that  in  Eb.  In  this  month 
he  paid  a  visit  to  Baden — Beethoven's  Baden  ; 
since  a  fugue  for  4  hands  in  E  minor  is  marked 
as  written  there  in  '  June  1828.'  In  the  midst  of 

1  Kreissle.  609  (ii.  285),  says  that  it  was  produced  in  the  Schubert 
Concert,  March  1828.     But  this  is  contradicted  by  the  Programme 
which  is  printed  above.    It  was  first  performed  Jan.  30,  1829,  at  a 
concert  for  erecting  Schubert's  headstone. 

2  It  has  been  performed  (with  Lachner's  orchestration)  at  the 
Crystal  Palace  several  times,  at  the  Leeds  Festival  18bO,.and  elsewhere 
in  England. 


SCHUBERT. 


351 


all  this  work  a  letter3  from  Mosewius  of  Breslau, 
a  prominent  Prussian  musician,  full  of  sympathy 
and  admiration,  must  have  been  doubly  grati 
fying  as  coming  from  North  Germany. 

In  July  he  wrote  the  92nd  Psalm  in  Hebrew 
for  the  synagogue  at  Vienna,  of  which  Sulzer  was 
precentor.  In  August,  notwithstanding  his  de 
claration  on  completing  his  last  Symphony,  we 
find  him  (under  circumstances  already  described) 
composing  7  songs  of  Rellstab's,  and  6  of  Heine's, 
afterwards  issued  as  '  Schwanengesang.1 

He  opened  September  with  a  trifle  in  the 
shape  of  a  short  chorus,*  with  accompaniment  of 
wind  band,  for  the  consecration  of  a  bell  in  the 
church  of  the  Alservorstadt.  A  few  days  after,  the 
memory  of  Hummel's  visit  in  the  spring  of  1827 
seems  to  have  come  upon  him  like  a  lion,  and  he 
wrote  off  3  fine  PF.  solo  sonatas,  with  the  view 
of  dedicating  them  to  that  master.  These  pieces, 
though  very  unequal  and  in  parts  extraordinarily 
diffuse,  are  yet  highly  characteristic  of  Schu 
bert.  They  contain  some  of  his  finest  and  most 
original  music,  and  also  his  most  affecting  (e,g. 
Andantino,  Scherzo  and  Trio  of  the  A  minor 
Sonata) ;  and  if  full  of  disappointment  and 
wrath,  and  the  gathering  gloom  of  these  last  few 
weeks  of  his  life,  they  are  also  saturated  with 
that  nameless  personal  charm  that  is  at  once  so 
strong  and  so  indescribable.  The  third  of  the 
three,  that  in  Bb,  dated  Sept.  26,  has  perhaps 
naore  of  grace  and  finish  than  the  other  two,  and 
has  now,  from  the  playing  of  Mme.  Schumann, 
Mr.  Charles  Halle,  and  others,  become  a  great 
favourite.  The  sonatas  were  not  published  till 
a  year  after  Hummel's  death,  and  were  then 
dedicated  by  Diabelli-Spina  to  Robert  Schumann, 
who  acknowledges  the  dedication  by  a  genial 
though  hardly  adequate  article  in  his  '  Ges. 
Schriften,'  ii.  239.  The  second  part  of  the 
Winterreise  was  put  into  Haslinger's  hands  for 
engraving  before  the  end  of  this  month.5 

In  October,  prompted  by  some  occasion  which 
has  eluded  record,  he  wrote  a  new  '  Benedictus ' 
to  his  early  Mass  in  C,  a  chorus  of  great  beauty 
and  originality  in  A  minor,  of  which  a  com 
petent  6  critic  has  said  that  '  its  only  fault  con 
sists  in  its  immeasurable  superiority  to  the  rest 
of  the  Mass.'  For  some  other  occasion,  which 
has  also  vanished,  he  wrote  accompaniments  for 
1 3  wind  instruments  to  his  grand  '  Hymn  to  the 
Holy  Ghost';  a  long  scena  or  song  for  soprano — 
probably  his  old  admirer,  Anna  Milder — with 
pianoforte  and  obligate  clarinet  (op.  j  29) ;  and  a 
song  called  'DieTaubenpost'C  The  carrier  pigeon') 
to  Seidl's  words.  The  succession  of  these  pieces 
is  not  known.  It  is  always  assumed  that  the 
Taubenpost,  which  now  closes  the  Schwanen 
gesang,  was  the  last.  Whichever  of  them  was  the 
last,  was  the  last  piece  he  ever  wrote. 

The  negotiations  with  Probst  and  Schott,  and 
also  with  Bruggemann  of  Halberstadt,  a  pub- 

3  K.  H.  428  (ii.  114). 

<  K.  H.  443  (ii.  131).  This  piece,  '  Glaube.  Hoffnung,  und  Liebe,'  is 
not  to  be  confounded  -with  one  of  similar  title  lor  a  solo  voice,  pub 
lished,  Oct.  6, 1828,  as  op.  97. 

5  Schubert's  letter  to  Jenger.  Sept.  25.   K.  H.  437  (ii.  124). 

6  Mr.  E.  Prout  in  the  Monthly  Musical  Kecord  for  1871,  p.  56. 


352 


SCHUBERT. 


lisher  anxious  for  some  easy  PF.  pieces  for  a 
series  called  '  Miihling's  Museum/  by  no  means 
fulfilled  the  promise  of  their  commencement. 
The  magnificent  style  in  which  the  Schotts  de 
sired  Schubert  to  name  his  own  terms 1  contrasts 
badly  with  their  ultimate  refusal  (Oct.  30)  to 
pay  more  than  30  florins  (or  about  255.)  for  the 
PF.  Quintet  (op.  114)  instead  of  the  modest  60 
demanded  by  him.  In  fact  the  sole  result  was 
an  arrangement  with  Probst  to  publish  the  long 
and  splendid  Eb  Trio,  which  he  did,  according 
to  Nottebohm,2  in  September,  and  for  which  the 
composer  received  the  incredibly  small  sum  of  2 1 
Vienna  florins,  or  just  175.  6d.  \  Schubert's  an 
swer  to  Probst's  enquiry  as  to  the  'Dedication 'is 
so  characteristic  as  to  deserve  reprinting  : — 

Vienna,  Aug.  1. 

Euer  "Wohlgeboren,  the  opus  of  the  Trio  is  100.  I 
entreat  you  to  make  the  edition  correct ;  I  am  extremely 
anxious  about  it.  The  work  will  be  dedicated  to  no  one 
but  those  who  like  it.  That  is  the  most  profitable  de 
dication.  With  all  esteem, 

FRANZ  SCHUBERT. 

The  home  publications  of  1828  are  not  so  im 
portant  as  those  of  former  years.  The  first  part 
of  the  Winterreise  (op.  89)  was  issued  in  January 
by  Haslinger  ;  March  14,  3  songs  by  Sir  W. 
Scott  (ops.  85,  86)  by  Diabelli;  at  Easter  (April  6) 
6  songs  (ops.  92  and  108),  and  one  set  of 'Mo- 
mens  musicals,'  by  Leidesdorf ;  in  May,  2  songs 
(op.  93)  by  Kienreich3  of  Gratz  ;  in  June  or 
July  ('Sommer')  4  songs  (op.  96)  by  Diabelli; 
Aug.  13,  4  Refrain-Lieder  (op.  95)  Weigl.  Also 
the  following,  to  which  no  month  can  be  fixed  : 
— '  Andantino  varie'  and  Rondeau  brillant '  (op. 
84),  PF.  4  hands,  on  French  motifs,  forming  a 
continuation  of  op.  63,  Weigl ;  3  songs  (op.  87), 
Pennauer ;  4  impromptus  (op.  90),  and  12  Grat- 
zer  Walzer  (op.  91)  for  PF.  solo,  Diabelli  ; 
Gratzer  Galopp,  do.  Haslinger  ;  4  songs  (op.  106) 
lithographed  without  publisher's  name. 

There  is  nothing  in  the  events  already  cata 
logued  to  have  prevented  Schubert's  taking  an 
excursion  this  summer.  In  either  Styria  or 
Upper  Austria  he  would  have  been  welcomed  with 
open  arms,  and  the  journey  might  have  given 
him  a  stock  of  health  sufficient  to  carry  him 
on  for  years.  And  he  appears  to  have  enter 
tained  the  idea  of  both.*  But  the  real  obstacle, 
as  he  constantly  repeats,  was  his  poverty.5  '  Its 
all  over  with  Gratz  for  the  present,'  he  says, 
with  a  touch  of  his  old  fun,  'for  money  and 
weather  are  both  against  me.'  Herr  Franz  Lach- 
ner,  at  that  time  his  constant  companion,  told 
the  writer,  that  he  had  taken  half-a-dozen  of 
the  'Winterreise'  songs  to  Haslinger  and  brought 
back  half-a-dozen  gulden — each  gulden  being  then 
worth  a  franc.  Let  the  lover  of  Schubert  pause  a 
moment,  and  think  of  the  'Post'  or  the  'Wirths- 
haus'  being  sold  for  tenpence  !  of  that  unrivalled 
imagination  and  genius  producing  those  death- 

1  K.  H.  424  (ii.  109). 

2  Probst  announces  two  long  lists  of  new  music  in  the  A.M.Z.  for 
Oct.,  but  no  mention  of  the  Trio.    It  is  reviewed  most  favourably 
in  the  A.M.Z.  fur  Dec.  10, 1828.    Alas!  he  was  then  beyond  the  reach 
of  praise  or  blame. 

3  Whom  Schubert  parodies  as  '  Greiner '  i.e.  grumbler. 

*  Jenger's  and  Tnvweter's  letters,  K.  H.  416,  427,  431,  etc. 
0  Letters,  K.H.  4S7  (ii.  124).  etc. 


SCHUBERT. 

less  strains  and  being  thus  rewarded!  When 
this  was  the  case,  when  even  a  great  work 
like  the  Eb  Trio,  after  months  and  months  of 
negotiation  and  heavy  postage,  realises  the  truly 
microscopic  amount  of  '  20  florins  60  kreutzers ' 
(as  with  true  Prussian  businesslike  minuteness 
Herr  Probst  specifies  it),  of  1 7s.  6cZ.  as  our  modern 
currency  has  it — not  even  Schubert's  fluency  and 
rapidity  could  do  more  than  keep  body  and  soul 
together.  It  must  have  been  hard  not  to  apply  the 
words  of  Muller's  '  Leyermann '  to  his  own  case — 

Barfuss  auf  dem  Eise 
"Wankt  er  hin  und  her, 
Und  sein  Jcleiner  Teller 
Blcibl  ihm  immer  leer. 

"Wandering  barefoot  to  and  fro 

On  the  icy  ground, 
In  his  little  empty  tray 

Not  a  copper  to  be  found. 

In  fact  so  empty  was  his  little  tray  that  he 
could  not  even  afford  the  diligence-fare  to  Pesth, 
where  Lachner's  '  Burgschaft '  was  to  be  brought 
out,  and  where,  as  Schindler  reminds  him,  he 
would  be  safe  to  have  a  lucrative  concert  of  his 
own  music,  as  profitable  as  that  of  March  26. 
Escape  from  Vienna  by  that  road  was  impossible 
for  him  this  year. 

Schubert  had  for  some  time  past  been  living 
with  Schober  at  the  '  Blaue  Igel '  (or  Blue  Hedge 
hog),  still  a  well-known  tavern  and   resort  of 
musicians  in  the  Tuchlauben ;  but  at  the  end  of 
August  he  left,  and  took  up  his  quarters  with 
Ferdinand  in  a  new  house  in  the  Neue  Wieden 
suburb,  then  known   as   No.   694  Firmian,  or 
Lumpert,6  or  Neugebauten,  Gasse,  now  (1881) 
No.  6  Kettenbriicken  Gasse ;  a  long  house  with 
three  rows  of  nine  windows  in  front ;  a  brown  slop 
ing  tiled  roof ;  an  entry  in  the  middle  to  a  quad 
rangle  behind  ;  a  quiet,  clean,  inoffensive  place.7 
Here,  on  the  second  floor,   to  the  right  hand, 
lived  Schubert  for  the  last  five  weeks  of  his  life, 
and  his  death  is  commemorated  by  a  stone  tablet 
over  the  entry,  placed  there  by  the   Manner- 
gesang  Verein  in  Nov.  1869,  and  containing  these 
words  : — 'In  diesem  Hause  starb  am  19  Novem 
ber  1828  der  Tondichter  Franz  Schubert':— In 
this  house  died  on  Nov.  19,  1828,  the  composer 
Franz  Schubert.     Ferdinand  had  removed  there, 
and  Franz,  perhaps  to  help  his  brother  with  the 
rent,  went  there  too.     He  made  the  move  with 
the  concurrence  of  his  doctor,  von  Rinna,  in  the 
hope  that  as  it  was  nearer  the  country — it  was  just 
over  the  river  in  the  direction  of  the  Belvedere 
— Schubert  would  be  able  to  reach  fresh  air  and 
exercise  more  easily  than  he  could  from  the  heart 
of  the  city.     The  old  attacks  of  giddiness  and 
blood  to  the  head  had  of  late  been  frequent, 
and  soon  after  taking  up  hi.s  new  quarters  he 
became  seriously  unwell.     However,  this  was  so 
far  relieved  that  at  the  beginning  of  October  he 
made  a  short  walking  tour  with  Ferdinand  and 
two    other   friends   to    Ueber-Waltersdorf,    and 
thence  to  Haydn's  old  residence  and  grave  at 
Eisenstadt,  some  25  miles  from  Vienna.   It  took 

8  EL  H.  453  note. 

i  It  is  quite  a  musical  spot.    'Franz  Haydn'  has  a  shop  for  comes 
tibles  at  the  corner  of  the  next  house  to  Schubert's. 


SCHUBERT. 


SCHUBERT. 


353 


them  three  days,  and  during  that  time  he  was 
very  careful  as  to  eating  and  drinking,  regained 
his  old  cheerfulness,  and  was  often  very  gay. 
Still  he  was  far  from  well,  and  after  his  return 
the  bad  symptoms  revived,  to  the  great  alarm  of 
his  friends.  At  length,  on  the  evening  of  Oct.  3 1, 
while  at  supper  at  the  Rothen  Kreuz  in  the  Him- 
melpfortgrund,  an  eating-house  much  frequented 
by  himself  and  his  friends,  he  took  some  fish  on  his 
plate,  but  at  the  first  mouthful  threw  down  the 
knife  and  fork,  and  exclaimed  that  it  tasted  like 
poison.  From  that  moment  hardly  anything 
hut  medicine  passed  his  lips ;  but  he  still  walked 
a  good  deal.  About  this  time  Lachner  returned 
from  Pesth  in  all  the  glory  of  the  success  of  his 
opera  ;  and  though  only  in  Vienna  for  a  few 
days,  he  called  on  his  friend,  and  they  had  two 
hours'  conversation.  Schubert  was  full  of  plans 
for  the  future,  especially  for  the  completion  of 
'Graf  von  Gleichen,'  which,  as  already  mentioned, 
he  had  sketched  in  the  summer  of  1827.  He 
discussed  it  also  with  Bauernfeld  during  the  next 
few  days,  and  spoke  of  the  brilliant  style  in 
which  he  intended  to  score  it.  About  this  time 
Carl  Holz,  Beethoven's  old  friend,  at  Schubert's 
urgent  request,  took  him  to  hear  the  great 
master's  Cjf  minor  Quartet,  still  a  novelty  in 
Vienna.  It  agitated  him  extremely.  '  He  got 
(says  Holz)  into  such  a  state  of  excitement  and 
enthusiasm  that  we  were  all  afraid  for  him.' l  On 
the  3rd  Nov.,  the  morrow  of  All  Souls'  day,  he 
walked  early  in  the  morning  to  Hernals — then  a 
village,  now  a  thickly  built  suburb  outside  the 
Giirtelstrasse — to  hear  his  brother's  Latin  Re 
quiem  in  the  church  there.  He  thought  it  simple, 
and  at  the  same  time  effective,  and  on  the  whole 
was  much  pleased  with  it.  After  the  service 
he  walked  for  three  hours,  and  on  reaching  home 
complained  of  great  weariness. 

Shortly  before  this  time  the  scores  of  Handel's 
oratorios  had  come  into  his  hands — not  impossibly 
some  of  the  set  of  Arnold's  edition  given  to  Bee 
thoven  before  his  death,  and  sold  in  his  sale  for 
102  florins ;  and  the  study  of  them  had  brought 
home  to  him  his  deficiencies  in  the  department  of 
counterpoint.  'I  see  now,'  said  he2  to  the  Froh- 
lichs,  'how  much  I  have  still  to  learn ;  but  I  am 
going  to  work  hard  with  Sechter,  and  make  up 
for  lost  time ' — Sechter  being  the  recognised 
authority  of  the  day  on  counterpoint.  So  much 
was  he  bent  on  this,  that  on  the  day  after  his 
walk  to  Hernals,  i.  e.  on  Nov.  4,  notwithstanding 
his  weakness,  he  went  into  Vienna  and,  with 
another  musician  named  Lanz,  called  on  Sechter, 
to  consult  him  on  the  matter,  and  they  actually 
decided  on  Marpurg  as  the  text-book,  and  on  the 
number  and  dates  of  the  lessons.3  But  he  never 
began  the  course.  During  the  next  few  days  he 
grew  weaker  and  weaker ;  and  when  the  doctor 
was  called  in,  it  was  too  late.  About  the  nth 
he  wrote  a  note  *  to  Schober — doubtless  his  last 
letter. 

1  Quoted  by  Nohl,  'Beethoven,'  iii.  961.    Holz  says  It  was  the  last 
music  that  poor  Schubert  heard.   Ferdinand  claims  the  same  for  his 
Requiem.    At  any  rate  both  were  very  near  the  end. 

2  Kreissle's  Sketch,  p.  152. 

3  K.H.  451  (ii.  138),  expressly  on  Sechter's  authority. 
•1  Given  by  Bauernfeld,  in  Die  Presse,  Ap.  2],  1869. 

VOL.  III.    PT.  3. 


DEAR  SCHOBER, 

I  am  ill.  I  have  eaten  and  drunk  nothing  for  eleven 
days,  and  am  so  tired  and  shaky  that  I  can  only  get 
from  the  bed  to  the  chair,  and  back.  Rinna  is  attending 
me.  If  I  taste  anything,  I  bring  it  up  again  directly. 

In  this  distressing  condition,  be  so  kind  as  to  help  me  to 
some  reading.  Of  Cooper's  I  have  read  the  Last  of  the 
Mohicans,  the  Spy,  the  Pilot,  and  the  Pioneers.  If  you 
have  anything  else  of  his,  I  entreat  you  to  leave  it  with 
Frau  von  Bogner  at  the  Coffee  house  My  brother,  who 
is  conscientiousness  itself,  will  bring  it  to  me  in  the 
most  conscientious  way.  Or  anything  else.  Tour  friend, 

.  SCHUBERT. 

What  answer  Schober  made  to  this  appeal  is  not 
known.  He  is  said  to  have  had  a  daily  report  of 
Schubert's  condition  from  the  doctor,  but  there 
is  no  mention  of  his  having  called.  Spaun,  Rand- 
hartinger,5  Bauernfeld,  and  Josef  Hiittenbrenner, 
are  all  said  to  have  visited  him ;  but  in  those  days 
there  was  great  dread  of  infection,  his  new  resi 
dence  was  out  of  the  way,  and  dangerous  illness 
was  such  a  novelty  with  Schubert  that  his  friends 
may  be  excused  for  not  thinking  the  case  so  grave 
as  it  was.  After  a  few  days  Rinna  himself  fell 
ill,  and  his  place  was  filled  by  a  staff-surgeon 
named  Behring. 

On  the  1 4th  Schubert  took  to  his  bed.6  He 
was  able  to  sit  up  a  little  for  a  few  days  longer, 
and  thus  to  correct  the  proofs  of  the  2nd  part  of 
the  '  Winterreise,'  probably  the  last  occupation 
of  those  inspired  and  busy  fingers.  He  appears 
to  have  had  no  pain,  only  increasing  weakness, 
want  of  sleep,  and  great  depression.  Poor  fellow ! 
no  wonder  he  was  depressed  !  everything  was 
against  him,  his  weakness,  his  poverty,  the 
dreary  house,  the  long  lonely  hours,  the  cheerless 
future — all  concentrated  and  embodied  in  the 
hopeless  images  of  Miiller's  poems,  and  the  sad 
gloomy  strains  in  which  he  has  clothed  them  for 
ever  and  ever — the  Letzte  Hotfhung,  the  Krahe, 
the  Wegweiser,  the  Wirthshaus,  the  Nebensonnen, 
the  Leiermann — all  breathing  of  solitude,  broken 
hopes,  illusions,  strange  omens,  poverty,  death,  the 
grave !  As  he  went  through  the  pages,  they  must 
have  seemed  like  pictures  of  his  own  life ;  and 
such  passages  as  the  following,  from  the  Weg 
weiser  (or  Signpost),  can  hardly  have  failed  to 
strike  the  dying  man  as  aimed  at  himself : — 

Einen  "Weiser  seh'  ich  stehen, 
UnverrUckt  vor  meinem  Blick, 
Eine  Strasse  muss  ich  gehen, 
Die  noch  Jceiner  ging  zuriick. 

Straight  before  me  stands  a  signpost, 
Steadfast  in  my  very  gaze ; 
'Tis  the  road  none  e'er  retraces, 
'Tis  the  road  that  I  must  tread. 

Alas  !  he  was  indeed  going  the  road  which  no 
one  e'er  retraces !  On  Sunday  the  i6th  the  doctors 
had  a  consultation ;  they  predicted  a  nervous 
fever,  but  had  still  hopes  of  their  patient.  On 
the  afternoon  of  Monday,  Bauernfeld  saw  him 
for  the  last  time.  He  was  in  very  bad  spirits,  and 
complained  of  great  weakness,  and  of  heat  in  his 
head,  but  his  mind  was  still  clear,  and  there  was 
no  sign  of  wandering ;  he  spoke  of  his  earnest 
wish  tor  a  good  opera-book.  Later  in  the  day, 

s  FrSulein  Geisler  informs  me  that  Ferdinand's  wife  (sti'l  living. 
1882)  maintains  that  Bandhartinger  was  the  only  one  who  visited 
him  during  his  illness  ;  but  it  is  difficult  to  resist  the  statements 
of  Bauernfeld  (Presse,  Ap.  21, 1869)  and  of  KreissVe's  informants,  p.  452 
(ii.  140). 

6  Ferdinand,  in  the  X.2.M.  p.  143. 

A  a 


354 


SCHUBERT. 


however,  when  the  doctor  arrived,  he  was  quite 
delirious,  and  typhus  had  unmistakeably  broken 
out.  The  next  day,  Tuesday,  he  was  very  restless 
throughout,  trying  continually  to  get  out  of  bed, 
and  constantly  fancying  himself  in  a  strange 
room.  That  evening  he  called  Ferdinand  on  to 
the  bed,  made  him  put  his  ear  close  to  his  mouth, 
and  whispered  mysteriously '  What  are  they  doing 
with  me  ?'  '  Dear  Franz,'  was  the  reply, '  they  are 
doing  all  they  can  to  get  you  well  again,  and  the 
doctor  assures  us  you  will  soon  be  right,  only 
you  must  do  your  best  to  stay  in  bed.'  He  re 
turned  to  the  idea  in  his  wandering — '  I  implore 
you  to  put  me  in  my  own  room,  and  not  to  leave 
me  in  this  corner  under  the  earth ;  don't  I  de 
serve  a  place  above  ground  ? '  '  Dear  Franz,'  said 
the  agonised  brother,  '  be  calm  ;  trust  your  bro 
ther  Ferdiinand,  whom  you  have  always  trusted, 
and  who  loves  you  so  dearly.  You  are  in  the 
room  which  you  always  had,  and  lying  on  your 
own  bed.'  'No,'  said  the  dying  man,  '  that's  not 
true;  Beethoven  is  not  here.'  So  strongly  had 
the  great  composer  taken  possession  of  him  !•  An 
hour  or  two  later  the  doctor  came,  and  spoke  to 
him  in  the  same  style.  Schubert  looked  him 
full  in  the  face  and  made  no  answer ;  but  turning 
round  clutched  at  the  wall  with  his  poor  tired 
hands,  and  said  in  a  slow  earnest  voice,  '  Here, 
here,  is  my  end.'  At  3  in  the  afternoon  of  Wed 
nesday  the  I9th  Nov.  1828  he  breathed  his  last, 
and  his  simple  earnest  soul  took  its  flight  from 
the  world.  He  was  31  years,  9  months,  and  19 
days  old.  There  never  has  been  one  like  him, 
and  there  never  will  be  another. 

His  death,  and  the  letters  of  the  elder  Franz 
and  of  Ferdinand,  bring  out  the  family  rela 
tions  in  a  very  pleasant  light.  The  poor  pious 
bereaved  father,  still  at  his  drudgery  as  '  school 
teacher  in  the  Rossau,' '  afflicted,  yet  strengthened 
by  faith  in  God  and  the  Blessed  Sacraments,' 
writing  to  announce  the  loss  of  his  '  beloved 
son,  Franz  Schubert,  musician  and  .com 
poser  ' ;  the  good  innocent  Ferdinand,  evidently 
recognised  as  Franz's  peculiar  property,  clinging 
to  his  brother  as  the  one  great  man  he  had  ever 
known  ;  thinking  only  of  him,  and  of  fulfilling 
his  last  wish  to  lie  near  Beethoven,  and  ready  to 
sacrifice  all  hi£  scanty  savings  to  do  it — these  form 
a  pair  of  interesting  figures.  Neither  Ignaz  nor 
Carl  appear  at  all  in  connexion  with  the  event, 
the  father  and  Ferdinand  alone  are  visible. 

The  funeral  took  place  on  Friday  Nov.  21.    It 
was  bad  weather,  but  a  number  of  friends  and 
sympathisers  assembled.     He  lay  in  his   coffin, 
dressed,  as  the  custom  then  was,  like  a  hermit, 
with  a  crown  of  laurel  round  his  brows.     The 
face  was  calm,  and  looked  more  like  sleep  than 
death.    By  desire  of  the  family  Schober  was  chief 
mourner.     The  coffin  left  the  house  at  half-past 
two,  and  was  borne  by  a  group  of  young  men, 
'students  and  others,  in  red  cloaks  and  flowers, 
to  the  little  church  of  S.  Joseph  in  Margarethen, 
where  the  funeral  service  was  said,  and  a  motet 
by  Gansbacher,  and  a  hymn  of  Schober's,  'Der 
Friede  sey  mit  dir,  du  engelreine  Seele' — written 
that  morning  in  substitution  for  his  own  earlier 


SCHUBERT. 

•words,  to  the  music  of  Schubert's  'Pax  vobiscum' 
— were  sung  over  the  coffin.     It  was  then  taken 
to  the  Ortsfriedhof  in  the  village  of  Wahring,  and 
committed  to  the  ground,  three1  places  higher  up 
than  the  grave  of  Beethoven.    In  ordinary  course 
he  would  have  been  buried  in  the  cemeter}7  at 
Matzleinsdorf,  b'ut   the  appeal  which  he  made 
almost  with  his  dying  breath  was  naturally  a  law 
to  the  tender  heart  of  Ferdinand,  and  through  his 
piety  and  self-denial  his  dear  brother  rests,  if  not 
next,  yet  near  to  the  great  musician,  whom  he  so 
deeply  reverenced  and  admired.  Late  in  the  after 
noon  Wilhelm  von  Chezy,  son  of  the  authoress  of 
Euryanthe  and  Rosamunde,  who  though  not  in 
Schubert's  intimate  circle  was  yet  one  of  his  ac 
quaintances,  by  some  accident  remembered  that  he 
had  not  seen  him  for  many  months,  and  he  walked 
down  to  Bogner's  coffee-house,  where  the  com 
poser  was  usually  to  be  found  between  5  and  7, 
smoking  his  pipe  and  joking  with  his  friends,  and 
where  the  Cooper's  novels  mentioned  in  his  note 
to  Schober  were  not  improbably  still  waiting  for 
him.   He  found  the  little  room  almost  empty,  and 
the  familiar  round  table  deserted.     On  entering 
he  was  accosted  by  the  waiter  —  'Your  honour  is 
soon  back  from  the  funeral ! '  '  Whose  funeral  ? ' 
said  Chezy  in  astonishment.    '  Franz  Schubert's,' 
replied  the  waiter,  '  he  died  two  days  ago,  and  is 
buried  this  afternoon.'2 

He  left  no  will.  The  official  inventory 3  of  his 
possessions  at  the  time  of  his  death,  in  which  he 
is  described  as  'Tonkunstle-r  und  Compositeur ' — 
musician  and  composer — is  as  follows  : — 'Three 
dress  coats,  3  walking  coats,  i  o  pairs  of  trowsers, 
9  waistcoats — together  worth  37  florins ;  I  hat, 

5  pairs  of  shoes  and  2  of  boots — valued  at  2 
florins ;  4  shirts,  9  cravats  and  pocket  handker 
chiefs,  13  pairs  of  socks,  I  towel,  I  sheet,  2  bed- 
cases — 8  florins  ;  I  mattrass,  I  bolster,  i  quilt— 

6  florins;   a  quantity  of  old  music  valued  at  10 
florins — 63  florins  (say  £2  ios.)  in  all.    Beyond 
the  above  there  were  no  effects.'     Is  it  possible, 
then,  that  in  the  'old  music,  valued  at  8s.  6d.,' 
are  included  the  whole  of  his  unpublished  manu 
scripts  ?  Where  else  could  they  be  but  in  the  house 
he  was  inhabiting  ? 

The  expenses  of  the  illness  and  funeral,  though 
the  latter  is  especially  mentioned  as  '  second 
class,'  amounted  in  all  to  269  silver  florins,  19 
kr.  (say  £27) — a  heavy  sum  for  people  in  the 
poverty  of  Ferdinand  and  his  father.  Of  this  the 
preliminary  service  cost  84  fl.  35  kr. ;  the  burial 
44  fl.  45  kr.  ;  and  the  ground  70  fl. ;  leaving  the 
rest  for  the  doctor's  fees  and  incidental  disburse 
ments.  Illness  and  death  were  truly  expensive 
luxuries  in  those  days. 

On  the  2yth  Nov.  the  Kirchen-musikverein 
performed  Mozart's  Requiem  in  his  honour;  and 
on  Dec.  23  a  requiem  by  Anselm  Hiittenbrenner 
was  given  in  the  Augustine  church.  On  the  i4th 
Dec.  his  early  Symphony  in  C,  No  6,  was  played 

1  Next  to  Beethoven  comes  Treiherr  von  Wsserd';  then  'Job. 
raf  O'Donel  and  GrSfin  O'Donnell,'  and  then  Schubert. 

2  Wilhelm  von  Chezy,  '  Erinnerungen  aus  meiuen  Leben '  (1863), 
182,  m 

3  Given  at  length  by  Kreissle  (p.  457)— but  entirely  omitted  in  the 
translation— and  materially  misquoted  by  Gumprecht  (p.  15). 


SCHUBERT. 


SCHUBERT. 


355 


at  the  Gesellschafts  concert,  and  again  on  March 
12,  1829.  At  Linz  on  Christmas  Day  there  was 
a  funeral  ceremony  with  speeches  and  music. 
Articles  in  his  honour  appeared  in  the  'Wiener 
Zeitschriffc '  of  Dec.  25  (by  von  Zedlitz),  in  the 
'  Theaterzeitung '  of  Vienna  of  the  2oth  and  27th 
(by  Blahetka)  ;  in  the  Vienna  '  Zeitschrift  fur 
Kunst '  of  June  9,  1 1,  13,  1829  (by  Bauernfeld)  ; 
in  the  Vienna  '  Archiv  fiir  Geschichte  '  (by 
Mayrhofer) ;  and  memorial  poems  were  published 
by  Seidl,  Schober,  and  others.  On  Jan.  30,  1829, 
a  concert  was  given  by  the  arrangement  of  Anna 
Frohlich  in  the  hall  of  the  Musikverein  ;  the 
programme  included  '  Miriam/  and  consisted 
entirely  of  Schubert's  music,  excepting  a  set  of 
Flute  variations  by  Gabrielsky,  and  the  first 
Finale  in  Don  Juan ;  and  the  crowd  was  so 
great  that  the  performance  had  to  be  repeated 
shortly  afterwards.  The  proceeds  of  these  con 
certs  and  the  subscriptions  of  a  few  friends  sufficed 
to  erect  the  monument  which  now  stands  at  the 
back  of  the  grave.  It  was  carried  out  by  Anna 
Frohlich,  Grillparzer,  and  Jenger.  The  bust  was 
by  Franz  Dialler,  and  the  cost  of  the  whole  was 
360  silver  florins,  46  kr.  The  inscription1  is  from 
the  pen  of  Grillparzer  : — 

DIE  TONKUNST   BEGRUB   HIER   EINEN   REICHEN   BESITZ 
ABER   NOCH   VIEL   SCHOENERE    HOFFNUNGEN. 

FRANZ   SCHUBERT   LIEGT   HIER. 

GEBOREN   AM   XXXI.   JJENNER   MDCCXCVII. 

GESTORBEN  AM   XIX.    NOV.   MDCCCXXVIII. 

XXXI   JAHRE   ALT. 


MUSIC    HAS   HERE   ENTOMBED   A   RICH   TREASURE, 

BUT   STILL    FAIRER   HOPES. 

FRANZ   SCHUBERT   LIES    HERE. 

BORN   JAN.   31,    1797; 

DIED   NOV.    19,    1828, 

31    YEARS  -OLD. 

The  allusion  to  fairer  hopes  has  been  much 
criticised,  but  surely  without  reason.  When  we 
remember  in  how  many  departments  of  music 
Schubert's  latest  productions  were  his  best,  we 
are  undoubtedly  warranted  in  believing  that  he 
would  have  gone  on  progressing  for  many  years, 
had  it  been  the  will  of  God  to  spare  him. 

In  1863,  owing  to  the  state  of  dilapidation  at 
which  the  graves  of  both  Beethoven  and  Schubert 
had  arrived,  the  repair  of  the  tombs,  and  the  ex 
humation  and  reburial  of  both,  were  xmdertaken 
by  the  Gesellschaft  der  Musikfreunde.  The 
operation  was  begun  on  the  12 th  October  and 
completed  on  the  I3th.  The  opportunity  was 
embraced  of  taking  a  cast  and  a  photograph  of 
Schubert's  skull,  and  of  measuring  the  principal 
bones  of  both  skeletons.  The  lengths  in  Schu 
bert's  case  were  to  those  in  Beethoven's  as  27  to 
20,,2  which  implies  that  as  Beethoven  was  5  ft.  f,  in. 
high,  he  was  only  5  ft.  and  ^  an  inch. 

Various  memorials  have  been  set  np  to  hrm  in 
A'  ienna.  The  tablets  on  the  houses  in  which  he 
was  born  and  died  have  been  noticed.  They  were 

1  We  have  given  the  inscription  exactly  as  it  stands  on  the  monu 
ment.    Kreissle's  version  (463),  followed  by  Gumprecht  and  others,  is 
incorrect  in  almost  every  line. 

2  See  '  Actenmassige  Darstellung   der  Ausgrabung  und  Wieder- 
beeisetzungderirdiscben  Reste  von  Beethoven  und  Schubert.'  Vienna, 
Gerold,  1863. 


both  carried  out  by  the  Mannergesang  Verein, 
and  completed,  the  former  Oct.  7,  1858,  the  latter 
in  Nov.  1869.  The  same  Society  erected  by  sub 
scription  a  monument  to  him  in  the  Stadt-Park  ; 
a  sitting  figure  in  Carrara  marble  by  Carl  Kunt- 
mann,  with  the  inscription  '  Franz  Schubert, 
seinem  Andenken  der  Wiener  Mannergesang- 
verein,  1872.'  It  cost  42,000  florins,  and  was 
unveiled  May  15,  1872. 


Outside  of  Austria  his  death  created  at  first 
but  little  sensation.  Robert  Schumann,  then  18, 
is  said  to  have  been  deeply  affected,  and  to  have 
burst  into  tears  when  the  news  reached  him  at 
Leipzig ;  Mendelssohn  too,  though  unlike  Schubert 
in  temperament,  circumstances  and  education, 
doubtless  fully  estimated  his  loss ;  and  Rellstab, 
Anna  Milder,  and  others  in  Berlin  who  knew  him, 
must  have  mourned  him  deeply;  but  the  world 
at  large  did  not  yet  know  enough  of  his  works 
to  understand  either  what  it  possessed  or  what 
it  had  lost  in  that  modest  reserved  young  mu 
sician  of  31.  But  Death  always  brings  a  man, 
especially  a  young  man,  into  notoriety,  and  in 
creases  public  curiosity  about  his  works  :  and  so 
it  was  now  ;  the  stream  of  publication  at  once 
began,  and  is  even  yet  flowing,  neither  the  sup 
ply  of  works  nor  the  eagerness  to  obtain  them 
having  ceased.  The  world  has  not  yet  recovered 
from  its  astonishment  as,  one  after  another,  the 
stores  accumulated  in  those  dusky  heaps  of  music 
paper  (valued  at  8s.  6d.)  were  made  public,  each  so 
astonishingly  fresh,  copious,  and  different  from  the 
last.  As  songs,  masses,  part-songs,  operas,  cham 
ber-music  of  all  sorts  and  all  dimensions — piano 
forte-sonatas,  impromptus  and  fantasias,  duets, 
trios,  quartets,  quintet,  octet,  issued  from  the 
press  or  were  heard  in  manuscript ;  as  each  season 
brought  its  new  symphony,  overture,  entr'acte, 
or  ballet-music,  people  began  to  be  staggered 
by  the  amount.  'A  deep  shade  of  suspicion,' 
said  a  leading  musical  periodical  in  1839,  'is 
beginning  to  be  cast  over  the  authenticity  of 
posthumous  compositions.  All  Paris  has  been  in 
a  state  of  amazement  at  the  posthumous  diligence 
of  the  song-writer,  F.  Schubert,  who,  while  one 
would  think  that  his  ashes  repose  in  peace  in 
Vienna,  is  still  making  eternal  new  songs.'  We 
know  better  now,  but  it  must  be  confessed  that 
the  doubt  was  not  so  unnatural  then. 

Of  the  MS.  music — an  incredible  quantity,  of 
which  no  one  then  knew  the  amount  or  the  par 
ticulars,  partly  because  there  was  so  much  of  it, 
partly  because  Schubert  concealed,  or  rather  forgot, 
a  great  deal  of  his  work — a  certain  number  of  songs 
and  pianoforte  pieces  were  probably  in  the  hands 
of  publishers  at  the  time  of  his  death,  but  the  great 
bulk  was  in  the  possession  of  Ferdinand,  as  his 
heir.  A  set  of  4  songs  (op.  105)  was  issued  on 
the  day  of  his  funeral.  Other  songs — ops.  101, 
104,  106,  110-112, 116-118;  andtwoPF.  Duets, 
the  Fantasia  in  F  minor  (op.  103)  and  the 
'Grand  Rondeau'  (op.  107) — followed  up  to 
April  1829.  But  the  first  important  publication 
v.as  the  well-known  '  Schwanengesang,'  so  en 
titled  by  Haslinger — a  collection  of  14  songs, 

Aa2 


356 


SCHUBERT. 


7  by  Rellstab,  6  by  Heine,  and  I  by  Seidl — 
unquestionably  Schubert's  last.  They  were  issued 
in  May  1829,  and,  to  judge  by  the  lists  of  ar 
rangements  and  editions  given  by  Nottebohm, 
have  been  as  much  appreciated  as  the  Schone 
Miillerin  or  the  Winterreise.  A  stream  of  songs 
followed — for  which  we  must  refer  the  student 
to  Mr.  Nottebohm's  catalogue.  The  early  part l 
of  1830  saw  the  execution  of  a  bargain  between 
Diabelli  and  Ferdinand,  by  which  that  Firm  was 
guaranteed  the  property  of  the  following  works : — 
op.  1-32,  35,  39-59'  62,  63>  64,  66-69,  71-77, 
84-88,  92-99,  101-104,  106,  108,  109,  113,  115, 
116,  119,121-124,  127,  128,  130,  132-140,  142- 
153;  also  154  songs;  14  vocal  quartets;  the 
canons  of  1813;  a  cantata  in  C  for  3  voices; 
the  Hymn  to  the  Holy  Ghost ;  Klopstock's  Stabat 
Mater  in  F  minor,  and  Grosse  Halleluja ;  Mag 
nificat  in  C  ;  the  String  Quintet  in  C  ;  4  string 
quartets  in  C,  Bb,  G,  Bb  ;  a  string  trio  in  Bb  ;  2 
sonatas  in  A  and  A  minor,  variations  in  F,  an 
Adagio  in  Db,  and  Allegretto  in  Cfl — all  for  PF. 
solo  ;  Sonata  for  PF.  and  Arpeggione  ;  Sonata 
in  A,  and  Fantasie  in  C — both  for  PF.  and  violin  ; 
Rondo  in  A  for  violin  and  quartet ;  Adagio  and 
Rondo  in  F,  for  PF.  and  quartet ;  a  Concert- 
piece  in  D  for  violin  and  orchestra  ;  Overture 
in  D  for  orchestra  ;  Overture  to  3rd  Act  of  the 
'  Zauberharfe  * ;  Lazarus  ;  a  Tantum  ergo  in  Eb 
for  4  voices  and  orchestra  ;  an  Offer  tori  um  in  Bb 
for  tenor  solo,  chorus  and  orchestra. 

Another  large  portion  of  Ferdinand's  posses 
sions  came,  sooner  or  later,  into  the  hands  of 
Dr.  Eduard  Schneider,  son  of  Franz's  sister 
Theresia.  They  comprised  the  autographs  of 
Symphonies  i,  2,  3,  and  6,  and  copies  of  4  and 
5  ;  Autographs  of  operas  : — the  '  TeufeVs  Lust- 
schloss,'  'Fernando,'  'Der  Vierjahrige  Posten,' 
'  Die  Freunde  von  Salamanka,'  '  Die  Biirgschaft,' 
'  Fierabras,*  and  '  Sakontala ' ;  the  Mass  in  F  ; 
and  the  original  orchestral  parts  of  the  whole  of 
the  music  to  '  Rosamunde.'  The  greater  part  of 
these  are  now  (1882)  safe  in  the  possession  of  Herr 
Nicholas  Dumba  of  Vienna. 

On  July  10,  1830,  Diabelli  began  the  issue  of 
what  was  termed  Schubert's  '  Musical  Remains ' 
(musikalische  Nachlass), though  confined  to  songs; 
and  continued  it  at  intervals  till  1850,  by  which 
time  50 Parts  (Lieferungen),  containing  137  songs, 
had  appeared.  In  1830  he  also  issued  the  two 
astonishing  4-hand  marches  (op.  121)  ;  and  a  set 
of  20  waltzes  (op.  127);  whilst  other  houses 
published  the  PF.  Sonatas  in  A  and  Eb  (op.  1 20, 
122)  ;  two  string  quartets  of  the  year  1824  (op. 
1 25) ;  the  D  minor  Quartet,  etc.  For  the  progress 
of  the  publication  after  this  date  we  must  again 
refer  the  reader  to  Mr.  Nottebohm's  invaluable 
Thematic  Catalogue  (Vienna,  Schreiber,  1874), 
which  contains  every  detail,  and  may  be  implicitly 
relied  on;  merely  mentioning  the  principal  works, 
and  the  year  of  publication  : — Miriam,  Mass  in 

l  The  list  which  follows  Is  taken  from  Kreissle,  p.  566  (ii.  245).  who 
apparently  had  the  original  document  before  him.  The  only  date 
given  by  Kreissle  is  1830,  hut  it  must  have  been  early  in  that  year, 
since  op.  121,  which  forms  part  of  the  bargain,  was  issued  in 
February.  Some  of  the  numbers  in  the  list  had  already  been  issued 
as  the  property  of  the  publishers. 


SCHUBERT. 

Bb,  3  last  Sonatas  and  the  Grand  Duo,  1838; 
Symphony  in  C,  1840  ;  Phantasie  in  C,  PF.  and 
violin,  1850  ;  Quartet  in  G,  1852  ;  Quintet  in  C, 
and  Octet,  1854;  Gesang  der  Geister,  1858; 
Verschworenen,  1862;  Mass  in  Eb,  1865; 
Lazarus,  1866;  Symphony  in  B  minor,  1867; 
Mass  in  Ab,  1875. 

No  complete  critical  edition  of  Schubert's 
works  has  yet  been  undertaken.  Of  the  piano 
forte  pieces  and  songs  there  are  numberless  publi 
cations,  for  which  the  reader  is  referred  to  Mr. 
Nottebohm's  Thematic  Catalogue.  Of  the  Songs 
two  collections  may  be  signalised  as  founded  on 
the  order  of  opus  numbers  : — that  of  Senff  of 
Leipzig,  edited  by  Julius  Rietz,  361  songs  in  20 
vols.,  and  that  of  Litolff  of  Brunswick — songs  in 
10  vols.  But  neither  of  these,  though  styled 
'  complete,'  are  so.  For  instance,  each  omits  ops. 
83,  no,  129,  165,  172,  173;  the  6  songs  pub 
lished  by  Miiller,  the  40  by  Gotthard ;  and  Litolff 
also  omits  ops.  21,  60.  Still,  as  the  nearest  to 
completeness,  these  have  been  used  as  the  basis 
of  List  No.  I.  at  the  end  of  this  article. 

Schumann's  visit  to  Vienna  in  the  late  autumn 
of  1838  formed  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  the 
Schubert  music.     He  saw  the  immense  heap  of 
MSS.  which  remained  in  Ferdinand's  hands  even 
after  the  mass  bought  by  Diabelli  had  been  taken 
away,  and  amongst  them   several   symphonies. 
Such  sympathy  and  enthusiasm  as  his  must  have 
been   a   rare    delight   to   the    poor   desponding 
brother.  His  eagle  eye  soon  discovered  the  worth 
of  these  treasures.  He  picked  out  several  works  to 
be  recommended  to  publishers,  but  meantime  one 
beyond  all  the  rest  rivetted  his  attention — the 
great  symphony  of  March  1828  (was  it  the  auto 
graph,  not  yet  deposited  in  the  safe-keeping  of 
the  Gesellschaft  derMusikfreunde,  or  a  copy?)  and 
he  arranged  with  Ferdinand  to  send  a  transcript 
of  it  to  Leipzig  to  Mendelssohn  for  the  Gewand- 
haus  Concerts,  where  it  was  produced  Mar.  21, 
i839,2  an(i  repeated  no  less  than  3  times  during 
the  following  season.      His  chamber-music  was 
becoming  gradually  known  in  the  North,  and  as 
early  as  1833  is  occasionally  met  with  in  the 
Berlin   and  Leipzig  programmes.     David,  who 
led  the  taste  in  chamber  music  at  the  latter  place, 
was  devoted  toSchubert.  He  gradually  introduced 
his  works,  until  there  were  few  seasons  in  which  the 
Quartets  in  A  minor,  D  minor  (the  score  of  which 
he  edited  for  Senff),  and  G,  the  String  Quintet 
in  C  (a  special  favourite),  the  Octet,  both  Trios,  the 
PF.  Quintet,  and  the  Rondeau  brillant,  were  not 
performed  amid  great  applause,  at  his  concerts. 
Schumann  had  long  been  a  zealous  Schubert  pro 
pagandist.     From  an  early  date  his  Zeitschrift 
contains  articles  of  more  or  less  length,  always 
inspired  by  an  ardent   admiration ;   Schubert's 
letters  and  poems  and  his  brother's  excellent  short 
sketch  of  his  life,  printed  in  vol.  x  (Ap.  23  to  May  3, 
1839) — obvious    fruits    of   Schumann's  Vienna 
visit — are  indispensable  materials  for  Schubert's 

2  March  22  in  the  Allg.  Mus.  Zeitung,  March  21  in  Schumann's  paper. 
Misled  by  the  former  the  date  is  given  in  the  biography  of  Mendels 
sohn  as  the  22nd.  [Vol.  ii.  2756.]  The  reader  will  please  correct 
this.  The  Symphony  was  repeated  Dec.  12, 1839.  March  19  and  April  3,. 
1840.  Mendelssohn  made  a  few  cuts  in  the  work  for  performance. 


SCHUBERT. 

biography;  when  the  Symphony  was  performed  he 
dedicated  to  it  one  of  his  longest  and  most  genial 
effusions,1  and  each  fresh  piece  was  greeted  with 
a  hearty  welcome  as  it  fell  from  the  press.  One 
of  Schumann's  especial  favourites  was  the  Eb 
Trio ;  he  liked  it  even  better  than  that  in  Bb, 
and  has  left  a  memorandum  of  his  fondness  in 
the  opening  of  the  Adagio  of  his  Symphony  in  C, 
which  is  identical,  in  key  and  intervals,  with  that 
of  Schubert's  Andante.  The  enthusiasm  of  these 
prominent  musicians,  the  repeated  performances 
of  the  Symphony,  and  its  publication  byBreitkopfs 
(in  Jan.  1850),  naturally  gave  Schubert  a  strong 
hold  on  Leipzig,  at  that  time  the  most  active 
musical  centre  of  Europe  ;  and  after  the  founda 
tion  of  the  Conservatorium  in  1843  many  English 
and  American  students  must  have  carried  back 
the  love  of  his  romantic  and  tuneful  music  to  their 
own  countries. 

Several  performances  of  large  works  had  taken 
place  in  Vienna  since  Schubert's  death,  chiefly 
through  the  exertions  of  Ferdinand,  and  of  a 
certain  Leitermayer,  one  of  Franz's  early  friends  ; 
such  as  the  Eb  Mass  at  the  parish  church  of 
Maria  Trost  on  Nov.  15,  1829  ;  Miriam,  with 
Lachner's  orchestration,  at  a  Gesellschaft  Concert 
in  1830;  two  new  overtures  in  1833;  an  over 
ture  in  E,  the  Chorus  of  Spirits  from  Rosamunde, 
the  Grosses  Halleluja,  etc.,  early  in  1835,  and  four 
large  concerted  pieces  from  Fierabras  later  in 
the  year ;  an  overture  in  D ;  the  finale  of  the  last 
Symphony ;  a  march  and  chorus,  and  an  air  and 
chorus,  from  Fierabras,  in  April  1836;  another  new 
overture,  and  several  new  compositions  from  the 
'Remains, 'in  the  winter  of  1837-8.  As  far  as  can 
be  judged  by  the  silence  of  the  Vienna  newspapers 
these  passed  almost  unnoticed.  Even  the  competi 
tion  with  North  Germany  failed  to  produce  the 
effect  which  might  have  been  expected.  It  did 
indeed  excite  the  Viennese  to  one  effort.  On  the 
15th  of  the  December  following  the  production  of 
the  Symphony  at  Leipzig  its  performance  was  at 
tempted  at  Vienna,  but  though  the  whole  work 
was  announced,2  such  had  been  the  difficulties  at 
rehearsal  that  the  first  two  movements  alone 
were  given,  and  they  were  only  carried  off  by  the 
interpolation  of  an  air  from  '  Lucia '  between 
them. 

But  symphonies  and  symphonic  works  can 
hardly  be  expected  to  float  rapidly ;  songs  are 
more  buoyant,  and  Schubert's  songs  soon  began 
to  make  their  way  outside,  as  they  had  long  since 
done  in  his  native  place.  Wherever  they  once 
penetrated  their  success  was  certain.  In  Paris, 
where  spirit,  melody,  and  romance  are  the  certain 
criterions  of  success,  and  where  nothing  dull 
or  obscure  is  tolerated,  they  were  introduced  by 
Nourrit,  and  were  so  much  liked  as  actually  to 
find  a  transient  place  in  the  programmes  of  the 


1  '  Ges.  Schriften,'  iii.  195.    Schumann's  expressions  leave  no  doubt 
that  the  Symphony  in  C  was  in  Ferdinand's  possession  at  the  time  of 
his  visit.    This  and  many  other  of  his  articles  on  Schubert  have  been 
translated  into  English  by  Miss  M.  E.  von  Glehn,  and  Mrs.  Hitter. 

2  The  MS.  parts  in  the  possession  of  the  Musik  Verein  show  the 
most  cruel  cuts,  possibly  with  a  view  to  this  performance.    In  the 
Finale,  one  of  the  most  essential  and  effective  sections  of  the  move 
ment  is  clean  expunged. 


SCHUBERT. 


357 


Concerts  of  the  Conservatoire,  the  stronghold  of 
musical  Toryism.3  The  first  French  collection 
was  published  in  1834,  by  Richault,  with  trans 
lation  by  Be'langer.  It  contained  6  songs — Die 
Post,  Standchen,  Am  Meer,  Das  Fischermadchen, 
Der  Tod  und  das  Madchen,  and  Schlummer- 
lied.  The  Erl  King  and  others  followed.  A  larger 
collection,  with  translation  by  Emil  Deschamps, 
was  issued  by  Brandus  in  1 838  or  39.  It  is  entitled 
'Collection  des  Lieder  de  Franz  Schubert/  and 
contains  16 — La  jeune  religieuse;  Marguerite; 
Le  roi  des  aulnes ;  La  rose  ;  La  sdrdnade ;  La 
poste;  A ve  Maria;  La  cloche  des  agonisants ;  La 
jeune  fille  et  la  mort;  Rosemonde;  Les  plaintes 
de  la  jeune  fille;  Adieu;  Les  astres ;  La  jeune 
mere;  La  berceuse;  Eloge  des  larmes.4  Except 
that  one — Adieu5 — is  spurious,  the  selection 
does  great  credit  to  Parisian  taste.  This  led  the 
way  to  the  '  Qnarante  melodies  de  Schubert '  of 
Richault,  Launer,  etc.,  a  thin  8vo.  volume,  to 
which  many  an  English  amateur  is  indebted  for  his 
first  acquaintance  with  these  treasures  of  life. 
By  1845  Richault  had  published  as  many  as  150 
with  French  words. 

Some  of  the  chamber  music  also  soon  obtained 
a  certain  popularity  in  Paris,  through  the  playing 
of  Tilmant,  Urhan,  and  Alkan,  and  later  of  Alard 
and  Franchomme.  The  Trio  in  Bb,  issued  by 
Richault  in  1838,  was  the  first  instrumental  work 
of  Schubert's  published  in  France.  There  is  a 
'Collection  complete'  of  the  solo  PF.  works, 
published  by  Richault  in  8vo.,  containing  the 
Fantaisie  (op.  15),  10  sonatas,  the  two  Russian 
marches,  Impromptus,  Momens  musicals,  5  single 
pieces,  and  9  sets  of  dances.  Liszt  and  Heller 
kept  the  flame  alive  by  their  transcriptions  of 
the  songs  and  waltzes.  But  beyond  this  the 
French  hardly  know  more  of  Schubert  now  than 
they  did  then ;  none  of  his  large  works  have  be 
come  popular  with  them.  Habeneck  attempted 
to  rehearse  the  Symphony  in  C  (No.  10)  in  1842, 
but  the  band  refused  to  go  beyond  the  first 
movement,  and  Schubert's  name  up  to  this  date 
(1881)  appears  in  the  programmes  of  the  Con 
certs  of  the  Conservatoire  attached  to  three 
songs  only.  M.  Pasdeloup  has  introduced  the 
Symphony  in  C  and  the  fragments  of  that  in 
B  minor,  but  they  have  taken  no  hold  on  the 
Parisian  amateurs. 

Liszt's  devotion  to  Schubert  has  been  great 
and  unceasing.  We  have  already  mentioned  his 
production  of  Alfonso  and  Estrella  at  Weimar 
in  1854,  but  it  is  right  to  give  a  list  of  his 
transcriptions,  which  have  done  a  very  great 
deal  to  introduce  Schubert  into  many  quarters 
where  his  compositions  would  otherwise  have 
been  a  sealed  book.  His  first  transcription — 

3  'La  jeune  Eeligieuse'  and  'Le  rol  des  Aulnes'  were  sung  by 
Nourrit,  at  the  Concerts  of  Jan.  18  and  April  26,  1835,  respectively— 
the  latter  with  orchestral  accompaniment.    On  March  20, 1836,  Mar 
guerite  was  sung  by  Mile.  Falcon,  and  there  the  list  stops.    Schubert's 
name  has  never  again  appeared  in  these  programmes,  to  any  piece, 
vocal  or  instrumental. 

4  This  list  is  copied  from  the  Paris  correspondence  of  the  A.MVZ., 
1839.  p.  394. 

s  This  song  is  made  up  of  phrases  from  Schubert's  songs,  and  will 
probably  always  be  attributed  to  him.  It  stands  even  in  Pauer  s 
edition.  But  it  is  by  A.  H.  von  Weyrauch,  who  published  it  himself 
in  1824.  See  Nottebohm's  Catalogue,  p.  254. 


358 


SCHUBERT. 


Die  Rose,  op.  73 — was  made  in  *  1834,  an(^  aP~ 
peared  in  Paris  the  same  year.  It  was  fol 
lowed  in  1838  by  the  Standchen,  Post,  and  Lob 
der  Thranen,  and  in  1839  bY  the  Erl  Kin°  and.by 
1 2  Lieder.  These  again  by  6  Lieder  ;  4  Geist- 
liche  Lieder ;  6  of  the  Miillerlieder  ;  the  Schwan- 
engesang,  and  the  Winterreise.  Liszt  has  also 
transcribed  the  Divertissement  a  la  hongroise,  3 
Marches  and  9  '  Valses-caprices,'  or  'Soirees  de 
Vienne,'  after  Schubert's  op.  67.  All  the  above 
are  for  PF.  solo.  He  has  also  scored  the  accom 
paniment  to  the  Junge  Nonne,  Gretchen  am 
Spinnrade,  So  lasst  mich  scheinen,  and  the  Erl 
King,  for  a  small  orchestra;  has  adapted  the 
Allmacht  for  tenor  solo,  male  chorus,  and  or 
chestra,  and  has  converted  the  Fantasie  in  C  (op. 
15)  into  a  Concerto  for  PF.  and  orchestra.  Some 
will  think  these  changes  indefensible,  but  there 
is  no  doubt  that  they  are  done  in  a  masterly 
manner,  and  that  many  of  them  have  become 
very  popular. — Heller's  arrangements  are  con 
fined  to  6  favourite  songs. 

England  made  an  appearance  in  the  field  with 
2  songs, '  The  Letter  of  flowers '  and  '  The  Secret,' 
which  were  published  by  Mr.  Ayrton  in  1836  in 
the  Musical  Library,  to  Oxenford's  translation. 
Mr.  Wessel  (Ashdown  &  Parry)  had  begun  his 
'  Series  of  German  Songs '  earlier  than  this, 
and  by  1840,  out  of  a  total  of  197,  the  list  in 
cluded  38  of  Schubert's,  remarkably  well  chosen, 
and  including  several  of  the  finest  though  less 
known  ones,  e.  g.  Ganymed,  An  den  Tod,  Sei 
mir  gegriisst,  Die  Rose,  etc.,  etc.  Ewer's  '  Gems 
of  German  Song,'  containing  many  of  Schu 
bert's,  were  begun  in  1836.  Schubert's  music 
took  a  long  time  before  it  obtained  any  public 
footing  in  this  country.  The  first  time  it  ap 
pears  in  the  Philharmonic  programmes — then  so 
ready  to  welcome  novelties — is  on  May  20,  1839, 
when  Ivanoff  sang  the  Serenade  in  the  Schwanen- 
gesang  to  Italian  words,  '  Quando  avvolto.' 
Staudigl  gave  the  Wanderer,  May  8,  1843.  On 
June  10,  1844,  the  Overture  to  Fierabras  was 
played  under  Mendelssohn's  direction,  and  on 
June  17  the  Junge  Nonne  was  sung  to  French 
words  by  M.  de  Revial,  Mendelssohn  playing  the 
magnificent  accompaniment.  We  blush  to  say, 
however,  that  neither  piece  met  with  approval. 
The  leading  critic  says  that  '  the  overture  is 
literally  beneath  criticism  :  perhaps  a  more  over 
rated  man  never  existed  than  this  same  Schubert.' 
His  dictum  on  the  song  is  even  more  unfortunate. 
He  tells  us  that  '  it  is  a  very  good  exemplification 
of  much  ado  about  nothing — as  unmeaningly 
mysterious  as  could  be  desired  by  the  most  de 
voted  lover  of  bombast.'  Mendelssohn  conducted 
the  last  five  Philharmonic  concerts  of  that  season 
(1844);  and  amongst  other  orchestral  music  new 
to  England  had  brought  with  him  Schubert's 
Symphony  in  C,  and  his  own  overture  to  Ruy 
Bias.  At  the  rehearsal  however  the  behaviour 
of  the  band  towards  the  symphony — excited,  it  is 
said,  by  the  continual  triplets  in  the  Finale^- was 

i  These  particulars  are  taken  partly  from  Miss  Eamann's  Life  of 
Liszt,  and  partly  from  Liszt's  Thematic  Catalogue.  The  third  No.  of 
the  '  Apparitions '  is  foucded  on  a  Waltz  melody  of  Schubert's. 


SCHUBERT. 

so  insulting  that  he  refused  either  to  go  on  with 
it  or  to  allow  his   own   overture  to  be  tried.2 
But  the  misbehaviour  of  our  leading  orche.stra 
did  not  produce  the  effect  which  it  had  done  in 
Paris  ;  others  were  found  to  take  up  the  treasures 
thus  rudely  rejected,  and  Schubert  has  had  an 
ample  revenge.     The  centres  for  his  music  in 
England  have  been — for  the  orchestral  and  choral 
works,  the  Crystal  Palace,  Sydenham,  and  Mr. 
Charles  Halle's  Concerts,  Manchester  ;  and  for 
the  chamber  music,  the  Monday  and  Saturday 
Popular  Concerts  and  Mr.  Halle's  Recitals.     At 
the  Crystal  Palace  the  Symphony  in  C  (No.  10) 
has  been  in  the  re'pertoire  of  the  Saturday  Con 
certs  since  April  5,  1856  ;  the  two  movements  of 
the  B  minor  Symphony  were  first  played  April  6, 
1867,  and  have  been  constantly  repeated.     The 
6  other  MS.  Symphonies  were  obtained  from  Dr. 
Schneider  in  1 867  and  since,  and  have  been  played 
at  various  dates,  a  performance  of  the  whole  eight 
in  chronological  order  forming  a  feature  in  the 
series  of  1880-81.     The  Rosamunde  music  was 
first  played  Nov.    10,  1866,  and  has  been  fre 
quently  repeated  since.    Joachim's  orchestration 
of  the  Grand  Duo  (op.  140)  was  given  March  4, 
1876.     The  overtures  to   Alfonso  and  Estrella, 
Fierabras,     Freunde   von    Salamanka,    Teufels 
Lustschloss,  and  that  'in  the  Italian  style'  are 
continually  heard.    Miriam's  song  was  first  given 
Nov.  14,  1868  (and  three  times  since) ;  the  Con 
spirators,  March  2,  1872  ;  the  23rd  Psalm,  Feb. 
21,  1874;   the  Eb  Mass,  March  29,  1879.    At 
the  Popular  Concerts  a  beginning  was  made  May 
16,  1859,  with  the  A  minor  Quartet,  the  D  major 
Sonata,  and  the  Rondeau  brillant.  Since  then  the 
D  minor  and  Gr  major  Quartets,  many  sonatas  and 
other  PF.  pieces  have  been  added,  and  the  Octet, 
the  Quintet  in  C,  and  the  two  Trios  are  repeated 
season  by  season,  and  enthusiastically -received. 
The  Quartet  •  in  Bb,   a  MS.   trio  in  the  same 
key,  the  Sonata  for  PF.  and  Arpeggione,  eto. 
have  been  brought  to  a  hearing.     A  large  num 
ber  of  songs  are  familiar  to  the  subscribers  to 
these   concerts    through  the   fine  interpretation 
of  Stockhausen,  Mad.  Joachim,  Miss  Regan,  Miss 
Sophie  Lowe,  Mr.  Santley,  Mr.  Henschel,  and 
other  singers.    At  Mr.  Halle's  admirable  recitals 
at  St.  James's  Hall,  since  their  commencement 
in  1863  all  the  published  Sonatas  have  been  re 
peatedly  played  ;  not  only  the  popular  ones,  but  of 
those  less  known  none  have  been  given  less  than 
twice  ;  the  Fantasia  in  C,  op.  15,  three  times  ;  the 
PF.  Quintet,  the  Fantasia  for  PF.  and  Violin, 
the  Impromptus  and  Momens  musicals,  the  '5 
pieces,'  the  '  3  pieces,'  the  Adagio  and  Rondo, 
the  Valses  nobles,  and  other  numbers  of  this  fasci 
nating  music  have  been  heard  again  and  again. 

The  other  principal  publications  ,in  England 
are  the  vocal  scores  of  the  six  Masses,  the  PF. 

2  Even  15  years  later,  when  played  at  the  Musical  Society  of  Lon 
don,  the  same  periodical  that  we  have  already  quoted  says  of  it, 
'  The  ideas  throughout  it  are  all  of  a  minute  character,  and  the 
instrumentation  is  of  a  piece  with  the  ideas.  There  is  no  breadth, 
there  is  no  grandeur,  there  is  no  dignity  in  either ;  clearness,  and 
contrast,  and  beautiful  finish  are  always  apparent,  but  the  or 
chestra,  though  loud,  is  never  massive  and  sonorous,  and  the  music, 
though  always  correct,  is  never  serious  or  imposing.'  Is  it  possible 
for  criticism  to  be  more  hopelessly  wrong? 


SCHUBERT. 

accompaniment  arranged  from  the  full  score  by 
Ebenezer  Prout,  published  by  Augener  &  Co. — 
the  ist,  and,  3rd,  4th  in  1871,  the  6th  (Eb)  in  1872, 
and  the  5th  (Ab)  in  I875-1  The  Masses  have 
been  also  published  by  Novellos,  both  with 
Latin  and  English  words  ('  Communion  Ser 
vice');  and  the  same  firm  has  published 
Miriam,  in  two  forms,  and  the  Rosaniunde 
music,  both  vocal  score  and  orchestral  parts. 
Messrs.  Augener  have  also  published  editions 
of  the  PF.  works*,  and  of  a  large  number  of 
songs,  by  Pauer. 

Schubert  was  not  sufficiently  important  during 
his  lifetime  to  attract  the  attention  of  painters, 
and  although  he  had  more  than  one  artist  in 
his  circle,  there  are  but  three  portraits  of  him 
known.  I.  A  poor  stiff  head  by  Leopold  Kupel- 
wieser,  full  face,  taken  July  10,  1821,  photo 
graphed  by  Mietke  and  Wawra  of  Vienna,  and 
wretchedly  engraved  as  the  frontispiece  to 
Kreissle's  biography.  2.  A  very  characteristic 
half-length,  3-qimrter-face,  in  water  colours,  by 
W.  A.Rieder,takenini825,  and  now  in  possession 
of  Dr.  Granitsch  of  Vienna.2  A  replica  by  the 
artist,  dated  1840,  is  now  in  the  Musik-Verein. 
It  has  been  engraved  by  Passini,  and  we  here 
give  the  head,  from  a  photograph  expressly  taken 
from  the  original. 


SCHUBERT. 


359 


3.   The  bust  on  the  tomb,  which  gives  a  very 
prosaic  version  of  his  features. 

His  exterior  by  no  means  answered  to  his 
genius.  His  general  appearance  was  insigni 
ficant.  As  we  have  already  said,  he  was  prob 
ably  not  more  than  5  feet  and  I  inch  high, 
his  figure  was  stout  and  clumsy,  with  a  round 
back  and  shoulders  (perhaps  due  to  incessant 

1  Reviewed  by  Mr.  E.  Prout  in  'Concordia'  for  1875,  pp.8,  29, 109,  etc. 

2  He  bought  it  in  Feb.  1881  for  1,205  florins,  or  about  120Z.    It  is 
about  8  inches  high,  by  6  -wide. 


writing),  fleshy  arms,  and  thick  short  fingers. 
His  complexion  was  pasty,  nay  even  tallowy ; 
his  cheeks  were  full,  his  eyebrows  bushy,  and  his 
nose  insignificant.  But  there  were  two  things  that 
to  a  great  extent  redeemed  these  insignificant 
traits — his  hair,  which  was  black,  and  remark 
ably  thick  and  3  vigorous,  as  if  rooted  in  the 
brain  within ;  and  his  eyes,  which  were  truly 
'  the  windows  of  his  soul,'  and  even  through  the 
spectacles  he  constantly  wore  were  so  bright  as 
at  once  to  attract  attention.4  If  Rieder's  por 
trait  may  be  trusted — and  it  is  said  to  be  very 
faithful,  though  perhaps  a  little  too  fine — they 
had  a  peculiarly  steadfast  penetrating  look,  which 
irresistibly  reminds  one  of  the  firm  rhythm  of 
his  music.  His  glasses  are  inseparable  from  his 
face.  One  of  our  earliest  glimpses  of  him  is 
'  a  little  boy  in  spectacles'  at  the  Convict ;  he  ha 
bitually  slept  in  them ;  and  within  1 8  months  of 
his  death  we  see  him  standing  in  the  window  at 
Dobling,  his  glasses  pushed  up  over  his  fore 
head,  and  Grillparzer's  verses  held  close  to  his 
searching  eyes.  He  had  the  broad  strong  jaw  of 
all  great  men,  and  a  marked  assertive  prominence 
of  the  lips.  When  at  rest  the  expression  of  his 
face  was  uninteresting,  but  it  brightened  up  at 
the  mention  of  music,  especially  that  of  Bee 
thoven.  His  voice  was  something  between  a  soft 
tenor  and  a  baritone.  He  sang  '  like  a  composer,' 
without  the  least  affectation  or  attempt.5 

His  general  disposition  was  in  accordance  with 
his  countenance.  His  sensibility,  though  his 
music  shows  it  was  extreme,  was  not  roused  by 
the  small  things  of  life.  He  had  little  of  that 
jealous  susceptibility  which  too  often  distinguishes 
musicians,  more  irritable  even  than  the  '  irritable 
race  of  poets.'  His  attitude  towards  Rossini 
and  Weber  proves  this.  When  a  post  which 
he  much  coveted  was  given  to  6 another,  he 
expressed  his  satisfaction  at  its  being  bestowed 
on  so  competent  a  man.  Transparent  truth 
fulness,  good-humour,  a  cheerful  contented 
evenness,  fondness  for  a  joke,  and  a  desire  to 
remain  in  the  background— such  were  his  pro 
minent  characteristics  in  ordinary  life.  But  we 
have  seen  how  this  apparently  impassive  man 
could  be  moved  by  a  poem  which  appealed  to 
him,  or  by  such  music  as  Beethoven's  Cjf  minor 
Quartet.7  This  unfailing  good-nature,  this  sweet 
loveableness,  doubtless  enhanced  by  his  reserve, 
was  what  attached  Schubert  to  his  friends. 
They  admired  him  ;  but  they  loved  him  still 
more.  Ferdinand  perfectly  adored  him,  and 
even  the  derisive  Ignaz  melts  when  he  takes 
leave.8  Hardly  a  letter  from  Schwind,  Schober, 
or  Bauernfeld,  that  does  not  amply  testify  to 
this.  Their  only  complaint  is  that  he  will  not 
return  their  passion,  that  '  the  affection  of  years 
is  not  enough  to  overcome  his  distrust  and  fear 
of  seeing  himself  appreciated  and  beloved.' 9  Even 

3  All  three  portraits  agree  in  this.  An  eminent  surgeon  of  our  own 
day  is  accustomed  to  say,  'Never  trust  a  man  -with  a  great  head  u( 
black  hair,  he  is  sure  to  be  an  enthusiast.' 

*  \V.  v.  Chezy,  '  Erinnerungen  '— '  with  eyes  so  brilliant  as  at  the 
first  glance  to  betray  the  fire  within.' 

5  Bauernfeld.  8  Weigl.  r  See  pages  324,  353. 

a  K.H.  149  (i.  151).  9  Schwind,  in  K.H.  345  (ii.  28). 


360 


SCHUBERT. 


strangers  who  met  him  in  this  entourage  were  as 
much  captivated  as  his  friends.  J.  A.  Berg  of 
Stockholm,  who  was  in  Vienna  in  1827,  as  a  young 
man  of  24,  and  met  him  at  the  Bogners,  speaks 
of  him1  with  the  clinging  affection  which  such 
personal  charm  inspires. 

He  was  a  born  bourgeois,  never  really  at  his 
ease  except  among  his  equals  and  chosen  asso 
ciates.  When  with  them  he  was  genial  and 
compliant.  At  the  dances  of  his  friends  he 
would  extemporise  the  most  lovely  waltzes  for 
hours  together,  or  accompany  song  after  song. 
He  was  even  boisterous — playing  the  Erl  King 
on  a  comb,  fencing,  howling,  and  making  many 
practical  jokes.  But  in  good  society  he  was  shy 
and  silent,  his  face  grave  ;  a  word  of  praise  dis 
tressed  him,  he  would  repel  the  admiration  when 
it  came,  and  escape  into  the  next  room,  or  out  of 
the  house,  at  the  first  possible  moment.  In  con 
sequence  he  was  overlooked,  and  of  his  important 
friends  few  knew,  or  showed  that  they  knew, 
what  a  treasure  they  had  within  their  reach. 
A  great  player  like  Bocklet,  after  performing 
the  Bb  Trio,  could  kneel  to  kiss  the  composer's 
hand  in  rapture,  and  with  broken  voice  stammer 
forth  his  homage,  but  there  is  no  trace  of  such 
tribute  from  the  upper  classes.  What  a  contrast 
to  Beethoven's  position  among  his  aristocratic 
friends — their  devotion  and  patience,  his  con 
temptuous  behaviour,  the  amount  of  pressing 
necessary  to  make  him  play,  his  scorn  of  emotion, 
and  love  of  applause  after  he  had  finished  !  [See 
vol.  i.  p.  1686.]  The  same  contrast  is  visible  in 
the  dedications  of  the  music  of  the  two — Bee 
thoven's  chiefly  to  crowned  heads  and  nobility, 
Schubert's  in  large  proportion  to  his  friends.  It 
is  also  evident  in  the  music  itself,  as  we  shall 
endeavour  presently  to  bring  out. 

He  played,  as  he  sang,  '  like  a  composer,'  that 
is,  with  less  of  technique  than  of  knowledge  and 
expression.  Of  the  virtuoso  he  had  absolutely 
nothing.  He  improvised  in  the  intervals  of  throw 
ing  on  his  clothes,  or  at  other  times  when  the 
music  within  was  too  strong  to  be  resisted,  but  as 
an  exhibition  or  performance  never,  and  there  is 
no  record  of  his  playing  any  music  but  his  own. 
He  occasionally  accompanied  his  songs  at  con 
certs  (always  keeping  Very  strict  time),  but  we 
never  hear  of  his  having  extemporised  or  played 
a  piece  in  public  in  Vienna.  Notwithstanding 
the  shortness  of  his  fingers,  which  sometimes  got 
tired,2  he  could  play  most  of  his  own  pieces,  and 
with  such  force  and  beauty  as  to  compel  a 
musician3  who  was  listening  to  one  of  his  latest 
Sonatas  to  exclaim, '  I  admire  your  playing  more 
than  your  music,'  an  exclamation  susceptible 
of  two  interpretations,  of  which  Schubert  is  said 
to  have  taken  the  unfavourable  one.  But  ac 
companiment  was  his  forte,  and  of  this  we 
have  already  spoken  [see  pp.  342  b,  347  a  etc.]. 
Duet-playing  was  a  favourite  recreation  with  him. 
Schober,  Gahy,  and  others,  were  his  companions 
in  this,  and  Gahy  has  left  on  record  his  admira- 


In  a  letter  to  the  writer.  2  Bauernfeld. 

3  Horzalka.    K.  H.  128  (i.  132). 


SCHUBERT. 

tion  of  the  clean  rapid  playing,  the  bold  concep 
tion  and  perfect  grasp  of  expression,  and  the 
clever  droll  remarks  that  would  drop  from  him 
during  the  piece. 

His  life  as  a  rule  was  regular,  even  mono 
tonous.  He  composed  or  studied  habitually  for 
six  or  seven  hours  every  morning.  This  was 
one  of  the  methodical  habits  which  he  had 
learned  from  his  good  old  father ;  others  were 
the  old-fashioned  punctilious  style  of  addressing 
strangers,  which  struck  Hiller1  with  such  conster 
nation,  and  the  dating  of  his  music.  He  was 
re.idy  to  write  directly  he  tumbled  out  of  bed, 
and  remained  steadily  at  work  till  two.  '  When 
I  have  done  one  piece  I  begin  the  next '  was  his 
explanation  to  a  visitor  in  1827  ;  and  one  of  these 
mornings  produced  six  of  the  songs  in  the  '  Win- 
terreise ' !  At  two  he  dined — when  there  was 
money  enough  for  dinner — either  at  the  Gast- 
haus,  where  in  those  days  it  cost  a  '  Zwanziger ' 
(8|rf.),  or  with  a  friend  or  patron;  and  the 
afternoon  was  spent  in  making  music,  as  at 
Mad.  Lacsny  Buchwieser's  [p.  347  a],  or  in 
walking  in  the  environs  of  Vienna.  If  the 
weather  was  fine  the  walk  was  often  prolonged 
till  late,  regardless  of  engagements  in  town  ;  but 
if  this  was  not  the  case,  he  was  at  the  coffee-house 
by  five,  smoking  his  pipe  and  ready  to  joke  with 
any  of  his  set ;  then  came  an  hour's  music,  as  at 
Sofie  Miiller's  [p.  341  b~\ ;  then  the  theatre,  and 
supper  at  the  Gasthaus  again,  and  the  coffee 
house,  Lometimes  till  far  into  the  morning.  In 
those  days  no  Viennese,  certainly  no  young 
bachelor,  dined  at  home ;  so  that  the  repeated 
visits  to  the  Gasthaus  need  not  shock  the  sensi 
bilities  of  any  English  lover  of  Schubert.  [See 
P«  345-]  Nor  let  any  one  be  led  away  with  the  no  tion 
that  he  was  a  sot,  as  some  seem  prone  to  believe. 
How  could  a  sot — how  could  any  one  who  even 
lived  freely,  and  woke  with  a  heavy  head  or  a 
disordered  stomach — have  worked  as  he  worked, 
and  have  composed  nearly  1000  such  works  as 
his  in  1 8  years,  or  have  performed  the  feats  of 
rapidity  that  Schubert  did  in  the  way  of  opera, 
symphony,  quartet,  song,  which  we  have  enu 
merated  ?  No  sot  could  write  six  of  the  '  Win- 
terreise'  songs — perfect,  enduring  works  of  art — 
in  one  morning,  and  that  no  singular  feat! 
Your  Morlands  and  Poes  are  obliged  to  wait 
their  time,  and  produce  a  few  works  as  their 
brain  and  their  digestion  will  allow  them,  in 
stead  of  being  always  ready  for  their  greatest 
efforts,  as  Mozart  and  Schubert  were.  Schubert 
— like  Mozart— rloved  society  and  its  accompani 
ments  ;  he  would  have  been  no  Viennese  if  he 
had  not ;  and  he  may  have  been  occasionally  led 
away;  but  such  escapades  were  rare.  He  does 
not  appear  to  have  cared  for  the  other  sex,  or 
to  have  been  attractive  to  them  as  Beethoven 
was,  notwithstanding  his  ugliness.  This  sim 
plicity  curiously  characterises  his  whole  life  ;  no 
feats  of  memory  are  recorded  of  him  as  they  so 

*  '  Kunstlerleben,'  p.  49.  •  Schubert  I  find  mentioned  in  my  journal 
as  a  quiet  man — possibly  not  always  so,  though  it  was  only  amongst 
his  Intimates  that  he  broke  out.  When  I  visited  him  in  his  modest 
lodcing  he  received  me  kyndly,  but  so  respec'.fully  as  quite  to  frighten 
me.1 


SCHUBERT. 

often  are  of  other  great  musicians ;   the  records 
of  his  life  contain  nothing  to  quote.     His  letters, 
some  forty  in  all,  are  evidently  forced  from  him. 
'  Heavens  and  Earth,'  says  he, '  it 's  frightful  hav 
ing 'to  describe  one's  travels  ;  I  cannot  write  any 
more.'     '  Dearest  friend ' — on  another  occasion — 
4  you  will  be  astonished  at  my  writing  :  I  am  so 
myself.'1      Strange   contrast   to    the    many  in 
teresting  epistles  of  Mozart   and  Mendelssohn, 
and  the  numberless  notes  of  Beethoven !    Bee 
thoven    was    well   read,    a  politician,    thought 
much,   and   talked   eagerly   on   many   subjects. 
Mozart  and  Mendelssohn  both  drew ;  travelling 
was  a  part  of  their  lives  ;  they  were  men  of  the 
world,  and  Mendelssohn   was   master   of  many 
accomplishments.  Schumann  too,  though  a  Saxon 
of  Saxons,  had  travelled  much,  and  while  a  most 
prolific  composer,  was  a  practised  literary  man. 
But  Schubert  has  nothing  of  the  kind  to  show.  He 
not  only  never  travelled  out  of  Austria,  but  he 
never  proposed  it,  and  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  of 
his  doing  so.     To  picture  or  work  of  art  he  very 
rarely  refers.     He  expressed  himself  with  such 
difficulty  that  it  was  all  but  impossible  to  argue 
with  him.2     Besides  the  letters  just  mentioned, 
a  few  pages  of  diary  and  four  or  five  poems  are 
all  that  he  produced  except  his  music.     In  liter 
ature  his  range  was  wide  indeed,  but  it  all  went 
into  his  music  ,•  and  he  was  strangely  uncritical. 
He  seems    to   have  been   hardly   able — at  any 
rate  he  did  not  care — to  discriminate  between 
the  magnificent  songs  of  Goethe,  Schiller,  and 
Mayrhofer,  the  feeble  domesticities  of  Kosegar- 
ten  and  Holty,  and  the  turgid  couplets  of  the 
authors  of  his  librettos.    All  came  alike  to  his 
omnivorous    appetite.      But  the  fact    is    that, 
apart  from  his  music,  Schubert's  life  was  little  or 
nothing,  and  that  is  its  most  peculiar  and  most 
interesting  fact.     Music  and  music  alone  was  to 
him  all  in  all.     It  was  not  his  principal  mode  of 
expression,  it  was  his  only  one ;  it  swallowed  up 
every  other.     His  afternoon  walks,  his  evening 
amusements,  were  all  so  many  preparations  for 
the  creations  of  the  following  morning.   No  doubt 
he  enjoyed  the  country,  but  the  effect  of  the 
walk  is  to  be  found  in  his  music  and  his  music 
only.    He  left,  as  we  have  said,  no  letters  to 
speak  of,  no  journal ;    there  is  no  record  of  his 
ever  having  poured  out  his  soul  in  confidence,  as 
Beethoven  did  in  the  '  Will,'  in  the  three  mys 
terious  letters  to  some  unknown  Beloved,  or  in 
his  conversations  with  Bettina.     He   made   no 
impression   even   on   his  closest  friends  beyond 
that  of  natural  kindness,  goodness,  truth,  and 
reserve.     His  life  is  all  summed  up  in  his  music. 
No  memoir  of  Schubert  can  ever  be  satisfactory, 
because  no  relation  can  be  established  between 
his  life  and  his  music  ;  or  rather,  properly  speak 
ing,   because   there   is   no    life    to    establish   a 
relation   with.     The   one   scale   of  the   balance 
is  absolutely  empty,  the   other  is  full  to  over 
flowing. 

For   when  we   come   to  the   music   we   find 
everything  that  was  wanting  elsewhere.    There 


SCHUBERT. 


361 


1  K.H.  368  (ii.  55) ;  417  (ii.  104). 
*  Serried,  in  Schilling's  Lexicc 


we  have  fluency,  depth  acuteness  and  variety 
of  expression,  unbounded  imagination,  the  hap 
piest  thoughts,  never-tiring  energy,  and  a  sym 
pathetic  tenderness  beyond  belief.  And  these 
were  the  result  of  natural  gifts  and  of  the 
incessant  practice  to  which  they  forced  him. ;  for 
it  seems  certain  that  of  education  in  music — 
meaning  by  education  the  severe  course  of  train 
ing  in  the  mechanical  portions  of  their  art  to 
which  Mozart  and  Mendelssohn  were  subjected 
— he  had  little  or  nothing.  As  we  have  already 
mentioned,  the  two  musicians  who  professed  to 
instruct  him,  Holzer  and  Ruczicka,  were  so 
astonished  at  his  ability  that  they  contented 
themselves  with  wondering,  and  allowing  him 
to  go  his  own  way.  And  they  are  responsible 
for  that  want  of  counterpoint  which  was  an 
embarrassment  to  him  all  his  life,  and  drove 
him,  during  his  last  illness,  to  seek  lessons. 
[See  p.  353].  What  he  learned,  he  learned 
mostly  for  himself,  from  playing  in  the  Convict 
orchestra,  from  incessant  writing,  and  from 
reading  the  best  scores  he  could  obtain ;  and, 
to  use  the  expressive  term  of  his  friend  Mayr 
hofer,  remained  a  '  Naturalist '  to  the  end  of  his 
life.  From  the  operas  of  the  Italian  masters, 
which  were  recommended  to  him  by  Salieri,  he 
advanced  to  those  of  Mozart,  and  of  Mozart 
abundant  traces  appear  in  his  earlier  instru 
mental  works.  In  1814  Beethoven  was  prob 
ably  still  tabooed  in  the  Convict ;  and  beyond 
the  Prometheus  music,  and  the  first  two  Sym 
phonies,  a  pupil  there  would  not  be  likely  to 
encounter  anything  of  his. 

To  speak  first  of  the  orchestral  works. 

The  ist  Symphony  dates  from  1814  (his  1 8th 
year),  and  between  that  and  1818  we  have  five 
more.  These  are  all  much  tinctured  by  what  he 
was  hearing  and  reading — Haydn,  Mozart,  Ros 
sini,  Beethoven  (the  last  but  slightly,  for  reasons 
just  hinted  at).  Now  and  then — as  in  the  second 
subjects  of  the  first  and  last  Allegros  of  Sym 
phony  i,  the  first  subject  of  the  opening  Allegro 
of  Symphony  2,  and  the  Andante  of  Symphony  5, 
the  themes  are  virtually  reproduced — no  doubt 
unconsciously.  The  treatment  is  more  his 
own,  especially  in  regard  to  the  use  of  the  wind 
instruments,  and  to  the  '  working  out '  of  the 
movements,  where  his  want  of  education  drives 
him  to  the  repetition  of  the  subject  in  various 
keys,  and  similar  artifices,  in  place  of  contrapuntal 
treatment.  In  the  slow  movement  and  Finale 
of  the  Tragic  Symphony,  No.  4,  we  have  exceed 
ingly  happy  examples,  in  which,  without  abso 
lutely  breaking  away  from  the  old  world,  Schu 
bert  has  revealed  an  amount  of  original  feeling 
and  an  extraordinary  beauty  of  treatment  which 
already  stamp  him  as  a  great  orchestral  com 
poser.  But  whether  always  original  or  not  in 
their  subjects,  no  one  can  listen  to  these  first  six 
Symphonies  without  being  impressed  with  their 
individuality.  Single  phrases  may  remind  us  of 
other  composers,  the  treatment  may  often  be 
traditional,  but  there  is  a  fluency  and  continuity, 
a  happy  cheerfulness,  an  earnestness  and  want  of 
triviality,  and  an  absence  of  labour,  which  proclaim 


362 


SCHUBERT. 


a  new  composer.  The  writer  is  evidently  writ 
ing  because  what  he  has  to  say  must  come  out, 
even  though  he  may  occasionally  couch  it  in  the 
phrases  of  his  predecessors.  Beauty  and  pro 
fusion  of  melody  reign  throughout.  The  tone  is 
often  plaintive  but  never  obscure,  and  there  is 
always  the  irrepressible  gaiety  of  youth  and  of 
Schubert's  own  Viennese  nature,  ready  and  will 
ing  to  burst  forth.  His  treatment  of  particular 
instruments,  especially  the  wind,  is  already  quite 
his  own — a  happy  conversational  way  which  at  a 
later  period  becomes  highly  characteristic.  At 
length,  in  the  B  minor  Symphony  (Oct.  30,  1822), 
we  meet  with  something  which  never  existed 
in  the  world  before  in  orchestral  music — a  new 
class  of  thoughts  and  a  new  mode  of  expression 
which  distinguish  him  entirely  from  his  prede 
cessors,  characteristics  which  are  fully  maintained 
in  the  Rotamunde  music  (Christmas  1823),  and 
culminate  in  the  great  C  major  Symphony  (March 
1828). 

The  same  general  remarks  apply  to  the  other 
instrumental  compositions  —  the  quartets  and 
PF.  sonatas.  These  often  show  a  close  adherence 
to  the  style  of  the  old  school,  but  are  always 
effective  and  individual,  and  occasionally,  like 
the  symphonies,  varied  by  original  and  charming 
movements,  as  the  Trio  in  the  Eb  Quartet,  or  the 
Minuet  and  Trio  in  the  E  major  one  (op.  125, 
I  and  2),  the  Sonata  in  A  minor  (1817)  etc. 
The  visit  to  Zele'sz  in  1824,  with  its  Hungarian 
experiences,  and  the  pianoforte  proclivities  of  the 
Esterhazys,  seems  to  have  given  him  a  new  im 
petus  in  the  direction  of  chamber  music.  It  was 
the  immediate  or  proximate  cause  of  the  'Grand 
Duo' — that  splendid  work  in  which,  with  Bee 
thoven  in  his  eye,  Schubert  was  never  more  him 
self—  and  the  Divertissement  a  la  hongroise ;  as 
well  as  the  beautiful  and  intensely  personal  String 
Quartet  in  A  minor,  which  has  been  not  wrongly 
said  to  be  the  most  characteristic  work  of  any 
composer;  ultimately  also  of  the  D  minor  and  G 
major  Quartets,  the  String  Quintet  in  C,  and  the 
three  last  Sonatas,  in  all  of  which  the  Hungarian 
element  is  strongly  perceptible  —  all  the  more 
strongly  because  we  do  not  detect  it  at  all  in  the 
songs  and  vocal  works. 

Here  then,  at  1822  in  the  orchestral  works,  and 
1824  in  the  chamber  music,  we  may  perhaps  draw 
the  line  between  Schubert's  mature  and  imma 
ture  compositions.  The  stfep  from  the  Symphony 
in  C  of  1818  to  the  Unfinished  Symphony  in 
B  minor,  or  to  the  Rosamunde  Entracte  in  the 
same  key,  is  quite  as  great  as  Beethoven's  was 
from  No.  2  to  the  Eroica,  or  Mendelssohn's  from 
the  C  minor  to  the  Italian  Symphony.  All  trace 
of  his  predecessors  is  gone,  and  he  stands  alone  in 
his  own  undisguised  and  pervading  personality. 
All  trace  of  his  youth  has  gone  too.  Life  has 
become  serious,  nay  cruel;  and  a  deep  earnest 
ness  and  pathos  animate  all  his  utterances.  Simi 
larly  in  the  chamber-music,  the  Octet  stands  on 
the  line,  and  all  the  works  which  have  made 
their  position  and  are  acknowledged  as  great  are 
on  this  side  of  it— the  Grand  Duo,  the  Diver 
tissement  Hongroise,  the  PF.  Sonatas  in  A  minor, 


SCHUBERT. 

D,  and  Bb,  the  Fantasie-Sonata  in  G ;  the  Im 
promptus  and    Momens    musicals  ;    the    String 
Quartets  in  A  minor,  D  minor,  and  G  ;  the  String- 
Quintet  in  C;  the  Rondo  brillant, — in  short,  all 
the  works  which  the  world  thinks  of  when  it 
mentions  'Schubert'  (we  are  speaking  now  of 
instrumental  music  only)  are  on  this  side  of  1822. 
On  the  other  side  of  the  line,  in  both  cases,  or 
chestra  and  chamber,  are  a  vast  number  of  works 
full  of  beauty,  interest,  and  life  ;  breathing  youth 
in  every  bar,  absolute  Schubert  in  many  move 
ments  or  passages,  but  not  completely  saturated 
with  him,  not  of  sufficiently  independent  power 
to  assert  their  rank  with  the  others,  or  to  com 
pensate  for  the  diffuseness  and  repetition  which 
remained  characteristics  of  their  author  to  the 
last,  but  which  in  the  later  works  are  hidden 
or  atoned  for  by  the  astonishing  force,  beauty, 
romance,  and  personality  inherent  in  the  contents 
of  the  music.     These  early  works  will  always  be 
more  than  interesting;  and  no  lover  of  Schubert 
but  must  regard  them  with  the  strong  affection 
and  fascination  which  his  followers  feel  for  every 
bar  he  wrote.    But  the  judgment  of  the  world  at 
large  will  probably  always  remain  what  it  now  is. 
He  was,  as  Liszt  so  finely  l  said,  '  le  musicicn 
le  plus  po&te  quejamais' — the  most  poetical  mu 
sician  that  ever  was ;  and  the  main  character 
istics  of  his  music  will  always  be  its  vivid  per 
sonality,  fullness,  and  poetry.     In  the  case  of 
other  great  composers,  the  mechanical  skill  and 
ingenuity,  the  very  ease  and  absence  of  effort 
with  which  many  of  their  effects  are  produced, 
or  their  pieces  constructed,  is  a  great  element  in 
the  pleasure  produced  by  their  music.     Not  so 
with  Schubert.     In  listening  to  him  one  is  never 
betrayed  into  exclaiming  '  how  clever  ! '  but  very 
often  '  how  poetical,  how  beautiful,  how  intensely 
Schubert ! '  The  impression  produced  by  his  great 
works  is  that  the  means  are  nothing  and  the 
effect  everything.     Not  that  he  had  no  technical 
skill.      Counterpoint  he  was  deficient  in,  but  the 
power  of  writing  whatever  he  wanted  he  had 
absolutely  at  his  fingers'  end.     No  one  had  ever 
written  more,  and  the  notation  of  his  ideas  must 
have  been  done  without  an  effort.     In  the  words 
of  Mr.  Macfarren,2  '  the  committing  his  works  to 
paper  was  a  process  that  accompanied  their  com 
position  like  the  writing  of  an  ordinary  letter 
that  is  indited  at  the  very  paper.'     In  fact  we 
know,  if  we  had  not  the  manuscripts  to  prove  it, 
that  he  wrote  with  the  greatest  ea^e  and  rapidity, 
and  could  keep  up  a  conversation,  not  only  while 
writing  down  but  while  inventing  his  best  works ; 
that  he  never  hesitated  ;   very  rarely  revised— it 
would  often  have  been  better  if  he  had  ;  and 
never  seems  to  have  aimed  at  making  innovations 
or  doing  things  for  effect.     For  instance,  in  the 
number  and  arrangement  of  the  movements,  his 
symphonies  and  sonatas  never  depait  from  the 
regular  Haydn  pattern.     They  show  no  aesthetic 
artifices,  such  as  quoting  the  theme  of  one  move 
ment  in  another  movement,  or  running  them  into 
each  other ;  changing  their  order,  or  introducing 

1  Liszt's  worst  enemies  will  pardon  him  much  for  this  sentence. 

2  Philharmonic  programme,  May  22,  U71. 


SCHUBERT. 

extra  ones;  mixing  various  times  simultaneously 
— or  similar  mechanical  means  of  producing  unity 
or  making  novel  effects,  which  often  surprise  and 
please  us  in  Beethoven,  Schumann,  Mendelssohn 
and  Spohr.    Not  an  instance  of  this  is  to  be  found 
in  Schubert.     Nor  has  he  ever  indicated  a  pro 
gramme,  or  prefixed  a  motto  to  any  of  his  works. 
His  matter  is  so  abundant  and  so  full  of  variety 
and  interest  that  he  never  seems  to  think  of  en 
hancing  it  by  any  devices.     He  did  nothing  to 
extend  the  formal  limits  of  Symphony  or  Sonata, 
but  he  endowed  them  with  a  magic,  a  romance, 
a  sweet  naturalness,  which  no  one  has  yet  ap 
proached.    And  as  in  the  general  structure  so  in 
the  single  movements.    .A  simple  canon,  as  in 
the  Eb  Trio,  the  Andante  of  the  B  minor  or  the 
Scherzo  of  the  C  major  Symphonies ;   an  occa 
sional  round,  as  in  the  Masses  and  Part-songs ; — 
such  is  pretty  nearly  all  the  science  that  he  affords. 
His  vocal  fugues  are  notoriously  weak,  and  the 
symphonies   rarely  show  those  piquant  fugutos 
which  are  so  delightful  in  Beethoven  and  Men 
delssohn.     On  the  other  hand,  in  all  that  is  ne 
cessary  to  express  his  thoughts  and  feelings,  and 
to  convey  them  to  the  hearer,  he  is  inferior  to 
none.     Such  passages  as  the  return  to  the  sub 
ject  in  the  Andante  of  the  B  minor  Symphony, 
or  in  the  ballet  air  in  G  of  Eosamunde ;  as  the 
famous  horn  passage  in  the  Andante  of  the  C 
major  Symphony   (No.   10)  —  which   Schumann 
happily  compares  to  a  being  from  the  other  world 
gliding  about  the  orchestra — or  the  equally  beau 
tiful  cello  solo  further  on  in  the  same  movement, 
are  unsurpassed  in  orchestral  music  for  felicity 
and  beauty,  and  have  an  emotional  effect  which 
no  learning  could  give.     There  is  a  place  in  the 
working-out  of  the  Rosamunde  Entracte  in  B 
minor  (change  into  GjJ),  in  which  the  combination 
of  modulation  and  scoring  produces  a  weird  and 
overpowei'ing  feeling  quite  exceptional,  and  the 
change  to  the  major  near  the  end  of  the  same 
great  work  will  always  astonish.    One  of  the  most 
prominent  beauties  in  these  orchestral  works  is 
the  exquisite  and  entirely  fresh  manner  in  which 
the  wind  instruments  are  combined.     Even  in 
his  earliest  Symphonies  he  begins  that  method  of 
dialogue  by  interchange  of  phrases,  which  rises  at 
last  to  the  well-known  and  lovely  passages  in  the 
Overture  to  Rosamunde  (2nd  subject),  the  Trios 
of  the  Bb  Entracte,  and  the  Air  de  Ballet  in  the 
same  music,  and  in  the  Andantes  of  the  8th  and 
loth  Symphonies.  No  one  has  ever  combined  wind 
instruments  as  these  are  combined.     To  quote 
Schumann  once  more — they  talk  and  intertalk 
like  human  beings.     It  is  no  artful  concealment 
of  art.     The  artist  vanishes  altogether,  and  the 
loving,  simple,  human  friend  remains.     It  were 
well  to  be  dumb  in  articulate  speech  with  such 
a  power  of  utterance  at  command  !    If  anything 
were  wanting  to  convince  us  of  the  absolute  in 
spiration  of  such  music  as  this  it  would  be  the 
fact  that  Schubert  never  can  have  heard  either 
of  the  two  Symphonies  which  we  have  just  been 
citing. — But  to  return  to   the  orchestra.     The 
trombones  were  favourite  instruments  with  Schu- 
bett  in  his  later  life.     In  the  fucral  movements 


SCHUBERT. 


363 


of  his  two  last  Masses  he  makes  them  accom 
pany  the  voices  in  unison,  with  a  persistence 
which  is  sometimes  almost  unbearable  for  its 
monotony.  In  portions  of  the  C  major  Sym 
phony  also  (No.  10)  some  may  possibly  find 
them  too  much  l  used.  But  in  other  parts  of 
the  Masses  they  are  beautifully  employed,  and 
in  the  Introduction  and  Allegro  of  the  Symphony 
they  are  used  with  a  noble  effect,  which  not 
improbably  suggested  to  Schumann  the  equally 
impressive  use  of  them  in  his  Bb  Symphony.  The 
accompaniments  to  his  subjects  are  always  of 
great  ingenuity  and  originality,  and  full  of  life 
and  character.  The  triplets  in  the  Finale  to  the 
loth  Symphony,  which  excited  the  mal  d  propos 
merriment  of  the  Philharmonic  orchestra  (see 
p.  358)  are  a  very  striking  instance.  Another  is 
the  incessant  run  of  semiquavers  in  the  second 
violins  and  violas  which  accompany  the  second 
theme  in  the  Finale  of  the  Tragic  Symphony. 
Another,  of  which  he  is  very  fond,  is  the  em 
ployment  of  a  recurring  monotonous  figure  in  the 
inner  parts  : — 

xte£: 


etc. 


often  running  to  great  length,  as  in  the  Andantes 
of  the  Tragic  and  B  minor  Symphonies ;  the 
Moderate  of  the  Bb  Sonata  ;  the  fine  song  '  Viola' 
(op.  123,  at  the  return  to  Ab  in  the  middle  of 
the  song)  etc.  etc.  In  his  best  PF.  music,  the  ac 
companiments  are  most  happily  fitted  to  the 
leading  part,  so  as  never  to  clash  or  produce  dis 
cord.  Rapidly  as  he  wrote  he  did  these  things  as 
if  they  were  calculated.  But  they  never  obtrude 
themselves  or  become  prominent.  They  are  all 
merged  and  absorbed  in  the  gaiety,  pathos  and 
personal  interest  of  the  music  itself,  and  of  the 
man  who  is  uttering  through  it  his  griefs  and 
joys,  his  hopes  and  fears,  in  so  direct  and  touching 
a  manner  as  no  composer  ever  did  before  or  since, 
and  with  no  thought  of  an  audience,  of  fame,  or 
success,  or  any  other  external  thing.  No  one 
who  listens  to  it  can  doubt  that  Schubert  wrote 
for  himself  alone.  His  music  is  the  simple  utter.- 
ance  of  the  feelings  with  which  his  mind  is  full. 
If  he  had  thought  of  his  audience,  or  the  effect 
he  would  produce,  or  the  capabilities  of  the  means 
he  was  employing,  he  would  have  taken  more 
pains  in  the  revision  of  his  works.  Indeed  the 
most  affectionate  disciple  of  Schubert  must  admit 
that  the  want  of  revision  is  often  but  too  ap 
parent. 

In  his  instrumental  music  he  is  often  very 
diffuse.  When  a  passage  pleases  him  he  gene 
rally  repeats  it  at  once,  almost  note  for  note.  He 
will  reiterate  a  passage  over  and  over  in  different 
keys,  as  if  he  could  never  have  done.  In  the 
songs  this  does  not  offend  ;  and  even  here,  if  we 

1  There  is  a  tradition  that  he  doubted  this  himse'.f,  and  referred 
the  score  to  Lachner  for  his  opinion. 


364 


SCHUBERT. 


knew  what  he  was  thinking  of,  as  we  do  in  the 
songs,  we  might  possibly  find  the  repetitions  j  ust. 
In  the  Eb  Trio  he  repeats  in  the  Finale  a  charac 
teristic  accompaniment  which  is  very  prominent  in 
the  first  movement  and  which  originally  belongs 
perhaps  to  the  Ab  Impromptu  (op.  90,  no.  4) — and 
a  dozen  other  instances  of  the  same  kind  might 
be  quoted.1     This  arose  in  great  part  from  his 
imperfect  education,  but  in  great  part  also  from 
the  furious  pace  at  which  he  dashed  down  his 
thoughts  and  feelings,  apparently  without  pre 
vious   sketch,  note,   or  preparation ;    and  from 
his  habit  of  never  correcting  a  piece  after  it  was 
once  on  paper.    Had  he  done  so  he  would  doubt 
less  have  taken  out  many  a  repetition,  and  some 
trivialities  which  seem  terribly  out  of  place  amid 
the  usual   nobility  and   taste   of  his   thoughts. 
It  was  doubtless  this  diffuseness  and  apparent 
want  of  aim,  as  well  as  the  jolly,  untutored,  naivete 
of  some   of  his   subjects   (Rondo   of  D  major 
Sonata,  etc.),   and  the   incalculable  amount   of 
modulation,  that  made  Mendelssohn  shrink  from 
some  of  Schubert's  instrumental  works,  and  even 
go  so  far  as  to  call  the  D  minor  quartet  fchlechte 
Musik — i.e.  'nasty  music.'  But  unless  to  musi 
cians  whose  fastidiousness  is  somewhat  abnormal 
— as   Mendelssohn's   was — such  criticisms  only 
occur  afterwards,  on  reflection  ;  for  during  the 
progress  of  the  work  all  is  absorbed  in  the  in 
tense  life  and  personality  of  the  music.     And 
what  beauties  there  are  to  put  against   these 
redundances !      Take  such    movements  as   the 
first  Allegro  of  the  A  minor  Sonata  or  the  Bb 
Sonata;  the  G  major  Fantasia-Sonata;  the  two 
Characteristic  Marches ;    the  Impromptus   and 
Momens  musicals ;  the  Minuet  of  the  A  minor 
Quartet ;  the  Variations  of  the  D  minor  Quartet ; 
the  Finale  of  the  Bb  Trio;    the  first  two  move 
ments,  or  the  Trio,  of  the  String  Quintet ;  the  two 
movements  of  the  B  minor  Symphony,  or  the  won 
derful  Entracte  in  the  same  key  in  Rosamunde  ; 
the  Finale  of  the  loth  Symphony — think  of  the 
abundance  of  the  thoughts,  the  sudden  surprises, 
the  wonderful  transitions,  the  extraordinary  pathos 
of  the  turns  of  melody  and  modulation,  the  abso 
lute  manner  (to  repeat  once  more)  in  which  they 
bring    you   into   contact   with  the  affectionate, 
tender,  suffering  personality  of  the  composer, — 
and  who  in  the  whole  realm  of  music  has  ever 
approached  them  ?     For  the  magical  expression 
of  such  a  piece  as  the  Andantino  in  Ab  (op.  94, 
no.  2),  any  redundance  may  be  pardoned. 

In  Schumann's  2  words,  '  he  has  strains  for  the 
most  subtle  thoughts  and  feelings,  nay  even  for  the 
events  and  conditions  of  life;  and  innumerable  as 
are  the  shades  of  human  thought  and  action,  so  va 
rious  is  his  music.'  Another  equally  true  saying 
of  Schumann's  is  that,  compared  with  Beethoven, 
Schubert  is  as  a  woman  to  a  man.  For  it  must 
be  confessed  that  one's  attitude  towards  him  is 
almost  always  that  of  sympathy,  attraction,  and 
love,  rarely  that  of  embarrassment  or  fear.  Here 
and  there  only,  as  in  the  Rosamunde  B  minor 
Entracte,  or  the  Finale  of  the  loth  Symphony, 

'  For  a  comparison  of  his  Sonatas  with  those  of  other  masters  see 
2  Ges.  Schriften,  i.  206. 


SCHUBERT. 

does  he  compel  his  hearers  with  an  irresistible 
power  ;  and  yet  how  different  is  this  compulsion 
from  the  strong,  fierce,  merciless  coercion,  with 
which  Beethoven  forces  you  along,  and  bows  and 
bends  you  to  his  will,  in  the  Finale  of  the  8th  or 
still  more  that  of  the  7th  Symphony. 

We  have  mentioned  the  gradual  manner  in 
(  which  Schubert  reached  his  own  style  in  instru 
mental  music  (see  p.  361).     In  this,  except  per 
haps  as  to  quantity,  the?-e  is  nothing  singular,  or 
radically  different  from  the  early  career  of  other 
composers.     Beethoven  began   on  the  lines  01 
Mozart,   and  Mendelssohn  on  those  of  Weber, 
and  gradually  found  their  own  independent  style. 
But  the  thing  in  which  Schubert  stands  alone 
is  that  while  he  was  thus  arriving  by  degrees 
at  individuality  in  Sonatas,  Quartets,  and  Sym 
phonies,  he  was  pouring  forth  songs  by  the  dozen, 
many  of  which  were  of  the   greatest   possible 
novelty,   originality,  and  mastery,  while  all  of 
them  have  that  peculiar  cachet  which  is  imme 
diately  recognisable  as  his.     The  chronological 
list  of  his  works  given  at  the  end  of  this  article 
shows   that    such    masterpieces    as    the    G-ret- 
chen   am  Spinnrade,  the  Erl  King,  the  Ossian 
Songs,  Gretchen    im    Dom,  Der  Taucher,  Die 
Biirgschaft,  were  written  before  he  was  19,  and 
were  contemporary  with  his  very  early  efforts  in 
the  orchestra  and  chamber  music ;  and  that  by 
1822 — in  the  October  of  which  he  wrote  the  two 
movements  of  his  8th  Symphony,  which  we  have 
named   as   his   first   absolutely  original   instru 
mental  music — he  had  produced  in  addition  such 
ballads  as  Ritter  Toggenburg  (1816),  and  Ein- 
samkeifc  (1818) ;  such  classical  songs  as  Memnon 
(1817),  Antigone  und  (Edip  (1817),  Iphigenia 
(1817),    Ganymed    (1817),    Fahrt   zum   Hades 
(1817),   Prometheus   (1819),    Gruppe  aus  dem 
Tartarus    (1817);    Goethe's   Wilhelm    Meister 
songs,  An  Schwager  Kronos  (1816),  Grenzen  der 
Menschheit  (1821),  Suleika's  two  songs  (1821), 
Geheimes  (1821),-    as  well  as  the 'Wanderer' 
(1816),  'Sei  mir  gegriisst'  (1821),  Waldesnacht 
(1820),  Greisengesang  (1822),  and  many  more  of 
his  very  greatest  and  most  immortal  songs. 

And  this  is  very  confirmatory  of  the  view 
already  taken  in  this  article  (p.  328)  of  Schubert's 
relation  to  music.  The  reservoir  of  music  was 
within  him  from  his  earliest  years,  and  songs 
being  so  much  more  direct  a  channel  than  the 
more  complicated  and  artificial  courses  and 
conditions  of  the  symphony  or  the  sonata,  music 
came  to  the  surface  in  them  so  much  the  more 
quickly.  Had  the  orchestra  or  the  piano  been  as 
direct  a  mode  of  utterance  as  the  voice,  and  the 
forms  of  symphony  or  sonata  as  simple  as  that 
•of  the  song,  there  seems  no  reason  why  he  should 
not  have  written  instrumental  music  as  charac 
teristic  as  his  8th  Symphony,  his  Sonata  in  A 
minor,  and  his  Quartet  in  the  same  key,  eight  years 
•earlier  than  he  did ;  for  the  songs  of  that  early 
date  prove  that  he  had  then  all  the  original 
power,  imagination,  and  feeling,  that  he  ever 
had.  That  it  should  have  been  given  to  a  com 
parative  boy  to  produce  strains  which  seem  to 
breathe  the  emotion  and  experience  of  a  long 


.    - 


SCHUBERT. 

life  is  only  part  of  the  wonder  which  will  also 
surround  Schubert's  songs.  After  1822,  when 
his  youth  was  gone,  and  health  had  begun  to 
fail,  and  life  had  become  a  terrible  reality,  his 
thoughts  turned  inwards,  and  he  wrote  the 
two  great  cycles  of  the  '  Mullerlieder '  (1823) 
and  the  'Winterreise'  (1837) ;  the  Walter  Scott 
and  Shakspeare  songs ;  the  splendid  single  songs 
of  •  Im  Walde '  and  '  Auf  der  Briicke,'  '  Tod- 
tengrabers  Heimweh,'  'Der  Zwerg,'  'Die  junge 
Nonne ';  the  Barcarolle,  '  Du  bist  die  Ruh,'  and 
the  lovely  '  Dass  sie  hier  gewesen ';  the  '  Schiffers 
Scheidelied,'  those  which  were  collected  into  the 
so-called  'Schwanengesang,'  and  many  more. 

It  is  very  difficult  to  draw  a  comparison  be 
tween  the  songs  of  this  later  period  and  those  of 
the  earlier  one,  but  the  difference  must  strike 
every  one,  and  it  resides  mainly  perhaps  in  the 
subjects  themselves.     Subjects   of  romance — of 
ancient  times  and  remote  scenes,  and  strange 
adventures,  and  desperate  emotion — are  natural 
to  the  imagination  of  youth.     But  in  maturer 
life    the    mind    is    calmer,    and    dwells    more 
strongly  on  personal  subjects.     And  this  is  the 
case  with  Schubert.     After  1822   the  classical 
songs  and  ballads  are  rare,  and  the  themes  which 
he  chooses  belong  chiefly   to  modern  life  and 
individual  feeling,   such  as  the  '  Miillerlieder ' 
and  the  '  Winterreise,'  and  others  in  the  list  just 
given.    Walter  Scott's  and  Shakspeare's  form  an 
exception,  but  it  is  an  exception  which  explains 
itself.     We  no  longer  have  the  exuberant  dra 
matic   force    of  the   Erl   King,   Ganymed,   the 
Gruppe  aus  dem  Tartarus,  Cronnan,  or  Kolmaa 
Klage ;   but  we  have  instead  the  condensation 
and  personal  point  of 'Pause,'  'Die  Post,'  'Das 
Wirthshaus,'  '  Die  Nebensonnen,'  the  'Doppel- 
ganger,'  and  the  'Junge  Nonne.'     And  there  is 
more  maturity  in  the  treatment.      His  modu 
lations    are    fewer.      His    accompaniments    are 
always  interesting  and  suggestive,  but  they  gain 
in  force  and  variety  and  quality  of  ideas  in  the 
later  songs. 

In  considering  the  songs  themselves  somewhat 
more  closely,  their  most  obvious  characteristics 
are: — Their  number;  their  length;  the  variety 
of  the  words ;  their  expression,  and  their  other 
musical  and  poetical  peculiarities. 

1.  Their  number.     The  published  songs,  that 
is  to  say  the  compositions  for  one  and  two  voices, 
including  Offertories  and  songs  in  operas,  amount 
to  just  455.     In  addition  there  are,  say,  150  un 
published  songs,  a  few  of  them  unfinished.     The 
chronological  list  at  the  end  of  this  article  shows 
that  a  very  large  number  of  these  were  written 
before  the  year  1818. 

2.  Their  length.    This  varies  very  much.    The 
shortest,  like  '  Klage  um  Aly  Bey''  (Lf.  xlv.  3), 
'Der  Goldschmiedsgesell '  (Lf.  xlviii.  6),  and  '  Die 
Spinnerin'  (op.  118,  6),  are  strophe  songs  (that 
is,  with  the  same  melody  and  harmony  unchanged 
verse  after  verse),  in  each  of  which  the  voice 
part  is  only  8  bars  long,  with  a  bar  or  two  of 
introduction   or  ritornel.     The  longest  is  Ber- 
trand's  '  Adelwold  und  Emma,'  (MS.,  June  5, 
1815)',  a  ballad  the  autograph  of  which  contains 


SCHUBERT. 


365 


55  pages.  Others  of  almost  equal  length  and 
of  about  the  same  date  are  also  still  in  MS  — 
'  Minona,'  '  Die  Nonne,'  '  Amphiaraos,'  etc.  The 
longest  printed  one  is  Schiller's  'Der  Taucher '- 
the  diver.  This  fills  36  pages  of  close  print. 
Schiller's  '  Biirgschaft '  and  the  Ossian-songs  are 
all  long,  though  not  of  the  same  extent  as 
'Der  Taucher.'  These  vast  ballads  are  extremely 
dramatic ;  they  contain  many  changes  of  tempo 
and  of  signature,  dialogues,  recitatives,  and  airs. 
The  '  Ritter  Toggenburg'  ends  with  a  strophe-song 
in  five  stanzas.  '  Der  Taucher '  contains  a  long 
pianoforte  passage  of  60  bars,  during  the  sus 
pense  after  the  diver's  last  descent.  '  Der  Liedler* 
contains  a  march.  The  Ballads  mostly  belong  to 
the  early  years,  1815,  1 8 16.  The  last  is  Mayr- 
hofer's  '  Einsamkeit,'  the  date  of  which  Schubert 
has  fixed  in  his  letter  of  Aug.  3,  1818.  There  are 
long  songs  of  later  years,  such  as  Collin's  '  Der 
Zwerg'  of  1823;  Schober's  'Viola'  and  'Vergiss- 
meinnicht '  of  1823,  and  'Schiffers  Scheidelied' 
of  1827,  and  Leitner's  'Der  Winterabend'  of 
1828  ;  but  these  are  essentially  different  to  the 
ballads ;  they  are  lyrical,  and  evince  comparatively 
few  mechanical  changes. 

It  stands  to  reason  that  in  650  songs  collected 
from  all  the  great  German  poets,  from  Klopstock 
to  Heine,  there  must  be  an  infinite  variety  of 
material,  form,  sentiment,  and  expression.  And 
one  of  the  most  obvious  characteristics  in 
Schubert's  setting  of  this  immense  collection  is 
the  close  way  in  which  he  adheres  to  the  words.1 
Setting  a  song  was  no  casual  operation  with  him, 
rapidly  as  it  was  often  done ;  but  he  iden 
tified  himself  with  the  poem,  and  the  poet's  mood 
for  the  time  was  his.  Indeed  he  complains  of  the 
influence  which  the  gloom  of  the  '  Winterreise ' 
had  had  upon  his  spirits.  He  does  not,  as  is 
the  manner  of  some  song-composers,  set  the  poet 
at  naught  by  repeating  his  words  over  and  over 
again.  This  he  rarely  does ;  but  he  goes  through 
his  poem  and  confines  himself  to  enforcing  the 
expression  as  music  alone  can  do  to  poetry.  The 
music  changes  with  the  words  as  a  landscape  does 
when  sun  and  cloud  pass  over  it.  And  in  this 
Schubert  has  anticipated  Wagner,  since  the  words 
to  which  he  writes  are  as  much  the  absolute  basis 
of  his  songs,  as  Wagner's  librettos  are  of  his  operas. 
What  this  has  brought  him  to  in  such  cases  as 
the  Erl  King,  the  Wanderer,  Schwager  Kronos, 
the  Gruppe  aus  dem  Tartarus,  the  Shakspeare 
songs  of  'Sylvia'  and  'Hark,  hark,  the  lark!' 
those  of  Ellen  and  the  Huntsman  in  '  The  Lady 
of  the  Lake'  even  Englishmen  can  judge;  but 
what  he  did  in  the  German  literature  generally 
may  be  gathered  from  the  striking  passage  already 
quoted  fromVogl  (p.  3276),  and  from  Mayrhofer's 
confession — doubly  remarkable  when  coming  from 
a  man  of  such  strong  individuality — who  some 
where  says  that  he  did  not  understand  the  full 
force  even  of  his  own  poems  until  he  had  heard 
Schubert's  setting  of  them. 

1  It  is  strange  to  find  his  practice  in  the  Masses  so  different.  There— 
a  critic  has  pointed  out— in  every  one  of  the  six.  words  are  either 
omitted  or  incorrectly  jumbled  together  (Mr.  Frout,  in  Coiicordia. 
1K75,  p.  110  a).  Was  this  because  he  understood  the  Latin  words  im 
perfectly  ? 


366 


SCHUBERT. 


One  of  his  great  means  of  expression  is  modu 
lation.  What  magic  this  alone  can  work  may  be 
seen  in  the  Trio  of  the  Sonata  in  D.  As  in  his 
PF.  works,  so  in  the  songs,  he  sometimes  carries  it 
to  an  exaggerated  degree.  Thus  in  the  short  song 
'Liedesend  '  of  Mayrhofer  (Sept.  1816),  he  begins 
in  C  minor,  and  then  goes  quickly  through  Eb  in 
to  Cb  major.  The  signature  then  changes  and  we 
are  at  once  in  D  major ;  then  C  major.  Then  the 
signature  again  changes  to  that  of  Ab,  in  which 
we  remain  for  15  bars.  From  Ab  it  is  an  easy 
transition  to  F  minor,  but  a  very  sudden  one 
from  that  again  to  A  minor.  Then  for  the 
breaking  of  the  harp  we  are  forced  into  D?,  and 
immediately,  with  a  further  change  of  signature, 
into  Fff.  Then  for  the  King's  song,  with  a  fifth 
change  of  signature,  into  B  major ;  and  lastly,  for 
the  concluding  words, 

Und  immer  naher  schreitet 
Verganglichkeit  und  Grab — 

And  always  nearer  hasten 
Oblivion  and  the  tomb— 

a  sixth  change,  with  8  bars  in  E  minor,  thus 
ending  the  song  a  third  higher  than  it  began. 

In  Schiller's  'Der  Pilgrim'  (1825),  after  two 
strophes  (four  stanzas)  of  a  chorale-like  melody 
in  D  major,  we  come,  with  the  description  of 
the  difficulties  of  the  pilgrim's  road — mountain*, 
torrents,  ravines — to  a  change  into  D  minor,  fol 
lowed  by  much  extraneous  modulation,  reaching 
Ab  minor,  and  ending  in  F,  in  which  key  the 
first  melody  is  repeated.  At  the  words  '  naher 
bin  ich  nicht  zum  Ziel' — '  still  no  nearer  to  my 
goal' — we  have  a  similar  phrase  and  similar  har 
mony  (though  in  a  different  key)  to  the  well-known 
complaint  in  'The  Wanderer,'  'Und  immer  fragt 
der  Seufzer,  Wo?' — 'Sighing  I  utter  where?  oh 
where?'  The  signature  then  changes,  and  the 
song  ends  very  impressively  in  B  minor. 

These  two  are  quoted,  the  first  as  an  instance 
rather  of  exaggeration,  the  second  of  the  me 
chanical  use  of  modulations  to  convey  the  natural 
difficulties  depicted  in  the  poem.  But  if  we 
want  examples  of  the  extraordinary  power  with 
which  Schubert  wields  this  great  engine  of  emo 
tion,  we  would  mention  another  song  which 
contains  one  of  the  best  instances  to  be  found 
of  propriety  of  modulation.  I  allude  to  Schu- 
bart's  short  poem  to  Death,  'An  den  Tod,'  where 
the  gloomy  subject  and  images  of  the  poet  have 
tempted  the  composer  to  a  series  of  successive 
changes  so  grand,  so  sudden,  and  yet  so  easy, 
and  so  thoroughly  in  keeping  with  the  subject, 
that  it  is  impossible  to  hear  them  unmoved. 

But  modulation,  though  an  all-pervading  means 
of  expression  in  Schubert's  hands,  is  only  one 
out  of  many.  Scarcely  inferior  to  the  wealth  of 
his  modulation  is  the  wealth  of  his  melodies. 
The  beauty  of  these  is  not  more  astonishing 
than  their  variety  and  their  fitness  to  the 
words.  Such  tunes  as  those  of  Ave  Maria,  or  the 
Serenade  in  the  Schwanengesang,  or  Ungeduld, 
or  the  Griinen  Lautenband,  or  Anna  Lyle,  or  the 
Dithyrambe,  or  Geheimes,  or  Sylvia,  or  the  Lin- 
denbaum,  or  Du  bist  die  Ruh,  or  the  Barcarolle, 
are  not  more  lovely  and  more  appropriate  to  the 


SCHUBERT. 

text  than  they  are  entirely  different  from  one 
another.  One  quality  only,  spontaneity,  they 
have  in  common.  With  Beethoven,  spontaneity 
was  the  result  of  labour,  and  the  more  he  polished 
the  more  natural  were  his  tunes.  But  Schubert 
read  the  poem,  and  the  appropriate  tune,  married 
to  immortal  verse  (a  marriage,  in  his  case,  truly 
made  in  heaven),  rushed  into  his  mind,  and  to 
the  end  of  his  pen.  It  must  be  confessed  that 
he  did  not  always  think  of  the  compass  of  his 
voices.  In  his  latest  songs,  as  in  his  earliest 
(see  p.  321  a),  we  find  him  taking  the  singer 
from  the  low  Bb  to  F,  and  even  higher. 

The  tune,  however,  in  a  Schubert  song  is  by 
no  means  an  exclusive  feature.     The  accompani 
ments  are  as  varied  and  as  different  as  the  voice- 
parts,   and  as  important  for  the  general  effect. 
They  are  often  extremely  elaborate,  and  the  pub 
lishers'  letters  contain  many  complaints  of  their 
difficulty.1     They  are  often  most  extraordinarily 
suitable  to  the  words,  as  in  the  Erl  King,  or  the 
beautiful  *Dass  sie  hier  gewesen,'  the  'Gruppe 
ausdem  Tartarus,'  the' Waldesnacht'  (and  many 
others) ;  where  it  is  almost  impossible  to  imagine 
any  atmosphere  more  exactly  suitable  to  make 
the  words  grow  in  one's  mind,  than  is  supplied 
by  the  accompaniment.    Their  unerring  certainty 
is  astonishing.     Often,  as  in  Heliopolis,  or  Auf- 
losung,  he  seizes  at  once  on  a  characteristic  im 
petuous  figure,  which  is  then  carried  on  without 
intermission  to  the  end.     In  '  Anna  Lyle,'  how 
exactly  does  the  sweet  monotony  of  the  repeated 
figure  fall  in  with  the  dreamy  sadness  of  Scott's 
touching  little  lament!    Another  very  charming 
example  of  the  same  thino1,  though  in  a  different 

o 

direction,  is  found  in  'Der  Einsame,  a  fireside 
piece,  where  the  frequently  recurring  group  of 
four  semiquavers  imparts  an  indescribable  air  of 
domesticity  to  the  picture.2  In  the  '  Winterabend' 
— the  picture  of  a  calm  moonlit  evening— the 
accompaniment,  aided  by  a  somewhat  similar  little 
figure,  conveys  inimitably  the  very  breath  of  the 
scene.  Such  atmospheric  effects  as  these  are  very 
characteristic  of  Schubert. 

The  voice-part  and  the  accompaniment  some 
times  form  so  perfect  a  whole,  that  it  is  im 
possible  to  disentangle  the  two;  as  in  'Sylvia,' 
where  the  persistent  dotted  quaver  in  the  bass, 
and  the  rare  but  delicious  ritornel  of  two  notes 
in  the  treble  of  the  piano-part  (bars  7,  14,  etc.), 
are  essential  to  the  grace  and  sweetness  of  the 
portrait,  and  help  to  place  the  lovely  English 
figure  before  us.  This  is  the  case  also  in  '  Anna 
Lyle  '  just  mentioned,  where  the  ritornel  in  the 
piano-part  (bar  20,  etc.)  is  inexpressibly  soothing 
and  tender  in  its  effect,  and  sounds  like  the  echo 
of  the  girl's  sorrow.  The  beautiful  Serenade  in 
the  Schwanengesang,  again,  combines  an  incessant 
rhythmical  accompaniment  with  ritornels  (longer 
than  those  in  the  last  case),  both  uniting  with  the 
lovely  melody  in  a  song  of  surpassing  beauty.  In 
the  '  Liebesbothschaft,'  the  rhythm  is  not  so 

3  Op.  57,  containing  three  songs  by  no  means  difficult,  was  pub 
lished  with  a  notice  on  the  title-page  that  care  had  been  taken  (we 
trust  with  Schubert's  consent)  to  omit  everything  that  was  too  hard. 

2  A  similar  mood  is  evoked  in  the  Andante  of  the  Grand  Inio 
(op.  140). 


SCHUBERT. 

strongly  marked,  but  the  ritornels  are  longer  and 
more  frequent,  and  form  a  charming  feature  in 
that  exquisite  love-poem.  Schubert's  passion  for 
rhythm  comes  out  as  strongly  in  many  of  the  songs 
as  it  does  in  his  marches  and  scherzos.  In  the 
two  just  named,  though  persistent  throughout, 
the  rhythm  is  subordinated  to  the  general  effect. 
But  in  others,  as  '  Suleika,'  '  Die  Sterne/  the 
'  Nachtgesang  im  Walde,' '  Erstarrung,'  or  '  Friih- 
lingssehnsucht,'  it  forces  itself  more  on  the 
attention. 

Schubert's  basses  are  always  splendid,  and  are 
so  used  as  not  only  to  be  the  basis  of  the  harmony 
but  to  add  essentially  to  the  variety  and  effect  of 
the  songs.  Sometimes,  as  in  '  Die  Krahe,'  they 
are  in  unison  with  the  voice-part.  Often  they 
share  with  the  voice-part  itself  in  the  melody 
and  structure  of  the  whole.  The  wealth  of  ideas 
which  they  display  is  often  astonishing.  Thus 
in  '  Waldesnacht,'  a  very  long  song  of  1820,  to  a 
fine  imaginative  poem  by  F.  Schlegel,  describing 
the  impressions  produced  by  a  night  in  the  forest, 
we  have  a  splendid  example  of  the  organic  life 
which  Schubert  can  infuse  into  a  song.  The  pace 
is  rapid  throughout ;  the  accompaniment  for  the 
right  hand  is  in  arpeggios  of  semiquavers  through 
out,  never  once  leaving  off;  the  left  hand,  where 
not  in  semiquavers  also,  has  a  succession  of  noble 
and  varied  rhythmical  melodies,  independent  of 
the  voice,  and  the  whole  is  so  blended  with  the 
voice  part — itself  extraordinarily  broad  and  digni 
fied  throughout ;  the  spirit  and  variety,  and  the 
poetry  of  the  whole  are  so  remarkable,  and  the 
mystery  of  the  situation  is  so  perfectly  conveyed, 
as  to  make  the  song  one  of  the  finest  of  that 
class  in  '  the  whole  Schubert  collection.  The 
same  qualities  will  be  found  in  Auf  der  Bru'cke 
(1825). 

We  do  not  say  that  this  is  the  highest  class  of 
his  songs.  The  highest  class  of  poetry,  and  of 
music  illustrating  anjd  enforcing  poetry,  must 
always  deal  with  human  joys  and  sorrows,  in 
their  most  individual  form,  with  the  soul  loving 
or  longing,  in  contact  with  another  soul,  or  with 
its  Maker;  and  the  greatest  of  Schubert's  songs 
will  lie  amongst  those  which  are  occupied  with 
those  topics,  such  as  '  Gretchen  am  Spinnrade,' 
the  Mignon  songs,  the  'Wanderer,'  the  '  Muller- 
lieder,'  and  '  Winterreise, '  and  perhaps  highest 
of  all,  owing  to  the  strong  religious  element 
which  it  contains,  the  'Junge  Nonne/1  In  that 
wonderful  song,  which  fortunately  is  so  well 
known  that  no  attempt  at  describing  it  is  ne 
cessary,  the  personal  feelings  and  the  surround 
ings  are  so  blended — the  fear,  the  faith,  the 
rapture,  the  storm,  the  swaying  of  the  house,  are 
so  given,  that  for  the  time  the  hearer  becomes 
the  Young  Nun  herself.  Even  the  convent  bell, 
which  in  other  hands  might  be  a  burlesque,  is 
an  instrument  of  the  greatest  beauty. 

We  have  spoken  of  the  mental  atmosphere 
which  Schubert  throws  round  his  poems  ;  but  he 
does  not  neglect  the  representation  of  physical 
objects.  He  seems  to  confine  himself  to  the 

1  Who  was  Craigher,  the  author  of  thi-,  splendid  song?   and  would 
fie  ever  have  been  heard  of  but  for  Schubert  ? 


SCHUBERT. 


367 


imitation  of  natural  noises,  and  not  to  attempt 
things  which  have  no  sound.  The  triplets  in 
the  Lindenbaum  may  be  intended  to  convey  the 
fluttering  leaves  of  the  lime-tree,  and  the  ac 
companiment-figure  in  '  Die  Forelle '  may  repre 
sent  the  leaps  of  the  Trout  ;  but  there  are 
other  objects  about  which  no  mistake  can  be 
made.  One  imitation  of  the  bell  we  have  just 
referred  to.  Another  is  in  the  'Abendbilder,' 
where  an  Fjf  sounds  through  1 6  bars  to  represent 
the  '  evening  bell ' ;  in  the  Ziigenglocklein  the 
upper  E  is  heard  through  the  whole  piece ;  and 
the  bell  of  St.  Mark's  is  a  well-known  feature  in 
the  part-song  of  the  '  Gondelfahrer.'  The  post- 
horn  forms  a  natural  feature  in  '  Die  Post,'  and 
the  hurdy-gurdy  in  '  Der  Leiermann.'  Of  birds 
he  gives  several  instances ;  the  Nightingale  in 
'  Ganymed '  and  '  Die  gefangene  Sanger ' ;  the 
Raven  in  '  Abendbilder,'  and  perhaps  in  '  Friih- 
lingstraum ' ;  the  Cuckoo  in  '  Einsamkeit,'  the 
Quail  in  'Der  Wachtelschlag  ';  and  the  Cock  in 
'  Friihlingstrauin.' 

That  hesitation  between  major  and  minor 
which  is  so  marked  in  Beethoven  is  character 
istic  also  of  Schubert,  and  may  be  found  in  nearly 
every  piece  of  his.  A  beautiful  instance  may  be 
mentioned  en  passant  in  the  trio  of  the  G  major 
Fantasia  Sonata  (op.  78),  where  the  two  bars  in  E 
minor  which  precede  the  Emajorhave  apeculiarly 
charming  effect.  Another  is  supplied  by  the  four 
bars  in  A  minor,  for  the  question  which  begins 
and  ends  the  beautiful  fragment  from  Schiller's 
'  Gods  of  ancient  Greece.'  He  also  has  an  espe 
cially  happy  way — surely  peculiarly  his  own — 
of  bringing  a  minor  piece  to  a  conclusion  in 
the  major.  Two  instances  of  it,  which  all  will 
remember,  are  in  the  Romance  from  '  Rosa- 
munde '  : — 


Du  susses  Herz,  es  1st  so  schOn, wenn  treu  die  Treu  -  e  kusst. 


and  in  the  'Moment  musical,'  No.  3,  in  F  minor. 
This  and  the  ritornels  already  spoken  of  strike 
one  like  personal  features  or  traits  of  the  com 
poser.  But  apart  from  these  idiosyncrasies,  the 
changes  from  minor  to  major  in  the  songs  are 
often  superb.  That  in  the  'Sch wager  Kronos' 
(astonishing  2  production  for  a  lad  under  20), 
where  the  key  changes  into  D  major,  and  farther 
on  into  F  major,  to  welcome  the  girl  on  the 
threshold,  with  the  sudden  return  to  D  minor  for 
the  onward  journey,  and  the  sinking  sun — can  be 
forgotten  by  no  one  who  hears  it,  nor  can  that 
almost  more  beautiful  change  to  D  major  in  the 
'Gute  Nacht'  on  the  mention  of  the  dream. 
This  latter,  and  the  noble  transition  to  F  major 
in  the  '  Junge  Nonne '  are  too  familiar  to  need 
more  than  a  passing  reference,  or  that  to  G  major 
in  the  '  Riickblick,'  for  the  lark  and  nightingale 
and  the  girl's  eyes,  or  to  D  major  in  the  Serenade. 
'  Irdisches  Gluck '  is  in  alternate  stanzas  of  major 
and  minor.  In  Schiller's  'Rose'  (op.  73)  every 
shade  in  the  fate  of  the  flower  is  thus  indicated ; 
and  this  is  no  solitary  instance,  but  in  almost 

2  Why  is  this  wonderful  song  never  sung  m  public  in  England? 


368 


SCHUBERT. 


SCHUBEET. 


every  song  some  example  of  such  faithful  painting 
may  be  found.  A  word  will  often  do  it.  With 
Schubert  the  minor  mode  seems  to  be  synony 
mous  with  trouble,  and  the  major  with  relief; 
and  the  mere  mention  of  the  sun,  or  a  smile,  or 
any  other  emblem  of  gladness,  is  sure  to  make 
him  modulate.  Some  such  image  was  floating 
before  his  mind  when  he  made  the  beautiful 
change  to  A  major  near  the  beginning  of  the 
A  minor  Quartet  (bar  23). 

The  foregoing  remarks,  which  only  attempt  to 
deal  with  a  few  of  the  external  characteristics  of 
these  astonishing  songs,  will  be  of  use  if  they 
only  encourage  the  knowledge  and  study  of  them. 
The  chronological  list  (No.  II)  of  Schubert's  pro 
ductions,  which  is  here  attempted  in  this  form 
for  the  first  time,  will,  it  is  hoped,  throw  much 
light  on  the  progress  of  his  genius,  by  facilitating 
the  search  where  alone  it  can  be  made  with 
profit,  namely  in  the  works  themselves.  All  are 
worth  knowing,  though  all  are  by  no  means  of 
equal  excellence. 

I  end  my  imperfect  sketch  of  the   life  and 
works  of  this  wonderful  musician,  by  recalling 
the  fact  that  Schubert's  songs,  regarded  as  a 
department  of  music,  are  absolutely  and  entirely 
his  own.     Songs  there  were  before  him,  those  of 
Schulz  for  instance,  and  of  Zumsteeg,  which  he 
so  greatly  admired,  and  of  Haydn  and  Mozart  — 
touching,  beautiful  expressions  of  simple  thought 
and  feeling.    But  the  Song,  as  we  know  it  in  his 
hands  ;  full  of  dramatic  fire,  poetry,  and  pathos ; 
set  to  no  simple  Volkslieder,  but  to  long  complex 
poems,  the  best  poetry  of  the  greatest  poets,  and 
an  absolute  reflection  of  every  change  and  breath 
of  sentiment  in  that  poetry ;  with  an  accompani 
ment  of  the  utmost  force,  fitness,  and  variety — 
such  songs  were  his  and  his  alone.     With  one 
exception.     Beethoven  left  but  one  song  of  im 
portance,  his  'Liederkreis'  (op.  98),  but  that  is 
of  superlative  excellence.   The  Liederkreis,  how 
ever,  was  not  published  till  Dec.  1816,  and  even 
if  Schubert  made  its  acquaintance  immediately, 
yet  a  reference  to  the  Chronological  List  will 
show  that  by  that  time  his  style  was  formed,  and 
many  of  his  finest  songs  written.     He  may  have 
gained  the  idea  of  a  connected  series  of  songs 
from   Beethoven,   though   neither   the    'Schone 
Miillerin'  nor  the  '  Winterreise '  have  the  same 
intimate  internal  connexion  as  the  Liederkreis ; 
but  the  character  and  merits  of  the  single  songs 
remain  his  own.     When  he  wrote  'Loda's  Ge- 
spenst'  and  '  Kolma's  Klage'  in  1815,  he  wrote 
what  no  one  had  ever  attempted  before.     There 
is  nothing  to  detract  from  his  just  claim  to  be 
the  creator  of  German  Song,  as  we  know  it,  and 
the  direct  progenitor  of  those  priceless  treasures 
in  which  Schumann,  Mendelssohn,  and  Brahms 
have  followed  his  example. 


Of  Schubert's  religion  it  is  still  more  difficult 
to  say  anything  than  it  was  of  Beethoven's,  be 
cause  he  is  so  much  more  reticent.  A  little  poem 
of  Sept.  1820,  one  of  two  preserved  by  Robert 
Schumann  (Neue  Zeitschrift  fiir  Musik,  Feb.  5, 


1839)  is  as  vague  a  confession  of  faith  as  can  well 
be  imagined. 

THE    SPIRIT    OF   THE   WORLD. 

Leave  them,  leave  them,  to  their  dream, 

I  hear  the  Spirit  say  :— 
It  and  only  it  can  keep  them 

Near  me  on  their  darkling  way. 

Leave  them  racing,  hurrying  on 

To  some  distant  goal, 
Building  creeds  and  proofs  upon 

Half-seen  flashes  in  the  soul. 

Not  a  word  of  it  is  true. 

Yet  what  loss  is  theirs  or  mine  ? 
In  the  maze  of  human  systems 

I  can  trace  the  thought  divine. 

The  other,  three  years  later,  May  8, 1 823,  is  some 
what  more  definite.  It  calls  upon  a  'mighty 
father '  to  look  upon  his  son  lying  in  the  dust ; 
and  implores  Him  to  pour  upon  him  the  ever 
lasting  beams  of  His  love  ;  and,  even  though  He 
kill  him,  to  preserve  him  for  a  purer  and  more 
vigorous  existence.  It  expresses — very  imper 
fectly,  it  is  true,  but  still  unmistakeably — the 
same  faith  that  has  been  put  into  undying  words 
by  the  great  poet  of  our  own  day: — 

Thou  wilt  not  leave  us  in  the  dust ; 

Thou  madest  man,  he  knows  not  why; 

He  thinks  he  was  not  made  to  die  ; 
And  Thou  hast  made  him :  Thou  art  just. 

Let  knowledge  grow  from  more  to  more, 
But  more  of  reverence  in  us  dwell. 
That  mind  and  soul,  according  well, 

May  make  one  music  as  before, 

But  vaster.1 

Franz  may  not  have  gone  the  length  of  his  brother 
Ignaz2  in  vulgar  scoffing  at  religious  forms  and  per 
sons,  which  no  doubt  were  very  empty  in  Vienna  at 
that  date ;  but  still  of  formal  or  dogmatic  religion  we 
can  find  no  traces,  and  we  must  content  ourselves 
with  the  practical  piety  displayed  in  his  love  for 
his  father  and  Ferdinand,  and  testified  to  by  them 
in  their  touching  words  and  acts  at  the  time  of 
his  death  (p.  354  a) ;  and  with  the  certainty  that, 
though  irregular  after  the  irregularity  of  his  time, 
Schubert  was  neither  selfish,  sensual,  nor  im 
moral.  What  he  was  in  his  inner  man  we  have 
the  abundant  evidence  of  his  music  to  assure  us. 
Whatever  the  music  of  other  composers  may  do, 
no  one  ever  rose  from  hearing  a  piece  by  Schubert 
without  being  benefited  by  it.  Of  his  good -nature 
to  those  who  took  the  bread  out  of  his  mouth  we 
have  already  spoken.  Of  his  modesty  we  may  be 
allowed  to  say  that  he  was  one  of  the  very  few 
musicians  who  ever  lived  who  did  not  behave  as 
if  he  thought  himself  the  greatest  man  in  the 
world.3  And  these  things  are  all  intrinsic  parts 
of  his  character  and  genius. 

That  he  died  at  an  earlier  age4  even  than 

1  In  Memoriam  (Prologue). 

2  See  his  letter  in  Kreissle,  147  (1. 149). 

3  This  modesty  comes  out  in  a  letter  to  Ferdinand  of  July  16— 18, 
1824,  where  Schuhert  says,  '  it  would  be  better  to  play  some  other 
quartets  than  mine '  (probably  referring  to  those  in  E  and  Eb),  'since 
there  is  nothing  in  them  except  perhaps  the  fact  that  they  please 
you.  as  everything  of  mine  pleases  you.    True,'  he  goes  on,  'you  do 
not  appear  to  have  liked  them  so  much  as  the  waltzes  at  the  TJngar- 
ische  Krone,'  alluding  to  a  clock  at  that  eating-house  of  which 
Ferdinand  had  told  him,  which  was  set  to  play  Franz's  waltzes.   The 
clock  shows  how  popular  Schubert  was  amongst  his  own  set,  and  I 
regret  having  overlooked  the  fact  in  its  proper  place. 

*  The  following  are  among  the  musicians,  poets,  and  painters  who 
have  died  in  the  fourth  decade  of  their  lives.  Shelley,  30;  Sir  Philip 
Sidney,  32;  Bellini,  33  ;  Mozart,  & ;  Byron,  36;  Ra'aelle.  37;  Burns, 
37 ;  Purcell,  37  ;  Mendelssohn,  38  ;  Weber,  39;  Chopin,  40, 


SCHUBERT. 

Mozart  or  Mendelssohn,  or  our  own  Purcell,  must 
be  accounted  for  on  the  ground  partly  of  his  extra 
ordinary  exertions,  but  still  more  of  the  privations 
to  which  he  was  subjected  from  his  very  earliest 
years.  His  productions  are  enormous,  even  when 
measured  by  those  of  the  two  great  German  com 
posers  just  named,  or  even  of  Beethoven,  who 
lived  to  nearly  double  his  years.  At  an  age  when 
Beethoven  had  produced  one  Symphony,  he  had 
written  ten,  besides  all  the  mass  of  works  great 
and  small  which  form  the  extraordinary  list  in 
the  Appendix  to  this  article.  'Fairer  hopes'? 
Had  he  lived,  who  can  doubt  that  he  would  have 
thrown  into  the  shade  all  his  former  achieve 
ments  ?  But  as  we  have  endeavoured  to  explain, 
his  music  came  so  easily  and  rapidly  that  it  was 
probably  not  exhausting.  It  was  his  privations, 
his  absolute  poverty,  and  the  distress  which  he 
naturally  felt  at  finding  that  no  exertions  could 
improve  his  circumstances,  or  raise  him  in  the 
scale  of  existence,  that  in  the  end  dragged  him 
down.  His  poverty  is  shocking  to  think  of. 
Nearly  the  first  distinct  glimpse  we  catch  of  him 
is  in  the  winter  of  1812,  supplicating  his  brother 
for  a  roll,  some  apples,  or  a  few  halfpence,  to  keep 
off  the  hunger  of  the  long  fast  in  the  freezing 
rooms  of  the  Convict.  Within  a  year  of  his  death 
we  catch  sight  of  him  again,  putting  up  with  coffee 
and  biscuits  because  he  has  not  8%d.  to  buy  his 
dinner  with;  selling  his  great  Trio  for  1 715. 6d.  and 
his  songs  at  lorZ.  each,  and  dying  the  possessor 
of  effects  which  were  valued  at  little  more  than 
two  pounds.  Beside  this  the  poverty  of  Mozart 
— the  first  of  the  two  great  musicians  whom 
Vienna  has  allowed  to  starve — was  wealth. 

Such  facts  as  these  reduce  the  so-called  friend 
ship  of  his  associates  to  its  right  level.  With  his 
astonishing  power  of  production  the  commonest 
care  would  have  ensured  him  a  good  living ;  and 
that  no  one  of  his  set  was  found  devoted  enough 
to  take  this  care  for  him,  and  exercise  that  watch 
over  ways  and  means  which  Nature  had  denied 
to  his  own  genius,  is  a  discredit  to  them  all. 
They  prate  of  their  devotion  to  their  friend,  when 
not  one  of  them  had  the  will  or  the  wit  to  prevent 
him  from  starving ;  for  such  want  as  he  often 
endured  must  inevitably  have  injured  him,  and 
we  cannot  doubt  that  his  death  was  hastened  by 
the  absence  of  those  comforts,  not  to  say  neces 
saries,  which  should  have  nursed  and  restored  the 
prodigal  expenditure  of  his  brain  and  nerves. 

We  are  accustomed  to  think  of  Beethoven's 
end  as  solitary  and  his  death  as  miserable,  but 
what  was  his  last  illness  compared  to  Schubert's  ? 
Officious  friends,  like  Pasqualati,  sending  him 
wine  and  delicacies ;  worshipping  musicians,  like 
Hummel  and  Hiller,  coming  to  his  deathbed  as 
if  to  a  shrine  ;  his  faithful  attendants,  Schindler, 
Hiittenbrenner  and  Breuning  waiting  on  his 
every  wish  ;  the  sense  of  a  long  life  of  honour 
and  renown ;  of  great  works  appreciated  and 
beloved;  the  homage  of  distant  countries,  ex 
pressed  in  the  most  substantial  forms — what  a 
contrast  to  the  lonely  early  deathbed,  and  the 
apparent  wreck  of  such  an  end  as  Schubert's  ! 
Time  has  so  altered  the  public  sense  of  his  merits 
VOL,  in.  PT.  3. 


SCHUBERT. 


369 


that  it  is  all  but  impossible  to  place  oneself  in 
the  forlorn  condition  in  which  he  must  have 
resigned  himself  to  his  departure,  and  to  realise 
the  darkness  of  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of 
death  through  which  his  simple  sincere  guileless 
soul  passed  to  its  last  rest,  and  to  the  joyful 
resurrection  and  glorious  renown  which  have 
since  attended  it.  Then  an  intelligent  and  well- 
informed  foreign  musician  could  visit  the  Aus 
trian  capital  and  live  in  its  musical  circles, 
without  so  much  as  hearing  Schubert's  name.1 
Now  memorials  are  erected  to  him  in  the  most 
public  places  of  Vienna,  institutions  are  proud 
to  bear  his  name,  his  works  go  through  countless 
editions,  and  publishers  grow  rich  upon  the  pro 
ceeds  even  of  single  songs,  while  faces  brighten 
and  soften,  and  hands  are  clasped,  as  we  drink  in 
the  gay  and  pathetic  accents  of  his  music. 

For  even  his  privations  and  his  obscurity  have 
now  been  forgotten  in  the  justice  since  done  to 
him,  and  in  the  universal  affection  with  which 
he  was  regarded  as  soon  as  his  works  reached 
the  outside  world — an  affection  which,  as  we 
have  conclusively  shown,  has  gone  on  increasing 
ever  since  his  death.  In  the  whole  range  of 
composers  it  may  be  truly  said  that  no  one  is 
now  so  dearly  loved  as  he,  no  one  has  the  happy 
power  so  completely  of  attracting  both  the  ad 
miration  and  the  affection  of  his  hearers.  To 
each  one  he  is  not  only  a  great  musician,  not 
only  a  great  enchanter,  but  a  dear  personal 
friend.  If  in  his  '  second  state  sublime  '  he  can 
know  this,  we  may  feel  sure  that  it  is  a  full 
compensation  to  his  affectionate  spirit  for  the 
many  wrongs  and  disappointments  that  he  en 
dured  while  on  earth. 

The  very  wide  field  over  which  Schubert  ranged 
in  poetry  has  been  more  than  once  alluded  to  in 
the  foregoing.  It  would  be  both  interesting  and 
profitable  to  give  a  list  of  the  poems  which  he 
has  set.  Such  a  list,  not  without  inaccuracies, 
will  be  found  in  Wurzbach's  '  Biographical  Lexi 
con,'  vol.  xxxii.  p.  94.  Here  we  can  only  say 
that  it  includes  634  poems,  by  100  authors,  of 
whom  the  principal  are  : — 

Goethe  72;  Schiller  54;  Mayrhofer4S;  Holty 
25;  Matthisson  2 7  ;  Kosegarten  20  ;  F.  Schlegel 
19;  Klopstock  19;  Korner  16;  Schober  15; 
Seidl  15  ;  Salis  14;  Claudius  13  ;  Walter  Scott 
10;  Rellstab  9;  Uz  8;  Ossian  7;  Heine  6; 
Shakspeare  3 ;  Pope  I  ;  Colley  Gibber  I ;  etc.  etc. 


Compared  with  the  literature  on  other  com 
posers  that  on  Schubert  is  not  extensive. 

Biographical. — The  original  sources  are  scat 
tered  in  German  periodicals  and  elsewhere. 

1.  The  first  place  must  be  given  to  Ferdinand  Schu 
bert's  sketch,  entitled  'Aus  Franz  Schuberts  Leben,1 
four  short  papers  which  appeared  in  Schumann's  p  ?riod- 
ical,  the  'Neue  Zeitschrit't  fur  Musik,'  in  Nos.  33-36 
(April  23— May  3),  1839.  These  are  written  with  great 
simplicity,  and  apparently  great  exactness ;  but  might 

1  The  allusion  is  to  E.  Holmes,  the  biographer  of  Mozart,  who 
passed  some  time  in  Vienna  in  the  spring  ot  1827,  evidently  with  the 
view  of  finding  out  all  that  was  best  worth  knowing  in  music,  and  yt 
does  not  mention  Schubert's  name.  (See  his  'Kamble  among  the 
Musicians  of  Germany.') 

Bb 


370 


SCHUBERT. 


have  been  extended  to  double  the  length  with  great 
advantage.  2.  Mayrhofer  contributed  a  short  article  of 
recollections, '  Erinnerungen,'  to  the  '  Neues  Archiv  ftir 

Geschichte Literatur  und  Kunst '  (Vienna),  Feb.  23, 

1829;  and  Bauerni'eld  a  longer  paper.  'Ueber  Franz 
Schubert,'  to  Nos.  69,  70,  71  of  the  « Wiener  Zeitschrift 
fur  Kunst,  Literatur,  Theater,  und  Mode,'  for  June  9, 
11, 13,  1829.  These  papers,  written  so  shortly  after  Schu 
bert's  death  by  men  extremely  intimate  with  him,  are 
very  valuable.  3.  Bauernfeld  also  made  two  interesting 
communications  to  the  'Freie  Presse'  of  Vienna  for 
April  17  and  21,  1869,  containing  six  letters  and  parts  of 
letters  by  Schubert,  and  many  anecdotes.  These  latter 
articles  were  reprinted  in  the  Leipzig  'Signale'  for 
Nov.  15,  22,  26,  28,  1869 ;  and  in  Bauernfeld's  '  Gesam- 
melte  Schriften,'  vol.  xii  (Vienna  1873).  But  recollec 
tions  written  so  long  after  the  event  must  always  be 
taken  cum  grano.  4.  Schindler  wrote  an  article  in 
'Bauerle's  Wiener  Theaterzeitung '  for  May  3, 1831,  de 
scribing  Beethoven's  making  acquaintance  with  Schu 
bert's  songs  on  his  death-bed ;  and  other  articles  in  the 
'  Niederrheinischer  Musikzeitung '  for  1857 .  He  al  so  men 
tions  Schubert  in  his  '  Life  of  Beethoven,'  3rd  ed.,  ii.  136. 
5.  Schumann  printed  four  letters  (incomplete),  two 
poems,  and  a  Dream,  by  Schubert,  as '  Keliquien '  in  his 
'  Neue  Zeitschrift  fUr  Musik '  for  Feb.  1  and  5,  1839.  6. 
One  of  the  same  letters  was  printed  complete  in  the 
'  Signale,'  No.  2,  for  1878.  7.  The  Diary  of  Sofie  Mtiller 
(Vienna  1832),  the  '  Unvergessenes '  of  Frau  von  Chezy 
(Leipzig  1858),  and  the  '  Erinnerungen '  of  her  son  W. 
von  Chezy  (Schaffhausen  1863),  all  afford  original  facts 
about  Schubert  by  those  who  knew  him ;  and  8.  Ferd. 
Hiller's  KUnstlerleben  (Cologne  1880)  contains  a  paper — 
'  Vienna  52  years  since  '—embodying  a  few  interesting 
and  lifelike  notices  of  the  year  1827.  Of  all  these  use 
has  been  made  in  the  foregoing  pages. 

9.  The  first  attempt  to  write  a  life  of  Schubert  was 
made  by  von  Kreissle,  who  in  1861  published  a  small 
8yo  pamphlet  of  165 pages,  entitled  'Franz  Schubert,  eine 
biografische  Skizze;  von  Dr.  Heinrich  von  Kreissle.' 
This  is  a  very  interesting  little  book,  and  though  not 
nearly  so  long  as  the  second  edition,  it  contains  some 
facts  which  have  dropt  out  of  that.  10.  The  second 
edition — 'Franz  Schubert,  von  Dr.  Heinrich  Kreissle 
von  Hellborn '  (Vienna,  Gerold,  1865),  is  a  large  8vo 
of  619  pages,  with  portrait  after  Kupelwieser.  This  is  a 
thoroughly  honest,  affectionate  book;  but  it  is  deformed, 
like  many  German  biographies,  by  a  very  diffuse  style, 
and  a  mass  of  unnecessary  matter  in  the  shape  of  de 
tailed  notices  of  every  one  who  came  into  contact  with 
Schubert ;  and  some  of  the  letters  appear  to  be  garbled ; 
but  the  analyses  of  the  operas  and  the  lists  of  works  are 
valuable,  and  there  are  some  interesting  facts  gathered 
from  the  Frohlichs,  Ferdinand  Schubert,  Spaun,  Htitten- 
brenner.  and  others.  It  has  been  translated  into  English 
by  Mr.  A.  D.  Coleridge  (2  vols.  8vo,  Longman,  1869),  with 
an  Appendix  by  the  present  writer  containing  the  themes 
and  particulars  of  the  MS.  Symphonies  and  other  MS. 
music  of  Schubert,  as  seen  by  Mr.  Sullivan  and  him  in 
Vienna  in  1867.  A  resum£  of  the  work  is  given  in  English 
by  Wilberforce, '  Franz  Schubert '  etc.  (Lond9n  1866).  11. 
Both  Kreissle's  works  have  been  largely  utilised  by  H. 
Barbedette,  in  'F.  Schubert,  sa  vie  etc.  (Paris  1866). 
This  contains  an  atrocious  version  of  Kieder's  portrait, 
and  one  new  fact — a  facsimile  of  Schober's  song  'An  die 
musik,'  valuable  because  being  dated  April  24, 1827  (while 
the  song  was  composed  in  1817)  it  shows  that  Schubert 
did  not  confine  his  dates  to  the  original  autographs 
(compare  'The  Trout,'  p.  329,  note  4). 

12.  The  chief  value  of  Beissmann's  book,  'Franz  Schu 
bert,  sein  Leben  u.  seine  Werke'  (Berlin  1873),  consists 
in  the  extracts  from  the  juvenile  MS.  songs,  Quintet 
overture  (pp.  12— 30  >,  the  comparisons  of  early  songs  with 
later  revisions  of  the  same  (pp.  24, 154  etc.),  5  pieces  printed 
for  the  first  time,  and  Facsimile  of  a  MS.  page.  13.  Gum- 
precht,  La  Mara,  and  others,  have  included  sketches  of 
Schubert  in  their  works. 

14.  The  article  on  Schubert  in  Wurzbach's  Biogra- 
phisches  Lexicon  (Part  32,  pp.  30—110 ;  Vienna  1876)  is  a 
good  mixture  of  unwearied  research,  enthusiasm  for  his 
hero,  and  contempt  for  those  who  misjudge  him  (see  for 
example  p.  98 1).   The  copious  lists  are  extremely  inter 
esting  and  useful.    Unfortunately  they  cannot  always  be 
trusted,  and  the  quotations  are  sometimes  curiously  in 
correct.    Thus  Mr.  Arthur  Duke  Coleridge  is  raised  to 
the  peerage  as  '  Herzog  Arthur  von  Coleridge '  etc.,  etc. 
Still  all  students  of  Schubert  should  be  grateful  for  the 
article. 

15.  The  facsimile  of  the  Erlking  in  its  first  form  has 
been  mentioned  in  the   body  of  the  article  (p.  324  6). 
Further  consideration  convinces  me  that  the  original  of 
this  cannot  be  the  first  autograph,  but  must  be  a  copy 
made  afterwards  by  Schubert. 


SCHUBERT. 

Two  documents  must  be  mentioned.  16.  'Actenmassige 
Darstelling  der  Ausgrabung  und  Wiederbeisetzung  der 
irdischen  Reste  von  Beethoven  und  Schubert '  (Vienna 
1863),  and  17.  '  Vom  Wiener  Mannergesangverein.  Fest 
schrift  zur  Enthtillung  des  Schubert  Denkmales  am  15 
Mai,  1872,'  an  account  of  the  unveiling  of  the  statue  in 
the  Stadt  Park,  containing  a  capital  sketch  of  Schubert's 
Life,  Lists,  and  many  other  welcome  facts.  Herr  Dumba's 
speech  on  the  occasion,  and  poems  by  Bauernfeld  and 
»Weilen  were  printed  separately.  Good  photographs  of 
the  statue  are  published  by  Lowy  of  Vienna. 

18.  Since  writing  the  foregoing  I  have  seen  the  '  Life 
and  Works  of  Schubert,'  by  A.  Niggli,  which  forms  No.  15 
of  Breitkopf  and  Hartel's  Mmikalische  Vortrage  (1880). 
It  appears  to  be  an  excellent  and  generally  an  accurate  i 
compilation,  with  a  great  deal  of  information  in  small 
compass,  but  wants  a  list  of  works  to  make  it  complete. 
Also  19.  a  Life  by  H.  F.  Frost  in  '  The  Great  Musicians, 
edited  by  Francis  Huefi'er '  (London  1881),  readable  and 
intelligent,  and  has  a  list  of  works  year  by  year. 

Thematic  Catalogues. 
Of  these  there  are  two : — 

1.  '  Thematisches  Verzeichniss  im  Druck  erschienenen 
Compositionen  von  Franz  Schubert.    Vienna,  Diabelli' 
[1852],  contains  the  works  from  Opus  1  to  160 ;  Schwanen- 
gesaiig ;  Lieferungen  1  to  50 ;  and  30  songs  (included  in 
the  foregoing)  of  a  series  entitled  '  Immortellen.' 

2.  'Thematisches  Verzeichniss  der  im  Druck  erschie 
nenen  Werke  von  Franz  Schubert,  herausgegeben  von 
G.  Nottebohm.    Vienna,  F.  Schreiber,  1874,  pages  1-288.' 
This  admirable  work  is  as  comprehensive  and  accurate 
as  the  previous  publications  of  its  author  would  imply 
its   being.    Under  the  head  of  printed  works  it  com 
prises:— (1)  works  with  opus  numbers  1-173.   (2)  Nachge- 
lassene  Mus.  Dichtungen,  Lieferungen  1-50.    (3)  Works 
without  opus   numbers   for    orchestra,  chamber-music, 
etc.      (4)   Doubtful  and  spurious   compositions;  works 
still  in  MS.;   books,  portraits,  etc.    (5)  Index,  list  of- 
songs,  etc. 

The  information  under  each  piece  is  not  confined  to 
the  name  and  date  of  publication,  but  gives  in  most  cases 
the  date  of  composition,  and  frequently  also  such  facts 
as  the  first  time  of  performance,  etc.  It  is  in  fact,  like 
all  Mr.  Nottebohm's  publications,  a  model  of  what  such 
a  catalogue  should  be. 

Schubert's  Letters,  etc. 


Date. 

Place. 

Addressed  to. 

Where  printed. 

1812.  Nov.  24 

Vienna 

Ferd.  Schubert 

N.Z.M.  Feb.  1,  1839.2 

1813.  Sept.  27 

Poem  for   his  fa 

K.H.  30  note  (i.  30).3 

ther's  birthday 

1815.  Sept.  27 

Poem   for  his   fa 

K_H.  30  note  (i.  31  . 

ther's  birthday 

1816.  June  16 

Poem  for  Salieri's 

K.H.  82  note  (i.  83). 

jubilee 

June  13-16 

Diary 

K.H.  103-105(1.  103). 

1817.  Aug.  24 

Lied.  'Abschied  v. 

Lief.  xxix.  4. 

e.  Freuude  ' 

1818.  Feb.2(?) 

J.  Hiittenbrenner 

K.H.  125  (i.  129). 

Aug.  3 

Zek!sz 

Schober 

Bauernfeld,  in  Die  Presse, 

Ap.  17,  1869;   Siguale, 

1869,  p.  978. 

Aug.  24 

Zele"sz 

Ferd.  Schubert 

Diet,  of  Music,  iii.  330. 

1819.  (?) 

•    •    • 

J.  Hiittenbrenner 

K.H.  126  note  (i.  130). 

May  19 

•     •    • 

A.  Hiittenbrenner 

K.H.  152  (i.  154). 

July  15 

Steyr 

Ferd.  Schubert 

K.H.  158  (i.  159). 

Aug.  19 

Linz 

Mayrhofer 

K.H.  159  (i.  160). 

Sept.  H 

Steyr 

K.  Stadler's  album 

K.H.  160  note  (i.  161). 

1820.  Sept. 

•    •    • 

Poem,    '  Lasst    sie 

N.Z.M.  Feb.  5,  1839. 

nur' 

1821.  Nov.  2 

Vienna 

Spaun 

K.H.  231  (i.  234),  PS.  to 

Schober's  letter. 

1822.  (?) 

(?) 

Hiittenbrenner  (?) 

K.H.  236  note  (i.  239). 

JulyS 

... 

'  My  dream  ' 

N.Z.M.  Feb.  5.  1839. 

Oct.  31 

Vienna 

Siittenbrenner 

MS.  (in  my  possession). 

1823.  Feb.  28 

Vienna 

von  Mosel 

Neue  Freie  Presse,  Nov. 

19,  1881. 

May8 

(?) 

'  My  prayer,'  Poem 

N.Z.M.  Feb.  5,  1839. 

Nov.  30 

Vienna 

Schober 

Bauernfeld.in  Die  Presse, 

April  17.  1869;  Signale, 

1869,  p.  979. 

1  I  am  sorry  to  find  the  inscription  on  the  tomb  very  incorrectly 
given. 

2  N.Z.M,  =  Neue  Zeitschrift  fur  Musik. 

3  K.H.  =  Kreissle  von  Hellborn,  Life  of  Schubert.    The  references 
in  parentheses  are  to  Coleridge's  translation. 


SCHUBERT. 


SCHUBERT. 


371 


Date. 

Place. 

Addressed  to. 

Wnere  printed. 

1824.Mar.27-9 

Vienna 

Diary 

K.H.  322  (ii.  5,  6). 

Mar.  31 

„ 

Kupelwieser 

K.H.  319  (ii.  2). 

July  16-18 

Zeldsz 

Ferd.  Schubert 

Signale,  1878.  p.  17. 

Sept.  21 

. 

Schober.withPoem 

Bauernfeld,  Die  Presse, 

'  Klage    an    das 

April  17,  1869  ;  Signale, 

Volk' 

1J?69,  p.  9>0. 

1825.  July  21 

Linz 

Spaun 

K.H.  341  (ii.  25). 

July  25 

Steyr 

Father  and  mother 

N.Z.M.  Feb.  1839. 

(?) 

Gmunden 

Steiger 

K.H.  372  note  (ii.  58). 

Sept.  12-21 

,, 

Ferd.  Schubert 

N.Z.M.  Feb.  5,  1839. 

Sept.  18-19 

Steyr 

Bauernfeld 

K.H.  370  (ii.  66). 

Oct.  10 

Vienna 

Committee  of  Mu- 

Pobl  16. 

sikverein 

1826.  May 

Vienna  (?) 

Bauernfeld  and 

Bauernfeld,  Die  Presse, 

Mayrholer 

April  21.  1?69  ;  Siguale, 

1869,  p.  1011. 

1827.  June  12 

Vienna  (?) 

Mad.  Pachler 

K.H.  398  (ii.  84). 

June  13 

Vienna 

Committee  of  Mu- 

Pobl,  17. 

sikverein 

Sept.  27 

t» 

Herr  Pachler 

K.H.  402  (ii.  89). 

Oct.  12 

,, 

Mad.  Pachler,  with 

K.H.  404  (ii.  91). 

march 

1828.  Jan.  18 

Vienna 

Hiittenbrenner 

K.H.  417  (ii.  104). 

Aug.  1 

.,(?) 

H.  A.  Probst 

K.H.  435  (ii.  122). 

Bept.  25 

tf 

Jenger 

K.H.  437  (ii.  124). 

(?) 

..(?) 

Sonnleithner 

K.H.  515  (ii.  199). 

Nov.U 

H 

Schober 

Bauernfeld,  Presse,  1869; 

Signale,  1869,  p.  1028. 

I.  Alphabetical  Lists. 

I.  Published  Songs.   (457.) 

Those  with  opus-numbers  extend  to  op.  173.  Then 
follow  the  Schwanengesang — 'Schw.  No.  i,' 
etc.;  then  the  ' Nachgelassene  Musikalische 
Dichtungen'  in  50  Lieferungen — '  Lf.  i.'  etc. ; 
then  4  Lieder — « 4  L.  i,'  etc. ;  then  6  Lieder — 
'6  L.  No.  i,'  etc. ;  then  40  Lieder — '  40  L.  i,' 
etc.  (See  Nottebohm's  Catalogue.)  Where  a 
song  is  given  twice  under  different  titles  an 
*  is  prefixed  to  the  second  insertion. 

Cols.  4  and  5  refer  to  the  editions  of  Litolff  and 
Senff.  LitolfFs  includes  ops.  1-131,  and  Lieff. 
1-50,  in  consecutive  order  ;  but  omits  ops.  2 1 ; 
52,  nos.  3  and  4;  60;  83  ;  no;  129;  and  Lief. 
43.  Senff's — edited  by  Julius  Rietz — includes 
ops.  1-131,  and  Lieff.  1-50,  but  differently 
arranged ;  and  omits  ops.  52,  nos.  3  and  4 ;  62, 
no.  i;  129.  Peters's  edition  is  more  com 
plete,  but  was  not  known  to  the  author  in 
time.  A  complete  critical  edition  of  all  the 
songs  in  chronological  order  of  composition 
is  much  wanted. 

The  following  abbreviations  of  publishers'  names 
are  used : — G-otth.  =  Gotthard ;  Hasl.  =  Has- 
linger ;  Mech.  =  Mechetti ;  Riet.  B.  =  Rieter- 
Biedermann;  Schreib.  =  Schreiber ;  Whistl.  = 
Whistling;  Witznd.=Witzendorf ;  B.  &H.= 
Breitkopf  &  Hartel. 

Eeissm.  =  Reissmann's  *  Franz  Schubert,'  etc., 
1873,  the  Appendix  to  which  contains  some 
songs. 


Title. 

Date. 

Opus  No. 

Litolff. 

Senff. 

Abend,  der 
Abendbilder 
Abend!  led  derFurstin 
Abendlied  fur  die  Entfernte 
Abendroth,  das 
AbendrOthe       .       '. 
Abendstera 

1815 
1819 
1816 
1825 
1818 
1820 
1820 

Op.  118.  2 
Lf.  ix.  3 
6  L.  No.  6 
Op.  88.  1. 
Op.  173.  6 
Lf.  vii.  3 
Lf.  xxil.  4 

vi.26 
vii.  71 

iv.43 

vii.  36 
viii.  143 

x.  26 
xv.  20 

vi.88 

xv.  9 

xvii.  17 

Title. 

Date 

Opus  No. 

Litolff. 

Benff. 

Abends  unter  der  Linde  . 
Abgebliihte  Linde,  die    . 

1815 
1828 

40  L.  No.  10 
Op.  7.  1 
Schw.  No.  7 

1.58 
x.  142 

i.67 
xi  38 

Abschied  von  einem  Freunde 
Ach,  was  soil  ich  ('  Lacrimas  ') 

1817 
1825 
1815 

Lf.  xxix.  4 
Op.  124.  1 
Lf  xlii.  5 

Ix.  83 
Vi.  67 
x.  36 

xviii.  17 
x.  66 
xx.  10 

Aeschylus,  Fragment  aus 
Alinde        

1816 
1816 

Lf.  xiv.  2 
Op.  81.  1 

viii.  17 
iv.l 

xiv.  77 
vl.  46 

Alles  vergeht.    'Wehmuth'  . 
Allmacht.  die    . 
AlpenjSger,  der  (Mayrhofer)  . 
Alpenjfiger,  der    (Schiller)    . 
AIs  ich  sie  errOthen  sab,  . 
Altschottische  Ballade    . 

1825 
1817 
1817 
1815 
1827 
1815 

Op.  22.  2 
Op.  79.  2 
Op.  13.  3 
Op.  37.  2 
Lf.  xxxix.  1 
Op.  165.  5 
Op.  173.  1 

i.  144 
iii.  135 
i.99 
ii.  109 

Z.I 

ii.  90 
vi.26 
ii.  22 
iv.41 
xix.  42 

Am  Bach  im  Friihlinge  . 
Am  Feierabend    (Miillerl.)    . 
Am  Fenster       .... 
Am  Flusse  

1816 
1823 
1826 
1822 

Op.  109.  1 
Op.  25.  5 
Op.  105.  3 
40  L  3 

v.  127 
ii.17 

v.  84 

ix.  61 
iii.  16 
ix.  16 

Am  Grabe  Anselmos       . 

1816 
1828 

Op.  6,  3 
Schw  No  12 

i.  56 

x.  159 

i.  64 

Am  See      

1817 

Lf  ix  2 

vii.  68 

TV      IS 

Am  Strome 
Ammenlied 
An  den  Fruhling      . 
An  den  Mond    (Goethe) 
Do.               Do. 
An  den  Mond    (HOlty) 
An  d.  Mond  in  e.  Herbstnacht 
An  den  Tod       .... 
An  die  Apfelbfiume,  etc. 
An  die  Entfernte 
AndieFreude    (Schiller) 
An  die  Freunde 
An  die  Laute     .... 
An  die  Leier      . 

1817 
1814 
1815 
1815 
IMS 
1815 
1818 

1815 
1822 
1815 
1819 
1816 

Op.  8.  4 
40  L.  12 
Op.  172.  5 
LI.  xlvil.  5 
6  L.  No.  3 
Op.  67.  3 
Lf.  xviil.  2 
Lf.  xvii.  3 
Lf.  i.  1 
6  L.  No.  4 
Op.  111.  1 
Lf.  xl.  3 
Op.  81.  2 

Hr»    P>A    *2 

i.77 

x.  77 

iii.  00 
viii.  73 
viii.  61 
x.99 

7.134 
x.15 
iv.  6 

i.  91 

xiv.  45 

v.25 
xvi.  42 
xvi.  28 
xx.  74 

ix.  76 
xix.  58 
vi.52 
v.  10 

An  die  Musik     .... 
An  die  Nachtigall   (Claudius) 
An  die  Nachtigall    (Haity)    . 
An  die  Sonne  ('  Kan.  Morgens.'. 
An  die  Sonne    (Baumberg)    . 
An  die  Thuren  (Harfner) 
An  die  untergehende  Sonne  . 
An  eine  Quelle  .... 

1817 
1816 
1815 
1815 
1815 
1816 
1816 
1816 
1814 

Op.  88.  4 
Op.  98.  1 
Op.  172.  3 
40  L.  9 
Op.  118.  5 
Op.  12.  3 
Op.  44. 
Op.  109.  3 

Tit'     YYYl      <l 

iv.  57 
v.  61 

vi.  SO 
i.  86 
iii.  1 
v.  132 
ix  97 

vi.  103 
viii.  78 

x.  32 

ii.  10 
iv.89 
ix.  67 
xviii  81 

An  mein  Herz   .... 
An  Miguon  ('  Ueber  Thai')     . 
An  Schwager  Kronos 
An  Sylvia    (Shakspeare) 
Anne  Lyle,  Lied  der    (ticott). 
Antigone  und  Oedip  .    . 
Art  ein  Weib  zu  nehmen,  die 
(11  modo  di  prender)     . 

1&25 
1815 
1816 

1826 
1825 
1817 

1823 
1828 

Lf.  xiii.  1 
Op.  19.  2 
Op.  19.  1 
Op.  106.  4 
Op.  85,1 
Op.  6.  2 

Op.  83.  3 

Schw.  No  8 

viii.  1 
i.  119 
i.  114 
V.  107 
iv.10 
i.  51 

x  148 

xv.  53 
ii.46 
ii.  39 
ix.  41 
vi.  56 
.58 

x\  46 

Atys     

Lf.  xxii.  2 

viii.  131 

Auf  dem  Flusse    fWinterreise) 
Auf  dem  See      .... 
Auf  dem  Strom 
Auf  dem  Wasser  zu  singen 
(Barcarolle) 
Auf  der  Briicke  .... 
AufderDonau  .... 
Auf  der  Riesenkoppe       . 
Auf  einem  Kirchhof        . 
Aufentbalt        .... 

1827 
1817 

1828 

1823 
1825 
1817 
1818 
1818 
1828 
1824 

Op,  89.  7 
Op.  92.  2 
Op.  119 

Op.  72 
Op.  93.  2 
Op.  21.  1 
Lf.  xlix.  1 
Lf.  xlix.  2 
Schw.  No.  5 
Lf  xxxiv  1 

iv.  84 
iv.  149 
vi.32 

lii.  115 
v.  13 

x.  90 
x.94 
x.  131 

v    19T 

vij.  29 
viii.  8 
x.35 

vi.8 
viii.  26 
i.68 
xx.  64 
xx.  68 
xi.  26 

V1T     9 

Lf  1  3 

X7Q 

Aus  '  Diego  Manzanares  . 
Aus  '  Heliopolis  "... 
'  Ave  Maria.'   (Walter  Scott)  . 

Baches  Wiegenlied  (THiillerl.)  . 
•Barcarolle  ('Auf  demWasser  ') 
Bei  dir  allein 

1816 
1822 
1825 

1823 
1823 

OL.  25 
Op.  65.  3 
Op.  52.  6 

Op.  25.  20 
Op.  72 

On   Q^I  9 

ii.  104 
ii.28 

i.n 

ii.  115 

v.  78 
v.114 

ii.  62 
vl.8 

triii    JA 

BeimWinde      .... 
Berge,  die   

1819 

Lf.  xxii.  8 
Op  57  2 

f.  aa 
Viii.  137 

xvii.  11 
v  22 

Bertha's  Lied  in  der  Nacht    , 
Betende,  die 
Bild,  das     . 
Blinde  Knabe,  der          . 
Blondel  zu  Marien           .       ° 
Blumenbrief,  der 
Blumenschmerz,  der       . 
Blumensprache,  die 
BOse  Farbe,  die 
Biirgschaft,  die        ... 

CISrchen's  Lied  ('  Freudvoll  ') 
Cora  aa  die  Sonne    . 

1819 
1814 
1815 
1825 
1819 
1818 
1821 

1823 
1815 

1815 
1815 

IRlft 

Lf.  xl.  2 

;f.  XXXI.  1 

Op.  165.  3 
Op.  101. 
jf.  xxxiv.  2 
Lf.  xxi.  1 
Op.  173.  4 
Op.  173.  5 
Op.  25.  17 
Lf.  viii. 

Lf.  xxx.  2 

Lf.  xlii.  3 
Lf  ii  1 

.  57 
x.  13 
LX.  92 

v.67 

x.132 
Viii.  112 

i.61 

vii.  43 

X.  89 
x.  34 
vi.  114 

xix.  55 
xviii.  25 

riii.  85 
xix.  8 

xvi.  63 

ii.  52 
xiii.  14 

xiv.  24 

xx.  8 

xi\   IS 

Dankgesang    an    den   Bach 
(Mullerlieder;  . 

1823 

Op.  25.  4 

] 

i.  14. 

3b2 

ii.  14 

372 


SCHUBERT. 


SCHUBERT. 


Title. 


'  Da  quel  sembiante  ' 

Das  war  ich 

Dass  sie  hier  gewesen 

•Delphine   ('  Lacrimas ') 

Dem  TJnendlicben    . 

Der  Vollraond  strahlt     . 

Des  Jammers  herbe  Qualen 

(Pierabras) 
Die  Mutter  hat  mir  . 
Dithyrambe     (Nimrner    das 

glaubtmir)  . 
DoppelgSnger,  der  . 
Drang  in  die  Ferae  . 
Du  bist  die  Run 
Du  liebst  mich  nicht 
Du  sagtest  mir  .  .  . 

Echo,  das  .... 

Edone        

Eifersucht  und  Stolz    (Miil- 

lerlieder)  .... 
Ein  Blickvon  deinen  Augen  . 
Ein  Fr&ulein  schaut 
Einsame,  der    (Lappe)   . 
Einsamkeit    (Mayrhofer) 
Einsamkeit    (Winterreise)    . 
Einsiedelei,  die . 
Ellen's    1st    Song,    '  Soldier' 

rest '    (Walter  Scott)    . 
Ellen's  2nd  Song,  •  Huntsman, 

rest '    (Walter  Scott)    . 
*Ellen's  3rd  Song, '  Ave  Maria ' 

(Walter  Scott) 

Elysium 

Emma        .... 
Entsuhnte  Orest,  der      .       '. 
Epistel  von  M.  v.  Collin  . 
Erinnerung       .... 
Erlafsee      .... 
ErlkOnig     ..'.'.'. 
Erntelied   .... 
Erstarrung    (Winterreise) 
Erste  Liebe,  die       ... 
Erster  Verlust  , 
Erwartung,  die  . 

Fahrt  zum  Hades     . 

Finden,  das       ... 

Fischer,  der       .... 

FischermSdchen 

Fischersliebesgliick,  des  . 

Fischerweise 

*Florio    ('Lacrimas') 

Fluchtling,  der . 

Flug  der  Zeit,  der     .       \       '. 

Fluss,  der 

Forelle,  die  .  .  .  . 
*Fragment  aus  dem  Aeschylus 
Fragment  aus  'die  Cotter 

GriechenJands ' 
Freiwilliges  Versinken    . 
*'  Freudvoll  und  Leidvoll ' 
Frohsinn     . 
Fruhen  GrSber . 
Friihlingsglaube       .       '.       ', 
Fruhlingssehnsucht 
Friihlingstraum    (Winterr.) ' 
Fiille  der  Liebe 


Date. 


1820 

1815 

1823? 

1825 

1815 

1823 

1823 


Opus  No. 


1823? 
1823 


1825 
1816 


1819 

1824? 

1825 

1818 

1827 

1817 

1825 
1825 

1825 
1815 
1814 
1820 
i  22 
1815 
1817 


5  Canti.  No.S 
Lf.  xxxix.  2 
Op.  59.  2 
Op.  124.  1 
Lf.  x.  1 
Op.  26 

Op.  76 
Op.  95.  1 

Op.  60.  2 
Schw.  No.  13 
Op.  71 
Op.  59.  3 
Op.  59.  1 
Op.  95.  3 

Op.  130. 
Lf.  xxviii.  4 

Op.  25.  15 
Op.  165. 1 
Op.  120 
Op.  41 
Lf.  xxxii. 
Op.  89. 12 


Ulolff. 


x.  6 

iii.  79 
vi.  67 
Vii.  79 
ii.  74 


v.  20 


x.  161 
iii.  110 
iii.  82 
iii.  77 

vi.  88 
ix.  71 

ii.  54 

vi.  80 
ii.  140 
ix. 100 
iv.  102 


1816 
1827 
1815 
1815 
1815 


Ganymed 

Gebet  wfihrend  der  Schlacht' 

Gefangenen  Sanger,  die  . 

Gefrorne  Thra'nen  (Winterr.) 

Geheimes 

Geheimniss,  das    (Schiller)  . 
Do.  Do. . 

Geist  der  LJebe  (Kosegarten) 

Geistertanz,  der 

Gelstesgruss       . 

Geistliche  Lieder 

Geniigsamhelt  . 

Gesang  der  Norna    . 

Gestirne,  die      .... 

Gestflrte  Cluck,  das . 

Get&uschte  Verrather,  der     . 

Glaube,  Hoffnung,  und  Liebe 

Goldschmiedsgesell,  der . 

Gondelfahrer,  cTer    . 

•GCtter  Griechenlands,  Frag 
ment  aus  die  . 

Grablied 

Grablled  auf  ein.  Soldaten 
Grablied  fflr  die  Mutter  . 


1817 
1815 
1815 
1828 
1827 
1826 
1825 
1816 

1820 
1817 
1816 


Lf.  xxxviii.  1  ix.  159 


1820 
1815 
1817 
1815 
I1 22 
1828 
1827 
1825 

1817 
1815 
1821 
1827 
1821 
1823 
1815 
1815 
1814 
1816 

1815 
1827 
1816 
1815 
1827 
1828 

1824 


1815 
1816 
1818 


Op.  52.  1 
Op.  52.  2 

Op.  52.  6 
Lf.  vi. 
Op.  58.  2 
Lf.xi.2 
Lf.  xlvi. 
Op.  108.  3 
Op.  8.  3 
Op.  1 

Lf.  xlviii.  2 
Op.  89.  4 
Lf.  xxxv.  1 
Op.  5.  4 
Op.  116 

Lf.  xviii.  3 
Lf.  xlii.  2 
Op.  5.  3 
Schw.  No.  10 
Lf.  xxvii.  3 
Op.  96.  4 
Op.  124.  2 
40  L.  36 
Op.  7.  2 
40  L.  27 
Op.  32 
Lf.  xiv.  2 

Lf.  xlti.  1 
Lf.  xi.  4 
Lf.  xxx.  2 
Lf.  xlv.  1 
Lf.  xxviii.  5 
Op.  20.  2 
Schw.  No.  3 
Op.  89. 11 
Lf.  xxr.  1 


Op.  19.  3 
Lf.  x.  7 
Lf.  xxxiii.  2 
Op.  89.  3 
Op.  14.  2 
Op.  173.  2 
40  L.  28. 
Op.  118. 1 
Lf.  xxxi.  2 
Op.  92.  3 
Lf.  x. 
Op.  109.  2 
Op.  85.  2 
Lf.  x.  2 
40  L.  8 
Op.  83.  2 
Op.  97 
Lf.  xlviii.  6 
40  L.  2 


iii.  6 
iii.  16 

iii.  28 
vii.  17 
Iii.  69 
vii.  105 
x.  58 
v.  124 
i.74 
i.  1 
x.  80 
iv.  69 
ix.  135 
i.  43 
vi.l 

viil.  81 
x.  32 
i.40 
x.  1,53 
ix.  59 
v.  51 
vi.  77 

i.  63 

ii.86 
viii.  17 

x.  30 
vii.  112 
ix.  89 
x.  50 
ix.73 
1.132 
x.  121 
iv.  97 
ix.  33 

i.  123 
v.'i.  97 
ix.  123 
iv.  67 
i.  Ill 


vi.  24 
ix.  94 
iv.  149 
vii  .79-102 
v.  329 
iv.  15 
vii.  86 


v.  56 
x.  88, 


Senff. 


xix.  48 
v.  47 
x.  66 
xiv.  48 
iv.  3 


vlii.  43 

v.  59 
xi.  63 
vi.  S 
V.  49 
V.44 


X.  86 

xiv.  68 

iii.  46 

x.79 
iv.74 
xviii.  34 
vii.  48 
xix.  37 

iv.  94 
iv.102 

iv.  114 
xiii.  2 
v.35 
xv.  44 
xx.  47 

x.  58 
i.  87 

.3 

xx.  56 
vii.  13 
xix.  11 
i.48 
x.  3 

xvi.  50 
xx.  7 
i.  45 
xi.  52 
xviii.  9 
viii.  69 
x.  76 

i.72 

iv.  15 

xiv.  77 

xiii.  76 
xv.  51 
xiv.  24 
xx.  36 
xiv.  70 
ii.  61 
xi.  17 
vii.  43 
xvii.  52 

ii.  51 
xv.  86 

xviii.  58 
vii.  10 
ii.  36 


Lf.  xlii.  1 
Lf.  xlii.  4 
40  L.  6 
Lf.  xxx.  3 


x.  30 
x.  35 

ix.  90 


x.  24 
xviii.  28 
viii.  13 

ix.  64 
vi.  61 
xiv.  54 


viii.  74 
xiv.  47 


Title. 


Greise  Kopf,  der  (Winterreise) 
Greisengesang    . 
Grenzen  der  Menschheit 
Gretchen  am  Spinnrade  . 
Gretchen  im  Dom    . 
Gretchen's  Bitte 
Gruppe  aus  dem  Tartarus 
'Guarda  che  bianca' 
Gute  Hirt.  der   . 
Gute  Nacht    (Winterreise)    . 

HSnfling-s  LJebeswerbung 
Halleluja,  der  grosse 
Halt    (Miillerlieder) 
llarfners,  GesSnge  des,  No.  1 . 
Do.          Do.  No.  2 . 

5     Do.          Do.  No.  3. 

Hark,  Hark,  the  lark 
Heidenro'slein   .... 
Heimliches  Lieben  . 
Heimweh,  das    .... 
Heiss  mich  nicht  reden  . 

Do,  Do. 

Hektor's  Abschied   . 
Heliopolis,  Aus 
Heliopolis    (Fels  auf  Felsen) 

Herbstlied 

Hermann  und  Thusnelda 
Himmelsfunken 
Hippolit's  Lied  .... 
Hirt  auf  dem  Felsen,  der 
Hoffnung    (Goethe) 
Hoffnung    (Schiller) 
Hoffnung,  die   CSchiller) 
#'  Huntsman,  rest '    (Scott)    . 
*Hymn  to  the  Virgin,  '  Ave 
Maria*  tee  Ellen. 

Ichsag'esjedem     . 

IhrBild 

Ihr  Grab 

*I1  modo  di  prender  moglie  . 
11  traditor  deluso     . 
1m  Abendroth  .... 
1m  Dorfe    (Winterreise) 

1m  Freien 

ImFruhling     .... 

1m  Haine 

Im  Walde   (Schulze) 

In  der  Feme      .... 

Incanto  degli  occhi  1' 

Ins  stille  Land  .... 

Iphigenia    ..... 

Irdisches  Gluck 

Irrlicht    (Winterreise)    . 


Date 


1827 
1820-2 
1821 
1814 
1814 
1X17 
1817 
1820 
1816 
1827 


1817 
1816 
1823 
1816 
1816 
1816 
1826 
i  15 
1827 
1825 

•      • 

1821 
1815 
1822 
1822 
1816 
1815 
1819 
1826 
1823 
1815 
1815 
1815 
1825 


Opus  No. 


Op.  89.  14 
Op.  60.  1 
Lf.  xiv.  1 
Op.  2 
Lf.  xx.  2 
Lf.  xxix.  3 
Op.  24. 1 
5  Canti,  No.2 
40  L.  7 
Op.  89. 1 


Op.  20.  3 
Lf.  xli.  2 
Op.  25.  3 
Op.  12. 1 

Do.    2 

Do.    3 
Lf.  vii.  4 
Op.  3.  3 
Op.  106. 1 
Op.  79. 1 
Op.  62.  2 
Gotthard 
Op.  58. 1 
Op.  65.  3 
LF.  xxxvii.  1 
40  L.  24 
Lf.  xrviii.  1 
Lf.  x.  8 
Lf.  vii.  2 
Op.  129 
40  L.  14 
40  L.  23 
Op.  87.  2 
Op.  52.  2 


Litolff.       Sen/. 


iv.108 

viii.  12 
i.  9 

viii.  101 
ix.  79 
i.  153 


1819 
1828 


1827 
1827 
1824 
1827 
1826 
1826 


iv.  60 

i.  135 
x.  23 
ii.ll 

i.  80 
i.  83 
i.86 
vii.  40 
i.20 
v.  94 
iii.  125 
iii.  92 

iii.  63 
iii.  104 
ix.  151 

ix.  52 
vii.  101 
vii.  33 


xiii.  76 
xx.  9 

xvlH.  23 


Jfiger,  der 

»'  JSger  ruhe '  (Walter  Scott) 
Jfiger's  Abendlied    . 
Jager's  Liebeslied    . 
Jiingling  am  Bache,  der  . 
Jiingling  an  der  Quelle,  der  . 
Jungling  auf  dem  Hiigel,  der . 
Jiingling  und  der  Tod,  der     . 
Junge  Nonne,  die     .       .       . 

Kampf,  der       .... 
Kennst  du  das  Land  ?  (Mignon) 
Klage    (Trauer  umfliesst)     . 
Klage  an  den  Mond  (Holty) . 
Klage  um  Aly  Bey   . 

Klagelied 

Knabe,  der        .... 
Knabe  in  der  Wiege,  der. 
Kolma's  Klage  .... 
KOnig  von  Thule,  der      . 
KrShe,  die    (Winterreise)   '  . 
Kreuzzug,  der  .... 
Kriegers  Ahnung     . 

Lachen  und  Wetnen 

*'  Lacrimas,'  2  Scenes  from     . 

Lambertine 

La  Pastorella    . 

*Lady  of  the  Lake,  7  songs  from 
the    (Walter  Scott) 

Laube,  die 

Lay  of  the  imprisoned  Hunts 
man    (Walter  Scott)     . 

Leben,  das 

Lebenslied 

Lebensmelodien 

Lebensmuth    (Rellstab) 


1825 

1828 

1827? 

1816 

1817 


1827 

1823 
1825 
1816 
1827 
1815 
1821 
1820 
1817 
1825 

1817 

1816 

1816? 

1816 

1815 

1812 

1820 

1822 

1815 

1816 

1827 

1827 

1823 

1823? 

1823 
1815 
1817 

1825 
1815 

1825 
1815 
1816 
1816 
1828 


40L.40 
Schw.  No.  9 
Lf.  xxxvi.  3 
Op.  83.  3 
Op.  83.  2 
Lf.  xx.  1 
Op.  89. 17 
Op.  80.  3 
Lf.  xxv.  2 
Op.  56.  3 
Op.  93. 1 
Schw.  No.  6 
Op.  83. 1 
Lf.  xxxix.  3 
Op.  98.  3 
Op.  95.  4 
Op.  89.  9 

Op.  25. 14 
Op.  52.  2 
Op.  96.  2 
Op.  96.  2 
Op.  87.  3 
Lf.  xxxvi.  1 
Op.  8. 1 
40  L.  18 
Op.  43. 1 

Op.  110 
Lf.  xx.  3 
40  L.  21 
Lf.  xlviii.  3 
Lf.  xlv.  3 
Op.  131.  3 
40  L.  22 
40  L.  16 
Lf.  ii.  2 
Op.  5.  5 
Op.  89. 15 
Lf.  xxvii,  2 
Schw.  No.  2 


Op.  59.  4 
Op.  124 
Lf.  xxxvi.  2 
40  L.  19 

Op.  52 
Op.  172.  2 

Op.  52.  7 
Lf.  xliv.  4 
Lf.  xxxviii.  2 
Op.  111.  2 
40  L.  17 


iv.  34 
iii.  16 


r.  151 
ix.  148 


viii.  99 
iv.  115 
iii.  147 
ix.38 
iii.  50 
v.l 
x.  136 

x.  10. 
v.  64 
v.  35 
iv.92 

ii.  50 
iii.  16 
i.  22 
v.  46 
iv.  3? 
ix.  143 
i.67 

ii.  146 


viii.  106 

x.  82 
x.  55 
vi.95 


vi.  123 
i.  44 
iv.  110 
ix.57 
x.  115 


iii.  85 
vi.  67 
ix.  145 


iii.  6 


iii.  33 
x.  48 
ix.  161 
v.  136 


vii.  55 
v.  55 
xiv.  2 
i.  11 
xiv.  7 
xiv.  12 
ii.  102 


vii.  2 

ii.  65 
xiv.  72 
iii.  10 
ii.  2 
ii.  6 
ii.10 
x.96 
i.  24 
ix.26 
vi.  17 
v.65 

V.28 
v.78 
xix.  28 

xiv.  56 
xv.  39 
XV.  6 


vi.  79 
iv.102 


xi.  50 
xix.  25 


xvi.  61 
vii.  63 
vi.  39 
xvii.  57 
v.15 
viii.  15 
xi.32 

xix.  51 
viii.  82 
viii.  50 
vii.  38 

iii.  44 
iv.102 
i.  26 
viii.  62 
vi.  83 
xix.  20 
i.78 

iv.  80 

ix.69 
xiv.  16 

xx.  58 
xx.  42 
x.94 


xif.  28 
i.  49 
vii.  57 
xviii.  6 
xi.  10 

v.52 
x.  66 
xix.  22 


iv.  94 


iv.  116 
xx.  S3 
xix.  39 
Ix.  79 


SCHUBERT. 


SCHUBERT. 


Title. 

Date. 

Opus  No- 

Litolff. 

Senff. 

Lebensmuth    (Schulze)  . 

1827 

Li,  xxvii.  1 

viii.  53 

xvi.18 

Leiden  der  Trennung 

1816 

40  L.  32 

Leidende,  der    .... 

1816 

Lf.  1.  2 

x.  102 

xx.  77 

leiermann,  der    (Winterreise 

1827 

Op.  89.  24 

iv.  136 

vii.  83 

Leise  flehen  meine  Lieder 

1828 

Schw.  4 

x.  127 

xi.  22 

Letzte  Hoffnung  (Winterreise) 

1827 

Op.  89.  16 

iv.  113 

Vii.  60 

Licht  und  Liebe 

f      t 

Lf.  xli.  1 

x.  18 

xx.  2 

Liebe  Farbe,  die    (Miillerl.)  . 

1823 

Op.  25.  16 

ii.  58 

iii.  50 

Liebe  hat  gelogen,  die    . 

.      . 

Op.  23.  1 

i.  146 

ii.  92 

Liebende  Schreibt,  die 

1819 

Op.  165.  1 

Liebesbotschaft       .             . 

1828 

Schw.  No.  1 

x.  109 

xi.  3 

Liebeslauschen         . 

1820 

Lf.  xv.  2 

viii.  24 

xv.  68 

Liebesrausch     .       . 

1815 

40  L.  29 

Liebestandelel  .       . 

1815 

40  L.  11 

Liebliche  Stern,  der 

1825 

Lf.  xiii.  2 

vill.  8 

xv.  60 

*Lied  der  Anne  Lyle   (Scott)  . 

1825 

Op.  85.  1 

iv.  10 

vi.  56 

Lied  d.  Mignon   ('  Nur  wer  ')  . 

•      • 

Op.  62.  4 

iii.  97 

v.71 

»Lied  d.  Mignon  ('  Heiss  mich  ' 

Op.  62.  3 

iii.  92 

v.  65 

*Lied  des  gefang.Jfigers  (Scott) 

1825 

Op.  52.  7 

iii.  33 

iv.  116 

Lied  d.Mlgnon  ('  So  lasst  mich' 

. 

Op.  62.  3 

iii.  94 

v.  68 

Lied  eines  Kriegers  . 

1824 

Lf.  xxxy.  2 

ix.  138 

xix.  15 

Lied   eines   Schiffers   an  die 

Dioskuren 

1816 

Op.  65.  1 

iii.  100 

v.  74 

Lied  im  Griinen,  das 

1827 

Op.  115.  1 

V.  141 

ix.  84 

•Liederkranz,  6  Lieder    .      . 

f 

Op.  165 

Liedesend  .       .       .       .       . 

1816 

Lf.  xxiii.  2 

Ix.  7 

xvii.  25 

Liedler,  der       .... 

1815 

Op.  38 

ii.  115 

iv.  47 

Lindenbaum,  der  (Winterr.) 

1827 

Op.  89.  5 

iv.76 

vii.  20 

Litanei,  a.  d.  Fest  aller  Beelen 

. 

Lf.  x.  5 

vii.  94 

xv.  32 

Lob  der  ThrSnen 

1821 

Op.  13.  2 

il.  94 

11.  18 

Lob  des  Tokaiers 

1815 

Op.  118.  4 

vi.  28 

x.  30 

Loda's  Gespenst    (Ossian)     . 

1815 

Lf.  iii. 

vi.  130 

xii.34 

Macht  der  Augen,  die     .       . 

1827? 

Op.  83.  1 

Madchen,  das    .... 

1819 

Lf.  xl.  1 

x.ll 

xix.  53 

Madchens  Klage,  des       .       . 

1815 

Op.  58.  3 

iii.  72 

V.38 

Do.  1st.  arrangement 

Reism. 

Madchen  von  Inistore,  das     . 

1815 

Lf.  iv.  3 

vi.  157 

xii.  63 

Manner  sind  mechant,  die     . 

Op.  95.  3 

v.  31 

viii.  46 

Marienbild,  das 

1818 

Lf.  x.  3 

vii.  91 

xv.  29 

Meeresstille       .... 

1815 

Op.  3.  2 

i.  19 

i.  23 

Mein  (Miillerlieder)  . 

1823 

Op.  25.  11 

ii.  39 

iii.  34 

Memnon     .... 

1S17 

On    fi    1 

i     *X7 

i     ^9 

•Mignon,  Lied  d.  ('Heiss'  mich' 

XOJ.I 

v/y.  D,  i. 
Op.  62  2 

I*   O4 

iii.  92 

1*  *j£i 

v.  65 

*        Do.                    Do. 

1821 

Gotth. 

Mignon,  Lied  der  ('Nur  wer') 

Op.  62.  4  " 

Li.  97 

v.71 

Do.                  Do.     duet 

0         m 

Op.  62.  1 

iii.  88 

Mignon,  Lied  der   ('So  lasst 

mich')      .... 

•        • 

Op.  62.  3 

iii.  94 

v.  68 

Do.                    Do. 

1821 

Lf.  xlviii.  5 

x.  85. 

xiv.  21 

tMignon's   Gesang  ('  Kennst 

du?')        .... 

1816 

Lf.  xx.  3 

viii.  106 

xiv.  16 

'  Mio  ben  ricordati  '  . 

1820 

5  Canti,  No  4 

Mit  dem  grunen  Lautenbande 

(Mullerlieder)  . 

1823 

Op.  25.  13 

ii.  48 

iii.  42 

Mondabend,  der 

Op.  131.  1 

vi.  92 

x.  90 

Morgengruss      .... 

1823 

Op.  25.  8 

Ii.  29 

iii.  28 

Morgenkuss,  der  (Baumbecg) 

1815 

Lf.  xlv.  4 

x.56 

xx.  44 

Do.                     Do. 

1815 

40  L.  33 

Morgenlied        .... 

Op.  4.  2 

i    99 

I.  32 

Miiller  und  der  Bach,    der 

1.    .-Q 

(Mullerlieder)  . 

1823 

Op.  25.  19 

ii.  68 

iii.  59 

Mailersblumen,  des  (Mullerl.) 

1823 

Op.  25.  9 

ii.  32 

iii.  30 

Musensohn,  der 

1822 

Op.  92.  1 

iv.  139 

viii.  3 

Muth    (Winterreise) 

1827 

Op.  89.  22 

iv.  131 

vii.  78 

Mutter  Erde.  die      ... 

1815 

Lf.  xxix.  2 

ix.  77 

xviii  14 

Nach  einem  Gewitter     . 

1817 

40  L.  5 

Nacht,  die    (Cz) 

1816? 

Lf.  xliv.  2 

x.  43 

xx.  29 

Kacht,  die    (Ossian) 

1817 

Lf.  i 

Vi.  97 

xii.  3 

Nachtgesang    (Collin)    . 

Lf.  xli.  1 

Nachtgesang    (Goethe)  . 

1814 

Lf.  xlvii.  4 

x.  76 

xiv.  44 

Nachthymne     .... 

1820 

40  L.  4 

Nachtstxick       .... 

1819 

Op.  36.  2 

ii.  99 

iv.SO 

Nachtviolenlied 

1822 

40  L.  20 

Nacht  und  TrSume  . 

Op.  43.  2 

ii.  152 

iv.  86 

NShe  des  geliebten  . 

1815 

Op.  5.  2 

.38 

i.42 

Nebensonnen,  die   (Winterr.) 

1827 

Op.  89.  23 

v.  134 

vii.  81 

•Simmer,  das  glaubt  mir  (Di- 

thyrambe) 

Op.  60.  2 

i.  22 

iii.  21 

Neugierige,  der  (Miillerlieder) 

1823 

Op.  25.  6 

'Non  t'accostar  all*  urna  ' 

1820 

5  Canti,  No.] 

Norman's  Gesang    (Scott)      . 

1825 

Op.  52.  5 

ii.  20 

v.  IOC 

•Nun  da  Schatten  ('Lacrimas') 

1825 

Op.  124.  2 

•Nur  wer  die  Sehnsucht  kennt 

Op.  62.  4 

ii.  97 

7.71 

*        Do.                     duet 

•  . 

Op.  62.  1 

ii.  88 

Offertorium  No.  1    (Totus  in 

corde) 

Op.  46 

Offertorium  No.2  (Salve  regina) 

1815 

Op.  47 

1  1817 

•) 

Title. 

Dale. 

Opus  No. 

Litolff. 

Senf. 

Offertorium  No.S  (Salve  regina) 

1819 

Op.  153 

Orest  auf  Tauris 

1&20 

Lf.  xi.  1 

vii.  103 

xv.  41 

1816 

Lf.  xix.  1 

Viii.  86 

xvi.  54 

Ossian's  Lied  nach  dem  Falle 

Natbos     .... 

1815 

Lf.  iv.  2 

vi.  156 

xii.  — 

Pause    (Miillerlieder)     . 

1823 

Op.  26.  12 

ii.  44 

iii.  39 

Pax  vobiscum   .... 

1817 

Lf  .  x.  6 

vii.  95 

xv.  34 

'  Pensa  che  questo  istante  '    . 

1813 

5  Oanti,  No.5 

1816 

40  L.  31 

1817 

Lf.  xi.  3 

vii.  109 

xv.  48 

Pilgerwelse       .... 

1823 

Lf.  xviii.  1 

viii.  65 

xvi.  33 

Op.  37.  1 

ii.  105 

iv.  36 

Post,  die    (Winterreise)  . 

1827 

Op.  89.  13 

iv.  104 

vii.  50 

Prometheus       .... 

1819 

Lf.  xlvii.  1 

x.66 

xiv.  34 

East    (Winterreise).      . 

1827 

Op.  89.  10 

iv.  94 

vii.  40 

»'  Baste,  Krieger  •    (W.  Scott) 

1825 

Op.  52.  1 

iii.  6 

Kastlose  Liebe  .... 

1815 

Op.  5.  1 

i.  34 

1.38 

Rattenfanger,  der     . 

1815 

Lf.  xlvii.  3 

x.74 

xiv.  42 

*Refrain-Lieder,  4     ... 

Op.  95 

v.  20-40 

viii.34-5 

Bichard  Ltfwenherz  (W.  Scott) 

1826 

Op.  86 

iv.  19 

vi.  64 

Bitter  Toggenburg   . 

1816 

Li.  xix.  2 

viii.  92 

xiii.  70 

•Eomanze  (E.  Fr&ulein  klagt 

1814 

6  L.  Xo.  5 

*Bosalia  von  Mortimer    (Do-) 

.   . 

6  L.  No.  5 

*Rosamunde,  Bomance  from  . 

1823 

Op.  26 

ii.74 

iv.3 

Bose,  die    

1822 

On  71 

iii.  122 

vi.  14 

Rosenband,  das 

1815 

\j  i*.  i  *> 
Lf.  xxviii.  3 

ix.  70 

xiv.  66 

Riickblick    (Winterreise)      . 

1827 

Op.  89.  8 

iv.  87 

vii.  33 

1816 

40  L.  15 

•Salve  Begina    .... 

1815 

Op.  47 

1819 

Op.  153 

Sfinger,  der       .... 

1815 

Op.  117 

vi.  15 

x.  16 

Banger's  Habe,  des  ... 

1825 

Lf.  vii.  1 

vii.  SO 

xv.  2 

Sangers  Morgenlied  . 

1815 

40  L.  35 

Scene  a.  Faust    (Wie  anders) 

1814 

Lf.  xx.  2 

viii.  101 

xiv.  7 

Schafer's  Klagelied  . 

1815 

Op.  3.  1 

i.16 

i.19 

Schafer  u.  d.  Beiter,  der. 

1817 

Op.  13.  1 

i.  89 

ii.  12 

Schatzgrfibers  Begehr     . 

1822 

Op.  23.  4 

i.  150 

ii.  98 

Schiffer,  der    (Mayrhofer)      . 
Schiffer.  der    (F.  Schlegel)    . 

1820 

Op.  21.  2 
Lf.  xxxiii.  1 

ix.  119 

ii.  72 
xviii.  54 

Schiffers  Scheidelied 

1827 

Lf.  xxiv.  1 

ix.  12 

xvii.  30 

Schlummerlied  .       ... 

1817 

Op.  24.  2 

i.  158 

ii.  108 

Schmetterling,  der  . 

Op.  57.  1 

iii.  54 

v.  19 

*SchOne  Miillerin,  die 

1823 

Op.  25 

ii.  1-73 

iii. 

Schwanengesang    (Senn) 

Op.  23.  3 

i.  139 

ii.  96 

Schwertlied       .... 

1813 

.      . 

Beism. 

Schwestergruss  .... 

1822 

Lf.  xxiil.  1 

ix.  1 

xvii.  19 

Sehnen,  das       .... 

1815 

Op.  172.  4 

Sehnsucht  (Goethe,  '  Nur  wer  ') 

•     • 

Op.  62.  1 

iii.  88 

Do.           Do. 

Op.  62.  4 

ix.  15 

Do.            Do. 

1815 

40  L.  13 

iii.  97 

v.71 

Do.            Do.   '  Was  zieht 

1815 

Lf.  xxxvii.  2 

xix.  32 

Sehnsucht    (Seidl)  . 

1826 

Op.  105.  4 

V.  88 

ix.  20 

Sehnsucht    (Mayrhofer)  . 

1824 

Op.  8.  2 

i.71 

i.83 

Sehnsucht    (Schiller)  3813     . 

1813 

6L.  No.l 

Do.              Do.  1815  . 

1815 

Op.  39 

ii.  133 

iv.  66 

Sei  mir  gegriisst 

1821 

Op.  20.  1 

1.128 

ii.  57 

Op.  23.  2 

i.  147 

ii.  94 

Selma  und  Selmar    .       .       . 

1815 

Lf.  xxviii.  2 

ix.  68 

xiv.  64 

Shilric  und  Vinvela 

1815 

Lf.  iv.  1 

vi.  145 

xii.  50 

1824 

Lf.  xxil.  1 

viii.  129 

xvii.  2 

•So  lasst  mich  scheinen  . 

Op.  62.  3 

iii.  94 

v.  68 

Do.                Do. 

1821 

Lf.  xlviii.  5 

x.  85 

xiv.  21 

*'  Soldier,  rest  '  (Walter  Scott) 

1825 

Op.  52.  No.  1 

iii.  6 

iv.  94 

So  Mancher  sieht      . 

> 

Op.  95.4 

Spinnerin,  die    .... 

1815 

Op.  118.  6 

vi.  31 

x.33 

Sprache  der  Liebe    . 

1816 

Op.  115.  3 

V.  149 

ix.92 

1828 

Schvf.  No.  11 

_     -|  Cft 

xi.  56 

•Standchen    (Bellstab)  . 

1828 

Schw.  No.  4 

X.  lob 
x.  127 

xi.  22 

»     Do.          (Shakespeare)     . 

1826 

Lf.  vll.  4 

vii.  40 

x.  96 

Sterne,  die    (F.  Schlegel) 

1820 

Lf.  xlviii.  1 

x.78 

xx.  54 

Sterne,  die    (Fellinger)  . 

1815 

40  L.  30 

Sterne,  die    (Leitner) 

1823 

Op.  96.  1 

v.  41 

viii.  56 

SternennSchte.  die  .       . 

1819 

Op.  165.  2 

Stimme  der  Liebe    . 

1816 

Lf.  xxix.  1 

ix.  75 

xviii.  12 

Stiirmische      Morgen.       der 

(Winterreise)  . 

1827 

Op.  89.  18 

iv.  121 

vii.  68 

1821 

Op.  14.  1 

i.  103 

ii.  26 

Suleika's  2nd  Song  .      . 

1821 

Op.  31 

ii.  77 

iv.  6 

Tantum  ergo     .... 

1822 

Op.  45 

Taubenpost,  die       ... 

1828 

Schw.  No.  14 

x.  163 

xi.  65 

Taucher,  der     .... 

1813 

Lf.  xii 

vii.  114 

xiii.  36 

TSuschung  (Winterreise)     . 

1827 

Op.  89.  19 

iv.  123 

vii.  70 

TSuschung,  die    (Kosegarten) 

1815 

Op.  165.  4 

Thekla    (1813)  .... 

1813 

6  L.  No.2 

Do.       (1817)  .... 

1817 

Op.  88.  2 

iv.  49 

vi.  94 

Thranenregen   (Mullerlieder) 

1823 

Op.  25.  10 

ii.  35 

iii.  32 

Tief  im  Getummel  (Alfonso 

and  Estrella)  . 

1821-2 

Op.  69 

374 


SCHUBERT. 


SCHUBERT. 


Title. 

Date 

Opus  No. 

Litolff. 

Senff. 

2.   Part  Songs,  etc. 

Tiefes  Leid  

1826 
1815 

1  -  1  '• 

Lf.  xxx.  1 

Lf.  xlviii.  7 
Op.  118.  3 

ix.  84 
x.81 

vi.  27 

xviii.  18 
xx.  62 

v    9£ 

Column  i  shows  the  original  editions  of  these, 
but  they  have  been  collected  in  two  subsequent 

Tischlerlied       .       .       . 
Tischlled    

Todesmuslk       . 

1822 

Op.  108.  2 

v.  118 

A.   —•" 

ix.  ? 

editions  by  Peters  (no.  1045,  1046,  1047),  and 

Tod  Oscar's,  der    (Ossian)      . 
Todtengr&bers  Heimweh 
TodtengrSber-weise  . 
Tod  und  das  MSdchen,  der    . 

1816 
1825 
1826 

•      • 

Lf.v 
Lf.  xxlv.  2 
Lf.  xv.  3 

Op.  7.  3 

vii.  1 
ix.  28 
viii.  30 
i.  65 

xii.  66 
xvii.  46 
xv.  74 
i.  76 

(in  2  vols.)  by  Spina,  edited  by  Herbeck,  who 
has  in  some  cases  added  orchestral  accompani 
ments  to  Schubert's  sketches.  PF.  =  Pianoforte 

Tom  lehnt  harrend 
*Totus  in  corde 

1828 

Lf.  15.  1 
Op.  46 

viil.  20 

xv.  64 

Accompaniment.     Orch.  =  Orchestra. 

Traum,  der       .... 

1815 

Op.  172.  1 

Trinklied    ('Binder')     .       . 
Do.       ('Freunde')  . 

1815 
1813 

Op.  131.  2 
Lf.  xlv.  2 

vi.  93 
x.,61 

x.92 
xx.  38 

1.  Foa  MALE  VOICES.  (44.) 

No. 

Voices. 

Peters  ed. 
(1046). 

fferbectt- 
Spina. 

Do.       (Shakspeare)  . 

1826 

Lf.  xlviii.  4 

x.83 

xx.  60 

Do.       ('Aufl  Jedersel') 
Trockne  Blumeu    (Miillerl.)  . 
Trost  

1815 
1823 
1819 
1817 

Op.  25.  18 
Lf.  xliv.  1 
4L.  3 

H.  65 
x.  40 
x.  107 

HI.  59 
xx.  26 

Bergknappenlled,  PF. 
Bootgesang  (Scott),  PF.    . 

Deutsche  Messe  (In  Ab) 

9  Ge.  4. 
Op.  52,  3 

•        •        • 

4 

4 

4 

11.37 
U.138(Ab 

Heft  13 
..    1(C) 

Trost  im  Liede  .... 

Trost  in  Thranen      . 

1814 

Lf.  XXT.  3 

ix.  43 

xlv.  32 

Dorfchen,  das,  PF.     . 

Op.  11,1 

4 

ii.2 

..    3 

Entfernten,  der  .       . 

•       •       • 

4 

.    .    . 

.,    5 

*Deber  Thai  und  Fluss    . 

1815 

Op.  19.  2 

1.119 

ii.46 

Ewige  Liebe  .... 

Op.  64,  2 

4 

.    .    . 

..  12 

Ueber  Wildemann    . 

1826 

Op.  108.  1 

v.  112 

ix.  46 

Flucht  

Op.  64,3 

4 

Um  Mitternacht 

1826 

Op.  88.  3 

iv.  54 

vi.  99 

Friihlingslled 

Op.  16,  1 

4 

ii.16 

.,  31 

TTngeduld    (Miillerlieder) 

1823 

Op.  25.  7 

11.  25 

iii.  24 

Geist  der  Liebe,  der,  PF.  . 

Op.  11,  3 

4 

ii.  12 

4 

Ungluckliche,  der    . 

1821 

Op.  87.  1 

Iv.  28 

vl.72 

Geisterchor  (Bosamunde)^ 

Unterscheidung,  die 

•     • 

Op.  95.  1 

v.  20 

viii.  34 

Wind  .... 

Op.  26,  3 

4 

11.29 

„    9 

Geistertanr,  der  .       . 

Gotth. 

4 

Vater  mlt  dem  Kind,  der 

1827 

Lf.  xvil.  2 

Till.  58 

xvi.  24 

Gesang  der  Geister,  etc.     . 

Op.  167 

8 

11.121 

„  23 

Verfehlte  Stunde 

1816 

40  L.  26 

Gondelfahrer,  der,  PF. 

Op.  28 

5 

ii.32 

„  10 

Vergebliche  Llebe    . 

1815 

Op.  173.  3 

Grab,  das      .... 

9Ge.  5 

4 

Vergissmeinnlcht     . 

1823 

Lf.  xxi.  2 

vill.  114 

xvi.  66 

Grab  und  Mond  .       . 

•       •       • 

4 

ii.  155 

Verklfirung       .... 

1813 

Lf.  xvil.  4 

viii.  63 

xvi.  30 

Hymn  (Herr  unser  Gott), 

Versunken  

1821 

Lf.  xxxviii.  3 

ix.  163 

xiv.  26 

Wind  .... 

Op.  154 

g 

ii.  104 

20 

Vler  Weltalter,  die  . 

1816 

Op.  111.  3 

v.  139 

Ix.  82 

Viola   

1823 

Op.  123 

vi     1", 

Y    48 

Im    Gegenwfirtlgen    Ver- 

VOgel,  die  

1820 

Op.  172.  6 

VI.  ^l*J 

A  .   TZO 

gangenes  PF.     . 

Lf.  43 

4 

ii.  144 

,,24 

Vom  Mltlelden  MariS      . 

1818 

Lf.  x.  4 

vll.  93 

xv.  31 

Jiinglingswonne  . 

Op.  17,  1 

4 

ii.  26 

„    6 

Vor  meiner  Wiege    . 

1827 

Op,  106.  3 

v.  103 

ix.  ? 

Liebe     

4 

ii.  27 

Lied  im  Freien     . 

9Ge.  3 

4 

__ 

Wachtelschlag,  der  .       . 

1822 

Op.  68 

ill.  107 

v.  81 

Lob  d.  Einsamkeit     . 

.    .    . 

4 

11.151 

„  28 

Waldesnacht     .... 

1820 

Lf.  xvi. 

viii.  36 

xvi.  2 

Mondenschein 

Op.  102 

5 

ii.  53 

.,  14 

Wallensteiner        Lanzknecht 

Morgengesang,  1m  Walde, 

belm  Trunk,  der     . 

1827 

Lf.  xxvii.  1 

ix.  53 

xviii.  2 

Orch  

•        •        • 

4 

•        •        • 

Spina 

Wanderer,  der   (Schmidt)     . 

1816 

Op.  4.  1 

i.24 

i.  28 

Nacht,  die     . 

Op.  17,  4 

4 

ii.28 

8 

Wanderer,  der    fF.  Schlegel) 
Wanderer  an  den  Mond,  der  . 
Wanderers  Nachtlied  ('  Der  du 

1826 

Op.  65.  2 
Op.  80.  1 

iil.  102 
iii.  140 

v.  76 
vi.  31 

Xachtges.  imWalde,  Horns 
Nachthelle,  PF.  . 
Nachtigall  die,  PF.    . 

Op.  139  6 
Op.  134 
Op.  11,  2 

4 

1&4 
4 

ii.  82 
ii.  67 
ii.  7 

„  16 
„    2 

von,'  Goethe)  . 

1815 

Op.  4.  3 

i.  33 

i.  37 

Nachtmusik.       . 

Op.  156 

4 

ii.  116 

,,  22 

Do.      ('  Ueber  alien,1  Do.) 
Wandern,  das    (Mullerl.) 
Wasserfluth    (Winterreise)    . 
Wegweiser,  der     (Do.)    . 

1824 
1823 
1827 
1827 

Op.  96.  3 
Op.  25.  1 
Op.  89.  6 
Op.  89  20 

v.  50 
ii.  1 
iv.  81 
iv.  125 

viii.  68 
iii.  2 
vii.  26 
vii.  72 

Naturgenuss 

Kudlgers  Heimkehr,  Orch. 
Kuhe  schSnstes  Glfick 

Op.  16,  2 
Gotth. 

4 
1&4 
4 

11.22 
il.156 

„  32 
,,34(?) 

•Wehmuth    (M.  von  Collin)  . 

Op.  22.  2 

1.144 

ii.  90 

Salve  Eegina,  Org.      .       . 

Op.  149 

4 

ii.  93 

„  18 

Weinen,  das      .... 

1827 

Op.  106.  2 

v.100 

ix.  32 

Schlachtlied,  PF. 

Op.  151 

8 

11.98 

„  19 

Wenlge  wlssen  d.  Geheimniss 

1819 

40  L.  37 

Sehnsucht  (Nur  wer)  . 

•         •        • 

6 

•        •        • 

„  33(?) 

Wenn  alle  untreu    . 

1819 

40L.39 

Trinklied  (Edit  nonna)      . 

Op.  155 

4 

11.113 

„  21 

Wenn  ich  dlch  holde  (Alfonso 

Do.      (Brvider),  PF.     . 

Op.  131,  2 

1&4 

ii.  160 

andEstrella)  . 

1821-2 

Op.  69 

Do.       (Freunde),  PF.  . 

Lf.  45,  2 

5 

ii.  161 

Wenn  ich  ihn  nur  habe  . 

1819 

40  L.  38 

Do.      (Funkelnd),  PF. 

1&4 

ii.  158 

Wer  kauft  LiebesgOtter  ? 

1815 

Lf.  xlvii.  2 

x.  72 

xiv.  40 

Do.      (Auf!  Je  er),PF. 

9  Ge.  2 

4 

*Wer  nle  sein  Brod  . 
•Wer  sich  der  Einsamkeit 
Wetterfahne,  die    (Winterr.) 
*Widerscheln    .... 

1816 
1816 
1827 

1QOQ 

Op.  12.  2 
Op.  12.  1 
Op.  89.  2 
Lf.  xv.  1 

1.82 
i.  80 
iv.  64 
viii.  20 

ii.  6 
ii.2 
rii.7 
xv.  64 

Wehmuth     .... 
Wein  und  Liebe  .       . 
Widerspruch,  PF. 

Op.  64,  1 
Op.  105,1 

4 
4 
4 

i.40 
1.151 
1.58 

„  11 
„  30 

Widerspruch     . 

laaQ 

Op.  105.  1 

v.  72 

ix.  3 

Zum  Bundtanz    ... 

Op.  17,  3 

4 

1.27 

*Wie  anders  Gretchen  (Faust) 

\Vipr1pncoliTi 

1814 

Lf.  xx.  2 

viii.  101 

xiv.  7 

Zur  guten  Nacht  . 

Op.  81,  3 

1&4 

1.52 

VT  icucracllil          •          .          ,          . 

1825 

40  L.  1 

i 

Wiegenlied    (Claudius)  . 
Wiegenlied    (Seidl)  . 

1816 

Op.  98.  2 
Op.  105.  2 

v.  62 
r.78 

dii.  80 
ix.  9 

2.    FEMALE  VOICES, 
withPF.  (7.) 

Peters  ed. 
(1047). 

Wie  Ulfru  flscht 
Willkommen  und  Abschled  . 
Winterabend,  der     . 
•Winterreise     .... 
Wirthshaus,  das    (Winterr.). 
Wohln    (Mullerlieder)    . 
Wonne  der  Wehmuth    . 

1817 
1822 
1828 
1827 
1827 
1823 
1815 

Op.  21.  3 
Op.  56.  1 
Lf.  xxvi 
Op.  89 
Op.  89.  21 
Op.  25.  2 
Op.  115.  2 

ii.  38 

Ix.  44 
v.  60-138  ' 
v.  129       ' 
i.  6 
J.  148        i 

i.  78 
r.3 
evil.  62 
m. 
?ii.  76 
ii.  5 
i.  91 

Coronach  (Sir  W.  Scott)    . 
Gott  In  der  Natur 
Grosse  Halleluja,  der 
Klage  um  Aly  Bey      .       . 
Leben,  das    .... 
Psalm  xxiii  .... 
StSndchen  ('  ZOgernd  ')     . 

Op.  52,  4 
Op.  133 
Lf.  41,  2 
Lf.  45,  3 
Lf.  44,  4 
Op.  132 
Op.  135 

3 
4 
3 
3 
3 
4 
1&4 

ii.2 
Ii.  9 
ii.27 

ii.4 
ii.  18 

Ii.  Heft  5 
,,      8 

..      7 
„      9 

ZfigenglOcklein 

lx2i- 

Op.  80.  2 

11.143 

.  34 

Zum  Punsche  .... 

1816 

Lf.  xliv.  3       : 

:.  46 

:x.  — 

&  MIXED  VOICES.  (21.) 

Peters  ed. 
(1045). 

Zur  guten  Nacht 

1816    ( 

)p.  81.  3          , 

v.  8          \ 

i.  54 

Ziirnende  Barde,  der 

1823    1 

A.  ix.  1           v 

Ii.  65       s 

T.  14 

An  die  Sonne,  PF.       .       .  < 

>  Ge.  6 

4 

Ziirnenden  Diana,  der     . 

1823    ( 

)p.  36.  1          i 

i.  90         i 

r.  20 

Antiphons  for  Palm  Sun 

Zwerg,  der  

1823    C 

>p.  22.  1          i 

137         i 

.82 

day,  Org.     .       .       •  ( 

)p.  113 

4       i 

.28              i 

1.6 

SCHUBERT. 


SCHUBERT. 


375 


3.  MrxED  VOICES 
(continued). 

No. 

Voices. 

Peters  ed. 
(1045). 

SerbecJc- 
Spina. 

5- 

String  Quartet*. 

Begr&bnisslied, 

PF.    . 

9G«.  8 

4 

JVC. 

Key. 

Date. 

Opus  No.  or  PttMisner. 

Benedictus    es 

Domine, 

Orch.  . 

. 

Op. 

150 

4 

i.  92 

ii.  13 

1 

? 

1811 

MS. 

2 

Bb 

1812 

MS. 

Cantata  (Spendou),  Orch.  . 

Op. 

128 

4 

i.  31 

3 

c 

MS. 

Chor  der  Engel 

(Faust)     . 

. 

. 

. 

4 

i.122 

4 

MS. 

Constitutionslied,  Orch.    . 

Op. 

157 

4 

i.  107 

»' 

5 

C 

1813 

MS. 

Des  Tages  Weihe,  PF. 

Op.  146 

4 

i.  85 

ii.  12 

6 

Bb 

MS. 

Deutsche  Messe  &  Lord's 

7 

Eb 

ft 

MS. 

Prayer,  Org.  (in  F)    . 

Gotth. 

4 

8 

D 

MS. 

Gebet  ('  Du  Urquell  '), 

PF. 

Op. 

139  a 

4 

i.  75 

ii.  U 

9 

D 

1814 

Peters,  No.  796  (8) 

Gott  derWeltSchSpfer,  PF. 

Op.  112,  2 

4 

i.  23 

10 

Cm 

II 

MS. 

Gott  im  Ungewitter,  PF.  . 

Op. 

112,1 

4 

i.  16 

11 

Bb 

II 

MS. 

Hirtenchor  (Bosamunde), 
Orch  

Op.  26,  4 

4 

i.  6 

ii.2 

12 
13 

Bb 
Gm 

1815 

Op.  168 
Peters,  No.  796  (7) 

Hochzeitsbraten,  der 

Op.  ifu. 

J4 

F 

1816 

MS. 

Hymne  an  d.  Unendlichen. 

*rf* 

15 

Cm 

1S20 

MS. 

PF.      . 

• 

• 

Op.  112,  3 

4 

i.26 

16 
17 

Eb 
E 

1824 

Op.  125,  No.  1 
Op.  125,  No.  2 

Jagerchor    (Kosamunde), 

•J8 

Am 

Op.  29 

Orch.  . 

• 

. 

Op. 

26,2 

4 

i.2 

11.  1 

39 

Dm 

1825  or  6 

Czerny 

Lebenslust,  PF 

. 

9  Ge.  7 

4 

20 

G 

1826 

Op-  161 

Osterlied        (' 

TJebsrwun- 

den'),  PF 

.  . 

9Ge.  9 

4 

Psalm  xcil    . 

1  &  * 

i.  118 

6.  Symphonies. 

Salve  Begina,  Org.      . 

. 

, 

. 

4 

<  '          L 

"b.  =  begun.       e 

=  ended. 

Tantum  ergo,  Orch.  . 

Op. 

45 

4 

i.  12 

11.  3 

No. 

Key. 

Date. 

Place. 

MS.  or  Publisher. 

3- 

Works  for  the  St 

ige.  (18.) 

1 

D 

e.  Oct.  28,  1813    Convict 

MS. 

0.  =  Opera.      Opt.  = 

Operetta.      Dr.  =  Drama. 

Vienn 

i 

S.  = 

Singspiel. 

Mel 

.  =  Melodrama. 

2 

Bb 

b.  Dec.  10,  1814 
e.  Mar.  24,  1815 

6HTrt  *r  0,4     1Q1(t 

Vienna 

MS. 

TITC3 

Title. 

Dene. 

A,cts. 

Date. 

Op.  etc. 

3 
4 

D 
Cm 

.  May  1A,  lolo 
April  1816 

Do. 

ula- 

MS. 

Der  Teufels  Lustschloss    . 

Opt. 

S 

Sept.13-Oct.12, 

MS. 

'Trag 

ische' 

Score  OT  Andante,  and  1  r  . 
arr.  of  Symphony,  4  hds. 

1814 

Peters,  No. 

766. 

Die  vierjShrige 

Posten 

.       . 

S. 

1 

May8  —19,1815 

MS. 

5 

Bb 

b.  Sept.  1816 

Do. 

MS. 

Fernando 

S. 

1 

July  1815 

MS. 

e.  Oct.  3,  1816 

Arr.  PF.  4  hds.  Peters,  767. 

Claudine  v.Villabella  (Fragm.) 

s. 

3 

July  26,  1815 

MS. 

6 

C 

e.  Feb.  1818 

Do. 

MS. 

Der  Spiegelritter 

Opt. 

3 

1815 

MS. 

7 

E 

6.  Aug.  1821, 

Do. 

MS.   (Seep.  111.) 

Adrast  (Fragm 

\ 

o 

1Q-IK 

"ilTd 

sketch 

Die  Freunde  v. 

Salamanka 

s. 

2 

AoIO 

Dec.  31,  1815 

JUD. 

8 

Bm 

b.  Oct.  30,  1822 

Do. 

Spina,  score  and  PF.  arr. 

Die  Burgschaft 

(Fragm.)  , 

o. 

3 

May  1816 

Allegro  and  An 

4  hds. 

Die  Zwillingsbriider  . 

Posse 

1 

Jan.  1819 

PF. 

dante,  and  9 

Die  Zauberharfe 

Mel. 

3 

1820 

MS. 

bars  Scherzo. 

Sakontala  (Fragm.)  . 

0. 

3 

Oct.  1820 

MS. 

9 

? 

Aug.  1825 

Gastein 

MS.  has  disappeared. 

Alfonso  u.  Estrella.i 

0. 

3 

Sept.  20.  1821— 

Op.  69 

W 

C 

b.  March  1828 

Vienna 

B.  &  H.,  score  and  PF.  arr. 

Feb.  27,  1822 

4  hds. 

Die    Verschworenen, 

or  Der 

hSusliche  Krieg 

Opt. 

1 

Ap.1823 

PF. 

Fierabras 

0. 

3 

May  25-Oct.  23, 
1823 

MS. 

7.  Pianoforte 

Sonatas. 

Rosamunde 

.       . 

.       . 

Dr.  w. 

4 

Dec,  23,1823 

Op.  26 

Key. 

Date. 

music 

No. 

Op.  No.  etc. 

Der  Graf  v.  Gleichen 

(Sketch 

in  Score) 

f 

e 

o. 

3 

1827 

MS. 

Die  Salzbergwerke 

(Do.)    . 

0. 

Not 

known 

MS. 

1 

E 

2  hands 

Feb.  11,  1815 

MS. 

Der  MinnesSnger 

8. 

Not 

known 

MS. 

2 

E 

,, 

Feb.  18,  1815 

MS, 

3 

F 

,, 

1815 

MS. 

1  Revised  by 
inger,  1882. 

Capellmeister  Johann  Fuchs,  and  published  by  Schles- 

4 

5 

0 
F 

•• 

it 

1816 

MS. 
MS. 

6 

Em 

„ 

June  1817 

MS. 

7 

B 

,, 

Aug.  1817 

Op.  147 

4- 

Sacred 

Works.   (8.) 

8 
9 

Am 

Eb 

,, 

1817 
it 

Op.  164 
Op.  163 

MS. 

Key. 

Date, 

Opus. 

Publisher. 

11 

Ab 

,, 

ii 
»t 

MS. 

12 

C 

,, 

1818 

MS. 

13 

F 

f* 

t* 

MS. 

Mass  1    . 

F 

1814 

,  . 

. 

PF.score.  Augener(Prout), 

14 

Am 

Feb.  1823 

Op.  143 

Novella  ;  Peters 

15 

Bb 

4  hands 

Mayor  June,  1824 

Op.  30 

„    2    .       . 

G 

1815 

,  f 

m 

Do. 

16 

C 

June  1824 

Op.  40 

,,    3    . 

Bb 

1815 

Op.  41 

Do. 

17 

Am 

2  hands 

Early  1825 

Op.  42 

..     4     .        . 

C 

1818 

Op. 

48 

Do. 

18 

D 

1825  (?) 

Op.  53 

„    5    .       . 

Ab 

1819-22 

Do.  Full  score,  Schreiber 

19 

>? 

1825  (?) 

Op.  120 

,,     6     .        . 

Eb 

1828 

Do.Full  do.K-Biedermann 

20 

G  Fant. 

M 

1826 

Op.  78 

Bliriams- 

21 

Cm 

M 

Sept.  1828 

Diabelli 

siegesgesung 

Mar.  1828 

Op.  136 

Senff,  Peters,  Novello. 

22 

A 

M 

,, 

Do. 

Lazarus, 

23 

Bb 

M 

Sept.  26,  1828 

Do. 

Fragm. 

Feb.  1820 

.  . 

. 

Spina,  Peters. 

24 

Em 

4  hands 

1828 

MS. 

376 


SCHUBERT. 


SCHUBERT. 


II.  Catalogue  of  all  Schubert's  works,  printed  and 
unprinted,  in  the  order  of  their  composition,  as 
far  as  is  ascertainable. 
This  attempt  is  compiled  from  the  dates  given 
(i)  in  Mr.  Nottebohm's  Thematic  Catalogue; 
(2)  in  the  'Chronological  Catalogue  of  all  the 
Songs  composed  by  F.  Schubert  from  iSri  to 
1828'  in  the  Witteczek  Collection  of  the  Mu- 
sikverein  at  Vienna  ;  (3)  from  my  own  notes 
taken  in  the  Archives  of  the  same  Collection  ; 
(4)  from  the  List  given  by  Reissmann;    (5) 
from  occasional  information  in  Letters  ;   and 
(6)  from   all   other  sources  available  to  the 
compiler.   The  date  is  most  usually  marked  by 
Schubert  himself  upon  the  piece.    Occasionally 
it  has  been  supplied  from  a  letter,  as  in  the  case 
of  '  Einsamkeit'  (No.  550)  ;  from  inference,  or 
some  other  source  ;  but  this  is  very  rare.    The 
compositions  to  which  no  date  can  be  affixed 
are  placed  at  the  end  of  the  Catalogue.    Where 
two  dates  are  given  the  left-hand  one  is  that 
of  beginning  the  piece,  the   right-hand   one 
that  of  ending  it.    '  a  3,'  '  a  4'  etc.  =  for  3,  or  4, 
voices.    F.  =  female  voices.    M.=  men's  voices 
(  '  a  4  M.  and  Orch.'  =  for  4  men's  voices  with 
orchestra).     N.  B.  —  All  instrumental  works, 
and   works  with  orchestral   accompaniments, 
are  in  italics. 

Name. 

Keij 

Opus 
No.  or 
Pull. 

Date. 

44 

4£ 
49 
5C 
51 
52 
53 
54 
55 
56 
86 

87 
93 
95 
96 

Symphony  no.  1  ;  Orch. 
4  Menuets,  PF  
Gretchen  im  Dora    (Goethe)    . 
Schwertlied    (KOrner) 

D 

MS. 
MS. 
M8. 
Reissm 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 

MS. 

MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
5  Can.  6 

Nov.  22 
1813 

It 
tt 
II 
H 

M 

If 
II 

I* 

','(?) 

String  quartet               .       « 
Do.        ..... 

C 
B? 

Eb 
? 

Do  

Pliantasie,  PF.,  4  lids. 

Auf  den  Sieg  der  Deutschen,  Sop., 
2  VV.  &  Cello         .        .       . 

• 

'  Dreifach,'  Terzet 
'  Pensa  che  questo,'  Canzone    . 

• 

1814.    [17.] 

97 
98 
99 
100 
101 
102 
103 
104 
105 
106 
107 
108 
109 
130 
111 
112 
113 
114 
115 
116 

nr 

118 
119 
120 
121 
122 
123 

124 
125 
126 
127 
132 

Emma    (Schiller) 
Lied  aus  der  Feme  (Matthisson) 
Die  Betende                   (Do.)     . 
Todtenopfer                   (Do.)     . 
Andenken                      (Do.) 
Geisternfihe                   (Do.) 
Trost  an  Elisa               (Do.)     . 
Die  Befreier  Europas  in  Paris  . 
Mass  no.  1  ;  4  Voices  and  Orch.  . 
Der  Abend     (Matthisson)  . 
Lied  der  Liebe      (Do.) 
String  quartet  1      .        .        . 
Rosalia  von  Mortimer  (Matthn.) 
An  Laura                         (Do.)  . 
Der  Geistertanz              (Do.)   . 
D.  MSdchen  a.  d.  Fremde  (Schill.) 
Gretchen  amSpinnrade  (Goethe) 
Des  Teufels  Lustschloss,  Operetta 
Trost  in  Thrflnen  .... 

Bb 

• 

A 

F 

Ab 
C 

Bb 

D 

D 

Cm 
Bb 

Op.  58,  a 
MS. 
Lf.31,1 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
GWggl 
MS. 
MS. 
Op.  168 
6L.  5 
Lf.  31,  3 
Lf.  31,  2 
MS. 
Op.  2 
MS. 
Lf.  25,  3 
Lf.47,4 
Op.  170 
MS. 
MS. 
Lf.  L'O,  2 
40  L.  12 
MS. 
Peters, 
796  no.8 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 

4p.4 

Ap'.'l4 
April 

May  16 
May  17  July  22 
July 
M 
Sep.  5  Sep.  13 
Sep.  29 
Oct.  7 
Oct.  14 
Oct.  16 
Oct.  39 
Oct.  22 
Nov.  30 

»t 
November 
Dec.  7 
Dec.  10  Mar.  24 
Dec.  12 
December 
1814  (?) 
„(?) 

„(?) 

II 

Name. 

Kei 

Opus 

(    No.  ot              Date. 
Publ. 

1810.    [13  years  old.] 
1  Phantasie  PP.,  4  hds  MS.                   1810 

Overture  in  Italian  style.    Orch. 
Am  See    (Mayrhofer)  .       . 
Symphony  no.  2.    Orch.       .       . 
Gretchen  im  Dom    (Goethe)  (2) 
Ammenlied    (Lubi)     . 
Erinnerungen    (Matthisson)    . 
Siring  quartet        .... 

Do  

1811.    114.] 

2 
3 
1 
5 
6 
7 

Hagars  Klage,  Sop.  &  PF.   . 
Quintet-Overture  .... 
Der  Vatermiirder,  Sop.  4  PF.    . 
Eine  Leichenfantasie,  Sop.  &PF. 
Phantasie,  PF.,  4  hds. 
String  quartet        .... 

? 

? 
7 

MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 

Mar.  30 
June  —     —  July 
Dec.  26 
1811  (?) 

f» 

Do  

Do  

1812.    [15.] 

5  Menuets  —  Strings  &  2  Horns     . 
6  Deutsche              Do.  . 

8 
9 
10 
11 
12 
IS 
14 
21 
22 

Overture,  Orch  
String  quartet         .... 
Do  

D 

? 
? 
? 
? 

E 
F 

? 

MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
Op.]  31,3 
MS. 

June  26 
1812 

,(?) 

1815.    [18.] 

138 
139 
140 
141 
142 
143 
144 
145 
146 
147 
148 
149 
150 
151 
152 
153 
154 
155 
156 
157 
158 
159 
160 
161 
162 
163 

1  ( 
at  e 
And 

'Sep 

Bardengesang,  Terzet  (Ossian)  . 
Minona    (Bertrand)    .       .       . 
Die  entfernte  Geliebte 
Als  ich  sie  errOthen  sah  (Ehrlich) 
Das  Bild         
Sonata,  PF.    
Do.    Do  
Nahe  des  Geliebten    (Goethe)  . 
An  Mignon                     (Do.)     . 
Die  Erwartung    (Schiller)  . 
Am  Flusse    (Goethe)  . 
SSngers  Morgenlied    (KSrner) 
Trinklied    (Castelli)    . 
Der  Sfinger    (Goethe) 
Lodas  Gespenst    (Ossian)  . 
Amphiaraos    (KOrner) 
Sfingers  Morgenlied  (Do.)  (2) 
Mass  no.  2;  Voices  and  Orch. 
String  quartet        .        .       . 
Das  war  ich    (KOrner) 
Stabat  mater  (Lat.)  i  V.  &  Orch 
Vergebliche  Liebe    (Bernard) 
Die  Sterne    (Fellinger) 
Jiebesrausch    (Ko'rner)     . 
Adagio,  PF  
Freundschaft  und  Wein,  Solo, 
Chor.  &  PF. 

E 
E 

• 

Dm 

a 
a 

Gm 

• 

Sm 

. 
,    t 

.     ' 

a 

MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
Lf.  39,1 
Op.165,3 
MS. 
MS. 
Op.  5,  2 
Op.  19,2 
Op.  116 
MS. 
MS. 
Op/1  31,2 
Op.  117 
Lf.  3 
MS. 
10  L.  35 
Berra 
Peters,7 
Lf.  39,  2 
MS. 
Op.173.3 
W  L.  30 
WL.29 
MS. 

MS. 

moveme 
at  begi 
1814';   a 
)t.  13.  181 

Jan.  20 
Feb.  8 
Feb.  10 

Feb.  11 

Feb.  18 
Feb.  27 

11 
t* 
•  1 

II 

February 

M 

Mar.  1 

Mar.  2—^—  Mar.  7 
Mar.  25  -Apr.  1 
Mar.  26 
Ap.4 
Ap.6 

Ap.8 

ft 

Ap.  12 

nt,  '  5  Sept.  1814  '  ; 
nning  and  end  of 
t  end  of  Minuut, 
4.' 

Quartet  overture   .... 
Sonata,  PF.,  V.  &  Va.         .       . 
Variations.  PF.    .... 
7  do  

Klaglied  
Andante,  PF.        .... 

23 
24 
25 
26 
27 
28 
29 
30 
31 
32 
33 
34 
35 
36 
37 
38 
39 
40 
41 
42 

", 

1813.    [16.] 

TodtengrSberlied    (HSlty) 
Do.                  (Do.)  a3  . 
Die  Schatten    (Matthisson) 
Sehnsucht    (Schiller) 
'TJnendliche,'  Terzet   (Schiller) 
'Voruber,'          Do.         (Do.)  . 
'Unendliche,'  Canon,       (Do.). 
'Hierstrechet,'  Terzet    (Do.). 
'  Dessen  Fahne,'   Do.       (Do.)  . 
Verklflrung    (Pope)    . 
'Bin  jugendlicher,'  Canon. 
'Hier  umarmen,'  Terzet  (Schill.) 
'Thronend,'            Do.       (Do.) 
'  Majestatsche,'      Do.       (Do.) 
'Frisch  athmet,'     Do.       (Do.) 
'Dreifach,'  Canon 
Die  2  Tugendwegen,  Terzet 
Thekla.e.Geisterstimme  (Schill.) 

• 

MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
6  L.I 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
Lf  .  17,  4 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
6L.2 
Lf.  45,  2 
Lf.13 

MS. 

Jan.  19 

l» 

Ap.  12 
Ap.  15—    —  Ap.  17 
Ap.  15 
Ap.  18 
Ap.  19 
Ap.  29 
May 
May  4 
May  8 
Do. 
May  9 
May  10 
May  15 
JulyS 
July  15 
Aug.  22  Aug.  23 
Aug.  29 
Sept.  13—  Aug.  1814 

Sept.  27 

)n  the  autograph,  at  beginning  of  1st 
nd  of  do.,  'Completed  in  4^  hours'; 
ante,  'Sept.  6,  18H'  and  'Sept.  10, 
1.  11,  1814';  and  at  end  of  Finale,  '  Sei 

DerTaucher    (Schiller)     . 
Cantata,  father's  birthday  (F.S.), 
dSM.  and  Guitar  . 

SCHUBEET. 


SCHUBERT. 


377 


Name. 

Key 

Opus 
No.  or 
Publ. 

Date. 

Name. 

Key 

Opus 
No.  or 
Publ. 

Date. 

164 
165 
166 
167 
168 
169 
170 
171 
172 
173 
174 
175 
176 
177 
178 
179 
180 
181 
182 
188 
184 
185 
186 
187 
188 
189 
190 
191 
192 
193 
194 
195 
196 
197 
198 
199 
200 

201 
202 
203 

204 
205 
206 
207 

208 
2QU 
210 
211 
212 
213 
214 
215 
216 
217 
218 
219 
220 
221 

222 
223 
224 
225 
226 
227 
228 
229 
230 
231 
232 
233 
234 
235 
236 
237 
238 
23!' 
240 
241 
242 

Die  erste  liebe    (Fellinger) 
Der  vierjtihrige  Posten  (Operetta) 
Amalia    (Schiller) 

0 

Lf.  35,  1 
MS. 
Op.173,1 
MS. 
Op.172,3 
Lf.  50,  1 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
40L.11 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
Op.111,1 
MS. 
Lf.30,2 
MS. 
MS. 
Op.172,1 
Op.172,2 
Op.  3,  a 
Lf.  2,  2 
Lf.  42,  4 
Lf  .  42,  2 
MS. 
MS. 
Op.  5.  4 
Op.  47 
MS. 
MS. 
Op.165,4 
Op.108,3 
Op.172,4 

Op.112,3 
Op.118,1 
Op.118,3 

MS. 
MS. 
40  L.  10 

MS. 

MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
Op.  38 
MS. 
Op.118,2 
MS. 
Lf.47,3 
MS. 
40L.2S 
Op.  87,  2 
MS. 
Op.118,6 
MS. 

MS. 
MS. 
Op.115,2 
Lf.  47,  2 
Lf.  45,  4 
Lf.  42,  3 
MS. 
BIS. 
MS. 
Op.118,5 
MS. 
9  Ges.  2 
9  Ges.  4 
40  L.  9 
Lf.  44,  4 
Lf.  48,  7 

Ap.  12 

Mfl  IT  1  fi 

243 
244 
245 
246 
247 
248 
249 
250 
251 
252 
253 
254 
255 

256 
257 
258 
259 

260 
268 
269 
270 
271 
272 
273 
274 
275 
276 
277 
278 
279 
280 
281 
282 
283 
284 
285 
286 
287 
288 
289 
290 
291 
292 
293 

294 
295 
296 
297 
298 
299 
300 
301 
302 
303 
304 
305 
306 
307 
308 
309 
310 
311 
312 
313 
314 
315 

316 
317 
318 

319 
320 
321 
322 
323 
324 
325 
32G 
S'W 

Der  Mutter  Erde  .... 
An  den  Friihling  (see  no.  253)  . 
Die  FrOhlichkeit  .... 

Am 

MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
Lf.  28,  5 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
Lf.  10,  1 
Op.172,5 
Lf.  4,  1 

MS. 
Lf.  4,  3 
Lf.  28,  2 
Lf.  28,  3 

MS. 
MS. 
Lf.  36,  2 
MS. 
40  L.  8 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
Lf.  37,  2 
Op.  58,  1 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
MS 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
Op.  141 
MS. 
9G.  5 
MS. 

MS. 
Op.  1 
Op.  3,  3 
Op.  3,  1 
MS. 
Op.  4,  3 
Op.  5,  1 
Op.  5,  3 
Lf.  37,  2 
40  L.  14 
Lf.  47,  5 
6L.  3 
Op.  58,  3 
Op.  39 
Lf.  6 
Op.  87,  3 
MS. 
Op.  57,  3 
MS. 
Op.  150 
Lf.  41,  1 

August 
ii 

Sept.  6 
Sept.  14 

II 

II 

Sept.  15 
Sept.  16 
Sept.  20 

Sept.  27 
September 
» 
ii 

Oct.  3 
Oct.  12 
Oct.  15 

if 
II 
•v 
IP 
ff 
if 

Oct.  18 
Oct.  19 
Oct.  19 

I* 
If 
*l 
If 
»• 

Oct.  23 
October 
Nov.  9 
Nov.  11— 
Dec.  15 
Dec.  28 
.,  (?) 

Dec.  31 
1815 

ft 

ft 
II 
tl 
II 

»3 
ft 

II 
IV 

tt 
It 
II 
II 
II 
M 
«• 
VI 
»» 

It 

IV 

tv 

It 
ft 
I* 
»» 
tf 
)• 

f* 
.  »» 

May  19 
May  22 

May  24 

May  24  July  19 
May  26 

fi 
1» 
II 

May  29 
May 
.,    (?) 
June  3 
June  5 
June  16 
June  17 
ii 
June  21 
June  22 
June  24 
June  25 

Tnlv 

Es  1st  so  angenehm     . 
Lied  improvised  for  a  play 
Die  friihen  Gr&ber 
Die  Sommernacht       .       .       . 

Am 

An  die  Nachtigall    (Do.)     . 
An  die  Apfelbaume,  etc.     (Do.) 
Mailied,  '  Griiner  wird,'  k  2  (Do.) 
Do.          Do.        B.S.B.  (Do.) 
Symphony  no.  3.     Orch. 
Mailied,  '  Der  Schnee,'  &  2  (HOlty) 
Do.     Do.      Canon  k  3  (Do.) 
Liebestfindelel          (Korner)    . 
Jfigerlied                      (Do.) 
Lutzow's  wilde  Jagd    (Do.) 
Der  Morgenstern         (Do.) 
DerLiebende    (HOlty) 
An  die  Freude    (Schiller)  . 
Das  Geheimniss    .... 

D 

Dem  Uuendlichen    (Klopstock) 
An  den  Fruhllng    (Schiller)     . 
Shilric  und  Vinvela    (Qssian)  . 
Cantata  for  father's  birthday,  d 

• 

Das  Mfldchen  von  Inistore 
Selma  und  Selmar   (Klopstock) 
Das  Rosenband            (Do.) 
'Feme   von  d.  grossen  Stadt' 
(Pichler)  .... 

• 

ClS.rcb.ens  Lied    (Goethe)  . 
Adelwold  u.  Emma  (Bertrand) 
Die  Nonne    (HOlty)    . 
DerTraum    (Do.) 
Die  Laube     (Do.) 
Meeres-Stille    (Goethe) 
Kolmas  Klage    (Ossian)    . 
Grablied    (Kenner)     . 
Das  Finden    (Kosegarten) 
Fernando.  Singspiel     .       . 
Lieb  Minna    (Stadler) 
Erster  Verlust    (Goethe)   . 
Salve  Regina,  Sop.  &  Orch. 
tdens  Nachtgesang  (Kosegarten) 
Von  Ida                        (Do.) 
Die  Tfiuschung            (Do.) 
Erlnnerung                  (Do.) 
Das  Sehnen                  (Do.) 
An  dem  Unendlichen  (Schiller) 
a4M  
Geist  der  Liebe    (Kosegarten)  . 
Tischlied    (Goethe)     . 
Das  Abendroth,    (Kosegarten) 
Terzet          .       .       :      . 
Abends  unter  d.  Linde     (Do.)  . 
Do.                          (Do.)  . 
Die  Mondnacht                (Do.)  . 
Claudine  von  Villa  Bella.    Sing- 
spiel   (Goethe) 
Huldigung    (Kosegarten) 
Alles  um  Liebe     (Do.)       . 
Uer  Liedler    (Kenner) 
Sehnsucht  der  Liebe    (Ko'rner) 
Der  Abend   (Kosegarten). 
Die  Schlacht  (fragment)    . 
Der  Rattenfanger    (Goethe)     . 
Bundeslied                 (Do.)  . 
Das  Geheimniss    (Schiller) 
Die  Hoffnung           (Do.)    . 
Das  Madchen  aus  d.  Fremde  (Do.) 
Die  Spinnerin    (Goethe)    . 
Der  Gott  und  die  Bajadere  (Do.) 
PunschHed  im  Norden  z.  singen 
(Schiller)      . 

ft 
• 

G 
F 

• 

Lambertine    (Stoll)    . 
Labetrank  der  Liebe  (Do.) 
Das  gestOrte  Gliick    (Korner)  . 
Skolie    (Reinhardtstein)    . 
An  die  Geliebte     (Stoll)     . 
Wiegenlied  (3)    (KOrner)   . 
Gruss  an  den  Mai    (Ermln) 
Die  Sternenwelten    (Fellinger) 
Die  Macht  der  Liebe  (Kalchberg) 
Mignons  Gesang    (Sehnsucht)  . 
Hektors  Abschied    (Schiller)    . 
Die  Sterne          (Kosegarten)    . 
Nachtgesang               (Do.) 
Schwangesang            (Do.) 
Luisens  Antwort        (Do.) 
An  Rosa  (•  Warum  ')  (Do.) 
An  Rosa  ('Rosa')      (Do.) 
Idens  Schwanenlied  (Do.) 
Der  Zufriedene    (Reissig)  . 
Liane    (Mayrhofer) 
Klage  der  Ceres    (Schiller) 
Mass  no.  3  ;  4  V.  &  Orch.     . 
Das  gestOrte  Gliick      k       , 
Das  Grab    (Salis)  a  4  .   _    . 

Bb 

July  2 
July  5 

July  7 

»  » 
II 

July  8 

July  11  (?) 
July  15 

it 

July  20 
July  24 
July  25 

•  » 

July  26  
July  27 

July 
if 

•  , 
Aug.  1 
Aug.  4 

Aug.  7 
Aug.  12 
Aug.  18 

Aug.  19 
Aug.  20 
Aug.  21 
Aug.  22 

Aug.  23 
Aug.  24 
Aug.  25 

it 
ti 
it 
fi 
i, 

Aug.  28 
Aug.  29 
August 

Die    Freunde  von   Salamanka, 

ErlkOnig                    (Goethe)   . 
HeidenrSslein                (Do.) 
SchSfers  Klagelied        (Do.)     . 
Geistesgruss                  (Do.) 
Wanderers  Nachtlled   (Do.) 
Rastlose  Liebe               (Do.) 
Der  Fischer                   (Do.)     . 
Sehnsucht                     (Do.)      . 
Hoffnung                       (Do.)     . 
An  den  Mond                (Do.)     . 
An  die  Entfernte           (Do.)      . 
Des  Mfidchens  Klage   (Schiller) 
Sehnsucht                     (Do.)     . 
Elysium                        (Do.) 
D.  Jungling  a.  Bache    (Do.)     . 
Trost  in  Thr&nen         .       .       . 
An  den  Mond    (HOlty) 
Do.            (Do.)  . 
Bened  ictus  es,  4  V.  &  Orch. 
Nachtgesang    (Collin) 

C 

Der  SchatzgrSber    (Goethe)      . 
Wonne  der  Wehmuth    (Do.)    . 
Wer  kauft  Liebesgotter  ?    (Do.) 
Der  Morgenkuss    (Baumberg)  . 
Cora  an  die  Sonne      (Do.) 
Abendst&ndchen,  an  Lina  (Do.) 

C 

Adelaide   (Matthisson) 

Lf.  42,  5 

Hermann  und  Thusnelda  (Klop 
stock)       .... 

Lf.  28,  1 

Lilla  an  die  MorgenrOthe   . 
An  die  Sonne    (Baumberg) 
Der  Weiberfreund 
Trinklied,  a  4  M.  &  PF.       .       . 
Bergknappenlied,  a  4  M.  &  PF. 

• 

Klage  um  Aly  Bey  (Claudius)  . 
Trinklied  vor  d.  Schlacht  Chor. 
Gebet    wShrend    d.    Schlacht 
(KOrner)         .       t 

• 

Lf.  45,  3 

MS. 

Lf.  10,  7 
Op.109,2 
Lf.  4,  2 
MS. 
MS. 
Lf.  49,  2 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 

Geniigsamkeit    (Schober)  . 
Lied  n.  d.  Falle  Nathos  (Ossian) 

• 

DasLeben    (Wannovius)  . 
Tischlerlied  

• 

Todtenkranz  fur  ein  Kind 
Abendlled  '  Gross  u.  roth  '  . 
Punschlied,  Terzet 
Lob  des  Tokayers    (Baumberg) 
DieSpinnerin    (Goethe)     . 
Die  Biirgschaft 

• 

MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
Op.118.4 
Op.118.6 
Lf.8 

Die  fruhen  Gn'iber 
Auf  einem  Kirchhof  (Schlechta) 
Sonata,  PF  

F 

C 

Do.      Do.   ... 

Adrast  —  Opera 

Der  Smeoe.lriH.fr    flnf.rrltn 

378 


SCHUBERT. 


SCHUBERT. 


Name. 

Key 

Opus 
No.  or 
Publ. 

Date. 

1816.    [19  years  old.] 

32i 

Klage      

40  L.  21 

January 

32< 

An  die  Natur    (Stolberg)  . 

. 

MS. 

Feb.  15 

SS 

Salve  Regina,  4  V.  &  Orch. 

F 

Hasl. 

Feb.  21 

33 

Stabat  Mater  (Germ.)  a  44  Orch 

Fm 

MS. 

Feb.  28 

33 

Der  Tod  Oskars    (Ossian)  . 

. 

Lf.  5 

February 

33, 

Lf.  19, 

Mar.  13 

33 

Herbstabend     (Salif)        . 

( 

MS. 

Mar.  24 

S3. 

Ins  stille  Land    (Do.)  . 

. 

Lf.  39, 

Mar.  27 

S3 

Op.  92, 

March 

33 

Die  Schlacht    (Schiller)  (2) 

. 

MS. 

it 

S& 

Lebensmelodien    (A.  Schlegel). 

. 

Op.111, 

it 

S& 

Die  vier  Weltalter    (Schiller)   . 

. 

Op.lll, 

,, 

S4C 

Des  Madchen's  Klage  (Do.)  (2) 

, 

Reissm 

,, 

34 

Die  Entziickung,  an  Laura  (Dov 

0 

MS. 

»i 

34 

Pfliigerlied                       (Salis) 

. 

MS. 

M 

34 

Die  Wehmuth                  (Do.) 

B 

MS. 

M 

9U 

Gesang  a.  d.  Harmonle    (Do.) 

. 

MS. 

f, 

34 

40  L.  36 

84 

Laura  am  Klavier 

. 

MS. 

ft 
ft 

34 

Stimme  der  Liebe    (HOlty) 

o 

MS. 

Apr.  29 

34 

Julius  an  Theone 

. 

MS. 

Apr.  30 

34 

Symphony  no.  4  (Tragische).  Orch 

Cm 

MS.i 

April 

35( 

Stimme  der  Hebe    (Stolberg)  . 

. 

Lf.  29, 

ft 

35 

MS. 

35 

Sprache  der  Liebe 

Op.115, 

M 

85 

Die  verfehlte  Stunde  . 

. 

40  L.  26 

n 

854 

Entziickung,'  Tag  voll  Himmel  ' 

. 

MS. 

Iff 

SE 

Die  Herbstnacht    (Salis)   . 

! 

MS. 

M 

S5« 

Abschied  von  der  Harfe    (Do.) 

MS. 

It 

35 

Daphne  am  Bache 

g 

MS. 

tf 

35 

Klage  an  den  Mond    (H8Hy)    . 

( 

Lf.  48,  3 

May  12 

85 

Minnelled                       (Do.)     . 

. 

MS. 

,, 

36 

Winterlied                     (Do.)     . 

( 

MS. 

May  13 

36 

Friihltngslied                (Do.)     . 

6 

MS. 

|§ 

86 

Mignons  Gesang,  •  Kennst  du  '  . 

m 

Lf  .  20,  3 

May 

86 

Die  fruhe  Liebe     (HOlty)  . 

B 

MS. 

>t 

864 

Blumenlied              (Do.)    . 

m 

MS. 

p* 

86 

Seligkeit                  (Do.)    . 

B 

MS. 

i> 

36 

Erndtelied               (Do.)    . 

Lf.  48,  2 

867 

Stimme  der  Liebe    (Do.)  (2) 

MS. 

•» 
tt 

86 

Trlnklied  im  Mai     (Do.),  a  3  M. 

Eb 

MS. 

tt 

36 

Naturgenuss    (Matthisson) 

. 

MS. 

.,(?) 

37 

Do.                 (Do.),  a4M.. 

Bb 

Op.  16,  2 

371 

DerLeidende         (Do.) 

D 

Lf.  1,  2 

t* 

37 

Erinnerungen,  Terzet    (Do.)    . 

MS. 

37 

Andenken            Do.      (Do.)     . 

. 

MS. 

tt 

374 

Die  BUrgschaft,  opera    (unf.)    . 

t 

MS. 

375 

5  Ecossaisea,  PF.  .... 

. 

MS. 

tt 

380 

1  Ecossaise,  PF.     .... 

B 

Op.  18,  5 

881 

Prometheus,  Canlate    .       , 

MS. 

June  16 

882 

Fragment  aus  d.  2Eschylos 

Lf.  14,  2 

June 

883 

Gott  Im  Friihlinge    (Uz)    . 

MS. 

M 

384 

DerguteHirt           (Do.)  . 

40  L.  7 

385 

Die  Liebesgfltter      (Do.)  . 

MS. 

386 

An  den  Schlaf 

MS. 

887 

)ie  Gestirne             (Klopstock) 

Lf.  10,  2 

888 

Das  grosse  Halleluja     (Do.)     . 

Lf.  41,  2 

889 

Schlachtlied,  a  3            (Do.) 

E 

MS. 

390 

Edone                            (Do.)      . 

F 

Lf.  28,  4 

891 

An  die  Sonne,  a  4  and  PF.  O7z)  . 

Ges.  6 

892 

Cantata  for  Salierfs  Jubilee  (F.S.) 

MS. 

tt 

898 

OhorderEngel    (Faust)    . 

Cm 

Friese 

894 

Jondofor  Violin  and  Strings      . 

A 

MS. 

895 

Aus      •  Diego       Manzanares  ' 

(Schlechta)     .... 

OL.  25 

July  30 

896 

Freude  der  Kmderjahre     . 

MS. 

July 

397 

Grablied  a.e.  Soldaten  (Schubart) 

40  L.  6 

398 

Das  Heimweh    (Hell)  . 

„ 

MS. 

399 

leqaiem  (fragment)     . 

Eb 

MS. 

.'.'  (?) 

400 

!n  der  Mitternacht    (Jacobi)    . 

. 

MS. 

August 

401 

Hochzeitlied                 (Do.) 

• 

MS. 

402 

An  Chloen                    (Do.) 

MS. 

403 

rauer  der  Liebe          (Do.) 

. 

MS. 

404 

Die  Perle                    (Do.) 

. 

K>  L.  31 

tt 

405 

''antum  ergo,  4  V.  &  Orch. 

c 

MS. 

August 

406 

antata  (to  his  father) 

. 

MS. 

Sept.  27  (?) 

407 

GesSngedesHarfners  (Goethe) 

. 

Op.  12 

September 

410 

rpheus    (Jacobi) 

, 

f.  19,  1 

411 

iedesend     (Mayrhofer)   . 

. 

f.  23,  2 

tt 

i  Except  the  Andante. 


Opus 

Name. 

Kei 

i    No,  or 

Date. 

Publ. 

41. 

Abschied,  or  Lenz   (Mayrhofer) 

t 

MS. 

September 

41. 

Alte  Liebe                     (Do.) 

m 

MS. 

M 

414 

Mignons  Gesang    (Sehnsucht)  . 

. 

40  L.I 

41E 

1L3. 

41£ 

Magnificat,  4V.&  Orch.        .       , 

0 

MS. 

t* 

tt 

417 

Def  SSnger  auf  dem  Felsen 

. 

MS. 

tt 

41? 

Overture,  Orch.      .... 

Rb 

MS. 

419 

Cantata  for  Spendou,  V.  &  Orch. 

J->  I/ 

Gm 

Op.  128 

** 

42C 

T{U 

MQ 

O        *                   f\    A     o 

421 

Der  Hirt                   (Mayrhofer) 

-D  C/ 

• 

JXM.Ot 

MS. 

toept.  Oct.  3 
Oct.  8 

422 

Geheimniss.an  F.Schubert  (Do.) 

MS. 

October 

423 

Zum  Punsche                      (Do.) 

. 

Lf  .  44,  C 

424 

Hermann  u.  Thusnelda  (Klop- 

stock)       

. 

Lf.  28,  1 

425 

Der  Wanderer    (Schmidt). 

Op.  4,  1 

426 

Adagio  and  Rondo,  PF.  *  Strings 

F 

Witznd 

tt 

427 

'  Auguste  jam  ccelestium,'  Duet, 

8.  A.  with  Orch.      . 

MS. 

428 

Am  Grabe  Anselmos  (Claudius) 

Op.  6,  3 

Nov.  4 

429 

An  die  Nachtigall           (Do.)    . 

• 

Op.  98,1 

November 

430 

Wiegenlied                      (Do.)    . 

. 

Op.  98,  2 

f  i 

431 

Bei  d.  Grabe  m.  Vaters  (Do.)    . 

, 

MS. 

432 

Die  Zufriedenheit           (Do.)    . 

t 

MS. 

433 

Phidile                            (Do.)    . 

. 

MS. 

tt 

434 

Abendlied,  '  Der  Mond  '  (Do.)    . 

B 

MS. 

tt 

435 

Der  Geistertanz    (Matthisson), 

a  4  M  

1  1 

Gotth. 

436 

Herbstlied    (Salis) 

40  L.  24 

tt 

437 

Abendlied  d.Furstin  (Mayrhofer) 

6L.  6 

438 

Skolie    (Matthisson)   . 

. 

MS. 

December 

439 

Lebenslied    (Schober)        . 

. 

Lf.  38,  2 

M 

440 

Jfigers  Abendlied       (Goethe)  . 

. 

Op.  3,  4 

1816 

441 

Der  KOnig  in  Thule      (Do.) 

. 

Op.  5,  5 

tt 

442 

An  Schwager  Kronos    (Do.) 

. 

Op.  19,1 

443 

Lied  eines  Schiffers  (Mayrhofer) 

• 

Op.  65,  1 

tt 

444 

Alinde                (Rochlitz) 

Op.  81,1 

tt 

445 

An  die  Laute          (Do.)     . 

. 

Op.  81,  2 

446 

Zur  guten  Nacht    (Do.)     . 

Op.  81,  3 

ti 

447 

An  eine  Quelle    (Claudius) 

m 

Op.109,3 

448 

Die  Nacht    (Uz)   .... 

Lf  .  44,  2 

c>\ 

449 

Trinklied  ('  Funkelnd  '),  T.,  4  M. 

tt  \-j 

and  PF.    . 

D 

Mech. 

450 

Am  Bach  im  Fruhling  (Schober) 

Op.109,1 

" 

451 

Cronnan    (Ossian) 

m 

Lf  .  2,  1 

H 

452 

Concerto,  Violin  and  Orch.  . 

D 

MS. 

n 

453 

String  Quartet       .... 

F 

MS. 

454 

7 

TVT<5 

455 

Menuet,  PF  

? 

JUOi 

MS. 

" 

456 

Sonatina,  PF.  and  V.  .       . 

D 

Op.137,1 

M 

457 

Do.              Do. 

Am 

Op.137,2 

If 

458 

Do.              Do. 

Gm 

Op.137,3 

tt 

459 

Augenlied    (Mayrhofer)     . 

Lf.  50,  2 

1817.    [20.] 

460 

Der  AlpenjSger    (Mayrhofer)  . 

. 

Op.  13,  3 

January 

461 

Schlummerlied          (Do.) 

. 

Op.  24,  2 

ff 

462 

Wie  Ulfru  fischt          (Do.) 

. 

Op.  20,  3 

M 

463 

Fahrt  zum  Hades       (Do.) 

. 

Lf.  18,  3 

f  i 

464 

Die  Liebe    (Leon)        .       . 

. 

MS. 

t> 

465 

Lf.  45,  1 

466 

Jagdlied    (Werner)     .      . 

• 

MS. 

M 
It 

467 

Klage      

MS. 

468 

Trost,  '  Nimmer  lange  ' 

• 

MS. 

469 

La  pastoreila    (Goldoni)    . 

. 

40  L.  19 

,, 

470 

Schiffers  Scbeidelied   (Schober) 

, 

Lf.  24,  1 

February 

471 

Die  Nacht    (Ossian)     . 

, 

Lf.l 

f  f 

472 

Memnon                (Mayrhofer)  . 

• 

Op.  6,  1 

March 

473 

Antigone  und  O2dip  (Do.) 

. 

Op.  6,  2 

t. 

474 

Am  Strome                 (Do.) 

. 

Op.  8,  4 

,, 

475 

Philoktet                    (Do.) 

. 

Op.  11,  3 

i> 

476 

An  die  Musik    (Schober)    . 

. 

Op.  88,  4 

I* 

477 

Auf  dem  See    (Goethe) 

. 

Op.  92,  2 

i> 

478 

Ganymed             (Do.) 

. 

Op.  19,  3 

it 

470 

Der  JQngling  u.  d.  Tod    (Spaun) 

JO  L.  18 

if 

480 

Die  Etesiedelei    (Salis) 

f,f.  38,  1 

,.(?) 

481 

Am  See    (Bruchmann) 

Lf.  9,  2 

M 

482 

Hfinflings  Liebeswerbung  (Kind) 

. 

Op.  20,  3 

April 

4.93 

Pax  vobiscum    (Schober)  . 

Lf.  10.  6 

M 

484 

Uraniens  Flucht    (Mayrhofer)  . 

. 

MS. 

|f 

485 

Auf  der  Donau            (Do.) 

, 

Dp.  21,1 

lf 

4-r, 

An  d.unterg.  Sonne  (Kosegarten) 

, 

Op.  44 

May 

487 

Gretchen'sBitte  (Goethe),  fragm. 

Lf.  29,  S 

ff 

488 

Die  Einsiedelei    (Salis)      . 

, 

MS. 

„ 

SCHUBERT. 


SCHUBERT. 


379 


Name. 

Key 

Opus 
No.  or 
Publ. 

Date. 

Name. 

Key 

Opus 
No.  or 
Publ. 

Date. 

489 
490 
491 
492 
493 
494 
495 
496 
497 
498 
499 

600 
601 
602 

EOS 
604 

605 
506 
607 
508 
609 

610 
611 
612 
613 
614 
515 

616 
617 
618 
619 
520 
521 
522 
523 
524 
625 
626 
527 
528 

Fischerlied    (Salis)     . 
Do.            (Do.),  a,  4  M. 
Nach  eln.  Gewitter  (Mayrhofer)  . 
Overture  —  Orch.     .... 

T> 

Em 

CS"> 

F 

MS. 
MS. 
40  L.  5 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
Op.  98,  3 
MS. 
9G.,  3 
Lf.  29,  4 

MS. 
Op.  147 
Op.  162 

Spina 
Op.  8,  3 

Op.  24,1 

MS. 
Op.  37,  2 
Op.  110 
MS. 

Op.  88,  2 
Op.  170 
MS. 
Op.  IS,  1 
MS. 
Op.  13,  2 

MS. 
Op.  32 
MS. 
4L.  3 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
MS 
Op.  164 
Op.  145 
Gotth. 
ii 

ii 

May 

June 
July 

Aug.  24 
August 

September 

i» 
ii 
October 
Oct.  Feb.  1818 
November 

it 
•i 

1817 
"(?) 

r* 
M 
if 
99 
99 
99 
ft 
Iff 
It 
99 

.,(?) 
i» 
ii 

573 
574 
575 
576 
577 

578 
579 
580 
581 
682 
683 
584 

693 
894 
595 

596 
597 
59R 
599 

Hymne  1    (Novalis)     . 
Hymne  2      (Do.)        .       .       . 
Hymne  3      (Do.)        .       . 
Hymne  4       (Do.) 
Der  Friihlingsmorgen,  Cantata, 
STB&PF  
Belm  Winde        (Mayrhofer)    . 
Trost                          (Do.)  . 
Die  SternennSchte    (Do.)  . 
NachtstUck               (Do.)  . 
Prometheus                (Goethe)  . 
Die  Liebende  schrelbt    (Do.)    . 

• 
• 
• 
• 

0 

C#m 

• 
• 

40  L.  37 
40  L.  38 
40  L.  39 
40  L.  40 

Op.  158 
Lf.  22,  3 
Lf.  44,  1 
Op.165,2 
Op.  36,  2 
Lf.  47.  1 
Op.165,1 
Op.  9. 
No.  5-13 
Op.  153 
Schreib. 

Op.  158 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
Op.  114 

May 

1* 

August 
October 

ii 
»i 

Nov.  12 

November 
Nov.  Sept.  1822 

1819 

If 

tt 
It 
ft 

Das  Grab    (Salis)  (S),  4  M.  &  PF. 
Iphigenia    (Mayrhofer) 
Furcht  d.  Geliebten  (Klopstock) 
Lied  im  Freien    (Salis),  a  4  M.  . 
Abschied;  1n  e.Stammbuch  (F.S.) 
Die    Entziickung,    An    Laura 
(Schiller)  (2)  . 

Sonata,  PF.   ..... 
Sonata.  PF.  &  V.         ... 
Variations,  PP.,  on  a  theme  of 
A.  Hiittenbrenner'a        .       . 
Erlafsee    (Mayrhofer). 
Gruppe    aus     dem    Tartarus 
(Schiller)        .... 

B 
A 

Am 

Salve  Beffina,  Sop.  &  Strings 
Mass  no.  5,  Voices  &  Orch.  . 
Cantata    in    honour    of   Vogl 
(Stadler)         .... 

A 

Ab 

Eomanze  aus  d.  Zauberharfe    . 
Many  Ecossaises  &  Waltzes 
Im  traulichen  Kreise,  a  4  . 
Quintet,  PF.  etc  

A 

Overture  in  Italian  style,  Orch.  . 
Der  Alpenjager    (Schiller) 
Der  Kampf             (Do.)    . 
Symphony  no.  6     ... 

D 

• 

0 

CJJm 

0 

• 

o 

Thekla.     eine     Geisterstimme 
(Schiller)         .... 
Overture  in  Italian  style,  no.  2  . 
Lied  elnes  Kindes  (fragment)    . 
DerSchSferu.d.Beiter  (Fouqu^) 
Geist  der  Liebe    (Matthisson)  . 
Lob  der  Thrfinen    (A.  Schlegel) 
1  Briider,  schrecklich  brennt  die 
Thrflne'   .... 

1820.    [23.] 

600 
601 
602 
603 
604 
605 
606 
607 
608 
609 
610 
611 
612 
613 
614 
615 
616 
617 
618 

619 
620 

621 
622 
623 
624 

Nachthymne    (Novalis) 

• 

40  L.  4 
5  Can.  1 
5  Can.  2 
5  Can.  3 
6  Can.  4 
Spina 
Lf.  7,  S 
40  L.  22 
40  L.  27 
Op.172,6 
Lf.  33,  1 

January 

•* 

February 
March 

»» 

May 
September 
it 
ii 

October 

November 
Dec.  23 
December 

»» 
1820 

If 

Lazarus,  Voices  &  Orch.      .       . 
AbendrOthe    (F.  Schlegel). 
DerKnabe           (Do.) 
DerFluss             (Do.) 
DieVOgel             (Do.) 

• 

DieForelle    (Schubart)      . 
Der  Strom  (fragment)  . 
Trost  im  Liede    (Schober)  . 
Gesangd.  Geister  (Goethe),  a  4  M. 
String  Trio     

? 
? 

Fm 
Ab 
Am 

E 

Bb 

Db 

» 

Ab 

Op.  18,  6 
Lf.  11,  1 
Lf.  11,  2 

Orest  auf  Tauris       (Mayrhofer) 

Polonaises  for  Violin    .       .       . 
Sonata,  PF  
Do.     Do  

FreiwilligesVersinken  (Do.) 
Liebeslauschen    (Schlechta)     . 
Sakontala,  Opera,  fragment 
Der  Jungling  a.  d.  Hiigel    (H. 
Huttenbrenner)     . 
Psalm  xxiii.    4  F.  &  PF.     . 
Waldesnacht    (F.  Schlegel)      . 
Der  ziimenden  Diana     (Mayr- 

A$ 
Cm 

Lf.  11,  4 
Lf  .  15,  2 
MS. 

Op.  8,  1 
Op.  132 
Lf.  16 

Op.  36,1 
Senff 

T  f    AQ     1 

Do.     Do  

Adagio  &  Rondo,  PF.  .       . 
Scherzo,  PF.  
Do.     Do  

12  Deutsche  Tame,  &5Ecossaises, 
PF. 

1818.    [21  years  old.] 

String  Quartet       .... 

545 
646 
617 

648 
549 
550 
551 
552 
653 
654 
555 

555 
557 
558 

559 
660 

Lebenslust,  a  4,  &  PF.  . 
Auf.  d.  Riesenkoppe    (KSrner)  . 
An  d.  Mond  in  a,  Herbstnacht 
(Schreiber)     .... 

D. 

9  G.,  7 
Lf.  49,  1 

Lf.  18,  2 
Lf.  30,  3 
Op.  48 
Lf.  32 
Lf.  10,  3 
Lf.  21,  1 
Lf.  10,  5 

January 
March 

April 
June 
July 
„(?)   ' 
August 
ii 
11 
September 

November 

Ft 
It 

December 

Phantasie.  PF  
Variations  on  a  French  air 

C 
Em 

Op.  15 
Op.  10 

1821.    [24.] 

Grablied  fiir  die  Mutter 
Mats  in  C  (see  no.  883) 
Einsamkeit    (Mayrhofer)  . 
Das  Marienhild     (Schreiber)    . 
Der  Blumenbrief        (Do.) 
Litaney    (Jacobf) 

• 

625 
626 

627 
628 
629 

630 

636 
637 
638 
639 
640 
641 

642 
643 

648 
649 
650 

651 

652 
653 
654 
655 
656 

Der  Ungluckliche    (Pichler)     . 
Die    gefangenen    SSnger      (A. 

• 

Op.  87.1 

Lf.  33,  2 
Lf.  38,  3 
Lf.  14,  1 

Op.  167 
Op.9,32- 
36;  op. 
18,2 
Op.  14,  2 
MS. 
DiabelH 
MS. 
MS. 

MS. 
MS. 

Op.9,29, 
30,  31  ; 
Opl8,l,3> 

Op.173,4 
MS. 
MS. 
Op.  14.1 
Op.  31 
Op.  20,1 
Lf.  SP,  1 

January 

9t 

February 

If 

Mar.  8 

March 
i» 

April 
„  (June?) 

»» 

July 

August 
September 
Sept.  20 
Oct.  20 
1821 

M 
ft 

Versunken                   (Goethe) 
Grenzen  d.  Menscbheit   (Do.)    . 
Qesang  der  Geisler           (Do.)    . 
d  8  M  .  4  Strings      .       .       . 

• 

Blondel  zu  Marien  (Grlllparzer) 
Sonnet  after  Dante  by  A.  Schle 
gel.    1.  'Apollo'    . 
Sonnet,  Do.    2.  'Allem/     . 
Das  Abendroth    .... 
Sonnet  after  Dante  by  A.  Schle 
gel.   3.  •Nunmehr* 
Blanka    (F.  Schlegel)  . 
VomMitleiden  MariS  (Schlegel) 

. 

Lf.  34,  2 

MS. 
MS. 
Op.173,6 

MS. 
MS. 
Lf.  10,  4 

Geheimes               (Goethe) 
Mahomet's  Gesang   (Do.)  . 
Variation  on  Diabelli's  Waltz    . 
Linde  Lufte,  Duet,  S.  &  T.  . 
Johanna  Sebus  (fragm.)  (Goethe) 
Aria,  '  Der  Tag  entflieht  '  (Zau- 
berglOckehen) 
Duet,  'Nein,  das  1st  zuviel  (Do.) 
5  Deutsche  Tlinze  .... 

Symphony  no.  7  (sketch),  Orch.  . 
DerBlumenSchmerz  (Maylath) 
Alfonso  und  Estrella,  Act  1         . 
Alfonso  und  Estrella,  Act  2         . 
Suleika,  1    (Goethe)    .       .       . 
Suleika,  2       (Do.) 

• 

Cm 

£ 

1819.    [22.] 

561 
562 
563 
664 
565 
666 
667 

668 
559 
570 
671 

572 

Did  Zvnllingseruder  —  Operetta  . 

• 

Peters 

Jan.  19 
January 
February 

i> 
ii 

March 
April 
,i 
ii 

Der  Wanderer   (F.  Schlegel)    . 
Abendbilder  

• 

Op.  65,  2 
Lf.  9,  3 
Lf.  10,  8 
Lf.  40,  1 

Lf.  40,  2 

MS. 
Lf  .  40,  3 
MS. 
Spina 
Gotth. 

Himmelsfunken    (Silbert) 
DasMSdchen    (F.  Schlegel)      . 
Berthas  Lied  hi  d.  Nacht  (Grlll 
parzer)    
Overture,  Orch  
An  die  Freunde    (Mayrhofer)   . 
D.  Jiingllng  a.  Bache  (Schiller) 
Sehnsucht    (Goethe),  a  5  M.      . 
Kuhe,  schOnstes  Gliick,  a  4  M.  . 

A 

Em 
Em 
Am 

E 

0 

Sey  mir  gegriisst    (Ruckert)     . 

• 

Lob  der  Thraneu    (A.  Schlegel) 
Die  Nachtigall    (Unger),  a  4  M  . 

• 

Op.  13,  2 
Op.  11,  2 

380 


SCHUBERT. 


SCHUBERT. 


Name. 

Key 

Opus 
No.  or 
Publ. 

Date. 

Name. 

Zej, 

Opus 
>   No.  or 
Publ. 

Dale. 

1822.    [25  years  old.] 

73E 

73e 

737 

String  Quartet       .... 
Divertissement     d     I'hongroise, 
PF.,  4  hands   .... 
Overture,  PF.,  4  hands 

Am 

Gm 
F 

Op.  29 

Op.  54 
Op.  34 

1824  (?) 

657 
65i 

65S 
66C 
661 
662 

663 
664 
665 

666 
667 
668 
669 
670 
671 

'  fipistel  von  M.  von  Collin  . 
!  GeistderLiebe  (Matthisson),  a  4 
Alfonso  und  Estrella,  Act  3 
Nachtviolen    (Mayrhofer)  . 
Heliopolis            (Do.) 
GottinderNatur  (Gleim),a4F. 

• 

Lf.  46 
Op.  11,  £ 
MS. 
40  L.  2( 
Lf.  37,  1 
Op.  133 
Op.lOV 

January 
„ 
Feb.  27 
April 

It 

August 
September 

Ront 

1825.    [28.] 

73& 
73£ 
74C 
741 
742 
743 
744 
745 
746 
747 
748 
749 
750 
751 
752 
753 
754 
755 
756 
757 
759 

760 
761 
762 

763 
764 
765 
766 

767 

Des  SSngers  Habe       .       . 
Die  junge  Nonne    (Craigher)    . 
Der  Einsame    (Lappe)       . 
Im  Walde    (Schulze)  .       .       . 
'Soldier,  rest'      (W.Scott) 
'Huntsman,  rest'    (Do.)    . 
'Hall  to  the  Chief  (Do.),  a  4  M. 
•He  is  gone'             (Do.).  a4F. 
•The  heath*            (Do.)    .      . 
'Ave  Maria*             (Do.)    . 
'My  hawk  is  tired'  (Do.)    . 
Todtengrfibers  Heimweh    .       . 

• 

Lf.  7,  1 

Op.  43,  ] 
Op.  41 
Op.  93,1 
Op.  52,1 
Op.  52,  'i 
Op.  52,  2 
Op.  52,  4 
Op.  52,  5 
Op.  52,  6 
Op.  52,  7 
Lf  .  24,  2 

February 
(?) 

March  (?) 

',',  (?) 
.,  (?) 
Ap.4 
April 
(?) 
I, 
August 

September 
December 

„  (?) 
1825 

ti 
II 
II 
It 

Mass  in  A\>  completed  .       . 
Symphony  no.  8  (unfinished)  Orch. 
Des  Tages  Weihe,  a  4  with  PF.  . 
Willkommen     und     Abschied 
(Goethe)  

Bm 

* 

Schreib 
Spina 
Op.  146 

Op.  56,1 
40  L.  3 
6L.  4 
Op.  92 
Op.  68 
Op.  73 
Op.  65,  3 

Oct. 
Nov.  22 

December 
1822 

it 

Am  Flusse               (Do.)     . 
An  die  Entfernte     (Do.)    . 
Der  Musensohn       (Do.)    .       . 
Der  Wacbtelschlag    (Sauter)   . 
Die  Rose    (F.  Schlegel) 
[Aus  Heliopolis    (Mayrhofer)     . 

• 

Der  blinde  Knabe    (Craigher)  . 
Sonata,  PF.,  unfinished 
Fiille  der  Liebe    (F.  Schlegel)  . 
AufderBriicke    (Schultze)       . 
Das  Heimweh    (Pyrker)    .       . 
Die  Allmacht       (Do.)        .       . 
Symphony  no.  9,  Orchestra  . 
2  Scenes  fr.  "  Lacrimas'  (Schutz) 
Abendlied  f.  d.  Entfernte    (A. 

C 

• 

Op.  101 
Whistl. 
Lf.  25,  1 
Op.  93,  2 
Op.  79,1 
Op.  79,  a 
MS, 
Op.  124 

Op.  88,1 
Lf.  13,  1 
Lf.  13,  2 

Op.  55 
Op.  42 
Op.  53 
Op.  120 
Op.  126 
MS. 

672 
67S 
674 
685 
686 
687 
688 
689 
690 
691 
692 
693 

694 

696 

697 
698 
699 
700 
701 
702 

703 
704 
705 

1823.    [26.] 

Salve  Regina  (no.W<t),orchestrated 

F 
Bm 

Op.  47 
Op.  S3,  2 
MS. 
Lf.  9,  1 
Op.  143 
Op.  123 
Op.173,2 
Lf.  18,  1 
Spina 
MS. 
Lf.  21,  2 

Spina 
Op.  33,  1 
4  172,  2 
MS. 
MS. 
MS. 
Op.25,15 
Op.  22,  1 
Op.  59,  3 
Op.  71 
Op.  72 

Op.  25, 
1-14, 
16-20 
Op.  39,  2 
Op.  59,  4 
Op.  26 

Jan.  28 
Januari 

February 
March 
April 

A  riril 

Der  zilrnendeBarde(Bruchmann) 
Sonata,  PF  

Am 

Viola    (Schober)  .... 

Das  Geheimniss    (Schiller)  (2)  . 
Pilgerweise    (Schober) 
Die  Verschworenen  (Operetta)    . 
Fierabras  (Opera),  Act  1    . 
Vergissmeinnicht  (Schober) 
Rudigers  Heimkehr.  T.  &  Ohor. 

• 

An  meln  Herz          (Schulze)    . 
Der  liebliche  Stern     (Do.) 
Trauer   Marsch   (Emp.    Alex.), 

• 

May  25  May  31 
May 

June  5 
June  19 
—Oct.  2 
October 

1S23 

f  1 

May?  —  —  Oct.? 
Dec.  (?) 

Sonata,  PF  

Do.           .              , 

Am 
D 

A 

2  Deutsche  Tame  .... 

Fierabras,  Act  2           ... 
Der  Schiffer    (Schlegel) 
Fierabras,  Act  3            ... 
Eifersucht  und  Stolz  (Mailer)  . 
Der  Zwerg     ..... 

A 

Do  

Ein  FrSulein  schaut    (Kenner) 

1826.    [29.] 

768 
769 
770 
779 

780 
781 
782 
783 
784 
785 
786 
787 
788 
789 
790 
791 
792 
7:-:; 
794 
795 
796 
797 
798 
799 
800 

Tiefes  Leid  (Schulze)    . 
String  Quartet       .... 
Galopp  and  8  Ecossaises,  PF. 
Romanze   d.  Richard  LOwen- 
herz    (W.  Scott)    . 
Urn  Mitternacht    (Schulze) 
TTeber  Wildemann    (Do.)  . 
Lebensmuth             (Do.)  . 
Im  FrtthHng             (Do.)  . 
FischerweJse    (Schlechta)  . 
Am  Fenster                      (Seidl) 
Der  Wanderer  an  d.Mond  (Do.) 
Das  ZiigenglOcklein           (Do.) 
Im  Freien                         (Do.) 
Sehnsucht                          (Do.) 
String  Quartet       .... 
An  Sylvia               (Shakspeare) 
StSndchen,  'Hark!  hark!'  (Do.) 
Trlnklied,  'Bacchus!'        (Do.) 
Hippolits  Lied  (Schopenhauer) 
Grab  und  Mond    (Seidl),  a  4  M. 
Nachthelle  (Seidl),  J..4M..&PF. 
Sonata  (Fantaisie),  PF.      .       . 
Marche  heroique,  PF.,  4  hands  . 
Rondeau  (brillantc),  PF.  &  V.   . 
Deutsche  Messe,  d  4  with  Wind   . 

Dm 

6 

Bm 

F 

Lf.  SO,  1 
Witzen 
Op.  49 

Op.  86 
Op.  88.  3 
Op,108.1 
Lf.  17,  1 
Lf.  25,  2 
Op.  96,  4 
Op.105,3 
Op.  80,1 
Op.  80,  2 
Op.  80,  3 
Op.105,4 
Op.  161 
Op.106,4 
Lf.  7,  4 
Lf.  48,  4 
Lf.  7,  2 
Hasl. 
Op.  134 
Op.  78 
Op.  66 
Op.  70 
Gotth. 

January 

March 
ti 

tt 

,','  (?) 
„(?) 
„  (?) 

June  20—  June  30 
July 
PI 
,, 
a 
September 

October 
1826 

Du  bist  die  Ruh    . 

Drang  in  die  Feme    (Leitner)  . 
Aufdem  Wasser  (Barcarolle)    . 
Die  schtoe  Miillerin    (Aluller)  . 

Dass  sie  hier  gewesen  !  (Ruckert) 
Lachen  und  Weinen       (Do.)    . 
Rosamunde  muiic     (Chezy) 

• 

1S24.    [27.] 

706 
707 
708 
709 
710 
711 
712 
713 
714 
715 
716 
717 
718 
719 
720 
721 
722 
723 
724 
725 
726 
727 
728 
729 
730 
731 
732 

733 
734 

Introd.  &  Variations,  PF.  &  Flute 
Octet        

Em 
F 

0 
0 

Ab 
Bb 
Eb 
0 
Eb 
Ab 
Cm 
0 
D 
0 
A 
im 
i.  ii\ 
k-iii 
D 
bm 

Op.  160 
Op.  166 
Lf.  20,  1 
Lf.  22,  1 
Lf.  22,  4 
Lf.  34,  1 
40  L.  2 
Op.  28 
Op.  149 
Op.  140 
Op.  35 
Op.  30 
Op.  33,  8 
Op.  33,  9 
Gott.  17 
Gott.  18 
Sott.  19 
Gott.  20 
Op.  S3,  2 
Dp.33,12 
3otth.2 
Sotth.3 
3otth.4 
Jotth.5 
iotth.8 
Jott.  12 

)p.l39a 
,f.  35,  2 
)p.  8,  2 

January 

Im  Abendroth    (Lappe)     . 
Der  Sieg            (Mayrhofer) 
Abendstern            (Do.) 
AuflOsung               (Do.)      . 
Der  Gondelfahrer  (Do.)     . 
Do.             (Do.),  a  4  M. 
Salve  Regina.  a  4  M.     . 
Sonata,  PF.,  4  hds.  ('  Grand  Duo  ') 
Variations,  PF.,±  hands     . 
Sonata,  PF.,  4  hands   . 
Waltz,  PF.,  4  hands     . 
Do.            Do  
L&ndler,  PF.,  4  hands 
Do.            Do.     . 
Do.            Do.    .       .       '. 
Do.            Do  
Waltz,  PF.,  2  hands     .       . 
Do.            Do  
LSndler,  PF.,  2  hands 
Do.            Do.     .... 
Do.            Do  
Do,            Do  
Do.           Do  
Do.           Do  
Jebet  ('  Du  Urquell,'  Fouque"), 
a  4  with  PF  

March 

VI 
If 

April 
June 
1  Middle  of  1824  ' 
June  (?) 
July 
it 

,, 

ii 

September 
Dec.  31 
1824 

1827.    [SO.] 

801 
802 
803 
804 
805 
806  ' 

818  . 
819  ] 

820  J 
821  ] 
822  5 

DerVaterm.d.  Kind  (Bauernfeld) 
Schlachtlied  (Klopstock),  a  8  M. 
Variations  (Harold's  '  Marie  ')  . 
Ittgers  Liebeslied       (Schober)  . 
Bchiffers  Scheidelied      (Do.)     . 
Winterreise,  nos.l—  12  (Mailer) 

Allegretto  for  PF. 
^achtgesang  im  Walde  (Seidl), 
a  4  M.  with  4  Horns 
•'ruhlingslied    (PoIIak),  a  4  M. 
)as  Lied  im  Grunen    (Reil) 
!6gernd  leise   (Grillparzer),  A., 
&4  F. 

t 

0 

. 
.    ' 
. 

3m  I 

.    ( 

Lf.  17,  2 
Op.  151 
Op.  82 
Op.  96,  2 
Lf  .  24,  1 
Dp.  89.    ] 
1-12 
Sotth. 

)p.!39& 
MS. 
)p.H5,l 

)D.  135 

January 
Feb.  28 
February 

II 

II 

reb. 
Apr.  27 

April 
June 
July 

jied  eines  Kriegers 
ehnsucht   (Majrhofer)    . 

.      I 
.      ( 

SCHUBERT. 


SCHUBERT. 


381 


Name. 

Key 

Opus 
No.  or 
Pull. 

Date. 

823 
835 
836 

848 
849 
850 
851 

852 
853 
854 
855 
856 
857 
858 
859 
860 
861 
862 
863 

12  GrStzer  Waltzer 
Gratzer  Galoppe    .... 
Winterreise,  nos.lS—  24  (.Muller) 

Kindermarsch,  PF.,  4  hands 
Trio  no.  1,  PF.,  V.,  Cello    . 
Altschottische  Ballade  (Herder) 
Der  Wallensteiner  Lanzknecht 

• 

G 

& 

• 

Op.  91 
Hasl. 

Op.  89. 
13-24 
Gotth. 
Op.  99 
Op.165,5 

Lf  27  1 

September 
,, 
Oct. 

Oct.  12 

October  (?) 
November 

u 

•i 
« 

Dec.  26 

1827 

II 

M 
It 

.,  (?) 
„  (?) 
„  (?) 
„(?) 

Der  Kreuzzug    (Do.)    . 
Des  Fischers  Liebesgliick    (Do.) 
Trio  no.  2,  PF.,  V.,  Cello    . 
A  la  bella  Irene,  Cantata,  2  PFs. 
Deutsche  Messe,  a  4  M. 
Song  of  Annot  Lyle    (W.  Scott) 
Norna's  Song                  (Do.)    . 
Der  Hochzeitsbraten,  Trio 
L'incanto       .       .       .       .       . 

Eb 
Ab 

Lf.  27,  2 
Lf.  27,  3 
Op.  100 
MS. 
Spina 
Op.  85,1 
Op.  85,  2 
Op.  104 
Op.  83,  1 
Op.  83,  2 
Op.  83,  3 
Op.  159 

11  modo  

Phantasie,  PF.  &  V.     . 

c 

1828.    [31  years  old.] 

864 
865 
866 
867 

868 
869 

870 

871 
872 
873 
874 
875 

876 
877 
878 
879 
880 
881 
882 
883 

884 
885 

886 
887 

Die  Sterne              (Leitner) 
Der  Winterabend     (Do.)  . 
Miriam's  Siegesgesang,  Oratorio 
Aufdem  Strom  (Bellstab),  Sop. 

• 

Op.  96,  1 
Lf.  26 
Op.  136 

Op.  119 
B.&H. 

Op.  144 

Op.  154 
Lf.  15,  2 
Biet.-B. 

Op."l52 

Op.  107 
Eiet.-B. 
Gotth. 
Hasl. 

II 

Diabelll 
Schw.14 
Op.  48, 
no.  7 

Op.  129 

Op.  154 
Op.  163 

MS. 

month 

January 
ii 
March 

i, 

March  

May 

M 
If 

June  3 

June 
June 
July 
August 
Sept.  28 
September 
u 
October 

tl 
»» 

1828 

tf 

or  year. 

Symphony  no.  10,  Orchestra 
Oliaracteristic  Allegro,  'Lebens- 
stiirme,'  PF.,  4  hands    .       . 
Hymn     (Schmidl),   4  Solos   & 
Chorus  (see  no.  885)     . 
Wiederschein    (Schlechta) 
Allegro,  PF  
Allegretto,  PF  
Fugue,  PF.,  4  hands     . 
Hondo  ('  Grand  Rondeau'),  PF., 

0 

Am 

Ebm 

Eb 
Em 

A 

Eb 

• 

Bb 
Cm 
A 

0 

Mass  no.  5,  d  4  with  Orch.    . 
Psalm  xcii.  Bar.  &  4  M. 
Schwanengesang,  nos.  1  —  13      , 
Sonata,  PF  
Do.           

Do  

Die  Taubenpost    (Seidl)    . 
Benedictus  to  Mass  in  C  (no.  549). 

DerHirtaufdenFelsen  (Chezy), 

Rearrangement  and  Orchestra 
tion  of  Hymn  no.  870 
String  Quintet  (2  Oelli)        .        , 

C 

Eb 

of' 

Pieces  without  date 

Name. 

Key. 

Opus  No.  or  Publ. 

888 
889 
890 
891 
892 
910 
911 
912 
913 
914 
•915 
916 
917 
943 
950 
951 
952 
953 
954 
955 

958 
963 

Morgenlied    (Werner) 
Die  abgebliihte  Linde    (Sze'che'nyi)  . 
Der  Flug  der  Zeit              (Do.) 
Der  Tod  u.  d.  MSdchen    (Claudius) 
18  Original  Tiinze,  PF. 
Das  DOrfchen    (Burger),  a  4      . 
Die  Nachtigal    (TJnger),  do. 
FriibAingsHed    (Schober),  a  4  M. 
Jiinglings  wonne  (Matthisson),  a  4  M. 
Liebe    (Schiller),  a  4  M.      . 
Zum  Rundtanz    (Salis),  a  4  M.  . 

•          • 
•          • 
•           • 
•          • 
•           • 

•          • 

Op.  4,  2 
Op.  7,  1 
Op.  7,  2 
Op.  7,  3 
Op.  9,  1,  3,  4,  14-28 
Op.  11,  1 
Op.  11,  2 
Op.  16,  1 
Op.  17,  1 
Op.  17,  2 
Op.  17,  3 
Op.  17,  4 
Op.  18,  4-12,  1-17 
Op.  18,  1-4,  1-3 
Op.  21,  2 
Op.  22.  2 
Op.  23,  1 
Op.  '23,  2 
Op.  27,  3 
Op.  27 

Op.  33,  S-7,  10,  11 
Op.  34              i 

26  L&ndler,  PF  

DerSchiffer    (Mayrhofer)  . 
Wehmuth    (M,  von  Collin) 
Die  Liebe  hat  gelogen    (Platen) 

•          • 

3  Marches  heroiques,  PF.,  4  hands      . 

7  Deutsche  Tunze,  PF  
Overture,  PF.,  4  hands 

Bm,  C, 
D 

F 

Name. 

Key. 

Opus  No.  or  Publ- 

966 
967 
973 
974' 

Der  Pilgrim    (Schiller) 
Six  Grandes  Marches,  PF.  4  hands  . 
Nacht  und  TrSume    (M.  v.  Collin)  . 

•          * 

Op.  37,  1 
Op.  40 
Op.  43,  2 
Op.  40 

975 
1009 
1012 
1013 
1014 
1015 
1016 
1017 
1018 

34  Vahes  sentimentales,  PF. 
3  Marches  Militaires,  PF.,  4  hands    . 
An  die  Leier    (Bruchmann) 
Im  Haine               (Do.) 
Der  Schmetterling    (F.  Schlegel)    . 
Die  Berge                         (Do.) 
Du  liebst  mich  nicht    (Platen) 
Dithyrambs    (Schiller)      . 

•     • 

Op.  50 
Op.  51 

Op.  56,  2 
Op.  56,  S 
Op.  57,  1 
Op.  57,  2 
Op.  59,  1 
Op.  60,  2 
Op.  61 

1024 
1025 
1026 
1027 
1028 
1029 
1030 
1031 

Mignon  u.  d.  Harfner           (Goethe) 
Lied  der  Mignon,  '  Heiss  mich'  (Do.) 
Do.          '  So  lasst  '            (Do.) 
Do.          '  Sehnsucht  '       (Do.) 
Divertissement,  PP.,  4  hands      . 
Wehmuth    (Hiittenbrenner),  a  4  M. 
Ewige  Liebe    (Schulze),  a  4  M. 

Em 

Op.  62,  1 
Op.  62,  2 
Op.  62,  3 
Op.  62,  4 
Op.  63 
Op.  64,  1 
Op.  64,  2 
Op.  64,  3 

1032 
1Q49 

Hommage  aux  b.  Viennoises,15  Waltzes 
and  2  Ecossaises,  PF.     . 

.     . 

Op.  67 
Op.  74 

1050 

Op.  75 

luM 

10  Valses  Nobles,  PF  

Op.  77 

1064 

Op.  90 

1068 
1074 
1078 
1079 
1080 
1031 

6  Momens  musicals,  PF.      .       .       , 
4  Eefrain-Lieder    (Seidl)    . 
Glaube,  Hoffnungu.  Liebe  (Kuflfner) 
Phantasie,  PF.,  4  hands      . 
D.  Hochzeitsbraten,  STB.  &  PF. 

Fm 

•         • 

Op.  94 
Op.  95 
Op.  97 
Op.  103 
Op.  104 
Op  105,  1 

1089 

Op.  105,  2 

TOW 

Op.  105,  3 

1084 
1085 
1086 

Gott  im  Ungewitter       (TTz)      . 
Gott  der  Weltschopfer  (Do.)      . 
Der  Mondabend    (Ermin)  . 

•          • 

Op.  112,  1 
Op,  112,  2 
Op.  131,  1 

1087 

]o-- 

lO'.l'J 

1093 
1094 
1095 

10QR 

'Notre  amilie,'  Rondo,  PF.  4  hands  . 
4  Impromptus,  PF  
Nocturne,  PF.  &  Cello 
Trinklied,  '  Edit  Nonna,"  a  4  M. 
Nachtmusik  (Seckendorf),a  4  M.&  PF. 
Constitutionslied,  d  4  M.  &  Orch. 

D 

Eb 

Op.  138 
Op.  142 
Op.  148 
Op.  155 
Op.  156 
Op.  157 
Op.  169 

1097 

Op.  173,  3 

1098 
1099 

An  den  Tod    (Schubart)    . 

•    • 

Lf.  17,  3 
Lf.  22,  2 

1100 

Lf.  36,  3 

1101 
1102 
1103 
1104 
1105 
1106 

Licht  und  Liebe    (Collin)  . 
Fragm.a.d.Gotter  Griechnl.  (Schiller) 
Im  Gegenw.  Vergangenes    (Goethe) 
Der  Goldschmiedsgesell          (Do.)  . 
Augenlied    (Mayrhofer)     . 

•    • 

Lf.  41,  1 
Lf.  42,  1 

Lf.  43 
Lf.  48,  6 
Lf.  50,  3 

MS. 

1107 
1108 
1109 
1110 
1111 
1112 
1113 
1114 

Rudigers  Heimkehr  ;  T.,Chor.  &  Orch. 
Morgengesang,  u.  4  M  ,  &  Orch.    . 
BegrSbnisslied    (Klopstock),  a  4      . 
Osterlied                    (Do.),  a  4  &  PF. 
Wein  und  Liebe    (Haug),  a  4  M. 
Der  Entfernten        (Salis),  a  4  M.   . 
Lob  d.  Einsamkeit     (Do.),  a  4  M.     . 

•         • 
•         • 

E,  E,  0, 

Spina 
Spina 
9  Ges.,  8 
9  Ges.,  9 
Spina 
Spina 

1119 

A,  E 
0 

Klein  m 
3  Clavierst.no.  3 

1120 

E 

Artaria 

1121 
to 

20Lfindl.,l,  6,  7, 

1131 

P,  10,  11,  13-36. 

It  only  remains  for  me  to  return  my  sincere 
thanks  to  those  friends  who  have  helped  me  with 
facts  and  suggestions  and  with  much  labour  in 
the  execution  of  the  preceding  pages  ;  such  as 
Fraulein  Caroline  Geisler-Schubert,  Father  Her 
mann  (Anton)  Schubert,  and  other  members  of 
the  composer's  family ;  to  Herr  Eugen  Heilpern 
and  the  eminent  photographers  who  act  under  the 
name  of  'Adele'  in  Vienna ;  my  ever  kind  friend 
Herr  C.  F.  Pohl,  Librarian  of  the  Musikverein 

1  No.  3  originally  in  Gb. 


382 


SCHUBERT. 


there ;  Dr.  "Kopfermann,  Librarian  of  the  k.  k. 
Bibliothek,  Berlin;  Mr.  C.  V.  Stanford;  Mr. 
C.  A.  Barry ;  Mr.  Manns ;  Herr  A.  Dbrffel ; 
Mr.  Paul  David;  Messrs.  Breitkopf  &  H artel; 
Baron  Tauchnitz,  jun.  ;  Mr.  L.  Engel ;  Mr.  W.  B. 
Squire ;  and  many  more.  To  each  and  to  all 
I  express  my  hearty  acknowledgments.  [Gr.] 

SCHUBERT,  FERDINAND,  one  of  the  elder 
brothers  of  FRANZ  SCHUBERT,  second  son  of  his 
father  (see  p.  319),  born  at  Vienna  Oct.  19, 1794. 
After  passing  the  two-years  course  at  the  Nor 
mal  School  of  S.  Anna  in  1807-8,  he  became  his 
father's  assistant  at  the  school  in  the  Lich  ten- 
thai.  In  Nov.  1810  he  was  installed  as  assistant 
(Gehilfe),  and  in  1816  teacher,  at  the  Imperial 
Orphan  House  (Waisenhaus)  in  Vienna,  where 
he  continued  till  March  1820,  devoting  himself 
specially  to  the  Bell- Lancastrian  method.  He 
was  then  appointed  principal  teacher  and  choir 
master  to  the  school  at  Altlerchenfeld,  Vienna, 
till  1824,  when  he  was  nominated  to  be  head 
teacher  of  the  Normal  School  of  S.  Anna,  which 
he  held  from  Jan.  22,  1824,  till  his  appointment 
as  director  of  the  same  establishment  on  March 
15, 1854.  This  position  he  retained  till  his  death 
on  Feb.  28,  1859.  His  merits  were  recognised 
by  the  bestowal  of  the  Gold  Cross  of  Merit  (Ver- 
dienstkreuze),  with  the  Crown.  During  this 
long  period  of  useful  and  efficient  service  he  was 
twice  married,  and  had  in  all  17  children,  of 
whom  Ferdinand,  Rudolf,  and  Hermann  are  still 
(1882)  living  in  Vienna.  His  daughter  Elise 
married  Linus  Geisler,  and  their  daughter,  Caro 
line  G ei si er- Schubert,  is  now  (1882)  an  esteemed 
player  and  teacher  of  the  pianoforte  in  Vienna. 
Between  1819  and  1853  Ferdinand  published  12 
school-books  on  various  branches  of  learning, 
which  came  into  general  use.  Music  he  learnt 
from  his  father  and  from  Holzer,  and  left  more 
than  40  works,  of  which  the  following  were  pub 
lished  : —  Regina  Coeli,  k  4  and  orch.  (op.  i); 
German  Requiem,  a  4  with  organ  (op.  2)  ;  4 
Waisenlieder  (op.  3)  ;  Cadences  for  PF.  in  all 
keys  (op.  4) ;  Requiem,  k  4  and  orch.  (op.  9) ; 
Mass  in  F,  k  4  and  orch.  (op.  10) ;  Salve  Regina 
in  F,  a  4  and  orch.  (op.  n)  ;  Salve  Regina,  k  4 
and  wind  (op.  1 2)  ;  original  March  and  Trio. 
The  MS.  works  contain  various  other  pieces  of 
church  music.  Of  the  two  Requiems  the  first  is 
mentioned  in  his  brother's  letter  of  Aug.  24, 
1818  (see  p.  330);  the  second  was  performed  a 
few  days  before  Franz's  death,  and  was  possibly 
the  last  music  he  heard.  The  library  of  the 
Musikverein  at  Vienna  contains  the  autograph 
of  Franz  Schubert's  Mass  in  G,  with  oboes  (or 
clarinets)  and  bassoons,  added  by  Ferdinand, 
July  23,  1847. 

Ferdinand's  love  for  his  brother  and  care  of, 
his  memory  have  been  often  referred  to  in  the 
preceding  article  (pp.  354,  356,  357).  An  interest 
ing  evidence  of  their  attachment  is  afforded  by  a 
letter  of L  his  to  Franz,  dated  Vienna,  July  3,18  24, 
and  containing  the  following  passage  in  regard 
to  a  clock  at  the  Ungarische  Krone  in  Vienna, 
which  played  his  brother's  music: — 'This  clock 
1 1  owe  this  letter  to  Hiss  Geisler. 


SCHUBERTH. 

delighted  me  not  a  little,  when  one  day  at  dinner 
for  the  first  time  I  heard  it  play  some  of  your 
waltzes.  I  felt  so  strange  at  the  moment  that  I 
really  did  not  know  where  I  was;  it  was  not 
only  that  it  pleased  me,  it  went  regularly  through 
my  heart  and  soul  with  a  fearful  pang  and 
longing,  which  at  last  turned  into  settled  melan 
choly.'  This  may  be  fanciful,  but  it  is  the  lan 
guage  of  passionate  affection,  which  evidently 
animated  Ferdinand's  whole  intercourse  with  his 
great  brother.  Franz's  reply  (July  16-18, 1824) 
is  quite  in  the  same  strain.  (The  above  article 
is  indebted  to  Wurzbach's  Biographisches  Lexi 
con.)  [G.] 

SCHUBERT,  CAMILLE,  the  nom  de  plume  of 
Camille  Prilipp,  a  music-seller  of  Paris,  composer 
of  transcriptions  and  original  works  for  the  piano, 
amounting  in  all  to  the  astonishing  number  of 
more  than  400.  Some  of  his  works  enjoyed 
great  popularity,  especially  a  set  of  brilliant 
waltzes  entitled  'Les  Dames  de  Seville.'  [G.] 

SCHUBERT,  FRANZ,  a  violinist,  born  of  a 
musical  family  at  Dresden,  July  22,  1808,  was  a 
pupil  of  Lafont,  and  rose  through  various  grades 
to  succeed  Lipinski  in  1861  as  first  Concert- 
meister  (or  leader)  in  his  native  city.  He  re 
tired  in  1873,  on  the  5oth  anniversary  of  his 
entrance  into  the  orchestra.  His  published 
works  include  Studies,  a  Duo  for  violin  and 
piano,  and  2  Concertante  for  violin  and  cello. 
Schubert's  wife,  MASCHINKA,  a  distinguished 
bravura  singer,  was  born  Aug.  25,  1815,  and 
appeared  at  the  German  opera  in  London  in 
1832.  [G.] 

SCHUBERT,  Louis,  violinist  and  singing- 
master,  born  Jan.  27,  1828,  at  Dessau,  went  in 
his  1 8th  year  to  St.  Petersburg,  and  then  as  Con- 
certmeister  to  Konigsberg,  where  he  remained 
till  1862.  He  then  returned  to  Dresden,  where 
he  enjoyed  a  great  reputation  as  a  teacher  of 
singing.  He  has  published  a  method  of  singing 
in  the  form  of  songs,  and  four  of  his  operettas 
have  become  favourites.  [G.] 

SCHUBERTH,  GOTTLOB,  born  at  Carsdorf, 
Aug.  n,  1778,  received  his  musical  education  at 
Jena,  and  learnt  the  violin  from  Stamitz.  In  1804 
he  went  to  Magdeburg,  resided  there  for  some 
years,  and  was  distinguished  as  an  excellent 
clarinet  and  oboe  player.  In  1833  he  moved 
to  Hamburg,  where  he  died,  Feb.  18,  1846.  He 
is  now  remembered  as  the  father  of  an  eminent 
family.  His  eldest  son 

JULIUS  FERDINAND  GEORG,  born  at  Magde 
burg,  July  14,  1804,  was  the  founder  of  the  well- 
known  firm  of  J.  Schuberth  &  Co.  in  Leipzig  and 
New  York.  After  learning  the  business  of  a 
music-publisher  in  Magdeburg,  he  started  in 
1826  on  his  own  account  at  Hamburg,  whence 
he  was  enabled  to  found  branch  establishments 
at  Leipzig  (1832),  and  New  York  (1850).  In 
1854  he  gave  up  the  Hamburg  business  to  his 
brother  Frederick  (see  below)  and  devoted  him 
self  entirely  to  Leipzig  and  New  York.  Besides 
his  publishing  business,  Julius  Schuberth  was  an 
indefatigable  student  of  language,  literature,  and 


SCHUBEBTH. 

music.  He  was  publisher,  editor,  and  proprietor  of 
a  'Musikalisches  Conversations  Lexicon'  (which 
has  gone  through  10  editions,  and  from  which 
the  details  of  the  present  article  have  been  ob 
tained),  the  'Hamburger  kleiner  Musik  Zeitung' 
(1840-1850),  the  New  York  'Musik  Zeitung' 
(1867),  and  'Schuberth's  kleiner  Musik  Zeitung' 
(1871-1872).  In  1840  he  founded  the '  Norddeut- 
scher  Musikverein  and  Preis  Institut '  at  Ham 
burg.  He  received  many  decorations  from  the 
crowned  heads  of  Germany  in  recognition  of  his 
services  to  music.  In  1874  ne  settled  at  Leipzig, 
where  he  died,  June  9,  1875.  His  business,  which 
in  1877  comprised  over  6000  publications,  has 
been  carried  on  with  increasing  success  by  his 
widow  and  nephew. 

LUDWIG,  the  second  son  of  Gottlob,  was  born 
April  1 8, 1806,  at  Magdeburg.  He  studied  under 
his  father  and  C.  M.  von  Weber,  and  when  only 
16  was  music-director  at  the  Stadt  Theater  of  his 
native  town.  He  was  subsequently  Court  Capell- 
meister  at  Oldenburg,  and  after  living  at  Riga 
and  Konigsberg  (1835),  became  (1845)  conductor 
of  the  German  Opera  at  St.  Petersburg,  where 
he  died  in  1850.  His  compositions  include  some 
published  chamber  music,  besides  operas  and 
symphonies  which  remain  in  MS.  His  younger 
brother, 

GAEL,  was  born  at  Magdeburg,  Feb.  25, 1811. 
He  learnt  the  piano  from  his  father,  and  the 
violoncello  from  L.  Hesse.  In  1825  he  was 
placed  under  Dotzauer  at  Dresden,  and  in  1828 
made  his  first  concert  tour  to  Ludwigslust  and 
Hamburg.  In  1829  he  played  at  Copenhagen 
and  Gothenburg,  but  a  series  of  misfortunes 
drove  him  back  to  Magdeburg,  where  he  occupied 
the  post  of  first  cello  in  the  theatre  orchestra. 
In  1833  he  again  played  in  Hamburg  with  suc 
cess,  and  during  the  next  few  years  gave  concerts 
in  all  the  principal  towns  of  North  Germany, 
Belgium,  and  Holland,  besides  visiting  Paris  and 
London  (1835).  In  the  autumn  of  the  latter 
year  he  was  appointed  solo  cellist  to  the  Czar. 
He  remained  for  20  years  at  St.  Petersburg, 
occupying  the  posts  of  musical  director  at  the 
University,  conductor  of  the  Imperial  Court  Or 
chestra,  and  inspector  of  the  Imperial  Dramatic 
College.  He  died  at  Zurich,  July  22,  1863.  His 
compositions  include  chamber  music  and  con 
certos  for  the  violoncello,  etc. 

FRIEDRICH  WILHELM  AUGUST,  fifth  son  of 
Gottlob  Schuberth,  was  born  at  Magdeburg,  Oct. 
27, 1817,  and  since  1853  nas  been  the  head  of  the 
firm  of  '  Fritz  Schuberth'  at  Hamburg.  [W.B.S.] 

SCHUBRING,  JULIUS,  D.D.,  rector  of  S. 
George's  church,  Dessau,  claims  a  place  in  a 
Dictionary  of  Music  for  his  connexion  with  Men 
delssohn.  He  was  born  at  Dessau,  June  2, 
1806,  was  educated  there,  and  at  the  Universities 
of  Leipzig  (1824)  and  Berlin  (1825-30),  at  the 
latter  of  which  he  first  made  the  Mendelssohns' 
acquaintance,  through  a  letter  from  W.  Mu'ller 
the  poet.  The  acquaintance  soon  ripened  into 
a  very  intimate  friendship,  for  the  details  of 
which  see  Schubring's  admirable  Recollections  of 
Mendelssohn  (' Erinnerungen '  etc.,  in  'Daheim/ 


SCHULZ. 


383 


1866,  No.  26;  and  ' Musical  World,'  May  12, 
19,  1866).  He  was  much  consulted  by  Mendels 
sohn  on  the  words  of  '  St.  Paul '  and  '  Elijah/  in 
reference  to  which  and  to  a  possible  oratorio  on 
S.  Peter,  ten  letters  are  printed  in  the  published 
'  Briefe.'  The  Recollections  are  models  of  their 
class,  and  deserve  republication.  Schubring, 
besides  several  theological  works,  has  published 
a  'Gesangbtichlein'  of  hymns  in  rhythm  for 
schools  (Dessau,  1 85  7),  and  assisted  in  compiling 
the  Anhalt  Gesangbuch  for  Church,  School,  and 
Home  use  (Elberfeld,  1859).  He  is  still  living 
and  working,  to  remind  us  how  prematurely 
Mendelssohn  was  cut  off.  [G.] 

SCHULHOF,  JULIUS — dear  to  player  and 
dancer  for  his  Galop  di  Bravura,  Impromptu 
Polka,  and  many  more  brilliant  and  clever  PF. 
pieces — was  born  at  Prague,  Aug.  2,  1825.  He 
learned  the  piano  from  Kisch,  and  counterpoint 
from  Tomaschek,  and  before  he  was  14  made  a 
successful  appearance  as  a  player.  Notwith 
standing  his  success,  the  boy's  ambition  was  too 
great  to  allow  him  to  remain  in  Prague,  and  in 
1842  he  went  to  Paris,  then  a  hotbed  of  piano 
forte  virtuosity.  Here  a  fortunate  interview  with 
Chopin  gave  him  his  opportunity.  He  played  in 
public  (Nov.  2,  1845),  and  published  his  first 
two  works,  of  which  op.  I,  an  Allegro  Brillant, 
was  dedicated  to  Chopin.  After  a  lengthened 
residence  in  Paris  he  took  a  very  extended  tour 
through  France,  Austria  (1849-50),  England, 
Spain  (1851),  and  even  South  Russia  and  the 
Crimea  (1853).  He  has  since  divided  his  time 
between  Dresden  and  Paris.  [G.] 

SCHULZ.     [See  PRJETORIUS,  iii.  24.] 

SCHULZ,  EDOUARD,  pianist,  born  Feb.  18, 
1812;  died  Sept.  15,  1876.  His  father — a  Hun 
garian — settled  in  Vienna,  where  Edouard  as  a 
child  had  once  the  privilege  of  playing  to  Bee 
thoven.  He  came  with  his  father  and  younger 
brother  Leonard,  both  guitar  players,  to  London 
in  1826,  and  the  trio  gave  their  first  concert  at 
Kirkman's  rooms,  April  24  of  that  year;  Edouard 
playing  the  physharmonica.  In  1828  they  ap 
peared  in  a  Philharmonic  Concert.  Edouard's 
fine  pianoforte  playing  attracted  the  notice  of 
George  IV.  and  the  Duke  of  Devonshire,  and 
he  became  the  favourite  teacher  of  the  Eng 
lish  aristocracy,  to  whom  his  distinguished 
manners  endeared  him.  He  might  have  been 
one  of  the  very  first  pianists  had  he  not  over- 
fatigued  his  hands  by  too  zealous  practice  of  the 
then  new  technique  of  extensions.  Asa  teacher 
he  amassed  a  fortune,  £1000  of  which  he  be 
queathed  to  the  Royal  Society  of  Musicians,  the 
third  legacy  of  like  amount  left  by  foreign  musi 
cians  settled  in  London.  [A.  J.H.] 

SCHULZ,  JOHANN  ABRAHAM  PETER,  son  of 
a  baker,  born  at  Liineburg,  March  31,  1747- 
His  master  was  Schmiigel,  a  local  organist  of 
ability,  whose  descriptions  of  Berlin  and  of  Kirn- 
berger's  labours  so  excited  him  that  at  the  age 
of  15,  without  money  and  against  the  wish  of  his 
family,  he  went  thither  and  put  himself  under 
the  protection  of  Kirnberger,  who  was  very  good 


384 


SCHULZ. 


to  him,  under  whom  he  studied  and  to  whom  he 
became  greatly  attached.  In  1768  he  was  for 
tunate  enough  to  travel  in  France,  Italy,  and 
Germany  under  good  auspices.  In  1773  ^e  re~ 
turned  to  Berlin,  and  found  his  old  master  and 
Sulzer  at  work  on  their  '  Theory  of  the  Fine 
Arts,'  and  undertook  the  musical  portion  of  it 
from  S  to  the  end.  He  was  also  Capellmeister 
to  the  French  theatre  at  Berlin,  and  afterwards 
to  the  private  theatre  of  the  Crown  Princess  at 
Berlin  and  that  of  Prince  Henry  at  Reinsberg, 
where  he  stayed  for  7  years  from  April  i,  1780. 
His  choruses  to  'Athalia,'  produced  while  there, 
were  translated  and  brought  out  at  Copenhagen, 
and  the  result  was  an  offer  from  the  King  of 
Denmark  to  be  his  Capellmeister  at  a  salary 
of  2000  thalers.  This  he  accepted  and  held  for 
8  years  with  great  credit  and  advantage  to  the 
place.  His  health  at  length  obliged  him  to 
leave,  and  he  departed,  Sept.  29,  1795,  for  Ham 
burg,  Liineburg,  and  Berlin.  He  lost  his  wife, 
and  at  length,  on  June  10,  1800,  died  at  Schwedt 
deeply  and  widely  lamented.  Schulz  was  a 
prolific  composer ;  10  operas  and  3  large  sacred 
works  are  quoted  by  Fetis  and  Mendel,  various 
PF.  compositions  and  some  literary  works,  in 
cluding  a  treatise  on  a  new  mode  of  writing 
music.  He  also  edited  Kirnberger's  True  Prin 
ciples  of  Harmony.  But  his  true  claim  to 
notice  rests  on  his  songs.  He  was  the  first  to 
give  the  Volkslied  an  artistic  turn,  and  in  fact 
took  the  first  step  which  led  to  Schubert.  He 
was  very  careful  to  get  good  words,  and  as  a 
considerable  move  was  taking  place  among  the 
poets  at  that  date  (i  7  70-80),  and  Burger, Claudius, 
Holty,  and  others  were  writing,  he  had  good  op 
portunities,  and  many  of  his  settings  were  pub 
lished  in  the  Gottingen  '  Musenalmanach '  and 
Voss's  '  Almanach.'  He  published  also  ( Lieder 
in  Volkston  bey  dem  Klavier  zu  singen '  (1782), 
containing  48  songs,  2nd  ed.  1785  in  2  parts,  and 
a  3rd  part  in  1790.  His  songs  were  very  much 
sung  for  years  after  their  appearance,  and  are  even 
Btill  the  delight  of  schoolboys,  a  great  tribute  to 
their  freshness  and  melody.  (See  Reissmann, 
Gesch.  d.  Deutschen  Liedes,  149.)  [G.j 

SCHULZE,  J.  F.  AND  SONS,  a  firm  of  organ- 
builders,  whose  founder,  J.  F.  Schulze,  was  born 
at  Milbitz-bei-Paulinzella,  Thuringia,  in  1794, 
and  began  his  manufactory  there  in  1825.  His 
first  organs  were  for  Horba  (with  10  stops),  and 
Milbitz  (21  stops).  In  1825  he  moved  to  Paul- 
inzella,  where  his  business  largely  increased. 
At  this  period  his  principal  organs  were  those 
for  Bremen  cathedral,  and  Solingen.  In  1851, 
the  firm — then  J.  F.  Schulze  and  Sons — sent  an 
organ  to  the  International  Exhibition  in  Hyde 
Park,  which  obtained  a  prize  medal  and  was 
the  beginning  of  much  work  done  for  England. 
This  is  now  in  the  Town  Hall,  Northampton. 
In  1854  they  built  the  great  organ  in  the  Mari- 
enkirche  at  Liibeck.  J.  F.  Schulze  died  in  1858, 
but  was  succeeded  by  his  three  sons,  the  most 
distinguished  of  whom  was  Heinrich  Edmund, 
who  introduced  many  new  and  valuable  improve 
ments.  On  the  rebuilding  of  the  parish  church 


SCHUMANN. 

of  Doncaster,  England,  after  the  fire  in  1853,  the 
construction  of  the  organ  was  entrusted  to  the 
Schulze  firm,  ar.d  it  proved  a  very  great  success. 
Besides  this  fine  instrument,  their  most  import 
ant  organs  are  in  Bremen,  Diisseldorf,  Sost,  and 
Aplerbeck.  H.  E.  Schulze  died  in  1878  at  the 
age  of  54,  and  shortly  after,  on  the  death  of  the 
surviving  brother,  the  firm  ceased  to  exist. 

The  Schulzes'  organs  are  most  celebrated  for 
their  flue-pipes,  which  are  constructed  so  as  to 
admit  as  much  wind  as  possible.  In  order  to  do 
this  the  feet  are  opened  very  wide,  and  the  pipes 
are  in  consequence  cut  up  unusually  high.  By 
this  means,  with  a  comparatively  low  pressure  of 
wind  an  extraordinarily  rich  quantity  of  tone  is 
produced.  The  Schulzes  carried  the  same  prin 
ciples  into  their  wooden  flute  pipes.  Their 
organs  are  also  celebrated  for  their  string-toned 
stops,  but  the  drawback  in  all  of  these  is  a  cer 
tain  slowness  in  their  speech.  Besides  the  organs 
at  Doncaster  and  Northampton,  the  Schulzes 
have  instruments  in  England  at  churches  at 
Armley;  Leeds  (in  conjunction  with  Hill) ;  Hin- 
dley,  Wigan ;  Tyne  Dock,  South  Shields ;  Harro- 
gate;  also  at  Northampton  Town  Hall;  Charter 
house  School,  Godalming;  Seaton  Carew  (Thos. 
Walker,  Esq.).  They  were  also  employed  by 
Mr.  Hopkins  to  make  some  alterations  and  ad 
ditions  to  the  organ  in  the  Temple  church, 
London.  [W.B.S.] 

SCHUMANN,  ROBEKT  ALEXANDER,  born  June 
8, 1810,  at  Zwickau  in  Saxony,  was  the  youngest 
son  of  Friedrich  August  Gottlob  Schumann  (born 
1 773)5 a  bookseller,  whose  father  was  a  clergyman 
in  Saxony,  and  whose  mother,  Johanna  Christiana 
(born  1771),  was  the  daughter  of  Herr  Schnabel, 
Rathschirurgus  (surgeon  to  the  town  council)  at 
Zeitz.  Schumann  cannot  have  received  any  in 
citement  towards  music  from  his  parents ;  his 
father,  however,  took  a  lively  interest  in  the  belles 
lettres,  and  was  himself  known  as  an  author.  He 
promoted  his  son's  leanings  towards  art  in  every 
possible  way,  with  which  however  his  mother 
seems  to  have  had  no  sympathy.  In  the  small 
provincial  town  where  Schumann  spent  the  first 
eighteen  years  of  his  life  there  was  no  musician 
capable  of  helping  him  beyond  the  mere  rudiments 
of  the  art.  There  was  a  talented  town-musician, 
who  for  several  decades  was  the  best  trumpeter 
in  the  district,1  but,  as  was  commonly  the  case, 
he  practised  his  art  simply  as  a  trade.  The 
organist  of  the  Marienkirche,  J.  G.  Kuntzsch, 
Schumann's  first  pianoforte  teacher,  after  a  few 
years  declared  that  his  pupil  was  able  to  progress 
alone,  and  that  his  instruction  might  cease.  He 
was  so  impressed  with  the  boy's  talent,  that 
when  Schumann  subsequently  resolved  to  devote 
himself  wholly  to  art,  Kuntzsch  prophesied  that 
he  would  attain  to  fame  and  immortality,  and 
that  in  him  the  world  would  possess  one  of  its 
greatest  musicians.  Some  twenty  years  later,  in 
1845,  Schumann  dedicated  to  him  his  Studies  for 
the  Pedal-Piano,  op.  56.  [See  vol.  ii.  p.  77 a.] 

His  gift  for  music  showed  itself  early.     He 

i  Schumann's  '  Gesammelte  Schriften,'  ii.  126  (1st  ed.). 


SCHUMANN. 

began  to  compose,  as  he  tells  us  himself,  before 
he  was  seven.  According  to  this  he  must  have 
begun  to  play  the  piano,  at  latest,  in  his  sixth 
year.  When  he  was  about  eleven,  he  accom 
panied  at  a  performance  of  Friedrich  Schneider's 
'  Weltgericht,'  conducted  by  Kuntzsch,  standing 
up  at  the  piano  to  do  it.  At  home,  with  the  aid 
of  some  young  musical  companions,  he  got  up 
performances  of  vocal  and  instrumental  music 
which  he  arranged  to  suit  their  humble  powers. 
In  more  extended  circles  too,  he  appeared  as  a 
pianoforte-player,  and  is  said  to  have  had  a 
wonderful  gift  for  extempore  playing.  His  father 
took  steps  to  procure  for  him  the  tuition  of  C.  M. 
von  Weber,  who  had  shortly  before  (1817)  been 
appointed  Capellmeister  in  Dresden.  Weber 
declared  himself  ready  to  undertake  the  guidance 
of  the  young  genius,  but  the  scheme  fell  through 
for  reasons  unknown.  From  that  time  Schumann 
remained  at  Zwickau,  where  circumstances  were 
not  favourable  to  musical  progress  ;  he  was  left 
to  his  own  instruction,  and  every  inducement  to 
further  progress  must  have  come  from  himself 
alone.  Under  these  circumstances,  a  journey 
made  when  he  was  nine  years  old  to  Carlsbad, 
where  he  first  heard  a  great  pianoforte-player— 
Ignaz  Moscheles — must  have  been  an  event 
never  to  be  forgotten ;  and  indeed  during  his 
whole  life  he  retained  a  predilection  for  certain 
of  Moscheles's  works,  and  a  reverence  for  his 
person.  The  influence  of  the  pianoforte  technique 
of  Moscheles  on  him  appears  very  distinctly  in 
the  variations  published  as  op.  I. 

At  the  age  of  ten  he  entered  the  4th  class  at 
the  Gymnasium  (or  Academy)  at  Zwickau,  and 
remained  there  till  Easter,  1828.  He  had  then 
risen  to  the  ist  class,  and  left  with  a  certifi 
cate  of  qualification  for  the  University.  During 
this  period  his  devotion  to  music  seems  to  have 
been  for  a  time  rather  less  eager,  in  consequence 
of  the  interference  of  his  school-work  and  of 
other  tastes.  Now,  at  the  close  of  his  boy 
hood,  a  strong  interest  in  poetry,  which  had 
been  previously  observed  in  him,  but  which 
had  meanwhile  been  merged  in  his  taste  for 
music,  revived  with  increased  strength ;  he  rum 
maged  through  his  father's  book-shop,  which 
favoured  this  tendency,  in  search  of  works  on  the 
art  of  poetry ;  poetical  attempts  of  his  own  were 
more  frequent,  and  at  the  age  of  14  Robert  had 
already  contributed  some  literary  efforts  to  a 
work  brought  out  by  his  father  and  called  '  Bil- 
dergallerie  der  beriihmtesten  Menschen  aller 
Volker  und  Zeiten'  (Portrait-gallery  of  the  most 
famous  men  of  all  nations  and  times).  That  he  had 
a  gift  for  poetry  is  evident  from  two  Epithalamia 
given  by  Wasielewski  (Biographic  Schumann's, 
3rd  ed.,  Bonn  1880,  p.  305).  In  1827  he  set  a 
number  of  his  own  poems  to  music,  and  it  is 
worthy  of  note  that  it  was  not  by  the  classical 
works  of  Goethe  and  Schiller  that  Schumann  was 
most  strongly  attracted.  His  favourite  writers 
were  Schulze,  the  tender  and  rhapsodical  author 
of '  Die  bezauberte  Hose'  (The  Enchanted  Rose); 
and  the  unhappy  Franz  vonSonnenberg,  who  went 
out  of  his  mind ;  of  foreign  poets,  Byron  especially ; 
VOL.  in.  PT.  3. 


SCHUMANN. 


385 


but  above  all,  Jean  Paul,  with  whose  works  he 
made  acquaintance  in  his  1 7th  year  (at  the  same 
time  as  with  the  compositions  of  Franz  Schubert). 
These  poets  represent  the  cycle  of  views,  senti 
ments  and  feelings,  under  whose  spell  Schumann's 
poetical  taste,  strictly  speaking,  remained  through 
out  his  life.  And  in  no  musician  has  the  influence 
of  his  poetical  tastes  on  his  music  been  deeper 
than  in  him. 

On  March  29, 1828,  Schumann  matriculated  at 
the  University  of  Leipzig  as  Studiosus  Juris.  It 
would  have  been  more  in  accordance  with  his 
inclinations  to  have  devoted  himself  at  once 
wholly  to  art,  and  his  father  would  no  doubt  have 
consented  to  his  so  doing ;  but  he  had  lost  his 
father  in  1826,  and  his  mother  would  not  hear  of 
an  artist's  career.  Her  son  dutifully  submitted, 
although  decidedly  averse  to  the  study  of  juris 
prudence.  Before  actually  joining  the  university 
he  took  a  short  pleasure  trip  into  South  Germany, 
in  April,  1828.  He  had  made  acquaintance  in 
Leipzig  with  a  fellow-student  named  Gisbert 
Rosen ;  and  a  common  enthusiasm  for  Jean  Paul 
soon  led  to  a  devoted  and  sympathetic  friendship. 
Rosen  went  to  study  at  Heidelberg,  and  the  first 
object  of  Schumann's  journey  was  to  accompany 
him  on  his  way.  In  Munich  he  made  the  ac 
quaintance  of  Heine,  in  whose  house  he  spent 
several  hours.  On  his  return  journey  he  stopped 
at  Bayreuth  to  visit  Jean  Paul's  widow,  and  re 
ceived  from  her  a  portrait  of  her  husband. 

During  the  first  few  months  of  his  university 
life,  Schumann  was  in  a  gloomy  frame  of  mind. 
A  students'  club  to  which  he  belonged  for  a  time, 
struck  him  as  coarse  and  shallow,  and  he  could 
not  make  up  his  mind  to  begin  the  course  of  study 
he  had  selected.  A  large  part  of  the  first  half- 
year  had  passed  by  and  still — as  he  writes  to  his 
friend — he  had  been  to  no  college,  but  '  had 
worked  exclusively  in  private,  that  is  to  say,  had 
played  the  piano  and  written  a  few  letters  and 
Jean  Pauliads.' 

In  this  voluntary  inactivity  and  solitude  the 
study  of  Jean  Paul  must  certainly  have  had  a 
special  charm  for  him.  That  writer,  unsurpassed 
in  depicting  the  tender  emotions,  with  his  dazzling 
and  even  extravagant  play  of  digressive  fancy,  his 
excess  of  feeling  over  dramatic  power,  his  inces 
sant  alternations  between  tears  and  laughter,  has 
always  been  the  idol  of  sentimental  women  and 
ecstatic  youths.  '  If  everybody  read  Jean  Paul,' 
Schumann  writes  to  Rosen, '  they  would  be  better- 
natured,  but  they  would  be  unhappier  ;  he  has 
often  brought  me  to  the  verge  of  desperation,  still 
the  rainbow  of  peace  bends  serenely  above  all  the 
tears,  and  the  soul  is  wonderfully  lifted  up  and 
tenderly  glorified.'  In  precisely  the  same  way 
did  Gervinus  give  himself  up  for  a  time  to  the 
same  influence ;  but  his  manly  and  vigorous 
nature  freed  itself  from  the  enervating  spell. 
Schumann's  artistic  nature,  incomparably  more 
finely  strung,  remained  permanently  subject  to 
it.  Even  in  his  latest  years  he  would  become 
violently  angry  if  any  one  ventured  to  doubt  or 
criticise  Jean  Paul's  greatness  as  an  imaginative 
writer,  and  the  close  affinity  of  their  natures  is 

Co 


380 


SCHUMANN. 


unmistakeable.  Schumann  himself  tells  us  how 
once,  as  a  child,  at  midnight,  when  all  the  house 
hold  were  asleep,  he  had  in  a  dream  and  with  his 
eyes  closed,  stolen  down  to  the  old  piano,  and 
played  a  series  of  chords,  weeping  bitterly  the 
while.  So  early  did  he  betray  that  tendency  to 
overstrung  emotion  which  found  its  most  powerful 
nourishment  in  Jean  Paul's  writings. 

Music,  however,  is  a  social  art,  and  it  soon 
brought  him  back  again  to  human  life.  In  the 
house  of  Professor  *•  Carus  he  made  several  inter 
esting  acquaintances,  especially  that  of  Marschner, 
who  was  then  living  in  Leipzig,  and  had  brought 
out  his  'Vampyr'  there  in  the  spring  of  1828. 
His  first  meeting  with  Wieck,  the  father  of  his 
future  wife,  took  place  in  the  same  year;  and 
Schumann  took  several  pianoforte  lessons  from 
him.  Several  music-loving  students  met  together 
there,  and  all  kinds  of  chamber-music  were  prac 
tised.  They  devoted  themselves  with  especial 
ardour  to  the  works  of  Schubert,  whose  death  on 
Nov.  19,  1828,  was  deeply  felt  by  Schumann. 
Impelled  by  Schubert's  example,  he  wrote  at  this 
time  8  Polonaises  for  four  hands  ;  also  a  Quartet 
for  piano  and  strings,  and  a  number  of  songs  to 
Byron's  words;  all  of  which  remain  unpublished. 
Besides  these  occupations,  he  m;ide  a  more  inti 
mate  acquaintance  with  the  clavier  works  of 
Sebastian  Bach.  It  is  almost  self-evident  that 
what  chiefly  fascinated  Schumann  in  Bach's  com 
positions  was  the  mysterious  depth  of  sentiment 
revealed  in  them.  Were  it  not  so,  it  would  be 
impossible  to  conceive  of  Bach  in  connection  with 
the  chaotic  Jean  Paul ;  and  yet  Schumann  himself 
says  that  in  early  life  Bach  and  Jean  Paul  had 
exercised  the  most  powerful  influence  upon  him. 
Considering  the  way  in  which  his  musical  educa 
tion  had  been  left  to  itself,  the  fact  of  his  so 
thoroughly  appreciating  the  wealth  and  fulness  of 
life  in  Bach's  compositions  at  a  time  when  Bach 
was  looked  upon  only  as  a  great  contrapuntist, 
is  clear  evidence  of  the  greatness  of  his  own 
genius;  which  indeed  had  some  affinity  with  that 
of  Bach.  The  ingenuity  of  outward  form  in  Bach's 
works  was  neither  strange  nor  unintelligible  to 
him.  For  although  Schumann  had  hitherto  had 
no  instructor  in  composition,  it  need  scarcely  be 
said  that  he  had  long  ago  made  himself  familiar 
with  the  most  essential  parts  of  the  composer's 
art,  and  that  constant  practice  in  composition 
must  have  given  him  much  knowledge  and  skill 
in  this  branch  of  his  art. 

At  Easter,  1829,  Schumann  followed  his  friend 
Rosen  to  the  university  of  Heidelberg.  The 
young  jurists  were  perhaps  tempted  thither  by 
the  lectures  of  the  famous  teacher,  A.  F.  J. 
Thibaut;  but  it  is  evident  that  other  things 
contributed  to  form  Schumann's  resolution :  the 
situation  of  the  town — a  perfect  Paradise — the 
gaiety  of  the  people,  and  the  nearness  of  Switzer 
land,  Italy  and  France.  A  delightful  prospect 
promised  to  open  to  him  there:  'That  will  be 
life  indeed!'  he  writes  to  his  friend;  fat  Mi 
chaelmas  we  will  go  to  Switzerland,  and  from 

i  ' ' Patientibus  Cams,  sed  clarus  inter  dodos,'    (Berlioz.   Voyage 
Musical,  Letter  IV.) 


SCHUMANN. 

thence  who  knows  where?'  On  his  journey  to 
Heidelberg  chance  threw  him  into  the  society 
of  Willibald  Alexis.  As  they  found  pleasure  in 
each  other's  company,  Schumann  incontinently 
turned  out  of  his  way  and  went  with  the  poet 
some  distance  down  the  Rhine.  Like  Marsch 
ner,  who  indeed  was  somewhat  their  senior, 
Alexis  had  trodden  the  path  which  Schumann 
was  destined  to  follow,  and  had  reached  art  by 
way  of  the  law.  No  doubt  this  added  to  Schu 
mann's  interest  -in  the  acquaintance.  It  cannot 
be  denied  that  even  in  Heidelberg  Schumann 
carried  on  his  legal  studies  in  a  very  desultory 
manner,  though  Thibaut  himself  was  a  living 
proof  that  that  branch  of  learning  could  co-exist 
with  a  true  love  and  comprehension  of  music. 
Only  a  few  years  before  (in  1825)  Thibaut  had 
published  his  little  book,  'Ueber  Reinheit  der 
Tonkunst'  (On  Purity  in  Musical  Art),  a  work 
which  at  that  time  essentially  contributed  to 
alter  the  direction  of  musical  taste  in  Germany. 
Just  as  in  his  volume  Thibaut  attacks  the  de 
generate  state  of  church  music,  Schumann,  at 
a  later  date,  was  destined  to  take  up  arms,  in 
word  and  deed,  against  the  flat  insipidity  of 
concert  and  chamber  music.  Nevertheless  the 
two  men  never  became  really  intimate ;  in  one, 
no  doubt,  the  doctor  too  greatly  preponderated, 
and  in  the  other  the  artist.  Thibaut  himself 
subsequently  advised  Schumann  to  abandon  the 
law  and  devote  himself  entirely  to  music. 

Indeed  if  Schumann  was  industrious  in  any 
thing  at  Heidelberg  it  was  in  pianoforte-playing. 
After  practising  for  seven  hours  in  the  day,  he 
would  invite  a  friend  to  come  in  the  evening 
and  play  with  him,  adding  that  he  felt  in  a 
particularly  happy  vein  that  day ;  and  even 
during  an  excursion  with  friends  he  would  take 
a  dumb  keyboard  with  him  in  the  carriage.  By 
diligent  use  of  the  instruction  he  had  received 
from  Wieck  in  Leipzig,  he  brought  himself  to 
high  perfection  as  an  executant ;  and  at  the 
same  time  increased  his  efforts  at  improvisation. 
One  of  his  musical  associates  at  this  time  used 
afterwards  to  say  that  from  the  playing  of  no 
other  artist,  however  great,  had  he  ever  ex 
perienced  such  ineffaceable  musical  impressions  ; 
the  ideas  seem  to  pour  into  the  player's  mind 
in  an  inexhaustible  flow,  and  their  profound 
originality  and  poetic  charm  already  clearly 
foreshadowed  the  main  features  of  his  musical 
individuality.  Schumann  appeared  only  once  in 
public,  at  a  concert  given  by  a  musical  society  at 
Heidelberg,  where  he  played  Moscheles's  varia 
tions  on  the  '  Alexandermarsch'  with  great  suc 
cess.  He  received  many  requests  to  play  again, 
but  refused  them  all,  probably,  as  a  student, 
finding  it  not  convenient. 

It  will  no  doubt  be  a  matter  of  surprise  that 
Schumann  could  have  justified  himself  in  thus 
spending  year  after  year  in  a  merely  nominal 
study  of  the  law,  while  in  fact  wholly  given  up 
to  his  favourite  taste  and  pursuit.  A  certain 
lack  of  determination,  a  certain  shrinking  from 
anything  disagreeable,  betray  themselves  during 
these  years  as  his  general  characteristics,  and 


SCHUMANN. 

were  perhaps  an   integral   part   of  his   nature. 
At  the  same  time  his  conduct  is  to  a  certain 
extent  explicable,  by  the  general  conditions  of 
German  student-life.   Out  of  the  strict  discipline 
of  the  Gymnasium  the  student  steps  at  once  into 
the  unlimited  freedom  of  the  University.  The  vio 
lence  of  the  contrast  most  easily  overpowers  the 
most  gifted  natures,  and  sweeps  them  away  into 
an  exclusive  enjoyment  of  the  life  it  offers.  Those 
who  have  some  self-control  after  a  time  struggle 
out  of  the  whirlpool,  and  avail  themselves  as  best 
they  may  of  the  remaining  years  of  study,  rescu 
ing  from  that  period  a  precious  store  of  poetical 
reminiscences  which  suffice  to  gild  the  prose  of 
later  life  with  an  ideal  light.     It  was  the  in 
toxicating  poetry  of  the  student  life  which  Schu 
mann  drank  in  deep  draughts.     Its  coarseness 
was    repellent   to   his  refined  nature,   and  his 
innate  purity  and  nobility  guarded  him  against 
moral  degradation ;   but  he  lived  like  a  rover 
rejoicing  in  this  bright  world  as  it  lies  open  to 
him,  worked  little,  spent  much,  got  into  debt, 
and  was  as  happy  as  a  fish  in  the  water.     Be 
sides  its  tender  and  rapturous  side,  his  nature 
had   a  vein  of  native   sharpness   and  humour. 
With  all  these  peculiarities  he  could  live  his 
student's   life   to   the  full,  though   in  his  own 
apparently   quiet    and    unassertive   way.      The 
letters  in   which    he    discusses    money -matters 
with  his  guardian,  Herr  Rudel,  a  merchant  of 
Zwickau,  show  how  he  indulged  his  humorous 
mood  even  in  these :    '  Dismal  things  I  have  to 
tell  you,   respected  Herr  Rudel,'  he  writes  on 
June  2i,  1830;  'in  the  first  place,  that  I  have 
a    repetitorium   which    costs    80   gulden    every 
half-year,   and   secondly,    that   within    a   week 
I  have  been  under  arrest  by  the  town  (don't 
be  shocked)  for  not  paying  30  gulden  of  other 
college  dues.'     And  on  another  occasion,  when 
the  money  he  had  asked  for  to  make  a  journey 
home  for  the  holidays  did  not  arrive :    '  I  am 
the  only  student  here,  and  wander  alone  about 
the  streets  and  woods,  forlorn  and  poor,  like  a 
beggar,  and  with  debts  into  the  bargain.     Be 
kind,  most  respected  Herr  Rudel,  and  only  this 
once  send  me  some  money — only  money — and  do 
not  drive  me  to  seek  means  of  setting  out  which 
might  not  be  pleasant  to  you.'     The  reasons  he 
employs  to  prove  to  his  guardian  that  he  ought 
not  to  be  deprived  of  means  for  a  journey  into 
Italy  are  most  amusing :    '  At  any  rate  I  shall 
have  made  the  journey ;   and  as  I  must  make 
it  once,  it  is  all  the  same  whether  I  use  the 
money  for  it  now  or  later.'     Then  in  a  perfectly 
amiable  way  he  puts   the   pistol  to  his  breast, 
'Of  course  I  could  borrow  the  money  here  at 
once  if  I  chose,  at  10  or  12  per  cent,  but  this 
method  I  should  of  course  adopt  only  under  the 
most  unnatural  circumstances,  i.e.  if  I  get  no 
money  from  home.'     When,  at  Easter  1830,  he 
wished  to  remain  another  half-year  at  Heidelberg, 
he  excused  the  wish  by  saying  that  'residence 
here  is  immeasurably  more  instructive,  useful  and 
interesting,  than  in  flat  Leipzig.'     This  contrast 
of  'flat'  Leipzig  with  the  picturesque  hilliness 
of  Heidelberg,  sufficiently  betrays  what  it  was 


SCHUMANN. 


387 


that  Schumann  included  under  the  terms  'in 
structive  and  useful/  His  compositions,  too, 
plainly  evince  how  deeply  the  poetical  aspect 
of  student  life  had  affected  him,  and  had  left  its 
permanent  mark  on  him.  I  need  only  remind 
the  reader  of  Kerner's  'Wanderlitd'  (op.  35, 
no.  3),  dedicated  to  an  old  fellow-student  at 
Heidelberg,  and  of  Eichendorff's  '  Friihlings- 
fahrt'  (op.  45,  no.  2).  Among  German  songs 
of  the  highest  class,  there  is  not  one  in  which 
the  effervescent  buoyancy  of  youth  craving  for 
distant  flights  has  found  such  full  expression, 
at  once  so  thoroughly  German  and  so  purely 
ideal,  as  in  this  '  Wanderlied,'  which  indeed, 
with  a  different  tune,  is  actually  one  of  the  most 
favourite  of  student  songs.  '  Frtihlingsfahrt ' 
tells  of  two  young  comrades  who  quit  home  for 
the  first  time : — 

So  jubelnd  recht  in  die  hellen 
Klingenden,  singenden  Wellen 
Des  vollen  Fruhlings  hinaus. 

Kejoicing  in  the  singing 
And  joyous,  echoing  ringing 
Of  full  and  perfect  Spring. 

One  of  them  soon  finds  a  regular  subsistence  and 
a  comfortable  home ;  the  other  pursues  glitter 
ing  visions,  yields  to  the  thousand  temptations 
of  the  world,  and  finally  perishes;  it  is  a  por 
trait  of  a  German  student  drawn  from  the  life, 
and  the  way  in  which  Schumann  has  treated  it 
shows  that  he  was  drawing  on  the  stores  of  his 
own  experience.  And  indeed  he  trod  on  the  verge 
of  the  abyss  which  yawns  close  to  the  flowery 
path  of  a  youth  who,  for  the  first  time,  enjoys 
complete  liberty.  His  letters  often  indicate  this, 
particularly  one  written  April  5,  1833,  to  one 
of  his  former  fellow -students,  in  which  he  says 
that  his  life  as  a  citizen  is,  to  his  great  joy, 
sober,  industrious  and  steady,  and  thus  a  con 
trast  to  that  at  Heidelberg. 

Several  journeys  also  served  to  infuse  into 
Schumann's  student  life  the  delight  of  free  and 
unrestrained  movement.  In  August  1829  he 
went  for  a  pleasure  trip  to  north  Italy,  quite 
alone,  for  two  friends  who  had  intended  to  go, 
failed  him.  But  perhaps  the  contemplative  and 
dreamy  youth  enjoyed  the  loveliness  of  the 
country  and  the  sympathetic  Italian  nature  only 
the  more  thoroughly  for  being  alone.  Nor  were 
little  adventures  of  gallantry  wanting.  Frag 
ments  of  a  diary  kept  at  this  time,  which  are 
preserved  (Wasielewski,  p.  325),  reveal  to  us 
the  pleasant  sociableness  of  the  life  which  Schu 
mann  now  delighted  in.  The  Italian  music 
which  he  then  heard  could  indeed  do  little  to 
wards  his  improvement,  except  that  it  gave  him, 
for  the  first  time,  the  opportunity  of  hearing 
Paganini.  The  deep  impression  made  by  that 
remarkable  player  is  shown  by  Schumann's  visit 
to  Frankfort  (Easter  1830)  with  several  friends 
to  hear  him  again,  and  by  his  arrangement  of 
his  'Caprices'  for  the  pianoforte  (op.  3  and  10). 
Shortly  after  this  he  seems  to  have  heard  Ernst 
also  in  Frankfort.  In  the  summer  of  1830  he 
made  a  tour  to  Strassburg,  and  on  the  way  back 
to  Saxony  visited  his  friend  Rosen  at  Detmold. 

Cc2 


388 


SCHUMANN. 


When  Schumann  entered  upon  his  third  year 
of  study,  he  made  a  serious  effort  to  devote 
himself  to  jurisprudence  ;  he  took  what  was 
called  a  JRepetitorium,  that  is,  he  began  going  over 
again  with  considerable  difficulty,  and  under 
the  care  and  guidance  of  an  old  lawyer,  what 
he  had  neglected  during  two  years.  He  also 
endeavoured  to  reconcile  himself  to  the  idea  of 
practical  work  in  public  life  or  the  government 
service.  His  spirit  soared  up  to  the  highest  goal, 
and  at  times  he  may  have  flattered  his  fancy 
with  dreams  of  having  attained  it ;  but  he  must 
have  been  convinced  of  the  improbability  of  such 
dreams  ever  coming  true  ;  and  indeed  he  never 
got  rid  of  his  antipathy  to  the  law  as  a  profes 
sion,  even  in  the  whole  course  of  his  Repeti- 
torium.  On  the  other  hand  it  must  be  said, 
that  if  he  was  ever  to  be  a  musician,  it  was 
becoming  high  time  for  it,  since  he  was  now 
20  years  old.  Thus  every  consideration  urged  him 
to  the  point.  Schumann  induced  his  mother, 
who  was  still  extremely  averse  to  the  calling  of 
a  musician,  to  put  the  decision  in  the  hands  of 
Friedrich  Wieck.  Wieck  did  not  conceal  from 
him  that  such  a  step  ought  only  to  be  taken 
after  the  most  thorough  self-examination,  but  if 
he  had  already  examined  himself,  then  Wieck 
could  only  advise  him  to  take  the  step.  Upon 
this  his  mother  yielded,  and  Robert  Schumann 
became  a  musician.  The  delight  and  freedom 
which  he  inwardly  felt  when  the  die  was  cast, 
must  have  shown  him  that  he  had  done  right. 
At  first  his  intention  was  only  to  make  himself 
a  great  pianoforte-player,  and  he  reckoned  that 
in  six  years  he  would  be  able  to  compete  with 
any  pianist.  But  he  still  felt  very  uncertain  as 
to  his  gift  as  a  composer ;  the  words  which  he 
wrote  to  his  mother  on  July  30,  1830 — 'Now 
and  then  I  discover  that  I  have  imagination,  and 
perhaps  a  turn  for  creating  things  myself ' 
sound  curiously  wanting  in  confidence,  when  we 
remember  how  almost  exclusively  Schumann's 
artistic  greatness  was  to  find  expression  in  his 
compositions. 

He  quitted  Heidelberg   late  in  the  summer 
of   1830,  in   order  to  resume  his   studies  with 
Wieck  in  Leipzig.  He  was  resolved,  after  having 
wasted  two  years  and  a  half,  to  devote  himself 
to  his  new  calling  with  energetic  purpose  and 
manly  vigour.     And  faithfully  did   he  keep  to 
his  resolution.     The  plan  of  becoming  a  great 
pianist  had,  however,  to  be  given  up  after  a  year. 
Actuated  by  the  passionate  desire  to  achieve  a  per 
fect  technique  as  speedily  as  possible,  Schumann 
devised  a  contrivance  by  which  the  greatest  pos 
sible  dexterity  of  finger  was  to  be  attained  in 
the  shortest  time.     By  means  of  this  ingenious 
appliance    the   third    finger    was    drawn    back 
and  kept  still,  while   the  other  fingers  had  to 
practice  exercises.     But  the  result  was  that  the 
tendons  of  the  third  finger  were  overstrained, 
the  finger  was  crippled,  and  for  some  time  the 
whole  right  hand  was  injured.    This  most  serious 
condition    was    alleviated     by    medical    treat 
ment.    Schumann  recovered  the  use  of  his  hand, 
and  could,  when  needful,  even  play  the  piano ;  , 


SCHUMANN. 

but  the  third  finger  remained  useless,  so  that 
he  was  for  ever  precluded  from  the  career  of 
a  virtuoso.     Although  express  evidence  is  want 
ing,  we  may  assume  with  certainty  that   this 
unexpected  misfortune  made  a  deep  impression 
upon   him ;    he    saw   himself    once   more   con 
fronted  with  the  question  whether  it  was  advis 
able   for    him    to   continue   in   the   calling  he 
had  chosen.     That  he  answered  it  in  the  affirm 
ative  shows  that  during  this  time  his  confidence 
in   his   own   creative   genius    had   wonderfully 
increased.     He  soon  reconciled  himself  to  the 
inevitable,    learned    to    appreciate    mechanical 
dexterity   at    its    true    value,    and    turned  his 
undivided   attention   to   composition.     He  con 
tinued    henceforth   in  the    most   friendly  rela 
tions  with  his  pianoforte-master,  Wieck  ;  indeed 
until  the  autumn  of  1832  he  lived  in  the  same 
house  with  him  (Grimmaische  Strasse,  No.  36), 
and  was  almost  one  of  the  family.     For  his  in 
structor    in    composition,    however,     he    chose 
Heinrich  Dorn,  at  that  time  conductor  of  the 
opera   in    Leipzig,    subsequently    Capellmeister 
at  Riga,  Cologne,  and  Berlin,  and  still  living 
in  Berlin  in  full  possession   of  his  intellectual 
vigour.     Dorn  was  a  clever  and  sterling  com 
poser;    he   recognised  the   greatness    of   Schu 
mann's  genius,  and  devoted  himself  with  much 
interest  to  his  improvement.1     It  was  impossible 
as  yet  to  confine  Schumann  to  a  regular  course 
of  composition :   he  worked  very  diligently,  but 
would  take  up  now  one  point  of  the  art  of  com 
position  and  now  another.     In  1836  he  writes 
to  Dorn  at  Riga  that  he  often  regrets  having 
learnt  in  too  irregular  a  manner  at  this  time; 
but  when  he  adds  directly  afterwards  that,  not 
withstanding   this,    he   had    learnt    more  from 
Dorn's  teaching  than  Dorn  would    believe,  we 
may  take  this  last  statement  as  true.     Schu 
mann  was  no  longer  a  tyro  in  composition,  but 
had   true  musical   genius,    and   his  spirit  was 
already  matured.     Under  such  circumstances  he 
was  justified  in  learning  in  his  own  way. 

In  the  winter  of  1832-3,  he  lived  at  Zwickau, 
and  for  a  time  also  with  his  brothers  at  Schnee- 
berg.  Besides  a  pianoforte- concerto,  which  still 
remains  a  fragment,  he  was  working  at  a  sym 
phony  in  G  minor,  of  which  the  first  move 
ment  was  publicly  performed  in  the  course  of 
the  winter  both  at  Schneeberg  and  Zwickau. 
If  we  may  trust  certain  evidence  (see  '  Musik- 
alisches  Wochenblatt' ;  Leipzig,  1875,  p.  180), 
the  whole  symphony  was  performed  at  Zwickau 
in  1835,  under  Schumann's  own  direction,  and 
the  last  movement  was  almost  a  failure. 

At  all  events  the  symphony  was  finished,  and 
Schumann  expected  it  to  be  a  great  success  ;  in 
this  he  must  have  been  disappointed,  for  it  has 
never  been  published.  The  first  performance  of 
the  first  movement  at  Zwickau  took  place  at  a 
concert  given  there  on  Nov.  1 8, 1832,  by  Wieck's 
daughter  Clara,  who  was  then  thirteen  years  of 

i  Schumann's  gratitude  to  him  is  thus  expressed  :—' The  man  who 
first  gave  a  hand  to  me  as  I  climbed  upwards,  and.  when  I  began  to 
doubt  myself,  drew  me  aloft  so  that  I  should  see  less  of  the  common 
herd  of  mankind,  and  more  of  the  pure  air  of  art.' 


SCHUMANN. 

age.  Even  then  the  performances  of  this  gifted 
girl,  who  was  so  soon  to  take  her  place  as  the 
greatest  female  pianist  of  Germany,  were  aston 
ishing,  and  by  them,  as  Schumann  puts  it, 
'  Zwickau  was  fired  with  enthusiasm  for  the 
first  time  in  its  life.'  It  is  easily  conceivable 
that  Schumann  himself  was  enthusiastically  de 
lighted  with  Clara,  adorned  as  she  was  with  the 
twofold  charm  of  childlike  sweetness  and  artistic 
genius.  '  Think  of  perfection,'  he  writes  to 
a  friend  about  her  on  April  5,  1833,  '  and  T  will 
agree  to  it.'  And  many  expressions  in  his 
letters  seems  even  to  betray  a  deeper  feeling,  of 
which  he  himself  did  not  become  fully  aware 
until  several  years  later. 

Schumann's  circumstances  allowed  him  to  re 
visit  Leipzig  in  March,  1833,  an^  even  to  live 
there  for  a  time  without  any  definite  occupa 
tion.     He  was  not  exactly  well  off,  but  he  had 
enough  to  enable  him  to  live  as  a  single  man 
of  moderate  means.      The  poverty  from  which 
BO  many   of  the   greatest    musicians   have  suf 
fered,  never  formed  part  of  Schumann's  expe 
rience.      He  occupied  himself  with   studies  in 
composition,  chiefly  in  the  contrapuntal  style,  in 
which  he  had  taken  the  liveliest  interest  since 
making  the  acquaintance  of  Bach's  works ;  besides 
this  his  imagination,  asserting  itself  more  and 
more  strongly,  impelled  him  to  the  creation  of 
free  compositions.     From  this  year  date  the  im 
promptus  for  piano  on  a  romance  by  Clara  Wieck, 
which  Schumann  dedicated  to  her  father,  and 
published  in  August,  1833,  as  op.  5.1     In  June 
he  wrote  the  first  and  third  movements  of  the  G 
minor  Sonata  (op.  22),  and  at  the  same  time 
began  the  Ffl  minor  Sonata  (op.  n)  and  com 
pleted  the   Toccata   (op.    7),   which   had  been 
begun  in    1829.     He    also    arranged   a  second 
set  of  Paganini's  violin  caprices  for  the  piano 
(op.  10),   having  made   a   first  attempt  of  the 
same  kind  (op.  3)  in  the  previous  year.     Mean 
while  he  lived  a  quiet  and  almost  monotonous 
life.      Of    family   acquaintances    he   had    few, 
nor  did   he  seek  them.      He  found  a  faithful 
friend   in  Frau  Henriette  Voigt,   who   was  as 
excellent  a  pianist  as  she  was  noble  and  sym 
pathetic  in  soul.     She  was  a  pupil  of  Ludwig 
Berger,  of  Berlin,  and  died  young  in  the  year 
1839.     Schumann  was  wont  as  a  rule  to  spend 
his  evenings  with  a  small  number  of  intimate 
friends  in  a  restaurant.     These  gatherings  gene 
rally  took  place  at  the  *  Kaffeebaum '  (Kleine 
Fleischergasse   No.   3).      He    himself   however 
generally  remained  silent  by  preference,  even  in 
this  confidential  circle  of  friends.     Readily  as  he 
could  express  himself  with  his  pen,  he  had  but 
little  power  of  speech.      Even  in  affairs  of  no 
importance,  which  could  have  been  transacted 
most  readily  and  simply  by  word  of  mouth,  he 
usually  preferred  to  write.  It  was  moreover  a  kind 
of  enjoyment  to  him  to  muse  in  dreamy  silence. 
Henriette  Voigt  told  W.  Taubert  that  one  lovely 
summer  evening,  after  making  music  with  Schu 
mann,  they  both  felt  inclined  to  go  on  the  water. 

i  Hofmeister,  Leipzig,  and  Ch.  Schumann,  Scbneeberg. 


SCHUMANN. 


389 


They  sat  side  by  side  in  the  boat  for  an  hour  in 
silence.  At  parting  Schumann  pressed  her  hand 
and  said,  '  To-day  we  have  perfectly  understood 
one  another.' 

It  was  at  these  evening  gatherings  at  the 
restaurant  in  the  winter  of  1833-4  that  the  plan 
of  starting  a  new  musical  paper  was  matured. 
It  was  the  protest  of  youth,  feeling  itself  im 
pelled  to  new  things  in  art,  against  the  existing 
state  of  music.  Although  Weber,  Beethoven, 
and  Schubert  had  only  been  dead  a  few  years, 
though  Spohr  and  Marschner  were  still  in  their 
prime,  and  Mendelssohn  was  beginning  to  be 
celebrated,  the  general  characteristic  of  the  music 
of  about  the  year  1830  was  either  superficiality 
or  else  vulgar  mediocrity.  '  On  the  stage  Eossini 
still  reigned  supreme,  and  on  the  pianoforte 
scarcely  anything  was  heard  but  Herz  and  Hun- 
ten.'  Under  these  conditions  the  war  might  have 
been  more  suitably  carried  on  by  means  of  im 
portant  works  of  art  than  by  a  periodical  about 
music.  Musical  criticism,  however,  was  itself  in 
a  bad  way  at  this  time.  The  periodical  called 
'  Csecilia,'  published  by  Schott,  which  had  been  in 
existence  since  1824,  was  unfitted  for  the  general 
reader,  both  by  its  contents  and  by  the  fact  of 
its  publication  in  parts.  The  'Berliner  allge- 
meine  musikalische  Zeitung,' conducted  by  Marx, 
had  come  to  an  end  in  1 830.  The  only  periodical 
of  influence  and  importance  in  1833  was  the 
'  Allgemeine  musikalische  Zeitung,'  published  by 
Breitkopf  &  Hartel  of  Leipzig,  and  at  that  time 
edited  by  G.  W.  Fink.  But  the  narrow  view  taken 
of  criticism  in  that  periodical,  its  inane  mildness 
of  judgment — Schumann  used  to  call  it  'Honig- 
pinselei '  or '  Honey-daubing ' — its  lenity  towards 
the  reigning  insipidity  and  superficiality,  could 
not  but  provoke  contradiction  from  young  people 
of  high  aims.  And  the  idea  of  first  bringing  the 
lever  to  bear  on  the  domain  of  critical  author 
ship,  in  order  to  try  their  strength,  must  have 
been  all  the  more  attractive  to  these  hot-headed 
youths,  since  most  of  them  had  had  the  advantage 
of  a  sound  scholarly  education  and  knew  how  to 
handle  their  pens.  On  the  other  hand,  they  felt 
that  they  were  not  yet  strong  enough  to  guide 
the  public  taste  into  new  paths  by  their  own 
musical  productions ;  and  of  all  the  set  Schumann 
was  the  most  sensible  of  this  fact. 

Such  were  the  grounds  on  which,  on  April  3, 
1834,  the  first  number  of  the  '  Neue  Zeitschriffc 
fur  Musik'  saw  the  light.  Schumann  himself 
called  it  the  organ  of  youth  and  movement.  As 
its  motto  he  even  chose  this  passage  from  the 
prologue  to  Shakespeare's  Henry  VIII : — 

Only  they 

Who  come  to  hear  a  merry  bawdy  play, 
A  noise  of  targets,  or  to  see  a  fellow 
In  a  long  motley  coat  guarded  with  yellow, 
"Will  be  deceived — 

a  passage  which  sufficiently  expresses  his  inten 
tion  of  contending  against  an  empty  flattering 
style  of  criticism,  and  upholding  the  dignity  of 
art.  '  The  day  of  reciprocal  compliments,'  says 
the  preliminary  notice,  '  is  gradually  dying  out, 
and  we  must  confess  that  we  shall  do  nothing 


390 


SCHUMANN. 


towards  reviving  it.  The  critic  who  dares  not 
attack  what  is  bad,  is  but  a  half-hearted  supporter 
of  what  is  good.'  The  doings  of  '  the  three  arch- 
foes  of  art — those  who  have  no  talent,  those  who 
have  vulgar  talent,  and  those  who  having  real 
talent,  write  too  much,'  are  not  to  be  left  in  peace ; 
'their  latest  phase,  the  result  of  a  mere  cul 
tivation  of  executive  technique,'  is  to  be  combatted 
as  inartistic.  'The  older  time,'  on  the  other 
hand,  'and  the  works  it  produced,  are  to  be 
recalled  with  insistance,  since  it  is  only  at  these 
pure  sources  that  new  beauties  in  art  can  be 
found.'  Moreover  the  '  Zeitschrift '  is  to  assist 
in  bringing  in  a  new  'poetic'  period  by  its 
benevolent  encouragement  of  the  higher  efforts 
of  young  artists,  and  to  accelerate  its  advent. 
The  editing  was  in  the  hands  of  Robert  Schu 
mann,  Friedrich  Wieck,  Ludwig  Schunke,  and 
Julius  Knorr. 

Of  all  these  Schunke  alone  was  exclusively  a 
musician.  That  gifted  pianist,  who  belonged  to 
a  widely  dispersed  family  of  esteemed  musicians, 
came  to  Leipzig  in  1833,  and  became  a  great 
friend  of  Schumann's,  but  died  at  the  end  of  the 
following  year  at  the  early  age  of  24.  The  three 
other  editors  were  by  education  half  musicians 
and  half  litterateurs,  even  Julius  Knorr  (born 
1807)  having  studied  philology  in  Leipzig.  Schu 
mann  co-operated  largely  in  Schunke's  contribu 
tions  (signed  with  the  figure  3),  for  handling  the 
pen  was  not  easy  to  him.  Hartmann  of  Leipzig 
was  at  first  the  publisher  and  proprietor  of  the 
Zeitschrift,  but  at  the  beginning  of  1835  ^  passed 
into  the  hands  of  J.  A.  Earth  of  Leipzig,  Schu 
mann  becoming  at  the  same  time  proprietor  and 
sole  editor.  He  continued  the  undertaking  under 
these  conditions  till  the  end  of  June  1844  ;  so 
that  his  management  of  the  paper  extended  over 
a  period  of  above  ten  years.  On  Jan.  I,  1845, 
Franz  Brendel  became  the  editor,  and  after  the 
summer  of  1 844  Schumann  never  again  wrote  for 
it,  with  the  exception  of  a  short  article1  on 
Johannes  Brahms  to  be  mentioned  hereafter. 

Schumann's  own  articles  are  sometimes  signed 
with  a  number — either  2  or  some  combination 
with  2,  such  as  12,  22,  etc.  He  also  concealed 
his  identity  under  a  variety  of  names — Florestan, 
Eusebius,  Raro,  Jeanquirit.  In  his  articles  we 
meet  with  frequent  mention  of  the  Davidsbundler, 
a  league  or  society  of  artists  or  friends  of  art  who 
had  views  in  common.  This  was  purely  ima 
ginary,  a  half-humorous,  half-poetical  fiction  of 
Schumann's,  existing  only  in  the  brain  of  its 
founder,  who  thought  it  well  fitted  to  give  weight 
to  the  expression  of  various  views  of  art,  which 
were  occasionally  put  forth  as  its  utterances.  The 
idea  betrays  some  poetic  talent,  since  in  this  way 
mere  critical  discussions  gain  the  charm  of  drama 
tic  life.  The  characters  which  most  usually  ap 
pear  are  Florestan  and  Eusebius,  two  personages 
in  whom  Schumann  endeavoured  to  embody  the 
two  opposite  sides  of  his  nature.  The  vehement, 
stormy,  rough  element  is  represented  by  Flores 
tan;  the  gentler  and  more  poetic  one  by  Eusebius. 

l  'Neue  Bahneu,'  New  Paths,  Oct.  28, 1853. 


SCHUMANN. 

These  two  figures  are  obviously  imitated  from 
Vult  and  Walt  in  Jean  Paul's  '  Flegeljahre ' ; 
indeed  Schumann's  literary  work  throughout  is 
strongly  coloured  with  the  manner  of  Jean  Paul, 
and  frequent  reference  is  made  to  his  writings. 
Now  and  then,  as  moderator  between  these  an 
tagonistic  characters,  who  of  course  take  opposite 
views  in  criticism,  '  Master  Raro'  comes  in.     In 
him  Schumann  has  conceived  a  character  such  as 
at  one  time  he  had  himself  dreamed  of  becoming. 
The  explanation  of  the  name  '  Davidsbiindler '  is 
given  at  the  beginning  of  a  'Shrove  Tuesday 
discourse*  by  Florestan  in  the  year  1835.     'The 
hosts  of  David  are  youths  and  men  destined  to 
slay  all  the  Philistines,  musical  or  other.'    In  the 
college-slang  of  Germany  the  'Philistine'  is  the 
non-student,  who  is  satisfied  to  live  on  in  the  ordi 
nary  routine  of  every-day  life,  or — which  comes  to 
the  same  thing  in  the  student's  mind — the  man  of 
narrow,  sober,  prosaic  views,  as  contrasted  with 
the  high-flown  poetry  and  enthusiasm  of  the  social 
life  of  a  German  university.    Thus,  in  the  name  of 
Idealism,  the  '  Davidsbundler '  wage  war  against 
boorish  mediocrity,  and  when  Schumann  regarded 
it  as  the  function  of  his  paper  to  aid  in  bringing  in 
a  new  'poetical  phase'  in  music  he  meant  just  this. 
Though  Schumann  was  himself  the  sole  reality 
in  the  '  Davidsbiindlerschaft,'  he   indulged  his 
fancy  by  introducing  personages  of  his  acquaint 
ance  whose  agreement  with  his  views  he  was 
sure  of.     He  quietly  included  all  the  principal 
co-operators  in  the  Zeitschrift,  and  even  artists 
such  as  Berlioz,  whom  he  did  not  know,  but  in 
whom  he  felt  an  interest,  and  was  thus  justi 
fied  in  writing  to  A.  von  Zuccamaglio  in  1836  : — 
'By  the  Daridsbund  is  figured  an  intellectual 
brotherhood  which  ramifies  widely,  and  I  hope 
may  bear  golden  fruit.'    He  brings  in  the  bre 
thren,  who  are  not  actually  himself,  from  time 
to   time    in    the   critical   discussions ;   and  the 
way  in  which  he  contrives  to  make  this  motley 
troupe  of  romantic  forms  live  and  move  before 
the  eyes  of  the  reader  is  really  quite  magical. 
He  could  say  with  justice : — '  We  are  now  living 
a  romance  the  like  of  which  has  perhaps  never 
been  written  in  any  book.'      We  meet  with  a 
Jonathan,  who  may  perhaps  stand  for  Schunke 
(on  another  occasion  however  Schumann  desig 
nates  himself  by  this  name) ;  a  Fritz  Friedrich, 
probably  meant  for  Lyser2  the  painter,  a  lover 
of  music ;  Serpentin  is  Carl  Banck,  a  clever  com 
poser  of  songs,  who  at  the  outset  was  one  of 
his  most  zealous  and  meritorious  fellow-workers ; 
Gottschalk  Wedel  is  Anton  von  Zuccamaglio, 
then  living  in  Warsaw,  who  had  made  a  name 
by  his  collection  of  German  and  foreign  '  Volks- 
lieder'  ;    Chiara  is  of  course  Clara  Wieck,  and 
Zilia  (apparently  shortened  from  Cecilia)  is  pro 
bably   the   same.      Felix   Mendelssohn  appears 
under  the  name  of  Felix  Meritis,  and  the  name 
Walt  occurs  once  (in  1836,  'Aus  den  Buchern 
der  Davidsbiindler,'  ii.  Tanzlitteratur).     It  can 
not  be  asserted  that  any  particular  person  was 
meant,  still  his  direct  reference  to  Jean  Pauls 

2  Author  of  the  sketch  of  Eeethoyen  engraved  at  p.  170  of  vol.  i. 
of  this  Dictionary. 


SCHUMANN. 

'Flegeljahre'  is  interesting.  There  is  also  a 
certain  Julius  among  the  '  Davidsbiindler,'  pro 
bably  Julius  Knorr.  The  name  occurs  in  Schu 
mann's  first  essay  on  music,  '  Ein  opus  ii.'  This 
is  not  included  in  the  'Neue  Zeitschrift,'  but 
appears  in  No.  49  of  the  'Allgemeine  Musik- 
alische  Zeitung'  for  1831  (then  edited  by  Fink). 
The  editor  has  prefixed  a  note  to  the  effect  that 
'it  is  by  a  young  man,  a  pupil  of  the  latest 
school,  who  has  given  his  name,'  and  contrasts 
it  with  the  anonymous  work  of  a  reviewer  of  the 
old  school  discussing  the  same  piece  of  music. 
The  contrast  is  indeed  striking,  and  the  imagin 
ative  flights  of  enthusiastic  young  genius  look 
strange  enough  among  the  old-world  surround 
ings  of  the  rest  of  the  paper. 

Schumann  placed  this  critique — which  deals 
with  Chopin's  variations  on  '  La  ci  darem ' — at 
the  beginning  of  his  collected  writings,  which  he 
published  towards  the  close  of  his  life  ('  Gesam- 
melte  Schriften,'  4  vols.  Georg  Wigand,  Leipzig, 
1854).  It  is  a  good  example  of  the  tone  which  he 
adopted  in  the  '  Neue  Zeitschrift.'  His  fellow- 
workers  fell  more  or  less  into  the  same  key,  not 
from  servility,  but  because  they  were  all  young 
men,  and  because  the  reaction  against  the  Phi 
listine  style  of  criticism  was  just  then  in  the  air. 
This  may  be  plainly  detected,  for  instance,  in  a 
critique  written  by  Wieck  for  the  periodical 
called  '  Cecilia,'  on  Chopin's  airs  with  variations, 
and  which  is  indeed  fanciful  enough.  Thus  it 
is  easy  to  understand  that  the  total  novelty  of 
the  style  of  writing  of  the  'Neue  Zeitschrift' 
should  have  attracted  attention  to  music ;  the 
paper  soon  obtained  a  comparatively  large  cir 
culation  ;  and  as,  besides  the  charm  of  novelty 
and  style,  it  offered  a  variety  of  instructive  and 
entertaining  matter,  and  discussed  important 
subjects  earnestly  and  cleverly,  the  interest  of 
the  public  was  kept  up,  and  indeed  constantly 
increased  from  year  to  year.  The  influence  ex 
erted  by  Schumann  on  musical  art  in  Germany 
through  the  medium  of  this  paper,  cannot  but  be 
regarded  as  very  important. 

It  has  been  sometimes  said  that  Schumann's 
literary  labours  must  have  done  him  mischief,  by 
taking  up  time  and  energy  which  might  have  been 
better  employed  in  composition.  But  this  view 
seems  to  me  untenable.  Up  to  the  period  at 
which  we  have  now  arrived,  Schumann,  on  his 
own  statement,  had  merely  dreamed  away  his  life 
at  the  piano.  His  tendency  to  self-concentration, 
his  shyness,  and  his  independent  circumstances, 
placed  him  in  danger  of  never  achieving  that 
perfect  development  of  his  powers  which  is  pos 
sible  only  by  vigorous  exercise.  Now  the  editing 
of  a  journal  is  an  effectual  remedy  for  dreaming ; 
and  when,  at  the  beginning  of  1835,  he  became 
sole  editor,  however  much  he  may  have  felt  the 
inexorable  necessity  of  satisfying  his  readers  week 
after  week,  and  of  keeping  his  aim  constantly  in 
view,  it  was  no  doubt  a  most  beneficial  exercise  for 
his  will  and  energies.  He  was  conscious  of  this, 
or  he  certainly  would  not  have  clung  to  the  paper 
with  such  affection  and  persistency ;  and  it  is  a 
matter  of  fact  that  the  period  of  his  happiest 


SCHUMANN. 


391 


and  most  vigorous  creativeness  coincides  pretty 
nearly  with  that  during  which  he  was  engaged 
on  the  '  Zeitschrift.'  Hence,  to  suppose  that  his 
literary  work  was  any  drawback  to  his  artistic 
career  is  an  error,  though  it  is  true  that  as  he 
gradually  discovered  the  inexhaustible  fertility  of 
his  creative  genius,  he  sometimes  complained  that 
the  details  of  an  editor's  work  were  a  burthen 
to  him.  Besides,  the  paper  was  the  medium  by 
which  Schumann  was  first  brought  into  contact 
and  intercourse  with  the  most  illustrious  artists 
of  his  time ;  and  living  as  he  did  apart  from  all 
the  practically  musical  circles  of  Leipzig,  it  was 
almost  the  only  link  between  himself  and  the 
contemporary  world. 

Nor  must  we  overlook  the  fact  that  certain 
peculiar  gifts  of  Schumann's  found  expression  in 
his  writings  on  musical  subjects,  gifts  which  would 
otherwise  scarcely  have  found  room  for  display. 
His  poetic  talent  was  probably  neither  rich 
enough  nor  strong  enough  for  the  production  of 
large  independent  poems;  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
it  was  far  too  considerable  to  be  condemned  to 
perpetual  silence.  In  his  essays  and  critiques, 
which  must  be  regarded  rather  as  poetic  flights 
and  sympathetic  interpretations  than  as  examples 
of  incisive  analysis,  his  poetical  gift  found  a 
natural  outlet,  and  literature  is  by  so  much  the 
richer  for  them.  Nay,  it  is  a  not  unreasonable 
speculation  whether,  if  his  imaginative  powers 
had  not  found  this  vent  they  might  not  have 
formed  a  disturbing  and  marring  element  in  his 
musical  creations.  Even  as  it  is,  poetical  imagery 
plays  an  important  part  in  Schumann's  music, 
though  without  seriously  overstepping  the  per 
missible  limits.  This  too  we  may  safely  say, 
that  in  spite  of  his  silent  and  self-contained 
nature,  there  was  in  Schumann  a  vein  of  the 
genuine  agitator,  in  the  best  and  noblest  sense 
of  the  word ;  he  was  possessed  by  the  convic 
tion  that  the  development  of  German  art,  then 
in  progress,  had  not  yet  come  to  its  final  term, 
and  that  a  new  phase  of  its  existence  was  at 
hand.  Throughout  his  writings  we  find  this  view 
beautifully  and  poetically  expressed,  as  for  in 
stance,  '  Consciously  or  unconsciously  a  new  and 
as  yet  undeveloped  school  is  being  founded  on 
the  basis  of  the  Beethoven-Schubert  romanticism, 
a  school  which  we  may  venture  to  expect  will 
mark  a  special  epoch  in  the  history  of  art.  Its 
destiny  seems  to  be  to  usher  in  a  period  which 
will  nevertheless  have  many  links  to  connect  it 
with  the  past  century.'  Or  again  :  '  A  rosy  light 
is  dawning  in  the  sky ;  whence  it  cometh  I  know 
not;  but  in  any  case,  0  youth,  make  for  the  light.' 

To  rouse  fresh  interest  and  make  use  of  that 
already  existing  for  the  advancement  of  this  new 
movement  was  one  of  his  deepest  instincts,  and 
this  he  largely  accomplished  by  means  of  his 
paper.  From  his  pen  we  have  articles  on  almost 
all  the  most  illustrious  composers  of  his  generation 
— Mendelssohn,  Taubert,  Chopin,  Hiller,  Heller, 
Henselt,  Sterndale-Bennett,  Gade,  Kirchner,  and 
Franz,  as  well  as  Johannes  Brahms,  undoubtedly 
the  most  remarkable  composer  of  the  generation 
after  Schumann.  On  some  he  first  threw  the 


392 


SCHUMANN. 


light  of  intelligent  and  enthusiastic  literary  sym 
pathy  ;  others  he  was  actually  the  first  to  intro 
duce  to  the  musical  world ;  and  even  Berlioz,  a 
Frenchman,  he  eulogised  boldly  and  successfully, 
recognising  in  him  a  champion  of  the  new  idea. 
By  degrees  he  would  naturally  discern  that  he 
had  thus  prepared  the  soil  for  the  reception  of 
his  own  works.  He  felt  himself  in  close  affinity 
with  all  these  artists,  and  was  more  and  more 
confirmed  in  his  conviction  that  he  too  had  some 
thing  to  say  to  the  world  that  it  had  not  heard 
before.  'If  you  only  knew,'  he  wrote  in  1836 
to  Moscheles  in  London,  '  how  I  feel,  as  though 
I  had  reached  but  the  lowest  bough  of  the  tree 
of  heaven ;  and  could  hear  overhead,  in  hours  of 
sacred  loneliness,  songs,  some  of  which  I  may  yet 
reveal  to  those  I  love — you  surely  would  not 
deny  me  an  encouraging  word.'  In  the  Zeit- 
schrift  he  must  have  been  aware  that  he  con 
trolled  a  power  which  would  serve  to  open  a 
shorter  route  for  his  own  musical  productions. 
'  If  the  publisher  were  not  afraid  of  the  editor, 
the  world  would  hear  nothing  of  me — perhaps  to 
the  world's  advantage.  And  yet  the  black  heads 
of  the  printed  notes  are  very  pleasant  to  behold.' 
'  To  give  up  the  paper  would  involve  the  loss 
of  all  the  reserve  force  which  every  artist  ought 
to  have  if  he  is  to  produce  easily  and  freely.' 

So  he  wrote  in  1836  and  1837.  But  at  the 
same  time  we  must  emphatically  contradict  the 
suggestion  that  Schumann  used  his  paper  for 
selfish  ends.  His  soul  was  too  entirely  noble  and 
his  ideal  aims  too  high  to  have  any  purpose  in 
view  but  the  advancement  of  art ;  and  it  was 
only  in  so  far  as  his  own  interests  were  insepar 
able  from  those  of  his  whole  generation,  that  he 
would  ever  have  been  capable  of  forwarding  the 
fortunes  of  his  own  works.  The  question  even 
whether,  and  in  what  manner,  his  own  works 
should  be  discussed  in  the  Neue  Zeitschrift  he 
always  treated  with  the  utmost  tact.  In  one  of 
his  letters  he  clearly  expresses  his  principles  on 
the  subject  as  follows  :  '  I  am,  to  speak  frankly, 
too  proud  to  attempt  to  influence  Hartel  through 
Fink  (editor  of  the  'Allgememe  inus.  Zeitung'); 
and  I  hate,  at  all  times,  any  mode  of  instigating 
public  opinion  by  the  artist  himself.  What  is 
strong  enough  works  its  own  way.' 

His  efforts  for  the  good  cause  indeed  went 
beyond  essay-writing  and  composing.  Extracts 
from  a  note-book  published  by  Wasielewski 
prove  that  he  busied  himself  with  a  variety  of 
plans  for  musical  undertakings  of  general  utility. 
Thus  he  wished  to  compile  lives  of  Beethoven 
and  of  Bach,  with  a  critique  of  all  their  works, 
and  a  biographical  dictionary  of  living  musicians, 
on  the  same  plan.  He  desired  that  the  relations 
of  operatic  composers  and  managers  should  be 
regulated  by  law.  He  wished  to  establish  an 
agency  for  the  publication  of  musical  works,  so 
that  composers  might  derive  greater  benefit  from 
their  publications,  and  gave  his  mind  to  a  plan 
for  founding  a  Musical  Union  in  Saxony,  with 
Leipzig  as  its  head-quarters,  to  be  the  counter 
part  of  Schilling's  National  German  Union 
^Deutscheu  National  Verein  fiir  Musik). 


SCHUMANN. 

In  the  first  period  of  his  editorship,  before  he 
had  got  into  the  way  of  easily  mastering  his  day's 
labour,  and  when  the  regular  round  of  work  had 
still  the  charm  of  novelty,  it  was  of  course  only 
now  and  then  that   he    had  leisure,  or  felt  in 
the  mood,  for  composing.     Two  great  pianoforte 
works  date  from  1834  C^6  'Carnaval,'  op.  9,  and 
the  '  Etudes  Symphoniques,'  op.  13),   but  in  1835 
nothing  was    completed.      After  this,  however, 
Schumann's  genius  began  again  to  assert  itself, 
and  in  the  years  1836  to  1839  he  composed  that 
splendid  set  of  pianoforte  works  of  the  highest 
excellence,  on  which  a  considerable  part  of  his 
fame  rests ;  viz.  the  great  Fantasia  (op.  r  7),  the 
F  minor  Sonata  (op.  14),  Fantasiestiicke  (op.  12), 
Davidsbiindlertanze,  Novelletten,  Kinderscenen, 
Kreisleriana,  Huinoreske,  Faschingsschwank,  Eo- 
manzen,  and  others.     The  fount  of  his  creative 
genius  flowed  forth  ever  clearer  and  more  abund 
antly.    'I  used  to  rack  my  brains  for  a  long  time,' 
writes  he  on  March  15, 1839,  '  but  now  I  scarcely 
ever  scratch  out  a  note.   It  all  comes  from  within, 
and  I  often  feel  as  if  I  could  go  playing  straight 
on  without  ever  coming  to  an  end.'     The  in 
fluence  of  Schumann  the  author  on  Schumann 
the   composer    may    often   be   detected.     Thus 
the  '  Davidsbiindler'  come  into  his  music,  and 
the   composition   which   bears   their  name  was 
originally   entitled  <  Davidsbiindler  dances  for 
the  Pianoforte,  dedicated  to  Walther  von  Goethe 
by  Florestan  and  Eusebius.'     The  title   of  the 
Fj  minor  Sonata,  op.  n,  which  was  completed 
in  1835,  runs  thus:    ' Pianoforte  Sonata.    Dedi 
cated  to  Clara  by  Florestan  and  Eusebius.'    In 
the  '  Carnaval,'  a  set  of   separate  and   shorter 
pieces  with  a  title  to  each,  the  names  of  Flores 
tan  and  Eusebius  occur  again,  as    do   those  of 
Chiarina  (the  diminutive  of  Clara),  and  Chopin ; 
the  whole  concluding  with  a  march  of  the  Davids 
biindler  against  the  Philistines. 

The   reception   of  Schumann's  works  by  the 
critics  was  most  favourable  and  encouraging,  but 
the  public  was  repelled  by  their  eccentricity  and 
originality  ;  and  it  was  not  till  after  the  iippear- 
ance   of  the   'Kinderscenen'   (1839)  that  they 
began  to  be  appreciated.     Ops.  I  and  2  actually 
had  the  honour  of  a  notice  in  the  Vienna '  Musik- 
alische  Zeitung'   of  1832,  by  no  less  a  person 
than  Grillparzer  the  poet.     Fink  designedly  took 
hardly  any  notice  of  Schumann  in  the  '  Allge- 
meine  musikalische  Zeitung.'     But  Liszt  wrote 
a  long,  discriminating,  and  very  favourable  article 
in  the  'Gazette  Musicale'  of  1837  upon  the  Im 
promptus  (op.  5),  and  the  Sonatas  in  Fjf  minor 
and  F  minor.    Moscheles  wrote  very  sympatheti 
cally  on  the  two  sonatas  in  the  '  Neue  Zeitschrift 
fur  Musik'  itself  (vols  5  and  6),  and  some  kind 
words  of  recognition  of  Schumann's  genius  were 
published  subsequently  from  his  diary  (Mosche- 
les's  'Leben,'  Leipzig,  1873,  vol.  ii.  p.  15;  English 
translation   by   A.  L\  Coleridge,   vol.  ii.  p.  19* 
20).     Other  musicians,    though   not  expressing 
their  sentiments  publicly,  continued  to  hold  aloof 
from  him.     Hauptmann  at  that  time  calls  Schu 
mann's    pianoforte    compositions    '  pretty    and 
curious    little    things,    all    wanting    in    proper 


SCHUMANN. 

solidity,  but  otherwise  interesting.'  (See  Haupt- 
mann's  Letters  to  Hauser,  Leipzig,  1871,  vol.  i. 
p.  255.) 

In  October  1835  the  musical  world  of  Leipzig 
was  enriched  by  the  arrival  of  Mendelssohn.  It 
was  already  in  a  flourishing  state  :  operas,  con 
certs,  and  sacred  performances  alike  were  of  great 
excellence,  and  well  supported  by  the  public. 
But  although  the  soil  was  well  prepared  before 
Mendelssohn's  arrival,  it  was  he  who  raised 
Leipzig  to  the  position  of  the  most  musical  town 
of  Germany.  The  extraordinarily  vigorous  life 
that  at  once  grew  up  there  under  the  influence 
of  his  genius,  drawing  to  itself  from  far  and  near 
the  most  important  musical  talent  of  the  country, 
has  shown  itself  to  be  of  so  enduring  a  character 
that  even  at  the  present  day  its  influences  are 
felt.  Schumann  too,  who  had  long  felt  great 
respect  for  Mendelssohn,  was  drawn  into  his 
circle.  On  Oct.  4,  1835,  Mendelssohn  conducted 
his  first  concert  in  the  Gewandhaus;  the  day 
before  this  there  was  a  musical  gathering  at 
the  Wiecks',  at  which  both  Mendelssohn  and 
Schumann  were  present,  and  it  seems  to  have 
been  on  this  occasion  that  the  two  greatest 
musicians  of  their  time  first  came  into  close 
personal  intercourse.  (Moscheles's  'Leben,'  i. 
301;  English  translation,  i.  322.)  On  Oct.  5, 
Mendelssohn,  Schumann,  Moscheles,  Banck,  and 
a  few  others,  dined  together.  In  the  afternoon 
of  the  6th  there  was  again  music  at  Wieck's 
house;  Moscheles,  Clara  Wieck,  and  L.  Rake- 
mann  from  Bremen,  played  Bach's  D  minor 
Concerto  for  three  claviers,  Mendelssohn  putting 
in  the  orchestral  accompaniments  on  a  fourth 
piano.  Schumann,  who  was  also  present,  writes 
in  the  'Zeitschrift,'  'It  was  splendid  to  listen  to.' 
Moscheles  had  come  over  from  Hamburg,  where 
he  was  staying  on  a  visit,  to  give  a  concert  in 
Leipzig.  Schumann  had  already  been  in  corre 
spondence  with  him,  but  this  was  the  first  oppor 
tunity  he  had  enjoyed  of  making  the  personal 
acquaintance  of  the  man  whose  playing  had  so 
delighted  him  in  Carlsbad  when  a  boy  of  9. 
Moscheles  describes  him  as  'a  retiring  but  in 
teresting  young  man,'  and  the  Ffl  minor  Sonata, 
played  to  him  by  Clara  Wieck,  as '  very  laboured, 
difficult,  and  somewhat  intricate,  although  in 
teresting.' 

A  livelier  intimacy,  so  far  as  Schumann  was 
concerned,  soon  sprang  up  between  him  and 
Mendelssohn.  When  Mendelssohn  had  to  go  to 
Diisseldorf  in  May  1836,  to  the  first  performance 
of '  St.  Paul '  at  the  Niederrheinische  Musikfest, 
Schumann  even  intended  to  go  with  him,  and  vras 
ready  months  beforehand,  though  when  the  time 
arrived  he  was  prevented  from  going.  They  used 
to  like  to  dine  together,  and  gradually  an  in 
teresting  little  circle  was  formed  around  them, 
including  among  others  Ferdinand  David,  whom 
Mendelssohn  had  brought  to  Leipzig  as  leader  of 
his  orchestra.  In  the  early  part  of  January  1837 
Mendelssohn  and  Schumann  used  in  this  way  to 
meet  every  day  and  interchange  ideas,  so  far  as 
Schumann's  silent  temperament  would  allow. 
Subsequently  when  Mendelssohn  was  kept  more 


SCHUMANN. 


393 


at  home  by  his  marriage,  this  intercourse  became 
rarer.      Schumann  was    by    nature    unsociable, 
and  at  this  time  there  were  outward  circum 
stances  which  rendered  solitude  doubly  attractive 
to  him.     Ferdinand  Hiller,  who  spent  the  winter 
of  1839-40  in  Leipzig  with  Mendelssohn,  relates 
that  Schumann  was  at  that  time  living  the  life 
of  a  recluse  and  scarcely  ever  came  out  of  hia 
room.     Mendelssohn  and  Schumann  felt  them 
selves  drawn  together  by  mutual  appreciation. 
The  artistic  relations  between  the  two  great  men 
were  not  as  yet,  however,  thoroughly  reciprocal. 
Schumann   admired   Mendelssohn  to  the  point 
of  enthusiasm.     He  declared  him  to  be  the  best 
musician  then  living,  said  that  he  looked  up  to 
him  as  to  a  high  mountain-peak,  and  that  even 
in  his  daily  talk  about  art  some  thought  at  least 
would   be  uttered  worthy  of  being  graven  in 
gold.     And  when  he  mentions  him  in  his  writ 
ings,  it  is  in  a  tone  of  enthusiastic  admiration, 
which  shows  in  the  best  light  Schumann's  fine 
ideal  character,  so  remarkable  for  its  freedom 
from  envy.   And  his  opinion  remained  unaltered : 
in  1842  he  dedicated  his  three  string  quartets  to 
Mendelssohn,  and  in  the  'Album  fur  die  Jugend' 
there  is  a  little  piano  piece  called  'Erinnerung,' 
dated  Nov.  4,  1847,  which  shows  with  eloquent 
simplicity  how  deeply  he  felt  the  early  death  of 
his  friend.     It  is  well  known  how  he  would  be 
moved  out  of  his  quiet  stillness  if  he  heard  any 
disparaging   expression    used    of    Mendelssohn. 
Mendelssohn,  on  the  contrary,  at  first  only  saw 
in  Schumann   the  man  of  letters  and  the  art- 
critic.     Like  most  productive  musicians,  he  had 
a  dislike  to  such  men  as  a  class,  however  much 
he  might  love  and  value  single  representatives, 
as  was  really  the  case  with  regard  to  Schumann. 
From  this  point  of  view  must  be  regarded  the 
expressions  which  he  makes  use  of  now  and  then 
in  letters  concerning  Schumann   as  an  author. 
(See  Mendelssohn's  'Briefe,'  ii.  116;  Lady  Wal 
lace's  translation  ii.   97  j1   and  Hiller's   'Felix 
Mendelssohn  Bartholdy,'  Cologne,  1878,  p.  64.) 
If  they  sound  somewhat  disparaging,  we  must 
remember  that  it  is  not  the  personal  Mendelssohn 
speaking  against   the  personal   Schumann,   but 
rather  the  creative  artist  speaking  against  the 
critic,  always  in  natural  opposition  to  him.     In 
deed  it   is   obviously  impossible   to   take   such 
remarks  in  a  disadvantageous  sense,  as  Schu 
mann  quite  agreed  with    Mendelssohn  on  the 
subject  of  criticism.    One  passage  in  his  writings 
is  especially  remarkable  in  this  respect.     He  is 
speaking  of  Chopin's   pianoforte  concerto,   and 
Florestan  exclaims  '  What  is  a  whole  year  of  a 
musical  paper  compared  to  a  concerto  by  Cho 
pin?     What  is  a  magister's  rage  compared  to 
the  poetic  frenzy  ?    What  are  ten  complimentary 
addresses  to  the  editor  compared  to  the  Adagio 
in  the  second  Concerto  ?    And  believe  me,  David- 
ites,  I  should  not  think  you  worth  the  trouble  of 
talking  to,  did  I  not  believe  you  capable  of  com 
posing  such  works  as  those  you  write  about,  with 
the  exception  of  a  few  like  this  concerto.    Away 

i  Hardly  recognisable,  owing  to  '  Die  musikalische  Zeitung"  (Schu 
mann's  Paper;  being  rendered  '  The  musical  papers.' 


394 


SCHUMANN. 


with  your  musical  journals !  It  should  be  the 
highest  endeavour  of  a  just  critic  to  render  him 
self  wholly  unnecessary  ;  the  best  discourse  on 
music  is  silence.  Why  write  about  Chopin  ? 
Why  not  create  at  first  hand — play,  write,  and 
compose?'  ('Gesammelte  Schriften,'  i.  276; 
Engl.  trans,  in  'Music  and  Musicians,'  series  i. 
p.  205.)  True,  this  impassioned  outburst  has 
to  be  moderated  by  Eusebius.  But  consider  the 
significance  of  Schumann's  writing  thus  in  his 
own  journal  about  the  critic's  vocation !  It  plainly 
shows  that  he  only  took  it  up  as  an  artist,  and 
occasionally  despised  it.  But  with  regard  to 
Schumann's  place  in  art,  Mendelssohn  did  not,  at 
that  time  at  all  events,  consider  it  a  very  high 
one,  and  lie  was  not  alone  in  this  opinion.  It 
was  shared,  for  example,  by  Spohr  and  Haupt- 
mann.  In  Mendelssohn's  published  letters  there 
is  no  verdict  whatever  on  Schumann's  music. 
The  fact  however  remains  that  in  Schumann's 
earlier  pianoforte  works  he  felt  that  the  power 
or  the  desire  for  expression  in  the  greater  forms 
was  wanting,  and  this  he  said  in  conversation. 
He  soon  had  reason  to  change  his  opinion,  and 
afterwards  expressed  warm,  interest  in  his  friend's 
compositions.  Whether  he  ever  quite  entered  into 
the  individualities  of  Schumann's  music  may  well 
be  doubted  ;  their  natures  were  too  dissimilar.  To 
a  certain  extent  the  German  nation  has  recovered 
from  one  mistake  in  judgment;  the  tendency 
to  elevate  Schumann  above  Mendelssohn  was  for 
a  very  long  time  unmistakable.  Latterly  their 
verdict  has  become  more  just,  and  the  two  are 
now  recognised  as  composers  of  equal  greatness. 
Schumann's  constant  intimacy  in  Wieck's 
house  had  resulted  in  a  tender  attachment  to  his 
daughter  Clara,  now  grown  up.  So  far  as  we 
know  it  was  in  the  spring  of  1836  that  this  first 
found  any  definite  expression.  His  regard  was 
reciprocated,  and  in  the  summer  of  the  following 
year  he  preferred  his  suit  formally  to  her  father. 
Wieck  however  did  not  favour  it ;  possibly  he 
entertained  loftier  hopes  for  his  gifted  daughter. 
At  any  rate  he  was  of  opinion  that  Schumann's 
means  and  prospects  were  too  vague  and  un 
certain  to  warrant  his  setting  up  a  home  of  his 
own.  Schumann  seems  to  have  acknowledged 
the  justice  of  this  hesitation,  for  in  1838  he  made 
strenuous  efforts  to  find  a  new  and  wider  sphere 
of  work.  With  the  full  consent  of  Clara  Wieck 
he  decided  on  settling  in  Vienna,  and  bringing 
out  his  musical  periodical  in  that  city.  The  glory 
of  a  great  epoch  still  cast  a  light  over  the  musical 
life  of  the  Austrian  capital — the  epoch  when 
Gluck,  Haydn,  Mozart,  Beethoven  and  Schu 
bert  were  living  and  working  there.  In  point  of 
fact,  all  genuine  music  had  vanished  even  during 
Beethoven's  lifetime,  and  had  given  way  to  a 
trivial  and  superficial  taste.  Rossini  and  his  fol 
lowers  were  paramount  in  opera;  in  orchestral 
music  there  were  the  waltzes  of  Strauss  and 
Lanner ;  and  in  vocal  music  the  feeble  senti 
mentalities  of  Proch  and  his  fellow-composers. 
So  far  as  solo  playing  was  concerned,  the  fourth 
decade  of  the  century  saw  it  at  its  highest  pitch 
of  executive  brilliancy,  and  its  lowest  of  pur- 


SCHUMANN. 

pose  and  feeling — indeed  it  may  be  comprehen 
sively  designated  as  the  epoch  of  Thalberg. 
Thus  Schumann  would  have  found  in  Vienna 
ample  opportunity  for  doing  good  work,  for  the 
Viennese  public  was  still  as  ever  the  most  re 
sponsive  in  the  world,  and  one  to  justify  sanguine 
hopes.  Schumann  effected  his  move  with  the 
assistance  of  Professor  Joseph  Fischhof,  his  col 
league  in  the  paper ;  settling  himself  in  Oct. 
1838  in  the  Schb'nlaterngasse,  No.  679.  Oswald 
Lorenz  edited  the  '  Zeitschrift '  as  Schumann's 
deputy,  and  for  a  time  it  was  still  to  be  issued 
in  Leipzig.  Schumann  hoped  to  be  able  to  bring 
it  out  in  Vienna  by  Jan.  1839,  an(^  made  every 
effort  to  obtain  the  prompt  permission  of  the 
authorities,  as  well  as  the  support  of  influential 
persons  for  himself  and  his  journal.  But  the 
consent  of  the  censor's  office  and  the  police 
were  long  withheld ;  and  he  was  required  to 
secure  the  co-operation  of  an  Austrian  publisher, 
in  itself  a  great  difficulty.  It  is  hard  to  believe 
that  in  the  great  city  of  Vienna  no  strictly 
musical  newspaper  then  existed,  and  that  a  small 
catalogue,  the  'Allgemeine  musikalischer  An- 
zeiger,'  published  weekly  by  Tobias  Haslinger, 
and  almost  exclusively  devoted  to  the  business 
interests  of  his  firm,  was  the  only  publication 
which  could  pretend  to  the  name.  But  the  pub 
lishers  were  either  too  indolent  or  too  timid  to 
attempt  any  new  enterprise,  and  sought  to  throw 
impediments  in  Schumann's  way. 

His  courage  and  hopefulness  were  soon  much 
reduced.  The  superficially  kind  welcome  he  met 
everywhere  could  not  conceal  the  petty  strife  of 
coteries,  the  party  spirit  and  gossip  of  a  society 
which  might  have  been  provincial.  The  pub 
lic,  though  keenly  alive  to  music,  was  devoid 
of  all  critical  taste.  'He  could  not  get  on  with 
these  people,'  he  writes  to  Zuccamaglio  as  early 
as  Oct.  19,  1838  ;  their  utter  insipidity  was  at 
times  too  much  for  him,  and  while  he  had  hoped 
that  on  its  appearance  in  Vienna  the  '  Zeitschriffc' 
would  have  received  a  fresh  impulse,  and  become 
a  medium  of  intercourse  between  North  and 
South,  he  was  forced  as  early  as  December  to 
say :  '  The  paper  is  evidently  falling  off,  though 
it  must  be  published  here  ;  this  vexes  me  much.' 
Sterndale  Bennett,  who  was  residing  in  Leipzig 
during  1837-8,  and  who,  Schumann  hoped,  would 
settle  with  him  inVienna,  was  obliged  to  relinquish 
his  intention ;  and  in  Vienna  itself  he  sought  in 
vain  for  an  artist  after  his  own  heart,  'one  who 
should  not  merely  play  tolerably  well  on  one  or 
two  instruments,  but  who  should  be  a  wholcman, 
and  understand  Shakespeare  and  Jean  Paul.' 
At  the  same  time  he  did  not  abandon  the  scheme 
of  making  a  wide  and  influential  circle  of  activity 
for  himself;  he  was  unwilling  to  return  to  Leipzig, 
and  when  in  March  1 839  he  made  up  his  mind  to 
do  so,  after  trying  in  vain  to  carry  on  the  journal 
in  Vienna,  it  was  with  the  intention  of  remaining 
there  but  a  short  time.  He  indulged  in  a  dream 
of  going  to  England  never  to  return  !  What  the 
anticipations  could  have  been  that  led  him  to 
cherish  such  an  idea  we  know  not  ;  perhaps  his 
friendship  for  Bennett  may  have  led  to  it ;  but, 


SCHUMANN. 

in  point  of  fact,  he  never  set  foot  on  English 
ground. 

As  far,  therefore,  as  making  a  home  for  himself 
went,  his  half-year's  stay  in  Vienna  was  without 
result.  But  without  doubt  Schumann  received 
impulses  and  incitements  towards  further  pro 
gress  as  a  musician  through  his  acquaintance 
with  Vienna  life.  A  work  which  is  to  be  re 
ferred  directly  to  this  influence  is  the  '  Fasch- 
ingsschwank  aus  Wien'  (op.  26,  published  by 
Spina  in  1841).  In  the  first  movement,  which 
seems  to  depict  various  scenes  of  a  masquerade, 
there  springs  up  quite  unnoticed  the  melody  of 
the  'Marseillaise'  (p.  7,  bar  40  etc.;  Pauer's 
edition,  vol.  iii.  p.  596,  1.  i),  at  that  time  strictly 
forbidden  in  Vienna.  Schumann,  who  had  been 
much  worried  by  the  government  officials  on  ac 
count  of  his  newspaper,  took  this  opportunity  of 
playing  off  a  good-tempered  joke  upon  them. 

It  was  very  natural  that,  with  his  enthusiastic 
admiration  for  Schubert,  he  should  take  pains  to 
follow  out  the  traces  of  that  master,  who  had  now 
been  dead  just  ten  years.  He  visited  the  Wahring 
cemetery,  where  Schubert  is  buried,  divided  by  a 
few  intervening  graves  from  Beethoven.  On  the 
tomb  of  the  latter  a  steel  pen  was  lying ;  this 
Schumann  took  possession  of,  and  being  always 
fond  of  symbolical  associations  and  mystic  con 
nections,  used  on  very  special  occasions.  With  it 
he  wrote  his  Symphony  in  Bb  (op.  38),  and  the 
notice  of  Schubert's  C  major  Symphony,  which  is 
found  in  the  '  Zeitschrift '  for  1840^  And  here 
we  encounter  one  of  the  chief  benefits  which 
Schumann  received  from  his  stay  in  Vienna.  He 
visited  Franz  Schubert's  brother  Ferdinand,  who 
showed  him  the  artistic  remains  of  his  too  early 
lost  brother,  and  among  them  the  score  of  the 
C  major  Symphony.  This  he  had  composed  in 
March  1828,  but  never  lived  to  hear  it  performed 
entire,  and  no  one  had  since  cared  to  take  any 
trouble  about  it.  Schumann  arranged  for  the 
score  to  be  sent  to  Leipzig,  and  there  on  March  2 1, 
1839,  it  was  performed  for  the  first  time  under 
Mendelssohn's  direction.  Its  success  was  very 
striking,  and  was  of  great  influence  on  the  more 
thorouq-h  and  widespread  appreciation  of  Schu 
bert's  genius.  Schumann  retained  pleasant  me 
mories  of  Vienna  throughout  his  life,  in  spite 
of  the  little  notice  he  attracted  on  this  occasion, 
and  the  meagre  success  of  a  concert  consisting  of 
his  own  works,  which  he  gave  with  his  wife  on 
a  subsequent  visit  in  the  winter  of  1846.  In 
the  summer  of  1847  he  even  wished  to  apply  for 
a  vacant  post  on  the  board  of  direction  at  the 
Conservatorium,  but  when  the  year  1 848  came, 
he  was  extremely  glad  that  the  plan  had  come  to 
nothing. 

At  the  beginning  of  April  1859  Schumann 
returned  to  his  old  life  in  Leipzig.  He  devoted 
himself  with  new  zest  to  the  interests  of  the 
journal,  and  delighted  in  once  more  being  asso 
ciated  with  prominent  and  sympathetic  musi 
cians.  In  the  summer  he  paid  a  short  visit  to 
Berlin,  which  pleased  and  interested  him  from 
its  contrast  to  Vienna. 

1  See  also  the  '  Gesammelte  Schriften,'  Iii.  195. 


SCHUMANN. 


395 


Unfortunately  Wieck's  opinion  as  to  the 
match  between  Schumann  and  his  daughter 
remained  unchanged,  and  his  opposition  to  it 
became  even  stronger  and  more  firmly  rooted. 
Since  persuasion  was  unavailing,  Schumann 
was  forced  to  call  in  the  assistance  of  the  law, 
and  Wieck  had  to  account  for  his  refusal 
in  court.  The  case  dragged  on  for  a  whole 
year,  but  the  final  result  was  that  Wieck's  ob 
jections  to  the  marriage  were  pronounced  to  be 
trivial  and  without  foundation.  A  sensitive  na 
ture  such  as  Schumann's  must  have  been  deeply 
pained  by  these  difficulties,  and  the  long-delayed 
decision  must  have  kept  him  in  disastrous  sus 
pense.  His  letters  show  signs  of  this.  For  the 
rest,  his  outward  circumstances  had  so  much 
improved,  that  he  could  easily  afford  to  make 
a  home  without  the  necessity  of  such  a  round 
of  work  as  he  had  attempted  in  Vienna.  *  We 
are  young,'  he  writes  on  Feb.  19,  1840,  'and 
have  hands,  strength,  and  reputation ;  and  I 
have  a  little  property  that  brings  in  500  thalers 
a  year.  The  profits  of  the  paper  amount  to  as 
much  again,  and  I  shall  get  well  paid  for 
my  compositions.  Tell  me  now  if  there  can 
be  real  cause  for  fear.'  One  thing  alone  made 
him  pause  for  a  time.  His  bride-elect  was  de 
corated  with  different  titles  of  honour  from  the 
courts  at  which  she  had  played  in  her  concert- 
tours.  He  himself  had,  it  is  true,  been  latterly 
made  a  member  of  several  musical  societies,  but 
that  was  not  enough.  In  the  beginning  of  1 840 
he  executed  a  scheme  which  he  had  cherished 
since  1838,  and  applied  to  the  university  of  Jena 
for  the  title  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy.  Several 
cases  in  which  the  German  universities  had 
granted  the  doctor's  diploma  to  musicians  had 
lately  come  under  Schumann's  notice ;  for  in 
stance  the  university  of  Leipzig  had  given  the 
honorary  degree  to  Marschner  in  1835,  and  to 
Mendelssohn  in  1836,  and  these  may  have  sug 
gested  the  idea  to  him.  Schumann  received  the 
desired  diploma  on  Feb.  24,  1840.  As  he  had 
wished,  the  reason  assigned  for  its  bestowal  is 
his  well-known  activity  not  only  as  a  critical 
and  aesthetic  writer,  but  as  a  creative  musician.2 
At  last,  after  a  year  of  suspense,  doubts,  and 
disagreements,  the  marriage  of  Robert  Schumann 
with  Clara  Wieck  took  place  on  Sept.  12,  1840, 
in  the  church  of  Schonefeld,  near  Leipzig. 

The  'Davidsbiindlertanze,'  previously  men 
tioned,  bore  on  the  title-page  of  the  first  edition 
an  old  verse — 

In  all  und  jeder  Zeit 
Yerknupft  sich  Lust  und  Leid : 
Bliibt  frprum  in  Lust,  und  seyd 
Beim  Leid  mit  Muth  bereit ; 

which  may  be  rendered  as  follows : — 

Hand  in  hand  we  always  see 

Joy  allied  to  misery: 

In  rejoicing  pious  be, 

And  bear  your  woes  with  bravery. 

And  when  we  observe  that  the  two  first  bars 

2  Qui  rerum  Musis  sacrarum  et  artifex  ingeniosus  et  judex  elegang 
modis  musici's  ium  scite  componendis  turn  docle  judicandis  atqve  pra>- 
ceptis  de  sensu  pulchritudinis  venustalisque  optimis  colendis  magnam 
nominisfamam  adeptus  est,  says  the  original  in  its  flowery  Latin. 


396 


SCHUMANN. 


of  the  first  piece  are  borrowed  from  a  com 
position  by  Clara  Wieck  (op.  6,  no.  5),  we  under 
stand  the  allusion.  Schumann  himself  admits 
that  his  compositions  for  the  piano  written  during 
the  period  of  his  courtship  reveal  much  of  his 
personal  experience  and  feelings,  and  his  crea 
tive  work  in  1840  is  of  a  very  striking  charac 
ter.  Up  to  this  time,  with  the  exception  of  the 
Symphony  in  G  minor,  which  has  remained  un 
known,  he  had  written  only  for  the  piano  ;  now 
he  suddenly  threw  himself  into  vocal  composi 
tion,  and  the  stream  of  his  invention  rushed  at 
once  into  this  new  channel  with  such  force  that 
in  that  single  year  he  wrote  above  one  hundred 
songs.  Nor  was  it  in  number  alone,  but  in  intrin 
sic  value  also,  that  in  this  department  the  work 
of  this  year  was  the  most  remarkable  of  all  Schu 
mann's  life.  It  is  not  improbable  that  his  stay  in 
Vienna  had  some  share  in  this  sudden  rush  into 
song,  and  in  opening  Schumann's  mind  to  the 
charms  of  pure  melody.  But  still,  when  we  look 
through  the  words  of  his  songs,  it  is  clear  that 
here  more  than  anywhere,  love  was  the  prompter 
— love  that  had  endured  so  long  a  struggle,  and  at 
last  attained  the  goal  of  its  desires.  This  is  con 
firmed  by  the  '  Myrthen '  (op.  25),  which  he  dedi 
cated  to  the  lady  of  his  choice,  and  the  twelve 
songs  from  Riickert's  '  Liebesfriihling ' — Spring 
time  of  Love — (op.  37),  which  were  written  con 
jointly  by  the  two  lovers.  '  I  am  now  writing 
nothing  but  songs  great  and  small,'  he  says  to  a 
friend  on  Feb.  19,  1840  ;  '  I  can  hardly  tell  you 
how  delightful  it  is  to  write  for  the  voice  as 
compared  with  instrumental  composition,  and 
what  a  stir  and  tumult  I  feel  within  me  when  I 
sit  down  to  it.  I  have  brought  forth  quite  new 
things  in  this  line.'  With  the  close  of  1 840  he  felt 
that  he  had  worked  out  the  vein  of  expression  in 
the  form  of  song  with  pianoforte  accompaniment, 
almost  to  perfection.  Some  one  expressed  a  hope 
that  after  such  a  beginning  a  promising  future 
lay  before  him  as  a  song-writer,  but  Schumann 
answered,  'I  cannot  venture  to  promise  that  I 
shall  produce  anything  further  in  the  way  of 
songs,  and  I  am  satisfied  with  what  I  have  done.' 
And  he  was  right  in  his  firm  opinion  as  to  the 
peculiar  character  of  this  form  of  music.  '  In 
your  essay  on  song-writing,'  he  says  to  a  col 
league  in  the  '  Zeitschrift,'  '  it  has  somewhat  dis 
tressed  me  that  you  should  have  placed  me  in  the 
second  rank.  I  do  not  ask  to  stand  in  the  first, 
but  I  think  I  have  some  pretensions  to  a  place 
of  my  own.' 

As  far  as  anything  human  can  be,  the  marriage 
was  perfectly  happy.  Besides  their  genius,  both 
husband  and  wife  had  simple  domestic  tastes, 
and  were  strong  enough  to  bear  the  admiration 
of  the  world  without  becoming  egotistical.  They 
lived  for  one  another,  and  for  their  children. 
He  created  and  wrote  for  his  wife,  and  in  ac 
cordance  with  her  temperament  ;  while  she 
looked  upon  it  as  her  highest  privilege  to  give 
to  the  world  the  most  perfect  interpretation  of 
his  works,  or  at  least  to  stand  as  mediatrix 
between  him  and  his  audience,  and  to  ward  off 
all  disturbing  or  injurious  impressions  from  his 


SCHUMANN. 

sensitive  soul,  which  day  by  day  became  more 
and  more  irritable.  Now  that  he  found  perfect 
contentment  in  his  domestic  relations,  he  with 
drew  more  than  ever  from  intercourse  with 
others,  and  devoted  himself  exclusively  to  his 
family  and  his  work.  The  deep  joy  of  his 
married  life  produced  the  direct  result  of  a 
mighty  advance  in  his  artistic  progress.  Schu 
mann's  most  beautiful  works  in  the  larger  forms 
date  almost  exclusively  from  the  years  1841-5. 

In  1841  he  turned  his  attention  to  the  Sym 
phony,  as  he  had  done  in  the  previous  year  to  the 
Song,  and  composed  in  this  year  alone,  no  fewer 
than  three  symphonic  works.  The  Bb  Symphony 
(op.  38)  was  performed  as  early  as  March  31, 
1841,  at  a  concert  given  by  Clara  Schumann  in 
the  Gewandhaus  at  Leipzig.  Mendelssohn  con 
ducted  it,  and  performed  the  task  with  so  much 
zeal  and  care  as  truly  to  delight  his  friend.  The 
other  two  orchestral  works  were  given  at  a  con 
cert  on  Dec.  6  of  the  same  year,  but  did  not 
meet  with  so  much  success  as  the  former  one. 
Schumann  thought  that  the  two  together  were 
too  much  at  once;  and  they  had  not  the  ad 
vantage  of  Mendelssohn's  able  and  careful  direc 
tion,  for  he  was  spending  that  winter  in  Berlin. 
Schumann  put  these  two  works  away  for  a  time, 
and  published  the  Bb  Symphony  alone.  The 
proper  title  of  one  of  these  was  '  Symphonistische 
Phantasie,'  but  it  was  performed  under  the  title 
of 'Second  Symphony,'  and,  in  1851,  the  instru 
mentation  having  been  revised  and  completed, 
was  published  as  the  4th  Symphony  (D  minor, 
op.  120).  The  other  was  brought  out  under  an 
altered  arrangement,  which  he  made  in  1845,  with 
the  title  '  Ouverture,  Scherzo,  et  Finale'  (op.  52); 
and  it  is  said  that  Schumann  originally  intended 
to  call  it  '  Sinfonietta.'  Beside  these  orchestral 
works  the  first  movement  of  the  Pianoforte  Con 
certo  in  A  minor  was  written  in  1841.  It  was 
at  first  intended  to  form  an  independent  piece 
with  the  title  of  'Fantasie.'  As  appears  from 
a  letter  of  Schumann's  to  David,  it  was  once 
rehearsed  by  the  Gewandhaus  orchestra  in  the 
winter  of  1841-2.  Schumann  did  not  write  the 
last  two  movements  which  complete  the  concerto 
until  1845. 

The  year  1842  was  devoted  to  chamber  music. 
The  three  string  quartets  deserve  to  be  first 
mentioned,  since  the  date  of  their  composition 
can  be  fixed  with  the  greatest  certainty.  Al 
though.  Schumann  was  unused  to  this  style  of 
writing,  he  composed  the  quartets  in  about  a 
month — a  certain  sign  that  his  faculties  were 
as  clear  as  his  imagination  was  rich.  In  the 
autograph,1  after  most  of  the  movements  is  written 
the  date  of  their  completion.  The  Adagio  of 
the  first  quartet  bears  the  date  June  21,  42  ; 
the  finale  was  '  finished  on  St.  John's  day,  June 
24,  1842,  in  Leipzig.'  In  the  second  quartet 
the  second  movement  is  dated  July  2,  1842, 
and  the  last  July  5,  1842,  Leipzig.  The  third 
is  dated  as  follows  :  first  movement  July  18, 
second  July  20,  third  July  21,  and  the  fourth 

1  Now  in  the  possession  of  Herr  Eaymund  HSrtel,  of  Leipzig. 


SCHUMANN. 

Leipzig,  July  22,  all  of  the  same  year.  Thus  the 
two  last  movements  took  the  composer  only  one 
day  each.  These  quartets,  which  are  dedicated 
to  Mendelssohn,  were  at  once  taken  up  by  the 
Leipzig  musicians  with  great  interest.  The  praise 
bestowed  upon  them  by  Ferdinand  David  called 
forth  a  letter  from  Schumann,  addressed  to  him, 
which  merits  quotation,  as  showing  how  modest 
and  how  ideal  as  an  artist  Schumann  was : — 
'  Hartel  told  me  how  very  kindly  you  had  spoken 
to  him  about  my  quartets,  and,  coming  from  you, 
it  gratified  me  exceedingly.  But  I  shall  have 
to  do  better  yet,  and  I  feel,  with  each  new  work, 
as  if  I  ought  to  begin  all  over  again  from  the 
beginning.'  In  the  beginning  of  October  of  this 
year  the  quartets  were  played  at  David's  house ; 
Hauptmann  was  present,  and  expressed  his  sur 
prise  at  Schumann's  talent,  which,  judging  only 
from  the  earlier  pianoforte  works,  he  had  fancied 
not  nearly  so  great.  With  each  new  work  Schu 
mann  now  made  more  triumphant  way — at  all 
events  in  Leipzig.  The  same  year  witnessed  the 
production  of  that  work  to  which  he  chiefly 
owes  his  fame  throughout  Europe — the  Quintet 
for  Pianoforte  and  Strings  (op.  44).  The  first 
public  performance  took  place  in  the  Gewandhaus 
on  Jan.  8,  1843,  his  wife,  to  whom  it  is  dedicated, 
taking  the  pianoforte  part.  Berlioz,  who  came  to 
Leipzig  in  1843,  and  there  made  Schumann's  per 
sonal  acquaintance,  heard  the  quintet  performed, 
and  carried  the  fame  of  it  to  Paris.  Besides  the 
quintet,  Schumann  wrote,  in  1842,  the  Pianoforte 
Quartet  (op.  47)  and  a  pianoforte  Trio.  The 
trio,  however,  remained  unpublished  for  eight 
years,  and  then  appeared  as  op.  88,  under  the 
title  of  '  Phantasiestiicke  for  Pianoforte,  Violin, 
and  Violoncello.'  The  quartet  too  was  laid  aside 
for  a  time  ;  it  was  first  publicly  performed  on 
Dec.  8,  1844,  by  Madame  Schumann,  in  the 
Gewandhaus,  David  of  course  taking  the  violin 
part,  and  Niels  W.  Gade,  who  was  directing  the 
G-evvaudhaus  concerts  that  winter,  playing  the 
viola. 

With  the  year  1843  came  a  total  change  of 
style.  The  first  works  to  appear  were  the  Va 
riations  for  two  pianos  (op.  46),  which  are  now 
so  popular,  and  to  which  Mendelssohn  may  have 
done  some  service  by  introducing  them  to  the 
public,  in  company  with  Madame  Schumann,  on 
Aug.  19,  1843.  The  principal  work  of  the  year, 
however,  was  '  Paradise  and  the  Peri,'  a  grand 
composition  for  solo- voices,  chorus,  and  orchestra, 
to  a  text  adapted  from  Moore's  'Lalla  Kookh.' 
The  enthusiasm  created  by  this  work  at  its  first 
performance  (Dec.  4,  1843),  conducted  by  the 
composer  himself,  was  so  great  that  it  had  to  be 
repeated  a  week  afterwards,  on  Dec.  n,  and  on 
the  23rd  of  the  same  month  it  was  performed  in 
the  Opera  House  at  Dresden.  It  will  be  easily 
believed  that  from  this  time  Schumann's  fame 
was  firmly  established  in  Germany,  although  it 
took  twenty  years  more  to  make  his  work  widely 
and  actually  popular.  Having  been  so  fortunate 
in  his  first  attempt  in  a  branch  of  art  hitherto 
untried  by  him,  he  felt  induced  to  undertake 
another  work  of  the  same  kind,  and  in  1844 


SCHUMANN. 


397 


began  writing  the  second  of  his  two  most  im 
portant  choral  works,  namely,  the  music  to 
Goethe's  'Faust.'  For  some  time  however  the 
work  consisted  only  of  four  numbers.  His  uninter 
rupted  labours  had  so  affected  his  health,  that  in 
this  year  he  was  obliged  for  a  time  to  forego  all 
exertion  of  the  kind. 

The  first  four  years  of  his  married  life  were 
passed  in  profound  retirement,  but  very  rarely 
interrupted.  In  the  beginning  of  1842  he  ac 
companied  his  wife  on  a  concert-tour  to  Ham 
burg,  where  the  Bb  Symphony  was  performed. 
Madame  Schumann  then  proceeded  alone  to  Co 
penhagen,  while  her  husband  returned  to  his 
quiet  retreat  at  Leipzig.  In  the  summer  of  the 
same  year  the  two  artists  made  an  excursion 
into  Bohemia,  and  at  Konigswart  were  presented 
to  Prince  Metternich,  who  invited  them  to  Vienna. 
Schumann  at  first  took  some  pleasure  in  these 
tours,  but  soon  forgot  it  in  the  peace  and  com 
fort  of  domestic  life,  and  it  cost  his  wife  great 
'  trouble  to  induce  him  to  make  a  longer  journey  to 
Russia  in  the  beginning  of  1 844.  Indeed  she  only 
succeeded  by  declaring  that  she  would  make  the 
tour  alone  if  he  would  not  leave  home.  '  How 
unwilling  I  am  to  move  out  of  my  quiet  round,' 
he  wrote  to  a  friend,  'you  must  not  expect  me 
to  tell  you.  I  cannot  think  of  it  without  the 
greatest  annoyance.'  However,  he  made  up  his 
mind  to  it,  and  they  started  on  Jan.  26.  His 
wife  gave  concerts  in  Mitau,  Riga,  Petersburg 
and  Moscow;  and  the  enthusiasm  with  which 
she  was  everywhere  received  attracted  fresh  at 
tention  to  Schumann's  works,  the  constant  aim  of 
her  noble  endeavours.  Schumann  himself,  when 
once  he  had  parted  from  home,  found  much  to 
enjoy  in  a  journey  which  was  so  decidedly  and 
even  brilliantly  successful.  At  St.  Petersburg 
he  was  received  with  undiminished  cordiality  by 
his  old  friend  Henselt,  who  had  made  himself  a 
new  home  there.  At  a  soire'e  at  Prince  Olden 
burg's  Henselt  played  with  Madame  Schumann 
her  husband's  Variations  for  two  pianos.  The 
Bb  Symphony  was  also  performed  under  Schu 
mann's  direction  at  a  soiree  given  by  the  Counts 
Joseph  and  Michael  Wielhorsky,  highly  esteemed 
musical  connoisseurs  ;  and  it  is  evident  that  the 
dedication  of  Schumann's  PF.  Quartet  (op.  47) 
to  a  Count  Wielhorsky  was  directly  connected 
with  this  visit. 

In  June  they  were  once  more  in  Leipzig,  and 
so  agreeable  were  the  reminiscences  of  the  jour 
ney  that  Schumann  was  ready  at  once  with  a 
fresh  plan  of  the  same  kind — this  time  for  a  visit 
to  England  with  his  wife  in  the  following  year ; 
not,  indeed,  as  he  had  once  intended,  with  a 
view  to  permanent  residence,  but  merely  that  she 
might  win  fresh  laurels  as  a  player,  and  he  make 
himself  known  as  a  composer.  He  proposed  to 
conduct  parts  of  'Paradise  and  the  Peri'  in 
London,  and  anticipated  a  particular  success  for 
it  because  the  work  '  had  as  it  were  sprung  from 
English  soil,  and  was  one  of  the  sweetest  flowers 
of  English  verse.'  On  June  27,  1844,  he  writes 
to  Moscheles  concerning  the  project,  which  had 
the  full  support  of  Mendelssohn ;  but  the  scheme 


398 


SCHUMANN. 


ultimately  came  to  nothing,  chiefly  because  of 
the  refusal  of  Buxton,  the  proprietor  of  the 
publishing  firm  of  Ewer  &  Co.,  to  bring  out 
4  Paradise  and  the  Peri '  with  English  words. 
Still  Schumann,  even  long  after,  kept  his  eye 
steadily  fixed  on  England.  He  was  delighted 
at  being  told  that  Queen  Victoria  often  listened 
to  his  music,  and  had  had  the  Bb  Symphony1 
played  by  the  private  band  at  Windsor,  and  he 
contemplated  dedicating  his  Manfred  music  (op. 
115)  to  Her  Majesty,  but  the  idea  was  given  up. 

Instead  of  going  to  England,  they  at  length  paid 
a  visit  to  Vienna  in  the  winter  of  1 846.  Here 
again  Schumann  conducted  his  Bb  Symphony, 
and  his  wife  played  his  Pianoforte  Concerto.  This 
was  on  Jan.  I,  1847.  But  the  public  were  per 
fectly  unsympathetic,  and  justified  an  earlier 
utterance  of  Schumann's  that  'The  Viennese  are 
an  ignorant  people  and  know  little  of  what  goes 
on  outside  their  own  city.'  Nor  were  matters 
much  more  satisfactory  in  Berlin,  whither  they 
went  from  Vienna  to  conduct  '  Paradise  and  the 
Peri ' ;  while  in  Prague,  where  they  performed  on 
their  way,  they  met  with  the  warmest  reception. 

The  year  1844  was  the  ^as*  °*  Schumann's 
residence  in  Leipzig ;  for  in  October  he  left 
the  town  where  he  had  lived  and  worked  with 
short  intervals  for  fourteen  years,  and  moved 
to  Dresden.  He  had  given  up  the  editorship  of 
the  '  Neue  Zeitschrift '  in  July,  and  from  April 
3,  1843,  had  held  a  Professor's  chair  in  the  Con- 
servatorium,  founded  at  Leipzig  by  Mendels 
sohn's  exertions,  and  opened  on  that  date.  [See 
vol.  ii.  115,  281  a,  282a.]  He  was  professor  of 
pianoforte-playing  and  composition ;  but  his 
reserved  nature  was  little  suited  to  the  duties 
of  a  teacher,  though  his  name  and  the  example 
afforded  by  his  work  were  no  doubt  highly  ad 
vantageous  to  the  infant  Institution.  Schumann 
had  no  disciples,  properly  speaking,  either  in  the 
Conservatorium  or  as  private  pupils.  In  a  letter 
to  David  from  Dresden  he  incidentally  men 
tions  Carl  fritter  as  having  instruction  from 
him,  and  as  having  previously  been  a  pupil 
of  Hiller's ;  and  he  writes  to  Hiller  that  he  has 
brought  young  Putter  on  a  little.  But  what  the 
style  of  Schumann's  teaching  may  have  been 
cannot  be  told ;  and  a  single  exception  only 
proves  the  rule. 

The  move  to  Dresden  seems  to  have  been 
chiefly  on  account  of  Schumann's  suffering  con 
dition.  His  nervous  affection  rendered  change 
of  scene  absolutely  necessary  to  divert  his 
thoughts.  He  had  overworked  himself  into  a 
kind  of  surfeit  of  music,  so  much  so  that  his 
medical  attendant  forbade  his  continually  hear 
ing  it.  In  the  musical  world  of  Leipzig  such 
a  prohibition  could  not  be  strictly  obeyed,  but 
at  Dresden  it  was  quite  different.  '  Here,' 
he  writes  to  David  on  Nov.  25,  1844,  'one 
can  get  back  the  old  lost  longing  for  music, 
there  is  so  little  to  hear  !  It  just  suits  my  con 
dition,  for  I  still  suffer  very  much  from  my 
nerves,  and  everything  affects  and  exhausts 

i  The  first  performance  of  the  Bb  Symphony  in  England  was  at  the 
Philharmonic  Concert,  June  5, 1854. 


SCHUMANN. 

me  directly.'     Accordingly  he  at  first  lived  in 
Dresden  in   the   strictest  seclusion.      A   friend 
sought  him  out  there  and  found  him  so  changed 
that   he   entertained   grave    fears    for  his  life. 
On  several  occasions  he  tried  sea-bathing,  but 
it  was  long   before   his  health  can  be  said  to 
have  radically  improved.     In   February,   1846, 
after  a  slight  improvement,  he  again  became  very 
unwell,   as  he  did  also  in  the  summer  of  the 
following  year.    He  observed  that  he  was  unable 
to  remember  the  melodies  that  occurred  to  him 
when  composing  ;  the  effort  of  invention  fatiguing 
his   mind  to   such   a  degree  as   to   impair  his 
memory.     As   soon   as   a  lasting   improvement 
took  place  in  his  health,  he  again  devoted  himself 
wholly  to  composition.     He  was  now  attracted 
more  powerfully  than  before  to  complicated  con 
trapuntal  forms.    The  'Studies'  and  ' Sketches ' 
for  the  pedal-piano  (ops.  56  and  58),  the  six  fugues 
on  the  name  of  'Bach'  (op.  60),  and  the  four  piano 
fugues  (op.  72),  owe  their  existence  to  this  attrac 
tion.   The  greatest  work  of  the  years  1845-6  how 
ever,  was  the  C  major  Symphony  (op.  61),  which 
Mendelssohn  produced   at  the  Gewandhaus  in 
Leipzig,  Nov.  5,  1846.    Slight  intercourse  with  a 
few  congenial  spirits  was  now  gradually  resumed. 
Among  those  whom  he  saw  was  the  widow  of 
C.  M.  v.  Weber  (the  'Lina'  of  Weber's  letters), 
whose  fine  musical  feeling  was  highly  valued  by 
Schumann.    The  first  year  in  Dresden  was  spent 
with  Ferdinand  Hiller,  who  had  been  living  there 
since  the  winter  of  1844.     Their  intercourse  gra 
dually  grew  into  a  lively  and  lasting  intimacy. 
When  Hiller  was  getting  up  subscription  concerts 
in  the  autumn  of  1845,  Schumann  took  an  active 
share  in  the  undertaking.  With  Richard  Wagner, 
too,  then  Capellmeister  at  Dresden,  he  was  on 
friendly  terms.     He  was  much  interested  in  the 
opera  of  Tannhauser,  and  heard  it  often,  express 
ing  his  opinion  of  it  in  terms  of  great  though 
not   unqualified    praise.2     But    the   natures  of 
the  two  musicians  differed  too  widely  to  allow 
of  any  real  sympathy  between  them.    Wagner 
was  always  lively,  versatile  and  talkative,  while, 
since  Schumann's  illness,  his  former  silence  and 
reserve  had  increased,  and  even  intimate  friends, 
like  Moscheles  and  Lipinski,  had  to  lament  that 
conversation  with  him  was  now  scarcely  possible. 
At  the  end  of  Schumann's  collected  works  we 
find  a  '  Theater buchlein  '  (1847-50)  in  which  are 
given  short  notes  of  the  impressions  made  upon 
him  by  certain  operas.    From  this  we  learn  that 
in  1 84  7  he  went  comparatively  of  ten  to  the  theatre; 
the   reason  being  that  at  that  time  he  himself 
was  composing  an  opera.     He  had  long  cherished 
the  idea.     So  early  as  Sept.  I,  1842,  he  writes, 
'  Do  you  know  what  is  my  morning  and  evening 
prayer  as  an  artist?  German  Opera.  There  is  a  field 
for  work.'     He  concludes  a  critique  of  an  opera, 
by  Heinrich  Esser  in  the  number  of  the  'Zeit 
schrift'  for  September  1842  with  these  significant 
words, — '  It  is  high  time  that  German  composers 
should  give  the  lie  to  the  reproach  that  has  long 
lain  on  them  of  having  been  so  craven  as  to  leave 

2  See  the  entry  under  Aug.  7, 1847—'  Were  he  as  melodious  as  he  is 
intellectual  (geisireich)  he  would  be  the  man  of  the  age.' 


SCHUMANN. 

the  field  in  possession  of  the  Italians  and  French. 
But  under  this  head  there  is  a  word  to  be  said  to 
the  German  poets  also.'     In  1844  ^e  composed  a 
chorus  and  an  aria  for  an  opera  on  Byron's  poem 
of  the   Corsair.      The    work   however  went  no 
farther,  and  the  two  pieces  still  remain  unpub 
lished.     He  also   corresponded   with   his   friend 
Zuccalmaglio  as   to   the   subject   for    an  opera, 
which  he  wished  to  find  ready  on  his  return  from 
Bussia;   and  made,  notes  on  more  than  twenty 
different    subjects    of   all    kinds,    periods    and 
nationalities;    but   none    of  these   were    found 
suitable,  and  circumstances  led  to  the  abandon 
ment  of  the  project.     At  length,  in   1847,  he 
decided  on  the  legend  of  Ste.  Genevieve.     The 
two   versions    of    the   story   contained    in    the 
tragedies  of  Tieck  and  Hebbel  (principally  that 
of  Hebbel)  were  to   serve   as   the   basis  of  the 
text.     The  treatment  of  the  words  he  persuaded 
Robert  Reinick,  the  poet,  who  had  been  living 
in  Dresden  since  1844,  to  undertake.     Reinick 
however  failed  to  satisfy  him,  and  Hebbel,  who 
came  to  Dresden  at  the  end  of  July  1847,  could 
not  say  that  he  thought  it  a  satisfactory  text, 
though   he  declined  to  assist  in  remedying  the 
deficiencies    and    bringing  it    into   the  desired 
form.    This  however  was  from  no  lack  of  interest 
in  Schumann  himself.    On  the  contrary  Hebbel 
always  preserved   the  highest  esteem  for  him, 
and  subsequently  dedicated  to  him  his  drama 
of  '  Michel  Angelo,'  accepting  in   return  from 
Schumann   the   dedication    of  his    'Nachtlied' 
(op.  1 08).     But  it  was  repugnant  to  him  to  see 
his  work  mutilated  in  the  way  which  Schumann 
considered  necessary  for   an   opera.     The   com 
poser  was  at  last  obliged  to  trust  to  his  own 
poetic  powers  and  construct  a  text  himself  from 
those  already  mentioned. 

By  August  1848  the  music  for  the  opera 
was  so  far  complete  that  Schumann  thought  he 
might  take  steps  for  its  performance.  His  first 
thought  was  of  the  theatre  at  Leipzig,  where  he 
knew  that  he  was  most  warmly  remembered. 
Viirsing  was  at  that  time  the  director,  Julius 
Rietz  the  conductor,  and  the  opera  was  to  have 
been  brought  out  in  the  spring  of  1849,  but  'lk 
came  to  nothing.  In  June,  when  the  preparations 
were  to  have  begun,  Schumann  was  detained  by 
domestic  circumstances,  and  the  rest  of  the  year 
Slipped  away  with  constant  evasions  and  pro 
mises  on  the  part  of  the  director  of  the  theatre. 
Even  the  promise,  'on  his  honour/  that  the 
opera  should  be  performed  at  the  end  of  Feb 
ruary  1850,  at  latest,  was  not  kept.  And  so 
on  this  his  very  first  attempt  at  dramatic  work, 
Schumann  made  acquaintance  with  the  shady 
side  of  theatrical  management  in  a  way  which 
must  have  disgusted  his  upright  and  honourable 
spirit.^  In  his  indignation,  he  would  have  made 
the  director's  breach  of  faith  public,  by  in 
voking  the  aid  of  the  law;  but  his  Leipzig 
friends  were  happily  able  to  dissuade  him  from 
this  course.  At  last,  on  June  25,  1850,  the  first 
representation  of  '  Genoveva '  actually  took  place 
under  Schumann's  own  direction.  But  the  time 
was  unfavourable;  '  Who,'  he  writes  to  Dr.  Her- 


SCHUMANN. 


399 


mann  Hartel,  '  goes  to  the  theatre  in  May  or 
June,  and  not  rather  into  the  woods  ?'  How 
ever,  the  number  of  his  admirers  in  Leipzig 
was  great,  and  the  first  opera  by  so  famous  a 
master  excited  great  expectations ;  the  house 
was  full,  and  the  reception  by  the  public,  though 
not  enthusiastic,  was  honourable  to  the  composer. 
Still,  artists  and  connoisseurs  were  tolerably 
unanimous  in  thinking  that  Schumann  lacked 
the  special  genius  for  writing  opera.  His  almost 
entire  exclusion  of  recitative  was  very  widely 
disapproved  of.  No  one  but  the  venerable  Spohr, 
who  had  attended  many  of  the  rehearsals,  gave  a 
really  favourable  verdict  upon  the  work.  In  his 
last  opera,  'The  Crusaders,'  Spohr  himself  had 
adopted  similar  methods  of  making  the  music 
follow  the  plot  closely  without  ever  coming  to  a 
standstill,  and  he  was  naturally  delighted  to 
find  the  same  in  Schumann's  work.  After  three 
representations  (June  25,  28,  30)  'Genoveva' 
was  laid  aside  for  the  time.  Schumann,  already 
vexed  by  the  tedious  postponements  of  the  first 
performance,  and  disappointed  by  the  cold  recep 
tion  of  the  work,  was  greatly  annoyed  by  the 
discussions  in  the  public  prints,  especially  by 
a  critique  from  Dr.  E.  Kriiger,  one  of  the  col- 
laborateurs  in  the  '  Neue  Zeitschrift.'  A  letter 
from  Schumann  to  Kriiger,  in  stronger  terms 
than  might  have  been  expected  from  him,  put 
an  end  for  ever  to  their  acquaintance. 

Schumann  derived  far  more  gratification  from 
the  reception  of  his  music  to  'Faust.'  In  1848 
he  completed  the  portion  he  had  originally  in 
tended  to  write  first,  viz.  the  salvation  of  Faust, 
which  forms  the  end  of  the  second  part  of  Goethe's 
poem.  On  June  25,  1848,  the  first  performance 
took  place  among  a  limited  circle  of  friends,  upon 
whom  it  made  a  deep  impression.  The  most 
cultivated  portion  of  the  audience  was  of  opinion 
that  the  music  made  the  meaning  of  the  words 
clear  for  the  first  time,  so  deeply  imbued  was  the 
composer  with  the  poet's  inmost  spirit.  As  the 
looth  anniversary  of  Goethe's  birthday  was 
approaching  (Aug.  28,  1849)  it  was  decided  to 
give  a  festival  concert  in  Dresden,  at  which 
this  'Faust'  music  and  Mendelssohn's  '  Walpur- 
gisnacht '  should  form  the  programme.  When 
the  Leipzig  people  heard  of  this  intention,  they 
would  not  be  behind  Dresden,  and  also  got  up 
a  performance  of  the  same  works  on  August 
29.  In  Weimar  too  the  '  Faust '  music  was  per 
formed  on  the  same  occasion.  Schumann  was 
exceedingly  delighted  that  his  work  had  been 
employed  for  so  special  an  occasion.  He  writes  to 
Dr.  Hartel ;  '  I  should  like  to  have  Faust's  cloak, 
and  be  able  to  be  everywhere  at  once,  that  I 
might  hear  it.'  In  Dresden  the  success  of  the 
work  was  very  considerable,  but  it  made  less 
impression  at  its  first  performance  in  Leipzig. 
Schumann  took  this  quite  calmly.  'I  hear  different 
accounts/  says  he  in  a  letter,  'of  the  impression 
produced  by  my  scenes  from  Faust ;  some  seem 
to  have  been  affected,  while  upon  others  it  made 
no  definite  impression.  This  is  what  I  expected. 
Perhaps  an  opportunity  may  occur  in  the  winter  for 
a  repetition  of  the  work,  when  it  is  possible  that 


400 


SCHUMANN. 


I  may  add  some  other  scenes.  This  repetition 
however  did  not  take  place  in  Schumann's  life 
time.  He  fulfilled  his  scheme  of  adding  several 
scenes;  and  in  1853  prefixed  an  overture  to  the 
whole  work,  which  was  divided  into  three  parts. 
It  was  not  published  complete  until  two  years 
after  his  death. 

In  the  meantime,  Schumann's  health  had 
again  improved,  as  was  evident  from  his  aug 
mented  creative  activity.  Indeed  his  eager  desire 
for  work  increased  in  a  way  which  gave  rise  to 
great  apprehensions.  In  the  year  1849  alone  he 
produced  thirty  works,  most  of  them  of  consider 
able  extent.  It  had  never  seemed  so  easy  to  him 
to  create  ideas  and  bring  them  into  shape.  He 
composed  as  he  walked  or  stood,  and  could  not 
be  distracted,  even  by  the  most  disturbing  circum 
stances.  Thus  he  wrote  Mignon's  song  '  Kennst 
du  das  Land'  at  Kreischa,  near  Dresden,  in  the 
midst  of  a  group  of  his  noisy  children.  And  in  a 
restaurant  near  the  post-office,  much  frequented 
by  the  artistic  society  of  Dresden,  where  he  used 
to  drink  his  beer  in  the  evening,  he  would  usually 
sit  alone,  with  his  back  to  the  company  and  his 
face  to  the  wall,  whistling  softly  to  himself,  and 
developing  his  musical  ideas  all  the  time.  No 
preference  for  any  particular  form  of  art  can  be 
traced  in  Schumann's  work  at  this  time.  Piano 
forte  works  and  chamber  trios,  songs  and  vocal 
duets,  choruses,  choral  works  with  orchestra, 
concertos  with  orchestra,  compositions  for  horn, 
clarinet,  oboe,  violoncello,  or  violin,  with  piano 
forte  accompaniment,  even  melodramatic  music 
— all  these  thronged  as  it  were  out  of  his  imagin 
ation  in  wild  and  strange  succession.  Among 
all  the  beautiful  and  important  works  produced 
at  this  time,  the  music  to  Byron's  Manfred  de 
serves  especial  mention.  The  first  stage  perform 
ance  of  it  was  given  by  Franz  Liszt  in  Weimar 
on  June  13,  1852.  For  that  occasion  the  drama 
was  adapted  for  the  stage  by  Schumann  himself, 
in  an  arrangement  which  is  printed  as  a  preface 
to  the  score  of  the  work.  The  first  performance 
of  the  music  at  a  concert  took  place  at  Leipzig 
on  March  24,  1859. 

Dresden  was  Schumann's  place  of  residence 
until  1850.  In  the  latter  years  of  his  stay  there  his 
outward  life  was  more  active  than  before.  No 
journeys  of  note  were  made,  it  is  true,  with  the 
exception  of  those  to  Vienna  and  Berlin  already 
mentioned,  and  a  longer  expedition  undertaken 
in  1850  to  Bremen  and  Hamburg,  where  many 
concerts  were  given.  He  avoided  the  passing 
disturbance  occasioned  by  the  Dresden  insurrec 
tion  of  1849,  by  leaving  the  town  with  his  family. 
Though  no  revolutionary,  like  Richard  Wagner, 
scarcely  even  a  politician,  Schumann  loved  in 
dividual  liberty  and  wished  others  to  enjoy  it 
also.  But  what  gave  a  different  aspect  to  his 
life  as  a  musician  in  the  last  years  of  his  stay 
in  Dresden,  was  his  occupation  as  a  conductor. 
Ferdinand  Hiller  had  conducted  a  choral  society 
for  men's  voices ;  and  when  he  left  Dresden 
to  go  to  Dusseldorf  as  municipal  director  of 
music,  Schumann  succeeded  him  in  his  post. 
He  conducted  the  society  for  some  time  with 


SCHUMANN. 

great  interest,   and  was   glad   to  find  that  his 
capacity  for  conducting  was  not  so  small  as  he 
had  generally  fancied  it  to  be.     He  was  even 
induced  to  write  a  few  works  for  male  chorus. 
Three  songs  of  War  and  Liberty  (Kriegs-  und 
Freiheitslieder,  op.  62)  and  seven  songs  in  canon- 
form,  to  words  by  Riickert  (op.  65),  were  written 
in  1847,  and  a  grand  motet  for  double  chorus  of 
men's  voices  (op.  93)  in  1849.    But  a  nature  like 
Schumann's  could  not  thrive  in  the  atmosphere  of 
a  German  singing  club.     He  was  in  all  respects 
too  refined  for  the  tone  of  vulgar  comfort,  and 
often  even  of  low  sentimentality,  which  pervades 
these  assemblies,  and  they  could  not  but  be  irk 
some  to  him.    '  I  felt  myself,'  he  says,  in  a  letter 
to  Hiller  written  on  April  10, 1849,  after  his  with 
drawal,  'out  of  my- element;  they  were  such  nice 
(hiibsch)  people.'     This  is  even  noticeable  in  his 
compositions  for  male  chorus  ;  they  are  not  of  the 
right  kind,  and  have  in  consequence  never  been 
much  sung.     Of  greater  artistic  importance  was 
a  society  of  mixed  voices,  which  was  constituted 
in  January  1848,  and  of  which  Schumann  was 
asked  to  take  the  lead.     It  was  not  very  large 
—in  1849  it  numbered  only  60  or  70  members — 
but  these  were  efficient,  and  Schumann  was  ahle 
'to  perform  correctly  any  music  he  liked  with 
pleasure  and  delight.'     It  was  this  society  that 
gave  the  first  performance  of  the  third  part  of 
'Faust's  Salvation'  in  June  1848,  at  a  private 
party;    Schumann  was  induced  to  write  many 
new  compositions  for  them,  and  they  did  much 
service  in  promoting  a  knowledge  of  his  music  in 
Dresden  by  two  performances  of  '  Paradise  and 
the  Peri'  on  Jan.  5  and  12,  1850.    They  even  suc 
ceeded  in  drawing  him  into  social  amusements. 
In  August  1848  a  general  excursion  was  arranged, 
in  which  Schumann  took  what  was,  for  him,  a 
lively  interest.     He  even  invited  David  and  his 
wife  to  come  over  from  Leipzig  for  the  occasion, 
writing,  '  Listen ;  on  Sunday  week  we  are  going 
with  the  choral  society  for  a  trip  of  pleasure  and 
music  to  Pillnitz.     It  will  be  great  fun;    there 
will  be  some  pretty  women  and  plenty  of  singing. 
How  would  it  be,  David,  if  you  were  to  come  too  ? 
Much  indeed  depends  upon  the  weather,  but  the 
party  will  only  be  put  off  in  case  of  heavy  rain.' 

That  Schumann,  after  so  successful  a  beginning 
in  the  art  of  conducting,  considered  himself 
fitted  to  undertake  the  direction  of  performances 
on  a  larger  scale,  is  evident  from  the  following 
circumstance.  After  Mendelssohn's  death  the 
Gewandhaus  concerts  were  conducted  by  Julius 
Rietz,  who  until  1847  had  been  at  work  in 
Dusseldorf.  In  the  summer  of  1849  a  report 
reached  Dresden  that  Eietz  was  going  to  suc 
ceed  O.  Nicolai  as  royal  Capellmeister  at  Berlin. 
Schumann  thereupon  applied  for  the  post  of  con 
cert  director  at  the  Gewandhaus.  Dr.  Hermann 
Hartel  was  to  be  the  medium  of  communication, 
and  Schumann,  with  a  well-founded  expectation 
that  the  choice  would  fall  upon  him,  gave  him 
self  up  for  a  time  with  great  pleasure  to  the 
idea  of  becoming  the  successor  of  the  honoured 
Mendelssohn.  '  It  would  give  me  great  pleasure, 
he  wrote,  '  if  the  thing  came  to  pass.  I  long  for 


SCHUMANN. 

regular  duty,  and  though  I  can  never  forget  the 
last  few  years,  during  which  I  have  lived  exclu 
sively  as  a  composer,  and  know  that  so  productive 
and  happy  a  time  may  perhaps  never  be  mine 
again,  yet  I  feel  impelled  towards  a  life  of  active 
work,  and  my  highest  endeavour  would  be  to 
keep  up  the  renown  which  the  institution  has 
so  long  enjoyed.'  This  wish  was  not  realised, 
for  Rietz  remained  in  Leipzig.  But  Schumann's 
desire  for  a  more  extended  field  of  work  as  a 
conductor  was  to  be  satisfied  in  another  way  in 
the  following  year. 

In  1850  Hiller  gave  up  his  post  in  Diisseldorf 
to  obey  a  call  to  Cologne  as  Capellmeister  to  that 
city.  He  suggested  that  Schumann  should  be 
his  successor,  and  opened  negotiations  with  him. 
Some  efforts  were  made  to  keep  him  in  Dresden 
and  to  obtain  his  appointment  as  Capell 
meister  to  the  King  of  Saxony ;  but  the  attempt 
was  unsuccessful,  and  Schumann  accepted  the 
directorship  at  Diisseldorf  that  summer  though 
he  left  his  native  place  with  deep  regret,  and 
not  without  some  suspicions  as  to  the  condi 
tion  of  music  in  Diisseldorf,  of  which  he  had 
heard  much  that  was  unfavourable  from  Men 
delssohn  and  Rietz.  In  his  new  post  he  had  the 
direction  of  a  vocal  union  and  of  an  orchestra* 
and  a  number  of  concerts  to  conduct  in  the 
course  of  the  winter.  He  arrived  at  Diisseldorf 
Sept.  2,  1850,  and  the  first  winter  concert  was 
in  some  sort  a  formal  reception  of  him,  since  it 
consisted  of  the  overture  to  '  Genoveva,'  some  of 
his  songs,  and  Part  I.  of  '  Paradise  and  the  Peri.1 
It  was  under  the  direction  of  Julius  Tausch ; 
Schumann  himself  appearing  as  conductor  for 
the  first  time  on  Oct.  24. 

He  was  very  well  satisfied  with  his  new  sphere 
of  work.  The  vocal  resources,  as  is  the  case 
with  all  the  choirs  of  the  Rhine  towns,  were 
admirable  ;  Hiller  had  cultivated  them  with 
special  zeal,  and  he  and  Rietz  had  left  the 
orchestra  so  well  drilled  that  Schumann,  for  the 
first  time  in  his  life,  enjoyed  the  inestimable 
advantage  of  being  able  to  hear  everything  that 
he  wrote  for  the  orchestra  performed  at  once. 
The  concerts  took  up  no  more  of  his  time  than 
he  was  willing  to  give,  and  left  him  ample 
leisure  for  his  own  work.  Chamber  music  was 
also  attainable,  for  in  J.  von  Wasielewski  there 
was  a  good  solo  violinist  on  the  spot.  Schu 
mann  and  his  wife  were  at  once  welcomed  in 
Diisseldorf  with  the  greatest  respect,  and  every 
attention  and  consideration  was  shown  to  them 
both.  It  might  be  said  that  their  position  here 
was  one  of  special  ease,  and  they  soon  formed 
a  delightful  circle  of  intimate  acquaintances. 
Little  as  his  music  was  then  known  in  the 
Rhine-cities,  Schumann's  advent  in  person  seems 
to  have  given  a  strong  impulse  to  the  public 
feeling  for  music  in  Diisseldorf.  The  interest  in 
the  subscription  concerts  during  the  winter  of 
1850  was  greater  than  it  had  ever  been  before; 
and  the  board  of  directors  was  able  at  the 
close  of  the  usual  series  of  six  concerts,  to  un 
dertake  a  second  series  of  three  or  four.  At 
Schumann's  instance  one  of  the  winter  concerts 
VOL.  in.  FT.  3. 


SCHUMANN. 


401 


was  entirely  devoted  to  the  works  of  living 
composers,  an  idea  then  perfectly  novel,  and 
showing  that  he  had  remained  faithful  to  his 
desire — manifested  long  before  through  the  Zeit- 
schrift — of  facilitating  the  advancement  of  young 
and  gifted  composers.  At  first  Schumann's 
direction  gave  entire  satisfaction.  If  some  per 
formances  were  not  perfectly  successful,  they 
were  compensated  for  by  others  of  special  excel 
lence  ;  and  the  execution  of  Beethoven's  A  major 
Symphony  at  the  third  concert  even  seemed  to 
shew  that  he  was  a  born  conductor.  But  it  was 
not  so  in  reality ;  indeed  he  was  wholly  want 
ing  in  the  real  talent  for  conducting;  all  who 
ever  saw  him  conduct  or  who  played  under  his 
direction  are  agreed  on  this  point.  Irrespective 
of  the  fact  that  conducting  for  any  length  of 
time  tired  him  out,  he  had  neither  the  collect- 
edness  and  prompt  presence  of  mind,  nor  the 
sympathetic  faculty,  nor  the  enterprising  dash, 
without  each  of  which  conducting  in  the  true 
sense  is  impossible.  He  even  found  a  difficulty 
in  starting  at  a  given  tempo  ;  nay,  he  sometimes 
shrank  from  giving  any  initial  beat;  so  that 
some  energetic  pioneer  would  begin  without 
waiting  for  the  signal,  and  without  incurring 
Schumann's  wrath.  Besides  this,  any  thorough 
practice  bit  by  bit  with  his  orchestra,  with 
instructive  remarks  by  the  way  as  to  the  mode 
of  execution,  was  impossible  to  this  great  artist, 
who  in  this  respect  was  a  striking  contrast  to 
Mendelssohn.  He  would  have  a  piece  played 
through,  and  if  it  did  not  answer  to  his  wishes, 
had  it  repeated.  If  it  went  no  better  the  second, 
or  perhaps  even  a  third  time,  he  would  be  ex 
tremely  angry  at  what  he  considered  the  clumsi 
ness  or  even  the  ill-will  of  the  players ;  but  detailed 
remarks  he  never  made.  Any  one  knowing  his 
silent  nature  and  his  instinctive  dislike  to  con 
tact  with  the  outer  world,  might  certainly  have 
feared  from  the  first  that  he  would  find  great 
difficulty  in  asserting  himself  as  a  director  of  large 
masses.  And  as  years  went  on  his  incapacity 
for  conducting  constantly  increased,  as  the  issue 
showed,  with  the  growth  of  an  illness,  whicn, 
after  seeming  to  have  been  completely  overcome 
in  Dresden,  returned  in  Diisseldorf  with  increasing 
gravity.  His  genius  seemed  constantly  to  shrink 
from  the  outside  world  into  the  depths  of  his 
soul.  His  silence  became  a  universally  accepted 
fact,  and  to  those  who  saw  him  for  the  first  time  be 
seemed  apathetic.  But  in  fact  he  was  anything 
rather  than  that ;  he  would  let  a  visitor  talk  for 
a  long  time  on  all  kinds  of  subjects  without 
saying  a  word,  and  then  when  the  caller  rose  to 
leave,  'not  to  disturb  the  master  longer,'  he  would 
discover  that  Schumann  had  followed  the  one 
sided  'conversation'  with  unfailing  interest.  When 
sitting  for  an  hour,  as  he  was  accustomed  of  an 
evening,  with  friends  or  acquaintances  at  the  re 
staurant,  if  anything  was  said  that  touched  or 
pleased  him  he  would  give  the  speaker  a  radiant, 
expressive  glance,  but  without  a  word ;  and  the 
incessant  creative  labours  to  which  he  gave  him 
self  up  so  long  as  he  was  able  are  the  best  proof 
of  the  rich  vitality  which  constantly  flowed 

Dd 


402 


SCHUMANN. 


from  the  deepest  sources  of  his  soul.  In  the 
family  circle  he  was  a  different  man  ;  there  he 
could  be  gay  and  talkative  to  a  degree  that 
would  have  surprised  a  stranger.  He  Joved  his 
children  tenderly  and  was  fond  of  occupying  him 
self  with  them.  The  three  piano  sonatas  (op. 
1 1 8)  composed  for  his  daughters  Julie,  Blise  and 
Marie,  the  Album  for  beginners  (op.  68) ;  the 
Children's  Ball  (op.  130),  and  other  pieces,  are 
touching  evidence  of  the  way  in  which  he  ex 
pressed  this  feeling  in  music. 

The  first  great  work  of  the  Dusseldorf  period 
was  the  Eb  Symphony  (op.  97),  marked  by  the 
composer  as  no.  3,  although  it  is  really  the  fourth 
of  the  published  ones,  the  D  minor  Symphony 
preceding  it  in  order  of  composition.  If  we  call 
the  Overture,  Scherzo  and  Finale  (op.  52)  a  sym 
phony  too,  then  the  Eb  Symphony  must  rank 
as  the  fifth.  It  would  seem  that  Schumann  had 
begun  to  work  at  it  before  his  change  of  resi 
dence.  As  soon  as  he  conceived  the  project  of 
leaving  Saxony  for  the  Rhine,  he  bethought 
himself  of  the  great  musical  festival  which  ever 
since  1818  had  been  held  in  the  lower  Rhine1 
districts,  and  was  inspired  by  the  idea  of  assist 
ing  at  one  of  these  in  the  capacity  of  a  com 
poser.  He  wrote  down  this  great  work  with 
its  five  movements  between  Nov.  2  and  Dec. 
9,  1850.  He  has  told  us  that  it  was  intended  to 
convey  the  impressions  which  he  received  during 
a  visit  to  Cologne  ;  so  that  its  ordinary  name  of 
the  '  Rhenish  Symphony '  may  be  accepted  as 
correct.  It  was  first  performed  at  Dusseldorf  on 
Feb.  6,  1851,  and  then  at  Cologne  on  Feb.  25, 
both  times  under  the  direction  of  the  composer, 
but  was  coldly  received  on  both  occasions.2 

Although  Schumann  had  had  no  pleasant 
experiences  in  connection  with  the  opera  '  Geno- 
veva,'  he  was  not  to  be  deterred  from  making 
another  essay  in  dramatic  composition.  In  Oct. 

1850  he  received  from  Richard  Pohl,  at  that  time 
a  student  in  the  Leipzig  university,  Schiller's 
'Bride  of  Messina'  arranged  as  an  opera  libretto. 
Schumann  could  not  make  up  his  mind  to  set  it 
to  music ;   but  in  Dec.  1850  and  Jan.  1851   he 
wrote  an  Overture  to  the  'Braut  von  Messina' 
(op.  100),  which  showed  how  much  the  material 
of  the  play  had  interested  him,  in  spite  of  his 
refusal  to  set  it.    He  inclined  to  a  more  cheerful, 
or  even  a  comic  subject,  and  Goethe's  '  Hermann 
und  Dorothea '  seemed  to  him  appropriate  for  an 
operetta.     He  consulted  several  poets  concerning 
the  arrangement,  and  having  made  out  a  scheme 
of  treatment,  wrote  the  Overture  at  Christmas 

1851  (op.  136).    The  work  however  progressed  no 
farther.    He  subsequently  turned  his  attention  to 
Auerbach's  'Dorfgesehichten,'  but  without  finding 
any  good  material,  and  no  second  opera  from  his 
pen  ever  saw  the  light. 

He  completed  however  a  number  of  vocal 
compositions  for  the  concert-room,  in  which  his 
taste  for  dramatic  musie  had  free  play.  A  young 
poet  from  Chemnitz,  Moritz  Horn,  had  sent  him 

1  See  this  Dictionary,  vol.  ii.  p.  467. 

2  Its  first  performance  in  England  was  at  a  Concert  of  Signer 
Arditi's,  Dec.  4. 1865. 


SCHUMANN. 

a  faery  poem,  which  greatly  interested  him. 
After  many  abbreviations  and  alterations  made 
by  Horn  himself  at  Schumann's  suggestion, '  The 
Pilgrimage  of  the  Rose '  (Der  Rose  Pilgerfahrt, 
op.  112)  was  really  set  to  music  between  April 
and  July  1851.  The  work,  which  both  in  form 
and  substance  resembles  '  Paradise  and  the 
Peri,'  except  that  it  is  treated  in  a  manner  at 
once  more  detailed  and  more  idyllic,  had  at  first 
a  simple  pianoforte  accompaniment,  but  in  No 
vember  Schumann  arranged  it  for  orchestra.  June 
185 1  is  also  the  date  of  the  composition  of  Uhland's 
ballad  'Der  Konigssohn'  (op.  116)  in  a  semi-dra 
matic  form,  to  which  indeed  he  was  almost  driven 
by  the  poem  itself.  Schumann  was  much  pleased 
with  his  treatment  of  this  ballad,  which  he  has 
set  for  soli,  chorus,  and  orchestra.  In  the  course 
of  the  next  two  years  he  wrote  three  more  works 
of  the  same  kind :  '  Des  Sangers  Fluch'  (op.  139), 
a  ballad  of  Uhland's  ;  '  Vom  Pagen  und  der 
Konigstochter'  (op.  140)  a  ballad  by  Geibel ;  and 
'Das  Gluck  von  Edenhall'  (op.  143),  a  ballad  by 
Uhland. 

In  the  last  two  poems  he  made  alterations  of 
more  or  less  importance,  to  bring  them  into  shape 
for  musical  setting,  but  the  '  Sangers  Fluch  '  had 
to  be  entirely  remodelled — a  difficult  and  un 
grateful  task,  which  Richard  Pohl  carried  out 
after  Schumann's  own  suggestions. 

At  that  time  this  young  man,  a  thorough  art- 
enthusiast,  kept  up  a  lively  intercourse  with 
Schumann  both  personally  and  by  letter.  They 
devised  together  the  plan  of  a  grand  oratorio. 
Schumann  wavered  between  a  biblical  and  an 
historical  subject,  thinking  at  one  time  of  the 
Virgin  Mary,  at  another  of  Ziska  or  Luther.  His 
final  choice  fell  upon  Luther.  He  pondered  deeply 
upon  the  treatment  of  his  materials.  It  was  to 
be  an  oratorio  suitable  both  for  the  church  and 
the  concert  room,  and  in  its  poetical  form  as 
dramatic  as  possible.  In  point  of  musical  treat 
ment  he  intended  the  chorus  to  predominate,  as 
in  Handel's  'Israel  in  Egypt,'  of  which  he  had 
given  a  performance  in  the  winter  of  1 850.  More 
over  it  was  not  to  be  complicated  and  contra 
puntal  in  style,  but  simple  and  popular,  so  that 
'  peasant  and  citizen  alike  should  understand  it.' 
The  more  he  pondered  it  the  more  was  he  in 
spired  with  the  grandeur  of  the  subject,  although 
by  no  means  blind  to  its  difficulties.  'It  inspires 
courage '  he  says,  *  and  also  humility.'  He 
could  not  however  coincide  with  his  poet's 
opinion  as  to  the  extent  of  the  work,  the 
latter  having  formed  the  idea  of  a  sort  of 
trilogy,  in  oratorio  form,  while  Schumann  wished 
the  work  to  be  within  the  limit  of  one  evening's 
performance,  lasting  about  two  hours  and  a  half. 
In  this  way  the  few  years  of  creative  activity 
that  were  still  granted  to  him  slipped  away,  and 
the  oratorio  remained  unwritten.  The  impossi 
bility  of  satisfying,  by  the  oratorio  on  Luther, 
the  inclination  for  grave  and  religious  music 
which  became  ever  stronger  with  increasing 
years,  is  partly  the  reason  of  his  writing  in  1852 
a  Mass  (op.  147)  and  a  Requiem  (op.  148).  But 
to  these  he  was  also  incited  by  outward  circum- 


SCHUMANN. 

stances .  Th  e  i  nhabitants  of  Diisseldorf  are  mostly 
Catholics,  the  organ-lofts  in  the  principal  churches 
are  too  small  to  hold  a  large  choir  and  orchestra, 
and  the  regular  church-music  was  in  a  bad  con 
dition.  The  choral  society  which  Schumann  con 
ducted  was  accustomed,  as  a  reward  for  its  labours, 
to  have  several  concerts  of  church  music,  or  at 
least  sacred  compositions,  every  year ;  and  Schu 
mann  was  probably  thinking  ot'  this  custom  in 
his  Mass  and  his  Requiem,  but  he  was  not  des 
tined  ever  to  hear  them  performed. 

In  the  summer  of  1851  he  and  his  family  made 
a  tour  in  Switzerland,  which  he  had  not  visited 
since  the  time  of  his  student-life  in  Heidelberg ; 
on  his  return  he  went  to  Antwerp,  for  a  com 
petitive  performance  by  the  Belgian  'Manner- 
gesangverein '  (a  society  of  male  singers),  on 
August  1 7,  at  which  he  had  been  asked  to  aid  in 
adjudging  the  prizes.  Two  years  later,  towards 
the  end  of  1853,  ne  an(^  n^s  wife  once  more 
visited  the  Netherlands,  and  made  a  concert-tour 
through  Holland,  meeting  with  such  an  enthusi 
astic  reception  that  he  could  not  help  saying  that 
his  music  seemed  to  have  struck  deeper  root 
there  than  in  Germany.  In  March  1852  they 
revisited  Leipzig,  where,  between  the  I4th  and 
the  2 ist,  a  quantity  of  his  music  was  performed; 
the  Manfred  overture  and  the  '  Pilgerfahrt  der 
Rose'  at  a  public  matine'e  on  the  I4th;  the  D 
minor  Sonata  for  pianoforte  and  violin  (op.  121) 
in  a  private  circle,  on  the  I5th;  the  Eb  Sym 
phony  at  a  concert  at  the  Gewandhaus  on  the 
1 8th ;  the  Pianoforte  Trio  in  G  minor  (op.  1 10)  at 
a  chamber  concert  on  the  2  ist.  On  Nov.  6, 1851, 
the  overture  to  the  '  Braut  von  Messina '  was  also 
performed  at  the  Gewandhaus.  The  public  had 
thus,  during  this  season,  ample  opportunity  of  be 
coming  acquainted  with  the  latest  works  of  this  in 
exhaustible  composer.  But  although  he  had  lived 
in  Leipzig  for  fourteen  years,  and  had  brought 
out  most  of  his  compositions  there,  besides  having 
a  circle  of  sincerely  devoted  friends  in  that  city, 
he  could  not  on  this  occasion  boast  of  any  great 
success,1  the  public  received  him  with  respect 
and  esteem,  but  with  no  enthusiasm.  But  in  this 
respect  Schumann  had  lived  through  a  variety 
of  experience  ;  '  I  am  accustomed,'  he  writes  to 
Pohl,  Dec.  7,  1851,  when  speaking  of  the  recep 
tion  of  the  overture  to  the  '  Braut  von  Messina,' 
'to  find  that  my  compositions,  particularly  the 
best  and  deepest,  are  not  understood  by  the  public 
at  a  first  hearing.'  Artists  however  had  come  to 
Leipzig  from  some  distance  for  the  '  Schumann- 
week  ' ;  among  them  Liszt  and  Joachim. 

In  August  1852  there  was  held  in  Diisseldorf 
a  festival  of  music  for  men's  voices,  in  which 
Schumann  assisted  as  conductor,  though,  owing 
to  his  health,  only  to  a  very  limited  extent. 
He  took  a  more  important  part  at  Whitsuntide 
1853,  when  the  3ist  of  the  Lower  Rhine  Festi 
vals  was  celebrated  in  Diisseldorf  on  May  15, 
16,  and  17.  He  conducted  the  music  of  the  first 
day,  consisting  of  Handel's  '  Messiah '  and  of 
his  own  Symphony  in  D  minor,  which  was  ex 
ceedingly  well  received.  In  the  concerts  of  the 
two  following  days,  which  were  conducted  chiefly 


SCHUMANN. 


403 


by  Hiller,  two  more  of  Schumann's  larger  compo 
sitions  were  performed  ;  the  Pianoforte  Concerto 
in  A  minor,  and  a  newly  composed  Festival 
Overture  with  soli  and  chorus  on  the  '  Rhein- 
weinlied'  (op.  123).  But  although  Schumann 
appeared  in  so  brilliant  a  way  as  a  composer, 
and  as  such  was  honoured  and  appreciated  in 
Diisseldorf,  yet  there  was  no  concealing  the 
fact  that  as  a  conductor  he  was  inefficient. 
The  little  talent  for  conducting  that  he  showed 
on  his  arrival  in  Diisseldorf  had  disappeared 
with  his  departing  health.  It  was  in  fact 
necessary  to  procure  some  one  to  take  his  place. 
An  attempt  was  made  after  the  first  winter 
concert  of  the  year  (Oct.  27,  1853)  to  induce  him 
to  retire  fora  time  from  the  post  of  his  own  accord. 
But  this  proposal  was  badly  received.  The  fact 
however  remains,  that  from  the  date  just  men 
tioned  all  the  practices  and  performances  were 
conducted  by  Julius  Tausch,  who  thus  became 
Schumann's  real  successor.  No  doubt  the  direc 
tors  of  the  society  were  really  in  the  right ; 
though  perhaps  the  form  in  which  Schumann's 
relation  to  the  society  was  expressed  might 
have  been  better  chosen.  The  master  was  now 
taken  up  with  the  idea  of  leaving  Diisseldorf  as 
soon  as  possible,  and  of  adopting  Vienna,  for 
which  he  had  preserved  a  great  affection,  as  his 
permanent  residence.  But  fate  had  decided 
otherwise. 

The  dissatisfaction  induced  in  his  mind  by 
the  events  of  the  autumn  of  1853  was  however 
mitigated  partly  by  the  tour  in  Holland  already 
mentioned,  and  partly  by  another  incident.  It 
happened  that  in  October  a  young  and  wholly 
unknown  musician  arrived,  with  a  letter  of  in 
troduction  from  Joachim.  Johannes  Brahms — 
for  he  it  was — immediately  excited  Schumann's 
warmest  interest  by  the  genius  of  his  playing  and 
the  originality  of  his  compositions.  In  his  early 
days  he  had  always  been  the  champion  of  the 
young  and  aspiring,  and  now  as  a  matured  artist 
he  took  pleasure  in  smoothing  the  path  of  this 
gifted  youth.  Schumann's  literary  pen  had  lain 
at  rest  for  nine  years  ;  he  now  once  more  took  it 
up,  for  the  last  time,  in  order  to  say  a  powerful 
word  for  Brahms  to  the  wide  world  of  art.  An 
article  entitled  '  Neue  Bahnen'  (New  Paths)  ap 
peared  on  Oct.  28,  1853,  in  No.  18  of  that  year's 
'  Zeitschrift.'  In  this  he  pointed  to  Brahms  as 
the  artist  whose  vocation  it  would  be  'to  utter  the 
highest  ideal  expression  of  our  time.'  He  does  not 
speak  of  him  as  a  youth  or  beginner,  but  welcomes 
him  into  the  circle  of  Masters  as  a  fully  equipped 
combatant.  When  before  or  since  did  an  artist 
find  such  words  of  praise  for  one  of  his  fellows  ?  It 
is  as  though,  having  already  given  so  many  noble 
proofs  of  sympathetic  appreciation,  he  could  not 
leave  the  world  without  once  more,  after  his 
long  silence,  indelibly  stamping  the  image  of  his 
pure,  lofty,  and  unenvious  artist-nature  on  the 
hearts  of  his  fellow  men. 

So  far  as  Brahms  was  concerned,  it  is  true  that 
this  brilliant  envoi  laid  him  under  a  heavy  debt 
of  duty,  in  the  necessity  of  measuring  his  produc 
tions  by  the  very  highest  standard ;  and  at  the 

Dd2 


404 


SCHUMANN. 


time  Schumann  was  supposed  to  have  attributed 
to  Brahms,  as  he  did  to  the  poetess  Elisabeth 
Kulmann,  gifts  which  he  did  not  actually  possess. 
Twenty-eight  years  have  passed  and  we  now  know 
that  Schumann's  keen  insight  did  not  deceive 
him,  and  that  Brahms  has  verified  all  the  expecta 
tions  formed  of  him.  His  intercourse  with  the 
young  composer  (then  20  years  old),  in  whom  he 
took  the  widest  and  most  affectionate  interest, 
was  a  great  pleasure  to  Schumann. 

At  that  time  too  Albert  Dietrich  (now  Hof- 
capellmeister  at  Oldenburg)  was  staying  in  Dxis- 
seldorf,  and  Schumann  proved  to  the  utmost  the 
truth  of  what  he  had  written  only  a  few  months 
previously  of  Kirchner,  that  he  loved  to  follow 
the  progress  of  young  men.  A  sonata  for  piano 
forte  and  violin  exists  in  MS.  which  Schu 
mann  composed  during  this  month  (October 
1853),  in  conjunction  with  Brahms  and  Dietrich. 
Dietrich  begins  with  an  allegro  in  A  minor  ; 
Schumann  follows  with  an  intermezzo  in  F  major  ; 
Brahms — who  signs  himself  Johannes  Kreissler 
junior — adds  an  allegro  in  C  minor ;  and  Schu 
mann  winds  up  the  work  with  a  finale  in  A 
minor,  ending  in  A  major.  The  title  of  the 
sonata  is  worth  noting.  Joachim  was  coming 
to  Dusseldorf  to  play  at  the  concert  of  Oct.  27, 
so  Schumann  wrote  on  the  title-page  'In  an 
ticipation  of  the  arrival  of  our  beloved  and 
honoured  friend  Joseph  Joachim,  this  sonata 
was  written  by  Robert  Schumann,  Albert  Die 
trich,  and  Johannes  Brahms.' l 

This  interesting  intimacy  cannot  have  con 
tinued  long,  since  in  November  Schumann  went 
to  Holland  with  his  wife,  and  did  not  return  till 
Dec.  22.  But  he  met  Brahms  again  in  Hanover 
in  January  1854,  a*  a  performance  of  'Paradise 
and  the  Peri,'  where  he  found  also  Joachim  and 
Julius  Otto  Grimm  (now  musical  director  at 
Miinster).  A  circle  of  gifted  and  devoted  young 
artists  gathered  round  the  master  and  rejoiced 
in  having  him  among  them,  little  imagining  that 
within  a  few  months  he  would  be  suddenly 
snatched  from  them  for  ever. 

Schumann's  appearance  was  that  of  a  man 
with  a  good  constitution ;  his  figure  was  above 
the  middle  height,  full  and  well-built ;  but  his 
nervous  system  had  always  shown  extreme  ex 
citability,  and  even  so  early  as  his  twenty-fourth 
year  he  suffered  from  a  nervous  disorder  which 
increased  to  serious  disease.  At  a  still  earlier 
date  he  had  shown  a  certain  morbid  hypertension 
of  feeling,  in  connection  with  his  passionate  study 
of  Jean  Paul,  of  whom  he  wrote,  even  in  his  i8th 
year,  that  he  often  drove  him  to  the  verge  of  mad 
ness.  Violent  shocks  of  emotion,  as  for  instance  the 
sudden  announcement  of  a  death,  or  the  struggle 
for  the  hand  of  Clara  Wieck,  would  bring  him 
into  a  condition  of  mortal  anguish,  and  the  most 
terrible  state  of  bewilderment  and  helplessness, 
followed  by  days  of  overwhelming  melancholy. 
A  predisposition  to  worry  himself,  an  '  ingenuity 
in  clinging  to  unhappy  idea*,'  often  embittered 
the  fairest  moments  of  his  life.  Gloomy  antici- 

1  The  MS.  is  in  Joachim's  possession. 


SCHUMANN. 

pations  darkened  his  soul  ;  'I  often  feel  as  if  I 
should  not  live  much  longer,'  he  says  in  a  letter 
to  Zuccalmaglio  of  May  18,  1837,  'and  I  should 
like  to  do  a  little  more  work ' ;  and  later,  to  Hiller 
— 'man  must  work  while  it  is  yet  day.'     The 
vigour   of    youth    for   a  time   conquered   these 
melancholy  aberrations,  and  after  his  marriage 
the  calm  and  equable  happiness  which  he  found 
in  his  wife  for  a  long  time  expelled  the  evil 
spirit.     It  was  not  till  1844  that  he  a^ain  fell 
a  prey  to  serious  nervous  tension.      This  was 
evidently  the  result  of  undue  mental  strain,  and 
for  a  time  he  was  forced  to  give  up  all  work, 
and  even  the  hearing  of  music,  and  to  with 
draw  into  perfect  solitude  at  Dresden.     His  im 
provement  was  slow  and  not  without  relapses ; 
but  in  1849  he  felt  quite  re-established,  as  we 
gather  from  his  letters  and  from  the  work  he 
accomplished;  and  his  condition  seems  to  have 
remained  satisfactory  till  about  the  end  of  1851. 
Then  the  symptoms  of  disease  reappeared;  he 
had,  as  usual,  been  again  working  without  pause 
or  respite,  and  even  with  increased  severity ;  and 
was    himself    so   much  alarmed   as   to   seek   a 
remedy.     Various  eccentricities  of  conduct  be 
trayed  even  to  strangers  the  state  of  nervous  ex 
citability  in  which  he  was.    By  degrees  delusions 
grew  upon  him,  and  he  fancied  that  he  incessantly 
heard  one  particular  note,  or  certain  harmonies, 
or  voices  whispering   words  of  reproof  or  en 
couragement.    Once  in  the  night  he  fancied  that 
the  spirits  of  Schubert  and  Mendelssohn  brought 
him  a  musical  theme,  and  he  got  up  and  noted  it 
down.     He  was  again  attacked  by  that  'mortal 
anguish  of  mind '  of  which  he  had  had  former  ex 
perience,  and  which  left  him  perfectly  distracted. 
Still,  all  these  symptoms  were  but  temporary, 
and  between  the  attacks  Schumann  was  in  full 
possession  of  his  senses  and  self  control.  He  himself 
expressed  a  wish  to  be  placed  in  an  asylum,  but 
meanwhile  worked  on  in  his  old  way.    He  wrote 
some  variations  for  the  piano  on  the  theme  re 
vealed  to  him  by  Schubert  and  Mendelssohn, 
but  they  were  his  last  work,  and  remained  un 
finished.     On  Feb.  27,  1854,  in  the  afternoon, 
in  one  of  his  fits  of  agony  of  mind,  he  left  the 
house  unobserved  and  threw  himself  from  the 
bridge  into  the  Rhine.     Some  boatmen  were  on 
the  watch  and  rescued  him,  and  he  was  recognised 
and  carried  home.     Unmistakeable  symptoms  of 
insanity  now  declared  themselves,  but  after  a  few 
days  a  peculiar  clearness  and  calmness  of  mind 
returned,  and  with  it  his  irrepressible  love  of 
work.     He  completed  the  variation  on  which  he 
had  been  at  work  before  the  great  catastrophe. 
These  last  efforts  of  his  wearied  genius  remain 
unpublished,  but  Brahms  has  used  the  theme  for 
a  set  of  4-hand  variations  which  form  one  of  his 
most  beautiful  and  touching  works  (op.  23),  and 
which  he  has  dedicated  to  Schumann's  daughter 
Julie. 

The  last  two  years  of  Schumann's  life  were 
spent  in  the  private  asylum  of  Dr.  Richarz  at 
Endenich  near  Bonn.  His  mental  disorder  de 
veloped  into  deep  melancholy ;  at  times — as  JQ 
the  spring  of  1855 — when  for  a  while  he  seemed, 


SCHUMANN. 

better,  his  outward  demeanour  was  almost  the 
same  as  before.  He  corresponded  with  his  friends 
and  received  visits,  but  gradually  the  pinions  of 
his  soul  drooped  and  fell,  and  he  died  in  the  arms 
of  his  wife,  July  29,  1856,  only  46  years  of  age. 
Soon  after  Schumann's  death  his  music  achieved 
a  popularity  in  Germany  which  will  bear  com 
parison  with  that  of  the  most  favourite  of  the 
older  masters.  When  once  the  peculiarities  of 
his  style  grew  familiar,  it  was  realised  that 
these  very  peculiarities  had  their  origin  in  the 
deepest  feelings  of  the  nation.  The  desire  of 
giving  outward  expression  to  the  love  which  was 
felt  towards  him,  soon  asserted  itself  more  and 
more  strongly.  Schumann  was  buried  at  Bonn, 
in  the  churchyard  opposite  the  Sternenthor,  and 
it  was  resolved  to  erect  a  monument  to  him 
there.  On  Aug.  17,  1 8  and  19,  1873,  a  Schumann 
festival  took  place  at  Bonn,  consisting  entirely 
of  the  master's  compositions.  The  conducting 
was  undertaken  by  Joachim  and  Wasielewski, 
and  among  the  performers  were  Madame  Schu 
mann,  who  played  her  husband's  Pianoforte  Con 
certo,  and  Stockhausen.  The  festival  was  one 
of  overwhelming  interest,  owing  to  the  sympathy 
taken  in  it,  and  the  manner  in  which  that  sym 
pathy  was  displayed.  The  proceeds  of  the  con 
certs  were  devoted  to  a  monument  to  Schumann's 
memory,  which  was  executed  by  A.  Donndorf  of 
Stuttgart,  erected  over  the  grave,  and  unveiled 
on  May  2,  1880.  On  this  occasion  also  a  concert 
took  place,  consisting  of  compositions  by  Schu 
mann,  and  Br.ihms's  Violin  Concerto  (op.  77), 
conducted  by  himself,  and  played  by  Joachim. 


SCHUMANN. 


405 


Schumann,  with  his  activity  both  as  an  author 
and  as  a  composer,  was  a  new  phenomenon  in 
German  music.  It  is  true  that  he  had  had  a 
predecessor  in  this  respect  in  C.  M.  von  Weber, 
who  also  had  a  distinct  gift  and  vocation  for 
authorship,  and  whose  collected  writings  form  a 
literary  monument  possessing  far  more  than  a 
merely  personal  interest.  Still  Weber  was  pre 
vented  by  circumstances  and  by  his  own  natural 
restlessness  from  fully  developing  his  literary 
talent,  while  Schumann  benefitted  by  the  restraint 
and  discipline  of  his  ten  years  of  editorship.  In 
1854  he  had  his  'Gesammelte  Schriften  u'ber 
Musik  und  Musiker '  published  in  four  volumes 
by  Wigand  in  Leipzig,  and  it  was  not  long  in 
reaching  its  second  edition,  which  appeared  in 
two  volumes  in  1871.  This  collection  however 
is  not  nearly  complete,  and  the  essays  it  includes 
have  been  much  altered.  A  full  and  correct 
edition  of  his  writings  is  still  a  desideratum. 

It  must  not  however  be  imagined  that  Schu 
mann's  aim  as  an  author  was  to  lay  down  the 
principles  on  which  he  worked  as  a  composer; 
it  is  indeed  hardly  possible  to  contrast  the  criti 
cal  and  the  productive  elements  in  his  works. 
His  authorship  and  his  musical  compositions  were 
two  distinct  phases  of  a  creative  nature,  and  if  it 
was  by  composition  that  he  satisfied  his  purely 
musical  craving  it  was  by  writing  that  he  gave 
utterance  to  his  poetical  instincts.  His  essays  are 


for  the  most  part  rather  rhapsodies  on  musical 
works,  or  poetical  imagery  lavished  on  musical  sub 
jects,  than  criticisms  properly  speaking;  and  the 
cases  where  he  writes  in  the  negative  vein  are 
very  rare  exceptions.  A  high  ideal  floats  before 
his  mind,  and  supported  by  the  example  of  the 
greatest  masters  of  the  art,  his  one  aim  is  to 
introduce  a  new  and  pregnant  period  of  music  in 
contrast  to  the  shallowness  of  his  own  time. 
Again  and  again  he  speaks  of  this  as  the  '  poetic 
phase ' — and  here  we  must  guard  against  a  mis 
understanding.  The  term  poetic  music  is  often 
used  in  antithesis  to  pure  music,  to  indicate  a 
work  based  on  a  combination  of  poetry  and 
music ;  as,  for  instance,  a  Song,  which  may  be 
conceived  of  either  as  a  purely  musical  compo 
sition  founded  on  the  union  of  definite  feelings 
and  ideas,  or  as  intended  to  express  the  precon 
ceived  emotions  and  ideas  of  the  poet.  But  it 
was  not  anything  of  this  kind  that  Schumann 
meant  to  convey :  he  simply  regarded  poetry  as 
the  antithesis  to  prose,  just  as  enthusiasm  is  the 
antithesis  to  sober  dulness,  the  youthful  rhap- 
sodist  to  the  Philistine,  the  artist  with  his  lofty 
ideal  to  the  mechanical  artisan  or  the  sxiperficial 
dilettante.  His  aim  is  to  bring  to  birth  a  living 
art,  full  of  purpose  and  feeling,  and  he  cannot 
endure  a  mere  skeleton  of  forms  and  phrases.  In 
this  key  he  pitches  his  writings  on  music,  and 
their  purport  is  always  the  same.  He  once 
speaks  of  reviewers  and  critics  under  a  quaint 
simile  — '  Music  excites  the  nightingale  to  love- 
songs,  the  lap-dog  to  bark.'  Nothing  could  more 
accurately  represent  his  own  attitude  in  writing 
on  music  than  the  first  of  these  images.  From 
his  point  of  view  a  piece  of  music  ought  to  rouse 
in  the  true  critic  sympathetic  feeling,  he  ought 
to  absorb  and  assimilate  its  contents,  and  then 
echo  them  in  words — Schumann  was  in  fact  the 
singing  nightingale.  Though  we  may  not  feel 
inclined  to  apply  his  other  comparison  to  every 
critic  who  does  not  follow  in  his  steps,  we  may 
at  least  say  that  the  difference  between  Schu 
mann's  style  and  that  of  the  musical  periodicals 
of  his  day  was  as  great  as  that  between  a  night 
ingale  and  a  lap-dog.  And  how  strange  and  new 
were  the  tones  uttered  by  this  poet-critic!  A 
considerable  resemblance  to  Jean  Paul  mu«t  be 
admitted,  particularly  in  his  earlier  critiques  : 
the  ecstatic  youthful  sentiment,  the  humorous 
suggestions,  the  highly  wrought  and  dazzling 
phraseology,  are  common  to  both ;  but  the  style 
is  quite  different.  Schumann  commonly  writes  in 
short  and  vivid  sentences,  going  straight  at  his 
subject  without  digressions,  and  indulging  in 
bold  abbreviations.  There  is  a  certain  indolence 
of  genius  about  him,  and  yet  a  sure  artistic  in 
stinct  throughout.  Nor  has  he  a  trace  of  Jean 
Paul's  sentimental  '  luxury  of  woe,'  but  we  every 
where  find,  side  by  side  with  emotional  rhapsody, 
the  refreshing  breeziness  of  youth  and  health. 

It  has  already  been  said  that  Schumann  con 
nects  certain  definite  characteristics  with  dif 
ferent  feigned  names  (Florestan,  Eusebius,  Earo, 
etc.),  a  device  which  none  but  a  poet  could  have 
hit  on.  Indeed,  it  would  be  a  hindrance  to  the 


406 


SCHUMANN. 


writing  of  calm  criticism,  which  must  have  a  fixed 
and  clearly  defined  position  as  its  basis.  But  it 
often  introduces  a  varied  and  even  dramatic  live 
liness  into  the  discussion,  which  is  very  attractive, 
and  leads  to  a  deeper  consideration  of  the  subject. 
Schumann,  however,  could  use  still  more  arti 
ficial  forms  in  his  critiques.  Thus  he  discusses 
the  first  concert  conducted  by  Mendelssohn  at 
the  Gewandhaus,  Oct.  1835,  in  letters  addressed 
by  Eusebius  to  Chiara  in  Italy ;  and  within  this 
frame  the  details  of  the  concert  are  gracefully 
entwined  with  ingenious  reflections  and  fanciful 

O 

ideas  which  add  brilliancy  to  the  picture.     On 
another  occasion,  when  he  was  to  write  about  a 
mass  of  dance- music,  Schumann  has  recourse  to 
the  following  fiction  :  —  the  editor  of  a  certain 
musical   paper    gives    a    historical   fancy   ball. 
Composers  are  invited,  young  lady  amateurs  and 
their  mothers,  music  publishers,  diplomatists,  a 
few  rich  Jewesses,  and — of  course— the  Davids 
biindler;     the    dance-programme    includes    the 
music  to  be  criticised,  to  which  the  couples  whirl 
about  during  the  whole  evening.     Hence  arise 
all  sorts  of  humorous  incidents — satirical,  whim 
sical,  and  sentimental  outpourings,  in  which  a 
criticism  of  the  compositions  is  brought  in  unper- 
ceived.     On  another  occasion,  the  Davidsbiindler 
have  met,  and  the  new  compositions  are  played 
in  turns  ;   during  the  playing  the  rest  carry  on 
a  variety  of  amusements  which  culminate  in  a 
magic  lantern,  throwing  the  figures  of  a  masked 
ball  on  the  wall,  which  Florestan,  standing  on 
the  table,  explains,   while   'Zilia'  plays  Franz 
Schubert's  'Deutsche  Tanze.'     Anything   more 
vivid,  charming  and  poetical  than  this  essay  has 
never  been  written  on  music  (it  is  in  the  'Gesam. 
Schriften,'  vol.  ii.  p.  9 ;  and  is  partly  translated  in 
'Music  and  Musicians,'  i.  p.  102);  a  little  work 
of  art  in  itself !     Once,  in  reviewing  a  concert 
given  by  Clara  Wieck,  he  gives  us  a  real  poem 
('Traumbild,  am  9  September,   1838,  Abends,' 
vol.  ii.  p.  233).     In  this  he  combines  his  own 
tender  sentiments  with  a  skilful  characterisation 
of  all  that  was  peculiar  in  the  performance.    For 
sketching   character-portraits  Schumann   shows 
a  conspicuous  talent ;   the  articles  in  which  he 
has  characterised  Sterndale  Bennett,  Gade,  and 
Henselt  are  unsurpassed  by  any  thing  since  written 
concerning  these  artists.  He  seems  to  have  pene 
trated  with  the  insight  of  a  seer  to  the  core  of 
their  natures,  and  has  set  forth  his  conclusions 
in  a  delicate  and  picturesque  manner  that  no  one 
has  succeeded  in  imitating.     In  his  article  'Der 
alteHauptmann'  (cited  as  'The  Old  Captain'  in 
1  Music  and  Musicians,'  i.  98)  he  tells  the  story 
of  an  old  military  man  with  a  passion  for  music, 
who  has  become  intimate  with  the  Davidsbiindler, 
and  describes  his  identity  with  a  subtle  obser 
vation  and  keen  insight  that  result  in  a  really 
classical  treatment  of  the  type  of  a  kindly  and 
amiable  dilettante,  with  a  slight  vein  of  melan 
choly  adding  to  the  charm  of  the  picture. 

The  foundation  of  Schumann's  critiques  lay  in 
kindness;  his  distingu6  character  would  simply 
have  nothing  to  do  with  anything  bad  enough  to 
demand  energetic  reproof.  The  most  cutting 


SCHUMANN. 

and  bitter  article  he  ever  wrote  was  the  famous 
one  on  Meyerbeer's  'Huguenots'  (vol.  ii.  p.  220; 
translated  in  'Music  and  Musicians,'  i.  p.  302). 
In  its  violence  it  has  no  doubt  somewhat  over 
shot   the   mark ;   but  nowhere  perhaps  do  the 
purity  and  nobleness  of  Schumann's  artistic  views 
shine  forth  more  clearly  than  in  this  critique 
and  in  the  one  immediately  following  on  Men 
delssohn's  'St.  Paul.'     It  was  the  great  success 
of   the    '  Huguenots '    which    infused    the  acid 
into  Schumann's  antagonism  ;  for  when  dealing 
with    inoffensive   writers    he   could   wield   the 
weapons  of  irony  and  ridicule  both  lightly  and 
effectively.     But  he  is  most  at  his  ease  when 
giving  praise  and  encouragement ;   then  words 
flow  so  directly  from  his  heart  that  his  turns 
of  expression  have  often  quite  a  magical  charm. 
As  an  example  we  may  mention  the  article  on 
Field's  7th  Concerto  (ibid.  i.  268 ;  '  Music  and 
Musicians,'  i.  p.  267).     Anything  more  tender 
and  full  of  feeling  was  never  written  under  the 
semblance  of  a  critique  than  the  remarks  on  a 
sonata  in  C  minor  by  Delphine  Hill-Handley 
— formerly   Delphine    Schauroth   (ibid.   i.   92). 
Schumann  has  here  given  us  a  really  poetical 
masterpiece  in  its  kind,  full  of  intelligent  appre 
ciation  of  the  purport  of  the  work  and  giving 
covert  expression  to  its  maidenly  feeling,  even 
in  the  style  of  his  discussion  ;  it  must  delight 
the  reader  even  if  he  does  not  know  a  note  of 
the  composition.     Schumann  had  fresh  imagery 
always  at  command,  and  if  in  a  generally  meri 
torious  work  he  found  something  to  blame,  he 
contrived  to  do  it  in  the  most  delicate  manner. 
His  amiable  temper,  his  tender  heart  and  his 
conspicuous  talents-  for  literary  work  combined, 
never  left  him  at  a  loss  in  such  cases  for  some 
ingenious  or  whimsical  turn.    Sometimes,  though 
rarely,  in  his  eager  sympathy  for  youthful  genius 
in  difficulty  he  went  too  far  ;  Hermann  Hirsch- 
bach,  for  instance,  never  fulfilled  the  hopes  that 
Schumann  formed  of  him ;  and  even  in  his  re 
marks  on  Berlioz,  he  at  first  probably  said  more 
than  he  would  afterwards  have  maintained. 

In  later  years  Schumann's  flowery  and  poetic 
vein  gave  way  to  a  calm  and  contemplative 
style.  His  opinions  and  principles  remained  as 
sound  as  ever,  but  they  are  less  keenly  and  bril 
liantly  expressed  than  at  the  earlier  period  when 
he  took  peculiar  pleasure  in  turning  a  flashing 
and  ingenious  sentence  (see  Ges.  Schriften,  vol.  i. 
pp.  27,  208).  Still,  the  practical  musician  always 
predominates,  and  Schumann  himself  confesses 
that  '  the  curse  of  a  mere  musician  often  hits 
higher  than  all  your  aesthetics'  (ibid.  ii.  246). 
Here  and  there  however  we  come  upon  a  pro 
found  aesthetic  axiom,  the  value  of  which  is  in 
no  degree  diminished  by  our  perception  that  it  is 
the  result  rather  of  intuition  than  of  any  system 
atic  reflection.  It  is  universally  acknowledged 
that  by  his  essay  '  On  certain  corrupt  passages  in 
classical  works'  (ibid.  iv.  59;  'Music  and  Musi 
cians,'  i.  26),  Schumann  gave  a  real  impetus  to 
the  textual  criticism  of  music ;  historical  clues 
and  comparisons  are  frequently  suggested,  and 
though  these  indications  are  not  founded  on  any 


SCHUMANN. 

comprehensive  historical  knowledge,  on  all  im 
portant  subjects  they  show  a  happy  instinct  for 
the  right  conclusion,  and  are  always  worthy  of 
attention. 

It  may  be  said  of  Schumann's  literary  work 
in  general  that  it  was  not  calculated  to  attract 
attention  merely  for  the  moment,  though  it  did 
in  fact  open  up  new  paths,  but  that  it  took  the 
form  of  writings  which  have  a  high  and  perma 
nent  value.  They  will  always  hold  a  foremost 
place  in  the  literature  of  music,  and  may  indeed 
take  high  rank  in  the  literature  of  art.  For 
analytical  acumen  they  are  less  remarkable. 
Schumann  cannot  be  called  the  Lessing  of  music, 
nor  is  it  by,  the  display  of  learning  that  he  pro 
duces  his  effects.  It  is  the  union  of  poetic 
talent  with  musical  genius,  wide  intelligence,  and 
high  culture,  that  stamps  Schumann's  writings 
with  originality,  and  gives  them  their  indepen 
dent  value. 

Schumann's  literary  work  was  connected  with 
another  phase  of  the  musical  world  of  Germany, 
as  new  in  its  way  as  the  twofold  development  of 
his  genius — the  rise  of  party  feeling.  No  doubt 
Schumann  gave  the  first  impetus  to  this  move 
ment,  both  by  his  imaginary  '  Davidsbiindler- 
schaft,'  and  by  that  Radical  instinct  which  was 
part  of  his  nature.  Schumann's  principles  as 
an  artist  were  the  same  which  have  been  pro 
fessed  and  followed  by  all  the  greatest  German 
masters ;  what  was  new  in  him  was  the  active 
attempt  to  propagate  them  as  principles.  So 
long  as  he  conducted  the  Zeitschrift  he  could 
not  of  course  lend  himself  to  party  feeling ;  the 
standard  he  had  assumed  was  so  high  that  all 
who  took  a  serious  view  of  art  were  forced  to 
gather  round  him.  But  the  spirit  of  agitation 
was  inflamed,  and  when  he  retired  from  the  paper 
other  principles  of  less  general  application  were 
put  forward.  It  was  self-evident  that  Schumann 
was  the  only  contemporary  German  composer 
who  could  stand  side  by  side  with  Mendelssohn, 
and  they  were  of  course  compared.  It  was  as 
serted  that  in  Mendelssohn  form  took  the  prece 
dence  of  meaning,  while  in  Schumann  meaning 
predominated,  striving  after  a  new  form  of  utter 
ance.  Thus  they  were  put  forward  as  the  repre 
sentatives  of  two  antagonistic  principles  of  art, 
and  a  Mendelssohn  party  and  a  Schumann  party 
were  formed.  In  point  of  fact  there  was  scarcely 
any  trace  of  such  an  antagonism  of  principle 
between  the  two  composers  ;  the  difference  was 
really  one  of  idiosyncrasy ;  and  so,  being  grounded 
more  or  less  on  personal  feeling  the  parties 
assumed  something  of  the  character  of  cliques. 
The  literary  Schumannites,  having  the  command 
of  an  organ  of  their  own,  bad  an  advantage  over 
the  partisans  of  Mendelssohn,  who  like  Men 
delssohn  himself,  would  have  nothing  to  do  with 
the  press.  Leipzig  was  for  a  time  the  head 
quarters  of  the  two  parties.  There,  where  Men 
delssohn  had  worked  for  the  delight  and 
improvement  of  the  musical  world,  it  was  the 
fate  of  his  art  to  be  first  exposed  to  attack  and 
detraction,  which,  to  the  discredit  of  the  German 
nation,  rapidly  spread  through  wider  and  wider 


SCHUMANN. 


407 


circles,  and  was  fated  too  to  proceed  first  from 
the  blind  admirers  of  the  very  master  for  whom 
Mendelssohn  ever  felt  the  deepest  attachment 
and  respect.  '  Oh,  Clique ! '  exclaims  Moscheles 
in  his  Diary  for  1849,  'as  if  in  a  town  where  the 
genius  of  a  Schumann  is  honoured  it  were  neces 
sary  to  cry  down  a  Mendelssohn  as  pedantic  and 
inferior  to  him.  The  public  is  losing  all  its  judg 
ment,  and  placing  its  intelligence  and  its  feelings 
under  an  influence  which  misleads  it  as  much  as 
the  revolutionists  do  the  populace.'  That  Schu 
mann  himself  must  have  been  painfully  affected 
by  this  spirit  is  as  clear  as  that  it  could  only 
result  in  hindering  the  unprejudiced  reception 
of  his  works ;  and  the  process  thus  begun  with 
Schumann  has  been  carried  on,  in  a  greater 
degree,  in  the  case  of  Wagner. 

As  a  composer  Schumann  started  with  the 
pianoforte,  and  until  the  year  1840  wrote 
scarcely  anything  but  pianoforte  music.  For  some 
time  he  used  to  compose  sitting  at  the  instru 
ment,  and  continued  to  do  so  even  until  1839, 
though  he  afterwards  condemned  the  practice 
(in  his '  Musikalische  Haus-  und  Lebensregeln '). 
At  all  events  it  had  the  advantage  of 
making  him  write  from  the  first  in  true 
pianoforte  style.  If  ever  pianoforte  works 
took  their  origin  from  the  innermost  nature 
of  the  pianoforte,  Schumann's  did  so  most 
thoroughly.  His  mode  of  treating  the  in 
strument  is  entirely  new.  He  develops  upon 
it  a  kind  of  orchestral  polyphony,  and  by  means 
of  the  pedal,  of  extended  intervals,  of  peculiar 
positions  of  chords,  of  contractions  of  the  hands, 
and  so  forth,  he  succeeds  in  bringing  out  of  it  an 
undreamt-of  wealth  of  effects  of  tone.  How 
deeply  and  thoroughly  Schumann  had  studied 
the  character  of  the  instrument  may  be  seen 
from  the  detailed  preface  to  his  arrangement  of 
Paganini's  caprices  (op.  3).  Even  in  his  earliest 
PF.  works  he  nowhere  shows  any  inclination  to 
the  method  of  any  of  the  older  masters,  except 
in  the  variations,  op.  I,  which  betray  the  in 
fluence  of  the  schooLof  Hummel  and  Moscheles. 
But  it  is  evident  that  he  knew  all  that  others 
had  done,  and  the  time  and  attention  devoted 
in  his  writings  to  works  of  technical  pianoforte 
study  were  no  doubt  deliberately  given.  Not 
withstanding  this  his  compositions  are  scarcely 
ever  written  in  the  bravura  style ;  for  he  seldom 
cared  to  clothe  his  ideas  in  mere  outward  bril 
liancy.  Sometimes  one  is  constrained  to  wonder 
at  his  abstemiousness  in  using  the  higher  and 
lower  registers  of  the  pianoforte. 

As  is  the  case  with  the  technical  treatment  of 
the  piano,  so  it  is  from  the  beginning  with  the 
substance  and  form  of  his  compositions.  Few 
among  the  great  German  masters  show  such 
striking  originality  from  their  very  first  com 
positions.  In  the  whole  range  of  Schumann's 
works  there  is  scarcely  a  trace  of  any  other 
musician.  At  the  outset  of  his  course  as  a 
composer  he  preferred  to  use  the  concise  dance 
or  song-form,  making  up  his  longer  pieces  from 
a  number  of  these  smaller  forms  set  together 
as  in  a  mosaic,  instead  of  at  once  casting  his 


408 


SCHUMANN. 


thoughts  in  a  larger  mould.  But  the  versa 
tility  with  which  the  small  forms  are  treated  is 
a  testimony  to  the  magnitude  of  his  creative 
faculty.  The  predominance  of  the  small  forms 
is  explained  by  his  earlier  method  of  composing. 
Diligent  and  constant  though  he  was  in  later 
years,  in  early  life  his  way  of  working  was  fitful 
and  inconstant.  The  compositions  of  this  period 
seem  as  if  forced  out  of  him  by  sudden  impulses 
of  genius.  As  he  subsequently  says  of  his  early 
works,  '  the  man  and  the  musician  in  me  were 
always  trying  to  speak  at  the  same  time.'  This 
must  indeed  be  true  of  every  artist ;  if  the  whole 
personality  be  not  put  into  a  work  of  art,  it 
will  be  utterly  worthless.  But  by  those  words 
Schumann  means  to  say  that  as  a  youth  he  at 
tempted  to  bring  to  light  in  musical  form  his 
inmost  feelings  with  regard  to  his  personal  life- 
experiences.  Under  such  circumstances  it  is  but 
natural  that  they  should  contain  much  that  was 
purely  accidental,  and  inexplicable  by  the  laws  of 
art  alone  ;  but  it  is  to  this  kind  of  source  that 
they  owe  the  magic  freshness  and  originality  with 
which  they  strike  the  hearer.  The  variations, 
op.  i,  are  an  instance  of  this.  The  theme  is 
formed  of  the  following  succession  of  notes  : — 


-/i  b     J 

M 

I 

/?uy    • 

the  names  of  which  form  the  word  'Abegg.' 
Meta  Abegg  was  the  name  of  a  beautiful  young 
lady  in  Mannheim,  whose  acquaintance  Schu 
mann  when  a  student  had  made  at  a  ball. 
Playful  symbolism  of  this  kind  is  not  un- 
frequent  in  him.  To  a  certain  extent  it  may 
be  traced  back  to  Sebastian  Bach,  who  expressed 
his  own  name  in  a  musical  phrase ;  as  Schu 
mann  afterwards  did  Gade's.  (See  '  Album  fur 
die  Jugend,  op.  68,  no.  41).  In  the  same  way 
(Ges.  Schriften,  ii.  115)  he  expresses  the 
woman's  name  'Beda'  in  musical  notes,  and  also 
in  the  '  Carnaval '  tried  to  make  those  letters 
in  his  own  name  which  stand  as  notes — s  (es), 
c,  h,  a — into  a  musical  phrase.  But  the  idea 
really  came  from  Jean  Paul,  who  is  very  fond 
of  tracing  out  such  mystic  connections.  Schu 
mann's  op.  2  consists  of  a  set  of  small  pianoforte 
pieces  in  dance-form  under  the  name  of  '  Papil 
lons.'  They  were  written  partly  at  Heidelberg, 
partly  in  the  first  years  of  the  Leipzig  period 
which  followed.  No  inner  musical  connection 
subsists  between  them.  But  Schumann  felt 
the  necessity  of  giving  them  a  poetical  con 
nection,  to  satisfy  his  own  feelings,  if  for 
nothing  else,  and  for  this  purpose  he  adopted 
the  *  last  chapter  but  one  of  Jean  Paul's  '  Flegel- 
jahre,'  where  a  masked  ball  is  described  at 
which  the  lovers  Wina  and  Walt  are  guests,  as 
a  poetic  background  for  the  series.  The  several 
pieces  of  music  may  thus  be  intended  to  represent 
partly  the  different  characters  in  the  crowd  of 
maskers,  and  partly  the  conversation  of  the 

i  In  a  letter  to  his  friend  Henriette  Voigt,  Schumann  calls  it  the 
last  chapter.  This,  although  obviously  a  slip  of  the  pen,  has  led 
several  writers  to  wonder  what  grand  or  fanciful  idea  lurks  behind 
the '  Paplllons.' 


SCHUMANN. 

lovers.  The  finale  is  written  designedly  with 
reference  to  this  scene  in  Jean  Paul,  as  is  plain 
from  the  indication  written  above  the  notes  found 
near  the  end — '  The  noise  of  the  Carnival-night 
dies  away.  The  church  clock  strikes  six.'  The 
strokes  of  the  bell  are  actually  audible,  being 
represented  by  the  A  six  times  repeated.  Then 
all  is  hushed,  and  the  piece  seems  to  vanish 
into  thin  air  like  a  vision.  In  the  finale  there 
are  several  touches  of  humour.  It  begins  with 
an  old  Volkslied,  familiar  to  every  household  in 
Germany  as  the  Grossvatertanz.2 


t=t 


1     1   • 

—  r—  ; 

• 

1 

This  is  immediately  followed  by  a  fragment  of  a 
second  Volkslied,  in  another  tempc 


also  old,  and  sung  in  Saxony  in  the  early  part  of 
the  1 8th  century.  Sebastian  Bach  employed 
the  whole  of  it,  also  in  a  humorous  way,  in  his 
'  Bauercantate.' 


Schumann,  notwithstanding  his  intimate  ac 
quaintance  with  much  of  Bach's  music,  can 
scarcely  have  known  of  this,  and  so  the  fact  of 
their  both  lighting  on  the  theme  is  only  an  in 
teresting  coincidence.3  In  contrast  to  these  two 
old-fashioned  love-tunes  is  placed  the  soft  and 
graceful  melody  of  No.  i  of  the  'Papillons,' 
which  is  afterwards  worked  contrapuntally  with 
the  '  Grossvatertanz.'  The  name  '  Papillons '  is 
not  meant  to  indicate  a  light,  fluttering  character 
in  the  pieces,  but  rather  refers  to  musical  phases 
which,  proceeding  from  various  experiences  of 
life,  have  attained  the  highest  musical  import, 
as  the  butterfly  soars  upwards  out  of  the 
chrysalis.  The  design  of  the  title-page  in  the 
first  edition  points  towards  some  such  meaning 
as  this ;  and  the  explanation  we  have  given 
corresponds  with  his  usual  method  of  composing 
at  that  time.  There  exists  however  no  decisive 
account  of  it  by  the  composer  himself. 

In  a  kind  of  connection  with  the  '  Papillons ' 
is  the  '  Carnaval,'  op.  9.  Here  again  Schumann 
has  depicted  the  merriment  of  a  masquerade  in 
musical  pictures  and  a  third  and  somewhat  simi 
lar  essay  of  the  same  kind  is  his  '  Faschings- 
schwank*  aus  Wien,'  op.  26.  The  'Carnaval'  is 
a  collection  of  small  pieces,  written  one  by  one 

2  See  GBOSSVATEKTANZ,  voUi.  p,  634  a. 

8  Dehn's  edition  of  the  Bauercantate  was  published  in  1839,  8  years 
after  Schumann  had  composed  the  •  Papillons.' 
4  FascJiing  is  a  Gerrnan  word  for  the  Carnival. 


SCHUMANN. 

without  any  special  purpose,  and  not  provided 
either  with  collective  or  individual  titles  until 
later,  when  he  arranged  them  in  their  present 
order.  The  musical  connection  between  the  pieces 
is,  that  with  few  exceptions  they  all  contain  some 
reference  to  the   succession  of  notes  a,  es,  c,  h 
(A,  Eb,  C,  B)  or  as,  c,  h  (Ab,  C,  B).    Now  Asch 
is  the  name  of  a  small  town  in  Bohemia,  the 
home  of  a  Fraulein  Ernestine  von  Fricken,  with 
whom  Schumann    was    very  intimate    at    the 
time  of  his  writing  this  music.    The  same  notes 
in  another  order,  s  (or  es),  c,   h,  a,  are  also 
the    only    letters    in    Schumann's    own    name 
which  represent  notes.     This  explains  the  title 
'  Sphinxes,'  which  is  affixed  to  the  9th  number 
on  p.  13  of  the  original  edition.     The  pieces  are 
named,  some  from  characters  in  the  masked  ball — 
Pierrot  (Clown,)  Arlequin,  Pan  talon,  and  Colom- 
bine, — and  some  from  real  persons.     In  this  last 
category   we    meet  with   the   members   of  the 
Davidsbund  —  Florestan,   Eusebius,   and   Chia- 
rina ;  Ernestine  von  Fricken,  under  the  name 
Estrella,  Chopin,  and  Paganini ;  there  is  also  a 
'  Coquette,'  but  it  is  not  known  for  whom  this  is 
intended.     Besides  these,  some  of  the  pieces  are 
named  from  situations  and  occurrences  at  the 
ball ;  a  recognition,  an  avowal  of  love,  a  pro 
menade,  a  pause  in  the  dance  (Reconnaissance, 
Areu,  Promenade,  Pause) ;  between  these  are 
heard  the  sounds  of  waltzes,  and  in  one  of  the 
pieces  the  letters  A  •  S  •  C  •  H,  and  S  •  C  •  H  •  A, 
'Lettres  dansantes,'  themselves   dance  boister 
ously  and   noisily,   and    then   vanish  like  airy 
phantoms.     A  piece  called    'Papillons'   rushes 
by  like  a  hasty  reminiscence,  and  in  the  num 
bers  entitled    'Florestan' — an   actual    passage 
from  No.  I  of  the  Papillons  (op.  2)  is  inserted. 
The  finale  is  called  '  March  of  the  Davidsbiindler 
against    the   Philistines.'     The    symbol  of   the 
Philistines  is  the   '  Grossvatertanz,'  here  called 
by  Schumann  a  tune  of  the  1 7th  century.     The 
fact  of  the  march  being  in  3-4  time,  a  rhythm 
to  which  it  is  of  course  impossible  to  march,  has 
perhaps  a  humorous  and  symbolic  meaning. 

The  'Davidsbundlertanze'  (op.  6),  the 'Fan 
tasiestucke'  (op.  12),  '  Kindersceneu '  (op.  15), 
'Kreisleriana'  (op.  16),  'Novelletten'  (op,  21), 
'Bunte  Blatter'  (op.  99),  and  'Albumblatter' 
(op.  124),  the  contents  of  which  all  belong  to 
Schumann's  early  period,  and,  of  the  later  works, 
such  pieces  as  the  'Waldscenen'  (op.  82) — all 
bear  the  impress  of  having  originated  like  the 
'Papillons'  and  the  'Carnaval/  in  the  personal 
experiences  of  Schumann's  life.  They  are  po&sies 
d'occasion  (Gelegenheitsdichtungen),  a  term 
which,  in  Goethe's  sense,  designates  the  highest 
form  that  a  work  of  art  can  take.  As  to  the 
'Davidsbundlertanze'  the  'Kreisleriana,'  and 
the  'Novelletten,'  Schumann  himself  tells  us 
that  they  reflect  the  varying  moods  wrought 
in  him  by  the  contentions  about  Clara  Wieck. 
In  the  '  Davidsbundlertanze '  the  general  ar 
rangement  is  that  Florestan  and  Eusebius  appear 
usually  by  turns,  though  sometimes  also  together. 
The  expression  '  dance  '  does  not  however  mean, 
as  is  sometimes  supposed,  the  dances  that  the 


SCHUMANN. 


409 


Davidsbiindler  led  the  Philistines,  but   merely 
indicates  the  form  of  the  pieces,  which  is,  truth 
to  say,  used  with  scarcely  less  freedom  than  that 
of  the  march  in  the  finale  to  the  '  Carnaval.' 
The  '  Kreisleriana '  have  their  origin  in  a  fan 
tastic  poem  with  the  same  title  by  E.  T.  A. 
Hoffmann,  contained  in  his  '  Fantasiestucke  im 
Callots  Manier'   (Bamberg,  1814,  p.  47).     Hoff 
mann  was  a  follower  of  Jean  Paul,  who  indeed 
wrote  a  preface  to  '  Fantasiestiicke.'     Half  mu 
sician,  half  poet,  Schumann  must  have  looked 
on  him  as  a  kindred  spirit ;  and  in  the  figure  of 
the  wild  and  eccentric  yet  gifted  '  Kapellmeister 
Kreisler,'  drawn  by  Hoffmann  from   incidents 
in  his  own  life,  there  were  many  traits  in  which 
Schumann  might  easily  see  a  reflection  of  him 
self.     Of  the  'Novelletten'  Schumann  says  that 
they  are  'long  and  connected  romantic  stories.' 
There  are  no  titles  to  explain  them,  although 
much  may  be  conjectured  from  the  indications 
of  time   and  expression.     But  the  rest  of  the 
works  we  have   just   mentioned  nearly  always 
have   their  separate   component   parts,  headed 
by  names  which  lead   the   imagination  of  the 
player  or  hearer,  in  a  clear  and  often  deeply 
poetic  manner,  in  a  particular  and  definite  direc 
tion.     This  form  of  piano  piece  was  altogether 
a  very  favourite  one  with  Schumann.     He  is 
careful  to  guard  against  the  supposition  that  he 
imagined  a  definite  object  in  his  mind,  such  as 
a  'pleading  child '  (in op.  15)  or  a  'haunted  spot 
in  a  wood  '  (in  op.  82),  and  then  tried  to  describe 
it  in  notes.     His  method  was  rather  to  invent 
the  piece  quite  independently  and  afterwards  to 
give  it  a  particular  meaning  by  a  superscription. 
His  chief  object  was  always  to  give  the  piece  a 
value  of  its  own,  and  to  make  it  intelligible  of 
itself.     This  principle  is  undoubtedly  the  right 
one,  and,  by  adopting  it,  Schumann  proved  him 
self  a  genuine  musician,  with  faith  in  the  inde 
pendent  value  of  his  art.     Nevertheless,  had  he 
considered  the  poetical  titles  utterly  unimportant, 
he  would  hardly  have  employed  them  as  he  has 
in  so  large  a  majority  of  his  smaller  pianoforte 
pieces.     His  doing  so  seems  to  evince  a  feeling 
that  in  the  composition  of  the  piece  alone,  he 
had  not  said  everything  that  struggled  within 
him  for  expression.     Until  a  particular  mood  or 
feeling  had  been  aroused  in  the  hearer  or  the 
player  by  means  of  the  title,  Schumann  could 
not  be  sure  that  the  piece  would  have  the  effect 
which  he  desired  it  to  have.     Strictly  speaking, 
poetry  and  music    can    only  be    really  united 
by  means  of  the  human  voice.     But  in  these 
pianoforte  pieces  with  poetical  titles  Schumann 
found  a  means  of  expression  which  hovered  as 
it  were  between  pure  instrumental  music  on  the 
one  hand,  and  vocal  music  on  the  other,  and 
thus  received  a  certain  indefinite  and  mysterious 
character  of  its  own,  which  may  most  justly  be 
called  Romantic. 

Among  the  compositions  consisting  of  small 
forms  we  must  count  the  Variations.  Schu 
mann  treated  the  variation-form  freely  and 
fancifully,  but  with  a  profuse  wealth  of  genius 
and  depth  of  feeling.  For  the  Impromptus  on  a 


410 


SCHUMANN. 


theme  by  Clara  Wieck  (op.  5),  Beethoven's  so- 
called  'Eroica  Variations'  (op.  35)  apparently 
served  as  a  model ;  they  remind  us  of  them 
both  in  general  arrangement  and  in  the  em 
ployment  of  a  ground-bass,  without  being  in 
any  way  wanting  in  originality.  In  the  An 
dante  and  Variations  for  two  pianofortes  (op. 
46),  one  of  the  most  charming  and  popular  of 
Schumann's  pianoforte  works,  he  treated  the 
form  with  such  freedom  that  they  are  not  so 
much  variations  as  fantasias  in  the  style  of 
variations.  His  most  splendid  work  in  this  form 
is  his  op.  13,  a  work  of  the  grandest  calibre? 
which  alone  would  be  sufficient  to  secure  him 
a  place  in  the  first  rank  of  composers  for  the 
pianoforte,  so  overpowering  is  the  display  of 
his  own  individual  treatment  of  the  pianoforte 
— frequently  rising  to  the  highest  limits  of 
the  bravura  style  of  execution — of  his  over 
flowing  profusion  of  ideas,  and  his  boldness  in 
turning  the  variation  form  to  his  own  account. 
In  the  finale  the  first  two  bars  only  of  the 
theme  are  employed,,  and  these  only  occasionally 
in  the  '  working-out  section.'  In  other  respects 
the  proud  edifice  of  this  elaborately  worked 
number  has  nothing  in  common  with  a  vari 
ation.  It  contains  however  a  delicate  reference 
to  the  person  to  whom  the  whole  work  is  dedi 
cated,  William  Sterndale  Bennett.  The  begin 
ning  of  the  chief  subject  is  a  fragment  of  the 
celebrated  romance  in  Marschner's  '  Templer 
und  Jiidin,'  in  which  Ivanhoe  calls  on  proud 
England  to  rejoice  over  her  noble  knights  ('  Du 
stolzes  England,  freue  dich,'  etc.).  It  is  an  in 
genious  way  of  paying  homage  to  his  beloved 
English  composer. 

Schumann  had  made  early  attempts  at  works 
of  larger  structure,  but  it  cannot  be  denied  that 
they  were  not  at  first  successful.  The  F#  minor 
Sonata  (op.  n)  teems  with  beautiful  ideas,  but 
is  wanting  in  unity  to  a  remarkable  degree,  at 
least  in  the  Allegro  movements.  The  F  minor 
Sonata  (op.  14)  shows  a  decided  improvement  in 
this  respect,  and  the  Sonata  in  G  minor  (op.  22) 
is  still  better,  although  not  entirely  free  from  a 
certain  clumsiness.  Schumann  afterwards  showed 
himself  quite  aware  of  the  faults  of  these  sonatas 
in  regard  to  form.  They  offer  the  most  striking 
example  of  his  irregular  and  rhapsodical  method 
of  working  at  that  period.  The  second  move 
ment  of  the  G  minor  Sonata  was  written  in 
June  1830,  the  first  and  third  in  June  1833,  the 
fourth  in  its  original  form  in  October  1835,  and 
in  its  ultimate  form  in  1838,  the  whole  sonata 
being  published  in  1839.  TheFfl  minor  Sonata 
was  begun  in  1833,  and  not  completed  till  1835. 
The  F  minor  Sonata,  finished  on  June  5,  1836, 
consisted  at  first  of  five  movements,  an  Allegro, 
two  Scherzos,  one  after  the  other,  an  Andantino 
with  variations,  and  a  Prestissimo.  When  the 
work  was  first  published,  under  the  title  of 
'Concerto  sans  Orchestra,'  Schumann  cut  out  the 
two  scherzos,  apparently  intending  to  use  them 
for  a  second  sonata  in  F  minor.  This  however 
was  not  carried  out,  and  in  the  second  edition  of 
the  work  he  restored  the  second  of  the  scherzos 


SCHUMANN. 

to  its  place.1  When  we  observe  how  he  took  up 
one  sonata  after  another,  we  see  how  impossible 
it  is  that  any  close  connection  can  subsist 
between  the  several  parts,  or  that  there  should 
be  any  real  unity  in  them  as  a  whole. 

The  Allegro  for  pianoforte  (op.  8)  is  some 
what  disjointed  in  form,  while  the  Toccata 
(op,  7),  a  bravura  piece  of  the  greatest  bril 
liancy  and  difficulty  in  perfect  sonata  -  form, 
exhibits  a  great  degree  of  connection  and  con 
sequence.  In  the  great  Fantasia  (op.  17)  we 
are  led  by  the  title  to  expect  no  conciseness 
of  form.  The  classical  masters  generally  gave 
to  their  fantasias  a  very  clearly  defined  outline, 
but  Schumann  in  this  case  breaks  through  every 
restriction  that  limits  the  form,  especially  in  the 
first  movement,  where  he  almost  seems  to  lose 
himself  in  limitless  freedom.  In  order  to  give 
unity  to  the  fantastic  and  somewhat  loosely  con 
nected  movements  of  this  work  of  genius,  he 
again  had  recourse  to  poetry,  and  prefaced  the 
piece  with  some  lines  of  F.  Schlegel's,  as  a 
motto  ; — 

Durch  alle  TOne  tenet  Through  all  the  tones  that  vibrate 

Im  bunten  Erdentraum,  About  earth's  mingled  dream, 

Ein  leiser  Ton  gezogen  One  whispered  note  is  sounding 

Fur  den  der  heimlich  lauschet.  For  ears  attent  to  hear. 

The  '  mingled  earthly  dream '  is  in  a  manner 
portrayed  in  the  substance  of  the  composition. 
Schumann  means  that  '  the  ear  attent  to  hear ' 
will  perceive  the  uniting  tones  that  run  through 
all  the  pictures  which  the  imagination  of  the 
composer  unrolls  to  his  view.  Schlegel's  motto 
seems  almost  like  an  excuse  offered  by  Schu 
mann.  The  original  purpose  of  this  Fantasia 
was  not  however  to  illustrate  these  lines.  About 
Dec.  17,  1835,  an  appeal  having  been  made 
from  Bonn  for  contributions  to  a  Beethoven 
memorial,  Schumann  proposed  to  contribute  a 
composition ;  and  this  was  the  origin  of  the 
work  now  called  'Fantasia,'  the  three  move 
ments  of  which  were  originally  intended  to  bear 
the  respective  inscriptions  of '  Ruins,'  'Triumphal 
Arch '  and  '  The  Starry  Crown.'  By  these  names 
the  character  both  of  the  separate  parts  and 
of  the  whole  becomes  more  intelligible.  In 
order  to  get  into  the  right  disposition  for  the 
work  Schumann's  four  articles  on  Beethoven's 
monument  should  be  read  (Gesammelte  Scbrif- 
ten,  i.  p.  215). 

Although  few  of  Schumann's  pianoforte  works 
of  the  first  period  are  without  defects  of  form, 
yet  their  beauties  are  so  many  that  we  easily 
forget  those  defects.  In  certain  ways  the  com 
positions  of  the  first  ten  years  present  the  most 
characteristic  picture  of  Schumann's  genius.  In 
after  life  he  proposed  and  attained  loftier  ideals 
in  works  worthy  of  the  perfect  master.  But 
the  freshness  and  charm  of  his  earlier  piano 
forte  works  was  never  surpassed,  and  in  his 
later  years  was  but  rarely  reached.  A  dreamy 
imaginative  nature  was  united  in  Schumann's 
character  with  a  native  solidity  that  never 

i  The  first  appeared  in  1866  as  No.  12  of  the  Posthumous  Works, 
published  by  Bieter-Biedermann,  together  with  the  discarded  Finale 
of  the  Sonata  in  G  minor  as  Nu.  13. 


SCHUMANN. 

descended  to  the  commonplace.     From  the  first 
his  music  had  in  it  a  character  which  appealed 
to  the   people — nay,  which  was  in  a  way  na 
tional  ;   and  quickly  as  he  reached  his  present 
immense  popularity  in  Germany,  it  will  probably 
be  long  before  he  has  the  same  influence  in  other 
nations,  especially  in  France  and  Italy.     After 
Beethoven,  Schumann  is  the  only  master  who 
possesses  the  power  of  giving  full  and  free  ex 
pression  to  the  humorous  element  in  instrumental 
music.   Both  in  his  writings  and  compositions  he 
allows  it  to  have  full  play,  and  it  is  in  his  earlier 
PF.  works  that  it  is  most  prominent.     One  of 
his  freshest  and  fullest  works  is  the  Humoreske 
(op.   20),    the   most   wonderful   portrayal   of   a 
humorous  disposition  that  it  is  possible  to  ima 
gine  in  music.     Schumann's  thorough  individu 
ality  is  prominent,  both  in  harmonies,  rhythm, 
and  colouring,  and  in  the  forms  of  the  melodies. 
It  is,  however,  characteristic  of  his  early  PF. 
works  that  broad  bold  melodies  rarely  occur  in 
them,    though    there    is    a    superabundance    of 
melodic  fragments — germs    of  melody,  as  they 
might  be  called,  full  of  a  deep  expression  of  their 
own.     This  music  is  pervaded  by  a  Spring-like 
animation  and  force,  a  germ  of  future  promise, 
which  gives  it  a  peculiar  romantic  character ; 
a  character  strengthened  by  the  admixture  of 
poetic  moods  and  feelings.     Schumann  was  both 
musician  and  poet,  and  he  who  would  thoroughly 
understand    his    music   must    be    first    imbued 
with  the  spirit  of  the  G  erman  poets  who  were 
most  prominent  in  Schumann's  youth;  above  all 
others  Jean  Paul  and  the  whole  romantic  school, 
particularly  Eichendorff,   Heine,   and  Riickert. 
And  just  as  these  poets  were  specially  great  in 
short  lyrics,  revealing   endless   depths-  of  feel 
ing  in  a  few  lines,  so  did  Schumann  succeed, 
as  no  one  has  done  before  or  since,  in  saying 
great  things  and  leaving  unutterable  things  to 
be  felt,  in  the  small  form  of  a. short  pianoforte 
piece. 

Schumann's  enthusiastic  admiration  and 
thorough  appreciation  of  Bach  has  been  already 
described.  He  shared  this  with  Mendelssohn,  but 
it  is  certain  that  he  entered  more  thoroughly 
than  Mendelssohn  did  into  the  old  master's 
mysterious  depth  of  feeling.  It  would  therefore 
have  been  wonderful  if  he  had  not  attempted 
to  express  himself  in  the  musical  forms  used 
by  Bach.  His  strong  natural  inclination  towards 
polyphonic  writing  is  perceptible  even  in  his 
earliest  pianoforte  works,  but  it  was  not  until 
1840  that  it  comes  prominently  forward.  His 
six  fugues  on  the  name  '  Bach '  (op.  60),  the 
four  fugues  (op.  72),  the  seven  pianoforte  pieces 
in  fughetta  form  (op.  126),  the  studies  in  canon 
form  for  the  pedal-piano  (op.  56),  and  the  other 
separate  canons  and  fugues  scattered  up  and 
down  his  pianoforte  works — all  form  a  class  in 
modern  pianoforte  music  just  as  new  as  do  his 
pianoforte  works  in  the  free  style.  The  treatment 
of  the  parts  in  the  fugues  is  by  no  means  always 
strictly  according  to  rule,  even  when  viewed 
from  the  standpoint  of  Bach,  who  allowed  himself 
considerable  freedom.  In  employing  an  accom- 


SCHUMANN. 


411 


paniinent  of  chords  in  one  part,  he  also  goes  far 
beyond  what  had  hitherto  been  considered  allow 
able.  But  yet,  taken  as  a  whole,  these  works  are 
masterpieces ;  no  other  composer  of  modern  times 
could  have  succeeded  as  he  has  done  in  welding 
together  so  completely  the  modern  style  of  feeling 
with  the  old  strict  form,  or  in  giving  that  form 
a  new  life  and  vigour  by  means  of  the  modern 
spirit.  In  these  pieces  we  hear  the  same  Schu 
mann  whom  we  know  in  his  other  works ;  his 
ideas  adapt  themselves  as-  if  spontaneously  to 
the  strict  requirements  of  the  polyphonic  style, 
and  these  requirements  again  draw  from  his 
imagination  new  and  characteristic  ideas.  In 
short,  though  a  great  contrapuntist  he  was 
not  a  pedantic  one,  and  he  may  be  numbered 
among  the  few  musicians  of  the  last  hundred 
years  to  whom  polyphonic  forms  have  been 
a  perfectly  natural  means  of  expressing  their 
ideas. 

As  a  composer  of  Songs  Schumann  stands  by 
the  side  of  Schubert  and  Mendelssohn,  the 
youngest  of  the  trio  of  great  writers  in  this  class 
of  music.  Schubert  shows  the  greatest  wealth 
of  melody,  Mendelssohn  the  most  perfect  round 
ness  of  form ;  but  Schumann  is  by  far  the  most 
profoundly  and  intellectually  suggestive.  He 
displays  a  more  finely  cultivated  poetic  taste 
than  Schubert,  with  a  many-sided  feeling  for 
lyric  expression  far  greater  than  Mendelssohn's. 
Many  of  his  melodies  are  projected  in  bold  and 
soaring  lines  such  as  we  meet  with  in  no  other 
composer  but  Schubert ;  for  instance,  in  the 
well-known  songs  '  Du  meine  Seele,  du  mem 
Herz'  (op.  25,  no.  i),  'Lied  der  Braut'  (op.  25, 
no.  12),  '  Liebesbotschaft '  (op.  36,  no.  6),  'Stille 
Thranen'  (op.  35,  no.  10),  and  others.  Still  more 
frequently  he  throws  himself  into  the  spirit  of 
the  German  Yolkslied,  and  avails  himself  of  its 
simpler  and  narrower  forms  of  melody.  Indeed 
his  songs  owe  their  extraordinary  popularity 
chiefly  to  this  conspicuously  national  element. 
The  reader  need  only  be  reminded  of  the  song 
'O  Sonnenschein '  (op.  36,  no.  4),  of  Heine's 
'  Liederkreis '  (op.  24),  and  of  the  Heine  songs 
'Hor'  ich  das  Liedchen  klingen,' '  AUnachtlich  im 
Traume,'  'Aus  alien  Marchen'  (op.  48,  nos.  10, 
14,  15),  of  most  of  the  songs  and  ballads  (op. 
45'  49'  53)5  and  above  all  of  the  Wanderlied 
'  Wohlauf,  noch  getrunken  den  funkelnden  Wein* 
(op.  35,  no.  3),  which  sparkles  with  youthful  life 
and  healthy  vigour.  Besides  these  there  are  many 
songs  in  which  the  melody  is  hardly  worked  out, 
and  which  are— as  is  also  frequently  the  case 
with  his  pianoforte  works — as  it  were,  mere 
essays,  or  germs,  of  melodies.  This  style  of  treat 
ment,  which  is  quite  peculiar  to  Schumann,  he 
was  fond  of  using  when  he  wished  to  give  the 
impression  of  a  vague,  dreamy,  veiled  sentiment ; 
and  by  this  means  he  penetrated  more  deeply 
into  the  vital  essence  and  sources  of  feeling  than 
any  other  song-writer.  Such  a  song  as  'Der 
Nussbaum'  (op.  25,  no.  3),  or  '  Im  Walde,'  by 
Eichendorff  (op.  39,  no.  n)  are  masterpieces  in 
this  kind.  Besides  this,  Schumann  always  brought 
a  true  poet's  instinct  to  bear  on  the  subtlest 


412 


SCHUMANN. 


touches  and  most  covert  suggestions  in  the  poems 
which  he  chose  for  setting,  and  selected  the 
musical  expression  best  fitted  to  their  purport. 
Schubert  and  Mendelssohn  set  verses  to  tunes, 
Schumann  wrote  poems  to  them  in  music.  He 
was  the  first  who  ventured  to  close  on  the 
dominant  seventh  when  his  text  ended  with  a 
query  (as  in  op.  49,  no.  3).  With  him  also 
the  vocal  part  often  does  not  end  on  the  com 
mon  chord,  but  the  true  close  is  left  to  the 
accompaniment,  so  as  to  give  an  effect  of  vague 
and  undefined  feeling.  The  part  filled  by  the 
pianoforte  in  Schumann's  songs  is  a  very  im 
portant  one.  With  Schubert  and  Mendelssohn 
we  may  very  properly  speak  of  the  pianoforte 
part  as  an  'accompaniment/  however  rich  and 
independent  it  occasionally  appears.  But  with 
Schumann  the  word  is  no  longer  appropriate,  the 
pianoforte  asserts  its  dignity  and  equality  with 
the  voice  ;  to  perform  his  songs  satisfactorily  the 
player  must  enter  fully  into  the  singer's  part 
and  the  singer  into  the  player's,  and  they  must 
constantly  supplement  and  fulfil  each  other.  It 
was  evidently  of  moment  in  the  history  of  his  art 
that  Schumann  should  have  come  to  the  work  of 
writing  songs  after  ten  years'  experience  as  a 
composer  for  the  pianoforte,  and  after  institut 
ing  an  entirely  new  style  of  pianoforte  music. 
This  style  supplied  him  with  an  immense  variety 
of  delicate  and  poetic  modes  and  shades  of  expres 
sion,  and  it  is  owing  to  this  that  he  displays  such 
constant  novelty  in  his  treatment  of  the  pianoforte 
part.  The  forms  of  phrase  which  he  adopts  in 
his  '  accompaniments  '  are  infinitely  various,  and 
always  correspond  with  perfect  fitness  and  in 
genuity  to  the  character  of  the  verses.  In  some 
cases  the  pianoforte  part  is  an  entirely  independent 
composition,  which  the  voice  merely  follows  with 
a  few  declamatory  phrases  (op.  48,  no.  9,  'Das 
ist  ein  Floten  und  Geigen ')  ;  while  in  others,  in 
contrast  to  this,  the  voice  stands  almost  alone, 
and  the  pianoforte  begins  by  throwing  in  a  few 
soft  chords  which  nevertheless  have  their  due 
characteristic  effect  (op.  48,  no.  13,  'Ich  hab'  im 
Traum1).  In  Schumann's  songs  the  proper 
function  of  the  pianoforte  is  to  reveal  some  deep 
and  secret  meaning  which  it  is  beyond  the  power 
of  words,  even  of  sung  words,  to  express ;  and  he 
always  disliked  and  avoided  those  repetitions  of 
the  words  of  which  other  composers  have  availed 
themselves  in  order  to  fill  out  in  the  music  the 
feeling  to  which  the  words  give  rise.  When  he 
does  repeat  he  always  seems  to  have  a  special 
dramatic  end  in  view  rather  than  a  musical 
one,  and  often  makes  the  piano  supplement  the 
sentiment  aroused  by  the  text,  while  the  voice  is 
silent.  He  is  particularly  strong  in  his  final  sym 
phonies,  to  which  he  gave  a  value  and  import 
ance,  as  an  integral  portion  of  the  song,  which 
no  one  before  him  had  ventured  to  do,  often 
assigning  to  it  a  new  and  independent  musical 
thought  of  its  own.  Sometimes  he  allows  the 
general  feeling  of  the  song  to  reappear  in  it 
under  quite  a  new  light ;  sometimes  the  musical 
phrase  suggests  some  final  outcome  of  the  words, 
opening  to  the  fancy  a  remote  perspective  in 


SCHUMANN: 

which  sight  is  lost  (a  beautiful  example  is  op.  48, 
no.  1 6,  '  Die  alten  bosen  Lieder  ').    Nay  he  even 
continues  the  poem  in  music ;  of  which  a  striking 
instance  is  the  close  of  the  'Frauenliebe  und 
Leben'  (op.  42),  where  by  repeating  the  music  of 
the  first  song  he  revives  in  the  fancy  of  the  lonely 
widow  the  memory  of  her  early  happiness.    The 
realm  of  feeling  revealed  to  us  in  Schumann's 
songs  is  thoroughly  youthful,  an  unfailing  mark 
of  the  true  lyric ;  the  sentiment  he  principally 
deals  with  is  that  of  love,  which  in  his  hands 
is  especially  tender  and  pure,  almost  maidenly 
coy.     The  set  of  songs  called  '  Frauenliebe  und 
Leben' — the  Love  and  Life  of  Woman — gives 
us   a  deep   insight   into  the   most  subtle   and 
secret  emotions  of  a  pure  woman's  soul,  deeper 
indeed  than  could  have  been  expected  from  any 
man,  and  in  fact  no  composer  but  Schumann 
would  have  been  capable  of  it.   The  author  of  the 
words,  A.  von  Chamisso,  elegant  as  his  verses  are, 
lags  far  behind  the  composer  in  his  rendering. 
But  indeed  such  depths  of  feeling  can  be  sounded 
by  music  alone. 

Schumann  also  found  musical  equivalents  and 
shades  of  colour  for  Eichendorff 's  mystical  views 
of  nature ;  his  settings  of  Eichendorff 's  poems 
may  be  called  absolutely  classical,  and  he  is 
equally  at  home  in  dealing  with  the  bubbling 
freshness  or  the  chivalrous  sentiment  of  the  poet. 
Many  of  Schumann's  fresh  and  sparkling  songs 
have  a  touch  of  j;he  student's  joviality,  but  with 
out  descending  from  their  high  distinction ;  never 
under  any  circumstances  was  he  trivial.  Indeed 
he  had  no  sympathy  with  the  farcical,  though  his 
talent  for  the  humorous  is  amply  proved  by  his 
songs.  A  masterpiece  of  the  kind  is  the  setting 
of  Heine's  poem '  Ein  Jiingling  liebt  ein  Madchen' 
(op.  48,  no.  u),  which  has  been  very  unneces 
sarily  objected  to.  It  was  principally  in  dealing 
with  Heine's  words  that  he  betrays  this  sense  of 
humour ;  '  Wir  sassen  am  Fischerhause '  (op.  45, 
no.  3)  is  an  example,  and  still  more  'Es  leuchtet 
meine  Liebe'  (op.  127,  no.  3),  where  a  resem 
blance  to  the  scherzo  of  the  A  minor  String 
Quartet  is  very  obvious.  A  thing  which  may 
well  excite  astonishment  as  apparently  quite 
beside  the  nature  of  Schumann's  character,  is 
that  he  could  even  find  characteristic  music  for 
Heine's  bitterest  irony  (op.  24,  no.  6)  '  Warte, 
warte,  wilder  Schiffsmann.'  But  he  was  through 
out  and  above  all  romantic. 

Schumann's   Symphonies    may  without    any 

injustice  be  considered  as  the  most  important 

which    have    been    written    since    Beethoven. 

Though  Mendelssohn  excels  him  in  regularity  of 

form,  and  though  Schubert's  C  major  Symphony 

is  quite  unique  in  its  wealth  of  beautiful  musical 

ideas,  yet  Schumann  surpasses  both  in  greatness 

and  force.     He  is  the  man,  they  the  youths ;  he 

has  the  greatest  amount  of  what  is  demanded  by 

that  greatest,  most  mature,  and  most  important 

of  all  forms  of  instrumental  music.     He  comes 

near  to  Beethoven,  who  it  is  quite  evident  was 

almost  the  only  composer  that,  he  ever  took  as 

a  model.    No  trace  whatever  of  Haydn  or  Mozart 

is  to  be  found  in  his  symphonies,  and  of  Men- 


SCHUMANN. 

delssohn  just  as  little.  A  certain  approximation 
to  Schubert  is  indeed  perceptible  in  the  '  work 
ing  out'  (Diirchfuhrung}  of  his  Allegro  move 
ments.  But  the  symphonies,  like  the  pianoforte 
works,  the  songs,  and  indeed  all  that  Schumann 
produced,  bear  the  strong  impress  of  a  marvel 
lous  originality,  and  a  creative  power  all  his 
own.  Even  the  first  published  Symphony  (in 
Bb,  op.  38)  shows  a  very  distinct  talent  for  this 
branch  of  composition.  We  do  not  know  that 
Schumann  had  ever  previously  attempted  or 
chestral  compositions,  except  in  the  case  of  the 
symphony  written  in  the  beginning  of  1830, 
which  still  remains  in  MS.  In  1839  he  writes 
to  Dora :  '  At  present  it  is  true  that  I  have  not 
had  much  practice  in  orchestral  writing,  but  I 
hope  to  master  it  some  day.'  And  in  his  next 
attempt  he  attained  his  object.  In  a  few  pas 
sages  in  the  Bb  Symphony,  the  effects  of  the 
instruments  are  indeed  not  rightly  calculated. 
One  great  error  in  the  first  movement  he  re 
medied  after  the  first  hearing.  This  was  in  the 
two  opening  bars,  from  which  the  theme  of  the 
Allegro  is  afterwards  generated,  and  which  were 
given  to  the  horns  and  trumpets.  It  ran  origin 
ally  thus,  in  agreement  with  the  beginning  of 
the  Allegro  movement : 


SCHUMANN. 


413 


/T\ 


which,  on  account  of  the  G  and  A  being  stopped 
notes,  had  an  unexpected  and  very  comic  effect. 
Schumann  himself  was  much  amused  at  the 
mistake  ;  when  he  was  at  Hanover  in  January 
1854  ne  t°ld  the  story  to  his  friends,  and  it  was 
very  amusing  to  hear  this  man,  usually  so  grave 
and  silent,  regardless  of  the  presence  of  strangers 
(for  the  incident  took  place  at  a  public  restaurant), 
sing  out  the  first  five  notes  of  the  subject  quite 
loud,  the  two  next  in  a  muffled  voice,  and  the 
last  again  loud.  He  placed  the  phrase  a  third 
higher,  as  it  stands  in  the  printed  score : 


9— 

H- 

•7T  

-•- 

—*——»-»  •-• 

1C  

-  -  -j 

^  
J?- 

^ 

-1— 

T  u    r 

f   r 

Another,  but  less  important  passage  for  the  horns 
has  remained  unaltered.  In  bar  17  of  the  first 
Allegro,  Schumann  thought  that  this  phrase 


?r^- 

—  u 

5: 

>    n 

ought  to  be  made  more  prominent  than  it  usually 
was  on  the  horns,  and  requested  both  Taubert 
and  David,  when  it  was  in  rehearsal  at  Berlin 
and  Leipzig  in  the  winter  of  1842,  to  have  it 
played  on  the  trombones. 

But  in  general  we  cannot  but  wonder  at  the 
certain  mastery  over  his  means  that  he  shows 
even  in  the  ist  Symphony.  His  orchestra 
tion  is  less  smooth  and  clear  than  that  of  either 
Mendelssohn  or  G;ide,  and  in  its  sterner  style 
reminds  us  rather  of  Schubert.  But  this  stern 
power  is  suited  to  the  substance  of  his  ideas, 
and  there  is  no  lack  of  captivating  beauty  of 


sound.  We  even  meet  in  his  orchestral  works 
with  a  number  of  new  effects  of  sound  such  as 
only  true  genius  can  discover  or  invent.  In 
stances  of  these  are  the  treatment  of  the  three 
trombones  in  the  'Manfred'  Overture,  the  use 
made  of  the  horns  in  the  second  movement  of  the 
Eb  Symphony,  the  violin  solo  introduced  into 
the  Romanza  of  the  D  minor  Symphony,  etc.  etc. 
It  is  hard  to  decide  which  of  Schumann's  four 
symphonies  (or  five,  counting  op.  52)  is  the  finest. 
Each  has  individual  beauties  of  its  own.  In  life 
and  freshness  and  the  feeling  of  inward  happiness 
the  Bb  Symphony  stands  at  the  head.  Schumann 
originally  intended  to  call  it  the  'Spring  Sym 
phony';  and  indeed  he  wrote  it,  as  we  learn 
from  a  letter  to  Taubert,  in  Feb.  1841,  when  the 
first  breath  of  spring  was  in  the  air.  The  first 
movement  was  to  have  been  called  'Spring's 
Awakening,'  and  the  Finale  (which  he  always 
wished  not  to  be  taken  too  fast)  '  Spring's  Fare 
well.'  Many  parts  of  the  symphony  have  an 
especial  charm  when  we  thus  know  the  object 
with  which  they  were  written.  The  beginning 
of  the  introduction  evidently  represents  a  trum 
pet  summons  sent  pealing  down  from  on  high ; 
then  gentle  zephyrs  blow  softly  to  and  fro,  and 
everywhere  the  dormant  forces  awake  and  make 
their  way  to  the  light  (we  are  quoting  from  the 
composer's  own  programme).  In  the  Allegro 
the  Spring  comes  laughing  in,  in  the  full  beauty 
of  youth.1  This  explains  and  justifies  the  novel 
use  of  the  triangle  in  the  first  movement — an 
instrument  not  properly  admissible  in  a  sym 
phony.  An  enchanting  effect  is  produced  by 
the  Spring  song  at  the  close  of  the  first  move 
ment,  played  as  though  sung  with  a  full  heart  ; 
and  it  is  an  entirely  new  form  of  coda  (see  p.  67 
of  the  score).  In  publishing  the  Symphony, 
Schumann  omitted  the  explanatory  titles,  because 
he  believed  that  the  attention  of  the  public  is 
distracted  from  the  main  purpose  of  a  work  by 
things  of  that  kind.  We  may  well  believe,  more 
over,  that  a  good  part  of  the  spring-like  feeling 
in  this  symphony  comes  from  the  deep  and  heart 
felt  joy  which  Schumann  felt  at  being  at  last 
united  to  his  hardly- won  bride.  The  same  in 
fluence  is  seen  in  the  D  minor  Symphony  (op. 
120),  written  in  the  same  year  with  that  just 
described,  and  immediately  after  it.  It  is  entirely 
similar  to  its  predecessor  in  its  fundamental 
feeling,  but  has  more  passion.  The  form  too  is 
new  and  very  successful ;  the  four  sections  follow 
each  other  consecutively  without  any  pauses,  so 
that  the  work  seems  to  consist  of  only  one  great 
movement.  The  subjects  of  the  Introduction  re 
appear  in  the  Komanze,  with  different  treatment, 
and  the  chief  subject  of  the  first  Allegro  is  the 
foundation  of  that  of  the  last.  The  second  part 
of  the  first  Allegro  is  in  quite  an  unusual  form, 
and  before  the  last  Allegro  we  find  a  slow  intro 
duction — imaginative,  majestic, and  most  original. 
As  has  been  already  mentioned,  Schumann  in 
tended  to  call  the  work  '  Symphonic  Fantasia.' 

1  Schumann  Intended  the  Piit  vivace  of  the  Introduction  to  be 
taken  distinctly  faster  at  once,  so  that  the  time  might  glide  imper 
ceptibly  into  the  Allegro. 


414 


SCHUMANN. 


Here  too  poetic  pictures  seem  to  be  hovering 
round  him  on  every  side. 

His  third  symphonic  work  of  the  year  1841  is 
also  irregular,  but  only  in  form,  and  has  as  good  a 
right  as  the  second  to  the  name  of  '  Symphony.' 
It  appeared,  however,  under  the  name '  Overture, 
Scherzo,  and  Finale,'  as  op.  52.  Of  this  work, 
which  is  charming  throughout,  the  first  move 
ment  offers  us  the  only  example  to  be  found  in 
Schumann  of  the  influence  of  Cherubini,  a  master 
for  whom  he  had  a  great  reverence.  Perhaps 
the  most  lovely  movement  is  the  highly  poetic 
Scherzo  in  gigue-rhythm,  which  might  constitute 
a  type  by  itself  among  symphony-scherzos.  His 
other  scherzos  approximate  in  style  to  those  of 
Beethoven,  whose  invention  and  speciality  this 
form  was,  and  who  had  no  successor  in  it  but 
Schumann.  The  characteristic  of  the  C  major 
Symphony  (op.  61)  is  a  graver  and  more  mature 
depth  of  feeling ;  its  bold  decisiveness  of  form 
and  overpowering  wealth  of  expression  reveal 
distinctly  the  relationship  in  art  between  Schu 
mann  and  Beethoven.  The  form  too,  as  far  as 
regards  the  number  and  character  of  the  move 
ments,  is  quite  that  of  the  classical  masters,  while 
in  the  last  symphony  (Eb,  op.  97)  Schumann 
once  more  appears  as  one  of  the  modern  school. 
This  is  divided  into  five  separate  movements,  in 
cluding  a  slow  movement  in  sustained  style,  and 
of  a  devotional  character  between  the  Andante 
and  the  Finale.  Schumann  originally  inscribed 
it  with  the  word,s  '  In  the  style  of  an  accom 
paniment  to  a  solemn  ceremony '  (im  Charakter 
der  Begleitung  einen  feierlichen  Ceremonie),  and 
we  know  that  it  was  suggested  to  him  by  the  sight 
of  Cologne  cathedral,  and  the  festivities  on  the 
occasion  of  Archbishop  von  Geissel's  elevation  to 
the  Cardinalate.  The  other  movements  are  power 
ful,  and  full  of  variety  and  charm,  and  the  whole 
symphony  is  full  of  vivid  pictures  of  Rhineland 
life.  Perhaps  the  gem  of  the  whole  is  the  second 
movement  (Scherzo),  in  which  power  and  beauty 
are  mingled  with  the  romance  which  in  every 
German  heart  hovers  round  the  Rhine  and  its 
multitude  of  songs  and  legends.  Although  written 
in  1850,  when  Schumann's  imagination  was  be 
coming  exhausted,  the  work  bears  no  trace  of 
any  diminution  of  power. 

The  poetical  concert-overture,  invented  by 
Mendelssohn,  and  practised  by  Bennett  and 
Gade,  was  a  form  never  cultivated  by  Schu 
mann.  His  overtures  are  really  'opening  pieces,' 
whether  to  opera,  play,  or  some  festivity  or 
other.  In  this  again  he  follows  Beethoven. 
His  overtures,  like  those  of  Beethoven,  are  most 
effective  in  the  concert-room,  when  the  drama 
or  occasion  for  which  they  were  composed  is 
kept  in  mind.  It  is  so  even  with  the  wonder 
ful  '  Genoveva '  overture,  which  contains  some 
thing  of  Weber's  power  and  swing;  but  more 
than  all  is  it  true  of  the  overture  to  Byron's 
'  Manfred,'  so  full  of  tremendous  passion.  None 
of  the  overtures  subsequently  written  by  Schu 
mann  reached  this  degree  of  perfection,  least 
of  all  his  '  Faust '  overture,  though  that  to 
the  'Braut  von  Messina'  (op.  100)  is  not  much 


SCHUMANN. 

inferior  to  '  Manfred.'  In  the  last  year  of  his 
productive  activity  Schumann  was  much  oc 
cupied  with  this  form,  but  the  exhausted  con 
dition  of  his  creative  powers  cannot  be  dis 
guised,  either  in  the  '  Faust '  overture  or  in  those 
to  Shakespeare's  'Julius  Coesar '  (op.  128)  and 
Goethe's  'Hermann  und  Dorothea'  (op.  136), 
which  last  he  had  intended  to  set  as  an  opera. 
The  festival  overture  on  the  '  Rheinweinlied'  (op. 
123)  is  cleverly  worked,  and  a  very  effective 
pi&ce  $  occasion. 

It  was  in  the  spring  of  1838  that  Schumann 
made  his  first  attempt,  so  far  as  we  know,  at 
a  String  Quartet.    It  was  scarcely  successful,  for 
he  was  too  much  immersed  in  pianoforte  music; 
at  any  rate  the  world  has  hitherto  seen  nothing 
of  it.     In  June  and  July  1842  he  was  much  more 
•successful.     The  three  string  quartets  (op.  41), 
written  at  this  time,  are  the  only  ones  that  have 
become  known.     They  cannot  be  said  to  be  in 
the  purest  quartet  style  ;  but  as  Schumann  never 
played  any  stringed  instrument,  this  is  not  sur 
prising.   They  still  retain  much  of  the  pianoforte 
style  ;  but  even  by  this  means  Schumann  attains 
many  new  and  beautiful  effects.    In  several  places 
the  influence  of  Beethoven  is  clearly  discernible  ; 
especially  in  the  Adagio  of  the  A  minor  and  the 
Adagio-variations  of  the  F  major  Quartet.    On 
the  other  hand,  the  'Quasi  Trio'  in  the  style  of 
a  gavotte,  in  the  Finale  of  the  A  major,  shows 
an  affinity  with  Bach  (compare  the  gavotte  in 
the   sixth   of  the   so-called  '  French   suites '  in 
E  major),  though  not  as  something  appropriated 
from  without,  but  rather  as  an  individuality  de 
veloped  from   within.     At  the  same  time  the 
Scherzo  of  the  A  minor  Quartet  is  an  example 
of  how  a  fleeting  impression  often  becomes  fixed 
in  an  independently  creative  imagination,  until 
it  reaches  a  more  perfect  degree  of  development. 
At  the  time  of  writing  this  quartet  Schumann  had 
become  acquainted  with   Marschner's  G  minor 
Trio  (op.  112),  and  speaks  of  it  in  the  Zeitschrift. 
The  fine  scherzo  of  that  work  struck  him  very 
much,  and  in  his  own  scherzo  it  reappears,  in  a 
modified   form   certainly,   but  yet  recognisable 
enough.     In  spite   of  this  plagiarism  however 
we  must  allow  the  quartet  to  be  in  the  highest 
degree  original,  and  full  of  richness  and  poetry. 
It  contains  much  enchanting  beauty,  never  sur 
passed  even  by  Schumann.     He  seems  here  to 
have  resumed  his  practice  of  mixing  up  poetic 
mysticism  with  his  music.     What  other  reason 
could  there  be  for  proposing  to  use   the  four 
bars  of  modulation  from  the  first  quartet  (bars 
30-34),  exactly  as  they  stand,  for  an  introduction 
to  the  second  quartet  ?    He  afterwards  struck 
them  out,  as  may  be  seen   in  the   autograph. 
The  other  quartets  also  arrived  at  their  present 
form  only  after  manifold  alterations.     The  slow 
introduction  to  the  A  minor  Quartet  was  at  first 
intended  to  be  played  con  sordini.     The  third 
quartet  began  with  a  chord  of  the  6-5  on  D,  held 
out  for  a  whole  bar.     The  greatest  alterations 
were  made  in  the  first  Allegro  of  the  A  minor  and 
in  the  variations  in  Ab  of  the  F  major  Quartets. 
Whole  sections  were  re-written  and  modified  in 


SCHUMANN. 

various  ways.  But  Wasielewski  is  mistaken  in 
saying  (3rd  ed.  p.  178,  note)  that  the  piii  lento 
over  the  coda  in  these  variations  is  a  misprint 
for  piu  mosso.  Schumann  wrote  piii  lento  quite 
plainly,  and  evidently  meant  what  he  wrote. 
He  may  possibly  have  changed  his  mind  after 
wards,  for  in  regard  to  tempo  he  was  often 
accessible  to  the  opinions  of  otheTs. 

Of  the  works  for  strings  and  pianoforte,  the 
Quintet  (op.  44)  is  of  course  the  finest.     Nay 
more  :  it  is  undoubtedly  the  best  piece  of  cham 
ber  music  since  Beethoven,  and  will  always  keep 
its  place  in  the  first  rank  of  musical  masterpieces. 
This  quintet  claims  the  highest  admiration,  not 
only  because  of  its  brilliant  originality,  and  its 
innate  power — which  seems  to  grow  with  every 
movement,  and  at  the  end  of  the  whole  leaves 
the  hearer  with  a  feeling  of  the  possibility  of 
never-ending  increase — but  also  because  of  its 
gorgeous  beauty  of  sound,  and  the  beautiful  and 
well-balanced  relations  between  the  pianoforte 
and  the  strings.     Musicians  are  still  living,  like 
Carl  Keinecke  of  Leipzig,  who  at  the  time  of  its 
appearance  were  in  the  most  susceptible  period 
of  youth,  and  who  tell  of  the  indescribable  im 
pression  the  work  made  upon  them.     It  must 
have  seemed  like  a  new  paradise  of  beauty  re 
vealed  to  their  view.     The  Pianoforte  Quartet 
(op.    47)   only  wants    animation,    and   a  more 
popular  character  in  the  best  sense  of  the  word, 
to  make  it  of  equal   merit  with  the  Quintet. 
There  is  much  in  it  of  the  spirit  of  Bach,  as  is 
perhaps  most  evident  in  the  wonderful  melody  of 
the  Andante.    A  high  rank  is  taken  by  the  Trios 
in  D  minor  (op.  63)  and  F  major  (op.  80),  both, 
as  well  as  the  quintet  and  quartet,  written  in 
one  and  the  same  year.    In  the  first  a  passionate 
and  sometimes  gloomy  character  predominates, 
while  the  second  is  more  cheerful  and  full  of 
warmth  in  the  middle  movements.     The  canonic 
style  is  employed  in  the  Adagios  of  both  trios 
with  new  and  powerful  effect.    The  treatment  of 
the  strings  with  respect  to  the  pianoforte  may 
here  and  there  be  considered  too  orchestral  in 
style  ;  but  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  it  was 
adopted  to  suit  the  piano  style,  which  in  Schu 
mann  is  very  different  from  that  of  the  classical 
masters  and  of  Mendelssohn.     The  two   trios, 
however,  are  wanting  in  that  expression  of  perfect 
health  which  is  so  prominent  in  both  the  quintet 
and  the  quartet.    They  show  traces  of  the  hurry 
and  breathless  haste  which  in  his  later  years 
increases  the  complication  of  his  rhythms.     The 
third  and  last  Trio  (G-  minor,  op.  no)  is  far 
inferior  to  the  others.     There  is  still  the  same 
artistic  design,  and  in  isolated  passages  the  noble 
genius  of  the  master  still  shines  clearly  out ;  but 
as  a  whole  this  trio  tells  of  exhaustion.     The 
same  may  be  said  of  most  of  the  other  chamber 
works  of  Schumann's  latest  years.   Among  them 
are  two  sonatas  for  piano  and  violin,  gloomy, 
impassioned  compositions,  which  can  hardly  be 
listened  to  without  a  feeling  of  oppression.  There 
are  also  a  number  of  shorter  pieces  for  different 
instruments,  among  which  the  '  Marchenbilder 
fiir  Pianoforte  und  Viola'  (op.  113)  are  promi- 


SCHUMANN. 


415 


nent.  No  one  who  bears  in  mind  Schumann's 
ultmate  fate  can  hear  without  emotion  the  last 
of  these  '  Marchenbilder,'  which  bears  the  direc 
tion  'Langsam,  mifc  melancholischem  Ausdruck' 
(Slowly,  with  an  expression  of  melancholy). 

In  the  sphere  of  the  concerto  Schumann  has 
left  an  imperishable  trace  of  his  genius  in  the 
Pianoforte  Concerto  in  A  minor  (op.  54).  It  is 
one  of  his  most  beautiful  and  mature  works.  In 
addition  to  all  his  peculiar  originality  it  has  also 
the  qualities,  which  no  concerto  should  lack, 
of  external  brilliancy,  and  striking,  powerful, 
well  rounded  subjects.  The  first  movement  is 
written  in  a  free  form  with  happy  effect ;  the 
cause  being  that  Schumann  had  at  first  intended 
it  to  stand  as  an  independent  piece,  with  the  title 
4  Fantasia.'  He  did  not  add  the  other  two  move 
ments  until  two  years  afterwards. — The  '  Intro 
duction  und  Allegro  appassionato,'  for  pianoforte 
and  orchestra  (op.  92),  is  a  rich  addition  to 
concerto  literature.  In  Schumann  there  is  a 
deeper  connection  between  the  pianoforte  and 
orchestra  than  had  before  been  customary,  though 
not  carried  to  such  a  point  as  to  interfere  with  the 
contrast  between  the  two  independent  powers. 
He  was  far  from  writing  symphonies  with  the 
pianoforte  olbligata.  His  other  works  in  concerto- 
form,  written  in  the  last  years  of  his  life,  do 
not  attain  to  the  height  of  the  Concerto.  .Among 
them  is  an  unpublished  violin  concerto  written 
between  Sept.  21  and  Oct.  3,  1853,  and  consist 
ing  of  the  following  movements:  (i)  D  minor 
alia  breve,  '  Im  kraftigen,  nicht  zu  schnellen 
Tempo';  (2)Bb  major,  common  time,  'Langsam'; 
(3)  D  major,  3-4,  'Lebhaft,  doch  nicht  zu 
schnell.'  The  autograph  is  in  the  possession  of 
Joachim.  A  Fantasia  for  violin  and  orchestra, 
dedicated  to  the  same  great  artist,  is  published 
as  op.  131.  The  Violoncello  Concerto  (op.  129) 
is  remarkable  for  a  very  beautiful  slow  middle 
movement.  There  is  also  a  Concerto  for  four 
horns  and  orchestra  (op.  86).  Schumann  himself 
thought  very  highly  of  this  piece,  partly  because, 
as  he  wrote  to  Dr.  Hartel,  '  it  was  quite  curious.' 
It  is  indeed  the  only  attempt  made  in  modern 
times  to  revive  the  form  of  the  old  Concerto  grosso 
which  Sebastian  Bach  had  brought  to  perfection 
in  his  six  so-called  'Brandenburg'  concertos. 
As  these  concertos  of  Bach  were  not  printed 
until  1850,  and  Schumann  can  scarcely  have 
known  them  in  manuscript,  it  is  a  remarkable 
and  interesting  coincidence  that  he  should  thus 
have  followed  Bach's  lead  without  knowing  it. 
The  piece  is  particularly  hard  for  the  first  horn, 
because  of  the  high  notes.  When  well  rendered 
it  has  a  peculiarly  sonorous,  often  very  romantic 
effect,  to  which  however  the  ear  soon  becomes 
insensible  from  the  tone  of  the  four  horns. 

In  his  account  of  Marschner's  'Klange  aus 
Osten,'  a  work  performed  in  Leipzig  on  Oct.  22, 
1840,  Schumann  says:  'We  must  admire  the 
pattern  which  the  composer  has  felt  himself  en 
couraged  to  set,  and  which  others  need  only 
follow,  to  enrich  the  concert-room  with  a  new 
form  of  music.'  The  *  Klange  aus  Osten '  consist 
of  an  overture,  solos,  and  choruses,  and  treat  of 


416 


SCHUMANN. 


the  adventures  of  a  pair  of  lovers  in  the  East. 
By  the  term  'new  form  of  music'  Schumann 
means  a  form  in  which  it  was  possible  to  make 
use  for  concert  performances  of  romantic  stories, 
which  had  hitherto  been  only  used  on  the  stage. 
He  was  the  first  to  follow  this  example  in  his 
'Paradise  and  the  Peri.'  The  text  was  taken 
from  Moore's  poem,  of  which  Schumann  short 
ened  some  parts  to  suit  his  purpose,  while  he 
lengthened  others  by  his  own  insertions.  It  was 
his  first  work  for  voices  and  orchestra,  and  is  one 
of  his  greatest  and  most  important.  The  subject 
was  happily  chosen.  The  longing  felt  by  one 
of  those  ideal  beings  created  by  the  imagination 
from  the  forces  of  nature,  to  attain  or  regain 
a  higher  and  happier  existence,  and  using  every 
means  for  the  fulfilment  of  this  longing,  is 
of  frequent  occurrence  in  the  German  popular 
legends,  and  is  still  a  favourite  and  sympathetic 
idea  in  Germany.  It  is  the  root  of  the  legends 
of  the  Fair  Melusina,  of  the  Water  Nixie,  and  of 
Hans  Heiling.  Schumann's  fancy  must  have 
been  stimulated  by  the  magic  of  the  East,  no 
less  than  by  Moore's  poem,  with  its  poetic  pic 
tures  displayed  on  a  background  of  high  moral 
sentiment.  It  has  been  very  unnecessarily  ob 
jected  to  '  Paradise  and  the  Peri '  that  it  follows 
none  of  the  existing  forms  of  music.  If  it  be 
necessary  for  the  enjoyment  of  a  work  of  art  that 
it  should  be  ticketed  after  some  known  pattern, 
it  is  obvious  that  this  one  belongs  to  the  class  of 
Oratorio.  That  the  oratorio  may  be  secular  as 
well  as  sacred  was  shown  by  Handel,  and  con 
firmed  by  Haydn  in  his  '  Seasons.'  For  the  text 
no  especial  poetic  form  is  required.  It  may  be 
dramatic  or  narrative,  or  a  mixture  of  the  two  ; 
Handel  has  left  examples  of  each.  The  essential 
characteristic  of  an  oratorio  is  that  it  should 
bring  the  feelings  into  play,  not  directly,  as  is 
done  in  the  cantata,  but  by  means  of  a  given 
event,  about  which  the  emotions  can  be  aroused. 
The  form  of  the  poetry,  the  choice  of  material 
and  form  in  the  music,  should  all  depend  upon 
the  particular  subject  to  be  treated.  The  fact  of 
Schumann's  having  retained  so  much  of  Moore's 
narrative  is  worthy  of  all  praise ;  it  is  the  de 
scriptive  portions  of  the  poem  that  have  the 
greatest  charm,  and  the  music  conforms  to  this. 
To  call  this  method  an  imitation  of  the  music  of 
the  Evangelist  in  Bach's  Passion  Music  is  un 
necessary  and  untrue ;  for  the  narrative  portions 
are  given  by  Schumann  both  to  solos  and  chorus. 
True,  there  will  always  be  a  certain  disadvantage 
in  using  a  complete  self-contained  poem  as  a  text 
for  music,  a  great  deal  of  which  will  inevitably 
have  been  written  without  regard  to  the  com 
poser.  Much  that  we  pass  over  lightly  in  read 
ing  has,  when  set  to  music,  a  more  definite  and 
insistent  effect  than  was  intended.  In  other 
places  again,  the  poem,  from  the  musician's  point 
of  view,  will  be  deficient  in  opportunities  for  the 
strong  contrasts  so  nece-sary  for  effect  in  music. 
This  is  very  obvious  in  Schumann's  composition. 
The  third  portion  of  the  work,  although  he  took 
much  trouble  to  give  it  greater  variety  by  addi 
tions  to  the  poetry,  suffers  from  a  certain  mono- 


SCHUMANN. 

tony.   Not  that  the  separate  numbers  are  weaker 
than   those   of  the  former  parts,  but  they  are 
wanting  in  strong  shadows.     But  there  is  some 
thing  else  that  prevents  the  work  from  producing 
a   really  striking   effect   upon   large  audiences, 
and  that  is,  if  we  may  say  so,  that  there  is  too 
much  music  in  it.     Schumann  brought  it  forth 
from  the  fulness  of  his  heart,  and  threw,  even 
into  its  smallest  interludes,  all  the  depth  of  ex 
pression  of  which  he  was  capable.    The  beauties 
are  crowded  together,  and  stand  in  each  other's 
light.     If  they  had  been  fewer  in  number  they 
would  have  had  more  effect.    But,  with  all  these 
allowances, '  Paradise  and  the  Peri '  is  one  of  the 
most  enchanting  musical  poems  in  existence.  And 
we  can  now  confirm  his  own  words  in  a  letter 
to  a  friend  after  the  completion  of  the  work : 
'A  soft  voice  within  me  kept  saying  while  I 
wrote,  It  is  not  in  vain  that  thou  art  writing' ; 
for  this  composition  will  go  far  to  make  him 
immortal.     No  comparison  is  possible  between 
it  and  the  great  oratorios  of  Mendelssohn,  with 
their  grand  structure  and  historical  character. 
Its  object  is  wholly  different — to  lead  us  into  the 
bright  magical  fairy-world  of  the  East,  and  make 
us  sympathise  with  the  sorrows  and  the  struggles 
of  a  gentle  daughter  of  the  air.     It  can  only  be 
really  impressive  to  a  somewhat   small  circle. 
The  more  so  that  the  chorus,  the  chief  means  for 
representing   broad  and  popular  emotions,  has 
only  a  moderate  share  in  the  work.    All  the 
choruses  in  'Paradise   and   the  Peri,'  perhaps 
with  the  exception  of  the  last,  are  fine,  original, 
and  effective.     But  it  must  be   admitted  that 
choral  composition  was  not  really  Schumann's 
strong  point.     In  this  respect  he  is  far  inferior 
to  Mendelssohn.     In  many  of  his  choruses  he 
might  even  seem  to  lack  the  requisite  mastery 
over  the  technical  requirements  of  choral  com 
position,  so   instrumental   in    style,  so  imprac 
ticable  and  unnecessarily  difficult  do  they  seem. 
But  if  we  consider  Schumann's  skill  in  poly 
phonic  writing,  and  recall  pieces  of  such  grand 
conception  and  masterly  treatment  as  the  begin 
ning  of  the  last  chorus  of  the  Faust  music,  we 
feel  convinced  that  the  true  reason  of  the  defect 
lies  deeper.     The  essential  parts  of  a  chorus  are 
large  and  simple   subjects,  broad   and  flowing 
development,  and  divisions  clearly  marked  and 
intelligible  to  all.     In  a  good  chorus  there  must 
be  something  to  speak  to  the  heart  of  the  masses. 
Schumann  took  exactly  the  opposite  view.    The 
chorus  was  usually  an  instrument  unfitted  for  the 
expression  of  his  ideas.     His  genius  could  have 
mastered  the  technical  part  of  choral  composition 
as  quickly  and  surely  as  that  of  orchestral  com 
position.     But  since  the  case  was  otherwise,  the 
chief  importance  of  '  Paradise  and  the  Peri   is 
seen  to  be  in  the  solos  and  their  accompaniments, 
especially  in   the  latter,  for  here  the  orchestra 
stands  in  the  same  relation  to  the  voice  as  the 
pianoforte  does  in  Schumann's  songs.    A  good 
orchestral  rendering  of  '  Paradise  and  the  Peri 
is  a  task  of  the  greatest  difficulty,  but  one  re 
warded  by  perfect  enjoyment.  Compositions  such 
as  this,  as  we  have  already  said,  correspond  in. 


SCHUMANN. 

the  concert-room  to  the  German  romantic  opera. 
'  Paradise  and  the  Peri '  may  be  likened  to  We 
ber's  'Oberon,'  and  Mendelssohn's  'First  Wal- 
purgisnight'  to  Weber's  '  Der  Freischutz.' 

In  the  fairy-tale  of  'The  Pilgrimage  of  the 
Rose'  (op.  112)  Schumann  intended  to  produce 
a  companion  picture  to  '  Paradise  and  the  Peri,' 
but  in  less  definite  outline  and  vaguer  colours. 
The  idea  of  the  poem  is  similar  to  that  of  the 
former  work,  but  Horn's  execution  of  the  idea 
is  entirely  without  taste.  Schumann  was  possibly 
attracted  by  its  smooth  versification  and  a  few 
really  good  musical  situations.     The  music  con 
tains  much  that  is  airy  and  fresh,  as  well  as  a 
beautiful  dirge.     On  the  other  hand,  it  is  full 
of  a  feeble  sentimentality  utterly  foreign  to  Schu 
mann's  general  character,  and  ascribable  only  to 
the  decay  of  his  imagination,    The  insignificant 
and  wholly  idyllic  subject  was  quite  inadequate 
to  give  employment  to  the  whole  apparatus  of 
golo,  chorus,  and  orchestra,  and  Schumann's  first 
idea  of  providing  a  pianoforte  accompaniment  only 
was  the  right  one.  With  a  small  section  of  Schu 
mann's  admirers  the  work  will  always  keep  its 
place,  and  produce  a  pleasing  though  not  very 
deep  effect.   His  other  works  in  this  form  consist 
of  four  ballads: — 'Der  Konigssohn'  (op.  116), 
'Des  Sangers  Fluch'  (op.  139),  'Das  Gliick  von 
Edenhall'  (op.  143),  all  by  Uhland;  and  <Vom 
Pagen   und  der   Konigstochter'  (op.   140),   by 
Geibel.     Moore's  'Paradise  and  the  Peri'  was 
peculiarly  fitted  for  musical  treatment,  and  lent 
itself  happily  to  it.    And  it  will  always  be  easier 
to  extract  an  available  text  from  a  poem  of  large 
dimensions,  than  from  a  ballad  of  more  concise 
form.    This  Schumann  had  to  find  out  by  ex 
perience.     His  chief  error  was  not  in  taking 
widely-known    masterpieces   of  German   poetry 
and   curtailing   or  even   re-arranging  them   to 
suit  his  purpose ;  Ubland's  and  Geibel's  poems 
remain  as  they  were,  and  a  musician  must  always 
be  permitted  to  take  his  subjects  wherever  and 
however  he  likes.    He  is  rather  to  be  blamed  for 
not  going  far  enough  in  his  alterations,  and  for 
retaining  too  much  of  the  original  form  of  the 
ballad.    What  has  been  already  said  with  regard 
to  '  Paradise  and  the  Peri '  holds  good  here  too, 
and  in  a  greater  degree.    It  is  painfully  evident 
that  these  ballads  were  not  really  written  for 
music.   The  way  the  principal  events  of  the  story 
are  described,  and  the  whole. outward  form  of  the 
verses,  imply   that   they  were   intended   to    be 
recited  by  a  single  person,  and  that  not  a  singer 
but  a  speaker.    If  necessary  to  be  sung,  the  form 
of  a  strophic  song  should  have  been  chosen,  as  is 
the  case  with  'Das  Gliick  von  Edenhall,'  but  this 
would  confine  the  varieties  of  expression  within 
too  narrow  a  range.    It  is  as  though  Schumann's 
pent-up  desire  for  the  dramatic  form  were  seeking 
an  outlet  in  these  ballads  ;  especially  as  we  know 
that  in  the  last  years  of  his  creative  activity  he 
was  anxious  to  meet  with  a  new  opera-libretto. 
The  faults  of  texts  and  subjects  might  however  be 
overlooked,  if  the  music  made  itself  felt  as  the 
product  of  a  rich  and  unwearied  imagination. 
Unfortunately,  however,  this  is  seldom  the  case. 
VOL.  in.  PT,  3. 


SCHUMANN. 


417 


It  is  just  in  the  more  dramatic  parts  that  we 
detect  an  obvious  dulness  in  the  music,  a  lame 
ness  in  rhythm,  and  a  want  of  fresh  and  happy 
contrasts.  It  must  be  remarked,  however,  that 
isolated  beauties  of  no  mean  order  are  to  be 
met  with  ;  such  as  the  whole  of  the  third  part 
and  the  beginning  and  end  of  the  second,  in  the 
ballad  '  Vom  Pagen  und  der  Konigstochter.' 
These  works,  however,  taken  as  a  whole,  will 
hardly  live. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  are  some  works  of 
striking  beauty  for  voices  and  orchestra  in  a 
purely  lyrical  vein.  Among  these  should  be  men 
tioned  the  '  Requiem  for  Mignon'  from  '  Wilhelm 
Meister'  (op.  986),  and  Hebbel's  '  Nachtlied ' 
(op.  1 08).  The  former  of  these  was  especially 
written  for  music,  and  contains  the  loveliest 
thoughts  and  words  embodied  in  an  unconstrained 
and  agreeable  form.  Few  composers  were  so  well 
fitted  for  such  a  work  as  Schumann,  with  his 
sensitive  emotional  faculty  and  his  delicate  sense 
of  poetry ;  and  it  is  no  wonder  that  he  succeeded 
in  producing  this  beautiful  little  composition. 
But  it  should  never  be  heard  in  a  large  concert 
room,  for  which  its  delicate  proportions  and  tender 
colouring  are  utterly  unfitted.  The  '  Nachtlied ' 
is  a  long  choral  movement.  The  peculiar  and 
fantastic  feeling  of  the  poem  receives  adequate 
treatment  by  a  particular  style  in  which  the 
chorus  is  sometimes  used  only  to  give  colour, 
and  sometimes  is  combined  with  the  orchestra 
in  a  polyphonic  structure,  in  which  all  human 
individuality  seems  to  be  merged,  and  only  the 
universal  powers  of  nature  and  of  life  reign 
supreme. 

Beethoven,  as  is  well  known,  had  the  intention 
of  setting  Goethe's  '  Faust'  to  music.  Of  course 
the  first  part  only  was  in  his  mind,  for  the  second 
did  not  appear  until  six  years  after  his  death. 
The  idea  conceived  by  Beethoven  was  executed 
by  Schumann ;  not,  it  may  be,  in  Beethoven's 
manner,  but  perhaps  in  the  best  and  most  effective 
way  conceivable.  Schumann's  music  is  not  in 
tended  to  be  performed  on  the  stage  as  the  musical 
complement  of  Goethe's  drama.  It  is  a  piece 
for  concert  performance,  or  rather  a  set  of  pieces, 
for  he  did  not  stipulate  or  intend  that  all  three 
parts  should  be  given  together.  What  he  did 
was  to  take  out  a  number  of  scenes  from  both 
parts  of  Goethe's  poem,  and  set  music  to  them. 
It  follows  that  the  work  is  not  self-contained,  but 
requires  for  its  full  understanding  an  accurate 
knowledge  of  the  poem.  From  the  First  Part  he 
took  the  following  : — (i)  Part  of  the  first  scene 
in  the  garden  between  Gretchen  and  Faust ;  (2) 
Gretchen  before  the  shrine  of  the  Mater  dolorosa  ; 
(3)  The  scene  in  the  Cathedral.  These  three 
form  the  first  division  of  his  Faust  music.  From 
the  Second  Part  of  the  play  he  adopted  :  (i)  The 
first  scene  of  the  first  act  (the  song  of  the  spirits 
at  dawn,  the  sunrise,  and  Faust's  soliloquy) ;  (2) 
The  scene  with  the  four  aged  women  from  the 
fifth  act ;  (3)  Faust's  death  in  the  same  act  (as 
far  as  the  words,  '  Der  Zeiger  fallt — Er  fallt,  es 
ist  vollbracht ').  These  form  the  second  division 
of  the  music.  Schumann's  third  division  consists 

Ee 


418 


SCHUMANN. 


of  the  last  scene  of  the  fifth  act  (Faust's  glori 
fication)  divided  into  seven  numbers.     The  ex 
periment  of  constructing  a  work  of  art,  without 
central  point  or  connection  in  itself,  but  entirely 
dependent  for  these  on  another  work  of  art,  could 
only  be  successful  in  the  case  of  a  poem  like 
'  Faust ' ;  and  even  then  perhaps,  only  with  the 
German  people,  with  whom  Faust  is  almost  as 
familiar  as  Luther's  Bible.     But  it  really  was 
successful,  and  Schumann's  name  will  be  eternally 
linked  with  that  of  Goethe.     This  is  the  case 
more  particularly  in  the  third  division,  which 
consists  of  only  one  great  scene,  and  is  the  most 
important  from  a  musical  point  of  view.    In  this 
scene  Goethe  himself  desired  the  co-operation  of 
music.     Its  mystic  import  and  splendid  expres 
sion  could  find  no  composer   so  well  fitted  as 
Schumann,  who  seemed,  as  it  were,  predestined 
for  it.     He  threw  himself  into  the  spirit  of  the 
poem  with  such  deep  sympathy  and  understand 
ing,  that  from  beginning  to  end  his  music  gives  the 
impression  of  being  a  commentary  on  it.     To 
Schumann  is  due  the  chief  meed  of  praise  for 
having  popularized  the  second  part  of  Faust.   In 
musical  importance  no  other  choral  work  of  his 
approaches  the  third  division  of  his  work.  In  fresh 
ness,  originality,  and  sustained  power  of  invention 
it  is  in  no  way  inferior  to  '  Paradise  and  the  Peri.' 
Up  to  about  the  latter  half  of  the  last  chorus  it 
is  a  chain  of  musical  gems,  a  perfectly  unique 
contribution  to  concert  literature,  in  the  first  rank 
of  those  works  of  art  of  which  the  German  nation 
may  well  be  proud.     The  second  division  of  the 
Faust  music,  consisting  of  three  other  scenes  from 
the  Second  Part  of  the  poem,  is  also  of  considerable 
merit.     It  is,  however,  evident  in  many  passages 
that  Schumann   has   set   words    which  Goethe 
never  intended   to  be   sung.     This  is  felt  still 
more  in  the  scenes  from  the  First  Part,  which 
are  moreover  very   inferior   in  respect   of  the 
music.     The  overture  is  the  least  important  of 
all;  in   fact   the   merit   of  the  work  decreases 
gradually  as  we  survey  it  backwards  from  the 
end   to   the  beginning ;    a   circumstance  corre 
sponding  to  the  method  pursued  in  its  compo 
sition,  which  began  in  Schumann's  freshest,  hap 
piest,  and  most  masterly  time  of  creativeness,  and 
ended  close  upon  the  time  when  his  noble  spirit 
was  plunged  in  the  dark  gloom  of  insanity. 

There  exist  only  two  dramatic  works  of  Schu 
mann's  intended  for  the  theatre  :  the  opera  of 
'  Genoveva '  and  the  music  to  Byron's  '  Manfred.' 
The  text  of  the  opera  may  justly  be  objected  to, 
for  it  scarcely  treats  of  the  proper  legend  of 
Genoveva  at  all ;  almost  all  that  made  the  story 
characteristic  and  touching  being  discarded,  a 
fact  which  Schumann  thought  an  advantage. 
This  may  perhaps  be  explained  by  remembering 
his  opinion  that  in  an  opera  the  greatest  stress 
should  be  laid  on  the  representation  of  the  emo 
tions,  and  that  this  object  might  most  easily  be 
attained  by  treating  the  external  conditions  of  an 
operatic  story  as  simply  and  broadly  as  possible. 
He  also  probably  felt,  that  a  great  part  of  the 
Genoveva  legend  is  epic  rather  than  dramatic. 
He  was  mistaken,  however,  in  thinking  that 


SCHUMANN. 

after  the  reductions  which  he  made  in  the  plot,, 
it  would  remain  sufficiently  interesting  to  the 
general  public.     He  himself,  as  we  have  said, 
arranged  his  own  libretto.     His  chief  model  was 
Hebbel's    '  Genoveva,'    a    tragedy    which    had 
affected  him  in  a  wonderful  way ;  though  he  also 
made  use  of  Tieck's  'Genoveva.'     Besides  these 
he  took  Weber's  '  Euryanthe '  as  a  pattern.    The 
mixture  of  three  poems,  so  widely  differing  from 
one  another,  resulted  in  a  confusion  of  motives 
and  an  uncertainty  of  delineation  which  add  to  the 
uninteresting  impression  produced  by  the  libretto. 
The  character  of  Golo,  particularly,  is  very  in 
distinctly  drawn,   and  yet  on  him  falls  almost 
the    chief   responsibility   of    the    drama.      The 
details  cannot  but  suffer  by  such  a  method  of 
compilation  as  this.     A  great  deal  is  taken  word 
for  word  from  Hebbel  and  Tieck,  and  their  two 
utterly  different  styles  appear  side  by  side  with 
out  any  compromise  whatever.     Hebbel  however 
predominates.   Tieck's  work  appears  in  the  finale 
of  the  first  act,  and  in  the  duet  (No.  9)  in  the 
second  act,  e.g.  the  line  'Du  liebst  mich,  holde 
Braut,  da  ist  der  Tag  begonnen.'     Genoveva' s 
taunt  on  Golo's  birth  is  also  taken  from  Tieck, 
although  he  makes  the  reproach  come  first  from 
Wolf  and  afterwards  from  Genoveva  herself,  but 
without  making  it  a  prominent  motive  in  the 
drama.      Beside    this    several    Vblkslieder  are 
interspersed.      This  confusion  of  styles  is  sur 
prising   in  a   man   of  such  fine  discrimination 
and  delicate  taste  as  Schumann  displays  else 
where.     The  chief  defect  of  the  opera,  however, 
lies  in  the  music.     If  '  Paradise  and  the  Peri,' 
as  we  have  said,  may  be  compared  with  Weber's 
'Oberon/  the  one  holding  the  same  place  in  the 
concert-room  that  the  other  does  on  the  stage, 
Schumann's  opera  may  be  compared  to  one  of 
Weber's  concert  cantatas — say  to  '  Kampf  und 
Sieg.'  As  Weber  always  shows  himself  a  dramatic 
artist  even  where   it  is  not  required,  so  does 
Schumann  show  himself  a  lyric  artist.    In  the 
opera  of  '  Genoveva, '  the  characters  all  sing  more 
or   less  the  same  kind  of  music ;    that  which 
Schumann  puts  to  the  words  is  absolute  music, 
not  relative,  i.e.   such  as  would   be  accordant 
with  the  character  of  each  individual.    Neither 
in   outline   nor  detail  is  his  music  sufficiently 
generated  by  the  situations  of  the  drama.  Lastly, 
he  lacks  appreciation  for  that  liveliness  of  con 
trast  which  appears  forced  and  out  of  place  in 
the  concert-room,  but  is  absolutely  indispensable 
on  the  stage.     '  Genoveva '  has  no  strict  recita 
tives,  but  neither  is  there  spoken  dialogue ;  even 
the  ordinary  quiet  parts  of  the  dialogue  are  sung 
in  strict  time,  and  usually  accompanied  with 
the  full  orchestra.      Schumann  considered  the 
recitative  a  superannuated  form  of  art,  and  in 
his  other  works  also  makes  scarcely  any  use  of  it, 
This  point  is  of  course  open  to  dispute  ;  but  it  is 
not  open  to  dispute  that  in  an  opera,  some  kind 
of  calm,  even  neutral  form  of  expression  is  wanted, 
which,   while   allowing   the   action  to  proceed 
quickly,  may  serve  as  a  foil  to  the  chief  parts 
in  which  highly-wrought  emotions  are  to  be  de 
lineated.     The  want  of  such  a  foil  in  '  Genoveva' 


SCHUMANN. 

weakens  the  effect  of  the   climaxes,  and  with 
them,  that  of  the  whole.     As  in  the  formation 
of  the  libretto  Schumann  took  '  Euryanthe'  as  his 
model,  so.  as  a  musician,  he  intended  to  carry  out 
Weber's  intentions  still  farther,  and  to  write,  not 
an  opera  in  the  old-fashioned  ordinary  sense,  but 
a  music  drama,  which  should  be  purely  national. 
At  the  time  when '  Genoveva'  was  written,  he  was 
utterly  opposed  to  Italian  music,  not  in  the  way 
we  should  have  expected  him  to  be,  but  exactly 
as  Weber  was  opposed  to  it  in  Ins  time.     '  Let 
me  alone  with  your  canary-bird  music  and  your 
tunes  out  of  the  waste-paper  basket,'  he  once 
said  angrily  to  Weber's  son,  who  was  speaking 
to  him  of  Cimarosa's  '  Matrimonio  Segreto.'   But 
although  he  may  not  have   succeeded  in   pro 
ducing  a  masterpiece  of  German  opera,  we  may 
appreciate  with  gratitude  the  many  beauties  of 
the  music,  the  noble  sentiment  pervading  the 
whole,  and  the  constant  artistic  feeling,  directed 
only  to  what  is  true  and  genuine.     After  the 
experiments  of  the  last  ten  years  in  Germany, 
it  seems  not  unlikely  that  '  Genoveva '  will  yet 
attain  to  a  settled  position  on  the  stage.  And  well 
does  it  deserve  this  place.    The  finest  part  of  the 
work  is  the  overture,  a  masterpiece  in  its  kind, 
and  worthy  to  rank  with  the  classical  models. 

The  music  to  Byron's  'Manfred'  (op.  115)  con 
sists  of  an  overture,  an  entr'acte,  melodramas,  and 
several  solos  and  choruses.  Byron  expressly  de 
sired  the  assistance  of  music  for  his  work,  though 
not  so  much  of  it  as  Schumann  has  given.  Schu 
mann  inserted  all  the  instrumental  pieces  in  the 
work,  with  the  exception  of  the  tunes  on  the  shep 
herd's  pipe  in  the  first  act ;  also  the  requiem  heard 
at  Manfred's  death,  sounding  from  the  convent 
church.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  remarkable  that 
he  left  the  song  of  'The  captive  usurper'  in  Act  ii. 
Scene  iv.  without  music.  The  whole  work  consists 
of  16  numbers,  including  the  overture ;  this  Schu 
mann  composed  first  of  all,  and  probably  without 
intending  to  write  music  for  the  drama  itself.  Even 
here  he  does  not  evince  any  special  gift  for  drama 
tic  writing.  In  the  present  day  Byron's  drama  is 
frequently  performed  upon  the  stage  with  Schu 
mann's  music,  and  its  effectiveness  can  thus  be 
tested.  The  music  hardly  ever  serves  to  intensify 
the  dramatic  effects,  and  yet  this  is  all  that  is 
necessary  in  a  drama.  It  appears  rather  to  be 
the  outcome  of  the  impression  produced  on  Schu 
mann  by  Byron's  poem.  There  is  one  peculiarity 
about  the  Manfred  music.  On  the  stage  it  loses 
a  great  part  of  its  effect,  just  as,  in  my  opinion, 
the  poem  loses  half  its  fantastic  and  weird  magic 
by  being  dressed  in  the  clumsy  and  palpable 
illusions  of  a  scenic  representation.  The  over 
ture  is  a  piece  of  music  of  the  most  serious  cha 
racter,  and  much  more  fitted  for  concert  per 
formance  than  for  assembling  an  audience  in  a 
theatre.  This  is  still  more  true  of  all  the  other 
pieces,  so  delicate  in  construe;  ion  and  subtle  in 
feeling,  the  closing  requiem  by  no  means  ex 
cluded.  And  yet  in  the  concert-room  the  music 
does  not  make  its  due  effect ;  partly  because  the 
hearer  is  withdrawn  from  the  influence  of  the 
action,  which  is  indispensable  to  the  full  under- 


SCHUMANN. 


419 


standing  of  the  whole  work ;  and  also  because  in 
the  melodramas  the  spoken  words  and  the  music 
which  accompanies  them  disturb  one  another 
more  than  when  performed  on  the  stage.  From 
these  remarks  it  might  be  imagined  that  the 
Manfred  music  is  an  inferior  work  ;  but  strange 
to  say  such  is  by  no  means  the  case.  It  is  a 
splendid  creation,  and  one  of  Schumann's  most 
inspired  productions.  It  hovers  between  the 
stage  and  the  concert-room ;  and,  paradoxical  as 
it  may  seem,  the  deepest  impression  is  produced 
by  reading  the  score,  picturing  in  one's  mind  the 
action  and  the  spoken  dialogue,  and  allowing 
the  music  to  sink  deep  into  the  ears  of  one's 
mind.  Perhaps  the  most  striking  parts  of  it 
all  are  the  melodramas,  and  among  them  the 
deeply  touching  speech  of  Manfred  to  Astarte ; 
and  these  all  stand  out  with  a  peculiar  purity 
and  unity,  when  read  as  just  described.  They 
-are  in  a  manner  improvements  upon  those 
highly  poetic  piano  pieces  of  Schumann's  with 
superscriptions ;  and  we  ought  to  think  of  the 
words  when  hearing  the  piece.  In  this  music,  if 
nowhere  else,  is  revealed  Schumann's  character 
istic  struggle  after  the  inward,  to  the  disregard 
of  the  outward,  and  we  see  how  diametrically 
opposed  to  his  nature  was  the  realisation  of 
dramatic  effects  where  all  is  put  into  visible 
and  tangible  form.  But  he  devoted  himself  to 
the  composition  of  the  Manfred  music  just  as 
if  he  had  been  fitted  for  it  by  nature.  The 
poet  and  the  composer  seem  to  have  been  des 
tined  for  one  another  as  truly  as  in  the  case  of 
the  Faust  music,  but  in  a  different  way.  Byrorv 
had  no  idea  of  stage  representation  in  writing 
Manfred;  he  only  wished  his  poem  to  be  read. 
Its  romantic  sublimity  of  thought,  spurning  all 
firm  foothold  or  support  on  the  earth,  could  only 
find  its  due  completion  in  music  such  as  this, 
which  satisfies  the  requirements  of  neither  stage 
nor  concert  room.  That  a  work  of  art,  mighty 
and  instinct  with  life,  can  be  produced  with  a 
sublime  disdain  of  all  limits  set  by  circumstance, 
provided  only  genius  is  at  work  upon  it,  is  amply 
proved  by  Byron  and  Schumann  in  this  their 
joint  production.  It  has  been  already  remarked 
more  than  once  that  the  gloomy,  melancholy,  and 
passionate  intensity  of  strife  in  Byron's  Manfred, 
heightened  by  contrast  with  the  splendid  descrip 
tions  of  nature,  corresponded  to  the  conditions  of 
Schumann's  spirit  at  the  time  when  the  music  was 
written.  And  indeed  a  deep  sympathy  speaks  in 
every  bar.  But  there  was  in  Schumann  a  long 
ing  for  peace  .and  reconciliation,  which  is 
wanting  in  Byron.  This  comes  out  very  plainly 
in  different  passages  in  the  music,  of  which  the 
most  striking  is  the '  Requiem'  at  the  close,  which 
sheds  over  the  whole  work  a  gentle  gleam  of  glory. 
If  we  were  to  go  into  deta  Is,  we  should  neither 
know  where  to  begin  nor  to  end. 

In  January  1851  Schumann  wrote  to  a  friend, 
'  It  must  always  be  the  artist's  highest  aim  to  ap 
ply  his  powers  to  sacred  music.  But  in  youth 
we  are  firmly  rooted  to  the  earth  by  all  our  joys 
and  sorrows  ;  it  is  only  with  advancing  age  that 
the  branches  stretch  higher,  and  so  I  hope  that 

Ee2 


420 


SCHUMANN. 


the  period  of  my  higher  efforts  is  no  longer 
distant.'  He  is  here  speaking  emphatically  of 
'sacred,'  not  of  church  music.  Church  music 
he  never  wrote,  his  Mass  and  his  Requiem  not 
withstanding.  It  should  be  adapted  to  the 
church-services,  and  calculated  to  produce  its 
effect  in  combination  with  the  customary  cere 
monial  ;  but  sacred  or  religious  music  is  intended 
to  turn  the  mind  of  the  hearers,  by  its  own 
unaided  effect,  to  edifying  thoughts  of  the  eternal 
and  divine.  Of  compositions  of  this  class  we 
possess  several  by  Schumann  ;  nor  was  it  in 
1851  that  he  first  began  writing  them.  There 
is  an  Advent  hymn  for  solo,  chorus,  and  orchestra 
(op.  71),  written  in  1848;  a  motet  for  men's 
voices  with  organ,  subsequently  arranged  for 
orchestra  (op.  93),  of  1849,  and  a  New  Year's 
hymn  for  chorus  and  orchestra  (op.  144)  of  the 
winter  of  the  same  year ;  all  three  settings  of 
poems  by  Friedrich  Riickert.  The  Mass  (op.  147) 
and  the  Requiem  (op.  148),  on  the  other  hand, 
were  composed  in  1852,  and  Schumann  may 
have  been  thinking  mainly  of  works  of  this  kind 
when  he  wrote  the  letter  quoted  above.  As  a 
Protestant  his  relations  to  the  Mass  and  Requiem 
were  perfectly  unfettered ;  and  in  the  composition 
of  these  works  he  can  have  had  no  thought  of 
their  adaptation  to  divine  service,  since  even  in 
form  they  exhibit  peculiarities  opposed  to  the 
established  order  of  the  Mass.  It  may  however 
be  assumed  that  it  was  the  Catholic  feeling  of  Dus- 
seldorf  which  suggested  them,  and  that  he  intended 
the  works  to  be  performed  on  certain  occasions 
at  church  concerts.  The  words  of  the  Mass  will 
always  have  a  great  power  of  elevating  and  in 
spiring  an  earnest  artist ;  but  irrespective  of 
this,  the  composition  of  a  mass  must  have  had 
a  peculiar  attraction  for  Schumann  on  other 
grounds.  A  poetical  interest  in  the  Catholic 
Church  of  the  middle  ages  was  at  that  time 
widely  prevalent  in  Germany,  particularly  in 
circles  which  were  most  influenced  by  romantic 
poetry,  and  found  in  the  middle  ages  the  realisa 
tion  of  their  most  cherished  ideals.  Schumann 
shared  in  this  tendency ;  a  vein  of  mystical  re 
ligionism,  which  otherwise  might  have  lain  dor 
mant,  often  shows  itself  in  his  later  composi 
tions.  For  instance,  under  the  name  Requiem  we 
find  the  setting  of  a  hymn,  ascribed  to  Heloise, 
the  beloved  of  Abelard  (op.  90,  no.  7), 

Requiescat  a  labore 
Duloroso,  et  amore,  etc. 

Other  instances  are  the  poems  of  Mary  Stuart 
(op.  175),  and  the  Requiem  for  Mignon.  In  the 
Mass  he  has,  contrary  to  custom,  introduced  an 
offertorium,  Tot-a  pulchra  es,  Maria,  et  macula 
non  est  in  te — not  because  he  was  personally  an 
advocate  of  Mariolatry,  but  because  the  poetical 
reverence  for  the  Virgin  of  mediaeval  times  had  a 
peculiar  charm  for  him. 

In  judging  of  Schumann's  sacred  music,  it  is 
necessary  to  repeat  that,  though  the  chorus  is  not 
strictly  speaking  the  musical  means  by  which  he 
was  best  able  to  express  himself,  yet  both  cus 
tom  and  the  character  and  importance  of  the 
subject  urged  him  to  make  considerable  use  of 


SCHUMANN. 

it  in  these  works.  Thus  they  contain  a  contra 
diction  in  themselves ;  they  are  all  nobly  and 
gravely  conceived,  but  as  choral  music  are  only 
very  rarely  satisfactory.  The  Mass  no  doubt 
ranks  highest,  and  contains  much  that  is  very 
beautiful;  the  ' Kyrie,'  the  'Agnus,'  the  be 
ginning  and  end  of  the  'Sanctus,'  and  part  of 
the  '  Credo,'  being  among  Schumann's  very  best 
choral  works.  Unfortunately  there  is  less  to  be 
said  for  the  Requiem  ;  we  should  have  expected 
the  mere  idea  of  a  mass  for  the  dead  to  have 
inspired  such  a  genius  as  Schumann's,  even 
without  recollecting  the  wonderful  tones  which 
he  has  found  for  the  final  requiem  in  Manured. 
But  this  work  was  undoubtedly  written  under 
great  exhaustion  ;  and  the  first  romantic  chorus 
alone  makes  a  uniformly  harmonious  impression. 
It  closes  the  list  of  Schumann's  works,  but  it  is 
not  with  this  that  we  should  wish  to  complete 
the  picture  of  so  great  and  noble  a  master.  He 
once  said  with  reference  to  the  Requiem,  '  It  is 
a  thing  that  one  writes  for  oneself.'  But  the 
abundant  treasure  of  individual,  pure,  and  pro 
found  art  which  he  has  bequeathed  to  us  in  his 
other  works  is  a  more  lasting  monument  to  his 
name,  stupendous  and  imperishable. 


Among  the  published  works  that  treat  of 
Schumann's  life  and  labours,  that  by  Wasielewski 
deserves  the  first  mention  ('  Robert  Schumann, 
eine  Biographic  von  Josef  W.  von  Wasielewski' ; 
Dresden,  R.  Kunze,  1858;  ed.  3,  Bonn,  E. 
Strauss,  i8So).  Though  in  time  it  may  yet 
receive  additions  and  revision,  it  has  still  the 
enduring  merit  of  giving  from  accurate  acquaint 
ance  the  broad  outlines  of  Schumann's  life. 
Other  valuable  contributions  to  his  biography 
have  been  written  by  Franz  Hueffer, '  Die  Poesie 
in  der  Musik'  (Leipzig,  Leuckart,  1874);  by 
Richard  Pohl,  '  Erinnerungen  an  R.  Schumann,' 
in  the  'Deutsche  Revue,'  vol.  iv,  Berlin,  1878 
(pp.  169  to  181,  and  306  to  317)  ;  by  Max  Kal- 
beck,  'R.  Schumann  in  Wien,'  forming  the 
feuilletons  of  the  '  Wiener  Allgemeine  Zeitung'  of 
Sept.  24,  29,  and  Oct.  5,  1880.  An  accurate  and 
sympathetic  essay  on  Schumann,  'Robert  Schu 
mann's  Tage  und  Werke,'  was  contributed  by  A. 
W.  Ambros  to  the  '  Culturhistorischen  Bilder 
aus  dem  Musikleben  der  Gegenwart'  (Leipzig, 
Matthes,  1860;  pp.  51-96).  Schumann's  lite 
rary  work  has  been  reviewed  by  H.  Deiters 
in  the  Allg.  musik.  Zeitung  (Leipzig,  Breitkopf 
&  Hartel,  1865,  nos.  47-49). 

Schuberth  &  Co.  published  in  1 860-61  a  The 
matic  Catalogue  of  Schumann's  printed  works, 
extending  to  op.  143  only.  A  complete  index 
to  all  the  published  compositions  of  Schumann, 
with  careful  evidence  as  to  the  year  in  which 
each  was  written,  published,  and  first  performed, 
and  their  different  editions  and  arrangements, 
was  compiled  by  Alfred  Dorffel  as  a  supplement 
to  the  '  Musikalisches  Wochenblatt '  (Leipzig, 
Fritzsch,  1875).  ^  *s  impossible  to  indicate  all 
the  shorter  notices  of  Schumann  in  books  and 
periodicals.  The  author  of  this  article  has  had 
the  advantage  of  seeing  a  considerable  number 


SCHUMANN. 


SCHUMANN. 


421 


of  his  unpublished  letters  and  of  obtaining  much 
information  at  first  hand  from  persons  who  were 
in  intimate  relations  with  him. 

Catalogue  of  Schumann's  Published  Works. 


A.      FOE  PF.  ALONE. 

(1)  Solos. 

Variations  on  the  name  '  Abegg. ' 
Op.  1. 

Papillons  (12  pieces).    Op.  2. 

Studies  after  Paganini's  Caprices. 
Op.  3. 

Intermezzi,  In  2  books.    Op.  4. 

Impromptus  (Variations)  on  a 
theme  by  Clara  Wieck.  Op.  5. 

'Davidsbii.ndlertS.nze'  (18  charac 
teristic  pieces).  Op.  6. 

Toccata.    Op.  7. 

Allegro.    Op.  8. 

'  Carnaval '  (21  pieces).    Op.  9. 

6  Studies    after    Paganini's    Ca 
prices.    Op.  10. 

Sonata  in  F  jf  minor.    Op.  11. 
Fantasiestucke,  in  2 books.  Op.12. 
Etudes  in  the  form  of  variations 
(Etudes  symphoniques).    Op.  13. 
Sonata  in  F  minor.    Op.  14. 
'  Kinderscenen '  (13  pieces).  Op.  15. 
'  Kreisleriana '  (8  pieces).    Op.  16. 
Fantasia.    Op.  17. 
'  Arabeske.'    Op.  18. 
'Blumenstuck.'    Op.  19. 
'  Humoreske.'    Op.  20. 
1  Novelletten,'  in  4  books.    Op.  21. 
Sonata  in  G  minor.    Op.  22. 
'  Nachtstiicke.'    Op.  23. 

'Faschingsschwank  aus  Wien.' 
Op.  26. 

'Drei  Eomanzen.'    Op.  28. 

4  PF.  pieces  (Scherzo.  Gigue,  Ro- 

manze,  and  Fughette).    Op.  32. 
Album   for  the    young   (40  PF. 

pieces).    Op.  68. 
4  Fugues.    Op.  72. 
4  Marches.    Op.  76. 
'  Waldscenen '  (9  pieces).    Op.  82. 
'Bunte  Blatter '(14  pieces).  Op.  99. 
3  Fantasiestucke.    Op.  111. 
3  PF.  Sonatas  for  the  younif.    Op. 

118. 
•Albumbltttter'  (20  pieces).    Op. 

124. 

7  pieces  in  fughetta  form.  Op.  126. 
'Gesange    der   Fruhe'   (Morning 

Songs,  5  pieces).    Op.  133. 

Scherzo,  originally  belonging  to 
the  F  minor  Sonata,  Op.  14 ; 
published  as  No.  12  of  the  post 
humous  works. 

Presto  passionato,  originally  the 
last  movement  of  the  G  minor 
Sonata.  Op.  22;  published  as 
No.  13  of  the  posthumous  works. 

FF.  accompaniment  to  Bach's 
Suites  and  Sonatas  for  violin 
alone  (Leipzig,  Breitkopf  &  Har- 
tel). 

(2)  Duets. 

' Bilder  aus  Osten '  (6  pieces).    Op. 

66.  _ 
'12  vierhandige  Clavierstiicke  far 

kleine  und  grosse  Kinder;1    Op. 

85. 

'  Ballscenen '  (9  pieces).    Op.  109. 
'Kinderball'  (6  pieces  in   dance 

form).    Op.  130. 

(3)  Duet  for  2  PF.s  (4  hands). 
Andante  and  variations.    Op,  46. 

(4)  For  pedal  PF.  or  Organ. 
•Studies   for   the   pedal  PF.'  (6 

pieces  in  canon  form;.    Op.  56. 
'Sketches  for  the  pedal  PF.'  (4 

pieces).    Op.  53. 
6  Fugues  on    the    name   BACH. 

Op.  60. 

B.      FOB  PF.  WITH  OTHER  IN 
STRUMENTS. 

Quintet  for  PF.,  2  Violins,  Viola 

and  Cello.    Op.  44. 
Quartet  for  PF.,  Violin,  Viola,  and 

Cello.    Op.  47. 


Trio   for  PF.,  Violin,  and   Cello 

(D  minor).    Op.  63. 
Adagio  and  Allegro  for  PF.  and 

Horn  (ad  lib.  Cello  or  Violin). 

Op.  70. 

Fantasiestucke  for  PF.  and  Clari 
net  (ad  lib.  Violin  or  Cello),  3 

pieces.    Op.  73. 
Trio  for  PF.,  Violin,  and   Cello 

(F  major).    Op.  ?0. 
Phantasiestiicke  for  PF.,  Violin, 

and  Cello  (4  pieces).    Op.  88. 
3  Romances  for  PF.  and  Oboe  (ad 

lib.  Violin  or  Cello).    Op.  94. 
5  Stiicke  im  Volkston  for  PF.  and 

Cello  (ad  lib.  Violin).    Op.  102. 
Sonata    for  PF.   and  Violin   (A 

minor).   -Op.  105. 
Trio  for  PF.,  Violin,  and   Cello 

(G  minor).    Op.  110. 
'  Marchenbilder' :  4  pieces  for  PF. 

and  Viola  (ad  lib.  Violin).    Op. 

113. 
Sonata    for  PF.   and  Violin   (D 

minor).    Op.  121. 
'  Mttrchenerziihlungen*;    4  pieces 

for  PF.,  Clarinet  (ad  lib.  Violin), 

and  Viola.    Op.  132. 

C.    FOE  STRINGS. 

3  Quartets  for  2  Violins,  Viola,  and 
Cello.  Op.  41. 

D.   INSTRUMENTAL  CONCERTOS. 

Concerto  for  PF.  and  Orchestra 
(A  minor).  Op.  F.4. 

Concertstiick  for  4  Horns  and  Or 
chestra.  Op.  86. 

Introduction  and  Allegro  appas 
sionato. 

Concertstiick  for  PF.  and  Or 
chestra  (G  tnaior).  Op.  92. 

Concerto  for  Cello  and  Orchestra. 
Op.  129. 

Phantasie  for  Violin  and  Orches 
tra.  Op.  131. 

Concert-allegro,  with  Introduc 
tion  ;  for  PF.  and  Orchestra  (D 
minor).  Op.  134. 

E.    FOR  ORCHESTRA. 

(1)  Symphonies. 
Symphony  in  Bb>.    Op.  38. 
Overture,    Scherzo,    and    Finale. 

Op.  52. 

Symphony  in  C  major.    Op.  61. 
Symphony  in  E  b.    Op.  97. 
Symphony  in  D  minor.    Op.  120. 

(2)  Overtures. 

Overture  to  Schiller's  '  Braut  von 
Messina.'  Op.  100. 

Festival 'Overture  with  Chorus  on 
the  Bheinweinlied.  -Op.  123. 

Overture  to  Shakespeare's  'Julius 
Csesar.'  Op.  128. 

Overture  to  Goethe's  'Hermann 
und  Dorothea.'  Op.  136. 

Overtures  to  the  opera  '  Genc- 
veva,'  op.  81 ;  to  Byron's  '  Man 
fred,'  op.  115  ;  and  to  the  Scenes 
from  Goethe's  'Faust.' 


F.    FOE  1  VOICE,  WITH  PF.  AC 
COMPANIMENT. 

Liederkreis,  by  Heine  (9   songs). 

Op.  24. 
'  Myrthen,'  in  4  books  (26  songs). 

Op.  25. 

Lieder  und  GesSnge  (5).    Op.  27. 
3  Poems  by  Geibel.    Op.  30. 
3  Song-poems  by  Chamisso.  Op.  31. 
12  Poems  by  Justinus  Kerner,  in  2 

books.    Op.  35. 
6  Poems  by  Reinick.    Op.  36. 
12  Poems  from  Riickert's  '  Liebes- 

friihling  '     Op.  37.     (Nos.  2,  4, 


and  11  composed  by  Clara  Schu 
mann.) 

Liederkreis ;  12  poems  by  Eichen- 
dorff.  Op.  39. 

5  Songs.    Op.  40. 

•  Frauen-Liebe  vind  Leben' ;  cycle 

of  songs  by  Chamisso.    Op.  42. 
Romanzen  und  Balladen  (3).    Op. 

45. 
'Dichterliehe';  cycle  of  songs  by 

Heine,  in  2   books  (16  songs). 

Op.  48. 
Romamen  und  Balladen  (3).    Op. 

53. 
'  Belsatzar ' ;  ballad  by  Heine.  Op. 

57. 
Romanzen  und  Balladen  (3).    Op. 

64. 

Lieder  und  GesSnge  (5).    Op.  77. 
Album  of  songs  for  the  young  (29). 

Op.  79. 

3  Songs.    Op.  83. 
'Der    Handschuh';     Tjallad   by 

Schiller.    Op.  87. 

6  Songs  by  Willfried  von  der  Nenn. 
Op.  89. 

6  Poems    by  Lenau,  and    'Re 
quiem'   (old    Catholic    poem). 
Op.  90. 

3  Songs    from    Byron's    Hebrew 
Melodies  (with  Harp  or  PF.  acct). 
Op.  95. 

Lieder  und  Gesange  (5).    Op.  96. 

Lieder  und  Gesange  from  Goe 
the's  '  Wilhelm  Meister '  (9).  Op. 
93  a, 

7  Songs  by  Elisabeth  Kulmanu. 
Op.  104. 

a  Songs.    Op.  107. 

4  Husarenlieder  by  Lenau.     Op. 
117. 

3  Poems  from  the  '  Wildlieder'  of 
Pfarrius.    Op.  119. 

'  5  heitere  Gesange.'    Op.  125. 
Lieder  und  Gesange  (5).    Op.  127. 
'Gedichte    der    Konigin     Maria 
Stuart '(5).    Op.  135. 

4  Songs.    Op.  142. 

'Der  deutsche  Rhein';  patriotic 
song  by  N.  Becker  (with  chorus). 

G.   FOE  VARIOUS  SOLO  VOICES 
WITH  PF. 

3  Poems  by  Geibel  (the  1st  for  2 
Sopranos,  the  2nd  for3  Sopranos, 
and   the   3rd    [Zigeunerleben— 
'Gipsy  Lite']  for  small  Chorus, 
Triangle,  and  Tambourines  ad 
lib.).    Op.  29. 

4  Duets  for  Soprano  and  Tenor. 
Op.  34. 

3  two-part  Songs.    Op.  43. 

'  Spanisches  Liederspiel  * ;  a  cycle 
of  songs  (9,  besides  one  as  an  ap 
pendix)  for  single  and  several 
voices  (S.  A.  T.  B.).  Op.  74. 

4  Duets  for  Soprano  and  Tenor. 
Op.  78. 

'  MinnespieV  from  Riickert's  'Lie- 
besfriihling '  for  single  and  seve 
ral  voices  (8  numbers).  Op.  101. 

'  M&dchenlieder.'  by  Elisabeth 
Kulmann,  for  2  Soprano  voices. 
Op.  103. 

3  Songs  for  3  female  voices.  Op. 
114. 

'Spanische  Liebeslieder" ;  a  cycle 
of  10  songs  for  single  and  several 


voices,  with  4-hand  accompani 
ment  on  the  PF.  Op.  138. 

H.   FOE  CHORUS  WITHOUT  AC 
COMPANIMENT. 

6  four- part  Songs  for  men's  voicesl 
Op.  33. 

5  Songs  by  Burns  for  mixed  cho 
rus.  Op.  55. 

I  Songs  for  mixed  chorus.    Op.  59. 

3  Songs  for  male  chorus.    Op.  62. 
Ritornelle.'  by  Riickert,  in  canort 

form,  for  men's  voices  in  several 
parts  (7  numbers).  Op.  65. 

Romanzen  und  Balladen  for  cho 
rus  (5).  Op.  67. 

Romances  lor  female  voices,  with 
PF.  acct.  ad  lib.  (6).  Op.  69. 

Romanzen  und  Balladen  for  cho 
rus  (5).  Op.  75. 

Romances  for  female  voices,  with 
PF.  acct.  ad  lib.  (6).  Op.  91. 

Motet,  'Verzweifle  nicht  im 
Schmerzensthal,'  by  Riickert, 
for  double  male  chorus  (Organ 
acct.  ad  lib.).  Op.  93. 

Hunting  songs  (5),  lor  male  chorus,' 
in  several  parts  (with  an  ad  lib. 
acct.  for  4  Horns).  Op.  137. 

4  Songs  lor  double  chorus.     Op. 
141. 

Romanzen  und  Balladen  for  cho 
rus  (5).  Op.  145. 

Romanzen  und  Balladen  for  cho 
rus  (5).  Op.  146. 

I.   FOR  SOLO,  CHORUS,  AND 
ORCHESTRA. 

Paradise  and  the  Peri.    Op.  50. 
Adventlied,  by  Riickert.    Op.  71. 
'A  Parting  Song'  (beginning  '  Es 

ist  bestimmt  in  Gottes  Rath '). 

Op.  84. 

Requiem  for  Mignon,  from  Goe 
the's  'Wilhelm  Meister.'  Op. 

986. 

Nachtlied,  by  Hebbel.    Op.  108. 
The  Pilgrimage  of  the  Rose.     Op.' 

112. 
Der  KOnigssohn;  ballad  by  Uh- 

land.    Op.  116. 
Des  Sangers  Fluch ;  ballad  after 

Uhland.    Op.  139. 
Vom  Pagen  und  der  KOnigstoch- 

ter  ;  4  ballads  by  Geibel.  Op.  140. 
Der  Gliick  von  Edenhall ;  ballad 

by  TJhland.    Op.  143. 
New  Year's    Song,   by  Ruckert. 

Op.  144. 
Mass.    Op.  147. 
Requiem.    Op.  148. 
Scenes    from    Goethe's    'Faust* 

(without  opus  number). 

K.   DEAMATIC  WORKS. 
Genoveva" ;  opera  in  4  acts.    Op. 
81. 

Music  to  Byron's  'Manfred.'  Op. 
115. 

L.   MELODRAMAS. 

Sch'on  Hedwig  ;  ballad  by  Hebbel 

for  declamation  with  PF.  Op.106. 
Ballade    vom     Haideknabe,    by 

Hebbel,  for  the  same.    Op.  122. 

TJo.  1. 
Die  Fluchtlinge  (The  Fugitives) ; 

ballad  by  Shelley,  for  the  same. 

Op.  122,  No.  2.  [P.S.) 


SCHUMANN,  CLAEA  JOSEPHINE,  wife  of 
the  foregoing,  one  of  the  greatest  pianoforte 
players  that  the  world  has  ever  heard,  was  the 
daughter  of  FEIEDEICH  WIECK,  and  was  born  at 
Leipzig,  Sept.  13,  1819.  She  began  the  PE.  at 
a  very  early  age  under  her  father's  guidance  ;  and 
on  Oct.  20,  1828,  when  she  had  just  completed 
her  ninth  year,  made  her  ddbut  in  public  at  a 
concert  of  Miss  Perthaler's,  where  she  played 
with  Emilie  Reinhold  in  Kalkbrenner's  4-hand 
variations  on  the  March  from  Mo'ise.  The  notices 
in  the  Leipzig  Tageblatt  and  A.M.Z.  show  that 


422 


SCHUMANN. 


she  was  already  an  object  of  much  interest  in  the 
town.  At  this  time  she  was  accustomed  to  play 
the  concertos  of  Mozart  and  Hummel  with  or 
chestra  by  heart,  and  thus  early  did  she  lay  the 
foundation  of  that  sympathy  with  the  orchestra 
which  so  distinguishes  her.  On  November  8, 1 830, 
when  just  over  eleven,  she  gave  her  first  concert 
at  the  Gewandhaus  under  the  good  old  name  of 
'  Musikalische  Akademie' ;  and  her  performance 
is  cited  by  the  A.M.Z.  as  a  proof  how  far  appli 
cation  and  good  teaching  can  bring  great  natural 
gifts  at  so  early  an  age.  Her  solo  pieces  were 
Rondo  brillant  (op.  101),  Kalkbrenner;  Varia 
tions  brillantes  (op.  23),  Herz;  and  variations 
of  her  own  on  an  original  theme ;  and  she  is 
praised  by  the  critic  just  referred  to  for  already 
possessing  the  brilliant  style  of  the  greatest  players 
of  the  day.  Her  next  appearance  was  on  May  9, 
1831,  in  pieces  by  Pixis  and  Herz — still  bravura 
music.  About  this  time  she  was  taken  to  Weimar, 
Cassel,  and  Frankfort,  and  in  the  spring  of  1832 
to  Paris,  where  she  gave  a  concert  on  April  1 3, 
of  which,,  however,  no  details  are  to  be  found. 
Mendelssohn  was  there  at  the  time,  but  was 
suffering  from  an  attack  of  cholera,  and  thus  the 
meeting  of  these  two  great  artists— destined  to 
become  such  great  friends — was  postponed.  On 
July  9  and  July  31,  1832,  she  gives  two  other 
'  Musikalische  Akademien'  in  Leipzig,  at  which, 
besides-  Pixis  and  Herz,  we  find  Chopin's  varia 
tions  on  '  La  ci  darem'  (op.  2),  a  piece  which,  only 
a  few  months  before,  Robert  Schumann  had  wel 
comed  with  his  first  and  one  of  his  most  spirited 
reviews.  At  the  former  of  these  two  concerts 
FrauleiiL  Livia  Gerhardt  (now  Madame  Frege) 
sang  in  public  for  the  first  time. 

In  October  1832  Clara  Wieck  seems  to  have 
made  her  debut  at  the  Gewandhaus  Concerts  in 
Moscheles's  G  minor  Concerto — Pohlenz  was  then 
the  conductor — and  from  that  time  forward  her 
name  is  regularly  found  in  the  programmes  of 
those  famous  Subscription  Concerts,  as  well  as  of 
others  held  in  the  same  hall.  Hitherto,  it  will 
be  observed,  her  music  has  been  almost  ex 
clusively  bravura;  but  on  Nov.  9,  1832,  she 
played  with  Mendelssohn  and  Rakemann  in 
Bach's  triple  Concerto  in  D  minor,  and  about 
the  same  time  Moscheles  mentions  her  perform 
ance  of  one  of  Schubert's  Trios,  and  Beethoven's 
Trio  in  Bb.  In  the  winter  of  1836  she  made  her 
first  visit  to  Vienna,  and  remained  during  the 
winter  playing  with  great  success,  and  receiving 
the  appointment  of  '  Kk.  Kammer-virtuosin/ 

Schumann  had  been  on  a  very  intimate  foot 
ing  in  the  Wieck's  house  for  some  years,  but  it 
appears  not  to  have  been  till  the  spring  of  1836 
that  his  attachment  to  Clara  was  openly  avowed, 
and  it  was  not  till  Sept.  12,  1840  (the  eve  of 
her  birthday),  after  a  series  of  delays  and  diffi 
culties  which  are  sufficiently  touched  upon  in 
the  preceding  article,  that  they  were  married. 
For  eighteen  months  after  this  event  Madame 
Schumann  remained  in  Leipzig.  We  find  her 
name  in  the  Gewandhaus  programmes  attached  to 
the  great  masterpieces,  but  occasionally  making 
a  romantic  excursion,  as  in  December  1841,  when 


SCHUMANN. 

slie  twice  played  with  Lizst  in  a  piece  of  his  for 
two  pianos.  In  the  early  part  of  1842  she  and 
her  husband  made  a  tour  to  Hamburg,  which 
she  continued  alone  as  far  as  Copenhagen.  Later 
in  that  year  they  were  in  Vienna  together.  In 
1844  Schumann's  health  made  it  necessary  to 
leave  Leipzig,  and  remove  to  Dresden,  where 
they  resided  till  1850.  During  all  this  time 
Madame  Schumann's  life  was  bound  up  with 
her  husband's,  and  they  were  separated  only  by 
the  exigencies  of  her  profession.  She  devoted 
herself  not  only  to  his  society,  but  to  the  bring 
ing  out  of  his  music,  much  of  which — such  as 
the  PF.  Concerto,  the  Quintet,  Quartet,  and 
Trios,  etc. — owed  its  first  reputation  to  her.  In 
the  early  part  of  1846  Schumann  was  induced  to 
go  to*  Petersburg,  and  there  his  wife  met  Hen- 
selt,  and  had  much  music  with  him.  In  the 
winter  of  the  same  year  they  were  again  at  Vienna, 
and  there  Madame  Schumann  made  the  acquaint 
ance  of  Jenny  Lind  for  the  first  time,  and  the 
two  great  artists  appeared  together  at  a  concert 
in  December.  England,  though  at  one  time  in 
view,  was  reserved  to  a  later  day.  At  Paris  she 
has  never  played  since  the  early  visit  already 
spoken  of.  The  trials  which  this  faithful  wife 
must  have  undergone  during  the  latter  part  of 
her  husband's  life,  from  his  first  attempt  at  self- 
destruction  to  his  death,  July  19,  1856,  need 
only  be  alluded  to  here.  It  was  but  shortly 
before  the  fatal  crisis  that  she  made  her  first 
visit  to  England,  playing  at  the  Philharmonic  on 
April  14  and  28,  at  the  Musical  Union  on  four 
separate  occasions,  and  elsewhere,  her  last  ap 
pearance  being  on  June  24.  On  June  1 7  she  gave 
an  afternoon  *  Recital'  at  the  Hanover-square 
rooms,  the  programme  of  which  is  worth  pre 
serving.  I.  Beethoven,  Variations  in  Eb  on 
Theme  from  the  Eroica;  2.  Sterndale  Bennett, 
Two  Diversions  (op.  17),  Suite  de  pieces  (op.  24, 
no.  i)  ;  3.  Clara  Schumann,  Variations  on  theme 
from  Schumann's  'Bunte  Blatter';  4.  Brahms, 
Sarabande  and  Gavotte  in  the  style  of  Bach ;  5. 
Scarlatti,  Piece  in  A  major ;  6.  R.  Schumann's 
Carnaval  (omitting  Eusebius,  Flores  tan,  Coquette, 
Replique,  Estrella,  and  Aveu).  She  returned 
from  London  to  Bonn  just  in  time  to  receive 
her  husband's  last  breath  (July  29,  1856). 

After  this  event  she  and  her  family  resided 
for  some  years-  in  Berlin  with  her  mother,  who 
had  separated  from  Wieck  and  had  married  a 
musician  named  Bargiel ;  and  in  1863  she  settled 
at  Baden  Baden,  in  the  Lichtenthal,  which  then 
became  her  usual  head-quarters  till  1874. 

Her  reception  in  thi&  conservative  country  was 
hardly  such  as  to  encourage  her  to  repeat  her 
visit,  and  many  years  passed  before  she  returned. 
In  1865,  however,  the  appreciation  of  Schumann's 
music  had  greatly  increased  on  this  side  the 
Channel ;  and  the  anxiety  of  amateurs  to  hear  an 
artist  whose  fame  on  the  continent  was  so  great 
and  so  peculiar  became  so  loudly  expressed,  that 
Madame  Schumann  was  induced  to  make  a  second 
visit.  She  played  at  the  Philharmonic  May  29, 
Musical  Union  April  18,  25,  and  June  6,  etc.  etc. 
In  1867  she  returned  again,  and  after  this  her 


SCHUMANN. 

visit  became  an  annual  one  up  to  1882,  interrupted 
only  in  1878,  1879,  J88o,  when  health  and  other 
circumstances  did  not  permit  her  to  travel.  In 
1866  she  again  visited  Austria,  and  gave  six 
concerts  at  Vienna;  and  any  coldness  that  the 
Viennese  may  have  previously  shown  towards 
her  husband's  compositions  was  then  amply 
atoned  for. 

In  1878  she  accepted  the  post  of  principal 
teacher  of  the  pianoforte  in  the  Conservatoire 
founded  by  Dr.  Hoch  at  Frankfort,  where  she  is 
now(i882)  living  and  working  with  great  success. 

This  is  not  the  place  or  the  time  to  speak  of 
the  charm  of  Madame  Schumann's  personality, 
of  the  atmosphere  of  noble  and  earnest  simplicity 
•which  surrounds  her  in  private  life  no  less  than 
in  her  public  performance.  Those  who  have  the 
privilege  of  her  acquaintance  do  not  need  such 
description,  and  for  those  who  have  not  it  is  un 
necessary  to  make  the  attempt.  She  is  deeply 
and  widely  beloved,  and  a  few  years  ago,  when 
there  appeared  to  be  a  prospect  of  her  being 
compelled  by  ill  health  to  abandon  her  public 
appearances,  the  esteem  and  affection  of  her 
numerous  friends  took  the  practical  form  of  a 
subscription,  and  a  considerable  sum  of  money 
was  raised  in  Germany  and  England  for  her  use. 


SCHUMANN. 


423 


I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  Franklin  Taylor  for  the 
following  characterisation  of  Madame  Schumann's 
style  and  works. 

As  an  artist,  Madame  Schumann's  place  is 
indubitably  in  the  first  rank  of  living  pianists  ; 
indeed  she  may  perhaps  be  considered  to  stand 
higher  than  any  of  her  contemporaries,  if  not 
as  regards  the  possession  of  natural  or  acquired 
gifts,  yet  in  the  use  she  makes  of  them.  Her 
playing  is  characterised  by  an  entire  absence  of 
personal  display,  a  keen  perception  of  the 
composer's  meaning,  and  an  unfailing  power  of 
setting  it  forth  in  perfectly  intelligible  form. 
These  qualities  would  lead  one  to  pronounce 
her  one  of  the  most  intellectual  of  players,  were 
it  not  that  that  term  has  come  to  imply  a  certain 
coldness  or  want  of  feeling,  which  is  never  per 
ceived  in  her  playing.  But  just  such  a  use  of 
the  intellectual  powers  as  serves  the  purposes  of 
true  art,  ensuring  perfect  accuracy  in  all  respects, 
no  liberties  being  taken  with  the  text,  even  when 
playing  from  memory,  and  above  all  securing  an 
interpretation  of  the  composer's  work  which  is 
at  once  intelligible  to  the  listener — this  certainly 
forms  an  essential  element  of  her  playing,  and  it 
is  worthwhile  insisting  on  this,  since  the  absence 
of  that  strict  accuracy  and  perspicuity  is  too 
often  mistaken  for  evidence  of  deep  emotional 
intention.  With  all  this,  however,  Madame 
Schumann's  playing  evinces  great  warmth  of 
feeling,  and  a  true  poet's  appreciation  of  absolute 
beauty,  so  that  nothing  ever  sounds  harsh  or 
ugly  in  her  hands ;  indeed  it  may  fairly  be  said 
that  after  hearing  her  play  a  fine  work  (she 
never  plays  what  is  not  good),  one  always  be 
comes  aware  that  it  contains  beauties  undis 
covered  before.  This  is  no  doubt  partly  due  to 
the  peculiarly  beautiful  quality  of  the  tone  she 


produces,  which  is  rich  and  vigorous  without 
the  slightest  harshness,  and  is  obtained,  even  in 
the  loudest  passages,  by  pressure  with  the  fingers, 
rather  than  by  percussion.  Indeed,  her  playing 
is  particularly  free  from  violent  movement  of 
any  kind ;  in  passages,  the  fingers  keep  close  to 
the  keys  and  squeeze  instead  of  striking  them, 
while  chords  are  grasped  from  the  wrist  rather 
than  struck  from  the  elbow.  She  founds  her 
technique  upon  the  principle  laid  down  by  her 
father,  F.  Wieck,  who  was  also  her  instructor, 
that  'the  touch  (i.  e.  the  blow  of  the  finger  upon 
the  key)  should  never  be  audible,  but  only  the 
musical  sound,'  an  axiom  the  truth  of  which 
there  is  some  danger  of  overlooking,  in  the  en 
deavour  to  compass  the  extreme  difficulties  of 
certain  kinds  of  modern  pianoforte  music. 

Madame  Schumann's  repertoire  is  very  large, 
extending  from  Scarlatti  and  Bach  to  Mendels 
sohn,  Chopin,  and  Brahms,  and  it  would  be 
difficult  to  say  that  she  excels  in  her  rendering 
of  any  one  composer's  works  rather  than  an 
other's,  unless  it  be  in  her  interpretation  of  her 
husband's  music.  And  even  here,  it'  she  is  pro 
nounced  by  general  opinion  to  be  greatest  in  her 
playing  of  Schumann,  it  is  probably  because  it  is 
to  her  inimitable  performances  that  we  owe,  in 
this  country  at  least,  the  appreciation  and  love 
of  his  music  now  happily  become  universal,  and 
thus  the  player  shares  in  the  acknowledgement 
she  has  won  for  the  composer. 

Madame  Schumann's  compositions,  though  not 
very  numerous,  evince  that  earnestness  of  purpose 
which  distinguishes  her  work  in  general.  Even 
her  earliest  essays,  which  are  short  pianoforte- 
pieces  written  for  the  most  part  in  dance-form, 
are  redeemed  from  any  approach  to  triviality  by 
their  interesting  rhythms,  and  in  particular  by 
the  freshness  of  their  modulations,  the  latter 
being  indeed  in  some  cases  original  even  to 
abruptness.  Their  general  characteristic  is  that 
of  delicacy  rather  than  force,  their  frequent 
staccato  passages  and  the  many  skipping  grace- 
notes  which  are  constantly  met  with  requiring 
for  their  performance  a  touch  of  the  daintiest 
lightness ;  although  qualities  of  an  opposite  kind 
are  occasionally  shown,  as  in  the  '  Souvenir  de 
Vienne/  op.  9,  which  is  a  set  of  variations  in 
bravura  style  on  Haydn's  Austrian  Hymn.  Among 
her  more  serious  compositions  of  later  date  are  a 
Trio  in  G  minor  for  pianoforte,  violin  and  violon 
cello,  op.  17,  which  is  thoroughly  musicianlike 
and  interesting,  three  charming  Cadences  to 
Beethoven's  Concertos,  ops.  37  and  58,  and  a  set 
of  three  Preludes  and  Fugues,  op.  16,  which 
deserve  mention  not  only  on  account  of  their  ex 
cellent  construction,  but  as  forming  a  most  valu 
able  study  in  legato  part-playing.  There  is  also 
a  Piano  Concerto,  op.  7,  dedicated  to  Spohr,  of 
which  the  passages  (though  not  the  modulations) 
remind  one  of  Hummel ;  but  it  is  a  short  work 
and  not  well  balanced,  the  first  movement  being 
reduced  to  a  single  solo,  which  ends  on  the 
dominant,  and  leads  at  once  to  the  Amlante. 

In  the  later  works,  as  might  naturally  be  ex 
pected,  there  are  many  movements  which  bear 


424 


SCHUMANN. 


SCHUPPANZIGH. 


Op.  1.  Quatre  Polonaises. 

2.  Caprices  en  forme  de  Valse. 

3.  Romance  vari<5e. 

4.  Valses  Romantiques. 

6. 6.  Soirees  Musicales,  10  Pieces 
caract<5ristiques. 

7.  Concert  no.  1  pour  le  piano 

forte  ;  in  A  minor. 

8.  Variations  de  Concert,  in 

C,  on  the  Cavatina  in  '  11 
Pirata.' 

9.  Souvenir  de  Vienne  In  Eb, 

impromptu. 

10.  S3herzo.  D  minor. 

11.  3  Romances  (Mechetti). 

12.  SSongsl'romR  Schumann's 

op.  37  (nos.  2,  4. 11). 

13.  Sechs  Lieder. 


traces  of  the  influence  of  Schumann's  music  both 
in  harmony  and  rhythm,  but  this  influence,  which 
first  seems  perceptible  in  the  '  Soire'es  Musicales,' 
op.  5,  6,  is  afterwards  less  noticeable  in  the  piano 
forte  works  than  in  the  songs,  many  of  which  are 
of  great  beauty.  Schumann  himself  has  made 
use  of  themes  by  Madame  Schumann  in  several 
instances,  namely  in  his  Impromptus  op.  5  (on 
the  theme  of  her  Variations  op.  3,  which  are  dedi 
cated  to  him),  in  the  Andantino  of  his  Sonata 
in  F  minor  op.  14,  and  (as  a  'motto')  in  the 
'  Davidsbiindlertanze,'  op.  6. 

The  following  ia  a  list  of  Madame  Schumann's 

o 

compositions : — 

Op.  14.  Deuxieme  Scherzo,  in   C 
minor. 

15.  Quatre  pieces  fugitives. 

16.  Drei  I'raludien  und  Fugen. 

17.  Trio,  PF.  and  Strings,  G 

minor. 

18.  (?) 
29.  (?) 

20.  Variations  on  a  theme  by 

Robert  Schumann.  1 

21.  Drei  Romanzen. 

22.  (?) 

23.  6  Lieder  from  Rollet's '  Ju- 

cunde.' 

'Liebeszauber,'  lied  by  Geibel. 
Andante  and  Allegro,  PF.  solo. 
Cadences   to  Beethoven's  Con 
certos  in  C  minor  and  G.      r.~,  -, 
[iT.J 

SCHUNKE,  Louis  (or  LDDWIG  ?),  pianoforte 
player  and  composer,  born  of  a  musical  family  at 
Cassel,  Dec.  21,  1810.  His  progress  was  so  rapid 
that  at  10  he  could  play  the  Concertos  of  Mozart 
and  Hummel,  with  ease.  In  1824  he  visited 
Munich  and  Vienna,  and  then  Paris,  where  he 
put  himself  under  Kalkbrenner  and  Reicha. 
After  some  wandering  to  Stuttgart,  Vienna 
(1832),  Prague  and  Dresden,  he  came  to  Leipzig, 
where  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  Schumann, 
and  an  intimate  friendship  was  the  result. 
Schunke  was  carried  off  on  Dec.  7,  1834,  at  the 
early  age  of  not  quite  24,  to  the  great  grief  of 
Schumann,  who  indulged  his  affection  in  several 
interesting  papers  ('Ges.  Schriften,'  i.  92,  325; 
ii.  56,  277)  full  of  memorials  of  his  friend's  cha 
racteristics.  Schunke's  appearance  was  striking, 
and  he  was  a  very  remarkable  player.  He  was 
one  of  the  four  who  edited  the  'Neue  Zeit- 
schrift  fur  Musik  '  on  its  first  appearance.  His 
articles  are  signed  with  the  figure  3.  [G.] 

SCHUPPANZIGH,  IGNAZ,  celebrated  vio 
linist,  born  1776*  in  Vienna,  where  his  father 
was  a  professor  at  the  Realschule.  He  adopted 
music  as  a  profession  about  the  time  of  Bee 
thoven's  arrival  in  Vienna  (end  of  1792),  and 
that  he  early  became  known  as  a  teacher  we 
gather  from  an  entry  in  Beethoven's  diary  for 
1794  'Schuppanzigh  three  times  a  week,  Al- 
brechtsberger  three  times  a  week.'  Beethoven 
was  studying  the  viola,  which  was  at  that  time 
Schuppanzigh's  instrument,  but  he  soon  after 
abandoned  it  for  the  violin.  Before  he  was  21 
he  had  made  some  name  as  a  conductor,  and  in 
1798  and  99  directed  the  Augarten  concerts. 
The  '  Allgemeine  musikalische  Zeitung'  of  May 
1799,  after  describing  the  concerts,  remarks  that 

•1  From  '  Bunte  Blatter,'  op.  99,  no.  4 ;  also  varied  by  Brahms,  op.  9. 


f  the  zeal  shown  by  Herr  Schuppanzigh  in  inter 
preting  the  compositions  produced,  make  these 
concerts  models  worth  following  by  all  amateur 
associations  of  the  kind,  and  by  many  conductors.' 
In  Oct.  1800,  however,  the  same  writer  doubts 
'whether  Schuppanzigh  is  really  a  great  con 
ductor,'  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  concerts 
declined.  On  the  other  hand,  Seyfried  speaks  of 
him  as  a  '  thoroughly  energetic,  and  highly  gifted 
orchestral  player.'  Beethoven,  who  had  also 
appeared  at  the  Augarten  concerts,  kept  up  a 
singular  kind  of  friendship  with  Schuppanzigh. 
They  were  so  useful  to  each  other  that,  as  Thayer 
says,  they  had  a  great  mutual  liking,  if  it  did  not 
actually  amount  to  affection.  They  used  neither 
'  D  u  '  nor  '  Sie  '  in  addressing  each  other,  but  '  Er  '  — 
a  characteristic  trait  of  both  men.  Sc-huppanzigh 
was  good-looking,  though  later  in  life  he  grew  very 
fat,  and  had  to  put  up  with  many  a  joke  on  the 
subject  from  Beethoven.  'Mylord  Falstaff  '  was 
one  of  his  nicknames  (letter  to  Archduke  in 
Nohl,  Neue  Briefe,  p.  75).  The  following  piece 
of  rough  drollery,  scrawled  by  Beethoven  on  a 
blank  page  at  the  end  of  his  Sonata  op.  28,  is 
here  printed  for  the  first  time:  — 


Lob  auf  den  Dicken. 


fi-9- 


IZf- 


pzi: 


£ 


^* 


Schup  -  pan-zigh  ist    ein  Lump,     Lump,  Lump,     Wer 


kennt  ihn,  wer  kennt  ihn  nicht?  Den  dick-en    Sau- ma-gen,  den 


33 


auf-ge-blas-nen     E  -  sels-kopf,       0  Lump  Schup-pan-zigh,      0 


Chor 


1 

/i          i    j'  r       c    •   j* 

*                     i  m—  i             i 

f/\\      L.    U   ^      U    1*    1*             C 

*    '*  •    "    "•     -•    •     «-^ 

v-i'                                 b 

iJ                                                              1       C         *                  K          I* 
E  --sel     Schuppanzigh,  Wir  stim-men  alle     ein,  Dubistder 

•£        --^-   -*••••_•_- 

»A«  fl                                           p 

*           *        *          »J 

"•  *-                                 C- 

-   •      •    r~    i--       !.•  ^ 

^'                                                   C3  II 

i  j                 ^       ^i 

id             '        ' 

Chor   J 

•    P  (*    •     f 

i                                 i 

i  —  S  —  5  —  ='  —  ^  — 

grosste     E  -    -  -  sel  !                    0 
i*~\  Si,            O  Lumpl 

•*---*-•-       §  -fi-  § 

wtf         ^                                            ^ 

E  -  sel  1                    Hi 

i            i 

Hr       S       •_—  -J 

—  ^  —  ='  —  —  '9~~\f~^E^\ 

•1 

Efe  —  fcfe  —  

-  hi     -     ha! 

Schuppanzigh  was  a  great  quartet-player,  and 
belonged  to  the  party  which  met  every  Friday 

SCHUPPANZIGH. 


SCHWARZSPANIERHAUS. 


425 


during  1794  and  95  at  Prince  Carl  Lichnowsky's, 
where  he  took  the  first  violin,  the  Prince  himself, 
or  a  Silesian  named  Sina,  the  second,  Weiss  the 
viola,  and  Kraft,  an  artist  from  the  crown  of  his 
head  to  the  sole  of  his  foot,  the  cello- — occasionally 
changing  with  Beethoven's  friend,  Zmeskall.  To 
wards  the  close  of  1808  Schuppanzigh  founded 
the  Rasouinoffsky  quartet,  to  which  he,  Mayseder 
and  Linke,  remained  attached  for  life.  Weiss 
again  took  the  viola.  Beethoven's  quartets  were 
the  staple  of  their  performances.  In  the  mean 
time  Schuppanzigh  had  married  a  Fraulein  Ki- 
litzky,  the  sister  of  a  well-known  singer,  who 
sang,  with  little  success  it  is  true,  '  Ah  perfido  ! ' 
at  a  concert  of  Beethoven's  in  1808,  instead  of 
Anna  Milder.  On  this  occasion  the  great  joker 
writes  to  Graf  Brunswick,  'Schuppanzigh  is  mar 
ried — they  say  his  wife  is  as  fat  as  himself — 
what  a  family??'  (Nohl,  Neue  Briefe,  p.  u.) 
When  the  Rasoumoffsky  palace  was  burnt  down 
in  1815  Schuppanzigh  started  on  a  tour  through 
Germany,  Poland,  and  Russia,  and  did  not 
return  till  early  in  1824,  when  the  quartets 
were  resumed  with  the  same  band  of  friends  (see 
Beethoven's  letters  to  his  nephew,  1825).  One 
of  the  first  events  after  his  return  was  the  per 
formance  of  Schubert's  Octet,  which  is  marked 
as  finished  on  March  I,  and  was  doubtless  played 
very  shortly  after.  [See  vol.  iii.  p.  3.39  6.]  The 
acquaintance  thus  begun  was  cemented  by  Schu 
bert's  dedication  of  his  lovely  Quartet  in  A  '  to 
his  friend  I.  Schuppanzigh,'  a  year  later.  Schup 
panzigh  was  a  member  of  the  court-chapel,  and 
for  some  time  director  of  the  court-opera.  He 
died  of  paralysis,  March  2,  1830.  Of  his  com 
positions  the  following  were  printed : — '  Solo  pour 
le  violon  avec  quatuor'  (Diabelli),  'Variationen 
iiber  ein  russisches  Lied '  (Cappi) ,  and '  Variationen 
iiber  ein  Theina  aus  Alcina'  (Mollo),  [F.G.] 

SCHtiTT,  EDUARD,  born  Oct.  22,  1856,  at 
St.  Petersburg,  was  intended  for  a  mercantile 
career,  but  relinquished  it  for  music,  which  he 
learned  from  Petersen  and  Stein  sufficiently  to 
pass  the  examination  at  the  St.  Petersburg  Con 
servatoire,  with  honour,  in  1876.  He  then 
entered  the  Conservatoire  at  Leipzig,  passed  the 
final  examination  there  in  1878,  and  went  to 
Vienna,  where  he  was  recently  elected  conductor 
of  the  Akademische  Wagner- Verein,  and  where 
he  resides  in  close  intimacy  with  Leschetitsky. 
In  January  1882  he  played  his  Concerto  (op.  7) 
in  G-  minor,  before  the  Russian  Musical  Society 
at  St.  Petersburg.  It  was  performed  at  the 
Crystal  Palace,  Sydenham,  April  15,  1882,  by 
Mad.  Frickenhaus.  His  published  works  contain. 
— Serenade  for  strings,  op.  6;  Variations  for  2 
Pianos,  op.  9 ;  Songs  ;  etc.  [G.] 

SCHWARZSPANIERHAUS,  THE.  or  House 
of  the  Black  Spaniard*,  into  which  Beethoven 
removed  at  the  beginning  of  October  1825,  and 
where  he  died  March  26,  1827.  The  political 
and  ecclesiastical  relations  between  the  two 
bigoted  catholic  countries  Austria  and  Spain, 
in  the  i6th  and  i7th  centuries,  were  very 
close  and  intimate.  The  Infanta,  Marianne, 
daughter  of  Philip  III  of  Spain,  on  her  departure 


(1629)  for  Vienna,  to  become  the  wife  of  Fer 
dinand,  took  with  her  Prior  Benedict  von  Pen- 
nalosa  Mondragon,  to  establish  a  branch  house 
of  the  once  famous  Benedictines  of  Montserrat 
in  her  new  abode.  Notwithstanding  the  very 
serious  and  earnest  objections  of  the  military 
authorities,  she  prevailed  upon  the  Emperor  to 
build  a  monastery  on  the  outer  border  of  the 
northern  glacis,  and  the  corner-stone  was  laid 
with  .great  ceremony  November  15,  1633.  Fifty 
years  afterwards  (1683),  on  the  approach  of  the 
Turks,  thebuildings  wereburnt,  asa  step  necessary 
to  the  defence  of  the  city.  After  the  repulse  of  the 
Turks  and  the  restoration  of  peace,  Anton  Vogel, 
a  Viennese  novice  of  the  order,  travelled  through 
Italy,  Spain  and  Portugal,  and  collected  funds 
sufficient  to  rebuild  the  monastery  of  which  he 
was,  not  unnaturally,  then  made  Prior.  This  is 
the  present  Schwarzspanierhaus.  On  the  accession 
of  Joseph  II.  to  the  throne  of  his  mother,  Maria 
Theresa,  the  few  remaining  monks  were  sent 
into  the  Schottenhof  or  '  Scotch'  Cloister,  and  the 
building  was  sold.  The  name  originated  thus : — 
A  few  minutes'  walk  west  of  the  edifice  was 
another  monastery,  also  originally  Spanish,  of 
'Trinitarians.'  Their  costume  was  white;  that 
of  their  neighbours  black.  Hence  the  two  be 
came  distinguished  in  local  parlance  as  the 
'  White  Spaniards  '  and  '  Black  Spaniards  ' 
(Weisse  Spanier,  and  Schwarze  Spanier),  and 
that  too,  long  after  the  last  monk  of  Spanish 
blood  had  passed  away. 

South :  looking  toward*  Vienna. 


1 

1            • 

1 

c 

T                       1 

b 

J 

3ri    1 

L-     ,-T.      J 

Court. 

a.  Stair  arid  Entrance.  d.  Stove. 

6.  Ante-rooms.  e.  Bed. 

c.  Beethoven's  bedroom  /.  Kitchen. 
(23  ft.  6  in.  x  21  ft.  6  in.). 

The  Schwarzspanierhaus  is  that  long  range  of 
building,  with  an  old  church  at  its  western  end, 
which  stands  in  the  rear  of  the  new  Votive  Church 
at  Vienna.  Counting  from  the  old  church,  the 
fifth  to  the  ninth  windows  in  the  upper  story 
were  those  of  Beethoven's  lodging,  of  which  the 
above  is  a  plan.  The  sixth  and  seventh  windows 
were  in  the  large  front  room,  (c),  and,  in  the  corner 
opposite  the  sixth  stood  the  bed  on  which  he 
died.  By  raising  himself  in  bed,  he  could  see 
across  the  glacis  the  house — now  long  since 
demolished — in  which  Lichnowsky  and  Peter 
Erdb'dy  lived  ;  and  a  few  doors  to  the  west, 
that  of  Pasqualatti,  where  he  himself  had  so 
long  had  a  lodging. 

From  the  window,  again,  looking  to  the  right, 
diagonally  across  the  square,  could  be  seen  the 
'Rothe  Haus,'  the  residence  of  Breuning. 


426         SCHWARZSPANIERHAUS. 

The  street  which  runs  directly  back  from  the 
centre  of  the  Schwarzspanierhaus  now  benrs  the 
composer's  name.  [A.W.T.] 

SCIOLTO,  CON  SCIOLTEZZA,  'freely';  an 
expression  used  in  nearly  the  same  sense  as  ad 
libitum,  but  generally  applied  to  longer  passages, 
or  even  to  whole  movements.  It  is  also  applied  to 
a  fugue  in  a  free-  style.  Thus  what  Beethoven,  in 
the  last  movement  of  the  Sonata  in  Bb,  op.  106, 
calls  '  Fuga,  con  alcune  licenze,' might  otherwise 
be  called  '  Fuga  sciolta.'  [J.A.F.M  ] 

SCORDATURA  (mis-tuning).  A  term  used  to 
designate  some  abnormal  timings  of  the  violin 
which  are  occasionally  employed  to  produce  par 
ticular  effects.  The  scordatura  originated  in  the 
lute  and  viol,  which  were  tuned  in  various  ways 
to  suit  the  key  of  the  music.  Their  six  strings 
being  commonly  tuned  by  fourths,  with  one  third 
in  the  middle,  the  third  was  shifted  as  occasion 
required,  and  an  additional  third  or  a  fifth  was 
introduced  elsewhere,  so  as  to  yield  on  the  open 
strings  as  many  harmonies  as  possible  :  in  old 
lute  music  the  proper  tuning  is  indicated  at  the 
beginning  of  the  piece.  This  practice  survives 
in  the  guitar.  The  normal  tuning  being  as  at 
(a),  very  striking  effects  in  the  key  of  E  major, 
for  instance,  may  be  produced  by  tuning  the 
instrument  as  at  (6).  The  scordatura  was  formerly 

(«),      (*>),  (•'),     (<*).     (••)     (/),      (/;) 


often  employed  on  the  violin,  (i)  The  tuning  (c) 
is  extremely  favourable  to  simplicity  of  fingering 
in  the  key  of  A.  It  is  employed  by  Tartini  in 
one  of  his  solos,  and  by  Castrucci  in  a  well-known 
fugue  :  its  effect  is  noisy  and  monotonous.  It  is 
frequently  employed  by  Scotch  reel-players,  and 
in  their  hands  has  a  singularly  rousing  effect. 
The  following  strain  from  *  Kilrack's  Reel '  is  a 
specimen : 


The  reel  called  'Appin  House'  and  the  lively 
Strathspey  called  'Anthony  Murray's  Reel'  are 
played  in  the  same  tuning.  (2)  The  tuning 
(d)  employed  by  Biber,  is  a  modification  of  (a), 
a  fourth  being  substituted  for  a  fifth  on  the  first 
string:  and  (3)  the  tuning  (e)  also  employed  by 
Biber,  is  a  similar  modification  of  the  normal 
tuning  by  fifths.  In  these  tunings  the  viol  fin 
gering  must  be  used  on  the  first  strings.  (4) 
The  tuning  (/)  employed  by  Nardini  in  his 
Enigmatic  Sonata,  is  the  reverse  of  the  last, 
being  a  combination  of  the  common  tuning  for 
the  first  two  strings  with  the  viol  tuning  in  the 
lower  ones.  (5)  The  tuning  (g)  is  employed  by 
Barbella  in  his  '  Serenade '  and  by  Campagnoli 
in  his  'Notturno/  to  imitate  the  Viola  d'amore, 


SCORE. 

from  the  four  middle  strings  of  which  it  is  copied. 
Thick  first  and  second  strings  should  be  used, 
and  the  mute  put  on.  The  effect  is  singularly 
pleasing  :  but  the  G  and  A  on  th&  second  string 
are  flat  and  dull.  (6)  The  tuning  (A)  employed 
by  Lolli,  is  the  normal  tuning  except  the  fourth 
string,  which  is  tuned  an  octave  below  the  third. 
If  a  very  stout  fourth  string  is  used,  a  good  basa 
accompaniment  is  thus  obtainable. 

Such  are  a  few  of  the  abnormal  timings  em 
ployed  by  the  old  violinists.  The  scordatura  is 
seldom  used  by  modern  players  except  on  the 
fourth  string,  which  is  often  tuned  a  tone  higher, 
as  at  (i}.  (De  Beriot,  Mazas,  Prume,  etc.) 
Tliis  device  may  always  be  employed  where  the 
composition  does  not  descend  below  A  ;  the  tone 
is  much  increased,  and  in  some  keys,  especially  D 
and  A,  execution  is  greatly  facilitated.  Paganini 
tuned  his  fourth  string  higher  still,  as  at  (j) 
and  (&),  with  surprising  effect :  the  Bb  tuning 

CO,      O.      (J)]      (*) 


was  a  favourite  one  with  De  Beriot.  Paganini's 
tuning  in  fiats  (I)  cannot  be  called  scordatura,  as 
it  consists  in  elevating  the  violin  generally  by 
half  a  tone,  for  the  sake  of  brilliancy.  The  same 
device  was  employed  by  Spohr  in  his  duets  for 
harp  and  violin,  the  harp  part  being  written  in 
flats  a  semitone  higher.  The  fourth  string  is 
rarely  lowered  :  but  Baillot  sometimes  timed  it 
a  semitone  lower,  as' at  (m),  to  facilitate  arpeggios 
in  the  sharp  keys. 

The  scordatura  (ri)  is  employed  by  Bach  in 
his  fifth  sonata  for  the  violoncello.  It  corre 
sponds  to  the  violin  tuning  (d).  This  de 
pression  of  the  first  string,  if  a  thick  string  be 
used,  is  not  unfavourable  to  sonority.  When  the 
scordatura  is  used,  suitable  strings  should  be 
obtained.  Thicker  ones  are  necessary  where  the 
pitch  is  depressed,  and  thinner  ones  where  it  is 
elevated  :  and  the  player  will  find  it  best  to  keep 
a  special  instrument  for  any  tuning  which  he 
frequently  employs.  [E.J.P.] 

SCORE  (Lat.  Partitio,  Partitura,  Partitura 
cancellata ;  Ital.  Partitura,  Partizione,  Parlitino, 
Sparta,  Spartita ;  Fr.  Partition ;  Germ.  Partitur). 
A  series  of  Staves,  on  which  the  Vocal  or  Instru 
mental  Parts  of  a  piece  of  concerted  Music  are 
written,  one  above  another,  in  such  order  as  may 
best  enable  the  whole  to  be  read  at  a  glance. 

The  English  word,  Score,  is  derived  from  the 
practice  of  dividing  the  Music  into  bars,  bylines, 
drawn — or  scored — through  the  entire  series  of 
Staves,  from  top  to  bottom.  The  custom  of 
writing  each  Part  on  a  separate  Stave  sufficiently 
accounts  for  the  derivation  of  the  Latin  Partitio, 
which  forms  the  root  of  the  modern  Italian,  Ger 
man,  and  French  terms — all  equally  applicable 
to  a  barred,  or  unbarred  Score.  But  the  term 
Partitura  cancellata,  applied  to  a  barred  Score 
only,  owes  its  origin  to  the  appearance  of  lattice- 


SCORE. 

work  produced  by  the  compartments,  or  Cancellif 
into  which  the  page  is  divided  by  its  vertical 
scorings.  In  printed  Music,  each  Stave  is  usually 
distinguished  by  its  proper  Clef  and  Signature, 
at  the  beginning  of  every  page.  In  MS.  Scores, 
these  are  frequently  placed  at  the  beginning 
of  the  first  page  only.  In  both,  the  Staves  are 
united,  at  the  beginning  of  every  page,  either  by 
a  Brace,  or  by  a  thick  line,  drawn,  like  a  bar, 
across  the  whole,  and  called  the  Accolade.  The 
continuity  of  this  line,  an  1  of  the  bars  themselves, 
is  of  great  importance,  as  an  aid  to  the  eye,  in 
tracing  the  contents  of  the  page,  from  the  lowest 
Stave  to  the  highest :  but  the  lines  are  fre 
quently  broken  in  Scores  otherwise  beautifully 
engraved. 

Of  the  numerous  forms  of  Score  now  in  common 
use,  two  only  can  boast  of  any  great  antiquity. 
The  most  important  varieties  are,  (I.)  the  Vocal 
Score ;  (II.)  the  Orchestral,  or  Full  Score ; 
(III.)  the  Supplementary  Score,  or  Partitino; 
(IV.)  the  Organ,  Harpsichord,  or  Pianoforte 
Score;  (V.)  the  Compressed  Score;  and  (VI.)  the 
Short  Score. 

I.  The  VOCAL  SCOKE  is  not  only  the  oldest 
form,  by  far,  with  which  we  are  acquainted;  but 
is  really  very  much  older  than  most  historians 
have  supposed.  It  has  long  been  believed  that 
Mediaeval  Composers  wrote — or,  at  least,  tran 
scribed — their  Music  in  separate  Part-Books,  for 
some  centuries  before  they  thought  of  writing 
the  Parts  one  above  another.  In  a  general  sense, 
this  proposition  is  true  enough  :  but,  it  is  subject 
to  some  very  significant  exceptions.  If  we  admit, 
as  we  must,  that  a  complete*  set  of  Parts,  so 
arranged  that  the  whole  can  be  read  at  one  view, 
is  entitled  to  rank  as  a  Score,  even  though  it  may 
not  be  written  in  any  living  system  of  Notation, 
then,  we  cannot  deny  to  Hucbaldus  the  merit  of 
having  taught  the  Art  of  writing  in  Score,  as  early 
as  the  first  half  of  the  loth  century.  In  a  MS. 
Tract,  now  generally  attributed  to  Hucbaldus, 
though  referred  by  some  historians  of  credit  to 
his  friend  and  contemporary,  Odo,  we  find  the 
following  specimen  of  Discant,  for  four  Voices, 
which,  rough  as  it  is,  shows  that  Composers 
understood  even  at  that  early  period  the  value 
of  a  system  which  enabled  them  to  present  their 
Harmonies  to  the  reader,  at  a  single  coup  cTceil.1 


Solution. 

SCORE. 

Iu  Modern  Notation. 

427 

PlXSI 

j^2 

i 

^"j          ^^1 

—  -i                f*  —^                  jn»- 

i 

^       O       r-^r 

-    ^?                r--' 

i 

•G>-    ^4 

-<S* 

"^                i"^       <*-  , 

n  rf*       -~^  •      ^-""^ 

-H 

Jr*         ^—  •' 

*—  -^      f-^> 

|| 

•^ 

if 

Tu      pa  -  tris  sempiturnus  es       fl  -   Ii  -  us. 

es 


'\ 

tris  sempiternus  /      \ 

T 

pa/                                        ti\ 

S 

/                                      es 

l'\ 

T 

Tu            tris  seinpiternus/      \ 

us 

T 

pa/                                       fi\ 

T 

/ 

li\ 

S 

Tu                                          es 

us 

T 

tvis  sempiternus/      \ 

T 

Pa/                                        fi\ 

!S 

/                                      es 

li\ 

T 

Tu            tris  sempiternus/      \ 

us 

T              pa  /                                      ri  \ 

T 

/ 

ii\ 

S 

Tu 

us 

1  For  an  explanation  of  Hucbald's  system  of  Notation,  see  vol.  ii, 
p.  469. 


The  Harmony  of  this  Versicle  is  as  primitive 
as  the  system  of  hieroglyphics  in  which  it  is 
written.  Very  different  is  that  of  our  next  ex 
ample  —  the  earliest  known  specimen  of  a  regular 
Composition,  presented,  in  Score,  in  the  ordinary 
Longs,  Breves,  and  Semibreve?,  still  used  in  the 
Notation  of  Plain  Chaunt.2  We  had  occasion, 
in  a  former  article,  to  describe  the  famous 
'Reading  MS>,'  in  the  British  Museum,8  con 
taining  the  now  well-known  Rota,  '  Sumer  is 
icumen  in.'  This  volume  also  contains  a  Motet, 
'Ave  gloriosa  Mater,'  scored  for  three  Voices 
in  black  square  and  lozenge-shaped  notes,  on  a 
single  Stave  consisting  of  from  13  to  15  lines, 
and  supplemented  by  a  Quadruplum,  or  fourth 
Part,  written,  on  a  separate  Stave,  at  the  end  —  • 
probably  by  some  later  Contrapuntist,  in  search 
of  an  opportunity  for  the  exhibition  of  his  skill. 
The  Quadruplum,  however,  has  no  concern  with 
our  present  purpose,  which  is  to  show,  that,  as 
early  as  the  year  1226,  or  quite  certainly  not 
more  than  ten  years  subsequent  to  that  date,  a 
Vocal  Composition  was  scored,  in  this  country  > 
by  an  English  Ecclesiastic  —  in  all  probability 
John  of  Fornsete  *  —  in  notes  exactly  like  those 
now  in  daily  use  in  hundreds  of  English  Churches, 
and  therefore  perfectly  intelligible  to  a  modern 
Musician.  See  Fac-simile  I,  next  page. 

The  Library  of  the  British  Museum  contains 
also  another  record,  of  very  little  later  date,  and 
replete  with  interest  to  English  Musicians,  as 
showing  that  the  Art  of  Scoring  was  not  only 
known  in  this  country  before  the  middle  of  the 
1  3th  century,  but  was  more  generally  recognised 
than  we  should  have  been  justified  in  inferring 
from,  the  evidence  afforded  by  a  single  example 
only.  A  volume,  formerly  in  the  Library  of  the 
Royal  Society,  but  now  forming  No.  248  of  the 
Arundel  MSS.,  and  believed  to  be  at  least  as 
old  as  the  middle  of  the  1  3th  century,  contains, 
on  folia  iS3a,  154^,  I55«,  201  a,  Compositions 
regularly  scored  for  two  Voices,  on  Staves  of 
eight  and  nine  lines.  In  the  last  of  these  —  now, 
unfortunately,  nearly  illegible  —  two  Staves,  each 
consisting  of  four  black  lines,  are  separated  by  a 
red  line.  In  the  other  cases,  the  Stave  consists 
of  eight  uniform  and  equidistant  black  lines. 
The  upper  part  of  the  second  woodcut  is  a  fac 
simile  of  the  Hymn,  '  Quen  of  euene  for  ye  blisse,' 
transcribed  on  fol.  15501.  See  next  page. 
On  the  same  page  of  the  MS.  —  fol. 


2  The  Grosfa  of  French  Musicians,  and  the  'Gregorian  Note'  of 
our  own. 

3  Harl.  MSS..  no.  978.  see  pp.  268-270. 

4  It  will  be  understood  that  we  speak  of  John  of  Fornsete  as  the 
transcriber  rather  than  the  Composer  of  the  Music,  concerning  the 
authorship  of  which  we  have  no  certain  evidence.    Another  three- 
voice  setting  of  the  same  words,  contained  in  the  Montpellier  MS.,  is 
attributed  by  Coussemaker  to  Franco  of  Cologne:  but  this  differs 
so  much  iroro  our  English  version,  that  it  Is  impossible  to  refer  the 
two  transcriptions  to  a  common  original. 


428 


SCORE. 


and  immediately  below  the  'Quen  of  euene,'  is 
another  Hymn— 'Salue  uirgo  uirginu' — scored 
for  three  Voices,  on  a  Stave  consisting  of  twelve 
equidistant  black  lines;  and  immediately  below 
this  ig  a  French  version  of  the  words — 'Reine 


SCORE. 

pleine  de  ducur' — adapted  to  the  same  Three- 
part  Composition,  but  with  the  addition  of  two 
more  lines  of  Poetry  in  each  of  the  three  verses. 
The  lower  part  of  the  second  woodcut  represents 
the  Latin  version  of  the  Hymn. 


FAC-SIMILE  1. 


faltuto^f  fludbccwfa  iv#o  flof i 


FAC-SIMILE  II  and  III. 


T^^r^^^T^FT  y  o  ^-K-^dySfe^i 


" 


.    AUC  per  qth  tvq  t  utatmur  -aCtttocr  -"-<3LUJgS6cici  •peaif  qg  Dflrttts 


The  evidence  afforded  by  this  venerable  docu 
ment — which,  in  allusion  to  the  copy  it  contains 
of  the  '  Angelus  ad  virginem'1  mentioned  in 
'  The  Milleres  Tale,'  we  shall  henceforth  designate 
as  the  Chaucer  MS. — is  invaluable.  It  does  not 
indeed  prove,  as  the  Reading  MS.  must  be  as 
sumed  to  do  until  some  earlier  authority  shall  be 
discovered,  that  the  Art  of  Scoring  was  first 
practised  in  England;  but  it  does  prove  that 
the  Monastery  at  Reading  was  not  the  only 
Religious  House  in  this  country  in  which  the 
use  of  the  Vocal  Score  was  known  as  early  as 
the  middle  of  the  i.^th  century.  Each  record  is 
interesting  enough  in  itself;  but  the  united 


authority  of  the  two  MSS.  entitles  us  to  assert 
that  Vocal  Scores  were  well  known  in  England, 
before  we  meet  with  the  earliest  trace  of  them 
elsewhere. 

The  Royal  Library  at  Paris  contains  a  Score, 
transcribed  by  Hieronymus  de  Moravia  about 
the  middle  of  the  J3th  century,  on  a  system 
closely  resembling  that  adopted  by  the  tran 
scribers  of  the  Reading  and  Chaucer  MSS.— that 
is  to  say,  in  black  square  notes,  written  on  a 
Stave  of  sufficient  extent  to  embrace  the  united 
compass  of  all  the  Voices  employed — which  may 
be  accepted  as  very  nearly  coa?val  with  the 
'Salve  virgo'  we  have  just  quoted.2 


Examples  like  these  are,  however,  of  very  rare 
occurrence.  Dr.  Proske collected  documents  enough 

i  See  an  Interesting  article  on  this  subject,  by  Mr.  William  Chap- 
pell,  in  the  '  Musical  Times'  lor  February,  1882. 


to  lead  to  the  belief  that  the  Composers  of  the 
1 6th  century  noted  down  their  Music  in  Score, 

2  Ambros  speaks  of  this  as  one  of  the  oldest  Scores  in  existence. 
But  it  is  not  so  old  as  the  '  Ave  gloriosa  Mater '  in  the  Beading  MS. 


SCORE. 

in  the  first  instance  :  but  it  was  always  tran 
scribed,  for  use,  in  separate  Part-Books  ;  and  it 
was  not  until  the  I7th  century  was  well  advanced, 
that  Vocal  Scores  became  common,  either  in  MS., 
or  in  print.  When  they  did  so,  they  were  ar 
ranged  very  nearly  as  they  are  now,  though 
with  a  different  disposition  of  the  Clefs,  which 
were  so  combined  as  to  indicate,  within  certain 
limits,  the  Mode  in  which  the  Composition  was 
written  ;  the  presence  or  absence  of  a  Bb,  at  the 
Signature,  serving  to  distinguish  the  Chiavi 
natwali,  or  Modes  at  their  natural  pitch,  from 
the  Chiavette  (or  Chiavi  trasportate),  transposed 
a  Fifth  higher,  or  a  Fourth  lower.1 


Cantus 


NATURAL  MODES. 
Cant us 


A  Itus 


Altus 


Tenor 


Bassus 


AH  us 


{—or— 4 


Tenr.r  I 


•-or— I 


Tenor  II 


f— or— w 


Bassus 


i-or-Ht- 


TRANSPOSED  MODES. 

Cantus  Altus 


Cantu* 


In  the  1 8th  century,  the  number  of  Clefs  was 
more  restricted ;  but,  the  C  Clef  was  always  re 
tained  for  the  Soprano,  Alto,  and  Tenor  Voices, 
except  in  the  case  of  Songs  intended  for  popular 
use. 

At  the  present  day,  the  Soprano  Clef  is  seldom 
used,  except  in  Full  Scores  of  Vocal  Music  with 
Orchestral  Accompaniments ;  though  most  Italian 
Singers  are  acquainted  with  it.  In  Scores  for 
Voices  alone,  the  Soprano,  Alto,  and  Tenor 
Parts,  are  usually  written  in  the  G  Clef,  on  the 
Second  Line,  with  the  understanding  that  the 
Tenor  Part  is  to  be  sung  an  Octave  lower  than 
it  is  written.  Sometimes,  but  less  frequently, 
the  same  condition  is  attached  to  the  Alto  Part. 
Sometimes  the  Alto  and  Tenor  Parts  are  written 
in  their  proper  Clefs,  and  the  Soprano  in  the 
G  Clef ;  or  the  Soprano  and  Alto  may  both  be 
written  in  the  G  Clef,  and  the  Tenor  in  its 

i  See  vol.  il.  p.  474. 


SCORE. 


429 


proper  Clef.     All  these  methods  are  in  constant 
use,  both  in  England  and  on  the  Continent. 


Soprano         Soprano          Soprano 


Soprano 


Alto 


Tenor 


Bass 


Alto 


/ 


w= 


Tenor 


Bass 


p= 


Alto 


Tenor,  an  $ve 

lower 


Bass 


Alto,  an  8ve. 
lower 


Tenor y  an  8ve 

lower 


Bass 


The  doubled  G-  Clef,  in  the  third  and  fourth 
of  the  above  examples,  is  used  by  the  Bach 
Choir,  to  indicate  that  the  part  is  to  be  sung  in 
the  Octave  below. 

II.  The  earliest  examples  of  the  ORCHESTRAL 
SCORE  known  to  be  still  in  existence  are  those  of 
Baltazar  de  Beaujoyeaulx's  'Ballet  comique  de 
la  Royne'2  (Paris,  1582) ;  Peri's  '  Euridice*  (Flor 
ence,  1600;  Venice,  i6o8);3  EmiliodelCavaliere's 
1  Rappresentazione  dell'  Anima  e  del  Corpo'4 
(Rome,  1 600);  and  MonteverdeVOrfeo'5  (Venice, 
1 609,  1613).  A  considerable  portion  of  the  Ballet 
is  written,  for  Viols  and  other  Instruments,  in 
five  Parts,  and  in  the  Treble,  Soprano,  Mezzo- 
Soprano,  Alto,  Tenor,  and  Bass  Clefs.  In  Cava- 
liere's  Oratorio,  and  Peri's  Opera,  the  Voices  are 
accompanied,  for  the  most  part,  by  a  simple 
Thorough-bass,  rarely  relieved  even  by  an  In 
strumental  Ritornello.  Monteverde's  '  Orfeo'  is 
more  comprehensive ;  and  presents  us,  in  the 
Overture,  with  the  first  known  example  of  an 
obbligato  Trumpet  Part. 

Clarino 


2E 

Z3_5.53LE_u_E_8            "  L«    +  \             L.  ,»   ' 

22 

li\ 

32        '.  »  *  +                **<*+•          *  L,    Y" 

V 

J 

etc. 
Quintus 

•      • 

i 

/A    H  [«•  .                                 x^3 

\  J                1^             1^              ~"^ 

[ 

(H 

etc. 
Alto  e  basso 

'                           S    Si    rX    S                   ^   S    ^i  1^ 

fS  N  K  S 

/  *  ^  rm  M                         Si  i^  fS  i*l               —  1%  S    T  rS 

R  R  S1  R' 

^  J                                                 •     J     dh     •        1               •!     •     •*  i     *        1 

•  •  •  •   i 

u 

VVVV        1              VVVV 

,  .  N                                                                       etc. 
V  ulgano  (stc) 

1 

(* 

\j 

(TS                     £3                                                         I    £2 

u 

etc. 
•  Basso 

p" 

L 

7  4 

f.1-^  -      -    ._ 

As  the  taste  for  Instrumental  Music  became 
more  widely  diffused,  the  utility  of  the  Orchestral 
Score  grew  daily  more  apparent ;  and,  by  degree?, 
Composers  learned  to  arrange  its  Staves  upon  a 
regular  principle.  The  disposition  of  the  Stringed 
Band,  at  the  beginning  of  the  1 8th  century,  was 


2  See  vol.  ii.  p.  56T6. 
<  Ib.  pp.  534-536. 


3  Ib.  p.  499  a  and  6. 
6  Ib.  pp.  600-501. 


430 


SCORE. 


exactly  the  same  as  that  now  in  use.  The  two 
upper  Staves  were  occupied  by  the  Violin  Parts  ; 
the  third  Stave  by  the  Viola ;  and  the  lowest,  by 
the  Bass,  figured  for  the  Organ,  or  Harpsichord. 
With  regard  to  the  other  Staves,  less  uniformity 
was  observed.  Seb.  Bach  wrote  Heal  Parts  for 
so  many  Solo  Instruments  (now  often  obsolete"), 
that  the  reduction  of  his  Scores  to  a  fixed  type 
was  impossible.  Handel,  on  the  contrary,  re 
stricted  himself,  as  a  general  rule,  to  the  Instru 
ments  which  formed  the  nucleus  of  the  combina 
tion  afterwards  known  as  the  Classical  Orchestra. 
It  was  not  often  that  he  employed  all  these 
together,  even  in  his  grandest  Choruses;  but, 
with  the  exception  of  the  Clarinets,  unknown  in 
his  day,  he  used  them  all,  at  different  times.  In 
the  disposition  of  his  Scores,  he  adopted  two 
distinct  methods  :  either  placing  the  Brass  In 
struments  at  the  top  of  the  page ;  below  these, 
the  Oboes  and  Bassoons :  then  the  Violins  and 


SCORE. 

Violas  ;  and  below  these,  again,  the  Vocal  Parts 
and  the  Instrumental  Bass,  figured  for  the  Organ : 
or  he  headed  the  page  with  the  Violins  and  Violas, 
and  placed  the  Brass  Instruments,  the  Wood 
Wind,  the  Vocal  Parts,  and  the  Bass,  in  order 
below  them.  Most  of  his  Oratorios  were  arranged 
upon  the  former  plan ;  and  most  of  his  Italian 
Operas,  upon  the  latter.  But,  there  are  excep 
tions.  In  some  parts  of  *  Israel  in  ^Egypt,'  the 
highest  place  is  assigned  to  the  Violins  ;  and,  in 
some  parts  of  '  Ariadne  '  and  '  Arminius,'  to  the 
Wind  Instruments.  In  a  few  cases,  separate 
Staves  are  allotted  to  the  Stringed  Bass,  and  the 
Organ.  Sometimes,  the  direction,  '  Tutti  Bassi,' 
indicates  that  the  same  Stave  serves  for  the 
Stringed  Bass  and  the  Bassoons.  The  Violon 
cello  and  Double  Bass  rarely  occupy  separate 
Staves,  unless  the  former  plays  an  obUigato  Part. 
The  following  schemes  will  serve  as  examples  of 
the  general  arrangement. 


J.  S.  BACH. 

Mass  in  B  Minor, 

Passion  ace.  to  S.  Matthew, 

Mass  in  D, 

Mass  in  F, 

Cliristmas  Oratorio, 

'Gloria.' 

Introduction. 

''Quoniam.' 

Kyrie. 

Pastorale. 

Tromba  Ima 

CORO  Imo       CORO  2ndo 

•Corno  dl  caccia 

Flauti  1,  2 

Flauti  1,  2 

Troml>a2nda 

Fl.l,  2               Fl.1,3 

Fagotto  Imo. 

Oboi  d'amorel,  2 

Oboi  d'amore  1,  2 

Tromba  Sza 

Ob.  1,2              Ob.  1,2 

Fagotto  2ndo. 

Fagotto 

Oboi  da  caccia  1,  2 

Tym 

Viol.l                Viol.  1 

BASSO  SOLO 

Violino  Imo 

Violino  Imo 

Flauti  1,  2 

Viol.  2               Viul  .•>. 

Continue 

Violino  2ndo 

Violino  2ndo 

Oboll,2 

Viola                Viola 

Viola 

Viola 

Fagotti!,  2 

S.  A                   S.  •, 

SOPRANO  I.  N 

^Oi'g.  e  continue 

Violinolmo. 

A.)                     A.) 

SOPEANO  II.  / 

Violino  2iido. 

T.  f                   T.  f 

ALTO            S 

Viola 

B.  )                    B.  ) 

TENORE        ( 

SOPRANO  I.  "\ 

Org.  e  Basso     Org.  e  Basso 

BASSO           ) 

SOPRANO  II.  / 

Continue 

ALTO            > 

TENORE        \ 

BASSO          / 

Continue 

G.  F.  HANDEL. 

•  Hallelujah,' 
Messiah. 

'How  excellent,' 
Saul. 

'Wise  men 
flattering,' 
Judas  Much. 

.  Occasional 
Overture. 

Overture, 
Otho. 

'Lascia  amor  ' 
Orlando. 

Second 
Hautboy 
Concerto. 

First 
Organ 
Concerto. 

Tromba  1 

Trombone  1 

Corno  Imo 

Tromba  Ima 

Violino  Imo 

Violino  Imo 

Violino  Imo 

Oboe  Imo 

Tromba  2 

Trombone  2 

Corno  2ndo 

Tromba  2nda 

Violino  2ndo 

Violiuo  2ndo 

(concertino) 

Oboe2ndo 

Tympani 

Trombone  3 

Flauto  Imo 

Principale 

Violino  3zo 

Viola 

Violino  2ndo 

Violino  Imo 

Violinol 

Tromba  1 

Flauto  2ndo 

Tympaui 

Viola 

Oboe  Imo 

(concertino) 

Violino  2ndo 

Violino  2 

Tromba  2 

Oboe  Imo 

Oboel 

Oboe  Imo 

Oboe2ndo 

Violino  Imo 

Viola 

Viola 

Tympaul 

Oboe  2ndo 

Oboe  2 

Oboe2ndo 

Fagotti 

(ripieno) 

ORGAN  on  2 

CANTO    \ 

Oboe  1 

Fagotti 

Violino  Imo 

Fagotti 

BASSO  SOLO 

Violino  2ndo 

Staves 

ALTO       I 

Oboe  2 

Violino  Imo 

Violino  2ndo 

Bassi 

Tutti 

(ripieno) 

Basso 

TENORE  f 

Fagotti 

Violino  2ndo 

Viola 

Oboe  Imo 

BASSO     ) 

Violinol 

Viola 

Tutti  Bassi 

Oboe  2ndo 

Bassi 

Violino  2 

SOPRANO  SOLO 

Viola 

Viola 

Bassi 

Fagotto  Imo 

CANTO    \ 

Fagotto  2udo 

ALTO      I 
TENORE  f 

Bassi 

BASSO    J 

Bassi 

When  Orchestral  Scores  became  more  compli 
cated,  the  process  of  reading  them  was  greatly 
facilitated  by  careful  methods  of  grouping.  In 
Italy  the  Violins  were  usually  placed  at  the  top 
of  the  page  ;  then  the  Wood  Wind,  arranged  ac 
cording  to  the  pitch  of  its  component  Instruments ; 
then  the  Brass  Instruments;  and  in  the  lowest 
place,  the  Bass.  In  Germany  the  complete 
Stringed  Band  was  generally  placed  at  the  bottom 
of  the  page  ;  next  above  this  the  Wood  Wind  ; 
and  over  this  the  Brass  Instruments,  with  the 


Tympani  in  the  highest  place  :  or  the  Brass  In 
struments  immediately  over  the  Stringed  Band, 
and  the  Wood  Wind  at  the  top  of  the  page. 
Sometimes  the  Horns  were  placed  between  the 
Clarinets  and  Bassoons ;  and  many  other  little 
peculiarities  were  affected  by  individual  Com' 
posers :  but  the  general  plan  was  pretty  closely 
observed.  Mozart  generally  followed  the  Italian 
method,  in  his  Italian  Operas,  but  adhered  to  the 
German  plan  in  'Die  Zauberflote,'and  the  greater 
number  of  his  Symphonies.  Beethoven  preferred 


SCORE. 

the  German  system  ;  and  almost  always  allotted 
separate  Staves  to  the  Violoncello  and  Contra- 
Basso — a  plan  which  has  been  imitated  by  most 


SCORE. 


431 


later  Masters.  The  following  schemes  exhibit 
the  practice  of  the  great  Classical  Composers 
generally. 


HAYDN. 

MOZART. 

Creation, 
Introd. 

Seasons, 
Overture. 

Sinf., 
Reine  de 
France. 

Overture, 
Zauberflote. 

Overtures, 
Don  Giovanni 
&  La  Clemenza. 

Jupiter  Symph. 

First  Mass. 

Bequiem  Mass. 
Requiem 
ceternam. 

Trombe  1,  2 

Viol.  1 

Corni  1,  2 

Fl.1,2 

Viol.  1 

Tymp. 

Viol.  1 

Viol.l 

Tymp. 

Viol.  2 

Oboi  1,  2 

Ob.  1.2 

Viol.  2 

Trombe  1,  2 

Viol.  2 

Viol.  2 

Trombone  1 

Vio'a 

Flauto 

Clar.1,2 

Viola 

Corni  1,  2 

Oboi  1,  2 

Viola 

Trombone  2 

Fl.1,2 

Fag.  1,  2 

Fag.  1,  2 

Fl.l 

Ob.  1,2 

Clariun.2 

Corni  dl 

Trombone  3 

Ob.  1,  2 

Viol.  1 

Corni.  1,2 

Fl.  2 

Flauto 

Tymp. 

bassetto  1,  2 

Clar.1,2 

Clar.1,2 

Viol.  2 

Trombe  1,2 

Ob.  1,  2 

Viol.l 

S.  \ 

Fag.  1.  2 

Corn  i  1,2 

Fag.  1,  2 

Viola 

Tymp. 

Clar.  1,  2 

Viol.  2 

A-l 

Trombe  1,  2 

Oboi  1,2 

Trombe  1,2 

Basso 

Trombone  1 

Fag.  I,  2 

Viola 

T.  f 

Tymp. 

Flautil,2 

Tymp. 

Trombone  2 

Corni  1,  2 

Fag.  1,2 

B.J 

S.  ) 

Fag.  1,2 

Trombone  1 

Trombone  3 

Clarinil,  2 

Basso 

Org.  e  Basso 

A.I 

Contra  Fag, 

Trombone  2 

Viol.  1 

Tymp. 

T.  f 

Vuo.l 

Violoncello 

Viol.  2 

Bassi 

1 

Vno.2 

Basso 

Viola 

Org.  e  Basso 

Vio'a 

Basso 

Basso 

BEETHOVEN. 

SCHUBERT. 

WEBER. 

Sinf.  in 

Sinf.  No.  IX. 

Overture, 

Overture, 

PF.  Concerto 

Mass  in  D, 

Overtures, 

C  Minor. 

1st  Movem. 

Leonora. 

Egmont. 

in  Eb. 

'  tiloiia.' 

Sinf.  in  C. 

Der  Freisch'itz 

Concert  Stuck 

No.  V. 

*  Euryanthe. 

Tymp. 

Fl.1,2 

Fl.1,2 

Fl.l 

Fl.1,2 

Fl.1,2 

Viol.l 

Fl.1,2 

Fl.  1,2 

Clarinil,  2 

Ob.  1,  2 

Ob.  1.2 

F1.2 

Ob.  1,2 

Ob.  1,  2 

Viol.  2 

Ob.  1,2 

Ob.  1,  2 

Corm'1,2 

Clar.1,2 

Clar.  1,  2 

Fl.  Pico. 

Clar.  1  2 

Clar.  1,  2 

Viola 

Clar.1,2 

Clar.1,2 

Fl.1,2 

Fag.  1,  2 

Fag.  1,2 

Ob.  1,2 

Fag.  1,  2 

Fag.  1,  2 

Fl.  1,  2 

Corni  1,  2 

Corni  1,2 

Fl.  Pice. 

Corni  1,  2 

Corni  1,  2 

Clar.1,2 

Corni  1,2 

Contra  Fag. 

Ob.  1,2 

Corni  3,  4 

Fag.  1,  2 

Oboi  1,  2 

Corni  3,  4 

Corni  3,  4 

Fag.  1 

Trombe  1,  2 

Corn!  1,2 

Clar.  in  01,  2 

Fag.  1,2 

Trombe  1,  2 

Clar.  1,  2 

Trombsl,2 

Trombe  1,  2 

Fag.  2 

Tymp. 

Corni  3,  4 

Bassoons  1,  2 

Trombe  1,2 

Tymp. 

Fag.  1,  2 

Tymp. 

Tymp. 

Corni  1,  2 

PF.  SOLO 

Trombe  1,2 

Horns  in  C  1,2 

Tymp. 

PF.  SOLO 

Trombone  1 

Viol.  1 

Trombone  1 

Corni  3,  4 

Viol.  1 

Tymp. 

Trumpets  in 

Trombone  1 

Viol.  1 

Trombone  2 

Viol.  2 

Trombone  2 

Clarini 

Viol.  2 

Trombone  1 

01,2 

Trombone  2 

Viol.  2 

Trombone  3 

Viola 

Viol.l 

Tymp. 

Viola 

Trombone  2 

Trombones, 

Trombone  3 

Viola 

Viol.  1 

Violoncello 

Viol.  2 

Viol.  1 

Violoncello 

Trombone  3 

Alto&Tenoi 

Viol.l 

Violoncello 

Viol.  2 

Basso 

Viola 

Viol.  2 

Contr.  Basso 

Viol.  1 

Trombone, 

Viol.  2 

Contr.  Basso 

Viola 

Violoncello 

Viola 

Viul.2 

Bass 

Viola 

Violoncello 

Contr.  Basso 

Violoncello 

Viola 

Tympani 

Violoncello 

Contr.  Basso  e 

Contr.  Basso 

S.  > 

Violoncello 

Contr.  Basso 

Contr.  Fag. 

A  L 

Basso 

T   \Soli 

B'.J 

S.  ) 

A   ( 

T  /Tutti 
B'.' 

Org. 

Violoncello 

Basso 

CIMAROSA. 

KOSSINI. 

DONIZETTI. 

CHEEUBINI. 

Overture, 
U  Malrimonio 
Sejjreto. 

Overture 
Guillaume  Tell. 

Mo'ise, 
Introduction. 

Siabal  Mater. 

Overture, 
La  Favorita. 

Overture, 
Lea  deux 
Journces. 

Overture, 
Anaci-eon. 

Eequiem  in 
C  Minor. 
Dies  irae. 

Corni  1,2 

Fl. 

Pice. 

Fl.1,2 

Viol.l 

Fl.  1,  2 

Fl.1,2 

Ob.  1,2 

Trombe  1,  2 

Pice. 

Fl. 

Ob.  1,2 

Viol.  2 

Ob.  1,  2 

Ob.  1,2 

Clar.  1,  2 

Clar.  1,  2 

Ob.  1,  2 

Ob.  1,2 

Clar.1,2 

Viola 

Clar.1,2 

Clar.1,2 

Fag.  1.2 

Viol.  1 

Clar.1,2 

Clar.  1,  2 

Corni  1,  2 

Pice. 

Corni  1,  2 

Corni  1,2 

Corni  1,  2 

Viol.  2 

Corni  1,  2 

Corni  1,2 

Trombe  1,  2 

Fl. 

Corno  3 

Corni  3,  4 

Trombe  1,2 

Viola 

Corni  3,  4 

Corni  3,  4 

Fag.  1.  2 

Ob.  1,2 

Fag.  1,  2 

Trombe  1,  2 

Trombone  1 

Fag.  1.  2 

Trombe  1,  2 

Trombe  1,2 

Trombone  1 

Clar.  1,  2 

Trombe  1,  2 

Trombone  1 

Trombone  2 

Basso 

Fag.  1,  2 

Fag.  1,  2 

Trombone  2 

Corni  1,  2 

Tymp. 

Trombone  2 

Trombone  3 

Trombone  1 

Trombone  1 

Trombone  3 

Corni  3,  4 

Viol.  1 

Trombone  3 

Trombone  4 

Trombone  2 

Trombone  2 

Tymp. 

Trombe  con  le 

Viol.  2 

Tymp. 

Tymp. 

Trombone  3 

Trombone  3 

Viol.  1 

Chiavi  1,  2. 

Viola 

Viol.l 

Viol.l 

Tymp, 

Ophicl. 

Viol.  2 

Fag.  1,2 

Violoncello 

Viol.  2 

Viol.  2 

Piatti 

Tymp. 

Viola 

Trombone  1 

Basso. 

Viola 

Viola  1 

Triang. 

Gran  Cassa 

S.  \ 

Trombone  2 

Fag.  1,  2 

Viola  2 

Gran  Cassa 

Piatti 

V    O01I 

Trombone  3 

Violoncello 

S 

Viol.l 
Viol.  2 

Triang. 
Viol.l 

T.  (  b 
B.' 

Ophicl. 
Tymp. 

Basso 

A.I 
T-( 

Viola 

Viol.  2 

S.  ) 

Gran  Cassa 

I 

Violonc.  1  Solo 

Viola 

A.  (  c 

Triang. 

Gran  Tamburo 

2   — 

S.   i 

>p     .    VUIO 

Trombe  1.2 

Violoncello 

3    — 

A. 

B.  ' 

Violoncello 

Basso 

-    4    — 

T-r 

Violoncello 

Basso 

5    — 

B.  J 

Basso 

-    Rip. 

Violoncello 

Basso 

Easso 

432 


SCORE. 


SPONTINI. 

SPOHR. 

MENDELSSOHN. 

Overture 
La  Vestale. 

Overtures 
Faust  and 
Jessonda. 

Overture 
Fall  of 
Babylon. 

Die  Weihe 
der  Tone 
1st  Mov. 

Die  Weihe 
der  Tone. 
March- 

Overture 
Mids.  Night's 
Dream. 

Overture 
Fingal's 
Hohle. 

Overture 
S.  Paul. 

Violin 
Concerto. 

Viol.  1 

Fl.  1,  2 

Fl.  Pice.  Eb 

Fl.  terzo 

Fl.  Pice. 

Fl.l,  2 

Fl.l 

Fl.1,2 

Fl.  1,  2 

Viol.  2 

Ob.  1,  2 

Fl.l 

Fl. 

Fl.  1.  2 

Ob.  1,  2 

Fl.  2 

Ob.  1,  2 

Ob.  1,  2 

Fl.  1,  2 

Clar.  1,  2 

Fl.  2 

Ob.  1,  2 

Clar.  1,  2 

Clar.  1.  2 

Ob.  1 

Clar.  1,  2 

Clar.  1,2 

Ob.  1,2 

Fag.  1,  2 

Ob  2 

(liar.  1 

Corni  1.  2 

Fag.  1,  2 

Ob.  2 

Fag.  1,  2 

Fag.  1,  2 

Clar.  1.  2 

Corni  1,  2 

Clar.  1 

Clar.  2 

Corni  3,  4 

Corni  1,  2 

Clar.  1 

Serpente 

Corni  1,  2 

Corni  1,  2 
Corni  3.  4 
Trombe  1,  2 

Corni  3,  4 
Trombe  1,  2 
Trombone  1 

Clar.  2 
Corni  1,  2 
Corni  3,  4 
Fag  1 

Corni  1,  2 
Corni  3,  4 
Fag.  1 

Trombe  1,  2 
Piatti 
Triansr. 
Gran  Tamb. 

Trombe  1,  2 
Ophicl. 
Tymp. 

Clar.  2 
Fag.l 
Fag.  2 

Corni  1,  2 
Trombe  1,2 
Trombone  1 

Trombe  1,  2 
Tymp. 
VIOL.  SOLO 

Fag.  1,  2 

Trombone  2 

Fag.  2 

Fag.  2 

Tamb.  Milit. 

Viol.  1 

Corni  1,  2 

Trombone  2 

Viol,  i 

Trombone  1 
Trombone  2 
Trombone  3 
Tymp. 

Trombone  3 
Tymp. 
Viol.  1 
Viol.  2 

Clarinil.2 
Tamb.  Milit. 
Trombone  1 
Trombone  2 
Trombone  3 

Viol.  1 
Viol.  2 
Viola 
Violoncello 

Trombone  1,2 
Trombone  3 
Fag.  1,  2 
Viol.  1 
Viol.  2 

Viol.  2 
Viola 
Violoncello 
Basso 

Trombe  1,  2 
Tymp. 
Viol.  1 
Viol.  2 

Trombone  3 
Tymp. 
Viol.  1 
Viol.  2 

Viol.  2 
Viola 
Basso 

Viola 

Viola 

Viol.  1 

Basso 

Viola 

Viola 

Viola 

Violoncello 

Basso, 

Viol.  2 

Violoncello 

Violoncello 

Organo 

Basso 

Viola 
Violoncello 
Basso 

Basso 

Basso 

Violoncello 
Basso 

SCHUMANN. 

JOACHIM. 

BfiUCH. 

BHAHMS. 

METEKBEEE. 

Sinf.  InEb 

Overture 

March  in  Le  Prophtte. 

Nottiirno, 

Romanza, 

Triumphlied. 

Robert  le 

Robert  toi 

Genoveva. 

Op.  12. 

Op.  42. 

Diable. 

quej'aime. 

Orchestra.                   On  the  Stage. 

Tymp. 

Fl.  1,  2 

Fl.  1,  2 

Fl.  1,  2 

Viol.  1 

Viol.  1 

Fl.  Pice.            Sax  Cor.  Sop.  1,  2 

Trombs  1,2 
Corni  conlo 

Ob.  1,  2 
Cl.  1,  2 

Ob.  1.  2 
Clar.  1,  2 

Ob.  1,  2 
Clar.  1.  2 
Fag  1  2 

Viol.  2 

Viola 

Viol.  2 
Viola 

Fl.  1  2                Sax  Cor.  Contralt.  I,  2 
Clar  ]   2            Sax  Cor'  Contralt-  3.  * 

Chiavi  1,  2 

Fag.  1,  2 

Fag.  1,  2 

Contr.  Fag. 

Fl.  Pic. 

Fl.  1,  2 

Clar'.  Basso         Cornetti  1,  2 

Corni  1,  2 

Corni  1,  2. 

Corni  1.2 

Corni  1,  2 

Fl.  1,2 

Ob. 

Fag.  1,  2             Trombe  con  le  Chiavi  1,  2 

Fl.  1,  2 
Ob.  1,2 
Clar.  1.  2 

VIOL.  SOLO 
Viola 
Violoncello 

Corni  3,  4 
Trombe  1,  2 
Tymp. 

Cornl  3,  4 
Trombe  1,  2,3 
Trombone  1 
Trombone  2 

Ob.  1,  2 
Clar.  1,  2 
Fag.  1,  2 

Corno  Inglese 
Clar.  1,  2 
Fag.  1.  2 

Corni  1,  2            Sax  Cor.  Alt.  1,  2 
Corni  3  4            Sax  Cor.  Alt.  3,  4 
Trombone  1       ca,  nn.  DO-  i  o 
Trombone  2       Sax  Cor'  Bar'  l-  2 

Fag  1,  2 

Basso 

VJOL.  1  SOLO 

Trombone  3 

Corui  1,  2 

Corni  1,  2 

Trombone  3       *ax  Cor-  Bass.  ],  2 

Trombone  1 

VIOL.  2  SOLO 

Tuba 

Corni  3,  4 

Corni  3,  4 

Ophicleide         Sax  Cor.  Bass.  3,  4 

Trombone  2 
Trombone  3 
Viol.  1 

Viol.  1 
Viol.  2 
Viola 

Tymp. 
Viol.l 
Viol.  2 
Viola 

Trombe  con, 
le  Chiavi  1,2 
Trombone  1 

Trombe  1,  2 
Trombone  1 
Trombone  2 

Trombe  1,  2       gax.  Cor.  Contr.  Bass  1  2 
Trombe  3,  4        Tomb  \filit  l  2 
Tymp.  1,  2,  3       Tamb'  31lllt>  J>  2 
Gran.  Cassa 

Viol.  2 

Violoncello 

B.  SOLO 

Trombone  2 

Trombone  3 

Piatti 

Viola 

Basso 

A) 

Trombone  3 

Ophicleide 

Tamb.  Milit. 

Violoncello 

T>CoroI 

Ophicleide 

Tymp. 

Viol.  1 
Vio!  2 

Basso 

B  ) 

Tymp. 

Arpe  1,  2 

Vio!  a 

S 

Gran.  Cassa 

S.  SOLO 

Vio'oncello 

y   >Coro  II 

Piatti 

T.  SOLO 

Basso 

Violoncello 

Violoncello 

Violoncello 

Basso 

Basso 

Basso 

The  later  Scores  of  Berlioz,  Liszt,  and  Wagner, 
introduce  a  greater  variety  of  Wind  Instruments, 
and  vary,  very  much,  in  their  method  of  arrange 


ment.  The  following  schemes  will  show  the  sys 
tem  adopted  in  some  of  their  best-known  Com 
positions. 


BERLIOZ. 

BENOIT. 

LISZT. 

Harold  Sinf. 

Lee  Franca 
Juges. 

Symphonic 
Funtbre. 

Te  Deum. 

Marche 
des  Drapeaux. 

Cliarlotte 
Corday. 

Faust  Symph. 
1st  Mov. 

Faust  Symph. 
And.  mistico. 

Missa  Coron. 
Kyrie. 

Fl.  1,2 

Fl.  Pice. 

Fl.  Pice.  Db 

Fl.l.  2,  3,  4 

Fl.l,  2,  3,  4 

Fl.1,2 

Fl.Picc. 

Fl.1,2 

Fl.1,2 

Ob.  1.  2 

Fl.  1,  2 

Fl.  Pice.  Eb 

Ob.  1,  2.  3,  4 

Ob.  1,2,  3,4 

Fl.  Pice. 

Fl.  1,  2 

Ob.  1,  2 

Ob.  1,  2 

Clar.  1,2 

Ob.  1,2 

Clar.  1,  2  Eb 

Clar.  1,  2,3,4 
Corni  1  2 

Clar.  1,2,  3,  4 

Ob.  1,2 

Ob.  1,2 

Clar.  1,  2 

Clar.  1,2 

Corni  1,  2 

Clar.  1,  2 

Clar.  3,4  Bb 

Corni  3.  4 

Fag.  1,  '2,  3,  4 

Corno  Inglese 

Clar.  1,  2 

Fag.  1,  2 

Fag.  1,2 

Corni  3,  4 

Corni  1,  2 

Ob.  1,  2 

Trombe  1,2 

Corni  1,  2 

Clar.  1,  2 

Fag.  1,  2 

Corni  1,2 

Corni  1,2 

Trombe  1,  2 

Corni  3  4 

Corni  1,2 

Cornetti  1,  2 

Corni  3,  4 

Clar.  Basso 

Corni  1,  2 

Corni  3,  4 

Corni  3,  4 

Cornetti  1,  2 

Trombe  1,  2 

Corni  3,  4 
Corni  5  6 

Fag.  1,  2 

Sax  Cor.  in  B'? 

Corni  1,  2 

Corni  3,  4 

Viol.l 

Trombe  1,  2 

Fag.  1,  2,  3,  4 

Trombe  con 

Trombe  1,  2 

Fag.  3.  4 
Tromboni  1,  2 

Trombe  1,  2 

Corno  3 

Trombe  1.  2 

Viol.  2 

Tromboni  1,  2 

Trombone  1 

le  Chiavi  1,  2 

Trombe  3,  4 

Tromboni  3,  4 

Cornetti  1,  2 

Trombe  1,  2 

Trombone  1 

Viola 

TromboneS 

Trombone  2 
Triang. 

Trombone  1 
Trombone  2 

Cornetti  1,  2 
Trombone  1 
Trombone  2 

Tromboni  5,  6 

Ophicleide 

Tiiho 

Trombone  1 
Trombone  2 

Tromba  3 
Fag.  1,  2 

Trombone  2 
Trombone  3 

T.  Solo 

Tuba 
Viol.  1 

Tymp. 

Trombone  3 

Trombone  3 

i  i   i  >  i 

Tvmo 

Trombones 

Fag.  3 

Tuba 

B.  / 

Viol.  2 

Arpa 

Ophicl.  1,  2 

Trombone  4 

J-  „'  »"!-'• 

Viol.  1 

Ophicleide 

Trombonl,2,3 

Tymp. 

Organo 

Viola 

VIOLA  SOLA 

Fag.  1,  2 

Ophicl.  1,  2 

Viol.  2 

Tuba 

Trombone  4 

Piatti 

Violoncello 

S.  i 

Viol.  1 

Contr.  Fag. 

clar.  Basso 
Fag.  1.  2 

Viola 

O 

Arpe 

Tuba 

Viol.  1 

Basso 

£'   Soli 

Viol.  2 
Viola 

Tymp. 
Gran.  Cassa 

Contr.  Fag. 
Violoncello 

T.  I  Coro  I 
B./ 

Tymp. 
Tambur, 

Tymp. 
Tamb.  Milit. 

Viol.  2 

Viola 

T. 

B.; 

Vio  oncello 

Viol.  1 

Contr.  Basso 

S.  , 

Viol.l 

Gran  Cassa 

Violoncello 

s.  i 

Basso 

Viol.  2 

Tymp. 
Tamb.  Milit. 

T    ,  Coro  II 
Bj 

Viol.  2 

Viol.  1 

Basso 

A-  ,'  Coro 

Viola 

Piatti 

.  -* 
S.  A.  Coro  III 

Viola 

Viol.  2 

~*  1 

Violoncello 

Gran  Cassa 

Violoncello 

Violoncello 

Viola 

B.' 

Basso 

Piatti  con 

Basso 

Basso 

Violoncello 

Organo 

sordini 
Tam-Tam 

Organo 

Organo 

Basso 

Violoncello 
Basso 

SCORE. 


433 


WAGNEB. 

Overture 
Tannh&user. 

Prelude 
Lohengrin. 

Overture 
Rheingold. 

Die  Walkure. 
Act  I1L    Scene  I. 

Die  WilTtiire 
Act  III,  Finale. 

Gotterd  mmerung 
Prelude. 

Gdlterdarnmerung 
March. 

Fl.  1,  2 

Fl.  1,  2,  3 

Fl.  1,  2,  3 

Fl.  Pice.  1,  2 

Fl.  Pice.  1.2 

Fl.  1,  2 

Clar.  1 

Ob.  1,2 

Ob.  1,  2 

Ob.  1.  2 

Fl.  1,  2 

Fl.1,2 

F1.3 

Clar.  2 

Clar.  1,  2 

Corno  Inglese 

Corno  Inglese 

Ob.  1,  2,  3 

Ob.  1,  2,  3 

Ob.  1,  2 

Clar.  3 

Corui  con  le 

Clar.  1,  2 

Clar.  1,  2 

Corno  Inglese 

Corno  Inglese    Ob.  3 

Clar.  B.osso 

Chiavi  1,  2 

Clar.  Basso 

Clar.  Basso 

Clar.  1,  2.  3 

Clar.  1,  2 

Corno  Inglese 

Corni  1.  2 

Corni  1.2 

Fag.  1,  2,  3 

Fag.  1,2.3 

Clar.  Basso 

Clar.  3 

Clar.  1 

Corni  3,  4 

Fag.  1,  2 

Corni  1,  2 

Trombe  1,  2,  3 

Corni  1,  2 

Corni  1,  2 

Clar.  2.  3 

Fag.  1 

Trombe  1,  2 

Corni  3,  4 

Tromba  Bassa 

Corui  3,  4 

Corni  3.  4 

Clar.  Basso 

Fag.  2 

Trombone  1 

Trombe  1,  2,  3 

Corni  1,  2 

Corni  5,  6 

Fag.  1.  2,  3 

Corni  1,  2 

Fag.  3 

Trombone  2 

Trombone  1 

Corni  3,  4 

Corui  7,  8 

Clar.  Basso 

Corni  3,  4 

Tub.  Ten.  1,  2 

Trombone  3 

Trombone  2 

Corni  5,  6 

Fag.  1,  2.  3 

Arpe  1,  2,  3 

Fag.  1,  2   i 

Tub.  Bass.  1,  2 

Tuba  Bassa 

Trombone  3 

Corni  7,  8 

Trombe  1,  2 

Arpe  4,  5,  6 

Fag.  3 

Tub.  Contrabass 

Tymp. 

Tuba  Bassa 

Trombone  1 

Trombe  3,  4 

Carvillon 

Tub.  Ten.  1,  2 

Ti  omba  Bassa 

Viol.  1 

Tymp. 

Trombone  2 

Tromba  Bassa 

Triang. 

Tub.  Bass.  1,  2 

Tromboni  1,  2 

Viol.  2 

Piatti 

Trombone  3 

Trombone  1 

Piatti 

Tub.  Contrabass 

Tromboni  3.  4 

Viola 

Viol.  1  Solo 

Contrabass  Tromoa 

Trombone  2 

Viol.  1  divisi 

Tromba  1 

Tymp. 

Violoncello 

Viol.  2     „ 

Contrabass  Tuba 

Trombone  3 

Viol.  2     ,. 

Trombe  2.  3 

Viol.  1 

Basso 

Viol.  3     „ 

Viol.  1 

Trombone  4 

Viola 

Tromba  Bassa 

Viol.  2 

Viol.  4     „ 

Viol.  2 

Tuba  Contr.  Bass. 

Violoncello 

Trombone  1 

Viola 

Viol.  1  divisi 

Viola 

Tymp.  1,  2,  3,  4 

Basso 

Tromboni  2,  3 

Violoncello 

Viol.  2     ., 

Violoncello 

Piatti 

Tromba.  Coutr.  Bass. 

Basso 

Viola 

Basso 

Biihrtrommel 

Viol.  1 

Violoncello 

Viol.  1 

Viol.  2 

Basso 

Viol.  2 

Viola 

Viola 

Violoncello 

S.  Coro 

Basso 

Arpe 

Violoncello 

Basso 

In  all  these  Scores,  the  Parts  for  the  so-called 
'Trausposing-Instruments'  correspond  with  the 
separate  '  Parts'  used  in  the  Orchestra.  That  is 
to  say,  the  Parts  for  the  Horns,  and  Trumpets, 
are  always  written  in  the  Key  of  C,  whatever 
may  be  the  Key  of  the  piece  in  which  they  are 
played.  The  Parts  for  the  Bb  Clarinets  are  always 
written  a  Major  Second  higher  than  they  are  in 
tended  to  sound  ;  and  those  for  the  A  Clarinets, 
a  Minor  Third  higher:  so  that,  should  the  piece 
be  in  the  Key  of  Eb,  the  Parts  for  the  Bb  Clari 
nets  will  be  written  in  F;  should  it  be  in  Cfl 
Minor,  the  Parts  for  the  A  Clarinets  will  be 
written  in  E  minor.  The  parts  for  the  Corno 
Inglese  and  Corno  di  Bassetto,  are  written  a 
Perfect  Fifth  higher  than  they  are  intended  to 
sound.  Those  for  Sax  Horn,  Tuba,  Baryton, 
Euphonium,  and  other  Brass  Instruments  of  the 
transposing  order,  follow  the  same  rule,  and  give 
rise  to  complications  extremely  puzzling  to  the 
uninitiated.  These  Instruments,  however,  ap 
pear  by  right  in  Military  Music  only. 

Though  the  constitution  of  the  Military  Band 
bears  but  little  resemblance  to  that  of  the  or 
dinary  Classical  Orchestra,  its  Scores  are  really 
arranged  upon  a  very  similar  principle.  The 
office  ordinarily  performed  by  the  Stringed  In 
struments  is,  as  a  general  rule,  confided,  in 
Military  Music,  to  a  body  of  Clarinets  and  Bas 
soons,  strong  enough  to  sustain,  if  not  the  whole 
weight  of  the  Harmony,  at  least  the  greater  part 
of  it,  except  in  such  cases  as  that  of  a  powerful 
tutti,  needing  the  support  of  the  heavier  Brass 
Instruments.  The  importance  of  this  section  of 
the  Band  demands  for  it  a  prominent  place  in 
the  Score,  where  it  can  at  once  catch  the  reader's 
eye.  In  Brass  Bands,  this  position  is  usually  given 
to  the  Cornets,  which,  as  a  general  rule,  supply 
the  place  of  the  Violins.  But  the  Military  Band 
VOL.  in.  PT.  3. 


also  finds  employment  for  countless  novelties, 
both  in  Wood  and  Brass,  the  number  of  which 
is  perpetually  increasing.  The  arrangement  of 
Military  Scores  is  therefore  subject  to  modifica 
tions  of  detail  which  preclude  the  possibility  of  a 
persistent  formula,  though  the  following  schemes 
give  a  fair  idea  of  their  general  features. 


Small  Military 
Band. 

Large  Military 
Band. 

Military  Brass 
Band. 

Flautl 

Flautl 

Cornetti  soprani 

Clarinetti  In  Eb 

Oboi 

Cornetti 

Clarinet  ti  in  Bb 

Clarinetti  in  Eb 

Trombe 

Fagotti 

Claiinettiin  Bb 

Corni  Tenori 

Cornetti 

Clarinetti  Tenori 

Tromboni  Tenori 

Trombe 

Clarinetti  Bassi 

Tromboni  Bassi 

Corni 

Fagotti 

Baritoni 

Tromboni  Tenori 

Cornetti 

Euphonion 

Tromboni  Bassi 

Trombe 

Bombardon!  in  Eb 

Baritoni 

Corni  1,  2 

Bombardon!  in  Bb 

Euphonion 

Corni  3,  4 

Tamburo  piccolo 

Bombardon! 

Tromboni  Tenori 

Gran  Cassa 

Tamburo  Piccolo 

Tromboni  Bassi 

Piatti 

Gran  Cassa 

Corni  Tenori 

Piatti 

Baritoni 

Euphouioa 

Bombardon!  in  Eb 

Bombardon!  in  Bb 

Tamburo  piccolo 

Gran  Cassa 

Piatti 

Tympanl 

III.  The  PARTITINO,  or  SUPPLEMENTARY  SCORE, 
is  a  species  of  appendix,  used  only  when  the  num 
ber  of  Parts  employed  is  so  great  that  it  is  im 
possible  to  transcribe  them  all  upon  a  single  page. 
The  oldest  known  examples  of  the  Vocal  Partitino 
are  those  furnished  by  the  Pes  of  the  Eound 
'Sumer  is  icumen  in,'  shown  in  facsimile  on 
page  269,  and  the  Quadruplum  at  the  end  of  the 
'  Ave  gloriosa  Mater '  described  on  page  427  6.  In 
Orchestral  Music,  the  Parts  for  the  Instruments 
of  percussion,  or  even  for  the  Trombones,  are 
frequently  added,  in  a  small  Score,  at  the  end. 
For  instance,  in  Breitkopf  &  Hartel's  fine  oblong 

Ff 


434 


SCORE. 


Score  of  '  II  Don  Giovanni,'  the  Trombone  Parts 
of  the  last  Finale  are  printed  at  the  end  of  the 
volume,  with  the  necessary  direction,  Tromboni 
se  trovano  al  Fine. 

IV.  The  ORGAN,  HARPSICHORD,  or  PIANOFORTE 
SCORE,  is  a  Vocal  Score,  with  an  Accompaniment 
for  the  Organ,  Harpsichord,  or  Pianoforte,  added, 
on  one  or  two  Staves  beneath  it.     Among  the 
earliest  and  most  interesting  examples  of  this 
kind  of  Score  ever  printed  in  England,  are  Har 
rison's  editions  of  Handel's '  Messiah,' '  Dettingen 
Te  Deum,'  '  Ode  for  S.  Csecilia's  Day,'  '  Acis  and 
Galatea/  and  other  like  works,  with  Harpsichord 
Accompaniment.     In  these,  and  in  the  original 
editions  of  Boyce's  Cathedral  Music,  Croft's  An 
thems,  and  other  similar  publications,  the  Organ 
or  Harpsichord  Part  is  given  in  the  form  of  a 
Figured  Bass  only,  and  printed  on  a  single  Stave. 
In   modern   Organ   and   Pianoforte  Scores,   the 
Accompaniment  is  always  printed  on  two  Staves. 
In  all  cases,  the  Vocal  Paris  are  arranged  in  one 
of  the  forms  given  on  page  429. 

V.  The  COMPRESSED  SCORE  is  an  arrangement 
of  Vocal  Part-Music,  on  two  Staves,  one  of  which 
presents  the  Soprano  and  Alto  Parts,  written  in 
the  Treble  clef,   while  the   other   exhibits   the 
Tenor  and  Bass,  in  the  Bass  Clef.    Instrumental 
Music  may  be,  and  sometimes  is,  compressed  in 
the  same  way;  especially  in  the  case  of  Stringed 
Quartets :    but   it   is   indispensable  that   every 
note  of  the  original  Composition  shall  appear  in 
its  proper  place,  whether  it  can  be  played  upon 
a   Keyed   Instrument   or    not ;    otherwise,   the 
transcription  degenerates  into  a  mere  'arrange 
ment.'     A  familiar  example  of  the  Compressed 
Score  will  be  found  in  '  Hymns  Ancient   and 
Modern.' 

VI.  The  term  SHORT  SCORE  is  indiscriminately 
applied  to  Organ  and  Pianoforte  Scores  of  works 
originally  written  with  Orchestral  Accompani 
ments  ;  to  Compressed  Scores  ;  and  to  maimed 
transcriptions,  in  which  the  leading  Parts  only 
are  given  in  extenso.  Among  these  latter  may 
be  classed  the  early  editions  of  Handel's  Songs, 
and  an  enormous  number  of  '  Vauxhall  Songs,'  by 
Hook,  Storace,  Dibdin,  arid  other  popular  Com 
posers  of  the  latter  half  of  the  i8th  century.  In 
these  now  scarce  old  copies,  printed  on  coarse 
blue  paper,  and  engraved  in  the  roughest  possible 
style,  the  Violin  Parts  of  the  Symphonies  are 
filled  in,  wherever  there  is  room  for  them,  on  the 
Stave  belonging  to  the  Voice,  the  lower  Stave 
being  occupied  by  a  Figured  Bass.  As  the 
number  of  popular  Songs  so  printed,  a  hundred 
years  ago,  was  countless,  we  must  suppose  that 
the  average  standard  of  popular  musical  education, 
in  the  last  century,  was  very  much  higher  than 
it  is  now  ;  for  it  is  certain  that  not  one  amateur 
out  of  five  hundred  would  be  able  to  play  from 
such  copies,  at  the  present  day.  [W.S.R.] 

SCORE,   ARRANGING   FROM.     An  Or- 

chestral  Composition  is  said  to  be  '  arranged 
from  the  Score,'  when  its  principal  features  are 
adapted,  by  a  judicious  process  of  condensation, 
to  the  capabilities  of  the  Organ,  Pianoforte,  or 
any  other  Keyed  or  Solo  Instrument. 


SCORE,  ARRANGING  FROM. 

The  successful  performance  of  this  operation 
demands  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  laws  of 
Harmony  and  Composition ;  and  the  principles 
and  practice  of  Instrumentation  ; r  a  perfect  com 
mand  of  the  particular  Instrument  for  which  the 
arrangement  is  intended;  sound  judgment,  and 
long  experience.  Were  it  possible  to  transfer 
Orchestral  passages  to  the  keyboard  notatim, 
the  task  of  arranging  would  be  a  very  simple 
one  ;  but  it  would  be  a  great  mistake  to  suppose 
that  the  most  literal  transcription  from  the  Score 
is  invariably  the  best,  or  the  most  effective  one. 
Many  complicated  passages  need  extensive  sim 
plification,  in  order  to  bring  them  within  the 
compass  even  of  four  hands  upon  the  Pianoforte  ; 
while  the  execution  of  many  Violin  passages  is 
absolutely  impossible  upon  Keyed  Instruments. 
Liszt  himself  could  not  play  the  following  pas 
sage  from  the  Overture  to  'Der  Freischiitz,'  at 
anything  like  the  required  pace  : — 


This  passage  has  been  'arranged'  in  several 
different  ways,  two  of  which  we  subjoin.  The 
first,  at  (a),  was  sanctioned  by  Weber  himself, 
in  an  arrangement  published  in  'The  Harmo- 
nicon,'  No.  xxi.  Sept.  1824.  The  second,  at  (6), 
is  the  inspiration  of  a  later  arranger,  who,  in  the 
hope  of  attaining  brilliancy,  has  distorted  the 
rhythm  of  the  passage,  beyond  all  possibility  of 
recognition,  at  the  expense  of  an  entire  bar. 


Great  ingenuity  on  the  part  of  the  arranger  is 
frequently  demanded,  in  the  case  of  passages  in 
which  several  solo  instruments  are  employed 
simultaneously ;  particularly  should  any  of  the 
parts  be  obbligato.  Long-sustained  notes  also 
frequently  need  very  careful  management ;  and 
there  is  often  great  difficulty  in  the  simplifica 
tion  of  very  elaborate  accompaniments,  which,  if 
arranged  as  they  stand  in  the  score  would  pre 
sent  unconquerable  difficulties  to  the  performer, 
while,  if  injudiciously  adapted  to  the  keyboard 
they  either  weaken  the  harmony  irreparably  or 
produce  an  effect  quite  different  from  that  in 
tended  by  the  composer.  Again,  it  is  sometimes 
all  but  impossible  to  give  a  literal  rendering 
of  passages  the  complications  of  which  are  in 
creased  by  the  crossing  of  the  Parts ;  as  in  the 
following  phrase  from  the  Overture  to  '  Die  Z;iu- 
berflote ' : — 

i  See  OBCHESTRATION,  vol.  ii.  pp.  507-373. 


SCORE,  ARRANGING  FROM. 


SCORE,  PLAYING  FROM.         435 


etc. 


In  modern  arrangements,  this  passage  is  fre 
quently  rendered  as  at  (a)  ;  but,  this  literal 
transcription  is  not  often  very  effectively  played. 
In  Mozart's  own  time,  it  was  arranged  as  at  (5), 
where  many  important  features  of  the  Score  are 
omitted,  for  the  sake  of  producing  a  light  and 
graceful  Pianoforte  passage. 


f> 


t 


2«— »- 


«—»— 


But  nowhere  is  the  arranger's  responsibility 
so  grave,  as  in  passages  in  which  it  is  neces 
sary  to  alter  the  exact  notes  of  the  Score,  in 
order  to  produce  the  exact  effect  intended  by 
the  Composer.  A  remarkable  instance  of  this 
is  mentioned  by  H.  Dora,  who  tells  us  that 
Mendelssohn,  in  accompanying  the  Duet  '  0 
naraenlose  Freude,'  in  Fidelio,  once  endeavoured 
to  reproduce  a  peculiarly  grand  Orchestral  effect, 
by  playing  the  Violoncello  and  Double  Bass  Parts 
two  Octaves  apart.  [See  vol.  ii.  p.  257 «.]  A 
glance  at  the  passage  will  show  the  immense 
dignity  with  which  the  entrance  of  the  Double 
Bass  is  invested  by  this  thoughtful  arrangement. 


Viol. 


sfc  —  =1  — 

—  =1  —  P 

—  q  =|  -J  —  f-I 

w  —  • 

-^-i 

;      •>                •      m 

Cello  j 

A^ 

~£$  ><= 

L 

p^  — 

-^     T"  (&  "v^'*  i 

J        • 

• 

• 

Jf      I                       B^^"                              ,**H                       U 

etc. 



Contrabasso 


r 


It  is  in  such  passages  as  these  that  the  true 
strength  of  an  '  Arrangement '  is  shown  ;  and  it 
is  here  that  judgment  and  experience  prove 
themselves  to  be  not  only  desirable,  but  indis 
pensable  conditions  of  success.  [See  ARRANGE 
MENT.]  [W.S.R.] 

SCORE,  PLAYING  FROM.  The  Art  of 
playing  from  Score  forms  one  of  the  most  neces 
sary  branches  of  a  thorough  musical  education  : 
and  it  is  desirable  that  the  Student  should  en 
deavour  to  master  its  difficulties  at  a  very  early 
period.  Clever  Choristers  frequently  read  from 
Score  with  great  fluency  ;  more  especially  those 
educated  in  Cathedrals  in  which  the  original 
editions  of  Boyce,  Arnold,  Croft,  Greene,  and 
other  Masters  of  the  English  School  are  preferred 
to  modern  reprints.  For  no  great  advantage 
can  exist  without  some  compensatory  drawback  ; 
and  it  is  notorious  that  the  modern  practice  of 
printing  the  Accompaniment  exactly  as  it  is  in 
tended  to  be  played,  while  it  gives  to  hundreds 
of  amateurs  their  only  chance  of  playing  it, 
sadly  diminishes  the  number  of  those  who,  going 
to  the  heart  of  the  matter,  unite  themselves  with 
the  Composer's  intention  by  tracing  the  involu 
tions  of  the  Voice  Parts. 

The  first .  qualification  needed  by  the  Student 
who  desires  to  play  from  Score  at  sight  is,  an 
intimate  familiarity  with  the  C,  G,  and  F  Clefs, 
in  all  their  forms.1  The  second  is  the  power  of 
reading  from  four,  or  any  greater  number  of 
Staves,  simultaneously.  And  to  these  must  be 
added,  the  knowledge  necessary  for  filling  in  the 
Harmony  indicated  by  the  Figures  placed  under 
a  Thorough-Bass.  He  who  has  satisfactorily 
mastered  these  three  preliminary  difficulties  will 
«oon  be  able  to  read  a  Vocal  Score ;  and,  if  he  will 
only  be  careful  to  reproduce  the  interweavings  of 
the  Vocal  Parts,  with  the  nearest  approach  to 
literal  accuracy  which  the  nature  of  Keyed  Instru 
ments  permits,  availing  himself  of  the  assistance 
afforded  by  the  Figured  Bass,  only  when  the  actual 
Part- writing  becomes  too  complicated  to  admit 
the  possibility  of  its  transference  notatim  to  the 
Key-board,  he  will  be  able  to  accompany  with  a 
self-reliance  which  can  never  be  acquired  by 


See  the  formulae  on  page  429  a. 


Ff2 


436         SCORE,  PLAYING  FROM. 

those  who  trust  to  the  facilities  offered  by  an 
'  arrangement,'  however  good  that '  arrangement' 
may  be. 

In  order  to  play  effectively  from  an  Orchestral 
Score,  two  additional  qualifications  are  necessary : 
an  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  principles  of 
Instrumentation;  and  a  sound  judgment,  to  be 
acquired  only  by  long  experience,  and  careful 
listening  to  the  effect  produced  by  certain  In 
strumental  combinations.  The  Student  _will 
naturally  begin  by  playing  Compositions  written 
for  Stringed  Instruments  alone,  or  Voices  ac 
companied  by  Stringed  Instruments  ;  such  as 
Handel's  Overtures,  and  a  multitude  of  his  Songs 
and  Choruses.  The  chief  difficulty  to  be  en 
countered  here,  is  that  of  adapting  Violin  pas 
sages  to  the  Key -board,  in  cases  in  which  their 
exact  transference  is  impossible  ;  as  in  such  in 
stances  as 


SCORE,  PLAYING  FROM. 


which  must  necessarily  be  played  in  the  follow 
ing,  or  some  analogous  form. 


-^-> 

1 

But  little  additional  difficulty  is  presented 
by  Scores  enriched  with  Parts  for  Oboes  and 
Bassoons,  beyond  the  judgment  necessary  for 
indicating  the  desirable  contrast  between  the 
Stringed  and  Wind  Instruments.  But,  with  the 
'  Transposing  Instruments,'  the  case  is  very  dif 
ferent.  The  first  power  to  be  attained  is  that  of 
reducing  Horn  and  Trumpet  passages,  from  the 
Key  of  C,  into  that  in  which  the  Composition 
stands.  Good  examples  for  practice  will  be 
found  in  Haydn's  Symphonies,  which  are  con 
stantly  written  for  Oboes,  Bassoons,  and  Horns, 
in  combination  with  each  other.  More  puzzling 
still,  to  the  uninitiated,  are  Clarinet  Parts  ; 
which,  as  already  explained,1  are  written  either 
a  Major  Second  or  a  Minor  Third  higher  than 
the  Violins,  and,  when  used  with  Horns  or 
Trumpets,  constantly  involve  the  necessity  for 
reading  in  three  different  Keys  at  once,  as  in 
the  following  passage  from  '  ^  +™^;'  i™  '  TI  r>™ 
Giovanni.' 


Mi  tradi'in  'II  Don 


Violins 


Clarinet  in  Bb 
n _"f '•    . 


T 


Bassoon  ,p  ;*•••-• 


Horns  in 


Voice 


r 


-F — •- 


-  -  ta. 


mi  tra  -  di  quell'  al-ma  in- 
Cello  r^Tl    ^^ 


I   t-   • 


Basses^  Basses 

which  is  really  intended  to  sound  thus— 


1  See  p.  433  a. 


Much  discussion  has  lately  taken  place,  in 
English  Musical  Periodicals,  concerning  the  desir 
ableness  of  simplifying  the  appearance  of  Orches 
tral  Scores  by  writing  the  Parts  for  Transposing 
Instruments  in  the  Keys  in  which  they  are  in 
tended  to  sound.  At  first  sight  the  suggestion 
seems  reasonable  enough  ;  but  there  are  grave, 
if  not  insuperable  objections  to  it.  In  the  first 
place,  it  presupposes  an  amount  of  knowledge, 
on  the  part  of  the  copyist,  which  few  copyists 
possess.  In  accordance  with  our  present  practice, 
the  separate  Parts  are  transcribed  exactly  as 
they  stand  in  the  Score  ;  whereas,  were  the  new 
suggestion  adopted,  they  would  all  be  at  the 
mercy  of  the  copyist's  aptitude  for  transposing 
correctly.  Again,  the  root  of  the  new  idea  is, 
the  desire  for  providing  a  royal  road,  where 
no  royal  road  can,  by  any  possibility,  exist,  or 
would  be  of  any  use  if  it  could.  Surely,  the 
Student  who  can  read,  simultaneously,  five  or  six 
Staves,  written  in  as  many  different  Clefs,  need 
not  be  afraid  of  the  very  slight  additional  diffi 
culty  of  transposing  a  Clarinet  Part.  The  Ac- 
companyist  who  cannot  transpose  fluently  at 
sight  is  incapable  of  efficiently  performing  the 
role  he  has  undertaken :  and  the  suggestion 
we  deprecate  is  calculated  rather  to  encourage 
his  slothfulness,  than  to  afford  him  any  real 
help.  If  Art  is  to  progress,  in  earnest,  it 
will  gain  nothing  by  smoothing  the  road  to 
superficial  knowledge,  and  thereby  setting  a 
premium  upon  half-heartedness,  to  the  manifest 


SCORE,  PLAYING  FROM. 

disadvantage  of  those  who  think  no  amount  of 
study  too  great  for  the  attainment  of  a  thorough 
acquaintance  with  the  arcana  taught  by  the 
Great  Masters. 

We  therefore  counsel  the  Student  to  make  a 
bold  attack  upon  the  difficulties  we  have  pointed 
out ;  and,  after  having  acquired  the  power  of 
reading  Clarinet  Parts,  to  go  on  bravely  to 
those  written  for  the  Corno  di  Bassetto  ;  playing 
from  the  Scores  of  Mozart,  Schubert,  Beethoven, 
Weber,  Mendelssohn,  and  Spohr,  in  the  order  in 
which  we  have  here  mentioned  them  ;  and,  if 
need  be,  proceeding  from  these  to  the  works  of 
more  modern  writers,  and  even  to  Compositions 
scored  for  a  Military  Band.  His  progress, 
after  the  first  steps  are  surmounted,  will  depend 
mainly  upon  the  amount  of  experience  he  is  able 
to  gain,  from  careful  listening  to  the  performance 
of  the  Orchestral  Works  of  Great  Masters.  The 
reproduction  of  an  effect  once  heard  is  an  easy 
matter,  compared  to  the  operation  of  imagining 
one  suggested  only  by  the  appearance  of  the 
Score  :  and  it  is  by  carefully  noting  such  effects, 
and  remembering  the  combinations  which  pro 
duce  them,  that  the  Student  strengthens  his 
judgment,  and  eventually  becomes  an  accom 
plished  Player  from  Score.  [W.S.R.] 

SCORING.  The  term  Scoring  is  applied  to 
the  process  of  displaying  the  various  Parts  of  an 
Orchestral  Composition  upon  a  single  page,  in 
order  that  the  whole  may  be  read  at  a  glance. 
[See  SCORE.] 

To  the  copyist,  this  process  is  a  purely  me 
chanical  operation.  He  scores  an  Overture,  or  a 
Symphony,  by  transcribing  its  separate  Parts, 
one  above  the  other,  in  the  order  indicated  in 
one  of  the  schemes  shown  at  pp.  430-433  ;  and, 
in  so  doing,  has  to  contend  with  no  difficulty 
whatever,  beyond  that  of  counting  his  bars 
correctly. 

To  the  Composer,  the  Scoring  of  an  orchestral 
work  is  a  much  more  serious  matter.  He  does 
not,  as  a  general  rule,  begin  the  process,  until  he 
has,  in  great  measure,  determined  upon  the 
effects  he  intends  to  produce,  and  the  office  he 
intends  to  assign  to  his  principal  Instruments.1 
Having  settled  these  points  satisfactorily,  he 
usually  writes  out  the  more  important  Parts  at 
once,  without  waiting  to  fill  in  those  that  are  of 
less  consequence ;  and,  when  the  plan  of  the  whole 
is  thus  sketched  out,  he  proceeds  to  supply  the 
minor  details,  at  his  leisure,  frequently  with  con 
siderable  modifications  of  his  original  intention. 

The  autograph  Scores  of  the  great  Masters 
exhibit  this  process,  in  all  its  successive  phases. 
For  instance,  in  the  original  Score  of  '  La  So- 
nambula,'  the  Recitative  which  precedes  '  Tutto 
e  sciolto '  is  introduced  by  a  long  passage  for 
two  Valve  Trumpets,  which  Bellini  afterwards 
entirely  crossed  out. 

But,  it  is  from  unfinished  Scores  that  we  de 
rive  the  most  valuable  instruction  on  this  im 
portant  point.  In  the  unfinished  Score  of 
Mozart's  'Requiem,'  known  as  the  Urschrift, 

i  See  ORCHESTRATION,  vol.  ii.  pp.  567-573. 


SCOTCH  SYMPHONY. 


437 


and  now  preserved  in  the  Imperial  Library  at 
Vienna,  we  find  the  Composer  beginning  to  Score 
his  several  Movements  by  writing  out  the  Vocal 
Parts  in  full,  with  the  Basso  continuo,  for  the 
Organ  and  Basses ;  the  "Parts  for  the  other  Instru 
ments  being  only  filled  in  where  the  Voices  are 
silent,  or,  for  the  purpose  of  indicating,  at  the 
beginning  of  a  Movement,  some  special  figure  in 
the  Accompaniment,  intended  to  be  fully  written 
out  at  a  future  time. 

No  less  interesting  and  instructive  is  the  un 
finished  Score  of  Schubert's  Seventh  Symphony, 
in  E,  now  in  the  possession  of  the  Editor  of  this 
Dictionary,  and  which  is  fully  described  under 
the  head  of  SKETCH. 

These  two  invaluable  MSS.  would  serve  to  give 
us  a  very  clear  idea  of  the  method  of  working 
pursued  by  the  Great  Masters,  even  if  they  stood 
alone :  but,  fortunately,  their  testimony  is  corro 
borated  by  that  of  many  similar  documents,  in 
the  handwriting  of  Beethoven,  and  other  Classi 
cal  Composers,  who,  notwithstanding  their  indi 
vidual  peculiarities,  all  proceeded  upon  very 
nearly  the  same  general  principles.  The  study 
of  these  precious  records  puts  us  in  possession  of 
secrets  that  we  could  learn  by  no  other  means  ; 
and,  by  carefully  comparing  them  with  complete 
Scores,  by  the  s;ime  great  writers,  we  may  gain 
a  far  deeper  insight  into  the  mysteries  of  Scoring 
than  any  amount  of  oral  instruction  could  possi 
bly  convey.  [W.S.R.] 

SCOTCH  SNAP  or  CATCH  is  the  name 
given  to  the  reverse  of  the  ordinary  dotted  note 
which  has  a  short  note  after  it — in  the  snap  the 
short  note  comes  first  and  is  followed  by  the  long 
one.  It  is  a  characteristic  of  the  slow  Strathspey 
reel  rather  than  of  Scotish  vocal  music,  though 
as  Burns  and  others  wrote  songs  to  some  of  these 
dance-tunes,  it  is  not  infrequently  found  in  con 
nection  with  word.s.  '  Green  grow  the  rashes,' 
'Roy's  wife,'  'Whistle  o'er  the  lave  o't,'  and 
above  all,  Hook's  excellent  imitation  of  the  Scot 
ish  style,  '  Within  a  mile  of  Edinburgh,'  contain 
examples  of  the  snap.  It  was  in  great  favour 
with  many  of  the  Italian  composers  of  last  cen 
tury,  for  Dr.  Burney — who  seems  to  have  in 
vented  the  name — says  in  his  account  of  the 
Italian  Opera  in  London,  in  1 748,  that  there  was 
at  this  time  too  much  of  the  *  Scots  catch  or 
cutting  short  of  the  first  of  two  notes  in  a  melody.' 
He  blames  Cocchi,  Perez  and  Jomelli  '  all  three 
masters  concerned  in  the  opera  Vologeso '  for 
being  lavish  of  the  snap.  An  example  of  it  will 
be  found  in  the  Musette  of  Handel's  Organ  Con 
certo  in  G  minor  ( 1 739) ;  he  also  uses  it  occasion 
ally  in  his  vocal  music. 


-r 


ff'trtu 


l"-vJ 


tpq 
^ 


Efe 


[J.M.W.] 

SCOTCH    SYMPHONY,    THE.      Mendels 
sohn's  own  name  for  his  A  major  Symphony  (op. 


438 


SCOTCH  SYMPHONY. 


56),  one  of  the  works  in  which  he  recorded  the 
impressions  of  his  Scotch  tour  in  1829.  Other 
results  of  that  expedition  are  the  '  Hebrides ' 
overture,  the  PF.  Fantasia  in  F|  minor  (op.  28), 
originally  entitled  by  its  author  'Senate  e'cossaise,' 
the  PF.  Fantasia  in  A  minor,  op.  16,  no.  i,  and 
the  two-part  song  '  0'  wert  thou  in  the  cauld 
cauld  blast.' 

The  subject  of  the  opening  Andante  of  the 
Symphony  dates  from  his  visit  to  Holyrood  in 
the  evening  of  July  30,  1829,  when  it  was  written 
down.  The  Symphony  was  planned  and  begun 
during  his  residence  in  Italy  in  1831,  but  was 
not  finally  finished  till  Jan.  20,  1842,  the  date 
on  the  finished  score.  It  was  first  performed  at 
a  Gewandhaus  Concert  on  March  3  of  the  same 
year,  again  at  the  Gewandhaus  Concert  next  fol 
lowing.  He  then  brought  it  to  England,  conducted 
it  at  the  Philharmonic  Concert,  June  13,  1842, 
and  obtained  permission  to  dedicate  it  to  Queen 
Victoria. 

The  passage  for  flutes,  bassoons,  and  horns, 
connecting  the  end  of  the  first  movement  with 
the  scherzo,  was,  on  the  authority  of  Prof.  Mac- 
farren,  put  in  after  the  rehearsal  (under  Sterndale 
Bennett)  at  the  Philharmonic,  and  added  by 
Goodwin,  the  copyist,  to  the  Leipzig  MS.  parts. 
The  score  and  parts  were  published  (as  Symphony 
no.  3)  by  Breitkopf  &  Hartel  in  March  1851. 

The  work  is  peculiar  among  Mendelssohn's 
symphonies  from  the  fact  that  it  is  not  separated 
by  the  usual  pauses.  This  is  especially  enjoined 
in  a  preface  by  the  author  prefixed  to  the  score, 
in  which  the  titles  and  tempi  are  given,  differently 
from  what  they  are  at  the  head  of  the  movements 
themselves.  [G.] 

SCOTISH  MUSIC.  As  national  music, 
that  of  Scotland  has  long  been  held  in  high 
esteem.  Early  notices  of  it  may  be  meagre,  but 
are  always  laudatory.  Unfortunately,  there  are 
no  means  of  proving  what  it  was  in  remote  times, 
for  the  art  of  conveying  a  knowledge  of  sounds 
by  comprehensible  written  signs  was  a  late  inven 
tion,  and  music  handed  downi  by  mere  tradition 
is  always  most  untrustworthy.  Even  after  the 
invention  of  musical  writing,  the  learned  men 
who  possessed  the  art  employed  it  almost  entirely 
in  the  perpetuation  of  scholastic  music,  having  ap 
parently  an  equal  contempt  for  melody  in  general, 
and  for  the  tunes  prized  by  the  uneducated  vulgar. 
There  is  a  belief  that  the  earliest  Scotish  music 
was  constructed  on  a  series  of  sounds  which  has 
been  styled  Pentatonic,  not,  however,,  peculiar  to 
Scotland,  for  airs  of  a  similar  cast  have  been  found 
in  countries  so  wide  apart  as  China  and  the  West 
Coast  of  Africa.  Many  have  conceived  the  idea 
that  the  style  was  brought  into  this  island  by  its 
earliest  known  inhabitants — the  little  dark  men 
of  the  Iberian  race.  Others,  with  more  or  less 
probability,  ascribe  its  introduction  to  the  Celts, 
whose  love  of  music  is  generally  admitted.  As 
no  evidence  is  or  can  be  offered  on  either  side,  it 
is  sufficient  to  mention  the  conjectures. 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  the  first  to  write  a 
history  of  Scotish  music  based  on  research  was 
an  Englishman,  Joseph  Eitson,  a  celebrated  anti- 


SCOTISH  MUSIC. 

quary  and  critic,  who  wrote  towards  the  end  of 
last  century.     He  seems  to  have  been  a  man  of 
irascible  temperament,  but  love  of  truth  lay  at 
the  root  of  his  onslaughts  upon  Johnson,  Warton, 
Percy,   Pinkevton,  and  others.      Any  assertion 
made  without  sufficient  evidence,  he  treated  as 
falsehood,  and  attacked  in  the  most  uncompromis 
ing  manner.     His  '  Historical  Essay  on  Scotish 
Song'  has  so  smoothed   the  way  for  all  later 
writers  on  the  subject  that  it  would  be  ungenerous 
not  to  acknowledge  the  storehouse  from  which 
his  successors  have  drawn  their  information — in 
many  cases  without  citing  their  authority.     The 
early  portion  of  the  Essay  treats  of  the  poetry  of 
the  songs,  beginning  with  mere  rhymes  on  the 
subject  of  the  death  of  Alexander  III.  (1285), 
the  siege  of  Berwick  (1296),  Bannockb  urn  (1314^, 
and  so  on  to  the  times  of  James  I.  (1393-1437), 
whose  thorough  English   education   led  to  his 
being  both  a  poet  and  a  musician.     His  '  truly 
excellent  composition  At  Beltayne  or  Peblis  to 
the  play  is  still  held  in  high  esteem,'  but  of  his 
music  there  are  no  remains.     This  is  the  more 
to  be  regretted  as  a  well-worn  quotation  from 
Tassoni  states  that '  Non  pur  cose  sacre  compose 
iu  canto,  ma  trovb  da  se  stesso  una  nuova  musica 
lamentevole  e  mesta,  differente  da  tutte  1'altre ' — 
James  (first)  King  of  Scotland  '  not  only  wrote 
sacred  compositions  for  the  voice,  but  found  out 
of  himself  a  new  style  of  music,  plaintive  and 
mournful,  differing  from  every  other.'    This  de 
scription  of  'plaintive  and  mournful' agrees  very 
well  with  one  style  of  Scotish  music  ;    and  as 
the  King  wrote  poetry  to  please  his  unlettered 
subjects  he  may  also  occasionally  have  composed 
music  of  an  equally  popular  cast.     That  James 
improved  Scotish   music  need   not  be  doubted, 
but  it  is  altogether  absurd  to  suppose  that  he 
invented  a  style  that  must  have  been  in  existence 
long  before  his  era.     The  quotation,  however, 
serves  to  show  that  in  Italy  James  and  not  Rizzio 
— most  gratuitously  supposed  to  have  aided  the 
development  of  Scotish  music — was  believed  to 
have    originated   or   amended    this   style.     As 
Tassoni  flourished  soon  after  Rizzio's  time,  he 
had  an  opportunity  of  knowing  somewhat  more 
of  the  question  than  writers  who  came  a  century 
and  a  half  later.     George  Farquhar  Graham  has 
at  some  length  controverted  the  Eizzio  myth. 
Graham  was  a  very  competent  judge  of  such 
matters,  and  believed  that  some  of  our  airs  might 
be  of  the  I5th  century;  though  the  earliest  to 
which  a  date  can  now  be  affixed  is  the  '  Lament 
for  Flodden,'  1 5 1 3,  of  which  further  mention  will 
be  made. 

As  so  little  is  known  of  the  popular  music 
of  the  1 5th  century,  a  few  extracts  from  the 
accounts  of  the  Lords  High  Treasurers  of  Scot 
land  may  be  found  interesting.  They  show  the 
value  placed  on  the  services  of  musicians  who 
at  various  times  visited  the  Courts  of  James  III. 
and  James  IV.  Scotish  money  being  usually 
reckoned  as  worth  only  one  twelfth  of  English 
money,  the  payments  seem  very  small ;  but  are 
not  so  in  reality.  For  on  consulting  a  table 
of  prices  of  provisions  supplied  for  a  banquet 


SCOTISH  MUSIC. 


SCOTISH  MUSIC. 


439 


given  by  James  IV.  to  the  French  ambassador, 
it  is  f«»und  that  a  gratuity  such  as  that  to  John 
Broun  would  buy  seven  oxen  ;  and  that  the  '  twa 
fithelaris'  (fiddlers)  who  sang  'Graysteil'  to  the 
King  received  the  value  of  three  sheep.  The 
sums  seem  odd,  but  an  examination  of  the  items 
will  show  that  the  payments  were  made  in  gold. 
The  unicorn  (a  Scottish  coin  that  weighed  from 
57  to  60  grains  of  gold)  is  valued  in  the  accounts 
at  eighteen  shillings  ;  and  another  coin,  the  equi 
valent  of  the  French  crown,  at  fourteen  shillings — 

1474.  Item,  gevin  at  the  kingis  command  iij°  Septembris, 
to  John  Broiin,  lutare,  at  his  passage  our  sey  to  leue 
(?  lere,  i.  e.  learn)  his  craft,  .  .  .  v.  li. 

1439.  July  1. — Item,  to  Wilzeam,  sangster  of  Lithgow 
for  a  sang  bwke  he  brocht  to  the  king  be  a  precept, 

x.  li. 

1490.  April  19. — To  Martin  Clareschaw  and  ye  toder  ersche 
clareschaw  at  ye  kingis  command,  .  xviij.  s. 

May.— Till  ane  ersche  harper,  at  ye  kingis  command, 

xviij.  s. 

Mr.  Gunn,  in  his  Enquiry  on  the  Harp  in  the 
Highlands,  quotes  thus  from  a  work  of  1597 — • 
'The  strings  of  their  ClairscJioes  (small  Gaelic 
harp)  are  made  of  br.asse  wyar,  and  the  strings 
of  the  Harp  of  sinews,  which  strings  they  stryke 
either  with  their  nayles  growing  long  or  else 
with  an  instrument  appointed  for  that  use.'  The 
correct  word  is  Clarsach ;  and  the  harper  Clarsair. 

14:11.  Aug.  21. — Item  to  iiij  Inglis  pyparis  viij  unicorns, 

vij.  li.  iiij.  s. 
1417.  Apr.  10. — Item  to  John  Hert  for  bering  a  pare  of 

monicordis  of  the  kingis  fra  Abirdene  to  Strivelin 

(Stirling), ix.  s. 

Apr.  11.— Item,  to  the  tua  fithelaris  that  sang  Graysteil 

to  ze  king, ix.  s. 

1500.  Mar.  1.— Item,  to  Jacob,  lutar,  to  lowse  his  lute 

that  lay  in  wed, xxxij.  s. 

(Which  means  that  the  thriftless  Jacob  re 
ceived  the  value  of  eleven  sheep  to  redeem  his 
lute  that  lay  in  pawn.) 

1503.  Aug.  13.— Item  to  viij  Inglis  menstrales  be  the 
kingis  command  xl  f<enche  crownis,  .  xxviij.  li. 

Sept.  10. — Item  to  the  four  Italien  menstrales  tofe  thaim 
hors  to  Linlithqw  and  to  red  thaim  of  the  town, 

Ivj.  s. 

(Riotous  fellows,  no  doubt,  who  got  a  French 
crown  each  to  clear  their  '  score '  in  Edinburgh, 
and  hire  horses  to  Linlithgow.) 

Information  regarding  the  state  of  popular 
music  during  the  i6th  century  is  almost  equally 
meagre.  James  V.  is  believed  to  have  written 
two  songs  on  the  subject  of  certain  adventures 
which  befell  him  while  wandering  through  the 
country  in  disguise  ;  these  are  '  The  gaberlunzie 
man'  and  'The  beggar's  mealpokes'  (mealbags). 
The  airs  are  said  to  be  of  the  same  date,  but  of 
this  there  is  really  no  certainty ;  though  Eitson, 
with  all  his  scepticism,  admits  them  into  his  list 
of  early  tunes  ;  the  second  is  much  too  modern  in 
style  to  have  been  of  James  V's  date.  Of  Mary's 
time  there  are  two  curious  works  in  which  musi 
cal  matters  are  mentioned.  '  The  Complaynte 
of  Scotland'  (1549),  and  'The  Gude  and  Godly 
Ballates '  (ballads)  (1578),  both  of  which  furnish 
the  names  of  a  number  of  tunes  almost  all  now 
unknown.  Mr.  J.  A.  H.  Murray,  in  his  excellent  re 
print  of  the  former  of  these,  says  '  The  Complaynte 
of  Scotland  consists  of  two  principal  parts,  viz. 
the  author's  Discourse  concerning  the  affliction 
and  misery  of  his  country,  and  his  Dream  of 


Dame  Scotia  and  her  complaint  against  her  three 
sons.  These  are,  with  rather  obvious  art,  con 
nected  together  by  what  the  author  terms  his 
Monologue  Recreative.' 

This  Monologue — which,  from  its  being  printed 
on  unpaged  leaves,  Mr.  Murray  has  discovered 
to  be  an  afterthought — is  now  the  most  inter 
esting  part  of  the  work.  In  it  the  author  intro 
duces  a  number  of  shepherds  and  their  wives. 
After  'disjune'  (dejeuner}  the  chief  shepherd 
delivers  a  most  learned  address,  and  then  they 
proceed  to  relate  stories  from  ancient  mythology, 
and  also  from  the  middle  ages.  Short  extracts  to 
give  an  idea  of  the  style  may  not  be  objected  to. 

Quhen  the  scbeipherd  hed  endit  his  prolixt  orison  to 
the  laif  of  the  scheiphirdis,  i  meruellit  nocht  litil  quhen 
i  herd  ane  rustic  pagtour  of  bestialite,  distitut  of  vrbanite, 
and  of  speculatione  of  natural  philosophe,  indoctryne 
his  nychtboura  as  he  hed  studeit  ptholome,  auerois, 
aristotel,  galien,  ypocrites  or  Cicero,  quhilk  var  expert 
practician  in  methamatic  art.  .  .  .  Quhen  thir  scheip- 
hyrdis  hed  tald  al  thyr  pleysand  storeis,  than  thay  and 
thervyuis  began  to  sing  sueit  melodius  sangis  of  natural 
music  of  the  antiquite.  the  foure  marmadyns  that  sang 
quhen  thptis  vas  mareit  on  month  pillion,  thai  sang 
nocht  sa  sueit  as  did  thir  scheiphyrdis.  .  .  . 

Then  follows  a  list  of  songs,  including  — 

Pastance  vitht  gude  companye,  Stil  vndir  the  leynis 
grene,  Cou  thou  me  the  raschis  grene,  .  . .  brume  brume 
on  nil,  .  .  .  bille  vil  thou  cum  by  a  lute  and  belt  the  in 
Sanct  Francis  cord,  The  frog  cam  to  the  myl  dur,  rycht 
soirly  musing  in  my  mynde,  god  sen  the  due  hed  byddin 
in  France,  and  delaubaute  hed  neuyr  cum  name,  .  .  . 
o  lusty  maye  vitht  flora  quene,  .  .  .  the  battel  of  the 
hayrlau,  the  hunttis  of  cheuet,  .  .  .  My  lufe  is  lyand 
seik,  send  hym  ioy,  send  hym  ioy,  .  .  .  The  perssee  and 
the  mongumrye  met,  That  day,  that  day,  that  genti.  day. 

With  the  exception  of  the  ballads,  these  seem  to 
be  chiefly  part-songs,  some  of  them  English. 

Than  eftir  this  sueit  celest  armonye,  tha  began  to 
dance  in  ane  ring,  euyrie  aid  scheiphyrd  led  his  vyfe 
be  the  hand,  and  euyrie  Bong  scheiphird  led  hyr  quhome 
he  luffit  best.  Ther  vas  viij  scheiphyrdis,  and  ilk  ane  of 
them  hed  ane  syndry  instrament  to  play  to  the  laif.  the 
fyrst  hed  ane  drone  bag  pipe,  the  nyxt  hed  ane  pipe 
maid  of  ane  bleddir  and  of  ane  reid,  the  thrid  playit  on 
ane  trump,  the  feyrd  on  ane  corne  pipe,  the  fyf  t  playit 
on  ane  pipe  maid  of  ane  gait  home,  the  sext  playt  on 
ane  recordar,  the  seuint  plait  on  ane  flddil,  and  the  last 
plait  on  ane  quhissil. 

The  second  instrument  seems  to  have  been  a 
bagpipe  without  the  drone ;  the  third,  a  Jew's- 
harp,  and  the  last  a  shepherd's-pipe,  or  flute 
a  bee.  Sir  J.  Graham  Dalyell  says  'Neither  the 
form  nor  the  use  of  the  whistle  (quhissil)  is  ex 
plicit.  It  is  nowhere  specially  denned.  In  1498 
xiiij  s.  is  paid  for  a  whussel  to  the  King.  .  .  . 
Corn-pipe,  Lilt-pipe,  and  others  are  alike  obscure.' 

In  the  other  little  book  already  mentioned, 
known  as  the  'Gude  and  Godly  Ballates'  (1578) 
there  are  a  number  of  songs  '  converted  from 
profane  into  religious  poetry.'  Dr.  David  Laing, 
who  published  a  reprint  of  it  in  1868,  informs  us 
that  the  authorship  of  the  work  is  usually  as 
signed  to  two  brothers,  John  and  Robert  Wed- 
derburn  of  Dundee,  who  flourished  about  the 
year  1540.  It  is  divided  into  three  portions; 
the  first  is  doctrinal ;  the  second  contains  metrical 
versions  of  Psalms,  with  some  hymns,  chiefly 
from  the  German  ;  the  third,  which  gives  its 
peculiar  character  to  the  collection,  may  be  de 
scribed  as  sacred  parodies  of  secular  songs.  They 
were  to  be  sung  to  well-known  melodies  of  the 
time,  which  were  indicated  usually  by  the  first 


440 


SCOTISH  MUSIC. 


line  or  the  chorus  ;  but  as  Dr.  Laing  points 
out  that  not  one  of  the  secular  songs  of  which 
these  parodies  were  imitations  has  come  down  to 
us,  a  few  only  of  the  tunes  can  be  ascertained. 
Three  of  them  are  certainly  English,  '  John 
cum  kiss  me  now,'  'Under  the  greenwood  tree/ 
and  '  The  huntis  up.'  A  fourth  is  '  Hey  now  the 
day  dawes,'  which  Sibbald  and  Stenhouse  have 
attempted  to  identify  with  '  Hey  tuti  taiti '  (Scots 
wha  hae).  This  is  not  only  improbable,  but  is 
disproved  by  a  tune  of  the  same  name  being 
found  in  the  Straloch  MS.  (1627).  It  has  no  Scot- 
ish  characteristics,  and  may  have  been  picked  up 
from  some  of  the  English  or  foreign  musicians 
who  were  frequent  visitors  at  the  Scotish  Court. 
It  is  an  excellent  livel}'  tune,  and  may  have  been 
that  played  by  the  town  pipers  of  Edinburgh  in 
the  time  of  James  IV;  if  so,  the  note  marked 
with  an  asterisk  must  have  been  altered  to  C  to 
suit  the  scale  of  the  instrument.  Dunbar  thought 
it  so  hackneyed  that  he  complains 

Your  common  menstrallis  ha3  no  tone 
But  '  Now  the  day  dawis  '  and  '  Into  Joun ' 
Think  ye  nocht  shame. 

The  day  dawis. 
(From  the  Straloch  MS.  A.D.  1627.) 


Toi     D  "     *  *  J   r 

-- 

—      ^> 

r       ^      | 

vy     a:   •          "  • 

. 

^ 

> 

1            1 

•—  •  — 

* 

-i  t-i 

—  1  ^  —  ^^*  —  4  * 

-f- 

Ep 

(•_.     P 

1    N 

/ 

-i—  «-^JT|    -    ->-£ 

>  | 

-£--P          - 

1     • 

i 

3"1                     \        i 

\                    w 

a 

•    !• 

•  1« 

£li 

k 

•  •   •   " 

J 

ft 

- 

1 

^-         * 

-•  • 

•                 *    4 

B 

r  '[ 

hh 

9 

•  -A--  «-      -1^ 

IS       i 

J  - 

* 

^ 

K 

1 

Of  the  other  son^s,  '  Ah  my  love,  leif  me  not ' 
may  be  '  I  '11  never  leave  thee,'  and  '  Ane  sang  on 
the  birth  of  Christ,  to  be  sung  with  the  tune  of 
Eawlulalu,'  may  probably  be  '  Baloo  my  boy  lie 
still  and  sleep,'  for  in  both  songs  the  measure 
and  also  the  subject — sacred  for  secular — are  the 
same.  The  words,  being  in  Bishop  Percy's 
ancient  MS.,  are  thought  to  be  English,  but  Dr. 
Kimbault  considered  the  time  to  be  Scotish. 
Sibbald's  identifications  of  a  few  other  tunes  are 
altogether  fanciful :  '  The  wind  blaws  cauld, 
furious  'and  bauld,'  with  '  Up  in  the  morning 
early ' ;  '  My  luve  murnis  for  me,'  with  '  He's  low 
down  in  the  broom,'  and  so  on.  Altogether  not 
more  than  a  third  of  the  whole  can  now  be  even 
guessed  at. 

The  religious  troubles  of  this  and  the  following 
reigns  would  no  doubt  completely  unsettle  what 
ever  musical  tuition  might  be  carried  on  by  the 
Romish  Church,  but  the  introduction  of  'sang 
schuils '  and  of  Genevan  Psalmody  would  prob 
ably  soon  compensate  for  any  loss  thence  arising. 
[SANG  SCHOOLS.]  It  does  not  come  within  the 
scope  of  this  paper  to  consider  such  changes ; 
but  the  allegation  already  alluded  to,  that  Rizzio 
composed  some  of  the  finest  Scotish  melodies,  is 
deserving  of  a  more  careful  enquiry. 

Goldsmith,  at  the  instigation  apparently  of 
Geminiani,  chose  to  write  an  essay  on  a  subject 


SCOTISH  MUSIC. 

of  which  he  evidently  knew  very  little.  He 
asserts  that  Rizzio  was  brought  over  from  Italy 
by  James  V.,  lived  twenty  years  in  Scotland,  and 
thus  had  sufficient  time  to  get  a  knowledge  of 
the  style,  and  ample  opportunities  for  improv 
ing  it.  It  is  well  known,  on  the  contrary,  that 
Rizzio  came  over  in  the  suite  of  the  Piedmontese 
Ambassador  in  1561,  19  years  after  the  death  of 
James  V.,  and  was  little  more  than  four  years  in 
Scotland.  That  he  ever  composed  anything  in 
any  style  has  yet  to  be  shown.  Tassoni,  who  was 
born  the  year  of  Rizzio's  death  (1565),  and  who 
speaks  of  Scotish  music — as  has  already  been 
noticed — entirely  ignores  him.  In  truth  the  myth 
seems  to  have  been  got  up  in  London  early  in  the 
last  century,  probably  among  his  own  country 
men.  It  is  first  heard  of  in  the  'Orpheus  Cale- 
donius'  of  1725,  where  the  editor  ascribes  seven 
tunes  to  him.  Two  at  least  of  these  are  shown 
by  their  style  to  be  very  recent  compositions  ;  but 
the  absurdity  of  the  statement  must  have  been 
quite  apparent,  as  all  mention  of  Rizzio's  name 
was  withdrawn  in  the  next  edition  of  the  work, 

1733- 

Oswald,  by  jestingly  ascribing  some  of  his  own 
compositions  to  Rizzio,  helped  to  keep  up  the 
falsehood.  Notwithstanding  the  disclaimers  of 
Ritson,  Hawkins,  and  more  recently  of  G.  Far- 
quhar  Graham,  as  well  as  of  all  who  have  made 
any  research  into  the  question,  the  belief  still 
exists,  and  is  from  time  to  time  gravely  pro 
pounded  by  persons  who  ought  to  know  better. 
For  1 60  years  after  his  death  Rizzio  is  not 
mentioned  as  having  composed  music  of  any  kind. 
Had  he  done  so,  it  would  have  been  in  the  style 
of  France  or  of  Italy,  and  it  may  be  doubted 
whether  Queen  Mary  herself  would  have  appre 
ciated  any  other.  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that 
she  quitted  Scotland  when  little  more  than  five 
years  of  age,  and  returned  Queen  Dowager  of 
France,  a  widow  of  nineteen,  with  all  her  tastes 
formed  and  every  association  and  recollection 
connected  with  a  more  civilised  country  than 
her  own. 

Mr.  Dauney,  in  his  Dissertation  prefixed  to  the 

Skene  MS.  gives  some  interesting  information 

regarding  the  Chapel  Royal  in  Stirling.     It  was 

founded  by  James  III.,  of  whom  Lindsay  of  Pits- 

cottie  says  that  '  he  delighted  more  in  musick  and 

in  policies  of  Bigging  (building)  than  he  did  in 

the  governance  of  his  realm  ....  He  delighted 

more  in  singing  and  playing  on  instruments,  than 

he  did  in  the  Defence  of  the  Borders  ....  He 

took  great  pleasour  to  dwell  thair  (in  Stirling) 

and  foundet  ane  collige  within  the  said  Castle 

callit  the  Chappell  Royal ;   also  he  bigget  the 

great  hall  of  Stirling ;  also  he  maid  in  the  said 

Chappell  Royal  all  kynd  of  office  men,  to  wit,  the 

bishop  of  Galloway  archdean,  the  treasurer  and 

sub-dean,  the  chantor  and  sub-chantor,  with  all 

other  officieris  pertaining  to  a  College ;  and  also 

he  doubled  thaim,  to  that  effect,  that,  theyschould 

ever  be  readie ;   the  one  half  to  pass  with  him 

wherever  he  pleased,  that  they  might  sing  and 

play  to  him  and  hold  him  merrie  ;  and  the  other 

half  should  remain  at  home  to  sing  and  pray  for 


SCOTISH  MUSIC. 


SCOTISH  MUSIC. 


441 


him  and  his  successioun'  (ed.  1728).     All  this 
was  afterwards  abolished  ;  but  in  1612  its  resto 
ration  was  ordered  by  James  VI,,  its  place  of 
residence  to  be  at  'Halyrudhous' — 'the  palace 
of  the  samyn,  and  the  Chappell  not  to  be  called 
the  Chappell  royall  of  Striveling  as  heretofore  but 
his  majesties  Chappell  Royall  of  Scotland,  and 
the  members  to  attend  his  majesty  in  whatever 
part  of  Scotland  he  may  happen  to  be.'    In  1629 
Charles  I.  granted  an  annual  pension  of  £2000  to 
the  musicians  of  the  Chapel,  and  preparations 
were  made  for  the  celebration  of  religious  service 
according  to  the  forms  of  the  Church  of  England. 
The  nature  of  these  arrangements  is  very  fully 
given  in  an  '  Information  to  the  King  by  E. 
Kellie'  (1631):  among  other  things  he  was  ap 
pointed  '  to  see  that  none  but  properly  qualified 
persons  should  have  a  place  there,  and  that  they 
should  all  be  kept  at  daily  practise,  and  for  that 
effect  your  Majestic  appointed  mee  ane  chambre 
within  your  pallace  of  Halyrudhous  wherein  I 
have  provided  and  sett  up,  ane  organe,  two  flutes, 
two  pandores,  with  violls  and  other  instruments, 
with  all  sorts  of  English.  French,  Dutch,  Spaynish, 
Latine,  Italian,  and  OLD  SCOTCH  music,  vocall 
and  instrumental!.'  The  capitals  are  Mr.  Da  'iney's, 
who  says,  '  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  last 
expression  referred  to  the  popular  national  music 
of  Scotland.     That  sacred  music  was  here  not 
meant    is    sufficiently    obvious ;     the    metrical 
psilmody  of  the  Reformed  Church  was  not  old, 
and  the  music  of  the  Church  in  Scotland  before 
the  Reformation  was  identical  with  that  of  Rome, 
and  therefore  not  Scottish.'     Here  Mr.  Dauney 
surely  applies  to  the  music  what  can  only  be  said 
of  the  words  of  the  service  ;  the  latter  were  the 
same  throughout  all  Roman  Catholic  countries, 
while  the  music,  on  the  contrary,  varied  in  every 
locality,  being  frequently  the  composition  of  the 
chapel-master  or  of  the  organist  of  the  church 
where  it  was  performed.     Without  insisting  on 
the  fact  already  stated,  that  James  I.  of  Scot 
land  wrote  sacred  music — '  cose  sacre  compose  in 
canto' — reference  may  be  made  to  the  Scotish 
composers   mentioned  by  Dr.  David   Laing   as 
having  written  music  for  the  church  before  the 
Reformation.     Among  these  are  Andrew  Black- 
hall,  a  canon  of  Holyrood ;  David  Peblis,  one  of 
the  canons  of  St.  Andrews,  who  in  1530  set  the 
canticle  '  Si  quis  diliget  me '  in  five  parts ;  and 
Sir  John  Futhy  ('the  Sir  denotes  he  was  a  priest'), 
who  wrote  a  moral  song,  '  0  God  abufe,'  in  four 
parts,  '  baith  letter  and  not,'  that  is,  both  words 
and  music — as  well  as  others  whose  names  it  is 
unnecessary  to  mention.    Besides,  there  need  not 
be  a  doubt  that  their  predecessors  were  occasional 
composers  from  the  time  when  James  I.  in  1424 
set  up  organs  in  churches.    That  this  is  the  music 
called  Old  Scotish  in  Kellie's  '  Information'  seems 
to  be  the  only  reasonable  explanation  of  these 
words.    For  though  the  members  of  Kellie's  choir 
in  fitting  time  and  place  might  sing  to  the  king 
'  to  hold  him  merrie,'  this  would  not  be  the  music 
which  they  were  called  upon  to  practise  twice  a 
week  in  preparation  for  the  next  service. 
It  is  to  the  reign  of  Charles  I.  that  we  owe  the 


first  certain  glimpse  of  early  Scotish  folk-music. 
All  that  was  known  of  it  had  come  down  by  tradi 
tion,  till  the  discovery — only  in  the  present  cen 
tury — of  two  MSS.  of  this  date,  which  establish 
the  existence  of  a  number  of  tunes  whose  age  and 
form  were  previously  entirely  conjectural.  These 
are  the  Straloch  and  Skene  MSS.  The  first  was 
written  by  Robert  Gordon  of  Straloch,  Aberdeen- 
shire,  in  1627-29.  It  was  presented  to  Dr.  Bur- 
ney  in  1781,  but  the  present  possessor  is  not 
known.  Fortunately  it  was  in  1839  submitted 
to  G.  Farquhar  Graham,  who,  by  permission, 
made  an  excerpt  from  it  of  all  that  was  worthy  of 
preservation,  and  presented  this  to  the  Advocates' 
Library.  The  copy  was  of  course  exact,  and  con 
tained  all  the  errors  of  the  original,  which  were 
numerous :  these  make  a  translation  from  the  Lute 
Tablature — in  which  it  is  written — into  the 
usual  notation  a  very  arduous  task,  requiring 
much  patience,  knowledge,  and  ingenuity. 

The  second  is  a  much  more  important  MS. 
It  was  formed  by  or  for  John  Skene  of  Hallyards, 
Midlothian,  and  has  no  date ;  but  its  seven  parts, 
now  bound  together,  seem  from  internal  evidence 
to  have  been  written  at  various  times  up  to  about 
1635.  In  general  it  is  much  more  correct  than 
the  last,  its  versions  are  occasionally  excellent ; 
its  Scotish  airs,  after  rejecting  dances  and 
everything  else  not  of  home  .  growth,  are  not 
fewer  than  forty.  Above  all,  it  contains  the 
ancient  original  melody  of  '  The  flowers  of  the 
forest' ;  whose  simple  pathos  forbids  our  believing 
it  to  be  the  expression  of  any  but  a  true  sorrow, 
the  wail  of  a  mourner  for  those  who  would  never 
return — and  which  no  doubt  is  nearly  coeval 
with  Flodden.  The  MS.  was  published  in  1838  by 
Mr.  Wm.  Dauney,  with  a  Dissertation,  excellent 
in  many  respects,  on  the  subject  of  Scotish 
music.  He  was  greatly  assisted  by  G.  Farquhar 
Graham,  who  not  only  translated  the  MS.  from 
Lute  Tablature,  but  contributed  much  musical 
and  other  information.  In  order  to  give  some 
idea  of  the  style  of  writing  in  Tablature  a  wood 
cut  of  a  small  portion  of  the  MS.  is  inserted. 


A 


•h  i'  S 


As  these  MSS.  had  not  been  discovered  in 


442 


SCOTISH  MUSIC. 


Ritson's  time,  it  does  not  surprise  one  to  find 
him  saying  in  his  letters  (1791)  that  'the  Scot- 
ish  airs  that  could  be  satisfactorily  proved  to 
have  existed  earlier  than  the  Restoration  are 
in  all  only  twenty-four.'  If  from  these  are  de 
ducted  all  that  do  not  fall  under  the  head  of 
folk-music*  then  his  estimate  must  be  reduced 
by  nearly,  a  half,  for  he  included  part-songs  such 
as  '0  lusty  May';  several  tunes  now  known 
to  be  English  ;  and,  notwithstanding  his  noted 
scepticism,  even  the  air  which,  for  want  of  an 
earlier  name,  is  called  'Hei  tuti  taiti' ;  appending 
this  note  however — '  said,  without  the  slightest 
probability,  to  have  been  King  Robert  Bruce's 
march  to  Bannockburn.'  These  MSS.  enlarge  this 
estimate  considerably.  Leaving  out  the  English 
airs  and  foreign  dances,  upwards  of  fifty  tunes 
must  be  added  to  it.  Some  of  them  are  in  a 
rather  uudimentary  state,  but  distinctive  traita 
serve  to  identify  them  with  certain  known  tunes. 
The  versions  of  others  are  simple  and  beautiful, 
often  greatly  preferable  to  those  of  the  same 
airs  handed  down  traditionally.  Although  the 
number  of  melodies  that  can  thus  be  traced  in 
the  J7th  century  is  still  comparatively  small, 
yet  it  must  be  evident  to  all  who  have  studied 
the  subject,  that  a  much  larger  number,  then 
in  existence,  did  not  appear  either  in  print  or  in 
manuscuipt  till  the  following  century.  Not  till 
then  do  we  find  'Aye  waukin  0,'  'Waly  waly,' 
'Barbara  Allan,'  '  Ca  the  yowes,'  'Gala  water,' 
'I  had  a  horse,'  and  many  others  equally  old. 
Ramsay  and  Thomson  (1725)  omitted  these  and 
similar  simple  airs  from  their  collections,  while 
florid  tunes  such  as  '  John  Hay's  bonnie  las-ue ' 
and  '  Love  is  the  cause  of  my  mourning  '  abound 
in  their  volumes.  The  taste  of  their  times  was 
for  ornament,  in  ours  it  is  for  simplicity ;  indeed 
the  very  simplicity  which  we  prize  they  seem  to 
have  despised. 

The  extreme  rarity  of  MSS.  such  as  those 
mentioned  is  greatly  to  be  regretted.  The  never- 
ceasing  wars  upon  the  borders,  and  the  private 
feuds  throughout  the  rest  of  the  kingdom,  with 
their  consequent  destruction  of  castles  and  keeps, 
abbeys  and  cathedrals,  have  had  much  to  do  with 
the  sweeping  away  of  musical  records  of  ancient 
date  which  would  otherwise  have  come  down 
to  us. 

From  some  anecdotes  told  of  Charles  II.  he 
seems  to  have  had  a  great  liking  for  Scotish 
music,  and  certainly  from  the  Restoration  it  be 
came  popular  in  England.  This  is  shown  by  the 
almost  innumerable  imitations  of  the  style  that 
are  to  be  found  in  the  various  publications  of 
John  Play  ford.  They  are  usually  simply  called 
'Scotch  tunes,'  but  sometimes  the  name  of  the 
composer  is  given,  showing  that  no  idea  of  strict 
nationality  attached  to  them.  In  general  they 
are  worthless  ;  but  occasionally  excellent  melodies 
appear  among  them,  such  as  '  She  rose  and  let  me 
in,'  '  Over  the  hills  and  far  away,'  'De'il  take  the 
wars,'  'Sawney  was  tall'  (Corn  rigs),  'In  January 
last '  (Jock  of  Hazeldean),  all  of  which,  with 
many  others  of  less  note,  have  been  incorporated 
in  Scotish  Collections,  at  first  from  ignorance, 


SCOTISH  MUSIC. 

afterwards  from  custom,  and  without  further  en 
quiry.  There  are  however  many  tunes,  not  to  be 
confounded  with  the.^e,  which  two  or  even  three 
centuries  ago  were  common  to  the  northern 
counties  of  England  and  the  adjoining  counties 
of  Scotland,  the  exact  birthplace  of  which  will 
never  be  satisfactorily  determined ;  for  we  agree 
with  Mr.  H.  F.  Chorley  in  believing  that  the 
first  record  in  print  does  not  necessarily  decide 
the  parentage  of  a  tune. 

Among  these — though  rather  on  account  of  the 
words  than  the  music — may  be  classed  the  famous 
song    '  Tak  your   auld   cloak  about  ye,'   which 
having  been  found  in  Bishop  Percy's  Ancient 
MS.  has  been  claimed  as  entirely  English.     The 
Rev.  J.  W.  Ebsworth,  a  very  high  authority, 
believes  it  to  be  the   common  property  of  the 
Border  counties  of  both  nations.     Probably  it  is 
so ;   yet   it   seems   strange   that   so   excellent  a 
ballad,    if  ever   popularly   known   in   England, 
should  have   so   utterly  disappeared  from  that 
country  as   not   to  be  even  mentioned  in  any 
English  work,  or  by  any  English  author  with  the 
exception  of  Shakspere,  who  has  quoted  one  stanza 
of  it  in  Othello.     Not  a  line  of  it  is  to  be  found 
in  the  numerous  '  Drolleries '  of  the  Restoration, 
in  the  publications  of  Playford  and  D'Urfey,  or 
in  the  '  Merry  Musicians '  and  other  song-books 
of  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne.     Even  the  printers 
whose  presses  sent  forth  the  thousands  of  black- 
letter   ballads    that  fill   the   Roxburgh,   Pepys, 
Bagford  and  other  Collections,  ignore  it  entirely. 
Allan  Ramsay,  in  1728,  was  the  first  to  print  it, 
nearly  forty  years  before  Bishop  Percy  gave  his 
version  to  the  world,  confessing  to  have  corrected 
his  own  by  copies  received  from  Scotland.    The 
question  naturally  arises,  where  did  Allan  Ram 
say  get  his  copy  of  the  ballad,  if  not  from  the 
singing  of  the  people.  Certainly  not  from  England, 
for  there  it  was  then  unknown. 

The  ancient  Percy  MS.  contains,  however, 
several  excellent  stanzas  not  found  elsewhere,  as 
well  as  some  others  that  by  the  total  absence  of 
sense  as  well  as  of  rhymes  show  they  are  corrupt. 
In  the  last  stanza  the  transcriber  of  the  MS.  has 
given  the  sound  rather  than  the  sense,  as  con 
veyed  by  the  words  of  the  Scotish  Version.  These 
are 

Nocht  's  to  be  won  at  woman's  ban' 
Unless  you  gie  her  a'  the  plea; 

Sae  I  '11  leave  aff  where  I  began 
And  tak  my  auld  cloak  about  me. 

1  To  give  one  all  the  plea,'  is  a  common  Scotish 
phrase  for  giving  up  the  whole  subject  that  is  in 
debate.  The  Percy  MS.  says 

It's  not  for  a  man  with  a  woman  to  threape 

Unless  he  first  give  over  the  play : 
We  will  live  now  as  we  began 

And  I'll  have  myne  old  cloak  about  me. 

A  critical  comparison  in  detail  of  the  two 
versions  would  be  out  of  place  here,  but  it  will 
well  repay  the  trouble,  and  reveal  many  small 
points  of  difference  in  the  national  character  of 
the  two  countries. 

The  half  century  after  the  Revolution  was  a 
busy  one  both  with  Jacobite  poetry  and  music ; 
of  the  former  the  quantity  is  so.  great  as  to 


SCOTISH  MUSIC. 

require  a  volume  of  its  own.  In  regard  to.  the 
music,  little,  if  any  of  it,  was  new,  for  the  writers 
of  the  words  had  the  wisdom  to  adapt  their  verses 
to  melodies  that  every  one  knew  and  could  sing. 
Thus  many  old  favourite  tunes  got  new  names, 
while  others  equally  old  have  perhaps  been  saved 
to  us  by  their  Jacobite  words,  their  early  names 
being  entirely  lost.  The  story  of  the  battle  of 
Killiecrankie  1689  is  one  of  the  earliest  of  these 
songs,  and  enjoys  the  distinction  of  having  a 
Latin  translation,  beginning 

Grahamius  notabilis  coegerat  Montanos 
Qui  clypeis  et  gladiis  fugarunt  Anglicanos, 
Fugerant  Vallicolae  atque  Puritan! 
Cacavere  Batavi  et  Cameroniani. 

It  is  sung  to  a  Gaelic  tune  of  its  own  name,  so 
quickly  and  so  widely  spread  as  to  be  found  in 
a  Northumbrian  MS.  of  1694,  as  the  Irish 
Gillicranky.  It  is  a.  stirring  bagpipe  tune,  no 
doubt  older  than  the  words. 

A  still  more  celebrated  a:r,  now  known  as 
'Scots  wha  hae,'  received  its  name  of  'Hey  tuti 
t;dti'  from  a  stanza  of  a  song  of  1716  (?),  'Here's 
to  the  king,  sir ;  Ye  ken  wha  I  mean,  sir;'  The 
stanza  is  worth  quoting,  and  would  be  yet  more  so 
could  it  tell  us  the  still  earlier  name  of  the  tune, 
a  subject  which  has  caused  much  discussion. 

When  you  hear  the  trumpet  soun' 
Tuti  taiti  to  t'ie  drum, 
Up  sword,  and  down  gun, 

And  to  the  loons  again. 

The  words  'Tuti  taiti'  are  evidently  only  an 
attempted  imitation  of  the  trumpet  notes,  and 
not  the  name  of  the  air.  To  suppose  that  the 
tune  itself  was  played  on  the  trumpet  as  a  battle 
call  is  too  absurd  for  consideration.  As  the  air 
Las  a  good  deal  in  common  with  '  My  dearie, 
an  thou  dee,'  there  seems  considerable  probability 
that  it  was  another  version  of  the  same,  or  that 
the  one  gave  rise  to  the  other,  a  thing  likely 
enough  to  happen  in  days  when  there  being  no 
books  to  refer  to,  one  singer  took  his  tune  as  he 
best  could  from  his  neighbour. 

'  When  the  king  comes  owre  the  water ' — 
otherwise  '  Boyne  water ' — is  a.  good  example  of 
change  of  name  ;  the  air  has  recently  been  dis 
covered  in  a  MS.  of  1694,  where  it  is  called 
'  Playing  amang  the  rashes,'  a  line  of  an  old 
Scotish  song  recovered  by  Allan  Ramsay,  and 
printed  in  his  'Tea  Table  Miscellany'  1724— a 
fact  which  seems  somewhat  to  invalidate  the  Irish 
claim  to  the  tune. 

When  the  king  comes  owre  the  water. 
(Playing  amang  the  rashes.) 

Prom  W.  GRAHAM'S  Flute  Book  (MS.  i6Q4). 


SCOTISH  MUSIC. 


443 


The  Jacobite  words  are  said  to  have  been 
written  by  Lady  Keith  M arisen  all,  mother  of 
the  celebrated  Marshal  Keith,  a  favourite  general 
of  Frederic  the  Great. 

The  old  air,  already  mentioned,  '  My  dearie, 
an  thou  dee,'  may  be  pointed  out  as  the  tune  of 
an  excellent  Jacobite  song  'Awa,  Whigs,  awa,' 
and  of  another — the  name  of  which  is  all  that 
has  come  down  to  us — '  We're  a'  Mar's  men,' 
evidently  alluding  to  the  Earl  of  Mar,  general 
issimo  of  James's  forces  in  Scotland  in  1715. 

Another  of  the  songs  of  1715,  'The  piper  o* 
Dundee,'  gives  the  names  of  a  number  of  tunes 
supposed  to  be  played  by  the  piper — Carnegie  of 
Finhaven — to  stir  up  the  chiefs  and  their  clans 
to  join  the  Earl  of  Mar. 

He  pla.y'd  the  'Welcome  o'er  the  main,' 
And  'Ye'se  be  fou  and  Fse  be  fain,' 
And  'Auld  Stuarts  back  again,' 

Wi'  meikle  mirth  and  glee. 

He  play'd  'The  Kirk;  he  play'd  '  The  Quier,'  [  -hoir] 
'  The  Mullin  dhu'  and  'Chevalier,' 
And  '  Lang  away  but  welcome  here,' 

Sae  sweet,  sae  bonnilie. 

Notwithstanding  the  diligence  of  collectors  and 
annotators  some  of  these  songs  and  tunes  have 
eluded  recognition,  chiefly  because  of  a,  habit  of 
those  times  to  name  a  tune  by  any  line  of  a  song 
— not  necessarily  the  first — or  by  some  casual 
phrase  or  allusion  that  occurred  in- it. 

Other  noted  songs  of  this  date  are  '  Carle  an 
(if)  the  King  come ' ;  '  To  daunton  me ' ;  '  Little 
wat  ye  wha's  comin,'  the  muster-roll  of  the 
clans  ;  '  Will  ye  go  to  Sheriffmuir ' ;  and  '  Ken- 
mure's  on  and  awa.' 

A  striking  phase  of  Jacobite  song  was  un 
sparing  abuse  of  the  House  of  Hanover ;  good 
specimens  of  it  are  '  The  wee  wee  German 
lairdie,'  '  The  sow's  tail  to  Geordie,'  and  above 
all,  'Cumberland's  descent  into  hell,' which  is  so 
ludicrous  and  yet  so  horrible  that  the  rising 
laugh  is  checked  by  a  shudder.  This  however 
belongs  to  the  '45,  the  second  rising  of  the  clans. 
Of  the  same  date  is  '  Johnie  Cope,'  perhaps  the 
best-known  of  all  the  songs  on  the  subject.  It  is 
said  to  have  been  written  immediately  after  the 
battle  of  Prestonpans,  by  Adam  Skirving,  the 
father  of  a  Scottish  artist  of  some  reputation.  No 
song  perhaps  has  so  many  versions;  Hogg 
says  it  was  the  boast  of  some  rustic  singer  that 
he  knew  and  could  sing  all  its  19  variations. 
Whether  it  was  really  Skirving's  or  not,  he 
certainly  did  write  a  rhyming  account  of  the 
battle,  in  15.  double  stanzas  relating  the  inci 
dents  of  the  fight — who  fled  and  who  stayed — 
winding  up  with  his  own  experiences. 

That  afternoon  when  a'  was  done 

I  gaed  to.  see  the  fray,  man, 
But  had  I  wist  what  after  past, 

I'd  better  staid  away,  man ; 
On  Seton  sands,  -wi'  nimble  hands, 

They  pick'd  my  pockets  bare,  man ; 
But  I  wish  ne'er  to  drie  sic  fear, 

For  a'  the  sum  and  mair,  man. 

Few  of  these  old  songs  are  now  generally 
known ;  the  so-called  Jacobite  songs,  the  favour 
ites  of  our  time,  being  almost  entirely  modern. 
Lady  Nairne,  James  Hogg,  Allan  Cunningham, 
Sir  Walter  Scott,  may  be  named  as  the  authors 


444 


SCOTISH  MUSIC. 


of  the  greater  portion  of  them.  In  most  cases 
the  tunes  also  are  modern.  '  Bonnie  Prince 
Charlie '  and  '  The  lament  of  Flora  Macdonald ' 
are  both  compositions  of  Neil  Gow,  the  grand 
son  of  old  Neil  the  famous  reel-player — '  He's 


SCOTISH  MUSIC. 

owre  the  hills  that  I  loe  weel/  'Come  o'er  the 
stream.  Charlie,'  'The  bonnets  of  bonnie  Dundee ' 
(Claverhouse),  are  all  of  recent  origin  ;  even 
'  Charlie  is  my  darling ' — words  and  music — is  a 
modern  rifacimento  of  the  old  song. 


Charlie  is  my  darling. 
=£3 


The  Old  Air. 


One  exception  to  this  ought  to  be  noted;  the  tune 
now  known  as  '  Wae  's  me  for  Prince  Charlie '  is 
really  ancient.  In  the  Skene  MS.  (1635)  it  is 
called  '  Lady  Cassilis'  Lilt ' ;  it  is  also  known  as 
'  Johnny  Faa/  and  '  The  Gypsy  laddie,'  all  three 
names  connected  with  what  is  now  believed  to  be 
a  malicious  ballad  written  against  an  exemplary 
wife  in  order  to  annoy  her  Covenanting  husband, 
the  Earl  of  Cassilis,  who  was  not  a  favourite. 

Enough  has  been  said  of  these  relics  of  an  en 
thusiastic  time,  but  the  subject  is  so  extensive  that 
it  is  not  easy  to  be  concise.  Those  who  wish  to 
know  more  of  it  will  find  in  the  volumes  of  James 
Hogg  and  Dr.  Charles  Mackay  all  that  is  worthy 
of  being  remembered  of  this  episode  of  Scotish  song. 

OF  THE  SCOTTISH  SCALES  AND  CLOSES. 

The  existence  of  Scotish  airs  constructed  on 
the  series  I,  2,  3,  5,  6  of  a  major  diatonic  scale 
is  well  known  and  has  been  already  alluded  to. 
"Whether  this  pentatonic  series  was  acquired 
through  the  use  of  a  defective  instrument,  or 
from  the  melodic  taste  of  singer  or  player,  must 
remain  mere  matter  of  conjecture.  The  style 
itself  may  be  accepted  as  undoubtedly  ancient, 
whatever  uncertainty  there  may  be  as  to  the 
exact  age  of  the  airs  constructed  on  it.  These 
are  not  by  any  means  numerous,  though  their 
characteristic  leap  between  the  third  and  fifth, 
and  sixth  and  eighth  of  the  scale,  is  so  common 
in  Scotish  melody,  that  many  persons  not  only 
believe  the  greater  part  of  our  airs  to  be  penta 
tonic,  but  do  not  admit  any  others  to  be  Scotish. 
However  the  taste  for  this  style  may  have  arisen, 
the  series  of  notes  was  a  very  convenient  one ; 
for  an  instrument  possessing  the  major  diatonic 
scale  in  one  key  only,  could  play  these  airs 
correctly  in  the  three  positions  of  the  scale  where 
major  thirds  are  found,  that  is,  on  the  first, 
fourth  and  fifth  degrees.  In  the  key  of  C,  these 
are  as  shown  below,  adding  the  octave  to  the 
lowest  note  of  the  series  in  each  case. 

Pentatonic  scale  in  three  positions,  without  change 
of  signature. 

12356         8         1235    6 123,   56        - 

^ESBE 


It  would  not  be  quite  correct  to  term  these  the 
keys  of  C,  F,  and  G,  for  they  want  the  charac 
teristic  notes  of  each  scale  ;  still  it  is  convenient 
to  do  so,  especially  as  in  harmonising  tunes  written 
in  this  series  it  is  frequently  necessary  to  use  the 
omitted  intervals,  the  fourth  and  seventh,  and  also 
to  affix  the  proper  signature  of  the  key  as  usual 
at  the  beginning.  If,  reversing  the  order  of  the 
notes  given  above,  we  begin  with  the  sixth,  and 
passing  downwards  add  the  octave  below,  the 
feeling  of  a  minor  key  is  established,  and  keys 
of  A,  D  and  E  minor  seem  to  be  produced.  Be 
sides  tunes  in  these  six  keys,  a  few  others  will  be 
found,  which  begin  and  end  in  G  minor  (signature 
two  flats),  though  also  played  with  natural  notes  ; 
for  B  and  E  being  avoided  in  the  melody  neither 
of  the  flats  is  required. 

A  curious  peculiarity  of  tunes  written  in  this 
series  is,  that  from  the  proximity  of  the  second 
and  third  positions  phrases  move  up  and  down 
from  one  into  the  other,  thus  appearing  to  be 
alternately  in  the  adjoining  keys  a  full  tone 
apart,  moving  for  example  from  G  into  F  and 
vice  versa. 

The  following  are  good  examples  of  the  style. 


(i)   Gala  Water. 


-       j 


!SE 


(2)   Were  na  my  heart  licht  I  wad  die. 


SCOTISH 

MUSIC. 

(3)  The  bridegroom  grat. 

D 

w 

—jr 

iMHr- 

—  »—    '     9     1*- 

-m      -tt-rt  4   r» 

SCOTISH  MUSIC. 


445 


When  the  sheep  are  In  the  fauld  and  the   kye    at  name,  And 


I 


a'    the  warld    to       sleep    are  gane,  The  waes  o'my  heart  fa'  in 


E^fct^ 


•P-E 

t^C 


& 


^ 


show'rs  frae  my  e'e,  While  my  gude-man  lies  sound  by  me 

The  first,  '  Gala  Water,'  is  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  of  our  melodies.  The  modern  version 
of  it  contains  the  seventh  of  the  scale  more  than 
once,  but  Oswald  has  preserved  the  old  penta- 
tonic  version  in  his  Caledonian  Pocket  Companion 
(i 759-65).  That  version  is  here  given  in  the 
large  type,  the  small  type  showing  the  modern 
alterations.  The  air  may  be  played  correctly 
beginning  on  E,  on  A,  or  on  B,  representing  the 
third  of  the  keys  of  C,  F  and  G ;  but  neither  flat 
nor  sharp  is  required  in  any  of  the  positions,  the 
notes  being  all  natural  throughout. 

The  second  is  the  melody  to  which  Lady  Grizel 
Baillie  wrote  (1692)  her  beautiful  ballad,  'Were 
na  my  heart  licht,  I  would  die/  It  is  a  very 
simple  unpretending  tune,  and  is  given  chiefly  on 
account  of  its  close ;  indeed,  both  of  these  tunes  are 
peculiar,  and  will  again  be  more  fully  referred  to. 

The  third  is  the  old  tune  which  was  so  great 
a  favourite  with  Lady  Anne  Lyndsay  that  she 
wrote  for  it  her  celebrated  ballad  '  Auld  Robin 
Gray.'  Although  it  has  been  superseded  by  a 
very  beautiful  modern  English  air,  it  ought  not 
to  be  entirely  forgotten. 

Anotherexceedingly  beautiful  pentatonic  melody 
is  that  to  which  Burns  wrote  '0  meikle  thinks  my 
love  of  my  beauty.'  It  will  be  found  in  E  minor 
in  the  '  Select  Songs  of  Scotland,'  by  Professor 
Macfarren — no  worthier  arranger  of  our  melo 
dies  could  be  named — but  it  may  also  be  played 
in  D  minor  and  A  minor,  in  each  case  without 
either  flat  or  sharp  being  required  in  the  melody. 

To  recapitulate.  All  tunes  in  this  style,  if 
treated  as  mere  melodies,  can  be  written  as  if  in 
the  key  of  C,  without  either  flat  or  sharp ;  al 
though  if  harmonised,  or  accompanied,  the  same 
notes  may  require  the  signature  of  one  sharp  or 
one  flat.  There  are  also  a  few  tunes  which  even 
require  that  of  two  flats,  although  none  of  the 
characteristic  notes  of  these  scales  appear  in  the 
melody.  The  style  in  its  simplest  form,  as  in 
'  Were  na  my  heart  licht,'  is  somewhat  monoton 
ous,  and  considerable  skill  is  often  shown  in  the 
intermingling  of  major  and  minor  phrases,  not 
merely  by  means  of  the  related  keys,  but  by 
transitions  peculiar  to  the  old  tonality. 

The  use  of  this  imperfect  Pentatonic  scale  in 
our  early  music  must  gradually  have  ceased, 
through  acquaintance  with  the  music  of  the 
church  service,  which  had  a  completed  diatonic 
scale,  though  with  a  considerable  want  of  a  de 
fined  key-note.  Without  going  into  any  intri 
cacies,  the  church  tones  may,  for  our  present 
purpose,  be  accepted  as  in  the  scale  of  C  major, 


untrammeled  by  any  consideration  of  a  key-note, 
free  to  begin  and  end  in  any  part  of  the  scale 
according  to  circumstances  ;  the  sounds  remaining 
the  same  wherever  the  scale  might  begin  or  end. 
This  completed  scale,  which  we  find  in  the 
simple  Shepherd's  Pipe  or  Recorder,  is  really 
that  on  which  our  older  melodies  are  formed. 
The  pitch  note  might  be  D  or  G,  or  any  other,  but 
the  scale  would  be  the  ordinary  major  diatonic, 
with  the  semitones  between  the  3rd  and  4th  and 
7th  and  8th  degrees.  The  key  of  C  is  that 
adopted  in  the  following  remarks.  With  scarcely 
an  exception  the  old  tunes  keep  steadily  to  this 
scale  without  the  use  of  any  accidental.  It  will 
also  be  seen  that  the  pathos  produced  by  means 
of  the  4th  of  the  key,  is  a  clever  adaptation  of  a 
necessity  of  the  scale.  '  The  Flowers  of  the  Forest' 
— fortunately  preserved  in  the  Skene  MS. — is  a 
fine  example  of  the  skill  with  which  the  unskilled 
composer  used  the  meagre  means  at  his  disposal. 
The  first  strain  of  the  air  is  in  G  major,  as  will 
be  seen  if  it  be  harmonised,  though  no  F  sharp 
was  possible  6n  the  instrument  ;  in  the  second 
strain,  no  more  affecting  wail  for  the  disaster  of 
Flodden  could  have  been  produced  than  that 
effected  by  the  use  of  the  Ft],  the  4th  of  the  scale 
of  the  instrument,  the  minor  7th  of  the  original 
key.  With  his  simple  pipe  the  composer  has 
thus  given  the  effect  of  two  keys. 

The  Flowers  of  the  Forest.    Ancient  Version. 


It  may  be  objected  that  the  voice  was  not  tied 
down  to  the  notes  of  an  imperfect  instrument, 
and  could  take  semitones  wherever  it  felt  them 
to  be  wanted ;  but  we  must  not  forget  that  in 
those  days  our  modern  scales  were  unknown  un 
less  to  scientific  musicians,  and  that  the  voice, 
like  the  instrument,  kept  to  the  old  tonality,  the 
only  scale  which  it  knew. 

The  same  effect  of  playing  in  two  keys  occurs 
in  '  0  waly  waly !  love  is  bonnie,  a  little  while 
when  it  is  new,'  but  in  most  modern  versions  of 
the  melody  both  the  Ft)  and  Ftf  are  found ;  this 
was  not  possible  on  the  primitive  instrument, 
though  easy  on  the  lute  or  violin. 

0  waly  wafy. 


^^ 


* 


446 


SCOTISH  MUSIC. 


Any  air  which  has  the  natural  as  well  as  the 
altered  note  may  be  set  down  as  either  modern, 
or  as  having  been  tampered  with  in  modern 
times.  The  major  seventh  in  a  minor  key  is  also  a 
sure  sign  of  modern  writing  or  modern  meddling, 
though  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the  natural  note, 
the  minor  seventh,  sounds  somewhat  barbarous  to 
the  unaccustomed  ear — and  yet  grand  effects  are 
produced  by  means  of  it.  In  a  tune  written 
otherwise  in  the  old  tonality,  the  occurrence  of 
the  major  seventh  sounds  weak  and  effeminate 
when  compared  with  the  robust  grandeur  of  the 
full  tone  below. 

A  few  more  examples  may  be  given  to  show 
the  mingling  of  the  pentatonic  with  the  com 
pleted  scale.  'Adieu  Dundee' — also  found  in 
the  Skene  MS. — is  an  example  of  a  tune  written 
as  if  in  the  natural  key,  and  yet  really  in  a 
modified  G  minor. 

Adew  Dundee. 


Of  course  in  harmonising  the  tune  it  would  be 
necessary  to  write  it  in  two  flats ;  but  in  the 
melody  the  B  is  entirely  avoided  and  the  ED  in 
the  1 5th  bar  is  used  to  modulate  into  D  minor, 
thus  skilfully  making  a  note  available  which 
belonged  to  the  scale  of  the  instrument  though 
not  to  that  of  the  tune.  Another  example  is 
'  The  wauking  of  the  fauld,'  which,  played  in  the 
same  key  (G  minor),  has  the  same  peculiarity  in 
the  1 3th  bar;  this  however  is  the  case  only  in 
modern  versions  of  the  air,  for  that  given  by 
Allan  Ramsay  in  the  'Gentle  Shepherd'  (.1736) 
is  without  the  E. 

The  closes  of  Scotish  tunes  are  often  so  singular 
that  a  notice  of  their  peculiarities  ought  not  to 
be  omitted.  The  explanation  of  the  fact  that 
almost  every  note  of  the  scale  is  found  in  use  as 
a  close,  is  really  not  difficult,  if  the  circumstances 
are  taken  into  consideration.  In  the  olden  time, 
many  of  the  tunes  were  sung  continuously  to 
almost  interminable  ballads,  a  full  close  at  the 
end  of  every  quatrain  was  therefore  not  wanted. 
While  the  story  was  incomplete  the  old  minstrel 
no  doubt  felt  that  the  music  should  in  like  man 
ner  show  that  there  was  more  to  follow,  and 
intentionally  finished  his  stanza  with  a  phrase 
not  to  be  regarded  as  a  close,  but  rather  as  a 
preparation  for  beginning  the  following  one; 
though  when  he  really  reached  the  end  he  may 
possibly  have  concluded  with  the  key-note. 

The  little  tune  '  Were  na  my  heart  licht '  [p. 
444  &]  is  an  excellent  example  of  what  has  just 
been  said.  It  consists  of  four  rhythms  of  two 
bars  each  ;  a  modern  would  have  changed  the 
places  of  the  third  and  fourth  rhythms,  and 
finished  with  the  key-note,  but  the  old  singer 


SCOTISH  MUSIC. 

intentionally  avoids  this,  and  ends  with  the  second 
of  the  scale,  a  half  close  on  the  chord  of  the 
dominant. 

Endings  on  the  second  or  seventh  of  the  scale 
are  really  only  half  closes  on  intervals  of  the 
dominant  chord,  the  fifth  of  the  key.  Endings 
on  the  third  and  fifth  again  are  half  closes  on 
intervals  of  the  tonic  chord  or  key-note,  while 
those  on  the  sixth  are  usually  to  be  considered  as 
on  the  relative  minor ;  and  occasionally  the  third 
may  be  treated  as  the  fifth  of  the  same  chord. 
To  finish  in  so  unusual  a  manner  has  been  called 
inexplicable,  and  unsatisfactory  to  the  ear,  whereas 
viewed  as  mere  specimens  of  different  forms  of 
Da  Capo  these  endings  become  quite  intelligible, 
the  object  aimed  at  being  a  return  to  the  begin 
ning  and  not  a  real  close. 

OF  THE  GAELIC  Music. 

If  the  difficulty  of  estimating  the  age  of  the 
music  of  the  Lowlands  is  great,  it  is  as  nothing 
compared  to  what  is  met  with  in  considering 
that  of  the  Highlands. 

When  a  Gael  speaks  of  an  ancient  air  he  seems 
to  measure  its  age  not  by  centuries  ;  he  carries  us 
back  to  pre-historic  times  for  its  composition.  The 
Celts  certainly  had  music  even  in  the  most  remote 
ages,  but  as  their  airs  had  been  handed  down  for 
so  many  generations  solely  by  tradition,  it  may 
be  doubted  whether  this  music  bore  any  striking 
resemblance  to  the  airs  collected  between  1760 
and  1780  by  the  Rev.  Patrick  McDonald  and  his 
brother.  That  he  was  well  fitted  for  the  task  he 
had  set  himself  is  borne  out  by  the  following 
extract  from  a  letter  addressed  to  the  present 
writer  in  1849  ^J  that  excellent  water-colourist 
Kenneth  Macleay,  R.S.A.  He  says,  'My grand 
father,  Patrick  Macdonald,  minister  of  Kilmore 
and  Kilbride  in  Argyllshire — who  died  in  1824 
in  the  97th  year  of  his  age — was  a  very  admir 
able  performer  on  the  violin,  often  played  at  the 
concerts  of  the  St.  Cecilia  Society  in  Edinburgh 
last  century,  and  was  the  first  who  published  a 
collection  of  Highland  airs.  These  were  not  only 
collected  but  also  arranged  by  himself.'  In  the 
introduction  to  the  work  there  are  many  excellent 
observations  regarding  the  style  and  age  of  the 
tunes.  The  specimens  given  of  the  most  ancient 
music  are  interesting  only  in  so  far  as  they  show 
the  kind  of  recitative  to  which  ancient  poems 
were  chanted,  for  they  have  little  claim  to  notice 
as  melodies.  The  example  here  given  is  said  to 
be  'Ossian's  soliloquy  on  the  death  of  all  his 
contemporary  heroes/ 


P 

*J    K, 


Slow. 

There  are  however  many  beautiful  airs  in  the 
collection  ;  they  are  simple,  wild,  and  irregular ; 
but  before  their  beauty  can  be  perceived  they 
must  be  sung  or  hummed  over  again  and  again. 
Of  the  style  of  performance  the  editor  says : — 

'These  airs  are  sung  by  the  natives  in  a  wild,  arlle??, 
and  irregular  manner.  Chiefly  occupied  with  the  senti 
ment  and  expression  of  the  music,  they  dwell  upon  tlie 


SCOTISH  MUSIC. 


SCOTISH  MUSIC. 


447 


long  and  pathetic  notes,  while  they  hurry  over  the  in 
ferior  and  connecting  notes,  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
render  it  exceedingly  difficult  for  a  hearer  to  trace  the 
measure  of  them.  They  themselves  while  singing  ihem 
seem  to  have  little  or  no  impression  of  measure.' 

This  is  more  particularly  the  case  with  the  very 
old  melodies,  which  wander  about  without  any 
attempt  at  rhythm,  or  making  one  part  answer 
to  another.  The  following  air  ia  an  excellent 
example  of  the  style  : — 

Wet  is  the  night  and  cold. 


In  contrast  to  these  are  the  Liuneags,  short 
snatches  of  melody  '  sung  by  the  women,  not 
only  at  their  diversions  but  also  during  almost 
every  kind  of  work  where  more  than  one  person  is 
employed,  as  milking  cows  and  watching  the  folds, 
fulling  of  cloth,  grinding  of  grain  with  the  quern, 
or  hand-mill,  haymaking,  and  cutting  down  corn. 
The  men  too  have  iorrums  or  songs  for  rowing,  to 
which  they  keep  time  with  their  oars.'  Mr.  T. 
Pattison  (Gaelic  Bards),  tells  us  that  this  word 
Jorram  (pronounced  yirram),  means  not  only  a 
boat-song  but  also  a  lament,  and  that  it  acquired 
this  double  meaning  from  the  Jorram  being  often 
'  chanted  in  the  boats  that  carried  the  remains  of 
chiefs  and  nobles  over  the  Western  seas  to  lona.' 

Patrick  Macdonald  says  'the  very  simplicity 
of  the  music  is  a  pledge  of  its  originality  and 
antiquity.'  Judged  by  this  criticism  his  versions 
of  the  airs  seem  much  more  authentic  than  those 
of  his  successors.  Captain  Fraser  of  Knockie, 
who  published  a  very  large  and  important  collec 
tion  of  Highland  airs  in  1816,  took  much  pains, 
in  conjunction  with  a  musical  friend,  to  form 
what  he  terms  a  '  standard.'  As  he  had  no  taste 
for  the  old  tonality,  he  introduces  the  major 
seventh  in  minor  keys,  and  his  versions  generally 
abound  in  semitones.  He  professed  a  liking  for 
simplicity,  and  is  not  sparing  of  his  abuse  of 
Mac  Gibbon  and  Oswald  for  their  departures  from 
it ;  yet  his  own  turns,  and  shakes,  and  florid 
passages,  prove  that  he  did  not  carry  his  theory 
into  practice.  As  however  a  large  portion  of  his 
volume  is  occupied  with  tunes  composed  during 
the  latter  part  of  the  last  century  and  the  begin 
ning  of  the  present,  in  these  it  would  be  affecta 
tion  to  expect  any  other  than  the  modern  tonality. 
A  specimen  of  what  he  says  is  an  ancient  Os- 
sianic  air  is  given  as  a  contrast  to  that  selected 
from  Patrick  Macdonald.  In  style  it  evidently 
belongs  to  a  date  much  nearer  to  the  times  of 
Mac  Pherson  thc.n  to  those  of  Ossian. 

An  air  to  which  Qssian  is  recited. 


Slow. 


tr 


It  cannot  be  denied  that  though  by  his  altera 
tions  of  the  forms  of  Gaelic  melody  Fraser  may 
have  rendered  them  more  acceptable  to  modern 
ears,  he  has  undoubtedly  shorn  the  received 
versions  of  much  of  their  claim  to  antiquity.  The 
volume  recently  published  by  the  Gaelic  Society 
of  London  (1876),  though  not  faultless  in  regard 
to  modern  changes,  has  restored  some  of  the  old 
readings ;  one  example  ought  to  be  quoted,  for 
the  air  '  Mairi  bhan  og'  is  very  beautiful,  and 
the  Fft  in  the  fourth  bar  gives  us  back  the 
simplicity  and  force  of  ancient  times. 

Mairi  bhan  og.  (Mary  fair  and  young.) 


Captain  Fraser  stigmatises  the  previous  collec 
tions  of  Patrick  Macdonald  and  Alexander  Camp 
bell  (Albyn's  Anthology)  as  very  incorrect.  But 
Fraser' s  own  versions  have  in  many  cases  been 
much  altered  in  the  second  edition  (1876),  while 
more  recent  works — notably  that  issued  by  the 
Gaelic  Society  of  London — differ  most  remarkably 
from  earlier  copies.  The  airs  are  evidently  still 
in  a  plastic  state,  every  glen,  almost  every  family 
seems  to  have  its  own  version.  It  may  perhaps 
be  admitted  that  those  of  Fra;  er,  when  divested 
of  his  tawdry  embellishments  and  chromatic  in 
tervals  may  be  found  to  represent  fairly  the 
general  taste  of  the  present  day. 

There  has  been  a  good  deal  of  controversy  in 
former  times  about  Highland  and  Lowland,  Irish 
and  Gaelic  claims  to  certain  melodies :  most  of 
the  former  seem  pretty  well  settled,  but  both 
Irish  and  Gael  still  hold  to  '  Luchaber.'  That  it 
is  Celtic  is  apparent  from  its  style,  but  whether 
Hiberno-  or  Scoto- Celtic  is  not  so  clear.  The 
earliest  documentary  evidence  for  the  tune  is  a 
Scotish  MS.  of  1690  (T) — afterwards  the  property 
of  Dr.  Leyden — where  it  is  called  'King  James' 
march  to  Ireland.'  Macaulay,  again,  says  t'nat 
an  Irish  tune  was  chosen  for  James'  march  ;  but 
it  must  not  be  forgotten  t'nat  in  Scotland  at  that 
time  and  for  more  than  a  century  later,  the  term 
Tiish  was  used  whenever  anything  connected  with 
the  Highlands  was  spoken  of.  The  language  was 


448 


SCOTISH  MUSIC. 


called  indifferently  Irish,  Eerish,  Ersch,  and 
Erse  ;  so  that  the  Scots  themselves  would  then 
style  the  tune  Irish  while  they  meant  Highland 
or  Gaelic.  Of  course  the  air  could  not  at  that 
time  be  known  as  'Lochaber,'  for  Allan  Ramsay 
did  not  write  his  celebrated  song  till  more  than 
twenty  years  after  that  date  ;  but  no  doubt  it 
had  a  Gaelic  name,  now  apparently  lost.  It  had 
a  Lowland  name  however,  for  Burns  found  it  in 
Ayrshire  as  the  tune  of  the  old  ballad  '  Lord 
Ronald  my  son,'  which  is  traditional  not  only  in 
that  county,  but  also  in  Ettrick  forest,  where  Sir 
Walter  Scott  recovered  it  under  the  name  of 
'  Lord  Randal.'  As  this  version  consists  of  one 
part  only,  it  is  believed  to  be  the  most  ancient 
now  known.  Mr.  Chappell  has  recently  pointed 
out  that  the  air  seems  to  have  first  appeared  in 
print  in  the  'Dancing  Master'  of  1701,  under  the 
name  of  '  Reeve's  Maggot,'  so  that  but  for  the 
style  England  might  almost  make  some  claim  to 
the  tune.  As  for  the  allegation  that  Thomas 
Duffet's  song  '  Since  Celia's  my  foe,'  written 
1675,  was  originally  sung  to  it,  Mr.  Chappell  has 
shown  that  to  be  an  error.  He  prints  the  original 
Irish  tune  of  '  Celia,'  and  also  a  very  good  version 
of  'Lochaber,'  which  superseded  it  about  1730- 
(See  Ballad  Society's  '  Roxburgh  Ballads,'  part  8.) 
Bunting,  who  claims  the  air  under  the  name  of 
'Limerick's  Lamentation,'  prints  what  he  seems 
to  think  is  the  original  version  in  his  volume  of 
1809.  It  is  certainly  one  of  the  worst  that  has 
ever  appeared,  and  if  being  overlaid  with  what 
is  called  the  '  Scotch  snap  '  will  make  it  Scotish, 
then  no  further  evidence  would  be  required  of 
the  strength  of  the  Gaelic  claim.  The  version  is 
so  peculiar,  and  so  little  known,  that  it  is  given 
below.  Much  more  might  no  doubt  be  said  on 
both  sides,  in  all  likelihood  without  coming  to 
any  definite  conclusion  ;  the  composition  of  the 
tune  may  therefore  be  left  as  a  moot  point ;  both 
countries  have  indeed  so  many  fine  airs  that  they 
can  afford  to  leave  it  so. 

Limerick's  Lamentation.     (Bunting  1809.) 


It  is  evident  from  the  examples  given  by 
Patrick  Macdonald  that  in  the  most  ancient 
times  Gaelic  music  was  devoid  of  rhythm.  The 


SCOTISH  MUSIC. 

Ossianic  chants  are  short  and  wild.  They  are 
succeeded  by  longer  musical  phrases,  well  suited 
it  may  be  to  heighten  the  effect  of  the  Gaelic 
verse,  but  apart  from  that,  formless,  and  uninter 
esting  as  mere  music.  From  these  emerge  airs 
still  wild  and  irregular,  but  with  a  certain  sub 
limity  arising  from  their  very  vagueness.  Eveu 
when  they  become  more  rhythmic,  the  airs  do 
not  at  once  settle  down  into  phrases  of  twos  and 
fours,  but  retain  an  easy  indifference  to  regularity; 
two  alternating  with  three,  four  with  five  bars, 
and  this  in  so  charming  a  way  that  the  ease  and 
singularity  are  alone  apparent.  The  air  '  Morag ' 
may  be  quoted  ;  other  examples  will  be  found  in 
Albyn's  Anthology  1816-18,  and  in  'Grain  na 
h-Albain,'  an  excellent  collection  of  Gaelic  airs 
made  by  Miss  Bell  and  edited  by  Finlay  Dun. 

A  glance  at  some  of  our  printed  collections  of 
Scotish  airs  may  not  be  uninteresting. 

The  earliest,  and  the  only  one  known  to  have  appeared 
in  Scotland  in  the  17th  century,  is  that  usually  called 
'  Forbes's  Cantus,'  from  the  name  of  the  publisher.  The 
first  edition  of  it  was  printed  at  Aberdeen  in  1662,  a 
second  and  third  following  in  1666  and  1682.  It  was  in 
tended  for  tuition,  and  contains  the  soprano  (or  cantus) 
parts  only  of  short  pieces  for  3,  4,  and  5  voices.  The 
other  voice  parts  were  probably  never  printed,  for  a  few 
copies  only  would  be  wanted  for  use  at  examinations 
and  exhibitions  of  the  pupils,  and  these  would  doubtless 
be  supplied  in  MS. ;  it  is  not  therefore  surprising  that 
none  are  known  to  exist.  The  work  was  evidently  a 
compilation  of  pieces,  chiefly  in  the  scholastic  style  of 
the  time.  Some  of  them,  set  to  Scotish  words  by  Mont 
gomery  and  Scot,  are  probably  of  home  origin ;  others 
are  certainly  English,  notably  Morley's  ballet  'Now 
is  the  month  of  Maying,'  and  three  ballad  tunes, '  For 
tune  my  foe,'  'Crimson  velvet,'  and  'Love  will  find  out 
the  way.'  The  first  of  these— set  to  '  Sathan  my  foe  full 
of  iniquity' — Mr.  Chappell  informs  us,  was  known  as 
the  Hanging  tune,  from  '  the  metrical  lamentations  of 
extraordinary  criminals  being  always  chanted  to  it.' 
The  only  tune  in  the  volume  with  any  Scotish  character 
istics  is '  The  gowans  are  gay,  my  jo,'  which  is  written  on 
four  notes,  and  ends  on  the  second  of  the  scale.  It  is 
easy  to  see  that  popular  Scotish  tunes  were  intentionally 
avoided,  as  the  object  of  the  work  was  to  teach  the  young 
to  read  at  sight,  and  not  to  sing  by  ear. 

The  next  Scotish  publication  is  that  of  Allan  Kamsay, 
who  did  much  to  secure  many  of  our  old  songs  and  tunes 
from  further  chance  of  being  lost  by  his  'Tea  Table 
Miscellany,'  1724,  and  by  the  little  volume  containing 
the  airs  of  the  principal  songs,  1726.  No  doubt  his  chief 
object  in  this  work  was  to  give  new  and  more  decorous 
words  for  the  old  airs,  and  in  some  instances  may  thus 
have  secured  their  coming  down  to  us.  His  '  Gentle 
Shepherd'  (1736,  with  music)  did  the  same  good  office. 
Previous  to  this  there  had  been  several  publications  in 
England  which  contained  a  few  Scotish  airs.  'The 
Dancing  Mastfr,'  brought  out  by  John  Playford  in  1651, 
and  re-issued  with  constant  additions  up  to  the  17th 
edition  in  1721,  contained  a  very  few.  Two  of  these  may 
be  named,  'The  broom  of  the  Cowden  Knowes,'  and 
'Katherine  ogie' ;  the  former  has  a  close  on  the  second 
of  the  key,  and  the  latter,  though  slightly  altered  in '  The 
Dancing  Master,'  is  pentatonic  in  'Apollo's  Banquet, 
1690,  and  in  Graham's  Flute-book,  16:i4.  It  must  be  ad 
mitted  that  the  work  contains  a  considerably  larger 
number  of  English  airs,  which  having  become  favourites 
on  the  north  of  the  border,  and  had  good  songs  written 
to  them,  are  now  stoutly  maintained  to  be  Scotish.  The 
'  Oyle  of  Barley '  has  become  '  Up  in  the  morning  early  ^ 
'  A  health  to  Betty,'  '  My  mither  's  ay  glowrin  o'er  me  ; 
'Buff  coat'  is  'The  deuks  dang  owre  my  daddie';  'The 
Hemp  dresser,'  '  The  deil  cam  fiddling  thro'  the  town  ; 
and  this  does  not  by  any  means  complete  the  list  ofour 
obligations  to  our  southern  neighbours.  Mr.  Win. 
Chappell' s  excellent  work  has  done  much  to  enlighten 
us  on  this  subject 

The  earliest  collpction  professing  to  contain  Scotisn 
melodies  only  is  that  published  by  Henry  Playford 
(London,  1700).  His  title  is  'A  Collection  of  Original 
Scotch-Tunes  (Full  of  the  Highland  Humours)  for  the 
Violin.  Being  the  First  of  this  Kind  yet  Printed.'  A 
large  portion  of  the  work  consists  of  dance  tunes— Scotisn 


SCOTISH  MUSIC. 


SCOTISH  MUSIC. 


449 


measures  chiefly— to  many  of  which  words  have  since 
been  written.  Among  the  true  vocal  melodies  are  found 
for  the  first  time  'Bessie  Bell,'  'The  Collier's  dochter,' 
'My  wife  has  ta'en  the  gree,'  'Widow  are  ye  wauken,' 
'  Good  night  and  joy  be  with  you,'  '  For  old  (lang)  syne, 
my  jo,'  'Allan  water,'  and '  Wae  'a  my  heart  that  we  maun 
sunder."  We  are  thua  particular  because  there  is  but 
one  known  copy  of  the  work  in  existence.  It  is  now  the 
property  of  Alex.  W.  Inglis,  Esq.,  of  Edinburgh.  Unlike 
many,  who  are  chary  of  sharing  their  treasures  with 
others,  he  ia  at  present  preparing  a  fac-simile  of  the 
little  volume,  for  private  distribution ;  and  it  is  perhaps 
no  indiscretion  to  add  that  some  other  rare  works  may 
follow,  with  annotations,  or  possibly  a  dissertation  on 
the  subject  of  Scotish  music,  to  which  Mr.  Inglis's 
well-known  tastes  have  led  him  to  give  considerable 
attention.  This  work  was  succeeded  in  1725  by  the 
'  Orpheus  Caledonius,'  the  first  collection  in  which  the 
words  were  united  to  the  melodies.  The  editor  of  the 
work,  William  Thomson,  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
a  man  of  much  research  or  to  have  known  very  much  of 
his  subject.  His  versions  of  the  airs  are  frequently  not 
very  good,  and  occasionally  he  not  only  uses  English 
words  for  the  tunes,  but  even  includes  some  English 
melodies  in  the  work.  He  was  a  singer  with  a  fine  voice 
and  a  'sweet  pathetic  style,'  was  a  favourite  at  court, 
where  his  services  were  often  in  demand.  The  volume 
contained  50  melodies,  and  was  dedicated  to  the  Princess 
of  Wales — afterwards  the  Queen  Caroline  of  Jeanie 
Deans.  It  must  have  been  successful,  as  a  second  edition 
in  two  volumes,  with  double  the  number  of  tunes,  ap 
peared  in  1733.  Of  the  words  it  may  be  sufficient  to  say, 
that  though  most  of  them  were  great  improvements  on 
the  older  versions,  some  would  not  be  tolerated  in  any 
drawing-room  in  the  days  of  Queen  Victoria. 

The  number  of  Collections  which  appeared  in  Scotland, 
from  Adam  Craig's  in  1730  down  to  our  own  times,  shows 
how  continuously  these  tunes  have  held  their  ground, 
not  in  Scotland  only,  but  throughout  the  three  king 
doms.  Perhaps  the  most  noteworthy  of  all  is  Johnson's 
'Museum.'  It  was  issued  by  an  engraver,  who,  as  the 
preface  informs  us,  intended  that  its  contents  should 
embrace  the  favourite  songs  of  the  day  without  regard 
to  nationality.  Objections  having  been  made  to  this,  he 
after  the  first  half  volume  confined  it,  or  at  least  in 
tended  to  confine  it,  to  Scotish  music.  Its  celebrity  has 
arisen  from  its  connection  with  Robert  Burns,  who  wrote 
many  of  his  happiest  songs  for  it,  becoming  virtually  its 
unpaid  editor.  His  prediction  that  it  would  become  the 
text-book  of  Scotish  song  for  all  time,  has  been  amply 
verified,  for  modern  editors  still  consult  its  pages,  and 
future  editors  must  continue  to  do  so.  Its  first  volume  ap- 
peai-ed in  1787,  and  its  sixth,  and  last,  in  1803 ;  each  volume 
contains  100  airs,  many  of  them  taken  down  from  the 
singing  of  country  girls,  and  never  before  in  print.  Much 
of  this  was  done  by  Burns  himself ;  for,  as  he  said,  he  was 
ready  to  beg,  borrow,  or  steal,  for  the  furtherance  of  the 
work.  It  has  been  doubted  whether  he  possessed  suf 
ficient  knowledge  of  music  to  enable  him  to  note  down 
music ;  but  it  has  been  satisfactorily  proved  that  he 
played  the  violin  well  enough  to  catch  up  by  ear  any 
easy  tunes  he  heard:  that  he  afterwards  transmitted 
them  to  Johnson,  for  arrangement  by  Stephen  Clarke,  is 
known  from  his  letters.  The  notes  written  by  Wm.  Sten- 
house  for  Messrs. Blackwood's  new  edition  of  the  work  are 
often  very  valuable ;  after  making  every  deduction  for 
his  persistent  wrongheadedness  in  regard  to  English 
music,  much  solid  antiquarian  information  remains, 
which  must  have  been  utterly  lost,  but  for  his  persever 
ing  researches,  added  to  his  personal  knowledge.  He 
had  however  formed  a  theory  that  the  English  had  no 
national  music,  and  whenever  any  tune  was  equally 
known  in  both  kingdoms,  he  presumed  that  it  neces 
sarily  belonged  to  his  own  country,  thus  sending  abroad 
erroneous  notions  which  have  been  quoted  by  many 
authors  who  have  not  taken  the  trouble  to  verify  his 
statements. 

The  songs  which  Burns  afterwards  wrote  for  George 
Thomson's  celebrated  work  are  more  highly  finished, 
but  they  often  want  the  ease,  the  abandon,  which  form  a 
great  part  of  the  charm  of  Scotish  song.  They  had  to 
pass  through  the  ordeal  of  fastidious  criticism,  for  the 
large  and  handsome  volumes  in  which  they  appeared, 
were  intended  for  the  highly  educated  and  the  wealthy 
of  the  land.  The  musical  arrangements  were  by  Ger 
man  musicians  of  the  highest  standing,  whose  scientific 
knowledge  however  scarcely  made  up  for  their  want  of 
acquaintance  with  the  style  of  the  music.  The  work  is 
now  only  known  through  the  correspondence  which 
passed  between  the  poet  and  the  editor. 

The '  Scotish  Minstrel '  (1821-24)  ought  not  to  be  entirely 
passed  over,  even  in  this  rapid  sketch,  as  Lady  Naime 
wrote  many  of  her  best  songs  for  it.  The  work  was  pro- 

VOL.  III.  FT.  3. 


j  cted  by  a  coterie  of  ladies,  among  whom  were  Miss 
Hume  (daughter  of  Baron  Hume)  and  Miss  Walker  of 
Dairy.  They  thought  the  Scotish  muse,  notwithstanding 
all  that  had  been  done  for  her.  was  still  somewhat  frank 
of  speech,  and  they  proposed  to  make  her  better  ac 
quainted  with  the  usages  of  good  society ;  indeed,  they 
afterwards  went  so  far  as  to  propose  a  family  edition  of 
Burns.  Erring  stanzas  they  cut  out,  or  rewrote,  and  aa 
for  drinking-aongs  they  would  have  none  of  them.  Un 
doubtedly  these  ladies  were  the  unacknowledged  pioneers 
of  the  Temperance  movement.  Lady  Nairne,  who  was 
always  very  shy  of  acknowledging  her  songs,  did  not 
make  herself  known  even  to  her  publisher — Mr.  Purdie— 
but  contributed  them  under  the  initials  of  B.  B.  (Mrs. 
Bogan  of  Bogan).  There  are  besides  a  considerable 
number  of  songs  signed  S[cotish]  M[iustrel]  which  have 
been  claimed  for  her?  though  it  is  now  believed  that 
they  were  joint  contributions,  and  not  the  work  of  any 
single  individual.  The  musical  part  of  the  work  was 
done  in  the  simple  humdrum  sort  of  fashion  appreciated 
by  amateurs  of  those  times.  It  was  the  work  of  R.  A. 
Smith,  who  though  not  a  great  musician  has  written  a 
few  simple  Scotish  melodies  which  will  not  be  forgotten. 
His  'Row  weel  my  Boatie,'  is  worthy  of  a  wider  apprecia 
tion  than  it  has  yet  received. 

Later  works  are  legion  :  that  edited  by  G.  F.  Graham 
ought  not  to  be  overlooked,  on  account  of  the  care  be 
stowed  on  the  versions  of  the  melodies ;  florid  passages 
being  expunged,  modern  alterations— excepting  where 
these  were  decided  improvements — restored  to  the  ancient 
form,  and  most  useful  and  judicious  notes  appended  to 
each  melody. 

One  line  more  may  be  added  to  notice  one  of  the  latest 
and  beat  arrangements  of  Scotish  Melodies,  that  by 
Principal  Macfarren.  To  say  that  it  is  worthy  to  stand 
beside  his  '  Old  Enghah  Ditties '  ia  to  give  it  all  praise. 

What  has  been  so  beautifully  said  of  the  words 
of  our  songs  (History  and  Poetry  of  the  Scotish 
Border,  by  Professor  Veitch)  maybe  here  quoted 
as  equally  applicable  to  the  tunes  :  '  The  form  in 
which  we  now  have  them  must  be  held  as  repre 
senting  the  changes  and  additions,  the  suggestions 
and  passing  touches  of  many  generations,  the 
continuous  expression  of  the  national  heart  rather 
than  individual  productions.'  [J.M.W.] 


The  following  contributions  from  another  pen 
are  given  as  a  supplement  to  the  above  paper. 

One  of  the  most  stirring  of  the  Jacobite  songs, 
and  to  this  day  often  heard,  is  'Awa,  Whigs, 
Awa/  which  in  Hogg's  edition  is  set  to  the  old 
tune  '  My  Dearie  an  thou  dee,'  from  which  is 
taken  the  melody  of  'What  ails  this  Heart  of 
mine.'  In  later  times,  however,  it  has  been  sung 
to  a  more  vigorous  tune,  which  first  appeared  in 
the  'Scotish  Minstrel/  1821.  It  was  probably 
got  from  Lady  Nairne,  who  took  great  interest  in 
that  work.  She  was  of  the  family  of  Oliphanfc 
of  Gask,  well-known  adherents  of  the  Stuarts. 
They  were  out  both  in  the  '15  and  the  '45,  were 
attainted,  and  lost  their  estates.  A  cadet  of  the 
family,  equally  enthusiastic  for  the  dynasty,  re 
purchased  a  small  part  of  the  property.  That  he 
should  sing  'Awa,  Whigs,  awa'  with  much  vigour 
is  not  to  be  doubted ;  and  that  the  following  is 
his  tune  seems  to  be  exceedingly  probable : — 

Awa  Whigs,  awa! 


SEE 


A -wa  Whigs,  a-wa!      A  -  wa  "Whigs,  a  -  wa'.      Ye're 


=&=t 


1STZS 


but    a    pack  o'    trai-tor  loons ;  Ye'll  do    nae  gude  a   -    va' 


450 


SCOTISH  MUSIC. 


Our    this-tlesbloom'd  sae    fresh  and  fair,  and    bon-nle  were  our 


ro  -  ses,        But    Whigs  cam  like        a     frost     In    June    and 


J).C. 

wither'd       a'     our       po-sies. 

This  song,  when  well  sung  by  a  staunch  Tory, 
never  fails  to  excite  his  listeners,  being  capable 
of  much  dramatic  expression.  It  attracted  the 
keen  eye  of  Burns,  who  though  in  politics  an 
ardent  Whig,  was  still  more  a  poet.  With  a  poet's 
comprehensive  sympathies  and  power  of  appre 
ciating,  even  when  he  did  not  wholly  agree,  he 
revised  and  added  to  th«  original  verses,  so  pre- 


SCOTISH  MUSIC. 

sen  ting  to  us  the  singular  anomaly  of  the  greatest 
of  Tory  songs  being  written  in  part  by  the  greatest 
of  Whig  poets.  The  verses  added  by  Burns  are  the 
two  beginning  '  Our  ancient  crown  's  fa'n  in  the 
dust,'  and  'Grim  Vengeance  lang  has  ta'en  a 
nap.' 

In  contrast  to  the  above  air,  'Wae's  me  for 
Prince  Charlie'  is  unquestionably  one  of  the  most 
touching  of  the  so-called  Jacobite  airs.  The  words 
were  written  early  in  this  century  by  William 
Glen,  a  Glasgow  manufacturer,  who  died  in  1824. 
The  air  appears  in  the  Skene  MS.,  under  the 
name  of  '  Ladie  Cassilis'  Lilt,'  and  in  Johnson's 
'Museum'  under  that  of  'Johnnie  Faa,'  or  the 
'Gypsie  Laddie,'  the  melody  being  sung  to  the 
words  of  an  old  ballad  beginning  '  The  Gypsies 
cam'  to  our  Lord's  yett.'  Burns,  in  one  of  his 
letters,  says  that  this  is  the  only  song  that  he 
could  ever  trace  to  the  extensive  county  of  Ayr. 


Lady  Cassilis1  Lilt. 


From  the  Skene  MS.  {163$  ?) 


Wae  's  me  for  Prince  Charlie.    Modern  version  of  the  same. 


m 


*-• 


33 


m 


• 


The  dance  music  of  Scotland  may  be  said  to 
consist  solely  of  Reels  and  Strathspeys.  Farquhar 
Graham  mentions,  in  his  introduction  to  the 
volume  of  the  '  Dance  Music  of  Scotland,'  edited 
by  Surenne,  that  in  the  oldest  MS.  collection  of 
Scotish  dance  tunes,  there  are  to  be  found  Alle- 
mands,  Branles,  Courantes,  Gaillards,  Gavottes, 
and  Voltes — dances  imported  from  France,  al 
though  not  all  of  French  origin ;  and  along  with 
these  some  Scotish  dance  tunes,  and  a  few  English 
ones.  The  foreign  dances,  however,  were  con 
fined  to  the  upper  classes,  the  peasantry  keeping 
to  their  own  truly  national  dances,  which  have 
not  only  survived  but  have  since  become  fashion 
able  in  the  highest  circles,  alike  in  England  and 
Scotland.  The  manner  of  singing  or  playing 
on  instruments  the  music  of  these  reels  [see 
REEL,  vol.  iii.  pp.  91-93]  and  strathspeys  is 
quaintly  described  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Young  in  the 
dissertation  prefixed  to  the  collection  of  Highland 
airs  published  by  the  Rev.  Patrick  Macdonald  in 
1781.  He  says,  the  St.  Kildeans,  being  great 
lovers  of  dancing,  met  together  at  the  close  of  the 
fishing  season,  and  sang  and  danced,  accompanied 
by  the  Jew's  harp  or  trump — their  only  musical 
instrument.  The  reverend  gentleman  adds,  'One 
or  two  of  these  reels  sound  uncommonly  wild 
even  to  those  who  can  relish  a  rough  Highland 
reel.'  Some  of  the  notes  appear  to  be  borrowed 
from  the  cries  of  the  sea-fowl  which  visit  the 
outer  Hebrides  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year. 


At  one  time  the  music  of  these  reels  and  strath 
speys  over  all  Scotland  was  played  by  the  Bag 
pipe  [see  BAGPIPE,  vol.  i.  pp.  123-125],  but 
at  a  later  period  Neil  Gow  and  his  sons  did 
much  in  promoting  the  use  of  the  violin  in  playing 
Scotish  dance  music ;  while  in  our  own  day 
the  piano  in  its  turn  has  to  a  great  extent 
superseded  the  violin.  The  Gow  family,  with 
the  famous  Neil  at  their  head,  all  showed  great 
originality  in  their  tunes ;  '  Caller  herrin,'  by 
his  son  Nathaniel,  has  deservedly  taken  its 
place  among  our  vocal  melodies,  since  Lady 
Nairne  wrote  her  excellent  words  for  it.  But 
it  is  to  be  regretted  that  by  changing  the 
characteristic  names  of  many  of  our  old  dance 
tunes,  giving  them  the  titles  of  the  leaders  of 
fashion  of  the  day,  they  have  created  much  un 
certainty  as  to  the  age,  and  even  the  composition, 
of  the  tunes  themselves.  The  tempi  at  which  reels 
and  strathspeys  should  be  taken  is  naturally  to 
a  great  extent  a  matter  of  taste,  or  rather  of 
feeling.  Farquhar  Graham  has  given  the  move 
ment  of  the  reel  as  ^  =  126  Maelzel,  and  that  of 
the  strathspey  as  «d  =  94.  These  tempi  are  good 
to  begin  with,  but  the  exciting  nature  of  the 
Scotch  dances  tends  to  induce  the  players  and 
dancers  to  accelerate  the  speed  as  the  dancing 
proceeds ;  a  tendency  graphically  described  by 
Burns  in  his  'Tarn  o'  Shanter.' 

Two  of  the  best  specimens  we  know  of  this 
characteristic  music  are  the  following  : — • 


SCOTISH  MUSIC. 

Heel.    '  Clydeside  Lasses.' 


SCOTISH  MUSIC. 


451 


aJE  •=*=.-=* 


-nTT  rrr^ 

:*=g  *  j  *>-*-*- 


--  J  —  i 

^P 

-g— 

i  —  p 

uj—  i 

•  J    J    J    -j 

—  i 

—  « 

• 

—  • 

-*    J    '    • 

—  » 

Strathspey.    "Tullochgorum.* 
d^ 


This  tune  is  an  example  of  the  mingled  2nd  and 
3rd  positions  of  the  pentatonic  series  in  the  key  of 
D.    That  is,  mixed  phrases,  now  in  A  now  in  G-. 
Much  of  this  old  dance  music  was  constructed 
on  the  scale  of  the  Bagpipe,  which  may  be  re 
garded  as  two  pentatonic  scales  placed  together, 
thus 

GAB      DE      G 

A  B  Cff     E  Fff    A 

wluch  are  in  fact  the  second  and  third  positions 
of  the  pentatonic  series  in  the  key  of  I)  major. 
[See  p.  444.]  

There  is  reason  to  fear  that  the  art  of  singing 


Scotish  songs  in  their  native  purity  is  being 
rapidly  lost ;  nor  is  this  to  be  wondered  at.  The 
spread  of  musical  education,  together  with  the 
general  use  of  the  piano  in  all  classes  of  households, 
must  of  necessity  interfere  with  the  old  style  of 
singing  Scotish  songs  in  their  original  and  native 
simplicity.  When  sung  with  a  piano  accompani 
ment  their  peculiar  charm  is  in  great  measure  lost ; 
indeed  a  Scotish  song  properly  rendered  is  now  to 
be  heard  only  in  the  rural  districts,  where  on  a 
winter's  evening  servants  and  milkmaids  sit 
round  the  farmer's  'ingle'  and  'lilt'  in  the 
genuine  old  traditional  style.  If  Scotish  song 
has  suffered  at  home  from  the  operation  of  such 
changes,  it  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  bene 
fited  from  the  attention  it  has  received  in  other 
quarters.  Both  executants  and  composers  have 
been  attracted  by  its  peculiar  qualities,  and  have 
sought  to  bend  it  to  their  purposes,  or  to  illustrate 
it  by  their  genius ;  in  both  cases  with  question 
able  success.  Many  great  artists  have  attempted 
to  sing  aright  some  of  the  finest  Scotish  airs,  but 
generally  without  success,  at  least  to  Scotish 
audiences.  The  really  great  public  exponents 
of  Scotish  song  were  Wilson  and  Templeton 
(tenors),  both  Scotchmen.  Though  neither  was 
a  thoroughly  educated  musician,  both  in  their 
youth,  without  much  knowledge  of  music,  learnt 
by  tradition  the  real  art  of  singing  our  national 
airs.  Catherine  Hayes,  so  famous  for  her  rendering 
of  Irish  airs,  comes  next  as  an  interpreter  of  the 
simple  melodies  of  Scotland.  Clara  Novello 
studied  to  good  purpose  several  of  the  Jacobite 
songs  ;  and  other  exceptionally  gifted  and  cul 
tured  artists  have  been  known  to  rouse  their  au 
diences  into  enthusiasm,  though  in  most  cases 
the  result  was  only  a  succes  d'estime.  The  at 
tempts  of  the  most  illustrous  composers  to  write 
accompaniments  to  our  national  songs  have  fared 
no  better.  And  it  need  not  excite  much  surprise 
to  find  fchat  here,  as  in  many  similar  ill-advised 
enterprises,  the  greater  the  genius,  so  misapplied, 
the  more  signal  the  failure.  Beethoven  was 
employed  to  write  arrangements  of  Scotish  airs, 
and  although  all  his  arrangementsbear  the  impress 
of  his  genius,  he  has  too  often  missed  the  senti 
ment  of  the  simple  melodies.  The  versio'ns  of  the 
airs  sent  him  must  have  been  wretchedly  bad, 
and  they  seem  to  have  imbued  him  with  the 
idea  that  the  'Scotch  snap'  was  the  chief  feature 
in  the  music.  He  has  introduced  this  *  snap'  in 
such  profusion,  even  when  quite  foreign  to  the 
air,  that  the  result  is  at  times  somewhat  comical. 
Haydn  also  wrote  symphonies  and  accompani 
ments  to  many  Scotish  airs,  and  though  he  suc 
ceeded  better  than  his  great  pupil,  still  in  his 
case  the  result,  with  few  exceptions,  is  not  a 
great  success.  Weber,  Hummel,  Pleyel,  and 
Kozeluch  were  still  less  happy  in  their  endeavours 
to  illustrate  Scotish  airs.  In  later  years  many 
musicians  have  followed  the  same  task.  Of  the 
many  volumes  published  we  distinctly  give  the 
preference  to  Macfarren's  'Select  Scotish  Songs'; 
and  yet,  admirable  as  are  often  Macfarren's 
settings,  it  is  difficult  to  get  rid  of  a  feeling  of 
elaboration  in  listening  to  them. 

Gg2 


452 


SCOTISH  MUSIC. 


To  those  who  are  desirous  of  studying  the  history 
of  Scotish  music,  the  following  works,  selected  out 
of  a  list  of  nearly  150,  may  be  recommended  : — 

MS.  Collections  containing  Scotish  Melodies. 

1.  SKENE  MS.— 1635  (?).    Belongs  to  the  Library  of  the 

Faculty  of  Advocates. 

2.  STRALOOH  MS.— Bobert  Gordon  of  Straloch's  MS. 

Lute-book,  dated  1627—29.  The  oldest  known  MS. 
containing  Scotish  airs.  The  original  MS.  is  a 
small  oblong  8vo,  at  one  time  in  the  library  of 
Charles  Burney,  Mus.  Doc. 

3.  LEYDEN  MS.— 1692  (?).    Belonged  to  the  celebrated 

Doctor  John  Leyden.  It  is  written  in.  Tablature 
for  the  Lyra- viol. 

Printed  Collections. 

1.  PLAYFORD'S  DANCING  MASTER.— 1651-1701.    Is  in 

teresting,  as  perhaps  the  earliest  printed  work  that 
exhibits  several  genuine  Scotish  airs. 

2.  D'URFEY's  COLLECTION.— Reprint,  1719.    Sir  John 

Hawkins,  in  his  History  of  Music,  vol.  iv.  p.  6,  says, 
'There  are  many  fine  Scots  airs  in  the  Collection 
of  Songs  by  the  well-known  Tom  D'Urfey,  intitled 
Pills  to  purge  Melancholy,  published  in  the  year  1720. 

3.  THOMSON'S  ORPHEUS  CALEDONIUS.— 1725-1733.    This 

is  the  earliest  Collection  of  Scotish  tunes  which 
contains  words  with  the  music. 

4.  TEA-TABLE  MISCELLANY.— 1724.    '  Musick  for  Allan 

Bamsay's  Collection  of  Scots  Songs,  set  by  Alex 
ander  Stuart.' 

6.  ADAM  CRAIG'S  COLLECTION.— 1730.    A  Collection  of 
the  choicest  Scots  Tunea. 

6.  JAMES  OSWALD'S  COLLECTIONS.— 1740-1742.    There 

are  three  of  these  Collections.  He  published  also 
a  larger  work  under  the  name  of  '  The  Caledonian 
Pocket  Companion,'  in  twelve  parts. 

7.  BREMNER'S  COLLECTIONS.— 1749-1764.   Bremnei;  took 

great  pains  to  secure  the  best  version  of  the  airs  he 
published,  in  most  cases  they  are  used  to  this  day. 

8.  NEIL  STUART'S  COLLECTIONS.— Books  1,  2,  3.    Thirty 

Scots  Songs  adapted  for  a  Voice  and  Harpsichord. 
The  words  of  Allan  Bamsay. 

9.  FRANCIS  PEACOCK'S  AIRS.— About  1776.    A  good  se 

lection,  and  good  versions. 

10.  CUMMING'S  COLLECTION.— 1770.  A  curious  Collection 

of  Strathspey  or  Old  Highland  Keels.  By  Angus 
Gumming,  at  Grantown,  in  Strathspey. 

11.  NEIL   Gow'S   REELS.— A  Collection  of  Strathspey 

Reels,  with  a  Bass  for  the  Violoncello  or  Harpsi 
chord.  By  Neil  Gow,  at  Dunkeld. 

12.  JOHNSON'S  SCOTS  MUSICAL  MUSEUM.— 1787-1803.  New 

Edition,  1838,  with  notes.    Six  vols.  8vo. 

13.  NAPIER'S  COLLECTIONS.— 1790.    A  Selection  of  the 

most  favourite  Scots  Songs,  etc.  By  "William  Napier. 
3  vols.  Second  and  third  harmonized  by  Haydn. 

21.  DAUNEY'S  SKENE  MS.— 1838.    This  MS.  is  written 

in  Tablature  for  the  Mandola,  and  was  translated 
into  modern  musical  notation  by  Mr.  G.  Farquhar 
Graham,  and  published  with  a  dissertation  by 
William  Dauney,  advocate,  Edinburgh. 

22.  THE  DANCE  Music  OP  SCOTLAND.— 1841.   A  Collec 

tion  of  all  the  best  Reels  and  Strathspeys,  both  of 
the  Highlands  and  Lowlands,  arranged  for  the 
Pianoforte.  By  J.  T.  Surenne.  In  one  volume,  folio. 
Wood  and  Co.,  Edinburgh. 

23.  WILSON'S  SONGS  OF  SCOTLAND.— Eight  Books,  folio. 

24.  WOOD'S  SONGS  OF  SCOTLAND.— 1848-1849.    Edited  by 

G.  F.  Graham.    Three  vols,  royal  8vo.    Edinburgh. 

25.  ORAIN  NA'H  ALBAIN.— 1848.    A  Collection  of  Gaelic 

Songs  with  English  and  Gaelic  Words.  ByFinlay 
Dun. 

26.  LAYS   FBOM   STRATHEABN.  — 1850,     By   Caroline 

Baroness  Nairne. 

27.  BlTSON.— 1869.    A/ac-simiZe  Reprint.    Edited  by  J.  A. 

Published  by  Hopkins,  Glasgow. 

28.  MACFARREN.— 1874.    Select  Scotish  Songs,  by  G.  A. 

Macfarren.    Glasgow. 

29.  PATTISON.— Popular  Songs  of  the  Highlands.    Gaelic 

Songs  with  English  and  Gaelic  Words.  1st  vol 
(Twelve  Songs',  1879 ;  2nd  vol.  (Twelve  Songs)  1881. 
Swan  and  Co.,  London  and  Glasgow. 

NOTE.— From  1850  to  1874  many  collections  OF  Scotish 
Songs  were  published,  all  displaying  considerable  merit; 
but  as  none  of  them  possess  any  distinctive  feature  a  list 
ia  not  given.  [J.M.W.&T.L.S.] 


SCOTTISH  MUSICAL  SOCIETY. 

SCOTSON  CLARK,  the  Rev.,  was  born  in 
London  of  Irish   parents  Nov.  16,    1840.    He 
received  his  earliest  musical  instruction  from  his 
mother,  a  pupil  of  Chopin  and  Mrs.  Anderson. 
His  musical  tastes  became  so  strongly  developed 
that  he  was  soon  sent  to  Paris  to  study  the  piano 
and  harmony,  and  at  the  age  of  fourteen  was 
appointed  organist  of  the  Regent  Squa,re  church. 
He  next  studied  under  Mr.  E.  J.  Hopkins,  and 
subsequently   entered    the    Royal   Academy  of 
Music,  where  his  masters  were  Sterndale  Bennett, 
Goss,  Engel,  Pinsuti,  and  Pettit.     In  1858  he 
published  a  Method  for  the  Harmonium,  and  for 
a  few  years  was  organist  at  different  churches  in 
London.   In  1865  he  founded  a 'College  of  Music' 
for  students   of  church  music   and  the  organ. 
Soon  after  this,  he  became  organist  of  Exeter 
College,  Oxford.     He  graduated  Mus.  Bac.  in 
1867,  and  was  appointed  Head  Master  of  St. 
Michael's  Grammar  School,  Brighton.  Six  months 
later  Mr.  Scotson  Clark  was  ordained  deacon,  and 
afterwards  priest.  He  next  went  to  Leipzig,  where 
he  studied  under  Reinecke,  Richter,  etc.   When 
in  charge  of  the  English  church  at  Stuttgart  he 
pursued  his  musical  studies  under  Lebert,  Kruger, 
and  Pruckner.     In  1873  he  returned  to  London, 
and  in.   1875  resumed  his  connection  with  the 
London  Organ  School,  the  average  yearly  number 
of  pupils  of  which  is  300.    In  1878  he  represented 
English  organ-playing  at  the  Paris  Exhibition. 
Mr.  Scotson  Clark,  besides  being  a  remarkable 
executant   on   the  organ,  has   great  facility  in 
composition.     His  works,  which  already  amount 
to  over  five  hundred,  consist  principally  of  small 
organ  and  pianoforte  pieces,  many  of  which  have 
attained  great  popularity.  [W.B.S.] 

SCOTT,  JOHN,  nephew  of  John  Sale,  jun.,  was 
born  about  1776.  He  was  a  chorister  of  St. 
George's  Chapel,  Windsor,  and  Eton  College; 
afterwards  studied  the  organ  under  William 
Sexton,  organist  of  St.  George's,  Windsor,  and 
became  deputy  for  Dr.  Arnold  at  Westminster 
Abbey.  He  was  also  chorus  master  and  pianist 
at  Sadler's  Wells.  On  the  erection  of  the  first 
organ  in  Spanish  Town,  Jamaica,  he  went  out  as 
organist,  and  died  there  in  1815.  He  was  com 
poser  of  the  well-known  anthem,  'Praise  the 
Lord,  0  Jerusalem,'  as  well  as  of  the  comic  song, 
'  Abraham  Newland.' 

'You  may  Abraham  sham,  but  you  mustn't  sham 
Abraham  Newland.'1  r-nr  jj  JJ "! 

SCOTTISH    MUSICAL    SOCIETY,   THE. 

In  1 88 1  meetings  were  held  in  Glasgow  and 
Edinburgh  to  consider  the  subject  of  musical  edu 
cation  in  Scotland,  with  the  view  of  establishing 
a  society  under  the  above  name,  the  necessary 
funds  to  be  supplied  by  the  issue  of  20,000  shares 
of  £i  each,  and  the  Society  to  be  incorporated 
with  limited  liability  as  an  association  not  for 
profit.  Committees  were  appointed  at  Edinburgh, 
Glasgow,  Dundee,  and  Aberdeen ;  the  Duke  of 
Buccleuch  was  elected  President,  Sir  Herbert 
Oakeley,  Vice-President  ex-officio,  and  an  influen- 

i  Abraham  Newland  was  the  Chief  Cashier  of  the  Bank  of  England, 
and  his  name  was  inserted  In  its  notes  as  the  payee. 


SCOTTISH  MUSICAL  SOCIETY. 

tial  list  of  Vice-Presidents  was  announced,  in 
addition  to  a  Council  with  the  Earl  of  Eosebery 
as  chairman.  The  Society  is  still  (1882)  not 
sufficiently  advanced  to  begin  practical  work, 
but  according  to  the  prospectus,  its  purpose  will 
be  to  promote  music  in  Scotland  by  maintaining 
professional  orchestras,  conferring  scholarships, 
organising  concerts,  and  aiding  poor  musicians 
and  their  families.  [W.B.S.] 

SCRIBE,  EUGENE,  the  most  prolific  of  French 
dramatists,  and  the  best  librettist  of  the  iQth 
century,  born  in  Paris  Dec.  25,  1791.  He  lost 
his  parents  early,  and  the  well-known  advocate 
Bonnet  urged  him  to  take  to  the  bar,  but  he  was 
irresistibly  drawn  to  the  stage,  and  from  his 
ddbut  at  20  at  the  Theatre  du  Vaudeville  till  his 
death,  he  produced  for  the  different  theatres  of 
Paris  a  rapid  succession  of  pieces  which  have 
served  as  models  to  a  host  of  imitators.  He 
originated  the  com6die-vaudeville,  and  attained 
to  high  comedy  in  '  Une  Chaine ' ;  but  it  is  in 
ope'ra-comique  and  lyric  tragedy  that  he  has 
given  the  most  striking  proofs  of  his  imagination 
and  knowledge  of  the  stage.  For  half  a  century 
he  produced  on  an  average  10  pieces  a  year, 
many  it  is  true  written  conjointly  with  various 
authors,  but  in  these  'mariages  d'esprit'  Scribe 
was  always  the  head  of  the  firm. 

We  are  not  concerned  here  with  his  novels,  nor 
with  his  ope'ras-comiques,  further  than  in  saying 
that  they  abound  in  ingenious  surprises,  piquant 
situations,  and  scenes  admirably  adapted  for 
musical  treatment ;  it  is  in  lyric  tragedy  that 
his  invention,  originality,  dramatic  force,  and 
genius  for  the  stage,  are  most  conspicuous.  As 
a  writer,  especially  as  a  versifier,  he  was  often  at 
fault,  but  this  defect  was  overlooked  by  the  com 
posers  who  anxiously  secured  him  for  the  sake  of 
his  poetical  conception.  Of  his  librettos,  over  100 
in  all,  only  the  principal  can  be  specified  here: — 


SEASONS,  THE. 


453 


Boieldieu 

1825 

Ope'ra-comique. 

Auber 

Harold 

1827 

Opt5ra. 

La  Muette  de  Portici     .    .   . 
la  Belle  au  bois  dormant     . 

Auber 
Harold 
Auber 

1828 
1829 
1830 

a 
it 
Op4ra-Comique. 

Le  Dieu  et  la  Bayadere  .    .    . 

Hale'vy 

t» 

Ope'ra. 

Fra  Diavolo  

Auber 

Op£ra-Comique. 

1881 

Ope'ra. 

Robert  le  Diable  

Meyerbeer 

Auber 

1833 

Le  Chalet  

Ad.  Adam 

1834 

Op^ra-Comique. 

Auber 

Le  Cheval  de  Bronze     .    .    . 

Hal^vy 

1835 

•« 
Ope'ra. 

L'Ambassadrice    

Auber 

1836 

Ope'ra-Comique. 

Les  Huguenots  

Meyerbeer 

Op6ra. 

Le  Domino  Noir   .        .    . 

Auber 

1837 

Opera-Comique. 

Guido  et  Ginevra           .    . 

Hale'vy 

1838 

Ope'ra. 

Le  Lac  des  Fe'es         .... 

Auber 

1839 

Donizetti 

1840 

Les  Diamans  de  la  Couronae 
La  Part  du  Piable     .... 
La  SirSne  

Auber 
tt 

1841 
1843 
1844 

Ope'ra-Comique. 
tt 

Haydee  

1847 

Meyerbeer 

1849 

Op4ra. 

L'Enfant  Prodigue   .... 
Giralda  

Auber 
Ad.  Adam 

1850 

tt 
Ope"ra.-Comique. 

La  Tempesta     

Hale'vy 

Her  Majesty's. 

L'Etoile  du  Kord  

Meyerbeer 

1854 

Op^ra-Comique. 

Les  Vfipres  Siciliennes  .    .    . 

Verdi 
Meyerbeer 

1855 
1865 

Ope'ra. 

As  will  be  perceived,  his  favourite  composers 
were  Meyerbeer  and  Auber,  especially  Auber. 

Scribe  died  suddenly  in  Paris,  Feb.  21,  1861. 
He  had  been  a  member  of  the  French  Academy 
since  1836,  and  had  acquired  a  large  fortune. 
His  complete  works  have  not  been  published,  but 
there  are  several  editions  of  his  stage-pieces. 
That  of  1855  comprises  2  vols.  of  operas,  and  3 
of  ope'ras-comiques,  and  the  latest  (Paris,  Cal- 
mann  LeVy,  1874  to  81),  6  vols.  I2mo.  of  ballets 
and  operas,  and  20  of  operas-comiques.  A  perusal 
of  these  gives  a  high  idea  of  his  fertility  and 
resource.  [G.C.] 

SCUDO,  PIETRO,  born  June  6, 1806,  at  Venice, 
but  brought  up  in  Germany.    Some  circumstance 
led  him  to  Paris,  and  in  1816  he  entered  Choron's 
school,  and  studied  singing  there  at  the  same 
time  with  Duprez.     He  never  became  a  good 
singer,  and   after  taking  a   secondary  part   in 
Eossini's  '  II  Viaggio  a  Eeims '  left  the  boards, 
returned  to  Choron's  school,  and  there  picked  up 
a  slender  knowledge  of  music.   After  the  revolu 
tion  of  1 830  he  played  second  clarinet  in  a  military 
band.     Eeturning  to  Paris  he  made  his  way  into 
society,  set  up  as  a  teacher  of  singing,  and  a  com 
poser  of  romances,  one  of  which,  'Le  fil  de  la 
Vierge,'  was  very  successful.    His  knowledge  of 
harmony  and  the    elementary  laws   of  musical 
accent  was  but  slight,  as  is  evident  from  his  songs 
'  Le  Dante,'  'La   Baigneuse,'  and  'Souvenir'; 
indeed  he  himself  admits  the  fact,  in  spite  of  his 
vanity.     Continuing  his  career  as  a  professor  of 
singing,  he  took  to  writing,  and  published  '  Phy 
siologic  du  rire '  and  '  Lea  Partis  politiques  en 
province'  (1838).  He  gradually  restricted  himself 
to  musical  criticism,  but  as  long  as  he  wrote  only 
for  the  'Eevue  de  Paris,'  the  'Ee"forme,'  and  the 
'Eevue  inde*pendante,'  he  was  unknown  outside 
certain  cliques  in  Paris.    As  musical  critic  to  the 
'Eevue  des  deux  Mondes1  he  became  a  man  of 
mark,  though  he  was  never  more  than  a  laborious 
writer,  who  made  good  use  of  German  and  Italian 
faooks,  and  managed  by  means  of  certain  dogmatic 
formulae  and   fine  writing  to  conceal  his  want 
of  knowledge  and  ideas.      Scudo's  articles  are 
worth  reading  as  specimens  of  French  musical 
criticism  before  Berlioz  was  known,  and  while 
Fe"tis  occupied  the  field  without  a  rival.     They 
have  been  mostly  republished    under   the   fol 
lowing  titles: — 'Critique  et  litterature  musicale' 
(1850,  8vo ;    1852,  i2mo),    and    series    (1859, 
I2mo);    'La  Musique  ancienne    et    moderne' 
(1854,    I2ino);     'L'Anne'e    musicale,'    3    vols. 
(Hachette,  1860,  61,  and  62),  'La  Musique  en 
1862  '  (Hetzel,  1863),  and  'Le  Chevalier  Sarti' 
(1857,  i2mo),  a  musical  novel  taken  from  Italian 
and  German  sources,  of  which  a  continuation, 
'  Fre'de'rique,'  appeared  in  the  'Eevue  des  Deux 
Mondes,'  but  was  not  republished.  All  his  works 
were  printed  in  Paris. 

Scudo  finally  became  insane,  and  died  Oct.  14, 
1864,  in  an  asylum  at  Blois.  [G.C.] 

SEASONS,  THE— Die  Jahreszeiten— Haydn's 
last  oratorio.  The  book  was  compiled  in  German 
from  Thomson's  Seasons  by  Van  Swieten,  who 
induced  Haydn  to  undertake  its  composition 


454 


SEASONS. 


immediately  after  the  success  of  the  'Creation'; 
and  the  music  was  written  between  April  1 798 
and  April  24,  1801,  on  which  day  the  first  per 
formance  took  place  at  the  Schwarzenberg  palace, 
Vienna.  Haydn  always  averred  that  the  strain 
of  writing  it  had  hastened  his  death.  [See  vol.  i. 
7146.] 

It  is  in  four  parts.  The  score  was  published 
in  1802-3  (without  date)  at  Vienna  ;  a  barbarous 
English  version  accompanied  the  German  text. 
In  1813  Clementi  published  a  vocal  score  with  a 
better  version.  The  Rev.  John  Webb  followed 
with  a  further  improvement,  and  more  recently, 
in  1840  or  41,  Professor  E.  Taylor  made  a  fourth. 
A  selection  from  '  Spring '  was  given  at  Birming 
ham  Festival  1817  ;  Spring  and  Summer  at  the 
same  place  in  1820.  It  was  on  the  repertoire  of 
the  Cecilian  Society ;  and  the  Sacred  Harmonic 
Society  performed  it  on  Dec.  5,  1851,  and  four 
times  more-  down  to  1877.  [G.] 

SEBALD,  AMALIE.  The  records  of  the  Sing- 
akademie  in  Berlin  contain  the  names  of  Frau 
von  Sebald  (geb.Schwadke),  alto,  1791,  her  daugh 
ters  Amalie,  i8or,  and  Auguste,  1802,  soprani. 
They  appear  first  as  soloists  in  1794,  1803, 
and  1804  respectively.  Amalie  is  reported  to 
have  had  'an  enchantingly  beautiful  voice.' 
C.  M.  von  Weber  was  in  Berlin  in  1812.  Of  all 
his  acquaintances  made  there,  two,  says  his  son, 
were  special  objects  of  affection  ever  afterwards. 
One  was  Lichtenstein ;  '  the  other  was  the 
youngest  of  two  most  amiable,  extremely  mu 
sical  sisters,  Auguste  and  Amalie  Sebald.  For 
the  second,  in  the  highest  degree  distinguished 
alike  for  her  intellectual  and  physical  charms, 
Weber  conceived  a  warm  and  deep,  and,  through 
the  lady's  virtues,  a  highly  ennobling  affection.' 
As  Weber  in  1812,  so  Beethoven  the  year  before, 
who  met  her  at  Toplitz,  whither  she  had  come 
with  the  once-famous  Countess  von  der  Recke, 
whose  house  in  Berlin,  the  'Recksche  Palais,' 
afterwards  became  the  home  of  the  Mendelssohns. 
[See  vol.  ii.  p.  2580.]  The  impressionable  com 
poser  then  wrote  the  following  epigram  in  her 
album  : — 

Ludwig  van  Beethoven 

den  Sie,  wean  Sie  auch  wollten 

doch  nicht  vergessen  sollten. 

[Whom  even  if  you  would 

Forget  you  never  should.] 

Toplitz  am  8.  August  1812.1 

He  met  her  there  again  in  Sept.  1812,  and  a 
series  of  notes  to  her  of  that  date,  published  by 
Jahn  in  the  'Grenzboten,'  from  copies  furnished 
by  the  writer  of  this  notice,  shows  the  extraor 
dinary  impression  which  she  made  upon  him.2 

On  May  8,  1816,  Beethoven  wrote  in  a  letter 
to  Ries,  '  Everything  good  to  your  wife ;  I,  alas, 
have  none;  I  have  found  but  one,  and  her  I 
never  can  possess.'  On  Sept.  16  of  the  same  year, 
he  said  to  Giannatasio,  that  '  he  loved  unhappily  ; 
that  some  five  years  before  he  had  made  the 
acquaintance  of  a  person,  closer  connexion  with 
whom  he  should  have  considered  the  highest 

1  The  '1812'  was  probably  added  to  Beethoven's  Autograph,  and 
should  be  1811.  He  was  not  at  Toplitz  on  Aug.  8, 1812.  (Thayer's  Bee 
thoven,  iii.  215.) 

2  These  letters,  seven  in  number,  are  given  in  Ibid.  iii.  212—214. 


SECCO  RECITATIVE. 

happiness  of  his  life.  This  was  not  to  be  thought 
of  for  a  moment,  almost  an  utter  impossibility,  a 
chimera.  Still,  his  love  was  now  as  strong  as  on 
the  first  day.  Such  harmony,  he  ad4ed,  had  he 
never  found  before.  He  had  never  declared  him 
self,  and  yet  had  not  been  able  to  get  her  out 
of  his  mind.' 

It  was  at  this  time  that  Beethoven  composed 
the  cycle  of  songs  'To  the  distant  loved  one.' 
Schindler  supposed  his  'Autumn  love'  to  have 
been  for  a  certain  Marie  Koschak  :  he  is  wrong; 
Beethoven  never  saw  that  lady  until  after  she 
had  married  Dr.  Pachler.  Amalie  Sebald  married 
the  Berlin  Justizrath  Krause. 

AUGUSTE  SEBALD  married  Bishop  Kitschel,  a 
well-known  theologian.  [A.W.T.] 

SECCO  RECITATIVE,  accurately  RECITA- 
Tivo  SECCO — that  is,  'dry' — (also  E.  parlante; 
Germ.  Einfache  Eecitativ,  Sprechende  Recitativ; 
Fr.  Recitatif  sans  Orcheslre ;  Eng.  Simple  Reci 
tative  ;  Plain  Recitative.)  The  simplest  form  of 
Declamatory  Music,  unrelieved  either  by  Melody, 
or  Rhythm,  and  accompanied  only  by  a  Thorough 
bass.  [See  RECITATIVE.] 

It  was  invented  at  Florence  during  the  closing 
years  of  the  i6th  century;  and  first  extensively 
employed,  in  the  year  1600,  in  Peri's  '  Euridice,' 
and  Cavaliere's  'La  Rappresentazione  dell' Anima 
e  del  Corpo.'  During  the  Classical  ^Era,  it  was 
used  in  Opera  and  Oratorio  as  the  chief  exponent 
of  the  Action  of  the  Drama.  Rossini  first  de 
parted  from  the  universal  custom,  boldly  ac 
companying  the  whole  of  the  Declamatory  Music 
in  'Otello'  by  the  full  Stringed  Band.  Spohr 
entirely  banished  the  simpler  form  of  Recitative 
from  the  Oratorio,  using  both  Stringed  and  Wind 
Instruments  in  his  Accompaniments,  throughout. 
Later  Composers  scorn  to  use  it,  even  in  Opera 
Buffa.  The  change  of  custom,  like  all  other 
progressive  movements,  has  its  advantages  and 
its  disadvantages.  It  increases  the  interest  of 
Scenes  which,  deprived  of  the  resources  of 
the  Orchestra,  might  become  tedious  :  but  it 
seriously  diminishes  the  amount  of  contrast  at 
tainable  in  effects  of  colouring  and  chiaroscuro, 
by  depriving  the  picture  of  its  weaker  tones, 
and  thus  confining  the  possible  gradation  of 
light  and  shade  within  much  narrower  limits 
than  those  which  Mozart,  Cimarosa,  and  even 
Rossini  himself,  in  his  earlier  years,  turned  to 
such  splendid  account.  It  is  true  that  advanced 
Composers  endeavour  to  supply,  at  the  upper  end 
of  the  scale  of  effect,  a  sufficient  number  of 
gradations  to  compensate  for  those  they  have  cut 
away  from  the  lower  portion  of  its  range  :  but, 
there  must  be  a  limit  to  the  addition  of  Sax 
Tubas  and  Ophicleides;  and,  were  there  none,  the 
contrast  between  simple  Recitative,  and  even  the 
lowest  form  of  Orchestral  Accompaniment,  is  in 
finitely  stronger,  in  proportion,  than  that  between 
the  fortissimo  of  the  ordinary  Orchestra,  and  any 
amount  of  extra  power  that  can  be  added  to  it.2 

In  the  1 8th  century,  Recitative  secco  was  always 
accompanied  by  the  Stringed  Basses  alone,  the 
Harmonies  indicated  beneath  the  Thoroughbass 

2  Ses  the  account  of  Becitativo  Stromentato.  p.  85. 


SECCO  RECITATIVE. 

being  filled  in  on  the  Harpsichord,  Pianoforte,  or 
Organ.  As  a  general  rule,  these  Harmonies  were 
very  simply  expressed :  but,  when  relief  was 
needed,  considerable  licence  was  permitted  to  the 
Accompanyist.  Such  a  passage  as  the  following 


SECHTER. 


455 


might  therefore  have  been  accompanied,  without 
any  excess  of  liberty,  by  the  passages  indicated 
in  small  notes,  provided  they  were  sparingly 
introduced,  played  lightly,  and  not  brought  too 
prominently  forward. 


DON  GIOVANNI. 


LEPORELLO. 


DON  GIOVANNI. 


Oh  Le-po-rel-lo 


Cbi  mlcbiama? 


Non  co-nos-cl  il  pa  -  dron  ? 


FH 

-•- 

i 

• 

I 

<4 

l-  - 

i 

ri               l~ 

'!• 

i 

• 

» 

p 

o            •                           < 

-• 

• 

— 

—  1 

=$-• 

• 

etc. 


When  the  Harpsichord  and  the  Pianoforte 
were  banished  from  the  Opera  Orchestra,  the  Ac 
companiment  of  Recitative  secco  was  confided 
to  the  principal  Violoncello  and  Double  Bass ;  the 
former  filling  in  the  Harmonies  in  light  Arpeggios, 
while  the  latter  confined  itself  to  the  simple 
notes  of  the  .Basso  continue.  In  this  way,  the 
Recitatives  were  performed,  at  Her  Majesty's 
Theatre,  for  more  than  half  a  century,  by 
Lindley  and  Dragonetti,  who  always  played 
at  the  same  desk,  and  accompanied  with  a  per 


fection  attained  by  no  other  Artists  in  the  world, 
though  Charles  Jane  Ashley  was  considered  only 
second  to  Lindley  in  expression  and  judgment. 
The  general  style  of  their  Accompaniment  was 
exceedingly  simple,  consisting  only  of  plain  Chords, 
played  arpeggiando ;  but  occasionally  the  two 
old  friends  would  launch  out  into  passages  as 
elaborate  as  those  shown  in  the  following  example ; 
Dragonetti  playing  the  large  notes,  and  Lindley 
the  small  ones. 


DON  GIOVANNI. 


LEPORELIO. 


DON  GIOVANNI. 


p=g^=^^-S-g-gzt=^ 

-P-P  —  g  —  g  g  g  P- 

m.                 —  t                      _           A         P       i 

i  —  "  £    t-     

Per   la  ma-no  essa  allo-ra  me  prende                   An-co-ra  meglio                  M'acca-rez-za, 

j                                   p"p  ^                rtji' 

-^V  (—  S                                                                                            -           1             1    -     Ci     IJ*J                                                         3        >*'      *                                    "13 
-/•         )   J                                                                                                                      «(k^J'                        —                                 HJ-^»1                         '-1 

mi  abraccia 

^   W  '.—•  —  !  

6^  

_  -tS^ 

H-&  —  J-l 

In  no  country  has  this  peculiar  style  been  so 
successfully  cultivated  as  in  England  ;  where  the 
traditions  of  its  best  period  are  not  yet  forgotten. 
Attempts  have  lately  been  made  to  supersede  it, 
by  filling  in  the  Harmonies  on  the  Pianoforte,  or 
arranging  them  for  the  Band.  [W.S.R.] 

SECHTER,  SIMON.  One  of  the  most  impor 
tant  of  the  modern  contrapuntists.  Born  at 
Friedberg,  in  Bohemia,  on  Oct.  II,  1788.  In 
1804,  after  a  moderate  musical  education,  he 
went  to  Vienna,  where  he  applied  himself  with 
ardour  to  theoretical  studies.  In  1809,  while 
Vienna  was  in  the  hands  of  the  French,  he 
made  the  acquaintance  of  Dragonetti — then  living 
in  concealment  under  the  curious  apprehension 
that  Napoleon  would  oblige  him  to  go  to  Paris— 
for  whom  he  wrote  the  pianoforte  accompani 
ments  to  his  concertos  for  the  double  bass.  In 
1810  Sechter  became  teacher  of  the  piano  and 
singing  to  the  Blind  Institute,  for  which  he 
wrote  many  songs  and  two  masses.  During 
the  whole  of  this  time  he  pushed  forward  his 
studies,  working  more  especially  at  Bach  and 
Mozart.  He  found  a  good  friend  in  Abbe" 


Stadler,  through  whose  means  three  of  Sechter's 
masses  were  performed  at  the  court  chapel.  A 
requiem  of  his,  and  a  chorus  from  Schiller's 
'  Bride  of  Messina '  were  also  executed  in  the 
Concert  Spirituel  with  success.  In  1824  he 
became  Court-organist,  first  as  subordinate,  and 
in  1825^  on  the  death  of  Worzischeck,  as  chief, 
an  office  which  he  retained  till  his  death.  His 
fame  as  a  theoretical  teacher  attracted  numerous 
scholars,  amongst  others  the  great  Schubert,  who 
was  on  the  point  of  taking  lessons  from  him, 
when  attacked  by  his  last  illness.  The  Emperor 
Ferdinand  conferred  upon  him  the  large  gold 
medal  for  a  grand  mass  dedicated  to  his  majesty, 
which  was  shortly  followed  by  the  order  of 
St.  Louis  from  the  Duke  of  Lucca.  In  1850  he 
became  Professor  of  Composition  in  the  Conser- 
vatorjum  at  Vienna.  His  Aphorisms,  etc.,  which 
he  communicated  to  the  Vienna  Allg.  musik. 
Zeitung,  show  him  to  have  been  a  profound 
thinker,  and  give  many  instructive  hints  both  to 
teachers  and  scholars.  His  most  intimate  friends 
were  Staudigl,  Lutz,  and  Holzel,  for  whom  he 
wrote  a  quantity  of  humorous  Volkslieder 


456 


SECHTER. 


in  contrapuntal  style,  as  well  as  many  comic 
operettas,  ballads,  etc.  His  diligence  in  study 
was  astonishing.  No  day  passed  in  which  he 
did  not  write  a  fugue.  A  few  years  before  his 
death  he  had  the  misfortune,  through  his  own 
good  nature,  to  lose  almost  everything,  and 
died  on  the  I2th  September,  1867,  nearly  80 
years  old,  in  poverty  and  privation.  Sechter 
was  much  esteemed  and  beloved  for  his  sim 
plicity  and  goodness,  atvi  it  may  be  truly  said 
that  he  had  no  enemies.  His  system,  though 
severe,  was  simple,  clear,  and  logical.  His 
scholars  were  almost  innumerable  :  amongst  them 
may  be  mentioned,  Preyer,  Nottebohm,  the 
Princess  Czartorijski,  Sucher,  Bibl,  Rosa  Kastner 
(Escudier),  Rufinatscha,  Bruckner,  Otto  Bach, 
Dohler,  Schachner,  Filtsch,  S.  Bagge,  Benoni, 
Vieuxtemps,  Pauer,  C.  F.  Pohl,  and  Thalberg. 
Notwithstanding  the  multitude  of  his  lessons 
he  found  time  to  compose  a  great  deal  of 
music.  His  unpublished  works  in  the  Imperial 
Library  and  the  Musikverein  at  Vienna  contain 
4  oratorios,  operas  and  large  cantatas,  music  for 
voice,  organ,  and  pianoforte,  including  104 
variations  on  an  original  theme  of  104  bars  ; 
also  a  complete  theoretical  treatise  ready  for 
publication,  in  two  portions,  first  on  acoustics, 
second  on  canon.  Among  his  published  works 
are  an  edition  of  Marpurg  on  the  Fugue,  with 
many  additions ;  Grundsatze  der  musik.  Composi 
tion  (3  vols.  B.  &  H.) ;  12  masses  ;  Practical  ex 
amples  of  accompaniment  from  figured  bass,  op. 
59  ;  Practical  school  of  thorough  bass,  op.  49,  98; 
preludes  for  the  organ,  in  four  books  ;  fugues, 
hymns,  chorale  preludes  ;  4  fugues  for  PF.,  op.  5, 
dedicated  to  Beethoven  ;  fugue  in  C  minor,  to  the 
memory  of  Schubert,  op.  43  ;  etc.,  etc.  Sechter 
completed  the  grand  fugue  for  the  orchestra  in 
D  major,  left  imperfect  by  Mozart.  [C.F.P.] 

SECOND.  The  smallest  interval  in  the  scale 
used  for  musical  purposes.  It  is  described  by 
notes  which  are  next  to  each  other  on  the  stave, 
or  by  letters  which  lie  next  each  other  in  the 
alphabet,  as  A  B,  B  C,  C  Dfl,  Eb  Ffl. 


(a) 


(6) 


(') 


O"^ 


- 


Three  kinds  can  be  practically -distinguished.  The 
minor  second,  which  is  equal  to  a  semitone,  as  at 
(6)  in  the  example ;  the  major  second,  which  is 
equal  to  a  tone,  as  at  (a) ;  and  the  augmented 
second,  which  is  equal  to  three  semitones,  as  at 
(c).  They  are  all  discords,  but  are  characterised 
by  different  degrees  of  roughness.  The  minor 
second  is  extremely  harsh,  the  major  decidedly 
so,  though  not  so  extremely,  and  the  augmented 
second  but  slightly.  In  ordinary  musical  usage 
the  last  is  actually  the  same  interval  as  a  minor 
third,  which  is  not  looked  upon  as  a  dissonance 
at  all ;  nevertheless  the  ear,  distinguishing  rela 
tions  instinctively,  classifies  the  combinations  ac 
cording  to  their  context  as  having  a  dissonant  or 
consonant  significance.  Thus  when  the  context 
suggests  the  interval  Ab  Bi,  the  mind  will  not 
accept  it  as  final,  but  as  a  dissonance  requiring 


SEE,  THE  CONQUERING  HERO. 

resolution  ;  whereas  if  the  same  interval  could 
be  expressed  as  Ab  Cb,  it  might  be  recognised 
as  a  characteristic  portion  of  the  minor  chord 
of  Ab,  and  could  be  accepted  as  final  without 
desire  for  further  motion. — The  numerical  ratios 
of  the  several  intervals  in  just  intonation  are  given 
as  follows  : — the  minor  second,  1 6  :  15  ;  the  grave 
major  second,  10  :  9  ;  the  acute  major  second  9:8; 
and  the  augmented  second  75  :  64.  [C.H.H.P.] 

SECONDO.  The  second  player  in  a  duet. 
[See  PRIMO.J 

SEDIE,  DELLE-,  ENRICO,  baritone  singer,  son 
of  Arcangelo  Delle-Sedie,  merchant  of  Leghorn, 
Italy,  born  1826.  In  the  year  1848  he  volun 
teered  in  the  army  of  Charles  Albert  of  Pied 
mont,  and  fought  against  the  Austrians  in  the 
war  for  Italian  independence.  He  was  taken 
prisoner  at  the  battle  of  Curtatone  but  afterwards 
released,  and  at  the  close  of  the  campaign  of 
the  following  year  retired  from  the  army  with 
the  rank  of  lieutenant.  Under  the  direction  of 
his  fellow-citizen,  Orazio  Galassi,  he  then  devoted 
himself  to  the  study  of  singing,  and  in  1851  made 
his  ddbut  at  Pistoia  in  Nabucco. 

In  1854  he  was  engaged  to  perform  Rigoletto 
at  Florence:  casting  aside  the  traditional  con 
ception  of  Varesi,  who  had  created  the  rdle  at 
Venice,  he  adopted  an  entirely  original  render 
ing  of  the  character,  and  at  once  asserted  him 
self  as  an  artist  of  high  rank.  From  that  time 
his  position  was  secure ;  he  appeared  with  un 
varying  success  at  Rome,  Milan,  Vienna,  Paris, 
and  London,  and  though  possessed  of  so  little 
voice  as  to  gain  the  sobriquet  of  H  baritono 
senza  voce,  he  made  up  by  dramatic  accent  and 
purity  of  style  for  the  shortcomings  of  nature. 
In  1867,  at  the  earnest  request  of  Auber,  he 
accepted  a  professorship  at  the  Conservatoire 
of  Paris  on  the  most  advantageous  terms  hitherto 
offered.  Under  him  a  commission  was  appointed 
for  the  entire  remodelling  of  that  institution, 
but  the  death  of  Auber,  and  the  outbreak  of 
the  Franco-Prussian  war,  compelled  the  govern 
ment  to  abandon  their  intention.  In  1874  he 
published  a  large  work  upon  the  art  of  singing 
and  musical  declamation,  under  the  title  of  V Art 
Lyrique,  of  which  a  lengthy  critical  notice  appeared 
in  the  '  Westminster  Review'  of  July  1876. 

Signor  Delle-Sedie  is  a  Cavaliere  of  the  Order 
of  the  Crown  of  Italy,  for  his  military  services 
in  the  campaigns  of  1848,  1849 ;  Cavaliere  of  the 
order  of  SS.  Maurizio  and  Lazzaro ;  and  member 
of  many  societies  and  academies  both  of  Italy  and 
France.  He  has  now  retired  from  the  stage, 
lives  in  Paris,  and  devotes  himself  entirely  to 
the  teaching  of  his  art.  [J.C.G.] 

SEE,  THE  CONQUERING  HERO  COMES. 
A  well-known  piece  of  Handel's  music.  It  occurs 
in  the  3rd  act  of  '  Joshua,'  as  a  welcome  to  Caleb 
after  the  taking  of  Debir,  in  three  repetitions  of 
the  same  form :  (i)  Chorus  of  youths,  S.S.  A.,  lines 
i  and  2  repeated  as  a  horn  duet;  (2)  As  a  duet 
(Signore  Cassarini  and  Galli)  with  flute  accom 
paniment;  (3)in  full  chorus.  'Joshua' was  finished 
Aug.  12,  1747,  and  produced  March  9,  1748- 


SEE,  THE  CONQUERING  HERO. 

'Judas  Maccabeus-'  was  produced  April  I,  1747, 
and  repeated  April  I,  1747,  'with  additions.' 
One  of  the  additions  was  '  See,  the  conquering 
hero,'  doubtless  on  account  of  the  great  success 
which  had  greeted  it  in  '  Joshua '  three  weeks 
before.  The  air  has  been  often  treated  as  a  theme 
for  variations,  and  Reinecke  has  recently  com 
bined  it  with  the  chorale  'Nun  danket  alle  Gott/ 
in  his  overture  'Friedensfreier'  (1872)  at  the 
conclusion  of  the  Peace  between  Germany  and 
France.  [G.] 

SEGNO,  i.e.  the  sign  •$.     [See  DAL  SEGNO.] 

SEGUE,  'follows' — as  Segue  I'  aria,  '  the  aria 
follows ' ;  a  direction  frequently  found  at  the  end 
of  recitatives.  It  is  thus  equivalent  to  the  more 
modern  word  attacca.  It  is  also  found  occasion 
ally  at  the  foot  of  a  page  where  a  space  is  left 
after  one  movement  in  order  that  the  next  may 
begin  at  the  top,  to  avoid  turning  over  in  the 
middle.  It  then  indicates  that  no  stop  is  to  be 
made  between  the  two  movements.  [J.A.F.M.] 

SEGULDILLA  (sometimes  written  SIGUI- 
DILLA),  a  popular  national  dance  of  Spain.  The 
origin  of  both  name  and  dance  are  uncertain;  it 
existed  in  La  Mancha  in  the  time  of  Cervantes 
(see  Don  Quixote,  Part  II,  chap.  38),  but  there 
is  no  evidence  to  show  whether  it  is  indigenous, 
or  introduced  into  Spain  by  the  Moors.  It  is 
however  certain  that  from  La  Mancha  it  spread 
all  over  Spain,  and  it  is  still  danced  in  both 
town  and  country.  Seguidillas  are  divided  into 
three  kinds— -Seguidillas  Manchegas,  the  original 
form  of  the  dance,  in  which  it  assumes  a  gay 
and  lively  character ;  Seguidillas  Boleras,1  more 
measured  and  stately ;  and  Seguidillas  Gitanas, 
danced  very  slowly  and  sentimentally.  To  these 
some  writers  add  a  fourth  kind,  the  Seguidillas 
Taleadas,  said  to  be  a  combination  of  the  original 
tSeguidilla  with  the  Cachucha.  The  music  is 
written  in  3-4  or  3-8  time,  usually  in  a  minor 
key,  and  is  performed  on  the  guitar  with  occa 
sionally  a  flute,  violin,  or  Castanet  accompani 
ment.  The  coplas,  or  words  sung  by  the  musicians, 
are  written  in  couplets  of  four  short  lines  followed 
by  an  estrevillo  or  refrain  of  three  lines,  but  some 
coplas  want  this  latter  feature.  Both  music  and 
words  often  partake  of  the  character  of  an  im 
provisation,  the  former  remarkable  for  strange 
and  sudden  modulations,  and  the  latter  treating 
of  both  serious  and  comic  subjects.  A  collection 
of  coplas  was  published  at  the  end  of  the  last 
century  by  N.  Zamacola,  writing  under  the 
pseudonym  of  Don  Precise.  .From  the  intro 
duction  to  this  book,  the  following  quaint 
description  of  the  Seguidilla  is  translated  :  '  So 
soon  as  two  young  people  of  the  opposite  sexes 
present  themselves  standing  face  to  face  at  a 
distance  of  about  two  varas2  in  the  middle  of 
the-  room,  the  'ritornelo'  or  prelude  of  the  music 
begins ;  then  the  seguidilla  is  insinuated  by  the 
voice — if  it  be  a  manchega,  by  singing  the  first 
line  of  the  copla,  if  it  be  a  bolera,  by  singing 

1  Not  to  be  confounded  with  the  Bolero,  said  to  have  been  invented 
in  1780  by  Don  Sebastian  Zerezo. 

2  1  vara  =»  34  inches. 


SEGUIN. 


457 


two  lines,  which  must  only  take  up  four  bars. 
The  guitar  follows,  playing  a  pasacalle  ;3  and 
at  the  fourth  bar  the  seguidilla  begins  to  be 
sung.  Then  the  dance  breaks  out  with  castanets 
or  crotolas,*  running  on  for  a  space  of  nine 
bars,  with  which  the  first  part  concludes.  The 
guitar  continues  playing  the  pasacalle,  during 
which  the  dancers  change  to  opposite  positions 
by  means  of  a  very  deliberate  and  simple  pro 
menade  ('  paseo').  While  singing  again,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  fourth  bar,  each  goes  on  for 
nine  bars  more,  making  the  variations  and  differ 
ences  of  their  respective  schools,  which  forms  the 
second  part.  Again  they  change  places,  and 
upon  each  dancer  returning  to  the  spot  where 
they  began  to  dance,  the  third  part  goes  on  in 
the  same  way  as  the  second,  and  on  arriving  at 
the  ninth  bar,  the  voice,  the  instrument,  and  the 
castanets  cease  all  at  once,  and  as  if  impromptu, 
the  room  remaining  in  silence,  and  the  dancers 
standing  immovable  in  various  beautiful  attitudes, 
which  is  what  we  call  "well  stopped"  (Bien 
parado).'  Space  will  not  allow  us  to  give  an 
example  of  the  music  which  accompanies  this 
beautiful  dance.  In  Book  IV.  of  Luigi  Borghi's 
'Opera  Dances'  (London,  1783)  is  a  seguidilla 
modified  for  theatrical  representation,  and  in  the 
First  Act  of  '  Carmen '  there  is  a  Spanish  air 
which  Bizet  has  entitled  'Seguidille.'  Better 
examples  than  these  will  be  found  in  Mendel's 
Lexicon  (sub  voce  Seguidilla),  and  in  the  Ap 
pendix  to  Part  I.  of  Mariano  Soriano  Fuertes's 
'  Historia  de  la  Musica  Espanola '  (Madrid,  1 855- 
1859),  in  which  specimens  are  given  of  the 
varieties  of  the  dance.  With  regard  to  the 
words,  the  following  copla  (from  Don  Preciso's 
'Colleccion  de  Coplas,'  Madrid,  1799)  may  serve 
as  an  example  : 

El  I/unes  me  enamoro, 
MSrtes  lo  digo. 
Mie"rcoles  me  declare, 
Jfieves  consigo : 

Vi^rnes  doy  zelos 
Y  Sahado  y  Domingo 
Busco  Amor  nuevo.5  fW.B.S.l 

SEGUIN,  ARTHUR  EDWARD  SHELDEN,  com 
monly  known  as  EDWABD,  was  born  in  London, 
April  7, 1809.  He  received  his  musical  education 
at  the  Royal  Academy  of  Music,  and  first  ap 
peared  in  public  in  1828  at  concerts  and  perform 
ances  of  Italian  operas  given  by  its  pupils. 
His  voice  was  a  deep  bass,  of  very  extensive 
compass,  and  he  met  with  a  very  favourable  re 
ception.  In  1829  he  sang  at  Exeter  Festival. 
In  1831  he  appeared  at  the  theatre  in  Tottenham 
Street  as  Polyphemus  in  Handel's  'Acis  and 
Galatea.'  In  1832  he  sang  at  the  Concert  of 
Ancient  Music.  In  1833  and  1834  ne  was  en' 
gaged  at  Covent  Garden,  and  in  the  latter  year 
appeared  at  the  King's  Theatre  as  II  Conte 
Robinson  in  Cimarosa's  'Matrimonio  Segreto,' 
and  also  sang  at  the  Festival  in  Westminster 

3  Literally  'street-pass';   any  popular  street-song.     See  PASSA- 
CAOLIO,  vol.  ii.  p.  661  a. 

4  A  kind  of  Castanet. 

5  Translation :— '  On  Monday  I  fall  in  love,  on  Tuesday  I  fay  so, 
Wednesday  I  declare  myself,  Thursday  I  succeed :    Friday  I  cause 
Jealousy,  and  Saturday  and  Sunday  I  seek  a  fresh  love.' 


458 


SEGUTN. 


Abbey.  From  1835  to  1837  he  was  engaged  at 
Drury  Lane.  In  August  1838  he  appeared  at 
the  English  Opera  House  in  Macfarren's  'Devil's 
Opera,'  and  soon  afterwards  quitted  England 
for  America,  made  his  first  appearance  at  the 
National  Theatre,  New  York,  as  the  Count 
in  Rooke's  '  Amilie '  on  Oct.  15,  1838,  and  was 
extremely  well  received.  He  afterwards  formed 
an  opera  company  named  '  The  Seguin  Troupe,' 
who  performed  at  various  places  in  the  United 
States  and  Canada.  Amongst  other  distinctions 
he  was  elected  a  chief  by  one  of  the  Indian  tribes, 
and  received  an  Indian  name,  signifying  'The 
man  with  the  deep  mellow  voice ' ;  an  honour 
which  had  never  before  been  conferred  on  any 
Englishman,  except  Edmund  Kean,  the  tragedian. 
He  died  at  New  York,  Dec.  9,  1852. 

His  wife,  ANN  CHILDE,  was  also  a  pupil  of  the 
Royal  Academy  of  Music,  and  appeared  in  public 
as  a  soprano  singer  in  1828  in  the  same  perform 
ances  as  her  future  husband,  and  with  equal 
success.  In  1832  she  sang  at  the  Concert  of 
Ancient  Music,  and  in  1834  at  the  Westminster 
Abbey  Festival.  After  performing  for  two  or 
three  seasons  at  the  King's  Theatre  as  '  seconda 
donna,'  she  appeared  on  the  English  stage  at 
Drury  Lane,  Nov.  3,  1837,  as  Donna  Anna  in 
the  English  version  of  Mozart's  '  Don  Giovanni.' 
She  accompanied  her  husband  to  America  and 
performed  in  opera  until  his  death,  when  she 
retired  from  the  stage  and  taught  music  in  New 
York,  where  she  was  residing  in  1880. 

His  younger  brother,  WILLIAM  HENRY  SEGUIN, 
born  1814,  also  a  pupil  of  the  Royal  Academy 
of  Music,  possessed  a  light  bass  voice  and  was  a 
concert  singer  and  member  of  the  choir  of  the 
Temple  Church.  He  died  Dec.  28,  1850.  He 
married  Miss  GOOCH,  soprano  singer,  a  fellow 
pupil  at  the  Academy,  who  survived  him  a  few 
years  only.  [W.H.H.] 

SEHNSUCHT  ('longing'  or  *  yearning '—an 
untranslatable  word). 

Nur  wer  die  Sehnaucht  kennt 
Weiss  was  ich  fuhle> 

is  one  of  the  Songs  of  Mignon  in  Goethe's 
Wilhelm  Meister,  which  has  been  specially  at 
tractive  to  two  great  composers.  Beethoven 
composed  it  four  times  for  voice  and  PF. — three 
times  in  G  minor,  once  in  Eb  major — and  the  four 
were  published  Sept.  22,  1810,  at  Vienna.  Schu 
bert  set  the  words  four  times — twice  as  a  solo 
song  for  soprano  (op.  62,  no.  4,  and  40  Lieder, 
no.  13) ;  as  a  duet  for  Mignon  and  the  Harper 
(op.  62,  no.  i)  ;  and  as  a  quintet  for  men's 
voices.  Goethe  wrote  another  '  Sehnsucht'  ('Was 
zieht  mir  das  Herz  so  ?'  Schubert,  Lf.  37,  2)  ;  and 
eongs  with  the  same  title  are  found  in  the  works 
of  Schiller  (<Ach  aus  dieses  Thales  grunden,' 
Schubert,  op.  39),  Mayrhofer  ('  Der  Lerche  wol- 
kennahe/  Schubert,  op.  8,  2),  and  Seidl  ('Die 
Schiebe  freiert,'  Schubert,  op.  105,  4). 

The  so-called  Sehnsucht-walzer,  known  also  as 
'  Le  Desir,'  often  attributed  to  Beethoven,  was 
compiled  from  a  '  Trauer-walzer '  composed  by 
Schubert  in  1816,  and  published  Nov.  29,  1821, 


SEMELE. 

as  no.  2  of  'Original  Tanze,'  op.  9,  and  from 
Himmel's  '  Favorit-walzer' ;  and  was  published 
under  Beethoven's  name  by  Schotts  in  1826.  [G.] 

SEMBRICH,  MARZELLA,  born  1858  at  Lem- 
berg,  Galicia,  was  taught  music  by  her  father, 
and  played  in  public  both  piano  and  violin  at  the 
age  of  twelve  ;  she  afterwards  received  further 
instruction   on  these   instruments  from  Stengel 
(to  whom  she  is  now  married),  and  Bruckmann, 
both  professors  at  Lemberg.     She  then  went  to 
Vienna,  for  completion  of  her  studies  under  Liszt, 
but  discovering  herself  to  be  the  possessor  of  a 
fine  voice,  determined  to  attempt  a  vocal  career, 
and  for  that  purpose  studied  singing  at  Milan 
under  Lamperti  the  younger  (at  present  professor 
at  the  Conservator! urn,  Dresden).     On  June  3, 
1 877>  Sne  niade  her  debut  at  Athens  as  Elvira  in 
'I  Puritani,'  and  was  highly  successful  there  for 
two  months  in  that,  and  as  Lucia  and  Dinorah. 
She  returned   to  Vienna,,  studied  the  German 
repertoire   under  Professor  Levy,   and  in  Oct. 
1878  made  a  highly  successful  d6but  at  Dresden 
as  Lucia.     She  remained  there  until  the  spring 
of  1880,  becoming  well  known  for  her  perform 
ances   of  Zerlina,    Susanna,   and  Constance,  of 
Mozart,  the  heroines  in  Flotow's  Martha  and 
Stradella,  of  Gilda,  Amina,  etc.    She  sang  at  the 
Lower   Rhine  Musical  Festival  of  1880 ;   and 
June  12  of  the  same  year  made  her  first  appear 
ance  in  England  at  the  Royal  Italian  Opera  as 
Lucia,  and  was  greatly  successful  in  that,  Amina, 
and  Margaret  of  Valois,    She  returned  there  for 
the  seasons  1881-82,  playing  for  the  first  time  in 
England  Dinorah,  and  Constance  in  the  revival  of 
Mozart's  'Entfiihrung.'     She   has  also  sinig  at 
Milan,  Vienna,  Warsaw,  St.  Petersburg,  Moscow, 
etc.,  and  during  her  engagements  abroad  has  oc 
casionally  played  with  great  success  in  the  two 
fold  capacity  of  pianist  and  violinist.      Madame 
Sembrich's  voice  is  about  2.|  octaves  in  compass, 
viz.  from  the  lower  C  to  F  in  alt,  and  is  very 
brilliant  in  the  upper  register  ;  she  also  possesses 
considerable  powers  of  execution.  [A.C.] 

SEMELE,  a  secular  oratorio  by  Handel,  was 
composed  in  1743,  between  June  3  and  July  4. 
The  libretto  is  slightly  altered  from  an  opera- 
book  of  Congreve's,  written  in  1707.  'Semele' 
is  termed  by  Arnold  'A  Dramatic  Perform 
ance,'  by  Mainwaring  'An  English  opera  but 
called  an  Oratorio,'  while  it  was  announced  at 
different  times  in  the  'General  Advertiser'  as 
'Semele,  after  the  manner  of  an  Opera,'  and 
'  Semele,  after  the  manner  of  an  Oratorio.'  The 
first  performance  took  place  on  Feb.  10,  1744. 
at  Covent  Garden  Theatre,  where  it  was  re 
peated  three  times  in  the  same  year.  In  the 
following  December  it  was  performed  twice,  with 
additions  and  alterations,  at  the  King's  Theatre, 
Haymarket,  and  was  revived  by  Smith  and 
Stanley  in  1762.  The  Cambridge  University 
Musical  Society  revived  it  on  November  27, 
1878.  The  original  MS.  is  in  Buckingham 
Palace,  but  there  are  some  interesting  sketches 
(principally  of  Act  iii.)  in  the  FitzwilHam 
Museum  at  Cambridge.  [W.B.S.] 


SEMET. 

SEMET,  THEOPHILE,  born  at  Lille,  Sept.  6, 
1824.  The  prizes  for  the  cello  and  harmony 
which  he  gained  at  the  local  Conservatoire  pro 
cured  him  a  grant  from  the  municipality  to  study 
iu  Paris,  and  he  entered  Hale'vy's  class  for  com 
position,  but  left  without  obtaining  a  prize,  in 
order  to  take  to  teaching.  He  was,  however,  a 
thorough  artist,  and  his  vein  of  original  melody 
and  refined  harmony  soon  made  him  known. 
His  first  work  was  merely  a  few  songs  and  some 
charming  orchestral  music  for  'La  petite  Fadette,' 
vaudeville  in  2  acts  (Varie'te's,  Dec.  28,  1850), 
but  he  at  length  procured,  through  his  fellow- 
pupil  Carvalho,  a  better  opportunity,  and  his 
'Nuits  d'Espagne,'  2  acts  (May  26),  and  'La 
Demoiselle  d'honneur/  3  acts  (Dec.  30),  were 
both  produced  in  1857  with  success  at  the  Theatre 
Lyrique;  'Gil  Bias'  (March  26,  1860),  an  ope'ra- 
comique  in  5  acts,  and  'Ondine,'  3  acts  (Jan.  7, 
1863) — the  former  his  most  popular  piece — fol 
lowed  at  the  same  theatre,  but  his  next  work, 
'La  petite  Fadette'  (Sept.  n,  1869),  libretto  by 
Carre"  (he  was  evidently  a  great  admirer  of 
Georges  Sand),  was  produced  at  the  Ope'ra 
Comique.  In  this  work — revived  at  Lille,  April 
iSSi,  with  enthusiastic  applause— there  is  much 
colour  and  expression,  and  great  charm,  indeed 
all  Semet's  works  contain  real  gems  of  melody 
and  harmony.  Their  drawback  is  their  difficulty. 

Besides  his  operas  he  composed  songs  for  a  piece 
called  'Constantinople'  (1854);  melodies  ;  a  can 
tata  (performed  at  the  Opera,  Aug.  15, 1862) ;  airs 
de  ballet  for  'Les  Pirates  dela  Savane'  (1867),  and 
many  part-songs,  some  of  which,  especially  '  La 
Danse  des  Sylphes,'  are  remarkable. 

M.  Semet,  who  has  for  many  years  played  the 
drums  at  the  Ope'ra,  has  brought  out  no  new 
work  since  1870.  In  common  with  many  other 
composers  lie  is  looking  forward  to  the  revival 
of  a  third  Theatre  Lyrique  in  Paris,  and  in  the 
meantime  lives  in  retirement  at  Cre'teil.  [G.C.] 

SEMIBREVE  (Lat.  Semibrevis ;  Ital.  Semi- 
Ireve;  Fr.  Ronde;  Germ.  Taktnote,  Game  Note}. 
Franco  of  Cologne,  the  earliest  known  writer 
on  Measured  Music  (Cant us  mensurabilis)  who 
furnishes  the  types  from  which  the  forms  of 
our  modern  Notation  are  evidently  derived,  de 
scribes  notes  of  four  different  kinds — the  Double 
Long  (or  Large),  the  Long,  the  Breve,  and  the 
Semibreve — which  last  was,  in,  his  day,  the 
shortest  note  in  use,  though  no  very  long  time 
elapsed  before  the  Minim  was  added  to  the  list. 
The  forms  of  these  notes  are  generally  supposed 
to  have  been  suggested  by  those  of  the  Neumae 
of  an  earlier  period ;  the  Large  and  Long  being 
clearly  traceable  to  the  Virga ;  and  the  Breve 
and  Semibreve  to  the  Punctus.1  Don  Nicola 
Vicentino,  however,  in  his  '  L'antica  Musica 
ridotta  alia  moderna  Prattica,'  printed  at  Rome 
")  T555.  refers  the  forms  of  all  these  notes  to  a 
different  origin  ;  deriving  the  Large,  the  Long, 
and  the  Breve,  from  the  B  quadratum,  or  Square 
B,  (t} ) ;  and  the  Semibreve,  from  the  B  rotundum 
(5);  the  transformation  being  effected,  in  each 

1  See  vol.  ii.  p.  471  a. 


SEMIBREYE. 


459 


case,  by  depriving  the  figure  of  one  or  both  its 
tails.  But  Vicentino  has  fallen  into  so  many 
palpable  errors  that  we  cannot  trust  him  :  and, 
in  the  present  instance,  his  theory  certainly  does 
not  accord  with  that  early  form  of  the  Semi 
breve  which  is  produced  by  cutting  the  Breve  (u) 
in  half,  diagonally,  thus,  (r).  This  form  soon 
gave  way  to  the  Lozenge  (*  or  <>),  which  was 
retained  in  use  until  late  in  the  1 7th  century, 
when  it  was  replaced,  in  Measured  Music,  by  the 
round  note  of  our  present  system  (o),  though 
in  Gros  fa — the  Gregorian  system  of  Notation 
which  represents  the  Black  Letter  of  Music — the 
Lozenge  remains  in  use  to  the  present  day. 

Until  the  beginning  of  the  I7th  century,  the 
Semibreve  represented  one  third  of  a  Perfect 
Breve,  and  the  half  of  an  Imperfect  one.  In  the 
Greater  Prolation,  it  was  equal  to  three  Minims  ; 
in  the  Lesser,  to  two.  In  either  case,  it  was  ac 
cepted  as  the  norm  of  all  other  Notes ;  and  was 
held  to  constitute  a  complete  Measure,  or  Stroke. 
In  the  Greater  Prolation — or,  as  we  should  now 
call  it,  Triple  Time — this  Stroke  was  indicated 
by  a  single  down-beat  of  the  hand,  representing 
what  we  write  as  a  dotted  Semibreve.  In  the 
Lesser  Prolation — the  Common  Time  of  the 
modern  system — it  was  indicated  by  a  down 
and  an  up  beat,  called  respectively  the  Thesis 
and  the  Arsis  of  the  Measure.  It  will  be  under 
stood,  that  these  two  beats  represented  two 
Minims  ;  and,  happily  for  us,  we  are  not  left 
altogether  in  doubt  as  to  the  average  pace  at 
which  these  two  Minims  were  sung,  in  the  great 
Polyphonic  Compositions  of  the  i^th  and  i6fch 
centuries :  for,  apart  from  the  traditions  of  the 
Sistine  Chapel,  early  writers  have  left  a  very 
definite  rule  for  our  guidance.  The  Thesis  and 
Arsis  of  the  Lesser  Prolation,  they  say,  represent 
the  beats  of  the  human  pulse.  Now,  the  rapidity 
of  the  human  pulse,  taking  into  calculation  the 
variations  exhibited  at  all  ages,  and  in  both 
sexes,  ranges  between  66'7  and  140  per  minute:2 
allowing,  therefore,  for  roughness  of  calculation, 
we  may  say  that  the  Compositions  of  Josquin 
des  Pr£s,  and  Palestrina,  may  be  safely  inter 
preted  between  £?  =  60,  and<cJ  =  1 40 — a  sufficiently 
extended  range,  surely,  to  satisfy  the  individual 
taste  of  the  most  exigeant  Conductor. 

In  Modern  Music,  the  Semibreve  retains  more 
than  one  of  the  characteristics  that  distinguished 
it  in  the  I5th  and  i6th  centuries.  It  is  now, 
indeed,  the  longest  instead  of  the  shortest  note 
in  common  use,  for  the  employment  of  the 
Breve  is  altogether  exceptional:  but  it  is  none 
the  less  the  norm  from  which  all  other  notes  are 
derived.  To  this  day  we  teach  our  children  to 
say  '  A  Semibreve  is  equal  to  two  Minims,  four 
Crotchets,'  and  so  on,  to  the  end  of  the  Time- 
Table.  Again,  in  our  Alia,  breve  Time,  (<£),  it 
is  divided  into  two  Minims,  represented  by  an 
up  and  down  beat,  exactly  as  in  the  Lesser  Pro 
lation,  as  described  by  Morley  and  other  early 
writers.  More  frequently  we  divide  it  into  four 
Crotchet-beats,  (C),  but  this  does  not  alter  its 

2  See  '  Carpenter's  Human  Physiology '  (Load.  1881),  pp.  ?00  et  seq. 


460 


SEMIBREVE. 


character  as  a  normal  type  ;  and  indeed  it  was 
frequently  so  divided,  in  the  i6th  century,  in 
the  works  of  the  great  Madrigal  writers.  We 
may  therefore  say  that,  of  all  the  notes  now  in 
use,  the  Semibreve  is  the  one  which  unites  us 
most  closely  to  the  system  of  those  who  invented 
the  germ  of  the  method  we  ourselves  follow ; 
and  it  furnishes  the  safest  guide  we  know  of  to 
the  right  understanding  of  their  works.  [W.S.R.] 

SEMICHORUS,  i.e.  Half  chorus;  a  word 
used  to  denote  a  kind  of  antiphonal  effect  pro 
duced  by  employing  half  the  number  of  voices  at 
certain  points,  and  contrasting  this  smaller  body 
of  sound  with  the  full  chorus.  [J.A.F.M.] 

SEMICROMA  (Lat.  Semichroma ;  Eng. 
Quaver,  or  Semiquaver).  The  Italian  name  for 
the  Semiquaver.  Old  writers,  however,  some 
times  apply  the  term  Croma  to  the  Crotchet, 
and  Semicroma  to  the  Quaver ;  and,  so  vague 
was  once  the  distinction  between  the  two,  that 
even  Baretti,  writing  as  late  as  1824,  makes  the 
word  'Croma'  signify  'a  Crotchet  or  Quaver.' 
The  etymology  of  the  word  Chroma  is  derived 
from  the  very  early  custom  of  using  red  notes 
intermixed  with  black  ones.  The  red  notes  being 
sung  more  quickly  than  the  black  ones,  the  dura- 
tion  of  a  red  Minim  was  a  little  longer  than  that 
of  a  black  Semiminim  (or  Crotchet) ;  and  the  note 
was  called  Chroma  on  account  of  its  colour.  [See 
SEMIQUAVER,  SEMIFUSA,  SEMIMINIMA,  QUAVER, 
NOTATION.]  [W.S.R.] 

SEMIFUSA.  The  Latin  name  for  the  Semi 
quaver  ;  but  sometimes  applied  to  the  Quaver 
also.  The  etymology  of  the  term  is  not  very 
clear.  The  most  probable  theory  is  that  which 
traces  it  to  a  fancied  resemblance  between  the 
early  form  of  the  Quaver,  and  that  of  a  spindle 
(fusus).  [See  SEMICROMA,  SEMIQUAVER,  SEMI- 
MINIMA,  QUAVER,  NOTATION.]  [W.S.R.] 

SEMIMINIMA  MAJOR  and  MINOR  (Eng. 
Greater,  and  Lesser  Half- Minim  =  Crotchet,  and 
Quaver  ;  Ital.  Croma  e  Semicroma ;  Germ. 
Viertel  und  Achtel ;  French  Noire  et  Croche). 
Though  the  Minim  was  BO  called,  because,  at 
the  time  of  its  invention,  it  was  the  smallest 
(i.  e.  the  shortest)  of  all  notes,  Composers  soon 
found  it  convenient  to  divide  it  in  half,  and  even 
into  four  parts.  Franchinus  Gafurius,  quoting 
from  Prosdocimns  de  Beldemandis,  describes  and 
figures  these  divisions  in  his  '  Practica  Musicae,' 
printed  in  1496.  The  Greater  Semiminima,  the 
equivalent  of  the  modern  Crotchet,  was  a  black 

lozenge-headed  note,  with  a  tail,  4  ;  the  Lesser 

Semiminima,   now   called   the   Quaver,     was    a 

P 
similar  note,  with  a  single  hook,  4..      Sometimes 

the  head  of  the  greater  Semiminim  was  '  void'- 
that  is  to  say,  open,  or  white — in  which  case, 

this  note  also  had  a  hook,  to  distinguish  it  from 

o 

the  Minim,  <> ;  and,  when  this  hooked  form  was 
used,  the  figure  which  we  have  described  above 
as  proper  to  the  Greater  Semiminim,  was  used 
for  the  Lesser  one.  When  black  and  red  notes 
were  used  together,  the  red  Minim  served  as  the 


SEMITONE. 

diminutive  of  the  black  one  ;  and  the  Semiminiin 
was  called  Chroma,  on  account  of  its  colour. 
This  name  was  afterwards  applied  both  to  the 
Greater  and  the  Lesser  Semiminim  ;  and  hence 
it  came  to  pass  that,  in  later  times,  the  term 
Chroma  was  applied  indiscriminately  to  the 
Crotchet  and  the  Quaver.  [See  SEMICHROMA, 
NOTATION.]  [W.S.B.] 

SEMIQUAVER,  (Lat.  Semifusa-,  Ital.  Semi- 
aroma,  Biscroma,  Semifusa;  Germ.  Sechzehntd, 
Sechzehntheil-Note  ;  Fr.  Double  crocke).  The 
sixteenth  part  of  a  Semibreve. 

The  earliest  mention  of  the  Semiquaver  occurs 
in  the  'Practica  Musicae'  of  Franchinus  Gafurius, 
printed  at  Milan  in  1496.  It  may  be  found — 
though  very  rarely — in  the  printed  Polyphonic 
Music  of  the  i6th  century,  in  the  form  of  a  black 

3      R 
lozenge-headed  note,  with  a  double  hook,  4  or  £  ; 

and  it  is  manifestly  from  this  early  type  that  our 
present  figure  is  derived.  In  the  i6th  century  both 
Semiquavers  and  Quavers  were  always  printed 
with   separate   hooks.     The   custom   of  joining 
Quavers   together  by  a  single  line,  and  Semi 
quavers  by  a  double  one,  dates  from  the  lyth 
century ;    and   the   credit    of    the   invention  is 
generally  accorded  to  John  Play  ford.     Hawkins 
gives   the   year    1660   as   'about'   the  date  of 
Playford's  improvement;   and  tells  us  that  the 
new  method  was  first  copied  by  the  Dutch,  then 
by  the  French,  and  afterwards  by  the  Germans ; 
but  quotes  the  folio  edition  of  Marcello's  Psalms 
(Venice,  1724)  as  a  proof  that  the  Italians  ad 
hered  to   the   old   plan  until  late  in  the  i8th 
century — as  did  also  the  Spaniards.1  Long  before 
that  time,  the  custom  of  grouping  Semiquavers 
after  the  modern  manner  was  in  constant  use  in 
England  (except — as  now — in  cases  in  which  a 
separate  syllable  was  sung  to  each  note),  as  may 
be  seen  in  the  early  printed  editions  of  Purcell's 
'  Te  Deum,'  and  other  similar  works,  in  which  may 
also  be  noticed  the  substitution  of  the  roundhead 
for  the  earlier  lozenge.  [See  SEMICROMA,  SEMIFUSA, 
SEMIMINIMA,  QUAVER,  NOTATION.]        [W.S.R.] 

SEMITONE  (from  the  Greek  ^ur<W).  Half 
a  tone  ;  the  smallest  interval  in  the  ordinary 
musical  scales.  The  semitone  may  be  of  different 
kinds,  each  of  which  has  a  different  theoretical 
magnitude. 

Since  the  invention  of  the  diatonic  scale  the 
natural  interval  of  the  fourth  has  been  subdivided 
artificially  into  two  tones  and  a  semitone.  In  the 
ancient  Greek  time  the  two  tones  were  both  what 
are  now  called  major  tones,  and  the  hemitone 
had  a  magnitude  determined  by  the  difference  be 
tween  their  sum  and  the  fourth  :  but  when  har 
mony  began  to  prevail,  one  of  the  tones  was 
diminished  to  a  minor  tone,  and  this  gave  the 
modern  semitone  a  little  greater  value.  The 
semitone,  so  formed,  as  belonging  to  the  diatonic 
scale  (from  B  to  C,  or  from  E  to  F  for  example) 
is  called  a  diatonic  semitone. 

The  introduction  of  chromatic  notes  gave  rise 
to  a  third  kind  of  semitone,  as  from  C  to  Cff  or 

1  Hawkins,  Hist.  vol.  iv.  bk.  iii.  ch.  5,  note. 


SEMITONE. 

from  G  to  Gb ;  this  is  called  a  chromatic  semi 
tone  and  has  a  less  magnitude  than  the  diatonic 
one. 

Finally  came  the  great  simplification  of  music 
by  dividing  the  octave  into  twelve  equal  intervals, 
each  of  which  was  called  a  mean  semitone  ;  thus 
abolishing  practically  the  difference  between  the 
diatonic  and  the  chromatic  values.  A  semitone 
may  now  be  considered,  in  practical  music,  as 
simply  the  interval  between  the  sounds  given  by 
any  two  adjoining  keys  on  a  well-tuned  piano. 

The  relations  between  the  theoretical  magni 
tudes  of  the  different  kinds  of  semitones  are 
about  as  follows: — If  we  represent  the  magnitude 
of  a  mean  semitone  by  25,  the  true  magnitude  of 
a  diatonic  semitone  will  be  about  28;  of  a  chro 
matic  semitone  about  18;  and  of  the  ancient 
Greek  hemitone  about  23.  [W.P.] 

SEMIRAMIDE  (i.  e.  Semiramis,  Empress  of 
Nineveh).  A  favourite  subject  with  Italian 
writers  of  operas.  Librettos  upon  it  were  written 
by  Moniglia,  Apostolo  Zeno,  and  Silvani ;  and 
Clement's  Dictionnaire  Lyrique  contains  a  list  of 
21  operas  composed  to  one  or  other  of  these  by 
the  masters  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Voltaire's 
play  on  the  same  subject  was  also  adapted  to  music 
and  set  by  Graun  (Berlin,  1 754),  and  Catel  (1802). 
Rossini's  well-known  chef-d'oeuvre  was  written  to 
a  libretto  by  Rossi,  and  produced  at  Venice  Feb.  3, 
1823;  and  in  London,  at  the  King's  Theatre, 
July  15,  1824.  In  French,  as  'Semiramis,'  it 
appeared  in  Paris  July  9,  1860. — SEMIRAMIDE 
RICONOSCIDTA,  words  by  Metastasio,  was  set 
by  Vinci,  Porpora,  Cocchi,  Sarti,  Traetta,  Meyer 
beer,  and  Gluck — the  last  of  these  at  Vienna 
in  1748.  It  is  important  as  revealing  some  of 
the  qualities  by  which  Gluck  has  been  rendered 
immortal.  [G.] 

SEMLER,  FRANZ  XAVER,  a  viola-player  of 
some  renown  in  Berlin,  the  last  to  use  the  viola 
as  a  solo  instrument.  He  was  born  in  1772,  and 
lasted  down  to  Feb.  27,  1857.  His  sister  Sophie 
(afterwards  Frau  Neilas)  in  1 784  made  a  great 
hit  as  Constanze  in  the  '  Entfti.hr  ung.'  Mozart 
visited  her  in  17*9  at  Potsdam,  and  her  brother 
tells  a  charming  little  story,  for  which  his  name 
is  worth  preserving.  '  Mozart  was  asked  to  ex 
temporise,  and,  as  usual,  was  willing  enough.  He 
sat  down  to  the  piano,  and  asked  the  company 
for  two  themes.  My  sister  stood  close  by  to 
watch  his  playing.  Mozart,  always  full  of  his  fun, 
looked  up  at  her  and  said,  "  Come,  haven't  you 
too  got  a  bit  of  a  subject  for  me  ?"  (Habens  auch 
a  Themerl  aufen  Gewissen).  She  hummed  one ; 
on  which  he  began  in  his  own  charming  style, 
toying  first  with  one  and  then  with  the  others, 
and  at  last  bringing  in  all  three  together  to  the 
delight  of  everybody.'  (Otto  Jahn,  ii.  411,  from 
Semler's  own  account.)  [G.] 

SEMPLICE,  'simple';  a  direction  denoting 
that  the  passage  so  marked  is  to  be  performed 
without  any  adornment  or  deviation  from  the 
time,  used  particularly  in  passages  of  which  the 
character  might  possibly  be  misunderstood.  A 
curious  instance  occurs  in  Chopin's  Rondo  for 


SENESINO. 


461 


two  pianos,  op.  73>  where  the  second  subject 
(in  A  minor)  is  inscribed  '  Semplice  senza  orna- 
menti.'  The  lovely  Arietta  which  forms  the  sub 
ject  of  the  variations  in  Beethoven's  last  PF. 
Sonata,  op.  1 1 1 ,  is  marked  'Adagio  molto  semplice 
cantabile.'  [J.A.F.M.] 

SEMPRE,  'always';  a  word  used  in  conjunc 
tion  with  some  other  mark  of  time  or  expression 
to  signify  that  such  mark  is  to  remain  in  force 
until  a  new  direction  appears.  Its  purpose  is  to 
remind  the  performer  of  the  directions  which 
might  otherwise  be  forgotten — as  in  the  scherzo 
of  the  Eroica  Symphony,  where  the  direction 
Semprepp.  e  staccato  is  repeated  again  and  again 
throughout  the  movement.  [J.A.F.M.] 

SENESINO,  FRANCESCO  BERNARDI  DETTO, 
i.  e.  '  F.  B.  called  the  Sienese,'  one  of  the  most 
famous  of  the  sopranist  singers  who  flourished 
in  the  last  century.  He  was  born  about  1680,  at 
Siena  (whence  he  derived  his  name),  and  received 
his  musical  education  from  Bernacchi,  at  Bologna. 
Little  or  nothing  is  heard  of  his  career  previous 
to  1719.  At  that  time  he  was  singing  at  the 
Court  theatre  of  Saxony,  and  when  Handel  came 
to  Dresden,  in  quest  of  singers,  was  engaged  by 
him  for  London. 

Senesino's  first  appearance  in  this  country 
(Nov.  1720)  was  in  Buononcini's  opera  '  Astarto,' 
which  at  once  established  him  in  public  favour 
as  a  singer  of  the  first  rank.  He  sang  next  in  a 
revival  of  Handel's  '  Floridante,'  and  in  the  cele 
brated  '  Muzio  Scaevola ' ;  afterwards  in  Handel's 
'Ottone,'  'Flavio,'  and  'Giulio  Cesare'  (1723), 
'Tamerlano'  (1724),  'Rodelinda'  (1725), 'Scipio' 
and  'Alessandro'  (1726),  and  in  various  operas 
and  pasticcios  by  other  composers.  In  '  Giulio 
Cesare'  his  declamation  of  the  famous  accom 
panied  recitative  'Alma  del  gran  Pompeo'  created 
a  special  sensation.  A  writer  in  the  London 
Magazine  (Feb.  1733)  relates  an  amusing  anec 
dote  of  Senesino  in  this  opera:  'When  I  was 
last  at  the  opera  of  Julius  Caesar,  a  piece  of  the 
machinery  tumbled  down  from  the  roof  of  the 
theatre  upon  the  stage,  just  as  Senesino  had 
chanted  forth  these  words  "Cesare  non  seppe 
mai  che  sia  timore" — Csesar  never  knew  fear. 
The  poor  hero  was  so  frightened  that  he  trem 
bled,  lost  his  voice,  and  fell  crying.  Every 
tyrant  or  tyrannical  minister  is  just  such  a  Csesar 
as  Senesino.'  In  the  opera  'Alessandro'  it  is 
said  that  when,  in  the  part  of  Alexander,  he  led 
his  soldiers  to  the  assault  of  Ossidraca,  he  so  far 
forgot  himself  in  the  heat  of  combat  as  to  stick 
his  sword  into  one  of  the  pasteboard  stones  of 
the  wall  of  the  town,  and  bear  it  in  triumph 
before  him  as  he  entered  the  breach !  This 
opera  had  a  run  of  two  months,  and  its  last  per 
formance,  advertised  for  June  7,  was  prevented 
by  the  sudden  illness  of  Senesino,  who,  as  soon 
as  he  was  able  to  travel,  set  off  for  Italy,  for  the 
recovery  of  his  health,  promising  to  return  the 
next  winter.  This  promise,  however,  was  not 
kept  in  time  to  enable  the  Opera-house  to  open 
till  after  Christmas,  a  fact  alluded  to  in  the  fol 
lowing  prologue,  spoken  by  Mrs.  Younger  at 


462 


SENESINO. 


the  revival  of  'Camilla'  (performed  entirely  in 
English),  Nov.  26,  1726: 

Ye  British  fair,  vouchsafe  us  your  applause, 

And  smile,  propitious,  on  our  English  cause; 

"While  Senesino  you  expect  in  vain, 

And  see  your  favours  treated  with  disdain: 

"While,  'twixt  his  rival  queens,  such  mutual  hate 

Threats  hourly  ruin  to  your  tuneful  state, 

Permit  your  country's  voices  to  repair, 

In  some  degree,  your  disappointment  there: 

Here  may  that  charming  circle  nightly  shine, 

'Tis  time,  when  that  deserts  us,  to  resign. 

Senesino  reappeared  in  Handel's  'Admeto,' 
early  in  1727.  This  was  followed  in  the  same 
year  by  'Riccardo  imo,'  and  in  1728  by  'Siroe' 
and  '  Tolomeo,'  in  which  a  great  effect  was  made 
by  the  echo  song,  'Dite  che  fa,'  sung  by  Cuzzoni, 
with  many  of  the  passages  repeated  behind  the 
scenes  by  Senesino.  But  now,  after  several  un- 
prosperous  seasons,  the  society  oalled  the  Royal 
Academy,  for  which  Handel  had  directed  the 
operas  at  the  Haymarket,  was  dissolved ;  the 
theatre  was  forced  to  close  its  doors  for  lack  of 
support,  and  the  Italian  singers  dispersed  over 
the  Continent.  Hawkins  attributes  to  this  time 
the  quarrel  which  ended  in  a  final  rupture  be 
tween  Senesino  and  the  great  composer.  But 
this  is  disproved  by  the  fact  that  Senesino  re 
turned  to  sing  for  Handel  in  1 730.  That  there 
was  however  much  discord  in  the  company  before 
it  separated  is  true  enough.  The  quarrels  between 
the  two  'rival  queens'  dated  from  the  beginning 
of  their  engagement,  and  Senesino,  whose  temper 
was  arrogant  and  imperious,  and  who  was  the 
spoiled  child  of  the  fashionable  world  and  of  the 
public,  exerted  no  appeasing  influence.  Quantz 
relates  in  his  memoirs,  that  Senesino's  quarrels 
brought  about  the  dissolution  of  the  Dresden 
company  in  1719.  It  is  said  by  Burney  (who 
quotes  it  from  Walpole)  that  once,  at  a  rehearsal 
in  London,  he  offended  Mrs.  Anastasia  Robinson 
(afterwards  Countess  of  Peterborough)  so  griev 
ously,  that  Lord  Peterborough  'publicly  and 
violently'  caned  him  behind  the  scenes.  Handel's 
own  disposition  was  not  conciliatory,  and  'he 
suspected  that  Senesino's  example  had  given 
encouragement  to  that  refractory  spirit  which 
he  found  rising  in  the  two  contending  females' 
(Hawkins). 

After  an  absence  of  nearly  three  years,  how 
ever,  Senesino  rejoined  the  Haymarket  company, 
under  Handel's  management,  at  a  salary  of  1400 
guineas,  and  appeared  on  Feb.  2,  1731,  in  'Poro,' 
then  considered  a  great  success.  In  the  same 
year  were  revived  '  Rodelinda  '  and  '  Rinaldo.' 
'Ezio'  and  'Sosarme'  were  produced  in  1732. 
Besides  singing  in  all  these,  Senesino  took  part 
(May  2,  1732)  in  'Esther,'  Handel's  first  ora 
torio,  described  as  '  a  new  species  of  exhibition, 
at  the  Opera-house,'  and  on  June  10,  in  a  curious 
performance,  under  the  composer's  own  direction, 
of  'Acis  and  Galatea.'  Several  airs  and  three 
choruses  were  interpolated  on  this  occasion,  from 
Handel's  early  Neapolitan  Serenata  on  the  same 
subject,  and  the  piece  was  sung  partly  in  English 
and  partly  in  Italian. 

The  last  of  Handel's  operas  in  which  Senesino 
appeared,  was    'Orlando'  (Jan.  1733),  but   he 


SENFF. 

took  part  later  in  the  same  season  in  'Deborah ' 
described  then  as  an  opera,  and  performed  (as 
was  'Esther')  on  opera  nights.     The  long  im 
pending  quarrel  now  came  to  a  crisis.     Handel 
could  not  brook  the  opposition  to  his  will  of  a 
singer,    however    eminent    or    idolized    by  the 
public,  and,  in  the  end,  their  engagement  was 
broken  off.     The  composer  was  regarded  with 
no  very  friendly  eye  by  the  English  aristocracy, 
many  of  whom  were  alienated  by  his  rough  inde 
pendence  and  want  of  respect  of  persons.     'All 
these  wealthy  adversaries  of  Handel  naturally 
espoused  the  cause  of  Senesino  from  the  outset 
and  ended  by  demanding  that  Senesino  should  be 
retained  .  .  .  Handel  replied  that  Senesino  should 
never  reappear   im    his    theatre.'    (Schoelcher. ) 
Accordingly,   says    Burney,    'the   nobility  and 
gentry  opened  a  subscription  for  Italian  operas 
at  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields,  inviting  Porpora  thither 
to  compose  and  conduct,  and  engaging  Senesino, 
Cuzzoni,  Montagnana,  Segatti,  Bertolli,  and  after 
wards  Farinelli,  to  perform  there.'     There  Sene 
sino  remained  till  1735,  when  he  returned  to 
Siena,  with  a  fortune  of  £15,000,  and  built  him 
self  a  house. 

Senesino's  voice  was  a  mezzo  soprano,  or,  ac 
cording  to  some,  a  contralto.  Although  limited 
in  compass  it  was  considered  by  many  good  judges 
to  be  superior  in  quality  even  to  that  of  Farinelli. 
It  was  clear,  penetrating,  and  flexible,  his  in 
tonation  faultless,  his  shake  perfect.  Purity, 
simplicity,  and  expressiveness  were  the  charac 
teristics  of  his  style,  while  for  the  delivery  of 
recitative  'he  had  not  his  fellow  in  Europe.' 
To  judge  from  his  portraits,  the  expression 
of  his  countenance  is  both  arrogant  and  coarse. 
Hawkins  says  that  he  was  a  graceful  -actor,  but 
one  would  hardly  suppose  it,  judging  from  his 
representation  in  Bickham's  Musical  Entertainer 
(T  737)>  entitled  '  The  Ladies'  Lament  for  the  loss 
of  Senesino.'  The  engraving  represents  him  as 
a  giant,  clothed  like  a  Roman  emperor,  -with 
women  kissing  the  hem  of  his  coat  of  mail,  and 
some  weeping.  On  the  other  side  are  heaps  of 
bags  of  gold,  being  carried  by  porters  towards 
the  frigate  on  which  he  is  about  to  embark. 

In  1739  Senesino  was  living  at  Florence,  and 
sang  a  duet  with  the  Archduchess  Maria  Theresa 
there.  He  died  about  1750.  [F.A.M.] 

SENFF,  BARTHOLF,  an  eminent  German  music- 
publisher,  was  born  at  Friedrichshall,  Coburg, 
Sept.  2, 1818.  He  founded  the  house  which  bears 
his  name,  in  Leipzig,  in  1850,  and  his  catalogue 
contains  original  editions  of  Mendelssohn  (ops. 
104,  109,  and  2  Clavierstiicke),  Schumann  (ops. 
82,106, 11,7, 122,134),  Brahms  (°PS-  5>  6,  Gavotte 
by  Gluck,  5  Studien  fiir  PF.),  Gade,  Hiller, 
Reinecke,  Rietz,  Rubinstein  (ops.  8,  42,  48,  51, 
52,  54.  57.  59>  60,  63,  64,  65,  66,  67,  70,  72, 
73-78'  80,  84,  86,  87-92,  94-102,  106,  107, 
'Der  Damon,'  'Feramors,'  ' Kalaschnikoff,'  'Die 
Kinder  der  Haide,'  'Nero,'  etc.),  and  other 
masters.  Also  valuable  republications,  such  as 
Pauer's  'Alte  Claviermusik,'  David's  '  Concert- 
studien  '  for  the  violin,  Clauss-Szarvady's  '  Cla 
vierstiicke';  and  especially  an  edition  of  Schubert's 


SENFF. 

song3  in  20  volumes,  edited  by  Julius  Rietz. 
[See  vol.  iii.  p.  356  &,  371  a.]  Of  Schubert  he 
has  further  published  Lachner's  orchestration  of 
4  Miriam/  a  movement  of  a  Quartet  in  C  minor 
dating  from  1820,  etc.,  etc.  Also  the  excellent 
educational  works  of  Louis  Kohler  (ops.  47,  50, 
79,  112,  128,  150,  151,  152,  175,  190,  270,  280). 
Senff  is  the  editor  and  proprietor  of  the  well- 
known  musical  periodical '  Signale  fur  die  musik- 
alische  Welt.'  [See  SIGNALE.]  [G.] 

SENFL  or  SENFEL,  LUDWIG,  born  at  Basel 
or  Basel  Augst  (Basle)  towards  the  end  of  the  1 5th 
century.  A  volume  of  MS.  songs  in  the  Vienna 
library  contains  some  verses,  written  and  set  to 
music  by  Senfl  himself,  describing  his  early  enthu 
siasm  for  music,  his  education  under  Heinrich 
Isaac,  and  his  gratitude  to  that  master.  At  an 
early  age  he  entered  the  Court  chapel  of  Maxi 
milian  I.,  ultimately  succeeded  Isaac  as  chapel- 
master,  and  held  that  office  till  the  emperor's 
death  (Jan.  1519),  on  which  occasion  he  wrote 
music  to  the  words  '  Quis  dabit  oculis  nostris 
fontem  lacrimarum.'  In  15  20  he  was  at  Augsburg, 
received  a  present  of  50  gulden  from  Charles  V. 
on  Feb.  19,  and  in  the  following  November  per 
sonally  edited  the  '  Liber  selectarum  Cantionum," 
one  of  the  first  music  books  printed  in  Germany. 
Thence  he  went  to  Munich,  though  in  what 
capacity  is  uncertain.  On  one  title-page  (1526) 
he  is  called '  Musicus  intonator,'  on  another  (1534) 
'Musicus  primarius,'  of  the  duke  of  Bavaria, 
while  in  his  own  letters  he  subscribes  himself 
simply  '  Componist  zu  Miinchen.'  The  date  of 
his  death  is  unknown.  In  Forster's  collection 
of  Liedlein  (preface  dated  Jan.  31,  1556)  he  is 
spoken  of  as  '  L.  S.  seliger'  (i.e.  dead);  and  if 
the  title  '  musicus  primarius '  stands  for  '  chapel- 
master  '  he  must  have  died  or  retired  some  years 
before,  since  Ludwig  Daser  had  held  that  office 
for  some  years  when  Lassus  went  to  Munich  in 

1557- 
The  well-known  letter  from  Luther  to  Senfl l 

is  no  evidence  that  the  composer  had  worked 
specially  for  the  Reformed  Church,  though  the 
existence  of  the  correspondence  has  given  rise  to 
that  idea.  Indeed  his  connection  with  the  strictly 
Catholic  court  of  Munich  would,  as  Fe"tis  points 
out,  render  it  most  improbable.2  Four  letters 
written  by  Senfl  to  the  Margrave  Albrecht  of 
Brandenburg  and  to  Georg  Schultheis  are  printed 
in  the  'Allgemeine  Musik.  Zeitung'  for  Aug.  12, 
1863. 

A  portrait  engraved  on  a  medal  by  Hagenauer 
of  Augsburg,  with  the  inscription  'Ludovvicus 
Senfel,'  and  on  the  reverse  '  Psallana  deo  meo 
quamdiu  fuero  1529,'  is  in  the  collection  of  coins 
and  medals  at  Vienna. 

The  royal  library  at  Munich  contains  the 
manuscript  church  service  books  begun  by  Isaac 
and  completed  by  Senfl,  as  well  as  manuscript 
masses  by  the  latter.  His  most  important  pub 
lished  works  are  (i)  '  Quinque  salutationes  D.  N. 
Hiesu  Christi,' etc.  (Norimbergae  1526);  (2)'Varia 

1  Dated  Coburg,  Oct.  4,  1530.     The  letter  is  printed  in  'Dr.  M. 
Luther's  Gedanken  fiber  die  Musik,'  F.  A.  Beck  (Berlin  1828),  p.  58. 
1  '  Biographic  des  Musicieus,'  vl.  44. 


SEPTET. 


463 


carminum  genera,  quibus  turn  Horatius,  turn  alii 

egregiae  poetae harmoniis  composita'  (id. 

J534);  (3)  'I21  newe  Lieder' (id.  1534),  with 
81  nos.  by  L.  S. ;  (4)  '  Magnificat  octo  tonorum, 
a  4'  (id.  1537);  (5)  '115  guter  newer  Liedlein' 
(id.  1544),  with  64  nos.  by  L.  S.  Besides  these 
Eitner3  names  above  100  separate  pieces  printed 
in  various  collections  of  the  i6th  century.  In 
modern  notation  9  sacred  pieces  (a  4)  are  given 
by  Winterfeld  in  'Der  evangelische  Kirchen- 
gesang'  (Leipsic  1843),  and  5  Lieder  by  Liliencron 
in  '  Die  historischen  Volkslieder  der  Deutschen' 
(Leipzig  1 865-69).  ( J.  R.  S.-B.] 

SENNET  —  also  written  SENET,  SENNATE, 
SYNNET,  CYNET,  SIGNET  or  SIGNATE — a  word 
which  occurs  in  stage-directions  in  the  plays  of 
the  Elizabethan  dramatists,  and  is  used  to  denote 
that  a  particular  fanfare  is  to  be  played.  It  is 
a  technical  term,  and  what  particular  notes  were 
played  is  now  unknown.  A  Sennet  was  dis 
tinguished  from  a  Flourish,  as  is  proved  by 
a  stage-direction  in  Dekker's  '  Satiromastix,' 
'  Trumpets  sound  a  florish,  and  then  a 
sennate.'  (Nares'  Glossary.)  [W.B.S.] 

SENZA,  'without' — as  Senza  organo,  'with 
out  organ ' ;  a  direction  of  frequent  occurrence 
throughout  Handel's  organ  concertos  ;  Senza  re- 
petizione,  'without  repeat'  [see  REPEAT];  Senza, 
tempo,  'without  time,'  which  occurs  in  Schu 
mann's  Humoreske,  op.  20,  in  the  movement 
marked  Precipitoso.  The  right  hand  is  marked 
Come  senza  tempo  ('  Wie  ausser  tempo,"  in  Ger 
man),  while  the  left  remains  in  tempo.  The  same 
direction  is  employed  at  the  end  of  Chopin's 
Nocturne,  op.  9,  no.  3.  [J.A.F.M.] 

SENZA  1  IATTI  (without  the  cymbals)  in 
dicates  that  the  bass-drum  only  is  to  be  played, 
as  in  the  first  allegro  of  the  Overture  to  'Guillaume 
Tell.'  [DRUM  3,  last  paragraph.]  [V.deP.] 

SEPTET  (Fr.  Septuor;  Ital.  Septetto}.  A. 
composition  for  seven  instruments  or  voices,  with 
or  without  accompaniment. 

There  is  no  instance,  among  the  works  of  the 
great  composers,  of  a  septet  for  strings  only, 
though  there  are  several  octets  (Mendelssohn, 
Bargiel,  Raff,  Gade,  Svendsen,  etc.).  Beethoven's 
famous  Septet  for  Strings  and  Wind  naturally 
heads  the  list,  and  Hummel's  for  Piano,  Strings, 
and  Wind  is  the  next  best  known,  though  far  in 
ferior  to  Spohr's  difficult  and  brilliant  work  for  a 
similar  combination  (op.  147).  The  great  paucity 
of  instrumental  septets  is  probably  owing  to 
the  fact  that  wind  instruments  are  too  full  and 
powerful  in  tone  to  sound  well  with  single  strings, 
or  even  the  piano.  A  striking  instance  of  this  in 
compatibility  is  accorded  by  Saint-SaeW  recently 
produced  Septet  for  Piano,  Strings  and  Trumpet; 
but,  truth  to  say,  whenever  we  hear  even  Bee 
thoven's  Septet  or  Schubert's  Octet,  we  have  the 
impression  of  an  exceedingly  feeble  orchestra, 
and  yearn  for  the  proper  fulness  of  string  power, 
albeit  these  works  are  not  in  bhe  least  orchestral. 

Operatic  situations  have  seldom  given  rise 
to,  or  opportunity  for,  vocal  septets,  but  the 

3  'Bibliographic'  (Berlin  1S77). 


464 


SEPTET. 


magnificent  specimen  in  the  last  act  of  Goetz's 
'Taming  of  the  Shrew'  deserves  foremost  mention, 
and  as  a  unique  thing  of  its  kind  we  may  also 
point  to  the  scene  (Act  iii,  Scene  2)  in  Wagner's 
'Die  Walkiire,'  where  occur  several  short  pieces 
for  female  voices  in  seven- part  harmony  with  en 
tirely  independent  accompaniment.  [F.C.] 

SEQUENCE  is  generally  taken  to  mean  the 
repetition  of  a  definite  group  of  notes  or  chords  in 
different  positions  of  the  scale,  like  regular  steps 
ascending  or  descending,  as  in  the  following  out 
lines  : — 


d: 


-C2- 


^P 


The  device  has  been  a  favourite  one  with 
composers,  from  Corelli,  Bach,  and  Handel,  to 
Schumann,  Brahms,  and  Wagner.  The  reason 
is  partly  that  it  is  so  thoroughly  intelligible 
without  being  commonplace.  The  mind  is  easily 
led  from  point  to  point  by  recognising  each 
successive  step  after  the  first  group  of  chords 
has  been  given,  and  is  sufficiently  interested  by 
the  slight  amount  of  diversity  which  prevails 
at  each  repetition.  It  thus  supplies  a  vital 
element  of  form  in  a  manner  which  in  some 
cases  has  certain  advantages  over  simple  exact 
repetition,  especially  when  short  phrases  are 
repeated  in  juxtaposition.  It  was  consequently 
made  much  use  of  by  early  composers  of  sonatas, 
and  instrumental  works  of  like  nature,  such  as 
Corelli  and  his  immediate  successors ;  and  in 
many  cases  examples  make  their  appearance  at 
analogous  points  in  different  movements,  indi 
cating  the  recognition  of  formal  principles  in  their 
introduction.  This  occurs,  for  instance,  near  the 
beginning  of  the  second  half  in  the  following 
movements  from  Corelli's  Opera  Quarta :  Corrente 
and  Allemanda  of  Sonata  I,  Allemanda  and  Cor 
rente  of  Sonata  2,  Corrente  of  Sonata  3,  Corrente 
and  Giga  of  Sonata  4,  Gavotte  of  Sonata  5, 
Allemanda  and  Giga  of  Sonata  6,  and  so  forth. 
A  large  proportion  of  both  ancient  and  modern 
sequences  are  diatonic;  that  is,  the  groups  are 
repeated  analogously  in  the  same  key  series, 
without  consideration  of  the  real  difference  of 
quality  in  the  intervals  ;  so  that  major  sevenths 
occasionally  answer  minor  sevenths,  and  dimi 
nished  fifths  perfect  fifths,  and  so  forth ;  and 
it  has  long  been  considered  allowable  to  intro 
duce  intervals  and  combinations  in  those  cir 
cumstances  which  would  otherwise  have  been 
held  inadmissible.  Thus  a  triad  on  the  leading 
note  would  in  ordinary  circumstances  be  con 
sidered  as  a  discord,  and  would  be  limited  in 


SEQUENCE. 

progression  accordingly ;  but  if  it  occurred  in  a 
sequence,  its  limitations  were  freely  obviated  by 
the  preponderant  influence  of  the  established  form 
of  motion.  Such  diatonic  sequences,  called  also 
sometimes  diatonic  successions,  are  extremely 
familiar  in  Handel's  works.  A  typical  instance 
is  a  Capriccio  in  G  major,  published  in  Pauer's 
'Alte  Meister,'  which  contains  at  least  fifteen 
sequences,  some  of  them  unusually  long  ones,  in 
four  pages  of  Allegro.  The  subject  itself  is  a 
characteristic  example  of  a  sequence  in  a  single 
part ;  it  is  as  follows  : — 


A  kind  of  sequence  which  was  early  developed, 
but  which  is  more  characteristic  of  later  music,  is 
the  modulatory  sequence,  sometimes  also  called 
chromatic.  In  this  form  accidentals  are  intro 
duced,  sometimes  by  following  exactly  the  quality 
of  the  intervals  where  the  diatonic  series  would 
not  admit  of  them,  and  sometimes  by  purposely 
altering  them  to  gain  the  step  of  modulation. 
This  will  be  easily  intelligible  from  the  following 
example : — 


The  usefulness  of  the  device  in  such  circumstances 
is,  if  anything,  even  more  marked  than  it  is  in  a 
single  key,  because  of  the  greater  breadth  of  range 
which  it  allows,  and  the  closeness  and  cogency 
of  the  successive  transitions  which  it  renders 
possible.  A  compact  and  significant  example  to 
the  point  is  the  following  from  a  fugue  by 
Cherubini  in  C  major : — 


Beethoven  made  very  remarkable  use  of  this 
device,  especially  in  the  great  Sonata  in  Bb, 
op.  106,  from  which  an  example  is  quoted  in  the 
article  MODULATION.  [See  ii.  350.]  The 'working 
out '  portion  of  the  first  movement  of  the  same 
sonata  is  an  almost  unbroken  series  of  sequences 
of  both  orders  ;  and  the  introduction  to  the  final 
fugue  is  even  more  remarkable,  both  for  the 
length  of  the  sequence,  and  the  originality  of  its 


SEQUENCE. 

treatment.  The  first-mentioned,  which  is  from 
the  Slow  Movement,  is  further  remarkable  as  an 
example  of  a  peculiar  manipulation  of  the  device 
by  which  modern  composers  have  obtained  very 
impressive  results.  This  is  the  change  of  emphasis 
in  the  successive  steps  of  which  it  is  composed. 
For  instance,  if  the  characteristic  group  consists 
of  three  chords  of  equal  length,  and  the  time  in 
which  it  occurs  is  a  square  one,  it  is  clear  that 
the  chord  which  is  emphatic  in  the  first  step  will 
be  weakest  in  the  next,  and  vice  versd.  This  form 
will  be  most  easily  understood  from  an  outline 
example : — 


SEQUENTIA. 


465 


1  ' 

1     1 

—  I 

4 

i 

1        ! 

J  1 

,   J 

J  1 

[/ 

J 

1 

W 

J 

•     V 

•     • 

J/f 

*    J 

•    • 

« 

s 

Em 

f[\  \ 

f 

* 

V. 

i 

r 

m 

I 

n*  r 

J  

p 

i 

c 

ff 

! 

1 

r    r- 

!   ' 

A  passage  at  the  beginning  of  the  Presto  at  the 
end  of  Beethoven's  Leonora  Overture,  No.  3,  is  a 
good  example  of  a  sequence  of  this  kind  in  a 
single  part.  It  begins  in  the  following  quotation 
at* 


The  extension  of  the  characteristic  group  of  a 
sequence  is  almost  unlimited,  but  it  will  be  obvious 
at  once  that  in  harmonic  sequences  the  shorter 
and  simpler  they  are  the  more  immediately  they 
will  be  understood.  In  long-limbed  sequences 
the  hearer  may  soon  perceive  that  there  is  a 
principle  of  order  underlying  what  he  hears, 
though  its  exact  nature  may  always  elude  his 
apprehension,  and  in  respectof  the  larger  branches 
of  form  this  is  a  decided  advantage.  Among 
short-limbed  emphatic  sequences  in  modern 
music,  the  one  of  eight  steps  which  occurs  towards 
the  end  of  the  first  full  portion  of  the  Overture 
to  the  Meistersinger  is  conspicuous,  and  it  has 
the  advantage  of  being  slightly  irregular.  The 
long-limbed  sequences  are  sometimes  elaborately 
concealed,  so  that  the  underlying  source  of  order 
in  the  progression  can  only  with  difficulty  be 
unravelled.  A  remarkable  example  of  a  very 
complicated  sequence  of  this  kind  is  a  passage 
in  Schumann's  Fantasia  in  C  major  (op.  17), 
in  the  movement  in  Eb,  marked  '  Moderate 
con  energia,'  beginning  at  the  58th  bar.  The 
passage  is  too  long  to  quote,  but  the  clue  to  the 
mystery  may  be  extracted  somewhat  after  this 
manner : — 


VOL.  III.    PT.  3. 


etc. 


In  order  to  see  how  this  has  been  manipulated 
reference  must  be  made  to  the  original. 

A  species  of  sequence  which  is  familiar  in 
modern  music  is  that  in  which  a  figure  or  melody 
is  repeated  a  tone  higher  ;  this  has  been  termed 
a  Rosalia.  [See  vol.  iii,  p.  1 60.]  Another,  which  is 
equally  characteristic,  is  a  repetition  of  a  figure  or 
passage  a  semitone  higher  ;  an  example  from  the 
Eroica  Symphony  is  quoted  in  vol.  ii.  p.  346  of 
this  Dictionary. 

The  device  has  never  been  bound  to  rigid 
exactness,  because  it  is  easy  to  follow,  and  slight 
deviations  seasonably  introduced  are  often  happy 
in  effect.  In  fact  its  virtue  does  not  consist  so 
much  in  the  exactness  of  transposition  as  in  the 
intelligibility  of  analogous  repetitions.  If  the 
musical  idea  is  sufficiently  interesting  to  carry  the 
attention  with  it,  the  sequence  will  perform  its 
function  adequately  even  if  it  be  slightly  irregular 
both  in  its  harmonic  steps  and  in  its  melodic 
features ;  and  this  happens  to  be  the  case  both 
in  the  example  from  the  Slow  Movement  of 
Beethoven's  Sonata  in  Bb,  and  in,  the  passage 
quoted  from  Schumann's  Fantasia.  It  is  not  so, 
however,  with  the  crude  harmonic  successions 
which  are  more  commonly  met  with  ;  for  they 
are  like  diagrams,  and  if  they  are  not  exact  they 
are  good  for  nothing.  [C.H.H.P.] 

SEQUENTIA  (Prosa ;  Eng.  Sequence,  or 
Prose).  A  Hymn  of  peculiar  structure,  sung 
on  certain  Festivals  at  High  Mass,  after  the 
Gradual,  Versus,  Tractus,  and  Alleluia. 

The  Sequentia  owes  its  name  to  its  position  in 
the  Mass ;  in  which  it  appears,  as  the  continua 
tion,  or  sequence,  of  the  long  series  of  Verses 
and  Antiphons,  interposed  between  the  Epistle 
and  the  Gospel.  In  the  Middle  Ages  it  was 
called  a  Prose ;  because,  though  written  for  the 
most  part  in  rhymed  Latin,  and  frequently  with 
perfect  uniformity  of  rhythm,  the  cadence  of  its 
syllables  was  governed,  not,  as  in  classical  Poetry, 
by  quantity,  but  by  accent — a  peculiarity  which 
deprived  it  of  all  claim  to  consideration  as  Verse 
of  any  kind.  Its  introduction  into  the  Liturgy 
is  generally  supposed  to  date  from  the  pth  or 
loth  century.  In  the  nth  and  I2th  it  was 
very  extensively  used ;  and  many  of  the  most 
beautiful  specimens  we  possess  were  written  by 
the  great  Hymnologists  who  flourished  during 
these  productive  periods.  Mediaeval  Office-Books 
contain  innumerable  Sequences,  of  striking  ori 
ginality  ;  but,  at  the  last  revision  of  the  Roman 
Liturgy,  by  direction  of  the  Council  of  Trent, 
the  greater  number  of  these  were  expunged. 
Five,  however,  were  retained,  in  the  revised 
Missal ;  and  these  five  occupy  a  very  prominent 
position  in  the  Services  in  which  they  are  incor 
porated,  as  well  as  in  the  history  of  Ecclesiastical 
Music. 

1.  The  Sequence  appointed  for  Easter  Sunday 
is  '  Victimse  paschali,'  the  oldest  now  in  use, 
dating,  in  all  probability,  from  the  loth  century. 

2.  Not  very  much    less   ancient  is   that  for 
Whit-Sunday,  'Veni  Sancte  Spiritus';  in  rhymed 
triplets  of  Trochaic  Dimeter  Catalectic,  written, 
about  the  year  i  ooo,  by  King  Robert  II.  of  France, 

Hh 


466 


SEQUENTIA. 


and  called,  by  mediaeval  writers,  'The  Golden 
Sequence.' 

3.  For   the   Festival    of   Corpus    Christi,   S. 
Thomas  Aquinas  wrote  the  celebrated  Sequence, 
'  Lauda  Sion,'  which  is  generally  believed  to  date 
from  about  the  year  i  261. 

4.  The  'Stabat  Mater,'  sung  on  the  'Feasts 
of  the  Seven  Dolours  of  Our  Lady '  (the  Friday 
in    Passion   Week,   and   the   Third   Sunday   in 
September),  is  generally  referred  to  the  end  of 
the  1 2th,  or  beginning  of  the  I3th  century.    The 
name  of  its  author  has  not  been  certainly  ascer 
tained  :  but  Daniel,1  after  much  patient  investi 
gation,  attributes  it  to  Jacobus  de  Benedictis. 

5.  More  justly  celebrated  than  any  of  these, 
is  the  '  Dies  me,'  written,  during  the  latter  half 
of  the  1 2th,  or  beginning  of  the  I3th  century,  by 
Thomas  of  Celano,  and  sung  in  the  '  Requiem,' 
or  Mass  for  the  Dead.    In  the  triple  Stanzas  of 
this  wonderful  Poem  the  rhymed  Latin  of  the 
Middle  Ages  attained  its  highest  perfection  ;  and, 
though  the   '  Stabat  Mater '  is  frequently  said 
to  be  second  only  to  it  in  beauty,  the  distance 
between  the  two  is  very  great.     No  Latin  hymn 
has  probably  been  so  often  translated. 

The  Plain  Chaunt  Melodies  adapted  to  these 
five  Sequences,  in  the  Gradual,  differ  from  Hymn 
Melodies  chiefly  in  their  continuity.  Each 
Melody  is  founded,  it  is  true,  upon  certain  fixed 
and  well-marked  phrases ;  but  these  phrases  are 
not  mechanically  repeated,  as  in  the  Hymn,  to 
each  successive  Stanza  of  the  Poetry.  The  author 
ship  of  these  Melodies  is  indiscoverable.  They 
were  probably  composed  by  the  Poet,  simultane 
ously  with  the  words. 

In  addition  to  these  venerable  Melodies,  we 
possess  innumerable  settings  of  all  the  Sequences 
now  in  use,  by  the  great  Masters  of  the  Polyphonic 
School ;  and  many,  by  the  Classical  Composers  of 
the  1 8th  and  I9th  centuries.  For  these  see 
LAUDA  SIGN;  VENI  SANCTE  SPIRITUS;  VICTIMS 
PASCHALI  ;  STABAT  MATER  ;  and  DIES  IR^: 
(App.).  [W.S.R.] 

SERAFIN,  SANTO  and  GEORGIO  (uncle  and 
nephew),  two  celebrated  violin-makers  of  Venice. 
The  uncle,  as  his  label  informs  us  ('Sanctus 
Seraphin  Utinensis  fecit  Venetiis'),  was  originally 
of  Udine,  a  town  in  the  Venetian  territory  to 
wards  the  mountains  of  Carinthia,  and  probably 
of  Jewish  extraction.  His  violins  date  from 
about  1710  to  1740.  The  nephew,  if  we  may 
judge  from  the  style  of  his  instruments,  worked 
with  the  uncle  many  years,  and  appears  to  have 
succeeded  him  in  the  business.  The  instruments 
of  Sanctus  Serafin  occupy  a  middle  place  be 
tween  the  Italian  and  the  Tyrolese  school.  As 
far  as  external  appearance  goes,  the  maker  seems 
to  vacillate  between  the  model  of  Stainer  and 
that  of  Nicholas  Amati.  But  in  the  essential 
particulars  of  the  art,  in  the  selection  of  wood  of 
the  finest  and  most  sonorous  quality,  in  the 
proper  calculation  of  the  proportions,  and  the 
solidity  and  finish  of  the  parts,  he  worked  on  the 
principles  of  the  Cremona  makers.  Few  equalled 
him  as  a  workman.  Those  who  wish  to  see  how 

i  Thesaurus  Hym&ologicus,  Tom.  II.  (LipslaB,  1856). 


SERAPHINE. 

far  mechanical  perfection  can  be  carried  should 
examine  Serafin's  purfling  with  a  magnifying 
glass.  In  Serafin's  earlier  years,  the  Staiuer 
character  predominates  in  his  instruments :  in 
his  later  years  he  leaned  to  the  Amati  model. 
His  instruments  are  famous  for  their  perfect 
finish  (reminding  forcibly  of  the  style  of  Stradi- 
varius),  their  remarkably  lustrous  deep  redvarnish, 
and  fine  mellow  tone. 

George  Serafin  followed  his  uncle's  later  model 
with  such  precision  that  it  is  difficult  to  find  any 
point  of  difference.  Like  his  uncle,  he  finished 
his  instruments  to  a  degree  of  perfection  which 
amounts  to  a  fault,  depriving  them,  as  it  does, 
of  character  and  individuality.  Like  his  uncle, 
he  used  a  large  copperplate  label  (nearly  all  the 
Italian  makers  used  letterpress  labels)  bearing  the 
inscription  '  Georgius  Seraphin  Sancti  nepos  fecit 
Venetiis,  (1743).'  Both  makers  branded  their 
instruments  at  the  tail-pin.  Their  works  are  not 
common  in  this  country,  and  specimens  in  good 
preservation  realise  from  £20  upwards.  [E.  J.P.] 

SERAGLIO,  THE.  The  English  title  of  an 
adaptation  of  Mozart's  ENTFUHRUNG  ADS  DEM 
SERAIL,  brought  out  at  Covent  Garden,  Nov.  24, 
1827.  Much  of  Mozart's  music  was  cut  out, 
and  popular  English  melodies  and  airs  from  other 
operas  inserted  instead  (Moscheles,  Life,  i.  193). 
The  perpetrators  of  this  outrage — at  that  time  a 
common  proceeding — were  Mr.  Dimond,  who 
translated  the  book,  and  Kramer,  the  director  of 
the  King's  Band  at  Brighton.  The  scenery  was 
painted  by  David  Roberts,  and  the  effects  were 
'rich  and  amazingly  beautiful'  (Moscheies).— As 
'  II  Seraglio '  and  '  Der  Serail'  the  opera  was  an 
nounced  and  played,  by  the  German  Company  at 
Drury  Lane,  June  14, 1854 ;  and  as '  II  Seraglio'  it 
was  performed  at  Her  Majesty's  Theatre  June  30, 
1866,  and  at  Covent  Garden  June  9,  1881.  [Gr.J 

SERAPHINE.     In  vol.  i.  p.  667 a  reference 
is  made  to  the  seraphine  as  a  precursor  of  De- 
bain's  HARMONIUM.    It  was  an  English  free-reed 
instrument   resembling    the    German   Physhar- 
monica,  which  latter  was  brought  to  this  country 
by  the  Schulz  family  in  1826,  and  introduced  to 
the  London  public  at  a  concert  at  Kirkman's 
rooms  in  Frith  Street,  Soho,  by  EDOUARD  SCHULZ, 
then  a  boy  of  14.     In  1828  a  similar  instrument, 
but  named  Aeol-harmonica,  was  played  by  young 
Schulz  in  a  Philharmonic  Concert  (Concertante 
for  Aeol-harmonic  and  2  guitars,  April  28).    In 
1833,   John  Green,  who   had   been   dementi's 
traveller,  and  had  a  shop  in  Soho  Square,  brought 
out  the  Seraphine.     According  to  Mr.  Peters 
(for  many  years  with  Messrs.  Broad  wood,  and 
formerly  Green's  pupil),  the  reeds  for  the  sera 
phine  were  made  by  Gunther  the  piano-maker, 
and  the  cases  by  Bevington  the  organ-builder, 
Green  putting  them  together.     Green  engaged 
old  Samuel  Wesley  to  give  weekly  performances 
upon  the  seraphine  at  his  shop,  and  managed  for 
some  time  to  dispose  of  his  instruments  at  40 
guineas  each.     But  the  seraphine  was  harsh  and 
raspy  in  tone,  and  never  found  favour  with  sen 
sitive  musicians.     The  wind  apparatus,  similar 
to  the  organ,  was  a  dead-weighted  bellows  giving 


SERAPHINE. 

a  uniform  pressure,  and  a  swell  was  produced 
by  opening  a  shutter  of  a  box  placed  over  the 
reeds. 

In  the  year  1841,  Mr.  W.  E.  Evans  invented 
the  'Organo  Harmonica,'  the  improvements  on 
the  seraphine  consisting  of  thin  steel  reeds  artis 
tically  voiced,  and  coiled  springs  in  the  reservoir 
to  enable  the  player  to  produce  a  rapid  arti 
culation  with  a  small  wind  pressure,  and  to  in 
crease  the  power  of  tone  as  the  reservoir  filled. 
Eminent  musicians,  among  them  Potter,  Novello, 
and  Sir  George  Smart,  publicly  pronounced  Mr. 
Evans's  instrument  more  valuable  than  the  sera 
phine  as  a  substitute  for  the  organ,  but  neither 
the  one  nor  the  other  was  capable  of  what  is  now 
known  as  '  dead  expression.' 

Patents  for  various  improvements  of  the  sera 
phine  were  taken  out  by  Myers  and  Storer  in 
1839,  by  Storer  alone  in  1846,  and  by  Mott  in 
the  same  year.  There  is  further  reference  to  it 
in  patents  of  Pape  1850,  and  Blackwell  1852. 
About  the  last-named  date  it  was  entirely  super 
seded  by  the  harmonium.  [A.J.H.] 

SERENADE  (Ital.  Serenata;  Fr.  Serenade; 
Germ.  Stdndchen).  Evening  song.  The  Italian 
word  Serenata  means,  literally,  fine  weather — 
more  especially,  that  of  a  calm  summer  night. 
Hence,  the  word  has  been  applied,  indiscrimin 
ately,  to  many  different  kinds  of  Music,  intended 
to  be  sung,  or  played,  at  night,  in  the  open  air : 
and,  so  generally  has  this  connection  of  ideas 
been  accepted,  that,  by  common  consent,  the  term 
'Serenade'  has  identified  itself,  in  many  languages, 
with  the  Song  sung  by  a  lover  standing  beneath 
his  mistress's  window,  or  the  Concert  of  Instru 
mental  Music  substituted  for  it  by  an  admirer 
with  '  no  voice  for  singing.'  This  is  not,  indeed, 
the  only  sense  in  which  the  term  is  used  :  but 
it  is  the  most  popular  one  ;  and,  for  the  present, 
we  shall  entirely  confine  ourselves  to  it. 

To  be  true  to  Nature,  a  Serenade  of  this  kind 
should  be  simple  in  construction,  melodious  in 
character,  sensuous  in  expression,  and  accompa 
nied  by  some  kind  of  Instrument  which  the  lover 
might  conveniently  carry  in  his  hand.  All  these 
conditions  are  fulfilled  in  the  most  perfect  example 
of  the  style  that  ever  has  been,  or  is  ever  likely 
to  be  written — '  Deb.  vieni  alia  fenestra,'  in  'II 
Don  Giovanni.'  The  Melody  of  this  is  as  artless 
as  a  primitive  Chant  du  pays ;  yet  capable — teste 
Tamburini — of  breathing  the  very  soul  of  volup 
tuous  passion  ;  and  accompanied  by  a  Mandoline. 
No  other  embodiment  of  the  type  can  be  com 
pared  with  this ;  but  '  Ecco  ridente  il  cielo,'  and 
the  '  Se  il  mio  nome,'  in  the  '  Barbieres '  of  Rossini 
and  Paisiello,  are  very  beautiful  examples. 

Stage  surroundings  are,  however,  by  no  means 
indispensable  to  the  true  Serenade ;  nor  is  there 
any  limit  to  the  amount  of  earnest  feeling,  or 
even  hopeless  sadness,  that  may  be  thrown  into 
it.  Schubert  has  left  us  two  examples,  each  of 
which  stands  unrivalled,  as  the  exponent  of  its 
own  peculiar  vein  of  Poetry.  Neither  scenery, 
nor  costume,  are  needed,  to  enforce  the  tone  of 
chivalrous  devotion  which  raises  '  Who  is  Sylvia' 
above  other  Compositions  of  its  class,  or  to 


SERENATA. 


467 


deepen  the  passionate  longing  of  'Leise  flehen 
meine  Lieder.' 

The  distance  which  separates  the  examples  we 
have  quoted  from  such  Compositions  as  Donizetti's 
'  Com'  e  gentil,'  or  Kiicken's  '  Maurisches  Stand- 
chen'  is  impassable :  yet  both  are  meritorious 
enough  in  their  way  ;  and  a  hundred  others  will 
suggest  themselves  to  the  reader.  From  these, 
however,  we  must  turn  to  the  consideration  of 
the  same  idea  clothed  in  an  instrumental  dress. 
And,  let  it  be  clearly  understood  that  we  are  not 
speaking,  here,  of  the  grand  Instrumental  Seren 
ade — which  is  quite  another  thing;  but  of  the 
lover's  greeting  to  his  mistress,  expressed  in 
instrumental  form  for  lack  of  voice  to  sing  with. 

The  most  delicious  example  of  this  that  we 
possess  is  the  Serenade  in  Sterndale  Bennett's 
Chamber  Trio  in  A,  Op.  27.  We  have,  here, 
in  the  sustained  Melody  for  the  Pianoforte,  accom 
panied  by  the  Guitar-like  pizzicato  of  the  Stringed 
Instruments,  every  essential  feature  of  the  vocal 
Serenade,  except  the  words ;  while,  in  Mendels 
sohn's  '  Serenade  and  Allegro  Gioioso'  for  Piano 
forte  and  Orchestra  (Op.  43),  we  may  imagine, 
both  the  lover's  greeting,  and  the  lady's  brilliant 
response  from  the  Pianoforte  in  her  boudoir. 

Many  more  examples  will  suggest  themselves 
to  the  reader :  but  it  is  not  often  that  the  idea 
is  carried  out  so  happily  as  in  those  we  have 
mentioned,  [W.S.R.] 

SERENATA  (Ital.  Serenata;  Fr.  Serenade; 
Germ.  Serenade).  Though  the  terms  Serenata 
and  Serenade  are  generally  regarded  as  inter 
changeable — so  nearly  synonymous,  that  we  have 
no  choice  but  to  give  the  one  as  the  translated 
equivalent  of  the  other — they  mean,  in  musical 
language,  two  very  different  things.  We  have 
described  the  Serenade,  in  the  foregoing  article. 
We  have  now  to  speak  of  the  Serenata ;  which 
has  nothing  in  common  with  its  shorter  namesake, 
beyond  its  assumed  fitness  for  an  evening  per 
formance  in  the  open  air.1 

The  Serenata  may  be  either  vocal  or  instru 
mental.  The  vocal  form  is  the  oldest ;  but  neither 
the  most  common,  nor  the  most  clearly  defined, 
as  to  scope  and  intention.  It  may,  in  fact,  be 
considered  as  a  form  of  Cantata ;  which  may  be 
either  dramatic,  or  imaginative,  or  even  a  simple 
Ode  on  any  subject  not  actually  sacred.  Handel 
applied  the  term  to  his  Italian  Pastoral,  'Aci, 
Galatea,  e  Polifemo,'  written,  at  Naples,  in  1 709 ; 
to  the  Ode  composed  for  the  Birthday  of  Anne  of 
Denmark,  in  1712  ;  and  to  the  English  Pastoral, 
'  Acis  and  Galatea,'2  written,  at  Cannons,  in  1 720. 
It  is  quite  possible  that  all  these  works  may 
have  been  originally  performed  in  the  open  air  : 
the  first,  on  a  calm  evening  at  Naples ;  the 
second,  in  the  Court  Yard  of  S.  James's  Palace ; 
and  the  third,  in  the  Park,  at  Cannons.  But  it  is 
equally  possible  that  the  name  may  have  been 
given,  in  each  case,  to  a  Composition  supposed 
to  be  suitable  for  performance,  al  fresco,  on  a 

1  It  will,  however,  be  noticed,  that,  in  this  case,  the  word  given 
as  the  German  equivalent  for  Serenata  is   not  'Stftndchen,'  but 
'Serenade.'    The  technical  terminology  of  Germany  here  draws  a 
distinction  which  is  not  perceptible  in  that  of  other  countries. 

2  Called  also,  in  early  copies, '  Opera,' '  Mask,'  and  '  Pastoral.' 

Hh2 


SERENATA. 

fitting  evening,  though  not  actually  so  performed. 
We  must  not  omit  mention  of  Stradella's  Sere 
nata;  in  which  two  lovers,  each  with  his  orchestra 
in  a  coach,  serenade  a  lady,  a  work  which  Handel 
honoured  by  borrowing  from  it.  [For  this  see 
STRADELLA.] 

Quite  distinct  from  Compositions  of  this  class 
is  the  Instrumental  Serenata,  the  form  of  which 
is  much  more  clearly  defined,  and  comprised 
within  much  narrower  limits.  This  now  neg 
lected,  and  almost  obsolete  Art-form,  was  a  very 
popular  one  during  the  latter  half  of  the  i8th 
century;  and,  for  some  considerable  time,  occu 
pied  a  position  midway  between  those  of  the 
Orchestral  Suite  which  preceded,  and  the  Sym 
phony  which  followed  it.  From  the  former  it 
borrowed  the  multiplicity,  and  from  the  latter 
the  colouring,  of  the  long  series  of  lightly- 
developed  Movements  of  which  it  usually  con 
sisted.  Neither  the  sequence  nor  the  structure 
of  these  Movements  was  subject  to  any  very  rigid 
law.  Two  forms,  however,  were  considered  so 
necessary  that  they  may  almost  be  described  as 
indispensable — the  March,  and  the  Minuet.  With 
the  former,  almost  every  Serenata  of  any  conse 
quence  began,  or  ended.  The  latter  was  almost 
always  interposed  between  two  Allegros,  or  an 
Allegro  and  an  Andante,  or,  indeed,  between 
any  two  Movements  of  any  other  kind ;  and 
used  so  freely,  that  it  frequently  made  its  appear 
ance,  several  times,  in  the  course  of  a  Composi 
tion  of  importance.  The  Gavotte,  and  Bourre'e, 
so  freely  used  in  the  older  Suite,  were  completely 
banished  from  the  Serenata.  The  Instruments 
employed  were  Violins,  Violas,  Violoncellos, 
Double-basses,  Flutes,  Oboes,  Bassoons>  Horns, 
Trumpets,  and  Drums :  rarely  Clarinets,  for, 
when  the  Serenata  was  at  its  best,  the  Clarinet 
was  not  much  used,  in  ordinary  Orchestras. 
Mozart,  however,  has  used  both  Clarinets  and 
Corni  di  Bassetto  in  Serenatas  written  for  Wind 
Instruments  alone,  or  Wind  Instruments  sup 
ported  only  by  a  Double-bass.  When  Wind 
Instruments  alone  were  employed,  the  Compo 
sition  was  often  called  'Harmoniemusik';  and 
this  term  was  so  generally  received,  that  Music 
for  Wind  Instruments  is  popularly  called  'Har 
mony,'  in  Germany,  to  the  present  day.  The 
term  Cassation  was  also  frequently  applied  to 
works  of  this  kind,  whether  written  for  t}ie  full 
Orchestra  or  for  Wind  Instruments  alone ;  and 
many  pieces,  not  differing  very  much  from  these, 
were  called  Divertimenti.  Sometimes  the  number 
of  Instruments  employed  was  very  small.  Bee 
thoven  has  written  a  Serenata,  of  some  length 
(Op.  25)  for  Flute,  Violin,  and  Viola,  only ;  and 
another  very  complete  one  (Op.  8),  for  Violin, 
Viola,  and  Violoncello.  The  reason  for  this 
diversity  of  Instruments  is  obvious.  The  Sere 
nata  was  almost  always  intended  for  private 
performance.  It  was,  therefore,  a  matter  of 
necessity  that  it  should  accommodate  itself  to  the 
resources  of  the  particular  establishment  for  which 
it  was  intended. 

The  form  of  the  Serenade  varied,  within  certain 
limits,  almost  as  much  as  its  Instrumentation. 


SERENATA. 

Mozart  has  left  us  eleven  examples — Nos.  100, 
101,  185,  203,  204,  239,  250,  320,  361,  375,  and 
388,  in  Kochel's  Catalogue.  Some  of  these  con 
tain  as  many  as  eight  distinct  Movements.  Of 
the  introductory  March,  and  the  indispensable 
Minuet,  we  have  already  spoken.  In  addition 
to  these,  there  are  generally  two  principal  Alle 
gros,  or  an  Allegro  and  a  Rondo,  or  Presto,  like 
those  of  a  Symphony ;  and  two  Andantes,  each 
preceded  and  followed  by  a  Minuet.  The 
Minuets  are  constantly  varied  with  two  or  more 
Trios,  each  for  different  combinations  of  Instru 
ments.  In  No.  185  there  are  two  lovely  An 
dantes  ;  one  with  Oboe  and  Horn,  obbligato ; 
the  other  for  Stringed  Instruments  and  Flutes. 
In  other  Movements,  Solo  Violins  are  employed, 
with  admirable  effect.  No.  239  is  written  for 
a  double  Orchestra,  consisting  of  Stringed  Instru 
ments  only — including  two  Solo  Violins — and 
Drums  ;  and  the  effect  of  this  combination  is 
singularly  happy.  One  striking  peculiarity  of 
the  Serenata  is,  that,  unlike  the  Symphony,  it 
does  not,  as  a  general  rule,  employ  the  entire 
Orchestra  in  every  Movement.  This  arrange 
ment  adds  greatly  to  its  effects  of  light  and 
shade  ;  as,  for  instance,  when  the  whole  body  of 
Instruments  is  made  ta  unite,  in  the  Coda  of  a 
Minuet,  to  the  earlier  portions  of  which  an  indi 
viduality  of  colouring  has  been  imparted  by  the 
employment  of  new  and  varied  combinations 
contrasted  together  in  each  of  the  several  Trios. 

The  prominent  features  of  the  Serenata  are, 
one  and  all,  so  strikingly  exemplified  in  the 
writings  of  Mozart,  that  we  can  recommend  no 
more  interesting  or  instructive  models  than  these 
for  the  student's  guidance.  Haydn  also  wrote 
Serenatas,  but  seems  to  have  taken  less  kindly 
to  the  style  than  Mozart — probably  from  the 
deeper  love  he  naturally  felt  for  the  Symphony 
of  his  own  creation.  That  Schubert  should  have 
left  the  style  untried  is  more  surprising  ;  unless, 
indeed,  we  have  to  deplore  the  loss  of  any  works 
of  the  kind  among  his  perished  MSS.  From  the 
pen  of  Beethoven,  we  possess  only  the  two  ex 
amples  already  cited.  That  written  for  Violin, 
Viola,  and  Violoncello,  commonly  known  as  the 
'  Serenade  Trio'  (Op.  8),  is  a  delicious  inspiration, 
in  D  major,  consisting  of  a  spirited  March,  an 
Adagio,  a  Minuet,  a  second  Adagio,  a  Scherzo, 
with  which  the  Adagio  is  thrice  alternated,  a 
Polacca,  a  Thema  con  Variazioni,  and  a  repetition 
of  the  opening  March,  by  way  of  Finale.  The 
second  example  (Op.  25),  written  in  the  same 
key,  for  Flute,  Violins,  and  Violas,  contains  an 
Entrata,  a  Minuet,  with  two  Trios,  an  Allegro 
molto,  an  Andante  con  Variazioni,  an  Allegro 
scherzando  e  vivace,  an  Adagio,  and  an  Allegro 
vivace. 

Haydn's  comparative  neglect  of  the  Serenata 
foreshadowed,  only  too  plainly,  the  treatment  it 
was  afterwards  destined  to  meet  with  at  the 
hands  of  the  musical  world  in  general.  The  more 
perfect  development  of  the  Symphony  put  an 
end  to  the  desire  for  its  cultivation ;  the  gradual 
diminution  in  the  number  of  private  Orchestras, 
to  the  necessity  for  its  production  :  and  this,  so 


SERENATA. 


SERPENT. 


469 


completely,  that,  had  we  not  all  been  familiarised 
with  it,  through  the  entertainment  provided  for 
Don  Giovanni  at  his  fatal  supper-table,  it  would 
long  since  have  passed  quite  out  of  mind.  And 
after  all  the  character  of  that  delightful  entertain 
ment  approaches  more  nearly  to  that  of  a  Diver 
timento,  than  to  that  of  a  true  Serenata.  [W.S.R.] 

SERGEANT  TRUMPETER,  An  officer  of 
the  royal  household,  who  presides  over  16  trum 
peters  in  ordinary.  The  first  mention  of  the  office 
occurs  in  the  reign  of  Edward  VI.,  when  it  was 
held  by  Benedict  Browne  (who  had  been  one  of 
the  1 6  trumpeters  to  Henry  VIII.  at  a  salary  of 
i6d.  a  day),  at  an  annual  salary  of  24^.  6s.  Sd. 
The  office  does  not  appear  to  have  been  regularly 
kept  up  for  a  very  long  period.  It  is  not  again 
mentioned  in  any  list  of  royal  musicians  until 
1641.  No  further  notice  of  it  occurs  until  1685, 
when  Gervase  Price  held  it,  and  appointments  to 
it  have  since  been  continuously  made.  Price  was 
succeeded  by  Matthias  Shore,  one  of  the  trum 
peters  in  ordinary,  who  was  followed  in  1700  by 
his  son  William,  who  in  his  turn  was  replaced, 
a  few  years  later,  by  his  brother  John,  the  most 
celebrated  trumpeter  of  his  time.  [See  SHORE.] 
On  John  Shore's  death  in  1752  Valentine  Snow, 
the  most  eminent  performer  of  the  day,  for  whom 
Handel  wrote  the  difficult  obbligato  trumpet  parts 
in  his  oratorios  etc.,  obtained  the  appointment. 
Snow  died  in  1770,  and  for  a  long  time  the 
majority  of  his  successors  were  not  even  musicians. 
[See  SNOW,  VALENTINE.]  One  of  them,  however, 
John  Charles  Crowle,  who  held  the  office  in 
1812,  deserves  mention  for  having  bequeathed 
to  the  British  Museum  the  splendidly  illustrated 
copy  of  Pennant's  'London,3  so  dear  to  lovers  of 
London  topography.  About  1858  it  was  de 
cided  that  the  office  should  again  be  given  to 
a  musician,  although  not  to  a  trumpeter,  and 
Joseph  Williams,  the  eminent  clarinettist,  a 
member  of  the  Queen's  band  of  music,  received 
the  appointment;  and  upon  his  death  in  April 
1875,  J.  G.  Waetzig,  the  excellent  bassoon 
player,  also  a  member  of  the  Queen's  band,  was 
appointed  his  successor,  and  is  the  present  holder 
of  the  office  (1882).  The  salary  of  the  office  has 
long  been  £100  per  annum.  The  Sergeant 
Trumpeter  formerly  claimed,  under  letters  patent, 
a  fee  of  lid.  a  day  from  every  person  sounding 
a  trumpet,  beating  a  drum,  or  playing  a  fife  in 
any  play  or  show  without  his  licence  (for  which 
license  205.  a  year  was  demanded),  and  Matthias 
and  William  Shore  successively  issued  advertise 
ments  in  the  newspapers  authorising  all  magis 
trates  to  receive  such  fees  for  them,  and  apply 
them  to  the  relief  of  the  poor.  Such  privileges 
were,  however,  long  since  abrogated.  [W.  H.H.] 

SEROFF  (SYEROFF),  ALEXANDER  NIKO- 
LAEVITCH,  a  Russian  composer,  born  at  Peters 
burg  May  II,  1818.  Although  his  musical  gifts 
developed  themselves  early,  and  he  was  educated 
on  the  violoncello  by  Carl  Schuberth,  and  in 
general  musical  knowledge  byHunke,  it  was  not 
till  1850,  and  after  holding  an  appointment  in 
the  Crimea,  that  he  forsook  the  law  (in  which 
he  had  risen  to  the  rank  of  magistrate)  for  the 


profession  of  music.  He  came  before  the  public 
first  as  a  critic,  in  an  attack  on  Oulibischeff's 
pamphlet  on  Beethoven  ('Beeth.  ses  Critiques 
et  ses  Glossateurs ')  and  on  Fe"tis 1,  as  well  as  in 
many  papers  in  favour  of  Wagner  in  various 
periodicals  ;  and  at  length,  by  the  establishment 
of  a  periodical  of  his  own,  'The  Arts'  ('!&- 
kustro'),  1860;  and  'Theatre  and  Music'  ('  Teatr 
o  Muzika'),  1867.  In  1863  he  made  his  first  pub 
lic  appearance  as  a  composer,  of  both  libretto 
and  music,  in  two  grand  operas  produced  at 
the  Imperial  Opera  House,  'Judith,'  May  16; 
and  'Rogneida,'  October  27.  Both  were  success 
ful,  and  '  Rogneida,'  which  owed  its  popularity  in 
some  measure  to  the  church  music  introduced, 
ran  for  23  nights  in  three  months,  and  procured 
for  its  author  an  imperial  pension  of  1 200  roubles. 
These  were  followed  in  1866  by  'Taras  Bulba,' 
and  in  1867  by  '  Wakula  the  Smith,'  a  ballet — the 
words  of  the  former  and  the  action  of  the  latter 
being  founded  by  himself  on  one  of  Gogol's  novels, 
but  neither  arriving  at  performance  ;  and  those 
again  by  '  Wrajia  Siela,'  or  '  The  Power  of  Evil,' 
the  libretto  of  which  he  constructed  from  a  drama 
of  Ostrowski's.  On  this  work  he  bestowed  enor 
mous  pains,  and  the  5th  act  was  still  unfinished 
when  he  died  (Petersburg,  Feb.  1871).  It  was 
completed  by  his  friend  SolowiefF,  and  produced  at 
St.  Petersburg  on  the  i  gth  of  the  following  April. 
It  has  now  become  a  great  favourite.  Seroff  was 
an  extreme  and  enthusiastic  partisan  for  Wagner. 
In  addition  to  the  works  already  mentioned,  he 
composed  an  Ave  Maria,  written  for  Mad.  A.Patti 
in  1868 ;  a  Stabat  Mater<(for  three  female  voices), 
and  music  to  Schiller's  Song  of  the  Bell.  [G.] 

SERPENT  (Eng.  and  Fr.  ;  Germ.  Scklangen- 
rohr  ;  Ital.  Serpentone).  An  ail-but  obsolete  in 
strument  forming  the  natural  bass  of  the  ancient 
cornet  family,  played  with  a  cupped  mouthpiece 

similar  to  that  of  the 
bass  trombone.  It 
consists  of  a  wooden 
tube  about  8  feet  long, 
increasing  conically 
from  ^  of  an  inch  in 
diameter  at  th  e  mou  th- 
piece  to  4  inches  at 
the  open  end.  The 
name  is  obviously  de 
rived  from  the  curved 
form  into  which  the 
tube  is  contorted, 
presenting  three  U- 
shaped  turns  followed 
by  a  large  circular 
convolution.  The  bell 
end  is  moreover  turn 
ed  forward  from  the 
player, and  the  mouth 
piece  makes  a  right- 
angled  backward  turn 
to  reach  his  lips. 
There  are  six  holes  on 

the  front  of  the  instrument,  to  be  stopped  by  the 
three  middle  fingers  of  either  hand ;  those  for 

i  These  are  reviewed  in  Liszt's  '  Kritik  der  Kritik.' 


470 


SERPENT. 


the  left  hand  on  the  third  descending  branch  ; 
those  for  the  right  on  the  fourth  ascending  branch 
towards  the  bell.  The  holes  are  set  in  groups  of 
three,  within  reach  of  the  outstretched  fingers. 
The  hands  are  passed  through  the  convolutions 
to  the  front  of  the  tube,  away  from  the  performer  ; 
the  weight  of  the  whole  is  supported  on  the 
upper  edges  of  the  two  forefingers,  and  grasped 
by  the  two  thumbs,  which  are  kept  at  the  back 
of  the  instrument. 

The  serpent  is  considered  to  consist  of  three 
parts,  (i)  the  mouthpiece,  (2)  the  crook,  or  curved 
brass  tube  leading  into  (3)  the  wooden  body, 
which  is  built  up  of  several  pieces  held  together 
by  a  leathern  covering.  It  is  usually  said  to  have 
been  invented  by  a  canon  of  Auxerre,  named 
Ednas'  Guillaume,  in  1590.  The  story  bears  a 
somewhat  suspicious  resemblance  to  that  of  the 
discovery  of  the  bassoon  by  a  canon  of  Ferrara 
in  the  first  half  of  the  same  century.  But  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  about  this  period  clerical 
musicians  employed  bass  reed  and  brass  instru 
ments  for  the  accompaniment  of  ecclesiastical 
plainsong.  Indeed  Mersenne,  who  gives  a  remark 
ably  good  and  complete  account  of  the  Serpent, 
notices  that  '  even  when  played  by  a  boy  it  is 
sufficient  to  support  the  voices  of  twenty  robust 
monks.'  The  Serpent  d'Eglise  is  still  a  recognised 
functionary  in  French  churches. 

The  scale  of  the  Serpent  is  in  the  highest  de 
gree  capricious,  and  indeed  fortuitous.  In  this 
respect  it  resembles  the  bassoon.  Mersenne  gives 
it  a  compass  of  seventeen  diatonic  notes  from 
eight-foot  D  upwards,  and  intimates  that  the 
intervening  chromatics  can  be  obtained  by  half- 
stopping.  He  does  not  name  the  device  of  cross- 
fingering  so  largely  employed  on  the  bassoon. 
Berlioz,  who  speaks  slightingly  of  it,  states  that 
it  is  in  Bb,  and  that  parts  for  it  'must  be  written 
a  whole  tone  above  the  real  sound.'  The  old  parts 
however  from  which  the  writer  played  17  years 
ago  at  the  Saored  Harmonic  Society  were  all, 
without  exception,  in  C. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  Serpent,  like  every  other 
instrument  with  a  cupped  mouthpiece,  can  pro 
duce  the  usual  harmonic  series  of  notes.  These 
in  Mersenne's  work  seem  limited  to  the  fun 
damental,  its  octave,  and  twelfth.  There  would 
be  no  difficulty  in  obtaining  a  far  larger  compass. 
Lichtenthal1  who,  as  an  Italian,  highly  values  the 
Serpent,  gives  its  compass  as  no  less  than  four 
full  octaves  from  the  Do  bassissimo,  which  'does 
not  exist  on  the  pianoforte  (1826),  but  on  the 
pedal  of  the  organ  of  16  feet,'  up  to  the  Do  of 
the  violin  on  the  third  space.  He  states  more 
over  that  the  lowest  sound  of  Do  can  only  be 
used  from  time  to  time,  '  avendo  bisogno  di  una 
particolare  buona  imboccatura  '  —  requiring  a 
specially  good  lip.  It  is  evidently  a  '  pedal '  note 
similar  to  those  obtained  on  the  trombone,  and  a 
good  instance  of  the  great  licence  given  to  the  lip 
in  instruments  of  this  character. 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  woodcut  that  one 
hand  being  applied  to  an  ascending,  and  the 
other  to  a  descending  branch,  the  usual  sequence 

1  Dizionario  della  Musica,  torn.  i.  p.  193. 


SERPETTE. 

of  fingering  is  inverted  in  the  two  hands ;  the 
scale  proceeding  downwards  in  the  left  and  up 
wards  in   the  right.     The  Serpent  is  probably 
the  only  instrument  in  existence  exhibiting  so 
quaint   and    unscientific  a   device.     This  fact, 
and  the  different  lengths  of  sounding-tube  in 
tervening  between  the  holes — the   distance  be 
tween  the  mouthpiece  and  the  first  finger-hole 
being  44  inches  ;  between  the  next  three  only 
about  4  inches  in  all ;   between  these  and  the 
next  three  for  the  right  hand,  13  inches;  and 
from  the  last  hole  to  the  bell,  31  inches;  making 
96  inches,  or  8  feet — indicate  the  great  imperfec 
tion  of  the  instrument  mechanically  considered, 
and  point  to  the  conclusion  that  a  good  player 
must  have   relied   more   on   his   dexterity  and 
on  the  strength  of  his  embouchure,  as  mentioned 
above,  than  on  the  resources  of  the  instrument 
itself.     Later  makers,  however,  added  a  multi 
plicity  of  keys,  both  above  and  below,  which  only 
complicated  without  facilitating  performance.   It 
is  well  known  that  the  notes  D,  A,  and  some 
others,  the  holes  for  which  were  the  most  ap 
proximately  correct  in  position,  had  far  greater 
force  and  correctness  than  others  less  accurately 
planted  on   the  resonant  tube.      On  the  other 
hand,  owing  to  the  material  of  the  Serpent  and 
to  its  bore,  its  tone  was  certainly  more  tender 
and  less  obtrusive  than  that  of  the  blatant  brass 
valve-instruments  which  have  replaced  it  in  the 
modern    orchestra.      It    is    practically  disused 
except  in  some  few  foreign  churches,  and  for 
gotten  by  all  but  musical  antiquaries.     A  part 
for  it  is  however  found  in  the  score  of  Mendels 
sohn's  overtures  '  The  Calm  Sea  and  Prosperous 
Voyage '  and   '  St.  Paul,'  in   the   overtures  to 
'  Masaniello,'  '  The  Siege  of  Corinth '  (between 
the  2nd  and  3rd  trombones),  and  '  Rienzi.'    It  is 
also  found  in  the  Score  of  '  I  Vepri  Sicilian!.'    It 
is  usually  replaced  in  performance  by  the  ophi- 
cleide.     A  Yorkshireman  of  Richmond,  named 
Hurworth,  who  played  in  the  private  band  of 
George  III.,  could  execute  elaborate  flute  varia 
tions  with  perfect  accuracy  on  this  unwieldy  in 
strument.    There  were  till  a  few  years  ago  two 
Serpents  in  the  band  of  the  Sacred  Harmonic 
Society,  played  by  Mr.  Standen  and  Mr.  Pimlett. 
They  were,  however,  dispensed  with  soon  after 
the  introduction  of  two  of  the  writer's  improved 
contrafagotti. 

There  is  a  Method  for  the  Serpent,  containing 
studies  and  duets,  published  by  Cocks.  The  only 
concerted  music  set  down  to  it  seems  to  have  been 
originally  intended  for  the  bassoon. 

A  '  Contra  Serpent '  was  shown  in  the  Exhibi 
tion  of  1851,  made  by  Jordan  of  Liverpool.  It 
was  in  Eb  of  the  i6-foot  octave.  It  was  how 
ever  too  unwieldy  to  be  carried  by  the  player, 
and  required  independent  support.  Another 
modification  of  this  instrument  was  invented  by 
Beacham  and  played  on  by  Prospere  in  Jullien's 
orchestra.  It  was  named  the  Serpentcleide,  and 
was  essentially  an  ophicleide  with  a  body  of  wood 
instead  of  brass.  [W.  H.  S.] 

SERPETTE,  GASTON,  French  composer,  born 
at  Nantes  Nov.  4. 1846,  began  lile  as  an  advocate, 


SERPETTE. 

but  gave  up  the  bar  for  music.  He  was  a  pupil 
of  Ambroise  Thomas  at  the  Conservatoire,  and 
took  the  '  Grand  prix '  in  1871  for  a  cantata 
(Jeanne  d1  Arc)  of  great  promise.  On  his  return 
from  Italy,  despairing  of  acceptance  at  the  Ope'ra 
Comique,  he  closed  with  the  Bouffes  Parisiens, 
and  produced  '  La  Branche  casse"e  '  (3  acts, 
Jan.  23,  1874),  with  a  success  which  induced 
him  to  go  on  composing  works  of  the  same  slight 
character.  '  Le  Manoir  du  Pic  Tordu '  (May  28, 
1875),  'Le  Moulin  du  Vert  galant'  (April  12. 
1876),  and  'La  Petite  Muette'  (Oct.  3,  1877), 
all  in  3  acts,  followed  in  Paris,  and  '  La  Nuit  de 
St.  Germain'  (March  1 880)  in  Brussels.  Neither 
this  nor  '  Koby,'  composed  in  Borne,  have  been 
published,  though  the  former  contains  pretty 
flowing  music.  Some  of  Serpette's  detached 
melodies  show  that  he  might  succeed  in  a  higher 
class  of  work  than  he  has  yet  attempted.  His 
last  feat  is  '  Madame  le  Diable'  (April  5,  1882), 
composed  for  Jeanne  Granier,  the  favourite  sing 
ing  actress  of  'La  Renaissance'  theatre.  [G.C.] 

SERVA  PADRONA,  LA— the  maid  turned 
mistress.  An  Italian  intermezzo,  or  piece  in  2 
acts,  containing  3  characters,  one  of  whom  is  a 
mute.  Words  by  Nelli,  music  by  Pergolesi. 
Written  and  produced  at  Naples  in  1 731  or  1733, 
and  in  Paris  first  on  October  4,  1746,  at  the 
Theatre  Italien,  where  it  had  a  long  run,  and 
again  at  the  Academic  on  August  i,  1752.  This 
was  followed  by  an  obstinate  contest  between  the 
reformers,  headed  by  Rousseau,  and  the  conserva 
tive  musicians — '  Guerre  des  Lullistes  et  des  ' 
Bouffonistes.'  In  1754  a  translation,  'La  ser- 
vante  maitresse,'  was  brought  out,  and  had  a 
run  of  150  consecutive  nights.  It  was  revived, 
Aug.  13,  1862,  at  the  Opera  Comique,  for  the 
debut  of  Mme.  Galli-Marie,  and  was  given  in 
London,  at  the  'Royalty,'  March  7,  1873. — An 
imitation  of  Nelli's  libretto,  with  the  same  title, 
was  composed  by  Paisiello  during  his  stay  at 
St.  Petersburg.  [G.] 

SERVAIS,  ADEIEN  FRANCOIS,  a  great  violon 
cellist,  was  born  at  Hal,  near  Brussels,  June  7, 
1807.  His  study  of  music  began  early,  but 
it  was  not  till  he  heard  a  solo  by  Platel  on 
the  cello,  that  he  fixed  on  the  instrument  on 
which  he  became  so  famous.  He  became  a 
pupil  of  Platel's  in  the  Brussels  Conservatoire, 
where  he  rapidly  rose  to  the  first  rank.  At  the 
advice  of  Fe"tis  he  went  to  Paris,  where  his  suc 
cess  was  great.  In  1835  he  visited  England,  and 
on  May  25  played  a  concerto  of  his  own  at  the 
Philharmonic  Concert,  where  he  was  announced 
as  '  principal  violoncello  to  the  King  of  the  Bel 
gians.'  He  then  returned  home,  and  wisely  re 
solved  to  study  for  a  year,  and  it  was  during  this 
period  that  he  formed  the  style  by  which  he  was 
afterwards  known.  In  1836  he  reappeared  in 
Paris,  and  the  next  dozen  years  were  occupied  in 
a  series  of  long  tours. through  Germany,  Holland, 
Austria,  Norway,  Russia,  and  even  Siberia.  In 
1842  he  married  in  St.  Petersburg.  In  1848  he 
settled  at  Brussels  as  Professor  in  the  Conserva 
toire,  and  formed  many  distinguished  pupils.  He 


SERVICE. 


471 


died  at  his  native  village  Nov.  26,  1866,  of  an 
illness  contracted  during  his  third  visit  to  Peters 
burg.     His  works  comprise  3  Concertos,  and  16 
Fantasies,  for  cello  and  orchestra ;  6  Etudes  for 
cello  and  PF. — with  Gre*goir ;  14  Duos  for  ditto  ; 
3  Duets  for  violin  and  cello — with  Leonard ;  one 
Duet  for  ditto — with  Vieuxtemps.     His  honours 
were  many,  and  gave  point  to  Rossini's  'bon  mot — 
that  he  was  the  King  of  Cellists  still  more  than 
the  Cellist  of  Kings.     Servais'  tastes  were  very 
simple,  and  his  great  delight  was  to  slip  on  a 
blouse  and  (like  Mozart)  play  skittles.     At  the 
close  of  his  life  he  became  very  stout,  and  the  peg 
now  used  to  support  the  cello  is  said  to  have  been 
invented  by  him  as  a  relief.      A  biography  of 
Servais  was  published  at  Hal  by  Vanderbroeck 
Desmeth,  1866.     His  eldest  son  JOSEPH,  born  at 
Hal  Nov.  28,  1850,  succeeded  his  father  in  June 
1872  as  professor  of  the  cello  at  the  Brussels 
Conservatoire.      He  appeared  first  at  Warsaw 
with  his  father,  and  the  pair  excited  the  greatest 
enthusiasm.      In  1868   he  was   appointed   solo 
violoncellist  at  Weimar  and  remained  two  years. 
In  1875  he  played  for  the  first  time  in  Paris  at 
one  of  Pasdeloup's  Popular  Concerts,  when  some 
of  the  journals  spoke  in  terms  of  extravagant 
praise  of  his  performance.     The  instrument  used 
by  both  father  and  son  is  a  fine  Stradivarius  pre 
sented  by  the  Princess  Yousoupoff.     A  second 
son,  FKAN^OIS  MATTHIEU  was  a  pupil   in  the 
same  establishment.  [T.P.H.] 

SERVICE.  In  matters  relating  to  the  Church 
this  word  is  used  in  two  totally  different  senses  ; 
first,  as  a  rough  translation  of  Officium,  Ordo, 
Situs,  as  when  we  say  Communion-service,  Or 
dination-service,  and  so  on  ;  next  as  a  purely 
musical  term,  as  when  we  say  'Wesley's  Service 
in  E,'  etc.  It  is  with  this  latter  application  of 
the  word  only  that  we  have  here  to  deal. 

A  Service  may  be  defined  as  a  collection  of 
musical  settings  of  the  canticles  and  other  por 
tions  of  the  liturgy  which  are  by  usage  allowed 
to  be  set  to  free  composition.  The  term  there 
fore  excludes  all  versicles  or  responses,  or  other 
portions  founded  onplainsong ;  all  chants,  whether 
Gregorian  or  Anglican ;  and  all  anthems,  as 
their  words  are  not  necessarily  embodied  in  the 
liturgy,  but  selected  at  will.  On  the  other  hand, 
it  includes  the  Nicene  Creed,  Gloria  in  excelsis, 
and  other  portions  of  the  liturgy  which  have  from 
the  most  ancient  times  received  a  more  or  less 
free  musical  treatment. 

The  origin  of  the  acceptance  of  the  term  in 
this  limited  musical  sense  is  somewhat  obscure. 
The  gradual  disuse  of  distinctive  names  of  offices 
— such,  for  instance,  as  Matins,  Vespers,  Mass, 
etc. — after  the  Reformation,  helped  to  bring  the 
generic  word  '  service '  into  very  general  use ; 
and  it  has  therefore  been  supposed  that  musicians 
called  their  compositions  '  services '  because  they 
were  set  to  certain  unvarying  portions  of  the 
church  'services.'  But  this  explanation  is  far 
from  satisfactory,  for  obvious  reasons ;  it  gives 
too  much  latitude  to  the  term,  and  offers  no 
reason  why  it  should  ever  have  become  limited 
to  its  present  meaning.  But  a  much  more  simple 


472 


SERVICE. 


explanation  is  possible  if  the  popular  use  of  the 
word  'service'  be  looked  into.  Originally  sig 
nifying  the  duty  rendered  by  servant  or  slave 
it  afterwards  became  used  roughly  for  the  per 
sons  rendering  the  service,  just  as  we  now  hear 
people  speak  of  the  'Civil  Service,'  meaning 
the  body  of  men  who  do  the  service,  and  of  a 
'  service '  of  railway  trains,  meaning  a  regular 
group  or  succession.  From  this  conception  the 
word  obtains  a  further  meaning  of  a  'set'  of 
things  having  a  definite  use ;  for  example  a 
'dinner-service' — a  'set'  of  things  for  use  at 
dinner;  or,  again,  a  f service  of  plate' — a  'set' 
of  gold  or  silver  vessels,  etc.  Although  an 
analogous  meaning  of  the  musical  term  seems 
not  hitherto  to  have  been  suggested,  its  correct 
ness  appears  so  highly  probable  that  we  shall  in 
future  understand  by  '  service '  merely  a  '  set '  of 
canticles  or  other  movements  prepared  by  a  com 
poser  for  use  at  a  complete  function. 

The  fullest  form  of  a  set  or  service  would 
include  free  musical  compositions  for  (i)  The 
Venite,  (2)  Te  Deum,  (3)  Benedicite,  (4)  Bene- 
dictus,  (5)  Jubilate,  (6)  Kyrie  eleison,  (7)  Nicene 
Creed,  (8)  Sanctus,  (9)  Gloria  in  excelsis ;  (10) 
Magnificat,  (n)  Cantate  Domino,  (12)  Nunc 
Dimittis,  (13)  Deus  Misereatur. 

It  will  be  necessary  to  say  a  few  words  about 
some  of  these  movements  separately  before 
making  any  remarks  on  our  services  generally. 
The  Venite  has  long  since  disappeared  from 
the  list  of  free  compositions,  and  is  now  univer 
sally  treated  as  one  of  the  psalms,  and  sung  to 
a  chant  instead  of  being  rendered  as  a  motet. 
In  the  form  in  which  the  Venite  was  printed 
in  the  Breviary  may  perhaps  be  traced  the 
reason  why  many  of  our  earliest  church-com 
posers  after  the  Reformation,  such  as  Tallis, 
Bevin,  Bird,  Gibbons,  and  others,  left  settings 
of  the  Venite  in  motet-form.  But  this  treat 
ment  of  the  psalm  was  probably  found  to  lengthen 
unduly  the  time  occupied  by  the  Matins  ;  and  it 
may  also  have  been  felt  that  an  elaborate  choral 
setting  of  these  particular  words  seriously  injured 
their  force  as  an  invitation  to  join  in  public 
worship.  On  the  whole  it  is  not  a  matter  for 
regret  that  the  Venite  now  takes  its  place  merely 
as  an  introductory  psalm.  It  is  perhaps  worthy 
of  remark  that  the  custom,  still  prevalent  in  many 
parts  of  the  country,  of  singing  the  Venite  only, 
and  then  reading  the  psalms  for  the  day,  may  be 
the  slowly  dying  tradition  of  a  time  when  the 
Venite  was  sung  to  a  special  musical  setting. 
Those  who  maintain  this  custom  should  at  least 
open  their  eyes  to  the  absurdity  of  inviting  people 
to  'sing  unto  the  Lord,'  and  then  permitting 
them  only  to  say  the  psalms. 

The  free  setting  of  the  Benedicite  omnia  opera 
did  not  long  maintain  its  ground,  owing  probably 
to  its  excessive  length.    Purcell  set  this  canticle, 
and  it  is  even  now  occasionally  sung  to  his  music  ; 
Blow  also  wrote  an  elaborate  Benedicite  in  his 
Service  in  E  minor.     But  the  canticle  itself  fell 
for  a  long  time  into  neglect,  and  when  revived, 
it  was  sung  either  to  a  chant  in  triple  measure, 
or  to  a  'single'  chant,  or  to  a  Gregorian  tone 


SERVICE. 

having  a  '  short  ending.'    Hayes  contributed  one 
of  the  earliest  triple-measure  chants. 

The  Gloria  in  excelsis,  though  set  to  music 
by  Tallis,  fell  almost  entirely  out  of  the  'ser 
vice'  owing  to  the  loss  of  choral  celebrations 
of  the  Holy  Communion.  On  their  resumption 
during  the  last  few  years  the  Gloria  has  once 
more  been  included  in  the  set,  after  a  long 
period  of  virtual  disuse.  The  Kyrie  eleison  and 
Sanctus  maintained  their  place  in  the  set  ; 
the  former  because  it  was  always  sung  at  the 
so-called  'table -prayers'"  (that  is,  a  Communion- 
office  brought  to  a  sudden  conclusion  at  the 
end  of  the  Creed,  Sermon,  or  Prayer  for  the 
Church  militant)  ;  the  latter  lived  on  as  an 
introit,  a  duty  it  fulfilled  at  one  time  univer 
sally  in  our  cathedrals ;  happily  it  has  now  been 
superseded  by  a  short  appropriate  anthem  or 
hymn. 

The  Jubilate  completely  ousted  the  Benedicttis 
for  a  long  period.  The  earliest  writers  of  our 
Reformed  Church — Tallis,  Byrd,  Gibbons,  Bevin, 
Farrant,  and  others — set  the  JBenedictus  to  music, 
but  it  was  afterwards  practically  lost,  until, 
within  the  last  few  years,  a  better  feeling  has 
restored  it  to  the  place  which  it  should  hold 
according  to  the  spirit  of  the  rubric,  if  not  ac 
cording  to  its  letter. 

The  Cantate  Domino  and  Deus  misereatur 
may  be  said  to  have  been  in  fashion  from  time 
to  time.  Both  Blow  and  Purcell  set  these  alter 
native  canticles,  and  later  Aldrich  also ;  but  they 
reached  their  highest  popularity  at  the  end  of 
last  and  the  early  part  of  this  century.  At  the 
present  time  they  have  again  fallen  somewhat 
into  the  background. 

In  addition  to  the  contents  of  a  service  as 
above  enumerated,  the  most  modern  composers 
add  musical  settings  of  the  Offertory  sentences, 
also  of  the  Doxologies  before  and  after  the  Gospel, 
and  sometimes  also  of  the  Sursum  Corda,  Agnus 
Dei,  and  Benedicius.  The  Offertory  sentences 
may  perhaps  be  looked  upon  as  a  legitimate 
addition  to  the  set,  but  the  Gospel-doxologies  and 
Sursum  Corda  have  both  their  own  ancient 
plainsong,  and  the  Agnus  Dei  and  JBenedictus 
are  not  ordered  by  our  rubric  to  be  sung  in  the 
office  of  Holy  Communion. 

Having  made  these  few  remarks  about  the 
contents  of  a  service,  we  must  now  discuss  the 
musical  character  of  our  English  services,  assum 
ing  that  a  Te  Deum,  JBenedictus  (or  Jubilate), 
Magnificat,  and  Nunc  Dimittis  may  be  taken  as 
the  main  framework  of  an  ordinary  service.  It  can 
hardly  be  doubted  that  Tallis,  the  chief  of  the 
early  post- Reformation  composers,  was  influenced, 
when  setting  his  celebrated  Te  Deum  in  D  minor, 
by  the  character  of  the  then  well-known  Am- 
brosian  Te  Deum  which  Marbecke  published  in 
the  1550  Prayer-book.  There  can -be  traced  an 
evident  wish  to  form  a  melody,  if  not  actually 
in  a  Church  mode,  in  a  tonality  closely  resembling 
one  of  them.  Tallis  also  avoided  contrapuntal 
devices  (in  which  he  was  a  distinguished  expert), 
and  limited  within  strict  bounds  the  ambitus  of 
his  melody  and  the  number  of  his  harmonic  com- 


SERVICE. 

binations.  Anybody  who  will  take  the  trouble 
to  compare  his  graceful  and  melodious  anthems 
'  Hear  the  voice  and  prayer '  and  '  If  ye  love 
Me'  with  his  Service,  must  perceive  that  he  wrote 
his  setting  of  the  canticles  under  an  evident  self- 
imposed  restraint.  The  whole  of  the  Service  was 
made  to  follow  absolutely  the  style  of  the  Te 
Deum,  and  the  result  is,  that  music  of  a  dignified 
and  ecclesiastical  type  has  been  produced — pure, 
perhaps,  but  certainly  uninteresting.  Led  in 
this  direction  by  so  great  and  famous  a  composer 
as  Tallis,  many  of  his  contemporaries  and  im 
mediate  successors  followed  in  his  footsteps, 
and  English  cathedrals  possess  a  considerable 
store  of  plain  contrapuntal  services  in  minor  keys. 
This  style,  the  growth  of  the  middle  of  the  i6th 
century,  has  even  been  imitated  by  those  modern 
purists  who  seem,  to  think  that  the  highest  func 
tion  of  an  art  consists  in  founding  factories  of 
sham  antiques.  It  is  often  a  matter  of  surprise 
to  those  untutored  in  the  narrow  traditions  of 
our  cloisters  why  such  glorious  canticles  as  the 
Te  Deum  and  Magnificat  should  be  so  often  sung 
to  music  of  the  most  sad  and  sombre  description. 
The  explanation  now  becomes  simple.  The  oldest 
known  Te  Deum  was  in  the  Phrygian  mode ; 
Tallis  wrote  his  setting  in  an  irregular  Doric 
mode ;  his  followers,  having  lost  the  knowledge  of 
the  church  modes,  used  the  minor  keys  instead : 
the  fashion,  once  started,  kept  its  hold  on  church 
musicians  for  a  considerable  period.  These 
'minor'  settings  of  the  canticles  will,  however, 
sometimes  be  found  remarkably  suitable  for  use 
in  penitential  seasons,  or  in  times  of  public  ca 
lamity — a  contracted  but  respectable  sphere  of 
utility. 

Closely  following  the  class  of  services  just  de 
scribed  comes  the  strict  contrapuntal  school,  of 
which  '  Gibbons  in  F'  forms  such  a  noble  example. 
Gibbons  has  not  found  so  many  imitators  as  would 
be  expected,  but  the  real  reason  probably  lies  in 
the  fact  that  his  counterpoint  is  so  remarkably 
smooth  and  fine  that  it  is  not  an  easy  task  to 
follow  in  his  steps.  Tallis  died  in  1585,  Gibbons 
in  1625 — just  forty  years  later;  a  change  or 
growth  of  musical  style  might  therefore  have 
been  expected  at  the  latter  date.  It  must  not 
be  thought  that  Gibbons  was  the  first  to  write 
the  'pure  contrapuntal'  service;  a  Magnificat 
and  Nunc  Dimittis  by  Dr.  Tye  (who  was  organist 
to  Edward  VI.)  show  that  he  transferred  his 
motet-style  without  any  change  to  his  settings  of 
these  canticles,  which  consist  almost  entirely  of 
short  'points'  or  phrases  of  four-part  imitation. 
This  is  just  what  Gibbons  did,  but  he  threw  more 
melodic  freedom  and  greater  breadth  into  his 
work,  and  therefore  it  has  lived,  while  Tye's 
Magnificat  is  only  known  to  antiquarians. 

Half  a  century  after  the  death  of  Gibbons  the 
settings  of  the  canticles  had  become  merely 
meaningless  collections  of  short  'points';  and, 
instead  of  running  on  with  dignified  continuity, 
the  music  came  to  be  broken  up  into  a  number 
of  small  sections,  for  voices  soli  alternately  with, 
or  in  frequent  contrast  to,  short  choruses.  The 
influence  of  the  French  school,  which  had  the 


SERVICE. 


473 


most  disastrous  effects  on  English  anthems, 
affected  the  services  also,  though  to  a  lesser  de 
gree.  The  services  of  Purcell  and  Blow  may  be 
considered  typical  of  both  the  virtues  and  vices 
of  this  school, — melodious,  but  restless  and  pur 
poseless. 

Seven  years  before  the  death  of  Blow  a  man 
was  born,  who,  without  possessing  any  special 
musical  gifts,  was  destined  to  bring  about  a  vast 
change  in  the  character  of  services ;  that  maa 
was  the  very  second-rate  Charles  King.  The 
only  possible  way  of  accounting  for  the  enormous 
popularity  of  his  services  is  to  view  them  as  a 
protest  against  contrapuntal  devices,  and  as 
a  restoration  of  simplicity,  even  if  the  simplicity 
is  closely  allied  to  weakness.  To  the  influence 
of  King  we  probably  owe  two  short  but  beautiful 
settings  from  the  pen  of  Dr.  Boyce  (who  died 
about  thirty  years  after  him)  ;  one  is  in  the  key 
of  C,  the  other  in  A. 

The  next  development  of  the  form  and  character 
of  services  was  the  forerunner  of  the  present 
'dramatic'  school.  Attwood  deserves  an  im 
portant  place  in  any  sketch  of  the  history  of 
services  for  his  bold  attempt  to  attach  to  the 
words  music  which  should  vary  as  their  character. 
This  had  of  course  been  done  to  some  extent 
before  his  time,  but  nearly  always  with  a  polite 
leaning  to  the  conventionalities  of  the  past  ; 
Attwood  struck  out  a  fresh  path.  This  fact 
should  be  borne  in  mind  by  those  who  are  dis 
posed  to  criticise  severely  the  weak  points  in 
his  services.  Attwood  died  in  1838,  and  we 
soon  find  ourselves  face  to  face  with  S.  S.  Wesley, 
whose  Service  in  E  has  been,  and  is,  a  model  for 
many  living  writers ;  and  he  has  been  followed 
by  a  large  group  of  living  composers,  all  of  whom 
are  striving  to  produce  services  in  which  the 
natural  emotions  called  up  by  the  character  of 
the  words  shall  be  reflected  in  unartificial  music. 
From  the  above  sketch  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
service  has  gone  through  some  such  stages  of 
growth  as  the  following :— *- 

1 .  Early  simple  harmonic  (Tallis,  Patrick,  and 

others). 

2.  Early  contrapuntal  (Gibbons  and  others). 

3.  Late    contrapuntal    (Blow,    Purcell,    and 

others). 

4.  Late  simple  harmonic  (King,  Boyce,  and 

others). 

5.  Modern  dramatic  (Attwood,  Wesley,  and 

others). 

Yet  these  divisions,  although  well-marked  in 
the  works  of  th'e  leaders  of  each  school,  are  com 
pletely  broken  down  by  that  large  number  of 
composers  who  have  either  followed  some  pre 
vious  school  implicitly,  or  have  combined  the 
characteristics  of  several. 

It  has  already  been  stated  that  Gibbons  had 
but  few  imitators,  yet  his  influence  on  both  Child 
and  Creyghton  is  distinctly  marked.  These  two 
musicians  were  born  early  in  the  I  yth  century, 
Child  in  1606,  Creyghton  in  1639.  The  services 
by  Child  in  the  keys  of  F  and  G  followed  the 
cheerful  bright  character  of  Gibbons  ;  the  same 
remark  applies  to  the  well-known  Service  ia  Efc> 


474 


SERVICE. 


by  Creyghton.  In  each  of  these  cases  a  major  key 
has  been  selected  and  the  gloomy  colouring  of  the 
earliest  school  entirely  discarded.  When  King 
tried  his  hand  at  counterpoint  he  generally  made 
a  sad  mess  of  it,  hence  his  Service  in  C  and  his 
Service  in  F  (especially  the  Magnificat  and  Nunc 
Dimittis)  are  those  which  were  most  liked,  and 
to  them  was  principally  due  the  initiation  of  the 
later  simple  harmonic  style.  To  this  school  Dr. 
Cooke,  organist  of  Westminster  Abbey  (b.  1734) 
contributed  a  most  useful  service  in  the  key  of  G-. 
The  Te  Deum  of  the  deservedly  popular  Service 
in  F  by  Henry  Smart  proves  how  much  breadth 
and  dignity  can  be  thrown  into  the  '  late  simple 
harmonic '  style  by  the  hand  of  genius ;  other 
portions  of  the  service,  especially  the  Benedictus 
and  Nicene  Creed  belong  to  the  modern  dramatic 
school. 

One  of  the  finest,  if  not  the  finest  setting  of 
the  Te  Deum  and  Jubilate  to  which  the  English 
Church  can  point,  is  that  by  Croft,  in  A.  It 
combines  a  suitable  variety  of  sentiment  with  a 
d.'gnified  unity  as  a  whole ;  and  while  in  turn  it 
is  plaintive,  penitential,  or  joyous,  it  bursts  at 
the  close  of  the  Gloria  to  the  Jubilate  into  a  rich 
fugato  highly  artistic  and  effective. 

It  has  been  asserted  that  our  modern  church- 
composers  have  had  placed  before  them  the  same 
problem  which  confronted  Palestrina,  and  are 
solving  it  in  the  wrong  way.  This  is  not  the 
case.  The  real  question  is  broadly  this — Should 
church-music  be  a  level  unvarying  vehicle  for 
supporting  the  sacred  words,  or  should  it  strive 
to  illustrate  them  ?  Or,  in  other  words — Should 
it  be  a  passive  receptacle,  a  mere  unobjectionable 
frame  to  which  the  words  are  to  be  fitted,  or 
should  the  music  be  an  active  and  appropriate 
comment  on  the  text  ?  The  question  is  not  one 
which  can  be  answered  off-hand ;  all  that  we 
can  do  here  is  to  chronicle  the  fact  that  our 
modern  composers  have  adopted  the  latter  view, 
and  are  striving  to  do  for  sacred  music  what  the 
'romantic'  school  did  for  the  secular  branch. 
If  modern  writers  of  services  can  be  sometimes 
charged  with  sentimentality,  they  can  retort  that 
they  at  least  do  not  exhibit  primitive  dreariness. 
Palestrina  had  to  choose  between  the  frivolous 
artificialities  which  had  then  burdened  church- 
music,  and  the  classical  style  of  his  own  adop 
tion  ;  not  between  a  classical  style  and  a  romantic 
style  not  then  dreamed  of.  A  careful  balancing 
of  the  various  merits  of  different  characters  of 
services  will,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  lead  our  modern 
writers  to  form  an  eclectic  schflol  which  shall 
avoid  weak  sentimentality  on  the  one  side,  and 
orthodox  dryness  on  the  other.  But  controversy 
on  this  subject  has  for  the  last  few  years  been 
running  very  high,  and  opposing  parties  are  not 
in  that  temper  of  mind  which  can  contemplate 
eclecticism  as  desirable. 

The  use  of  the  full  orchestra  in  our  cathedrals 
and  churches,  which  has  become  common  during 
the  last  few  years,  has  called  into  existence  a 
considerable  number  of  festival  settings  of  the 
Magnificat  and  Nunc  Dimittis;  these  are  dis 
tinctly  modern  in  character  of  course,  but  are 


SERVICE. 

for  the  most  part  admirable  specimens  of  their 
kind. 

It  rarely  happens  that  any  foreigner  attempts 
to  enter  the  mysterious  boundaries  of  English 
service-music  ;  yet  Mendelssohn  ventured  upon 
the  step.  His  Te  Deum  and  Jubilate  in  A, 
Magnificat  in  Bb  and  Nunc  Dimittis  in  Eb,  are 
evident  attempts  to  follow  a  style  to  which  he 
had  no  doubt  been  attracted  by  his  occasional 
visits  to  St.  Paul's  and  Westminster  Abbey.  Of 
these  four  canticles,  the  Te  Deum  is  unquestion 
ably  the  finest,  the  last  portion  reaching  a  high 
standard  of  beauty  and  pathos.  The  contra 
puntal  writing  of  the  Magnificat  is  exceedingly 
clever,  especially  the  fugue  to  the  words  '  as  he 
promised ' ;  the  Nunc  Dimittis  is  rather  spoilt 
than  improved  by  the  reintrod action  of  the 
prayer  '  Lord  now  lettest  Thou  Thy  servant 
depart  in  peace,'  after  the  triumphal  burst  'To 
be  a  light  to  lighten  the  Gentiles.'  But  the 
whole  work  is  published  in  octavo  form  and 
takes  its  place  amongst  the  services  on  the 
music-lists  of  our  principal  cathedrals,  a  strong 
evidence  of  its  appreciation  by  our  conservative 
church  musicians. 

Those  who  desire  to  study  the  literature  of 
services  will  find  ample  materials  in  Barnard's 
Collection  (imperfect  and  rare) ;  Boyce's  Collec 
tion  of  Cathedral  Music,  3  vols.  ;  Arnold's  Col 
lection,  3vols.;  Rimbault's  Collection  of  Services, 
I  vol. ;  Ouseley's  Collection  of  Services,  i  vol. ; 
various  manuscripts  in  our  cathedrals.  Full 
information  as  to  Barnard's  Collection  will  be 
found  under  the  head  BARNARD,  vol.  i.  p.  140  of 
this  Dictionary ;  to  each  of  the  succeeding  col 
lections  above  named  interesting  biographical 
notices  are  attached,  for  the  most  part  extremely 
correct.  Ouseley  has  given  a  notice  of  Kichard 
Farrant  as  the  composer  of  an  '  early  simple 
harmonic '  Service  in  D  minor ;  this  however 
was  composed  by  a  '  Mr.  Farrant  of  Salisbury/ 
not  by  Richard  Farrant;  they  were  probably 
near  relatives. 

The  rapid  growth  of  music  which  has  taken 
place  in  all  our  parish  churches  during  the  last 
few  years  has  called  into  existence  a  new  class 
of  '  congregational '  settings  of  the  Canticles, 
under  the  name  of  Chant-services.  The  need  of 
them  was  felt  a  century  ago,  when  'Jackson  in  F, 
their  true  forerunner,  first  appeared ;  no  wonder 
that  worshippers  were  glad  on  the  one  hand  to 
escape  from  the  'reading'  of  the  Te  Deum  by 
parson  and  clerk,  and  on  the  other  hand  from  the 
cathedral  service  in  which  they  could  take  no 
part.  And  it  must  be  admitted  also  that  the 
weakest  chant-service  is  an  improvement  on  the 
system  of  singing  the  canticles  to  single  or  double 
chants.  It  would  not  be  fair  to  criticise  modern 
chant-services  ;  their  authors  have  produced 
them  as  works  of  utility,  not  of  art ;  and  their 
need  is  still  so  pressing  that  composers  of  ability 
who  are  willing  to  lay  aside  their  own  artistic 
aims  and  don  the  strait-jacket  of  a  congregation  s 
limited  requirements  and  powers  deserve  all  en 
couragement  and  gratitude. 

Instead   of  finding   the   terms    'chorus'  and 


SERVICE. 

'solo'  in  the  older  services,  we  find  'full'  and 
'  verse ' ;  the  former  explains  itself,  but  the  latter 
is  curious,  and  the  origin  of  its  use  in  this  sense 
has  never  been  satisfactorily  explained.  [See 
VERSE.]  [J.S.] 

SESQUI.  A  Latin  word,  signifying,  literally, 
the  whole  plus  its  half. 

In  musical  terminology,  the  prefix  Sesqui  is 
used,  in  combination  with  certain  numeral-adjec 
tives,  to  express  the  Proportion,  either  of  Har 
monic  Intervals  or  of  rhythmic  combinations. 
[See  PROPORTION.]  Thus,  Sesquialtera  expresses 
the  Proportion  of  two  to  three,  and  therefore 
represents  the  Perfect  Fifth,  which  is  produced 
by  sounding  two-thirds  of  a  given  string.  Sesqui- 
tertia,  expressing  the  Proportion  of  three  to  four, 
represents  the  Perfect  Fourth,  sounded  by  three- 
fourths  of  the  string.  Sesquiquarta,  or  four-fifths, 
represents  the  Major  Third.  Sesquiquinta  repre 
sents  the  Minor  Third,  given  by  five-sixths  of  the 
resonant  string.  Sesquisexta,  six- sevenths,  and 
Sesquiseptima,  seven-eighths,  correspond  with  no 
Intervals  in  the  accepted  Canon  of  the  Scale : 
but,  Sesquioetava,  or  eight-ninths,  represents  the 
peculiar  form  of  the  Major  Second  known  to 
Theorists  as  the  Greater  Tone  ;  and  Sesquinona, 
nine-tenths,  gives  the  Lesser  Tone — an  Interval, 
which,  though  conventionally  called  a  Major 
Second,  and  treated,  in  practice,  as  identical  with 
that  just  described,  is  less,  by  one  Comma,  than 
the  Tone  represented  by  Sesquioetava.1 

In  rhythmic  combinations,  Sesquialtera  is  used 
as  the  general  symbol  of  Triple  Time.  The  term 
Sesquialtera  is  also  applied  to  passages  of  three 
notes  sung  against  two;  Sesqui terti a,  to  three 
notes  sung  against  four;  and  jSesquiquarta,  to 
four  notes  sung,  or  played,  against  five.  [See 
HBMIOLIA.]  [W.S.R.] 

SESQUIALTERA.  A  compound  organ  stop 
consisting  of  several  ranks  of  pipes,  sometimes  as 
many  as  five.  Various  combinations  of  inter 
vals  are  used,  but  they  only  represent  different 
positions  of  the  3rd,  .sth,  and  8th  of  the  ground- 
tone  in  the  third  or  fourth  octave  above.  The 
Sesquialtera  thus  gives  brilliancy  to  the  tone  by 
reinforcing  these  upper  partials. 

The  origin  of  the  term  Sesquialtera,  as  applied 
to  an  organ  stop,  is  rather  obscure.  In  the  list 
of  ratios  given  by  Boethius,  at  the  close  of  the 
Jth  or  beginning  of  the  6th  century,  which  were 
exactly  reproduced  by  almost  every  writer  on 
music  up  to  the  i6th  century,  the  term  pro- 
portio  Sesquialtera  signifies  numbers  having  the 
ratio  2:3;  the  term  therefore  is  really  applic 
able  to  all  stops  having  pipes  at  an  interval 
of  a  fifth  from  the  groundtone,  such  as  the 
Quint,  Twelfth,  Larigot  (nineteenth),  etc.  As 
stated  above,  the  Sesquialtera  organ  stop  does 
actually  contain  pipes  having  this  relation,  only, 
(it  also  contains  pipes  having  the  ratio  5  :  4 
the  tierce),  which  Boethius  called  a  proportio 
sesquiquarta.  On  the  whole  it  may  be  safely  said 
that  the  word  Sesquialtera  was  originally  used 

The  Greater  and  Lesser  Tones  are,  by  some  theorists,  called  the 
wute  and  the  Grave  Major  Second. 


SESTET. 


475 


for  the  purpose  of  showing  that  the  stop  con 
tained  pipes  having  ratios  other  than  2  :  i,  or 
other  than  an  octave-series.  [J.S.] 

SESTET  or  SEXTET  (Fr.  Sextuor;  Ital.  Ses- 
tetto).  A  composition  for  six  instruments,  or  six 
voices,  with  or  without  accompaniment. 

Instrumental  sestets  are  of  two  kinds  ;  those 
for  strings  only,  which  belong  to  the  same  class  as 
string  quartets  and  quintets,  being  monochromes 
in  six  real  parts,  and  those  for  various  combin 
ations  of  strings,  wind  and  pianoforte,  which 
belong  to  the  class  of  pianoforte  quartets  etc., 
and  may  be  regarded  as  miniature  symphonies. 
The  first  of  these  two  classes  is,  naturally,  but 
rarely  met  with,  six-part  harmony  not  being 
easy  to  write ;  but  the  few  examples  we  have 
are  striking  ones.  We  may  pass  over  Haydn's 
solitary  specimen,  called  an  'Echo,'  for  4  violins 
and  2  cellos,  and  mention  only  that  of  Spohr,  in 
C  (op.  140),  a  charming  work  ;  the  two  immortal 
compositions  of  Brahms  (Bt>,  op.  18  ;  G,  op.  36), 
which  stand  at  the  head  of  modern  chamber- 
music  ;  the  Sextet  of  Raff,  op.  1 78,  in  G  minor  ; 
and  that  of  Dvorshak,  recently  introduced  into 
England.  Raff's  work  deserves  more  than  a 
passing  word,  being  one  of  that  composer's  most 
carefully  written  productions.  It  is  a  veritable 
triumph  of  counterpoint ;  not  only  is  the  labour  ' 
of  6-part  writing  never  for  a  moment  shirked, 
but  every  device  of  imitation  and  canon  is  lav 
ishly  expended.  One  canon  of  6  in  3  in  the 
variations  is  particularly  happy. 

All  the  above  are  for  2  violins,  2  violas  and 
a  cellos.  Turning  now  to  the  second  and  more 
comprehensive  class,  we  find  a  few  more  in  point 
of  number  but  none  of  much  artistic  value.  The 
prolific  Boccherini  wrote  sixteen,  Haydn  one, 
Mozart  only  the  'Musical  Joke.'  Beethoven's 
Sestet  for  Strings  and  2  obligato  Horns  (op.  Si 6) 
is  interesting,  but  unfortunately  impracticable 
for  modern  players.2  His  Sestet  for  Wind  In 
struments,  op.  71  (for  2  clarinets,  2  horns,  and 
2  bassoons,  in  Eb),  is  an  early  work  and  little 
known.  Beethoven  himself  mentions  it  in  a 
letter  of  August  8,  1809,  as  'one  of  my  earlier 
things,  and  not  only  that,  but  written  in  a  single 
night;  perhaps  the  only  thing  in  its  favour  is 
that  it  is  the  work  of  an  author  who  has  at  least 
brought  forward  better  works — though  for  many 
such  works  are  the  best.'  (Nohl's  Neue  Briefe, 
No.  53.)  Sterndale  Bennett's  Sestet  for  Piano 
and  Strings  a  very  early  work  (op.  8)  is  an  elegant 
pianoforte  piece  with  an  unimportant  though 
often  picturesque  accompaniment  for  strings,  in 
which  the  piano  has,  perhaps,  an  undue  share 
of  work.  Onslow  left  2  sestets — ops.  30  and 
77  bis. 

It  should  be  noticed  that  the  sestets  and  quin 
tets  of  Reicha  and  other  composers,  when  written 
for  wind  instruments  only,  are  practically  quar 
tets,  one  or  more  of  the  instruments  talcing  a 
rest  in  turn.  [F.C.] 

2  A  1st  Horn  part  is  in  existence,  on  which  Beethoven  has  written 
'  6tet  of  mine.  God  knows  where  the  other  parts  are."  The  slow  move 
ment  has  been  adapted  to  voices  as  '  The  Vesper  Hymn,'  and  had  a 
wide  popularity  in  '  Orpheus.' 


476 


SESTINI. 


SESTINI,  GIOVANNA,  a  singer  engaged  at  the 
Italian  opera  in  London  as  prima  buffa  in  1783. 
She  first  appeared  in  '  La  Marchesa  Giardiniera' 
of  Anfossi.  Although  the  quality  of  her  voice 
was  not  agreeable  ('  gritty  and  sharp '  Lord 
Mount-Edgecumbe  describes  it),  and  her  vocalis 
ation  not  of  the  first  order,  her  beauty,  vivacity, 
and  intelligence  won  for  her  great  popularity 
with  the  public.  Kelly,  who  heard  her  at  Dublin 
in  1787,  mentions  her  in  his  Reminiscences  as  the 
best  buffa  of  her  time.  She  was  'first  woman' 
for  many  years,  then,  in  the  decline  of  her  voice, 
became  second,  and  even  after  that  sang  at 
intervals  at  Covent  Garden  and  the  Haymarket. 
She  was  one  of  those  useful  people  who  are 
ready  at  a  moment's  notice  to  take  almost  any 
part,  and  up  to  1791  was  often  recalled  to 
strengthen  a  weak  company.  She  remained  con 
stantly  in  England,  and  died  here  at  last,  in 
great  poverty.  Her  salary  for  her  first  season 
was  £450. 

One  V.  Sestini,  possibly  a  relation,  was  ward 
robe  keeper  at  the  King's  Theatre  in  1821,  and 
the  name  of  Miss  Sestini,  a  singer,  appears  in 
some  English  playbills  of  1839.  [F.A.M.] 

SETTIMETTO.  Italian  for  a  septet,  or  com 
position  for  seven  instruments,  or  in  seven  parts. 
In  the  earlier  programmes  of  the  Philharmonic 
Society,  Beethoven's  Septet  is  occasionally  styled 
Settimetto.  [G.] 

SEVEN  LAST  WORDS,  THE— i.  e.  the 
seven  last  sentences  or  exclamations  of  Christ : 
— (i)  'Pater  dimitte  illis;  non  enim  sciunt  quid 
faciant.'  (2)  'Amen  dico  tibi,  hodie  mecum  eris 
in  paradiso.'  (3)  '  Mulier  ecce  filius  tuus,  et  tu 
ecce  mater  tua.'  (4)'Sitio.'  (.5)  'Deusmeus,  Deus 
meus,ut quid  dereliquisti  me ? '  (6)  'Consummatum 
est.'  (7) ' Pater  in  manus  tuas  commendo  spiritum 
meum.' — A  composition  of  Haydn's  dating  about 
1785.  It  was  then  the  custom  in  the  principal 
church  of  Cadiz  to  have  a  kind  of  oi'atorio  during 
Passion  week.1  The  church  was  hung  with  black, 
and  a  single  lamp  only  was  lighted.  At  noon  the 
doors  were  shut.  An  orchestral  prelude  was 
played  ;  then  the  Bishop  mounted  the  pulpit,  read 
one  of  our  Lord's  last  'words/  and  made  an  ex 
hortation  upon  it.  He  then  came  down,  and 
threw  himself  on  his  knees  before  the  altar. 
During  this  there  was  again  orchestral  music. 
He  then  mounted  the  pulpit  a  second  time,  and 
pronounced  the  second  '  word/  and  a  second  dis 
course,  and  so  on  till  the  last.  In  or  about  1785 
Haydn  received  a  request  from  Cadiz  to  com 
pose  orchestral  pieces  for  this  purpose,  each  piece 
to  be  an  adagio  of  about  10  minutes  long.  This 
he  did,  substituting  however  (as  the  original 
parts  show)  for  the  Bishop's  voice  a  long  recita 
tive  for  a  bass  in  the  case  of  each  of  the  seven 
'  words.'  In  this  form  the  work  was  performed 
at  Vienna,  March  26,  1787,  and  was  published 
in  parts  by  Artaria  in  the  same  year — as  '  7 
senate,  con  un  Introduzione,  ed  al  fine  un  tere- 
moto  ' — for  orchestra,  op.  47  ;  for  strings,  op.  48 ; 

i  This  was  done  on  Good  Friday  1882,  at  St.  John's  Parish  Church, 
Worcester,  England,  by  the  incumbent,  the  Eev.  Walter  Carr. 


SEVENTH. 

for  piano  solo,  op.  49.  It  quickly  spread  to  other 
countries,  was  sold  to  Forster  of  London  in  the 
summer  of  the  same  year  for  5  guineas,  Haydn 
protesting,  and  endeavouring  to  obtain  another  5, 
but  with  doubtful  success  ;2  and  was  announced 
by  Longman  and  Broderip  in  The  Times  of 
Jan.  i,  1788,  as  '  A  set  of  Quartetts  ....  expres 
sive  of  the  Passion  of  Our  Saviour,  op.  48.  8s.' 
Haydn  himself  conducted  them  (whether  with 
the  recitatives  or  not  and  for  full  orchestra  does 
not  appear)  as  the  middle  part  of  a  concert  at 
the  King's  Theatre,  Haymarket,  May  30,  1791, 
and  repeated  the  performance  at  the  benefit  of 
little  Clement  the  violin-player.  For  the  pay 
ment  for  the  Paris  edition  he  waited  long.  At 
last  a  .package  arrived  from  the  publisher  con 
taining  a  chocolate  tart.  After  looking  at  it  for 
some  time  in  disgust  he  broke  off  a  piece  for  his 
servant,  when  out  ran  a  number  of  ducats  ! 

The  work  is  now  known  as  a  cantata,  with 
words  to  each  movement.  When  or  by  whom 
the  words  were  added  is  not  quite  clear  ;  for  the 
various  statements  the  reader  must  be  referred 
to  Pohl's  'Joseph  Haydn  '  (ii.  217,  2i8).3  Pohl's 
conclusion  appears  to  be  that  Haydn  adapted  to 
his  music  —  perhaps  with  Van  Swieten's  assist 
ance  —  words  which  he  met  with  at  Passau  on 
his  way  to  England  in  1  794,  except  those  to  the 
Earthquake,  which  are  from  Earamler's  'Tod 
Jesu.'  At  the  same  time  he  arranged  each  of 
the  '  words  '  in  plain  harmony,  and  added  a  move 
ment  for  wind  instruments  only  between  move 
ments  4  and  5.  The  'Seven  Words'  were  for 
long  a  favourite  in  Vienna  both  in  church  and 
concert^room.  One  of  the  last  performances  was 
at  the  Alt-Lerchenfeld  church,  when  Franz 
Schubert's  brother  Anton  ('Father  Hermann') 
delivered  the  discourses.4  [G.] 

SEVENTH.  The  intervals  which  contain 
seven  notes  comprise  some  of  the  most  important 
chords  in  music,  and  such  as  have  been  pecu 
liarly  conspicuous  in  musical  history.  They  are 
divided  mainly  into  three  classes  —  major  sevenths, 
minor  sevenths,  and  diminished  sevenths  ;  as 


I.  The  major  sevenths,  as  CB,  FE,  GFjJ,  are 
very  harsh  —  in  fact  the  harshest  combination  used 
in  modern  music  except  the  minor  second,  such 
as  BC.  'They  are  only  endurable  either  when 
prepared  and  duly  resolved,  or  when  they  result 
from  the  use  of  an  appoggiatura  or  grace-note, 
or  passing  note.  They  occur  most  commonly  as 
suspensions,  resolving  either  up  or  down,  while 
the  rest  of  the  chord  is  stationary,  as  at  (a) 


r 

or  with  the  condensed  forms  of  resolution,  when 

2  Pohl,  '  Haydn  in  London,  p.  92. 

3  The  Biographic  Universelle  states  categorically  that  the  adapt 
ation  was  by  Michael  Haydn. 

•»  See  Pohl's  '  Joseph  Haydn,'  ii.  214,  341,  etc. 


SEVENTH. 

the  rest  of  the  chord  moves  simultaneously  with 
the  motion  of  the  discordant  note,  as  at  (6) 


SEXT. 


477 


Of  these  major  sevenths  there  are  several 
forms,  but  as  they  all  have  the  same  general 
principles  of  formation  and  treatment  they  do 
not  require  detailed  consideration. 

2.  The  minor  sevenths  are  more  individually 
characteristic.  Of  these  the  most  important  is 
the  Dominant  seventh,  as  at  (e),  for  the  key  of  C. 
The  discordance  of  this  combination  is  very 
slight.  By  itself  it  is  but  little  more  harsh  than 


some   combinations   which    are    universally  ac 
cepted  as  concords,  such  as  the  minor  sixth  ;  but 
its  harshness  is  increased  by  the  addition  of  the 
other  notes  which  fill  up  the  harmony,  as  at  (d), 
since  the  indispensable  major  third  in  the  chord 
makes  a  diminished  fifth  with  the  seventh.  Never 
theless  its  mildness  has  long  been  recognised,  and 
it  was  used  as  early  as  the  beginning  of  the  iyth 
century  with  greater  freedom  than   any  other 
discord,  by  being  relieved   of  the  condition  of 
being  prepared.     [See  HARMONY,  vol.  i.  p.  674.] 
But  the  laws  of  its  resolution  continued,  and 
still  continue,  more  or  less  restricted.     It  natu 
rally  resolves  into  the  Tonic  chord  ;  because  its 
third  is  the  leading  note  of  the  key  and  tends 
to  the  Tonic ;  its  seventh  naturally  tends  to  the 
third  of  the  Tonic  chord,  which  is  in  the  major 
divided  from  it  only  by  the  small  interval  of  a 
semitone ;    and   its  root   or   bass   note   already 
supplies  the  fifth  of  that  chord,  which  naturally 
acts  as   the  connecting   link  between   the   two 
harmonies  of  dominant  and  tonic ;  so  that  all  the 
vital  notes  of  the  Tonic  chord  are  as  it  were  pre 
dicted  by  its  sounding,  and  consequently  it  is  the 
most  natural  and  forcible  penultimate  in  cadences, 
in  which  it  occurs  with  extreme  frequency.    [See 
CADENCE;  HARMONY.]     It  is  hardly  necessary 
to  point  out  that  it  can  be  resolved  otherwise, 
since   it   so  often   plays  a  part   in   interrupted 
cadences  ;  as  for  instance  where  the  Tonic  chord 
is  supplanted  by  the  chord  of  the  Submediant 
(e) ;  but  it  is  in  consequence  of  the  very  pre 
disposition  which  it  creates  to  expect  the  Tonic 
chord    that    interrupted    cadences    have    such 
marked  effect.      [See  INTERRUPTED  CADENCE.] 
There   is  no  other  minor  seventh   in   the   key 
which  can  be  accompanied  by  a  diatonic  major 
third;   but  there  are  two  at  least  that  can  be 
obtained  with  one  chromatic  note  in  them,  and 
these  are  so  frequently  used  as  if  the}7  belonged 
to  the  key  that   some  theorists  have  agreed  to 
affiliate  them.     These  are  the  minor  seventh  on 
the  supertonic  with  a  chromatic  major  third,  and 
the  minor  seventh  on  the  tonic,  in  which  the 
seventh  itself  is  chromatic,  as  (/)  and  (#),  in 
relation  to  the   key   of  C.     These  are  respec 
tively  the  dominant  sevenths  of  the  Dominant 


and  Subdominant  keys,  so  that  in  any  sense 
they  lie  very  close  to  the  principal  key,  and  can 
resolve  into  it  with  the  greatest  ease  ;  and  they 
are  often  taken  without  preparation  as  distinct 
ingredients  of  its  harmonic  material  without 
other  reference  to  the  keys  to  which  they 
diatonically  belong. 

The  minor  seventh  on  the  supertonic,  with  a 
diatonic  minor  third,  is  a  chord  which  has  much 
exercised  theorists.  It  comprises  the  same  notes 
as  the  chord  which  has  been  generally  known 
formerly  and  even  partially  now  as  the  Added 
sixth  ;  and  it  is  more  often  met  with  in  the 
form  from  which  that  name  was  derived.  But 
in  whatever  position,  it  has  long  been  peculiar 
among  discords  for  the  variability  of  its  reso 
lution,  since  the  note  which  would  be  the  seventh 
if  the  supertonic  were  at  the  bottom  of  the  chord, 
stands  still  in  resolution  almost  as  often  as  it 
moves  downwards  to  the  conveniently  contiguous 
leading  note  of  the  key.  For  the  various  views 
entertained  concerning  this  chord,  see  HARMONY 
and  ROOT. 

3.  The  chord  of  the  Diminished  seventh  is 
a  familiar  combination  both  to  theorists  and 
musicians.  It  is  in  its  complete  form  composed 
of  a  set  of  minor  thirds,  and  this  as  much  as 
anything  gives  it  its  notoriously  ambiguous 
character,  since  any  of  its  elements  can  be  treated 
as  the  discordant  note,  with  the  result  of  leading 
to  a  different  key  in  each  several  case.  It  is  now 
commonly  held  to  be  the  inversion  of  a  minor  ninth 
with  the  root  note  omitted.  [See  DIMINISHED 
INTERVALS,  vol.  i.  p.  448.]  [C.H.H.P.] 

SEVERN,  THOMAS  HENRY — brother  of  Joseph 
Severn  the  painter,  the  intimate  friend  of  Keats, 
Leigh  Hunt,  etc. — was  born  in  London,  Nov.  5, 
1 80 1,  and  after  many  difficulties  became  manager 
of  Farn's  music  business  at  72  Lombard  Street. 
He  was  the  first  conductor  of  the  CITY  OF  LONDON 
CLASSICAL  HARMONISTS,  started  in  1831.  [See 
vol.  i.  352  a.]  He  was  virtually  self-taught,  and 
his  knowledge  of  music  was  derived  from  study 
of  the  scores  of  the  great  masters,  and  from 
practice.  He  died  at  Wandsworth,  April  15, 
1881.  Severn  was  the  author  of  an  opera,  and  of 
various  songs  which  were  very  popular  in  their 
time.  Amongst  these  were  two  sets  to  words 
by  Haynes  Bayley,  '  Songs  of  the  Boudoir,'  con 
taining  the  well-known  '  We  met,  'twas  in  a 
crowd*;  and  'Songs  of  the  days  of  Chivalry'; 
also  three  songs  by  Herrick ;  a  Cantata,  '  The 
Spirit  of  the  Shell ' ;  two  Te  Deums  (Novello  & 
Co.),  etc.,  etc.  [G.] 

SEXT  (Lat.  Officium,  (vel  Oratio)  ad  Horam 
Sextam ;  Ad  Sextam}.  The  last  but  one  of  the 
'Lesser  Hours'  in  the  Roman  Breviary. 

The  Office  begins,  as  usual,  with  the  Versicle, 
and  Response,  'Deus  in  adjutorium.'  These  are 
followed  by  a  Hymn — Rector  potens,  verax  Deus 
— which  never  changes;  Verses  81-129  of  the 
Psalm,  'Beati  immaculati,'  sung  in  three  divi 
sions,  but  under  a  single  Antiphon ;  the  '  Capitu- 
lum '  and  '  Responsorium  breve '  for  the  Season  ; 
and  the  Prayer  (or  Collect)  for  the  Day. 

In  Collegiate  Churches,  the  Offices   of  Terce 


478 


SEXT. 


and  Sext,  are  usually  sung  immediately  before 
and  after  High  Mass.  The  Plain  Chaunt  Music 
for  the  various  Offices  is  contained  in  the  Anti- 
phonarium  Romanum,  and  the  Directorium 
Chori.  [W.S.R.] 

SEXTOLET  (Fr.  Sextolet ;  Ger.  Sextole  ;  Ital. 
Sestina).  A  group  of  six  notes  of  equal  length, 
played  in  the  time  of  four  ordinary  notes  of  the 
same  species.  To  distinguish  them  from  regular 
notes  of  like  form  the  number  6  is  placed  above 
or  below  the  group.  The  true  sextolet  is  formed 
from  a  triplet,  by  dividing  each  note  into  two, 
thus  giving  six  notes,  the  first  of  which  alone  is 
accented;  but  there  is  also  a  similar  group  of  six 
notes,  far  more  frequently  used  than  the  real 
sextolet,  in  which  a  slight  accent  is  given  to  the 
fourth  note  as  well  as  the  first.  This  group, 
which  really  consists  of  two  triplets,  is  properly 
known  as  the  Double  Triplet,  and  should  be 
marked  with  the  figure  3  over  the  second  and 
fifth  notes,  though  it  is  frequently  marked  with 
6,  and  called  a  sextolet.  The  difference  is  well 
shown  in  the  following  two  extracts  from  the 
Largo  of  Beethoven's  Concerto  in  C,  op.  15.  [See 
also  TRIPLET.] 

Double  Triplets. 


3,3 
1                    *~*                T)m 

**^    3               3 

.  bph.  m'f'm 

\1       T^ 

&+-»-*-»- 

UP                 ft 

' 

r'Hr  T 

j?uhu   '    1    i  1    i  i    i 

=iSi 

£=-^++-irf 

S|£±z  — 

Sextokts      — 

r^rto: 

2-6                                   K 

n     hi       M.    h»-L«ku,«tlh«    ~*        ***"    " 

7fcF~fr&JF= 

i     •       v  -    \ 

U              | 

t/  ^_^—  '  —  '  —  ^  —  ' 

'     '         =t=3= 

~  —  '  :  :  —  — 

[F.T.] 

SEXTUS  (Pars  sexta,  Sextuplum ;  Eng.  The 
Sixth  Voice,  or  Part).  In  the  Part-Books  of  the 
1 5th  and  i6th  centuries,  four  Voices  only  were,  as 
a  general  rule,  mentioned  by  name  ;  tbe  Cantus, 
Altus,  Tenore,  and  Bassus.  When  a  fifth  Voice 
was  needed,  it  was  called  Quintus,  or  Pars  Quinta, 
and  corresponded  exactly,  in  compass,  with  one 
of  the  first  four.  When  yet  another  Voice  was 
added,  it  was  called  Sextus,  or  Pars  Sexta ;  and 
corresponded  in  compass  with  another  original 
Voice-Part.  The  extra  Part,  therefore,  repre 
sented  sometimes  an  additional  Treble,  sometimes 
an  Alto,  sometimes  a  Tenor,  and  sometimes  a 
Bass ;  and  always  corresponded,  in  compass, 
with  some  other  Part  of  equal  importance  with 
itself.  [W.S.R.] 

SEYFRIED,  IGNAZ  XAVEB,  RITTER  VON, 
born  Aug.  15,  1776,  in  Vienna,  was  originally 
intended  for  the  law,  but  his  talent  for  music 
was  so  decided,  that,  encouraged  by  Peter  Win 
ter,  he  determined  to  become  a  professional 
musician.  In  this,  his  intimacy  with  Mozart 
and  subsequent  acquaintance  with  Beethoven 
were  of  much  use.  His  teachers  were  Kozeluch 


SFORZANDO. 

for  the  PF.  and  organ,  and  Haydn  for  theory. 
In  1797  he  became  joint  conductor  of  Schikane- 
der's  theatre  with  Henneberg,  a  post  he  retained 
in  the  new  Theater  an  der  Wien,  from  its  open 
ing  in  1 80 1  till  1826.     The  first  work  he  pro 
duced  there  was  a  setting  of  Schikaneder's  comic 
opera    'Der   Lowenbrunnen '    (1797),  and    the 
second,  a  grand  opera  '  Der  Wundermann  am 
Rheinfall '  (i  799),  on  which  Haydn  wrote  him  a 
very   complimentary  letter.      These   were  suc 
ceeded  by  innumerable  operas  great  and  small, 
operettas,  singspiele,  music  for  melodramas,  plays 
(including   some  by   Schiller  and  Grillparzer), 
ballets,   and   pantomimes.     Specially  successful 
were  his  biblical  dramas,  '  Saul,  Konig  von  Is 
rael'  (1810),  'Abraham'  (1817),  'DieMaccabaer,' 
and  'Die  Israeli  ten  in  der  Wtiste.'    The  music 
to  'Ahasverus'  (1823)  he  arranged  from  piano 
pieces  of  Mozart's,  and  the  favourite  singspiel 
'Die  Ochsenmenuette '  (1823)  (an  adaptation  of 
Hofmann's  vaudeville  'Le  menuet  du  bceuf) 
was   a   similar  pasticcio  from   Haydn's  works. 
His  church   music,   widely   known  and  partly 
printed,  included  many  masses  and  requiems, 
motets,  offertoires,  graduates,  a  'Libera'  for  men's 
voices   composed   for  Beethoven's  funeral,  etc. 
Seyfried  also  contributed  articles  to  Schilling's 
'Universal  Lexikon  der  Tonkunst,'  Schumann's 
'  Neue   Zeitschrift   fiir   Musik,'  the  'Leipziger 
Allg.   Zeitung,'   and   'Cacilia,'   besides  editing 
Albrechtsberger's  complete  works — the  'General- 
bass-Schule,'  '  Compositionslehre,'  and  a  Supple 
ment  in  3  vols.  on  playing  from  score  (Haslinger) 
— and    Beethoven's    Studies    in    Counterpoint. 
Herr  Nottebohm's  critical  investigations  have 
reduced  this  last  work  to  its  proper  value.    [See 
vol.  i.  209  and  ii.  479.] 

Seyfried  was  elected  an  honorary  or  a  corre 
sponding  member  of  innumerable  musical  socie 
ties,  at  home  and  abroad.  His  pupils  included 
Louis  Schlosser,  Karl  Krebs,  Heinrich  Ernst, 
Skiwa,  Baron  Joseph  Pasqualati,  Carl  Lewy, 
Heissler,  Kessler,  J.  Fischhof,  Sulzer,  Carl  Has 
linger,  Parish-Alvars,  R.  Mulder,  S.  Kuhe, 
Walther  von  Goethe,  Baron  Hermann  LSwens- 
kiold,  F.  von  Suppe",  Kohler,  and  Basadona. 

His  closing  years  were  saddened  by  misfortune, 
and  his  death  took  place  Aug.  27,  1841.  He 
rests  in  the  Wahringer  cemetery  (Ortsfriedhof), 
near  Beethoven  and  Schubert.  [C.F.P.] 

SFOGATO  (open,  airy),  a  word  used  in  rare 
instances  by  Chopin  in  certain  of  those  little 
cadenzas  and  ornaments  that  he  is  so  fond  of  using, 
to  indicate  what  may  be  called  his  own  peculiar 
touch,  a  delicate  and,  as  it  were,  ethereal  tone, 
which  can  only  be  produced  upon  the  pianoforte, 
and  then  only  by  performers  of  exceptional  skill. 
'  Exhalation '  is  the  only  word  that  conveys  an 
idea  of  this  tone  when  it  is  produced.  A  '  Soprano 
sfogato'  is  a  thin,  acute,  voice.  [J.A.F.M.] 

SFORZANDO,  SFORZATO,  'forced';  a 
direction  usually  found  in  its  abbreviated  form  sf. 
or  sfz.  referring  to  single  notes  or  groups  of  notes 
which  are  to  be  especially  emphasized.  It  is 
nearly  equivalent  to  the  accent  >,  but  is  less  apt 


SFORZANDO. 


SHAKE. 


479 


to  be  overlooked  in  performance,  and  is  therefore 
used  in  all  important  passages — as  for  instance, 
in  certain  canons  where  the  leading  part  has  a 
strongly  accented  note  which  is  to  be  brought  out 
with  equal  force  in  the  imitating  part.  Good  in 
stances  occur  in  Beethoven's  Sonata  for  violin  and 
piano  in  C  minor,  Op.  30,  No.  2,  in  the  trio  of 
the  Scherzo ;  in  Schumann's  Etudes  Symphon- 
iques  Variations,  etc.  [J.A.F.M.] 

SGAMBATI,  GIOVANNI,  a  remarkable  pianist 
and  composer,  was  born  at  Rome  May  28,  1843. 
His  mother  was  English,  the  daughter  of  Joseph 
Gott,  sculptor,  a  native  of  London,  who  had  for 
many  years  practised  his  art  in  Rome.  Giovanni 
was  intended  for  his  father's  profession,  that  of 
an  advocate,  and  would  have  been  educated  with 
that  view  but  for  his  strong  turn  for  music. 

After  the  death  of  the  father  in  1849  the 
mother  migrated  with  her  two  children  to  Trevi 
in  Umbria,  where  she  married  again.     The  boy 
learned  the  piano  and  harmony  from  Natalucci, 
a  former  pupil  of  Zingarelli's  at  the  Conservatorio 
of  Naples ;  and  from  the  age  of  six  often  played 
in  public,  sang  contralto  solos  in  church,  con 
ducted  small  orchestras,  and  was  known  as  the 
author  of  several  sacred  pieces.     In   the   year 
1860  he  settled  at  Rome  and  soon  became  famous 
for  his  playing,  and  for  the  classical  character  of 
his  programmes.     His  favourite  composers  were 
Beethoven,  Chopin,  and  Schumann,  and  he  was 
an  excellent  interpreter  of  the  fugues  of  Bach 
and  Handel.     Shortly  after  this  he  was  on  the 
point  of  going  to  Germany  to  study,  when  Liszt's 
arrival  in  Rome  saved  him  from  that  necessity. 
With  him  Sgambati  worked  long  and  diligently. 
He  soon  began  to  give  orchestral  concerts,  at 
which  the  symphonies  and  concertos  of  the  Ger 
man  masters  were  heard  in  Rome  for  the  first 
time  under  his  baton.     In  1864  he  wrote  a  String 
Quartet ;  in  1866  a  PF.  Quintet  (F  minor,  op.  4); 
in  1867,  an  Octet,  a  second  PF.  Quintet  (G  minor, 
op.  5),  an  Overture  for  full  orchestra,  to  Cassa's 
'  Cola  di  Rienzi,'  etc.,  etc.     He  conducted  Liszt's 
'  Dante*  Symphony  at  Rome,  Feb.  26,  1866,  with 
great  success  and  credit  to  himself.   In  1869  Liszt 
and  he  made  a  visit  to  Germany  together,  and 
at  Munich  Sgambati  heard  Wagner's  music  for 
the  first  time.     In  1870  he  published  an  album 
of  5  songs  (Blanchi),  which  was  quickly  followed 
by  other  vocal  pieces.     Sgambati  had  for  some 
time  attracted  the  notice  of  Herr  von  Keudell, 
the  well-known  amateur,  and  Prussian  Ambas 
sador   at    Rome.      At  the   orchestral    concerts 
which   he  conducted   at   the   Embassy,  several 
of  his  works  were  first  heard  ;    and  there,  in 
1877,  ne  and  his  music  first  made  the  favour 
able   acquaintance   of  Wagner,   through  whose 
recommendation  the  two  quintets  and  other  pieces 
were  published  by  Schotts  of  Mayence.      En 
couraged   by  this   well-merited   recognition  he 
composed  a  Prelude  and  Fugue  for  the  PF.  (op.  6), 
a  Festival  Overture,  a  Concerto  for  PF.  and  or 
chestra,  a  second  String  Quartet,   various  PF. 
pieces,  and  a  Symphony  for  full  orchestra.     The 
symphony  was   produced  at  a  concert  in  the 
Quirinal,  March  28,  1881,  in  presence  of  the 


King  and  Queen  of  Italy,  and  other  great 
personages.  Its  success  was  great,  and  the  King 
conferred  on  Sgambati  the  order  of  the  Crown  of 
Italy  on  the  occasion.  In  1882  he  made  his  first 
visit  to  England,  and  performed  his  PF.  Concerto 
at  the  Philharmonic  of  May  II,  and  his  Sym 
phony  at  the  Crystal  Palace,  June  10.  Both 
works  were  well  received,  but  the  symphony 
made  much  the  greater  impression  of  the  two. 
Though  original  in  ideas  and  character  it  adheres 
to  the  established  forms  ;  it  is  at  once  thought 
fully  worked  out  and  gracefully  expressed,  with 
a  great  deal  of  effect  and  no  lack  of  counterpoint, 
and  it  left  a  very  favourable  impression. 

In  1869  Sgambati  founded  a  free  PF.  class  in 
the  Academy  of  St.  Cecilia  at  Rome.  This  has 
since  been  adopted  as  part  of  the  foundation  of 
the  Academy,  and  in  1878  he  himself  became 
professor  of  the  piano  and  a  member  of  the 
Direction. 

The  following  list  shows  the  chief  of  his  pub 
lished  works  to  this  date  (July  1882). 


Op.  1.  Album  of  5  songs  (Blanchi). 

2.  Album  of  10  songs  (Kicordi). 

3.  Notturno,PF.(Mangantlll). 

4.  Quintet  tor  PF.  and  strings 

(F  minor). 

5.  Quintet  ditto.  (G  minor). 

6.  Prelude  and  Fugue  in  Eb 

minor,  PF.  solo. 
7. 
8. 


Op.  9. 

10.  2  Etudes  for  PF.  solo  ;    1 

In  Db ;  2  in  Ft  minor. 
11. 

12.  Fogll  volanti. 
13. 

14.  Gavotte. 

15.  Concerto   in  G  minor  for 

PF. 

16.  Symphony  in  D. 


[G.] 

SHAKE  or  TRILL  (Fr.  Trille,  formerly 
Tremblement,  Cadence;  Ger.  Trille  r;  Ital.  Trillo). 
The  shake,  one  of  the  earliest  in  use  among  the 
ancient  graces,  is  also  the  chief  and  most  frequent 
ornament  of  modern  music,  both  vocal  and  in 
strumental.  It  consists  of  the  regular  and  rapid 
alternation  of  a  given  note  with  the  note  above, 
such  alternation  continuing  for  the  full  duration, 
of  the  written  note. 

The  shake  is  the  head  of  a  family  of  orna 
ments,  all  founded  on  the  alternation  of  a  principal 
note  with  a  subsidiary  note  one  degree  either 
above  or  below  it,  and  comprising  the  Mordent 
and  PralUriller  [see  MORDENT]  still  in  use,  and  the 
RIBATTUTA  (Ger.  Zuriickschlag)  and  Battement1 
(Ex.  i),  both  of  which  are  now  obsolete. 
1.  Batlement. 


Ribattuta. 


etc. 


The  sign  of  the  shake  is  in  modern  music  ir. 
(generally  followed  by  a  waved  line  ~  -  if  over 
a  long  note),  and  in  older  music  tr.  *~,  ~~,  and 
occasionally  4- ,  placed  over  or  under  the  note ; 
and  it  is  rendered  in  two  different  ways,  begin 
ning  with  either  the  principal  or  the  upper  note, 
as  in  example  2  : — 

1  Rousseau  (Diet,  de  Musique)  describes  the  Battement  as  a  trill 
which  differed  from  the  ordinary  trill  or  cadence  only  in  beginning 
with  the  principal  instead  of  the  subsidiary  note.  In  this  he  is 
certainly  mistaken,  since  the  battement  is  described  by  all  other 
writers  as  an  alternation  of  the  principal  note  with  the  note  below. 


480 

2.   Written. 
O tr_ 


SHAKE. 


Performed, 


Or  thus. 


•- 


These  two  modes  of  performance  differ  con 
siderably  in  effect,  because  the  accent,  which  is 
always  perceptible,  however  slight  it  may  be,  is 
given  in  the  one  case  to  the  principal  and  in  the 
other  to  the  subsidiary  note,  and  it  is  therefore 
important  to  ascertain  which  of  the  two  methods 
should  be  adopted  in  any  given  case.  The 
question  has  been  discussed  with  much  fervour 
by  various  writers,  and  the  conclusions  arrived  at 
have  usually  taken  the  form  of  a  fixed  adherence 
to  one  or  other  of  the  two  modes,  even  in  appa 
rently  unsuitable  cases.  Most  of  the  earlier 
masters,  including  Emanuel  Bach,  Marpurg,  Ttirk, 
etc.,  held  that  all  trills  should  begin  with  the 
upper  note,  while  Hummel,  Czerny,  Moscheles, 
and  modern  teachers  generally  (with  some  ex 
ceptions)  have  preferred  to  begin  on  the  principal 
note.  This  diversity  of  opinion  indicates  two 
different  views  of  the  very  nature  and  meaning 
of  the  shake  ;  according  to  the  latter,  it  is  a  trem 
bling  or  pulsation — the  reiteration  of  the  prin 
cipal  note,  though  subject  to  continual  momentary 
interruptions  from  the  subsidiary  note,  gives  a 
certain  undulating  effect  not  unlike  that  of  the 
tremulant  of  the  organ  ;  according  to  the  former, 
the  shake  is  derived  from  the  still  older  appoqgia- 
tura,  and  consists  of  a  series  of  appoggiaturas 
with  their  resolutions — is  in  fact  a  kind  of  elabo 
rated  appoggiatura, — and  as  such  requires  the 
accent  to  fall  upon  the  upper  or  subsidiary  note. 
This  view  is  enforced  by  most  of  the  earlier 
authorities  ;  thus  Marpurg  says, '  the  trill  derives 
its  origin  from  an  appoggiatura  (  Vorschlag  von 
oben)  and  is  in  fact  a  series  of  descending  ap 
poggiaturas  executed  with  the  greatest  rapidity.' 
And  Emanuel  Bach,  speaking  of  the  employment 
of  the  shake  in  ancient  (German)  music,  says 
'formerly  the  trill  was  usually  only  introduced 
after  an  appoggiatura,'  and  he  gives  the  following 
example — 


.3.    ,  tr 


Nevertheless,  the  theory  which  derives  the 
shake  from  a  trembling  or  pulsation,  and  there 
fore  places  the  accent  on  the  principal  note,  in 
which  manner  most  shakes  in  modern  music  are 
executed,  has  the  advantage  of  considerable,  if 
not  the  highest  antiquity.1  For  Caccini,  in  his 
Singing  School  (published  1601),  describes  the 
trillo  as  taught  by  him  to  his  pupils,  and  says 
that  it  consists  of  the  rapid  repetition  of  a  single 
note,  and  that  in  learning  to  execute  it  the 
singer  must  begin  with  a  crotchet  and  strike 
each  note  afresh  upon  the  vowel  a  (ribattere 
ciascuna  nota  con  la  gola,  sopra  la  vocale  a). 
Curiously  enough  he  also  mentions  another  grace 


i  The  exact  date  of  the  introduction  of  the  trill  is  not  known,  but 
Consorti,  a  celebrated  singer  (1590),  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  who 
could  sing  a  trill.  (Schilling,  '  Lexikon  der  Tonkunst.') 


SHAKE. 

which  he  calls  Gruppo,  which  closely  resembles 
the  modern  shake. 


4.     Trillo, 


i 


... 


Gruppo. 


±-4-(-H 


-H-H- 


•^•••••*  •  ^•^•-•g-j 


And  Playford,  in  his  'Introduction  to  the  Skill 
of  Musick  '  (1655)  quotes  an  anonymous  treatise 
on  '  the  Italian  manner  of  singing,'  in  which 
precisely  the  same  two  graces  are  described.2 
Commenting  on  the  shake  Playford  says,  'I 
have  heard  of  some  that  have  attained  it  after 
this  manner,  in  singing  a  plain-song  of  six  notes 
up  and  six  down,  they  have  in  the  midst  of  every 
note  beat  or  shaked  with  their  finger  upon  their 
throat,  which  by  often  practice  came  to  do  the 
same  notes  exactly  without.'  It  seems  then  clear 
that  the  original  intention  of  a  shake  was  to 
produce  a  trembling  effect,  and  so  the  modern 
custom  of  beginning  with  the  principal  note  may 
be  held  justified. 

In  performing  the  works  of  the  great  masters 
from  the  time  of  Bach  to  Beethoven  then,  it 
should  be  understood  that,  according  to  the  rule 
laid  down  by  contemporary  teachers,  the  shake 
begins  with  the  upper  or  subsidiary  note,  but  it 
would  not  be  safe  to  conclude  that  this  rule  is  to 
be  invariably  followed.  In  some  cases  we  find 
the  opposite  effect  definitely  indicated  by  a  small 
note  placed  before  the  principal  note  of  the  shake, 
and  on  the  same  line  or  space,  thus — 

5.     MOZART  (ascribed  to),  '  Fne  fievre,'  Var.  3. 
tr  tr 


and  even  when  there  is  no  small  note  it  is  no 
doubt  correct  to  perform  all  shakes  which  are 
situated  like  those  of  the  above  example  in  the 
same  manner,  that  is,  beginning  with  the  principal 
note.  So  therefore  a  shake  at  the  commencement 
of  a  phrase  or  after  a  rest  (Ex.  6),  or  after  a 
downward  leap  (Ex.  7),  or  when  preceded  by  a 
note  one  degree  below  it  (Ex.  8),  should  begin 
on  the  principal  note. 

6.  BACH,  Prelude  No.  16,  Vol.  i. 

tr 


MOZART,  Concerto  in  Bb. 
Andante     IM_^_       •_•_«  ?r 


BACH,  Art  of  Fugue,  No.  8. 


2  The  author  of  this  treatise  is  said  by  Playford  to  have  been  a 
pupil  of  the  celebrated  Scipione  della  Palla,  who  was  also  Caccinl's 
master. 


SHAKE. 


SHAKE. 


481 


8.        BACH,  Sonata  for  PF.  and  Flute,  No.  6. 
tr 


L=: 


V& 


It  is  also  customary  to  begin  with  the  principal 
note  when  the  note  bearing  the  shake  is  preceded 
by  a  note  one  degree  above  it  (Ex.  9),  especially 
if  the  tempo  be  quick  (Ex.  10),  in  which  case 
the  trill  resembles  the  Pralltriller  or  inverted 
mordent,  the  only  difference  being  that  the  three 
notes  of  whicli  it  is  composed  are  of  equal  length, 
instead  of  the  last  being  the  longest  (see  vol.  ii, 

P-  364)- 

BACH,  Organ  Fugue  in  F. 
" 


1 — r 


£§£ 


•&•    ^_ 

gg=B 


10. 

Allegro. 


MOZAHT,  Sonata  in  F. 

lr  Played. 


If  however  the  note  preceding  the  shake  is 
slurred  to  it  (Ex.  II  a),  or  if  the  trill  note  is  pre 
ceded  by  an  appoggiatura  (Ex.  n  6),  the  trill 
begins  with  the  upper  note ;  and  this  upper  note 
is  tied  to  the  preceding  note,  thus  delaying  the 
entrance  of  the  shake  in  a  manner  precisely 
similar  to  the  '  bound  Pralltriller '  (see  vol.  ii. 
p.  364,  Ex.  13).  A  trill  so  situated  is  called  in 
German  der  gebundene  Triller  (the  bound  trill). 

11.  (a)    BACH,  Concerto  for  two  Pianos. 

tr 


(b)         HAYDN,  Trio  in  E  minor. 


When  the  note  carrying  a  shake  is  preceded 
by  a  short  note  of  the  same  name  (Ex,  12),  the 
upper  note  always  begins,  unless  the  anticipating 
note  is  marked  staccato  (Ex.  1 3),  in  which  case 
the  shake  begins  with  the  principal  note. 


12. 


BACH,  Chromatic  Fantasia. 
fc.          tr  tr 


acE   /*-  -m 

•  - 

i 

fvU       *  f 

*  i 

§  •  •  . 

1 

! 

SiU  —  1 

(—  —  i 

L_J 

-P 

p 

^j 

-! 

"" 

VOL.111.  PT.  3. 


MOZART,  Sonata  in  C  minor. 
13.  Played. 

M«r      t^r  .     M' 


In  modern  music,  when  a  trill  beginning  with 
the  subsidiary  note  is  required,  it  is  usually  indi 
cated  by  a  small  grace-note,  written  immediately 
before  the  trill-note  (Ex.  14).  This  grace-note 
is  occasionally  met  with  in  older  music  (see  de 
menti,  Sonata  in  B  minor),  but  its  employment 
is  objected  to  by  Turk,  Marpurg,  and  others,  as 
liable  to.be  confused  with  the  real  appoggiatura 
of  the  bound  trill,  as  in  Ex.  ii.  This  objection 
does  not  hold  in  modern  music,  since  the  bound 
trill  is  no  longer  used. 

BEETHOVEN,  Sonata,  Op.  £3,  Finale. 
14.          }  *tr 

n  * 4 


-etc. 


Immediately  before  the  final  note  of  a  shake  a 
new  subsidiary  note  is  generally  introduced,  situ 
ated  one  degree  below  the  principal  note.  This 
and  the  concluding  principal  note  together  form 
what  is  called  the  turn  of  the  shake,  though  the 
name  is  not  strictly  appropriate,  since  it  properly 
belongs  to  a  separate  species  of  ornament  of  which 
the  turn  of  a  shake  forms  in  fact  the  second  half 
only.1  [See  TURN.]  The  turn  is  variously  indi 
cated,  sometimes  by  two  small  grace-notes  (Ex. 
15),  sometimes  by  notes  of  ordinary  size  (Ex.  16), 
and  in  old  music  by  the  signs  of  a  vertical  stroke, 
a  small  curve  in  a  downward  direction,  or  a 
regular  turn,  added  to  the  ordinary  sign,  of  the 
trill  (Ex.  1 7), 

CLEMENT:,  Sonata  in  C. 


16. 


HANDEL,  Gigue  (Suite  14). 
tr  tr 


For  the  sake  of  smoothness,  it  is  necessary 
that  the  note  immediately  preceding  the  turn 
should  be  a  principal  note.  In  the  shake  begin 
ning  with  the  upper  note  this  is  the  case  as  a 
matter  of  course  (Ex.  18),  but  in  the  modern 
shake  an  extra  principal  note  has  to  be  added  to 
the  couple  of  notes  which  come  just  before  the 
turn,  while  the  speed  of  the  three  is  slightly 
quickened,  thus  forming  a  triplet  (Ex.  19). 

i  The  turn  of  a  trill  is  better  described  by  its  German  name 
NachsMag,  or  after-beat. 

Ii 


482 


Written. 


SHAKE. 


Played. 


39.     Written. 


Played. 


Sometimes  the  turn  is  not  indicated  at  all,  but 
it  has  nevertheless  to  be  introduced  if  the  shake 
is  followed  by  an  accented  note  (Ex.  20).  If 
however  the  next  following  note  is  unaccented, 
no  turn  is  required,  but  an  extra  principal  note 
is  added  to  the  last  couple  of  notes,  that  the  trill 
may  end  as  well  as  begin  with  the  principal 
note  (Ex.  21).  When  the  trill  is  followed  by 
a  rest,  a  turn  is  generally  made,  though  it  is 
perhaps  not  necessary  unless  specially  indicated 
(Ex.  22). 

MOZART,  '  Lison  dormait,'  Var.  8. 
tr       ,  Played. 


m 


—  1 


CLEMENTI,  Sonata  in  G. 
tr  =*'"T 


BEETHOVEN,  Trio,  Op.  97. 


When  a  note  ornamented  by  a  shake  is  followed 
by  another  note  of  the  same  pitch,  the  lower 
subsidiary  note  only  is  added  to  the  end  of  the 
shake,  and  the  succeeding  written  note  serves  to 
complete  the  turn.  This  lower  note  is  written 
sometimes  as  a  small  grace-note  (Ex.  23),  some 
times  as  an  ordinary  note  (Ex.  24),  and  is  some 
times  not  written  at  all,  but  is  nevertheless  intro 
duced  in  performance  (Ex.  25). 

BEETHOVEN,  Concerto  in  Eb. 
j« 

23. 


CLEMENTI,  Sonata  in  A. 


MOZART,  '  Salve  tu,  Domine.'  Var.  4  (Cadenza). 
tr 


£ 


Even  when  the  trill-note  is  tied  to  the  next 
following,  this  extra  lower  note  is  required,  pro 
vided  the  second  written  note  is  short,  and  occurs 
on  an  accented  beat  (Ex.  26).  If  the  second 
note  is  long,  the  two  tied  notes  are  considered  as 


SHAKE. 

forming  one  long  note,  and  the  shake  is  therefore 
continued  throughout  the  whole  value. 


BACH,  Fugue  No.  i£,  Vol.  2. 


26. 


Ir 


Very  similar  is  the  rendering  of  a  shake  on  a 
dotted  note  : — the  turn  ends  on  the  dot,  which 
thus  takes  the  place  of  the  second  of  the  two 
notes  of  the  same  pitch.  Thus  the  effect  of  the 
two  modes  of  writing  shown  in  Ex.  27  a  and  b, 
would  be  the  same,  If,  however,  the  dotted  note 
is  followed  by  a  note  a  degree  lower,  no  turn  is 
required  (Ex.  28). 

27  HANDEL,  Suite  10.    Allemande. 

('•')      tr   ,.   tr        tr      tr  (&)  tr      ,  tr 


HANDEL,  Suite  10.    Allegro. 
Played. 


Trills  on  very  short  notes  require  no  turn,  but 
consist  merely  of  a  triplet — thus, 

MOZART,  '  Ein  Weib.'    Var.  6, 
tr          tr  tr         tr 


Besides  the  several  modes  of  ending  a  shake, 
the  commencement  can  also  be  varied  by  the 
addition  of  what  is  called  the  upper  or  lower 
prefix.  The  upper  prefix  is  not  met  with  in 
modern  music,  but  occurs  frequently  in  the  works 
of  Bach  and  Handel.  Its  sign  is  a  tail  turned 
upwards  from  the  beginning  of  the  ordinary  trill 
mark,  and  its  rendering  is  as  follows — 
BACH,  Partita  No.  i,  Sarabande. 


The  lower  prefix  consists  of  a  single  lower  sub 
sidiary  note  prefixed  to  the  first  note  of  a  shake 
which  begins  with  the  principal  note,  or  of  two 
notes,  lower  and  principal,  prefixed  to  the  first 
note  of  a  shake  beginning  with  the  upper  note. 
It  is  indicated  in  various  ways,  by  a  single  small 
grace-note  (Ex.  31),  by  two  (Ex.  32),  or  three 
grace-notes  (Ex.  33),  and  in  old  music  by  a  tail 
turned  downwards  from  the  commencement  of 
the  trill  mark  (Ex.  34),  the  rendering  in  all  cases 
being  that  shown  in  Ex.  35. 


SHAKE. 


From  a  composer's  habit  of  writing  the  lower 
prefix  with  one,  two,  or  three  notes,  his  inten 
tions  respecting  the  commencement  of  the  or 
dinary  shake  without  prefix,  as  to  whether  it 
should  begin  with  the  principal  or  the  subsidiary 
note,  may  generally  be  inferred.  For  since  it 
would  be  incorrect  to  render  Ex.  32  or  33  in  the 
manner  shown  in  Ex.  36,  which  involves  the 
repetition  of  a  note,  and  a  consequent  break  of 
legato — it  follows  that  a  composer  who  chooses 
the  form  Ex.  32  to  express  the  prefix  intends  the 
shake  to  begin  with  the  upper  note,  while  the 
use  of  Ex.  33  shows  that  a  shake  beginning  with 
the  principal  note  is  generally  intended. 

36.  (Ex.  32.) 


That  the  form  Ex.  31  always  implies  the  shake 
beginning  with  the  principal  note  is  not  so  clear 
(although  there  is  no  doubt  that  it  usually  does 
so),  for  a  prefix  is  possible  which  leaps  from  the 
lower  to  the  upper  subsidiary  note.  This  ex 
ceptional  form  is  frequently  employed  by  Mozart, 
and  is  marked  as  in  Ex.  37.  It  bears  a  close 
resemblance  to  the  Double  Appoggiatura.  [See 
that  word,  vol.  i.  p.  79.] 

MOZART,  Sonata  in  F.    Adagio. 
tr 


Among  modern  composers,  Chopin  and  Weber 
almost  invariably  write  the  prefix  with  two  notes 
(Ex.  32) ;  Beethoven  uses  two  notes  in  his  ear 
lier  works  (see  Op.  2,  No.  2,  Largo,  bar  10),  but 
afterwards  generally  one  (see  Op.  57). 

The  upper  note  of  a  shake  is  always  the  next 
degree  of  the  scale  above  the  principal  note,  and 
may  therefore  be  either  a  tone  or  a  semitone  dis 
tant  from  it,  according  to  its  position  in  the  scale. 
In  the  case  of  modulation,  the  shake  must  be 
made  to  agree  with  the  new  key,  independently 
of  the  signature.  Thus  in  the  second  bar  of  Ex. 
38,  the  shake  must  be  made  with  Bt}  instead  of 
Bb,  the  key  having  changed  from  C  minor  to  C 
major.  Sometimes  such  modulations  are  indi 
cated  by  a  small  accidental  placed  close  to  the 
sign  of  the  trill  (Ex.  39). 


CHOPIN,  Ballade,  Op.  67. 


38. 


SHAKE. 

BEETHOVEN,  Choral  Fantasia. 


483 


*A- 


*3 

-•      • 


•  '  •    '    • 0  '  0  0 

y ;    C   a~ 


:p33£ 


The  lower  subsidiary  note,  whether  employed 
in  the  turn  or  as  prefix,  is  usually  a  semitone 
distant  from  the  principal  note  (Ex.  40),  unless 
the  next  following  written  note  is  a  whole  tone 
below  the  principal  note  of  the  shake  (Ex.  41). 
In  this  respect  the  shake  follows  the  rules  which 
govern  the  ordinary  turn.  [See  TURN.] 

BEETHOVEN,  Sonata,  Op.  10,  No.  2. 

,tr 


£ 


41. 


MOZART,  Rondo  in  D. 

-^ 


A  series  of  shakes  ascending  or  descending 
either  diatonically  or  chromatically  is  called  a 
Chain  of  Shakes  (Ital.  Catena  di  Trille ;  Ger. 
TrillerJcette).  Unless  specially  indicated,  the 
last  shake  of  the  series  is  the  only  one  which 
requires  a  turn.  Where  the  chain  ascends  dia 
tonically,  as  in  the  first  bar  of  Ex.  42,  each  shake 
must  be  completed  by  an  additional  principal 
note  at  the  end,  but  when  it  ascends  by  the 
chromatic  alteration  of  a  note,  as  from  GU  to  Gj, 
or  from  A  to  AJJ,  in  bar  2  of  the  example,  the 
same  subsidiary  note  serves  for  both  principal 
notes,  and  the  first  of  such  a  pair  of  shakes  re 
quires  no  extra  principal  note  to  complete  it. 

BEETHOVEN,  Concerto  in  Eb. 
tr 


etc. 


In  pianoforte  music,  a  shake  is  frequently  made 
to  serve  as  accompaniment  to  a  melody  played 
by  the  same  hand.  When  the  melody  lies  near 
to  the  trill-note  there  need  be  no  interruption  to 
the  trill,  and  either  the  principal  or  the  subsi 
diary  note  (Hummel  prescribes  the  former, 
Czerny  the  latter)  is  struck  together  with  each 
note  of  the  melody  (Ex.  43).  But  when  the 
melody  lies  out  of  reach,  as  is  often  the  case,  a 
single  note  of  the  shake  is  omitted  each  time  a 
melody-note  is  struck  (Ex.  44).  In  this  case 


484 


SHAKE. 


SHAKESPEARE. 


the  accent  of  the  shake  must  bfi  upon  the  upper 
note,  that  the  note  omitted  may  be  a  subsidiary 
and  not  a  principal  note. 

43.  CRAMER,  Study.    No. n. 


H  Lento 

-—  Hh 

1               N           1 
j   '        *        J     - 

m—  -»  —  ! 

L>  

tr. 


Played. 


etc. 


BEETHOVEN,  Sonata.    Op.  109. 


44. 


etc. 


The  above  arrangement  constitutes  what  is 
called  a  false  trill,  the  effect  of  a  complete  trill 
being  produced  in  spite  of  the  occasional  omission 
of  one  of  the  notes.  There  are  also  other  kinds 
of  false  trills,  intended  to  produce  the  effect  of 
real  ones,  when  the  latter  would  be  too  difficult. 
Thus  Ex.  45  represents  a  shake  in  thirds,  Ex. 
46  a  shake  in  octaves,  and  Ex.  47  a  three-part 
shake  in  sixths. 

MENDELSSOHN,  Concerto  in  D  minor. 
45.         tr  tr 


ti£±^ 

^- 

^z: 

LISZT,  Transcription  of  Mendelssohn's  'Wedding  March.' 


46.             JL     JL     JL     JL     JL     JL     j 

t-    -•- 

r  r 

-Jf-  _  _  _—      ..    ••     •          f       "M~'"M~ 

-m+ 

-|  ,  

f{\\      {j 

-f  '  

\^y             '                     P      ! 

1 

l                        j 
b'^JG>            .       -*-  • 

-m- 

-Jf*  

p  k«—     —  p  r 

JL     JL     JL        JL     JL 


—  *  1  p 

M 

^^^ 

^= 

•^••1 

1  1_ 

—  1  —  1  — 
• 

1  

»— 

—  1=  £•-         —  f=  

MULLER,  Caprice  Op.  29,  No.  2. 


The  above  method  of  producing  a  shake  in  three 


parts  is  generally  resorted  to  when  great  force  is 
required,  otherwise  the  ordinary  method  is  quite 
practicable,  and  both  double  and  triple  shakes 
are  frequently  met  with  in  modern  brilliant  music 
(Ex.  48,  49). 

CHOPIN,  Polonaise,  Op.  25. 


S 


^ 


fr. 


BEETHOVEN,  Polonaise.    Op.  89. 


tr. 


-£2- 


m 


The  speed  of  a  shake  cannot  be  exactly  defined 
in  notes,  since  it  is  usually  better,  except  in  the 
case  of  very  short  trills  (as  in  Ex.  29),  that  the 
notes  of  the  shake  should  bear  no  definite  propor 
tion  to  the  value  of  the  written  note.  Generally, 
the  shake  should  be  as  rapid  as  is  consistent  with 
distinctness.  When  a  proportional  shake  is  re 
quired  it  is  usually  written  out  in  full,  as  at  the 
end  of  the  Adagio  of  Beethoven's  Sonata  in  Eb, 
Op.  27,  No.  i.  [F.T.] 

SHAKESPEARE,  WILLIAM,  composer,  vocal 
ist,  pianist,  born  at  Croydon  June  16,  1849.  At 
the  age  of  13  he  was  appointed  organist  at  the 
church  where  formerly  he  had  attracted  attention 
in  the  choir.  In  1 862  he  commenced  a  three  years 
course  of  study  of  harmony  and  counterpoint 
under  Molique ;  but  after  that  master's  death, 
having  in  1866  gained  the  King's  Scholarship 
at  the  Royal  Academy  of  Music,  continued  his 
studies  there  for  five  years  under  Sir  W.  Sterndale 
Bennett.  Whilst  at  the  Royal  Academy  he  pro 
duced  and  performed  at  the  students'  concerts  a 
pianoforte  sonata,  a  pianoforte  trio,  a  caprido  for 
pianoforte  and  orchestra,  and  a  pianoforte  con 
certo  ;  and  attracted  some  notice  as  a  solo-player. 

He  was  elected  Mendelssohn  Scholar  in  1871, 
for  composition  and  pianoforte-playing,  and  in 
accordance  with  the  wish  of  the  Committee  en 
tered  the  Conservator! um  at  Leipzig.  There, 
whilst  under  the  instruction  of  the  director,  Carl 
Reinecke,  he  produced  and  conducted  in  the 
Gewandhaus  a  symphony  in  C  minor.  Having 
discovered  himself  to  be  the  possessor  of  a  tenor 
voice,  he  was  sent  by  the  Mendelssohn  Scholar 
ship  Committee  to  study  singing  with  Lamperti  at 
Milan,  and  there  remained  for  two  and  a  half  years. 
But  though  singing  was  his  chief  pursuit  he  did  not 
neglect  composition,  and  while  in  Italy  wrote  two 
overtures,  two  string  quartets,  and  other  works. 

In  1875  he  returned  to  England,  and  entered 
upon  the  career  of  a  concert  and  oratorio  singer. 
He  was  appointed  in  1878  Professor  of  Singing, 
and  in  1880  conductor  of  the  concerts,  at  the 
Royal  Academy  of  Music. 


SHAKESPEAKE. 

His  voice,  though  both  sweet  and  sympathetic 
in  quality,  is  somewhat  deficient  in  power ;  and 
his  success  as  a  singer  must  therefore  be  attri 
buted  to  the  purity  of  his  vocal  production  and 
to  his  complete  mastery  of  all  styles  of  music. 

His  compositions,  which  are  marked  by  con 
siderable  charm  and  elegance,  show  the  influence 
of  Schumann  and  Bennett ;  and  in  his  Overture, 
performed  at  the  Crystal  Palace  in  1874,  and 
his  Pianoforte  Concerto,  at  the  Brighton  Festival 
of  1879,  he  proves  himself  an  adept  at  musical 
form.  '  [J.C.G.] 

SHARP  (Diesis,  from  Lat.  Divisio;  Fr.  Diese}. 
The  term  which  expresses  the  raising  of  a  note 
by  a  less  quantity  than  a  whole  tone.  F  sharp 
is  half  a  tone  higher  than  F  natural :  a  singer 
'  sang  sharp ' — that  is,  sang  slightly  higher  than 
the  accompaniment ;  '  the  pitch  was  sharpened ' 
— that  is,  was  slightly  raised. 

The  sign  for  a  sharp  in  practical  music  is  £  ;  for 
a  double  sharp,  two  half  tones,  x .  In  French 
the  same  signs  are  used,  but  the  raised  note  is 
entitled  diese — Fa  diese,  R<$  diese,  etc.  ;  in  Ger 
man  Fis,  Dis,  etc.,  just  as  Eb,  Gb  are  designated 
Es,  Ges,  and  so  on. 

The  sign  is  said  to  have  originated  l  in  the 
fact  that  in  the  i5th  and  i6th  centuries  the  tone 
was  divided  into  five  intervals,  which  were  de 
signated  by  x  ,  # ,  $ ,  Hji,  according  to  the  number 
of  parts  represented  by  each.  These  gradually 
fell  into  disuse,  and  the  second  alone  remained. 
In  the  printed  music  of  the  I7th  century  how 
ever  the  sign  is  usually  %  . 

In  Germany  the  sign  was  used  to  express  the 
major  mode,  CjJ  meaning  C  major,  AJJ,  A  major, 
and  so  forth.  Thus  Beethoven  has  inscribed  the 
overture  to  Leonora  known  as  '  No.  I  '  (which  is 
in  the  key  of  C)  with  the  words  '  Ouvertura  in 
Cfl,  Characteristische  Ouverture.'  The  Eroica 
Symphony,  in  Eb,  was  even  announced  in  the 
programme  of  Clement's  Concert,  April  7,  1805, 
as '  Eine  neue  grosse  Sinfonie  in  Dis'  (i.e.  DjJ).  In 
stances  of  the  practice  are  frequent  in  the  Index 
to  the  '  Allgemeine  musikalische  Zeitung.'  [G.] 

SHAW,  MART  (Mrs.  ALFRED  SHAW),  daughter 
of  John  Postans,  messman  at  the  Guard  Room, 
St.  James's  Palace,  was  born  in  1814.  She  was  a 
student  at  the  Royal  Academy  of  Music  from  Sept. 
1828  to  June  1831,  and  afterwards  a  pupil  of  Sir 
George  Smart.  Miss  Postans  appeared  in  public  as 
a  contralto  singer  in  1834,  an^  at  the  Amateur 
Musical  Festival  in  Exeter  Hall  in  November  of 
that  year  attracted  great  attention  by  the  beauty 
of  her  voice  and  the  excellence  of  her  style.  In 
1835  sne  was  engaged  at  the  Concert  of  Ancient 
Music  and  the  York  Festival,  and  about  the  end 
of  the  year  became  the  wife  of  Alfred  Shaw,  an 
artist  of  some  repute.  In  1836  she  appeared  at 
the  Charing  Cross  Hospital  Festival  at  Exeter 
Hall,  and  at  the  Norwich  and  Liverpool  Festivals, 
at  the  latter  of  which  she  sang  the  contralto  part 
in  Mendelssohn's  '  St.  Paul '  on  its  first  perform 
ance  in  England.  In  1837  she  was  engaged  at 
the  Philharmonic  and  Sacred  Harmonic  Societies 

i  See  Mendel's  Lexicon,  under  '  Diesis.' 


SHAWM. 


485 


and  Birmingham  Festival.  In  1838,  after  ful 
filling  an  engagement  at  Gloucester  Festival,  she 
quitted  England  and  appeared  at  the  Gewandhaus 
concerts,  Leipzig,  under  Mendelssohn.  A  letter 
from  him  to  the  Directors  of  the  Philharmonic 
Society — Leipzig,  Jan.  19,  1839 — speaks  of  Clara 
Novello  and  Mrs.  Shaw  as  'the  best  concert- 
singers  we  have  had  in  this  country  for  a  long 
time.'  From  Germany  she  proceeded  to  Italy, 
and  appeared  at  La  Scala,  Milan,  Nov.  17,  1839, 
in  Verdi's  opera,  'Oberto.'  She  returned  to* 
England  in  1842  and  appeared  at  Covent  Garden 
in  opera  with  Adelaide  Kemble,  and  in  1843  at 
the  Sacred  Harmonic  Society  in  oratorio  with 
Clara  Novello,  and  afterwards  at  Birmingham 
Festival.  She  had  now  reached  the  zenith  of 
her  reputation,  when  her  career  was  suddenly 
arrested  by  a  heavy  visitation.  Her  husband 
became  deranged,  and  the  calamity  so  seriously 
shocked  her  whole  system  that  the  vocal  organs 
became  affected  and  she  was  unable  to  sing  in 
tune.  She  then  resorted  to  teaching,  for  three 
or  four  years  appearing  in  public  at  an  annual 
benefit  concert.  After  her  husband's  death  she 
married  John  Frederick  Robinson,  a  country 
solicitor,  and  retired  from  the  profession.  She 
died  at  her  husband's  residence,  Hadleigh  Hall, 
Suffolk,  Sept.  9,1876,  after  suffering  for  three  years 
from  '  malignant  disease  of  the  breast.'  [W.H.H.] 

SHAWM  or  SHALM  (Germ.  Schalmey  or 
Chalmei ;  Fr.  Chalumeau}. 

The  name  of  this  ancient  instrument  is  variously 
derived  from  the  Latin  Calamus,  Calamellus,  'a 
reed,'  or  from  the  German  schallen,  'to  sound.* 
The  <rvpiy£  of  the  Greeks,  supposed  by  Bernsdorff 
and  others  to  be  identical  with  it,  is  shown  by 
Mr.  Chappell2  to  have  been  the  Pandean  pipe. 
Under  the  names  of  Pommer  and  Bombard 
smaller  and  larger  forms  were  known  in  Germany; 
the  latter,  also  called  the  Brummer,  developing 
into  the  Bassoon.  [See  BASSOON.]  It  was  clearly 
a  reed  instrument  like  the  shepherd's  pipe,  al 
though  Mr.  Chappell  thinks  it  more  closely  allied 
to  the  modern  clarinet.  The  older  dictionaries 
define  it  as  '  a  hautboy  or  cornet,'  and  it  is  so 
frequently  associated  with  the  bagpipe  that  there 
must  evidently  have  been  some  affinity  between 
the  two  instruments.  For  instance,  we  find  in 
Clement  Marot,  i.  166, 

Faisoit  sonner  Ckalumeaux  et  Cornemuses ; 
and  again,  Dray  ton,  '  Polyolbion,'  iv. 
Even  from  the  shrillest  Shawme  vinto  the  Cornamute. 

This  combination  of  the  pastoral  oboe  with  the 
bagpipe  may  be  daily  seen  in  the  streets.  [See 

PlFFERARO.] 

Another  similarity  between  the  shawm  and 
the  bagpipe,  as  also  between  it  and  the  musette, 
is  noted  by  Schladebach  in  describing  the  Schalmey 
or  Schalmei.  He  states  that  it  is  still  played 
under  this  name  by  the  peasants  of  the  Tyrol 
and  of  Switzerland,  and  that  the  reed,  instead  of 
being  inserted  directly  into  the  player's  lips,  is 
fitted  into  a  box  or  '  capsule '  with  a  mouthpiece, 

2  History  of  Music,  vol.  i.  p.  259. 


486 


SHAWM. 


wherein  it  vibrates  unconstrained.  This  is  ex 
actly  the  device  still  retained  in  the  bagpipe,  and 
nowhere  else.  It  possesses,  according  to  the  same 
writer,  six  holes  for  the  three  middle  fingers  oi 
either  hand,  with  a  single  hole  covered  by  means 
of  a  key  for  the  right  little  finger.  This  would 
give  the  scale  of  the  musette  or  shepherd's  pipe. 

The  chief  interest  of  the  name  is  due  to  its  use 
in  the  Prayer-book  version  of  Psalm  xcviii.  7, 
'  With  trumpets  also  and  shawms,  0  shew  your 
selves  joyful  before  the  Lord  the  King.'  The 
Authorised  Version  gives  this  'With  trumpets 
and  sound  of  cornet.'  Dr.  Stainer,  in  '  The  Music 
of  the  Bible,'  argues  that  the  former  of  these  at 
least  is  a  mistranslation.  The  original  Hebrew 
words  are  chatsotsroth  and  shophar.  The  passage 
is  translated  in  the  Septuagint  lv  ffd\irtygiv  l\a- 
Tafj  KO.I  (fxavfj  od\iriyyos  KfpaTivrjs,  and  in  the 
Vulgate  'in  tubis  ductilibus.et  voce  tubae  cornese.' 
The  chatsotsrah  is  obviously  the  trombone,  which 
it  will  be  shown  by  other  evidence  is  of  extreme 
antiquity  ;  the  shophar  is  in  both  Greek  and 
Latin  versions  described  as  the  '  horn-trumpet 
or  ramshorn,'  well  known  to  have  been  used 
in  Jewish  festivals,  whence  in  Numbers  xxix.  i 
a  feast  day  is  called  'a  day  of  blowing  the 
trumpets,'  and  in  Joshua  vi.  4  '  seven  trumpets  oi 
ramshorns '  are  minutely  described  as  preceding 
the  Ark.  [W.H.S.] 

SHEPHERD'S  PIPE.  A  name  given  to  the 
pastoral  oboe  or  musette.  It  was  an  instrument 
with  a  double  reed  like  that  of  the  bagpipe 
chaunter;  and  seems  occasionally  to  have  been 
combined  with  a  windbag  as  in  the  latter  instru- 
,  ment.  It  was  made  in  several  sizes,  constituting 
a  family  or  '  consort '  similar  to  the  viols,  re 
corders,  and  other  instruments.  Its  origin  in  the 
simple  reed  is  well  given  in  Chappell's  '  History 
of  Music,'  vol.  i.  p.  259. 

An  excellent  drawing  of  its  various  forms, 
with  the  method  of  holding  it,  is  to  be  found  in  a 
'  Traite'  de  la  Musette '  by  Jean  Girin  of  Lyon, 
I572>  where  it  is  distinguished  from  the  'Cro- 
morne '  and  '  Hautbois.'  The  bagpipe  form  with 
drones  and  windbag  is  also  engraved,  and  inter 
esting  details  are  given  as  to  celebrated  makers ; 
many  of  whom,  like  the  'luthiers'  of  Cremona, 
seem  to  have  handed  down  their  reputation  to 
their  descendants.  It  appears  to  have  had  six 
holes,  and  the  rudimentary  scale  and  compass  of 
the  Oboe ;  though,  of  course  when  played  from, 
a  bag,  and  not  with  the  lips,  the  upper  harmonic 
register  must  have  been  deficient.  [W.H.S.] 

SHEPPARD,  or  SHEPHERD,  JOHN,  Mus. 
Bac.,  born  in  the  early  part  of  the  i6th  century, 
was  a  chorister  of  St.  Paul's  under  Thomas 
Mulliner.  In  1542  he  was  appointed  Instructor 
of  the  choristers  and  organist  of  Magdalen  Col 
lege,  Oxford,  which  office  he  resigned  in  1543, 
was  reappointed  to  it  in  1545,  and  held  it 
until  1547.  He  was  a  Fellow  of  the  College 
from  1549  to  1551.  On  April  21,  1554,  having 
then  been  a  student  in  music  for  20  years,  he 
supplicated  for  the  degree  of  Mus.  Doc.,  but  it 
does  not  appear  whether  he  obtained  it.  John 


SHIELD. 

Day's  '  Morning  and  Evening  Prayer,'  etc.,  1560, 
contains  two  Anthems,  a  4,  by  him — '  I  give  you 
a  new  commandment,'  and  'Submit  yourselves.' 
The  former  is  reprinted  in  the  { Parish  Choir.' 
Another  book  of  Day's,  the  '  Whole  Psalms  in 
foure  parts,'  1563,  has  a  'Prayer'  by  him,  '0 
Lord  of  hostes.'     Hawkins  prints  a  motet  in  3 
parts  by  him  '  Steven  first  after  Christ  for  Gods 
worde  his  blood  spent,'  and  a  melodious  little 
'  Poynte ' — a  fugal  piece  for  4  voices  of  7  bars 
length.    Burney  (ii.  565)  complains  that  the  mo 
tet  is  not  a  good  specimen,  and  prints  another, 
'Esurientes,'  for  5  voices  from  the  Christ  Church 
MSS.,  on  which  he  pronounces  Shepherd  to  have 
been  superior  to  any  composer  of  the  reign  of 
Henry  VIII.     Much  of  his  church  music  is  pre 
served  in  the  Music  School,  Oxford  ;  an  Anthem 
and  39  Latin  Motets  and  a  Pavin  and  Galliard 
for  the  lute  are  among  the  MSS.  at  Christ  Church, 
Oxford.     In  the  British  Museum  (Add.  MSS. 
15166,  29289,  30480)  are  treble  parts  of  many 
of  his  English  compositions,  amongst  them  2  M. 
and  E.  Services  with  Creed  ;    2  Te  Deums  and 
Magnificats,  2  Creeds,  and   7  Anthems.      The 
Add.  MSS.  4900,  29246,  contain  4  pieces  with 
lute  accompaniment,  and  Add.  MSS.  17802-5 
has  no  less  than  4  Masses — 'The  western  wynde,' 
'The  French  Masse,'  'Be  not  afraide,'  and  'Playn 
song  Mass  for  a  Mene ' ;  4  Alleluias,  and  10  Latin 
Motets,  all  for  4  voices  complete.    The  library  of 
the  Sacred  Harmonic  Society  (no.  1737)  possesses 
4  Latin  motets,  and  (no.  1642)  a  'First  Service' 
by  him.     Morley  in  his  'Introduction'  includes 
him  amongst '  famous  Englishmen.'     The  date  of 
his  death  is  unknown. 

Another  John  Shepherd,  possibly  a  son  of  the 
above,  was  sworn  a  Gentleman  of  the  Chapel 
Royal,  Dec.  i,  1606.  (Rimbault's  Old  Cheque 
book,  p.  43).  Perhaps  it  was  he  who  added  a 
Kyrie  to  J  ohnson's  service  in  G,  in  the  Cathedral 
Library,  Ely.  (See  Dickson's  Catalogue,  32,  37.) 
Perhaps,  also,  he  is  the  '  Thos.  Shepherd'  of 
Tudway  (iv.  72).  [W.H.H.] 

SHERRINGTON,  Mme.  LEMMENS-.  [See 
LEMMENS,  vol.  ii.  p.  120.] 

SHERRINGTON,  JOSE,  younger  sister  of 
Mme.  Lemmens-Sherrington,  born  at  Rotterdam 
Oct.  27,  1850  ;  studied  at  Brussels  under  Mad. 
Meyer-Boulard  and  Signor  Chiriamonte,  and 
soon  showed  a  gift  for  florid  singing,  and  a  very 
fine  shake.  In  1871  she  appeared  in  London 
and  the  Provinces,  under  the  auspices  of  her 
sister.  In  1873  made  a  tour  in  Holland,  and 
then  returned  to  this  country,  where  she  has  since 
established  herself  as  a  concert  singer,  and  is  in 
much  request.  Though  gifted  with  much  dramatic 
talent  Miss  Jose  Sherrington  has  never  appeared 
in  public  on  the  stage.  Her  voice  is  a  good  soprano 
reaching  from  A  below  the  stave  to  E  in  alt.  [G.] 

SHIELD,  WILLIAM,  son  of  a  singing-master, 
was  born  in  1748  at  S  wall  well,  Durham.  He 
received  his  first  musical  instruction,  when  6  years 
old,  from  his  father,  but  losing  his  parent  three 
years  later,  he  was  apprenticed  to  a  boat-builder 
at  North  Shields.  His  master  however  per- 


SHIELD. 

mitted  him  to  pursue  his  musical  studies,  and 
he  obtained  some  lessons  in  thorough-bass  from 
Charles  Avison,  and  occasionally  played  the 
violin  at  music  meetings  in  the  neighbourhood. 
On  the  expiration  of  his  apprenticeship,  having 
acquired  sufficient  knowledge  to  lead  the  sub 
scription  concerts  at  Newcastle,  he  determined 
upon  making  music  his  profession,  and  removed 
to  Scarborough,  where  he  became  leader  at  the 
theatre  and  concerts.  Whilst  there  he  produced 
his  first  composition,  an  anthem  for  the  opening 
of  a  new  church  at  Sunderland.  Having  been 
heard  by  Fischer  and  Borghi,  they  recommended 
him  to  Giardini,  by  whom  he  was  engaged  in 

1772  as  a  second  violin  in  the  Opera  band.     In 

1773  he  was  promoted  to  the  post  of  principal 
viola — the  favourite  instrument  of  composers — 
which  he  held  for  1 8  years,  and  which  he  also 
filled  at  all  the  principal  concerts.     In  1778  he 
produced,  at  the  Haymarket,  his  first  dramatic 
piece,  the  comic  opera  'The  Flitch  of  Bacon.' 
This  led  to  his  being  engaged  as  composer  to. 
Covent  Garden  Theatre,  a  post  which  he  occu 
pied  until  his  resignation,  1791.     During  his  en 
gagement  he  composed  many  operas  and  other 
pieces.     In  1791  he  made  the  acquaintance  of 
Haydn,  and  was  wont  to  say  that  in  four  days, 
during  which  he  accompanied  Haydn  from  London 
to  Taplow  and  back,  he  gained  more  knowledge 
than  he  had  done  by  study  in  any  four  years  of 
his  life.    In  the  same  year  he  visited  France  and 
Italy.     In  1792  he  was  re-engaged  as  composer 
at  Covent  Garden,  in  which  capacity  he  acted 
until  1797-    In  1807  he  gave  up  all  connection 
with  the  theatre. 

He  published  at  various  times, '  A  Collection  of 
Favourite  Songs,  To  which  is  added  a  Duet  for 
two  Violins ' ;  '  A  Collection  of  Canzonets  and  an 
Elegy';  and  'A  Cento,  consisting  of  Ballads, 
Eounds,  Glees,  etc.' ;  likewise  '  Six  Trios  for  two 
Violins  and  Bass,'  and  '  Six  Duos  for  two  Violins.' 
He  was  also  author  of  '  An  Introduction  to  Har 
mony,'  1794  and  1800;  and  'Rudiments  of 
Thorough  Bass.'  His  dramatic  compositions,  con 
sisting  of  operas,  musical  farces,  and  pantomimes, 
were  as  follow: — 1778,  'The  Flitch  of  Bacon'; 
1782,  '^Lord  Mayor's  Day';  1783,  'The  Poor 
Soldier,'  '  Rosina,'  '  Friar  Bacon ' ;  1 784,  '  Robin 
Hood,'  'The  Noble  Peasant,'  'Fontainbleau,' 
'The  Magic  Cavern';  1785,  'Love  in  a  Camp,' 
•The  Nunnery,'  'The  Choleric  Fathers,'  'Omai'; 
1786,  'Richard  Coeur  de  Lion,'  'The  Enchanted 
Castle';  1787, 'The  Farmer';  1788, 'The  High 
land  Reel,'  'Marian,'  'The  Prophet,'  'Aladdin'; 

1790,  'The  Crusade,'  'The  Picture  of  Paris'; 

1791,  'The  Woodman,'  'Oscar  and  Malvina'  (part 
only)  [see  REEVE,  WILLIAM];    1792,  'Hartford 
Bridge,'    'Harlequin's    Museum';     1793,    'The 
Deaf  Lover,'  'The  Midnight  Wanderers';   1794, 
'Arrived   at   Portsmouth,'   'The   Travellers    in 
Switzerland';  1 795,  'The  Mysteries  of  the  Castle'; 
1 796,  '  Abroad  and  at  Home, '  '  Lock  and  Key ' ; 
1 797, '  The  Italian  Villagers ';  1807, '  Two  Faces 
under  a  Hood.'     In  many  of  his  pieces  he  intro 
duced  songs,  etc.,  selected  from  the  works  of  other 
composers,  English  and  foreign ;  and  was  thereby 


SHIFT. 


487 


the  meansof  making  the  general  public  acquainted 
with  many  beautiful  melodies,  of  which  they  would 
otherwise  have  remained  ignorant. 

Shield  was  perhaps  the  most  original  English 
composer  since  Purcell.  His  melodies  charm  by 
their  simple,  natural  beauty ;  at  once  vigorous, 
chaste  and  refined,  they  appeal  directly  to  the 
hearts  of  Englishmen.  But  he  also  wrote  songs 
of  agility,  bristling  with  the  most  formidable  diffi 
culties  ;  these  were  composed  to  display  the 
abilities  of  Mrs.  Billington  and  others.  Among 
his  most  popular  songs  are  'The  Thorn,'  'The 
Wolf," The  heaving  of  the  lead,'  'Old  Towler,' 
'  The  Arethusa,' '  The  Ploughboy,'  and  'The  Post 
Captain ' ;  but  these  are  but  some  of  the  most 
prominent.  One  of  his  most  popular  pieces  was 
the  trio,  '0  happy  fair,'  which,  though  beautiful 
as  music,  is  remarkable  for  a  singular  misreading 
of  the  text,  which  he  has  punctuated  thus  : — 

O  happy  fair, 

Your  eyes  are  loadstars  and  your  tongue  sweet  air. 
More  tunable  than  lark  to  shepherd's  ear, 
When  wheat  is  green,  when  hawthorn  buds  appear — 

actually  closing  the  composition  with  a  repeti 
tion  of  the  first  two  lines.  Shield  died  at  his 
residence  in  Berners  Street,  Jan.  25,  1829,  and 
was  buried  on  Feb.  4  in  the  south  cloister  of 
Westminster  Abbey.  With  the  exception  of  his 
fine  tenor,  reputed  a  Stainer,  which  he  bequeathed 
to  George  IV  (who  accepted  the  gift,  but  directed 
that  its  utmost  value  should  be  paid  to  the  tes 
tator's  presumed  widow),  he  left  his  whole  estate 
to  his  'beloved  partner,  Ann  [Stokes],  Mrs.  Shield 
upwards  of  forty  years.'  His  valuable  musical 
library  was  sold  in  July  1829.  [W.H.H.] 

SHIFT,  in  violin-playing,  a  change  of  the 
hand's  position  on  the  fingerboard.  In  the  first 
or  ordinary  position,  the  note  stopped  by  the 
first  finger  is  one  semitone,  or  one  tone,  as  the 
scale  may  require,  above  the  open  string.  [See 
POSITION.]  Whenever  this  position  is  quitted, 
the  player  is  said  to  be  '  on  the  shift ' ;  and  the 
term  is  applied  to  changes  of  position,  in  either 
direction,  the  player  being  said  to  'shift  up'  or 
'  down '  as  the  case  may  be.  The  second  position 
on  the  violin  is  called  the  '  half  shift,'  the  third 
position  the  '  whole  shift,'  and  the  fourth  the 
'  double  shift.'  The  use  of  the  shift  is  derived  from 
the  viol.  Instruments  of  the  lute  and  viol  type  were 
generally  fretted  by  semitones  throughout  their 
lower  octave,  or  half  of  the  string's  length,  and 
on  a  fretted  instrument  the  use  of  the  shift  pre 
sents  no  difficulty.  The  viol  music  of  the  1 7th  cen 
tury  proves  that  players  were  familiar  with  the 
art  of  shifting  throughout  the  lower  octave ;  and  it 
is  clear  that  it  was  equally  well-known  to  the  old 
Italian  violinists.  From  the  following  passage, 
taken  from  a  work  of  Tarquinio  Merula  (before 


^sM 


f 


1639),  it  is  quite  evident  that  they  were  familiar 
with   the   alternation   of  the  first,  second,  and 


488 


SHIFT. 


third  positions,  and  other  passages  occur  about 
the  same  date,  which  extend  even  to  the  fourth 
position.     Practically  the  commonest  and  easiest 
method  of  shifting  is  to  advance  by  intervals 
of  a  third,  for  instance  from  the  first  into  the 
third  position  (hence  probably  the  denomination 
'  whole  shift,'  which  the  latter  position  has  ac 
quired),  and   from  the  third  position  into  the 
fifth.     The  same  thing-  prevails  in  the  fingering 
of  the    violoncello.     In  both   instruments   this 
shift  of  a  third  is  effected  by  means  of  the  first 
and  second  finger,  which  fire  employed  alternately 
in  ascending  or  descending  the  scale  on  a  single 
string.     So  inveterate  does  this  practice  of  shift 
ing  by  thirds  become  with  many  players,  that 
they  are  unable  to  shift  in  any  other  way,  and 
consequently  never  resort  to  the  second  position. 
Eminent  modern  violinists,  indeed,  have  frankly 
confessed  to  not  being  masters  of  this  position. 
The  doctrine  and  practice,  however,  of  the  old 
Italian  school  was  that  the  half-shift  or  second 
position  should  be   mastered   thoroughly  before 
advancing  to  the  third  position  ;    and  the  works 
of  Bach,  Handel  and  Tartini  presume  a  funda 
mental  knowledge  of  the  half  shift  as  well  as  the 
whole  shift.    Unnecessary  shifting  should  always 
be  avoided;  that  is,  all  passages  should  be  played 
with  as  few  alterations  in  the  position  of  the  left 
hand  as  possible.     To  carry  out  this  rule  fully 
demands  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  finger 
board,  for  a  player  who  is  only  at  home  in  certain 
positions  will  be  driven  to  the  shift  in  passages 
which  ought  to  be  executed  without  its  aid.   The 
following  simple  passage,  for   instance,  can   be 
played  in  the  second  position  or  half-shift  with 
out  any  change : — 


But  if  the  player  is  not  master  of  this  position, 
he  will  be  forced  to  shift  on  every  alternate  note. 
Another  rule  is  that  the  shift  should  be  effected 
quietly  and  firmly.  In  order  to  do  this,  it  must 
be  effected  not  by  a  sudden  or  jerky  motion,  pro 
ceeding  from  the  shoulder,  but  by  rapidly  altering 
the  grasp  of  the  thumb  and  fingers,  the  thumb 
moving  slightly  in  advance,  and  guiding  the 
fingers  into  the  required  position.  The  position 
of  the  hand  and  arm  should  be  disturbed  only  so 
far  as  is  absolutely  necessary.  [E.  J.P.] 

SHIRREFF,  JANE,  soprano  singer,  pupil  of 
Thomas  Welsh,  appeared  at  Covent  Garden, 
Dec.  i,  1831,  as  Mandane  in  Arne's  'Artaxerxes,' 
with  great  success.  In  1832  she  sang  at  the  Con 
cert  of  Ancient  Music,  the  Philharmonic  Concert, 
and  Gloucester  Festival,  and  in  1834  at  the  West 
minster  Abbey  Festival.  Her  engagement  at 
Covent  Garden  continued  from  1831  to  1834-5. 
In  1835  she  commenced  an  engagement  atDrury 
Lane,  but  in  1837  returned  to  Covent  Garden. 
In  1838  she  went  to  America,  in  company  with 
Wilson,  E.  Seguin  and  Mrs.  E,  Seguin,  where  she 
became  a  universal  favourite.  On  her  return  to 
England  she  married  and  retired  into  private  life. 


SHUDI. 

Her  voice  was  full- toned,  and  powerful  in  the 
higher,  but  somewhat  weak  in  the  lower  notes ;  her 
intonation  was  perfect,  and  she  was  a  much  better 
actress  than  the  generality  of  singers.  [W.H.H.] 
SHORE,  MATTHIAS,  who  in  1685  was  one  of 
the  trumpeters  in  'ordinary  to  James  II.,  was,  a 
few  years  afterwards,  promoted  to  the  post  of 
Sergeant  Trumpeter,  in  which  he  distinguished 
himself  by  the  rigorous  exaction  of  his  fees  of 
office.  [See  SERGEANT  TRUMPETER.]  He  died 
in  1700,  leaving  three  children  : — 

1.  WILLIAM,  also  one  of  the  King's  trumpeters 
in   ordinary,  succeeded   his  father  as  Sergeant 
Trumpeter,  died  in  Dec.  1707,  and  was  buried 
at  St.  Martin's-in-the-Fields.     He  followed  his 
father's  example  in  the  severe  exaction  of  fees. 

2.  CATHERINE,  born  about  1668,  who  was  a 
pupil  of  Henry   Purcell   for   singing    and  the 
harpsichord.     In  1693  she  became  the  wife  of 
Colley  Cibber,  without  consent  of  her  father,  who 
manifested  great  displeasure  at  the  match.    His 
resentment  was  not,  however,  of  very  long  dura 
tion,  as  when  he  made  his  will,  March  5, 1695-6, 
he  bequeathed  to  her  one  third  of  the  residue  of 
his  property.     Shortly  after  her  marriage  Mrs. 
Cibber  appeared  on  the  stage  as  a  singer,  and, 
among  other  songs,  sang  the  second  part  of  Pur- 
cell's   air  'Genius  of  England'  (Don  Quixote, 
Part  II.),  to  her  brother  John's  trumpet  accom 
paniment.    She  is  said  to  have  died  about  1730. 

3.  JOHN,   the  most   celebrated   trumpeter  of 
his  time,  in  1707  succeeded  his  brother  William 
as  Sergeant  Trumpeter.     Purcell  composed  for 
him  obbligato  trumpet  parts  to  many  songs,  which 
may  be  seen  in  the  Orpheus  Britannicus,  and 
which   fully   attest   his   skill.     His   playing  is 
highly  commended  in  the  'Gentleman's  Journal' 
for  January,  1691-2,  where,  in  an  account  of  the 
celebration  on  St.  Cecilia's  day  in  the  preceding 
November,  we  read  '  Whilst  the  company  is  at 
table  the  hautboys  and  trumpets  play  succes 
sively.     Mr.  Showers  hath  taught  the  latter  of 
late  years  to  sound  with  all  the  softness  imagin 
able  ;  they  plaid  us  some  flat  tunes  made  by  Mr. 
Finger  with  a  general  applause,  it  being  a  thing 
formerly  thought  impossible  upon  an  instrument 
designed  for  a  sharp  key.'1     His  name  appears 
in  1711  as  one  of  the  24  musicians  to  Queen 
Anne,  and  also  as  lutenist  to  the  Chapel  Royal.2 
He  is  said  to  have  been  the  inventor  of  the  tuning- 
fork,  and  also  to  have  split  his  lip  in  sounding  the 
trumpet,  thereby  incapacitating  himself  for  per 
forming.    He  died  Nov.  20,  1750,  at  the  alleged 
age  of  90,  but  it  is  very  probable  that  his  age  was 
overstated  and  did  not  exceed  80.         [W.H.H.] 

SHUDI,  famous  harpsichord-maker,  and 
founder  of  the  house  of  Broadwood.  Burkat 
Shudi,  as  he  inscribed  his  name  upon  his  instru 
ments,  was  properly  BURKHARDT  TSCHUDI,  and 
was  a  cadet  of  a  noble  family  belonging  to  Glarus 

1  This  contrivance,  then  considered  so  wonderful,  has  been  ad 
mirably  employed  by  Handel  in  the  second  movement  of  '  Glory  to 
God '  in  '  Joshua,'  where  the  D  major  trumpets  are  used  in  B  minor. 

2  In  the  Cheque  Book  of  the  Chapel  Royal  he  is  said  to  have  been 
appointed  lutenist  in  1715,  but  the  entry  was  evidently  not  mad« 
until  some  time  later,  and  probably  from  memory  only. 


SHUDI. 


SHUDI. 


in  Switzerland.1  He  was  born  March  13,  1702, 
and  came  to  England  in  1718,  as  2a  simple  jour 
neyman  joiner.  When  he  turned  to  harpsichord- 
making  is  not  known,  but  we  are  told  by  Burney, 
who  knew  Shudi  and  old  Kirkman  well,  that 
they  were  both  employed  in  London  by  Tabel,3 
a  Fleming,  and  Burney  calls  them  Tabel's  fore 
men,  perhaps  meaning  his  principal  workmen. 
The  anecdote  given  by  Burney,  in  Bees's  Cyclo 
paedia,  of  Kirkman's  hasty  wedding  with  his 
master's  widow,  and  acquisition  with  her  of 
Tabel's  stock-in-trade,  gives  no  information  about 
Shudi,  who  is  believed  to  have  begun  business  in 
the  house  in  Great  Pulteney  Street,  still  occupied 
by  Broadwood's  firm,  in  1732.  Burney  gives  a 
later  and  evidently  a  wrong  date  for  Kirkman's 
arrival  in  this  country  (1740);  still  Shudi  may 
have  retired  from  Tabel  and  set  up  for  himself 
before  Kirkman  acquired  Tabel's  business.  [See 
KIRKMAN  ;  also  BBOADWOOD.] 

Kirkman  had  the  King's  Arms  for  the  sign  of 
his  business  in  Broad  Street,  Carnaby  Market; 
Shudi,  the  Plume  of  Feathers  at  the  house  now 
33  Great  Pulteney  Street.  He  began  in  no  back 
street,  but  in  a  good  house  in  the  new  Golden 
Square  neighbourhood,  the  most  fashionable  sub 
urban  quarter  and  adjacent  to  the  Court  of  St. 
James's.  We  may  trace  the  choice  of  signs  of 
these  old  colleagues  and  now  rival  makers  to  the 
divided  patronage  of  the  King  (George  II.)  and 
Prince  of  Wales,  who  were  notoriously  unfriendly. 
No  doubt  Handel's  friendship  was  of  great  value 
to  Shudi :  few  harpsichords  were  then  made,  as 
owing  to  the  relatively  high  price,  and  the  great 
expense  and  trouble  of  keeping  them  in  order, 
they  were  only  for  the  rich.  But  the  tuning  and 
repairing  alone  would  keep  a  business  going ; 
harpsichords  lasted  long,  and  were  submitted  to 
restoration  and  alteration  that  would  surprise  the 
amateur  of  the  present  day.* 

The  Shudi  harpsichord,  formerly  Queen  Char 
lotte's,  now  in  Windsor  Castle,  is  dated  1740.  It 
has  a  '  Lute '  stop,  a  pleasing  variation  of  timbre, 
and,  like  the  pedal,  of  English  invention  in  the 
previous  century.  [See  STOPS  (HARPSICHORD).] 

Frederick  the  Great  took  Prague  by  siege 
Sept.  16,  1744.  James  Shudi  Broadwood  (MS. 
Notes,  1838)  accredits  his  grandfather  Shudi  with 
the  gift  of  a  harpsichord  to  that  monarch,  Shudi 
being  a  staunch  Protestant,  and  regarding  Fred 
erick  as  the  leader  and  champion  of  the  Protestant 
cause.  Mr.  Broadwood  moreover  believed  that 
a  portrait  of  Shudi,  which  remained  until  a  few 
years  since  in  one  of  the  rooms  in  Great  Pulteney 
Street,  represented  him  as  engaged  in  tuning  the 
identical  harpsichord  thus  bestowed.  Shudi's 
wife  and  two  sons  are  also  in  the  picture,  a  re- 

1  Of  the  Schwanden  branch.    Heinrlch,  born  1074,  died  1149,  made 
Feodary  of  Glarus  by  the  Lady  Gutta,  Abbess  of  Seckingen,  was  the 
first  to  adopt  the  surname  Schudi  (sic).    The  family  tree  goes  back 
to  Johann,  Mayor  of  Glarus,  born  about  870. 

2  See  Schweizerische  Lexicon,  Zurich,  1795,  art.  Tschudi. 

8  Messrs.  Broadwood's  books  of  1777  mention  a  secondhand  harpsi 
chord  by  Tabel  (written  Table),  a  solitary  instance  of  an  instrument 
made  by  him. 

<  While  pianofortes  are  now  kept  in  tune  by  yearly  contracts,  the 
researches  of  Mr.  William  Dale,  in  Messrs.  Broadwood's  old  books, 
show  that  harpsichords  in  the  last  ceutury  were  tuned  by  quarterly 
contracts ! 


production  of  which  serves  as  the  frontispiece  to 
Rimbault's  History  of  the  Pianoforte.  The  elder 
boy,  apparently  nine  years  old,  was  born  in  1736. 
This  synchronises  the  picture  with  Frederick's 
victory  and  the  peace  concluded  the  following 
year.  But  the  writer  could  not  find  this  instru 
ment  either  in  Potsdam  or  Berlin  in  1881.  The 
tradition  about  it  is  however  strengthened  by  the 
fact  that  in  1766  Frederick  obtained  from  Shudi 
two  special  double  harpsichords  for  his  New  Palace 
at  Potsdam,  where  they  still  remain.  Instead 
of  the  anglicised  '  Shudi,'  they  are  accurately 
inscribed  '  Tschudi.'  One  has  silver  legs,  etc, ; 
the  other  rests  upon  a  partially  gilded  stand. 
Following  Burney,  who  however  only  describes 
the  first  one,  they  appear  to  have  been  placed  in 
the  apartments  of  the  Princess  Amelia,  and  the 
Prince  of  Prussia.  These  instruments,  like  all 
Shudi's  which  still  exist,  are  of  the  soundest 
possible  workmanship,  discrediting  Burney's  as 
sertion  of  the  want  of  durability  of  his  harpsi 
chords5,  a  reproach  however  which  Burney  goes  on 
to  say  could  not  be  alleged  against  Shudi's  son- 
in-law  and  successor  Broadwood.  He  however 
praises  Shudi's  tone  as  refined  and  delicate.  The 
Potsdam  harpsichords  were  made  with  Shudi's 
Venetian  Swell,  for  which  the  pedals  still  exist, 
but  it  was  probably  not  to  the  German  taste  of 
the  time,  and  was  therefore  removed.  Mr.  Hop 
kins,  in  his  comprehensive  work  upon  the  Organ, 
says  the  original  organ  swell  was  the  'nagshead,' 
a  mere  shutter,  invented  by  Abraham  Jordan  in 
1712.  But  to  imitate  its  effect  in  the  harpsichord 
we  know  that  Plenius  about  1750,  and  also  in 
London,  by  a  pedal  movement,  gradually  raised 
and  lowered  a  portion  of  the  top  or  cover.  This 
coming  into  general  use,  Shudi  improved  upon 
it  by  his  important  invention  of  the  '  Venetian 
Swell '  on  the  principle  of  a  Venetian  blind,  which 
he  patented  Dec.  18,  1769.  He  probably  delayed 
taking  out  the  patent  until  it  became  necessary 
by  his  partnership  with  John  Broadwood,  who 
had  also  become  his  son-in-law,6  earlier  in  the 
same  year.  This  invention  was  subsequently 
•  transferred  to  the  organ.  [See  SWELL.] 

A  harpsichord  exists  inscribed  with  the  joint 
names  of  Shudi  and  Broadwood,  dated  1770, 
although  Shudi  made  harpsichords  for  himself 
after  that  date  and  independent  of  the  partner 
ship,  as  we  know  by  existing  instruments  and  by 
his  will.  About  1772  he  retired  to  a  house  in 
Charlotte  Street,  leaving  the  business  premises 
to  his  son-in-law,  John  Broadwood,  and  died 
Aug.  19,  1.773.  The  next  day  a  harpsichord  was 
shipped  to  '  the  Empress,'  ordered  by  Joseph  II. 
for  Maria  Theresa.  The  harpsichord  that  was 
Haydn's,  recently  acquired  for  the  Museum  at 
Vienna,  at  a  cost  of  £  no  sterling,  was  also  a'  Shudi 
and  Broadwood,'  but  this  was  the  younger  Burkat 

s  Burney  gives  as  his  authority  Snetzler  the  organ-builder,  who 
attached  organs  to  some  of  Shudi's  harpsichords,  and  was  moreover 
Shudi's  intimate  friend  and  executor.  Shudi  left  him  his  ring,  con 
taining  a  portrait  of  Frederick  the  Great. 

6  By  his  marriage  with  Barbara  Shudi,  baptized  March  12,  1748 ; 
married  to  John  Broadwood  Jan.  2,  1769 ;  died  July  8, 1776.  The  first 
wife  of  John  Broadwood,  she  was  the  mother  of  James  Shudi  Broad- 
wood,  who  was  born  Dec.  20, 1772,  died  Aug.  8,1851 ;  and  grandmothej 
of  Mr.  Henry  Fowler  Broadwood  and  Mr.  Walter  Stewart  Broadwood. 


490 


SHUDT. 


SI. 


Shudi,  who  was  in  partnership  with  John  Broad- 
wood  from  1773  to  about  1782,  and  died  in  1803. 
A  list  of  the  existing  harpsichords  by  Shudi 
and  Shudi  &  Broad  wood,   as  far   as  is   known 
(1882),  is  here  appended ;  all  but  one  are  Double 


harpsichords.  The  price  of  a  Single  harpsichord, 
about  1770,  was  35  guineas;  with  Octava  (i.e. 
Octave  string),  40  guineas;  with  Octava  and 
Swell,  50  guineas.  A  Double  harpsichord  with 
Swell,  was  80  guineas.1 


94 
260 

511 
512 
625 

639 
686 
691 

750 
762 
399 

902 
919 


Date. 

1740 
1751 

1766 
1766 
1770 

1771 
1773 
1773 

1775 
1775 

1781 

1781 

17ti2 


Signal  vre. 


Burkat  Shudi. 


Burkat  Tschudi. 

Burkat  Shudi  et  Johannes 

Broadwood. 
Burkat  Shudi. 

Burkat  Shudi  et  Johannes 
Broadwood. 


Present  Owner. 


H.  M.  the  Queen,  Windsor  Castle. 

F.  Fairley,  Esq.,  Newcastle-on-Tyne. 

Emperor  of  Germany,  Potsdam. 

W.  Dale,  Esq. 

John  Broadwood  &  Sons. 

Ditto.   Lent  to  the  Rev.  Sir  F.  A.  G. 

Ouseley,  Bart.,  Tenbury. 
M.  Victor  Mahillon,  Brussels. 

Messrs.  Price  &  Sons,  Teovil. 

Musikverein,  Vienna. 

T.  W.  Taphouse,  Esq.,  Oxford. 

G.  Harford  Lloyd,  Esq.,  Gloucester. 
Stephen  Stratton,  Esq.,  Birmingham. 


Remarks. 


Kemoved  from  Eew  Palace  in  1875. 

A  single  keyboard.    5  Oct.,  F— F,  with  lowest  F  sharp 

omitted.    2  stops. 

Blade  for  Frederick  the  Great,  and  described  by  Burney. 
Made  for  Frederick  the  Great.    (Both  of  5i  Oct.,  C-F.) 
Was  in  David  Hartley's  family.  6  stops,  2  pedals,  as  have 

nearly  all  these  instruments. 
Played  upon  by  Moscheles  and  by  Mr.  Ernst  Pauer  in 

their  historical  performances. 
Bought  of  Mr.  T.  W.  Taphouse,  1861. 

Sent  to  '  the  Empress '  (Maria  Theresa)  Aug.  20,  1773. 

Obtained  by  M.  Victor  Mahillon  from  Vienna. 
Made  for  Lady  Stoverdale,  Kedlinch,  Bruton. 
Was  Joseph  Haydn's,  and  subsequently  Herbeck's, 
5  oct.,  F— F.,  7  stops,  2  pedals.   Came  from  Mrs.  Anson's, 

Sudbury  Rectory,  Derby. 
5  oct.,  F— F.    Restored  by  Mr.  Taphouse. 
Belonged  to  the  Wrottesley  family.  FA  J  H  1 


SHUTTLE  WORTH,  OBADIAH,  son  of  Thos. 
Shuttleworth  of  Spitalfields,  who  had  acquired 
some  money  by  vending  MS.  copies  of  Corelli's 
works  before  they  were  published  in  England. 
He  was  an  excellent  violinist,  and  was  principal 
violin  at  the  Swan  Tavern  concerts,  Cornhill, 
from  their  commencement  in  1728  until  his 
death.  He  was  also  a  skilful  organist,  and  in 
1724  succeeded  Philip  Hart  as  organist  of  St. 
Michael's,  Cornhill,  and  a  few  years  afterwards 
was  appointed  one  of  the  organists  of  the  Temple 
Church.  He  composed  12  concertos  and  some 
sonatas  for  the  violin,  which  he  kept  in  MS.,  his 
only  printed  compositions  being  two  concertos 
adapted  from  the  first  and  eleventh  concertos  of 
Corelli.  He  died  about  1735.  [W.H.H.] 

SI.  The  syllable  used,  in  the  musical  termin 
ology  of  Italy  and  France,  to  designate  the 
note  B ;  and  adapted,  in  systems  of  Solmisation 
which  advocate  the  employment  of  a  movable 
starting-point,  to  the  seventh  degree  of  the  Scale. 

The  method  invented  by  Guido  d'Arezzo,  in 
the  earlier  half  of  the  nth  century,  recognised 
the  use  of  six  syllables  only — ut,  re,  mi,  fa,  sol, 
la  —  suggested  by  the  initial  and  post-csesural 
syllables  of  the  Hymn,  '  Ut  queant  laxis ' ;  the 
completion  of  the  Octave  being  provided  for  by 
the  introduction  of  certain  changes  in  the  position 
of  the  root-syllable,  ut?  Until  the  mediaeval 
theory  of  the  Scale  was  revolutionised  by  the 
discovery  of  the  functions  of  the  Leading-Note, 
this  method  answered  its  purpose  perfectly;  but 
when  the  Ecclesiastical  Modes  were  abandoned  in 
favour  of  our  modern  form  of  tonality,  it  became 
absolutely  necessary  to  add  another  syllable  to  the 
series.  This  syllable  is  said  to  have  been  first 
used,  about  1590,  by  Erycius  Puteanus,  of  Dord 
recht,  the  author  of  a  treatise  on  Music,  entitled 
'Musathena';  and  tradition  asserts  that  it  was 
formed  from  the  initial  syllable  of  the  fourth 

1  The  altered  value  of  money  should  be  borne  in  mind  in  com 
paring  these  prir.es  with  those  of  modern  pianofortes. 

2  See  HEXACHOBD  ;  MUTATION  ;  SOLMISATION. 


verse — 'Sancte  Joannes' — of  the  Hymn  already 
alluded  to,  by  the  substitution  of  i  for  a.    This 
account,  however,  has  not  been  universally  re 
ceived.     Mersennus  3  attributes  the  invention  to 
a  French  musician,  named  Le  Maire,  who  la 
boured  for  thirty  years  to  bring  it  into  practice, 
but  in  vain,  though  it  was  generally  adopted 
after  his  death.      Brossard4  gives  substantially 
the  same  account.      Bourdelot 5  attributes  the 
discovery  to  a  certain  nameless  Cordelier,  of  the 
Convent  of  Ave  Maria,  in  France,  about  the  year 
1675;  but  tells  us  that  the  Abbe  de  la  Louette, 
Maitre  de  Chapelle  at  Notre  Dame  de  Paris,  ac 
corded  the  honour  to  a  Singing-Master,  named 
Metru,  who  flourished  in  Paris  about  the  year 
1676.    In  confirmation  of  these  traditions,  Bour 
delot  assures  us  that  he  once  knew  a  Lutenist, 
named  Le  Moine,  who  remembered  both  Metru 
and  the  Cordelier,  as  having  practised  the  new 
system  towards  the  close  of  the  I7th  century 
— whence  it  has  been  conjectured  that  one  of 
these  bold  innovators  may  possibly  have  invented, 
and  the  other  adopted  it,  if  indeed  both  did  not 
avail  themselves  of  an  earlier  discovery. 

Mersennus  tells  us  that  some  French  professors 
of  his  time  used  the  syllable  za,  to  express  Bb, 
reserving  si  for  BB.  Loulid,  writing  some  sixty 
years  later,  rejected  za,  but  retained  the  use  of 
si.6  The  Spanish  musician,  Andrea  Lorente,  of 
Alcala,  used  bi  to  denote  BO  ;7  while  in  the  latter 
half  of  the  1 7th  century,  our  own  countryman, 
Dr.  Wallis,  thought  it  extraordinary  that  the 
verse, '  Sancte  Johannes,'  did  not  suggest  to  Guido 
himself  the  use  of  the  syllable  sa— and  this,  not 
withstanding  the  patent  fact  that  the  addition 
of  a  seventh  syllable  would  have  struck  at  the 
very  root  of  the  Guidonian  system  !  [W.S.K.J 

3  'Harmonic  Universelle •  (Paris,  1636),  p.  183. 

4  '  Dictionaire  de  Musique.'    (Amsterdam.  1703.) 

5  '  Histoire  de  la  Musique.'  compiled  from  the  MSS.  of  the  A 
Bourdelot,  and  those  of  his  nephew,  Bonnet  Bourdelot,  and  si 
quently  published  by  Bonnet,  Paymaster  to  the  Lords  of  the  r 
nient  of  Paris.    (Paris,  1705  and  1715.    Amsterdam,  1725, 1743.) 

6  '  Elements  ou  Principes  de  Musique.'    (Amsterdam,  1693.) 

7  '  Porque  de  la  Musica.'    (1672.) 


SI  CONTRA  FA. 

SI  CONTRA  FA.     [See  Mr  CONTRA  FA.] 

SIBONI,  GIUSEPPE,  a  distinguished  tenor 
singer,  born1  at  Forli  Jan.  27,  1780,  made  his 
de"but  at  Florence  in  1797,  and  after  singing 
in  Genoa,  Milan,  and  Prague,  appeared  at  the 
King's  Theatre,  London,  in  1806,  and  sang  for 
the  following  three  seasons.  In  1810,  II,  12, 
13  and  14  he  was  in  Vienna,  where  he  sang  at 
the  first  performances  of  Beethoven's  'Welling 
ton's  Sieg'  and  'Tremate  empi.'  In  1813  he 
sang  at  Prague,  and  after  engagements  at  Naples 
and  St.  Petersburg  (1818)  settled  at  Copenhagen 
in  Oct.  1819,  where  he  lived  for  the  rest  of  his 
life,  occupying  the  post  of  Director  of  the  Royal 
Opera  and  of  the  Conservatorium.  He  was  mar 
ried  three  times,  his  second  wife  being  a  sister 
of  Schubert's  friend  von  Schober,  and  died  at 
Copenhagen,  March  29,  1839.  His  style  is  said 
to  have  been  very  good,  although  his  tone  was 
somewhat  guttural.  His  compass  was  two  octaves, 
from  Bb  to  Bb.  He  was  a  good  actor  and  possessed 
a  fine  stage  presence.  Many  of  Paer's  tenor  parts 
were  written  for  him.  His  son, 

ERIK  ANTON  WALDEMAR,  born  at  Copenhagen 
Aug.  26  (not  28,  as  stated  in  Mendel),  1828,  learnt 
the  pianoforte  from  Courlander  and  Goetze,  com 
position  from  F.  Vogel,  and  harmony  from  Prof. 
J.  P.  E.  Hartmann,  In  Sept.  1847  he  went  to 
Leipzig,  and  studied  under  Moscheles  and  Haupt- 
mann,  but  on  the  outbreak  of  the  Schleswig  Hoi- 
stein  insurrection  he  enlisted  as  a  volunteer  in  the 
Danish  army,  and  took  part  in  the  campaign  of 
1848.  In  1851  he  went  to  Vienna  and  studied 
counterpoint  under  Sechter  until  1853,  when  he 
returned  to  Copenhagen,  visiting  Paris  on  his  way. 
Among  his  pupils  at  this  time  were  the  Princess 
of  Wales,  the  Empress  of  Russia,  and  the  Land 
grave  Frederick  William  of  Hesse  Cassel.  In  1864 
Herr  Siboni  was  appointed  organist  and  professor 
of  music  at  the  Royal  Academy  of  Music  of  Sorb', 
in  Seeland,  a  post  he  still  holds.  The  following 
are  his  chief  compositions  : — 


SIDE-DRUM. 


491 


l.  PUBLISHED. 
3  Impromptus  for  PF.  for  4 
hands  (op.  1) ;  Organ  Preludes  ; 
Quartet  for  PF.  and  Strings  (op. 
10);  Tragic  Overture  in  C  minor 
(op.  14) ;  Songs  and  PF.  pieces. 

2.  UNPUBLISHED. 
2  Danish  operas — '  Loreley,'  in  1 
act;  'Carl  den  Andens  Flugt.'in 
3  acts  (Libretto  on  subject  from 
English  History  by  Professor 
Thomas  Overskou),  successfully 
performed  at  the  Royal  Theatre 


of  Copenhagen :  Psalm  III,  for 
Bass  Solo,  Chorus,  and  Orchestra  ; 
'  Stabat  Mater,'  for  Soli,  Chorus, 
Orchestra,  and  Organ  ;  Cantata, 
'  The  Battle  of  Murteu,'  for  Soli, 
Male  Chorus,  and  Orchestra  ;  'The 
Assault  of  Copenhagen,'  Cantata 
for  Soli,  Chorus,  and  Orchestra; 
2  Symphonies ;  Concert  Overture  ; 
PF.  Concerto  ;  String  Quartets  ; 
PF.  Trio ;  Duet  for  2  PFs. ,  So 
natas  for  PF.  and  Violin,  and  PF. 
and  Cello,  etc.,  many  of  them  per 
formed  at  concerts  in  Copenhagen. 


His  wife,  JOHANNA  FREDERIKA  (nte  CRULL), 
,  au  excellent  pianist,  born  at  Rostock  Jan.  30, 
1839,  is  the  daughter  of  Hofrath  Dr.  Crull  and 
Catherine  Braun.  She  found  an  early  protectress 
in  the  Duchess  of  Cambridge,  who  placed  her 
under  Marschner.  On  the  death  of  her  father, 
she  lived  in  Sweden  with  the  Baroness  Stjernblad, 
who  in  1860  sent  her  to  Leipzig,  where  she 
was  one  of  Moscheles's  most  promising  pupils. 
In  the  following  winter  she  went  to  Copenhagen, 
and  played  with  great  success.  She  was  married 

l  Fe"tis  gives  his  birthplace  as  Bologna,  and  the  date  as  1782,  but  the 
oove  details  are  from  autobiographical  notes  supplied  by  his  son. 


to  Herr  Siboni  Sept.  I,  1866,  since  when  she 
has  only  occasionally  performed  at  concerts  at 
Copenhagen  and  Soro.  [W.  B.  S.] 

SICILIANA,  SICILIANO,  SICILIENNE, 
a  dance  rhythm  closely  allied  to  the  Pastorale. 
The  name  is  derived  from  a  dance-song  popular 
in  Sicily,  analogous  to  the  Tuscan  Rispetti.2 
Walther  (Lexicon,  1732)  classes  these  composi 
tions  as  canzonettas,  dividing  them  into  Nea 
politan  and  Sicilian,  the  latter  being  like  jigs, 
written  in  rondo  form,  in  12-8  or  6-8  time. 
The  Siciliana  was  sometimes  used  for  the  slow 
movement  of  Suites  and  Sonatas  (as  in  Bach's 
Violin  Sonata  in  G  minor),,  but  is  of  more  fre 
quent  occurence  in  vocal  music,  in  which  Handel, 
following  the  great  Italian  masters,  made  great 
use  of  it.  Amongst  later  composers,  Meyerbeer 
has  applied  the  name  to  the  movement  '  0  for 
tune,  k  ton  caprice '  in  the  finale  to  Act  i.  of 
Robert  le  Diable,  although  it  has  little  in  com 
mon  with  the  older  examples.  The  Siciliana 
is  generally  written  in  6-8,  but  sometimes  in 
12-8  time,  and  is  usually  in  a  minor  key.  In 
the  bar  of  six  quavers,  the  first  note  is  usually  a 
dotted  quaver,  and  the  fourth  a  crotchet,  fol 
lowed  by  two  semiquavers.  The  Siciliana  is 
sometimes  in  one  movement,  but  usually  ends 
with  a  repetition  of  the  first  part.  It  should  be 
played  rather  quickly,  but  not  so  fast  as  the 
Pastorale,  care  being  taken  not  to  drag  the  time 
and  to  avoid  all  strong  accentuation,  smoothness 
being  an  important  characteristic  of  this  species 
of  composition.  For  examples  we  may  refer  to 
Pergolesi's  '  Ogui  pena  piu.  spietate  '  (Gemme  d' 
Antichita,  no.  24),  and  Handel's  airs  '  Let  me 
wander  not  unseen '  (L' Allegro),  and  'Die  Rosen- 
kronen  '  (The  Passion).  [W.  B.  S.] 

SICILIAN  BRIDE,  THE.  A  grand  opera 
in  4  acts  ;  words  translated  by  Bunn  from  St. 
Georges,  music  by  Balfe.  Produced  at  Drury 
Lane  Theatre  March  6,  1851.  [G.] 

SICILIAN  MARINERS'  HYMN,  THE.    A 

melody  which,  fifty  years  ago,  was  in  great  request 
as  a  hymn-tune,  chiefly  in  Nonconformist  chapels 
in  England.  We  give  the  first  two  strains. 


It  appears  as  ' Sicilian  Mariners'  in  Miller's  'Dr. 
Watts' s  Psalms  and  Hymns  set  to  new  music,' 
which  was  entered  at  Stationers'  Hall  Oct.  18, 
1 800 ;  but  it  exists  on  a  sheet,  also  containing 
'  Adeste  Fideles,'  which  was  probably  published 
some  years  before  the  close  of  last  century.  On 
this  sheet  it  is  set  to  the  words  of  a  hymn  to  the 
Virgin  Mary,  '  0  sanctissima,  o  purissima.' 

This  is  all  the  information  which  the  writer 
has  been  able  to  collect  concerning  it.  [G.] 

SIDE-DRUM.  This  is  used  in  the  army  to 
mark  the  time  in  marching,  either  with  or  with 
out  fifes ;  also  for  various  calls  and  signals.  [See 
SIGNALS.]  Modern  composers  often  use  it  in 

2  For  an  account  of  these  Sicilian  songs  see  G.  Pitr4.  'Sui  Canti 
Popolari  Siciliani,'  Palermo,  1868. 


492 


SIDE-DRUM. 


the  theatre,  and  even  occasionally  in  orchestral 
music.  Instances  will  be  found  in  the  march  in 
Beethoven's  '  Egmont'  music  ;  in  Spohr's  'Weihe 
der  Tone'  Symphony;  in  Raff's  'Lenore,'  and 
in  the  '  Marche  au  supplice '  of  Berlioz's  '  Sym 
phonic  fantastique.'  Rossini  has  employed  it  in 
the  'Gazza  ladra'  overture,  where  it  is  said  to 
indicate  the  presence  of  soldiers  in  the  piece ; 
in  that  to  the  '  Siege  of  Corinth,'  in  the  accom 
paniment  to  Marcello's  psalm-tune — which  in  the 
score  is  oddly  designated  as  a  'Marche  lugubre 
grecque.'  [DRUM  3.]  [V.deP.] 

SIEGE  DE  CORINTHE,  LE.  Lyric  tragedy 
in  3  acts  ;  words  by  Soumet  and  Balocchi, 
music  by  Rossini.  Produced  at  the  Academic 
Oct.  9,  1826.  It  was  an  adaptation  and  ex 
tension  of '  Maometto  Secondo,'  produced  in  1820. 
The  Andante  of  the  overture,  entitled  '  Marche 
lugubre  grecque,'  is  framed  on  a  motif  of  8  bars, 
taken  note  for  note  from  Marcello's  2ist  Psalm, 
but  with  a  treatment  by  the  side-drum  (Caisse 
ronlante)  and  other  instruments  of  which  Mar- 
cello  can  never  have  dreamt.  [G.] 

SIEGE  OF  ROCHELLE,  THE.  A  grand 
original  opera,  in  3  acts  ;  words  by  Fitzball, 
music  by  Balfe.  Produced  at  Drury  Lane  Theatre 
Oct.  29,  1835.  The  subject  is  identical  with  that 
of '  Linda  di  Chamouni.'  [G.] 

SIFACE,  GIOVANNI  FRANCESCO  GROSSI,DETTO. 
Too  few  details  are  known  about  the  life  of  this 
artist,  though  all  the  accounts  of  him. — for  the 
most  part  as  contradictory  as  they  are  meagre — 
agree  in  representing  him  as  one  of  the  very 
greatest  singers  of  his  time.  He  was  born  at 
Pescia  in  Tuscany,  about  the  middle  of  the  iyth 
century,  and  is  said  to  have  been  a  pupil  of  Redi. 
If  so,  this  must  have  been  Tommaso  Redi,  who 
became  chapel-master  at  Loretto  towards  the  end 
of  the  1 7th  century,  although,  as  he  was  Siface's 
contemporary,  it  seems  improbable  that  he  should 
have  been  his  instructor.  Siface  was  admitted 
into  the  Pope's  chapel  in  April  1675.  This  dis 
proves  the  date  (1666)  given  by  Fe'tis  and  others 
for  his  birth,  as  no  boys  sang  then  in  the  Sistine 
choir.  He  would  seem  at  that  time  to  have  been 
already  known  by  the  sobriquet  which  has  always 
distinguished  him,  and  which  he  owed  to  his 
famous  impersonation  of  Siface  or  Syphax  in  some 
opera,  commonly  said  to  be  the  'Mitridate'  of 
Scarlatti ;  an  unlikely  supposition,  for  besides  that 
Scarlatti's  two  operas  of  that  name  were  not 
written  till  some  40  years  later,  it  is  not  easy  to 
see  what  Syphax  can  have  to  do  in  a  work  on  the 
subject  of  Mithri  dates. 

Siface's  voice,  an  '  artificial  soprano,'  was  full 
and  beautiful ;  his  style  of  singing,  broad,  noble, 
and  very  expressive.  Mancini  extols  his  choir- 
singing  as  being  remarkable  for  its  excellence. 
In  1679  he  was  at  Venice  for  the  Carnival,  acting 
with  great  success  in  the  performances  of  Palla- 
vicini's  opera  'Nerone,'  of  which  a  description  may 
be  found  in  the  '  Mercure  gal  ant '  of  the  same  year. 
After  this  he  came  to  England,  and  Hawkins 
mentions  him  as  pre-eminent  among  all  the 
foreign  singers  of  that  period.  He  was  for  a 


SIGNATURE. 

time  attached  to  James  II.'s  chapel,1  but  soon 
returned  to  Italy.  In  the  second  part  of  Play- 
ford's  collection,  '  Musick's  Handmaid'  (1689), 
there  is  an  air  by  Purcell,  entitled  'Sefauchi's 
farewell,'  which  refers  to  Siface's  departure  from 
this  country. 

This  great  singer  was  robbed  and  murdered 
by  his  postilion,  while  travelling,  some  say  from 
Genoa  to  Turin,  others,  from  Bologna  to  Ferrara. 
According  to  Hawkins  this  happened  about  the 
year  1699.  [F.A.M.] 

SIGNALE  FUR  DIE  MUSIKALISCHE 
WELT — '  Signals  for  the  musical  world' — a  well- 
known  musical  periodical,  at  the  head  of  its  tribe 
in  Germany.  It  was  founded  by  Bartholf  Senff 
of  Leipzig,  who  remains  its  editor  and  proprietor, 
and  its  first  number  appeared  on  Jan.  i,  1842.  It 
is  8vo.  in  size  and  is  more  strictly  a  record  of  news 
than  of  criticism,  though  it  occasionally  contains 
original  articles  of  great  interest,  letters  of  musi 
cians,  and  other  documents.  Its  contributors 
include  F.  Hiller,  von  Billow,  Bernsdorf,  C.  F. 
Pohl,  Richard  Pohl,  Stockhausen,  Szarvady, 
Marches!,  and  many  other  of  the  most  eminent 
mutdcal  writers.  Though  not  strictly  a  weekly 
publication,  52  numbers  are  published  yearly.  [G.] 

SIGNALS.  The  drum  and  bugle  calls  or 
'  sounds  '  of  the  army.  [See  SOUNDS.]  [G.] 

SIGNATURE  (Fr.  Signes  accidental® ;  Ger. 
Vorzeichnung,  properly  regulars  Vorzeichnung). 
The  signs  of  chromatic  alteration,  sharps  or 
flats,  which  are  placed  at  the  commencement  of 
a  composition,  immediately  after  the  clef,  and 
which  affect  all  notes  of  the  same  names  as  the 
degrees  upon  which  they  stand,  unless  their 
influence  is  in  any  case  counteracted  by  a  con 
trary  sign. 

The  necessity  for  a  signature  arises  from  the 

•  i       ' 

fact  that  in  modern  music  every  major  scale  is 
an  exact  copy  of  the  scale  of  C,  and  every  minor 
scale  a  copy  of  A  minor,  so  far  as  regards  the 
intervals — tones   and  semitones — by  which  the 
degrees  of  the  scale  are  separated.    This  uni 
formity  can  only  be  obtained,  in  the  case  of  a 
major  scale  beginning  on  any  other  note  thanC, 
by  the  use  of  certain  sharps  or  flats ;  and  instead 
of  marking  these  sharps  or  flats,  which  are  con 
stantly  required,  on  each  recurrence  of  the  notes 
which  require  them,  after  the  manner  of  AC 
CIDENTALS,  they  are  indicated  once  for^all  at  the 
beginning  of  the  composition  (or,  as  is  custom 
ary,  at  the  beginning  of  every  line),  for  greate 
convenience   of  reading.      The    signature  thus 
shows  the  key  in  which  the  piece  is  written,  tor 
since  all  those  notes  which  have  no  sign  in  tin 
signature   are    understood   to  be  naturals  (na 
turals   not   being   used   in  the   signature),  t 
whole  scale  may  readily  be  inferred  from  ti. 
sharps  or  flats  which  are  present,  while  if  i 
is  no  signature  the  scale  is  that  of  C,  whicn 
consists  of  naturals  only.  [See  KEY.]   The  Mow 
ing  is  a  table  of  the  signatures  of  major  scales. 

i  Evelyn  heard  him  there.  Jan.  SO.  1687,  and  on  April  MW 
at  Pepys's  house.   He  speaks  of  him  in  highly  commendatory  . 


SIGNATURE. 

Sharp  Signatures. 


SILAS. 


493 


Key  of  G,    P.        A,         B,  B,          F  sharp,       C  sharp. 

Flat  Signatures. 


5: 


ey  of  F,  B  flat,    E  fiat,    A  flat,      D  flat,       G  flat,        C  flat. 

The  order  in  which  the  signs  are  placed  in  the 
signature  is  always  that  in  which  they  have 
been  successively  introduced  in  the  regular  for 
mation  of  scales  with  more  sharps  or  flats  out  of 
those  with  fewer  or  none.  This  will  be  seen  in 
the  above  table,  where  Fjl,  which  was  the  only 
sharp  required  to  form  the  scale  of  G,  remains 
the  first  sharp  in  all  the  signatures,  Cf  being 
the  second  throughout,  and  so  on,  and  the  same 
rule  is  followed  with  the  flats.  The  last  sharp  or 
flat  of  any  signature  is  therefore  the  one  which 
distinguishes  it  from  all  scales  with  fewer  signs, 
and  on  this  account  it  is  known  as  the  essential 
note  of  the  scale.  If  a  sharp,  it  is  on  the 
seventh  degree  of  the  scale ;  if  a  flat,  on  the 
fourth. 

The  signature  of  the  minor  scale  is  the  same 
as  that  of  its  relative  major  (i.  e.  the  scale  which 
has  its  key-note  a  minor  third  above  the  key 
note  of  the  minor  scale),  but  the  sharp  seventh — 
which,  though  sometimes  subject  to  alteration 
for  reasons  due  to  the  construction  of  melody, 
is  an  essential  note  of  the  scale — is  not  in 
cluded  in  the  signature,  but  is  marked  as  an 
accidental  when  required.  The  reason  of  this  is 
that  if  it  were  placed  there  it  would  interfere 


with  the  regular  order  of  sharps  or  flats,  and  the 
appearance  of  the  signature  would  become  so 
anomalous  as  to  give  rise  to  possible  misunder 
standing,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  following 
example,  where  the  signature  of  A  minor  (with 
sharp  seventh)  might  easily  be  mistaken  for  that 
of  G  major  misprinted,  and  that  of  F  minor  for 
Eb  major. 
2. 


A  minor. 


F  minor. 


In  former  times  many  composers  were  accus 
tomed  to  dispense  with  the  last  sharp  or  flat 
of  the  signature,  both  in  major  and  minor  keys, 
and  to  mark  it  as  an  accidental  (like  the  sharp 
seventh  of  the  minor  scale)  wherever  required, 
possibly  in  order  to  call  attention  to  its  im 
portance  as  an  essential  note  of  the  scale.  Thus 
Handel  rarely  wrote  F  minor  with  more  than 
three  flats,  the  Db  being  marked  as  an  ac 
cidental  as  well  as  the  Efl  (see  'And  with  His 
stripes '  from  Messiah) ;  and  a  duet  '  Joys  in 
gentle  train  appearing '  (Athalia),  which  is  in 
reality  in  E  major,  has  but  three  sharps. 
Similar  instances  may  be  found  in  the  works 
of  Corelli,  Geminiani,  and  others. 

When  in  the  course  of  a  composition  the  key 
changes  for  any  considerable  period  of  time,  it  is 
frequently  convenient  to  change  the  signature, 
in  order  to  avoid  the  use  of  many  accidentals. 
In  effecting  this  change,  such  sharps  or  flats  as 
are  no  longer  required  are  cancelled  by  naturals, 
and  this  is  the  only  case  in  which  naturals  are 
employed  in  the  signature ;  for  example — 


3. 


r^T    „ x 


HUMMEL,  'La  Contemplazione.' 


In  such  a  case  the  modulation  must  be  into  a 
sufficiently  distant  key,  as  in  the  above  ex 
ample;  modulations  into  nearly  related  keys, 
as,  for  instance,  into  the  dominant,  in  the  case 
of  the  second  subject  of  a  sonata,  never  require 
a  change  of  signature,  however  long  the  new 
key  may  continue.  Otherwise  there  is  no  limit 
to  the  frequency  or  extent  of  such  changes,  pro 
vided  the  reading  is  facilitated  thereby.  In  the 
second  movement  of  Sterndale  Bennett's  sonata 
'  The  Maid  of  Orleans '  there  are  no  fewer  than 
thirteen  changes  of  signature.  [F.T.] 

SILAS,  EDOUARD,  pianist  and  composer,  was 
horn  at  Amsterdam,  Aug.  22,  1827.  His  first 
teacher  was  Neher,  one  of  the  Court  orchestra  at 
Mannheim.  In  1842  he  was  placed  under  Kalk- 
brenner  at  Paris,  and  soon  afterwards  entered  the 
Conservatoire  under  Benoist  for  the  organ  and 
HaleVy  for  composition,  and  in  1849  obtained  the 


first  prize  for  the  former.  In  1850  he  came  to 
England;  played  first  at  Liverpool,  and  made 
his  first  appearance  in  London  at  the  Musical 
Union,  May  21.  Since  that  date  Mr.  Silas  has 
been  established  in  London  as  teacher,  and  as 
organist  of  the  Catholic  Chapel  at  Kingston-on- 
Thames.  His  oratorio  '  Joash '  (words  compiled 
by  G.  Linley)  was  produced  at  the  Norwich  Fes 
tival  of  1863.  A  Symphony  in  A  (op.  19)  was 
produced  by  the  Musical  Society  of  London, 
April  22,  1863  ;  repeated  at  the  Crystal  Palace, 
Feb.  20, 1864  '•>  an(l  afterwards  published  (Cramer 
&  Co.).  A  Concerto  for  PF.  and  orchestra  in 
D  minor  is  also  published  (Cramer  &  Co.).  A 
Fantasia  and  an  Elegie,  both  for  PF.  and  orches 
tra,  were  given  at  the  Crystal  Palace  in  1865  and 
1873.  In  1866  he  received  the  prize  of  the 
Belgian  competition  for  sacred  music  for  his  Mass 
for  4  voices  and  organ. 


494 


SILAS. 


Mr.  Silas  is  the  author  of  a  Treatise  on  Musical 
Notation,  and  an  Essay  on  a  new  method  of 
Harmony — both  unpublished.  He  has  still  in 
MS.  an  English  opera,  'Nitocris';  overture  and 
incidental  music  to  '  Fanchette" ;  a  musical  come 
dietta,  'Love's  Dilemma';  a  Cantata;  an  'Ave 
Verum';  two  *O  Salutaris';  a  Symphony  in 
C  major  ;  and  other  compositions.  The  list  of 
his  published  instrumental  works  is  very  large, 
and  includes  many  PF.  pieces,  among  which  the 
best  known  are  Gavotte  in  E  minor,  Bourre'e  in 
G  minor,  '  Malvina '  (romance),  Suite  in  A  minor 
op.  103,  Six  Duets,  etc.,  etc. 

Mr.  Silas  is  well  known  as  a  man  of  great 
humour  and  extraordinary  musical  ability.  He 
is  a  teacher  of  harmony  at  the  Guildhall  School  of 
Music  ;  and  his  pupils  there  and  in  private  are 
very  numerous.  [G.] 

SILBERMANN.    A  family  of  organ  builders, 
clavichord  and  pianoforte  makers,  of  Saxon  origin, 
of  whom  the  most  renowned  were  Andreas,  who 
built  the  Strassburg  Cathedral  organ,  and  Gott 
fried,  who  built  the  organs  of  Freiberg  and  Dresden, 
and  was  the  first  to  construct  the  Pianoforte  in  Ger 
many.    Authorities  differ  as  to  whether  Andreas 
and  Gottfried  were  brothers,  or  uncle  and  nephew. 
Following  Gerber's  Lexicon  they  were  sons  of 
Michael  Silbermann,  a  carpenter  at  Grafenstein 
in  Saxony,  where  ANDREAS  was  born  in  1678. 
He  was  brought  up  to  his  father's  craft,  and 
travelled,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  country, 
in  1 700.     He  learnt  organ-building,  and  in  1 703 
we  find  him  settled  in  that  vocation  at  Strass 
burg.     According  to  Hopkins  and  Rimbault '  he 
built  the  Strassburg  organ — his  greatest  work  of 
29  recorded  by  them — in  1714-16.    He  had  nine 
sons,  of  whom  three  were  organ  builders,  and  after 
the  father's  death,  in  1733  or  34,  carried  on  the 
business  in  common.     Of  the  three,  Johann  An 
dreas,  the  eldest  (born  1712,  died  1783),  built  the 
Predigerkirche  organ  at  Strassburg  and  that  of 
the  Abbey  of  St.  Blaise  in  the  Black  Forest.    In 
all  he  built  54  organs,  in   addition  to  writing 
a  history  of  the  city  of  Strassburg.    His  son, 
Johann  Josias,  was  a  musical-instrument  maker. 
The  next  son  of  Andreas,  Johann  Daniel,  born 
1718,   died   1766,  was   employed   by  his   uncle 
Gottfried,  and  (according  to  Mr.  Hopkins)  was 
entrusted  after  his  uncle's  death  with  the  com 
pletion  of  the  famous  Court  organ  (at  the  Catholic 
Church)  in  Dresden.      Mooser2  however,   who 
claims  to  follow  good  authorities,  attributes  the 
completion  of  this  instrument  to  Zacharias  Hilde- 
brand.     Be  this  as  it  may,  Johann  Daniel  re 
mained  at  Dresden,  a  keyed-instrument  maker, 
and  constructor  of  ingenious  barrel-organs.     A 
composition   of  his  is  preserved  in   Marpurg's 
'Raccolta'  (i  757).  JohannHeinrich,  the  youngest 
son  of  Andreas,  born  1727,  was  living  in  1792, 
when   Gerber's   Lexicon    was   published.      His 
pianofortes  were  well  known  in  Paris ;   he  made 
them  with  organ  pedals,  and  constructed  a  harp 
sichord  of  which  the  longest  strings  were  of  what 
may  be  called  the  natural  length,  16  feet ! 

i  '  The  Organ,  its  History  and  Construction.'   London,  1870. 
a  '  Gottfried  Silbermann.'   Langensalza.  1857. 


SILBERMANN. 

But  the  greatest  of  the  Silbermann  family  was 
GOTTFRIED,  who  was  born  in  the  little  village  of 
Kleinbobritzsch,  near  Frauenstein,  in  1683  (ac 
cording  to  Mooser  on  Jan.  14).     He  was  at  first 
placed  with  a  bookbinder,  but  soon  quitted  him 
and  went  to  Andreas  at  Strassburg.    Having  got 
into  trouble  by  the  attempted  abduction  of  a  nun, 
he  had  to  quit  that  city  in  1707  and  go  back  to 
Frauenstein,  where  he  built  his  first  organ  (after 
wards  destroyed  by  fire,  the  fate  of  several  of  his 
instruments).      He  appears  to  have  settled  at 
Freiberg  in  1709,  and  remained  there  for  some 
years.      He  built,  in  all,  47  organs  in  Saxony.3 
He  never  married,  and  was  overtaken  by  death 
Aug.  4, 1 753,  while  engaged  upon  his  finest  work, 
the  Dresden  Court  organ.     Although  receiving 
what  we  should  call  very  low  prices  for  his  organs, 
by  living  a  frugal  life  he  became  comparatively 
rich,  and  his  talent   and   exceptional  force  of 
character  enabled   him   to  achieve  an  eminent 
position.     His  clavichords  were  as  celebrated  as 
his  organs.     Emanuel  Bach  had  one  of  them  for 
nearly  half  a  century,  and  the  instrument  many 
years  after  it  was  made,  when  heard  under  the 
hands  of  that  gifted  and  sympathetic  player,  ex 
cited  the  admiration  of  Burney.     It  cannot  be 
doubted  that  he  was  the  first  German  who  made 
a  pianoforte.    He  was  already  settled  in  Dresden 
in   1.725,  when   Kbnig  translated  into  German 
Scipione  Maffei's  account  of  the  invention  of  the 
pianoforte  at  Florence  by  Cristofori.     This  fact 
has  been  already  mentioned  [PIANOFORTE,  vol.  ii. 
P-  7l3a~]>  and  we  now  add  some  further  particulars 
gained  by  personal  search  and  inspection  at  Pots 
dam  in  1881.     We  know  from  Agricola,  one  of 
J.  S.  Bach's  pupils,  that  in  1726  Gottfried  Silber 
mann  submitted  two  pianofortes  of  his  make  to 
that  great  master.   Bach  finding  much  fault  with 
them,  Gottfried  was  annoyed,  and  for  some  time 
desisted  from  further  experiments  in  that  direc 
tion.     It  is  possible  that  the  intercourse  between 
Dresden  and  Northern  Italy  enabled  him,  either 
then  or  later,  to  see  a  Florentine  pianoforte.    It  is 
certain  that  three  grand  pianofortes  made  by 
him  and  acquired  by  Frederick  the  Great4  for 
Potsdam — where  they  still  remain  in  the  music- 
rooms  of  the  Stadtschloss,  Sans  Souci,  and  Neues 
Palais,5  inhabited  by  that  monarch — are,  with 
unimportant  differences,  repetitions  of  the  Cristo 
fori  pianofortes  existing  at  Florence.     Frederick 
is  said  to  have  acquired  more  than  three,  but 
no  others  are  now  to  be  found.     Burney's  depre 
ciation  of  the  work  of  Germans  in  their  own 
country  finds  no  support  in  the  admirable  work 
of  Gottfried  Silbermann  in  these  pianofortes.    If 
its  durability  needed  other  testimony,  we  might 
refer  to  one  of  his  pianofortes  which  Zelter  met 

s  Fire  of  3  manuals,  Freiberg,  Zittau  and  Frauenstein ;  the  Frauen- 
kirche  and  Katholische  Hofkirche  at  Dresden ;  twenty-four  of  2 
manuals ;  fifteen  of  1  manual  with  pedals,  and  three  of  1  manusl 
without  pedals.  (Mooser.  p.  125.) 

4  Probably  in  1746.   The  peace  of  Dresden  was  signed  by  Frederick, 
Christmas  Day  1745 ;  he  would  have  time  after  that  event  to  inspect 
Silbermann's  pianofortes. 

5  The  Silbermann  piano  Burney  mentions  was  that  of  the  Neues 
Palais.    He  must  have  heard  the  one  at  Sans  Souci,  although  he  does 
not  say  so.    In  all  probability  the  piano  J.  S.  Bach  played  upon 
specially,  on  the  occasion  of  his  visit  to  Frederick  the  Great,  was  the 
one  still  in  the  Stadtschloss.  the  town  palace  of  Potsdam. 


SILBERMANN. 

•with  at  Weimar  in  1804,  and  praised  to  Goethe  ; 
and  to  another  spoken  of  by  Mooser  in  1857  as 
having  been  up  to  a  then  recent  date  used  at  the 
meetings  of  the  Freemason's  Lodge  at  Freiberg. 
Gottfried  Silbermann  invented  the  CEMBAL  D' 
AMOUR,  a  kind  of  double  clavichord.  [A.J.H.] 

SILCHER,  FRIEDRICH,  well-known  composer 
of  Lieder,  born  June  27,  1789,  at  Schnaith,  near 
Schorndorf  in  Wiirtemburg,  was  taught  music 
by  his  father,  and  by  Auberlen,  organist  at 
Fellbach  near  Stuttgart.  He  was  educated 
for  a  schoolmaster,  and  his  first  post  was  at 
Ludwigsburg,  where  he  began  to  compose.  In 
1815  he  took  a  conductorship  at  Stuttgart,  and 
composed  a  cantata,  which  procured  him,  in 
1817,  the  post  of  conductor  to  the  University 
of  Tubingen.  This  he  held  till  1860,  when  he 
retired,  and  died  shortly  after  (Aug.  26)  at 
Tubingen.  The  honorary  degree  of  Doctor  had 
been  conferred  upon  him  by  the  University  in 
1852.  His  most  important  publications  are — 
'Sechs  vierstimmige  Hymnen'  (Laupp),  'Drei- 
etimmiges  wlirtemb.  Choralbuch'  (ibid.),  and 
'Swabian,  Thuringian,  and  Franconian  Volks- 
lieder'  (12  parts),  many  of  which  are  his  own 
compositions.  Several  of  Silcher's  melodies  have 
become  true  songs  of  the  people,  such  as  '  Aenn- 
chen  von  Tharau,'  '  Morgen  muss  ich  weit  von 
bier,'  'Ich  weiss  nicht  was  soil  es  bedeuten,' 
'Zu  Strassburg  ent  der  Schanz,'  etc.  The  Lieder 
were  published  simultaneously  for  i  and  2 
voices,  with  PF,  and  for  4  men's  voices.  He 
edited  a  method  for  harmony  and  composition 
in  1851.  A  biographical  sketch  of  Silcher  by 
Kostlin  appeared  in  1877.  [F.G.] 

SIMAO.     [See  PORTOGALLO.] 

SIMILI,  'like  ';  a  word  commonly  used  in  a 
series  of  passages  or  figures  of  similar  form,  to  be 
performed  in  exactly  the  same  way.  After  the 
first  few  bars  of  such  passages  or  figures  the  word 
simili  is  used  to  save  trouble  of  copying  the 
marks  of  expression  and  force  at  every  recurrence 
of  the  figure.  '  Simili  marks ' 


SINCLAIR. 


495 


occur  generally  in  MS.  or  old  printed  music,  and 
signify  that  the  contents  of  the  previous  bar  are 
to  be  repeated  in  every  consecutive  succeeding 
bar  in  which  the  marks  occur.  [J.A.F.M.] 

SIMPSON,  CHRISTOPHER.     [See  SYMPSON.] 

SIMPSON,  THOMAS,  an  English  musician,  who 
settled  in  Germany,  and  about  1615  was  a 
violist  in  the  band  of  the  Prince  of  Holstein 
Schaumburg.  He  published  the  following  works : 
'Opusculum  neuer  Pavanen,  Galliarden,  Cour- 
anten  und  Volten,'  Frankfort,  1610  ;  '  Pavanen, 
Volten  und  Galliarden,'  Frankfort,  1611  ;  and 
'Tafel  Consort  allerhand  lustige  Lieder  von  4 
InstrumentenundGeneral-bass/Hamburgh,  1621, 
containing,  besides  pieces  by  Simpson  himself, 
some  by  Peter  Phillips,  John  Dowland,  Robert 
and  Edward  Johnson,  and  others.  [W.H.H.] 

SIMROCK.  A  very  famous  German  music- 
publishing  house,  founded  in  1790  at  Bonn  by 


Nikolaus  Simrock,  second  waldhorn  player  in  the 
Elector's  band,  to  which  Beethoven  and  his  father 
belonged.  The  first  of  Beethoven's  works  on 
which  Simrock's  name  appears  as  original  pub 
lisher  is  the  Kreutzer  Sonata,  op.  47,  issued  in 
1805.  But  he  published  for  Beethoven  an  '  Edi 
tion  tres  Correcte '  of  the  two  Sonatas  in  G  and  D 
minor  (op.  31,  nos.  I  and  2),  which  Nageli  had 
printed  so  shamefully ;  and  there  is  evidence  in 
the  letters  that  Simrock  was  concerned  in  others 
of  Beethoven's  early  works.  The  next  was  the 
Sextet  for  strings  and  2  horns,  op.  81  6  (1810)  ; 
then  the  two  Sonatas  for  PF.  and  cello,  op.  102 
(1817)  ;  the  ten  themes  with  variations  for  PF. 
and  violin  or  flute,  op.  107  (1820).  In  1870  a 
branch  was  founded  in  Berlin  by  PETER  JOSEPH 
SIMROCK,  who  has  published  the  principal  works 
of  Brahms  since  that  date.  [G.] 

SINA,  Louis,  born  in  1778,  plajred  2nd  violin 
to  Schuppanzigh  in  Prince  Lichnowsky's  youth 
ful  quartet  [see  vol.  i.  p.  132]  and  later  in  the 
Rasoumowsky  quartet,  when  the  Count  himself 
did  not  play. 

Notwithstanding  the  high  esteem  in  which  he 
was  held  as  a  player,  very  few  details  of  his  life 
are  given.  He  was  a  pupil  of  E.  A.  Forster, 
the  same  whom  Beethoven  called  his  '  old  master.' 
In  1819  he  was  in  Breslau  with  Lincke,  and  is 
noticed  in  an  account  of  the  musical  season  in 
that  city,  in  the  A.  M.  Zeitung,  for  Nov.  1 7th  of 
that  year.  Sina  afterwards  emigrated  to  Paris, 
where  he  was  known  as  an  odd  old  bachelor, 
whose  unfailing  humour  made  him  a  welcome 
guest  among  the  artists  and  amateurs  in  the 
Paris  salons.  He  died,  quite  suddenly,  at  Bou 
logne,  Oct.  2,  1857,  and  was  so  little  known  there 
that  his  body  would  probably  have  remained  un- 
buried  but  for  the  offer  of  a  Protestant  clergy 
man,  by  whom  he  was  interred  in  the  graveyard 
on  the  S.  Omer  road.  [A.W.T.] 

SINCLAIR,  JOHN,  born  near  Edinburgh  in 
1790  was  instructed  in  music  from  childhood, 
and  while  still  young  joined  the  band  of  a  Scotch 
regiment  as  a  clarinet  player.  He  also  taught 
singing  in  Aberdeen,  and  acquired  sufficient 
means  to  purchase  his  discharge  from  the  regi 
ment.  Possessed  of  a  fine  tenor  voice,  he  was 
desirous  of  trying  his  fortune  upon  the  stage, 
came  to  London  and  appeared  anonymously  as 
Capt.  Cheerly  in  Shield's  '  Lock  and  Key '  at 
the  Haymarket,  Sept.  7,  1810.  His  success  led 
to  his  becoming  a  pupil  of  Thomas  Welsh.  He 
was  engaged  at  Covent  Garden,  where  he  appeared 
Sept.  30,  1811,  as  Don  Carlos  in  Sheridan  and 
Linley's  'Duenna.'  He  remained  there  for  seven 
seasons,  during  which  he  had  many  original  parts. 
He  was  the  first  singer  of  the  still  popular  reci 
tative  and  air  'Orynthia,'  and  'The  Pilgrim  of 
Love '  in  Bishop's  '  Noble  Outlaw,'  produced 
April  7,1815.  He  also  sang  originally  in  Bishop's 
'Guy  Mannering*  and  'The  Slave,'  and  Davy's 
'  Rob  Roy,'  and  acquired  great  popularity  by  his 
performance  of  Apollo  in  '  Midas.'  In  April 
1 8 1 9  he  visited  Paris  and  studied  under  Pellegrini, 
and  thence  proceeded  to  Milan  and  placed  him- 


496 


SINCLAIR. 


self  under  Banderali.  In  May  1821  he  went  to 
Naples,  where  he  received  advice  and  instruction 
from  Rossini.  In  1822  he  sang,  mostly  in  Rossini's 
operas,  at  Pisa  and  Bologna.  In  1823  he  was 
engaged  at  Venice,  where  Rossini  wrote  for  him 
the  part  of  Idreno  in  '  Semiramide.'  After  sing 
ing  at  Genoa  he  returned  to  England,  and  re 
appeared  at  Covent  Garden,  Nov.  19,  1823,  as 
Prince  Orlando  in  '  The  Cabinet ' ;  his  voice  and 
style  having  greatly  improved.  He  continued 
at  the  theatre  for  a  season  or  two  ;  in  1828  and 
1829  was  engaged  at  the  Adelphi,  and  in  1829-30 
at  Drury  Lane.  He  then  visited  America ;  on  his 
return  retired  from  public  life,  and  died  at  Mar 
gate,  Sept.  23,  1857.  [W.H.H.] 

SINFONIE-CANTATE.  The  title  of  Men 
delssohn's  Lobgesang  or  Hymn  of  Praise  (op.  52). 
The  term — accurately  '  Symphonie-Cantate' — is 
due  to  Klingemann,  according  to  Mendelssohn's 
own  statement  in  his  published  letter  of  Nov.  1 8, 
1840.  Mendelssohn  was  so  much  in  love  with  it 
as  to  propose  to  bestow  it  also  on  the  '  Walpurgis- 
night'  (see  the  same  letter  and  that  to  his 
mother  of  Nov.  28,  1842).  That  intention  was 
not  however  carried  out.  [G.] 

SINGAKADEMIE.     [See  after  SINGING.] 

SINGER'S  LIBRARY,  THE.  A  collec 
tion  of  Part-songs,  Glees,  and  Choruses,  edited 
by  Mr.  Hullah,  and  published  by  Addison  &  Co., 
and  by  Ashdown  &  Parry  successively.  107 
numbers  have  been  issued  in  all,  besides  50  of 
a  '  Sacred  series.'  [G.] 

SING.  SINGING.  'To  sing  '  is  to  use  the 
voice  in  accordance  with  musical  laws.  'Singing ' 
is  a  musical  expression  of  thought  and  feeling 
through  the  medium  of  the  voice  and  the  organs 
of  speech  generally,  by  means  of  two  technical 
operations — Vocalisation  (the  work  of  the  vowels), 
and  Articulation  (.that  of  the  consonants). 

A  passing  word  on  the  meaning  and  nature  of 
music  will  hardly  be  out  of  place,  as  from  con> 
mon  English  parlance  it  might  be  often  inferred 
that  singing  is  distinct  from  music,  and  that 
'  music  '  means  instrumental  music  only. 

'Music'  may  be  accepted  to  signify  sounds  in 
succession  or  combination1  regulated  by  certain 
natural  and  artificial  laws,  the  result  of  which 
has  been  the  establishment  of  a  series  of  these 
sounds  (called  a  Scale)  having  certain  proportions 
to,  and  relations  with,  each  other,  and  being  sus 
ceptible  of  combinations  capable  of  affording  deep 
emotion. 

The  effect  of  abstract  music — that  is,  music 
without  words— upon  the  soul,  though  vague, 
weird,  and  (indefinable,  is  so  incontestable  and 
all-powerful,  that  its  immediate  origin  in  nature 
itself  can  hardly  for  a  moment  be  doubted. 
Musical  combinations  and  progressions  seem  at 
times  to  recall  something  that  does  not  belong  to 
the  present  order  of  things,  and  to  inspire  almost 
a  conviction  that  in  another  existence  only,  will 
the  full  scope  and  significance  of  abstract  music 
be  understood. 

l  G.  A.  Macfarren,  Rudiments  of  Harmony. 


SINGING. 

From  the  time  of  man's  first  awakening-  to  the 
influence  of  that  which  was  not  purely  animal, 
or  at  least  from  the  date  of  the  earlier  forms  of 
organisation  and  civilisation,  it  is  probable  that 
singing  in  some  form  has  had  its  place,  as  an 
individual  solace,  or  as  a  convenient  means  of 
expressing  a  common  sentiment,  either  in  war- 
cries  (afterwards  war-songs)  or  in  addresses  to 
the  deities  or  idols  (afterwards  chants  and 
hymns). 

Much  has  been  said  of  the  '  language  of  music.' 
This  is  but  a  rhetorical   figure.     Language  is 
definite  and  states  facts,  the  significance  of  which 
will  depend  upon  the  greater  or  less  sensitiveness 
of  the  hearer.     Music  does  precisely  what  words 
do  not  do.     It  represents  a  state  of  thought  and 
feeling,  more  or  less  continuous,  awakened  by 
the  statement  of  facts — a  brooding  over  what 
has  been  said  after  the  words  are  supposed  to 
have  ceased.     Hence  the  propriety  of  prolonging 
syllables  and  repeating  words,  which  the  cynic 
ally  disposed  are  often  inclined  to  ridicule  as 
opposed  to  reason  and  common  sense.    This  in 
clination  to  ignore  the  high  office  of  music  (that 
of  expounding  what  passes  in  the  mind  and  soul) 
is  one  great  cause  of  the  frequent  tameness  of 
English  singing ;  and  this  same  tameness  it  is  that 
in  reality  makes  singing  at  times  ridiculous  and 
opposed  to  reason  and  common  sense.  And  if  this 
higher  view  of  music  in  singing  is  not  to  be  taken 
—if  all  that  is  to  be  looked  for  is  a  rhythmical 
tune — then  by  all  means  let  it  be  played  upon  an  in 
strument,  as  the  intonation  will  be  safe,  provided 
the  instrument  be  in  tune;  and  the  head  may  nod, 
and  the  feet  may  tap,  the  ear  will  be  tickled  and 
the  soul  unruffled.     Besides,  the  power  of  using 
the  voice  for  the  purpose  of  communicating  ideas, 
thoughts  and  feelings,  and  of  recording  facts  and 
events  (to  be  set  down  in  characters,  and  thus 
transmitted  from  generation  to  generation),  being 
a  special  gift  to  the  human  race,  and  the  attri 
bute  which  most  thoroughly  separates  man  from 
the  lower  animal  tribe,  the  inane  warbling  of  a 
tune  is  an  anomaly. 

It  scarcely  matters  which  of  the  many  theories 
may  be  the  right  one  of  the  origin  of  musical 
sound,  that  is  to  say,  of  the  manner  in  which 
it  first  presents  itself  to  the  ear.  Any  continuous 
sound  in .  nature  may  call  our  appreciation  into 
activity.  It  is  certain  that  it  appeals  to  some 
thing  in  our  inmost  nature  which  responds  as 
directly  to  it,  and  that  its  effect  is  a  reality; 
otherwise  it  could  not  take  its  active  part  in 
the  expression  of  thought  and  feeling,  or  rather 
be,  as  it  is,  the  real  manifestation  or  represen 
tation  of  a  state  of  thought  and  feeling  only 
suggested  by  words.  Its  appreciation  by  the 
mind  and  soul  through  the  medium  of  the  ear 
cannot  well  be  a  matter  of  development,  but  is 
rather  a  revelation,  from  the  simple  fact  that  it 
is  distinguished  from  noise  by  the  isochronism  of 
vibration  ;  and  the  difference  between  the  two 
could  not  but  be  marked  the  moment  it  pre 
sented  itself,  as  a  brilliant  colour,  distinguished 
from  surrounding  neutral  tints,  at  once  attracts 
the  eye.  The  manner  in  which  a  musical  sound 


SINGING. 

arrests  the  attention  of  a  child  too  young  to 
understand,  or  of  an  animal  that  is  supposed  not 
to  reason,  is  a  strong  proof  of  its  being  a  special 
sense  of  which  we  shall  perhaps  know  more  in 
another  state  of  existence.  Some  sort  of  lan 
guage,  we  may  conclude,  came  first,  and  syllables 
will  have  been  prolonged  for  the  sake  of  emphasis. 
The  continuous  note  having  presented  itself 
through  some  sound  in  nature,  the  power  of  imi 
tation  by  the  voice  would  be  recognised.  Ehythm, 
the  innate  sense  of  accent — the  spirit  of  metre,  as 
time  is  the  letter — will  also  have  been  awakened 
by  some  natural  sound,  such  as  the  slow  dropping 
of  water,  or  the  galloping  of  an  animal.  The 
ideal  pendulum  once  set  going  within  us,  words 
would  adapt  themselves  to  it,  and  poetry,  or  at 
least  verse,  would  come  into  being.  The  sub 
stitution  of  a  musical  note  for  the  simple  pro 
longation  of  the  spoken  sound  would  not  fail  to 
take  place  in  due  time.  With  the  awakening  of 
a  purer  religious  feeling,  the  continuous  note 
would  be  found  a  suitable  means  of  keeping 
together  large  numbers  in  singing  chants  and 
hymns,  the  splendour  of  many  voices  in  unison 
would  be  felt,  and  ecclesiastical  music  would 
assume  something  of  a  definite  form. 

The  stages  in  the  rise  of  music  may  have  been, 
therefore,  as  follows  :  first,  nature's  instruments — 
the  cleft  in  the  rock,  the  hole  in  the  cabin,  the 
distant  trickling  water,  or  the  wind  blowing  into 
a  reed ;  then  the  imitation  of  these  sounds  by 
the  voice,  followed  by  the  imitation  of  these  and 
the  voice  by  artificial  instruments.  Again,  the  in 
creased  accuracy  of  artificial  instruments  imitated 
by  the  voice ;  and  finally  the  power  of  expression 
of  the  voice  imitated  by  instruments,  vocal  and 
instrumental  music  aiding  each  other. 

An  idea  of  what  remote  nations  may  have  done 
in  the  way  of  music  can  only  be  gathered  from 
representations  of  instruments  and  obscure  re 
cords  of  the  various  periods,  and  these  indica 
tions  are  naturally  too  vague  for  any  precise 
estimate  to  be  formed,  but  there  is  no  reason  to 
imagine  that  it  reached  a  high  point  of  develop 
ment  with  them.  A  painting  on  plaster  in  the 
British  Museum,  taken  from  a  tomb  at  Thebes, 
and  reproduced  in  Mr.  William  Chappell's 
valuable  History  of  Ancient  Music,  represents  a 
party  of  comely  Egyptian  ladies,  about  the  time 
of  Moses,  enjoying  some  concerted  music.  Three 
are  playing  upon  instruments  of  the  guitar  or 
lute  kind,  a  fourth  upon  a  double  tibia,  while  a 
fifth  appears  to  be  beating  time  by  clapping  her 
hands.  If  domestic  music  was  customary  so  far 
back,  why  was  the  wonderful  development  of 
modern  times  so  long  in  being  brought  about  ? 
Even  the  Greeks,  with  all  their  boundless  love 
for,  and  appreciation  of,  the  beautiful,  and  their 
power  of  its  reproduction,  cannot  be  supposed 
to  have  gone  far  in  the  cultivation  of  music. 
Mostof  their  'modes'  are  unsatisfactory  to  modern 
ears,  and  are  not  in  harmony  with  cultivated 
nature.  Their  use  of  music  seems  to  have  been 
to  form  an  accompaniment  to  oratory  and  to 
furnish  rhythmical  tunes  for  dancing.  With 
their  voices  they  seem  to  have  been  inclined  at 
VOL.  nr.  PT.  3. 


SINGING. 


497 


times  to  indulge  in  mass  of  sound  rather  than 
music  properly  so  called,  if  we  consider  Plu 
tarch's  warning  to  his  disciples  against  indulg 
ing  in  too  violent  vociferation  for  fear  of  such 
calamitous  consequences  as  ruptures  and  con 
vulsions.1  The  student  then,  as  at  the  present 
day,  apparently  took  upon  himself  to  make  all 
the  noise  he  could  against  the  advice  of  his  in 
structors.  But  this  is  not  important  to  the 
present  purpose.  It  is  enough  that  we  know 
with  tolerable  certainty  that  we  are  indebted  to  a 
long  line  of  pious  and  learned  men  for  the  gradual 
development  of  the  material  with  which  we  have 
to  work.  The  spread  of  Christianity  required 
that  church  music  should  be  purified  and  put 
into  something  like  form.  This  was  commenced 
by  St.  Ambrose  in  the  latter  part  of  the  4th  cen 
tury,  his  work  being  continued  and  amplified 
two  centuries  later  by  St.  Gregory.  For  the 
gradual  development  of  music  see  the  articles  on 
PLAIN-SONG  and  SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION. 

Down  to  Palestrina's  time  melody  had  been 
held  of  too  little  account  by  theorists.  This  great 
reformer  knew,  beyond  all  others,  how  to  re-vivify 
dry  contrapuntal  forms  with  music  in  its  great 
and  ultimate  capacity  as  a  manifestation  of 
thought  and  feeling,  and  thus  brought  to  its 
gorgeous  perfection  the  Polyphonic  school,  soon 
to  be  thrust  aside,  never,  perhaps,  to  re-appear 
in  its  integrity,  but  to  assert  its  great  master's 
mighty  spirit,  later  on,  in  the  works  of  those  of 
his  successors  who  were  capable  of  receiving  it. 

In  early  times  very  great  things  had  been 
done  in  England,  and  this  almost  independently 
of  external  help,  from  early  in  the  I5th  century. 
But  there  is  an  English  part-song,  a  canon,  or 
round,  which  has  been  placed  by  all  the  foremost 
critics  early  in  the  1 3th  century.  [See  SCHOOLS  OF 
COMPOSITION,  Sect.  XVI.]  Very  early  mention, 
of  English  part-singing  in  the  north  of  England 
is  made  by  Gerald  Barry  or  Giraldus  Cambrensis 
(see  Chappell's  'Music  of  the  Olden  Time'). 
This  is  borne  out  by  the  fact  of  the  fineness  of 
the  natural  voices  in  the  northern  and  midland 
counties  at  the  present  time,  and  the  aptitude 
of  the  inhabitants  for  choral  singing.  Down  to 
the  end  of  the  i6th  century,  singing  as  an  in 
dependent  art,  solo  singing,  had  been  held  of 
little  account,  and  had  been  the  vocation  almost 
exclusively  of  troubadours  and  other  unscientific 
(though  often  sympathetic)  composers  of  popular 
music.  Its  great  impulse  was  given  by  the  crea 
tion  of  the  opera  out  of  an  attempt  towards  the 
close  of  the  i6th  century,  on  the  part  of  a  little 
knot  of  disciples  of  the  Renaissance,  to. revive 
the  musical  declamation  of  the  Greek  Drama.  The 
result  was  not  what  they  intended,  but  of  vastly 
wider  scope  than  they  could  have  anticipated.  In 
oonnection  with  this  movement  was  the  name  of 
Vincenzo  Galilei,  the  father  of  the  great  astro 
nomer.  These  initiatory  efforts  and  their  great 
and  speedy  outcome  are  exhaustively  set  forth 
in  the  very  comprehensive  article  on  OPERA  in 
this  Dictionary.  From  these  small  beginnings, 
a  few  cantatas  accompanied  by  a  single  instru- 

*  Gordon  Holmes,  Vocal  Physiology  and  Hygi&ne,  p.  23. 

Kk 


498 


SINGING. 


ment,  we  have  the  magnificent  combination  of 
music,  poetry,  and  scenery  of  the  present  day. 

Though  in  the  music  of  Palestrina  the  doctrine 
is  exemplified  and  carried  to  its  conclusion,  that 
to  be  truly  beautiful  Polyphonic  music  must  be 
melodious  in  all  its  parts,  still  this  form  was  im 
practicable  for  the  purpose  immediately  in  hand. 
In  all  times  of  reaction  the  vibration  of  the  chain 
of  events  throws  it  far  out  of  its  centre.  Hence 
the  almost  immediate  abandonment  of  the  Poly 
phonic  in  favour  of  the  Monodic  form,  instead  of 
a  healthy  combination  of  the  two. 

The  first  true  Italian  opera  was  the '  Euridice' 
of  Giacopo  Perl,  given  in  1600  on  the  occasion  of 
the  marriage  festivities  of  Henry  IV.  of  France 
with  Maria  de'  Medici.  The  first  result  of  the 
movement  was  the  recitative,  in  something  very 
like  its  present  form ;  and  in  no  other  form  can 
the  various  phases  of  the  changing  passions  and 
affections  be  adequately  expressed.  But  the  out 
cry  against  the  so-called  interruption  of  dramatic 
action  by  the  introduction  of  the  aria,  set  con 
certed  piece,  and  formal  chorus,  is  only  reasonable 
when  directed  against  the  abuse  of  these  means  of 
expression  so  legitimate  in  their  proper  place  and 
at  their  proper  time.  In  every-day  life  (the  prin 
ciples  of  which,  in  an  exalted  and  artistic  form, 
must  be  the  basis  of  all  dramatic  action),  events, 
though  they  succeed  each  other  quickly,  have 
their  moments,  if  not  of  repose,  at  least  of  the 
working  out  of  their  immediate  consequences, 
and  these  give  the  opportunity  for  the  expression 
of  the  (for  the  time)  dominant  state  of  thought 
and  feeling.  Even  musical  decoration  (of  which 
later),  wisely  chosen  and  put  together,  adds  im 
mensely  to  the  general  significance.  What  then, 
besides  the  creation  of  opera,  were  the  causes  of 
the  great  development  of  the  art  of  singing  in 
Italy,  its  stage  of  perfection  for  a  time,  and  its 
deterioration — let  us  trust  for  a  time  also?  Italy, 
inheriting  the  proud  position,  from  Greece,  of 
foster-mother  to  the  arts,  could  not  neglect  music 
as  one  of  her  foster-children.  But  while  other 
countries  vied  with  her,  and  at  times  surpassed 
her,  in  musical  science,  the  tide  of  vocal  sound, 
the  power  of  using  the  voice,  could  not  but  flow 
into  the  channel  prepared  for  it  by  nature  and 
art.  The  gradual  evolution  of  the  Italian  out  of 
the  Latin  language,  the  elimination  of  every  hard 
sound,  where  practically  consistent  with  the  exi 
gencies  of  articulation,  and  its  refinement  to  a 
state  of  almost  perfect  vocal  purity,  brought 
about  a  facility  in  producing  vocal  sound  pos 
sessed  by  other  nations  only  in  so  far  as  their 
respective  tongues  contain  the  elements  of  the 
Italian.  The  Italian  language  is  almost  entirely 
phonetic,  and  is  pre-eminent  in  the  two  respects 
of  vocal  purity  and  amount  of  vocal  sound.  Its 
vowels  are  not  only  Italian ;  they  are  the  pure 
elements  of  language  in  general,  resembling  in 
idea  the  painter's  palette  of  pure  colours,  and 
offering  therefore  the  material  by  which  to  gauge 
the  greater  or  less  purity  of  other  languages. 

A  short  enquiry  into  the  difference  between 
speaking  and  singing  in  the  five  languages  to 
which  the  largest  amount  of  vocal  music  has  been 


SINGING. 

composed,  namely  Italian,  Latin,  French,  Ger 
man,  and  English,  will  not  be  out  of  place.    Of 
all  languages,  the  Italian  is  most  alike  in  singing 
and  speaking — English    the   least.      The    four 
essential  points  of  difference  between  speaking 
and    singing   are,   first   and    foremost,   that  in 
speaking  (as  in  the  warbling  of  almost  all  birds) 
the  isochronism  of  vibration  is  never  present  for 
a  period  long  enough  to  make  an  appreciable 
musical  note.     A  sympathetic  speaking  voice  is 
one  whose  production  of  tone  most  nearly  ap 
proaches  that  of  the  singing  voice,  but  whose 
inflexions  are  so  varied  as  to  -remove  it  entirely 
from  actual  music.    The  word  '  Cant'  not  improb 
ably  has  its  origin  in  puritanical  sing-song  speak 
ing,  and  the  word  has  been  transferred  from  the 
manner  to  the  matter,  and  applied  to  hypocritical 
expression  of  sanctity  or  sentiment.     In  sing 
song  speaking  the  exact  opposite  of  the  above 
combination  is  generally  found — namely,  an  ap 
proximation  to  musical  notes,  and  an  abomin 
able  tone-production.    The  second  distinguishing 
point  is  the  fact  that  in  ordinary  speaking  little 
more   than   one  third  (the  lower  third)  of  the 
vocal  compass  comes  into  play,  while  in  singing 
the  middle  and  upper  parts  are  chiefly  used.    A 
tenor  with  a  vocal  compass  of 


will  speak  principally  upon  the  part  of  the  voice 
indicated  by  the  crotchets,  and  most  voices  will 
end  their  phrases  (when  not  interrogative)  with 
a  drop  to  the  lowest  sound  that  the  vocal  organ 
will  produce,  a  sound  lower  in  most  cases  than 
would  be  attempted  as  a  note,  basses  and  con 
traltos  sometimes  excepted.  If  the  tenor  were 
to  speak  as  high  as  middle  C  he  would  be  speak 
ing  in  a  decidedly  loud  voice,  if  he  spoke 
naturally.  The  third  point  of  difference,  and 
that  which  most  especially  distinguishes  singing 
from  speaking,  in  English,  is  that  short  syllables 
(that  is  to  say  with  the  accent  falling  on  the 
concluding  consonant)  cannot  exist,  as  such,  since 
the  accent  in  singing  is  upon  the  vocal  portion 
of  the  syllable.  (See  double  vowels,  later.)  This, 
indeed,  is  the  case  in  reading  Italian,  and  even 
in  carefully  speaking  it.  Lastly,  singing  tends 
to  preserve  intact  the  relative  purity  of  a  lan 
guage  ;  speaking,  to  split  it  up  into  dialects  and 
peculiarities. 

Italian,  then,  takes  the  first  position  as  having 
the  purest  vocal  sounds  and  the  largest  amount 
of  vowel.  Latin,  as  sung,  comes  next.  Its 
vowels  are  the  same,  but  it  has  more  conson 
ants.  The  classification  of  French  and  German 
requires  qualification.  In  amount  of  vocal  sound 
French  takes  the  third  place,  the  custom  of 
pronouncing,  in  singing,  the  (otherwise)  mute 
syllables  preventing  consonants  from  coming 
together,  and  words  from  ending  with  hard  con 
sonants,  but  the  quality  of  some  of  the  vowels 
requires  very  great  care  to  prevent  its  marring 
the  pure  emission  of  the  voice.  The  proper 
management  of  the  final  n  and  m  must  be  also 


SINGING. 

closely  studied.  A  great  quality  in  the  French 
language,  as  sung,  is  the  fact  that  the  amount  of 
vocal  sound  is  always  at  the  same  average.  No 
sudden  irruption  of  a  mass  of  consonants,  as  in 
German  or  English,  is  to  be  feared.  In  vocal 
purity,  though  not  in  amount  of  vocal  sound, 
German  takes  precedence  of  French,  as  containing 
more  Italian  vowel,  but  it  is  at  times  so  encum 
bered  with  consonants  that  there  is  barely  time 
to  make  the  vowel  heard.  The  modified  vowels 
u,  o  and  a  are  a  little  troublesome.  The  most 
serious  interruption  to  vocal  sound  is  the  articu 
lation  of  cli  followed  by  s,  or  worse  still,  of  s  by  sch. 
But  if  the  words  are  well  chosen  they  flow  very 
musically.  The  first  line  of  Schubert's  Standchen 
'  Leise  flehen  meine  Lieder '  is  a  good  example  ; 
all  the  consonants  being  soft  except  the  /.  In 
contrast  to  this  we  have  'Fliisternd  schlanke 
Wipfel  rauschen'  with  thirty -one  letters  and  only 
nine  vowels.  But  perhaps  the  very  worst  phrase 
to  be  found  set  to  music  in  any  language,  and 
set  most  unfortunately,  occurs  in  the  opera  of 
'Euryanthe/  In  the  aria  for  tenor,  '  Wehen  mir 
Liifte  Euh,'  the  beautiful  subject  from  the  over 
ture  is  introduced  thus : 
Allegro. 


SINGING. 


499 


3 


Se    -    lig  -  keit  dicb  fass'  ich     kaum 

As  this  subject  is  to  be  executed  rapidly  the  g  and 
k  are  not  easy  to  get  in  in  time.  Then  come  td ; 
then  cli  and  /  together ;  then  ss.  A  jump  of  a 
major  6th  on  the  monosyllable  ich  with  its  close 
vowel  and  the  transition  from  ch  to  Jc  on  the  Eb 
are  a  piling  of  Pelion  on  Ossa  in  the  creation  of 
difficulty,  which  could  have  been  avoided  by  ar 
ranging  the  syllables  so  that  the  moving  group 
of  notes  might  be  vocalised.  And  this  passage 
is  the  more  remarkable  as  coming  from  one  who 
has  written  so  much  and  so  well  for  the  voice ; 
namely,  Weber. 

Polyglot  English  requires  more  careful  analysis 
than  any  other  language  before  it  can  be  sung, 
on  account  of  the  nature  of  its  vowel-sounds 
and  the  irregularity  of  its  orthography,  conse 
quent  upon  its  many  derivations.  Its  alphabet 
is  almost  useless.  There  are  fourteen  different 
ways  (perhaps  more)  of  representing  on  paper 
the  sound  of  the  alphabetical  vowel  I.  There 
are  nine  different  ways  of  pronouncing  the  com 
bination  of  letters  ougk.  The  sound  of  the 
English  language  is  by  no  means  as  bad  as  it  is 
made  to  appear.  No  nation  in  the  civilised 
world  speaks  its  language  so  abominably  as  the 
English.  The  Scotch,  Irish  and  Welsh,  in  the 
matter  of  articulation,  speak  much  better  than 
we  do.  Familiar  conversation  is  carried  on  in 
inarticulate  smudges  of  sound  which  are  allowed 
to  pass  current  for  so/mething,  as  worn-out  shil 
lings  are  accepted  as  representatives  of  twelve 
pence.  Not  only  are  we,  as  a  rule,  inarticulate, 
but  our  tone-production  is  wretched,  and  when 
English  people  begin  to  study  singing,  they  are 
astonished  to  find  that  they  have  never  learned 
to  speak.  In  singing,  there  is  scarcely  a  letter 
of  our  language  that  has  not  its  special  defect  or 


defects  amongst  nearly  all  amateurs,  and,  sad  to 
say,  amongst  some  artists.  An  Italian  has  but 
to  open  his  mouth,  and  if  he  have  a  voice  its  pas 
sage  from  the  larynx  to  the  outer  air  is  prepared 
by  his  language.  We,  on  the  contrary,  have  to 
study  hard  before  we  can  arrive  at  the  Italian's 
starting-point.  Besides,  we  are  as  much  troubled 
as  Germans  with  masses  of  consonants.  For  ex 
ample,  '  She  watched  through  the  night/  *  The 

fresh  streams  ran  by  her.'     Two  passages  from 

Shakespeare  are  examples  of  hard  and  soft  words. 
The  one  is  from  King  Lear,  'The  crows  and 
choughs  that  wing  the  midway  air.'  In  these 
last  five  words  the  voice  ceases  but  once,  and 
that  upon  the  hard  consonant  t.  The  other 
sounds  are  all  vocal  and  liquid,  and  represent 
remarkably  the  floating  and  skimming  of  a  bird 
through  the  air.  The  other  is  from  Julius  Caesar, 
'  I'm  glad  that  my  weak  words  have  struck  but 
thus  much  fire  from  Brutus.'  The  four  hard 
short  monosyllables,  all  spelt  with  the  same 
vowel,  are  very  suggestive. 

All  these  difficulties  in  the  way  of  pronuncia 
tion  can  be  greatly  overcome  by  carefully  analys 
ing  vowels  and  consonants ;  and  voice  production, 
that  difficult  and  troublesome  problem,  will  be 
in  a  great  measure  solved  thereby,  for  it  should 
be  ever  borne  in  mind  by  students  of  singing,  as 
one  of  two  golden  precepts,  that  a  pure  vowel 
always  brings  with  it  a  pure  note — for  the  simple 
reason  that  the  pure  vowel  only  brings  into  play 
those  parts  of  the  organs  of  speech  that  are 
necessary  for  its  formation,  and  the  impure 
vowel  is  rendered  so  by  a  convulsive  action  of 
throat,  tongue,  lips,  nose  or  palate. 

In  studying  voice-production  let  three  experi 
ments  be  tried,  (i)  Take  an  ordinary  tumbler 
and  partially  cover  its  mouth  with  a  thin  book. 
Set  a  tuning-fork  in  vibration  and  apply  the 
flat  side  to  the  opening  left  by  the  book,  alter 
ing  the  opening  until  the  note  of  the  fork  is 
heard  to  increase  considerably  in  volume.  When 
the  right-sized  opening  is  found,  the  sound  of 
the  fork  will  be  largely  reinforced.  In  like 
manner,  in  singing,  the  small  initial  sound 
produced  by  the  vibrating  element  of  the  voice- 
organs  is  reinforced  by  vibrations  communi 
cated  to  the  air  contained  in  the  resonance 
chambers.  (2)  Next  take  an  ordinary  por 
celain  flower-vase.  Sing  a  sonorous  A  (Italian) 
in  the  open,  on  the  middle  of  the  voice,  then 
repeat  the  A  with  the  mouth  and  nose  inserted 
in  the  flower-vase,  and  the  vowel-sound  will  be 
neutralised,  and  the  vibration  to  a  great  extent 
suffocated.  In  like  manner  the  sound  which  has 
been  reinforced  by  the  good  position  of  some  of 
the  resonance  chambers  may  be  suffocated  and 
spoiled  by  a  bad  position  of  any  one  of  the  re 
maining  ones.  These  two  experiments,  simple  as 
they  are,  are  conclusive.  (3)  The  third,  less 
simple,  consists  in  whispering  the  vowels.  The 
five  elementary  sounds  of  language  (the  Italian 
vowels)  will  be  found  in  the  following  order, 
I,  E,  A,  0,  U,  or  vice  versa,  each  vowel  giving 
a  musical  note  dependent  entirely  upon  the 

Kk2 


500 


SINGING. 


resonance  of  the  chambers,  the  larynx  giving  no 
musical  sound,  but  only  a  rush  of  air  through  the 
glottis.  I  gives  the  highest  sound  and  U  the 
lowest,  the  pitch  of  the  notes  being  fixed  by 
Helmholtz.1  The  importance  of  these  three 
experiments  consists  in  their  clearly  showing 
how  the  smallest  deviation  from  a  certain  posi 
tion  produces  a  marked  change  of  resonance  in 
the  note,  and  an  alteration  in  the  colour  of  the 
vowel-sound. 

The  subject  of  Analysis  of  Language,  so  ex 
haustively  treated  by  Professor  Max  Miiller  in 
connexion  with  ethnological  research,  and  very 
critically  entered  into  by  Mr.  Ellis  in  '  Speech 
in  Song,'  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  the  singer,  is 
a  very  large  one,  and  the  following  diagram  of 
vowel- sounds,  and  table  of  consonants,  are 


SINGING. 

designed  only  to  bring  immediately  under  notice 
in  a  concentrated  form  the  connexion  between 
pure  vowel-formation  and  articulation,  and  pure 
voice-production,  and  treat  only  of  the  principal 
sounds  of  the  five  languages  already  enumerated, 
as  they  must  be  sung. 

The  Italian  vowels  will  be  the  starting-point, 
because  they  are  the  pure  elementary  sounds  of 
language  in  general.  On  the  line  of  the  Phonic 
circle  will  be  found  all  the  vowel-sounds  in  the 
formation  of  which  there  is  no  initial  contrac 
tion  of  the  edge  of  the  lips  and  no  action  of 
the  point  of  the  tongue.  These  sounds  are 
placed  in  the  order  of  vocal  colour,  and  the 
numbers  represent  their  importance  for  singing. 
The  order  of  vowel-formation,  in  accordance  with 
whispered  vowel-sound,  is  as  follows. 


12     e18 


u" 


OKDEK   OF   WHISPEKED    VOWEL-FOEMATION. 

[For  Equivalents,  see  Table  opposite.] 
&u     E*     a"     \iw     512     euis     e^     v?     A1 


The  three  primary  elementary  sounds  of  vocal  language    A    I    U  >  , 

The  two  secondary  elementary  sounds  of  vocal  language    E    0       /  Pr°n°unced  as  in  Italian. 

a8    English  in  bat. 

ail  French  normal  in  malade. 

a?    English  in  past. 

A    English  a  in  father. 
Short  English  in  but,  same 
sound  long  in  vocal  part  of 


er,  ir,  ur 


Short  English  in  met E /A 

Close  Italian  and  German    ...     6 
Close  French e 

Short  English  in  tUl,  bit  .    .    .    .  i   J 


English  e 

(Initial  consonant  y,  quickly 
articulated.) 


English  au  or  aw. 


Close  Italian,  English,  Gsr- 
man,  and  French. 


English  oo  in  boon. 

(consonant  w,  quickly  ar- 
ticulated.) 

English,  short  in  good,conl', 
and  transient  in  ou,  as  in 
out,  and  in  ow,  as  in  blow. 


m 
with!]?  the 


*f  al  a11  1?e  s?und!  on  the  line  of  the  circle  are  Produced  without  any  initial  action  of  the 
*  th6  lip8'  SU°h  aCti°n  OzUy  taking  place  "*  the  formati(m  of  the  sounds 


In  forming  the  German  modified  vowels  10,12 
and  19,  there  is  more  or  less  contraction  of  the 
inner  edge  of  the  lips.  In  the  French  u  there  is 
great  contraction  of  the  outer  edge  of  the  lips,  and 
the  end  of  the  tongue  presses  slightly  against  the 
inside  of  the  under  lip,  making  the  exit  for  the 
voice  as  small  as  is  compatible  with  the  emis 
sion  of  a  vowel-sound.  The  three  primary  vowels 
A,  I,  U  (Italian  sound),  give  three  definite, 
ultimate  positions  of  the  resonance  chambers. 
A  gives  the  most  perfect  tube,  and  therefore  the 
largest,  roundest  sound.  It  is  a  mid-position 
with  the  best  proportion  of  parts,  and  produces 
the  normal  singing  vowel,  the  most  gratifyino-  of 
all  the  vowels  as  a  question  of  sound.  I  has  the 
mouth  filled  with  tongue,  its  root  and  the  larynx 

'  See  Ellis's  translation. 


being  raised,  affording  a  very  small  flat  exit  for 
the  voice,  and  requiring  more  lung  pressure  in 
its  emission.  U  gives  the  largest  space  in  the 
resonance  chambers,  the  tongue  being  retracted 
upon  itself,  with  its  root  and  the  larynx  drawn 
down.  With  the  contraction  and  protrusion  of 
the  lips  necessary  to  its  formation  it  cannot  be  a 
sonorous  vowel.  If  these  sounds  are  purely  pro 
nounced,  without  that  baneful  stiffening  of  the 
root  of  the  tongue  so  very  general  in  this  country, 
the  secondary  sounds  4  and  5  can  be  found  by 
passing  from  one  primary  sound  to  another,  and 
the  other  gradations  in  the  same  way.  The 
sounds  within  the  circle  require  the  action  of  the 
lips  and  tongue.  The  three  sounds  8,  14,  and  9, 
above  the  circle,  require  care.  The  short  flat 
English  a  in '  bat,'  as  spoken,  begets  a  position  of 


SINGING. 


501 


C3=S 

:sl 

^ 

a 

S  t-v  

3  3  S    

*     a        "Sio~ 

0 

... 

r  c 

O 

e 

^ 



-* 

SS&Soa^S"   ' 

.  .  . 

sflrt 

"^ 

o 

o 

o                 

g 

£H 
P 

.    0  0>»     

'it 

•sifisSgsIgs-" 

«•§     5   ' 

3g  a  sg  o 

p3 

si 

hAA  u  £  i-,t  ^>-:.^ 

PP3^£) 

oS^^cB 

S 

0  (0 

:O 

ts 

^ 

.  .  . 

01 

0         „,.... 

OJ 



£ 

1                 olSOoS    .    •    .    . 

O 

x:j3 

«  3  « 

O 

2  cuo  S  'o  ...  .  . 

O  rt,Q    • 

*o 

•«a 
JO       -ta 

u 

^3 

O 

gg«  feel's  oggl  •  • 

O     •     •     •     •        • 

e> 

•    •    • 

c^ 

£ 

C  0^c3  &*,„  o^A-^  «    .    . 

1=1  OO   .    . 

o  o  

•tS 

^3 

HH 

2                 S 

5 

1        ^ 

ro 

t- 

.- 

|            g^  

1     _K    ' 

s  si  1  1 

O 

*K 

cu 

IS         03     •     •     •     • 

•i^sJJo^ 

^•g^3 

Illggl 

r^j 

P 
0 

2 

1            t-  tj.s  t,  £   .... 

•8-3 

CO     . 

(=4 

£  &?^S  .... 

1—  \ 

o 

HH       >O 

.S  §  8 
ogl'8- 

iJ 

!- 

M 

1  —  1 

s 

^5     "a> 

0  =  S  §.g 

te 

g 

§ 

o 

O 

W 

p.g-^'C   « 

.2,8  «  Sis  -S 

,o. 

t 

'•% 

ifl 

> 

O 

s 

K     £ 

G          *• 

-   S                t-          <D 

3 

1-5 

s 

^        •  %  %  $-5  gS  •  •  • 

toiS 
S     tfi 

fljtfl(-<O           ,         OTSr-jCt* 

W 

« 

<5 

.  u  St:  o,p,'a>    .    .    . 

§     1 

|°  853  g  S£S^S^  I 

P 
0 

^ 

OS      9 

v                                    v 

P 

A  g 

1                  £ 

® 

[_ 

£3 

5§ 

w    v< 

%«?%  . 

« 

f», 

1  1 

121       g 
M 

<v  3  v  $ 

—  .  0.'   Pi«3     •     . 

w 
w 

0 

:       §  I'" 

O      te 
l>     | 

t*     d 
«    ;- 

fe     ""^ 

^; 

K 

W 
H 

EH 

O 

Q 
fe 

O 

i           _.  t>»    s  y  E 
'         '^  o      E  Sm 

in 
Ct 

1    ^   « 

O4          T-1        •     •    . 

ts 

h 

<) 

0 

S          ft] 

a  0  S.S 

IN 

O 

iJ 

<; 

^ 

a  £ 

>>,.,£!    i§-fi^ 

g'5                   ; 

o 

O 

S   § 

'»S--^io  3S  |'3g 

£*'§ 

o.§                 1 

t-1 
O    -< 

' 

3                  *     *      " 

H 

J             •  3  0  0 

w  1 

ssg-d«5»as^ 

"cSja 

S3               c 

'Ti. 

03 

»    •    • 

0)  3*-«      "      " 

>  wft  , 

H 
« 

*t1 

o 

a 

s 

Q 

i  —  i 

|S 

P 
O 

PM 
iJ 

<1 

• 

b- 

C-l^o 

1-3 

i            -S           fe"  3  fc 

QJ 

^-^ 

U 

pr)   ^52*S^^^? 

^ 

CO 

t_   i  P5  rt  S_oT*     •     • 

e  £••§ 

11    — 

0) 

•2 

O 

o 

.  . 

i 

•s»     •£ 

i.        G       -w  « 

i—  i 

i-q 
O 

tH 

c3 

*  • 

o.£.«"o"o 

z; 
r-i-i 

o 

3  1 

O.O    . 

g   O  «G  (Q  U  C 

H-1 

o 

Is 

J3 
*=  S1 

S-l 

r-      °* 

•°  «•••=!  B*a  O.P4U  ° 

^^    |   .IS  

fe 

"o 

d|||| 

a> 

^         s 

L                   V2,-^ 

J2 

•^•H  r*  c  e 

,  —  , 

•Q^.O^'SP  S       S 

0 

ci  oj.S  oj  »    " 

g 

>                              S     « 

<c 

l-f 

g  V 

s  a  £  0,0  • 

I                           tt<5    Qs 

V 

"3  P.  .... 

M 

a'-fi  §    jt'S'-^'s-S 

^j  HniS  S  c'S^s'S'o  £ 

K   3" 

^  ^ 

* 

a 

^"     *°      a 
***•«* 

•» 

„. 

g1  e    1 

• 

• 

•  • 

-I*U  •  •  • 

1         I  S'e 

HH 

,J      ' 

• 
• 

C3 

•  • 
*  • 

•si  '. 
si 

C-T              W 

ill  II  till 

i  . 

I  life 

S"33 

*J3  e 
f  ia  B 

en  O 

£  & 

Is 

*: 

w 

m 

S 

GERMAN 

w 

0 

<          w            : 

M 

i            fc               h 

5 

- 
- 

t 

ENGLISH^ 

GERMA.N- 

to 
o 

1 

fe 

1          V 

1  J 

y  tlflllll  : 

502 


SINGING. 


the  mouth  incompatible  with  good  voice-produc 
tion,  and  it  has  to  be  slightly  modified,  without 
however  destroying  its  individuality,  by  making 
that  large  pharynx  so  dear  to  those  who  have  to 
do  with  the  voice.     The  French  normal  a  is  in 
the  same  direction,  but  not  quite  so  flat,  while 
the  English  a  in  '  past,'  etc.  brings  us  on  the  road 
home  to  the  normal  vowel.     With  an  assiduous 
cultivation  of  the  ear  while  studying  positions, 
and   a  careful   avoidance  of  convulsion,  and   a 
keen  sense  of  how  small  a  deviation  from  a  gooc 
position  may  entirely  ruin  a  sound,  there  is  no 
reason  why  a  good  pronunciation  of  a  foreign 
language  should  be  an  insurmountable  difficulty. 
No.  6  is  a  vowel  that  must  be  well  observed  in 
English  singing ;  also  the  fact  that  the  difference 
of  position  between  short  u7  and  Aj  is  not  very 
great,  while  the  difference  of  sound  as  a  question  ol 
phonic  beauty  is  about  that  of  the  two  poles.  But 
a  real  difficulty  is  the  management  of  our  double 
vowels.   They  must  be  treated  and  sung  as  given 
in  the  Table  of  Vowel-sounds.   The  most  trouble 
some  case  is  that  of  the  combination  ire.     With 
two  notes  to  the  second  syllable  of '  desire '  it  is 
very  common  to  hear 


•— X  fi  T 

thy     heart's   de  -   -   sA-iyers 

This  syllable  must  be  rendered 


da   -   -    s  A.  -   -   lers 

i.  e.  one  inflected  syllable,  the  inflection  being  got 
over  as  quickly  and  smoothly  as  possible  after  the 
two  notes  have  been  vocalised  on  the  first  com 
ponent  part  of  the  i.  The  r  having  produced 
the  above  inflexion,  and  having,  in  other  cases 
changed  the  sound  of  the  vowel,  we  consider  it 
has  done  enough,  and  do  not  pronounce  it  at  all 
as  a  final.  The  mechanical  formation  of  conso 
nants  might  be  considered  for  the  most  part 
the  same  in  civilised  languages  if  all  nations 
spoke  equally  well.  But  we  are  sadly  careless, 
and  in  singing  English  perhaps  the  most  serious 
fault  of  all  is  the  neglect  of  finals.  We  have  so 
many  words,  monosyllables  especially,  pronounced 
precisely  alike  in  all  respects  except  the  last  con 
sonant  sound  ;  e.  g. 


babe 

bade 

bake 

bale 

bane 

bass 

bait 

baize 


hark  life 

heart  lied 

harp  like 

harm  ljme 

hard  Hne 

hearth  light 

Resulting  in  a  live 

senseless  sound  lithe 


All  resulting  in      without  final.     Kesulting  in 
bay  without  He  without 

final.  final. 

The  last  column  brings  to  mind  what  is  not  un- 
frequently  heard  in  the  oratorio  of  the  Messiah — 
'  The  people  that  walked  in  darkness  have  seen  a 
great  lie.' 

It  is  not  at  all  unusual  to  hear  the  English  T 
and  D  pronounced  with  the  under  side  of  the 
tongue.  This  gives  something  of  a  Somersetshire 


—  —  _ 

—^— 

•  —  1 

=3        i       :  :  
—  •-  —  jj  

SINGING. 

burr,  and  is  adopted  by  the  Italian  actors  when 
they  imitate  the  English.     These  consonants,  in 
English,  must  be  pronounced  with  the  upper  side 
of  the  point  of  the  tongue,  just  under  the  ridge 
terminating  the  vault  of  the  hard  palate  in  front. 
The  Italian  T  and   D  have   the  point  of  the 
tongue  lower  down,  fitting  into  the  angle  formed 
by  the  teeth  and  gums.     The  importance  of  pro 
perly  pronouncing   the  nasals  cannot  be  over 
estimated.    The   necessary  management  of  the 
soft   palate,  and   the   general   absence  thereof, 
rightly  emphasised  by  Herr  Behnke  in  his  '  Me 
chanism  of  the  Human  Voice,'  was  probably  the 
foundation  of  M.  Wartel's   system  (pushed  to 
extremes)  of  vocalisation  with  the  closed  mouth. 
The  freedom  required  in  opening  the  nasal  pas 
sages  for  these  sounds  is  equally  required  to  close 
them  when  singing  vowels.     These  sounds  when 
defective  are  often  called  nasal,  when  in  fact 
they  are  not  nasal  enough,  and  sometimes  not  at 
all.     It  borders  on  the  ridiculous  to  hear  '  0  for 
the  wigs  of  a  dove.' 

The  mechanism  of  the  Italian  double  consonants 
will  be  facilitated  by  taking  a  Latin  word,  pectus, 
for  example,  from  which  an  Italian  word,  petto, 
is  derived.  The  double  t  will  occupy  exactly  the 
same  space  of  time  as  the  ct.  This  mechanism 
has  to  be  introduced  into  English  where  the  final 
of  one  word  is  the  initial  of  another,  e.  g.  '  when 
near,'  'with  thee,'  'all  lost,'  'if  fear.'  These 
details,  though  savouring  of  the  instruction-book, 
serve  to  point  out  how  dependent  voice-produc 
tion  and  pronunciation  are  upon  each  other,  and 
also  how  great  an  advantage  the  Italians  have 
over  other  nations  in  the  matter  of  language,  and 
how  their  school  of  singing  must  have  been  in 
fluenced  thereby.  Mr.  Ellis' s  book,  'Speech  in 
Song,'  should  be  read  carefully  by  students  of 
singing. 

Though  foreign  singers  are  often  indistinct, 
radical  faults  of  pronunciation  are  rare  with 
them  when  singing  their  own  language,  and  this 
on  account  of  the  less  complex  character  of  their 
respective  tongues,  and  the  greater  simplicity  of 
their  orthography.  The  difficulties  of  English,  as 
will  be  seen  from  the  tables  given,  are  consider 
able,  but  this  does  not  excuse  the  irritating  indif 
ference  of  many  English  amateurs  and  would-be 
artists,  in  the  matter  of  languages  generally.  It 
is  not  at  all  unusual  for  a  student  when  training 
for  a  singer's  career,  to  study  a  large  amount  of 
foreign  music,  extending  over  a  considerable  time, 
the  words  being  always  carefully  translated  to 
him,  the  roots  explained,  and  the  analogies  be 
tween  the  foreign  language  and  his  own  pointed 
out,  in  the  hope  that  at  least  a  little  might  be 
'  picked  up '  in  the  time,  and  yet,  in  the  end,  the 
student  shall  exhibit  total  ignorance  even  of  the 
definite  article.  In  some  cases  the  pronunciation 
has  been  more  than  fairly  acquired,  which  makes 
the  other  failure  the  more  unpardonable.  Nor 
is  the  common  utterance  of  blind  prejudice  par 
ticularly  edifying.  It  is  frequently  said,  'Oh 
French  is  a  horrible  language  to  sing;  it  is  all 
nasal  1 '  or  '  German  is  a  wretched  language  to 
sing ;  it  is  all  guttural ! '  A  language  is  in  a 


TABLE    OF  CONSONANTS. 


503 


SINGLE  SOUNDS. 

Total  Silence. 

Temporary  Inter 
nal  Vocal  Sound. 

Continuous  Vocal  Sound. 

CO 

Mouth 

hermet-i     Lips  as  before. 

Lips  as  before. 

Hi 

ically  closed    by  j  Posterior     nares 

Posterior      nares 

M 

lips.        Posterior  do.    Vocal   cords 

open.  Vocal  cords 

W 

nares  closed.  Vo-  vibrating  :— 

vibrating      free 

1^ 

cal    cords    inac 

ly:- 

Formed  from  w20  :— 

tive  :  — 

P 

B 

M 

W 

Mouth  hermet 
ically   closed  in 

Tongue  as  at  T. 
Posterior     nares 

Tongue  aa  at  T. 
Posterior      nares 

Back  of  tongue 
drawn  down  de- 

. 

ternally  by  edge  of 

do.    Vocal   cords 

open.  Vocal  cords 

q'    taching   sides    of 

TO 

pj 

tongue    cleaving 
to  inside  of  upper 

vibrating.      Lips 
apart  :  — 

vibrating       free 
ly:— 

P    tongue  from  teeth    g 
a?   and  guma.    Point    ^ 

o 

teeth.     Posterior 

•/ 

1    onlv        attached.    K 

nares  closed.  Lips 

aj 

r^ 

Vocal    cords    vi 

O 

3 

apart.          Vocal 
cords  inactive  :  — 

3 

brating  freely  :  — 

O 

T 

D 

& 

N 

L 

^4 

Internal  mouth 

Mouth  as  at  K. 

Mouth  as  at  K. 

Back  of  tongue    o 

closed  by  contact 

Posterior      nares 

Posterior     nares 

and    soft    palate   P 

of  back  of  tongue 

do.    Vocal  cords 

open.  Vocal  cords 

nearly  in  contact. 

and   soft 

palate. 

vibrating  :— 

vibrating       free 

Voice        passing    ^ 

Posterior      nares 

ly  :~ 

rs' 

through  nose  and 

00 

closed.  Fore  part 

mouth  at  the  same    : 

jji 

of    tongue    .free. 

CO 

time  :  — 

^4 

H 

Vocal  cords  inac 

^ 

Formed  from  /2  :  — 

pj 

tive  :— 

T 

K 

HardG 

NG 

?-, 

M  and  N 

Y                J 

(English,    Ger 

(English,    Ger 

(English  and 

02 

(French). 

(English,          (Italian 

man,  Italian  and 

man,  Italian  and 

German). 

French  U  in           and 

French. 

C  before 

French.  Before  a, 

mouiller.)       German). 

a,  o,  u. 

French 

o,u). 

g  and  .git). 

Noifes.    Hard. 

Buzzes.    Soft. 

Forcible  expulsion  of  air  between  lower  lip 

Gentler  expulsion  of  air.  Vocal  cords  vibrat 

DENTO- 

and  upper  teeth.    Vocal  cords  inactive  :  — 

ing  freely.    Other  conditions  as  before  :— 

LABIALS. 

F,  PH 

V 

(soft/,  and  ph  in  'Stephen'). 

Forcible  expulsion  of  air  between  point  of 

Gentler  expulsion  of  air.  Vocal  cords  vibrat 

DENTO- 

tongue  and  edge  of  upper  teeth.    Smothered 

sihilatinn       Vor.al  nrvrrls  ina^tivfi  •  — 

ing  freely.     Other  conditions  as  before.    Ger 
man  w  •  — 

LINGUALS. 


SIBILANTS, 
LINGUAL. 


SIBILANTS, 

LlNGTJO- 

PALATAL. 


TH 

(final,  and  generally  beginning  nouns,  verbs, 
adjectives  and  adverbs). 

Forcible  expulsion  of  air  between  flattened 
point  of  tongue  and  angle  formed  by  upper  teeth 
and  gums.  Vocal  cords  inactive : — 

S 

(soft  C  English  and  French  before  e,  i  and  y. 
French  cj. 

Same  operation  as  above  between  body  of 
tongue  and  hard  palate  :— 
SH 

(su  in  '  sure,'  '  -tion.'    Italian  sc  before  e  and  i ; 
German  sch  ;  French  ch). 


th 

(final  followed  by  e.    Generally  beginning  arti- 
cles,  pronouns,  prepositions  and  conjunctions. 

Gentler  expulsion  of  air.  Vocal  cords  vibrat 
ing  freely.    Other  conditions  as  before : — 

S 

(English,  German,  French  and  Italian,   z  Eng. 
and  French).  

Same  operation  as  above.    Vocal  cords  vibrat 
ing.    Other  conditions  as  before : — 

su 
(in  '  measure.'    Should  be  ZH, '  -sion.'    French 

./and  soft  g). 

"Upper  part  of  point  of  tongue    vibrating 
against  front  ridge  of  roof  of  the  mouth  :— 


M 

t— l 

> 


SOFT 
ASPIRATE. 


Breath   rather   forcibly   expelled   from 

lungs.     Vocal   cords   somewhat   brought  HABD 

together.    No  voice :—  ASPIKATE 

H  LlNGUO- 


(should  be  the  same  in  all  languages). 

^Breath  expelled  between  middle  of  tongue 
and  roof  of  mouth :— 

CH 


SOFTENED 

PALATAL 

ASPIBATE. 


(English,  German,  French.    Italian  at  the     PALATAL.     (German  after  e,  i,  a,  Q,  u,  in  front  of 
end  of  interjections). 


uvula). 


(German  final). 


HABD 

ASPIRATE 
PALATAL. 

COMPOUND  SOUNDS. 


CH 


(German  after  a,  o,  u,  behind  uvula). 


English  CH  and  Italian  C  before  e,  i,  formed  of  TSH. 

English  and  Italian  soft  G  formed  of  D  and  ZH  or  D  and  French  j  or  soft  g. 

German  and  Italian  single  Z,  and  German  initial  C  before  e  and  i,  composed  of  T  and  S,  and  L 

Italian  double  Z  in  'mezzo'  and  derivatives  and  some  other  words,  formed  of  D  and  soft  S  or  Z. 

X  formed  of  KS. 

Italian  gl  before  i  and  gn  before  a,  e,  i,  o,  u,  formed  of  English  consonant  y  preceded  by  I  and  n. 

French  gn  in  Seigneur,  ditto. 

Italian  and  German  qu,  same  as  English.  _  __ 


504 


SINGING. 


great  measure  what  a  singer  makes  it.  If  our 
language,  as  it  is  too  often  spoken  or  sung, 
contained  no  more  objectionable  sound  than  a 
Hanoverian  lady's  guttural,  we  should  be  very 
fortunate. 

Enough  has  been  said  to  show  that  all  the 
purer  and  more  sonorous  parts  of  language  in 
general  are  Italian.  We  thus  arrive  at  a  first 
reason  why  singing  should  have  naturally  flour 
ished  in  Italy.  The  unsatisfactory  treatment  of 
our  own  language  is  a  first  reason  why  it  does 
not  flourish  as  it  ought  with  us.  In  using  foreign 
languages  we  dread  affectation,  and  are  glad  to 
comfort  ourselves  with  the  reflection  that  the 
world  at  large  will  not  recognise  our  defects. 
Whom  ought  we  really  to  consider — the  many 
who  may  not  recognise  the  defects,  or  the  one  or 
two  natives  who  may  be  present ?  Dread  of  affect 
ation  must  be  got  over  by  careful  study  and 
habit. 

From  the  foregoing  tables  it  will  be  seen  that, 
for  singing  purposes,  the  elements  of  language 
are  reducible  to  a  small  compass.     It  is  very 
important  that  a  standard  of  pronunciation  should 
be  established,  and  individual  peculiarities  eli 
minated  from  language  that  is  to  be  sung.     In 
our  daily  intercourse  we  tolerate  and  involun 
tarily  approve  peculiarities  (provided  they  are 
not  too  glaring)  in  those  with  whom  we  are  in 
sympathy,  the  peculiarities  themselves  bringing 
the  individuality  home  to  us.     But  the  ear  is 
not  then  seeking  the  gratification  of  a  special 
sense  possessed  by  almost  every  human  being 
in    his     different    degree,    and    by  many  ani 
mals, — susceptibility  to   the  charm   of  musical 
sound.      The  moment   we   come   to  music,  its 
catholicity  requires  that  its  rendering  should  be 
unalloyed  by  anything   that   can   interrupt   its 
flow  into  the  soul.     Individualities   of  timbre 
must  of  course  exist,  but  there  is  that  within  us 
which   accepts   and    morally  assimilates    these 
characteristics ;   provided,  again,    they  are   not 
so    marked    as    to    counterbalance    other    and 
fitting  qualifications.   Peculiarity  and  indistinct 
ness  of  pronunciation  are  two  great   and  well- 
known  barriers  to  the  adequate  enjoyment  of 
vocal  music ;  the  first  because  it  is  constantly 
drawing  the  attention  from  what  ought  to  be 
almost  ethereal,  and  the  second  because  it  sets 
the  hearer  thinking  what  it  is  all  about,  and  the 
moment  he  begins  to  think  he  ceases  to  feel. 

Another  cause  for  the  developement  of  sing 
ing  in  Italy  was  the  necessity  for  finding  the 
best  singers  for  the  Papal  service,  in  which 
females  were  not  permitted  to  take  part.  Boys 
were  employed  as  in  our  own  cathedrals,  and 
counter-tenors,  or  falsetto- singers,  chiefly  Span 
iards.  But  as  solo-singing  increased  in  import 
ance,  the  counter-tenors  no  doubt  began  to 
realise  the  fact  that  by  cultivating  the  falsetto 
they  were  ruining  their  more  robust  registers, 
and  the  fact  became  more  and  more  patent  that 
as  soon  as  a  boy  was  beginning  to  acquire  some 
cultivation  of  taste  his  voice  left  him.  This  led 
to  the  custom  of  preventing  the  voice  from 
breaking,  by  artificial  means.  In  the  case  of 


SINGING. 

these   singers  there   was  hardly  any  cessation 
in  the  course  of  study  from  early  to  more  ma 
ture  years.     There  was  not  the  total  stoppage 
of  work,  the  enforced  interval  of  two  or  three 
years  for  the  voice  to   settle,   and  the  recom 
mencement    under  totally   different  conditions. 
The  long  course  of  uninterrupted  study  would 
bring  the  art  of  vocalisation  to  perfection,  and 
these  perfect  singers,  who  were  afterwards  intro 
duced  upon  the  stage,  became,  as  the  art  pro 
gressed,  models  of  style  and  execution  (according, 
be  it  understood,  to  the  taste  of  the  period), 
and  furnished  many  of  the  best  singing-masters. 
The  first  victim  of  the  brutal  custom  alluded 
to  was  the  Padre  Rossini,   admitted  into  the 
Pontifical  Chapel  in  1601,  and  nearly  the  last 
was  Crescentini,  who  died   in  1846.     The  last 
Papal  falsetto  singer  was  Giovanni  de  Sanctos. 
who   died   at  Rome   in  1625.     In   addition  to 
the  influences  already  named,  ecclesiastical  au 
thority  would  have  its  effect,  at  any  rate  in 
the  early  stages  of  study,  in  exacting  the  neces 
sary  application  on  the  part  of  students. 

Subordination  to  teachers  existed  in  times 
gone  by,  and  the  gradual  developement  of 
volume  of  voice  and  the  power  of  exact  execu 
tion,  without  the  sacrifice  of  quality,  and  the 
cultivation  of  taste  (the  abstract  of  judgment,  a 
sense  of  proportion  and  fitness)  were  the  results. 
The  observance  of  the  second  golden  precept  in 
studying  singing,  '  Work  for  quality,  and  power 
will  take  care  of  itself,'  has  not  been  sufficiently 
carried  out  in  later  times. 

At  a  not  very  remote  time  no  females  were 
permitted  to  appear  on  the  stage  at  Rome  in 
any  entertainment,  operatic,  dramatic,  or  choro- 
graphic,  the  singing  parts  being  filled  by  the 
best-looking  artificial  soprani  and  contralti  that 
could  be  found.  It  is  an  injustice  to  ascribe  to 
individuals  of  this  class  a  deficiency,  necessarily, 
of  intellectual  power  or  of  personal  courage. 
History  sets  this  question  quite  at  rest.  Nor 
are  defects  in  the  powers  of  articulation  peculiar 
to  them.  Not  one  in  a  hundred,  scarcely,  of 
ordinary  mortals  is  free  from,  some  failure  in  this 
respect. 

Very  little  seems  to  be  known  about  solo 
singers  before  the  beginning  of  the  I7th  century, 
the  period  in  fact  at  which  they  were  really  re 
quired.  Caccini,  the  composer,  and  his  daughter 
are  said  to  have  been  both  fine  singers.  The 
monodic  form  growing  with  Caccini  and  his 
immediate  successors  brought  with  it,  of  neces 
sity,  a  corresponding  growth  of  the  vocal  art. 
The  great  stride  made  by  Monteverde  and  Ca- 
valli  towards  the  modern  opera,  their  amplifica 
tion  of  the  orchestra,  and  the  improvement  of 
the  recitative  by  Carissimi  and  others,  gave  so 
great  an  impulse  to  the  study  of  using  the  voice, 
that  in  a  comparatively  short  time  there  was 
without  doubt  some  very  fine  singing,  if  music  of 
the  middle  of  the  lyth  century  had  adequate 
interpretation  ;  and  if  not  its  continued  produc 
tion  would  speedily  have  come  to  an  end. 
Amongst  the  cantatas  of  Luigi  Rossi  in  the 
British  Museum,  is  one  in  particular,  '  Gelosia 


SINGING. 


SINGING. 


505 


(composed  about  1640)  requiring  all  the  qualifica 
tions  of  a  fine  singer  —  voice  (tenore  robusto,  high 
baritone,  or  mezzo-soprano),  declamatory  power, 
pathos,  and  agility.  Another,  by  Carissirai,  '  Vit- 
toria,'  demands  vigorous  singing.  The  latter  is 
-well-known,  and  both  are  published  amongst  '  Les 
Gloires  de  1'Italie.'  The  dramatic  force  exacted  by 
a  just  rendering  of  the  kind  of  music  named,  and 
which  had  been  naturally  brought  about  by  the 
creation  of  the  recitative,  by  degrees  gave  place  to 
a  more  mechanical  style  of  singing.  The  constant 
recitative  became  monotonous,  and  rhythmical 
airs,  more  and  more  formal,  came  into  vogue, 
their  formality  being  afterwards  relieved  by  set 
passages  or  divisions.  The  singers  above  referred 
to  brought  their  vocalisation  to  such  a  grade  of 
perfection  and  exactness  that  they  must  have 
sung  really  with  the  precision  of  an  instrument. 
This  wonderful  power  of  exact  execution  culmin 
ated  in  Porpora's  famous  pupils,  Farinelli  and 
Caffarelli.  [See  those  names.]  It  is  said  that 
Porpora  kept  Caffarelli  for  five  or  six  years  to  one 
page  of  exercises  and  nothing  else,  and  at  the 
end  of  the  time  told  him  he  was  the  greatest 
singer  in  Europe.  This  is  of  course  an  exaggera 
tion,  since  such  taste  and  style  as  those  of  Caffa 
relli  cannot  be  formed  by  a  page  of  exercises  ; 
but  it  embodies  the  principle  of  slow  patient 
work,  and  of  gradual  development,  instead  of 
the  forcing  of  all  the  powers.  Few  are  blest  with 
naturally  perfect  voices,  and  it  is  even  probable 
that  Porpora  did  prescribe  to  Caffarelli  a  certain 
set  of  exercises  to  be  used  daily.  It  is  the  con 
stant  practice  of  certain  passages  that  overcomes 
defects.  The  passages  (some  examples  of  which 
are  here  given)  in  much  of  the  music  of  that 
date,  especially  that  of  Porpora,  are  really  in 
strumental  passages,  strongly  resembling  the 
vocalizzi  of  the  period  [see  SOLFEGGIO],  and 
possessing  but  little  interest  beyond  the  surprise 
that  their  exact  performance  would  create. 


Artaxerxes. 


Allegro  assai. 


tr 


Siroe. 


^  Alleqro. 
>g^* 


PORPORA. 


Allegro. 


-     za  ancor. 
Adriano. 


VERACINI. 


mi. 


Siroe. 


Allegro. 


PORPORA. 
tr  tr 


A    nau  -  fra   -    gar 
tr  tr 


/>• 


506 


SINGING. 


nau    -    fragar. 


It  would  be  impossible  to  sing  this  kind 
of  music  accompanied  by  any  great  dramatic 
action,  since  action  would  throw  the  voice  off  its 
balance  and  do  away  with  the  exact  execution 
which  was  the  main  attraction  of  the  music ; 
thus  by  degrees  a  great  deal  of  the  singing  will 
have  become  unimpassioned,  the  singer  will  have 
stood  to  sing  his  songs  without  troubling  him 
self  to  act,  and  the  wonderful  execution  and  the 
peculiarity  of  the  voices — many  of  which  are  said 
to  have  been  very  fine,  with  a  tone  like  that  of  a 
highly  developed  boy's  voice — will  have  exercised 
a  certain  fascination  over  the  hearer,  and  have 
become  for  a  time  the  fashion.  One  of  the  finest 
of  these  singers  was  Pacchierotti,  who  with  a 
defective  voice,  possessed  high  intelligence,  and 
made  himself  a  consummate  artist ;  the  last  heard 
in  England  being  Velluti  (born  1781,  died  1861  ; 
in  London  with  Mendelssohn  in  1829),  also  a 
highly  finished  artist,  famous  for  his  phrasing  and 
for  the  grace  of  his  singing  generally. 

The  music  of  Handel,  Scarlatti  and  Hasse, 
while  mechanically  difficult  enough,  called  forth 
broader  artistic  powers,  possessed  by  these  great 
singers  in  an  equal  degree  with  mere  agility, 
when  occasion  required  them ;  and  the  names 
of  Farinelli,  Caffarelli,  Gizziello,  Bernacchi,  Car- 
estini,  Senesino,  etc.,  and  others,  formed  a  bright 
array  of  vocalists.  About  the  same  time  the  cele 
brated  Faustina  (Mme.  Hasse)  and  Cuzzoni  were 
most  brilliant  singers.  Faustina  is  said  to  have 
had  such  extraordinary  powers  of  respiration 
that  it  was  supposed  she  could  sing  both  inspiring 
and  expiring.  Her  agility  was  marvellous.  Basses 
were  now  recognised,  amongst  whom  Boschi  arid 
Montagnana,  with  voices  of  large  compass,  were 
very  fine  singers.  The  following  extract  from  a 
song  sung  by  the  latter  requires  exact  intonation. 


Adriano. 


VERACINI. 


chi  di  soffrlr. 


In  the  latter  half  of  the  i8th  century  voices  of 
exceptional,  in  two  cases  almost  phenomenal,  com 
pass  appeared.  That  of  Agujari,  upon  the  testi 
mony  of  Mozart,  extended  upwards  to  C  in 
altissimo.  Another  account  gives  her  two  fair 
octaves,  from  A  below  the  stave  to  A  in  alt 
(which  would  be  only  the  compass  of  a  good 


SINGING. 

mezzo-soprano),  but  says  that  she  had  in  early 
youth  another  octave.  Mozart,  however,  may  be 
trusted ;  and  as  she  was  27  when  he  heard  her  in 
1770,  and  her  early  youth  over,  it  is  clear  that  she 
had  a  remarkable  compass.  The  very  high  part 
of  the  voice  may  possibly  have  left  her  before  she 
was  far  advanced  in  years.  In  early  life  a  very 
large  compass  is  not  a  great  rarity.  A  male  voice 
in  the  writer's  experience,  soon  after  breaking, 
could  sound  notes  from  A,  ist  space  bass,  to 
treble  C  in  alt,  the  upper  octave  and  a  half  being, 
ib  is  true,  falsetto  (using  the  word  in  its  ordinary 
acceptation,  and  not  as  applied  to  the  middle 
register).  In  about  a  year,  as  the  lower  registers 
increased  in  firmness,  nearly  the  whole  of  the 
upper  octave  disappeared.  Voices  that  can  sound 
three  octaves  are  not  very  unusual,  and  such  a 
voice  has-been  met  with  in  a  boy;  but  a  com 
pass  of  two  good  octaves  is  a  great  gift.  A 
mezzo-soprano  voice  has  been  heard  that  could 
touch  G  on  the  bottom  line  of  the  bass  clef ; 
not  a  usable  note,  but  sufficiently  defined  to  be 
clearly  recognised  ;  while  a  voice,  undeniably 
tenor  in  quality,  had  a  compass  from  the  same 
note,  to  D  above  the  bass  stave,  and  no  more. 
These  are  freaks  of  nature.  Young  contraltos 
frequently  have  a  spurious  upper  octave  which 
disappears  as  the  voice  strengthens.  Fischer, 
the  great  German  bass,  had  a  compass  of  from 
D  below  the  bass  stave  to  A  above,  an  extra 
ordinary  range  for  a  male  voice  without  falsetto. 
His  organ  must  have  been  singularly  powerful 
and  flexible.  In  Russia,  bass  voices  reaching  to 
A  or  G  below  the  bass  stave  are  not  uncommon, 
but  they  have  not  generally  a  large  compass. 
A  family  of  Russian  Jews,  of  three  generations, 
sang  together  in  London  about  the  year  1843. 
The  grandfather,  with  a  long  patriarchal  beard, 
sang  down  to  A  below  the  bass  stave,  but  he 
had  not  many  notes,  and  was  in  fact  a  contra- 
basso.  He  only  vocalised,  and  that  in  part- 
music.  Taking  this  low  A  as  a  starting-point, 
and  Agujari's  high  C  as  the  other  extreme,  the 
human  voice  has  the  astounding  compass  of 
nearly  five  octaves  and  a  half.  Germany's  first 
great  female  singer,  Mara,  with  a  very  beautiful 
voice  of  2 1  octaves,  from  low  G  to  high  E,  must 
have  been  one  of  the  finest  of  these  great  singers. 
The  compass  is  that  of  a  magnificent  soprano 
drammatico,  and  as  she  is  said  to  have  possessed 
solid  talent,  and  to  have  been  a  good  musician, 
she  must  have  been  splendid.  Banti  had  most 
probably  about  three  octaves.  She  reached  high 
G,  the  voice  being  beautiful  and  her  execution 
perfect.  Mrs.  Billington,  with  German  blood  on 
the  father's  side,  was  another  example  of  large 
compass  from  A  to  A,  3  octaves.  Catalani,  again, 
had  a  beautiful  voice  up  to  high  G,  and  marvellous 
execution.  In  the  present  day,  Carlotta  Patti  and 
Miss  Robertson  are  examples  of  high  range. 

In  considering  the  large  compass  of  some  of  the 
voices  just  mentioned,  it  might  seem  marvellous 
how  so  small  an  instrument  can  produce  not  only 
so  great  a  range  of  notes,  but  notes  of  so  much 
power.  The  investigations  of  Manuel  Garcia, 

1  Koyal  Society's  Proceedings,  vol.  vii ;  Nov.  13, 1855. 


SINGING. 

Czermak,  Dr.  Mandl,1  Madame  Seller,2  Dr. 
Luschka,3  Dr.  Morell  Mackenzie,*  Mr.  Gordon 
Holmes,5  and  Herr  Emil  Behnke,6  have  done  a  vast 
deal  to  elucidate  much  that  concerns  the  cognate 
subjects  of  voice-production  and  of  registers,  and 
to  scatter  to  the  winds  untenable  theories — such 
for  instance  as  that  the  varying  pitch  of  notes  is 
the  result  of  harmonics  formed  in  the  resonance- 
chambers  ;  that  the  falsetto  is  produced  by  the 
laryngeal  sacculi  acting  like  a  hazel-nut  made 
into  a  whistle,  etc. ;  but  the  difficulties  of  ade 
quate  laryngoscopic  observation  prevent  the 
clearing  up  of  many  perplexing  details.  In  con 
sulting  the  above-mentioned  works  some  confu 
sion  arises  from  a  difference  of  nomenclature,  not 
only  in  the  matter  of  registers,  but  of  those  all- 
important  anatomical  items,  the  voice  membranes, 
variously  called  vocal  cords,  bands,  ligaments, 
lips,  and  reeds.  In  the  latter  case  this  is  not 
of  so  much  importance,  as  it  is  easy  to  recognise 
that  they  all  refer  to  the  same  part ;  but  in  naming 
the  registers,  it  makes  all  the  difference  whether 
the  term  '  falsetto '  is  used  under  the  old  ac 
ceptation,  or  under  that  of  Garcia,  who  applies  it 
to  the  middle  register.  The  old  terms, 'chest' 
(open  and  closed),  'head,'  'mixed,' and  'falsetto' 
—though  objected  to  as  unscientific  and  based 
upon  sensations  and  fancies — certainly  give  as 
good  an  idea  of  the  respective  registers  as  the 
newly-proposed  terms,  '  lower  and  upper  thick,' 
'lower  and  upper  thin,'  and  '  small.'  The  terms 
Voce  di  petto,  or  di  testa,  falsetto,  Voce  mista, 
or  Mezzo,  voce;  aprire  and  chiudere — to  denote 
the  passing  from  what  is  called  here  the  open  to 
the  close  chest  register  (to  which  Randegger's 
terms  'lower  and  upper  series  of  chest  register' 
correspond) — have  been  used  by  the  Italians 
through  the  whole  time  when  the  art  of  singing 
was  in  a  more  prosperous  condition  than  it  is 
now;  and  until  undeniably  better  terms  can  be 
found  it  is  inexpedient,  on  the  score  of  intelligi 
bility,  to  quit  the  old  ones.  The  term  'chest 
register'  applied  to  the  series  of  tones  produced 
with  the  larynx  drawn  down  towards  the  chest 
by  the  sterno- thyroid  muscles,  and  causing  larynx 
and  chest  to  vibrate  in  one,  is  quite  to  the  point. 
'  Open '  and  '  close  '  are  applied  to  vowel-sounds, 
and  since  the  open  and  close  chest-registers  give 
the  same  quality  of  tone  as  open  and  close  vowels 
— having,  there  is  little  doubt,  the  larynx  in  the 
same  condition  in  both  cases — the  terms  are  quite 
legitimate.  Again,  '  falsetto/  when  applied  to  a 
register  so  different  in  tone  from  the  chest  voice 
as  to  seem,  in  many  cases,  to  belong  to  another 
individual,  or  even  another  sex,  is  not  at  all  an 
inappropriate  term.  But  though  the  falsetto 
differs  so  entirely  from  chest-voice,  it  may  be 
used,  if  reached  through  the  head -voice,  in 
diminishing  a  note  to  a  point ;  but  only  when, 
by  practice,  the  different  registers  are  perfectly 
blended.  In  some  cases  the  falsetto  is  so  strong 

1  Hygiene  de  la  Voix ;  Paris  and  London,  Bailliere  &  Fils. 

2  Voice  in  Singing ;  Philadelphia. 

3  Der  Kehlkopf  des  Menschen. 

4  Diseases  of  the  Throat ;  Churchill. 

5  Vocal  Physiology  and  Hygiene. 

6  Mechanism  of  the  Human  Voice ;  Curwen  &  Sons. 


SINGING. 


507 


as  to  be  undistinguishable  from  head-voice,  as 
in  some  cases  also  a  strong  head-voice  may  in 
the  higher  notes  be  mistaken  for  chest.  Wachtel's 
high  notes  were  produced  by  a  mixed  chest  and 
head  voice.  How  all  these  gradations  are  brought 
about  is  not  quite  clear,  but  there  seems  no  doubt 
that  attenuation  of  the  vibrating  element  is 
effected  in  each  successive  higher  register,  as 
in  a  thinner  string  upon  the  violin  ;  and  also 
that  in  the  case  of  falsetto,  part  of  the  voice- 
membranes  (or  vocal  cords)  is  shut  off  or  'stopped,' 
either  by  a  node,  or  by  constriction  of  the  complex 
thyro-arytenoid  muscles.  If  it  should  hereafter  be 
found  that  any  part  of  these  muscles  is  quite  of  the 
nature  of  the  tongue,  with  fibres  running  in  many 
different  directions,  and  thus  capable  of  being 
brought  to  bear  upon  any  point  of  the  voice  mem 
branes,  a  good  deal  would  be  accounted  for. 

Notwithstanding  difference  of  nomenclature, 
Herr  Behnke's  work  is  a  most  welcome  addition 
to  the  practical  literature  on  the  subject.  Apropos 
of  nomenclature  generally,  would  not  a  standing 
committee  be  advisable  to  settle  points  of  this 
kind  from  time  to  time?  If  a  writer  advances 
an  opinion,  and  there  is  reason  to  differ  from  it, 
it  is  a  long  time  before  a  counter-suggestion  is 
available.  Whereas  a  friendly  personal  inter 
change  of  ideas  might  speedily  bring  about  a 
satisfactory  conclusion.  This  question  might  be 
taken  up  by  the  Musical  Association  or  the  Royal 
College  of  Music.  But  to  resume. 

After  Catalani,  the  operatic  style  advanced  in 
the  direction  of  dramatic  force,  and  entered  on 
the  golden  era  of  united  singing  and  acting,  much 
to  the  displeasure  of  the  older  critics,  who  de 
lighted  in  singing  unaccompanied  by  much  ges 
ticulation.  Pasta  may  be  said  to  have  shown 
the  way  to  unite  fine  singing  with  classic  acting, 
so  that  the  two  should  aid  each  other.  Endowed 
by  nature  with  a  harsh  veiled  voice,  she  worked 
with  prodigious  determination  to  reduce  it  to 
obedience,  and  at  the  same  time  made  a  special 
study  from  antique  sculpture  of  the  most  effec 
tive  gestures,  and  the  classical  mode  of  arranging 
drapery.  When  nearly  sixty  she  had  still  pre 
served  a  wonderful  power  of  mczza  voce  when 
singing  in  private.  One,  who,  like  many  Ger 
mans,  had  great  dramatic  genius,  but  whose  vocal 
powers  were  chiefly  of  the  declamatory  kind, 
created  an  immense  sensation  about  50  years  ago, 
wherever  she  appeared.  This  was  Schrb'der- 
Devrient,  who  created  the  part  of  Fidelio,  and 
sang  it  in  the  presence  of  the  illustrious  com 
poser  of  that  opera  to  his  entire  satisfaction. 
A  singer  who  held  for  some  years  the  post  of 
reigning  favourite  was  Malibran,  a  woman  of 
great  genius,  marred  by  a  good  deal  of  caprice. 
Giulia  Grisi,  with  less  genius  than  Pasta  and 
Malibran,  but  with  a  lovely  voice,  great  beauty, 
and  much  natural  talent,  was  as  persistently  re 
cognised  as  queen  of  song,  through  a  long  series 
of  years,  as  any  public  favourite,  with  the  ex 
ception,  perhaps,  of  Adelina  Patti.  She  formed 
one  of  the  famous  quartet  with  Rubini,  Tam- 
burini,  and  Lablache,  Rubini  on  his  retirement 
being  replaced  by  Mario.  This  quartet  sang 


508 


SINGING. 


together  for  many  years,  and  were  united  by 
such  strong  ties  of  friendship,  and  such  absence 
of  anything  in  the  shape  of  artistic  jealousy,  that 
the  perfection  of  the  ensemble  was  at  once  their 
own  delight  and  that  of  their  admirers.     A  very 
fine  contralto,  Marietta  Brambilla,  sang  about 
the  same  time.     Grisi  had  considerable  versa 
tility,  singing  Norma,  Lucrezia  Borgia,  Ninetta 
(in  La  Gazza  ladra),  Norina  (in  Don  Pasquale), 
Elvira  (in  I  Puritani),  all  well.      Contemporary 
with  Grisi  was  Persiani,  a  very  charming  singer 
and  actress,  in  spite  of  a  not  very  pleasing  voice 
and  a  somewhat  plain  exterior.     She  could  not 
take  such  parts  as  Norma  or  Anna  Bolena  with 
effect,  but  she  sang  with  unaffected  pathos,  and 
executed  florid  music  very  perfectly.    After  Grisi 
and  Persiani,  Bosio  and  Piccolomini  held  a  high 
place  in  the  artistic  world,  and  Sontag,  a  graceful 
and  captivating   singer,  reappeared   after  some 
years'  retirement.   Another  great  example  of  the 
victory  of  Art  over  Nature  was  Malibran's  sister 
Pauline  (Viardot),  a  woman  of  great  genius  with 
a  defective  voice,  who  became  a  worthy  repre 
sentative  of  the  great  Garcia  family.   At  the  time 
of  the  foundation  of  the  second  Opera  House, 
Co  vent  Garden,  to  which  Grisi  and  Mario,  and 
Costa   as  conductor,  transferred  their  services, 
there   appeared  a  star   of  great  magnitude,  of 
whom  so  much  had  been  heard  as  might  have 
endangered  a  first  appearance.  Perhaps,  however, 
no  success  was  ever  more  complete  than  that  of 
Jenny  Lind  (Madame  Golddchmidt).  Her  special 
characters  during  her  career  in  London  were 
Alice  (Roberto  il  Diavolo),   Maria  (La  Figlia 
del   reggirnento),  Amina,   Lucia,  Susanna,  and 
similar  parts,  in  which  the  softer  attributes  of 
the  female  character  predominate.     And  even 
in  those  parts  which  were  not  her  greatest  suc 
cesses  she  always  did  something  better  than  it 
had  been  done  before.     In  Norma  the  cavatina 
'Casta  Diva'  was  sung  by  her  with  infinite  pathos 
and  grace.     There  was  a  slight  veil  upon  the 
middle  and  lower  part  of  the  voice,  but  it  was 
only  sufficient  to  give  it  substance.     Her  Alice 
was  an  impersonation  of  the  highest  order.    Seen 
from  a  proscenium  box  at  a  distance  of  only  a 
couple  of  yards  in  the  old  Her  Majesty's  Theatre, 
every  look  and  gesture  was  reality.     The  scene 
by  the  cross  was  one  not  to  be  easily  forgotten. 
The   Bertram   was   the    famous   German    bass, 
Staudigl,  who  with  very  little  help  in  the  way 
of  stage  paint,  etc.,  contrived  to  give  his  usually 
good-natured  face  an  expression  of  stony  fiend- 
ishness  that  was  actually  appalling.    With  little 
gesticulation  he  seemed  really  to  have  the  power 
of  magnetising  with  his  glance.      Jenny  Lind 
had  a  great  faculty  of  working  up  to  a  climax 
with  a  minimum  of  apparent  effort,  and  a  maxi 
mum  of  effect.     Her  execution  was  most  per 
fect,  and  her  high   notes   rich  and  clear.      In 
the  Figlia  del  Reggimento  she  gave  a  sudden 
display  of  brilliant  florid  singing  that  was  truly 
marvellous.      In  the  scene  in  which  the  aunt 
is  giving   Maria  a   singing-lesson   on   an   anti 
quated  tune,  bored  to  death,  and  with  her  mind 
wandering  to  the  scenes  of  her  former  life,  she 


SINGING. 

broke  forth  into  a  veritable  flood  of  vocalisation  ; 
roulades,  quickly  reiterated  notes,  trills,  etc.,  in 
such  rapid  succession  and  for  such  a  length  of 
time,  that  it  was  difficult  to  imagine  where  the 
strength  came  from.  It  was  quite  a  stroke  of 
genius,  the  more  unexpected  as  occurring  in  one 
of  Donizetti's  inferior  operas.  Jenny  Lind  was 
also  a  great  oratorio  singer.  [For  her  other  great 
operatic  successes  see  vol.  ii.  p.  141.]  Some 
cadences  of  Mile.  Lind's  own,  given  here,  are 
examples  of  her  powers  of  vocalisation.  They 
were  not  sung  as  mere  passages  of  agility,  but  to 
their  absolute  perfection  of  execution  was  added 
an  expressive  significance  which  this  wonderful 
artist  knew  so  well  how  to  throw  into  everything 
she  sang.  Two  more  examples  will  be  found  in 
the  article  above  mentioned. 

(i)    Lucia  di  Lammermoor. 


cres 


cen 


do 


(2)    Beatrice  di  Tenda. 


(3)    Beatrice  di  Tenda. 


f 


f 


SINGING. 


SINGING. 


509 


Musical  decoration,  in  the  form  of  cadences  or 
passages  of  agility,  adds  much  meaning  to  the 
music  in  which  it  is  judiciously  introduced,  and 
as  reasonable  and  as  consonant  with  the 


a 


canons  of  art  as  architectural  decoration.  What 
ever  the  origin  or  precise  meaning  of  a  trill  may 
be,  its  effect,  in  the  right  place  and  well  ex 
ecuted,  is  prodigiously  fine.  Indeed  the  result 
of  ornament  is  often  greatly  out  of  proportion  to 
its  appearance.  When  the  two  sisters  Marchisio 
appeared  at  Milan  about  the  year  1856  in  '  Semi- 
rauiide,'  the  soprano  introduced  a  little  passage 
at  the  end  of  the  air  '  Bel  raggio  '  thus,  — 


qul  a    me   -------     yer  - r&  * 

and  later,  in  the  duet  '  Ebben,  a  te,  ferisci ' — 
Allegro. 


fa   -   -   - 


vor. 


These  passages  do  not  look  very  much  on 
paper,  but  their  effect,  executed  without  the 
smallest  apparent  premeditation,  and  with  a 
spontaneous  dan  de  voix,  was  simply  electric. 
In  the  final  air  in  '  Lucrezia  Borgia,'  in  which 
Lucrezia  reproaches  the  Duke  with  causing  the 
death  of  her  son,  the  long  descending  scales  and 
rising  passages  give  immense  vehemence  to  her 
agony  of  grief,  and  form  a  striking  contrast  to  the 
measured  sequential  passages  which  Farinelli  pro 
bably  sang  without  changing  his  position. 

While  Jenny  Lind  was  achieving  the  success 
we  have  described  in  the  Haymarket,  there  ap 
peared  at  the  rival  house  in  Covent  Garden  the 
famous  Alboni,  a  superb  contralto,  or  rather 
mezzo  soprano,  of  considerable  compass  and  great 
flexibility.  But  during  the  very  reign  of  the  great 
singers  enumerated  above  there  set  in  a  dete 
rioration  in  the  art  of  singing.  Its  very  perfection 
at  that  time  was,  in  a  way,  the  first  cause  of  its 

1  i  *  »/ 

decadence.  The  singer  had  become  all  paramount-, 
and  opera  had  again  drifted  into  convention 
ality.  Numbers  of  operas  were  brought  out 
that  were  weak  imitations,  first  of  good  works, 
and  then  of  one  another,  written  chiefly  to  afford 


the  singer  the  opportunity  for  display  in  arias  of 
stereotyped  form  encumbered  by  a  great  deal  of 
flimsy  padding,  and  the  higher  forms  of  com 
position  were  less  and  less  to  be  found,  until  at 
last,  as  Wagner  says,  the  capacities  of  the  orches 
tra  were  almost  entirely  ignored,  and  it  sank  to 
the  level  of  a  huge  guitar.  It  rose  afterwards,  in 
the  hands  of  those  who  did  not  know  how  to 
use  it,  to  the  height  of  a  huge  brass  band.  The 
reaction  was  brought  about  with  too  much  pride 
and  too  little  temper.  The  voice,  from  having 
been  almost  exclusively  considered,  began  to  be 
almost  as  exclusively  ignored.  As  the  new  style 
of  music  required  more  force  than  delicacy  in  its 
execution,  a  much  shorter  and  more  superficial 
artistic  preparation  was  needed  to  give  some 
thing  of  a  rendering.  The  possessor  of  a  strong 
voice,  after  a  few  months',  instead  of  a  few  years' 
work,  entered  upon  the  operatic  career  with 
powers  not  half  developed  or  brought  under 
control,  and  therefore  unprepared  to  support  the 
greater  strain  brought  to  bear  upon  them.  The 
voice  itself  necessitated  increased  forcing  to  make 
the  required  noise,  and  speedy  deterioration  was 
the  frequent  result.  Mara  sang  the  'Creation'  at 
the  Norwich  Festival,  and  was  asked  how  she 
liked  it.  She  answered  that  it  was  the  first  time 
she  had  ever  accompanied  an  orchestra.  What 
would  she  have  said  to  some  modern  operas  ? 

A  vocal  vice  next  sprang  into  existence ; 
namely,  a  departure  from  the  steadily  sustained 
note.  It  took  two  forms,  the  Vibrato  and  the 
Tremolo.  The  first  had  been  introduced  by 
Rubini,  and  its  abuse  was  the  one  thing  in  his 
singing  which  could  have  been  spared.  Both 
are  legitimate  means  of  expression  in  dramatic 
music,  when  used  sparingly  in  the  proper  time 
and  place ;  but  when  constantly  heard  are  in 
tolerable.  They  (the  Tremolo  especially)  cause  at 
first  a  painful  sensation  by  suggesting  a  state  of 
nervous  excitement  that  must  infallibly  be  ra 
pidly  fatal ;  but  this  soon  subsides,  and  they  are 
felt  to  be  mere  abominable  mannerisms,  express 
ing  nothing  at  all  but  a  direful  want  of  control 
over  the  feelings.  And  there  is  no  greater  nuisance 
in  life  than  cheap  tears.  Ferri,  a  baritone  who 
sang  at  the  Scala  about  1853,  made  use  of  the 
tremolo  upon  every  note,  to  such  an  extent  that 
his  whole  singing  was  a  bad  wobbling  trill. 
Almost  all  the  singers  of  that  time  indulged  in 
it.  It  is  said  to  be  the  result  of  overstraining 
the  voice  in  singing  against  the  heavy  instru 
mentation.  But  this  is  clearly  not  the  case,  since 
many  who  use  it  are  as  fresh  at  the  end  of  an 
opera  as  at  the  beginning.  It  is  probably  some 
times  used  with  the  view  of  making  the  voice 
carry  ;  but  if  it  does  this,  it  does  it  at  the  expense 
of  intonation.  With  others  it  is  simply  an  ex 
aggeration,  supposed  to  be  '  intense.'  It  is  hap 
pily  beginning  to  disappear,  thanks  to  the  few 
who  have  resisted  the  fascination  of  easy  popu 
larity,  and  preserved  the  traditions  of  the  good 
school,  amongst  whom  our  own  best  concert  and 
oratorio  singers  have  done  their  full  share  of 
good  work.  Apropos  to  this  substitute  for 
[  true  expression,  what  are  we  to  understand  by 


510 


SINGING. 


that  much-abused  word  ?  A  generally  accepted 
meaning  is  a  series  of  aimless  ill-proportioned 
crescendos  and  diminuendos,  rallentandos  and 
accellerandos  with  a  constant  apparent  disposi 
tion  to  cry.  Taste  and  expression  are  often  con 
founded  with  each  other.  '  Expression,'  if  only 
from  its  etymology,  means  a  manifestation  of  the 
thought  and  feeling  that  is  passing  within.  Can 
people,  then,  be  taught  to  sing  with  true  expres 
sion  ?  Certainly  not  through  the  bare  outward 
means  to  the  end.  But  they  may  be  taught 
to  seek  for  some  meaning  in  their  words  and 
music  that  shall  rouse  their  feelings,  and  then 
they  may  be  guided  in  their  use  of  the  me 
chanical  means  at  their  disposal,  in  order  to 
avoid  exaggeration :  when  once  they  feel,  we  have 
the  signs  of  it  in  the  mere  sound  of  the  voice ; 
and  it  is  this  subtle  expression  springing  from 
within  that  finds  its  way  from  one  soul  to  another; 
and  as  a  glass  reflects  only  what  is  placed  before 
it,  so,  only  so  far  as  the  singing  is  or  has  been 
felt  by  the  singer,  will  it  be  felt  by  the  hearer. 

Before  the  death  of  Titiens  we  were  so  fortu 
nate  as  to  have  here  five  prime  donne  at  one 
time — Titiens  herself,  Adelina  Patti,  Nilsson, 
Albani,  and  Trebelli — four  of  whom  we  may 
hope  to  have  for  some  time  to  come.  Titiens 
was  a  fine  example  of  the  soprano  drammatico. 
The  voice  was  of  unusual  magnitude,  and  grand 
quality,  with  just  an  idea  of  veil  upon  it. 

The  veil,  in  a  small  degree,  is  by  no  means  of 
necessity  a  defect.  Indeed  it  adds  substance  to 
the  voice  where  it  is  otherwise  pure  and  strong. 
One  of  the  most  remarkable  instances  of  the 
voce  velata  was  Dorus-Gras,  who  sang  in  Eng 
land  in  1839  and  40.  The  veil  had  possibly  come 
over  the  voice  after  first  youth,  but  it  was  then 
very  marked.  With  a  fine  voice  sounding  through 
it,  a  most  brilliant  style,  and  excellent  execution, 
it  quite  gave  the  idea  of  the  bright  sun  and  blue 
sky  shining  through  and  dispelling  a  white  morn 
ing  mist. 

To  return  to  Titiens.  Such  parts  as  Medea, 
Norma,  Semiramide,  Fidelio,  were  her  forte. 
Besides  her  occasional  heavy  breathing,  she  had 
a  defect  in  the  pronunciation  of  the  vowel  e 
(Italian),  which  so  far  marred  her  voice-pro 
duction  ;  but  she  was  a  conscientious  artist,  and 
a  fine  singer  both  in  oratorio  and  opera. 

Adelina  Patti,  blest  with  a  clear,  pure,  facile, 
high  soprano  voice,  which  apparently  never  gave 
her  any  trouble,  of  considerable  compass,  produced 
in  a  faultless  manner,  is  one  of  the  greatest 
mistresses  of  vocalisation  of  our  times.  Nilsson, 
with  a  fine,  extensive  voice,  and  much  dramatic 
talent,  has  a  peculiar  earnestness,  in  parts  that 
she  feels  to  belong  to  her,  that  is  most  attractive. 
During  her  early  great  successes  inParis,one  of  her 
greatest  was  the  part  of  Elvira  in '  Don  Giovanni,' 
a  part  almost  unappreciated  in  London.  Her 
prison  scene  in  Bo'ito's  '  Mefistofele '  is  a  very 
perfect  performance.  The  beauty  of  Albstni's 
voice,  the  grace  of  her  style,  and  her  thorough 
conscientiousness,  have  justly  made  her  a  great 
favourite.  Trebelli,  with  her  grand  mezzo-soprano 
voice  and  style,  is  another  of  the  great  artists  of 


SINGING. 

the  present  day,  and  Pauline  Lucca  yet  another. 
With  six  such  singers  at  one  time,  it  might 
be  asked,  '  Where  is  the  decadence  in  the  art 
of  singing  of  which  you  complain  ? '  We  must 
remember  that  in  England  we  get  the  very  best  of 
everything  (except  climate),  and  that  it  is  to  these 
very  artists,  and  those  in  the  same  path,  that  we 
owe  the  preservation  of  the  good  school. 

Lady  singers  have  been  and  are,  for  the  most 
part,  well-favoured ;  many  very  beautiful ;  those 
of  the  stronger  sex  are  also  generally  well-look 
ing.  But  there  have  been  instances  of  the  re 
verse,  and  of  the  triumph  of  art  over  this  draw 
back.  Tacchinardi  (Persiani's  father),  was  so 
plain  as  to  raise  a  coarse  laugh  when  he  first 
appeared  in  Italy,  upon  which  he  came  to  the 
footlights  and  said,  '  I  am  here  to  be  listened  to, 
not  to  be  looked  at.'  He  was  listened  to,  and 
admired.  Pisaroni,  the  great  contralto,  was  so 
ill-favoured  that  she  usually  sent  her  portrait  to 
the  managers  of  theatres  before  making  an  en 
gagement.  She  was  nevertheless  very  famous. 
In  about  the  year  1855  Barbieri-Nini,  a  well- 
known  soprano  in  many  parts,  was  the  prima 
donna  assoluta  at  the  Scala.  r  The  opening  opera 
was  Verdi's  '  Vespri  Sicilian!,'  under  the  title  of 
'  Giovanna  di  Guzman.'  The  heroine  was  a  young 
girl.  Barbieri-Nini,  who  impersonated  her,  was 
very  short  and  thickset,  without  the  semblance 
of  a  waist,  very  ugly,  marked  with  small-pox,  and 
with  the  looks  of  about  fifty-five.  When  she  ap 
peared,  there  was  the  general  coarse  'Oh,  oh!'  and 
laugh  of  the  Milanese  public.  As  she  proceeded, 
however,  attention  became  fixed  upon  the  singing; 
a  certain  duet  with  the  tenor  made  her  an  esta 
blished  favourite,  and  she  remained  so  to  the  end 
of  the  Carnival.  The  Milanese,  though  unsparing 
in  their  censure,  are  immediately  ready  to  recog 
nize  what  is  good  ;  they  will  hiss  a  singer  through 
nearly  a  whole  evening,  and  yet  a  little  bit,  of  a 
few  notes  only,  well  executed,  will  provoke  a 
storm,  of  applause. 

About  the  time  when  the  tremolo  was  be 
coming  intolerable  (1854%  Clara  Novello  was  the 
prima  donna  assoluta,  and  the  great  beauty  of 
her  voice  and  her  freedom  from  the  prevailing 
vice,  caused  her  to  be  greatly  admired.  Singers 
do  not  always  know  their  own  powers.  Clara 
Novello  was  requested  to  sing  the  part  of  Gilda 
in  '  Eigoletto.'  This  she  at  first  declined  to 
do,  on  the  plea  that  it  was  totally  unfitted  for 
her.  Being  persuaded,  however,  it  proved  an 
enormous  success.  She  sang  the  music  beauti 
fully,  and  acted  the  part  with  much  grace.  The 
baritone  was  Corsi,  one  of  the  best  Rigolettos ; 
and  the  performance  was  a  very  fine  one.  Corsi 
was  a  little  man,  rather  stout,  and  with  not  very 
dramatic  features,  being  somewhat  like  the  busts 
of  Socrates,  but  his  dignified  gestures  had  the 
power  of  apparently  increasing  his  stature.  His 
sympathetic,  but  not  over  strong  voice,  would 
not  bear  the  strain  of  large  theatres;  it  left  him, 
and  he  became  a  teacher  of  singing. 

There  has  been  a  long  list  of  tenors,  beginning 
curiously  with  a  Nicolmo  and  a  Mario  in  the 
1 7th  century,  leading  down  to  our  own  Mario 


SINGING. 

and  Nicolini,  and  comprising  the  names  of  Boro- 
sini,  Bianchi,  Davide,  Ansani,  Donzelli  (with  a 
voice  that  sent  out  large  globes  of  sound),  Tacchi- 
nardi,  Tramezzani,  Garcia,  Malibran's  father,  who 
had  a  voice  capable  of  singing  either  tenor  or 
baritone,   and  for  whom  it  has  been  said  that 
Kossini  wrote  '  Otello" — (it  was  certainly  written 
for  an  exceptional  voice,  since  part  of  the  open 
ing  aria  extends  from  the  bass  A  to  the  high 
tenor  A) — Rubini,  Haitzinger,  Duprez,  Ivanoff, 
(whose  reputation  was  made  by  singing  an  Italian 
version    of   Schubert's    serenade    at    concerts), 
Moriani,    Guasco,   Fraschini,    Roger,    Gardoni, 
Tamberlik,  Wachtel,    Mongini,  Giuglini,  Cam- 
panini,  Gayarre,  etc.    The  greater  number  of  the 
earlier  tenors  seem  to  have  been  highly  finished 
singers,  Ansani  especially  so.     Many  of  us  re 
member  Rubini,  with  his  power  of  drawing  tears 
by  the  simple  force  of  pathetic  expression.     Mo 
riani — a  great  favourite  with  Mendelssohn — was 
to  have  been  Rubini's  successor  in  the  world's 
estimation,  but  neither  he  nor  Guasco — another 
beautiful  voice  and  talent — fulfilled  their  early 
promise.     Of  all  the  tenors  that  we  have  heard 
on  the    stage,    Mario    was    perhaps    the    most 
favoured   by  nature,   and   even   if  his   natural 
talent  was  not  exerted  to  the  full,  he  has  left 
a  gap  not  easily  to  be  filled.    A  voice  rich  as 
Devonshire  cream,  and  a  fine  manly  delivery, 
with  an  unusual  freedom  from  the  tremolo,  were 
qualifications  indeed.     Duprez,  Tamberlik,  and 
Wachtel  were  tenori  di  forza  with  great  quali 
ties,  but  not  without  defects.     Mongini,  whose 
&6but  at  La  Scala  in  'Guillaume  Tell'  was  a 
triumphant  success,  but  whose  appearance  a  few 
nights  after  in  'La  Sonnambula'  was  an  entire 
failure,  was  another  of  the  tenori  robusti,  and 
rather   a  vocal  athlete  than   a  refined   singer. 
Giuglini  was   a   very   graceful    and    charming 
artist,   to    be   listened  to   for   a   time,   but   he 
lacked  vigour,   and   the   extreme   sweetness   of 
the  voice  and  a  somewhat  throaty  production 
soon  made  one  wish  for  something  more.     Cam- 
panini,  with  a  good  voice,  and  total  freedom 
from  tremolo,  was  at  first  enthusiastically  wel 
comed  on  the  latter  account,  but  his  production 
was  very  throaty.     He  improved  in  this  respect, 
and  was  earnest  in  what  he  did.     Nicolini  and 
Gayarre  are   both   powerful   singers,   but  both 
troubled  with   the   tremolo.      One   of  the   best 
tenors  of  modern  times  was  Gardoni.     With  not 
a  large  voice,  his  production  and  style  were  per 
fect.    On  the  stage  his  singing  was  as  distinctly 
heard  as  in  a  room,  and  in  a  room  it  was  most 
graceful  and  sympathetic.     This  is  one  of  the 
charms  of  the  good  school.     Grisi  and  the  rest 
of  her  well-known  party  had  perfect  control  over 
their  voices  in  private. — Basses   and  baritones 
have  also    been    numerous,    from   the  time   of 
Boschi  and  Fischer,  already  mentioned.    Ambro- 
getti,  though  a  buffo,  was  prodigiously  fine  in  a 
part  that  was  anything  but  comic,  the  mad  father 
of  Agnese  in  Paer's  opera  of  that  name.    Galli, 
whose  voice  was  at  first  tenor,  but  after  an  illness 
changed  to  bass,  was  a  very  fine  singer.     It  was 
said  that  his  voice  could  be  heard  at  the  Caffe 


SINGING. 


511 


Martini,  which  in  those  days  stood  opposite  the 
Scala  opera-house.    It  had  to  traverse  the  row  of 
boxes,  two  corridors,  the  portico  of  the  theatre, 
and  a  moderately  wide  street.     Perhaps  with  a 
box  door,  the  entrance  to  the  theatre,  and  the 
door  of  the  Caffe,  all  open  by  chance  at  the  same 
moment,  a  note  may  have  been  heard.     At  any 
rate  it  must  have  been  a  great  voice.  Tamburini, 
with   a   most   defective  vocalisation — singing  a 
florid  passage  with  great  agility,  but  detaching  all 
the  notes,  and  going  through  all  the  vowels  in  the 
process — was  nevertheless  a  very  great   artist. 
His  qualifications  were  a  fine  voice,  a  fine  manly 
style  when  not  singing  florid  music,  a  noble  stage 
presence,  refined  manner  and  action,  and  a  hand 
some  person.     His  facility  in  executing  passages 
in  his  own  manner,  naturally  made  him  take  florid 
parts,  and  he  was  otherwise  so  good  that  his 
obvious   defects  were   pardoned.      He  was   the 
best  Don  Giovanni,  and  the  best  Fernando  in 
'  La  Gazza  ladra '  that  has  been  seen.     He  was 
as  good  a  Duca  in  '  Lucrezia  Borgia/  and  Henry 
VIII.  in  'Anna  Bolena,'  as  Lablacbe,  but  in  his 
own  way.      His  Dandini   in  '  La  Cenerentola ' 
was  quite  as  good.    He  was  therefore  a  great 
talent.     Amongst  basses  Lablache  was  perhaps 
the  most  thoroughly  satisfactory  artist,  even  of 
those  great  days.    Magnificent  voice,  perfect  pro 
duction,  a  noble  countenance  and  person,  in  spite 
of  his  size,  and  a  total  freedom  from  trick  or  af 
fectation.    This  was  the  chief  secret  of  his  powers 
as  an  actor — his  faculty  of  identifying  himself  with 
his  part.    Fornasari  was  a  clever  singer  and  actor, 
but,  even  at  that  date,  he  was  afflicted  to  some 
extent  with  the  tremolo  mania,  which  interfered 
with  his  execution.     Coletti  was  excellent,  but 
not  to  be  accepted  in  the  place  of  Tamburini, 
whose   exorbitant   demands    had   provoked   the 
famous    '  Tamburini     row.'      Giorgio    Ronconi 
was  a  striking  instance  of  deficiency  in  physical 
means,    in   quality   and    power    of   voice,    and 
in    personal    appearance,    more    than    counter 
balanced  by  tragic  force  of  the  highest  order. 
His  powers  were  equally  great  in  comedy.     His 
Figaro  in  the  'Barbiere'  was  the  best  on  the 
operatic  stage.      Ronconi  was  very  witty,  and 
a  very  good  anecdote  is  told  of  him,  which  may 
be  considered  authentic.     Under  the  Austrian 
government   the    police    authorities   were  very 
strict  about  the  words  of  the  libretti.      When 
singing  the  '  Puritani '  at  the  Scala  the  phrase 
'  gridando  iiberta '  made  such  a  sensation  that 
Ronconi   was   sent   for  and   told  to   substitute 
'  lealta '  for  *  liberta.'     He  quietly  obeyed,  and  a 
few    nights     after,    when    Dulcamara    in    the 
'  Elisire  d'Amore '  has  to  say,  speaking  of  Nemo- 
rino,  '  vende  la  liberta,  si  f e  soldato '  ('  he  sold 
his  liberty  and  became  a  soldier '),  Ronconi:  again 
substituted   'lealta'   for   'liberta,'   making  the 
passage  run,  '  be  sold  his  loyalty  and  became 
a  soldier.'     This  was  of  course  a  furious  hit  at 
an   alien   government.      Belletti,  with   a  voice 
not  large  but  well-produced  and  telling,  was  a 
highly-finished  singer,  with  great  power  of  dis 
tinct   vocalisation.     Formes,  with   an  immense 
voice,  was  a  clever  but  somewhat  erratic  singer, 


512 


SINGING. 


and  wanted  study.  Graziani  is  too  well  known 
to  the  reader  to  require  more  than  mention. 
So  too  are  Cotogni,  Faure,  and  Lassalle.  Hen- 
schel  has  been  a  great  addition  to  our  concert 
singers.  Several  Americans  have  been  and  are 
on  the  operatic  stage  with  excellent  effect.  They 
have  many  very  fine  voices  amongst  them,  par 
ticularly  of  the  large  mezzo-soprano  type,  of 
which  Miss  Gary,  who  sang  as  Mile.  Cari  at 
both  opera-houses,  was  a  good  example.  Miss 
Kellogg  and  Foli  are  both  well  known.  Minnie 
Hauck,  Mrs.  Osgood,  Madame  Antoinette  Ster 
ling,  and  Madame  Fassett  are  great  public 
favourites.  The  Americans  have  a  good  deal  of 
dramatic  fire  and  power  of  execution,  and  it 
seems  strange  therefore  that  (according  to  their 
own  statement)  they  have  no  efficient  teachers. 

The  fitful  and  precarious  condition  of  English 
opera  has  militated  against  the  cultivation  of 
dramatic  singing  by  English  vocalists.  The 
language,  though  not  as  favourable  as  it  might 
be,  is  capable  of  being  made  much  more  of  than 
it  generally  is,  by  a  proper  choice  of  words,  and 
a  pure  and  articulate  enunciation.  Many  of  our 
singers  have  had  very  good,  in  many  cases  great, 
success  on  the  Italian  stage — Clara  Novello, 
Catherine  Hayes,  Sims  Reeves,  Santley.  But, 
for  lack  of  a  permanent  Opera,  we  have  studied 
chiefly  for  the  concert-room  and  oratorio.  Going 
back  80  or  90  years  we  find  the  names  of  Mrs. 
Crouch,  an  excellent  singer  and  actress  ;  Mrs. 
Bates,  wife  of  the  founder  of  the  Antient  Con 
certs  ;  and  Miss  Jackson  (Mrs.  Bianchi  Lacy), 
clever  concert  and  oratorio  singers ;  Miss 
Stephens  ;  Miss  Paton,  a  very  fine  opera  and 
concert  singer ;  Mrs.  Knyvett ;  Miss  Birch, 
for  many  years  our  most  favourite  concert  singer, 
with  a  beautiful  voice ;  Mrs.  Alfred  Shaw  and 
Miss  Fanny  Wyndham,  both  fine  contraltos. 
These  three  sang  a  little  in  opera.  Miss 
Homer  was  a  really  fine  dramatic  singer,  and 
a  good  actress,  certainly  one  of  our  best.  Her 
three  greatest  successes  were  Barnett's  '  Moun 
tain  Sylph,'  the  '  Sonnambula,'  and  the  '  Fa- 
vorita,'  which  was  sung  in  English  at  Drury 
Lane,  in  1843,  by  her,  Templeton,  and  Leffler. 
Parepa  was  a  very  clever  singer  and  actress, 
dying  in  her  prime ;  and  Miss  Louisa  Pyne  is 
fresh  in  the  recollection  of  many.  Miss  Rose 
Hersee  has  done  excellent  service  in  opera.  Ade 
laide  Kemble  (Mrs.  Sartoris)  studied  chiefly  for 
the  stage.  The  tenors  during  the  time  here  spoken 
of  were  Michael  Kelly,  Sinclair,  Incledon,  and 
one  whose  name  will  always  shine  in  musical 
history,  Braham,  the  possessor  of  a  marvellous 
voice  and  great  powers  as  a  singer,  whether 
of  Italian  and  English  opera  or  of  oratorio. 
At  70  he  still  sang  in  private,  giving  out 
notes  from  his  big  chest  with  immense  power. 
Wilson  and  Templeton  were  English  opera 
singers.  Both  had  good  voices,  but  the  latter 
was  very  throaty.  Harrison  was  a  clever  singer 
and  actor,  and  did  much  to  advance  the  inter 
ests  of  English  opera.  Our  basses  and  baritones 
have  been  Bartleman,  a  very  fine  singer,  great 
in  Purcell  and  Handel ;  Bellamy ;  Henry  Phil- 


SINGING. 

lips,  very  clever  and  versatile,  and  a  good  actor. 
Weiss,  with  a  very  fine  voice,  was  awkward  on  the 
stage,  but  good  in  oratorio;  Lewis  Thomas, 
a  true  bass,  has  done  excellent  service.  Many 
have  appeared  with  considerable  promise,  but 
have  not  done  all  that  was  expected.  We  have 
been  fortunate  in  the  possession  of  an  English 
quartet,  which  has  upheld,  or  rather  created,  a 
modern  English  school  of  singing,  in  which  many 
objectionable  peculiarities  have  been  done  away 
with,  to  a  great  extent  through  the  study  of 
Italian  music  and  pronunciation — Madame  Lem- 
mens-Sherrington,  Madame  Sainton-Dolby,  Sims 
Reeves,  and  Santley.  The  varied  talent  of  these 
true  artists  is  not  more  remarkable  than  their 
earnestness  in  furthering  the  interests  of  their 
art.  Madame  Sainton,  a  true  contralto,  certainly 
founded  a  school  of  contralto  singing.  Her  powers 
extended  from  the  simplest  ballad  to  works  of  the 
largest  classical  style — English,  French,  German, 
or  Italian.  Reeves  received  the  traditions  of 
Braham,  and  refined  upon  them  ;  and  Santley  has 
done  more  than  any  other  one  baritone  or  bass. 
His  range  of  style  is  unlimited. 

We  owe  a  large  debt  of  gratitude  to  the  singers 
of  widely  various  nationalities,  some  few  of  whom 
have  been  enumerated,  as  well  as  to  our  own  faith 
ful  English  band,  who  have  piloted  the  vocal  art 
through  the  shoals  of  conventionality  and  the 
aberrations  of  popular  taste.  There  have  been 
two  great  waves  of  progress  and  retrogression ; 
the  first,  from  the  creation  of  opera  up  to  the 
culmination  of  the  mechanical  branch  of  the 
Farinelli  school ;  and  the  second,  from  the  con 
ventionality  of  that  school  up  to  the  union  of 
dramatic  force  with  perfect  singing  in  that  in 
augurated  by  Pasta.  From  the  reaction  that  set 
in  afterwards  there  are  signs  that  we  are  begin 
ning  to  mount  a  third  wave.  There  is  recently 
a  marked  general  improvement  in  the  singing  of 
many  of  those  who  have  visited  this  country, 
while  among  our  own  singers  several  have 
already  made  high  reputations,  and  others  are 
giving  great  promise.  Madame  Patey  has  been 
long  the  acknowledged  successor  of  Madame 
Sainton,  to  whom  she  bears  much  resemblance 
both  in  voice  and  in  breadth  of  style.  Mrs. 
Keppell  (Madame  Enriquez)  is  also  an  excellent 
contralto,  while  Miss  Damian  and  Miss  Orridge 
are  making  good  way,  and  others  promising  well. 
Among  our  soprani  Miss  Robertson  and  Madame 
Edith  Wynne  have  long  held  a  high  position. 
Miss  Anna  Williams,  Miss  Mary  Davies,  and 
Miss  Elliot  are  very  talented  singers ;  Miss 
Marriott,  and  Miss  Samuell,  are  steadily  ad 
vancing.  Mrs.  Hutchinson,  with  a  sweet  voice 
and  much  taste,  is  beginning  to  make  her  mark. 
Edward  Lloyd,  an  artist  of  the  first  order,  won  his 
artistic  spurs  at  the  Gloucester  Festival  in  1871. 
Vernon  Rigby  and  W.  H.  Cummings  (a  musician 
and  archasologist  of  distinction)  also  stand  high 
in  the  public  estimation.  Shakespeare,  be 
sides  being  an  excellent  singer,  is  a  valued 
instructor,  and  a  thorough  musician.  Maas  and 
McGuckin  have  already  had  much  success ;  Her 
bert  Reeves,  with  a  small  voice  but  good  style, 


SINGING. 

and  several  others,  among  them  Harper  Kearton 
and  Frank  Boyle,  are  coming  on  well ;  so  that 
there  is  really  no  lack  of  tenors  if  they  all 
fulfil  their  mission.  Of  baritones  and  basses  we 
may  name  King,  Thorndike,  Barrington  Foote, 
Pyat,  Thurley  Beale,  and  others.  We  have  more 
singers  now  than  we  ever  had. 

The  question  of  a  National  Opera  has  again 
come  to  the  front,  and  there  could  hardly  be  a 
better  moment  in  which  to  consider  it  than  the 
present,  in  connection  with  the  Royal  College 
of  Music.  The  founding  of  a  National  Opera 
House — that  is  to  say,  a  theatre  liberally  sub 
sidised  by  government  or  endowed  by  private 
subscription — for  the  exclusive  performance  of 
English  opera  and  opera  in  English,  is  a  neces 
sity.  If  made  part  of  the  College,  under  the 
control  of  the  directors,  it  could  be  conducted 
upon  the  strictest  rules  of  order,  propriety, 
and  morality ;  but  it  should  be  to  all  intents 
and  purposes  a  public  theatre.  Though  not 
necessarily  as  large  as  either  of  the  existing 
opera-houses,  it  should  be  of  sufficient  size  to 
have  a  full  orchestra.  English  opera  has  been 
often  condemned  to  a  theatre  in  which  the  or 
chestra  has  been  mutilated,  or  there  has  been 
the  full  complement  of  wind  with  a  totally  in 
adequate  supply  of  strings.  Either  of  these  shifts 
must  be  avoided,  and  to  avoid  them  the  theatre 
would  have  to  be  of  reasonable  dimensions. 
A  good  model  is  not  far  to  seek.  Both  the 
existing  theatres  are  acoustically  good.  The 
new  one  should  not  be  a  mere  practising  ground 
for  the  students  of  the  College,  except  to  give 
them  experience  in  subordinate  parts.  They  should 
only  be  admitted  when  thoroughly  proficient 
singers.  Until  then,  artists  would  have  to  be  pro 
cured  from  outside ;  but  after  that  the  College 
itself  would  furnish  them.  So  with  the  orchestra  ; 
it  would  be  necessary  at  first  to  engage  artists 
to  ensure  thorough  efficiency,  but  it  should  ulti 
mately  be  formed,  as  far  as  possible,  of  students 
competent  to  take  their  place  in  it.  Thus  by 
degrees  the  whole  artistic  staff  might  be  formed 
of  the  pupils  of  the  College.  In  this  way  an 
esprit  de  corps  would  be  created  which  would 
tend  to  advance  the  artistic  excellence  of  the 
whole  establishment,  while  the  fact  of  its  being 
distinctly  a  public  theatre  would  make  students 
feel  that  there  was  no  child's  play.  If  a  com 
poser  were  commissioned  to  write  an  opera  for 
this  theatre,  the  libretto  should  be  first  submitted 
to  the  directors,  in  order  that  good  original 
words  and  good  translations  might  be  as  far 
as  possible  secured.  Any  profit  realised  from 
the  theatre  might  go  to  found  scholarships  or  a 
superannuation  fund.  If  some  permanent  esta 
blishment  of  the  kind  were  founded,  then  both 
singers  and  composers  would  find  it  worth  their 
while  to  work  for  it.  Mr.  Carl  Rosa  has  shown 
to  a  great  extent  what  may  be  done. 

Reference  has  been  made  to  the  natural  apti 
tude  for  choral  singing  in  the  Northern  and 
Midland  counties  of  England.  This  branch 
received  a  vast  impulse  in,  England  generally 
through  the  efforts  of  Dr.  Hufiahj  and  both 
VOL.  in.  PT.  3. 


SINGING. 


513 


Mr.  Henry  Leslie  and  Mr.  Barnby  have  contri 
buted  largely  to  its  advancement.  Many  re 
fined  renderings  of  difficult  music  have  given 
proof  of  the  high  grade  of  excellence  to  which 
Mr.  Otto  Goldschmidt  has  brought  the  Bach 
Society.  But  all  this  choral  activity  has  not 
been  an  unmixed  benefit.  The  indiscriminate 
manner  in  which  amateurs  join  the  various 
public  and  private  choral  societies  leads  to  the 
yearly  deterioration  and  even  destruction  of 
many  young  voices.  Undeveloped  voices  that 
can  barely  sing  for  ten  minutes  without  fatigue, 
draft  themselves  into  a  chorus,  and  indulge  in 
frequent  practices  of  from  an  hour  and  a  half 
to  two  hours  of  high  music,  with  the  idea  that 
though  they  cannot  make  much  effect  alone, 
they  are  good  enough  for  a  chorus,  forgetting  or 
ignoring  that  the  very  want  of  practice  and 
development  that  renders  them  inefficient  solo- 
singers  makes  the  chorus  doubly  dangerous  to 
them.  They  say  '  We  are  helped  forwards  by 
the  practised  voices.'  But  a  feeble  runner  bound 
to  a  powerful  one  will  be  helped  forward  for  a 
very  short  time  only ;  he  will  then  be  forced 
onward,  and  finally,  when  exhausted,  will  be 
dragged  along  the  ground  and  trampled  under 
foot.  But  it  is  not  only  on  account  of  the  music 
being  so  often  beyond  the  compass  of  ordinary 
voices  that  mischief  is  done.  It  is  well  known 
that  a  voice  in  unison  with  several  others  becomes 
almost  entirely  neutralised,  as  far  as  the  possessor's 
consciousness  is  concerned.  The  singer's  voice 
goes  to  swell  the  volume  of  sound,  but  cannot  be 
heard  by  its  owner,  and  the  result  is  an  amount 
of  perhaps  unintentional  forcing  that  leaves  her 
vocally  exhausted  at  the  end  of  a  chorus.  Be 
sides,  notes  are  taken  by  hook  or  by  crook,  and 
voice-production  is  forgotten.  The  conductor  of 
a  chorus  has  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  indi 
vidual  voices.  He  must  get  the  maximum  of 
effect  out  of  his  little  army  of  singers.  Pro 
fessional  chorus-singers  learn  to  make  only  the 
necessary  effort,  and  a  singer  without  the  required 
vocal  means  sufficiently  developed  would  not  be 
admitted  into  a  professional  chorus.  Again,  those 
whose  existence  depends  upon  their  voice  will  not 
allow  enthusiasm  to  carry  them  beyond  their 
powers,  as  those  do  who  join  a  chorus  for  the 
love  of  the  thing.  The  evil  is  so  great  as  to 
require  serious  consideration,  and  the  whole 
question  of  choral  singing  should  be  systematised. 
Elementary  classes  should  be  formed.  Intro 
ductory  elementary  classes  should  exist  in  which 
two  voices  only  should  practice  in  unison,  each 
voice  singing  first  alone,  passage  by  passage : 
thus  the  production  and  right  amount  of  tone 
would  be  cared  for.  Numbers  of  voices  might  be 
benefitted,  if  not  saved  from  destruction,  by  lead 
ing  to  sing  in  chorus.  This  is  a  subject  that  might 
well  attract  the  attention  of  the  Royal  College 
of  Music.  As  it  is,  the  mischief  will  become 
more  and  more  apparent,  members  of  choral 
societies  will  fall  away  rather  than  lose  their 
voices,  and  it  may  be  found  difficult  to  keep 
a  sufficient  body  together.  But  with  proper  care 
a  most  instructive  and  enjoyable  branch  of 

L  1 


514 


SINGING. 


musical  art  could  be  indulged  in  'with  benefit 
as  well  as  pleasure,  and  the  choral  bodies  would 
be  in  fitter  condition  to  observe  the  nuances 
required  by  a  critical  conductor. 

The  style  of  operatic  writing  immediately  be 
fore  us  at  this  moment  cannot  continue,  with 
any  hope  of  the  advancement  of  singing,  but 
the  influence  of  the  great  living  master's  mind 
•will  not  be  the  less  felt  for  good,  when  tempered 
with  the  calmer  judgment  of  less  fiery  and  less 
defiant,  though  not  less  zealous  and  conscientious 
geniuses,  who  will  no  doubt  succeed  him  and 
modify  his  theories. 

It  must  be  repeated  that  the  features  of  dif 
ferent  schools  of  singing  are  greatly  traceable 
to  the  influence  of  language.  How  is  a  school 
to  be  defined?  Is  it  not  the  spirit  of  a  code 
of  art-canons  which  has  grown  up,  or,  so  to  say, 
compiled  itself  from  the  salient  characteristics 
of  the  most  prominent  votaries  of  an  art  ? 
In  proportion  as  these  characteristics  are  un 
sullied  by  peculiarities  or  tricks  the  school  will 
be  pure.  The  influence  of  a  talent  will  unfor 
tunately  impose  its  defects  and  abberations  by 
the  very  force  of  its  higher  qualities,  and  the 
defects  are  more  easily  imitated  than  the  higher 
qualities.  Hence  the  necessity,  on  the  part  of 
each  individual  votary  of  an  art,  for  the  most 
rigorous  self-discipline.  A  great  difficulty  in 
the  way  of  study  is  to  hear  oneself  as  one  really 
is,  and  not  as  one  intends  to  be.  We  are  so 
much  under  the  dominion  of  our  minds  that  it  is 
often  very  hard  to  avoid  accepting  our  intentions 
for  performance.  Those  who  are  blest  with 
voice  and  talent  must  realise  the  fact  that  they 
are  high  priests  and  priestesses  of  their  art ; 
that  to  them  is  assigned  the  mission  of  helping 
to  form  a  school,  and  that  their  example,  for 
good  or  ill,  does  more  than  a  hundred  books. 
And  it  is  precisely  to  those  who  have  exer 
cised  this  earnest  self-discipline  that  we  owe 
the  preservation  of  the  valuable  traditions  of 
a  good  school.  Even  in  language — which  has 
just  been  said  to  influence  a  school  of  sing 
ing — it  is  the  province  of  the  singer  to  purify 
its  sounds  to  the  utmost.  We  cannot  help 
tracing,  for  example,  the  chief  defect  of  French 
singing,  the  so-called  gorge  d&ploye  style,  to 
the  normal  flat  French  a,  which  led  to  ex 
aggeration,  more  apparent  perhaps  than  real. 
The  tremolo  (observable  even  in  that  great 
artist  Mons.  Faure),  which  had  its  development 
in  France,  has  of  course  no  origin  in  language, 
but  is  possibly  due  to  the  vibrato  of  Rubini.  It  is 
one  of  the  tricks  glanced  at  above  which  has  been 
allowed  to  creep  in,  and  has  proved  itself  a  truly 
noxious  vocal  weed.  How  much  these  defects 
have  been  tempered  of  late  amongst  French  artists 
is  felt  in  the  fine  singing  of  Mons.  Lasalle.  The 
Germans  do  not  pay  sufficient  attention  to  special 
characters  of  voice,  and  are  given  to  forcing  them 
beyond  their  natural  limits.  There  is  also  a 
great  waste  of  power,  a  great  wear  and  tear 
of  the  general  physical  strength,  consequent 
upon  their  singing  being  too  convulsive,  result 
ing  often  in  a  laboured  suppression  of  voice. 


SINGING. 

They  have  a  mode  of  producing  the  vowel  e,  and 
their  double  sound  ei,  which  greatly  damages 
the   quality  of  the  voice   on  those  sounds,  so 
that  a  German  frequently  seems  to  possess  a 
voice  that  is  at  once  good  and  bad.     But  these 
are  not  really  characteristics  of  the  language, 
and  should  be  abandoned  by  singers.     Vilda, 
the  German  soprano,  who  appeared  some  years 
ago   at  Covent  Garden,  had  a  perfect  produc 
tion  and  style,  and  Stockhausen,  who  was  here 
about  ten  years  ago,  a  singer  of  great  talent, 
had  none  of  the  defects  above  mentioned,  and 
was  a  master  of  declamation.    So  is  Zur  Miihlen, 
a  young  Esthonian  singer,  who  deserves  to  be 
better  known.    It  is  remarkable  that,  with  their 
power  as  composers   and   musicians,  and  their 
general  high  intelligence,  the  Germans  are  not 
better  singers.    They  make  a  grievous  mistake 
if  they  think  the  vocal  art  beneath  their  notice. 
The    two   singers   lately  heard   in    'Der  Ring 
des   Niebelungen,5    Heir    and   Madame   Vogel, 
with  their  magnificent  voices,  their  earnestness, 
and  their  power  as  actors,  could  not  help  every 
now  and  then  marring  their  otherwise  admirable 
performance  by  the  defects  belonging  to  their 
school.       Herr   Gura,   in    'Die   Meistersinger,' 
showed  powers  of  purer  vocalisation. 

The  English  characteristic  has  been  till  lately 
rather  a  lack  of  any  characteristic  whatever,  ex 
cept  defective  pronunciation  ;  and  a  general  apathy 
and  want  of  interest  which  has  caused  many 
good  voices  to  be  wasted.  We  are  fast  waking 
up  from  this  state  of  things.  The  defects  above 
enumerated  have  been  those  mostly  observable 
amongst  the  general  amateur  class  and  artists  of 
a  mediocre  stamp — peculiarities  of  the  respec 
tive  countries  in  fact.  And  in  proportion  as 
individuals  have  steered  clear  of  these  defects 
and  have  carried  self-discipline  rigidly  into  effect, 
so  far  have  they  taken  an  artistic  position.  In 
this  country  (as  in  others)  there  are  some  first- 
rate  amateurs,  many  of  whom  are  doing  ex 
cellent  service  in  endeavouring  to  foster  a  love 
of  music  in  all  classes,  by  founding  societies  for 
giving  concerts,  either  free  or  at  nominal  prices 
of  admission.  Some  of  our  amateurs  would  do 
credit  to  the  profession  of  music  anywhere  in 
Europe.  We  owe  to  them  some  of  our  best  Eng 
lish  songs.  True,  some  of  these  are  over-elaborate, 
but  this  is  a  welcome  counterpoise  to  the  too 
great  simplicity  and  uniformity  of  many  of  our 
native  songs.  Not  that  simplicity,  per  se,  is  a 
fault.  On  the  contrary,  if  we  look  amongst  the 
immense  numbers  of  songs  by  the  greatest  song 
writers  of  the  age,  the  Germans,  and  especially 
amongst  the  greatest  of  these,  Franz  Schubert, 
we  frequently  find  a  marvellous  amount  of  music, 
or,  at  least,  significance,  with  but  little  material. 
The  great  quality  in  the  best  German  songs  is 
their  independence  and  unconventionally.  Each 
song  is  a  poem — some,  long  poems — in  which  the 
composer  seems  not  to  have  cared  whether  others 
existed  or  not,  but  to  have  drawn  his  inspira 
tion  immediately  from  what  was  before  his  mind. 
Thus  there  is  scarcely  a  single  stereotyped  form 
amongst  them.  Schubert,  Mendelssohn,  Schu- 


SINGING. 

mann,  Brahms  (many  of  whose  songs  are  of 
great  power),  Rubinstein,  Jensen,  Franz,  Grieg, 
Kjerulf,  have  given  us  a  collection  of  precious 
jewels.     The  lighter  writers,   Kiicken,  Eckert, 
etc.,  have  also  produced  a  number  of  charming 
Lieder.     French  songs  are  many  of  them  very 
graceful,    original,    and    attractive.     Those    of 
Gounod  are  often  charming;   and  in  his  songs 
Berlioz  is  for  once  natural,  simple,  and  exqui 
sitely  beautiful.     The  chamber-songs  of  the  Ita 
lians  are,  like  our  own,  too  uniform,  but  they 
are  always  thoroughly  singable,   and   those   of 
Gordigiani,  Mariani,  De  Giosa,  etc.,  are  original 
to  boot.    It  is  to  the  old  writers  that  we  look  for 
the  best  Italian  chamber-songs.     Amongst  our 
modern  English  song-writers,  Sterndale  Bennett, 
Hullah,  Salaman,   Macfarren,  Sullivan,  Cowen, 
Seym  our  Egerton,  Hubert  Parry,  F.  Clay,  Michael 
Lawson,  Villiers  Stanford,  Maude  White,  etc., 
and  of  foreign  composers — Benedict,  Agnes  Zim- 
mermann  (both  almost  English),  Gounod,  Blu- 
menthal,  Henschel,   Pinsuti,   have  supplied  us 
•with  works  that  ought  to  keep  the  public  taste 
at  a  proper  level.     But  there  has  been  an  in 
sidious  influence  at  work  which  has  had  more 
to  do  with  vitiated  taste  and  bad  voice-produc 
tion  amongst  amateurs  than  is  perhaps  generally 
supposed — the  Music  Hall.     Young  men  lounge 
into  music  halls,  and  hear  imbecile  songs  sung 
in  a  tone  of  voice  that  is  simply  sickening.    They 
sing  these   songs   at  home  in  the   same   tone ; 
the    songs    themselves,   with    illustrated    title- 
pages,  are  found,  perhaps,  lying  between   two 
sonatas  of  Beethoven,  or  two  songs  of  Mozart ; 
and  have  infinitely  more  effect,  in  many  cases, 
upon  the  tone  of  voice  in  singing  or  even  speak 
ing  than  any  precepts  of  an  instructor.     It  is 
with  reference  to  such  influences  that  the  nature 
of  abstract  music  was  dwelt  upon  at  the  begin 
ning  of  this  article — that  is  to  say,  its  power 
of  expression,  apart  from  mere  tune  ;  and  if  this 
and  the  influence  of  pure  pronunciation  were 
more  felt  than  they  are,  our  general  style  of  sing 
ing  would  be  very  much  above  what  it  is. 

It  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that  there  is  not  a 
career  of  pure  chamber-singing  in  this  country. 
That  is  to  say,  that  those  (and  there  are  many 
such)  with  sympathetic  voices  and  refined  style, 
but  without  sufficient  power  for  large  spaces, 
should  have  so  few  chances  of  making  a  position 
for  themselves.  They  are  forced  to  pass  through 
the  ordeal  of  trying  their  powers  in  vast  public 
places  where  they  are  heard  to  disadvantage,  and 
are  often  unjustly  condemned ;  whereas  if  judged 
upon  their  merits  in  their  legitimate  sphere, 
they  would  be  fully  appreciated.  Perhaps  this 
will  come  with  a  general  elevation  of  public 
taste. 

It  is  much  to  be  desired  that  students  of 
singing  should  at  the  same  time  become  good 
musicians.  The  publisher  of  the  '  Solfe"ges  du 
Conservatoire,  par  Cherubim,'  etc.,  in  his  preface, 
properly  lays  great  stress  on  this  point,  and  on 
the  necessity,  to  this  end,  of  the  study  of  roca- 
lizzi  by  the  best  composers,  so  that  the  taste 
.may  be  formed  with  the  formation  of  the  voice. 


SINGAKADEMIE. 


515 


A  strong  proof  of   the  low  ebb  at  which  the 
art  of  singing  now  lies  in  this  country  is  the 
very  small  musical  knowledge  that  the  bulk  of 
singers  find  sufficient  for  their  purpose.     It  is 
customary  to   cite   the   names   of  one   or  two 
specially    gifted    individuals    who    made  great 
names  without  musical  knowledge.     These  are 
but  the  exceptions  that  prove  the  rule.     The 
fact  would  be  more  obvious  were   it  not   the 
custom  in  this  country  to  'hammer  away'  at  the 
same  pieces  until  they  are  worn  out.     The  great 
singers  of  former  times  who  originated  and  per 
fected  the  good  school  were,  the  greater  part  of 
them,  good  musicians  ;  indeed  the  older  teachers 
—  Caccini,  Pistocchi,  Scarlatti,  Porpora,  etc. — 
themselves  great  contrapuntists,  would  not  have 
it  otherwise.     The  music  of  Sebastian  Bach  and 
his  school  absolutely  requires  the  singer  to  be  a 
musician  in  order  to  do  it  justice.    To  sing  a  few 
ballads  does   not.     Later  masters — Crescentini, 
Garcia,  Mazzucato,  Randegger,  etc. — have  been 
good  musicians,  and  it  is  a  matter  of  the  first  and 
last  importance  that  a  proper  study  of  the  theory 
of  music  should  be  considered  an  indispensable 
branch  of  the  singer's  education — that  is  to  say, 
if  the  art  is  to  rise  to  the  level  at  which  it 
should  be.  [H.C.D.] 

SINGAKADEMIE,  THE  BERLIN,  one  of  the 
most  important  art-institutions  in  Germany.  Its 
founder  was  Carl  Friedrich  Christian  Fasch,  born 
1 736  and  appointed  in  1756  cembalist  to  Frederic 
the  Great  of  Prussia,  after  whose  death  he  led  a 
quiet  and  retired  life  in  Berlin  as  music  teacher 
and  composer.  The  Singakademie  originated 
with  some  attempts  made  by  Fasch  and  a  few  of 
his  pupils  and  musical  friends  to  perform  his 
own  sacred  compositions  for  mixed  voices.  The 
actual  Akademie  was  founded  on  Thursday, 
May  24,  1791,  and  up  to  the  present  time  the 
weekly  practices  are  still  held  on  a  Thursday. 
The  original  members  were  27,  thus  distributed: 
— 7  soprani,  5  alti,  7  tenors,  and  8  basses.  The 
society  was  at  first  entirely  private,  the  meetings 
taking  place  at  the  house  of  Frau  Voitus  (Unter 
den  Linden,  no.  59,  afterwards  Charlottenstrasse 
no.  61).  This  character  it  retained  even  after  the 
practices  were  held  in  a  room  at  the  Royal 
Academy  of  Arts,  the  use  of  which  was  granted 
to  the  Singakademie  Nov.  5,  1793.  The  first  of 
the  regular  public  performances  took  place  at 
Easter  1801.  The  proceeds  were  at  first  devoted 
to  charitable  objects,  but  after  the  Akademie 
had,  in  1827,  erected  its  own  buildings,  where 
the  meetings  are  still  held,  and  which  con 
tains  the  best  concert-room  in  Berlin,  it  became 
necessary  to  have  performances  for  the  benefit  of 
the  Institution,  and  these  are  still  carried  on. 
The  object  of  the  founder  was  to  promote  the 
practice  of  sacred  music  both  accompanied  and 
unaccompanied,  but  especially  the  latter.  The 
society  at  first  confined  itself  to  Fasch's  composi 
tions,  singing  amongst  others  his  i6-part  Mass  a 
cappella,  but  in  a  short  time  pieces  by  Durante, 
Graun,  Leo,  Lotti,  etc.,  were  added.  The  first 
oratorio  of  Handel's  put  in  rehearsal  was  Judas 
Maccabeus  (1795).  The  original  purpose  of  the 

L12 


516 


SINGAKADEMIE, 


institution  has  -been  faithfully  adhered  to.  Its 
exertions  for  the  spread  of  Handel's  oratorios 
throughout  Germany  have  been  most  successful, 
and  indeed  the  promotion  of  this  special  branch 
of  art  is  the  most  essential  feature  of  the  Sing- 
akademie.  Less  favourable  results  have  been  at 
tained  with  regard  to  Bach,  whose  church  com 
positions  have  been  treated  as  concert  pieces, 
which  in  many  cases  puts  them  in  an  entirely 
wrong  aspect.  The  first  performance  of  Bach's 
Matthew-Passion  in  1829  is  well  known,  and 
indeed  marks  an  epoch,  but  the  chief  credit  is 
due,  not  to  the  Singakademie,  but  to  the  con 
ductor  -of  the  performance,  Felix  Mendelssohn 
Bartholdy. 

The  Berlin  Singakademie  has  served  as  a 
model  for  most  of  the  vocal  unions  of  Germany. 
Its  structure  is  exceedingly  simple,  the  governing 
body  consisting  of  a  director,  who  has  charge  of 
all  musical  matters,  and  a  committee  of  members 
(ladies  as  well  as  gentlemen)  who  manage  the 
business.  All  of  these  are  elected  at  general 
meetings.  Since  1815  the  director  has  had  a 
fixed  salary  out  of  the  funds  of  the  society.  New 
members  are  admitted  by  the  director  and  the 
committee.  There  is  a  special  practice  on  Wed 
nesdays  for  less  advanced  members,  who  must 
attain  a  certain  amount  of  proficiency  at  this, 
before  being  allowed  to  join  the  main  body.  The 
numbers  rose  in  1788  to  114,  in  1813  to  301,  in 
1827  .to  436,  and  in  1841  to  6 1 8.  At  the  present 
moment  there  are  600  members. 

Fasch  died  in  1800,  and  was  succeeded  in  the 
directorship  by  his  pupil  Carl  Friedrich  Zelter. 
An  attempt  to  bring  in  Mendelssohn  having 
failed,  Zelter  .was  succeeded  by  Carl  Friedrich 
Rungenhagen  (1832  to  1851)  and  he  by  Eduard 
August  Grell,  who  relinquished  the  directorship 
in  1876  on  account  of  his  advanced  age,  but  re 
tains  a  seat  and  vote  in  the  committee,  with  the 
title  of  honorary  director.  Martin  Blumner,  the 
present  conductor,  was  born  in  1827,  an<^  aP~ 
pointed  in  1876.  [P.S.] 

SINGSPIEL.  This  term  has  been  in  use  in 
Germany  for  the  last  300  years  to  denote  a  dra 
matic  representation  with  music ;  not  any  one 
particular  kind — singing  being  capable  of  being 
employed  in  such  various  ways — but  any  enter 
tainment  in  which  spoken  dialogue  and  singing 
alternate.  In  time  speech  gave  way  at  intervals 
not  only  to  singing,  but  to  singing  by  several 
voices  at  once.  Later,  when  the  spoken  dialogue 
had  been  brought  into  entire  subjection  to  music, 
as  was  the  case  in  Italy  after  the  revolution  effected 
in  the  whole  nature  of  dramatic  representation  by 
the  rise  of  opera,  not  only  concerted  vocal  pieces 
were  introduced  into  the  German  Singspiel,  but 
instrumental  music  and  its  prote'ge'  monody  as 
well.  We  find  the  earliest  traces  of  the  Singspiel 
in  the  German  miracle-plays,  which  were  gra 
dually  developed  outside  the  churches  from  the 
Passions  given  inside  them.  The  Passions-were 
sung  throughout,  while  in  the  miracle -plays 
spoken  words  in  German  were  introduced,  the 
singing  still  being  in  Latin,  as  for  example  in  the 
'Ludus  paschalis  de  passione  Domini/  MS.  of 


SINGSPIEL. 

the  1 3th  century.    In  course  of  time  the  Latin 
text,  and   consequently  the  music,  was  thrust 
into  the  background.     In  a  14th-century  MS. 
called  '  Marienklage,'  preserved  in  the  convent 
of  Lichtenthal  near  Baden,  Mary  sings  in  Ger 
man.     Indeed  we  already  find  the  typical  Ger 
man  miracle-play  in  the  '  Spiel  von  den  zehn 
Jungfrauen'  performed  at  Eisenach  in  1322,  in 
which  all  the  words  sung  are  German.    These 
plays  were  generally  performed  on  the  eves  of 
the  great  festivals,  such  as  Whit  Sunday,  Epi 
phany,  etc.     Gradually  the  ecclesiastical  element 
disappeared,  leaving  only  the  secular,  and  thus 
originated  the  Shrove  Tuesday  plays,  in  which 
the  characteristics  of  whole  classes  of  society, 
priests,  doctors,  travelling  scholars,  etc.,  were  held 
up  to  ridicule.     Nuremberg  and  Augsburg  were 
specially  celebrated  for  these  plays,  written  for  the 
most  part  by  Hans  Rosenblut  (about  1405),  Hans 
Folz  of  Worms    (about  1480),  both  living  in 
Nuremberg,  and  Nicolaus  Mercator.    They  gra 
dually  however  degenerated  into  obscene  pieces, 
until  in  the  i6th  century  Hans  Sachs  and  Jakob 
Ayrer  (both  of  whom  introduced  music  into  their 
plays)  started  the  movement  which  ended  in  the 
reformation   of  the  German   stage.     By  Ayrer 
we  still  have  a  '  Schb'ns  neus  singets  Spiel,'  '  Der 
Munch  im  Kesskorb,'  sung  in  1618  by  five  per 
sons   'entirely  on   the   melody  of  the  English 
Roland.'    This  melody  is  repeated  54  times,  and 
one   cannot   help  suspecting  that  the  English 
stage  was   to   some   extent  Ayrer' s  model.    A 
reaction  from   these    'people's  plays'  (as  they 
might    be   called)  was   caused  by  the  '  school 
plays'    in   Latin,    annually  performed   by  the 
pupils  of  the  Jesuits.     Between  the  acts  Ger 
man   interludes   with   music   were   introduced, 
and    these   were    virtually   Singspiele    in   the 
modern  sense.     The  first  Singspiel  in  imitation 
of  the  Italian  opera  without  any  spoken  dialogue 
was  '  Dafne,'  written  by  Martin  Opitz  and  com 
posed  by  Heinrich  Schutz  in  1627  ;  unfortun 
ately  this  has  been  lost.     The  earliest  instance 
of  an  independent  German  Singspiel  with  singing 
and  spoken  dialogue  was  '  Seelewig,'  a  sacred 
Waldgedicht  or  Freudenspiel.   In  a  spoken  play 
of  Harsdorffer's  (1644)  were  introduced  Arias 
after  the  Italian  manner,  composed  (see  Eitner's 
'Monatsheft  fur   Musikgeschichte,'  1881,  noa. 
4,  5,  6),  by  Siegmund   Gottlieb   Staden  (born 
in   1607   at   Nuremberg,   succeeded   his  father 
as  organist  of  St.  Sebald  in  1634,  and  died  in 
1655).   The  piece  is  intended  for  private  perform 
ance,  and  written  for  3  trebles,  2  altos,  2  tenors, 
I  bass,  3  violins,  3  flutes,  3  reeds,  and  one  large 
horn,   the   bass  being  taken   throughout  by  a 
theorbo.     No  two  voices  ever  sing  at  the  same 
time,  and  the  instruments  have  short  sympho 
nies  to  themselves.     The  only  regular  stage  at 
that  time  was  the  Italian  opera-house  of  each 
capital  (that  of  Vienna  being  built  in  1651,  and 
that  of  Dresden  in  1667)  and  of  Nuremberg  and 
other   Imperial  cities.     The  German   Singspiel 
found  a  home  in  Hamburg  in  the  theatre  built 
in  1678,  but  soon  encountered  a  formidable  rival 
in  German  opera,  founded  by  Reinhard  Keiser. 


SINGSPIEL. 

After  this,  half  a  century  went  by  before  the 
Singspiel  is  heard  of  again.  In  1 743  the  Dob- 
belin  company  in  Berlin  produced  without  suc 
cess  a  German  Liederspiel,  'Der  Teufel  ist  los,' 
founded  on  the  English  piece  'The  Devil  to  pay,' 
followed  by  Schiirer's  '  Doris'  (i  747)  and  Scheibe's 
'  Thusnelda '  ( 1 749),  both  very  successful.  Thus 
encouraged,  Koch's  company  began  to  play  Sing- 
spiele  in  Leipzig,  Weimar,  and  Berlin,  their  first 
piece  being  '  Die  verwandelten  Weiber,'  another 
version  of  the  '  Devil  to  pay,'  written  by  C.  F. 
Weisse,  composed  by  J.  A.  Hiller,  and  produced 
at  Leipzig  in'  1 764  with  great  success.  The  same 
authors  produced  a  succession  of  similar  pieces, 
'Der  lustige  Schuster'  (1765),  '  Lottchen  am 
Hofe,'  and  'Die  Liebe  auf  deua  Lande'  (1767), 
'Die  Jagd'  (1771),  ' Aerndtekranz'  and  'Der 
Dorfbarbier'  (1772).  Neefe,  Reichardt,  Stege- 
mann,  Schweitzer,  and  others,  brought  to  perfec 
tion  this  new  species,  now  called  Operetta. 

Independently  of  all  this  going  on  in  North 
Germany,  the  German  Singspiel  had  sprung  up 
in  Vienna,  starting  curiously  enough  with  '  Die 
doppelte  Verwandlung'  (1767),  an  adaptation 
from  the  French  '  Le  Diable  a  quatre,'  Sddaine's 
version  of  '  The  Devil  to  pay.'  Werner,  Haydn's 
predecessor  at  Eisenstadt,  had  already  produced 
at  the  Court  German  Theatre  a  Tafelstiick  (i.  e. 
piece  intended  for  private  performance)  called 
'Der  Wienerische  Tandelmarkt'  (1760).  The 
marionette  plays,  of  which  Haydn  was  so  fond, 
were  Singspiele,  and  he  supplied  the  court  of 
Esterhaz,  with  'Philemon  und  Baucis'  (1773), 
'Genoveva  '  (1777),  '  Dido/  a  parody  on  a  grand 
opera  (1778),  and  '  Die  erfullte  Rache '  (1780). 
'  Der  krumme  Teufel,'  to  words  by  Kurz,  was 
a  real  Singspiel.  Dittersdorf's  '  Doctor  und 
Apotheker,'  '  Liebe  im  Narrenhause,'  '  Hierony- 
mus  Knicker,'  '  Rothe  Kappchen,'  etc.,  produced 
at  the  Imperial  Nationaltheater,  were  brilliant 
successes.  Kauer  (1751-1831)  composed  no  fewer 
than  200  Singspiele,  and  Schenk  was  almost 
equally  prolific.  The  classic  Singspiel  was  founded 
by  Mozart  with  his  'Entfuhrung'  (July  12,1782), 
which  according  to  Goethe  threw  everything  else 
of  the  kind  into  the  shade  ;  though  whether  one 
is  justified  in  calling  it  a  Singspiel  at  all  is  a 
moot  point,  the  dramatic  importance  of  the  music 
seeming  to  entitle  it  to  rank  as  an  opera.  Even 
the  '  Zauberflote '  (1791)  was  styled  a  Singspiel 
on  the  title-page  of  the  PF.  score.  From  this 
point  the  Singspiel  proper  becomes  continually 
rarer,  though  Wenzel  Miiller's  '  Schwester  von 
Prag,'  'Das  neue  Sonntagskind,'  and  a  few  more 
deserve  mention.  Lortzing's  works  are  a  mixture 
of  opera  and  Singspiel,  certain  numbers  in  the 
'  Czar  und  Zimmermann,'  '  Waffenschmied, '  and 
'Undine'  being  quite  in  the  Lied-style,  and  the 
music  consequently  of  secondary  importance, 
while  in  others  the  music  undoubtedly  assists  in 
developing  the  characters,  and  raises  these  por 
tions  to  the  dignity  of  opera.  We  are  here  brought 
face  to  face  with  the  main  distinction  between 
Opera  and  Singspiel  ;  the  latter  by  no  means 
excludes  occasional  recitative  in  place  of  the 
spoken  dialogue,  but  the  moment  the  music  helps 


SIREN. 


517 


to  develope  the  dramatic  denoument  we  have  to 
do  with  Opera,  and  not  with  Singspiel.  It  is 
worth  noting  that  no  other  nation  possesses  a 
form  identical  with  the  German  Singspiel ;  the 
French  Vaudeville  comes  nearest  to  it,  but  for 
this  well-known  tunes  are  adapted,  instead  of  the 
songs  being  specially  composed  for  the  piece  as  in 
Germany.  [F.G.] 

SINK-A-PACE — also  written  CINQUE-PACE, 
CINQUA-PACE,  CINQUE  PASS,  CINQUE  PAS,  SIN- 
QUA-PACE,  SINQUE-PACE  ahd  SiNCOPAS — a  name 
by  which  the  original  Galliard  was  known.  Prae- 
torius  (Syntagma  Mus.  vol.  iii.  chap.  ii.  p.  24) 
says  that  a  Galliard  has  five  steps  and  is  there 
fore  called  a  Cinque  Pas.  These  five  steps,  or 
rather  combinations  of  steps,  are  well  described 
in  Arbeau's  '  Orche'sographie '  (Langres,  1588). 
In  later  times  the  Galliard  became  so  altered  by 
the  addition  of  new  steps,  that  the  original  form 
of  the  dance  seems  to  have  been  distinguished 
by  the  name  Cinq  Pas.  It  is  frequently  men 
tioned  by  the  Elizabethan  writers,  well-known 
examples  being  the  allusions  in  Shakespeare's 
'  Much  Ado  about  Nothing  '  (Act  ii.  Sc.  i), 
Twelfth  Night  (Act  i.  Sc.  3),  Marston's  'Sa- 
tiromastix'  (Act  i),  and  Sir  John  Davies'  'Or 
chestra  '  (stanza  67).  The  following  less-known 
quotation  is  from  the  Histriomastix  (Part  I')  of 
Prynne  (who  was  especially  bitter  against  this 
dance)  :  '  Alas  there  are  but  few  who  finde  that 
narrow  way  .  .  .  and  those  few  what  are  they  ? 
Not  dancers,  but  mourners  :  not  laughers,  but 
weepers ;  whose  tune  is  Lachrymae,  whose  musicke, 
sighes  for  sinne ;  who  know  no  other  Cinqua-pace 
but  this  to  Heaven,  to  goe  mourning  all  the  day 
long  for  their  iniquities  ;  to  mourne  in  secret  like 
Doves,  to  chatter  like  Cranes  for  their  owne  and 
others  sinnes.'  The  following  example  of  a  Cinque- 
pace  is  given  by  Wolfgang  Caspar  Printz,  in  his 
'  Phry  nid  Mitilenseus,  oder  Satyrischer  Componist ' 
(Dresden,  1696),  as  a  specimen  of  '  Trichonum 
lambicum.'  A  longer  example  will  be  found  in 
Dauney's  edition  of  the  15th-century  Skene  MS. 
(Edinburgh,  1838). 


f)                     -  • 

•-  »-    • 

•  .    a      /T3  .. 

y 

i°  r 

*r 

J 

/(    ( 

i         ' 

j 

I   t 

J 

*      • 

l     ' 

,  —     —  •— 

tan* 

±-± 


:^_JL_£ 


*  -  *: 


^= 


5:: 


^^ny 


?2- 


[W.B.S.] 

SIREN.  This,  though  not  strictly  a  musical 
instrument,  has  rendered  such  good  service  to 
acoustical  science  that  it  deserves  brief  notice  : 
for  fuller  details  the  works  referred  to  below 
must  be  consulted.  '  It  consists  essentially,'  says 
the  most  recent  writer  on  mathematical  acoustics,1 
'  of  a  stiff  disc,  capable  of  revolving  about  its 
centre,  and  pierced  with  one  or  more  sets  of 
holes  arranged  at  equal  intervals  round  the  cir 
cumference  of  circles  concentric  with  the  disc.  A 
windpipe  in  connexion  with  bellows  is  presented 
l  Lord  Eay  leigh,  Theory  of  Sound,  vol.  i.  p.  5. 


513 


SIREN. 


perpendicularly  to  the  disc,  its  open  end  being 
opposite  to  one  of  the  circles,  which  contains  a 
set  of  holes.  When  the  bellows  are  worked,  the 
stream  of  air  escapes  freely  if  a  hole  is  opposite 
to  the  end  of  the  pipe ;  but  otherwise  it  is 
obstructed.  As  the  disc  turns,  puffs  of  air  in 
succession  escape  through  it,  until  when  the 
velocity  is  sufficient,  these  blend  into  a  note  the 
pitch  of  which  rises  continually  with  the  rapid 
sequence  of  the  puffs.  One  of  the  most  important 
facts  in  the  whole  science  of  Acoustics  is  exem 
plified  by  the  siren — namely,  that  the  pitch  of  a 
note  depends  upon  the  period  of  its  vibration. 
The  size  and  shape  of  the  holes,  the  force  of  the 
wind,  and  other  elements  of  the  problem  may  be 
varied ;  but  if  the  number  of  puffs  in  a  given 
time,  such  as  one  second,  remains  unchanged,  so 
does  the  pitch.  We  may  even  dispense  with 
wind  altogether,  and  produce  a  note  by  allowing 
a  card  to  tap  against  the  edges  of  the  holes  as 
they  revolve  ;  the  pitch  will  still  be  the  same.' 

The  Siren  may  be  defined  as  a  wind  instrument, 
in  which  the  successive  air-waves  are  produced 
not  at  random  or  by  consonance,  but  by  circular 
rotatory  motion,  which  is  susceptible  of  accurate 
adjustment  as  well  as  measurement.  It  was 
originally  invented  by  Cagniard  de  la  Tour,  who 
made  it  needlessly  complicated  by  using  the  force 
of  the  wind  to  drive  the  rotating  disc  as  well  as 
to  produce  the  required  note.  For  this  purpose 
the  speaking  holes  in  the  top  of  the  small  wind- 
chest  were  pierced  in  an  oblique  direction  ;  those 
in  the  disc  sloping  in  an  opposite  diagonal.  There 
was  also  a  counting  apparatus  attached  to  the 
upper  part  of  the  main  axis,  with  two  dials  for 
registering  the  number  of  rotations  in  a  given 
time.  This  form  has  been  faithfully  reproduced 
in  every  manual  of  Physics  up  to  now.1  The 
name  is  said  to  have  been  somewhat  fancifully, 
and  indeed  incorrectly,  given  it  from  Homer's 
Sirens,  on  account  of  its  property  of  singing 
under  water.  It  is  true  that  if  water  be  forced 
through  it  after  the  fashion  of  the  Turbine,  a 
buzzing  or  humming  sound  is  produced.  This  is, 
however,  of  no  practical  value.  The  Sirens 
named  in  the  Odyssey  are  nowhere  accredited 
with  this  strange  power.  Seebeck  and  others 
effected  material  improvements,  but  the  only 
two  which  need  special  notice  are  the  instru 
ments  constructed  by  Helmholtz  and  Rudolph 
Kcenig  respectively.  The  former  is  figured  and 
described  in  that  author's  '  Tonempfindungen,' 2 
and  consists  essentially  of  two  sirens  united  on  a 
single  axis,  each  disc  of  which  possesses  four 
rows  of  holes  susceptible  of  being  separately 
opened,  thus  giving  means  for  producing  a  large 
variety  of  intervals. 

The  upper  windchest,  which  looks  downwards, 
can  be  rotated  on  its  feeding- tube  so  as  to  bring 
about  varying  changes  of  phase  between  the  two 
discs.  With  this  instrument  Helmholtz  succeeded 
in  producing  excellent  results,  using  a  small 
electromotor  for  driving  it  at  an  uniform  rate. 

1  Deschanel,  Nat.  Philos.  iv.  p.  822 ;  Everitt's  translation.   Ganot's 
Physics,  p.  189  ;  Atkinson's  transl. 

2  Helmholtz,  Sensations  of  Tone,  Ellis's  transl.  p.  243  et  se<iq. 


SIRMEN. 

The  Siren  of  M.  Rudolph  Kcenig  of  Paris  ia 
a  far  more  imposing  instrument.  It  was  made 
for  W.  Spottiswoode,  Esq.,  P.  R.  S.,  was  ex 
hibited  by  the  writer  at  the  British  Association 
meeting  at  York  in  iS8i,  and  is  now  in  the 
physical  laboratory  of  'the  College  of  Science  at 
Bristol.  It  is  furnished  with  more  than  a  dozen 
rotating  discs  of  different  kinds,  which  fit  on  to  a 
vertical  spindle,  above  a  windchest  of  large  size 
fitted  with  a  keyboard  of  eight  notes.  A  strong 
clockwork  actuated  by  heavy  weights  forms  the 
motive  power,  and  an  ingenious  counting  appar 
atus  is  made  not  only  to  record  the  number  of 
rotations,  but  also  to  set  going  automatically  a 
watch  movement,  and  thus  obtain  by  one  mo 
tion  of  the  observer's  hand  the  speed  of  the 
disc,  and  the  time  of  the  observation.  By  pro 
perly  computing  the  rings  of  perforations,  the 
harmonic  series  is  given  by  one  disc,  and  the 
enharmonic  scale  by  another.  Indeed  there  is 
hardly  any  law  of  musical  acoustics  which  it 
cannot  be  made  to  illustrate.3  For  purposes  of 
demonstration  the  siren  is  excellent,  and  also 
for  the  illustration  of  perfect  musical  intervals ; 
but  for  the  accurate  determination  of  absolute 
pitch  it  is  far  inferior  to  Lissajous's  optical 
method ;  and  still  more  so  to  Scheibler's  tuning- 
fork  method,  described  under  TONOMETER,  and  to 
Prof.  McLeod's  Cycloscope.  [W.H.S.] 

SIRENE,  LA.  Opera-comique  in  3  acts; 
words  by  Scribe,  music  by  Auber.  Produced  at 
the  Ope"ra  Comique  March  26,  1844.  In  English 
as  'The  Syren/  at  Princess's  Theatre*  Oct.  14, 
1844.  [G.] 

SIRMEN,  or  SYRMEN,  MADDALENA  LOM- 
BARDINI  DE,  -a  distinguished  violinist,  was  born 
at  Venice  in  1735,  and  educated  at  the  Conser- 
vatorio  dei  Mendicanti  there.  On  leaving  this 
institution  she  went  to  study  with  Tartini  at 
Padua.  Many  letters,  still  extant,  from  the  great 
maestro  to  his  girl-pupil,  testify  to  the  keen 
interest  he  took  in  .her  artistic  career ;  one  in 
particular  contains  long  and  detailed  advice  as 
to  the  direction  her  technical  studies  should  take, 
valuable  to  any  young  violinist.  The  autograph 
of  this  letter  is  at  Venice  ;  a  German  translation 
of  it  may  be  found  in  J.  A.  Killer's  'Lebensbe- 
schreibungen  beruhmterMusik-gelehrten'  (trans 
lated  by  Burney). 

For  some  time  the  young  virtuoso,  travelled 
about  Italy  with  brilliant  success,  and  was  con 
sidered  a  worthy  rival  of  Nardini.  She  eventu 
ally  married  Luigi  de  Sirmen,  a  violinist,  and 
chapel-master  at  Bergamo.  In  1761  they  went 
to  Paris,  and  played  together  a  concerto  for  two 
violins  at  the  '  Concert  spirituel.'  At  these  con 
certs,  where  Madame  Sirmen  was  much  admired, 
she  produced  several  compositions  of  her  own. 

She  next  went  to  London,  where  her  brilliant 
playing  made  a  considerable  sensation.  It  would 
seem,  however,  that  she  was  unable  to  sustain 
the  high  position  she  took  at  first,  for  in  1774 
we  find  her  accepting  an  engagement  to  sing 

3  A  description  of  this  instrument  is  to  be  found  in  Poggendorf 's 
Annalen,  and  in  the  Philosophical  Magazine,  for  1876. 


SIRMEN. 


SISTINE  CHOIR. 


519 


small  parts  in  operas.  In  1782  she  was  concert- 
singer  at  the  Court  of  Saxony.  She  died  towards 
the  end  of  the  century. 

The  following  compositions  of  Madame  Sirmen's 
were  published  : — 6  Trios  for  2  violins  and  cello 
(Amsterdam)  ;  3  Concertos  for  violin,  op.  2 
(ditto.)  ;  3  concertos  for  violin,  op.  3  (ditto.). 
Another  concerto  is  mentioned  by  J.  A.  Hiller 
as  having  been  engraved  at  Venice.  [F.A.M.] 

SIR  ROGER  DE  COVERLY,1  the  only  one 
of  the  numerous  old  English  dances  which  has 
retained  its  popularity  until  the  present  day,  is 
probably  a  tune  of  north-country  origin.  Mr. 
Chappell  (Popular  Music,  vol.  ii)  says  that  he 
possesses  a  MS.  version  of  it  called  '  Old  Roger 
of  Coverlay  for  evermore,  a  Lancashire  Horn 
pipe,'  and  in  'The  First  and  Second  Division 
Violin '  (in  the  British  Museum  Catalogue  at 
tributed  to  John  Eccles,  and  dated  1705)  an 
other  version  of  it  is  entitled  '  Roger  of  Coverly 
the  true  Cheisere  way.'  Moreover  the  Calverley 
family,  from  one  of  whose  ancestors  the  tune  is 
said  to  derive  its  name,2  have  been  from  time 
immemorial  inhabitants  of  the  Yorkshire  village 
which  bears  their  name.  The  editor  of  the  Skene 
MS.,  on  the  strength  of  a  MS.  version  dated 
1706,  claims  the  tune  as  Scotch,  and  says  that  it  is 
well  known  north  of  the  Tweed  as  'The  Maltman 
comes  on  Monday.'  According  to  Dr.  Rimbault 
(Notes  and  Queries,  i.  no.  8),  the  earliest  printed 
version  of  it  occurs  in  Playford's  '  Division- 
Violin'  (1685).  In  '  The  Dancing  Master'  it  is 
first  found  at  page  167  of  the  9th  edition,  pub 
lished  in  1695,  where  the  tune  and  directions  for 
the  dance  are  given  exactly  as  follows : — 

Roger  of  Coverly. 
Longways  for  as  many  as  will. 


^^ 


1       1 


t=^=£ 


The  1.  man  go  below  the  2.  wo.  then  round,  and  so 
below  the  2.  man  into  his  own  place  ;  then  the  1.  wo.  go 
below  the  2.  man,  then  round  him,  and  so  below  the  2. 
wo.  into  her  own  place.  The  1.  cu.  [first  couple]  cross 
over  below  the  2.  cu.  and  take  hands  and  turn  round 
twice,  then  lead  up  through  and  cast  off  into  the  2.  cu. 
Place.  [W.B.S.] 

SISTINE  CHOIR  (Ital.  H  Collegia  dei 
Cappellani  Cantori  della  Cappella  Pontificia). 
A  Collegiate  Body,  consisting  of  3  2  Choral  Chap 
lains,  domiciled — though  not  in  any  special  build 
ings  of  their  own — at  Rome,  where,  for  many 
centuries,  they  have  enjoyed  the  exclusive  privi 
lege  of  singing  at  all  those  solemn  Services,  and 

1  Or  more  correctly  'Roger  of  Coverly.'    The  prefix  'Sir'  is  not 
found  until  after  Steele  and  Addisoa  had  used  the  name  in  the  Spec 
tator. 

2  See  Notes  and  Queries,  vol.  i.  no.  23.  p.  368. 


Ecclesiastical  Functions,  in  which  it  is  customary 
for  the  Supreme  Pontiff  to  officiate  in  person. 

The  genealogy  of  the  Papal  Choir  may  be 
traced  back  to  a  period  of  very  remote  antiquity. 
It  is  said— and  the  tradition  is  worthy  of  credit 
— that  a  School  for  the  education  of  Choristers 
was  founded  in  Rome  early  in  the  4th  cen 
tury,  by  S.  Sylvester,  whose  Pontificate  lasted 
from  the  year  314  to  335.  That  S.  Hilarius 
(461-468)  established  one,  not  much  more  than 
a  century  later,  is  certain.  These  Institutions, 
after  the  lapse  of  another  hundred  years,  were 
supplemented  by  new  ones,  on  a  larger  scale. 
On  the  destruction  of  the  Monastery  of  Monte 
Cassino,  by  the  Lombards,  in  the  year  580,  the 
Benedictine  Fathers  fled  to  Rome  ;  and,  under 
the  protection  of  Pope  Pelagius  II.  (5  77-590),  esta 
blished  themselves  in  a  new  home,  near  the 
Lateran  Basilica,  where  they  opened  Schools  for 
the  preparation  of  Candidates  for  Holy  Orders. 
S.  Gregory  the  Great  (590-604)  took  advantage 
of  this  circumstance  while  working  out  his  system 
of  reform,  and  turned  the  Seminaries  to  account 
as  Schools  of  Singing.  Under  his  care,  they  pros 
pered  exceedingly;  and,  in  process  of  time,  at 
tained  proportions  which  enabled  them  to  supply 
the  various  Basilicas  with  Singers,  who  assembled 
on  the  Greater  Festivals,  and  attended  the  Pope 
wherever  he  officiated.  And  thus  arose  the  prac 
tice  to  which  the  Church  was  eventually  indebted 
for  the  magnificent  Services  of  the  Sistine  Chapel. 

These  early  ScholaB  Cantorum — sometimes 
called  Orphanotropia,  in  allusion  to  the  number 
of  fatherless  children  which  they  sheltered — were 
governed  by  an  Ecclesiastic,  of  high  rank,  called 
the  Primicerius,  who,  assisted  by  a  Secundicerius 
destined  afterwards  to  succeed  him  in  his  office, 
exercised  absolute  control  over  the  Youths  and 
Children  committed  to  his  care.  Boys  were  ad 
mitted  into  the  Preparatory  School  (Parvisium) 
at  a  very  early  age  ;  and,  if  of  gentle  birth, 
became,  at  the  same  time,  members  of  the  Papal 
Household,  holding  a  status  analogous  to  that  of 
the  Pages  at  a  ssecular  Court.  After  passing 
through  the  necessary  preparation,  the  Choristers 
were  permitted  to  take  part  in  the  most  solemn 
Services  of  the  Church  :  and,  when  their  Voices 
changed,  were  either  prepared  for  Holy  Orders,  or 
provided  for  as  Cubicularii.  The  older  members 
of  the  Schola?  were  called  Subdeacons :  but,  it 
is  evident  that  the  title  was  only  an  honorary 
one,  since,  though  constantly  taking  their  part 
in  Choir,  they  were  never  permitted  to  sing  the 
Epistle.  By  their  help,  Rome  was  so  liberally 
supplied  with  Singers,  that,  on  more  than  one 
occasion,  the  Pope  was  able  to  send  out  skilled 
instructors,  for  the  purpose  of  encouraging  the 
purest  style  of  Ecclesiastical  Singing  in  other 
countries:3  and,  as  we  hear  of  no  important 
modification  of  the  system  before  the  beginning 

3  For  this  purpose,  John  the  Prsecentor  was  sent  to  England, during 
the  Primacy  of  Theodore,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  (669—690).  At 
the  request  of  King  Pepin  (750—768),  Simeon,  the  Secundicerius  of  the 
Koman  Schola,  was  sent,  in  like  manner,  to  France,  but  recalled  by 
Pope  Paul  I.  in  763,  that  he  might  succeed  to  the  office  of  the  then 
lately  deceased  Primicerius,  Georgius:  while,  towards  the  close  of 
the  same  century,  two  celebrated  singers,  Theodorus  and  Benedictui' 
were  sent  by  Hadrian  I.  (772-795)  to  Charlemagne, 


520 


SISTINE  CHOIR. 


of  the  I4th  century,  we  are  justified  in  believing 
that  it  fulfilled  its  purpose  perfectly. 

A  great  change,  however,  took  place  during 
the  Pontificate  of  Clement  V.  (1305-1314),  who, 
in  the  year  1305,  transferred  the  Chair  of  S. 
Peter  to  Avignon,  leaving  his  Priniicerius  and 
Schola  Cantorum  behind   him,  in  Rome.     Too 
much  oppressed   by  political  and  ecclesiastical 
troubles  to  devote  his  time  to  the  regulation  of 
details,  Pope  Clement  naturally  left  the  manage 
ment  of  his  Chapel  to  underlings,  who  suffered 
the  Music  to  degenerate  to  a  very  unsatisfactory 
level.    His  successor,  John  XXII.  (1316-1334), 
issued  in  1323  the  well-known  Bull,  'Docta  sanc 
torum,'  for  the  purpose  of  restraining  his  Singers 
from  corrupting  the  simplicity  of  Plain  Chaunt, 
either  by  subjecting  it  to  the  laws  of  Measured 
Music,  or  by  overloading  it  with  ornamentation. 
It  is  doubtful   whether  the  provisions   of  this 
Bull   were  fully  carried  out  after  the   decease 
of  its  author,  whose  immediate  successor,  Bene 
dict  XII.  (1334-1342),  was  too  fond  of  splendid 
Ceremonial    to    raise    any   strong    objection   to 
the  Music  sung  by  the  twelve  Choral  Chaplains 
who  officiated  in  his  private  Chapel,  on  the  score 
of  its  elaborateness.    Indeed,  the  management  of 
the  Choir  employed  by  Benedict  and  his  succes 
sors,  at  Avignon,  differed  altogether  from  that 
of  the  Roman  Schola,   which  was  still  carried 
on  under  the  Primicerius.    In  Rome,  the  Choris 
ters  were  taught  on  the  old  traditional  system, 
almost  from  their  infancy.      At  Avignon,  the 
most  welcome  recruits  were  French  and  Flemish 
Singers,  who  had  already  earned  a  brilliant  repu 
tation.  Now,  in  those  days  the  best  Singers  were, 
for  the  most  part,  the  best  Composers  also  ;  and 
in  the  Low  Countries  the  Art   of  Composition 
was  rapidly  advancing  towards  a  state  of  perfec 
tion  elsewhere  unknown.     It  followed,  therefore, 
that  the  Choir  at  Avignon  contained  some  of  the 
greatest  Musicians  in  Europe,  and  was  indebted 
to   them  for   Faux-Bourdons,  and   other   Poly 
phonic  Music,  scarcely  ever  heard  at  that  period 
except  in  the  Netherlands. 

1^1377  Pope  Gregory XI.  (1370-1378)  returned 
to  Rome,  and  carried  his  Choir  with  him.  The 
contrast  between  the  rival  Schools  now  became 
more  apparent  than  ever :  yet,  by  some  means, 
they  amalgamated  completely.  The  probability 
is,  that  Gregory  himself  united  them,  forming 
the  two  Choirs  into  one  body,  which  was  no 
longer  called  the  Schola  Cantorum,  nor  governed 
by  a  Primicerius,  but  was  henceforth  known  as  the 
Collegio  dei  Cappellani  Cantori,  and  placed  under 
the  command  of  an  Ecclesiastic  who  held  the 
appointment  for  life,  and  bore  the  title  of  Maestro 
della  Cappella  Pontificia.  The  precise  year  in 
which  this  change  took  place  cannot  be  ascer 
tained  ;  though  it  is  certain  that  the  new  title 
was  borne  by  Angelo,  Abbat  of  S.  Maria  de 
Rivaldis^in  1397— twenty  years  after  the  return 
from  Avignon.  After  this,  we  hear  of  no  other 
Maestro  till  1464,  when  the  appointment  was 
conferred  upon  Niccola  Fabri,  Governor  of  Rome, 
who  held  it  for  two  years.  From  1469  onwards 
the  list  includes  the  names  of  fourteen  Ecclesias- 


SISTINE  CHOIR. 

tics,  of  whom  all,  except  the  last,  were  Bishops. 
The  most  celebrated  of  them  was  Elziario  Genet, 
of  Carpentras,'  Vescovoin  partibus'  (1515-1526?); 
called,  from  his  birthplace,  Carpentrasso.     [See 
LAMENTATIONS.]      The   last   of  the   series  was 
Monsignor  Antonio   Boccapadule   (1574-1586), 
whose  relations  with  the  reigning  Pope,  Sixtus  V. 
(1585-1590),  were  disturbed  by  a  misunderstand 
ing,  particulars  of  which  will  be  found  at  pp. 
640-641  of  vol.  ii.     That  the  Pope  was  highly 
incensed  at  the  spirit  of  insubordination  shewn  by 
his  Cantori  Cappellani  on  this  occasion  is  well 
known  :    and  it  was  probably  on  this  account 
that,  instead  of  appointing  a  successor  to  Mon- 
signore  Boccapadule,  whom  he  somewhat  uncere 
moniously  deposed,  he  issued,  Sept.  1, 1586,  a  Bull 
('  In  suprema'),  by  virtue  of  which  he  conferred 
upon  the  College  the  right  of  electing,  from  among 
their  own  body,  an  Officer,  to  whom  was  com 
mitted  the  duty  of  governing  the  Choir,  for  three, 
six,  or  twelve  months,  or  in  perpetuity,  accord 
ing  to  the  pleasure  of  the  Electors.1  It  was  clear 
that  the  Maestri  so  elected  must  necessarily  be 
deprived  of  many  of  the  privileges  enjoyed  by 
the  Ecclesiastical  Dignitaries  who  had  preceded 
them  :    but,  by  way  of  compensation  they  were 
invested   with  all  which  were   not  inseparable 
from  the  status  of  a  Bishop ;   and  these  were 
still  farther  increased,  by  Pope  Clement  XIII, 
in   the   Bull    'Cum  retinendi,'  Aug.  31,  1762. 
It   was  ultimately  arranged   that   the  Election 
should   take   place    annually,    and   this   custom 
has  ever  since  been  strictly  observed.     The  first 
Maestro  so  chosen  was  Giovanni  Antonio  Merlo, 
who  served  during  the  year  1587.   Since  his  time, 
the  Election  has  always  been  fixed  for  Dec.  28  : 
and,  for  very  many  years,  it  has  been  the  invari 
able  custom  to  elect  the  principal  Bass. 

The  Flemish  Singers,  having  once  obtained  a 
recognised  position  in  the  Choir,  soon  began  to 
exercise  an  irresistible  influence  over  it,  and, 
through  it,  over  every  other  Choir  in  Christendom. 
Among  the  first,  of  whom  we  have  any  certain 
account,  was  Guglielmo  Dufay,  the  Founder  of 
the  older  Flemish  School,  whose  name  is  men 
tioned,  in  the  Archives  of  the  Chapel,  as  early 
as  1380,  three  years  only  after  the  formal  settle 
ment  of  the  College  in  Rome  ;  whence  it  has 
been  conjectured  that  he  first  sang  at  Avignon, 
and  afterwards  accompanied  Pope  Gregory  XL  to 
Italy.  Dufay  died  in  1 43  2,  leaving  many  talented 
pupils.  Among  the  brightest  ornaments  of  his 
School,  who  sang  in,  and  composed  for,  the  Pon 
tifical  Chapel,  were  Egyd  Flannel,  surnamed 
'  1'Enfant,'  Jean  Redois,  Bartholomseus  Poignare, 
Jean  de  Curte,  surnamed  '  Mon  Ami,'  Jakob 
Ragot,  and  Guillaume  de  Malbecq.  A  little 
later,  these  were  succeeded  by  Jean  Gomberte 
Antonio  Cortit,  Lambert  de  Beanon,  and,  greatest 
of  all,  Josquin  des  Prds.  In  the  early  half  of  the 
1 6th  century,  the  names  of  Italian,  French,  and 
Spanish  Singers,  bore  a  more  creditable  propor 
tion  to  those  of  the  Netherlanders ;  honourable 
mention  being  made  of  Giov.  Scribano,  Pietro 
Perez,  Costanzo  Festa,  Elizario  Genet,  surnamed 

1  Baini,  1.  p.  272,  Note  375. 


SISTINE  CHOIR. 

Carpentrasso,  Giov.  Bonnevin,  and  Bern.  Salinas. 
Later  still,  we  hear  of  Bart.  Scobeclo,  Jacques 
Archadelt,  Cristofano  Morales,  Leonardo  Barre, 
and  Domenico  Maria  Ferrabosco  :  while,  in  1 555, 
the  list  was  crowned  by  the  honoured  name  of 
Palestrina,  who  was  admitted,  by  command  of 
Julius  III,  on  January  13,  but  dismissed  before 
the  end  of  the  year,  by  Paul  IV,  in  accordance 
with  the  regulation  which  forbade  the  reception 
of  a  married  man  into  the  College. 

The  number  of  Singers,  which,  at  Avignon, 
had  been  limited  to  twelve,  was,  by  this  time, 
increased  to  twenty- four,  and,  not  very  long  after 
wards,  raised  to  thirty-two,  which  figure  still 
represents  the  normal  strength  of  the  Choir,  though 
the  assistance  of  additional  ripieni  is  sometimes 
permitted,  on  extraordinary  occasions.  After  the 
formal  admission  of  the  Netherlander,  the  Com 
positions  sung  in  the  Papal  Chapel  were  almost 
entirely  supplied  by  the  Cappellani  Cantori  them 
selves.  The  custom  was,  when  any  member  of 
the  College  had  produced  a  Mass,  or  other  great 
work,  to  have  it  roughly  written  out,  and  re 
hearsed  by  the  entire  body  of  Singers,  who  after 
wards  decided  whether  or  not  it  was  worthy  of 
their  acceptance.  If  the  votes  were  in  its  favour, 
the  original  autograph  was  placed  in  the  hands 
of  the  ticrittori — of  whom  four  were  usually  kept 
in  full  einployment^and  by  them  copied,  in 
stencilled  notes  large  enough  to  be  read  by  the 
entire  Choir  at  once,  into  huge  Part-Books,1 
furmed  of  entire  sheets  of  parchment,  of  which 
a  large  collection,  richly  illuminated  and  mag 
nificently  bound,  is  still  preserved  among  the 
Archives  of  the  Sistine  Chapel,2  though  a  vast 
number  were  destroyed  in  the  conflagration  which 
ensued  on  the  invasion  of  Rome  by  Charles  V.  in 
1527.  [See  PART-BOOKS,  App.]. 

In  the  year  1565,  Pope  Pius  IV.  conferred  upon 
Palestrina  the  title  of  Composer  to  the  Pontifical 
Chapel,  with  an  honorarium  of  three  scudi  and 
thirty  baiocchi  per  month.  The  Office  was  re 
newed,  after  Palestrina's  death,  in  favour  of  Felice 
Anerio,  but  was  never  conferred  on  any  other 
member  of  the  College.  The  most  famous  Musi 
cians  who  sang  in  the  Choir,  after  the  expul 
sion  of  Palestrina  in  1555,  were  Giov.  Maria 
Nanini,  admitted  in  1577,  Luca  Marenzio  (1594), 
Euggiero  Giovanelli  (1599),  and  Gregorio  Allegri 
(1629-1652).  Adami  also  mentions  Vittoria, 
whose  name,  however,  is  not  to  be  found  in  any 
official  register.  Among  more  modern  Maestri, 
the  three  most  notable  were,  Tomaso  Bai,  who 
held  the  Office  of  Maestro  in  1714 ;  the  Cavaliere 

1  Mendelssohn,  in  one  of  his  Letters,  gives  an  amusing  description 
of  one  of  these  enormous  books,  which  he  saw  carried  in  front 
of  Baiiii,  as  he  walked,  in  Procession,  up  the  Nave  of  S.  Peter's. 

2  The  Sistine  Chapel  was  added  to  the  Vatican  in  the  year  1473,  by 
"ope  Sixtus  IV,  for  whom  it  was  designed,  by  Baccio  Pinelli,  in  the 
form  of  a  lolty  oblong  hall,  146  It.  6in.  long,  arid  50  ft.  6  in.  wide,  with  a 
gallery  running  round  three  of  its  sides.    Its  walls  are  decorated  with 
Frescoes,  by  Signorelli,  Botticelli,  Koselli,  Ghirlandaio,  Salviati,  and 
Penigino.   By  command  of  Pope  Julius  II,  the  roof  was  also  painted, 
V  Michael  Angelo,  and  first  exhibited  to  the  public,  after  four  years 
of  labour,  on  All  Saints'  Day,  1511,  the  Pope  officiating  in  person. 
The  space  above  the  Altar  is  occupied  by  the  same  great  Painter's 
Fresco  of  '  The  Last  Judgment ' ;  begun  in  the  year  1533,  and  com 
pleted  in  1541.    The  upper  portion  of  the  Chapel,  containing  the 
Vltar,  the  Pope's  Throne,  and  the  Cardinals'  Seats,  is  separated  from 
the  lower  by  a  Screen.     The  Gallery  occupied  by  the  Choir  is  just 
within  this  Screen,  on  the  right,  enclosed  by  a  kind  of  Grille. 


SISTINE  CHOIR. 


521 


Giuseppe  Santarelli — Dr.  Burneyrs  friend — who 
entered  the  Choir  as  an  artificial  Soprano  Singer 
in  1749,  and  died  in  1790  ;  and  the  Abbate 
Baini,  who  was  received  into  the  College  in  1795, 
became  Maestro  in  1817,  and  died  in  1844.  By 
special  favour  of  Pope  Gregory  XVI,  Baini  re 
tained  his  Office  for  life — an  honour  to  which, 
as  the  greatest  Ecclesiastical  Musician  of  the 
present  century,  he  was  most  justly  entitled' :  but, 
no  later  Maestro  has  enjoyed  the  same  privilege. 
The  present  Director,  Signer  Mustafa,  formerly 
a  'Cantore  Corale,  con  beneficio,'  at  the  Cathedral 
of  Agnani,  bears  only  the  modest  title  of '  Direttore 
dei  Concerting 

The  two  settings  of  the  '  Miserere '  by  Bai 
and  Baini,  which,  for  many  years  past,  have 
been  used  alternately  with  that  of  Allegri,  are 
the  only  works  added  to  the  repertoire  of  the 
Chapel  since  the  death  of  the  last-named 
Maestro.  Indeed,  neither  the  constitution,  nor 
the  habits,  of  the  College,  have,  since  Pales 
trina,  undergone  any  important  change — except, 
perhaps,  in  one  particular,  to  be  mentioned 
presently:  and  hence  it  is  that  its  perform 
ances  are  so  infinitely  valuable,  as  traditional 
indices  of  the  style  of  singing  cultivated  at  the 
period  which  produced  the  '  Missa  Papae  Mar- 
celli,'  the  ' Improperia, '  and  the  'Lamentations.' 
Except  for  these  traditions,  the  works  of  Pales 
trina  would  be  to  us  a  dead  letter  :  under  their 
safe  guidance,  we  feel  no  more  doubt  as  to >  the 
Tempi  of  the  '  Missa  brevis  '  than  we  do  con 
cerning  those  of  the  '  Sinfonia  Eroica.' 

The  one  point  in  which  a  change  has  taken 
place  is,  the  selection  of  Voices  :  and  it  is  neces 
sary  to  remark,  that,  as  the  change  did  not  take 
place  until  seven  years  after  Palestrina's  death, 
the  idea  that  we  cannot  sing  his  Music,  in 
England,  as  he  intended  it  to  be  sung,  for  lack  of 
the  necessary  Voices,  is  altogether  untenable.  In 
early  times,  as  we  have  already  seen,  the  Chapel 
was  supplied  with  Soprani,  and  in  all  probability 
with  Contralti  also,  by  means  of  the  Orphan  otropia, 
or  ScholaeCantorum,  exactly  as  EnglisLCathedrals 
are  now  supplied  by  means  of  the  Choristers' 
Schools.  That  this  plan  was  continued  until 
quite  late  in  the  i6th  century  is  sufficiently 
proved  by  the  fact  that,  between  1561  and  1571, 
Palestrina  held  the  joint  Offices  of  Maestro  di 
Cappella  and  Maestro  dei  Fanciulli  di  Coro  at 
the  Church  of  S.  Maria  Maggiore,  while,  between 
1539  and  1553  the  post  of  Maestro  de*  Putti, 
at  the  Cappella  Giulia,  was  successively  filled 
by  Archadelt,  Rubino,  Basso,  Ferrabosco,  and 
Roselli.  During  the  latter  half  of  the  i6th 
century,  however,  these  youthful  Treble  Voices 
were  gradually  supplanted  by  a  new  kind  of 
adult  male  Soprano,  called  the  Soprano  falsetto, 
imported,  in  the  first  instance,  from  Spain,  in 
which  country  it  was  extensively  cultivated,  by 
means  of  some  peculiar  system  of  training,  the 
secret  of  which  has  never  publicly  transpired.3 

3  Nevertheless,  this  secret  does  not  seem  to  be  altogether  lost.  A 
lady  traveller  in  Spain  and  Portugal,  writing  sume  six  or  seven 
years  ago,  amusingly  expresses  her  surprise,  on  discovering  that  cer 
tain  hi?h  flute-like  notes,  which  she  believed  to  have  been  produced 
by  some  beautiful  young  girl,  really  emanated  fr  im  the  throat  of  a 
burly  individual  with  a  huge  black  beard  and  whiskers  t 


522 


SISTINE  CHOIR. 


At  the  close  of  the  i6th  century,  Spanish  Soprani 
were  in  very  great  request ;  and  were,  indeed, 
preferred  to  all  others,  until  the  year  1601,  when 
a  far  more  momentous  change  was  introduced. 

During  nearly  the  whole  of  the  1 7th  and  the 
greater  .part  of  the  i8th  centuries,  the  Theatres 
of  Europe  were  supplied  with  adult  male  Soprano 
and  Contralto  Voices,  preserved  by  a  process  so 
barbarous,  that  at  one  time  it  was  forbidden,  in 
Italy,  on  pain  of  death.  Yet,  notwithstanding 
this  penalty,  and  its  inherent  wickedness,  the 
system  prospered,  and  enriched  the  Stage  with 
many  of  its  most  accomplished  ornaments,  such 
as  Nicolini  Grimaldi,  Senesino,  Carestini,  Pacchie- 
rotti,  Farinelli,  and  others.  It  has  been  said 
that  Farinelli's  wonderful  Soprano  Voice  was 
accidentally  preserved  :  and  the  story  is  probably 
true  ;  for  it  is  certain  that  very  fine  Voices  are 
sometimes  preserved  by.accident,and  quite  reason 
able  to  suppose  that  such  accidents  may  very 
frequently  happen,  though,  should  the  sufferers 
possess  no  musical  talent,  one  is  not  likely  to  hear 
of  them.  In  these  purely  accidental  cases,  no 
Singer,  with  a  good  Voice,  has  ever  been  refused 
admission  into  the  Pontifical  Choir :  but  the 
transgression  of  the  Law,  which  was  formerly 
punishable  with  death,  now  renders  the  offender 
de  facto  excommunicate,  and  therefore  effectually 
prevents  his  reception  into  the  Collegio.  One  of 
the  most  learned  and  accomplished  Musicians  in 
Home,  now  in  command  of  one  of  its  most 
celebrated  Choirs,  remembers  the  admission  of 
three  artificial  Voices,  accidentally  produced, 
while  he  was  studying  under  Baini.  Two  of  them 
proved  too  weak  to  be  used,  except  as  ripieni ;  but 
the  third  developed  into  a  magnificent  Soprano. 

The  first  Soprano  Singer  of  this  kind  per 
mitted  to  sing  in  the  Sistine  Chapel,  was  a  Priest 
named  Girolamo  Rosini,  a  member  of  the  Con 
gregation  of  S.  Philip  Neri,  who  was  received 
into  the  College  in  1601,  and  died  in  1644. 
Since  his  time,  such  Voices  have  always  been 
found  in  the  Choir :  and  such  a  Voice  is  now 
actually  possessed,  by  its  present  head,  Signer 
Mustafa.  But,  the  trained  Soprano  falsetto,  which 
needs  no  accident  to  produce  it,  is  not  yet  extinct.1 

Italian  Choir-Masters  draw  a  careful  distinction 
between  the  different  Voices  they  employ.  The 
Voee  bianco,  or  naturale,  is  by  no  means  uncom 
mon,  but  produces  only  Contralto  Singers.  The 
true  adult  Soprano,  arte  fatta  (made  by  method2), 
is  an  excessively  rare  Voice,  produced  '  rather  in 
the  head  than  in  the  chest  or  throat,'  and  lasting, 
generally,  to  extreme  old  age,  to  the  astonishment 
of  the  uninitiated  hearer,  who  cannot  understand 
its  co-existence  with  a  long  white  beard.3  The 
distinguished  Musician  on  whose  authority  we 
make  these  statements,  had,  quite  lately,  three 
such  Soprani  in  his  Choir.  One  of  them  died,  a 
short  time  ago,  at  the  age  of  74>  singing  to  the 


1  These  statements  are  founded  on  information  supplied  to  us  by 
gentlemen  resident  in  Rome,  -whose  high  position  and  long  experience 
render  their  evidence  more  than  ordinarily  trustworthy. 

2  I.e.  not  by  operation. 

3  In  Adami  da  Bolsena's  '  Osservazioni '  (Roma  1711)  will  be  found 
numerous  portraits  of  Soprani  and  Contralti,  with   long  beards- 
many  of  them  Priests. 


SISTINE  CHOIR. 

last.  The  other  two  are  still  singing  Treble,  at 
70  years  of  age.  There  is  also,  at  the  Church  of 
S.  Giovanni  Laterano,  a  Youth  of  1 7  or  1 8,  whose 
Voice  is  said  to  be  the  most  heavenly  Soprano 
imaginable ;  and  our  informant  expresses  his 
full  belief  that  he  will  succeed  in  preserving  it 
through  life.  The  occurrence  of  such  phenonena 
is,  however,  so  exceptional,  that  the  late  Pope, 
Pius  IX,  founded  the  Scuola  di  S.  Salvatore,  near 
S.  Peter's,  for  the  express  purpose  of  supplying 
the  Choirs  of  Rome  with  Boys,  subject,  as  in 
England,  to  be  discharged  on  the  breaking  of 
their  Voices.*  [See  MUTATION.] 

It  remains  only  to  say  a  few  words  concerning 
the  style  of  Singing  practised  by  this  matchless 
Choir,  and  the  lessons  to  be  learned  from  it. 

For  the  last  three  centuries  at  least — quite 
certainly  ever  since  the  production  of  the  *  Missa 
Papae  Marcelli  ' — the  one  great  aim  of  the 
Maestri  has  been,  to  bring  the  Music  into  the 
most  intimate  possible  connection  with  the  Service 
of  which  it  forms  part.  One  of  the  most  important 
duties  of  the  elected  head  of  the  Choir  is  to  stand 
at  the  Grille,  and  carefully  watch  the  Altar,  in 
order  that  he  may  make  signs  to  the  Conductor, 
as  often  as  it  becomes  desirable  for  him  to  retard 
or  accelerate  the  Tempo,  to  introduce  a  forte,  or 
to  calm  down  the  tone  to  pianissimo.  At  certain 
points  in  the  Gloria  and  Credo,  when  the  Cele 
brant  takes  off  his  Berretta,  and  bows  his  head, 
a  pianissimo  is  always  introduced.  [See  MASS.] 
When  the  Celebrant  proceeds  from  the  Sedilia  to 
the  Altar,  the  Tempo  of  the  last  Amen  is  so  ar 
ranged  that  it  may  terminate  exactly  at  the  re 
quired  moment.  The  Conductor  beats  time  with  a 
roll  of  Music  called  the  5Solfa;  and  almost  always 
with  a  simple  up  and  down  motion,  two  beats  being 
accorded  to  each  Semibreve  in  Common  Time, 
and  one  only,  when  there  are  three  Semibreves 
in  the  Measure.  As  the  Music  is  not  divided  into 
Bars,  this  method,  which  has  been  in  use  from 
time  immemorial,  answers  its  purpose  perfectly. 
There  are,  also,  certain  traditional  ornaments, 
and  forms  of  expression,  which  are  profound  mys 
teries  to  the  uninitiated.  For  instance,  the  Second 
and  Third  Lamentations,  on  the  three  last  days  in 
Holy  Week,  are  sung,  as  is  generally  supposed, 
by  a  high  Voice  :  but,  when  that  Voice  is  too 
weak  for  the  task,  it  is  assisted  by  another, 
which,  even  in  the  most  difficult  Abbellimenti 
keeps  so  exactly  with  it,  that  the  two  Voices  are 
invariably  mistaken  for  one.  Again,  there  has 
long  been  a  traditional  way  of  making  crescendi 
and  diminuendi,  which  has  astonished  even  the 
most  experienced  Choir  Masters.  The  secret  of  this 
wonderful  effect  is,  that,  not  only  the  amount  of 
tone  produced  by  each  individual  Voice,  but  the 
actual  number  of  Voices  employed,  is  gradually 

•J  There  are  three  principal  Choirs,  in  Borne,  besides  that  of  which 
we  are  writing :  (1)  that  of  S.  Peter's,  now  under  the  direction  of  . 
Salvatore  Meluzzi,  consisting  of  from  16  to  18  members,  of  whom  fl\ 
possess  the  Voce  bianca,  two  being  Boys ;    (2)  that  of  S.  G10^1"" 
Laterano,  consisting  of  12  members,  of  whom  two  are  Boys ;  and  W 
that  of  S.  Maria  Maggiore,  consisting  of  eight  members,  witi 
Soprano  Voices. 

6  Pronounced  S<51fa,  with  the  accent  on  the  first  syllable,  ina 
•obedience  enforced  by  this  time-honoured  instrument  is  so  strict. 
that  an  Italian  proverb  says,  of  an  imperious  man,  E'jli  batte  la  so\ju< 


SISTINE  CHOIR. 

increased  in  the  one  case,  and  diminished  in 
the  other.  The  marvellous  effects  produced  by 
the  '  Miserere  '  have  already  been  described, 


at  PP-  335~33^  °f  v0^-  "•  j1  an^  those  associated 
with  the  '  Improperia,'  at  pp.  1-2.  Such  effects 
would  no  doubt  be  condemned  by  English  Choir- 
Masters  as  'tricks'  —  but  they  are  not  tricks.  No 
means  can  be  so  condemned,  with  justice,  pro 
vided  the  effect  they  produce  be  artistic  and 
legitimate.  If  a  Pianoforte  passage  can  be  better 
played  by  crossing  the  hands  than  by  holding  them 
in  the  usual  position,  the  performer  who  refuses  to 
cross  his  hands,  because  he  finds  no  directions  to 
that  effect  in  the  book,  is  a  tasteless  pedant. 
There  is  no  pedantry  connected  with  the  effects 
produced  by  the  Sistine  Choir.  When  its  mem 
bers  conceive  a  really  artistic  effect,  they  pro 
duce  it,  in  the  best  way  they  can  ;  and  we  have 
no  right  to  speak  evil  of  expedients  used  for  so 
legitimate  a  purpose.  No  doubt  the  Frescoes 
on  the  roof  and  walls  of  the  Chapel,  the  Vest 
ments  of  the  Pope  and  Cardinals,  and  the  general 
magnificence  of  the  Ceremonial  all  tend  to  im 
press  the  listener  :  but,  the  great  secret  of  the 
effect  produced  by  the  Music  is,  that  it  is  always 
in  agreement  with  the  Ceremonial  —  always  the 
right  thing  in  the  right  place. 

At  the  present  moment,  the  Pontifical  Choir 
is  under  a  cloud.  It  sang,  for  the  last  time,  in 
its  official  capacity,  at  the  Church  of  S.  Maria 
del  Popolo,  on  Sept.  8,  1870.  On  the  2oth  of  the 
same  month  the  Sardinian  troops  entered  Home, 
and  all  things  came  to  an  end.  The  Pope  con 
tinued  the  customary  honorarium  to  his  Cappel- 
lani,  but,  as  a  Choir,  they  were  disbanded  ;  and 
Signer  Mustafa  now  lives  at  his  birthplace, 
Spoleto,  only  coming  to  Rome  on  the  few  rare 
days  when  the  Choir  still  sing  together,  namely 
(i)  when  the  Pope  holds  a  Consistory,  with  all 
the  old  Ceremonies,  which  are  still  carefully  ob 
served,  as  of  old,  in  the  Sistine  Chapel,  though 
in  such  strict  privacy  that  the  Rite  is  witnessed 
only  by  those  who  take  part  in  it  ;  and  (2),  at  a 
public  Service  held,  annually,  on  the  Anniversary 
of  the  Pope's  Consecration,  at  the  Church  of 
S.Pietro  in  Vincoli.  One  of  the  most  able  and  ex 
perienced  Directors  of  Choral  Music  in  Europe,2 
who  was  fortunate  enough  to  be  present  at  this 
last-named  Service,  in  1878,  concludes  a  letter, 
in  which  he  has  kindly  furnished  us  with  a  de 
scription  of  it,  with  the  following  words—'  The 
effects  produced  by  the  Sistine  Choir  in  S.  Pietro 
in  Vincoli  were  beyond  anything  I  had  ever  before 
heard,  or  conceived.  But  a  repetition  of  them 
is  only  possible  under  the  same  circumstances.' 
let  us  trust  that  the  time  is  not  far  distant, 
when  the  same  circumstances  may  occur  more 
frequently.  [W.S.R.] 


1  We  mentioned  In  our  article  MISERERE  [vol.  ii.  p.  3365),  that  a  copy 
of  that  celebrated  work  was  published,  at  Lugano,  in  1840,  by  a  certain 

aobil  TJomo,  Sig.  Alessandro  Geminiani,  Filarmonico,  e  Mathema- 
««>,'  with  -whose  name  we  were,  otherwise,  unacquainted.  We  did 
not  know,  at  that  time,  that  the  work  was  reallv  edited,  and  the 
preface  written,  by  Alfleri,  who,  however,  did  not  wish  his  name  to  be 
publicly  associated  with  it.  This  circumstance,  of  the  correctness 
of  which  we  are  assured,  on  the  highest  possible  authority,  adds,  of 
course,  immeasurably,  to  the  value  of  this  now  very  scarce  edition. 

2  Dr  HullaJo. 


SKENE  MANUSCRIPT. 

SIXTH.  The  interval  which  embraces  six 
degrees  of  the  scale.  There  are  three  forms — the 
major,  the  minor,  and  the  augmented,  (i.)  The 
major  sixth,  as  CA,  contains  9  mean  semitones, 
and  the  ratio  of  its  limiting  sounds  in  the  true 
scale  is  5  :  3.  It  is  a  concord,  and  in  harmony  is 
regarded  as  the  first  inversion  of  the  minor  com 
mon  chord.  (2.)  The  minor  sixth,  as  CAb  or  EC, 
contains  8  semitones,  and  the  ratio  of  its  limiting; 
sounds  is  8  :  5.  It  is  also  a  concord,  and  in  har 
mony  regarded  as  the  first  inversion  of  the  major 
common  chord.  (3.)  The  augmented  sixth,  which 
is  arrived  at  by  flattening  or  sharpening  one  of  the 
extreme  sounds  of  a  major  sixth,  as  Db  B  or  Ab  F  J, 
contains  10  semitones,  and  the  ratio  of  the  limit 
ing  sounds  is  approximately  125:72.  It  is  a 
discord,  and  is  usually  resolved  by  moving  each 
note  a  semitone  outwards  to  the  octave,  the 
sharpening  or  flattening  of  one  of  the  extreme 
sounds  already  implying  a  straining  in  that 
direction.  [See  HARMONY.]  [C.H.H.P.] 

SKENE  MANUSCRIPT.  A  collection  of 
airs,  chiefly  Scotish,  though  with  a  considerable 
admixture  of  foreign  dance  tunes  and  English 
vocal  melodies,  supposed  to  have  been  written  at 
various  dates  between  1615  and  1635.  In  1818 
the  MS.  came  into  the  possession  of  the  Faculty 
of  Advocates,  Edinburgh,  along  with  a  charter 
chest  of  documents,  by  bequest  from  Miss  Eliza 
beth  Skene  of  Curriehill  and  Hallyards  in  Mid 
lothian.  She  was  the  last  representative  in  line 
of  the  family,  and  great-great-granddaughter  of 
John  Skene  of  Hallyards,  who  died  in  1644,  and 
was  the  original  possessor  and  probably  also  the 
writer  of  some  parts  of  the  MS.  It  consisted 
originally  of  seven  distinct  parts,  but  these  have 
since  been  bound  together,  and  now  form  one 
tiny  oblong  volume  6^  inches  by  4^.  It  is  writ 
ten  in  tablature  for  a  lute  with  five  strings,  a 
mode  of  writing  very  convenient  for  the  player, 
as  it  points  out  exactly  the  string  to  be  struck, 
and  the  fret  to  be  pressed.  As  amateur  scribes 
however  were  rarely  correct  either  in  their 
barring,  or  in  marking  the  lengths  of  the  notes, 
a  translator  into  modern  notation  requires  much 
patience,  as  well  as  knowledge  and  ingenuity,  to 
decipher  and  correct  the  uncertainties  of  these 
MSS.  In  the  present  instance  the  work  of  trans 
lation  was  undertaken  by  George  Farquhar 
Graham,  whose  fitness  for  the  task  is  sufficiently 
shown  by  the  article  'Music'  which  he  wrote 
for  the  7th  edition  of  the  Encyclopaedia  Britan- 
nica.  In  1838  Mr.  William  Dauney,  F.S.A.Scot., 
urged  by  his  friends  and  encouraged  by  the  mem 
bers  of  the  Bannatyne  and  Maitland  Clubs,  pub 
lished  the  translation  in  4to  with  a  very  learned 
preliminary  dissertation  on  the  music  of  Scot 
land,  and  an  appendix  by  Finlay  Dun  containing 
an  analysis  of  the  structure  of  Scotish  music. 
[See  DAUNEY,  vol.  i.  p.  431  b.] 

The  MS.  contains  115  airs  ;  of  these  85  were 
published,  n  were  found  to  be  duplicates,  and 
the  rest  were  rejected  as  being  either  unintel 
ligible  or  uninteresting.  The  airs  of  Scotish  origin 
appear  to  be  about  45,  of  which  25  were  pre 
viously  unknown.  Many  of  the  latter  are  no 


524 


SKENE  MANUSCRIPT. 


doubt  sufficiently  commonplace  in  style,  but  a 
few  are  really  fine  melodies  worthy  of  a  place  in 
our  present  collections,  and  worthy  of  the  atten 
tion  of  rising  poets.  In  some  instances  the  airs 
are  in  a  simple  unadorned  vocal  state,  a  few  being 
even  pentatonic  ;  of  which  Lady  Rothiemay's  Lilt, 
Lady  Laudian's  Lilt,  and  the  first  part  of  '  Kilt 
your  coat,  Maggie/  may  be  named  as  examples. 
In  most  cases  the  first  half  strain  of  the  air  is 
simple,  the  repetition  more  florid;  this  is  fre 
quently  followed  by  variations — or  divisions  as 
they  were  then  called — consisting  of  scale  and 
other  passages  well  fitted  to  show  the  dexterity 
of  the  player.  Like  many  other  Scotish  tunes,  a 
considerable  number  of  the  airs  take  some  trouble 
to  avoid  the  key-note  as  a  close.  [See  SCOTISH 
Music,  p.  446.]  They  have  also  that  almost  in 
variable  characteristic  of  Scotish  melody,  the  oc 
currence  of  phrases  constructed  on  the  harmony 
of  the  subdominant — the  fourth  of  the  scale  ; 
while  in  the  national  airs  of  most  other  countries 
a  preference  is  given  to  phrases  on  the  dominant 
— the  fifth  of  the  scale ;  both  of  course  being 
subordinate  to  phrases  on  the  tonic,  usually  the 
most  numerous  in  popular  music.  The  occurrence 
of  the  subdominant  harmony  is  the  more  singular 
when  we  consider  that  the  fourth  is  one  of  the 
sounds  often  omitted  in  Scotish  music.  The 
explanation  seems  to  be  that  the  sixth  is  of  fre 
quent  use  as  an  emphatic  note,  and  though 
sometimes  it  has  to  be  treated  as  the  relative 
minor,  more  frequently  it  is  accompanied  as  the 
third  of  the  subdominant. 

The  fact  of  so  many  duplicates  being  found  in 
the  MS.  has  caused  the  remark  to  be  made  that 
the  seven  parts  must  have  belonged  to  different 
individuals.  Nothing  can  be  interred  as  to  the 
date  of  either  part.  Part  III.  however  differs 
from  the  others  in  certain  respects,  and  not  im 
probably  belonged  to  some  other  member  of  the 
family.  It  is  written  for  a  lute  tuned  CFADG. 
Parts  VI.  and  VII.  are  for  a  lute  tuned  AD  AD  A. 
The  only  air  that  is  said  to  bring  the  MS. 
down  to  a  later  date  than  has  been  claimed 
for  it  (1635)  occurs  in  Part  VI.  and  is  named 
*  Peggie  is  ouer  the  sie  with  the  souldier.'  This 
is  the  tune  of  an  English  ballad  included  in  the 
catalogue  issued  by  Thackeray  in  1689.  There 
is  a  copy  of  the  ballad,  printed  about  1655,  in 
the  Euing  collection  of  Glasgow  University,  and 
a  still  earlier  copy  in  the  Roxburgh  Ballads ;  and 
we  learn  from  Mr.  Chappell's  list  of  the  publishers 
of  black-letter  ballads  that  his  date  is  from  1620 
to  1629,  both  prior  to  the  date  claimed  for  the 
MS,  The  simple  Skene  versions  of  some  of  our 
old  melodies,  two  of  which  have  already  been 
given  in  this  work,  show  how  little  we  really 
know  of  the  early  forms  of  our  airs.  [See  SCOT- 
JSH  Music  441 b,  445  6,  446a.]  The  discovery  in 
this  MS.  of  these  and  of  some  other  tunes,  other 
wise  unknown  until  the  middle  of  the  following 
century,  proves  that  first  appearance  in  print  is 
no  guide  whatever  to  actual  age.  The  appearance 
also  in  it  of  so  many  as  25  previously  unknown 
airs  leads  to  the  belief  that  the  loss  of  ancient 
melodies  may  have  been  as  great  even  as  that  of 


SKENE  MANUSCRIPT. 

songs,  in  regard  to  which  Ritson,  in  a  letter  to 
George  Paton,  after  enumerating  about  120,  adds 
that  he  believes  he  has  the  names  of  as  many 
more,  none  of  which  he  had  ever  been  able  to 
recover.  Several  of  the  parts  of  the  Skene  MS. 
contain  airs  which  date  themselves;  such  as 
Ostend  (taken  1604)  ;  Prince  Henry's  masque 
(1610);  Lady  Elizabeth's  masque  (1613). 


List  of  the  115  tunes  contained  in  the 
seven  parts  of  the  SJcene  MS. 

The  first  row  of  figures  shows  the  order  in  which 
they  appear  in  the  original ;  the  second  is  that 
of  Mr.  Dauney's  volume.  The  asterisks  point 
out  the  duplicates,  and  the  figures  after  the 
names  show  their  place  in  the  MS.  The  omitted 
tunes  are  marked  by  daggers.  The  double 
dagger  in  the  first  line  of  figures  between  29 
and  30  shows  the  place  of  a  tune  omitted  in 
Mr.  Dauney's  list. 


i. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 
10. 
11. 
12. 
13. 
14. 
15. 
16. 
17. 
18. 
19. 
20. 
21. 
22. 
23. 
24. 


25. 
26. 
27. 
28. 

29. 

30. 
31. 


32. 
33. 
34. 
35. 
36. 
37. 
38. 
39. 
40. 
41. 
42. 
43. 
44. 
45. 
46. 
47. 
48. 
49. 
60. 


51. 

52. 
53. 
64. 
65. 


38. 
40. 
76. 
10. 
63. 
8. 
41. 

t 

59. 

69. 
47. 
85. 
60. 
68. 
42. 
78. 
36. 

t 

64. 
22. 
20. 

9. 
67. 


t 

37. 
25. 

1. 

34. 

27. 
17. 

18. 


84. 

* 

* 
21. 

t 

* 

15. 

35. 

29. 

3. 

* 

12. 
58. 

23. 
33. 


70. 
77. 
66. 
74. 
65. 


PABT  I.    (24  leaves.) 

Male  Simme. 
Doun  in  yon  barike. 

0  Slllie  soule  alace. 
Long  ere  onie  old  man. 
The  Spanishe  Ladie. 

My  dearest  sueate  is  faniest  fra  me. 

1  long  for  your  vergiiritie.       »4a. 
Hutcheson's  Galziard. 

Pitt  in  an  inche  and  mair  of  it. 

A  French  volt. 

Lady  Elizabeth's  Maske. 

Kette  Bairdie. 

Trumpeters  Ourrand.       *50. 

Joy  to  the  persone. 

Comedians  maske. 

Aderneis  Lilt. 

Sommersetts  Maske. 

John  Devesonnes  pint  of  wine. 

Horreis  Galziard.       #45. 

Froggis  Galziard. 

I  cannot  line  and  want  thee. 

I  mett  her  in  the  medowe. 

Prettie  weil  begunn  man. 

Prince  Henreis  Maske.       Finis  quod  Skine. 


PAET  II. 


(8  leaves.) 
(Fragment.) 


Lady  wilt  thou  love  me. 

The  lass  o  Glasgowe. 

Shoe  looks  as  shoe  wold  lett  me. 

Alace  yat  I  came  owr  the  moor  and  left  my  love  behind 

me.       »42. 

Bone  Jeane  makis  meikill  of  me. 
Let  never  crueltie  dishonour  bewtie. 
My  love  she  winns  not  her  away. 
Jennet  drinks  no  water. 

PART  ill.    (12  leaves.) 
A  Frenche. 
Scerdustis.       66. 
Jlj  Ladie  Bothemayes  Lilt.       96. 
Blue  breiks. 
Aberdeins  Currand. 
Scullione.       83. 
My  Ladie  Laudians  Lilt.       *84. 
Lesleis  Lilt. 
The  Keiking  Glasse. 
To  dance  about  the  Bailzeis  dubb. 
I  left  my  love  behind  me.       28. 
Alace  this  night  yat  we  suld  sinder. 
Pitt  on  your  shirt  (mail)  on  Monday.       *  65. 
Horreis  Galziard.       *  19  (both  omitted). 
1  dowe  not  qunne  (when)  cold. 
My  mistres  blush  is  bonie. 
I  long  for  her  verginitie.       7. 
A  Saraband. 
Trumpeters  Currant  (anonymous).      13. 

PART  IV.    (12  leaves.) 

What  if  a  day. 

Floodis  of  tears. 

Nightingale. 

The  willow  trie. 

Marie  me  marie  me  quoth  the  bonie  lass. 


56.    f 

67.  t 

68.  72. 
59. 

60. 
61. 
62. 


t 

54. 
46. 
6. 


SKENE  MANUSCRIPT. 

My  Lord  Haye's  Currand. 
J<^ane  is  best  of  onie. 

What  high  offences  hes  my  fair  love  taken. 
Alman  Nicholas. 

-Currand  HeyaKSIr  John  Hopes  Currand). 
Hunter's  Carrier. 
Blue  ribbenn  at  the  bound  rod. 
I  serue  a  worthie  ladle. 


SKETCHES. 


525 


63.  49. 

PART  V.    (22  leaves.) 

64.  80.   Canaries. 

65.  *  Pitt  on  your  shirt  (mall)  on  Monday.       41. 

66.  71.  Scerdustis.       *33. 

67.  60.  She  mowpit  It  coming  owr  the  lie. 

68.  24.  Adew  Bundle. 

69.  31.  Thrie  sheips  skinns. 

70.  65.  Chrlchtons  gud  nicht. 

71.  28.  Alace  I  lie  my  alon  I  am  lik  to  die  awld, 

72.  »    I  love  for  love  again.       98. 

73.  73.  Sincopas  (Cinque-pace). 

74.  55.  Almane  Delorne. 

75.  51.  Who  learned  you  to  dance  and  a  to wdle? 

76.  19.  Remember  me  at  eveninge. 

77.  f     Love  is  a  labour  in  vaine. 

78.  26,    I  dare  not  vowe  I  love  thee. 

79.  f     My  Lord  Dingwalls  Currand. 

80.  83.  Brangill  of  Poictu. 

81.  53.  Pantalone. 

82.  57.  Ane  Almane  Moreiss. 

83.  81.  Scullione.       *37. 

84.  »    My  LadieLaudians  Lilt.       S3. 

85.  t    Queins  Currand. 

PART  VI.    (10  leaves.) 

86.  61.  Then  wilt  thou  goe  and  leave  me  her. 

87.  48.  I  will  not  goe  to  my  bed  till  I  sultl  die. 

88.  13.  The  Flowres  of  the  Forest. 

89.  82.  The  fourth  measur  of  the  Buffins. 

90.  39.  Shackle  of  Hay. 

91.  62.  Com  love  lett  us  walk  into  the  Springe. 

92.  45.  Sa  merrie  as  we  have  bein. 

93.  11.  Kilt  thy  coat  Magge,  cilt  thy  coat  ti. 

94.  75.  Shipeherd  saw  thou  not. 

95.  2.   Peggie  is  ouer  ye  sie  wi  ye  souldier. 
98.     4.    Ladye  Rothemayes  Lilt.       » 34. 

97.  52.    Crania  vincit  amor. 

98.  5.  I  love  my  love  lor  love  again.       »72. 

99.  14.    Ostend. 

100.    t     Sir  John  Moresons  Currant, 
lul.    t    Preludium. 

PART  VII.    (14  leaves.) 

102.  f    Exercises. 

103.  44.  Gilcreichs  Lilt. 

104.  43.  Blewcappe. 

105.  SO.  Lady  Cassilis  Lilt. 
108.  *  BlewBreiks.       35. 

107.  32.   Post  Ballangowne. 

108.  7.   John  Andersonne  my  Jo. 

109.  16.   Good  night  and  God  be  with  you. 
HO.     f     A  Sarabande. 

111.  t    Lik  as  the  dum  Solsequium. 

112.  |    Come  sueat  love  lett  sorrow  cease. 

113.  79.   Veze  Setta. 

114.  t  A  Sarabande.  PJ.M  W.I 

SKETCH  (Ital.  Schizzo;  Germ.  Skizze;  Fr. 
Esquisse).  A  short  Movement,  usually  written 
for  the  Pianoforte,  and  deriving  its  name,  in 
some  cases,  from  its  vividly  descriptive  character, 
in  others,  from  the  slightness  of  its  construction. 

Among  Sketches  of  the  purely  descriptive  class, 
the  most  perfect  examples  we  possess  are  Stern- 
dale  Bennett's  three  well-known  Movements,  en 
titled,  'The  Lake,'  '  The  Mill-stream,'  and  'The 
Fountain '  (op.  10).  In  freshness  of  conception, 
and  finished  delicacy  of  treatment,  these  delicious 
little  inspirations  stand  absolutely  alone,  in  their 
own  peculiar  sphere.  Their  truthfulness  to 
Nature  is  as  remarkable  as  their  loyal  submission 
to  the  laws  of  Art.  Though  rightly  called 
Sketches,  because  each  one  presents  a  single 
feature,  only,  selected  from  the  infinite  variety 
of  detail  comprised  within  the  limits  of  a  beau 
tiful  landscape,  they  are,  in  reality,  elaborately 
finished  pictures,  reminding  us  of  three  little 
water-colour  drawings  by  Turner,  or  three  bright 
flashes  from  the  pencil  of  Girtin.  And,  like  the 


works  of  the  last-named  Painter,  they  are  so 
thoroughly  English,  that  we  should  seek  in  vain 
for  the  realisation  of  their  poetical  imagery  in 
the  scenery  of  any  other  country  than  our  own. 
As  surely  as  Schubert's  '  Forelle '  lived  in  a 
German  trout-stream — and,  who  can  hear  the 
Song,  and  doubt  it? — so  surely  does  the  rush 
of  Bennett's  flashing  wavelets  turn  an  English 
mill-wheel. 

Mendelssohn's  three  little  Capriccios,  written, 
in  Wales,  for  the  cousins  of  Professor  Taylor, 
and  now  known  as  op.  16,  have  also  been  pub 
lished  under  the  title  of  Sketches,  and  may  fairly 
lay  claim  to  it,  though  it  was  not  given  to  them 
by  the  Composer  himself.  The  first  of  these,  in 
A  minor,  was  suggested  by  the  perfume  of  a 
carnation  ;  the  second,  in  E  minor,  by  the  fairy 
trumpets  of  the  Ecremocarpus,  a  spray  of  which 
the  Composer  drew  upon  the  margin  of  the 
original  autograph ;  and  the  third,  in  E  major, 
by  a  little  Welsh  Rivulet — a  'real  actual  Rivulet ' 
— at  Coed-du,  near  Mold,  in  Flintshire,  which 
particularly  struck  Mendelssohn's  fancy,  and  the 
tiny  waterfalls,  smooth  reaches,  and  other  details 
of  which  he  painted,  so  carefully,  from  Nature, 
that,  years  afterwards,  his  manner  of  performing 
the  Music  suggested  to  Schirmer  the  idea  of  a 
charming  little  water-colour  drawing,1 

Schumann's  four  'Skizzen'  for  the  Pedal- 
Pianoforte  (op.  58),  are  of  an  altogether  different 
class,  and  derive  their  name  from  the  Composer's 
modest  appreciation  of  their  calibre;  as  does,  also, 
Stephen  Heller's  pretty,  but  certainly  not  unfin 
ished  little  Study,  entitled  'Esquisse.'  [W.S.R.] 

SKETCHES.  SKETCH-BOOKS.  SKETCH- 
ING,  THE  PRACTICE  OF.  A  broad  distinction 
must  be  drawn  between  the  preliminary  Sketches 
made  during  the  progress  of  a  great  work,  and 
the  modest  Movements  described  in  the  foregoing- 
article.  Though  called  by  the  same  name,  the 
two  forms  have  nothing  whatever  in  common. 

One  of  the  most  accomplished  Art-critics  of 
modern  times  assures  us  that  the  conceptions  of 
true  genius  invariably  present  themselves  to  the 
inspired  imagination,  even  in  their  earliest  mani 
festation,  in  a  complete  and  perfect  form  ;  that 
they  spring  from  the  Artist's  brain,  as  Minerva, 
adult,  and  fully  armed,  sprang  from  the  forehead 
of  Jupiter.  No  doubt,  this  is  true  enough,  in  a 
certain  sense;  but,  only  so  far  as  the  general 
form  of  the  idea  is  concerned.  Among  the  trea 
sures  presented  to  the  University  of  Oxford  by 
the  late  Mr.  Chambers  Hall,  there  is  a  little  square 
of  paper,  which,  if  we  attempt  to  press  the  canon 
beyond  a  certain  point,  cuts  away  the  ground 
from  under  it.  On  one  side  of  this  priceless  sheet 
is  drawn  the  seated  figure  of  a  female  skeleton, 
surrounded  by  faint  lines  indicating  the  contours 
of  its  delicate  covering  of  flesh.  On  the  other, 
is  presented  the  figure  of  the  Holy  Child,  ex 
quisitely  drawn  with  the  bistre  pen,  yet  not 
finished  with  sufficient  care  to  satisfy  the  Artist, 
who  has  several  times  repeated  the  feet,  with, 
certain  changes  of  position,  on  the  margin  of  the 

i  See  vol.  ii.  pp.  264-265.   The  Autograph  Is  headed  '  Am  Bach.' 


526 


SKETCHES. 


paper.  Now,  these  studies  were  made  by  Raf- 
faelle  himself,  in  preparation  for  the  famous 
picture  known  as  'La  bella  Giardiniera ' ;  and 
they  prove,  when  compared  with  the  finished 
painting  in  the  Gallery  of  the  Louvre,  that, 
though  the  general  features  of  the  subject  may 
have  presented  themselves  to  the  Artist's  mind, 
in  the  form  of  an  instantaneous  revelation,  its 
details  suffered  many  changes  of  intention,  before 
they  perfectly  satisfied  the  mind  of  their  creator. 

The  Musician  deals  with  his  Composition  as 
Raffaelle  dealt  with  this  wonderful  picture. 
Each  Master,  it  is  true,  has  his  own  way  of 
working.  Some  writers  are  known  to  have  re 
frained  from  committing  their  ideas  to  paper, 
until  they  had  first  perfected  them,  in  all  their 
details ;  though  we  cannot  doubt  that  they 
modified  those  details,  many  times,  and  very  ex 
tensively,  by  means  of  some  clear  process  of 
mental  elaboration,  before  they  began  to  write. 
Others  have  left  innumerable  MS.  copies  of  their 
several  works,  each  one  complete  in  itself,  but 
differing,  in  some  more  or  less  important  par 
ticular,  from  all  its  fellows.  Some  very  great 
writers  made  one  single  copy  serve  for  all  pur 
poses  ;  obliterating  notes,  and  crossing  out  long 
passages,  at  every  change  of  intention ;  and  so 
disfiguring  their  MSS.,  by  blots  and  erasures, 
that  those  only  who  have  carefully  studied  then* 
handwriting  can  be  trusted  to  decypher  them. 
Others,  again — the  Sketchers,  par  excellence— 
began  even  their  greatest  works  by  noting  down 
a  few  scraps  of  Subject,  which  they  afterwards 
modified,  enlarged,  and  improved ;  scribbling 
a  dozen  different  ideas  on  the  back  of  a  single 
sheet  of  paper,  or  in  the  random  pages  of  a 
note-book ;  and  changing  their  plans  so  fre 
quently,  that,  when  a  complete  copy  was  written 
out  at  last,  it  was  only  by  careful  examination 
that  the  germ  of  the  original  thought  could  be 
recognised  in  any  part  of  it.  It  is  impossible 
to  say  which  of  these  methods  of  Composition  is 
the  best ;  for  the  greatest  of  the  Great  Masters 
have  used  them  all;  each  one  selecting  that  which 
best  accorded  with  the  bias  of  his  own  individual 
genius.  Let  us  consider  a  few  examples  of  each ; 
for,  no  lessons  are  so  precious  as  those  which  the 
Master  permits  us  to  learn,  for  ourselves,  while 
watching  him  at  work  in  his  atelier. 

And,  first,  let  us  clearly  bear  in  mind  the 
difference  between  a  Sketch  and  an  unfinished 
Picture.  The  analogy,  in  these  matters,  between 
Music  and  Painting  is  very  striking,  and  will 
help  us  much.  In  both,  the  Sketch  is  made 
while  the  Artist's  mind  is  in  doubt.  When  his 
plan  is  fully  matured — and  not  before — he  draws 
its  outline  upon  his  canvas,  or  lays  out  the 
skeleton  of  his  Score  upon  paper,  leaving  the 
details  to  be  filled  in  at  his  leisure.  The  Sketch 
is  never  used  again  ;  but  the  outline  is  gradually 
wrought  into  a  finished  Picture ;  the  skeleton 
Score,  into  a  perfect  Composition.  Should  the 
completion  of  the  work  be  interrupted,  the 
Sketches  remain  in  evidence  of  the  Artist's  changes 
of  intention,  while  the  half-covered  canvas,  or 
the  half-filled  Score,  show  the  foundation  of  his 


SKETCHES. 

ripe  idea,  with  just  so  much  of  the  superstructure 
as  he  had  time  or  inclination  to  build  upon  it. 
Among  our  promised  examples,  we  shall  call 
the  reader's  attention  to  MS.  reliques  of  both 
classes. 

The  earliest  known  example  of  a  bond  fide 
Sketch— like  the  earliest  Rota,  the  earliest  Poly 
phonic  Motet,  and  the  earliest  specimen  of  a  Vocal 
Score — is  a  product  of  our  own  English  School. 
It  dates  from  the  middle  of  the  i6th  century; 
and  was  written,  by  John  Shepherde,  either  for 
the  purpose  of  testing  the  capabilities  of  a  Sub 
ject  which  he  intended  to  use  as  the  basis  of  a 
Motet,  or  other  Vocal  Composition,  or,  for  the 
instruction  of  a  pupil.1  Our  knowledge  of  Shep- 
herde's  Compositions  is  too  limited  to  allow  of 
the  identification  of  the  particular  work  to  which 
this  passage  belongs ;  but,  by  a  curious  coincid 
ence,  the  Subject  corresponds  exactly  with  that 
of  the  '  Gloria '  of  Dr.  Tye's  Mass,  '  Euge  bone,' 
though  its  treatment  is  altogether  different. 


We  doubt  whether  it  would  be  possible  to 
find  a  pendant  to  this  very  interesting  example ; 
for  the  Polyphonic  Composers  seem  generally  to 
have  refrained  from  committing  their  ideas  to 
paper,  until  they  were  perfected.  So  far  was  Pitoni, 
one  of  the  last  of  the  race,  from  advocating  this 
habit  of  sketching,  that  he  is  said  to  have  once 
written  out  a  Mass  for  twelve  Choirs  in  separate 
Parts,  beginning  with  the  Bass  of  the  Twelfth 
Choir,  and  finishing  each  Part  before  he  began 
the  next — an  effort  which,  if  it  did  not  rest  upon 
good  evidence,  we  should  regard  as  incredible. 

Sebastian  Bach  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
addicted  to  the  practice  of  sketching  ;  but,  like 
Painters,  who  can  never  refrain  from  retouching 
their  Pictures  so  long  as  they  remain  in  the 
studio,  he  seems  to  have  been  possessed  by  an 
almost  morbid  passion  for  altering  his  finished 
Compositions.  Autograph  copies  of  a  vast  number 
of  his  Fugues  are  in  existence,  changed,  some 
times,  for  the  better,  and  sometimes,  it  cannot 
be  denied,  for  the  worse.  Some  twenty  years 
ago,  an  edition  of  the  '  Wohltemperirte  Clavier ' 
was  published  at  Wolfenbxittel,  giving  different 
readings  of  innumerable  passages,  and,  with 
singular  perversity,  almost  always  selecting  the 
least  happy  one  for  insertion  in  the  text.  The 
Subject  of  the  first  Fugue,  in  C  major,  exists, 
in  different  MSS.,  as  at  a,  and  at  b,  in  the 
following  examples  ;  and,  as  Professor  Macfarren 

i  Printed  by  Hawkins,  History,  App.  10. 


SKETCHES. 

has  pointed  out,  the  change  is  not  a  mere  melodic 
one,  but  seriously  affects  the  Counterpoint. 

(«)                       mm  

fev-*—  rfr^E  ^-n—    •    • 

SKETCHES. 

-.  r*  i  -i     ..i  .       -E      i^ 

527 
!  —  M  ID 

•  m    J     •  .       =; 
—  *3i-  •  &- 

=  :         22      ^ 
•&  »s 

^-H 

•  —                          ^^ 

]   *             "^"*-       ^"<s 

--—  U 

$=            —  n 

^               -Sjn 



(&) 

-?(6> 

fb-{-                    -—  1       - 

.-)       i     —  j     -.   -        -l-i 

fl 

—  nsr-H 

GtC* 

In  the  Fifth  Fugue,  in  D  major,  the  Subject,  at 
a  certain  bar,  is  given  in  one  copy  in  the  original 
key,  and  in  another  in  the  Relative  Minor.     A 
hundred  other  examples  might  be  cited  ;    but 
these  will  show  the  Composer's  method  of  work 
ing,  and  prove  that,  though  he  made  no  trial 
Sketches  in  the  earlier  stage  of  the  process,  he 
was  no  less  subject  to  changes  of  intention  after 
wards  than  the  most  fastidious  of  his  brethren. 
Handel,  as  a  general  rule,  wrote  currentecalamo; 
making  but  a  single  copy,  and  frequently  com 
pleting  it  without   the   necessity  for   a   single 
erasure.    But  though  his  pen  was  emphatically 
that  'of  a  ready  writer,'   it  could  not  always 
keep  pace  with  the  impetuosity  of  his  genius  ; 
nor  were  his   ideas  always  unaccompanied  by 
instantaneous  afterthoughts:  and  in  these  cases 
he  altered    the    MS.    as    he    proceeded,    with 
reckless  disregard   to   the  neatness   of  its   ap 
pearance  ;  intruding  smears,  blots,  and  scratches, 
with  such  prodigality,  that  it  is  sometimes  not 
a  little  difficult  to  understand  his  final  decision. 
But  these  changes  bear  such  unmistakable  evi 
dence  of  having  been  suggested  at  the  moment, 
that  they   can   scarcely  be   regarded   as   after 
thoughts.   When  he  really  changed  his  mind  —  as 
in  '  Kejoice  greatly,'  '  But  who  may  abide  ?'  and 
'Why  do  the  nations  ?  '  —  he  made  a  second  copy. 
Sometimes,  also,  he  made  a  Sketch.    Very  few 
examples  of  such  preparatory  studies  have  been 
preserved  ;  but  these  few  are  of  indescribable  in 
terest.    Among  others,  the  Fitzwilliam  Library 
at  Cambridge  possesses  one,  which  can  only  be 
compared  to  a  'trial  plate'  of  Rembrandt's.  This 
priceless  fragment  —  here  published  for  the  first 
time  —  is  a  study  for  the  '  Anaen  '  Chorus  in  the 
'  Messiah.'   Before  deciding  upon  the  well-known 
passage  of  Canonic  Imitation,   which  forms  so 
striking  a  feature  in  this  wonderful  Movement, 
the  Composer  has  tested  the  capabilities  of  his 
subject,  as  Shepherde  tested  his,  two  hundred 
years  before  him  ;   only,  not  content  with  trying 
it  once,  he  has  tried  it  three  times,  at.  different 
distances,  and  in  the  inverted  form.    The  identity 
of  the  passages  marked  (a),  (6),  and  (c),  with 
those  of  the  finished  Chorus  marked  (e),  (d),  and 
(/),  is  indisputable  ;  though  the  Sketches  are  in 
the  key  of  C,  and  in  Alia,  breve  time. 

^S,   j  '  !  p£u_u  y  J    i 

T*  u     ^^i^.  '-•  i  '  *   U  ^t*-0-^ 

J    rrrr  •  -rfcrr   -fr? 

|    i    J       !       <     ,  *      !         i 

.'•»•      i        mISS.        •    m 

•  -  *    •  J         J 

•   ^?  •    ^_ 

I'     fi                                             *~*Z 

J                                 *L-M   __  J  * 

r^-    1 

2_  "A  j 

"r^-     *  i* 

.-, 

• 

g-           j 

r 

1 

i     i     1  1 

ii 

I      - 

^                    ! 

p 

-      1       -"        "I 

tit  122       <J     11^ 

7,                              (I 

•         • 

-    «    »                *2.  \\^ 

|H     •• 

T^ff-  ^'     -*•?  ^r  r-i--  ~ 

1     '  j       i  

i  J  'J   2 

-  1  -  !       !      ^^ 

J  -^-    -^ 

J     m~     22      ,.    ~. 

•      X 

• 

f^s 

II 

~*1  1                                                                     "' 

i      r5  - 

n(0               1            , 

-+k£ 
,         J            I       |                  r 

1          1                   1 

V  -    ^           j—  3 

T  ft?  ;     J 

"     ^,      ' 

A  (*  -             *  f. 

J    -           -              *  m            J 

»   =>  .       m 

i^\\  /                    % 

5  -             BE  •  z 

1IZ3CIS 

m    m    -          a  « 

r             r 

i     V 

i  -JjJ      J3-J- 

nTTtf 

"V    i                  1  (^>   • 

•  '"^^ 

J"  l\*       *• 

ris                         m  m 

a  »  T 

"-    N'             t 

-   i            •  | 

-    -  •  -rj- 

1                 1 

1                                 1 

1^ 

-      1 

_|  |_^.-^_ 

—  J            1 



<»  •!      ;Ei*::±E 

^-";  —  •*  —  Z—  —  —  i 

FStp^s^aLM 

:  p  —  '-•—  f 

I     '  ' 

\.-£L~3sL  J.J.  .<c. 

*   ! 

IT 

"  m  m 

I! 

r       ^^ 

|i 

r     ~ 

r 

(d)  Compare  •with  (6). 

n  *        -                   _  K    . 

—  P^***,  1 

V  *JT 

A     Hi' 

«•_  «, 

*     *  ' 

f(\)        *-j     p  •  • 

m  "P 

"v        -  r   r   ' 

hfc                          *       i          i          ^        • 

•  P 

*J              1     U    j 
Bar  63.      -  _^_  e 

^fcrr- 

,N- 

^±_tf_L/  =_ 

**i5l 
3i=i=  ~=3b 

^     H 

*  

^g^^-'  -  fer  r  •    :  ' 

^  •  ;feXj  ,^-  ^>ojq 

-•  1  T"^""*  —  *  "^ 

—  nJr~j^ 

=«*^  —  1  _  ^-kstd 

(e)  Compare  with  fa);  and  also  'with  bars 
42  et  seg.  of  the  finished  Chorus. 

:  '  £—  ££-•  ^ 

=^M^ 
^^fcL 

^r-^-f—  V- 

r-r  ••  t 

^  1  ^L_i  

-«—  ;  *  1 

1                                  ^ 

_  J"5S_ 

m 

C?-  •-          ;              ;                  ^w         i 

pij^g-.^  .  n  J  -    r-  J!!^-.^- 

^^^=    -ES^p 

-P  —  —  f  

-T3-3-^f 
^  —  [ 

~fcr-  "  ^t^T  ^^^^ 

—.  —  «—  •  —  •—             —  !"-*!  —  »—  1»—  F— 

1  »>  —  * 

5  I      J^- 

t-t-r^T 

_^_1  —  i  

-  —  i  —  j  —  t  —  i  —  —  .  —  i  -* 

^-^f^^- 

523 


SKETCHES. 

(/)  Compare  with  (e). 

-4- 


The  connection  of  these  passages  exemplifies 
the  legitimate  use  of  the  Sketch  in  a  very  in 
structive  manner.1  Having  first  tried  the  possi 
bilities  of  his  Subject,  Handel  decided  upon  the 
form  of  Imitation  which  best  suited  his  purpose, 
and  then  wavered  no  more.  The  complete  Score 
of  the  Chorus  shows  no  signs  of  hesitation,  in  this 
particular,  though  the  opening  of  the  Fugue 
exhibits  strong  traces  of  reconsideration.  The 
primary  Subject,  which  now  stands  as  at  (h\  was 
first  written  as  at  (#)  ;  and  the  rejected  notes 
are  roughly  crossed  out  with  the  pen,  in  the  ori 
ginal  autograph,  to  make  room  for  the  after 
thought.  The  Movement,  therefore,  aifords  us 
examples  both  of  preliminary  Sketches  and  an 
amended  whole. 


etc. 

Mozart  almost  always  completed  his  Compo 
sitions  before  committing  any  portion  of  them 
to  writing.  Knowing  this — as  we  do,  on  no  less 
positive  authority  than  that  of  his  own  word — 
we  find  no  difficulty  in  understanding  the  his 
tory  of  the  Overture  to  '  II  Don  Giovanni.'  The 
vulgar  tradition  is,  that  he  postponed  the  prepar 
ation  of  this  great  work,  from  sheer  slothfulness, 
until  the  evening  before  the  production  of  the 
Opera  ;  and,  even  then,  kept  the  copyists  waiting, 
while  he  completed  his  MS.  The  true  story  is, 
that  he  kept  it  back,  for  the  purpose  of  recon 
sideration,  until  the  very  last  moment,  when, 
though  almost  fainting  from  fatigue,  he  wrote  it 
out,  without  a  mistake,  while  his  wife  kept  him 
awake  by  telling  him  the  most  laughable  Volks- 
marchen  she  could  remember.  It  is  clear  that, 

i  We  believe  the  musical  world  is  indebted,  for  the  identification 
of  these  Sketches,  to  the  late  Mr.  Vincent  Novello,  by  whom  the 
writer's  attention  was  drawn  to  the  subject. 


i  »     rf  A-                 /    •                       A         "             1*            1™                                        ft 

-U_£  —  p_i  . 

s       •        ,*        *^ 

i         i 

•    "         iv 

•               1                           —  ^--.— 

uT 

(h) 

etc. 

t  \L    j*                                                             _     £     *B 

ff"tf^/t           «    •      lO      i                      A 

i    •    1                   -•' 

z    g  v       -  C  Lrt_l^ 

f  hj*  r     "i     •_  ..  1.     m 

B 

J  i                  — 

SKETCHES. 

in  this  case,  the  process  of  transcription  was  a 
purely  mechanical  one.     He  knew  his  work  so 
perfectly,   by  heart,  that  the  peals  of  laughter 
excited  by  his  wife's  absurd  stories  did  not  pre 
vent  him  from  producing  a  MS.  which,  delivered 
to  the  copyists  sheet  by  sheet  as  he  completed 
it,  furnished  the  text  of  the  Orchestral  Parts 
from  which  the  Overture  was  played,  without 
farther  correction,  and  without  rehearsal.    But, 
he  had  not  always  time  to  carry  out  this  process 
of  mental  elaboration  so  completely.    Though  he 
made  no  preliminary  Sketches  of  his  Composi 
tions,  he  not  unfrequently  introduced  considerable 
changes  into  the  finished  copy.     Some  curious 
instances  of  such  pentimenti  may  be  found  in  the 
autograph  Score  of  the  Zauberflote,  in  the  Andr£ 
collection  at  Offenbach.      Not  only  are  there 
changes  in  the  Overture ;   but  in  the  Duet  for 
Pamina  and  Papageno,  in  the  First  Act,  the 
position  of  the  bars  has  been  altered  from  be 
ginning  to  end,  in  order  to  remedy  an  oversight 
in  the  rhythm,  which  caused  the  last  note  of  the 
last  vocal  phrase  to  fall  in  the  middle  of  a  bar 
instead  of  at  the  beginning.    Again,  the  Score  of 
the  Pianoforte  Concerto  in  C  minor  (K.  491),  now 
in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Otto  Goldschrnidt,  abounds 
with  afterthoughts,  many  of  which  are  of  great 
importance  :  yet  this  MS.  cannot  be  fairly  called 
a  Sketch,  since  the  pentimenti  are  strictly  con 
fined  to  the  Solo  Part,  the  orchestral  portions  of 
the    work    remaining    untouched,    throughout. 
Strange  to  say,  the  work  in  which  we  should 
most  confidently  have  expected  to  find  traces  of 
reconsideration  is  singularly  free  from  them.   So 
far  as  it  goes,  the  original  MS.  (Urschrift)  of  the 
'  Requiem  '  is  a  finished  outline,  written  with  so 
fixed  an  intention,  that  it  needed  only  the  filling 
in  of  the  missing  details,  in  order  to  make  it  per 
fect — a  circumstance  for  which  Siissmayer  must     > 
have  felt  intensely  thankful,  if  we  may  believe 
that  no  other  records  were  left  for  his  guidance. 
A  more  remarkable  contrast  than  that  pre 
sented    by  these  firm    outlines    to  the  rough 
memoranda  of  the  Composer  who  next  claims 
our  attention,  it  would  be  impossible  to  conceive. 
Beethoven's  method  of  working  differed,  not  only 
from  Mozart's,  but  from  that  of  all  other  known 
men  of  genius  ;   and  that  so  widely,  that,  if  we     ~ 
are  to  accept  the  canon  laid  down  by  the  author 
of  '  Modern  Painters '  at  all,  it  can  only  be  on 
condition  that  we  regard  him  as  the  exception 
necessary  to  prove  the  rule.    His  greatest  works 
sprang,  almost  invariably,  from  germs  of  such 
apparent  insignificance,  that,  were  we  unable  to 
identify   their    after-growth,   we    should   leave 
them  unnoticed  among  the  host  of  barely  legible 
memoranda    by  which   they   were  surrounded. 
Happily,  it  was  not  his  habit  to  destroy  such 
memoranda,  after  they  had  fulfilled  their  office. 
He  left  behind  him  a  whole  library  of  Sketch 
books,  the  value  of  which  is  now  fully  recognised, 
and,  thanks  to  the  unremitting  industry  of  Notte- 
bohm  and  Thay  er,  not  likely  to  be  forgotten.  Of  the 
three  specimens  now  in  the  British  Museum,  one 
is  a  mere  fragment,  and  another,  of  comparatively 
triflingiuterest;  but  the  third  (Add.  MSS.  29,801), 


SKETCHES. 

ton  tains  some  extremely  valuable  sketched  me 
moranda,  made  during  the  progress  of  the  Music 
for  'The  Kuins  of  Athens,'  'Adelaida,'  the 
little  Sonata  in  G  minor  (Op.  49,  No.  i),  and 
numerous  other  works,  including  a  complete 
copy  of  the  '  Sonatina  per  il  Mandolino '  already 
printed  at  p.  205  of  our  second  volume.  More 
interesting  still  are  some  of  the  Sketch-books  in 
the  Royal  Library  at  Berlin.  From  one  of  these, 
written  between  the  years  1802-4,  an^  carefully 
analysed  by  Nottebohm,1  we  extract  a  series  of 
records  connected  with  the  Sonata  in  C  major, 
Op.  53,  dedicated  to  Count  Waldstein — a  work  so 
generally  known,  that  our  readers  can  scarcely 
fail  to  take  an  interest  in  the  history  of  its  birth, 
infancy,  and  development  to  maturity.  The  first 
Sketch,  at  page  120,  dashes  into  the  Subject  of 
the  opening  Allegro,  by  aid  of  a  few  prefatorial 
bars  which  go  far  to  induce  our  belief  in  some 
still  earlier  memorandum. 


•5               SpBZ3ZSi_3Z: 

—       "^'"^""=1  rr^i  —  Si  =T" 

f-         L      •     •          •!  • 

^        ^        r* 

—  jg  *g  ^  ^  — 

-$*** 

^^=s^-»-J^-J3 


At  page  122  follows  the  first  idea  of  the  Modu 
lation  which  introduces  the  Second  Subject. 


The  Second  Subject  itself  first  appears  at  p.  1 23, 
in  C ;  and  in  a  form  far  inferior  to  that  in 
which  it  makes  its  first  entrance,  in  E,  in  the 

finished  Sonata. 


1 


1  'Bin  Skizzenbuch  von  Beethoven  ausdem  Jahrel?03,'  etc.  B.  &H. 
«?0.  This  was  preceded  by  an  earlier  one,  containing  the  2nd 
Symphony  and  other  works,  and  published  in  1865. 

VOL.  III.  PT.  5. 


SKETCHES. 


529 


—  s  

hr-«— 

-p— 

.  -1    i?  ' 

L(-  —  t—  1 

t=fc& 

-i  :  

The  close  of  the  First  Part  is  suggested  on 
p.  122. 


— 

-f- 

»r- 

^ST- 

-U 

Hj 

On  p.  123  we  find  a  Sketch  for  the  opening  of 
the  Second  Part — 


^^^ 


and,  on  p.  131,  the  close  of  the  Movement. 


^= 


- 

-     - 

f 

-t="'P- 

f- 

r- 

i- 

:    H 

•  (r 

-      1 

• 

i  — 

±    I 

1 

- 

f-         •    1 

I 

•           1 

i    r  '    r 

i 

i  -         ' 

Alternating  with  these  memoranda,  the  vol 
ume  presents  some  intensely  interesting  Sketches 
for  an  Andante,  the  first  suggestion  for  which 
appears  at  p.  12.1,  in  E  major. 

Andante. 


Immediately  afterwards,  this  first  idea  reap 
pears,  in  a  modified  form,  and  in  combination 
with  a  phrase  justly  dear  to  all  of  us. 


M  m 


530 


SKETCHES. 


The  Key  is  afterwards  changed,  and  the  idea 
assumes  a  familiar  form — 


The  Movement  now  gradually  developes  into 
the  well-known  Andante  in  F,  known  as  Op.  35, 
though,  as  Ries  tells  us,  originally  included  in 
the  plan  of  the  Sonata  we  are  studying  : — 


Still,  this  passage  does  not  satisfy  the  Com 
poser,  who  tries  it  over  and  over  again  ;  always, 
however,  retaining  the  lovely  Modulation  to  the 
key  of  Db,  and  gradually  bringing  it  into  the 
form  in  which  it  was  eventually  printed. 

We  next  find  a  suggestion  for  the  Episode  inBb, 


>,b     ff|f-»,.       |*LJ-'7j 

j^iii^^^  -^ 


f= 


and,  lastly,  the  germ  of  the  Coda. 


8va  .... 


^*Vr^     !3z  p      I  3c=p 

^^^r^^^^g 


q 


r 


U 

The  alternation  of  these  Sketches  with  those 
for  the  first  and  last  Movements  of  the  Sonata, 
coupled  with  the  absence  of  all  trace  of  a  design 
for  the  intermediate  Movement  which  now  forms 
part  of  it,  sufficiently  corroborates  Ries's  assertion 
that  the  publication  of  the  'Andante  in  F,'  in  a 
separate  form,  was  an  afterthought ;  while  the 
eminent  fitness  of  this  beautiful  Movement  for 
the  position  it  was  originally  intended  to  fill, 
tempts  us  to  regret  that  the  '  Waldstein  Sonata ' 
should  ever  have  been  given  to  the  world  without 
it.  But  the  whole  work  suffered  changes  of  the 


SKETCHES. 

most  momentous  character.  The  Rondo  was  ori 
ginally  sketched  in  Triple  Time,  though  that 
idea  was  soon  abandoned,  in  favour  of  one  which, 
after  several  trials,  more  clearly  foreshadowed 
the  present  Movement ;  not,  however,  without 
long-continued  hesitation  between  a  plain  and  a 
syncopated  form  of  the  principal  Subject. 

Page  139. 


-+*-*- 

-•  — 

7-p— 

Z£ 

,—JL^ 

»— 

-f^-T- 

r-  *  ' 

-H 

1     u 

1  —  • 

3 

i 

u4U_~ 

^—  IP- 

-M 

Page  139. 


t 


-P-JL 


The  two  following  Sketches  for  the  middle 
section  of  the  Movement,  are  chiefly  remarkable 
for  the  change  suggested  in  the  second  memor 
andum. 

Page  136. 


Page  141. 


The  passage  of  Triplets,  which  afterwards 
forms  so  important  a  feature  of  the  Movement, 
is  first  suggested  at  p.  137,  and  its  future  de 
velopment  indicated  by  the  word  Triolen  on  p. 

1 39- 
Page  137. 


Page  139. 
8m  - 


=£3C 


Triolen 

Then  follows  the  introduction  of  a  new  idea  : 
8va    .--... 


Finally,  on  p.  138,  we  find  the  first  rough  draft 
of  the  Prestissimo  with  which  the  work  concludes 
— or,  rather,  the  embryo  which  afterwards  de 
veloped  itself  into  that  fiery  peroration. 


SKETCHES. 


SKETCHES. 


531 


Presto, 
_*— «•- 


8va 


•-*-#*-* 

—I  Sp  i~ 

irSz 


a 


* 


— »i 


e 


E 



P    "1     F" 

—  b  —  H  —  p~ 

C'  — 

1 

!  J 

^^ 

i  —  w—  

The  Sonata,  in  its  present  form,  consisting  of 
the  Allegro,  and  the  Rondo,  with  a  short '  Intro- 
duzione' — of  which  no  Sketch  has  as  yet  been 
found — interposed  between  them,  was  published, 
as  Op.  53,  in  May  1805,  and  the  Andante,  in  a 
separate  form,  as  Op.  35,  in  May  1806.  The 
Sketches  belong,  in  all  probability,  to  the  year 
1803 :  and  the  volume  which  contains  them  is 
even  richer  in  records  of  the  '  Eroica  Symphony'; 
besides  furnishing  valuable  memoranda  for  the 
treatment  of  the  First  Act  of  '  Fidelio,'  the 
Pianoforte  Concerto  in  G  major,  the  Sym 
phony  in  C  minor,  and  other  works  of  less  im 
portance.  The  Sketches  for  the  Eroica  Sym 
phony  exceed  in  interest  almost  all  the  others 
we  possess ;  but  we  have  thought  it  better  to 
illustrate  our  subject  by  those  for  the  Sonata, 
because,  being  both  less  voluminous,  and  more 
easily  compared  with  the  finished  work,  these 
'vestiges  of  creation'  exhibit  the  peculiar  phase 
of  productive  power  we  are  now  studying  in  a 
more  generally  intelligible  form  than  any  others 
that  we  could  have  selected,  and,  while  forcibly 
reminding  us  of  the  process  carried  out  by  Raf- 
faelle,  in  designing  the  '  Bella  Giardiniera,'  very 
clearly  exemplify  the  points  in  which  Beethoven's 
plan  of  action  diverged  from  that  pursued  by 
other  Classical  Composers. 

Schubert's  method  of  working  differed  entirely 
both  from  Mozart's,  and  Beethoven's.  He  neither 
prepared  a  perfect  mental  copy,  like  the  former ; 
nor  worked  out  his  ideas,  as  did  the  latter,  from 
a  primordial  germ ;  but  wrote  almost  always 
on  the  spur  of  the  moment,  committing  to  paper, 
as  fast  as  his  pen  could  trace  them,  the  ideas  which 
presented  themselves  to  his  mind  at  the  instant  of 
composition — proceeding,  in  fact,  as  ordinary  men 
do  when  they  sit  down  to  write  a  letter.  This 
being  the  case — and  there  is  ample  proof  of  it — 
we  are  not  surprised  to  find  that  he  was  no 
Sketch  er,  though  we  cannot  but  regard  with 
astonishment  the  remarkable  freedom  of  his 
Scores  from  evidences  of  afterthought.  It  is 
true,  we  do  sometimes  find  important  modifica 
tions  of  the  first  idea.  There  is  an  autograph 
copy  of  '  Der  Erlkonig '  in  existence — probably 


an  early  one— in  which  the  Accompaniment  is 
treated  in  Quavers,  in  place  of  Triplets.1  Im 
portant  changes  have  been  discovered  in  the  Score 
of  the  Mass  in  Ab.2  Others  are  found  in  the 
Symphony  in  C  major,  No.  10 ;  the  original  MS. 
of  which  gives  proof,  in  many  places,  of  notable 
changes  of  intention.  A  singularly  happy  im 
provement  is  effected  in  the  opening  Theme,  for 
the  Horns,  by  the  alteration  of  a  single  note. 
The  Subject  of  the  Allegro  is  far  more  extensively 
changed;  and  scratched  through  with  the  pen, 
at  every  recurrence,  for  the  introduction  of  the 
later  modification.  New  bars — and  very  beau 
tiful  ones — have  been  added  to  the  Scherzo  ;  and 
there  is  more  or  less  change  in  the  Adagio. 
But,  these  cases  are  far  from  common.  As  a 
general  rule,  he  committed  his  ideas  to  paper 
under  the  influence  of  uncontrollable  inspiration, 
and  then  cast  his  work  aside,  to  make  room  for 
newer  manifestations  of  creative  power.  By  far 
the  greater  number  of  his  MSS.  remain,  un 
touched,  exactly  in  the  condition  in  which  they 
first  saw  the  light :  monuments  of  the  certainty 
with  which  true  genius  realises  the  perfect  em 
bodiment  of  its  sublime  conceptions.  In  no  case 
is  this  certainty  more  forcibly  expressed  than  in 
the  unfinished  Score  of  the  Symphony  in  E,  No.  7, 
now  in  the  possession  of  the  Editor  of  this  Dic 
tionary.3  Schubert  began  to  write  this,  with  the 
evident  determination  to  complete  a  great  work 
on  the  spot.  At  first,  he  filled  in  every  detail ; 
employing,  for  the  expression  of  his  ideas,  the 
resources  of  an  Orchestra  consisting  of  2  Violins, 
Viola,  2  Flutes,  2  Oboes,  2  Clarinets  in  A,  2 
Bassoons,  2  Horns  in  E,  2  Horns  in  G,  3  Trom 
bones,  2  Trumpets  in  E,  Drums  in  E,  B,  Violon 
cello,  and  Contra-Basso.  This  portion  of  the 
Symphony  opens  thus — 

Adagio. 
Clar.  e  Fajr. 


After  a  farther  development,  of  30  bars  dura 
tion,  the  Adagio  breaks  into  an  Allegro  in  E 
major : — 


Vide  page  324.  2  vide  page  3366. 

a  Vide  pages  334,  835,  and  4376. 

Mm2 


532 


SKETCHES. 


SKETCHES. 


J'.assu 


Basso 


etc. 


During  the  69  bars  which  follow,  the  Move 
ment  is  fully  scored ;  but,  from  this  point,  either 
through  failure  of  time,  or,  more  probably,  in 
rebellion  against  the  mechanical  restraint  im 
posed  upon  thoughts  which  flowed  faster  than 
the  pen  could  write  them  down,  Schubert  indi 
cates  the  leading  thread  only  of  his  idea,  by 
means  of  a  few  notes,  allotted  sometimes  to  one 
Instrument,  and  sometimes  to  another,  but  always 
with  a  firmness  of  intention  which  conclusively 
proves  that  the  entire  Score  was  present  to  his 
mind,  throughout.  Thus,  at  the  8£th  bar  of  the 
Movement,  a  few  notes  for  the  First  Violin  in 
troduce  the  Second  Subject,  of  which  the  First 
Clarinet  part  only  is  written  in  full,  with  here 
and  there  a  note  or  two  for  the  Violin,  not  simply 
suggested,  but  resolutely  inserted  in  the  proper 
place. 


Clap. 


etc. 


In  this  manner  the  Movement  is  carried  on 
through  a  farther  period  of  271  bars — in  all  374 
— never  with  less  clear  indications  than  these, 
and  generally  with  much  fuller  ones,  to  its 
conclusion  in  the  original  key.  Then  follows  an 
Andante  in  A  major,  on  the  following  Subject, 
of  which  the  First  Violin  part  only  appears  in 
the  MS. 


,  Andante. 


Of  this,  nine  bars  only  are  fully  scored,  soon 
after  the  statement  of  the  leading  Subject,  and 
six  more  a  little  farther  on  :  but  the  indications 
are  perfectly  clear  throughout. 

The  Scherzo,  in  C  major,  also  begins  with  the 
First  Violin  part  only,  no  part  of  it  being  com 
pletely  scored  : — 
Allegro. 


=1=1=1- 

-j  1 

d- 

| 

:  —  —  —  i 



J 

• 

_-'       •                       -•-              m    Tj 

i-                                 etc. 

The  Trio  opens  with  a  passage  for  Oboes,  Bas 
soons,  and  Viole  divisi ;  and  it  is  possible  that 
some  portions  of  it  may  have  been  intended  to 
remain  as  they  stand  in  the  MS.,  with  no  addi 
tional  Instrumentation  : — 


2  Oboi 


- •  — — I— 

<&  •   '   &^^J—t^~ 


J 

•       • 

fj    • 

"^ 

•             •             • 

H 

•   A    * 

-•"-^   ^~  —    A 

I 

'    * 

C2 

t 

-»-«-•- 

r^    « 

: 

•jn  »-,          •               '_ 

L  : 

f 

J              J 

1      ^ 

i       i       1 

f 

etc. 

0 

''**'                            / 

The  last  Movement  begins,  in  like  manner, 
with  a  very  meagre  outline:  but,  a  large  pro 
portion  of  the  First  Violin  part  is  completely 
filled  in  ;  and,  when  a  subsidiary  Subject  makes 
its  appearance,  the  Wind  Instruments  never  fail 
to  indicate  the  special  mode  of  treatment  intended 
for  it. 

Viol.  imo  P 


r.  i  -  a- 


arr 


1       M-        f* 

J  i  r*jr  ''  I  *  =r« 

1    • 

~m           4- 

*  *  ntts 

—  ft  

etc. 
Second  Subject 


&»    Q^ 
^    t^i 


etc. 


We  have  said  enough  to  show  that,  though 
describable  in  general  terms  as  '  a  Sketch,'  this 
remarkable  MS.  is  not  one  in  reality.  It  is 


SKETCHES. 

rather  what  a  Painter  would  call  an  tbaiiche :  an 
outline,  indicating  the  contours  of  a  finished 
design  with  a  touch  so  firm,  that  not  one  note 
•would  have  needed  alteration,  during  the  process 
of  filling  in  the  later  details,  had  the  Composer 
so  far  departed  from  his  usual  custom  as  to  com 
plete  a  MS.  once  laid  aside,  and  forgotten.  In 
truth,  it  exactly  represents  a  canvas,  fully  pre 
pared  to  receive  the  future  painting  ;  and  may, 
therefore,  be  fairly  accepted  as  evidence  that 
Schubert  was  not  addicted  to  the  practice  of 
sketching,  a  conclusion  which  is  strengthened 
by  the  Score  of  the  unfinished  Symphony  in 
B  minor,  No.  8,  the  first  two  Movements  of  which 
are  completely  finished,  while,  of  the  remainder, 
nine  bars  only  were  ever  committed  to  writing. 

Mendelssohn,  on  the  other  hand,  sketched 
freely ;  though,  less  for  the  purpose  of  registering 
stray  thoughts  for  future  use,  than  for  the  sake 
of  the  Sketches  themselves.  Thus,  we  constantly 
find  him  heading  a  letter  with  some  little  pas 
sage,  through  the  medium  of  which  he  strove  to 
express  the  feelings  of  the  moment  more  perfectly 
than  he  could  have  done  in  words.  Still,  cases 
were  not  wanting,  in  which  he  turned  the  record 
of  some  momentary  impression  to  splendid  sub 
sequent  account.  A  notable  instance  of  this  is 
afforded  by  the  germ  of  the  Overture  to  'The 
Isles  of  Fingal,'  which  first  appears  in  a  letter  to 
his  family,  dated  '  Auf  einer  Hebride,  den  7 
August,  1829';  and  beginning  'To  show  you 
how  more  than  ordinarily  pleasing  I  have  found 
the  Hebrides,  the  following  has  just  suggested 
itself  to  me.'  A  facsimile  of  this  interesting 
memorandum  will  be  found  in  'The  Mendelssohn 
Family,"  i.  208.  A  more  extended  Sketch  for 
two  of  the  Movements  of  a  Symphony  in  C  has 
been  printed  in  our  own  vol.  ii.  p.  305. 

We  need  not  quote  the  memoranda  of  later 
writers.  We  have,  indeed,  purposely  illustrated 
the  subject  by  aid  of  examples  left  us  by  the 
greatest  of  the  Great  Masters  only.  And,  in 
contrasting  the  methods  pursued  by  these  great 
geniuses,  we  find  it  no  easy  task  to  arrive  at  a 
just  conclusion  with  regard  to  their  comparative 
value.  When  carefully  analysed,  the  methods  of 
Mozart  and  Beethoven  will  be  found  to  bear  a 
closer  analogy  to  each  other  than  we  should,  at 
first  sight,  feel  inclined  to  suppose.  Mozart  was 
a  mental  sketcher ;  Beethoven,  a  material  one. 
The  former  carried  on,  in  his  brain,  the  process 
which  the  latter  worked  out  upon  paper — et  voila 
tout.  Whether  or  not  the  mental  embryo  was  as 
simple  in  its  origin  as  the  written  one,  we  cannot 
tell.  Probably  not.  Mozart  tells  us,  that,  when 
he  was  in  a  fitting  mood  for  composition,  he  heard 
the  conceptions  which  presented  themselves  to  his 
mind  as  distinctly  as  if  they  had  been  played  by  a 
full  Orchestra.  But,  we  know  that  he  gradually 
brought  them  to  perfection,  afterwards  :  and  he 
himself  implied  as  much,  when  he  said,  that,  after 
all,  the  real  performance  of  the  finished  work  was 
the  best.  Beethoven  heard  his  thoughts,  also, 
with  the  mental  ear,  even  after  the  material  organ 
had  failed  to  perform  its  office;  and  it  would  be 
unsafe  to  assume,  that,  because  he  was  more 


SIMONE  BOCCANEGRA. 


533 


careful  than  Mozart  to  record  his  conceptions 
in  writing,  their  development  was  really  more 
gradual.  If  Mozart's  mental  Sketches  could  be 
collected,  it  is  quite  possible  that  they  might 
outnumber  Beethoven's  written  ones.  And  the 
same  with  pentimenti.  It  matters  nothing,  when 
the  Composer  has  determined  on  a  change,  whether 
he  puts  it  on  paper  at  once  or  not.  Two  ex 
amples  will  illustrate  our  meaning,  the  more 
forcibly  because  in  neither  case  is  the  composi 
tion  affected  by  the  pentimento.  I.  In  the  ori 
ginal  autograph  of  Mozart's  '  Phantasia '  in  C 
minor  (Kochel  no.  475),  now  in  the  collection  of 
Mr.  Julian  Marshall,  three  flats  were,  as  usual, 
placed  at  the  signature,  in  the  first  instance ; 
but  Mozart  afterwards  erased  them,  and  intro 
duced  each  flat,  where  it  was  needed,  as  an 
Accidental.  2.  Among  the  Handel  MSS.  at 
Buckingham  Palace  is  a  volume  labelled  'So 
natas,'  which  contains  two  pages  of  the  Harpsi 
chord  Suite  in  E  minor,  in  Alia  breve  time,  with 
the  three  B's  which  begin  the  subject  written  as 
Minims,  instead  of  Crotchets,  and  the  following 
passage  as  Quavers.  But  Schubert  only  very 
rarely  made  such  changes  as  these.  He  made 
no  sketch  either  mental  or  written.  The  ideas 
rushed  into  the  world,  in  the  fullest  form  of  de 
velopment  they  were  fated  to  attain.  One's  first 
impulse  is,  to  pronounce  this  the  highest  mani 
festation  of  creative  genius.  Yet,  is  it  the  most 
natural  ?  Surely  not.  It  is  true,  we  recognise, 
in  the  material  Creation,  the  expression  of  a  pre 
conceived  Idea,  infinitely  perfect  in  all  its  parts, 
and  infinitely  consistent  in  its  unbroken  unity 
and  ineffable  completeness :  but,  each  individual 
manifestation  of  that  Idea  attains  perfection, 
under  our  very  eyes,  by  slow  development  from  a 
primordial  germ,  to  all  outward  appearance  more 
simple  in  its  construction  than  the  slightest  of 
Beethoven's  Sketches.  And,  if  the  mortal  frame 
of  every  man  who  walks  the  earth  can  be  proved 
to  have  originated  in  a  single  nucleated  cell,  we 
surely  cannot  wonder  that  the  'Pastoral  Sym 
phony'  was  developed  from  a  few  notes  scratched 
upon  a  sheet  of  music-paper.  [W.S.R.] 

SILVANA :  also  called  « Silvana  das  Wald 
madchen,'  or  '  das  stumme  Waldmadchen' — the 
dumb  Wood-maiden.  A  romantic  opera  in  3  acts ; 
words  by  F.  K.  Hiemer,  music  by  Weber ;  his 
6th  dramatic  work,  completed  Feb.  23,  1810; 
produced  at  Frankfort,  Sept.  16,  1810.  It  is 
probably  founded  to  some  extent  on  his  early 
opera  'Das  Waldmadchen'  (1800),  afterwards 
burnt;  and  was  to  a  small  extent  employed  in 
'Abu  Hassan '  and '  Freischutz/  The  overture  was 
used  by  Weber  as  the  prelude  to  his  music  for  the 
wedding  of  Prince  John  of  Saxony ;  and  he  wrote 
7  variations  for  clarinet  and  PF^  for  H.  Barmann, 
on  an  air  from  it,  '  Waruin  musst'  ich.'  [G.j 

SIMONE  BOCCANEGRA.  An  opera  in  3 
acts,  with  Prologue  ;  libretto  by  Piave,  music  by 
Verdi.  Produced  at  the  Fenice  theatre,  Venice, 
March  12,  1857;  remodelled  and  rescored,  with 
a  fresh  libretto  by  Boito,  and  reproduced  at  La 
Scala,  Milan,  March  24,  1881.  [G.]. 


534 


SINICO. 


SINICO.  An  Italian  family  of  musicians,  I. 
FRANCESCO,  born  at  Trieste,  Dec.  12, 1810,  began 
as  an  amateur,  but  in  1843,  after  various  efforts, 
became  Maestro  di  capella  to  the  Jesuits  of  that 
city,  and  shortly  afterwards  induced  the  author 
ities  to  found  a  singing  school  under  his  direction, 
which  from  a  humble  beginning  became  an  im 
portant  institution.  He  died,  Aug.  18,  1865. 
2.  His  younger  brother,  GIUSEPPE,  also  born  at 
Trieste,  about  1812,  a  singer  whom  we  hear  of 
at  Oporto,  Madrid,  Florence,  and  Milan,  and 
who  afterwards  took  to  teaching.  3.  A  second 
GIUSEPPE,  son  of  Francesco,  was  born  at  Trieste, 
Feb.  10,  1836  ;  he  began  by  assisting  his  father, 
and  published  a  '  Breve  Metodo  '  of  singing,  but 
soon  forsook  this  for  composition,  and  in  1859 
and  61  produced  three  operas  in  his  native  town. 
4.  A  lady,  who  was  first  known  as  Mme.  Sinico, 
afterwards  as  Mme.  Campobello,  and  whose 
maiden  name  was  Clarice  Marini,  made  her  de"but 
in  England,  May  17,  1864,  at  Her  Majesty's,  as 
Violetta.  For  many  years  she  was  engaged  at 
one  or  other  of  the  London  opera-houses,  and 
was  remarkable  for  her  efficient  presentment  of 
smaller  operatic  parts,  and  her  ability  to  play 
principal  characters  at  a  moment's  notice.  She 
had  a  nice  high  soprano  voice.  Her  rtper- 
toire  included  Donna  Elvira,  Susanna,  Isabella, 
Margaret  of  Valois,  Adalgisa,  Anne  Page, 
Elvira  (Masaniello),  Mathilde,  Neris  (Cherubini's 
Mede'e),  Papagena  (Zauberflote),  Annetta  (Der 
Freischiitz),  Blonde  (Seraglio),  the  Queen  (Ham 
let),  Jane  Seymour  (Anna  Bolena),  etc.  In  1879 
she  played  at  Her  Majesty's,  but  of  late  has  been 
rarely  seen  in  opera  in  London.  She  is  well 
known  as  an  oratorio  and  concert  singer ;  in  1874 
sang  at  the  Handel  Festival,  and  is  also  very 
popular  in  the  provinces.  The  above  refers  to 
her  performances  in  England,  but  she  has  also  sung 
at  St.  Petersburg,  Copenhagen,  and  elsewhere. 
She  is  pre-eminently  a  useful  singer.  On  May  2, 
1874,  she  married  Mr.  Henry  McLean  Martin,  a 
favourite  baritone  singer,  known  under  his  pro 
fessional  name  of  Campobello.  [A.C.] 

SIROE,  RE  DI  PERSIA.  An  opera  of 
Metastasio's,  remarkable  for  the  number  of  times 
it  has  been  set : — Vinci  (Venice,  1726);  Handel 
(London,  Feb.  5,  1728);  Wagenseil  (Milan, 
1730?);  Bioni  (Breslau,  1731);  Hasse  (Bologna, 
1 733)  5  Vivaldi  (Ancona,  1 738) ;  J.  Cocchi  (Naples, 
1750)  ;  Manna  (Venice,  1 753)  ;  Lampugnani  (Mi 
lan,  1755);  Perez  (Lisbon,  1756);  Piccinni 
(Naples,  1759);  Giardini  (London,  1 764) ;  Buroni 
(Prague,  1764);  Guglielmi  (1765);  Sarti  (Turin, 
1783);  Ubaldi  (Turin,  1810?)— are  all  named 
by  Clement  as  following  one  another  in  this  curi 
ous  course,  a  course  inconceivable  at  present, 
though  common  in  the  i8th  century.  [G.] 

SIVORI,  ERNESTO  CAMILLO,  a  great  violinist, 
born  at  Genoa,  June  6,  1817,  the  day  after  his 
mother  had  heard  Paganini  for  the  first  time. 
He  began  the  violin  at  five,  under  Restano,  and 
continued  it  under  Costa,  until  about  the  year 
1823,  when  Paganini  met  with  him,  and  was  so 
much  struck  with  his  talent,  as  not  only  to  give 
him  lessons,  but  to  compose  six  sonatas  and  a 


SLIDE. 

concertino  for  violin,  guitar,   tenor,   and  cello, 
which  they  were  accustomed  to  play  together, 
Paganini  taking  the  guitar.     This  was  sufficient 
to  launch  the  lad  into  Paganini's  style.    In  1827 
he  first  reached  Paris  and  then  1  England;  re 
turning  to   Genoa,  where  he  studied  harmony 
seriously  under  Serra  for  several  years  without 
public  demonstration.     He  next  traversed  Italy, 
beginning  with  Florence,  in  1839  ;  then  in  1841 
and  42  visited  Prague,  Vienna,  Leipzig,  Berlin, 
Frankfort,  Brussels,  St.  Petersburg  and  Moscow. 
On  Jan.  29,  1843,  he  made  his  rentrt,  to  Paris 
with  a  movement  from  a  concerto  of  his  own,  his 
performance  of  which  carried  away  his  audience 
and  procured  him  a  special  medal.   He  also  made 
a  vast  impression  in  chamber-music.   From  Paris 
he  went  to  London,  and  played  his  concerto  at  the 
Philharmonic,  June  5,  1843,  repeating  it  on  the 
1 9th  (Spohr  was  in  London  at  the  same  time) ; 
returned  in  1844,  when  Mendelssohn,  Joachim, 
Halle,  Piatti,  and  Ernst  were  here  also,  and  in 
1845,  when  he  assisted  in  the  famous  performances 
of  Beethoven's  quartets  at  Mr.  Alsager's  house 
[see  ROUSSELOT,  ii.  182  &],  played  at  the  Musical 
Union  on  June  24,  etc.,  etc.     In  1846  he  was 
again  here;  on  June 2 7  introduced  Mendelssohn's 
Concerto  to  England  at  the  Philharmonic  Concert, 
and  was  solo  violin  at  Julien's  '  Concerts  d'Ete.' 
He  then  left  for  America,  in  which  he  remained 
till  1850,  travelling  from  the  Northern  States, 
by   Mexico  and   Panama,   to   Valparaiso,   Rio, 
Buenos  Ayres,  and  Montevideo,  and  narrowly 
escaping  death  by  yellow  fever.     In  1850  he  re 
turned  to  Genoa,  and  shortly  after  lost  nearly  all 
the  money  he  had  made  in  the  new  world  by  an 
imprudent  speculation.      In  1851   he  was  again 
in  Great  Britain,  touring  throughout  the  whole 
country.     In  1862  he  scored  one  more  success  in 
Paris  in  the  B  minor  Concerto  of  Paganini.    In 
1864  he  revisited  London,  and  appeared  at  the 
Musical  Union  and  elsewhere.     Since  then  his 
life  does  not  appear  to  have  exhibited  anything 
remarkable. 

As  a  man  he  was  always  liked — '  little,  good- 
tempered,  warm-hearted,  intelligent,  Camillo 
Sivori,'  is  the  description  of  him  of  an  English 
journalist.  He  was  the  only  direct  pupil  of 
Paganini,  and  his  playing  was  that  of  a  vir 
tuoso  of  the  Paganini  school,  with  a  prodigious 
command  of  difficulties,  especially  of  double-stop 
ping,  second  only  to  his  master.  His  tone  was 
silvery  and  clear,  but  rather  thin.  His  style — 
judged  by  a  classical  standard — was  cold  and 
affected,  and  had  little  real  feeling.  It  is  strange 
that  the  introduction  of  Mendelssohn's  Concerto 
into  this  country  should  have  fallen  to  an  artist 
so  little  able  to  do  justice  to  its  merits.  Sivori's 
works  for  the  violin  include  2  concertos,  in  Eb  and 
A;  a  fantaisie  caprice  in  E;  3  sets  of  variations; 
4  fantaisies  on  operas,  etc.,  etc.  They  are  rich 
in  display,  but  poor  as  music,  and  were  hardly 
ever  played  by  any  one  but  the  composer.  [G-.] 

SLIDE  (Ger.  Schleifer ;  FT.  Couti),  an  orna 
ment  frequently  met  with  in  both  vocal  and  in 
strumental  music,  although  its  English  name 

l  Moscheles's  Diary,  i.  198. 


SLIDE. 


SLIDE. 


535 


has  fallen  into  disuse.  It  consists  of  a  rapid  dia 
tonic  progression  of  three  notes,  either  ascending 
or  descending,  of  which  the  principal  note,  or 
note  to  be  ornamented,  is  the  third,  and  the  other 
two  are  grace-notes,  and  are  either  written  of 
small  size  (Ex.  I),  or,  in  old  music,  indicated  by 
an  oblique  line  drawn  towards  the  principal  note 
from  the  note  preceding  (Ex.  2). 

1.  BEETHOVEN,  Bagatelle,  Op.  119,  No.  5. 

Written.         &  _  tr 


Played. 

fa-£rfB^ 


CHOPIN,  Andante  Spianato,  Op.  22. 


Written.  -^~~   *      ^^ 

tf  -*-  - 

*-•-• 

T^-T  —  l^L^L-l—  ii 

-it—  L  —  C-- 

^=)  1  

fe£- 

1  

•3 

^^   A    - 

-g  r  .g  i- 

Sferzn  

Played.     ^~    5 

^tA-i±ifc£ 

^-^  ,  

§3=  n 

2.       Written. 

o 

Played. 

y        .^'P     (•  ^.       i 

!              *  •  I* 

•     T     1         •   m                   11 

L  v  r-r-^r- 

r  cJ" 

-fe  r^ 

Another  method  of  indicating  it  is  by  means 
of  a  direct  (W)  placed  upon  the  degree  of  the 
stave  on  which  the  slide  is  to  commence,  and 
having  its  right  extremity  prolonged  so  as  to  ex 
tend  to  the  position  of  the  principal  note  (Ex.  3). 
The  short  notes  of  the  slide  are  always  executed 
•within  the  value  of  the  principal  note,  and  not 
before  it,  and  any  note  which  may  accompany  it 
must  fall  together  with  the  first  note,  as  in  Ex.  3. 
The  accent  is  on  the  principal  note. 

3.  BACH,  Suite  Francaise,  No.  3. 

Written. 


When  a  note  followed  by  another,  one  degree 
above  or  below  it,  is  ornamented  by  a  NACH 
SCHLAG  of  two  notes  [vol.  ii.  p.  441,  Ex.  8],  the 
small  notes  present  exactly  the  appearance  of  a 
slide  to  the  second  large  note,  and  thus  a  misappre 
hension  as  to  the  proper  rendering  might  arise. 
For  according  to  the  invariable  rule  of  all  grace- 
notes,  the  small  notes  of  the  Nachschlag  would  be 
executed  during  the  latter  portion  of  the  value  of 
the  first  large  note  (Ex.  4),  but  those  of  the  slide 
not  until  the  commencement  of  the  second  (Ex.  5). 
Properly,  a  slur  should  be  introduced  to  connect 
the  grace-notes  with  their  own  principal  note,  as 


in  the  examples ;  this  prevents  the  possibility  of 
mistake,  but  in  the  absence  of  the  slur — and  it  is 
frequently  omitted — the  performer  must  be  guided 
by  his  own  judgment. 


4.    Nachschlag. 
Written.                      ... 

5.    Slide. 

—  &          -       & 

—jf-  .  ±-g-m  _  J-s  

B—  *- 

-Ty-*  — 

-m  •-*- 

—  H 

ifh  —  r  —  ~^~F  —  ^~*  — 

5?E 

—  •(-*•  

^~  ==f 

-H 

Played, 


Sometimes  the  first  note  of  a  slide  is  sustained 
for  the  duration  of  the  whole.  In  old  music  this 
was  indicated  by  writing  the  extreme  notes  o£ 
the  slide  on  a  single  stem,  and  drawing  an  oblique 
line  between  them,  either  upwards  or  down 
wards,  according  to  the  direction  of  the  slide 
(Ex.  6).  In  modern  music  the  same  thing  is 
expressed  (though  not  very  accurately)  by  means 
of  a  tie  (Ex.  7). 


7.         SCHUBERT,  '  Momens  Musicals,'  No.  3. 
Written. 


Slides  of  greater  extent  than  three  notes  are 
not  unfrequent ;  groups  of  three  notes  leading  to 
a  principal  note  are  often  met  with  (Ex.  8),  and 
slides  of  four  and  even  more  notes  occasionally 
(Ex.  9).  This  extended  slide  is  sometimes  called 
Tirade  or  Tirata  (from  tirare  to  draw,  or  to 
shoot).  E.  W.  Wolf,  in  his  '  Musikalische  Un- 
terricht*  (Dresden,  1788),  calls  such  passages 
'sky-rockets.' 


8. 
Written.  ^A^. 

-^..n       T 

MEYERBEER,  'Roberto.' 

-f-f-?if  tf  y 

-K  

rfr^ 

—  ^  —  1  1^_ 

J  

9.  HUMMEL, 'Pianoforte-School.' 

Written. 


t 


536 


SLIDE. 


Besides  the  above,  a  more  complicated  kind  of 
slide  is  mentioned  by  Emanuel  Bach  and  others, 
called  the  dotted  slide,  in  which  the  first  grace- 
note  received  the  addition  of  a  dot.  Its  execu 
tion  however  varies  so  considerably — as  is  proved 
by  the  two  examples  by  Emanuel  Bach,  selected 
from  a  variety  of  others  (Ex.  10) — that  the  sign 
has  never  met  with  general  acceptance,  although 
the  ornament  itself,  written  out  in  notes  of 
ordinary  size,  is  of  constant  occurrence  in  the 
works  of  the  great  masters  (Ex.  u). 

10.      Written. 

•3 


BEETHOVEN,  'Sonata  Pathgtique.' 


SLIDE  (Fr.  Coulisse;  Ger.  Zugstange,  Stim- 
Stiick ;  It.  a  tirarsi).  A.  contrivance  applied  at  a 
very  early  date  to  instruments  of  the  trumpet 
and  trombone  family,  for  lengthening  and  short 
ening  the  sounding  tube,  and  thus  filling  the 
gaps  between  the  fundamental  note  and  its 
successive  harmonics.  Two  slide-trombones,  es 
sentially  identical  with  the  modern  pattern,  are 
to  be  seen,  one  in  the  Museo  Borbonico  at  Naples, 
the  other  in  the  Queen's  collection  at  Windsor. 
Both  were  found  at  Pompeii.  [TROMBONE.]  In 
the  trombone  the  mouthpiece,  upper  joints,  and 
bell  of  the  instrument  are  held  to  the  mouth  of 
the  player  by  means  of  the  left,  while  the  slide 
is  held  and  adjusted  by  means  of  the  right  hand 
and  arm.  In  the  G  bass  trombone,  the  length  of 
a  man's  arm  not  being  sufficient  to  reach  the 
lower  slide  positions,  a  jointed  handle  is  fixed  to 
the  cross-bar  of  the  slide  by  way  of  prolongation. 
In  the  trumpet,  the  extent  of  travel  of  the  slide 
being  far  less,  and  that  instrument  being  held  in 
the  right  hand,  the  slide  is  placed  between  the 
bell  and  the  upper  part  of  the  tube,  and  drawn 
to  its  closed  position  by  a  spiral  spring,  or  an 
elastic  ligature  of  caoutchouc.  It  is  drawn  out 
to  the  required  length  by  the  fore  and  middle 
fingers,  acting  in  opposition  to  the  thumb. 

A  double  slide-action  on  the  principle  of  the 
trombone  has  been  very  ingeniously  applied  to 
the  French  Horn  by  Mr.  Ford.  It  is  actuated 


SLUR. 

by  a  key  somewhat  resembling  the  usual  rotatory 
valve  apparatus.  It  is  patented,  and  a  model 
has  been  deposited  in  the  Museum  of  Patents  at 
South  Kensington.  It  of  course  has  the  in 
estimable  advantage  which  causes  the  slide 
trumpet  and  trombone  to  excel  all  other  wind 
instruments  in  accuracy  of  intonation  —  that 
namely  of  producing  the  notes  by  ear  and  not  by 
an  unalterable  mechanism ;  but  it  has  never 
been  adopted  by  musicians.  [W.H.S.] 

SLOPER,  E.  H.  LINDSAY,  born  in  London 
June  14,  1826,  was  taught  the  rpianoforte  by 
Moscheles  for  some  years.  In  1840  he  went  to 
Frankfort  and  continued  his  studies  under  Aloys 
Schmitt.  He  next  proceeded  to  Heidelberg,  and 
studied  harmony  and  counterpoint  under  Carl 
Vollweiler.  In  1841  he  went  to  Paris  and 
pursued  the  study  of  composition  under  Boisselot. 
He  remained  there  for  five  years  and  gained  great 
reputation,  both  as  composer  and  performer.  He 
returned  to  London  in  1846  and  made  a  successful 
appearance  at  a  matinee  of  the  Musical  Union. 
He  has  since  devoted  himself  principally  to 
teaching,  but  appears  occasionally  at  public  con 
certs.  His  compositions  are  chiefly  for  the  piano 
forte,  but  he  has  also  produced  some  songs  and 
other  vocal  music,  which  have  had  a  favourable 
reception.  [W.H.H.] 

SLOW  MOVEMENT,  (i)  A  generic  term 
for  all  pieces  in  slow  time,  whether  separate,  or 
forming  part  of  a  larger  work.  (2)  A  name 
specially  applied  to  such  pieces  in  slow  time 
when  they  occur  in  a  sonata  (or  work  in  sonata- 
form).  When  the  sonata  contains  three  or  more 
movements,  the  slow  movement  may  be  the 
second,  third,  or  fourth  in  the  sonata,  provided 
that  there  is  a  '  first  movement '  at  the  beginning 
and  a  finale  at  the  close.  In  sonatas  of  only  two 
movements,  the  slow  movement  may  be  either 
the  first,  as  in  Beethoven's  Pianoforte  Sonata 
Op.  49,  No.  I,  or  the  second,  as  in  his  Sonata 
Op.  90.  The  right  of  any  movement  to  this  title 
must  depend  rather  on  its  character  than  its 
time  indication,  for  many  movements  marked 
Allegretto  are  strictly  slow  movements.  [See 
SONATA.]  [J.A.F.M.] 

SLUR.  This  word,  taken  in  its  original  and 
widest  sense,  signifies  an  effect  of  phrasing  which 
is  more  commonly  expressed  by  the  Italian  term 
legato,  i.  e.  connected.  The  sign  of  the  slur  is 
a  curved  line  (Ger.  Schleifbogen ;  Fr.  Liaison) 
drawn  over  or  under  a  group  of  notes,  and  the 
notes  included  within  its  limits  are  said  to  be 
slurred,  and  are  performed  with  smoothness,  if 
on  a  stringed  instrument,  by  a  single  stroke  of 
the  bow,  or  in  singing,  on  a  single  syllable. 
[See  LEGATO,  vol.  ii.  p.  112.]  But  although  this 
was  originally  the  meaning  of  the  word,  it  is  now 
used  in  a  more  restricted  sense,  to  denote  a 
special  phrasing  effect,  in  which  the  last  of  the 
notes  comprised  within  the  curved  line  is  short 
ened,  and  a  considerable  stress  laid  on  the  first. 
This  effect  has  already  been  fully  described  in 
the  article  PHRASING  [vol.  ii.  p.  707.]  In  vocal 
music  the  slur  is  employed  to  indicate  the  use  of 


SLUR. 

PORTAMENTO  (see  the  word),  and  it  is  also  very 
generally  placed  over  two  or  more  notes  which 
are  sung  to  a  single  syllable.     In  this  case  how 
ever  the  sign  is  superfluous,  since  if  the  passage 
consists  of  quavers  or  shorter  notes,  the  connec 
tion  can  be  shown  by  writing  them  in  groups 
instead  of  separate  [see  QUAVER,  p.  60],  while  even 
if  the  notes  are  crotchets,  the  fact  of  there  being 
but  a  single   syllable  sufficiently  indicates  the 
legato.    Moreover  an  effect  analogous  to  the  slur 
in  instrumental  music,  whereby  the   second   of 
two  notes  is  curtailed  and  weakened,  is  perfectly 
possible  in  singing,  and  may  very  probably  have 
been  intended  by  the  earlier  composers  where 
the  sign  of  the  slur  is  employed.     This  view  is 
insisted  upon  by  Mendelssohn,  who  in  a  letter 
to  Mr.  G.  A.  Macfarren *  strongly  objects  to  the 
engravers   of  his  edition  of  'Israel  in  Egypt' 
placing  the  slur  over  two  quavers  or  semi-quavers 
which  are  to  be  sung  to  one  word. 
When  the  slur  is  used  in  combination  with  a 

series  of  dots,  thus  J  «N  «l ,  it  indicates  the  effect 

called  mezzo  staccato,  in  which  the  notes  are 
made  of  longer  duration  than  if  marked  with  the 
staccato-sign  only,  being  sustained  for  nearly 
their  full  value,  and  separated  by  a  very  brief 
interval  of  silence.  [See  also  STACCATO.]  [F.T.] 

SMART,  SIR  GEORGE  THOMAS,  Knight,  born 
May  10,  1776,  son  of  George  Smart,  music  seller 
(tirst  in  Argyll  Street  and  afterwards  at  331 
Oxford  Street)  and  double-bass  player,  received 
his  early  musical  education  as  a  chorister  of  the 
Chapel  Royal  under  Dr.  Ayrton.  He  learned 
organ-playing  from  Dr.  Dupuis  and  composition 
from  Dr.  Arnold.  On  quitting  the  choir  in  1791 
he  obtained  the  appointment  of  organist  of  St. 
James's  Chapel,  Hampstead  Road,  and  was  also 
engaged  as  a  violinist  at  Salomon's  concerts.  At 
a  rehearsal  of  a  symphony  of  Haydn's  for  one  of 
those  concerts  the  drummer  was  absent,  and 
Haydn,  who  was  at  the  harpsichord,  inquired  if 
any  one  present  could  play  the  drums.  Young 
Smart  volunteered,  but  from  inexperience  was 
not  very  successful,  whereupon  the  great  com 
poser,  ascending  the  orchestra,  gave  him  a  prac 
tical  lesson  in  the  art  of  drumming.  About  the 
same  time  he  commenced  practice  as  a  teacher 
of  the  harpsichord  and  singing.  He  soon  showed 
an  aptitude  for  conducting  musical  performances. 
In  1811,  having  successfully  conducted  some 
concerts  in  Dublin,  he  was  knighted  by  the  Lord 
Lieutenant.  In  1813  he  was  chosen  one  of  the 
original  members  of  the  Philharmonic  Society, 
and  between  that  date  and  1844  conducted  49  of 
its  concerts.  From  1813  to  1825  he  conducted 
the  Lenten  oratorios  at  one  or  other  of  the  patent 
theatres,  at  one  of  which  in  1814  he  introduced 
Beethoven's  '  Mount  of  Olives '  to  the  English 
public.  In  1818  he  directed  the  City  concerts 
established  by  the  late  Baron  (then  Mr.)  Heath. 
On  April  i,  1822,  he  was  appointed  one  of  the 
organists  of  the  Chapel  Royal  in  the  room  of 
Charles  Knyvett,  deceased.  In  1824  he  accom- 

Goethe  and  Mendelssohn.  2nd  ed.  p.  77. 


SMART. 


537 


panied  Charles  Kemble  to  Germany  to  engage 
Weber  to  compose  an  opera  for  Covent  Garden, 
and  when  Weber  came  to  England  in  1826  to 
bring  out  his  '  Oberou '  he  was  the  guest  of  Sir 
George  Smart,  in  whose  house  he  died  on  June  5. 
It  was  mainly  by  the  exertions  of  Sir  George 
Smart  and  Sir  Julius  Benedict  that  the  statue  of 
Weber  at  Dresden  was  erected,  the  greater  part 
of  the  subscriptions  having  been  collected  in 
England.  In  1836  Sir  George  introduced  Men 
delssohn's  '  St.  Paul '  to  England  at  the  Liverpool 
Festival.  On  the  death  of  Attwood  in  1838  he 
was  appointed  one  of  the  composers  to  the  Chapel 
Royal.  To  a  careful  musicianship  he  added  an 
administrative  ability  which  eminently  qualified 
him  for  the  conductorship  of  musical  festivals 
and  other  performances  on  a  large  scale,  and  his 
services  were  for  many  years  in  request  on  such 
occasions  all  over  the  country.  He  conducted 
festivals  at  Liverpool  in  1823,  1827,  1830,  1833, 
and  1836;  Norwich,  1824,  1827,  1830,  and  1833; 
Bath,  1824;  Newcastle- upon-Tyne,  1824  and 
1842;  Edinburgh,  1824;  Bury  St.  Edmund's, 
1828;  Dublin  and  Derby,  1831;  Cambridge, 

1833  and  1835;  Westminster  Abbey,  1834;  Hull, 

1834  and  1840 ;  and  Exeter  Hall  and  Manchester, 
1 836.   He  was  long  resorted  to  by  singers  desirous 
of  acquiring  the  traditional  manner  of  singing 
Handel's  songs,  which  he  had  been  taught  by  his 
father,  who  had  seen  Handel  conduct  his  oratorios : 
among  the  many  he  so  instructed  were  Sontag 
and  Jenny  Lind.     He  gave  lessons  in  singing 
until  he  was  past  80.     He  edited  Orlando  Gib 
bon  s's  Madrigals  for  the  Musical  Antiquarian 
Society,  and  the  '  Dettingen  Te  Deum '  for  the 
Handel  Society.     He  took  an  active  part  in  pro 
curing  the  foundation  of  the  Mendelssohn  Scho 
larship.     His  compositions  consist  of  anthems, 
chants,  Kyries,  psalm  tunes,  and  glees.    In  1863 
he   published  a  collection  of  his  anthems  and 
another  of  his  glees  and  canons.     Two  of  his 
glees,  'The  Squirrel' and  'The  Butterfly's  Ball,' 
were  very  popular     He  died  at  his  house  in 
Bedford  Square,  Feb.  23,  1867. 

His  brother,  HENRY,  born  in  1778,  began  his 
musical  education  at  an  early  age,  and  studied 
the  violin  under  Wilhelm  Cramer,  in  which  he 
made  such  progress  that  when  only  14  he  was 
engaged  at  the  Opera,  the  Concert  of  Ancient 
Music,  and  the  Academy  of  Ancient  Music.  He 
was  engaged  as  leader  of  the  band  at  the  Lyceum 
on  its  being  opened  as  an  English  Opera  House 
in  1809,  and  continued  so  for  several  seasons. 
He  was  leader  at  the  present  Drury  Lane  Theatre 
from  its  opening  in  1812  until  1821.  On  June 
12,  1819,  the  band  presented  him  with  a  silver 
cup  as  a  token  of  their  regard.  He  was  leader 
of  the  Lenten  oratorios  from  the  time  they  came 
under  the  management  of  his  brother,  Sir  George, 
in  1813,  and  a  member  of  the  Philharmonic 
Society's  orchestra,  which  he  occasionally  led. 
In  1820  he  established  a  manufactory  of  piano 
fortes  of  a  peculiar  construction,  and  on  July  22, 
1823,  obtained  a  patent  for  improvements  in  the 
construction  of  pianofortes.  He  went  to  Dublin 
to  superintend  the  debftt  of  his  pupil,  Miss 


533 


SMART. 


Goward  (now  Mrs.  Keeley),  where  lie  was  at 
tacked  by  typhus  fever,  and  died,  Nov.  23,  1823. 
His  son 

HENKT  SMART,  a  prominent  member  of  the 
modern  English  School,  was  born  in  London 
Oct.  26,  1813,  and  after  declining  a  commis 
sion  in  the  Indian  army,  was  articled  to  a 
solicitor,  but  quitted  law  for  music,  for  which 
he  had  extraordinary  natural  faculties,  and  which 
he  studied  principally  under  W.  H.  Kearns, 
though  to  a  great  extent  self-taught.  In  1831 
he  became  organist  of  the  parish  church  of 
Blackburn,  Lancashire,  which  he  resigned  in 
1836.  While  at  Blackburn  he  composed  his  first 
important  work,  an  anthem  for  the  tercentenary 
of  the  Reformation,  in  1835.  In  1836  he  settled 
in  London  as  organist  to  St.  Philip's  Church.  In 
1 844  he  was  appointed  to  the  organ  of  St.  Luke's, 
Old  Street,  where  he  remained  until  1864,  when 
he  was  chosen  organist  of  St.  Pancras.  He  was 
an  excellent  organ-player,  specially  happy  as  an 
accompanist  in  the  service,  a  splendid  extern- 
poriser,  and  a  voluminous  and  admirable  com 
poser  for  the  instrument.  But  his  compositions 
were  by  no  means  confined  to  the  organ.  In 
1855  an  opera  from  his  pen,  'Bertha,  or,  The 
Gnome  of  the  Hartzburg,'  was  successfully  pro 
duced  at  the  Haymavket.  In  1 864  he  composed 
his  cantata,  'The  Bride  of  Dunkerron'  (his 
best  work),  expressly  for  the  Birmingham  Festi 
val.  He  produced  two  cantatas,  'King  Rene's 
Daughter'  (words  by  Enoch),  1871,  and  'The 
Fishermaidens,'  both  for  female  voices.  An 
opera  on  the  subject  of  'The  Surrender  of  Calais,' 
the  libretto  by  Planchd,  originally  intended  for 
Mendelssohn,  was  put  into  his  hands  by  Messrs. 
Chappell,  about  1852,  but  though  considerable 
progress  was  made  with  it,  it  was  never  completed. 
A  sacred  cantata,  'Jacob' — words  compiled  by 
Mr.  McCaul  — was  written  for  the  Glasgow 
Festival,  produced  Nov.  10,  1873,  and  repeated 
Nov.  7,  1874;  and  two  large  anthems  for  solos, 
chorus,  and  organ  were  written  for  the  Festi 
vals  of  the  London  Choral  Choirs  Association  at 
St.  Paul's  in  1876  and  1878—'  Sing  to  the  Lord,' 
and  'Lord  thou  hast  been  our  refuge.'  For 
many  years  past  Mr.  Smart's  sight  had  been 
failing,  and  soon  after  1864  he  became  too  blind 
to  write.  All  his  compositions  after  that  date 
therefore  were  committed  to  paper — like  those 
of  another  great  ornament  of  the  English  School, 
Mr.  Macfarren — through  the  truly  disheartening 
process  of  dictation. 

It  is  as  a  composer  of  part-songs  and  a  writer 
for  the  organ  that  Henry  Smart  will  be  known 
to  the  future.  His  earlier  part-songs,  'The  Shep 
herd's  Farewell,'  'The  Waves'  Reproof  (worthy 
of  Mendelssohn),  'Ave  Maria,'  are  lovely,  and 
will  long  be  sung ;  and  his  organ  pieces  (many 
of  them  published  in  the  Organist's  Quarterly 
Journal)  are  full  of  charming  melody  and  effec 
tive  combinations.  As  was  his  music  so  was 
the  man — not  original,  but  highly  interesting, 
and  always  full  of  life  and  vigour.  He  was  a 
very  accomplished  mechanic,  and  had  he  taken 
up  engineering  instead  of  music,  would  no  doubt 


SMITH. 

have  been  successful.  As  a  designer  of  organs 
he  was  often  employed,  and  those  at  Leeds  and 
Glasgow  may  be  named  as  specimens  of  his 
powers  in  this  line.  He  edited  Handel's  13 
Italian  duets  and  ^  trios  for  the  Handel  Society. 

His  health  had  for  several  years  been  very  bad, 
and  cancer  on  the  liver  gave  him  excruciating 
agony.  In  June  1879  *^e  Government  granted 
him  a  pension  of  £100  a  year  in  acknowledg 
ment  of  his  services  in  the  cause  of  music,  but 
he  did  not  live  to  enjoy  it,  dying  July  6,  1879. 
His  last  composition  was  a  Postlude  in  Eb  for 
the  organ,  finished  very  shortly  before  the  end. 
His  life  has  been  written  by  his  friend  Dr. 
Spark  (Reeves,  1881),  and  the  book  will  always 
be  interesting,  though  it  might  perhaps  have 
been  more  usefully  arranged,  and  more  accurately 
printed. 

CHARLES  FREDERICK,  a  younger  brother  of  Sir 
George  Smart,  was  brought  up  as  a  chorister  at  the 
Chapel  Royal,and  afterwards  became  a  double-bass 
player  in  all  the  principal  orchestras.  [W.H.H.] 

SMETANA,  FRIEDRICH,  born  March  2, 1824, 
at  Leitomischl  in  Bohemia,  between  Olmu'tz  and 
Prague,  was  a  pupil  of  Proksch  at  Prague,  and 
afterwards,  for  a  short  time,  of  Liszt,  under  whose 
tuition  he  became  a  remarkable  pianist.  He  then 
opened  a  musical  school  of  his  own  at  Prague 
and  married  Katharina  Kolar.  In  1856  he  took 
the  post  of  conductor  to  the  Philharmonic  Society 
at  Gothenburg  in  Sweden,  where  he  lost  his  wife 
in  1860.  In  1866  he  became  conductor  to  the 
National  Theatre  of  Prague.  He  is  eminently  a 
Bohemian  composer,  and  the  list  of  his  operas  in 
that  language  is  large — '  Married  for  money ' ; 
'  The  Brandenburger  in  Bohemia ' ;  '  Dalibor ' ; 
'Two  widows';  '  The  Kiss.'  Also  a  symphonic 
poem,  entitled  '  Mein  Vaterland,'  in  3  sections— 
' Vysehrad '  (the  Visegrad  fortress),  'Vltava' (the 
Moldau),  and  '  Libussa.'  The  first  two  of  these, 
very  picturesque  and  striking  pieces,  were  per 
formed  at  the  Crystal  Palace  on  Nov.  n,  1882, 
and  March  5,  1881,  respectively.  Smetana  has 
also  published  a  quartet,  many  dances,  and 
other  pianoforte  pieces,  etc.  In  1874  ne  was 
compelled  to  give  up  the  National  Opera-house 
on  account  of  his  deafness,  which  has  since  in 
creased  so  far  as  to  deprive  him  of  all  power 
of  hearing.  But  he  still  composes.  One  of  his 
claims  to  notice  is  that  he  was  the  teacher  of 
Dvorsha"k. 

A  medallion  with  an  inscription  in  his  honour 
was  recently  affixed  to  the  house  in  which  Smet 
ana  was  born,  on  which  occasion  there  were  great 
festivities,  and  he  was  presented  with  the  freedom 
of  the  town.  [G.] 

SMETHERGELL,  WILLIAM,  a  pianist  in 
London,  was  author  of  '  A  Treatise  on  Thorough 
bass,'  1794,  and  composer  of  some  sonatas  and 
other  pieces  for  the  pianoforte,  and  six  overtures 
for  Vauxhall  Gardens.  He  was  organist  of  St. 
Margaret  on  the  Hill,  South wark,  and  Allhallows, 
Barking.  [W.H.H.] 

SMITH,  CHARLES,  born  in  London  in  1786, 
was  in  1 796  admitted  a  chorister  of  the  Chapel 


SMITH. 

Boyal  trader  Dr.  Ayrton,  but  was  withdrawn 
from  the  choir  in  1798  and  became  a  pupil  of 
John  Ashley.  In  1800  he  sang  at  the  Oratorios, 
Kanelagh,  etc.  Upon  the  breaking  of  his  voice 
be  acted  as  deputy  organist  for  Knyvett  and 
Stafford  Smith  at  the  Chapel  Royal,  and  soon 
afterwards  became  organist  of  Croydon  Church. 
In  1807  he  was  appointed  organist  of  Welbeck 
Chapel.  He  composed  the  music  for  the  follow 
ing  dramatic  pieces:  'Yes  or  No,'  1809;  'The 
Tourist  Friend,'  and  'Hit  or  Miss,'  1810  ;  'Any 
thing  new,'  1811;  and  'How  to  die  for  Love.' 
In  1815  he  appeared,  with  success,  at  the  Orato 
rios  as  a  baritone  singer.  In  the  next  year  he 
settled  in  Liverpool,  where  he  resided  for  many 
years.  He  composed  many  songs  and  ballads, 
the  best  of  which  is  '  The  Battle  of  Hohenlinden.' 
He  ultimately  retired  to  Crediton,  Devon,  where 
he  died  Nov.  22,  1856.  [W.H.H.] 

SMITH,  FATHEE,  the  usual  appellation  of 
BERNARD  SCHMIDT,  a  celebrated  organ-builder, 
born  in  Germany  about  1630,  and  came  to  Eng 
land  in  1660  with  two  nephews,  Gerard  and  Ber 
nard,  his  assistants.  To  distinguish  him  from 
these  and  express  the  reverence  due  to  his  abilities, 
he  was  called  Father  Smith.  His  first  organ  in 
this  country  was  that  of  the  Royal  Chapel  at 
Whitehall,  whicfy.  Pepys  mentions  in  his  Diary 
as  having  heard  it  on  July  8,  1 660.  Subsequently 
he  built  one  for  Westminster  Abbey,  one  for  St. 
Giles's-in-the-Fields  (1671),  and  one  for  St.  Mar 
garet's,  Westminster  (1675),  of  which  in  the  fol 
lowing  year  he  was  elected  organist  at  a  salary 
of  £zo  a  year.  He  was  now  rapidly  acquiring 
fame  and  was  appointed  Organ  maker  in  ordinary 
to  the  King,  apartments  in  Whitehall  being  al 
lotted  to  him,  called  in  the  old  plan  '  The  Organ- 
builder's  Workhouse.' 

In  1682  the  treasurers  of  the  societies  of  the 
Temple  had  some  conversation  with  Smith  re 
specting  the  erection  of  an  organ  in  their  church. 
Subsequently  Renatus  Harris,  who  had  warm 
supporters  amongst  the  Benchers  of  the  Inner 
Temple,  was  introduced  to  their  notice.  It  was 
ultimately  agreed  that  each  artist  should  set  up 
an  organ  in  the  church,  and  in  1684  both  instru 
ments  were  ready  for  competition.  In  1685  the 
Benchers  of  the  Middle  Temple  made  choice  of 
Smith's  organ  ;  but  those  of  the  Inner  Temple 
dissented,  and  it  was  not  until  1688  that  Smith 
received  payment  for  his  instrument,  namely 
£1000. 

In  1683  he  contracted  for  the  organ  of  Durham 
Cathedral.  In  consequence  of  the  reputation  he 
had  acquired  by  these  instruments,  he  was  made 
choice  of  to  build  an  organ  for  St.  Paul's  Cathe 
dral,  then  in  course  of  erection.  This  instrument 
was  opened  on  Dec.  2,  1 697.  Smith  became  Court 
organ-builder  to  Queen  Anne,  and  died  1 708. 

According  to  Hawkins  and  Burney  the  two 
nephews  of  Schmidt,  as  above  mentioned,  were 
named  Bernard  and  Gerard.  But  Horace  Walpole 
alters  Bernard's  name  to  Christian.  These  two 
are  very  little  known,  although  they  built  several 
fine  instruments. 

In  1755  a  Mr.  Gerard  Smith  was  organ -repairer 


SMITH. 


539 


to  Chelsea  Hospital.  This  was  probably  a  grand- 
nephew  of  Father  Smith,  since  from  the  date  he 
could  hardly  have  been  his  nephew. 

CHRISTOPHER  SCHRIDER  or  SCHREIDER  (possibly 
Schroder),  was  one  of  Father  Smith's  workmen, 
and  previous  to  1708  had  become  his  son-in-law. 
After  Smith's  death  he  succeeded  to  his  business, 
and  in  1710  was  organ-builder  to  the  Royal 
Chapels.  His  organs  do  not  appear  to  be  very 
numerous,  that  of  Westminster  being  his  chef- 
d'ceuvre.  It  was  built  for  the  coronation  of 
George  II.  in  1727,  and  was  presented  to  the 
Abbey  by  the  King  (Chrysander's  Handel,  ii. 
174,  note).  He  put  up  another  organ  in  Henry 
the  Seventh's  Chapel  for  the  funeral  of  Queen 
Caroline,  Dec.  17,  1737,  when  Handel's  noble 
anthem,  'The  ways  of  Zion,'  was  first  sung 
to  its  accompaniment  (Ibid.  437,  note;  Stanley's 
'  Westminster  Abbey,'  p.  166).  [V.  de  P.] 

SMITH,  GEORGE  TOWNSHEND,  son  of  Edward 
Woodley  Smith  (born  May  23,  1775,  chorister 
of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  afterwards  lay  vicar  of 
St.  George's  Chapel,  Windsor,  from  1795  until 
his  death,  June  1 7,  1849),  was  born  in  the  Horse 
shoe  Cloisters,  Windsor,  Nov.  13,  1813.  He  re 
ceived  his  early  musical  education  as  a  chorister 
of  St.  George's,  Windsor.  On  quitting  the  choir 
he  became  a  pupil  of  Highmore  Skeats,  the  Chapel 
organist,  and  afterwards  came  to  London  and 
studied  under  Samuel  Wesley.  He  next  obtained 
an  appointment  as  organist  at  Eastbourne,  whence 
he  removed  to  King's  Lynn  on  being  chosen  or 
ganist  there.  On  Jan.  5,  1843,  he  was  appointed 
organist  of  Hereford  Cathedral.  As  such  he  be 
came,  ex  officio,  conductor  of  the  Meeting  of  the 
Three  Choirs  at  Hereford,  besides  discharging  the 
duties  of  which  office  he  voluntarily  undertook 
the  laborious  office  of  honorary  secretary  to  the 
festival,  and  by  his  untiring  and  energetic  exer 
tions,  in  the  course  of  the  12  triennial  festivals 
which  he  directed,  raised  it  musically,  from  a 
low  to  a  very  high  condition,  and  financially, 
from  a  heavy  loss  to  a  gain.  He  composed  an 
8-voice  anthem  and  a  Jubilate  for  the  festivals, 
and  other  church  music.  He  died,  very  suddenly, 
Aug.  3,  1877,  universally  beloved  and  respected. 

His  brother,  MONTEM,  was  also  educated  in 
the  choir  of  St.  George's.  On  quitting  it  he  be 
came  a  tenor  singer,  and  is  a  lay  vicar  of  West 
minster  Abbey,  and  a  gentleman  of  the  Chapel 
Royal  (1858).  He  is  distinguished  as  a  ballad 
singer,  for  which  his  clear  and  distinct  enuncia 
tion  of  the  words  eminently  qualify  him,  and  for 
his  skill  in  *  speaking'  recitative.  He  is  moreover 
an  excellent  musician.  He  owes  his  singular  bap 
tismal  name  to  the  circumstance  of  his  having 
been  born  on  a  Whit-Tuesday  during  the  per 
formance  of  the  now  abolished  Eton  College 
ceremony  of '  Montem.' 

Another  brother,  SAMUEL,  was  born  in  Eton 
in  1821.  In  1831  he  was  admitted  as  one  of  the 
children  of  the  Chapel  Royal  under  William 
Hawes.  Shortly  after  leaving  the  choir  he  ob 
tained  the  appointment  of  organist  at  Hayes 
Church,  Middlesex,  and  was  subsequently  organ 
ist  at  Eton  and  Egham.  In  1857  he  became 


540 


SMITH. 


organist  at  Trinity  Church,  Windsor,  and  in  1859 
organist  of  the  Parish  Church,  which  post  he 
still  holds.  [W.H.H.] 

SMITH,  JOHN,  commonly  styled  Dr.  Smith, 
was  born  at  Cambridge  in  1795.  On  Nov.  23, 
1815,  he  was  admitted  to  a  situation  in  the  choir 
of  Christ  Church  Cathedral,  Dublin,  but  failed  to 
secure  the  appointment  of  vicar  choral  owing  to 
his  having  quarrelled  and  gone  to  law  with  the 
Dean  in  1824.  On  Feb.  5,  1819,  he  was  appointed 
a  vicar  choral  of  St.  Patrick's  Cathedral.  About 
1826  he  assumed  the  title  of  Mus.  Doc.,  but  it  is 
very  doubtful  if  the  degree  was  ever  really  con 
ferred  upon  him,  no  record  of  it  existing.  He 
afterwards  obtained  the  appointments  of  Chief 
Composer  of  the  State  Music,  Master  of  the 
King's  Band  of  State  Musicians  in  Ireland,  and 
Composer  to  the  Chapel  Royal,  Dublin;  and 
about  1845  was  chosen  Professor  of  Music  in 
Dublin  University.  He  composed  '  The  Revela 
tion,'  an  oratorio,  some  church  music,  and  several 
prize  glees  and  other  compositions.  In  1837  he 
published  a  volume  of  Cathedral  Music  containing 
services  and  chants,  and  a  '  Veni,  Creator.'  He 
died  Nov.  12,  1861.  [W.H.H.] 

SMITH,  JOHN  CHRISTOPHER,  born  in  1712, 
was  son  of  John  Christopher  Schmidt,  of  Anspach, 
who,  a  few  years  later,  came  to  England  and 
became  Handel's  treasurer.     The  younger  Smith 
showing  a  fondness  for  music,  Handel  commenced 
teaching  him  when  he  was  13  years  old.     He 
afterwards  studied  composition  under  Dr.  Pepusch 
and  Thomas  Roseingrave,  and  in  1732  produced 
his   English   opera,    '  Teraminta,'    and   in  1733 
another  opera,  'Ulysses.'     In  1738  he  composed 
an  oratorio,  *  David's  Lamentation  over  Saul  and 
Jonathan.'    About  1 745  he  travelled  on  the  con 
tinent,  remaining  absent  about  three  years.     In 
1750  he  was  appointed  the  first  organist  of  the 
Foundling  Hospital  Chapel.     When  Handel  be 
came  blind  Smith  was  employed  as  his  amanuensis, 
and  Handel's  latest  compositions  were  dictated 
to  him.     He  also  played  the  organ  at  Handel's 
oratorio  performances.    In  1754  he  composed  the 
opera  of  *  The  Fairies,'  altered  from  Shakspere's 
*  Midsummer  Night's  Dream,'  which  met  with 
great   success,  and  in  1756  the  opera  of  'The 
Tempest,'  adapted  from   Shakspere's   play,  two 
songs  in  which,  'Full  fathom  five,'  and  'The  owl 
is  abroad,'  long  continued   favourites;    and  in 
1  760  '  The  Enchanter,'  a  musical  entertainment. 
Handel  bequeathed  to  him  all  his  original  MS. 
scores,  his  harpsichord,  his  bust  by  Roubiliac, 
and  his  portrait  by  Denner.  After  Handel's  death 
Smith  carried  on  the  oratorios,  in  conjunction 
with  Stanley,   until  1774,  when  he  retired  and 
went  to  reside  at  Bath.    Besides  the  before-men 
tioned  works  he  composed  'Paradise  Lost,' '  Re 
becca,'  'Judith,'  'Jehoshaphat,' and 'Redemption,' 
oratorios  (besides  compiling  two  oratorios  from 
Handel's  works,  'Nabal,'  and  'Gideon')  ;  'Dario,' 
'  Issipile,'    and    '  11    Ciro    riconosciuto,'    Italian 
operas;  a  Burial  Service;  and  several  miscellaneous 
vocal  and  instrumental  pieces.  George  III.  having 
continued  to  Smith  a  pension  which  had  been 
granted  by  his  mother,  the  Princess  Dowager  of 


SMITH. 

Wales,  Smith  evinced  his  gratitude  by  presenting 
to  the  King  all  Handel's  MS.  scores — now  at 
Buckingham  Palace — the  harpsichord  and  the 
bust  by  Roubiliac,  retaining  only  the  portrait  by 
Denner.  He  died  Oct.  3,  1795.  Two  large  col 
lections  of  Handel's  works  exist  in  Smith's  MS., 
one  belonging  to  H.  B.  Lennard,  Esq.,  Hampstead ; 
the  other  to  Dr.  Chrysander.  [See  HANDEL,  in 
the  Appendix.]  [W.H.H.] 

SMITH,  JOHN  STAFFORD,  son  of  Martin  Smith, 
organist  of  Gloucester  Cathedral  from  1743  to 
1/82,  was  born  at  Gloucester  in  1750.     He  ob 
tained  his  earliest  musical  instruction  from  his 
father,  and  was  soon  afterwards  sent  to  London 
to  study  under  Dr.  Boyce,  and  also  became  a 
chorister    of    the   Chapel   Royal    under  James 
Nares.     On   quitting  the  choir   he    sedulously 
pursued  his  studies,  and  became  an  able  organist, 
an  efficient  tenor  singer,  an  excellent  composer, 
and  an  accomplished  musical  antiquary.  In  1773 
he  was  awarded  two  prizes  by  the  Catch  Club, 
one  for  a  catch,  '  Here  flat,'  and  the  other  for  a 
canon,  '  0  remember  not  the  sins.'     In  the  next 
four  years  he   gained   prizes   for  the  following 
compositions;  'Let  happy  lovers  fly,'  glee,  1774; 
*  Since  Phillis  has  bubbled,'  catch,  and '  Blest  pair 
of  syrens, 'glee  (5  voices),  1775  ;  '  While  fools  their 
time,'  glee,  1 776  ;  and  '  Return,  blest  days,'  glee, 
1777.     HG  rendered  great  assistance  to  Sir  John 
Hawkins  in  the  production  of  his  History,  not 
only    by    reducing    ancient    compositions   into 
modern  notation,  but  also  by  the  loan  of  some 
valuable    early   MSS.   from   his   extensive  and 
curious    library,   from   which   Sir  John  culled 
several  pieces  to  enrich  his  Appendix.    In  1779 
he  published  '  A  Collection  of  English  Songs,  in 
score,  for  three  and  four  voices,  composed  about  the 
year  1500.    Taken  from  MSS.  of  the  same  age'; 
among  which  is  the  very  interesting  historical 
song,  '  Our  king  went  forth  to  Normandy,'  com 
memorative  of  the  victory  of  Agincourt.   In  1 780 
he  won  another  prize  from  the  Catch  Club  by  his 
ode,  '  When  to  the  Muses'  haunted  hill.'    He 
published  at   various  times  five  collections  of 
glees,  containing  compositions  which  place  him 
in  the  foremost  rank  of  English  glee  composers. 
Besides  his  prize  glees  they  include  'As  on  a 
summer's  day,'  '  What  shall  he  have  that  killed 
the  deer  ? '  '  Hark,  the  hollow  woods  resounding,' 
and  the  madrigal  '  Flora  now  calleth  forth  each 
flower.'     14  glees,  14  catches,  4  canons,  2  rounds, 
an  ode,  a  madrigal,  and  a  motet  by  him  are 
given  in  Warren's  collections.      He  also  pub 
lished  a  collection  of  songs,  and  '  Twelve  Chants 
composed  for  the  use  of  the  Choirs  of  the  Church 
of  England.'     On  Dec.  16,  1784,  after  having  for 
many  years  officiated  as  a  deputy,  he  was  ap 
pointed  a  gentleman  of  the  Chapel  Royal,  and  on 
Feb.  22,  1785,  a  lay  vicar  of  Westminster  Abbey, 
being  installed,  after  his  year  of  probation,  April 
18,  1786.     In  1790  he  was  engaged  as  organist 
at  Gloucester  Festival.     In  1793  he  published  a 
volume  of  '  Anthems,  composed  for  the  Choir 
Service  of  the  Church  of  England.'    In  1802, 
upon  the  death  of  Dr.  Arnold,  he  was  appointed 
one  of  the  organists  of  the  Chapel  Ro^al,  and  on 


SMITH. 

May  14, 1805,  upon  the  resignation  of  Dr.  Ayrton, 
succeeded  him  as  Master  of  the  Children.  In 
1812  he  produced  his  interesting  work  '  Musica 
Antiqua.'  [See  MUSICA  ANTIQUA.]  In  June 
1817  he  resigned  the  Mastership  of  the  Children 
of  the  Chapel  Royal.  Besides  the  before-named 
compositions  he  produced  '  An  Ode  on  the  First 
of  April,'  for  voices  and  instruments,  which  was 
never  published.  A  MS.  'Introduction  to  the  Art 
of  composing  Music,'  by  him  is  in  the  library  of 
the  Sacred  Harmonic  Society,  which  also  con 
tains  his  Musical  Commonplace  Book.  He 
died  Sept.  20,  1836.  By  his  will,  dated  Jan.  21, 
1834,  he  bequeathed  all  his  property  to  his  only 
surviving  daughter,  Gertrude  Stafford  Smith,  and 
appointed  her  sole  executrix.  She  proved  the 
will  Oct.  20,  1836  (personalty  sworn  under 
£12.000),  and  took  possession  of  the  property. 
A  few  years  afterwards  she  became  insane,  and  in 
1844  the  Commissioner  in  Lunacy  ordered  that 
her  property  should  be  realised  and  the  proceeds 
invested  for  her  benefit.  Through  ignorance  or 
carelessness  the  contents  of  her  house  (which  in 
cluded  her  father's  valuable  library,  remarkably 
rich  in  ancient  English  musical  manuscripts),  were 
entrusted  for  sale  to  an  auctioneer  who,  however 
well  qualified  he  might  have  been  to  catalogue 
the  furniture,  was  utterly  incompetent  to  deal 
with  the  library.  It  was  sold  April  24,  1844, 
such  books  as  were  described  at  all  being  cata 
logued  from  the  backs  and  heaped  together  in 
lots,  each  containing  a  dozen  or  more  works ; 
2191  volumes  were  thrown  into  lots  described  as 
'  Fifty  books,  various,'  etc.  The  printed  music 
was  similarly  dealt  with  ;  the  MSS.  were  not 
even  described  as  such,  but  were  lumped  in  lots 
of  twenties  and  fifties,  and  called  so  many 
'volumes  of  music.'  578  volumes  were  so  dis 
posed  of,  and  there  were  besides  five  lots  each 
containing  '  a  quantity  of  music.'  The  sale  took 
place  at  an  out-of-the-way  place  in  the  Gray's 
Inn  Road ;  Smith's  name  did  not  appear  on  the 
catalogue ;  nothing  was  done  to  attract  the  at 
tention  of  the  musical  world,  and  two  dealers, 
who  had  obtained  information  of  the  sale,  pur 
chased  many  of  the  lots  at  very  low  prices.  These 
after  a  time  were  brought  into  the  market,  but 
it  is  feared  the  greater  part  of  the  MSS.  are  al 
together  lost.  [W.H.H.] 

SMITH,  ROBERT  ARCHIBALD,  born  at  Reading 
Nov.  1 6, 1 780.  His  father,  a  Paisley  silk-weaver, 
finding  his  trade  declining  in  Reading,  removed 
back  to  Paisley  in  1 800.  Robert  soon  showed  a 
great  aptitude  for  music,  and  at  ten  could  play 
the  violin.  In  1807  he  was  appointed  leader  of 
the  psalmody  at  the  Abbey  Church,  Paisley,  a 
situation  which  he  filled  for  many  years.  While 
there  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  Robert  Tan- 
nahill  the  poet,  many  of  whose  fine  lyrics  he  set 
to  music.  One  of  these,  'Jessie,  the  Flow'r  o' 
Dunblane,'  published  in  1808,  at  once  made  its 
mark,  and  was  universally  admired. 

Smith  possessed  a  fine  vein  of  melody,  and  in 
vocal  composition  had  at  that  time  perhaps  no 
equal  in  Scotland.  In  1820  he  began  to  publish 
'The  Scottish  Minstrel'  (6  vols.  8vo.  1820-24) 


SMITH. 


541 


containing  several  hundreds  of  the  best  Scottish 
songs,  not  a  few  of  them  his  own,  frequently 
without  indication.  It  is  still  considered  a  good 
compilation.  In  Aug.  1823  he  obtained  the 
leadership  of  the  psalmody  at  St.  George's  Church, 
Edinburgh,  under  the  Rev.  Dr.  Andrew  Thomson, 
whose  son  John  was  destined  in  after  years  to 
become  the  first  musical  Reid  professor  in  Edin 
burgh  University.  [See  THOMSON,  JOHN.]  Be 
sides  anthems  and  other  pieces  (most  of  the 
former  written  for  the  boys  of  George  Heriot'3 
Hospital),  Smith  now  found  time  to  publish  his 
'  Irish  Minstrel,'  followed  in  1826  by  an  '  Intro 
duction  to  Singing,'  and  in  1827  by  'Select 
Melodies  of  all  Nations,'  in  one  volume,  one  of 
his  best  works.  In  1828  he  brought  out  his 
'Sacred  Harmony  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,* 
by  which  he  is  now  best  known.  His  health  was 
at  no  time  robust,  and  he  suffered  from  dyspepsia, 
under  which  he  finally  sank,  Jan.  3,  1829. 

'  Smith,'  says  the  late  George  Hogarth,  '  was 
a  musician  of  sterling  talent.  .  .  .  His  composi 
tions  are  tender,  and  tinged  with  melancholy; 
simple  and  unpretending,  and  always  graceful 
and  unaffectedly  elegant.  .  .  .  He  had  the  ad 
mirable  good  sense  to  know  how  far  he  could 
safely  penetrate  into  the  depths  of  counterpoint 
and  modulation  without  losing  his  way ;  and  ac 
cordingly  his  music  is  entirely  free  from  scientific 
pedantry.'  His  most  popular  pieces  are  the  songs 
'  Jessie,  the  Flow'r  o'  Dunblane  ' ;  '  London's 
bonnie  woods  and  braes ' ;  and  '  Bonnie  Mary 
Hay ' ;  the  duet  '  Row  weel,  my  boatie ' ;  the 
trio  '  Ave  Sanctissima  ' ;  and  the  anthems  '  Sing 
unto  God,'  and  '  How  beautiful  upon  the  moun 
tains  ' ;  although  many  more  might  be  named 
which  are  yet  frequently  sung.  Owing  to  the 
modern  alterations  in  congregational  singing,  the 
introduction  of  German  chorales  and  ancient  ec 
clesiastical  melodies,  and  the  change  from  florid 
to  syllabic  tunes,  Smith's  'Sacred  Harmony'  is 
to  a  great  extent  superseded.  But  it  still  has  its 
value,  even  at  a  distance  of  fifty  years  from  its 
publication.  [D.B.] 

SMITH,  SIDNEY,  born  at  Dorchester,  July  14, 
1839,  received  his  first  musical  instruction  from 
his  parents,  and  at  the  age  of  1 6  went  to  Leipzig, 
where  he  studied  the  piano  under  Moscheles  and 
Plaidy ;  the  violoncello  under  Grutzmacher ; 
harmony  and  counterpoint  under  Hauptmann, 
Richter,  and  Papperitz;  and  composition  under 
Rietz.  He  returned  to  England  in  1858,  and  in 
the  following  year,  on  the  advice  of  the  late  Mr. 
Henry  Blagrove,  he  settled  in  London,  where  he 
has  since  resided,  enjoying  considerable  reputa 
tion  as  a  teacher.  His  compositions,  which  are 
confined  to  PF.  pieces,  are  extremely  popular 
with  the  numerous  class  of  performers  whose 
tastes  are  satisfied  by  a  maximum  of  brilliancy 
combined  with  a  minimum  of  difficulty.  The 
most  successful  of  his  pieces  are  '  La  Harpe 
Eolienne,'  'Le  Jetd'Eau,'  'The  Spinning  Wheel,' 
and  a  'Tarantella'  in  E  minor,  which  (like  most 
of  his  compositions)  have  been  published  and 
met  with  the  same  popularity  on  the  Continent 
as  in  England.  [W.B.S.] 


542 


SMORZANDO. 


SMORZANDO  (Ital., '  fading  away ').  A  term 
with  the  same  meaning  as  Morendo,  but  used 
indiscriminately  in  the  course  of  a  piece.  [See 
MORENDO.] 

SNETZLER,  JOHN,  was  born  at  Passau  in 
Germany  about  1710.  This  truly  eminent  or 
gan-builder,  after  acquiring  some  fame  in  his 
own  country,  was  induced  to  settle  in  England, 
where  he  built  the  noble  instrument  at  Lynn 
Regis  (1754);  a  very  fine  one  at  St.  Martin's, 
Leicester  (1774) ;  that  of  the  German  Lutheran 
Chapel  in  the  Savoy,  which  was  the  first  in  this 
country  provided  with  a  pedal  clavier;  and 
many  others.  Two  stories  are  current  of  his 
imperfect  way  of  speaking  English  and  his 
quaint  expressions.  At  the  competition  for  the 
place  of  organist  to  his  new  organ  at  Halifax 
(1766)  he  was  so  annoyed  by  the  rapid  playing 
of  Dr.  Wainwright,  that  he  paced  the  church, 
exclaiming,  'He  do  run  over  de  keys  like  one 
cat,  and  do  not  give  my  pipes  time  to  shpeak.' 
And  at  Lynn  he  told  the  churchwardens,  upon 
their  asking  him  what  their  old  organ  would  be 
worth  if  repaired,  'If  they  would  lay  out  £100 
upon  it,  perhaps  it  would  be  worth  fifty.' 

Snetzler  lived  to  an  advanced  age,  and  died  at 
the  end  of  the  last  or  the  commencement  of  the 
present  century.  Having  saved  sufficient  money, 
he  returned  to  his  native  country ;  but  after 
being  so  long  accustomed  to  London  porter  and 
English  fare,  he  found  in  his  old  age  that  he 
could  not  do  without  them,  so  he  returned  to 
London,  where  he  died.  His  successor  was 
Ohrmann.  [See  HILL  &  SONS.]  [V.  de  P.] 

SNOW,  VALENTINE,  was  probably  of  the  same 
family  as  Moses  Snow,  gentleman  of  the  Chapel 
Royal  from  1689  until  his  death,  Dec.  20,  1702, 
and  also  lay-vicar  of  Westminster  Abbey,  and  a 
minor  composer.  He  became  the  finest  performer 
upon  the  trumpet  of  his  day;  was  a  member  of 
Handel's  oratorio  orchestra ;  and  it  was  for  him 
that  the  great  composer  wrote  the  difficult  ob- 
bligato  trumpet  parts  in  '  Messiah,'  '  Samson,' 
'Dettingen  Te  Deurn,'  'Judas  Maccabeus,'  etc. 
No  better  evidence  of  his  ability  can  be  required. 
In  Jan.  1 753  he  was  appointed  (in  succession  to 
John  Shore,  deceased)  Sergeant  Trumpeter  to 
the  King,  which  office  he  held  until  his  death  in 
Dec.  1770.  [W.H.H.] 

SNUFF-BOX,  MUSICAL.  A  mechanical 
invention  which  has  given  pleasure  to  thousands 
from  the  peculiar — what  for  want  of  a  better 
expression  we  may  call  ^Eolian — charm  arising 
from  the  production  of  harmonics  in  the  solid  part 
of  the  steel  comb  which  provides  the  necessary 
reinforcement  to  the  sounds  emitted  by  the  teeth 
of  the  comb.  The  motive  power  is  a  pinned 
cylinder  resembling  the  barrel  of  a  mechanical 
organ,  and  made  to  shift  on  the  same  principle ; 
the  working  power  is  a  spring  ;  the  mechanism 
and  rotation  are  closely  allied  to  those  of  a  watch 
or  clock ;  and  the  teeth  of  the  comb  which  pro 
duce  the  notes  are  measured  to  scale. 

Musical  boxes  were  invented  about  the  begin 
ning  of  the  present  century,  probably  in  Switzer- 


SNUFF-BOX,  MUSICAL. 

land,  the  chief  seat  of  their  production,  where 
there  are  now  some  twenty  principal  manufac 
tories.  About  30,000  are  said  to  be  made 
annually,  half  of  which  are  below  the  selling 
value  of  50  francs  each.  The  original  musical 
boxes  are  small  and  not  unlike  a  snuff-box  in 
appearance.  They  are  now  made  of  all  sizes,  the 
cost  ranging  from  205.  to  50^. 

About  1830,  a  very  favourite  composition  with 
amateurs  of  the  pianoforte  was  the  'Snuff-box 
Waltz,'  the  composer  of  which  preserved  his 
anonymity  under  the  initials  M.S.  The  scale 
and  arpeggio  passages,  played  with  much  use  of 
both  pedals,  produced  something  of  the  musical- 
box  effect  upon  the  hearer,  enhanced  a  few  years 
later  by  the  introduction  in  pianos  of  brass 
bridges  and  harmonic  bars,  which  are  to  a  certain 
extent  subject  to  the  acoustical  conditions  which 
affect  the  musical-box  combs.  Such  a  passage  as 
the  following,  from  the  '  Snuff-box  Waltz,'  illus 
trates  the  kind  of  imitation  that  was  possible: 


8va  sempre 


Of  late  years,  bells,  drums,  castagnettes,  free 
reeds  worked  by  bellows,  and  more  recently 
a  'zither,'  produced  by  a  sheet  of  thin  paper 
resting  on  the  teeth  of  the  comb,  have  been  in 
troduced,  and  have  not  raised  the  musical  value 
of  the  instrument,  any  more  than  similar  intro 
ductions  early  in  the  century  raised  the  value  of 
the  pianoforte.  As  pointed  out  by  Mr.  Moonen  in 
his  recent  Report  on  the  Melbourne  Exhibition, 
the  real  improvements  have  been  in  the  me 
chanical  portion,  by  the  accurate  '  pointing '  or 
adjustment  on  the  cylinder  of  as  many  as  36  airs ; 


SNUFF-BOX,  MUSICAL. 

the  obtaining  a  constant  movement  for  an  hour 
and  a  half  without  requiring  to  wind  up  the 
spring  during  that  time ;  the  possibility  of  shift 
ing  the  barrel  in  such  a  manner  that  an  air 
'noted'  may  be  played  without  the  necessity  of 
going  through  all  the  others  in  rotation,  and  the 
important  one  of  the  interchange  of  barrels  made 
to  fit  any  box.  [A.  J.H.] 

SOCIED  ADE  DE  QUARTETOS  DO  PORTO 

(Quartet  Society  of  Oporto).  This  society,  the 
only  one  of  the  kind  in  Portugal,  originated  in 
private  musical  gatherings  at  the  house  of  a 
banker  of  Oporto  (Sr.  Joao  Miranda  Guimaraes). 
In  1875  the  violoncellist  J.  Casella  settled  in 
Oporto,  and  it  was  resolved  to  give  public  con 
certs.  The  first  subscription  was  for  1 2  concerts, 
and  resulted  in  a  net  profit  of  about  £32.  En 
couraged  by  these  results,  the  same  little  body 
of  musicians  have  continued  to  give  two  series 
of  chamber  concerts  yearly,  1 2  in  the  autumn, 
and  6  in  the  spring.  They  take  place  on  Sunday 
atternoons  in  a  small  concert-room  at  the  S.  Joao 
Theatre.  The  audience  numbers  usually  about 
I oo  persons.  The  programmes  are  entirely  in 
strumental,  and  consist  of  movements  from  the 
chamber-music  of  the  great  masters,  as  well  as 
from  the  works  of  Grieg,  Dvorak,  Saint-Saens, 
Liszt,  Gradener,  Svendsen,  Tchaikowsky,  and 
Miguel  Angelo.  Short  analytical  remarks  are 
written  by  Sr.  B.  V.  Moreira  de  Sa",  to  whose 
energy  and  enthusiasm  the  society  owes  much  of 
its  success.  [W.B.S.] 

SOCIETA  ARMONICA.  Founded  about 
1 8  2  7  for  the  purpose  of  giving  subscription  concerts 
in  which  symphonies,  overtures,  and  occasionally 
instrumental  chamber  works  were  intermingled 
with  vocal  numbers  usually  drawn  from  the 
Italian  operas.  Mr.  H.  Forbes  was  the  con 
ductor,  and  Tolbecque  and  the  younger  Mori 
were  the  leaders  of  the  band.  Beethoven's  Over 
ture  in  C  major,  Berlioz's  Overture  to  '  Les 
Francs  Juges,'  Reissiger's  Overture  in  F  minor, 
and  the  Overture  to  '  Les  Huguenots '  were  among 
the  works  which  gained  a  first  hearing  in  Eng 
land  at  the  Society's  concerts ;  and  Weber's 
Mass  in  G  was  also  produced  at  one  of  the  per 
fonnances.  Among  the  vocalists  who  assisted 
in  the  concerts  were  Mmes.  Grisi,  Persiani,  Al- 
bertazzi,  Wyndham,  Bishop,  Alfred  Shaw,  Miss 
Clara  Novello  and  Miss  Birch,  Messrs.  Phillips, 
Rubini,  Tamburini  and  Lablache,  Mario  and 
Ivanoff.  The  band  included  Spagnoletti,  A. 
Griesbach,  Willy,  Wagstaff,  Dando,  Patey,  Jay, 
Alsept,  Lindley,  Hatton,  Brookes,  Dragonetti, 
Howell,  Card,  Ribas,  Barrett,  Harper,  etc.  Henri 
Herz,  the  pianist  and  composer,  and  Hausmann 
the  violinist,  made  their  first  appearance  in  this 
country  at  the  Societa  Armonica.  The  concerts 
were  successively  held  at  the  Crown  and  Anchor 
Tavern  in  the  Strand  (now  the  Temple  Club), 
Freemasons'  Tavern,  and  the  Opera  Concert 
room  in  the  Haymarket.  They  terminated  in 
or  about  the  year  1850.  [C.M.] 

SOCIETE  DE  MUSIQUE  DE  CHAMBRE, 
INSTRUMENTS  ^  VENT.    This  is  a  society  for 


SOCIETY  OF  BRITISH  MUSICIANS.  543 

the  performance  of  chamber-music  for  wind  in- 
truments  in  Paris.  It  was  founded  by  Mons. 
Paul  Taffanel,  a  distinguished  flute-player,  and 
the  first  concert  took  place  on  Feb.  6,  1879. 
Six  concerts  are  given  in  the  February,  March, 
and  April  of  each  year  at  4  p.  m.  on  alternate 
Thursdays,  at  the  Salle  Pleyel ;  subscription,  20 
francs  per  season.  The  executants  are  all  artists 
from  the  Conservatoire  concerts,  or  those  of  Pas- 
deloup — such  as  flute,  Taffanel ;  oboe,  Gillet  and 
Boullard  ;  clarinet,  Grisez  and  Turban ;  bassoon, 
Espaignet  and  Bourdeau  ;  horn,  Garigue  and 
Br6mond ;  piano,  Louis  Dimmer.  The  works 
performed  are  classical,  and  include  those  of  Bach, 
Handel,  Beethoven,  Mozart,  Weber,  Schubert 
(op.  160),  Mendelssohn  (op.  114),  Schumann 
(ops.  73,  94,  132),  Spohr,  Onslow,  Ran0,  Brahms 
(ops.  1 6,  40),  Liszt,  Rubinstein,  Saint  Saens, 
Dvorak  (op.  44),  Gouvy,  etc.  etc.  [G.] 

SOCIETY  DBS  CONCERTS  DU  CONSER 
VATOIRE,  LA— the  body  which  gives  the 
famous  concerts  in  Paris — was  founded  in  1828, 
by  Habeneck  and  a  group  of  eminent  musicians, 
as  already  stated.  [See  vol.  i.  p.  385.]  The 
positions  of  acting  and  honorary  president  are 
respectively  filled  by  the  chief  conductor  and  the 
director  of  the  Conservatoire.  The  management 
of  the  Society  is  in  the  hands  of  a  committee 
elected  by  the  members.  The  committee  meets 
weekly  on  Tuesday  mornings,  and  its  chief  duty 
is  to  settle  the  programmes  of  each  season. 
The  reading  and  selection  of  new  works  for 
performance  during  the  winter  concerts  is  done 
by  the  Society  at  large,  meeting  for  that  purpose 
from  and  after  October.  There  are  two  full  re 
hearsals  for  each  concert. 

The  concerts  themselves  and  their  repetition 
in  a  second  series  have  been  already  described 
[i.  386  a].  The  first  series  is  for  the  '  new'  sub 
scribers,  the  second  for  the  'old'  ones.  Each 
series  includes  a  'Concert  spirituel,'  and  since 
1881  the  second  performance  of  this  concert 
takes  place,  not  on  Easter  Sunday,  but  on  the 
Saturday  before  it.  In  the  spring  of  1882  M. 
Deldevez  was  re-elected  conductor,  and  M.  Hey- 
berger  chorus-master.  M.  Garcin — solo  violin  at 
the  opera — is  now  sub-conductor. 

The  Socie'te"  is  entirely  distinct  from  the 
'  Ecole  normale  de  la  musique  franfaise.'  It 
has  its  own  library,  which  however  contains  but 
few  unpublished  works.  The  most  interesting 
is  a  small  Symphony  in  C  by  Haydn,  which  is 
always  received  with  applause.  [G.  C.] 

SOCIETY  OF  BRITISH  MUSICIANS, 
founded  in  1834  with  the  object  of  advancing 
native  talent  in  composition  and  performance. 
In  the  original  prospectus  of  the  Society  attention 
was  called  to  the  contrast  between  the  encourage 
ment  offered  to  British  painting,  sculpture,  and 
the  tributary  arts  at  the  Royal  Academy,  and 
the  comparative  neglect  of  English  music  and 
English  musicians,  the  overwhelming  prepon 
derance  of  foreign  compositions  in  all  musical  per 
formances  being  cited  as  'calculated  to  impress 
the  public  with  the  idea  that  musical  genius  is 


544  SOCIETY  OF  BRITISH  MUSICIANS. 

an  alien  to  this  country/  and  as  tending  also  '  to 
repress  those    energies  and  to    extinguish    that 
emulation  in  the  breast  of  the  youthful  aspirant, 
which  alone  can  lead  to  pre-eminence.'  One  of  the 
rules  adopted  was  to  exclude  all  foreign  music 
from  the  programmes  of  the  Society's  concerts  anc 
to  admit  none  but  natives  of  Great  Britain  among 
its  members ;  but  this  wae  set  aside  in  1841,  when 
the  Committee  reported  in  favour  of  '  introducing 
a  limited  proportion  of  music  by  composers  nol 
members  of  the  Society  either  British  or  foreign,' 
and  the  suggestion  was  adopted,  though  not  with 
out  strong  opposition,  in  which  the  editor  of  the 
•Musical  World'  joined  ('Musical  World'   ol 
Oct.  14,  1841).    In  its  earlier  days  the  Society 
achieved  a  complete  success,  numbering  in  1836 
as   many  as  350   members,   while  its   finances 
were  also  in  a   prosperous  state.     It  not   only 
gave  concerts  of  works  of  established  merit,  but 
adopted  a  system  of  trial  performances  at  which 
many  new  compositions  were  heard.     The  pro 
grammes  included  the  names  of  all  the  leading 
English  writers  of  the  day,  who  as  a  rule  con 
ducted  their  own  works,  among  them  Cipriani 
Potter,  G.  A.  Macfarren,  W.  H.  Holmes,  W.  L. 
Phillips,  Sterndale  Bennett,  J.  Hullah,   J.  H. 
Griesbach,   T.    German    Reed,   W.   M.   Rooke, 
H.  Westrop,  Joseph  Barnett,  H.  C.  Litolff,  C. 
Lucas,  T.  M.  Mudie,  James  Calkin,  and  John 
Goss.  The  music  included  orchestral  and  chamber 
compositions,  varied   by  vocal   solos   and  part- 
music,    to   which    nearly  all   the    above-named 
composers  contributed  original  works,  and  the 
members    in   turn    directed    the    performances. 
After  1837  the   Society  began  to  decline,   and 
even  when  the  introduction  of  music  by  foreign 
composers  was  resolved  upon,  in  the  hope   of 
creating  more  general  interest  in  the  concerts, 
it  failed  to  restore  the  Society  to  prosperity,  and 
after  another  period  of  far  from  successful  manage 
ment  a  special  appeal  for  support  was  put  forth 
at  the  close  of  1854.     At  that  date  the  members 
included  Messrs.  H.  C.  Banister,  W.  S.  Bennett, 
H.  Blagrove,  J.  B.  Calkin,  C.  Coote,  J.  T.  Cooper, 
W.  H.  Holmes,  C.  E.  Horsley,  H.  Lazarus,  E.  J. 
Loder,  Kate  Loder  (now  Lady  Thompson),  C. 
Neate,  W.  S.  Rockstro,  C.  Severn,  C.  Steggall, 
C.  E.  Stephens,  J.  W.  Thirlwall,  H.  J.  Trust, 
J.  Weslake,  H.  Westrop,  J.  Zerbini,   and   Sir 
George  Smart.    This  effort  was  ridiculed  in  the 
'Musical  World'  of  Dec.  16, 1854,  on  the  ground 
that  the  Society  had  no  true  claim  to  its  title,  as 
many  composers  and  artists  of  note  held  aloof 
from  it.    The  movement  served  however  to  draw 
some  new  friends  to  the  ranks,  and  as  a  means 
of  fulfilling  its  objects  prizes  were   offered  for 
chamber  compositions,  which  were  gained  in  1 86 1 
by  Ebenezer  Prout  and  Edward  Perry  for  string 
quintets;  in  1863  by  J.  Lea  Summers  and  W. 
Gibbons,  also  for  string  quintets ;  and  in  1864  by 
Ebenezer  Prout  and  J.  Lea  Summers,  for  quartets 
for  piano  and  strings.     The  umpires  on  these 
occasions  included  Herr  Joachim  and  Molique, 
Signer  Piatti,  and  Messrs.  Cipriani  Potter,  G.  A. 
Macfarren,    A.  Mellon,   T.  M.  Mudie  and  H. 
Leslie,  and  the  prize  works  were  publicly  per- 


SOCIETY,  THE  MUSICAL  ARTISTS'. 

formed   by  Miss  Zimmermann,  Herr  Joachim, 
Messrs.  A.  Mellon,  H.  Webb,  J.  T.  Carrodus, 
W.  Watson,  J.  T.  Willy,  W.  T.  Aylward,  and 
Signor  Piatti.    In  1865  the  Society  was  dissolved, 
its    library   was    sold    by    Messrs.   Puttick   & 
Simpson,  and  Mr.  C.  E.  Stephens  was  appointed 
custodian  of  the  minute-books,  etc.     The  secre 
taries  of  the  Society  were  Messrs.  J.  R.  Tutton 
(its  founder)  1834-5  ;  G.  J.  Baker,  1835  until 
his  death  in  1851;  J.  Rackham,  1851-54;  W. 
W.  Grice   1854-55.     The  Honorary  Treasurers 
were  the  three  brothers,  Jacob  Erat  1834  until 
his  death  in  1837;   James  Erat  1837  un*il  his 
death  in  1858  ;   and  William  Erat  (pro  tern.) 
1858;  and  Cipriani  Potter,  1858-65.  The  Society 
and  its  library  were  housed  gratuitously  at  23 
Berners  Street,  by  Messrs.  Erat,  from  1834  until 
1858,  when  they  gave  up  the  premises;  1858-59 
in  Wornum's  Music  Hall,  Store  Street;  1860  in 
St.  Martin's  Hall  until  its  destruction  by  fire  on 
Aug.  26,  1860  (when  the  Society's  property  was 
saved);  1860-62  at  44  Charlotte  Street,  Fitzroy 
Square,  by  permission  of  Mr.  H.  Webb ;  and 
1862-65  at  Messrs.  Collard's,  Grosvenor  Street, 
free  of  all  expense.  For  the  first  five  years  the  con 
certs  were  given  at  the  Hanover  Square  Rooms, 
and  the  trials  of  orchestral  and  chamber  works 
were  subsequently  held  at  those  rooms  or  at  the 
above-named  buildings.     The  Society  on  July  20, 
1843,  gave  a  complimentary  concert  to  Spohr  at 
Erat's,  and  on  June  15,  1844,  at  the  same  place, 
a  complimentary  concert  to  Mendelssohn.  [C.M.] 

SOCIETY  OF  BRITISH  AND  FOREIGN 
MUSICIANS.  A  benevolent  society,  established 
in  1822  to  provide  a  fund  for  the  relief  of  its 
members  during  sickness ;  to  assist  in  the  support 
of  those  who,  by  old  age  or  unavoidable  calamity 
may  become  unable  to  follow  their  profession; 
and  to  allow  a  certain  sum  at  the  death  of  a 
member  or  a  member's  wife.  The  office  is  at  18 
Rathbone  Place,  Oxford  Street,  and  the  Secretary 
is  Mr.  A.  C.  Adams.  [C.M.] 

SOCIETY,  THE  MUSICAL  ARTISTS', 
founded  in  1874  'to  encourage  living  musicians 
by  giving  performances  of  their  compositions, 
consists  of  a  President  (the  Duke  of  Beaufort), 
Vice-Presidents  (Sir  Julius  Benedict,  Professor 
Macfarren,  etc.),  a  Council  of  9  members,  and 
about  70  members  (Professors)  and  associates 
(Non-Professors).  The  first  public  performance 
took  place  on  July  22,  -1874,  at  the  Conduit- 
street  Rooms,  and  was  followed  by  three  con 
certs  every  year,  until  1881,  when  four  were 
given.  The  objects  of  the  Society  will  best  be 
seen  by  the  list  of  some  of  the  principal  chamber 
compositions  it  has  brought  forward.  Its  Hon. 
Sec.  (1882)  is  Dr.  Jacob  Bradford. 

Quintet  (Strings),  J.  Lea  Summers, 

Quintets  (PF.  and  Strings),  E.  Fiori,  Alg.  Ashton. 

Quartets  (Strings),  H.  C.  Banister,  H.  Baumer,  Dr. 
Bradford,  A.  Carnall,  G.  Gear,  W.  H.  Holmes,  Leh- 
meyer,  Mori,  O.  Prescott.  C.  J.  Bead,  C.  E.  Stephens, 
J.  Lea  Summers. 

Quartets  (PF.  and  Strings),  Alg.  Ashton,  0.  Prescott, 
H.  Westrop. 

Trios  <PF.  and  Strings),  J.  F.  Barnett,  J.  B.  Calkin, 
F.  E.  Gladstone,  A.  Gilbert,  C.  Gardner,  C.  Maclean, 
~ .  Wolff,  E.  H.  Thome,  G.  W.  Hammond. 


SOCIETY,  THE  MUSICAL  ARTISTS'. 

Sonatas  (PF.  and  Violin\F.  Davenport,  W.  H.  Holmes, 
E.  Sharp,  E.  H.  Thorne,  H.  Westrop,  Emily  Lawrence. 

Sonatas  (PF.  and  Cello),  Alg.  Aahton,  B.  Ellicott,  O. 
Prescott,  E.  H.  Thorne,  E.  Sharp. 

Sonatas  (PF.),  H.  C.  Bannister,  C.  Gardner,  G.  Gear, 
G.  A.  Macfarren,  A.  O'Leary.  f  W.B.S.] 

SODERMAN,  JOHAN  AUGUST,  one  of  the 
greatest  Swedish  composers  of  modern  times,  was 
born  in  Stockholm,  July  17,  1832 — his  father  be 
ing  director  of  the  orchestra  at  a  minor  theatre 
— and  at  an  early  age  displayed  traces  of  musical 
genius.  When  1 8  years  of  age  he  was  selected  by 
Stjernstrb'm,  the  director  of  the  orchestra  at  the 
Eoyal  theatre  in  Stockholm,  as  instructor  to  a 
company  of  musicians,  then  on  a  tour  to  Finland. 
On  his  return  Sodennan  wrote  his  first  operetta, 
with  the  fantastic  title,  '  The  Devil's  first  rudi 
ments  of  Learning,'  which  was  performed  at  the 
Mindre  theatre  at  Stockholm,  Sept.  14,  1856. 
During  the  following  two  years  he  stayed  in 
Leipzig,  studying  under  Richter  and  Hauptmann ; 
in  the  year  1860  he  was  appointed  chorus-master 
at  the  Royal  Opera  in  Stockholm ;  and  from  that 
date  until  his  election  as  a  member  of  the  Swedish 
Academy  of  Music,  his  life  was  occupied  in  such 
minor  offices  in  the  musical  world  as  are  too 
often  the  lot  of  great  composers  when  cast  in  a 
small  community.  But  however  poor  the  offices 
he  held,  Soderman  filled  them  with  a  sincerity 
and  zeal  which  many  a  man  of  inferior  talents 
might  have  envied. 

His  works  are  about  60  in  number — operettas, 
eongs,  ballads,  part-songs,  funeral  marches  and 
cantatas ;  of  which,  however,  only  half  have  been 
printed,  and  these  at  the  expense  of  the  Swedish 
government  after  his  death.  Of  the  printed  works 
we  can  only  mention  a  few,  besides  the  above- 
mentioned,  namely  2  operettas,  '  The  wedding  at 
TJlfasa,'  and  'Regina  von  Emmeritz ' ;  overture  to 
'  The  Maid  of  Orleans ' ;  songs ;  '  Trios  for  male 
voices,'  containing  the  Finnish  national  air 
'Suomi  sang';  a  Circassian  dance,  and  a  concert- 
overture,  also  '  Sacred  songs  for  organ,'  contain 
ing  a  number  of  hymns  of  great  beauty  and 
purity,  of  which  the  best  known  are  a  Benedic- 
tus  and  an  Agnus  Dei.  Though  a  protestant,  his 
chef-d'oeuvre  is  a  Mass  for  solos,  chorus  and 
orchestra,  which  has  only  been  twice  performed 
in  Stockholm,  but  is  considered  by  his  coun 
trymen  as  equal  to  any  by  the  great  composers, 
and  which  is  animated  by  such  sincere  devotion, 
and  stamped  by  such  a  high  degree  of  originality 
and  masterly  finish,  as  tp  rank  among  the  choicest 
gems  of  Swedish  music. 

Another  of  his  works  worth  mention  is  his 
music  to  the  poetry  of  Bellman.  This  poet,  whose 
genius  is  akin  to  that  of  Marlowe,  has  written 
a  number  of  rhapsodies,  depicting  the  gay,  jovial, 
and  careless  nature  of  the  Swede,  with  a  force  of 
animal  spirit  and  genuine  originality  which  few 
other  poets  have  equalled  ;  and  to  these  produc 
tions,  which  every  Swede  knows  by  heart,  Soder- 
tnan  set  music. 

The  foreign  composers  who  seem  to  have  in 
fluenced  .his    more    elaborate    productions    are 
Beethoven,  Schubert,  and,  in  particular,  Schu 
mann.      His    compositions,   though  thoroughly 
VOL.  in.  PT.  5. 


SOL-FA. 


545 


Swedish,  are  not  national  ;  they  bear  the  im 
press  of  the  vigorous  and  energetic  nature  of  the 
Northerner,  which  makes  Scandinavian  composi 
tions  so  charming.  Soderman  died  Feb.  10,  1876, 
at  the  early  age  of  44,  and  a  national  subscription 
was  at  once  raised  in  Sweden  for  the  benefit  of 
his  widow  and  children.  It  was  a  token  of  the 
gratitude  and  respect  of  a  musical  nation  for  a 
great  composer.  [C.S.] 

SOGGETTO.  The  Italian  term  for  'subject,' 
as  the  theme  of  a  movement.  Thus  in  No.  1  2 
of  Bach's  '  Musikalisches  Opfer,'  Frederick  the 
Great's  theme  is  called  '  II  Soggetto  reale.'  [See 
SUBJECT.]  [G.] 

SOL.  The  fifth  note  of  the  natural  scale  ac 
cording  to  the  nomenclature  of  France  and  Italy; 
in  English  and  German  G.  In  the  old  hymn  from 
which  Guido  is  supposed  to  have  formed  the  scale 
it  occurs  as  follows  :  — 

Ut  queant  laxia  rcsonare  fibris, 
Miia,  gestorum  /«muli  tuorum, 
'         pollutia  fobia  reatis. 


The  number  of  double  vibrations  to  produce  sol 
(treble  G)  is  —  Paris  normal  pitch,  391-5;  London 
'  Philharmonic  pitch,'  405.  [G.] 

SOLDATENLIEBSCHAFT—  Soldiers'  love. 
A  i-act  opera,  containing  an  overture  and  16 
numbers,  written  by  Mendelssohn  in  1821  (his 
1  3th  year).  The  author  of  the  words  is  unknown. 
The  autograph  is  in  the  Mendelssohn  archives  in 
the  Berlin  Library.  The  work  was  evidently  a 
favourite  with  its  author,  for  he  proposed  to  re 
peat  it  for  the  silver  wedding  of  his  parents,  with 
an  operetta  to  be  written  by  Fanny,  and  his  own 
'  Heimkehr  aus  der  Fremde.'  It  does  not  appear 
however  to  have  been  then  performed.  [G.] 

SOLENNIS,  i.e.  Solemn.  *  Missa  solennis' 
is  a  term  employed  to  designate  a  mass  on  a  grand 
scale.  Those  of  Beethoven  in  D,  Schubert  in  Al> 
(no.  5),  and  Liszt's  'Graner-Messe'  are  so  entitled. 
Four  of  Cherubini's  —  in  C,  E,  G.and  B  b  —  are  called 
'Messe  Solennelle,'  but  not  that  in  A  for  the  coro 
nation  of  Charles  X.,  which  is  for  3  voices  only. 
Gounod's  Mass  in  G,  and  Rossini's  in  A  minor, 
have  the  same  title.  The  term  answers  to  the 
'Hohe  Messe'  of  Bach.  [G.] 

SOL-FA.  *  To  sol-fa  '  is  to  sing  a  passage  or 
a  piece  of  vocal  music,  giving  to  the  notes,  not 
the  words,  but  the  syllables,  Do  (C),  Re  (D), 
Mi  (E),  Fa  (F),  Sol  (G),  La  (A),  Si  (B),  Do 
(C).  Why  the  two  syllables  Sol  and  Fa  should 
have  been  chosen  to  desig 
nate  this  process  in  prefer 
ence  to  Do  Re,  or  Re  Mi, 
does  not  appear. 

It  may  be  convenient  here 
to  give  the  scale  with  the 
syllables  for  sharps  or  fiats, 
as  fixed  by  Mr.  Hullah  in 
his  'Method  of  Teaching 
Singing'  (Longmans,  1880). 

In  a  hymn  recently  written  by  Arrigo  Boito 
and  composed  by  Mancinelli,  for  the  opening  of 
the  monument  of  Guido  d'Arezzo  at  Rome,  the 
seven  syllables  are  thus  employed  :  — 

N  n 


b 

13 

8 

Du 

Do 

Da 

Ba 

Re 

Ki 

Me 

Mi 

— 

Fo 

Fa 

Fe 

Sul 

Sol 

Sal 

Lo 

La 

Le 

Se 

Si 

— 

546  SOL-FA. 

Util  di  Guido  regola  superna 
.M/suratrice /acile  de'  suoni 
So/enne  or  tu  /aude  a  te  stessa  intuoni, 
SiUaba  eterna. 

The  roll  or  stick  with  which  the  conductors  of 
church  choirs  in  Italy  beat  the  time  is  called 
the  Sdlfa.  [G.] 

SOLFEGGIO,  E  GORGHEGGIO.  Solfeggio 
is  a  musical  exercise  for  the  voice  upon  the  syl 
lables  Ut  (or  Do),  Re,  Mi,  Fa,  Sol,  La,  forming 
the  Guidonian  Hexachord,  to  which  was  added 
later  the  syllable  Si  upon  the  seventh  or  leading- 
note,  the  whole  corresponding  to  the  notes  C,  D, 
E,  F,  G,  A,  B  of  the  modern  Diatonic  scale. 
These  names  may  be  considered  the  result  of  an 
accident  ingeniously  turned  to  account,  the  first 
six  being  the  first  syllables  of  half  lines  in  the 
first  verse  of  a  hymn  for  the  festival  of  St.  John 
Baptist,  occurring  upon  the  successive  notes  of 
the  rising  scale,  with  a  seventh  syllable  perhaps 
formed  of  the  initial  letters  of  Sancte  Johannes. 
[See  SOLMISATION.] 

The  first  use  of  these  syllables  is  ascribed  to 
Guido  d'Arezzo  as  an  artificial  aid  to  pupils  '  of 
slow  comprehension  in  learning  to  read  music,' 
and  not  as  possessing  any  special  virtue  in  the 
matter  of  voice-cultivation;  but  it  is  by  no 
means  clear  that  he  was  the  first  to  use  them.  At 
any  rate  they  came  into  use  somewhere  about 
his  time.  It  is  probable  that  even  in  Guido's 
day  (if  voice -cultivation  was  carried  to  any 
grade  of  perfection— which  is  hardly  likely  in  an 
age  when  nearly  all  the  music  was  choral,  and 
the  capacities  of  the  voice  for  individual  expres 
sion  were  scarcely  recognised),  as  soon  as  the 
notes  had  been  learned,  the  use  of  syllables  was, 
as  it  has  been  later,  superseded  by  vocalisation, 
or  singing  upon  a  vowel.  The  syllables  may  be 
considered,  therefore,  only  in  their  capacity  as 
names  of  notes.  Dr.  Crotch,  in  his  treatise  on 
Harmony,  uses  them  for  this  purpose  in  the 
major  key,  on  the  basis  of  the  movable  Do, 
underlining  them  thus,  Do,  etc.,  for  the  notes  of 
the  relative  minor  scales,  and  gives  them  as 
alternative  with  the  theoretical  names — Tonic, 
or  Do  ;  Mediant,  or  Mi;  Dominant,  or  Sol,  etc. 
The  continued  use  of  the  syllables,  if  the  Do  were 
fixed,  would  accustom  the  student  to  a  certain 
vowel  on  a  certain  note  only,  and  would  not  tend 
to  facilitate  pronunciation  throughout  the  scale. 
If  the  Do  were  movable,  though  different  vowels 
would  be  used  on  different  parts  of  the  voice, 
there  would  still  be  the  mechanical  succession 
through  the  transposed  scale ;  and  true  reading — 
which  Hullah  aptly  calls  '  seeing  with  the  ear 
and  hearing  with  the  eye,'  that  is  to  say,  the 
mental  identification  of  a  certain  sound  with  a 
certain  sign — would  not  be  taught  thereby.  Those 
who  possess  a  natural  musical  disposition  do  not 
require  the  help  of  the  syllables ;  and  as  pronun 
ciation  would  not  be  effectually  taught  by  them, 
especially  after  one  of  the  most  difficult  and  un 
satisfactory  vowels  had  been  removed,  by  the 
change  of  Ut  to  Do,  and  as  they  do  not  contain 
all  the  consonants,  and  as  moreover  voice- 
cultivation  is  much  more  readily  carried  out  by 


SOLFEGGIO. 

perfecting  vowels  before  using  consonants  at  all, 
— it  was  but  natural  that  vocalisation  should 
have  been  adopted  as  the  best  means  of  re 
moving  inequalities  in  the  voice  and  difficulties 
in  its  management.  Crescentini,  one  of  the  last 
male  soprani,  and  a  singing-master  of  great 
celebrity,  says,  in  the  preface  to  his  vocal  ex 
ercises,  '  Gli  esercizj  sono  stati  da  me  imaginati 
per  1'uso  del  vocalizzo,  cosa  la  piu  necessaria  per 
perfezionarsi  nel  canto  dopo  lo  studio  f'atto  de' 
solfeggi,  o  sia,  nomenclatura  delle  note ' — '  I  have 
intended  these  exercises  for  vocalisation,  which 
is  the  most  necessary  exercise  for  attaining  per 
fection  in  singing,  after  going  through  the  study  of 
the  sol-fa,  or  nomenclature  of  the  notes.'  Some 
times  a  kind  of  compromise  has  been  adopted 
in  exercises  of  agility,  that  syllable  being  used 
which  comes  upon  the  principal  or  accented  note 
of  a  group  or  division,  e.  g. 


Do---     Be---     Mi---     Fa---    Do 


Ke 


The  word  '  Solfeggio '  is  a  good  deal  misused, 
and  confounded  with  '  Vocalizzo  '  in  spite  of  the 
etymology  of  the  two  words.  The  preface  to  the 
4th  edition  of  the  '  Solfe'ges  d'ltalie '  says  '  La 
plupart  des  Solfe'ges  nouveaux  Exigent  qu'ils 
soient  Solfiis  sans  nommer  les  notes.'  Here  is 
an  absurd  contradiction,  and  a  confusion  of 
the  two  distinct  operations  of  Solfeggiare  and 
Vocalizzare.  We  have  no  precise  equivalent  in 
English  for  Solfeggio  and  Solfeggiare.  The  French 
have  Solfege  and  Solfier.  We  say,  to  Sol-fa, 
and  Sol-faing — a  clumsy  and  ineuphonious  verb- 
substantive.  As  a  question  of  voice-production, 
the  wisdom  of  vocalisation,  chiefly  upon  the 
vowel  a  (Italian),  and  certainly  before  other 
vowels  are  practised,  and  most  decidedly  before 
using  consonants,  has  been  abundantly  proved. 
The  use  of  the  words  in  question  is  not  therefore 
a  matter  of  much  importance.  This  appears  to 
be  in  direct  opposition  to  the  advice  of  a  very  fine 
singer  and  an  eminent  master,  Pier  Francesco 
Tosi,  whose  book  upon  singing  was  published  at 
Bologna  in  1723,  the  English  translation  by  Gal- 
liard  appearing  in  1 742.  He  says,  'Let  the  master 
never  be  tired  in  making  the  scholar  sol-fa  as 
long  as  he  finds  it  necessary ;  for  if  he  should 
let  him  sing  upon  the  vowels  too  soon,  he  knowa 
not  how  to  instruct.'  'As  long  as  he  finds  it 
necessary,'  however,  is  a  considerable  qualifica 
tion.  The  world  lives  and  learns,  and  Crescen- 
tini's  verdict  may  safely  be  accepted.  The  vowel 
a,  rightly  pronounced,  gives  a  position  of  the 
resonance-chambers  most  free  from  impediment, 
in  which  the  entire  volume  of  air  vibrates  without 
after-neutralisation,  and  consequently  communi 
cates  its  vibrations  in  their  integrity  to  the  outer 
air ;  this  therefore  is  the  best  preparation,  the 
best  starting-point  for  the  formation  of  other 


SOLFEGGIO. 

vowels.  After  this  vowel  is  thoroughly  mastered 
the  others  are  comparatively  easy,  whereas  if  * 
or  u  (Italian)  are  attempted  at  first,  they  are 
usually  accompanied  by  that  action  of  the  throat 
and  tongue  which  prevails  to  such  a  disagreeable 
extent  in  this  country.  When  the  vowels  have 
been  conquered,  the  consonants  have  a  much 
better  chance  of  proper  treatment,  and  of  good 
behaviour  on  their  own  part,  than  if  attacked 
at  the  outset  of  study.  Vocalisation  upon  all 
the  vowels  throughout  the  whole  compass  of  the 
voice  should  be  practised  after  the  vowel  a  is 
perfected  ;  then  should  come  the  practice  of  syl 
lables  of  all  kinds  upon  all  parts  of  the  voice  ; 
and  then  the  critical  study  and  practice  (much 
neglected)  of  recitative. 

The  words  GORGHEGGIO  and  GORGHEGGIARE, 
from  Gorga,  an  obsolete  word  for  'throat,'  are 
„  applied  to  the  singing  of  birds,  and  by  analogy 
5  to  the  execution  of  passages  requiring  a  very 
5  quick  and  distinct  movement  or  change  of  note, 
such  as  trills  and  the  different  kinds  of  turn, 
also  re-iterated  notes  and  quick  florid  passages 
in  general.  The  English  verb  'to  warble  '  is  given 
i;  as  the  equivalent  of  gorgheyyiare,  but  warbling 
is  usually  accepted  to  mean  a  gentle  wavering 
or  quavering  of  the  voice,  whereas  agility  and 
brilliancy  are  associated  with  the  Italian  word. 
A  closer  translation,  'throat-singing,'  would  give 
a  rendering  both  inadequate  and  pernicious — in 
adequate,  as  throat-singing  may  be  either  quick 
or  slow,  and  pernicious  as  suggesting  unnecessary 
movement  of  the  larynx,  and  helping  to  bring 
about  that  defective  execution  so  often  heard, 
in  which  there  is  more  breath  and  jar  than 
music,  closely  resembling  unnecessary  movement 
of  the  hand  when  using  the  fingers  upon  an  in 
strument.1  The  fact  is,  that  execution,  however 
rapid,  should  be  perfect  vocalisation  in  its  tech 
nical  sense,  and  perfect  vocalisation  has  for  its 
foundation  the  Portamento.  The  Portamento  (or 
carrying  of  the  voice — the  gradual  gliding  from 
one  note  to  another)  removes  inequalities  in  the 
voice,  and  facilitates  the  blending  of  registers. 
Increased  in  speed  by  degrees,  the  voice  learns 
to  shoot  from  note  to  note  with  lightning-like 
rapidity,  and  without  the  above-named  convulsion 
of  the  larynx  which  produces  a  partial  or  total 
cessation  of  sound,  or  at  any  rate  a  deterioration 
of  sound  during  the  instantaneous  passage  from 
note  to  note.  It  is  this  perfect  passage  from 
note  to  note,  without  lifting  off  or  interrupting 
the  voice,  that  fills  space  with  a  flood  of  sound, 
of  which  Jenny  Lind  s  shake  and  vocalised  pas 
sages  were  a  bright  example.  But  this  kind  of 
vocalisation  is  the  result  of  years  of  conscientious 
practice  and  the  exercise  of  a  strong  will ;  and 
it  is  just  this  practice  and  strong  will  that  are 
wanting  in  the  present  day.  Exercises  are  not 
wanting.  With  such  books  as  those  of  Garcia, 
Panseron,  Madame  Sainton,  and  Randegger,  etc., 
etc.,  and  of  course  some  special  passages  for  in- 


1  As  Arpeggiare  means  'to  play  upon  the  harp,'  Gorgheggiare 
means  'to  play  upon  the  throat,'  or  rather  that  part  of  the  throat 
known  as  the  larynx ;  in  other  words,  to  treat  the  voice  for  the  time 
only  as  an  instrument. 


SOLFEGGIO. 


547 


dividual  requirements,  to  say  nothing  of  those  of 
Rossini,  and  the  numberless  vocalizzi  of  Bordogni, 
Nava,  etc.,  etc.,  the  'Solfe'ges  d'ltalie/  and  the 
'  Solfe'ges  du  Conservatoire,'  there  is  work  enough 
if  students  will  avail  themselves  of  it.  Tosi,  in 
speaking  of  the  difficulties  in  teaching  and  learn 
ing  the  shake  says,  'The  impatience  of  the  master 
joins  with  the  despair  of  the  learner,  so  that  they 
decline  farther  trouble  about  it.'  A  summary 
mode  of  getting  over  difficulties  ! 

The  first  of  the  two  great  works  just  named  is 
entitled  '  Solfe'ges  d'ltalie,  avec  la  Basse  chiffre"e, 
composes  par  Durante,  Scarlatti,  Hasse,  Porpora, 
Mazzoni,  Caffaro,  David  Perez,  etc.  Dedie"s  k 
Messeigneurs  les  premiers  Geutilshommes  de  la 
chambre  du  Roi  [Louis  XV],  et  recueillis  par  les 
Srs.  Levesque  et  Be'che,  ordinaires  de  la  Musique 
de  sa  MajesteV  The  work  is  therefore  obviously 
a  collection  of  Italian  Solfeggi  made  in  France 
by  Frenchmen.  Levesque  was  a  baritone  in  the 
King's  Chapel  from  1759  to  1781,  and  in.  1763 
became  master  of  the  boys.  Beche  was  an  alto. 
The  first  edition  of  the  work  appeared  in  1768  ; 
the  fourth,  published  by  Cousin eau,  at  Paris  in 
1786.  It  forms  one  large  oblong  volume,  and  is 
in  four  Divisions  :  I.  The  '  indispensable  princi 
ples '  of  singing — names  of  notes,  etc.,  and  62 
easy  (anonymous)  Solfeggi  in  the  G  clef  with 
figured  bass.  II.  Solfeggi  63  to  152  for  single 
voices  in  various  clefs — including  G  clef  on  2nd 
line  and  F  clef  on  3rd  line — in  common,  triple, 
and  compound  time,  all  with  figured  basses. 

III.  Solfeggi  153 — 241,  with  changing  clefs,  and 
increasing  difficulties  of  modulation  and  execu 
tion — ending  with  the  Exclamationcs  quoted  in 
the  text ;  all  with  figured  basses.     Divisions  II 
and  III  are  by  the  masters  named  in  the  title ; 
each   Solfeggio   bearing   the   composer's   name. 

IV.  12  Solfeggi  for  2  voices  and  figured  bass  by 
David  Perez,  each  in  three  or  four  movements. 
The  forms  of  fugue  and  canon  are  used  through 
out  the  work,  and  some  of  the  exercises  would 
bear  to  be  sung  with  words.     One,  by  Hasse,  is 
a  graceful  arietta.    A  few  extracts  will  show  the 
nature  of  the  work.     No.  i  exhibits  the  kind  of 
instrumental  passage  that  frequently  occurs  in 
Scarlatti's  solfeggi.   No.  2,  by  Leo,  is  very  difficult, 
and  gives  much  work  to  the  voice.     No.  3,  from 
the  exercises  for  two  voices  of  David  Perez,  keeps 
the  voice  much  upon  the  high  notes.     No.  4, 
from  the  same,  requires,  and  is  calculated  to  bring 
about,  great  flexibility.     No.  5,  by  Durante,  is 
curious,  and  is  evidently  intended  as  an  exercise 
in  pathetic  expression.     It  has  no  figured  bass, 
like  the  other  exercises  in  this  collection,  but  a  part 
in  the  alto  clef,  clearly  intended  for  an  obbligato 
instrument,  probably  for  the  viol  d'amore. 


1.    Allegro. 


SCARLATTI. 


Nu2 


548 


SOLFEGGIO. 


SOLFEGGIO. 


i  *-»  _m 


1   I   I 


3. 


DAVID  PEREZ. 


^ 


•  -P-     -•-      ^      JL 

1  "  n  run 


• 


*- — — sss — — 


rp      '  _  |fl^~  ^_  i  |BS?3~~BiS3~  IL  y  M  ^ — 


^^=£ 


-4— •- 


^-«- 


^a^p: 


_t± 


T    A    T 


I     • l_» 


« 


£ 


5.  Exclamationis  animas  Purgantium  (sic). 

Zar^o. 


DURANTE. 


Al  Flglio. 


Al  Sp». 


1 


SOLFEGGIO. 


SOLMISATION. 


549 


Ana  V».  SS  . » 


etc. 


But  the  reader  is  strongly  advised  to  refer  to 
this  remarkable  work  for  himself. 

A  later  and  very  complete  collection  of  exer 
cises  and  studies  is  that  published  in  Paris 
by  Heugel  under  the  title  of  '  Solfeges  du 
Conservatoire,  par  2Cherubini,  Catel,  Mdhul, 
Gossec,  et  LangleV  edited  by  Edouard  Batiste, 
Professeur  de  Solfe'ge,'  etc.  It  is  in  eight 
volumes  8vo.,  including  a  hundred  preparatory 
exercises  by  Batiste  himself.  The  first  exercise 
in  the  main  collection  is  a  short  theme  with 
57  variations.  The  studies  increase  in  diffi 
culty,  and  the  later  ones  require  great  powers 
of  vocalisation.  Those  by  Gossec  abound  in  re 
iterated  notes  and  in  passages  of  extended  com 
pass.  There  are  duets  and  trios,  some  of  which 
are  very  elaborate.  A  curious  one  by  Cherubini 
is  in  free  fugal  imitation,  with  the  respective 
entries  of  the  second  and  third  voices  taking 
place  at  an  interval  of  24  bars.  Canons  and 
fugues  are  in  abundance,  amongst  them  a  fugue 
in  5-4  by  Catel.  One  exercise  by  Cherubini  is 
without  bars,  and  another  by  the  same  composer 
is  headed  '  Contrepoint  rigoureux  a  cinq  voix 
sur  le  Plaint  Chant.'  If  these  two  collections  of 
vocalizzi  are  studied  and  conquered,  an  amount 
of  theoretical  and  practical  knowledge,  as  well 
as  control  over  the  voice,  will  have  been  gained 
that  will  fulfil  every  possible  requirement  pre 
paratory  to  acquaintance  with  the  great  operatic 
and  oratorical  works.  Mention  must  not  be 
omitted  of  Concone's  useful  Exercises,  of  more 
modest  calibre,  which  have  gained  a  large  popu 
larity  throughout  musical  Europe  ;  nor  of  those 
of  Madame  Marchesi-Graumann,  which  give  a 
great  deal  of  excellent  work,  and  were  highly 
approved  by  Rossini.  [H.C.D.] 

SOLIE,  JEAN  PIERRE  (real  name  SOULIER), 
born  at  Nimes,  1755,  died  in  Paris  Aug.  6, 1812, 
was  one  of  the  good  singers  and  composers  at 
the  Opera  Comique  in  its  early  days.  The  son 
of  a  cello-player  he  learnt  that  instrument,  and 
had  a  good  musical  education  at  the  Nimes 
tnaitrise,  after  which  he  played  in  the  orchestra 
and  taught  singing  till  his  debut  as  a  tenor  in 
1778.  His  success  in  the  provinces  tempted 
him  to  go  to  Paris,  but  he  failed  at  first,  in 
1782,  and  remained  away  till  after  three  years 
success  in  the  largest  theatre  of  Lyons.  He  was 


1  The  abbreviation  '  Alia  V>  SS» '  can  hardly  mean  other  than 
1  alia.  Vergine  Santissima.'    Tlie  a  must  be  a  mistake  of  the  French 
printer.    These  abbreviations  are  alternated  through  the  exercise 
with,  farther  on,  'Satila  al  celo,*  'Alia  SS»  Trinita."  and  last  of  all 
'co  moti  gloria  Eterna.'    The  word  '  Satila '  must  also  be  a  mistake. 
A  later  edition  has  this  phrase,   'Satila  al  colo,'  and  the  other  'co 
moll  gloria  eterna.1    This  does  not  help  to  clear  up  the  matter. 

2  Cherubini's  Autograph  Catalogue  [see  vol.  i.  p.  343  a]  contains 
an  immense  number  of  Solfeggi  written  between  the  years  1822 
and  1*42,  jn  his  capacity  of  Director  of  the  Conservatoire,  for  the 
Examinations  of  the  Pupils  of  that  Institution. 


engaged  in  1787  for  the  Opera  Comique,  where 
he  remained,  gradually  making  his  way  up 
wards  to  the  first  place  in  the  company,  espe 
cially  after  relinquishing  the  part  of  tenor  de 
gout  for  that  of  baritone.  The  baritone  was 
then  a  novelty,  and  Mehul  wrote  for  Solie 
several  parts  which  have  since  become  identified 
with  his  name.  He  next  tried  his  hand  at 
composition,  and  with  equal  success,  for  his 
operas  comiques  number  33  in  all,  'Jean  et 
Genevieve'  (1792)  being  the  first,  and  'Les 
Me'nestrels'  3  acts  (1811)  the  last.  'Le  Jockey' 
(Jan.  6),  'Le  Secret'  (April  20,  1796),  '  Le 
Chapitre  Second'  (June  17,  1799)  in  one  act; 
and  '  Le  Diable  a  quatre'  (Nov.  30,  1809),  and 
'  Mademoiselle  de  Guise'  in  3  (March  17,  1808), 
were  published.  Though  this  music  is  now 
entirely  out  of  date,  many  of  its  pretty  airs 
became  favourites  with  the  vaudeville  writers, 
and  were  set  to  a  variety  of  words.  Several 
may  be  found  in  the  '  Clef  du  Caveau.' 

Solie*  had  several  sons ;  the  eldest  drowned 
himself  in  1802  ;  but  Emile  (born  in  Paris, 
1801)  published  in  1847  two  pamphlets  on  the 
Op£ra  Comique  and  Ope'ra,  also  some  short 
biographies  of  French  musicians.  He  left  a  son, 
Charles,  who  is  a  conductor,  and  produced  at 
Nice  in  1879  an  op4ra-comique,  'Schema  Baba, 
ou  1'intrigue  du  Harem,'  3  acts,  the  subject  of 
which  seems  to  have  been  borrowed  from  the 
'  Intrigue  au  Sdrail.'  [G.C.] 

SOLITAIRE,  LE.  Carafa's  most  popular 
opera  comique ;  in  3  acts,  words  by  Planard.  Pro 
duced  at  the  Feydeau,  Aug.  17,  1822.  Its  most 
favourite  number,  though  not  its  best,  is  a  ron 
deau — 

C'est  le  solitaire, 

Qui  voit  tout, 

Qui  salt  tout, 

Entend  tout, 

Est  partout.  [G.] 

SOLMISATION  (Lat.  Solmisatio).  The  art 
of  illustrating  the  construction  of  the  Musical 
Scale  by  means  of  certain  syllables,  so  associated 
with  the  sounds  of  which  it  is  composed  as  to 
exemplify  both  their  relative  proportions,  and  the 
functions  they  discharge  as  individual  members 
of  a  system  based  upon  fixed  mathematical  prin 
ciples. 

The  laws  of  Solmisation  are  of  scarcely  less 
venerable  antiquity  than  those  which  govern 
the  accepted  proportions  of  the  Scale  itself.  They 
first  appear  among  the  Greeks,  and  doubtless 
proved  as  useful  to  the  Fathers  of  the  Lyric 
Drama,  and  the  Singers  who  took  part  in  its 
gorgeous  representations  in  the  great  Theatre  at 
Athens,  as  they  have  since  done  to  Vocalists  of 
all  ages.  Making  the  necessary  allowance  for 
differences  of  Tonality,  the  guiding  principle  in 
those  earlier  times  was  precisely  the  principle 
by  which  we  are  guided  now.  Its  essence  con 
sisted  in  the  adaptation  to  the  Tetrachord  of  such 
syllables  as  should  ensure  the  recognition  of  the 
Hemitone,  wherever  it  occurred.  Now,  theHemi- 
tone  of  the  Greeks,  though  not  absolutely  identical 
with  our  Diatonic  Semitone,  was  its  undoubted 


550 


SOLMISATION. 


SOLMISATION. 


homologue  j1  and,  throughout  their  system,  this 
Hemitone  occurred  between  the  first  and  second 
sounds  of  every  Tetrachord ;  just  as,  in  our  Major 
Scale,  the  Semitones  occur  between  the  third  and 
fourth  Degrees  of  the  two  disjunct  Tetrachords 
by  which  the  complete  Octave  is  represented. 
Therefore,  they  ordained  that  the  four  sounds 
of  the  Tetrachord  should  be  represented  by  the 
four  syllables,  ra,  re,  rrj,  rot ;  and  that,  in  passing 
from  one  Tetrachord  to  another,  the  position  of 
these  syllables  should  be  so  modified,  as  in  every 
case  to  place  the  Hemitone  between  ra  and  rt, 
and  the  two  following  Tones  between  re  and  TTJ, 
and  T7)  and  TCU,  respectively.2 

When,  early  in  the  nth  century,  Guido 
d' Arezzo  substituted  his  Hexachords  for  the  Tetra 
chords  of  the  Greek  system,  he  was  so  fully  alive 
to  the  value  of  this  principle,  that  he  adapted  it 
to  another  set  of  syllables,  sufficiently  extended 
to  embrace  six  sounds  instead  of  four.  In  the 
choice  of  these  he  was  guided  by  a  singular  co 
incidence.  Observing  that  the  Melody  of  a 
Hymn,  written  about  the  year  770  by  Paulus 
Diaconus,  for  the  Festival  of  S.  John  the  Baptist, 
was  so  constructed,  that  its  successive  phrases 
began  with  the  six  sounds  of  the  Hexachord, 
taken  in  their  regular  order,  he  adopted  the 
syllables  sung  to  these  notes  as  the  basis  of  his 
new  system  of  Solmisation,  changing  them  from 
Hexachord  to  Hexachord,  on  principles  to  be 
hereafter  described,  exactly  as  the  Greeks  had 
formerly  changed  their  four  syllables  from  Tetra 
chord  to  Tetrachord. 


.  C  sol-fa-ul. 


D  la-sol-re. 


UT        que-ant  lax  -   -  Is         EE  -  -  so  -  na  -  re.  fi  -  bris 
E  la-mi.  Ffa-ttt. 


MI  -    -   -   -  ra   ges  -    -  to-rum     FA  -   mu-li    tu  -    -  o-rum 
G  sol-re-ut.  A  la-mi-re. 


— ,      x--, I 

&'  f~,_£2~s* 


SOL   -    -   -    -  ve   pol-iu-tl          LA  -  bi  -  i      re  -  .  -    -  turn 


Sane    -    te     lo  -  an  -  nes. 

It  will  be  seen,  from  this  example,  that  the 
syllables,  Ut,  Be,  Mi,  Fa,  Sol,  La,3  were  origin 
ally  sung  to  the  notes  C,  D,  E,  F,  G,  A  ;  that  is 
to  say,  to  the  six  sounds  of  the  Natural  Hexa 
chord  :  and  that  the  Semitone  fell  between  the 
third  and  fourth  syllables,  Mi  and  Fa,  and  these 
only.  [See  HEXACHORD.]  But,  when  applied  to 
the  Hard  Hexachord,  these  same  six  syllables 

1  The  Diatonic  Semitone  is  represented  by  the  fraction  --5- ;  the 
Greek  Hemitone  by  i||-Jr,  that  is  to  say,  by  a  Perfect  Fourth,  minus 
two  Greater  Tones. 

2  Though  the  true  pronunciation  of  the  Greek  vowels  is  lost,  we  are 
not  left  without  the  means  of  forming  an  approximate  idea  of  it,  since 
Homer  uses  the  syllable  )3ij  to  imitate  the  bleating  of  the  sheep. 

3  Gerard  Vossius,  in  his  tract  '  De  quatuor  Artibus  popularibus ' 
(Amsterdam  1650),  mentions  the  following  Distich  as  having  been 
written,  shortly  after  the  time  of  Guido,  for  the  purpose  of  impress- 
Ing  the  six  syllables  upon  the  learner's  memory— 

'  Cur  adhibes  tristi  numeros  cantumque  labor!  ? 
UT  KBlevet  Mlserum  FAtum  SOLitosque  LAbores.' 


represented  the  notes  G,  A,  B,  C,  D,  E  ;  while, 
in  the  Soft  Hexachord,  they  were  sung  to  F,  G, 
A,  Bb,  C,  D.  The  note  C  therefore  was  some 
times  represented  by  Ut,  sometimes  by  Fa,  and 
sometimes  by  Sol,  according  to  the  Hexachord 
in  which  it  occurred  ;  and  was  consequently 
called,  in  general  terms,  C  sol-fa-ut.  In  like 
manner,  A  was  represented  either  by  La,  Mi,  or 
Re  ;  and  was  hence  called  A  la-mi-re,  as  indi 
cated,  in  our  example,  by  the  syllables  printed 
above  the  Stave.  But,  under  no  possible  circum 
stances  could  the  Semitone  occur  between  any 
other  syllables  than  Mi  and  Fa  ;  and  herein,  as 
we  shall  presently  see,  lay  the  true  value  of  the 
system. 

So  long  as  the  compass  of  the  Melody  under 
treatment  did  not  exceed  that  of  a  single  Hexa 
chord,  the  application  of  this  principle  was 
simple  enough  ;  but,  for  the  Solmisation  of  Melo 
dies  embracing  a  more  extended  range,  it  was 
found  necessary  to  introduce  certain  changes, 
called  Mutations,  based  upon  a  system  corre 
sponding  exactly  with  the  practice  of  the  Greeks. 
[See  MUTATION.]  Whenever  a  given  Melody  ex 
tended  (or  modulated)  from  one  Hexachord  into 
another,  the  syllables  pertaining  to  the  new  series 
were  substituted  for  those  belonging  to  the  old 
one,  at  some  convenient  point,  and  continued,  in 
regular  succession,  until  it  became  convenient  to 
change  them  back  again  ;  by  which  means  the 
compass  of  the  Scale  could  be  enlarged  to  any 
required  extent. 

For  instance,  in  the  following  example  the 
passage  begins  at  (a),  in  the  Natural  Hexachord 
of  C,  but  extends  upwards  three  notes  beyond  its 
compass,  and  borrows  a  Bb  from  the  Soft  Hexa 
chord  of  F.  As  it  is  not  considered  desirable  to 
defer  the  change  until  the  extreme  limits  of  the 
first  Hexachord  have  been  reached,  it  may  here 
be  most  conveniently  made  at  the  noteG.  Now, 
in  the  Natural  Hexachord,  G  is  represented  by 
the  syllable  Sol  ;  in  the  Soft  Hexachord,  by  Re. 
In  this  case,  therefore,  we  have  only  to  substitute 
Ee  for  Sol,  at  this  point  ;  and  to  continue  the 
Solmisation  proper  to  the  Soft  Hexachord  to  the 
end  of  the  passage,  taking  no  notice  whatever  of 
the  syllable  printed  in  Italics. 


Soft  Hexachord. 


(a) 


Ut 


Ee 


Mi      Fa 


Sol       U 


ut 


Ke 


Mi       Fa 


Sol 


La 


Natural  Hexachord. 

At  (5),  on  the  other  hand,  the  passage  extends 
downwards,  from  the  Hexachord  of  G,  into  that 
of  C.  Here,  the  change  may  be  most  conveniently 
effected  by  substituting  the  La  of  the  last-named 
Hexachord  for  the  Ee  of  the  first,  at  the  note  A. 

(6)      Hard  Hexachord. 


La       Sol       Fa       Mi       He 


Vt 


La.       Sol       Fa       Mi      Be      Ut^ 
Natural  Hexachord. 


SOLMISATION. 

The  first  of  these  Mutations  is  called  Sol-re,  in 
allusion  to  its  peculiar  interchange  of  syllables  : 
the  second  is  called  Re-la.  As  a  general  rule, 
Re  is  found  to  be  the  most  convenient  syllable  for 
ascending  Mutations,  and  La,  for  those  which 
extend  downwards,  in  accordance  with  the  re 
commendation  contained  in  the  following  Distich : 

Vocibus  utaris  solum  mutando  duabus 

Per  re  quidem  sursum  mutatur,  per  la  deorsum. 

This  rule,  however,  does  not  exclude  the  occa 
sional  use  of  the  forms  contained  in  the  subjoined 
Table,  though  the  direct  change  from  the  Hard 
to  the  Soft  Hexachord,  and  vice  versa,  is  not 
recommended. 

Descending  Mutations. 

1.  Fa-s  jl.    From  \  he  Hard  to  the  Soft  Hexachord,  chang 

ing  on  C. 

2.  Mi-la.     Nat.'to  Hard  Hex.  changing  on  E.    Soft  to 

Nat.  Hex.  changing  on  A. 

3.  Re-la.     Hard  to  Nat.  Hex.  changing  on  A.    Nat.  to 

Soft  Hex.  changing  on  D. 

4.  Re-mi.    Hard  to  Soft  Hex.  changing  on  A. 

5.  Re-sol.     Nat.  to  Hard  Hex.  changing  on  D.    Soft  to 

Nat.  Hex.  changing  on  G. 

6.  Sol-la.     Hard  to  Soft  Hex.  changing  on  D. 

7.  Ul-Ja.     Nat.  to  Hard  Hex.  changing  on  C.    Soft  to 

Nat.  Hex.  changing  on  F. 

8.  Ut-re.      Hard  to  Soft  Hex.  changing  on  G. 

Ascending  Mutations. 

9.  Fa-ut.     Hard  to  Nat.  Hexachord,  chancing  on  C. 

Nat.  to  Soft  Hex.  changing  on  F. 

10.  La-mi.     Hard  to  Nat.  Hex.  changing  on  E. 

11.  La-re.     Nat.  to  Hard  Hex.  changing  on  A.    Soft  to 

Nat.  Hex.  changing  on  D. 

12.  La-sol.    Soft  to  Hard  Hex.  changing  on  D. 
1).  Mi-re.  Do.  Do.  A. 

14.  Be-ul.  Do.  Do,  G. 

15.  Sol-fa.  Do.  Do.  C. 

16.  Sol-re.     Hard  to  Nat.  Hex.  changing  on  D.    Nat.  to 

Soft  Hex.  changing  on  G. 

17.  Sol-ut.     Nat.  to  Hard  Hex.  changing  on  G.    Soft  to 

Nat.  Hex.  changing  on  C. 

The  principle  upon  which  this  antient  system 
was  based  is  that  of  '  the  Moveable  Ut ' — or,  as 
we  should  now  call  it,  'the  Moveable  Do';  an 
arrangement  which  assists  the  learner  very 
materially,  by  the  recognition  of  a  governing 
syllable,  which,  changing  with  the  key,  regulates 
the  position  of  every  other  syllable  in  the  series, 
calls  attention  to  the  relative  proportions  existing 
between  the  root  of  the  Scale  and  its  attendant 
sounds,  and,  in  pointing  out  the  peculiar  charac 
teristics  of  each  subordinate  member  of  the 
system,  lays  emphatic  stress  upon  its  connection 
•with  its  fellow  degrees,  and  thus  teaches  the  ear, 
as  well  as  the  understanding.  We  shall  presently 
have  occasion  to  consider  the  actual  value  of 
these  manifold  advantages;  but  must  first  trace 
their  historical  connection  with  the  Solmisation 
of  a  later  age. 

So  long  as  the  Ecclesiastical  Modes  con 
tinued  in  use,  Guido's  system  answered  its  pur 
pose  so  thoroughly,  that  any  attempt  to  improve 
upon  it  would  certainly  have  ended  in  failure. 
But,  when  the  functions  of  the  Leading-Note 
were  brought  more  prominently  into  notice,  the 
demand  for  a  change  became  daily  more  and 
more  urgent.  The  completion  of  the  Octave 
rendered  it  not  only  desirable,  but  imperatively 
necessary,  that  the  sounds  should  no  longer  be 
arranged  in  Hexachords,  but,  in  Heptachords,  or 


SOLMISATION. 


551 


Septenaries,  for  which  purpose  an  extended  syl 
labic  arrangement  was  needed.  We  have  been, 
unable  to  trace  back  the  definite  use  of  a  seventh 
syllable  to  an  earlier  date  than  the  year  1599, 
when  the  subject  was  broached  by  Erich  van  der 
Putten  (Erycius  Puteanus)  of  Dordrecht,  who, 
at  pages  54,  55  of  his  'Pallas  modulata,'1  pro 
posed  the  use  of  BI^  deriving  the  idea  from  the 
second  syllable  of  lafoi.'  No  long  time,  how 
ever,  elapsed,  before  an  overwhelming  majority 
of  theorists  decided  upon  the  adoption  of  SI, 
the  two  letters  of  which  were  suggested  by  the 
initials  of  'Sancte  loannes' — the  Adonic  verse 
which  follows  the  three  Sapphics  in  the  Hymn 
already  quoted.2  The  use  of  this  syllable  was 
strongly  advocated  by  Sethus  Calvisius,  in  his 
'  Exercitatio  musicae  tertia,'  printed  in  1611. 
Since  then,  various  attempts  have  been  made 
to  supplant  it,  in  favour  of  Sa,  Za,  Ci,  Be,  Te, 
and  other  open  syllables;3  but,  the  suggested 
changes  have  rarely  survived  their  originators, 
though  another  one,  of  little  less  importance — 
the  substitution  of  Do  for  Ut  on  account  of  its 
greater  resonance — has,  for  more  than  two  hun 
dred  years,  been  almost  universally  accepted. 
[See  Do.]  Lorenzo  Penna,4  writing  in  1672, 
speaks  of  Do  as  then  in  general  use  in  Italy ;  and 
Gerolamo  Cantone 5  alludes  to  it,  in  nearly  similar 
terms,  in  1678,  since  which  period  the  use  of  Ut 
has  been  discontinued,  not  only  in  Italy,  but  in 
every  country  in  Europe,  except  France. 

In  Germany  and  the  Netherlands  far  more 
sweeping  changes  than  these  have  been  proposed, 
from  time  to  time,  and  even  temporarily  ac 
cepted.  Huberto  Waelrant  (1517-1595),  one  of 
the  brightest  geniuses  of  the  Fourth  Flemish 
School,  introduced,  at  Antwerp,  a  system  called 
'  Bocedisation,'  or  '  Bobisation,'  founded  on  seven 
syllables — Bo,  Ce,  Di,  Ga,  Lo,  Ma,  Ni — which 
have  since  been  called  the  '  Voces  Belgica?.'  At 
Stuttgart,  Daniel  Hitzler  (1576-1635)  based  a 
system  of  '  Bebisation '  upon  La,  Be,  Ce,  De,  Me, 
Fe,  Ge.  A  century  later,  Graun  (1701-1759) 
invented  a  method  of  '  Damenisation,'  founded 
upon  the  particles,  Da,  Me,  Ni,  Po,  Tu,  La,  Be. 
But  none  of  these  methods  have  survived. 

In  England,  the  use  of  the  syllables  Ut  and 
Re  died  out  completely  before  the  middle  of  the 
1 7th  century ;  and  recurring  changes  of  Mi,  Fa, 
Sol,  La,  were  used,  alone,  for  the  Solmisation  of  all 
kinds  of  Melodies.  Butler  mentions  this  method 
as  being  in  general  use,  in  i6366;  and  Playford 
calls  attention  to  the  same  fact  in  165 5.' 

In  France,  the  original  syllables,  with  the 
added  Si,  took  firmer  root  than  ever  in  Italy ;  for 
it  had  long  been  the  custom,  in  the  Neapolitan 
Schools,  to  use  the  series  beginning  with  Do  for 
those  Keys  only  in  which  the  Third  is  Major. 

1  '  Pallas  modulata,  slve  Septem  discrimina  vocum '  (Milan,  1599). 
afterwards  reprinted,  under  the  title  ot  •Musathena'  (Hanover,  1602). 

2  it  has  been  said,  that.  In  certain  versions  ot  the  Melody,  the  first 
syllable  of  the  Adonic  verse  is  actually  sung  to  the  note  B  ;    but  we 
have  never  met  with  such  a  version,  and  do  not  believe  in  the  possi 
bility  of  its  existence.  3  See  Si,  vol.  iii.  p.  490. 

4  '  Albori  musicale '  (Bologna,  1672). 

5  'Armenia  Gregoriana'  (Turin,  1678). 

6  'Principles  of  Musick.'  by  C.  Butler (Lond.  1636). 

7  'Introduction  to  the  Skill  of  Musick '_(Lond.  1655). 


552 


SOLMISATION. 


SOLO  ORGAN. 


For  Minor  Keys,  the  Neapolitans  begin  with 
Re ;  using  Fa  for  an  accidental  Flat,  and  Mi  for 
a  Sharp.  Durante,  however,  when  his  pupils 
were  puzzled  with  a  difficult  Mutation,  used  to 
cry  out,  '  Only  sing  the  syllables  in  tune,  and 
you  may  name  them  after  devils,  if  you  like.' 

The  truth  is,  that,  as  long  as  the  syllables  are 
open,  their  selection  is  a  matter  of  very  slight 
importance.  They  were  never  intended  to  be 
used  for  the  formation  of  the  Voice,  which  may 
be  much  better  trained  upon  the  sound  of  the 
vowel,  A,  as  pronounced  in  Italian,  than  upon  any 
other  syllable  whatever.  Their  use  is,  to  fami 
liarise  the  Student  with  the  powers  and  special 
peculiarities  of  the  sounds  which  form  the  Scale : 
and  here  it  is  that  the  arguments  of  those  who 
insist  upon  the  use  of  a  '  fixed,'  or  a  '  moveable 
Do,'  demand  our  most  careful  consideration.  The 
fact  that  in  Italy  and  France  the  syllables 
Ut  (Do),  Re,  Mi,  Fa,  Sol,  La,  Si,  are  always 
applied  to  the  same  series  of  notes,  C,  D,  E,  F, 
G,  A,  B,  and  used  as  we  ourselves  use  the  letters, 
exercises  no  effect  whatever  upon  the  question  at 
issue.  It  is  quite  possible  for  an  Italian,  or  a 
Frenchman,  to  apply  the  'fixed  Do  system'  to 
his  method  of  nomenclature,  and  to  use  the 
'  moveable  Do  '  for  purposes  of  Solmisation.  The 
writer  himself,  when  a  child,  was  taught  both 
systems  simultaneously,  by  his  first  instructor, 
John  Purkis,  who  maintained,  with  perfect  truth, 
that  each  had  its  own  merits,  and  each  its  own 
faults.  In  matters  relating  to  absolute  pitch,  the 
fixed  Do  is  all  that  can  be  desired.  The  '  moveable 
Do '  ignores  the  question  of  pitch  entirely ;  but 
it  calls  the  Student's  attention  to  the  peculiar 
functions  attached  to  the  several  Degrees  of  the 
Scale  so  clearly,  that,  in  a  very  short  time,  he 
learns  to  distinguish  the  Dominant,  the  Sub- 
Mediant,  the  Leading-Note,  or  any  other  Interval 
of  any  given  Key,  without  the  possibility  of  mis 
take,  and  that,  by  simply  sol-faing  the  passage  in 
the  usual  manner. 

The  following  example  shows  the  first  phrase 
of  the  'Old  Hundredth  Psalm,'  transposed  into 
different  Keys,  with  the  Solmisation  proper  to  both 
the  fixed  and  the  moveable  Do. 

(a)    Moveable  Do. 


1 


Do        Do 


Si          La       Sol         Do         Be        Mi 


Moveable  Do. 


Do          Do        SI          La       Sol        Do        Be        Mi 
(c)    Moveable  Do. 


^=. 


Do          Do         8i         La        Sol        Do 
(d)    Fixed  Do. 


Be 


Mi 


(e)    Fixed  Do. 


Fa 


Fa       Be 


=3P 


Mi        Do 


Fa 


Sol      La. 


This  example  has  been  so  arranged  as  to  bring 
into  prominent  notice  one  of  the  strongest  objec 
tions  that  has  ever  been  brought  against  the  use 
of  the  fixed  Do.  The  system  makes  no  provision 
for  the  indication  of  Flats  or  Sharps.  Sol  repre 
sents  G  d  in  the  last  division  of  our  example,  and 
G  %  in  the  last  but  one.  In  a  tract  published  at 
Venice,  in  I746,1  an  anonymous  member  of  the 
Roman  Academy  called  'Arcadia,'  proposed  to 
remove  the  difficulty,  by  adding  to  the  seven 
recognised  syllables  five  others,  designed  to  repre 
sent  the  Sharps  and  Flats  most  frequently  used ; 
viz.  Pa  (CJ,  DtO,  Bo  (DJf,  Eb),  Tu  (Fjf,  Gt>), 
De  (Gff,  Ab),  No  (Afl,  Bb).  This  method  was 
adopted  by  Hasse,  and  highly  approved  by  Giam- 
battista  Mancini :  but,  in  1 768,  a  certain  Signer 
Serra  endeavoured  to  supersede  it  by  a  still  more 
numerous  collection  of  syllables ;  using  Ca,  Da, 
Ae,  Fa,  Ga,  A,  JBa,  to  represent  the  seven  natural 
notes,  A,  B,  C,  D,  E,  F,  G ;  Ce,  De,  E,  Fe,  Ge, 
Ao,  Be,  to  represent  the  same  notes,  raised  by  a 
series  of  Sharps  ;  and  Ci,  Di,  Oe,  Ft,  Gi,  Au,  Bi, 
to  represent  them,  when  lowered  by  Flats. 

None  of  these  methods  remained  long  in  use; 
but  the  defect  has  not  been  forgotten;  and,  in 
1880,  Dr.  Hullah  endeavoured  to  remedy  it  by 
retaining  the  orthodox  series  of  syllables  for  the 
natural  notes,  and  adopting  modified  sounds  for 
the  sharps  and  flats,  as  shown  under  the  head  of 
SOLFA.  [W.S.R.] 

SOLO  (Ital.  '  alone ').  A  piece  or  passage  ex 
ecuted  by  one  voice  or  performer.  Airs  are 
solos ;  a  pianoforte  piece  for  2  hands  is  a  piano 
forte  solo.  A  violin  solo,  strictly  speaking,  is  a 
piece  for  the  violin  alone,  like  Bach's  unaccom 
panied  sonatas ;  but  the  term  is  often  used  loosely 
for  a  concerto  or  other  piece  in  which  the  solo 
instrument  is  accompanied  by  the  band,  the 
pianoforte,  etc. 

In  an  orchestral  piece  where  one  instrument 
has  a  passage  which  is  intended  to  sound  out 
prominently,  it  is  marked  '  Solo,'  as  in  the  second 
subject  of  the  Adagio  in  Beethoven's  Symphony 
no.  4,  which  is  for  the  1st  clarinet,  and  marked 
Solo ;  in  the  flute  solo  near  the  end  of  the  work 
ing-out  in  the  Leonora  Overture  (where,  however, 
the  bassoon,  equally  solo,  is  merely  marked  '  I.'); 
and  in  a  thousand  other  instances.  In  arrange 
ments  of  pianoforte  concertos  for  2  hands,  the 
entry  of  the  solo  instrument  is  marked  Solo,  to 
distinguish  it  from  the  compressed  accompani 
ment.  [G.] 

SOLO  ORGAN,  a  manual  or  clavier  of  an 
organ  having  stops  associated  with  it  which  for 
the  most  part  are  intended  for  use  solo,  that  is, 
in  single  notes  as  opposed  to  chords.  The  solo 
organ  is  generally  a  fourth  manual  placed  above 
that  of  the  swell ;  but  it  occasionally  supersedes 
the  choir  organ,  and  is  then  placed  below  the 

1  Riflessionl  sopra  alia  maggior  facilita  che  trorasl  nel  apprentice 
11  canto,  etc..  etc.    (Veiiezia,  1746.) 


SOLO  ORGAN. 

'Great'  manual.    The  stops  in  a  solo  organ  are 
most  frequently  (i)  Flutes  of  8  ft.  and  4  ft.; 
(2)  A.  stop  of  clarinet-tone  ;  (3)  a  stop  of  oboe- 
tone  (orchestral  oboe) ;   (4)  Reeds  of  8  ft.  and 
4  ft.  of  trumpet-tone  (tromba,  tuba,  etc. ).    Larger 
solo  organs  contain  also  stops  imitative  of  the 
violin,  horn,  piccolo,  and  other  instruments ;  per 
haps  also  an  open  diapason,  and,  in  a  few  cases,  a 
carillon  or  glockenspiel.     The  solo  trumpet-stops 
are  most  frequently  on  a  heavy  pressure  of  wind, 
and  in  order  to  obtain  special  brilliancy  are  some 
times  'harmonic,'  as  are  also  the  flutes  ;  that  is, 
they  have  tubes  of  twice  the  ordinary  length, 
pierced  with  a  small  hole  at  their  half  length. 
Some  of  the  stops  of  a  solo  organ  are  often  used 
in  chords,  such  for  instance  as  flutes  and  reeds. 
This  is  most   commonly  done  by  means  of  a 
coupler  '  Solo  to  Great,'  by  which  the  diapason 
or  flute  tones  of  the  solo  organ  can  be  used  as 
a  valuable  reinforcement  of  the  foundation  stops 
of  the  Great  manual ;  and  the  tone  of  the  full 
Great  organ  can  be  similarly  enriched  by  coupling 
the  solo  reeds.     In  instruments  which  contain  a 
Vox  humana,  that  stop  is  perhaps  more  often 
found  associated  with  the  Swell-manual  than  with 
the  Solo-manual ;   but  when  placed  on  the  solo 
organ  its  pipes  are  generally  shut  up  in  a  separate 
box  with  Venetian  shutters  worked  by  a  second 
swell-pedal.    When  composition-pedals  are  made 
to  act  upon  the  Swell,  Great,  and  Choir  organs,  it 
is  evidently  wise  to  make  the  combinations  they 
produce  proceed  as  gradually  as  possible  from 
piano  to  fortissimo.    But  this  simple  principle  is 
not  applicable   to   the   combinations   or  rather 
selections  of  solo  stops  which  are  made  by  means 
of  composition-pedals  or  pistons.     The  difficulty 
seems  however  to  be  overcome  by  a  method  sug 
gested  some  years  ago  by  the  writer  of  this  article ; 
namely,  to  arrange  them  in  the  order  in  which 
the  instruments  are  found  in  a  modern  full-score. 
Thus,  six  combination-pedals  would  act  on  the 
solo-stops  hi  the  following  system  :— • 

(1)  Stops  of  Flute-tone. 

(2)  Stops  of  Oboe-tone. 

(3)  Stops  of  Clarinet  and  Bassoon  tones. 

(4)  Stops  of  Horn-tone. 

(5)  Stops  of  Trumpet  and  Trombone  tones. 

(6)  Stops  of  Violin  and  Viola  tones. 

This  method,  which  is  at  once  simple  and  ex 
haustive,  might  be  indefinitely  extended ;  thus 
for  example,  a  carillon,  drum,  or  triangle,  would 
be  produced  by  a  composition-pedal  or  piston 
Vying  between  the  trumpet  stops  and  violin  stops ; 
and  a  vox  humana  would  naturally  follow  after 
stops  of  the  violin-tone.  Smaller  solo  organs 
would  probably  be  easily  brought  under  control 
by  combination-pedals  or  pistons  acting  on 

(1)  Flute. 

(2)  Oboe. 

(3)  Clarinet. 

(4)  Trumpet. 

The  Solo  organ  is  an  introduction  of  modern 
times,  and  followed  naturally  upon  the  inven 
tion  of  pipes  closely  imitating  the  tones  of  or 
chestral  instruments.  [J.S.] 


SON  A  XD  STRANGER,  THE.       553 

SOLO  STOP,  (i)  A  stop  or  register  of  a  solo 
organ  or  fourth  manual.  (2)  Any  stop  which  can 
be  used  as  a  solo — that  is,  in  single  notes,  e.  g,  a 
clarinet  on  the  choir  organ ;  a  cornopean,  haut 
boy,  or  other  reed  on  the  swell  organ ;  a  clara- 
bella  or  flute  on  either  of  the  three  manuals 
great,  swell,  or  choir.  The  name  Solo  stop  does 
not  necessarily  imply  that  full  chords  may  not  be 
used  upon  it.  [See  SOLO  ORGAN.]  [J.S.] 

SOLOMON.  An  oratorio  of  Handel's  ;  com 
posed  between  'Alexander  Balus'  and  'Theodora.' 
It  was  begun  on  May  5,  1 748,  and  the  memoran 
dum  at  the  end  of  the  work  is  'G.  F.  Handel, 
Juin  13,  1748,  aetatis63.  Vo'llig  geendiget.'  The 
words  of  the  oratorio  are  supposed  to  be  by 
Dr.  Morell ;  but  this  is  not  certain.  It  was  pro 
duced  at  Covent  Garden  theatre,  March  17, 
1749,  '  with  a  Concerto,'  and  was  revived  by  Sir 
G.  Smart  at  Exeter  Hall,  April  14,  1836.  The 
Sacred  Harmonic  Society  followed,  Dec.  3,  1838; 
and  with  Costa's  additional  accompaniments, 
April  8,  1870.  [G.] 

SOMBREE.  Voix  sombrte  is  the  French 
term  for  the  veiled  voice  or  voce  velata,  in  con 
tradistinction  to  the  voix  claire.  [See  VEILED 
VOICE.]  [G.] 

SOMIS,  GIOVANNI  BATTISTA,  violinist,  was 
born  in  Piedmont  in  1676.  He  studied  first  under 
Corelli  at  Rome,  and  afterwards  under  Vivaldi 
at  Venice.  After  his  return  to  Turin  he  was 
appointed  solo  violinist  to  the  King,  and  leader  of 
the  royal  band,  a  position  he  retained  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  in  1763.  After  having 
once  settled  at  Turin  he  appears  scarcely  ever  to 
have  left  it ;  and  since  only  a  single  composition 
of  his,  a  set  of  sonatas,  has  been  published,  there 
are  no  means  of  directly  forming  an  estimate  of 
him  as  a  player ;  but  judging  from  the  style 
of  his  numerous  and  well-known  pupils,  Somis 
did  not  merely  hand  on  the  traditions  of  the 
great  Italian  masters,  but  formed  a  style  of  his 
own,  more  brilliant  and  more  emotional,  marking 
technically,  and  also,  in  a  sense,  musically,  a 
decided  forward  step  in  the  art  of  playing  the 
violin.  As  the  head  and  founder  of  the  Pied- 
montese  School,  and  the  teacher  of  Leclair,  Giar- 
dini,  Chiabran  and  Pugnani — the  latter  again  the 
teacher  of  Viotti — he  occupies  a  prominent  place 
in  the  history  of  violin-playing,  and  forms  the 
connecting  link  between  the  classical  schools  of 
Italy  and  France.  Fetis  names  as  his  only  pub 
lished  work  '  Opera  prima  di  sonate  a  violino  e 
violoncello  o  cembalo.  Roma  1722.'  [P-D-] 

SOMMEROPHONE.  An  instrument  of  the 
saxhorn  or  bombardon  class,  named  after  its  in 
ventor.  It  will  be  remembered  as  largely  played 
in  the  Crystal  Palace  of  1851.  'The  Euphonic 
horn  of  Herr  Sommer'  is  honourably  mentioned 
in  the  Reports  of  the  Juries  (pp.  331,  335)  as  'an 
instrument  of  great  power  as  well  as  sweetness  of 
tone.'  It  possessed  no  very  special  peculiarities, 
and  is  now  seldom,  if  ever,  used.  [W.H.S,] 

SON  AND  STRANGER,  THE.  The  title 
of  the  English  version,  by  H.  F.  Chorley,  of 


554      SON  AND  STRANGER,  THE. 

Mendelssohn's  'Heimkehr  aus  der  Fremde'  (Re 
turn  from  abroad),  produced  at  the  Haymarket 
Theatre,  London,  July  7,  1851. 

The  original  piece  was  by  Klingemann,  and 
was  written  and  composed  in  London  between 
Sept.  10  and  Oct.  4,  1829,  for  the  silver  wedding 
of  Mendelssohn's  parents  on  the  following  Dec. 
26.  The  parts  were  cast  as  follows : — Lisbeth, 
Rebecka;  Kauz,  Devrient ;  Hermann,  Mantius  ; 
and  the  Mayor,  Hensel,  for  whom  a  part  was 
written  all  on  one  note,  F — which  however  he 
could  not  catch.  [G.] 

SONATA.  The  history  of  the  Sonata  is  the 
history  of  an  attempt  to  cope  with  one  of  the 
most  singular  problems  ever  presented  to  the 
mind  of  man,  and  its  solution  is  one  of  the  most 
successful  achievements  of  his  artistic  instincts.  A 
Sonata  is,  as  its  name  implies,  a  sound-piece,  and 
a  sound-piece  alone :  in  its  purest  and  most  per 
fect  examples,  it  is  unexplained  by  title  or  text, 
and  unassisted  by  voices  ;  it  is  nothing  but  an 
unlimited  concatenation  of  musical  notes.  Such 
notes  have  individually  no  significance ;  and  even 
the  simplest  principles  of  their  relative  definition 
and  juxtaposition,  such  as  is  necessary  to  make  the 
most  elementary  music,  had  to  be  drawn  from  the 
inner  self  and  the  consciousness  of  things  which 
belong  to  man's  nature  only,  without  the  possi 
bility  of  finding  guidance  or  more  than  the 
crudest  suggestion  from  the  observation  of  things 
external.  Y  et  the  structural  principles  by  which 
euch  unpromising  materials  become  intelligible 
Lave  been  so  ordered  and  developed  by  the  un 
aided  musical  instinct  of  many  successive  gener 
ations  of  composers,  as  to  render  possible  long 
works  which  not  only  penetrate  and  stir  us  in 
detail,  but  are  in  their  entire  mass  direct,  con 
sistent,  and  convincing.  Such  works,  in  their 
completest  and  most  severely  abstract  forms,  are 
Sonatas. 

The  name  seems  to  have  been  first  adopted 
purely  as  the  antithesis  to  Cantata,  the  musical 
piece  that  was  sung.  It  begins  to  come  into  notice 
about  the  same  time  as  that  form  of  composition, 
soon  after  the  era  of  the  most  marked  revolution 
in  music,  which  began  at  the  end  of  the  sixteenth 
century;  when  a  band  of  enthusiasts,  led  by 
visionary  ideals,  unconsciously  sowed  the  seed  of 
true  modern  music  in  an  attempt  to  wrest  the 
monopoly  of  the  art  in  its  highest  forms  from 
the  predominant  influence  of  the  church,  and 
to  make  it  serve  for  the  expression  of  human 
feelings  of  more  comprehensive  range.  At  this 
time  the  possibilities  of  polyphony  in  its  eccle 
siastical  forms  may  well  have  seemed  almost 
exhausted,  and  men  turned  about  to  find  new 
fields  which  should  give  scope  for  a  greater  num 
ber  of  workers.  The  nature  of  their  speculations 
and  the  associations  of  the  old  order  of  things 
alike  conspired  to  direct  their  attention  first  to 
Opera  and  Cantata,  and  here  they  had  some 
thing  to  guide  them;  but  for  abstract  instru 
mental  music  of  the  Sonata  kind  they  had  for 
a  long  time  no  clue.  The  first  suggestion  was 
clearly  accidental.  It  appears  probable  that  the 
excessive  elaboration  of  the  Madrigal  led  to  the  . 


SONATA. 

practice  of  accompanying  the  voice  parts  with 
viols;    and  from  this  the  step  is  but  short  to 
leaving  the  viols  by  themselves  and  making  a 
vague  kind  of  chamber  music  without  the  voices. 
This  appears  to  have  been  the  source  of  the  in 
strumental   Cauzonas    which    were   written   in 
tolerable  numbers  till  some  way  into  the  eigh 
teenth  century.      It  does  not  appear  that  any 
distinct  rules  for  their  construction  were  recog 
nised,  but  the  examination  of  a  large  number, 
written  at  different  periods  from  Frescobaldi  to 
J.  S.  Bach,  proves  the  uniform  object  of  the  com 
posers  to  have  been  a  lax  kind  of  fugue,  such  as 
might  have  served  in  its  main  outlines  for  the 
vocal  madrigals.      Burney  says  the  earliest  ex 
amples  of  'sonatas '  he  had  been  able  to  discover  in 
his  devoted  enquiries  were  by  Turini,  published 
at  Venice  in  1624.     His  description  of  those  he 
examined  answers  perfectly  to  the  character  of 
the  canzonas,  for,  he  says,  they  consist  of  one 
movement,  in  fugue  and  imitation  throughout. 
Sonatas  did  not,  however,  rest  long  at  this  point 
of  simplicity,  but  were  destined  very  early  to 
absorb  material  from  other  sources ;  and  though 
the  canzona  kind  of  movement  maintained  its 
distinct  position  through  many  changes  in  its 
environment,   and  is  still  found  in  the  Violin 
Sonatas  of  J.  S.  Bach,  Handel  and  Porpora,  the 
madrigal,  which  was  its  source,  soon  ceased  to 
have  direct  influence  upon  three  parts  of  the  more 
complete  structure.      The  suggestion  for  these 
came  from  the  dance,  and  the  newly-invented 
opera   or   dramatic   cantata.      The  former  had 
existed  and  made  the  chief  staple  of  instrumental 
music  for  generations,  but  it  requires  to  be  well 
understood  that  its  direct  connection  with  dancing 
puts  it  out  of  the  category  of  abstract  music  of  the 
kind  which  was  now  obscurely  germinating.  The 
dances  were  understood  through  their  relation 
with  one  order  of  dance  motions.     There  would 
be  the  order  of  rhythmic  motions  which  taken 
together  was  called  a  Branle,  another  that  was 
called  a  Pa  van,  another  a  Gigue ;  and  each  dance- 
tune  maintained  the  distinctive  rhythm  and  style 
throughout.    On  the  oth^r  hand,  the  radical  prin 
ciple  of  the  Sonata,  developed  in  the  course  of 
generations,  is  the  compounding  of  a  limitless 
variety  of  rhythms ;  and  though  isolated  passages 
may  be  justly  interpreted  as  representing  gestures 
of  an  ideal  dance  kind,  like  that  of  the  ancients, 
it  is  not  through  this  association  that  the  group  of 
movements  taken  as  a  whole  is  understood,  but  by 
the  disposition  of  such  elements  and  others  in  rela 
tion  to  one  another.  This  conception  took  time  to 
develop,  though  it  is  curious  how  early  composers 
began  to  perceive  the  radical  difference  between  the 
Suite  and  the  Sonata.  Occasionally  a  doubt  seems 
to  be  implied  by  confusing  the  names  together  or 
by  actually  calling  a  collection  of  dance-tunes  a 
sonata  ;    but  it  can  hardly  be  questioned  that 
from  almost  the  earliest  times,  as  is  proved  by  a 
strong  majority  of  cases,  there  was  a  sort  of  un 
defined  presentiment  that  their  developments  lay 
along  totally  different  paths.  In  the  first  attempts 
to  form  an  aggregate  of  distinct  movements,  the 
composers  had  to  take  their  forms  where  they 


SONATA. 

could  find  them;  and  among  these  were  the 
familiar  dance-tunes,  which  for  a  long  while  held 
a  prominent  position  in  the  heterogeneous  group 
of  movements,  and  were  only  in  late  times  trans 
muted  into  the  Scherzo  which  supplanted  the 
Minuet  and  Trio  in  one  case,  and  the  Finale  or 
Hondo,  which  ultimately  took  the  place  of  the 
Gigue,  or  Chaconne,  or  other  similar  dance-forms 
as  the  last  member  of  the  group. 

The  third  source,  as  above  mentioned,  was  the 
drama,  and  from  this  two  general  ideas  were  de 
rivable  :  one  from  the  short  passages  of  instru 
mental  prelude  or  interlude,  and  the  other  from  the 
vocal  portions.  Of  these,  the  first  was  intelligible 
in  the  drama  through  its  relation  to  some  point  in 
the  story,  but  it  also  early  attained  to  a  crude 
condition  of  form  which  was  equally  available 
apart  from  the  drama.  The  other  produced  at 
first  the  vaguest  and  most  rhapsodical  of  all  the 
movements,  as  the  type  taken  was  the  irregular 
declamatory  recitative  which  appears  to  have 
abounded  in  the  early  operas. 

It  is  hardly  likely  that  it  will  ever  be  ascer 
tained  who  first  experimented  in  sonatas  of 
several  distinct  movements.  Many  composers 
are  mentioned  in  different  places  as  having  con 
tributed  works  of  the  kind,  such  as  Farina,  Cesti, 
Graziani,  among  Italians,  Rosenmuller  among 
Germans,  and  John  Jenkins  among  Englishmen. 
Burney  also  mentions  a  Michael  Angelo  Rossi, 
•whose  date  is  given  as  from  about  1620  to  1660. 
An  Andante  and  Allegro  by  him,  given  in 
Pauer's  Alte  Meister,  require  notice  parenthe 
tically  as  presenting  a  curious  puzzle,  if  the  dates 
are  correct  and  the  authorship  rightly  attributed. 
Though  belonging  to  a  period  considerably  before 
Corelli,  they  show  a  state  of  form  which  certainly 
Was  not  commonly  realised  till  more  than  a 
hundred  years  later.  The  distribution  of  subject- 
matter  and  key,  and  the  clearness  with  which 
they  are  distinguished,  are  like  the  works  of 
the  middle  of  the  I8th  rather  than  the  I7th  cen 
tury,  and  they  belong  absolutely  to  the  Sonata 
order,  and  the  conscious  style  of  the  later  period. 
But  as  these  stand  alone  it  is  not  safe  to  infer 
anything  from  them.  The  actual  structure  of 
large  numbers  of  sonatas  composed  in  different 
parts  of  Europe  soon  after  this  time,  proves  a 
tolerably  clear  consent  as  to  the  arrangement 
and  quality  of  the  movements.  A  fine  vigorous 
example  is  a  Sonata  in  C  minor  for  violin  and 
figured  bass,  by  H.  J.  F.  Biber,  a  German, 
said  to  have  been  first  published  in  1681. 
This  consists  of  five  movements  in  alternate  slow 
and  quick  time.  The  first  is  an  introductory 
Largo  of  contrapuntal  character,  with  clear  and 
consistent  treatment  in  the  fugally  imitative 
manner ;  the  second  is  a  Passacaglia,  which 
answers  roughly  to  a  continuous  string  of  varia 
tions  on  a  short  well-marked  period ;  the  third  is  a 
rhapsodical  movement  consisting  of  interspersed 
portions  of  Poco  lento,  Presto,  and  Adagio,  leading 
into  a  Gavotte ;  and  the  last  is  a  further  rhapso 
dical  movement  alternating  Adagio  and  Allegro. 
In  this  group  the  influence  of  the  madrigal  or 
canzona  happens  to  be  absent ;  the  derivation  of 


SONATA. 


555 


the  movements  being — in  the  first  the  contra- 
puntalism  of  the  music  of  the  church,  in  the 
second  and  fourth,  dances,  and  in  the  third  and 
fifth  probably  operatic  or  dramatic  declamation. 
The  work  is  essentially  a  violin  sonata  with  accom 
paniment,  and  the  violin-part  points  to  the  extra 
ordinarily  rapid  advance  to  mastery  which  was 
made  in  the  few  years  after  its  being  accepted 
as  an  instrument  fit  for  high-class  music.  The 
writing  for  the  instrument  is  decidedly  elaborate 
and  difficult,  especially  in  the  double  stops  and 
contrapuntal  passages  which  were  much  in  vogue 
with  almost  all  composers  from  this  time  till 
J.  S.  Bach.  In  the  structure  of  the  movements 
the  fugal  influences  are  most  apparent,  and  there 
are  very  few  signs  of  the  systematic  repetition 
of  subjects  in  connection  with  well-marked  dis 
tribution  of  keys,  which  in  later  times  became 
indispensable. 

Similar  features  and  qualities  are  shown  in  the 
curious  set  of  seven  Sonatas  for  Clavier  by  Johann 
Kuhnau,  called  '  Frische  Clavier  Friichte,'  etc., 
of  a  little  later  date ;  but  there  are  also  in 
some  parts  indications  of  an  awakening  sense  of 
the  relation  and  balance  of  keys.  The  grouping 
of  the  movements  is  similar  to  those  of  Biber, 
though  not  identical ;  thus  the  first  three 
have  five  movements  or  divisions,  and  the  re 
mainder  four.  There  are  examples  of  the  same 
kind  of  rhapsodical  slow  movements,  as  may  be 
seen  in  the  Sonata  (No.  2  of  the  set)  which  is 
given  in  Pauer's  Alte  Meister ;  there  are  several 
fugal  movements,  some  of  them  clearly  and 
musically  written ;  and  there  are  some  good  illus 
trations  of  dance  types,  as  in  the  last  movement 
of  No.  3,  and  the  Ciaccona  of  No.  6.  But  more 
important  for  the  thread  of  continuous  develop 
ment  are  the  peculiar  attempts  to  balance  toler 
ably  defined  and  distinct  subjects,  and  to  distribute 
key  and  subject  in  large  expanses,  of  which  there 
are  at  least  two  clear  examples.  In  a  considerable 
proportion  of  the  movements  the  most  noticeable 
method  of  treatment  is  to  alternate  two  character 
istic  groups  of  figures  or  subjects  almost  through 
out,  in  different  positions  of  the  scale  and  at 
irregular  intervals  of  time.  This  is  illustrated  in 
the  first  movement  of  the  Sonata  No.  2,  in  the  first 
movement  of  No.  I,  and  in  the  third  movement 
of  No.  5.  The  subjects  in  the  last  of  these  are 
as  follows : — 


The  point  most  worth  notice  is  that  the  device 
lies  half-way  between  fugue  and  true  sonata-form. 
The  alternation  is  like  the  recurrence  of  subject 
and  countersubject  in  the  former,  wandering 
hazily  in  and  out,  and  forwards  and  backwards, 
between  nearly  allied  keys,  as  would  be  the  case 
in  a  fugue.  But  the  subjects  are  not  presented  in 


556 


SONATA. 


single  parts  or  fugally  answered.  They  enter  and 
re-enter  for  the  most  part  as  concrete  lumps  of  har 
mony,  the  harmonic  accompaniment  of  the  melody 
being  taken  as  part  of  the  idea;  and  this  is  essen 
tially  a  quality  of  sonata-form.      So  the  move 
ments  appear  to  hang  midway  between  the  two 
radically  distinct  domains  of  form ;  and  while  de 
riving  most  of  their  disposition  from  the  older 
manners,  they  look  forward,  though  obscurely,  in 
the  direction  of  modern  practices.     How  obscure 
the  ideas  of  the  time  on  the  subject  must  have 
been,  appears  from  the  other  point  which  has  been 
mentioned  above;  which  is,  that  in  a  few  cases 
Kuhnau  has  hit  upon  clear  outlines  of  tonal  form. 
In  the  second  Sonata,  for  instance,  there  are  two 
Arias,  as  they  are  called.  They  do  not  correspond 
in  the  least  with  modern  notions  of  an  aria  any 
more  than  do  the  rare  examples  in  Bach's  and 
Handel's  Suites.  The  first  is  a  little  complete  piece 
of  sixteen  bars,  divided  exactly  into  halves  by  a 
double  bar,  with  repeats  after  the  familiar  manner. 
The  first  half  begins  in  F  and  ends  in  C,  the  second 
half  goes  as  far  as  D  minor  and  back,  to  conclude 
in  F  again.     The  subject-matter  is  irregularly 
distributed  in  the  parts,  and  does  not  make  any 
pretence  of  coinciding  with  the  tonal  divisions. 
The  second  Aria  is  on  a  different  plan,  and  is  one 
of  the  extremely  rare  examples  in  this  early  period 
of  clear  coincidence  between  subject  and  key. 
It  is  in  the  form  which  is  often  perversely  mis 
named  'lied-form,'  which  will  in  this  place  be 
called  'primary  form'  to  avoid  circumlocution 
and  waste  of  space.    It  consists  of  twenty  bars  in 
D  minor  representing  one  distinct  idea,  complete 
with  close :  then  sixteen  bars  devoted  to  a  different 
subject,  beginning  in  Bb  and  passing  back  ulti 
mately  to  D  minor,  recapitulating  the  whole  of  the 
first  twenty  bars  in  that  key,  and  emphasising 
the  close  by  repeating  the  last  four  bars.     Such 
decisiveness,  when  compared  with  the  unregulated 
and  unbalanced  wandering  of  longer  movements, 
either  points  to  the  conclusion  that  composers  did 
not  realise  the  desirableness  of  balance  in  coinci 
dent  ranges  of  subject  and  key  on  a  large  scale ; 
or  that  they  were  only  capable  of  feeling  it  in  short 
and  easily  grasped  movements.    It  seems  highly 
probable  that  their  minds,  being  projected  towards 
the   kind  of  distribution  of  subject  which  ob 
tained  in  fugal  movements,  were  not  on  the  look 
out  for  effects  of  the  sonata  order  which  to  moderns 
appear  so  obvious.    So  that,  even  if  they  had  been 
capable  of  realising  them  more  systematically  they 
would  not  yet  have  thought  it  worth  while  to  apply 
their  knowledge.     In  following  the  devolopment 
of  Sonata,  it  ought  never  to  be  forgotten  that  com 
posers  had  no  idea  whither  they  were  tending, 
and  had  to  use  what  they  did  know  as  stepping- 
stones  to  the  unknown.    In  art,  each  step  that  is 
gained  opens  a  fresh  vista;  but  often,  till  the  new 
position  is  mastered,  what  lies  beyond  is  completely 
hidden  and  undreamed  of.     In  fact,  each  step  is 
not  so  much  a  conquest  of  new  land,  as  the  crea 
tion  of  a  new  mental  or  emotional  position  in  the 
human  organism.     The  achievements  of  art  are 
the  unravellings  of  hidden  possibilities  of  abstract 
law,  through  the  constant  and  cumulative  exten- 


SONATA. 

sion  of  instincts.     They  do  not  actually  exist  till 
man  has  made  them ;  they  are  the  counterpart  of 
his  internal  conditions,  and  change  and  develop 
with  the  changes  of  his  mental  powers  and  sen 
sitive  qualities,   and  apart   from  him  have  no 
validity.    There  is  no  such  thing  as  leaping  across 
a  chasm  on  to  a  new  continent,  neither  is  there 
any  gulf  fixed  anywhere,  but  continuity  and  in 
evitable  antecedents  to  every  consequent  ;  the  roots 
of  the  greatest  masterpieces  of  modern  times  lie 
obscurely  hidden  in  the  wild  dances  and  barbarous 
howlings  of  the  remotest  ancestors  of  the  race, 
who  began  to  take  pleasure  in  rhythm  and  sound, 
and  every  step  was  into  the  unknown,  or  it  may 
be  better  said  not  only  unknown  but  non-existent 
till  made  by  mental  effort.  The  period  from  about 
1600  to  about  1725  contains  the  very  difficult 
steps  which  led  from  the  style  appropriate  to  a 
high  order  of  vocal  music — of  which  the  manner 
of  speech  is  polyphonic,  and  the  ideal  type  of 
form,  the  fugue — to  the  style  appropriate  to  ab 
stract  instrumental  music,  of  which  the  best  man 
ner  is  contrapuntally  expressed  harmony,  and  tho 
ideal  type  of  form,  the  Sonata.    These  works  of 
Kuhnau's  happen  to  illustrate  very  curiously  the 
transition  in  which  a  true  though  crude  idea  of 
abstract  music  seems  to  have  been  present  in  the 
composer's  mind,  at  the  same  time  that  his  distri 
bution  of  subjects  and  keys  was  almost  invariably 
governed  by  fugal  habits  of  thinking,  even  where 
the  statement  of  subjects  is  in  a  harmonic  manner. 
In  some  of  these  respects  he  is  nearer  and  in  some 
further  back  from  the  true  solution  of  the  problem 
than  his  famous  contemporary  Corelli;   but  his 
labours  do  not  extend  over  so  much  space  nor 
had  they  so  much  direct  and  widespread  influ 
ence.    In  manner  and  distribution  of  movements 
they  are  nearer  to  his  predecessor  and  compatriot 
Biber ;  and  for  that  reason,  and  also  to  maintain 
the  continuity  of  the  historic  development  after 
Corelli,  the  consideration  of  his  works  has  been 
taken  a  little  before  their  actual  place  in  point 
of  time. 

The  works  of  Corelli  form  one  of  the  most 
familiar   landmarks   in  the  history   of  music, 
and  as  they  are  exclusively  instrumental  it  is 
clear  that  careful  consideration  ought  to  elicit 
a  great  deal  of  interesting  matter,  such  as  must 
throw  valuable  light  on  the  state  of  thought 
of  his  time.     He  published  no  less  than  sixty 
sonatas  of  different  kinds,  which  are  divisible 
into  distinct  groups  in  accordance  with  purpose 
or  construction.     The  first  main  division  is  that 
suggested  by  their  titles.   There  are  twenty-four 
'  Sonate  da  Chiesa '  for  strings,  lute,  and  organ, 
twenty-four  '  Sonate  da  Camera '  for  the  same  in 
struments,  and  twelve  Solos  or  Sonatas  for  violin 
and  violoncello,  or  '  cembalo.'    In  these  the  first 
and  simplest  matter  for  observation  is  the  dis 
tribution  of  the  movements.     The  average,  in 
Church  and  Chamber  Sonatas  alike,  is  strongly 
in  favour  of  four,  beginning  with  a  slow  move 
ment,  and  alternating  the  rest.     There  is  also 
an  attempt  at  balance  in  the  alternation  of  cha 
racter  between  the   movements.      The  first  is 
commonly  in  4-time,  of  dignified  and  solid  cha- 


SONATA. 

racter,  and  generally  aiming  less  at  musical  ex 
pression  than  the  later  movements.     The  second 
movement  in  the  Church  Sonata  is  freely  fugal, 
in  fact  the  exact  type  above  described  as  a  Can- 
zona ;  the  style  is  commonly  rather  dry,  and  the 
general  effect  chiefly  a  complacent  kind  of  easy 
swing  such  as  is  familiar  in  most  of  Handel's 
fugues.     In  the  Chamber  Sonatas  the  character 
of  the  second  movement  is  rather  more  variable  ; 
in  some  it  is  an  Allemande,  which,  being  dignified 
and  solid,  is  a  fair  counterpart  to  the  Canzona 
in  the  other  Sonatas  :  sometimes  it  is  a  Courante, 
which  is  of  lighter  character.     The  third  move 
ment  is  the  only  one  which  is  ever  in  a  different 
key  from  the  first  and  last.     It  is  generally  a 
characteristic  one,  in  which  other  early  composers 
of  instrumental  music,  as  well  as  Corelli,  clearly 
endeavoured  to  infuse  a  certain  amount  of  vague 
and  tender  sentiment.     The  most  common  time 
is  3-2.     The  extent  of  the  movement  is  always 
limited,  and  the  style,  though  simply  contra 
puntal  in  fact,  seems  to  be  ordered  with  a  view 
to  obtain  smooth  harmonious  full-chord  effects, 
as  a  contrast  to  the  brusqueness  of  the  preceding 
fugal  movement.     There  is  generally  a  certain 
amount  of  imitation  between  the  parts,  irregu 
larly  and  fancifully  disposed,  but  almost  always 
avoiding  the  sounding  of  a  single  part  alone.    In 
the  Chamber  Sonatas,  as  might  be  anticipated, 
the  third  movement  is  frequently  a  Sarabande, 
though  by  no  means  always ;  for  the  same  kind 
of  slow  movement  as  that  in  the  Church  Sonatas 
is  sometimes  adopted,  as  in  the  third  Sonata  of 
the  Opera  Seconda,  which  is  as  good  an  example 
of  that  class  as  could  be  taken.     The  last  move 
ment  is  almost  invariably  of  a  lively  character 
in  Church  and  Chamber  Sonatas  alike.     In  the 
latter,  Gigas  and  Gavottes  predominate,  the  cha 
racter  of  which  is  so  familiar  that  they  need  no 
description.    The  last  movements  in  the  Church 
Sonatas  are  of  a  similar  vivacity  and  sprightli- 
ness,  and  sometimes  so  like  in  character  and 
rhythm  as  to  be  hardly  distinguishable  from 
dance-tunes,  except  by  the  absence  of  the  defin 
ing  name  and  the  double  bar  in  the  middle,  and 
the  repeats  which  are  almost  inevitable  in  the 
dance  movements.     This  general  scheme  is  occa 
sionally  varied  without  material  difference   of 
principle  by  the  interpolation  of  an  extra  quick 
movement,  as  in  the  first  six  Sonatas  of  the  Opera 
Quinta ;  in  which  it  is  a  sort  of  show  movement 
for  the  violin  in  a  '  Moto  continue  '  style,  added 
before  or  after  the  central  slow  movement.     In 
a  few  cases  the  number  is  reduced  to  three  by 
dropping  the  slow  prelude,  and  in  a  few  others 
the  order  is  unsystematisable. 

In  accordance  with  the  principles  of  classifi 
cation  above  defined,  the  Church  Sonatas  appear 
to  be  much  more  strictly  abstract  than  those  for 
Chamber.  The  latter  are,  in  many  cases,  not 
distinguishable  from  Suites.  The  Sonatas  of 
Opera  Quinta  are  variable.  Thus  the  attractive 
Sonata  in  E  minor,  No.  8,  is  quite  in  the  re 
cognised  suite-manner.  Some  are  like  the  So- 
nate  da  Chiesa,  and  some  are  types  of  the  mixed 
order  more  universally  accepted  later,  having 


SONATA. 


557 


several  undefined  movements,  together  with  one 
dance.     The  actual  structure  of  the  individual 
movements  is  most  uncertain.    Corelli  clearly  felt 
that  something  outside  the  domain  of  the  fugal 
tribe  was  to  be  attained,  but  he  had  no  notion 
of  strict  outlines  of  procedure.    One  thing  which 
hampered  him  and  other  composers  of  the  early 
times  of  instrumental  music  was  their  unwilling 
ness  to  accept  formal  tunes  as  an  element  in 
their  order  of  art.     They  had  existed  in  popular 
song  and  dance  music  for  certainly  a  century,  and 
probably  much  more ;  but  the  idea  of  adopting 
them  in  high-class  music  was  not  yet  in  favour. 
Corelli  occasionally  produces  one,  but  the  fact 
that  they  generally  occur  with  him  in  Gigas, 
which  are  the  freest  and  least  responsible  por 
tion  of  the  Sonata,  supports  the  inference  that 
they  were  not  yet  regarded  as  worthy  of  general 
acceptance   even    if  realised   as  an  admissible 
element,  but  could  only  be  smuggled-in  in  the 
least  respectable  movement  with  an  implied  smile 
to  disarm  criticism.   Whether  this  was  decisively 
so  or  not,  the  fact  remains  that  till  long  after 
Corelli's  time  the  conventional  tune  element  was 
conspicuously  absent  from  instrumental  compo 
sitions.     Hence  the  structural  principles  which 
to  a  modern  seem  almost  inevitable  were  very 
nearly  impracticable,  or  at  all  events  unsuitable 
to  the  general  principles  of  the  music  of  that  date. 
A  modern  expects  the  opening  bars  of  a  move 
ment  to  present  its  most  important  subject,  and 
he  anticipates  its  repetition  in  the  latter  portion 
of  the  movement  as  a  really  vital  part  of  form 
of  any  kind.    But  association  and  common  sense 
were  alike  against  such  a  usage  being  universal 
in  Corelli's  time.  The  associations  of  ecclesiastical 
and  other  serious  vocal  music,  which  were  then 
preponderant  to  a  supreme  degree,  were  against 
strongly  salient  points,  or  strongly  marked  in 
terest  in  short  portions  of  a  movement  in  con 
trast  to  parts  of  comparative  unimportance.  Con 
sequently  the  opening  bars  of  a  movement  would 
not  be  expected  to  stand  out  in  sufficiently  strong 
relief  to  be  remembered  imless  they  were  re 
peated  at   once,    as   they  would  be  in   fugue. 
Human  nature  is  against  it.     For  not  only  does 
the  mind  take  time  to  be  wrought  up  to  a  fully 
receptive  condition,  unless  the  beginning  is  most 
exceptionally  striking,  but  what  comes  after  is 
likely  to  obliterate  the  impression  made  by  it. 
Aa  a  matter  of  fact,  if  all  things  were  equal, 
the  portion  most  likely  to  remain  in  the  mind 
of  an  average  listener,  is  that  immediately  pre 
ceding  the  strongest  cadences  or  conclusions  of 
the  paragraphs  of  the  movement.   It  is  true,  com 
posers  do  not  argue  in  this  manner,  but  they 
feel  such  things  vaguely  or  instinctively,   and 
generally  with  more  sureness  and  justice  than 
the   cold-blooded   argumentation   of  a   theorist 
could  attain  to.     Many  examples  in  other  early 
composers  besides  Corelli,  emphasise  this  point 
effectively.     The  earliest  attempts  at  structural 
form  must  inevitably  present  some  simply  ex 
plicable  principle  of  this  sort,  which  is  only  not 
trivial  because  it  is  a  very  significant  as  well  as 
indispensable  starting-point.  Corelli's  commonest 


553 


SONATA. 


devices  of  form  are  the  most  unsophisticated 
applications  of  such  simple  reasoning.  In  the 
first  place,  in  many  movements  which  are  not 
fugal,  the  opening  bars  are  immediately  repeated 
in  another  position  in  the  scale,  simply  and 
without  periphrasis,  as  if  to  give  the  listener 
assurance  of  an  idea  of  balance  at  the  very  out 
set.  That  he  did  this  to  a  certain  extent  con 
sciously,  is  obvious  from  his  having  employed 
the  device  in  at  least  the  following  Sonatas— 
2,  3,  8,  9,  10,  ii,  of  Opera  ima;  2,  4,  7,  8,  of 
Opera  3za;  and  2,  4,  5,  and  II,  of  Opera  4ta; 
and  Tartini  and  other  composers  of  the  same 
school  followed  his  lead.  This  device  is  not 
however  either  so  conspicuous  or  so  common  as 
that  of  repeating  the  concluding  passage  of  the 
first  half  at  the  end  of  the  whole,  or  of  the  con 
cluding  passages  of  one  half  or  both  consecutively. 
This,  however,  was  not  restricted  to  Corelli,  but 
is  found  in  the  works  of  most  composers  from  his 
time  to  Scarlatti,  J.  S.  Bach  and  his  sons ;  and 
it  is  no  extravagant  hypothesis  that  its  gradual 
extension  was  the  direct  origin  of  the  character 
istic  second  section  and  second  subject  of  modern 
sonata  movements.  In  many  cases  it  is  the  only 
element  of  form,  in  the  modern  sense,  in  Corelli' s 
movements.  In  a  few  cases  he  hit  upon  more 
complicated  principles.  The  Corrente  in  Sonata 
5  of  Opera  4ta,  is  nearly  a  miniature  of  modern 
binary  form.  The  well-known  Giga  in  A  in 
the  fifth  Sonata  of  Opera  5ta,  has  balance  of 
key  in  the  first  half  of  the  movement,  modula 
tion,  and  something  like  consistency  to  subject- 
matter  at  the  beginning  of  the  second  half,  and  due 
recapitulation  of  principal  subject-matter  at  the 
end.  The  last  movement  of  the  eighth  Sonata 
of  the  Opera  Terza,  is  within  reasonable  distance 
of  rondo-form,  though  this  form  is  generally  as 
conspicuous  for  its  absence  in  early  sonatas  as 
tunes  are,  and  probably  the  one  follows  as  a  na 
tural  consequence  of  the  other.  Of  the  simple 
primary  form,  consisting  of  corresponding  begin 
ning  and  end,  and  contrast  of  some  sort  in  the 
middle,  there  is  singularly  little.  The  clearest 
example  is  probably  the  Tempo  di  Gavotta,  which 
concludes  the  ninth  Sonata  of  Opera  Quinta.  He 
also  supplies  suggestions  of  the  earliest  types  of 
Sonata  form,  in  which  both  the  beginnings  and 
endings  of  each  half  of  the  movement  correspond ; 
as  this  became  an  accepted  principle  of  structure 
with  later  composers,  it  will  have  to  be  con 
sidered  more  fully  in  relation  to  their  works. 
Of  devices  of  form  which  belong  to  the  great 
polyphonic  tribe,  Corelli  uses  many,  but  with 
more  musical  feeling  than  learning.  His  fugues 
are  not  remarkable  as  fugues,  and  he  uses  con 
trapuntal  imitation  rather  as  a  subordinate  means 
of  carrying  on  the  interest,  than  of  expound 
ing  any  wonderful  device  of  pedantic  wisdom, 
as  was  too  common  in  those  days.  He  makes 
good  use  of  the  chaconne-form,  which  was  a 
great  favourite  with  the  early  composers,  and 
also  uses  the  kindred  device  of  carrying  the 
repetition  of  a  short  figure  through  the  greater 
part  of  a  movement  in  different  phases  and  posi 
tions  of  the  scale.  In  some  cases  he  merely 


SOXATA. 

rambles  on  with  out  any  perceptible  aim  whatever 
only  keeping  up  an  equable  flow  of  sound  with 
pleasant  interfacings  of  easy  counterpoint,  led 
on  from  moment  to  moment  by  suspensions 
and  occasional  imitation,  and  here  and  there  a 
helpful  sequence.  Corelli's  position  as  a  com 
poser  is  inseparably  mixed  up  with  his  position 
as  one  of  the  earliest  masters  of  his  instrument. 
His  style  of  writing  for  it  does  not  appear  to 
be  so  elaborate  as  other  contemporaries,  both 
older  and  younger,  but  he  grasped  a  just  way 
of  expressing  things  with  it,  and  for  the  most 
part  the  fit  things  to  say.  The  impression  he 
made  upon  musical  people  in  all  parts  of  the 
musical  world  was  strong,  and  he  was  long  re 
garded  as  the  most  delightful  of  composers  in 
his  particular  line;  and  though  the  professors 
of  his  day  did  not  always  hold  him  in  so  high 
estimation,  his  influence  upon  many  of  his  most 
distinguished  successors  was  unquestionably 
powerful. 

It  is  possible,  however,  that  appearances  are 
deceptive,  and  that  influences  of  which  he  was 
only  the  most  familiar  exponent,  are  mistaken 
for  his  peculiar  achievement.  Thus  knowing  his 
position  at  the  head  of  a  great  school  of  violinists, 
which  continued  through  several  generations 
down  to  Haydn's  time,  it  is  difficult  to  dis 
unite  him  from  the  honour  of  having  fixed  the 
type  of  sonata  which  they  almost  uniformly 
adopted.  And  not  only  this  noble  and  vigorous 
school,  comprising  such  men  as  Tartini,  Vivaldi, 
Locatelli,  Nardini,  Veracini,  and  outlying  mem 
bers  like  Le'clair  and  Rust,  but  men  who  were 
not  specially  attached  to  their  violins,  such  as 
Albinoni  and  Purcell,  and  later,  Bach,  Handel 
and  Porpora,  equally  adopted  the  type.  Of  Albi 
noni  not  much  seems  to  be  distinctly  known, 
except  that  he  was  Corelli's  contemporary  and 
probably  junior.  He  wrote  operas  and  instru 
mental  music.  Of  the  latter,  several  sonatas  are 
still  to  be  seen,  but  they  are,  of  course,  not 
familiar,  though  at  one  time  they  enjoyed  a 
wide  popularity.  The  chief  point  about  them 
is  that  in  many  for  violin  and  figured  bass  he  fol 
lows  not  only  the  same  general  outlines,  but  even 
the  style  of  Corelli.  He  adopts  the  four-move 
ment  plan,  with  a  decided  canzona  in  the  second 
place,  a  slow  movement  first  and  third,  and  a 
quick  movement  to  end  with,  such  as  in  one  case 
a  Corrente.  Purcell's  having  followed  Corelli's 
lead  is  repudiated  by  enthusiasts;  but  at  all 
events  the  lines  of  his  Golden  Sonata  in  F  are 
wonderfully  similar.  There  are  three  slow  move 
ments,  which  come  first,  second,  and  fourth ;  the 
third  movement  is  actually  called  a  Canzona; 
and  the  last  is  a  quick  movement  in  3-8  time, 
similar  in  style  to  corresponding  portions  of 
Corelli's  Sonatas.  The  second  movement,  an 
Adagio,  is  the  most  expressive,  being  happily 
devised  on  the  principle  above  referred  to,  of 
repeating  a  short  figure  in  different  positions 
throughout  the  movement.  In  respect  of  sonata- 
form  the  work  is  about  on  a  par  with  the  average 
of  Corelli  or  Biber. 

The  domain  of  Sonata  was  for  a  long  while 


SONATA. 

almost  monopolised  by  violinists  and  writers  for 
the  violin.     Some  of  these,  such  as  Geminiani 
and  Locatelli,   were   actually  Corelli's  pupils. 
They  clearly  followed  him  both,  in  style  and 
structural  outlines,  but  they  also  began  to  ex 
tend  and  build   upon    them  with  remarkable 
speed.  The  second  movement  continued  for  long 
the  most  stationary  and  conventional,  maintain 
ing  the  Canzona  type  in  a  loose  fugal  manner, 
by  the  side  of  remarkable  changes  in  the  other 
movements.     Of  these  the  first  began  to  grow 
into  larger  dimensions  and  clearer  proportions 
even  in  Corelli's  own  later  works,  attaining  to 
the  dignity  of  double  bars  and  repeats,  and  with 
his  successors  to  a  consistent  and  self-sufficing 
form.    An   example   of  this   is   the  admirable 
Larghetto  affettuoso  with  which  Tartini's  cele 
brated  '  Trillo  del  Diavolo '  commences.    No  one 
who  has  heard  it  could  fail  to  be  struck  with  the 
force  of  the  simple  device  above  described  of 
making  the  ends  of  each  half  correspond,  as  the 
passage  is  made  to  stand  out  from  all  the  rest 
more  characteristically  than  usual.  A  similar  and 
very  good  example  is  the  introductory  Largo  to  the 
Sonata  in  G  minor,  for  violin  and  figured  bass, 
by  Locatelli,  which  is  given  in  Ferdinand  David's 
'HoheSchuledesViolinspiels.'  The  subject-mat 
ter  in  both  examples  is  exceedingly  well  handled, 
so  that  a  sense  of  perfect  consistency  is  main 
tained  without  concrete  repetition  of  subjects, 
except,  as  already  noticed,  the  closing  bars  of  each 
half,  which  in  Locatelli's  Sonata  are  rendered 
less  obvious  through  the  addition  of  a  short  coda 
starting  from  a  happy  interrupted  cadence.     It 
is  out  of  the  question  to  follow  the  variety  of 
aspects  presented  by  the  introductory  slow  move 
ment;   a  fair  proportion  are  on  similar  lines  to 
the  above  examples,  others  are  isolated.     Their 
character  is  almost  uniformly  solid  and  large; 
they  are  often  expressive,  but  generally  in  a  way 
distinct  from  the  character  of  the  second  slow 
movement,  which  from  the  first  was  chosen  as 
the  fittest  to  admit  a  vein  of  tenderer  sentiment. 
The  most  important  matter  in  the  history  of  the 
Sonata  at  this  period  is  the  rapidity  with  which 
advance  was  made  towards  the  realisation  of 
modern  harmonic  and  tonal  principles  of  struc 
ture,  or,  in  other  words,  the  perception  of  the 
effect  and  significance  of  relations  between  chords 
and  distinct  keys,  and  consequent  appearance  of 
regularity  of  purpose  in  the  distribution  of  both, 
and  increased   freedom  of  modulation.     Even 
Corelli's  own  pupils  show  consistent  form  of  the 
sonata  kind  with  remarkable  clearness.   The  last 
movement  of  a  Sonata  in  C  minor,  by  Geminiani, 
has  a  clear  and  emphatic  subject  to  start  with ; 
modulation  to  the  relative  major,  Eb,  and  special 
features  to  characterise  the  second  section ;  and 
conclusion  of  the  first  half  in  that  key,  with  repeat 
after  the  supposed  orthodox  manner.   The  second 
half  begins  with  a  long  section  corresponding 
to  the  working  out  or  '  free  fantasia '  portion  of 
a  modern  sonata  movement,  and  concludes  with 
recapitulation  of  the  first  subject  and  chief  fea 
tures  of  the  second  section  in  C  minor ;  this  latter 
part  differing  chiefly  from  modern  ways  by  ad- 


SONATA. 


559 


mitting    a    certain    amount    of    discursiveness, 
which  is  characteristic  of  most  of  the  early  ex 
periments  in  this  form.     Similar  to  this  is  the 
last  movement  of  Locatelli's  Sonata  in  G  minor, 
the    last    movement    of   Veracini's    Sonata    in 
E  minor,  published  at  Vienna  in  1714,  the  last 
movements  of  Tartini's  Sonatas  in  E  minor  and 
minor,  and  not  a  few  others.     It  is  rather 
curious  that  most  of  the  early  examples  of  what 
is  sometimes  called  first-movement  form  are  last 
movements.     Most  of  these  movements,   how 
ever,  in  the  early  times,  are  distinguished  by  a 
peculiarity  which  is  of  some  importance.    It  has 
been  before  referred  to,  but  is  so  characteristic 
of  the  process  of  growth,  that  it  will  not  be 
amiss  to  describe  it  in  this  place.     The  simple 
and  almost  homely  means  of  producing  the  effect 
of  structural  balance  by  making  the  beginning 
and  ending  of  each  half  of  a  movement  corre 
spond,  is  not  so  conspicuously  common  in  its 
entirety  as  the  correspondence  of  endings  or  re 
petition  of  cadence  bars  only ;  but  it  nevertheless 
is  found  tolerably  often,  and  that  in  times  before 
the  virtue  of  a  balance  of  keys  in  the  first  half 
of  the  movement  had  been  decisively  realised. 
When,  however,  this  point  was  gained,  it  is  clear 
that  such  a  process  would  give,  on  as  minute  a 
scale  as  possible,  the  very  next  thing  to  complete 
modern  binary  form.     It  only  needed  to  expand 
the  opening  passage  into  a  first  subject,  and  the 
figures  of  the  Cadence  into  a  second  subject,  to 
attain  that  type  which  became  almost  universal 
in   sonatas  till  Haydn's  time,  and  with   some 
second-rate  composers,  like  Reichart,  later.    The 
movements  which  are  described  as  binary  must 
be  therefore  divided  into  two  distinct  classes  : — 
that  in  which  the  first  subject  reappears  in  the 
complementary  key  at  the  beginning  of  the  second 
half,  which  is  the  almost  universal  type  of  earlier 
times ;  and  that  in  which  it  appears  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  movement,   after  the  working-out 
portion,  which  is  the  later  type.     The  experi 
ments  in  Corelli  and  Tartini,  and  others  who 
are  close  to  these  types,  are  endless.    Sometimes 
there  are  tentative  strokes  near  to  the   later 
form ;  sometimes  there  is  an  inverted  order  re 
producing  the  second  portion  of  the  movement 
first.     Sometimes   the   first   subject   makes    its 
appearance  at  both  points,  but  then,  may  be, 
there  is  no  balance  of  keys  in  the  first  half,  and 
so  forth.    The  variety  is  extraordinary,  and  it  ia 
most  interesting  to  watch  the  manner  in  which 
some    types   by   degrees    preponderate,    some 
times   by  combining  with  one   another,   some 
times  by  gradual  transformation,  come  nearer 
and  more  decisively  like  the  types  which  are 
generally  adopted  in  modern  times  as  fittest.  The 
later  type  was  not  decisively  fixed  on  at  any  par 
ticular  point,  for  many  early  composers  touched 
it  once  or  twice  at  the  same  period  that  they  wer£ 
writing  movements  in  more  elementary  forms. 
The  point  of  actual  achievement  of  a  step  in  art 
is  not  marked  by  an  isolated  instance,  but  by 
decisive  preponderance,  and  by  the  systematic 
adoption  which  shows  at  least  an   instinctive 
realisation  of  its  value  and  importance. 


560 


SONATA. 


These  writers  of  violin  sonatas  were  just 
touching  on  the  clear  realisation  of  harmonic 
form  as  accepted  in  modern  times,  and  they 
sometimes  adopted  the  later  type,  though  rarely, 
and  that  obscurely;  they  mastered  the  earlier 
type,  and  used  it  freely ;  and  they  also  used  the 
intermediate  type  which  combines  the  two,  in 
which  the  principal  or  first  subject  makes  its 
appearance  both  at  the  beginning  of  the  first 
half  and  near  the  end,  where  a  modern  would 
expect  it.  As  a  sort  of  embryonic  suggestion  of 
this,  the  Tempo  di  Gavotta,  in  the  eighth  Sonata  oJ 
Corelli's  Opera  Seconda,  is  significant.  Complete 
examples  are — the  last  movement  of  Tartini's 
fourth  Sonata  of  Opus  I,  and  the  last  movement 
of  that  in  D  minor  above  referred  to ;  the  last 
movement  of  Geminiani's  Sonata  in  C  minor ;  the 
main  portion,  excluding  the  Coda,  of  the  Corrente 
in  Vivaldi's  Sonata  in  A  major ;  the  last  move 
ment  of  a  Sonata  of  Nardini's,  in  D  major ;  and 
two  Capriccios  in  Bb  and  C,  by  Franz  Benda, 
quoted  in  F.  David's  '  Hohe  Schule, '  etc. 

The  four-movement  type  of  violin  sonata  was 
not  invariably  adopted,  though  it  preponderates 
so  conspicuously.      There  is   a   set   of  twelve 
sonatas  by  Locatelli,  for  instance,  not  so  fine 
as   that   in    F.    David's    collection,   which   are 
nearly  all  on  an  original  three-movement  plan, 
concluding  with  an  'Aria'  and  variations  on  a 
ground-bass.    Some  of  Tartini's  are  also  in  three 
movements,  and  a  set  of  six  by  Nardini  are  also 
in  three,  but  always  beginning  with  a  slow  move 
ment,  and  therefore,  though  almost  of  the  same 
date,    not  really  approaching  the   distribution 
commonly  adopted  by  Haydn  for  Clavier  Sonatas. 
In  fact  the  old  Violin  Sonata  is  in  many  respects 
a  distinct  genus,  which  maintained  its  individu 
ality  alongside  the  gradually  stereotyped  Clavier 
Sonata,  and  only  ceased  when  that  type  obtained 
possession  of  the  field,  and  the  violin  was  re- 
introduced,  at  first  as  it  were  furtively,  as  an 
accompaniment  to  the  pianoforte.     The  general 
characteristics  of  this  school  of  writers  for  the 
violin,   were  nobility  of  style  and  richness  of 
feeling,  an  astonishing  mastery  of  the  instru 
ment,  and  a  rapidly-growing  facility  in  dealing 
with  structure  in  respect  of  subject,  key,  modu 
lation    and    development;    and   what  is   most 
vital,  though  less  obvious,  a  perceptible  growth 
in  the  art  of  expression  and  a  progress  towards 
the  definition  of  ideas.     As  a  set-off  there  are 
occasional  traces  of  pedantic  manners,  and  occa 
sional  crudities  both  of  structure  and  expression, 
derived  probably  from  the  associations  of  the  old 
music  which  they  had  so  lately  left  behind  them. 
At  the  crown  of  the  edifice  are  the  Sonatas  of 
J.  S.  Bach.    Of  sonatas  in  general  he  appears  not 
to  have  held  to  any  decisive  opinion.     He  wrote 
many  for  various  instruments,  and  for  various 
combinations  of  instruments.     For  clavier,  for 
violin  alone,  for  flute,  violin,  and  clavier,   for 
viol  da  gamba  and  clavier,  and  so  on;   but  in 
most  of  these  the  outlines  are  not  decisively  dis 
tinct  from  Suites.     In  some  cases  the  works  are 
described  as  'Sonatas  or  Suites,'  and  in  at  least 
one  case  the  introduction  to  a  church  cantata 


SONATA. 

is  called  a  Sonata.     Some  instrumental  works 
which  are  called  Sonatas  only,  might  quite  as 
well  be  called  Suites,  as  they  consist  of  a  pre 
lude  and  a  set  of  dance-tunes.     Others  are  hete 
rogeneous.     From  this  it  appears  that  he  had 
not  satisfied  himself  on  what  lines  to  attack  the 
Sonata  in  any  sense  approaching  the  modern 
idea.     With  the  Violin  Sonatas  it  was  other 
wise;    and  in  the  group  of  six  for  violin  and 
clavier  he  follows  almost  invariably  the  main 
outlines  which  are  characteristic  of  the  Italian 
school  descended  from  Corelli,  and  all  but  one  are 
on  the  four-movement  plan,  having  slow  move 
ments   first  and  third,   and  quick  movements 
second  and  fourth.  The  sixth  Sonata  only  differs 
from  the  rest  by  having  an  additional  quick 
movement  at   the    beginning.     Not  only  this 
but  the  second  movements  keep  decisively  the 
formal  lineaments  of  the  ancient  type  of  free 
fugue,  illustrated  with  more  strictness  of  manner 
by  the  Canzonas.     Only  in  calibre  and  quality 
of  ideas,  and  in  some  peculiar  idiosyncrasies  of 
structure   do  they  differ  materially  from  the 
works  of  the  Italian  masters.     Even  the  first, 
third,    and  fifth   Sonatas  in  the  other  set  of 
six,  for  violin  alone,  conform  accurately  to  the 
old  four-movement  plan,  including  the  fugue 
in  the  second  place ;  the  remaining  three  being 
on  the  general  lines  of  the  Suite.     In  most  of 
the  Sonatas  for   violin  and  clavier,   the  slow 
movement  is  a  tower  of  strength,  and  strikes 
a  point  of  rich  and  complex  emotional  expression 
which  music  reached  for  the  first  time  in  Bach's 
imagination.     His  favourite  way  of  formulating 
a  movement  of  this  sort,  was  to  develop  the 
whole  accompaniment  consistently  on  a  concise 
and  strongly-marked  figure,  which  by  repetition 
in  different  conditions  formed  a  bond  of  con 
nection  throughout   the  whole ;    and   on  this 
he  built  a  passionate  kind  of  recitative,  a  free 
and  unconstrained  outpouring  of  the  deepest  and 
noblest  instrumental  song.     This  was  a  sort  of 
apotheosis  of  that  form  of  rhapsody,  which  has 
been  noticed  in  the  early  Sonatas,  such  as  Biber's 
and  Kuhnau's,  and  was  occasionally  attempted 
by  the  Italians.     The  six  Sonatas  present  diver 
sities  of  types,  all  of  the  loftiest  order;  some 
of  them  combining  together  with  unfailing  ex 
pressiveness  perfect  specimens  of  old  forms  of 
contrapuntal  ingenuity.      Of  this,   the  second 
movement   of  the  second  Sonata  is  a  perfect 
example.     It  appears  to  be  a  pathetic  colloquy 
between  the  violin  and  the  treble  of  the  clavier 
part,  to  which  the  bass  keeps  up  the  slow  con 
stant    motion    of    staccato   semiquavers:    the 
colloquy  at  the   same  time  is  in  strict  canon 
throughout,    and,   as  a  specimen  of  expressive 
treatment  of  that  time-honoured  form,  is  almost 
unrivalled. 

In  all  these  movements  the  kinship  is  rather 
with  the  contrapuntal  writers  of  the  past,  than 
with  the  types  of  Beethoven's  adoption.  Even 
Bach,  immense  as  his  genius  and  power  of  di 
vination  was,  could  not  leap  over  that  period  of 
formation  which  it  seems  to  have  been  indispen 
sable  for  mankind  to  pass  through,  before  equally 


SONATA. 

noble  and  deeply-felt  things  could  be  expressed 
in  the  characteristically  modern  manner.  Though 
he  looked  further  into  the  future  in  matters  of 
expression  and  harmonic  combination  than  any 
composer  till  the  present  century,  he  still  had  to 
use  forms  of  the  contrapuntal  and  fugal  order 
for  the  expression  of  his  highest  thoughts.     He 
did  occasionally  make  use  of  binary  form,  though 
not  in  these  Sonatas.     But  he  more  commonly 
adopted,  and  combined  with  more  or  less  fugal 
treatment,  an  expansion  of  simple  primary  form 
to  attain. structural  effect.     Thus,  in  the  second 
movements  of  the  first  and  second  Sonatas,  in 
the  last  of  the  third  and  sixth,  and  the  first  of 
the  sixth,  he  marks  first  a  long  complete  section 
in  his  principal  key,  then  takes  his  way  into 
modulations  and  development,  and  discussion  of 
themes  and  various  kinds  of  contrapuntal  enjoy 
ment,  and  concludes  with  simple  complete  re 
capitulation  of  the  first  section  in  the  principal 
key.    Bach  thus  stands  singularly  aside  from 
the  direct  line  of  the  development  of  the  Sonata 
as  far  as  the  structural  elements  are  concerned. 
His  contributions  to  the  art  of  expression,  to  the 
development  of  resource,  and  to  the  definition 
and  treatment  of  ideas  had  great  effect,  and  are 
of  the  very  highest  importance  to  instrumental 
music ;  but  his  almost  invariable  choice  of  either 
the  suite-form,  or  the  accepted  outlines  of  the 
violin  sonata,  in  works  of  this  class,  caused  him 
to  diverge  into  a  course  which  with  him  found 
its  final  and  supreme  limit.     In  order  to  con 
tinue  the  work  in  veins  which  were  yet  unex 
hausted,  the  path  had  to  be  turned  a  little,  and 
joined  to  courses  which  were  coming  up  from 
other  directions.     The  violin  sonata  continued 
to  make  its  appearance  here  and  there  as  has 
already  been  mentioned,  but  in  the  course  of 
a  generation  it  was  entirely  supplanted  by  the 
distinct  type  of  clavier  sonata. 

Meanwhile  there  was  another  composer  of  this 
time,  who  appears  to  stand  just  as  singularly 
apart  from  the  direct  high  road  as  Bach,  and 
who,  though  he  does  not  occupy  a  pedestal  so 
high  in  the  history  of  art,  still  has  a  niche 
by  no  means  low  or  inconspicuous,  and  one 
which  he  shares  with  no  one.  Domenico  Scar 
latti  was  Bach's  senior  by  a  few  years,  though 
not  enough  to  place  him  in  an  earlier  musical 
generation ;  and  in  fact  though  his  works  are 
so  different  in  quality,  they  have  the  stamp  that 
marks  them  as  belonging  to  the  same  parallel  of 
time. 

His  most  valuable  contributions  are  in  the 
immense  number  of  sonatas  and  studies  which 
he  wrote  for  the  harpsichord.  The  distinction 
between  Study  and  Sonata  is  not  clearly  marked 
with  him ;  it  looks  as  if  one  included  the  other 
in  most  cases,  for  the  structure  and  style  vary 
very  little,  and  not  necessarily  or  systematically 
at  all,  between  one  and  the  other.  But  whatever 
they  are  called  they  do  not  correspond  in  appear 
ance  to  any  form  which  is  commonly  supposed  to 
be  essential  to  the  Sonata.  Neither  can  they 
be  taken  as  pure-bred  members  of  the  fugal 
family,  nor  do  they  trace  their  origins  to  the  Suite. 
VOL.  in.  PT.  5. 


SONATA. 


561 


They  are  in  fact,  in  a  fair  proportion  of  cases,  an 
attempt  to  deal  with  direct  ideas  in  a  modern 
sense,  without  appealing  to  the  glamour  of  con 
scious  association,  the  dignity  of  science,  or  the 
familiarity  of  established  dance  rhythms.  The 
connection  with  what  goes  before  and  with  what 
comes  after  is  alike  obscure,  because  of  the  daring 
originality  with  which  existing  materials  are 
worked  upon;  but  it  is  not  the  less  inevitably 
present,  as  an  outline  of  his  structural  principles 
will  show. 

His  utterance  is  at  its  best  sharp  and  incisive ; 
the  form  in  which  he  loves  to  express  himself  is 
epigrammatic ;  and  some  of  his  most  effective 
sonatas  are  like  strings  of  short  propositions 
bound  together  by  an  indefinable  sense  of  consis 
tency  and  consequence,  rather  than  by  actual 
development.  These  ideas  are  commonly  brought 
home  to  the  hearer  by  the  singular  practice  of 
repeating  them  consecutively  as  they  stand,  often 
several  times  over ;  in  respect  of  which  it  is  worth 
remembering  that  his  position  in  relation  to  his 
audience  was  not  unlike  that  of  an  orator  addressing 
an  uncultivated  mob.  The  capacity  for  appreciating 
grand  developments  of  structure  was  as  unde 
veloped  in  them  as  the  power  of  following  widely- 
spread  argument  and  conclusion  would  be  in  the 
mob.  And  just  as  the  mob-orator  makes  his  most 
powerful  impressions  by  short  direct  statements, 
and  by  hammering  them  in  while  still  hot  from 
his  lips,  so  Scarlatti  drove  his  points  home  by 
frequent  and  generally  identical  reiterations ;  and 
then  when  the  time  came  round  to  refer  to  them 
again,  the  force  of  the  connection  between  distant 
parts  of  the  same  story  was  more  easily  grasped. 
The  feeling  that  he  did  this  with  his  eyes  open  is 
strengthened  by  the  fact  that  even  in  the  grouping 
of  the  reiterations  there  is  commonly  a  perceptible 
method.  For  instance,  it  can  hardly  be  by  acci 
dent  that  at  a  certain  point  of  the  movement,  after 
several  simple  repetitions,  he  should  frequently 
resort  to  the  complication  of  repeating  several 
small  groups  within  the  repetition  of  large  ones. 
The  following  example  is  a  happy  illustration  of 
his  style,  and  of  his  way  of  elaborating  such 
repetitions. 


-*-  «—«-•-« 


r  -BBS      U     ;   I 

^•uui  ^.^Lgiij 


Oo 


662 


SONATA. 


It  must  not  be  supposed  that  he  makes  a  law 
of  this  procedure,  but  the  remarkably  frequent 
occurrence  of  so  curious  a  device  is  certainly  sug 
gestive  of  conscious  purpose  in  structural  treat 
ment.  The  result  of  this  mode  is  that  the  move 
ments  often  appear  to  be  crowded  with  ideas. 
Commonly  the  features  of  the  opening  bars,  which 
in  modern  times  would  be  held  of  almost  supreme 
importance,  serve  for  very  little  except  to  deter 
mine  the  character  of  the  movement,  and  often 
never  make  their  appearance  again.  On  the  other 
hand  he  carries  the  practice  before  referred  to,  of 
making  the  latter  part  of  each  half  of  the  move 
ment  correspond,  to  an  extraordinary  pitch,  and 
with  perfect  success  ;  for  he  almost  invariably 
adopts  the  key  distribution  of  binary  form  in  its 
main  outlines ;  and  though  it  would  not  be  accu 
rate  to  speak  of  such  a  thing  as  a  'second  subject' 
in  his  sonatas,  the  impression  produced  by  his 
distribution  of  repetition  and  the  clearness  of  his 
ideas  is  sufficient,  in  his  best  movements,  to  give 
a  general  structural  effect  very  similar  to  com 
plete  binary  form  on  a  small  scale.  In  order  to 
realise  to  what  extent  the  process  of  recapitulation 
is  carried  by  him,  it  will  be  as  well  to  consider 
the  outline  of  a  fairly  characteristic  sonata. 
That  which  stands  fifteenth  in  the  easily  avail 
able  edition  of  Breitkopf  &  Hartel  commences 
with  eight  bars  only  in  E  minor ;  the  next  forty- 
six,  barring  merely  a  slight  and  unimportant  di 
gression,  are  in  G  major.  This  concludes  the  first 
half.  The  second  half  begins  with  reference  to  the 
opening  figures  of  the  whole  and  a  little  key 
digression,  and  then  a  characteristic  portion  of 
the  second  section  of  the  first  half  is  resumed,  and 
the  last  thirty- four  bars  of  the  movement  are  a 
recapitulation  in  E  minor  of  the  last  thirty-five 
of  the  first  half,  the  three  concluding  bars  being 
condensed  into  two. 

In  many  respects  his  principles  of  structure 
and  treatment  are  altogether  in  the  direction  of 
modern  ways,  and  alien  to  fugal  principles.  That 
vital  principle  of  the  fugue — the  persistence  of  one 
principal  idea,  and  the  interweaving  of  it  into 
every  part  of  the  structure — appears  completely 
alien  to  Scarlatti's  disposition.  He  very  rarely 
wrote  a  fugue ;  and  when  he  did,  if  it  was  success 
ful  that  waj  less  because  it  was  a  good  fugue 


SONATA. 

than  because  it  was  Scarlatti's.     The  fact  that 
he  often  starts  with  imitation  between  two  parts 
is  unimportant,  and  the  merest  accident  of  associ 
ation.     He  generally  treats  his  ideas  as  concrete 
lumps,  and  disposes  them  in  distinct  portions  of 
the  movement,  which  is  essentially  an  unfugal 
proceeding ;    but  the  most  important  matter  is 
that  he  was  probably  the  first  to  attain  to  clear 
conception  and  treatment  of  a  self-sufficing  effec 
tive  idea,  and  to  use  it,  if  without  science,  yet 
with  management  which  is  often  convincingly 
successful.    He  was  not  a  great  master  of  the  art 
of  composition,  but   he  was  one  of  the  rarest 
masters  of  his  instrument ;  and  his  divination  of 
the  way  to  treat  it,  and  the  perfect  adaptation  of 
his  ideas  to  its  requirements,  more  than  counter 
balance  any  shortcoming  in  his  science.    He  was 
blessed  with  ideas,  and  with  a  style  so  essentially 
his  own,  that  even  when  his  music  is  transported 
to  another  instrument  the  characteristic  effects 
of  tone  often  remain  unmistakeable.    Vivacity, 
humour,  genuine  fun,  are  his  most  familiar  traits. 
At  his  best  his  music  sparkles  with  life  and  fresh 
ness,  and  its  vitality  is  apparently  quite  unim 
paired  by  age.  He  rarely  approaches  tenderness  or 
sadness,  and  in  the  whole  mass  of  his  works  there 
are  hardly  any  slow  movements.     He  is  not  a 
little  '  bohemian,'  and  seems  positively  to  revel  in 
curious  effects  of  consecutive  fifths  and  consecutive 
octaves.    The  characteristic  daring  of  which  such 
things  are  the  most  superficial  manifestations, 
joined  with  the  clearness  of  his  foresight,  made 
him  of  closer  kinship  to  Beethoven  and  Weber, 
and  even  Brahms,  than  to  the  typical  contrapun- 
tali  sts  of  his  day.  His  works  are  genuine '  sonatas ' 
in  the  most  radical  sense  of  the  term — self-depen 
dent  and  self-sufficing  sound-pieces,  without  pro 
gramme.     To  this  the  distribution  of  movements 
is  at  least  of  secondary  importance,  and  his  con 
fining  himself  to  one  alone  does  not  vitiate  his 
title  to  be  a  foremost  contributor  to  that  very  im 
portant  branch  of  the  musical  art.    No  successor 
was  strong  enough  to  wield  his  bow.    His  pupil 
Durante   wrote   some   sonatas,  consisting  of  a 
Studio  and  a  Divertimento  apiece,  which  have 
touches  of  his  manner,  but  without  sufficient  of 
the  nervous  elasticity  to  make  them  important. 
The  contemporary  writers  for  clavier  of  second 
rank  do  not  offer  much  which  is  of  high  musical 
interest,  and  they  certainly  do  not  arrive  at  any 
thing  like  the  richness  of  thought  and  expression 
which  is  shown  by  their  fellows  of  the  violin. 
There  appears  however  amongst  them  a  tendency 
to  drop  the  introductory  slow  movement  charac 
teristic  of  the  violin  sonata,  and  by  that  means 
to  draw  nearer  to  the  type  of  later  clavier  or 
pianoforte  sonatas.  Thus  a  sonata  of  Wagenseil  s 
in  F  major  presents  almost  exactly  the  general 
outlines  to  be  met  with  in  Haydn's  works— an 
Allegro  assai  in  binary  form  of  the  old  type,  a 
short  Andantino  grazioso,  and  a  Tempo  di  Min- 
uetto.     A  sonata  of  Hasse's  in  D  minor  has  a 
similar  arrangement  of  three  movements  ending 
with  a  Gigue ;  but  the  first  movement  is  utterly 
vague  and  indefinite  in  form.      There  is  also 
an  Allegro  of  Hasse's  in  Bb,  quoted  in  Pauers 


SONATA. 

Alte  Meister,  which  deserves  consideration  for  the 
light  it  throws  on  a  matter  which  is  sometimes 
said  to  be  a  crucial  distinction  between  the  early 
attempts  at  form  and  the  perfect  achievement. 
In  many  of  the  early  examples  of  sonata-form, 
the  second  section  of  the  first  part  is  characterised 
by  groups  of  figures  which  are  quite  definite 
enough  for  all  reasonable  purposes,  but  do  not 
come  up  to  the  ideas  commonly  entertained  of 
the  nature  of  a  subject ;  and  on  this  ground  the 
settlement  of  sonata-form  was  deferred  some 
fifty  yeara.  Hasse  was  not  a  daring  originator, 
neither  was  he  likely  to  strike  upon  a  crucial 
test  of  perfection,  yet  in  this  movement  he  sets 
out  with  a  distinct  and  complete  subject  in  Bb 
of  a  robust  Handelian  character: — 


SONATA. 


563 


tr 


& 


a 


tr 


\ 


<T=f 


3M&$ 


3 


and  after  the  usual  extension  proceeds  to  F,  and 
announces  by  definite  emphasis  on  the  Dominant 
the  well-contrasted  second  subject,  which  is  sug 
gestive  of  the  polite  reaction  looming  in  the 

future : — 


The  movement  as  a  whole  is  in  the  binary  type 
of  the  earlier  kind. 

The  period  now  approaching  is  characterised 
by  uncertainty  in  the  distribution  of  the  move 
ments,  but  increasing  regularity  and  definition  in 
their  internal  structure.  Some  writers  follow  the 
four-movement  type  of  violin  sonata  in  writing 
for  the  clavier ;  some  strike  upon  the  grouping  of 
three  movements;  and  a  good  many  fall  back  upon 
two.  A  sonata  of  Galuppi's  in  D  illustrates  the 
first  of  these,  and  throws  light  upon  the  transi 
tional  process.  The  first  movement  is  a  beautiful 
Adagio  of  the  Arioso  type,  with  the  endings  of 
each  half  corresponding,  after  the  manner  traced 
from  Corelli ;  the  second  is  an  Allegro  not  of  the 


fugal  or  Canzona  order,  but  clear  binary  of  the 
older  kind.  A  violin  sonata  of  Locatelli's,  of  prob 
ably  earlier  date,  has  an  Allemande  of  excellent 
form  in  this  position,  but  this  is  not  sufficiently 
definite  in  the  inference  it  affords  to  throw  much 
light  on  any  transition  or  assimilation  of  violin 
sonata-form  to  clavier  sonata-form.  Galuppi's 
adoption  of  a  movement  of  clear  sonata-qualities 
in  this  place  supplies  exactly  the  link  that  was 
needed ;  and  the  fugal  or  canzona  type  of  move 
ment  being  so  supplanted,  nothing  further  was 
necessary  but  expansion,  and  the  omission  ot 
the  introductory  Adagio  (which  probably  was 
not  so  well  adapted  to  the  earlier  keyed  instru 
ments  as  to  the  violin),  to  arrive  at  the  principle 
of  distribution  adopted  in  the  palmiest  days  of 
formalism.  Later,  with  a  more  powerful  instru 
ment,  the  introductory  slow  movement  was  often 
reintroduced.  Galuppi's  third  movement  is  in  a 
solid  march  style,  and  the  last  is  a  Giga.  All  of 
them  are  harmonically  constructed,  and  the  whole 
work  is  solid  and  of  sterling  musical  worth. 

Dr.  Arne  was  born  only  four  years  after  Galuppi, 
and  was  amenable  to  the  same  general  influences. 
The  structure  of  his  sonatas  emphasises  the  fact 
above  mentioned,  that  though  the  order  of  move 
ments  was  passing  through  a  phase  of  uncertainty 
their  internal  structure  was  growing  more  and 
more  distinct  and  uniform.  His  first  sonata,  in  F, 
has  two  movements,  Andante  and  Allegro,  both 
of  which  follow  harmonically  the  lines  of  binary 
form.  The  second,  in  E  minor,  has  three  move 
ments,  Andante,  Adagio,  Allegrissimo.  The  first 
and  last  are  on  the  binary  lines,  and  the  middle 
one  in  simple  primary  form.  The  third  Sonata 
consists  of  a  long  vague  introduction  of  arpeggios, 
elaborated  in  a  manner  characteristic  of  the  time, 
an  Allegro  which  has  only  one  subject  but  is  on 
the  binary  lines,  and  a  Minuet  and  two  Variations. 
The  fourth  Sonata  is  in  some  respects  the  most 
interesting.  It  consists  of  an  Andante,  Siciliano, 
Fuga,  and  Allegro.  The  first  is  of  continuous 
character  but  nevertheless  in  binary  form,  with 
out  the  strong  emphasis  on  the  points  of  division 
between  the  sections.  It  deserves  notice  for  its  ex 
pressiveness  and  clearness  of  thought.  The  second 
movement  is  very  short,  but  pretty  and  expressive, 
of  a  character  similar  to  examples  of  Handel's 
tenderer  moods.  The  last  movement  is  particu 
larly  to  be  noticed,  not  only  for  being  decisively 
in  binary  form,  but  for  the  ingenuity  with  which 
that  form  is  manipulated.  The  first  section  is 
represented  by  the  main  subject  in  the  treble,  the 
second  (which  is  clearly  marked  in  the  dominant 
key)  has  the  same  subject  in  the  bass,  a  device 
adopted  also  more  elaborately  by  W.  Friedemann 
Bach.  The  second  half  begins  with  consistent 
development  and  modulation,  and  the  recapitula 
tion  is  happily  managed  by  making  the  main 
subject  represent  both  sections  at  once  in  a  short 
passage  of  canon.  Others  of  Arne's  sonatas  afford 
similar  though  less  clear  examples  which  it  is 
superfluous  to  consider  in  detail,  for  neither  the 
matter  nor  the  handling  is  so  good  in  them  as  in 
those  above  described,  most  of  which,  though  not 
rich  in  thought  or  treatment,  nor  impressive 

Oo2 


564- 


SONATA. 


SONATA. 


in  character,  have  genuine  traits  of  musical  ex 
pression  and  clearness  of  workmanship. 

In  the  same  year  with  Dr.  Arne  was  born 
Wilhelm  Friedemann  Bach,  the  eldest  son  of 
John   Sebastian.      He  was  probably  the  most 
gifted,  the  most  independent,  and  unfortunately 
the  wildest  and  most  unmanageable  of  that  re 
markable  family.     Few  of  his  compositions  are 
known,  and  it  is  said  that  he  would  not  take  the 
trouble  to  write  unless  he  was  driven  to  it.  Two 
sonatas  exist,  which  are  of  different  type,  and 
probably  represent  different  periods  of  his  che 
quered  career.    One  in  D  major,  for  its  richness, 
elaborateness,  expressiveness,  is  well  worthy  of 
the  scion  of  so  great  a  stock  ;  the  other  is  rather 
cheap,   and  though   masterly  in  handling  and 
disposition  of  structural  elements,  has  more  traces 
of  the  elegance  which  was  creeping  over  the  world 
of  music  than  of  the  grave  and  earnest  nobleness 
of  his  father  and  similar  representatives  of  the 
grand  period.     The  first,  in  D,  is  probably  the 
most  remarkable  example,  before  Beethoven,  of 
original    ingenuity    manipulating    sonata  -  form 
under  the  influence  of  fugal  associations  and  by 
means  of  contrapuntal  devices.      The  whole  is 
worked  out  with  careful  and  intelligible  reasoning, 
but  to  such  an  elaborate  extent  that  it  is  quite  out 
of  the  question  to  give  even  a  complete  outline  of 
its  contents.   The  movements  are  three — Un  poco 
allegro,  Adagio,  Vivace.    The  first  and  last  are 
speculative  experiments  in  binary  form.    The  first 
half  in  each  represents  the  balance  of  expository 
sections  in  tonic  and  complementary  keys.     The 
main  subject  of  the  first  reappears  in  the  bass 
in  the  second  section,  with  a  new  phase  of  the 
original  accompaniment  in  the  upper  parts.    The 
development  portion  is  in  its  usual  place,  but  the 
recapitulation  is  tonallyreversed.  The  first  subject 
and  section  is  given  in  a  relative  key  to  balance 
the  complementary  key  of  the  second  section,  and 
the  second  section  is  given  in  the  original  key  or 
tonic  of  the  movement ;  so  that  instead  of  re 
peating  one  section  and  transposing  the  other  in 
recapitulation,  they  are  both  transposed  analo 
gously.    In  each  of  the  three  movements  the  ends 
of  the  halves  correspond,  and  not  only  this  but 
the  graceful  little  figure  appended  to  the  cadence 
is  the  same  in  all  the  movements,  establishing 
thereby  a  very  delicate  but  sensible  connection 
between  them.     This  figure  is  as  follows : — 


The  formal  pauses  on  familiar  points  of  har 
mony  characteristic  of  later  times  are  conspicu 
ously  few,  the  'main  divisions  being  generally 
marked  by  more  subtle  means.  The  whole  so 
nata  is  so  uncompromisingly  full  of  expressive 
figures,  and  would  require  to  be  so  elaborately 
phrased  and  'sung'  to  be  intelligible,  that  an 
adequate  performance  would  be  a  matter  of  con 
siderable  difficulty.  The  second  Sonata,  in  C,  has 
quite  a  different  appearance.  It  is  also  in  three 
movements — Allegro,  Grave,  and  Vivace.  The 
first  is  a  masterly,  clear  and  concise  example  of 
binary  form  of  the  type  which  is  more  familiar 
in  the  works  of  Haydn  and  Mozart.  The  second 
is  an  unimportant  intermezzo  leading  directly 
into  the  Finale,  which  is  also  in  binary  form 
of  the  composite  type.  The  treatment  is  the 
very  reverse  of  the  previous  sonata.  It  is  not 
contrapuntal,  nor  fugal.  Little  pains  are  taken 
to  make  the  details  expressive;  and  the  only 
result  of  using  a  bigger  and  less  careful  brush 
is  to  reduce  the  interest  to  a  minimum,  and 
to  make  the  genuineness  of  the  utterances  seem 
doubtful,  because  the  writer  appears  not  to 
have  taken  the  trouble  to  express  his  best 
thoughts. 

Wilhelm  Friedemann's  brother,  Carl  Philip 
Emmanuel,  his  junior  by  a  few  years,  was  the 
member  of  the  younger  family  who  attained  the 
highest  reputation  as  a  representative  composer 
of  instrumental  music  and  a  writer  on  that  sub 
ject.  His  celebrity  is  more  particularly  based 
on  the  development  of  sonata-form,  of  which  he 
is  often  spoken  of  as  the  inventor.  True,  his 
sonatas  and  writings  obtained  considerable  cele 
brity,  and  familiarity  induced  people  to  remark 
things  they  had  overlooked  in  the  works  of  other 
composers.  But  in  fact  he  is  neither  the  in 
ventor  nor  the  establisher  of  sonata-form.  It 
was  understood  before  his  day,  both  in  de 
tails  and  in  general  distribution  of  movements. 
One  type  obtained  the  reputation  of  supreme  fit 
ness  later,  but  it  was  not  nearly  always  adopted 
by  Haydn,  nor  invariably  by  Mozart,  and  was 
consistently  departed  from  by  Beethoven ;  and 
Emmanuel  did  not  restrict  himself  to  it ;  yet 
his  predecessors  used  it  often.  It  is  evident 
therefore  that  his  claims  to  a  foremost  place 
rest  upon  other  grounds.  Among  these,  most 
prominent  is  his  comprehension  and  employment 
of  the  art  of  playing  and  expressing  things  < 
the  clavier.  He  understood  it,  not  in  a  new 
sense,  but  in  one  which  was  nearer  to  public 
comprehension  than  the  treatment  of  his  father. 
He  grasped  the  phase  to  which  it  had  arrived, 
by  constant  development  in  all  quarters;  1 
added  a  little  of  his  own,  and  having  a  clear 
and  ready- working  brain,  he  brought  it  home  to 


SONATA. 

the  musical  public  in  a  way  they  had  not  felt 
before.  His  influence  was  paramount  to  give 
a  decided  direction  to  clavier-playing,  and  it  is 
possible  that  the  style  of  which  he  was  the 
foster-father  passed  on  continuously  to  the  mas 
terly  treatment  of  the  pianoforte  by  Clementi, 
and  through  him  to  the  culminating  achieve 
ments  of  Beethoven. 

In  respect  of  structure,  most  of  his  important 
sonatas  are  in  three  movements,  of  which  the 
first  and  last  are  quick,  and  the  middle  one  slow ; 
and  this  is  a  point  by  no  means  insignificant  in 
the  history  of  the  sonata,  as  it  represents  a 
definite  and  characteristic  balance  between  the 
principal  divisions,  in  respect  of  style  and  expres 
sion  as  well  as  in  the  external  traits  of  form. 
Many  of  these  are  in  clear  binary  form,  like 
those  of  his  elder  brother,  and  his  admirable 
predecessor,  yet  to  be  noted,  P.  Domenico  Para- 
dies.  He  adopts  sometimes  the  old  type,  di 
viding  the  recapitulation  in  the  second  half  of 
the  movement ;  sometimes  the  later,  and  some 
times  the  composite  type.  For  the  most  part  he 
is  contented  with  the  opportunities  for  variety 
which  this  form  supplies,  and  casts  a  greater 
proportion  of  movements  in  it  than  most  other 
composers,  even  to  the  extent  of  having  all  move 
ments  in  a  work  in  different  phases  of  the  same 
form,  which  in  later  times  was  rare.  On  the 
other  hand,  he  occasionally  experiments  in  struc 
tures  as  original  as  could  well  be  devised.  There 
is  a  Sonata  in  F  minor  which  has  three  main 
divisions  corresponding  to  movements.  The  first, 
an  Allegro,  approaches  vaguely  to  binary  form  ; 
the  second,  an  Adagio,  is  in  rough  outline  like 
simple  primary  form,  concluding  with  a  curious 
barless  cadenza ;  the  last  is  a  Fantasia  of  the 
most  elaborate  and  adventurous  description,  full 
of  experiments  in  modulation,  enharmonic  and 
otherwise,  changes  of  time,  abrupt  surprises  and 
long  passages  entirely  divested  of  bar  lines. 
There  is  no  definite  subject,  and  no  method  in 
the  distribution  of  keys.  It  is  more  like  a  rhap 
sodical  improvisation  of  a  most  inconsequent  and 
unconstrained  description  than  the  product  of 
concentrated  purpose,  such  as  is  generally  ex 
pected  in  a  sonata  movement.  This  species  of 
experiment  has  not  survived  in  high-class  mo 
dern  music,  except  in  the  rarest  cases.  It  was 
however  not  unfamiliar  in  those  days,  and  superb 
examples  in  the  same  spirit  were  provided  by 
John  Sebastian,  such  as  the  Fantasia  Cromatica, 
and  parts  of  some  of  the  Toccatas.  JohnErnstBach 
also  left  something  more  after  the  manner  of  the 
present  instance  as  the  prelude  to  a  fugue.  Em 
manuel  Bach's  position  is  particularly  emphasised 
as  the  most  prominent  composer  of  sonatas  of  his 
time,  who  clearly  shows  the  tendency  of  the  new 
counter-current  away  from  the  vigour  and  honest 
comprehensiveness  of  the  great  school  of  which  his 
father  was  the  last  and  greatest  representative, 
towards  the  elegance,  polite  ease,  and  artifir 
ciality,  which  became  the  almost  indispensable 
conditions  of  the  art  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
1 8th  century.  Fortunately  the  process  of  prop 
ping  up  a  tune  upon  a  dummy  accompaniment, 


SONATA. 


565 


was  not  yet  accepted  universally  as  a  desirable 
phenomenon  of  high-class  instrumental  music ; 
in  fact  such  a  stride  downward  in  one  genera 
tion  would  have  been  too  cataclystic  ;  so  he  was 
spared  the  temptation  of  shirking  honest  concen 
tration,  and  padding  his  works,  instead  of  making 
them  thoroughly  complete;  and  the  result  is 
a  curious  combination,  sometimes  savouring 
strongly  of  his  father's  style — 


etc. 


and  sometimes  coldly  predicting  the  style  of  the 
future — 


In  general,  his  building  up  of  movements  is  full 
of  expressive  detail,  and  he  does  not  spare  him 
self  trouble  in  enriching  his  work  with  such 
things  as  ingenuity,  genuine  musical  perception 
and  vivacity  of  thought  can  suggest.  He  occa 
sionally  reaches  a  point  of  tenderness  and  poetic 
sensibility  which  is  not  unworthy  of  his  descent, 
but  there  is  also  sometimes  an  uncomfortable 
premonition  in  his  slow  movements  of  the  pos 
turing  and  posing  which  were  soon  to  be  almost 
inevitable  in  well-bred  Adagios.  The  spirit  is 
indeed  not  greatly  deep  and  earnest,  but  in  out 
ward  things  the  attainment  of  a  rare  degree  of 
point  and  emphasis,  and  of  clearness  and  cer 
tainty  in  construction  without  emptiness,  sufficed 
to  give  Philip  Emmanuel  a  foremost  place  among 
the  craftsmen  of  the  art. 

P.  Domenico  Paradies  was  Emmanuel  Bach's 
senior  by  a  few  years.  Two  of  his  sonatas,  at  least, 
are  deservedly  well  known  to  musicians.  The 
structural  qualities  shown  by  the  whole  set  of 
twelve,  emphasise  the  opinion  that  binary  form 
was  familiar  to  composers  of  this  period.  They  dif 
fer  from  Philip  Emmanuel's  chiefly  in  consisting 
uniformly  of  two  movements  only.  Of  these,  the 
first  movements  are  almost  invariably  in  binary 
form.  That  of  the  I  st  sonata  is  perfectly  complete 
and  of  the  later  type ;  many  of  the  others  are  of 
the  early  type.  Some  details  in  the  distribution 
of  the  movements  are  worth  noticing.  Thus  the 
last  movement  of  No.  4  is  a  very  graceful  and 
pretty  minuet,  which  had  hitherto  not  been  so 


SONATA. 

common  an  ingredient  in  sonatas  as  it  afterwards 
became.  The  last  movement l  of  No.  3  is  called 
an  aria ;  the  arrangement  of  parts  of  which,  as 
well  as  that  of  the  last  movement  of  No.  9,  hap 
pens  to  produce  a  rondo,  hitherto  an  extremely 
rare  feature.  His  formulation  and  arrangement 
of  subjects  is  extremely  clear  and  masterly, 
and  thoroughly  in  the  sonata  manner — that  is, 
essentially  harmonical.  In  character  he  leans 
towards  the  style  of  the  latter  part  of  the  1 8th 
century,  but  has  a  grace  and  sincerity  which 
is  thoroughly  his  own.  In  a  few  cases,  as  in 
the  last  movements  of  the  Sonatas  in  A  and  D, 
Nos.  6  and  10,  which  are  probably  best  known 
of  all,  the  character  assumed  is  rather  of  the 
bustling  and  hearty  type  which  is  suggestive 
of  the  influence  of  Scarlatti.  In  detail  they  are 
not  so  rich  as  the  best  specimens  of  Emmanuel's, 
or  of  Friedemann  Bach's  workmanship ;  but  they 
are  thoroughly  honest  and  genuine  all  through, 
and  thoroughly  musical,  and  show  no  sign  of 
shuffling  or  laziness. 

The  two-movement  form  of  clavier  sonata,  of 
which  Paradies's  are  probably  the  best  examples, 
seems  to  have  been  commonly  adopted  by  a  num 
ber  of  composers  of  second  and  lower  rank,  from 
his  time  till  far  on  in  the  century.  Those  of 
Durante  have  been  already  mentioned.  All  the 
set  of  eight,  by  Domenico  Alberti,  are  also  in 
this  form,  and  so  are  many  by  such  forgotten 
contributors  as  Roeser  and  Barthelemon,  and 
some  by  the  once  popular  Schobert.  Alberti  is 
credited  with  the  doubtful  honour  of  having 
invented  a  formula  of  accompaniment  which  be 
came  a  little  too  familiar  in  the  course  of  the 
century,  and  is  sometimes  known  as  the  'Alberti 
Bass.'  This  specimen  is  from  his  2nd  Sonata. 

-"F-H -P  »-\  —r+-         t-Tr^-i etc-ad 

influitum. 


He  may  not  have  invented  it,  but  he  certainly 
called  as  much  attention  to  it  as  he  could,  since 
not  one  of  his  eight  sonatas  is  without  it,  and  in 
some  movements  it  continues  almost  throughout. 
The  movements  approach  occasionally  to  binary 
form,  but  are  not  clearly  defined  ;  the  matter 
is  for  the  most  part  dull  in  spirit,  and  poor  in 
sound ;  and  the  strongest  characteristic  is  the 
unfortunate  one  of  hitting  upon  a  cheap  device, 
which  was  much  in  vogue  with  later  composers 
of  mark,  without  having  arrived  at  that  mastery 
and  definition  of  form  and  subject  which  alone 
made  it  endurable.  The  times  were  not  quite 
ripe  for  such  usages,  and  it  is  fortunate  for  Para- 
dies,  who  was  slightly  Alberti's  junior,  that  he 
should  have  attained  to  a  far  better  definition  of 
structure  without  resorting  to  such  cheapening. 

There  are  two  other  composers  of  this  period 
who  deserve  notice  for  maintaining,  even  later, 
some  of  the  dignity  and  nobility  of  style  which 
were  now  falling  into  neglect,  together  with 
clearness  of  structure  and  expressiveness  of  detail. 
These  are  Kolle  and  George  Benda.  A  sonata 
of  the  former's  in  Eb  shows  a  less  certain  hand 

i  In  some  modern  reprints  of  this  Sonata  the  order  of  the  move 
ments  has  beeu  reversed. 


SONATA. 

in  the  treatment  of  form,  but  at  times  extraor 
dinary  gleams  of  musically  poetic  feeling.  Points 
in  the  Adagio  are  not  unworthy  of  kinship  with 
Beethoven.    It  contains  broad  and  daring  effects 
of  modulation,  and  noble  richness  of  sentiment 
and  expression,  which,  by  the  side  of  the  obvious 
tendencies  of  music  in  these  days,  is  really  aston 
ishing.      The  first  and   last  movements  are  in 
binary  form  of  the  old  type,  and  contain  some 
happy  and  musical   strokes,  though  not  so  re 
markable  as  the  contents  of  the  slow  movement. 
George  Benda  was  a  younger  and  greater  brother 
of  the  Franz  who  has  been  mentioned  in  connec 
tion  with  Violin  Sonatas.     He  was  one  of  the 
last  writers  who,  using  the  now  familiar  forms, 
still  retained  some  of  the  richness  of  the  earlier 
manner.     There  is  in  his  work  much  in  the 
same  tone  and  style  as  that  of  Emmanuel  Bach, 
but   also   an  earnestness   and   evident  willing 
ness  to  get  the  best  out  of  himself  and  to  deal 
with  things  in  an  original  manner,  such  as  was 
by  this  time  becoming  rare.     After  him,  com 
posers  of  anything  short  of  first  rank  offer  little 
to  arrest  attention   either  for  individuality  in 
treatment   or   earnestness   of  expression.     The 
serious  influences  which  had  raised  so  many  of 
the  earlier  composers  to  a  point  of  memorable 
musical  achievement  were  replaced  by  associa 
tions  of  far  less  genuine  character,  and  the  ease 
with  which  something  could  be  constructed  in  the 
now  familiar  forms  of  sonata,  seduced  men  into 
indolent  uniformity  of  structure  and  commonplace 
prettiness  in  matter.     Some  attained  to  evident 
proficiency  in  the  use  of  instrumental  resource, 
such  as  Turini ;  and  some  to  a  touch  of  genuine 
though   small  expressiveness,   as   Haessler  and 
Grazioli ;  for  the  rest  the  achievements  of  Sarti, 
Sacchini,   Schobert,   Me"hul,   and  the  otherwise 
great  Cherubini,  in  the  line  of  sonata,  do  not 
offer   much    that    requires    notice.      They  add 
nothing  to  the  process  of  development,  and  some 
of  them  are  remarkably  behindhand  in  relation 
to  their  time,  and  both  what  they  say  and  the 
manner  of  it  is  equally  unimportant. 

Midway  in  the  crowd  comes  the  conspicuous 
form  of  Haydn,  who  raised  upon  the  increasingly 
familiar  structural  basis  not  only  some  fresh  and 
notable  work  of  the  accepted  sonata  character,  but 
the  great  and  enduring  monument  of  his  sym 
phonies  and  quartets.  The  latter  do  notfall within 
the  limits  of  the  present  subject,  though  they  are 
in  reality  but  the  great  instrumental  expansion 
of  this  kind  of  music  for  solo  instruments.  An 
arbitrary  restriction  has  been  put  upon  the  mean 
ing  of  the  word  Sonata,  and  it  is  necessary  here 
to  abide  by  it.  With  Haydn  it  is  rather  sonata- 
form  which  is  important,  than  the  works  which 
fall  under  the  conventional  acceptation  of  the 
name.  His  sonatas  are  many,  but  they  are  of 
exceedingly  diverse  value,  and  very  few  of  really 
great  importance.  As  is  the  case  with  his 
quartets,  some,  which  internal  evidence  would 
be  sufficient  to  mark  as  early  attempts,  are 
curiously  innocent  and  elementary ;  and  even 
throughout,  with  a  few  exceptions,  their  propor 
tionate  value  is  not  equal  to  that  of  other  classes 


SONATA. 

of  his  numerous  works.  But  the  great  span  of 
his  musical  activity,  reaching  from  the  times  of 
the  Bach  family  till  fairly  on  in  Beethoven's 
mature  years,  the  changes  in  the  nature  of 
keyed  instruments,  and  the  development  of  their 
resources  which  took  place  during  his  lifetime, 
make  it  inevitable  that  there  should  be  a  marked 
difference  in  the  appearance  and  limits  of  differ 
ent  members  of  the  collection.  However,  he  is 
always  himself,  and  though  the  later  works  are 
wider  and  more  richly  expressed,  they  represent 
the  same  mental  qualities  as  the  earliest.  At  all 
times  his  natural  bent  is  in  favour  of  simplifica 
tion,  as  against  the  old  contrapuntal  modes  of 
expression.  His  easy  good-humour  speaks  best 
in  simple  but  often  ingeniously  balanced  tunes 
and  subjects,  and  it  is  but  rare  that  he  has  re 
course  to  polyphonic  expression  or  to  the  kind  of 
idea  which  calls  for  it.  Partly  on  this  account 
and  partly  on  account  of  narrowness  of  capacity 
in  the  instrument  to  which  in  solo  sonatas 
he  gave  most  attention,  his  range  of  technical 
resource  is  not  extensive,  and  he  makes  but 
little  demand  upon  his  performers.  His  use 
of  tunes  and  decisively  outlined  subjects  is 
one  of  the  most  important  points  in  relation  to 
structure  at  this  period.  Tunes  had  existed  in 
connection  with  words  for  centuries,  and  it  is 
to  their  association  with  verses  balanced  by 
distinct  rhythmic  grouping  of  lines,  that  the 
sectional  tune  of  instrumental  music  must  ulti 
mately  be  traced.  It  appears  not  to  be  a  genuine 
instrumental  product,  but  an  importation  ;  and 
the  fact  that  almost  all  the  most  distinguished 
composers  were  connected  with  opera  establish 
ments,  just  at  the  time  that  the  tune-element 
became  most  marked  in  instrumental  works, 
supports  the  inference  that  the  opera  was  the 
means  through  which  a  popular  element  ulti 
mately  passed  into  the  great  domain  of  abstract 
music.  In  preceding  times  the  definition  of 
subject  by  hard  outlines  and  systematic  conform 
ity  to  a  few  normal  successions  of  harmony  was 
not  universal ;  and  the  adoption  of  tunes  was 
rare.  In  Haydn  and  Mozart  the  culmination  of 
regularity  in  the  building  of  subject  is  reached. 
The  virtue  of  this  process  is  that  it  simplifies  the 
conditions  of  structure  in  the  whole  movement. 
When  a  correct  system  of  centralisation  is  found 
by  which  the  subject  is  restrained  within  the 
limits  which  strictly  illustrate  but  one  single 
tonality,  the  feelings  which  this  suggests  to  the 
hearer  are  such  as  will  be  satisfied  with  equally 
simple  order  in  all  other  parts  of  the  complete 
structure.  If  the  creative  power  is  not  suffi 
ciently  concentrated  and  disciplined  to  restrain 
the  direction  of  its  activity  within  comprehensible 
bounds,  the  result  can  only  be  to  make  perfect 
balance  and  proportion  impossible.  Thus  if  the 
first  section  of  a  movement  is  so  decentralised 
that  its  connection  with  any  particular  key  cannot 
possibly  be  followed  by  the  hearer,  one  of  the 
primary  conditions  of  abstract  music  has  been 
violated,  and  the  balance  of  parts  rendered  un- 
distinguishable.  Yet  the  subject  or  section  may 
range  broadly  in  its  course,  and  touch  upon  many 


SONATA. 


567 


alien  tonalities  without  violating  these  conditions ; 
but  then  the  horizon  is  broadened  so  as  to  neces 
sitate  an  equal  relative  extension  in  every  part  of 
the  movement.  If  a  poet  sets  out  with  a  passage 
expanded  to  the  full  with  imagery  and  implication, 
in  which  almost  every  word  is  suggestive  of  wide 
horizons  of  thought,  and  carries  inference  behind 
it  as  complicated  as  those  which  lie  in  simple  ex 
ternal  manifestations  of  nature,  it  is  useless  for 
him  to  go  back  afterwards  to  a  more  limited  and 
statuesque  mode  of  expression.  Even  a  person  of 
little  cultivation  would  feel  at  once  the  violation 
of  artistic  proportion.  A  relative  degree  of  heat 
and  intensity  must  be  maintained  at  the  risk  of 
the  work  being  as  a  whole  unendurable.  But  if 
a  more  restricted  field  of  imagination  be  appealed 
to  at  the  outset,  the  work  may  be  the  more  easily 
and  perfectly  carried  out  in  simpler  and  narrower 
limits.  In  abstract  music,  balance,  proportion, 
equality  in  the  range  of  emotional  and  structural 
elements,  are  some  of  the  most  important  con 
ditions.  Not  that  there  is  to  be  equal  intensity 
all  through,  but  that  the  salient  and  subordinate 
parts  shall  be  fairly  proportionate ;  and  this 
cannot  be  tested  or  stated  by  formulas  of  science, 
but  only  by  cultivated  artistic  instinct.  In 
music  the  art  of  expressing  an  idea  within 
the  limits  and  after  the  manner  necessary  for 
abstract  music  had  to  be  discovered.  The  pro 
cess  of  selection  from  experimental  types  had 
brought  this  to  the  closest  point  consistent  with 
completeness  in  the  latter  half  of  the  iSth  cen 
tury.  At  that  time  the  disposition  of  the  musical 
mind  was  specially  set  upon  obviously  intel 
ligible  order  and  certainty  in  the  structural  aspect 
of  works.  It  was  a  necessary  condition  for  art  to 
go  through ;  and  though  not  by  any  means  the 
sole  or  supreme  condition  of  excellence,  it  is  not 
strange  that  the  satisfaction  derived  from  the 
sense  of  its  achievement  should  cause  people,  in 
social  circumstances  which  were  peculiarly  fa 
vourable,  to  put  disproportionate  stress  upon  it ; 
and  that  modern  writers  who  have  not  been  able 
to  keep  pace  with  the  inevitable  march  and  change 
in  the  conditions  of  musical  utterance  should  still 
insist  on  it  as  if  it  were  the  ultimate  aim  of  art : 
whereas  in  fact  its  prominence  in  that  epoch  was 
a  passing  phase  having  considerable  dependence 
upon  unique  social  conditions,  and  its  existence 
in  art  at  any  time  is  only  one  of  numberless  con 
stituent  elements.  The  condition  of  art  of  that 
time  enabled  the  .greatest  composers  to  express 
the  utmost  of  their  ideas,  and  to  satisfy  their 
audiences,  within  the  limits  of  a  very  simple  group 
of  harmonies.  And  this  simplified  the  whole  pro 
cess  of  building  their  works  to  the  utmost.  Haydn 
manipulates  the  resources  which  lie  within  such 
limits  to  admiration.  Hardly  any  composer  so 
successfully  made  uniformity  out  of  compounded 
diversity  on  a  small  scale.  He  delights  in 
making  the  separate  limbs  of  a  subject  of  different 
lengths,  and  yet,  out  of  their  total  sum,  attaining 
a  perfect  and  convincing  symmetry.  The  har 
monic  progression  of  the  subjects  is  uniformly 
obedient  to  the  principles  of  a  form  which  is  on  a 
preconceived  plan,  and  without  some  such  device 


SONATA. 

the  monotony  of  well-balanced  phrases  must  soon 
have  become  wearisome.  With  regard  to  the 
actual  distribution  of  the  movements,  Haydn 
does  not  depart  from  that  already  familiar  in  the 
works  of  earlier  composers.  Out  of  40  sonatas, 
comprising  works  for  pianoforte  alone,  for  piano 
forte  with  accompaniment,  and  some  adaptations, 
10  have  only  two  movements,  29  have  three, 
and  only  one  has  four,  this  last  comprising  the 
only  Scherzando  in  the  whole  collection  of  one 
hundred  and  eleven  movements.  Nearly  all  the 
first  movements  are  in  binary  form  with  an  occa 
sional  rondo ;  the  last  is  often  a  rondo,  more 
often  in  binary  form,  and  occasionally  a  theme 
and  variations.  In  the  sonatas  which  have  more 
than  two  movements,  at  least  twice  as  many  re 
tain  the  old  adagio  as  those  which  have  the 
characteristic  minuet  and  trio ;  but  as  a  set-off, 
several  of  the  sonatas  either  conclude  with  a 
dance  form,  or  a  rondo,  or  set  of  variations  in  the 
'Tempo  di  Minuetto.' 

The  actual  structure  of  the  movements  pre 
sents  occasional  peculiarities.  In  a  few  cases 
the  pure  old  binary  type,  with  repeat  of  first 
subject  at  the  beginning  of  the  second  half,  re 
appears.  A  considerable  number  are  in  the 
composite  form,  in  which  the  first  subject  makes 
two  distinct  reappearances  in  full  in  the  second 
half,  as  before  described.  The  two  halves  of  the 
movement  are  generally,  but  not  invariably,  re 
peated — the  first  half  almost  invariably ;  in  fact, 
the  absence  of  the  double  bar  in  the  middle  of 
the  Sonata  in  D  major  (no.  32  in  Breitkopf  & 
Hartel's  edition)  appears  to  be  the  only  exception. 
The  distribution  of  subjects  in  balancing  keys 
appears  to  be  absolutely  without  exception,  as 
tonic  and  dominant,  or  tonic  minor  and  relative 
major.  Each  movement  has  usually  two  distinct 
subjects,  but  occasionally,  as  is  observable  in 
Haydn's  predecessors,  the  second  is  not  strongly 
marked.  In  a  few  cases  the  same  subject  serves 
for  both  sections.  There  are  a  few  examples  of 
his  anticipating  Beethoven's  usage  of  introducing 
clear  accessory  subjects  to  carry  on  the  sections. 
Thus  the  above-mentioned  Sonata  in  D  major 
begins  as  follows : — 


and  after  completing  the  period  proceeds  in  the 
same  key  with  this  distinct  accessory  subject : 


I 


^ 


etc. 


Haydn  illustrates  forcibly  the  usefulness  of  de 
fining  the  main  division  of  the  movement,  not 
only  by  emphasising  the  harmonic  formula  of  the 
cadence,  but  by  appending  to  it  a  characteristic 
phrase  or  figure,  the  position  of  which,  imme 
diately  before  the  full  stop,  renders  it  particularly 
easy  to  recognise.  The  purpose  and  fitness  of  this 


SONATA. 

has  been  already  discussed.  Haydn's  cadence^ 
figures  are  generally  peculiarly  attractive,  and 
seem  to  be  made  so  of  set  purpose.  The  follow 
ing  is  one  of  the  fullest  and  longest  illustrations, 
from  a  Sonata  in  E  b  : — 


As  a  rule  the  outlines  of  his  binary  movements 
are  more  persistently  regular  than  those  of  his 
rondos.  Haydn  was  the  first  composer  of  mark  to 
adopt  the  rondo  with  frequency  in  sonatas.  It  had 
existed  in  isolation  and  in  suites  for  a  long  while, 
and  examples  there  are  in  plenty  by  Couperin  and 
other  early  Frenchmen,  who  were  much  given  to 
it;  and  also  by  various  members  of  the  Bach 
family,  including  the  great  John  Sebastian.  But 
hundreds  of  sonatas,  from  the  highest  to  the 
lowest  grade,  may  be  taken  at  random  with  a 
fair  probability  of  not  finding  a  single  example. 
The  influence  of  the  opera  may  probably  be  here 
traced  again ;  in  the  set  tunes  and  dance  types 
as  significantly  as  in  the  general  structure.  How 
ever,  though  Haydn's  kind  of  rondo  is  peculiarly 
familiar  and  characteristic,  he  does  not  make  use 
of  the  form  in  his  sonatas  nearly  so  proportionately 
often  as  later  composers  do.  The  proportion  in 
comparison  with  Mozart  is  almost  as  one  to  two. 
The  value  and  appropriateness  of  this  form  is  a 
matter  of  opinion.  The  greatest  masters  have 
used  it  frequently,  and  Beethoven  with  the  pro- 
foundest  effect.  The  usage  of  some  other  com 
posers  may  be  fairly  described  as  obtrusively 
obvious,  and  it  lends  itself  with  greater  readiness 
than  any  other  plan  of  its  scope  to  frivolity  and 
commonplace.  Haydn's  subjects  are  often  singu 
larly  slight,  but  his  development  of  the  form  is 
almost  always  ingenious.  Thus  he  varies  his  dis 
position  of  the  episodes,  so  that  sometimes  the 
main  subject  and  a  single  episodical  subject  al 
ternate  in  different  circumstances  throughout ;  at 
other  times  they  are  disposed  so  as  to  resemble 
the  recapitulation  in  binary  form.  In  the  returns 
of  the  main  theme  he  always  exercises  some 
consideration.  In  hardly  any  case  does  he  simply 
repeat  the  theme  as  it  stands  throughout ;  com 
monly  each  reappearance  is  a  fresh  variation. 
Occasionally  the  middle  repeats  are  variations, 
and  the  first  and  last  statements  simple  and  iden 
tical  ;  and  sometimes  variations  of  theme  and 
episode  alternate.  In  all  such  points  his  readiness 


SONATA. 

and  energy  are  apparent,  and  make  his  treatment 
of  the  form  a  model  in  its  particular  line. 

The  slow  movements  of  all  the  composers  of 
sonatas  till  Beethoven's  time  are  rather  artificial 
and  inclined  to  pose,  owing  partly  to  the  weakness 
and  want  of  sustaining  power  in  their  instru 
ments.  They  contain  too  little  of  the  deep  and 
liberal  feeling  which  is  necessary  to  make  the 
highest  impression,  and  too  much  decorative  fin 
ger-play,  corresponding  no  doubt  to  the  roulades 
and  vocal  gymnastics  for  which  operatic  singers 
found  such  admirable  opportunities  in  the  slow 
beats  of  adagios.  Haydn's  management  of  such 
things  is  artistic,  and  he  occasionally  strikes  upon 
an  interesting  subject,  but  hardly  any  of  the 
movements  approach  to  the  qualities  expected  in 
the  ideal  slow  movement  of  modern  times. 

His  distribution  of  the  keys  of  the  movements 
is  simple.  In  some  of  the  earlier  Sonatas  all  three 
are  in  the  same,  or  major  and  minor  of  the  same 
key.  In.  more  mature  examples  he  adopts  the 
familiar  antithesis  of  subdominant,  which  in  later 
works  preponderates  so  strongly.  In  one  case 
he  adopts  a  very  unusual  antithesis.  This  is  in 
the  largest  and  most  elaborate  of  all  the  sonatas, 
of  which  the  first  and  last  movements  are  in  E  b, 
and  the  middle  movement  in  E  Q. 

One  point  requires  notice  in  connection  with 
his  violin  sonatas,  viz.  that  they  are  the  very  re 
verse  of  those  of  the  great  school  of  half  a  century 
earlier ;  for  inasmuch  as  with  them  the  violin  was 
everything,  with  Haydn  it  was  next  to  nothing. 
Except  in  obviously  late  sonatas  it  does  little  more 
than  timidly  accompany  the  pianoforte.  It  was 
in  this  manner  that  the  violin,  having  departed 
grandly  by  the  front  door  in  the  old  style,  crept 
back  again  into  modern  instrumental  music  by 
the  back.  But  small  as  such  beginnings  were, 
Haydn's  later  and  fuller  examples  are  the  osten 
sible  starting-point  of  a  class  of  music  which  in 
the  present  century  has  extended  the  domain  of 
the  solo  sonata,  by  enlarging  its  effective  scope, 
and  obtaining  a  new  province  for  experiment  in 
the  combination  of  other  instruments  with  the 
pianoforte  upon  equal  terms,  and  with  equal 
respect  to  their  several  idiosyncrasies. 

John  Christian  Bach,  the  youngest  son  of 
John  Sebastian,  was  Haydn's  contemporary  and 
junior  by  three  years.  In  his  day  he  was  con 
sidered  an  important  composer  for  the  pianoforte, 
and  his  style  is  held  to  have  had  some  influence 
upon  Mozart.  A  sonata  of  his,  in  B  b,  op.  1 7, 
is  fluent  and  easily  written,  but  not  particularly 
interesting,  and  thoroughly  in  the  style  of  the 
latter  part  of  the  iSth  century.  It  consists  of 
three  movements,  all  in  binary  form  of  the  older 
type.  Another  sonata,  in  C  minor,  is,  for  the 
date,  in  very  singular  form;  beginning  with  a 
slow  movement,  having  a  fugue  in  the  middle, 
and  ending  with  a  'Tempo  di  Gavotta.'  Its 
style  is  not  strikingly  massive,  but  there  are 
many  traits  in  it  which  show  that  his  parentage 
•was  not  entirely  without  influence.  The  fugue, 
though  ably  written,  has  too  much  of  the  hybrid 
effect  common  in  such  works,  after  the  harmonic 
structural  ideas  had  laid  strong  hold  of  men's 


SONATA. 


569 


minds,  to  be  worthy  of  comparison  with  the 
genuine  achievements  of  his  father.  The  style 
of  the  work  is  broad,  however,  and  some  ideas 
and  turns  of  expression  may  not  unreasonably 
be  taken  to  justify  the  influence  attributed  to 
him. 

The  difference  of  age  between  Haydn  and 
Mozart  was  twenty-four  years,  but  in  this  interval 
there  was  less  change  in  the  form  of  the  sonata 
than  might  be  expected.  It  was,  in  fact,  an  almost 
stationary  period,  when  the  attainment  of  satis 
factory  structural  principles  by  the  labours  of  a 
century  and  more  of  composers  left  men  time  to 
pause  and  contemplate  what  appeared  to  them 
to  be  perfection ;  the  rhythmic  wave  of  progress 
poised  almost  balanced  for  a  short  time  before 
the  rush  which  brought  about  an  unexpected 
culmination  in  Beethoven. 

The  difference  between  Haydn  and  Mozart  is 
plainly  neither  in  structure  nor  altogether  in 
style  of  thought  and  expression,  but  in  advantages 
of  temporal  position.  Haydn  began  nearer  to  the 
time  of  struggle  and  uncertainty.  He  found 
much  ready  to  his  hand,  and  he  tested  it  and 
applied  it,  and  improved  it ;  and  when  Mozart 
came  there  was  little  to  do  but  adapt  his  supreme 
gifts  of  fluency,  clearness,  and  beauty  of  melody 
to  glorify  the  edifice. 

The  progression  of  artistic  instinct  is  at  pre 
sent  an  unexplained  phenomenon ;  it  can  only 
be  judged  from  observation  that  the  children  of 
a  later  generation  are  born  with  a  predisposed 
facility  to  realise  in  perfect  clearness  the  forms 
which  preceding  generations  have  been  wander- 
ingly  and  dimly  striving  after.  It  is  possible 
that  the  affinity  between  genuine  music  and  the 
mental  conditions  of  the  race  is  so  close  that  the 
progress  of  the  latter  carries  the  former  with  it 
as  part  of  the  same  organic  development. '  At  all 
events,  Mozart  was  gifted  with  an  extraordinary 
and  hitherto  unsurpassed  instinct  for  formal  per 
fection,  and  his  highest  achievements  lie  not  more 
in  the  tunes  which  have  so  captivated  the  world, 
than  in  the  perfect  symmetry  of  his  best  works. 
Like  Haydn,  his  ideas  are  naturally  restricted 
within  limits  which  simplify  to  the  utmost  the 
development  of  the  form  which  follows  from  them. 
They  move  in  such  perfect  obedience  to  the  limits 
and  outlines  of  the  harmonic  progressions  which 
most  certainly  characterise  the  key,  that  the 
structural  system  becomes  architecturally  patent 
and  recognisable  to  all  listeners  that  have  any 
understanding.  In  his  time  these  formal  outlines 
were  fresh  enough  to  bear  a  great  deal  of  use 
without  losing  their  sweetness  ;  and  Mozart  used 
them  with  remarkable  regularity.  Out  of  thirty- 
six  of  his  best-known,  sonatas,  twenty-nine  are 
in  the  now  familiar  order  of  three  movements,  and 
no  less  than  thirty-three  have  the  first  movement 
in  binary  form.  That  binary  form  is  moreover  so 
regular,  that  the  same  pauses  and  the  same  suc 
cessions  of  harmony,  and  the  same  occurrences 
of  various  kinds,  may  often  be  safely  anticipated 
at  the  same  point  in  the  progress  of  the  move 
ments.  He  makes  some  use,  often  conspicuously, 
of  the  device  of  repeating  short  phrases  con- 


670 


SONATA. 


secutively,  which  has  already  been  described  in 
connection  with  Scarlatti's  work.  Thus  in  a 
Sonata  in  D  major  for  Violin  and  Pianoforte, 
the  first  section  of  the  first  movement  may  be 
divided  into  seven  distinct  passages,  each  of  which 
is  severally  repeated  in  some  form  or  other  con 
secutively.  There  are  some  peculiarities,  such  as 
the  introduction  of  a  new  subject  in  the  working- 
out  portion  of  the  work,  instead  of  keeping  con 
sistently  to  development  of  the  principal  ideas  ; 
and  the  filling  of  the  episodes  of  a  rondo  with 
a  variety  of  different  ideas,  severally  distinct; 
but  as  these  points  are  not  the  precursors 
of  further  development,  they  are  hardly  worth 
discussing.  It  only  requires  to  be  pointed  out 
that  occasionally  in  pianoforte  and  other  sonatas 
he  makes  experiments  in  novel  distribution  and 
entirely  original  manipulation  of  the  structural 
elements  of  binary  and  other  forms ;  which  is 
sufficient  to  prove  not  only  that  he  recognised 
the  fitness  of  other  outlines  besides  those  that 
he  generally  adopted,  but  that  he  was  capable 
of  adapting  himself  to  novel  situations,  if  there 
had  been  any  call  for  effort  in  that  direction. 
As  it  happened,  the  circumstances  both  of  musical 
and  social  life  were  unique,  and  he  was  enabled  to 
satisfy  the  highest  critical  taste  of  his  day  without 
the  effort  of  finding  a  new  point  of  departure. 

His  treatment  of  rondo-form  is  different  and 
less  elementary  than  Haydn's.  Haydn  most  com 
monly  used  a  very  decisively  sectional  system, 
in  which  every  characteristic  portion,  especially 
the  theme,  was  marked  off  distinct  and  complete. 
This  accorded  with  the  primitive  idea  of  rondos  as 
exemplified,  often  very  happily,  in  the  works  of 
early  French  composers,  and  in  certain  forms  of 
vocal  music.    The  root-idea  appears  in  the  most 
elementary  stages  of  musical  intelligence  as  a  dis 
tinct  verse  or  tune  which  forms  the  staple  of  the 
whole  matter,  and  is,  for  the  sake  of  contrast,  inter 
spersed  with  digressions  of  subordinate  interest. 
It  is  so  obvious  a  means  of  arriving  at  something 
like  structural  balance,  that  it  probably  existed 
in  times  even  before  the  earliest  of  which  evi 
dence  remains.     In  the  earliest  specimens  to  be 
found  in   sonatas,  the  traces  of  their  kinship 
can  be  clearly  followed.      Reference  has  been 
already  made  to  the  two  examples  in  the  sonatas 
by  Paradies,  which  consist  of  an  aria,  a  con 
trasting  passage,  and  then  the  aria  pure  and 
simple  again,  and  so  forth.     Haydn  adopted  the 
same  general  outline.   He  frequently  begins  with 
a  complete  theme  systematically  set  out  with 
double  bars  and  repeats,  and  a  full  conclusion. 
He  then   begins    something    entirely  different 
either  in  a  new  related  key,  or  in  the  minor 
of  the  principal  key,  and  makes  a  complete  whole 
of  that  also,  and  so  on  right  through,  alternating 
his   main   tune  with    one   or  more   others   all 
equally  complete.      Under  such   circumstances 
his  principle  of  giving  variations  at  each  return 
of  the  theme  or  repetition   of  an    episode  is 
almost  indispensable  to  avoid  monotony.    Mozart 
rarely  makes  any  point  of  this  plan  of  adopting 
variations   in  his  sonata-rondos,  because   it  is 
not  required.     He  does  not  often  cast  his  theme 


SONATA. 

in  such  extremely  distinct  outlines.  In  structure 
it  is  more  what  an  ordinary  binary  subject  would 
be ;  that  is,  complete  and  distinct  in  itself  as  an 
idea,  without  being  so  carried  out  as  to  make  its 
connection  with  the  rest  of  the  movement  a 
matter  of  secondary  rather  than  intrinsic  con 
sequence.  Haydn's  conception  is  perfectly  just 
and  rational,  but  Mozart's  is  more  mature.  The 
theme  and  its  episodes  are  more  closely  inter 
woven,  and  the  development  of  the  whole  has 
a  more  consistent  and  uniform  texture.  Mozart 
does  not  avoid  varying  his  theme ;  on  the  con 
trary,  he  constantly  puts  in  the  most  delicate 
strokes  of  detail,  and  of  graceful  adornment,  and 
sometimes  resorts  to  delightfully  ready  develop 
ment  of  its  resources ;  but  with  him  it  is  not  so 
indispensable,  because  his  conception  of  the  form 
gives  it  so  much  more  freedom  and  elasticity. 

The  central  movement  of  his  three-movement 
sonatas  is  almost  invariably  a  slow  one,  com 
monly  in  the  key  of  the  subdominant.  The  style 
of  these  is  characteristic  of  the  time;  that  is, 
rather  artificial  and  full  of  graces,  which  require 
to  be  given  with  a  somewhat  conscious  elegance 
of  manner,  not  altogether  consonant  with  the 
spirit  of  later  times.  They  rarely  touch  the  point 
of  feeling  expected  in  modern  movements  of  the 
kind,  because  the  conception  formed  of  the  proper 
function  of  the  slow  movement  in  his  time  was 
clearly  alien  to  that  of  the  ipth  century.  As 
specimens  of  elegance  and  taste,  however,  Mo 
zart's  examples  probably  attain  the  highest  point 
possible  in  their  particular  genus. 

The  technique  of  his  sonatas,  from  the  point  of 
view  of  instrumental  resource,  is  richer  and  fuller 
than  Haydn's,  but  still  thin  and  rather  empty 
in  sound  to  ears  that  are  accustomed  to  the 
wonderful  development  of  the  resources  of  the 
modern  pianoforte ;  but  the  refinement  and  self- 
containment  of  his  style  make  him  particularly 
acceptable  to  artists  who  idealise  finish  and  ele 
gance  in  solo  performance,  and  nicety  of  ensemble 
in  works  for  combined  instruments,  as  the  highest 
and  most  indispensable  condition  of  art.  His  in 
stinct  for  adapting  his  thoughts  to  instrumental 
idiosyncrasies  was  of  a  very  high  order  when  the 
instruments  were  familiar  and  properly  developed. 
This  with  the  pianoforte  was  not  yet  achieved, 
and  consequently  some  of  his  forms  of  expression 
are  hardly  adapted  to  its  nature,  and  seem  in 
these  days  to  be  rather  compromises  than  perfectly 
suitable  utterances. 

With  regard  to  the  technical  matter  of  the 
development  of  the  resources  of  the  pianoforte, 
Mozart's  contemporary,  Muzio  Clementi,  occu 
pies  a  most  important  position,      dementi,  m 
his  early  days,  according  to  his  own  admission, 
applied  himself  rather  to  the  development  of  th< 
resources  of  playing  than  to  the  matter^  to  be 
played,  and  attained  a  degree  and  a  kind 
mastery  which  no  one  before  his  time  had  heard 
the  like  of.     When  he  began  to  apply  himself 
more  to  the  matter,  this  study  served  him  m 
good  stead ;  and  his  divination  of  the  treatment 
most  appropriate  to  the  instrument,  expanded  by 
this  means  in  practical  application,  marks  his 


SONATA. 

sonatas  as  among  the  very  first  in  which  the 
genuine  qualities  of  modern  pianoforte  music  on 
a  large  scale  are  shown.   They  begin  to  approach 
to  that  broad  and  almost  orchestral  style  which 
is  sometimes   said  to  be  characteristic   of  Bee 
thoven  ;  and  the  use  of  octaves  and  fuller  combin 
ations  of  sound,  and  the  occasional  irruption  of 
passages  which  bring  into  play  stronger  muscles 
than  those  of  the  fingers,  are  all  in  the  direction 
of  modern  usage.  In  respect  of  structure,  it  is  not 
necessary  to  consider  more  than  that  he  commonly 
accepted  the  three^movement  type  of  sonata,  be 
ginning  with  a  movement  in  binary  form  and 
ending  with  a  rondo,  and  having  a  slow  movement 
in  the  middle.     His  handling  is  free  and  at  the 
same  time  thoroughly  under  control.     One  of  his 
characteristics   is   the   love    of  importing  little 
touches  of  learning  or  scientific  ingenuity  into 
the  treatment ;  as  in  the  Sonata  in  G  (of  four 
movements)  in  which  two  canons  in  direct  and 
contrary  motion  take  the  place  of  the  minuet 
and  trio.    In  another  sonata,  in  F,  one  figure  is 
woven  through  the  whole  substance  of  the  first 
movement,  appearing  in  the  different  sections  di 
minished  and  inverted,  and  in  various  phases  of 
expression  which  quite  alter  its  aspect.    His  slow 
movements  are  sometimes  equally  simple  and  ex 
pressive,  but  also  frequently  of  that  ornamental 
order  which  has  been  sufficiently  commented  on. 

In  one  celebrated  case  he  anticipated  the 
modern  taste  for  programme  by  calling  one  of 
his  longest  and  most  pretentious  sonatas  'Di- 
done  abbandonata.  Scena  tragica.'  But  ap 
pearance  of  dramatic  purpose  does  not  turn  him 
aside  from  regularity  of  form  any  more  than  in 
other  sonatas.  His  style  is  not  exempt  from  the 
family  likeness  which  is  observable  in  all  com 
posers  of  the  latter  part  of  the  century.  His 
ideas  are  large  and  broad,  and  not  unworthy  to 
have  exerted  some  influence  upon  both  Mozart  and 
Beethoven.  A  certain  dryness  and  reticence 
makes  him  unlikely  to  be  greatly  in  favour  in 
modern  times,  but  his  place  as  an  important 
figure  in  the  development  of  the  sonata  in  its 
relation  with  the  pianoforte  is  assured. 

One  further  composer  who  deserves  some  con 
sideration  in  connection  with  the  sonata  before 
Beethoven's  time  is  J.  L.  Dussek,  who  was 
born  ten  years  after  dementi,  and  soon  after 
Mozart.  His  most  noteworthy  characteristics 
are  an  individual  though  not  incisive  style,  and 
an  instinct  of  a  high  order  for  the  qualities 
and  requirements  of  the  pianoforte.  There  is 
some  diversity  in  point  of  value  between  his 
early  and  his  later  sonatas.  The  former  are 
rather  narrow  in  idea  and  structure,  whereas  the 
latter,  such  as  Opus  70  in  Ab,  are  quite  re 
markable  for  freedom  and  elaboration  of  form 
and  subject.  Both  in  this  sonata  and  in  the 
Opus  77  he  makes  use  of  the  hitherto  almost 
unknown  device  of  extending  the  effect  of  the 
first  sections  by  subordinate  transitions  as  well 
as  by  accessory  subjects.  In  the  first  movement 
of  Opus  70  there  is  the  unusual  feature  of  a  happy 
modulation  out  and  back  again  in  the  actual 
substance  of  the  second  subject — a  characteristic 


SONATA. 


571 


which  is  common  enough  in  the  works  of  such 
moderns  as  Schumann  and  Brahms,  but  was 
exceedingly  rare  in  Dussek's  time.  Another 
characteristic  which  Dussek  has  in  common  with 
more  modern  writers  is  the  infusion  of  a  certain 
amount  of  sense  and  sentiment  even  into  his 
passages  and  flourishes,  which  with  his  im 
mediate  predecessors  had  been  too  commonly 
barren.  He  also  takes  thought  to  enliven  his 
recapitulations  by  variation  or  ingeniously  di 
versified  transposition  of  order  in  the  ideas  (as 
in  Opus  77).  His  writing  for  the  instrument  is 
brilliant  and  sparkling,  and  has  certain  premo 
nitions  of  Weber  in  it.  The  ideas  are  sometimes, 
even  in  his  best  works,  trite  and  vapid,  but  more 
often  delicate  and  attractive.  The  slow  move 
ments  have  a  sustained  and  serious  manner,  also 
unusual  in  his  time,  and  said  to  be  derived  from 
his  having  studied  the  organ  considerably  in  his 
younger  days.  He  stands  historically  with 
giants  on  either  hand,  and  this  has  contributed 
to  make  him  appear  somewhat  of  a  parenthesis 
in  the  direct  course  of  sonata  development. 
Their  vastness  of  artistic  proportion  did  not 
however  suppress  his  personality,  or  extinguish 
his  individuality,  which  is  still  clear  in  his  own 
line,  and  has  exerted  some  influence  both  upon 
the  modern  style  of  playing,  and  also  upon  the 
style  of  musical  thought  of  a  few  modern  com 
posers  for  the  pianoforte  to  whom  the  giants 
did  not  strongly  appeal. 

The  direct  line  of  development  after  Haydn, 
Mozart,  and  dementi,  is  obviously  continued 
in  Beethoven.  As  we  have  pointed  out,  the 
changes  which  took  place  after  Emmanuel  Bach's 
labours  were  less  rapid  and  remarkable  than  in 
times  preceding.  The  finishing  touches  had  been 
put  to  the  structural  system,  and  men  were  so 
delighted  with  its  perfection  as  structure,  that 
they  were  content  to  hear  it  repeated  over  and 
over  again  without  calling  for  variety  or  indi 
viduality  in  the  treatment,  and  very  often  with 
out  caring  much  about  the  quality  of  the  thing 
said.  The  other  side  of  development  was  tech 
nical.  The  pianoforte  being  a  new  instrument, 
the  manner  of  musical  speech  best  adapted  to  it 
had  to  be  discovered.  With*  the  earlier  com 
posers  forms  of  expression  better  suited  to  other 
instruments  were  adopted ;  but  by  degrees 
experiments  in  effect  and  assiduous  attention  to 
the  capabilities  of  the  hand,  such  as  dementi 
gave  in  his  early  years,  had  brought  the  me 
chanism  of  expression  to  a  tolerably  consistent 
and  complete  state ;  so  that  when  Beethoven 
appeared  he  was  spared  the  waste  of  force  inci 
dent  to  having  to  overcome  elementary  problems 
of  instrumental  technique,  and  the  waste  of 
effect  incidental  to  compromises,  and  was  en 
abled  to  concentrate  all  his  powers  upon  the 
musical  material. 

Beethoven's  works  introduce  a  new  element 
into  the  problem,  and  one  that  complicates  mat 
ters  immeasurably.  With  his  predecessors 
structural  simplicity  had  been  a  paramount  con 
sideration,  and  often  straitened  somewhat  the 
freedom  of  the  idea.  The  actual  subjects  seem 


572 


SONATA. 


drilled  into  a  regular  shape,  admitting  of  very 
little  variation,  in  order  that  the  development 
of  the  movement  might  march  direct  and 
undeviating  in  its  familiar  course.  Musicians 
had  arrived  at  that  artificial  state  of  mind  which 
deliberately  chose  to  be  conscious  of  formal 
elements.  Their  misconception  was  a  natural 
one.  The  existing  conditions  of  art  might  lead 
a  man  to  notice  that  uncultivated  people  de 
lighted  in  simple  and  single  tunes,  and  that  culti 
vated  people  enjoyed  the  combination  of  several, 
when  disposed  according  to  certain  laws,  and  to 
conclude  from  this  that  the  disposition  was  of 
more  importance  than  the  matter.  But,  in  fact, 
the  mind  is  led  from  point  to  point  by  feelings 
which  follow  the  ideas,  and  of  these  and  their 
interdependence  and  development  it  is  necessarily 
conscious  ;  but  of  the  form  it  is  not  actively  con 
scious  unless  the  ideas  have  not  sufficient  force 
to  possess  it,  or  the  necessities  of  logical  conse 
quence  are  outrageously  violated.  It  is  only 
under  peculiar  social  and  intellectual  conditions 
that  structural  qualities  can  be  so  excessively 
emphasised.  The  production  of  a  genuine  master 
must  be  ultimately  reducible  to  logical  analysis, 
but  not  on  the  spot  or  at  once;  and  to  insist 
upon  art  being  so  immediately  verifiable  is  not 
only  to  set  the  conclusion  to  be  drawn  from  its 
historical  development  upside  down,  but  to  refer 
the  enjoyment  of  its  highest  achievements  to  the 
contemplation  of  dry  bones.  The  imagination 
and  the  reason  must  both  be  satisfied,  but  before 
all  things  the  imagination. 

In  the  middle  years  of  the  i8th  century 
the  imaginative  side  had  not  a  fair  chance. 
Music  was  too  much  dependent  upon  the  narrow 
limits  of  the  taste  of  polite  circles,  and  the  field 
of  appeal  to  emotion  was  not  free.  But  when 
at  last  the  natural  man  threw  off  the  incubus 
that  had  so  long  oppressed  him,  the  spiritual 
uprising  and  the  broadening  of  life  brought  a 
new  kind  of  vigour  into  art  and  literature. 
Beethoven  was  the  first  great  composer  to  whom 
the  limitless  field  of  unconventionalised  human 
emotion  was  opened,  and  his  disposition  was 
ready  for  the  opportunity.  Even  in  the  ordinary 
trifles  of  life  he  sometimes  showed  by  an  appar 
ently  superfluous  rebellion  against  polite  usages 
his  antipathy  to  artificiality,  and  conversely  the 
bent  of  his  sympathy  towards  unmistakeable 
realities  of  human  feeling.  He  thus  became  the 
prototype  of  genuine  modern  music,  and  the  first 
exponent  of  its  essential  qualities ;  and  the 
sonata  form  being  ready  in  its  main  outlines  for 
his  use,  and  artistic  instinct  having  achieved  the 
most  perfect  spontaneity  in  its  employment,  he 
took  possession  of  it  as  an  appropriate  mode  of 
formulating  some  of  the  richest  and  most  im 
pressive  of  his  thoughts.  With  him  the  idea 
asserted  its  rights.  This  is  not  to  say  that 
structure  is  ignored,  but  that  the  utmost  expan 
sion  and  liberty  is  admitted  in  the  expression  of 
the  vital  parts  which  can  be  made  consistent 
with  perfect  balance  in  the  unfolding  of  the 
whole ;  and  this  obviously  depends  upon  the 
powers  of  the  composer.  Under  such  circum- 


SONATA. 

stances  he  can  only  be  guided  by  the  highest 
development    of    instinct,    for    the    process    of 
balance  and  distribution  becomes  so  complicated 
that  it  is  almost  out  of  the  reach  of  conscious 
analysis,  much  more  of  the  dictation  of  science. 
The  evolution  of  this  vital  ingredient,  the  idea, 
is  so  obscure  and  difficult  that  it  is  out  of  the 
question  to  enter  upon  it  in  this  place.     It  is  an 
unhappy  fact  that  the  scientists  who  have  en 
deavoured  to  elucidate  music,  with  a  few  great 
and  honourable  exceptions,  foreseeing  that  the 
analysis  of  ideas  was  quite  beyond  their  reach, 
at  all  events  until  immense  advances  are  made 
in  the  sciences  which  have  direct  reference  to 
the  human  organism,  have  set  their  faces  to  the 
structural   elements,    as   if  music  consisted  of 
nothing  but  lines  and   surfaces.     The  existence 
of  idea  is  so  habitually  ignored  that  it  neces 
sarily  appears  to  be  nonexistent  in  their  estimate 
of  art.     On  the  other  hand,   the   philosophers 
who  have  said  anything  about  it  appear  on  the 
surface  not  to  be  in  accord;  though  in  reality 
their  views  are  both  compatible  and  necessary, 
but  require  a  more  detailed  experience  of  the 
art  and  of  its  historical  development  to  explain 
their  interaction.     But  meanwhile  the  external 
method  of  the  scientists  gains  disproportionate 
preeminence,  and  conscientious  people  feel  un 
easily  that  there  may  be  no  such  things  as  ideas 
at  all,  and  that  they  will  be   doing  better  to 
apply  themselves  to  mathematics.     And  yet  the 
idea  is  everything,  and  without  it  music  is  abso 
lutely  null  and  void ;   and  though  a  great  and 
comprehensive    mathematician    may   make   an 
analysis  after  the  event,    a  synthesis  which  is 
merely   the    fruit   of  his   calculations    will  be 
nothing  more  than  a  sham  and  an  imposture. 
In  fact  the  formulation  of  the  idea  is  a  most 
vital  matter  in  musical  history,  and  its  progress 
can  be  traced  from  the  earliest  times,  proceeding 
simultaneously  with   the   development   of  the 
general  structure  of  the  sonata.     The  expressive 
raw  material  was  drawn  from  various  sources. 
The  style  of  expression  developed  under  the  in 
fluences  of  religion  in  the  ages  preceding  the 
beginnings  of  instrumental  music,  supplied  some 
thing;  dance  music  of  all  orders,  mimetic  and 
merely  rhythmic,  supplied  much  ;   the  pseudo- 
realism  of  the  drama,  in  respect  of  vocal  inflexion 
and  imitations   of  natural  circumstances,  also 
something;   and  the  instincts  surviving  in  the 
race  from  countless  past  ages,  the  actual  cries 
arising  from  spontaneous  nervous  reaction,  and 
many  other  similar  causes,  had  a  share  in  sug 
gestion,  and  in  actual,  though  unrealised,  motive 
power.  And  all  these,  compounded  and  inseparably 
intermingled,  supplied  the  basis  of  the  expressive 
element  in  music.     Through  all  the  time  from 
Monteverde  to  Beethoven  this  expressive  element 
was  being  more  and  more  clearly  drawn  into  com 
pact  and  definite  proportions  ;   floating  at  first 
vaguely  on  the  surface,  springing  out  in  flashes  01 
exceptional  brightness  here  and  there,  and  at 
times  presenting  almost  perfect  maturity  by  fits 
of  individual  good  fortune ;   but  hardly  ever  so 
free  but  that  some  of  the  matrix  is  felt  to  be 


SONATA. 

clinging  to  the  ore.  It  obtained  complete  but 
restricted  symmetry  with  the  composers  imme 
diately  preceding  Beethoven,  but  arrived  only 
at  last  with  him  at  that  expansion  which  made 
it  at  once  perfect  and  intelligible,  and  yet  bound 
less  in  range  within  the  limits  of  the  art-material 
at  the  composer's  command. 

Prior  to  Beethoven,  the  development  of  a  long 
work  was  based  upon  antitheses  of  distinct  tunes 
and  concrete  lumps  of  subject  representing  sepa 
rate  organisms,  either  merely  in  juxtaposition, 
or  loosely  connected  by  more  or  less  empty 
passages.  There  were  ideas  indeed,  but  ideas 
limited  and  confined  by  the  supposed  necessities 
of  the  structure  of  which  they  formed  a  part. 
But  what  Beethoven  seems  to  have  aimed  at 
was  the  expansion  of  the  term  '  idea '  from  the 
isolated  subject  to  the  complete  whole ;  so  that 
instead  of  the  subjects  being  separate,  though 
compatible  items,  the  whole  movement,  or 
even  the  whole  work,  should  be  the  complete 
and  uniform  organism  which  represented  in  its 
entirety  a  new  meaning  of  the  word  'idea,'  of 
which  the  subjects,  in  their  close  connection 
and  inseparable  affinities,  were  subordinate  limbs. 
This  principle  is  traceable  in  works  before  his 
tune,  but  not  on  the  scale  to  which  he  carried 
it,  nor  with  his  conclusive  force.  In  fact,  the 
condition  of  art  had  not  been  sufficiently  mature 
to  admit  the  terms  of  his  procedure,  and  it  was 
harely  mature  enough  till  he  made  it  so. 

His  early  works  were  in  conformity  with  the 
style  and  structural  principles  of  his  predecessors; 
but  he  began,  at  least  in  pianoforte  works,  to 
build  at  once  upon  the  topmost  stone  of  their 
edifice.  His  earliest  sonatas  (op.  2)  are  on  the 
scale  of  their  symphonies.  He  began  with  the 
four -movement  plan  which  they  had  almost  en 
tirely  reserved  for  the  orchestra.  In  the  second 
sonata  he  already  produces  an  example  of  his  own 
peculiar  kind  of  slow  movement,  full,  rich,  deci 
sive  in  form,  unaffected  in  idea,  and  completely 
divested  of  the  elaborate  graces  which  had  been 
before  its  most  conspicuous  feature.  In  the 
same  sonata  also  he  produces  a  scherzo,  short 
in  this  instance,  and  following  the  lines  of 
the  minuet,  but  of  the  genuine  characteristic 
quality.  Soon,  in  obedience  to  the  spread  of  his 
idea,  the  capacity  of  the  instrument  seems  to 
expand,  and  to  attain  an  altogether  new  richness 
of  sound,  and  a  fullness  it  never  showed  before, 
as  in  many  parts  of  the  4th  Sonata  (op.  7), 
especially  the  Largo,  which  shows  the  unmistake- 
able  qualities  which  ultimately  expanded  into 
the  unsurpassed  slow  movement  of  the  Opus  106. 
As  early  as  the  2nd  Sonata  he  puts  a  new 
aspect  upon  the  limits  of  the  first  sections ;  he 
not  only  makes  his  second  subject  in  the  first 
movement  modulate,  but  he  develops  the  cadence- 
figure  into  a  very  noticeable  subject.  It  is  for 
tunately  unnecessary  to  follow  in  detail  the 
various  ways  in  which  he  expanded  the  struc 
tural  elements  of  the  sonata,  as  it  has  already 
been  described  in  the  article  BEETHOVEN,  and 
other  details  are  given  in  the  article  FORM.  In 
respect  of  the  subject  and  its  treatment,  a  for- 


SONATA. 


573 


tunate  opportunity  is  offered  by  a  coincidence 
between  a  subordinate  subject  in  a  sonata  of 
Haydn's  in  C,  and  a  similar  accessory  in  Beetho 
ven's  Sonata  for  cello  and  pianoforte  in  A  major 
(op.  59),  which  serves  to  illustrate  pregnantly 
the  difference  of  scope  which  characterises  their 
respective  treatment.  Haydn's  is  as  follows  : — 


=$ 


I 


^^^ 
:*==*^— t 


^ 


etc. 

=j—  —  q 

etc. 

r  r    r 

J  r 

574 


SONATA. 


As  has  been  already  explained,  an  expansion  of 
this  kind  makes  inevitable  a  similar  expansion 
in  the  whole  structure  of  the  movement,  and  a 
much  wider  choice  of  relative  keys  than  simple 
tonic  and  dominant  in  the  expository  sections ; 
or  else  a  much  freer  movement  in  every  part  of 
the  sections,  and  emphasis  upon  unexpected  re 
lations  of  harmony.    Even  without  this,  the  new 
warmth  and  intensity  of  the  subject  precludes 
mere  reiteration  of  the  accustomed  usages,  and 
necessitates  a  greater  proportionate  vitality  in 
the  subordinate  parts  of  the  work.     The  relative 
heat  must  be  maintained,  and  to  fall  back  upon 
familiar  formulas   would  clearly  be   a  jarring 
anomaly.     In  this  manner  the  idea  begins   to 
dictate   the   form.     But  in  order  to  carry  out 
in  equal  measure  the  development  of  the  idea, 
every  resource  that  the  range    of  music   can 
supply  must  be  admissible  to  him  that  can  wield 
it  with  relevance.     Hence  Beethoven,  as  early  as 
Opus  31,  no.  2,  reintroduces  instrumental  recita 
tive  with  extraordinary  effect.  Later,  he  resumes 
the  rhapsodical  movement  which  Bach  and  earlier 
composers  had  employed  in  a  different  sense,  as 
in  the  Sonata  in  Eb,  op.  81,  and  in  the  third 
division  of  that  in  A,  op.  101,  and  in  the  most 
romantic  of  romantic  movements,  the  first  in  E 
major  of  op.  109.     And  lastly,  he  brings  back 
the  fugue  as  the  closest  means   of  expressing 
a  certain  kind  of  idea.     In  these  cases  the  fugue 
is  not  a  retrogression,  nor  a  hybrid,  but  a  new 
adaptation  of  an  old  and  invaluable  form  under 
the  influence  of  perfectly  assimilated  harmonic 
principles.  The  great  fugue  in  the  Sonata  in  Bb, 
op.  1 06,  for  instance,  is  not  only  extraordinary 
as  a  fugue,  but  is  distributed  in  a  perfectly  ideal 
balance  of  long  contrasting  periods  in  different 
states  of  feeling,  culminating  duly  with  a  su 
preme  rush  of  elaborate  force,  as  complex  and  as 
inexorable  as  some  mighty  action  of  nature.     In 
these  sonatas  Beethoven  touches  all  moods,  and 
all  in  the  absolute  manner  free  from  formality 
or  crude  artifice,  which  is  the  essential  charac 
teristic  of  genuine  modern  music.     In  a  few  of 
the  earlier  sonatas  he  reverts  to  manners  and 
structural   effects  which  are  suggestive  of  the 
principles  of  his  predecessors.     But  these  occa 
sional  incursions  of  external  influence  are  with 
rare  exceptions  inferior  to  the  works  in  which 
his  own  original  force  of  will  speaks  with  genuine 
and  characteristic  freedom.     The  more  difficult 
the  problem  suggested  by  the  thought  which  is 
embodied  in  the  subject,  the  greater  is  the  result. 
The  full  richness  of  his  nature  is  not  called  out 
to  the  strongest  point  till  there  is  something  pre- 
ternaturally  formidable  to  be  mastered.     The 
very  statement  of  the  opening  bars  of  such  sonatas 
as  that  in  D  minor,  op.  31,  no.  2 ;   C  major,  op. 
53 ;  F  minor,  op.  57 ;  Bb,  op.  106  :  C  minor,  op. 
ill,  is  at  such  a  level  of  daring  breadth  and 
comprehensive  power,  that  it  becomes  obvious 
in  a  moment  that  the  work  cannot  be  carried  out 
on   equal  proportionate  terms   without   almost 
superhuman  concentration,  and  unlimited  com 
mand   of  technical  resources,    both    in  respect 
of  the  instrument  and  the  art  of  expression.     In 


SONATA. 

such  cases,  Beethoven  rises  to  a  height  which  has 
only  been  attained  by  two  or  three  composers  in 
the  whole  history  of  music,  in  that  sublimity 
which  is  almost  his  peculiar  monopoly.     But, 
fortunately  for  average  beings,  and  average  moods 
of  people  who  have  not  always  a  taste  for  the 
sublime,  he  shows  elsewhere,  on  a  less  exalted 
scale,  the  highest  ideals  of  delicate  beauty,  and 
all  shades  of  the  humours  of  mankind,  even  to 
simple  exuberant  playfulness.     The  beauty  and 
the  merriment  often  exist  side  by  side,  as  in  the 
exquisite  little  Sonata  in  G,  op.  14,  no.  2,  and 
in  that  in  Fjf  major,  op.  78;   and  in  a  loftier 
and  stronger  spirit  in  company  with  more  com 
prehensive  ranges  of  feeling,  in  the  Sonata  in  A, 
op.  101.    In  all  these  and  many  more  there  is  an 
ideal  continuity  and  oneness  which  is  musically 
felt  even  where  there  is  no  direct  external  sign 
of  the  connection.     In  a  few,  however,  there  are 
signs  of  more  than  this.    In  the  Bb  Sonata,  op. 
106,  for  instance,  the  similar  disposition  of  inter 
vals  in  the  subjects  of  the  various  movements  has 
led  to  the  inference  that  he  meant  to  connect 
them  by  transformations  of  one  principal  subject 
or  germ.     The  same  occurs  with  as  much  pro 
minence  in  the  Sonata  in  Ab,  op.  no,  which  is 
in  any  case  a  specimen  where  the  oneness  and 
continuity  are  peculiarly  felt.   It  is  possible  that 
the  apparent  transformations  are  not  so  much 
conscious  as  the  result  of  the  conditions  of  mind 
which  were  necessary  to  produce  the  oneness  of 
effect,  since  concentration  upon  any  subject  is 
liable  to  exert  influence  upon  closely  succeeding 
action,  whether  of  the  mind  or  body,  and  to  as 
similate  the  fruit  unconsciously  to  the  form  of 
the  object  contemplated.     This,  however,  would 
not  lessen  the  interest  of  the  fact,  but  would 
possibly  rather  enhance  it.     It  only  affects  the 
question  whether  or  no  Beethoven  consciously 
reasoned  about  possible  ways  of  extending  and 
enhancing  the  opportunities  of  sonata-form — too 
large  a  subject  to  be  entered  upon  here.  As  a  rule, 
great  masters  appear  to  hit  upon  such  germinal 
principles  in  the  process  of  composition,  without 
exactly  formulating  them  in  so  many  equivalent 
terms ;  and  those  who  come  after  note  the  facts 
and  apply  them  as  useful  resources,  or  sometimes 
as  invaluable  starting-points  of  fresh  lines  of 
development.       It    is    a    noticeable   fact   that 
Beethoven  only  seldom  indicated  a  programme, 
and  it  is  extremely  rare  in  him  to  find  even  the 
dimmest   suggestions   of  realism.      In  fact,  as 
must  be  true  of  all  the  highest  music,  a  work  of 
his  is  not  representative  of  a  story,  but  of  a 
mental  process.     Even  if  it  deals  with  a  story  it 
does  not  represent  the  circumstances,  but  the 
condition  of  mind  which  results  from  its  con 
templation  ;    or,    in   other  words,   the  musical 
counterpart  of  the  emotion  to  which  it  gives 
rise ;   and  it  is   the  coherency  and  consistent 
sequence  of  the  emotions  represented  which  pro 
duce  the  effect  of  oneness  on  the  colossal  scale 
of  his  greatest  works,  which  is  Beethoven's  crown 
ing  achievement.     With  him  the  long  process  of 
development  appears  to  find  its  utmost  and  com 
plete  culmination ;  and  what  comes  after,  and  in 


SONATA. 

Sight  of  Ms  work,  can  be  little  more  than 
commentary.  It  may  be  seen,  without  much 
effort,  that  mankind  does  not  achieve  more  than 
one  supreme  triumph  on  the  same  lines  of  art. 
When  the  conditions  of  development  are  ful 
filled  the  climax  is  reached,  but  there  is  not  more 
than  one  climax  to  each  crescendo.  The  con 
ditions  of  human  life  change  ceaselessly,  and 
with  them  the  phenomena  of  art,  which  are 
their  counterpart.  The  characteristics  of  the 
art  of  any  age  are  the  fruit  of  the  immediate 
past,  as  much  as  are  the  emotional  and  intel 
lectual  conditions  of  that  age.  They  are  its 
signs,  and  it  is  impossible  to  produce  in  a  suc 
ceeding  age  a  perfect  work  of  art  in  the  same 
terms  as  those  which  are  the  direct  fruit  of  a 
different  and  earlier  group  of  causes ;  and  it  is 
partly  for  this  reason  that  attempts  to  return  to 
earlier  conditions  of  art,  which  leave  out  the 
essential  characteristics  of  contemporary  feeling, 
invariably  ring  false. 

The  time  produced  other  real  men  besides 
Beethoven,  though  not  of  his  stamp.  Weber 
and  Schubert  were  both  of  the  genuine  modern 
type,  genuinely  musical  through  and  through, 
though  neither  of  them  was  a  born  writer  of 
sonatas  as  Beethoven  was.  Beethoven  possessed, 
together  with  the  supremest  gift  of  ideas,  a 
power  of  prolonged  concentration,  and  the  cer 
tainty  of  self-mastery.  This  neither  Weber  nor 
Schubert  possessed.  Beethoven  could  direct  his 
thought  with  infallible  certainty ;  in  Weber  and 
Schubert  the  thought  was  often  too  much  their 
master,  and  they  both  required,  to  keep  them 
perfectly  certain  in  the  direction  of  their  original 
musical  matter,  the  guiding  principle  of  a  con 
sciously  realised  dramatic  or  lyrical  conception, 
which  was  generally  supplied  to  them  from 
without.  As  should  be  obvious  from  the  above 
survey  of  the  process  of  sonata  development,  the 
absolute  mastery  of  the  structural  outlines,  the 
sureuess  of  foot  of  the  strong  man  moving,  unaided, 
but  direct  in  his  path,  amidst  the  conflicting 
suggestions  of  his  inspiration,  is  indispensable  to 
the  achievement  of  great  and  genuine  sonatas. 
The  more  elaborate  the  art  of  expression  be 
comes,  the  more  difficult  the  success.  Beethoven 
probably  stood  just  at  the  point  where  the  ex- 
tremest  elaboration  and  the  most  perfect  mastery 
of  combination  on  a  large  scale  were  possible. 
He  himself  supplied  suggestion  for  yet  further 
elaboration,  and  the  result  is  that  the  works  of 
his  successors  are  neither  so  concentrated  nor  so 
well  in  hand  as  his.  Weber  was  nearest  in 
point  of  time,  but  his  actual  mastery  of  the  art 
of  composition  was  never  very  certain  nor 
thoroughly  regulated,  though  his  musical  in 
stincts  were  almost  marvellous.  He  had  one 
great  advantage,  which  was  that  he  was  a  great 
pianist,  and  had  the  gift  to  extend  the  resources 
of  the  instrument  by  the  invention  of  new  and 
characteristic  effects ;  and  he  was  tolerably  suc 
cessful  in  avoiding  the  common  trap  of  letting 
effect  stand  for  substance.  Another  advantage 
was  his  supreme  gift  of  melody.  His  tunes  are 
for  the  most  part  of  the  old  order,  but  infused 


SONATA. 


575 


with  new  life  and  heat  by  a  breath  from  the 
genius  of  the  people.  His  two  best  sonatas,  in 
Ab  and  D  minor,  are  rich  in  thought,  forcible, 
and  genuinely  full  of  expression.  He  always 
adopts  the  plan  of  four  movements,  and  disposes 
them  in  the  same  order  as  Beethoven  did.  His 
treatment  of  form  is  also  full  and  free,  and  he 
often  imports  some  individuality  into  it.  As 
simple  instances  may  be  taken — the  use  of  the 
introductory  phrase  in  the  first  movement  of  the 
Sonata  in  C,  in  the  body  of  the  movement ;  the 
rondo  structure  of  the  slow  movements,  especi 
ally  in  the  Sonata  in  D  minor,  which  has  a  short 
introduction,  and  elaborate  variations  in  the 
place  of  exact  returns  of  the  subject ;  and  the 
interspersion  of  subjects  in  the  first  movement 
of  the  Sonata  in  E  minor,  op.  70,  so  as  to 
knit  the  two  sections  of  the  first  half  doubly 
together.  An  essentially  modern  trait  is  his 
love  of  completing  the  cycle  of  the  movement 
by  bringing  in  a  last  allusion  to  the  opening 
features  of  the  whole  movement  at  the  end, 
generally  with  some  new  element  of  expression 
or  vivacity.  Specially  noticeable  in  this  respect 
are  the  first  and  last  (the  '  Moto  perpetuo')  of  the 
C  major,  the  last  of  the  Ab,  and  the  first  and 
last  in  both  the  D  minor  and  E  minor  Sonatas. 
Weber  had  an  exceptional  instinct  for  dance- 
rhythms,  and  this  comes  out  very  remarkably  in 
some  of  the  minuets  and  trios,  and  in  the  last 
movement  of  the  E  minor. 

As  a  whole  the  Weber  group  is  a  decidedly 
important  item  in  pianoforte  literature,  instinct 
with  romantic  qualities,  and  aiming  at  elaborate 
expressiveness,  as  is  illustrated  by  the  numerous 
directions  in  the  Ab  Sonata,  such  as  '  con  anima,' 
'con  duolo,'  'con  passione,'  'con  molt'  affetto,' 
and  so  forth.  These  savour  to  a  certain  extent 
of  the  opera,  and  require  a  good  deal  of  art  and 
musical  sense  in  the  variation  of  time  and  the 
phrasing  to  give  them  due  effect ;  and  in  this 
they  show  some  kinship  to  the  ornamental 
adagios  of  the  times  previous  to  Beethoven, 
though  dictated  by  more  genuinely  musical 
feelings. 

Schubert's  sonatas  do  not  show  any  operatic 
traits  of  the  old  manner,  but  there  is  plenty 
in  them  which  may  be  called  dramatic  in  a 
modern  sense.  His  instincts  were  of  a  preemi 
nently  modern  type,  and  the  fertility  of  his  ideas 
in  their  superabundance  clearly  made  the  self- 
restraint  necessary  for  sonata-writing  a  matter 
of  some  difficulty.  He  was  tempted  to  give 
liberty  to  the  rush  of  thought  which  possessed 
him,  and  the  result  is  sometimes  delightful,  but 
sometimes  also  bewildering.  There  are  move 
ments  and  even  groups  of  them  which  are  of  the 
supremest  beauty,  but  hardly  any  one  sonata 
which  is  completely  satisfactory  throughout.  His 
treatment  of  form  is  often  daring  even  to  rash 
ness,  and  yet  from  the  point  of  view  of  principle 
offers  but  little  to  remark,  though  in  detail 
some  perfectly  magical  feats  of  harmonic  pro 
gression  and  strokes  of  modulation  have  had  a 
good  deal  of  influence  upon  great  composers 
of  later  times.  The  point  which  he  serves  to 


576 


SONATA. 


illustrate  peculiarly  in  the  history  of  music  i8 
the   transition  from  the  use   of   the   idea,    as 
shown  in  Beethoven's  Sonatas  on  a  grand  and 
richly-developed  scale,  to  the  close  and  intensely 
emotional  treatment  of  ideas  in  a  lyrical  manner, 
which  has  as  yet  found  its  highest  exponent  in 
Schumann.     In  this  process  Schubert  seems  to 
stand  midway — still  endeavouring   to   conform 
to  sonata  ways,   and  yet  frequently  overborne 
by  the  invincible  potency  of  the  powers  his  own 
imagination  has   called   up.     The   tendency  is 
further  illustrated   by  the   exquisite  beauty  of 
some  of  the  smaller  and  more  condensed  move 
ments,  which  lose  nothing  by  being  taken  out  of 
the  sonatas ;   being,  like  many  of  Schumann's, 
specimens    of   intense    concentration    in    short 
space,  the  fruit  of  a  single  flash  of  deep  emo 
tion.     Among  the  longer  movements,   the  one 
which  is  most  closely  unified  is  the  first  of  the 
A  minor,    op.  143,   in  which  a  feature   of  the 
first  subject  is  made  to  preponderate  conspicu 
ously  all  through,  manifestly  representing  the 
persistence  of  a  special  quality  of  feeling  through 
the  varying  phases  of  a  long  train  of  thought. 
Like  many  other  movements,  it  has  a  strong 
dramatic  element,  but  more  under  appropriate 
control  than  usual. 

As  a  whole,  though  illustrating  richly  many 
of  the  tendencies  of  modern  music,  the  Sonatas 
cannot  be  taken  as  representing  Schubert's 
powers  as  a  composer  of  instrumental  music  so 
satisfactorily  as  his  Quartets,  his  String  Quintet, 
and  some  of  his  finest  Symphonies.  In  these  he 
often  rose  almost  to  the  highest  point  of  musical 
possibility.  And  this  serves  further  to  illustrate 
the  fact  that  since  Beethoven  the  tendency  has 
been  to  treat  the  sonata-form  with  the  fresh  oppor 
tunities  afforded  by  combinations  of  instruments, 
rather  than  on  the  old  lines  of  the  solo  sonata. 

Two  other  composers  of  sonatas  of  Beethoven's 
time  require  notice.  These  are  Woelfl  and 
Hummel.  The  former  chiefly  on  account  of  his 
once  celebrated  sonata  called  '  Ne  plus  ultra, ' 
in  which  he  showed  some  of  the  devices  of 
technique  which  he  was  considered  to  have  in 
vented — such  as  passages  in  thirds  and  sixths, 
and  ingenious  applications  of  the  shake.  The 
matter  is  poor  and  vapid,  and  as  throwing  light 
upon  anything  except  his  powers  as  a  player, 
is  worthless.  Its  very  title  condemns  it,  for 
Woelfl  had  the  advantage  of  being  Beethoven's 
junior;  and  it  is  astonishing  how,  by  the  side 
of  the  genuine  difficulty  of  Beethoven's  master 
pieces,  such  a  collection  of  tricks  could  ever  have 
been  dignified,  even  by  the  supposition  of  being 
particularly  difficult.  It  seems  impossible  that 
such  work  should  have  had  any  influence  upon 
genuinely  musical  people;  but  the  sonata  has 
all  the  signs  of  a  useful  piece  for  second-rate 
popular  occasions ;  for  which  the  variations  on 
'Life  let  us  cherish'  would  doubtless  be  particu 
larly  effective. 

Hummel  in  comparison  with  Woelfl  was  a 
giant,  and  certainly  had  preeminent  gifts  as  a 
pianoforte-player.  Like  Weber  he  had  an  apti 
tude  for  inventing  effects  and  passages,  but  he 


SONATA. 

applied  them  in  a  different  manner.    He  was  of 
that  nature  which  cultivates  the  whole  technical 
art  of  speech  till  able  to  treat  it  with  a  certainty 
which  has  all  the  effect  of  mastery,  and  then 
instead  of  using  it  to  say  something,  makes  it 
chiefly  serviceable  to  show  off  the  contents  of 
his  finger  repertoire.     However,  his  technique  is 
large  and  broad,   full  of  sound  and  brilliancy, 
and  when  the  works  were  first  produced  and 
played  by  himself  they  must   have  been   ex 
tremely  astonishing.  His  facility  of  speech  is  also 
wonderful,  but  his  ideas  were  for  the  most  part 
old-fashioned,  even  when  he  produced  them — for 
it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  he  was  eight  years 
younger  than  Beethoven  and  twenty- six  younger 
than  dementi.     The  spirit  which  seems  to  rule 
him  is  the  consciousness  of  a  pianist  before  an 
audience,  guided  by  the  chances  of  display.    His 
modulations   are  free  and  bold,   but  they  are 
often  superfluous,  because  the  ideas  are  not  on 
the  level  of  intensity  or  broad  freedom  which 
necessitates  or  even  justifies  them.    He  probably 
saw  that  modulation  was  a  means  of  effect,  but 
did  not  realise  that  there  is  a  ratio  between  the 
qualities  of  subject  and  the  development  of  the 
movement  that  springs  from  it.     From  this  it 
will  be  obvious  that  his  sonatas  are  not  written 
in  the  mood  to  produce  works  that  are  musically 
important.     He  had  the  very  finest  possible  op 
portunities   through  living  in   Mozart's  house 
during  his  most  impressionable  days,  and  the 
fruit  is  sufficiently  noticeable  in  the  clearness 
with  which   he   distributes   his   structural  ele 
ments,  and  in  much  of  his  manner  of  expressing 
himself ;  but  he  had  not  the  inventive  gift  for 
musical  ideas,  which  contact  and  even  familiar 
intercourse   with    great   masters   seems  inade 
quate  to  supply.     The  survival  of  traits  char 
acteristic  of  earlier  times  is  illustrated  by  some 
of  his  slow  movements,  in  which  he  brought 
the  most  elaborate  forces  of  his  finished  tech 
nique   to    serve  in   the   old   style  of  artificial 
adagio,  where  there  is  a  hyper-elaborated  grace 
at  every  corner,  and  a  shake  upon  every  note 
that  is  long  enough ;  and  if  a  chord  be  suitable 
to  rest  upon  for  a  little,   it  is  adorned  with 
quite  a  collection  of  ingenious  finger  exercises, 
artificially  manipulated  scales  and  arpeggios,  and 
the  like  contrivances  ;  which  do  not  serve  to  de 
corate  anything  worthy  of  the  honour,  but  stand 
on  their  own  merits.    There  are  occasional  traits 
of  expression  and  strokes  of  force  in  the  sonatas, 
but  the  technique  of  the  pianist  preponderates 
excessively  over  the  invention  of  the  composer. 
At  the  same  time  the  right  and  masterly  use  of 
the  resources  of  an  instrument  is  not  by  any 
means  a  matter  of  small  moment  in  art,  and 
Hummel' s  is  right  and  masterly  in  a  very  re 
markable  degree. 

After  the  early  years  of  the  present  century, 
the  sonata,  in  its  conventional  sense  of  instru 
mental  work  for  a  solo  or  at  most  for  two  instru 
ments,  occupies  a  smaller  and  decreasing  space 
in  the  domain  of  music.  Great  composers  have 
paid  it  proportionately  very  little  attention,  and 
the  few  examples  they  afford  have  rather  an 


SONATA. 

effect  of  being  out  of  the  direct  line  of  their 
natural  mode  of  expression.     In  Chopin,  for  in 
stance,   the  characteristic  qualities   of  modern 
music,  in  the  treatment  of  ideas  in  short  and 
malleable  forms  specially  adapted  to  their  ex 
pression,  are  found  abundantly,  and  in  these  his 
genuine  qualities  are  most  clearly  displayed.   His 
sonatas  are  less  successful,  and  less  familiar  to 
musicians ;  because,  though  quite  master  enough 
to  deal  with  structure  clearly  and  definitely,  it 
was  almost  impossible  for  him  to  force  the  ideas 
within  the  limits  which  should  make  that  struc 
ture  relevant  and  convincing.  They  are  children 
of  a  fervid  and  impetuous  genius,  and  the  clas 
sical  dress  and  manners  do  not  sit  easily  upon 
them.    Moreover  the  luxuriant  fancy,  the  rich 
ness  and  high  colour  of  expression,  the  sensuous 
qualities  of  the  harmony,  all  tend  to  emphasise 
detail  in  a  new  and  peculiar  manner,   and  to 
make  the  sonata-principle  of  the  old  order  appear 
irrelevant.    The  most  successful  are  the  Sonatas 
in  Bb  minor  for  pianoforte,  op.  35,  and  that  for 
pianoforte  and  cello  in  G  minor,  op.  65.    In  both 
these  cases  the  first  movements,  which  are  gener 
ally  a  sure  test  of  a  capacity  for  sonata- writing, 
are  clearly  disposed,  and  free  from  superfluous 
wandering  and  from  tautology.     There  are  cer 
tain  idiosyncrasies  in  the  treatment  of  the  form, 
as  for  instance  in  the  recapitulation,  which  in 
both  cases  is  almost  limited  to  the  materials  of 
the  second  section,  the  opening  features  of  the 
movement  being  only  hinted  at  in  conclusion. 
The  subjects  themselves  are  fairly  appropriate 
to  the  style  of  movement,  and  are  kept  well 
in  hand,  so  that  on  the  whole,  in  these  two 
cases,  the  impression  conveyed  is  consistent  with 
the  sonata-character.     In  scherzos  Chopin  was 
thoroughly  at  home,  and  moreover  they  repre 
sent  a  province  in  which  far  more  abandonment 
is  admissible.      In  both  sonatas  they  are  suc 
cessful,  but   that   in  the  Pianoforte  Sonata   is 
especially   fascinating    and    characteristic,    and 
though  the  modulations  are  sometimes   rather 
reckless  the   main    divisions   are   well  propor 
tioned,  and  consequently  the  general  effect  of 
the  outlines  is  sufficiently  clear.   The  slow  move 
ments  of  both  are  very  well  known ;   that  of 
the  Pianoforte  Sonata  being  the  Funeral  March, 
and  the  other  being  a  kind  of  romance  in  Chopin's 
own  free  manner,  which  is  familiar  to  players 
on  the  cello.     The  last  movement  of  the  Piano 
forte  Sonata  is  a  short  but  characteristic  out 
break  of  whirling  notes,  in  general  character  not 
unlike  some  of  his  Preludes,  and  equally  free  and 
original  in  point  of  form,  but  in  that  respect  not 
without  precedent  among  the  last  movements  of 
early  masters.      In  the  mind  of  the  composer 
it  possibly  had  a  poetical  connection  with  the 
Funeral  March.     The  other  last  movement  is  a 
free  kind  of  rondo,  and  therefore  more  consonant 
with  the  ordinary  principles  of  form,  and  is  appro 
priate,  without  being  so  interesting  as  the  other 
movements.     The  total  effect  of  these  sonatas  is 
naturally  of  an  entirely  different  order  from  that 
of  the  earlier  types,  and  not  so  convincing  in 
oneness  as  the  works  of  great  masters  of  this  kind 

VOL.  HJ.   PT.  5. 


SONATA. 


577 


of  form;  they  are  nevertheless  plausible  as  wholes, 
and  in  details  most  effective ;  the  balance  and  ap 
propriate  treatment  of  the  two  instruments  in  the 
op.  65  being  especially  noteworthy.  The  other 
sonatas  for  pianoforte,  in  C  minor  and  B  minor, 
are  more  unequal.  The  first  appears  to  be  an 
early  work,  and  contains  some  remarkable  ex 
periments,  one  of  which  at  least  has  value, 
others  probably  not.  As  examples  may  be  men 
tioned  the  use  of  5  -4  time  throughout  the  slow 
movement,  and  the  experiment  of  beginning  the 
recapitulation  of  the  first  movement  in  Bb  minor, 
when  the  principal  key  is  C  minor.  In  this 
sonata  he  seems  not  to  move  with  sufficient  ease, 
and  in  the  B  minor,  op.  58,  with  something  too 
much  to  have  the  general  aspect  of  a  successful 
work  of  the  kind.  The  technical  devices  in  the 
latter  as  in  the  others  are  extremely  elaborate 
and  effective,  without  being  offensively  obtrusive, 
and  the  ideas  are  often  clear  and  fascinating ;  but 
as  a  complete  and  convincing  work  it  is  hardly 
successful. 

Sonatas  which  followed  implicitly  the  old 
lines  without  doing  more  than  formulate  sub 
jects  according  to  supposed  laws  do  not  require 
any  notice.  The  mere  artificial  reproduction  of 
forms  that  have  been  consciously  realised  from 
observation  of  great  works  of  the  past  without 
importing  anything  original  into  the  treatment, 
is  often  the  most  hopeless  kind  of  plagiarism, 
and  far  more  deliberate  than  the  accidents  of 
coincidence  in  ideas  which  are  obvious  to  super 
ficial  observers. 

As  examples  of  independent  thought  working 
in  a  comparatively  untried  field,  Mendelssohn's 
six  sonatas  for  the  organ  have  some  import 
ance.  They  have  very  little  connection  with  the 
Pianoforte  Sonata,  or  the  history  of  its  develop 
ment  ;  for  Mendelssohn  seems  to  have  divined 
that  the  binary  and  similar  instrumental  forms 
of  large  scope  were  unsuitable  to  the  genius  of 
the  instrument,  and  returned  to  structural  prin 
ciples  of  a  date  before  those  forms  had  become 
prominent  or  definite.  Their  chief  connection 
with  the  modern  sonata  type  lies  in  the  distri 
bution  of  the  keys  in  which  the  respective  move- 
j  ments  stand,  and  the  broad  contrasts  in  time  and 
character  which  subsist  between  one  division  or 
movement  and  another.  Different  members  of 
the  group  represent  different  methods  of  dealing 
with  the  problem.  In  the  large  movements  fugal 
and  contrapuntal  principles  predominate,  some 
times  alternating  with  passages  of  a  decidedly 
harmonic  character.  In  movements  which  are 
not  absolute  fugues  the  broad  outlines  of  form 
are  commonly  similar  to  those  already  described 
as  exemplified  in  Bach's  Sonatas,  and  in  the  first 
and  last  movements  of  his  '  Concerto  dans  le 
style  Italian.'  This  form  in  its  broadest  signi 
ficance  amounts  to  a  correspondence  of  well- 
defined  sections  at  the  beginning  and  end,  with  a 
long  passage  of  'free  fantasia,'  sometimes fugally 
developed,  in  the  middle.  The  clearest  example 
in  these  sonatas  is  the  first  movement  of  the 
3rd  Sonata,  in  A  major,  in  which  the  correspond 
ing  divisions  at  either  end  are  long,  and  strongly 


673 


SONATA. 


contrasted  in  the  modern  quality  and  more 
simultaneous  motion  of  the  parts,  with  the 
elaborate  fugal  structure  of  the  middle  divi 
sion.  In  the  last  movement  of  the  Sonata  in 
Bb  the  corresponding  sections  are  very  short, 
but  the  effect  is  structurally  satisfying  and  clear. 
In  no  case  is  the  structural  system  of  keys  used 
with  anything  approaching  the  clearness  of  a 
pianoforte  sonata.  Material  is  contrasted  with 
material,  sometimes  simply  as  subjects  or  figures, 
sometimes  even  in  respect  of  style ;  as  a  chorale 
with  recitative,  chorale  with  fugal  passages,  or 
harmonic  passages  with  contrapuntal  passages. 
Sometimes  these  are  kept  distinct,  and  some 
times,  as  in  the  first  movement  of  the  Sonata  in 
Bb,  they  are  combined  together  at  the  end.  The 
general  laying  out  of  the  complete  works,  though 
based  on  the  same  broadest  radical  principles,  is 
in  actual  order  and  manner  quite  distinct  from 
that  of  pianoforte  sonatas.  The  longer  movements 
alternate  with  very  short  ones,  which  commonly 
resemble  Romances,  Lieder  ohne  Worte,  or  such 
expressive  lyrical  types  ;  and  occasionally  the 
whole  sonata  concludes  with  a  little  movement 
of  this  sort,  as  no.  3  in  A  and  no.  6  in  D. 
They  are  generally  in  the  simplest  kind  of 
primary  form  with  a  proportionately  important 
coda.  In  point  of  actual  style  and  treatment  of 
the  instrument  there  is  a  great  diversity  in 
different  sonatas.  In  some  the  solid  old  contra 
puntal  style  predominates,  in  similar  propor 
tion  to  that  in  the  organ  preludes,  sonatas, 
etc.  of  Bach ;  but  this  rarely  occurs  without 
some  intermixture  of  modern  traits.  The  most 
completely  and  consistently  modern  in  style  is 
the  Sonata  in  D  major,  no.  5,  which  is  practi 
cally  in  three  divisions.  The  first  is  a  chorale, 
the  second  a  kind  of  '  song  without  words  '  in  B 
minor,  and  the  third  a  species  of  fantasia,  in 
which  the  sections  are  balanced  by  distinct 
figures,  without  more  tonal  structure  than  em 
phasis  upon  the  principal  key  at  the  beginning 
and  end,  and  variety  of  modulation  with  some 
thematic  development  in  the  middle.  In  other 
sonatas  different  modes  of  writing  for  the  in 
strument  are  used  as  a  means  of  enforcing  the 
contrast  between  one  movement  and  another. 
Thus  in  the  2nd  Sonata  the  first  division  is  a 
kind  of  prelude  in  a  modern  manner,  chiefly  homo- 
phonic  and  orchestral;  the  second  corresponds  to 
a  distinct  romance  or  ' song  without  words '  with 
clearly  defined  melody  and  graceful  and  con 
stantly  flowing  independent  accompaniment.  In 
the  third  movement,  which  though  in  3-4  time 
has  something  of  a  march  quality,  the  modern 
harmonic  character  is  very  prominent,  and  the 
last  movement  is  a  fugue.  Similar  distribution  of 
styles  and  modes  of  writing  are  as  clearly  used 
in  the  1st  and  4th  Sonatas;  in  the  former 
more  elaborately. 

Among  the  few  attempts  which  have  been 
made  to  add  something  genuine  to  the  literature 
of  the  Pianoforte  Sonata,  that  in  Fjf,  op.  1 1,  by 
Schumann,  first  published  under  the  pseudonym 
of  Florestan  and  Eusebius,  is  most  interesting. 
This  was  clearly  an  attempt  to  adapt  to  the 


SONATA. 

'  sonata-form  the  so-called  romantic  ideas  of  ivhich 
Schumann  was  so  prominent  and  successful  a 
representative.  The  outward  aspect  of  the  matter 
is  twofold.     First,  the  absolute  subordination  of 
the  sectional  distribution  to  the  ideas  contained, 
and,  secondly,  the  interchange  of  the  subject- 
matter  so  as  to  connect  the   movements  abso 
lutely  as  well  as  intrinsically.     The  first  point 
is  illustrated  by  the  continuity  of  the  Allegro 
Vivace  and  the  constant  shifting  and  swaying 
of  modulation  and  changing  of  tempo ;  also  by 
the  variety  of  the  subjects  and  the  apparently 
irregular  manner  of  their  introduction,  if  judged 
from  the  point  of  view  of  the  older  sonatas.   Thus 
the  part  which  corresponds  to  the  first  section 
comprises   a  first   subject,    containing  a  figure 
which  may  be  called  the  text  of  the  movement, 
and  many  subsidiary  features  and  transitions. 
The  second  section  follows  continuously,  with 
new  matter  and  allusions  to  the  first  subject, 
all  in  a  constant  sway  of  transition,  till  at  the 
end  of  the  first  half  of  the  movement  a  long 
continuous  subject  in  A  is  reached,  which  in  its 
sustained  and  earnest  calmness  seems  to  supply 
the  point  of  rest  after  the  long  preceding  period 
of   activity.      This    same   subject   is    the  only 
one  which  is  given  with  complete  fullness  at 
the  end  of  the  whole  movement,  the  rest  of  the 
subject-matter,  though  all   represented  in  the 
recapitulation,    being     considerably    condensed 
and  curtailed.     The  second  point  is  illustrated 
by  the  connection  between  the  introduction  and 
the  two  following  movements.    The  introduction 
itself  is  in  an  elaborate  kind  of  primary  form. 
Its  impressive  principal  subject  is  reintroduced 
in  the  middle  of  the  succeeding  allegro ;  and  the 
subject  of  the  middle  portion  serves  as  the  main 
staple  of  the  beautiful  aria  which  is  the  central 
movement  of  the  whole  sonata.     The  success  of 
such  things   certainly  depends  on  the  way  in 
which  they  are  done,  and  mere  description  of 
them  gives  very  little  impress  of  their  effective 
ness  in  this  case.  There  can  hardly  be  a  doubt  that 
in  these  devices  Schumann  hit  upon  a  true  means 
of  applying  original  thought  to  the  development 
of  the  structural  outlines,  following  the  sugges 
tion  which  is  really  contained  in  Beethoven's 
work,  that  the  structure  is  perceptible  through 
the  disposition  of  the  ideas,  and  not  only  by 
emphasising  the  harmonic  sections.     The  actual 
distribution  of  the   structure  which  is  hidden 
under  the  multiplicity  of  ideas  is  remarkably 
careful  and  systematic.     Even  in  the  develop 
ment  portion  there  is  method  and  balance,  and 
the  same  is  true  of  large  expanses  in  the  last 
movement.     The  freedom  with  which  Schumann 
uses  subordinate  transitions  makes  the  balance 
of  keys  a  matter  requiring  great  concentration ; 
but  it  is  remarkable  in  his  work,  as  contrasted 
with  similar  modern  examples  by  other  composers, 
that  he  rarely  makes  random  and  unrestrained 
flights,  but  keeps  within  the  bounds  which  make 
proportionate  balance  possible.     It  is  no  doubt 
a  matter  of  very  great  difficulty  to  carry  out 
such  principles  as  this  work  seems  to  embody ; 
but  if  the  sonata  form  be  really  capable  of  any 


SONATA. 

fresh  extension  it  will  probably  be  to  a  great 
extent  on  such  lines. 

Schumann's  second  sonata,  in  G,  op.  22,  though 
written  during  almost  the  same  period,  seems 
to  be  a  retrogression  from  the  position  taken 
up  by  that  in  FjJ.  It  is  possibly  a  more  effective 
work,  and.  from  the  pianist's  point  of  view,  more 
capable  of  being  made  to  sound  convincing.  And 
yet  in  detail  it  is  not  so  interesting,  nor  is  it 
technically  so  rich,  nor  so  full  and  noble  in  sound. 
He  seems  to  aim  at  orthodoxy  with  deliberate 
purpose,  and  the  result  is  that  though  vehement 
and  vigorous  in  motion,  it  is  not,  for  Schumann, 
particularly  warm  or  poetical.  The  second  sub 
jects  of  the  first  and  last  movements  are  cha 
racteristic,  and  so  is  great  part  of  the  peculiarly 
sectional  and  epigrammatic  scherzo.  The  an- 
dantino  also  has  remarkable  points  about  it,  but 
is  not  so  fascinating  as  the  slow  movement  of 
the  F$  Sonata. 

The  principles  indicated  in  the  sonata  opus 
II  reappear  later  with  better  results,  as  far 
as  the  total  impression  is  concerned,  in  larger 
forms  of  instrumental  music,  and  also  in  the  D 
minor  Sonata  for  violin  and  pianoforte.  In  this 
there  is  a  close  connection  between  the  intro 
duction  and  the  most  marked  feature  of  the 
succeeding  quick  movement,  and  similar  linking 
of  scherzo  and  slow  movement  by  means  of  a 
reference  to  the  subject  of  the  former  in  the 
progress  of  the  latter,  with  a  distinctly  poetic 
purpose.  The  Sonata  in  A  for  the  same  combin 
ation  of  instruments  is  not  on  such  an  elaborate 
scale,  nor  has  it  as  many  external  marks  to  in 
dicate  a  decided  purpose;  but  it  is  none  the  less 
poetical  in  effect,  which  arises  in  the  first  move 
ment  from  the  continuity  of  structure  and  the 
mysterious  sadness  of  spirit  which  it  expresses, 
and  in  the  slow  movement  from  its  characteristic 
tenderness  and  sweetness. 

Liszt,  in  his  remarkable  Sonata  in  B  minor 
dedicated  to  Schumann,  undoubtedly  adopts  the 
same  principles  of  procedure,  and  works  them 
out  with  more  uncompromising  thoroughness. 
He  knits  the  whole  sonata  into  an  unbroken 
Unity,  with  distinct  portions  passing  into  one 
another,  representing  the  usual  separate  move 
ments.  The  interest  is  concentrated  upon  one 
principal  idea,  to  which  the  usual  second  subjects 
and  accessories  serve  as  so  many  commentaries 
and  antitheses,  and  express  the  influences  which 
react  upon  its  course.  This  is  further  illustrated 
by  the  process  sometimes  defined  as  '  transform 
ation  of  themes,'  already  referred  to  in  con 
nection  with  Beethoven's  Sonatas  in  Bb  and  Ab; 
which  is  really  no  more  than  a  fresh  way  of 
applying  that  art  of  variation  which  had  been 
used  from  almost  the  earliest  times  of  sonata- 
writing,  in  recapitulating  subjects  in  the  progress 
of  a  moment,  as  well  as  in  regular  set  themes 
and  variations  ;  though  it  had  not  been  adopted 
before  to  serve  a  poetical  or  ideal  conception  per 
vading  and  unifying  the  whole  work.  In  the 
actual  treatment  of  the  subject-matter,  Liszt 
adopts,  as  Beethoven  had  done,  the  various  op 
portunities  afforded  not  only  by  harmonic  struc- 


SONATA. 


579 


ttiral  principles,  but  by  the  earlier  fugal  and  con 
trapuntal  devices,  and  by  recitative,  adapting 
them  with  admirable  breadth  and  freedom  to  a 
thoroughly  modern  style  of  thought.  It  seems 
almost  superfluous  to  add  that  the  purpose  is 
carried  out  with  absolute  mastery  of  technical 
resource,  in  respect  both  of  the  instrument  and 
of  the  disposition  of  the  parts  of  the  movement. 

The  pianoforte  sonatas  of  Brahms  are  as  as 
tounding  specimens  of  youthful  power  and  breadth 
and  dignity  of  style  as  exist  in  the  whole  range 
of  the  art ;  but  it  must  at  present  be  considered 
doubtful  if  they  represent  his  maturer  convictions. 
Both  sonatas  appear  to  have  been  written  before 
he  arrived  at  the  age  of  twenty ;  and  it  is  probable 
that  he  was  then  more  influenced  by  the  roman 
tic  theories  which  Schumann  represented,  than 
he  is  in  his  later  works,  as  far  as  his  tendencies 
can  be  judged  from  their  constitution.  Conse 
quently  the  fact  of  the  earlier  sonatas  having 
obviously  poetic  purpose  and  intent  cannot  be 
taken  as  any  proof  that  the  great  mass  of  his 
works  (which  it  is  to  be  hoped  will  yet  be 
greatly  enlarged  and  enriched)  would  justify  us 
in  enrolling  him  among  those  who  consistently 
maintain  a  poetic  conception  of  instrumental 
music.  On  the  other  hand,  his  adoption  of  shorter 
and  more  individual  forms,  such  as  cappriccios, 
intermezzi,  rhapsodies,  in  his  mature  age,  lends 
at  least  indirect  countenance  to  the  view  that  the 
tendency  of  music  is  to  subordinate  form  to  idea; 
and  that  if  the  classical  form  of  the  sonata  is  not 
expansible  enough,  other  forms  must  be  accepted 
which  will  admit  of  more  freedom  of  development. 
This  implies  a  question  as  to  the  proper  meaning 
of  the  word  *  sonata,'  and  a  doubt  as  to  its  being 
legitimately  assimilable  to  the  tendency  to  cen 
tralise  the  interest  upon  the  idea,  as  a  contrast  to 
the  old  practice  of  making  an  equal  balance  be 
tween  two  main  subjects  as  a  means  of  structural 
effect.  If  the  word  is  to  be  so  restricted,  it  will 
only  be  another  conventional  limitation,  and,  it 
may  be  added,  must  before  long  put  an  end  to 
further  enrichment  of  the  literature  of  so-called 
sonatas. 

In  the  finest  of  Brahms's  two  early  sonatas,  that 
in  F  minor,  the  first  slow  movement  is  headed  by 
a  quotation  from  a  poem  of  Sternau,  and  another 
movement  is  called  E-iickblick.  These  are  clearly 
external  marks  of  a  poetical  intention.  In  the 
actual  treatment  of  the  subjects  there  is  no  at 
tempt  to  connect  the  movements ;  but  the  freedom 
of  transition,  even  in  the  actual  progress  of  a 
subject  (see  the  second  subject  of  the  first  move 
ment),  is  eminently  characteristic  of  the  com 
poser,  and  of  a  liberal  view  of  sonata  development. 
In  the  last  movement — a  rondo — the  most 
noticeable  external  mark  of  continuity  is  the 
elaborately  ingenious  treatment  of  the  subject 
of  the  second  episode  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
movement.  Brahms  has  not  added  further  to 
the  list  of  solo  pianoforte  sonatas,  but  he  has 
illustrated  the  tendency  to  look  for  fresh  oppor 
tunities  in  combinations  of  solo  instruments,  as 
in  his  pianoforte  quartets  and  quintet,  which  are 
really  just  as  much  sonatas  as  those  usually  so 


580 


SONATA. 


designated ;  in  fact,  one  of  the  versions  of  the 
Quintet,  which  stands  as  a  duet  for  two  piano 
fortes,  is  in  that  form  published  as  a  'sonata.' 
One  of  the  latest  examples  of  his  chamber  music 
is  the  Sonata  for  pianoforte  and  violin.  This 
requires  notice  as  the  work  of  a  great  master, 
but  throws  very  little  light  on  any  sort  of  exten 
sion  of  the  possibilities  of  sonata-form.  There 
seems  to  be  a  sort  of  poetic  design  in  the  com 
plicated  arrangement  of  the  first  half  of  the  first 
movement,  in  which  the  characteristic  figures  of 
the  first  subject  reappear,  as  if  to  connect  each 
section  with  the  centre  of  interest ;  and  the  half 
concludes  with  a  complete  restatement  of  the 
first  subject  simply  and  clearly  in  the  original 
key,  as  is  the  case  also  in  the  same  composer's 
Serenade  in  A  for  small  orchestra.  It  may  be 
observed  in  passing  that  this  device  curiously  re 
calls  the  early  composite  form,  in  which  the  first 
subject  reappears  at  the  beginning  of  the  second 
half  [see  p.  5596].  There  is  one  other  slightly 
suggestive  point — namely,  the  reappearance  of 
the  introductory  phrase  of  the  slow  movement 
in  one  of  the  episodes  of  the  final  Rondo.  The 
work  as  a  whole  is  not  so  large  in  character,  or  so 
rich  in  development,  as  many  others  of  Brahms' s 
earlier  works  in  the  form  of  chamber  music.  This 
is  probably  owing  to  the  unsuitability  of  the 
combination  of  violin  and  pianoforte  for  such 
elaboration  of  structure  and  mass  of  sound  as  is 
best  adapted  to  show  the  composer  to  the  highest 
advantage. 

Certain  traits  in  his  treatment  of  form,  such  as 
the  bold  digressions  of  key  at  the  very  outset  of 
a  movement,  and  the  novel  effects  of  transition 
in  the  subjects  themselves,  have  already  been 
described  in  the  article  FORM.     It  is  only  neces 
sary  here  to  point  out  that  Brahms  seems  most 
characteristically  to  illustrate  the  tendency  in 
modern  music  which  has  been  styled  'intellect- 
ualism';  which  is  definable  as  elaborate  develop 
ment  of  all  the  opportunities  and  suggestions 
offered  by  figures,  harmonic  successions,  or  other 
essential  features  of  subjects  or  accessories,  so 
as  to  make  various  portions  of  the  work  appear 
to  grow  progressively  out  of  one  another.     This 
sometimes  takes  the  form  of  thematic  develop 
ment,  and  sometimes  that  of  reviving  the  figures 
of  one  subject  in  the  material  or  accompaniment 
of  another,  the  object  being  to  obtain  new  aspects 
of  close  and  direct  logical  coherence  and  con 
sistency.     Beethoven  is   the   prototype  of  this 
phase  of  modern  music,  and  the  examples  of  it  in 
his  later  instrumental  works  are  of  the  finest 
description.    Fortunately  the  field  is  a  very  large 
one,  and  rich  in  opportunities  for  composers  of 
exceptional  gifts ;   of  whom  in  this  department 
of  art  Brahms  is  certainly  the  first  living  repre 
sentative.     There    are   several   examples  which 
illustrate  this  tendency  in  the  F  minor  Quintet, 
which  also  in  its  form  of  a  Duo  for  pianoforte  is 
called  '  Sonata.'     One  of  the  most  obvious  is  the 
casein  which  the  cadence  concluding  a  paragraph 
is  formulated,  as  in  the  following  example  at  (a), 
the  phrase  being  immediately  taken  up  by  a  dif 
ferent  instrument  and  embodied  as  a  most  signi- 


/-t-BJj—J    ^!  .  5  .  J^v    , 

•    •  '  •  f  .  

4 

Vs? 

5 

* 

8 

SONATA. 

ficant  feature  in  the  accessory  subject  which 
follows,  as  at  (6). 

(a)  Pianoforte. 


(6)  Violin. 
1 


lit 


SSfc 


& 


Under  the  same  head  of  Intellectualism  is  some 
times  erroneously  included  that  broad  and  liberal 
range  of  harmony  which  characterises  the  best 
composers  of  the  day.     This  may  doubtless  call 
for  intellectual  effort  in  those  who  are  unfamiliar 
with  the  progress  of  art,  or  of  inexpansive  powers 
of  appreciation,  but  in  the  composer  it  does  not 
imply  intellectual  purpose,  but  only  the  natural 
step  onwards  from  the  progressions  of  harmony 
which  are  familiar  to  those  which  are  original. 
With  composers  of  second  rank  such  freedom  is 
often  experimental,  and  destructive  to  the  general 
balance  and  proportion  of  the  structure,  but  with 
Brahms  it  appears  to  be  a  special  study  to  bring 
everything  into  perfect  and  sure  proportion,  so 
that  the  classical  idea  of  instrumental  music  may 
be  still  maintained  in  pure  severity,  notwith 
standing  the  greater  extension  and  greater  variety 
of  range  in  the  harmonic  motion  of  the  various 
portions  of  the  movement.     In  fact  Brahms  ap 
pears  now  to  take  his  stand  on  the  possibility  of 
producing  new  instrumental  works  of  real  artistic 
value  on  the  classical  principles  of  abstract  music, 
without  either  condescending  to  the  popular  de 
vice  of  a  programme,  or  accepting  the  admissi- 
bility  of  a  modification  of  the  sonata-form  to 
suit  the  impulse  or  apparent  requirements  of  a 
poetical  or  dramatic  principle. 

A  sonata  which  bears  more  obviously  on  the 
direction  of  modern  art  in  the  poetic  sense 
is  that  of  Sterndale  Bennett,  called  'The  Maid 
of  Orleans.'  This  is  an  example  of  programme- 
music  in  its  purest  simplicity.  Each  of  the 
four  movements  has  a  quotation  to  explain 
its  purpose,  and  in  the  slow  movement  the 
second  section  has  an  additional  one.  Never 
theless  the  movements  are  simple  adaptations 
of  the  usual  forms,  the  first  standing  for  an  in 
troduction,  the  second  representing  the  usual 
binary  allegro,  the  third  a  slow  movement  in 
condensed  binary  form,  and  the  last  a  rondo. 
There  is  but  little  attempt  at  using  any  struc 
tural  means,  such  as  original  distribution  ot 
subject-matter,  to  enforce  the  poetic  idea :  so  the 


SONATA. 

whole  can  only  be  taken  as  an  illustration  of 
a  poem  in  sonata  form.  But  this  nevertheless 
has  some  importance,  as  showing  the  acceptance 
of  the  aptitude  of  sonata-form  for  such  purposes 
by  a  composer  who  was  by  no  means  in  full 
sympathy  with  the  lengths  to  which  Schumann 
was  prepared  to  carry  the  romantic  theories. 

Among  other  living  composers  who  treat  sonata- 
fonn  in  a  poetic  fashion,  we  may  name  Raff 
and  Rubinstein.  The  works  of  the  former  are 
always  admirable  in  the  treatment  of  the  instru 
ments,  and  both  composers  frequently  present 
subjects  of  considerable  fascination ;  but  neither 
have  that  weight  or  concentration  in  struc 
tural  development  which  would  demand  detailed 
consideration.  Poetic  treatment  is  commonly 
supposed  to  absolve  the  composer  from  the  ne 
cessity  of  attending  to  the  structural  elements ; 
but  this  is  clearly  a  misconception.  Genuine 
beauty  in  subjects  may  go  far  to  atone  for 
deficiency  and  irrelevancy  in  the  development, 
but  at  best  it  is  only  a  partial  atonement,  and 
those  only  are  genuine  masterpieces  in  which  the 
form,  be  it  ever  so  original,  is  just  as  clear  and 
convincing  in  the  end  as  the  ideas  of  which  it  is 
the  outcome. 

The  whole  process  of  the  development  of  the 
Sonata  as  an  art-form,  from  its  crudest  beginnings 
to  its  highest  culmination,  took  nearly  two  hun 
dred  years ;  and  the  progress  was  almost  through 
out  steady,  continuous,  and  uniform  in  direction. 
The  earlier  history  is  chiefly  occupied  by  its 
gradual  differentiation  from  the  Suite-form,  with 
which  for  a  time  it  was  occasionally  confounded. 
But  there  always  was  a  perceptible  difference  in 
the  general  tendency  of  the  two.  The  Suite 
gravitated  towards  dance-forms,  and  movements 
which  similarly  had  one  principal  idea  or  form 
of  motion  pervading  them,  so  that  the  balance 
of  contrasts  lay  between  one  movement  and 
another,  and  not  conspicuously  between  parts 
of  the  same  movement.  The  Sonata  gravitated 
towards  more  complicated  conditions  and  away 
from  pure  dance-forms.  Diversity  of  character 
between  subjects  and  figures  was  admitted  early 
into  single  movements,  and  contrasts  of  key 
were  much  more  strongly  emphasised  ;  and  while 
in  the  Suite,  except  in  extremely  rare  cases, 
all  the  movements  were  in  one  key,  amongst 
the  very  earliest  Sonatas  there  are  examples  of  a 
central  movement  being  cast  in  a  different  key 
from  the  rest. 

In  a  yet  more  important  manner  the  capacity 
of  the  Sonata  was  made  deeper  and  broader  by  the 
quality  and  style  of  its  music.  In  the  Suite,  as  we 
have  said,  the  contrasts  between  one  movement 
and  another  were  between  forms  of  the  same  order 
and  character — that  is,  between  dance- forms  and 
their  analogues  ;  but  in  the  Sonata  the  different 
movements  very  soon  came  to  represent  different 
origins  and  types  of  music.  Thus  in  the  early 
violin  sonatas  the  slow  introductory  first  move 
ment  generally  shows  traces  of  ecclesiastical 
influence ;  the  second,  which  is  the  solid  kind  of 
allegro  corresponding  to  the  first  movement  of 
modern  sonatas,  was  clearly  derived  from  the 


SONATA. 


581 


secular  vocal  madrigals,  or  part  music  for  voices, 
through  the  instrumental  canzonas  which  were 
their  closest  relations.  The  third,  which  was  the 
characteristic  slow  movement,  frequently  showed 
traces  of  its  descent  from  solo  vocal  music  of 
various  kinds,  as  found  in  operas,  cantatas,  or 
other  similar  situations ;  and  the  last  move 
ment  earliest  and  latest  showed  traces  of  dance 
elements  pure  and  simple.  A  further  point  of 
much  importance  was  the  early  tendency  to 
wards  systematic  and  distinct  structure,  which 
appears  most  frequently  in  the  last  movement. 
The  reason  for  the  apparent  anomaly  is  not 
hard  to  find.  The  only  movement  in  the  group 
on  a  scale  corresponding  to  the  last  was  the 
second,  and  this  was  most  frequently  of  a  fugal 
disposition.  The  fugue  was  a  form  which  was 
comparatively  well  understood  when  the  modern 
harmonic  forms  were  still  in  embryo ;  and  not 
only  did  it  suffice  for  the  construction  of  move 
ments  of  almost  any  length,  but  it  did  not  in 
itself  suggest  advance  in  the  direction  of  the 
sonata  kinds  of  form,  though  it  was  shown  to  be 
capable  of  amalgamation  with  them  when  they 
in  their  turn  had  been  definitely  brought  to 
perfection.  In  the  dance  movements  on  the 
other  hand,  when  the  fugal  forms  were  not  used, 
all  that  was  supplied  as  basis  to  work  upon  was 
the  type  of  motion  or  rhythm,  and  the  outlines 
of  structure  had  to  be  found.  As  long  as  the 
movements  were  on  a  small  scale  the  structure 
which  obtained  oftenest  was  the  equal  balance  of 
repeated  halves  without  contrasting  subjects,  of 
which  the  finest  examples  are  to  be  found  in 
Bach's  Suites.  The  last  movement  was  in  fact 
so  long  a  pure  suite  movement.  But  when  it 
began  to  take  larger  dimensions,  emphasis  began 
to  be  laid  upon  that  part  of  the  first  half  of  the 
movement  which  was  in  the  dominant  key ;  then 
the  process  of  characterising  it  by  distinct  figures 
or  subjects  became  prominent :  and  by  degrees 
it  developed  into  the  definite  second  section. 
Meanwhile  the  opening  bars  of  the  movement 
gradually  assumed  more  distinct  and  salient 
features,  making  the  passage  stand  out  more 
clearly  from  its  immediate  context ;  and  in  this 
form  it  was  repeated  at  the  beginning  of  the 
second  half  of  the  movement,  the  second  section 
being  reserved  to  make  a  complete  balance  by 
concluding  the  whole  in  a  manner  analogous  to  the 
conclusion  of  the  first  half.  So  far  the  change 
from  the  suite  type  of  movement  rests  chiefly  on 
the  clearer  definition  of  parts,  and  more  positive 
exactness  in  the  recapitulation  of  the  subjects ; 
but  this  is  quite  sufficient  to  mark  the  character 
as  distinct,  for  in  the  movements  of  the  Suite 
(excluding  the  prelude)  balance  of  subject  and 
key  were  never  systematically  recognised.  The 
further  development  of  binary  form,  in  which 
the  recapitulation  of  the  distinct  subjects  was 
reserved  for  the  conclusion,  took  some  time  to 
arrive  at,  but  even  at  this  early  stage  the 
essential  qualities  of  sonata -form  are  clearly 
recognisable.  The  Violin  Sonata  was  naturally 
the  kind  which  first  attained  to  perfection,  since 
that  instrument  had  so  great  an  advantage  in 


582 


SONATA. 


point  of  time  over  the  keyed  instruments  used 
for  similar  purposes ;  and  its  qualities  and  re 
quirements  so  reacted  upon  the  character  of 
the  music  as  to  make  it  appear  almost  a  dis 
tinct  species  from  the  Clavier  Sonata.  But  in 
fact  the  two  kinds  represent  no  more  than 
divergence  from  a  similar  source,  owing  to  the 
dissimilar  natures  of  the  instruments.  Thus 
the  introductory  slow  movement  was  most  ap 
propriate  to  the  broad  and  noble  character  of  the 
violin,  and  would  appeal  at  once  by  its  means  to 
an  audience  of  any  susceptibility ;  whereas  to 
the  weak  character  of  the  early  keyed  instru 
ments,  so  deficient  in  sustaining  power,  it  was 
in  general  inappropriate,  and  hence  was  dropped 
very  early.  For  the  same  reason  in  a  consider 
able  proportion  of  the  early  clavier  sonatas, 
the  third  or  principal  slow  movement  was  also 
dropped,  so  that  the  average  type  of  sonatas  for 
clavier  was  for  a  time  a  group  of  two  move 
ments,  both  generally  in  a  more  or  less  quick 
time.  In  these  the  canzona  movement  was  early 
supplanted  by  one  more  in  accordance  with  the 
modern  idea,  such  as  is  typified  in  the  clavier 
sonata  of  Galuppi  in  four  movements  [see 
p.  563],  and  by  occasional  allemandes  in  the 
earlier  sonatas.  As  keyed  instruments  improved 
in  volume  and  sustaining  power  the  central 
slow  movement  was  resumed  ;  but  it  was  neces 
sary  for  some  time  to  make  up  for  deficiencies  in 
the  latter  respect  by  filling  in  the  slow  beats 
with  elaborate  graces  and  trills,  and  such  orna 
ments  as  the  example  of  opera-singers  made 
rather  too  inviting.  The  course  of  the  violin 
solo-sonata  was  meanwhile  distinctly  maintained 
till  its  climax,  and  came  to  an  abrupt  end  in 
J.  S.  Bach,  just  as  the  clavier  sonata  was  ex 
panding  into  definite  importance.  In  fact  the 
earliest  landmarks  of  importance  are  found  in 
the  next  generation,  when  a  fair  proportion  of 
works  of  this  class  show  the  lineaments  of  clavier 
sonatas  familiar  to  a  modern.  Such  are  the  dis 
position  of  the  three  movements  with  the  solid 
and  dignified  allegro  at  the  beginning,  the  ex 
pressive  slow  movement  in  the  middle,  and  the 
bright  and  gay  quick  movement  at  the  end ;  which 
last  continued  in  many  cases  to  show  its  dance 
origin.  From  this  group  the  fugal  element  was 
generally  absent,  for  all  the  instinct  of  composers 
was  temporarily  enlisted  in  the  work  of  per 
fecting  the  harmonic  structure  in  the  modern 
manner,  and  the  tendency  was  for  a  time  to 
direct  special  attention  to  this,  with  the  ob 
ject  of  attaining  clear  and  distinct  symmetry. 
In  the  latter  part  of  the  i8th  century  this 
was  achieved  ;  the  several  movements  were 
then  generally  cast  on  nearly  identical  lines, 
with  undeviating  distribution  of  subjects,  pauses, 
modulations,  cadences,  and  double  bars.  The 
style  of  thought  conformed  for  a  while  sufficiently 
well  to  this  discipline,  and  the  most  successful 
achievements  of  instrumental  music  up  to  that 
time  were  accomplished  in  this  manner.  Ex- 
trinsically  the  artistic  product  appeared  per 
fect  ;  but  art  could  not  stand  still  at  this  point, 
and  composers  soon  felt  themselves  precluded 


SONATA. 

from    putting   the  best   and    most   genuine  of 
their  thoughts  into  trammels  produced  by  such 
regular  procedure.      Moreover  the  sudden  and 
violent  changes   in   social   arrangements  which 
took  place  at  the  end  of  the  century,  and  the 
transformation  in  the  ways  of  regarding  life  and 
its   interests  and   opportunities  which  resulted 
therefrom,  opened  a  new  point  of  public  emotion, 
and  introduced  a  new  quality  of  cosmopolitan 
human  interest  in  poetry  and  art.     The  appeal 
of  music   in   its  higher  manifestations  became 
more  direct  and  immediate  ;  and  the  progression 
of  the  idea  became  necessarily  less  amenable  to 
the  control  of  artificialities  of  structure,  and  more 
powerful  in  its  turn  of  reacting  upon  the  form. 
This  is  what  lies  at  the  root  of  much  which,  for 
want  of  a  more  exact  word,  is  frequently  described 
as   the  poetic   element,    which  has  become  so 
prominent  and  indispensable  a  quality  in  modern 
music.    By  this  change  of  position  the  necessities 
of  structural  balance  and  proportion  are  not  sup 
planted,  but  made  legitimate  use  of  in  a  different 
manner  from  what  they  previously  were ;  and 
the  sonata-form,  while  still  satisfying  the  indis 
pensable  conditions  which  make  abstract  music 
possible,  expanded  to  a  fuller  and  more  coordinate 
pitch  of  emotional  material.     Partly  under  these 
influences,   and   partly  no  doubt  owing  to  the 
improvements  in  keyed  instruments,  the  Clavier 
Sonata  again  attained  to  the  group  of  four  move 
ments,  but  in  a  different  arrangement  from  that 
of  the  Violin  Sonata.      The  slow  introduction 
was  sometimes  resumed,  but  without  represent 
ing  an  ingredient  in  the  average  scheme.    The 
first    movement  was   usually  the   massive  and 
dignified  Allegro.      The  two  central  portions, 
consisting  of  a  highly  expressive  slow  movement 
and  the  scherzo,  which  was  the  legitimate  de 
scendant  of  the  dance  movement,  were  ruled  in 
their  order  of  succession  by  the  qualities  of  the 
first  and  last  movements,  and  the  work  ended 
with  a  movement  which  still  generally  main 
tained  the  qualities  to  be  found  in  a  last  move 
ment  of  Corelli  or  Tartini.      The  tendency  to 
unify  the  whole  group  increased,  and  in  so  far  as 
the  influence  of  intrinsic  character  or  of  the  idea 
became  powerful  it  modified  the  order  and  quality 
of  the    movements.       For  particular  purposes 
which  approve  themselves  to  musical  feeling  the 
number  of  movements  varied  considerably,  some 
exceedingly   fine    and    perfect    sonatas    having 
only  two,  and  others  extending  to  five.    Again, 
it  is  natural  that  in  certain  moods  composers 
should  almost  resent  the  call  to  end  with  the 
conventional  light  and  gay  movement ;  and  con 
sequently  in  later  works,  even  where  the  usual 
form  seems  to  be  accepted,  the  spirit  is  rather 
ironical  than  gay,  and  rather  vehement  or  even 
fierce   than   light-hearted.     The  same  working 
of  the  spirit  of  the  age  had  powerful  effect  on  the 
intrinsic  qualities  of  the  Scherzo  ;  in  which  there 
came  to  be  found,  along  with  or  under  the  veil 
of  ideal  dance  motions,  sadness  and  tenderness, 
bitterness,  humour,  and  many  more  phases  of 
strong  feeling ;  for  which  the  ideal  dance  rhythms, 
when  present,  are  made  to  serve  as  a  vehicle; 


SONATA. 

but   in    some    cases    also    are    supplanted    by 
different  though  kindred   forms  of  expression. 
In  other  respects  the  last  movement  moved  fur 
ther  away  from  the  conventional  type,  as  by  the 
adoption  of  the  fugal  form,  or  by  new  use  of  the 
Variation-form  in  a  more  continuous  and  con 
sistent  sense  than  in  early  examples.     In  many 
cases  the  movements  are  made  to  pass  into  one 
another,  just  as  in  the  earlier  stages  the  strong 
lines  which  marked  off  the  different  sections  in 
the  movements  were  gradually  toned  down ;  and 
by  this  means  they  came  to  have  less  of  the 
appearance  of  separate  items  than  limbs  or  divi 
sions  of  a  complete  organism.    This  is  illustrated 
most  clearly  by  the  examples  of  slow  movements 
•which  are  so  modified  as  to  be  little  more  than 
Intermezzi,  or  introductory  divisions  appended 
to  the  last  movement ;   and  more  strongly  by  a 
few  cases  where  the  distinct  lines  of  separation 
are  quite  done  away  with,  and  the  entire  work 
becomes  a  chain  of  long  divisions  representing 
broadly  the  old  plan  of  four  distinct  movements 
with  kindred   subjects  continuing    throughout. 
Since  Beethoven   the    impetus    to    concentrate 
and  individualise  the  character  of  musical  works 
has  driven  many  genuine  composers  to  the  adop 
tion  of  forms  which  are  less  hampered  by  any 
suspicion   of  conventionality ;    and    even  with 
sonatas  they  seemed  to  have  grasped  the  object 
in  view  with   less   steadiness   and   consistency 
than  in   previous  times.     Some  have  accepted 
the  artifice  of  a  programme,  others  admit  some 
doubtful  traits  of  theatrical  origin;   others  de 
velop  poetic  and  sesthetic  devices  as  their  chief 
end  and  object,  and  others  still  follow  up  the 
classical  lines,  contenting  themselves  with  the 
opportunities  afforded  by  new  and  more  elabo 
rately  perfect  treatment  of  details,  especially  in 
music  for  combinations  of  solo  instruments.     In 
the  latter  case  it  is  clear  that  the  field  is  more 
open  than  in   sonatas   for   single  instruments, 
since  the  combination  of  such  instruments  as  the 
pianoforte  and  violin  or  pianoforte  and  cello  in 
large  works  has   not   been   dealt  with   by  the 
great  masters  so  thoroughly  and   exhaustively 
as  the  solo  sonata.     But  in  any  case  it  is  ap 
parent  that  fresh  works  of  high  value  on  the 
classical  lines  can  hardly  be  produced  without 
increasing  intellectualism.    The  origin  and  reason 
of  existence  of  abstract  music  are,  at  least  on 
one  side,  intellectual ;  and  though  up  to  a  cer 
tain  point  the  process -of  development  tended  to 
reduce  the  intellectual    effort   by   making   the 
structural  outlines  as  clear  and  certain  as  pos 
sible,  when   these  were   decisively  settled   the 
current  naturally  set  in  the  direction  of  compli 
cation.      The  inevitable  process  of  cumulating 
one  device  of  art  upon  another  is  shown  in  the 
free  range  of  modulation  and  harmony,  and  in 
the  increasing  variety  and  richness  of  detail  both 
in  the  subjects  and  in  the  subordinate  parts  of 
works.     In  such  cases  the  formal  outlines  may 
cease  to  be  strictly  amenable  to  a  definite  external 
theory;   but  if  they  accord  with  broad  general 
principles,  such  as  may  be  traced  in  the  history 
of  abstract  music  so  far,  and  if  the  total  effect  is 


SONATINA. 


583 


extrinsically  as  well  as  intrinsically  complete  and 
convincing,  it  appears  inevitable  to  admit  the 
works  to  the  rank  of  'Sonatas.'  The  exact 
meaning  of  the  term  has  in  fact  been  enforced 
with  remarkable  uniformity  during  the  whole 
period  from  the  beginning  to  the  present  day, 
and  decisively  in  favour  of  what  is  called  abstract 
music.  Fair  examples  of  the  successful  disregard 
of  form  in  favour  of  programme  or  a  dramatic 
conception  can  hardly  be  found ;  in  fact,  in 
the  best  examples  extant,  programme  is  no  more 
than  the  addition  of  a  name  or  a  story  to  an 
otherwise  regular  formal  sonata ;  but  on  the 
other  hand  there  is  plenty  of  justification  of  the 
finest  kind  for  abstract  works  in  free  and  more 
original  forms,  and  it  rests  with  composers  to 
justify  themselves  by  their  works,  rather  than 
for  reasoning  to  decide  finally  where  the  limit 
shall  be.  [C.H.H.P.] 

SONATINA.  This  is  a  work  in  the  same  form 
and  of  the  same  general  character  as  a  sonata,  but 
shorter,  simpler,  and  slenderer.  The  average  form 
of  the  sonata  appears  to  be  the  most  successful 
yet  discovered  for  pure  instrumental  works  of 
large  scope.  It  is  admirably  adapted  for  the 
expression  and  development  of  broad  and  noble 
ideas  ;  and  the  distribution  of  the  various  move 
ments,  and  the  clearness  with  which  the  main 
sections  and  divisions  of  each  movement  are 
marked  out,  give  it  a  dignity  and  solidity  which 
seem  most  appropriate  in  such  circumstances. 
But  the  very  clearness  of  the  outlines,  and  the 
strength  of  contrast  between  one  division  and 
another,  make  the  form  less  fit  for  works  of 
smaller  scope.  As  long  as  such  a  work  is 
laid  out  on  a  scale  sufficiently  large  to  admit 
variety  of  treatment  and  freedom  of  movement 
within  the  limits  of  these  divisions,  there  is 
fair  chance  of  the  work  having  musical  value 
proportionate  to  the  composer's  capacity ;  but 
if  the  limits  are  so  narrow  as  to  admit  little 
more  than  mere  statement  of  the  usual  form, 
and  no  more  than  the  conventional  order  of 
modulations,  the  possibilities  of  musical  sense 
and  sentiment  are  reduced  to  a  minimum,  and  a 
want  of  positive  musical  interest  commonly  re 
sults.  Consequently  sonatinas  form  one  of  the 
least  satisfactory  groups  of  musical  products. 
The  composers  who  have  produced  the  greatest 
impression  with  short  and  concise  movements  in 
modern  times  have  uniformly  avoided  them,  and 
adopted  something  of  a  more  free  and  lyrical  cast, 
in  which  there  is  a  more  appropriate  kind  of  unity, 
and  more  of  freedom  and  individuality  in  the 
general  outlines.  It  might  be  quite  possible  to 
group  these  small  pieces  so  as  to  present  a  very 
strong  analogy  to  the  sonata  on  a  small  scale ; 
but  it  has  not  been  attempted,  owing  possibly  to 
a  feeling  that  certain  limitations  of  style  and 
character  are  generally  accepted  in  the  musical 
world  as  appropriate  for  works  of  the  sonata 
class,  and  that  it  would  be  superfluous  to  violate 
them. 

The  sonatina  form  has  however  proved  pe 
culiarly  convenient  for  the  making  of  pieces 
intended  to  be  ut,ed  in  teaching.  The  familiar 


584 


SONATINA. 


outlines  and  the  systematic  distribution  of  the 
principal  harmonies  afford  the  most  favourable 
opportunities  for  simple  but  useful  finger-pas 
sages,  for  which  the  great  masters  have  supplied 
plentiful  formulas ;  and  they  furnish  at  the  same 
time  excellent  means  of  giving  the  student  a 
dignified  and  conscientious  style,  and  a  clear 
insight  into  the  art  of  phrasing.  These  works 
may  not  have  any  strong  interest  of  a  direct  kind 
for  the  musical  world,  but  they  have  consider 
able  value  in  so  far  as  they  fulfil  the  purposes 
they  are  meant  to  serve.  The  most  famous  and 
most  classical  examples  of  this  kind  are  de 
menti's  sonatinas,  of  ops.  36,  37,  and  38.  And 
much  of  the  same  character  are  several  by 
F.  Kuhlau,  which  are  excellently  constructed 
and  pure  in  style.  Of  modern  works  of  a  similar 
kind  there  are  examples  by  L.  Koehler.  Those 
by  Carl  Reinecke  and  Hermann  Goetz  are  equally 
adapted  for  teaching  purposes,  and  have  also  in 
general  not  a  little  agreeable  musical  sentiment, 
and  really  attractive  qualities.  Some  of  Beetho 
ven's  works  which  are  not  definitely  described  as 
such  are  sufficiently  concise  and  slight  to  be 
called  sonatinas :  as  for  instance  those  in  G  and 
G  minor,  op.  49,  which  were  first  announced  for 
publication  as  'Senates  faciles'  in  1805.  That 
in  G  major,  op.  79,  was  published  as  a  'Sona- 
tine'  in  1810,  though  it  is  rather  larger  in  most 
respects  than  the  other  little  examples.  Another 
'  sonatina '  by  him  for  mandolin,  with  pianoforte 
accompaniment,  is  given  at  vol.  ii.  p.  205  of 
this  Dictionary.  Prior  to  Beethoven  the  average 
scale  of  sonatas  was  so  small  that  it  seems 
difficult  to  see  how  a  diminutive  could  be  con 
trived  ;  and  indeed  the  grand  examples  which 
made  the  degrees  of  comparison  specially  con 
spicuous  were  not  yet  in  existence.  A  modern 
work  on  such  a  scale,  and  made  in  the  conven 
tional  manner,  would  probably  be  considered  as 
a  Sonatina,  and  apart  from  teaching  purposes 
it  would  also  be  likely  to  be  an  anachron 
ism.  [C.H.H.P.] 

SONG.     In  relation  to  the  study  of  music,  a 
Song  may  be  defined  as  a  short  metrical  compo 
sition,  whose  meaning  is  conveyed  by  the  com 
bined  force  of  words  and  melody,  and  intended 
to  be  sung  with  or  without  an  accompaniment. 
The  Song,  therefore,  belongs  equally  to  poetry  and 
music.     For  the  purposes  of  this  Dictionary  the 
subject  should  undoubtedly  be  treated  with  ex 
clusive  regard  (were  it  possible)  to  music ;  but 
the  musical  forms  and  structure  of  songs  are  so 
much  determined  by  language  and  metre,  that 
their   poetic   and   literary   qualities    cannot   be 
entirely  put  aside.    In  the  strictest  sense,  lyrical 
pieces  alone  are  songs ;  but  adherence  to  so  nar 
row  a  definition  would  exclude  many  kinds  of 
songs  whose  importance  in  the  history  of  music 
demands  that  they  should  be  noticed  here.    At 
tention,  however,  will  be  directed  only  to  homo- 
phonic  forms  of  songs — i.  e.  songs  for  one  voice  or 
unisonous  chorus.   Polyphonic  forms — madrigals, 
glees,  part-songs,  etc. — fall  under  other  heads  of 
this  work,  to  which  the  reader  will  be  referred. 
Mention  will  likewise  be  made  only  of  songs  in 


SONG. 

the  language  of  the  composer  of  their  music,  and 
with  accompaniment  for  one  instrument. 

A  distinction  will  also,  as  far  as  possible,  be 
observed  between  songs  which  are,  as  it  were, 
the  rude  spontaneous  outcome  of  native  in 
spiration,  the  wild  indigenous  fruit  of  their 
own  soil,  and  those  other  more  regular  and 
finished  compositions  which  are  written  with 
conscious  art  by  men  who  have  made  music 
their  study.  For  want  of  a  better  term  it  will 
be  convenient,  where  the  difference  must  be  em 
phasized,  to  designate  this  class  of  songs  by  the 
German  phrase  Kunstlied,  or  Artistic  Song; 
while  the  former  class,  whose  origin  and  au 
thorship  are  generally  obscure,  may  be  called 
National  or  Popular  Songs.  Such  are  the  Folks- 
lieder  of  Germany,  the  Canti  Popolari  of  Italy, 
and  the  Ballads  of  England. 

It  should,  moreover,  be  mentioned  that  the 
heads  or  subdivisions  under  which  songs  will 
be  ranged  must  be  geographical  rather  than 
chronological ;  that  is  to  say,  they  will  be 
grouped  in  regard  to  country  and  not  to  period. 
For  the  study  of  any  other  branch  of  modern 
music  among  the  leading  nations  of  Europe, 
a  chronological  arrangement  would  probably  be 
more  useful  and  instructive,  because  at  each 
successive  epoch  their  musical  productions  have 
been  sufficiently  similar  to  admit  of  collective 
treatment.  But  the  Song  is  that  branch  of  music 
in  which  national  peculiarities  linger  longest,  and 
international  affinities  grow  most  slowly.  This 
is,  of  course,  primarily  due  to  the  fact  that  lan 
guage,  which  is  local,  is  an  integral  element  of 
song.  Secondly,  it  is  caused  by  the  popular 
origin  of  songs.  Being  of  the  people  and  for  the 
people,  they  flourish  most  in  a  sphere  where  the 
influences  of  foreign  example  and  teaching  can 
hardly  reach  them.  Hence  it  happens  that  even 
where  the  Artistic  Song  has  lost  every  trace  of 
its  native  soil,  national  melodies  preserve  a  dis 
tinctively  local  colour.  In  some  countries  of 
Europe  the  development  of  the  Song  can  be 
followed  from  the  primitive  form  of  folk-song  to 
the  highest  type  of  artistic  composition ;  but  in 
others  the  art  of  music  has  scarcely  yet  advanced 
beyond  the  stage  of  national  melodies. 

It  remains  only  to  add  that,  although  the 
year  1450  has  been  fixed  in  the  preface  to  this 
Dictionary  as  a  convenient  point  of  departure 
for  a  general  study  of  modern  music,  an  account 
of  the  Song  in  Europe  would  be  incomplete 
without,  at  least,  a  brief  reference  to  the  Trou 
badours,  whose  epoch  was  anterior  to  that  date. 

TROUBADOURS. 

These  versifiers,  to  whom  the  Song  owes  so 
much,  derived  their  name  from  'trobar'  or 
'trouver'  (to  find,  or  *  invent),  and  they  first 
appeared  about  the  end  of  the  nth  century, 
in  the  southern  provinces  of  France.  The 
earliest  of  the  Troubadours  on  record  was  Wil 
liam,  Duke  of  Guienne,  who  joined  the  first 
Crusade  in  1096  and  died  in  1126.  The  I2th 
and  1 3th  centuries  gave  birth  to  hundreds  of 

i  Thus  In  Greek  the  poet  was  the  TTOUJTIJS,  or  '  maker.' 


SONG. 

them,  but  their  prime  was  past  when  the 
Troubadour  Academy  of  Toulouse  was  founded 
for  the  culture  and  preservation  of  their  art. 
That  Academy,  known  as  "The  Seven  Main- 
tainers  of  the  Gay  Science '  was  founded  in  the 
year  1320,  and  a  few  years  later  was  visited  by 
Petrarch. 

Some  strong  impulse  was  evidently  given  to 
the  human  mind  in  Europe  towards  the  close 
of  the  nth  century,  and  the  songs  of  the 
Troubadours,  like  the  numerous  schools  of  philo- 
Bophy  which  illustrated  the  I2th  century,  were 
fruits  of  an  awakened  ardour  for  intellectual 
pursuits.  It  was  not  unnatural  that  in  Lan- 
guedoc  and  Provence  the  new  life  should  espe 
cially  manifest  itself  in  music  and  verse,  for  the 
circumstances  of  those  provinces  were  favourable 
to  the  development  of  sentiment  and  imagination. 
The  leisure  that  is  bred  of  peace  and  plenty  was 
to  be  found  there,  for  the  country  was  prosperous 
and  comparatively  undisturbed  by  internal  war 
fare.  Its  climate  was  sunny,  and  its  people 
prone  to  gaiety  and  luxury.  The  spirit  of  the 
age  of  chivalry  had  refined  their  manners,  and 
their  flexible  and  melodious  language  —  the 
Langue  d'Oc  or  Romance  tongue — was  admir 
ably  fitted  for  lighter  forms  of  poetic  compo 
sition.  The  Proven9al  Troubadours  were  thus 
able  to  invent  a  variety  of  metrical  arrange 
ments,  perfectly  new  to  Europe.  As  might  have 
been  expected  from  their  southern  temperament 
and  the  customs  of  that  chivalrous  time,  their 
effusions  were  principally  love-songs.  Satires, 
and  panegyrics,  exhortations  to  the  crusade, 
and  religious  odes  came  to  be  intermingled  with 
amatory  poems ;  but  love,  which  first  inspired 
the  song  of  the  Troubadour,  ever  remained  its 
favourite  theme.  The  very  names  by  which 
different  classes  of  songs  were  distinguished 
reveal  their  origin.  In  the  pastourelle  the  poet 
was  feigned  to  meet  and  woo  a  shepherdess. 
The  alba  and  serena,  morning  and  evening 
songs,  were  obviously  aubades  and  serenades. 
The  tensons,  or  contentions,  were  metrical  dia 
logues  of  lively  repartee  on  some  disputed  point 
of  gallantry.  And  the  servente  was  of  course 
an  address  of  the  devoted  lover  to  his  mistress. 
To  this  last  form  of  composition,  which  was 
also  much  employed  in  satire,  a  special  celebrity 
belongs  from  the  fact  that  its  metre — the  terza 
ritna  or  rhyme  of  alternate  lines — was  adopted 
by  Dante  for  his  'Divina  Commedia,'  and  by 
Petrarch  in  his  '  Trionfi.'  To  the  Troubadours 
likewise  may  be  ascribed  the  canzo  and  canzone, 
the  soula  (solatium,  soulagemenf),  a  merry 
amusing  song,  and  the  lai  (lay),  which  was 
wont  to  be  suffused  with  melancholy.  The 
invention  of  the  Troubadours  was  not  less  fertile 
in  dance-songs,  combining  solo  and  chorus.  Such 
were  the  famous  carol  or  rondet  de  carol 
(Lat.  chorea),  and  the  espringerie  or  jumping 
dance.  From  the  same  source  sprang  the 
lallata,  or  ballad,  which,  as  its  name  implies, 
was  also  a  dance  song. 

During  their  palmy  era,  the  Troubadours 
would  seem  to  have  been  for  the  most  part 


SONG. 


585 


men  of  gentle  birth  and  high  rank ;  and  there 
was  no  reward  which  they  would  deign  to 
receive  for  their  works  but  fame  and  the  ap 
plause  of  the  ladies  to  whom  their  homage  was 
paid.  At  first,  perhaps,  they  saug  their  own 
verses  ;  but  the  functions  of  the  poet  and  the 
singer  soon  became  distinct.  Hence  a  class  of 
professional  musicians  came  to  be  attached  to 
the  retinue  of  princes  and  nobles,  and  they 
sang  the  songs  of  their  own  lords  or  other 
composers.  They  were  known  as  'Jongleurs' 
or  '  Chanteors ' ;  or  if  their  sole  business  was  to 
be  instrumental  accompanyists  of  dances,  they 
were  called  '  Estrumanteors.'  To  the  musical 
accomplishments  out  of  which  their  profession 
arose,  the  Jongleurs  soon  added  other  modes 
of  popular  diversion,  such  as  juggling  and  acro 
batic  feats,  and  they  were  of  course  paid  for 
the  entertainment  which  they  gave.  It  was 
their  habit  also  to  wander  from  country  to 
country,  and  court  to  court.  Inferior,  there 
fore,  as  the  Jongleur  was  to  the  Troubadour, 
the  celebrity  of  the  latter  depended  much  on, 
the  former,  and  we  can  understand  the  earnest 
ness  with  which  Pierre  d'Auvergne  and  other 
Troubadours  entreated  their  Jongleurs  not  to 
alter  their  verses  and  melodies. 

The  rise  of  the  Troubadours  proper  in  southern 
France  was  quickly  followed  by  the  appearance 
of  a  corresponding  class  of  versifiers  in  northern 
France  and  in  Spain.  In  northern  France  they 
were  called  'Trouveres,'  and  they  wrote  in  the 
Langue  d'O'il.  There  was  less  gaiety  about  the 
northern  Troubadours  than  about  the  southern, 
but  in  other  respects  the  resemblance  between 
them  was  very  close.  The  'Menetrier'  or 
'Ministrel'  of  the  north  corresponded  to  the 
Jongleur  of  the  south  ;  but  the  Menetrier  seems 
to  have  attained  and  kept  a  higher  standard  of 
culture  and  taste  than  the  Jongleur.  Indeed 
several  poets  of  mark  were  Menetriers.  At  the 
courts  of  our  own  Norman  kings  the  Trouvere's 
art  was  held  in  honour.  Henry  I.  was  a  votary 
of  literature ;  Henry  II.  studiously  encouraged 
poetry ;  and  Richard  Cceur  de  Lion  was  him 
self  a  Trouvere. 

Among  illustrious  Troubadours  or  Trouveres 
of  the  1 2th  and  ijth  centuries  whose  names 
survive,  there  were  (besides  William  Duke 
of  Guienne,  and  Richard  I.)  Pierre  Rogier ; 
Bernart  de  Ventadour ;  Bertran  de  Born ;  Ar- 
naut  Daniel;  Guirant  de  Borneil;  the  Chatelain 
de  Coucy ;  Blondel  des  Nerles ;  Thibaut  de 
Champagne,  King  of  Navarre,  etc.  Many  of 
their  melodies  have  come  down  to  us.  The 
earliest  are  stiff,  but  the  flowing  grace  and  ease 
of  the  later  compositions  indicate  a  rapid  im 
provement.  Even  about  so  old  a  piece  as  the 
Chatelain  de  Coucy's  famous  'Quant  le  rossignol* 
there  is  a  charm  of  pretty  sentiment,  but  its 
merit  is  inferior  to  that  of  Thibaut's  'L'Autrie'r 
par  la  matine'e.1  We  cite  them  both  as  il 
lustrations  of  Troubadour  music.1 

1  Burney  and  Feme  put  these  examples  Into  modern  notation,  and 
•where  they  differ,  Barney's  are  the  small  notes.  See  Ambros, '  Ge- 
schichte,'  ii.  224—228. 


586 


SONG. 

Quant  le  Rossipnnl. 

CHATELAIN  DE  Corcv. 


Quant    li       lou  -  sei 


-     gnolz        jo   -   lis   chante 


. 


sur  la  flor 


d'e  -  st6. 


que  naist    la    ro  -  se 


plains  de  bon  -  ne  vo  -  len-t&   chanteral 


confins    a   - 


-  mis        mais  dl  tant  suls  es-ba  -  his 

=£=;=-- 


J'al         si      tres        haut    pen    -    -    s&  qu'a  pain   es  iert  accom- 

-#— «- 


pi  is  11     -     -     ser    -    virs        dont  jai      -      6      gr&. 


L'Autricr  par  la  matinc'e. 

(Le  Roi)  THIBAUT  DE  NAVARRE. 


• — ,— •— »-]— )—          UlcEjl 


L'autrier  per  la   ma-tl  -  ne'e   ent'r  un  bos  et  un  vergier 


et    disait   un  son  premier  chi   mitientll      mais       d'a  -  mor 


£fef£^ 


^S^SS 


Taiitost    eel  -  le  par  en -tor          ka.  je     loi 


de  frainier 


si    li  dis  sans  de  -  lal-er:     Belle,  dies  vous  doint    bon  jour. 

The  melodies  of  the  Spanish  "Trobadores ' 
were  naturally  very  similar  to  those  of  the  Pro- 
ven9al  Troubadours,  and  their  system  of  notation 
was  precisely  the  same.  Spain  too,  like  France, 
counted  kings  and  princes  among  her  Troba 
dores ;  such  as  Alphonso  II.,  Peter  III.,  and 
Alphonso  X.  The  last  has  left  400  poems  which, 
with  their  melodies,  are  still  preserved  in  the 
Escurial. 

Italy  was  more  slowly  caught  by  the  poetic 
flame.  Towards  the  middle  of  the  I3th  cen 
tury,  Raymond  Berenger,  Count  of  Provence, 
visited  the  Emperor  Frederick  II.  at  Milan, 
bringing  Troubadours  and  Jongleurs  in  his  train; 
and  not  until  then  do  we  hear  of  them  in  Italy. 
A  similar  patronage  was  extended  to  them  by 
Raymond's  son-in-law  Charles  of  Anjou,  King 
of  Naples  and  Sicily.  To  the  common  people  of 
Italy  these  singers  appeared  as  retainers  of 
princely  courts,  and  they  called  them  uomini 
di  corii.  They  also  called  them  ciarlatani,  be- 


SONG. 

cau?e  the  exploits  of  Charlemagne  were  a  con 
stant  theme  of  their  songs,  and  the  word  ciarle 
stood  for  'Charles'  in  Italian  pronunciation. 
Thus  taught  by  foreigners,  Italy  soon  produced 
her  own  'Trovatori'  and  'Giocolini.'  But  the 
first  Italian  Trovatori  deemed  their  own  dialect 
to  be  unsuitable  to  poetry,  and  wrote  in  the 
Proven9al  language.  This  practice,  however, 
was  not  destined  to  last,  for  in  the  year  1265 
Dante,  the  founder  of  the  Italian  language,  was 
born.  After  him  no  Italian  could  longer  doubt 
the  capacities  of  his  own  tongue  for  all  forms  of 
poetry ;  and  the  verse  of  the  Troubadour  began 
to  'pale  an  uneffectual  fire'  before  the  splen 
dours  of  the  great  poet  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

Henceforward  the  history  of  the  Song  will  be 
separately  traced  in  the  different  countries  of 
Europe,  beginning  with  Italy. 

ITALY. 

Notwithstanding  the  subordination  of  lyric 
song  to  other  branches  of  music  in  Italy,  her 
long  and  careful  study  of  'la  melica  poesia' 
— poetry  wedded  to  music — has  not  been  sur 
passed  elsewhere.  Dante's  sonnets  and  Pe 
trarch's  Trionfi,  to  which  allusion  has  been  made 
above,  were  among  the  earliest  poems  set  to 
music.  Dante's  own  contemporary  and  friend, 
Casella,  who  set  his  sonnet  'Amor  che  nella 
mente'  to  music,  is  believed  to  have  also  com 
posed  the  music  for  a  Ballata  by  Lemino  da 
Pistoja,  still  extant  in  the  Vatican.  Both  the 
Ballate  and  Intuonate  were  very  old  forms  of 
composition,  and  both  were  love-songs  sung  to 
a  dance  *.  After  them  the  Maggiolate,  or  May 
day  songs,  had  their  hour  of  popularity.  These 
also  were  love-songs,  and  bands  of  young  men 
sang  them  in  springtime  as  they  danced  before  the 
windows  of  the  ladies  whom  they  wooed.  Later 
yet  the  Canti  Carnas dales chi  came  into  vogue. 
Originally  they  were  mere  carnival  songs,  but 
under  the  skilful  hand  of  Lorenzo  de'  Medici  a 
kind  of  consecutive  drama  grew  out  of  them. 

During  the  1 4th  century  there  existed  a  class 
of  dilettante  musicians  called  Cantori  a  liuto ; 
and  these  were  distinct  from  the  Cantori  a 
libro  who  were  more  learned  musicians.  It 
was  the  habit  of  the  former  class  to  improvise, 
for  until  the  i6th  century  musical  notation  re 
mained  so  complex  and  difficult,  that  only  ac 
complished  musicians  were  able  to  write  down 
their  songs. 

In  the  1 5th  century,  compositions  of  the 
Netherlands  school  of  music,  with  their  severe 
contrapuntal  style,  found  their  way  into  Italy, 
and  began  to  exercise  an  influence  there ;  but 
the  prevailing  type  of  Italian  secular  songs 
continued  to  be  of  a  very  light  order.  Petrucci, 
the  first  musical  publisher,  who  published  in 
1502  the  motets  and  masses  of  the  Netherlands 
composers,  had  nothing  better  to  offer  of  native 
productions  than  the  Frottole,  tuneful  but  fri 
volous  part-songs.  Similar  in  levity  were  the 

i  Arteaga,  in  his  'Le  Kivoluzioni  del  Teatro  Musicale  Ttallano.1 
gives  the  words  of  a  Rallata  of  the  ]Sth  century  by  Frederick  II.;  and 
of  another  Valletta  by  Dante.  (See  pp.  Ib7  and  190.) 


SONG. 

rust'c  songs,  Canzoni  Villaneftcne,  or  Villanelle, 
or  Villotte,  which  peasants  and  soldiers  sang  as 
drinking-songs.  In  form  the  Villanelle  adhered 
to  the  contrapuntal  style,  though  in  spirit  they 
were  essentially  popular.  More  refined  and  yet 
more  trifling  were  the  Villotte  alia  Napoletana,1 
gallant  addresses  from  singing-masters  to  their 
feminine  pupils.  The  so-called  Fa-la-la  was  a 
composition  of  somewhat  later  date,  and  more 
merit.  Those  which  Gastoldi  wrote  (about  1591) 
were  good ;  so  too  were  his  Balletti.  Gradually 
the  term  Frottola  disappeared;  the  more  serious 
Frottole  passed  into  the  MadrigaU,  while  the 
gayer  and  merrier  type  was  merged  in  the 
Villanella.  A  Frottola,  printed  in  Junta's 
Roman  collection  of  1526,  evidently  became  ere 
long  a  Villanella,  for  it  is  still  sung  in  Venice 
with  the  same  words  and  melody,  'Le  son  tre 
fanticelli,  tutti  tre  da  maridar.'  Originally  it 
was  a  part-song,  with  the  melody  in  the  tenor. 
The  Villanelle  were,  as  a  rule,  strophical — the 
same  melody  repeated  in  each  stanza — but  the 
Frottole  had  different  music  for  each  verse. 

The  vocal  music,  to  which  our  attention  has 
thus  far  been  directed,  consisted  either  of  part- 
songs  or  unisonous  chorus,  with  little  or  no 
accompaniment.  Sometimes  the  principal  or 
upper  voice  had  a  sort  of  cantilena,  but  solo- 
singing  was  still  unknown.  The  first  instance 
of  it  is  supposed  to  have  occurred  in  1539,  in 
an  Intermezzo,  in  which  Sileno  sings  the  upper 
part  of  a  madrigal  by  Corteccio,  accompanying 
himself  on  the  violone,  while  the  lower  parts, 
which  represented  the  Satyrs,  are  taken  by 
wind  instruments.  But  the  piece  itself  shows 
that  it  was  far  from  being  a  song  for  one  voice 
with  accompaniment.  It  will  be  noticed  that 
the  under  parts  are  as  much  independent  voices 


SONG. 


5S7 


as  tne  upper  one. 

Fragment  of  a  Madrigal. 

Sonato  da  Sileno  con  violone,  sonando  tutte  le  parti, 
e  cantando  U  Soprano. 
1st  Tenor.    Sileno.                             CORTECCIO,  1539. 

ffi^-^71^- 

t=M    P± 

:-^  &-\ 

_-    "P    .P  pj 

0    begl'  an  -  ni   de 

To     -     ro 

O    se  -  col 

A,^U_  ^j_ 

:^i  j      |  -f^ 

~~~  —  ^'    !  ^~| 

V>U  j      D 

^  ^i  —  fy—s>-\ 

G*~^$/^  C?Cs  

^-^^—<^>-\ 

^=^  —  =r 

;      r;  TT 

i 
1  —  i 

r 

^-iH-iJ 

,  — 

£7 

•«^ 

—  ^. 

-^  —  iS*  ^i-' 

—  *  •  7— 

-—^   ^— 

1  

^EEF^ 

~f~f  —  ^ 

di  -  vo 

al  -  lor 

^—  — 

non   rastr'o 

Fn  —  zl  —  j  —  r 

H  1  ' 
falce           al  - 

rfcg^ri&B 

422    ^^ 

^^~^^~ 

^^    =^- 

-Bj9         Sj-^—  -               p- 

^~— 

Lj=2   .JT-  Up-0(Ss. 

&    &         1 
1       1 

i  IT 

~^~&  

-?-&-^  — 

-^j  —  1  1- 

-    =t=^ 

i  &    —               S^    G)                -1 

1  For  examples  by  Cambio  (Ifi47)  and  Donati  (about  the  same 
late),  see  Kiesewetter's  'Schicksale  und  Besehaffenheitdesweltlichen 
*esanges,'  Appendices  Nos.  xxii.  and  xxiii.    Several  collections  of 
Vtllanelle  still  eiist,  and  amongst  others  an  important  one  in  Naples. 

1r& 


lor  non  e  -  ra 


vis -co  ne        lac    -    clo 


etc. 


According  to  the  historian  Doni,  Galilei  was 
the  first  composer  who  wrote  actual  melodies  for 
one  voice.  Doni  further  tells  us  that  Galilei 
set  to  music  the  passage  of  the  '  Inferno'  which 
narrates  the  tragic  fate  of  Count  Ugolino,  and 
that  he  performed  it  himself  'very  pleasingly* 
with  viola  accompaniment.  But  be  that  as  it 
may,  an  epoch  in  musical  history  was  undoubtedly 
marked  by  Giulio  Caccini,  when  he  published, 
in  1601,  under  the  title  of  'Le  Nuove  Musiche,' 
a  collection  of  MadrigaU,  Canzoni,  and  Arie 
for  one  voice.  These  compositions  have  a  figured 
bass,  and  some  are  embellished  with  jioriture. 
Caccini  was  promptly  followed  in  the  path  which 
he  had  opened  by  numerous  imitators,  and  thus 
the  monodic  system  was  virtually  established. 
Indeed  he  may  be  regarded  as  the  inventor  of 
the  '  expressive  monodia,'  for  he  was  the  first  to 
attempt  to  render  certain  thoughts  and  feelings 
in  music,  and  to  adapt  music  to  the  meaning  of 
words.  Caccini  is  said  to  have  sung  his  own 
pieces,  accompanying  himself  on  the  theorbo  ; 
and  in  the  preface  to  his  collection  he  gives 
minute  directions  as  to  the  proper  mode  of  singing 
them.  The  airs  are  well  supplied  with  marks  of 
expression,  as  the  following  example  from  his 
'  Nuove  Musiche '  will  show  : — 

(Scemar  di  voce.    Esclamazione  spiritosa.)         ~ 


Deh! 


Deh! 


do  -  ve     son  fug  -  gi    -   ti 


E5E 


4- 


(fscl.  piu  viva) 


'           1*        A           '                    _^ 

1                          o     B      <^ 

iW        « 

deh  !   do  -  ve  son  spa  -  ri 

6 

•     tl     gl'oc    -    -    -   chi  de  quali  er  - 
,       *                   *                      6 

i                    :  : 

^   -      a            p 

—       J     J  J    !                   B>d 

(fscl.) 


(trillo) 


t 


-  ra    -    i        )o       son       ce      -    nere  o  -  ma    -    1        Au    -    re 


(Senza  misura,  quis>  favellando,  in  ar- 
monia  con  la  suddstta  sprezzatura.)'2 


Mrillo) 


au-re  di  -  vi-ne  ch'er-ra-te  pe-re-gri-ne  in  questa  parte    e  quel  - 

^L  tl 


2  '  Without  keepine  to  the  time,  as  if  speaking  in  accordance  with 
the  already  expjebsed  disdain.' 


588 


SONG. 


SONG. 


la,       deh      re    •     ca-te    no-vel   -   la  dell' al  -  ma  lu  - ce 


^ 


3 


,  con  misura 
Tpiii  lartja.) 


I. 


(trillo) 


II    J  ^j  J_J^.^E; 


7^  ' 


lo  -  ro,  au  -  re,    ch'io    me-ne     mo 

*      * 


-   -  -    ro    deh    re  • 


:+j_^.j-j-j4- 


£.  rm/.) 


(trillo  una  mezza  battuta) 


au  -  re      ch'io 


mene    mo 


ro. 


Another  example,  and  further  information, 
will  be  found  in  the  article  on  MONODIA. 

Caccini  also  prepared  the  way  for  the  Cantata, 
which  subsequently  reached  its  highest  perfec 
tion  under  Carissimi,  Stradella,  Scarlatti,  and 
others.  [See  CANTATA.]  The  composers  of  the 
transition  period,  which  witnessed  the  growth  of 
the  Cantata,  were  Radesca  da  Foggia,  who  pub 
lished  five  books  of  '  Monodie'  in  1616 ;  Brunelli, 
who  published  in  the  same  year  two  books  of 
'Scherzi,  Arie,  Canzonette  e  Madrigali';  F.  Ca 
pello,  whose  most  remarkable  work  was  a  set  of 
'  Madrigali  a  voce  sola ' ;  Fornacci,  celebrated  for 
his  'Amorosi  respiri  musicali'  which  appeared 
in  1617  ;  Luigi  Rossi,1  and  Salvator  Rosa.* 

If  Corteccio's  madrigal  be  compared  with  the 
following  example  from  Capello's  'Madrigali  a 
voce  sola,'  it  will  be  seen  how  great  a  change  and 
advance  had  been  made  in  solo- singing  during 
less  than  a  century.  And  a  striking  resemblance 
may  be  observed  between  Capello  and  his  suc 
cessor  Stradella. 

Madrigale  a  voce  sola. 

GIOVANNI  FRANCESCO  CAPELLO. 


1  For  the  existing  collections  of  Rossi's  '  Monodie '  see  the  article  on 

EOS3I. 

2  Salvator  Rosa  certainly  was  Carissimi's  contemporary,  but  the 
examples  Buruey  gives  in  his  History  show  that  he  wrote  much  like 
the  abuvemeutioued  composers. 


^  •    a_i?  fs; 

\  ~~r~ 

r         i 

_C_  —  |  —  1  

dol   -  ci    pal 

—  !  •    0  \)*3 

•   lo      -     rl 

|                      |    • 

per   -    de 

1'al  -  ba  ver  - 

—  i               |  ~ 

^   F~~  & 

—  Z3  ^~ 

--  —  —  s-j 

-<s>- 

1 

~7y         -S*- 
1 

^   • 

'  —  ?n  

~  —  .  

-  mi  -  glia  i  suoi  co    -    lo     •   -   •    rl 


The  popular  taste  in  music  at  any  period  can 
best  be  ascertained  from  the  class  of  compositions 
which  publishers  then  found  to  be  most  in  de 
mand.     Thus  Petrucci,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
1 6th  century,  was  issuing  Frottole,  Villanelle, 
etc.,  but  a  hundred  years   later  the  Venetian 
publisher  Vincento    supplied   the    public  with 
little  pieces  like  those  above-mentioned  by  Fog- 
gia,  Capello,  etc.     The  Madrigal  and  the  Can 
tata  were  both  important,  at   least  as  regards 
chamber-music,  during  the  1 6th  and  I7th  cen 
turies  ;  but  they  were  soon  doomed  to  insignifi 
cance  by  the  rise  of  a  great  and  overshadowing 
rival,  namely  the  Opera.     For  an  account  of  the 
origin  of  the  Opera  and  its  marvellous  popularity 
the  reader  must  turn  to  the  article  on  OPERA. 
It  need  only  be  said  here  that  all  other  kinds 
of  secular  vocal  music  had  to  yield  precedence 
in  Italy  to  it  and  its  offshoots,  the  Scena,  the 
Cavatina,  the  Aria,  etc.     Ambros  says  that  the 
Arie  of  early  Operas  were  simply  monodic  Villa- 
nelle,  Villotte,  or  Canzoni  alia  Napoletana;  but 
he  also  tells  us  that  favourite  'couplets'  from 
Operas,  which  at  first  had  nothing  in  common 
with  Cantipopolari  beyond  being  melodies  easily 
caught  by  the  ear,  acquired  by  degrees  a  place 
similar  to  that  held  by  the  Volkslied  in  Germany. 
Nevertheless,  it  is  clear  that  Italian  musicians 
held   the  popular  songs  of  other  countries  in 
higher  estimation  than  their  own.     The  best 
songs   in    Petrucci's    '  Canti    Cento -cinquanta,' 
published  in  1503,  belong  to  France,  Germany, 
and  the  Netherlands.    And  Italian  masters  pre 
ferred  French  or  Gallo-Belgian  themes  for  their 
masses.3      Traces,  no  doubt,  of  Canti  popolari 
may  be  found  in  Italian  compositions  of  the  I5th 
and  1 6th  centuries — as,  for  instance,  in  Adrian 
Willaert's  'Canzon  di  Kuzante' — but  very  few  of 
them  have  come  down  to  us  in  their  complete  or 
native  form.     Canzoni  alia  Francese*  (as  they 


3  'L'Homme  arm4  '  Is  a  well-known  example. 
*  The  Canzoni  alia  Franceae  were  mustly  written  In  four  parts; 
many  of  them  were  canons. 


SONG. 


SONG. 


689 


were  called)  were  popular  in  Italy  early  in  the 
1 6th  century.  Of  the  popular  hymns  of  Italy 
during  the  Middle  Ages  mention  has  been  made 
under  LAUDI  SPIRITDALI. 

Materials  for  a  satisfactory  treatment  of  the 
Canti  popolari  of  Italy  do  not  exist.  Though 
much  has  been  written  about  their  words,  no 
treatise  exists  on  their  tunes.  Neither  does 
there  appear  to  be  any  collection  which  can 
safely  be  trusted  to  give  us  veritable  old  songs. 
Of  late  years  large  collections  of  modern  Canti 
popolari  have  been  published,  such  as  the 
Canzonette  Veneziane,  Stornelli  Toscani,  Canti 
Lombardi,  Napoletani,  Siciliani,  etc. ;  and  as 
their  titles  indicate,  these  publications  purport 
to  be  collections  of  local  songs  in  the  several 
provinces  of  Italy.  But  whether  they  can  be 
accepted  as  the  genuine  productions  which  they 
profess  to  be,  is  questionable.  They  would 
rather  seem  to  be  new  compositions  or  new 
arrangements  and  developments  of  old  popular 
tunes.  Moreover  it  is  very  doubtful  whether 
any  of  them  are  really  sung  by  the  peasants  of  the 
districts  to  which  they  are  attributed,  except  the 
Canti  Lombardi.  The  melodies  at  least  of  these 
are  for  the  most  part  genuine. 

A  far  stronger  claim  than  any  which  the  songs 
of  these  collections  can  put  forward  to  the  title 
of  Canti  popolari,  may  be  advanced  in  favour  of 
countless  popular  melodies  taken  from  favourite 
Operas.  The  immense  popularity  of  operatic 
tunes  in  Italy  cannot  surprise  us  when  we  re 
member  that  the  theatre  is  there  an  ubiquitous 
institution,  and  that  the  quick  ear  of  the  Italian 
instantly  catches  melodies  with  a  distinct  rhythm 
and  an  easy  progression  of  intervals.  Again,  the 
chorus- singers  of  the  Opera  are  often  chosen 
from  among  the  workmen  and  labourers  of  the 
place ;  and  thus  even  difficult  choruses  may  be 
heard  in  the  streets  and  suburbs  of  towns  which 
possess  a  theatre.  Having  regard,  therefore,  to 
the  wide  diffusion  of  the  Opera  in  Italy,  and  its 
influence  on  all  classes  during  two  centuries  and 
a  half,  it  is  reasonable  to  conclude  that  it  must 
have  checked  the  normal  development  of  popular 
songs,  and  also,  perhaps,  obliterated  the  traces 
of  old  tunes.  A  good  instance  of  the  conversion 
of  a  theatrical  melody  not  only  into  a  popular, 
but  even  into  a  national  song,  is  afforded  by 
Monti's  verses  '  Bella  Italia,  amate  sponde.' 
These  were  adapted  in  1859  to  the  Cabaletta  of 
the  basso,  in  the  first  act  of  Bellini's  '  Sonnam- 
bula,'  'Tu  no'  1  sai,  con  quei  begli  occhi,'  and 
were  to  be  heard  in  every  place  of  public  resort 
in  Northern  Italy. 

The  so-called  Canti  nazionali  belong  to  a 
period  commencing  about  the  year  1821.  They 
have  all  been  inspired  by  the  political  move 
ments  of  this  century  for  the  regeneration  of 
Italy,  and  their  tone  is  naturally  warlike.  The 
most  celebrated  of  them  are  '  Addio,  mia  bella, 
addio,'  which  is  an  adaptation  of  Italian  words 
to  '  Partant  pour  la  l  Syrie ' ;  '  Daghela  avanti  un 

1  This  adaptation  was  probably  made  during  the  war  of  1859,  In 
which  France  assisted  Italy  to  liberate  herself  from  the  yoke  of 
Austria. 


2passo,'  a  ballet  song  written  by  Paolo  Giorza  in 
1858;  'Oh,  dolce  piacer,  goder  liberta';  'Inno 
di  Mameli ' ;  ' Fratelli  d'  Italia ' ;  'La  bandiera 
tricolore ' ;  '  All'  armi,  All'  armi,'  by  Pieri ;  and 
the  'Inno  di  Garibaldi.'  The  years  in  which 
Italy  was  most  deeply  stirred  by  struggles  for 
independence  were  1821,  1848,  and  1859,  and  all 
the  songs  just  cited  can  be  traced  to  one  or  other 
of  those  revolutionary  periods. 

The  harmonic  and  formal  structure  of  the 
Canti  popolari  is  usually  very  simple.  They 
are  very  rarely  sung  in  parts,  though  sometimes 
an  under  part  is  added  in  thirds.  Their  accom 
paniments  are  also  extremely  simple.  A  weak 
and  very  modern  colouring  is  imparted  to  the 
harmony  by  an  excessive  use  of  the  chord  of  the 
dominant  seventh  ;  but  otherwise  the  harmony 
adheres  to  the  tonic  chords,  and  very  seldom 
modulates  into  anything  except  the  nearest  re 
lated  keys.  No  Canti  popolari  written  in  the 
old  scales  are  extant ;  indeed,  since  the  time  of 
Caccini  their  emancipation  from  the  ecclesias 
tical  modes  has  been  complete.  The  form  and 
rhythm  of  the  songs  are  equally  simple,  con 
sisting  of  four-bar  phrases  ;  the  time  is  more  fre 
quently  3-8  or  6-8  than  common  time.  The  poetry 
is  in  stanzas  of  four  lines,  the  accents  occurring 
regularly,  even  in  provincial  dialects  ;  and  the 
songs  are  generally  strophical — that  is,  the  melody 
is  repeated  for  each  stanza.  It  should  be  added,  to 
avert  misconception,  that  the  terms  Canti,  Can- 
zonetti,  and  Stornelli  have  been  very  loosely 
and  indiscriminately  employed.  But,  speaking 

2  This  most  popular  air  Is  a  striking  Illustration  of  the  fortuitous 
manner  in  which  songs  sometimes  acquire  a  national  renowu.  The 
circumstances  which  made  '  Daghela  avanti  un  passo  '  famous  wera 
as  follows.  In  1858,  when  Milan  was  a  hot-bed  ot  Italian  conspiracy 
and  intrigue  against  the  Austrian  rule  in  Lombardy,  the  perform 
ance  of  a  ballet-dancer  at  the  Teatro  della  Cannobiana  was  received 
by  the  spectators  with  mingled  expressions  of  approval  and  dis 
approval,  which  gave  rise  to  disorder  In  the  theatre.  The  police 
interfered,  and  took  the  part  of  the  majority,  whose  opinion  was  ad 
verse  to  the  danseuse.  This  at  once  enlisted  the  popular  sympathies 
on  her  side,  and  her  cause  was  thenceforth  identified  with  patriotic 
aspirations.  Further  disturbances  followed,  and  the  police  stopped 
the  run  of  the  ballet.  Thereupon  the  tune  to  which  the  ballet-girl 
danced  her  passo  a  soZo  passed  into  the  streets  of  Milan  and  was 
heard  everywhere,  sung  by  the  populace  with  words  partly  Italian 
and  partly  Milanese.  It  was  a  hybrid  song  of  love  and  war,  with  the 
refrain  '  daghela  avanti  un  passo  '  (meaning  '  move  a  step  forward '), 
and  it  was  received  by  the  public  as  an  exhortation  to  patriotic 
action.  To  Austrian  ears  ths  tune  and  the  words  were  an  insolent 
challenge,  and  they  were  not  forgotten  when  war  was  declared  a 
few  months  later  between  Austria  and  the  kingdom  of  Piedmont. 
•  Daghela  avanti  un  passo '  was  then  played  in  derision  by  the 
military  bands  of  Austria,  while  her  troops  were  advancing  from 
Lombardy  into  Piedmont.  But  Austria  was  soon  compelled  to 
evacuate  Piedmont,  and  her  retreating  armies  ever  heard  the  same 
song  sung  by  the  advancing  soldiers  of  Italy.  Province  after  province 
was  subsequently  annexed  to  Piedmont  and  with  each  successive 
annexation  the  area  of  the  popularity  of  '  Daghela  avanti  un  passo' 
was  extended,  until  it  was  heard  all  over  the  Italian  kingdom.  This 
is  its  melody :— 


etc. 


590 


SONG. 


SOXG. 


generally,  Stornelli  are  lively  love-songs ;  Can 
zoni  and  Canzonette  narrative  songs,  while  Canto 
is  a  generic  term  applicable  to  almost  any  form. 
[See  STORNELLI.] 

For  about  a  century  and  a  half — from  the 
latter  part  of  the  i7th  century  to  the  earlier 
part  of  the  present  century — the  Canzoni  and 
Canzonette  da.  Camera  of  Ilaly  exhibited  neither 
merit  nor  improvement.  A  few  collections  were 
published  from  time  to  time,  but  apparently 
very  slight  attention  was  paid  to  them.  They 
were  mostly  of  a  religious  tendency ;  not  hymns, 
but  Canzoni  spirituals  e  morali,  as  they  were 
called.  Even  when  the  Canzoni  Madrigalesche 
were  reduced  to  two  voices  (as,  for  instance,  those 
of  Benedetto  Marcello,  published  at  Bologna 
in  1717)  they  continued  to  be  essentially  poly 
phonic,  one  voice  imitating  the  other.  How 
poor  and  uninteresting  was  the  true  monodic 
Canzone  of  those  days  may  be  learnt  from  the 
following  example  by  Gasparini,  dating  probably 
about  1 730. 


Anflante. 


OAPPARTNI.  1730. 

BE 


Senz-a    la  mla  dl  -    let-ta      rl  -  po   -    so    piu    non 


£±fc&U=t 


E±£ 


m 


ES 


--£25 


?^s 


1 


tro  -  vo        ri     po  -  so        piii       non 


tro  -  vo 


o  - 


^B 


-• 1 — I — •— «— I 

i^EEEEB 


-  vunque  il  pas-so  io    mo  -vo        mise------  gui    -    - 


=r»±=*i 


-• — •- 


£ 


-  ta     il    >        do    -     -    lor. 


£S2l 

•^E. 


For  many  important  forms  of  music,  such  as 
the    Opera,  the  Cantata,   the  Sonata,   and  the 
Fugue,  etc.,  we  are  primarily  and  especially  in 
debted  to  the  Italians ;   but  as  regards  the  mo 
dern  Artistic  Song  we  owe  them  little.     Just  as 
the  'couplets'  and  favourite  tunes  of  the  Opera 
supplied  the  people  with  Canti  popolari,  so  did 
its  Arie  and  Cavatine  provide  the  pieces  which 
the  educated   classes  preferred  to  hear  at  con 
certs   and    in  drawing-rooms.      Until    quite  a 
recent  date  there  was  no  demand  for  songs  pro 
per  ;  few  composers,  therefore,  deemed  it  worth 
their  while   to  bestow  pains   on   this  kind   of 
work.     To  write  an  opera  is  the  natural  ambi- 


tion  of  Italian  musicians,  and  short  indeed  is  the 
list  of  those  who  have  devoted  themselves  to 
other  branches  of  music.  In  the  works  of  Cima- 
rosa,  Mercadante,  Bellini,  Donizetti,  and  other 
celebrated  composers  of  operas,  we  find  very 
numerous  Ariette,  Canzonette,  Rondi,  Romanze, 
and  Notturni,  but  none  evincing  any  serious 
thought  or  pains.  They  are  too  weak  to  stand 
the  test  of  time  :  the  popularity  they  may  once 
have  known  has  been  brief  and  fleeting.  An 
exception,  however,  must  be  made  in  favour  of 
Rossini,  some  of  whose  songs  are  really  beautiful. 

Among  composers  of  songs  in  the  latter  part 
of  the  last  century,  the  names  of  Asioli,  Barni, 
Federici,  and  Blangini  may  be  mentioned,  and 
Giordani,  whose  '  Caro  mio   ben  '  has  been  a 
general   favourite.      Of  those  who  have  lived 
nearer  our  own  time  Gordigiani  is  undoubtedly 
the  best  for  simple  popular  songs.     He  wrote  in 
the  true  Italian  style,  with  the  utmost  fluency, 
spontaneity  and  simplicity.      Next  to  him  in 
merit  —  though  less  well  known  —  stands  Mari- 
ani.      Injustice   would   be   done  to  the  living 
composers  of  songs  in  Italy,  if  our  estimate  of 
them  were  founded  solely  on  the  songs  which 
have  a  circulation  in  England.     Men  like  Tosti, 
Denza,   and  others,  write,   as  it  were,  for  the 
English  market;    but  their  work  is  too  trivial 
to  gain  anything  more  than  a  very  transient 
popularity.     Far  better  writers  than  these  exist 
in  Italy,  though  they  remain  unknown  beyond 
the  borders   of  their  own  country.     "With  few 
exceptions,  however,  Italian  songs  are  marked, 
in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  by  the  same  quali 
ties.    The  voice  part  is  ever  paramount  in  them, 
and  all  else  is  made  to  yield  to  it.    The  beauti 
ful  quality  and  wide  compass  of  Italian  voices,1 
and  the  facility  with  which  they  execute  diffi 
cult  vocal  phrases,  tempt  the  composer  to  write 
brilliant  and  effective  passages,  where  a  simple 
melody  would  be  far  more  appropriate  to  the 
words.     The  words  may  indeed  give  the  form 
to  the  song,  and  determine  its  number  of  sec 
tions  and  periods,  and  the  music  may  substan 
tially  agree  with   the  text,  but  we  miss  that 
delicate,  subtle  understanding  between  the  poet 
and   the   musician  which   we   find  in  German 
songs,  where  the  music  often  acts  as  an  inter 
preter  to  the  words,  or  the  sound  of  a  single 
word  gives  importance  to  a  note  or  passage. 
Again,    in    Italian    songs    the    accompaniment 
holds  a  very  subordinate  place.     Its  sole  use  is 
to  support  the  voice  ;  it  has  rarely  any  artistic 
value  of  its  own,  and  more  rarely  still  does  it 
assist  in  expressing  the  poetic  intention  of  the 
piece. 

It  would  be  wrong,  however,  to  apply  these 
criticisms  without  reserve  to  all  modern  Italian 
composers.  Rossini,  for  instance,  knew  how  to 
rise  above  the  common  defects  of  his  countrymen, 
and  many  of  the  accompaniments  to  his  songs 
are  most  interesting.  Take,  for  example,  No.  2 

It  is  curious  to  note  how  limited  is  the  compass  of  voice  for  which 
modern  Italian  composers  write  songs  intended  to  circulate  and  1 
sung  in  foreign  countries,  while  the  songs  that  they  write  for  the 
home  maikji  of  Italy  olten  exceeds  two  octaves. 


SONG. 

of  'LaRegata  Veneziana,'  where  the  rhythmical 
figure  in  the  left  hand  represents  the  regular 
movement  of  oars,  whilst  the  right  hand  has 
continuous  legato  passages  in  double  notes. 


SONG. 


591 


'  Co  passa  la  Regata.' 
Allegretto  Agitato. 


Rosstwi. 


Very  clever  accompaniments  are  also  met  with 
in  the  compositions  of  Marco  Sala,  Faccio,  Boz- 
zano,  Coronaro,  and  Smareglia.  The  last  two 
have  paid  especial  attention  to  the  words  of 
their  songs.  But  pre-eminent  in  every  respect 
above  other  living  writers  of  songs  in  Italy  is 
a  young  Florentine,  Benedetto  lunck  by  name. 
For  beauty  of  melody,  skilful  accompaniment, 
originality  and  grace,  a  very  high  place  would 
be  assigned  in  any  country  to  lunck' s  publica 
tion  'La  Simona,'  which  contains  twelve  songs 
for  soprano  and  tenor.  And  such  capacities  as 
his  encourage  the  hope  that  the  standard  of  Ita 
lian  songs  may  yet  be  raised  by  careful  study 
to  that  higher  level  of  thought  and  conception 
which  has  been  reached  in  other  lands. 

For  further  information  on  the  Troubadours 
and  the  Italian  Song  see — 

'  Leben  und  Werke  der  Troubadours ' ;  Friedricli  Dietz. 

'  Ueber  die  Lais ' ;  Ferdinand  Wolff. 

'The  Troubadours';  F.  Hueffer. 

'Storia  e  Ragione ';  II  Quadrio. 

1  Le  Kiyoluzioni  del  teatro  musicale  Italiano ';  Arteaga. 

'  Histoire  de  la  Musique  en  Italie ' ;  Orloff. 

'Dizionaria  eBibliografla  della  Musica';  Lichtenthal. 

'Schicksale  und  Beschaffenheit  des  weltlichen  Ge- 
sauges';  Kiesewetter. 

'Cenno  storico  sulla  scuola  musicale  di  Napoa  ; 
Flnrimo. 

'  Histoire  de  la  Musique  moderne ' ;  Marcillac. 

'Italienische  Tondicbter ' ;  Naumann. 

'Gescliichte  der  Musik';  Ambros. 

The  writer  also  owes  her  warmest  thanks  to  Mr.  G. 
Mazzucato  for  information  given  to  her. 

FRANCE. 

What  was  done  for  music  by  the  Troubadours 
of  Provence  and  the  '  Trouveres '  of  Northern 
France,  has  been  briefly  described  above.  Their 
development  of  the  Song  in  France  was  carried 
further  by  the  eminent  '  Chansonniers '  of  the 
13th  century,  Adam  de  la  Hale  and  Guillaume 
Machaud.  The  former,  surnaiued  '  le 


d' Arras,'  was  born  in  1240  ;  the  latter  in 
1285  ;  and  they  may  be  regarded  as  connecting 
links  between  the  'Trouveres'  and  the  learned 
musicians  of  later  times.  Like  the  'Trouveres,' 
they  invented  both  the  words  and  the  melodies 
of  their  songs,  but  they  also  attempted  to  write 
in  the  polyphonic  forms  of  vocal  composition ; 
and  imperfect  as  these  attempts  were,  they 
marked  a  step  in  advance  of  the  'Trouveres.' 
To  Adam  de  la  Hale  and  Machaud  the  Chanson 
owes  much.  Not  only  can  the  germ  of  the 
future  Vaudeville  be  detected  in  Adam  de  la 
Hale's  pastorale  'Robin  et  Marion,'  but  its  chan 
sons  also  are  strictly  similar  in  structure  and 
character  to  those  of  the  present  day.  In  ancient 
find  modern  chansons  alike,  we  find  a  strongly 
marked  rhythm,  easy  intervals,  repetition  of  one 
melodic  phrase,  paucity  of  notes,  and  extreme 
simplicity  of  general  plan.  Though  nearly  fnx 
hundred  years  have  passed  since  '  Kobin  et 
Marion'  was  written,  the  song  'Robin  m'aime'  is 
still  sung  in  Hennegau.1 

•8- 


.  Jf      4  . 

1      r»*              i        i 

-I  —  1=  —  -  —  1 

uU      *f 

"Tti^P                  —  d— 

d  —  p  —    I 

Vy              a) 

gi  •    j      •)••    -c? 

ai                   1 

Eo 

•  bins               m'aime          Bo  -  bins     i 

n'a 

Piw^ 

I             i 

II.. 

"n 

j.   i-r^-    U^ 

£2                   \^\ 

I"   r  1 

ft    '       2" 

(—      .e   z  r±j    is    ^      9    ^ 

!    i 

•              II 

Ko-bSns      n 

i'a        de  -  man  -    d<§  -  e        si    m'a 

-  ra. 

tvnl 

j      r^       ill      J      I 

1        ^ 

J      • 

-       •     *- 

•*      -Jl«&'       0      S2 

g!      0      " 

Ko  -  bins 

m'a       ca  -   la  -  ce  -   te  -  le 

des    car  - 

I               i   I                                    I 

;  —     j 

5" 

i            \    \     \            i-                (^    \   m 

-J        J            ,       • 

:  f     , 

•1  el      **  1  «      ^P              1      1 

1      ! 

t&    -     le 

bonne        et     belle    sous  -  kra  -  n 

i  -  e      et 

Dal  Seqno  al  Fine. 


chain  -  tu     -    re  -  le        a        leur       ira. 

In  the  year  I7472  two  volumes  of  French 
and  Latin  poems,  with  descriptions  of  the  music 
to  which  some  of  them  were  set,  were  discovered 
by  Count  de  Caylus  in  a  royal  library  of  France, 
both  words  and  music  being  the  work  of  Guil 
laume  de  Machaud,  '  poet  and  musician.'  The 
subjects  of  the  poems  are  very  varied,  and  among 
them  are  a  great  number  oflais,  virelais,  ballades, 
and  rondeaux,  some  for  a  single  voice,  and  others 
in  four  parts.  And  as  in  these  full  pieces  the 
words  are  placed  under  the  tenor  part  only,  it 
may  be  inferred  that  this  was  the  principal 
melody.  The  majority  are  in  Old  French,  and 
the  few  Latin  poems  of  the  collection  are  chiefly 
motets,  and  for  a  single  voice.  Machaud  seems 
to  have  been  most  renowned  for  his  graceful  and 
rhythmical  ballettes,  or  dance-songs,  which  as  a 
rule  are  written  in  triple  or  compound  time.  It 
should  be  noted  that  in  the  songs  of  this  early 
period  the  melody  is  never  protracted  and  draw  a 

i  This  example  Is  taken  from  MM.  Mathis  Lussy's  and  Ernest 
David's  'Histoire  de  la  Notation  Musicale,'  p.  105. 

-'  Burney.  History  of  Music,  vol.  ii.  p.  303.  These  volumes  are  still 
piestJ'Vtd  iu  the  iiiliiolhc>iue 


592 


SONG. 


out  to  the  detriment  of  the  words,  but  closely 
follows  the  quick  succession  of  syllables  without 
visible  effort.  These  old  melodies  often  have  the 
Iambic  rhythm  ;  for  instance — 

ADAM  DE  LA  HALE.I 


II  n'est    si  -  bon  -  ne    vl  -   an  -  de     que  ma  -  tons. 

which  in  modern  times  has  ceded  place  to  the 

Trochaic ;  as — 

Words :  '  Les  grandes  VeYit^s.' ' 
Air :  '  La  fanfare  de  S.  Cloud.' 


Oh,  le  bon  sle-cle  mes  fre-res,  Que  lesie'cleounous  vivons. 

Contemporary  with  Machaud,  or  a  little  his  junior, 
was  Jehannot  Lescurel,  who  wrote  romances  still 
extant  in  MS.,  one  of  which  has  been  trans 
lated  into  modern  notation  by  M.  Fe"tis.  This 
romance — '  A  vous  douce  de"bonnaire ' — exhibits 
a  rather  more  developed  melody  and  a  more 
modern  tendency  than  other  productions  of  the 
eame  date.3 

Even  if  it  be  true,  as  some  assert,  that  during 
the  1 4th  and  I5th  centuries  the  Church  exer 
cised  an  exclusive  dominion  over  music,  she  was, 
nevertheless,  a  friend  to  secular  music.  By 
taking  popular  tunes  for  the  themes  of  their 
masses  and  motets — such  as  '  L'Omme  arme",' 
'Tant  je  me  deduis,'  'Se  la  face  ay  pale,'  used 
by  Dufay;  or  'Baisez-moi'  by  Roselli;  'Malheur 
me  bat '  by  Josquin  de  Pres,  etc,4  the  musicians  of 
the  Church  preserved  many  a  tune  which  would 
otherwise  have  perished.  For  want  of  such  adop 
tion  by  the  Church  we  have  lost  the  airs  to  which 
the  curious  Noels,  printed  in  black  letter  at  the 
end  of  the  I5th  century,  were  sung.  The  names 
of  the  airs  ('  Faulce  trahison,'  etc.)  remain  as 
superscriptions  to  the  text,  but  every  trace  of 
the  airs  themselves  has  vanished.  In  that  great 
age  of  serious  polyphonic  music  a  high  place  was 
held  by  the  French  school,  or,  to  speak  more 
correctly,  the  Gallo-Belgian  school,  for  during 
the  I4th  and  I5th  centuries  no  distinction,  as 
regards  music,  can  be  drawn  between  Northern 
France  and  Belgium.  The  frontier  between  the 
two  countries  was  an  often-shifted  line ;  in  re 
spect  of  race  and  religion  they  had  much  in 
common ;  and  many  a  composer  of  Belgian  birth 
doubtless  had  his  musical  education  in  France. 
By  the  Italians  the  French  and  Belgian  composers 
were  indiscriminately  called  Galli ;  and  indeed 
no  attempt  has  ever  been  made  to  distinguish  a 
Belgian  from  a  French  school  of  music  anterior 
to  the  end  of  the  i6th  century. 

The  direct  use  made  of  secular  music  for 
ecclesiastical  purposes  is  remarkably  illustrated 
by  the  works  of  Cle'ment  Marot.  He  was  a 
translator  of  a  portion  of  the  Psalms ;  and  the 
first  thirty  of  them,  which  he  dedicated  to  his 
king,  Francois  I,  were  set  or  'parodied'  to  the 

1  See  Ambros,  Geschichte  der  Musik,  vol.  ii.  p.  295. 

2  See  Du  Mersan,  '  Chants  et  Chansons  populaires.* 

3  This  song  is  to  be  found  in  the  '  Eevue  Musicale,'  vol.  xll.  no.  34. 
<  See  Ambros, '  Gesch.  d.  Musik,'  vol.  iii.  pp.  15,  16,  etc. 


SONG. 

favourite  dance  airs  of  the  Court.5  Popularity 
was  thus  at  once  secured  for  the  Psalmg  which 
members  of  the  Court  could  sing  to  their  favourite 
courantes,  sarabandes,  and  bourses.  After  Ma- 
rot's  death  Beza  continued  his  work,  at  Calvin's 
instance.  Much  doubt  long  existed  as  to  whom 
belonged  the  honour  of  having  set  the  Psalms  to 
music.  Some  ascribed  it  wholly  to  Marot,  others 
to  Goudimel :  but  M.  Douen  has  now  made  it 
clear  that  these  men,  together  with  Jambe  de 
Fer,  Franc,  Claudin,  and  perhaps  others,  adapted 
the  Psalms  to  existing  profane  songs.6  In  the 
'  Psautier  Flamand  Primitif '  (15  40)  all  the  Psalms 
are  for  one  voice,  and,  with  only  two  exceptions, 
they  can  all  be  traced  back  to  their  sources  in 
popular  French  and  Flemish  songs.  For  cantiques, 
moreover,  as  well  as  masses,  secular  airs  have 
been  openly  utilised  by  composers  of  the  Koman 
Catholic  Church.7 

While  secular  music  was  thus  made  to  minister 
to  the  Church,  it  had  a  separate,  though  less  con 
spicuous,  sphere  of  its  own.  This  is  attested  by 
the  vaux-de-vire,  voix-de-ville  (better  known  by 
their  modern  name  of  vaudevilles9),  and  airs-de- 
cour,  collected  and  published  in  the  i6th  century, 
but  evidently  belonging  to  the  preceding  century. 
Much  grace,  indeed,  and  gaiety  were  evinced  in 
the  French  songs  and  romances  of  this  period, 
and  it  would  be  wrong  to  disparage  such  com 
posers  as  Noe  Feignient,  Guillaume  le  Heurteur, 
Pierre  Vermont,9  and  Fra^ois  I.,  whose  song  '  0 
triste  de*partir'  is  full  of  feeling.  More  important 
work,  undoubtedly,  was  however  being  done  by 
their  polyphonic  contemporaries.  A  celebrated 
collection,  with  a  dedication  to  Charles  IX.  by 
Ronsard,  was  published  in  1572,  under  the  title 
of  '  Meslanges  de  Chansons,'  containing  songs 
for  4,  6,  and  sometimes  8  voices,  by  all  the 
best-known  Gallo-Belgian  masters,  such  as  Jos- 
quin,  Mouton,  Claudin,  etc.  These  songs,  like 
others  of  the  same  date,  are  full  of  canonic  de 
vices.  Clement  Jannequin,  Crespel,  and  Raif 
wrote  many  songs  in  four  or  more  parts.  Pierre 
Ronsard's  sonnets  were  set  to  music  by  Philippe 
de  Monte  in  5,  6,  and  7  parts ;  and  his  songs 
in  4  parts  by  Bertrand  and  Reynard.  Mention 

3  '  Wekerlin  says,  In  his  '  Echos  du  Temps  passeY  yol.  ill.  p.  138. 
that  when  any  dance  air-  became  popular,  rhymers  immediate! 
« parodied '  it ;  i.  e.  put  words  to  it,  so  that  it  could  be  sung.  The 
term  '  parody '  thus  used  had  no  sense  of  burlesque,  but  simply  meant 
adaptation.  The  celebrated  publishers  and  editors,  'La  famille 
Ballard,1  issued  a  quantity  ol  these  songs :  '  L'Abeille,'  a  well-known 
example,  is  really  a  minuet. 

6  See  Douen, '  Cle'ment  Marot  etle  Psautier  Hugenot,'  vol.  I.  p.  60 

7  According  to  Douen  (vol.  1.  pp.  688  and  703)  the  .Roman  Catbi 
have  never  ceased  to  adapt  secular  airs  to  ecclesiastical  uses  from  th 
16th  century  down  to  the  present  time ;  and  he  supports  the  si 
ment  by  reference  to  '  La  pieuse  Alouette  avec  son  tire-lire :  Ohansot 
Spirituelles,  le  plupart  sur  les  air  mondains,  par.  Ant.  de  la  Cauchii 
1619 ' ;  '  Imitation  de  Je"sus-Christ  en  Cantiques  sur  des  airs  d'Operas 
et  de  Vaudevilles,  par  Abb<5  Pelegrin.  1727  (Paris)1;  and  'Concert 
Spirituelles,'  a  collection  published  at  Avignon  in  1835,  of  masses, 
requiems,  hymns,  prayers,  proses,  etc..  on  operatic  melodies  by  W 
Piccinni,  Mozart,  Cimarosa,  Kossini,  Me"hul,  and  others. 

8  In  attributing  the  invention  of  the  vaudeville  to  Basseilr 
musician  of  the  second  half  of  the  15th  century,  Bousseau  and  o 
have  confused  it  with  the  vaux-de-vire.    Basselin  and  Jean  le 
who  lived  in  the  little  valley  (vaux)  around  Vire,  in  Normandy,  w 
many  favourite  drinking-songs,  and  hence  drinking-songs  came  w 
be  called  vaux-de-vire.    But  vaudeville  is  a  corruption  of  voix-de-vMt, 
an  old  term  originally  applied  to  chansons  sung  in  the  streets,  ai 
afterwards  extended  to  all  songs  with  gay  airs  and  light  word; 

9  Pierre  Vermont  is  mentioned  by  Rabelais  in  the  prologue  to  in 
second  book  of  'Pantagruel.' 


SONG. 

should  also  be  made  of  Gombert,  Josquin's  cele 
brated  pupil.  And  Certon  has  shown  in  his 
<Je  ne  fus  jamais  si  ayse'  what  excellence  the 
French  polyphonic  chanson  can  attain  in  capable 
hands. 

The  effects  of  the  great  change  which  came 
over  vocal  music  at  the  end  of  the  i6th  century 
were,  perhaps,  more  marked  in  France  and  Bel 
gium  than  elsewhere.  Polyphonic  music,  whether 
in  masses  or  in  madrigals,  had  been,  as  we  have 
seen,  the  forte  of  the  Gallo-Belgian  school ;  but 
when  once  the  monodic  system  had  gained  uni 
versal  recognition,  polyphonic  music  began  to 
decline  even  where  it  had  flourished  most,  and 
the  Gallo-Belgian  school  surrendered  its  indivi 
duality  by  absorption  into  the  Italian  school. 
Thenceforward  original  melodies  of  their  own 
invention  were  expected  of  musicians,  and  the 
old  practice  of  choosing  themes  for  compositions 
in  popular  songs  or  current  dance-tunes  died 
out,  though  its  disappearance  was  gradual,  for 
no  ancient  or  inveterate  usage  ever  ceases  all 
at  once.1  The  French  composers  were  likewise 
influenced  by  two  other  great  innovations  of  this 
time,  viz.  the  creation  of  discords  by  Monteverde, 
and  the  application  of  music  to  the  drama.  In 
the  latter  years  of  the  1 6th  century  songs  for  one 
voice  began  to  find  favour  and  to  drive  airs  for  3, 
4,  5,  or  6  voices  from  the  ground  which  they  had 
occupied  for  more  than  1 50  years.  And  that  most 
characteristic  type  of  French  songs,  the  romance, 
was  soon  to  commence,  or  rather  to  resume,  a 
reign  of  popularity  which  is  not  yet  ended. 

Scudo  defines  the  romance  to  be  a  song  divided 
into  several '  couplets.'  The  air  of  a  romance  is 
always  simple,  naive,  and  tender,  and  the  theme 
of  its  words  is  generally  amatory.  Unlike  the 
chanson,  it  is  never  political  or  satirical.  It 
was  one  of  the  very  earliest  fruits  of  French 
grace,  sensibility,  and  gallantry ;  and,  though  its 
attributes  may  have  varied  from  time  to  time,  it 
has  remained  unchanged  in  its  essence  from  the 
era  of  the  Troubadours  until  now.  There  was,  it 
is  true,  a  period  after  the  disappearance  of  the 
Troubadours,  when  the  romance  was  threatened 
with  extinction  by  its  formidable  rival,  the  poly 
phonic  chanson,  but  the  iyth  century  saw  it 
again  in  possession  of  all  its  old  supremacy. 
Louis  XIII.,  who  was  more  at  home  in  music 
than  in  politics,  wrote  several  romances ;  and  his 
music-master,  Pierre  Guddron,  was  perhaps  the 
foremost  composer  of  romances  of  that  time. 
Several  charming  examples  of  his  works  are 
extant,  but  the  following,  which  was  first  pub 
lished  in  a  correct  form  a  few  years  ago,  is  cer 
tainly  one  of  the  best.2  The  modulations  are 
truly  remarkable  for  that  date. 

1  When  public  opinion  first  ceased  to  approve  this  practice,  com 
posers  did  not  at  once  abandon  it,  but  they  no  longer  produced  pieces 
which  were  avowedly  parodies  or  adaptations :  it  now  became  their 
habit  to  attach  their  names  to  all  their  melodies,  whether  they  were 
original  or  borrowed.    As  Scudo,  for  instance,  observes  in  his  'Cri 
tique  et  Litt^rature  musicales,'  the  words  of '  Charmante  Gabrielle ' 
were  no  more  written  by  Henri  IV.  than  its  music  was  written  by  his 
naitre  de  chapelle,  Du  Caurroy.     The  air  is  really  an  old  Noel  of 
unknown  authorship ;  and  probably  some  court  poet,  Desportes  per 
haps,  wrote  the  words   by  order  of  the  king.    [See    GABBIELLE, 
CHARMANTE,  vol.  i.  p.  572.] 

2  See  Wekerlin, '  Echos  du  Temps  passe",'  vol.  iii.  p.  10. 

VOL.  III.   FT.   5. 


1  f 

i»~Zj 

SONG. 
i  »— 

593 

[—±^  —  1  —  1 

J 

Aux   plai  -  si 

F^PF^ 

•     F     *  -• 

rs,  aux    dd  -  li  -  ce 

n::zi~ 

s,    ber  -  ge    - 

J  1  

res,  Aux  pi 

-  r   * 

ai  -  sirs,  aux  d 

£: 

5  -  11  -  ces,  ber  -  g< 

^   -    -    res, 
—  i  1  —  i 

•     -r     JlJT 

__J  —  J  —  J_ 

^  *  •  s~)    . 

=ur^M 

11  faul 
1  1 

,    6  -  tre    du  t 

emps  m6  -  na  -  ge    - 

—  *$m  — 
-    res,   U  faut 

mf 

—  $-.-m  : 

-hH-—  K- 

-]—p—  H 

n*  •  J    * 

3  • 

BP 

|H            • 

^^               'TJ               II 

9      \     "1 

6  -  tre  du 

temps  me-na 

-  ge   -    -  res  ; 

Car    il    s'd- 

F    r    i* 

H«           h 

Ha       P       F 

P        m      m             1 

• 

"         #      rU 

•     *    um 

r     F  1 

l     '     l 

1       ^P 

r      r    i          |         | 

i     1 

1      1     1 

coule  et  se  i 

>erd  d'heure  en 
BaZL      ,-, 

heure.    Et    le    re- 

gret  seu-le-ment 

(1           H«      •    h« 

a               i 

F     c^ 

1  "(-    *  U* 
° 

1           •     •  1 

i     r  i*    r 

nJ 

—  1  .  Lj- 

^^  j 

II        1 

|    I 

^•i 
en              de 

-  meur  -  e! 

A   1'a-mour,  au 

plai-sir,  au  bo  - 

I 

"~1-    ~  \      |i 

•       J 

2        J 

m 

i                • 

.    *         m 

:*  •  •     «     /^ 

cage  em- ploy -ez    les  beaux  jours  de  votre     fi,   -    -   ge. 

Gue'dron's3  son-in-law,  Boesset,  was  the  author, 
of  a  very  famous  romance,  *  Cachez  beaux  yeux.', 
And  the  names  of  Beaulieu,  Deschamps,  Colasse, 
Bernier,  Lefevre,  Lambert,  and  Pierre  Ballard 
may  be  recorded  as  other  composers  of  this  age. 
The  last  (whose '  Belle,  qui  m'avez  blesseY  was  a 
popular  romance)  was  a  member  of  the  famous 
Ballard  family  of  music -printers :  others  of  the 
family  also  were  composers.  As  printers,  they 
preserved  a  large  quantity  of  brunettes  *  ('  ou 
petits  airs  tendres'),  drinking-songs,  and  dance- 
songs.  Here  we  may  mention  the  drone  bass, 
which  occurs  so  frequently  in  French  musettes 
and  other  dance-songs. 

Ah!  man  beau  laboureur !    Chanson  k  danser.5 


-f-T  T?  

Fa 

r  r   r  f- 

—  f-*  1  

are  Str.)          Ah  ! 
(Me  Str.)         N'a    - 

mon  beau   la  -  bou 
vous  pas    vu    pas 

-  reur;     Ah! 
-  ser,        N'a   - 

-J^  rfj  

—  ^  

P 

1 

S       (7  £*—     —  f  f— 

I   ^  •  —  *-! 

L&  —  c—  H 

I     I 


I 


8  Pierre  Gue'dron,  born  about  1565,  was  a  singer  in  the  King's  band 
at  Paris,  and  in  1601  succeeded  Claude  Lejeune  as  composer  to  the 
same.  He  was  a  great  composer  of  Ballets,  and  was  one  of  tho 
chief  persons  to  bring  about  the  great  monodic  revolution,  by  which 
solo  songs  ousted  the  polyphonic  compositions  that  had  for  so  long 
ruled.  A  large  number  were  published  by  the  Ballards  between  1605 
and  1650.  Gue'dron's  son-in-law,  Antoine  Boesset,  was  not  only  the 
favourite  song-composer,  but  also  the  best  lutenist  of  his  time. 
[See  BOESSET,  vol.  i.  p.  255.] 

4  BRUNETTE  is  defined  by  Diderot  and  d'Alembert,  in  their  en 
cyclopaedia,  to  be  a  kind  of  chanson,  with  an  easy  and  simple  air,  and 
written  in  a  style  which  is  gallant,  but  without  affectation,  and  often 
tender  and  playful.  The  term  is  generally  believed  to  have  come 
from  the  young  girls,  'petites  brunes'  or  'brunettes,'  to  whom  these 
songs  were  so  frequently  addressed.  Ballard  however  maintains  that 
the  term  was  derived  from  the  great  popularity  of  a  particular  song 
in  which  the  word  was  used.  A  well-known  specimen  is  '  Dans  notre 
village,'  called  in  some  collections  'Nous  6tions  troisfilles  a  marier,' 
and  attributed  to  LefSvre. 

6  See  Wekerlin,  '  Echos  du  Temps  passeV  vol.  il.  p.  116. 

Qq 


594 


SONG. 


SONG. 


1 

i~ 

~F  —  1^~^  

—  •  m—yl 

— 
i  — 

|  i    i          " 

mon  beau    la  -  bou  -  reur  ! 
vous  pas    vu     pas  -  ser 

Beau 
Mar     - 

la  -  bou-reur  de 
gue  -  ri  -  te,    ma 

"^ 



£ 

_• 

•  —~S^\  , 

r^       -  t 

;-!•-  - 

1—  1=>  r- 

i        i 

1 

Lu_J 

i—  C—  h- 
1    1 

'     |5?       —ll 
1                  1 

-H 

_p  

—  i  —  d  —  i  

•  .  t  .  jjj  :  •  : 

1  1  1  1 

vigne,     0    lire,      0 
mie,      0   lire,      ft 

li  -  re.   Beau 
li  -  re,   Mar 

la  -  bou-reur  de 
gue  -  ri  -  te     ma 

^, 

<^> 

-$•& 

-es- 

r1^            )•      i* 

r^,                 4         • 

2^                B        B 

i  r 

f™ 

P5            P      P 

to            p      p 

F—2              B        • 

i            r 

i        ri 

i      r  r 

E*  a 

h     h     •» 

," 

22                       -U 

i 

•  H 

vlgne,    0       li   -   re 
mie?    0      li  -  re 

la. 
la! 

—  s^55  — 



JF'  ^  —  -p 

f^>                     *  _        p 

—  P?  —  r     r  —  ;  n  — 

C2             P       P 

JT3                                           .J]" 

i       i    r 

1 

Several  brunettes  were  included  in  the  great  col 
lection  of  old  French  popular  songs,  which  A. 
Philidor  copied  out  with  his  own  hand  and  dedi 
cated  to  Louis  XIV.1  Many  were  undoubtedly 
written  on  old  Noel  airs,  especially  those  in  parts. 
After  the  I  yth  century  they  become  scarcely  dis 
tinguishable  from  romances. 

For  excellent  and  typical  specimens  of  the 
romances  of  the  iSth  century,  we  may  quote 
J.  J.  Rousseau's  'Le  Rosier'  and  'Au  fond 
d'une  sombre  vallee,'  both  which  are  found 
in  his  collection  entitled  'Les  Consolations  des 
Miseres  de  ma  Vie.'  Simple,  graceful,  and  pa 
thetic  as  the  former  of  these  is,  it  is  inferior  to 
the  latter  in  the  descriptive  power  of  the  music. 
Its  melody  is  as  follows  : — 


Au  fondd'un-e    som-bre  val  -  le"-e,  dans  l'en-cein-te 
Une  hum-ble  caaumiere   i  -  so  -  16e    each-oil  Vin  -  no 


d'un  bois  &  -    -  pais,        cen.ce  et    la     paix.  La   vi  -  volt 


fi'est  en    Angle  -  ter  -    re,    un  -  e    me-re    dont    le    d6  -  sir 


Still  extant  in  the  Conservatoire  in  Paris.    [See  PHILIDOR.] 


-  toit  de  lais  -  ser  sur  la     ter  -  re  sa     fil  -  le  heur-euse,   et 


puis     mou  -  -  lir. 

while  the  soft  murmur  of  the  accompaniment  is 
sustained  in  semiquavers.  The  musicians  of 
this  period  would  seem  to  have  been  inspired  by 
the  grace  and  delicacy  of  the  contemporary  poetry 
to  create  melodies  of  great  tenderness  and  sim 
plicity.  Insipid  as  these  melodies  must  often 
appear  to  us,  whose  taste  has  been  educated 
by  great  masters  of  the  classical  and  romantic 
schools,  they  are  thoroughly  representative  of  the 
age  which  produced  them.  It  was  the  time  of 
that  singular  phase  of  thought  and  feeling  which 
will  for  ever  be  associated  with  the  name  of 
J.  J.  Rousseau  ;  a  time  of  yearnings  to  return 
to  some  imagined  state  of  native  innocence;  to 
an  ideal  pastoral  life  in  some  visionary  Arcadia. 
All  this  was  faithfully  reflected  in  the  works  of 
its  poets  and  musicians.  What  an  idyll,  for  in 
stance,  is  presented  to  us  by  '  Que  ne  suis-je  la 
fougere,'  the  words  of  which  were  written  by 
Riboutte",  an  amateur  poet,  to  an  old  air  wrongly 
attributed  to  Pergolesi.  Among  other  favourite 
romances  were  'O  ma  tendre  musette' — words 
by  La  Harpe,  and  music  by  Monsigny ;  '  II  pleut, 
bergere/  by  Simon;  'Les  petits  oiseaux,'  by 
Rigel ;  '  L' Amour  fait  passer  le  temps,  le  temps 
fait  passer  1'amour,'  by  Solie";  'Annette  et  Lupin,' 
by  Favart;  and  'Que  j'aime  a  voir  les  hiron- 
delles,'  by  Devienne. 

Although  romances  were  so  much  in  vogue 
and  reached  so  high  a  degree  of  excellence,  they 
were  not  the  only  noteworthy  songs  of  the  times 
in  question.  Songs  of  other  kinds  were  written 
by  such  eminent  composers  of  the  iSth  century 
as  Gre"try,  Dalayrac,  and  Me"hul.  Amongst  these, 
political  songs  are  prominent.  In  no  country 
have  they  been  more  important  than  in  France. 
The  temperament  of  the  French  has  ever  been 
favourable  to  the  production  of  political  chansons. 
The  '  Mazarinade'  of  the  1 7th  century  was  a  vast 
collection  of  more  than  four  thousand  satirical 
effusions  against  Mazarin,  adapted  to  popular 
airs.  Early  in  the  iSth  century  was  heard  the 
famous  song  'Malbrook  s'en  va-t-en  guerre,'2 
and  later  on,  in  the  first  throes  of  the  Revolution, 
the  Royalists  of  France  were  singing  'Pauvre 
Jacques/  by  the  Marquise  de  Travenet;  and  the 
air  resounded  with  'Ca-ira/  from  the  throats  of 
the  insurgent  rabble  of  Paris.  '  Richard  d^mon 
roi,'  and  '  Oil  peut  on  etre  mieux  qu'au  sein  de 
sa  famille '  have  become  historical  by  their  use 
at  the  same  terrible  period.  [See  vol.  iii.  p.  1 27  a ; 
vol.  ii.  p,  616  &.]  As  might  have  been  expected 
of  so  profound  a  movement,  the  Revolution  gave 
birth  to  many  remarkable  songs.  To  the  stormy 
years  of  the  close  of  the  iSth  and  the  opening  of 
the  i  pth  centuries  are  due  the  finest  chants  or 
patriotic  songs  of  France.  Supreme  among  these 

2  For  further  mention  of  these  political  songs  see  Diet. 


SONG. 

stands  the  'Marseillaise,'  which  has  won  im 
mortality  for  its  author  and  composer,  Rouget 
de  Lisle.  Next  in  merit  come  three  songs  of 
MeTml's,  viz.  the  '  Chant  du  Depart,'  words  by 
Chdnier ;  the  '  Chant  du  Retour ' ;  and  the  '  Chant 
de  Victoire.'  And  by  the  side  of  these  may  be 
placed  the  'Reveil  du  Peuple,'  by  Souriquere  de 
S.  Marc,  music  by  Gaveaux;1  and  Desorgues' 
'Pere  de  1'Univers,'  set  by  Gossec.  Contemporary 
with  the  foregoing  songs,  but  on  a  lower  level  of 
political  importance,  were  'Cadet  Rousselle' ;  the 
'  Chanson  du  Hoi  Dagobert ' ;  '  Fanf  an  la  Tulipe ' ; 2 
the  'Chanson  de  Roland';  'Te  souviens-tu  ?'; 
1  Le  r^cit  du  Caporal ' ;  and  many  others  which 
it  would  be  tedious  to  enumerate. 

It  may  here  be  observed,  parenthetically,  that 
from  the  first  introduction  of  chansons  balladees 
— that  is,  dance-songs — down  to  the  present  day, 
6-8  time  has  predominated  over  every  other 
measure  in  French  songs.  They  still  retain  the 
peculiarity  of  giving  each  syllable  (including  the 
final  e)  a  separate  note ;  and  so  long  as  the  tune 
be  rhythmical  and  piquant,  and  the  words  witty 
and  amusing,  the  French  taste  exacts  but  little 
in  respect  of  harmony  or  accompaniment,  or  in 
deed  of  general  musical  structure.  The  success 
of  these  songs  depends  greatly  on  the  way  they 
are  sung.  These  remarks,  however,  refer  only  to 
the  lighter  classes  of  chansons  ;  and  are  not  so 
applicable  to  patriotic  or  lyric  songs. 

After  the  accession  of  Napoleon  and  the  ac 
companying  revival  of  monarchical  traditions,  the 
demand  for  romances  was  more  eager  than  ever, 
and  there  was  no  lack  of  composers  ready  to 
supply  it.  The  most  successful  was  Plantade, 
whose  melodies  were  tuneful  and  tender,  while 
his  accompaniments  exhibit  a  certain  dramatic 
power.  His  best  romances  are  '  Ma  peine  a  de- 
vance  1'aurore ';  '  Languir  d'amour,  ge"mir  de  ton 
silence';  and  'Te  bien  aimer,  6  ma  chere  Zelie': 
of  these  the  last  is  the  best.  Garat,  Pradher, 
and  Lambert  were  Plantade's  chief  rivals.  An 
other  popular  contemporary  was  Dalvimare,  who 
combined  wit  and  knowledge  of  the  world  with 
much  musical  erudition:  his  'Chant  he"roique  du 
Cid '  is  really  a  fine  song.  For  information  re 
specting  Choron,  the  author  of  'La  Sentinelle,' 
and  the  founder  of  a  school  whence  issued 
Duprez,  Scudo,  Monpou,  and  others  who  were 
both  singers  and  composers — the  reader  must 
turn  to  another  page  of  this  Dictionary.  [See 
CHORON.]  Conspicuous  among  the  numerous 
Italian  composers  who  cultivated  French  romances 
with  success  was  Blangini ;  from  him  the  French 
romance  caught,  as  M.  Scudo  has  pointed  out, 
some  of  the  morbidezza  of  the  Italian  eanzonetta. 
As  a  musician,  however,  Blangini  was  better 
known  to  the  Parisians  than  to  his  own  country 
men.  And  in  any  list  of  the  distinguished  writers 
of  romances  at  this  period,  the  names  of  two 
women,  Mme.  Gail  and  Queen  Hortense,  should 
certainly  be  included.  The  former  was  the  better 

1  This  song  has  been  called  the  'Marseillaise'  of  the  Thermidor  re 
action.    ('  La  Lyre  Frai^aise,'  by  G.  Masson.) 

2  An  old  song  of  irregular  metre,  set  to  an  old  tune,  and  extremely 
popular  from  1792  to  about  1802. 


SONG. 


595 


musician,  and  proofs  of  study  are  given  by  her 
romance  '  Vous  qui  priez,  priez  pour  moi.'  About 
Queen  Hortense  there  was  more  of  the  amateur 
composer.  Having  read  some  poem  that  took 
her  fancy,  she  would  sit  down  to  the  pianoforte 
and  find  an  air  that  went  to  it ;  she  would  then 
play  it  to  her  friends,  and  if  approved  by  them 
would  confide  it  to  Drouet,  or  Carbonnel,  or 
Plantade,  to  put  the  air  into  musical  shape,  and 
provide  it  with  an  accompaniment.  Her  most 
successful  songs  were  'Partant  pour  la  Syrie'; 
'Vous  me  quittez  pour  aller  a  la  gloire,'  and 
'Reposez-vous,  bon  chevalier.'  Of  these  the  first 
is  the  most  famous,  and  the  last  has  most  musical 
merit.3 

As  a  general  reflection  on  the  songs  which 
have  just  passed  under  our  review,  it  may  be 
said  that  their  most  common  fault  is  the  en 
deavour  to  express  inflated  sentiments  with  in 
adequate  means.  A  discrepancy  is  constantly 
felt  between  the  commonplace  simplicity  of  the 
accompaniments  and  modulations  and  the  intense 
sentimentality  or  turgid  pomposity  of  the  words. 
The  disparity  can  only  be  concealed  by  an  amount 
of  dramatic  and  expressive  singing  which  very 
few  singers  possess.  This  prevalent  defect  cannot, 
however,  be  imputed  to  Romagnesi,  who  began 
as  a  choir-boy  under  Choron ;  his  300  romances 
and  chansonettes  are  free  from  it.  The  melodies 
are  clearly  denned  and  well  adapted  for  the  voice, 
and  the  accompaniments  strike  a  mean  between 
pretension  and  bald  simplicity.  'L'attente,'  'La 
dormeuse,'  'L'Angelus,'  and  '  Le  rSve'  may  be 
cited  as  good  illustrations  of  his  merits.  The 
same  praise  may  be  accorded  to  A.  de  Beauplan, 
who  in  freshness  and  piquancy  was  even  superior 
to  Romagnesi.  And  of  others  who  wrote  about 
the  same  time  and  in  the  same  style,  it  will 
suffice  to  mention  the  names  of  Panseron,  Bru- 
guiere,  Jadin,  Mengal,  Dolive,  Goule",  Berton, 
Pullet,  Lis,  Scudo,  Mme.  Malibran,  the  famous 
singer,  and  Mme.  Duchambge.  But  perhaps 
the  reputation  of  Mme.  Duchambge  was  in  no 
small  degree  due  to  the  skill  with  which  Nourrit 
sang  her  songs,  such  as  '  L'ange  gardien '  and 
'Penses-tu  que  ce  soit  aimer.' 

Out  of  the  revolutionary  era  of  1830  there 
came  in  France  a  splendid  burst  of  lyric  poetry. 
It  was  the  era  of  Victor  Hugo,  Lamartine,  Casi- 
mir  Delavigne,  Alfred  de  Musset  and  Beranger ; 
and  it  was  natural  that  the  Song  should  be 
responsive  to  the  poetic  movement  of  the  time. 
In  1828  Monpou  published  BeVanger's  'Si  j'etais 
petit  oiseau  '  for  three  voices,  and  at  once  at 
tracted  the  notice  of  the  poets  of  the  Romantic 

3  Scudo,  in  his  '  Litte'rature  et  Critique  musicales,'  tells  the  follow 
ing  story  of  '  Reposez-vous,  bon  chevalier,'  on  the  authority  of  Mile. 
Cochelet,  who  was  tor  a  long  time  attached  to  Queen  Hortense,  '  Not 
withstanding  a  slight  cough,  and  the  doctor's  prohibition,  the  Queen 
continued  to  sing  more  than  was  good  for  her.  In  the  morning  she 
used  to  compose  her  romances,  being  then  alone,  and  in  the  evening 
she  played  them  in  her  salon,  allowing  her  audience  to  criticise. 
M.  Alexandre  de  Laborde  was  the  author  whose  words  she  generally 
selected.to  set  to  music.  His  was  "Partant  pour  la  Syrie."  Such  was 
the  ease  with  which  the  Queen  composed  the  melodies  of  her  romances 
that  she  attached  little  value  to  them.  And  she  was  on  the  point  of 
tearing  up  "  Keposez-vous,  bon  chevalier,"  because  in  the  evening 
when  she  gave  it,  several  persons  confessed  that  they  did  not  like  it. 
Luckily,  Carbonnel  was  consulted,  and  he  pronounced  the  air  to  be 
the  very  best  that  the  Queen  had  as  yet  composed.' 

Qq2 


596 


SONG. 


SONG. 


school.      His    great    popularity  as  a   composer 
commenced  in  1830,  with  his  setting  of  Alfred 
de  Musset's  '  L'Andalouse/     Many  more  of  de 
Musset's  ballads  and  romances  were  afterwards 
set  by  him  ;    and  he  rendered  the  same  service 
to  poems  by  Victor  Hugo.    But  Monpou  was  not 
a  highly  trained  musician,  and  his  music  is  very 
faulty.     He  was  a  slave  to  the  influences  of  the 
Romantic  school,  and  well  illustrates  the  extreme 
exaggeration  to  which  it  was  prone.     Neverthe 
less,  his  songs  are  full  of  interest ;  the  melodies 
are  original  and  striking,  and  if  the  harmony  be 
incorrect,  and  at  times  harsh,  it  is  never  without 
dramatic  power.     They  are  difficult  to  sing,  but 
notwithstanding  this  drawback,  '  Le  lever,'  '  Le 
voile  blanc,'  'Les  deux  archers,'  and  'La  chanson 
de  Mignon'  have  an  established  popularity.    The 
last  song  reveals  the  best  and  most  refined  quali 
ties  of  Monpou's  imagination.     Similar  qualities 
were,  likewise,  displayed   by  an   incomparably 
greater  musician,  Hector  Berlioz,  in  whom  there 
was  a  depth  of  poetic  insight  and  a  subtle  sense 
of  beauty,  to  which  Monpou  could  make  no  pre 
tension.     Of  all  Berlioz's  works,  his  songs  are, 
perhaps,  the  least  tinged  with  the  characteristic 
exaggeration  of  the  Romanticists ;  but  to  describe 
or  classify  them  is  by  no  means  easy.    He  wrote 
about  twenty-seven  in  all :    some  are  for  more 
than  one  voice,  and  some  had  originally  an  or 
chestral  accompaniment,  though  they  are  now 
also   published  for   the  PF. ;    op.  2,   'Irlande,' 
consists  of  nine  melodies  for  one  or  two  voices, 
and  sometimes  chorus  :  the  words  are  imitations 
of  Thomas  Moore's  by  Gounet ;  and  nos.  i  and 
7,  '  Le  coucher  du  soleil,'  and  '  L'origine  de  la 
harpe,'  are  perhaps  the  best.     In  op.  7,  'Nuits 
d'e"teV  there  are  six  songs  for  one  voice,  with 
orchestral  or  PF.  accompaniment,  and  these  are 
perhaps  the  choicest  of  all ;  nos.  3  and  4,  'Sur 
les  lagunes,'  and  '  L'absence/  are  especially  beau 
tiful.     Op.   12,   'La  captive,'  embodying   a  re 
markable   crisis   of  the  writer's  life,  is  a  long 
piece,  written  for  a  contralto  voice,  and  its  chief 
interest  attaches  to  the  varied  accompaniment, 
which  has  been  reduced  to  PF.  score  by  Stephen 
Heller.     Op.  13,   'Fleurs  des  Landes/  consists 
of  five  romances  or  chansons,  some  for  one  voice, 
and  some  for  two,  or  chorus,  all  bearing  a  dis 
tinctively  local  colouring.     In  op.  1 9,  '  Feuillets 
d'Album/  the  first  piece  is  a  bolero,  the  second 
an  aubarte,  and  the  third   a  chorus   for  men's 
voices  with  a  tenor  solo.     Three  songs  without 
an  opus  number — '  La  belle  Isabeau,'  '  Le  chas 
seur  danois,'  and  '  Une  priere  du  matin '  (which 
is  really  a  duet)— complete  the  list  of  Berlioz's 
songs.     No  one  can  study  them  without  being 
struck  by  the  fragmentary  character  of  the  me 
lodies,  and  the  want  of  symmetry  in  the  rhythmic 
phrases.     But  these  defects  are  atoned  for  by  the 
exquisite  beauty  of  the  melodic  fragments ;  and 
the  rhythmic  phrases  are  never  abruptly  broken 
or  disjointed  without  justification.     An  explana 
tion  for  it  will  always  be  found  in  the  words, 
which  it  was  Berlioz's  constant  study  to  illustrate 
with  perfect  fidelity.    What  can  be  more  poetical 
than  the  opening  phrase  in  his  song '  L'absence '! 


And  this,  when  repeated  for  the  last  time  very 
softly,  and  as  if  in  the  far  distance,  produces  a 
magic  effect,  especially  when  accompanied  by  the 
orchestra. 

Berlioz's  accompaniments  are  highly  developed, 
and  participate  fully  in  the  poetic  intention  of 
the  words.  A  proof  of  his  skill  in  this  respect 
is  afforded  by  the  subjoined  extract  from  'Le 
spectre  de  la  rose,'  where,  after  a  full,  rich, 
and  varied  accompaniment  throughout,  he  gives 
to  the  last  words  merely  single  notes,  and  thus 
unmistakeably  marks  the  transition  from  the  pas 
sionate  tale  of  the  rose  to  its  epitaph. 


Un  poco  rit. 


Fed. 


Un  poco  piu  lento  e 
sotto  voce 


vit:  Ci  -   -   git       une 

^    Una  corda 


10    -    se        Que  tousles 


ppp  -+•      -*-    -^  -r 


32 


^ — P    i~r     i 


m 


SONG. 


rois 


vont  ja-lou-ser, 

/7N 


Many  another  example  of  Berlioz's  poetic  faculty 
might  be  adduced,  but  enough  has  already  been 
said   to   indicate    his    exalted    position    among 
the  song-composers   of  France.      Although  his 
eminence  is   now  (perhaps    a   little   too   fully) 
recognised,  far  less  of  popular  appreciation  was 
granted  to  him  in  his  lifetime  than  to  several  of 
his  contemporaries,  whose  fleeting  celebrity  has 
since  been  eclipsed  by  his  enduring  fame.  Among 
these  lesser  lights  were  Lo'isa  Puget  (a  favourite 
in  pensions  and  convents),  Th.  Labarre,  Grisar, 
Be'rat,   de   Latour,    Thys,   Lagoanere,    Dupotz, 
Gatayes,  Monfort,  Cheret,  Vimeux,  Morel,  etc. 
This  group  would  be  m:>re  correctly  described 
as  romance  writers,  since  their  songs  are  for  the 
ino.-t  part  of  a  light  character.     More  ambitious 
work  has  been  done  by  Niedermeyer,  Ke'ber,  and 
Gouve",  with  whom  may  be  classed  the   more 
modern  writers,    Saint-Saens,    Masse",   Godard, 
Massenet,  and  Paladilhe. 

Notwithstanding  the  manifest  preference  of 
the  French  for  dramatic  music,  they  have  not 
neglected  other  forms.  To  operatic  composers — 
for  instance,  such  as  Ambroise  Thomas,  Gounod, 
Delibes,  Bizet,  and  David — France  owes  some  of 
her  choicest  lyrics.  And  from  German  songs  she 
has  not  withheld  the  tribute  of  genuine  admira 
tion.  It  is  no  mean  glory  to  have  been  the  first 
country  outside  Germany  to  give  Schubert's 
songs  an  adequate  interpretation.  [See  vol.  iii. 
P-  357-]  The  art  of  singing  is  as  well  understood 
and  taught  in  France  as  in  any  other  country, 
and  nowhere  is  a  clear  and  correct  pronunciation 
of  the  words  more  strictly  exacted  of  singers. 
Indeed,  from  the  fact  that  the  syllables  which 
are  mute  in  speaking  are  pronounced  in  singing, 
the  French  language  would  be  barely  intelligible 
when  sung,  unless  distinctly  articulated. 

In  Paris  and  the  other  large  cities  of  France 
the  popular  songs  of  the  hour  are  only  favourite 
tunes  from  Comic  Operas,  or  which  have  been 
heard  at  a  Cafe"-Chantant.  But  in  the  provinces 
hundreds  of  national  airs  still  exist,  and  their 
distinct  attributes  are  generally  determined  by 
the  locality  to  which  they  belong.  The  airs  of 
Southern  France  are  distinguishable  by  exuberant 
gaiety,  deep  poetic  sentiment,  and  a  religious 
accent.  Many  of  them  are  said  to  resemble  the 
graceful  old  Troubadour  melodies.  The  following 
modern  Prove^al  air,  quoted  by  Ambros,1  bears 
a  strong  resemblance  to  an  old  dance-song  anterior 
in  date  even  to  the  ijth  century  : — 

i  See  'Geschichte  der  Musik,1  vol.  ii.  p.  242. 


SONG. 

597 

^1  —  ft  —  *  — 

r  •[•   .   P—  $^ 

™                0\ 
Es-c 

*_uj-i  —  t»  *-*-  =  -j 

la-ga-li.   ma  -tan   a  -   ma  -  do    me  -  te    la 
uut  un   pou    a  quest  au  -  ba    -    do    de  tarn  -  bou  - 

1                Kl     "                           -II     "                     IL.           h    " 

•     p     •     ^  - 

#.     i 

J                 i   'll    k.     N  • 

*      I              1*    - 

•~i  ,  •           _K—  • 

—  Z            T-- 

I  •         •!)  J     •_ 

»   - 

t6st  au      fe 
riu   et      de 

-   ne  -  strua              Ei  pleu  d'es  -  tel  -  lo    a  -  pera  - 
vio-loun. 

^  KT~!            *"*~           Hfe  £~~Z  J 

—  •  —  «  •- 

-E-^tF1^-^-^ 

^—  t    |_   -g~ 

moun  L'auro  es     toum  -  ba    -    do    ma  -  i  -  lis 

—  ^^  fc  —             —  SI  —           Q 

—  3  —  '  f*  —  •  —  *  — 

es  -tel-lo  pali- 

SE  y--r-H:  

ran      queu      te 


vei  -  ran. 


The  songs  of  Auvergne  are  chiefly  bourrees  ;  and 
Burgundy  is  rich  in  Noels  and  drinking-songs. 
The  B^arnois  airs  are  pathetic  and  melodious, 
and  their  words  are  mostly  of  love  ;  while,  on 
the  other  hand,  the   subjects   of  the  songs   of 
Normandy  are  generally  supplied  by  the  ordinary 
pursuits  and  occupations  of  life.     Mill-songs  are 
especially  common  in  Normandy,  and  have  a 
character  of  their  own.      Their  '  couplets  '  are 
wont  to  consist  of  two  lines  with  a  refrain  ;  and 
the  refrain  is  the  principal  part  of  the  song.     It 
covers  a  multitude  of  failings  in  the  rhyme,  or 
even  sense,  and  allows  the  singer  ample  scope 
to  execute  fantastic  and  complicated  variations. 
These  mill-songs,  which  often  breathe  a  strong 
religious  feeling,  are  curious  and  unique  in  their 
way  ;  and  when  sung  by  the  Norman  peasants 
themselves  on  summer  evenings  they  produce  an 
effect,  which  is  wholly  wanting  when  sung  in  a 
drawing-room  with  a  modern  pianoforte  accom 
paniment.    In  this  respect  they  do  not  differ  from 
all  other  national  airs  of  Northern  France.    The 
songs  of  Brittany,  for  instance,  equally  defy  de 
scription  and  translation,  into  modern  French.2 
Rousseau  says  of  them:—  'Les  airs  ne  sont  pas 
piquants,  mais  ils  ont  je  ne  sais  quoi  d'antique 
et  de  doux  qui  touche  a  la  longue.     Ils  sont 
simples,  na'ifs,  sou  vent  tristes,—  ils  plaisent  pour- 
tant.'     And  another  author  has  likened  their 
grave  beauty  to  the  scenery  of  their  native  dis 
tricts,   to   the   chequered   landscapes    of  cloud 
and  sunshine,  of  wild  moorland  and  gray  sea, 
which  are  familiar  to  the  traveller  on  the  coast 
of  Brittany. 

The  works  on  which  the  foregoing  account  of 
the  Song  in  France  has  been  based  are  — 

'Chants  et  Chansons  populaires  de  la  Prance  'j  Du 
Mersan.    (3  vola.) 

'  Des  Chansons  populaires  ;  Nisard. 

'  Essai  sur  la  Musique  '  ;  Delaborde.    (4  vols.) 

'La  Cle  du  Caveau>  ;  P,  Capelle. 

4  Ectios  du  Temps  pass6  '  ;  J.  Wekerlin.    (3  vols.) 


Huguenot  O.  Uouen. 
/o  vols  ) 

'Hiatoire  de  la  Notation  Musicale1;  Ernest  David  et 
Mathis  Lussy. 

'History  of  Music'  (3  vols.)  ;  Burney. 

'  Les  Chants  de  la  Patrie'  ;  Lacombe. 

'  Geschichte  der  Musik  '  ;  Ambros.    (4  vols.) 

2  With  good  reason  therefore  Villemarquf5,  In  his  admirable  col 
lection,  gives  the  songs  in  their  own  dialect  besides  the  translation 
(See  'Barzas  Breiz,  chants  populaires  de  la  Eretagne,  par  H.  de  la 
Villemarque.') 


593 


SONG. 


The  articles  on  CHANSON  in  this  Dictionary,  and 
FRANKREICH  in  Mendel's  Musikalisches  Lexicon. 

The  present  writer  is  also  indebted  to  M.  Mathis 
Lussy  and  M.  Gustave  Chouquet  for  valuable  advice 
and  assistance. 

Further  information  may  be  found  in  :— 

'  Barzas-Breiz,  chants  populaires  de  la  Bretagne,  par 
Hersart  de  la  VillemarqueV 

'  Chansons  et  Airs  populaires  du  Be"am,  recueillis  par 
Fre'd^ric  Rivarez.' 

'  Chants  populaires  des  Flarnands  de  France,  recueillis 
par  M.  de  Coussemaker.' 

c  Noels  Nquviaux,  sur  des  vieux  airs,  par  Ch.  Eibault 
de  Langardiere.' 

'  Noels  Bressans,  par  Philibert  le  Due.' 

4  Album  Auvergnat,  par  J.  B.  Bouillet.' 

SPAIN. 

In  Spain  and  Portugal  the  Song  can  scarcely 
be  said  to  have  had  a  history.  While  both 
countries  can  boast  of  having  produced  celebrated 
composers  of  polyphonic  and  ecclesiastical  music, 
in  neither  has  there  been  any  systematic  develop 
ment  of  the  secular  and  monodic  departments. 
The  latter  remains  what  it  was  in  the  earliest 
times  ;  and  all  the  best  songa  of  Spain  and 
Portugal  are  the  compositions  of  untaught  and 
unlettered  musicians. 

With  regard  to  the  national  songs  of  Spain  there 
is  an  initial  difficulty  in  determining  whether 
they  are  more  properly  Songs  or  Dances,  because 
at  the  present  day  all  the  favourite  songs  of 
Spain  are  sung  as  accompaniments  to  dancing ; 
but  it  is  of  course,  as  songs,  and  not  as  dances, 
that  they  concern  us  here. 

Spanish  literature  is  rich  in  remains  of  antique 
poetry,  and  of  poetry  which  from  the  time  of  the 
'Trobadores'  was  intended  to  be  sung.  Among 
such  literary  relics  are  the  celebrated  cancioneros 
of  the  1 5th  century,  large  miscellaneous  collec 
tions  of  songs,  containing  a  vast  number  of 
canciones,  invenciones,  motes,  preguntas,  mllan- 
cicos  and  ballads.1  The  ballads  are  in  eight- 
syllabled  asonante  verses  (i.e.  with  the  vowels 
only  rhyming),  and  they  are  stated  to  have 
been  sung  to  'national  recitatives,'  or  as  ac 
companiments  to  dances;  but  not  a  vestige  of 
their  music  has  been  preserved.  The  villancicos, 
or  peasants'  songs,  with  their  refrains  and  ritor- 
nelles,  were  also  evidently  sung,  as  the  six- voiced 
villancicos  of  the  i6th  century  by  Puebla  would 
show ;  but  in  proportion  to  the  quantity  of  ex 
tant  words  to  these  songs  very  little  of  their 
music  has  come  down  to  us.2  Again,  in  collec 
tions  of  the  romanceros  of  the  i6th  century,  the 
old  ballads  are  said  to  have  come  from  blind 
ballad-singers,  who  sang  them  in  the  streets; 
but  not  a  note  of  music  was  written  down, 

1  The  fashion  of  making  such  collections  of  poetry,  generally  called 
cancioneros,  was  very  common  in  Spain  just  before  and  after  the 
introduction  of  printing.    Many  of  these  collections,  both  in  manu 
script   and   printed,  are   preserved.     The  Bibliotheque  Nationale, 
Paris,  contains  no  less  than  seven.    See  '  Catalogo  de  MSS.  Espauoles 
en  la  Biblioteca  Real  de  Paris,'  Paris  1844,  410.  pp.  8TO-525.    For 
further  information  see  Ticknor's  'History  of  Spanish  Literature* 
chap,  xxiii.  p.  391. 

2  There  may,  however,  still   be  in   existence   more   of  ancient 
Spanish  music,  both  polyphonic  and  monodic,  both  ecclesiastical 
and  secular,  than  we  are  aware  of.    Owing  to  the  jealousy  with 
which    foreigners   are    excluded   from   Spanish  libraries,   valuable 
specimens  of  ancient  music  may  vet  survive,  unknown  to  us.    In  an 
account  of  Spanish  music,  published  in  the  19th  vol.  (No.  I)  of  the 
4  Academic  Hoyale  de  Belgique,'  Gevaert  complains  of  the  difficulties 
thrown  in  his  way. 


SONG. 

though  hundreds  of  the  ballads  survive.  And 
these  old  ballads  are  still  sung  by  the  people  in 
Spain  to  traditional  airs  which  have  passed  from 
mouth  to  mouth  through  many  a  generation. 
Moreover  such  melodies  as  are  really  genuine  in 
modern  collections  of  Spanish  songs  have  almost 
without  exception  been  taken  down  from  the 
lips  of  blind  beggars,  who  are  now,  as  they  were 
in  the  mediaeval  times,  the  street-singers  of 
Spanish  towns.3 

The  national  songs  of  Spain  may  be  divided 
into  three  geographical  groups,  those  of  (i)  Bis 
cay  and  Navarre;  (2)  Galicia  and  Old  Castile; 
(3)  Southern  Spain  (Andalusia).  In  the  first  of 
these  groups  are  the  songs  of  the  Basques,  who 
are  believed  to  have  been  the  earliest  inhabitants 
of  the  Peninsula. 

(i)  The  exclusiveness  with  which  the  Basques 
have  kept  themselves  a  distinct  and  separate 
race  has  made  it  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to 
trace  their  music  to  any  primeval  source.  There 
has  been  a  good  deal  of  speculation  on  this  point ; 
but  it  is  not  necessary  to  give  the  numerous 
conjectures  put  forward  as  to  its  origin.  The 
time  and  rhythm  of  the  Basque  songs  are  most 
complicated ;  the  zorzico,  for  instance,  is  in  5-8 
or  7-4  time,  thus — 


O       id    o  Gui-puz  -  coa     DOS         ensen    ei-lla-caa 


cion 


etc. 


or  in  alternating  bars  of  6-8  and  3-4  time. 
The  melodies  are  apparently  not  founded  ou 
any  definite  scale  ;  quarter  tones  regularly  occur 
in  the  minor  melodies ;  and  the  first  note  of  a 
song  is  always  surrounded  by  a  grupetto,*  which 
gives  it  an  indefinite  and  undecided  effect.  The 
last  note,  on  the  other  hand,  has  always  a  firm, 
loud,  and  long-sustained  sound.  In  Arragon 
and  Navarre  the  popular  dance  is  the  jota,  and 
according  to  the  invariable  usage  of  Spain,  it  is 
also  the  popular  song.  The  jota  is  almost  always 
sung  in  thirds,  and  has  the  peculiarity  that  in 
the  ascending  scale  the  minor  seventh  is  sung  in 
the  place  of  the  major.  [See  JOTA.] 

(2)  The  songs  of  the  second  group  are  less  in 
teresting.  The  rule  of  the  Moors  over  Galicia  and 
Old  Castile  was  too  brief  to  impart  an  Eastern 
colouring  to  the  music  of  those  provinces.  It  is, 
however,  gay  and  bright,  and  of  a  strongly  ac 
cented  dance  rhythm.  The  words  of  the  songs 
are  lively,  like  the  music,  and  in  perfect  accord 
with  it.  To  this  geographical  group  belong  the 
boleros,  manchegas,  and  seguidillas ;  but  this  last 

3  See  '  Echos  de  1'Espagne,'  p.  83,  where  MM.  Lacome  and  J.  Pui?y 
Alsubide  give  a  Malaguena  faithfully  transcribed  from  the  lips  of 
blind  beggars.  The  blindness  of  these  singers  gives  a  certain  value 
to  the  derivation  of  the  name  Chaconne,  from  cieco  'blind.' 

*  '  TJne  sorte  de  grupetto  intraduisible,  qui  est  &  la  phrase  music 
ce  qu'est  une  paraphe  precurseur  d'une  majuscule  dans  certaines 
exercises  calligraphiques.'  (Madame,  de  la  VillehtSlio's '  Airs  Basques. , 
Thus  the  Austrian  violin-player  at  Milan  began  the  Adagio  of  tf 
Kreutzer  Sonata  (Mendelssohn's  letter.  May  ]831);  and  thus  too 
does  Mendelssohn's  own  Quartet  in  Eb  begin  with  a  grupetto. 


SONG. 

class  of  songs  was  also  heard  in  the  Moorish 
provinces.     [See  SEGUIDILLA.] 

(3)  The  third  group  is  the  most  worthy  of  study. 
Of  all  Spanish  songs  those  of  Andalusia  are  the 
most  beautiful.  In  them  the  eastern  element  is 
deepest  and  richest,  and  the  unmistakable  sign 
of  its  presence  are  the  following  traits  : — first,  a 
profusion  of  ornaments  around  the  central  me 
lody;  secondly,  a  'poly rhythmic'  cast  of  music — 
the  simultaneous  existence  of  different  rhythms 
in  different  parts  ;  and  thirdly,  the  peculiarity  of 
the  melodies  being  based  on  a  curious  scale, 
which  is  apparently  founded  on  the  intervals  of 
the  Phrygian  and  Mixolydian  modes.1  Another 
indication  of  its  presence  is  the  guttural  sound 
of  the  voices.  Of  these  characteristics,  the  most 
obvious  is  the  rhythm.  In  the  Andalusian  songs 
there  are  often  three  different  rhythms  in  one 
bar,  none  predominating,  but  each  equally  impor 
tant,  as  the  different  voices  are  in  real  polyphonic 
music.  For  example — 

etc. 


SONG. 


599 


or  it  may  be  that  the  accents  of  the  accompani 
ments  do  not  at  all  correspond  with  the  accents 
of  the  melody  ;  thus  : — 


r3zzl= 

_=_ 


-»-  -*- 

The  songs  of  Southern  Spain  are  generally 
of  a  dreamy,  melancholy,  and  passionate  type  ; 
especially  the  canas  or  playeras,  which  are 
lyrical.  These  are  mostly  for  one  voice  only, 
as  their  varied  rhythm  and  uncertain  time  pre 
clude  the  possibility  of  their  being  sung  in  parts. 

1  See  'An  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  National  Music'  (p.  300;,  by 
the  late  Carl  Engel. 


In  certain  cases  they  are,  however,  sung  in 
unison  or  in  thirds.  They  always  begin  with  a 
high  note,  sustained  as  long  as  the  breath  will 
allow  ;  and  then  the  phrase  descends  with  in 
numerable  turns,  trills,  and  embellishments  into 
the  real  melody.  The  canas  are  inferior,  as 
regards  simplicity  both  of  poetry  and  music,  to 
the  dance-songs — fandangos,  rondeiias,  and  mala- 
gueiias,2  which  have  also  more  symmetry  and 
more  animation.  They  usually  consist  of  two  divi 
sions  ;  viz.  the  copla  (couplet),  and  the  ritornel, 
which  is  for  the  accompanying  instrument,  and 
is  frequently  the  longer  and  the  more  important 
of  the  two,  the  skilful  guitar-player  liking  to 
have  ample  scope  to  exhibit  his  execution. 

The  only  other  songs  of  Spain  which  remain  to 
be  noticed  are  the  serenades,  the  patriotic  songs, 
and  the  tiranas — these  last  not  accompanied  by 
dancing.  In  the  artistic  songs  of  Spain  there  is 
nothing  on  which  it  is  profitable  to  dwell.  If 
publishers'  collections  may  be  accepted  as  evi 
dence,  the  favourite  composers  of  these  songs 
would  appear  to  be  Tapia,  Sors,  Leon,  Garcia, 
Murgia,  Saldoni,  Eslava,3  etc.  But  much  the 
best  songs  of  even  these  composers  are  those 
written  in  the  national  vein,  and  with  a  faithful 
adherence  to  national  characteristics  in  respect 
of  melody,  harmony,  and  rhythm.  The  limited 
capabilities  of  the  guitar  and  mandoline,  the  in 
variable  accompanying  instruments,  have  natu 
rally  dwarfed  and  stunted  the  development  of 
accompaniments  in  Spanish  songs. 

The  collection  of  Spanish  songs  in  which  the  harmony 
is  accurately  transcribed  is  entitled — 

'Cantos  Espaiiolea ' :  by  Dr.  Eduardj  Ocon  (with  a 
preface  in  Spanish  and  German.). 

See  also  :— 

4  Echos  d'Eapagno ' ;  by  P.  Lacome  and  J.  Puig  y  Al- 
subide. 

'  Auswahl  Spanischer  und  Portugiesischer  Lieder  flir 
eine  oder  zwei  Stiimnen,  mit  deutscher  Uobersetzung 
versehen ' ;  by  H.  K. 

And  for  information  on  the  subject,  see  : — 

'Historia  de  la  Musica  E?panola';  by  Soriano  Fuertes 
(4  vols.) 

'  Diccionario  biografico-bibliografico ' ;  by  Saldoni.    (4 

'  History  of  Spanish  Literature : ;  by  Ticknor.  (3  vols.) 
Vol.  19,  No.  1  of  the  'Acad6mie  royale  de  Eelgicjue' ; 
Gevaert. 
'Spanische  Mu  ik';  Mend  1*3  Lexikon. 

PORTUGAL. 

The  popular  music  of  Portugal  bears  a  close 
affinity  to  that  of  Spain,  especially  in  dance 
tunes.  But  there  are  clearly  marked  differences. 
The  Portuguese  is  more  pensive  and  tranquil  than 
the  fiery,  excitable  Spaniard ;  and  as  national 
music  never  fails  to  be  more  or  less  a  reflection 
of  national  character,  there  is  a  vein  of  repose 
and  subdued  melancholy,  and  an  absence  of 
exaggeration  in  Portuguese  music,  such  as  are 
seldom,  if  ever,  found  in  the  more  vivacious  and 
stirring  music  of  Spain.  From  the  same  cause, 
or  perhaps  because  Moorish  ascendancy  was  of 
briefer  duration  in  Portugal  than  in  Spain,  there 

2  Songs  and  dances  often  derive  their  names  from  the  provinces  or 
towns  in  which  they  are  indigenous  ;  thus   rondena.  from  Bonda, 
•»iala0uena  from  Malaga,  etc.,  etc. 

3  Though  the  last  two   composers  have  made  contributions  to 
song-literature,  they  have  really  won  their  laurels  iu  other  fields 
of  music.    [See  EsLiVA.  vol.  i.  p. 


600 


SONG. 


is  less  of  ornament  in  Portuguese  than  in  Spanish 
music.  And  the  dance-music  of  Portugal  is 
somewhat  monotonous,  as  compared  with  that  of 
Spain. 

The  popular  poetry  of  the  two  countries  has 
also  much  in  common.  Most  of  the  Portuguese 
epic-romances  are  of  Spanish  origin,  and  none 
are  anterior  to  the  isth  century.  Even  at  the 
present  day  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  romance- 
forms  are  identical,  except  where  a  slight  di 
vergence  necessarily  springs  from  differences  of 
language  and  nationality.  In  the  lyrics  of  both 
races  the  rhyme  follows  the  assonance  principle, 
and  is  a  more  important  element  of  composition 
than  the  metre. 

The  dance-songs  are  always  written  in  the 
binary  rhythm  ;  and  these  are  the  least  interest 
ing  of  Portuguese  songs.  Though  much  less 
used  than  in  Spain,  the  guitar  is  always  em 
ployed  for  the  fado,  a  dance-song  seldom  heard 
outside  towns,  and  properly  belonging  to  the 
lowest  classes  of  urban  populations,  though  it 
has  recently  acquired  some  popularity  among  the 
higher  classes.  There  are  many  varieties  of 
fados  or  fadinhos,  but  they  all  have  this  same 
rhythm  : — 


Other  kinds  of  dance-songs  are  the  ckula,  for 
accompanying  which  the  machinho  [see  MA 
CHETE,  vol.  i.  p.  640  6]  or  the  viola  chuleira  is  used ; 
the  malhao,  the  canninha  verde,  the  landum,  the 
fandango,  and  the  vareira. 

But  Portugal  (in  this  respect  unlike  Spain) 
also  possesses  a  great  quantity  of  genuine 
popular  songs,  which  are  not  in  any  sense  dance- 
music  ;  and  these  are  especially  characteristic 
productions  of  the  country.  Though,  as  a  rule, 
written  in  modern  tonality,  it  is  in  them  that 
the  traces  of  oriental  influence  are  most  visible. 
There  is  about  them  a  careless  ease,  tinged  with 
melancholy,  which  is  the  secret  of  their  charm. 
They  are  generally  sung  by  one  voice  without  any 
accompaniment,  and  to  the  ears  of  foreigners 
have  the  sound  of  recitatives,  as  the  rhythmical 
idea  is  often  wholly  obscured  by  the  singer.1 
Scarcely  more  rhythmical  are  the  festival-songs 
sung  on  certain  days  of  the  year ;  of  which 
the  principal  ones  are  '0  Sao  Joao,'  sung  on 
St.  John  the  Baptist's  day ;  '  As  Janeiros,'  sung 
at  the  New  Year ;  and  '  Os  Reis,'  sung  at  the 
Epiphany.2  '  0  Sao  Joao'  is  a  pretty  little  song, 

J  Nos.  3,  7,  and  11  in  the  collection  called  'Album  de  Musicas 
Nacionaes  Portuguezas,'  by  J.  A.  Bibas,  will  give  the  reader  some 
Idea  of  this  kind  of  song ;  but  they  are  spoilt  by  the  modern  accom 
paniment. 

2  'As  Janeiros'  and  'Os  Reis'  are  especially  sung  on  the  respective 
eves  of  the  New  Year  and  of  the  Epiphany.    The  minstrels  go  from 
door  to  door  In  the  evening,  singing  the  praises  of  the  inmates  of  the 
houses,  and  accompanying  their  songs  with  metal  triangles,  bells, 
etc.    They  are  generally  rewarded  by  the  master  of  the  house  with 
money,  sausages,  or  dried  fig«.    But  if  they  get  nothing  they  sing— 
'Esta  casa  cheira  a  breu 
Aqui  mora  algum  juden' 

(This  house  smells  of  tar ;  Some  Jew  lives  here) ;  or  else— 
'Esta  casa  cheira  a  unto 
Aqui  mora  algum  det'unto* 
(This  house  smells  of  ointment ;  there  is  a  dead  body  In  It). 


SONG. 

usually  sung,  as  the  Portuguese  peasants  love 
to  sing,  in  thirds.     The  melody  is — 
Allegretto. 


j      ,          I. 

!n'i 

•1        J        1" 

—  *  —  s!~~ 

K  m  

f—^- 

—  —  *  1*^2  — 

— curiously  recalling  a  portion  of  the  Marseillaise. 
Excepting  the  influence  exercised  upon  the 
ecclesiastical  music  of  Portugal  during  the  i6th 
and  1 7th  centuries  by  the  Flemish  school,  Portu 
guese  music  may  be  said  to  have  escaped  all 
foreign  influences,  until  it  fell  under  the  spell  of 
the  Italian  opera, — a  spell  which  has  been  strong 
upon  it  for  a  century  or  more.  The  modinha, 
the  only  kind  of  artistic  song  that  Portugal  has 
as  yet  produced,  is  its  direct  offspring.  Though 
written  by  trained  musicians,  and  sung  by  edu 
cated  people,  both  in  character  and  form  it  ia 
purely  exotic,  a  mixture  of  the  French  romance 
and  the  Italian  aria.  The  modinhas  were  ex 
tremely  popular  in  the  first  part  of  the  present 
century ;  nor  has  there  since  been  any  great 
decline  of  their  popularity.  As  artistic  music, 
they  cannot  be  said  to  hold  a  high  rank,  but 
the  best  of  them  are,  at  least,  simple,  fresh,  and 
natural.  Such  are  'A  Serandinha,'  'A  Sal  via,' 
'As  peneiras,'  'Mariquinhas  meu  amor.'3  The 
favourite  composers  of  modinhas  are  Domingos 
Schioppetta;  two  monks,  J.  M.  da  Silva  and 
Jos£  Marquis  de  Santa  Rita  ;  and  Frondoni.  an 
Italian  long  resident  in  Lisbon,  and  author  of  the 
popular  hymn  of  the  revolution  of  Maria  da 
Fonte  (1848). 

The  best  collections  of  Portuguese  gongs  are  the  'Album 
de  Music  as  naciones  Portuguezas,'  by  Kibas;  the  'Jor- 
nal  de  Modinhas  com  acompanhamento  de  Cravo  pelos 
Milhores  Autores,'  by  F.  D.  Milcent;  and  'Musicas  e 
Cancoas  populares  colligidas  da  tradicao,'  by  Adeimo 
Antonio  das  Neves  e  Mello  (filho). 

Information  upon  the  subject  has  been  most  difficult 
to  procure,  since  little  seems  to  exist  except  in  the  pre 
faces  to  the  collections.  The  writer  oi'  the  present 
article  is  indebted  to  Senor  Bernardo  V.  Moreira  de  ba 
above  all  other  sources  of  information  for  the  substance 
of  this  notice  of  Portuguese  songs :  and  to  him  her  warm 
acknowledgments  are  due. 

ENGLAND. 

Never  within  historic  times  has  England  been 
indifferent  to  the  art  of  music.  As  France  gave 
birth  to  the  '  Trouveres,'  and  Germany  to  the 
'  Minnesingers,'  so  did  England  in  a  remote  age 
produce  her  own  Bards,  and  afterwards  her 
Scalds  and  Minstrels,  her  Gleemen  and  Harpers ; 
all  of  whom  were  held  in  high  repute  by  their 
countrymen.  The  earliest  known  piece  of  music 
in  harmony  is  the  part-song  '  Sumer  is  icumen 
in,'  written  about  1225  by  John  of  Fornsete,  a 

3  The  last  two  are  contained  in  the  collection  by  Bibas, 
reference  is  made  in  a  preceding  note. 


SONG. 


SONG. 


601 


monk  of  Reading  Abbey,  and  itself  implying  a 
long  previous  course  of  study  and  practice.1  And 
there  is  record  of  a  company  or  brotherhood 
formed  by  the  merchants  of  London  at  the  end  of 
the  1 3th  century  for  the  encouragement  of  musical 
and  poetical  compositions.  With  this  purpose  they 
assembled  periodically  at  festive  meetings ;  and 
their  rules  were  very  similar  to  those  of  the 
German  '  Meistersingers,'  though  their  influence 
on  contemporary  music  was  much  less  widely  dif 
fused.  This  however  is,  at  least  in  part,  explained 
by  the  reluctance  of  the  London  brotherhood  to 
admit  any  but  members  to  its  periodical  meet 
ings.2  Of  the  abundance  of  popular  tunes  in  the 
1 4th  century,  evidence  is  supplied  by  the  number 
of  hymns  written  to  them.  For  instance,  'Sweetest 
of  all,  sing,'  '  Have  good-day,  my  leman  dear,'  and 
six  others,  were  secular  stage-songs,  to  which 
Kichard  Ledrede,  Bishop  of  Ossory  (1318-1360) 
wrote  Latin  hymns.  (Chappell,  p.  765.) 

While  the  Minstrels  flourished,  notation  was 
difficult  and  uncertain,  and  they  naturally 
trusted  to  memory  or  improvisation  for  the  tunes 
to  which  their  tales  should  be  sung.  But  with 
the  end  of  the  I5th  century  they  disappeared, 
their  extinction  accelerated  by  the  invention  of 
printing  ;  for  when  the  pedlar  had  begun  to 
traverse  the  country  with  his  penny  books  and 
his  songs  on  broadsheets,  the  Minstrel's  day  was 
past  :  his  work  was  being  done  by  a  better 
agency.3  To  the  time  of  the  Minstrels  belongs 
however  the  famous  '  Battle  of  Agincourt '  song, 
the  tune  of  which  is  given  by  Mr.  Chappell*  as 
follows,  with  the  date  of  1415. 


Our    king    went  forth     to       Nor  -  man  -  dy,    With 


grace    and  might  of       chi  -  val  -  ry,  The  God  for  him  wrought 


~~>r 


" « * 


~P5~1 
j-*— | 


marv'-lous-ly,  Where-fore  Eng-land  may     call   and   cry,     'De  - 


•  o 


gra 


ti  -  as!' 


In  the  period  between  1485  and  1553,  which 
covers  the  reigns  of  Henry  VII.  and  Henry 
VIII.,  social  and  political  ballads  multiplied 
fast ;  and  among  the  best-known  productions 

1  See  vol.  lii.  p.  268 ;  also  SUMER  is  ICUMEN  IN. 

2  See  Eiley's  'Liber  Custumarum,'  p. 589. 
Chappell's  'Popular  Music,1  vol.  i.  p.  45. 

4  Mr.  Chappell  further  says  that  when  Henry  V  entered  the  city 
of  London  in  triumph  after  the  battle  of  Agincourt.  .  .  .  'boys  with 
pleasing  voices  were  placed  In  artificial  turrets  singing  verses  in  his 
praise.  But  Henry  ordeied  this  part  of  the  pagentry  to  cease,  and 
commanded  that  for  the  future  no  ditties  should  be  made  and  sung 
by  Minstrels  or  "others,"  in  praise  of  the  recent  victory;  "for  that 
he  would  whollie  have  the  praise  and  thanks  altogether  given  to 
God."  Nevertheless,  among  many  others,  a  minstrel  piece  soon 
appeared  on  the  Seyge  of  Harfiett  (Harfleur)  and  the  Battayle  of 
Agynkourte,  "evidently,"  says  Warton,  "adapted  to  the  harp,"  and 
of  which  he  has  printed  some  portions.  (Hist.  Eng.  Poet.  vol.  ii. 
p.  257.)  Also  the  following  song  (see  above)  which  Percy  has  printed 
in  his  Eeliques  of  Ancient  Poetry,  from  a  MS.  in  the  Pepysian 
Library,  and  Stafford  Smith,  in  his  collection  of  English  Songs  (1779 
pol.),  in  fac-siraile  of  the  old  notation,  as  well  as  in  modern  score.'— 
'Popular  Music,' i.  39. 


of  those  reigns  are  'The  King's  Ballad,'  by 
Henry  VIII.  himself;  '  Westron  wynde,'  'The 
three  ravens,'  and  'John  Dory.'  It  should  be 
noticed  here  that  many  variations  in  the  copies 
of  old  tunes  indicate  uncertainty  in  oral  tradi 
tions.  Of  the  leading  note — which  the  Church 
Modes  do  not  recognise,  but  which  has  been  very 
popular  in  English  music — frequent  variations 
are  met  with.  But  the  copies  exhibit  most 
uncertainty  as  to  whether  the  interval  of  the 
seventh  should  be  minor  or  major.  The  general 
opinion  now  is  that  the  old  popular  music  of 
European  countries  was  based  upon  the  same 
scale  or  mode  as  the  modern  major  scale,  i.e.  the 
Ionian  mode ;  but  numerous  examples  of  other 
tonalities  are  extant.5  Thus,  among  others,  '  The 
King's  Ballad'  and  'Westron  wynde,'  agree  in 
some  of  their  many  versions  with  the  Latin  or 
Greek  Dorian  mode.  The  easy  Ionian  mode — il 
modo  lascivo  as  it  was  termed — was  the  favourite 
of  strolling  singers  and  ballad-mongers,  but  the 
scholar  and  musician  of  the  i6th  century  dis 
dained  it.  Even  if  he  sometimes  stooped  to  use 
it,  he  felt  it  to  be  derogatory  to  his  art.  The 
subsequent  adoption  of  the  modern  system  by 
cultivated  musicians  in  the  next  century  was  at 
tributable  to  the  influence  of  Italian  music. 

Of  secular  music  antecedent  to  the  middle  of 
the  1 6th  century  but  little  has  come  down  to  us. 
Its  principal  relics  are  the  songs  in  the  Fayrfax 
MS.  This  manuscript,  which  once  belonged  to 
Dr.  Robert  Fayrfax,  an  eminent  composer  of  the 
reigns  of  Henry  VII.  and  Henry  VIII.,  consists 
of  forty-nine  songs  by  the  best  musicians  of  that 
time.6  They  are  all  written  in  2,  3  and  4  parts,  in 
the  contrapuntal  style ;  some  in  the  mixed 
measure — common  time  in  one  part,  and  triple 
time  in  another — which  was  common  at  the 
end  of  the  I5th  century.  But  owing  to  the  want 
of  bars  the  time  is  often  difficult  to  discover, 
and  there  is,  likewise,  a  great  confusion  of  accents. 
During  the  latter  half  of  the  i6th  century  musi 
cians  of  the  first  rank  seldom  composed  airs  of 
the  short  rhythmical  kind  required  for  ballads. 
They  generally  wrote  in  the  church  scales,  and 
there  was  a  clear  line  of  demarcation  between 
their  works  and  the  ballads  of  the  common 
people.7  The  best-known  ballads  of  Queen 
Elizabeth's  reign,  from  1558  to  1603,  were  'The 
carman's  whistle,'  'The  British  Grenadiers,' 
'  Near  Woodstock  Town,'  'The  bailiff's  daughter 
of  Islington,'  'A  poor  soul  sat  sighing,'  'Green- 
sleeves,'  '  The  friars  of  Orders  Gray,'  and  '  The 
Frog  Galliard.'  This  last,  by  John  Dowland,  is 
almost  the  only  instance  to  be  found  in  the 
Elizabethan  period  of  a  popular  ballad-tune 
known  to  be  from  the  hand  of  a  celebrated  com 
poser.  Dowland  originally  wrote  it  as  a  part- 
song,  to  the  words  '  Now,  0  now.  I  needs  must 
part,'  but  afterwards  adapted  it  for  one  voice, 
with  accompaniment  for  the  lute.  This  practice 

5  Miss  0.  Prescott,  'Form  or  Design  in  Vocal  Music,'  Musical 
World,  vol.  59. 

6  See  Burney,  vol.  ii.  p.  539. 

7  See  Chappell's  '  Popular  Music,'  vol.  i.  p.  306.  Most  of  the  inform 
ation  In  the  text  relating  to  Ballads  has  been  taken  from  Mr. 
t'liappell's  work. 


602 


SONG. 


of  writing  songs  for  either  one  or  many  voices 
seems  to  have  been  common  in  England,  as  in 
Italy  ;  and  in  both  countries  alike  the  lute  or 
theorbo  sustained  the  under  parts  when  sung  by 
one  voice.1  Dowland's  contemporary,  Thomas 
Ford,  published  songs  for  one  or  four  voices,  one 
of  which,  '  Since  first  I  saw  your  face,'  not  only 
still  retains  its  popularity,  but  is  remarkable  as 
being  one  of  the  earliest  melodies  written  by  a 
trained  musician  in  modern  tonality. 

With  the  i  yth  century  there  commenced  a 
period  of  transition  in  the  history  of  music,  and 
especially  in  the  history  of  the  Song.  This  period 
was  distinguished,  as  Mr.  Hullah  has  observed, 
by  the  acceptance  of  many  new  principles  in 
musical  composition,  and  by  a  steady  growth  of 
skill  in  instrumental  performance  ;  but  its  most 
marked  characteristic  was  a  constant  increase  of 
attention  to  the  conformity  of  notes  with  words ; 
that  is,  to  '  the  diligent  study  of  everything 
that  goes  to  perfect  what  is  called  Expression 
in  music.' 2  And  this  was  a  natural  develop 
ment  of  the  monodic  revolution  whose  origin 
in  Italy  has  already  been  described.3  But  the 
success  of  the  new  departure  was  at  first  as 
partial  and  imperfect  in  England  as  it  was  else 
where.  In  Burney's  words,  '  Harmony  and  con 
trivance  were  relinquished  without  compensation. 
Simplicity  indeed  was  obtained,  but  without  grace, 
accent,  or  invention.  And  this  accounts  for  the 
superiority  of  Church  music  over  secular  in  this 
period  over  every  part  of  Europe,  where  harmony, 
fugue,  canon  and  contrivance  were  still  cultivated, 
while  the  first  attempts  at  air  and  recitative  were 
awkward,  and  the  basses  thin  and  unmeaning. 
Indeed  the  composers  of  this  kind  of  music  had 
the  sole  merit  to  boast  of  affording  the  singers  an 
opportunity  of  letting  the  words  be  understood, 
as  their  melodies  in  general  consisted  of  no  more 
notes  than  syllables,  while  the  treble  accompani 
ment,  if  it  subsisted,  being  in  unison  with  the 
voice  part,  could  occasion  no  embarrassment  nor 
confusion.'  * 

To  the  very  beginning  of  the  1 7th  century  be 
longs  Robert  Johnson's  beautiful  air  'As  I  walked 
forth  one  summer's  day';  and  about  1609  Fera- 
bosco,  an  Italian  by  parentage  but  a  resident  in 
England,  published  a  folio  volume  of  'Ayres,' 
which  includes  the  fine  song  'Shall  I  seek  to  ease 
my  grief.'  He  was  also  a  contributor  of  several 
pieces  to  the  collection  published  by  Sir  Wm. 
Leighton  in  1614  under  the  title  of  'The  Teares 
and  Lamentacions  of  a  sorrowfulle  Soule.'  But 
the  contents  of  this  collection  were  mostly  songs 
in  four  parts.  It  was  reserved  for  Henry  Lawes5 
(born  1595),  a  professed  writer  of  songs,  to  be 
the  first  Englishman  who  made  it  his  study  to 
give  expression  to  words  by  musical  sounds. 

1  Orlando  Gibbons's  'Silver  swan,'  a  5-part  madrigal,  is  given  in 
the  '  Echos  du  Temps  passeY  as  a  soprano  solo  with  accompaniment— 
'  Le  chant  du  crois6 ' — an  unjustifiable  act  no  doubt,  but  a  strong 
testimony  to  Gibbons's  melody.     'In  going  to  my  lonely  bed,'  by 
Edwardes— 50  years  earlier  than  Gibbons— might  be  similarly  treated. 

2  Hullah's  'Transition  Period,'  p.  183.  3  See  MONODIA. 

4  Burney's  '  History,'  vol.  iii.  p.  395. 

5  The  reader  will  find  the  dates,  biographies,  and  lists  of  works  of 
the  composers  mentioned  in  the  text  under  the  separate  notices  of 
them  in  this  Dictionary.  j 


SONG. 

Compared  with  the  Madrigalists,  Lawes  was  not 
a  scientific  musician.     Moreover  he  failed  in  the 
development  of  his  ideas,  and  bis  melody  is  often 
fragmentary ;  but  the  honour  ascribed  to  him  in 
Milton's  well-known  lines  was  justly  his  due. 
He- 
First  taught  our  English  music  how  to  span 
Words  with  just  note  and  accent.6 

His  care  in  setting  words  to  music  was  recognised 
by  the  chief  poets  of  his  day,  and  they  were  glad 
to  have  their  verses  composed  by  him.     One  of 
his  best-known  songs, '  Sweet  Echo,'  is  taken  from 
Milton's  Comus.     Several  books  of  'Ayres  and 
Dialogues  for  one,  two  or  three  Voices,'  were  pub 
lished  by  him,  with  assistance  from  his  brother, 
William  Lawes,  whose   fame   as   a  song-writer 
chiefly  rests  on  his   music  to  Herrick's  words 
'Gather  ye  rosebuds  while  ye  may.'    The  strong 
partiality  displayed  in  the  1 7th  century  for  'Ayres 
and  Dialogues1  can  plainly  be  traced  to  the  in 
fluence  upon  all  musicians  of  the  Italian  recita 
tive  style.  Henry  Lawes  was  undoubtedly  familiar 
with  the  works  of  his  Italian  contemporaries  and 
recent  predecessors  ;  and  especially  with  Monte- 
verde,  whose  blemishes   and   beauties  his  own 
music  reflects.     A  good  illustration  both  of  his 
skill  in  setting  words  and  of  the  fragmentary 
character  of  his  melody  will  be  found  in  his  music 
to  Waller's  '  While  I  listen  to  thy  voice,'  which 
is  here  reprinted  exactly  from  the  original : 

To  a  Lady  singing.7 


Xk       rf»     _!-•••     <?'••!•  'H«  £•* 

~  t     p>  >     ' 

etif  —  1  f  r  ;   g  ^  —  *  i*  U  Hg-F 

•  « 

Ali£  ^  g  —  L->l  K  f.  g_l  1  —  1  1 

^J                                      1*          -  " 
While  I     list    -    en  to  thy  voyce,  Chloris,  I   feels 

«y    u  —  j  r—  j  1  —  ^r^            -    1^1 

-W^-    ;Bt± 

1 

s  —  w     1  j 

—  •-  —  ,*    P"    -• 

•     ^~^-\ 

—  :  0  —  w-7  —  1^-  1  \M  S  —  '  

—*—><=?-L-l 

my    life    de  -  cay,    that  pow'rlullnoysecal' 
1  1  It  n  — 

s  my     fleet  -  ing 

—  7TZ  —                       -~23  P~=  P- 

—  »  ^ 

I  ^  1  U  ~\  * 

1                1L            |                                                                    I                            I                                 k, 

t=t=±&£L 

-JL^^                   r      ^'     m    '  ~=3^-$ 

soul  a-way  ;                         O       sup  -  press  that    ma-gick  sound, 

-    —  _zLt  —  jg  — 

AVhich  destroyes  without      a          wound  !  Pea 

ce  !  peace  !  Chloris, 

—  J  «  «_a"LJ  <^-^  

—  f—  —  :  —  i 

s  See  Sonnet  addressed  to  Lawes  by  Milton  in  1645-6. 

7  Page  13  of  •  Ayres  and  Dialogues  For  One,  Two  and  Three  vc 
By  Henry  Lawes  Servant  to  his  late  Matle  in  his  publick  and  private 
Musick.    The  First  Booke.    London,  Printed  by  T.  H.  for  John  Play- 
ford,  and  are  to  be  sold  at  his  Shop,  in  the  Inner  Temple,  near  IB 
Church  door,  1653.'   (The  words  are  by  Waller.)  Reprinted  In  Book  I. 
of  Playford's  '  Treasury  of  Musick  '  in  1669.    The  soug  will  be  fouua 
with  au  expanded  accompaniment  in  Hullah's  Euglish  Songs, 


SONG. 

r»  —    —  *  —  *'~  —  s  —  *• 

(•  (•  *Li  ^13 

z^n±i£—  £—  i  3^- 

peace,     or  sing-ing 

dye,  that  together  thou  anc 

L  I  to  heav'n  may 

c  1  1 

zJ  —               - 

^L-      -•  —  ^3- 

;  —  \~^  — 

_•!>•!     £-?          "1 

SONG. 


603 


•--•—«— ?t3i^~?c: 

-^ L- L_ ^1  ^ 


go  ; 


for       all    we  know  of     what  the  bless-ed    doe     a  - 


1          "1     1                 w 

q  •      M   •  1m 

\ 

'7L 

^•^ 

I-                     ^       1^           1^ 

i*   er  > 

: 

bove,        is  that  they 

sing. 

and  that  they 

love. 

rzj      m   •              m 

A                      SI 
™ 

-  f-^ 

9 

1 

~ 

1        _ 

Many  other  examples  might  be  adduced,  but  the 
above  will  suffice. 

Before  descending  further  the  stream  of  English 
'Song,'  it  were  well  to  remind  the  reader  that 
the  custom  of  poets  in  the  i6th  and  I  yth  centuries 
to  write  new  words  to  favourite  old  tunes  has 
made  it  very  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  assign 
precise  dates  to  many  ballads.  Thus,  in  Sir 
Philip  Sidney's  poems  the  heading,  '  To  the  air 
of1  etc.,  often  an  Italian  or  French  air,  constantly 
recurs ;  and  many  of  the  ballad  tunes  were  sung 
to  three  or  four  sets  of  words,  which  were  of  dif 
ferent  dates,  and  had  little  or  nothing  in  common 
with  one  another.  Among  songs  to  be  found  in 
the  principal  collections  of  the  first  half  of  the 
I7th  century,  the  tune  of  '  Cheerily  and  merrily' 
was  afterwards  sung  to  George  Herbert's  '  Sweet 
day,'  and  is  better  known  by  its  later  name. 
'  Stingo,  or  oil  of  barley,'  '  The  country  lass,' 
and  'Cold  and  raw,'  had  all  the  same  tune. 
Such  was  the  case  also  with  '  When  the  stormy 
winds  do  blow'  and  'You  gentlemen  of  England,' 
and  in  many  another  instance. 

From  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  until  the 
Restoration  music  languished  in  England.  The 
Protectorate  sanctioned  only  the  practice  of  uni 
sonous  metrical  psalmody ;  though  ballads  of  the 
time  of  the  Commonwealth  (1649-1659)  have 
been  preserved,  and  among  them  are  '  Love  lies 
bleeding,'  'When  the  King  enjoys  his  own  again,' 
and  'I  would  I  were  in  my  own  country.'  The 
Restoration  of  the  Stuarts  in  1660  introduced  a 
great  change,  and  during  the  last  forty  years  of 
the  j  7th  century  a  lighter  and  more  melodious 
kind  of  music  than  England  had  previously  heard 
was  in  vogue.  For  Charles  II.  in  his  exile  had 
grown  fond  of  French  dance  music,  which  was 
not  composed  on  the  church  scales,  as  the  Eng 
lish  '  Fancies,'  etc.  were ;  and  with  this  new  taste 
he  infected  his  kingdom.  Ballads  too  came  into 
popular  favour  again,  as  the  King  was  partial  to 
lively  tunes  and  strongly  marked  rhythm.  The 
cultivation  of  music  became  so  general  that  even 
domestic  servants  could  sing  at  sight ;  and  taverns 
ceased  to  be  the  only  places  of  musical  entertain 


ment.  Banister's  Concerts  at  the  end  of  1672 
have  been  already  noticed  [vol.  i.  p.  134^]  and 
a  vocal  concert  was  first  heard  without  the  ac 
cessories  of  ale  and  tobacco  in  1681,  at  a  public 
concert-room  in  Villiers  Street,  York  Buildings. 
The  concerts  of  Thos.  Britton  '  The  Small-coal 
man'  also  took  place  towards  the  end  of  this 
century.  [Vol.  i.  p.  277  a.]  Of  the  abundant 
ballads  of  this  period  the  most  celebrated  per 
haps  are  'Here's  a  health  unto  His  Majesty,' 
'  Come  lasses  and  lads,'  '  Barbara  Allen,'  '  Under 
the  greenwood  tree,'  'Dulce  Domum,'  '  Lilli- 
burlero,'  and  '  May  Fair,'  now  better  known  as 
'Golden  slumbers.'  It  should  be  noted  that  the 
educated  musicians  of  England  were  about  this 
time  very  much  under  the  influence  of  tlie 
Italian  and  French  schools.  The  style  of  Pel- 
ham  Humphrey  (born  in  1647),  whom  Charles 
II.  sent  to  France  to  study  under  Lully,  was 
entirely  founded  on  that  of  his  teacher ;  and 
on  his  return  to  England  Humphrey  effected  a 
revolution  in  English  music.  Some  of  the  results 
obtained  by  his  work  are  described  by  Mr.  Hul- 
lah  in  the  following  passage  : — '  In  place  of  the 
overlapping  phrases  of  the  old  masters,  growing 
out  of  one  another  like  the  different  members  of 
a  Gothic  tower,  we  have  masses  of  harmony  sub 
ordinated  to  one  rhythmical  idea ;  in  place  of 
sustained  and  lofty  flights,  we  have  shorter  and 
more  timorous  ones — these  even  relieved  by  fre 
quent  halts  and  frequent  divergences ;  and  in 
lieu  of  repetition  on  presentation  of  a  few  passages 
under  different  circumstances,  a  continually 
varying  adaptation  of  music  to  changing  senti 
ment  of  words,  and  the  most  fastidious  observance 
of  their  emphasis  and  quantity.'1  Few  artists 
ever  exercised  a  more  powerful  influence  on  their 
countrymen  and  contemporaries  than  Humphrey, 
and  his  work  was  accomplished  in  the  brief  space 
of  seven  years.  He  returned  from  Paris  in  1667, 
and  died,  at  the  early  age  of  27,  in  1674.  His 
song,  '  I  pass  all  my  hours  in  a  shady  old  grove,' 
which  has  hardly  yet  ceased  to  be  sung,  is  a 
good  example  of  his  style ;  and  other  songs  by 
him  may  be  found  in  the  various  collections  of 
the  time.  There  too  are  preserved  the  songs  of 
a  fellow-student  in  the  Chapel  Royal  to  whom  he 
taught  much,  viz.  John  Blow.  In  1700  Blow 
published  by  subscription  a  volume  of  his  own 
songs  under  the  title  of  'Amphion  Anglicus,' 
and  his  song  'It  is  not  that  I  love  you  less,' 
shows  that  he  was  capable  of  both  tenderness  and 
grace  in  composition.  Matthew  Lock  is  also 
worthy  of  mention,  for  he  wrote  '  The  delights  of 
the  bottle,'  a  most  popular  song  in  its  day,  and 
the  honour  of  an  elegy  by  Purcell  was  paid  to 
him  at  his  death  in  1677. 

Had  Henry  Purcell  never  written  anything 
but  songs,  he  would  still  have  established  his 
claim  to  be  regarded  as  the  greatest  of  English 
musicians,  for  upon  this  ground  he  stands  alone. 
In  dignity  and  grandeur,  in  originality  and  beauty 
he  has  no  equal  among  English  song-writers. 
After  his  death  these  were  collected,  under  the 

l  Hullah's  '  Transition  Period  of  Musical  History.'  p.  203. 


604 


SONG. 


SONG. 


title  of  'Orpheus  Britannicus' ;  and  ' Full  fathom 
five,'  '  Come  unto  these  yellow  sands,'  '  From 
rosy  bowers,'  '  I  attempt  from  Love's  sickness  to 
fly,'  and  others,  were  universal  favourites  down 
to  our  own  times.  He  contributed  several  pieces 
to  Playford's  publication,  '  Choice  Ayres,  Songs 
and  Dialogues,' but  for  his  finest  songs  the  reader 
must  turn  to  his  operas,  and  to  the  tragedies 
and  plays  for  which  he  composed  the  incidental 
music.  A  song  which  Purcell  wrote  at  the  age 
of  17,  'When  I  am  laid  in  earth'  or  'Dido's 
lament '  (from  Nahum Tate's  '  Dido  and  ^Eneas') 
should  be  noted  for  the  skill  with  which  the 
whole  song  is  constructed  on  a  'ground  bass'  of 
five  bars.1  This  is  repeated  without  intermis 
sion  in  the  lowest  part,  but  so  unconstrained 
are  the  upper  parts,  so  free  and  developed  is 
the  rhythm,  so  pathetic  and  varied  is  the  melody, 
that  the  device  would  ctrtainly  escape  the  ob 
servation  of  a  hearer,  and  even  the  performer 
might  be  unconscious  of  it. 

Dido's  Lament. 
PP    (Ground  Bass).  HENRY  PURCELL. 

m 


^ 


=t 


Voice. 


When  I    am     laid,       am     laid 
String  Quartet. 


Earth,  may  my 


A- 


3 


^^ 


wrongs  ere  -  ate        No  trou-ble,  no     trouble  in  thy  breast ; 


—I L 

-JL^J_'^: 


SI 


^ 


frf.r'rr 

cres.  - 


^z=$* 


<S>- 


h- 


l^=gl 

~f— *\\- 


1  J 


1  See  Hullah's  preface  to  '  English  Syngs  of  the  17th  and  18th 
centuries.' 


but    ah !          for   -    get  my    fate.      Be  - 


PP/ 


—  -  —  p  —  1  

•  F   i  —  f—  «— 

Et^f^^— 

mem-ber  me    but 

-x    I                  i   ^—  —  - 

ah!            fur    - 

get        my     fate. 

—  i  —  :  1*    • 

\^2      |±        , 

2  —  it'iH-^^Ei 

tf                       |/ 

J£*- 

w     , 

!    -&- 

jjUj  " 

I-, 

•*       "i         •"" 

Uf^                ~* 

^_, 

_ 

—  1  1  — 

f~~*"                                                       A 

_*_f  1_ 

^                        I" 

tf=  ~?-r 

Between  1683  and  1690  Purcell  devoted  him 
self  to  the  study  of  the  great  Italian  masters,  and 
the  results  are  manifest  in  his  music.  He  did  not 
indeed  lose  any  of  his  individuality ;  but  the  melo 
dies  of  his  songs  were  henceforth  smoother  and 
more  flowing,  and  there  was  more  variety  of  ac 
companiment.  A  common  fault  of  the  music  of 
Purcell's  time  was  a  too  servile  adherence  on  the 
part  of  the  composer  to  the  meaning  of  the  text. 
True,  the  notes  should  always  reflect  the  force  of 
the  words  they  illustrate ;  but  here  the  changing 
sense  of  the  words  was  too  often  blindly  fol 
lowed  to  the  sacrifice  of  everything  like  musical 
construction.  Purcell  shook  himself  clear  of  these 
defects  ;  for  with  his  fine  genius  for  melody, 
his  native  taste  in  harmony,  and  his  thoroughly 
scientific  education,  no  strong  or  permanent  hold 
could  be  laid  on  him  by  the  extravagances  of  any 
school. — To  complete  this  rapid  survey  of  the 
1 7th  century,  it  remains  only  to  mention  John 
Eccles  and  Richard  Leveridge,  who  were  popular 
composers  at  its  close.  To  Leveridge  we  owe  the 
famous  songs  'Black-eyed  Susan'  and  'The  Boast 
Beef  of  Old  England,'  which  were  sung  every 
where  throughout  the  1 8th  century,  and  are  still 
'  familiar  as  household  words.' 

In  the  first  quarter  of  the  i8th  century  the 
popularity  of  ballads  was  not  as  great,  but  it  rose 
again  under  George  II.  with  the  introduction  of 
Ballad-operas,  of  which  the  'Beggars'  Opera' 
(1727)  was  the  first.  These  operas  formed  the 
first  reaction  of  the  popular  taste  against  the 
Italian  music.  They  were  spoken  dramas  with 
songs  interspersed;  and  the  songs  were  set  to 
old  ballad  tunes,  or  imitations  of  them.  [See 
ENGLISH  OPERA,  vol.  i.  p.  4896.]  Between  1702 
and  1745  a  multitude  of  ballads  and  popular 
songs  appeared,  of  which,  among  many  others, 
the  following  became  celebrated,  'Old  King  Cole,^ 
'  Down  among  the  dead  men,  'The  Vicar  of  Bray, 
•  Ct-ase  your  funning,'  *  Drink  to  me  only,'  etc. 


SONG. 


SONG. 


605 


TJntil  the  time  we  have  now  reached — that  is, 
about  the  middle  of  the  i8th  century — ballads, 
as  a  class  of  songs,  may  be  said  to  have  retained 
their  popular  origin.  Not  a  few  had,  doubtless, 
already  been  written  by  scholars,  but  for  the 
most  part  they  were  the  spontaneous  outpour 
ing  of  uncultivated  thought  and  feeling.  Hence 
forth  however,  they  were  to  be  a  special  branch 
of  art  pursued  by  regular  musicians.  At  this 
point,  therefore,  a  few  words  may  be  fittingly 
introduced  on  the  form  of  popular  English  bal 
lads.1  In  dance  or  march  or  ballad  music,  which 
has  grown  from  the  recitation  of  words  to  a  chant 
or  to  a  short  rhythmical  tune,  the  musical  form 
or  design  is  found  to  reside  chiefly  in  the  rhythm, 
and  not  in  the  balance  of  keys.  The  ordinary 
rhythm  of  ballads  was  the  even  fashion  of  four- 
bar  phrases,  as  for  instance  in  '  Now  is  the  month 
of  Maying '  or  '  The  hunt  is  up ' : — 
ist  Plirase 


i. 


The    hunt    is       up,        the     hunt    is    up.        And 
_2- 4.          2nd  Phrase        i. 

~i  r  , 


— «-u«_ 


r- 


33 


it         is     well  -  nigh     day,            And    Har  -  ry  our  King  is 
2-  3- 4- 


f*»  c  —  i 

rfej^ 

—  •  — 

r^ru 

!?=£= 

—  F-=  —  F  —  H  

r—  I  1  H  

—  *-^»  —  •  — 

\-t=A  —  *- 

->•«*  — 

-J  1  |]  

gone     hunting    To     bring    his 

deer     to        bay. 

The  three-bar  phrase  rhythm  is  generally  met 
with  in  the  jig  and  hornpipe  tunes  of  England, 
such  as  '  Bartholomew  Fair  ': — 


Ad 


zooks    che   went   the       other    day    to 
i          — ^^ 


-               ps 

1  -J—     _.  —      _i-         -m— 

tf—  •  *  •— 

=&d 

Lou    -   don    town.     la       Smith-field  such    gaz  -  ing,     such 

2  3 


thrust- ing  and  squeez-ing    was        nev     -      er   known.      A 
I 


zit    -    ty  of  wood !  Some  volks  do  call  it    Bartledom  Fair,  But 
i  2  ? 


che's  zure      nought  hut     kings    and     queens  live  there.  2 

but  it  sometimes  occurs  in  songs  of  other  kinds. 
Of  the  rhythm  in  '  My  little  pretty  one ' — 


She  is    a     joy  -  ly   one,  and  gen-tie      as 


can       be. 


With  a  beck  she  comes  a  -  non,  With  a  wink  she    will    be   gone ; 


•i 


T=J 


m 


No  doubt  she    is     a  -  lone    of        all  that   ev  -  er     I      see. 

which  has  three  phrases  of  l^wo  bars  each  and  a 
fourth  of  three  bars,  there  are  several  other  ex 
amples  ;  and  indeed  there  are  abundant  varieties 
of  irregular  rhythms ;  but  it  may  be  held,  as  a 
general  conclusion,  that  the  musical  rhythm  fol 
lows  the  variations  of  the  rhythm  and  metre  of  the 
words,  and  varies  with  them.  And  this  tendency 
of  the  rhythm  is  seen  to  be  natural  when  we  reflect 
that  popular  music  began  with  the  recitation  or 
declamation  of  historical  poems,  in  which  the 
music  was  subordinate  to  the  words.  Compound 
time  is  very  common  in  English  ballads,  especially 
during  and  after  the  reign  of  Charles  II,  and 
may  be  accounted  for  by  the  influence  of  the 
French  dance-music,  which  Charles  II.  brought 
into  England.  In  modulation  they  exhibit  but 
little  variety.  The  most  frequent  arrangement 
is  the  half-close  on  the  dominant  and  the  leading- 
note  preceding  the  tonic  at  the  end  of  the  melody, 
as  in  '  The  bailiff's  daughter  of  Islington': — 


±^=t 


£ 


3 


1 


There  was    a  youth,  and  a  well  -  be  -  lov-ed  youth.  And 


^ 


he    was  a     squire's     son ;       He       lov  -  ed  the    bai  -  liffs 


m 


daugh-ter  dear,  That    liv    -    ed    in     Is -ling- ton. 

In  another  arrangement  the  half-close  is  on 
the  subdominant,  and  the  penultimate  note  is  the 
supertonic.  In  minor-key  ballads  the  relative 
major  key  often  takes  the  place  which  is  held 
by  the  dominant  key  in  the  major-key  ballads. 
Another  peculiarity  of  many  old  ballads  are 
Burdens.  Sometimes  the  burden  was  sung  by 
the  bass  or  basses  underneath  the  melody,  and 
to  support  it,  as  in  'Sumer  is  icumen  in';  or  it 
took  the  shape  of  '  ditties,'  the  ends  of  old  bal 
lads,  introduced  to  eke  out  the  words  of  the 
story  to  the  length  of  the  musical  phrase,  as  in 
the  '  Willow  Song ' — 


m=S=\ 

h    1  1 

»  |  J  ._d  —  s 

. 

-J^-*-3  

riA~*~ 

'~i~ 

-i^ 

—, 

* 

'•> 

-«  —  i  —  M 

tf-^-*—  i~rj  y   '    0  •'       =*           - 

My    lit  -  tie  pret  -  ty    one,    My   pret-ty     hon  -  ey    one, 

1  The  remarks  in  the  text  are  largely  borrowed  from  an  article  by 
Miss  0.  Prescott,  entitled  'Form  or  Design  in  Vocal  Music.'    See 
Musical  World,  1881,  col.  59. 
:  The  reiteration  of  the  final  note  in  the  cadences  of  this  song 
would  seem  to  indicate  an  Irish  origin.    [See  vol.  ii.  p.  216.] 

\M,/       ** 
^J 

The   poor 

soul  sat    sigh  -ing    by    a 

si  -  ca- 

J 
more 

H 

5 

~j 

!      d    _ 

.  J 

.NT 

•       a 

1 

•  • 

N    J      a, 

J 

p  ~ 

-~ 

i 

tree,  Sing 

•wil  -  low,  wil-low,  wil-low.  With  his  hand   in 

his 

606 


SONG. 


:t= 


besom  and  his  head  up-on   his  knee.   Oh !  wil-low,  wil-low,  wil-low, 


wil-low,  Oh!  wil-low, wil-low, wil-low, wil-low  Shall  be    my  gar- 


land;  Sing  all     a  green  wil-low,          wil-low.  wil-low,  wil-low,  Ah 


me!  the    green    wil-low  must  be    my    gar  -  land. 

In  this  case  the  burden  is  sung  continuously  by 
the  solo  voice,  but  in  other  instances  it  is  taken 
up  by  the  chorus  at  the  end  of  a  solo  song ;  or 
solo  and  chorus  combine,  as  for  instance  in  the 
burden  of  '  Sir  Eglamore ': — 

Solo  Chorus 


i 


Sir    Eg  -  la  -  more,   that  val-iant  knight,    Fa     la 
He    took  his     sword    and  went  to     fight, 

Solo 


Fa     la    Ian  -  ky  down    dil  -  ly. 

To  the  present  writer  some  characteristics  of 
English  airs  appear  to  be — the  absence  of  chro 
matic  notes  in  the  melody,  and  of  modulations 
into  distantly  related  keys  in  the  harmony.  The 
tonic  and  dominant,  and  occasionally  the  sub- 
dominant,  are  often  the  only  chords  used  in 
harmonising  the  tune.  Another  and  most  charac 
teristic  feature  is  the  frequent  occurrence  of 
diatonic  passing  notes.  Of  this  peculiarity  '  Rule 
Britannia,'  or  '  The  bailiff's  daughter  of  Isling 
ton  '  are  good  examples.  A  third  is  the  constant 
habit  of  English  tunes  to  begin  with  the  domin 
ant  on  the  last  beat  of  a  bar,  and  either  descend 
or  ascend  to  the  tonic  for  the  first  beat  of  the 
new  bar,  as  in  «  The  hunt  is  up,'  '  The  British 
Grenadiers,' '  Rule  Britannia, 'and  numbers  more. 
The  partiality  of  English  composers  for  the  lead 
ing  note  has  already  been  noticed. 

The  iSth  century  was  rich  in  popular  songs  ; 
and  for  most  of  them,  especially  of  those  which 
were  produced  in  its  latter  half,  we  are  indebted 
to  educated  musicians.  The  immense  popularity 
which  some  of  them  acquired  and  long  retained 
would  entitle  them  to  be  regarded  as  national 
songs.  Viewed  in  regard  to  musical  structure 
they  are  generally  ballads.  As  a  rule,  they  have 
an  easy  accompaniment,  often  nothing  more  than 
the  melody  harmonised,  a  marked  and  striking 
rhythm,  and  a  simple  pleasing  melody  repeated 
for  each  stanza.  Very  popular  in  his  day  was 


—  s  —  r  n 

K— 

•      P      r      • 

*         m      II 

i                    i 

r    r 

--           -       •    II 

^          u 

1         U 

lanky  down  dilly, 

And      as     he    rode  o'er  hill  and  dale,   All 
Chorus 

1 

i                               U               i 

I 

*S 

PS 

k-      p*    k- 

•>     J             ps 

J 

\     S    N 

•       J 

-     • 

•  • 

•TT-      .     g         1 

arm'd  up-on    his 

•  . 
shirt  of  mail,           Fa      la 

—  i  —            —  n  

la     fa    la    la 

—  N  —  fc  —  "5 

=v 

33E 

•-•-*- 

1 

SONG. 

Henry  Carey — probably  the  composer  of  'God 
save  the  King ' — who  published  a  hundred  songs 
and   ballads  under  the   title   of  'The   Musical 
Century';  and  the  gems  of  this  collection,  on 
which   Carey's   posthumous   fame  mainly  rests, 
were  'Death  and  the  lady,'  and  'Sally  in  our 
Alley* — now  oftener  sung  to  the  older  tune  of 
'  The  Country  lass.'    William  Boyce  (born  1710) 
claims  a  recognition,  if  only  for  the  spirited  song 
'  Come,  cheer  up  my  lads'  (Heart  of  Oak),  which 
he  wrote  to  Garrick's  words  in  1759.   In  the  year 
of  Boyce's  birth,  a  still  greater  composer  was 
born,  namely  Arne,  whom  a  competent  critic  has 
adjudged  to  be  the  most  national  of  all  our  song- 
writers.     ' Rule  Britannia '  was  written  by  Arne 
in  1740,  as  a  finale  for  the  masque  of  'Alfred'; 
and  passing  thence  from  mouth  to  mouth,  soon 
grew  to   be   pre-eminent   among  national  airs. 
Wagner  has  said  that  the  first  eight  notes  of 
'  Rule  Britannia  '  contain  the  whole  character  of 
the  English  people.    If  this  is  so,  we  may  well  be 
proud  of  it.    The  obligations  of  the  English  people 
to  these  opera  writers,  and  of  the  latter  to  them, 
have  been  reciprocal ;  for  while  some  of  the  best 
national  airs  are  due  to  their  imagination,  they  in 
turn  courted  applause  by  the  free  introduction  of 
current  popular  songs  into  their  operas.1    In  the 
same  year  with  'Rule  Britannia  'Arne  produced  his 
beautiful  settings  of  the  songs  in  'As  you  like  it'; 
and  the  songs  in  other  plays  of  Shakspeare  were 
afterwards   treated   by  him  with  equal  felicity. 
The  most  perfect  perhaps  of  these  is  his  '  Where 
the  bee  sucks'  of  '  The  Tempest.'    In  later  years, 
however,  a  change  crept  over  Arne's  style,  and 
a  change  for  the  worse.     He  came  to  crowd  his 
airs  with  florid  passages  in  a  way  which  is  con 
spicuous  in  the  songs  of  his  opera  '  Artaxerxes.' 

Passing  on,  we  come  to  William  Jackson  of 
Exeter,  who  was  thirty  years  younger  than  Arne. 
A  certain  tameness  and  insipidity  about  most 
of  Jackson's  songs  speedily  relegated  them  to 
obscurity  ;  but  he  had  his  hour  of  celebrity,  and 
there  was  a  time  when  no  collection  was  deemed 
complete  without  his  '  Encompassed  in  an  angel's 
frame/  '  When  first  this  humble  roof  I  knew,' 
from  Burgoyne's  '  Lord  of  the  Manor,'  or  'Time 
has  not  thinned  my  flowing  hair,'  from  Jackson's 
Twelve  Canzonets.  Among  his  contemporaries, 
but  a  little  junior  to  him,  were  Thomas  Carter, 
Samuel  Arnold,  Samuel  Webbe,  and  Charles 
Dibdin  ;  the  last  a  patriotic  ballad-writer  rather 
than  a  musician.  The  pathos  of  'Tom  Bowling' 
has  rescued  it  from  neglect,  but  only  by  sailors 
are  Dibdin's  other  songs  remembered  now.  Their 
fate  is  intelligible  enough,  for  they  evince  no  real 
musical  skill,  and  the  words  of  most  of  them  are 
poor.  But  however  defective  these  songs  may 
have  been  as  works  of  art,  they  will  always 
merit  an  honourable  mention  for  the  pleasure 

i  Most  indeed  of  the  best  songs  of  a  period  extending  from  Purcell'! 
time  down  to  the  early  part  of  the  present  century  were  once  a; 
were  embedded  in  dramatic  pieces ;  but  those  pieces  have  faded  ii 
oblivion,  while  the  songs  have  survived,  without  their  original  en 
vironment,  in  the  favour  of  successive  generations.    As  dramatic 
forms  of  song  these  compositions  lie  outside  the  scope  of  the  Prese"| 
article,  but  as  national  and  popular  songs  they  come  within  it.  A  Ms 
of  40  operas,  entirely  set  to  current  popular  airs,  and  produced 
between  1728  and  1740,  is  given  under  ENGLISH  OPERA,  vol.  i.  p.  489. 


SONG. 

which  they  gave  to  England's  sailors  in  the  days 
of  her  greatest  naval  glory.     To  Dibdin's  gener 
ation  also  belonged  John  Percy,  the  composer  of 
•Wapping  Old  Stairs,'  and  James  Hook,  best 
known  for  'The   lass  of  Richmond   Hill,'  and 
<'Twas  within   a   mile   of  Edinboro'   town/   a 
pseudo-Scotch   song,   like    Carter's   '  0    Nanny, 
wilt  thou  gang  with  me  ? '   Two  better  musicians 
than  these  appeared  a  very  few  years  later,  viz. 
William  Shield  and  Stephen  Storace,  both  re 
markable  for  a  great  gift  of  melody ;  but  their 
songs  are  seldom  heard  now,   with  the  excep 
tion  perhaps    of  'The   death    of  Tom  Moody' 
by  Shield,  and  Storace's  '  With  lonely  suit  and 
plaintive  ditty.'    Were  it  only  for  his  song  '  The 
Bay  of  Biscay,'  the  name  of  John  Davy  of  Ex 
eter  should  be  noted  among  the  celebrities  of  this 
period.  John  Braham,  Charles  Horn,  and  Henry 
Bishop,  were  all  born  in  the  iSth  century,  but 
go  near  its  close  that  their  works  must  be  regarded 
as  products  of  the  ipth.     Braham  was  himself 
a  celebrated  singer,  and  his  national  song,  '  The 
death  of  Nelson,'  deserves  to  live.     To  Horn  we 
owe  '  Cherry  ripe,'  and  a  song  often  sung  by 
Mme.  Malibran,  '  The  deep,  deep  sea.'    And  Sir 
Henry  Bishop,  who  retained  a  firm  hold  on  the 
English  public  for  fully  half  a  century,  must  be 
placed  in  the  first  rank  of  our  composers  of  songs. 
As  a  musician  he  surpassed  all  his  contemporaries 
and  immediate  predecessors  in  science,  taste,  and 
facility;  and  perhaps  also  in  invention.    He  cer 
tainly  advanced  far  beyond  them  with  his  ac 
companiments,   which   are   varied   and  skilful; 
and  his  melodies  are  full  of  grace.     So  carefully 
did  he  study  correctness  of  accent,  that  in  his 
songs  the  metre  of  the  poetry  is  seldom,  if  ever, 
disturbed  by  the  rhythm  of  the  music — a  rare 
merit  among  English  composers.  Important,  too, 
and  interesting  are  the  introductions,  interludes, 
and  conclusions  of  his  songs,  as  for  instance  in 
'Bid  me  discourse,'  and  '  Should  he  upbraid.'  Of 
'Home,    sweet   Home,'   who   has   not   felt   the 
charm  ?  Thomas  Moore  may  be  passed  by  here,  for 
his  songs  are  noticed  elsewhere  in  this  Dictionary.1 
In  further  illustration  of  the  songs  of  the  first  part 
of  this  century,  the  reader  may  be  reminded  of 
'  My  boyhood's  home  '  and  '  Under  the  tree,'  by 
Eooke;  '  There's  a  light  in  her  laughing  eye,'  by 
Loder ;  '  Love's  Ritornella,'  by  Thomas  Cooke  ; 
'  They  mourn  me  dead,  in  my  father's  halls  '  and 
'The  banks  of  the  blue  Moselle/  by  G.  H.  Rod- 
well;  'Isle  of  beauty/  by  Haynes  Bayly  and  T.  A. 
Rawlings ;  '  Meet  me  by  moonlight  alone '  and 
'Love  was  once  a  little  boy/  by  Wade;  'Away  to 
the  mountain's  brow,'  '  The  Soldier's  tear/  and 
'  Come  dwell  with  me/  by  Lee ;'  I'd  be  a  butterfly, ' 
by  Haynes  Bayly ;  '  Phillis  is  my  only  joy,'  by 
J.  W.  Hobbs ;  of  '  The  bluebells  of  Scotland/  by 
Mrs.  Jordan  ;  of  '  Alice  Grey/  by  Mrs.  Millard  ; 
and  of  'The  Cuckoo,'  by  Margaret  Casson.2  These 
songs,  and  innumerable  others  like  them,  follow, 
as  a  rule,  the  simple  plan  of  the  Ballad  proper. 

1  See  MOORE  ;   and  IRISH  Music. 

2  The  •  Old  English  Gentleman,'  published  in  1832,  and  still  pop- 
tlar,  Is  a  variation  by  C.  H.  Purday  of  a  song  or  chant  called  '  The 
Old  Queen's  Courtier,'  first  published  in  1667. 


SONG. 


607 


And  as  a  general  criticism  upon  them,  it  may  be 
said  that  being  melodious  and  pleasant  to  sing  is 
their  principal,  if  not  their  sole  recommendation. 
Written  expressly  to  be  sung,  they  have  very 
easy  accompaniments ;  and  any  good  voice,  even 
with  slight  musical  knowledge,  can  render  them 
effective  in  execution.  When  weighed,  however, 
in  the  balance  of  pure  and  scientific  music,  they 
are  felt  to  be  worthless;  and  the  popularity  of 
such  pieces,  even  at  the  present  time,  is  sugges 
tive  of  some  reflections  on  the  standard  of  English 
taste  in  relation  to  the  Song. 

While  the  taste  of  the  English  public  in  other 
branches  of  music  has  of  late  years  been  remark 
ably  developed  and  elevated,  there  would  seem  to 
have  been  no  corresponding  advance  in  respect  of 
the  Song.  At  concerts  where  the  instrumental 
pieces  given  are  all  of  the  highest  and  most 
classical  type,  the  centre  place  of  the  programme 
is  very  frequently  assigned  to  some  slight  and 
valueless  song.  The  audience  in  no  wise  resent 
its  intrusion  ;  on  the  contrary,  they  greet  it  with 
a  rapturous  applause,  which  would  probably  be 
denied  to  a  song  of  superior  calibre.  Encourage 
ment,  therefore,  is  wanting  to  the  concert -singer 
to  extend  his  repertoire  in  the  right  direction. 
But  how  comes  it  that  audiences,  whose  ear  is 
severely  fastidious  to  instrumental  music,  relax 
and  lower  their  standard  of  requirement  for  the 
Song  ?  Whatever  other  reasons  may  be  adduced 
for  this  inequality  of  taste,  it  can  at  all  events 
be  explained  iu  a  large  degree  by  the  action  of  the 
Italian  Opera  on  the  English  vocal  school.  From 
Handel's  time  until  a  very  recent  date,  Italian 
operas  and  Italian  songs  reigned  supreme  in 
England  ;  Italian  singers  and  Italian  teachers 
were  masters  of  the  situation  to  the  exclusion  of 
all  others.  And  the  habit  thus  contracted  of 
hearing  and  admiring  compositions  in  a  foreign 
and  unknown  tongue  engendered  in  the  English 
public  a  lamentable  indifference  to  the  words  of 
songs,  which  reacted  with  evil  effects  both  on  the 
composer  and  the  singer.  Concerned  only  to  please 
the  ear  of  his  audience,  the  composer  neglected  to 
wed  his  music  to  words  of  true  poetic  merit ;  and 
the  singer  quickly  grew  to  be  careless  in  his 
enunciation.  Of  how  many  English  singers,  and 
even  of  good  ones,  may  it  not  fairly  be  affirmed 
that  at  the  end  of  a  song  the  audience  has  failed 
to  recognise  its  language  ?  But  these  singers  have 
been  secured  from  the  just  penalties  of  such  defec 
tive  enunciation  by  the  habitual  indifference  of 
English  hearers  to  the  intellectual  meaning  of 
songs ;  they  have  neither  forfeited  applause,  nor 
lost  popularity.  It  is  otherwise  with  nations  ac 
customed  to  the  Opera  and  the  Song  in  their  ver 
nacular  tongue.  Germans  and  Frenchmen,  for 
instance,  expect  to  have  the  thought  and  senti 
ment  of  a  song  conveyed  to  them  by  its  words  as 
well  as  by  its  music.  Naturally,  therefore,  they 
reckon  a  clear  and  distinct  pronunciation  to  be 
among  the  first  requisites  of  good  singing ;  and 
there  is  no  reason  why  the  same  quality  should 
not  be  demanded  of  singers  in  England.  How 
rarely  in  England  is  the  name  of  the  author  of  a 
song  stated  in  a  programme  as  well  as  that  of 


603 


SONG. 


the  composer  ?  In  Germany,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  one  is  quite  as  prominently  given  as  the  other, 
showing  that  the  words  are  considered  equally 
important  with  the  music — as  indeed  they  are. 
There  is  nothing  in  our  language  which  makes  it 
unsuitable  for  singing,  though  undoubtedly  some 
difficulties  in  setting  it  to  music  arise  out  of  the 
irregular  occurrence  of  the  accents  in  our  poetry. 
But  accentuation  is  a  subject  deserving  of  much 
more  study  than  it  has  yet  received.  Even  some 
of  our  best  composers  seem  scarcely  to  have  be 
stowed  a  thought  on  the  due  correspondence  of 
the  accents  of  the  verse  with  the  accents  of  the 
music.  German  songs,  on  the  other  hand,  are 
seldom  defective  in  this  respect,  except  when  they 
have  been  translated  into  English,  and  then,  of 
course,  the  blame  lies  with  the  translator.  Much 
injustice  has  too  often  been  done  to  fine  German 
and  other  foreign  songs  by  the  carelessness  with 
which  the  translation  of  them  has  been  confided 
to  hasty  or  incompetent  hands.  Skilful  trans 
lation  is  by  no  means  an  easy  art,  and  its 
importance  would  seem  to  be  better  understood 
in  Germany  and  France  than  in  England. 
Adolphe  Laun  and  Victor  Wilder  have  shown 
what  high  accomplishments  may  worthily  be  em 
ployed  in  the  art  of  translation  for  music ;  but 
how  few  are  the  English  translators  of  whom  the 
same  could  be  said  ! 

Of  living  and  very  recent  English  song 
writers,  a  large  section  still  adhere  to  the  ever- 
popular  ballad  form.  Regarding  the  voice-part 
as  the  paramount  consideration,  they  attempt 
nothing  more  than  the  simplest  harmonies  and 
accompaniments.  And  within  these  narrow 
limits,  by  the  force  of  natural  gifts  and  instinc 
tive  taste,  they  have  produced  many  songs  of 
great  merit,  whose  popularity  has  often  been  a 
sufficient  reply  to  adverse  criticism.  Such  were 
Knight's  '  She  wore  a  wreath  of  roses,'  and 
'  Rocked  in  the  cradle  of  the  deep  ' ;  Wallace's 
'Bell-ringer';  Balfe's  'Come  into  the  garden, 
Maud,'  and  many  another  detached  ballad ; 
Madame  Sainton  Dolby's  'Sands  of  Dee'; 
Smart's  '  Lady  of  the  Lea '  and  '  Estelle,'  etc., 
etc.  But  the  English  ballad  can  be  of  much 
lower  grade  than  these,  and  is  too  often  debased 
by  a  vulgarity  which,  to  say  the  least,  is  not 
creditable  to  our  national  taste,  though  it  is 
often  loudly  applauded.  Perfectly  distinct  from 
these  is  another  class  of  writers,  whose  aims  are 
higher,  and  who  follow  more  closely  the  footsteps 
of  the  German  school.  Pre-eminent  among  these 
are  Sterndale  Bennett,  in  his  two  sets  of  six  songs 
(ops.  23  and  35)  ;  and,  with  the  same  correct 
ness  of  form  but  more  distinct  English  feeling, 
Macfarren,  especially  in  his  lyrics  from  Shelley 
and  others;  J.  W.  Davison  ('Swifter  far'  and 
other  songs  from  Shelley);  Hullah  ('The  Storm,' 
« I  arise,'  ' The  Three  Fishers ') ;  C.  K.  Salaman ; 
and  in  particular  Edward  Bache,  whose  six  songs 
(op.  1 6)  are  among  the  most  enduring  relics  of 
his  too  short  career. 

Of  genuine  English  songs — that  is,  purely  Eng 
lish  in  idiom  or  turn  of  expression — there  has  been 
of  late  a  considerable  revival.  Few  songs  have  ever 


SONG. 

been  more  popular  than  those  of  Sullivan,  and 
few  vary  more  widely  in  merit.  His  '  Orpheus ' 
and  other  Shakespeare  songs,  his  set  or  cycle  of 
'  The  Window,  or  the  Loves  of  the  Wrens,'  to  Ten 
nyson's  words  ;  '  Sweet  day  so  cool,' '  0  fair  dove,' 
are  truly  delightful,  melody  and  accompaniment 
alike  full  of  character,  and  with  an  unmistakeable 
individuality.  '  I  wish  to  tune '  is  a  long  scena, 
full  of  good  points,  but  hardly  coming  within  the 
category  of  the  Song.  Others  are  less  carefully 
studied,  and,  with  all  their  extraordinary  popu 
larity,  can  hardly  last,  or  add  a  permanent  tribute 
to  the  many  merits  of  this  composer.  F.  Clay 
and  Seymour  Egerton  have  both  written  good 
and  graceful  detached  songs.  Stanford's  '  La 
belle  dame  sans  merci '  is  powerful,  and  his 
'  Robin,'  from  Tennyson's  '  Queen  Mary,'  though 
slight,  is  full  of  quaint  charm.  Hubert  Parry's 
'  Three  odes  of  Anacreon,'  '  Why  doth  azure  deck 
the  sky,'  '  The  Poet's  song,'  '  1  prithee  give  me 
back  my  heart,'  and  many  more,  are  of  a  high 
degree  of  excellence  and  individuality. 

But  criticisms  in  detail  of  the  compositions  of 
living  or  recent  writers  is  always  difficult  and 
full  of  risk.  We  stand  too  near  them  to  appraise 
their  work  without,  at  least,  awakening  suspi 
cions  of  prejudice  or  partiality;  and  time  maybe 
trusted  to  discriminate  the  good  from  the  bad  with 
substantial,  if  not  infallible  justice.  To  the  tri 
bunal  of  posterity  we  must  leave  Barnby,  J.  F. 
Barnett,  Bond-Andrews,  Cowen,  Davison,  Dug- 
gan,  Elliot,  Virginia  Gabriel,  Gledhill,  Lawson, 
Mounsey-Bartholomew,  Marzials,  Molloy,  Scott- 
Gattie,  Stainer,  Stirling,  E.  H.  Thome,  Maude 
V.  White,  and  many  more. 

The  books  from  which  the  above  information  has  been 
taken  have  been  referred  to  en  passant  in  the  notes. 

SCANDINAVIA. 

To  this  group  belong  Sweden,  Norway,  Den 
mark,  parts  of  Finland,  Iceland,  and  the  adjacent 
islands.  The  Scandinavians  have  always  been  a 
music-loving  nation  ;  but  it  was  not  until  recent 
times  that  systematic  collections  of  Swedish, 
Norwegian  and  Danish  Volkslieder  were  made. 
In  these  collections  the  dates  of  the  songs  are 
nearly  impossible  to  define ;  they  may  have  been  P 
faithfully  transmitted  by  ear  from  generation  to 
generation  for  hundreds  of  years  past,  or  they 
may  have  been  invented  by  some  gifted  peasant  > 
of  the  present  day.  Very  few  were  noted  down 
until  the  end  of  the  last  century. 

The  poetry  of  Scandinavia  is  peculiarly  rich  m 
ballads,  legends,  and  tales  of  the  old  heroes  of  the 
middle  ages,  the  heroic-epic  element  being  abun 
dant,  while  the  lyrical  one  plays  little  part  except 
in  the  refrains  to  the  ballads.  The  collectors  of 
the  Volkslieder  have  found  great  difficulty  m 
noting  down  the  music  of  these  Kampewser, 
owing  to  the  free,  declamatory  way  in  which 
they  are  sung.  The  formal  melody  only  occurs 
in  the  refrain  or  OmTcvdd.  . 

Little  as  we  know  of  the  ancient  minstrelsy  o 
the  Scalds,  it  is  probable  that  the  same  analogy 
that  now  exists  between  the  heroic  epics  and  tue 


SONG. 

old  Edda  legends  also  existed  in  the  music,  and 
the  same  declamatory  style  prevailed. 

As  in  all  other  national  music,  the  musical 
instruments  of  Scandinavia  largely  influenced 
the  songs.  Thus  in  Finland  the  most  popular 
instrument  is  the  Kantele  with  five  strings,  tuned 
G,  A,  Bb,  C,  D,  which  forms  the  foundation  for  a 
whole  quantity  of  Runos.1 


KS  -  wy  kas  -.ky    tal  -  wa    has  -  ta        Kfi  -  wy  kas  -  ky 


—  1 

fc  

S  '  — 

—  f 

s 

1 

—  *  —  • 

• 

—  JH 

-4 

—  It 

—  •  — 

-• 

—  f 

...   , 

—  •  j 

•  — 

tal  -  wa      has  -  ta       Eal  -  ken  luon-don   Hal  -  di       al  -  da 


=& 


Kal-ken   luon-don  Hal  -  di       al  -  da. 

The  harp  with  which  the  Scald  was  wont 
to  accompany  his  lays  has  vanished;  and  the 
Langleilce  of  Norway  and  Iceland,  though  shaped 
like  a  harp,  is  really  a  bow  instrument.  The 
Swedish  Nyckelharpe  is  much  the  same.  The 
Hardangerfele  (fele  =  fiddle),  which  is  mostly  used 
in  the  Norwegian  Highlands  (near  the  Hardan- 
gerfjord),  is  the  most  perfect  of  their  instruments, 
but  is  only  used  for  marches  and  dances.2 

The  national  dances  have  also  greatly  influenced 
the  melodies,  though  the  Syvspring,  Slangdanmr, 
or  Hailing,  are  not  usually  accompanied  by  sing 
ing.  On  the  other  hand,  in  the  Faroe  Islands, 
musical  instruments  are  unknown,  and  as  the 
inhabitants  are  passionately  fond  of  dancing, 
they  accompany  it  with  singing,  and  chiefly, 
strange  to  say,  with  the  old  epics  and  ballads. 
The  Faroe  Islands  (especially  the  southern  part 
of  the  group),  Telemarken  (in  the  S.  W.  of  Nor 
way),  and  the  centre  of  Jutland,  are  the  richest 
districts  of  Scandinavia  in  national  songs.3 

Some  of  the  epic  songs  collected  in  Telemarken 
are  evidently  of  great  antiquity,  as  for  instance 
the  following,  relating  to  Sigurd's  fight  with  the 
dragon,  with  its  curious  rhythm  and  melancholy 
original  melody. 

Slow. 


Eg 


no    meg   saa      li-teneln    gut,  eg  sjat-ta 


or-min,  ban  mon-ne      i 
1  Stmo 


IT-*" 
gra  -  se    skri  -  e    For    -    dt 


1  Stmo  means  'air,'  or  'ballad,'  and  has  nothing  to  do  with  the 
Anglo-Saxon  or  German  runei,  or  runic  writing  stones.    The  singer 
Is  called  by  the  Fins  Eunoja  or  Eunolainen. 

2  Marking  the  time  by  double  tapping  of  the  toe  and  heel  Is  un- 
Werraptedly  carried  on  by  the  peasant  whilst  playing  all  the  while 

Brilliantly  on  this  instrument. 

3  This  district  was  called  the  Strickgegenct.   or  knitting-district, 
because  until  quite  recently  the  peasants  used  to  meet  of  a  winter's 
evening  in  different  homes,  knitting  woollen  goods  and  relating  or 
singing  tales,  songs,  ballads,  and  legends.    Their  wealth  of  songs  was 
'o  great  that  in  many  places  the  same  song  was  not  allowed  to  be 
*ung  more  than  once  a  year.    (See  Dr.  von  Barn's  article  on  Scan 
dinavian  Music,  p.  557.) 

VOL.  III.    PT.5. 


SONG. 


609 


lig  -  ger        or    -    min      i 


T    -    se  -  land       u    -    ti 


flo      -       1. 

The  character  of  the  songs  of  north-Sweden 
and  Norway,  and  especially  of  Denmark,  is  quite 
different.  In  these  the  eight-bar  rhythm  is 
usually  well  defined,  with  a  refrain  at  the  end, 
as  in  the  following  example  taken  down  by 
Johann  Lorentz  in  1675. 


De     va,    -    re      syv        og     syv  -  sind  sty  -  -ve,  dec 


de    drog    ud     Ira    Hald, 


og        der    de    Kom-me  ti 


Brat  -  tings  -  borg,        der      sloge 
•^        Omkvdd 


de      der  -  es       tjald. 


Det   don  -  ner  un-der    ros,        de       don    -    ske  hof-mond 


-P — F- 


der     de     ud  -  ri   -     -    de. 

Although  lyrical  songs  are  very  rare  in  Scan 
dinavia,  there  is  a  certain  class  of  Kampevise, 
or  heroic,  melodies  found  in  parts  of  Sweden  and 
Denmark,  softer,  more  melancholy,  and  more 
romantic,  and  remarkable  for  having  a  refrain 
both  in  the  middle  and  at  the  end. 


Och  jung-frunhon  skul-le  slg    at      ot  -  te-san-gen 
OmJtvdd 


^^g^a^^gte^gEg 

w I  ^f     I       !       ^.     ^_  I 


Ti  -  den  gOrs  mig    lang.— 
N.        fc: 


gick      hon  den 
OmJiv&d 


I            g^P=T~    S     ,.    I 
•  •    •— Ui*     J  -  -N-4 
R •— •- 


VS  -  gen    at       hO  -  ga   ber-get     lag.— Men    jag    vet   att 


d  —  h~~r~ 

P~ 

U"F  —  =i  — 

:  —  »     J":  N 

—-••I 

' 

' 

SOT  -  gen  fir     tung. 

An  important  section  of  Scandinavian  songs 
are  the  herdsmen's.  Their  age  is  impossible  to 
state,  but  they  all  bear  the  same  character. 
The  herdsman  or  maiden  calls  home  the  cattle 
from  the  mountain  side,  either  with  the  cow- 
horn  or  Lur,  or  by  singing  a  melody,  with  the 
echo  formed  on  the  intervals  of  that  instrument. 
The  following  melody  Dybeck  gives  amongst 
many  others  in  his  Vallvisor,  p.  12. 

Kr 


610 


SONG. 


E^^E5 


rit,  -    -    - 


rail." 

It  may  safely  be  asserted  that  9  out  of  every 
1 2  Scandinavian  songs  are  in  the  minor.  Many 
begin  in  the  major  and  end  in  the  minor,  or  vice 
versa.  Others  recall  the  old  church  scales,  espe 
cially  the  Mixolydian  and  Phrygian  Modes ;  for 
instance,  this  Danish  song  which  begins  and  ends 
thus — 


etc. 


a 


=3t 


TT-* 1 1 

-g-LJ— • 


They  are  also  more  frequently  in  simple  time 
(usually  2-4)  than  any  other.1  The  affinity  be 
tween  Danish  songs  and  those  of  Wales,  Scotland, 
and  even  England,  is  very  remarkable.  Many 
of  the  tunes  are  almost  identical,  and  the  words 
often  relate  to  the  same  subjects. 

The  so-called  Scandinavian  school  of  music  is 
of  very  recent  birth,  for  until  the  close  of  the  last 
century  it  was  greatly  under  foreign  influences. 
Thus  during  the  i6th  century  the  court-music  of 
Denmark  was  chiefly  in  the  hands  of  Flemish 
musicians ;  whilst  in  the  i  yth,  Dowland  and  many 
other  Englishmen,  besides  French,  Polish,  and 
Italian  musicians,  visited  the  capital.  The  latter 
part  of  the  iyth  and  the  first  half  of  the  iSth 
were  monopolised  by  the  ballet,  and  French 
melodies  were  heard  to  the  exclusion  of  all 
others.  A  fresh  impulse  was  given  to  northern 
music  by  the  operas  and  Singspiele  of  German 
composers,  such  as  B.  Keiser,  J.  A.  P.  Schulz, 
and  Kunzen.  The  imitations  of  these  by  Weyse 
and  Kuhlau,  and  Kuhlau's  romantic  play,  '  Der 
Elfenhiigel'  (1828),  were  the  first  to  introduce 
the  Scandinavian  Volkslied  on  the  stage.  The 
first  compositions  in  which  the  vernacular  was 
used  were  the  sacred  and  secular  cantata. 

But  the  chief  impulse  towards  a  national 
Scandinavian  school  was  given  by  the  literature 
of  the  country.  Towards  the  end  of  the  i8th 
century  the  didactic  school  of  poetry  began  to 
give  way  to  a  fresher,  more  natural  and  lyrical 
style,  and  by  the  beginning  of  the  igth  (in 
fluenced  perhaps  by  the  'Romanticism'  of  Ger 
many),  a  great  intellectual  and  national  movement 

i  See  Engel,  'National  Music,'  pp.  84. 174. 


SONG. 

began  in  Northern  poetry.  It  was  greatly  pro- 
moted  in  Denmark  by  Oehlenschlager ;  and  in 
Sweden  by  the  founding  of  the  so-called  Gotiska 
forbimdet  (or  Gothic  union).  About  this  time 
the  first  collections  of  Swedish  and  Danish 
national  songs  appeared.  Poets  and  musicians 
became  interested  in  the  old  epics  and  ballads 
with  their  beautiful  melodies  and  their  wealth 
of  new  materials,  both  in  ideas  and  form,  and 
hastened  to  avail  themselves  of  the  treasure. 
Thus,  within  the  last  hundred  years  a  new  school 
of  music  has  arisen,  containing  in  its  ranks  the 
distinguished  names  of  Lindblad,  Gade,  Grieg, 
Kjerulf,  and  others. 

Sweden.  The  Song  first  received  artistic  treat 
ment  in  Sweden  in  the  latter  decades  of  the  last 
century.  Among  the  earliest  song-writers  is  Carl 
M.  Bellman,  the  author  of  the  celebrated  Bell- 
manslied.2  Olof  Ahlstrom,  Dupuy,  and  Crusell, 
all  wrote  songs  in  the  early  part  of  this  century, 
but  the  first  composers  who  drank  in  the  romantic, 
national  spirit,  and  sang  the  beautiful  cha 
racteristic  song-melodies  of  Sweden,  were  Nord- 
blom,  Blidberg,  Arlberg,  Arrhen  von  Kapfelmann, 
Randel,  Wennerberg,  Josephson,  Sb'dermann,  T. 
Sb'derberg,  Runeberg,  L.  Norman,  and  above  all 
A.  F.  Lindblad.  The  songs  of  the  latter  com 
poser  have  a  widespread  and  well-merited  fame, 
for  not  only  do  they  bear  a  strong  national  stamp, 
but  are  also,  apart  from  their  nationality,  really 
beautiful  and  poetical  compositions.  Among  the 
most  interesting  are  those  to  Atterbom's  words, 
especially  '  Trohet ' ; 3  and  others  worthy  of  men 
tion  are  '  Nara,'  '  Brollopp-farden,'  'Saknad/  '0 
kom,  nej  droj '  (one  of  Mendelssohn's  especial 
favourites),  'Am  Aarensee,'  'En  Vardag,'  'En 
Sommardag.'  Great  service  was  also  rendered 
to  the  Song  by  the  collections  of  Swedish  Volks- 
lieder  made  by  Afzelius,  Dybeck,  Arwidsson,  and 
others. 

Norway.  The  same  service  was  rendered  to  Nor 
wegian  national  airs  by  L.  M.  Lindeinann,  who 
also  composed  several  sacred  songs.  Pre-eminent 
among  Scandinavian  composers  are  the  two  Norwe- 
gians,  Kjerulf  (1815-1868)  and  Grieg.  Kjerulfs 
exquisite  lyrics  are  at  last  receiving  their  due 
share  of  attention.  Their  long  neglect  is  the 
more  strange  when  we  examine  his  two  books  of 
'  Sanger  och  Visor,'  lately  published  by  Hirsch 
(Stockholm).  The  beauty  of  such  songs  as  'Lok- 
kende  Toner ' ;  '  Karlekspredikan ' ; '  Ved  Sj  oen  den 
morke,'  op.  6,  no.  2 ;  'Natten  paa  Fjorden,'  op.  15, 
no.  6 ;  '  Mit  Hjerte  og  min  Lyre '  (My  heart  and 
lute*),  op.  16,  no.  2;  'Serenade,'  op.  16,  no.  4; 
'Saknaden,'  op.  18,  no.  i;  'Eremiten,'  op.  18, 
no.  2,  can  hardly  be  overrated. 

Grieg's  lyrical  songs  are  universally  known; 

2  Carl  Michael  Bellman,  1740-1795,  was  a  very  remarkable  and 
original  lyrical  genius.    It  is  true  that  he  was  more  of  a  poet) 

a  musician,  for  he  himself  wrote  most  of  his  wonderful  'Fred: 
Epistlar'   and    '  Sanger'   (among  which   the  splendid  humoro 
pictures  from  the  life  of  the  people  in  Stockholm  are  especi 
noticeable) ;   but  he  set  them  chiefly  to  popular  French  melo 
which  were  at  that  time  greatly  in  vogue.    His  original  melo 
are  inferior  to  those  he  borrowed  from  foreign  sources. 

3  On  the  death  of  the  poet's  wife,  whose  friend  he  was. 

*  Kjerulf  seems  to  have  had  a  special  preference  for  English  pc 
many  of  his  finest  songs  being  set  to  the  words  of  Moore,  Byron,  Burns, 
end  Mackay. 


SONG. 

not  so  however  his  Romanzen  and  Balladen, 
which  are  of  their  kind  among  the  finest  that 
have  been  written.  (See  especially  op,  9  and  18, 
to  words  by  H.  C.  Andersen,  Munch,  Rickardt, 
etc.)  Numerous  other  songs  with  PF.  accom 
paniment  have  been  written  by  0.  Winter-Hjelm, 
K.  Nordraak,  Cappelen,  J.  Selmer,  Frau  Agathe 
Grdndahl,  Ole-Olsen,  Teilraann,  J.Svendsen,  Neu- 
pert,  etc. 

Denmark.  It  is  curious  that  the  three  founders 
of  the  Danish  school  of  music — C.  E.  F.  Weyse, 
Friedrich  Kuhlau,  and  Johann  Hartmann  should 
have  been  Germans  by  birth.  Hartmann  is  the 
composer  of  one  of  the  most  celebrated  national 
songs  of  Denmark,  '  Kong  Christian  stod  ved 
hojen  mast,' l  and  also  the  founder  of  the  Hart 
mann  family  of  composers.  Weyse  is  considered 
to  be  the  creator  of  the  Danish  Romance.  Full 
of  romantic  feeling,  and  possessing  a  great  gift  of 
melody,  the  songs  from  his  Singspiele,  and  more 
especially  his  '  Neun  danische  Lieder '  (set  to 
words  by  the  national  lyrists,  Ewald,  Oehlen- 
schlager,  Grundtvig,  Heiberg,  and  Ch.  Winther) 
are  justly  popular.  Contemporary  native  musi 
cians  were  less  celebrated,  and  Sorenson,  Glaus 
Schall,  and  Niels  Schiorring,  are  names  now 
scarcely  remembered.  But  the  improvement  of 
literature  by  Oehlenschlager,  Baggesen,  and  their 
followers,  Heiberg,  Palludan-Miiller,  Hans  Chris 
tian  Andersen,  Henrik  Herzt,  and  others,  soon 
proved  highly  profitable  to  music.  J.  P.  Emil 
Hartmann  (grandson  of  Joh.  Hartmann)  and 
Niels  Gade,  are  the  great  Danish  romanticists. 
This  quality  is  less  conspicuous  in  their  songs 
than  in  their  larger  works,  but  they  did  much 
to  develop  both  the  voice  and  accompaniment 
in  their  songs.  In  all  Gade's  numerous  songs 
there  is  the  same  northern  colouring,  but  more 
subdued  than  in  J.  P.  Emil  Hartmann's.  His 
songs  are  more  gloomy,  and  their  form  is  less 
perfect  than  Gade's.  Hartmann's  best  songs  are 
the  set  of  nine  under  tbe  title  of  '  Salomon  and 
Sulaniith,'and  the  six  to  Winther'spoem  'Hjortens 
Flugt.'  Another  composer  who  would  belong  to 
this  group  is  P.  Heise.  L.  Zinck,  Krossing,  R. 
Bay,  A.  G.  Berggreen,  H.  Rung,  Gebauer,  J.  0. 
E.  Hornemann,  have  treated  the  Song  in  a  simpler 
and  more  popular  form ;  and  among  the  younger 
generation  of  song-writers  may  be  named,  Glaser, 
Barnekow,  Winding,  J.  and  0.  Mailing,  E.  Hart 
mann,  Steenberg,  Rosenfeld,  Bechgaard,  Lange- 
Miiller,  F.  Rung,  Liebmann,  and  C.  F.  E.  Hor 
nemann. 

The  principal  work  on  which  the  above  sketch 
is  based  is  Dr.  von  Ravn's  article  on   'Skan- 
(h'navische  Musik'  in  the  supplement  to  Mendel's 
Lexicon  (1882). 
The  best  collections  of  national  airs  are  : 

'Nordische  Volkslieder,'  edited  by  Leopold  Kocke. 
Swedish  :— 

'100  Svenska  Folkvisor ' ;  Lundguist,  Stockholm. 

'Svenska  Folkvisor,'  edited  by  E.  G.  Geijer  and  A.  A. 
Afzelius;  Haeagstrom,  Stockholm. 

'Svenska  Voll visor  och  Hornlatar '  (med  Norska  Art- 
fai-andringar),  edited  by  Richard  Dybeck. 

1  'King  Christian  stood  by  the  lofty  mast.'  This  song,  with  an  ex 
celled  translation,  is  to  be  found  in  Boosey's  Kojal  Song  Books 
(Scandinavia;. 


SONG. 


611 


Norwegian  :— 

2  volumes  of  National  Songs,  edited  by  Lindemann ; 
Warmuth,  Christiania. 

Danish : — 

'  Danske  Folke  sange  og  Melodier,'  edited  by  A.  P.  Berg- 
green  ;  Copenhagen. 

'  Danske  Melodier,'  published  by  B.  Hansen ;  Copen 
hagen. 

HUNGARY. 

The  songs  of  Hungary  comprise  those  both  of 
the  Slovaks  and  of  the  Magyars.  But  the  music 
of  the  Slovaks,  who  inhabit  the  N.W.  part  of  the 
kingdom,  so  closely  resembles  that  of  the  Sla 
vonic  nations  as  not  to  require  separate  notice. 
[See  SLAVONIC  songs,  p.  612.]  The  music  of  the 
Magyars  —  generally  accepted  as  the  national 
music  of  Hungary — is,  as  already  remarked  (vol. 
ii.  p.  197)  very  largely  influenced  by  the  Gipsies, 
who  give  it  its  strong  oriental  colouring.  The 
stamp  of  their  race  is  however  more  distinctly 
perceptible  in  dances  and  instrumental  music 
than  in  songs. 

As  in  other  countries,  so  in  Magyar-land,  the 
introduction  of  Christianity  was  followed  by  a 
burst  of  hymn-poetry.  But  so  strong  was  the 
national  spirit,  that  not  only  were  the  hymns 
sung,  even  in  the  churches,  in  the  vernacular,  and 
not  in  Latin,  but  the  ecclesiastical  tonal  system 
never  took  the  same  strong  hold  of  the  sacred 
music  that  it  did  elsewhere,  and  it  has  under 
gone  but  little  change  since  those  early  times. 
A  few  of  these  venerable  hymns  are  still  sung. 
Such  are  one  to  the  Virgin  by  Andreas  Va'sa'rheli 
(printed  at  Nuremberg  1484),  and  another  to 
King  Stephen,  the  patron  saint  of  Hungary. 
Here  as  elsewhere  the  influence  of  the  Reforma 
tion  was  deeply  felt  both  in  music  and  poetry ; 
and  a  large  development  of  the  national  songs 
was  the  result,  especially  on  their  lyric  side. 
Dramatic  representations,  interspersed  with  songs, 
were  introduced  by  wandering  minstrels  and 
harp  or  cither  players  :  and  the  last  of  these 
performers  was  the  celebrated Tinddi  ('Sebastian 
the  Lutenist')  who  died  in  the  i6th  century. 

The  excitable  temperament  and  sensitive  or 
ganization  of  the  Hungarian  render  him  keenly 
susceptible  to  the  refinements  of  melody  and 
rhythm,  and  give  him  his  wealth  of  national 
poetry  and  songs.  But  the  very  exclusiveness 
with  which  he  loves  his  own  music  has,  by  ex 
cluding  foreign  influence,  been  a  hindrance  to 
its  progress,  and  has  condemned  it  to  a  long  stag 
nation  in  the  immature  stage  of  mere  national 
music.  The  list  of  Hungarian  composers,  from 
Slatkonia  (born  1456),  bishop  and  court  chapel- 
master  to  Maximilian  I,  does  not  present  a 
single  celebrated  name,  until  we  come  to  our 
own  contemporaries,  Liszt,  Joachim,  Vagvolgyi, 
etc.  Bela  M.  Vagvolgyi  requires  notice  here  on 
account  of  his  original  and  very  popular  songs 
entitled  '  Szerelmi  dalok,'  and  his  collection  and 
arrangement  of  national  airs  under  the  name  of 
'Ne'pdalgyongyb'k.'  It  must,  nevertheless,  be 
admitted  that  the  Hungarians  can  fairly  plead 
the  unsurpassed  beauty  of  their  national  melodies 
as  an  excuse  for  their  exclusive  devotion.  All 
their  music  has  a  strongly  individual  character. 

Rr2 


612 


SONG. 


SONG. 


Peculiarities  both  melodic  and  rhythmic  give 
it  the  charm  of  distinctive  originality.  And 
its  abrupt  transitions  from  deep  melancholy  to 
wild  merriment,  with  the  unexpected  modula 
tions  which  accompany  them,  never  fail  to  pro 
duce  an  exquisite  effect. 

Hungarian  songs  are  commonly  sung  in  unison, 
and  a  semblance  of  harmony  is  imparted  to  them 
by  the  lavish  embellishments  of  the  accompany 
ing  instruments  [see  vol.  ii.  p.  198].  These 
embellishments  are  pure  improvisations,  played 
with  extreme  rapidity  and  freedom,  and  the 
greatest  precision.  The  intervals  are  said  to  be 

or  even     tones.     The  scale — 


m 


with  the  augmented  intervals,  offers  no  difficulties 
to  instrumental  music  ;  but  is  much  less  favour 
able  to  vocal  harmony.  The  Hungarian  method 
of  harmonising  is,  indeed,  always  peculiar.  Thus, 
where  the  Germans  employ  '  contrary  motion ' 
they  prefer  '  direct' — and  with  very  good  results. 
But  the  most  remarkable  feature  both  of  the 
poetry  and  the  music  of  the  Hungarians  is  its 
rhythm.  At  an  early  date  their  lyric  poetry 
shaped  itself  into  sharp  and  bold  strophical 
sections,  and  their  melodies  underwent  a  cor 
responding  division  into  distinct  phrases  and 
periods.  But  within  these  limits  there  is  ample 
freedom.  Great  diversity  of  accents,  and  the 
unequal  lengths  of  the  lines,  give  richness  and 
variety  to  the  musical  rhythm.  Syncopation,  and 
the  shortening  of  the  first  note  of  the  bar  (like 
the  Scotch  snap),  are  common — 


and  the  periods  consist  of  three  and  four  bars — 
generally  of  three,  as  in  '  Golden  is  my  steed,' 
*  The  bold  Hussar,'  or  •  The  Fisherman '  (all  well- 
known  national  airs).  Occasionally  the  periods 
run  in  five-bar  phrases,  as  in  a  very  beautiful 
popular  song  called  '  Autumn.'  And  as  this  song 
further  illustrates  the  sudden  changes  and  the 
harmonic  and  rhythmic  peculiarities  already 
referred  to,  it  will  be  convenient  to  insert  it  at 
length  :—  * 


Con  espretsione. 


f  piii  mosso. 


a  tempo,  dolendo. 


cres.  ed  accel.  poco  A 


:*= 


i- 


m=£ 


P  a  tempo. 


tezfc 


qfffttuoso. 


i  Arranged  ty  Dr.  Pressel,  whose  account  of  Hungarian  Music,  In 
the  Neue  Zeitschrift  fur  Musik,  vol.  xxxvi,  Is  both  accurate  and 
interesting.  It  is  included  iu  Boosey's  Koyal  Song  Books.  (See  p.  80 
of  Songs  of  Eastern  Europe.) 


P  a  tempo. 


35 


+^-1 


* 


W 


C5^3t 

The  time  of  Hungarian  national  airs  is  mostly 
2-4.  Compound  time  is  rare,  excepting  5-4  or 
5-8,  which  is  more  common  than  in  many  other 
countries.  In  any  collection  of  Hungarian  songs 
numerous  examples  may  be  found.  Instances  of 
7-8  time  are  also  not  unknown,  but  where  these 
eccentricities  occur,  they  are  probably  due  to  the 
great  freedom  of  the  poetic  metre. 

Many  collections  of  the  national  songs  of  Hungary 
have  been  published  at  Pesth  and  Vienna.  The  best  are 
those  edited  by  Gabriel  Matray,  by  Vagvolgyi,  and  a 
smaller  collection  published  by  Pressel  at  Stuttgart, 
also  by  Boosey,  London ;  edited  by  J.  A.  Kappey. 

For  further  information  see— 

'Ungarische  Volkslieder ' ;  tibersetzt  und  eingeleitet 
von  M.  A.  Greguss. 

4  National  Songs  of  the  Slovaks  in  Hungary,'  by  Kollar. 

'  Die  Zigeuner  und  ihre  Musik  in  Ungarn,'  by  Franz 
Liazt. 

Notices  in  the '  Neue  Zeitschrift  ftlr  Musik '  vol.  xxxvi ; 
in  the  Caecilia,  vol.  v,  and  in  the  article  on  MAGYAR 
MUSIC  in  this  Dictionary. 

RUSSIA   AND  THE   SLAVONIC  NATIONS. 

Russia.  From  the  cradle  to  the  grave  Song  is 
the  constant  companion  of  the  Russian's  life. 
It  is  the  delight  of  both  sexes  and  of  every  age. 
The  sports  of  childhood,  the  pleasures  of  youth, 
and  all  the  varied  occupations  of  mature  years, 
have  each  their  own  appropriate  accompaniment 
of  song.  The  Khorovod,  for  instance,  is  a  choral 
dance  with  which  the  boys  and  girls  of  the 
Russian  villages  greet  the  approach  of  spring. 
The  Kolyadki,  or  Christmas  songs,  belong  to  a 
large  group  of  ritual  and  mythic  songs  which 
mark  successive  stages  of  the  year,  and  are 
sung  respectively,  at  seed-time  and  harvest,  mid 
summer  and  midwinter,  the  New  Year  and 
Whitsuntide.  Another  group  of  ceremonial 
songs  belongs  to  betrothals  and  marriages, 
christenings  and  funerals,  and  embodies  the  feel 
ings  awakened  by  the  principal  incidents  of  life. 
And  to  sorrow,  whatever  its  source,  the  Zap- 
ladiki,  or  wailing  songs,  bring  relief.  An  epic 
element  is  supplied  by  songs  which  record  his 
toric  events,  or  celebrate  the  exploits  of  soldiers, 
Cossack  heroes,  or  noted  robbers.  Such  are  the 
long  metrical  romances,  called  Bylinas,  sung  or 
recited  by  village  minstrels.  And  the  love  of 
the  Russian  peasant  for  his  national  airs  is  fully 
shared  by  his  more  educated  countrymen,  among 
whom  the  national  operas  of  Verstovsky,  Glinka, 
and  other  composers  have  a  wide  and  lasting 
popularity.  "! 

Russian  songs  have,  as  a  rule,  a  distinctively 
local  character.  In  Great  Russia,  for  example, 
their  dominant  qualities  are  gaiety  and  bright 
ness  ;  while  the  superior  charm  of  the  songs  of 
Little  Russia  is  due,  for  the  most  part,  to  a 
prevailing  cast  of  melancholy.  Inhabited  by  a 
people  who  vie  with  the  Poles  in  susceptibility 
to  poetic  sentiment,  Little  Russia  is  naturally 
rich  in  songs.  And  we  may  note  as  peculiarities 
of  these  pieces,  which  have  often  a  touching 
beauty,  the  presence  of  certain  discords  in  the 
harmony,  and  a  halt  or  drag  in  the  rhythm, 


SONG. 


SONG. 


613 


•produced  by  shortening  the  first   syllable   and 
prolonging  the  second,  thus  : — 


3^~9  

"A        25 

m  — 

'  i""1 

^  1 

fe^ 

etc. 


Indigenous  to  the  Ukraine,  and  met  with  no 
where  else,  is  a  kind  of  epic  song  of  irregular 
rhythm,  recited  to  a  slow  monotonous  chant. 
These  Doumas  (as  they  are  called)  were  origin 
ally  improvised  by  the  Bandurists,  but  that  class 
of  wandering  minstrels  is  now  nearly  extinct, 
and  their  function  has  devolved  upon  the  native 
women  who  compose  both  the  poetry  and  the 
melodies  of  the  songs  which  they  sing  them- 
eelves.  Among  the  peculiarities  of  these  inter 
esting  songs  we  may  mention  that  if  a  song  of  the 
Ukraine  ends  on  the  dominant  or  lower  octave, 
the  last  note  of  the  closing  verse  is  sung  very 
goftly,  and  then  without  a  break  the  new  verse 
begins  loud  and  accented,  the  only  division 
between  the  two  being  such  a  shake  as  is  de 
scribed  by  the  German  phrase  Bocktriller.  Here 
is  an  example  : — 

Wendic  folk-song. 


This  feature  is  common  also  to  Cossack  songs, 
and  to  the  songs  of  that  Wendic  branch  of  the 
Slavonic  race  which  is  found  in  a  part  of  Saxony. 
The  Wendic  songs  (except  when  dance-tunes) 
are  generally  sung  tremolando,  and  very  slowly. 
And  the  exclamation  '  Ha '  or  '  Hale,'  with 
which  they  almost  invariably  commence,  may 
be  compared  with  the  '  Hoj  '  or  '  Ha '  of  Little 
Russia,  the  'ach'  of  Great  Russia,  and  the 
meaningless  '  und '  and  '  aber '  which  are  inter 
spersed  through  German  Volkslieder.  To  Lithu 
ania  belong  the  Dainos ;  and  monotonous  as 
they  are,  they  are  not  without  a  certain  grace, 
when  sung  by  the  people  of  their  native  dis 
tricts.  Servia,  too,  has  her  own  characteristic 
songs,  which  often  end  on  the  supertonic,  as  for 
instance  in  the  case  of  the  Servian  Hymn : — 


This  mode   of  ending   may  also  be  sometimes 
found  in  the  songs  of  Bosnia  and  Dalmatia. 

The  folk-songs  of  Russia  are  always  metrical, 
and  the  metre  is  wont  to  be  very  free  and 
elastic.  But,  unlike  modern  Russian  poetry, 
which  imitates  German  poetry,  and  is  written  in 
four-line  stanzas  and  rhyme,  the  genuine  folk 
songs  of  Russia  are  never  rhymed,  and  rarely 
fcung  with  instrumental  accompaniment.  If,  how 
ever,  there  be  an  accompaniment,  the  instruments 
most  commonly  used  are  the  Gudok,  a  three- 
Btringed  fiddle ;  or  the  Dudka,  a  reed  instrument 


of  two  small  parallel  pipes ;  or  the  Gusla,  which 
resembles  a  cymbal.  Being,  therefore,  written 
in  a  vocal  rather  than  an  instrumental  style,  the 
songs  of  Russia  want  brilliancy  and  variety  of 
rhythm,  but  what  they  lose  in  these  qualities 
ihey  gain  in  tenderness  and  expression.  A  large 
proportion  of  Russian  and  other  Slavonic  songs  are 
of  Gipsy  origin,  and  are  usually  in  dance  rhythm, 
the  dancers  marking  the  time  by  the  stamp  of 
their  feet.  In  short,  if  we  roughly  divide  the 
longs  of  Russia  they  will  fall  into  two  groups : — 

(1)  songs   of  a   quick  lively  tempo,  commonly 
sung  to  dances,  in  major  keys,  and  in  unison ; 

(2)  songs  sung  very  slow,  in  harmony,  and  in 
minor  keys.     Of  the  two  the  latter  are  the  best 
and  most  popular.    It  will  not  escape  notice  that 
florid  passages  on  one  syllable  *  often  occur  in 
Russian  songs,  as  in  the  'Cossack  of  the  Don' : — 


wem 


-    nend    da. 


nor  that  some  of  the  oldest  Slavonic  melodies 
are  based  on  the  ecclesiastical  scales,  more  espe 
cially  those  of  Poland  and  Bohemia,  whose  music 
bears  the  impress  of  contact  with  Germany. 

The  former  feature  has  been  well  perpetuated  by 
Rubinstein  in  his  beautiful  songs  'Gelb  rollt' — 


-   ne       tneia  Herz  und 

and  'Die  helle  Sonne  leuchtet' — 


die 


etc. 


a! 


le 


etc. 


glflhn  und     zit    -    -     tern 

The  later  composers  of  Russia,  such  as  Glinka, 
Lvoff,  Verstovsky,  Dargomijsky,  Kozlovsky,  and 
others,  have  been  true  to  the  national  spirit  in 
their  songs.  So  faithfully  have  the  old  national 
songs  been  imitated  by  them,  that  it  is  hard  to 
distinguish  the  new  from  the  old  productions, 
and  indeed  some  modern  songs — for  instance, 
Varlamof's  'Red  Sarafan,'  and  Alabief's  'The 
Nightingale' — have  been  accepted  as  national 
melodies.  Other  composers,  such  as  Gurilef, 
Vassilef,  and  Dubuque,  have  set  a  number  of 
national  airs,  especially  the  so-called  Gipsy  tunes, 
to  modern  Russian  words  in  rhyme  and  four-line 
stanzas,  and  have  arranged  them  with  PF.  ac 
companiment.  Even  the  greatest  Russian  com 
posers,  the  style  of  whose  other  works  is  cosmo 
politan,  adhere  to  national  peculiarities  in  their 
songs.  The  florid  passages  on  one  syllable, 
already  noticed,  are  often  met  with  in  the  songs 
of  Rubinstein;  and  Tschaikofsky  frequently  re 
produces  the  characteristic  harsh  harmony  of  the 

1  Bach  has  a  long  and  not  dissimilar  passage  on  the  word  '  we:nete.' 
a  propos  to  Peter's  weeping,  in  bis  Passion  Music  of  S.  Matthew  and 
b.  John. 


614 


SONG. 


old  folk-songs.  These  two  composers'  German 
Lieder  are  of  such  beauty  as  to  have  found 
favour  with  every  nation  devoted  to  music.  But 
this  distinction  is  not  the  exclusive  honour  of 
Rubinstein  and  Tscha'ikofsky ;  it  is  the  due  also  of 
their  countrymen,  Borodin,  Napravnik,Genischta, 
Serof,  Davidof,  and  Dargomijsky.  Others  again, 
whose  popularity  is  confined  to  Russia,  have 
chosen  to  follow  Italian  models  in  their  vocal 
compositions :  and  in  this  class  Varlamof,  Gurilef, 
Alabief,  Vassilef,  Bulachof,  Paufler,  and  Derfeldt 
are  all  prolific  writers.  Flowing  melodies,  simple 
accompaniments,  and  an  absence  of  striking 
modulations  are  characteristics  of  their  songs. 
Lvof,  Bortniansky,  Bachmetief,  and  Dmitrief, 
true  Russians,  are  chiefly  known  for  their  sacred 
music. 

Poland.  The  songs  of  the  Poles,  also  a 
Slavonic  people,  differ  widely  from  those  of 
Russia  in  rhythm  and  variety  of  metre.  There 
is  more  fire  and  passion  about  them  than  about 
Russian  songs,  the  Poles  being  more  excitable  and 
more  keenly  susceptible  to  romance  than  their 
neighbours.  Polish  songs  have  an  instrumental 
rather  than  a  vocal  colouring,  which  reveals  itself 
in  their  difficult  intervals  (such  as  the  augmented 
fourth),  syncopated  notes,  and  intricate  rhythms. 
Thus  :— 


= 


Ej    ej     sla     zy  dow  ka     ej    ej     wedle        etc. 


Vivace 


k  ci    ja  c!i!o-pt-k      da     i    nie 


etc. 


In  this  they  resemble  the  Hungarian  music.  The 
elasticity  of  their  poetic  metre  is  productive  of 
great  irregularity  of  melodic  phrases,  showing 
itself  in  constant  deviation  from  the  four-bar 
sections,  in  7-8  time,  and  alternate  bars  of  3-8 
and  2-8 ;  thus — 


1 


".„ 


s 


— »*a—  —  ««s— 

Ja-sio  ko-nie   pu       il      lia-ria  chu-sty  pra  -  la 


i] 


na-m<J-wi - ko  -  i  -  ja      je    by  we  dro    wa   -    la 


etc. 


The  rare  beauty  of  Polish  songs  is  not  due  to 
fertility  of  melodic  invention.  The  Poles  indeed 
are  rather  poor  in  this  quality,  but  the  deficiency 
is  hidden  by  the  wonderful  skill  with  which  they 
vary  and  embellish  their  songs.  The  rhythm  is 
always  peculiar  and  striking,  as  for  instance 
that  of  their  famous  national  dances,  the  Polonez 
and  Mazurek  (Polonaise  and  Mazurka),  which 
are  constantly  heard  in  their  songs. 

Of  modern  Polish  songs,  Chopin's  are  the  best 
known  and  the  most  beautiful,  but  the  purest 
national  characteristics  will  also  be  found  in  the 
songs  of  Moniuszko. 

Bohemia.  The  music  of  Bohemia  has  never 
attracted  and  influenced  foreign  composers,  as 


SONG. 

that  of  Hungary  has  done  ;  but  its  artistic  value, 
especially  in  its  songs,  has  of  late  been  fully 
recognised.  Bohemian  songs  may  be  divided  into 
two  classes.  The  first,  and  much  the  oldest,  have 
a  bold  decisive  character,  with  strongly  marked 
rhythm,  and  are  in  the  minor.  The  second  class 
— in  tunefulness  and  tenderness  superior  to  the 
former — are  in  the  major,  and  of  a  simple  rhythm. 
In  many  of  the  early  songs  we  find  a  chorale,  as 
in  the  middle  of  the  celebrated  and  beautiful 
'War  Song  of  the  Hussites,'  which  dates  from 
about  1460.  The  more  recent  songs  of  Bohemia 
have  a  flowing,  clear,  and  distinct  cantiUne, 
sometimes  recalling  Italian  songs.  Then:  rhythm 
is  varied,  but  never  exaggerated;  and  a  vein 
of  natural  unaffected  humour  runs  through 
them.  Their  harmony  has  been  affected  by 
the  Dudelsack  or  bagpipe,  a  favourite  national 
instrument. 

Bohemia  is  preeminently  rich  in  dances  (such 
as  the  beseda,  dudik,  fttriant,  hulan,  polka,  tri- 
nozlca,  sedlak,  etc.),  which  take  their  names  from 
places,  or  from  the  occasions  on  which  they  are 
danced,  or  from  the  songs  with  which  they  are 
accompanied.  There  are  numerous  collections 
of  Bohemian  national  songs ;  and  of  late  years 
native  composers,  both  vocal  and  instrumental, 
have  brought  them  into  public  notice.  They 
have  been  sung  at  concerts  by  Strakaty,  Pischek, 
and  Luker;  while  Simak,  Sme'tana,  Dvorak, 
and  others,  have  arranged  both  songs  and  dances 
for  the  orchestra  and  piano.  Among  modern 
Bohemian  composers  Tomaschek  (born  1774) 
was  one  of  the  first  to  introduce  the  national 
element  into  his  works.  Knize  followed  him, 
and  his  ballad  '  Bretjslav  a  Jitka '  became  very 
popular.  Krov  and  Skroup  were  also  authors  of 
many  national  and  patriotic  songs,  and  Skroup's 
'  Kde  domov  muj '  (or '  Where  is  my  home ')  may 
be  cited  as  a  characteristic  example  of  their  com 
positions.  Skroup  and  the  poet  Chmelensky  have 
edited  a  well-known  collection,  under  the  title 
of  '  VSnec '  (the  Garland),  containing  songs  by 
33  Bohemian  composers.  Among  them  are 
Ruziaka,  Drechsler,  Vasik,  Skfivan,  Tomaschek, 
and  Rosenkranz,  the  author  of  the  popular  song 
'Vystavim  se  skromnow  chaloupka'  ('Let  us 
build  a  modest  hut').  And  to  later  editions  of 
the  '  V2nec,'  issued  by  other  editors,  were  added 
songs  by  Sucha"nek,  Stasny,  Veit,  and  Gyrowetz. 
In  1844  the  Moravian  composer  Ludwig  Bitter 
von  Dietrich  published  a  volume  of  'Bohemian 
Songs/  including  his  well-known  and  patriotic 
air  'Morava,  Moravicka  milaV  And  Kosek, 
Kava"n,  Pivoda,  Zvonaf,  Bendl,  Napravnik^Ze- 
lensky,  Krov,  Skroup,  Zahorsky,  Kozkosny, 
Lahorsky,  and  Dvorak  are  all  worthy  of  mention 
as  national  composers,  whose  songs  have  remained 
local  in  their  colouring,  notwithstanding  the 
dominant  influence  of  Germany. 

For  further  information  respecting  Slavonic  national 
songs  the  reader  may  be  referred  to  Veselovsky's  worn 
on  'Slavonic  Songs';  Yussupof 's  'History  of  Music  m 
.Russia';  Kalston's  'Songs  of  the  Kussian  people^ 
Chodzko's  'Historic  Songs  of  the  Ukrainians,  etc.(; 
Haupt  and  Schmaler's  'Wendic  Folk-Songs';  Talvia 
'History  of  Kussian  Literature.' 


SONG. 


SONG. 


615 


GERMANY. 

The  history  of  the  Song  in  Germany  has  been 
so  thoroughly  explored  by  German  writers,  that 
its  course  may  be  followed  from  very  remote 
times,  when  song  was  scarcely  distinguishable 
from  speech,  and  singen  and  sagen  were  convert 
ible  terms.  But  the  musician  is  not  concerned 
with  the  Song  until  it  has  acquired  a  certain  form 
in  metre  and  melody.  The  '  Minnesinger  '  must, 
therefore,  be  our  starting-point.1 

The  '  Minnesinger  '  were  the  German  counter 
parts  of  the  Troubadours,  but  they  were  of  rather 
later  date  than  the  Proven9al  minstrels,  and  the 
tone  of  their  compositions  was  somewhat  dif 
ferent.  While  the  Troubadours  sang  almost  ex 
clusively  of  love  and  gallantry,  the  Minnesinger 
constantly  introduced  into  their  songs  praises  of 
the  varied  beauties  of  nature.  And  the  expres 
sions  of  homage  to  the  Virgin,  or  of  other  devo 
tional  feeling,  which  burst  so  frequently  from 
their  lips,  were  the  outcome  of  a  deeper  religious 
sentiment  than  any  to  which  the  light-hearted 
Proven9als  were  ever  subject.  In  social  rank 
the  Minnesinger  were  not  as  a  body  quite  on 
a  level  with  the  Troubadours  ;  there  was  a  larger 
proportion  among  them  of  men  whose  birth  and 
station  were  beneath  nobility.  Nevertheless 
their  art  was  highly  esteemed,  and  wherever  they 
went  they  were  honoured  guests.  They  always 
sang  and  accompanied  their  own  compositions, 
and  took  no  remuneration  for  the  entertainment 
which  they  gave.  They  were  more  numerous  in 
Southern  than  in  Northern  Germany;  Austria 
was  especially  prolific  of  them. 

The  era  of  the  Minnesinger  may  be  roughly 
divided  into  three  epochs.  The  first  was  a  period 
of  growth  and  development,  and  ended  some 
where  about  1190.  Its  songs  were  of  a  popular 
cast,  and  its  most  representative  names  were  von 
Kiirenberc,  Dietmar  von  Aiste,  and  Meinloh  von 
Sevelingen.  The  second  and  best  period,  which 
was  the  stage  of  maturity,  was  covered  by  the 
last  years  of  the  I2th  century  and  at  least  half 
of  the  1  3th  century.  To  this  period  belonged 
Heinrich  von  Veldecke,  Friedrich  von  Hausen, 
Heinrich  von  Morungen,  Reinmar  der  Alte  (the 
master  of  Walther  von  der  Vogelweide),  Hart- 
mann  von  Aue  (the  author  of  the  celebrated  poem 
'Das  avme  Heinrich'),  and  Walther  von  der 
Vogelweide  himself,  whose  fine  lyrics  won  for 
him  a  place  among  national  poets.  Early  in  the 
1  3th  century  the  '  Sangerkrieg,'  or  Minstrel-con 
test,  was  held  on  the  Wartburg  by  the  Landgrave 
Hermann  of  Thuringia,  and  among  the  champions 
who  took  part  in  it  were  Heinrich  von  Ofterdin- 
gen,  Tannhauser,  and  Wolfram  von  Eschenbach. 
Wolfram's  Minnelieder  had  no  great  success,  but 

1  If  it  were  possible,  It  would  be  convenient  to  trace  the  rise  and 
decline  of  particular  kinds  of  songs  in  separate  and  clearly  defined 
sections  of  time  ;  but  this  is  altogether  impossible,  because  their 
respective  periods  are  interlaced  with  one  another.  Thus,  the 
volkslhumlichct  Lied  had  come  into  existence  while  the  Ode  and  the 
Aria  were  at  their  zenith  ;  and,  again,  composers  were  using  the  Aria 
form  even  after  the  introduction  of  the  lyric  song.—  Another  obser 
vation  should  be  made  here.  Some  German  musical  terms  have  no 
exact  English  equivalents  :  attempts  to  translate  them  would  simply 
mislead.  They  are,  therefore,  used  in  the  text,  but  the  reader  will 
find  explanations  of  their  meaning. 


high  renown  was  gained  for  him  by  his  Wachter- 
lieder  and  his  '  Parsifal.'  The  third  period  was 
a  time  of  decline,  and  of  transition  to  the  '  Meis- 
tersinger.'  The  art  of  the  Minnesinger  then 
descended  to  trivial  or  unpoetic  themes,  and  a 
growing  carelessness  as  to  the  forms  of  poetry 
plainly  revealed  its  deterioration.  Nithart  v. 
Reuenthal  (whose  poems  were  chiefly  descrip 
tions  of  peasant-life),  Ulrich  v.  Lichtenstein, 
Reinmar  v.  Zwefcer,  der  Marner,  and  Konrad  v. 
Wiirzburg  were  the  principal  Minnesinger  of  this 
period. 

Medieval  MSS.  contain  a  large  number  of  the 
poems  and  melodies  of  the  Minnesinger,2  and 
these  remains  attest  the  incomparable  superiority 
of  their  poetry  to  their  music.  They  bestowed 
especial  pains  on  the  poetic  words,  and  treated 
the  melody  as  a  mere  accessory.  So  finished 
were  their  verses  as  regards  metre  and  rhythm, 
that  in  some  cases  even  the  music  of  the  pre 
sent  day  could  hardly  support  them  with  an 
adequate  setting.  But  this  perfection  was  of 
course  only  reached  by  degrees.  Beginning  with 
alliterative  words,  they  advanced  to  regular 
rhymes,  and  then  rules  of  composition  were  laid 
down  prescribing  the  number  of  lines  of  which 
different  kinds  of  songs  (such  as  the  Lied  and 
the  Leich)  should  respectively  consist. 

The  structure  of  the  verses  was  closely  fol 
lowed  by  the  Minnesinger's  melodies,  and  as 
there  was  necessarily  a  pause  wherever  the 
rhyme  fell,  a  certain  form  was  thus  imparted  to 
them.  Their  mode  of  notation  was  similar  to 
that  then  used  in  the  Church,  and  their  melo 
dies  were  founded  on  the  Church  scales ;  and 
they  exhibited  the  same  monotony  and  absence 
of  rhythm  as  the  ecclesiastical  melodies  of  that 
time.  The  following  example  will  show  how  un 
like  their  melodies  were  to  the  concise  and  clear 
rhythmical  chansons  of  the  Troubadours  : —  3 


3E 


jg^jg-r--^-  T  -P-  -&- 
f    i     -^—-  •     '     -i—3 


-^— 


m 


Daz 


er   -*ste     Syn  -  gen       hie 


no 


tut 


Heyu  -  rich    von       Of  -   ter  -  din  -  gen 


W==^: 


des 


e  -  deln     vur    -      -    sten 


dhon. 


In  the  I4th  century  feudalism  had  passed  its 
prime,  and  power  was  slipping  from  the  grasp 
of  princes,  prelates,  and  nobles  into  the  hands 
of  burghers  and  artisans.  Out  of  these  middle 
classes  came  the  '  Meistersinger,'  who  supplanted 
the  more  patrician  Minnesinger,  while  the  '  Min- 
negesang  '  was  succeeded  by  the  '  Meistersang  '  of 

2  Fr.  Heinrich  v.  d.  Hagen's  work  on  the  '  Minnesinger  '  is  the  best 
authority  to  consult.    The  reader  will  find  in  its  fourth  volume  a 
very  instructive  essay  on  the  music  of  the  Minnesinger,  together  with 
many  examples  of  their  melodies,  some  of  which  are  transcribed  in 
facsimile,  while  others  are  given  in  modern  notation. 

3  P'rom  the  Jena  MSS.    Hagen  gives  this  example  in  its  original 
notation  (iv.  S43.  No.  xxix). 


616 


SONG. 


the  burghers.1  Poetry  lost  in  grace  and  ten 
derness  by  the  change,  but  it  gained  in  strength 
and  moral  elevation.  The  reputed  founder  of 
the  Meistersinger  was  Heinrich  von  Meissen, 
commonly  called  Frauenlob.  He  came  to  Mainz 
in  1311,  and  instituted  a  guild  or  company  of 
singers  who  bound  themselves  to  observe  certain 
rules.  Though  often  stiff  and  pedantic,  Frau- 
enlob's  poems  evince  intelligence  and  thought;2 
and  the  example  set  by  him  was  widely  imitated. 
Guilds  of  singers  soon  sprang  up  in  other  large 
towns  of  Germany ;  and  it  became  the  habit  of 
the  burghers,  especially  in  the  long  winter  even 
ings,  to  meet  together  and  read  or  sing  narrative 
or  other  poems,  either  borrowed  from  the  Minne 
singer,  and  adapted  to  the  rules  of  their  own 
guild,  or  original  compositions  of  their  own.  By 
the  end  of  the  I4th  century  there  were  regular 
schools  of  music  at  Colmar,  Frankfurt,  Mainz, 
Prague,  and  Strassburg.  A  little  later  they  were 
found  also  in  Nuremberg,  Augsburg,  Breslau, 
Regensburg,  and  Ulm.  In  shore,  during  the 
1 5th  and  i6th  centuries  there  was  scarcely  a 
town  of  any  magnitude  or  importance  throughout 
Germany  which  had  not  its  own  Meistersinger. 
The  1 7th  century  was  a  period  of  decline  both  in 
numbers  and  repute.  The  last  of  these  schools 
of  music  lingered  at  Ulm  till  1839,  and  then 
ceased  to  exist ;  and  the  last  survivor  of  the 
Meistersinger  is  said  to  have  died  in  1876. 

Famous  among  Meistersinger  were  Hans  Rosen- 
blu't,  Till  Eulenspiegel,  Muscatbliit,  Heinrich  von 
Miigeln,  Puschmann,  Fiscbart,  and  Seb.  Brandt  ; 
but  the  greatest  of  all  by  far  was  Hans  Sachs, 
the  cobbler  of  Nuremberg,  who  lived  from  1494 
to  1576.  Under  him  the  Nuremberg  scbool 
reached  a  higher  point  of  excellence  than  was 
ever  attained  by  any  other  similar  school.  His 
extant  works  are  6048  in  number,  and  fill  34 
folio  volumes.  4275  of  them  are  Meisterlieder, 
or  '  Bar,'  as  they  are  called.3  To  Sachs's  pupil, 
Adam  Puschmann,  we  are  indebted  for  accounts 
of  tbe  Meistergesang.  They  bear  the  titles  of 
'Griindlicher  Bericht  des  deutschen  Meisterge- 
eanges'  (Gorlitz  1573) ;  and  '  Grundlicher  Bericht 
<ler  deutschen  Reimen  oder  Rhythmen '  (Frank 
furt  a.  0.  1596).* 

The  works  of  the  Meistersinger  had  generally 
a  sacred  subject,  and  their  tone  was  religious. 
Hymns  were  their  lyrics,  and  narrative  poems 
founded  on  Scripture  were  their  epics.  Some 
times,  however,  they  wrote  didactic  or  epigram 
matic  poems.  But  their  productions  were  all 
alike  wanting  in  grace  and  sensibility ;  and  by 

1  The  origin  of  the  term  '  Meistersintjer'  Is  uncertain.    Ambros 
says  that  it  was  appli-d  to  every  Minnesinger  who  was  not  a  noble, 
and   thus    became    the  distinguishing  appellation  of  the  burgher 
minstrels.    Beissmanu,  however,  maintains  that  the  title  Meister  in 
dicated  excellence  in  any  act  or  trade ;  and  that  having  been  at  first 
conferred  only  on  the  best  singers,  it  was  afterwards  extended  to  all 
members  of  the  guilds. 

2  A  complete  collection  of  Frauenlob's  poems  was  published  In 
1843  by  Ettmiiller  at  Quedlinburg. 

a  The  celebrated  chorale  '  Warum  betrflbst  du  dich,  meln  Herz ' 
was  long  believed  to  be  the  work  of  Hans  Sachs  ;  but  it  has  been 
conclusively  shown  by  BChme  in  his  '  Altdeutsches  Liederbuch,' 
p.  748,  that  the  words  were  written  by  Georgius  Aemilius  Oemler, 
and  then  set  to  the  old  secular  melody  '  Dein  gsund  mein  freud.' 

*  Both  are  partially  reprinted  in  Biisching's  'Sammlung  JOr  alt- 
deutsche  Literatur.' 


SONG. 

a  too  rigid  observance  of  their  own  minute  and 
complicated  rules  of  composition  or  '  Tablatur ' 
(as  they  were  termed),  the  Meistersinger  con 
stantly  displayed  a  ridiculous  pedantry. 

Churches  were  their  ordinary  place  of  practice. 
At  Nuremberg,  for  instance,  their  singing  school 
was  held  in  S.  Katherine's  church,  and  their 
public  contests  took  place  there.  The  proceed 
ings  commenced  with  the  '  Freisingen,'  in  which 
any  one,  whether  a  member  of  the  school  or  not, 
might  sing  whatever  he  chose;  but  no  judgments 
were  passed  on  these  preliminary  performances. 
After  them  came  the  real  business  of  the  day — 
the  contest — in  which  Meistersinger  alone  might 
compete.  They  were  limited  to  scriptural  sub 
jects,  and  their  relative  merits  were  adjudged  by 
four  '  Merker'  or  markers,  who  sat,  behind  a 
curtain,  at  a  table  near  the  altar.  It  was  the 
duty  of  one  of  the  four  to  see  that  the  song  faith 
fully  adhered  to  scripture  ;  of  another  to  pay 
special  attention  to  its  prosody ;  of  a  third  to 
its  rhyme ;  and  of  the  fourth  to  its  melody. 
Each  carefully  noted  and  marked  the  faults 
made  in  his  own  province ;  and  the  competitor 
who  had  the  fewest  faults  obtained  the  prize, 
a  chain  with  coins.  One  of  the  coins,  bearing 
the  image  of  King  David,  had  been  the  gift  of 
Hans  Sachs,  and  hence  the  whole  'Gesange' 
were  called  the  '  David,'  and  the  prizemen  were 
called  the  '  Davidwinner.'  The  second  prize  was  a 
wreath  of  artificial  flowers.  Every  Davidwinner 
might  take  pupils,  but  no  charge  was  made  for 
teaching.  The  term  'Meister,'  strictly  speak 
ing,  applied  only  to  those  who  invented  a  new 
metre,  or  composed  their  own  melodies ;  the  rest 
were  simple  'Sanger.'  The  instruments  em 
ployed  for  accompaniments  were  the  harp,  the 
violin,  and  the  cither. 

The  Meistersinger  seem  to  have  possessed  a 
store  of  melodies  for  their  own  use  :  and  these 
melodies  were  labelled,  as  it  were,  with  distinc 
tive  though  apparently  unmeaning  names,  such 
as  the  blue-tone,  the  red-tone,  the  ape-tune, 
the  rosemary-tune,  the  yellow-lily-tune,  etc.  A 
Meistersinger  might  set  his  poems  to  any  of 
these  melodies.  The  four  principal  were  called 
the  'gekrontenTone,'  and  their  respective  authors 
were  Miiglin,  Frauenlob,  Marner,  and  Kegen- 
bogen.  So  far  were  the  Meistersinger  carried  by 
their  grotesque  pedantry,  that  in  setting  the 
words  of  the  29th  chapter  of  Genesis  to  Heinrich 
Muglin's  'lange  Ton,'  the  very  name  of  the 
book  and  the  number  of  the  chapter  were  in 
cluded  ;5  thus — 


^ 


Ge  -  ne  -  sis     am  neun  und  zwan-zig-sten   uns  be-richt, 


-^ I 1 1 : 1 1 i-: "•= — 

wie    Ja-cob  floh   yor   sein  Bru-der    E  -  sau     ent-wlcbt. 


^ 


Das    er     in      Me  -  so  -  po  -  ta  -  mi  -  am  kom     -     men 

»  A  similar  thing  occurs  in  the  'Lamentations'  of  tbe  Boman 
Church,  which  begin  'Incipit  Lamentatio  Jeremiffl  prophets,  Alepo. 


SONG. 


SONG. 


617 


Die  -  ses      Or  -  tes      Ge    -    le     -     gen-heit,      ob       ih     - 


f 

' 


?=r 


nen 


Na  -  hors    Sohn,    La-  ban,     be     -     kennt    -     llch? 


FH» 


Und     sie      be  -  kr&ff  -  tig  -  ten        diss 


Trieb     Ih  -    re 


etc. 


And  many  an  instance  may  be  found  in  their 
secular  music  where  the  melody  includes  the 
name  of  the  poet  and  the  page  of  the  work. 

The  melodies  of  the  Meistersinger  (like  those 
of  the  Minnesinger)  had  a  close  affinity  to 
church  music,  or  rather  to  the  Gregorian  Modes. 
For  the  most  part  they  were  poor  and  simple, 
and  too  devoid  of  rhythm  ever  to  become  really 
popular.  A  few  however  of  their  songs  found 
sufficient  favour  to  become  Volkslieder  in  the 
ijth  and  i6th  centuries.1  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Meistersinger  themselves  sometimes  appropriated 
Volkslieder.  Thus  Hans  Sachs  has  reproduced 
the  beautiful  old  Mailied  (May-song)  in  his 
Fastnachtsspiel  '  Der  Neydhart  mit  dem  Feyhel,' 
written  Feb.  7,  I562.2  He  calls  it  a  'Reigen,' 
or  roundelay,  and  its  original  date  was  evidently 
anterior  to  the  I4th  century.  In  its  i6th 
century  form  it  commences  as  follows  :  — 


A 

u 

_T 

0«                                       1 

yf      P         (  *                 1 

^        F 

P2__p               "      p      . 

i       • 

vH/                            • 

1            ..     f 

)                      .  i       1 

Der 

Mey  -  e,   der     Hey  -  e  bringt     mis           der 

0                     1 

) 

—  tsF  —  *«^     t  —  — 

^t 

Blum  -  lein       vil,    ich    trug    etc. 

In  fine,  the  Meistersinger  cannot  be  said  to 
have  reached  a  high  level  of  excellence  either  in 
poetry  or  in  music,  but  they  undoubtedly  exer 
cised  an  important  influence  on  the  formation 
of  the  Song  by  the  attention  they  paid  to  rhyme, 
and  by  their  numerous  inventions  of  new  metri 
cal  arrangements.  And  they  rendered  a  still 
greater  service  to  music  when  they  carried  it 
into  every  German  home  and  made  it  a  grace 
and  pastime  of  domestic  life. 

While  more  regular  and  formal  varieties  of 
the  Song  were  thus  being  studied  and  practised, 
it  had  never  ceased  to  issue  in  its  old  spontane 
ous  form  of  Volkslied  from  the  untutored  hearts 
of  a  music-loving  people.  From  that  source  it 
came  in  native  vigour,  unforced  and  untrammelled. 
And  far  more  was  done  for  melody  and  harmony 
by  the  obscure  authors  of  Volkslieder  than  was 
ever  done  by  Minnesinger  or  Meistersinger.  As 
Ambros  has  justly  pointed  out,  the  importance 

»  According  to  BOhme.  In  the  Preface  to  his  '  Altd.  Liederbuch, 
p.  xxiii,  the  writers  of  the  Volkslieder  never  signed  their  names 
while  the  Meistersinger  generally  introduced  his  own  name,  and  very 
often  the  date  of  his  composition,  into  the  last  rhyme  of  the  poem. 
A  Meistersinger's  song  can  thus  be  distinguished  from  a  true  Volks 
lied.  z  See  BOhme'S  '  Altd.  Liederbuch/  p.  366. 


of  the  part  played  by  the  Volkslied  in  the 
history  of  the  music  of  Western  Europe,  was 
second  only  to  that  of  the  Gregorian  Modes. 
From  the  Volkslieder,  the  greatest  masters  bor 
rowed  melodies  ;  and  not  only  did  they  inge 
niously  arrange  them  as  polyphonic  songs  in 
secular  music,  but  they  also  made  them  the 
foundations  of  their  greatest  and  most  ambitious 
works ;  and  it  is  notorious  that  whole  masses 
and  motets  were  often  formed  on  a  Volkslied.3 

Whoever  were  the  authors  of  the  Volkslieder, 
it  was  not  their  habit  to  write  them  down  :  the 
songs  lived  on  the  lips  of  the  people.  But 
happily,  even  in  remote  times,  there  were  col 
lectors  who  made  it  their  business  to  transcribe 
these  popular  songs;  and  of  collections  thus  made 
none  are  more  important  than  the  'Limburg 
Chronicle'  and  the  'Locheimer  Liederbuch.' 
The  former  work  consists  of  Volkslieder  which 
would  seem  to  have  been  in  vogue  from  1347 
to  1 380 ;  while  songs  of  apparently  little  later 
date  are  found  in  the  other  collection,  which  is 
dated  1452.*  The  ' Lehrcompendium '  of  H.  de 
Zeelandia  also  contains  some  very  fine  Volks 
lieder  of  the  first  half  of  the  15th  century. 
'Her  Conrad  ging'  is  given  by  Ambros  as  an 
example  of  them,  both  in  its  original  and  modern 
notation.5  The  subjects  of  the  early  Volks 
lieder  were  historical,  they  were  indeed  epic 
poems  of  many  stanzas  set  to  a  short  melody.6 
But  by  the  time  that  the  Volkslied  had  attained 
its  meridian  splendour,  about  the  beginning 
of  the  1 6th  century,  almost  every  sentiment  of 
the  human  heart  and  every  occupation  of  life 
had  its  own  songs.  Students,  soldiers,  pedlars, 
apprentices,  and  other  classes,  all  had  their  own 
distinctive  songs.  The  conciseness  and  pleasant 
forms  of  the  melody  in  the  Volkslieder  were  the 
secret  of  their  universal  charm.  The  music  was 
always  better  than  the  words.  So  loose  was  tbe 
structure  of  the  verse,  that  syllables  without  any 
sense  whatever  were  often  inserted  to  fill  up  the 
length  of  the  musical  phrase,  as  in 

Dort  oben  auf  dem  Berge— 
D61pel,  d61pel,  dfilpel— 
Da  steht  ein  hohes  Haus, 

or  a  sentence  was  broken  off  in  the  middle,  or 
meaningless  unds  and  abers  were  lavishly  in 
terspersed.  But  notwithstanding  these  laxities 
of  composition,  there  was  a  close  connection 
between  the  words  and  the  melody. 

The  Volkslied  was  always  in  a  strophical 
form,  and  therein  differed  from  the  Sequences 
[see  SEQUENCE]  and  Proses  of  the  Church,  and 
from  the  Leichen  of  the  Minnesinger,  which  had 
different  melodies  for  each  strophe.  Another 
marked  feature  of  the  Volkslied  was  its  rhyme. 
When  the  final  rhyme  had  been  substituted  for 
mere  alliteration  and  assonance,  a  definite  form 
was  imparted  to  the  verse,  and  its  outline  was 
rendered  clearer  by  the  melody  of  the  Volkslied, 

3  Ambros,  Gesch.  der  Musik.  H.  276. 

4  See  iii.  37.i.  6  «•  m- 

e  One  of  the  best  modern  collections  of  these  old  Volkslieder  is  by 
K.  YOU  Liliencron,  published  in  Leipzig,  186.5-9,  under  the  title  of  ' 
historischen  Volkslieder  der  Deutschen  vom  ISten  bio  16ten  Jahr- 
hundert/  and  containing  many  annotations. 


SONG. 

which  emphasised  the  final  rhyme,  and  by  cover 
ing  two  lines  of  the  poetry  with  one  phrase  of  the 
melody  constructed  a  symmetrical  arrangement. 


~^Lr~T  
^  ti     i*        \      ^ 

-j  —  i^^  

-          »  •—  ;  

SEES  —  •^—*- 

—  L-    '  

*/ 

Meine 

lie   -     be     Frau 

Hut   -  ter.     mit 

~~tr~~f~~*~ 

:J=J  —  p  rt~ 

5=*  *-       ?       \ 

=s=      =iF=F^i   -t-        >— 

mir        ist's  bald     aus  ; 


jetzt       wer  -  deus  mlch    bald 


fiih  -   ren    beim    Schand-thor  hiu  -  aus. 

It  will  be  noted  in  the  above  example  that  the 
half-close  is  on  the  dominant  harmony  ;  and  this 
principle,  which  was  originally  a  peculiar  attri 
bute  of  the  Volkslied,  has  been  gradually  intro 
duced  into  all  other  kinds  of  music,  and  it  is  now 
one  of  the  most  important  factors  of  form.  [See 
FORM,  vol.  i.  p.  543.]  Many  of  the  Volkslieder 
were  composed  in  ecclesiastical  modes  ;  but  un 
taught  vocalists,  singing  purely  by  instinct,  soon 
learnt  to  avoid  the  difficult  and  harsh  intervals 
common  to  some  of  the  modes,  and  by  degrees 
used  none  but  the  Ionian  mode,  in  which  alone 
the  dominant  principle  can  have  full  weight.  If 
the  Ionian  mode  (our  own  modern  scale  of 
C  major)  be  examined,  it  will  be  seen  to  fall  into 
two  exactly  equal  parts,  with  the  semitones  oc 
curring  in  the  same  place  of  each  division  : — • 


C,  D,  E,  F, 


G,  A,  B,  C. 


As  C,  the  tonic,  is  the  principal  note  in  the  first 
divisions,  so  is  G  the  dominant  in  the  second. 
And  it  very  soon  became  a  practice  to  make  the 
first  half  of  a  stanza  pause  on  the  dominant  har 
mony,  and  the  second  half  to  close  on  the  tonic. 
The  form  is  generally  very  concise,  as  in 
Example  5,  but  lesser  forms  are  sometimes  met 
with,  and  were  probably  due  to  the  influence 
of  the  Church.  To  the  same  influence  we 
may  undoubtedly  ascribe  the  melodic  melismas 
which  now  and  then  occur  in  strophical  melo 
dies.  In  the  Gregorian  music,  where  little  at 
tention  was  paid  to  rhythm,  the  melody  might  be 
indefinitely  prolonged  upon  a  convenient  vowel ; 
and  similarly  we  sometimes  find  in  the  Volkslied 
many  notes  given  to  one  word,  simply  because  it 
is  an  easy  word  to  sing ;  thus — 


Es    stehtein    liud  in.  di-sem       tal,         achGottlwas 


macht 


s'.e     da. 


Sie  will  mir  hel-fea    trau  - 


ren,  dassich    so     gar  kein  Bu-leu     hab; 


das*    icii  so    gar  keiu  Bu-leu     hab. 


SONG. 

These  melodic  melismas  also  allow  the  voice 
great  scope  in  the  so-called  'Kehrreim'  or  re 
frain.  Another  noticeable  peculiarity  of  rhythm 
in  the  Volkslied  is  the  variety  of  ways  in  which 
the  metre  is  treated.  In  many  instances  the 
time  changes  with  every  bar,  and  the  following 
example  illustrates  a  different  representation  of 
the  metre  in  every  line  of  the  stanza l : — 

.  Ionian. 


~/r~r 

?:  —  zz— 

—^  — 

_^£  

7"^~ 

^2 

—  &  

©M*  —  j- 

*^                  Ent 
Be  - 

\—  1  

-    lau  - 
raubt 

-1  

bet 
werd' 

1  
ist 
ich 

-|  

der 
so 

wal 
bal 

-   de 
-   de 

eegn 
mein 

-—  — 

i  —  r~ 

.n 

H  

—  <=  • 

*_ 

— 

—  i  —  ^  — 

L-f^—J 
1  —  O    ifl 

Hi     - 

. 

—  i-"  —  Ji 

feins  - 

lieb, 

macht 

mich 

Kalt 
alt 

3 


das     ich  die  scho'uat  muss  mei    - 


-  den, 


die 


mir      ge  -  fal  - 


-   len     thut, 


etc. 


The  metre  of  the  verse  is  always  simple,  usually 
Trochaic  or  Iambic  :  dactyls  or  spondees  are  rare. 
Unlike  the  songs  of  many  other  countries,  the 
melody  of  the  Volkslied  maintains  a  complete 
independence  of  the  accompanying  instrument, 
and  is  therefore  always  vocal  and  never  instru 
mental. 

The  Volkslied  would  seem  to  have  fixed  as 
it  were  instinctively  our  modern  major  tonal 
system  ;  and  moreover  songs  even  of  the  !§& 
century  are  extant  which  were  undoubtedly 
written  in  minor  keys.  The  following  melody 
clearly  belongs  to  the  old  system,  but  the  care 
with  which  the  leading  note  Gjf  is  avoided,  and 
the  intervals  on  which  the  principal  rhymes  fall, 
make  it  evident  that  the  A  minor  key  was  in 
tended. 


Es    warb  em    schS-ner  Jung    -      -     ling    u  -  ber  ein 


brei-ten     See!  Urn     ei  -  nes     KSnigs       Toch  -      -  ter  nach 


Leid     ge  -  schah 

ii*^ 


ihm  Weh urn    eiu-es 


-^ 


KOuiges       Toch     -      -    ter  nach  Leid  ges  -  chah  ihm   Well.3 

Consideration  has  thus  far  been  given  to  the 
very  important   contributions  of  the  Volkslied 

1  See  BOhme,  p.  335.    The  melody  and  words  of  this  example  are 
taken  from  the  '  Gassenhawerlin,'  1535,  no.  1.    There  are  many  ver 
sions  of  this  fine  melody :  we  often  find  it  in  collections  subsequent  to 
1540.  set  to  the  morning  hymn  'Ich  dank  Dir,  liebe  Herre,' and  with 
this  setting  it  appears  in  all  chorale-books  down  to  the  present  day. 

2  Georg  Forster,  '  Ein  Ausszug  guter  alter,  neuer  Teutschen  Lied- 
lein  in  fdnf  Theilen  und  mehrfach  neu  aufgelegt  in  der  Zeit  von 
1539—1556,'  i.  49.    This  is  one  of  the  numerous  versions  of  the  old 
legend  of  the  Swimmer.    Another  version  commences  '  Ach  Elslein, 
liebes  Elselein,'  which  is  found  in  all  the  old  collections  ot  the  16th 
century.    For  instance,  in  Job.  Ott,  1534,  no.  37 ;  Schmeltzel,  Quod- 
libet  x,  1544 ;  Bhaw,  Biciuia  ii.  1545.  no.  19,  etc.  In  Hans  JudenkOuig'» 


SONG. 

to  the  determination  of  permanent  form  in  music  ; 
but  its  influence  on  the  contemporary  music  also 
requires  notice. 

It  has  already  been  shown  that  the  composers 
of  other  countries,  in  the  I4th,  I5th,  and  i6th 
centuries,  took  secular  tunes  as  themes  for  their 
masses,  motets,  and  other  sacred  works.  The 
German  composers  did  the  same  to  a  certain 
extent,  but  they  more  commonly  employed  the 
secular  tunes  in  their  secular  polyphonic  works. 
Nevertheless,  as  regards  church  music,  the  Volks- 
lied  occupied  a  higher  place  in  Germany  than 
elsewhere ;  for  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that 
more  than  half  the  melodies  of  the  chorale-books 
were  originally  secular.  Heinrich  von  Lauf- 
fenberg,  in  the  I5th  century,  systematically  set 
his  sacred  words  to  secular  tunes;1  but  the  Re 
formation  made  the  practice  very  much  more 
common.  The  Reformers  wished  the  congrega 
tions  to  join  as  much  as  possible  in  the  singing 
of  hymns,  and  with  that  object  they  naturally 
preferred  melodies  which  were  familiar  to  the 
people.  A  well-known  example  of  the  com 
bination  of  sacred  words  and  secular  melody  is 
the  song  'Isbruck,  ich  muss  dich  lassen,'  set  by 
Heinrich  Isaak  in  4  parts  in  1475, 2  with  the 
melody  in  the  upper  part — a  rare  arrange 
ment  at  that  time.  After  the  Reformation  this 
tune  was  adapted  by  Dr.  Hesse  to  %  his  sacred 
words  '  0  Welt,  ich  muss  dich  lassen' ;  and  in 
1633  Paul  Gerhardt  wrote  to  it  the  evening 
hymn  '  Nun  ruhen  alle  Walder,'  in  which  form 
it  still  remains  a  favourite  in  all  Lutheran 
churches.3  After  many  transformations,  the  old 
love-song,  '  Mein  gmuth  1st  mir  verwirret,'  *  now 
lives  in  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  solemn 
chorales  of  both  the  Lutheran  and  Roman 
Catholic  churches,  namely,  '  O  Haupt,  voll  Blut 
und  Wunden,'  which  Bach  has  introduced  so 
often  in  his  Passionmusik  according  to  S.  Mat 
thew.  Again,  'Ich  hb'rt  ein  frewlein  klagen/ 
was  adapted  to  '  Hillf  Gott,  wem  soil  ich  klagen' ; 
'  0  lieber  Hans  versorg  dein  Gans,'  to  '  0  fieber 
Gott,  das  dein  Gebot';  and  'Venus,  du  und  dein 
Kind  to  '  Auf  meinen  lieben  Gott.'  Many  dance- 
songs,  especially  the  so-called  'Ringeltanze,'5 
were  likewise  set  to  sacred  words.  It  should 


(1523)  and  Hans  Neusiedler's  (1536)  Lute-books,  the  melody  is  always 
In  A  minor  with  the  G  Jf  marked.  In  the  singing-books  the  sharp  was 
never  marked,  but  undoubtedly  always  used.  In  Neusiedler's  Lute- 
book  it  stands  thus :— 


SONG. 


619 


3= 


Ach   Els  -  leiu.         lie  -  bes    Els  -  lein        mein,  wie 


-•-j- 


^ 


-^ 


L 


gern      war    ich     bei       dir!  So      sind  zwei     tiefe 


Was   -      -      -  ser     wol     zwi-scheu  dir    und     mir! 

1  Ambros,  iii.  875.  2  Georg  Forster,  1.  no.  86. 

3  BOhme,  Altd.  Liederbuch,  p.  332 ;  and  ISAAK,  in  this  Dictionary, 
vol.  ii.  p.  22. 

4  The  song  is  to  be  found  in  Hans  Leo  Hassler's  '  Lustgarten  neuer 
teutsches  Gesfinge,  Palletti.  Galliarden.  Intraden,  etc.'    NUrnber0', 
1601.  5  See  BOhme,  pp.  368.  369.  etc. 


however  be  understood,  that  even  after  the 
adoption  of  the  Ionian  mode  in  the  Volkslied, 
and  the  consequent  settlement  of  our  modern 
tonality,  a  certain  proportion  of  Volkslieder  con 
tinued  to  be  written  in  the  old  ecclesiastical 
modes.  Most  of  those  which  the  church  used 
were  originally  written  in  the  old  tonal  system. 
Such  as  are  still  sung  in  churches  have  nearly 
all  undergone  a  change ;  but  there  are  a  few 
exceptions,  like  the  hymn  'Ach  Gott  thu'  dich 
erbarmen,'  which,  according  to  the  modern  cho 
rale-books,  is  still  sung  in  the  old  Dorian  mode,6 
although  J.  S.  Bach,  when  using  it,  changed  it 
into  the  modern  D  minor  scale.  In  its  original 
secular  form  it  stands  7  thus  : — 
.  Dorian. 


fl)  V    J  —  S 

—  i       i  —  i  •*  — 

-m  s>  t  4^-i  — 

•  —  ^i~ 

SM- 

Frisch     auf, 
Wir        lo  - 

ihr  Landsknecht    al    - 
ben    Gott    den    Her  - 

-     le,     seid 
-   ren,    dar 

1      I- 

"1   FT 

I  - 

i           -ii    i 

h     -ll 

i 

<^2       m                  * 

•^  •   i           .H  -s1 

•  ll 

frOhlich        guter 

Ding!                       zu    den        edeln 

~1 

|            1 

I 

_j                   1 

•       22       • 

, 

•^     •      ±m*rnz2 

_.                        1 

KOn'g.            Er 

legt    uns   g'waltgen  Haufen 

*      -^-     -0- 
ins    Feld,    es 

i                  i 

'      i               I 

4            _          I                /* 

__]      J            "    * 

•  ".    •!    •     ^      al       I  j 

•           •     * 

• 

soil  keinLandsknecht  trauren  um  geld  ;  er 

will  uns  ehr-lich 

l 

1 

I     | 

1                  -i 

1                  J 

1       * 

J           i        • 

'T? 

•1        •                  <• 

2 

»                                                                         • 
loh    -   nen    mit  Stiivern  und       Sunnen     -      kronen,        mit 

z3-^_«    -J 

rjrfr^L-J  —  _J_4 

1=^-1 

Stiivern  und     Sonnen    -    kro    - 


-    ueii. 


Until  the  end  of  the  i6th  century  the  common, 
though  not  invariable  characteristics  of  the 
Chorale  and  Volkslied  were — the  melody  or 
cantus  firmus  in  the  tenor,  the  key  or  mode 
steadily  adhered  to,  a  diatonic  intervallic  pro 
gression,  and  a  note  given  to  every  syllable. 
Both  were  for  the  most  part  written  in  white 
notes,  because,  until  Philippe  de  Vitry  intro 
duced  notes  of  less  value  towards  the  close  of 
the  1 6th  century,  breves  and  semibreves  were 
the  only  notes  employed.  But  we  must  beware 
of  misconception  as  regards  tempo,  for  according 
to  our  modern  notation,  the  semibreves  should 
be  regarded  and  written  as  crotchets. 

Whatever  else  may  be  affirmed  of  the  Chorale, 
this  at  least  is  clear,  that  it  gained  rather  than 
lost  by  the  adoption  of  secular  melodies;  they 
emancipated  it  from  stiffness  and  formality,  they 
gave  it  heart  and  living  warmth.  So  far  re 
moved  from  irreverence  were  the  secular  me 
lodies,  and  so  appropriate  to  the  sacred  text, 
that  the  music  is  generally  more  expressive  of 
the  words  in  the  Chorale  than  in  the  Volks 
lied.  But  perhaps  the  true  explanation  of  this 

e  See  the  Erfurt  Chorale-book  for  instance. 
7  gee  BOhme,  pp.  521.  522. 523. 


620 


SONG. 


peculiarity  is,  that  in  the  case  of  the  Chorale,  the 
words  were  either  written  expressly  for  a  chosen 
melody,  or  the  melody  was  selected  for  its  ap 
propriateness  to  particular  words.  The  melody 
of  that  just  mentioned,  'O  Haupt  voll  Blut 
•und  Wunden,'  is  undoubtedly  secular,  but  what 
melody  could  better  express  a  deep  and  poignant 
religious  sorrow  ? 

It  is  well  known  that  some  of  the  most  famous 
folk-songs  of  different  countries  ave  founded  on 
the  same  subject,  whether  it  be  a  legendary 
or  historical  event,  or  an  incident  of  ordinary 
life.  The  accessories  of  course  vary,  and  impart 
a  local  colouring  to  each  version  of  the  Kong; 
but  the  central  theme  is  in  all  the  same.  In 
like  manner  the  same  tunes  are  the  property 
of  different  countries.  Their  identity  may  not, 
perhaps,  be  detected  at  first  beneath  the  dis 
guises  in  which  it  is  enveloped  by  national  va 
rieties  of  scale -and  rhythm  and  harmony;  but 
it  cannot  elude  a  closer  examination,  and  it 
is  probable  that  careful  study  would  establish 
many  identities  hitherto  unsuspected.  A  good  ex 
ample  of  these  cosmopolitan  songs  is  '  Ach  Elslein 
liebes  Elselein.'  Its  subject  is  the  legend  of 
the  Swimmer,  the  classical  story  of  Hero  and 
Leander  ;  and  it  has  a  local  habitation  in  Hol 
land,  Sweden,  Russia,  etc.,  as  well  as  in  Ger 
many.1  '  Der  Bettler,'  also,  which  is  still  sung 
in  many  parts  of  Germany  and  in  Sweden,  is 
identical  with  '  The  Jolly  Beggar '  of  Scotland.2 

During  the  1 5th,  i6th,  and  I7th  centuries  the 
spirit  and  power  of  the  Volkslieder  were  felt  in 
every  branch  of  music.  Not  only  did  great 
masters  introduce  them  into  their  polyphonic 
works,  both  sacred  and  secular,  but  lutenists 
were  supplied  from  the  same  source  with  tunes 
for  their  instruments,  and  organists  with  themes 
for  their  extemporary  performances.  The  pro 
gress  of  polyphonic  music  in  Germany  had  been 
checked  by  the  discontinuance  of  the  Mass  after 
the  Reformation,  as  has  been  shown  in  another 
part  of  this  work  [see  SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION], 
but  a  new  impetus  was  given  to  it  by  the  con 
trapuntal  treatment  of  secular  songs  by  great 
composers.  As  examples  of  such  treatment  we 
may  mention — 'Allein  dein  g'stalt,'  'Ach  herzigs 
herz,'  by  Heinrich  Finck;  'Mir  ist  ein  roth 
Goldfingerlein';  'Ich  soil  und  muss  ein  Bulen 
haben,'  by  Ludwig  Senfl;  '  Elend  bringt  Pein,' 
by  Benedict  Ducis  ;  '  Es  wollt  ein  alt  Mann,'  by 
Stephan  Mahu  ;  '  Der  Gutzgauch  auf  dem  Zaune 
sass,'  by  Lorenz  Lemlin ;  'Ich  weiss  mir  ein 
hiibschen  griinen  Wald,'  by  Sixt  Dietrich;  'Es 
geht  gen  diesen  Sominer/  by  Arnold  von  Bruck; 3 
etc. 

This  brings  us  to  the  Kunstlied,  which  in  its 
primary  sense  signified  only  the  contrapuntal 
treatment  of  the  Song  by  learned  musicians.4 
With  the  polyphonic  Kunstlied  we  have  here 

1  As  to  the  Swedish  version  of  the  song,  see  Svenska  Volksvisor, 
Vol.  i.  p.  108,  and  vol.  ii.  p.  210. 

2  See  Crosby's  '  Scottish  Songs,'  p.  58. 

3  A'l  these  songs,  and  numerous  others,  are  contained  In  the 
different  numbers  of  Johann  Olt's  and  Georg  Forster's  collections. 

4  The  very  much  wider  signification  which  the  term  Kuustlied 
afterwards  acquired  has  been  referred  to  at  ihe  outset  of  this  article. 


SONG. 

no  concern,  beyond  what  just  suffices  to  point 
out  the  changes  through  which  it  successively 
passed.    The    composers  who   used  the  Yolks- 
lied  in  polyphonic  works  were  masters  of  every 
contrapuntal  form ;  sometimes  they  worked  one 
melody  with  another,  as  Arnold  von  Brack,  who 
combined  the  song  'Es  taget  vor  dem  Walde' 
with  'Kein  Adler  in  der  5Welt';  or  if  they  did 
not  treat  the  selected  melody  as  a  canon  (as  Eckel 
treated  '  Ach  Jungfrau,  ihr  seid  wolgemuth,' 6), 
they  broke  it  up  into  fragments  for  imitation. 
When  composing  their  own  melodies,  they  always 
adhered   to  the   church  scales;    and  used  the 
new  system   only  when  adopting  a  Volkslied. 
The  contrapuntal  treatment  had,  however,  one 
great   disadvantage — it   constantly  necessitated 
the  severance  of  the  melody  into  fragments,  and 
thus  the  clear  concise  form  of  the  Song,  which  the 
Volkslied  had  done  so  much  to  establish,  was  in 
danger  of  disappearance.     But  happily  at  this 
juncture  (about  1600)  Hans  Leo  Hassler  came 
to    its    rescue.     Having   studied   in   Italy,  he 
breathed  into  his  songs  the  light  secular  spirit 
of  Italian  Villanelle  and  Fa-la-las,  and  gave  more 
prominence    to   the   melody  than   to  the  other 
voice-parts.     His   dance-songs  also,   with  their 
short  rhythmical  phrases,  did  much  to  restore  the 
concise  form  of  the  Song.   Similar  characteristics 
are  noticeable  in  Melchior  Franck's  and  Eeg- 
nart's  collections  of  songs.7     In  the   beginning 
of  the  17th  century  solo  songs  were  first  heard 
in  Germany ;  and  there,  as  everywhere  else,  the 
introduction  of  the  monodic  system  was  due  to 
the  influence  of  Italy. 

The  revolution  begun  by  Italy  would  seem  to 
have  first  affected  the  church  music  rather  than 
the  secular  music  of  Germany.  Innovations  of 
Italian  origin  are  plainly  discernible  in  the  sa 
cred  works  of  Pratorius  and  Heinrich  Schiitz; 
but  neither  of  these  composers  improved  the  secu 
lar  monodic  song.  German  poetry  had  now 
fallen  to  a  debased  condition.  It  produced  no 
thing  better  than  songs  of  vapid  and  artificial 
sentiment  addressed  to  a  conventional  Phyllis  or 
Amaryllis.  A  nd  the  language  which  it  employed 
was  a  nondescript  mixture  of  French,  Latin,  and 
stilted  German.  Since  Luther's  death  the  simple 
vernacular  had  ceased  to  be  in  repute.  But  on 
the  24th  August,  1617,  a  meeting  of  German 
patriots  was  held,  who  set  themselves  to  restore 
their  native  tongue  to  honour,  and  with  that  view 
to  study  the  introduction  of  method  and  rule 
into  its  grammar  and  poetry.  Other  patriotic 
groups  were  soon  formed  with  a  like  purpose, 
and  by  the  year  1680  these  associations  num 
bered  890  members.  Their  labours  quickly  bore 
good  fruit.  The  success  of  a  group  of  Konigsberg 
poets  was  specially  remarkable,  and  was  doubt 
less  due  in  a  great  measure  to  the  skill  with 
which  one  of  the  best  of  them,  Heinrich  Albert 

6  See  Betssmann,  Gesch.  d.  deutschen  Liedes,  p.  69. 

6  Ibid.  p.  72. 

'  See  '  Tricinia  nova  lieblicher  amorosischer  GesSnge  mlt  schOnen 
poetischen  Texten  gezieret  und  etHcher  Massen  each  Italienische 
Art  mit  Fleiss  componirt  durch  Melchior  Francken,'  Nttrnberg,16H 
and  '  Kurzweilige  teutsche  Lieder  zu  dreien  Stimtnen  nach  Art  der 
Neapo'itanen  oder  Welschen  Villanellen  durch  Jacobus  Beguart  IB 
Druck  verfertlgt,'  Niirnberg.  1578. 


SONG. 


SONG. 


[gee  ALBEBT],  set  his  own  and  his  associates1 
songs  to  music.  His  compositions  became  ex 
tremely  popular ;  and  he  has  been  styled  '  the 
father  of  the  volksthumlicb.es  Lied.'  Schein  and 
Hammerschmidt  had  preceded  him  on  the  right 
path,  but  their  taste  and  talent  were  frustrated 
by  the  worthlessness  of  the  words  they  set  to 
music.  The  poetry  on  which  Albert  worked  was 
not  by  any  means  of  a  high  order,  nor  was  he 
its  slave,  but  it  had  sufficient  merit  to  demand  a 
certain  measure  of  attention.  This  Albert  gave 
to  it,  and  he  wrote  melodiously.  Several  of 
his  songs  are  for  one  voice  with  clavicembalo 
accompaniment,  but  their  harmony  is  poor,  as 
the  following  example  shows1: — > 


Euer  Pracht  und  stol-zes    Prangen,  Ihr  Jung-frau-en    so    Ihr 
In  den  ro  -  sen-ro-then  Wan-gen,  in    dem  Ha -ar  mil  Gold 


^ 


4=t 


fuhrt, 
geziert, 


-nes  Lo-bes    nlcht  wo  Euch  FrGmmlgkeit  ge- 


-(=-=--, 


m 


bricht. 


The  movement  begun  by  Albert  was  carried  on 
"by  Ahle,  and  the  Kriegers,  Adam  and  Johann. 
Johann's  songs  are  very  good,  and  exhibit  a 
marked  improvement  in  grace  and  rhythm.  The 
first  bars  of  his  song  '  Kommt,  wir  wollen '  have 
all  the  clearness  of  the  best  Volkslieder : — • 


2Ui 

—  3  

—  •  —  j    • 

•  •  *    . 

CH 

i     i      ' 

L.          1 

• 

-^ 

i     ' 

"          1          ' 

r 

Kommt,  wir  wol  -  len             uns       spa  - 

6                                         S 

zie    -    ren 

"V 

1 

/•l 

o 

i 

i 

ft     A 

\  ..  \ 

—  _i  

t4^~-  

-S—  I    P-%    J 

—  ¥*  1  1  

i  —  j  .    m  —  '-*  —  '*3—-  

"1       * 

9 

well  die      Zeit        so 

gun    -    stig   ist. 

5  6 

etc. 

•  :  \-  

r-&  ^  1  t^-f-1 

Meanwhile  the  Kunstlied  or  polyphonic  song 
had  ceased  to  advance  :  other  branches,  especially 
instrumental  and  dramatic  music,  had  absorbed 
composers,  and  songs  began  to  be  called '  Odes '  and 
'Arias.'  Writing  in  1698,  Keiser  says  that  can 
tatas  had  driven  away  the  old  German  songs,  and 
that  their  place  was  being  taken  by  songs  con- 

1  In  this  song  the  voice  has  the  upper  melody,  and  the  clavicembalo 
the  two  under  parts. 


sisting  of  recitatives  and  arias  mixed.2  Among 
the  writers  of  the  i8th  century  who  called  their 
songs  'arias,'  and  who  wrote  chiefly  in  the  aria 
form,  were  Graun,  Agricola,  Sperontes,Telemann, 
Quantz,  Doles,  Kirnberger,  C.  P.  E.  Bach,  Nichel- 
mann,  Marpurg,  and  Neefe  (Beethoven's  master). 
They  certainly  rendered  some  services  to  the  Song. 
They  set  a  good  example  of  attention  to  the  words, 
both  as  regards  metre  and  expression ;  they  va 
ried  the  accompaniment  by  the  introduction  of 
arpeggios  and  open  chords ;  and  they  displayed 
a  thorough  command  of  the  strophical  form.  But, 
notwithstanding  these  merits,  their  songs,  with 
few  exceptions,  must  be  pronounced  to  be  dry, 
inanimate,  and  deficient  in  melody.3 

It  might  strike  the  reader  as  strange  if  the 
great  names  of  J.  S.  Bach  and  Handel  were 
passed  by  in  silence  ;  but,  in  truth,  neither  Bach 
nor  Handel  ever  devoted  real  study  to  the  Song. 
Such  influence  as  they  exercised  upon  it  was  in 
direct.  Bach,  it  is  true,  wrote  a  few  secular 
songs,  and  one  of  them  was  the  charming  little 
song  '  Willst  du  dein  Herz  mir  schenken,' 
which  is  essentially  '  volksthiimlich '  :* 


Willst       du    dein  Herz  mir  schenk-en. 


So 


r 

— M 


fang  es       heim  -  lich      an 

His  two  comic  cantatas  also  contain  several  of 
great  spirit ;  but  it  was  through  his  choral  works 
that  he  most  powerfully  affected  the  Song.  The 
only  English  song  which  Handel  is  known  to  have 
written  is  a  hunting-song  for  bass  voice,3  of  which 
we  give  the  opening  strain  : — 


The  morn-ing  is  charm-ing,   all    Na-ture   is  gay,  A  - 


^ 


way,  my  brave  boys,  to    your       hor-ses    a  -  way) 

but  his  influence  upon  the  Song  was  through  his 
operas  and  oratorios,  and  there  it  was  immense.6 
Equally  indirect,  as  will  be  seen  presently,  were 
the  effects  produced  on  it  by  the  genius  of  Gluck, 
Haydn,  and  even  of  Mozart. 

At  the  period  we  have  now  reached,  namely 
the  end  of  the  i8th  century,  a  new  and  popular 
form  of  the  Kunstlied  appeared,  and  this  was 
the  ' volksthumliches  Lied.'7  The  decline  of 
the  Volkslied  during  the  1 7th  century  has  been 
sometimes  attributed  to  the  distracted  state  of 
Germany;  and  certainly  the  gloomy  atmosphere 
of  the  Thirty  Years  War  and  the  desolation  of 

2  See  the  preface  to  his  Cantata  collection.  See  also  Lindner,  'Qe- 
schichte  des  deutschen  Liedes  im  xviii  Jahrhundert,'  p.  53. 

s  Full  information  respecting  these  songs,  and  abundant  examples, 
will  be  found  in  Lindner's  work  referred  to  in  the  preceding  note. 

4  But  the  authenticity  of  this  is  much  questioned  by  Spitta  (Bach, 
i.  834). 

B  In  the  FitzwiUiam  Library  at  Cambridge. 

6  See  Schneider,  '  Das  muslkalische  Lied,1  vol.  HI.  p.  190. 

7  The  term  ' volksthiimliches  Lied,'  defies  exact  translation;  but, 
speaking  broadly,  means  a  simple  popular  form  of  the  artistic  song. 


622 


SONG. 


SONG. 


the  Palatinate,  cannot  have  been  favourable  to  it.  ' 
But  no  political  or  social  troubles  could  affect  its 
existence  so  deeply  as  an  invasion  upon  its  own 
ground  by  the  Kunstlied.  As  long  as  the  artistic 
song  dwelt  apart,  among  learned  musicians,  the 
Volkslied  had  little  to  fear.  But  when  once  it 
had  become  simple  and  melodious  enough  to  be 
easily  caught  by  the  people,  the  Volkslied  was 
supplanted :  its  raison  d'etre  was  gone.  In 
churches  and  schools,  at  concerts  and  theatres, 
the  public  grew  habituated  to  the  artistic  song, 
and  the  old  Volkslieder  faded  from  memory.  The 
few  that  retained  any  popularity  were  in  the 
modern  tonal  system.  The  volksthiimliches  Lied 
is,  in  short,  a  combination  of  the  Volkslied  and 
the  Kunstlied,  and  its  area  of  capacity  is  a  very 
wide  one.  In  the  hands  of  a  true  master  it  rises 
to  a  high  level  of  poetic  beauty,  and  in  the  hands 
of  a  bad  workman  it  can  descend  to  any  depths 
of  stupidity  or  vulgarity,  without  ceasing  to  be 
volksthiimlich.  Songs  there  were,  undoubtedly, 
before  the  time  of  J.  A.  Hiller,  to  which  this 
epithet  could  properly  be  applied;  but  he  was 
the  first  to  secure  for  them  a  thoroughly  popular 
recognition.  He  belonged  to  the  second  half  of 
the  1 8th  century,  and  was  really  an  operatic  com 
poser.  It  was  the  songs  in  his  '  Singspiele '  which 
took  so  strong  a  hold  of  the  public.  [See  HILLER, 
J.  A. ;  SINGSPIEL.]  A  favourite  tune  from  his 
Singspiel  '  Die  Jagd '  will  serve  as  a  specimen  of 
his  style  : — 


Als  ich  auf  mei-ne 
Da  kam  aus  dem  ge- 


JEt 


:  •• 


Blei  -  che  ein  Stuckchen  Garn  be  -  goss  i     Das  sprach,  ach  habt  er- 
striiu-che  ein  Miid  -chen  a  -  them  -  los. 


bar  -  men,  steht  mei  -  nem  Vater  bei.  |    Dort  schlug  ein  Fall  dem 


i*  r  r 


—EH-  I     , 

*— *— if — '- 


Ar  -  men  das    linke    Bein    ent    -    zwei.      | 


Another,  '  Ohne  Lieb  und  ohne  Wein,'  taken 
from  his  Singspiel '  Der  Teufel  ist  los,'  and  still 
sung  in  Germany  with  much  zest,  was  one  of 
the  first  of  the  Kunstlieder  to  be  received  into 
the  ranks  of  the  Volkslieder.  J.  Andre",  the 
author  of  the  '  Kheinweinlied/  was  a  contem 


porary  of  Hiller's ;  and  so  was  J.  A.  P.  Schulz 
who  did  much  for  the  volksthiimliches  Lied.  He 
was  careful  above  others  of  his  time  to  select 
poetic  words  for  his  music  ;  and  the  composer 
was  now  provided  with  a  store  of  fresh  and  natu 
ral  poems  of  the  Volkslied  type  by  Burger,  Clau 
dius,  Holty,  the  Stolbergs,  Voss,  and  other  poets 
of  the  Gottingen  school.  So  long  as  Schulz  kept 
to  a  simple  form,  he  was  always  successful,  and 
many  of  his  songs  are  still  the  delight  of  Ger 
man  school  children.  In  his  more  ambitious 
but  less  happy  efforts,  when  he  tried  to  give  full 
expression  to  the  words  by  the  music,  he  aban 
doned  the  volksthiimlich  form,  as  his  song  '  Die 
Spinnerin '  will  show  : — 


3 


*--•- 


Ich     ar 


mes 


-  chen  !  mem 


JE±Zt 


:S=i^S: 

TI      SZ 


Spin    - 


g. 

ner  -  rfid-chea  will  gar 


nicht 


Starting  from  Hiller  and  Schulz  the  volks 
thiimliches  Lied  pursued  two  different  roads. 
Its  composers  in  the  Hiller  school,  such  as 
Ferdinand  Kauer,  Wenzel  Miiller,  and  Himmel, 
were  shallow  and  imperfectly  cultivated  musi 
cians.  Their  sentimental  melodies  had  a  certain 
superficial  elegance  which  gave  them  for  a  time 
an  undeserved  repute.  A  few  of  Himmel  a 
songs — for  example,  'Vater  ich  rufe  Dich'  and 
'An  Alexis  send'  ich  Dich'— are  still  in  vogue 
among  some  classes  of  the  German  population, 
but,  measured  by  any  good  standard,  their  value 
is  inconsiderable.  The  dramatic  composers, 
Winter  and  Jos.  Weigl,  may  be  reckoned  to 


SONG. 

have  been  of  this  school,  in  so  far  as  they  were 
song-writers  ;  and  its  tendencies  reappeared  in 
our  own  day  in  Reissiger  and  Abt.  On  the 
other  hand,  Schulz's  followers  were  real  mu 
sicians  ;  and  if  they  became  too  stiff  and  formal, 
their  defects  were  a  fruit  of  their  virtues.  Their 
stiffness  and  formality  were  the  outcome  of  a 
strict  regard  to  form  and  symmetry,  and  of  a 
praiseworthy  contempt  for  false  sentiment.  Most 
of  them  could  write  at  will  in  more  than  one 
style.  Whenever  they  chose  the  volksthum- 
liches  Lied,  they  proved  their  mastery  of  it ;  and 
in  other  kinds  of  composition  they  were  equally 
at  home.  Their  names  must,  therefore,  be 
mentioned  in  connection  with  more  than  one 
class  of  song.  The  first  and  best  of  Schulz's 
school  was  Mendelssohn's  favourite,  J.  F. 
Reichardt.  He  was  singularly  happy  in  his 
'  Kinderlieder,'  but  his  most  valuable  services 
to  the  Song  were  given  on  other  ground,  as  will 
appear  later.  Next  to  him  came  Anselm  Weber, 
and  Nageli.  Zelter,  Klein,  Ludwig  Berger,  and 
Friedrich  Schneider,  are  entitled,  by  their  songs 
for  male  chorus,  to  be  counted  among  the  fol 
lowers  of  Schulz. 

It  would  be  wrong  to  leave  the  volksthum- 
liches  Lied  without  mentioning  the  names  of 
Conradin  Kreutzer  and  Heinrich  Marschner, 
whose  operatic  songs  proved  themselves  to  be 
truly  volksthumlich  by  their  firm  hold  on  the 
hearts  of  the  people,  and  of  Carl  Krebs  and 
Kiicken,  who  have  also  set  an  honourable  mark 
on  this  kind  of  song.  It  is,  likewise,  proper  to 
add  the  titles  of  a  few  typical  songs  which  are 
found  in  every  modern  collection  of  so-called 
Volkslieder,  though  really  volksthiimliche  Lieder 
converted  into  Volkslieder.  Some  of  them  are 
by  celebrated  composers  whose  fame  was  chiefly 
won  in  other  fields ;  some  by  men,  like  Silcher, 
Gersbach,  and  Gust.  Reichardt,  who  wrote  nothing 
but  volksthiimliche  Lieder ;  of  some  the  authorship 
is  wholly  unknown  ;  and  of  others  it  is  disputed. 

Worthy  to  be  mentioned  as  representative 
songs  of  this  class  are  'Es  ist  bestimmt  in 
G-ottes  Rath';  'Ach,  wie  ists  moglich  dann'; 
'Prinz  Eugenius';  '  Zu  Mantua  in  Banden' ; 
'  Wir  hatten  gebaut  ein  stattliches  Haus ' ;  '  Es 
zogen  drei  Burschen';  '  Was  klinget  urid  singet 
die  Strasse  herauf;  'Der  Mai  ist  gekommen'; 
'Bekriinzt  mitLaub';  'Gaudeamus';  'Es  ging 
ein  Frosch  spazieren ' ;  '  0  Tannebaum,  O  Tan- 
nebaum ' ;  « Morgenroth,  Morgenroth ' ;  '  Ich 
hatt'  einen  Kameraden ' ;  '  Was  blasen  die 
Trompeten';  'Es  geht  bei  gedarnpftem  Trom- 
melklang ' ;  '  Morgen  miissen  wir  verreisen  ' ; 
1  Ich  weiss  nicht  was  soil  es  bedeuten ' ;  'In 
einem  kiihlen  Grunde';  'So  viel  Stern  am 
Himmel  stehen';  'Es  kann  ja  nicht  immer  so 
bleiben';  'Nach  Sevilla,  nach  Sevilla';  'Es  ist 
ein  Schnitter  der  heisst  Tod';  'Der  alte  Bar- 
barossa';  'Die  Fahnenwacht ' ;  'Madele  ruck, 
ruck,  ruck';  'Was  ist  des  Deutschen  Vater- 
land,'  etc.1  None  of  these  songs  are  vulgar, 

i  The  reader  will  find  a  multitude  of  others  in  the  various  col 
lections  which  are  constantly  issuing  from  the  musical  press  of 
Germany.  He  may,  for  instance,  consult  Pink's '  Musikalischer  Haus- 


SONG. 


623 


nor  even  commonplace.  They  are  familiar  to 
all  classes,  young  and  old;  and  the  heartiness 
with  which  they  are  everywhere  sung  attests 
their  vitality.  Singing  in  unison  is  compara 
tively  rare  among  Germans ;  their  universal  love 
and  knowledge  of  music  naturally  predispose 
them  to  singing  in  parts.  A  regiment  on  the 
march,  a  party  of  students  on  a  tour,  or  even 
labourers  returning  from  work,  all  alike  sing 
these  favourite  songs  in  parts  with  remarkable 
accuracy  and  precision.  And  the  natural  apti 
tude  of  the  nation  for  this  practice  is  perpetually 
fostered  by  the  '  Singvereine '  or  singing-clubs 
which  exist  even  in  the  most  obscure  and  se 
cluded  corners  of  Germany. 

If  it  be  asked  by  what  qualities  the  volks- 
thumliches  Lied  can  be  recognised,  the  answer 
would  be,  that  it  is  strophical  in  form,  and  has 
an  agreeable  melody,  easy  to  sing,  a  pure  and 
simple  harmony,  an  unpretending  accompaniment, 
a  regular  rhythm,  a  correct  accentuation,  and 
words  inspired  by  natural  sentiment.  The  mere 
enumeration  of  these  qualities  explains  its  popu 
larity.  But  it  lacked  the  poetic  and  thoughtful 
treatment  both  of  words  and  music,  which  sub 
sequently  raised  the  lyric  song  to  the  level  of 
true  art. 

It  is  now  time  to  inquire  in  what  ways  the  Song 
was  treated  by  some  of  the  greatest  composers  of 
the  1 8th  and  igth  centuries — by  Gluck,  Haydn, 
Mozart,  Beethoven,  Spohr  and  Weber.  Gluck 
was  the  contemporary  of  Graun,  Agricola,  and 
Kirnberger ;  and  like  them  he  called  most  of  his 
songs  odes.  But  the  standpoint  from  which  he 
regarded  the  Song  was  very  different  from  theirs. 
Applying  his  theories  about  the  Opera  [see 
GLUCK  and  OPERA]  to  the  Song,  he  steadfastly 
aimed  at  a  correct  accentuation  of  the  words  in 
the  music,  and  the  extinction  of  the  Italian  form 
of  melody,  which  required  the  complete  subor 
dination,  if  not  the  entire  sacrifice  to  itself,  of 
every  other  element  of  composition.  '  The 
union,'  wrote  Gluck  to  La  Harpe  in  I777>  'be 
tween  the  air  and  the  words  should  be  so  close, 
that  the  poem  should  seem  made  for  the  music 
no  less  than  the  music  for  the  poem ' ;  and  he 
conscientiously  strove  to  be  true  to  this  ideal  in 
all  his  work.  But  though  he  revolutionised  the 
Opera,  he  left  no  deep  mark  on  the  Song ;  for 
indeed  he  never  devoted  to  it  the  best  of  his 
genius.  His  few  songs,  chiefly  Klopstock's  odes, 
have  no  spontaneity  about  them,  but  are  dry  and 
pedantic,  and  with  all  his  superiority  to  his  con 
temporaries  in  aims  and  principles  of  composition, 
his  odes  are  scarcely  better  than  theirs.  Here  is 
an  example : — 


1 

.-, 

_fe_J  _JK, 

r 

. 

—  -~v 

1 

f\          ? 

2                  [S 

1     * 

IB        5    •!       W      A] 

-'"If* 

ic;      1     U 

\N\y 

,-m    . 

*  K!    ^^"              f    4*  ! 

^ 

Will-kom-men  o    sil-ber-ner 

I                        | 

/•  / 

3      * 

g 

"    J                      J 

-*-      \ 

j     t 

"•^J     • 

22 

chatz,'  or  the  '  Commers-Buch  fiir  den  deutschen  Studenten,'  con- 
aining  Studenten-,  Soldatea-,  Irink-.  Fest-,  National-,  iladcben-, 
iiuderlieder,  etc. 

624 


SONG. 


Mond,     schO-nen,  still  -er  Ge-fShrt  der     Nacht!       Du  ent- 

=^=3= 


fliehst?       El    -  le       nicht. 


bleib    Ge  -  dan  -  ken  - 


Freund  ! 


Sehet  er     blelbt!  das  Ge  -  wolk 


~^         J 

I/TN 

(•                •    '^'F         • 

E  -    (•     • 

P                        '  I- 

r  • 

^  u  .     ^ 

*    r 

das  Ge  -  wOlk 

wall  -  te  nur 

hln. 

i             [i 

)^^* 

*•               i 

h 

-•-          J  —  J 

?      .      —  — 

t2      ~ 

I 

One  song  of  the  very  highest  merit  was  writ 
ten  by  Haydn.  His  national  air,  '  Gott  erhalte 
Franz  den  Kaiser,'  is  perfect  of  its  kind.1  Simple 
and  popular,  yet  breathing  a  lofty  and  dignified 
patriotism,  it  satisfies  the  severest  standard  of 
criticism.  But  it  was  a  unique  effort ;  none  of 
his  other  songs  approach  within  measurable 
distance  of  it.  It  was  his  habit  to  conceive  them 
entirely  from  the  instrumental  point  of  view.  As 
Schneider  truly  says,  Haydn  '  treats  the  vocal 
melody  exactly  as  a  pianoforte  or  violin  motif, 
under  which  he  places  some  words  which  only 
superficially  agree  in  rhythm  with  the  melody.'3 
For  Haydn's  true  lyrics  we  must  turn  (as  Schnei 
der  bids  us  turn)  to  the  andantes  and  adagios 
of  his  quartets  and  symphonies ;  just  as  we 
must  study  the  great  choral  works  of  Bach  and 
Handel  if  we  would  understand  and  appreciate 
the  action  of  those  great  masters  on  the  Song. 

The  versatility  of  Mozart's  powers  is  visible  in 
his  songs.  Some  of  them  might  be  described  as 
arias,  and  others  as  volksthiimliche  Lieder ;  some 
are  lyrical,  and  others  dramatic,  and  yet  Mozart 
cannot  be  said  to  have  impressed  his  own  great 
individuality  upon  the  Song.  He  was  not  at  his 

i  For  the  origin  of  this  see  HAYDN  (vol.  i.  p,  714),  and  EMPEROR'S 
HYMN.  2  See  Schneider,  '  Ges.  d.  Liedes,'  vol.  iii.  p.  369. 


SONG. 

best  in  that  field.  The  least  happy  of  his  songs 
are  those  in  which  he  set  homely  or  thoroughly 
popular  words  to  music :  his  genius  lived  too 
much  in  an  ideal  world  for  work  of  that  kind. 
Thus  in  his  'Ich  mochte  wohl  der  Kaiser  sein' 
the  music  ceases  after  the  first  bar  to  be  volks- 
thumlich.  It  was  in  the  opera  that  he  put  forth 
his  full  strength,  and  his  operatic  songs  often 
derive  from  their  simple  joyous  melodies  a  truly 
popular  character.  Most  of  his  songs  are  in  the 
aria  form,  and  their  exquisite  melodies  almost 
obliterate  such  faults  of  accentuation  as  occur  in 
the  following  example  : — 


33* 


Wenn  dlr  die  Freu  -  da      win  -  ket 


nnd 


3an=3: 


•=!— 


tnanch  -    -   mat     das 


Ge     -    schlck 


5E 


The  reader  will  observe  what  exaggerated  em 
phasis  the  music  puts  upon  such  unimportant 
syllables  of  the  verse  as  '  mal '  and  '  ge.'  Mo 
zart's  masterpiece  in  the  Song  was  '  Das  Veil- 
chen,'  which  he  wrote  to  Goethe's  words;  and 
had  he  written  other  songs  of  like  excellence,  his 
position  as  a  song- writer  would  have  been  more 
on  a  level  with  his  unsurpassed  fame  in  other 
branches  of  music.  In  '  Das  Veilchen '  he  treats 
every  detail  independently.  When  the  song 
passes  from  narrative  to  the  violet's  own  utter 
ance,  the  character  of  the  music  changes ;  and 
the  accompaniment  also  supplies  a  vivid  though 
delicate  representation  of  the  narrative,  while 
the  unity  of  the  Song  is  never  lost  amid  varieties 
of  detail.3  For  such  minute  painting  in  music 
the  ordinary  harmonic  basis  of  tonic  and  dominant 
is  not  wide  enough.  Modulations  into  other  keys 
are  requisite.  In  this  song,  therefore,  Mozart 
does  not  confine  himself  to  the  principal  keys, 
G  major  and  D  major,  but  introduces  the  keys 
of  G  minor,  Eb,  and  Bb  major,  though  without 
any  change  of  signature.  Neither  does  he  pay 
much  heed  to  a  clear  demarcation  of  the  strophic 
divisions,  which  had  hitherto  been  regarded  as 
indispensable,  but  by  the  simple  force  of  a  homo 
geneous  rhythm  fully  sustains  the  unity  essen 
tial  to  lyric  song.  The  very  little  that  yet  re 
mained  to  bring  this  class  of  song  to  perfection 
was  subsequently  accomplished  by  Schubert. 

Some  of  Beethoven's  earlier  songs— such  as 
'An  einen  Saugling,' '  Das  Kriegslied,'  'Molly's 
Abschied,'  and  'Der  freie  Mann' — are  volks- 
thumlich,  and  resemble  Schulz's  compositions. 
For  the  accompaniment  they  have  the  melody 

3  For  expositions  of  this  song  see  Schneider,  vol.  ill.  p.  290,  and 
Beissmann,  '  Ges.  d.  deut.  Liedes,'  p.  207. 


SONG. 

harmonised,  and  a  syllable  is  given  to  each  note : 
they  should  therefore  be  declaimed  rather  than 
sung.  The  structure  is  similar  in  Gellert's  sacred 
songs,  op.  48,  except  in  the  'Busslied,'  where 
there  is  a  fuller  development  of  the  accompani 
ment.  Of  Beethoven's  early  songs  the  best  known 
probably  is  'Adelaide,'  and  it  is  written  in  a  larger 
form  than  those  already  referred  to.  Its  form  may 
be  termed  the  scena-form.  In  it  both  voice  and 
accompaniment  are  made  to  give  exact  expression 
to  every  word  of  the  poem,  and  changes  of  tempo 
and  key  impart  to  it  a  dramatic  cast.  But  our 
chief  interest  lies  in  Beethoven's  lyric  songs.  He 
set  six  songs  of  Goethe's  as  op.  75>  and  three  as 
op.  83.  There  is  much  in  the  style  and  spirit  of 
these  lyrics  which  might  have  tempted  him  to 
use  either  the  scena  or  the  cantata-form  ;  but 
the  strophical  division  corresponds  so  well  with 
their  general  character  that  he  could  not  dis 
regard  it.  He  left  it  therefore  to  the  instru 
mental  part  to  satisfy  their  dramatic  require 
ments.  In  Mignon's  song,  '  Kennst  du  das 
Land,'  each  stanza  has  the  same  beautiful  me 
lody,  and  the  accompaniment  alone  varies.  In 
other  cases,  as  in  Goethe's  '  Trocknet  nicht ' 
(Wonne  der  Wehmuth),  the  melody  is  a  mere 
recitation,  and  all  the  importance  of  the  song 
belongs  to  its  accompaniment.  In  Jeitteles' 
Liederkreis,  '  An  die  feme  Geliebte,'  op.  98,  the 
unity  which  makes  the  cycle  is  wholly  the  work 
of  the  composer,  and  not  of  the  poet.  It  is 
Beethoven  who  binds  the  songs  together  by  short 
instrumental  interludes,  which  modulate  so  as 
to  introduce  the  key  of  the  next  song,  and  by 
weaving  the  melody  of  the  first  song  into  the  last. 
Most  of  the  songs  of  this  beautiful  cycle  are 
strophical,  but  with  great  variety  of  accompani 
ment,  and  the  just  balance  of  the  vocal  and 
instrumental  parts  equally  contributes  to  the 
faithful  expression  of  lyric  thought  and  feeling. 
In  songs  which  had  more  of  the  aria  form  Bee 
thoven  was  less  successful.  In  short,  the  principal 
result  produced  by  him  with  regard  to  the  song 
was  the  enlargement  of  the  part  sustained  by  the 
pianoforte.  He  taught  the  instrument,  as  it  were, 
to  give  conscious  and  intelligent  utterance  to  the 
poetic  intentions  of  the  words.  His  lyric  genius 
rose  to  its  loftiest  heights  in  his  instrumental 
works:  and  here  again  its  full  perfection  must  be 
looked  for  in  the  slow  movements  of  his  orchestral 
and  chamber  compositions. 

Spohr  also  wrote  lyric  songs,  a  task  for  which 
his  romantic  and  contemplative  nature  well  fitted 
But  his  songs  are  marred  by  excessive 


SONG. 


625 


him. 


elaboration  of  minutiae,  and  in  the  profusion  of 
details  clearness  of  outline  is  lost,  and  form  itself 
disappears.  Again,  his  modulations,  or  rather 
transitions,  though  never  wantonly  introduced, 
are  so  frequent  as  to  be  wearisome.  Of  all 
his  songs  'Der  Bleicherin  Nachtlied'  and  'Der 
Rosenstrauch '  are  freest  from  these  faults,  and 
they  are  his  best. 

A  greater   influence  was  exercised  upon  the 

Song  by  Carl  Maria  von  Weber.     He  published 

two  books  of  Volkslieder,  op.  54  and  op.  64,  with 

new  melodies,    of  which    the    best-known   are 

VOL.  in.  FT.  5. 


'  Wenn  ich  ein  Voglein  war'  and  'Mein  Schat- 
zerl  ist  hubsch.'  Of  his  other  songs  the  most 
celebrated  are  the  cradle-song  '  Schlaf  Herzens- 
sohnchen  '  and  the  '  Leyer  und  Schwert '  songs 
(for  instance,  'Das  Volk  steht  auf  and  '  Du 
Schwert  an  meiner  Linken'),  and  these  songs 
deserve  their  celebrity.  Others  indeed,  such  as 
'  Ein  steter  Kampf,'  are  not  so  well  known  nor 
heard  so  often  as  they  ought  to  be.  Weber's 
fame  as  a  song-writer  has  perhaps  suffered  some 
what,  like  Mozart's,  from  the  circumstance  that 
man}*  of  his  best  songs  are  in  his  operas ;  and  it 
has  been  partially  eclipsed  by  the  supreme  ex 
cellence  of  one  or  two  composers  who  were  imme 
diately  subsequent  to  him.  It  was  also  unlucky 
for  him  that  he  wrote  most  of  his  accompaniments 
for  the  guitar.  But  in  the  solos  and  choruses  of 
'  Preciosa,'  '  Der  Freischiitz,'  and  '  Euryanthe  ' 
there  are  romantic  melodies  of  unfailing  charm 
to  the  German  people.  'They  are  filled,'  says 
Reissmann,  '  with  the  new  spirit  awakened  in 
Germany  by  the  War  of  Liberation — the  spirit 
which  inspired  the  lays  of  Arndt,  Schenkendorf, 
Riickert,  and  Kb'rner.  The  dreamy  tenderness 
of  the  old  Volkslieder  was  united  by  Weber  to 
the  eager  adventurous  spirit  of  a  modern  time. 
His  conceptions  are  never  of  great  intellectual 
depth,  nor  are  his  forms  remarkably  developed, 
but  the  entrainante  expression  with  which  he 
writes  gives  his  compositions  an  irresistible  fresh 
ness,  even  after  the  lapse  of  half  a  century.'1 

Incidental  reference  has  already  been  made 
more  than  once  to  Goethe,  but  a  few  words  must 
be  added  on  the  obligations  of  the  Song  to  him. 
The  fine  outburst  of  lyric  song  which  enriched 
the  music  of  Germany  in  his  lifetime  was  very 
largely  due  to  him.  The  strong  but  polished 
rhythm  and  the  full  melody  of  his  verse  were  an 
incentive  and  inspiration  to  composers.  Reichardt 
was  the  first  to  make  it  a  systematic  study  to 
set  Goethe's  lyrics  to  music.  Some  of  them  were 
set  by  him  as  early  as  1780;  but  in  1793  he 
published  a  separate  collection  entitled  '  Goethe's 
lyrische  Gedichte,'  and  containing  thirty  poems. 
In  1809  he  issued  a  more  complete  collection, 
underthe title  of c  Goethe's  Lieder,  Oden,  Balladen, 
und  Romanzen  mit  Musik,  v.  J.  Fr.  Reichardt ' 
So  long  as  Reichardt  merely  declaimed  the  words 
in  melody,  or  otherwise  made  the  music  conscien 
tiously  subordinate  to  the  verse,  he  was  success 
ful;  but  he  failed  whenever  he  allowed  himself 
to  think  less  of  the  words  and  more  of  the  tune. 
Goethe's  words  were,  in  short,  a  sure  guide  for 
a  talent  like  his.  In  the  genuine  volksthumliches 
Lied  he  did  not  shine ;  he  spared  no  endeavour 
to  catch  the  exact  spirit  of  popular  poetry,  but  in 
his  intent  pursuit  of  it  he  lost  that  natural 
spontaneity  of  melody  which  the  volksthumliches 
Lied  requires.  Reichardt  was  not  a  great  master, 
but  he  may  claim  the  honour  of  having  struck  the 
true  key-note  of  lyrical  songs:  and  greater  artists 
than  himself  immediately  followed  in  his  foot- 

1  See  Keissmann,  p.  167.  It  is  worth  white  to  note  that  Weber  him 
self  says,  in  his  literary -works,  that  'strict  truth  in  declamation  i< 
the  first  and  foremost  requisite  of  vocal  music  . . .  any  vocal  music 
that  alters  or  effaces  the  poet's  meaning  and  intention  is  a  failure.' 

Ss 


626 


SONG. 


steps.  Nothing  that  he  ever  wrote  is  better  than 
his  setting  of  Tieck's  'Lied  der  Nacht,'  and  in 
this  song  he  clearly  shows  himself  to  be  the  fore 
runner  of  Schubert,  Schumann,  and  Mendels 
sohn.  A  younger  contemporary,  Zelter,  also  made 
a  reputation  by  setting  Goethe's  words  to  music. 
Zelter  was  himself  a  friend  of  Goethe's  ;  and  so 
great  an  admirer  was  the  poet  of  Zelter's  music 
for  his  own  songs,  that  be  preferred  it  to  the 
settings  of  Reichardt,  preferring  Reichardt's  set 
tings  to  those  of  Beethoven  and  Schubert,  and 
perhaps  those  of  Eberwein  to  either  of  the  three. 
Through  some  strange  obliquity  of  taste  or  judg 
ment,  Goethe,  as  is  well  known,  never  recognised 
the  merits  of  these  two  very  great  composers. 
Zelter,  however,  was  a  writer  of  considerable 
talent,  and  advanced  beyond  his  predecessors 
in  harmonic  colouring  and  consistency  of  style. 
His  early  songs  were  strophical,  without  variety 
or  ornamentation  of  melody,  except  sometimes 
in  the  last  stanza  :  but  in  later  years  he  recom- 
posed  some  of  these  early  songs  with  such  dif 
ferent  treatment  that  he  seems  occasionally  to  be 
the  precursor  of  the  so-called  '  durchkomponirtes 
Lied ' — in  which  every  stanza  has  different  music. 
Another  of  this  group  of  writers,  Ludwig  Berger, 
worked  on  the  same  lines  as  Reichardt.  But 
his  excessive  attention  to  the  declamatory  part  of 
the  Song  has  a  tendency  to  break  up  the  melody 
and  destroy  its  consecutive  unity.  On  the  other 
hand,  his  pianoforte  accompaniments  are  remark 
ably  good.  Without  overpowering  the  melody 
they  have  a  singular  power  of  expression.  His 
song  'Trost  in  Thranen,'  op.  33,  no.  3,  may  be 
cited  as  an  illustration.  Bernhard  Klein  may  also 
be  mentioned  as  a  writer  of  music  to  Goethe's 
songs.  His  style  was  not  unlike  Zelter's  ;  but  he 
aimed  at  vocal  brilliancy,  and  was  somewhat 
negligent  of  the  instrumental  part. 

If  the  general  results  of  the  period  through 
which  we  have  just  passed  be  regarded  as  a 
whole,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  various  conditions 
requisite  for  the  perfection  of  the  Song  had 
matured.  The  foundations  and  all  the  main 
parts  of  the  structure  had  been  built ;  it  re 
mained  only  to  crown  the  edifice.  Starting  from 
the  volksthiimliches  Lied,  the  Berlin  composers 
had  demonstrated  the  necessity  of  full  attention 
to  the  words.  Mozart  and  Weber  had  given  it 
a  home  in  the  opera.  Mozart  and  Beethoven  had 
developed  its  instrumental  and  dramatic  elements ; 
and  had,  further,  shown  that  the  interest  of  the 
Song  is  attenuated  by  extension  into  the  larger 
scena-form.  Nothing  therefore  of  precept  or 
example  was  wanting  by  which  genius  might  be 
taught  how  to  make  the  compact  form  of  the 
Song  a  perfect  vehicle  of  lyrical  expression. 
The  hour  was  ripe  for  the  man;  and  the  hour 
and  the  man  met  when  Schubert  arose. 

This  wonderful  man,  the  greatest  of  song- writers, 
has  been  so  fully  and  appreciatively  treated  in 
other  pages  of  this  Dictionary1  that  it  would  be 
superfluous  to  do  more  here  than  examine  the 
development  of  the  Song  under  him.  So  fertile 

i  The  reader  should  also  consult  Beissmann's  '  Dos  deutsche  Lied 
in  seiner  historischen  Entwicklung.'and  his  '  Ges.  d.  deutsch.  Liedes.' 


SONG. 

was  his  genius  that  we  have  more  than  600  of 
his  songs,  and  their  variety  is  as  remarkable  as 
their  number.  There  was  scarcely  a  branch  of 
the  subject  to  which  he  did  not  turn  his  hand, 
and  nihil  tetigit  qiiod  non  ornavit.  He  was  master 
of  the  Song  in  every  stage — whether  it  were  the 
Volkslied,  or  the  Ode,  orthevolksthumlichesLied, 
or  the  pure  lyric  song,  or  the  Ballade  andRomanze. 
And  his  preeminent  success  was  largely  due  to  his 
complete  recognition  of  the  principle  that  in  the 
Song  intellect  should  be  the  servant  of  feeling 
rather  than  its  master. 

The  essence  of  true  Song,  as  Schubert  clearly 
saw,  is  deep,  concentrated  emotion,  enthralling 
words  and  music  alike,  and  suffusing  them  with 
its  own  hues.  Full  of  poetry  himself,  he  could 
enter  into  the  very  heart  and  mind  of  the  poet, 
and  write,  as  it  were,  with  his  own  identity  merged 
in  another's.  So  wide  was  the  range  of  his  sym 
pathetic  intuition  that  he  took  songs  of  different 
kinds  from  all  the  great  German  poets,  and  widely 
as  their  styles  varied,  so  did  his  treatment. 
Some  demanded  a  simple  strophic  form;  some 
a  change  of  melody  for  every  stanza  ;  and  others 
an  elaborate  or  dramatic  accompaniment.  But 
whatever  the  words  might  call  for,  that  Schubert 
gave  them  with  unerring  instinct. 

His  best  compositions  are  lyrical,  and  the  most 
perfect  are  the  songs  which  he  wrote  to  Goethe's 
words.  If  Schubert  had  a  fault  as  a  song- writer, 
it  was  his  'love  of  extension';  and  from  this 
temptation  he  was  guarded  by  the  concise  and 
compact  form  of  Goethe's  songs.  These  lyrics  are, 
therefore,  his  masterpieces,  and  it  is  scarcely  pos 
sible  to  conceive  higher  excellence  than  is  dis 
played  in  his  'Gretchen  am  Spinnrad,'  the 
'  Wanderer's  Nachtlied,'  the  songs  from  '  West- 
ostlicher  Divan,'  and  'Wilhelm  Meister.'2  In 
these  songs,  beauty  and  finish  are  bestowed  with 
so  even  a  hand,  both  on  the  voice-part  and  on  the 
accompaniment,  that  it  would  be  impossible  to 
say  that  either  takes  precedence  of  the  other.  In 
the  songs  which  he  wrote  to  Schiller's  words, 
especialfy  in  the  earlier  ones,  the  accompaniment 
is  more  important  than  the  voice-part.  This  how 
ever  is  demanded  by  the  dramatic  form  of  ballads 
like  'DerTaucher'and  'RitterToggenburg.'  And 
Schubert  perceived  that  a  somewhat  similar  kind 
of  setting  was  appropriate  to  antique,  mytho 
logical,  or  legendary  songs,  such  as  Schiller's 
'  Dithyrambe'  and  '  Gruppe  aus  dem  Tartarus,' 
Mayrhofer's  '  Memnon  '  and  '  Der  entsiihnte 
Orest,'  Goethe's  '  Schwager  Kronos,'  '  Ganymecl,' 
'  Grenzen  der  Menschheit,'  and  some  of  Ossian's 
songs.  These  last  are  also  noticeable  as  an  illustra 
tion  of  his  practice  of  writing  songs  in  sets.  Some 
of  these  sets  had  been  written  as  cyclic  poems  by 
their  authors,  and  to  this  category  belonged  the 
'Mullerlieder'  and  the  '  Winterreise' :  others- 
such  as  the  Ossian  Songs,  and  Walter  Scott's 
poems — were  made  cyclic  by  Schubert's  hand 
ling  of  them.  He  did  not  join  and  weld  together 

2  Eeissmann,  in  his  '  Gesch.  d.  deutsch.  Liedes,'  p. 220.  compares  the 
handling  of  Goethe's  songs  by  the  Berlin  composers  with  Sc 
handling  of  them,  and  conclusively  shows  the  great  superiority  01 
latter. 


SONG. 

the  songs  of  a  set,  as  Beethoven  had  done  in 
the  cycle  of  '  An  die  feme  Geliebte,'  but  bound 
them  to  one  another  by  community  of  spirit. 
They  can  all  be  sung  separately ;  but  the  '  Mul- 
lerlieder '  and  '  Winterreise,'  which  tell  a  con 
tinuous  tale,  lose  much  of  their  dramatic  power 
if  they  be  executed  otherwise  than  as  a  whole. 
The  publication  known  as  the  '  Schwanenge- 
sang ' *  contains  some  of  Schubert's  most  beau 
tiful  songs,  and  among  them  his  settings  of 
Heine's  words.  Heine  appeared  on  the  stage  of 
literature  too  late  to  have  much  to  do  with 
Schubert ;  his  influence  was  more  deeply  felt  by 
Schumann  :  but  Schubert  at  once  recognised,  as 
did  Schumann  after  him,  the  extreme  import 
ance  of  a  musical  accompaniment  for  his  words. 
Other  poets  for  whom  Schubert  composed  were 
Klopstock,  Matthison,  Holty,  Eiickert,  Eellstab, 
Craigher,  Kosegarten,  Schober,  Muller,  Schmidt, 
etc. ;  and  some  of  these  are  perhaps  indebted  to 
the  composer  for  all  the  fame  now  left  to  them. 

Many  of  Schubert's  finest  songs  are  strophical 
in  form,  and  resemble  the  best  Volkslieder  ;  with 
this  difference  however,  that  where  the  latter 
rigidly  adhered  to  the  simple  tonic  and  domi 
nant  harmony,  Schubert  uses  the  most  varied 
modulations.  He  was  the  equal  of  the  com 
posers  of  the  Volkslieder  in  strict  regard  to  the 
accents  of  the  verse,  and  their  superior  in  at 
tention  to  the  meaning  of  the  words.  When  he 
wishes  to  mark  an  important  word,  he  does  so 
by  giving  it  two  or  three  notes,  or  a  striking 
harmony;  but  rarely  departs  from  the  concise 
strophical  form.  And  he  can  raise  a  song  with 
the  simplest  melody  to  dramatic  level  by  the 
mere  power  of  rhythm  in  the  accompaniment. 
But  none  knew  better  than  Schubert  that  the 
strophical  form  is  not  applicable  to  all  poems, 
and  that  some  require  different  music  for  every 
stanza.2  Without  being  ballads  or  narrative 
poems,  such  songs  range  over  too  broad  and 
varied  a  field  for  the  strophical  form ;  but  through 
all  diversities  they  retain  a  true  lyric  unity, 
and  this  unity  as  a  whole,  with  variety  in  parts 
and  details,  has  been  faithfully  reproduced  by 
Schubert.  Reissmann 3  has  shown  how  he  pre 
served  the  unity  by  returning  to  the  melody  of 
the  first  strophe  as  a  refrain — as  in  '  Meine 
Euh'  ist  hin' — or  by  keeping  the  same  figure 
in  the  accompaniment,  as  in  '  Waldesnacht,'  or 
by  simple  development  of  the  same  melody  in 
each  stanza.  All  the  resources  of  Schubert's  genius 
are  displayed  in  the  durchkomponirtes  Lied. 

Enough,  however,  has  been  said  to  indicate  his 
supreme  merits  as  a  song-writer,  and  it  is  time  to 
turn  to  another  name.  In  Mendelssohn  the  charac 
teristics  of  the  Berlin  school  of  song- writers  are 
seen  at  their  best.  His  songs  exhibit  all  the  care 
and  effort  of  that  school  to  combine  the  volksthiim- 
lichesform  with  a  minutely  faithful  representation 
of  the  words;  but  the  object  at  which  he  aimed, 
and  which  indeed  he  attained,  tended  sometimes 

1  These,  however,  have  no  cyclical  intention,  but  were  put  together 
by  the  publisher  after  Schubert's  death. 

2  Of  this  kind  is  the  '  durchkomponirtes  Lied,'  i.e.  through-com 
posed  song,  in  which  each  stanza  is  differently  treated. 

3  See  his  '  Gesch.  d.  deutsch.  Liedes,'  pp.  220  to  242. 


SONG. 


627 


to  hamper  the  free  play  of  his  art.  And  with  all 
his  comprehension  and  finished  culture,  Mendels 
sohn  could  not,  like  Schubert,*  surrender  himself 
completely  to  the  poet  whose  words  he  was  setting, 
and  compose  with  such  identity  of  feeling  that 
words  and  music  seem  exactly  made  for  each 
other,  and  incapable  of  separate  existence.  Men 
delssohn  remained  himself  throughout,  distinct 
and  apart.  The  poet's  words^were  not  to  him, 
as  they  were  to  Schubert,  the  'final  cause  of  the 
song;  they  were  only  an  aid  and  incentive  to 
the  composition  of  a  song  preconceived  in  his 
own  mind.  In  his  songs,  therefore,  we  miss 
Schubert's  variety  ;  and  his  influence  upon  the 
Song  in  Germany  has  been  limited.  In  Men 
delssohn's  op.  9,  three  songs  especially  deserve 
mention  —  '  Wartend,'  a  true  Romanze  ;  the 
'  Herbstlied,'  concise  in  form,  and  expressive  of 
deep  melancholy ;  and  '  Scheiden, '  which  is  a 
song  of  tranquil  beauty.  The  '  Friihlingslied ' 
of  op.  19  reminds  one  of  Berger,  and  'Das  erste 
Veilchen '  is  suggestive  of  Mozart.  The  '  Reise- 
lied*  inclines  more  to  the  scena-form,  but  is 
marked  by  some  of  Mendelssohn's  most  charac 
teristic  modulations  and  transitions  in  the  har 
mony.  The  songs-  which  produced  most  effect 
were,  '  Auf  Pliigeln  des  Gesanges  '  of  op.  34,  and 
'  Wer  hat  dich,  du  schoner  Wald '  of  op.  47  ; 
both  volksthumlich  in  the  best  sense  of  the  word, 
melodious,  pure,  and  refined,  but  withal  bril 
liant  and  striking.  The  most  perfect,  perhaps, 
of  his  songs  is  the  'Venetian  Gondellied,'  op.  57, 
without  a  blemish  either  in  melody,  accompani 
ment,  harmony,  or  rhythm.  And  the  truest 
Volkslied  of  modern  birth  is  the  little  song  '  Es 
ist  bestimmt  in  Gottes  Rath.'  All  Mendelssohn's 
other  songs,  with  few  exceptions,  are  simple  and 
pleasing.  Take  as  an  eminent  instance,  '  Lieb- 
lingsplatzchen '  (op.  99,  no.  3).  Nevertheless, 
with  all  their  charms,  his  songs  for  one  voice  are 
inferior  to  his  part-songs,  and  indeed  to  his  com 
positions  in  other  branches  of  music. 

If  any  song-writer  could  dispute  Schubert's 
pre-eminence,  it  would  be  Robert  Schumann. 
His  songs  are  the  very  breath  of  romantic  poetry 
elevated  by  austere  thought.  Where  Schubert 
is  completely  one  with  the  poet,  his  exact  alter 
ego,  Schumann  is  wont  to  be  a  little  more  than 
the  poet's  counterpart  or  reflection.  With  scru 
pulous  art  he  reproduces  all  that  runs  in  the 
poet's  mind,  be  it  ever  so  subtle  and  delicate, 
but  permeates  it  with  a  deeper  shade  of  mean 
ing.  This  may  be  seen  especially  in  his  settings 
of  the  poems  of  Heine,  Reinick,  Burns,  Kerner, 
Geibel,  Chamisso,  Riickert  and  Eichendorff.  Of 
these  poets  the  last  five  were  thoroughly  ro 
mantic  writers,  and  exercised  a  great  influence 
on  Schumann's  kindred  imagination.  It  was 
stimulated  into  full  activity  by  the  supernatural 
splendour  and  mystic  vagueness  of  their  con 
ceptions.  Visions  of  midnight  scenes  arise  in 
prompt  obedience  to  the  spell  of  Schumann's 


4  It  has  been  remarked  that  the  mere  playing  through  of  a  song  of 
Schubert  enables  a  practised  ear  to  recognise  at  once  the  poet  to 
whose  words  the  music  was  written.  It  would  be  quite  impossible  to 
do  this  with  regard  to  Mendelssohn's  songs. 

Ss2 


628 


SONG. 


music.  It  conjures  up  for  eye  and  ear  the  dark 
vault  of  the  starry  heavens,  the  solitudes  of 
haunted  woods,  the  firefly's  restless  lamp,  the 
song  of  nightingales,  the  accents  of  human  pas 
sion  idealised,  and  all  else  that  makes  the  half- 
real  and  the  half-unreal  world  in  which  the 
romantic  spirit  loves  to  dwell. 

In  Schumann's  music  to  Eichendorff's  words, 
the  accompaniments  have  even  more  importance 
and  beauty  than  the  melodies;  while  the  latter 
seem  only  to  suggest,  the  former  unfold  the  sen- 
tim'ent  of  the  song.  This  is  the  case  in  the 
' Friihlingsnacht,'  the  'Scheme  Fremde,'  and  the 
'  Waldesgesprach '  :  and  in  another  song  of  the 
same  opus,  '  Ich  karm  wohl  manchmal  singen' 
(Wehmuth),  the  melody  is  fully  developed  in 
the  accompaniment,  and  merely  doubled  in  the 
voice  part.  Of  like  kind  is  the  work  of  Schu 
mann's  hand  in  the  '  Liederreihe,'  op.  35,  con 
taining  12  songs  by  Justinus  Kerner,  and  in 
Ru'ckert's  '  Liebesfriihling,'  op.  37  ;  but  Rtickert's 
verse  did  not  perhaps  evoke  in  him  so  full  a 
measure  of  spontaneous  melody  as  Eichendorff's 
and  Kerner's.  The  simplest  and  most  melo 
dious,  and  probably  the  best  known  of  the 
Rtickert  collection,  are  Nos.  2,  4,  and  n  ;  and 
they  are  by  Frau  Clara  Schumann.  Chamisso's 
cycle,  '  Frauenliebe  und  Leben,'  op.  42,  is  de 
scribed  elsewhere  in  this  Dictionary,  and  does 
not  require  further  notice  here.1 

To  the  poems  of  Reinick  and  Burns  Schumann 
imparts  more  of  the  Volkslied  form ;    but  the 
poet  to  whom  his  own  nature  most  deeply  re 
sponded  was  Heine.     There  was  not  a  thought 
or  feeling  in  his  poetry  which  Schumann  could 
not   apprehend  and   make   his   own.     Whether 
Heine  be  in  a  mood  of  subtle  irony  or  bitter 
mockery,  of  strong  passion  or  delicate  tenderness, 
of  rapturous  joy  or  sternest  sorrow,  with  equal 
fidelity  is  he  pourtrayed  in  the  composer's  music. 
What  Schubert  was  to  Goethe,  Schumann  was 
to   Heine ;    but  the  requirements    of   the   two 
poets  were  not  the  same.     Goethe's  thought  is 
ever  expressed  in  clear  and  chiseled  phrase ;  but 
it  is  a  habit  of  Heine's  to  adumbrate  his  mean 
ing,  and  leave  whatever  is  wanting  to  be  sup 
plied  by  the  reader's   imagination.     The   com 
poser  who  would  adequately  interpret  him  must, 
therefore,    have    poetic    fancy   no    less    than    a 
mastery  of  his  own  art.     This  Schumann  had, 
and  none  of  his   songs   rank  higher   than    the 
splendid  cycle  '  Dichterliebe,'  from  Heine's  ' Buch 
der  Lieder,'  which  he  dedicated  to  a  great  dra 
matic   singer,    Wilhelmine    Schroder -Devrient. 
Their  melodic  treatment  is  declamatory — not  in 
recitative,   but   in   perfectly  clear-cut   strophes. 
The  metrical  accents  of  the  verse  are  carefully 
observed,  and,  if  possible,  still  more  attention  is 
bestowed  on  the  accentuation  of  emphatic  words. 
That  there  may  not  be  even  the  semblance  of 
a  break  or  interruption  in  the  continuous  flow 
of  the  phrases,  the  same  rhythmical  figure  is 
retained  throughout  the  accompaniment,  however 
the  harmony  and  the  melody  may  change.     As 
a  general  rule,  the  instrumental  part  of  Schu- 
i  See  SCHUMANN,  vol.  Hi.  p.  412. 


SONG. 

mann's  songs  is  too  important  and  too  inde 
pendent  to  be  called  an  'accompaniment';  it  is 
an  integral  factor  in  the  interpretation  of  the 
poem.2  Thus  in  the  'Dichterliebe'  cycle,  the 
introductory  and  concluding  symphonies  to  '  Im 
wunderschonen  Monat  Mai/  '  Das  ist  ein  Floten 
und  Geigen,'  '  Die  alten  bosen  Lieder,'  and  '  Am 
leuchtenden  Sommermorgen,'  have  all  a  closer 
relation  to  the  poem  than  to  the  music,  and 
seem  to  evolve  from  it  a  fuller  significance  than 
it  could  ever  have  owed  to  the  poet's  own 
unaided  art.  Further  proof  of  the  importance 
of  Schumann's  accompaniments  is  afforded  by 
the  peculiarity  that  in  many  of  his  songs  the 
voice  part  ends  on  a  discord,  and  the  real  close 
is  assigned  to  the  accompaniment.3  In  'Ich  grolle 
nicbt '  the  accompaniment  is  occasionally  used  to 
strengthen  the  accents,  and  discords  also  enhance 
the  grand  effect ;  only  rarely  does  he  allow  the 
independence  of  the  accompaniment  to  remain  in 
abeyance  throughout  a  whole  song.  In  short,  his 
songs  should  be  both  played  and  sung  by  true 
artists ;  and  the  riper  the  intellect,  the  more 
poetic  the  temperament  of  the  artist,  the  better 
will  the  execution  be.  No  composer  is  more 
worthy  of  thoughtful  and  finished  execution  than 
Schumann  ;  together  with  Schubert  in  music, 
and  Goethe  and  Heine  in  literature,  he  has  lifted 
the  Song  to  a  higher  pinnacle  of  excellence  than 
it  ever  reached  before.  Whether  such  work  will 
ever  be  surpassed,  time  alone  can  show. 

We  will  here  allude  to  another  branch  of 
modern  German  Song,  which  has  been  handled 
by  the  greatest  composers,  and  comprises  the 
Ballade,  the  Romanze,  and  the  Rhapsodic.  In 
the  ordinary  English  sense,  the  ballad  is  a  poem 
simply  descriptive  of  an  event  or  chain  of  in 
cidents  ;  it  never  pauses  to  moralise  or  express 
emotion,  but  leaves  the  reader  to  gather  senti 
ment  and  reflections  from  bare  narrative.  But 
the  Ballade,  as  a  form  of  German  song,  has  some 
other  properties.  Goethe  says  that  it  ought 
always  to  have  a  tone  of  awe-inspiring  mystery, 
to  fill  the  reader's  mind  with  the  presence  of 
supernatural  powers,  and  subdue  the  soul  to 
submissive  expectancy.  The  Romanze  is  of  the 
same  class  as  the  Ballade,  but  is  generally  of 
more  concise  form,  and  by  more  direct  references 
to  the  feelings  which  its  story  evokes,  approaches 
nearer  to  the  lyric  song.  As  distinguished  from 
the  Ballade  and  the  Romanze,  the  Rhapsodic  is 
deficient  in  form,  and  its  general  structure  is 
loose  and  irregular.  The  first  poet  who  wrote 
such  poems  was  Biirger;  his  example  was  fol 
lowed  by  Goethe,  Schiller,  Uhland,  and  others : 
and  then  the  attention  of  composers  was  soon 
caught.  Inspired  by  Schiller,  Zumsteeg  first  com 
posed  in  this  vein,  and  his  work  is  interesting  as 
being  the  first  of  its  kind ;  but  cultivated  and  well- 
trained  musician  though  he  was,  Zumsteeg  had 
too  little  imagination  to  handle  the  Ballade  suc 
cessfully.  He  generally  adhered  to  the  Romanze, 
and  '  Bleich  flimmert  in  stiirmender  Nacht '  is 


2  See  under  SCHUMANN,  vol.  iii.  p.  412. 

3  See  the  end  of  '  Frauenliebe  und  Leben,'  and  of  the  exquis 
2-part  song  '  Grossvater  und  Grossmutter.' 


SONG. 

a  good  specimen  of  his  style.  Sometimes  he  fused 
the  Romanze  into  the  Rhapsodie  by  dramatising 
incidents ;  and  to  such  efforts  he  owed  most  of 
his  contemporary  popularity ;  but  it  was  not  in 
him  to  produce  the  true  Ballade.  Neither  did 
Reichardt  or  Zelter  succeed  any  better  in  it. 
They  treated  the  '  Erlkonig '  as  a  Romanze,  and 
Schiller's  Ballades, '  Ritter  Toggenburg '  and  '  Der 
Handschuh,'  as  rhapsodies.  And  even  Schubert, 
for  whom  in  youth  this  ballad  poetry  had  a  great 
charm,  even  he  was  inclined  to  compose  for 
Balladen  too  much  in  Rhapsody-form.  In  some 
of  his  longer  pieces,  such  as  'Der  Taucher,'  'Die 
Biirgschaft/  '  Der  Sanger,'  where  he  is  faithful 
to  the  Ballade  form,  there  are  exquisite  bits  of 
melody  appositely  introduced,  and  the  accom 
paniments  are  thoroughly  dramatic;  but  the 
general  effect  of  the  pieces  is  overlaid  and 
marred  by  a  multiplicity  of  elaborate  details. 
When  sung,  therefore,  they  do  not  fulfil  the  ex 
pectations  awakened  by  silent  study  of  them.  To 
the  Romanze,  Schubert  gave  the  pure  strophical 
form,  as,  for  instance,  in  Goethe's  'Heidenros- 
lein.' 

The  founder  of  the  true  Ballade  in  music  was 
J.  C.  G.  Lowe,  who  seems  to  have  caught,  as  it 
were  instinctively,  the  exact  tone  and  form  it 
required.  His  method  was  to  compose  a  very 
short,  though  fully  rounded  melody,  for  one  or 
two  lines  of  a  stanza,  and  then  repeat  it  through 
out  the  Ballade  with  only  such  alterations  as 
were  demanded  by  the  tenor  of  the  narrative. 
This  method  secures  unity  for  the  piece,  but  it 
necessitates  a  richly  developed  accompaniment, 
and  calls  upon  the  pianoforte  to  be  the  sole 
contributor  of  dramatic  colouring  to  the  inci 
dents.  The  simpler  the  metrical  form  of  the 
Ballade,  the  better  will  this  treatment  suit  it. 
Take,  for  example,  Uhland's  '  Der  Wirthin  Toch- 
terlein.'  All  Lowe's  music  to  it  is  developed 
from  the  melody  of  the  first  line ;  though  other 
resources  are  brought  into  play  as  the  tragic 
close  draws  near,  the  original  idea  is  never  lost 
to  view,  and  the  character  with  which  the  ac 
companiment  began  is  preserved  intact  to  the 
end.  Still  more  importance  is  given  by  Lowe 
to  the  pianoforte  part  in  the  gloomy  northern 
Ballades,  'Herr  Olaf  and  'Der  Mutter  Geist.' 
But  his  really  popular  Balladen  are  '  Heinrich 
der  Vogler,'  '  Die  Glocken  zu  Speier,'  and  '  Gold- 
schmieds  Tochterlein ' :  in  these  the  melodies 
are  fresh  and  genial,  the  accompaniments  full  of 
characteristic  expression,  and  stroke  upon  stroke 
in  the  best  Ballade  style  effect  a  vivid  present 
ment  of  animated  scenes. 

Mendelssohn  never  touched  the  Ballade  form 
for  the  solo  voice ;  and  Schumann  greatly  pre 
ferred  the  Romanze.  To  his  subjective  lyric 
cast  of  mind  the  underlying  thought  was  of  more 
concern  than  external  facts.  In  his  beautiful 
music  to  Kerner's  'Stirb  Lieb'  und  Freud,'  he 
treats  the  melody  as  a  Romanze,  and  puts  the 
Ballade  form  into  the  accompaniment.  On  the 
same  plan  are  his  'Entflieh'  mit  mir,'  'Loreley,' 
and  '  Der  arme  Peter,'  from  Heine.  '  Die  Lowen- 
braut '  and  '  Bloudel's  Lied '  are  more  developed 


SONG. 


629 


Ballades  ;  but  the  most  perfect  of  his  Ballades  is 
'Die  beiden  Grenadiere,'  op.  49.  Its  unity  in 
variety  is  admirable ;  it  stirs  and  moves  the 
heart,  and  its  impressiveness  is  wonderfully  aug 
mented  by  the  introduction  of  the  Marseillaise. 
When  Schumann  essayed  to  treat  the  Ballade 
melodramatically  he  failed.  Singing,  in  his 
opinion,  was  a  veil  to  the  words ;  whenever 
therefore  he  wished  them  to  have  emphatic  pro 
minence,  he  left  them  to  be  spoken  or  '  declaim 
ed,'  and  attempted  to  illustrate  the  narrative  of 
the  song  by  the  musical  accompaniment.  But 
the  Ballade  form  was  too  small  and  contracted 
for  this  kind  of  treatment,  which  is  better 
suited  to  larger  and  more  dramatic  works.  It  is 
a  vexed  question  whether  the  repetition  of  the 
melody  for  every  verse,  or  its  variation  through 
out,  is  the  better  structure  for  the  Ballade ;  the 
former  arrangement,  at  any  rate,  would  seem  best 
adapted  for  short  and  simple  pieces  like  Goethe's 
'Der  Fischer,'  and  the  latter  for  lengthier  ones. 
If  the  melody  be  repeated  for  every  verse  in  long 
Balladen  an  impression  of  monotony  is  inevitably 
created,  and  the  necessarily  varying  aspects  of  the 
poem  are  imperfectly  represented  in  the  music.1 

The  Song  continues  to  hold  in  Germany  the 
high  place  to  which  it  was  raised  by  Schubert 
and  Schumann  ;  their  traditions  have  been  wor 
thily  sustained  by  their  successors,  the  foremost 
of  whom  are  Robert  Franz  and  Johannes  Brahms. 
Franz  has  devoted  himself  almost  exclusively 
to  it.2  At  first  sight  his  work  seems  to  be 
similar  to  Schumann's,  but  on  closer  examina 
tion  it  will  be  found  to  have  marked  character 
istics  of  its  own.  There  is  no  lack  of  melody 
in  his  voice-parts,  but  the  chief  interest  of  his 
songs  generally  lies  in  the  accompaniments,  which 
are  as  finished  as  miniatures,  though  concealing 
all  traces  of  the  labour  expended  on  them.3  In 
form  and  harmony  Franz's  songs  are  akin  to 
the  old  Volkslied  and  Kirchenlied.  Their  har 
mony  frequently  recalls  the  old  church  scales; 
and  the  peculiar  sequential  structure  of  the 
melody  (as,  for  instance,  in  his  '  Zu  Strassburg 
an  der  Schanz,'  op.  12,  no.  2  ;  'Es  klingte  in  der 
Luft,'  op.  13,  no.  2,  and  'Lieber  Schatz,  sei  mir 
wieder  gut,'  op.  26,  no.  2),  is  so  common  with 
him,  that  some  critics  have  condemned  it  as  a 
mannerism.4  Most  of  his  songs  are  strophical  as 
regards  the  voice-part,  the  richness  and  fulness 
of  the  accompaniment  growing  with  each  suc 
cessive  stanza;  or  else  the  harmony  is  slightly 
altered  to  suit  the  words,  as  in  that  subtle  change 
which  occiirs  in  the  second  stanza  of  'Des  A- 
bends,'  op.  16,  no.  4.  Indeed  the  perfection  of 
truth  with  which  Franz  renders  every  word  is 
his  highest  merit.  Like  Schumann,  he  is  wont 
to  leave  much  to  the  closing  bars  of  the  piano- 

1  See  Vischer's  '  Aesthetik,'  part  iii.  p.  996;  and  Eeissmann's  'Das 
deutsche  Lied,'  p.  236. 

2  'It  was  the  result  of  an  irresistible  necessity,'  wrote  Franz  to  a 
friend,'  that  I  cultivated  the  Song-form  almost  exclusively,  and  wrote 
very  little  else:   I  afterwards  became  convinced  that  my  own  par 
ticular  talent  culminated  in  this  form.    On  principle,   therefore,  I 
have  kept  to  this  path,  and  should  with  difficulty  be  per 

try  my  luck  in  any  other.' 

3  See  Amuros,  '  Bunte  Blatter."  p.  "01. 

4  Keissmann,  '  Gesch.  d.  deutschen  Liedes,'  p.  279. 


630 


SONG. 


forte  part  or  to  the  whole  accompaniment ;  and 
he  has  a  further  resemblance  to  Schumann  in  his 
thoroughly  lyrical  temperament.  His  favourite 
poets  are  writers  of  dreamy,  quiet,  pensive  verse, 
like  Osterwald,  Eichendorff,  Lenau  and  Mirza 
Schaffy  ;  but  he  has  composed  several  songs  by 
Heine  and  Burns.  There  is  not,  perhaps,  enough 
of  passion  in  his  compositions  to  carry  us  away 
in  a  transport  of  enthusiasm,  but  the  refinement 
of  his  poetic  feeling,  and  the  exquisite  finish  of 
his  workmanship  compel  our  deliberate  and  cor 
dial  admiration. 

Very  different  is  the  standpoint  from  which 
Brahms  approaches  the  Song.  It  has  been  said 
of  him  that  he  '  defends  his  art-principles  on  the 
ground  of  absolute  music.' l  And  this  criticism 
may  justly  be  applied  to  his  songs.  No  modern 
composer  has  ever  studied  less  than  he  to  render 
each  word  with  literal  accuracy ;  but  while  he 
allows  himself  the  amplest  liberty  in  respect 
of  the  letter  of  a  song,  he  is  scrupulously  ob 
servant  of  its  spirit.  If  we  listen,  for  instance, 
to  any  of  his  fifteen  romances  from  Tieck's 
Magelone,  or  to  his  settings  of  Daumer's  transla 
tions  of  Oriental  poems,  we  shall  have  no  fault 
to  find  with  his  interpretation  of  the  words  in  the 
music,  as  a  whole,  though  in  parts  it  may  not 
correspond  to  our  own  preconceived  ideas.  When 
quite  new  to  us  his  songs  excite  a  certain  sense 
of  strangeness,  but  the  feeling  quickly  disappears 
before  the  irresistible  spell  of  his  strong  indivi 
duality  and  concentrated  force.  To  the  form  of 
his  songs  he  pays  great  heed.  Some  have  the 
same  melody  and  harmony  unchanged  for  every 
verse,  others  have  a  succession  of  varied  melo 
dies  for  the  voice  and  pianoforte  part  throughout. 
His  accompaniments  are  among  the  most  difficult 
and  interesting  that  have  ever  been  written, 
and  need  to  be  studied  with  as  much  care  as 
any  solo  piece.  They  stand  in  the  same  relation 
to  the  voice  part  as  the  pianoforte  part  stands 
to  the  violin  in  a  sonata  written  for  those  two 
instruments.  The  accompaniment  sometimes 
leads,  sometimes  follows  the  voice  ;  and  again  at 
other  times  pursues  its  own  independent  way. 
This  may  be  seen  for  instance  in  the  fine  im 
passioned  song  'Wie  soil  ich  die  Freude,'  op.  33, 
no.  6.  The  task  of  the  singer  in  Brahms's  songs 
is  as  hard  as  that  of  the  player.  Sudden  changes 
of  key  and  awkward  intervals  create  difficulties 
for  the  voice,  and  the  very  length  of  the  songs 
renders  them  fatiguing.  But  with  a  good  singer 
and  a  good  pianist  his  songs  cannot  fail  to  produce 
a  remarkable  effect,  though  Brahms  himself  would 
never  stoop  to  write  for  mere  effect.  He  is  far 
too  high  and  severe  an  artist  to  admit  any  false 
or  trivial  matter  into  his  work ;  and  his  noble 
songs  may  justly  be  reckoned  among  the  greatest 
treasures  of  modern  music. 

A  composer  whom  it  would  be  wrong  to  pass 
by  here  without  notice  is  Hugo  Briickler.  The 
elaborate  and  refined  accompaniments  to  his 
songs  remind  us  in  some  respects  of  Brahms. 
And  his  songs  of  the  '  Trompeter  von  Sakkingen' 
set,  and  the  posthumous  ones  edited  by  Jensen, 
i  See  BRAQJIS,  vol.  i.  p.  270. 


SONG. 

deserve  a  wider  fame,  for  they  are  full  of  in 
tellect  and  beauty.  Jensen's  own  is  a  better- 
known  name.  The  melody  of  his  songs  is  re 
markably  sweet,  and  his  accompaniments  are 
both  rich  and  interesting.  Jensen,  however,  has 
been  the  enemy  of  his  own  reputation  bv  con 
stantly  choosing  to  set  words  which  had  already 
been  dealt  with  by  greater  masters  than  himself. 
Had  he  not  thus  challenged  comparison,  the 
merits  of  his  tender  and  delicate  songs  might 
have  been  more  fully  recognised.  Herzogenberg 
belongs  to  the  same  group  of  composers.  An 
other  group  has  worked  more  on  the  lines  laid 
down  by  Mendelssohn ;  and  it  includes  Cursch- 
mann,  Taubert,  Franz  Lachner,  Dorn,  Carl 
Eckert,  Julius  Rietz,  Reinecke,  Josephine  Lang, 
and  Fanny  Hensel.  The  best  work  of  these 
writers  is  unpretending  and  simple :  not  that  they 
are  themselves  deficient  in  thought  or  culture, 
but  they  attach  such  a  paramount  value  to 
purity  of  form  and  melodiousness  combined,  that 
other  high  qualities  of  the  song  are  sparingly 
introduced. 

Consideration  is,  likewise,  due  to  the  manner 
in  which  the  Song  has  been  treated  by  Franz 
Liszt.  In  such  cases  as  his  '  Kennst  du  das 
Land?'  and  'Ich  weiss  nicht  was  soil  es  be- 
deuten,'  he  not  only  disregards  the  strophical 
form,  but  ignores  the  metre  and  rhyme  of  the 
verse  until  the  poetry  stiffens  into  prose.  In 
his  endeavours  to  render  every  word  effect 
ively  and  dramatically,  form,  both  of  poetry  and 
music,  escapes  him.  Some  of  these  songs  are 
mere  recitations ;  or  the  melody  is  broken  up 
into  short  phrases  with  a  few  chords  in  the 
accompaniment — as  in  '  Du  bist  wie  eine  Bluine,' 
which  contains  striking  modulations  and  abrupt 
transitions.  In  fact,  they  produce  an  effect  like 
that  of  delicate  but  unfinished  landscape  sketches. 
'Es  muss  ein  Wunderbares  sein'  may  be  men 
tioned  as  an  example  of  more  regular  form.  But 
Liszt  has  not  been  allowed  to  remain  alone  in 
his  indifference  to  rule  and  form:  his  irregu 
larities  have  been  imitated  by  younger  writers  of 
the  so-called  '  New  German  School.'  When  his 
followers  have  had  real  talent  and  true  poetic 
feeling,  as  Cornelius2  and  Goetz  undoubtedly 
had,  considerable  latitude  in  composition  has  been 
shown  to  be  compatible  with  very  good  work. 
Nevertheless,  the  example  set  by  Liszt  is  a 
dangerous  one,  for,  if  the  high  artistic  sense  be 
wanting,  a  scant  regard  for  form  very  easily 
degenerates  into  sheer  chaos.  If  other  names  of 
modern  contributors  to  the  song  in  Germany  be 
asked  for,  the  following  may  be  given : — Blume, 
Brah-M-iiller,  Bruch,  Ehlert,  Gernsheim,  Hen- 
schel,  Hiller,  Krigar,  Lassen,  Ludwig,  Raff,  Ra- 
mann,  Rheinberger,  Rontgen,  Semon,  Urspruch, 
and  Volkmann;  but  the  list  is  very  far  from 
exhausted  by  the  recital  of  these  names.  The 
German  Song  has,  moreover,  been  enriched  by 
foreigners,  such  as  Niels  Gade,  Lindblad,  Grieg, 
Dvorak,  and,  especially,  Rubinstein,  to  whose 
songs  some  judges  assign  a  place  in  the  very  first 
rank. 

2  See  his  '  Weihnachtslieder,'  op.  3. 


SONG. 

Enough  has  now  been  said  to  show  how 
thoroughly  and  with  what  diversity  of  talent 
the  Song  has  been  cultivated  in  Germany  as  a 
branch  of  pure  art.  The  torch  has  passed  from 
artist  to  artist ;  and  if  the  reverent  devotion 
with  which  it  is  still  tended  by  German  students 
of  music  be  an  earnest  and  augury  of  what  is 
to  come,  it  is  not  too  much  to  hope  that  the 
radiance  of  the  flame  may  be  as  bright  in  the 
future  as  it  has  been  in  the  past. 

The  following  works  contain  the  best  informa 
tion  on  the  history  of  the  Song  in  Germany. 

'  Das  musikalische  Lied  in  geschichtlicher  Entwicke- 
lung ' ;  Dr.  K.  C.  Schneider.  (3  vols.) 

'  Geschichte  des  deutschen  Liedes  im  xviii  Jahrhun- 
dert ' ;  Ernst  0.  Lindner. 

'Geschichte  des  deutachen  Liedes';  August  Reiss- 
mann. 

'Das  deutsche  Lied  in  seiner  historischen  Entwicke- 
lunjz';  August  Eeissmann. 

'  Die  Hausmusik  in  Deutschland  im  16ten,  17ten,  and 
18ten  Jahrhundert ' ;  Becker. 

'Unsere  volksthiimliche  Lieder';  Hoffmann  von  Fal- 
lersleben. 

'Altdeutsches  Liederbuch  aus  dem  12  bis  zum  17  Jahr 
hundert  ' ;  Franz  M.  B6hme. 

'Der  evangelische  Kirchengesang ';  Karl  von  Winter- 
feld. 

'  Eohert  Franz  und  das  deutsche  Volkslied ' ;  August 
Saran. 

The  collections  of  Volkslieder  are  too  numerous  to 
name.  But  the  reader  will  find  at  pp.  769-805  of  Bdhme's 
'  Altdeutsches  Liederbuch '  an  ample  catalogue  with  an 
notations,  entitled 

'  Quellen  fur  das  deutsche  Volkslied  und  seine  Weisen 
in  alter  und  neuer  Zeit.' 

(Bohme  includes  both  MS.  and  printed  collections.) 


SONG. 


631 


In  conclusion,  a  few  general  reflections  may  be 
added  to  the  foregoing  historical  sketch.  Vocal 
music  is  probably  the  eldest  branch  of  the  art ; 
but  from  the  number  of  ancient  dance-songs  still 
extant,  and  from  the  fact  that  dance-songs  pre 
ponderate  in  the  music  of  nations  whose  musical 
culture  remains  in  a  primitive  stage,  it  is  reason 
able  to  conclude  that  vocal  music  was  at  first  a 
mere  accessory  of  the  dance.  Choral  singing  at 
religious  and  other  festivals  was  also  a  practice 
of  very  remote  antiquity.  Recitations  by  bards 
commemorative  of  the  exploits  of  heroes  were  a 
further  and  distinct  development  of  vocal  music. 
But  the  Song  proper  had  no  existence  anterior  to 
the  Troubadours ;  their  graceful  lyrics  and  appro 
priate  rhythmical  tunes  were  its  earliest  form. 

In  the  sections  of  this  article  which  relate  to 
France  and  Germany,  attention  has  been  called 
to  the  reciprocal  influences  upon  one  another  of 
church  music  and  secular  music ;  but  it  should 
be  noticed  that  the  influence  of  the  former  was 
not  of  unmixed  advantage  to  the  latter.  The 
scientific  development  of  the  Song  was  doubtless 
advanced  by  the  church  composers,  but  their  poly 
phonic  style  injured  it  in  other  respects.  Such 
peculiarities  of  that  style  as  constant  repetitions 
of  the  same  words,  and  breaking  up  the  verse 
into  fragmentary  syllables,  could  only  disfigure 
the  true  Song,  which  requires  an  even  adjustment 
of  words  and  music,  without  any  sacrifice  of  one 
to  the  other. 

The  Opera,  on  the  other  hand,  was  of  immense 
benefit  to  the  Song  by  establishing  the  monodic 
system,  and  thus  teaching  composers  to  attend 
to  the  meaning  of  the  words  they  set,  with  a 


view  to  its  reproduction  in  the  music.  But  it 
would  be  superfluous  to  dwell  again  on  the  value 
of  that  '  expressive  monodia '  which  was  intro 
duced  by  Caccini  in  Italy,  by  Lawes  in  England, 
and  by  Albert  in  Germany.  [MONODIA,  vol.  ii. 

3540 

The  reader  will  also  have  observed  the  neces 
sary  dependence  of  the  Song  upon  poetry.  Until 
the  poet  supplies  lyrics  of  adequate  power  and 
beauty  of  form,  the  skill  of  the  composer  alone 
cannot  develope  the  full  capacities  of  the  Song. 
When  however  poets  and  composers  of  the  first 
rank  have  worked  together  in  mutual  sympathy 
and  admiration,  as  did  the  German  poets  and 
composers  of  Goethe's  age,  the  Song  has  quickly 
mounted  to  the  loftiest  heights  of  art.  Again, 
poets  and  composers  are  alike  the  children  of 
their  times,  and  vividly  reflect  the  dominant 
emotions  of  the  hour  and  the  scene  in  which 
they  live.  History  colours  every  branch  of  Art, 
and  none  more  so  than  the  Song,  for  it  is  the 
first  and  simplest  mode  of  giving  expression  to 
strong  feeling.  Men  naturally  sing  of  that  of 
which  their  heads  and  hearts  are  full ;  and  thus 
there  is  a  close  correspondence  between  great 
historic  events  and  the  multitude  of  songs  to 
which  they  almost  invariably  give  birth.  From 
wars  have  issued  songs  of  victory,  and  other  mar 
tial  odes  ;  from  keen  political  struggles,  songs  or 
satire;  from  religious  reformations,  majestic  hymns 
and  chorales ;  and  from  revolutions,  impassioned 
songs  of  liberty. 

Time  alone  can  produce  men  of  genius  and 
breathe  the  inspiration  of  great  events  ;  but  even 
with  these  reservations,  there  is  ample  scope  for 
the  improvement  of  the  Song  in  our  own  country 
by  talent  and  conscientious  study.  In  wealth  of 
splendid  poetry  England  has  no  superior ;  and  it 
is  singular  that  her  great  poets  have  not  left 
deeper  marks  upon  the  Song  in  music.  No  effect, 
for  instance,  was  produced  on  it  by  the  group  of 
fine  poets  to  which  Byron  and  Shelley  belonged, 
comparable  with  the  effect  which  the  lyrics  of 
Goethe  and  his  contemporaries  had  upon  it  in 
Germany.  Some  would  explain  the  anomaly  by 
the  deficient  culture  of  English  musicians  at  most 
periods  of  our  history.  Others  might  justly  point 
to  the  irregular  accentuations  of  English  verse  as 
presenting  special  difficulties  to  the  composer. 
But  no  single  circumstance  has  been  more  in 
jurious  to  English  Song  than  our  extravagant 
and  long-cherished  preference  for  the  Italian 
opera.  Of  that  indifference  to  the  meaning  of 
words,  in  which  it  trained  the  English  public, 
enough  has  been  said  already  and  need  not  be 
repeated  here.  Happily  now  there  is  a  change 
for  the  better,  and  English  composers  are  at  last 
alive  to  the  importance  of  the  words. 

No  branch  of  music  has  been  so  freely  handled 
by  inferior  and  unpractised  composers  as  the 
Song.  It  certainly  does  not  require  so  accurate 
a  knowledge  of  formal  principles  as  other  kinds 
of  music;  and  thus  seems  to  invite  the  inex 
perienced  hand.  But  in  truth  it  demands, 
and  is  worthy  of  the  most  serious  study.  The 
simple  'guitar  accompaniments'  of  other  days  no 


632 


SONG. 


longer  satisfy :  full  and  elaborate  accompaniments, 
having  a  beauty  of  their  own  apart  from  the  voice, 
are  now  looked  for.  And  although  exception  has 
been  taken  to  this  development  of  the  accom 
paniment  as  a  device  to  conceal  poverty  of  melodic 
invention,  it  cannot  be  gainsaid  that  the  charm 
and  interest  of  a  song  are  enhanced  by  a  well 
conceived  and  appropriate  pianoforte  part.  Again, 
no  song  can  be  really  good  without  correct  ac 
centuation  and  emphasis  ;  but  how  few  composers 
seem  to  have  studied  this  element  of  composition. 
If  the  reader  will  only  turn  «'o  the  article  on 
ACCENT  in  this  Dictionary,  he  will  soon  perceive 
its  immense  importance.1  It  is  much  to  be 
desired  that  we  had  in  English  some  work 
like  M.  Matthis  Lussy's  excellent  Treatise  on 
Musical  Expression.2  Clear  rules  will  be  found 
there  for  the  correspondence  between  the  musical 
rhythm  and  the  verse  rhythm,  with  examples 
showing  how  the  sense  of  the  musical  phrase 
may  be  destroyed,  if  it  be  interrupted  by  a  new 
line  of  the  verse,  and  how  the  verse  in  turn  may 
be  marred  by  the  interruption  of  rests  or  pauses 
in  the  musical  phrase.  There  the  student  may 
learn  why  the  strong  and  weak  accents  of  the 
music  should  coincide  with  the  long  and  short 
syllables  of  the  verse,  and  the  cases  in  which 
departures  from  this  rule  are  justifiable.  There 
also  the  proper  relation  of  musical  cadence  to 
grammatical  punctuation,  and  many  another  point 
in  the  art  of  composition,  are  illustrated  by  in 
structive  examples. 

In  connection  with  essential  requisites  of  the 
Song,  much  might  be  said  about  the  sound  of 
the  words  in  the  voice  part,  about  the  incidence 
of  open  words  on  certain  notes,  and  careful  com 
binations  of  consonants.  Much,  too,  of  the  duties 
and  responsibilities  of  the  singer  with  regard  to 
accentuation  and  phrasing.  But  the  discussion 
of  such  topics  would  carry  us  far  beyond  the 
history  of  the  Song,  and  the  space  already  tra 
versed  is  more  than  wide  enough. 

To  the  deficiencies  of  this  article  no  one  can  be 
more  alive  than  its  writer  ;  and  no  one  can  more 
acutely  feel  that  the  investigation  offers  a  fitting 
field  for  the  highest  faculties  of  musical  research 
and  exposition.  In  the  difficulties  inevitable  in 
studying  the  Songs  of  those  nations  with  whose 
language  she  was  not  acquainted,  and  also  in 
procuring  materials  from  abroad,  the  writer  has 
been  much  helped  by  friends,  among  whom  she 
would  gratefully  mention  Mr.  Mazzucato,  Miss 
Phillimore,  M.  Mathis  Lussy,  M.  Gustave  Chou- 
quet,  Mine.  Blaze  de  Bury,  Don  Francesco 
Asenjo  Barbieri,  Senor  Bernardo  Moreira  de 
S£,  Mr.  J.  A.  Kappey,  Mr.  Barclay  Squire, 
Mme.  Lind-Goldschmidt,  Mine,  de  NovikofF,  and 
Mr.  Ealston.  [A.H.W.] 

SONGE  D'UNE  NUIT  D'ETE,  LE  (A  Mid 
summer  Night's  Dream).  A  comic  opera  in 
3  acts,  a  gross  caricature  of  scenes  in  the  life 
of  Queen  Elizabeth  and  Shakspeare,  with  no  rela- 

1  Examples,  for  instance,  are  given  from  Schubert  of  declamatory 
and  interrogative  accents. 

2  Traite  de  1'expressiou  musicale,  par  M.  Matthis  Lussy.    Paris, 
1881. 


SONNLEITHNER. 

tion  to  his  play.  The  words  are  by  Rosier  and 
De  Leuven,  and  the  music  by  Ambroise  Thomas, 
and  it  was  produced  at  the  Opera  Comique 
April  20,  1850.  [G.] 

SONGS  WITHOUT  WORDS.  The  title  of 
certain  well-known  Pianoforte  pieces  of  Mendels 
sohn's,  first  published  in  English  as  'Original 
Melodies  for  the  Pianoforte,'  and  in  German  as 
'  Lieder  ohne  Worte.'  Of  the  latter  title,  'Son^s 
without  words'  is  a  translation.  [See  vol.  ii. 
P-  I35-]  [G.] 

SONNAMBULA,  LA.  An  Italian  opera  in 
2  acts;  libretto  by  Romani,  music  by  Bellini 
(written  for  Pasta  and  Rubini).  Produced  at 
the  Teatro  Carcano,  Milan,  March  6,  1831;  at 
the  King's  Theatre,  London,  July  28,  and  at 
Paris,  Oct.  28  of  the  same  year.  At  Drury 
Lane  (with  Malibran)  in  English,  under  Italian 
title,  May  i,  1833.  [G.] 

SONNLEITHNER,  a  noted  Viennese  family 
of  musical  amateurs.  The  first,  CHRISTOPH, 
born  May  28,  1734,  at  Szegedin,  came  to 
Vienna  at  2  years  old  and  learned  music  from 
his  uncle  Leopold  Sonnleithner,  choir-master  of 
a  church  in  the  suburbs.  He  also  studied  law, 
became  an  advocate  of  some  eminence,  was  em 
ployed  by  Prince  Esterhazy,  arid  thus  came 
into  contact  with  Haydn.  He  composed  several 
symphonies,  which  his  friend  Von  Kees  (often 
mentioned  in  Haydn's  life)  frequently  played 
with  his  orchestra ;  and  also  36  quartets,  mostly 
for  the  Emperor  Joseph,  who  used  to  call  him 
his  favourite  composer.  His  church-compositions, 
remarkable  for  purity  of  form  and  warmth  of 
feeling,  have  survived  in  the  great  ecclesiastical 
institutions  of  Austria,  and  are  still  performed 
at  High  Mass.  Christoph  Sonnleithner  died 
Dec.  25,  1786.  His  daughter,  Anna,  was  the 
mother  of  Grillparzer  the  poet.  His  son  IGNAZ, 
Doctor  of  Laws  and  professor  of  commercial 
science  (ennobled  1828)  was  an  energetic  member 
of  the  Gesellschaft  der  Musikfreunde,  and  took 
part  in  their  concerts  as  principal  bass-singer. 
At  the  musical  evenings  held  at  his  house,  the 
so-called  'Gundelhof,'  in  1815-24,  in  which  his 
son,  Leopold,  took  part  as  chorus-singer,  Schu 
bert's  '  Prometheus,'  though  only  with  piano-ac 
companiment,  was  first  heard  (July  24,  1816), 
as  were  also  the  part-songs  sdas  Dorfchen' 
(1819),  'Gesang  der  Geister  iiber  den  Wassern' 
(1821),  the  23rd  Psalm  for  female  voices  (1822). 
The  '  Erlkonig '  was  sung  there  for  the  first  time 
on  Dec.  I,  1820,  by  Gymnich.  Ignaz  died  in 
1831.  A  second  son,  JOSEPH,  born  1766,  de 
voted  himself  with  success  to  literature  and  the 
fine  arts,  and  in  1799  was  sent  abroad  by  the 
Emperor  Franz  to  collect  portraits  and  bio 
graphies  of  savants  and  artists  for  his  private 
library.  During  this  tour  he  made  the  acquaint 
ance  of  Gerber  and  Zelter.  In  1 804  he  succeeded 
Kotzebue  as  secretary  of  the  court-theatres,  and 
as  such  had  the  entire  management  of  both 
houses  till  1814,  and  also  of  that  '  an  der  Wien 
till  1807.  He  directed  his  endeavours  principally 
to  German  opera,  and  himself  wrote  or  translated 


SONNLEITHNER. 

several  librettos,  including  Beethoven's  'Leonore' 
from  the  French  of  du  Bouilly  (the  title  of  which 
•was  changed  against    the   composer's   wish   to 
'Fidelio')  ;l  'Agnes  Sorel'  and  others  for  Gyro- 
wetz;  'Kaiser  Hadrian,'   and  'Die  Weihe  der 
Zukunft' — a  pi&ce  d1  occasion  for  the  visit  of  the 
Allies — for  Weigl ;  '  Faniska '  for  Cherubini ;  an 
oratorio, '  Die  vier  letzten  Dinge,'  for  Eybler,  and 
numerous  plays  from   various   languages.     He 
was  the  first  editor  of  the  favourite  pocket-book 
'Aglaia,'    and    he    also    edited    the   Viennese 
' Theater- Al man ach'  for  1794,  95,  and  96,  which 
contains  valuable  biographies,  and  articles  on  the 
then  condition   of  music  in  Vienna.     For   his 
services  as  founder  (1811)  and  honorary  secre 
tary  of  the  '  Gesellschaft  adeliger  Frauen  zur 
Beforderung  der  Guten  und  Niitzlichen ' 2  he  was 
made  a  counsellor.     With  indefatigable  energy 
he  next  applied  himself  to  founding  (1813)  the 
Gesellschait   der  Musikfreunde,  and  continued 
to  act  as  its  honorary  secretary  till  his  death, 
devoting  himself  unremittingly  to  the  welfare  of 
the  society.     Another  institution  in  which  he 
took    equal   interest   was   the   Conservator! um, 
founded  in  1 8 1 7.3   The  formation  of  the  archives, 
and  especially  of  the  library,  was  almost  entirely 
his  work,  through   his   acquisition  of  Gerber's 
literary  remains  in  1819,  and  his  legacy  of  41 
MS.  vols,  in   his   own   hand,    full  of  valuable 
materials  for  the  history  of  music.     He  lived  in 
close  friendship  with  Schubert  and  Grillparzer 
up  to  his  death,  which  took  place  Dec.  26,  1835. 
He  received  the  Danebrog  Order,  and  honorary 
diplomas  from  several   musical   societies.      His 
nephew,  LEOPOLD  EDLER  VON  SONNLEITHNER, 
son  of  Ignaz,  advocate  and  eminent  amateur, 
bora  Nov.  15,  1797,  was  a  great  friend  of  the 
sisters  Frohlich,  Schubert,  Schwind  the  painter, 
and  Grillparzer.     He  took  great  care  to  preserve 
Schubert's  songs,  and  to  introduce  the  composer 
to  the  musical  world,  by  publishing,  with  the 
help  of  other  friends,  his  '  Erlkonig '  and  other 
early  songs,  for  the  first  time.     The  '  Erlkonig ' 
was  sung  by  Gyinnich 4  at  a  soire'e  of  the  Gesell 
schaft  der  Musikfreunde  Jan.  25,  1821,  and  for 
the  first  time  in  public  on  the   7th  of  March 
following,  at  the  old  Karnthnerthor  theatre,  by 
Vogl  with  immense  success.     As  member  of  the 
Gesellschaft   der  Musikfreunde   (from  1860  an 
honorary  one),  Sonnleithner  took  an  unwearied 
interest  in  the  concerns  of  the  society,  to  whose 
archives  he  left,  among  other  papers,  his  highly 
valuable  notes  on  the  operas  produced,  on  con 
certs,  and  other  musical  events  in  Vienna.     His 
numerous  articles  on  music  are  scattered  through 
various  periodicals.     He  was  an  intimate  friend 
of  Otto  Jahn's,  and  furnished  him  with  much 
valuable  material  for  the  life  of  Mozart,  as  Jahn 
acknowledges  in  his  preface.    Leopold  von  Sonn 
leithner  was  Bitter  of   the  Order  of  the  Iron 

1  Hevised  by  Treitschke  for  the  revival  of  the  opera  in  1814.    [See 
vol.  i.  p.  191.] 

2  Society  of  ladies  for  the  encouragement  of  the  good  and  the 
useful. 

3  The  first  scheme  of  instruction  was  drawn  up  by  Hofrath  von 
Mosel. 

1  August  von  Gyinnich,  an  imperial  official,  and  a.  much  esteemed 
d.ed  Oct.  6,  it 21,  aged  36. 


SONS  OF  THE  CLERGY. 


633 


Crown,  an  honorary  member  of  the  Gesellschaft 
der  Musikfreunde,  and  of  the  Musikvereine  of 
Salzburg,  Innsbruck,  etc.  He  died  March  3, 1873, 
and  with  him  disappeared  a  most  persevering 
investigator  and  collector  of  facts  connected  with 
the  history  of  music  in  Vienna,  a  class  which 
daily  becomes  rarer,  though  its  labours  were 
never  of  more  value  than  in  the  present  age  of 
new  appearances  and  general  progress.  [C.F.P.] 

SONS  OF  THE  CLERGY,  THE  COLORA 
TION  OP  THE.     This  venerable  institution,  which 
was  founded  in  1655  by  sons  of  clergymen,  has 
for  its  objects  the  assisting  necessitous  clergymen, 
pensioning  and  assisting  their  widows  and  aged 
single   daughters,   and  educating,  apprenticing, 
and  providing  outfits  for  their  children.     To  aid 
in  procuring  funds  for  these  purposes  it  holds  an 
annual  festival  (at  no  fixed  date),  consisting  of  a 
choral   service  with   a   sermon,   followed   by  a 
dinner.     The  first  sermon  was  preached  in  the 
year  of  foundation  at  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  by 
the   Rev.  George  Hall,   D.D.,  Minister   of  St. 
Botolph's,    Aldersgate     Street.      That    similar 
meetings  took  place  in  following  years  is  most 
probable,  but  there  are  no  means  of  proving  it, 
owing   to   the   unfortunate   destruction    of   the 
early  records  of  the  institution  by  fire,  in  1838. 
We  find,  however,  that  in  1674  and  1675  ser 
mons  were  preached  at  St.  Michael's,  Cornhill ; 
that  from  1676  to  1696  they  were  delivered  at 
Bow  Church,  Cheapside;    and  that   from   1697 
down  to  the  present  year  (1883)  they  have  been 
invariably  given  at  St.  Paul's  Cathedral.    The  as 
sociation  was  incorporated  by  charter  of  Charles 
II.  in  1678.     It  was  in  1698,  according  to  the 
records,  that  'music'  (i.e.  orchestral  accompani 
ment  to  the  service  and  anthems)  was  first  in 
troduced  at  the  festivals.    The  compositions  then 
performed  were  Purcell's  Te  Deum  and  Jubilate 
in  D,  composed  for  the  celebration  on  St.  Cecilia's 
day,   1694,    and   these  were   annually  repeated 
until  1713,  when  Handel's  Te  Deum  and  Ju 
bilate,  composed  on  the  Peace  of  Utrecht,  were 
given,  from  which  time  the  two   compositions 
were   alternately   performed   until    1743,    when 
both  were  laid  aside  in  favour  o.f  the  Te  Deum 
composed  by  Handel  to  celebrate  the  victory  at 
Dettingen,  which  continued  to  be  annually  per 
formed  (with  the  exception  of  one  or  two  years 
when   Purcell's   Te   Deum   was   revived)    until 
1843,  after  which  its  performance  was  discon 
tinued  in   consequence   of  the   services   of  the 
instrumental  band  being  dispensed  with  in  de 
ference  to  the  wishes  of  the  Bishop  of  London 
(Blomfield).     Handel's  overture  to  the  oratorio 
'  Esther  '  was  almost  invariably  played  as  a  pre 
lude  to  the  service  from  near  the  time  of  its 
production  in  1 7  20  until  1 843.  Dr.  W.  Hayes  was 
at  one  time  conductor  of  the  festivals,  and  added 
instrumental  parts  to  the  Old  Hundredth  Psalm 
tune  for  their  use.    Dr.  Boyce  also  was  for  many 
years  their  conductor,  and  composed  for  them  his 
two  anthems,  'Lord,  Thou  hast  been  our  refuge,' 
and  'Blessed  is  he  that  considereth  the  poor  and 
needy,'  besides  adding  accompaniments  to  Pur 
cell's   Te  Deum  and  Jubilate,  and   expanding 


634 


SONS  OF  THE  CLERGY. 


several  movements  in  them.  After  1843  the 
services  were  for  some  fifteen  or  sixteen  years 
accompanied  by  the  organ  only,  the  choir  being, 
as  before,  very  largely  augmented.  Since  about 
1860  orchestral  accompaniment  has  again  been 
called  into  requisition;  Evensong  has  taken  the 
place  of  Matins ;  and  modern  compositions  by 
various  living  composers,  often  written  expressly 
for  the  festival,  have  been  introduced.  Handel's 
immortal  '  Hallelujah,'  from  Messiah,  however, 
still  retains  its  place.  The  dinners  are  held  in 
the  hall  of  the  Merchant  Taylors'  Company.  The 
Corporation  bestowed  upon  the  objects  of  its 
bounty  in  1881  the  large  sum  of  £24,749,  dis 
tributed  among  1513  recipients.  [W.H.H.] 

SONTAG,  HENRIETTE,  COUNTESS  Rossi,  was 
born  at  Coblentz,  May  13,  1805.  Her  father 
was  a  good  comedian,  her  mother  an  actress  of 
no  ordinary  merit,  to  whom  the  daughter,  when 
at  the  height  of  fame,  continued  to  turn  for 
instruction.  At  six,  Henriette  made  her  first 
public  appearance,  at  the  Darmstadt  theatre,  as 
Salome,  in  Kauer's  '  Donauweibchen.'  Three 
years  later  her  mother,  then  a  widow,  settled  at 
Prague,  where  Weber  was  conductor  at  the 
theatre.  Here  Henriette  acted  in  juvenile  parts, 
and  in  1815  was  admitted,  though  under  the 
prescribed  age,  as  a  pupil  to  the  Conservatoire 
of  the  city.  She  studied  singing  under  Bayer 
and  Frau  Czegka,  and  when  only  15  was  suddenly 
called  upon  to  replace  the  prima  donna  at  the 
opera  in  the  part  of  the  Princess  in  Boieldieu's 
'  Jean  de  Paris.'  Her  precocity,  appearance, 
and  vocal  gifts,  at  once  created  a  great  impres 
sion,  but  shortly  afterwards  her  mother  removed 
with  her  to  Vienna,  where  the  next  few  years 
were  spent,  Henriette  Sontag  singing  both  in 
Italian  and  German  opera,  and  deriving,  accord 
ing  to  her  own  statement,  incalculable  benefit 
from  the  counsels  and  example  of  Mme.  Main- 
ville  Fodor.  Here  Weber,  in  1823,  after  hearing 
her  in  the  '  Donna  del  Lago,'  went  next  day  to 
offer  her  the  title-role  in  his  '  Euryanthe/  whose 
production,  Oct.  25,  was  a  triumph  for  Mile. 
Sontag.  Beethoven  could  not  hear  her,  but '  How 
did  little  Sontag  sing  ?'  was  his  first  question  to 
those  who  had  been  at  the  performance.  When, 
in  1824,  his  Qth  Symphony  and  Mass  in  D  were 
produced,  it  was  she  who  sustained  the  diffi 
cult  and  ungrateful  soprano  part.  She  was  next 
engaged  at  Leipzig,  and  then  for  Berlin,  making 
her  first  appearance  at  the  Konigstadt  theatre, 
August  3,  1825,  as  Isabella  in  the  'Italiana  in 
Algieri.' 

Henceforward  her  career  was  one  unbroken 
triumph.  She  made  her  d&ut  in  Paris  in  June 
1826,  as  Rosina  in  the  'Barbiere,'  and  became  a 
favourite  at  once.  Her  introduction  of  Rode's 
air  and  variations  created  a  furore.  She  sang 
also  in  the  'Donna  del  Lago'  and  'Italiana  in 
Algieri,'  and  returned  to  Germany  in  July,  with 
heightened  prestige.  Everywhere  her  beauty, 
charming  voice,  and  exquisite  vocalisation  com 
bined  to  excite  an  admiration  amounting  to 
frenzy.  At  Gottingen  her  post-chaise  was  thrown 
into  the  river  by  the  ardent  crowd,  no  mortal 


SONTAG. 

being  counted  worthy  to  make  use  of  it  after 
her.  Even  Ludwig  Borne,  after  commenting 
humorously  on  the  extravagance  of  the  public, 
confesses  to  have  yielded  in  his  turn  to  the  pre 
vailing  infatuation.  Her  figure  was  slender  and 
mignonne,  her  hair  between  auburn  and  blonde 
her  eyes  large,  and  her  features  delicate.  Her 
voice,  a  soprano  of  clear  and  pleasing  quality, 
was  specially  good  in  the  upper  register,  reaching 
the  E  in  alt  with  facility,  and  in  perfection  of 
execution  she  seems  to  have  been  unsurpassed 
by  any  singer  of  her  time.  But  she  was  deficient 
in  dramatic  power,  and  only  appeared  to  the 
highest  advantage  in  works  of  a  light  and  placid 
style.  On  her  return  to  Paris,  in  January  1828, 
she  essayed  parts  of  a  different  order,  such  as 
Donna  Anna  and  Semiramide,  with  success,  but 
in  passion  and  emotion  never  rose  to  the  distinc 
tion  she  attained  as  a  songstress. 

In  England  she  appeared  first  on  April  19, 1828, 
at  the  King's  Theatre,  as  Rosina,  and  met  with  a 
most  flattering  reception,  sharing  with  Mali  bran 
the  honours  of  that  and  the  succeeding  season. 
The  story  of  the  coolness  existing  between  the 
two,  and  of  how,  after  singing  together  the  duet 
from  'Semiramide'  at  a  concert,  mutual  admira 
tion  transformed  their  estrangement  into  warm 
friendship,  is  well  known.  Mile.  Sontag  ap 
peared  here  in  other  rdles,  and  her  artistic  fame 
was  enhanced  by  her  popularity  in  society. 

At  Berlin,  Mile.  Sontag  had  formed  the  ac 
quaintance  of  Count  Rossi,  then  in  the  diplomatic 
service  of  Sardinia.  An  attachment  sprang  up 
between  them  and  was  followed  by  a  secret 
marriage.  It  was  feared  that  the  young  diplo- 
mate's  future  might  be  compromised  were  he  to 
acknowledge  an  artiste  of  low  birth  as  his  wife. 
But  after  a  time  Count  Rossi's  efforts  to  procure 
Court  sanction  to  his  union  were  successful— the 
King  of  Prussia  bestowed  a  patent  of  nobility  on 
the  lady,  who  henceforth  appeared  in  documents 
as  nie  de  Launstein,  and  she  definitely  bade  fare 
well  to  artistic  life.  As  Countess  Rossi  she  ac 
companied  her  husband  to  the  Hague,  where  be 
was  representative  of  the  Sardinian  Court.  Oc 
casionally  she  would  sing  for  public  charities,  in 
concerts  or  oratorio — a  style  in  which  she  is  said 
to  have  been  unrivalled  ;  still,  for  nearly  half 
•her  lifetime  she  remained  lost  to  the  musical 
public,  following  the  career  of  her  husband  at  the 
courts  of  Holland,  Germany,  and  Russia.  As  to 
her  domestic  felicity  and  the  character  of  her 
husband,  we  quote  the  positive  testimony  of  her 
brother,  Carl  Sontag,  'Rossi  made  my  sister 
happy,  in  the  truest  sense  of  the  word.  Up  to 
the  day  of  her  death  they  loved  each  other  as 
on  their  wedding-day ! '  But  the  disorders  of 
1847-48  had  impaired  their  fortunes,  and  she 
was  tempted  to  return  to  the  opera.  It  was 
notified  to  Rossi  that  he  might  retain  his  am 
bassador's  post,  if  he  would  formally  separate 
from  his  wife— on  the  tacit  understanding  that 
so  soon  as  her  operatic  career  was  concluded  i 
should  be  allowed  to  return  to  him.  This  h 
however  at  once  refused,  and  resigned  his  post, 
though  remaining  on  a  friendly  footing  with  the 


SONTAG. 

Court.  Lumley,  then  manager  of  Her  Majesty's 
Theatre,  having  offered  the  Countess  Rossi  £6000 
for  six  months,  it  was  accepted,  and  in  July  1849 
her  reappearance  in  London  as  '  Linda '  was  an 
nounced.  The  curiosity  excited  was  extreme. 
Her  voice  and  charms  were  unimpaired,  and  the 
unanimous  opinion  seems  to  have  been  that, 
in  the  words  of  Adolph  Adam,  she  now  united 
to  youth  and  freshness  the  qualities  of  a  finished 
artist.  Her  former  deficiencies  were  in  some 
measure  compensated  for  by  study  and  less 
girlish  appearance.  As  Amina,  though  Jenny 
Lind  was  fresh  in  the  public  memory,  she  was 
rapturously  received,  as  also  in  Desdemona,  and 
Susanna  in  the  '  Nozze,'  one  of  her  favourite 
parts,  and  pronounced  by  a  German  critic  the 
most  perfect  thing  he  had  seen  on  any  stage. 
Her  extraordinary  preservation  of  her  powers 
was  partly  due  no  doubt  to  long  exemption  from 
the  wear  and  tear  of  incessant  public  singing, 
but  Sontag  was  always  extremely  careful  of 
her  voice,  discarding  any  r&le  that  did  not  lie 
well  within  her  register.  Thus,  in  an  early 
contract  at  Berlin,  she  expressly  stipulates  that 
she  shall  not  be  bound  to  sing  in  the  operas  of 
Spontini ! 

After  a  tour  in  the  English  provinces  in  the 
winter  of  1849,  she  went  to  Paris,  where  a  suc 
cessful  series  of  concerts,  also  under  Lumley's 
management,  preceded  in  the  spring  of  1850  her 
reappearance  at  Her  Majesty's  to  win  fresh 
laurels  as  Norina  in  '  Don  Pasquale,'  Elvira  in 
the  'Puritani,'  and  Miranda  in  Hale"vy's  new 
opera  'La  Tempesta.'  As  Zerlina  and  the 
Tiglia  del  Eeggimento,'  she  appeared  for  the 
first  time,  and  with  pre-eminent  success.  In  the 
autumn  of  1850  she  sang  in  Italian  opera  at 
Paris,  Lumley  again  being  director  of  the  com 
pany.  During  this  season  Alary's  '  Tre  Nozze ' 
was  produced,  and  the  polka-duet  between  Sontag 
and  Lablache  never  failed  to  send  the  public  into 
ecstasies.  It  was  brought  out  in  London  in  185  r, 
with  similar  results.  During  this  season,  Mme. 
Sontag's  last  in  London,  she  sang  in  a  round  of 
her  favourite  parts,  and  in  the  production  of 
'I/Enfant  Prodigue.' 

In  Germany,  wherever  she  went  she  carried 
all  before  her.  At  a  concert  at  Munich  she  was 
expressly  requested  to  stay  to  hear  the  last  piece. 
It  proved  to  be  a  'Huldigungs  Chor ' — verses  com 
posed  expressly  in  her  honour  by  the  Crown 
Prince,  and  set  to  music  by  Lachner. 

In  1852  Mme.  Sontag  received  offers  from 
the  United  States,  which  tempted  her  thither 
with  her  husband  in  the  autumn.  The  results 
were  brilliant.  Her  voice  was  strengthened  by 
the  climate,  and  at  this  time  she  could  sing  in 
'Lucrezia  Borgia'  and  the  'Figlia  del  Reggi- 
mento'  on  a  single  evening  without  over-fatigue! 
Her  last  appearance  was  made  in  '  Lucrezia '  at 
Mexico,  in  1854.  She  was  attacked  by  cholera, 
and  on  June  17  a  brief  illness  cut  short  a  life 
of  unchequered  prosperity. 

Berlioz,  remarking  on  the  fact  that  Sontag 
had  less  to  suffer  than  other  equally  famous 
singers  from  hostile  criticism  and  party  spirit, 


SOPEANO. 


635 


ascribes  it  to  her  having  united  so  many  favourite 
qualities — sweetness  unsurpassed,  fabulous  agi 
lity,  perfect  intonation,  and  expression.  In  this 
last  her  scope  was  limited,  and  warranted  Cata- 
lani's  mot,  '  Elle  est  la  premiere  dans  son  genre, 
mais  son  genre  n'est  pas  le  premier.'  Her  success 
in  certain  pathetic  rdles  must  be  attributed  to 
the  charm  of  her  singing.  She  used  to  say,  'A 
Donna  Anna  over  her  father's  corpse,  a  Pamina 
in  the  air  "Ach  ich  fiihl's,"  who  cannot  move 
the  public  to  tears,  have  no  idea  of  Mozart.'  By 
her  delivery  of  the  short  phrase  alone,  '  Tamino, 
halt !  ich  muss  ihn  sehn,'  sung  by  Pamina  be 
hind  the  scenes,  she  could  rouse  the  house  to  the 
stormiest  applause.  She  was  a  thorough  and 
conscientious  artist,  and  her  style  won  her  the 
special  favour  of  eminent  musicians.  Mendels 
sohn  entertained  the  highest  admiration  for  her, 
and  she  obtained  a  like  tribute  of  praise  from 
connoisseurs  in  every  country.  It  fell  to  her  lot 
to  achieve  an  international  popularity  and  fame 
never  before  accorded  to  a  German  singer.  [B.T.] 

SOPRANO.    The  human  voice  of  the  highest 
pitch  or  range.    Its  peculiar  clef  (called  ~ 

the  Soprano  Clef)  is  the  C-clef  upon  the     lifijEEE 
first   line   of  our  treble  stave ;   but  in     jnf 
modern  times  this  has  been  almost  superseded 
by  the  treble  or  G-clef  on  the  second  line. 

The  word  '  Soprano '  is  etymologically  synony 
mous  with  'Sovrano,'  the  head,  chief,  or  highest. 
In  the  present  day  the  soprano  is  the  highest 
natural  voice  of  women  and  boys — the  artificial 
soprani  belonging  to  the  past ;  and  in  women  it 
is,  perhaps,  the  voice  which  varies  most  in  com 
pass.  [See  SINGING.]  That  of  AGUJARI  is  the 
highest  and  most  extended  on  record,  and  that  of 
TITJENS  one  of  the  largest  in  quality  and  power. 
But,  as  with  other  voices,  it  is  not  a  question  of 
compass  alone,  but  of  timbre.  Many  mezzo- 
soprani  can  sing  higher  notes  than  many  soprani ; 
but  there  is  a  middle  to  every  voice,  which,  as  a 
rule,  it  is  not  difficult  to  find,  and  about  this  the 
tessitura  (literally  texture)  of  the  music  and  the 
practice  should  be  woven.  Tessitura  is  the  techni 
cal  term  used  by  the  Italians  to  signify  the  notes  or 
part  of  the  scale  upon  which  music  is  framed,  and 
though,  as  said  above,  a  mezzo-soprano  may  sing 
higher  notes  than  a  soprano,  it  would  generally  be 
found  distressing  to  the  former  voice  to  dwell  upon 
that  part  of  the  scale  upon  which  even  a  limited 
soprano  part  is  written.  No  one  can  say  that  F 
on  the  line  is  a  high  note  for  a  soprano,  and  yet 
'Voi  che  sapete  '  (which  never  goes  above  F)  is 
found  a  trying  song  by  some  limited  soprani,  the 
tessitura  being  high.  [See  TESSITURA.]  Faustina, 
Cuzzoni,  Mingotti,  Anastasia  Robinson,  Mara, 
Banti,  Catalani,  Mrs.  Billington,  and  Miss  Paton 
are  some  of  the  principal  soprani  of  bygone  days, 
possessing  exceptionally  good  voices  ;  and  those 
of  Grisi,  Clara  Novello,  Titjens,  and  Adelina  Patti, 
may  perhaps  be  considered  the  four  best  natural 
soprano  voices  of  modern  times.  Some  great 
singers  have  depended  more  upon  their  artistic 
excellence  than  upon  their  voices — Pasta  and 
Persiani  for  example.  Jenny  Lind  made  her 
voice  what  it  was.  Massive  soprano  voices  are 


SOPKANO. 


found  amongst  the  Germans,  of  which  Madame 
Iludersdorff  was  an  instance,  but  they  are  chiefly 
adapted  to  declamatory  singing.  A  striking  ex 
ample  of  the  soprano  leggiero,  the  exact  opposite 
of  the  last-mentioned  voice,  was  Madame  Stock- 
liausen,  who  was  very  popular  on  account  of  the 
musical  quality  of  her  voice  and  the  faultless 
manner  of  her  execution.  But  she  was  unim- 
passioned,  and  though  there  was  a  great  charm 
about  her  rendering  of  her  native  Swiss  airs,  her 
performance  of  such  songs  as  Meyerbeer's  'Idole 
de  ma  vie'  (Robert  le  Diable)  was  almost  that  of 
a  musical  box.  The  great  artificial  soprani  of  the 
1 7th,  1 8th,  and  the  early  part  of  the  present 
centuries  were  Ferri,  Pasqualini,  1Nicolini  (after- 
wards  changing  to  contralto),  Bernacchi,  Caffa- 
relli,  and  Farinelli  (the  two  greatest),  Carestini, 
Gizzi  ell  o,  G  u  ard  ucci,  A  prile .  Millico,  Pacchiero  t  ti, 
Crescentini,  Velluti,  etc.  Pergetti  was  the  last 
of  the  tribe  who  sang  in  England. 

There  are  some  high  Mezzo-soprani  that,  during 
the  years  of  youth  and  vigour,  contrive  to  sing 
soprano  music,  but  the  voice  will  not  continue 
to  bear  the  strain,  and  the  result,  after  a  time, 
baneful  alike  to  singer  and  hearer,  is  extreme 
harshness  in  the  upper  notes,  with  frequent  false 
intonation,  hollowness  or  emptiness  of  the 
middle  of  the  voice,  and  flaccid  gruffness  upon 
the  lower  notes,  and  in  many  cases  early  total 
failure  of  the  vocal  powers.  The  low  mezzo- 
soprano,  which  might  be  called  mezzo-contralto, 
can  generally  make  a  shift  to  sing  contralto 
music,  but  the  voice  lacks  the  heavy  lower  notes 
necessary  to  give  the  music  its  full  effect.  It  is 
in  the  large  spaces  of  our  modern  concert-halls 
that  these  deficiencies  make  themselves  most  felt. 
The  true  mezzo-soprano,  not  forced  out 
of  its  proper  limit,  is  a  very  fine  type  of 
voice.  The  mezzo-soprano  clef,  now  dis 
used,  is  the  C-clef  on  the  second  line.  [H.C.D.] 

SOEDINI,  Mutes2  or  Dampers  (Fr.  Sourdine ; 
Ger.  Ddmpfer.  The  term  occurs  in  Senza  sor 
dini;  Con  sordini).  The  violin  Sordino  has  been 
described  and  figured  under  MUTE,  and  some 
further  remarks  are  given  below. 

In  the  pianoforte  the  contrivance  is  called  in 
English  the  damper.  The  first  pianofortes,  as 
we  find  Cristofori's  and  Silbermann's,  were  made 
without  stops.  In  course  of  time  a  practice 
common  with  the  harpsichord  was  followed  in 
the  pianoforte,  and  led  the  way  to  the  now  in 
dispensable  pedals. 

The  first  stops  were  used  to  raise  the  dampers ; 
and  by  two  brass  knobs  on  the  player's  left  hand 
the  dampers  could  be  taken  entirely  off  the 
strings  in  two  divisions,  bass  and  treble.  C.  P. 
E.  Bach,  in  his  '  Versuch,'  makes  few  references 
to  the  pianoforte  ;  but  in  the  edition  of  1797  he 
remarks  (p.  268)  that  the  undamped  register  of 
the  Fortepiano  is  the  most  agreeable,  and  that, 
with  due  care,  it  is  the  most  charming  of  keyed 
instruments  for  improvising  ('fantasiren').  The 

1  Erroneously  classed  amongst  early  tenors  under  SINGING. 

2  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  metaphors  at  the  root  of  the  Italian 
and  English  terms  are  deafness  in  the  one  case  and  dumbness  in  the 
other. 


SORDINI. 

higher  treble  of  the  piano  is  not  now  damped. 
These  short  strings  vibrate  in  unison  with  the 
overtones  of  deeper  notes,  and,  as  a  distinguished 
pianoforte-maker  has  said,  give  life  to  the  whole 
instrument.3  The  musical  terms  '  Senza  sordini' 
and  '  Con  sordini '  applied  to  the  damper-stops 
were  used  exclusively  by  Beethoven  in  his  earlier 
sonatas.  He  did  not  use  the  now  familiar  'Fed.' 
or  '  Pedal,'  because  the  pedal  was  of  recent  intro 
duction,  and  was  less  commonly  employed  than 
the  stops,  which  every  little  square  piano  then 
had.  The  'Genouilliere'  or  knee-pedal  replaced 
the  damper  stops  in  the  G-erman  Grands.  For 
the  Italian  words  signifying  Without  and  With 
dampers  the  signs  $  and  %  were  substituted 
by  Steibelt,  and  eventually  became  fixed  as  the 
constant  equivalents.  The  oldest  dated  so«uare 
piano  existing,  one  of  Zumpe's  of  1766,  has  the 
damper  stops  ;  as  to  the  Genouilliere,  Mozart  tells 
us  (letter,  Oct.  1777)  how  Stein  had  one  in  his 
improved  Grand,  and  M.  Mahillon's  Stein  of i j8o 
or  thereabouts,  accordingly  has  one.  There  is 
one  in  Mozart's  Walther  Grand  at  Salzburg,  and 
in  each  of  the  two  Huhn  (Berlin)  Grands  of 
1790,  or  earlier,  preserved  at  Potsdam.  The 
action  of  the  Genouilliere  consists  of  two  levers 
which  descend  a  little  below  the  key-bottom  of 
the  piano,  and  meet  opposite  the  knees  of  the 
player,  who  pressing  the  levers  together,  by  an 
upward  thrust  moves  a  bar  which  takes  the 
whole  of  the  dampers  off  the  strings. 

Contemporaneously  with  the  employment  of 
the  Genouilliere  was  that  of  the  piano  stop 
(German  'Harfenzug'  Fr.  'Celeste'),  afterwards 
transferred,  like  the  dampers,  to  a  pedal.  An 
interesting  anonymous  Louis  Quinze  square  piano 
belonging  to  the  painter  M.  Gosselin  of  Brussels, 
has  this  Celeste  as  a  stop.  Its  origin  is  clearly 
the  harp-stop  of  the  harpsichord,  the  pieces  of 
leather  being  turned  over  so  as  to  be  interposed 
between  the  hammers  and  the  strings.4 

A  note  of  directions  for  the  use  of  the  pedals 
prefixed  to  Steibelt's  three  sonatas,  op.  35,  gives 
an  approximate  date  to  the  use  of  the  pedals  be 
coming  recognised,  and  put  under  the  composer's 
direction,  instead  of  being  left  entirely  to  the 
fancy  of  the  player.  He  says:  'The  Author 
wishing  to  make  more  Variety  on  the  Piano  Forte 
finds  it  necessary  to  make  use  of  the  Pedals,  by 
which  alone  the  tones  can  be  united,  but  it  re 
quires  to  use  them  with  care,  without  which,  in 
goino-  from  one  chord  to  another,  Discord  and 
Confusion,  would  result.  Hereafter  the  Author 
in  all  his  Compositions  will  make  use  of  the 
following  signs  to  denote  the  Pedals. 

$•  The  Pedal  which  raises  the  dampers. 

*  The  Piano  Pedal. 

4,  To  take  the  foot  off  the  Pedal  that  was 
used  before.' 

3  Even  in  Virdung.  A.D.  1511.  we  find  the  practice  of  Caving  sym 
pathetic  strings  in  the  clavichords ;  as  he  says  to  stren 
resonance.  ^.^  PEDALS  we  attributed  the  introduction  onhe 
•Celeste'  to  Sebastian  Erard ;  but  as  now  named  •we  a 
to  place  this  kind  of  pedal  earlier,  since  it  was  in  such  g« 
in  18th-century  Germanpianos,  the  ideas  of  which,  whether  ' 

German  or  French,  Erard  appears  at  first  to  have  adoptei 
basis  for  his  experiments. 


SORDINI. 

Steibelt's  op.  35  was  published  in  1799,  by 
Longman,  Clement!  &  Co.1 

The  leather  was  applied  in  one  length  to  mute 
the  strings  more  effectually,  and  was  then  called 
in  French  '  Sourdine.'  John  Broadwood  was  the 
first  to  put  the  'sordin' — as  the  term  occurs  in 
his  patent  of  1783 — upon  a  foot  pedal;  he  put 
the  dampers  upon  a  pedal  at  the  same  time,  and 
for  fifty  years  the  pedal-foot  was  cloven,  to  divide 
the  dampers  into  bass  and  treble  sections,  as  the 
stops  had  previously  been  divided  for  the  same 
purpose.  The  use  of  the  pianissimo  mute  was 
indicated  by  the  Italian  word  'Sordino.'  Mr. 
Franklin  Taylor  has  pointed  out  to  the  writer  the 
use  of  this  term  in  the  sense  of  a  mute  as  late  as 
Thalberg's  op.  41  (Ashdown's  edition)  : — 


SORDINI. 


637 


-9  —  i  « 


«    I  m    i  »    i  B 


«-H  -»-+->-^l      I   •      \-9-9t-+-9- 
R-» — |-» — I  •  •   >• — I — t  •     I 


loco 


'I     1~T    -1 

g  .—  n    

•  •  — 

•^  • 

^       II 

1        <'f—  — 

s^  • 
f^\  * 

s^f  —  J  

1    ^- 

The '  Verschiebung,'  or  shifting  pedal,  for  shift 
ing  the  hammep  first  to  two  strings  and  then 
to  one  (una  corda),  ultimately  gained  the  day 
over  the  muted  pedals  or  stops.  The  effect  of 
the  'una  corda'  was  charming,  and  is  expressly 
indicated  by  Beethoven  in  his  G  major  Concerto, 
in  op.  106,  etc.  The  pp  and  ppp  soft  pedal  in 
course  of  time  shared  the  fate  of  the  divided 
damper  pedal :  such  refinements  were  banished 
as  being  of  small  service  in  large  rooms.  In  the 
six-pedal  Viennese  Grand  of  Nanette  Stein  at 
Windsor  Castle,  the  'Verschiebung'  and '  Harfen- 
zug'  co-exist.2  The  latter  has  of  late  years 

1  Steibelt  gives  a  description  of  the  pedals,  with  his  signs  for  them. 
In  his '  MtHhode  de  Piano,'  first  published  by  Janet,  Paris,  1805.    He 
names  Clementi,  Dussek  and  Cramer  as  having  adopted  his  signs. 
They  differ  from  and  are  better  than  Adam's  (Methode  de  Piano  du 
Conservatoire),  also  published  in  Paris,  1802.    Steibelt  calls  the  '  una 
corda '  celeste. 

2  The  remaining  pedals  in  Nanette  Stein's  Grand  are  the  'Fagotzug,' 
'  which  a  piece  of  card  or  stiff  paper  is  brought  into  partial  contact 

with  the  strings,  and  the  '  Janissary  '  drum  and  triangle.  See  STEIN. 


again  come  forward,  at  first  in  oblique  pianos 
that  could  not  shift,  and  since  more  generally  j 
and  has,  to  a  certain  extent,  gained  the  favour 
of  amateurs.  The  material  used  is  cloth  or 
felt-  [A.J.H.] 

Most  instruments  are  capable  of  having  their 
tone  dulled  for  particular  effects,  and  this  is 
accomplished  by  partially  preventing  the  vibra 
tions  by  the  interposition  of  a  foreign  substance. 
Violins  are  muted  either  by  placing  a  wooden 
or  brass  instrument  [see  MUTE]  upon  the  bridge, 
or  by  slipping  a  coin  or  strip  of  horn  between 
the  strings  above  the  bridge.  These  two  means 
produce  different  results.  The  brass  mute  is  so 
heavy  as  to  entirely  extinguish  the  tone,  espe 
cially  of  a  small  or  inferior  violin,  while  the  strip 
of  horn  sometimes  produces  scarcely  any  effect 
at  all.  A  penny  squeezed  between  the  bridge 
and  tailpiece  produces  just  the  right  effect. 
The  brass  mute  should  be  reserved  as  a  special 
effect  of  itself.  On  the  other  hand,  the  mutes 
for  the  Cello  and  Double-bass  are  rarely  made 
heavy  enough,  and  this  has  given  rise  to  the 
erroneous  idea  (see  Prout's  Treatise  on  Instru 
mentation,  pp.  23,  28)  that  mutes  do  not  produce 
much  effect  on  these  instruments.  The  double- 
bass  mutes  used  by  the  present  writer  are  of 
brass,  and  weigh  rather  over  a  pound.  They 
produce  a  beautiful  veiled  tone,  and  it  is  pro 
bable  that  larger  patterned  basses  would  bear 
even  a  heavier  mute. 

Brass  instruments  can  be  muted  in  three  ways. 
The  first  and  most  effective  is — as  in  'stopping' 
a  horn — the  introduction  of  the  closed  hand  or  a 
rolled-up  handkerchief  into  the  bell.  This  raises 
the  pitch  of  the  instrument,  but  produces  a  good 
muffled  tone.  The  second  way  is  by  inserting  a 
pear-shaped  piece  of  wood  covered  with  leather 
into  the  bell,  which  it  fits,  small  studs  allowing 
a  portion  of  the  wind  to  pass.  The  tone  thus 
produced  is  thin,  nasal,  and  unpleasing.  Wagner 
has  frequently  used  it  (Siegfried,  Acts  I  and  2  ; 
Meistersinger,  last  scene)  as  a  comic  effect,  imi 
tating  the  sound  of  a  toy-trumpet.  The  third 
means  produces  a  very  distant-sounding,  but  still 
more  nasal  quality  of  tone,  and  is  known  to 
orchestral  players  as  the  '  coffee-pot  effect.'  It 
is  obtained  by  allowing  the  sound  to  issue  from 
the  small  end  of  a  small  double  cone  of  metal, 
styled  the  'echo  attachment.'  A  good  cornet 
player  can,  by  these  three  devices,  produce  on 
his  instrument  exact  imitations  of  the  horn,  oboe, 
and  bagpipe. 

Trombones,  Tubas,  etc.,  can  also  be  muted  in 
the  same  way,  though  we  are  not  aware  of  any 
instance  in  orchestral  music.  The  effect  of  an 
entire  military  band  con  sordini  would  be  very 
curious  and  striking,  but  almost  impracticable, 
owing  to  the  difficulty  of  keeping  in  tune. 

It  has  been  frequently  stated  that  'Berlioz 
muted  the  Clarinet  by  enveloping  the  bell  in  a 
bag  of  chamois  leather,'  and  that  '  The  Oboes  in 
Handel's  time  were  muted  by  placing  a  ball  of 
cotton  wool  in  the  bell.'  But  these  devices  only 
affect  the  bottom  note  of  the  instrument,  as  all 
others  issue  from  the  holes  and  not  from  the  bell 


638 


SORDINI. 


at  all.  The  writer  has  tried  the  effect  of  en 
veloping  the  entire  instrument  in  a  bag  of  wash- 
leather,  from  which  the  mouthpiece  alone 
emerges.  A  slit  on  each  side  admits  the  hands 
of  the  player,  and  a  stifled  tone  is  the  result, 
not,  however,  of  sufficiently  striking  peculiarity 
to  warrant  its  use  as  a  special  effect ;  while  the 
quick  rise  of  temperature  inside  the  bag  throws 
the  instrument  out  of  tune  directly. 

The  laying  of  any  substance,  even  a  handker 
chief,  on  the  kettledrums  is  sufficient  to  check 
the  vibrations  and  produce  a  muffled  effect.  In 
the  '  Dead  March'  the  big  drum  is  usually  beaten 
enveloped  in  its  cover. 

Various  means  have  been  used  to  obtain  sour 
dine  effects  from  voices.  Berlioz,  like  Gossec 
before  him  [see  vol.  i.  6iia],  has  employed  the 
device  of  a  chorus  in  a  room  behind  the  orchestra 
('  L'Enfance  du  Christ')  and  the  interposition  of 
a  veil,  or  curtain  ('Lelio').  He  has  also  sug 
gested  that  the  chorus  should  hold  their  music 
before  their  mouths,  or  should  sing  with  their 
backs  to  the  audience.  One  important  effect, 
however,  deserves  more  attention  than  it  has 
received.  French  composers,  especially  Gounod, 
are  fond  of  that  striking  device  called  &  bouche 
fermte.  The  choir  hums  an  accompaniment  with 
out  words,  keeping  the  mouth  quite,  or  nearly, 
closed.  But  composers  have  lost  sight  of  the 
fact  that  several  totally  distinct  effects  may  be 
thus  produced,  and  they  usually  confuse  the 
matter  still  more  by  writing  the  sound  'A-a-a' 
underneath  the  music — just  the  very  sound  which 
can  not  possibly  be  produced  by  a  closed  mouth. 
The  effect  would  be  better  designated  by  writing 
the  exact  sound  intended,  and  consequently  the 
exact  position  of  the  mouth.  For  instance,  by 
closing  the  lips  entirely,  the  sound  of  *n'  or  'm' 
may  be  hummed  through  the  nose.  By  opening 
the  lips  slightly  either  of  the  vowel-sounds  may 
be  used,  each  making  a  distinct  effect.  Comical 
and  quite  original  effects  might  be  got  by  sustain 
ing  such  sounds  as  '  z-z '  (buzzed),  'r-r '  (rattled), 
or  'u"  (pursing  up  the  lips).  These,  however,  do 
not  properly  belong  to  our  subject. 

The  concealed  orchestra  at  Bayreuth  is  a  spe 
cimen  of  a  whole  orchestra  with  the  tone  veiled 
and  covered.  Opinions  differ  as  to  the  satis 
factory  result  of  this  plan.  However  good  for 
Wagner's  heavy  scoring  it  would  probably  spoil 
such  instrumentation  as  that  of  Gounod  or  Ber 
lioz.  [F.C.] 

SORT  A,  DE,  JULES  DIAZ,  a  remarkable  baritone 
singer,  was  born  of  Jewish  Portuguese  parents  at 
Bourdeaux,  April  28,  1843.  His  musical  ability 
showed  itself  early,  and  at  13  he  already  sang 
solos.  Though  a  member,  and  a  very  active 
member,  of  a  wine  house  in  his  native  city,  and 
therefore  strictly  an  ama.teur,  M.  de  Soria  is  as 
widely  known  as  if  he  were  a  professional  musi 
cian,  which  he  might  well  have  been  had  he 
chosen  to  forsake  commerce  for  music.  He  has 
chosen  to  combine  both.  He  has  travelled  over 
the  greater  part  of  Europe,  and  has  produced 
the  same  remarkable  effect  everywhere  from  the 
singular  beauty  of  his  voice,  and  the  exquisite 


SORIANO-FUERTES. 

taste  and  tact  with  which  he  manages  it.  In 
Rome,  Venice,  Vienna,  Paris,  St.  Petersburg, 
and  Athens  (where  he  assisted  in  founding  the 
Conservatoire),  and  in  other  cities  of  the  Con 
tinent  he  is  well  known  in  the  best  and  highest 
musical  circles.  The  same  in  London,  which 
he  visited  in  1867  and  1872,  and  where  he 
made  many  and  lasting  Mends.  Gounod,  Fell- 
cien  David,  Massenet,  Lenepveu,  Faure  and 
others,  have  written  pieces  expressly  for  him, 
and  his  interpretations  of  the  songs  of  Schubert 
and  Schumann  are  worthy  of  all  praise.  He 
has  appeared  also  on  the  boards  both  at  Paris 
and  Nice  with  success.  His  voice  is  a  high  bari 
tone,  and  his  management  of  it  peculiarly  good 
and  effective.  [G-.] 

SORIANO  (or  SURIANO,  or  SURTANI), 
FRANCESCO,  was  born  at  Rome  in  1549,  and 
at  the  age  of  15  entered  the  choir  at  S.  John 
Lateran.  After  the  breaking  of  his  voice  he 
became  a  pupil  of  Montanari,  then  of  G.  M. 
Nanini,  and  lastly  of  Palestrina.  After  this  his 
fame  went  on  always  increasing.  In  1581  we 
find  him  Maestro  di  cappella  at  S.  Ludovico  dei 
Francesi;  in  1587  at  S.Maria  Maggiore;  in  1599 
at  S.  John  Lateran.  He  returned  however  to 
S.  Maria  Maggiore,  and  in  1603  made  his  final 
step  to  the  head  of  the  choir  of  S.  Peter's.  He 
died  in  Jan.  1620,  and  was  buried  at  S.  Maria 
Maggiore.  Soriano  published  his  first  work  in 
1581,  a  book  of  madrigals  k  5.  This  was  fol 
lowed  by  a  second  in  1592  ;  by  two  books  a  4, 
1  60  1,  1602  ;  by  a  book  of  masses  for  4,  5  and  6 
voices,  1609;  and  by  a  collection  of  no  canons 
on  'Ave  Maris  Stella.'  His  last  work  was  a 
Magnificat  and  Passione  a  4,  Rome  1619,  con 
taining  his  portrait.  A  complete  list  of  his  works 
is  given  in  Kiesewetter's  Baini,  p.  233.  He 
will  be  remembered  longest  for  having  arranged 
Palestrina's  Missa  Papse  Marcelli  for  8  voices. 
The  Passion  already  mentioned,  a  Magnificat 
and  5  Antiphons,  are  included  in  Proske's  Mu- 
SICA  DIVINA,  vols.  iii.  and  iv.,  and  2  Masses  in 
the  '  Selectus  novus.' 


SORIANO-FUERTES,  MARIANO,  a  Spanish 
composer  and  litterateur,  according  to  Riemann 
was  the  son  of  a  musician,  and  so  determined  in 
his  pursuit  of  music  that  though  forced  into  a 
cavalry  regiment  he  left  it  for  the  musical  career. 
His  works  were  many,  and  in  many  spheres  ;  in 
1841  he  founded  a  periodical  'Iberia  musical  y 
literaria';  in  1843  became  teacher  in  the  Con 
servatoire  at  Madrid;  in  1844  director  of  the 
Lyceums  at  Cordova,  Seville,  and  Cadiz;  con 
ductor  of  the  opera  at  Seville,  Cadiz,  and  (1852) 
at  Barcelona,  where  he  founded  the  'Gaceta 
Musical  Barcelonesa  '  in  1  860.  During  this  period 
he  wrote  several  '  Zarguelas  '  or  operettas  ;  but 
it  is  from  his  literary  works  that  he  will  derive 
his  chief  fame  —  'MusicaArabo-Espanola'  (1853); 
'History  of  Spanish  music  from  the  Phoenicians 
down  to  1850'  (4  vols.  1855-59);  '  Memoir  on  the 
Choral  Societies  of  Spain,'  and  '  Spain,  artistic 
and  industrial  in  the  Exposition  of  1867.'  Soriano 
died  at  Madrid  in  April  1880.  |y-J 


SOSTENUTO. 

SOSTENUTO,  'sustained';  a  direction  which 
has  of  late  corne  to  be  used  with  a  considerable 
degree  of  ambiguity.  It  originally  signified  that 
the  notes  were  to  be  held  for  their  full  value,  and 
was  thus  equivalent  to  tenuto  ;  but  in  music  of  the 
modern  '  romantic '  school  it  very  often  has  the 
same  meaning  as  meno  mosso,  or  something  be 
tween  that  and  ritenuto — i.e.  the  passage  so 
marked  is  to  be  played  at  a  uniform  rate  of 
decreased  speed  until  the  words  a  tempo  occur. 
No  precise  rule  can  be  given  for  its  interpreta 
tion,  as  its  use  varies  with  different  masters,  and 
even  in  different  works  by  the  same  master.  One 
of  the  most  remarkable  instances  of  its  use  is 
in  the  Introduction  to  Beethoven's  Symphony 
No.  7,  which  is  marked  Poco  sostenuto  only,  with 
no  direction  as  to  speed.  The  '  Meeresstille'  in 
his  op.  112  is  Sostenuto,  the  Preludium  before 
the  Benedictus  in  the  Mass  in  D  is  Sostenuto  ma 
non  troppo,  and  the  Kyrie  of  the  same  work 
Assai  sostenuto.  So  is  the  Introduction  to  the 
A  minor  Quartet,  op.  132.  Here  we  have  all  the 
varieties.  [J.A.F.M.] 

SOSTINENTE  PIANOFORTE.  The  term 
implies  a  pianoforte  capable  of  producing  a  sus 
tained  sound,  such  as  that  of  the  organ,  har 
monium,  or  violin.  It  must  however  be  borne 
in  mind  that  by  giving  the  pianoforte  this 
power  of  sustaining  sound,  the  special  character 
of  the  instrument  is  transformed,  and  in  point  of 
fact  the  '  sostinente '  pianoforte  is  a  pianoforte 
in  name  only.  It  is  the  rapid  diminution  of  the 
fugitive  tone  that  raises  the  ordinary  pianoforte 
to  that  ideal  terrain  wherein  it  finds  one  of  its 
chief  excellences,  the  prerogative  of  freedom 
from  cloying ;  the  emotion  of  the  hearer  entering 
actively  into  the  appreciation  of  its  unsubstantial 
tones,  while  it  is  rather  taken  captive  by  the  more 
material  tones  of  sostinente  instruments.  Under 
the  head  of  PIANO  -  VIOLIN  the  Hurdy  Gurdy  is 
referred  to  as  the  germ  of  sostinente  keyed- 
instruments  ;  and  allied  to  the  harpsichord  we 
next  meet  with  it  in  the  Gambenwerk  of  Hans 
Haydn  of  Nuremberg,  dating  about  1610.  The 
Lyrichord,  patented  by  Roger  Plenius  in  London 
in  1741,  demands  notice  as  being  a  harpsichord 
strung  with  wire  and  catgut,  made  on  the  sosti 
nente  principle,  and  actuated  by  moving  wheels 
instead  of  the  usual  quills,  so  that  the  bow  of  the 
violin  and  the  organ  were  imitated.  There  is  no 
specification  to  the  patent,  but  a  magazine  article 
°f  J755>  in  the  possession  of  the  writer,  gives 
a  drawing  and  complete  description  of  the  in 
strument,  which  was  otherwise  remarkable  for 
sustaining  power  by  screws,  springs,  and  balanced 
tension  weights  for  tuning ;  for  silver  covering  to 
the  bass  strings,  like  the  largest  'Bass-violins'; 
for  the  use  of  iron  to  counteract  the  greater  pull 
of  the  octave-strings  (in  the  drawing  there  are 
apparently  four  iron  bars  connecting  the  wrest- 
plank  and  soundboard,  thus  anticipating  the  later 
introduction  of  steel  arches  in  grand  pianofortes 
for  similar  service)  ;  and  lastly  for  the  Swell  ob 
tained  by  dividing  the  lid  or  cover  into  two  parts, 
one  of  which  is  moveable  up  and  down  by  means 
of  a  pedal  governed  by  the  foot  of  the  player, 


SOTO. 


639 


a  practice  followed  by  Kirlcman  in  his  harpsi 
chords,  and  perhaps  by  Shudi,  until  he  introduced, 
about  1766,  his  important  improvement  of  the 
Venetian  Swell.      Another  patent  of  Plenius,  in 
1745,  added  the  'Welch  harp,'  or  buff  stop  (in 
his  patent  by  a  pedal),  to  the  instrument.     We 
have  thus  dwelt  upon  the  Lyrichord  because  as 
an  ingenious  combination  of  inventions  its  im 
portance  cannot  be  gainsaid.1     Another  'Sosti 
nente  '  harpsichord  was  the  '  Celestina '  of  Adam 
Walker,    patented    in    London    in    1772.      An 
important  '  Sostinente '  instrument  was  the '  Cla- 
viol'  or  'Finger-keyed  Viol,'  the  invention  of 
Dr.  John  Isaac  Hawkins  of  Bordertown,  New 
Jersey,  U.  S.  A.,  an  Englishman  by  birth,  who 
also  invented  the  ever-pointed  pencil,  and,  more 
to  our  purpose,  the  real  upright  pianoforte,  which, 
in  the  article  PIANOFORTE,  we  have  erroneously 
attributed  to  his  father,  Isaac  Hawkins,  who  we 
find  merely  patented  the  invention  for  his  son  in 
London  in  iSoo.2     This   upright  piano   (called 
'  portable  grand ')  and  the  '  Claviol,'  which  was 
in   form  like  a   cabinet    piano,    with    ringbow 
mechanism  for  the  sostiuente,  were  introduced  to 
the  public  in  a  concert  at  Philadelphia,  by  the 
inventor,  June  21,  1802.     There  is  a  description 
of  the  Claviol  in  Rees's  Cyclopaedia,  1819,  and 
also  in  the  Mechanic's  Magazine  for  1845,  no. 
1150,  p.   123.     About  Hawkins  himself  there 
are  interesting  particulars  in  Scribner's  Magazine 
(A.D.  1880),  in  an  article  on  'Bordertown  and 
the  Bonapartes.'     Hawkins  was  in  England  in 
1813  and  14,  exhibiting  his  Claviol,  and  in  the 
latter  year  complained  of  his  idea  being  appro 
priated  by  others  through  the  expiration  of  his 
patent.     He  afterwards  lived  here  and  was  a 
prominent  member  of  the  Institution  of  Civil 
Engineers.  Isaac  Mott's  '  Sostinente  Piano  Forte,' 
patented  by  him  in  1817,  was  a  further  deve 
lopment  of  the  idea,  and  is  fully  described  in  the 
patent,  no.  4098.     Mott  claimed  the  power  to 
increase  or  diminish  the  tone  at  will;  and  by 
rollers  acting  on  silken  threads,  set  in  action  by 
a  pedal,  the  'sostinente'  was  brought  into  action 
or  stopped.    Mott's  instrument  had  some  success, 
he  being  at  the  time  a  fashionable  pianoforte- 
maker.    This  article  should  be  read  with  PIANO- 
VIOLIN,  which  it  completes;    also  with  MELO- 

PIANO.3  [A.J.H.] 

SOTO,  FBANCESCO,  born  1534  at  Langa  in 
Spain,  entered  the  college  of  the  Pope's  Chapel 
June  8,  1562.  He  was  a  friend  of  St.  Philip 
Neri,  and  in  Dec.  1575  took  the  direction  of  the 
music  in  the  Oratory  founded  by  him.  He  also 
founded  the  first  Carmelite  convent  in  Rome. 
He  published  the  3rd  and  4th  books  of  Laudi 
Spiritual!  (1588,  1591)  in  continuation  of  the 
two  edited  by  G.  Animuccia,  and  died  as  Dean 
of  the  Pope's  Chapel,  Sept.  25,  1619. 

Soto  was  greatly  esteemed  by  Sixtus  V.  and 
was  consulted  by  him  as  to  the  appointments  to 
the  chapel.  [G.] 

1  Plenius  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  to  attempt  to  make  a 
pianoforte  in  England. 

2  Messrs.  Broadwood  own  one  of  these  original  upright  instru 
ments. 

3  Mr.  R.  B.  Prosser  of  the  Patent  Office  has  supplied  the  references 
to  the  Claviol. 


640 


SOTTO  VOCE. 


SOTTO  VOCE,  'under  the  voice,'  in  an 
undertone  ;  a  direction  of  frequent  occurrence 
in  vocal  music,  where  its  meaning  is  obvious. 
It  is  transferred  however  to  instrumental  music, 
where  its  meaning  is  less  clear.  By  some  per 
formers  it  is  considered  that  the  diminution  in 
tone  should  be  produced  by  artificial  means,  as 
by  the  soft  pedal  on  the  piano,  or  the  sordino  on 
the  strings,  while  others  take  it  as  simply  equiva 
lent  to  a  kind  of  pp.  It  may  be  taken  ^as  a 
universal  rule  that  a  sort  of  hushed  effect  is  in 
tended.  A  notable  instance  of  its  use  occurs  in 
the  opening  of  the  Choral  Symphony.  [J.A.F.M.] 

SOUNDBOARD  or  SOUNDING  BOARD. 

Another  word  for  BELLY  [see  vol.i.  p.  220].  The 
wood  employed  for  the  soundboards  of  European 
instruments,  on  account  of  its  resonant  qualities, 
is  the  light  and  elastic  Abies  Excelsa  or  Spruce 
Fir.  [A.J.H.] 

SOUNDHOLES,  ory-HOLES,two  curvilinear 
openings  in  the  belly  of  a  stringed  instrument,  one 
on  each  side  of  the  bridge.  They  are  popularly 


Fig.  i. 


SOUNDHOLES. 

supposed  to  let  out  the  sound ;  but  they  are  in 
fact  indispensable  to  its  production.  But  for  the 
soundholes  the  belly  of  the  fiddle  would  remain 
stiff  and  motionless  under  the  bow.  By  cuttin* 
the  soundholes  on  each  side,  the  thick  central 
section  of  the  belly,  extending  from  the  top  to 
the  bottom  block,  and  fortified  by  the  bar,  is 
liberated  in  the  middle,  and  vibrates  readily 
under  the  bow.  It  communicates  its  vibration 
to  the  rest  of  the  instrument,  and  musical  tone 
is  the  result.  It  is  obvious  that  the  vibration  of 
the  central  section  must  be  considerably  affected 
by  the  place,  size,  and  shape  of  the  soundholes : 
and  their  true  place  and  size,  like  that  of  the 
bridge,  was  first  determined  by  the  makers  of 
Cremona  about  the  end  of  the  I7th  century. 
Their  shape  is  considerably  older. 

Fig.  2  shows  the  development  of  the  sound- 
hole  from  its  primitive  form.  The  primitive 
soundhole  was  round,  like  that  of  the  guitar, 
Fig.  i  (from  a  painting  in  the  Florence  gallery). 
Experiment  soon  proved  that  it  was  better  to 
leave  the  central  section  entire  from  top  to  bottom, 

Fig.  3. 


Fig.  2. 


and  to  cut  out  only  the  lateral  edges  of  the  circle 
on  each  side,  crescentwise  (Fig.  2).  The  circular 
soundhole  was  thus  transformed  into  a  pair  of 
crescents,  turned  face  to  face ;  and  this  continued 
to  be  the  normal  form  of  soundholes  in  the  I4th 
and  1 5th  centuries.  Fig.  3,  a  tenor  viol  from 
a  picture  by  Montagna  in  the  Accademia,  MiLin, 
is  a  late  specimen.  The  expedient  of  placing 
them  back  to  back  (Fig.  4)  is  as  old  as  the 

Fig.  4- 


middle  of  the  1 4th  century.     This  design  event 
ually  prevailed  for  the  viol  in  the  i6th  century, 


and  remained  the  distinctive  mark  of  the  viol 
tribe  as  long  as  viols  continued  to  be  made. 
(Fig.  4  is  from  a  large  Viola  da  Gamba,  by 
Henry  Key  of  Southwark  1611.)  It  was  used 
for  the  Viola  da  Gamba  in  England  as  late  as 
the  middle  of  the  last  century,  and  in  France 
somewhat  later.  It  still  survives  in  the  hurdy- 
gurdy.  [See  HURDT-GURDT,  vol.  i.  p.  758.] 

The  modern  soundhole  with  a  contrary  flexure 
was  developed  from  the  crescent  soundhole  by 
reversing  the  lower  half  of  the  figure  (see  Fig.  2). 
In  some  early  instruments  these  were  placed 
back  to  back  (Fig.  5,  from  tenor  viols  in  the 
carved  choir-screens  of  Cremona  Cathedral,  early 
in  the  i6th  century).  But  experiment  soon 
showed  the  expediency  of  placing  them  front  to 
front  (Fig.  6,  from  a  very  early  Italian  violin, 
about  1580),  and  the  soundhole  thus  attained 
the  familiar  shape  which  is  distinctive  of  the 
violin  tribe.  The  makers  of  the  iyth  century 
slightly  improved  the  outline.  Fig.  7  shows  the 
fiddle  soundholes  of  Stradivari,  and  their  position 
with  reference  to  the  corners.  Stradivari  first 
used  the  fiddle  soundhole  for  his  viols,  rejecting 
the  crescent  shape,  and  in  this  he  was  followed 
by  the  other  Italian  makers. 


SOUNDHOLES. 

One  other  form  of  soundhole  requires  notice. 
It  is  called  by  fiddle-makers  the  '  flaming  sword ' 
(Fig.  8):  and  as  the  crescent  remained  the  cha 
racteristic  of  the  viola  da  gamba,  the  '  flaming 


SOUNDHOLES. 


641 


Fig.  6. 


sword'  remained  the  characteristic  of  the  viola 
d'amore,  long  after  the  /-soundhole  had  come 
into  general  use.  Fig.  9,  from  an  old  English 
viola  d'amore  (about  1740),  shows  the  flaming 

Fig.  7. 


Fig.  $. 


sword  with  the  terminations  of  the  ordinary 
/-hole.  Sometimes  the  flaming-sword  termination 
is  used  at  the  top  and  the  ordinary  termination 
at  the  bottom.  This  mixed  form  was  generally 
used  for  the  Barytone  (see  the  engraving  in  that 
article),  and  for  the  Lyra- Viol,  though  the  tenor 
Lyra-Viol  engraved  in  the  article  LYRE  has  fiddle 
soundholes. 


Fig.  8. 


Fig.  9. 


diminished  vibration,  which  the  peculiar  stringing 
of  the  instrument  demands. 

The  /-shaped  soundhole  has  long  been  used  for 
instruments  of  all  sizes,  from  the  kit  to  the 
double-bass,  its  size  being  proportionally  altered 
with  the  scale  of  the  instrument.  It  is  found 
to  produce  the  maximum  of  musical  vibration, 
and  it  is  therefore  improbable  that  it  will  ever 
be  altered  in  its  main  features.  Uniform  as 
soundholes  may  appear,  they  are  in  fact  sus 
ceptible  of  infinite  variety  in  detail,  and  in  their 
Betting  in  the  instrument :  and  one  glance  at 
them  is  often  enough  to  discover  the  maker.  Dif 
ferent  classes  of  makers  generally  leaned  to  a 
particular  form  of  soundhole.  The  Germans  have 
VOL.  in.  pi.  . 


f 


The  rudimentary  form  of  the  'flaming  sword' 
soundhole  may  be  seen  in  Raifaelle's  St.  Cecilia 
in  the  Bologna  Gallery  (Fig.  10).  It  may  be 
described  as  a  'flame'  rather  than  a  'flaming 
sword,'  and  is  evidently  borrowed  from  the 
'tongue  of  fire'  of  the  Italian  painters.  The 
flaming  sword  harmonises  well  with  the  outline 
of  the  viola  d'amore,  and  its  shape  conduces  to  a 

Fig.  10. 


Fig.  II. 


made  the  ugliest.  Up  to  the  end  of  the 
century  there  was  considerable  variety  in  cutting 
it :  but  most  makers  since  Stradivari  have  copied 
his  soundhole,  which  is  purely  geometrical.  Those 
of  the  Amatis,  of  Joseph  Guarnerius,  and  of 
Stainer,  are  equally  familiar.  The  soundhole  is 
a  conspicuous  feature  in  the  physiognomy  of  the 
instrument.  Many  old  fiddles  have  been  spoiled 
by  having  their  soundholes  recut  by  unscrupulous 
vendors,  so  as  to  pass  for  other  than  they  are.  So 
gross  a  fraud  is  easily  detected,  and  can  therefore 
only  impose  on  the  inexperienced. — The  sound- 
holes  are  traced  on  the  belly  by  means  of  one 
carefully-made  pattern  (Fig.  u),  which  is  re 
versed  for  the  second  hole;  they  are  then  cut 

Tt 


642 


SOUNDHOLES. 


through  with  a  fine  knife,  before  the  belly  is 
glued  on.  The  inner  edges  are  sloped  away,  but 
the  outer  are  left  sharp.  A  couple  of  nicks,  ex 
actly  half-way,  serve  to  indicate  the  position  of 
the  bridge  between  the  soundholes.1  [E.J.P.] 

SOUND-POST  (Fr.  dme;  It.  anima;  Ger. 
Stimmstock'),  a  cylindrical  pillar  or  peg  used 
in  stringed  instruments.  Structurally,  it  is  cor 
relative  to  the  bridge:  bridgeless  instruments 
have  no  sound-post.  It  is  moveable,  and  forms 
no  part  of  the  structure,  but  is  introduced  through 
the  treble  sound-hole,  and  stuck  in,  by  means 
of  a  tool  made  for  the  purpose,  when  the  fiddle 
is  ready  to  be  strung  up,  in  such  a  way  as  to 
rest  firmly  on  the  back  and  to  support  the  belly, 
a  little  behind  the  treble  foot  of  the  bridge. 
The  name  indicates  its  importance.  The  French 
and  Italians  call  it  the  'soul'  (dme,  anima), 
the  Germans  the  '  voice '  (stimme)  of  the  fiddle.  If 
the  fiddle  were  strung  up  without  a  sound-post, 
not  only  would  the  belly  be  crushed  in  by  the 
pressure  of  the  strings,  but  ifc  would  be  destitute 
of  all  tone.  The  function  of  the  sound-post  is 
to  transmit  to  the  back  the  vibrations  which  the 
strings  excite  in  the  bridge  and  belly.  The  in 
strument  does  not  vibrate  and  speak  as  a  whole 
until  this  transmission  has  taken  place  ;  and  the 
more  accurate  the  adjustment  of  the  post,  the  more 
perfect  the  transmission,  and  the  freer  and  fuller 
the  tone.  Thin  bellies,  and  high  models,  require 
as  a  rule  thick  sound-posts,  and  vice  versa.  The 
sound-post  should  be  made  of  dry  resonant  pine 
free  from  shakes  and  knots ;  fiddle-makers  will 
take  two  or  three  pieces,  of  suitable  shape,  and 
test  their  comparative  resonance  by  throwing  them 
sharply  on  the  bench.  Its  proper  substance  and 
length,  and  the  exact  distance  at  which  it  should 
stand  behind  the  bridge,  vary  in  different  instru 
ments,  and  are  not  easily  determined.  Old  in 
struments,  having  very  elastic  bellies,  admit  of 
considerable  uncertainty  as  to  the  proper  length. 
The  longer  it  is  the  greater  is  the  tension,  and  the 
more  shrill  the  tone  :  the  closer  its  fibres,  and  the 
greater  its  thickness,  the  thicker  the  speech  of  the 
instrument :  the  nearer  it  stands  to  the  bridge- 
foot,  the  more  powerful  becomes  the  vibration, 
and  the  harder  the  pull  of  the  bow  on  the  strings. 
When  it  is  added,  that  its  extremities  must  be 
carefully  fitted  to  the  inner  surfaces  between 
which  it  rests,  that  it  should  be  stuck  in  mathe 
matically  at  right  angles  to  the  axis  of  the  fiddle, 
and  that  its  grain  should  cross  that  of  the  belly 
at  right  angles,  it  becomes  obvious  that  the 
making  and  fitting  of  this  insignificant  bit  of 
wood  are  among  the  most  difficult  and  important 
matters  in  the  adjustment  of  the  fiddle,  and  re 
quire  an  experienced  eye  and  hand.2  If  all  this 
is  not  properly  done,  the  player's  ear  is  dis- 


1  For  Figs.  6,  7,  8,  9,  and  11,  the  writer  is  indebted  to  Mr.  Arthur 
Hill  of  No.  72,  Wardour  Street. 

2  Stoss,  of  Vienna,  one  of  the  best  of  violin-fitters,  used  to  say  that 
perfection  of  tone  in  violins  would  never  be  reached  until  some  one 
invented  an  instrument  by  which  the  sound-post  could  be  gradually 
lengthened  and  shortened  in  the  fiddle  itself,  as  the  wick  of  a  lamp  is 
raised  and  lowered  in  order  to  arrive  at  the  proper  incandescence. 
This,  of  course,  is  physically  impossible:  but  the  remark  hints  at  the 
true  solution  of  the  difficulty. 


SOUNDS  AND  SIGNALS. 

satisfied,  and  he  has  recourse  to  experimental 
changes  of  its  position,  to  facilitate  which  a  hole 
is  sometimes  drilled  in  the  sound-post,  and  a 
piece  of  string  permanently  attached  to  it,  so 
that  it  may  be  shifted  about  at  will.  This  prac 
tice  should  never  be  indulged  in.  The  sound- 
post  has  only  one  proper  position,  and  once  placed 
there,  and  allowed  to  get  well  into  its  bearings, 
the  fiddle  will  yield  its  proper  tone.  Otherwise 
the  tone  will  necessarily  be  imperfect.  The  im 
portance  of  the  sound- post  has  led  to  many 
attempts  to  improve  it.  The  writer  has  heard 
of  metallic  sound-posts,  and  has  seen  one  made 
of  glass,  the  effect  of  which  was  intolerable. 
More  rational  than  such  experiments  as  these 
have  been  certain  variations  in  the  sort  of  wood 
employed,  and  in  the  shape,  the  sound-post  being 
made  elliptical  or  polygonal,  instead  of  cylin 
drical.  None  of  these,  however,  have  had  any 
success,  and  the  round  piece  of  pine  which  has 
been  in  use  from  the  earliest  times  will  probably 
never  become  obsolete. — Shakspere,  whose  eye 
nothing  escaped,  gives  the  name  of  James  Sound- 
post  to  one  of  the  rebec-players  in  '  Komeo  and 
Juliet.'  [E.J.P.] 

SOUNDS   AND   SIGNALS,   MIL1TAKY. 

The  use  of  musical  instruments  in  war  by  the 
ancients — a  use  which  is  found  in  all  countries 
and  at  all  times — appears  to  have  been  more  as 
an  incentive  to  the  courage  of  the  troops  than 
as  a  means  of  conveying  orders  and  commands. 
It  is  in  the  I3th  century  of  our  era  that  we  first 
find  undoubted  evidence  of  the  sounding3  of  trum 
pets  in  a  field  of  battle  as  a  signal  for  attack. 
At  the  battle  of  Bou vines  (1215)  the  French 
charge  was  signalled  in  this  manner,  and  nu 
merous  other  instances  are  to  be  found  in  the 
chronicles  of  the  period.  For  the  next  200  years 
at  least,  the  instrument  used  for  signalling  seems 
to  have  been  the  trumpet  alone.  The  question 
of  the  introduction  of  the  drum  into  Europe  is 
one  involving  too  much  discussion  to  be  entered 
upon  here,  but  it  may  be  mentioned  as  a  fact 
that  the  first  clear  evidence  of  its  use  is  the  pas 
sage  in  Froissart  (Bk.  I.  Pt.  i.  chap.  322)  de 
scribing  how  in  the  year  1347,  Edward  III.  and 
his  company  entered  into  Calais  '  a  grand  foison 
de  menestrandies,  de  trompes,  de  tambours,  de 
nacaires,  de  chalemies  et  de  muses' — no  mean 
military  band  to  attend  the  king  of  'unmusical' 
England!  It  is  in  Italy  that  the  drum  seems 
first  to  have  been  used  for  signalling  purposes. 
Macchiavelli,  in  several  passages  in  his  '  Art  of 
War'  (written  for  Lorenzo  de'  Medici  in  t52I)> 
clearly  states  that  the  drum  commands  all  things 
in  a  battle,  proclaiming  the  commands  of  the 
officer  to  his  troops.  He  also  recommends  the 
use  of  trumpets  and  flutes,  the  latter  being 
apparently  an  idea  of  his  own  borrowed  from  the 

3  In  connexion  with  this  word  we  have  an  instance  of  Mr.  Tenny 
son's  extreme  accuracy  in  the  choice  of  terms.  Where  the  bugle  is 
used  as  a  mere  means  of  awakening  the  echoes  he  says— 

'Blow  bugle,  blow,  set  the  wild  echoes  flying-'; 
but  where  it  is  to  be  used  as  a  signal  he  employs  the  strictly  correct 
term— 

'Leave  me  here,  and  when  you  want  me,  sound  upon  the  bugle- 
horn.' 


SOUNDS  AND  SIGNALS. 

Greeks ;  lie  would  give  the  signals  to  the  trum 
pets,  followed  by  the  drums,  and  advises  that 
the  cavalry  should  have  instruments  of  a  different 
sound  from  those  used  by  the  infantry.  This  use 
by  the  Italians  of  both  trumpets  and  drums  is 
confirmed  by  a  passage  in  Zarlino  ('  Institutione 
Harmoniche,'  Venice  1558,  pt.  i.  cap.  2),  'Os- 
servasi  ancora  tal  costume  alii  tempi  nostri ; 
percioche  di  due  esserciti  1'uno  non  assalirebbe 
1'inimico,  se  non  invitato  dal  suono  clelle  Trombe 
e  de  Tamburi,  overo  da  alcun'  altra  sorte  de' 
musicali  istrumenti.'  It  was  from  Italy  that  in 
all  i  robability  the  earliest  musical  signals  came  : 
spread  over  Europe  by  mercenaries,  they  were 
modified  and  altered  by  the  different  troops 
which  adopted  them,  but  the  two  signalling  in 
struments  were  everywhere  the  same  (with  per 
haps  the  exception  of  Germany,  where  the  fife 
seems  to  have  been  introduced),  and  the  names 
given  to  the  different  sounds  long  retained  evi 
dence  of  their  Italian  origin.  The  first  military 
signals  which  have  been  handed  down  to  us  in 
notation  are  to  be  found  in  Jannequin's  remark 
able  composition  '  La  Bataille,' which  .describes 
the  battle  of  Marignan  (1515),  and  was  published 
at  Antwerp  in  1545,  with  a  fifth  part  added  by 
Verdelot.  [See  vol.  ii.  p.  31  b,  and  vol.  iii.  p.  35  «.] 
A  comparison  of  this  composition  with  the  same 
composer's  similar  part-songs  '  La  Guerre,'  '  La 
prinse  et  reduction  de  Boulogne  '  (5th  book  of 
Nicolas  du  Chemin's  Chansons,  1551  ;  Eitner, 
1551  i.),  or  Francesco  di  Milano's  'La  Battaglia,' 
\vonld  be  most  interesting,  and  would  probably 
disclose  points  of  identity  between  the  French 
and  Italian  military  signals.  The  second  part 
of  Jannequin's  'Bataille'  (of  which  the  first  10 
bars  are  given  here  in  modern  notation)  evidently 
contains  two  trumpet  calls,  '  Le  Bouteselle '  and 
'Al'Etendart.' 

Fan    fre  re  le  lelan  fan  fre  re le  le  Ian  fan 


SUPBRIUS. 
CONTRA. 

TENOR. 
QUINTA  PARS 
SI  PLACET. 

BASS  us. 

~  X-^  /[>  .. 

1  —  1~"1  —  '~~»"d 

inv  M^  H    *  «L*_*  » 

•i'»  ta_g  »- 

l       rn 

i 

Fan     fan 
n            Fan     fan 

~H?- 

fey             |  ne 

y  \-    i   '       I 

1 

/*!     R    ^  *  - 

/<U         Ny 

\>1^             T                       -| 

l 

Fan 

•"V                 P"^     1  l~^ 

i 

•Jr.    t  i  -  C    ts     " 

^    h    IJ/ 

W     -1                  | 

i 

Fan     fan 

ne     fan 


, 

LLu  MLL 

frerelele  Ian  fan  fre  re  lelelan  fan  fan 


fey 


fre  re  le  !e  Ian  fan  fre  re  le  le  Ian  fan 


SOUNDS  AND  SIGNALS. 


643 


f  re  re  le  le  Ian  fan  fre  re  le  le  Ian  fan    fan 


fre  re  lele  Ian  fan  fre  re  lelelan  fan  fan  fei  |ne" 

Ian  fey  ne       fre  re  lele  Ian  fan  fre  re  lele  Ian  fan 


I 


r 

fey  ne        fan 

=g== 


^•-•-•-•-e-  -* 

tHff* 

frerelele  la  ron  fre  re  lele  la  ron 


fre  re  le  le  Ian  fan  fre  re  le  le  Ian  fan 
ra     fa      ri    ra     ra    fa   ri    ra     ra     fa 


:f  Vfi  .- 

fan.    Bou-tez  sel-le 


^^.L^: 


bou-tez     sel-le   bou-tez  sel-le    bou-tez 
A    lest-an-dart  a     lest-an-dart  a    lest-an-dart   a 


fey        ne 


^t±^"^=^zr^^E^ 

r  r  Tfrf rf r r 

lest-an-dart  a    lest-an-dart  a    lest- an - 


fan.  Bou-tez 

ri    ra   ra       Bou-tez 


-» — •— I — l — • —  • — • i— • —  • — •- : 


sel  -  le    bou-tez   sel  -  le  bou-tez  sel  -  le 

sel  -  le    bou-tez    sel  -  le  bou-tez    sel  -  le 

j l-r 1 1 1 1 1 1-- 


Tr^pr^f 


ss§g= 


J » H. 


sel  -  le  bou-tez  sell' 
lest-an-dart          Tost 


A       -       vant       A     -     vant 

a -vant  a-vant       Bou-tez 


i  rf  rr 

dart  a    lest-an-dart 


f  f    ff  T  fffWf 


r     i        i      i       i       '      i      i  i 

Bou-tes    sel  -  le    bou-tes    sel-le    Tost  i 


— &- 


1 


bou-tez    sel    -    le 
fan       etc. 


Gens       dar-mes    a    che-val        gens 


Gens       etc. 
sel  -  le      etc. 


lest  -  an  -  dart      etc. 


dar  -  mes    a     che  -  \al       etc. 

In  the  same  year  in  which  Jannequin's  '  Ba 
taille'  was  published,  we  find  in  England  one  of 
the  earliest  of  those  '  Rules  and  Articles  of  War' 
of  which  the  succession  has  been  continued  down 
to  the  present  day.  These  '  Rules  and  Orcly- 
naunces  for  the  Warre '  were  published  for  the 
French  campaign  of  1544.  Amongst  them  are 
the  following  references  to  trumpet  -  signals. 
'  After  the  watche  shal  be  set,  unto  the  tyme  it 
be  discharged  in  the  mornynge,  no  maner  of  man 
make  any  shouting  or  blowing  of  hornes  or 
whisteling  or  great  noyse,  but  if  it  be  trumpettes 
by  a  special  commaundement.'  '  Euery  horseman 

Tt2 


644 


SOUNDS  AND  SIGNALS. 


at  the  fyrst  blaste  of  the  trumpette  shall  sadle 
or  cause  to  be  sacllecl  his  horse,  at  the  seconde  to 
brydell,  at  the  thirde  to  leape  on  his  horse  backe, 
to  wait  on  the  kyng,  or  his  lorde  or  capitayne.' 
There  is  here  no  mention  of  drums,  but  it  must 
be  remembered  that  by  this  time  the  distinction 
of  trumpet-sounds  being  cavalry  signals  and 
drum-beats  confined  to  the  infantry  was  probably 
as  generally  adopted  in  England  as  it  was  abroad. 
In  a  Virginal  piece1  of  William  Byrd's  preserved 
at  Christ  Church,  Oxford,  and  called  'Mr.  Birds 
Battel,'  which  was  probably  written  about  the 
end  of  the  i6th  century,  we  find  different  sections, 
entitled  '  The  Souldiers  Summons,'  '  The  March 
of  the  footemen,'  '  The  March  of  the  horsemen,' 
' The  Trumpetts,'  '  The  Irish  March,'  and  '  The 
Bagpipe  and  the  Drum.'  The  first  and  fifth 
of  these  contain  evident  imitations  of  trumpet 
sounds  which  are  probably  English  military  sig 
nals  of  the  period,  the  combination  of  bag-pipes 
and  drums  being  a  military  march.  Jehan 
Tabourot,  in  his  valuable  '  Orche'sographie ' 
(i588),2  says  that  the  musical  instruments  used 
in  war  were  'les  buccines  et  trompettes,  litues 
et  clerons,  cors  et  cornets,  tibies,  fifres,  arigots, 
tambours,  et  aultres  semblables '  (fol.  6  &),  and 
adds  that  'Ce  bruict  de  tous  les  diets  instruments, 
sert  de  signes  et  aduertisseinents  aux  soldats, 
pour  desloger,  marcher,  se  retirer :  et  a  la  ren 
contre  de  1'ennemy  leur  donne  cceur,  hardiesse, 
et  courage  d'assaillir,  et  se  defendre  virilement 
et  vigourousement.5  Tabourot's  work  contains 
the  first  mention  of  kettle-drums  being  used  by 
cavalry,  as  he  says  was  the  custom  of  certain 
German  troops.  Similarly  in  Eabelais  we  find 
a  description  of  the  Andouille  folk  attacking 
Pantagruel  and  his  company,  to  the  sound  of 
'  joyous  fifes  and  tabours,  trumpets  and  clarions.' 
But  though  from  these  passages  it  would  seem 
as  if  signals  were  given  by  other  instruments 
than  the  drum  and  trumpet,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  if  this  was  the  case,  they  were  soon 
discontinued.  '  It  is  to  the  voice  of  the  Drum 
the  Souldier  should  wholly  attend,  and  not  to 
the  aire  of  the  whistle,'  says  Francis  Markham 
in  1622;  and  Sir  James  Turner,  in  his  'Pallas 
Armata  '  (1683),  has  the  following,  'In  some 
places  a  Piper  is  allowed  to  each  Company  ;  the 
Germans  have  him,  and  I  look  upon  their  Pipe 
as  a  Warlike  Instrument.  The  Bag-pipe  is  good 
enough  Musick  for  them  who  love  it ;  but  sure 
it  is  not  so  good  as  the  Almain  Whistle.  With 
us  any  Captain  may  keep  a  Piper  in  his  Company, 
and  maintain  him  too,  for  no  pay  is  allowed  him, 
perhaps  just  as  much  as  he  deserveth.' 

In  the  numerous  military  manuals  and  works 
published  during  the  1 7th  century,  we  find  many 
allusions  to  and  descriptions  of ,  the  different 
signals  in  use.  It  would  be  unnecessary  to  quote 
these  in  extenso,  but  Francis  Markham's  '  Five 
Decades  of  Epistles  of  Warre'  (London,  1622) 
demands  some  notice  as  being  the  first  work 
which  gives  the  names  and  descriptions  of  the 
different  signals.  In  Decade  I,  Epistle  5,  'Of 
Drummes  and  Phiphes,'  he  describes  the  drum 

I  See  TOl.  ii.  p.  422 a.  2  See  vol.  ii.  p.  560. 


SOUNDS  AND  SIGNALS. 

signals  as  follows  :    '  First,  in  the  morning  the 
discharge  or  breaking  up  of  the  Watch,  then  a 
preparation  or  Summons  to  make  them  repaire 
to  their  colours  ;  then  a  beating  away  before  they 
begin  to  march ;  after  that  a  March  according 
to  the  nature  and  custom  of  the  country  (for 
diuers  countries  have  diuers  Marches),  then  a 
Charge,  then  a  Eetrait,  then  a  Troupe,  and  lastly 
a  Battalion,  or  a  Battery,  besides  other  sounds 
which  depending  on  the  phantasttikenes  of  forain 
nations  are  not  so  useful.'     He  also  states  that  a 
work  upon  the  art  of  drumming  had  been  written 
by  one  Hindar :    unfortunately  of  this  no  copy 
apparently  exists.     Markham  is  no  less  explicit 
with  regard  to  Trumpet  Sounds  than  he  is  with 
Drum  Signals  :    '  In  Horse-Troupes  ....  the 
Trumpet  is  the  same  which  the  Drum  anaPhiph 
is,  onely  differing  in  the  tearmes  and  sounds  of 
the  Instrument :  for  the  first  point  of  warre  is 
Butte  sella,  clap  on  your  saddles  ;  Mounts  Cauallo, 
mount  on  horseback  ;  Tucquet,  march ;  Carga, 
cargo,,  an  Alarme  to  charge ;  A  la  Standardo,  a 
retrait,  or  retire  to  your  colours  ;  Auqmt,3  to  the 
Watch,   or  a  discharge  for  the  watch,  besides 
diuers  other  points,  as  Proclamations,  Cals,  Sum 
mons,  all  which  are  most  necessary  for  euery 
Souldier  both   to   know   and   obey'  (Dec.  Ill, 
Ep.  i).     It  is  noticeable  in  this  list,  that  the 
names  of  the  Trumpet  sounds  evidently  point 
to  an  Italian  origin,   while  those  of  the  drum 
signals  are  as  clearly  English.     To  the  list  of 
signals  given  by  Markham  we   may  add  here 
the  following,  mentioned  only  in  different  Eng 
lish  works,  but  of  which  unfortunately  no  musical 
notes  are  given  :  Reliefe,  Parado,  Tapto  ('Count 
Mansfields  Directions  of  Warre,'  translated  by 
W.  G.  1624)  ;  March,  Alarm,  Troop,  Chamadoes 
and  answers  thereunto,  Reveills,  Proclamations 
(Du  Praissac's  'Art  of  Warre,'  Englished  by  J. 
Cruso,  1639)  ;  Call,  Preparative,  Battle,  Retreat 
('Compleat  Body  of  the  Art  Military,'  Elton, 
1650) ;  Take  Arms,  Come  to  Colours,  Draw  out 
into  the  Field,  Challenge,  General,  Parley  ('  Eng 
lish  Military  Discipline,'  1680);  Gathering  (Tur 
ner's  'Pallas  Armata,'  1683). 

To  return  to  those  signals  the  notes  of  which 
have  come  down  to  us,  the  earliest  collection 
extant  is  to  be  found  in  the  second  book  of 
Mersenne's  'De  Instrumentis  Harmonicis,'  Prop, 
xix  (1635),  where  the  following  cavalry  signals 
are  given — L'entre'e ;  Two  Boute-selles ;  Acheval; 
A  1'estendart ;  Le  simple  cavalquet ;  Le  double 
cavalquet ;  La  charge ;  La  chamade ;  La  retraite ; 
Le  Guet.  Of  these  signals  (copies  of  which  will 
be  found  in  a  MS.  of  the  i;th  century  in  the 
British  Museum,  Harl.  6461)  we  give  here  the 
first  Boute-selle. 


The  next  collection  known  is  that  of  Girolamo 
Fantini,  Trumpeter  to  Ferdinand  II.,  Duke  of 

3  Auquet,  i.  e.  An  guet—to  the  watch. 


SOUNDS  AND  SIGNALS. 

Tuscany,  whose  work  is  entitled  '  Modo  per 
imparare  a  sonare  di  tromba  tanto  di  guerra 
quanto  musicalmente  in  organo,  con  tromba  sor- 
dina,  col  cimbalo  e  ogn'altro  istrumento ;  ag- 
giuntovi  molte  senate,  come  balletti,  brandi, 
capricci,  serabande,  correnti,  passaggi  e  sonate 
con  la  tromba  e  organo  insieme '  (Frankfurt, 
1636).  This  rare  work,  to  which  M.  Georges 
Kastner  first  drew  attention  in  his  'Manuel 
de  Musique  Militaire,'  contains  specimens  of 
the  following  trumpet-calls — Prima  Chiamata  di 
Guerra;  Sparatadi  Butta  Sella;  L'accavallo;  La 
marciata;  Seconda  Chiamata  che  si  va  sonata 
avant  la  Battaglia  ;  Battaglia  ;  Allo  Stendardo  ; 
Ughetto;  Ritirata  di  Capriccio  ;  Butte  la  Tenda  ; 
Tutti  a  Tavola.  Some  of  these  are  very  elaborate. 
The  Boute-selle,  for  instance,  consists  of  an  intro 
duction  of  four  bars  in  common  time,  followed  by 
a  movement  in  6-4  time,  twenty-nine  bars  long, 
which  is  partly  repeated.  We  give  here  one  of 
the  shorter  signals,  'Allo  Stendardo': — 

(Three  times). 


SOUNDS  AND  SIGNALS. 


645 


With  regard  to  the  German  signals  of  this 
period,  and  indeed  with  regard  to  the  whole 
history  of  military  music  in  Germany,  we  are 
reluctantly  compelled  to  treat  the  subject  very 
cursorily,  owing  to  the  almost  total  want  of 
material.  It  has  been  seen  that  the  use  of  the 
kettledrum  for  the  cavalry  came  from  Germany, 
and  frequent  allusions  are  made  in  French  works 
of  the  iSth  century  to  the  superiority  of  German 
military  music.  But  owing  perhaps  to  the  more 
general  musical  intelligence  of  the  soldiers,  the 
different  signals  seem  to  have  been  handed  down 
orally  to  a  greater  extent  than  they  were  with 
other  nations.  It  is  said  that  their  signals  were 
better  in  point  of  form  than  those  of  other 
nations,  and  that  they  were  often  derived  from 
popular  Volkslieder,  etc.  Their  musical  supe 
riority  they  retain  to  the  present  day.  An  inter 
esting  point  with  regard  to  the  German  signals 
is  the  habit  the  soldiers  had  of  inventing  doggrel 
verses  to  them.  Some  of  these  rhymes  are  said 
to  be  very  ancient,  going  back  so  far  as  the  i6th 
century.  The  verses  were  not  confined  to  the 
signals  of  their  own  armies,  but  were  sometimes 
adapted  to  those  of  their  traditional  enemies,  the 
French.  Freiherr  von  Soltau  gives  several  of 
these  in  his  work  on  German  Volkslieder  (Leip 
zig,  1845).  The  following  are  some  of  the  most 
striking : — 

Wahre  di  bure 

Di  garde  di  kumbt.      (1500.) 

Hut  dich  Bawr  ich  kom 

Mach  dich  bald  davon.       (16th  cent.) 

Zu  Bett  zu  Bett 

Die  Trommel  geht 
Und  das  ihn  raorgen  friih  aufsteht, 
Und  nicht  so  lang  im  Bette  leht. 

(Prussian  Zapfenstreich,  or  Tattoo.) 

Die  Franzosen  haben  das  Geld  gestohlen, 
Die  Preussen  wollen  es  wieder  holen ! 
Geduld,  geduld,  geduld! 

(Prussian  Zapfenstreich.) 


Kartoffelsupp,  Kartoffelsupp, 

Und  daun  tind  wann  ein  Schopfenkop', 

Mehl,  mehl,  mehl.        (Horn  Signal.)  1 

Another  probable  reason  of  the  scarcity  of  old 
collections  of  signals  in  Germany  is  that  the 
trumpeters  and  drummers  formed  a  very  close 
and  strict  guild.  The  origin  of  their  privileges 
was  of  great  antiquity,  but  their  real  strength 
dates  from  the  Imperial  decrees  confirming  their 
ancient  privileges,  issued  in  1528,  1623,  and 
1630,  and  confirmed  by  Ferdinand  III.,  Charles 
VI.,  Francis  I.,  and  Joseph  II.  Sir  Jas.  Turner 
(Pallas  Armata,  Lond.  1623)  2  has  some  account 
of  this  guild,  from  which  were  recruited  the  court, 
town,  and  army  trumpeters.  Their  privileges  were 
most  strictly  observed,  and  no  one  could  become  a 
master- trumpeter  except  by  being  apprenticed  to 
a  member  of  the  guild.3 

Returning  to  France,  we  find  from  the  time 
of  Louis  XIV.  downwards  a  considerable  number 
of  orders  of  the  government  regulating  the  dif 
ferent  trumpet  and  drum  signals.  Many  of 
these  have  been  printed  by  M.  Kastner  in  the 
Appendix  to  his  Manuel,  to  which  work  we 
must  refer  the  reader  for  a  more  detailed  account 
of  the  various  changes  which  thev  underwent. 

O  i> 

In  1 705  the  elder  Philidor  (Andre;)  inserted  in 
his  immense  autograph  collection  [see  vol.  ii. 
p.  7°3a}'  Par^  °f  which  is  now  preserved  in  the 
Library  of  the  Paris  Conservatoire,  many  of  the 
'  batteries  et  sonneries  '  composed  by  himself  and 
Lully  for  the  French  army.  The  part  which  Lully 
and  Phillidor  took  in  these  compositions  seems 
to  have  been  in  adapting  short  airs  for  fifes  and 
hautbois  to  the  fundamental  drum-beats.  See  the 
numerous  examples  printed  in  Kastner's  Manuel. 
From  this  time  the  number  and  diversity  of 
the  French  signals  increased  enormously.  Besides 
Philidor's  collection,  a  great  number  will  be 
found  in  Lecocq  Madeleine's  '  Service  ordinaire 
et  journalier  de  la  Cavalerie  en  abrege'  (1720), 
and  Marguery's  '  Instructions  pour  les  Tam 
bours,'  for  the  most  part  full  of  corruptions,  and 
too  often  incorrectly  noted.  Under  the  Consulate 
and  Empire  the  military  signals  received  a  num 
ber  of  additions  from  David  Buhl,4  who  prepared 
different  sets  of  ordonnances  for  trumpets,  drums, 
and  fifes,  which  were  adopted  by  the  successive 
French  governments  during  the  first  half  of  the 
present  century,  and  still  form  the  principal 
body  of  signals  of  the  French  Army. 

'  In  England  similar  nonsense  rhymes  are  invented  for  some  of  the 
calls.  Their  chief  authors  and  perpetuafors  are  the  boy  buglers. 
The  following  Officer's  Mess  Call  is  an  example:— 


Of  -  fl  -  cers'  wives   have    puddings  and   pies,     but 


sol  -  diers'  wives  have     skil   -  ly. 

2  See  also  'Ceremoniel  u.  Privilegia  d.  Trompeter  u.  Paucker" 
(Dresden,  no  date.    Quoted  in  Weckerlin's  '  Musiciana,'  p.  110). 

3  Further  information  on  this  subject  will  be  found  in  Mendel, 
sub   voce  'Trompeter,'  and  in   the  work   quoted   in   that  article: 
•Versuch  einer  Anleitung  zur  heroisch-musikalischen  Trompeter- 
und-Pauken-Kunst '  (Halle,  1795). 

4  See  vol.  i.  p.  281. 


646 


SOUNDS  AND  SIGNALS. 


The  history  of  army  signals  in  France  is  brought 
to  a  close  by  the  restoration  last  year  of  the  drum 
to  its  former  position,  the  ill-advised  attempt  to 
abolish  it  from  the  army  having  met  with  uni 
versal  disfavour.  The  French  signals  are  much 
too  numerous  for  quotation  in  these  pages.  They 
are  superior  to  the  English  in  the  three  essentials 
of  rhythm,  melody  and  simplicity,  but  in  all  three 
respects  are  inferior  to  the  German.  Perhaps  the 
best  French  signal  is  'La  Retraite,'  played  as 
arranged  for  three  trumpets. 


Andante. 


i 


m 3 —         — T~~*^~  — fl — 


SOUNDS  AND  SIGNALS. 

Eeturning  to  the  English  signals,  after  the  Re 
bellion  and  during  the  great  continental  wars  of 
the  1 8th  century,  the  English  army  underwent 
many  changes,  and  was  much  influenced  by  the 
association  of  foreign  allies.  The  fife  had  fallen 
into  disuse,  but  was  reintroduced  by  the  Duke 
of  Cumberland  in  1747.  Fifes  were  first  used  by 
the  Royal  Artillery,  who  were  instructed  in 
playing  them  by  a  Hanoverian  named  TJlrich. 
They  were  afterwards  adopted  by  the  Guards  and 
the  I Qth,  and  soon  came  into  general  use.  Grose 
(Military  Antiquities)  alleges  that  the  trumpet 
was  first  adopted  in  1 759  by  the  Dragoons  instead 
of  the  hautbois ;  but  this  is  evidently  an  error,  as 
by  an  order  of  George  II.,  dated  July  25,  1743, 
'all  Horse  and  Dragoon  Grand  Guards  are  to  sound 
trumpets,  and  beat  drums,  at  marching  from  the 
Parade  and  Relieving.'  On  the  formation  of  light 
infantry  regiments,  drums  were  at  first  used  by 
them,  in  common  with  the  rest  of  the  army,  but 
about  1792  they  adopted  the  bugle  for  signalling 
purposes.  '  Bugle  Horns '  are  first  mentioned  in 
the  '  Rules  and  Regulations  for  the  Formations, 
Field-Exercise,  and  Movements,  of  His  Majesty's 
Forces,'  issued  June  I,  1792.  In  December  1798 
the  first  authorised  collection  of  trumpet-bugle 
Sounds  was  issued,  and  by  regulations  dated 
November  1804  these  Sounds  were  adopted  by 
every  regiment  and  corps  of  cavalry  in  the 
service.  The  bugle  was  afterwards  (and  still 
is)  used  by  the  Royal  Artillery,  and  about  the 
time  of  the  Crimean  campaign  was  used  by  the 
cavalry  in  the  field,  although  the  trumpet  is 
still  used  in  camp  and  quarters.  The  use  of 
the  drum1  for  signalling  is  almost  extinct  in 
our  army,  but  combined  with  the  fife  (now 
called  the  flute),  it  is  used  for  marching  purposes. 
Like  many  other  musical  matters  connected  with 
the  British  army,  the  state  of  the  different  bugle 
and  trumpet  sounds  calls  for  considerable  reform. 
The  instruments  used  are  trumpets  in  Eb  and 
bugles  in  Bb,  and  though  the  former  are  said 
to  be  specially  used  by  the  Horse  Artillery  and 
Cavalry,  and  the  latter  by  the  Royal  Artillery 
and  Infantry,  there  seems  to  be  no  settled  cus 
tom  in  the  service,  but — as  in  the  similar  case 
of  the  different  regimental  marches — one  branch 
of  the  service  adopts  the  instrument  of  an 
other  branch  whenever  it  is  found  convenient. 
There  are  two  collections  of  Sounds  published 
by  authority  for  the  use  of  the  army — 'Trumpet 
and  Bugle  Sounds  for  Mounted  Services  and 
Garrison  Artillery"  with  Instructions  for  the 
Training  of  Trumpeters'  (last  edition  1879);  and 
'Infantry  Bugle  Sounds'  (last  edition  1877). 
The  former  of  these  works  contains  the  Cavalry 
Regimental  Calls,  the  Royal  Artillery  Regimental 
and  Brigade  Calls,  Soundings  for  Camp  and 
Quarters,  Soundings  for  the  Field,  Field  Calls 
for  Royal  Artillery  when  acting  as  infantry,  and 
Instructions  for  Trumpeters.  The  sounds  are 
formed  by  different  combinations  of  the  open  notes 
of  the  bugle2  and  trumpet.  Their  scales  are  as 
follow  : — 

i  Some  of  the  Drum-beats  will  be  found  in  vol.  i.  P-  466  of  this 
Dictionary.  2  See  vol.  i.  P-  280. 


SOUNDS  AND  SIGNALS. 


SPARK. 


647 


Bugle. 


Trumpet. 


The  Bb  of  the  trumpet  is  however  never  used. 
Many  of  the  English  signals  are  intrinsically 
good,  while  many  are  quite  the  reverse  ;  and 
they  are  noted  down  without  any  regard  to  the 
manner  in  which  they  should  be  played.  A  com 
parison  with  the  sounds  used  by  the  German 
army  (especially  the  infantry  signals)  shows 
how  superior  in  this  respect  the  latter  are,  the 
rests,  pauses,  marks  of  expression,  and  tempi 
being  all  carefully  printed,  and  the  drum-and- 
fife  marches  being  often  full  of  excellent  effect 
and  spirit,  while  in  the  English  manuals  attention 
to  these  details  is  more  the  exception  than  the 
rule.  Space  will  not  allow  us  to  print  here  any 
of  the  longer  signals,  either  German  or  English, 
but  the  following  Sounds  may  be  interesting,  as 
showing  the  differences  between  the  English  and 
German  systems.  The  sounds  are  for  cavalry  in 
both  cases. 


Walk. 


Charge. 


-0-0 


Marscli !  Marsch !  (auch  Verfolgung). 


Halt. 


In  conclusion  we  must  refer  the  reader  who 
would  further  investigate  this  subject  to  Kastner's 
'  Manuel  general  de  Musique  Militaire '  (Paris 
1848),  where  are  to  be  found  a  large  number  of 
the  signals  and  sounds  in  use  in  the  different 
European  armies  in  the  author's  time,  as  well  as 
such  information  on  the  subject  of  military 
music  in  general — a  subject  which  has  been 
hitherto  strangely  neglected  in  both  Germany 
and  England.  Some  little  information  will  also 
be  found  in  Mendel's  Lexicon  (arts.  Militair- 
Musik,  and  Trompeter).  The  present  writer  is 
much  indebted  to  the  kindness  of  Col.  Thompson, 
Commandant  of  the  Military  School  of  Music, 
Kneller  Hall  ;  Lionel  Cust,  Esq. ;  Mr.  J.  A. 
Browne,  bandmaster  of  the  South  Metropolitan 
Schools,  and  Messrs.  H.  Potter  &  Co.,  who  have 
furnished  information  for  this  article.  [W.B.S.] 

SOUPIR  (a  sigh).  The  French  name  for  a 
crotchet  rest.  A  quaver  rest  is  called  un  demi- 
soupir,  a  semiquaver  ditto,  un  quart  de  soupir, 
and  so  on.  [G.] 

SOWINSKI,  ALBERT,  of  Polish  origin,  was 
born  in  1803  at  Ladyzyn  in  the  Ukraine.  He 
arrived  in  Vienna  at  an  early  age,  was  the  pupil 
of  Czerny,  Leidesdorf,  and  Seyfried,  and  the 
friend  of  Hummel,  Moscheles,  and  others.  In 
1 830  he  settled  in  Paris  as  a  player  and  litterateur, 
and  died  there  March  5,  1880.  He  compiled  a 
Biographical  Dictionary  of  Polish  musicians  (Les 
Musiciens  Polonais,  etc.;  Paris,  Le  Clere,  1857), 
and  published  a  translation  of  Schindler's  '  Bee 
thoven'  (Paris,  Gamier,  1865),  °f  which  latter 
we  will  only  say  that  it  is  atrociously  executed. 
An  oratorio  by  him,  '  St.  Adalbert,'  is  in  the 
Library  of  the  late  Sacred  Harmonic  Society.  [G.] 

SPACE.  The  stave  is  made  up  of  5  lines  and 
4  spaces.  The  spaces  in  the  treble  stave  make 
the  word  FACE,  which  is  useful  as  a  memoria 
technica  for  beginners.  [G.] 

SPARK,  WILLIAM,  Mus.  Doc.,  son  of  a  lay- 
vicar  of  Exeter  Cathedral,  was  born  at  Exeter 
Oct.  28,  1825.  He  became  a  chorister  there,  and 
in  1840  was  articled  for  five  years  to  Dr.  S.  Sebas 
tian  Wesley.  On  Wesley's  leaving  Exeter  for  the 
Paiish  Church,  Leeds,  his  pupil  went  with  him, 
and  soon  became  deputy  organist  of  the  Parish 
Church,  and  organist  of  Chapeltown  and  St.  Paul's 
successively.  He  was  next  chosen  organist  to 
Tiverton,  Devon,  and  Daventry,  Northampton  ; 
and  on  Wesley's  removal  to  Winchester  in  1850 
was  appointed  to  St.  George's  Church,  Leeds, 
where  he  still  remains.  His  activity  in  Leeds, 
outside  of  his  own  parish,  has  been  remarkable. 
Within  a  year  of  his  appointment  he  founded 
the  Leeds  Madrigal  and  Motet  Society.  Then 
followed  the  People's  Concerts,  which  resulted 
in  the  erection  of  the  new  Town  Hall.  The 
famous  organ  in  the  hall  was  built  by  Gray  & 
Davison,  from  the  designs  of  Henry  Smart  and 
Mr.  Spark.  It  was  opened  April  I,  1859,  and 
after  a  severe  competition  Mr.  Spark  was  elected 
the  Borough  organist,  a  post  which  he  still  holds. 
His  organ  recitals  there  twice  a  week  are  largely 
attended.  Mr.  Spark  took  his  degree  as  Doctor 


648 


SPARK. 


of  Music  at  Dublin  in  1861.  In  1869  he  started 
the  '  Organists'  Quarterly  Journal '  (Novellos), 
which  has  now  reached  its  58th  number.  It  was 
followed  by  the  Practical  Choir-master  (Metzler), 
and  in  1881  by  a  readable  and  exhaustive  bio 
graphy  of  Henry  Smart  (Reeves,  8vo.).  He  has 
also  published  three  Cantatas,  various  anthems, 
services,  glees,  and  other  compositions,  besides 
editing  a  large  number  of  organ-pieces  by  Batiste, 
the  French  organist.  [G.] 

SPAUN,  JOSEPH,  FREIHERR  VON,  musical 
amateur,  renowned  for  his  great  affection  for 
Schubert;  born  at  Linz,  Nov.  n,  1788,  of  a 
family  originally  Swabian,  but  settled  in  Austria. 
Joseph,  the  second  child  of  Franz  von  Spaun, 
Syndicus  of  Upper  Austria,  attended  the  Latin 
school,  passed  through  a  course  of  philosophy,  in 
1806  entered  the  Imperial  Stadt-Convict  at 
Vienna,  and  began  to  study  law.  Music  was 
diligently  pursued  in  his  new  sphere,  and  Spaun 
heartily  joined,  playing  the  violin,  and,  as  the 
oldest  boy,  conducting  the  pupils'  little  band. 
On  one  occasion  he  became  aware  of  a  small 
b,oy  in  spectacles,  who  stood  behind  him  playing 
his  rwirt  like  a  master.  This  was  Schubert,  who, 
after  he  had  got  over  his  first  shyness,  attached 
himself  devotedly  to  Spaun  and  confided  to  him 
his  delight  in  composing,  and  his  want  of  music- 
paper.  This  want  Spaun  supplied,  and  thus  secured 
Schubert's  lifelong  gratitude.  [See  vol.  iii.  p.  320.] 
In  September  1809  Spaun  entered  the  Govern 
ment  service,  and  in  iSn  was  placed  in  the 
Lottery  department;  in  1839  became  Regier- 
ungsrath,  and  in  1841  Hofrath  ;  in  1859  was  en" 
nobled  and  received  the  freedom  of  the  city  of 
Vienna,  and  in  1861  retired.  He  died  ISTov.  25, 
1865,  at  his  daughter's  house  at  Linz,  and,  in 
accordance  with  his  own  wish,  was  buried  in  the 
churchyard  of  Traunkirchen  (near  Gmunden) 
where  he  spent  his  summers  and  had  a  villa. 
The  whole  of  his  official  life,  except  two  short 
breaks  at  Linz  in  1818  and  Lemberg  in  1825, 
was  passed  in  Vienna,  where  he  married  Fanny 
von  Roner  in  1818.  He  had  five  children,  of 
whom  one  son,  Joseph,  was  killed  at  the  battle 
of  Novara. 

The  list  of  Spaun's  friends  includes  many  inter 
esting  names,  especially  the  poets  Theodor  Korner 
(whose  acquaintance  he  made  in  1813,  shortly 
before  Korner's  death),  Mayerhofer,  Grillparzer, 
Franz  von  Schober  (died  at  Dresden,  Sept  .13,1882), 
and  the  gifted  painter  Moritz  von  Schwind — all 
except  Korner  closely  connected  with  Schubert's 
life.  After  his  attachment  to  Spaun  had  become 
confirmed,  Schubert  always  first  showed  him  his 
new  songs,  and  asked  his  opinion.  Spaun  also 
endeavoured  to  help  him  by  introductions  to 
musical  people.  In  this  way  Schubert  made  the 
acquaintance  of  Witteczek,  the  ministerial  coun 
cillor,  who  became  one  of  his  most  devoted  ad 
herents,  and  made  a  collection  of  Schubert's 
works,  which  he  took  every  pains  to  render  com 
plete,  and  which  has  furnished  materials  for  all 
the  biographies  and  catalogues  of  Schubert.  This 
he  left  to  Spaun,  stipulating  that  on  his  death  it 
should  pass  to  the  Gesellschaft  der  Musikfreunde, 


SPECIMENS,  CROTCH'S. 

in  whose  archives  it  may  now  be  seen — a  monu 
ment  of  painstaking  devotion.  The  collection 
contains  a  replica  by  Rieder  himself,  dated  1840, 
of  his  portrait  of  Schubert  taken  in  1825;  about 
65  vols.  printed  or  MS.  containing  all  Schubert's 
vocal,  and  part  of  his  instrumental  works;  a 
thematic  list  of  the  songs  from  1811  to  1828; 
biographical  notices,  poems,  critiques ;  a  list  of 
the  8 1  poets  set  by  him  from  zEschylus  to 
Zettler  (including  Spaun  himself  as  author  of  the 
'J tingling  und  der  Tod')  ;  the  MSS.  bought  by 
Landsberg  of  Rome  from  Ferdinand  Schubert  in 
1840  ;  several  parcels  of  articles,  letters,  notices, 
extracts  from  newspapers,  poems  on  Schubert, 
concert-bills  and  programmes ;  and  14  pieces  in 
Schubert's  own  hand.  [C.F.P.] 

SPECIMENS,  CROTCH'S.  'Specimens  of 
various  styles  of  music  referred  to  in  a  Course 
of  Lectures  read  at  Oxford  and  London,  and 
adapted  to  keyed  instruments  by  W.  Crotch, 
Mus.  Doc.,  Prof.  Mus.  Oxon.'  This  title  is 
sufficiently  explanatory.  The  lectures  were  de 
livered  in  1800-4  and  1820.  [See  CROTCH.]  The 
work  is  in  3  vols.,  with  a  preface  to  each,  and 
full  indexes.  Its  contents  are  as  follow : — 

VOLUME  I. 


Symphony  to  Sommi  Dei.  Hande 
Do.,  Jealousy.  Do. 

Part  of  Overture  to  Ifigenie.  Gluck 

Moses  and  the  Children  of  Israe 
Handel. 

How  excellent  (opening).    Do. 

Who  is  like  unto  Thee.    Do. 

He  rebuked,  and  He  led  them.  Do 

Menuet  in  Berenice.    Do. 

Sonata  for  Harpsichord  (D).  D 
Scarlatti. 

Sanctus.    O.  Gibbons. 

Allegretto,  F  (Symphony).  Haydn 

JEWISH  Music. 
Slow. 
Allegretto. 
Slow. 

Allo.  moderate. 
Allo.  moderate. 

IRISH  Music. 
Cry  of  Connaught. 
Allegro. 

Strachen  Variga. 
Slow. 
Slow. 

Allegretto. 

The  Humours  of  LUtivain. 
Slow. 
Slow. 

Slaunt  Ki  Plulib. 
Drimen  Duff. 
Curri  Koun  Dilish. 
Da  mihi  manum. 
The  Dangling  of  the  Irish  Beams 
Coohee  na  finga. 
Lento  e  Affettuoso. 
Alleyn  a  roon. 
Old  Lango  Lee. 
Gramachree  Molly. 
Savourna  deligh  Shelab  Oh. 
Another  edition. 
Irish  Trevalin. 
Another    edition  (called   Locha- 

ber). 
Nobe's  Maggot. 

The  Sheep  Shearers,  or  Next  oars 
Stepney  Cakes  and  Ale. 
The  Irish  Lady. 
Boyne  Water. 

3orn  Riggs,  or  My  Nanny  0. 
[f  to  a  Foreign  Clime  you  go. 
The  Foxes  sleep. 
The  Brown  Thorn. 
The  Summer  is  coming. 
Kitty  Tyrrel. 
Phe  Beardless  Boy. 
The  Fair-hair'd  Child. 
The  Ugly  Tailor. 


Love  in  Secret. 

Open  the  door  softly. 

Scotch  edition, '  Its  open  the  door.' 

The  Parting  of  Friends. 

Castle  OVNeil. 

The  Harvest  Moon. 

John  McEyre  of  the  Glen. 

The  Forlorn  Queen. 

The  Snowy-breasted  Pearl. 

Dermot  O'Drwd. 

My  Dear  stay  with  me. 

The  Maid  of  the  Valley. 

The  Pretty  Girl  milkiug  the  Cows. 

If  the  Cat  had  Gold. 

Pittatoughty,  or,  Where  hae  been 
aday,  bonny  Laddie. 

The  Highway  to  Dublin. 

Matthew  Briggs. 

Captain  O'Kain. 

Simon  Brodie. 

Green  Goose  Fair,  or,  I  am  sleep 
ing. 

Dermot. 

The  Fairy  Queen.    Carolan. 

The  Jointure.    Do. 

SCOTCH  Mosic. 
Wet  is  this  night  and  cold. 
Highland  Air  and  Chorus,  Luinig. 
The  Fisherman's  Song  for  attract 
ing  the  Seals. 
Slow. 

The  Mermaid  Song. 
Slow. 
Ossian's  soliloquy  on  the  death  of 

all  his  cotemporary  Heroes. 
Slow. 
Moderate. 

A  Tune  of  the  Western  Isles. 
Western  Isle  Dance, 
low. 

Allegro  Moderato. 
?he  Broom  of  Cowdenknows. 
Another  edition  of  the  same  tune. 
A  third  edition, 
wish  my  love  were  in  a  mire, 
for  our  long  biding  here. 
jove  is  the  cause  of  my  mourning. 
Old  Sir  Simon  the  King, 
'he  Lass  of  Patie's  Mill. 
Another  edition. 

i  Trip  to  the  Jubilee,  or,  Edin 
burgh  Castle, 
ack  on  the  Green. 
Trip  to  Marrow  Bone  (Maryle- 

bone). 

Washington's  March,  1665. 
'he  Sutors  of  Selkirk, 
loslin  Castle, 
.llegro,  6-8. 


SPECIMENS,  CROTCH'S. 


SPECIMENS,  CROTCH'S. 


649 


'heBirksof  Invermay. 

•he  Braes  of  Ballenden. 

'or  Lake  of  Gold. 

Vaking  o'  the  fauld. 

:tie:  e  's  Nancy  to  the  Greenwood 

gane. 
?y  gar. 
Vllegro. 
Allegro. 

Pezgy,  now  the  King's  come. 
Fhe  Yellow-haird  Laddie. 
Come  hap  me. 
Folwort  on  the  Green. 
I'll  o'er  bogie  wi'  my  love. 
Ma'-'gie  Lauder. 
Wae's  my  heart. 
Tweed  Side. 

The  Bush  aboon  Traquair. 
Lewie  Gordon. 
Here  awa,  there  awa. 
The  last  timel  came  o'er  the  moor, 
He 's  low  down,  he 's  iu  the  broom 


Yr   Eos-lais.     The   Nightingale's 

Song  (from  a  MS.). 
The  Departure  of  the  King. 
The  Note  of  the  Dove. 
Tw  11  yn  ei  boch.    The  Dimpled 

Cheek. 

OLD  ENGLISH  TUNES. 
The  Britons  (1696;. 
The  Twins  (1665). 
The  Beggar  Boy  (1652). 
The  Garter,  or  King  James's  March 

(1695). 
Pye  Corner  (1695). 
Crosby  Square  (1706). 
Light  o'  Love. 
Hombey  House. 
Charming  Maid. 
The  Merry  Milkmaids. 
The  Charmer. 
Salutation. 
Paul's  Steeple  (1665). 


My  Apron  Deary 
John  Hay's  bonnie  lassie. 
The  Gaberlunzie  Man. 
One  day  I  heard  Mary  say. 
She  rose,  and  let  me  in. 
Will  ye  go. 
Gilderoy. 
0  Jenny,  Jenny. 
Thomas,  I  cannot. 
Gin  thou  \vert  mine  ain  thing. 
Sae  merry  as  we  twa  ha  been. 
Earl  Douglas. 
Chevy  Chase. 
CockleShells.orthe  Lass  of  Living 
ston. 

KHlei'kianky. 
Johnny  and  Nelly. 
Carnm  Side. 

If  e'er  I  do  well  it 's  a  wonder. 
Cheerily  and  Merrilly. 
Johnny  1'aa. 
Gill  Murrice. 
Barbara  Allen. 
Hero  and  Leander. 
Flowers  o!  the  Forest. 
Johnny  Armstrong. 
The  Maid  of  Belma. 

WELSH  TUNES. 


The  Shepherd  Daughter. 

The  Same  Tune  (edition  1652). 
Do.  (     Do.    1665). 

Porter's  Lamentation  (ed.  1665). 

Amorisco  (1665). 

The  Garland. 

The  Carman's  Whistle. 

An  Old  Woman  clothed  in  Gray. 

Stingo  or  Oil  of  Barley. 

Another  edition,  called  '  Cold  and 
Baw. 

All  in  a.  Misty  Morning. 

Another    edition    (The    Dancing 
Master  1652). 

London's  Loyalty. 

i  'lii-shire  Bounds. 

King's  Maggot,  or  New  York. 

Cobler's  Hornpipe. 

Orange  Nan. 

Sir  Roger  de  Coverley. 

The  Dusty  Miller. 

Saturday  Night  and  Sunday  Morn 
ing  (1652). 

Alamode  de  France. 
Another  edition.calledNone  Such. 
Slow. 

FRENCH  NATIONAL  Music. 
In  F,  3-4. 
In  F,  3-4. 


Cainge  Dafydd  Brophwyd  (from  a 
31S.  of  the  llth  century). 

Sweet  Richard. 

Another  older  edition. 

Another  edition  (.from  an  old  MS.) 

Whitelock's  Coranto. 

Cudyn  Uwyn  (another  edition  ot 
the  same). 

Another  edition. 

Merch  Megan. 

Another  edition. 

Griffith  ap  Cunan. 

Y  Fedle  Fawr. 

Allegro  Moderate. 

The  March  of  the  Men  of  Harlech. 

The  Courtesy  of  Merioneth. 

The  Minstrelsy  of  Chirk  Castle. 

Gogerddan. 

The  Ebb  of  the  Tide. 

The  Delight  of  the  Men  of  Doney . 

The  Mock  Nightingale. 

Ursula. 

The  Rising  Sun. 

Awake  harmonious  Strings. 

Hlij  ban  Morfydd.    Morfydd's  Rib 
bon. 

Ffarwell  Ned  Puw. 

Parry's  edition  of  same  tune. 

Glan  meddwdod    nrwyn.      Good 
humour'd  and  fairly  tipsy. 

AT  hyd  y  nees.  The  livelong  night. 


Prence  D'Angleterre. 

Aimable    Vainqueur,     a    Dance 

called  Louvre. 
Pas  Pied. 
In  C,  2-4. 

Corrant  le  Vinnone. 
Corrant  le  Mouuster. 
Rigadoon  (1695). 
Masquerade  Royal. 
Provencal  Song  on  the  Death  of 

Richard   I.   (by   Gaucelm   or 

Anselm  Faidit). 
Roman  d'Alexandre  (1140). 
Song  of  Thibaut  King  of  Navarre. 
Song  of  Thibaut. 
Le  Printems  rappelle  aux  armes, 
A  lovely  Lass. 
Fill  ev'ry  Glass. 
Bourie  d'Auvergne. 
Danse  des  Auvergnats. 
Perigourdine. 

ITALIAN  NATIONAL  Music. 
Parthenia  (1665). 

Swiss  NATIONAL  Music. 
Bans  de  Vache. 
Another  edition. 

GERMAN  NATIONAL  Music. 
Tune  of  the  Bohemian  Miners. 


Ffarwel  Ednyfed  Fychan,  or 
Towyn  Castle. 

Dafyddy  Garregwen. 

Oil  y  Fwyalch.  The  Blackbird's 
Retreat  (from  a  MS.) 

Codiad  yr  Hedydd.  The  Rising  ot 
the  Lark. 

The  Bed  Piper's  Melody. 

Magena  Gollod  ei  gardas. 

The  March  of  the  Men  of  Gla 
morgan. 

The  Monks'  March. 

The  Dawning  of  the  day. 

The  Camp  of  the  Palace.  (Of  noble 
race  was  Shenkin.) 

Dilj-n  Serch.  The  Pursuit  of  Love. 


Allegro. 

Allegro  Moderate. 

Allegro. 

Allegro  Moderato. 

An  Old  German  Tune. 

Valtzer  or  Waltz. 

Allegro. 

SPANISH  NATIONAL  Music. 
A  Fandango  (Corelli's  Follia). 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 
A  Boleras. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 


araband  1665. 
Spanish  Tune. 
Spanish  Dance. 
Moorish  Air. 
Hottentot  Tune. 
Hungarian  Tune. 
Do. 

POLISH  NATIONAL  Music. 
Cossac. 

Polacca.— Trio. 
Polonoise. — Trio. 
Polonese.— Trio. 

SCANDINAVIAN  NATIONAL  Music. 

Slow. 

Song  of  Harold  the  Valiant. 
Scandinavian  Song. 
Song  of  Odin. 
Scandinavian  Song. 

NORWEGIAN  NATIONAL  Music. 

Moderato. 

Chanson. 

Allegro. 

Moderato. 

Allegro. 

Allegro. 

Allegro  Moderato. 

Vivace. 

Allegro  Moderato. 

Allegro. 

Allegro. 

Moderato. 

In  G  minor  2-4. 

Duett. 

Summer  Song. 

Winter  Song. 

Allegro  Molto. 

In  D  minor,  G-8. 

Allegro. 

Allegretto. 

Buna  of  the  Finlanders. 

DANISH  NATIONAL  Music. 
In  A  minor,  C  time. 

RUSSIAN  Music. 

Allegro, 

Allegretto. 

Sluw. 

Allegro. 

Allegretto. 

Presto. 

Andante. 

Adagio. 

Allegretto. 

Allegro. 

Allegro. 

Slow. 

Air  de  Danse  Busse  (Pas  Eusse). 

in  D  major,  2-4. 

Andante. 

Sclavonian  Tune. 


TURKISH  Music, 
n  A,  2-4. 
anse  Grecque. 
nother  edition,  Romeca. 
anse  des  peuples  de  L'Archipel. 
urkish  March, 
anse  Turque. 
altaduristico. 

ir  Bedouin  (Arabian  Tune), 
rabian  Song.    Zoro  me  na. 
Persian  Song. 

CHINESE  TUNES. 
n  G,  2-4. 
n  G,  4-4. 
low. 

ifoo-lee-chwa. 

ong   of  the   Chinese  Boatmen. 
Canon  2  in  1. 

EAST  INDIAN  TUNES. 

hel  Chel  Moniani. 
n  F,  4-4. 

une  of  Indostan.    Dergeni. 
talay  Tune, 
ndante. 

.  Madras  Boat  Song. 
Hindostanee  Air. 
o  mani. 
loderato. 
iaki  a  faslah. 

Another  edition.    Bekhtah. 
Another  edition.     Bengal  song. 

Sackia. 
How. 

Ai  booti  serray. 
^ss  shone, 
hura  Wallen. 
Mare  Pie. 
Yareg  be  wo  fa. 
The  Snake  Song. 
Kekhtah  (another  edition). 
Ebona. 

Uarsea,  an  Elegy. 
Dandee  Song  (Boatmen's). 
Presto. 

Hindoo  Hymn. 
Bombay  Air. 
Alei  Y  ar  Bigia. 
Dance. 
Tuppah. 

Tuppah, '  Dende  kala.' 
Terana, '  Dandora  vakee.' 
Teraua,  '  La  Yawm  la  Yawm.' 

Music  OF  NOKTH  AMERICA. 
Canadian  Tune.    Allegro. 
Do.    Slow. 
Do.    Slow. 
Do.    D  minor.  2-4. 
Do.    Allegro, 
Song  sung  toy  the  Indians  of  Nor 
folk  Sound.    Alia  Coosh. 


VOLUME  II. 


VARIOUS  STYLES, 
Ambrosian  Chant,  A.D.  384. 
Plain  Chant.    Guido  (1022). 
Other-Harmonies.    Do. 
Harmony.    Franco. 
Chant.    Josquin  de  Pres. 
1st  Psalm  O.  V.    Martin  Luther. 
38th  Psalm  O.  V. 
81st  Psalm  O.V. 

lllth  Psalm  O.V,    French  Tune. 
I  will  exalt  Thee.    Tye. 
Lord,  for  Thy  tender  mercies  sake. 

Farrant. 

Gloria  Patri.    Do. 
Deposuit  Potentes.    Palestnna. 
We  have   heard  with   our  ears, 

Do. 

Gloria  Patri.    Tallis. 
'  Dissi  a  Vamata  mia.'   Marenzio. 
Bow  thine  ear.    William  Bird. 
Nou  nobis  Domine.    Do. 
Double  Chant.    Morley. 
Symphony,  3  flutes.    Peri. 
Fate   Festa  al  Signore. 

Cavaliero. 

Hosauna.    O.  Gibbons. 
Almighty  and  everlasting 
God  is  gone  up.    Do. 
Gloria  Patri.    Do. 
The  Silver  Swan.    Do. 
Awake,  Sweet  Love.    Dowland. 
1  S'  in  ch'  havro  Spirto.  Carissimi 


E.  da 


Do. 


Movement  from  Amante  che  dile. 

Carissimi. 
Hodie  Simon  Petrus.    Do. 
Jt  ululantes— Jephtha.    Do. 
Abiit  ergo  in  montes.    Do. 
?lorate  filise  Israel.    Do. 
Deum  de  Deo.    Do. 
Part  of  a  Cantata,  Fortunati  tnlel 

martire.    A.  Scarlatti. 
Aria,  Perche  geme  O  tortorella. 

Do. 

Do.,  Voglio  amar.    Do. 
Do.,  Non  da  piu  peni  O  cara.  Do. 
Do.,  Che  piu  brami.    Do. 
Do.,  II  seno  de  mia  vita.    Do. 
Cantata, 'Son  ferito.'    Do. 
Aria,  Strada  penare.    Do. 
Do.,  H  destin.     Do. 
Do.,  'Illustreilsanguemio.'  Do. 
Do.,  Con  1'arte  del  mio  cor.    Do. 
Do.   Miei  fidi  a  vendetta.    Do. 
Do.,  L'lnnocente  diffendete.  Do. 
Duet,  Non  son  piu.    Do. 
Aria,  Due  bellissime  pupille.    Do. 
Do.,  11  mio  flglio.    Do. 
Part  of  Cantata,  '  Che  mesta  horti 

sospiro.    Do. 
Motet,  Domine  quinque  talenta. 

L.  Bossi. 
Anthem,     Teach    me,    0    Lord. 

Rogers. 
'Single  Chant.    T.  Purcell. 


650 


SPECIMENS,  CROTCH'S. 


Aria,  Opri  il  fato.   Anon. 

Do.,  No  non  amero.    Do. 

Do.,  Due  vaghe  pupille.    Do. 

Do.,  Del  tuo  cor  tempri.    Do. 

Do.,  Se  tu  credi.    Do. 

Do.,  Tanto  basti  per  far.     Do. 

Do.,  Bella  bocca  di  cinabro.   Do. 

Do.,  Foglio  lieve.    Do. 

Do.,  Tu  fuggisti  0  caro.    Do. 

Do.,  Crine  vezzose.    Do. 

Do.,  Dolce  Amor  mi  dice  spera. 
Do. 

Do.,  Lusingami  speranza.    Do 

Do.,  Begl"    occhi    perdonatemi. 
Do. 

Do.,  Col  freddo  suo  velen.    Do. 

Do.,  Se  il  mio  labbro.    Do. 

Do.,  Gia  che  amor.    Do, 

Do.,  Seversastida  tuoi  iumi.  Do. 

Do.,  Fantasmi  orribili.    Do. 
Cantata,  Taci  O  cruda.    Do. 
Aria,  Begl'  ocelli  d'amore.    Do. 

Do.,  Migravit  Juda.    Do. 

Do.,  Gloria  Putri.    Dr.  Child. 

Do.,  Dormidormibenmio.  Oesti. 
Tart  of  Cantata,  Dite  a  lei.    Stra- 

della. 

Cantata.  Se  gelose,  sel  Tu.    Do. 
Canzonet,  Chi  dira.    Do. 
Aria.  Vado  ben  Spesso.  Salv.  Eosa. 
Gloria  Patri.    Blow. 
Anthem,  I  will  arise.  Chreyghton. 
Duet,  Dormlno  1'aureestive.   Du- 

rante. 

7th,  Concerto.    A.  Corelli. 
Part  of  2nd  Sonata,  op.  1.    Do. 
Fugue  from  the  4th  Sonata,  op.  3. 
Do. 


Part  of  the  7th  Solo.    Do. 
Part  of  the  llth  Solo.    Do. 
Anthem.  Out   of   the  deep.     Al- 

drich. 
Do.,   O  God,  Thou  hast  cast  us 

out.    H.  Purcell. 
Gloria  Patri.    Do, 

Do.  Do. 

Do.  Do. 

Do.  Do. 

Part  of  1st  Sonata.    1st  set.    Do. 
From  6th  Sonata.    1st  set.    Do. 
From  9th  Sonata.    2nd  set.    Do. 
In  guilty  night.    Do. 
Overture  to  King  Arthur.    Do. 
Chaconne,  before  the  Play.    Do. 
Brave  souls  to  be  renowned.  Do. 
Gloria  Patri.    Dr.  Croft. 
Qui  diligit  Mariam.    Steffani. 
Dixit  Dominus.    Leo. 
Part  of  a  Mass.    Pergolesl. 
'  Euridice  e  dove  sei '  (Orfeo).  Do. 
Gloria  in  Excelsis.    Do. 
4th  Psalm.    Marcello. 
7th  Psalm.    Do. 
From  Der  Tod  Jesu.    Graun. 
Te  gloriosus  (Te  Deum).    Do. 
Overture  to  I  Pellegrini.    Hasse. 
'Le  Porte  noi  diserra.'    Do.    Do. 
Pellegrino  e  1'uomo.    Do.    Do. 
Overture  to  Pastor  Fido.   Handel. 
Aria,  Son  contusa  (Poro).    Do. 
He  is  my  God  (Israel  in  Egypt). 

Do. 

Chorus,  The  listening  crowd.   Do. 

Do.  May  nu  rash  intruder.    Do. 

Double  Chorus,   He    gave    them 

Hailstones.    Do. 


Fugue  (in  E).    Bach. 


No.  2  of  the  12  solos  for  the  Violin. 

Tartini. 
Air,  Pupillette  vezzosette,   from 

Ormisda,  Vinci. 

Air,  Infelice  abbandonata.    Do. 
Concerto  6,  op.  3.    Geminiani. 
Concerto2.    Bicciotn 
Part  of  Sonata  10.    Paradies. 
Jlequiem.    Jomelli. 
Chorus,  Santa  Speme  (Passione). 

Do. 

Sonata  3.    CrispJ. 
Part  of  Sonata  4.    Do. 
Fantasia.    C.  P.  E.  Bach. 
Concerto  for  a  full  Band.    J.  C. 

Bach. 
Overture   to  Ifigenie   en  Aulide. 

Gluck. 

Chorus,  Que  d'attralts. 
Overture,  Pierre  le  Grand.  Grelry. 
Do.,  Don  Quichotte.  Champigny. 


VOLUME  III. 

Overture.  Toison  D'Or.    Vogel. 


Part  of  Sonata  2.    Vanhall. 

Part  of  Sonata  2,  op.  9.  Bchobert. 

Minuet  and  Trio,  Sonata  1,  op.  5. 
Do. 

Part  of  Quintet  3,   op.  12.     Boo 
cherini. 

Sonata  3  op.  23.    Kozeluch. 

Part  of  Quartet  1.  8th  set.  Pleyel. 
Do.  6.  op.  8.    Do. 

Part  of  Sonata  1,  op.  12.    Krump- 

holtz. 

Do.  2,  op.  11.    Hullmandel. 
Do.  2,  op.  4.    Clementi. 

Adagio  from  op.  11.    Do. 

Part  of  Sonata  4,  op.  12.    Do. 

Eecordare  from  a  Requiem.    Mo 
zart. 

Benedictus  from  Do.    Do. 

Overture,  Le  Nozze  di  Figaro.  Do. 

Part  of  Quartets,  op.  76.   Haydn. 

Sinfonia,  in  Eb.    Do. 


!<:   i 

SPEECHLEY,  HENRY,  after  working  14  years 
with  his  uncle  J.  C.  Bishop,  and  6  more  with 
Henry  Willis,  set  up  on  his  own  account  in  London 
as  organ-builder  in  1862.  His  best  works  may  be 
seen  at  Alton,  Bosbury,  Dalston  (St.  Mark's),  and 
in  Exeter,  where  he  reconstructed  and  enlarged 
Loosemore's  organ  in  the  Cathedral.  [V.  de  P.] 
SPEIDEL,  a  musical  family  of  Ulm.  i. 
KONRAD,  well-known  singer  and  director  of  the 
'  Ulm  Liederkranz '  singing  society :  he  died 
Jan.  29,  1880.  2.  His  eldest  son,  WJLHELM, 
born  Sept.  3,  1826,  was  educated  in  music  first 
by  his  father  and  then  by  I.  Lachner  and  W. 
Kuhe.  After  teaching  for  two  years  at  Thann 
in  Alsace  he  made  Munich  his  headquarters,  but 
was  widely  known  as  a  PF.  player  throughout 
Germany,  and  intimately  associated  with  Schu 
mann,  Liszt,  and  Thalberg.  He  was  music- 
director  at  Ulm  from  1854  to  1857,  but  in  the 
latter  year  joined  Stark,  Lebert,  etc.  in  founding 
the  Conservatorium  at  Stuttgart,  and  remained 
there  as  Professor  of  the  PF.  till  1 8  74,  when  he 
left  the  Conservatorium  to  found  a  private  school 


SPINA. 

of  his  own.  He  is  conductor  of  the  Stuttgart 
'Popular  Concerts.'  His  works  are  numerous 
comprising  65  opus  numbers  in  all  departments'. 
He  has  also  edited  the  sonatas  of  Haydn  and 
Mozart,  and  the  PF.  works  of  Mendelssohn. 
3.  His  brother  LUDWIG  was  born,  also  at  Ulm, 
April  n,  1830.  He  received  his  education  at 
the  University  of  Munich,  and  joined  the  staff  of 
the  Augsburg  Gazette.  In  1853  he  took  up  his 
quarters  in  Vienna,  and  was  soon  engaged  on 
the  press  of  that  city,  first  on  the  '  Presse/  then 
on  the  '  Neue  Freie  Presse  '  and  the  '  Fremden- 
blatt,'  for  both  of  which  he  still  writes.  He  is 
one  of  the  most  considerable  Anti-Wagnerites  of 
the  day,  of  great  independence  of  opinion  and 
remarkable  force  of  expression.  Herr  Speidel 
is  also  well-known  as  a  devoted  adherent  of 
Schubert. 


SPEYER,  or  SPEIER,  WILHELM,  composer, 
was  born  June  21,  1790,  at  Frankfort-on-the- 
Main,  where  he  died  April  5,  1878.  He  received 
his  musical  education  at  Offenbach  under  Thieriot 
(the  friend  of  Weber)  and  Andre".  He  was 
already  a  prominent  violinist  when  he  went  to 
Paris  in  1812,  to  become  a  pupil  of  Baillot,  from 
whose  instruction  and  from  the  acquaintance  of 
such  men  as  Cherubini,  Boieldieu,  MeTiul,  etc., 
he  derived  much  benefit.  Returning  to  Germany 
afterwards,  he  settled  down  at  Frankfort  and 
exchanged  the  musical  profession  for  that  of  a 
merchant,  but  continued  to  compose  —  at  first 
chiefly  chamber  music.  He  published  string 
quartets  and  quintets,  and  also  violin  duets,  which 
are  still  looked  upon  as  standard  works  in  that 
class  of  composition.  He  afterwards  devoted 
himself  chiefly  to  vocal  music,  and  it  is  as  a 
writer  of  songs  that  his  name  is  best  and  most 
widely  known.  Amongst  his  Lieder  —  of  which 
he  published  several  hundred  —  many,  such  as 
'The  Trumpeter,'  '  Rheinsehnsucht  '  (My  heart's 
on  the  Rhine),  'Die  drei  Liebchen,'  etc.,  acquired 
an  extraordinary  popularity.  He  also  wrote 
vocal  quartets  and  some  choral  works. 

With  Mendelssohn  and  his  family  Speyer  was 
on  terms  of  affectionate  intimacy,  and  to  him  the 
charming  story  given  in  vol.ii.  p.  2806  is  due.  [G-.] 

SPIANATO  (Ital.),  level,  even.  A  word  used 
by  Chopin  in  the  Andante  which  precedes  the 
Polonaise  in  Eb,  op.  22,  to  denote  a  smooth 

and  equal  style  of  performance,  with  but  little 
.  ,  J  f  „-, 

variety.  [*•*••} 

SPICATO  (Ital.),  accurately  'separate/  'dis 
tinct.'     A  term    applied   in  violin-playing  to  a 
particular  vibratory  style  of  bowing.     'Spicato 
and  '  Saltato  '  are  both  explained  under  the  head 
of  SPRINGING  Bow.  [&] 

SPINA,  CARL  ANTON.  ThesuccessoroftheDia- 
bellis  in  that  famous  publishing  house  at  Vienna, 
which  for  so  long  stood  in  the  Graben,  No.  1  1  33' 
at  the  corner  of  the  Braunerstrasse.  He  succeeded 
them  in  1852,  and  was  himself  succeeded  by  F. 
Schreiber  in  July  1872.  During  this  twenty 
years  Spina's  activity  showed  itself  especially  m 
the  publication  of  Schubert's  works,  a  mass  of 
whose  MSS.  he  acquired  from  Diabelli.  Chief 


SPINA, 

among  these  were  the  Octet,  Quintet  in  C,  Quar 
tets  in  D  minor,  G,  and  Bb,  the  Overture  in  the 
Italian    style,  those   to    Alfonso    and   Estrella, 
Fierrabras,   Rosamunde,    with    Entractes   in   B 
minor  arid  Bb,  the  B  minor  Symphony,  Sonata 
for   PF.   and   Arpeggione,    etc.,    all    in    score. 
Mr.  Spina's  enthusiasm   for   Schubert  was   not 
that  of  a  mere  publisher,  as  the  writer  from  per 
sonal  experience  of  his  kindness  can  testify.     It 
was  he  who  allowed  the  Crystal  Palace  Company 
to  have  copies  of  several  of  the  orchestral  works 
for  playing,  long  before  there  was  sufficient  public 
demand  to  allow  of  their  being  published.     [G-.] 
SPINDLER,    FRITZ,  pianoforte  -  play er  and 
composer  for   that   instrument,   born   Nov.  24, 
1817,  at  Wurzbach,  Lobenstein,  was  a  pupil  of 
F.  Schneider  of  Dessau,  and  has  been  for  many 
years  resident  in  Dresden.    His  published  works 
are  more  than  330  in  number,  the  greater  part 
brilliant  drawing-room  pieces,  but  amongst  them 
much   teaching-music,    and    some    works   of    a 
graver  character — trios,  sonatinas,  two  sympho 
nies,  concerto  for  PF.  and  orchestra,  etc.     His 
most  favourite  pieces  are — Wellenspiel  (op.  6) ; 
Schneeglocklein  (op.  19);   Silberquell  (op.  74); 
Husarenritt ;  6  dance  themes ;  Transcriptions  of 
Tannhauser  and  Lohengrin.  [G.] 

SPINET  (Fr.  Epindte\  Ital.  Spinetta).  A 
keyed  instrument,  with  plectra  or  jacks,  used  in 
the  i6th,  1 7th,  and  l8th  centuries;  according  to 
Burney  (Rees's  Cycl.  1819,  'Harpsichord')  'a 
small  harpsichord  or  virginal  with  one  string  to 
each  note.'  The  following  definitions  are  from. 
Florio's  'New  World  of  Words,'  161 1 : — 'Spinetta, 
a  kind  of  little  spina  .  .  .  also  a  paire  of  Virgin- 
alles';  l Spinettegiare,  to  play  upon  Virginalles'; 
'Spinetto,  a  thicket  of  brambles  or  briars' — (see 
Rimbault's  History  of  the  Pianoforte,  1860). 
\Ve  first  meet  with  the  derivation  of  spinet  from 
spina,  a  thorn,  in  Scaliger' s  Poetices  (1484-1550; 
lib.  i.  cap.  Ixiii.).  Referring  to  the  plectra  or 
jacks  of  keyed  instruments,  he  says  that,  in  his 
recollection,  points  of  crowquill  had  been  added 
to  them,  so  that  what  was  named,  when  he  was 
a  boy,  '  clavicymbal ' 'and  'harpichord'  (sic),  was 
now,  from  these  little  points,  named  'spinet.' 
[See  JACK.]  He  does  not  say  what  substance 
crowquill  superseded,  but  we  know  that  the  old 
cithers  and  other  wire-strung  instruments  were 
twanged  with  ivory,  tortoiseshell,  or  hard  wood.1 
Another  origin  for  the  name  has  been  discovered, 
to  which  we  believe  that  Signor  Ponsicchi  ('II 
Pianoforte,'  Florence,  1876)  was  the  first  to  call 
attention.  In  a  very  rare  book,  'Conclusion! 
nel  suono  dell'  organo,  di  D.  Adriano  Banchieri, 
Bolognese'  (Bologna,  1608),  is  this  passage:— 

Spinetta  riceve  tal  nome  dall'  inventpre  di  tal  forma 
lon«a  quadrata,  liquate  f(a  un  maestro  Giovanni  Spinetti, 
Venetiano,  ed  uno  di  tali  stromenti  ho  veduto  io  alle 
mani  di  Francesco  Stivori,  organista  della  magnifica 
comunita  di  Montagnana,  dentrovi  questa  inscrizione : 
JOANNES  SPINETUS  VENETUS  FECIT.  A.D;  1503. 

i  With  reference  to  the  early  use  of  leather  for  plectra,  as  men 
tioned  in  HARPSICHORD,  we  now  consider  the  evidence  of  existing 
instruments  as  very  doubtful,  owing  to  their  having  possibly  been 
altered  during  repairs.  The  old  Italian  jacks  were  provided  with 
little  steel  springs  to  bring  back  the  plectra  to  an  upright  position. 
The  bristles  were  later  in  date.  See  the  Pisan  clavicembalo  and  Mr. 
Fairfax  Murray's  spinet  now  at  Florence. 


SPINET. 


651 


According  to  this  the  spinet  received  its  name 
from  Spinetti,   a  Venetian,  the  inventor  of  the 
oblong  form,  and  Banchieri  had  himself  seen  one 
in  the  possession  of  Stivori,  bearing  the  above 
inscription.     M.  Becker  of  Geneva  ('Revue  et 
Gazette  musicale,'  in  the  '  Musical  World,'  June 
15,  1878),  regards  this  statement  as  totally  in 
validating  the  passage  from  Scaliger;    but  not 
necessarily  so,  since  the  year  1503  is  synchronous 
with  the  youth  of  Scaliger.     The  invention  of 
the  crowquill  points  is  not  claimed  for  Spinetti, 
but  the  form  of  the  case — the  oblong  or  table 
shape  of  the  square  piano  and  older  clavichord, 
to  which  Spinetti  adapted  the  plectrum  instru 
ment  ;   it  having  previously  been  in  a  trapeze- 
shaped  case,  like  the  psaltery,  from  which,  by 
the  addition  of  a  keyboard,  the  instrument  was 
derived.  [See  VIRGINAL  ;  and  also  for  the  different 
construction  and  origin  of  the  oblong  clavichord.] 
Putting  both  statements  together,  we  find  the 
oblong  form,  of  the  Italian  spinet,  and  the  crow 
quill  plectra,  in  simultaneous  use  about  the  year 
1500.   Before  that  date  no  record  has  been  found. 
The  oldest  German  writers,  Virdimg  and  Arnold 
Schlick,  whose  essays  appeared  in  1511,  do  not 
mention  the  spinet,  but  Virdung  describes  and 
gives  a  woodcut  of  the  Virginal,  which  in  Italy 
would  have  been  called  at  that  time  '  spinetta/ 
because  it  was  an  instrument  with  plectra  in  an 
oblong  case.     Spinetti's  adaptation  of  the  case 
had  therefore  travelled  to  Germany,  and,  as  we 
shall  presently  see,  to  Flanders  and  Brabant,  very 
early  in  the  i6th  century;    whence  M.  Becker 
conjectures  that  1503  represents  a  late  date  for 
Spinetti,  and  that  we  should  put  his  invention 
back  to  the  second  half  of  the  I5th  century,  on 
account  of  the  time  required  for  it  to  travel,  and 
be  accepted  as  a  normal  form  in  cities  so  remote 
from  Venice. 

M.  Vander  Straeten  ('  La  Musique  aux  Pays- 
Bas,'  vol.  i.)  has  discovered  the  following  refer 
ences  to  the  spinet  in  the  household  accounts  of 
Margaret  of  Austria  : — 

A  ung  organiste  de  la  Ville  d'Anvers,  la  somme  de 
vi  livres  auquel  madicte  dame  en  a  fait  don  en  faveur 
de  ce  que  le  xve  jour  d'Octobre  xv.  xxii  [1522]  il  a  amene" 
deux  jeunes  entfaus,  filz  et  fille,  qu'ils  ont  jouhe'  sur 
une  espinette  et  chants'  a  son  diner. 

A  1'organiste  de  Monsieur  de  FienneS;  sept  livres 
dont  Madame  lui  a  fait  don  en  faveur  de  ce  que  le 
second  jour  de  De'cembre  xv.xxvi  [1526]  il  est  venu 
jouher  d'un  instrument  dit  espinette  devant  elle  a  son 
diner. 

The  inventory  of  the  Chateau  de  Pont  d'Ain, 
1531,  mentions  '  una  espinetta  cum  suo  etuy,'  a 
spinet  with  its  case;  meaning  a  case  from  which 
the  instrument  could  be  withdrawn,  as  was  cus 
tomary  at  that  time.  M.  Becker  transcribes 
also  a  contemporary  reference  from  the  Munich 
Library : — 

Q.uartorze  Gaillardes,  neuf  Pavannes,  sept  Bransles 
et  deux  Basses-Dances,  le  tout  reduict  de  musique  en  la 
tablature  du  ieu  (jeu)  Dorgues,  Espinettes,  Manicor- 
dions  et  telz  semblables  instruments  musicaux,  impri- 
me'es  a  Paris  par  Pierre  Attaignant  MDXXIX. 

The  manichord  was  a  clavichord.  Clement 
Marot  (Lyons,  1551)  dedicated  his  version  of  the 
Psalms  to  his  countrywomen : — 


652 


SPINET. 


SPINET. 


Et  vos  doigts  sur  les  Espinettes, 
Pour  dire  Saintes  Chansonettes. 

With  this  written  testimony  we  have  fortunately 
the  testimony  of  the  instruments  themselves, 
Italian  oblong  spinets  (Spinetta  a  Tavola),  or 
those  graceful  pentangular  instruments,  without 
covers  attached,  which  are  so  much  prized  for 
their  external  beauty.  The  oldest  bearing  a  date 
is  in  the  Conservatoire  at  Paris,  by  Francesco  di 
Portal upis,  Verona,  1523.  The  next  by  Antoni 
Patavini,  1550,  is  at  Brussels.  We  have  at  S. 
Kensington  two  by  Annibal  Rosso  of  Milan,  1555 
and  1577,  and  one  by  Marcus  Jadra  (Marco  dai 
Cembali;  or  dalle  Spinette)  1568.  Signor  Kraus 
has,  at  Florence,  two  16th-century  spinets,  one  of 
which  is  signed  and  dated,  Benedictus  Florianus, 
1571;  and  at  the  Hotel  Cluny,  Paris,  there  is 
one  by  the  Venetian  BafFo,  date  1570,  whose 
harpsichord  (clavicembalo)  at  S.  Kensington  is 
dated  I574-1 


For  the  pentangular  or  heptangular  model 
it  is  probable  that  we  are  indebted  to  Annibal 
Eosso,  whose  instrument  of  1555  ig  engraved 
in  the  preceding  illustration.  Mr.  Carl  Engel 
has  reprinted  in  the  S.  Kensington  Catalogue 
(1874,  P-  273)  a  passage  from  'La  Nobilita  di 

i  Since  the  article  HARPSICHORD  was  written,  an  Italian  clavicem 
balo  has  been  acquired  for  South  Kensington,  that  is  now  the  oldest 
keyed  instrument  in  existence,  with  a  date.  It  is  a  single  keyboard 
harpsichord  with  two  strings  to  each  key  ;  the  compass  nearly  4 
octaves,  from  E  to  D.  The  natural  keys  are  of  boxwood.  The  in 
scription  Is  '  Aspicite  ut  trahitur  suavi  Modulamine  Vocis.  Quicquid 
habent  aer  sldera  terra  fretrum.  Hieronymus  Bononiensis  Faciebat 
Romae  MDXXI.'  The  outer  case  of  this  instrument  is  of  stamped 
leather.  It  was  bought  of  a  'brocanteur'  in  Paris  for  1201.  We  know 
of  no  other  instrument  by  Geronimo  of  Bologna.  Another  harpsi 
chord  nearly  as  old  has  been  seen  by  the  writer  this  year  (1882)  in 


Milano'  (1595"),  which  he  thus  renders :— ' Han 
nibal  Rosso  was  worthy  of  praise,  since  he  was 
the  first  to  modernise  clavichords  into  the  shape 
in  which  we  now  see  them,'  etc.     The  context 
clearly  shows  that  by   'clavichord'  spinet  was 
meant,  clavicordo  being  used  in  a  general  sense 
equivalent  to  the  German  Clavier.  If  the  modern 
ising  was  not  the  adoption  of  the  beautiful  forms 
shown  in  the  splendid  examples  at  South  Ken 
sington—that   by  Rosso,  of  1577,  having  been 
bought  at  the  Paris  Exhibition  of  1867  for  £1200 
on  account  of  the  1928  precious  stones  set  into 
the  case — it  may  possibly  have  been  the  wing- 
form,  with  the  wrestpins  above  the  keys  in  front, 
which  must  have  come  into  fashion  about  that 
time,  and  was  known  in  Italy  as  the  Spinetta 
Traversa ;    in  England  as  the  Stuart,  Jacohean, 
or  Queen  Anne  spinet,  qr  Couched  Harp.    There 
is  a  very  fine  Spinetta  Traversa,  emblazoned  with 
the  arms  of  the  Medici  and  Compagni  families, 
in  the  Kraus  Museum  (1878,  no.  193).   Pratorius 
illustrates  the  Italian  spinet  by  this  special  form, 
speaks  (' Organographia,'  Wolfenbiittel,  1619)  of 
larger  and  smaller  spinets,  and  states  that  in  the 
Netherlands  and  England  the  larger  was  known  as 
the  Virginal.     The  smaller  ones  he  describes  as 
'  the  small  triangular  spinets  which  were  placed 
for  performance  upon  the  larger  instruments,  and 
were  tuned  an  octave  higher.'  Of  this  small  instru 
ment  there  are  specimens  in  nearly  all  museums ; 
the  Italian  name  for  it  being  '  Ottavina '  (also 
'Spinetta  di  Serenata').     We  find  them  fixed 
in  the  bent  sides  of  the  long  harpsichords,  in 
two  remarkable  specimens ;   one  of  which,  by 
Hans  Ruckers,2  is  preserved  in  the  Kunst-und- 
Gewerbe  Museum,  Berlin  (there  is  a  painting  of 

Messrs.  Chappell's  warehouse.  It  is  a  long  instrument  in  an  outer 
painted  case.  The  belly  and  marking  off  are  evidently  not  original,  but 
the  keyboard  of  boxwood  with  black  sharps  has  not  been  meddled 
with.  There  are  3|  octaves  from  F  to  C  ;  the  lowest  Fjf  and  (i#are 
omitted.  The  maker's  inscription,  nearly  illegible,  records  that  the 
instrument  was  made  by  a  Florentine  at  Pisa,  in  1526. 

2  This  rare  Hans  Euckers  harpsichord  was  seen  by  the  writer  sub 
sequent  to  the  compilation  of  the  catalogue  appended  to  the  article 
RUCKERS.  As  others  have  also  been  found,  the  following  particulars 
of  them  complete  the  above-mentioned  list  to  1882.  [See  also  VIE- 

GINALLS.] 


Form. 


Bent  side  harp 
sichord  with 
octave  spinet 
in  one. 


Date. 


1594 


Dimensions. 


ft.  in.         ft.  in. 
5    11    by   2     6 


HANS  RUCKERS  the  Elder. 

General  Description. 


2  keyboards  ;  the  front  one  4  oct.,  C— C ;  the 
side  one  3)  Oct.,  E— A,  without  the  highest  G{; 
3  stops  in  original  position  at  the  right-hand 
side;  white  naturals.  Rose  No.  1;  and  Rose 
to  octave  spinet  an  arabesque.  Painting  in 
side  top  showing  a  similar  combined  instru 
ment.  Inscribed  HANS  ROCKERS  MB  TECIT 
ANTWERPIA. 


Present  Owner. 


Gewerbe  Museum,  Ber 
lin. 


Source  of  inform 
ation. 


A.  J.  Hipkins. 


Bent  side. 

Bent  side. 
Bent  side. 


1029 


I' 


1G46 


4    by   3     0 


G     1    by  2    10J 


7     5    by   3     0 


HANS  RUCKERS  the  Younger. 


2  keyboards;    58  keys,  G— F ;   black  naturals.  I  M.    Gerard    de    Prins, 


Rose  No.  4.  |      Louvain. 

ANDRIES  RUCKERS  the  Elder. 

1  keyboard  ;  4  oct.,  C— C  ;  without  lowest  C#  ;     M.  G.  de  Prins. 
white  naturals.    Rose  No.  6;   painting  of  a 

hunt. 

2  keyboards,  each  5  oct. ;  black  naturals.  Rose  |  M.  Paul  Endel,  Paris. 
No.  6.   Inscribed  ANDREA  ROCKERS  ME  FECIT  I 

ANTVERPIAE. 


F.   P.  de  Prins, 
Limerick. 


F.  P.  de  Prins. 


P.  Endel. 


SPINET. 

a  similar  double  instrument  inside  the  lid) :  the 
other  is  in  the  Maison  Plantin,  Antwerp,  and 
was  made  as  late  as  1734-5,  by  Joannes  Josephus 
Coenen  at  Euremonde  in  Holland.  In  rect 
angular  instruments  the  octave  one  was  remove- 
able,  as  it  was  in  those  double  instruments 
mentioned  under  RUCKERS  (p.  195  6),  so  that  it 
could  be  played  in  another  part  of  the  room. 

According  to  Mersenne,  who  treats  of  the 
spinet  as  the  principal  keyed  instrument  ('  Har- 
monie/  1636,  liv.  3,  p.  101,  etc.),  there  were  three 
sizes ;  one  of  2|  feet,  tuned  to  the  octave  of  the 
'ton  de  chapelle'  (which  was  about  atone  higher 
than  our  present  high  concert  pitch) ;  one  of  3^ 
feet  tuned  to  a  fourth  above  the  same  pitch ;  and 
the  large  5-feet  ones,  tuned  in  unison  to  it.  We 
shall  refer  to  his  octave  spinet  in  another  para 
graph. 

The  compass  of  the  Ottavine  was  usually  from 
E  to  C,  three  octaves  and  a  sixth  (a)  ;  of  the 
larger  16th-century  Italian  spinette,  four  octaves 
and  a  semitone,  from  E  to  F(6).  The  French 
tpinettes  of  the  1 7th  century  were  usually  deeper, 
having  four  octaves  and  a  semitone  from  B  to  C  (c). 


SPINET. 


653 


The  reason  for  this  semitonal  beginning  of  the 
keyboard  is  obscure  unless  the  lowest  keys  were 
used  for  '  short  octave '  measure,  an  idea  which 
suggested  itself  simultaneously  to  the  writer  and 
to  Professor  A.  Kraus,  whose  conviction  is  very 
strong  as  to  the  extended  practice  of  the  short 
octave  arrangement.  The  Flemish  picture  of 
St.  Cecilia,  in  Holyrood  Palace,  shows  unmis- 
takeably  a  short  octave  organ  keyboard  as  early 
as  I484.1 

Fortunately  we  are  not  left  to  such  suggestion 
for  the  spinet  short  octave.  Mersenne,  in  a 
passage  which  has  hitherto  escaped  notice 
('Harmonic,'  liv.  3,  p.  107),  describing  his  own 
spinet,  which,  according  to  him,  was  one  of  the 
smallest  in.  use,  says  '  the  longest  string  has 
little  more  than  a  foot  length  between  the  two 
bridges.  It  has  only  thirty-one  steps  in  the 
keyboard,  and  as  many  strings  over  the  sound 
board,  so  that  there  are  five  keys  hid  on  account 
of  the  perspective  (referring  to  the  drawing)— 
to  wit,  three  principals  and  two  chromatics 
('  feintes '),  of  which  the  first  is  cut  in  two  ;  but 
these  chromatics  serve  to  go  down  to  the  third 
and  fourth  below  the  first  step,  or  C  sol,  in 


notation 


order  to  arrive  at  the 


1  Hubert,  or  Jan,  Van  Eyck's  St.  Cecilia,  in  the  famous  Mystic  Lamb, 
y  be  referred  to  here  although  appertaining  to  the  organ  and  not 
the  spinet,  as  a  valuable  note  by  the  way.  The  original  painting,  now 
at  Berlin,  was  probably  painted  before  1426  and  certainly  before  1432. 
•The  painter's  minute  accuracy  is  unquestionable.  It  contains  a 
chromatic  keyboard  like  the  oldest  Italian,  with  boxwood  naturals 
and  black  sharps.  The  compass  begins  in  the  bass  at  the  halt-tone  E. 
There  is  no  indication  of  a  '  short  octave,'  but  there  is  one  key  by 
itself,  convenient  to  the  player's  left  hand ;  above  this  key  there  is  a 
latchet  acting  as  a  catch,  which  may  be  intended  to  hold  it  down  as 
a  pedal.  D  is  the  probable  note,  and  we  have  in  Van  Eyck's  organ, 
it  seems  to  us,  the  same  compass,  but  an  octave  lower,  as  in  the  Ger 
man  Positif  of  the  next  century  at  South  Kensington— viz.  D,  E,  then 
*  chromatic  octaves  fromF,  and  finally  F#,  G,  A.  There  is  no  bottom- 
rail  to  the  keyboard,  nor  is  there  in  the  painting  at  Holyrood. 


third  octave,  for  the  eighteen  principal  steps 
only  make  an  eighteenth;  that  is  to  say,  a 
fourth  over  two  octaves.'  Here  is  the  clearest 
confirmation  of  short -octave  measure  in  the 
spinet,  the  same  as  in  the  organ,  both  key 
boards,  according  to  Mersenne,  being  conform 
able.  But  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  woodcut 
represents  a  different  spinet  from  that  described 
(apparently  descending  to  B),  the  description  is 
not  clear.  To  reach  the  third  octave  would  re 
quire  an  F,  for  which  one  half  the  cut  chromatic 
in  the  spinet  described  may  be  reserved.  But 
the  B  of  the  drawing  would,  by  known  analogy 
with  organ  practice,  sound  G,  and  A  would  be 
found  on  the  Cfl.  The  B  also  on  the  DjJ  key, 
though  this  is  generally  found  retained  as  Eb  on 
account  of  the  tuning.2  It  is  inferred  that  F 
was  reached  by  dividing  the  lowest  natural  key ; 
these  diagrams  therefore  represent  what  we  will 
call  the  C  short  measure,  as  that  note  gave  the 
pitch. 

AB  AEt>  F      AB.orEb 


II 


If 


11 


II 


G  C  D  E  P 


G  C  D  E  F 


G  C  D  E  F 


Mersenne's  express  mention  of  C  as  the  longest 
string  shows  that  the  still  deeper  G  and  A  were 
made  so,  in  his  spinet,  by  weight :  an  important 
fact,  as  we  have  not  seen  a  spinet  in  which  it 
could  have  been  otherwise,  since  in  large  in 
struments  the  bridge  is  always  unbroken  in  its 
graceful  curve,  as  it  is  also  in  the  angles — always 
preserved — of  the  bridge  of  an  octave  one.  The 
intimate  connection  of  the  spinet  and  organ 
keyboards  must  palliate  a  trespass  upon  ground 
that  has  been  authoritatively  covered  in  ORGAN 
(p.  588).  It  is  this  connection  that  incites  in 
quiry  into  the  origin  of  the  short  octaves,  of 
which  there  are  two  measures,  the  French,  Ger 
man  or  English  C  one,  which  we  have  described, 
and  the  Italian  F  one,  which  we  will  now  con 
sider.  We  propose  to  call  this  F,  from  the  pitch 
note,  as  before.  We  have  reason  to  believe  these 
pitch  notes  originally  sounded  the  same,  from 
which  arose  the  original  divergence  of  high  and 
low  church-pitch ;  the  C  instrument  being  thus 
thrown  a  fourth  higher.  The  Italian  short  mea 
sure  having  been  misapprehended  we  have  sub 
mitted  the  question  of  its  construction  to  the 
high  authority  of  Professor  Kraus,  and  of  Mr. 
W.  T.  Best,  who  has  recently  returned  from  an 
examination  of  the  organs  in  Italy.  Both  are  in 
perfect  agreement.  Professor  Kraus  describes 
the  Italian  short  octave  as  a  progression  of  three 
dominants  and  tonics,  with  the  addition  of  B 
molle(b)  and  B  quadro  (d)  for  the  ecclesiastical 
tones.  The  principle,  he  writes,  was  also  ap 
plied  to  the  pedal  keyboards,  which  are  called 
'  Pedaliera  in  Sesta,'  or  '  Pedaliera  a  ottava 


2  It  may  have  been  on  account  of  the  tuning  that  A  and  D  were 
left  untretted  in  the  old  '  gebunden '  or  fretted  clavichords  ;  but  the 
double  Irish  harp  which  Galilei  (Dissertation  on  Ancient  and 
Modern  Music,  A.D.  1581)  says  had  been  adapted  in  Italy,  had  those 
notes  always  doubled  in  the  two  rows  of  strings,  an  importance  our 
tuning  hypothesis  fails  to  explain. 


654 


SPINET. 


ripiegata.'1  Professor  Kraus  maintains  the  nearly 
general  use  of  the  short  octave  in  Italian  spinets, 
harpsichords,  clavichords,  and  organs,  and  to  some 
harpsichords  he  adds  even  another  dominant. 

D  E  Bt>  G     D  E  Bb 


TIT 


TIT 


C  F  G  ABflC 


CFG  ABQC 


According  to  this,  the  oldest  harpsichord  known 
to  exist,  ,the  Roman  one  of  1 5  2 1 ,  at  S.  Kensington, 
is  a  short  octave  F  instrument.  But  extended 
keyboards  existed  contemporaneously,  since  the 
Pisan  harpsichord  of  1526  is  continued  down  to  F, 
omitting  the  lowest  Ffl  and  Gjf.  Bb  and  Bfi  are, 
of  course,  there.  When,  in  the  last  century,  the 
C  short  octaves  were  made  long,  it  was  by  carrying 
down  the  G  and  A,  and  giving  back  the  semitonal 
value  to  the  B  and  CjJ  (sometimes  also  the  Djf); 
but  G  jf  was  not  introduced,  since  it  was  never  re 
quired  as  a  dominant.  The  dominants  had  some 
times  given  way  to  semitones  as  early  as  the  I4th 
and  1 5th  centuries. 

What  was  then  the  original  intention  of  'short 
measure'?  We  find  it  indicated  in  Mersenne's 
Psaltery  (G  C  D  E  F  G  A  Bb  C  d  e  f  g)  and  in 
many  delineations  of  Portatives  or  Regals  in  pic 
tures  of  the  old  masters,  whose  sincerity,  seeing 
the  accurate  manner  in  which  they  have  painted 
lutes,  cannot  be  questioned.  We  will  confine 
our  references  to  Orcagna's  'Coronation  of  the 
Virgin'  (1350),  in  the  National  Gallery,  London, 
and  Master  Stephen's  'Virgin  of  the  Rosary' 
(1450),  at  Cologne,  with  the  Holyrood  picture 
of  1484,  already  referred  to  as  an  illustration  of 
a  Positive  organ  with  short  measure.  May  not 
Dr.  Hopkins's  quotation  [ORGAN,  vol.  ii.  p.  585] 
of  two  long  pipes  in  an  organ  of  1418  count  as 
evidence  for  short  measure  as  much  as  for  pedals? 
We  think  so.  In  fine  we  regard  short  measure 
as  having  been  intended  to  supply,  in  deeper  toned 
instruments,  dominants  for  cadences,  and  in  the 
shriller  regals  (which  were  no  more  than  boxes  of 
pitch-pipes,  one,  two,  or  three  to  a  key),  to  prompt 
the  intonation  of  the  plainsong.  The  contraction 
of  the  keyboard,  whether  diatonic  or  chromatic, 
to  suit  the  size  of  the  hand,  was  probably  due  to 
these  small  instruments — < 

Orgues  avait  bien  maniables, 
A  une  seulle  main,  portables, 
Ou  il  mei  mes  souffle  et  touche. 

Roman  de  la  Eose. 

The  contraction  to  the  short  octave  measure 
might  have  been  intended  to  get  rid  of  the 
weight  of  the  heavier  pipes  not  needed  for 
dominants  or  intonation,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
keep  the  keyboard  narrow.  Both  contractions— 
the  keyboard  and  the  short  measure — were  thus 
ready  made  for  the  spinet,  harpsichord  and  clavi 
chord,  when  they  came  into  use. 

The  short  octave  group  was  -finally  partially 
doubled,  so   as   to  combine  with  the  dominant 

1  But  not  '  Ottava  Kubata,'  which  some  inaccurately  apply  to  the 
lowest  octave  of  the  short  octave  manual.  This  is  a  contrivance  in 
small  organs  with  pedals  to  disguise  the  want  of  the  lowest  diapason 
octave  on  the  manual,  by  coupling  on  to  it  the  contrabasso  of  the 
pedals  with  the  register  of  the  octave  above. 


SPINET. 

fourths  the  ordinary  chromatic  scheme,  by  dividing 
the  lowest  sharps  or  chromatics,  of  which  there 
is  an  example  in  a  spinet  by  Pleyer  or  Player 
made  bet  ween  1710  and  17  20,  exhibited  by  Messrs! 
Kirkman  at  S.  Kensington  in  1872.  This  instru- 
ment,  with  black  naturals,  and  apparently  4! 
octaves  from  B  to  D,  has  the  lowest  Cjf  and  Djf 
divided,  called  in  the  quotation  in  the  Catalogue 
(p.  12)  'quarter  tones.'  But  it  is  difficult  to 
imagine  enharmonic  intervals  provided  for  the 
deepest  notes.  We  believe  it  to  have  been 
intended  for  a  'short  octave,'  and  to  be  thus 
explained  :  — 

Eb 


^ 

CJF 

Apparent  notes     B     C        D        E 

Cj_     'Eb_ 

A        B 
Real  notes  G    C        D        E, 


Db      Eb 
or     Apparent  notes    B     C        D        E 

A    JL 

"Ci      Eb 
Real  notes  G    C        D        E 

A  spinet  by  Keene,  dated  1685,  in  possession 
of  Mr.  H.  J.  Dale,  Cheltenham,  and  one  by  the 
same  maker  belonging  to  Mr.  E.  R.  Hughes,  of 
Chelsea,  have  the  same  apparently  enharmonic 
arrangement.  One  by  Player  (sic},  lately  sent 
to  South  Kensington  (1882),  is  to  be  included 
with  Messrs.  Kirkman's  and  the  Keenes,  and 
also  a  Player  which  belongs  to  Mr.  Amps  of 
Cambridge ;  but  a  Keene  of  Mr.  Grove's,  undated, 
has  not  the  cut  sharps,  which  we  are  disposed 
to  regard  as  for  mixed  dominants  and  chromatics, 
because  the  independent  keynote  value  of  the 
chromatics  was,  about  A.D.  1700,  beginning  to  be 
recognised,  and  the  fretted  clavichords  were  soon 
to  give  way  to  those  without  frets.  It  was  the 
dawn  of  Bach,  who  set  all  notes  free  as  tonics. 
We  see  in  Keene  and  Player's  spinets  the  blending 
of  old  and  new,  that  which  was  passing  away 
and  our  modern  practice. 

Returning  to  the  Spinetta  Traversa,  we  find 
this  model  preferred  in  England  in  the  Stuart 
epoch,  and  indeed  in  fashion  for  150  years.  Ihe 
favourite  makers  during  the  reigns  of  Charles  I. 
and  II.  were  John  and  Thomas  Hitchcock  and 
Charles  Haward,2  but  there  is  an  unaccountable 
difference  between  John  Hitchcock's  and  Charles 
Haward's  spinets  in  the  fine  specimens  known 
to  the  writer,  both  the  property  of  Mr.  William 
Dale  of  London,  the  latter  of  much  older  char 
acter,  though  probably  made  subsequent  to  the 
former. 

2  The  statement  in  HARPSICHORD  that  there  was  no  independent 
harpsichord-making  apart  from  organ-building  in  England  d 
the  17th  century  is  now  contradicted  by  the  fact  of  these  spinel- 
makers  having  also  made  harpsichords,  'harpsicous' as  theMgiisn 
then  preferred  to  call  them.  There  is  a  harpsichord  of  5 octaves 
by  John  Hitchcofk  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  W.  J.  Legh  ot  Lyrae. 
Cheshire.    It  is  without  date,  but  is  numbered  inside  3. 
John  Hitchcock  spinet  is  numbered  inside 21  and  dated  1830. 
Sam  or  Sams,  apparently  a  workman's,  is  found  in  both  instrumeu 


SPINET. 

Thomas  Hitchcock's  spinets  are  better  known 
than  John's.  The  one  in  the  woodcut  belongs  to 
Messrs.  Broadwood,  and  is  numbered  1379.*  (The 
highest  number  we  have  met  with  of  Thomas 
Hitchcock,  is  1547.)  Messrs.  Broad  wood's  differs 


SPINET. 


655 


from  the  John  Hitchcock  one  of  1630  in  having 
a  curved  instead  of  an  angular  bent  side,  and 
from  the  naturals  being  of  ivory  instead  of  ebony. 
The  compass  of  these  instruments — five  octaves, 
from  Gr  to  G — is  so  startling  as  to  be  incredible, 
were  it  not  for  the  facts  that  several  instruments 
are  extant  with  this  compass,  that  the  key 
board  did  not  admit  of  alteration,  and  that  the 
Sainsbury  Correspondence  [see  RUCKERS,  p.  196  a] 
mentions  the  greater  compass  that  obtained  in 
England  in  the  time  of  Charles  I.  than  was 
expected  or  required  on  the  Continent.  The 
absence  also  of  the  soundhole,  regarded  as  essen 
tial  in  all  stringed  instruments  of  that  time, 
where  the  soundboard  covered  the  whole  inter 
nal  space,  shows  how  eminently  progressive  the 
Hitchcocks  must  have  been.  Not  so  Haward,  in 
the  only  instrument  (that  here  represented)  which 


we  have  been  so  fortunate  as  to  meet  with  by 
this  maker.     Chas.  Haward  appears  to  have  been 

1  This  is  the  instrument  in  Mr.  Millais'  picture  of  'The  Minuet,' 
'862.    Thomas  dated  his  spiuets ;  John  numbered  them. 


contemporary  with  the  Hitchcocks,  and  yet  he  is 
as  conservative  to  old  Italian  or  French  practice 
as  if  John  Hitchcock  had  never  made  an  instru 
ment  in  England.  A  John  Hitchcock  spinet, 
dated  1676,  has  lately  come  under  our  notice. 
John  and  Thomas  were  probably  brothers.  The 
Charles  Haward  spinet  is  small,  with  short  keys 
and  limited  compass,  being  only  of  4  octaves  and 
a  semitone,  B — C.  The  naturals  are  of  snake- 
wood,  nearly  black  ;  the  sharps  of  ivory.  There 
are  wires  on  each  bridge  over  which  the  strings 
pass,  and  along  the  hitchpin  block,  precisely  the 
same  as  in  a  dulcimer.  The  decoration  of  the 
soundboard,  surrounding  an  Italian  rose,  is 
signed  'I  H/  with  'Carolus  Haward  Fecit' 
above  the  keys ;  and  the  name  of  each  key  is 
distinctly  written,  which  we  shall  again  have 
occasion  to  refer  to.  Pepys  patronised  Haward 
(or  Hayward  as  he  sometimes  writes  the  name). 
We  read  in  his  Diary — 

April  4,  1668.  To  White  Hall.  Took  Aldgate  Street 
in  my  way  and  there  called  upon  one  Hayward  thab 
makes  Virginalls,  and  there  did  like  of  a  little  espinette, 
and  will  have  him  finish  it  for  me :  for  I  had  a  mind  to 
a  small  harpsiehon,  but  this  takes  up  less  room. 

July  10,  1G68.  To  Haward's  to  look  upon  an  Espin 
ette,  and  I  did  come  near  to  buying  one,  but  broke  off. 
I  have  a  mind  to  have  one. 

July  13,  1668.  I  to  buy  my  espinette,  which  I  did 
now  agree  for,  and  did  at  Haward's  meet  with  Mr. 
Thacker,  and  heard  him.  play  on  the  harpsiehon,  so  as  I 
never  heard  man  before,  I  think. 

July  15, 1668.  At  noon  is  brought  home  the  espinette 
I  bought  the  other  day  of  Haward ;  costs  me  51. 

Another  reference  concerns  the  purchase  of 
Triangles  for  the  spinet — a  three-legged  stand,  as 
in  our  illustration.  A  curious  reference  to  Charles 
Hawavd  occurs  in  '  A  Vindication  of  an  Essay  to 
the  advancement  of  Musick,'  by  Thomas  Salmon,2 
M.A.,  London,  1672.  This  writer  is  advocating 
a  new  mode  of  notation,  in  which  the  ordinary 
clefs  were  replaced  by  B.  (bass),  M.  (mean),  and 
T.  (treble)  at  the  signatures : 

Here,  Sir,  I  must  acquaint  you  in  favour  of  the  afore 
said  B.  M.  T.  that  t'other  day  I  met  with  a  curious  pair 
of  Phanatical  Harpsechords  made  by  that  Arch  Heretick 
Charles  Haward,  which  were  ready  cut  out  into  octaves 
(as  I  am  told  he  abusively  contrives  all  his)  in  so  much 
that  by  the  least  hint  of  B.  M.  T.  all  the  notes  were 
easily  found  as  lying  in  the  same  posture  in  every  one 
of  their  octaves.  And  that,  Sir,  with  this  advantage, 
that  so  soon  as  the  scholar  had  learned  one  hand  he 
xinderstood  them,  because  the  position  of  the  notes  were 
for  both  the  same. 

The  lettering  over  the  keys  in  Mr.  W.  Dale's 
Haward  spinet  is  here  shown  to  be  original.  It  is 

2  SALMON,  THOMAS,  born  at  Hackney,  Middlesex,  in  1648,  was  on 
April  8,  1664,  admitted  a  commoner  of  Trinity  College,  Oxford.  He 
took  the  degree  of  M.A.  and  became  rector  of  Mepsal  [Meppershall  ?], 
Bedfordshire.  In  1672  he  published  'An  Essay  to  the  Advancement 
of  Musick,  by  casting  away  the  perplexity  of  different  Cliffs,  and 
uniting  all  sorts  of  Musick  in  one  universal  character.'  His  plan  was 
that  the  notes  should  always  occupy  the  same  position  on  the  stave, 
without  regard  as  to  which  octave  might  be  used  ;  and  he  chose  such 
position  from  that  on  the  bass  stave— i.  e.  G  was  to  be  always  on  the 
lowest  line.  Removing  the  bass  clef,  h'e  substituted  for  it  the  capital 
letter  B,  signifying  Bass.  In  like  manner  he  placed  at  the  beginning 
of  the  next  stave  the  letter  M  (for  Mean),  to  indicate  that  the  notes 
were  to  be  sung  or  played  an  octave  higher  than  the  bass ;  and  to 
the  second  stave  above  prefixed  the  letter  T  (for  Treble),  to  denote 
that  the  notes  were  to  be  sounded  two  octaves  above  the  bass. 
Matthew  Lock  criticised  the  scheme  with  great  asperity,  and  the 
author  published  a  'Vindication'  of  it,  to  which  Lock  and  others 
replied.  [See  LOCK,  MATTHEW.]  In  1688  Salmon  published  'A  Pro 
posal  to  perform  Music  in  Perfect  and  Mathematical  Proportions,' 
which,  like  his  previous  work,  met  with  no  acceptance.  LW.H.H.] 


656 


SPINET. 


very  curious  however  to  observe  Haward's  simple 
alphabetical  lettering,  and  to  contrast  it  with  the 
Hexachord  names  then  passing  away.  There 
is  a  virginal  (oblong  spinet)  in  York  Museum, 
made  in  1651  by  Thomas  White,  on  the  keys  of 
which  are  monograms  of  Gainaut  (bass  G)  and 
the  three  clef  keys  F  fa  ut,  C  sol  fa  ut,  and 
G  sol  re  ut  \ 

Mace,  in '  Musick's  Monument '  (London,  1676), 
refers  to  John  Hay  ward  as  a  '  harpsichon '  maker, 
and  credits  him  with  the  invention  of  the  Pedal 
for  changing  the  stops.  There  was  a  spinet  by 
one  of  the  Haywards  or  Hawards  left  by  Queen 
Anne  to  the  Chapel  Royal  boys.  It  was  used  as 
a  practising  instrument  until  the  chorister  days 
of  the  late  Sir  John  Goss,  perhaps  even  later. 

Stephen  Keene  was  a  well-known  spinet-maker 
in  London  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne.  His 
spinets,  showing  mixed  Hitchcock  and  Haward 
features,  accepting  Mr.  Hughes's  instrument  as 
a  criterion,  reached  the  highest  perfection  of 
spinet  tone  possible  within  such  limited  dimen 
sions.  The  Baudin  spinet,  dated  1/23,  which 
belonged  to  the  late  Dr.  Rimbault,  and  is  en 
graved  in  his  History  of  the  Pianoforte,  p.  69,  is 
now  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Taphouse  of  Oxford. 
Of  later  iSth-century  spinets  we  can  refer  to  a 
fine  one  by  Mahoon,  dated  1747,  belonging  to 
Mr.  W.  H.  Cummings,  and  there  is  another  by 
that  maker,  who  was  a  copyist  of  the  Hitchcock s, 
at  S.  Kensington  Museum.  Sir  F.  G.  Ouseley 
owns  one  by  Haxby  of  York,  1766;  and  there 
is  one  by  Baker  Harris  of  London,  1776,  in  the 
Music  School  at  Edinburgh.  Baker  Harris's 
were  often  sold  by  Longman  &  Broderip,  the 
predecessors  in  Cheapside  of  dementi  &  Collard. 
It  is  not  surprising  that  an  attempt  should  have 
been  made,  while  the  pianoforte  was  yet  a  novelty, 
to  construct  one  in  this  pleasing  wing-shape. 
Crang  Hancock,  of  Tavistock  Street,  Covent  Gar 
den,  made  one  in  1782  which  was  long  in  the 
possession  of  Mr.  Walter  Broadwood.  It  is  now 
at  Godahning.  [A.J.H.] 

SPIRITOSO,  i.e.  'spiritedly,' is,  like  CON  SPI- 
EITO,  a  designation  of  style  rather  thaji  of  pace. 
It  is  occasionally  met  with  in  Haydn,  rarely  in 
Mozart,  and  in  not  one  of  Beethoven's  original 
works.  In  his  many  arrangements  of  national 
airs  'Spirituoso'  occurs  not  unfrequently,  as  in 
op.  107,  no.  10;  op.  108,  nos.  13,  22  ;  but  he  pro 
bably  found  it  on  the  copies  sent  him.  Brahms, 
with  a  touch  of  wonted  conservatism,  uses  Con 
Spirito  in  the  Finale  of  his  2nd  Symphony.  [G.] 

SPITTA,  JULIUS  AUGUST  PHILIPP,  a  well- 
known  musical  litterateur,  son  of  the  author  of 
the  'Psalter  und  Harfe '  ;  born  at  Wechold, 
Hanover,  Dec.  27,  1841  ;  studied  at  Gottingen, 
and  afterwards  taught  at  Reval,  Sondershausen, 
and  Leipzig,  where  he  took  part  in  the  founding 
of  the  Bachverein  in  1874.  So  great  was  his 
progress  during  this  time,  that  in  1875  he  was 
made  Professor  of  Musical  history  in  the  Berlin 
university,  and  Perpetual  Secretary  to  the  Aca 
demy  of  Arts  there.  At  Easter  of  the  same 
year  he  became  teacher  of  musical  History  in 


SPOFFORTH. 

the  Hochschule  fur  Musik ;  in  1876  entered 
the  direction,  and  at  midsummer  1882  became  a 
permanent  director  of  that  establishment.  His 
principal  literary  work  is  a  Life  of  J.  S.  Bach 
in  2  vols.  (B.  &  H. ;  vol.  i.  1873,  v°l-  "•  1880) 
—an  accurate  and  perfectly  exhaustive  treatise 
of  all  relating  to  the  subject,  but  sadly  wanting 
a  better  index.1  He  has  published  a  smaller  bio° 
graphy  of  the  same  master,  forming  No.  i  of 
Breitkopf  &  Hartel's  '  Musikalische  Vortra^e/ 
and  another  of  Schumann,  which,  though  issued 
as  nos.  37,  38  of  the  same  series,  was  written  for 
this  Dictionary.  [See  vol.  iii.  pp.  384-421.]  His 
article  on  SPONTINI,  in  this  work,  is  the  first 
adequate  treatment  of  that  singular  individual. 
An  article  on  Homilius  will  be  found  in  the  Allg. 
Deutsche  Biographic,  and  many  other  produc 
tions  of  his  pen  in  the  Leipzig  Allg.  Musikalische 
Zeitung  for  1875-78, 1880-82,  and  in  the  earlier 
numbers  of  Eitner's  '  Monatsheft  fur  Musikge- 
schichte.'  His  critical  edition  of  the  organ  works 
of  Buxtehude  in  2  vols.  (B.  &  H.  1875,  76), 
is  an  admirable  specimen  of  editing,  and,  in  ad 
dition  to  the  music,  contains  much  valuable 
information.  [G.] 

SPITZFLOTE,  SPITZFLUTE;  i.e.  Pointed 
flute.  An  organ  stop,  so  called  because  its  pipes 
are  slightly  conical,  that  is,  taper  gradually  from 
the  mouth  upwards.  The  diameter  of  the  top 
is  generally  one-third  of  that  of  the  pipe  at  its 
mouth.  The  tone  is  thin  and  reedy,  but  pure 
and  effective.  The  Spitzflote  may  be  of  8  ft., 
4  ft.,  or  2  ft.  pitch  ;  in  this  country  stops  of  this 
kind  are  most  commonly  of  4  ft.  pitch.  [J.  S.] 

SPOFFORTH,  REGINALD,  glee  composer,  born 
1768  at  Southwell,  Nottingham,  where  his 
uncle,  Thomas  Spofforth,  was  organist  of  the 
minster.  From  him  and  from  Dr.  Benjamin 
Cooke  he  probably  derived  all  his  instruction  in 
music.  About  1787  or  1788  he  wrote  a  glee— 
probably  his  first — for  three  male  voices,  'Lightly 
o'er  the  village  green,'  and  in  1793  obtained 
two  prizes  from  the  '  Glee  Club,'  for  his  glees 
'  See  !  smiling  from  the  rosy  East,'  and  'Where 
are  those  hours,'  which  brought  him  prominently 
forward.  About  1 799  he  published  a  '  Set  of  Six 
Glees,'  one  of  which,  'Hail,  smiling  morn/  at 
once  caught  the  public  ear,  and  has  ever  since 
retained  its  popularity.  Another,  "'Fill  high 
the  grape's  exulting  stream,'  gained  a  prize  in 
1810.  Spofforth's  masterpieces  however  are  not 
among  his  prize  glees,  and  'Come,  bounteous 
May,'  'Mark'd  you  her  eye,'  'Health  to  my 
dear,'  and  'How  calm  the  evening'— all  for 
male  voices— are  among  the  finest  specimens  of 
his  genius.  Few  English  composers  perhaps 
have  excelled  Spofforth  in  lively  fancy,  joined 
to  pure  chaste  style.  For  several  years  before 
his  death  his  health  was  bad,  and  he  died  at 
Kensington  Sept.  8,  1827.  After  his  death  \V. 
Hawes  published  a  [number  of  his  MS.  _  glees, 
but  some  of  these  pieces  are  crude  and  imper 
fect,  and  probably  not  intended  for  publication. 

i  An  English  translation  is  announced  by  Messrs.  Novello  &  Co. 


SPOFFORTH. 

Reginald's  younger  brother,  SAMUEL,  was  born 
in  1780,  appointed  organist  of  Peterborough 
Cathedral  when  only  eighteen,  and  in  1807  was 
made  organist  of  Lichfield  Cathedral.  He  died 
June  6,  1864,  and  is  now  best  known  as  the  com 
poser  of  a  once  popular  chant.  [D.B.] 

SPOHR,  Louis,1  great  violinist  and  famous 
composer,  was  born  April  25,  1784,  at  Brunswick", 
in  the  house  of  his  grandfather,  «i  clergyman. 
Two  years  after,  his  father,  a  young  physician, 
took  up  his  residence  at  Seesen,  and  it  was  there 
that  young  Spohr  spent  his  early  childhood. 
Both  parents  were  musical:  the  lather  played 
the  flute;  the  mother  was  pianist  and  singer. 
The  boy  showed  his  musical  talent  very  early, 
and  sang  duets  with  his  mother  when  only  four 
years  of  age.  At  five  he  began  to  play  the  violin, 
and  when  hardly  six  was  able  to  take  the  violin- 
part  in  Kalkbrenner's  trios.  His  first  teachers 
were  Eiemenschneider  and  Dufour.  The  latter, 
a  French  e'migre',  was  so  much  impressed  with 
his  pupil's  exceptional  talent,  that  he  persuaded 
the  father  to  send  him  for  further  instruction  to 
Brunswick.  Along  with  his  first  studies  on  the 
violin  went  his  earliest  attempts  at  composition, 
which  consisted  chiefly  of  violin  duets.  The 
father,  a  strict,  methodical  man,  invariably  in 
sisted  on  his  properly  finishing  everything  he 
began  to  write,  and  would  allow  neither  cor 
rections  nor  erasures — a  wholesome  discipline, 
the  advantage  of  which  Spohr  throughout  his 
life  never  ceased  to  acknowledge. 

At  Brunswick  he  attended  the  grammar-school 
and  continued  his  musical  studies.  His  teachers 
were  Kunisch,  a  member  of  the  Duke's  band,  for 
the  violin,  and  Hartung,  an  old  organist,  for 
counterpoint.  The  latter  appears  to  have  been  a 
great  pedant,  and  young  Spohr  did  not  continue 
to  study  under  him  for  very  long.  Yet  this  was 
the  only  instruction  in  the  theory  of  music  he  ever 
received.  According  to  his  own  statement  it  was 
principally  through  an  eager  study  of  the  scores 
of  the  great  masters,  especially  Mozart,  that  he 
acquired  mastery  over  the  technicalities  of  com 
position.  His  first  public  appearance  was  at  a 
school-concert,  when  he  played  a  concerto  of  his 
own  with  so  much  success  that  he  was  asked  to 
repeat  it  at  one  of  the  concerts  given  by  the 
Duke's  band.  Kunisch  then  insisted  on  his 
taking  lessons  from  Maucourt,  the  leader  of  the 
hand,  and  the  best  violinist  at  Brunswick.  Spohr 
was  only  fourteen  when  he  undertook  his 
first  artistic  tour.  With  a  few  letters  of  intro 
duction  in  his  pocket  he  set  out  for  Hamburg. 
But  there  he  failed  even  to  get  a  hearing,  and 
after  some  weeks  had  to  return  to  Brunswick  on 
foot,  greatly  disappointed,  his  slender  means 
thoroughly  exhausted.  In  his  despair  he  con 
ceived  the  idea  of  presenting  to  the  Duke  a  peti 
tion  asking  for  means  to  continue  his  studies. 
The  Duke  was  pleased  with  the  lad's  open 
hearing,  heard  him,  was  struck  with  his  talent, 
at  once  gave  him  an  appointment  in  his  band, 
and  after  a  short  time  expressed  his  willing- 

1  So,  and  not  Ludwig,  he  calls  himself  in  his  Autobiography. 
VOL.  III.   PT.  6. 


SPOHE. 


657 


ness_  to  defray  the  expenses  of  his  further 
musical  education  under  one  of  the  great  recog 
nised  masters  of  the  violin.  Viotti  and  Ferdinand 
Eck  both  declined  to  receive  a  pupil,  but  the 
latter  recommended  his  brother,  Franz  Eck, 
who  was  just  then  travelling  in  Germany.  He 
was  invited  to  Brunswick,  and  as  the  Duke 
was  greatly  pleased  with  his  performances,  an 
agreement  was  made  that  young  Spohr  should 
accompany  him  on  his  journeys  and  receive  his 
instruction,  the  Duke  paying  one  half  of  the 
travelling  expenses  and  a  salary  besides.  In  the 
spring  of  1802  they  started,  master  and  pupil,  for 
Russia.  They  made,  however,  prolonged  stays  at 
Hamburg  and  Strelitz,  and  it  was  on  these  oc 
casions  that  Spohr  profited  most  from  his  master's 
tuition.  Latterly  this  became  very  irregular. 
Spohr  however  derived  much  benefit  from  con 
stantly  hearing  Eck,  who  certainly  was  a  very 
excellent  violinist,  though  but  an  indifferent, 
musician.  At  this  period  Spohr,  who  had  an 
herculean  frame  and  very  strong  constitution, 
often  practised  for  10  hours  a  day.  At  the  same 
time  he  composed  industriously,  and  among  other 
things  wrote  the  first  of  his  published  violin 
concertos  (op.  i)  which  is  entirely  in  the  manner 
of  Rode,  and  also  the  violin  duets  op.  3.  In  St. 
Petersburg  he  met  dementi  and  Field,  of  whom 
he  tells  some  curious  traits  ;  and  after  having 
passed  the  winter  there  without  playing  in 
public,  returned  to  Brunswick  in  the  summer 
of  1803.  There  he  found  Rode,  and  heard  him 
for  the  first  time.  The  playing  of  this  great 
master  filled  him  with  the  deepest  admiration,  and 
for  some  time  it  was  his  chief  aim  to  imitate  his 
style  and  manner  as  closely  as  possible.  After 
having  given  in  a  public  concert  highly  satisfac 
tory  proof  of  the  progress  made  during  his 
absence,  he  again  entered  on  his  duties  in  the 
Duke's  band.  An  intended  journey  to  Paris  in 
1804  was  cruelly  cut  short  by  the  loss  of  his 
precious  G-uarnerius  violin,  the  present  of  a 
Russian  enthusiast.  Just  before  entering  the 
gates  of  Gottingen  the  portmanteau  containing 
the  violin  was  stolen  from  the  coach,  and  all 
endeavours  to  recover  it  proved  fruitless.  He 
returned  to  Brunswick,  and  after  having  acquired, 
with  the  help  of  his  generous  patron,  the  Duke, 
another,  though  not  equally  good  violin,  he 
started  for  a  tour  to  Berlin,  Leipzig,  Dresden,  and 
other  German  towns.  His  success  was  every 
where  great,  and  his  reputation  spread  rapidly. 
At  his  Berlin  concert  he  was  assisted  by  Meyer 
beer,  then  only  a  boy  of  13,  but  already  a  bril 
liant  pianist. 

In  1805  Spohr  accepted  the  post  of  leader  in 
the  band  of  the  Duke  of  Gotha.  It  was  there  he 
met  and  married  his  first  wife,  Dorette  Scheidler, 
an  excellent  harp-player,  who  for  many  years 
appeared  with  him  in  all  his  concerts,  and  for 
whom  he  wrote  a  number  of  sonatas  for  violin 
and  harp,  as  well  as  some  solo-pieces.  Having 
at  his  disposal  a  very  fair  band,  Spohr  now 
began  to  write  orchestral  works  and  vocal  com 
positions  of  larger  dimensions.  His  first  op.era, 
'  Die  Prufung,'  which  belongs  to  this  period, 

Uu 


658 


SPOHR. 


was  performed  at  a  concert.  In  1807  he  made 
a  very  successful  tour  with  his  wife  through  Ger 
many,  visiting  Leipzig,  Dresden,  Prague,  Munich, 
Stuttgardt  (where  he  met  Weber),  Heidelberg, 
and  Frankfort.  In  1808  he  wrote  his  second 
opera, '  Alrunrt,'  but  this  again  never  reached  the 
stage,  although  accepted  for  representation  at 
Weimar  and  apparently  gaining  the  approval  of 
Goethe,  at  that  time  manager  of  the  Weimar 
theatre,  who  was  present  at  a  trial-rehearsal  of 
the  work.  In  the  course  of  this  year  Napoleon 
held  the  famous  congress  of  princes  at  Erfurt. 
Spohr,  naturally  anxious  to  see  the  assembled 
princes,  went  to  Erfurt,  where  a  French  troupe, 
comprising  Talma  and  Mars,  performed  every  even 
ing  to  a  pit  of  monarchs.  But  on  arrival  he  heard 
to  his  great  disappointment  that  it  was  impossible 
for  any  but  the  privileged  few  to  gain  admittance 
to  the  theatre.  In  this  dilemma  he  hit  on  a 
happy  expedient.  He  persuaded  the  second  horn- 
player  of  the  band  to  allow  him  to  take  his  place, 
but  as  he  had  never  before  touched  a  horn,  he 
had  to  practise  for  the  whole  day  in  order 
to  produce  the  natural  notes  of  the  instrument. 
When  the  evening  came,  though  his  lips  were 
black  and  swollen,  he  was  able  to  get  through 
the  very  easy  overture  and  entr'actes.  Napoleon 
and  his  guests  occupied  the  first  row  of  stalls  ; 
but  the  musicians  had  strict  orders  to  turn 
their  backs  to  the  audience,  and  not  to  look  round. 
To  evade  this  fatal  regulation  Spohr  took  with 
him  a  pocket  looking-glass,  and  by  placing  it  on 
his  desk  got  a  good  view  of  the  famous  per 
sonages  assembled. 

In  1809  he  made  another  tour  through  the 
north  of  Germany,  and  at  Hamburg  received  a 
commission  for  an  opera, '  Der  Zweikampf  mit  der 
Geliebten' — or  'The  Lovers'  Duel' — which  was 
produced  with  great  success  the  year  after.  At 
this  time  he  had  already  written  six  of  his  violin- 
concertos,  and  as  a  player  had  hardly  a  rival 
in  Germany.  The  year  1809  is  memorable  for 
the  first  Music  Festival  in  Germany,  which  was 
celebrated  under  Spohr's  direction  at  Franken- 
hausen,  a  small  town  in  Thuringia.  It  was  fol 
lowed  by  another,  in  iSn,  for  which  Spohr 
composed  his  first  symphony,  in  Eb.  In  1812 
he  wrote  his  first  oratorio,  '  Das  jiingste  Gericht ' 
(not  to  be  confounded  with  'Die  letzten  Dinge,' 
so  well  known  in  England  as  '  The  Last  Judg 
ment),  on  the  invitation  of  the  French  Governor 
of  Erfurt,  for  the  'Fete  Napoldon'  on  Aug.  15. 
He  naively  relates1  that  in  the  composition  of 
this  work  he  soon  felt  his  want  of  practice  in 
counterpoint  and  fugue-writing ;  he  therefore  ob 
tained  Marpurg's  treatise  on  the  subject,  studied 
it  assiduously,  wrote  half  a  dozen  fugues  after 
the  models  given  therein,  and  then  appears  to 
have  been  quite  satisfied  with  his  proficiency ! 
The  oratorio  was  fairly  successful,  but  after  two 
more  performances  of  it  at  Vienna  in  the  fol 
lowing  year,  the  composer  became  dissatisfied, 
and  laid  it  aside  for  ever.  In  autumn  1812 
he  made  his  first  appearance  at  Vienna,  and 
achieved  as  performer  a  brilliant,  as  composer  an 

1  Selbstbiosr.  i.  169. 


SPOHR. 

honourable  success.  The  post  of  leader  of  the 
band  at  the  newly  established  Theatre  an-der-Wien 
being  offered  to  him  under  brilliant  conditions, 
he  gave  up  his  appointment  at  Gotha  and  settled 
at  Vienna.  During  the  next  summer  he  com 
posed  his  opera  'Faust,'  one  of  his  best  works, 
and  soon  afterwards,  in  celebration  of  the  battle 
of  Leipsic,  a  great  patriotic  cantata.  But  neither 
of  these  works  was  performed  until  after  he  had 
left  Vienna.  During  his  stay  there  Spohr  naturally 
came  into  contact  with  Beethoven  ;  but  in  spite 
of  his  admiration  for  the  master's  earlier  compo 
sitions,  especially  for  the  quartets,  op.  18,  which 
he  was  one  of  the  first  to  perform  at  a  time  when 
they  were  hardly  known  outside  Vienna  (in 
deed  he  was  the  very  first  to  play  them  at  Leipsic 
and  Berlin) — yet  he  was  quite  unable  to  un 
derstand  and  appreciate  the  great  composer's 
character  and  works,  as  they  appeared  even  in 
his  second  period.  His  criticism  of  the  C  minor 
and  Choral  Symphonies  has  gained  for  Spohr,  as 
a  critic,  an  unenviable  reputation.  He  disap 
proves  of  the  first  subject  of  the  C  minor  as  un- 
suited  for  the  opening  movement  of  a  symphony; 
considers  the  slow  movement,  granting  the 
beauty  of  the  melody,  too  much  spun  out  and 
tedious — and  though  praising  the  Scherzo,  ac 
tually  speaks  of  '  the  unmeaning  noise  of  the 
Finale.'  The  Choral  Symphony  fares  still  worse : 
he  holds  the  first  three  movements,  though  not 
without  flashes  of  genius,  to  be  inferior  to  all 
the  movements  of  the  previous  eight  symphonies, 
and  the  Finale  he  calls  '  so  monstrous  and  taste 
less,  and  in  its  conception  of  Schiller's  Ode  so 
trivial,  that  he  cannot  understand  how  a  genius 
like  Beethoven  could  ever  write  it  down.'  After 
this  we  cannot  wonder  that  he  finishes  up  by 
saying :  '  Beethoven  was  wanting  in  aesthetic 
culture  and  sense  of  beauty.' 2  But  perhaps  no 
great  artist  was  ever  so  utterly  wrapped  up  in 
himself  as  Spohr.  What  he  could  not  measure 
by  the  standard  of  his  own  peculiar  talent,  to 
him  was  not  measurable.  Hence  his  complete 
absence  of  critical  power,  a  quality  which  in 
many  other  cases  has  proved  to  be  by  no  means 
inseparable  from  creative  talent. 

Although  his  stay  at  Vienna  was  on  the  whole 
very  successful,  and  did  much  to  raise  his 
reputation,  he  left  it  in  1815,  after  having 
quitted  his  appointment  on  account  of  dis 
agreements  with  the  manager  of  the  theatre. 
He  passed  the  summer  at  the  country  seat  of 
Prince  Carolath  in  Bohemia,  and  then  went  to 
conduct  another  festival  at  Frankenhausen, 
where  he  brought  out  his  Cantata  '  Das  befreite 
Deutschland,'  after  which  he  set  out  for  a  tour 
through  the  west  and  south  of  Germany,  Alsace, 
Switzerland  and  Italy.  On  his  road,  with  the 
special  view  of  pleasing  the  Italian  public,  he 
wrote  the  8th  Concerto — the  well-known  'Scena 
Cantante.'  He  visited  all  the  principal  towns 
of  the  Peninsula,  played  the  concerto  in  Borne 

B  _.          •     • 

and  Milan,  and  made  acquaintance  with  Kossu 
and  his  music,  without,  as  will  be  readily  be 
lieved,  approving  much  of  the  latter. 

2  Selbstbiogr.  i.  202,  etc. 


SPOHR. 

Returned  to  Germany,  in  1817  he  visited 
Holland,  and  then  accepted  the  post  of  conductor 
of  the  opera  at  Frankfort-on- the- Main.  Here, 
in  1818,  his  opera  'Faust'  was  first  produced. 
It  was  quickly  succeeded  by  '  Zemire  and 
Azor,'  which,  though  hardly  equal  to  '  Faust,' 
gained  at  the  time  even  greater  popularity. 
Owing  again  to  differences  with  the  manager  he 
left  Frankfort,  after  a  stay  of  scarcely  two  years. 
In  1820  he  accepted  an  invitation  from  the  Phil 
harmonic  Society  in  London,  and  paid  his  first 
visit  to  England.  He  appeared  at  the  opening 
concert  of  the  season  ( March  6),  and  played 
•with  great  success  his  Concerto  No.  8,  '  Nello 
Stilo  clrammatico.'  At  the  second  concert  he  led 
his  Solo  Quartet  in  E.  At  the  next  he  would 
naturally  have  been  at  the  head  of  the  violins  to 
lead  the  band,  while  Ries,  according  to  the  then 
prevailing  fashion,  presided  at  the  piano.  But, 
after  having  overcome  the  opposition  of  some  of 
the  directors,  Spohr  succeeded  in  introducing  the 
conductor's  stick  for  the  first  time  into  a  Phil 
harmonic  concert.  It  was  on  this  occasion  that 
he  conducted  his  MS.  Symphony  in  D  minor, 
a  fine  work,  which  he  had  composed  during  his 
stay  in  London,  and  which  fully  deserved  the 
enthusiastic  reception  it  received  by  the  public 
and  the  press,  though  now  too  seldom  heard.1 
At  the  last  concert  of  the  season  another  Sym 
phony  of  his  was  played  for  the  first  time  in 
England,  as  well  as  his  Nonetto  for  strings  and 
wind  (op.  31).  Spohr  was  delighted  with  the 
excellent  performance  of  the  Philharmonic  Or 
chestra,  especially  the  stringed  instruments.  He 
tells  us  that,  finding  ho*vv  good  the  strings  were, 
he  had  given  them  special  opportunities  for 
display  in  the  D  minor  Symphony,  and  also  that 
he  had  never  since  heard  the  work  so  splendidly 
performed.2  Altogether  his  sojourn  in  London 
was  both  artistically  and  financially  a  great  suc 
cess.  At  his  farewell  concert,  his  wife  made  her 
last  appearance  as  a  harp-player,  and  was  warmly 
applauded.  Soon  after  she  was  obliged,  on  ac 
count  of  ill-health,  to  give  up  the  harp.  In  its 
place  she  took  up  pianoforte-playing,  and  would 
occasionally  play  in  concerts  with  her  husband, 
who  wrote  a  number  of  pianoforte  and  violin 
duets  especially  for  her.  She  died  in  1834. 

On  his  journey  home,  Spohr  visited  Paris  for 
the  first  time.  Here  he  made  the  personal  ac 
quaintance  of  Kreutzer,  Viotti,  Habeneck, 
Cherubini,  and  other  eminent  musicians,  and  was 
received  by  them  with  great  cordiality  and  es 
teem.  His  success  at  a  concert  which  he  gave  at 
the  Opera  was  complete,  although  his  quiet,  un 
pretentious  style  was  not  and  could  not  be  as 
much  to  the  taste  of  the  French  as  it  was  to  that 
of  the  German  and  English  public.  Cherubini 
appears  to  have  felt  a  special  interest  in  Spohr's 
compositions,  and  the  latter  takes  special  pride 
in  relating  how  the  great  Italian  made  him  play 
a  quartet  of  his  three  times  over.  Returned  to 
Germany,  Spohr  settled  at  Dresden,  where  Weber 

1  It  was  a  special  favourite  with  Sterndale  Bennett,  who  \vas  never 
tired  of  humming  its  spirited  and  melodious  subjects. 

2  Stjlbstbiogr.  ii.  89. 


SPOHR. 


659 


was  just  then  engaged  in  bringing  out  his 
'  Freischtitz.'  This  opera  had  already  roused  an 
unprecedented  enthusiasm  in  Berlin  and  Vienna. 
But  Spohr  was  no  more  able  to  appreciate  the 
genius  of  Weber,  than  that  of  Beethoven.  It 
is  an  interesting  fact,  that  shortly  before  this, 
without  knowing  of  Weber's  opera,  he  had  had 
the  intention  of  setting  a  libretto  founded  on  the 
identical  story  of  Freischiitz.  As  soon  however 
as  he  heard  that  Weber  treated  the  subject,  he 
gave  it  up.  During  Spohr's  stay  at  Dresden, 
Weber  received  an  offer  of  the  post  of  Hofkapell- 
meister  to  the  Elector  of  Hessen-Cassel ;  but 
being  unwilling  to  leave  Dresden,  he  declined, 
at  the  same  time  strongly  recommending  Spohr, 
who  soon  after  was  offered  the  appointment  for 
life  under  the  most  favourable  conditions.  On 
New-year's  day,  1822,  he  entered  on  his  duties 
at  Cassel,  where  he  remained  for  the  rest  of 
his  life.  He  had  no  difficulty  in .  gaining  at 
once  the  respect  and  obedience  of  band  and 
singers,  and  soon  succeeded  in  procuring  a  more 
than  local  reputation  for  their  performances. 
Meanwhile  he  had  finished  his  '  Jessonda,' 
which  soon  made  the  round  of  all  the  opera- 
houses  in  Germany,  with  great  and  well-deserved 
success.  It  must  be  regarded  as  the  culmin 
ating  point  of  Spohr's  activity  as  a  composer. 
At  Leipzig  and  Berlin,  where  he  himself  con 
ducted  the  first  performances,  it  was  received 
with  an  enthusiasm  little  inferior  to  that  roused 
a  few  years  before  by  the  'Freischiitz.'  In 
the  winter  of  1824  he  passed  some  time  in 
Berlin,  and  renewed  and  cemented  the  friend 
ship  with  Felix  Mendelssohn  and  the  members 
of  his  family,  which  had  been  begun  when  they 
visited  him  at  Cassel  in  1822.  In  1826  he 
conducted  the  Rhenish  Festival  at  Diisseldorf, 
when  his  oratorio  '  The  Last  Judgment '  (Die 
letzten  Dinge)  was  performed  for  the  first  time. 
It  pleased  so  much  that  it  was  repeated  a  few 
days  later  in  aid  of  the  Greek  Insurgents. 
His  next  great  work  was  the  opera  '  Pietro 
von  Albano,'  which  however,  like  his  next 
operas,  'Der  Berggeist '  and  'Der  Alchymist,' 
had  but  a  temporary  success.  In  1831  he  fin 
ished  his  great  Violin-School,  which  has  ever 
since  its  publication  maintained  the  place  of  a 
standard  work,  and  which  contains,  both  in  text 
and  exercises,  a  vast  amount  of  extremely  in 
teresting  and  useful  material.  At  the  same  time, 
it  cannot  be  denied  that  it  reflects  somewhat 
exclusively  Spohr's  peculiar  style  of  playing,  and 
is  therefore  of  especial  value  for  the  study  of 
his  own  violin-compositions.  It  is  also  true  that 
its  elementary  part  is  of  less  practical  value  from 
the  fact  that  the  author  himself  had  never  taught 
beginners,  and  so  had  no  personal  experience  in 
that  respect. 

The  political  disturbances  of  1832  caused  a 
prolonged  interruption  of  the  opera-performances 
at  Cassel.  Spohr,  incensed  by  the  petty  despotism 
of  the  Elector,  proved  himself  at  this  time,  and 
still  more  during  the  revolutionary  period  of 
1848  and  1849,  a  strong  Radical,  incurring  there 
by  his  employer's  displeasure,  and  causing  him 

U  u  2 


660 


SPOHR. 


innumerable  annoyances.  However  he  made 
good  use  of  the  interruption  to  his  official  duties, 
by  writing  his  great  Symphony  '  Die  Weihe  der 
Tone'  (The  Consecration  of  Sound,  no.  4,  op.  86), 
which  was  produced  at  Cassel  in  1832.  During 
the  next  year,  which  was  saddened  by  the 
death  of  his  wife,  he  composed  the  oratorio 
'  Des  Heiland's  letzte  Stunden'  (Calvary),  on  a 
libretto  which  Rochlitz  had  offered  to  Mendels 
sohn,  but  which  the  latter,  being  then  engaged 
on  'St.  Paul,'  had  declined.  Spohr's  oratorio 
was  first  performed  at  Cassel  on  Good  Friday, 
1835.  In  1839  he  paid  his  second  visit  to  Eng 
land,  where  meanwhile  his  music  had  attained 
great  popularity.  He  had  received  an  invitation 
to  produce  his  '  Calvary '  at  the  Norwich  Festi 
val,  and  in  spite  of  the  opposition  offered  to 
the  work  by  some  of  the  clergy  on  account  of 
its  libretto,  his  reception  appears  to  have  sur 
passed  in  enthusiasm  anything  he  had  before 
experienced.  It  was  a  real  success,  and  Spohr  for 
the  rest  of  his  life  refers  to  it  as  the  greatest 
of  his  triumphs.  Soon  after  his  return  to  Cas 
sel  he  received  from  Professor  Edward  Taylor 
the  libretto  of  another  oratorio,  'The  Fall  of 
Babylon,'  with  a  request  that  he  would  compose 
it  for  the  Norwich  Festival  of  1842.  In  1840 
he  conducted  the  Festival  at  Aix-la-Chapelle. 
Two  years  later  he  brought  out  at  Cassel  Wag 
ner's  '  Der  Fliegencle  Hollander.'  That  Spohr, 
who  in  the  case  of  Beethoven  and  Weber,  ex 
hibited  such  inability  to  appreciate  novelty — 
and  who  at  bottom  was  a  conservative  of  con 
servatives  in  music — should  have  been  the  very 
first  musician  of  eminence  to  interest  himself 
in  Wagner's  talent  is  a  curious  fact  not  easily 
explained.  To  some  extent  his  predilection  for 
experiments  in  music  —  such  as  he  showed  in 
his  '  Weihe  der  Tone,'  his  Symphony  for  two 
orchestras,  the  Historic  Symphony,  the  Quartet- 
Concertante  and  some  other  things — may  account 
for  it;  while  his  long  familiarity  with  the  stage 
had  doubtless  sharpened  his  perception  for  dra 
matic  effect,  and  thus  enabled  him  to  recognise 
Wagner's  eminently  dramatic  genius.  But  there 
was  in  Spohr,  both  as  man  and  as  artist,  a  curious 
mixture  of  the  ultra-Conservative,  nay  almost 
Philistine  element,  and  of  the  Radical  spirit. 

To  the  great  disappointment  of  himself  and 
his  English  friends,  he  was  unable  to  conduct 
the  '  Full  of  Babylon '  at  Norwich,  since  the 
Elector  refused  the  necessary  leave  of  absence. 
Even  a  monster  petition  from  his  English  ad 
mirers  and  a  special  request  from  Lord  Aberdeen, 
then  at  the  head  of  the  Government,  to  the 
Elector,  had  not  the  desired  result.  His  Serene 
Highness  at  least  felt  safe  from  naval  reprisals. 
The  oratorio  however  was  performed  with  the 
greatest  success,  and  Spohr  had  to  be  satisfied 
with  the  reports  of  his  triumph,  which  poured 
in  from  many  quarters.  On  the  first  day  of  his 
summer  vacation,  he  started  for  England,  and 
soon  after  his  arrival  in  London  conducted  a 
performance  of  the  new  oratorio  at  the  Hanover 
Square  Rooms.  On  this  and  other  occasions  his 
reception  here  was  of  the  most  enthusiastic  kind. 


SPOHR. 

The  oratorio  was  repeated  on  a  large  scale  by 
the  Sacred  Harmonic  Society  in  Exeter  Hall. 
The  last  Philharmonic  Concert  of  the  season  (July 
3)  was  almost  entirely  devoted  to  Spohr,  having  in 
its  programme  a  symphony,  an  overture,  a  violin- 
concerto,  and  a  vocal  duet  of  his.  By  special 
request  of  the  Queen  and  Prince  Albert  an  extra 
concert  with  his  co-operation  was  given  on 
July  10,  in  which  also  he  was  well  represented. 
A  most  enjoyable  tour  through  the  South  and 
West  of  England,  and  Wales,  brought  this  visit 
of  Spohr's  to  a  happy  end. 

The  year  1844  was  marked  by  the  compo 
sition  of  his  last  opera,  '  Die  Kreuzfahrer '  (The 
Crusaders),  for  which  he  had  himself  arranged 
the  libretto  from  a  play  of  Kotzebue.  It  was 
performed  at  Cassel  and  Berlin,  but  had  no 
lasting  success.  During  his  vacations  he  made 
a  journey  to  Paris,  and  witnessed  at  the  Ocleon 
the  32nd  performance  of  Mendelssohn's  'An 
tigone.'  The  members  of  the  Conservatoire 
orchestra  arranged  in  his  honour  a  special  per 
formance  of  his  '  Consecration  of  Sound.'  In  the 
same  year  he  conducted  the  'Missa  Solemm's' 
and  the  Choral  Symphony  at  the  great  Beethoven 
Festival  at  Bonn.  The  year  1847  saw  him 
again  in  London,  where  the  Sacred  Harmonic 
Society  announced  a  series  of  three  concerts  for 
the  production  of  his  principal  sacred  compo 
sitions:  'The  Fall  of  Babylon,'  'Calvary,'  'The 
Last  Judgment,'  'The  Lord's  Prayer,'  and  Mil 
ton's  84th  Psalm.  However,  on  grounds  similar 
to  those  which  had  roused  so  much  opposition  at 
Norwich,  Calvary  was  omitted  from  the  scheme, 
and  '  The  Fall  of  Babylon '  repeated  in  its  place. 

On  his  return  to  Cassel,  Spohr  seems  to  have 
been  quite  absorbed  by  the  great  political  events 
then  going  on  in  Germany.  In  the  summer  of 
1848  he  spent  his  vacations  at  Frankfort,  where 
the  newly  created  German  Parliament  was  sit 
ting,  and  was  never  tired  of  listening  to  the 
debates  of  that  short-lived  political  assembly. 
In  1 849  he  composed  a  fresh  symphony,  '  The 
Seasons' — his  ninth.  With  1850  a  long  chain  of 
annoyances  began.  When  his  usual  summer  va 
cation  time  arrived,  the  Elector,  probably  intend 
ing  to  show  displeasure  at  his  political  opinions, 
refused  to  sign  the  leave  of  absence — a  mere 
formality,  as  his  right  to  claim  the  vacation  was 
fixed  by  contract.  After  several  fruitless  at 
tempts  to  obtain  the  signature,  Spohr,  having 
made  all  his  arrangements  for  a  long  journey, 
left  Cassel  without  leave.  This  step  involved 
him  in  a  law-suit  with  the  administration  of  the 
theatre,  which  lasted  for  four  years,  and  which 
he  finally  lost  on  technical  grounds. 

For  the  London  season  of  1852  Spohr  had  re 
ceived  an  invitation  from  the  new  Opera  at 
Covent  Garden  to  adapt  his  'Faust'  to  the 
Italian  stage.  He  accordingly  composed  recita 
tives  in  place  of  the  spoken  dialogue,  and  made 
some  further  additions  and  alterations.  It  was 
produced  with  great  success  under  his  own 
direction  on  July  i;,  the  principal  parts  being 
sustained  by  Castellan,  Ronconi,  Formes,  and 
Tamberlik.  In  1853,  after  many  fruitless  at- 


SPOHR. 

tempts,  which  were  regularly  frustrated  by  the 
Elector,  he  at  last  succeeded  in  bringing-  out 
Wagner's  '  Tannhauser '  at  Cassel.  In  reference 
to  it  he  says  in  his  Autobiography,  '  this  opera 
contains  a  great  deal  that  is  new  and  beautiful, 
but  also  some  things  which  are  ugly  and  ex 
cruciating  to  the  ear,'  and  speaking  of  the  2nd 
finale  he  says :  '  in  this  finale  now  and  then 
a  truly  frightful  music  is  produced.'  That  he 
considered  Wagner  by  far  the  greatest  of  all 
living  dramatic  composers  he  declared  as  soon  as 
he  became  acquainted  with  The  Flying  Dutch 
man.  From  Tannhauser  he  would  have  pro 
ceeded  to  Lohengrin,  but  owing  to  the  usual 
opposition  of  the  court,  all  his  endeavours  to  bring 
it  out  were  frustrated.  In  the  same  year  he  came 
fur  the  sixth  and  last  time  to  England,  to  fulfil  an 
enslavement  at  the  New  Philharmonic  Concerts. 

O     O 

At  three  of  these  he  conducted  not  only  many  of 
his  own  works — especially  the  Symphony  for  two 
orchestras— but  also  the  Choral  Symphony.  At 
the  same  time  Jessonda  was  in  preparation  at 
Covent  Garden.  But  as  it  could  not  be  produced 
before  the  close  of  his  vacation,  Spohr  was  un 
able  to  conduct  it  himself. 

From  this  time  his  powers  began  to  decline. 
He  still  went  on  composing,  but  declared  him 
self  dissatisfied  with  the  results.  In  1857  ne 
was  pensioned  off,  very  much  against  his  wish, 
and  in  the  winter  of  the  same  year  had  the 
misfortune  to  break  his  arm,  which  compelled 
him  to  give  up  violin-playing.  Once  more,  in 
1858,  at  the  celebration  of  the  5oth  anniver 
sary  of  the  Prague  Conservatorium,  he  con 
ducted  his  Jessonda  with  wonderful  energy.  It 
was  his  last  public  appearance.  He  died  quietly 
on  Oct.  16,  1859,  a^  Cassel,  and  thus  closed  the 
long  life  of  a  man  and  an  artist  who  had  to 
the  full  developed  the  great  talents  and  powers 
given  to  him  ;  who  throughout  a  long  career  had 
lived  up  to  the  ideal  he  had  conceived  in  youth  ; 
in  whom  private  character  and  artistic  activity 
corresponded  to  a  rare  degree,  even  in  their 
foibles  and  deficiencies.  That  these  last  were 
not  small  cannot  be  denied.  His  utter  want  of 
critical  power,  in  reference  both  to  himself  and  to 
others,  is  fully  exposed  in  his  interesting  Auto 
biography,1  which  however  bears  the  strongest 
possible  testimony  to  his  rare  manly  straightfor 
wardness  and  sincerity  in  word  and  deed,  and  to 
the  childlike  purity  of  mind  which  he  preserved 
from  early  youth  to  latest  age.  Difficult  as  it  is 
to  understand  his  famous  criticisms  on  Beethoven 
and  his  interest  for  Wagner,  their  sincerity 
cannot  be  doubted  for  a  moment.  According  to 
his  lights  he  ever  stood  up  for  the  dignity  of 
his  art,  with  the  same  unflinching  independence 
of  character  with  which  he  claimed,  not  without 
personal  risk,  the  rights  of  a  free  citizen.  He 
was  born  with  an  individuality  so  peculiar  and 
so  strong  as  to  allow  hardly  any  influence  to 
outer  elements.  It  is  true  that  he  called  himself 
a  disciple  of  Mozart.  But  the  universality  of 
Mozart's  talent  was  the  very  reverse  of  Spohr's 

1  'Louis  Spohr's  Selbstbiographie ;   Cassel  und  Go'ttingen,  G.  H. 
Wigand,  laCO.'    2  vols.,  with  portrait  and  17  facsimiles. 


SPOHR. 


661 


exclusive  individualism ;  and  except  in  their  great 
regard  for  '  form,'  and  in  a  certahi  similarity  of 
melodic  structure,  the  two  masters  have  hardly 
anything  in  common.  Spohr  certainly  was  a 
born  musician,  second  only  to  the  very  greatest 
masters  in  true  musical  instinct ;  in  power  of 
concentration  and  of  work  hardly  inferior  to 
any.  But  the  range  of  his  talent  was  not  wide : 
he  never  seems  to  have  been  able  to  step  out 
of  a  given  circle  of  ideas  and  sentiments,  and 
when  he  tried  to  enlarge  his  sphere,  it  was  only 
to  get  hold  of  the  outer  shell  of  things,  which 
he  at  once  proceeded  to  fill  with  the  old  familiar 
substance.  He  never  left  the  circle  of  his  in 
dividuality,  but  drew  everything  within  it.  At 
the  same  time  it  must  be  confessed  that  he  left 
much  outside  of  that  circle,  and  his  ignorance 
of  the  achievements  of  others  was  often  astound 
ing.  This  is  illustrated  by  a  well-authenticated 
story.  A  pupil  of  his  left  him,  and  went  for 
some  time  to  Leipzig  to  study  the  piano  and  other 
branches  of  music.  On  his  return  to  Cassel  he 
called  on  Spohr,  and  was  asked  to  play  to  him. 
The  pupil  played  Beethoven's  Sonata  in  E  minor 
op.  90.  Spohr  was  much  struck,  and  when  the 
piece  was  finished  made  the  singular  enquiry, 
'Have  you  composed  much  more  in  that  style, 
Herr  — 

He  was  fond  of  experiments  in  composition- 
such  as  new  combinations  of  instruments  (to  wit 
the  Double  Quartets,  the  Symphony  for  two  or 
chestras,  the  Quartet-Concerto,  and  others),  or 
adoption  of  programmes  ('Consecration  of  Sound'; 
Concertino,  'Past  and  Present,'  etc.),  and  thus 
showed  his  eagerness  to  strike  out  new  paths. 
But  after  all,  what  do  we  find  under  these  new 
dresses  and  fresh-invented  titles  but  the  same  dear 
old  Spohr,  incapable  of  putting  on  a  really  new 
face,  even  for  a  few  bars?  'Napoleon,'  says 
Robert 2  Schumann  (a  propos  to  Spohr's  Histori 
cal  Symphony),  '  once  went  to  a  masked  ball, 
but  before  he  had  been  in  the  room  a  few  minutes 
folded  his  arms  in  his  well-known  attitude.  "  The 
Emperor!  the  Emperor!"  at  once  ran  through 
the  place.  Just  so,  through  the  disguises  of  the 
Symphony,  one  kept  hearing  "  Spohr,  Spohr"  in 
every  corner  of  the  room.'  Hence  there  is  consi 
derable  sameness — nay,  monotony,  in  his  works. 
Be  it  oratorio  or  concerto,  opera  or  string-quartet 
— he  treats  them  all  very  much  in  the  same  man 
ner,  and  it  is  not  so  much  the  distinctive  styles 
peculiar  to  these  several  forms  of  music  that  we 
find,  as  Spohr's  peculiar  individuality  impressed 
upon  all  of  them.  He  certainly  was  not  devoid  of 
originality — in  fact  his  style  and  manner  are  so 
entirely  his  own  that  no  composer  is  perhaps 
so  absolutely  unmistakeable  as  he  is.  That  an 
originality  so  strong  and  so  inalienable,  unless 
supported  by  creative  power  of  the  very  first 
order  and  controlled  by  self-criticism,  would 
easily  lead  to  mannerism  is  obvious ;  and  a  man 
nerist  he  must  be  called. 

Certain  melodious  phrases  and  cadences,  chro 
matic  progressions  and  enharmonic  modulations, 
in  themselves  beautiful  enough,  and  most  effective. 

2  Gesammelte  Schriften,  iv.  89. 


662 


SPOHR. 


occur  over  and  over  again,  until  they  appear 
to  partake  more  of  the  nature  of  mechanical 
contrivances  than  to  be  the  natural  emanations 
of  a  living  musical  organism.  His  powers  of 
invention  are  by  no  means  weak,  and  many 
of  his  melodies  have  not  only  an  indescribable 
charm  of  sweet  and  tender  melancholy,  but  are 
of  truly  surpassing  beauty.  Modern  critics  are 
in  the  habit  of  charging  him  with  a  want  of 
force  and  manliness,  but  it  is  difficult  to  see  how 
such  a  charge  can  be  maintained  in  the  face  of 
many  of  his  best  works,  even  if  it  be  true  in 
regard  to  the  less  important  ones.  Surely  there 
is  no  want  of  manly  vigour,  or  noble  pathos, 
in  such  pieces  as  the  first  Allegro  of  the  Qth 
Concerto,  the  Introduction  to  '  Jessonda,'  some  of 
his  symphony-movements,  and  many  others  that 
might  be  named !  Such  criticism,  however  fre 
quent  now-a-days,  is  probably  only  the  natural 
reaction  from  an  unbounded  and  indiscrimin- 
ating  enthusiasm,  which,  in  England  at  one 
time,  used  to  place  Spohr  on  the  same  level  with 
Handel  and  Beethoven.  These  temporary  fluc 
tuations  will,  however,  sooner  or  later  subside, 
and  then  his  true  position  as  a  great  master, 
second  in  rank  only  to  the  very  giants  of  art,  will 
be  again  established. 

The  technical  workmanship  in  his  compositions 
is  admirable,  the  thematic  treatment  his  strong 
point ;  but  it  would  appear  that  this  was  the 
result  rather  of  a  happy  musical  organisation 
than  of  deep  study.  He  cannot  be  reckoned 
amongst  the  great  masters  of  counterpoint,  and 
the  fugues  in  hia  oratorios,  though  they  run 
smoothly  enough  and  are  in  a  sense  effective, 
can  hardly  be  called  highly  interesting  from  a 
musical  point  of  view. 

Symmetry  of  form  is  one  of  the  chief  char 
acteristics  of  his  works;  but  this  love  of  symmetry 
grew  eventually  into  a  somewhat  pedantic  form 
alism.  A  cadence  without  its  preceding  'passage 
and  shake '  he  is  reported  to  have  held  in  ab 
horrence.  His  instrumentation  shows  the  master 
hand  throughout,  although  his  predilection  for 
extreme  keys  presents  much  difficulty  to  the 
wind-instruments,  and  sometimes,  especially  in 
his  operas,  the  orchestra  is  wanting  in  perspicuity, 
and  not  free  from  monotony. 

To  his  violin-concertos — and  among  them 
especially  to  the  yth,  8th,  and  pth — must  be 
assigned  the  first  place  among  his  works.  They 
are  only  surpassed  by  those  of  Beethoven  and 
Mendelssohn,  and  are  probably  destined  to  live 
longer  than  any  other  of  his  works.  They  are 
distinguished  as  much  by  noble  and  elevated  ideas 
as  by  masterly  thematic  treatment ;  while  the 
supreme  fitness  of  every  note  in  the  solo-part  to 
the  nature  of  the  violin,  need  hardly  be  men 
tioned.  They  are  not  likely  to  disappear  soon 
from  the  repertoires  of  the  best  violinists. 

His  duets  and  concertantes  for  two  violins, 
and  for  violin  and  viola,  are  of  their  kind  unsur 
passed.  By  the  frequent  employment  of  double 
stops  great  sonority  is  produced,  and,  if  well 
plaved,  the  effect  is  charming. 

The  mass  of  his  chamber-music,  a  great  number 


SPOHR. 

of  quartets,  quintets,  double  quartets,  trios,  etc., 
is  now-a-days  but  rarely  heard  in  public.   Though 
still  favourites  with  amateurs  of  the  older  gener 
ation,  they  are,  with  few  exceptions,  all  but  un 
known  to  the  musicians  of  the  present  day.   The 
reason  for  this  must  be  found  in  the  fact  that  a 
severer  standard  of  criticism  is  applied  to  chamber- 
music  in  general,  and  especially  to  the  stringed 
quartet,  than  to  any  other  form  of  musical  com 
position,  not  even  excepting  the  symphony.    In 
orchestral  music  effects  of  sound  and  tone-colouring 
—distinct  from  pure  musical  ideas — play  an  un 
deniable  and  important  part ;  but  in  the  stringed 
quartet,  the  means  of  representation  are  so  limited, 
and  the  perspicuity  is  such,  that  anything  not 
absolutely  essential  to  the  musical  thought — any 
thing  in  the  way  of  mere  effect  or  'padding' — 
cannot  be  introduced  without  at  once  betraying 
superfluity  and  weakness  of  construction.     The 
stringed  quartet  may  well   be  compared  to  an 
outline-drawing  in  which  every  line  must  tell, 
and  in  which  no  colouring  or  effects  of  light  and 
shade  can  atone  for  weakness  of  design  or  execu 
tion.     Hence  none  but  the  very  greatest  masters 
have  succeeded  in  producing  lasting  works  of  this 
class.      Spohr   as  a  composer   of   quartets  was 
rarely  able  to  shake  off  the  great  violin-virtuoso. 
Some   of  the  quartets — the  so-called  Quatuors 
brillants  or  Sfllo  Quartets — are  avowedly  violin- 
concertos    accompanied    by    violin,    viola   and 
violoncello,  and  appear  to  have  been  written  to 
supply  a   momentary  want.      And   even  those 
which  claim  to  be  quartets  in  the  proper  sense 
of  the  term,  almost  invariably  give  to  the  first 
violin  an  undue  prominence,  incompatible  with 
the   true  quartet-style.     The  quick  movements 
especially  are  full  of  showy  and  florid  passages 
for  the  leading  instrument ;  and  the  finales  are 
not  unfrequently  written   in  a  somewhat  anti 
quated  rondo-style  (a  la  Polacca).     On  the  other 
hand,  many  of  the  slow  movements  are  of  great 
beauty ;   and  altogether,  in  spite  of  undeniable 
drawbacks,  his  quartets  contain   so   much  fine 
and  noble  music  as  certainly  not  to  deserve  the 
utter  neglect  they  have  fallen  into. 

Among  them,  that  in  G  minor  (op.  27),  dedi 
cated  to  Count  Rasoumoffsky ;  the  three  quartets 
in  Eb,  C,  and  F  (op.  29),  dedicated  to  Andreas 
Romberg,  and  the  earlier  double  quartets,  are 
perhaps  the  finest.  They  belong  to  a  period 
when  Spohr's  powers  as  a  composer  were  fully 
developed,  and  the  mannerism  of  his  later  years 
not  yet  so  conspicuous. 

Of  his  symphonies,  the  2nd,  in  D  minor,  the 
3rd,  in  C  minor  (with  the  famous  unison  passage 
in  the  slow  movement),  and  especially  the  4th, 
'The  Consecration  of  Sound'  are  still  occasionally 
heard  at  concerts.  They  are  truly  original  and 
beautiful  works,  and  too  well  known  to  require 
further  comment. 

His  operas  and  oratorios  have  already  been  dis 
cussed  under  those  headings  in  this  Dictionary. 
They  rank  high  among  Spohr's  compositions:  in 
some  parts  showing  true  greatness  of  conception, 
breadth  of  sentiment,  and  even  remarkable  power 
of  characterisation.  We  will  only  mention  the 


SPOHR. 

grand  Introduction  to  '  Jessonda'  and  theWitches 
scene  in  Faust.  Some  of  the  airs  and  duets  in 
these  and  others  of  his  operas  are  perfect  gems 
of  melody  and  gracefulness.  His  oratorios,  still 
enjoying  a  certain  popularity  in  England,  are 
hut  rarely  heard  in  other  countries.  They  con 
tain  no  doubt  much  beautiful  music,  and  occa 
sionally  rise  even  to  grandeur  and  sublimity. 
Yet  one  cannot  help  feeling  a  certain  incon- 
oruity  between  the  character  of  the  words  and 
their  musical  treatment  —  between  the  stern 
solemnity  of  such  subjects  as  '  Calvary'  or  '  the 
Last  Judgment'  and  the  quiet  charm  and  sweet 
ness  of  Spohr's  music,  which  even  in  its  most 
powerful  and  passionate  moments  lacks  the  all- 
conquering  force  here  demanded. 

Of  his  many  songs  a  few  only  have  attained 
great  popularity,  such  as  '  The  Maiden  and  the 
Bird,' and  some  more. — A  characteristic  specimen 
of  his  peculiar  way  of  writing  for  pianoforte,  and 
at  the  same  time  of  his  extreme  mannerism,  is 
given  in  the  PF.  solo  sonata,  op.  125,  dedicated 
to  Mendelssohn. 

As  an  executant  Spohr  counts  amongst  the 
greatest  of  all  times.  Through  Franz  Eck  he 
received  the  solid  principles  of  the  Mannheim 
School,  and  Rode's  example  appears  afterwards  to 
have  had  some  influence  on  his  style.  He  was 
however  too  original  to  remain  fettered  by  any 
school,  still  less  under  the  influence  of  a  definite 
model.  He  very  soon  formed  a  style  of  his  own, 
which  again — like  his  style  as  a  composer — was 
a  complete  reflex  of  his  peculiar  individuality.  It 
has  often  been  remarked  that  he  treated  the  violin 
pre-eminently  as  a  singing  instrument,  and  we 
c;m  readily  believe  that  the  composer  of  the  Scena 
Cantante  and  of  the  slow  movements  in  the  9th 
and  other  Concertos,  played  with  a  breadth  and 
beauty  of  tone  and  a  delicacy  and  refinement  of  ex 
pression  almost  unequalled.  A  hand  of  exceptional 
size  and  strength  enabled  him  to  execute  with 
great  facility  the  most  difficult  double-stops  and 
stretches.  His  manner  of  bowing  did  not  mate 
rially  differ  from  that  of  the  old  French  School 
(Viotti,  Rode).  Even  in  quick  passages  he  pre 
served  a  broad  fall  tone.  His  staccato  was  most 
brilliant  and  effective,  moderately  quick,  every 
note  firmly  marked  by  a  movement  of  the  wrist.1 
The  lighter  and  freer  style  of  bowing,  that  came 
in  with  Paganini,  and  has  been  adopted  more  or 
less  by  all  modem  players,  was  not  to  his  taste. 
He  appears  to  have  had  a  special  dislike  to  the 
use  of  the  '  springing  bow,'  and  it  is  a  character 
istic  fact  that,  when  he  first  brought  out  Men 
delssohn's  Midsummer  Night's  Dream  Overture 
at  Cassel,  he  insisted  on  the  violins  playing  the 
quick  passage  at  the  opening  with  firm  strokes. 

If  Spohr's  compositions  for  the  violin  do  not 
present  abnormal  difficulties  to  the  virtuoso  of  the 
present  day — such  was  not  the  case  at  the  time 
when  they  were  written.  They  were  then  con 
sidered  the  ne  plus  ultra  of  difficulty.  We 
must  also  remember  that  he  was  too  great  an 

1  An  amusing  and  characteristic  passage  in  his  Autobiography  (ii. 
203)  relates  the  pleasure  with  which  Mendelssohn  drew  his  sister's 
attention  to  this  staccato,  in  the  Concertino  in  E,  in  1834. 


SPOHR. 


663 


artist  and  musician  to  care  for  display  of  execu 
tive  skill  for  its  own  sake,  and  that  in  consequence 
the  difficulties  contained  in  his  works  do  not  by 
any  means  represent  the  limit  of  his  powers  as 
an  executant.  He  had  a  large  number  of  pupils, 
the  best  known  of  whom  are  St.  Lubin,  Pott, 
Ferd.  David,  Kompel,  Blagrove,  Bott,  Bargheer. 
Henry  Holmes  belongs  to  his  school,  but  was 
never  his  pupil.  Spohr  was  considered  one  of 
the  best  conductors  of  his  time.  An  unerring 
ear,  imperturbable  rhythmical  feeling,  energy  and 
fire,  were  combined  with  an  imposing  personal 
appearance  and  great  dignity  of  bearing. 

As  a  man  he  was  universally  respected,  although, 
owing  to  a  certain  reserve  in  his  character  and 
a  decided  aversion  to  talking,  he  has  not  rarely 
been  reproached  with  coldness  and  brusqueness 
of  manner.  At  the  same  time  he  gained  and 
kept  through  a  long  life  certain  intimate  friend 
ships — with  Hauptmann2  and  others — and  in 
many  instances  showed  great  kindness,  and  ex 
tended  not  a  little  courtesy,  to  brother  artists. 
That  this  was  not  incompatible  with  an  extra 
ordinary  sense  of  his  own  value  and  importance 
is  evident  in  every  page  of  his  Autobiography,  a 
most  amusing  work,  deserving  a  better  transla 
tion  than  it  has  yet  found.3 

His  works,  of  which  a  catalogue  is  given  below, 
comprise  9  great  Symphonies  ;  a  large  number  of 
Overtures  ;  1 7  Violin-Concertos  and  Concertinos  ; 
many  other  Concert  pieces  (Potpourris,  Varia 
tions,  etc.)  for  the  violin,  for  violin  and  harp  ; 
15  Violin-Duets  ;  Duets  for  violin  and  PF.  ;  4 
Concertos  and  other  pieces  for  clarinet ;  33  String 
Quartets  ;  8  Quintets  ;  4  Double  Quartets ;  5  PF. 
Trios  ;  2  Sextets  ;  an  Octet ;  and  a  Nonet  ,•  4  great 
Oratorios  ;  a  Mass  ;  several  Psalms  and  Cantatas ; 
10  Operas  ;  a  great  many  Songs,  Part-Songs  and 
other  vocal  pieces — over  200  works  in  all. 

Catalogue  of  Spohr  s  printed  WorJcs. 

Founded  on  the  Catalogue  edited  by  H.  M.  Schlet- 
terer  (B.  &  H.,  iSSi).4 


Op.l.  Concerto  for  Violin  (no.  1, 
Amin.)-    B.  &  H. 

2.  Concerto  forV.  (no.  2,  D  min.). 

Feters. 

3.  3  Duos  Concertants  for  2  V. 

Peters. 

4.  2    String    Quartets    (C,   G). 

Feters. 

5.  First   Potpourri    on   Air  of 

Dalayrac  fur  V.  with  ace. 
of  2nd  V.,  Viola,  and  Bass. 
Peters. 

6.  Variations  (no.  1,  D)  for  V. 

solo,  2nd  V.,Viola,  and  Bass. 
Peters. 

7.  Concerto  for  V.  (no.  3,  C  min.). 

Peters. 

8.  Variations  (no.  2,  A  min.)  for 

V.  solo,  2nd  V.,  Viola,  and 
Bass.  Peters. 

9.  2  Duos  Concertants  for  2  V. 

(nos.  4,  5).    Peters. 

10.  Concerto  for  V.  (no.  4,  B  min.). 

Simrock. 

11.  Quatuor  Brillant   lor  2  V., 


Viola,  and  Cello  (no.  3,  D 
rnin.).  Simrock. 

12.  Overture  (no.  1,  C  min.).  Sim- 

rock. 

13.  Grand  Duo  for  V.  and  Viola 

(no.  G).    Peters. 

14.  * 

15.  2  String  Quartets  (nos.  4,  5  ; 

C,  A).    Peters. 

loa.  Overture  (no.  2,    D),   '  Die 
Priifung.'    Simrock. 

16.  Grande   Senate   for   PF.  (or 

Harp)  and  V.-(B).  Simrock. 

17.  Concerto  for  V.  (no.  5,  Eb). 

NSgeli. 

18.  * 

19.  * 

20.  First  Symphony  (Eb).  Peters. 

21.  Overture  (no.  3,  E  b),  'Alruna.' 

Hof'meister. 

22.  Potpourri  on  themes  of  Mo 

zart  (no.  2,  Bb)  for  V.  with 
ace.  of  2nd  V.,  Viola,  and 
Bass.  Andre. 


2  Hauptmann's  letters  to  Spohr  have  been  published  by  Fchoene 
and  Killer.          3  •  Louis  Spohr's  Autobiography.'  Longmans.  186o. 

4  An  earlier  catalogue,  imperfect  but  very  useful  i 
that  of  Jantzen-'  Verze'chniss,'  etc.  Cassel,  Luckhardt. 

*  Unknown  and  not  to  be  found  in  Schletterer's  Catalogue.    Prul 
ably  represented  by  works  left  in  manuscript. 


664 


SPOHR. 


SPONDEE. 


Op.  23.  Potpourri  on  themes  of  Mo 
zart  (no.  3,  G)  lor  V.  with 
ace.  of  Quartet,  Flute,  Oboe 
Clarinet,  2  Bassoons,  and  2 
Horns.  Andre1. 

24.  Potpourri  on  Themes  of  Mo 
zart  (no.  4,  B)  for  V.  with 
ace.  of  2nd  V.,  Viola,  and 
Bass.  Andre". 

2!5.  6  German  Songs.    Mecchetti. 

~\.  Concerto  for  Clarinet  (110.  1 
C  min.).  Peters. 

27.  Quartet  for  2  V.,  Viola,  and 
Violonc.  (no.  6,  G  min.) 
Mecchetti. 

23.  Concerto  for  V.  (no.6,  G  min.) 
Haslinger. 

29.  3  String  Quartets  (nos.  7,  8,  9 

E  b,  C  min.,  Jf  min.).  lias- 
linger. 

30.  String  Quartet   (no.  10,   A) 

Haslinger. 
81.  Grand  Nonetto  (F  maj.)  for 
V..  Viola,  Cello.  Bass,  Flute 
Oboe,  Clarinet,  Bassoon, ant 
Horn.  Haslinger. 

32.  Octet  (E  maj.)  for  V.,  2  Violas 

Cello,  Clarinet,  2Horns,  and 
Bass.  Haslinger. 

33.  2  Quintets  for  2  V.,  2  Violas 

and  Cello  (no.  1,  Eb  ;  no.  2 
G).  Haslinger. 

84.  Notturno  (in  C)  for  wind  In 
struments  and  Turklsl 
band.  Peters. 

55.  Fantasia  for  Harp  (Ab).  Sim- 
rock. 

36.  Variations  for  Harp  (F).  Sim- 
rock. 

S7.  6  German  Songs  (2nd  book  o! 
Songs).  Peters. 

33.  Concerto  for  V.  (no.  7,  E  min.) 
Peters. 

39.  3  Duets  for  V.  (nos.  7,  8,  9 

D  min.,  Eb,  E).    Peters. 

40.  Grande   Polonaise   (A  min.) 

for  V.  with  Orch.    Peters. 

41.  C  German  Songs  (3rd  book  o 

Songs).    Peters. 

42.  Potpourri.    Arrangement  for 

V.  and  PF.  of  op.  24.  Peters 

43.  Quatuor  Brillant  for  stringec 

instr.  (no.  11,  E).    Peters. 

44.  G  4-part  Songs  for  male  voices, 

Peters. 

45.  3  String  Quartets  (nos.  12, 13 

14;  C..  Em.,F.  m.).  Peters 

4G.  Introduction  and  Rondo  (E; 

lor  PF.  and  V.    Mecchetti. 

47.  Concerto  for  V.  no.  8,  A  min. 

'  In  modo  d'una  Scena  can- 
tante.' 

48.  First  Concertante  fur  2  V.  and 

Orch.  (A  min.).    Peters. 

49.  Second  Symphony  (D  min.) 

Ded.  to  Philarmonic  So 
ciety.  Peters. 

50.  Potpourri  (F#  min.)  for  V. 

and  PF.  on  Airs  from  '  Die 
Zauberflo'.e.'  Peters. 

51.  Grand  Bondo  for  V.  end  PF. 

concertants.    Peters. 

52.  Quintet  for  PF.,  Flute,  Clari 

net,  Horn,  and  Bassoon 
(C  min.).  Peters. 

53.  A  rrangement  of  op.  52  for  PF. 

and  stringed  instr.    Peters. 

54.  Mass  for  5  Solo  Voices  and  2 

5-part  Choirs.    Peters. 

55.  Concerto  for  V.  (no.  9,  D  min.). 

Andre*. 
£6.  Potpourri  for  V.  and  PF.  on 

Airs  from  '  The  Interrupted 

Sacrifice.'    Peters. 
57.  Concerto  for  Clarinet  (no.  2, 

Eb).    Peters. 
53.  3  String  Quartets  (nos.  16, 17, 

18;  Eb,  A  min.,  G).  Peters. 

59.  Potpourri  (A  min.)  on  Irish 

Airs  for  V.  and  Orch. 
London. 

60.  Faust,  Opera.    Peters. 

61.  Quatuor  Brillant  for  stringed 

instr.  (no.  15,  B  min.).  Pe 
ters. 

62.  Concerto  forV.(no.!0,A  min.). 

Peters. 

63.  '  Jessonda,'  Opera.    Peters. 
W.  Potpourri  (As)  on  Airs  Irom 


'Jessonda,'  for  V.  and  Cello 
with  Orch.  Peters. 

65.  Double  String  Quartet  (no.  1, 

D  min.).    Peters. 

66.  Potpourri  (A  min.)  on  Airs 

from  '  Jessonda,'  for  V.  and 
Orch.  Peters. 

67.  3  Duos  Concertants  for  2  V. 

(nos.  10,  11,  12;  A  mia.,  D, 

G  min.).    Peters. 
63.  Quatuor  Brillaut  (no.  19,  A). 

Peters. 
G9.  Quintet    for  stringed    instr 

(no.  3,  B  min.).    Peters. 

70.  Concerto  for  V.  (no.  11,  G). 

Peters. 

71.  Scena  and  Aria  for  Soprano 

Peters. 

72.  6  German  Bongs  (Book  4  of 

Songs).    Peters. 

73.  'DerBerggeist.'Opera.  Peters. 

74.  8  String  Quartets  (nos.  20,  21, 

22;  A  miu.,  Bb,  D  min.). 
Peters. 

75.  Overture, '  Macbeth '(Bmin.). 

Peters. 

70.  'Pietro  von  Albano,'  Opera. 
Schleslnger. 

77.  Double  Quartet  for  stringed 

instr.(no.2.Eb).  Schleslnger. 

78.  Third    Symphony    (G  miu.). 

Schlesinger. 

79.  Concertino  for  V.  (A  min.). 

Schlesinger. 

SO.  Potpourri  for  Clarinet  (F). 
81.  Fantasia  and  Variations  for 
Clarinet  (Bb).  Schlesinger. 
£2.  3  String  Quartets  (nos.  23.  24. 
25;   E,  G.  A  min.).    Schle 
singer. 

83.  Quatuor  Brillant  for  stringed 

Instr.  (no.  20,  Et).  Schle 
singer. 

84.  3  String  Quartets  (nos.  27.  28, 

29;  D  min..  Ab,  B  min.). 
Andre". 

86.  3 Psalms  for  Double  Choir  and 
Solo  Voices.  Simrock. 

8G.  Fourth  Symphony,  'The  Con 
secration  of  Sound.'  Has 
linger. 

67.  Double  Quartet  for  stringed 
instr.  (no.  3,  E  min.).  Sim- 
rock. 

88.  Second  Concertante  for  2  V. 

with  Orch.    Simrock. 

89.  'Erinnerung  an  Marienbad.' 

Valses  for  Orch.  (A  min.). 
Haslinger. 

90.  6  4-part  Songs  for  Male  Voices. 

Hamburg,  Niemeyer. 

91.  Quintet    lor   stringed    instr. 

(no.  4,  G  min.).    Simrock. 

92.  Concertino    for    V.    (no.    2, 

E  maj.).    B.  &  H. 

93.  Quatuor  Brillant  for  stringed 

instr.    (no.    SO,    A    min.). 

Haslinger. 
91.  G    Songs    for    Contralto    or 

Baryton  (Book  5  of  Songs). 

Simrock. 
95.  Duo  Concertant  for  PF.  and 

V.  (Gmin.).    B.  &  H. 
9G.  Duo  Concertant  for  PF.  and 

V.  (F).    Simrock. 

97.  Hymn, 'St. Caecilia.'  Chorus, 

Soprano  Solo.    Luckhardt. 
97  a.  Psalm  24,  for  Chorus.  Solo 
Voices,  and  PF.     Unpub 
lished. 

98.  Hymne,  'Gott  du  bist  gross" 

(God,  thou  art  great),  for 
Chorus,  Solo  Voices,  and 
Orch.  Simrock. 

99.  Fantasia  on  Baupach's  'Die 

Tochter  der  Lult'  in  form 
of  a  Concert-Overture  for 
Orch.  (see  op.  102). 

00.  * 

.01.  6  German  Songs  (Book  6  of 

Songs).    B.  &  H. 
.02.  Filth    Symphony   (C    min.). 

Fantasia  op.  99  used  as  first 

movement.    Haslinger. 
03.  G  German  Songs  with  acct.  of 

PF.  and  Clarinet  (Book  7 

of  Songs).    B.  &  H. 

01.  '  Vater  miser '  (words  by  Klop- 

stock).    B.  &  H. 


103.  6  Songs  (Book  S  of  Songs). 
Berlin,  Gallier. 

10G.  Quintet  for  stringed  inivtr.  (no. 
5,  G  min.).  Leipzig,  Heinze. 

107.  3  Duets  for  Soprano  and  Tenor 
with  PF.  Simrock. 

10S.  S  Duets  for  2  Sopranos.  Sim- 
rock. 

jnr>.  * 

110.  Concertino  forV..  'Sonst  und 
Jetzt '  (no.  3,  A  min.).  Mec 
chetti. 

11L  Bondo  alia  Spagnuola  (C)  for 
PF.  and  V.  Mecchetti. 

112.  Duo  Concertant  for  PF.  and 

V.  (no.  3,  E).  Dresden,  Paul. 

113.  Senate  Concertante  lor  Harp 

and  V.  (Eb).    Schuberlh. 

114.  Do.  (Eb).    Schuberth. 

115.  Do.  (Ab).    Schuberth. 

116.  Historical  Symphony  (no.  6. 

G).  Dedicated  to  the  Phil 
harmonic  Soc.,  London. 
Mecchetti. 

117.  Fantasia  for  PF.  and  V.  on 

Airs  Irom  'Der  AlchymUt.' 
Mecchetti. 

118.  Fantasia,  for  PF.  (or  Harp) 

and  V.  on  Airs  of  Handel 
andAbtVogler.  Schuberth. 

119.  Trio  Concertaut  (E  min.)  for 

PF.,  V.,  and  Cello.  Schu 
berth. 

120.  G  4-part    Songs    for    mixed 

Voices.    Cassel,  Appcl. 

121.  Double  Symphony,  'Irdisches 

undGottliches  im  Mensch- 
enleben,'  for  Double  Orch. 
Schuberth. 

122.  Psahn  128.    Chorus  and  Solo 

Voices  with  Organ  or  PF. 
Simrock. 

123.  Trio  Concertant  for  PF..  V., 

and  Cello  (no.  2,  F  maj.). 
Schuberth. 

124.  Trio  Concertant  for  PF.,  V., 

and  Cello  (no.  3,  A  min.). 
Schuberth. 

125.  Sonata  (Ab)  for  PF.  Dedicated 

toMendelssohn.  Mecchetti. 

126.  Concert-Overture, '1m  ernsten 

Styl'(D).    Leipzig,  Siegel. 

127.  '  Elegisch  u.  humoristisch,'  6 

Duettinos  for  PF.  and  V. 
Schuberth. 

128.  Concerto  forV.(no.!5,E  min.). 

Schuberth. 

129.  Quintet   for   stringed   instr. 

(no  5,  E  min.).    B.  &  H. 

130.  Quintet  for  PF.,  2  V.,  Viola 

and  Cello.    Schuberth. 

131.  Quartet    Concert    for    2  V., 

Viola,  and  Cello,  with  Orch. 
B.  &  H. 

132.  String   Quartet  (no.  31,   A). 

B.  *H. 

133.  Trio  for  PF.,  V..  and  Cello 

(no.  4,  Bb).    Schuberth. 

134.  Psalm  84  (Milton).     Chorus 

andSoloVoices  with  Orch. 

135.  Sechs  Salonstiicke  for  V.  and 

PF.    Schubenb. 

136.  Double  Quartet  (no  4,  Bb). 

Luckhardt. 


137.  Symphony  (no.  ?,  G  min.). 

Dedicated  to  the  Philhar 
monic  Soc.  of  Loud.  Peters. 

138.  Sonatina  for  PF.  and  Voice! 

'  An  Sie  am  Clavier.'  Luck 
hardt. 

139.  5  Songs  (Book  9).  Luckhardt. 

140.  Sextet  for  2  V.,  2  Viola?  and 

2CelH(Cmaj.).  Lucklmtlt. 

141.  Quartet  (no.  32,  C).     Luck 

hardt. 

142.  Trio  for  PF.,  V.,  and  Cello 

(no.  5,  G  min.).    Schuberth. 

143.  Symphony     'The     Season.' 

(no.  9).    Schuli'ith. 

144.  Quintet   fur  stringed  instr. 

(no.  7.  G  min.).    Peters. 

145.  Sechs  Salonstiicke  fur  V.  and 

PF.    Peters. 

146.  String   Quartet   (no.  S3,  G). 

Peters. 

147.  Septet  for  PF.,  Flute,  Clari 

net,  Horn,  Bassoon,  V.,  and 
Cello.    Peters. 

148.  3  Duets  for  2  V.  (no.  1,  F)- 

dedicated  to  the  brothers 

Holmes.   (See  ops.  150, 103.) 

Peters. 

140.  BondulettoforPF.(G). Peters, 
irx).  3  Duets  for  2  V.  (no.  2,  D;. 

(See  ops.  148, 153.)    Peters. 

151.  6    4-part    Sonas    lur    mi.\cJ 

Voices.    H.  Pohle. 

152.  String  Quartet  (no.  31,  Eb). 

Siegel. 

153.  3  Duets  for  2  V,  (no.  3,  C). 

Peters. 

154.  G  Songs  for  a  Enryton  voice 

with   ace.  of  V.  and  PI'. 
Luckhardt. 

"WORKS  •WITHOUT  OFUS-XCMBER. 

'Der  Zweikampf  mil  der  f.elieb- 
ten.'  Opera.  Hamburg, 
Boehme. 

Overture  and  Bass  Air  from  the 
Cantata,  'Das  belreiteDeutsch- 
lanel.*  Mecchetti. 

'Zemire  and  Azor."  Opera.  Ham 
burg,  Cranz. 

1  Die  letzten  Dinge '(The  Last  Judg 
ment).  Oratorio.  Simrock. 

'Vater  XJnser'  (words  by  3!al>l- 

man).    Schlesinger. 
Der  Alchymist.'    Opera.   Schle- 
singer. 

Violinschule.    Haslinger. 

'  Des  Heilauds  letzte  Stiindcn  ' 
(Calvary).  Oratorio.  Sclm- 
berth. 

Overture  and  Song  for  the  play 
'  Der  Matrose.'  Schott. 

'Der  Fall   Babylons.'    Oratorio, 

B.  &H. 

Die  Kreuzfahrer*  (The  Cru 
saders).  Opera.  Schnbrrtli. 

30  Violin  Studies  by  Fiorillo,  wiili 
a  2nd  V.  part  added,  finjrered 
and  bowed.  Peters. 

A  number  of  Songs,  written  for 
and  published  in  various 
Albums  and  Collections. 

A  considerable  number  of  works 
have  remained  iu  manuscrii-t. 


[P.D.] 
SPONDEE  (Lat.  Spondceus).  A  metrical  foot, 

consisting  of  two  long  syllables  ( — ),  the  first  of 

which  is  enforced  by  an  accent. 

The  effect  of  the  Spondee  is  well  illustrated  in 

Handel's  '  Waft  her,  Angels.' 

n  J*  I  I  k. 


Glo  -  rious   there    like     you       to        rise. 

It  is  also  frequently  employed  in  Instrumental 
Movements,  as  in  the  Third  Subject  of  the  iioiulo 
of  Beethoven's  '  Sonata  pathetique.' 


etc. 


SPONDEE. 

For  instances  of  its  employment  in  combina 
tion  with  other  feet,  see  METRE.  [W.S.R.] 

SPONTINI,  GASPARO  LUIGI  PACIFJCO,  born 
Nov.  14,  i774>  at  Majolati,  near  Jesi  (the  birth 
place  of  Pergolesi),  of  simple  peasants.  Three 
of  his  brothers  took  orders,  and  Gasparo  was  also 
destined  for  the  priesthood.  An  uncle  on  the 
father's  side  took  charge  of  the  delicate  child  of 
eight,  and  gave  him  elementary  instruction.  It 
happened  that  a  new  organ  was  to  be  built  for 
this  uncle's  church,  and  the  builder,  who  had 
been  sent  for  from  Recanati,  took  up  his  abode 
for  the  time  at  the  parsonage.  Here  he  brought 
his  harpsichord,  and  found  an  earnest  listener  in 
Spontini,  who  would  try  to  pick  out  for  himself 
what  he  had  heard,  whenever  the  organ-builder 
was  absent.  The  latter  noticed  the  boy's  talent, 
and  advised  his  uncle  to  have  him  educated  as 
a  musician;  but  to  this  the  priest  would  by 
no  means  consent,  resorting  indeed  to  harsh 
measures  to  drive  the  music  out  of  him.  The 
result  was  that  Spontini  ran  away  to  Monte  san 
"Vito,.  where  he  had  another  uncle  of  a  milder 
disposition,  who  procured  him  music-lessons  from 
a  certain  Quintiliani.  In  the  course  of  a  year 
the  uncle  at  Jesi  relented,  took  back  his  nephew, 
and  had  him  well  grounded  by  the  local  musi 
cians. 

In  1791  his  parents  took  him  to  Naples,  where 
he  was  admitted  into  the  Conservatorio  de'  Tur- 
chini.1  [See  NAPLES.]  His  masters  for  coun 
terpoint  and  composition  were  Sala  and  Tritto, 
for  singing,  Tarantino.2  In  the  Neapolitan  Con 
servatories  a  certain  number  of  the  more  ad 
vanced  pupils  were  set  to  teach  the  more  back 
ward  ones.  These  'monitors,'  as  we  should  say, 
were  called  maestrini  or  maeslricelli.3  In  1795 
Spontini  became  a  candidate  for  the  post  of  fourth 
mae&tnno,  but  the  examiners  gave  the  preference 
to  another  pupil.  This  seems  to  have  roused  the 
lad  to  special  industry,  and  in  a  short  time  lie 
was  appointed  first  maestrino.  His  exercise  for 
the  competition  of  1795  has  been  preserved,  and 
is  now  in  the  archives  of  the  Real  Collegio  di 
Musica  at  Naples.  It  must  be  the  earliest  of 
his  compositions  now  in  existence.4 

Spontini  had  already  composed  some  cantatas 
and  church-rnusic  performed  in  Naples  and  the 
neighbourhood,  and  in  1796  had  an  oppor 
tunity  of  attempting  opera.  The  invitation  came 
from  one  of  the  directors  of  the  Teatro  Argentina 
in  Kome,  who  had  been  pleased  with  some  of 
Spontini's  music  which  he  had  heard  in  Naples. 
The  professors  seem  to  have  refused  him  leave 
to  go,  so  he  left  the  Conservatoire  by  stealth,  and 
reaching  Rome  quickly  composed  '  I  puntigli 
delle  donne'  with  brilliant  success.  He  was 
readmitted  into  the  Turchini  at  the  intercession 
of  Piccinni,  who  had  lived  at  Naples  since  his 

1  So  called  because  of  the  blue  uniforms  of  the  pupils.    Turchino 
=blue. 

2  Florimo's '  Cenno  storico  sulla  scuoH  musicale  di  Napoli '  (Nap'es, 
1869),  vol.  i.  p.  50.    On  p.  673  Florimo  speaks  of  Sailed  and  not  Taran 
tino  as  Spontini's  master. 

3  Lichtenthal,  '  Dizionario  e  Bibliografia  della  Musica'  (Milan  182G), 
vol.  ii.  p.  20. 

*  Florimo,  pp.  595,  609.  and  elsewhere. 


SPONTIN1. 


665 


return  in  1791,  and  gave  Spontini  valuable  ad 
vice  with  regard  to  composition,  particularly  for 
his  next  opera,  '  L'Eroismo  ridicolo.' 5  This  also 
was  produced  in  Rome  (1797),  as  well  as  a  third, 
'II  finto  Pittore'  (1798).  Next  followed  three 
operas  for  Florence,  all  in  1798.  Meantime 
Naples  had  begun  to  fix  its  attention  on  Spon 
tini.  'L'Eroismo  ridicolo'  (one-act)  was  given 
at  the  Teatro  Nuovo  during  the  Carnival  of 

1798,  and  reproduced  in    2  acts   as  'La   finta 
Filosofa '  at  the  same  house  in  the  summer  of 

1799.  In  the  Carnival  of  1800  the  same  theatre 
brought  out  a  new  work  by  the  industrious  com 
poser,  'La.fuga  in  maschera.'6     It  is  doubtful  if 
he  was  present  at  the  performance ;  for  on  Dec. 
21,  1798,  the  Court,  alarmed  at  the  advance  of 
the  French  troops,  took  flight  toPalermo,  andCima- 
rosa,  who  as  maestro  di  capella  should  have  gone 
too,  refusing  to  stir,  Spontini  was  put  into  his 
place,  and  during  1800  composed  for  the  court 
in  Palermo  no  less  than  3  operas,  in  the  facile 
and  rapid  style  of  a  true  disciple  of  the  Neapo 
litan  school.     This  is  specially  worth  noting,  as 
he  afterwards  completely  changed  in  this  respect, 
and  elaborated  most  slowly  and  carefully  the 
very  works  on  which  his  European  fame  rests. 
In  Palermo  he  also  began  to  teach  singing,  but 
towards  the  end  of  1800  was  forced  to  leave,  as 
the  climate  was  affecting  his  health.     After  sup 
plying  more  operas  for  Rome  and  Venice,  he 
paid  a  visit  to  Jesi,  and  then  took  ship  at  Naples 
for  Marseilles.     His  aim  was  Paris,  and  there  he 
arrived  in  1803. 

From  Lulli  downwards  all  Italian  composers 
seem  to  have  been  impelled  to  try  their  fortunes 
in  the  French  capital.  And,  with  the  solitary 
exception  of  Gluck,  we  may  say  that  each  fresh 
development  of  French  opera  has  originated  with 
an  Italian.  Invariably,  however,  these  foreign 
artists  have  had  to  encounter  the  onslaughts  of 
the  national  jealousy.  The  BoufFonists,  Gluck, 
Cherubini,  all  went  through  the  same  experience; 
it  was  now  Spontini's  turn.  The  work  by  which 
he  introduced  himself  at  the  Theatre  Italien  (as 
arranged  in  1801),  'La  finta  Filosofa,'  was,  it  is 
true,  well  received ;  but  when  he  entered  on  the 
special  domain  of  the  French  opera-comique  he 
was  roughly  disillusioned.  His  first  work  of  the 
kind,  'Julie,  ou  le  pot  de  fleurs'  (March,  1804), 
failed,  and  though  remodelled  by  the  composer 
and  revived  in  1805,  could  not  even  then  keep 
the  boards.7  The  second,  'La  petite  Maison' 
(June  23,  1804),  was  hissed  ofF.  This  fate  was 
not  wholly  undeserved.  Spontini  had  fancied 
that  the  light,  pleasing,  volatile  style,  which 
suited  his  own  countrymen,  would  equally  please 
the  Parisians.  The  composition  of  '  La  petite 
Maison '  (3  acts)  occupied  him  only  two  months, 

5  I  can  find  no  quite  satisfactory  ground  for  the  statement  so  often 
made  in  print  that  it  was  Cimarosa  and  not  Picciuni  who  gave  Spon 
tini  instruction  in  composition. 

6  Ftitis  speaks  of  yet  another  opera,  '  L'Amore  segreto '  (Naples, 
1799),  but  there  is  no  mention  of  it  in  Florimo's  4th  volume. 

7  At  least  so  says  Fetis,  who  was  living  in  Taris  from  the  middle  of 
1?04  to  1811,  and  who  not  only  took  great  interest  in  Spontini's  works 
but  was  personally  acquainted  with  him.    Ledebur,  in  his  'Berliner 
Tonkiinstler-Lexicon'  (Berlin  1861),  p.  £01,  gives  a  wholly  opposite 
account,  but  Fgtis  seems  the  more  credible  witness. 


666 


6PONTINI. 


and  '  Julie '  considerably  less.  I  only  know  the 
latter,  which  was  also  produced  (without  success) 
in  Berlin,  Dec.  5,  1808.  Here  and  there  some 
isolated  bit  of  melody  recalls  the  composer  of 
the  'Vestale,'  but  that  is  all.  Fe'tis  remarks 
that  the  forms  of  this  opera  are  identical  with 
those  of  the  earlier  Neapolitans,  Guglielmi, 
Cimarosa,  and  Paisiello.  This  is  true;  but  it 
must  be  added  that  Spontini  by  no  means  at 
tains  to  the  sprightliness  and  charm  of  his  prede 
cessors.  The  melodies,  though  very  attractive, 
are  often  trivial.  Stronger  work  than  this  was 
needed  to  beat  the  French  composers,  with 
Mehul  at  their  head,  and  Boieldieu,  who  had 
already  written  the  '  Calife  de  Bagdad,'  in  their 
ranks.  Spontini,  however,  was  not  discouraged. 
During  this  period  Fetis  met  him  occasionally  at 
a  pianoforte-maker's,  and  was  struck  with  his  in 
vincible  confidence  in  himself.  He  was  making 
a  livelihood  by  giving  singing-lessons. 

Seeing  that  he  had  no  chance  of  making  an 
impression  with  his  present  style  he  broke  away 
from  it  entirely,  and  tried  a  new  ideal.  His 
very  next  opera,  'Milton'  (Nov.  27,  1804),  a 
little  work  in  one  act,  is  of  an  entirely  different 
character,  the  melodies  more  expressive,  the  har 
mony  and  orchestration  richer,  the  whole  more 
carefully  worked  out,  and  the  sentiment  alto 
gether  move  earnest.  But  the  most  interesting 
point  in  the  score  is  the  evidence  it  affords  of 
Mozart's  influence.  One  is  driven  to  the  con 
clusion  that  Spontini  had  now  for  the  first  time 
made  a  solid  acquaintance  with  the  works  of  the 
German  masters.  As  Cherubini  saw  in  Haydn, 
so  Spontini  henceforth  saw  in  Mozart  (and  shortly 
afterwards  in  another  German  composer)  a  pat 
tern  of  unattainable  excellence.  Even  in  old 
age  he  used  to  speak  of  Don  Juan  as  '  that  im 
mortal  chef-d'oeuvre,'  and  it  was  one  of  the  very 
few  works  besides  his  own  which  he  conducted 
when  director-general  at  Berlin.  No.  3  in  '  Mil 
ton'  (C  major,  3-8)  is  in  many  passages  so  like 
'Vedrai,  carino'  as  to  be  obviously  due  to 
Mozart's  direct  influence.  Milton's  fine  hymn 
to  the  Sun  (no.  4)  has  something  of  the  mild 
solemnity  which  Mozart  contrived  to  impart  to 
the  '  Zauberflb'te,' and  also  to  his  compositions  for 
the  Freemasons.  The  most  remarkable  number 
is  the  quintet  (no.  7).  Here  warmth  and  nobility 
of  melody,  impressive  declamation,  rich  accom 
paniment,  and  charm  of  colour  are  all  united. 
Such  a  piece  as  this  is  indeed  scarcely  to  be 
found  in  his  later  works.  With  the  Neapolitan 
school  it  has  nothing  in  common,  but  is  for  the 
most  part  drawn  from  the  Mozartean  fount  of 
beauty,  with  traces  of  that  grandeur  and  nobility 
so  emphatically  his  own.  The  change  of  style 
which  separates  his  later  works  from  his  earlier 
ones  is,  at  any  rate  in  this  quintet,  already  com 
plete.  In  other  pieces  of  the  opera  the  Neapo 
litan  is  still  discernible,  as  for  instance  in  the 
crescendo,  which  became  so  celebrated  in  Ros 
sini's  works,  though  known  to  others  besides 
Spontini  before  Rossini's  day. 

'Milton'  took  at  once  with  the  French,  and 
made  its  way  into  Germany,  being  .produced  in 


SPONTINI. 

Berlin   (translation  by  Treitschke)   March  24, 
iSoG,1  Weimar,  Dresden,  and  Vienna. 

The  writer  of  the  libretto,  Etienne  Jouy, 
played  a  considerable  part  in  Spontini's  life.  He 
was  present  at  the  performance  of  '  La  petite 
Maison,'  but  its  complete  fiasco  (the  work  of  a 
jealous  clique)  had  no  effect  upon  him.  He  saw 
in  Spontini  a  man  of  great  dramatic  talent,  and 
found  in  the  despised  work  a  host  of  beauties 
of  the  first  rank.  Meeting  the  composer  the 
following  morning,  he  offered  him  a  libretto  of 
his  own,  which  Spontini,  in  no  way  disheartened 
by  his  failure,  immediately  accepted.  This  li 
bretto  was  not  'Milton,'  but  'La  Vestale.'2  It 
was  originally  intended  for  Cherubini,  but  he 
could  not  make  up  his  mind  to  compose  it,  and 
after  a  long  delay  returned  it.3  To  Spontini  it 
afforded  the  means  of  ranking  himself  at  once 
with  the  first  operatic  composers  of  the  day. 

How  'Milton'  and  the  'Vestale'  stand  to  each 
other  in  matter  of  date  it  is  impossible  to  ascer 
tain.  That  the  latter  was  composed  before 
'Milton'  was  put  on  the  stage  is  not  probable, 
since  in  that  case  the  two  must  have  been  written 
within  less  than  six  months.  What  probably 
happened  was  this — an  opportunity  offered  to 
wards  the  close  of  1804  °f  producing  a  small 
opera  at  the  Theatre  Feydeau,  and  Spontini 
then  broke  off  the  longer  work  upon  which  he 
was  already  engaged  to  avail  himself  of  this  new 
chance.  He  may  not  have  been  sorry  too  to 
make  a  preliminary  trial  of  his  new  style  upon 
the  public.  On  the  other  hand,  we  know  for  cer 
tain  that  the  score  of  the  '  Vestale '  was  finished 
in  1805.  Jouy  says  that  it  took  three  years  to 
overcome  the  opposition  to  its  production,  and 
the  first  performance  took  place  Dec.  15,  1807. 

He  was  now  fortunately  in  favour  with  the 
Empress  Josephine — to  whom  he  dedicated  the 
score  of  '  Milton' — and  was  appointed  her  cham 
ber-composer — 'Compositeur  particulier/ etc.  A 
cantata,  '  L'Eccelsa  Gara,'  performed  Feb._  8, 
1806,  at  the  fetes  given  in  honour  of  Austerlitz, 
helped  to  increase  this  goodwill,  which  proved 
of  vital  importance  to  Spontini  in  maintaining 
his  ground  against  the  opposition  of  the  Conser 
vatoire.  To  such  a  length  was  this  opposition 
carried  that  at  one  of  the  Concerts  Spirituels  in 
Holy  Week,  1807,  an  oratorio  of  his  was  yelled 
off  the  stage  by  the  students.  Meantime,  how 
ever,  through  the  Empress's  patronage,  'La 
Vestale'  was  in  rehearsal  at  the  Opera.  But 
so  prejudiced  were  the  artists  against  the  work 
that  the  rehearsals  went  on  amid  ridicule  and 
opposition,  both  inside  and  outside  the  theatre. 
Some  foundation  for  this  no  doubt  did  exist. 

1  'Teichmann's  Literary  Remains,  edited  by  Dingelstedt'  (Stutt 
gart,  Cotta,  18G3),  p.  415.  ,    . 

2  See  Jouy's  own  account,  '  Notes  anecdotiques  sur  1  op^ra  di 
Vestale,'  in  the  '  Theatre  d'Etieune  Jouy  '  (1'aris  1821),  vol.  n.  p.  1«. 

^So'says  Mils.    Others  have  stated  that  besides  Cherubini  it  had 
been  offered  to  M<5hul,  Boieldieu,  Paer,  and  others,  and  that  the  tne 
unknown  Spontini  was  a  last  resource.    That  the  latter  part  ( 
statement  is  positively  untrue  we  know  from  Jouy  himsel      na  in- 
rest  will  not  bear  examination.    The  mistakes  as  to  tl 
Spontini's  Hie  are  very  numerous.    Jouy  even  did  not  know  ti 
rect  date  of  his  birth,  for  he  speaks  of  him  in  18W  as  '  fc  pem 
vingt-cinq  ans.'    For  a  long  time  he  was  universally  suppos 
been  born  iu  1778. 


SPONTINI. 

Even  in  the  '  Finta  Filosofa '  the  orchestra  was 
said  to  have  drowned  the  voices.1  Whether  this 
was  justified  —  even  from  an  Italian  point  of 
view — I  cannot  say,  not  knowing  the  work,  but 
there  is  some  ground  for  it  in  the  'Vestale,' 
which  also  fell  short  in  many  other  points.'-' 
Fe"tis  attended  the  rehearsals,  and  is  an  un 
impeachable  witness  on  this  point.  Spontini's 
thoughts  were  throughout  fresh  and  significant, 
but,  not  having  before  attempted  lyric  tragedy, 
he  did  not  in  all  cases  succeed  in  giving  them 
a  satisfactory  form.  Then  began  an  intermin 
able  altering  and  remodelling  on  his  part ;  the 
most  trying  experiences  at  rehearsals  did  not 
discourage  him  from  again  and  again  re-casting 
passage  after  passage,  until  he  had  hit  on  the 
best  possible  form.  This  indefatigable  polishing 
and  experimenting  became  henceforth  one  of  his 
characteristics,  and  instead  of  diminishing,  as 
he  acquired  command  of  his  means,  as  might 
have  been  expected,  each  new  work  seemed  to 
strengthen  the  habit.  People  are  still  living  in 
Berlin  wlio  have  seen  him  at  work  in  this  way. 
He  would  alter  a  passage  four  and  five  times, 
each  time  pasting-on  the  new  version,  so  that  at 
last  the  score  became  quite  bulky,  and  not  un- 
frequently,  after  all  this  experimenting,  he  would 
revert  to  the  original  form. 
The  rehearsals  were  at  length  brought  to  a 

o  o 

close  after  endless  trouble,  when,  at  the  last 
moment,  the  performance  was  all  but  postponed, 
by  a  command  from  the  Emperor  that  Lesueur's 
'La  Mort  d'Adam,'  which  had  long  been  ac 
cepted,  should  be  given  before  it.  When  how 
ever  the  copyist  was  about  to  set  to  work,  by 
some  accident  Lesueur's  score  could  not  be 
found,  and  thus  Spontini  secured  precedence  for 
the  'Vestale.'  Its  success  was  the  most  brilliant 
imaginable,  and  it  long  remained  a  favourite 
with  the  Parisians,  having  been  performed  200 
times  as  early  as  the  year  1824.  The  caste  on 
the  first  night  was  as  follows  :  Licinius,  Nourrit; 
China,  Lais;  the  High-Priest,  De'rivis;  the  Chief- 
Augur,  Bonel ;  A  Consul,  Martin ;  Julia,  Mme. 
Branchu ;  the  Chief  Vestal,  Mme.  Armand. 
Both  composer  and  poet  received  permission  to 
dedicate  the  work  to  the  Empress.  A  higher 
distinction  than  this  however  awaited  Spontini. 
Napoleon  had  founded  a  prize  to  be  given  every 
ten  years  to  the  new  opera  which  should  have 
made  the  greatest  success  within  that  period. 
The  time  of  the  award  drew  near,  Mehul,  Gossec, 
and  Gre'try  were  the  judges,  and  their  bestowal 
of  the  prize  on  the  '  Vestale/  instead  of  on  Les 
ueur's  'Bardes'  was  a  tacit  acknowledgement 
that  the  organised  opposition  to  the  foreigner 
was  at  an  end.  The  opera  soon  became  known 
beyond  France.  The  first  performance  at  San 
Carlo  in  Naples  (to  an  Italian  translation  by 


1  '  Allg.  Musik.  Zeitung'  for  1801,  p.  382. 

2  The  '  Vestale '  was  a  marvel  of  noise  for  its  day,  and  a  good  story 
was  current  about  it  in  Paris  at  the  time.    A  well-known  physician 
had  advised  a  friend  to  go  and  hear  it  as  a  remedy  for  his  deafness, 
and  accompanied  him  to  the  theatre.     After  one  of  the  loudest 
bursts,  'Doctor,'  cried  the  friend  in  ecstacy.  'Doctor,  I  can  hear!' 
but  alas,  the  doctor  made  no  response,  the  same  noise  which  had 
cured  his  friend  had  deafened  him. 


SPONTINI. 


667 


Giovanni  Schmidt)  took  place  Sept.  8,  iSn,3 
with  Isabella  Colbran  as  Julia.  It  made  a 
great  sensation,  and  Spontini  might  perhaps 
have  found  a  worthy  successor  among  his  own 
countrymen  in  Nicola  Antonio  Manfroce,  had 
this  talented  young  man  not  been  carried  off  by 
an  early  death.  On  the  title-page  of  the  '  Ves 
tale  '  Spontini  styles  himself  Chamber-composer 
to  the  Empress,  and  Maestro  di  capella  to  the 
Conservatorio  of  Naples.  Whether  this  title  was 
a  new  honour,  or  whether  he  brought  it  with 
him  to  Paris  I  know  not.  Vigano  adapted  the 
'Vestale'  as  a  ballet,  and  in  this  form  also  it 
was  universally  popular  in  Italy. — In  Berlin  the 
first  performance  took  place  Jan.  18,  I  Sir,  to  a 
translation  by  Herklots.  It  was  given  at  Mu 
nich  on  Jan.  14,  and  Wurzburg  Jan.  10,  1812. 

Jouy  drew  the  material  of  his  poem,  the 
action  of  which  takes  place  in  the  year  of  Eome 
269,  from  Winckelmann's  'Monument!  antichi 
inediti.'  It  still  ranks  as  one  of  the  best  li 
brettos  of  the  present  century,  and  justly  so. 
As  for  the  music  it  is  so  entirely  new,  and  so 
utterly  unlike  the  Neapolitan  style,  that  it  is 
not  to  be  wondered  at  if  the  malicious  story 
that  Spontini  was  not  the  composer  of  it,  has 
occasionally  been  believed.  Not  that  this  could 
have  happened  if  'Milton'  had  been  better 
known,  for  in  that  little  opera  the  metamorphosis 
of  his  style  is  already  complete.  His  new  style 
Spontini  did  not  evolve  entirely  from  his  own 
resources.  Of  the  influence  of  Mozart  we  have 
already  spoken,  but  that  of  Gluck,  with  whose 
works  he  became  acquainted  in  Paris,  was  more 
important  still.  *  Iphigdnie  in  Aulis '  is  said  to 
have  been  the  opera  the  first  hearing  of  which 
showed  him  his  future  path.  Not  that  Gluck 
was  in  his  eyes  a  greater  master  than  Mozart. 
Some  years  later,  at  a  banquet  given  in  Spon- 
tini's  honour  at  Berlin,  some  one  said  in  his 
praise  that  as  a  composer  he  had  fulfilled  all 
the  requirements  of  a  master  of  the  musico- 
dramatic  art,  when  he  exclaimed  hastily,  'No, 
it  is  only  Mozart  who  has  done  that.' 4  But 
still  it  is  obvious  that  Gluck  was  nearer  of  kin 
to  him  than  Mozart.  With  Gluck  he  shares 
that  touch  of  grandeur,  the  refined  melancholy 
of  which  is  often  so  peculiarly  attractive,  though 
as  a  rule  the  depth  of  Gluck's  sentiment  is 
beyond  the  reach  of  the  Italian  master.  As 
with  Gluck  too  the  dramatic  gift  preponderates 
in  Spontini  over  the  purely  musical.  He  is  in 
this  respect  remarkable  among  Italian  composers, 
who  though  all  endowed  with  a  certain  instinct 
for  stage-effect,  yet  prefer  to  set  their  operas  to 
concert-music.  The  moment  that  personal  vin- 
dictiveness  against  Spontini  ceased  it  could  not 
but  be  acknowledged  that  '  La  Vestale '  was  full 
of  beauties,  and  that  it  seized  the  audience 
by  its  grand  melodies  and  fiery  outbursts,  its 
depth  of  passion  and  truth  of  expression,  its 
genuinely  tragic  style,  and  the  singularly  happy 

3  See  Florlmo,  'Scuola  Musicale  di  Napoli,'  iv.  268.  In  his  earlier 
work,  '  Cenno  storico  sulla  Scuola  musicale  di  Napoli '  (Naples,  1869) 
p.  G31,  he  says  the  first  performance  took  place  in  1^09. 

•i  II.  Doru's  '  Aus  ineiaem  Leben,'  pt.  3.  p.  9;  Berlin,  Behr,  1870. 


668 


SPONTINI. 


SPONTINI. 


way  in  which  the  scenes  and  characters  were 
individualised.  On  the  other  hand  there  were 
great  shortcomings  which  could  not  be  ignored. 
These  chiefly  lay — outside  a  certain  monotony  in 
the  movements — in  the  harmony.  When  Berlioz 
afterwards  ventured  to  maintain  that  scarcely 
two  real  faults  in  harmony  could  be  pointed  out 
in  the  score,  he  only  showed  how  undeveloped 
was  his  own  sense  of  logical  harmony.  It  is  in 
what  is  called  unerring  instinct  for  th 
harmony  that  Spontini  so  sensibly  falls  short  in 
'  La  Vestale.' 

This  no  doubt  arose  from  the  fact  that  his  early 
training  in  Naples  was  insufficient  to  develop 
the  faculty,  and  that  when  he  had  discovered 
the  direction  in  which  his  real  strength  lay  it 
was  too  late  to  remedy  the  want.  Zelter,  who  in 
reference  to  Spontini  never  conceals  his  narrow- 
mindedness,  made  a  just  remark  when  he  said 
that  the  composer  of  the  Vestale  would  never 
rise  io  anything  much  higher  than  he  was  then, 
if  he  were  over  25  at  the  time  that  it  was  written. L 
He  never  really  mastered  a  great  part  of  the 
material  necessary  for  the  principal  effects  in  his 
grand  operas.  His  slow  and  laborious  manner  of 
writing,  too,  which  he  retained  to  the  last,  though 
creditable  to  his  conscientiousness  as  an  artist, 
is  undoubtedly  to  be  attributed  in  part  to  a 
sense  of  uncertainty. 

Between  the  '  Vestale,'  which  we  take  to  have 
been  finished  in  1805,  and  Spontini's  next  opera 
four  years  elapsed.  To  this  period  apparently 
belongs  a  collection  of  6  songs,  with  accom 
paniment  for  PF.  or  harp,  entitled  '  Sensations 
douces,  melancoliques  et  douloureuses,  exprime'es 
en  vers  par  M.  de  G. — L.,  et  en  musique  avec 
accompagnement  de  Piano  ou  Harpe  par  Gaspare 
Spontini  Maitre  de  Chapelle  du  Conservatoire 
de  Naples.  Dedie'es  au  souvenir  [de]  Delie.  Pro- 
prie'te"  des  Auteurs.  A  Paris.  Se  vend  chez 
1'Auteur  de  la  musique.  Rue  du  Faubourg  Pois- 
sonniere,  no.  6.'  Some  special  series  of  events 
seems  to  have  given  rise  to  these  pieces,  but 
whether  affecting  the  poet  or  the  composer  is  not 
discoverable.  The  first  two  are  called  '  Sentimens 
cV amour,'  the  3rd  and  4th  '  Regrets  d'Absence,' 
and  the  last  two  '  Plaintes  sur  la  tombe.'  As 
might  be  expected  they  are  all  very  theatrical, 
and  exhibit  many  awkwardnesses  in  the  harmony. 
No.  4  is  the  best,  and  its  opening  phrase  deserves 
quoting  ns  a  specimen  of  refined  melancholy : 
Moderate.  .-^ 

zrprpEzr. ^oiffz^g 


sons 


tou  -  chants. 

His  next  opera  was  'Fernand  Cortez,'  the  first 
performance  of  which  took  place  Nov.  28,  1809, 

i  '  Brieftvechsel  zwischen  Goethe  und  Zelter,'  vol.  i.  p.  438. 


with  Lavigne  and  Mine.  Branchu  in  the  prin 
cipal  parts.     The  libretto  was  again  by  Jouy 
and  not  by  2Esme'nard,  who  merely  made  some 
alterations  and  additions.     Napoleon  took  an  in 
terest  in  the  production  of  '  Cortez,'  from  an  idea 
that  it  might  influence  public  opinion  in  favour 
of  his  plans  for  the  Spanish  war,  then  in  progress. 
As  soon   as  the  preparations  began  Jouy  was 
warned  by  the  Minister  of  the  Interior  to  intro 
duce  into  the  piece  more  distinct  allusions  to  the 
topics  of  the  day.    He  was  specially  to  strengthen 
the  contrast  between  the  humane  views  of  Cortez 
and  the  fanaticism  of  the  Mexicans,  and  thus 
suggest  a  comparison  between  the  liberal-minded 
French  and  the  bigotted  Spaniards  of  the  day. 
Jouy  declining  to  make  these   alterations,  the 
Minister  proposed  Esme'nnrd  for  the  work.    Na 
poleon   was   present   at  the  first   performance,3 
but  the  result  did  not  fully  answer  his  expecta 
tions.     Spontini  had  thrown  so  much  life  into 
the  character  of  the  Spaniards,  and  had  made 
them  so  bold,  patriotic,  and  fearless  of  death, 
that  the  sympathies  of  the  audience  were  enlisted 
in  behalf  of  Spaniards  in  general,  and  ATapoleon 
ran  the  risk  of  witnessing  an   exactly  opposite 
effect  to  that  which  he  intended.     The  success 
of   the   opera  was  very  great,  equalling  if  not 
exceeding  that  of  the  '  Vestale.'     On  the  whole 
we  should  not  be  wrong  in  pronouncing  'Cortez' 
the  more  finished  work  of  the  two.    The  faults  of 
harmony  are  fewer,  the  tendency  (latterly  so  ex 
aggerated)  to  pile  up  means  in  order  to  produce 
imposing  effects  is  still  kept  within  due  bounds. 
Remark.-ible  skill  is  shown  in  the  treatment  of  the 
masses,  and  the  construction  of  the  larger  dramatic 
forms.    The  martial  tone  demanded  by  the  subject 
is  well  maintained  throughout,  the  savage  pas 
sions  are  delineated  with  an  energy  often  startling, 
while  some  pieces  are  distinguished  by  grace  and 
dignity.     Throughout  we  are  brought  in  contact 
with  an  individual  artist,  who  has  created  for 
himself  his    own   means    of  expression.4     The 
certainty  of  touch  too  in  the  different  characters, 
especially    Cortez,     Amazily,     and    Telasco,   is 
worthy  of  all  praise.      The  way  especially  in 
which  the  opposite  nature  of  the  Spaniards  and 
Mexicans   is   brought   out    shows    consummate 
creative  power.     Here  Spontini  is  seen  to  be  a 
worthy  successor  of  Gluck,  who  was  the  first 
to  attempt  this  kind  of  problem  in  his  '  Paris  et 
Helene.'     Gluck  had  many  able  successors,  such 
as  Winter  in  Germany  and  Me'hul  in  France, 
but  Spontini  comes  still  nearer  to  the  great  model, 
and  has  in  his  turn  served  as  an  example  for 
others.     Neither  Rossini's  '  Guillaume  Tell'  nor 
Marschner's  '  Templer  und  Jiidin '  would  have 
been  quite  what  they  are  but  for  him. 

The  form  in  which  we  know  'Cortez'  is  not 
that  in  which  it  first  appeared.  After  a  long 
interval  it  was  revived  May  26,  1817,  in  an 

2  Riehl('Musikalische  Charakterko'pfe,"  5th  ed.,  Stuttgart,  Cotla. 
1K76,  vol.  i.  p.  192; ;  following  Kaoul  Kochette,  'Notice  historique  sur 
la  vie  et  les  ouvrages  de  M.  Spontini'  (Paris,  Firmin  Didot,  1M2;. 

s  Theatre  d'Etienne  Jouy,'  vol.  ii.  p.  199,  et  seq. 

4  In  face  of  this  self-evident  fact  but  little  importance  will  be  at- 
ached  to  the  discovery  made  in  Paris  that  the  Trio  '  Createur  de  ce 
nouveau  monde,'  \vas  an  imitation  of  an  '  0  .salutaris  Iiostia  < 

ossec's.    See  'Journal  dts  iK'bats  '  lor  June  1, 1817. 


SPONTINI. 

entirely  new  shape.  Esmdnard  was  dead,  and 
for  the  alterations  in  the  poem  Jouy  was  entirely 
responsible.  The  3rd  act  now  became  the  1st,  the 
ist  act  the  2nd,  and  a  part  of  the  2nd  the  3rd ; 
some  passages  were  suppressed  and  others  added, 
and  the  part  of  Montezuma  was  entirely  new. 
Jouy  had  introduced  Montezuma  into  his  ori 
ginal  sketch,  but  thinking  the  part  weak  and 
undramatic  had  omitted  it  in  the  first  libretto. 
It  now  reappeared.  The  part  of  Amazily  is 
simplified  as  regards  her  appearances,  but  the 
character  is  strengthened.  In  the  earlier  play 
love  has  stifled  her  patriotism,  now  she  is  divided 
between  her  lover  and  her  country,  producing  a 
conflict  of  emotions  truly  dramatic.  By  putting 
the  execution  of  the  Spanish  prisoners  at  the 
opening  of  the  opera,  and  thus  showing  the 
Mexican  people  in  all  their  savage  barbarity, 
the  poet  hoped  to  dispose  the  audience  more 
decidedly  in  favour  of  the  victorious  Spaniards, 
and  to  make  the  conquest  of  Mexico  a  clear 
necessity.  But  his  success  in  this  was  not  com 
plete  ;  the  sympathies  of  the  audience  still  wavered 
between  the  heroism  of  the  conquerors  and  the 
misfortunes  of  the  conquered.  The  reception  of 
the  music  was  as  favourable  as  ever,  but  on  the 
libretto  opinions  were  divided.  The  delay  in  the 
appearance  of  Cortez  till  the  2nd  act,  was  felt  to 
lessen  the  interest  in  Amazily's  love,  Alvar's 
danger,  and  all  that  concerns  the  Spaniards.  This 
is  undeniably  true,  but  on  the  other  hand  the  2nd 
act  gains  so  immeasurably  in  strength  that  the 
loss  is  more  than  counterbalanced.  More  serious 
objections  might  be  urged  against  the  3rd  act, 
which  after  the  exciting  events  of  the  first  two 
inevitably  falls  flat;  and  this  Spontini  proposed  to 
remedy  by  a  third  revision.  In  November  1823, 
the  poet  Theauleon  came  to  Berlin  to  write  the 
libretto  of  '  Alcidor,'  and  Spontini  commissioned 
him  to  remodel  the  3rd  act,  which  he  did  as 
follows :  Amazily  falls  into  the  power  of  the 
Mexican  priests,  who,  in  defiance  of  Monte 
zuma,  prepare  to  sacrifice  her,  but  at  the  last 
moment  Cortez  appears  with  his  Spaniards,  and 
saves  his  love.  This  exciting  scene,  with  most 
effective  music,  brings  up  the  interest  of  the  last 
act  to  the  level  of  the  others.  The  pianoforte 
score,  arranged  by  F.  Naue,  and  published  by 
Hofmeister  of  Leipzig,  gives  the  opera  as  it 
stood  after  this  third  and  final  revision.  The 
full  score  came  out  in  Paris  in  the  fortieth  year 
after  Spontini's  retirement  from  Berlin.  The 
3rd  act  in  its  second  form  may  be  found  in 
Jouy's  '(Euvres  completes,'  vol.  ii.  p.  iSj-. 

In  1 8 10  Spontini  became  conductor  of  the 
Italian  opera,  which  was  united  with  the 
Comedie  Fran9aise  under  the  title  of  'Theatre 
de  I'linpe'ratrice,'  and  located  at  the  Odeon.  He 
formed  a  distinguished  company  of  singers,  im 
proved  the  orchestra,  and  threw  more  variety 
into  the  repertoire.  One  signal  service  was  his 
production  for  the  first  time  in  Paris  of  'Don 
Juan'  in  its  original  form.  He  remodelled  Catel's 
'  Semiramide,'  with  fresh  numbers  of  his  own, 
and  revived  it  with  some  success.1  He  also  in- 

J  Ft-tis. 


SPONTINI. 


6C9 


stituted  Concerts  Spirituels,  at  which  he  success 
fully  introduced  such  works  as  Mozart's  Re- 
quiem,  Haydn's  Symphonies,  and  extracts  from 
the  '  Creation.'  But  he  did  not  keep  the  con- 
ductorship  long.  Differences  arose  between  him 
self  and  Alexandre  Duval,  the  director  of  the 
theatre,  and  in  1812  Spontini  was  dismissed 
from  his  post  by  M.  de  Remusat,  surintendant 
of  the  Imperial  theatres. 

On  the  restoration  of  the  Bourbons  in  1814 
Spontini  was  reinstated,  but  soon  gave  up  the 
post  to  Catalan:  for  a  money  consideration.  His 
conduct  as  conductor  of  the  opera  does  not  give 
a  favourable  idea  of  his  character.  When  Count 
Briihl  was  in  Paris,  Spontini  was  described  to 
him  by  the  managers  of  the  Ope'ra  as  'grasping 
nnd  indolent ;  ill-natured,  treacherous,  and  spite 
ful.'2  Catalani  too  always  averred  that  he  had 
treated  her  badly.  Some,  however,  took  a  more 
favourable  view,  and  maintained  that  he  had 
been  both  zealous  and  successful  in  his  efforts 
for  the  furtherance  of  art.  Fetis  believed  "that 
it  was  not  Sponfcini  but  Duval  who  should  have 
been  dismissed  in  1812.  It  is  curious  thus  to 
find  the  same  difference  of  opinion  in  Paris  with 
regard  to  Spontini's  character  which  was  after 
wards  so  noticeable  in  Berlin. 

On  the  3oth  May  1814,  Louis  XVIII  became 
king  of  France,  and  in  commemoration  of  the 
event  Jouy  and  Spontini  wrote  a  festival-opera 
in  2  acts  called  '  Pelage,  ou  le  Roi  de  la  Paix.' 
The  first  performance  took  place  Aug.  23,  1814. 
The  work  is  of  no  value,  and  must  have  been 
very  quickly  composed.  The  subject  is  idyllic, 
breathing  only  soft  emotions,  and  therefore  en 
tirely  contrary  to  the  nature  of  Spontini's  talent. 
The  opera  was  dedicated  to  the  king,  who  ap 
pointed  Spontini  his  'Dramatic  composer  in  or 
dinary.'  It  is  often  said  that  Spontini's  music 
displays  the  spirit  of  the  age  of  Napoleon.  The 
remark  is  true  so  far  as  the  martial  splendour, 
the  vehement  energy,  the  overpowering  massive 
effect  of  his  grand  Qperas  are  concerned.  In  all 
this  the  spirit  of  the  time  is  recognisable  enough. 
But  it  resides  in  the  music  only ;  and  it  would 
be  very  wrong  to  conclude  that  Spontini  him 
self  was  an  adherent  of  Napoleon's  politics  or 
person.  He  was  as  little  of  an  imperialist  as 
Weber  (notwithstanding  his  songs  in  the  cause 
of  liberty)  was  a  democrat.  Art  and  Politics 
are  two  distinct  things,  and  if  Spontini  did  do 
homage  to  Louis  after  enjoying  the  favour  of 
Napoleon  there  is  no  need  to  blame  him. 

He  next  took  part  with  Persuis,  Berton,  and 
Kreutzer  in  an  op^ra-ballet,  '  Les  Dieux  rivaux,' 
produced  June  21, 1816,  in  honour  of  the  marriage 
of  the  Due  de  Berri.  Spontini's  share  was  confined 
to  two  or  three  dances,  and  a  song, '  Voici  le  Roi, 
Fran£ais  fideles,'  of  little  value.  Other  ballet- 
music  however, composed  for  Salieri's  '  Danaides,' 
rises  to  the  level  of  'Cortez'  and  the  '  Vestale.' 
The  opera,  revived  with  this  addition  Oct.  22, 
1817,  was  enthusiastically  received. 

But  these  pieces  d'occaxion  .sink  into  insignifi 
cance  before  the  grand  opera  'Olympia,'  'imitated* 

2  Letter  of  Bruhl  to  Frederic  William  111,  Oct.  8, 1319. 


G70 


SPONTINI. 


by  Briffaut  and  Dieulafoy  from  Voltaire's  tragedy. 
Spontini  took  a  most  unusual  length  of  time  for 
the  composition.  He  was  at  work  upon  the  last 
act  in  December  1815,  and  yet  the  opera  was 
not  finished  by  January  iSig.1  After  so  much 
trouble  and  pains  he  not  unnaturally  considered 
it  his  best  work.  '  This  score,'  he  writes  Nov. 
27,  1819,  'must  be  ranked  higher,  for  importance 
and  range  of  subject,  than  those  of  La  Vestale  and 
Cortez';  and  to  this  opinion  he  adhered,  in  spite 
of  many  proofs  that  the  public  judged  otherwise. 
At  the  first  performance  (Paris,  Dec.  15,  1819), 
a  bitter  disappointment  awaited  him,  for  the 
opera  failed  in  spite  of  his  numerous  supporters, 
and  of  the  generally  favourable  disposition  of  the 
Parisians  towards  him.  Spontini  however  was 
not  the  man  to  throw  up  his  cause  for  a  first 
failure.  The  libretto  was  chiefly  to  blame.  The 
writers  had  adhered  too  closely  to  Voltaire, 
without  remembering  the  requirements  of  the 
music,  or  the  established  forms  of  Grand  Opera. 
The  tragical  conclusion  especially  was  objected 
to  as  an  innovation.  This  was  remedied  first 
of  all,  and  a  happy  ending  substituted.  By 
February,  1820,  Spontini  was  at  work  on  the 
revision,  which  he  completed  in  less  than  a 
year,  and  the  opera  was  produced  in  its  new 
form,  May  14,  1821,  at  Berlin.  In  1822  it 
\\.is  again  revised,  the  changes  this  time  being 
in  the  airs  for  Olympic  and  Cassandre,  the  duet 
for  the  same  in  the  first  act,  and  a  new  scene 
with  terzetto  in  the  third.  As  this  last  is  not 
included  in  the  printed  edition  it  looks  as  if  the 
final  form  of  the  opera  had  not  even  yet  been  at 
tained.  Schlesinger  of  Berlin  published  a  complete 
pianoforte-score  in  i826.2  The  opera  was  again 
put  on  the  stage  in  Paris  Feb.  28,  1826,  and  by 
March  15  it  had  already  been  played  6  times.3 
Each  time  it  pleased  more,  and  at  last  Spontini 
was  able  to  count  it  among  his  great  triumphs. 
It  was  however  only  in  Berlin,  where  he  settled 
in  1820,  that  it  kept  a  permanent  place  in  the 
repertoire.  It  had  a  short  ^un  at  Dresden  and 
Darmstadt  in  1822,  and  w.ns  proposed  at  Vienna, 
but  the  performance  did  not  take  place.  The 
opera  has  now  completely  disappeared  from 
musical  life,  a  fate  it  shares  with  Cherubini's 
'  Mede'e.'  That  no  attempts  have  been  made 
to  revive  it  must  be  attributed  partly  to  the 
enormous  demands  which  it  makes  on  the 
dramatic  and  scenic  resources  of  a  theatre,  and 
also  to  the  fact  that  Spontini's  operas  are  of  an 
individual  type  and  require  a  peculiar  style  of 
representation.  The  few  living  musicians  who 
remember  the  performances  of  Spontini's  operas 
in  Berlin  between  1820  and  1830  know  the  kind 
of  interpretation  he  used  to  give  of  them — 
one  which  by  no  means  lay  on  the  surface. 
Dorn,  in  his  '  Kecollections/*  says  that  at  Leipzig 
in  1829  the  final  chorus  in  the  2nd  act  of  the 
'Vestale'  was  ridiculed  as  a  mere  waltz-tune. 
When  Dorn  undertook  the  direction  of  the 

1  Letters  from  Spontini  to  Count  Eriihl,  dated  Dec.  22,  1815,  and 
Jan.  14. 1819. 

2  A  full  score,  in  3  vols,  was  published  by  Erard  at  Paris. 

3  Marx's  '  Berliner  Allgem.  3ms.  Zeitung  '  1or  1826,  p.  314. 

<  'Aus  meinem  Leben-Erinnerungen  '  (Berlin  1870),  p.  la]  et  seg. 


SPONTINI. 

opera,  and  had  to  conduct  the  'Vestale,'  he 
made  such  good  use  of  his  recollections  of  the 
way  in  which  it  was  conducted  by  the  composer, 
that  the  chorus  in  question  was  scarcely  re 
cognised,  and  all  adverse  comments  were  silenced. 
'Another  fifty  years,'  continues  he,  'and  the 
Spontini  traditions  will  have  disappeared,  as  the 
Mozart  traditions  have  already  done.'  It  would 
be  more  correct  to  say  that  both  have  disap 
peared.  The  Spontini  traditions  might  possibly 
have  lived  longer  had  his  work  in  Germany  been 
more  successful  than  it  was.  But  there  is  enough 
to  account  for  this,  and  more,  in  the  unsettled 
condition  of  all  stage  matters  in  Germany  for 
many  years  past. 

'Olympic'  and  'A.gnes  von  Hohenstaufen'— 
written  ten  years  later  —  stand  alone  among 
operas  of  the  I9th  century  for  grandeur  of  con 
ception.  True,  in  isolated  scenes  of  the  '  Hugue 
nots '  and  the  ''Prophete,'  Meyerbeer  approached 
his  predecessor,  but  he  never  succeeded  in  creating 
a  whole  of  such  magnificent  proportions.  The 
unity  of  design  is  remarkable,  each  act  seems 
to  be  cast  in  one  mould ;  and  this  from  the 
fact  that  musically  the  several  scenes  of  each 
act  run  into  each  other  in  a  much  more  marked 
manner  than  in  'Cortez'  or  the  'Vestale.'  There 
is  also,  throughout,  the  closest  connection  between 
the  music,  the  scenes  on  the  stage,  and  the 
development  of  the  plot — the  cachet  of  the  true 
dramatic  artist.  The  principal  characters  are 
well  defined,  and  the  tone  assigned  to  each  at 
the  start  is  skilfully  maintained.  The  first  en 
trances,  always  the  most  important  moment  in 
opera  for  fixing  the  character  of  a  part,  are 
always  very  significant.  For  instance,  it  is  inter 
esting  to  observe  the  entirely  different  nature  of 
the  music  at  the  entrances  of  Olympia  and  of 
Statira.  The  latter,  the  principal  character  in 
the  piece,  has  no  rival,  unless  it  be  Cherubini's 
'  Mede'e,'  or  perhaps  Gluck's  'Armide.'  A 
sorrowful  woman,  burdened  with  horrible  me 
mories  and  burning  for  revenge,  she  is  yet  a 
Queen  from  the  crown  of  her  head  to  the  sole  of 
her  foot,  and  a  heroine,  as  all  must  acknowledge, 
worthy  of  Alexander  the  Great.  Bearing  in 
mind  the  grandeur  of  the  subject,  and  its  back 
ground  of  history,  the  composer's  choice  of  mate 
rial  does  not  seem  exaggerated. 

But  these  great  qualities  are  accompanied  by 
considerable  defects.  Apart  from  the  falsified 
history  of  the  plot,  which  might  easily  disturb 
a  cultivated  spectator  in  these  days  of  accuracy, 
the  happy  conclusion  weakens  the  interest  in 
the  fate  of  the  chief  characters.  The  part  of 
Statira,  at  any  rate,  was  far  more  consistent 
and  homogeneous  when  the  ending  was  tragic. 
The  music,  undeniably  grandly  sketched  ^as  a 
whole,  lacks  charm  in  the  details.  Spontini  was 
not  an  instrumental  composer.  His  overtures, 
dances,  and  marches,  are  in  all  cases  music 
without  any  independent  existence,  simply  in 
tended  to  introduce  or  accompany.  Instru 
mental  music,  from  its  immense  plasticity  and 
variety,  is  the  best  possible  school  for  develop 
ing  all  the  rich  resources  of  the  musical  art ;  but 


SPONTINI. 

in  this  school  Spontini  had  never  been  properly 
disciplined,  and  the  neglect  makes  itself  felt  in 
his  larger  dramatic  forms.  These  are  monotonous 
and  wearisome,  while  his  basses  are  poor,  and  his 
accompaniments  wanting  in  variety.     It  seems 
strange  that  with  his  great  reverence  for  Mozart— 
the  great  model  in  this  respect  also — he  should 
never  have  been  aware  of  this  want  in  himself. 
His  melodies  lack  plasticity,  that  bold  free  move 
ment  which  is  absolutely  essential  if  the  melody 
is  to  remain  dominant  over  all  the  accumulated 
masses  of  sound.    He  has  not  sufficient  command 
of  language  to  have  always  ready  to  his  hand 
suitable  means  of  expression  for  the  rapid  changes 
of  sentiment  in  the  course  of  a  scene.    Nor  has 
he  the  power  of  assigning  the  instrumental  music 
its  due  share  in  the  dramatic  development.     If 
all  the  work  is  done  by  the  singing  and  acting, 
one  is  tempted  to  ask  what  is  the  object  of  all 
this  overwhelming  apparatus  in  the  orchestra  ? 
The  important  part  played  by  the  instrumental 
music  in  an  opera,  that  of  preparing  and  elucid 
ating  the  sentiments,  making  them  subjectively 
more  credible,  and  objectively  clearer,  this  pro 
blem  Spontini  either  did  not  grasp,  or  felt  himse]  f 
unable  to  solve.     In  all  these  respects  he  was 
far  surpassed  by  Cherubim  and  Weber,  each  in 
his  own  line. 

Whilst  Spontini  was  busy  in  Paris  composing 
'  Olympic,'  the  way  was  being  prepared  for  the 
most  important  event  in  the  second  half  of  his 
life — his  summons  to  Berlin.  As  no  authentic 
account  of  the  circumstances  of  his  going  there, 
or  of  his  twenty-two  years'  sojourn  and  work  in 
the  Prussian  capital,  has  yet  been  published,  we 
must  treat  the  subject  somewhat  in  detail, 
from  MS.  authorities  hitherto  unused.1  King 
Frederic  William  III,  during  a  visit  of  two 
months  to  Paris  (March  31  to  the  beginning  of 
June  1814),  heard  Spontini's  operas  several  times, 
and  was  deeply  impressed  by  them.  Not  only 
was  '  Cortez '  at  once  put  in  rehearsal  at  Berlin 
and  produced  Oct.  15,  1814,  but  the  king,  on  the 
return  of  peace,  occupied  himself  with  various 
plans  for  improving  the  state  of  music  in  Prussia. 
An  establishment  for  the  promotion  of  church 
music  was  thought  of;  a  Conservatoire  for  music 
and  declamation  was  projected,  like  that  at  Paris, 
and,  above  all,  fresh  impulse  was  to  be  given  to 
the  Court  Opera  by  engaging  a  conductor  of  ac 
knowledged  ability.  For  this  last  post  Spontini 
was  the  man  fixed  upon.  So  far  back  as  the 
autumn  of  1814  proposals  had  been  made  to  him 
at  Vienna,  offering  him  the  then  immense  salary 
of  5000  thalers  (.£750)  on  condition  of  his  furnish 
ing  two  operas  a  year  for  Berlin.  Spontini  was 
inclined  to  accept,  but  the  plan  did  not  meet  with 
the  approval  of  the  Intendant  of  the  Royal  theatre 
—Count  Bruhl,  who  had  succeeded  Iffland  in  Feb. 
1815.  Briihl's  opinion  was  entitled  to  the  more 
weight  as  there  had  scarcely  ever  been  a  theatrical 
manager  in  Germany  who  knew  his  business  so 
well.  He  was  himself  an  actor  of  great  experience, 

1  The  principal  sources  upon  which  we  have  drawn  are  papers 
belonging  to  the  royal  theatres  of  Berlin,  and  to  the  Prussian  lioyal 
Family. 


SPONTINI. 


671 


had  studied  several  parts  at  Weirnar  under  Goethe's 
direction,  had  sung  Sacchini's  (Edipus  in  French, 
and  taken  other  parts  in  grand  operas  at  Rheins- 
berg,  Prince  Henry's  palace.  He  had  even  played 
the  horn  for  months  together  in  the  band.  He 
was  no  inefficient  scene-painter ;  had  studied 
drawing  with  Genelli,  and  archaeology  with  Hirt 
and  Botticher,  had  devoted  some  time  to  architec 
ture,  and  was  personally  acquainted  with  nearly 
all  the  important  theatres  in  Germany,  Paris,  and 
London.  Add  to  this  his  refined  taste,  ideal  turn 
of  mind,  and  high  social  position,  and  it  will  be 
seen  that  he  possessed  qualities  rarely  found 
united  in  the  person  of  a  theatrical  manager.  It 
is  not  to  be  supposed  that  Brlihl  ignored  the 
advantage  of  having  so  distinguished  an  artist  at 
the  head  of  the  Berlin  opera.  It  was  however 
by  no  means  certain  that  Spontini  had  had  the 
necessary  practice  as  a  conductor,  for  at  Paris  no 
composer  conducts  his  own  operas.  His  ignorance 
of  German  would  not  only  make  it  difficult  for 
him  and  his  musicians  to  understand  each  other, 
but  would  also  prevent  his  composing  a  German 
opera.  As  yet  he  had  only  composed  two  operas 
of  acknowledged  merit,  and  it  was  possible  that 
he  would  not  be  able  to  supply  two  new  ones  each 
year  ;  and  if  he  were  able,  the  price  paid  for  them 
would  be  exorbitant,  unless  it  were  quite  certain 
that  as  interpreted  under  his  own  direction  they 
would  mark  a  decided  step  in  advance.  At  this 
point  therefore  the  negotiations  hung  fire,  until 
the  king  returned  to  Paris  in  July  1815,  when 
he  renewed  his  offer  to  Spontini  in  person,  and 
accepted  the  dedication  of  a  piece  of  military 
music.  At  his  request  Spontini  sent  a  collection 
of  his  marches  to  Briihl,  following  it  on  Dec.  22, 

1815,  with  a  letter,  in  which  he  begged  him  to 
exert  his  influence  in  arranging  the  matter.    This 
not  availing,  he  got  a  personal  appeal  made  to 
him  from  the  Prussian  embassy.     On  March  28, 

1816,  Briihl  returned  an  evasive  answer,  and  on 
Nov.  3  wrote  decisively  that  the  king  had  settled 
the  affair  adversely  to  Spontini's  wishes,  and  that 
he  must  abandon  with    regret  the   pleasure   of 
seeing  him  settled  in  Berlin. 

The  matter  now  appeared  wholly  at  an  end ; 
the  king  having  yielded  to  the  representations  of 
his  Intendant.  Spontini  had  at  that  time  no 
settled  appointment  in  Paris,  beyond  that  of 
court-composer,  and  it  is  easy  to  understand  how 
tempting  so  brilliant  an  offer  from  Berlin  must 
have  seemed.  He  now  entered  into  a  fresh  con 
nection  with  Naples,  and  received  in  the  follow 
ing  year  the  title  of  maestro  di  capella  to  the  King 
of  the  Two  Sicilies.  The  French  king  also  gave 
him  a  salary  of  2000  francs,  and  thus  all  thoughts 
of  Berlin  seemed  for  the  time  to  have  vanished. 

In  1817  King  Frederic  William  came  to  Paris 
for  the  third  time,  heard  '  Cortez '  in  its  new  form, 
was  so  delighted  that  he  attended  four  repre 
sentations,  and  directed  that  the  score  should  be 
secured  at  once  for  Berlin.  Spontini  received 
the  title  of  Premier  maitre  cfe  chapelle  honoraire, 
and  was  permitted  to  dedicate  to  the  king  his 
grand  '  Bacchanale,'  composed  for  the  '  Danaides.' 
This  he  was  shrewd  enough  to  arrange  for  ta 


672 


SPONTINI. 


Prussian  military  band,  introducing  an  air  from 
the  '  Vestale,'  '  La  paix  est  en  ce  jour  la  fruit  de 
vos  conquetes.'  To  confirm  himself  in  the  king's 
favour  he  even  composed  a  Prussian  national 
anthem.  This  national  hymn,  composed  by  a 
bora  Italian  and  naturalised  Frenchman,  was 
completed  between  Nov.  25,  1817,  and  Oct.  18, 
1818.  The  words,  written  by  the  king's  private 
secretary  J.  F.  L.  Duncker,  begin 

Wo  1st  das  Volk  das  klihn  von  That 
Der  Tyrannei  den  Kopf  zertrat.1 

On  the  latter  date  (the  anniversary  of  the  battle 
of  Leipzig),  Briihl  had  the  work  performed  for 
the  first  time  at  the  Berlin  opera-house,  and  from 
1820  to  1840  it  was  played  every  year  on  the 
king's  birthday,  August  3.  A  Volkslied,  from  in 
herent  reasons,  it  never  could  become  ;  but  it  has 
a  certain  chivalresque  stateliness  and  distinction 
of  its  own.2  After  the  death  of  Frederic  William 
III.  it  gradually  disappeared  from  the  musical  life 
of  Berlin.3  The  king,  however,  decreed  in  March 
1818  that  the  'Vestale'  .should  be  performed  every 
year  on  April  i,  in  remembrance  of  the  first  time 
he  passed  in  Paris  in  1814. 

This  year  also  ended  without  realising  the 
king's  project  of  attaching  Spontini  to  his  court. 
Spontini,  aware  that  Briihl  was  opposed  to  his 
coming,  contrived  to  carry  on  the  negotiations 
through  Major-General  von  Witzleben,  an  ardent 
admirer  of  his  music,  and  the  person  who  had 
suggested  his  composing  the  Prussian  national 
anthem.  The  contract  was  at  length  drawn  up  in 
August  1819,  and  signed  by  the  king  on  Septem 
ber  I.  It  provided  that  Spontini  should  receive 
the  titles  of  chief  Capellmeister,  and  General 
Director  of  Music,  with  an  additional  one  of 
'  Superintendant-General  of  the  Royal  Music'  to 
be  borne  abroad.  He  was  to  take  the  general 
superintendence  of  all  musical  affairs,  and  to  com 
pose  two  new  grand  operas,  or  three  smaller  ones, 
every  three  years.  He  was  bound  to  conduct  only 
at  the  first  performances  of  his  own  works  ;  at 
other  times  he  might  conduct  or  not  as  he  pleased. 
In  addition  he  was  to  compose  pieces  $  occasion 
for  the  court-festivals,  and  whenever  the  king 
pleased.  Any  other  works  he  chose  to  compose 
and  produce  at  the  theatre  were  to  be  paid  for 
separately.  He  was  also  at  liberty,  with  slight 
restrictions,  to  produce  his  operas  for  his  own 
benefit  elsewhere,  and  to  sell  them  to  publishers. 
His  salary  was  fixed  at  4000  thalers,  payable 
half-yearly  in  advance,  besides  an  annual  benefit, 
guaranteed  to  yield  to  at  least  1050  thalers,  and 
a  benefit  concert,  with  the  theatre  free,  and  the 
gratuitous  assistance  of  the  members  of  the  Royal 
opera  and  orchestra.  He  was  to  have  four 
months  leave  of  absence  every  year,  and  an  ade 
quate  pension  after  ten  years'  service.  The  Prus 
sian  ambassador  interfered  to  procure  his  release 
from  his  engagement  at  Naples,  and  the  king 
undertook  to  pay  any  necessary  damages. 

Although   nominally    subordinate    to    Briihl, 

1  Shew  me  the  land  which  bold  and  free, 
Has  crushed  the  head  of  tyranny ! 

2  Published  by  Schlesinger  of  Berlin. 

3  In  I.M.~>  it  was  sung  to  fresh  words  at  a  gala-performance  at  the 
Scala  of  Milan  in  honour  of  the  present  Emperur. 


SPONTINI. 

Spontini  was  by  this  contract  virtually  made 
his  colleague.  Briihl's  experienced  eye,  however, 
soon  detected  certain  passages  in  the  document 
admitting  of  two  interpretations,  and  exposing 
the  Management  to  all  the  dangers  of  a  divided 
authority.  He  could  not  help  feeling  mortified 
at  1>he  way  he  had  been  superseded  in  the  busi 
ness;  this  would  naturally  make  him  mistrust 
Spontini,  and  thus  the  two  came  together  under 
unfavourable  auspices.  According  to  the  con 
tract  Spontini  should  have  begun  work  at  Berlin 
on  Feb.  15,  1820,  but  he  obtained  leave  to  post 
pone  his  coming,  first  to  March  15,  and  then  to 
May  15,  and  did  not  arrive  until  May  28,  1820. 
The  corps  dramatique,  piqued  at  the  exorbitant 
terms  of  his  engagement,  did  not  meet  him  in  the 
friendliest  spirit,  but  Berlin  society  was  favour 
ably  disposed  towards  him,  particularly  the  court 
circle.  The  newspapers  were  full  of  the  subject, 
and  thus  it  came  to  pass  that  all  classes  were 
keenly  interested. 

The  Opera  was  at  this  time,  thanks  to  Briihl's 
exertions,  in  a  high  state  of  efficiency.  The 
company  was  unusually  good — including  such 
singers  as  Mesdames  Milder-Hauptmann,Seidler- 
Wranitzky,  Schulz-Killitschky,  and  Eunicke; 
Messrs.  Bader,  Stumer,  Blume,  and  Ednard 
Devrient.  The  band  had  been  well  trained  by 
Bernhard  Weber.  Briihl  took  immense  pains  to 
secure  finish  in  the  performances,  had  added 
to  the  repertoire  all  the  great  masterpieces, 
and  had  introduced  'Fidelio'  and  'Armida,'  be 
sides  establishing  other  operas  of  Gluck's  per 
manently  in  Berlin.  He  had  also  mounted  the 
'  Vestale  '  and  '  Cortez '  with  the  utmost  care  and 
intelligence,  and  was  entitled  to  boast  that  he 
had  made  the  Berlin  opera  the  first  in  Germany, 
as  indeed  every  one  allowed.  Spontini  found 
neither  blemishes  to  remove  nor  reforms  to  intro 
duce.  He  had  at  his  disposal  a  company  of  first- 
rate  artists,  his  power  over  them  was  practically 
unlimited,  and  the  king's  confidence  in  him  un 
bounded.  His  obvious  duty  was  to  keep  matters 
up  to  the  standard  to  which  Briihl  had  raised 
them. 

He  started  with  the  best  intentions.  Briihl 
was  informed  of  various  plans  for  increasing  the 
orchestra,  establishing  a  training-school  for  the 
chorus,  and  introducing  new  methods  into  the 
existing  singing-school.  He  was  considering 
the  best  means  of  educating  the  singers  in  the 
dramatic  part  of  their  art,  and  drew  up  a  new 
set  of  rules  for  the  band.  Little,  however,  came 
of  all  this,  partly  because  several  of  Spontini's 
proposals  were  already  in  existence  in  other 
forms,  and  partly  because  of  his  own  want  of 
purpose  and  temper.  In  fact,  it  soon  came  to 
a  trial  of  strength  between  him  and  Briihl.  The 
latter  insisted,  a  little  too  firmly,  on  his  rights  as 
supreme  manager,  and  even  appealed  to  the  pub 
lic  through  the  press.  Spontini,  despotic,  and 
exceedingly  sensitive  as  to  publicity,  referred  to 
his  contract,  which  had  been  drawn  up  without 
Briihl's  concurrence,  and  which  he  declined  to 
interpret  according  to  Briihl's  views,  and  stated 
specifically  that  he  was  subject  to  no  one  but  the 


SPONTINI. 

King.^or  possibly  the  Home-Minister  also.  Un 
acquainted  with  Berlin  or  the  German  language, 
and  surrounded  by  a  crowd  of  parasites,  he 
soon  fell  into  mistakes  which  it  was  extremely 
difficult  to  rectify  with  so  suspicious  a  person. 
A  few  months  of  ill-concealed  irritation  on 
both  sides  led  to  open  collision.  On  Oct.  25,  at 
a  meeting  to  arrange  the  repertoire  for  the  week, 
with  Bruhl  in  the  chair,  Spontini  spoke  of  the 
latter's  sketch  as  '  parfaitement  ridicule,'  because 
it  did  not  contain  at  least  two  grand  operas, 
the  'Vestale'  and  'Armida';  styled  the  pieces 
selected  'des  miseres,  des  niaiseries,'  etc.,  and 
talked  in  the  most  violent  way  of  the  Count's  bad 
management.  Briihl  tried  to  give  him  an  idea 
of  what  subordination  meant  in  Prussia,  but 
subordination  Spontini  would  not  hear  of.  'Don't 
attempt  to  treat  me,'  he  writes  on  Nov.  12, '  as 
a  mere  subordinate,  for  I  am  nothing  of  the 
kind,  neither  by  my  person,  my  character,  my 
contract,  nor  my  talent ;  for  although  my  post 
happens  to  be  included  in  your  department,  it  is 
so  in  a  wholly  different  sense  from  what  you 
appear,  or  pretend,  to  think.'  The  whole  letter 
is  very  angry,  and  very  rude,  and  it  was  long 
before  the  two  were  again  on  terms  of  even 
outward  civility.  Briihl  took  his  grievance 
straight  to  the  king,  and  peace  was  at  length 
re-established.  The  following  extract  will  show 
Briihl's  opinion  of  Spontini  at  this  time  : — 

'  He  is,'  he  writes  to  Witzleben, '  extremely  passionate, 
and  once  in  a  passion  oversteps  all  bounds ;  uses  expres 
sions  which  no  man  of  honour  can  pardon,  and  then 
considers  his  natural  bad  temper  excuse  enough  for 
anything.  He  is  very  suspicious,  and  at  the  same  time 
very  credulous,  putting  himself  at  the  mercy  of  any  one 
who  will  natter  his  vanity;  and  in  consequence  is  sur 
rounded  by  a  host  of  unsatisfactory  characters,  who 
make  him  their  shuttlecock.  His  pride  and  vanity  have 
really  reached  the  sublime  of  the  ridiculous ;  and  temper, 
sometimes  assuming  the  guise  of  modesty,  directs,  or 
rather  misdirects,  all  his  actions.  .  .  .  And  to  such  a 
man  has  been  confided  the  conduct  of  business  of  more 
than  ordinary  intricacy  1 ' 

This  description,  written  under  obvious  irritation, 
should  in  justice  be  counterbalanced  by  the  con 
sideration  of  Spontini's  great  qualities  as  an 
artist.  But  that  Briihl's  estimate  was  in  the 
main  correct,  the  sequel  will  show. 

During  the  preparations  for  the  first  perform 
ance  of  '  Olympia,'  Spontini  had  an  opportunity 
of  appearing  before  the  court  and  public  with  a 
new  composition.  In  the  beginning  of  1821  the 
Grand-Duke  Nicholas,  heir-presumptive  to  the 
throne  of  Russia,  and  his  consort,  paid  a  visit  to 
Berlin,  and  court-festivities  on  a  grand  scale 
were  instituted  in  their  honour.  Moore's  '  Lalla 
Rookh '  was  then  much  talked  of,  and  Briihl 
conceived  the  idea  of  representing  the  principal 
scenes  in  a  series  of  tableaux-vivants.  Schinkel 
undertook  the  scenery  and  arrangement  of  the 
groups,  and  Spontini  composed  the  songs,  intro 
ductory  march,  and  dance-music.  The  perform 
ance  took  place  Jan.  2  7, 1 8  2 1 ,  at  the  Royal  Palace, 
and  was  pronounced  to  be  the  most  brilliant  and 
quaintly  beautiful  thing  of  the  kind  ever  seen. 
The  actors  were  all  members  of  the  court-circle  : 
Shah  Jehander  was  played  by  Prince  William, 
now  (1883)  Emperor;  Abdallah  by  the  Duke 

VOL.  III.    PT.   6. 


SPONTINI. 


673 


of  Cumberland;  Jehanara  by  the  Duchess;  the 
Peri  by  Princess  Elise  Radziwill ;  Aliris  by  the 
Grand-Duke  Nicholas ;  and  Lalla  Rookh  by  the 
Grand-Duchess.  On  Feb.  II  the  performance 
was  repeated  before  a  select  audience  comprising 
the  most  distinguished  artists  and  scientific  men 
in  Berlin.  Hensel,  Fanny  Mendelssohn's  hus 
band,  was  commissioned  by  the  King  to  paint  the 
tableaux,  for  presentation  to  the  Grand  Duchess.1 
They  were  arranged  in  consecutive  order  : — first 
the  stories  told  by  Feramors,  then  the  'Veiled 
Prophet '  in  two  scenes ;  '  Paradise  and  the 
Peri,'  and  the  'Fire- Worshippers,'  in  three  each. 
Then  the  'Feast  of  Roses'  in  pantomime.  A 
sort  of  running  commentary  on  the  representation 
was  furnished  by  a  number  of  songs  written  by 
Spiker,  set  by  Spontini,  and  executed  behind 
the  scenes  by  the  best  singers  from  the  opera 
and  a  small  orchestra.2  Spontini's  work  con 
sists  of  4  instrumental  and  6  vocal  pieces.  One 
of  the  latter  is  a  chorus  of  genii  (3  soprani 
and  i  tenor)  sung  while  Nourmahal  is  sleeping, 
and  a  real  work  of  genius.  The  singers  vocalise 
on  the  A,  while  the  instruments  are  playing  a 
light  accompaniment.  The  other  vocal  pieces 
are  the  songs,  the  second  being  a  free  translation 
of  the  opening  of  'Paradise  and  the  Peri.' 
Spontini's  work  now  suffers  from  inevitable  com 
parison  with  Schumann's  music.  As  an  Italian 
he  had  neither  romantic  imagination  nor  depth 
of  expression  enough  for  the  subject.  But  taking 
the  piece  as  a  whole,  it  is  possibly  more  in 
character  with  Moore's  poetry  than  the  oratorio- 
form  chosen  by  Schumann. 

The  first  performance  of  'Olympia'  was  eagerly 
anticipated.  March  5,  1821,  was  first  fixed,  but 
it  was  postponed  till  May  14,  a  delay  for  which 
Spontini  was  entirely  to  blame.  The  translator, 
E.  A.  Hoffmann,  only  got  the  last  act  from  him 
bit  by  bit,  the  chorus-master  had  not  seen  a  note 
of  it  by  Feb.  18,  nor  had  the  ballet-master  been 
consulted.  Spontini  insisted  on  at  least  three 
months  rehearsals.  The  expenditure  on  the  mise- 
en-sc&ne  was  so  lavish  that  even  the  king  remon 
strated.  Statira  was  played  by  Milder,  Olympia 
by  Schulz,  and  Cassander  and  Antigonus  by  Bader 
and  Blume.  The  chorus  and  orchestra  were  mate 
rially  strengthened,  the  scenery  was  by  Schinkel 
and  Gropius,  and  there  were  42  rehearsals.  The 
result  was  one  of  the  most  brilliunt  and  perfect 
performances  ever  seen,  and  an  enormous  success. 
Even  Briihl  was  carried  away,  and  wrote  to 
Milder,  '  you  have  given  us  a  perfect  representa 
tion,  and  added  another  flower  to  your  crown  as 
an  artist.'  Spontini's  triumph  was  complete. 
Even  his  opponents  acknowledged  that  'Olympia' 
had  no  rival  among  modern  operas.  Zelter  wrote 
to  Goethe  that  he  did  not  like  the  work,  but 
could  not  help  going  again  and  again. 

Spontini's  supremacy  in    the    musical   world 
lasted  exactly  five  weeks,  but  on  June  18,  1821, 

i  The  importance  of  this  event  in  HensePs  life  may  be  seen  from 
the  '  Mendelssohn  Family,'  vol.  i.  p.  93. 

-  'Lalla  Kukh.  A  festival  play  with  songs  and  dances,  performed 
at  the  Royal  Palace  of  Berlin.  Jan.  27,  1821.  Edited  by  Count  Bruhl 
and  S.  H.  Spiker.  Berlin,  L.  W.  Wittich,  1822.'  FF.  score,  Schlesinger 
of  Berlin. 

Xx 


674 


SPONTINI. 


'Der  Freischutz  'was  produced  at  thenewly  erected 
theatre  in  Berlin.  Its  immediate  success  may 
not  have  more  than  equalled  that  of  '  Olympia,' 
but  it  soon  became  evident  that  the  chief  effect 
of  the  latter  was  astonishment,  while  the  former 
set  the  pulse  of  the  German  people  beating. 
'Olympia'  remained  almost  restricted  to  the 
stage  of  Berlin,  while  the  '  Freischiitz '  spread 
with  astonishing  rapidity  throughout  Germany 
and  the  whole  world.  Spontini  could  not  conceal 
that  he  had,  on  the  morrow  of  a  great  triumph, 
been  completely  vanquished  by  an  obscure  op 
ponent,  and  that  too  after  consciously  doing  his 
very  utmost.  Even  this  might  not  have  discouraged 
him,  but  that  in  '  Der  Freischutz '  he  was  brought 
face  to  face  with  a  phase  of  the  German  character 
totally  beyond  his  comprehension.  He  had  no 
weapons  wherewith  to  encounter  this  opponent. 
A  man  of  weaker  will  would  have  contented 
himself  with  such  success  as  might  still  be 
secured  in  Germany ;  but  Spontini  could  brook 
no  rival,  and  finding  that  he  could  not  outdo 
Weber's  music,  tried  to  suppress  him  by  means 
wholly  outside  the  circle  of  art.  As  director- 
general  of  music  many  such  lay  ready  to  his 
hand,  and  that  he  knew  how  to  use  them  is 
shown  by  the  fate  of  '  Euryanthe '  and  '  Oberon ' 
in  Berlin.  The  success  of  '  Freischutz '  did  not 
improve  Spontini's  relations  with  Briihl,  a  personal 
friend  of  Weber's, and  a  greatadmirer  of  his  music. 
A  little  incident  will  show  what  treatment  the 
Intendant  occasionally  met  with  from  the  Di 
rector:  in  March  1822  the  former  wished  to  have 
the  '  Nozze  di  Figaro,'  and  the  latter  '  Der  Frei 
schiitz,'  upon  which  Spontini  writes  that  the  means 
which  Briihl  'is  taking  to  attain  his  end  with 
regard  to  his  favourite  work  do  no  credit  either 
to  his  taste  or  his  impartiality.' 

On  the  first  night  of  '  Der  Freischiitz,'  the 
following  verses  were  circulated  in  the  theatre, 
the  allusion  being  to  the  elephants  in  'Olympia': 

So  lass  dirs  gefallen  in  unserm  Eevier, 
Hier  bleiben,  so  rafen,  so  bitten  wir; 
TJnd  wenn  es  auch  keinem  Elephantem  gilt, 
Du  jagst  wohl  nach  anderem,  edlerem  Wild. 1 

From  that  hour  the  public  was  divided  into  two 
parties.  The  national  party,  far  the  strongest  in 
intellect  and  cultivation,  rallied  round  Weber. 
The  king  and  the  court  persistently  supported 
Spontini,  though  even  their  help  could  not  make 
him  master  of  the  situation.  The  Censorship 
interfered  to  check  the  expression  of  public 
opinion  against  him,  and  his  complaints  of  sup 
posed  slights  were  always  attended  to.2  But 
his  artistic  star,  which  had  shone  with  such 
lustre  after  the  first  night  of  '  Olympic,'  was  now 
slowly  setting. 

The  excellence  of  that  first  performance  was 
acknowledged  even  by  Weber  himself,3  and  this 
may  be  a  good  opportunity  for  some  remarks  on 
Spontini  as  a  director.  Whether  he  had  a  specific 

i   0  stay  in  our  cover 

We  pray  and  entreat  you ; 
No  elephants  have  we, 
But  worthier  game. 

2  Gubitz,  '  Erlebnisse,'  vol.  iii.  p.  241.    Berlin,  1869. 

3  '  Carl  Maria  von  Weber '  by  Mas  von  Weber,  vol.  ii.  p.  306.    Leip 
zig,  1864. 


SPONTINI. 

talent  for  conducting  cannot  be  determined,  for 
as  a  rule  he  conducted  only  two  operas  besides 
his  own — '  Armida '  and  '  Don  Juan,'  and  these 
he  knew  thoroughly.*    For  the  rest  of  the  work 
there  were  two  conductors,  Seidel  and  Schneider, 
and   two    leaders,  Mb'ser    and  Seidler.5    When 
Spontini  came  to  Berlin  he  had  had  very  little 
practice  in  conducting,  and  at  first  declined  to 
handle  the  bdton,  but  made  the  leader  sit  by 
him   in  the  orchestra,  and  give  the  tempo  ac 
cording  to  his  directions.     Indeed  he  never  com 
pletely  mastered  the  technicalities  of  the  art, 
his  manner  of  conducting  recitatives  especially 
being  clumsy  and  undecided.     So  at  least  says 
Dorn,6  a  competent  witness,  who  had  often  seen 
him  conduct.     In  reading  a  score   too  he  was 
slow  and  inexpert;7  and  at  the  Cologne  Festival 
of   1847   could   scarcely   find   his    way   in   his 
own  score  of  '  Olympia,'  which  he  had  not  con 
ducted  for  some  time.     He  was  thus  very  slow 
in  rehearsing  a  work,  though  not  for  this  reason 
only,  for  the  same  laborious  accuracy  which  he 
showed   in  composing  was   carried   into  every 
detail  of  the  performance.     He  never  rested  till 
each  part  was  reproduced  exactly  as  it  existed  in 
his   own    imagination,    which  itself  had   to  be 
cleared  by  repeated  experiments.     Inconsiderate 
and  despotic  towards  his  subordinates,  he  wearied 
his  singers  and  band  to  death  by  endless  repeti 
tions,  his  rehearsals  not  unfrequently  lasting  from 
8a.m.  till  4  p.m.,  or  from  5  p.m.  till  1 1  at  night. 
He  only  treated  others,  however,  in  the  same 
way  that  he  treated  himself,  for  no  trouble  was 
too  great  for  him  to  take  in  revising  his  work 
down  to  the  smallest  particulars.    When  the  first 
night  arrived,  every  member  of   the  orchestra 
knew  his  work  by  heart,   and  Spontini   might 
beat  as  he  liked,  all  went  like  clockwork.8    If 
scenery  or  costumes  which  had  been  expressly 
prepared  did  not  please  him  he  ordered  others, 
regardless  of  cost.     Being  a  true  dramatic  artist, 
his  eye  was  as  keen  on  the  stage  as  his  ear  in 
the   orchestra,    and    everything,    down   to   the 
smallest  accessories,  must  be  arranged  to  express 
his  ideas.     Soon  after  his  arrival  he  fell  out  with 
Briihl,  because  in  the  '  Vestalin '  he  wanted  Frau 
Milder  to  carry  the  Palladium  in  public,  whereas 
Briihl  maintained,  on  Hirt's  authority,  that  the 
Palladium  was  never  shown  to  the  people.    He 
was  furious  when  it  was  suggested  that  the  burn 
ing  of  the  fleet  in  '  Cortez  '  should  not  take  place 
on  the  stage  ;  and  he  once  went  so  far  as  to  send 
his  wife  to  Briihl  to  request  that  a  sleeve  of 
Schulz's  dress  might  be  altered  !    In  choosing  his 
actors  he  not  only  studied  voice,  temperament,  and 
dramatic  skill,  but  was  most  particular  about 
appearance.    A  distinguished  bass  singer,  recom 
mended  to  him  by  Dorn  for  high-priest  parts,  was 
not  even  allowed  to  open  his  mouth  because  he 
was  'at  least  a  foot  and  a  half  too  short.'    He 


4  He  conducted  the  99th  performance  of  '  Der  Freischiitz'  (Nov.  6, 
1826),  for  the  benefit  of  Weber's  widow  and  children,  which  was  much 
to  his  credit  considering  his  dislike  to  the  piece. 

5  Bernhard  Weber  died  March  23, 1821. 

6  '  Aus  melnem  Leben.'    Part  iii.  p.  3. 

7  Devrient's  '  Kecollections  of  Mendelssohn,'  p.  23. 

8  Blume  on  '  Alcidor,'  in  the  Theatre  archives. 


SPONTINI. 

insisted  on  the  complete  fusion  of  the  vocal  and 
instrumental,  the  dramatic  and  the  musical  ele 
ments,  and  demanded  from  the  chorus,  as  well  as 
the  solo-singers,  an  entire  absorption  in  their  parts, 
and  an  intelligent  rendering  of  each  situation. 
His  love  for  the  grandiose  and  the  awe-inspiring 
led  him  to  employ  all  the  resources  of  decoration, 
and  what  then  seemed  enormous  masses  of  musi 
cians,  singers,  and  dancers ;  and  also  to  employ 
the  strongest  accents  and  most  startling  contrasts. 
'His  forte'  says  Dorn,  'was  a  hurricane,  his 
piano  a  breath,  his  crescendo  made  every  one  open 
their  eyes,  his  diminuendo  induced  a  feeling  of 
delicious  languor,  his  sforzando  was  enough  to 
wake  the  dead.'1  In  this  respect  he  exacted  the 
very  utmost  from  his  singers  and  musicians.  A 
story  is  still  told  in  the  Berlin  orchestra  of  a 
bass  passage  in  one  of  his  operas  which  he  could 
not  get  loud  enough,  though  he  repeated  it  again 
and  again,  the  players  in  vain  doing  their  utmost, 
till  at  last — to  Spontini's  delight — the  cellists  hit 
on  the  idea  of  singing  their  notes  as  well.  He 
insisted  on  Milder  putting  her  whole  force  into 
Statira's  exclamation  '  Cassander  ! '  2  and  on  one 
occasion  she  so  overstrained  herself  as  to  lose  her 
voice  for  the  rest  of  the  evening.  From  that 
moment  he  considered  her  useless,  and  in  1829 
had  her  pensioned  off.  Seidler-Wranitzky  was 
delicate,  and  her  style  more  suited  to  Lieder  and 
serious  music,  so  she  found  little  favour  with  him, 
in  spite  of  her  exquisite  singing.  'II  faut  braver, 
Madame,'  shouted  he,  when  she  showed  symptoms 
ot  exhaustion  at  a  rehearsal  of  the  '  Vestale' ;  and 
he  was  scarcely  moved  when  she  fainted.  It 
was  not  because  he  wrote  un vocally,  or  over 
loaded  his  voices  with  accompaniment,  that  his 
parts  were  so  trying — for  he  was  too  thorough  an 
Italian  not  to  rely  upon  the  voice  for  his  chief 
effects ;  but  it  was  his  propensity  to  extreme 
contrasts,  and  his  want  of  consideration  in  re 
hearsing.  It  soon  became  a  general  complaint 
among  women  singers  that  Spontini  ruined  the 
voice.  Seidler  asked  leave  to  retire  on  this 
account  in  1826  ;  in  1823  Milder  begged  that 
'  Olympia '  might  not  be  given  more  than  once  a 
fortnight,  and  Schechner  refused  an  engagement 
because  she  was  afraid  of  Spontini's  operas.  Even 
Schulz,  who  was  devoted  to  him,  was  so  angry 
in  March  1824  at  the  continual  strain  of  her 
heavy  parts,  as  to  lose  her  temper  at  rehearsal, 
and  speak  so  rudely  that  she  would  have  been 
punished  had  he  not  changed  his  mind. 

Spontini's  appearance  at  the  head  of  his  musi 
cians  was  almost  that  of  a  general  leading  an  army 
to  victory.  When  he  glided  rapidly  through  the 
orchestra  to  his  desk  every  member  of  the  band 
was  in  position,  and  on  the  alert  to  begin. 
At  such  moments  he  looked  an  aristocrat  to 
the  backbone,  but  also  an  autocrat  who  would 
insist  on  subjugating  all  other  wills  to  his  own. 
The  pedantic  side  of  his  character  also  came  out 
in  many  little  traits — he  could  only  conduct  from 
a  MS.  score,  and  his  desk  must  be  of  a  certain 
peculiar  construction.  His  baton  was  a  thick 

1  '  Aus  meinem  Leben.'    First  collection,  p.  127. 

2  In  the  First  Act  of  Olympia, 


SPONTINI. 


675 


stick  of  ebony  with  a  solid  ivory  ball  at  each 
end  ;  this  he  grasped  in  the  middle  with  his 
whole  fist,  using  it  like  a  marshal's  staff. 3 

By  May  14, 1821,  the  'Vestalin,'  'Cortez,'  and 
'Olympia'  had  all  been  produced  according  to 
the  composer's  own  ideas  at  the  Berlin  opera, 
where  they  long  remained  stock-pieces.  But  their 
frequent  repetition  was  more  to  gratify  the  King 
than  the  public,  and  indeed  the  theatre  had  soon 
to  be  filled  by  a  large  issue  of  free  admissions. 
Thus,  for  'Olympia,'  on  Dec.  21,  1821,  Spontini 
obtained  from  the  office  50  free  tickets,  besides 
buying  25  more.  In  Sept.  1824  he  urged  the 
Intendant  not  to  raise  the  prices  for  grand  operas 
(meaning  his  own),  or  the  public  would  soon 
cease  to  come  at  all,  and  begged  to  have  '  or 
dinary  prices '  in  large  letters  on  the  bills  for  the 
next  performance  of  the  '  Vestalin.'  A  new  opera 
of  his  was  however  still  an  exciting  event,  partly 
because  of  his  own  personality  and  position, 
partly  because  the  public  was  sure  of  a  splendid 
spectacle.  He  was  bound  to  furnish  two  grand 
operas  every  three  years ;  '  Olympia '  counted  as 
one,  and  by  the  end  of  1821  he  was  thinking  of 
the  second.  After  much  consideration  he  chose 
the  'Feast  of  Roses,'  from  Moore's  '  Lalla  Rookh/ 
influenced  no  doubt  by  the  success  of  his  earlier 
Festspiel,  and  the  prospect,  welcome  to  a  slow 
worker,  of  using  portions  of  his  old  material ; 
but  the  subject  did  not  seem  very  congenial. 
The  libretto  was  written  by  Herklots,  librettist 
to  the  Opera.  On  March  22  Spontini  wrote  to 
Briihl  that  he  was  working  17  hours  a  day  on 
the  first  act,  and  that  there  were  only  two.  The 
first  performance  of  '  Nurmahal '  took  place  May 
27,  1822,  in  honour  of  the  marriage  of  the  Prin 
cess  Alexandrina  of  Prussia,  to  whom  the  Em 
peror  dedicated  the  PF.  score  (Schlesinger).  This 
is  not,  as  has  often  been  said,  merely  a  revised 
version  of  '  Lalla  Rukh,'  comparatively  little  of 
that  music  having  been  used  in  it.  The  intro 
ductory  march  became  no.  8  of  the  opera; 
Nourmahal's  song,  no.  26 ;  the  drum  chorus  of 
genii  no.  20  ;  and  the  ballet-music  was  mostly 
retained.  A  song  was  also  introduced  from  his 
'  Dieux  rivaux,'  and  the  ballet  from  the  '  Dan- 
aides  '  (nos.  10  and  14). 

The  merits  of  the  librettos  of  the  'Vestalin,' 
'  Cortez,' and  '  Olympia,'  outweigh  their  defects. 
Not  so  however  that  of  'Nurmahal';  its  plot 
and  characters  are  alike  insipid,  and  it  is  in 
fact  a  mere  piece  d'occasion.  The  oriental 
colouring,  which  must  have  been  its  attraction 
for  Spontini,  still  forms  its  sole  interest.  But, 
inferior  as  it  is  to  'Oberon,'  it  gives  a  high  idea 
of  its  author's  dramatic  instinct,  when  we  con 
sider  the  utter  inability  of  French  and  Italian 
composers  as  a  rule  to  deal  with  the  fantastic  and 
mythical.  Its  best  numbers  are  the  first  finale, 
the  duet  no.  1 7,  and  the  duet  with  chorus  no.  20. 
There  is  a  striking  passage  in  the  finale — the 
lovers  lying  on  opposite  sides  of  the  stage,  and 
the  people  dancing  about  them  to  a  bacchante- 
like  strain,  when  suddenly  the  dance  ceases,  and 

3  Richard    Wagner's    Erinnerung    an    Spontini ;    Gesammelte 
Schriften,  vol.  v.  p.  116  (Leipzig,  Fritzsche,  1872). 


X 


676 


SPONTINI. 


the  voices  hold  on  a  chord  of  the  seventh  on  E, 
with  an  indescribable  effect  of  unsatisfied  long 
ing.  It  is  a  stroke  of  true  genius  of  which  any 
German  composer  of  the  romantic  school  might 
be  proud.  The  duet  no.  17  contains  some  con 
ventional  thoughts,  but  the  vehemence  of  its 
passion  is  irresistible,  and  it  seems  to  have  been 
the  earliest  instance  of  a  kind  of  sentiment  first 
employed  among  German  composers  by  Marsch- 
ner,  e.g.  in  no.  17  of  his  'Templer  und  Jtidin.' 
The  spirit  chorus  no.  20  has  a  charming  sound, 
produced  by  means  entirely  new;  though,  com 
pared  with  Weber's  tone-pictures,  it  strikes  the 
hearer  as  superficial.  It  is  impossible  to  help 
this  comparison  for  many  reasons,  one  being  that 
in  no.  21  of 'Nurmahal5  one  of  Spontini's  genii 
sings  '  From  Chindara's  warbling  fount  I  come.'  * 
A  glance  at  the  two  compositions  is  enough  to 
show  how  far  he  fell  short  of  the  qualities  re 
quired  for  this  kind  of  work.  Nurmahal's  songs 
in  the  latter  part  are  thoroughly  insipid ;  and 
the  interest  falls  off  just  where  the  climax  should 
have  been  reached.  The  rest  of  the  piece  con 
tains  much  that  is  beautiful,  especially  some 
passages  in  the  Andantino  malinconico,  of  start 
ling  novelty  and  expression,  the  gay  introductory 
chorus,  and  the  melodious  nos.  3,  4,  and  5,  so 
entirely  in  Spontini's  Neapolitan  manner  that 
they  might  have  been  taken  from  his  early 
operas.  Here  and  there  are  touches  recalling 
Mozart.  The  overture  and  ballets  are  brilliant 
and  festal,  and  the  overture  has  an  open-air 
iness  of  style  often  found  in  Italian  overtures. 
Clumsy  declamation,  however,  and  wrongly  ac 
cented  words,  constantly  betray  that  the  com 
poser  is  dealing  with  an  unfamiliar  language. 

On  June  9,  1821,  Spontini  started  for  a  seven 
months'  leave.  He  went  first  to  Dresden,  and 
there  met  Weber.  Weber  was  cordial  and  oblig 
ing,  while  Spontini,  though  polite  in  manner,  took 
pains  to  make  his  rival  feel  the  newness  of  his 
reputation  as  a  composer.2  By  June  29  he  was 
in  Vienna  trying  to  arrange  a  performance  of 
'  Olympia '  for  the  following  season  ;  but  this 
did  not  take  place.  Thence  he  went  to  Italy, 
revisiting  his  birthplace  ;  and  by  September  was 
in  Paris  at  work  on  the  revision  of  'Olympia.' 
He  also  made  some  experiments  on  'Milton,' 
telling  Bruhl  (Jan.  12,  1823)  that  he  would  put 
it  before  him  in  three  different  forms.  By  the 
end  of  January  he  was  back  in  Berlin,  apparently 
anxious  to  keep  on  good  terms  with  Bruhl, 
though  such  good  resolutions  seldom  lasted  long. 
One  of  their  many  differences  was  on  the  subject 
of  star-singers  (Gastspieler),  These  Bruhl  wished 
to  encourage,  as  a  means  of  testing  the  artists, 
and  their  chance  of  popularity;  but  Spontini 
disliked  the  system.  An  appearance  of  Carl 
Devrient  and  Wilhelmine  Schroder  in  the 
summer  of  1823  evoked  another  impertinent 
letter  to  Bruhl,  who  in  reply  (July  7)  told  him 
to  mind  his  own  business. 

1  Weber's  setting  of  these  words  was  his  last  composition,  dated 
London,  May  25,  1826.     F.  W.  Jahns.  '  C.  M.  von  Weber  in  seinen 
AVerken,'  p.  409.    Berlin.  Schlesinger,  1871. 

2  C.  M.  von  Weber,  by  Max  von  Weber,  ii.  433. 


SPONTINI. 

He  had  now  been  in  office  four  years,  and  the 
stipulated  two  grand  operas  every  three  years,  or 
smaller  one  each  year,  were  only  represented  by 
a  scena  or  two  for  'Olympia,'  and  a  couple  of 
pieces  for  '  Nurmahal.'  It  was  plain  that  he  had 
undertaken  a  task  whdly  beyond  his  strength, 
owing  to  his  pedantic  manner  of  working.  Be 
thought  (Aug.  2,  1823)  of  turning  'Milton'  into 
a  grand  opera  with  recitatives,  choruses,  and 
ballets,  but  soon  relinquished  the  idea,  and  by 
Oct.  17  was  'busy,  night  and  day,  with  Alcidor.' 
The  libretto  was  by  The'auleon,  who  had  for 
merly  altered  '  Cortez.' '  On  coming  to  Berlin, 
in  Nov.  1823,  The'auleon  found  the  first  scene 
already  composed,  and  his  business  was  to  fit 
words  to  the  music.  His  task  was  not  easy:  'If 
I  wrote  lines  of  ten  syllables,'  he  says,  '  Spontini 
wanted  them  of  five ;  scarcely  had  I  hammered 
out  an  unfortunate  stanza  of  five,  when  it  had 
to  be  lengthened  to  twelve  or  fifteen,  and  if  I 
expostulated,  on  the  ground  that  lines  of  that 
length  were  not  admissible  in  French  poetry, 
he  would  reply  in  a  sort  of  recitative,  accom 
panying  himself  on  the  piano,  "The  translation 
will  make  it  all  right."  Never  did  so  poor  a 
poem  cost  its  author  so  much  trouble.'3  It  is 
evident  from  this  that  Spontini  composed  to 
French  words,  which  were  afterwards  translated 
byHerklots.  Schinkel  and  Gropius  again  painted 
the  scenery.  The  rehearsals  began  in  Sept.  1824, 
and  the  first  performance  took  place  May  23, 
1825.  Its  reception  by  Spontini's  adherents  was 
unmistakably  hearty,  and  many  outsiders  were 
dazzled  by  its  new  effects  of  scenery  and  music, 
but  the  national  party  were  louder  than  ever 
in  their  disapprobation.  Among  the  adverse 
critiques  was  a  parody  in  the  true  Berlin  style, 
in  which  '  Alcidor  eine  Zauberoper '  was  con 
verted  into  'Allzudoll  eine  Zauderoper.' *  Zelter 
alone  was  impartial,  but  he  was  no  doubt  in 
fluenced  by  his  prejudice  against  Weber,  and  all 
that  he  can  say  is  '  The  piece  was  written  by 
The'auleon  in  French,  and  set  to  French  music, 
so  we  have  at  last  a  real  Berlin  original— that 
is  a  new  coat  turned ' ;  and  again,  '  Spontini 
always  reminds  me  of  a  Gold-King,  flinging  his 
gold  at  the  people,  and  breaking  their  heads 
with  it.'5  Not  even  a  PF.  score  of  'Alcidor' 
was  published ;  nor  did  it  make  its  way  beyond 
Berlin,  any  more  than  '  Nurmahal '  had  done. 

The  libretto  is  founded  on  the  story  of  the 
nine  statues  in  the  'Arabian  Nights.'  But 
the  plot  is  weak,  and  the  characters  uninterest 
ing.  Spontini  was  induced  to  choose  a  super 
natural  story  by  the  fashion  of  the  day  and  the 
success  of  the  '  Freischiitz ' ;  but  in  'Alcidor,'  as 
to  some  extent  in  'Nurmahal,'  he  was  striving 
against  his  own  instincts.  The  German  romantic 
operas  of  this  period,  unlike  the  earlier  Viennese 
magic-operas,  treated  the  supernatural  element 
seriously,  and  this  was  an  important  feature  in 
their  success.  But  it  required  the  deep  sympathy 

3  Ledebur,  'Berliner  Tonkunstler-Lexicon,'  p.  564. 

4  Allzudoll,  vulgarism  for  Allzutoll  =  quite  too  mad ;  Zauderoper 
=  slow  opera,  because  of  the  time  it  had  taken  to  write. 

5  Correspondence  of  Goethe  and  Zelter,  Iv.  39,  40, 


SPONTINI. 

with  the  hidden  forces  of  nature  which  makes  a  ' 
German  look  upon  the  world  of  spirits  as  so 
many  impersonations  of  those  forces.  An  Italian 
could  only  treat  such  a  subject  from  the  outside, 
and  it  s;iys  much  for  Spontini's  dramatic  talent 
that  he  so  frequently  found  appropriate,  and  in 
some  cases  striking,  expression  for  this  spirit-life. 
'Alcidor'  might  have  succeeded,  if  it  had  not  been 
so  soon  followed  by  'Oberon.'  Spontini  virtually 
confessed  that  his  conception  was  only  a  super 
ficial  one,  by  insisting  on  the  most  gorgeous 
scenery.  But  the  golden  palaces  and  gardens, 
the  glittering  statues,  the  columns  of  compressed 
vapour,  the  living  fire,  the  brilliant  processions 
and  dances,  required  music  of  corresponding  bril 
liancy  ;  and  his  massive  musical  effects,  so  objected 
to  by  his  opponents,  were  only  in  keeping  with 
the  rest.  The  tuned  anvils  in  'Alcidor'  have 
long  been  used  as  an  illustration  of  the  pitch  to 
which  Spontini  carried  noise  in  his  late?  operas. 
One  would  imagine  that  this  detail  must  have 
come  from  those  who  knew  either  the  opera  or 
the  score ;  but  the  latter,  now  in  the  Imperial 
library  at  Berlin,  only  shows  three  anvils  tuned 
to  different  notes,  instead  of  ten.,  and  the  effect 
is  very  much  that  of  bells.1  The  opening  chorus 
of  the  ist  act,  in  which  they  occur,  is  one  of  the 
finest  numbers  in  the  opera.  The  singers  are 
Ismenor's  gnomes,  occupied  in  destroying  the 
Temple  of  Love  and  forging  '  chains  for  the  world/ 
and  after  their  boisterous  declamation  the  song  of 
the  mourning  sylphs  comes  in  as  a  most  effective 
contrast.  The  next  chorus  of  dream-gods  was 
taken  from  'Pelage'  (see  p.  6696),  where  it  is 
no.  6. 

Another  grand  opera  was  due  for  the  summer 
of  1826,  and  a  week  after  the  production  of 
'Alcidor'  Spontini  asked  Count  Bru'hl  whether 
a  revised  and  lengthened  version  of  '  Milton ' 
would  do  for  the  purpose.  The  Count  thought 
the  material  too  scanty,  but  the  King  (June  29) 
agreed  to  the  proposal.  Spontini  having  ob 
tained  1 1  months'  leave,  started  for  Paris,  where 
he  was  present  at  a  revival  of  'Olympic'  on 
Feb.  28,  1826,  returning  immediately  afterwards 
to  Berlin.  Nothing  more  was  heard  of  'Milton,' 
and  during  this  year  he  furnished  no  work  for 
the  King's  theatre.  Ernst  Kaupach  was  now 
librettist  to  the  opera,  and  Spontini  agreed  with 
him  on  a  subject  from  German  medieval  history, 
which  eventually  became  the  opera  'Agnes  von 
Hohenstaufen.'  The  first  act — long  enough  for 
a  complete  opera — was  ready  by  1827,  and  per 
formed  May  28.  The  whole  three  acts  were 
finished  in  1829,  and  produced  June  12  for  the 
marriage  of  Prince  Wilhelm,  the  present  Ger 
man  Emperor.  Spontini,  dissatisfied  with  his 
work,  had  the  libretto  altered  by  Baron  von 
Lichtenstein  and  other  friends,  and  made  more 
vital  changes  in  the  music  than  in  almost  any 
other  of  his  grand  operas.  In  this  form  it  was 
revived  Dec.  6,  1837. 

German  medieval  history  at  this  time  occupied 

1  The  song  'Vdnus  n'avait  pas  tort,'  from  Gounod's  '  Pbile'mon 
et  Baucis.'  so  finely  sung  by  Mr  Santley,  has  familiarised  London 
audiences  with  the  anvil  as  an  accompaniment. 


SPONTINI. 


677 


much  attention,  and  thus  no  doubt  influenced 
Spontini's  choice  of  a  subject.  He  set  to  work 
with  the  seriousness  which  was  his  main  charac 
teristic  as  an  artist;  read,  studied,  and  did 
everything  to  imbue  himself  with  the  spirit  of 
the  epoch,  one  wholly  foreign  to  anything  he 
had  before  attempted.2  The  libretto  in  its  final 
form  was  a  good  one  on  the  whole.  The  scene 
is  laid  at  Mayence  in  1194,  during  the  reign  of 
the  Emperor  Henry  VI.  of  Hohenstaufen,  and 
the  plot  turns  on  the  factions  of  the  Guelphs 
and  Ghibellines.  Here  Spontini  was  again  in 
his  element  —  the  grand  historical  drama  of 
1  Cortez '  and  '  Olympia.'  The  work  is  of  a 
wholly  different  stamp  from '  Nurmahal'  and  '  Al- 
cidor,'  and  deserves  to  be  ranked  with  his  Paris 
operas.  In  grandeur  of  conception  it  equals,  and 
occasionally  surpasses,  'Olympic.'  The  latter 
half  of  the  and  act  is  a  colossal  production, 
unparalleled  in  operatic  literature.  It  would  be 
impossible  to  add  one  iota  to  the  passion  which 
rages  through  the  scene,  or  to  pile  up  one  addi 
tional  element  in  the  music  without  sacrificing 
all  clearness  in  the  component  parts.  The 
novelty  of  the  local  colouring,  so  distinct  from 
that  of  'Cortez,'  'Olympia,'  or  'Alcidor,'  is  ad 
mirable.  Gloomy,  forceful,  and  melancholy,  all 
indicates  the  spirit  of  the  heroic  age.  The 
music  too  is  thoroughly  German,  the  harmonies 
richer  and  more  satisfying,  the  melodies  quite 
national  in  character;  isolated  passages  recalling 
Spohr,  and  even  Weber,  though  without  any 
thing  like  servile  imitation.  Could  anything  be 
more  characteristic  than  the  German  waltz  in 
the  finale  of  the  ist  act?  The  French  knights 
and  troubadours,  who  contrast  with  the  Ger 
mans,  are  equally  well  defined.  The  music  is 
throughout  the  result  of  an  entire  absorption 
in  the  dramatic  situation  and  characters.3  A 
comparison,  of  it  with  the  sentimental  ballad- 
like  effusions  of  even  good  German  composers 
under  similar  circumstances  will  serve  to  ac 
centuate  the  difference  between  them  and  Spon 
tini.  Neither  is  there  any  sign  of  exhaustion  of 
inventive  power.  The  stream  of  melody  flows  as 
freely  as  ever;  indeed  there  is  a  breadth,  an 
dan,  and  a  fire  in  some  of  these  melodies,  to 
which  he  rarely  attains  in  his  earlier  operas — 
instance  the  terzetto  in  the  2nd  act,  '  Ja,  statt 
meines  Kerkers  Grauen,'  and  Agnes'  solo  '  Mem 
Konig  droben.'  The  critiques  of  the  da}'  were 
most  unjustly  severe ;  but  though  the  music  was 
never  published  the  MS.  score  exists,  and  an 
examination  of  it  will  fully  bear  out  all  that 
we  have  said.  It  is  not  too  late  to  form  an 
impartial  judgment,  and  Germans  should  re 
cognise  that  they  have  a  duty  to  perform  to 
'Agnes  von  Hohenstaufen,'  as  the  only  opera 
which  deals  worthily  with  a  glorious  period 
of  German  history.  When  this  has  been  fairly 
acknowledged  it  will  be  time  enough  to  look  out 
for  its  defects. 

It  was  the  last  opera  which  Spontini  completed. 

2  '  Spontini  in  Deutschland,'  p.  102  (Leipzig,  Steinacker  uud  Hart- 
knoch,  1830) 
s  As  for  instance  the  Nun's  Chorus  in  the  2nd  act . 


678 


SPONTINT. 


Various  new  plans  and  schemes   continued  to 
occupy  him,   as    before,    especially   during   the 
latter  part  of  his  stay  in  Paris,  when  '  Louis  IX,' 
'La  Colere  d'Achille,'and  'Artaserse'  had  in  turn 
been  thought  of  for  composition.    For  a  successor 
to  'Olympia'  he  thought  first  of  'Sappho'  or 
of  '  Die  Horatier,'  and  then  of  two  of  Werner's 
tragedies,  '  Das  Kreuz  an  der  Ostsee '  and  '  At- 
tila,'  but  none  of  these  projects  appear  to  have 
advanced  far  enough  even  for  a  preliminary  re 
hearsal.     More  progress  was  made  with  a  poem 
by  his  old  friend  Jouy,  '  Les  Athe"niennes,'  first 
offered  him  in  1819,  and  accepted  in  a  revised 
form  in  1822.     In  a  review  of  the  poem1  written 
in  1830  Goethe  implies  that  the  music  was  com 
plete,  but  at  Spontini's  death  nothing  was  found 
but  unimportant  fragments.2     An  opera  founded 
on  English  history  occupied  him  longer.     We 
have  already  mentioned  the  revision  of  his  '  Mil 
ton.'     His  studies  for  this  deepened  his  interest 
in  the  English  history  of  the  iyth  century.     In 
1830  Raupach  wrote  a  libretto  for  a  grand  opera, 
'Milton,1  which  was  bought  by  the  committee  of 
nianagement  for  30  Friedrichs  d'or,  and  placed 
at  Spontini's  disposal.3     The  only  portion  of  the 
smaller  opera  retained  was  the  fine  Hymn  to  the 
Sun.     After  completing  the  revision  of  '  Agnes 
von  Hohenstaufen '  Spontini  wrote  to  the  Inten- 
dant  (May  9,  1837)  that  he  hoped  in  the  winter 
of  1838  to  produce  'Milton's  Tod  und  Busse  fur 
Konigsmord'  (Milton's  death,  and  repentance  for 
the  King's  execution).     He  spent  the  summer  of 
1838  in  England,  studying  'historical,  national, 
and  local '  colouring  for  this  '  historico-romantic ' 
opera.     Raupach's  poem,  extended  and  revised 
by  Dr.  Sobernheim,  had  now  assumed  a  political 
and  religious  tendency,  so  distasteful  to  the  King 
as  to  make  him  prohibit  the  opera.     Further 
alterations  ensued,  and  it  became  'Das  verlorene 
Paradies'  (Paradise  Lost).     By  May  1840  the 
score  of  part  of  the  1st,  and  two-thirds  of  the 
2nd  act  was  complete.     Up  to  March  1841  he 
certainly  intended  finishing  it,  but  not  a  note 
of  it  has  ever  been  heard.     We  may  add  that  on 
June  4,  1838,  he  mentioned  a  fairy-opera  to  the 
King,  and  in  Dec.  1 840  professed  himself  ready  to 
begin  a  new  comic  opera.     He  was  apparently 
bent  on  composing  fresh  dramatic  works,   and 
often  complained  that  the  management  did  not 
offer  him  sufficient  choice  of  librettos;  but  he 
was  incapacitated  from  creation  by  his  increasing 
pedantry,  and  by  the  perpetual  state  of  irritation 
in  which  he  was  kept  by  his  critics. 

Spontini's  other  compositions  during  his  re 
sidence  in  Berlin  are  unimportant.  A  hymn  for 
the  coronation  of  the  Emperor  Nicholas  of  Russia, 
to  words  by  Raupach,  was  performed  at  Berlin 
Dec.  18,  1826,  and  May  9,  1827.*  -A-  cantata  to 
Herklots'  words,  'Gott  segne  den  Kb'nig,'  had  a 
great  success  at  the  Halle  Musical  Festival  in 

1  Goethe's  Works,  Goedecke's  edition,  vol.  xiii.  p.  632»  Cotta.    Also 
'  Spontini  in  Deutschland,'  p.  22.    Leipzig,  1830. 

2  Kobert's  '  Spontini,'  p.  34.    Berlin,  1883. 

3  In  'Spontini  in  Deutschland'  this  libretto  is  said  to  be  by  Jouy. 
I  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain  whether  it  was  Jouy*s  work  revised 
by  Jtaupach,  or  an  original  production. 

•*  Raupach  had  intended  to  have  tableaux  vivants  to  each  five  stanzas  ; 
but  this  was  not  carried  out. 


SPONTINT. 

Sept.  1829,  which  Spontini  conducted  so  much  to 
the  general  satisfaction  as  to  procure  him  an 
honorary  Doctor's  degree  from  the  University, 
and  a  gold  medal  inscribed  '  Liricce  Tragoedice 
Principi  Germania  meritorum  cultrix.'  A  '  Do- 
mine  salvum  fac  regem,'  a  12,  with  accompani 
ment  of  organ,  trumpets,  celli,  and  basses,  was 
written  on  Oct.  15,  1840,  for  presentation  to  the 
King.  Besides  these  he  published  a  number  of 
French,  German,  and  Italian  vocal  pieces,  with 
PF.  accompaniment,  the  best  of  which  is  '  Die 
Cimbern,'  a  war-song  for  three  men's  voices.  As 
a  mere  matter  of  curiosity  may  be  mentioned 
that  he  set  Goethe's  '  Kennst  du  das  Land,'  and 
the  Italian  canzonet  'Ninfe,  se  liete,'  in  which  he 
again  clashed  unconsciously  with  Weber's  very 
graceful  composition  to  the  same  words  (i8n).5 
Considering  his  great  position,  Spontini  did 
not  accomplish  much  for  music  in  Berlin.  At 
the  opera  he  made  the  band  play  with  a  fire,  an 
expression,  and  an  ensemble,  hitherto  unknown, 
forced  the  singers  to  throw  themselves  dramati 
cally  into  their  parts,  and  used  every  exertion 
to  fuse  the  different  elements  into  one  coherent 
whole.  That  his  standard  was  high  and  his 
views  enlightened  must  be  admitted.  He  en 
deavoured  too  to  improve  the  existing  school  for 
singers,  and  founded  one  for  the  orchestra.  But 
his  efforts  as  a  rule  were  concentrated  on  the 
operas  which  he  himself  conducted — that  is  to 
say,  his  own,  Gluck's  '  Armida,'  and  'Don  Juan.' 
These  works,  through  his  genius,  his  influence 
on  his  subordinates,  and  his  almost  absolute 
power,  he  brought  to  a  perfection  then  unequalled. 
The  pieces  directed  by  his  vice-conductors  went 
badly,  partly  because  Spontini  exhausted  the 
singers,  and  partly  because  he  took  little  interest 
in  the  general  repertoire.  He  had,  too,  no  power 
of  organisation  or  administration.  As  long  as 
the  excellent  material  lasted  which  Briihl  trans 
ferred  to  him  in  1820  this  defect  was  not  glaring, 
but  when  his  solo-singers  began  to  wear  out  and 
had  to  be  replaced,  it  was  found  that  he  had  not 
the  judgment,  the  penetration,  nor  the  im 
partiality  necessary  for  such  business.  Up  to 
the  autumn  of  1827  he  only  concluded  one  en 
gagement  himself,  and  in  that  instance  it  was 
a  solo-singer  who  proved  only  fit  for  the  chorus. 
On  the  other  hand  he  lost  Sieber,  a  good  bass, 
by  insisting  on  reducing  his  salary  to  100  thalers, 
and  had  shortly  afterwards  to  re-engage  him  at 
200,  as  there  was  no  bass  in  the  company  capable 
of  taking  the  parts  in  his  own  operas.  The  art 
of  divining  the  taste  of  the  public,  of  at  once 
meeting  it,  elevating  and  moulding  it — the  art, 
in  fact,  of  keeping  the  exchequer  full  without 
sacrificing  artistic  position — this  was  wholly  out 
of  his  reach.  At  the  King's  theatre,  the  audiences 
steadily  fell  off,  especially  after  the  opening  of 
the  Konigstadt  theatre  in  1823.  At  times  Spontini 
seems  to  have  felt  his  incapacity,  but  unfortun 
ately  he  was  deluded  by  his  own  vanity  and 
domineering  temper,  and  the  insinuations  of  so- 

5  Ledebur  gives  a  tolerably  complete  catalogue  of  Spontini's 
smaller  works;  see  p.  WO.  Also  Marx,  in  the  'Berliner  Allg.  Mus. 
Zeitung '  for  182G,  p.  3U6. 


SPONTINI. 

called  friends,  into  believing  that  the  decline  of 
the  opera  was  owing  to  Briihl,  whereas  Brulil 
might  have  retorted  that  everything  he  pro 
posed  was  met  by  a  despotic  and  unreasoning 
veto.  The  Count  at  length,  in  1828,  wearied 
out  by  the  unceasing  opposition,  resigned,  and 
was  succeeded  by  Count  Eedern,  who  received 
from  the  King  a  fresh  code  of  instructions, 
somewhat  circumscribing  Spontini's  powers,  and 
concentrating  those  of  the  management.  Op 
portunities  for  fresh  differences  still  constantly 
arose,  and  Count  Redern  had  much  to  contend 
with  in  Spontini's  increasing  irritability  and  in 
consistency.  In  time  even  the  admirers  of  his 
music  felt  that  his  personal  influence  was  bad, 
and  that  the  opera  would  never  prosper  as  long 
as  he  remained  at  its  head. 

Spon tini  was  to  have  the  receipts  of  the  first 
nights  of  his  own  operas  for  his  annual  benefit, 
or  in  default  of  such  representations  a  sum  of 
4000  francs.  In  the  latter  case  he  might  give  a 
concert,  and  in  fact  he  gave  a  considerable  num 
ber,  both  vocal  and  instrumental.  'My  concerts,' 
in  his  own  words,  '  are  dedicated  to  the  great 
masters,  whose  memory  I  strive  to  keep  alive 
with  the  public,  while  testifying  my  own  respect 
by  performing  their  works  in  the  most  brilliant 
and  complete  manner  possible.' l  His  programmes 
consisted  principally  of  German  music,  Handel, 
Haydn,  Mozart,  and  Beethoven.  The  first  per 
formance  in  Berlin  of  Beethoven's  Symphony 
in  A  was  at  a  concert  of  Spontini's  on  May  12, 
1824,  and  on  April  30, 1828,  he  gave  Beethoven's 
C  minor  Symphony,  the  Kyrie  and  Gloria  from 
his  Mass  in  D,  the  overture  to  '  Coriolanus  '  and 
the  Credo  from  Bach's  B  minor  Mass.  As  Bach's 
Mass  had  only  just  been  published  by  Nageli 
of  Zurich,  Spontini  was  the  first  to  introduce  a 
portion  of  it  to  the  public  of  Berlin,  as  he  had 
been  to  acquaint  them  with  Beethoven's  masses. 
The  performance  itself  seems  to  have  been  a 
poor  one,  and  indeed  it  could  hardly  be  otherwise, 
Spontini  not  having  much  in  common  with  Bach; 
but  the  attempt  was  praiseworthy.2  Another 
point  to  his  credit  was  that  he  gave  his  support 
to  Moser's  concerts.  The  King's  band  could  not 
play  without  his  permission,  so  he  might  have 
made  difficulties  if  he  had  chosen.  He  never 
could  be  brought  to  understand  that  the  then 
strong  points  of  German  music  were  chorus- 
singing  and  instrumental  music.  With  him 
opera,  especially  his  own,  was  everything,  and 
therefore  with  ail  his  efforts,  honest  as  they  were, 
he  did  as  much  harm  as  good. 

As  we  have  already  mentioned,  Spontini's  late 
operas  had  no  success  outside  Berlin.  Except  a 
couple  of  stray  performances  of  'Olympia'  at 
Dresden  and  Darmstadt,  they  did  not  even  gain 
a  hearing.  Occasionally  he  conducted  one  of  his 
own  works,  as  for  instance  the  '  Vestalin '  at 
Munich3  (Oct.  7  and  n,  1827),  and  Hamburg* 

1  Oubitz's  '  Erlebnisse,'  iii.  2-12. 

2  Marx,  '  Berliner  Allg.  Mus.  Zeitung,'  182?,  pp.  14fi  and  152. 

3  Grandaur,  '  Chronik  des  kOnigl.  Theaters  in  Miinchen,'  p.  106. 
Munich,  1878. 

*  Schmidt's  'Denkwurdigkeiten.'    Edited  by  Uhde.    Part  ii.  p.  314. 
Stuttgart,  Cotta,  1878. 


SPONTINI. 


679 


(Sept.  18,  1834).  But  such  personal  contact 
does  not  seem  to  have  led  to  sympathetic  rela 
tions.  Speaking  generally,  the  '  Vestalin '  and 
'  Cortez '  were  the  only  operas  of  his  appreciated 
in  Germany. 

In  Berlin  itself  each  year  added  to  the  num 
ber  of  his  opponents.  In  1824  Marx  entered 
the  lists  in  his  behalf  in  his  Zeitung,  and 
was  seconded  by  Dorn ;  but  Dorn  left  Berlin  in 
March  1828,  and  Marx,  though  sincerely  at 
tached  to  Spontini,  occasionally  admitted  adverse 
critiques.  Spontini  was  morbidly  sensitive  to 
public  opinion,  and  the  loss  of  his  defenders  was 
a  serious  one.  Against  the  advice  of  judicious 
friends  he  replied  in  person  to  anonymous  at 
tacks,  suffered  flatterers  to  use  unpractised  pens 
in  his  behalf,  and  even  called  in  the  Censorship. 
Such  steps  could  but  damage  his  cause.  The 
opposition  was  headed  by  Rellstab,  the  editor  of 
the  Vossische  Zeitung,  an  experienced  litterateur 
with  some  knowledge  of  music,  a  great  ally  of 
Weber's,  and  a  blind  opponent  of  everything 
foreign.  In  nos.  23  to  26  of  the  year  1827  of 
Marx's  Zeitung  appeared  an  article  utterly 
demolishing  the  first  act  of  'Agnes  von  Hohen- 
staufen.'  Dorn  made  a  successful  reply  in  nos. 
27  to  29,  but  far  from  being  silenced  Rellstab 
published  a  book,  'Ueber  mein  Verhaltniss  als 
Kritiker  zur  Herrn  Spontini,' 5  in  which  he 
unsparingly  attacked  Spontini  as  a  composer" 
and  director,  and  exposed  the  absurd  tactics  of 
the  Spontini  clique.6  The  clique  put  forth  a 
defence  called  'Spontini  in  Germany,  an  impar 
tial  consideration  of  his  productions  during  his 
ten  years  residence  in  that  country'  (Leipzig, 
1830).  It  was  however  anything  but  impartial, 
was  ignorant  and  badly  done.7 

Spontini's  ten  yeai-s  contract  finished  in  1830  ; 
it  was  renewed,  on  terms  more  favourable  to 
the  Intendant-General,  and  this,  with  the  fact  of 
his  ceasing  to  compose,  gave  an  opportunity 
to  his  enemies,  and  an  unfortunate  indiscretion 
on  the  part  of  one  of  his  friends  played  into  their 
hands.  Dorow  of  Halle,  the  archaeologist,  in  a 
collection  of  autographs  (1837)  inserted  a  letter 
from  Spontini  (Marienbad,  Aug.  12, 1836)  lament 
ing  the  degeneracy  of  the  dramatic  composers  of 
the  day.  It  was  done  in  good  faith,  Dorow 
honestly  believing  that  he  was  serving  (Spon 
tini  by  thus  publishing  his  opinions  without  au 
thority;  but  his  opponents  issued  the  letter  in  a 
separate  pamphlet  with  a  German  translation, 
and '  explanatory '  remarks,  in  which  Spontini  was 
fiercely  attacked  in  terms  of  ironical  respect.8 
In  the  same  year,  in  nos.  101  and  102  of  the 
'Komet,'  appeared  a  pasquinade  by  a  student 
named  Thomas,  stating  that  Spontini  had  opposed 
the  production  of '  Robert  leDiable,'  the '  Postilion 

5  Leipzig,  Whistling,  1?27. 

6  It  has  been  often,  and  even  recently,  stated  that  two  art'cles  by 
Kellstab  in  CScilia  ('Aus  dem  Xachlass  eines  jiingen  Kiinstlers,' 
vol.  iv.  pp.  1-42,  and  'Julius.    Eine  musikalische  Novelle,'  vol.  vi. 
pp.  1-108)  refer  to  Spontini.    This  is  quite  untrue,  but  it  shows  how 
carelessly  damaging  statements  about  Spontini  are  repeated. 

7  Attributed,  quite  untruly,  to  Dorn. 

8  '  The  Lament  of  Herr  Kitter  Gasparo  Spontini  ....  over  the  de 
cline  of  dramatic  music.    Translated  from  the  French,  with  ex 
planatory  remarks  by  a  body  of  friends  and  admirers  of  the  great 
master.'    Leipzig,  Michelsen,  1837. 


680 


SPONTINT. 


de  Longjumean,'  and  'La  Muette  de  Portici,'  till 
obliged  to  yield  to  the  express  command  of  the 
King  ;  that  a  new  code  of  instructions  had  altered 
his  position,  and  made  him  entirely  subordinate 
to  the  Intendant ;  that  he  had  been  reprimanded 
for  selling  his  free  admissions,  and  had  had  them 
•withdrawn ;  that  the  engagements  of  certain 
singers  contained  a  clause  stipulating  that  they 
should  not  be  obliged  to  sing  in  Spontini's  operas, 
etc.,  etc. 

Thomas,  when  called  to  account,  referred  to 
an  'official  of  high  position'  as  his  authority. 
And  indeed  there  was  a  certain  amount  of  truth 
in  the  charges.  Without  directly  opposing  the 
production  of  the  operas  mentioned,  he  had  not 
hesitated  openly  to  avow  his  dislike  of  them ;  no 
new  code  of  instructions  had  just  then  been  is 
sued,  but  that  of  1831  did  materially  strengthen 
the  Intendant's  position,  and  to  a  certain  extent 
make  the  Director-general  his  subordinate.  Spon- 
tini  had  not  himself  sold  free  admissions,  but  his 
servant  had,  and  in  consequence  the  allotted 
number  had  been  diminished,  very  much  to  his 
mortification.  It  was  advisable,  however,  to 
prevent  such  a  newspaper  scandal  from  reaching 
the  King's  ears,  so  Count  Eedern  replied,  con 
tradicting  all  the  false  statements,  and  passing 
over  in  silence  all  the  true  ones ;  Thomas  was 
induced  to  make  a  public  apology,  and  the  affair 
seemed  at  an  end.  But  Spontini's  troubles  were 
not  yet  over ;  and  his  unpopularity  was  so  great 
that  worse  attacks  might  be  expected. 

On  June  7,  1840,  King  Frederic  William  Til. 
died,    and   Spontini's  one   mainstay  was  gone. 
Though  obliged  occasionally  to  express  displea 
sure   at  his  perpetual   squabbles  with  the  In- 
tendant,  the  King   had   been   steadfast  in   his 
attachment  to   Spontini  and   his   music.     The 
new  King  made  no  change  in  his  position,  but 
his  sympathies  were  in  a  different  direction,  and 
no  place  was  destined  for  Spontini  in  the  grand 
designs  he  was  elaborating.     This  soon  became 
known.      If  Spontini  could  have  kept  himself 
quiet  the  change  might  have  been  delayed,  but 
he  was  injudicious  enough  to  lay  before  the  King 
a  paper  complaining  of  the  Management  and  of 
Count  Eedern.     The  King  questioned  the  In 
tendant,  and  was  satisfied  with  his  explanations, 
but  to  obviate  all  appearance  of  partisanship  he 
appointed  a  commission  to  enquire  into  Spon 
tini's  grievances.     In  the  meantime  the  press 
had  taken  up  the  matter.    A  definite  attack  was 
made,  to  which  Spontini  was  unwise  enough  to 
reply  (Leipzig  Allgemeine  Zeitung  of  Jan.   20, 
1841)  in  such  a  manner  as  to  give  Count  Redern 
ground  for  an  indictment  for  Use-majesU,  and  (on 
Feb.  5)  to  a  direct  reprimand  from  the  King. 

But  this  disgraceful  treatment  of  the  royal 
house  by  a  foreigner  who  had  enjoyed  for  years 
almost  unexampled  court  favour  immensely  in 
creased  the  public  feeling  against  Spontini,  and  for 
two  months  he  remained  in  private.  On  April  2, 
however,  in  spite  of  repeated  warnings,  he  took 
his  seat  to  conduct  'Don  Juan.'  His  appearance 
was  the  signal  for  a  tremendous  uproar,  and 
cries  of  'hinaus!  hinaus  ! ' — 'off!  off!'  He 


SPONTINI. 

stood  firm,  began  the  overture,  and  would  have 
proceeded  with  the  opera,  but  a  rush  was  made 
to  get  at  him  on  the  stage,  and  he  was  forced 
to  retire  from  the  theatre.  He  never  entered  it 
again  as  conductor. 

The  trial  kept  Spontini  in  Berlin  all  the  sum 
mer,  but  he  obtained  leave  from  Aug.  31  to  Dec. 
10,  and  went  to  Paris.     His  connection  with  the 
opera  was  severed  by  the  King  on  Aug.  25,  on 
terms  of  royal  generosity.     He  was  to  retain  his 
title  and  full  salary,  and  live  where  he  pleased, 
'  in  the  hope  that  in  repose  he  might  produce 
new  works,   which  the  King  would  hail  with 
pleasure  if  he  chose  to  conduct  them  in  person 
at  Berlin.'     To  these  munificent  arrangements 
no  conditions  whatever  were  attached.    Spontini 
was  convicted  of  tise-majestt,  and  condemned  to 
nine  months'  imprisonment,  a  sentence  confirmed 
by  the  higher  court  to  which  he  appealed,  but 
remitted  by  the  King.     In  the  face  of  all  this 
he  had  the  effrontery  to  demand  a  further  sum 
of  46,850  thalers,  on  the  ground  that  the  Man 
agement  had  not  supplied  him  with  a  sufficient 
number  of  librettos,  whereby  he  had  lost  the 
sum   guaranteed   him   for   first    nights,   besides 
profits  from  other  performances  and  from  pub 
lishers — reckoned     at    3000    thalers    for     each 
opera !     The   King    referred    him   to   the  law- 
courts,  but  Spontini's  better  nature   seems  at 
length  to  have  prevailed,  and  he  withdrew  his 
application  Dec.  23,  1841.     When  he  finally  left 
Berlin  in  the  summer  of  1842  the  King  granted 
him  a  further  sum  of  6000  thalers.     His  friends 
gave  him  a  farewell  concert  on  July  13,  1842, 
for  which  he  wrote    both  words   and  music  of 
a  song,  duly  performed  and  printed,  of  which  a 
copy  is  appended.1 

ADIEU  A  MES  AMIS  DE  BERLIN. 
(20  Juillet,  1842.) 

ELEGEE. 

(Annonce.) 

Asyle  cher,2  oil  ma  Lyre  ou  Musette 
A  trop  longtems3  soupir6  sous  mes  doigts; 
Te'moin  discret  de  ma  peine  secrette, 
Ecoute-moi  pour  la  derniere  fois ! 

(Explication.) 

Je  vais  partir !  he'las,  1'heure  est  sonne'e, 
A  mes  Amis  je  dis  adieu !  . .  . . 
Plus  ne  reviendra  la  journe'e 
Qui  me  ramene  dans  ce  lieu !  . .  . . 
De  vous  revoir,  Amis,  plus  d'esperance, 
Quand  je  m'exile  sans  retour ! 
Eteruelle  sera  1'absence ! 
Eternel  sera  mon  amour  ! 

(Reflexion.) 

Pleurez,  Amisr  o  vous,  qu'un  sort  funeste 
Arrache  du  toit  paternel ! 
Souvent  uri  doux  espoir  nous  reste ! 
Mais  1'adieu  peut  etre  Eternel ! 

(Application.) 

Adieu,  me  dit  un  tendre  pere 
En  me  pressant  contre  son  sein ! 
De  mes  pleurs  j'inondais  sa  main  I  ... 
Et  cette  fois  fut  la  derniere 
Qu'il  dit  adieu?  ce  tendre  pere, 
Qu'en  larmes,  il  me  dit  adieu ! 

The   emotion   expressed   in    these  lines  was  no 
feigned  one.     Spontini  felt  leaving  Berlin  very 

1  Given  as  printed.    It  seems  to  have  been  a  little  different  at  the 
performance.    See  Bobert,  p.  52,  etc. 

2  His  study.  3  Twenty-three  years. 


SPONTINI. 

much,  and  at  the  close  of  the  concert  could  not 
speak  for  tears. 

He  left  few  friends  behind  him.  His  suc 
cessor  at  the  opera  was  Meyerbeer,  who,  with 
Mendelssohn,  received  the  title  of  'Generalmusik- 
director.'  Neither  had  very  friendly  feelings 
towards  him,  and  their  paths  as  artists  widely 
diverged  from  his.  He  is  however  to  this  day 
gratefully  remembered  by  the  few  surviving 
members  of  the  King's  band.  The  orchestra 
were  proud  of  their  majestic  conductor,  who  so 
often  led  them  to  triumph,  and  who  moreover 
had  a  tender  care  for  their  personal  interests. 
The  poorer  members  found  his  purse  ready  of 
access,  and  in  1826  he  established  a  fund  for 
them,  called  by  special  permission  the  '  Spontini- 
Fonds,'  to  which  he  devoted  the  whole  proceeds 
of  his  annual  benefit  concerts.  The  fund  speedily 
attained  to  considerable  proportions,  and  still 
exists,  though  the  name  has  been  changed. 

That  he  was  badly  treated  by  the  Berlin  public 
is  indisputable.  His  ill-natured,  unjust,  spiteful 
attacks  must  have  been  very  irritating,  as  even 
those  who  do  not  belong  to  the  super-sensitive 
race  of  artists  can  understand,  but  the  last  scene 
at  the  opera  looks  like  a  piece  of  simple  brutality, 
unless  we  remember  that  the  real  ground  of 
offence  was  his  being  a  foreigner.  The  political 
events  of  the  period  beginning  with  the  War  of 
Liberation  had  roused  a  strong  national  feeling 
in  Prussia.  The  denial  of  a  Constitution  had 
concentrated  attention  on  the  stage,  which  thus 
became  a  sort  of  political  arena ;  and  that  a 
foreigner,  and  moreover  a  naturalised  French 
man,  should  be  laying  down  the  law  in  this 
stronghold  was  intolerable. 

In  Spontini's  character  great  and  mean  quali 
ties  were  almost  equally  mixed,  so  that  both 
friends  and  foes  could  support  their  statements 
by  facts,  while  each  shut  their  eyes  to  the 
qualities  which  they  did  not  wish  to  see.  After 
his  friends  had  been  silenced  by  the  catastrophe 
of  1841  the  verdict  of  his  opponents  prevailed,  at 
any  rate  throughout  Germany  ;  but  this  verdict, 
we  say  emphatically,  was  unjust.  The  charge 
that  he  despised  and  neglected  German  music  is 
simply  untrue.  That  he  admired  and  loved  our 
great  masters  from  Handel  to  Beethoven  he 
proved  through  life  in  many  ways.  Robert  re 
lates  on  unquestionable  authority  that  he  made 
great  sacrifices  for  the  family  of  Mozart.  When 
Nissen  published  his  biography  Spontini  exerted 
himself  immensely  to  get  subscribers,  personally 
transmitted  the  money  to  the  widow,  superin 
tended  the  translation  of  the  book  into  French, 
and  rendered  all  the  help  in  his  power.1  A  pre 
ference  for  his  own  works  must  be  conceded  to 
any  artist  actively  engaged  in  production,  nor  is 
it  reasonable  to  expect  from  him  an  absolutely 
impartial  judgment  of  the  works  of  others. 
Weber's  music  was  incomprehensible  and  anti 
pathetic  to  Spontini,  and  this  did  him  as  much 
injury  in  Berlin  as  anything  else.  But  his  delay 
in  performing  'Euryanthe'  and  'Oberon'  was 
caused  more  by  inaction  than  opposition.  For 

i  Robert,  p.  56,  etc. 


SPONTINI. 


681 


Spohr  he  had  a  great  respect,  as  he  often  proved.2 
In  Meyerbeer  he  took  a  great  interest,  until 
the  appearance  of  '  Robert  le  Diable,'  which 
he  could  not  bear,  calling  it  '  un  cadavre '; 
but  this  is  no  reflection  on  his  taste.  For 
the  non- performance  of  the  '  Huguenots  '  he 
was  not  responsible,  as  the  prohibition  was  the 
King's.  He  was  certainly  not  justified  in  calling 
Marschner's  '  Templer  und  Jiidin  '  an  '  arrange 
ment  after  Spontini ' — always  supposing  that  the 
expression  was  his — but  everybody  knows  that 
Marschner  was  deeply  influenced  by  him.  He 
was  by  no  means  free  from  envy  and  jealousy, 
but,  taking  for  granted  that  he  allowed  himself 
to  be  swayed  by  his  passions,  foreign  composers 
suffered  just  as  much  at  his  hands  as  German 
ones.  Cherubini  he  thought  very  highly  of  (he 
mounted  'Les  Abencerrages  '  and  sent  the  com 
poser  a  considerable  sum  from  the  proceeds),  but 
Auber's  'Muette  de  Portici,'and  Halevy's  '  Juive* 
he  thoroughly  disliked,  took  no  trouble  about 
their  production,  and  was  much  annoyed  at  their 
pleasing  the  public.  Nor  did  he  like  Rossini, 
his  own  countryman.  His  horizon  was  limited, 
but  if  it  is  possible  to  reconcile  genius  with 
narrow-mindedness,  if  Spohr  may  be  forgiven  for 
appreciating  Beethoven  only  partially,  and  Weber 
not  at  all,  we  must  not  be  too  hard  on  Spontini. 
It  is  sad  to  see  the  incapacity  of  even  culti 
vated  people  in  Berlin  to  be  just  towards  him. 
The  Mendelssohn  family,  at  whose  house  he  at 
one  time  often  visited,  and  to  whom  he  showed 
many  kindnesses,  were  never  on  good  terms  with 
him  after  the  appearance  of  the  '  Hochzeit  des 
Camacho.'3  He  may  not  have  done  justice  to 
that  youthful  work,  but  it  is  a  pity  that  the 
noble-minded  Mendelssohn  should  have  per 
mitted  himself  the  angry  and  contemptuous  ex 
pressions  to  be  found  in  his  letters.4  The  painful 
close  of  Spontini's  career  was  enough  to  atone 
for  all  his  shortcomings.  To  pursue  the  rancour 
against  him  over  his  grave,  as  has  been  done 
recently  in  Germany,  is  wholly  unworthy. 

Of  his  last  years  there  is  little  to  relate.  On 
leaving  Berlin  he  went  to  Italy,  and  in  Jan. 
1843  was  in  Majolati.  He  had  visited  his 
native  land  several  times  since  1822.  In  1835 
he  was  in  Naples,  at  San  Pietro  in  Majella,  and 
they  showed  him  an  exercise  he  had  written 
40  years  before  when  a  pupil  at  the  '  Turchini.' 
He  looked  at  it  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  and  then 
begged  the  librarian  to  tear  up  'queste  meschine 
e  sconce  note'  (those  wretched  mis-shapen  notes) 
and  throw  them  in  the  fire.5  In  1838  he  was  in 
Rome,  and  wrote  (-June  4)  to  the  King  offering 
his  services  as  mediator  between  himself  and  the 
Pope  on  the  subject  of  the  disturbances  in" 
Cologne.6  In  1843  he  left  Italy  and  settled  at 

2  The  statement  in  the  'Mendelssohn  Family,'  vol.  i.  p.  124.  that 
he  threw  obstacles  in  the  way  of  the  performance  of  'Jessomla1 
is  quite  unfounded.    The  minutes  of  the  King's  Theatre  prove  the 
contrary. 

3  Devrient's  'Eecollections,'  p.  23. 

4  Among  others  see  Devrient.  p.  74. 

5  Florimo,  '  Cenno  Storico,'  p.  595. 

6  Whether  anything  came  of  this  offer  isnot  known,  but  Gregory  XVI. 
had  a  high  esteem  for  Spontini.  and  asked  for  his  views  on  the 
restoration  of  Catholic  church-music. 


682 


SPONTINI. 


Paris,  where  lie  had  many  pleasant  connections 
through  his  wife,  an  Erard.  He  had  been  a 
member  of  the  Institute  since  1838.  In  1844 
the  Pope  made  him  Count  of  S.  Andrea,  and 
other  distinctions  followed.  But  the  hope  ex 
pressed  by  King  Frederic  William  IV.  that  he 
would  produce  other  works  was  not  realised ; 
Berlin  had  broken  him  down  physically  and 
mentally.  He  revisited  Germany  two  or  three 
times.  In  1844  he  was  in  Dresden,  where 
Eichard  Wagner  had  prepared  for  him  a  per 
formance  of  the  '  Vestale,'  which  he  conducted 
with  all  his  old  energy.1  He  was  invited  to  the 
Cologne  Musical  Festival  of  May  1847  to  con 
duct  some  excerpts  from  '  Olympie,'  and  had  a 
warm  reception,  but  was  too  infirm  to  conduct, 
and  his  place  was  taken  by  Dorn,  then  Capell- 
meister  at  Cologne.2  In  August  he  visited 
Berlin,  and  was  most  graciously  received  by  the 
King,  who  gave  him  an  invitation  to  conduct 
some  of  his  own  operas  at  Berlin  during  the 
ensuing  winter.  He  was  much  delighted,  and 
thought  a  great  deal  about  the  performances 
after  his  return  to  Paris,  and  also  of  the  best 
manner  in  which  he  could  express  his  gratitude 
and  devotion  to  the  King;  but  the  project  was 
never  realised,  as  he  was  ill  all  the  winter.  In 
1848  he  became  deaf,  and  his  habitual  gravity 
deepened  into  depression.  He  went  back  to 
Italy,  and  settled  at  Jesi,  where  he  occupied 
himself  in  founding  schools  and  other  works  of 
public  utility.  In  1850  he  removed  to  Majolati, 
and  there  died  Jan.  14,  1851.  Having  no  children 
he  lefc  all  his  property  to  the  poor  of  Jesi  and 
Majolati.  [P.S.] 

SPONTONE,  or  SPONTONI,  BARTOLOMMEO, 
a  madrigal  composer,  of  whom  nothing  appears 
to  be  known  beyond  the  fact  that  he  published 
three  sets  of  madrigals  for  five  voices  at  Venice 
in  1564  (2nd  ed.  1583),  1567,  and  1583.  Others 
are  contained  in  the  collections  of  Waelrant 
(1594)  an(l  others.  Cipriano  de  Rore  prints  a 
Dialogo  a  7  by  him  in  1568.  A  fine  4-part 
madrigal  of  Spontone's,  'The  joyous  birds,'  is 
given  by  Mr.  Hullah  in  his  Part  Music.  [G.] 

SPORLE,  NATHAN  JAMES,  whose  real  name 
was  Burnett,  born  1812,  a  tenor  singer  with  an 
agreeable  voice,  first  appeared  in  public  about 
1832  at  the  Grecian  Saloon.  He  afterwards  be 
came  a  dinner  singer,  but  was  best  known  as  the 
composer  of  many  pleasing  songs  and  ballads, 
one  of  which — 'In  the  days  when  we  went 
gipsying' — was  very  popular.  He  died  March  2, 
1853-  [W.H.H.] 

SPRING  GARDEN.     See  VAUXHALL. 

SPRINGING  BOW  (Ital.  Saltato  or  Spicato; 
Fr.  Sautillf).  This  kind  of  bowing  is  produced 
by  the  bow  being  dropped  down  on  to  the  string 
from  some  distance,  whereby,  owing  to  the  elas 
ticity  of  the  stick,  it  is  set  vibrating,  and  made 
to  rebound  after  each  note. 

There  are  two  principal  kinds  of  springing  bow. 

1  For  a  clever  and  amusing  account  of  It  see  Wagner's  'Gesam- 
melte  Schriften,'  v.  114. 

2  Dorn's  '  Aus  meiuem  Leben,'  vol.  iii.  p.  21. 


SPRUCHE. 

I.  The  Spicato — chiefly  used  for  the  execution 
of  quick  passages  formed  of  notes  of  equal  dura 
tion — is  produced  by  a  loose  movement  of  the 
wrist,  about  the  middle  of  the  bow.  Well-known 
instances  of  it  are  the  finale  of  Haydn's  Quartet 
in  D  (op.  64,  no.  5) — 


-JJ- 


:Ec«E 


:«gic5^sa_._i_i_i_ 

«-  -«-H— -^    •!*>-•- 


te£ 


=?=i: 


etc 


the  quick  passages  in  the  finale  of  Mendelssohn's 
Violin-concerto  — 


-*-*- 


etc. 


or  Paganini's  Perpetuum  mobile.  The  Spicato  is 
marked  by  dots  over  the  notes.  The  so-called 
Mai-tele*  (hammered),  indicated  by  dashes— 


t        T 


~7\~ 

»    m 

/tU- 

— is  not  really  a  kind  of  springing  bow,  but 
merely  indicates  that  a  passage  is  to  be  executed 
by  short  strongly  accentuated  strokes  of  the  bow, 
which  however  has  not  actually  to  leave  the 
string  as  in  the  '  springing  bow.' 

2.  The  Saltato,  for  which  the  bow  is  made  to 
fall  down  from  a  considerable  distance,  and  there 
fore  rebounds  much  higher  than  in  the  Spicato. 
This  kind  of  bowing  is  chiefly  used  where  a 
number  of  notes  have  to  be  played  in  one  stroke 
of  the  springing  bow,  as  in  arpeggios  (Cadenza  of 
Mendelssohn's  Violin-Concerto),  or  such  phrases 
as  the  first  subject  of  the  Finale  of  the  same 
work — 


which,  if  played  as  a  firm  staccato  would  sound 
heavy.  Another  well-known  instance  of  the  sal 
tato  is  the  beginning  of  the  Finale  of  Paganini's 
first  Concerto. 

.it 

jp   JO: 


3.  A  kind  of  quick  staccato,  much  employed 
by  Paganini  and  the  modern  French  School,  must 
be  mentioned  here,  because  it  is  really  a  kind 
of  saltato  ;  the  bow  being  violently  thrown  down, 
and  so  being  made  to  rebound  a  great  many 
times  for  a  long  succession  of  notes  in  such  quick 
time  that  their  execution  by  a  firm  staccato  and 
a  separate  movement  of  the  wrist  for  each  note 
would  be  impossible.  [P«D-] 

SPRUCHE — proverbs,  or  sentences — are  sung 
in  the  Lutheran  service  of  the  Berlin  Cathedral 
after  the  reading  of  the  Epistle  : 

1.  On  New  Year's  Day,  'Herr  Gott  du  bist 

unser  Zuflucht.' 

2.  On  Good  Friday, '  Um  unser  Su'nden  willen.' 

3.  On  Ascension  day,  '  Erhaben  o  Herr. ' 

4.  On  Christmas  day,  'Frohlocket,  ihr  Volker.' 


SPEUCHE. 

Mendelssohn   set  these  for   8  part-chorus  ;    and 
in  addition  2  more  : — 

5.  For   Passion  week,   'Herr   geclenke   nicht 

unser  Ubelthaten.' 

6.  For  Advent,  '  Lasset  uns  frohlocken.' 

The  six  form  op.  79  of  his  .works.  No.  3  ('  Er- 
haben')  begins  with  the  same  phrase  as  his  i  I4th 
Psalm,  op.  51,  but  there  the  resemblance  ceases. 
No.  2  is  dated  Feb.  18,  1844,  and  no.  5  (in 
minims  and  for  4-part  chorus)  Feb.  14,  1844,  and 
each  of  the  two  is  inscribed  '  vor  dem  Alleluja  ' 
-before  the  Alleluia.  They  are  mostly  short, 
the  longest  being  only  50  bars  in  length. — Schu 
mann  has  entitled  one  of  his  little  PF.  pieces 
'Spruch';  but  on  what  ground  is  not  obvious.  [G.] 

SQUARE  PIANO  (Fr.  Piano  carrt;  Ital. 
Pianoforte  a  tavola  ;  Germ.  Tafel  (tafelformiges) 
Pianoforte).  The  rectangular  or  oblong  piano, 
much  in  vogue  for  domestic  use  until  superseded, 
especially  in  England  and  France,  about  the 
middle  of  this  century  by  the  upright  or  cottage 
piano.  Inventors  were  fortunate  in  having  keyed 
instruments  ready  to  their  hands,  such  as  the 
harpsichord  and  clavichord,  in  which  the  problem 
of  resonance  had  long  been  successfully  resolved; 
leaving  touch  as  dominated  by  power,  and  resist 
ance  to  the  inevitably  increased  tension,  as 
distinct  aims  to  pursue.  The  clavichord  became 
the  square  piano  by  the  addition  of  a  second 
bridge,  and  the  substitution  of  a  simple  hammer- 
and-damper  mechanism  for  the  tangents  and 
string-cloth ;  but  the  keys  were  at  first  left 
crooked,  as  in  the  clavichord.  [See  CLAVICHORD.] 

The  wing-shaped  Grand  piano,  the  'Gravicem- 
balo  col  piano  e  forte '  of  Cristofori,  had  been  in 
existence  50  years  when  the  organ-builder  Frie- 
derici  of  Gera  (1712-1779),  the  builder  of  the 
Chemnitz  organ,  is  said  to  have  made  the  first 
Square  piano.  He  named  it  'Fort  Bien,'  a  pun 
on  Forte  Piano.  No  writer  has  described  one  of 
these,  or  appears  to  have  seen  one.  He  may  have 
contrived  the  action  as  an  improvement  on  the 
idea  which  Schroeter  first  published  in  Marpurg 
in  1764,  and  Zumpe  introduced  here  in  1765-6. 
From  comparison  of  dates  and  other  circum 
stances,  we  are  however  inclined  to  conclude 
that  Zumpe  did  not  imitate  Friederici,  but  that 
the  latter  may  rather  have  used  that  rudimentary 
German  action  which  Stein  in  the  next  decade 
improved  for  grand  pianos  by  the  addition  of  a 
mechanical  escapement.  [See  PIANOFORTE,1 
p.  718  a.]  This  action  of  a  centred  hammer  with 
moveable  axis,  the  blow  caused  by  contact  of 
the  hammer-tail  with  a  back-touch,  and  without 
escapement,  exists  in  a  drawing  of  a  patent  of 
Sebastien  Erard's  dating  as  late  as  i8oi,2  which 
shows  how  general  this  action  had  been.  M. 
Mahillon  has  kindly  communicated  to  the  writer 

1  It  must  b2  remarked  that  "Welcker  von  Gontershausen,  whose 
technical  works  (published  1856  and  1870,  the  earlier  much  the  better) 
oti  the  construction  of  the  Pianoforte  are  worthy  of  praise,  is  not 
always  to  be  depended  upon  when  the  question  is  historical.    He 
attributes  this  rudimentary  action,  of  which  he  gives  drawings,  to 
Schroeter  and  the  Silbermanns— apparently  without  foundation. 

2  Erard's  claim  to  improvement  was  that  the  travelling  distance  of 
the  hammer  could  be  regulated  by  a  springing  back-touch,  by  which 
the  depth  of  front-touch  was  made  to  depend  upon  the  strength 
expended  by  the  player. 


STABAT  MATER. 


683 


that  there  is  still  a  square  piano  existing  with 
this  action,  belonging  to  M.  Gosselin,  of  Brussels. 
The  style  of  the  furniture  of  the  case  and  the 
fragments  of  painting  remaining  would  make  this 
instrument  French,  and  place  the  date,  according 
to  these  authorities,  without  doubt  in  the  reign 
of  Louis  Quinze.  It  has  five  stops,  to  raise  the 
dampers  (now  unfortunately  gone)  in  two  sec 
tions,  to  bring  on  a  '  Pianozug  '  in  two  sections, 
or, apparently,  as  a  whole.  [See  SORDINI.]  The 
natural  keys  are  black.  Now  J.  Andreas  Stein 
worked  in  Paris  about  1 758,  and  later  J.  Heinrich 
Silbermann  of  Strassburg  made  pianos  which 
were  sent  to  Paris  and  highly  thought  of.  We 
regret  that  we  have  no  further  historical  evi 
dence  to  offer  about  this  action,  so  interesting  as 
the  foundation  of  the  celebrated  '  Deutsche  Me- 
chanik'  of  the  Viennese  grand  pianos.  The  in 
troduction  of  the  Square  piano  into  London  by 
Zumpe,  and  its  rapid  popularity,  are  adverted 
to  under  PIANOFORTE,  where  John  Broadwood's 
great  improvement  in  changing  the  position  of 
the  wrestplank  is  also  duly  recognised. 

The  next  important  step  in  the  enlargement 
and  improvement  of  the  Square  piano  appears  to 
have  been  made  in  France  by  Petzold,3  who  in 
1806,  in  the  Paris  Exhibition  of  the  products  of 
National  Industry,  exhibited  a  Square  piano 
with  an  extended  soundboard,  an  improvement 
at  first  not  much  noticed,  though  afterwards 
developed  with  great  success,  and  probably  in 
dependently,  by  the  Collards  and  Broadwoods  of 
that  time.  Pape  introduced  the  lever  and  notch 
principle  of  the  English  Grand  action  into  the 
Square  piano  action  in  1817.  Further  improve 
ment  of  the  Square  piano,  in  the  application  of 
metal  to  resist  tension,  etc.,  followed  closely  upon 
that  of  the  Grand;  and  in  America  theSquare  out 
stripped  the  Grand  by  being  first  experimented 
on  for  the  iron  framing,  the  cross  stringing,  etc., 
which,  through  the  talent  and  energy  of  the 
Meyers,  Chickerings,  and  Steinways,  have  given 
a  distinctive  character  to  the  American  manu 
facture.  The  Americans  brought  their  Squares 
almost  to  the  size  and  power  of  their  Grands,  and 
make  them  still ;  and  with  the  same  tendency  as 
in  Europe,  to  their  being  superseded  entirely  by 
the  smaller  Grands  and  Uprights.  [A.J.H.] 

STABAT  MATER  (Planctus  Beata  Virginia 
Marice ;  The  Lamentation  of  the  Blessed  Virgin 
Mary).  A  Sequence  or  Prose,  appointed,  in  the 
Roman  Missal,  to  be  sung  between  the  Epistle 
and  the  Gospel,  at  High  Mass,  on  the  Friday  in 
Passion  Week,  and  the  Third  Sunday  in  Sep- 
tember :  and  divided  into  three  portions,  in  the 
Antiphonarium,  for  use,  on  the  same  two  days, 
as  Office  Hymns.  The  Stabat  Mater  is  also 
sung,  in  the  Sistine  Chapel,  as  an  Offertorium, 
on  the  Thursday  in  Holy  Week  ;  and  it  has  long- 
been  the  custom,  both  here  and  on  the  Continent, 
to  interpose  its  separate  stanzas  between  the 

3  GUILLAUME  LEBRECHT  PETZOLD,  born,  according  toFe'tis,  in  1784, 
at  Lichtenhayn,  Saxony,  was  apprenticed  to  Weiizky,  Dresden,  in  1798, 
and  worked  for  Walther,  Vienna,  from  1803  to  1805.  In  1806  he  joined 
Pleiffer  in  Paris,  a  connection  which  lasted  till  1814.  According  to 
Welcker,  Petzold  invented  the  crank  lever  action  since  much  used 
by  different  makers. 


684 


STABAT  MATER. 


fourteen  divisions  of  the  Stations  of  the  Cross. 
The  Poem  written,  towards  the  close  of  the 
1  3th  century  by  Jacobus  de  Benedictis,1  is  one 
of  the  finest  examples  of  mediaeval  Latin  prose, 
second  only  to  the  '  Dies  irae  '  of  Thomas  de 
Celano.  Several  readings  of  it  are  extant  ;  2  the 
one  most  frequently  set  to  Music  being  that 
which  immediately  preceded  its  last  revision  in 
the  Roman  Office-Books.  There  are  also  at 
least  four  distinct  versions  of  its  Plain  C  haunt 
Melody,  apart  from  minor  differences  attribut 
able  to  local  usage.  The  most  important  of  these 
is  one  in  the  First  Mode,  given  in  the  Ratisbon 
edition  of  the  Gradual.  The  Ratisbon  Vesperal 
contains  another,  in  the  same  Mode,  but  entirely 
different.  The  Mechlin  Office-Books  contain 
yet  another  distinct  form,  in  the  .Fourth  Mode. 
Finally,  it  seems  to'have  been  sung,  in  the  15th 
century,  to  a  Melody,  in  the  Thirteenth  Mode, 
known  also  as  '  Comme  feme.' 

The  beauty  of  the  Poem  has  rendered  it  so 
great  a  favourite  with  Composers,  that  the  num 
ber  of  fine  settings  we  possess  is  very  great.  The 
earliest  example  that  demands  special  notice  is 
the  'Stabat  Mater'  of  Josquin  des  Pre"s,  founded 
upon  the  Canto  fermo  just  mentioned,  in  the 
Thirteenth  Mode  transposed.3  So  elaborate  is 
the  construction  of  this  work,  that  not  one  of  the 
most  highly-developed  of  the  Composer's  Masses 
surpasses  it.  The  Canto  fermo  is  sustained  by 
the  Tenor,  in  Larges,  Longs,  and  Breves,  through 
out,  while  four  other  Voices  accompany  it,  in 
Florid  Counterpoint,  in  constant  and  ingenious 
Imitation  of  the  most  elaborate  character. 


Secunda  Pars. 


E    -   -    ja    ma   -    -   -   -   ter, 


etc. 


fons 


a     -    -     mo  -  ns 


But  not  even  Josquin's  masterpiece  will  bear 
comparison  with  the  two  grand  settings  of  the 
'  Stabat  Mater'  by  Palestrina,  either  of  which, 
as  Baini  observes,  would  alone  have  sufficed  to 
immortalise  him.  The  first  and  best-known  of 
these,  written  for  a  Double-Choir  of  eight  Voices, 
has  long  been  annually  sung,  in  the  Sistine 

J  Ob.  1306. 

2  See  Daniel's  '  Thesaurus  Hymnologicus."    (Halis,  1841.) 

3  Pietro  Aron  quotes  this  fine  Composition  as  an  example  of  the 
Fifth  Mode;  and  Zarlino,  as  one  of  the  Eleventh.  For  an  explanation 
of  these  apparent  discrepancies,  see  vol.  ii.   p.  342 a,  and  vol.  iii. 
p.  261  a,  in  foot-note.    The  work  was  first  printed  in  Petrucci's  '  Mo- 
tetti  della  Corona,' Lib.  iii.  No. 6  (Fossombrone,  1519).     About  forty 
years  ago,  Choron  reprinted  it  in  Score,  in  Paris ;  and  in  18S1  it  was 
given  in  the  Notenbeilagen  to  Ambros's  'Geschichte  der  Musik,'  p.  61. 
The  '  Gluck  Society '  performed  it,  in  London,  on  May  24, 1881.  ] 


STABAT  MATER. 

Chapel,  on  tlie  Thursday  in  Holy  Week,  and  was 
first  published  by  Burney  in  his  'La  Musica 
della  Settimana  Santa,'  on  the  authority  of  a 
copy  given  to  him  by  Santarelli.4  It  is  enough 
to  say  that  the  Composition  signalises  the  author 
of  the  '  Missa  Papas  Marcelli  '  in  every  page  ; 
and,  that  the  opening  phrase,  containing  a  pro 
gression  of  three  Major  Chords,  on  a  Bass  de 
scending  by  Major  Seconds,  produces  one  of  the 
mo*t  original  and  beautiful  effects  ever  heard  in 
Polyphonic  Music. 


Chorus  I. 


Sta  -  bat       ma    *   ter       do    -     -    -    lo  -   ro  - 


sa,      Jux  -  ta      cru  -  cem     la  -   cry  -  mo  -  sa,    Dum 

Chor.  II. 


pen  -de  -  bat      Fl  -  li  -  us. 

Palestrina's  second  'Stabat  Mater'  is  written 
for  twelve  Voices,  disposed  in  three  Choirs ;  and 
is,  in  every  way,  a  worthy  companion  to  the  pre 
ceding  work,5  Ambros,  indeed,  denies  its  au 
thenticity,  and,  on  the  authority  of  an  entry 
in  the  catalogue  of  the  Altaemps-Ottoboni  Col 
lection  in  the  Library  of  the  Collegio  Romano, 
refers  it  to  Felice  Anerio,  notwithstanding  Baini's 
decisive  verdict  in  its  favour  :  but,  the  internal 
evidence  afforded  by  the  work  itself  is  enough  to 
remove  all  doubt  on  the  subject.  It  is  not  only 
a  genuine  work,  but  one  of  the  finest  Palestrina 
ever  wrote.  For  the  effect  produced  by  the  union 
of  the  three  Choirs,  at  the  words,  '0  quam  tristis,' 
as  well  as  the  manner  of  their  alternation,  in 
other  parts  of  the  Sequence,  we  must  refer  our 
readers  to  the  work  itself,  in  the  7th  volume  of 
Breitkopf  &  Hartel's  complete  edition. 

Few  modern  settings  of  the  'Stabat  Mater,' 
with  Orchestral  Accompaniments,  are  finer  than 
(i)  that  by  Pergolesi,  for  Soprano  and  Contralto, 
accompanied  by  Strings  and  Organ  (to  which 
Paisiello  afterwards  supplied  'Additional  Ac 
companiments' for  Wind).  (2)  Haydn's '  Stabat 

4  It  was  afterwards  published,  in  Paris  by  Choron  ;  and  by  Alfieri, 
in  his  'Raccolta  di  Musica  sacra,"  vol.  vi.  (Roma,  1845.)  It  has  since 
appeared  in  vol.  vii.  of  Breitkopf 's  complete  edition.  For  an  inter 
esting  criticism  upon  it  see  Oulibichef's  'Nouvelle  Biographie  de 
Mozart,'  ii.  72.  He  wat  perhaps  the  first  to  call  attention  to  it.  It 
has  been  recently  edited,  with  marks  of  expression,  introduction  of 
solo  voices,  and  other  changes,  by  Wagner. 

s  First  printed  in  Alfleri's  '  Baccolta,'  vol.  vii.  (Roma,  1846). 


STABAT  MATER. 

Mater'  is  a  treasury  of  refined  and  graceful 
Melody.  (3)  Next  in  importance  to  this  we 
must  rank  a  very  fine  one,  for  six  Voices,  with 
Accompaniments  for  two  Violins,  three  Viole, 
Basso,  and  Organo,  composed  by  Steffani,  who 
presented  it  to  the  '  Academy  of  Antient  Musick' 
in  London,  on  his  election  as  Honorary  President 
for. life,  in  1 724.  (4)  Clari  wrote  another  beau 
tiful  one,  which  is  among  the  Fitzwilliam  MSS. 
at  Cambridge.  (5)  A  nearly  contemporary  work, 
by  Astorga,  is  one  of  the  best  Italian  productions 
of  its  period.1  (6)  Winter's  Stabat  Mater  may  be 
taken  as  a  happy  example  of  his  refined  and  grace 
ful  style  ;  and,  if  not  a  great  work,  is  at  least 
a  remarkably  pleasing  one.  (7,  8,  9,  10)  The 
Eoyal  College  of  Music  possesses  a  Stabat  Mater 
a  3  by  Pietro  Raimondi ;  with  one  composed 
by  Padre  Vito,  in  1783,  and  two  others,  by 
Gesualdo  Lanza,  and  the  Spanish  Composer, 
Angelo  Inzenga.  (u)  The  Chevalier  Neukomm 
also  wrote  one  which  was  very  popular  among 
bis  disciples.  (12)  Very  different  from  all  these 
is  the  setting  of  the  text  which  has  made  its 
words  familiar  to  thousands,  if  not  millions,  who 
would  never  otherwise  have  heard  of  them. 
We  do  not  pause  to  enquire  whether  the  sensuous 
beauty  of  Rossini's  '  Stabat  Mater '  is  worthy  of 
the  subject,  or  not  :  but  we  do  say,  of  critics 
who  judge  it  harshly,  and  dilettanti  who  can 
listen  to  it  unmoved,  that  they  must  either  be 
casehardened  by  pedantry, or  destitute  of  all  'ear 
for  Music.'  (13)  Yet,  even  this  does  not  repre 
sent  the  latest  interpretation  of  these  beautiful 
verses,  which  have  been  illustrated,  in  still  more 
modern,  and  very  different  musical  phraseology, 
by  Dvorak.2  [W.S.R.] 

STACCATO  (Ital. ;  Ger.  abgestosseri),  'de 
tached,'  in  contradistinction  to  legato,  'connected.' 
The  notes  of  a  staccato  passage  are  made  short, 
and  separated  from  each  other  by  intervals  of 
silence.  Staccato  effects  are  obtained  on  the 
pianoforte  by  raising  the  hand  from  the  keys 
immediately  after  striking,  usually  by  a  rapid 
action  of  the  wrist  (this  is  called  '  wrist-touch  '), 
though  sometimes,  especially  in  fortissimo,  from 
the  elbow  ;  and  there  is  also  a  third  kind  of 
staccato-touch  called  'finger-staccato,'  which  is 
less  frequently  used,  and  which,  as  described  by 
Hummel,  consists  in  'hurrying  the  fingers  away 
from  the  keys,  very  lightly  and  in  an  inward 
direction.'  This  kind  of  touch  is  of  course  only 
applicable  to  passages  of  single  notes. 

On  stringed  instruments  staccato  passages  are 
generally  bowed  with  a  separate  stroke  to  each 
note,  but  an  admirable  staccato  can  also  be  pro 
duced,  especially  in  solo  music,  by  means  of  a 
series  of  rapid  jerks  from  the  wrist,  the  bow 
travelling  meanwhile  in  one  direction,  from  the 
point  to  the  nut.  [See  also  PAGANINI,  vol.  ii. 
p.  632.]  Staccato  on  wind  instruments  is  ef 
fected  by  a  rapid  thrusting  forward  of  the  tongue, 
so  as  to  stop  the  current  of  air ;  and  in  singing,  a 
staccato  sound  is  produced  by  an  impulse  from 

1  Published  in  score  by  Breitkopf  &  HSrtel  (1879). 

2  'Stabat  Mater  fur  Soli,  Chor,  u.  Orchester'  (Simrock,  1881).    Per 
formed  by  the  London  Musical  Society,  March  1883. 


STABLER. 


685 


the  throat  upon  an  open  vowel,  and  instantly 
checked.  A  striking  example  of  vocal  staccato 
occurs  in  Mozart's  air,  'Gli  angui  d'inferno,' 
from  'Die  Zauberflote.'  Upon  the  harp,  or  any 
similar  instrument,  and  likewise  upon  the  drum, 
a  staccato  note  requires  the  immediate  application 
of  the  palm  of  the  hand  to  the  vibrating  string  or 
parchment,  to  stop  the  sound. 

The  signs  of  staccato  are  pointed  dashes  '  T  '  ', 
or  round  dots  •  •  •  •,  placed  over  or  under  the 
notes,  the  former  indicating  a  much  shorter  and 
sharper  sound  than  the  latter.  [See  DASH,  vol.  i. 
p.  431.]  But  besides  the  difference  thus  shown, 
the  actual  duration  of  staccato  notes  depends  to 
some  extent  upon  their  written  length.  Thus 
in  the  following  example  the  minims  must  be 
played  longer  than  the  crotchets  (though  no 
exact  proportion  need  be  observed),  in  spite  of 
the  fact  that  both  are  marked  staccato  alike : — 

BEETHOVEN,  Sonata  Path^tique. 


When  duts  placed  over  or  under  notes  are 
covered  by  a  curved  line,  an  effect  is  intended 
which  is  of  great  value  in  the  rendering  of 
expressive  and  cantabile  phrases.  This  is  called 
mezzo  staccato  (half-detached),  and  the  notes 
are  sustained  for  nearly  their  full  value,  and 
separated  by  a  scarcely  appreciable  interval. 
On  stringed  and  wind  instruments  indeed  they 
are  frequently  not  separated  at  all,  but  are 
attacked  with  a  certain  slight  emphasis  which  is 
instantly  weakened  again,  so  as  to  produce  almost 
the  effect  of  disconnection ;  on  the  pianoforte 
however  they  must  of  necessity  be  separated, 
though  but  for  an  instant,  and  they  are  played 
with  a  close  firm  pressure,  and  with  but  little 
percussion.  The  following  is  an  example  of  the 
use  of  mezzo  staccato,  with  its  rendering,  as  nearly 
as  it  is  possible  to  represent  it  in  notes  : — 

BEETHOVEN,  Sonata  in  C,  Op.  53. 
Written. 


sfsf 


When  a  movement  is  intended  to  be  staccato 
throughout,  or  nearly  so,  the  word  is  usually 
written  at  the  commencement,  with  the  tempo- 
indication.  Thus  Mendelssohn's  Prelude  in  B 
minor,  op.  35,  no.  3,  is  marked  'Prestissimo  Stac 
cato,'  and  Handel's  Chorus,  'Let  us  break  their 
bonds  asunder,'  is  'Allegro  e  staccato.'  [F. T.] 

STADLER,  ALBERT,  intimate  friend  of  Schu 
bert's,  born  at  Steyer  in  Upper  Austria,  April  4, 


686 


STABLER. 


1794,  learned  music  from  F.  Weigl  and  Wawra. 
From  1812  to  1817  he  studied  law  at  the  Uni 
versity  of  Vienna,  and  was  also  at  the  Imperial 
Convict,  where  he  formed  a  close  friendship  with 
Schubert.  [See  vol.  iii.  p.  321  &.]  In  1817  he 
became  a  government  official  in  his  native  town, 
where  he  was  frequently  visited  by  Schubert 
and  Vogl.  Music  was  a  constant  occupation  at 
their  common  lodgings,  and  at  houses  where  the 
three  were  intimate,  and  they  made  excursions  in 
the  neighbourhood.  [See  vol.  iii.  p.  331  5.]  In 
1821  Stadler  moved  to  Linz,  where  he  became 
secretary,  and  in  1833  honorary  member,  of  the 
Musikverein.  After  a  residence  at  Salzburg  as 
commissary  of  the  district  he  retired  with  the 
title  of  Statthaltereirath  and  the  Imperial  order 
of  Franz- Joseph.  At  Salzburg  he  was  made  an 
honorary  member  of  the  Cathedral  Musikverein, 
and  of  the  Mozarteum.  Stadler  was  an  in 
dustrious  composer,  but  only  part  of  his  Lieder 
have  been  engraved.  They  include  settings  of 
poems  by  Pichtler,  Leitner,  Kaltenbrunner, 
Heine,  Eurich,  Korner,  and  Pannasch.  [C.F.P.] 
STABLER,  MAXIMILIAN,  ABBOT,  a  sound 
and  solid  composer,  born  August  4,  1748,  at 
Melk,  in  Lower  Austria.  At  ten  became  a 
chorister  in  the  monastery  of  Lilienfeld,  where 
he  learnt  music,  completing  his  education  in  the 
Jesuit  College  at  Vienna.  In  1 766  he  joined 
the  Benedictines  at  Melk,  and  after  taking 
priest's  orders  worked  as  a  parish-priest  and 
professor  till  1786,  when  the  Emperor  Joseph, 
who  had  noticed  his  organ-playing,  made  him 
abbot  first  of  Lilienfeld,  and  three  years  later  of 
Kremsmimster.  Here  his  prudence  averted  the 
suppression  of  that  then  famous  astronomical 
observatory.  After  this  he  lived  at  various 
country  houses,  then  privately  at  Linz,  and 
finally  settled  in  Vienna.  Haydn  and  Mozart 
had  been  old  friends  of  his,  and  at  the  request 
of  the  widow  he  put  Mozart's  musical  remains 
in  order,  and  copied  from  the  autograph  score 
of  the  'Requiem,'  the  Requiem  and  Kyrie,  and 
the  Bies  irae,  both  copy  and  original  being  now 
in  the  Hofbibliothek  at  Vienna.  [See  vol.  ii. 
p.  402  a.~]  He  also  came  forward  in  defence  of 
the  Requiem  against  Gottfried  Weber,  in  two 
pamphlets — '  Vertheidigung  der  Echtheit  des 
Mozart'schen  Requiem'  (Vienna  1826),  and 
'  Nachtrag  zur  Vertheidigung,'  etc.  (Ib.  1827). 
Stadler  was  an  excellent  contrapuntist,  and 
an  authority  in  musical  literature  and  history. 
His  printed  compositions  include,  Sonatas  and 
fugues  for  PF.  and  organ ;  part-songs ;  two  re 
quiems;  several  masses;  a  Te  Beum ;  'Bie 
Fruhlingsfeier,'  cantata,  with  orchestra,  to  Klop- 
stock's  words ;  psalms,  misereres,  response?, 
offertories,  etc. ;  also  a  response  to  Haydn's 
farewell-card  for  two  voices  and  PF.  [See 
vol.  i.  p.  715.]  Among  his  numerous  MSS.  are 
fine  choruses  for  Collin's  tragedy,  'Polyxena.' 
Stadler's  greatest  work,  'Bie  Befreiung  von 
Jerusalem,'  an  oratorio  in  two  parts,  words  by 
Heinrich  and  Matthaus  von  Collin,  was  given 
with  great  success  in  1816  at  the  annual  extra 
concert  of  the  Gesellschaft  der  Musikfreunde, 


STAINER. 

for  the  benefit  of  the  proposed  Conservatorium, 
and  in  1829  at  Zurich. 

Stadler  died  in  Vienna  Nov.  8,  1833,  highly 
esteemed  both  as  man  and  musician.  [C.F.P.J 

STAFFORB,  WILLIAM  COOKE,  a  native  of 
York,  published  at  Edinburgh  in  1830  a  I2mo. 
volume  entitled  'A  History  of  Music,'  a  work 
chiefly  noted  for  its  inaccuracy,  but  which 
notwithstanding  was  translated  into  French 
(i2mo.  Paris,  1832)  and  German  (Svo.  Weimar, 
1835).  [W.H.H.] 

STAGGINS,  NICHOLAS,  was  taught  music  by 
his  father,  a  musician  of  little  standing.  Although 
of  slender  ability  he  won  the  favour  of  Charles  II, 
who,  in  1682,  appointed  him  Master  of  the  King's 
Band  of  Music  ;  and  in  the  same  year  the  Univer 
sity  of  Cambridge,  upon  the  King's  request,  con 
ferred  upon  him  the  degree  of  Mus.  L)oc.  The 
performance  of  the  customary  exercise  being  dis 
pensed  with,  great  dissatisfaction  was  occasioned, 
to  allay  which  Staggins,  in  July  1684,  performed 
an  exercise,  whereupon  he  was  appointed  Professor 
of  Music  in  the  University,  being  the  first  who 
held  that  office.  Staggins  composed  the  Odes  for 
William  Ill's  birthday  in  1693  and  1694,  and  for 
Queen  Anne's  birthday,  1705.  Songs  by  him  are 
contained  in  '  Choice  Ayres,  Songs  and  Bialogues,' 
1675,  and  other  collections  of  the  time,  and  a 
dialogue,  '  How  unhappy  a  lover  am  I,'  composed 
for  Bry den's  'Conquest  of  Granada,'  Part  II,  is 
included  in  J.  S.  Smith's  'Musica  Antiqua.'  He 
died  in  1 705.  [W.H.H.] 

STAINER,  JACOB,  a  celebrated  German  vio 
lin-maker,  born  at  Absam,  a  village  near  Hall, 
about  one  German  mile  from  Innsbruck,  July  14, 
1621 ;  died  1683.  According  to  one  story,  the  boy 
had  a  love  of  music,  which  induced  the  parish 
priest  to  send  him  to  an  organ-builder  at  Inns 
bruck.  This  trade,  however,  he  found  too  laborious. 
He  therefore  took  to  making  stringed  instruments, 
serving  his  apprenticeship  to  an  Innsbruck  '  Lau- 
tenmacher ' ;  after  which  he  proceeded  to  travel, 
after  the  usual  fashion  of  German  apprentices. 
In  the  course  of  his  travels,  according  to  the 
story,  he  visited  and  worked  at  Cremona  and 
other  places  in  Italy ;  and  the  common  story 
is  that  he  worked  under  Antonius  or  Nicholas 
Amati,  and  afterwards  spent  some  time  at  Venice, 
where  he  wrought  in  the  shop  of  Vimercati.  Of 
all  this,  however,  there  is  not  a  particle  of  evi 
dence.  It  may  be  said  that  violins  are  in  existence, 
signed  by  Stainer  and  dated  from  Cremona :  but 
these  are  now  believed  to  be  spurious.  Probably 
he  found  Italian  violins  in  use  among  the  Italian 
musicians  at  the  court  of  the  Archduke  Ferdinand 
Charles,  Count  of  the  Tyrol,  at  Innsbruck,  and 
after  examining  their  construction  and  contrast 
ing  them  with  the  rude  workmanship  of  the 
ordinary  German  Lautenmacher,  conceived  the 
idea  of  making  violins  on  Italian  principles.  He 
began  at  a  very  early  age,  if  we  may  trust  an 
apparently  genuine  label  dated  1641.  His  repu 
tation  was  very  quickly  made,  for  in  1643,  ac 
cording  to  the  '  J  ahres-Bericht  des  Museums  in 
Salzburg1  for  1858,  he  sold  a  'Viola  Bastarda*  to 


STAINER. 

the  Archbishop  of  Salzburg  for  30  florins.  It  is, 
however,  possible  that  there  maybe  a  mistake  as 
to  this  date.  He  married  in  1645  Margaret  Holz- 
hammer,  by  whom  he  had  eight  daughters,  and 
one  son,  who  died  in  infancy.  Henceforward  to 
his  death,  in  1683,  the  life  of  Stainer  shows  little 
variety.  He  made  a  great  number  of  stringed 
instruments  of  all  sorts,  which  he  chiefly  sold  at 
the  markets  and  fairs  of  the  neighbouring  town 
of  Hall.  The  forests  of '  Haselfichte'  [see  KLOTZ], 
which  clothe  the  slopes  of  the  Lafatsch  and  the 
Gleirsch,  supplied  him  with  the  finest  material 
in  the  world  for  his  purpose  ;  and  tradition  says 
that  Stainer  would  walk  through  the  forest  carry 
ing  a  sledge-hammer,  with  which  he  struck  the 
stems  of  the  trees  to  test  their  resonance ;  and 
at  the  falling  of  timber  on  the  mountain-slopes, 
Stainer  would  station  himself  at  some  spot  where 
he  could  hear  the  note  yielded  by  the  tree  as  it 
rebounded  from  the  mountain  side.  In  1648  the 
Archduke  Ferdinand  Charles  paid  a  visit  to  Hall, 
in  the  course  of  which  Stainer  exhibited  and 
played  upon  his  fiddles,  and  the  Archduke  thence 
forth  to  his  death  in  1662  became  his  constant 
patron.  Ten  years  later  he  received  by  diploma 
the  title  of  Hof-geigenmacher  to  the  Archduke, 
and  in  1669  (Jan.  9)  the  office  was  renewed  to 
him  by  a  fresh  diploma  on  the  lapse  of  the  county 
of  Tyrol  to  the  Emperor  Leopold  I.  Stainer  seems 
to  have  been  always  in  embarrassed  circum 
stances,  owing  partly  to  his  dealings  with  Solo 
mon  Hiibmer,  a  Jew  of  Kirchdorf,  with  whom 
he  was  constantly  at  law.  In  1669,  having  fallen 
under  a  suspicion  of  Lutheranism,  he  was  im 
prisoned  and  forced  to  recant.  In  1672  he  sold 
a  viola  da  gamba  and  two  tenor  viols  at  Salzburg 
for  72  florins,  and  in  1675  at  the  same  place  a 
violin  for  22  fl.  4  kr.  He  was  still  at  work  in 
1677,  in  which  year  he  made  two  fine  instru 
ments  for  the  monastery  of  St.  Georgenburg. 
Soon  after  this  date  he  ceased  from  his  labours. 
In  the  same  year  he  presented  an  ineffectual 
petition  to  the  Emperor  for  pecuniary  assistance. 
In  his  latter  years  Stainer  became  of  unsound 
mind,  in  which  condition  he  died  in  1683,  leaving 
Ms  wife  and  several  daughters  surviving  him  : 
and  in  1684  his  house  was  sold  by  his  creditors, 
his  family  having  disclaimed  his  property  on 
account  of  the  debts  with  which  it  was  burdened. 
His  wife  died  in  great  poverty  in  1689.  There 
is  therefore  no  truth  whatever  in  the  story  of 
his  retirement  after  the  death  of  his  wife  to  a 
Benedictine  monastery,  where  he  is  said  to  have 
devoted  himself  to  the  manufacture  of  a  certain 
number  of  violins  of  surpassing  excellence,  which 
he  presented  to  the  Electors  and  the  Emperor. 
Stainer  undoubtedly  made  violins,  probably  of 
special  excellence,  for  the  orchestras  of  some  of 
the  Electors ;  but  such  instruments  were  made 
and  sold  in  the  ordinary  way  of  trade.  In  course 
of  time,  when  one  of  his  best-finished  instru 
ments  turned  up,  the  contrast  between  it  and 
the  crowd  of  common  ones  which  bore  his  name 
caused  it  to  be  looked  on  as  one  of  these  '  Elector 
Violins.'  These  violins,  however,  cannot  have  been 
the  work  of  his  last  years,  during  which  he  was 


STAINER. 


687 


insane,  and  had  to  be  confined  in  his  house  at 
Absam,  where  the  wooden  bench  to  which  he 
was  chained  is  still  to  be  seen. 

Stainer's  place  in  the  history  of  German  fiddle- 
making  is  strongly  marked,  and  it  accounts  for 
his  fame  and  his  substantial  success.  He  was 
the  first  to  introduce  into  Germany  those  Italian 
principles  of  construction  which  are  the  secret 
of  sonority.  The  degree  of  originality  with  which 
Stainer  is  to  be  credited  cannot  be  precisely  de 
termined.  Some  trace  his  model  to  the  early 
Tyrolese  viol-makers,  but  in  the  opinion  of  other 
authorities  the  peculiarities  of  the  Stainer  violins 
are  strictly  original.  As  a  mere  workman  Stainer 
is  entitled  to  the  highest  rank,  and  if  he  had  but 
chosen  a  better  model,  his  best  instruments  would 
have  equalled  those  of  Stradivarius  himself.  Like 
that  celebrated  maker  he  was  famous  for  the  great 
number  as  well  as  the  excellence  of  his  produc 
tions.  He  made  an  immense  number  of  instru 
ments,  some  more,  and  others  less,  finely  finished, 
but  all  substantially  of  the  same  model :  and 
the  celebrity  which  he  gained  caused  his  pattern 
to  be  widely  copied,  in  Germany,  in  England  [see 
LONDON  VIOLIN-MAKERS],  and  even  in  Italy,  at 
a  time  when  Stradivarius  and  Joseph  Guarnerius 
were  producing  instruments  in  all  respects  enor 
mously  superior.  This  endured  more  or  less  for 
a  century  ;  but  the  fashion  passed  away,  and  his 
imitators  took  to  imitating  those  Italian  makers 
whose  constructive  principles  he  had  adopted. 
All  Stainer's  works  bear  his  peculiar  impress.  The 
main  design  bears  a  rough  resemblance  to  that 
of  the  Amati,  but  the  model  is  higher;  the 
belly,  instead  of  forming  a  finely-rounded  ridge, 
is  flattened  at  the  top,  and  declines  abruptly  to 
the  margins  ;  the  middle  curves  are  shallow  and 
ungraceful ;  the  /-holes  are  shorter,  and  have  a 
square  and  somewhat  mechanical  cut;  the  top 
and  bottom  volutes  of  the  /'s  are  rounder  and 
more  nearly  of  a  size  than  in  the  Cremona  instru 
ments,  but  the  wood  is  of  the  finest  quality,  the 
finish,  though  varying  in  the  different  classes 
of  instruments,  invariably  indicates  a  rapid  and 
masterly  hand ;  and  the  varnish  is  always  rich 
and  lustrous.  It  is  of  all  colours,  from  a  deep 
thick  brown  to  a  fine  golden  amber,  equal  to  that 
of  Cremona  :  and  in  his  best  works  the  exterior 
alone  would  justify  the  celebrity  of  the  maker. 
But  to  understand  the  secret  of  Stainer's  success 
the  violin  must  be  opened,  and  it  then  appears 
that  the  thicknesses  of  the  wood  and  the  dispo 
sition  of  the  blocks  and  linings  are  identical  with 
those  of  the  Cremona  makers.  The  difference  will 
become  more  obvious  when  an  old  German  viol  is 
examined.  It  will  be  found  that  the  older  German 
makers,  though  they  finished  their  instruments 
with  great  care  and  sometimes  with  laborious 
ornament,  settled  their  dimensions  and  thick 
nesses  by  guess,  and  used  no  linings  at  all. 
Stainer's  instruments  are  poor  in  respect  of  tone. 
The  combination  of  height  and  flatness  in  the 
model  diminishes  the  intensity  of  the  tone,  though 
it  produces  a  certain  sweetness  and  flexibility. 
Popular  as  the  model  once  was,  the  verdict  of 
musicians  is  now  unanimous  against  it,  and  the 


638 


STAINER. 


Stainer  instruments  are  now  valued  less  for  prac 
tical  use  than  as  curiosities.  The  violins,  which 
are  found  of  three  different  sizes,  are  the  best 
worth  having  ;  the  tenors  are  good  for  little. 
The  violins  are  abundant  enough,  even  after 
allowing  for  the  vast  number  of  spurious  instru 
ments  which  pass  under  the  maker's  name  ;  but 
they  vary  greatly  in  value,  according  to  their 
class,  and  the  condition  in  which  they  are.  Their 
value  has  greatly  decreased  during  the  present 
century.  .  A  fine  specimen  that  would  have 
brought  £100  a  century  ago  will  now  scarcely 
produce  £20,  and  the  inferior  instruments  have 
depreciated  in  proportion.  Small  instruments  of 
the  common  sort,  which  may  be  bought  very 
cheap,  are  useful  for  children.  Stainer' s  best 
instruments  have  written  labels  :  some  of  the 
common  ones  have  in  very  small  Roman  letter 
press  in  the  middle  of  a  large  slip  of  paper, 
'Jacobus  Stainer  in  Absom  prope  Oenipontum 
Anno  (1678).'  It  is  not  impossible  that  some 
of  these  may  have  been  made  by  other  hands 
under  his  direction.  [E.J.P.] 

STAINER,  MARCUS,  brother  of  the  last- 
mentioned,  a  celebrated  Tyrolese  violin-maker. 
Mark  Stainer  learned  his  trade  from  Jacob,  and 
set  up  for  himself  at  the  village  of  Laufen.  The 
famous  Florentine  player  Veracini  had  two  violins 
by  this  maker,  christened  '  St.  Peter'  and  '  St. 
Paul,'  and  he  reckoned  them  superior  to  all  Italian 
violins.  In  sailing  from  London  to  Leghorn  in 
1746  Veracini  was  shipwrecked  and  the  fiddles 
were  lost.  The  instruments  of  this  maker  are 
extremely  rare.  They  are  made  of  unusually  fine 
material,  covered  with  dark  varnish,  of  somewhat 
large  size,  and  are  sweet  though  decidedly  feeble 
in  tone.  Like  those  of  Jacob  Stainer,  they  usually 
contain  written  labels.  One  of  these  runs  thus  : 
'  Marcus  Stainer,  Burger  und  Geigenmacher  in 
Kiifstein  anno  1659.'  Occasionally  Marcus  Stainer 
yielded  to  an  obvious  temptation,  and  sold  his 
violins  under  the  name  of  his  more  famous 
brother.'  [E.J.P.] 

STAINER,  JOHN,  Mus.  Doc.,  son  of  a  school 
master,  was  born  in  London,  June  6, 1840,  entered 
the  choir  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  in  1847 — by 
which  time  he  was  already  a  remarkable  player 
and  an  excellent  sight-singer — and  remained  there 
till  1856,  very  often  taking  the  organ  on  occasion. 
In  1854  ne  was  appointed  organist  and  choir 
master  of  St.  Benedict  and  St.  Peter,  Paul's  Wharf, 
of  which  the  Rev.  J.  H.  Coward,  classical  master 
to  the  choristers,  was  Rector.  At  the  same  time 
he  learnt  harmony  from  Mr.  Bayley,  master  of  St. 
Paul's  boys,  and  counterpoint  from  Dr.  Steggall, 
for  whom  he  sang  the  soprano  part  in  his  Mus. 
Doc.  exercise  at  Cambridge  in  1852.  Through  the 
liberality  of  Miss  Hackett  he  received  a  course 
of  lessons  on  the  organ  from  George  Cooper  at 
St.  Sepulchre's.  In  1856  he  was  selected  by 
Sir  P.  Ousel ey  as  organist  of  his  then  newly- 
founded  college  at  Tenbury,  where  he  remained 
for  some  time.  In  1859  ne  matriculated  at 
Christ  Church,  Oxford,  and  took  the  degree  of 
Mus.  Bac.  Shortly  after,  he  left  Tenbury  for 


STAINER. 

Magdalen  College,  Oxford,  where  after  six  months 
trial  he  succeeded  Mr.   Blyth  as  organist  and 
informator  choristarum.     He  then  entered  St. 
Edmund  Hall  as  a  resident  undergraduate,  and 
while  discharging  his  duties  at  Magdalen,  worked 
for  his  B.A.  degree  in  Arts,  which  he  took  in 
Trinity  Term,   1863.     Meantime,  on  the  death 
of  Stephen  Elvey,  he  had  been  appointed  organist 
of  the  University  of  Oxford,  and  was  conductor 
of  a  flourishing  College  Musical  Society  and  of 
another  association    at   Exeter   College.       But 
nothing  interfered  with  his  duties  at  Magdalen, 
where  he  raised  the  choir  to  a  very  high  state  of 
efficiency.    In  1 865  he  proceeded  to  his  Mus.  Doc. 
degree,  and  in  1866  to  his  M.A.,  and  became  one 
of  the  examiners  for  musical  degrees.    In  1872  he 
left  Oxford  and  succeeded  Mr.  Goss  (afterwards 
Sir  John)  as  organist  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral. 
The  services  were  at  that  time  by  no  means  what 
they  should  have  been  ;  but  Stainer  possessed  the 
confidence  of  the  Dean  and  Chapter,  and  his  hard 
work,  knowledge,  and  tact,  have  at  last  brought 
them  to  the  pitch  of  excellence  which  is  now  so 
well  known  in  London. 

Dr.  Stainer  has  not  confined  his  activity  to  his 
own  University.     He  is  a  member  of  the  board 
of  musical  studies  at  Cambridge,  and  for  two 
years  was  also  examiner  for  the  degree  of  Mus. 
Doc.  there.     He  is  further  examiner  for  musical 
degrees   in   the    University  of  London  ;    is   an 
Hon.  Member  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Music, 
and  Hon.  Fellow  of  the  Tonic  Sol-fa  College ;  a 
Vice- President  of  the  College  of  Organists,  and 
a  Vice-President  of  the  Musical  Association,  of 
which  he  was  virtually  the  founder.     He  was  a 
juror  at  the  Paris  Exhibition  of  1880,  and  at  its 
close  was  decorated  with  the  Legion  of  Honour. 
He  was  attached  to  the  National  Training  School, 
London,  as  a  Professor  of  Organ  and  Harmony, 
from  its  foundation,  and  at  Easter  1881  succeeded 
Mr.   Sullivan   as  Principal.      In   1882  he  suc 
ceeded  Mr.  Hullah  as  Inspector  of  Music  in  the 
Elementary  Schools  of  England  for  the  Privy 
Council.      He  is  also  a  Member  of  Council  of 
the  Royal  College  of  Music.     His  compositions 
embrace  an  oratorio,  '  Gideon,'  and  a  cantata, 
'  The  Daughter  of  Jairus,'  composed  by  request 
for  the  Worcester  Festival  of  September  1878, 
two  complete  cathedral  services,  and  16  anthems. 
He  is  the  author  of  the  two  very  popular  manuals 
of  Harmony  and  the  Organ  in  Novello's  series, 
and  of  a  work  on  Bible  music,  and  is  part  editor, 
with  W.  A.  Barrett,  of  a  '  Dictionary  of  Musical 
Terms'  (Novello,  1876).     Dr.  Stainer  is  beloved 
and  esteemed  by  all  who  know  him,  and  is  an 
admirable  and  efficient  musician  in  all  branches, 
but  his  great  excellence  resides  in  his  organ-play 
ing,  and  especially  his  accompaniments,  which  are 
unsurpassed.      He  is  a  shining  example  of  the 
excellent  foundation  of  sound  musical  knowledge 
which  may  be  got  out  of  the  various  duties  and 
shifts  of  the  life  of  a  clever  chorister  in  one  of  our 
cathedrals  ;  and  by  which  both  he  and  his  friend 
Arthur  Sullivan  benefited,  as  they  perhaps  could 
not  have  benefited  by  any  more  regular  course 
of  study.  [G.] 


STAMATY. 

STAMATY,  CAMILLE  MARIE,  son  of  a  Greek 
father  and  a  very  musical  French  mother,  was 
born  at  Rome,  March  23, 1811.  After  the  death 
of  his  father  in  1818  his  mother  returned  to 
France,  remained  some  time  at  Dijon,  and  finally 
went,  to  Paris.  There,  after  long  coquetting 
between  music  and  business  as  a  profession, 
Stamaty,  in  1828,  took  an  employe's  post  in  the 
Prefecture  of  the  Seine.  But  music  retained  its 
influence  on  him,  and  under  Fessy  and  Kalk- 
brenner  he  became  a  remarkable  player.  An 
attack  of  rheumatism  forced  him  from  playing 
to  the  study  of  composition.  In  March  1835  he 
made  his  first  public  appearance  in  a  concert, 
the  programme  of  which  contained  a  concerto 
and  other  pieces  of  his  composition.  This  led  to 
his  being-  much  sought  after  as  a  teacher.  But 
he  was  not  satisfied,  and  in  Sept.  1836  went  to 
Leipzig,  attracted  doubtless  by  the  fame  of  Men 
delssohn  and  Schumann,  then  both  resident  there 
(Mendelssohn  Family,  ii.  20).  After  a  short 
course  of  instruction  from  Mendelssohn,  he  re 
turned  to  Paris  early  in  1837,  and  introduced 
much  more  classical  music — Bach,  Mozart,  Bee 
thoven,  etc. — into  his  programmes.  In  1846  he 
lost  his  mother,  in  1848  he  married,  in  1862  was 
made  Chevalier  of  the  Legion  of  Honour,  and  on 
April  19,  1870,  closed  a  long  career  of  usefulness 
and  enthusiasm.  From  a  crowd  of  pupils  it  is 
sufficient  to  name  Gottschalk  and  Saint  Saens. 
His  most  permanent  works  are  educational — '  Le 
Khythme  des  doigts,'  much  praised ;  '  Etudes 
progressives'  (op.  37-39);  'Etudes  concertantes ' 
(ops.  46,  47)  ;  'Esquisse'  (op.  19);  'Etudes  pit- 
toresques'  (op.  21)  ;  'Six  dtudes  caracteristiqiies 
sur  Obe'ron,'  and  12  transcriptions  entitled  'Sou 
venir  du  Conservatoire.' 

Besides  these,  his  solo  sonatas  in  F  minor  and 
C  minor,  a  PF.  trio  (op.  12),  a  concerto  in  A 
minor,  and  other  works,  were  much  esteemed  at 
the  time.  The  concerto  and  some  brilliant  vari 
ations  on  an  original  theme  (op.  3),  are  reviewed 
very  favourably  by  Schumann  (Ges.  Schriften, 
ii.  155,  181).  [G.] 

STAMITZ.  A  Bohemian  musical  family  of 
much  renown  in  the  iSth  century,  (i)  JOHANN 
KARL,  born  1719,  son  of  the  schoolmaster  at 
Deutscbbrod ;  a  man  evidently  of  great  originality 
and  force.  About  1745  he  became  leading  violin 
and  director  of  chamber-music  to  the  Elector  of 
Mannheim,  and  remained  there  till  his  death  in 
1761.  He  wrote  much  music  for  the  violin, 
which  shows  him  to  have  been  a  great  and 
brilliant  player.  Six  concertos,  3  sets  of  6 
sonatas,  and  some  solo  exercises,  giving  the  effect 
of  duets,  were  published  at  Paris,  and  21  con 
certos  and  9  solos  are  still  in  MS.  He  also 
wrote  symphonies,  of  which  6  are  published  and 
ii  in  MS.,  as  well  as  concertos  and  sonatas  for 
the  harpsichord.  There  is  no  chance  now  of 
hearing  any  of  Stamitz's  orchestral  works ;  but 
it  is  obvious  from  Burney's  account  ('Present 
State,'  i.  95,  96)  that  they  were  a  great  advance 
in  effect  and  expression  on  anything  that  pre 
ceded  them.  (2)  His  brother  THADD^US,  born 
1721,  was  a  great  cello-player,  also  in  the 

VOL.  III.  PT.  6. 


STANFORD. 


6S9 


Mannheim  band.  He  became  a  priest,  rose  to 
many  dignities,  and  died  at  Altbunzlau  Aug.  23, 
1768.  Another  brother,  JOSEPH,  was  distin 
guished  as  a  painter.  Cannabich  was  one  of  Johann 
Karl's  pupils,  but  a  still  more  remarkable  one 
was  (3)  his  eldest  son,  KARL,  born  at  Mannheim, 
May  7,  1746,  and  like  his  father  a  remarkable 
violinist  and  composer.  In  17/0  he  went  to 
Paris,  and  was  known  there  as  a  player,  of  the 
viola  and  viola  d'amore.  In  1785  he  returned 
to  Germany,  and  in  1787  we  find  him  at  Prague 
and  Nuremberg,  in  1790  at  Cassel,  and  then  at 
St.  Petersburg,  where  he  remained  for  some  years, 
and  where  he  brought  out  a  grand  opera,  '  Dar- 
danus.'  He  died  at  Jena  in  1 80 1.  His  published 
works  contain  10  svmphonies,  4  do.  for  2  violins 
and  orchestra,  7  concertos  for  violin,  I  for  viola, 
and  i  for  piano;  also  many  quartets,  trios,  etc. 
(4)  Another  son  of  Johann  Karl  was  ANTON,  born 
at  Mannheim  1755.  He  went  to  Paris  with 
Karl,  and  published  much  for  the  violin,  of  which 
a  list  is  given  by  Fe'tis.  [G.] 

STANFORD,  CHARLES  VILLIERS,  composer 
and  conductor,  born  Sept.  30,  1852,  at  Dublin, 
where  his  father,  an  enthusiastic  amateur,  was 
Examiner  in  the  Court  of  Chancery.  He  studied 
composition  with  A.  O'Leary  and  Sir  Robert 
Stewart ;  matriculated  at  Queen's  College,  Cam 
bridge,  as  choral  scholar;  in  1873  succeeded  Dr. 
J.  L.  Hopkins  as  organist  of  Trinity  College,  gra 
duated  there  in  Classical  Honours  in  1874,  and 
was  appointed  conductor  of  the  Cambridge  Univer 
sity  Musical  Society.  In  1874,  5,  and  6,  he  studied 
with  Reinecke  at  Leipzig,  and  Kiel  at  Berlin  ; 
proceeded  M.A.  in  1877  ;  wrote  an  Overture  for 
the  Gloucester  Festival  in  the  same  year,  which 
was  afterwards  played  at  the  Crystal  Palace,  and 
a  Psalm  (the 46th,  op.  8),  performed  at  Cambridge, 
May  22,  1877,  and  a^  a  Richter  Concert.  At  the 
request  of  Mr.  Tennyson  he  composed  the  overture, 
songs,  and  entractes  for  '  Queen  Mary '  (op.  6), 
when  that  play  was  produced  at  the  Lyceum, 
April  1 8,  1876.  His  Symphony  in  Bb  was  per 
formed  at  the  Crystal  Palace,  March  S,  1879. 

On  Feb.  6,  1881,  his  opera  'The  Veiled  Pro 
phet  of  Khorassan,'  in  3  acts,  libretto  by  W.  B. 
Squire,  after  Moore,  was  produced  at  the  Court 
Theatre,  Hanover,  with  German  version  by 
Kapellmeister  Frank,  published  by  Boosey  &  Co. 
and  Bote  &  Bock.  An  Elegiac  Symphony  in  D 
minor  was  produced  at  Cambridge,  March  7, 
1882;  and  a  Serenade  in  5  movements,  also  for 
full  orchestra  (op.  i  7),  at  the  Birmingham  Fes 
tival,  1882,  with  great  success,  and  repeated 
at  Bristol.  Thus  far  every  year  has  scored  a 
success,  and  we  may  hope  that  a  new  3-act 
opera,  '  Savonarola  ' — words  by  G.  A.  A'Beckett 
—announced  for  production  at  Hamburg  in  the 
autumn,  will  not  prove  an  exception.  In  chamber 
music  Mr.  Stanford  has  been  equally  active.  He 
has  published  a  Suite  and  Toccata  for  PF.  solo 
(ops.  2  and  3);  a  Sonata  for  Pb\  and  violin  in  D 
(op.  ii),  and  another  for  PF.  and  cello  in  A 
(op.  9) — both  produced  at  Franke's  Chamber 
Concerts,  1882  ;  3  Intermezzos  for  PF.  and 
clarinet  (op.  13);  a  String  Quartet  in  F  (op. 


690 


STANFORD. 


STARK. 


15)  ;  8  Songs  by  George  Eliot  (op.  i) ;  6  do. 
by  Heine  (op.  4) ;  6  do.  by  do.  (op.  7) ;  6  Songs 
(op.  14).  In  church  music  he  is  known  by  a 
Morning,  Communion,  and  Evening  Service  in  Bb 
(op.  10),  and  an  Evening  do.  (Sons  of  the  Clergy, 
1880)  for  chorus,  orchestra,  and  organ  (op.  12); 
also  2  hymns  by  Klopstock  (ops.  5  and  16).  He 
has  edited  Leo's  'Dixit  Dominus'  inC,  and  in  his 
capacity  of  conductor  of  the  Cambridge  University 
Musical  Society,  has  given  first  performances  in 
England  of  Schumann's  3rd  part  of  'Faust,' 
Brahms's  C  minor  Symphony  and  Rhapsodie 
(op.  53),  Kiel's  Requiem,  etc.  Under  Mr.  Stan 
ford  the  society  just  mentioned  has  become  a 
power  in  the  country,  and  his  influence  has 
stimulated  music  at  Cambridge  to  a  remarkable 
degree  of  activity,  which  has  yet  to  be  imitated 
at  Oxford.  He  is  Professor  of  Composition  and 
Orchestral  playing  at  the  Royal  College  of  Music, 
London.  [G.] 

STANLEY,  JOHN,  Mus.  Bac.,  born  in  London 
in  1713,  at  two  years  old  became  blind  by  ac 
cident,  at  seven  began  to  learn  music  from  John 
Reading,  organist  of  Hackney,  and  a  few  months 
later  was  placed  with  Maurice  Greene,  under 
whom  he  made  such  rapid  progress  that  in  1724 
he  was  appointed  organist  of  All  Hallows,  Bread 
Street,  and  in  1 726  organist  of  St.  Andrew's,  Hoi- 
born.  On  July  19,  1729,  he  graduated  as  Mus. 
Bac.  at  Oxford.  In  1734  he  was  appointed  one  of 
the  organists  of  the  Temple  Church.  In  1 742  he 
published  '  Six  Cantatas,  for  a  Voice  and  Instru 
ments,'  the  words  by  Hawkins,  the  future  historian 
of  music,  which  proved  so  successful  that  a  few 
months  later  he  published  a  similar  set  to  words 
by  the  same  author.  In  1757  he  produced  his 
'  Jephthah,'  and  in  1760  joined  J.  C.  Smith  in 
carrying  on  the  oratorio  performances  formerly 
conducted  by  Handel,  for  which  he  composed 
'Zimri,'  1760,  and  'The  Fall  of  Egypt,1  1774. 
In  1761  he  set  to  music  Robert  Lloyd's  dramatic 
pastoral,  'Arcadia,  or  The  Shepherd's  Wedding,' 
written  in  honour  of  the  marriage  of  George  III. 
and  Queen  Charlotte.  He  published  also  '  Three 
Cantatas  and  Three  Songs  for  a  Voice  and  In 
struments,'  and  three  sets,  of  12  each,  of  Organ 
Voluntaries.  In  1774,  on  the  retirement  of  Smith, 
he  associated  Thomas  Linley  with  himself  in  the 
conduct  of  the  oratorios.  In  1779  he  succeeded 
Dr.  Boyce  as  Master  of  the  King's  Band  of 
Music.  Burney  says  he  was  '  a  neat,  pleasing, 
and  accurate  performer,  a  natural  and  agreeable 
composer,  and  an  intelligent  instructor.'  He  died 
May  19,  1786.  His  portrait  by  Gainsborough 
was  finely  engraved  by  Mary  Ann  Rigg  (after 
wards  Scott),  and  another  portrait,  at  the  organ, 
was  engraved  by  Mac  Ardell.  [W.H.H.] 

STANSBURY,  GEORGE  FREDERICK,  son  of 
Joseph  Stansbury,  a  player  upon  the  flute,  bassoon 
and  viola,  residing  in  Bristol,  was  born  in  that 
city  in  1800.  When  only  12  years  old  he  was 
proficient  on  the  pianoforte,  violin,  and  flute,  and 
at  19  was  engaged  by  Mine.  Catalani  as  accom 
pany  ist  during  a  concert  tour  through  England. 
He  was  afterwards  director  of  the  music  at  the 


Theatre  Royal,  Dublin,  where  he  made  his  ap 
pearance  as  a  composer  with  an  overture  to  '  Life 
in  Dublin.'  In  1828  he  appeared  at  the  Hay- 
market  Theatre  as  Capt.  Macheath  in  'The 
Beggar's  Opera,'  and  on  Jan.  15,  1829,  at  Covent 
Garden  in  A.  Lee's  'Nymph  of  the  Grotto.'  He 
continued  there  and  at  Drury  Lane  for  several 
years.  He  was  afterwards  engaged  as  musical 
director  and  conductor  at  the  St.  James's,  the 
Surrey,  and  other  theatres.  He  composed  music 
for  '  Waverley '  (with  A.  Lee),  and  '  Puss  in 
Boots,'  1832  ;  'The  Elfin  Sprite,'  and  'Neuha's 
Cave,'  1833,  and  other  pieces,  besides  many 
songs,  etc.  His  voice  was  of  poor  quality,  but  he 
was  an  excellent  musician,  and  a  ready  composer. 
He  died  of  dropsy,  June  3,  1845.  *  [W.H.H.] 

STARCK  (von  Bronsart),  INGEBORG,  was  born 
at  St.  Petersburg,  of  Swedish  parents,  12-24 
August,  1840.  Henselt  was  one  of  her  first 
masters.  When  18  she  studied  for  some  time 
under  Liszt  at  Weimar,  and  then  made  a  long 
concert  tour  through  the  principal  towns  of  Ger 
many,  playing  at  the  Gewandhaus  Concerts  in 
1858  and  1859,  at  Paris  and  St.  Petersburg.  In 
1 86 1  she  married  Hans  von  Bronsart.  After 
staying  some  time  in  Leipzig,  Dresden,  and 
Berlin,  Herr  Bronsart  and  his  wife  settled  in 
Hanover,  where  he  is  Intendant  of  the  theatre. 
Here  she  devoted  herself  entirely  to  composition. 
An  opera  by  her,  'Die  Gottin  von  Sais,'  had 
been  unsuccessful  in  Berlin,  but  her  next  dra 
matic  work,  a  setting  of  Goethe's  'Jery  und 
Bately,'  was  played  with  great  success  in  Weimar, 
Cassel,  and  many  other  places.  In  1870  she 
wrote  a  '  Kaiser  Wilhelm  March,'  which  was 
played  at  Berlin  at  a  state  performance  to  cele 
brate  the  return  of  the  troops.  She  has  since 
completed  a  four-act  opera  '  Kb'nig  Hiarne,'  the 
libretto  by  Hans  von  Bronsart  and  Friedrich 
von  Bodenstedt.  Since  settling  in  Hanover,  Frau 
von  Bronsart,  who  is  a  pianist  of  rare  excellence, 
has  seldom  been  heard  in  public.  She  has  how 
ever  played  duets  for  two  pianos  with  Liszt  at 
concerts  in  Hanover.  Her  compositions,  include 
a  concerto  and  other  PF.  pieces,  many  songs, 
and  some  music  for  strings.  [W.B.S.] 

STARK,  LUDWIG,  was  born  at  Munich  June 
19,  1831;  was  educated  at  the  University  there, 
and  learned  music  in  the  good  school  of  the 
Lachners.  In  1856  he  went  to  Paris,  and  after 
a  short  residence  there  removed  to  StuttgJirt, 
and  in  conjunction  with  Lebert,  Brachmann, 
and  Laiblin,  founded  the  Stuttgart  Music  School, 
which  has  since  become  so  well  known.  Among 
the  teachers  in  the  school  were  Speidel,  Faisst, 
Pischek,  Levi,  and  other  well-known  names.  Dr. 
Stark's  energies  have  been  since  that  time  con 
tinually  concentrated  on  the  school,  which  has 
flourished  accordingly,  and  in  July  1865  was 
allowed  to  assume  the  title  of  Conservatorium. 
Among  the  present  teachers  are  Dionys  Pruckner 
(piano),  Edmund  Singer  (violin),  etc.  At  the 
end  of  the  5Oth  half-year,  April  15,  1882,  the 
number  of  professional  scholars  was  140  (12 
English),  44  male  and  96  female.  But  in  1878 


STARK. 

the  number  appears  to  have  reached  222.  More 
than  5000  pupils  have  been  educated  in  the 
Conservatorium,  of  whom  540  were  from  Great 
Britain  and  436  from  America. 

A  large  number  of  works  have  been  prepared 
for  the  use  of  the  students,  among  which  the 
'Grosse  Klavierschule'  of  Leberfc  and  Stark,  in 
4  vols.,  is  conspicuous.  Also  by  the  same — '  In- 
struktive  Klavierstucke'  in  4  grades;  '  Jugend- 
bibliothek '  and  '  Jugendalbum/  each  in  1 2  parts ; 
'  Instruktive  klassicher  Ausgabe,'  of  various 
writers,  in  21  vols.,  by  Lebert,  Faisst,  I.  Lach- 
ner,  Liszt,  and  Biilow  ;  and  many  more. 

Dr.  Stark  was  made  Royal  Professor  in  1868, 
and  Hon.  Dr.  Ph.  1 8 73,  and  has  many  other  distinc 
tions.  His  latest  publication  is  op.  7  7,  part-songs. 

SIGMUND  LEBERT,  the  real  founder  of  the  Stutt 
gart  Conservatoire,  was  born  at  Ludwigsburg,  in 
Wurtemberg,  Dec.  12,  1822,  and  got  his  musical 
education  from  Tomaschek  and  D.  Weber  at 
Prague.  He  settled  in  Munich  as  a  pianoforte 
teacher  for  some  years  before  he  started  the 
music  school.  He  is  a  very  accomplished  and 
successful  teacher,  though  the  merit  of  his  sys 
tem — the  percussive  one,  which  often  leads  to 
thumping — may  be  questioned.  [G.] 

STAUDENHEIM,  JACOB  RITTEB  VON— who 
was  Beethoven's  medical  man  during  his  last  years 
— born  at  Mainz  1764,  died  at  Vienna,  May  17, 
1830,  was  one  of  the  most  distinguished  physicians 
of  his  time.  He  studied  in  Paris,  Augsburg,  and 
Vienna,  where,  after  two  years  practice  in  Hun 
gary,  he  settled.  He  early  gained  the  favour  of 
the  Harrach  family,  which  introduced  him  to  an 
extensive  practice  among  the  highest  ranks  of 
the  Austrian  nobility.  In  1826  he  treated  the  Em 
peror  Franz  so  successfully,  as  to  be  appointed 
physician  to  the  Duke  of  Reichstadt,  son  of 
Napoleon  and  Marie  Louise.  [A.W.T.] 

STATJDIGL,  JOSEPH,  one  of  the  most  dis 
tinguished  and  accomplished  singers  of  modern 
times,  born  April  14,  1807,  at  Wb'llersdorf,  in 
Lower  Austria.  His  father  destined  him  for 
his  own  calling,  that  of  Imperial  huntsman 
(Revierjager),  but  for  this  he  was  not  sufficiently 
strong,  and  in  1816  he  entered  the  Gymnasium 
of  Wiener  Neustadt,  where  his  beautiful  soprano 
voice  soon  attracted  attention  in  the  church.  In 
1823  he  attended  the  philosophical  college  at 
Krems,  and  was  persuaded,  in  1825,  to  enter 
upon  his  noviciate  in  the  Benedictine  Monastery 
at  Melk.  Here  his  voice,  which  had  developed 
into  a  fine  sonorous  bass,  was  invaluable  for  the 
church  services.  A  vague  impulse  drove  him 
in  Sept.  1827  to  Vienna  to  study  surgery,  but 
money  ran  short,  and  he  was  glad  to  accept  a 
place  in  the  chorus  at  the Karnthnerthor  Theatre. 
Here  he  took  occasional  secondary  parts,  until 
the  sudden  illness  of  one  of  the  solo  singers 
brought  him  forward  as  Pietro  in  the  '  Stumme 
von  Portici,'  after  which  all  the  principal  parts 
fell  into  his  hands.  High  as  was  his  position 
on  the  stage,  he  was  still  greater  as  a  singer 
of  oratorio  and  church  music.  For  this  branch 
of  music  he  had  not  only  an  inborn  love,  but 


STAVE. 


691 


great  natural  gifts,  especially  quickness  of 
comprehension,  and  an  extraordinary  power  of 
singing  at  sight.  In  1831  he  was  admitted  to 
the  Court  Chapel,  and  in  1837  sang  for  the  first 
time  at  the  great  musical  festival  of  the  Gesell- 
schaft  der  Musikfreunde  in  the  '  Creation.'  In 
1833  he  sang  in  the  'Seasons'  for  the  Ton- 
kiinstler  Soc'etat,  a  society  to  which  he  ren 
dered  the  greatest  services.  Though  not  even  a 
member,  he  sang  at  no  less  than  eighty  of  its 
concerts,  and  absolutely  declined  to  accept  any 
fee.  Differences  with  the  management  of  the 
Court  Theatre  led  him  to  the  theatre  '  An  der 
Wien'  on  its  reopening  in  1845.  There  he 
acted  as  chief  manager,  and,  with  Pischek  and 
Jenny  Lind,  entered  on  a  series  of  fresh 
triumphs.  He  returned  to  the  Court  Theatre 
in  1848,  but  only  to  expose  himself  to  fresh 
annoyance  up  to  February  1854,  when  an 
abrupt  dismissal  embittered  the  rest  of  his  life. 
His  last  appearance  in  public  was  in  '  St.  Paul,' 
at  the  Tonkiinstler  Societat,  on  Palm  Sunday 
1856.  A  few  days  after,  insanity  developed 
itself,  and  he  was  taken  to  an  asylum,  which  he 
never  quitted  alive.  His  repeated  tours  abroad 
spread  his  fame  far  and  wide,  and  he  had  many 
admirers  in  England,  which  he  often  visited,  and 
where  he  sang  in  English.  He  created  the  part 
of  '  Elijah '  at  the  Birmingham  Festival  of  1 846, 
singing  the  music  at  sight  at  the  grand  re 
hearsal.  As  a  singer  of  Schubert's  Lieder  he 
was  without  a  rival;  those  who  were  happy 
enough  to  have  heard  him  sing  the  'Erlkonig,' 
the  '  Wanderer,'  '  Gruppe  aus  dem  Tartarus,'  or 
'  Aufenthalt,'  will  never  forget  it.  It  was  most 
touching  to  hear  him  giving  the  '  Wanderer ' 
in  the  asylum  with  all  his  old  power,  accom 
panied  on  the  pianoforte  by  a  gifted  young 
musician  named  Vincenz  Wagner,  who  has  been 
seventeen  times  in  the  institution,  and  is  there 
at  the  present  moment.  He  died  March  28, 
1 86 1,  and  half  Vienna  followed  him  to  the  grave. 
One  of  the  pall-bearers  was  the  first  tenor,  Aloys 
Ander,  then  happily  ignorant  that  death  would 
before  long  release  him  (Dec.  II,  1864)  fr°m  a 
similar  sad  fate.  [See  vol.  i.  p.  656.] 

Staudigl  was  a  man  of  varied  gifts  and  ardent 
temperament.  Whatever  he  undertook  he  pur 
sued  passionately,  whether  it  were  hunting, 
painting,  chemistry,  chess,  or  billiards ;  he  was 
frank,  open,  and  amiable;  many  a  young  com 
poser  owes  his  first  introduction  to  the  public 
to  Staudigl's  interpretation  of  his  songs. 

His  youngest  son,  JOSEPH,  born  March  1 8, 1 850, 
possesses  a  flexible  sonorous  baryton,  which  he 
cultivated  with  success  under  Herr  Rokitansky 
at  the  Vienna  Conservatorium  till  1874,  when 
he  left.  He  has  already  made  his  mark  as  an 
oratorio  singer  in  the  principal  towns  of  Ger 
many  and  Switzerland.  Since  1875  he  has  been 
engaged  at  the  Court  Theatre  of  Carlsruhe,  and 
has  lately  been  appointed  chamber-singer  to  the 
Grand  Duke.  [C.F.P.] 

STAVE  (Lat.  System  a ;  Ital.  Sistema,  Le 
linee  su  cui  si  scrivon  le  note;  Germ.  Linien- 
system,  System;  Fr.  Portee;  Eng.  Stave, 

Yy2 


69-2 


STAVE. 


Staff).  A  series  of  horizontal  lines,  so  arranged 
that  the  signs  used  for  the  representation  of 
musical  notes  may  be  written  upon,  or  between 
them. 

Though  the  etymology  of  the  term  cannot  be 
proved,  its  derivation  from  the  familiar  Saxon 
root  is  too  obvious  to  admit  of  doubt.  Its  use, 
as  applied  to  the  verses  of  a  Psalm,  Canticle,  or 
Ditty  of  any  kind,  is  very  antient,  and,  as  we 
shall  presently  show,  the  music  sung  to  such 
verses  was  originally  noted  down  in  such  close 
connection  with  the  verbal  text  that  it  may  fairly 
be  said  to  form  part  of  it.  When  a  system  of 
lines  and  spaces  was  engrafted  on  the  primitive 
form  of  Notation,  the  old  term  was  still  re 
tained  ;  and  we  now  apply  it  to  this,  even  more 
familiarly  than  to  the  verse  itself.  The  best 
proof  that  this  is  the  true  derivation  of  the  term 
lies  in  the  fact  that  Morley  calls  the  Stave  a  Verse, 
and  describes  the  Verse  as  consisting  of  Rules 1 
and  Spaces.  Dr.  Callcott,  and  some  few  other 
writers,  call  it  a  Staff:  but,  Stave  and  Staff  are 
both  derived  from  the  same  primitive  root,  and 
are  similarly  written — though  not  similarly  pro 
nounced — in  the  plural  form. 

These  signs — first  called  Neumse,  then  Points, 
and  now  Notes — were  originally  written  above 
the  verbal  text  with  which  they  were  connected, 
in  positions  which  vaguely  indicated  the  com 
parative  gravity  or  acuteness  of  the  sounds  they 
represented,  but  not  with  sufficient  clearness  to 
teach  the  Melody  to  Singers  who  had  not  pre 
viously  learned  it  by  ear.2  Attempts  were  made, 
from  time  to  time,  to  distinguish  the  actual,  as 
well  as  the  comparative  pitch  of  the  sounds  indi 
cated  ;  or,  at  least,  to  demonstrate  the  comparative 
pitch  with  greater  certainty.  But,  no  radical  im 
provement  was  introduced,  until  about  the  year 
900,  when  a  single  horizontal  line  was  drawn 
across  the  parchment,  to  serve  as  a  guide  to  the 
position  of  the  Neumae  written  upon,  above,  or 
below  it.3  This  line,  the  germ  of  our  present 
Stave,  has  exercised  more  direct  influence  upon 
the  Art  of  Notation  than  any  other  invention, 
either  of  early  or  modern  date.  It  was  originally 
drawn  in  red.  All  Neumse  placed  upon  it  were 
understood  to  represent  the  note  F.  A  Neuma 
written  immediately  above  it  represented  G ;  one 
immediately  below  it,  E.  The  places  of  three 
signs  were,  therefore,  definitely  fixed ;  while  those 
written  at  greater  distances  above  or  below  the 
line,  though  less  certain  in  their  signification, 
were  at  least  more  intelligible  than  they  had  been 
under  the  previous  system. 

A  yellow  line  was  soon  afterwards  added,  at  a 
little  distance  above  the  red  one.  Neumge  written 
on  this  line  represented  the  note  C  ;  and  the  posi 
tion  of  a  whole  septenary  of  signs  was  thus  fixed, 
with  tolerable  clearness  :  for,  signs  placed  exactly 
half  way  between  the  two  lines  would  naturally 
represent  A ;  while  the  positions  of  D,  and  B, 
above  and  below  the  yellow  line,  and  G  and  F, 
above  and  below  the  red  one,  were  open  to  very 

'  '  Eules,'  i.  e.  lines.    Printers  still  employ  the  same  term. 

2  See  the  upper  example  on  p.  468,  vol.  ii. 

3  See  the  lower  example  on  the  same  page. 


STAVE. 

little  doubt,  in  carefully-written  MSS.  When 
black  lines  were  used,  instead  of  coloured  ones,  the 
letters  F,  and  C,  were  written  at  the  beginning 
of  their  respective  '  rules  ' ;  and  because  these 
afforded  a  key  to  the  Notation,  they  were  called 
Claves,  or,  as  we  now  say,  Clefs* 

Early  in  the  nth  century,  two  more  black 
lines  were  added  to  the  Stave :  one,  above  the 
yellow  line ;  and  the  other,  between  the  yellow 
and  red  ones.  The  upper  black  line  then  repre 
sented  E,  and  the  lower  one,  A;  and  the 
combined  effect  of  the  whole  was,  to  produce 
a  four-lined  Stave,  exactly  like  that  now  used  in 
the  Gregorian  system  of  Notation.  In  fact, 
when  convenience  suggested — as  it  very  soon 
did — the  practice  of  changing  the  position  of 
the  Clefs  from  one  line  to  another,  there  re 
mained  but  little  to  distinguish  the  Notation  of 
the  1 2th  and  I3th  century  from  that  now  in 
variably  used  for  Plain  Chaunt. 

The  invention  of  the  two  additional  lines  has 
been  ascribed  to  Guido  d'Arezzo;  but  it  seems 
more  probable  that  he  was  the  first  to  mention 
the  improvements  known  in  his  day,  than  that 
he  himself  first  introduced  them.  We  do  not 
possess  sufficient  evidence  to  set  this  question 
at  rest.  A  MS.  Troparium,  in  the  Bodleian 
Library  at  Oxford,  dating  from  the  reign  of  King 
Ethelred  II  (978-1016),  contains  examples  of 
mediaeval  Notation,  in  which  the  position  of  the 
Neumse  is  expressed  both  with,  and  without, 
the  assistance  of  the  rudimentary  Stave.5  In 
the  earlier  pages  of  this  MS. — extending  as  far 
as  fol.  131 — the  Neumse  are  not  even  accom 
panied  by  the  single  line :  but,  in  the  middle  of 
fol.  131  b,  a  four-lined  Stave  is  introduced,  with 
Neumse  written  both  on  the  lines,  and  in  the 
spaces  between  them.6  The  date  of  the  pages 
written  in  simple  Neumae  is  proved,  beyond  all 
dispute,  by  a  Litany  containing  the  words  (Ut 
^Ethelredum  regem  et  exercitum  Anglorum  con- 
servare  digneris.' 7  This  point  has  never  been 
disputed ;  and  if  we  could  assume  the  remainder 
of  the  document  to  be  of  equal  antiquity,  as  was 
once  thought,  we  should  have  evidence  enough  to 
prove  that  the  system  based  upon  the  combined 
employment  of  lines  and  spaces  was  used,  in 
England,  some  considerable  time  before  Guido 
described  it  in  Italy.  But  the  four-lined  Stave 
in  question  proves  on  examination  by  the  micro 
scope,8  to  be  a  mere  modern  substitution  for  the 
original  notation  of  the  MS.,  which  is  in  some 
places  still  to  be  seen  through  the  imperfect 
erasures.  The  opinion  expressed  in  the  article 
NOTATION  (on  the  authority  of  the  late  Librarian 
of  the  Bodleian)  is  therefore  no  longer  tenable. 
[See  vol.  ii.  p.  470.] 

The  difficulty,  however,  is  one  of  dates  only. 
Whenever  or  wherever  it  was  first  employed, 
the  four-lined  Stave  can  only  be  regarded  as  the 
natural  development  of  the  system,  which,  in  its 

*  See  the  first  example  on  p.  469  o,  vol.  ii. 

5  Bodley  MSS.  775. 

6  A  facsimile  of  the  middle  portion  of  fol.  131  b  of  the  Ethelred  MS., 
will  be  found  in  vcl.  ii.  p.  470. 

7  Fol.  186. 

8  The  Editor  is  indebted  for  this  to  Professor  Moseley,  F.R.S.,  who 
kindly  made  the  examination  at  his  request. 


STAVE. 


STEFFANI. 


693 


rudimentary  form,  used  a  single  red  line  to  de 
termine  the  place  of  a  single  note.  The  employ 
ment  of  the  spaces  between  the  lines  springs  from 
the  custom  of  writing  Neumae  above,  or  below,  the 
normal  red  line,  as  well  as  upon  it.  The  advantage 
of  the  system  lies  in  the  combination  of  these  two 
methods.  Yet  this  advantage  was  not,  at  first, 
very  generally  understood.  Early  in  the  I  oth  cen 
tury,  Hucbaldus  invented  a  Stave  consisting  of  an 
indefinite  number  of  lines,  between  which  he  wrote 
the  syllables  he  intended  to  be  sung,  without  the 
aid  of  Neumae,  upon  a  principle  which  will  be  found 
fully  explained  at  page  469  of  our  second  volume. 
Here,  then,  was  a  Stave,  of  which  the  spaces 
only  were  used,  while  the  lines  lay  idle.  Con 
temporary  with  this — as  nearly  as  can  be  ascer 
tained — was  another  kind  of  Stave,  also  consist 
ing  of  an  indefinite  number  of  lines,  on  which 
the  notes  to  be  sung  were  indicated  by  points. 
An  example  of  this  form,  in  which  the  spaces  lay 
idle,  will  also  be  found  at  page  469  b,  vol.  ii.  But, 
these  collateral  inventions  soon  fell  into  disuse. 
The  system  of  alternate  lines  and  spaces  was 
adopted,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  others,  in  every 
country  in  Europe.  Henceforth,  the  only  differ 
ence  lay  in  the  number  of  lines  employed.  The 
natural  tendency,  at  first,  was,  to  multiply  them. 
In  early  MSS.  we  constantly  find  Staves  of  six, 
eight,  twelve,  fifteen,  and  even  a  still  greater 
number  of  lines,  embracing  a  compass  sufficient 
for  the  transcription  of  an  entire  Vocal  Score.1 
After  a  time,  the  difficulty  of  reading  so  many 
lines  at  once,  led  to  the  adoption  of  a  more  com 
modious  form,  consisting  of  two  groups,  with  four 
black  lines  in  each,  separated  by  a  single  red 
line.  Staves  of  this  kind  are  rare;  but  an  ex 
ample  may  be  seen  at  fol.  201  a  of  the  Chaucer 
MS.  in  the  British  Museum.2  Finally,  these 
variable  forms  were  relinquished,  in  favour  of  a 
fixed  standard,  which,  in  the  I5th  and  i6th  cen 
turies,  admitted  the  use  of  four,  five,  or  six  lines 
only.  The  Stave  of  four  lines  was  used  exclu 
sively  for  Plain  Chaunt,  and  is  retained  for  that 
purpose  to  the  present  day.  That  of  six  lines 
was  used  for  Organ  Music,  and  Music  for  the 
Virginals.  That  of  five  lines  was  used  for  all 
Vocal  Music,  except  Plain  Chaunt ;  and,  after  the 
invention  of  printing,  for  Music  of  every  kind. 

It  seems  scarcely  likely  that  the  Stave  of  five 
lines  will  ever  be  superseded ;  or  that  that  with 
four  lines  will  be  discontinued  for  Plain  Chaunt. 
A  private  attempt  made,  some  twenty  years  ago, 
to  revive  the  six-lined  Stave,  for  the  purpose  of 
reducing  the  F  and  G  clefs  to  a  common  stan 
dard,  failed  instantly.  [W.S.E.] 

STEFFANI,  AGOSTINO.  This  very  remark 
able  man  was  born  in  1655  at  Castel franco, 
between  Bassano  and  Treviso,  six  years  after 
Alessandro  Scarlatti  and  three  years  before  Pur- 
cell.  Of  his  parentage  nothing  is  known.  He 
appears  to  have  entered  one  of  the  Conservatorios 
early,  and  become  a  singing  boy  at  St.  Mark's 
in  Venice,  where  in  1667  he  was  heard  by  a 
Count  Tattenbach,  probably  an  emissary  of  the 


J  See  vol.  iii.  p.  428. 


2  Arundel  MSS.  248. 


Court  of  Bavaria.  The  Count  was  so  delighted 
with  his  voice  and  intelligence,  that  he  carried  him 
off  to  Munich.  He  was  educated  at  the  expense 
of  the  Elector  Ferdinand  Maria,  as  appears  from 
a  decree3  of  July  26,  1668,  ordering  a  payment 
of  150  florins  to  Count  Tattenbach  for  the  board 
and  lodging  of  the  '  Welscher  Musikus  Augustin 
Steffani '  during  the  previous  year.  By  another  de 
cree  of  July  9,  1668,  the  young  '  Churf  iirstliche 
Kammer-  und  Hofmusikus'  had  been  already  ap 
prenticed  to  Johann  Kaspar  Kerl  to  learn  to 
play  (schlagcn)  the  organ,  and  to  be  boarded,  for 
the  yearly  sum  of  432  florins.  A  further  entry 
of  the  pay  office  shows  that  the  yearly  cost  of 
the  Hof-  and  Kammermusikus  was,  for  1669, 
903  fl.  12  kr. ;  for  1670,  997  fl.  He  remained 
with  Kerl  till  Oct.  I,  1671,  from  which  day  he 
was  boarded  and  lodged  by  the  Churfiirstlichen 
Kammerdiener  Seyler  for  1 56  fl.  a  year.  As 
Hofmusikus,  Steffani  received  300  fl.,  in  addition 
to  a  clothing  allowance  of  300  fl.  a  year,  by  a 
decree  of  Jan.  15,  1672.  At  the  commencement 
of  Oct.  1673  he  travelled  to  Rome  in  order  to 
perfect  himself  in  his  art.  Here  he  began  to 
compose  assiduously,  for  there  is  a  small  oblong 
volume  of  motets  in  the  Fitzwilliam  Museum  at 
Cambridge,  an  original  MS.,  of  which  there  seems 
no  reason  to  doubt  the  authenticity.  This  is,  as 
far  as  I  know,  the  only  autograph  score  of  his  in 
existence,  and  strange  to  say  has  hitherto  been 
unnoticed.  In  it  we  find  the  following  composi 
tions,  all  dated  except  one.  To  speak  of  them 
chronologically: — the  first,  dated  Nov.  1673,  is  a 
'  Laudate  Pueri '  for  9  voices,  divided  into  2  choirs, 
the  first  composed  of  S.  S.  A.  T.  B.,  and  the  second 
of  S.  A.  T.  B.  It  contains  some  fine  part-writing 
and  massive  effects,  also  an  astonishing  bass 
passage. 


in     ter  -  ra 


The  next,  dated  Dec.  30,  1673,  is  a  splendid 
and  altogether  remarkable  'Laudate  Dominum 
for  8  canti  concertati,  divided  into  2  choirs. 
in  which  the  most  beautiful  part-writing  anc 
counterpoint  are  combined.  Again  in  1673, 
with  no  month  given,  we  have  a  'Tribuamu: 
Domino' — one  short  movement  for  2  choirs  o; 
S.  S.  A.  T.,  without  any  bass  voice  part.  Ir 
the  following  year  we  have  a  '  Sperate  in  Deo 
for  S.  S.  A.  T.  B.  in  three  fine  movements,  th< 
last  a  fugue.  In  one  of  the  movements  ther< 
is  a  very  bold  passage  in  thirds  in  contrary 
motion.  The  remaining  piece,  not  dated,  is  i 
'Beatus  vir'  for  S.  S.B.,  with  2  violins  and  i 
bass,  not  quite  equal  to  the  other  compositions. 
In  Rome  he  appears  to  have  had  a  long  illness 
as  he  received  50  crowns  extra  for  expense; 
incurred  while  laid  up.  This  illness,  and  a  journe] 
to  Venice,  for  which  he  received  a  sum  of  665  fl 
ii  kr.  in  three  instalments,  render  it  improbabh 
that  he  found  time  to  take  lessons  from  ErcoL 


3  See  Rudhart's  '  Geschichte  der  Oper  am  Hofe  zu  Miinchen.  Nac 
archivalischen  Quellen  bearbeitet.  Erster  Theil,  Die  Italiiinisch 
Oper,  1651-1787.' 


694 


STEFFANI. 


Bernabei  in  Rome,  for  both  Steffkni  and  he  were 
in  Munich  in  the  summer  of  1674.  Bernabei 
succeeded  Kerl  as  Kapellmeister  at  Munich  in 
that  year.  After  his  return  Steffani  again  took 
up  his  position  as  Kammerrnusikus  with  a  pay  of 
770  fl.  20  kr.,  and  almost  immediately  published 
his  first  work,  '  Psalmodia  vespertina  volans  8 
plenis  vocibus  concinenda  ab  Augost.  Steffana 
in  lucem  edita  setatis  suse  anno  19  Monachii 
1674.'  This  work  was  a  brilliant  success  for  the 
young  composer,  and  a  portion  of  it  was  thought 
worthy  of  being  included  by  Padre  Martini  in 
his  'Saggio  di  Contrappunto,'  published  just  a 
hundred  years  later.  The  extract  is  a  fugue 
'  Sicut  erat  in  principio,' '  estratto  dal  Magnificat 
dei  Salmi  brevi  a  8  voci  pieni.'  Padre  Martini 
here  speaks  of  Steffani  as  one  of  the  most  remark 
able  professors  that  music  can  boast.  Hawkins 
mentions  that  this  work  was  previously  printed 
during  his  stay  in  Rome  in  1674,  so  that  the 
generally  received  notion  of  his  having  been  a 
pupil  of  Ercole  Bernabei  is  in  all  likelihood 
erroneous,1  but  that  he  gathered  his  knowledge 
from  John  Kaspar  Kerl,  a  pupil  and  follower  of 
Carissimi,  and  from  his  own  study.  On  March  I, 
1675,  he  was  appointed  court  organist. 

But  music  was  not  the  only  study  which  had 
occupied  his  mind ;  he  must  have  been  well 
educated  from  his  early  youth,  for  though  he  left 
Venice  before  he  was  12  years  old  his  writing 
remained  through  life  an  Italian  hand.  He  had 
studied  mathematics,  philosophy,  and  theology 
with  so  much  success  that  in  1680  he  was 
ordained  a  priest  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
with  the  title  of  Abbate  of  Lepsing ;  and  such 
was  the  favour  shown  to  him  by  the  new  Elector, 
his  old  friend  Ferdinand  Maria  having  died  the 
year  before,  that  a  decree  of  Nov.  3, 1 680,  accords 
to  the  'Honourable  priest,  Court  and  Chamber 
musician,  and  Organist  Steffani,'  a  present  of 
1 200  florins  for  '  certain  reasons  and  favours ' 
(gewissen  Ursachen  und  Gnaden).  Hitherto  he 
had  confined  himself  to  the  composition  of  motets 
and  other  church  music,  but  now  appeared  his 
first  work  for  the  stage.  The  title,  taken  from 
the  contemporary  MS.,  evidently  the  conducting 
score,  in  the  Royal  Musical  Library  at  Bucking 
ham  Palace,  in  an  Italian  hand,  probably  that 
of  his  secretary  and  copyist  Gregorio  Piva,  runs 
thus : — '  Marco  Aurelio,  Dramma  posto  in  Musica 
da  D.  Agostino  Steffani,  Direttor  della  Musica 
di  Camera  di  S.  A.  S.  etc.,  di  Baviera,  Tanno 
1681.'  It  will  be  seen  that  a  further  step  had 
been  gained — he  was  now  Director  of  Chamber- 
music.  The  score  does  not  mention  any  wind 
instruments,  but  the  overture  is  scored  for  5 
strings,  the  songs  chiefly  for  4.  In  the  1st  act 
one  of  the  characters  accompanies  another  on  the 
stage,  but  the  instrument,  probably  a  cembalo,  is 
not  mentioned.  The  overture  opens  with  a  short 
introduction  of  a  broad  character,  followed  by  a 
fine  and  spirited  fugal  movement,  and  ending 
with  a  charming  minuet.  The  first  two  acts  finish 
with  a  ballet ;  but  after  the  3rd  and  last  act  we 

i  Eudhardt  can  find  no  trace  In  the  accounts  at  Munich  of  his 
having  had  any  lessons  from  Beraabei. 


STEFFANI. 

have  a  Scenico  spettacolo  rappresentato  dai  15 
Musici  di  Corie.     This  commences  with  a  mock 
rehearsal,  in.  which  such  sentences  are  found  as 
'  Ah  !  ah !  ah  !  mi  sento  poco  in  voce,'  etc.  (my 
voice  is  in  bad  order).    The  opera  contains  many 
fine  recitatives  and  melodious  airs.    For  the  time 
it  was  written  it  is  a  remarkable  work,  bearing 
traces  of  real  genius.     It  is  curious  to  find  Fetis 
stating  that  the  Da  Capo  was  first  introduced  by 
Alessandro  Scarlatti  in  his  opera '  Teodora,1  given 
in  Rome  in  1693,  whereas  it  is  already  here  in 
general  use  12  years  before,  and  Steffani  himself 
probably  borrowed  it  from  Cavalli,  who  had  greatly 
advanced  opera  since  the  days  of  Monteverde, 
and  whose  works  Steffani  must  have  heard  in 
Venice,  either  in  his  chorister  days  or  during  his 
journey  in  1674.    In  1683  appeared  soroe  Sonate 
da  Camera  for  2  violins,  alto,  and  bass,  and  in 
1685  a  collection  of  motets  entitled  '  Sacer  Janus 
Quadrifrons   3  voc.  Monachii,'  but  no  trace  of 
these  works  is  to  be  found.     For  the  Carnival 
of  1685  he  composed  the  opera  '  Solone,'  to  words 
by  Ventura    Terzago,    court    poet    since    1677. 
This  appears  to  have  been  an  opera  buffa  in  3 
acts ;   the  score  however,  like  all  the  Munich 
operas  by  Steffani  with  the  exception  of  '  Marco 
Aurelio,'  is  lost.     In  conjunction  with  Terzago, 
he  further  composed  in  this  year  a  musical  in 
troduction  for  a  tournament,  with  the  following 
title : — 'Audacia  e  Rispetto,  prerogative  d'Amore, 
disputate  in  Campo  di  Marte.     Torneo  celebrato 
tra  i  carnevaleschi  divertimenti  della  sua  Elleto- 
rale  corte  dal  Seren.     Massimiliano  Emanuele, 
etc.,  nell'  anno  1685.'     The  new  Elector  Maxi 
milian  Emanuel  was  married  at  the  end  of  1685 
to  the  Archduchess  Maria  Antonia,  daughter  of 
Leopold  I.,  and  the  wedding  festivities  in  Munich 
in  the  first  days  of  January  1686  began  with  the 
opera    'Servio   Tullio,'   again   by  Terzago  and 
Steffani,  with  ballets  arranged  by  Rodier,  and 
music  to  them  by  Dardespin,  the  Munich  Concert- 
meister,  danced  by  12  ladies  and  gentlemen  of 
the  court,  with  costumes  from  Paris.    The  music 
made  its  mark,  as  we  shall  see  hereafter.     On 
Jan.  1 8, 1687,  the  birthday  of  the  young  Electress, 
we  have  an  opera — the  text  of  which  was  by  the 
new  Italian  secretary  Luigi  Orlandi,  whose  wife 
sang  on  the  stage — called  '  Alarico  il  Baltha,  cioe 
1'audace,  re  del  Gothi,'  with  ballets  composed, 
arranged,  and  danced  as  before.     For  this  opera 
fresh  Italian  singers  were  brought  from  Italy. 
Of  the  value  of  Steffani's  music  to  it  no  record  is 
given.     In  1688  he  composed  the  opera  '  Niobe, 
regina  di  Thebe,'  probably  for  the  Carnaval,  the 
text  again  by  Orlandi.     This  was  his  last  work 
for  the  Court  of  Munich. 

Various  reasons  have  been  put  forward  to  ac 
count  for  his  leaving  a  court  where  he  had  been 
so  well  treated,  and  where  the  art  of  music  was 
held  in  such  esteem,  for  Munich  had  not  only  at 
this  time  good  singers,  a  good  orchestra,  and  ex 
perienced  and  intelligent  audiences,  but  had  like 
wise  a  splendid  musical  history.  Duke  Albert  III. 
(1438-1460)  was  a  great  patron  of  the  art ;  he 
was  followed  by  other  rulers,  all  lovers  of  music. 
Here  at  the  beginning  of  the  l6th  century  we 


STEFFANI. 


STEFFANI. 


695 


find  Meister  Ludwig  Senfel  'in  musica  totius 
Germanise  princeps ' ;  here  came  Cipriano  di  Rore, 
Trajano,  Venerolo,  and  above  all,  Orlando  di 
Lasso,  'Fiirst  und  Phb'nix  der  Musiker.'  Je- 
suitenspiele  (mysteries)  were  given  here  on  a 
great  scale  ;  one  in  July  1597,  where,  besides  the 
principal  actors,  we  find  900  chorus  singers,  to 
say  nothing  of  300  devils,  who  with  Lucifer  were 
driven  into  the  flames  of  Hell  by  St.  Michael. 
Munich  besides  was  one  of  the  earliest  cities 
where  opera  found  a  home  in  Germany,  and 
where  it  was  now  perhaps  best  represented. 
Everything  then  made  Munich  a  desirable  resi 
dence  for  Steffani.  The  Elector  had  granted 
him  750  florins  on  account  of  his  two  operas  and 
for  a  'Badekur'  in  Italy  in  June  1686.  In 
May  1688  gracious  permission  was  given  to  him 
to  go  again  to  Italy  (Welschland)  in  considera 
tion  of  his  2 1  years'  service ;  his  salary  was  not 
only  paid  to  the  end  of  June,  but  from  the  be 
ginning  of  July  he  was  given  three  years'  salary 
as  a  reward  !  Not  only  so,  but  his  debts  were 
paid  by  the  Court  Treasurer  out  of  this,  and  the 
balance  was  sent  to  him  in  Venice,  where  he  had 
gone.  The  main  reason  for  his  deserting  Munich 
was  no  doubt  that  on  the  death  of  the  elder 
Bernabei  at  the  end  of  the  year  1687  his  son, 
who  had  come  from  Italy  in  1677  to  fill  the  post 
of  Vice-Kapellmeister,  was  in  the  early  part  of 
1688  made  Kapellmeister,  thus  debarring  Steffani 
from  further  promotion.  Added  to  this,  the 
Duke  of  Brunswick,  Ernst  August,  who  had 
been  present  at  the  festivities  when  'Servio  Tullio' 
was  performed,  was  so  delighted  with  Steffani's 
music  and  singing  that  he  had  already  made 
him  an  offer  to  go  to  Hanover,  and  Steffani 
appears  actually  to  have  made  use  of  the  leave 
granted  for  the  Badekur  in  Italy  in  1686  to 
spend  his  time  in  Hanover  instead  of  there.  The 
appointment  then  of  the  younger  Bernabei  to 
the  Munich  Kapellmeistership  must  have  de 
cided  him  at  once  to  leave  Munich,  and  from 
Venice  at  the  end  of  1688  or  early  in  1689  he 
made  his  way  to  Hanover,  there  to  remain  and 
become  Kapellmeister,  and  a  good  deal  besides. 

If  Munich  was  a  pleasant  place  for  a  musician 
of  genius,  Hanover  was  not  far  behind  it.  It 
might  not  have  the  same  glorious  musical  his 
tory;  but  Steffani  found  there  congenial  society, 
and  singers  and  players  of  great  excellence. 
The  Court  of  Hanover  was  renowned  for  its 
magnificence,  politeness,  and  courtesy,  which 
was  however  combined  with  a  friendly  simplicity 
(biirgerliche  Einfacheit),  and  held  to  be  the  best 
in  Germany.1  It  was  presided  over  by  the  cele 
brated  Duchess  (afterwards  Electress)  Sophia. 
One  of  its  principal  ornaments  was  the  great 
philosopher  Leibnitz,  who  had  resided  there 
since  1676,  and  who,  with  the  Duchess  Sophia, 
had  raised  the  tone  of  the  Court  to  a  very 
high  intellectual  standard.  There  was  also  the 
court  poet,  Abbate  Ortensio  Mauro,  at  once 
Geheimer  Secretar,  Hofceremonielmeister,  and 
political  agent,  who  came  to  Hanover  in  1679,  and 
in  whom  the  Duchess  placed  great  confidence. 

i  See  Chrysander's  Life  of  Handel. 


Steffani  became  the  friend  of  these  men.  Up  to 
this  time  the  operas  at  Hanover  (chiefly  imported 
from  Venice)  were  given  in  the  small  French 
theatre,  but  that  being  deemed  too  small,  a  new 
opera-house  was  built,  which  was  pronounced  to 
be  the  most  beautiful  in  all  Germany.  It  created 
the  reputation  of  its  architect  Thomas  Giusti, 
and  caused  him  to  be  called  to  Berlin  and  other 
towns  for  similar  purposes.  The  new  house 
was  opened  in  1689  with  '  Henrico  Leone,'  by 
Mauro  and  Steffani.  This  opera,  on  a  truly  ex 
travagant  subject,  was  brought  out  with  great 
splendour.  The  score  in  Buckingham  Palace 
gives  a  list  of  the  scenes,  machinery,  etc.,  which 
might  astonish  even  a  19th-century  reader. 


Machinery. 

1.  Nave  che  si  spezza. 

2.  Grilone    che    porta    in    aria 

Henrico,  e  lo  pone  nel  suo 
nido. 

3.  L'incanto  d'Errea  nelle  antl- 

camere  di  Metilda. 

4.  Nube  che  porta  Henrico   sul 

monte  Calcario. 

5.  Demone   ch'alza  il  Leone   in 

aria,  e  lo  lascia  cadere. 

6.  Assalto  e  presa  di  Bardewich. 

7.  Carro   trionfale   tirato   da    4 

Cavallivivi. 


Scenes. 

1.  Spiaggia  con  mar  tempestoso. 

2.  Atrio  del  Palazzo  Ducale   in 

Luneburgo. 

3.  Giardino. 

4.  Deserto  sparse  d'Alberi  Sopra 

uno  de  quali  e  un  uido  di 
Grifoni, 

5.  Anticamere  di  Metilde. 

6.  Prigione. 

7.  Monte  Calcario  o  Kalcberg. 

8.  Sala  Kegia  con  apparato  d'un 

Couvito  di  Nozze. 

9.  Bardewich  assediato. 

10.  Porta  di  Luneburgo  ornata  a 
modo  d'arco  trionlale. 

It  had  a  very  great  success,  was  given  in  German, 
in  1696  at  Hamburgh  and  in  1697  at  Brunswick, 
and  acquired  great  celebrity.  The  opera  shows 
marked  progress  on  '  Marco  Aurelio.'  The  cha 
racter  of  the  music  is  altogether  of  a  higher  kind, 
and  has  great  variety.  During  the  latter  part  of 
the  overture  a  full  chorus  is  heard  behind  the 
scenes  before  the  rise  of  the  curtain.  In  the  3rd 
act  we  find  a  fine  march,  and  a  pretty  gavotte 
for  orchestra  in  the  ist  act.  Among  the  songs, 
a  charming  rondeau,  and  an  accompanied  reci 
tative  of  great  power  in  the  2nd  act,  although 
Fe'tis  again  claims  the  invention  for  A.  Scarlatti 
in  'Teodora.'2  A  remarkable  chancre  is  found 
in  the  instrumentation.  There  are  flutes,  haut 
boys,  bassoons,  3  trumpets  and  drums,  in  addi 
tion  to  the  strings,  in  4  parts.  There  are  de 
lightful  contrapuntal  devices  in  the  scoring,  all 
the  wind  instruments  have  obbligato  passages, 
one  air  a  vigorous  fagotto  obbligato  throughout. 
Chrysander  states  (Life  of  Handel)  that  the 
opera  company  in  Hanover  was  divided  into 
two  camps,  an  instrumental  (French)  and  a  vocal 
(Italian),  both  however  working  harmoniously. 
The  singers  must  have  been  of  the  best  if  they 
could  execute  these  difficult  arias ;  the  band  too 
must  have  been  excellent.  The  leading  violin 
in  the  orchestra  was  Farinelli  (uncle  of  the 
famous  singer),  who  had  been  much  in  France, 
and  in  Spain  too,  from  whence  he  brought  '  Les 
Folies  d'Espagne,'  known  in  England  as  'Fari- 
nell's  Ground,'  and  turned  to  good  account  in 
Corelli's  celebrated  opera  quinta,  dedicated  by 
the  way  to  the  daughter  of  the  Electress  Sophia. 
Corelli  was  a  great  friend  of  Coneertmeister 
Farinelli,  and  during  his  tour  in  Germany  spent 

2  The  accompanied  recitative  appears  really  to  have  been  intro 
duced  by  Landi  in  an  opera,  '  San  Alessio,  Dramma  musicale  dell '. 
Cardinale  Barberini,  Musica  di  Stefano  Landi ;  Roma,  Paolo  Masatti, 
1634'  (Folio). 


696 


STEFFANI. 


STEFFANI. 


some  time  at  Hanover,  where  he  became  ac 
quainted  with  the  Electoral  family.  The  haut- 
bojTs  too  were  particularly  good,  and  Chrysander 
supposes  that  Handel  wrote  his  first  hautboy 
concerto  for  this  orchestra.  It  is  to  be  noted 
that  all  Steffani's  operas  composed  in  Hanover 
have  the  ist  violin  part  written  with  the  G  clef 
on  the  ist  line  of  the  stave,  which  Leopold 
Mozart  in  his  Violin  School  calls  the  'French 
Clef.'  '  Henrico  Leone,'  it  may  be  said,  is 
exactly  the  type  of  one  of  Handel's  operas, 
consisting  of  an  overture  alia  Lulli,  with  its  in 
troduction  consisting  chiefly  of  a  dotted  crotchet 
followed  by  a  quaver  (as  found  later  in  the 
opening  of  the  '  Messiah '  overture),  recitatives, 
songs,  duets,  and  a  short  ensemble  of  all  the 
characters  to  finish  the  last  act,  with  the  addi 
tion  of  a  ballet,  which  does  not  occur  in  Handel, 
except  in  his  early  Hamburg  operas.  It  is  essen 
tial  to  understand  how  these  dotted  figures  are 
to  be  interpreted,  whether  according  to  modern 
notions  or  according  to  the  prevailing  custom  a 
century  since.  Leopold  Mozart  in  his  Violin 
School  leaves  no  doubt  about  it.  He  says  : — 
'  In  slow  pieces  there  are  certain  passages  in 
which  the  dot  must  be  held  somewhat  longer 
than  the  above-written  rule  demands  if  the  per 
formance  is  not  to  become  too  sleepy.  For  ex 
ample,  in  the  following  passage  (a),  if  the  dot 
were  held  its  usual  length  it  would  at  once  sound 

(a)   Adagio.  (b) 


lazy  and  sleepy.  In  such  a  case  the  dotted  note 
must  be  held  a  little  longer.  The  time  for  hold 
ing  it  must,  so  to  speak,  be  deducted  from  the 
note  following  the  dot.  It  would  be  very  good 
if  this  long  sustaining  of  the  dot  were  very 
decided  and  marked.  I  at  least  have  often  done 
it,  and  I  have  indicated  my  idea  of  the  perform 
ance  with  two  dots  (b)  as  well  as  the  shortening 
of  the  following  note.  True  it  appears  strange 
to  the  eye;  but  what  does  that  matter?  The 
phrase  has  its  meaning,  and  musical  taste  will 
be  advanced.' 

'  Henrico  Leone '  was  followed  in  the  summer 
of  this  year  by  '  La  lotta  d'Hercole  con  Acheloo,' 
a  divertimento  drammatico  in  I  act,  a  charming 
work,  written  probably  also  by  Mauro.  In  this 
we  find  the  germ  of  Handel's  '  Angels  ever  bright 
and  fair."  The  Symphony  commences  thus  : — 

J 


-J/^   J*  —          —  •— 

.  -^—  

•_ 

»  

—  _  f—  —  '  ^fl—       —  =  *—  -p  »— 

? 

.  

Che  stan-chez  -  za          m'ag-gra-va 

The  air  thus: 

— 

•- 

*  • 

Viol.  N    f* 

iTiir 

^-J  ;,_  

Again  —                        _ 

j            ^Ufb.l^l       N^kr| 

•- 

i  — 

•3 

i_ 

**-?- 

•  •  i 

F  ^  — 

Ca-ra  dolce  spe-ran-za  non 

ti  pa 

•  * 

r-tir. 

Ca-ra 

tJ 

il  -  Ian  -  gui   -   di  -  to      e       las  -  so 
-H:  ~,  \—^  TZT-         

• 

r 

! 

»-J 

-p 

-\—p    *"   [^ 

LUr1  1  

^/  ^                   \-(£>          -      ~rs 

1                            '                             ' 

Again — 


There  are  dances  for  '  Les  gens  de  Cour.'  It 
was  probably  performed  at  the  Summer  Theatre 
at  Herrenhausen.  The  next  opera  was  '  La  su- 
perbia  d'  Alessandro,'  in  1690  (the  conducting 
score  gives  1691  as  the  date),  the  words  by 
Mauro  ;  a  fine  work.  Many  songs  have  ob- 
bligato  instrumental  parts,  especially  one  in  the 
2nd  act,  where  2  flutes  obbligati  are  sustained 
by  muted  violins  and  alto — a  beautiful  piece; 
also  one  song  with  cembalo  solo.  This  opera  also 
found  its  way  to  Hamburg  and  Brunswick  in  a 
German  translation.  '  Orlando  generoso '  came 
outini69l — another  fine  work  written  in  conjunc 
tion  with  Mauro.  Here  we  find  the  first  idea 
of  Handel's  Hallelujah  Chorus,  and  some  of 
the  divisions  in  '  Why  do  the  nations  ? '  This 
again  was  given  later  at  Hamburg.  Chrysander 
speaks  of  an  opera  called  '  II  zelo  di  Leonato ' 
in  1691,  but  it  is  doubtful  if  Steffani  composed 
the  music.  '  Le  Rival!  concordi '  appeared  in 
1692,  written  again  by  Mauro,  and  afterwards 
performed  at  Hamburg.  We  now  come  to  '  La 
liberta  contenta  '  (Mauro)  in  1693,  in  which  evi 
dence  is  given  of  great  further  progress,  for 
nothing  of  such  importance  had  hitherto  come 
from  his  pen.  It  is  full  of  beauties  of  all  kinds 
—a  fine  overture,  fine  counterpoint,  beautiful 
melodies,  very  difficult  arias,  and  powerful  reci 
tatives.  It  had  the  greatest  success,  and  was 
most  highly  thought  of  at  Hamburg.  The 
movements  are  longer  and  more  developed  than 
in  his  previous  works.  We  find  the  second  sub 
ject  of  the  last  movement  of  Schumann's  PF. 
Concerto  thus  foreshadowed  : — 
tr 


A     u     >    «-•    f  • 

r^      i     !• 

(fl).^ 

-%&  —  •  1  —  UH 

tr 

tr 

T     /» 

(~s 

/•I)       r-          "    k 

£•*    i*1  h 

-4-      —  IT-?- 

m  

and  a  remarkable  passage  in  a  recitative 
Recit.  Aspasia. 


STEFFANI. 

Chrysander  speaks  of  an  opera  '  Der  siegende 
Alcides,'  as  probably  of  the  year  1694,  but  it  is 
not  in  the  collections  of  scores,  nor  is  it  mentioned 
in  the  five  volumes  of  favourite  arias  and  duets 
by  Steffani  brought  from  Hanover  by  George  I., 
and  now  in  the  musical  library  at  Buckingham 
Palace.  It  was  however  given  in  Hamburg  two 
years  later  as  an  opera  by  Mauro  and  Steffani ; 
the  book  arranged  from  Quinault's  '  Alceste,'  as 
written  for  Lulli. 

It  was  in  the  next  year  that  Steffani  issued  his 
celebrated  pamphlet,  entitled  '  Quanto  certezza 
habbia  da  suoi  Principii  la  Musica,  ed  in  qual 
pregio  fosse  perci6  presso  gli  Antichi.  Amster 
dam,  1695.  Risposta  di  D.  A.  Steffani  Abbate 
di  Lepsing  Protonotario  della  San  Sede  Aposto- 
lica.  Ad  una  lettera  del  Sn.  March0.  A.  G.  In 
difesa  d'una  Proposizione  sostenuta  da  lui  in  una 
Assemblea  Hannovera  Sett.  1694.  72  pp.  in  12.' 
It  was  translated  twice  into  German  ;  in  1699  by 
Andreas  Werckmeister  at  Quedlinburg ;  in  1760 
by  Jean  Laurent  Albrecht  at  Muhlhausen.  Padre 
Martini  says  it  was  printed  '  da  otto  volte,'  which 
has  been  assumed  by  Burney  to  mean  that  it 
was  printed  eight  different  times,  whereas  it 
simply  signifies  that  it  was  printed  in  octavo ! 
In  this  pamphlet  he  ably  discusses  the  question 
whether  music  exists  only  in  the  imagination,  or 
is  grounded  on  nature  and  science.  It  is  need 
less  to  say  that  he  upholds  the  dignity  of  the 
art  in  all  its  bearings. — In  1695  we  have  the 
opera  '  I  trionfi  del  Fato,  o  le  glorie  d'Enea,' 
another  charming  work.  It  found  its  way  to 
Hamburg  in  1699.  An  opera  in  I  act,  'Bac- 
canali,'  was  also  composed  this  year  for  the  small 
theatre  in  Hanover.  It  is  a  work  of  great 
beauty,  and  contains  the  first  notes  of  Handel's 
'  Let  the  bright  Seraphim/ 

2me.  Air  de  Ballet. 


STEFFANI. 


697 


For  the  Carnival  of  1696  the  grand  opera  of 
'  Briseide '  was  composed,  the  words  by  Palmieri, 
Comes  Italus.  No  composer's  name  is  mentioned, 
and  Chrysander  thinks  it  is  not  by  Steffani;  but 
the  two  scores  and  collections  of  Steffani's  songs 
at  Buckingham  Palace  leave  little  doubt  on  ex 
amination  that  it  is  his  work,  and  in  his  usual 
manner.  We  may  add  that  it  contains  the  first 
ideas  of  Handel's  '  O  ruddier  than  the  cherrv ' 

•/ 

and  '  How  beautiful.'  These  were  the  golden 
days  of  the  opera  in  Hanover. 

A  change  was  now  about  to  take  place  in 
Steffanins  circumstances.  He  was  no  longer  to 
be  the  active  composer  of  operas,  and  Kapell 
meister,  but  from  this  time  forth  was  destined 
to  devote  his  time  chiefly  to  diplomacy,  though 
he  never  forsook  the  art  of  which  he  was  so 
great  an  ornament.  Ernst  August  had  sent 
5000  men  to  assist  the  Emperor  against  the 
Turks,  and  some  8000  against  the  French ;  his 


two  eldest  sons,  George  (afterwards  king  of 
England)  and  Frederick  Augustus,  had  served  in 
the  field,  and  three  others  had  been  killed  in 
the  wars.  The  Emperor  as  a  reward  determined, 
in  1692,  to  create  a  9th  Elector,  and  raise  the 
younger  branch  of  the  house  of  Brunswick- 
Luneburg  to  the  Electorate.  This  was  generally 
deemed  just,  but  many  difficulties  stood  in  the 
way,  and  during  four  years  the  position  of  Ernst 
August  as  Elector  became  more  and  more  dif 
ficult,  so  that,  in  1696,  it  was  determined  to  send 
an  Envoy  Extraordinaire  round  to  the  various 
German  Courts  to  smooth  matters  over,  and  Ernst 
August  and  Leibnitz  could  find  no  one  among 
the  court  personnel  in  Hanover  so  well  fitted 
for  the  post  as  Abbate  Steffani.  With  the  title 
of  '  Envoye"  Extraordinaire '  he  set  out  on  his 
mission,  and  so  admirably  did  he  succeed,  that 
at  the  end  of  the  mission  he  was  not  only  granted 
a  considerably  larger  salary  than  he  had  hitherto 
had  at  Court,  but  Innocent  XL  was  induced 
to  raise  him  to  the  dignity  of  Bishop  (in  partibus 
infidelium}  of  Spiga  in  Anatolia,  Asia  Minor — 
the  ancient  Cyzicus.  This  was  also,  perhaps  in 
recognition  of  Steffani's  services,  aided  by  the 
tolerant  Leibnitz,  in  procuring  for  the  Roman 
Catholics  in  Hanover  the  privilege  of  holding 
public  worship.  Steffani  was  now  an  accom 
plished  courtier  and  diplomatist.  In  the  early 
part  of  1698  he  was  sent  to  Brussels  as  Ambas 
sador,  and  there  had  his  first  audience  on 
March  i.  In  this  year  the  Elector  Ernst  August 
died,  and  Steffani  afterwards  transferred  his 
services  to  the  Elector  Palatine  at  Diisseldorf, 
where  he  became  a  Privy  Councillor  as  well  as 
the  Pope's  Protonotarius  for  North  Germany, 
though  at  what  time  this  occurred  is  not  known. 
For  some  thirteen  years  after  1696  there  is  no 
record  of  there  having  been  any  operas  composed 
for  the  Court  of  Hanover, except  two  by  a  Signer 
Mancia,  one  in  1697,  another  undated;  but  in 
1 709  we  find  Steffani  again  with  two  new  operas, 
one  for  the  Court  at  Hanover,  the  other  at 
Diisseldorf.  Both  are  stated  in  the  scores  at 
Buckingham  Palace  to  be  by  Gregorio  Piva — 
his  secretary,  whose  name  he  adopted  for  his 
compositions  after  he  became  a  statesman,  and 
this  is  the  earliest  date  at  which  it  occurs  in 
any  of  the  MSS.  of  his  works,  as  far  as  I  know. 
The  opera  given  at  Hanover  is  called  '  Enea,  or 
Amor  vien  dal  destino,'  in  the  large  copy,  but 
in  the  conducting  score  '  II  Turno ' — in  3  acts, 
and  is  a  very  fine  work  ;  again  an  advance  on  any 
previous  effort.  The  second  movement  of  the 
overture  has  a  masterly  chorus  sung  on  the  stage 
before  the  rise  of  the  curtain,  foreshadowing  the 
grand  choruses  which  Handel  afterwards  brought 
forward  in  his  oratorios;  also  antedating  the 
same  feature  in  Meyerbeer's  '  Dinorah.'  Handel, 
indeed,  is  indebted  for  one  or  two  ideas  to  this 
opera,  notably  the  opening  of  the  Presto  move 
ment  in  the  second  Suite  de  Pieces,  and  again 
for  a  phrase  in  the  chorus  '  For  unto  us.'  The 
theme  before  referred  to  as  being  like  '  Let  the 
bright  seraphim,'  is  here  found  in  the  minor 
key.  One  air  is  to  be  accompanied,  '  deve  esser 


698 


STEFFANI. 


accompagnato  da  un  Concerto  intiero  cli  Chalu- 
meau  sopra  la  Scena,  da  due  Fagotti  nascosti 
dietro  le  AH ;  e  da  due  Teorbe  nella  Orchestra 
le  quali  perb  non  suonino  che  le  note  segnate.' 
A  grand  aria  is  also  accompanied  by  three 
trumpets,  drums,  oboi,  fagotti,  and  strings.  The 
Dlisseldorf  opera,  '  Tassilone,  Tragedia  in  5  Atti,' 
is  only  represented  at  Buckingham  Palace  by  a 
vocal  score;  the  overture  and  all  instrumental 
effects  are  wanting,  only  the  bass  being  given  to 
the  different  pieces ;  but  the  singers'  names,  all 
Italian,  are  mentioned.  The  music  is  mostly 
excellent.  The  second  act  commences  with  a 
charming  chorus  alternating  with  dances.  The 
movements  of  both  these  operas  of  1 709  are  all 
long,  well  developed,  and  broad,  and  our  com 
poser  has  not  failed  to  march  with  the  times. 
Chrysander  says  that  a  full  score  of  '  Tassilone ' 
is  in  the  Berlin  library,  and  remarks  that  a 
much  richer  use  of  the  instruments  is  made,  and 
that  the  coloratur  passages  are  longer  in  this 
than  in  his  preceding  operas. — There  remains 
one  more  opera  to  speak  of,  'Arminio,'  which, 
according  to  the  full  score  (one  of  those  brought 
from  Hanover  by  George  I.),  was  composed  for 
the  Court  of  the  Elector  Palatine  in  1707. 
Though  bearing  no  composer's  name,  it  is  with 
out  doubt  a  composition  of  Steffani,  entirely  in 
his  manner  and  one  of  his  very  finest ;  the  in 
strumental  colouring  still  more  full  and  varied 
than  in  any  other  opera  of  his.  And  what 
further  establishes  its  claim  to  be  considered 
Steffani's  is  the  fact  that  the  fine  air,  with 
fagotto  obbligato  from  'Henrico  Leone/  is  in 
troduced  with  other  words,  and  for  a  soprano 
instead  of  a  tenor  voice.  This  opera,  and 
'Tassilone/  show  that  the  Palatine  Court  at 
that  time  possessed  a  very  fine  orchestra,  and 
a  splendid  company  of  singers.  Or  did  the 
Hanover  company  occasionally  join  its  old  Han 
over  Kapellmeister  in  Diisseldorf  ? — cvon  Haus 
aus,'  as  the  Germans  have  it.  It  is  quite  pos 
sible  that  Steffani  composed  more  operas  than 
these,  and  that  several  may  have  been  written  for 
Diisseldorf  which  have  not  come  down  to  us ;  but 
what  we  have,  form  a  splendid  series  of  masterly 
works  that  establish  him  as  a  composer  of  the 
first  rank,  equal  to  Lulli,  greatly  his  superior  as 
a  contrapuntist,  if  possibly,  and  only  possibly, 
inferior  to  him  in  dramatic  force.  In  Hamburg 
his  reputation  was  so  great  that  no  music  was 
thought  equal  to  his.  There  Bach  and  Handel 
as  young  men  must  have  listened  to  his  operas. 
Among  other  gifts  he  had  great  tact  in  bringing 
about  very  fine  performances  with  his  exception 
ally  good  singers  and  players. 

Though,  however,  his  operas  were  his  greatest 
works,  they  could  not  attain  the  same  universal 
popularity  as  his  well-known  duets  for  various 
voices,  with  a  bass  accompaniment.  These  are 
mostly  in  three  long  movements,  some  with  re 
citatives  and  solos,  in  the  cantata  form,  following 
Carissimi  and  Stradella.  Of  these  celebrated  duets 
(as  an  introduction  to  which  Sir  John  Hawkins 
wrote  a  special  biography)  there  are  more  than 
a  hundred  in  the  Biritish  Museum  (Add.  MSS. 


STEFFANI. 

5055,  etc.),  and  in  the  splendid  copy  in  3  vols.  in 
Buckingham  Palace.  The  words  were  mostly  by 
Ortensio  Mauro,  Averara,  Abbate  Conti,  Conte 
Francesco  Palmieri,  etc.  The  testimony  to  the 
great  excellence  of  these  compositions  is  abundant. 
Burney  says,  in  speaking  of  these  duets,  '  Those 
of  the  admirable  Abbate  Steffani  were  dispersed 
in  MS.  throughout  Europe.'  Mattheson  again, 
'  In  these  duets  Steffani  is  incomparable  to  all  I 
know,  and  deserves  to  be  a  model,  for  such  things 
do  not  easily  become  old.'  Chrysander  also  writes, 
'  These  duets  are  the  greatest  of  their  kind.'  To 
the  foregoing  it  is  useless  to  add  further  com 
mendation.  The  most  renowned  singers,  Sene- 
sino,  Strada,  and  others,  delighted  in  them,  and 
used  them  constantly  for  practice  in  both  ex 
pressive  and  florid  singing.  No  copies  of  these 
duets  are  dated,  but  they  were  probably  all 
composed  after  he  went  to  Hanover  ;  and  some 
of  them  are  known  to  have  been  written  for  the 
Princess  Sophia  Dorothea. 

The  Duke  of  Brunswick,  Anton  Ulrich,  was 
converted  to  Romanism  in  1710,  and  we  find 
Steffani  going  from  Diisseldorf  to  Brunswick 
to  accept  in  the  name  of  the  Pope  a  piece  of 
ground  as  a  site  for  a  Romish  church.  At 
the  time  of  the  Carnival  of  this  year  we  find 
him  in  Venice  in  company  with  Baron  Kiel- 
mansegge,  and  he  there  met  Handel,  whom  he 
induced  to  visit  Hanover  on  his  way  to  London. 
Handel  testifies  to  Steffani's  great  kindness  to 
him  while  in  Hanover ;  he  was  anxious  too  that 
he  should  become  Kapellmeister  at  this  Court.1 
About  the  year  1712  the  new  church  in  Bruns 
wick  was  so  far  ready  that  the  Pope  sent  Bishop 
Steffani,  Vicario  apostolico  delle  missione  Set- 
tentrionali,  to  consecrate  the  building  and  per 
form  the  opening  service.  Two  years  later  the 
Elector  of  Hanover  became  King  of  England, 
but  Steffani  did  not  accompany  him  to  London, 
indeed  we  do  not  meet  with  his  name  again 
till  1724,  when  the  Academy  of  Ancient  Music 
in  London  unanimously  elected  him  its  Hon. 
President  for  life.  This  Academy,  of  which 
Handel  was  a  great  supporter,  had  been  insti 
tuted  by  Dr.  Pepusch,  J.  E.  Gaillard,  the  only 
known  pupil  of  Steffani,  and  other  musicians, 
and  had  become  well  known  abroad.  Many 
eminent  musicians  of  the  continent  were  made 
honorary  members,  SfcefFani  among  the  number, 
who  appears  to  have  sent  over  the  following  four 
works  for  performance — the  fine  and  well-known 
Madrigal,  'Qui  diligit  Mariam/  for  S.  S.  A.  T.  B. 
(in  which  occurs  a  passage  taken  by  Handel  for 
the  chorus  in  'Solomon/  'Music  spread  thy  voice 
abroad  ')  ;  another  madrigal,  called  '  La  Spag- 
nuola/  'Al  rigor  d'un  bel  sembiante/  for  two 
altos  and  tenor,  not  so  remarkable ;  and  the 
beautiful  madrigal,  'Gettano  i  Rk  dal  soglio.' 

i  Handel  said  to  Hawkins,  '  He  received  me  with  great  kindness, 
and  took  an  opportunity  to  introduce  me  to  the  Princess  Caroline 
and  the  Elector's  son  ....  and  being  called  from  the  city  to  attend 
to  matters  of  a  public  concern,  he  leff.  me  in  the  possession  of  that 
favour  and  patronage  which  himself  had  enjoyed  for  a  series  of  years.' 
The  occasion  of  Steffani's  leaving  Hanover  was  that  on  April  12  the 
Elector  was,  through  his  Envoye  Steffani,  invested  by  the  EmpenT 
with  the  post  of  Erbschatzmeister  (Hereditary  Grand  Treasurer). 
This  tends  to  show  that  Steffani  was  at  home  both  at  ftiisseldorf, 
where  the  Elector  Palatine  was  very  musical,  and  at  Hanover. 


STEFFANI. 

These  are  generally  found   in   the  MS.  collec 
tions  of  the  time.     The  fourth  piece  was   the 
great  Stabat  Mater,  composed  for  S.S.  A.T.  T.  B., 
accompanied    by   2  violins,    3   altos,    cello   and 
organo,  and  undoubtedly  one  of  the  finest  works 
of  any  composer  of  the  period  immediately  pre 
ceding  that  of  the  giants  Bach  and  Handel.    His 
great  contemporaries  Alessandro  Scarlatti  and 
Purcell  produced  nothing  finer.     No  exact  dates 
can  be  assigned  to  these  four  works,  but  they 
all  belong  to  his  later  manner.     In  Steffani  is 
to  be  found  the  perfection  of  counterpoint  with 
out  stiffness,  and  with  that  real  sign  of  genius,  ex- 
haustless  variety.  As  in  Bach,  there  is  marvellous 
freedom  in  the  movement  of  the  parts,  and  no 
hesitation  at  a  good  clashing  dissonance  produced 
by  this  freedom.     He  was  an  adept  too  at  writ 
ing  the  charming  minuets  and  gavottes  which 
were  then  so  fashionable,  and  with  which  his 
operas  abound.     At  the  British  Museum  there 
is  likewise  a  glorious  '  Confitebor '  for  3  voices 
•with  violins  and  bass  in  E  minor,  said  to  be  of 
the  year  1709,  with  a  splendid  bass  solo  ('Sanc 
tum   et   terribile') — a   species   of  accompanied 
recitative  ;  the  whole  work  being  full  of  exquisite 
beauties.     No  notice  of  this  piece  has  yet  ap 
peared  in  any  life  of  Steffani's.     In  the  Sacred 
Harmonic  Society's  library  there  is  a  book  of 
'XII  Motteta  par  celeberrimum  Abbatem  Ste- 
plianum '  for  3  voices  with  solos  and  recitatives, 
but  it  is  only  a  vocal  score,  without  the  sym 
phonies  and  accompaniments  which  all  undoubt 
edly  had.     In  another  book  in  the  same  library 
however  we  find  two  of  them  complete.    In  their 
mutilated  form  it  is  not  always  easy  to  judge  of 
the  value  of  these  motets,  but  some  movements 
are  certainly  very  fine,    especially  the   last   of 
no.  3,  the  first  of  the  5th,  and  the  last  Fugue 
of  no.  8,  which  is  very  broad  and  quite  Han- 
delian.     The  movement   'Pro  Christo '  in  this 
motet  was  introduced  at  the  end  of  a  collection 
of  glees  published  by  Hindle  some  60  or  80  years 
since,  and  inserted  '  by  desire,'  showing  that  the 
work  was  then  popular.    Hawkins  mentions  that 
Dr.  Cooke  had  a  book  of  12  Motets  for  three 
voices,  '  among  them  two  that  are  exquisitely 
fine.'    This  is  no  doubt  the  book  referred  to. 

Early  in  1729  Steffani  was  once  more  and  for 
the  last  time  in  Italy;  and  Handel  met  him 
at  Rome  in  March,  where  he  was  living  at  the 
Palace  of  Cardinal  Ottoboni.  This  latter  en 
thusiast  still  kept  up  his  Monday  performances 
of  music,  at  which  Steffani,  now  74  years  old, 
occasionally  sang.  Handel  tells  us  (through 
Hawkins)  that  '  he  was  just  loud  enough  to  be 
heard,  but  that  this  defect  in  his  voice  was  amply 
recompensed  by  his  manner,  in  the  chasteness 
and  elegance  of  which  he  had  few  equals.'  From 
Htandel  we  also  learn  that  '  as  to  his  person  he 
was  less  than  the  ordinary  size  of  men,  of  a 
tender  constitution  of  body,  which  he  had  not 
a  little  impaired  by  intense  study  and  applica 
tion.  His  deportment  is  said  to  have  been 
grave,  but  tempered  with  a  sweetness  and  affa 
bility  that  rendered  his  conversation  very  en 
gaging;  he  was  perfectly  skilled  in  all  the 


STEIBELT. 


699 


external  forms  of  polite  behaviour,  and,  which  is 
somewhat  unusual,  continued  to  observe  and 
practise  them  at  the  age  of  fourscore.'  He  was 
back  in  Hanover  in  a  short  time,  and  the  next 
year,  going  to  Frankfort  on  some  public  business, 
died  there  after  a  short  illness. 

The  last  word  has  not  yet  been  said  about  this 
remarkable  musician,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that 
some  of  his  duets,  and  perhaps  his  glorious  Stabat 
Mater  and  Confitebor  may  still  be  heard  in  the 
concert-room.  His  career  was  certainly  one  of 
the  most  extraordinary  in  musical  history.  Born 
of  obscure  parents,  he  raised  himself  by  his 
talents  and  industry  from  the  position  of  a  poor 
choir  boy,  not  only  to  be  one  of  the  foremost 
musicians  of  his  age,  but  likewise  the  trusted 
confidant  of  princes  and  the  friend  of  such  a 
man  as  Leibnitz.  The  only  other  instance  of  an 
artist  having  become  an  ambassador  is  to  be  found 
in  the  painter  Rubens.  The  materials  for  this 
notice  have  been  chiefly  gathered  from  Rud- 
hardt,  Hawkins,  andChrysander,the  latter  having 
obliged  me  with  some  important  information 
hitherto  unpublished.  [W.G.C.] 

STEFFKINS,  THEODORE,  or  THEODORUS,  was 
a  foreign  professor  of  the  lute  and  viol,  who 
resided  in  London  in  the  latter  half  of  the  i7th 
century.  He  is  much  commended  in  Thomas 
Salmon's  '  Essay  to  the  Advancement  of  Mufeic,' 
1672.  His  brother,  DIETRICHT,  was  one  of  the 
band  of  Charles  I.  in  1641,  and  his  two  sons, 
FREDERICK  and  CHRISTIAN,  were  famous  per 
formers  on  the  viol.  They  were  members  of  the 
Kino-'s  band  in  1694,  and  Christian  was  living 
in  1 71 1.  [W.H.H.] 

STEGGALL,  CHARLES,  Mus.  Doc.  born  in 
London,  June  3, 1826,  was  educated  in  the  Royal 
Academy  of  Music,  principally  by  Sterndale 
Bennett.  In  1847  he  became  organist  of  Christ 
Church  Chapel,  Maida  Hill ;  in  1851  a  professor 
at  the  Royal  Academy  of  Music,  and  in  1852 
accumulated  the  degrees  of  Mus.  Bac.  and  Mus. 
Doc.  at  Cambridge.  In  1855  he  was  appointed 
organist  of  Christ  Church,  Paddington,  and  in 
1864  organist  of  Lincoln's  Inn  Chapel.  He  has 
composed  anthems  and  other  church  music,  and 
has  lectured  upon  music  in  the  metropolis  and 
elsewhere.  [W.H.H.] 

STEIBELT,  DANIEL,  a  musician  now  almost 
entirely  forgotten,  but  in  his  own  day  so  cele 
brated  as  a  pianoforte-player  and  composer  that 
many  regarded  him  as  the  rival  of  Beethoven, 
was  a  native  of  Berlin,  where  his  father  was  a 
maker  of  harpsichords  and  pianofortes  of  con 
siderable  skill  and  repute.  The  date  of  his  birth 
is  quite  uncertain.  Most  of  his  biographers  state 
that  he  was  born  in  1755  or  1756,  but  Fetis  de 
clares  from  personal  knowledge  that  he  was  only 
about  thirty-six  years  of  age  in  1 80 1,  which  would 
place  his  birth  some  eight  to  ten  years  later. 
The  details  of  his  early  life  are  as  much  in 
volved  in  doubt  as  the  time  of  his  birth.  It 
is,  however,  certain  that  his  aptitude  for  music 
was  early  manifest  and  that  it  in  some  way 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  Crown  Prince  of 


700 


STEIBELT. 


STEIBELT. 


Prussia,  afterwards  Frederick  William  II.  Kirn- 
berger  was  then  the  leading  musician  of  Berlin, 
and  to  him  the  Crown  Prince  entrusted  the  in 
struction  of  his  protege"  in  the  harpsichord  and 
composition.  How  long  Steibelt  was  a  pupil  of 
Kirnberger  it  is  impossible  to  say,  but  not  a 
trace  of  the  learned  and  somewhat  pedantic  style 
of  his  master  is  to  be  found  in  his  method  either 
of  playing  or  writing.  Indeed,  the  musical  world 
of  Berlin,  then  under  the  despotism  of  Frederick 
the  Great,1  does  not  present  any  influences  to 
account  for  the  peculiarities  which  so  strongly 
marked  Steibelt' s  after-life,  though  it  may  be 
fairly  conjectured  that. in  his  father's  workshops 
he  obtained  that  familiarity  with  the  mechanism 
of  the  pianoforte  which  he  was  always  ready  to 
turn  to  the  best  account.  Whatever  his  musical 
education  may  have  been,  it  was  interrupted  by 
his  joining  the  army  for  a  while,2  and  was  finally 
brought  to  an  end,  as  far  as  Berlin  was  concerned, 
by  his  departure  from  that  city,  an  event  which 
perhaps  took  place  as  early  as  1784. 

In  what  direction  he  turned  his  steps  seems 
wholly  unknown,  but  his  career  as  a  composer  and 
virtuoso  commences  with  his  arrival  in  Paris  at 
Borne  date  between  1787  and  1790.  He  did  not 
take  up  his  residence  there  permanently  till  the 
last-named  year,  as  he  was  at  Munich  in  1788, 
and  in  1 789  was  giving  concerts  in  Saxony  and 
Hanover,  whence  he  journeyed  to  Paris  by  way 
of  Mannheim ;  but  his  rivalry  with  Hermann  at 
court  would  appear  to  suggest  that  he  had  been 
in  Paris  before  the  year  that  was  signalised  by 
the  taking  of  the  Bastille.  However  this  may 
be,  Steibelt  appeared  at  the  French  capital  as  a 
full-fledged  performer  and  composer,  and  was  not 
long  in  proving  his  superiority  to  his  rival.  The 
reasons  for  his  success  are  obvious.  Though 
Hermann's  technique,  which  was  that  of  the 
school  of  C.  P.  E.  Bach,  was  considered  more 
correct  than  that  of  his  opponent,  he  was,  never 
theless,  emphatically  a  player  of  the  old  style. 
Steibelt,  as  emphatically,  belonged  to  the  new. 
Their  different  characteristics  are  clearly  brought 
out  in  the  very  curious  Sonata  for  the  Pianoforte 
called  'La  Coquette'  composed  for  Marie  Antoi 
nette  by  the  two  rivals,  each  of  whom  contributed 
one  movement  to  it.  Hermann's  movement,  the 
first,  is  good,  solid,  rather  old-fashioned,  harpsi 
chord  music ;  Steibelt's  movement,  the  Hondo, 
by  its  variety  of  phrasing  and  the  minutiae  of  its 
marks  of  expression  reveals  in  every  line  an 
acquaintance  with  the  resources  offered  by  the 
pianoforte.  The  issue  of  a  contest  in  which  the 
combatants  were  so  unequally  matched  could 
not  be  doubtful,  and  Steibelt  was  soon  installed 
as  reigning  virtuoso.  But  no  musician  who 
aspires  to  fame  in  France  can  neglect  the  stage, 
and  Steibelt  accordingly  resolved  to  essay  dra 
matic  composition.  One  of  his  patrons,  the 
Vicomte  de  S<%ur,  a  litterateur  of  some  preten 
sions,  who  had  written  for  the  Opera  a  libretto 
founded  on  Shakespeare's  'Romeo  and  Juliet,' 

1  For  an  interesting  account  of  music  in  Berlin  at  this  period  see 
Jahn's  '  Life  of  Mozart,'  ch.  80  (vol.  ii.  p.  374  etc.  in  Eng.  trans.). 

2  A.  M.  Z.  ii.  p.  622. 


entrusted  the  composition  of  the  music  to  Stei 
belt.  The  score  was  finished  in  1792,  but  the 
work  was  rejected  by  the  Academic.  Its  authors, 
nothing  daunted,  proceeded  to  alter  the  piece. 
The  recitatives  were  suppressed  and  replaced  by 
prose  dialogue,  and  in  this  shape  the  Opera  was 
produced  at  the  The'atre  Feydeau  on  Sept.  10, 
1793,  with  Madame  Scio  as  Juliet.  The  'Moni- 
teur'  of  Sept.  23  describes  the  music  as  'learned, 
but  laboured  and  ugly' — a  criticism  which,  with 
the  music  before  one,  it  is  impossible  to  under 
stand.  Theatre-goers  were  of  a  different  opinion, 
and  'Rome'o  et  Juliette'  was  a  decided  success. 
The  merits  of  the  work,  perhaps  Steibelt's  greatest 
achievement,  will  be  discussed  subsequently.  It 
will  be  enough  at  present  to  note  that  it  was 
performed  with  success  in  Stockholm  on  Jan. 
30,  1815  (and  again  in  1819),  and  was  revived 
with  great  applause  in  Paris  at  the  The'atre 
Royal  e  de  I'Ope'ra  Comique  in  1822.  It  does 
not  appear  that  it  was  ever  brought  forward  on 
the  German  stage,  but  the  Overture  was  played 
in  Vienna  in  184 1 .  The  concert  given  after  Stei 
belt's  death  for  his  son's  benefit  was  closed  with 
the  Funeral  Chorus  from  the  third  act. 

The  success  of  this  operatic  venture  completely 
confirmed  Steibelt's  position  in  Paris.  His 
music,  though  considered  difficult,  was  extremely 
popular,  and  as  a  teacher  he  counted  amongst 
his  pupils  the  most  eminent  ladies  of  the  time, 
including  the  future  Queen  of  Holland.  Society 
made  up  its  mind  to  overlook  his  discourteous 
and  overbearing  manners  in  consideration  of  his 
artistic  merits,  and  nothing  was  needed  to  confirm 
his  fortunes  and  his  fame  but  that  he  should  be 
true  to  himself.  Unfortunately,  this  condition  was 
not  fulfilled.  He  appears  to  have  been  a  victim 
to  kleptomania,  and  in  the  last  century  this  was 
regarded  as  a  proof  of  moral  rather  than  of  in 
tellectual  disease.  It  must  also  be  admitted 
that  facts  seemed  to  warrant  this  view  in  Stei 
belt's  case.  On  his  first  coming  to  Paris  he  had 
been  received  with  great  kindness  by  Boyer  the 
publisher,  who  had  not  only  procured  for  him 
powerful  patronage  but  even  took  him  into  his 
own  house.  His  services  were  ill  rewarded.  Stei 
belt  had  already  published  some  Sonatas  for  the 
Pianoforte  and  Violin  (ops.  I  and  2)  at  Munich. 
He  now  added  to  them  a  cello  ad  libitum  part, 
which  merely  doubled  the  bass  of  the  pianoforte 
part,  and  sold  them  to  Boyer  as  new  works.  The 
fraud  seems  to  have  been  discovered  about  1 796, 
and  though  Steibelt  made  reparation  by  present 
ing  to  the  aggrieved  publisher  his  Pianoforte 
Concertos,  Nos.  I  and  2,  this  transaction,  com 
bined  with  other  irregularities,  so  injured  his 
reputation  that  he  felt  it  desirable  to  leave  Paris, 
at  any  rate  for  a  time.  England  attracted  his 
attention,  and,  journeying  by  way  of  Holland, 
he  reached  London  about  the  close  of  if()6.3 

By  this  proceeding  Steibelt  challenged  com 
parisons  quite  as  dangerous  as  those  which  he 


3  According  to  Fdtis,  Steibelt  did  not  leave  Paris  till  1798,  but 
Messrs.  Broadwood  and  Sons  have  records  in  their  possession  which 
prove  that  he  was  established  in  London  by  Jan.  2. 1797.  This  in 
fo:  mation  is  due  to  the  kindness  of  Mr.  A.  J.  Hipkins. 


STEIBELT. 

had  recently  risked  by  bringing  out  an  opera  in 
Paris.  Pianoforte  music  had  originated  in  London 
a  quarter  of  a  century  before,  and  at  Steibelt's 
arrival  no  fewer  than  three  players  and  composers 
of  the  first  magnitude  were  resident  there,  de 
menti,  Dussek,  and  Cramer.    Few  particulars  of 
Steibelt's   life  in   London  have  been  recorded. 
His  first  public  performance  seems  to  have  been 
at  Salomon's  Benefit  Concert  on  May  1, 1797,  and 
a  fortnight  later  (May  15)  he  played  a  pianoforte 
concerto  of  his  own  at  an  opera  concert.     Not 
long  after  this  he  wrote  the  celebrated  Pianoforte 
Concerto  in  E  (No.  3),  containing  the  'Storm 
Rondo.'   Whatever  may  be  thought  of  the  merits 
of  this  work  now,  its  popularity  at  the  beginning 
of  the  century  was  enormous,  and  far  exceeded 
that  accorded  to  any  other  of  Steibelt's  composi 
tions.     It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  it  was 
played  in  every  drawing-room  in  England ;  in 
deed,  the  notorious   '  Battle   of  Prague '  alone 
could  compete  with  it  in  popular  favour.    It  was, 
in  all  probability,  first  performed  in  public  at 
Salomon's  concert  on  March  19,  1798.     At  the 
close  of  the  same  year  (Dec.  n)  its  author  again 
came  forward  as  a  composer  for  the  stage,  and 
again   met   with  a  favourable   reception.     His 
work  on  this  occasion  was  an  English  opera, 
or,  as  it  was  described  in  the  Covent  Garden 
play-bill,  'a  new  grand  Heroic  Romance,  in  3 
acts,  called  Albert  and  Adelaide  ;  or  the  Victim 
of  Constancy.'     It  must  have  been   an   extra 
ordinary  medley.     The  first   two   acts  were  a 
translation  from  the  German  of  Schoerer,  who 
had  taken    them   from   the    French,    and    the 
third  act  was  added  from  another  French  play. 
The  music  was  only  in  part  original,  and  was 
eked  out   by  the  insertion  of  a  Quintet   from 
'Lodoiska'  and  the  like  expedients.     Even  the 
original  music  was  not  all  written  by  Steibelt,  as 
Attwood  contributed  some  of  it.1    Yet,  after  all, 
the  most  curious  part  of  this  curious  production 
must  have  been  the  Overture,  which  was  'en 
livened  by  a   pantomime' !     Such   as   it   was, 
however,  the  piece  proved  sufficiently  attractive 
to  keep  the  boards  for  some  time,  and  the  Over 
ture,  arranged  for  the  pianoforte,  was  published 
in  France  and  sold  in  Germany.   As  teacher  and 
performer  Steibelt  appears  to  have  been  as  fully 
employed  during  his  stay  of  three  years  or  so  in 
London  as  he   had  been  previously  in   Paris. 
Whether  he  was  as  much  liked  by  his  brother 
artists  as  by  the  amateurs  seems  very  problem 
atical  ;  at  any  rate  his  music  is  conspicuous  by  its 
absence  in  the  concert  programmes  of  the  time. 
Two  other  circumstances  of  interest  connected 
with  Steibelt's  visit  to  England  have  been  pre 
served.     The  first  of  these  is  the  fact  that   he 
conceived   a   decided    predilection  for   English 
pianofortes,  always  using  them  in  preference  to 
any  others ;    the  second  is  his  marriage  with  a 
young  Englishwoman,  described  as  possessed  of 
considerable  personal  attractions  and  as  a  good 
player  on  the  pianoforte  and  tambourine.     The 

i  This  information  is  derived  from  an  advertisement  of  Longman. 
Clement!  &  Co.  in  the  '  Morning  Chronicle '  of  Jan.  22,  1799.  These 
pasticcios  were  common  enough  then,  and  until  the  end  of  the  first 
quarter  of  the  present  century. 


STEIBELT. 


701 


last-named  accomplishment  led  her  husband  to 
add  a  tambourine  accompaniment  to  many  of  his 
subsequent  pieces. 

Steibelt  now  resolved  on  visiting  his  native 
country,  from  which  he  had  been  absent,  accord 
ing  to  some  authorities,  as  much  as  fifteen  years. 
He  reached  Hamburg  in  September  or  October 
1 799,  but  made  no  great  stay  there.  His  next 
stopping-place  was  Dresden,  where  he  met  with 
a  very  enthusiastic  reception.  Besides  several 
more  or  less  private  performances,  he  gave  a 
concert  of  his  own  on  Feb.  4,  1800,  with  the 
greatest  success.  Almost  immediately  after  this 
he  went  to  Prague.  His  concert  in  the  Bohemian 
capital  attracted  a  large  audience  of  the  upper 
classes  and  brought  him  no  less  than  1800  gulden, 
but  his  playing  made  little  impression,  and  he 
went  on  forthwith  to  Berlin.2  Before  the  end 
of  April  he  had  given  two  performances  in  his 
native  city.  It  was  not  very  likely  that  his  style 
would  please  audiences  who  still  held  to  the 
traditions  of  the  school  of  Bach,  and  the  main 
result  of  his  visit  seems  to  have  been  to  give 
great  offence  to  his  brother  artists.  From  the 
capital  of  Prussia  he  turned  to  the  capital  of 
Austria,  then  the  metropolis  of  the  musical 
world,  where  he  arrived  about  the  middle  of 
May.  We  are  told  that  his  reputation  was  such 
as  to  cause  some  anxiety  even  to  Beethoven's 
friends.  If  such  was  the  case  they  were  speedily 
relieved.  At  the  first  meeting  a  sort  of  armed 
truce  was  observed,  but  at  the  second  Steibelt 
was  rash  enough  to  issue  a  distinct  challenge. 
Beethoven  was  not  the  man  to  decline  such  a 
contest,  and  his  victory  was  so  decided  that  his 
rival  refused  to  meet  him  again.  [See  BEE 
THOVEN,  vol.  i.  pp.  1 68  a,  178  &.]  This  adventure 
was  not  likely  to  contribute  to  Steibelt's  success 
at  Vienna,  and  a  concert  that  he  gave  at  the 
Augarten-Saal  was  rather  thinly  attended.  His 
German  tour  as  a  whole  was  only  partially  suc 
cessful,  and  Steibelt  determined  to  return  to  the 
more  congenial  atmosphere  of  Paris.  He  arrived 
there  in  August  1800,  carrying  with  him  the 
score  of  Haydn's  '  Creation.' 

The  'Creation'  is  one  of  the  very  few  triumphs 
of  musical  art  that  have  been  received  with 
favour  from  the  first,  and  at  this  time  an  ac 
tive  competition  for  the  honour  of  producing 
it  was  going  on  everywhere.  Steibelt  does 
not  seem  to  have  been  first  in  the  field  at 
Paris,  as  Pleyel,  Haydn's  favourite  pupil,  had 
been  despatched  to  request  the  veteran  composer 
to  come  and  conduct  his  own  work.  Pleyel, 
however,  was  unable  to  reach  Vienna  [PLEYEL, 
vol.  iii.  p.  3  a],  and  the  field  was  thus  left  open 
to  Steibelt.  He  made  the  most  of  his  opportuni 
ties.  Not  content  with  obtaining  4000  francs 
from  Erard  for  himself  and  his  assistant,  M.  de 
Se'gur,  as  the  price  of  the  translation  adapted 
to  the  music,  and  3600  francs  for  himself  and 
2400  francs  for  his  fellow- translator  from  the 
administration  of  the  Opdra,  where  the  work 

2  All  authorities  seem  to  place  the  visit  to  Berlin  between  his 
concert  at  Prague  and  his  arrival  at  Vienna.  Otherwise  it  would  be 
natural  to  conjecture  from  the  dates  that  he  went  to  Berlin  before 
going  to  Dresden. 


702 


STEIBELT. 


was  to  be  performed,  he  transposed  the  part  of 
Adam  to  suit  the  tenor  Garat,  and  in  many 
places  even  attempted  to  improve  Haydn's  music 
by  additions  and  alterations  of  his  own.  In 
spite  of  these  drawbacks,  the  performance,  which 
took  place  on  Christmas  Eve,  1800,  proved  a 
decided  success.  Public  curiosity  was  much  ex 
cited  ;  a  fortnight  before  the  performance  not  a 
box  was  to  be  had  ;  an  eager  crowd  surrounded 
the  Opera  House  at  nine  in  the  morning ; 
at  the  end  of  the  first  part  a  subscription  was 
started  to  strike  a  medal  in  honour  of  the  com 
poser  (nay,  so  much  was  the  work  on  every 
one's  lips  that  one  of  the,  vaudeville  theatres 
produced  a  parody  of  it  three  days  later  called 
'La  recreation  du  monde').  Rey  directed  the 
performance  and  Steibelt  presided  at  the  piano 
forte.  The  adaptation  of  the  words  seems  to 
have  been  fairly  performed ;  at  the  alterations 
made  in  the  score  competent  judges  were,  na 
turally  enough,  extremely  indignant.  Moreover, 
the  circumstances  of  his  departure  some  four  or 
five  years  before  had  not  been  forgotten,  and 
thus,  in  spite  of  the  eclat  of  the  'Creation,' 
Steibelt  did  not  feel  very  comfortable  in  Paris. 
Even  the  success  of  his  ballet  'Le  Retour  de 
Zephyr'  at  the  Opera,  on  March  3,  1802, 
did  not  reconcile  him  to  his  position,  and  he 
embraced  the  opportunity  afforded  by  the  con 
clusion  of  the  Treaty  of  Amiens  on  the  2  2nd  of 
the  same  month,  and  returned  to  London. 

The  next  six  years  of  his  life,  about  equally 
divided  between  London  and  Paris,  were  among 
the  busiest  of  his  busy  career.  His  popularity 
in  London  was  as  great  as  ever ;  he  lived  in  the 
most  fashionable  part  of  the  town,  and  was  re 
ceived  with  applause  wherever  he  went.  For 
the  King's  Theatre  in  the  Haymarket  he  wrote 
two  ballets,  '  Le  Jugement  du  berger  Paris '  in 
3  acts  (produced  May  24,  1804),  and  'La  belle 
Lai ti ere'  (produced  Jan.  26,  1805).  It  seems 
very  characteristic  of  the  composer  that  his  work 
was  not  ready  on  either  occasion.  In  the  former 
case  several  airs  had  to  be  written  at  a  very 
short  notice  by  Winter,  who  was  also  responsible 
for  the  scoring  of  the  second  act 1 ;  in  the  latter 
case  an  apology  was  circulated  for  the  omission 
of  the  denouement  of  the  piece,  '  Mr.  Steibelt  not 
having  finished  that  part  of  the  music.' 2  Both 
ballets  were,  nevertheless,  received  with  great 
favour,  the  march  in  the  first  act  of  '  Le  Juge 
ment  '  and  the  pastoral  scene  in  the  second  act 
of  'La  belle  LaitieYe'  coming  in  for  special 
applause.  He  also  played  his  Pianoforte  Con 
certo  No.  5  (a  la  chasse,  op.  64)  at  the  Opera 
concerts,  apparently  in  the  summer  of  1802, 
with  great  success.  After  his  return  to  Paris 
Steibelt  followed  up  his  dramatic  achievements 
in  England  with  an  Intermezzo,  'La  Fete  de 
Mars,'  composed  in  celebration  of  the  Austerlitz 
campaign,  and  performed  at  the  Opera  on  March 
4,  T  806.  Encouraged  by  these  successes  he  again 
tried  his  hand  on  a  larger  work,  'La  Princesse 
de  Babylone,'  an  opera  in  3  acts.  This  was  ac- 

1  'Morning  Chronicle,'  May  25,  1804.  2  ibid.  Jan.  28, 1805. 


STEIBELT. 

cepted  by  the  Academic  and  was  in  active  pre 
paration  when  the  importunity  of  his  creditors 
compelled  the  composer  to  leave  Paris  suddenly 
in  the  autumn  of  1808.     But  his  energies  were 
by  no  means  confined  to  writing  for  the  stage. 
Several  of  his   chief    sonatas   date  from  these 
years.     Still  more  important  are  the  two  Con 
certos  in  Eb  (Nos.  4  and  5),  for  the  pianoforte, 
and  the  'Methode'  for  that  instrument  published 
in  French,  German,  and  Spanish,  in  which  lie 
claims  to  have  invented  the  signs  for  the  use  of 
the   Pedals  adopted  by  dementi,  Dussek,  and 
Cramer.    [See  SORDINI,  vol.  iii.  p.  6366.]  Above 
all,  it  was  on  his  return  to  Paris  in  1 805  that  he 
published  his  Etude, — a  collection  of  50  studies 
in  2  books — undoubtedly  the  best  of  his  piano 
forte  works.     In  the  midst  of  all  this  occupation 
he  found  time  to  meditate  further  travels.  Russia, 
a  country  that  in  the  previous  century  had  at 
tracted  Galuppi,  Paisiello,  Sarti,  Cimarosa,  and 
Clementi,  had  just  furnished  an  asylum  to  Boiel- 
dieu  and  a  home  to  Field,  was  then  a  sort  of 
Promised  Land  to  French  musicians,  and  it  is 
not  strange  that  Steibelt  should  have  been  more 
than  willing  to  go  there,  when  he  received  in 
1808  the  offer  of  a  very  advantageous  appoint 
ment  from  the  Emperor  Alexander.     Owing  to 
causes  already  mentioned  he  left  Paris  for  St. 
Petersburg  in  October,  1808.     His  journey  was 
not  however  very  speedy  when  he  felt  himself 
out  of  the  reach  of  his  creditors.     He  stopped 
at  Frankfort  to  give  a  great  concert  on  Nov.  2,3 
and  at  Leipzig  made  a  stay  of  some  weeks  and 
repeated  the  programme  of  the  Frankfort  concert. 
During  his  sojourn  in  Leipzig  he  put  forth  (Nov. 
24,  1808)  a  notice  in  which  he  complains  that 
some  German  publishers  had  issued  very  faulty 
editions  of  his  works  even  going  so  far  as  to 
annex  his  name  to  compositions  by  other  people, 
and  announces  his  intention  of  having  all  his 
future  works  published  by  Breitkopf  &  Hartel, 
an    intention    that   was   not   very  consistently 
carried  out.     Even  after  leaving  Leipzig  he  lin 
gered  at  Breslau  and  Warsaw  to  give  concerts,  so 
that  he  could  hardly  have  reached  St.  Petersburg 
till  the  beginning  of  the  spring  of  1809. 

Here,  at  last,  his  wanderings  came  to  an  end. 
He  was  appointed,  it  is  not  very  clear  when, 
director  of  the  Ope*ra  Francais,  and  when  Boiel- 
dieu  left,  at  the  close  of  1810,  Steibelt  received 
the  title  of  '  Maitre  de  Chapelle '  to  the  Emperor 
in  his  place.  It  was,  however,  a  title  to  which 
no  emolument  was  attached,  and  that  in  no  way 
relieved  its  possessor  from  professional  duties. 
In  managing  and  writing  for  the  Opera,  and  in 
teaching  and  composing  for  the  pianoforte,  the 
remaining  years  of  Steibelt's  life  were  spent, 
comparatively  at  least  without  excitement. 
About  the  year  1814  he  ceased  to  play  in  public, 
and  did  not  appear  again  for  six  years,  when 
the  production  of  his  Eighth  Pianoforte  Con 
certo — a  very  remarkable  work — induced  him  to 
come  forward  once  more  as  a  performer  on 
March  16,  1820.  Meanwhile  his  pen  was  not 

3  The  corre  icndent  of  the  A.  M.  Z.  (xi.  170)  oddly  describes  him  as 
'  Steihelt  of  L«.  .don.' 


STEIBELT. 

idle.     His  early  years  at  St.  Petersburg  were 
marked  by  the  ballets  'La  Fete  de  1'Empereur' 
in  1809,  and  'Der  blode  Hitter'  (before  the  end  of 
1812);  and  the  three  Concertos  for  pianoforte, 
Nos.^  6,  7,  and  8,  appear  to  belong  to  the  period 
of  his  abstention  from  playing  in  public.     For 
the  theatre  he  wrote  two  operas,  each  in  three 
acts,    « Cendrillon ' *   and    'Sargines';   a   third, 
'Le  Jugement  de  Midas,'  he  did  not  live  to 
finish.     He  also  spent  some  time   in  revising 
'Rome'o  et  Juliette.'       In  the  midst  of  these 
avocations  he  was  seized  with  a  painful  disease, 
of  which,  after  lingering  some  time,  he  died  on 
Sept.  20,  1823.     A  number  of  his  friends  com 
bined  to  honour  him  with  a  quasi-public  funeral, 
and  the   military  governor   of  St.  Petersburg, 
Count  Milarodowitsch,  organised  a  subscription- 
concert  for  the  benefit  of  his  family,  who  were 
left  in  very  straitened  circumstances. 

Comparatively  little  has  been  recorded  of 
Steibelt's  personal  character,  but  the  traits  pre 
served  are,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  far  from  pre 
possessing.  Almost  the  only  occurrence  that 
presents  him  in  a  pleasing  light  is  his  death-bed 
dedication  of  the  revised  score  of  '  Rome'o  et 
Juliette '  to  the  King  of  Prussia,  in  token  of 
gratitude  for  the  kindnesses  received  from  that 
monarch's  father.  He  appears  to  have  been 
perfectly  eaten  up  with  vanity,  which  exhibited 
itself  unceasingly  in  arrogance,  incivility,  and 
affectation.  In  his  native  country  he  provoked 

'     tiMWBi" 


STEIBELT. 


'03 


8  ••- 


The  above  k  reduced  from  the  aquatint  engraving  by 
Quenedey,  oi  tl  e  p  i'1  i»  i  -i  ii\,  prefixed  to  each  of 
the  two  parts  ol  the  uig.ua:  edition  of  the  'Etude  pour  le 
Piano  Forte.' 

dislike  by  acting  the  foreigner  and  professing 
ignorance  of  German — indeed  in  Berlin,  his 
birthplace,  he  inspired  such  disgust  by  his 
demeanour  at  his  first  concert  that  the  orchestra 
refused  to  take  any  part  in  the  second,  and 
similar  violations  of  courtesy  are  related  of  him 
wherever  he  went.  Graver  faults  still  are  not 
wanting.  That  he  was  a  kleptomania?  has  been 

1  It  is  worth  noting  that  some  authorities  declare  thif  :was  -written 
for  Paris.    This  opera  has  been  considered  his  greatest.  >ork. 


already  mentioned.  To  this  he  added  a  reckless 
extravagance  in  money  matters  that  amounted 
to  criminality.  Though  he  must  have  been  for 
many  years  in  receipt  of  a  large  income,  he  was 
always  out  at  elbows,  and  this  exercised  a  most 
pernicious  influence  on.  his  character  both  as  an 
artist  and  as  a  man.  His  respect  for  his  art, 
never  too  great,  was  destroyed  by  the  quantity 
of  worthless  music  that  he  wrote  hastily  to  meet 
temporary  difficulties,  and  he  not  unfrequently 
stooped  to  expedients  still  more  unworthy.  One 
of  these  has  been  already  mentioned,  but  it  was 
not  the  only  one.  Complaints  of  old  works 
palmed  off  as  new  on  publishers,  and  through 
them  on  the  public,  by  the  alteration  of  the 
first  few  bars,  transpositions,  or  the  like,  are 
only  too  rife.  A  device  that  seems  to  have 
been  specially  common  was  to  add  a  violin 
part  to  a  published  set  of  pianoforte  sonatas 
and  then  bring  out  the  result  as  an  entirely 
new  work. 

The  greatness  of  his  abilities  as  a  musician  is 
perhaps  best  proved  by  the  fact  that  they  caused 
so  unattractive  a  person  to  be  not  merely  toler 
ated  but  welcomed.  His  pianoforte-playing 
was  just  what  might  have  been  expected  from 
his  life  and  character.  The  highest  ranges  of 
his  art  were  a  terra  incognita,  to  him,  and  his 
inability  to  perform  a  slow  movement  was  the 
subject  of  universal  comment.  To  do  him  jus 
tice,  he  was  aware  of  his  deficiency,  and  seldom 
attempted  an  Adagio.  Quick  movements,  on 
the  contrary,  he  played  with  a  precision  and 
fire  that  made  the  liveliest  impression.  His 
technical  training  appears  to  have  been  defec 
tive,  and,  though  in  his  prime  he  was  con 
sidered  a  great  executant,  his  left  hand  was 
always  conspicuously  weak.  He  was  one  of 
the  first  to  discover  the  resources  presented  by 
the  pedals  of  the  pianoforte,  and,  like  some 
other  discoverers,  was  led  to  exaggerate  the 
importance  of  his  discovery.  The  result  of  this 
was  that  his  performance  was  always  apt  to 
degenerate  into  mere  tricks  of  effect.  The 
critics  of  his  day  also  complained  of  his  ex 
cessive  use  of  the  tremolo,  a  judgment  that 
appears  we.ll  grounded,  and  declared  that  his 
fingering  was  faulty,  which  seems  more  doubt 
ful.  It  is  strange,  too,  considering  his  appre 
ciation  of  the  resources  of  the  pianoforte  and 
his  preference  for  instruments  by  English  makers 
(or  by  Erard,  who  used  the  English  action  up 
to  1808),  that  he  should  have  made  little  or  no 
use  of  their  cantabile  powers.  But,  after  mak 
ing  all  deductions  of  this  sort,  the  broad  fact 
remains  that  Steibelt's  playing  was  thoroughly 
striking  and  original,  and  that  he  possessed  in  a 
very  eminent  degree  the  invaluable  power  of 
carrying  his  audience  with  him.  Whatever 
censure  critics  might  be  disposed  to  pass  after 
the  performance  was  over,  the  aplomb  and  spirit 
of  his  playing  fascinated  them  at  the  time,  and 
when  he  was  in  a  good  mood  he  would  interest 
his  hearers  for  hours  together. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  truest  test  of  a  com 
poser's  genius  is  to  be  found  in  his  slow  move- 


704 


STEIBELT. 


ments.     Judged  by  this  standard  the  multitu 
dinous   pianoforte   works  of  Steibelt  would  be 
declared  wholly  wanting.     Sonata  after  sonata 
has  no  slow  movement  at  all,  consisting  merely 
of  an  Allegro  and  a  Rondo.     When  an  Adagio 
or  Andante  is  interpolated,  it  is  either  an  insig 
nificant  trifle  of  some  30  or  40  bars  in  length, 
or  else  consists  of  a  popular  melody,  such  as 
'  If  a  body  meet  a  body,'  '  'Twas  within  a  mile 
of  Edinbro'  town,'  or  the  like.     He  does  not 
seem  to  have  ever  realised  the  powers  of  the 
pianoforte   for   an  Adagio,    and   when  a  violin 
partis  added,  as  is  often  the  case  in  his  sonatas, 
he  almost  invariably  assigns  the  melody  to  the 
latter   instrument  and  accompanies   it   with   a 
tremolo   on   the   pianoforte.     His  Allegros  and 
Rondos,  on  the  contrary,  particularly  the  former, 
are  often  of  remarkable  merit,  and  many  of  his 
sonatas,  such  as  that  dedicated  to  Madame  Bona 
parte  (in  Eb,  op.  45),  are  really  fine  and  original 
compositions.     Yet,  even  at  his  best,  a  want  of 
sustained  power  makes  itself  felt.     Though  the 
absence  of  records  as  to  his  early  life  makes  it 
probable  that  his  musical  training  was  not  sa 
crificed  to  the  profitable  speculation  of  exhibiting 
a  youthful  prodigy,  his  constructive  skill  was 
never  developed.     All  his  music  sounds  like  a 
clever  improvisation  that  happens  to  have  been 
committed    to    paper.     There    is   little    or  no 
attempt  at  development  or  design.     Whenever 
a  new  idea  occurs  to  the  writer  it  is  straightway 
thrust  in,  and  when  no  fresh  idea  presents  itself 
one  of  the  old  ones  is  repeated.     Hence  it   is 
that   his  music   is   now   totally  forgotten,   for, 
whatever  the  opinion  of  contemporaries  may  be, 
posterity  has  invariably  consigned  to   oblivion 
all  music,  no  matter  what  other  qualities  it  may 
possess,  that  is  deficient  in  design.1     Moreover, 
Steibelt  exhibits  a  most  annoying  inequality  of 
style.     Again  and  again  the  opening  movement 
of  a  sonata  excites  the  expectation  of  a  really 
satisfactory  work,  as  if  for  the  very  purpose  of 
disappointing    it    by    the    deficiencies    of    the 
Adagio,  if  there  is  one,  and  the  trivialities  of 
a  '  brilliant '  Rondo.     His  contemporaries  pro 
nounced  the  'Etude'  his  best  work,  and  time  has 
confirmed  their  opinion.     It  has  been  often  re- 
published,  and  may  indeed  be  said  to  be  the 
only  work  of  his  that  still  lives.     To  a  modern 
pianist  one  of  the  most  striking  features  of  the 
collection  is  the  fact  that  several  of  the  pieces 
(e.g.  Nos.  3  and  8)  anticipate  in  a  very  note 
worthy  manner  the  style  made  popular  by  Men 
delssohn  in  his  '  Songs  without   Words.'     The 
vast  mass  of  Airs  with  variations,  Fantasias, 
Descriptive  pieces,  Pot-pourris,  Divertissements, 
Bacchanals,  and  the  like,  that  had  a  great  sale 
in  their  day,  are  now  deservedly  forgotten.    The 
sample  of  his  descriptive  pieces  already  given 
[PROGRAMME-MUSIC,  vol.  iii.  p.  360]  may  serve 
as  a  type  of  them  all.    They  are  of  the  worst  class 
of  programme-music,  with  no  intrinsic  musical 
merit.      In  England  and   France   these  pieces 
made  their  composer  popular.     In  Germany,  his 

i  Mme.  Arabella  Goddard,  among  her  numerous  revivals,  included 
SteibeH's  Sonata  in  Eb,  ded.  Mad.  Bonaparte  ;  and  some  Studies. 


STEIBELT. 

reputation  was  comparatively  nil.  His  piano 
forte  works  however,  good  and  bad,  have  all  the 
great  merit  of  feasibleness,  and  invariably  lie 
well  under  the  hand. 

For  the  orchestra  and  other  instruments  Stei 
belt  wrote  comparatively  little — wisely,  in  the 
judgement  of  one  of  his  biographers.2     Unfor 
tunately,    the   scores   of  many  of  his   operatic 
works,  especially  those  written  for  St.  Peters 
burg,    are   inaccessible   and  perhaps   lost.      It 
cannot,  however,   be  said  that  an  examination 
of  the  score  of  '  Romeo  et  Juliette '  quite  bears 
out  the  sentence  just  quoted.     We  are  told  that 
an  even  division  of  the  interest  of  the  music 
between  the  various  instruments  is  one  great 
mark  of  skilful  orchestral  writing.     If  this  be 
so,  Steibelt's  opera  is  in  one  respect  skilfully 
written,  for  almost  every  instrument  in  the  or 
chestra  comes  to  the  front  in  turn.     More  than 
this,  the  composer  xises  the  forces  at  his  command 
with  power  and  freedom.      The  trombones  are 
introduced  to  an  extent  then  unusual,  though  not 
excessive.  Many  of  the  resources  of  modern  scor 
ing  are  to  be  found,  especially  the  employment 
of  wood-wind  and  strings  in  responsive  groups. 
The    main    complaint   that    can   be    sustained 
against  the  work  is  that  the  concerted  pieces  are 
unduly  protracted  and  impede  the  action — this 
is  certainly  the  case  with  the  Trio  in  the  first 
Act.      It   should    moreover    be   observed   that 
when  Steibelt  writes  for  the  pianoforte  and  other 
instruments,  as  in  his  quintets,  the  pianoforte 
is  not  allowed  to  monopolise  the  interest.     His 
concertos  are  formed  on  the  orthodox  Mozartean 
model,  and  it  must  be  added  that  they  contain, 
especially  in  their  first   movements,   most  ex 
cellent  writing.     'The   instrumentation  of  the 
first  movement  is  quite  exceptionally  beautiful ' 
was  the  opinion  of  one  who  listened  to  the  per 
formance  of  his  Eighth   Concerto  in  London,3 
and  even  when  the  work  as  a  whole  is  weak,  as 
in  the  Sixth  Concerto,  the   instrumentation  is 
not  deficient  in  skill  and  novelty. 

Steibelt's  originality  as  a  composer  was  ques 
tioned  in  his  own  day.  It  was  said  that  his 
famous  '  Storm  Rondo '  was  a  feeble  copy  of  a 
work  for  the  organ  by  the  Abbe"  Vogler,  a  state 
ment  on  which  the  thoroughly  pianoforte  cha 
racter  of  Steibelt's  music  throws  considerable 
doubt.  His  enemies  also  averred  that  '  Romeo 
et  Juliette  '  was  a  mere  plagiarism  from  Georg 
Benda's  opera  of  the  same  name — an  allegation 
that  is  certainly  unfounded.  More  serious  ob 
jection  may  be  taken  to  his  Sixth  Pianoforte 
Concerto,  'Le  Voyage  au  Mont  St.  Bernard,' 
in  which  not  only  the  general  idea,  but  even  the 
most  striking  details — the  hymn  of  the  monks, 
the  tolling  of  the  convent  bell,  and  the  national 
music  of  the  Savoyards  with  accompaniment  of 
triangles — are  borrowed  from  Cherubim's  opera 
of  '  Elisa  ou  le  Voyage  au  Mont  Bernard.'  It 
is,  in  fact,  as  it  has  been  aptly  described,  '  the 
work,  not  of  an  architect,  but  of  a  decorator.' 
On  the  otner  band,  Steibelt  must  be  credited 
with  some  contributions  to  musical  progress. 


2  A.M.  7,.  x\v.  p.  725. 


3  Ibid.  xxiv.  no.  25. 


STEIBELT. 

Modulation  he  used  with  a  freedom  unknown 
before  him.  The  following  passage,  for  instance, 
from  the  Andante  of  the  first  Sonata,  in  op.  37, 


STEIBELT. 


705 


was  an  unheard-of  thing  in  1799.  Of  course, 
nothing  is  easier  than  to  carry  such  innovations 
to  excess,  and  he  may  be  fairly  said  to  have 
overstepped  the  line  when  in  the  '  working-out ' 
of  his  Sonata  for  pianoforte  and  violin  in  E 
minor,  op.  32,  he  introduces  the  second  subject 
in  Eb  major,  changing  the  signature  for  56 
bars.  Another  instance  is  supplied  by  the  two 
Sonatas  for  pianoforte  that  form  op.  56.  In 
the  first,  which  is  in  Eb  major,  he  opens 
the  development  with  an  excursion  into  Gb 
major  for  13  bars  and  into  FjJ  minor  for  31 
bars,  in  each  case  changing  the  signature.  In 
the  second  he  leaves  E  major  for  G  minor  in 
the  same  part  of  the  composition,  employing  a 
new  signature  for  33  bars.  Greater  licence  still 
is  to  be  found  in  works  of  less  definite  outline 
than  a  sonata.  In  the  Fantasia  dedicated  to 
Madame  Moreau,  which  is  nominally  in  Bb 
major,  he  passes  after  56  bars  through  B  major 
and  B  minor  to  C,  and  with  the  exception  of 
the  last  33  bars,  which  return  to  Bb  major, 
all  the  rest  of  a  long  work  is  in  this  key.  But 
though  he  never  grasped  the  plan  that  groups  a 
number  of  subsidiary  keys  round  the  central  key 
[FoKM,  vol.  i.  p.  550  a,  and  552  a],  and  seems 
rather  to  be  quite  aimless  in  his  wanderings,  the 
fact  remains  that  in  his  use  of  keys  he  shows 
the  workings  of  an  original  mind.  Other  cases 
that  show  his  readiness  to  strike  out  in  fresh 
directions  are  to  be  found  in  his  discovery  of  the 
tremolo  on  the  pianoforte  and  in  his  free  use  of 
the  pizzicato  in  chamber  music.  He  employs  the 
latter,  for  example,  most  effectively  in  the 
Kondos  of  the  Sonatas  for  Pianoforte  and  Violin, 
op.  32,  no.  2,  and  op.  35,  no.  3,  in  the  second 
of  which  he  uses  this  expedient  in  giving  out 
the  subject.  The  device  of  introducing  a  pan 
tomime  into  an  overture  has  found  no  imitators, 
unless  the  overture  to  '  Euryanthe '  is  to  be  reck 
oned  as  an  imitation  [OPEKA,  vol.  ii.  p.  5216], 
hut  some  of  his  other  novelties  have  had  a  better 
fate.  The  manner  in  which  he  suggests  the 
'Lieder  ohne  Worte'  in  his  'Etude,'  and  his  use 
of  the  trombones,  alto,  tenor,  and  especially 
bass,  in  '  Kome'o  et  Juliette '  have  been  already 
noticed.  A  similar  boldness  in  orchestral  writ 
ing  is  to  be  found  in  the  first  movement  of  his 
Sixth  Concerto  for  Pianoforte,  where  a  passage 
occurs  in  which  the  violoncellos  are  divided 
into  three  parts.  .  Neither  Haydn,  nor  Mozart, 
nor  Beethoven  divide  their  strings,  except  the 
violas,  to  any  extent,  and  Steibelt's  Concerto  is 
at  least  thirteen  years  anterior  to  the  Overture 
to  'Guillaume  Tell,'  which  is  usually  quoted  as 
VOL.  in.  PT.  6. 


the  early  instance  of  division  of  the  violoncellos 
into  more  than  two  parts.  More  important  still 
is  the  finale  of  the  Eighth  Concerto  for  Piano 
forte,  in  which — probably  following  the  lead  of 
Beethoven — he  adds  voices  to  the  instruments 
to  form  a  climax,  with  an  effect  described  as 
thrilling.  We  may  fairly  say  that  a  composer 
who  did  these  things  deserves  to  be  distinguished 
from  the  crowd  of  merely  clever  musicians.  Had 
he  but  steadily  lived  and  written  up  to  his 
abilities  it  is  probable  that  he  might  have  taken 
one  of  the  chief  places  in  the  roll  of  musical 
worthies  ;  as  it  is,  he  only  adds  one  more  to  the 
many  instances  which  prove  that  conspicuous 
talent  unaccompanied  by  moral  earnestness  will 
never  succeed  in  making  a  man  great. 

The  list  of  his  works  which  follows  has  been 
compiled  with  considerable  trouble.  Not  only 
had  Steibelt  a  careless  and,  it  is  to  be  feared, 
dishonest  habit,  of  publishing  different  works 
under  the  same  opus  number,  and  the  same  or 
a  slightly  altered  work  under  different  numbers, 
but,  according  to  his  own  protest  already  men 
tioned,  works  were  published  under  his  name 
with  which  he  had  nothing  to  do.  Under  such 
circumstances  the  task  of  drawing  up  a  complete 
and  accurate  list  is  wellnigh  hopeless,  and  this 
catalogue,  though  compiled  with  all  the  care 
possible,  does  not  profess  to  be  more  than  a  con 
tribution  towards  a  complete  and  exact  list.  An 
asterisk  attached  to  a  work  means  that  it  cer 
tainly  contains  one  sonata  (or  the  number  given) 
and  may  contain  more.  A  date  has  been  added 
in  some  cases,  where  it  seemed  likely  to  be  of 
any  value. 

Op.  1.  3  Sonatas,  PP.  and  Violin  (1788).  |  Sonata,  PF.  |  2  Sonatas, 
PF.  |  S  Sonatas,  PF.  |  3  Sonatas,  Harp  with  Violin  and  Cello  ad  lib.  \ 
6  Sonatas,  PF.,  with  Flute  or  Violin  and  Cello. 

Op.  2.  *  Sonata,  PF.  and  Violin  (1788).  |  Sonata,  PF.  |  Sonata,  PF. 
and  Violin  (1791).  |  3  Sonatas,  PF.,  the  first  with  Violin.'  |  2  Sonatas, 
PF.  |  3  Sonatas.  PF.,  Violin,  and  Cello. 

Op.  3.  Sonata,  PF.,  Violin,  and  Cello  (1791).  |  Turkish  Overture, 
PF.,  Violin,  and  Cello.2 

Op.  4.  S  Sonatas,  PF.  and  Violin.  |  *  Sonata,  PF.,  Violin,  and  Cello 
(1791).  |  3  Sonatas,  PF.,  the  first  with  Violin  obbligato.3 

Op.  5.  Premier  Caprice,  PF.  (1792).  |  Preludes  and  three  pieces,  PF. 
(1792).4  |  3  Preludes,  PF.5 

Op.  6.  Second  Caprice,  PF.  |  Grand  Sonata,  PF.  and  Violin  ;  A 
(1792).  |  3  Sonatas,  PF.  |  2  Sonatas  and  '  La  Coquette,'  PF.,  the  first 
with  Violin.  |  *  Sonata,  PF.  (  Hondo  from  3rd  PF.  Concerto. 

Op.  7.  3  Grand  Sonatas,  PF.  (1793).  |  Turkish  Overture.  PF.,  Violin, 
and  Cello.s  |  3  Sonatas. 

Op.  8.  Grand  Sonata,  PF.  and  Violin  ;  D  (1793).  |  6  Grand  Preludes 
or  Exercises,  PF.  (1794).  |  3  Quartets  for  Strings  (1799).?  |  '  Enfant 
cheri  des  Dames '  with  var.  PF.  (1799).s  |  3  Sonatas,  PF.,  the  third 
with  Violin. 

Op.  9.  6  Divertissements,  PF.  (1793).  |  2  Grand  Sonatas,  PF.  |  '  La 
Coquette,'  PF. ;  A.9 

Op.  10.  Melange  d'airs  et  chansons  en  Forme  de  Scene,  PF.  (1794).io 

Op.  11.  3  Sonatas,  PF.  and  Flute,  or  Violin  ;  Bb,  A,  D  (1793).  I 
6  Sonatas,  PF.  and  Violin.  |  6  Sonatas,  PF.  |  6  Sonatas,  PF.,  nos.  1, 4, 5, 
and  6,  with  Violin  obbligato,  nos.  2  and  3  with  Flute  obbligato.  | 
3  Sonatas,  PF.,  Violin,  and  Cello.  |  3  Sonatas,  PF.  with  Violin  ace. 
(ded.  to  Mme.  Eugenia  da  Beaumarchois). 

Op.  12. 

Op.  13.  6  Airs  with  var.,  PF.  |  Duo,  PF.  and  Harp. 

Op.  14.  2  Grand  Sonatas,  PF.  (1795).  |  Duo,  Harp  and  PF. 

Op.  15.  Grand  Sonata,  PF. 

Op.  16.  Grand  Sonata,  PF.  1  Melange  d'Airs.u 

Op.  17.  3  Quartets  for  Strings;  Eb.  C,  F  min.  (1797).i2 

Op.  18.  3  Sonatas,  PF.,  nos.  2  and  3  with  Violin  (1797).  I  3  Sonatas, 
PF.,  with  ace.  for  Flute,  or  Violin  ;  G,  C.  Bb  (1799). 


1  See  op.  4.  2  See  op.  7.  3  See  op.  2. 

4  This  appears  to  have  been  also  styled  Preludes  and  Capriccios. 
6  Six  Preludes  are  also  published  as  op.  5.    They  are  probably  a 
combination  of  the  Preludes  in  the  works  given.  s  See  op,  3. 

i  Probably  part  of  op.  34,  and  perhaps  the  same  as  op.  17. 
8  See  op.  32.  9  From  op.  6.  10  See  op.  16. 

11  See  op.  10.  12  Perhaps  the  same  as  op.  8. 

Zz 


706 


STEIBELT. 


Op.  19.  3  Sonatas,  PF.  (1797). 

Op.  20.  -Sonatas,  PF. 

Op.  21. 

Op.  22. 

Op.  23.  Grand  Sonata,  PF. ;  Q  min. 

Op.  24.  Preludes,  PF.  (1797).  |  Ladies'  Amusement,  PF.i  | 
Caprices  en  Prelude,  PF.  |  Sonata,  PF.;  G. 

Op.  25.  Grand  Sonata  (L'Amante  disperata),  PF. ;  G  mm.  (1797).  | 
Preludes,  PF.  |  2  Sonatas,  PF.  and  Violin  ;  C,  Bb. 

Op.  26.  3  easy  Sonatas,  PF.  and  Violin  ;  D,  A,  F  (1799). 

Op  27.  6  Sonatas,  PF.  and  Violin  (ded.  to  Queen  of  Prussia) ;  C, 
E  b,  E,  B  b,  G.  and  ?  A  (1797).2 

Op.  28.  3  Quintets,  PF.  and  Strings ;   no.  1,  G ;  no.  2,  ] 
(1798)  3  I  3  Sonatas,  PF.  a  4  mains  (T798).4  I  '  A  me  tutte  le  belle, 
Hondo.  PF.,  Violin,  and  Cello;  Eb  (1798).5  I  3  easy  Divertissements, 
PF. 

Op.  29.  3  Grand  Sonatas,  PF.  |  2  Eondos.  PF. ;  F,  G. 

Op.  30.  3  Sonatas,  PF.  and  Violin.  1  Grand  Sonata,  PF.with  ace.  for 
Violin  ;  Bb.  |  2  Kondos,  PF. ;  F,  A. 

Op.  31.  Grand  Trio,  PF.,Violin,  and  Bass  ;  A  (TT98)-6  |  First  Quintet, 
PF.  and  Strings ;  D.7 

Op  32  Grand  Sonata,  PF.  with  ace.  for  Violin ;  E  min.  |  Enlant 
cheri  des  Dames,'  Air  with  var.,  PF.,  Violin,  and  Cello;  Eb.8  |  2 
Sonatas  (with  Scotch  airs),  PF.9 

Op.  33.  4  Sonatas  of  progressive  difficulty,  PF.,  with  Violin  ad  lib. ; 
0,  F  G,  D  (1798).  I  Concerto  no.  3  ('The  Storm1),  PF.  and  Orch. ;  E 
(1799).io  |  2  Sonatas,  PF.,  with  Violin  and  Cello  ad  lib. ;  Bb,  F."  |  6 
Bondos.  PF. ;  C,  F,  G,  D,  Bb,  F. 

Op.  34.  6  Quatuors  concertante  for  Strings,  in  two  books  (1798).12  | 
24  Waltzes,  PF.,  with  ace.  for  Tambourine  and  Triangle  (1800).i3 

Op.  35.  3  Sonatas,  PF.,  with  Violin  ad  lib. ;  Eb,  F,  A  (1799).  |  Grand 
Concerto,  no.  3  ('The  Storm');  E  (1799)."  |  'Amusement  pour  les 
Dames '  (easy  PF.  pieces)." 

Op.  36.  3  Sonatas  (ded.  to  Mme.  de  Boigne),  PF.,  with  ace.  for 
Flute,  or  Violin  ;  F,  Bb,  A(1799).ie  I  3 Divertissements  and  5  Kondos, 
PF.  (1799).  |  3  easy  Divertissements,  PF.  |  3  easy  Divertissements  and 
Airs  with  var.,  PF.  |  Sonata  for  2  PF.s  (1800).  1 12  Waltzes,  PF.,  with 
ace.  for  Tambourine  and  Triangle."  |  Combat  Naval,  PF.,  with  Violin 
and  Cello  (and  Gr.  Tambour  ad  lib.) ;  E  b.is 

Op.  37.  3  Sonatas,  PF.,  with  Violin  ad  lib.  The  first  has  also  a 
Tambourine  obbligato  ;  C,  A,  Eb.19  I  3  Progressive  Sonatas,  PF. ;  C, 
Bb,  F.  |  3  Sonatas  of  progressive  difficulty,  PF.,  with  Violin  and  Cello 
ad  lib.  |  Sonata,  PF.,  with  Violin  ad  lib. ;  E  b.so 

Op.  38.  3  Sonatas,  PF.,  with  ace.  for  Flute,  or  Violin  ;  0,  Bb,  G.21 1 
3  Sonatas,  PF. ,  with  ace.  for  Flute  or  Violin  ;  A,  D,  B  b.  1 12  Divertisse 
ments  (Marches,  Waltzes,  and  Kondos),  PF.,  with  ace.  for  Tam 
bourine. 

Op. 39.  3  Sonatas  (ded.  to  Mile,  de  Boigne),  PF.,  with  ace.  for 
Flute  or  Violin  (1800).22  |  6  Bacchanals,  PF.,  with  Tambourine  ad  lib. 

Op.  40.  3  easy  Sonatas,  PF.,  with  Violin  ad  lib.;  A  min.,  C,  F. 
Sonata,  PF.,  with  Violin  ad  lib. ;  E  b.  |  3  progressive  Lessons  (also 
called  Sonatas).  PF. ;  C,  Bb,  F.  |  3  favourite  Eondos,  PF. ;  C,  A,  E  b. 

Op.  41.  3  Sonatas,  PF.  and  Flute  (1800).  |  Combat  Naval,  PF.  (1800).23  | 
3  Rondos,  PF.,  with  Flute,  or  Violin  ;  A,  D,  B  b.  |  3  Sonatas,  PF. ;  C, 
Bb,  G.24 1  3  easy,  pleasing,  and  progressive  Sonatas,  PF,;  C,  Bb,  F.  | 
Easy  Sonatas,  PF.  and  Violin.  |  Easy  Sonata,  PF. 

Op.  42.  6  easy  and  pleasing  Sonatinas;  Book  1,  0,  Bb,  0;  Book 2, 
D,  Eb,  A.  |  3  easy. Sonatas,  PF.  and  Violin.  |  3  Sonatas.  PF.,  with 
Flute  or  Violin  ;  A,  D,  Bb.25  I  '  Mamma  mia,'  arranged  as  a  Hondo, 
PF. ;  E  b.  I  Naval  Fight,  a  grand  national  piece,  PF.26 

Op.  43.  3  Sonatas.  PF.;  D,  Bb,  Eb.  |  Hondo,  PF. ;  D.  |  'Amusement 
pour  les  Dames,'  PF.2? 

Op.  44.  Grand  Sonata.  PF..  with  Flute  or  Violin  ;  A.  |  Fantasia 
with  var.  on  'Der  VogelfSnger,'  PF. 

1  See  opp.  35  and  43. 

2  Selections  from  these  six  appear  to  have  been  also  published  as 
op.  27. 

3  Six  similar  Quintets  appeared  in  the  following  year  (see  Op. 
31).    These  Quintets  were  especially  famous. 

4  These  were  followed  the  next  year  by  a  fourth,  published  se 
parately. 

5  Also  published  for  Harp  and  PF.    The  air  comes  from  Paisiello's 
'  la  Modista  ragg/ratrfce.' 

6  This  appears  to  have  been  also  published  for  PF.,  Flute,  and 
Cello.  7  See  op.  28. 

8  This  was  also  published  for  PF.  and  Harp.    See  op.  8. 

9  See  opp.  46  and  62.  10  See  op.  35. 

11  These  2  Sonatas  are  described  as  '  Liv.  2,'  so  that  another  book 
may  have  been  published. 

12  These  Quartets  appear  to  be  some  sort  of 'arrangement  or  selec 
tion. 

13  In  2  books,  each  containing  12  Waltzes.    The  first  book  was  also 
published  (1)  for  Harp,  Tambourine,  Flute,  and  Triangle;  (2)  for 
2  Violins ;  (3)  for  2  Flutes.    One  book  was  also  published  as  op.  36. 

H  See  op.  33.  is  Also  published  as  op.  43.    See  op.  24. 

is  These  appear  to  have  been  also  published  as  op.  39. 

n  Also  published  for  PF.,  Violin  and  Triangle.  These  Waltzes  are 
part  of  op.  34.  18  See  opp.  41  and  42. 

)9  In  1802,  5  Sonatas  with  Violin  ad  lib.  are  announced  as  forming 
this  work. 

20  It  is  possible  that  all  the  works  numbered  op.  37  are  variants  of 
the  first-mentioned.  21  This  was  also  published  as  op.  41. 

22  These  appear  to  have  been  also  published  as  op.  36. 

23  See  opp.  36  and  42.  24  gee  op.  38. 

25  These  were  also  published  as  op.  45.  They  may  be  identical  with 
the  preceding.  26  See  opp.  36  and  41. 

27  Also  published  as  op.  35.    See  op.  24. 


STEIBELT. 

Op.  45.  3  Sonatas,  PF.,  with  ace.  for  Violin  ;  A.  Eb,  Bb.  I  Grand 
Sonata  (ded.  to  Mme.  Bonaparte).  PF. ;  E  b.  |  3  Sonatas.  PF.,  with 
ace.  for  Flute  or  Violin ;  A,  D,  Bb.28  |  Sonata,  PF.  and  Violin  ;  A. 
Grand  Polonaise,  PF.  and  Violin  ;  E.  |  Polonaise,  PF. 

Op.  46.  3  Sonatas  ('in  which  are  introduced  some  admired  airs'), 
PF.,  with  ace.  for  Flute  or  Violin  ;  B  b.  A,  D.29 

Op.  47. 

Op.  48.  2  Sonatas,  PF. ;  Eb,  A.30 

Op.  49.  6  Sonatas  (in  2  books),  PF.  |  Duet  for  Harp-  I  3  Quartets 
for  Strings.  1  6  Sonatinas  of  progressive  difficulty,  PF. 

Op.  50.  6  favourite  (also  called  progressive)  Sonatas,  PF. ;  C,  Bb, 
G,  D,  Eb,  A. 

Op.  51.  3  Sonatas,  PF. ;  C,  G,  F.  Quartet,  PF.,  Violin,  Viola,  and 
Cello  ;  A. 

Op.  52. 

Op.  53.  6  Bacchanals,  PF.,  with  ace.  for  Flute,  Tambourine,  and 
Triangle. 

Op.  54. 

Op.  55. 

Op.  56.  3  Grand  Sonatas,  PF.  and  Violin;  C,  D,  Bb.  |  3  Grand 
Sonatas,  PF.,  with  Violin  ad  lib. ;  A  min.,  F,  C.  |  3  Sonatas,  PF., 
Violin,  and  Cello.  |  2  Sonatas,  PF. ;  Eb,  E. 

Op.  57.  3  Kondos,  PF. ;  C,  Bb,  A. 

Op.  58.  Kondo,  PF.;  Bb. 

Op.  59.  Sonata,  PF.,  with  Violin  ad  lib. ;  Eb.  1  Grand  Sonata,  PF. 
Sonata,  PF.,  Violin,  and  Cello. 

Op.  60.  Sonata  (ded.  to  Duchess  of  Courland),  PF. ;  E  b.  |  6  Sonatas, 
PF.  |  2  Kondos,  PF. ;  F,  A. 

Op.  61.  Grand  Sonata,  PF. ;  E  b.  |  3  Sonatas,  PF.,  with  Violin  and 
Cello.  |  2  Sonatas,  PF.,  with  Violin  and  Cello  (ad  lib.);  G,  Eb.  I  2 
Sonatas,  PF.,  with  ace.  for  Violin  and  Cello ;  F,  D.  |  2  Sonatas.  PF., 
Violin,  and  Cello;  Bb,  Eb.  |  Grand  Sonata,  PF.,  Violin,  and  Cello.si 

Op.  62.  2  Sonatas,  PF. ;  F,  D  (1802).32  |  3  Sonatinas,  PF. ;  Eb,  G,  C. 
3  Sonatas,  PF.,  with  Violin  or  Flute  ;  C,  Bb,  G. 

Op.  63.  Sonata,  PF. ;  D.  |  3  Grand  Sonatas,  PF. ;  C,  F.  D  (1?02). 
Sonata,  PF. ;  Bb.  |  Le  Kappel  a  1'arme'e,  Military  Fantasia  on  an  air 
by  Mozart.  PF. ;  F.33  |  *  Rondo,  PF. 

Op.  64.  Grand  Concerto,  no.  5  (a  la  chasse),  PF.  and  Orch.;  Eb 
(1802).  |  Grand  Sonata,  PF. ;  G.  |  Second  Military  Fantasia  with  a 
triumphal  march  by  Haydn,  PF. 

Op.  65.  3  Sonatas,  PF., Violin,  and  Cello.  |  3  Sonatas,  PF.  |  Le  Rappel 
a  1'armee,  Military  Fantasia,  PF,  ;  F.:4  |  *  Rondo,  PF. 

Op.  66.  3  Grand  Sonatas,  PF.,  with  ace.  for  Flute  or  Violin  added 
by  I.  Pleyel ;  F,  G,  A  (1802).  I  3  Sonatas,  PF.  and  Violin.  |  2  Sonatas, 
PF. ;  F,  A.35 1  Air  favori  de  Le"once  Vari(5,  PF. ;  D.36 

Op.  67.  2  Sonatas,  PF.  |  Grand  Sonata,  PF.,  with  ace.  for  Violin. 
Sonata,  PF.,  with  Flute  or  Violin ;  D. 

Op.  68.  3  Sonatas,  PF.,  with  Violin  ad  lib.  \  2  easy  Sonatas,  PF.  |  6 
Bacchanals,  PF.,  with  Tambourine  ad  lib. 

Op.  69.  3  Sonatas,  PF.,  with  Violin,  or  Cello,  or  Bassoon  obbligato.  | 
Grand  Sonata,  PF.  and  Violin  obbligato;  G  min.  |  Les  Papillons, 
Rondo,  PF. ;  Eb.  |  3  Sonatas,  PF.,  Violin,  and  Cello.  |  Grand  Sonata, 
PF.;  Eb. 

Op.  70.  3  Sonatinas,  PF.,  with  Flute  or  Violin;  C,  Bb,  G.  I  3  So 
natas,  PF.,  with  Violin  ;  G,  F,  A.  |  Sonata  for  Harp. 

Op.  71.  3  Grand  Sonatas,  PF.,  with  Violin  obbligato ;  G  min.,  G, 
Bb.  |  Sonata  (with  a  dance  air  by  Duport),  PF.  and  Flute. 

Op.  72.  3  Sonatas  (or  Sonatinas),  PF.  and  Violin  or  Flute;  C,  Bb, 
G.  I  La  Bohemienne  (Air  by  Choron),  with  var. ;  PF. ;  G. 

Op.  73.  3  Sonatas,  PF.  and  Violin ;  G,  F,  A.37  |  Fantasia  with  6  var. 
on  'Belisaire,'  PF. ;  D  min. 38 

Op.  74.  3  Sonatas,  PF.  and  Violin;  Eb,  A,  E  min.  |  6  Bacchanals, 
PF.,  with  Tambourine  ad  lib. 

Op.  75.  3  Sonatas,  PF.  |  3  progressive  Sonatas,  PF.,  with  Violin  ad 
lib. ;  F,  G,  A.  |  2  easy  Sonatas,  PF.  |  Fantasia,  PF. 

Op.  76.  3  Grand  Sonatas,  PF. ;  A,  G,  Eb.39  |  New  Turkish  Overture, 
PF.,  Violin,  and  Cello.« 

Op.  77.  6  Sonatinas,  PF.41  |  Fantasia  with  6  var.  on  the  Romance  of 
Richard  Cceur  de  Lion,  PF. ;  C. 

Op.  78.  Etude  for  PF..  containing  50  exercises  of  different  kinds  (in 
2  books)  (1805).  |  6  Bacchanals,  PF.,  with  Tambourine  ad!  lib. 

Op.  79.  3  Sonatas,  PF.  and  Flute ;  G,  F,  A.42 1  Grand  Sonata,  PF. 
and  Violin  obbligato;  E. 

Op.  80.  Grand  Sonata,  PF.,  with  Violin  obbligato;  Bb.  |  Military 
Fantasia  on  •  La  Sentinelle,'  PF. ;  C.« 

28  Also  published  as  op.  42. 

29  The  '  admired  airs '  are— in  no.  1,  "Twas  within  a  mile  of  Edinbro" 
town'  and  '  The  Caledonian  Beauty' ;  in  no.  2,  'The  Maid  of  Selma' 
and  '  Life  let  us  cherish.' 

so  These  appear  to  have  been  also  published  (1)  for  PF.  and  Violin, 
(2)  for  PF.,  Violin,  and  Cello. 

si  These  last  5  works  are  suspiciously  like  the  same  thing  indifferent 
disguises. 

32  The  following  airs  are  introduced— in  no.  1,  'If  a  body  meet  a 
body,'  and  Sir  David  Hunter  Blair's  Reel ;  in  no.  2,  '  Jesse  Macphar- 
lane '  (sic),  and  '  La  chantreuse.' 

33  Also  published  as  op.  65.  34  Also  published  as  op.  63. 

35  The  second  movement  of  the  first  Sonata  is  on  a  Scotch  song,  and 
the  third  movement  on  a  Russian  theme. 

36  'Le'once'  was  an  opera  by  Isouard,  1805. 

37  These  appear  to  have  been  also  published  for  Flute,  both  as 
op.  73  and  as  op.  79. 

38  •  Belisaire '  was  an  air  by  Garat.        39  Also  published  as  op.  81. 

40  Not,  apparently,  the  same  as  op.  7. 

41  Selections  from  these  six  seem  to  have  been  also  published  as 
op.  77. 

42  See  op.  73.  43  •  La  Sentinelle '  was  an  air  by  Choron. 


STEIBELT. 

Op.  81.  3  Grand  Sonatas,  PF. ;  A,  G,  E  b.i  |  Grand  Sonata,  PF.  and 
Violin  obbligato ;  Bb. 

Op.  82.  Grand  Martial  Sonata,  PF. ;  D.2  |  Grand  Fantasia  with  var., 
PF. ;  D. 

Op.  83.  Grand  Sonata,  PF.,  with  Violin;  E  min.  I  2  Sonatas,  PF.  • 
C.F. 

Op.  84.  Grand  Sonata,  PF.,  with  ace.  for  Violin  or  Flute  ;  G.  |  3  So 
natas,  PF. ;  B,  G,  Eb. 

Op.  85.  Grand  Sonata,  PF. ;  C.  I  Grand  Sonata,  PF. ;  D. 

Op.  86.  6  Sonatinas,  PF. 

Op.  87.  Grand  Sonata,  PF.  with  Violin  ;  Bb. 

Op.  88.  Grand  Martial  Sonata,  PF. ;  D.3 

Op.  89.  Grand  Sonata,  PF.  and  Flute ;  G. 

Op.  90.  Fantasia  en  forme  de  Scene,  PF. ;  F  min;  1  Fantasia  en 
forme  de  Scene,  PF. ;  G. 

Op.  91.  Sonata,  PF. ;  C. 

Op.  92—100.4 

Op.  301.  Grand  Fantasia  ('L'Incendie  de  Moscou'),  PF. 

Op.  102.  Etrennes  aux  Dames  (Favourite  Russian  Dance  with  var.), 
PF. ;  G. 

Op.  103-109. 

Op.  110.  Fantasia  (Battle  of  Neerwinde),  PF.  (1792). 

WORKS  WITHOUT  OPUS  NUMBERS. 

1.  VOCAL  AND  ORCHESTRAL. 

Six  Operas— '  Rome'o  et  Juliette,'  in  3  acts;  produced  at  Theatre 
Feydeau  Sept.  10, 1793.  |  '  Albert  and  Adelaide,'  in  3  acts,  an  English 
opera,  not  -wholly  original,  produced  at  Covent  Garden  Dec.  11, 1798.  | 
'La  Princesse  de  Babylone,'  in  3  acts.  |  '  Cendrillon,'  in  3  acts.  | '  Sar- 
gines,'  in  3  acts.  |  'Le  Jugement  de  Midas,'  unfinished,  but  appa 
rently  performed. 

Five  Ballets—  'Le  Betour  de  Zfiphire'  (Paris  Opera,  March  3,1802).  | 
'Le  Jugement  du  berger  Paris'  (King's  Theatre,  London,  May  24, 
1S04).5  1  'La  belle  Laitiere,  ou  Blanche,  Heine  de  Castile'  (King's 
Theatre.  Jan.  26,  1805).  |  'La  F6te  de  1'Empereur'  (St.  Petersburg, 
1?09).  | '  Der  blode  Bitter'  (St.  Petersburg,  before  1812) ;  and  an  Inter 
mezzo,  '  La  F<5te  de  Mars '  (Paris  Opera,  March  4, 1806). 

Vocal  Music.— The  20  Songs  of  Estelle,  with  ace.  for  PF.  or  Harp.6  | 
SO  Songs,  with  ace.  for  PF.  or  Harp,  in  5  vols.,  each  of  6  songs. 

Music  for  Orchestra.— Ouverture  en  Symphonic  (1796).  |  Waltzes  for 
Orch.  |  Grand  Concerto  for  Harp,  with  Orch.  ace.  |  Pot-pourri,  ar 
ranged  as  Concerto,  with  ace.  for  Orch.  |  8  Concertos  for  PF.  and 
Orch.,  viz. — 

No.  1.  In  C  (1796). 

2.  In  E  min.,  with  ace.  for  Violin  or  Full  Orch.  ad  lib.  (1796?). 

3.  In  E  ('  The  Storm ').    Op.  33  or  35  (1798-9). 

4.  InEb. 

5.  In  E  \>  ('  a  la  chasse ').    Op.  64  (1802). 

6.  In  G  min.  ('  Le  Voyage  au  Mont  St.  Bernard ')  (about  1816). 

7.  In  E  min.  (Grand  Military  Concerto,  'dans  le  Genre  des 

Grecs,'  with  2  Orchestras)  (before  1817). 

8.  In  Eb  (with  Bacchanalian  Rondo,  ace.  by  Chorus).    (Pro 

duced  at  St.  Petersburg  March  16,  1820,  and  played  by 
Mr.  Neate  at  the  London  Philharmonic  Concert  of  March 
25, 1822.) 

2.  PIANOFORTE. 

I.  Fantasias.  Of  these  there  are  some  30,  part  with  variations, 
besides  those  which  have  opus-numbers.  Amongst  them  may  be 
mentioned : — 

4  Military  Fantasias  (the  4th  called  'La  FSte  de  Napoleon'),  F,  E, 
C,  Eb.  1  Grand  Military  Fantasia,  G.  |  First  Fantasia  (on  an  air  from 
the  'Mysteres  d'Isis'— the  ZauberflOte).  I  Second  Fantasia  (on  an  air 
from  the  •  Dansomanie  ")J  |  Third  Fantasia  (on  an  air  from  the  '  Mys 
teres  d'Isis.')  |  Fourth  Fantasia  (on  an  air  from  the  same).  |  Fifth 
Fantasia  (on  an  air  from  the  same).  |  Sixth  Fantasia  (on  the  Waltz 
from ' Don  Giovanni ').  |  Fantasia with9var.  on'LaNouvelleZoeYA.s  | 
Grand  Fantasia  with  7  var.  on  '  La  Jeanne.'  D.9  |  Fantasia  with  9  var. 
on  a  Russian  Waltz,  A  min.  |  Fantasia  with  8  var.  on  Cavatina  from 
'Tancredi,'  Bb.  |  Fantasia  with  5  var.  on  'Le  Clair  de  la  Lune,'  Bb.  I 
Fantasia  with  5  var.  on  a  theme  from  'Virtuosi  ambulanti,'  C.io  | 
Fantasia  (consisting  of  the  airs  '  Richard,  o  mon  roi  and  '  Charmante 
Gabrielle")  with  8  var.  on  'Vive  Henri  IV,'  D.  |  Fantasia  with  8  var. 
on  Rondo  d'Aline'i  and  an  air  from  'Maris  Galons,'  C.  I  Fantasia 
with  10  var.  on  'Nel  cor  piur  Bb  min.  |  Fantasia  on  the  air  'Le  point 
du  Jour.'  |  Fantasia  on  the  air  'Firmin  et  son  chien.'  |  Fantasia  on 
the  Polonaise  'La  placida  campagna'  and  other  airs  sung  by  Mme. 
Catalan!.  |  Fantasia,  '  L'Orage  sur  mer,'  on  the  Venetian  Barcarole 
'  La  Biondina  en  Gondoletta'  and  other  airs  sung  by  Mme.  Catalani.12  | 
Fantasia  en  forme  de  Scene,  with  var.  (ded.  to  Mme.  Nariscbkin), 


1  Also  published  as  op.  76. .  2  Also  published  as  op.  88. 

3  Also  published  as  op.  82. 

4  At  this  point,  about  the  date  of  Steibelt's  arrival  in  Russia, 
almost  all  record  of  his  works  disappears. 

5  The  original  score  of  this  work  came  into  the  possession  of  Mo- 
scheles,  and  was  sold  by  him  on  leaving  London  in  1847. 

6  Some  authorities  declare  that  Steibelt  only  wrote  5  of  this  set  of 
20  songs. 

?  The  '  Dansomanie '  was  a  ballet,  set  by  Me"hul  in  1800  and  by  Rossi 
before  1806. 

1  'La  Nouvelle  Zoe '  was  an  opera  dance. 
9  'La  Jeanne  '  was  a  dance  air. 

10  'I  Virtuosi  ambulanti'  was  an  opera  by  Fioravanti,  1?07. 

11  Apparently  from  Berton's  opera  '  Aline,'  1803. 

12  This  Fantasia  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  3rd  PF.  Concerto. 


STEIBELT. 


707 


F  min."  |  Fantasia  on  an  air  of  Mme.  Narischkin.  |  Fantasia  en  forma 
de  Scene,  with  8  var.  on  2  Russian  airs,  D  min.  |  Fantasia  with  6  var.. 
F.  |  Fantasia  (ded.  to  Prince  Lobkowitz),  G.  |  Fantasia  on  an  air  from 
the  'Mysteres  d'Isis'  (ded.  to  Mme.  Moreau),  Bb.  1  Fantasia  with  var. 
on  the  air  '  L'on  revient  toujours'  from  '  Jocoude,'  E.w 

n.  Rondos.  Amongst  the  vast  quantity  of  these  the  following  may 
be  particularised  :— 

15  Rondos  in  5  Books :  Bk.  1,  C,  A,  E  \>  ;  Bk.  2,  D,  E  b,  F  ;  Ek.  3,  D, 
C,  A ;  Bk.  4.  G,  C,  A ;  Bk.  5,  F,  A  min.,  D.  |  La  Bouquet,  A.  |  Turkish 
Rondo  (with  Violin  ad  lib.).  C.  |  Neapolitan  Rondo,  F.  |  Cosack  Rondo 
(with  Violin  ad  lib.),  D.  |  2  Scotch  Rondos  (with  Violin  ad  lib.).  |  2 
Pastoral  Rondos,  E,  Eb.  I  Le  Berger  et  son  Troupeau.  Bb.  |  Depart 
de  Paris  pour  Petersbourg,  Bb.  I  Les  Adieux  de  Bayard  a  sa  Dame,  E. 
Tink-a-tink  (from  the  duet  in  '  Blue  Beard '),  G.is  |  Bird  duet  from 
'  The  Cabinet,'  D.'e  |  Polacca  from  '  The  Cabinet.'  |  Castanet  song  in 
'The  Caravan.'Bb.i7  I  Favourite  Polonaise  sung  by  Mrs.  Billington 
arr.  as  a  Rondo.  |  3  Favourite  Rondos  (with  Flute).  |  Rondo  on  a 
Swiss  Theme,  B  b. 

III.  Airs  with  Variations.    Of  these  there  are  a  very  great  number. 
Amongst  the  chief  may  be  distinguished:— 

10  Sets  of  Variations  (pub.  about  1808),  No.  1.  Air  favori  de  '  Le"once ' 
(cp.  op.  66),  D.  No.  2.  Air  du  ballet  '  Les  Noces  de  Gamache.'  No.  3. 
Polonaise  de  Viotti,  E  b.  No.  4.  Theme  de  Haydn.  No.  5.  Andante 
with  var.  No.  6.  Air  du  petit  Commissionaire.  No.  7.  Theme  de 
Haydn.  No.  8.  The"me  de  Mozart  ('  Alles  fiihlt').  No.  9.  Andantino 
('  Un  jour  de  cet  Automne ')  with  var.  No.  10.  Air  by  Mozart  ('  Bei 
Mannern').  |  L'Himne  des  Marseillois  with  var.  |  '  Lullaby' (by  Storace) 
with  var.  |  Monostatos  (ZauberflOte)  with  var.  |  Papageno  (Zauber 
flOte)  with  var.  |  Var.  on  a  Russian  Theme  (with  Violin  ad  lib.).  |  Ro 
mance  and  Pastorale  from  '  Nina '  is  with  8  var.  |  Variations  on  a  Song 
('A  peine  au  sortir')  by  Mdhul.  |  Two  Russian  Airs  ('SchOne  Minka' 
and  'Kleine  Zigeunerin")  with  var.,  D  min.,  D.  ]  Polonaise  de  Viotti 
with  var.,  Bb.  |  Pastorale  and  7  var.  (with  Violin  ad  lib.).  \  Russian 
Air  with  var.  (with  Violin  ad  lib.).  \  Air  ('  And  does  a  fond  emotion') 
from  '  The  Cherokee '  19  with  var.  |  Air  Montagnard  de  Viotti  with  8 
var,,  0. 

IV.  Pot-pourris.    Of  these  there  is  a  series  of  20.    The  keys  of  the 
first  7  are  F,  A,  A,  Eb.  D,  D,  Eb,  and  of  the  19th,  Eb.    Nos.l— 16 
were  published  in  Paris  between  1791  and  1798,  and  the  remainder 
shortly  after.    Besides  the  piece  already  mentioned  under  Orchestral 
works,  a  Caprice-Pot-pourri  with  var.  on  an  air  from  '  Alceste '  may 
be  mentioned. 

V.  Programme  Mutie.      As  samples  of  this  class  may  be  men 
tioned  :— 

Grande  Marche  de  Bonaparte  en  Italie  (with  Tambourine  ace.), 
1796  (?).  |  Grande  Bataille  de  Gemappe  (with  var.  on  Marseillais), 

1796,  |  Defaite  des  Espagnols  par  I'arme'e  Fran9aise  (Military  Sonata), 

1797.  |  Britannia,  or  Admiral  Duncan's  Victory,  1797.  |  St.  Paul's  Pro 
cession,  1798.  |  La  Journe'e  d'Ulm  (also  arranged  for  Wind  Instru 
ments),  1806.  |  The  Public  Christening  of  the  Neva,  Ig06.  |  See  also 
opp.  36, 101,  and  110. 

3.  MISCELLANEOUS. 

I.  Amongst  the  higher  class  of  music  that  falls  under  this  head 
may  be  noticed : — 

Mtthode  de  PF.  contenant  les  principes  necessaires  pour  bien 
toucher  de  cet  instrument,  des  gammes  dans  tous  les  tons,  des  exer- 
cices  pour  les  doubles  cadences,  12  petites  le£ons,  6  sonates  d'une 
difficult^  graduelle,  et  des  grands  erercices,  le  tout  doigte",  et  enfin 
une  instruction  sur  la  manieres  de  se  servir  des  pedales,  1805.  |  12 
Sonatas.  PF.  (4  hands)— the  first  6  in  F,  G,  G,  C,  Bb,  F.  |  6  Sonatas  for 
Harp.  |  3  Duets,  PF.  and  Harp.  |  6  Duets  or  Sonatas,  2  PF.s,  or  PF. 
and  Harp.  |  6  Sonatas  for  Harp,  with  ace.  for  Violin  and  Cello.  |  6 
Sonates  periodiques  (one  with  Violin  or  Flute  ad  lib.),  PF.  |  3  Pre 
ludes,  PF.  1 12  Sonatinas  in  2  Books— Bk.  1,  C,  B  b,  G,  D,  E  b,  A ;  Bk.  2, 
C,  G,  F,  D,  Bb,  Eb,  PF.  |  3  Sonatas  (for  beginners),  PF.  |  Sonata  for 
Harp  with  Violin  ad  lib.  \  EWgie  (on  the  death  of  Marshal  Prince 
Soltykoff),  PF.,  D  min.,  1816.  |  2  Airs  by  Braham  ('The  beautiful 
maid'  and  'Never  think  of  meeting  sorrow')  in  Reeve's  opera  'The 
Cabinet1  arranged  as  a  Sonata,  PF.,  Bb.  |  La  Chasse,  Sonata,  PF., 
with  Violin  ad  lib.,  D.  '  Sonata,  PF.,  with  Violin,  C  min.  |  Overture 
and  Rondo,  PF.  |  Overture  and  Polonaise,  PF. 

II.  The  following  are  among  the  chief  of  his  lighter  works  — 

12  Bacchanals,  PF.  (with  Tambourine  ad  lib.).  \  2  Books  of  Seren 
ades,  PF.  1 12  Capriccios,  PF.  |  Turkish  March,  PF.  |  Marche  de  Peter- 
hof,  1811,  PF.    Triumphal  March  on  the  entry  of  Alex.  I.  and  Fred. 
Will.  III.  into  Paris,  1814,  PF.  |  Le  Retour  de  Cavalerie  Russe  a  St.' 
Petersbourg  le  14  Oct.  1814,  pi6ce  militaire,  PF.  |  Le  Depart,  Im 
promptu,  PF. ;  C.  |  Caprice  on  '  Non  piu  andrai,'  PF.,  1816.  |  6  Nou- 
w.lles  Walzes  a  trois  mains  (the  6th  Waltz  is  a  parody  of  the  finale  of 
the  '  Vestale'),  PF.  |  Polonaise,  PF. ;  D.  |  Turkish  Rondo  for  Harp 
with  Violia  and  Tambourine  ad  lib.  \  Air  ('  Enfant  cheri')  with  var ' 
PF.  and  Harp.  |  Favourite  Rondo  for  Guitar  and  Flute  or  Violin  ;  D. 

In  the  third  book  of  'Pandean  Music'  for  the  PF.,  published  by 
N.  Corri  of  Edinburgh,  the  first  number  is  '  Air  from  Blaise  et  Babet 
by  Steibelt,'  but  no  single  item  of  information  about  'Blaise  et 
Babet'  is  forthcoming,  except  that  it  does  not  seem  to  have  been  a 
piece  brought  out  hi  London.  f  T  TT  M  1 

13  This  may  be  op.  90. 

'•4  This  was  a  posthumous  work.  '  Joconde '  was  an  opera  by 
Isouard,  1814.  is  An  opera  by  Kelly,  1798. 

is  An  opera  by  Mazzinghi,  Reeve,  and  Braham,  1801. 
i?  An  opera  by  Reeve,  1803.  18  An  opera  by  Paisiello. 

is  An  opera  by  Storace,  1791. 

Zz2 


708 


STEIN. 


STEIN,  a  family  of  pianoforte  makers  and 
players. 

i.  JOHANN  ANDKEAS,  the  founder  of  German 
pianoforte-making,  was  born  at  Heidesheirn  in 
the  Palatinate  in  1728.  Nothing  is  known  of 
his  early  life,  but  he  appears  to  have  been  in 
Paris  in  1758,  and  to  have  remained  there  for 
some  years.  We  may  conclude  that  he  was 
engaged  in  organ -building  and  harpsichord- 
making,  since  he  was  not  only  a  good  musician,  but 
a  proficient  in  both  handicrafts,  before  he  turned 
to  pianoforte-making.  After  Paris  we  find  him 
at  Augsburg,  organist  of  the  Barfiisserkirche,  the 
famous  organ  of  which  he  built,  as  well  as  that  of 
the  Kreuzkirche.  When  the  article  PIANOFORTE 
was  written  special  enquiries  were  made  in 
Vienna  and  elsewhere,  to  discover  any  pianoforte 
remaining  of  Stein's  make,  but  without  success. 
These  enquiries,  however,  led  to  the  discovery 
of  a  grand  piano,  which  was  secured  by  M.  Vic 
tor  Mahillon,  of  the  Museum  of  the  Conservatoire, 
Brussels.  It  is  inscribed 

Jean  Andre"  Stein 
Facteur  d'orgues  et  des  Clavecins 
Orgauiste  &  1'Eglise  des  Minorites 
Augsbourg  1780.1 

The  action  of  this  bichord  grand  piano  is  the 
same  as  that  in  Fig.  10,  p.  718,  vol.  ii.  of  this 
Dictionary,  which  was  copied  from  a  scarce 
pamphlet  preserved  in  the  Library  of  the  Gesell- 
schaft  der  Musikfreunde  at  Vienna.  The  wedge 
damper  is  Cristofori's ;  the  escapement  and  other 
parts  of  the  action  differ  entirely  from  that 
maker's  and  from  Gottfried  Silbermann's  as 
preserved  in  three  instruments  at  Potsdam,  in 
which  the  Florentine  maker  Cristofori  is  closely 
followed.  This  instrument  has  also  the  genou- 
illi&re  or  knee-pedal  for  raising  the  dampers, 
which  preceded  the  foot-pedal.  [See  SORDINI.] 
The  genouilliere  and  Stein's  escapement  are  de 
scribed  by  Mozart  with  great  gusto  in  a  letter 
addressed  to  his  mother,  in  October  1777,  only 
a  very  few  years  before  M.  Mahillon's  piano  was 
made.  What  action  was  used  by  Spaeth  of 
Ratisbon,  also  referred  to  by  Mozart,  we  do  not 
know,  but  M.  Mahillon's  recent  discovery  at 
Brussels  of  a  square  piano,  with  the  rudiments 
of  Stein's  action — that  is,  the  same  centred  per 
cussion  without  the  hopper  escapement — leads 
directly  to  the  conclusion  that  this  simple  action, 
clumsy  as  Mozart  found  it  without  the  escape 
ment,  was  in  common  use  before  Stein  brought  his 
inventive  genius  to  bear  upon  its  improvement. 

Welcker  von  Gontershausen  ('  Der  Clavierbau,' 
Frankfort  1870,  p.  173)  gives  a  drawing  of  this 
action  without  hopper  escapement,  attributing  it 
to  Silbermann ;  but,  as  far  as  we  can  see,  without 
proof.  Many  of  the  early  German  pianos  have 
neither  date  or  inscription,  which  makes  the  at 
tribution  to  a  maker  difficult.  We  are  disposed 
to  think  that  Silbermann  would  not  have  aban 
doned  the  good  action  of  Cristofori,  which  he 
knew  how  to  finish  well,  for  a  crude  tentative 
mechanism ;  we  therefore  conclude  that  the  Seven 
Years  War  having  entirely  stamped  out  Saxon 

1  The  last  figure  is  indistinct,  and  M.  Mahillon  thinks  that  it  might 
be  5  or  6  instead  of  0. 


STEIN. 

pianoforte-making,  a  new  era  began  with  the 
restoration  of  peace,  and  that  the  merit  of 
founding  that  German  pianoforte-making  which 
was  so  long  identified  with  the  School  of  Vienna, 
belongs  to  Stein,  whose  inventive  talent  and 
artistic  devotion  were  displayed  in  the  good 
instruments  he  made,  which,  by  1790  at  latest, 
were  adopted  as  models  both  in  North  and  South 
Germany,  as  the  two  grand  pianos  formerly  be 
longing  to  Queen  Louise,  made  by  Huhn,  '  Organ- 
builder'  of  Berlin,2  and  preserved  in  memory  of 
her  at  Potsdam,  unmistakeably  show. 

Gerber,  in  his  Lexicon,  has  preserved  a  list  of 
numerous  inventions  by  Stein ;  of  which  none  are 
now  of  value  save  the  escapement  and  the  key 
board  shifting  by  means  of  a  pedal.  He  intro 
duced  the  latter  in  his  '  Saitenharmonica '  in 
1789,  carrying  the  hammers  from  three  strings 
to  one,  which  he  spaced  rather  away  from  the 
other  two  unisons.  This  '  una  corda '  he  named 
'  Spinettchen.'  Mr.  Thayer3  has  unearthed  a 
record  of  Pastor  Junker,  showing  that  Beethoven 
in  1791,  when  residing  at  Bonn,  always  used  an 
instrument  of  Stein's. 

Stein  died  in  1792,  leaving  two  sons,  Mat- 
thaus  Andreas  and  Friedrich  (see  below),  and  a 
daughter,  Maria  Anna,  known  as  NANETTE,  who 
in  1794  married  Streicher,  and  was  really  the 
most  prominent  of  the  group. 

Though  Streicher  ultimately  succeeded  to  the 
business,  which  had  been  removed  from  Augsburg 
to  Vienna,  his  name  does  not  appear  for  several 
years  in  connection  with  it.  [See  footnote  to 
PIANOFORTE,  p.  718  a.]  The  firm  as  late  as  1801 
was '  Geschwister  Stein ' ;  subsequently '  Nannette 
Stein '  only,  which  appears  as  the  maker's  name 
on  a  grand  pianoforte  with  six  pedals,  existing 
(1882)  in  Windsor  Castle.  For  the  continuation 
of  the  Stein  business  see  STREICHER.  [A.J.H.] 

2.  MARIA  ANNA,  or  NANETTE  STEIN,  was  born 
Jan.  2,  1769,  at  Augsburg.  When  barely  8  she 
played  to  Mozart  on  his  visit  to  Augsburg  in 
1777,  and,  in  spite  of  the  bad  habits  she  had 
contracted,  he  said  of  her  'She  may  do  yet,  for 
she  has  genius'  (Jahn,  i.  368).  Her  talent  and 
capacity  were  so  obvious  that  her  father  early 
initiated  her  into  the  details  of  his  business,  and 
on  his  death,  Feb.  29,  1792,  she  carried  it  on,  in 
conjunction  with  her  brother  Matthaus  Andreas, 
with  a  decision  and  energy  almost  masculine. 
In  1 793  she  married  Johann  Andreas  STREICHER, 
an  excellent  pianist  and  teacher  from  Stuttgart, 
and  then  she,  her  husband,  and  mother,  moved 
to  Vienna.  The  new  firm  of  '  Nanette  and  An 
dreas  Stein'  (constituted  by  Imperial  decree 
Jan.  17,  1794)  established  itself  in  the  house 
where  it  still  remains,  the  '  Eed  Rose,'  No.  301 
in  the  Landstrasse  suburb.  In  1812  the  factory 
was  removed  to  premises  of  their  own,  which 
had  been  rebuilt  and  enlarged  some  years  before, 
No.  27  in  the  Ungargasse.  In  1802  the  brother 
and  sister  dissolved  partnership,  each  setting  up 

2  One  of  these  instruments,  and  apparently  the  older  one,  bears  no 
name  outside,  but  internal  examination  shows  that  the  maker  was 
the  same  who  made  the  1790  one ;  both  closely  resemble  Mozart's 
piano  by  Walther,  at  Salzburg,  and  the  original  model  by  Stein  of 
1780.  3  'Beethoven,' i. 209-215. 


STEIN. 

for  themselves,  as '  Matthaus  Andreas  Stein,'  and 
'  Nanette  Streicher,  geborene  Stein/  Streicher, 
who  had  hitherto  managed  only  the  commercial 
part  of  the  business,  now  took  his  full  share  of 
the  work.  Both  firms  endeavoured  to  perfect 
their  instruments  in  every  possible  way,1  while 
still  adhering  to  the  traditions  of  their  father, 
and  Stein  of  Vienna  became  as  celebrated  as 
Stein  of  Augsburg  had  been.  In  1823  the 
Streichers  took  into  partnership  their  son  Johann 
Baptist  (born  in  Vienna  1795).  Nanette  Strei 
cher  was  at  once  an  energetic  and  capable 
woman  of  business,  a  pianist  of  remarkable  ex 
cellence,  a  person  of  great  general  cultivation, 
and  a  model  wife  and  mother.  Her  name  is 
closely  connected  with  that  of  Beethoven.  It  is 
well  known  that  she  did  much  to  help  him  in 
his  domestic  arrangements,  lightened  the  burden 
of  his  housekeeping,  and  even  looked  after  his 
bodily  health.  Thayer,  in  his  '  Beethoven  '  (iii. 
239)3  gives  us  a  striking  picture  of  their  relation 
ship,  for  which  the  reader  must  be  referred  to 
that  excellent  work.  [See  also  vol.  i.  of  this 
Dictionary,  p.  1906.]  Nanette  Streicher  died 
Jan.  16,  1835,  and  was  followed  by  her  husband 
on  May  25  of  the  same  year.  The  business  is  still 
carried  on  by  their  son,  J.  B.  Streicher.  Her 
brother, 

3.  MATTHAUS  ANDREAS  STEIN,  was  born  at 
Augsburg,  Dec.  12,  1776,  accompanied  his  sister 
to  Vienna,  set  up  for  himself  in  1802,  married 
Nov.  12,  1796,  and  died  May  6,  1842.    His  son, 

4.  KAKL  ANDREAS,  also  a  pianoforte-maker  and 
composer,  was  born  in  Vienna  Sept.  4, 1797,  early 
showed  talent  for  music,  and  became  an  excellent 
pianist  and  teacher.     He  was  a  pupil  of  Fb'rster 
in  harmony  and  composition,  and  published  a 
considerable  number  of  works  principally  for  his 
instrument.     He  also  left  in  MS.,  among  others, 
two  PF.  concertos  with  orchestra,  two  orchestral 
overtures,  and  a  comic  opera  '  Die  goldene  Gans,' 
words  by  Langbein.     He  appeared  several  times 
in  public,  but  latterly  devoted  himself  entirely 
to  the  factory,  in  the  working  of  which  his  father 
had  early  initiated  him.     In  1829  a  patent  was 
granted  to  him.     Karl  Andreas  travelled  much, 
and  his  pianos  were  appreciated  abroad,  as  well 
as  by  the  first  artists  of  his  own  country.     In 
1844  he  was  appointed  Court  pianoforte  maker. 
His  book  '  on  the  playing,  tuning,  and  preserv 
ation   of  Stein   pianofortes,' 2  contains  valuable 
matter.     He  died  Aug.  28,  1863.  [CjF.P.] 

5.  His  uncle,  FRIEDBICH,  was  born  at  Augsburg 
May  26,  1784,  and  at  the  age  of  ten  went  to 
Vienna,  and  studied  counterpoint  and  composition 
with  Albrechtsberger.     He  became  one  of  the 
first  pianoforte-players  of  the  capital,  and  was 
considered  to  be  a  very  promising  composer.    He 
appeared  rather  frequently  in  the  Augarten  and 
Burgtheater  concerts  as  a  player   of  concertos, 
especially  those  of  Mozart.     Eeichardt  (April  I, 
1809)  calls  him: — '  A  performer  of  great  power 

1  From  this  period  dates  the  so-called  '  Viennese  mechanism.'  the 
principle  of  which  was  really  the  same  as  that  of  the  Augsburg 
pianos. 

2  'Kurze  Bemerkungen  u.  d.  Spielen,  Stimmen,  u.  Erhalten  d. 
F.  P.  etc.  Wien.  1801.' 


STEINWAY. 


709 


and  genius.  ...  A  rare  power,  combined  with  the 
deepest  feeling,  characterised  his  performance. 
He  played  some  of  Beethoven's  most  difficult 
pieces,  and  variations  of  his  own  composition, 
full  of  invention  and  deep  sentiment,  and  of  mon 
strous  difficulty.  Since  then  I  have  heard  him 
at  home  on  his  magnificent  Streicher  pianoforte, 
and  am  confirmed  in  my  opinion  of  his  assiduous 
study  and  great  talents.'  These  eulogies  are 
borne  out  by  other  contemporary  notices. 

Friedrich  Stein  is  the  subject  of  Ries's  anecdote 
(Notizen,  p.  115).  Beethoven  had  played  his 
Concerto  in  G  at  his  own  concert,  Dec.  22,  1808 
(see  vol.  i.  p.  187),  with  astonishing  spirit  and 
speed,  and  immediately  after  called  upon  Hies  to 
play  it  in  public,  with  only  five  days  for  its  study. 
Hies  naturally  shirked  such  a  task,  preferring  to 
play  the  C  minor  one  instead.  At  this  his  master 
was  offended,  and  turned  to  Stein,  who  accepted 
the  task,  but  was  unable  to  accomplish  it,  and 
played  the  C  minor  instead,  not  satisfactorily. 
This  anecdote,  which  has  kept  Stein's  name  alive, 
leaves  unintentionally  a  false  impression  as  to  his 
powers.  Hies  would  have  played  the  C  minor 
Concerto  better ;  for  he  had  carefully  studied  it 
under  Beethoven  himself,  and  was  then  in  his  full 
strength.  Stein  had  had  no  such  instruction, 
and  was  forced  to  play  it  with  little  practice, 
when  so  far  gone  in  consumption  that  he  died 
four  months  later. 

Stein  was  an  industrious  composer,  but  few  of 
his  vocal  compositions  reached  the  stage.  He  left 
3  operettas  and  a  ballet,  of  which  only  one — 
'Die  F£e  radian te'— came  to  public  performance. 
Also  a  set  of  Songs,  a  Violin  Concerto,  a  Grand 
Sonata  for  the  PF.,  and  a  PF.  Trio.  He  also 
arranged  Beethoven's  4th  and  6th  Symphonies, 
and  most  of  Mozart's  and  Cherubini's  Overtures, 
for  two  PFs. 

His  widow,  CAROLINE,  daughter  of  a  Vienna 
official  named  Haar,  was  also  a  very  fine  pianiste. 
Like  her  husband,  she  depended  upon  teaching 
for  her  subsistence.  [A.W.T.] 

STEINWAY  AND  SONS,  an  eminent  firm 
of  pianoforte  makers  in  New  York,  distinguished 
by  the  merit  of  their  instruments  and  by  their 
commercial  enterprise,  which,  in  comparatively 
few  years,  have  placed  their  firm  in  equal  rank 
with  those  famous  older  makers  in  Europe  whose 
achievements  in  the  improvement  and  develop 
ment  of  the  instrument  have  become  historical. 

Henry  Engelhard  Steinway  (originally  STEIN- 
WEG)  was  born  February  15, 1 797,  at  Wolfshagen, 
in  the  Duchy  of  Brunswick.  The  youngest  of  a 
family  of  twelve,  at  the  early  age  of  15  he  was 
the  sole  survivor  of  his  family.  From  the  age 
of  17  to  21  he  served  in  the  army,  and  during 
that  time  his  natural  taste  for  music  led  him 
to  learn  the  zither.  On  his  discharge,  which 
was  honourably  obtained,  from  the  army,  he 
thought  of  becoming  a  cabinet-maker,  but  was 
too  old  to  serve  the  five  years  apprenticeship  and 
five  years  as  journeyman  which  the  guild  required 
prior  to  his  becoming  a  master.  He  therefore 
went  for  a  year  to  an  irregular  master,  and  then 
turned  to  organ-building,  which  was  free  from 


710 


STEINWAY. 


the  narrow  limits  of  a  guild.  Circumstances 
however,  allowed  him  in  1825  to  marry  and 
settle  as  a  cabinet-maker  at  Seesen,  near  the 
Hartz  mountains,  where  he  had  been  already 
working;  and  in  that  year  (Nov.  25)  his  eldest 
son  Theodore  was  born.  Steiuway  in  a  few  years 
turned  his  attention  to  piano-making,  and  in 
1839  exhibited  a  grand  and  two  square  pianos  at 
the  State  Fair  of  Brunswick,  Seesen  being  in 
Hanoverian  territory,  the  foundation  of  the 
Prussian  '  Zollverein '  in  1845  brought  Stein- 
way's  hitherto  flourishing  bvisiness  to  a  stand 
still,  and  the  revolution  of  1848  destroyed  it 
entirely.  The  course  of  events  now  induced 
Steinway  to  leave  Germany,  and  in  April  1849 
he  emigrated  to  New  York,  whither  his  family, 
with  the  exception  of  Theodore,  the  eldest  son, 
followed  him  the  next  year.  For  three  years  the 
father  and  the  three  sons,  Charles,  Henry,  and 
William,  worked  in  different  New  York  piano 
factories.  In  March  1853  they  agreed  to  unite 
and  start  in  business  on  their  own  account,  and 
the  firm  of  '  Steinway  &  Sons '  was  established. 
In  1855  they  exhibited  a  square  piano  in  which 
the  American  iron  frame  principle  of  a  single 
casting  was  combined  with  a  cross  or  over 
strung  scale,  forming  the  foundation  of  the  so- 
called  'Steinway  system,'  which,  as  applied  to 
grand  pianos,  attracted  great  attention  in  the 
London  International  Exhibition  of  1862.  Both 
Charles  and  Henry  Steinway  dying  in  1865, 
Theodore,  the  eldest  son,  disposed  of  his  business 
in  Brunswick  and  became  a  partner  of  the  New 
York  firm.  Their  spacious  concert-room  there 
was  built  and  opened  in  1866.  About  this  time 
the  Steinways  began  to  make  upright  pianos,  and 
their  instruments  of  all  kinds  shown  at  Paris  in 
the  Universal  Exhibition  of  1867,  not  only  gained 
them  success,  but  became  models  for  Germany, 
to  the  great  improvement  of  the  German  make 
and  trade.  Henry  Steinway,  the  father,  died  in 
1871.  We  may  quote  from  the  New  York  En- 
cyclopjedia  of  Contemporary  Biography  the  sum 
mary  of  his  life :  '  By  virtue  of  his  abilities  and 
his  inborn  strength  of  character,  he,  an  orphan 
boy,  became  one  of  the  greatest  manufacturers 
in  his  special  industry,  not  only  of  his  own 
country,  but  of  the  world.'  Theodore  and  William 
Steinway  are  now  (1882)  the  senior  partners  of 
the  firm.  In  1875  they  opened  a  branch  of  their 
business  in  London,  to  which  a  concert-room  is 
attached,  and  in  1880  another  branch  establish 
ment  at  Hamburg.  [A.J.H.] 

STEINWEG,  the  original  of  STEINWAY  (Gro- 
tian,  Helfferieh,  Schulz,  TH.  STEINWEGS  NACH- 
FOLGER).  This  firm  of  pianoforte-makers  in 
Brunswick  succeeded,  as  the  style  implies,  to  Mr. 
Theodor  Steinweg  or  Steinway,  when  he  retired, 
in  1865,  from  the  business  founded  by  his  father, 
to  join  the  New  York  firm  of  Steinway  &  Sons,  of 
which,  being  the  eldest  brother,  he  has  become  the 
senior  partner.  Soon  after  the  Steinway  system 
of  construction  was  brought  out  in  America,  he 
introduced  it  in  Germany,  and  in  the  season  of 
1 8 60- 1  his  concert  instruments,  made  on  that 
principle,  were  publicly  used.  His  successors  in 


STEPHENS. 

Brunswick  have  maintained  the  good  reputation 
he  founded  for  these  instruments,  which  are 
favoured  with  the  preference  of  some  eminent 
pianists ;  notably  of  Madame  Schumann,  who 
since  1870  has  used  them  exclusively  in  Germany 
for  her  public  performances.  Although  the 
present  firm  preserve  the  Steinway  model  in  the 
main,  they  claim  to  have  made  deviations  and 
alterations,  particularly  in  the  action,  that  give 
the  instruments  of  'Th.  Stein wegs  Nachfolger' 
their  own  cachet.  [A.J.H.] 

STEPHENS,  CATHERINE,  born  in  London 
Sept.  1 8,  1794,  having  given  early  indications  of 
aptitude  for  music,  was  in  1807  placed  under 
the  instruction  of  Gesualdo  Lanza,  whose  pupil 
she  remained  for  some  years.  Early  in  1812  she 
appeared  in  subordinate  parts  at  the  Pantheon 
as  a  member  of  an  Italian  Opera  Company.  Soon 
afterwards  her  father,  dissatisfied  with  the  ap 
parently  small  progress  she  made  under  Lanza, 
placed  her  under  the  tuition  of  Thomas  Welsh. 
On  Sept.  23,  1813,  she  appeared  anonymously 
at  Co  vent  Garden  as  Mandane  in  'Artaxerxes' 
with  decided  success.  She  repeated  the  part  on 
Sept.  28,  as  'Miss  Stevens,'  and  on  Sept.  30,  under 
her  proper  name.  She  soon  afterwards  performed 
Polly  in  '  The  Beggar's  Opera,'  Eosetta  in  '  Love 
in  a  Village,'  and  Clara  in  'The  Duenna,'  in  each 
gaining  ground  in  public  favour.  Her  success 
occasioned  an  animated  controversy  between  her 
two  instructors  as  to  which  of  them  could  claim 
the  credit  of  having  really  developed  her  abili 
ties.  In  March  1814  she  was  engaged  at  the 
Concert  of  Ancient  Music,  where  she  was  at 
once  allotted  all  the  principal  soprano  songs, 
and  later  in  the  year  she  sang  at  the  festivals 
at  Norwich  and  Birmingham.  She  continued 
at  Covent  Garden  until  1822,  when  she  broke 
with  the  managers  on  a  question  of  terms  and 
transferred  her  services  to  Drury  Lane.  She 
occupied  the  principal  position  on  the  English 
operatic  stage,  at  the  first  concerts,  and  the  festi 
vals,  until  1 835,  when  she  retired  into  private  life. 
Her  voice  was  a  pure  soprano,  rich,  full,  and 
powerful,  and  of  extensive  compass,  and  her 
execution  neat,  although  not  very  remarkable  for 
brilliancy.  She  somewhat  lacked  dramatic  in 
stinct  and  power,  and  her  enunciation  was  very 
bad,  but  she  excelled  in  the  expression  of  quiet 
devotional  feeling  and  simple  pathos.  In  such 
songs  as  Handel's  'Angels,  ever  bright  and 
fair,'  and  'If  guiltless  blood,'  and  in  ballads  like 
'Auld  Robin  Gray,'  and  'Savourneen  Deelish,1 
she  captivated  every  hearer.  On  March  14,  1838, 
she  was  married  to  the  widowed  octogenarian 
Earl  of  Essex  in  his  house  No.  9  Belgrave  Square,1 
and  on  April  23,  1839,  became  his  widow.  She 

i  In  the  Parish  Register  of  St.  George,  Hanover  Square,  the  mar 
riage  was  originally  entered  as  having  been  celebrated  in  'the  Parish 
Church.'  Those  last  three  -words  were,  however,  subsequently  erased 
(in  two  places)  with  a  sharp  instrument,  and  '9  Belgrave  Square' 
written  upon  the  erasures,  but  without  any  note,  or  authentication, 
of  the  alteration  being  made  in  the  Register.  The  original  entry  is 
proved  by  the  words  'the  Parish  Church  '  remaining  unaltered  in  the 
certified  copy  of  the  register  at  Somerset  House,  until  March  1882, 
when  the  discrepancy  was  pointed  out  by  the  present  writer,  and 
measures  taken  for  its  correction.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  this  is  a 
solitary  instance  of  so  flagrant  a  violation  of  the  directions  of  the 
Act  of  Parliament  as  to  the  mode  in  which  erroneous  entries  in 
Registers  are  to  be  rectified. 


STEPHENS. 

survived  him  for  nearly  43  years,  dying  in 
the  house  in  which  she  was  married,  Feb.  22, 
l882-  [W.H.H.] 

STEPHENS,  CHARLES  EDWARD,  nephew  of 
the  preceding,  was  born  in  the  Edgeware  Eoad, 
March  18,  1821.  Displaying  early  tokens  of 
musical  organisation,  he  was  placed  under 
Cipriani  Potter  for  pianoforte,  J.  A.  Hamilton 
for  harmony,  counterpoint,  and  composition,  and 
Henry  Blagrove  for  the  violin.  In  1843  he  was 
elected  organist  of  St.  Mark's,  Myddelton  Square, 
and  subsequently  held  the  same  office  at  Trinity 
Church,  Paddington,  1846,  St.  John's,  Hampstead 
1856,  St.  Mark's,  St.  John's  Wood,  1862-65,  St. 
Clement  Danes,  1864-69,  and  St.  Saviour's,  Pad 
dington,  1872-75.  In  1850  he  was  elected  an 
associate,  and  in  1857  a  member  of  the  Phil 
harmonic  Society,  of  which  he  has  repeatedly 
been  chosen  a  director.  In  1865  ne  was  elected 
a  Fellow  of  the  College  of  Organists,  in  1870  an 
honorary  member  of  the  Royal  Academy  of 
Music,  and  in  1877  a  licentiate,  honoris  causd, 
of  Trinity  College,  London.  His  first  important 
composition  was  a  trio  for  pianoforte,  violin  and 
violoncello,  produced  at  the  Society  of  British 
Musicians,  himself  performing  the  pianoforte 
part,  and  he  afterwards  produced  a  symphony 
and  several  concert  overtures  of  great  merit, 
No.  4  of  which,  '  A  Dream  of  happiness/  was 
played  at  the  Crystal  Palace,  Nov.  13, 1875.  He 
has  also  composed  many  works  for  pianoforte 
and  organ,  and  much  vocal  music,  comprising 
anthems  and  services,  songs,  ballads,  part-songs, 
etc.  His  part-song, '  Come,  fill  ye  right  merrily,' 
gained  the  prize  given  by  Mr.  Henry  Leslie's 
Choir  in  1858,  and  in  April  1879  he  was 
awarded  both  the  first  and  second  prizes  given 
by  Trinity  College,  London,  for  the  best  string 
quartet.  Although  an  able  pianist,  he  has,  for 
some  years  past,  rarely  appeared  in  public,  having 
devoted  himself  almost  exclusively  to  teaching, 
in  which  he  is  much  esteemed.  [W.H.H.J 

STEPHENS,  JOHN,  Mus.  Doc.,  educated  as 
a  chorister  in  Gloucester  Cathedral,  in  1 746  suc 
ceeded  Edward  Thomson  as  organist  of  Salisbury 
Cathedral.  He  graduated  as  Mus.  Doc.  at  Cam 
bridge  in  1763,  conducted  the  Gloucester  Festival 
in  1766,  and  died  Dec.  15,  1780.  A  volume  of 
'  Cathedral  Music  '  by  him,  edited  by  Highmore 
Skeats,  was  published  in  1805.  [W.H.H.] 

STERKEL,  JOHANN  FRANZ  XAVER  (some 
times  styled  Abb£  Sterkel),  born  at  Wurzburg, 
Dec.  3, 1 750,  was  a  distinguished  amateur.  Though 
music  formed  a  part  of  his  education  it  was  only 
a  part.  He  went  through  his  college  course  at 
Wurzburg  university,  took  orders,  and  became 
vicar  and  organist  of  Neumiinster.  In  1 778  he  was 
called  to  the  court  of  the  Elector  of  Mayence  at 
Aschaffenburg  as  chaplain  and  pianist.  Next  year 
the  Elector  sent  him  on  a  journey  through  Italy; 
success  attended  him  everywhere,  and  at  Naples 
he  brought  out  an  opera, '  Farnace,'  with  e'clat.  In 
1781  he  returned  to  Mayence  and  was  promoted 
to  a  canonry.  All  this  time  he  was  composing 
as  well  as  playing  in  all  departments  of  music. 


STERLING. 


711 


He  wrote  about  this  date  some  German  songs 
which  were  great  favourites,  and  he  formed  some 
excellent  pupils  —  among  composers  Hofmann 
and  Zulehner,  among  singers  Griinbaum  and 
Kirschbaum.  In  September  1791  occurred  the 
great  musical  event  of  Sterkel's  life,  though  he 
probably  did  not  know  its  significance  —  his 
meeting  with  Beethoven,  then  a  youth  of  twenty. 
Beethoven  came  to  Aschaffenburg  with  the  band 
of  the  Elector  of  Bonn,  and  was  taken  by  Ries 
and  Simrock  to  call  on  the  great  player,  whose 
reputation  was  something  like  that  of  Liszt  at 
the  present  day.  Sterkel  was  the  first  great 
executant  that  Beethoven  had  heard,  and  the 
extreme  refinement  and  finish  of  his  style  evi 
dently  struck  him  much.  He  watched  him  with 
the  closest  attention,  and  not  unnaturally  de 
clined  to  play  in  his  turn,  till  Sterkel  induced 
him  to  do  so  by  speaking  of  his  24  variations  on 
Righini's  '  Venni  Amore.'  They  had  been  pub 
lished  only  a  few  months  previously,  and  Sterkel 
declared  that  they  were  so  hard  that  he  did 
not  believe  even  the  composer  could  play  them. 
Beethoven  played  what  he  could  recollect,  and 
improvised  others  fully  equalling  the  originals 
in  difficulty — but  the  curious  thing  was  that 
he  adopted  Sterkel's  delicate  style  all  through. 
They  do  not  appear  to  have  met  again.  In  1 793 
Sterkel  succeeded  Righini  as  Capellmeister  to 
the  Elector,  and  this  threw  him  still  more  into 
serious  composition,  but  the  French  war  forced 
the  Elector  to  leave  Mayence,  and  his  Capell 
meister  returned  to  Wurzburg.  In  1805  he 
became  Capellmeister  at  Ratisbon,  where  all  his 
old  energy  revived,  and  he  taught  and  composed 
with  the  greatest  vigour  and  success.  The  war 
of  1813  at  length  drove  him  back  from  Ratisbon 
to  Wurzburg,  and  there  he  died  Oct.  21,  1817. 

The  list  of  Sterkel's  published  compositions  is 
immense.  It  embraces  10  symphonies ;  2  over 
tures  ;  a  stringed  quintet ;  6  string  trios  ;  6  do. 
duos  ;  6  PF.  concertos ;  a  very  large  number  of 
sonatas  for  PF.  both  for  2  and  4  hands ;  varia 
tions,  and  minor  pieces;  10  collections  of  songs 
for  voice  and  PF.;  Italian  canzonets,  duets,  etc. 
The  number  of  editions  which  some  of  these 
went  through,  shows  how  widely  popular  Sterkel 
was  in  his  day.  [G.] 

STERLING,  ANTOINETTE,  born  Jan.23,i85o(?) 
at  Sterlingville,  in  the  State  of  New  York, 
though  American  by  birth  and  parentage  is  of 
English  extraction,  tracing  her  descent  through 
William  Bradford,  one  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers 
who  crossed  in  'The  Mayflower,'  and  was  the 
second  Governor  of  Plymouth  Colony,  from  the 
family  of  John  Bradford,  martyr,  burnt  in  1555. 

She  possessed,  even  in  childhood,  a  voice  of 
extraordinary  range,  which  afterwards  settled 
into  a  contralto  of  great  richness  and  volume, 
with  a  compass  from  Eb  in  the  Bass  stave  to  the 
top  F  in  the  Treble  one.  Her  first  serious  study 
of  singing  began  in  1867  in  New  York  under 
Signer  Abella,  better  known  as  the  husband  of 
Mme.  d'Angri.  She  came  to  England  in  1868 
and  remained  a  few  months,  singing  chiefly  in 
the  provinces,  en  route  for  Germany.  There  she 


712 


STERLING. 


was  first  a  pupil  of  Mme.  Marches!  at  Cologne  ; 
then  of  Pauline  Viardot  at  Baden  Baden,  and 
lastly  of  Manuel  Garcia  in  London.  She  returned 
to  America  in  1871,  and  soon  took  a  high  position 
as  a  concert  singer.  On  May  13,  1873,  she  took 
leave  of  her  native  country  in  a  concert  at  the 
Irving  Hall,  Boston,  arrived  in  England,  and  made 
her  first  appearance  on  Nov.  5  at  the  Covent 
Garden  Promenade  Concert,  under  the  conductor- 
ship  of  Sir  Julius  Benedict.  At  the  Crystal 
Palace  she  first  sang  on  Dec.  6,  and  shortly  after 
appeared  at  the  Saturday  Popular,  Feb.  21,  1874, 
Sacred  Harmonic,  Philharmonic,  Albert  Hall 
and  London  Ballad  Concerts.  At  Gloucester,  in 
the  following  September,  she  sang  at  the  Festival. 
She  was  married  on  Easter  Sunday  1875,  at  the 
Savoy  Chapel,  to  Mr.  John  MacKinlay;  and 
since  then,  excepting  a  few  months  in  that  year, 
when  she  sang  in  America  in  a  series  of  40  con 
certs  under  Theodox'e  Thomas,  has  resided  in 
London,  and  is  one  of  the  best  known  and  most 
popular  singers  there. 

Mme.  Sterling  is  not  unknown  in  classical 
music.  On  her  first  arrival  here  she  sang  the 
Cradle  Song  from  Bach's  Christmas  Oratorio  with 
much  effect,  and  her  repertoire  contains  songs  of 
Mendelssohn  and  Schumann.  But  she  is  essen 
tially  a  ballad  singer.  Her  voice  is  one  of  great 
beauty  and  attractiveness  ;  but  it  is  her  earnest 
ness  and  intention,  the  force  which  she  throws 
into  the  story — especially  if  it  be  weird  or  grim, 
such  as  '  The  three  fishers,'  '  The  sands  of  Dee,' 
or  '  The  three  ravens ' — and,  probably  more  than 
all,  the  distinctness  with  which  she  declaims  the 
words,  whether  they  be  German  or  English,  that 
form  the  real  secret  of  her  success.  [G.] 

STERN,  JULIUS,  was  born  at  Breslau,  Aug.  8, 
1820,  but  removed  at  an  early  age  to  Berlin, 
where  he  learned  music  under  Maurer,  Ganz, 
and  Rungenhagen,  at  the  Singakademie  and  the 
Royal  Academy  of  Arts,   and   soon    began   to 
compose.     '  Please    enquire    about    Mr.   Julius 
Stern  of  Berlin,'  says  Mendelssohn,1  '  who  has 
sent  me  a  book  of  songs  with  a  kind  note.    From 
the  first  glance  I  think  they  show  talent,  but  I 
have  not  seen  or  heard  anything  else  about  him.1 
In  1843  he  received  a  travelling  scholarship  from 
the  King,  which  led  him,  first  to  Dresden  for  the 
special  study  of  singing,  and  then  to  Paris,  where 
he  soon  became  known  as  conductor  of  the  Ger 
man   'Gesangverein.'     Here   he  performed   the 
Antigone,  first  in  the  studio  of  Henry  Lehmann 
the  painter,2  and  then  at  the  Ode'on  theatre,  which 
drew   from   Mendelssohn   a  very  characteristic 
letter  (May  27,  1844).     In  1846  he  returned  to 
Berlin,  and  in  1847   founded   the   well-known 
Singing  Society  which  bore  his  name.     The  first 
performance  of  'Elijah'  in  Oct.   1847,   gave  a 
specimen  of  the  powers  of  the  new  association, 
and  the  level  has  since  been  fully  maintained 
by  performances  of  a  very  wide  range  of  works 
both  ancient  and  modern.     In  1872  the  Society 
celebrated  its  25th  anniversary,  amid  an  enthu 
siasm  which  conclusively  showed  how  wide  and 


Mendelssohn  Family,  il.  57. 


2  Ibid,  295. 


STEVENSON. 

deep  was  the  public  feeling.  In  1874  ill-health 
obliged  Stern  to  retire  from  the  conductorship, 
and  he  was  succeeded  by  STOCKHAUSEN. 

Meantime,  in  1850,  withKullak  and  Marx,  he 
had  founded  his  Conservatorium,  which,  notwith 
standing  the  defection  of  his  two  colleagues,  still 
flourishes  and  has  educated  many  good  musicians. 
From  1869  to  71  he  conducted  the  Berlin  'Sin- 
fonie-Kapelle,'  and  at  Christmas  1873  undertook 
the  Reichshall  Concerts,  which  however  were  not 
commercially  successful,  and  only  lasted  for  two 
seasons.  He  then  confined  himself  to  his  Conser 
vatorium  till  his  death,  Feb.  27, 1883.  Stern  has 
published  many  vocal  pieces  and  arrangements, 
but  his  most  enduring  work  will  probably  be  his 
edition  of  Exercises  by  Vaccai  (Bote  &  Bock), 
Crescentini  (Peters),  etc.  He  was  made  a  '  Ko- 
nigliche  Musikdirector'  in  1849,  and  'Konigliche 
Professor'  in  1860.  [G.] 

STEVENS,  RICHAED  JOHN  SAMUEL,  born  in 
London  in  1757,  was  educated  in  St.  Paul's 
Cathedral  choir  under  Richard  Savage.  He  dis 
tinguished  himself  as  a  glee  composer,  and  ob 
tained  prizes  from  the  Catch  Club  for  his  glees, 
'See,  what  horrid  tempests  rise,'  1782,  and  'It 
was  a  lover  and  his  lass,'  1786.  He  was  ap 
pointed  organist  of  the  Temple  Church,  1786, 
organist  of  the  Charter  House,  1796  (retain 
ing  his  appointment  at  the  Temple),  and  on 
March  17,  1801,  was  elected  Professor  of  Music 
in  Gresham  College.  He  published  three  sets  of 
glees  and  some  songs.  Nine  glees  and  a  catch  by 
him  are  included  in  Warren's  collections.  Among 
his  best  glees  may  be  mentioned  '  Ye  spotted 
snakes/  'Blow,  blow,  thou  winter  wind,'  'Crabbed 
age  and  youth,'  'Sigh  no  more,  ladies,'  'The 
cloud-capt  towers,'  '  From  Oberon  in  fairy  land,' 
'  Some  of  my  heroes  are  low,'  '  Prithee,  foolish 
boy,'  'To  be  gazing  on  those  charms,'  and  'Strike 
the  harp  in  the  praise  of  Bragela,'  all  of  which 
still  retain  their  popularity  with  lovers  of  that 
class  of  composition.  He  edited  '  Sacred  Music 
for  one,  two,  three  and  four  voices,  from  the 
works  of  the  most  esteemed  composers,  Italian  and 
English,'  an  excellent  collection  in  3  vols.  fol.  He 
died  Sept.  23,  1837.  [W.H.H.] 

STEVENSON,  SIB  JOHN  ANDREW,  Knight, 
Mus.  Doc.,  son  of  John  Stevenson,  a  violinist  in 
the  State  Band  in  Dublin,  was  born  in  Dublin 
about  1762.  In  1773  he  was  admitted  a  chorister 
of  St.  Patrick's  and  Christ  Church  Cathedrals, 
Dublin,  and  continued  so  until  1779.  He  after 
wards  became  a  vicar  choral  of  both  cathedrals, 
and  a  member  of  the  choir  of  Trinity  College, 
Dublin.  He  composed  new  music  to  O'Keeffe's 
farces,  '  The  Son-in-Law  '  and  '  The  Agreeable 
Surprise,'  to  enable  them  to  be  performed  in 
Dublin,  and  also  composed  for  the  Irish  stage 
the  operas  of  'The  Contract,'  1783  ;  'Love  in  a 
blaze,'  1800  ;  '  The  Patriot,'  and  'The  Burning 
of  Moscow.'  He  obtained  his  Mus.  Doc.  degree 
at  Dublin  in  1791,  and  his  knighthood  from  the 
Lord  Lieutenant  (Lord  Hardwicke),  in  1803. 
He  composed  some  Services  and  Anthems  (a 
collection  of  which  he  published,  with  his  por- 


STEVENSON. 

trait  prefixed,  in  1825),  'Thanksgiving,'  an 
oratorio,  and  numerous  glees,  duets,  songs,  etc. 
But  the  work  by  which  he  is  best  known  is  the 
symphonies  and  accompaniments  to  the  collection 
of  Irish  Melodies,  the  words  for  which  were 
written  by  Thomas  Moore.  He  died  Sept.  14, 
1833-  [W.H.H.] 

STEWART,  SIR  ROBERT  PRESCOTT,  Knight, 
Mus.  Doc.,  son  of  Charles  Frederick  Stewart, 
librarian  of  the  King's  Inns,  Dublin,  was  born  in 
Dublin,  Dec.  1 6,  1825.  He  was  educated  as  a 
chorister  of  Christ  Church  Cathedral,  Dublin,  of 
which  he  was  appointed  organist  at  the  early 
age  of  1 8.  In  1844  he  was  appointed  organist 
of  Trinity  College,  Dublin.  In  1846  he  became 
conductor  of  the  University  of  Dublin  Choral 
Society,  the  members  of  which  defrayed  the 
expenses  of  the  performance  of  his  music  for 
degrees  of  Mus.  Bac.  and  Mus.  Doc.,  which 
took  place  in  1851,  besides  presenting  him  with 
his  graduate's  robes  and  a  jewelled  baton.  In 
1852  he  became  a  vicar-choral  of  St.  Patrick's 
Cathedral,  and  in  1861  was  appointed  Professor 
of  Music  in  the  University  of  Dublin.  He  was 
chosen  to  represent  Ireland  at  the  great  Peace 
Festival  held  at  Boston  (U.S. A.)  in  1872,  on 
which  occasion  he  composed  a  fantasia  on  Irish 
airs  for  orchestra,  organ,  and  chorus.  Upon  his 
return  from  America  he  was  knighted  by  the 
Lord  Lieutenant  (Earl  Spencer).  In  1873  ^e 
was  appointed  conductor  of  the  Dublin  Philhar 
monic.  Amongst  Sir  Robert  Stewart's  many 
compositions, his  glees  deserve  particular  mention. 
In  this  branch  of  bis  art  he  has  won  numerous 
prizes  and  well-merited  renown.  His  more  im 
portant  works  include  an  ode  for  the  opening  of 
the  Cork  Exhibition  of  1852  ;  'Ode  on  Shake 
speare,'  produced  at  the  Birmingham  Festival 
1870;  a  'Church  Hymnal,'  which  has  passed 
through  three  editions ;  and  two  Cantatas,  '  A 
Winter  Night's  Wake'  and  'The  Eve  of  S.  John.' 
Sir  Robert  Stewart  enjoys  a  high  reputation  as 
an  organist ;  his  playing  at  the  Great  Exhibi 
tion  of  1851  and  that  at  Manchester  in  1857  ex 
cited  general  admiration.  As  occupant  of  the 
Dublin  chair  of  music,  his  excellent  lectures  and 
writings  on  music  bear  evidence  to  his  wide 
culture  and  literary  skill,  as  well  as  to  his  high 
musical  attainments.  His  musical  memory  is 
remarkable.  [W.H.H.] 

STIASTNY,  BERNARD  WENZEL,  violoncellist, 
born  at  Prague  in  1770.  Little  is  known  of  him 
except  that  he  was  probably  professor  at  the 
Conversatoire,  to  which  he  dedicated  his  work  on 
the  violoncello.  It  is  remarkable  for  what  may 
be  almost  called  a  treatise  on  the  accompaniment 
of  recitative  as  it  was  then  practised,  and  which 
our  own  Lindley  brought  to  such  perfection  as 
will  probably  never  be  heard  again.  He  dedicates 
no  less  than  30  pages  to  this  subject,  of  which 
29  consist  of  examples  of  all  the  forms  and 
harmonies  then  in  use.  He  has  however  strangely 
omitted  to  figure  the  bass. 

STIASTNY,  JEAN,  brother  of  the  above,  born  at 
Prague  in  1774.  We  know  scarcely  anything  of 


STIASTNY. 


713 


his  career.  He  seems  to  have  studied  harmony 
and  the  violoncello  at  Prague,  under  his  brother, 
but  he  must  have  soon  left  that  city  as  he  is 
described  on  the  title  of  his  op.  3  as  '  Violoncello 
de  S.A.R.  le  Grand  Due  de  Frankfort.'  Accord 
ing  to  Fetis  he  was  musical  director  at  Nurem 
berg  in  1820,  and  from  thence  went  to  Mannheim. 
He  is  known  to  have  been  in  London,  and  he 
dedicated  two  of  his  finest  compositions  to  Lindley 
and  Crosdill,  as  well  as  his  three  duets  op.  8  to  Sir 
W.  Curtis.  His  last  and  perhaps  finest  work  was 
also  published  and  probably  written  in  London. 
He  was  also  in  Paris  when  he  arranged  his  op.  1 1 
for  cello  and  piano,  and  he  also  dedicated  his 
op.  3  to  the  pupils  of  the  Conservatoire.  There 
exists  a  beautiful  French  edition  of  his  six  grand 
duets  op.  i,  and  also  of  his  two  sonatas  op.  2,  the 
latter  in  score.  I  beard  from  one  who  knew  him 
that  he  was  nervous  and  diffident  in  the  highest 
degree,  and  this  may  account  for  his  having  left 
no  mark  or  record  of  himself  as  a  performer. 
But  his  compositions  for  the  violoncello  must 
render  his  name  immortal,  for  though  the  list  of 
his  works  only  amount  to  13,  the  originality  and 
purity  of  them  all  entitle  him  to  rank  among  the 
very  first  writers  for  the  instrument.  He  is 
often  called  the  Beethoven  of  the  violoncello,  nor 
can  that  be  considered  too  high  praise.  A  list  of 
his  works  follows  : — • 

Op.  1.  6  grand  duets  for  2  cellos,  dedicated  to  his  brother. 

Op.  2.  2  sonatas  for  cello  solo  with  accompaniment  for  a  2nd  cello. 

Op.  3.  Divertissement  for  cello  solo  with  accompaniments  for  tenor 
and  2nd  cello. 

Op.  4.  12  '  Petites  pieces  pour  violoncelle  et  basse  a  Vusage  de  com- 
men9ants.' 

Op.  5.  6  pieces  faciles  for  cello  and  bass. 

Op.  6.  3  grand  duets  for  2  cellos. 

Op.  7.  Concertino  for  cello  with  accompaniments  for  flute,  2tenors, 
cello,  and  contrabass,  dedicated  to  Lindley,  who  said  it  was  the  finest 
piece  ever  written  for  the  instrument.  Plajed  by  the  late  Mr.  Han 
cock. 

Op.  8.  3  duets  for  2  cellos. 

Op.  9.  6  pieces  faciles  for  cello  and  bass. 

Op.  10.  Andante  with  variations  for  cello  solo  with  accompaniments 
for  flute,  2  violins,  tenor,  and  cello,  dedicated  to  Crosdill. 

Op.  11.  6  solos  for  cello  and  bass. 

Op.  12.  Theme  with  variations  and  rondo  with  quartet  accompani 
ment. 

Op.  13.  Grand  trio  for  cello  solo  with  accompaniment  for  tenor  and 
2nd  cello,  published  in  London  by  Welsh  &  Hawes,  but  unknown  on 
the  Continent.  The  finale,  a  rondo  in  6-8  begins  as  follows : — 

Cello  Solo. 


A  'W  —  U  - 

i           * 

V    \        • 

K\\°       Q 

ISI>         M 

*^                        W 

Viola.                    .^^ 

••  I     i     L/           1    1            «4           •»<                            0           , 

j    1    1"    "1 

r    "i    i    Pn 

fUj  [>    •  o         '        '      1*           » 

• 

Pizz. 

5 

£L 

""N.          sS~ 

'•  •    *T      (j        I"""1 

2 

—  ^  _  —  - 

^±1in   fa--- 

~~i  • 

L--,   • 

— «F^ 


1  1 


Sir* 


^ 


r    i  i 


714 


STIASTNY. 


STIGELLI. 


—  P-OP  —  *  —  •- 

~TT*  —  S 

5^S  

f              '«• 

—  «—  1  —  *- 

^—  »—  

—  1— 

T  1     ^  p  *  1 

—  =i  —  r  i 

-F  =1  1  —  l-tf— 

«~^rr 

P~i  —  i  rl~~ 

^s. 

J^^_  — 

p     ~^=t  • 

==**J 

r^ 


/'fez. 


=Z3- 


p 


-^— =1— 


-=1-=I- 


Arco 


r 

•F-'  -    : 

L-^-J            • 

-=)— p- 


etc. 


etc. 


etc. 


[G.H.] 

STICH,  JOHANN  WENZEL,  known  as  PDNTO, 
eminent  horn-player,  born  about  1 755  in  Bohemia. 
Was  taught  music  and  the  French-horn  by 
Matiegka  and  Hampel  of  Dresden,  at  the  ex 
pense  of  Count  Thun.  On  his  return  to  the 
Count's  household  he  considered  himself  ill- 
treated,  took  offence,  and  ran  away  with  some  of 
his  comrades.  To  avoid  recognition  he  Italianized 
his  name  to  Punto,  and  travelled  in  Germany  and 
France,  settling  for  a  time  in  Wurzburg,  Treves, 
Coblenz,  Paris,  etc.,  and  attracting  considerable 
attention.  In  Paris  he  made  the  acquaintance 
of  Mozart,  who  composed  for  him  a  Sinfonie  cou- 
certante  for  flute,  oboe,  horn,  and  bassoon,  never 
played  and  now  unfortunately  lost.  'Punto  plays 
magnificently  '  (blast  mngnifique)  writes  Mozart 
to  his  father.  In  1 788  he  was  engaged  by  Mara 
(with  Graff,  Fischer,  and  Florio)  for  her  concerts 
at  the  Pantheon,  London  (?).  In  Vienna,  Bee- 


thoven  composed  his  sonata  for  PF.  and  horn 
(op.  17)  ibr  him,  and  they  played  it  together 
without  rehearsal,  at  Punto's  concert,  April  18, 
1800.  It  was  received  enthusiastically,  and  at 
once  encored.  After  this  Punto  made  another 
tour  with  Dussek,  returned  to  Prague  and  gave 
a  concert  at  the  theatre  there  in  1801.  He  died 
after  a  long  illness  Feb.  16,  1803,  and  his  epitaph 
runs 

Omne  tulit  punctum  Punto,  cui  Musa  Bohema 
Ut  plausit  vivo,  sic  morienti  gemit. 

His  compositions  were  published  in  Paris  by 
Sieber,  Nadermann,  Cochet,  Imbault,  Le  Due, 
and  Pleyel.  [C.F.P.] 

STIEHL,  HETNRICH,  born  at  Liibeck,  Aug.  5, 
1829,  second  son  of  T.  D.  Stiehl,  an  esteemed 
organist  there.  He  studied  at  Liibeck  and  Weimar, 
and  at  Leipzig  under  Moscheles,  Gade,and  Haupt- 
mann.  In  1853  he  settled  in  St.  Petersburg  as 
organist  to  the  St.  Peter's  Church,  and  Director 
of  the  Sing-Akademie.  In  1867  he  moved  to 
Vienna,  and  after  staying  there  two  years  went 
on  to  Italy.  In  1872  and  1873  he  was  in  London, 
and  from  Oct.  1874  to  1877  resided  in  Belfast 
as  conductor  of  the  Philharmonic  Society  and 
founder  of  the  Cecilia  Society  there.  He  then 
returned  to  London,  and  in  1880  was  called  to 
Reval  in  Russia,  where  he  holds  the  leading 
position  as  professor  of  music,  organist,  and  con 
ductor  of  the  Musical  Society  of  the  town,  in 
which  he  is  indefatigable  and  most  successful  in 
the  revival,  practice,  and  performance  of  the  best 
music,  and  is  universally  liked  and  esteemed. 
He  gave  an  excellent  performance  of  Bach's  Mat 
thew-Passion  (the  first  in  Russia)  on  March  17, 
1883,  and  repeated  it  at  St.  Petersburg  April  6. 

Stiehl's  compositions  are  numerous.  A  little 
orchestral  piece  called  'The  Vision'  was  produced 
at  the  Crystal  Palace,  April  12,  1873,  and  was 
much  applauded  for  its  delicate  fanciful  character. 
A  '  Hexentanz,'  '  Ungarisch,'  Waltzes,  and  a  Ga 
votte  are  also  well  known  in  Germany.  He  has 
published  3  PF.  Trios,  a  Sonata  for  PF.  and 
Cello,  Sonata  quasi  Fantasia  for  PF.  solo,  and 
many  others,  the  latest  being  '  Mosaik  '  for  the 
Pianoforte,  op.  161.  [&•] 

STIFELLIO.  An  opera  in  3  acts;  libretto 
by  Piave  from  a  play  of  Emile  Souvestre's,  music 
by  Verdi.  Produced  at  the  Teatro  Grande, 
Trieste,  Nov.  16,  1850.  Not  being  successful, 
Verdi  revised  it  throughout  and  adapted  it  to 
the  libretto  of  '  Aroldo,'  also  by  Piave,  which  was 
produced  at  the  Teatro  Nuovo,  Rimini,  Aug.  16, 
1857,  arid  was  equally  unsuccessful.  [G.] 

STIGELLI,  or  STIGHELLI,  GEOBG.  His 
real  name  was  STIEGELE,  and  he  was  born  at 
Ingstetten,  Wiirtemberg,  in  1819.  He  was  edu 
cated  for  the  law,  but  his  voice  was  so  promising 
that  he  gave  that  up  and  devoted  himself  to 
music,  which  he  studied  in  Stuttgart,  Paris,  and 
Milan.  His  early  career  was  spent  in  Italy, 
where  he  had  great  success  at  the  Scala  at 
Milan,  and  elsewhere.  In  1848  he  returned  to 
Germany,  and  settled  at  Frankfort  as  singer  and 
teacher.  In  1  849  and  50  he  was  in  London,  and 


STIGELLI. 

sang  at  concerts  with  such  success  that  in  1851  he 
was  engaged  at  the  Royal  Italian  Opera,  Covent 
Garden,  where  he  first  appeared,  replacing  Signer 
Mario  as  Kainbaldo  in  'Koberto'  on  April  24; 
and  with  that  brilliant  company  he  remained  as 
a  second  tenor,  doing  thoroughly  good  work, 
and  meeting  with  success,  both  in  opera  and  at 
concerts,  till  1854,  after  which  his  name  dis 
appears  from  the  lists. 

In  1861  he  was  singing  at  the  Court  Opera, 
Vienna,  and  in  1866  a  tenor  named  Stiegele  sang 
at  the  Mainz  Theatre,  who  was  probably  the 
same  person.  He  was  favourably  known  as  a 
writer  of  songs  of  a  popular  cast  with  much 
graceful  melody.  [G-.] 

STIRLING,  ELIZABETH,  an  eminent  English 
organist  and  composer  ;  born  at  Greenwich,  Feb. 
26,  1819;  learned  the  organ  and  piano  from 
Mr.  W.  B.  Wilson  and  Edward  Holmes,  and 
harmony  from  J.  A.  Hamilton  and  Prof.  Mac- 
farren.  She  attained  a  remarkable  degree  of 

,  o 

execution  on  the  organ  pedals,  as  may  be  in 
ferred  from  her  first  public  performance,  given 
at  S.  Katherine's  Church,  Regent's  Park,  when, 
out  of  14  numbers,  the  programme  contained 
5  pedal  fugues  and  preludes  by  J.  S.  Bach  ; 
3  pedal  trios,  and  other  pieces,  by  the  same 
master,  etc.  In  Nov.  1839  she  was  elected 
organist  of  All  Saints',  Poplar,  which  she  re 
tained  till  Sept.  1858,  when  she  gained  the  same 
post  at  S.  Andrew's,  Undershaft,  by  competition. 
This  she  resigned  in  1880.  In  1856  she  sub 
mitted  an  exercise  (Ps.  cxxx.  for  5  voices  and 
orchestra)  for  the  degree  of  Mus.  Bac.  Oxon.  ; 
but  though  accepted  it  was  not  performed,  owing 
to  the  want  of  power  to  grant  a  degree  to  a 
lady.  Miss  Stirling  has  published  some  original 
pedal  fugues  and  slow  movements,  and  other 
pieces  for  her  instrument,  as  well  as  arrange 
ments  from  the  works  of  Handel,  Bach,  and 
Mozart.  Also  songs  and  duets,  and  many  part- 
songs  for  4  voices,  of  which  a  well-established 
favourite  is  '  All  among  the  barley.'  In  1863  she 
married  Mr.  J.  A.  Bridge.  [G.] 

STOCKHAUSEN,  MADAME,  was  born  Mar- 
gavethe  Schmuck,  at  Gebweiler  in  1803,  and 
trained  in  Paris  as  a  concert-singer  by  Cartruffo. 
She  became  the  wife  of  the  harpist  and  composer 
Franz  Stockhausen,  and  the  mother  of  the  singer 
Julius  Stockhausen.  Husband  and  wife  travelled, 
giving  not  very  remunerative  concerts  in  Switzer 
land  (1825).  Paris  was  visited  later,  but  Mine. 
Stockhausen's  greatest  successes  attended  her  in 
England,  where  she  was  induced  to  return  almost 
every  year  from  1828  to  1840,  .singing  at  some 
of  the  concerts  of  the  Philharmonic  and  Vocal 
Societies,  and  also  taking  part  in  the  principal 
private  and  benefit  concerts.  She  had  little  or  no 
dramatic  feeling,  but  as  she  gained  in  power  she 
grew  in  public  favour,  and  came  to  be  recognised 
as  a  true  musician  and  an  accomplished  singer 
of  Swiss  airs  (with  or  without  the '  jodel'  burden), 
and  also,  and  especially,  those  of  Mozart,  Spohr, 
Handel  and  Haydn.  Mme.  Sfcockhausen  was 
frequently  engaged  at  provincial  festivals,  and 
her  delivery  of  fche  music  of  Mary  in  Spohr's 


STOCKHAUSEN. 


715 


'  Calvary,'  evoked  special  praise  among  her  ora 
torio  parts.  The  Earl  of  Mount-Edgecumbe,  in 
his  criticism  of  the  Musical  Festival  in  West 
minster  Abbey,  1834,  n°tes  the  '  science  and  skill 
which  enabled  her  always  to  sing  well.' 

Mine.  Stockhausen's  voice  is  described  by 
Henry  Phillips  as  '  a  clear,  high  soprano,  the 
upper  part  of  her  register  being  unusually  sweet 
and  liquid,  qualities  which  she  rarely  missed  the 
opportunity  of  exhibiting,  for  she  almost  always 
terminated  her  songs  on  the  highest  octave.1 

A  few  years  after  her  farewell  appearance  in 
London,  a  home  was  made  in  Colmar,  whither 
the  Stockhausens  retired  to  devote  themselves 
to  the  education  of  their  six  children.  Up  to 
1849  Mme.  Stockhausen  was  heard  with  her  son 
at  local  concerts;  she  left  Alsace  only  occasionally 
to  appear  in  public,  and  in  her  last  visit  to  Paris 
(1849)  ner  singing  showed  a  great  falling  off. 
She  died  in  1877,  nearly  ten  years  after  her 
husband,  much  regretted  by  her  many  English 
friends.  [L.M.M.] 

STOCKHAUSEN,  JULIUS,  son  of  the  fore 
going,  one  of  the  most  remarkable  singers  of  our 
time,  was  born  at  Paris,  July  22, 1826.  His  gifts 
showed  themselves  early,  and  his  mother  was 
accustomed  to  say  that  he  could  sing  before  he 
could  speak.  He  and  his  younger  brother  Edward 
(who  died  early)  accompanied  their  parents  on  a 
concert  tour  to  England,  and  learnt  there  to  sing 
Bishop's  duet  'Where  are  you  going,  sweet  sister 
Fay  ?'  In  1833  Julius  was  placed  at  a  school  at 
Gebweiler  in  Alsace,  where  he  remained  till  1840, 
with  a  view  to  the  clerical  profession.  But  such 
intentions  were  dispelled  by  the  violent  turn  for 
music  which  asserted  itself  after  a  concert  at 
Basle  in  1842,  at  which  Mine.  Stockhausen 
made  her  last  appearance.  He  took  a  prominent 
part  in  the  concerts  at  Gebweiler  as  singer,  ac- 
companyist,  violin-player,  and  even  drummer. 
In  1844  he  moved  to  the  seminary  of  Strasburg, 
and  there  his  performances  on  the  cello  and 
organ  sealed  his  fate  as  a  priest.  In  1845  and 
1846  he  visited  Paris  with  his  father,  took  les- 
sons  in  the  piano  from  Charles  Halle  and  Sta- 
maty,  and  in  singing  from  Emanuel  Garcia,  and 
entered  thoroughly  into  the  abundant  musical 
life  of  the  French  capital,  to  the  great  advantage 
of  his  musical  education.  His  devotion  to  the 
profession  of  music  was  however  not  absolutely 
decided  till  1848,  when,  at  the  invitation  of 
Ernst  Reiter,  the  conductor,  he  suddenly  took  the 
part  of  Elijah  in  a  performance  of  that  oratorio 
at  Basle.  His  success  decided  his  future  course, 
and  he  at  once  threw  himself  energetically  into 
the  art,  and  for  the  next  few  years  travelled  in. 
all  directions,  singing  at  innumerable  concerts 
Schubert's  Schone  Miillerin  and  other  songs.  In 
1849  he  came  to  England,  renewed  his  lessons 
with  Gar"cia  and  sang  at  various  concerts.  In 
1851  he  returned,  and  sang  three  times  at  the 
Philharmonic,  April  7  in  the  Choral  Symphony, 
April  28  in  two  trios,  and  June  9  in  a  scena  from 
Boieldieu's  '  Chaperon  Rouge.'  Taste  in  England 
was  not  then  sufficiently  advanced  to  call  for  the 
Lieder  just  mentioned.  To  these,  at  the  instance 


716 


STOCKHAUSEN. 


of  Schroder-Devrient,  he  shortly  added  Schu 
mann's  'Dichterliebe'  and  others.  His  first  ap 
pearance  on  the  stage  seems  to  have  been  at 
Mannheim  in  1852,  53,  and  he  joined  the  Opera 
Comique  at  Paris  in  1857-59,  supporting  such 
parts  as  the  Seneschal  in  '  Jean  de  Paris.'  A  t  this 
time  he  became  much  lie  with  Ary  Scheffer ;  and 
•with  Mme.  Viardot,  Berlioz,  Duprez,  St.  Saens, 
and  others,  formed  one  of  the  circle  by  whom 
much  German  music  was  performed  in  the  studio 
of  the  great  painter. 

1859  to  62  were  occupied  in  more  concert 
tours,  and  it  was  during  this  time  at  Leipzig  and 
Cologne  that  he  first  attempted  Schumann's 
Faust  music.  In  1862  he  came  to  an  anchor 
at  Hamburg  as  Director  of  the  Philharmonic 
Concerts  and  of  the  Singakademie,  a  position 
which  he  retained  till  1869,  when  he  was  made 
Kammersinger  to  the  King  of  Wurtemberg  at 
Stuttgart  with  a  salary  of  2000  gulden,  residing 
at  Canstatt.  During  all  this  time  he  took  many 
concert  tours,  especially  with  Mme.  Schumann, 
Joachim  and  Brahms.  In  the  latter  part  of  1870 
he  brought  over  his  pupil  Sophie  Lowe  to  Eng 
land,  and  remained  till  late  in  1871.  He  once 
more  sang  at  the  Philharmonic,  and  appeared 
at  the  Crystal  Palace  and  the  Monday  Populars, 
where  he  introduced  several  fine  unknown  Lieder 
of  Schubert.  He  and  Miss  Lowe  reappeared  here 
the  next  winter,  and  remained  till  the  end  of  the 
summer  season  of  1872. 

In  1874  ke  moved  from  Stuttgart  to  Berlin, 
and  took  the  direction  of  the  Vocal  Society 
founded  by  Stern  (Sternsches  Gesangverein), 
which  under  his  genial  and  able  direction  rose  to 
the  highest  point  of  excellence.  In  the  four 
years  that  he  conducted  it  there  were  no  less 
than  28  performances  of  great  works,  including 
Beethoven's  Mass  in  D,  Mozart's  Requiem, 
Bach's  Matthew  Passion,  Schumann's  Faust  music 
(complete)  and  Paradise  and  the  Peri,  Brahms's 
Requiem,  etc.  In  1878  he  again  changed  his 
residence,  this  time  to  Frankfort,  to  take  the  de 
partment  of  singing  in  th  e  Con  servatorium  founded 
by  Dr.  Hoch,  and  presided  over  by  Raff.  This 
post,  however,  he  soon  gave  up,  and  retired  to 
his  house  at  Frankfort,  teaching  the  many  private 
pupils  who  resorted  to  him  there.  Since  the 
death  of  Raff  in  1882  he  has  returned  to  the 
Conservatoriurn. 

Stockhausen's  singing  in  his  best  days  must 
have  been  wonderful.  Even  to  those  who,  like 
the  writer,  only  heard  him  after  he  had  passed 
his  zenith,  it  is  a  thing  never  to  be  forgotten. 
Perhaps  the  maturity  of  the  taste  and  expres 
sion  made  up  for  a  little  falling  off  in  the  voice. 
His  delivery  of  opera  and  oratorio  music — his 
favourite  pieces  from  Euryanthe,  Jean  de  Paris, 
Le  Chaperon  rouge,  and  Le  Philtre ;  or  the 
part  of  Elijah,  or  certain  special  airs  of  Bach — 
was  superb  in  taste,  feeling,  and  execution  ;  but 
it  was  the  Lieder  of  Schubert  and  Schumann 
that  most  peculiarly  suited  him,  and  these  he 
delivered  in  a  truly  remarkable  way.  The  rich 
beauty  of  the  voice,  the  nobility  of  the  style,  the 
perfect  phrasing,  the  intimate  sympathy,  and, 


STODART. 

not  least,  the  intelligible  way  in  which  the  words 
were  given — in  itself  one  of  his  greatest  claims 
to  distinction — all  combined  to  make  his  singino- 
of  songs  a  wonderful  event.  Those  who  have 
heard  him  sing  Schubert's  ' Nachtstiick,'  'The 
Wanderer,'  'Memnon,'  or  the  Harper's  songs; 
or  Schumann's  'Friihlingsnacht,'  or  '  Fluthen- 
reicher  Ebro,'  or  the  'Lb'wenbraut,' will  corrobo 
rate  all  that  has  just  been  said.  But  perhaps  his 
highest  achievement  was  the  part  of  Dr.  Marianus 
in  the  third  part  of  Schumann's  Faust,  in  which 
his  delivery  of  the  scene  of  the  '  Drei  Himmels- 
konigin'  ('Hier  ist  die  Aussicht  frei'),  with  just 
as  much  of  acting  as  the  concert-room  will  admit 
—and  no  more — was  one  of  the  most  touching 
and  remarkable  things  ever  witnessed.  [G-.] 

STODART.  A  family  of  eminent  pianoforte- 
makers,  whose  business  was  founded  in  Wardour 
Street,  Soho,  about  the  year  1776,  by  Robert 
Stodart.  It  is  said  he  had  been  in  the  Royal 
Horse  Guards,  to  be  a  private  in  which  corps  in 
volved  at  that  time  the  payment  of  £100,  an 
amount  that  must  now  be  estimated  by  the  then 
higher  value  of  money.  Having  little  duty  and 
much  leisure,  Stodart  became  a  pupil  of  John 
Broadwood  to  learn  pianoforte-making,  and  in 
the  books  of  Broadwood's  firm  appears,  during 
the  year  i775>  ^°  have  taken  his  share  in  tuning 
for  customers.  It  was  while  he  was  under  Broad- 
wood  that  he  had  the  privilege,  enjoyed  by  them 
as  friends,  of  assisting  Americus  Backers  in  the 
invention  of  the  new  movement  for  the  grand 
pianoforte  since  generally  known  as  the  'English' 
action.  After  Backers'  death,  Stodart,  now  upon 
his  own  account,  entered  upon  grand  pianoforte 
making  with  energy  and  ability,  and  soon  made 
a  considerable  reputation.  The  pianoforte  was  at 
that  time  hardly  emancipated  from  the  harpsi 
chord,  and  there  were  frequent  endeavours  to 
combine  both  principles  in  one  instrument.  An 
endeavour  of  this  nature  was  patented  by  Stodart 
in  1777,  which  is  otherwise  remarkable  by  the 
first  mention  of  the  word  '  grand '  in  connection 
with  a  pianoforte.  In  it  he  worked  his  crowquill 
registers,  and  also  a  swell,  by  means  of  pedals. 

We  find  the  business  in  1795  removed  to 
Golden  Square,  William  Stodart  in  that  year 
taking  out,  from  that  address,  a  patent  for  an 
'  Upright  Grand.'  This  was  the  horizontal  grand 
turned  up  vertically  in  the  same  way  the  up 
right  harpsichord  had  been.  The  giraffe-like 
upright  grand  was  then  coming  into  fashion,  and 
the  speciality  of  Stodart's  patent  was  to  intro 
duce  one  in  the  form  of  a  book-case.  Of  the 
highest  importance  was  the  patent  of  James 
Thorn  and  William  Allen,  who  were  in  Stodart's 
employ,  a  compensating  framing  of  metal  tubes 
and  plates  at  once  secured  by  Stodart's  firm. 
This  meritorious  invention,  which  was  really 
Allen's,  was  brought  out  in  1820,  and  paved  the 
way  to  the  general  introduction  of  iron  in  piano 
fortes  as  a  resisting  power.  [See  PIANOFORTE.] 
When  Malcolm  Stodart,  who  had  shown  great 
promise,  died,  the  interest  of  the  survivors  ceased, 
and  the  business,  which  had  been  declining,  came, 
in  1861,  to  an  end.  [A.J.H.] 


STOKES. 

STOKES,  CHARLES.  This  excellent  musician 
was  born  in  1784*  and  received  his  first  instruc 
tions  as  a  chorister  in  St.  Paul's  Cathedral.  He 
was  afterwards  a  pupil  of  Mr.  Webbe,  senior, 
the  glee  composer,  who  was  his  godfather — and 
of  other  masters  ;  but  he  was  most  indebted  for 
his  musical  knowledge  to  Mr.  Samuel  Wesley, 
with  whom  he  was  long  and  intimately  ac 
quainted.  Mr.  Stokes  officiated  for  several  years 
as  assistant-organist  to  Dr.  Callcott,  at  St.  Paul's, 
Covent  Garden,  and  for  Mr.  Bartleman  at  Croy- 
don ;  but  he  latterly  preferred  the  quiet  pursuit 
of  his  own  studies,  in  domestic  retirement,  to 
the  exertion  and  fatigue  of  public  engagements. 
Yet  his  musical  acquirements  were  of  the  highest 
order.  Vincent  Novello  speaks  of  him  as  a  most 
able  teacher,  an  excellent  organist,  a  delightful 
pianoforte-player,  a  refined  and  tasteful  com 
poser,  and  one  of  the  most  profound  musical 
theorists  now  living.  His  name  was  little  known, 
and  his  published  music  was  almost  confined 
to  the  pieces  printed  in  Novello' s  '  Select  Organ 
Pieces'  (from  which  this  notice  is  derived).  That 
collection  contains  10  pieces  by  Stokes,  full  of  quiet 
feeling,  and  real,  though  somewhat  antiquated, 
musicianship.  Novello  also  published  an  A  nthem 
of  his,  '  I  will  lay  me  down  in  peace.'  [G.] 

STOLTZ,  ROSINE,  celebrated  French  singer, 
whose  chequered  life  has  afforded  materials  for 
more  than  one  romance,  born  in  Paris,  Feb.  1 3, 
1815.  According  to  Fetis  her  real  name  was 
Victorine  Noeb,  but  she  entered  Ramier's  class 
in  Choron's  school  in  1826  as  Rose  Niva.  She 
became  a  chorus-singer  at  one  of  the  theatres 
after  the  Revolution  of  1830,  and  in  1832  made 
a  very  modest  ddbut  at  Brussels.  In  1833  she 
sang  at  Lille  under  the  name  of  Rosine  Stoltz. 
Her  knowledge  of  music  was  deficient,  and  she 
never  became  a  perfect  singer,  but  nevertheless 
made  a  considerable  mark  in  lyric  tragedy.  The 
first  time  she  displayed  her  powers  was  when 
acting  with  A.  Nourrit  as  Rachel  in  '  La  Juive ' 
at  Brussels  in  1836.  She  re-appeared  in  the  part 
at  the  OpeYa  in  Paris,  Aug.  25, 1837.  Though  in 
ferior  to  Mile.  Falcon,  who  had  created  the  role,  the 
public  was  interested  by  a  talent  so  original  and 
full  of  fire,  though  so  unequal,  and  Mme.  Stoltz 
became  a  favourite  from  the  day  she  appeared  in 
parts  written  expressly  for  her.  Indeed  through 
out  Le"on  Pillet's  management  (1841  to  47)  she 
reigned  without  a  rival.  She  created  the  follow 
ing  mezzo-soprano  parts : — Lazarillo  in  Marliani's 
'Xacarilla'  (1839);  Le"onore  in  'La  Favorite' 
(1840);  Agathe  in  '  Der  Freischiitz'  (1841); 
Catarina  in  'La  Reine  de  Chypre'  (1841); 
Odette  in  'Charles  VI'  (1843)  ;  Zayda  in  Doni 
zetti's  'DomSebastien'(i843);  Beppo  in  HaleVy's 
'Lazzarone/  Desdemona  in  'Otello,'  and  '  Marie 
Stuart'  in  Niedermeyer's  opera  (1844) ;  Estrelle 
in  Balfe's  '  Etoile  de  SeVille'  (1845);  David  in 
Mermet's  opera  of  that  name,  and  Marie  in 
Rossini's  pasticcio  'Robert  Bruce'  (1846).  The 
last  three  were  failures,  and  in  1849  sne  ^e^ 
Paris,  but  appeared  for  some  time  longer  in  the 
provinces  and  abroad.  Then  no  more  was  heard 
of  her  excepting  the  fact  of  her  successive  mar- 


STOPS  (HARPSICHORD).  717 

riages  to  a  Baron  and  two  foreign  princes.  Schoen 
published  in  her  name  six  melodies  for  voice 
and  PF.  in  1870. 

Among  the  works  based  on  the  life  of  Rosine 
Stoltz  may  be  mentioned  Scudo's  '  Histoire  d'une 
cantatrice  de  1'Opdra';  Lamer's  'Mme.  Rosine 
Stoltz'  (Paris  1847,  i6mo) ;  Cantinjou's  '  Les 
Adieux  de  Mine.  Stoltz'  (Paris  1847,  i8mo) 
and  Mile.  Eugenie  PeVignon's  'Rosine  Stoltz' 
(Paris  1847,  Svo). 

She  must  not  be  confounded  with  Teresina 
Stolz,  an  Italian  soprano  who  distinguished  her 
self  in  Verdi's  operas,  especially  as  Aida.  [G.C.] 

STONARD,  WILLIAM,  Mus.  Doc.,  Oxon.  1608, 
was  organist  of  Christ  Church  Cathedral,  Oxford. 
Some  of  his  compositions  are  preserved  in  the 
Music  School,  Oxford,  and  an  Evening  Service  in 
C  in  the  Tudway  Collection  (Harl.  MS.  7337). 
The  words  of  some  of  his  anthems  are  in  Clifford's 
Collection.  He  died  in  1630.  [W.H.H.] 

STOOPS  TO  CONQUER,  SHE.  An  English 
opera,  in  three  acts  ;  adapted  by  E.  Fitzball  from 
Goldsmith's  comedy  ;  music  by  G.  A.  Macfarren. 
Produced  at  Drury  Lane  Theatre  (Pyne  &  Har 
rison),  Feb.  n,  1864.  [G.] 

STOPPED  PIPE.  An  organ  pipe,  the  upper 
end  of  which  is  closed  by  a  wooden  plug,  or  cap 
of  metal.  The  pitch  of  a  stopped  pipe  is  one 
octave  lower  (roughly  speaking)  than  that  of  an 
open  pipe  of  the  same  length  ;  it  is  usual  there 
fore,  in  a  specification,  to  state  the  pitch  of  a 
stopped  pipe  instead  of  its  length;  thus,  'Open 
Diapason  16  ft.,'  'Bourdon  1 6  ft. -tone.' etc.  By 
the  former  it  is  understood  that  the  longest  pipe 
is  1 6  ft.  long;  by  the  latter  that  the  longest 
pipe  (though  only  8  ft.  in  length)  gives  the 
same  note  as  an  open  pipe  of  16  ft.  For  the 
acoustic  law  which  governs  the  pitch  of  closed 
pipes,  see  PIPES,  VIBRATION  OF  Am  IN,  vol.  ii. 
p.  754-  [J.S.] 

STOPPING.  The  technical  term  for  the  opera 
tion  of  pressing  the  fingers  on  the  strings  of  a 
violin,  viola,  etc.,  necessary  to  produce  the  notes. 
DOUBLE-STOPPING  is  the  producing  of  two  notes 
at  once.  [G.] 

STOPS  (HARPSICHORD).  Like  the  organ, 
the  harpsichord  had  stops,  by  which,  with  double 
keyboard,  contrasts  as  well  as  changes  could  be 
made.  The  principle,  borrowed  from  the  organ, 
was  the  simple  movement  of  each  rack  of  jacks 
forming  a  register,  so  that  the  quills  of  the  jacks 
might  or  might  not  touch  the  strings.  The 
earliest  notice  of  stops  to  a  keyed  stringed  in- 
trument  appears  in  the  Privy  Purse  Expenses  of 
Henry  VIII.,  April  1530,  published  by  Sir  N. 
Harris  Nicholas  in  1827  (Rimbault,  History  of 
the  Pianoforte,  1860,  p.  33).  The  item  mentions 
'ii  payer  of  Virginalls  in  one  coffer  with  iiii 
stoppes.'  The  term  'Virginals '  in  England  under 
the  Tudors  and  up  to  the  Commonwealth,  had, 
like  '  Clavier'  in  German,  the  general  significa 
tion  of  any  keyed  stringed  instrument.  [See 
VIRGINAL.]  We  therefore  interpret  this  quota 
tion  as  a  double  harpsichord,  in  one  case,  with 


718          STOPS  (HARPSICHORD). 

four  stops.  If  this  be  so,  we  must  perforce  limit 
Hans  Ruckers's  invention  to  the  '  ottava,'  the 
octave  string  [see  RUCKERS],  withdrawing  from 
him  the  double  keyboard  and  stops.  In  all  un 
altered  Ruckers  harpsichords,  we  find  the  regis 
ters  made  as  in  the  old  Positive  organs,1  by  the 
prolongation  of  the  racks  as  rails  or  slides,  so 
as  to  pass  through  and  project  beyond  the  right- 
hand  or  treble  side  of  the  case.  Each  rail-end 
has  a  short  loop  of  cord  to  pull  it  by.  Miss 
Twining's  Andries  Ruckers  of  1640,  and  Mr. 
Leyland's  Hans  Ruckers  the  younger  of  1642, 
have  only  this  simple  arrangement.  But  sub 
sequently,  to  be  nearer  the  hands,  the  registers 
were  shifted  by  iron  crank  levers,  and  manipu 
lated  by  brass  knobs  divided  into  two  groups  on 
either  side  of  the  nameboard,  and  immediately 
above  the  keys.  The  older  instruments  were 
often  altered  and  modernised  by  the  addition  of 
this  contrivance.  The  two  unison  stops  were 
placed  to  the  player's  right  hand,  and  as  the  re 
versed  position  of  the  quills  when  acting  upon 
the  strings  required,  could  be  brought  into  play 
by  squeezing  the  two  brass  knobs  together,  or 
made  silent  by  pushing  them  apart.  The  ottava 
was  placed  to  the  player's  left  hand,  with  the 
Lute  and  Harp  stops,  which  were  of  later  intro 
duction,  and  require  separate  description. 

The  Lute,  a  timbre  or  colour  stop,  doubtless 
arose  from  observation  of  the  power  which  lute- 
players,  like  viol-  and  guitar-players,  had  of 
changing  the  quality  of  the  tone  by  touching  the 
strings  closer  to  the  bridge.  Perhaps  the  earliest 
reference  to  an  attempt  to  imitate  these  instru 
ments  on  the  harpsichord  has  been  found  by 
Count  L.  F.  Valdrighi,  of  Modena,  in  a  letter  in 
the  Este  records  dated  March  3, 1595,  by  Giacomo 
Alsise,  horn-maker  of  Padua,  who  says :  'I  have 
let  Messer  Alessandro  see  and  hear .  .  .  one  of  my 
quill  instruments  (da  penna),  of  new  invention, 
that  with  two  unisons  (due  mani  di  corde)  forms 
three  changes  of  sound.'  The  passage  is  obscure, 
but  if,  as  is  probable,  two  jacks  touched  one 
string  in  Alsise's  instrument,  one  must  touch 
nearer  the  bridge  than  the  other,  and  produce  a 
different  quality  of  sound.  This  might  seem  far 
fetched  were  not  Mr.  Leyland's  Antwerp  harpsi 
chord  of  1642  actually  so  made.  Here  are  four 
certainly  original  changes,  with  three  strings,  two 
unisons  and  an  octave,  and  the  different  quality 
is  sought  for  upon  the  octave  string!  A  few 
years  later,  and  in  England,  Thomas  Mace  ('  Mu- 
sick's  Monument,'  1676)  speaks  of  the  'The- 
orboe'  stop,  which  may  have  been  only  another 
name  for  the  Lute  stop.  Certainly  in  England 
in  the  next  century  the  use  of  the  Lute  stop, 
with  its  fascinating  oboe  quality,  was  universal,2 
and  it  was  frequently  added  to  old  harpsichords. 

The  second  fancy  stop,  the  'Harp,' was  con 
trived  to  push  small  pieces  of  firm  leather  against 


1  Bee  the  organ  depicted  in  '  Music,'  attributed  to  Melozzo  Da  Forli 
(1438—1494),  in  the  National  Gallery,  London. 

2  Queen  Charlotte's  Shudi  harpsichord  at  Windsor  Castle  has  an 
original  Lute  stop,  and  the  date  is  1740.    This  instrument,  long  at 
Kew  Palace,  was  probably  made  for  Frederick,  Prince  of  Wales, 
George  the  Third's  lather. 


STOPS  (ORGAN). 

the  second  unison.3  We  have  unquestionable 
authority  for  this  in  a  double  harpsichord  of 
Shudi's,  of  1771,  that  has  never  been  disturbed. 
From  the  material  being  leather,  this  is  often 
called  the  'buff'  stop,  and  a  single  harpsichord, 
now  at  Torquay,  inscribed  'Longman  &  Broderip,' 
but  bearing  inside  the  real  maker's  name, '  Culli- 
ford,'  and  date  1775,  which  has  all  the  stops 
named,  has  this  one  marked '  Silent.'  The  earliest 
mention  of  the  Harp  stop  (as  '  Welch  harp ')  is  in 
a  patent  taken  out  by  Roger  Plenius  in  1745. 
The  combination  of  the  Lute  stop  by  the  first 
unison  on  the  upper  keyboard,  and  the  second 
unison,  which  could  be  muted  by  the  Harp  stop 
on  the  lower,  was  effected  by  a  pedal  for  the  left 
foot.  But  to  allow  this  pedal  to  be  used,  a  stop 
placed  inside  the  case,  at  the  bass  end  of  the  key 
boards,  away  from  the  other  stops,  had  to  be 
pushed  back.  Culliford's  harpsichord  gives  the 
name  for  this  pedal  stop,  the  'Machine,'  derived 
from  the  ironwork  of  the  pedal  movement  placed 
outside  the  case,  and  usually  concealed  by  a  box 
covering.  The  alternation  of  Lute  and  Harp 
with  the  normal  registers  of  the  upper  and  lower 
keyboards,  is  the  most  pleasing  colour  effect  of 
the  harpsichord.  In  Kirkman's  harpsichord  we 
find  the  Lute  muted,  without  knowing  for  cer 
tain  if  this  was  the  original  plan.  This  muting 
has 'the  high  authority  of  Mr.  Carl  Engel,  who 
transferred  Messrs.  Kirkman's  description  of 
the  stops  from  the  Catalogue  of  the  Special 
Exhibition  at  South  Kensington,  1872,  to  his 
admirable  General  Catalogue  of  Musical  instru 
ments  in  the  Museum,  1874,  P-  352- 

The  right-foot  pedal  is  for  the  Swell.  [See 
SWELL  (HARPSICHORD).]  Mace  attributes  the 
invention  of  the  harpsichord  pedal  to  John  Hay- 
ward,  a  '  harpsichon '  maker.  Kirkman  and  Shudi 
did  not  place  their  fancy  stops  alike.  Kirkman's 
arrangement  (and  Culliford's),  proceeding  from 
the  bass,  was  Harp,  Lute,  Octave  ;  Shudi's  was 
Lute,  Octave,  Harp.  In  all,  the  Lute,  Octave, 
and  first  Unison  move  to  the  right;  the  Harp 
and  second  Unison  to  the  left.  Shudi  marked 
this  on  Frederick  the  Great's  harpsichords,  still 
preserved  at  Potsdam,  with  arrows  and  the  Eng 
lish  words  'ring'  and  'dumb';  the  Machine  stop, 
'open,'  'shut.'  The  Germans  do  not  appear  at 
that  time  to  have  cared  for  the  varieties  in  the 
harpsichord  given  by  stops.  C.  P.  E.  Bach  makes 
no  remarks  in  his  'Versuch'  about  them.  He 
merely  says  (1753,  p.  131)  that  on  a  Fliigel  with 
more  than  one  keyboard  the  player  has  the  forte 
and  piano ;  that  is  to  say,  the  lower  and  upper 
keyboards  make  those  changes.*  [A.J.H.] 

STOPS  (ORGAN).  This  word  is  used  in  two 
senses — for  the  handles  or  draw-stops  which  are 
placed  near  the  organ-player,  and  by  which  he  can 
shut  off  or  draw  on  the  various  registers;  and  for 
the  registers  themselves.  Thus  we  speak  of  a 
'  stop '  being  half-out,  meaning  the  actual  handle 

3  Shudi  put  a  spring  on  the  2nd  unison  slide,  so  that  it  could  not 
be  pushed  off  without  moving  a  rail  outside  the  case,  next  the 
1  Machine.' 

4  In  the  posthumous  2nd  edition,  1797,  he  recommends  Hohlfeld's 
pedal,  which  appears  to  have  been  a  sostenente,  for  a  dynamic 
change. 


STOPS  (OEGAN). 

communicating  with  the  sliders,  and  at  the  same 
time  we  speak  of  '  an  organ  having  20  stops,' 
meaning  20  registers.  The  latter  use  of  the  word 
has  caused  the  appearance  of  a  new  expression, 
namely,  'sounding  stops'  or  stops  acting  on  pipes, 
as  opposed  to  couplers  and  other  accessory  move 
ments  governed  also  by  a  stop-handle.  When 
the  pipes  governed  by  a  stop  do  not  go  through 
the  whole  compass,  it  is  said  to  be  a  '  short  stop,' 
'incomplete  stop, 'or 'half-stop.'  When  a  complete 
row  of  pipes  is  acted  upon  by  means  of  two  stops, 
treble  and  bass,  it  is  called  a '  divided  stop.'  [See 
ORGAN  §  3,  vol.  ii.  p.  605.]  [J.S.] 

STORACE,  ANN  (otherwise  ANNA)  SELINA, 
daughter  of  Stefano  Storace,  an  eminent  Italian 
contrabassist  who  had  settled  in  England,  was 
born  in  London  in  1766.  She  was  first  instructed 
in  music  by  her  father,  and  when  only  8  years 
old  appeared  as  a  singer  afc  the  Haymarket 
Theatre,  in  a  concert  given  by  Evans,  the  harper, 
April  15,  1774.  She  was  afterwards  a  pupil  of 
Rauzzini,  and  in  1777  sang  in  the  oratorios  at 
Covent  Garden  and  at  Hereford  Festival.  On 
April  27,  1778,  she  had  a  benefit  concert  at  the 
Tottenham  Street  Rooms  (now  the  Prince  of 
Wales's  Theatre),  'to  enable  her  to  pursue  her 
studies,  as  she  intends  to  go  to  Italy  in  the  course 
of  the  ensuing  summer.'  She  accordingly  re 
paired  to  Venice,  where  she  became  a  pupil  of 
the  Conservatorio  del  1'Ospedaletto,  under  Sac- 
chini.  In  1780  she  appeared  at  La  Pergola, 
Florence,  with  great  success.  In  1781  she  sang 
at  Parma,  and  in  1782  at  La  Scala,  Milan.  In 
1 7  84  she  was  engaged  at  the  Imperial  Theatre, 
Vienna,  at  a  salary  equal  to  £500  sterling  for  the 
season,  a  then  unprecedented  sum.  During  her 
stay  in  the  Austrian  capital  two  important  events 
in  her  career  happened,  (i)  her  appearance  on 
May  r,  1 786,  as  the  original  performer  of  Susanna 
in  Mozart's  delightful  opera, 'Le  Nozze  di  Figaro,' 
and  (2)  her  ill-starred  marriage  with  Fisher  the 
violinist.  [See  FISHER,  JOHN  ABRAHAM.]  She 
returned  to  England  in  March  1 787,  and  appeared 
at  the  King's  Theatre,  March  24,  as  Gelinda,  in 
Paisiello's  opera,  '  Gli  Schiavi  per  amore,'  and 
afterwards  in  other  comic  operas,  but  she  soon 
abandoned  the  Italian  for  the  English  stage,  on 
which  she  made  her  first  appearance  at  Drury 
Lane,  Nov.  24,  1789,  in  her  brother's  opera, 
'The  Haunted  Tower,'  and  for  several  years 
afterwards  sustained,  with  the  greatest  success, 
a  variety  of  characters  in  comic  opera.  In  I791 
she  sang  at  the  Handel  Festival  in  Westminster 
Abbey,  and  in  1792  at  Hereford  Festival.  In 
I  So  i  she  was  engaged  at  Covent  Garden,  where 
she  continued  to  perform  until  May  30,  1808, 
when  she  took  her  leave  of  the  public  in  the 
opera  of  '  The  Cabinet.'  She  resided  in  retire 
ment  at  Herne  Hill  Cottage,  Dulwich,  until  her 
death,  Aug.  24,  1817,  and  was  buried  at  St. 
Mary's,  Lambeth.  She  accumulated  a  consider 
able  fortune,  and  by  her  will,  dated  Aug.  10, 
1797  (20  years  before  her  death),  bequeathed  up 
wards  of  £11,000  in  pecuniary  legacies  alone, 
including  two  munificent  gifts  of  £1000  each  to 
the  Old  Musical  Fund  (Royal  Society  of  Musi- 


STORACE. 


719 


cians),  and  New  Musical  Fund.  This  will  was/ 
proved  Oct.  11,  1817,  the  personalty  being  sworn 
under  £50,000.  It  was  said  in  1820  that  after 
payment  of  all  the  legacies,  there  remained  but 
little  short  of  £40,000  for  her  cousin,  Miss  Trus- 
ler,  the  residuary  legatee.  Her  studious  con 
cealment,  after  her  return  to  England,  of  h,er 
marriage,  is  evidenced  by  her  having  made  her 
will  in  her  maiden  name  and  avoided  any  de 
scription  in  it  of  her  quality  or  condition,  and 
also  by  the  fact  that  her  executor,  in  proving  the 
will,  describes  her  as  a  spinster.  [W.H.H.] 

STORACE,  STEPHEN,  brother  of  the  preceding, 
was  born  in  London  in  1763.    His  early  taste  for 
music  was  cultivated  by  his  father,  so  that  when 
ten  years  old  he  was  able  to  perform  the  most 
difficult  violin  music  of  Tartini  and  Giardini — the 
Paganinis    of    the    day — with   correctness   and 
steadiness.     When  12  years  old  he  was  placed 
in  the  Conservatorio  of  St.  Onofrio  at  Naples, 
where  he  studied  the  harpsichord,   violin,  and 
composition.     On  his  sister's  arrival  in  Italy,  a 
few  years  later,  he  joined  her  and  visited  with 
her  the  principal  cities  of  that  country,  and  event 
ually  went  to  Vienna,  where  he   produced  his 
two   operas,   'Gli   Sposi   malcontenti '  (June  i, 
1785)  and  '  GH  Equivoci/  the  subject  taken  from 
Shakspere's  'Comedy  of  Errors,'  Dec.  27,  1786. 
He  gained  great  advantage  whilst  there  from  his 
association  with  Mozart.     In  March  1787  he  re 
turned  to  England  and  was  engaged  to  superin 
tend  the  production  of  the  opera  in  which  his 
sister  appeared  at  the  King's  Theatre,  but  soon 
became  disgusted  with  the  prevalent  petty  jea 
lousies  and  intrigues,  and  retired  for  a  time  to 
Bath,  where  he  devoted  his  attention  to  drawing, 
for  which  he  had  considerable  talent.     He  re 
turned  to  his  musical  pursuits  in  the  ensuing 
year,  and  on  Oct.  25,  1788,  produced  at  Drury 
Lane  the  musical  farce  of  'The  Doctor  and  the 
Apothecary '  (the  music  of  which  he  had  pre 
viously  used  for  a  '  Singspiele  '    entitled  '  Der 
Doctor  und  der  Apotheker,'  performed  at  Vienna, 
July  n,  1786),  with  great  success.     Besides  his 
own  music  a  few  pieces  by  Dittersdorff  were  in 
cluded  in  it.     On  Nov.  24,  1789,  he  brought  out 
his  opera  'The  Haunted  Tower,'  the  success  of 
which   was   unbounded  ;    it   was  performed  50 
nights  in  the  first  season  and  kept  its  place  upon 
the  stage  for  nearly  half  a  century.     On  April 
16,  1790,  he  produced  his  charming  little  opera, 
'No  Song  no  Supper,'  in  which  he  introduced 
some  of  the  music  of  'Gli  Equivoci.'     Jan.  i, 
1791,  witnessed  the  production  of  the  opera  'The 
Siege  of  Belgrade,'  in  which  he  introduced  much 
of  the  music  of  Martini's  '  La  Cosa  rara.'     This 
also  long  continued  an  established  favourite.   On 
May  3  in  the  same  year  he  produced  the  '  Cave 
of  Trophonius,'  an  adaptation  of  Salieri's  'La 
Grotta  di  Trofonio,'  with  some  additional  music 
by  himself,  but  with  no  success.    He  fared  better 
when,  on  Nov.  20,  1792,  he  brought  out  'The 
Pirates,'  in  which  he  incorporated  several  pieces 
from  '  Gli  Equivoci.'     The  finale  to  the  first  act 
is  regarded  as  his  masterpiece.  In  the  same  year 
he  produced  his  opera,  '  Dido,  Queen  of  Carthage,' 


720 


STORAGE. 


which  met  with  but  small  success,  notwithstanding 
that  the  heroine  was  undertaken  by  Mara.  '  The 
Prize,'  musical  entertainment,  first  performed  on 
his  sister's  benefit  night,  March  II,  1793  ;  'My 
Grandmother,'  musical  farce,  produced  Dec.  16, 
1793;  'Lodoiska,'  musical  romance,  the  music 
partly  adapted  from  Cherubini  and  Kreutzer,  and 
partly  composed  by  himself,  performed  June  9, 
1794  ;  'The  Glorious  First  of  June,'  occasional 
piece,  produced  July  2, 1794;  and  the  'Cherokee,' 
comic  opera,  first  played  Dec.  20,  I794>  were 
all  well  received,  as  was  also  'The  Three  and 
the  Deuce,'  musical  drama,  performed  Sept.  2, 
1 795.  On  March  12,1 796,  Colman's '  Iron  Chest,' 
with  Storace's  music,  was  performed  for  the  first 
time,  and  although  the  play,  owing  to  accidental 
circumstances,  failed  to  produce  an  immediately 
favourable  impression,  the  music  was  rapturously 
received.  But  few  however,  if  any,  of  the  gratified 
and  applauding  auditors  knew  or  thought  that 
anxiety  for  the  success  of  that  music  had  impelled 
its  composer  to  a  course  which  had  laid  him 
upon  his  deathbed.  He  was  then  recovering 
from  a  severe  attack  of  gout  and  fever;  yet  urged 
by  a  sense  of  duty,  he  determined,  despite  the 
entreaties  of  his  family,  to  attend  the  first  re 
hearsal.  The  consequence  was  fatal  :  he  took 
cold,  the  gout  attacked  his  stomach,  and  on 
March  19  he  expired,  at  the  early  age  of  33  years. 
At  the  time  of  his  death  he  had  an  opera, 
'Mahmoud,  or  The  Prince  of  Persia,'  in  prepara 
tion  for  Braham's  debdt  in  London.  This,  work 
was  left  incomplete,  but,  by  the  assistance  of 
Kelly,  and  the  selection  of  some  music  by  the 
composer's  sister,  A.  S.  Storace,  it  was  fitted  for 
performance  and  produced  for  the  benefit  of  his 
widow  and  child,  April  30,  1796,  was  well  re 
ceived,  and  performed  many  times.  Storace's 
melodies  are  thoroughly  English  in  character, 
whilst  in  his  instrumentation  the  influence  of 
Mozart  and  the  Italian  composers  is  evident. 
He  was  almost  the  first  English  composer  who 
introduced  into  his  works  the  modern  finale,  in 
which  the  business  of  the  scene  is  carried  on  by 
concerted  music.1  Some  fine  examples  occur  in 
his  works.  There  is  reason  for  believing  that  his 
early  death  delayed  for  many  years  the  advance 
in  that  direction  which  might  otherwise  have 
been  made.  [W.H.H.] 

STORM,  REPRESENTATION  OP,  IN  MUSIC.      The 

endeavour  to  portray  the  strife  of  the  elements 
has  always  had  a  fascination  for  composers. 
Most  of  the  best-known  efforts  in  this  direction 
are  catalogued  in  the  article  PROGRAMME  Music, 
and  it  only  remains  here  to  glance  at  the 
technical  means  by  which  the  effect  has  been 
produced.  These  vary  but  little.  In  many 
musical  tempests,  especially  the  older  ones,  an 
agitated  movement  with  plenty  of  tremolos  and 
semiquaver  passages  is  deemed  sufficient  to  con 
vey  the  idea,  but  many  composers  have  sought 
accurately  to  imitate  the  sounds  and  even  the 
aspect  of  nature  during  a  storm,  with  varying 
success.  Haydn  has  an  exceedingly  impressive 

i  Dibdin  had  foreshadowed  it  in  his  '  Quaker.' 


STORM. 

movement  in  his  'Seasons.'  The  four  bars  of 
hesitating  quavers  before  the  storm  bursts  con 
vey  vividly  the  idea  of  the  first  few  heavy  drops 
of  rain,  an  effect  which  Beethoven  produces  by 
rather  different  means  in  the  opening  of  his  in 
imitable  movement  in  the  Pastoral  Symphony. 
With  regard  to  this  latter  piece  it  should  be 
noticed  that  its  general  idea  is  anticipated  in 
the  'Prometheus'  ballet-music  introduction, 
some  passages  and  modulations  pursuing  an 
identical  course,  the  descending  bass  with  double 
bowed  violin  figure  above,  and  the  latter  bars 
especially.  As  to  the  famous  passage  which 
imitates  lightning  and  thunder 


; 


*£& 


^ 


we  believe  it  has  never  yet  been  pointed  out  that 
the  lightning  comes  after  the  thunder  throughout ; 
a  rather  startling  violation  of  nature's  laws,  when 
one  comes  to  think  of  it ! 

One  grave  absurdity  should  here  be  alluded 
to ;  namely,  the  imitating,  by  the  appearance  of 
a  written  passage  on  paper,  the  form  of  sound 
less  objects !  It  is  quite  admissible  to  represent 
the  howling  of  the  wind  by  rising  and  falling 
chromatic  scales,  but  to  imitate  a  flash  of  light 
ning  by  a  zigzag  passage  on  the  piccolo,  as  is 
done  by  Haydn  (Seasons)  and  Wagner  (Die 
Walkiire) ;  or,  still  worse,  to  depict  the  form  of 
waves  by  broken  chords  and  arpeggios,  as  is 
done  by  almost  every  composer,  is  an  immemorial 
custom  as  ridiculous  as  was  Mattheson's  attempt 
to  represent  the  rainbow  round  about  the  throne 
by  quavers  arranged  in  circular  arcs,  or  the 
practice  of  the  composers  before  Palestrina,  who 
wrote  the  notes  expressing  blood  in  red  and  those 
expressing  grass  in  green. 

To  the  kettledrums  has  always  been  confided 
the  task  of  imitating  thunder.  Rossini,  in  the 
'  William  Tell '  Overture,  rather  misses  his  effect 
by  one  long-continued  roll ;  Beethoven's  thunder 
in  the  Pastoral  Symphony  is  realistic,  and  at 
the  same  time  idealised,  while  Berlioz,  in  the 
'  Episode  de  la  vie  d'un  artiste  '  is  startlingly  true 
to  nature.  Wagner  presents  us  with  several 
striking  examples  of  storms.  A  storm  at  sea  is 
vividly  depicted  by  the  Overture  and  other 
portions  of  the  music  to  the  '  Fliegender  Hol 
lander,'  although  the  absurdity  above  alluded  to, 
of  a  wave-passage,  is  here  very  prominent. 


The  most  original  treatment,  perhaps,  of  a 
storm  is  in  the  prelude  to  'Die  Walkiire.' 
Throughout  this  drama  the  weather  is  very  bad, 
and  there  are  various  kinds  of  storms,  but  the 
first  is  a  magnificent  one.  The  tremolo  D  held 
by  the  violins  and  violas  for  nearly  7°  Dars 
against  the  rushing  wind  of  the  basses, 


STORM. 


STRADELLA. 


721 


Presto. 


etc. 


is  surprisingly  effective,  and  were  it  not  for  the 
comical  lightning  effect 


the  artistic  value  of  the  movement  would  be 
much  greater.  In  Act  2  a  theatrical  'thunder 
machine'  is  used  to  enhance  the  effect,  but  this 
cannot  be  said  to  belong  to  the  score,  though  i  fc 
stands  there.  [F-C-] 

STORNELLO.  '  A  short  poem,  in  lines  of 
eleven  syllables  each  :  it  is  peculiar  to,  and  liked 
by,  the  people  in  Tuscany,  who  extemporise  it 
with  elegant  simplicity.'  This  is  the  definition 
of  Sfcornello  we  find  in  Mons.  Tommaseo's  Dic 
tionary,  and,  in  this  matter  at  least,  we  are  not 
aware  of  any  greater  authority.  The  '  Vocabo- 
lario  degli  Accademici  della  Crusca,'  the  strong 
hold  of  the  purity  of  the  Italian  language,  does 
not  contain  the  word :  this  fact,  added  to  the 
other,  not  less  significant,  that  neither  Crescim- 
beni,  nor  Quadrio,  nor  Tiraboschi,  mention  the 
word  in  their  elaborate  works,  inclines  us  to  be 
lieve  that  the  word  Stornello  has  not  the  definite 
meaning  that,  for  instance,  Sonnetto  has ;  but  is 
merely  a  name  given  in  some  parts  of  Italy  to 
very  short  poems,  more  with  regard  to  their 
purport  than  their  form.  Tommaseo  again, 
somewhere  else,  speaking  of  Tonio  and  Beatrice, 
two  peasants  who  sang  and  recited  popular  songs 
and  popular  poems  to  him,  says :  '  Tonio  makes 
a  difference  between  Hispetti  and  Ramanzetti : 
the  latter  are  composed  of  only  three  lines,  the 
former  of  eight  or  ten.  And  those  that  Tonio 
called  Ramanzetti  Beatrice  called  Strambotti,  as 
Matteo  Spinello  and  King  Manfredi  did ;  and  in 
the  territory  of  Pistoja  and  in  Florence  they  are 
distinguished  by  the  name  of  Stornelli.'  Although 
in  the  true  popular  songs  of  Italy  there  is  a  great 
freedom  in  the  number  of  lines  and  rules  of 
rhyming,  the  two  Stornelli  we  subjoin  may  be 
taken  as  fair  examples  of  this  kind  of  poem.1 

(1)  Tutta  la  notte  in  sogno  mi  venito : 
Ditemi;  bella  mia,  perche  lo  fate  ? 
Echi  viene  da  voi  quando  dormite  ? 

(2)  Fiori  di  pepe. 

So  giro  intorno  a  voi  come  fa  1'ape 
Che  gira  intorno  al  fiore  della  siepe. 

The  first  line  may  contain  either  five  or  eleven 
syllables  ;  the  other  two  are  of  eleven  syllables 
each.  The  first  line  rhymes  with  the  third,  i.  P. 
the  two  have  the  last  syllable,  and  the  vowel  of 

1  From  Tigri's  '  Canto  Populare  Toscani'  (Florence,  1869). 
VOL.  III.   PT.  6. 


the  last  syllable  but  one,  alike  :  the  intermediate 
line,  while  corresponding  in  its  last  .syllable  with 
the  last  syllable  of  the  other  two  lines,  changes 
the  vowel  of  the  accented  one. 

The  etymology  of '  Stornello'  is  very  uncertain : 
Tommaseo,  however,  has  some  ground  for  asserting 
that  it  is  a  corruption  of  'Kitornello,'  or  're 
frain.'  [G.M.] 

STRADA  DEL  PO,  ANNA.  An  Italian  so 
prano,  brought  from  Italy  by  Handel  in  1729, 
with  Bernacchi,  Merighi,  Fabri,  and  others,  for 
the  opera  in  the  Haymarket.  She  appeared 
there  in  'Lotario,'Dec.  2,  1729;  in  'Partenope,' 
Feb.  24,  1730;  'Poro,'  Feb.  2,  1731;  '  Ezio,' 
Jan.  15,  1732;  'Sosarme'  (originally  'Alfonso 
Primo'),  Feb.  19,  1732 — including  the  lullaby, 
'  Rend'  il  sereno,'  for  Strada,  afterwards  so 
well  known  in  an  English  dress  as  '  Lord,  re 
member  David';  in  '  Acis  and  Galatea,'  June 
10,  1732  ;  and  in  'Orlando,'  Jan.  23,  1733.  She 
was  the  only  one  of  Handel's  company  who  did 
not  desert  him  for  the  rival  new  opera  in  Lin 
coln's  Inn  in  the  end  of  1 733,  and  she  remained 
faithful  to  him  till  her  departure  from  this 
country  in  June  1738,  when  a  quarrel  with 
Heidegger,  the  manager,  put  an  end  to  her  con 
nexion  with  England.  In  the  interval  between 
1733  and  the  last-named  date  she  took  part  in 
Handel's  'Ariodante,'  '  Alcina,'  'Atalanta,'  'Ar- 
minio,'  'Giustino,'  'Berenice';  also  in  'Athaliah' 
and  '  Alexander's  Feast.' 

Even  on  her  arrival,  though,  according  to 
Handel,2  fa  coarse  singer  with  a  fine  voice,'  Strada 
must  have  had  some  brilliant  execution,  for  the 
first  air  which  she  sang  on  those  boards  contains 
no  less  than  thirty  opportunities  to  display  her 
shake.  Coming  after  Cuzzoni  and  Faustina,  and 
having  so  little  to  recommend  her  to  the  eye 
that  she  was  nicknamed  'the  pig,'  it  took  her 
some  time  to  get  into  favour.  But  Handel  took 
pains  with  her,  wrote  for  her,  and  advised  her, 
and  at  length  rendered  her  equal  to  the  first 
singers  of  the  Continent.  [G.] 

STRADELLA,  ALESSANDEO,  an  Italian  com 
poser  of  the  1 7th  century.  The  earliest  and 
only  detailed  account  of  him  is  that  given  by 
Bonnet-Bourdelot,3  of  which  we  here  subjoin  the 
literal  English  translation. 

A  man  named  Stradel,  an  eminent  musician,  while 
in  Venice,  engaged  by  the  Government  of  the  Republic 
to  write  the  music  of  the  operas,  charmed  everybody  no 
less  by  the  beauty  of  his  voice  than  by  the  merit  of  his 
compositions.  A  Venetian  nobleman,  named  Pig.  .  .  ., 
whose  mistress  was  well  educated  in  the  art  of  singing, 
desired  to  have  her  perfected  by  the  fashionable  musi 
cian,  and  that  he  should  teach  her  at  her  own  house ;  a 
thing  much  against  the  habits  of  the  Venetians,  who 
are  known  to  be  extremely  jealous.  After  a  few  months' 
lessons  such  a  reciprocal  affection  had  grown  up  be 
tween  teacher  and  pupil,  that  they  resolved  on  the  first 
opportunity  to  escape  together  to  Home.  The  oppor 
tunity  soon  presented  itself.  The  elopement  drove  the 
Venetian  almost  to  despair,  and  he  determined  to  re 
venge  himself  by  having  them  both  murdered.  He  at  once 
sent  for  two  of  the  most  notorious  assassins  then  in 
Venice,  agreed  to  pay  them  a  hundred  pistoles,  to  enable 
them  to  follow  and  murder  Stradel  and  his  mistress ; 
and  in  addition  to  defray  expenses  and  advance  half 

2  Burney's  History,  iv.  342.    The  above  Information  is  compiled 
from  the  same  volume.  339—427. 

3  Histoire  de  la  musique  et  de  ses  effets.   Paris,  1715. 

3  A 


722 


STRADELLA. 


the  sum.  At  the  same  time  he  gave  them  full  instruc 
tions  for  the  safe  accomplishment  of  the  murder.  They 
made  for  Naples,  where  they  learned  that  Stradel  was 
in  Home  with  his  mistress,  who  passed  for  his  wife. 
They  informed  the  Venetian  nobleman  of  this, . .  .  and 
begged  him  to  send  them  letters  of  introduction  to  the 
Venetian  ambassador  at  Home,  that  they  might  be  sure 
of  finding  an  asylum.  On  their  arrival  in  Rome  they 
discovered  that  on  the  next  day,  at  five  in  the  afternoon, 
Stradel  was  to  have  a  spiritual  opera,  or  oratorio,  per 
formed  at  St.  John  Lateran,  where  the  murderers  did 
not  fail  to  go  in  the  hope  of  carrying  out  their  design  as 
Stradel  went  home  with  his  mistress.  But  the  enthu 
siasm  of  the  public  for  the  music,  and  its  effect  on  the 
murderers  themselves,  was  such  as  to  change  by  magic 
their  anger  into  piety,  and  they  agreed  that  it  would  be 
a  pity  to  kill  a  man  whose  musical  genius  formed  the 
admiration  of  all  Italy;  in  fact,  moved  by  one  and  the 
same  feeling,  they  resolved  upon  saving  his  life  instead 
of  taking  it.  Accordingly,  on  his  leaving  the  church,  they 
complimented  him  on  the  oratorio,  told  him  their  in 
tention  of  assassinating  him  and  his  mistress,  to  revenge 
the  Venetian  nobleman  .  . . ;  but  that  the  charm  of  his 
music  had  changed  their  minds ;  and  advised  him  to 
leave  on  the  morrow  for  a  place  of  safety.  Meanwhile, 
lest  they  should  be  suspected  of  neglecting  their  duty, 
they  would  inform  the  nobleman  that  he  had  left  Eome 
on  the  eve  of  their  arrival  there.  Stradel  did  not  wait 
for  further  advice,  but  with  his  mistress  made  straight 
for  Turin,  where  the  present '  Madame  Royale '  was  then 
Regent.  The  murderers  returned  to  Venice,  and  in 
formed  the  nobleman,  as  they  had  already  written,  that 
Stradel  had  left  Rome  for  Turin,  where  it  was  certainly 
much  more  difficult  to  commit  an  important  murder 
than  in  any  other  Italian  town,  owing  to  the  garrison, 
and  to  the  tact  that  no  places  of  asylum  were  respected, 
save  only  houses  of  ambassadors.  But  Stradel  was  no 
safer  for  that :  for  the  Venetian  nobleman  began  to  con 
sider  how  best  to  carry  out  his  revenge  in  Turin7  and 
with  that  view  interested  his  mistress's  father  in  it, 
who  betook  himself  to  Venice  with  two  assassins,  with 
the  express  purpose  of  slaying  his  own  daughter  and 
Stradel  in  Turin,  after  having  obtained  letters  of  intro 
duction  from  the  Abbd  d'Estrade,  French  ambassador 
at  Venice,  to  the  Marquis  de  Villars,  French  ambas 
sador  at  Turin.  M.  d'Estrade  requested  protection  for 
three  merchants  staying  in  Turin.  These  merchants 
were  the  assassins,  who  regularly  paid  their  homage  to 
the  ambassador,  while  waiting  for  an  opportunity  to 
accomplish  their  design.  But  the  Regent  having  been 
apprised  of  the  true  cause  of  Stradel's  flight,  and  being 
fully  aware  of  the  character  of  the  Venetians,  placed 
Stradel's  mistress  in  a  convent,  and  engaged  him  for 
her  own  band.  One  evening,  as  he  was  walking  on  the 
ramparts  of  Turin,  he  was  suddenly  attacked  by  the 
three  murderers,  who  each  stabbed  him  in  the  chest, 
and  then  took  refuge  in  the  house  of  the  French  am 
bassador.  The  deed  being  witnessed  by  many  people, 
who  were  promenading  on  the  ramparts,  instantly 
caused  an  immense  excitement.  The  gates  of  the  town 
were  closed,  and  the  Regent  gave  orders  that  the 
utmost  diligence  should  be  employed  to  find  out  the 
assassins.  On  learning  that  they  were  in  the  house  of 
the  French  ambassador  she  demanded  that  they  should 
be  delivered  up,  but  the  ambassador  refused  to  do  so 

without  an  order  from  his  king The  occurrence 

made  much  noise  throughout  all  Italy.  On  the  request 
of  M.  de  Villars  the  assassins  gave  him  the  reasons  for 
their  proceeding;  he  wrote  to  d'Estrade,  who  answered 

that  he  had  been  deceived  by  Pig ,  who  was  one 

of  the  most  powerful  noblemen  in  Venice.  As  how 
ever  Stradel  did  not  die  from  his  wounds,  M.  de 
Villars  allowed  the  assassins  to  escape,  the  chief  being, 
as  we  have  said,  the  father  of  the  nobleman's  mis 
tress,  whom  he  would  have  killed  had  he  found  the 
opportunity. 

But  as  the  Venetians  never  forgive  treachery  in  love 
affairs,  Stradel  could  not  escape  his  enemy,  who  left  spies 
in  Turin  charged  to  follow  his  movements  ;  and  a  year 
after  his  recovery,  while  in  Genoa  with  his  mistress, 
Ortensia,  whom  the  Regent  had  given  him  in  marriage 
during  his  convalescence,  they  were  murdered  in  their 
bedroom.  The  murderers  escaped  on  a  boat  that  was 
waiting  for  them  in  the  harbour,  and  nothing  more  was 
said  about  them.  In  this  manner  died  the  most  excellent 
musician  of  all  Italy,  about  the  year  1670. 

Contrary  to  M.  Fetis's  opinion,  we  believe,  for 
the  reasons  now  to  be  submitted,  that  this  nar 
rative  has  been  too  readily  accepted  by  all 
writers  on  Stradella,  with  the  exception  of  M. 


STKA.DELLA. 

Richard l  and  M.  Catelani,2  whose  researches, 
however,  have  not  led  to  any  positive  result. 
Being  thus  thrown  back  again  upon  the  state 
ment  of  Bonnet-Bourdelot,  we  shall  point  out 
the  main  objections  to  its  veracity,  as  well  as  the 
mistakes  that  occur  in  it  either  from  carelessness 
or  want  of  exact  information. 

The  materials  for  the  '  Histoire  de  la  musique 
et  de  ses  effets  '  were  collected  by  Pierre  Bour 
delot,  who  at  his  death  in  1685  entrusted  the 
compilation  of  the  work  to  his  nephew  Pierre 
Bonnet ;  who  in  his  turn  dying  in  1 7oS,  before 
the  history  was  completed,  it  fell  to  the  lot  of 
his  brother  Jacques  Bonnet — an  erudite  person 
but  of  unsound  mind  and  much  given  to  the 
cabala — to  wind  tip  and  publish  the  book.  None 
of  the  three  appear  to  have  been  musicians,  and 
this  fact,  added  to  the  mental  condition  of  the 
final  editor,  is  much  against  the  accuracy  of  the 
statement.  Moreover  the  story  is  told  k  propos 
to  Poliziano's  death,  merely  to  strengthen  the 
opinion  advanced  by  Bourdelot  that  '  no  young 
teacher  of  singing  ought  to  be  given  to  a  young 
lady.'3  If  we  were  to  take  his  narrative  of 
Poliziano's  death  as  a  test  of  the  accuracy  and 
truth  of  Stradella's  history,  we  should  be  very 
cautious  in  accepting  it.  The  particulars  of 
Poliziano's  death  are  well  known  to  us,*  as  they 
might  have  been  even  to  Bourdelot  himself,  had 
he  not  preferred  to  adopt  Varila's  legend.5  If 
he  has  so  grossly  mis-stated  a  matter  regarding 
which  he  had  documents  at  hand,  how  can  we 
believe  a  statement  which,  with  the  exception 
of  the  occurrence  in  Turin — apparently  taken 
from  the  correspondence  of  the  ambassadors — 
was  made  simply  on  the  faith  of  court  gossip  1 

The  mistakes  in  the  narrative  are  three:  (i) 
Stradella  could  not  have  been  engaged  by  the 
Government  of  Venice  to  write  operas,  because 
neither  in  the  official  lists,  nor  in  Allacci,  is  there 
any  mention  of  such  ;  in  addition  to  which  the 
operatic  performances  in  Venice  have  always 
been  left  to  private  enterprise;  (2)  the  name  of 
the  nobleman  in  question  was  not  Pignaver,  as 
implied  by  the  abbreviation  Pig.,  but  Contarini  ; 
(3)  the  date  of  Stradella's  death  is  to  be  assigned 
to  a  much  later  period  than  1670,  as  will  be  seen 
farther  on.  The  account  of  the  effect  of  the 
music  on  the  assassins  savours  too  much  of  the 
marvellous  ;  and  even  the  murder  at  Genoa  must 
be  very  doubtful,  seeing  that  the  most  accurate 
historians  do  not  mention  it.6 

The  place  of  Stradella's  birth  is  unknown. 
Wanley 7  thinks  he  was  a  Venetian,  while  Bur- 

1  Le  Mgnestrel ;  1865,  51, 52 ;  1?66, 1  to  6,  and  12  to  18. 

2  Delle  opere  di  A.  Stradella  esistenti  nell  Archivio  Musicale  della 
B.  Biblioteca  Palatina  di  Modena.    Modena,  1866. 

3  Hist,  de  la  mus.  etc..  vol.  i.  chap,  iii,  '  Opinions  of  the  philoso 
phers,  poets,  and  musicians  of  ancient  titnes,  on  the  use  of  vocal  and 
instrumental  music,  and  of  its  effects  on  passions.' 

4  Olassici  Italian!,  vol.  xsxv,  Vita  di  Angelo  Poliziano.   Slilano  1?08. 

5  Relation  of  Poliziano's  death  by  Roberto  Ubaldini,  a  Dominican 
monk,  who  after  having  assisted  him  during  his  last  illness,  dressed 
him,  by  consent  and  order  of  Fra  Domenico  Savonarola,  in  the  garb 
of  the  religious  order  of  the  Predicalori.  1494. 

6  '  Annali  di  Geneva,1  di  FiUppo  Casont ;   '  Storia  d'ltalia,'  di  Carlo 
Botta;    Bossi,  ' Istoria  d'ltalia ' ;  Muratori,  'Annali  d'ltalia'j   Sis- 
mondi,  'R^publiques  Italiennes  du  moyea  age.' 

7  A  Catalogue  of  the  Harleian  manuscripts  in  the  British  Museum, 
vol.  i.  p.  642,  cod.  1272. 


STRADELLA. 

ney l  states  he  was  a  Neapolitan,  apparently  for 
no  other  reason  than  that  he  sends  Stradella  and 
Ortensia,  en  route  for  Rome,  to  Naples,  which, 
he  adds,  was  '  the  place  of  Stradella's  nativity." 
Felis,2  evidently  on  Burney's  statement,  but  with 
out  quoting  his  authority,  describes  him  as  born  at 
Naples  about  1645,  and  the  assertion  is  now  an 
accepted  statement.3  The  dates  both  of  his  birth 
and  death  are  in  fact  unknown.  But  though  we 
reject  the  story  of  his  murder  at  Genoa,  it  is  not 
impossible  that  he  ended  his  life  there,  since  the 
composition,  which  we  may  presume  to  have  been 
his  last,  is  dated  from  thence. 

The  date  of  his  death  was  probably  about  1681, 
since  there  exists  in  the  Biblioteca  Palatina  of 
Modena,  a  cantata,  '  II  Barcheggio,'  *  written  for 
the  wedding  of  Carlo  Spinola  and  Paola  Brignole, 
at  Genoa,  July  6,  1681.  The  poem  contains  nu 
merous  allusions  to  it,  and  the  names  of  both 
bride  and  bridegroom  ;  no  mistake  is  possible  as 
to  the  real  date  of  the  composition,  and  thus 
the  dates  1670  and  1678,  given  by  Bourdelot  and 
Burney  for  his  death,  are  evidently  wrong.5 

The  statements  that  besides  being  a  composer 
Stradella  was  a  singer,6 '  an  exquisite  performer 
on  the  harp,'7  'a  great  performer  on  the  violin,'8 
'excelled  in  an  extraordinary  hand,  so  as  to  have 
been  accounted  the  best  organist  in  Italy/9  '  was 
a  Latin  and  perhaps  also  an  Italian  poet,'10  are 
all  more  or  less  gratuitous,  and  except  composing, 
it  cannot  be  proved  that  he  possessed  any  of  these 
qualifications.  His  name  is  never  met  with  in 
any  of  the  best  treatises  of  Italian  literature, 
either  as  a  Latin  or  an  Italian  poet,11  and  with 
respect  to  his  skill  on  the  organ,  we  have  been 
unable  to  find  anything  to  justify  AVanley's 

1  A  General  History  of  Music,  iv.  100,  101. 

2  Biographie  universelle  des  musicians. 

3  See  'Dictionnaire   ge'ne'ral  de  Biographie  et  d'Histoire"  (Paris 
1857) ;  '  Dictionnaire  de  la  Conversation  et  de  la  lecture '  (Paris  1858) ; 
Mendel,   'Mus.  Conversations-Lexikon '   (1877);    Biemann,   Musik- 
Lexikon  (1882). 

4  On  the  first  page  of  the  score  is  written  :  '  II  Barcheggio,  del  Sig. 
Alessandro  Stradella  1681.    L'ultima  delle  sue  sinlonie.'   After  the 
overture,  and  before  the  duet  with  which  the  scene  opens,  at  the  top 
of  the  page  is  written   'Inuentione   per  un  Barcheggio  1681.    16 
Giugno.    L'ultima  composizione  del  Sig.  Alessandro  Stradella  '    This 
is  a  cantata  for  soprano,  tenor  and  bass,  in  two  parts.    Each  part  is 
preceded  by  an  overture.    The  score  is  for  two  violins,  cornet  or 
trumpet,  and  bass :  a.  trombone  di  rinforzo  at  times  with  the  bass. 

5  Burney's  mistake  is  easily  explainable,  because,  when  he  wrote, 
4 II  Barcheggio  '  had  not  yet  been  discovered,  and  he  was  in  possession 
of  a  libretto  '  La  forza  dell'  amor  paterno,'  Genoa  1678,  dedicated  to 
Signora  Teresa  Kaggi  Saoli,  by  Alessandro  Stradella,  the  dedication 
apparently  written  by  Stradella  himself.    The  facts  that  the  oratorio 
'S.  Giovanni  Battista'— supposed  to  be  that  which  saved  its  author's 
life  in  Rome— bears  the  date  '  Rome  1676,'  and  the  fact  that  Bour- 
delot's  account  implies  a  period  of  two  years  between  Stradella's 
singing  in  Rome  and  his  murder  in  Genoa,  induced  Burney  to  believe 
that  Stradella  might  have  met  his  death  in  Genoa  while  attending 
the  rehearsals  of  his  new  opera.    However,  that  libretto  was  seen  by 
Burney  only,  and  has  since  disappeared. 

6  Bourdelot  and  all  biographers. 

7  Hawkins's  History,  vol.  iv.  bk.  2.  chap.  10. 

8  Burney,  '  A  General  History  of  Music,'  iv.  100. 

9  A  Catalogue  of  the  Harleian  MSS. 

10  Catelani.  '  Delle  opere  di  A.  Stradella  esistent,  etc.' 

11  '  Delia  Storia  e  della  Ragione  di  ogni  Poesia,'  di  F.  S.  Quadrio. 
Bologna-Milano,  1739-1742.    Tiraboschi,  '  Storia  della  letteratura  ita- 
lianas.'    Ginguene,  '  Histoire  litte'raire  d'ltalie.'    Giovan  Mario  Cres- 
cimbeni,  'Dall'  Istoria  della  volgar  Poesia.'    In  this  last  work,  Stra 
della  is  spoken  of  only  where  the  author,  dealing  with  the  Cantatas. 
thus  expresses  himself:   'they  are  pretty  things  and  the  best  and 
most  pleasant  diversion  that  one  can  enjoy  in  any  honourable  and 
noble  conversation  ;  especially  when  set  to  music  by  eminent  maestri, 
as,  amongst  the  old  ones,  are  those  by  the  famous  Alessandro  Stra 
della.  one  of  which  was  sung  not  long  since  in  the  Academy  of  the 
Cardinal  Otttboui  by  Andrea  Adami  detto  il  Bolsena.'    Vol.  i.  lib.  iv. 
chap.  xii.  p.  330.    This  passage  is  quoted  from  Ed".  3, 1731. 


STRADELLA. 


723 


assertion,  beyond  a  short  Sonata  in  D  for  two  vio 
lins  and  basso  continue  per  1'Organo.12  As  to  the 
statements  in  the  'Penny  Cyclopaedia/  that '  Stra 
della  was  not  handsome,  but  remarkable  for  the 
symmetry  of  his  form,  his  wit  and  polished 
manners,'  and  in  Wanley's  catalogue,  that  'he 
was  a  comely  person  and  of  an  amorous  nature/ 
I  can  do  no  more  than  submit  them  to  the  reader, 
as  striking  instances  of  the  way  in  which  mythical 
statements  gather  round  a  central  figure. 

Nothing  can  be  positively  asserted  as  to  his 
having  been  married  to  Ortensia  by  the  Royal 
Madame  after  the  occurrence  in  Turin,  because 
the  archives  of  S.  Giovanni  di  Torino,  the  parish 
of  the  Court,  have  been  destroyed  by  fire.  The 
Madame  Royale  alluded  to  by  Bourdelot  must 
be  Jeanne  Marie  de  Nemours  (who  became 
Regent  at  the  death  of  her  husband,  Charles 
Emanuel  II.,  June  12,  1675),  and  not  Christine 
de  France  (who  died  Dec.  27,  1663),  as  M.  Fili- 
bert 13  and  other  writers  have  stated. 

Where  or  with  whom  Stradella  studied  is  en 
tirely  unknown.  In  the  archives  of  the  Royal 
Conservatorio  di  Musica  in  Naples,  where  all  the 
documents  formerly  belonging  to  the  superseded 
Conservatori  are  most  carefully  kept,  his  name 
does  not  occur :  nor  is  it  mentioned  in  Lichten- 
thal's catalogue.14  None  of  his  numerous  operas  are 
known  to  have  been  performed  in  his  life-time,15 
with  the  possible  exception  of  'II  Trespolo.'16 

Stradella  as  a  composer  is  known  to  modern 
audiences  by  the  Aria  di  Chiesa, '  Pietk !  Signer ! ' 
attributed  to  him.  Space  will  not  allow  us  to 
enumerate  the  few  pros  and  many  cons  respect 
ing  its  authenticity.  It  is  enough  to  say  that 
no  musician,  even  though  but  slightly  acquainted 
with  the  works  that  are  indisputably  by  Stra 
della,  will  attribute  it  to  him.  The  composer  of 
that  beautiful  composition  is  generally  believed 
to  be  Fe'tis,  Niedermeyer,  or  Rossini.  The 
words  are  taken  from  the  second  stanza  of 
Arsenio's  aria  in  Alessandro  Scarlatti's  oratorio 
'  Santa  Teodosia,'  two  copies  of  which  are  in 
the  Biblioteca  Palatina  of  Modena,  and  bear  the 
signature  '  A.  S.' 

Stradella's  name  has  lately  been  invested  with 
fresh  interest  on  account  of  a  Serenata  attributed 
to  him,  in  which  the  subjects  of  many  of  the 
pieces  in  '  Israel  in  Egypt '  exist  in  a  more  or 
less  crude  form.  [See  vol.  i.  p.  49 ;  ii.  25.]  A 
copy  of  this,  formerly  belonging  to  Dr.  Gauntlett, 
is  in  the  Library  of  the  Royal  College  of  Music, 
London,  and  another  (older)  in  that  of  the  Con 
servatoire,  Paris  :  the  original  is  not  known.  For 

12  'Scielta  delle  suonate  a  due  violin!  con  il  Basso  continue  per 
TOrgano,  raccolte  da  diversi   eccellenti  autori.'     In   Bologna   per 
Giacomo  Monti  1680.    With  the  exception  of  this  Sonata,  no  other  of 
Stradella's  compositions  was  printed  in  the  17th  century. 

13  '  Supplement  a  la  Biographie  universelle,'  Paris  1853. 

14  Dizionario  e  Bibliografia  della  Musica  del  D.  Pietro  Lichtenthal. 
Milano,  1826. 

15  The  following  is  the  list  of  books  in  which  the  names  of  Stradella's 
operas  should  have  been  mentioned,  if  any  of  them  had  been  per 
formed.     Leone  Allacci,    '  Drammaturgia.'     Groppo,  '  Catalogo  di 
tutti  i  drammi  per  musica."    Bonlini,  '  Le  glorie  della  Poesia  e  della 
Musica.'  C.  F.  Menestrier,  '  Des  representations  en  musique  ancienne 
et  moderne';  Paris,  1681.    Pietro  Napoli  Signorelli,  '  Storia  critica  de 
teatri  antichi  e  moderni.'    Ditto,  'Discorso  storico  critico  da  servire 
di  lume  alia  storia  dei  teatri.' 

J6  Performed  at  Modena  1686,  and  possibly  at  Bologna  1682. 

3  A2 


724 


STRADELLA. 


STRADIVARI. 


Can- 


PEINTED. 
Cosi  amor  mi  fai  languir. 

zonetta. 

Medea.    Cantata. 
II  Nerone.    Cantata. 
O  del  mio  dolce  ardor.    Aria.i 
Se  i  miei  sospiri.    Ariadichiesa 
Anco  in  cielo.    Aria. 
Se  nel  ben  sempre.    Arietta. 

MANUSCRIPT. 

1.  In  the  Harleian  Library. 
Se  nel  ben  sempre.    Arietta. 2 
Ste'le  non  mi  tradite.    Cantata. 
La  ragion  ni  assicura.    Duetto. 
Se  t'ama,  Filli,  o  cor.    Arietta. 


a  review  of  the  work,  by  Mr.  Prout,  see  '  Monthly 
Musical  Record,'  Dec.  I,  1871. 

Burney  (iv.  105)  gives  an  analysis  of  his 
Oratorio  di  S.  Gio.  Battista,  and  mentions  a  MS. 
of  his  opera  'La  Forza  dell'  Amor  paterno,' 
dated  Genoa,  1578. 

There  are  148  of  Stradella's  compositions  at  Mo- 
dena :  amongst  them  6  oratorios  and  1 1  dramas. 
The  library  of  S.  Marco  in  Venice  possesses  a 
collection  of  '  Canti  a  voce  sola  dell'  insigne  A. 
Stradella,  legate  alia  Biblioteca  S.  Marco  di 
Venezia  dalla  nobile  famiglia  Contarini.'  Some 
of  his  compositions  are  also  at  the  Conservatorio 
at  Naples,  and  some  in  that  at  Paris.  The 
Christchurch  Library,  Oxford,  contains  I  motet 
for  2  voices,  and  8  cantatas  for  i  and  2  voices. 

The  following  are  in  the  British  Museum. 

Chi  dira'  che  nel  veleno.     Can 
tata. 

2.  Add.  MSS. 
Troppo  grave.    Duetto. 
Ahi  che  in  sentirlo.    Duetto. 
La  povera  mia  t'e-    Duetto. 
Pupillette  amorose.  Madrigal  a  5. 
Clori  son  fido  amante.    Do. 
Piangete  occhi  dolenti.    Do. 
E'  pur  giunta.    Madrigal  a  3. 
Tirsi  un  giorno  piangea.   Do.  a  5. 
Feritemi,  feritemi.    Do.    a  4. 
Colpa  de'  bei  vostr"  occhi.    Do. 
Aure  fresche.    Do.  for  2  voices. 
A  Sonata  tor  two  violins  and  basso 

[G.M.] 

STRADELLA.  i.  French  Ivric  drama,  music 
by  Flotovv.  Produced  at  the  Palais  Royal  theatre, 
Paris,  Feb.  1837.  Then  recomposed,  as  a  Grand 
Opera,  and  produced  at  Hamburg,  Dec.  30,  1844, 
as  'Alessandro  Stradella.'  In  English  (altered 
by  Bunn),  as  'Stradella,'  at  Drury  Lane,  June  6, 
1846.  2.  Opera  in  5  acts,  by  Niedermeyer ;  pro 
duced  at  the  Acade'mie,  March  3,  1837.  [G.] 
STRADIVARI,  ANTONIO  (ANTONIUS  STRA.- 
DiVARius3),  a  celebrated  violin-maker  of  Cre 
mona,  born  in  1649  or  1650,*  died  December 
1737.  The  name  carries  us  back  to  the  middle 
ages.  It  is  the  plural  form  of  Stradivare,  a 
Lombard  variety  of  Stradiere  (Stratiarius),  a 
toll-man  or  douanier,  a  feudal  official  who  was 
posted  on  the  strada  or  high-road  for  the  purpose 
of  exacting  dues  from  passengers.  The  name  is 
erroneously  stated  by  Fe*tis  to  occur  in  the  muni 
cipal  archives  of  Cremona  as  far  back  as  the 
year  1127.  The  earliest  mention  of  it  is  in 
fact  in  the  Matricola  of  the  Collegio  Dei  Notai 
for  1213,  after  which  date  it  frequently  recurs 

i  Attributed  to  Stradella,  but  written  by  Gluck.          2  Doubtful 

3  Until  his  latest  years  (1730-1736)  the  name  is  spelt  on  the  labels 
with  a  cursive  v(u),  'Stradiuarius,' whence  the  vulgar  English  pro 
nunciation  '  Straduarius.'    On  the  labels  of  the  latest  years  the  name 
is  spelt  with  a  Roman  v.    Francesco,  the  son,  used  the  Roman  v. 

4  In  the  books  anterior  to  Fe"tis,  the  date  of  birth  is  given  as  1664 
Fe"tis  altered  the  date  to  1644,  on  the  authority  of  a  MS.  inventory 
of  property  belonging  to  Count  Cozio  de  Salabue,  which  had  been 
deposited  with  Carli,  a  banker  at  Milan.    One  item  in  this  inventory 
is  stated  to  be  a  violin  of  Stradivari,  having  an  autograph  ticket 
giving  the  maker's  name,  his  age  (92  years),  and  the  date  (1736). 
F^tis  had  never  seen  this  instrument:  and  it  is  evident  there  had 
been  some  error  in  reading  or  copying  the  figures.    Mr.  Wiener  has  a 
genuine  dated  violin,  and  the  ticket  has  the  following  inscription : 
'Antonius  Stradivarius  Cremonensis  Faciebat  Anno  1732.'    Below, 
iu  the  maker's  autograph,  is  plainly  written  '  de  Anni  82.'    It  clearly 
follows  from  this  that  Stradivari  was  born  in  1649  or  1650.    Mr.  W.  E. 
Hill,  to  whom  the  writer  owes  the  suggestion  of  the  true  date  of 
birth,  states  that  in  the  course  of  business  he  has  seen  other  dated 
violins  which  confirm  the  above  conclusion. 


during  three  centuries.  Arisi,  in  his  '  Cremona 
Litterata,' mentions  Galerio  Stradivari  as  a  learned 
orientalist  in  1230,  Alessandro  as  another  orien 
talist  in  1400,  about  which  time  Costanzo  Stra 
divari,  a  monk  of  the  order  of  Umiliati,  wrote  a 
treatise  on  the  natural  philosophy  of  Aristotle. 
Other  notables  of  the  name  occur  in  the  middle 
ages.  It  is  clear  that  it  was  a  common  name 
in  Cremona :  but  there  is  no  evidence  to  con 
nect  the  fiddle-maker  with  these  eminent  per 
sons.  His  pedigree,  so  far  as  we  know  it,  goes 
back  cmly  to  Ms  father,  one  Alessandro  Stradi 
vari,  who  married  Anna  Moroni.  The  famous 
fiddle-maker  was  the  child  of  his  father's  mature 
years,  for  he  had  at  least  one  elder  brother, 
Giuseppe  Giulio  Cesare,  who  was  born  March  20, 
1623,  and  was  thus  not  less  than  26  years  older 
than  Antonio.  Whether  Stradivari  was  a  native 
of  Cremona  is  doubtful;  probably  not,  for  the 
registers  of  the  37  parishes  of  Cremona  have 
been  searched  in  vain  for  evidence  of  his  birth 
and  baptism  by  Signore  Lombardini,  who  has 
taken  great  pains  to  elucidate  the  genealogy  of 
the  Stradivaris.  He  may  possibly  have  been  a 
native  of  some  neighbouring  village. 

At  the  age  of  17  or  18,  Stradivari  seems  to 
have  engaged  the  affections  of  a  widow  9  or  10 
years  his  senior.  This  was  Francesca,  the  daugh 
ter  of  Francesco  Ferraboschi,  and  widow  of  Gio 
vanni  Giacomo  Capra,  who  was  assassinated  by 
an  arquebus  ball  on  the  Piazza  Santa  Agata  of 
Cremona  (now  the  Piazza,  Garibaldi),  April  28, 
1664.  The  widow  Capra,  who  had  been  less  than 
two  years  a  wife,  returned  with  her  infant  child 
to  her  father's  house,  and  after  three  years  was 
married  to  Antonio  Stradivari.  The  marriage 
was  solemnised  in  the  church  of  St.  Agatha  on 
July  4,  1667;  and  their  first  child  was  born  a  few 
months  afterwards.  There  can  be  little  doubt 
that  Stradivari  married,  and  began  to  make 
stringed  instruments  as  a  trade,  in  the  same  year. 
From  1667  to  1679  ne  remained  in  comparative 
obscurity.  A  few  violins  dated  in  the  seventies, 
with  genuine  labels  bearing  his  name,  are  said  to 
exist,  but  the  writer  has  seen  none  of  them.  On 
the  other  hand,  it  is  certain  that  Stradivari's 
hand  is  traceable  in  many  violins  of  this  date 
which  bear  the  name  of  Nicholas  Amati.  In 
some  of  these  we  trace  the  hand  of  Stradivari  in 
the  scroll  only  :  in  others  it  has  left  its  mark 
on  the  whole  violin.  From  1667  to  1679  ^  *s 
therefore  probable  that  Stradivari  worked  in 
the  workshop  of  the  veteran  Nicholas  Amati, 
then  the  acknowledged  head  of  violin-nlaking 
in  Cremona.  In  1679,  when  Nicholas  seems 
to  have  retired  from  business,  five  years  before 
his  death  in  i684,5  Stradivari  probably  set  up 
for  himself.  His  wife  Francesca  had  by  this 
time  borne  him  six  children,  of  whom  five 
were  living:  Giulia,  born  Dec.  23,  1667,  after 
wards  married  to  the  notary  Giovanni  Farina ; 
Francesco,  who  died  in  infancy ;  Francesco  the 
second,  born  1670,  who  followed  his  father's  trade, 
and  died  a  bachelor  in  1 743 ;  Cattarina,  born 

5  He  was  then  aged  88:  about  the  same  age  as  that  attained  by 
Stradivari. 


STRADIVARI. 

1674,  wh°  died  a  spinster  in  1748  ;  Alessandro, 
born  1677,  became  a  priest,  died  1732;  and 
lastly  Omobono,  born  1679,  w^°  a^so  flowed  his 
father's  trade,  arid  died  a  bachelor  in  1742. 

In  1680,  at  the  age  of  30  or  31,  Stradivari 
purchased  the  house  now  known  as  no.  i  Piazza 
Roma,  but  formerly  known  as  no.  2  Piazza  San 
Domenico,  where  for  half  a  century  and  more  he 
continued  to  carry  on  business,  and  where  he 
built  the  innumerable  instruments  which  have 
made  his  name  a  household  word  wherever 
stringed  music  is  heard.  He  bought  the  house 
of  the  brothers  Picenavdi  for  7000  imperial  lire  : 
the  conveyance  is  dated  June  3.  The  house  is 
a  plain  structure  of  three  storeys,  situate  at  the 
south-western  angle  of  the  piazza,  which  was  for 
merly  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  greaj;  church 
of  S.  Domenico,  and  from  which  the  piazza  took 
its  name.  This  church  has  now  been  pulled 
down,  the  piazza  being  thus  considerably  en 
larged,  and  the  whole  space  enclosed  and  con 
verted  into  a  public  garden.  On  the  ground-floor 
the  house  consists  of  two  apartments,  one  fronting 
the  piazza,  the  other  opening  into  a  little  court 
yard  :  a  staircase  at  right  angles  on  the  left  gives 
access  to  the  upper  storeys.  Following  the  com 
mon  practice  of  Italian  artisans,  Stradivari  pro 
bably  employed  both  the  ground-floor  rooms  as 
workshops,  and  lived  in  the  upper  part  with  his 
wife  and  family,  which,  when  he  bought  the  house 
in  1680,  consisted  of  his  five  children,  the  eldest 
girl  12  years  of  age,  and  of  Susanna  Capra,  his 
wife's  only  daughter  by  her  former  marriage,  then 
a  girl  of  17.  Susanna  resided  with  her  mother 
and  step-father  at  the  house  in  the  Piazza  Roma, 
until  December  1688,  when  she  became  the  wife 
of  Francesco  Luca. 

The  period  of  Stradivari's  first  marriage  lasted 
10  years  longer.  On  May  20,  1698,  Francesca 
died,  at  the  age  of  58.  Stradivari  was  then  48 
or  49  :  and  after  the  lapse  of  a  little  more  than 
a  year,  he  took  unto  himself  a  second  wife.  This 
was  Antonia,  daughter  of  Antonio  Zambelli :  the 
coincidence  of  names  is  curious.  Antonia  was  14 
or  15  years  younger  than  her  husband,  having 
been  born  on  June  u,  1664:  they  were  married 
at  the'church  of  San  Donate  on  Aug.  24, 1699.  By 
his  second  marriage  Antonio  had  five  children : 
Francesca,  born  1700,  died  1720;  Giovanni  B. 
Giuseppe,  born  1701,  died  in  infancy;  Giovanni 
B.  Martino,  born  1703,  died  1727;  Giuseppe, 
bom  1 704,  became  a  priest,  and  died  at  the  age 
of  77  in  1781;  and  lastly  Paolo,  born  1708. 
Paolo  was  the  only  son  of  Stradivari  who  had 
issue,  and  it  is  through  him  that  the  present 
representatives  of  the  family" trace  their  descent. 
Antonia  Stradivari  survived  three  of  her  children, 
and  died  at  the  age  of  73  on  March  3,  1 737.  Her 
husband  survived  her  only  nine  months,  when  lie 
followed  her  to  the  grave  at  the  ripe  age  of  87 
or  88.  He  died  on  Dec.  18,  and  was  buried  on 
the  following  day.  In  1729  he  had  purchased  a 
burial-place  in  the  great  basilica  of  San  Domenico. 
It  had  formerly  belonged  to  Francesco  Villani, 
who  was  buried  there  in  1721.  £11729  the  heirs 
of  Villani  sold  it  to  Stradivari.  It  was  situated 


STRADIVARI. 


725 


in  the  Chapel  of  the  Rosary,  on  the  left  hand  of 
the  entrance.  The  economical  habits  of  the 
fiddle-maker  are  illustrated .  by  the  fact  that  he 
had  the  old  stone  recut,  the  new  inscription 
being  cut  at  right  angles  to  the  old  one,  parts 
of  which  are  still  legible.  When  the  basilica  of 
San  Domenico  was  demolished  to  make  the  new 
public  garden,  the  stone  which  marked  the 
burial-place  of  the  Stradivaris  was  spared,  and 
it  is  still  preserved  in  the  vaults  of  the  Palazzo 
dei  Tribunali. 


SEPOLCRO    VS 

DI 

1 

i 

T^~ 

C/3 

\Q 

W 

hH 

ANTONI    STRADIVARI 

E    SVOI    EREDI 

td 

ANNO     1729 

SO 

Stradivari  marks  the  culminating  point  of  the 
art  of  making  stringed  instruments.  It  was  he 
who  perfected  the  model  of  the  violin  and  its 
fittings.  No  improvement  has  been  made  since 
his  time,  and  subsequent  makers  of  the  last  cen 
tury  and  a  half  have  mostly  copied  him.  The 
model  of  Cremona  had  been  developing  for  nearly 
two  centuries,  when  he  gave  it  its  final  form. 
It  is  true  that  if  we  take  the  model  of  the 
Cremona  violin  as  it  left  the  hands  of  Antonius 
Amati,  and  compare  it  with  the  patterns  of 
Nicholas  Amati  and  of  Stradivari,  we  shall  find 
that  Nicholas  Amati  had  effected  the  chief  im 
provements,  and  left  but  little  for  Stradivari  to 
do.  The  Stradivari  violin  is  an  improved  Nicholas 
Amati.  We  liave  the  same  main  proportions 
and  geometrical  outline,  and,  what  is  of  equal 
or  greater  importance,  the  same  careful  me 
chanical  work  in  the  inside  (the  blocks  and  linings 
being  made  and  fitted  on  the  same  principle  and 
with  wood  of  the  same  quality),  the  same  fine 
finish,  and  soft  lustrous  varnish.  But  in  the 
Nicholas  Amati,  though  sweet  and  resonant  in 
tone,  acoustic  considerations  did  not  predomi 
nate  over  certain  of  the  traditions  of  design : 
and  in  this  respect  his  successor  had  several 
reforms  to  effect.  Stradivari's  main  improve 
ments  consisted  (i )  In  lowering  the  height  of  the 
model,  that  is,  the  arch  of  the  belly,  and  in  alter 
ing  this  flattened  curve  to  a  more  uniform  arch, 
so  as  to  afford  greater  resistance  to  the  pressure 
of  the  strings.  (2)  In  making  the  four  corner 
blocks  more  massive,  in  an  improved  method  of 
dove-tailing  the  linings  at  the  blocks,  and  in 
giving  a  greater  curvature  to  the  middle  ribs, 


726 


STRADIVARI. 


the  result  of  which  is  to  make  the  curves  more 
prominent  in  the  outline,  and  to  increase  the 
tension  of  the  parts.  (3)  In  altering  the  set 
ting  of  the  soundholes,  giving  them  a  decided 
inclination  to  each  other  at  the  top,  thus  fol 
lowing  the  general  upward  diminution  of  the 
pattern,  and  in  fixing  the  position  of  the  sound- 
holes  relatively  to  the  cornerblocks.  (4)  In 
making  the  scroll  more  massive  and  prominent, 
thus  rendering  it  less  liable  to  split  at  the  peg- 
holes,  and  forming  more  of  a  counterpoise  in 
the  hand  of  the  player. 

In  those  violins  of  Nicholas  Amati  in  which 
the  hand  of  Stradivari  is  traceable,  the  chief 
element  of  difference  consists  in  the  scroll.  This 
is  wider  when  viewed  from  the  back,  is  less 
deeply  scooped  in  the  volute,  and  more  rounded 
on  the  edges.  The  soundholes  are  still  those  of 
Amati,  though  with  a  slight  difference  in  the 
cutting.  In  his  own  earlier  works,  sold  under 
the  name  of  Amati,  but  made  in  all  their  parts 
by  Stradivari,  we  begin  to  trace  the  improve 
ments  just  indicated.  '  At  this  point,'  says 
Mr.  Hart  ('The  Violin/ p.  126),  'we  find  that 
his  whole  work  is  in  accordance  with  the  plans 
of  Amati  (not  as  seen  in  the  latter's  '  grand ' 
pattern,  but  in  his  ordinary  full-sized  instru 
ment)  :  the  arching  is  identical,  the  corners  are 
treated  similarly,  the  soundhole  is  quite  Amati- 
like  in  form,  yet  easily  distinguished  by  its  ex 
treme  delicacy,  the  scroll  a  thorough  imitation 
of  Amati,  and  presenting  a  singular  contrast  to 
the  vigorous  individuality  which  Stradivarius 
displayed  in  this  portion  of  his  work  a  few  years 
later.  .  ,  In  these  earlier  specimens  there  is  a 
singular  absence  of  handsome  wood  :  the  acous 
tical  properties  of  the  material  are  very  good, 
but  it  has  little  figure  in  it,  and  is  often  cut  on 
the  cross.'  This  cutting  on  the  cross,  which 
refers  only  to  the  back,  is  seldom  met  with  in 
Stradivari's  later  instruments,  and  it  would  ap 
pear  that  he  found  'slab'  backs  inconsistent 
with  that  depth  of  tone  which  he  desired.  Such 
are  the  marks  of  what  the  French  call  the  ama- 
tis6  Stradivarius.  These  instruments  were  made 
during  the  lifetime  of  Nicholas  Amati,  when 
none  of  his  pupils  ventured  to  deviate  much 
from  his  pattern,  and  before  Stradivari  opened 
his  own  workshop  in  the  Piazza  San  Domenico. 

We  now  reach  the  period  when  Stradivari 
had  attained  maturity  of  experience,  and  freed 
himself  from  the  influence  of  his  master,  and 
consequently  began  to  display  his  own  origin 
ality.  This  period  corresponds  exactly  with  the 
period  between  his  taking  his  house  in  the 
Piazza  San  Domenico,  and  the  death  of  his  first 
wife  (1680-1698).  Of  the  violins  of  this  period 
Mr.  Hart  ('The  Violin,'  p.  127)  says,  'We  here 
observe  a  marked  advance  in  every  particular. 
The  form  is  flatter,  the  arching  differently  treated. 
The  soundhole,  which  is  a  masterpiece  of  grace 
fulness,  reclines  more.  The  curves  of  the  middle 
bouts  are  more  extended  than  in  this  maker's 
later  instruments.  The  corners  are  brought  out, 
although  not  prominently  so.  Here,  too,  we 
notice  the  change  in  the  formation  of  the  scroll. 


STRADIVARI. 

He  suddenly  leaves  the  form  that  he  had  hitherto 
imitated,  and  follows  thef  dictates  of  his  own 
fancy.  .  .  The  varnish  is  very  varied.  Sometimes 
it  is  of  a  rich  golden  colour,  deliciously  soft  and 
transparent:  in  other  instances  he  has  used 
varnish  of  a  deeper  hue,  which  might  be  de 
scribed  as  light  red,  the  quality  of  which  is  also 
very  beautiful.  We  find  this  varnish  chiefly  on 
those  instruments  where  he  has  made  his  backs 
in  two  parts,  and  also  on  whole  backs.  The 
purfling  is  narrower  than  that  afterwards  used.' 

This  second  period  (1680-1698)  is  that  of 
Stradivari's  established  reputation.  The  repute 
of  Cremona  for  violins  was  European.  Nicholas 
Amati  had  long  been  at  the  head  of  the  trade  : 
but  he  had  in  1680  ceased  to  make  violins,  his 
workshop  was  bi'oken  up,  and  his  son,  the  second 
Girolamo  of  the  family,  though  a  respectable 
maker,  did  not  succeed  to  his  father's  position. 
From  the  moment  when  Stradivari  opened  his 
violin  factory  in  1680,  the  principal  purchasers 
seem  to  have  resorted  to  it :  and  in  a  year  or 
two  his  fame  was  widely  spread.  Early  in  1684 
we  find  among  his  customers  the  Countess  Cris- 
tina  Visconti,  and  no  less  a  person  than  the 
Grand  Duke  of  Florence  himself.  For  the  former 
lady  he  made  a  viola  da  gamba  'alia  gobba' 
(i.e.  hunchbacked,  the  upper  part  of  the  flat 
back  being  sloped  off)  with  violoncello  scroll  and 
soundholes.1  Stradivari,  it  is  probable,  was  the 
first  to  effect  this  improvement  in  the  viola  da 
gamba.  The  Double  Bass  had  long  been  made 
with  violoncello  soundholes  (i.  e.  having  contrary 
flexures),  which  were  rendered  necessary  by  the 
increased  height  of  the  model.  Though  we  have 
none  of  Stradivari's  violas  da  gamba,  we  have 
those  of  contemporary  makers  who  followed  his 
general  models  :  and  these  are  high  in  the  belly, 
like  the  double-bass,  have  violoncello  sound- 
holes,  and  nearly  approximate  in  their  propor 
tions  to  a  reduced  double-bass.  For  the  Grand 
Duke  of  Tuscany  he  made  a  complete  set  (con 
certo)  of  instruments  later  in  the  same  year. 
This  concerto  probably  consisted  of  two  or  per 
haps  three  violins,  a  contralto  or  small  tenor 
(viola  piccola  a  quattro  corde),  a  tenore  or  large 
tenor  (viola  piu  grande)  and  a  violoncello.  The 
designs  for  the  cases  of  this  concerto,  drawn 
by  Stradivari's  hand,  including  the  locks  and 
fastenings,  are  numbered  30  in  the  Marquis  Delia 
Valle's  collection,  and  are  labelled  thus,  in  Stradi 
vari's  autograph:  'Modelli  fatti  alle  Casse  del 
Concerto  de  instrument!  che  mandati  all'  gran 
ducca  di  Fiorenza  dell'  Anno  1684  li  24  giugno.' 
The  designs  for  the  shields,  which  are  surmounted 
by  a  ducal  crown,  with  angels  as  supporters,  are 
entitled  also  in  the  maker's  autograph,  '  Armi 
chi  ho  fatto  per  li  istrumenti  per  il  gran  Principe 
di  Toscana.'  These  autographs  reveal  some  curi 
ous  facts.  One  is,  that  Stradivari  did  not  disdain 
to  design  and  execute  with  his  own  hand  the 
inlaid  ornaments,  fittings,  and  cases  of  his  instru- 

i  The  paper  models  of  this  instrument  are  in  the  Marquis  Delia 
Valle's  collection.  They  are  numbered  2(5  and  inscribed  '  1684,  23 
Feb.  Antn.  Stradivari.  Modelli  della  Viola  da  Gamba  alia  cobba 
fatta  p.  la  S"-a  Conta  Cristina  Visconti  col  ricchio  e  li  occhietti  da 
Violoncello.' 


STRADIVARI. 

ments.  The  ornaments  of  the  numerous  instru 
ments  which  he  sent  out  inlaid  with  ebony  and 
ivory  were  designed  and  executed  by  himself, 
and  when  finished  he  made  rubbings  of  them  for 
future  use.  A  parcel  of  these,  labelled  '  Disegni 
delli  intagli  fatti  sulli  Violini,  Violoncelli,'  etc., 
and  consisting  of  rubbings  from  the  sides  of 
scrolls  and  from  ribs,  forms  no.  29  in  the  Delia 
Valle  collection  :  and  another  parcel,  consisting  of 
cartridge  paper  models  made  for  the  metal  locks 
and  flap -staples  for  cases,  is  labelled  'Disegni  e 
modelli  di  Serrature  e  cordini  di  Cassette.'  ,  The 
collection  also  includes  Stradivari's  tools  for  im 
pressing  arabesques,  '  Stampiti  per  arabeschi.' 
Another  fact  revealed  by  these  autographs  is 
that  Stradivari  spelt,  and  probably  spoke,  his 
native  tongue  very  imperfectly.  In  the  year 
1687  Stradivari  executed  another  order  for  an 
ornamented  concerto  of  instruments.  This  con 
certo  was  made  for  the  Spanish  crown,  and  the 
violoncello  is  still  in  the  possession  of  the  King 
of  Spain.  The  instruments  were  inlaid  with 
ivory  in  the  purfling,  with  intaglio  work  on  the 
sides  and  scroll.  A  violin  of  this  concerto, 
formerly  belonging  to  Ole  Bull,  and  afterwards 
in  the  collection  of  Mr.  Charles  Plowden,  is 
engraved  in  Mr.  Hart's  book,  plate  18.  Mr. 
Hart  describes  this  set  of  instruments  as  a 
4  quatuor,'  but  it  probably  consisted  of  at  least 
five,  like  that  of  the  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany, 
there  being  two  violas,  one  a  contralto,  the  other 
a  tenor. 

As  Stradivari  notes  on  some  of  his  patterns 
that  the  instruments  were  made  expressly  to  order 
('alia  posta,'  or  in  some  cases  'espressamente,1)  it 
may  be  inferred  that  he  also  kept  up  a  stock  for 
general  sale.  It  seems  that  when  he  received 
an  order  for  a  new  instrument  from  a  customer 
of  distinction,  he  would  sometimes  design  an 
entirely  new  model,  construct  a  wooden  mould 
(forma)  in  accordance  with  the  design,  and  make 
a  complete  set  of  working  drawings,  embracing 
the  scroll,  handle,  soundholes,  corners,  bridge, 
and  tailpiece.  Each  mould  (a  block  of  maple 
somewhat  less  than  an  inch  in  thickness,  with 
spaces  left  in  the  outlines  for  the  corner  and 
top  and  bottom  blocks),  was  carefully  dated  and 
marked  with  a  letter  or  letters  indicating  the 
character  of  the  pattern.  The  working  draw 
ings  were  marked  with  the  same  letters,  and 
put  away  for  future  use.  Thus  a  mould  for  a 
long  tenor  of  the  smaller  pattern  is  dated  '  A  di 
4  Ottobre  1690,'  and  marked  CV.  It  is  de 
scribed,  '  Forma  nuova  per  il  Contralto  ossia 
Viola  a  quattro  corde  fatta  alia  posta  per  il 
Gran  Principe  di  Toscana  ossia  di  Firenze.' 
(Delia  Valle  Collection,  no.  2.)  The  working 
drawings  are  dated  four  days  later,  and  labelled 
thus  :  '  1690,  4°  8bre  in  Cremona,  Antonio 
Stradivario.  Misurep.li  manici  occhietti  cantoni 
topette  ponticelli  e  cordeli  p.  il  Contraldo  ossia 
Viola  picola  fatta  espressamente  p.  il  gran 
Principe  della  Toscana  sulla  forma  CV.'  Con 
currently  with  this  contralto  Stradivari  designed 
a  large  tenor  on  a  similar  principle  :  and  it  is  not 
improbable  that  this  contralto  and  tenor  were 


STRADIVARI. 


727 


members  of  a  second  complete  concerto  of  instru 
ments  for  which  he  had  received  an  order.  The 
drawings  for  the  large  tenor,  dated  the  same  day, 
are  labelled  thus:  '1690  4  8bre  in  Cremona. 
Antonio  Stradivario.  Misure  p.  li  manici  oc 
chietti  cantoni  e  topette  ponticelli  tavolette  e 
cordeli  p.  il  Tenore  ossia  Viola  piu  grande  fatta 
espressamente  p.  il  gran  Principe  della  Toscana 
sulla  forma  TV.'  The  lettering  CV  and  TV  on 
these  moulds  evidently  means  '  Contralto  Viola' 
and  'Tenore  Viola.'  Probably  the  maker  in 
tended  these  patterns  to  be  his  standing  models, 
his  contralto  and  tenor  violas  par  excellence. 
A  separate  drawing  for  the  soundholes  of  the 
contralto  is  inscribed  '  Musura  giusta  per  il  occhi 
dello  contrato  fatto  alia  posta  per  il  Gran 
Principe  di  Toscana  A  di  4  Octob.  1690'  (no.  18). 

The  Della  Valle  collection  includes  another 
tenor  mould  and  no  less  than  eleven  violin  moulds. 
One  of  the  latter  is  marked  '  SL  '  and  dated  'A 
di  9  Nov.  1691 '  (no.  3).  This  is  long  and 
narrow :  '  SL '  probably  stands  for  '  Stretto  Lungo.' 
Another  (no.  6)  is  marked  '  B,'  and  dated  '  1692.' 
B  probably  stands  for  'Basso,'  or  'flat'  model. 
This  mould  of  the  '  B '  pattern  was  the  maker's 
favourite.  The  surface  of  the  mould  is  worn 
away  with  much  use,  and  there  is  a  memorandum 
that  the  maker  used  it  for  a  violin  as  late  as 
1736,  his  86th  or  87th  year.  Another  (no.  7) 
is  also  marked  '  B,'  and  dated  'A  di  3  Giugno 
1692.'  Two  others  (nos.  I  and  5)  are  dated 
several  years  later :  the  first  is  marked  '  S ' 
(stretto),  and  inscribed  'Adi  20. 1 703.  Settembre'; 
the  other  marked  'P,'  and  dated  'A  25  Feb.  1 705,' 
with  the  maker's  name  'Antonio  Stradivari,'  is 
somewhat  shorter  and  more  confined  in  design 
than  usual,  and  the  '  P '  evidently  stands  for 
'Piccolo'  (small  pattern).  Another  violin  mould 
is  marked  'T'  with  no  date  (no.  4).  There  is  also 
a  mould  for  a  child's  violin  with  the  blocks  at 
tached,  accompanied  by  an  exquisite  drawing 
of  the  belly  on  cartridge  paper. 

These  long  and  narrow  moulds,  dated  after  1690, 
lead  us  to  an  innovation  in  the  pattern  peculiar  to 
Stradivari  among  the  classical  makers.  It  was 
about  this  time  that  he  began  to  make  instru 
ments  of  greater  length,  which  the  French  call 
'  longuets,'  and  known  in  England  as  'long  Strads.' 
Mr.  Hart  says  of  these,  '  We  have  a  totally  dif 
ferently  constructed  instrument :  it  is  less  graceful, 
although  there  is  no  absence  of  the  masterly 
hand  throughout  the  work.  It  has  received  the 
title  of  "long  Strad,"  not  from  increased  length, 
as  its  name  would  imply,  but  from  the  appearance 
of  additional  length  which  its  narrowness  gives 
it,  and  which  is  particularly  observable  between 
the  soundholes.'  This  excellent  critic  of  violins 
here  appears  to  fall  into  a  slight  confusion. 
These  observations  apply  to  the  narrow  violins 
made  on  the  'S'  or  'Stretto'  (narrow)  moulds,  of 
the  normal  length,  but  diminished  breadth.  These 
are  less  uncommon  than  the  true  '  long  Strad' 
(Lungo),  specimens  of  which  the  writer  has  seen ; 
they  are  of  the  normal  width  or  only  a  trifle 
under  it,  and  at  least  a  quarter  of  an  inch  longer 
than  the  normal  length,  this  extra  length  being 


728 


STEADIVARI. 


equally  distributed  on  either  side  of  the  bridge. 
The  neck  requires  to  be  lengthened  in  the  same 
proportion ;  hence  the  stop  becomes  appreciably 
longer.  The  true '  long  Strads'  are  remarkable  for 
power  of  tone,  but  are  for  the  above  reason  less 
easily  handled :  and  hence  the  pattern  never 
came  into  general  use.  Some,  if  not  all  of  them, 
were  probably  made  on  the  'SL'  (Stretto  Lungo) 
mould  of  1691  :  one  very  fine  specimen,  formerly 
in  the  possession  of  Lord  Falmouth,  is  dated 
1692.  The  'SL'  pattern  was  occasionally  used  by 
the  maker  in  his  mature  years,  but  is  less  fre 
quent  after  1700. 

The  nineties  were  with  Stradivari  a  decade  of 
bold  experiment  in  other  respects.  Sometimes 
he  altered  the  curves  of  the  back  and  belly ; 
occasionally  he  innovated  in  the  thicknesses,  some 
of  his  experiments,  as  more  than  one  purchaser 
of  a  handsome  and  unspoiled  violin  knows  to  his 
cost,  being  sufficiently  unfortunate.  He  made 
some  violins  with  bellies  so  thin  that  they  are 
useless  for  the  higher  pitch  and  increased  pressure 
of  modern  playing,  and  must  either  be  fortified 
with  new  wood  or  laid  on  the  shelf  as  curiosities. 
These  various  experiments  enabled  the  maker 
to  fix  definitely  the  principles  on  which  the 
fiddles  of  his  third  arid  best  period  (1698-1728) 
are  designed. 

This  third  period  includes  the  greater  part  of 
the  known  instruments  of  Stradivari,  and  these 
are  in  all  respects  his  best.  The  culminating 
point  of  his  work  may  be  fixed  at  the  year  1714, 
which  is  the  date  of  the  celebrated  '  Dolphin ' 
Stradivari,  once  the  property  of  M.  Alard, 
afterwards  of  Mr.  Adam.  '  From  about  1 700,' 
writes  Mr.  Hart,  p.  131,  'his  instruments  show 
to  us  much  of  what  follows  later.  The  outline 
is  changed,  but  the  curves  blending  into  one 
another  are  beautiful  in  the  extreme.  The  cor 
ners  are  treated  differently.  The  wood  used  for 
the  backs  and  sides  is  most  handsome,  having  a 
broad  curl.  The  scrolls  are  of  bold  conception, 
and  finely  executed.'  It  must  be  noted,  however, 
that  the  differences  of  construction  between  this 
third  and  best  period,  and  the  preceding,  are 
minute  in  the  extreme.  The  modelling  is  much 
the  same,  the  size  and  general  design  remain 
unaltered.  Stradivari,  in  fact,  kept  the  actual 
moulds  (forme)  of  the  preceding  period  constantly 
in  use.  It  is  true  that  he  added  new  ones  to  his 
stock,  e.g.  that  dated  1705  above  mentioned. 
But  it  is  obvious  that  his  old  'B'  (basso,  flat) 
moulds  were  constantly  in  use :  the  majority  ot' 
the  violins  of  this  last  period  seem  to  have  been 
made  from  at  most  two  or  three  moulds.  The 
rapidity  of  his  production  was  astonishing.  In 
1702,  as  we  learn  from  the  MSS.  of  Desiderio 
Arisi,  he  made  two  violins  and  a  violoncello  by 
order  of  the  Governor  of  Cremona,  to  be  sent  as 
presents  to  the  Duke  of  Alba.  In  1707  the  Mar 
quis  Desiderio  Cleri  sent  by  order  of  Charles  III. 
of  Spain  a  commission  to  Stradivari  to  make  six 
•violins,  two  tenors,  and  one  violoncello  for  the 
royal  orchestra.  In  the  same  year  he  made  for 
the  Countess  Cristina  Visconti  a  new  viola  da 
gamba  alia  gobba.  The  cartridge  patterns  for 


STRADIVARI. 

the  neck  of  this  he  put  away  thus  labelled 
'  Musura  del  manico  del  Violoncello  Ordinario, 
manicho  della  longezza  della  Viola  della  Signora 
Cristina  Visconti  fatta  in  1707.'  From  this  it 
would  appear  that  he  considered  this  viola  da 
gamba  neck  equally  adapted  to  the  ordinary 
violoncello,  from  which  it  would  follow  that  the 
body  was  of  the  size  of  an  ordinary  violoncello, 
or  considerably  larger  than  the  ordinary  viola 
da  gamba.  In  1716  he  made  new  models  for  a 
violoncello  (Della  Valle  Collection,  no.  16),  per 
haps  the  same  which  in  this  year,  according  to 
the  Arisi  MSS.,  he  made  for  the  Duke  of  Mo- 
dena.  In  the  same  year  he  made  a  twelve- 
stringed  viola  d'amore  (six  gut  strings,  and  six 
wire  strings),  the  pattern  of  which  he  inscribed 
'  Modelli  della  Viola  d'Amore  a  1 2  Corde  fatti 
nell  mese  cli  Cienaio  dell'  anno  Bisestile  mdccxvi.' 
This  is  a  choice  specimen  of  Stradivari's  spelling: 
by 'Cienaio'  he  means  'Gennaio,'  or  January. 
A  choicer  one  still,  in  which  the  grammar  rivals 
the  spelling,  is  the  inscription  on  the  patterns  of 
some  instrument  made  for  the  Marquis  Car- 
bonelli :  '  Qui  dentro  quest!  desingni  che  sono 
qui  dentro  sforati  sono  quelli  che  se  fatto  al 
lll'mo.  Sig.  Marchese  Carbonelli  di  Mantova' 
(Della  Valle  Collection,  no.  27).1  In  1720 
Stradivari  made  a  concerto  of  instruments  (pro 
bably  two  violins,  two  tenors,  and  a  violoncello), 
which  he  intended  as  a  present  for  the  King  of 
Spain  on  the  occasion  of  his  passing  through 
Cremona.  He  was  dissuaded  from  executing  this 
intention,  and  the  instruments  remained  in  his 
possession. 

During  this  final  period,  1700-1728,  we  find 
little  variation  in  the  general  pattern  and  dimen 
sions  of  Stradivari's  instruments.  He  probably 
used  only  two  or  three  moulds.  Such  variation 
as  there  is  lies  chiefly  in  the  breadth,  a  few 


violins,  probably  made  on  the  '  S '  moulds,  being 
narrower  than  the  average.  As  a  specimen  of 
this,  his  best  period,  a  beautiful  violin  dated 

1  The  supposed  autograph  letter  of  Stradivari,  a  facsimile  of 
which  forms  the  IVoutispiece  to  the  work  of  M.  1'elis,  is  appaieutly 
a lorgery. 


STRADIVARI. 

1708,  the  property  of  Dr.  William  Hugging, 
F.R.S.  has  been  selected  for  illustration. 

From  1725  to  1730  (between  the  maker's  75th 
and  Soth  years)  his  instruments  are  generally 
supposed  to  deteriorate.  There  are  certainly 
many  bearing  his  name  very  different  from  those 
of  the  maker's  prime.  The  model  is  somewhat 
higher,  the  result  being  less  brilliancy  in  th£ 
tone :  the  scroll  and  the  wood  generally  is 
heavier,  the  varnish  is  darker,  and  the  work  less 
finished.  For  the  following  equally  artistic  and 
scientific  comparison  of  the  violin  of  1708  with 
one  of  1726,  which  may  be  taken  as  fair  speci 
mens  of  the  second  and  third  periods  respectively, 
the  writer  is  indebted  to  the  joint  labours  of 
Dr.  Huggins,  F.R.S.,  and  Mrs.  Huggins. 

'The  violin  of  1708  weighs  £  lb.,  that  of  1726 
I  lb.  The  fittings  may  have  something  to  do 
with  this  difference;  but  the  1726  violin  is 
heavier  in  itself.  The  violin  of  1 708  has  higher 
sides  and  flatter  curves  in  the  belly  and  back 
than  that  of  1726.  The  general  form  of  the 
1 708  violin  is  much  more  masterly  than  that  of 
the  1726  one,  which  is  rather  "  waspy  "  looking. 
The  parts  of  the  form  of  the  1708  violin  are 
"brought  thoroughly  well  together,"  as  an  artist 
would  say ;  and  it  gives  the  idea  of  being  at  once 
larger  and  more  powerful  and  at  the  same  time 
more  graceful  than  the  1726  instrument.  As  a 
matter  of  fact  the  two  violins  are  of  almost  the 
same  form  and  size,  as  they  fit  nicely  into  the 
same  case.1  There  can  be  no  doubt,  however, 
as  to  the  artistic  justice  of  the  above  observations, 
and  the  matter  is  an  excellent  illustration  of  how 
much  form  depends  upon  very  delicate  modifica 
tions  of  line — modifications  which  it  will  almost 
baffle  even  a  trained  eye  to  detect  at  any  one 
point,  but  which  in  the  aggregate  tell  at  a  glance. 
An  art  homologue  occurs  in  delicate  painting, 
where  refined  modifications  of  colour  must  be 
effected  by  touches  which  the  painter  can  only 
feel  he  is  laying  on,  but  cannot  see  until,  after  a 
time,  he  becomes  conscious  of  a  subtle  change  of 
colour  where  he  has  been  working. 

'The  purfling  of  the  1726  violin  is  much  in 
ferior  to  that  of  the  1708  one.  The  backs  of 
both  violins  are  in  one  piece,  but  the  back  wood 
of  the  1726  one  is  small  and  insignificant  in 
"curl"  and  in  markings  generally.  The  wood 
of  the  belly  of  the  1726  one  is  in  two  pieces. 

'The  tone  of  the  1726  violin  is  quite  without 
the  grandeur  and  brilliancy  of  that  of  1708. 
There  is  no  reserve  of  force  about  that  of  the 
1726  one:  the  tone  seems  to  come  all  at  once, 
and  very  readily.  It  has  much  beauty,  without 
having  beauty  of  such  commanding  quality  that 
at  once  one  is  led  captive.  It  is  almost  all  music, 
but  not  without  just  a  trace  of  what  is  very 
noticeable  in  some  early  Stradivarius  violins,  viz. 
a  certain  confusion  of  utterance  of  any  given  note 
as  if  (to  borrow  the  language  of  optics)  the  tone 
had  not  all  "  come  to  focus  "  perfectly.  No  deep 
many-sided  nature  could  find  complete  satisfac 
tion  in  the  tone  of  the  1726  violin,  its  capacity 

i  This  is  apparently  the  result  of  iheir  being  made  in  the  same 
mould. 


STRADIVARI. 


729 


for  response    to   varying    mental    states   is.  too 
limited. 

'  The /-holes  and  the  scroll  in  the  1708  violin 
are  much  more  subtle  and  free  in.  curve  than 
those  of  the  1726  one.  The  subtlety  of  curve 
makes  them  of  course  interesting,  for  the  interest 
of  form  depends  largely  upon  the  stimulating 
mysteriousness  which  arises  when  they  vary  from 
the  simple  curve.  The  freedom  of  the  curve  is 
also  an  important  factor  in  the  pleasure  induced 
by  the  sight  of  a  fine  violin  :  such  freedom  con 
veying  the  idea  of  masterly  ease,  and  the  eye 
being  carried  on  without  the  irritating  checks 
occasioned  by  lines  wanting  in  freedom.  There 
is  however  freedom  and  freedom.  The  freedom 
of  Stradivarius  at  his  best  is  as  the  freedom  of 
Gothic  architecture,  not  as  that  of  Classical,  it 
impresses  one  as  an  expression  of  unfettered 
aspiration  not  of  ordered  repetition.  The  scroll 
of  the  1708  violin  would  not  go  so  well  with  the 
1726  violin  as  its  own  scroll.  Stradivarius  seems 
to  have  been  an  artist  gifted  with  rare  powers  of 
harmony  as  well  as  of  melody  in  form  ;  i.  e.  every 
part  of  his  violins  is  always  in  perfect  keeping 
with  the  rest.  Upon  the  whole  the  form  of  the 
1726  violin  may  be  said  to  show  a  very  consider 
able  decadence  from  that  of  1708.' 

How  far  Stradivari  is  personally  responsible 
for  this  decadence  it  is  now  impossible  to  say. 
The  fashion  of  the  period,  preferring  the  Stainer 
model,  perhaps  demanded  greater  height  in  the 
belly  and  back,  and  greater  massiveness  in  the 
wood  :  and  it  is  certain  that  to  some  of  these 
instruments  he  refused  the  direct  authorisation 
of  his  name.  In  many  instruments  of  this  period 
the  label  of  Stradivari  is  inserted ;  but  in  others 
of  them  a  ticket  appears,  indicating,  as  the  fact  is, 
that  these  violins  were  made  under  his  general 
direction  by  other  hands  ('  sub  disciplina  Antonii 
Stradiuarii,  Crernonae,  17  ,'  in  very  small  type). 
The  workmanship  of  these  instruments  is  generally 
attributable  to  his  sons  Omobono  and  Francesco. 
Occasionally,  however,  we  have  a  genuine  product 
of  the  great  master's  old  age,  such  as  the  fine  violin 
belonoing  to  Mr.  Wiener,  dated  1732,  'de  Anni 
82.'  The  productivity  of  Stradivari  in  the  latter 
half  of  his  life  has  been  mentioned.  There  cannot 
be  much  less  than  a  thousand  of  his  instruments, 
most  of  them  of  this  period,  still  existing,  and  of 
the  ordinary  kind — violins,  tenors,  and  basses. 
Some  have  disappeared:  e.g.  we  know  that  he 
made  many  violas  da  gamba,  though  none  of  them, 
so  far  as  the  writer  knows,  are  in  existence/5 
We  know  that  he  also  made  a  great  number  of 
kits,  guitars,  lutes,  theorbos,  lyres,  and  man 
dolins,  which  having  become  curiosities,  are  not 
frequently  in  the  channel  of  trade.  For  all 
these  instruments  he  made  fittings  and  cases. 
On  the  fittings  he  bestowed  peculiar  pains.  The 
Delia  Valle  collection  contains  several  of  his 
tailpieces  which  were  never  used.  These  are  of 
maple,  carefully  proportioned,  of  an  oblong  shape, 
and  finely  finished.  They  are  apparently  made 
out  of  blocks  of  wood  similar  to  fingerboards. 

2  The  Museum  of  the  Paris  Conservatoire  contains  a  beaut iful 
fragment  of  the  head  of  a  viola  da  garnba  of  Stradivari  (No.  111). 


730 


STRADIVARI. 


STRADIVARI. 


His  fingerboards  were  also  of  maple,  and  were 
sometimes  handsomely  inlaid.  Some  specimens 
of  bis  fittings,  removed  from,  the  instruments  by 
Vuillaume  and  Gand,  were  presented  by  them 
to  the  Museum  of  the  Paris  Conservatoire,  where 
they  may  still  be  seen  (nos.  6,  10,  114,  115). 

In  another  important  detail  of  the  violin, 
the  bridge,  Stradivari  effected  the  final  im 
provement  :  and  it  may  be  said  that  he  has  a 
monument  in  every  violin  bridge  in  the  world. 
Before  the  Amatis,  the  bridge  had  been  cut 
almost  at  haphazard.  The  Amatis  reduced  it 
to  something  approaching  the  present  normal 
form  (see  the  engravings  in  Fe"tis,  Antoine  Stra 
divari,  p.  95),  but  Stradivari  made  the  final 
alteration.  This  consisted  in  abandoning,  for 
the  lower  half  of  the  bridge,  the  principle  of 
the  arch,  and  substituting  for  it  a  firm  bar  rest 
ing  011  a  foot  near  each  end.  The  upper  part  of 
the  bridge  is  an  arch,  formed  by  the  'heart'  or 
central  hole ;  and  by  means  of  the  massive  bar 
below,  the  vibrations  excited  by  the  strings  in 
this  arched  upper  part  are  regulated,  and  trans 
mitted  by  the  feet  to  the  body  of  the  instru 
ment.  Slight  as  the  improvement  seems,  it  was 
a  great  discovery :  and  since  his  time  the  form 
of  the  bridge  lias  never  been  changed.  [See 
BRIDGE.]  So  important  is  the  bridge  to  the 
violin,  that  had  Stradivari  effected  nothing  else, 
this  would  have  been  sufficient  to  make  him 
famous.  Another  great  service  which  he  rendered 
to  violin-making  consisted  infixing  the  exact  shape 
of  the  soundholes  and  their  relation  to  the  corner 
blocks.  Fortunately  we  have  preserved  in  the 
Delia  Valle  collection  (no.  25),  in  the  great 
maker's  own  autograph,  his  rule  for  placing  the 
soundholes.  It  is  inscribed  '  Regola  per  collo- 
care  le  ff  delli  Violini,  Viole,  Violoncelli.'  The 
explanation  of  this  is,  that  it  was  one  of  the 
fixed  principles  of  Stradivari,  in  which  he  dif 
fered  from  his  predecessors,  that  the  same  laws 
governed  the  proportions  of  all  members  of  the 
violin  family,  as 
distinguished  from 
the  viol  family, 
which  includes  the 
viola  dagamba  and 
double-bass,  and  is 
governed  by  other 
proportions.  The 
diagram  is  adapted 
to  the  mould  <P,' 
which,  as  noted 
above,  indicates 
'  Piccolo '  or  '  small 
pattern,'  and  was 
made  on  Feb.  25, 
1705. 

This  diagram  af 
fords  an  interesting 

problem  to  students  of  the  mechanism  of  the 
violin.  Whatever  the  rule  may  be,  the  sound- 
holes  of  Stradivari  are  all  traced  in  accordance 
with  it.  The  writer  has  his  own  solution  of  the 
problem,  but  it  would  be  out  of  place  in  the  pre 
sent  article. 


The  fine  tone  and  the  lasting  wear  of  Stradi 
vari's  instruments  undoubtedly  depend  on  the 
thoroughness  with  which  the  mechanical  part 
of  the  work  is  executed.  A  good  violin  is  like 
a  good  watch  :  all  its  '  works '  must  be  of  per 
fect  materials,  and  accurately  put  together. 
Nothing  could  be  more  perfect  than  the  internal 
finish  of  the  violins  of  Stradivari.  The  wood 
selected  is  solid,  sound,  and  sonorous.  The  pine 
is  of  the  best  quality  from  Switzerland  and  the 
Trentino  :  the  thicknesses  and  the  lines  of  the 
pattern  are  all  determined  with  scientific  ac 
curacy:  the  inner  framework,  consisting  of  the 
blocks  and  linings,  is  of  willow  from  the  banks 
of  the  Po  about  Cremona.  It  is  solidly  con 
structed,  and  the  bridge  and  soundholes  are  so 
arranged  as  to  produce  by  its  aid  a  powerful 
vibration  of  the  belly  under  the  strings.  The 
external  finish  equally  exhibits  marks  of  high 
mechanical  excellence.  The  purfling  is  executed 
with  a  precision  which  cannot  be  appreciated 
without  a  magnifying  glass.  The  lines  are  ad 
mirably  firm  and  perfect,  and  fully  display  that 
mastery  of  curves  in  which  Stradivari  was  pre 
eminent.  And  here  may  be  noticed  a  singular 
freak  in  which  the  great  maker  occasionally  in 
dulged.  Instead  of  cutting  the  several  outlines 
of  the  fiddle  and  those  of  the  scroll  and  sound- 
holes  to  the  usual  curves,  Stradivari  in  some  in 
stances  made  these  outlines  polygonal,  being 
composed  of  a  series  of  short  straight  lines.  The 
purfling  follows  the  polygonal  outline,  and  is  also 
polygonal.  It  is  hard  to  see  what  motive  he 
can  have  had  in  producing  these  singular  in 
struments,  except  to  show  his  extraordinary 
skill  as  a  purfler.  Viewed  from  a  certain  dis 
tance,  these  instruments  exhibit  the  ordinary 
appearance.  The  Marquis  Delia  Valle  has  a 
viola,  and  Mr.  Vonwiller,  a  violin,  of  this  pe 
culiar  pattern. 

The  varnish  used  by  Stradivari  in  his  earlier 
years  is  similar  to  that  of  Nicholas  Amati,  in 
texture  and  in  the  method  of  applying  it.  In 
colour  there  is  this  difference,  that  Stradivari 
avoids  the  favourite  brownish  tint  of  Amati, 
and  generally  employs  a  more  or  less  pronounced 
yellow.  It  is  oil  varnish  of  a  soft  and  penetrating 
nature,  apparently  permeating  the  wood  to  some 
depth  beneath  the  surface,  so  that  when  the 
body  of  the  varnish  is  worn  off  the  colour  and 
substance  appear  to  remain.  After  1684  he 
began  to  use  a  thicker  and  more  lustrous  varnish 
of  a  reddish  tint ;  and  this  colour  he  ultimately 
employed  to  the  exclusion  of  others.  The  staring 
effect  of  the  red  tint  on  the  back  of  the  fiddle 
seems  to  have  suggested  to  Stradivari  the  device 
of '  breaking  up  '  the  varnish  on  the  back,  thus 
imitating  the  effect  of  wear.  When  employed  by 
a  skilful  workman  this  device  lends  great  addi 
tional  beauty  to  the  work  in  the  connoisseur's 
eye :  and  the  example  has  been  generally  fol 
lowed.  'Breaking-up'  is  a  peculiar  and  difficult 
branch  of  the  varnisher's  art.  Many  good  makers 
have  failed  in  it :  next  to  Stradivari,  Vuillaume 
succeeded  best.  In  the  instruments  of  his  latest 
years  Stradivari  sometimes  reverted  to  the  brown 


STRADIVARI. 


STRADIVARI. 


731 


tint  which  was  fashionable  in  his  youth.  These 
may  have  been  varnished  by  his  son,  whose  in 
struments  generally  exhibit  this  brown  colour. 
Stradivari  occasionally  gave  his  finest  instru 
ments  several  coats  of  fine  pure  oil  varnish, 
polishing  each  coat  as  soon  as  dry.  Sometimes, 
however,  the  coats  are  fewer  and  thinner,  and  the 
writer  has  seen  an  instrument  sent  forth  into  the 
world  by  the  great  maker  with  the  size  barely 
covered.  Perhaps  the  customer  could  not  wait 
for  the  varnishing.  As  a  rule,  however,  the 
Stradivari  instruments  are  remarkable  for  ex 
cellence  of  varnish.  It  is  a  fact  not  very 
generally  known  that  Stradivari  occasionally 
varnished  his  instruments  with  spirit-varnish. 
This  is  much  more  easily  applied  and  dries 
more  quickly  than  oil  varnish,  and  from  the 
very  general  employment  of  it  in  the  middle 
of  the  last  century,  it  would  seem  that  most 
violin-makers  hailed  its  discovery  as  a  boon. 
The  better  class  of  makers  tried  it  and  aban 
doned  it,  discovering  probably  that  it  did  not 
answer  so  well  in  the  end,  though  cheaper,  and 
more  easily  applied. 

Though  Stradivari,  as  has  been  observed,  made 
instruments  of  all  sorts,  his  fame  rests  on  those 
of  the  violin  tribe,  i.  e.  violins,  violas  and  violon 
cellos.  A  few  of  his  kits  exist  :  a  fine  specimen 
is  in  the  Museum  of  the  Paris  Conservatoire 
(no.  61).  It  is  of  large  size,  and  belongs  to  the 
best  period,  being  dated  1717.  Clapisson,  who 
purchased  it  in  1858,  introduced  in  his  comic 
opera  '  Les  trois  Nicolas '  a  gavotte  specially 
written  for  this  instrument,  the  solo  part  in  which 
was  played  by  Croisilles,  and  produced  a  singularly 
brilliant  effect.  A  remarkably  fine  mandolin  with 
a  carved  head,  formerly  the  property  of  J.  B. 
Vuillaume,  still  exists  in  Paris.  A  beautiful 
guitar  of  his  make,  dated  1680,  was  in  this 
country  in  1881.  The  rose  of  the  guitar  being 
filled  with  a  mass  of  delicate  tracery,  in  the  style 
of  a  circular  flamboyant  window,  the  inside  is  not 
open  to  view,  and  the  maker  therefore  cu  t  his  name 
with  the  knife  on  the  back  of  the  peg-box.1 


O 


n 


AN  T.'^TRADIVA 


His  larger  instruments  of  the  violin  tribe 
(violas  and  violoncellos)  are  liable  to  the  charge 
of  being  merely  magnified  fiddles.  In  this  re 
spect  Stradivari  set  an  example  which  was  fol 
lowed  by  other  makers.  However  correct  in 
theory,  it  is  commonly  considered  that  as  regards 
the  viola  this  principle  is  a  failure  ;  for  violas  of 
older  models  have  a  better  effect  in  a  quartet 
than  those  of  Stradivari.  The  tone  is  rich  and 

i  For  a  facsimile  of  this  interesting  inscription  the  writer  is  in 
debted  to  Mr.  Arthur  Hill,  oi'  the  firm  of  Hill  &  Sons,  Wardour 
Street. 


'thick,'  but  deficient  in  liquidity:  this  character 
is  evidently  the  result  of  shallowness  in  the  ribs, 
and  consequent  shortness  in  the  soundpost.  We 
have,  however,  little  opportunity  of  judging  of  the 
effect  of  Stradivari's  large  violas,  most  of  which 
have  been  cut  down  to  the  size  of  the  contralto. 
Stradivari's  theory  broke  down  conspicuously 
when  he  applied  it  to  the  violoncello.  The 
violoncello  absolutely  requires  a  greater  height 
in  the  ribs,  in  proportion  to  the  length,  than 
the  violin.  Stradivari,  in  endeavouring  to  re 
duce  the  violoncello  in  this  respect  to  the  pro 
portions  of  the  violin,  sometimes  made  instru 
ments  which  are  very  defective  in  tone,  and  can 
only  be  cured  by  increasing  the  height  of  the 
ribs.  The  violoncellos  are  of  two  sizes,  and  the 
larger  is  now  as  scarce  as  the  large  violas.  The 
celebrated  bass  of  Servais,  now  belonging  to 
M.  Servais,  jun.,  is  a  rare  specimen.  Those  of 
Signore  Piatti  and  Herr  Hausmnnn  should  also 
be  mentioned.  The  smaller  basses  are  too  nar 
row,  and  their  tone  is  thin,  approaching  that  of 
the  viola  da  gamba.  The  violoncello  of  the 
younger  Duport,  now  in  the  possession  of  M. 
Franchomme,  is  of  this  small  pattern.  These 
smaller  instruments  are  easier  to  handle,  and  nre 
on  that  account  preferred  by  some  players.  The 
larger  ones  have  a  much  finer  tone.  These 
larger  basses  were  originally  constructed  for  use 
in  the  concerto,  whether  '  da  chiesa '  or  'da 
camera,'  the  narrower  ones  being  appropriated 
to  solo  music. 

Double-basses  of  Stradivaii  are  rare ; 2  and 
there  are  probably  at  present  none  in  this 
country.  Dragonetti  had  one,  but  it  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  his  favourite  instrument. 
Count  Ludovico  Melzi  has  a  fine  specimen,  of 
high  model,  and  very  broad.  The  lower  angles 
of  the  middle  bouts  are  rounded  off,  apparently 
to  avoid  injury. 

The  fine  tone  of  the  Stradivari  violins  testifies  to 
the  substantial  value  of  the  improvements  which 
he  effected  in  the  pattern.  It  is  invariably 
bright,  sweet,  full  and  equable.  It  is  also  easily 
yielded,  or,  in  the  common  phrase,  '  comes  out ' 
freely  under  the  bow.  Nicholas  Amati,  and  the 
earlier  Guarnieris,  produced  instruments  which 
charm  by  their  softness  rather  than  by  their 
power :  in  Joseph  Guarnieri  everything  yields 
to  sonority  and  depth.  But  against  all  other 
violins,  a  good  Stradivari  bears  off  the  palm  for 
general  excellence  of  tone,  as  well  as  for  beauty 
and  durability  :  and  all  succeeding  generations 
of  fiddle-makers  have  acknowledged  the  ex 
cellence  of  the  Stradivari  model  by  copying  it. 
The  majority  of  the  violins  made  during  the  last 
century  and  a  half,  of  all  sorts,  from  the  best 
productions  of  Lupot,  Fendt,  Pressenda,  and  .. 
Vuillaume,  down  to  the  common  fiddles  of 
Mirecourt  and  Neukirchen,  manufactured  by 
the  gross  and  sold  for  a  few  shillings,  are  Stradi 
vari  copies.  The  most  accomplished  maker  can 
invent  nothing  better:  the  dullest  workman 

2  Sig.  Lombardini  says  Stradivari  made  '  ttna  infnila  di  violini, 
alquanti  contrabass!,  motti  violoucelli,  viole,  chitarre.  liuti  e  man- 
dorle.' 


732 


STRADIVARI. 


STRADIVARI. 


cannot  fail  to  make  a  tolerable  fiddle,  if  he 
follows  his  model  as  well  as  he  can.  But  there 
is  a  great  gulf  between  the  master  and  the  best 
of  his  imitators.  No  man  who  ever  lived,  dur 
ing  this  century  and  a  half,  has  been  able  to 
make  a  fiddle  which  could  possibly  be  mistaken 
by  a  practised  eye  for  the  work  of  Stradivari. 

Of  the  person  of  Stradivari  we  have  some 
traditional  notices.  According  to  Fe'tiSj  Pol- 
ledro,  first  violin  in  the  royal  orchestra  at  Turin, 
to  whose  encouragement  we  owe  the  fine  pro 
ductions  of  Pressenda,  used  to  say  that  his 
master  had  known  Stradivari,  and  was  fond  of 
talking  about  him.  Polledro's  master  was  Pug- 
nani,  born  in  1727,  ten  years  only  before  Stradi 
vari's  death,  and  he  could  therefore  only  have 
seen  him  as  a  child.  According  to  him  Stradi 
vari  was  tall  and  thin.  He  usually  wore  a  white 
woollen  cap  in  winter,  and  a  cotton  one  in  sum 
mer  ;  over  his  clothes,  while  at  work,  he  wore  a 
white  leather  apron :  and  as  he  was  always  at 
work  his  costume  varied  but  little.  He  had 
acquired  more  than  a  competence  by  labour  and 
frugality ;  and  it  was  a  proverb  in  Cremona, 
' Ricco  come  Stradivari'  (Rich  as  Stradivari). 
The  superior  position  in  life  taken  by  his  de 
scendants  bears  this  out.  La  Houssaie,  the 
celebrated  French  violinist  (born  1735),  whom 
Fetis  knew  in  youth,  and  who  visited  Cremona 
a  few  years  after  the  death  of  Stradivari,  told 
Ftitis  that  the  price  at  which  Stradivari  sold  his 
violins  was  four  louis  d'or  each — a  sum  which 
would  probably  have  purchased  as  much  in 
Cremona  a  hundred  and  sixty  years  ago  as  ten 
times  that  amount  now.1  Cervetto,  an  Italian 
musician  in  London  in  the  last  century,  is  said  to 
have  received  a  consignment  of  Stradivari  violins 
for  sale,  but  to  have  returned  them,  not  being 
able  to  dispose  of  them  for  the  price  asked,  which 
was  £4  a-piece.  The  story  is  probable  enough, 
for  though  the  '  Cremona '  violin  was  popular  in 
London  in  the  last  century,  we  find  in  English 
literature  of  that  period  no  trace  of  the  name  of 
Stradivari. 

Though  fiddle-making  is  an  art  which  runs  in 
families,  it  is  certain  that  the  best  makers  are 
the  most  original,  and  that  the  most  original 
makers  are  those  who  did  not  inherit  their 
trade ;  Stradivari,  Stainer,  Forster,  Pressenda, 
and  Benjamin  Banks,  are  prominent  instances. 
Only  one  of  the  two  fiddle-making  sons  of  Stra 
divari,  Francesco  and  Omobono,  inherited  any  of 
the  father's  ability,  and  this  was  Francesco.  He 
made  excellent  violins,  which  are  easily  distin 
guishable  from  the  work  of  the  father.  'The 
outline,'  says  Mr.  Hart  ('The  Violin,'  p.  136), 
'is  rugged,  the  modelling  distinct,  the  scroll  a 
ponderous  piece  of  carving,  quite  foreign  to 
Stradivarius  the  elder,  and  the  varnish,  though 
good,  is  totally  different  from  the  superb  coats 
found  on  the  father's  works  of  late  date.  .  .  . 
The  design  is  bold  and  original,  the  soundhole 
is  quite  unlike  that  of  Antonius;  the  tone  of 
Franciscus's  instruments  is  invariably  very  rich 
and  telling.'  Francesco  and  Omobono  were  both 

i  F6tis,  A.  Stradivari,  p.  70. 


elderly  men  when  their  father  died,  and  sur 
vived  him  but  a  few  years.  Omobono,  the 
younger,  died  in  1742  ;  Francesco  in  1743-  In 
1746,  Paolo,  the  youngest  son  and  heir  of 
Stradivari,  let  the  house  in  the  Piazza  San 
Domenico  to  Carlo  Bergonzi  and  his  son  Mi 
chael.  Carlo  died  in  1747:  Michael  continued 
to  occupy  the  house  until  1758. 

The  relics  of  Stradivari's  workshop,  his  moulds, 
patterns,  tools,  and  memoranda,  were  carefully 
preserved  by  his  family  for  nearly  thirty  years. 
In  1776  they  were  sold  by  Paolo  Stradivari  and 
his  son  Antonio  to  Count  Alessandro  Cozio  di 
Casale  Monferrato,  an  enthusiastic  collector  of 
violins,  and  once  the  owner  of  a  celebrated 
matchless  Amati.  These  relics,  together  with  the 
original  correspondence  and  memorandums  of 
assignment,  are  now  in  the  possession  of  a  Pied- 
montese  nobleman,  the  Marquis  Rolando  Delia 
Valle.  In  1777  Paolo  and  Antonio  Stradivari 
disposed  of  the  house  in  the  Piazza  San  Domenico 
to  the  brothers  Ancina.  In  1801  it  was  sold  to 
one  Rocco  Bono,  a  wine-cooper  ;  in  1853  it  passed 
into  the  hands  of  Giuseppe  Vigani;  in  1862  it 
was  sold  to  Gaetano  D'Orleans,  a  woollen-draper. 
From  1786  to  1862  it  bore  the  anagraph  1239; 
from  1862  to  1870  it  was  known  as  No.  2  Piazza 
San  Domenico;  and  since  1870  as  No.  I  Piazza 
Roma.  When  the  writer  inspected  it  in  1881  it 
was  unoccupied. 

The  descendants  of  Paolo  Stradivari  continued 
to  live  and  flourish  at  Cremona.  His  grandson 
Cesare  Stradivari  was  a  celebrated  obstetric  phy 
sician,  who  is  still  remembered  by  the  Crenion- 
ese.  When  the  writer  commenced  his  enquiries 
at  Cremona  concerning  Stradivari,  he  was  in 
formed  that  Stradivari  was  an  eminent  physi 
cian  :  Stradivari  the  violin-maker  was  com 
pletely  forgotten.  Two  representatives  of  the 
family  still  reside  in  the  city :  to  one  of  these, 
Sig.  Dottore  Enrico  Stradivari,  the  writer  was 
indebted  for  much  courtesy,  and  for  a  copy  of 
the  privately-printed  pamphlet,  by  the  priest 
Paolo  Lombardini,  from  which  the  genealogical 
information  contained  in  the  present  article  is 
derived.  Another  branch  of  the  family  is  settled 
in  Milan.  It  may  be  observed  in  passing,  that 
most  of  the  names  of  the  famous  violin-makers 
of  Cremona,  except  the  Amatis,  are  still  to  be 
found  among  its  citizens.  The  Guarnieris,  Rug- 
gieris,  and  Bergonzis  abound  ;  but  the  Amatis  have 
utterly  died  out,  their  sole  memorial  being  the 
tombstone  of  one  '  Mastinus  de  Amatis,'  in  the 
floor  of  the  transept  of  the  Duomo.  These  re 
presentatives  of  the  old  makers,  like  the  Stradi- 
varis,  have  taken  to  other  occupations  :  the  sole 
representative  of  the  old  craft  is  Ceruti,  who  still 
makes  violins  in  the  Via  Longacqua,  and  another 
violin-maker,  even  less  known  to  fame,  to  whom 
the  writer  was  directed,  but  whom  he  found 
engaged  in  finishing  a  barrel-organ.  The  Cre- 
monese  are  barely  aware  that  their  town  was 
once  famous  for  its  violins,  and  it  was  with  some 
difficulty  that  a  local  amateur  recently  induced 
the  municipality  to  confer  the  names  of  Crtmona's 
two  most  famous  makers  on  two  streets  leading 


STRADIVARI. 


STRADIVARI. 


733 


westward  out  of  the  Piazza  Roma.  One  of  these 
streets  now  bears  the  name  of  the '  Via  Guarnieri,' 
the  other  that  of  '  Corso  Stradivari.' 

Fe"tis  has  well  observed  that  the  violins  of 
Stradivari  are  equally  remarkable  for  their  extra 
ordinary  excellence  and  their  extraordinary  num 
ber.  Their  solid  and  durable  construction,  their 
admirable  varnish,  the  considerable  price  paid  for 
them  in  the  first  instance,  and  the  consequent 
care  exercised  in  keeping  them,  have  all  con 
tributed  to  their  preservation  :  and  it  is  probable 
that  most  of  them  are  still  in  existence.  Their 
number  is  legion  :  they  are  always  in  the  market, 
and  always  command  good  prices.  Since  the 
middle  of  the  last  century,  they  have  been  the 
favourite  instruments  of  violinists.  Up  to  that 
time,  Stainer  had  been  the  favourite  maker. 
Veracini  used  a  pair  of  Stainer  violins  :  that  of 
Tartini,  which  was  shown  in  the  Milan  Exhibi 
tion  of  1 88 1,  was  a  large  yellow  Stainer,  of  rare 
excellence.  Stradivari's  instruments  soon  ousted 
the  Stainers  from  their  position,  and  revived 
throughout  the  musical  world  the  traditional 
reputation  of  Cremona.  Pugnani,  Salomon, 
Lafunt,  Viotti,  Baillot,  Habeneck,  Rode,  Spohr, 
Ernst,  used  them.  Nor,  in  spite  of  the  rivalry 
of  Joseph  Guarnerius,  has  there  been  any  sign  of 
their  going  out  of  fashion.  In  our  own  time, 
Joachim,  uses  a  pair  of  fine  Stradivaris,  both 
of  the  best  period,  one  red,  the  other  yellow : 
Sarasate,  Wilhelmi,  Madame  Norman-Neruda, 
Straus,  Marsick,  Ludwig,  Kummer,  Wiener,  and 
most  of  our  leading  violinists,  play  on  this  maker's 
instruments.  It  is  evident  from  this  continued 
popularity  that  players  find  them  the  most  effec 
tive,  for  it  is  impossible  to  suppose  that  they 
would  expend  the  considerable  sums  which  have 
to  be  paid  for  them,  if  they  could  produce  an 
equal  effect  with  cheaper  instruments. 

On  this  point  the  opinion  of  the  most  eminent 
among  living  players  will  be  read  with  interest. 
Dr.  Joachim,  after  perusing  the  proofs  of  this 
article,  has  most  kindly  communicated  to  the 
writer,  to  be  incorporated  with  it,  a  few  words 
on  the  tone  of  Stradivari's  violins.  He  considers 
them  as  mines  of  musical  sound,  which  the  player 
must  dig  into,  as  it  were,  in  order  to  develope 
their  treasures,  and  attributes  to  them  a  peculiar 
responsiveness,  enabling  the  earnest  player  to 
place  himself  completely  en  rapport  with  his 
instrument — a  relation  which,  as  Dr.  Joachim's 
audiences  are  well  aware,  is  with  him  no  matter 
of  fancy,  but  of  fact.  After  some  preliminary 
observations,  he  continues  :  '  While  the  violins 
of  Maggini  are  remarkable  for  volume  of  tone, 
and  those  of  Amati  for  liquidity,  none  of  the 
celebrated  makers  exhibit  the  union  of  sweetness 
and  power  in  so  preeminent  a  degree  as  Giuseppe 
Guarnieri  (del  Gesu)  and  Antonio  Stradivari. 
If  I  am  to  give  expression  to  my  individual 
feeling,  I  must  pronounce  for  the  latter  as  my 
chosen  favourite.  It  is  true  that  in  brilliancy 
and  clearness,  and  even  in  liquidity,  Guarnieri 
in  his  best  instruments  is  not  surpassed  by  him  : 
but  what  appears  to  me  peculiar  to  the  tone  of 
Stradivari  is  a  more  unlimited  capacity  for  ex 


pressing  the  most  varied  accents  of  feeling.1  Jt 
seems  to  well  forth  like  a  spring,  and  to  be 
capable  of  infinite  modification  under  the  bow. 
Stradivari's  violins,  affording  a  strong  resistance 
to  the  bow,  when  resistance  is  desired,  and  yet 
responding  to  its  lightest  breath,  emphatically 
require  that  the  player's  ear  shall  patiently  listen 
until  it  catches  the  secret  of  drawing  out  their 
tone.  Their  beauty  of  tone  is  not  so  easily 
reached  as  in  the  case  of  many  other  makers. 
Their  vibrations  increase  in  warmth,  the  more 
the  player,  discovering  their  richness  and  variety, 
seeks  from  the  instrument  a  sympathetic  echo  of 
his  own  emotions  :  so  much  so  that  they  seem  to 
be  living  beings,  and  become  as  it  were  the 
player's  personal  familiars — as  if  Stradivari  had 
breathed  a  soul  into  them,  in  a  manner  achieved 
by  no  other  master.  It  is  this  which  stamps 
them  as  creations  of  an  artistic  mind,  as  positive 
works  of  art.' 

It  has  been  suggested  to  the  writer  to  give 
a  complete  list  of  the  Stradivari  instruments : 
but  the  task  would  be  impossible,  involving,  as 
it  would,  a  personal  examination  of  instruments 
scattered  all  over  the  civilized  world.  Suph  a 
list  could  never  be  made  complete,  and  would 
quickly  lose  its  value.'2  It  is  commonly  supposed 
that  all  the  genuine  Stradivari  violins  are  known 
to  the  dealers.  This  is  a  mistake.  The  ma 
jority  of  the  instruments  which  come  into  the 
dealer's  hands  have  never  been  seen  before.  The 
English  dealers  know  the  whereabouts  of  perhaps 
a  couple  of  hundred  instruments  in  this  country, 
and  they  generally  hold  a  considerable  number 
in  their  own  hands  for  sale.  There  are  large 
numbers  of  Stradivaris  in  Italy,  where  some 
very  fine  specimens  are  kept  as  heirlooms,  and  in 
France,  Russia,  Germany,  Spain,  and  America. 
The  price  of  a  Stradivari  violin  fit  for  the 
player's  use  ordinarily  varies  from  £100  to 
£500,  according  to  quality,  style,  and  condition: 
only  extraordinary  specimens  fetch  higher  prices. 
The  violas  are  worth  about  the  same,  the 
violoncellos  somewhat  more.  A  Stradivari  of 
the  earlier  period  (in  the  sixteens)  may  gene 
rally  be  bought  at  a  reasonable  price :  the  finer 
instruments  of  the  late  period  (1700-1728), 
if  in  good  condition,  will  generally  fetch  from 
£300  to  £500.  Cheap  Stradivaris,  especially 
if  undoubtedly  genuine,  should  be  viewed  with 
suspicion.  A  Stradivari  is  frequently  cheapened 
in  the  market  by  reason  of  its  having  lost  its 
head.  Some  ignorant  repairer,  in  fitting  it  with 
a  new  handle,  has  discarded  the  old  head  along 

1  'Gefiihls-accente.'    Dr.  Joachim  uses  the  term  in  the  technical 
sense,  signifying  that  peculiar  touch  and  pressure  of  the  bow  and 
finger  which  the  character  of  the  music  requires.   Baillot  enumerates 
no  less  than  thirty  different  'accents,'  which  he  divides  into  four 
classes :  1,  The  simple  and  naiire ;  2,  The  vague  and  indecisive ; 
3,  the  passionate  and  dramatic  ;  4.  the  calm  and  religious.    It  is  an 
interesting  confirmation  of  Dr.  Joachim's  opinion  that  Paganini's 
Joseph  Guarnerius  violin  is  fitted  with  a  very  light  bridge,  having  no 
'heart'  or  central  hole,  and  extremely  small  and  slender  feet.    This 
great  player  evidently  found  it  impossihle  to  ohtain  the  requisite 
delicacy  of  tone  in  this  instrument  with  an  ordinary  bridge,  and 
therefore  had  to  sacrifice  power  to  expression. 

2  E.  g.  the  magnificent  collection  of  a  well-known  amateur  resident 
at  Blackheath,  recently  dispersed,  included  nine  Stradivari  violins, 
all  of  the  very  highest  class,  as  well  as  a.  fine  Stradivari  alto  and  small 
violoncello,  besides  four  splendid  violins  of  Joseph  Guarnerius,  and 
many  other  treasures  of  equal  value. 


734 


STKADIVARI. 


STRAKOSCH. 


with  the  old  handle :  or  some  acuter  person,  in 
order  to  enhance  the  value  of  a  better  instrument 
which  has  suffered  this  loss,  has  deprived  the 
cheap  Stradivari  of  its  head  to  grace  an  instru 
ment  to  which  it  communicates  a  greater  value. 
The  loss  of  the  head  does  not  affect  the  tone  of  the 
fiddle,  but  it  detracts  greatly  from  its  appearance 
and  commercial  value.  But  this  loss  of  the  head 
is  not  the  only  cause  of  cheapness  in  Stradivaris. 
It  will  often  be  found  that  they  are  too  thin  in 
the  wood,  or  have  been  so  damaged  in  the  belly 
or  back  that  the  most  skilful  repairer  cannot 
revive  their  tone,  though  he  may  restore  their 
solidity  and  appearance.  It  should  be  remem 
bered  that  although  lateral  fractures  (in  the 
direction  of  the  grain)  do  not  greatly  diminish 
the  tone  and  value  of  the  instrument,  transverse 
fractures  (across  the  grain)  in  the  belly  damage 
it  incurably.  Respectable  dealers  are  always 
cognisant  of  the  condition  of  the  instruments 
which  they  sell,  and  the  best  advice  that  can  be 
given  to  an  intending  purchaser  is  (i)  to  purchase 
of  no  one  but  a  dealer  of  high  reputation,  and  (2) 
not  to  purchase  a  cheap  instrument.1  [E.  J.P.] 

STRAKOSCH,  MAURICE  and  MAX,  brothers 
well  known  in  the  United  States  for  a  quarter 
of  a  century  as  entrepreneurs  of  operatic  and 
concert  ventures.  Operatic  enterprises  in  America 
have  generally  been  undertaken  by  managers 
who  have  carried  their  troupes  through  the 
country,  making  sojourns  in  the  leading  cities  of 
from  one  to  four  weeks,  occasionally  longer,  ac 
cordingly  as  the  patronage  warranted. 

Maurice  Strakosch,  the  elder  of  the  twain, 
organised,  in  1855,  a  concert-troupe,  including 
Mine.  Teresa  Paradi,  SignorsTiberini  and  Morani, 
vocalists,  and  M.  Paul  Jullien,  violinist,  with 
himself  as  musical  director.  The  vocalists  of 
the  troupe  afterwards  appeared  in  opera  at  the 
Academy  of  Music,  New  York.  Subsequent 
enterprises  in  which  Maurice  was  interested  were 
as  follows : — 

1856,  concert-troupe  —  Sigismund    Thalberg, 
Mmes.  Paradi,  Amalia  Strakosch  (wife  of  Mau 
rice,  nee  Patti),  Edward  Mollenhauer,  violinist. 
Bernhard  Ullmann,  Thalberg's  business  manager, 
was  a  partner  in  this  enterprise,  as  well  as  in 
that  of 

1857,  Italian   opera — Mmes.    de   la   Grange, 
d'Orme,  Strakosch,  d'Angri,  Vestoali,  Frezzolini, 
Sigs.  Labocetta,  Macaferri,  Gassier,  Carl  Formes. 
Maurice  then  took  Frezzolini   to  Havana   and 
New  Orleans,  on  an  operatic  tournee. 

1858,  Italian  opera— Mmes.  Paradi,  di  Wil- 
horst,  Strakosch;  Sigs. Brignoli,  Squires,  Amadio, 
Barili  being  the  other  members  of  the  company, 
and  Jacob  Grau  a  business  partner. 

1859,  Italian  opera — Mmes.  Colsan,  Gazzingga, 
Albertini,   Strakosch,   Adelina  Patti   (her  first 
appearance),   Natali,   Sigs.  Brignoli,   Bouvarde, 
Stigelli,  Amadio,   Ferri,  Barili,  Junca,    Susini. 
UJlmann   was    again  a  partner.     Patti's  extra 
ordinary  success  saved  the  season,  and  she  was 

1  The  writer  desires  to  acknowledge  the  assistance  he  has  derived 
in  preparing  the  above  article,  from  the  members  of  the  firm  of  W.  E. 
Hill  &  Sons,  and  from  Mr.  George  Hart,  both  of  Wardour  Street. 


taken  to  Havana  in  the  following  year,  and  sub 
sequently  to  Europe,  by  Maurice. 

On  Maurice's  departure  for  Europe,  Max,  who 
had,  during  the  previous  seasons,  acted  as  busi 
ness  agent  for  his  brother,  became  manager.  His 
enterprises  and  principal  artists  have  been  as 
hereafter  set  forth,  Italian  opera  being  under 
stood  in  each  instance,  except  as  otherwise  in 
dicated — namely, 

1 86 1 — Mmes.Hinkley,  d'Angri,  Sigs.  Brignoli, 
Susini,  Mancusi.  Jacob  Grau  was  a  partner  in 
this  venture. 

1862-1863,  concerts — Gottschalk,  pianist;  Car- 
lotta  Patti,  Mile.  Cordier,  Sig.  Brignoli,  vocalists ; 
Carlo  Patti,  violinist.  Carlo tta  and  Carlo  were 
sister  and  brother,  respectively,  of  Adelina. 

In  1864  Max  went  to  Europe  with  Sig.  Brig 
noli  (for  whom,  with  Maurice's  assistance,  an 
engagement  was  procured  at  Les  Italiens,  Paris), 
and  returned  with  Wehli,  pianist,  and  Mile,  de 
Kattow,  violoncellist. 

1865 — Mmes.  Ghioni,  Cannissa,  Strakosch; 
Sigs.  Errani,  Macaferri,  Mancusi,  Morra,  Susini, 
Graff.  Sig.  Franceso  Rosa,  director. 

1866 — Mme.  Parepa,  Sig.  Brignoli. 

1867 — Mme.  de  la  Grange,  Sig.  Brignoli. 

1868,  Italian  opera  and  concerts,  in  conjunc 
tion  with  Max  Maretzek;    Miss  Clara  Louise 
Kellogg,  whom  Strakosch  had  brought  back  from 
Europe,  being  in  the  troupe. 

1869,  concerts — Carlotta  Patti  being  the  lead 
ing  attraction,  and  during  the  season  making  a 
brilliant  triumph  as  the  Queen  of  Night  in  '  The 
Magic  Flute.' ' 

1870,  concerts — Mile.  Christine  Nilsson  (first 
appearance  in  the  United  States),  Miss  Annie 
Louise  Gary,  Sigs.  Brignoli,  Verger,  M.  Vieux- 
temps,  the  distinguished  violinist. 

1871 — Miles.  Nilsson,  Duval,  Miss  Gary,  Sigs. 
Brignoli,  Barre,  Capaul,  Jamet ;  Max  Maretzek, 
director.  Thomas's  '  Mignon  '  was  produced  with 
Nilsson  in  the  title-role. 

1872,  concerts — Carlotta  Patti,  Sig.  Mario. 

1873 — Mile.  Nilsson,  Torriani,  Maresi;  Miss 
Gary ;  Sigs.  Campanini,  Capaul,  Mansel,  del 
Puente,  Nannetti,  Scolara.  Sig.  Muzio,  conductor. 
The  troupe  was  subsequently  strengthened  by 
the  addition  of  Miles.  Pauline  Lucca  and  di 
Murska.  Verdi's  'Aida'  was  a  leading  feature 
in  the  season's  business. 

1874 — Miles.  Albani,  Heilbron,  Donadio,  Ma 
resi,  Potentini ;  Miss  Gary;  Sigs.  Carpi,  Ben- 
fratelli,  de  Bassini,  del  Puente,  Tagliapietra, 
Fiorini.  Sig.  Muzio,  conductor.  Wagner's  '  Lo 
hengrin,'  Marchetti's  '  Ruy  Bias,'  and  Verdi's 
'Requiem  Mass'  were  brought  out.  The  com 
pany  was  strong  and  the  repertory  was  carefully 
selected,  but  the  venture  entailed  heavy  losses 
on  the  management. 

1 875,  opera  and  concert — Mme. Tietjens, Mme. 
Arabella  Goddard,  Miles.  Beaumont,  Carreno 
(whose  reputation  as  a  pianist  was  already  great, 
and  who  now  made  her  ddbut  as  a  vocalist) ;  Sigs. 
Brignoli,  Reina,  Orlandini,  Tagliapietra,  Gott- 
chalk  (brother  of  the  pianist),  Mr.  Tom  Karl. 
Max  Maretzek,  Gotthold  Carlberg,  conductors. 


STRAKOSCH. 

1876 — Mme.  Palmieri,  Miles.  Belocca,  Mar 
tinez;  Sig's.  Brignoli,  Palmieri;  Mr.  Karl. 

1877,  Italian  and  English  opera — Mme.  Marie 
R6ze ;  Misses  Kellogg,  Gary ;  Messrs.  Graff,  Verdi, 
Gottschalk,  Karl,  Couly.  S.  Behrens,  conductor. 

1878— Misses  Kellogg,  Cary;  Miles.  Litta, 
Marco;  Messrs.  Charles  R.  Adams,  Couly;  Sigs. 
Rosnati,  Lazzarini,  Pautaleoni,  Gottschalk. 
Behrens  and  Sig.  de  Novellis,  conductors. 

1879 — Miles.  Singee,  Lablanche  (real  name, 
Davenport,  daughter  of  Mr.  E.  L.  Davenport,  a 
celebrated  American  actor),  Litty,  Belocca ;  Sigs. 
Petrovitch,  Baldanza,  Lazzarini,  Storti,  Gott 
schalk,  Castlemary,  Papini.  Behrens  and  de 
Novellis,  conductors. 

1880,  English  opera — Mme.  Marie  Roze;  Miles. 
Torriani ;  Misses  Anandale,  Schiriner ;  Messrs. 
Byron,  Perugini,  Carleton,  Couly.  Behrens  and 
de  Novellis,  conductors.  [F.H.J.] 

STRANIERA,  LA  (The  Stranger).  Italian 
opera  in  2  acts ;  libretto  by  Romani,  music  by 
Bellini.  Produced  at  the  Scala,  Milan,  Feb.  14, 
1829.  In  London,  at  the  King's  Theatre,  June  23, 
1832  (Tamburini's  de'but).  [G.] 

STRATHSPEY,  a  Scotish  dance,  closely  allied 
to  the  Reel,  derives  its  name  from  the  strath  or 
valley  of  the  Spey,  in  the  North  of  Scotland, 
where  it  appears  to  have  first  been  danced.  The 
word  does  not  appear  in  connection  with  music 
till  late  in  the  iSth  century,  but  much  earlier 
than  that  tunes  are  found  suited  for  the  style. 
Though  slower  in  time  than  the  Reel,  the  Strath 
spey  calls  for  more  exertion.  The  former  is  a 
gliding  dance,  while  the  Strathspey  abounds  in 
those  jerky  motions  which  call  every  muscle 
into  play.  Thus  the  music  of  the  Reel  is  com 
posed  of  a  series  of  passages  of  equal  quavers, 
while  the  Strathspey  consists  of  dotted  notes  and 
semiquavers.  The  latter  frequently  precede  the 
long  note,  and  this  peculiarity  has  received  the 
name  of  the  Scotish  snap.  That  the  two  words 
were,  a  century  ago,  almost  synonymous,  is  shown 
by  a  volume  which  is  still  of  the  highest  au 
thority,  and  of  which  the  title-page  runs  thus — 
'A  Collection  of  Strathspeys  or  Old  Highland 
Reells,  with  a  Bass  for  the  Violincello,  Harp 
sichord,  or  Pianoforte.  By  Angus  Gumming, 
at  Granton.  Strathspey.  1780.'  The  word 
Strathspey  is  here  printed  in  very  large  letters, 
while  '  Old  Highland  Reells '  are  in  the  smallest. 
Moreover,  throughout  the  volume,  the  word 
Strathspey  is  not  once  used,  but  always  Reell 
So-and-so.  No.  5,  for  example,  though  clearly 
a  Strathspey,  is  entitled  'Acharnae  Reell.'  Reels, 
and  the  dance  music  of  Scotland  generally,  have 
been  already  noticed  in  these  pages  [REELS, 
pp.  91,  92]  ;  and  in  the  article  SCOTISH  Music 
(pp.  450,  451)  Strathspeys  are  touched  upon. 
Something,  however,  may  be  said  in  regard  to 
Strathspeys  specially.  One  point  of  difference 
between  them  and  the  Reel  is  in  the  tempi  of  the 
two ;  in  the  Reel  ^=126  Maelzel,  in  the  Strath 
spey  <^  =  94-  Another  is  the  smoothness  of  the 
notes  in  the  Reel  as  compared  with  the  broken 
notes  of  the  Strathspey. 


STRATHSPEY. 

Reel.     '  Clydeside  Lassies.' 


735 


•  '    -       — ^ — —.,—.,      ~mj—f  —      '~      aj~*    '~~^ -  -— » —     I    _        — ^       .1      .    W  ._         — 


etc. 


It  will  be  seen  that  in  the  above  all  is  written 
in  smooth  notes,  while  the  Strathspey  consists 
almost  entirely  of  broken  ones. 

Strathspey.     '  Tullocligorum.' 


etc. 


The  remainder  of  the  above  Reel  and  Strath 
spey  will  be  found  in  the  article  on  SCOTISH 
Music,  p.  451 .  Let  us  however  add  a  Strathspey 
in  its  complete  form,  which  is  certainly  one  of 
the  finest  ever  written,  and  to  this  day  retains 
its  great  popularity. 

Strathspey.     '  Marquis  of  Huntley." 


— ^m**— Sfe^  **-  -, 


&tE^EEE|jE!l 


With  the  Reels  and  Strathspeys  of  Scotland 
the  name  of  Gow  is  indissolubly  associated.  Neil 
Gow,  the  founder  of  the  family,  and  a  man  of 
real  genius,  was  born  at  Inver,  near  Dunkeld, 
March  22,  1727,  and  died  in  1807.  He  was  a 
man  of  strong  original  genius — one  of  Nature's 
own  musicians.  Our  obligation  to  him  is  two 
fold.  We  are  indebted  to  him  for  many  of  our 
finest  Reels  and  Strathspeys,  and  also  for  the 
pains  which  he  took  to  collect  and  hand  down 


736 


STRATHSPEY. 


STRATHSPEY. 


to  us  in  a  printed  form  some  of  the  best  of  our 
old  national  music.  In  performing  his  special 
task,  the  eager  musician  was  nowise  scrupulous 
as  to  how  or  where  he  found  the  melodies  for 
transformation  into  Reels  or  Strathspeys.  It 
has  been  alleged  that  he  converted  many  of  our 
vocal  melodies  into  dance  tunes.  But  the  worst 
that  can  be  charged  against  him  is  that  he 
altered  the  old  names  of  many  tunes,  calling 
them  after  his  patrons  and  patronesses,  thus 
often  rendering  it  doubtful  whether  a  tune  was 
his  own  composition  or  belonged  to  an  earlier 
time. 

That  Neil  Gow  was  the  greatest  player  on  the 
fiddle  of  Scotish  dance-music,  whether  in  his 
own  time  or  since,  is  universally  admitted.  In 
a  short  notice  of  him  (published  in  the  '  Scots' 
Magazine,'  1809),  Dr.  M'Knight,  who  had  fre 
quently  heard  Neil  play,  and  who  was  himself  a 
famous  fiddler,  thus  describes  his  style  of  execu 
tion  : — '  His  bow-hand  as  a  suitable  instrument 
of  his  genius  was  uncommonly  powerful ;  and 
when  the  note  produced  by  the  itp-bow  was 
often  feeble  and  indistinct  in  other  hands,  it 
was  struck  in  his  playing  with  a  strength  and 
certainty  which  never  failed  to  surprise  and 
delight  skilful  hearers.  .  .  .  We  may  add  the 
effect  of  the  sudden  shout  with  which  he  fre 
quently  accompanied  his  playing  in  the  quick 
tunes,  and  which  seemed  instantly  to  electrify 
the  dancers,  inspiring  them  with  new  life  and 
energy,  and  rousing  the  spirits  of  the  most  in 
animate.' 

Burns  took  many  old  Strathspeys,  and  wrote 
to  them  some  of  his  finest  verses.  Thus  in 
'  Rothermurche's  Rant,'  the  first  part  of  the 
tune  is  almost  note  for  note  that  of  the  Strath 
spey  ;  the  second  part  has  been  altered  so  as  to 
make  the  music  more  vocal  in  its  character,  the 
original  being  strictly  instrumental  music,  with 
difficulties  which  the  voice  could  not  well  over- 


come. 


Rothiemurchus'  Reel.     '  Tigh'n  dun.' 


Lassie  wl*  the  lint-white  locks,  Bonnie  lassie!  artless  lassie ! 


Wilt  thou  wi'  rae  tent  the  flocks,  Wilt  thou  be  my  dearie     0  ? 

Another  fine  specimen  is  'Green  grow  the 
Rashes  O,'  verses  by  Burns.  An  early  version 
of  this  tune  is  in  a  MS.  Lute  Book  which  be 
longed  to  Sir  Robert  Gordon  of  Straloch,  dated 
1627-29.  It  was  styled  'a  daunce  '  then,  as  it 
was  later,  but  has  none  of  the  dotted  notes  so 
characteristic  of  the  Strathspey.  In  the  '  Col 
lection  of  Original  Scotch  Tunes,'  published  by 
H.  Playford,  1700,  there  are  a  few  Reel  tunes 
in  addition  to  the  large  number  of  Scotch 
measures  which  it  contains.  One  called  '  Cron- 
stoune  '  is  a  very  good  specimen  of  the  Reel, 
whether  quick  or  slow.  Another,  entitled  '  The 
Birks  of  Plunketty,'  is  a  good  Strathspey,  but 
has  been  written  down  in  3-4  time  by  some  one 


who  did  not  understand  the  measure.  Another, 
'The  Cummers  (Commeres)  of  Largo,'  is  styled 
a  Reel ;  being  in  9-8  time  we  would  now  term 
it  a  Jig.  But  to  return  to  Burns'  song,  '  Green 
grow  the  Rashes  0,'  the  words  of  which  he 
wrote  to  what  Angus  Gumming  calls  'The  Grant's 
Rant '  or  '  Feve  feve  Tunal  chie.' 


—  1  —  •!  —  1  —  • 


'Roy's  Wife  of  Aldivalloch'  was  written  to 
the  tune  of  '  The  Dutchess  of  Hamilton's  Reell,' 
words  by  Mrs.  Grant  of  Carron.  Burns  also 
wrote  verses  to  the  same  air,  beginning,  'Canst 
thou  leave  me  thus  in  sorrow?'  but  the  lady's 
verses  have  held  their  own  even  against  his, 

o 

and  are  sung  to  this  day. 

Burns'  'Wilt  thou  be  my  dearie ?'  was  written 
to  the  tune  of  'The  Souter's  Daughter,'  named 
by  Angus  Gumming,  in  the  volume  above  re 
ferred  to,  'Dutchess  of  Buccleugh's  Reell.'  Burns, 
in  his  instructions  as  to  the  setting  of  the  music, 
says  in  a  note  annexed  to  the  words — 'Tune, 
The  Souter's  Daughter.  N,B.— It  is  only  the 
first  part  of  the  tune  to  which  the  song  is  to  be 
set.' 

'  The  Braes  abune  Bonaw '  is  set  to  '  Lord 
Lovat's  Reell.'  The  first  '  Banks  o'  Doon  '  (not 
the  popular  version)  Burns  says  he  wrote  to  the 
tune  of  ' Ballendalloch's  Reell.'  'Dr.  William 
Grant's  Reell '  was  laid  under  contribution  for 
the  words  written  in  1795,  '  This  is  no  my  ain 
house.'  'Whistle  o'er  the  lave  o't'  is  a  good 
Strathspey,  and  to  it  Burns  wrote  the  verses 
beginning,  'First  when  Maggie  was  my  care,'  as 
a  substitute  for  old  verses,  witty  but  indecent. 
Carron's  Reel,  'The  Whisky  Still,'  has  given 
the  melody  to  a  good  song,  '  Ewie  wi'  the  cruikit 
horn.'  The  tune  of  'Dinna  think,  bonnie  lassie,' 
is  borrowed  from  '  Clunie's  Reell.' 

Many  other  specimens  could  be  given,  but  the 
above  may  suffice  for  our  present  purpose. 

In  conclusion,  we  may  briefly  refer  to  the 
extremely  bald  accompaniments  which  were 
written  a  hundred  years  ago  to  these  dances, 
when  arranged  with  a  bass  for  the  violoncello, 
harpsichord,  or  pianoforte.  A  few  bars  from 
'Sir  James  Colquhoun's  Reell,'  'The  Black 
Watch,  42nd  Regiment,'  will  enable  the  reader 
to  understand  what  is  meant.  It  will  be  noticed 
that  there  is  never  more  than  one  note  in  the 
bass,  this  however  was  usually  played  in  octaves. 


STRATHSPEY. 


STKAUSS. 


737 


±zr± 


Jz- 


^^ 


etc. 


[T.L.S.] 

STRAUS,  LUDWIG,  an  excellent  violin.player, 
was  born  at  Pressburg,  March  28,  1835  ;  entered 
the  Vienna  Conservatoire  in  1843,  and  remained 
there  till  the  revolution  in  1848;  was  pupil  of 
Bohm  for  the  violin,  and  Preyer  and  Nottebohm 
for  counterpoint ;  made  his  first  appearance  (at 
the  same  time  with  Franlein  Csillag)  in  a  con 
cert  at  the  hall  of  the  Musikverein,  Vienna,  in 
June  1850.  During  the  next  few  years  he  made 
various  public  appearances,  besides  playing  in 
the  private  concerts  of  several  patrons  of  music, 
especially  Prince  Czartoryski,  at  whose  reunions 
he  played  second  fiddle  to  Mayseder  for  three 
years.  At  the  Mozart  Centenary  Festival  in  1856 
he  met  Liszt,  and  like  many  other  young  artists 
benefittecl  by  his  kindness.  Straus's  first  concert 
tourne'e  was  made  in  1855,  and  extended  as  far 
as  Venice  and  Florence.  In  1857  he  made  the 
acquaintance  of  Piatti,  with  whom  he  took  a 
second  tour  through  Germany  and  Sweden.  In 
1860  he  was  appointed  concertmeister  of  the 
theatre  and  of  the  Museum-concerts  in  Frankfort, 
a  post  which  he  held  for  five  years,  giving  also 
quartet  concerts,  and  leading  the  subscription 
concerts  in  the  neighbouring  towns.  In  1860  he 
first  visited  England,  played  at  the  Musical  Union 
June  5,  etc.,  and  at  the  Monday  Popular  Concert 
of  June  18.  In  1861  he  returned,  and  appeared 
twice  at  the  Philharmonic,  April  29  and  June  24. 

In  1864  he  took  up  his  residence  in  this  country, 
settling  after  a  time  in  Manchester,  where  he  is 
leader  of  Mr.  Charles  Halle's  orchestra.  But  he 
often  visits  London,  to  take  either  first  fiddle  or 
viola  in  the  Monday  Popular  Concerts,  or  to  play 
solo  at  the  Crystal  Palace  or  the  Philharmonic, 
and  during  his  residence  in  England  he  has  also 
played  at  Dresden,  Vienna,  etc.  Straus  is  a 
member  of  the  Queen's  private  band,  and  '  Solo 
Violinist' to  Her  Majesty.  [G.] 

STRAUSS,  JOHANN,  composer  of  dance-music 
of  world- wide  celebrity,  born  in  Vienna,  March 
14,  1804.  As  a  child  he  showed  talent  for 
music,  and  a  love  for  the  violin,  but  his  parents, 
small  innkeepers,  apprenticed  him  to  a  book 
binder,  from  whom  he  ran  away.  A  friend  met 
him,  took  him  back,  and  persuaded  the  parents 
to  entrust  him  with  the  boy's  education  as  a 
musician.  With  the  son  of  this  benefactor  the 
little  Strauss  learnt  the  violin  from  Polyschansky, 
afterwards  studying  harmony  and  instrumenta 
tion  with  Seyfried.  He  soon  played  the  viola 
in  string-quartets  at  private  houses,  and  at 

VOL.  III.  PT.  6. 


fifteen  entered  Pamer's  orchestra  at  the  'Sperl,' 
a  favourite  place  of  amusement  in  the  Leopold- 
stadt.  At  that  time  the  excellent  playing  of 
Lanner  and  the  brothers  Drahanek  was  exciting 
attention ;  Strauss  offered  himself,  and  was 
accepted  as  fourth  in  the  little  band.  Soon, 
however,  their  numbers  had  to  be  increased  to 
meet  their  numerous  engagements,  and  Strauss 
acted  as  deputy-conductor  till  1825,  when  he 
and  Lanner  parted.  In  the  Carnival  of  1826 
Strauss  and  his  little  orchestra  of  fourteen  per 
formers  appeared  in  the  hall  of  the  '  Swan '  in 
the  Rossau  suburb,  and  took  the  hearts  of  the 
people  by  storm.  His  op.  I,  the  '  Tauberl- 
Walzer'  (Haslinger),  was  speedily  followed 
by  others,  the  most  successful  being  the  '  Ketten- 
briicken-Walzer,'  called  after  the  Hall  of  that 
name.  Strauss  was  next  invited  to  return  with 
his  now  enlarged  orchestra  to  the  Sperl,  and 
with  such  success  as  to  induce  the  proprietor, 
Scherzer,  to  engage  him  for  six  years,  which 
virtually  founded  the  reputation  of  the  '  Sperl,' 
and  its  orchestral  conductor.  Meantime  Strauss 
was  appointed  Capellmeister  of  the  I  st  Burger- 
regiment,  and  entrusted  with  the  music  at  the 
court  fetes  and  balls.  As  his  band  was  daily  in 
request  at  several  places  at  once,  he  increased 
the  number  to  over  200,  from  which  he  formed 
a  select  body  for  playing  at  concerts,  in  music 
of  the  highest  class.  He  now  began  to  make 
tours  in  the  provinces  and  abroad,  visiting 
Pesth  in  1833  ;  Berlin,  Leipzig,  and  Dresden  in 
1834;  West  Germany  in  1835;  and  North 
Germany,  Holland,  Belgium,  and  the  Rhine, 
in  1836.  His  next  tour  began  in  October  1837, 
and  embraced  Strassburg,  Paris,  Rouen,  Havre, 
Belgium,  London,  and  the  larger  towns  of  Great 
Britain ;  he  then  returned  to  Belgium,  and 
back  to  England  and  Scotland,  and  finally 
returned  over  the  Continent  by  Strassburg, 
reaching  Vienna  in  December  1838  in  very  bad 
health.  His  success  in  Paris  was  unprecedented, 
notwithstanding  the  formidable  rivalry  of  Musard 
and  Dufresne,  with  the  former  of  whom  he 
wisely  joined  for  a  series  of  thirty  concerts. 
A  disagreeable  intrigue  nearly  made  him  throw 
up  the  journey  to  England,  but  it  was  only 
there  that  his  profits  at  all  remunerated  him  for 
his  enormous  expenses.  In  London  he  played 
at  seventy-two  concerts,  and  at  innumerable 
balls  and  fetes  given  in  honour  of  the  Queen's 
coronation  (June  28,  1838).  On  his  second 
visit  he  had  great  difficulty  in  keeping  his  band 
from  dispersing,  so  weary  were  they  of  con 
tinual  travelling.  He  managed,  however,  to  go 
again  to  Birmingham,  Liverpool,  and  Dublin, 
besides  visiting  Reading,  Cheltenham,  Worcester, 
Leicester,  Derby,  Nottingham,  and  Sheffield. 
At  Sheffield  his  receipts  were  small,  and  at 
Halifax  still  less,  but  when  the  amateurs  of 
both  places  discovered  the  kind  of  musician  they 
had  been  neglecting,  a  deputation  was  sent  with 
post-horses  to  Leeds  to  bring  him  back  again. 
He  was  taken  ill  at  Derby,  and  only  reached 
Vienna  with  great  difficulty.  His  first  re 
appearance  at  the  Sperl  was  quite  a  popular 

3B 


738 


STRAUSS. 


fete.  On  May  5,  1840,  he  conducted  for  the 
first  time  in  the  Imperial  Volksgarten,  which 
was  crowded  whenever  his  band  performed. 
Strauss  now  introduced  the  quadrille,  which  he 
had  studied  in  Paris,  in  place  of  the  galop. 
His  first  work  of  the  kind  was  the  'Wiener 
Carneval-Quadrille '  (op.  124).  Henceforward, 
except  waltzes  —  among  which  the  '  Donau- 
lieder'  (op.  127)  are  still  played — he  composed 
only  quadrilles,  polkas,  and  marches,  including 
the  favourite  'Radetzky-March.'  On  April  16, 
1843,  he  and  the  band  of  his  old  Burger- 
regiment  accompanied  the  body  of  his  old 
colleague  Lanner  to  the  grave.  An  excursion 
to  Olmiitz,  Troppau,  etc.,  in  the  autumn  of  1844, 
was  succeeded  in  the  next  autumn  by  one  to 
Dresden,  Magdeburg,  and  Berlin,  where  he  was 
immensely  feted.  The  king  appeared  in  person 
at  Kroll's  Garden,  and  invited  Strauss  to  play 
at  the  palace.  The  Prince  of  Prussia,  the 
present  Emperor  of  Germany,  ordered  a  per 
formance  at  Kroll's  by  more  than  200  bands 
men,  conducted  by  the  Capellmeister  General 
Wipprecht,  before  Strauss  and  his  orchestra, 
when  the  royal  princes,  the  generals,  and  the 
pick  of  the  nobility,  attended.  On  his  departure 
a  grand  torchlight  procession  and  serenade  were 
given  in  his  honour.  On  his  return  to  Vienna 
he  was  made  conductor  of  the  court-balls.  In 
the  autumn  of  1846  he  went  to  Silesia,  and  the 
year  following  again  to  Berlin  and  Hamburg, 
where  he  revenged  himself  for  some  slights 
caused  by  professional  jealousy  by  giving  a 
concert  for  the  poor.  He  returned  to  Vienna 
by  Hanover,  Magdeburg,  and  Berlin.  During 
the  stormy  days  of  March  1848  he  did  homage 
to  the  spirit  of  the  times  in  the  titles  of  his 
pieces,  but  Strauss  was  at  heart  a  Viennese  of 
the  olden  time,  a  fact  which  caused  him  much 
unpleasantness  on  his  next  tour,  in  1849,  by 
Munich,  Stuttgart,  Frankfort,  and  the  Rhine, 
Brussels,  and  England.  He  stayed  in  London 
and  the  provinces  from  April  to  July.  After 
a  brilliant  farewell-concert  he  was  accompanied 
down  the  Thames  by  a  fleet  of  boats,  one  of 
which  contained  a  band  playing  the  popular  air, 
'  So  leb'  denn  wohl  du  stilles  Haus,'  from 
Raimund's  '  Verschwender  intonierte.'  In  the 
midst  of  this  gay  scene  he  was  oppressed  with 
a  presentiment  that  he  should  never  revisit 
London.  Shortly  after  his  return  to  Vienna  he 
was  taken  ill  with  scarlet  fever,  to  which  he 
succumbed  on  the  fourth  day,  Sept.  25,  1849. 
AVith  him  departed  a  feature  of  Viennese  life, 
and  that  the  people  themselves  felt  this  was 
shown  by  the  vast  concourse  at  his  funeral. 
A  Requiem  was  performed  in  his  honour  on 
October  n  by  his  own  band,  and  the  Manner- 
gesangverein  of  Vienna,  the  solos  being  sung  by 
Mesdames  Hasselt  and  Ernst,  Aloys  Ander  and 
Staudigl,  all  from  the  court  opera.  Strauss 
married,  in  1824,  Anna  Streim,  daughter  of  an 
innkeeper,  who  bore  him  five  children,  Johann, 
Joseph,  Eduard,  Anna,  and  Therese.  They 
separated  after  eighteen  years,  on  the  ground  of 
incompatibility  of  temper.  There  are  numerous 


STRAUSS. 

portraits  from  which  an  idea  can  be  gathered  of 
Strauss's  personal  appearance.  Though  small 
he  was  well  made  and  distinguished-looking, 
with  a  singularly  formed  head.  His  dress  was 
always  neat  and  well  chosen.  Though  lively 
in  company  he  was  naturally  rather  silent. 
From  the  moment  he  took  his  violin  in  his  hand 
he  became  another  man,  his  whole  being  seem 
ing  to  expand  with  the  sounds  he  drew  from  it. 

As  an  artist  he  furnished  many  pleasant  hours 
to  thousands,  and  high  and  low  combined  to  do 
him  honour,  while  great  masters  like  Men 
delssohn,  Meyerbeer,  and  Cherubini,  acknow 
ledged  his  talent.  He  raised  dance-music  to  a 
higher  level  than  it  had  ever  reached  before, 
and  invested  his  copious  melodies  with  all  the 
charm  of  brilliant  instrumentation.  Full  of  fire, 
life,  and  boisterous  merriment,  they  contrasted 
well  with  Lanner' s  softer  and  more  sentimental 
airs,  and  must  be  judged  by  a  totally  different 
standard  from  that  of  mere  dance-music.  As 
a  conductor  it  was  his  constant  endeavour  to 
mingle  classical  names  in  his  programmes,  and 
thus  to  exercise  an  elevating  influence  on  the 
masses.  His  works,  published  almost  entirely 
by  Haslinger,  number  251,  and  comprise  152 
waltzes,  24  galops,  6  cotillons  and  contredanses, 
32  quadrilles,  13  polkas,  and  18  marches,  in 
cluding  some  without  opus-numbers.  The  bulk 
of  these  have  made,  so  to  speak,  the  tour  of 
the  world ;  each  new  waltz  was  in  its  way  an 
event,  not  only  in  Vienna,  but  wherever  the 
first  printed  copies  penetrated.  Innumerable 
pens,  including  those  of  poets,  celebrated  his 
works,  and  the  stage  itself  took  part  in  the 
general  homage,  '  Strauss  and  Lanner '  being 
the  title  of  a  one-act  comedy  by  Topfer,  and  a 
three-act  piece  by  Anton  Langer. 

Of  his  three  sons,  the  eldest,  JOHANN,  scarcely 
less  gifted  than  his  father,  was  born  in  Vienna, 
October  25,1825.  In  accordance  with  the  father's 
wish  that  none  of  his  sons  should  adopt  his  own 
line  of  life,  Johann,  after  finishing  his  education 
at  the  Gymnasium  and  Polytechnic  Institute, 
became  a  clerk  in  the  savings'  bank,  although  he 
had,  with  his  mother's  help,  long  taken  lessons 
in  secret  on  the  violin,  and  even  studied  com 
position  with  Drechsler.  When  only  six  he 
composed,  at  Salmannsdorf  near  Vienna,  where 
the  family  used  to  spend  the  summer,  his  first 
waltz,  which  was  performed  on  his  fiftieth  birth 
day  as  'Erster  Gedanke.'  The  constraint  put 
upon  him  became  at  length  unbearable,  and  on 
October  15,  1844,  he  first  appeared  as  a  con 
ductor  at  Dommayer's,  at  Hietzing,  playing  com 
positions  of  his  own,  and  his  father's  'Loreley 
Walzer.'  His  success  on  that  occasion  decided 
his  future  career.  After  his  father's  death  he 
incorporated  the  two  bands,  and  made  a  tour 
to  the  country  towns  of  Austria,  Warsaw,  and 
the  more  important  towns  of  Germany.  He  also 
undertook  for  ten  years  the  direction  of  the 
summer  concerts  in  the  Petropaulowski  Park 
at  St.  Petersburg.  In  1862  he  married  the 
popular  singer  Henriette  ('Jetty')  Treffz,  and 
in  1863  became  conductor  of  the  court  balls. 


STRAUSS. 

This  post  he  resigned  after  his  brilliant  success 
on  the  stage,  but  he  had  in  the  meantime  com 
posed  nearly  400  waltzes,  of  as  high  a  type  as 
those  of  his  father.  His  music  is  penetrated 
with  Viennese  gaiety  and  spirit,  and  has  made 
its  way  into  all  countries.  The  waltz,  '  An  der 
schonen  blauen  Donau'  (op.  314),  became  a 
kind  of  musical  watchword  in  Vienna,  and  was 
played  on  all  festive  occasions.  Besides  Russia, 
Strauss  visited  Paris  (during  the  Exhibition  of 
1867),  London,  New  York,  Boston,  and  the 
larger  towns  of  Italy.  The  theatre  An  der 
AVien  was  the  scene  of  his  triumphs  as  a  com 
poser  of  operettas,  which  rapidly  spread  to  all 
the  theatres,  large  and  small.  '  Indigo  und  die 
vierzig  Rauber'  (his  first,  1871),  'Der  Karneval 
in  Rom,'  '  Die  Fledermaus,'  '  Prinz  Methusalem,' 
'Cagliostro,'  'Das  Spitzentuch  der  Konigin,' 
and  'Die  lustige  Krieg,'  all  published  by  Spina, 
were  soon  known  all  over  the  world,  and  were 
sung  everywhere.  After  the  death  of  his  wife 
on  April  8,  1878,  he  married  another  dramatic 
singer,  Angelica  Dittrich.  His  pen  is  still  busy 
(1883),  and  we  may  hope  for  more  of  its  lively 
productions. 

His  next  brother,  JOSEPH,  born  August  22, 
1827,  in  Vienna,  was  also  obliged  to  accom 
modate  himself  to  his  father's  wishes,  and  be 
came  an  architect.  He  had.  however,  studied 
music  in  secret,  and  during  an  illness  of  his 
brother's  in  1853  he  conducted  for  him  with  a 
baton,  as  he  did  not  learn  the  violin  till  later. 
He  next  collected  a  band,  began  to  compose, 
and  published  in  rapid  succession  283  works 
(Haslinger  and  Spina)  not  less  popular  than 
those  of  his  brother — indeed  ranked  by  some 
even  higher.  He  had  always  been  delicate,  and 
the  excitement  incidental  to  his  calling  increased 
the  mischief  year  by  year.  A  visit  to  Warsaw 
in  1870,  against  the  wish  of  his  friends,  was 
very  disastrous.  Some  Russian  officers,  having 
sent  for  him  in  the  middle  of  the  night  to  play 
for  them,  so  shamefully  ill-treated  him  for  his 
refusal  that  he  had  to  take  to  his  bed.  Under 
the  devoted  nursing  of  his  wife  (married  in 
1857)  he  rallied  sufficiently  to  return  to  Vienna, 
but  sank  a  few  days  afterwards,  July  22, 
1870. 

The  youngest  of  his  brothers,  EDUARD, 
was  born  at  Vienna,  Feb.  14,  1835,  and  edu 
cated  at  the  Schotten  and  Akademien  Gym 
nasiums.  His  father  having  died  before  he 
grew  up  he  devoted  himself  entirely  to  music, 
learnt  the  harp,  and  studied  composition  with 
Preyer.  In  1862  he  made  his  first  appearance 
as  a  conductor  in  the  Dianasaal,  and  was  well 
received  for  his  father's  sake.  In  1865  he  took 
his  brother  Johann's  place  at  the  concerts  in 
St.  Petersburg,  and  in  1870  became  conductor 
of  the  court  balls.  He  and  his  band  have  made 
repeated  tours  to  Dresden,  Leipzig,  Breslau, 
Berlin,  Hamburg,  Frankfort,  etc.  He  still  ap 
pears  regularly  in  Vienna  on  fixed  days  at  the 
Volksgarten,  and  in  the  winter  in  the  large  hall 
of  the  Mus:kverein,  when  his  programmes  are 
always  attractive.  Up  to  this  time  he  has  com 


STEETTO. 


739 


posed  over  200  pieces  of  dance-music,  published 
by  Haslinger,  and  latterly,  with  few  exceptions, 
by  Spina  ^Schreiber).  Eduard  Strauss  married 
in  1863.  [C.F.P.] 

STREICHER,  JOHANN  ANDREAS,  a  professor 
of  music  in  Arienna,  and  by  marriage  with  Nanette 
Stein,  the  founder  of  the  pianoforte-making  firm 
in  that  city,  derived  from  Stein  of  Augsburg, 
that  was  to  become  in  course  of  time  the  famous 
house  of  Streicher  und  Sohn.  J.  A.  Streicher 
was  born  at  Stuttgart  in  1761  :  he  was  a  man  of 
education  and  great  intelligence,  and  was  more 
over  distinguished  by  his  friendship  with  Schiller. 
He  brought  up  his  son,  JOHANN  BAPTIST,  who 
was  born  in  1 794,  to  the  business,  and  long  before 
his  death,  which  took  place  in  1832,  resigned  it 
to  the  son's  complete  control.  Johann  Baptist 
maintained  the  excellent  traditions  of  his  worthy 
predecessors;  and  when  he  died  in  1871,  left  his 
son,  Herr  Emil  Streicher,  the  proprietor  of  this 
historical  business,  the  services  of  which  in  the 
improvement  of  pianoforte  construction  are  duly 
recognised  in  the  articles  PIANOFORTE  and  STEIN. 
The  distinguished  pianist,  Mr.  Ernst  Pauer,  is  a 
grandson  of  J.  A.  Streicher  and  Nanette  Stein, 
and  a  great-grandson  of  the  object  of  Mozart's 
admiration,  J.  A.  Stein  of  Augsburg.  [See 
PAUER.]  [A.J.H.] 

STRETTO  (Ifcal.),  literally  'close'  or  'narrow.' 
A  term  used  in  two  ways.  Firstly  in  Fugue, 
where  it  designates  the  following  of  response  to 
subject  at  a  closer  interval  of  time  than  at  first. 
This  device  is  usually  employed  towards  the  end 
of  a  fugue,  so  as  to  give  some  impression  of 
climax.  But  there  are  plenty  of  exceptions  to 
that  custom ;  e.g. 

tf^m 

-^  BACH  48,  No.  r. 


t£7 

which  occurs  close  to  the  beginning.  Some  sub 
jects  will  bear  more  than  one  stretto,  in  which 
case  the  closer  naturally  comes  last ;  e.  g. 


from  the  'Amen'  chorus  of  Handel's  'Messiah.' 
(The  inner  parts  are  omitted  for  the  sake  of 
clearness.)  Still  more  remarkable  instances 
will  be  found  in  the  fugue  of  Bach's  Toccata  in 
D  minor. 

2.  The  second  use  of  the  word  occurs  more 
especially  in  Italian  opera,  when  towards  the  end 

3B2 


740 


STRETTO. 


STRICT  COUNTERPOINT. 


of  a  piece  the  time  is  quickened,  bringing  the 
accents  closer  together.  Thus  the  title  might  be, 
and  sometimes  is,  applied  to  the  last  prestissimo 
of  the  Choral  Symphony.  It  is  sometimes  used, 
but  quite  wrongly,  as  a  direction  equivalent  to 
accelerando,  instead  of  in  its  proper  sense  of  piu 
mosso.  [F.C.] 

STRICT  COUNTERPOINT  (Lat.  Contra- 
punctus  proprius,  vel  severus ;  Ital.  Contrappunto 
severo;  ContrappuntoaUaCapella;GerTa..Strenger 
Satz,  Kapellstyl;  Fr.  Contrepoint  severe).  The 
art  of  writing,  in  Parts,  for  two  or  more  Voices, 
without  the  employment  of  unprepared  Discords. 

The  term  is  not  very  well  chosen.  The  laws 
of  Free  Part- writing  are  quite  as  severe  as  those 
of  the  so-called  Strict  Style.  But,  the  conven 
tional  application  of  the  term  '  strict '  to  the 
method  which  forbids  the  direct  percussion  of  a 
Fundamental  Dissonance,  and  'free,'  to  that  which 
permits  it,  has  so  long  been  generally  accepted, 
that  it  would  be  impossible,  now,  to  introduce  a 
more  exact  form  of  terminology. 

The  laws  of  Strict  Counterpoint  are  not  open, 
like  those  of  Harmony,  to  scientific  discussion ; 
for,  Counterpoint  is  not  a  Science,  but  an  Art. 
It  is  true  that  its  most  important  rules,  when 
tested  by  the  principles  of  Natural  Science,  are 
found  to  coincide  with  them,  in  all  essential 
particulars  ;  and  to  this  circumstance  alone  are 
they  indebted  for  their  unassailable  position, 
and  promise  of  future  security.  Their  mathe 
matical  accuracy  fails,  however,  to  account  for 
their  universal  acceptance  as  a  code  of  artistic 
regulations.  Their  authority  for  this  rests  solely 
upon  the  praxis  of  the  Great  Masters  of  the 
Polyphonic  Schools ;  which  praxis  was,  from  first 
to  last,  purely  empirical.  The  refined  taste,  and 
true  musical  instinct,  of  Josquin  des  Pro's,  Wil- 
laert,  Byrd,  Tallis,  Palestrina,  and  their  con 
temporaries,  rebelled  against  the  hideous  com 
binations  demanded  by  the  rules  of  Diaphonia, 
and  Organum,1  and  substituted  for  them  the 
purest  and  most  harmonious  progressions  that 
Art,  aided  by  a  cultivated  ear,  could  produce ; 
but,  in  their  search  for  these,  they  were  guided 
by  no  acoustic  theory.  They  simply  wrote  what 
they  felt  :  and  because  the  instincts  of  true 
genius  can  never  err,  that  which  they  felt  was 
uniformly  good  and  true  and  logical,  and  based 
unconsciously  upon  a  foundation  firm  enough  to 
stand  the  test  of  modern  mathematical  analysis. 
The  leaders  of  the  Monodic  School 2  rejected  the 
teaching  of  these  Great  Masters ;  and,  in  their 
insane  desire  for  progress,  invented  new  forms 
of  cacophony  not  a  whit  less  rude  than  those 
practised  by  the  Diaphonists  of  the  I3th  cen 
tury.  All  Italy  followed  their  baneful  example ; 
and,  for  a  time,  relapsed  into  chaos.  But  Ger 
man  Musicians,  unwilling  to  destroy  the  old 
land-marks,  retained,  in  their  full  force,  the 
time-honoured  laws  relating  to  the  use  of  Per 
fect  and  Imperfect  Concords,  Syncopations,  and 
Notes  of  Regular  and  Irregular  Transition, 
while  they  extended  the  system  by  promulgating 


See  OKOANDM  ;  POLYPHONIA. 


2  See 


new  regulations  for  the  government  of  Funda 
mental  Discords  introduced  without  the  cus 
tomary  forms  of  Preparation  ;  and,  because  such 
Discords  had  never  before  been  sanctioned,  this 
new  method  of  Part-writing  was  called  'free,' 
though  its  rules  were  really  more  numerous  than 
those  of  the  older  one. 

It  was  not  until  some  considerable  time  after 
the  invention  of  printing,  that  the  laws  of  Strict 
Counterpoint  were  given  to  the  world  in  the  form 
of  a  systematic  code.  Franchinus  Gafurius,  in 
his  '  Practica  Musica,'  published  at  Milan  in 
1496,  gave  a  tolerably  intelligible  epitome  of 
certain  rules,  which,  at  that  period,  were  sup 
posed  to  embody  all  the  information  that  it  was 
necessary  for  the  student  to  acquire.  The  '  Mu- 
sice  active  Micrologus'  of  Ornitoparchus,  printed 
at  Leipzig  in  1517,  set  forth  the  same  laws  in 
clearer  language.  The  '  Dodecachordon '  of  Gla- 
reanus,  and  the  '  Toscanello  in  Musica '  of  Pietro 
Aron,  both  printed  at  Venice  in  1529,  were 
illustrated  by  examples  of  great  value  to  the 
tyro,  whose  labours  were  still  farther  assisted 
by  the  appearance  of  Zarlino's  'Institution!  ar- 
moniche'  in  1558,  and  Zacconi's  '  Prattica  di 
Musica'  in  1596.  In  1597,  Thomas  Morley 
published  his  '  Plaine  and  easie  introduction  to 
Practicall  Musicke' — the  earliest  treatise  of  im 
portance  in  the  English  language  ;  and,  in  1609, 
John  Douland  printed  an  English  paraphrase 
of  the  'Micrologus'  of  Ornitoparchus.  These 
works  set  forth,  with  gradually  increasing  clear 
ness,  the  regulations  which,  in  the  I5th  century, 
had  been  transmitted  from  teacher  to  pupil  by 
tradition  only.  The  Compositions  of  the  Great 
Polyphonic  Masters  formed  a  living  commentary 
upon  the  collective  rules ;  and,  with  an  endless 
succession  of  such  works  within  his  reach,  the 
student  of  the  period  ran  little  risk  of  being  led 
astray.  But  when  the  line  of  Polyphonic  Com 
posers  came  to  an  end,  the  verbal  treatises,  no 
longer  illustrated  by  living  examples,  lost  so 
much  of  their  value,  that  the  rules  were  in 
danger  of  serious  misconstruction,  and  would 
probably  have  been  to  a  great  extent  forgotten, 
had  not  Fux,  in  his  'Gradus  ad  Parnassum,' 
published  at  Vienna  in  1725,  set  them  forth 
with  a  systematic  clearness,  which,  exhausting 
the  subject,  left  nothing  more  to  be  desired. 
This  invaluable  treatise,  founded  entirely  on  the 
practice  of  the  Great  Masters,  played  so  import 
ant  a  part  in  the  education  of  the  three  greatest 
Composers  of  the  School  of  Vienna,  Haydn, 
Mozart,  and  Beethoven,  that  it  is  impossible  to 
over-estimate  its  influence  upon  their  method  of 
Part^writing.  So  clear  are  its  examples,  and  so 
reasonable  its  arguments,  that  it  has  formed  the 
basis  of  all  the  best  treatises  of  later  date,  of 
which  two  only — Albrechtsberger's  'Griindliche 
Anweisung  zur  Composition'  (Leipzig,  1790)? 
and  Cherubini's  '  Cours  de  Contrepoint  et  de  la 
Fugue'  (Paris,  1835),  are  °f  anv  rea^  import 
ance.  These  two,  however,  are  especially  valu 
able;  not,  indeed,  as  substitutes  for  the  'Gradus,' 
but  as  commentaries  upon  it.  For  Fux  treats 
only  of  Strict  Counterpoint,  and  writes  all  his 


STRICT  COUNTERPOINT. 


STRICT  COUNTERPOINT. 


741 


examples  in  the  old  Ecclesiastical  Modes;  but 
Albrechtsberger  deals  both  with  the  Strict,  and 
the  Free  Styles,  while  Cherubini  accommodates 
the  laws  of  the  Strict  Style  to  the  tonality  of 
the  modern  Scale,  with  such  consummate  skill, 
that  they  bear  all  the  appearance  of  having  been 
originally  enacted  in  connection  with  it ;  thus 
solving,  for  the  modern  student,  a  very  difficult 
problem,  which  Haydn,  Mozart,  and  Beethoven, 
were  left  to  work  out  for  themselves. 

In  most  important  particulars,  these  three  great 
teachers,  follow  the  same  general  plan.  All  write 
their  examples  on  Canti  fermi,  consisting  entirely 
of  Semibreves  :  all  make  their  Canti  fermi  close 
by  descending  one  Degree  upon  the  Tonic,  or 
the  Final  of  the  Mode:  and  all  agree  in  dividing 
their  exercises  into  five  distinct  classes,  now  known 
as  the  Five  Orders  of  Counterpoint,  the  Rules  for 
which  may  be  thus  epitomised  : — 

GENERAL  LAWS.  The  early  Contrapuntists  in 
sist  strongly  upon  the  observance  of  the  four 
following  'Cardinal  Rules'  (Eegulce  cardinales). 

I.  One  Perfect  Concord  may  proceed  to  an 
other,  in  Contrary,  or  Oblique  Motion ;  but  not 
in  Similar  Motion. 

II.  A  Perfect  Concord  may  proceed   to   an 
Imperfect   Concord   in   all   the   three   kinds   of 
Motion. 

III.  An  Imperfect  Concord  may  proceed  to  a 
Perfect  Concord  in  Contrary,  or  Oblique  Motion  ; 
but  not  in  Similar  Motion. 

IV.  One  Imperfect  Concord  may  proceed  to 
another  in  all  the  three  kinds  of  Motion. 

The  intention  of  these  Rules  is,  to  prevent  the 
possibility  of  Consecutive  or  Hidden  Fifths,  Oc 
taves,  and  Unisons. 

FIRST  ORDER  (Note  against  note).  One 
Semibreve  must  be  written,  in  each  Part,  against 
each  Semibreve  in  the  Canto  fermo.  All  pro 
gressions  must  be  purely  Diatonic ;  the  employ 
ment  of  Chromatic  Intervals  being  utterly  pro 
hibited,  both  in  Harmony  and  in  Melody,  in 
this  and  all  the  succeeding  Orders.  No  Dis 
cords  of  any  kind  are  admissible.  In  two  Parts, 
the  only  permitted  Intervals  are,  the  three 
Perfect,  and  the  four  Imperfect  Concords :  i.  e. 
the  Unison,  Octave,  and  Perfect  Fifth;1  and  the 
Major  and  Minor  Thirds  and  Sixths.  In  three 
or  more  Parts,  the  only  Harmonies  permitted  are, 
the  Major  and  Minor  Common  Chords,  and 
the  Chord  of  the  Sixth.  The  Chord  of  the  6-4 
and  the  Augmented  and  Diminished  Triads  are 
prohibited ;  but  the  First  Inversion  of  the  Di 
minished  Triad  is  admissible,  because  none  of 
its  Intervals  are  in  Dissonance  with  the  Bass. 
In  three  Parts,  each  Chord  should,  if  possible, 
consist  of  a  Root,  Third,  and  Fifth ;  or,  a  Bass- 
note,  Third,  and  Sixth.  In  four  Parts,  the  Octave 
should  be  added.  But,  in  cases  of  necessity,  any 
Interval  may  be  doubled,  or  omitted.  The  se 
parate  Parts  may  proceed,  either  in  Conjunct 

1  In  Counterpoint,  the  Perfect  Fourth,  when  used  alone,  or  reckoned 
from  the  Bass-note,  is  held  to  be,  and  treated  as,  a  Discord.  When 
it  occurs  among  the  upper  notes  of  a,  Chord,  the  Bass  taking  no  share 
in  its  formation,  it  is  treated  as  a  Perfect  Concord.  The  same  rule 
applies  to  the  Augmented  Fourth  a'ntonus),  and  the  Diminished 
Fifth  (Quinta  falsa). 


Movement,  by  Major  or  Minor  Seconds ;  or, 
disjunctly,  by  leaps  of  a  Major  or  Minor  Third, 
a  Perfect  Fourth,  a  Perfect  Fifth,  a  Minor  Sixth, 
or  an  Octave.  All  other  leaps,  including  that  of 
the  Major  Sixth,  are  absolutely  prohibited.  The 
first  Semibreve,  in  Two-Part  Counterpoint,  must 
be  accompanied  by  a  Perfect  Concord  :  in  three 
or  more  Parts,  one  Part  at  least  must  form  a 
Perfect  Concord  with  the  Bass.  In  the  remaining 
Semibreves,  Imperfect  Concords  are  to  be  pre 
ferred,  in  two  Parts. 

In  this,  and  all  other  Orders  of  Counterpoint, 
the  Parts  may  cross  each  other,  to  any  extent. 

Consecutive  Fifths,  Octaves,  and  Unisons,  in 
Similar  Motion,  are  forbidden,  in  any  number  of 
Parts.  In  four  or  more  Parts,  Consecutive  Fifths 
are  permitted,  in  Contrary  Motion,  but  only  as  a 
last  resource.2  This  Licence,  however,  does  not 
extend  to  Consecutive  Octaves,  which  were  far 
more  carefully  avoided,  by  the  Great  Masters, 
than  Consecutive  Fifths,  even  in  Contrary  Mo 
tion. 

But  Consecutive  Fifths  and  Octaves  are  only 
forbidden  when  they  occur  between  the  same 
two  Parts.  When  produced  by  different  Parts, 
or,  by  making  the  Parts  cross  each  other,  they 
are  perfectly  lawful.3 

Hidden  Fifths  and  Octaves  are  as  strictly  for 
bidden,  in  two  Parts,  as  real  Consecutives ;  but, 
in  four  or  more  Parts,  as  at  (d),  in  Ex.  3,  the 
Great  Masters  never  troubled  themselves  to  avoid 
them.* 

The  False  Relation  of  the  Tritonus  (Aug 
mented  Fourth)  is  strictly  forbidden,  in  two 
Parts ;  but  permitted,  in  three,  or  more.  That 
of  the  Octave  is  forbidden,  even  in  eight  Parts. 

In  two  Parts,  the  Unison  is  forbidden,  except 
in  the  first  and  last  notes.  The  Octave  is  per 
mitted,  in  Oblique  Motion ;  and,  in  Contrary 
Motion,  also,  provided  it  be  approached  by 
separation — i.  e.  by  the  mutual  divergence  of 
the  Parts  which  produce  it ;  as  at  (c),  in  Ex.  2. 
Its  employment  by  approximation — i.  e.  by  the 
convergence  of  the  Parts,  as  at  (6)  in  Ex.  2 — is 
only  permitted  in  the  final  Cadence.5 

In  Two-Part  Counterpoint  of  this  Order,  it  is 
forbidden  to  take  more  than  three  Thirds,  or 
Sixths,  in  succession,  unless  the  Parts  be  made 
to  cross  each  other. 

The  final  Cadence  is  formed,  either  by  a  Major 
Sixth  followed  by  an  Octave,  as  at  (c),  in  Ex.  2  ; 
or,  by  a  Minor  Third,  followed  by  an  Octave,  or 
an  Unison,  as  at  (a)  in  Ex.  I.  In  two  Parts, 
these  Intervals  will  complete  the  necessary  for 
mula.  In  more  than  two  Parts,  the  same  inter 
vals  must  be  given  to  the  Canto  fermo,  and  one 

2  It  will  be  seen,  that,  in  this  particular,  the  Strict  Style  is  more 
indulgent  than  the  Free.    Palestrina  constantly  availed  himself  of 
the  Licence ;  especially  when  writing  for  Equal  Voices. 

3  See  vol.  i.  p.  736. 

*  See  HIDDEN  FIFTHS  AND  OCTAVES,  vol.  i.  p.  735. 

5  The  earlier  writers  on  Counterpoint  insist  very  strongly  on  the 
observance  of  this  Eule ;  and  extend  its  action,  with  even  greater 
severity,  to  the  Unison,  in  the  few  cases  in  which  the  employment 
of  this  Interval  is  permitted.  Fux  (pp.  53,  54)  is  inclined  to  treat  it 
with  indulgence,  provided  the  converging  Parts  proceed  in  Conjunct 
Movement ;  but  only  on  this  condition.  Albrechtsberper  forbids  the 
progression  in  two  Parts ;  but  sanctions  it,  m  three.  Cherubini 
makes  no  mention  of  the  Ku!e. 


742 


STRICT  COUNTERPOINT. 


STRICT  COUNTERPOINT. 


other  Part,  while  the  other  Parts  fill  up  the 
Harmony,  in  accordance  with  the  laws  already 
laid  down,  as  at  (e\  in  Ex.  3.  If  the  last  Chord 
be  not  naturally  Major,  it  must  be  made  *>o,  by 
an  accidental  Sharp,  or  Natural.1 

Ex.  1. 

Canto  fermo.  (a) 

=E 


Canto  fermo. £ 

5  « 

3 

3 


SECOND  ORDER  (Two  notes  against  one).  In 
this  Order,  two  Minims  must  be  written,  in  one 
of  the  Parts,  against  each  Semibreve  in  the 
Canto  fermo,  except  the  last,  unless  the  Exercise 
should  be  in  Triple  Time,  in  which  case,  three 
Minims  must  be  written  against  each  Semi- 
breve.2  The  other  Parts  must  all  move  in  Semi- 
breves. 

In  the  Part  which  contains  the  Minims,  the 
same  note  may  not  be  struck  twice  in  suc 
cession. 

The  first  bar  should  begin  with  a  Minim  Rest, 
followed  by  a  Minim,  in  Perfect  Concord. 

In  the  remaining  bars,  the  first  Minim  must 
always  be  a  Concord,  Perfect,  or  Imperfect. 

The  second  Minim  may  be  either  a  Concord, 
or  a  Discord.  If  a  Concord,  it  may  proceed 
either  in  Conjunct  or  Disjunct  Movement. — Ex. 
4  (ff).  If  a  Discord,  it  must  be  both  approached, 
and  quitted,  in  Conjunct  Movement,  and  lie  be 
tween  two  Concords.  In  other  words,  it  must 
be  treated  as  a  Passing  Note. — Ex.  4  (/). 

The  Part  which  contains  the  Minims  is  not 
permitted  to  make  the  leap  of  a  Major  Sixth 
under  any  circumstances ;  and  not  even  that  of 
a  Minor  Sixth,  except  as  a  last  resource,  in  cases 
of  extreme  difficulty.3  Consecutive  Fifths  and 
Octaves  between  the  first  Minims  of  two  succes 
sive  bars,  are  strictly  forbidden.  Between  the 
second  Minims  they  are  tolerated,  but  only  for 
the  purpose  of  escaping  from  a  great  difficulty. 

Except  in  the  first  and  last  bars,  the  Unison 
is  forbidden,  on  the  Thesis,  or  accented  part  of 
the  measure ;  but  permitted,  on  the  Arsis,  or 
unaccented  beat.  The  Octave  on  the  Arsis  may 
be  used,  with  discretion ;  but  the  Octave  on  the 
Thesis  (Ital.  Ottava  battuta ;  Germ.Streich-Octav) 
is  only  permitted,  when  approached,  as  in  the 
First  Order,  either  in  Oblique  Motion,  or  by 

i  For  examples  of  Cadences  in  all  the  Ecclesiastical  Modes  see 
vol.  ii.  pp.  413,  414.  2  gee  Fux,  p.  63. 

3  See  Cherubini,  p.  14  b  oi  Mrs.  Cowdeu  Clarke's  translation  (No- 
vello  4  Co.) 


separation.  Its  employment  by  approximation, 
as  in  Ex.  4,  bar  5,  is  permitted  only  in  the  Final 
Cadence.4 

In  these,  and  all  other  cases,  the  first  Minims 
of  the  bar  are  subject  to  the  same  laws  as  the 
Semibreves  of  the  First  Order  ;  and  the  more 
closely  these  laws  are  observed,  the  better  the 
Counterpoint  will  be.  If  the  elimination  of  the 
second  Minim  in  every  bar,  except  the  first,  and 
the  last  but  one,  should  produce  good  Counter 
point  of  the  First  Order,  no  stronger  proof  of 
excellence  can  be  desired. 

The  Cadence  is  treated  like  that  of  the  First 
Order  ;  one  of  the  sounds  necessary  to  form  the 
characteristic  Intervals  being  assigned  to  the 
Canto  fermo,  and  the  other,  either  to  the  Part 
which  contains  the  Minims  —  Ex.  4  (h)  ;  Ex. 
5  (*)  —  or  t°  some  other  Part  written  in  Semi- 
breves. 


Ex.  4. 
Canto  fermo. 


bad. 


(70 


fi  - 
3  8 
3  - 


5  8 
3  - 
3  - 


6  - 
3  - 
3  - 


Canto  fermo. 

58         8      - 
35         65 
33- 

THIRD  ORDIR  (Four  notes  against  one).  In 
thia  Order,  four  Crotchets  must  be  written,  in 
one  of  the  Parts,  against  each  Semibreve  in  the 
Canto  fermo,  except  the  last ;  the  other  Parts 
moving  in  Semibreves. 

The  first  bar  should  begin  with  a  Crotchet 
Rest,  followed  by  three  Crotchets,  the  first  of 
which  must  form  a  Perfect  Concord  with  the 
Canto  fermo. 

The  first  Crotchet,  in  the  succeeding  bars,  is 
subject  to  the  same  laws  as  the  first  Minim  in  the 
Second  Order.  The  three  remaining  Crotchets 
may  form  either  Concords  or  Discords,  pro 
vided  that,  in  the  latter  case,  they  proceed  in 
Conjunct  Movement,  and  lie  between  two  Con 
cords  ;  in  which  respect  they  must  be  treated 
like  the  unaccented  Minims  in  the  Second  Order. 

When  the  second  Crotchet  forms  a  Discord 
with  the  Canto  fermo,  in  a  descending  passage, 
it  may,  by  Licence,  fall  a  Third,  and  then  ascend 
to  the  necessary  Concord,  as  at  (j)  in  Ex.  6, 
and  (1}  in  Ex.  7.  This  very  beautiful  progression, 
though  forbidden  by  Cherubini,  is  sanctioned  by 
the  universal  practice  of  the  Great  Masters  of 
the  1 6th  century/' 

The  employment  of  the  Tritonus,  or  the  False 
Fifth,  as  intervals  of  Melody,  is  forbidden,  not 
only  by  leap,  but  even  when  the  intervening 
sounds  are  filled  in ;  thus,  the  progressions,  F, 
G,  A,  B,  and  B,  C,  D,  E,  F,  are  as  contrary 
to  rule  as  F,  B,  or  B,  F.  This  law,  however,  is 


See  footnote  5,  p  7i 


5  Fux,  p.  65. 


STRICT  COUNTERPOINT. 

only  enforced  when  the  dissonant  sounds  form 
the  limits  of  the  passage;  F,  G-,  A,  B,  C,  is 
therefore  perfectly  lawful.  Consecutive  Fifths, 
Octaves,  and  Unisons,  are  forbidden,  between 
the  first  and  third  Crotchets  in  the  bar ;  between 
the  first  or  third  Crotchets  of  two  successive 
bars;  and,  of  course,  between  the  last  Crotchet 
of  one  bar,  and  the  first  of  the  next. 

The  Cadence  will  be  formed  by  the  Canto  fermo 
either  in  conjunction  with  the  Part  containing 
the  Crotchets,  or  with  one  of  the  Parts  written 
in  Semibreves,  on  the  same  principle  as  that  re 
commended  in  the  Second  Order.  Ex.  6 
Ex.  7  (m). 

Ex.6. 

Canto  fermo.          (j) 


STRICT  COUNTERPOINT. 


743 


Canto  fermo. 


FOURTH  ORDER  (with  Syncopations).  In 
this  Order,  one  Part  must  be  written  in  synco 
pated  Notes  ;  while  the  others  accompany  the 
Canto  fermo  in  Semibreves. 

The  first  bar  must  begin  with  a  Minim  Rest, 
followed  by  a  Minim,  in  Perfect  Concord  with 
the  Canto  fermo  ;  which  Minim  must  be  tied  to 
the  first  Minim  in  the  following  bar,  which  must 
always  form  a  Concord  with  the  lowest  Part. 
Ex.  8  (r). 

The  remaining  bars  (except  the  last)  will  each 
contain  two  Minims  ;  the  first  of  which  must  be 
tied  to  the  second  Minim  of  the  preceding  bar  ; 
and  the  second,  to  the  first  Miiiim  of  the  bar 
which  follows.  The  tied  Minims,  now  known  as 
Syncopations,  were  formerly  called  Ligatures. 

The  second,  or  unaccented  Minim,  must  always 
form  a  Concord  with  the  Canto  fermo. 

The  tied,  or  accented  Minim,  may  form  either 
a  Concord,  or  a  Discord,  with  the  Canto  fermo. 
In  the  first  case  —  Ex.  8  (o)  ;  Ex.  9  (s)  —  it  may 
proceed  upwards  or  downwards,  either  in  Con 
junct,  or  Disjunct  Movement.  In  the  second 
—  Ex.  8  (11)  ;  Ex.  9  (r)  —  it  must  descend  one 
degree  upon  a  Concord,  which  forms  its  natural 
resolution,  and  may  also  serve  to  prepare  a  Dis 
cord  in  the  succeeding  bar,  as  at  (p)  in  Ex.  8. 
In  no  case  but  that  of  the  Ninth  is  it  allowable 
to  let  the  note  into  which  the  Discord  is  about 
to  resolve  be  heard  simultaneously  with  the 
Discord  itself  in  any  other  Part  than  the  Bass. 

Consecutive  Fifths,  Octaves,  and  Unisons,  are 
strictly  forbidden,  between  the  unaccented  Minims 
of  two  successive  bars,  which  must  here  be 
guarded  as  strictly  as  the  accented  Minims  of 
the  Second  Order.  Indeed,  the  most  severe  test 
that  can  be  applied  to  this  kind  of  Counterpoint 
is,  the  excision  of  the  first  Minim  of  every  bar.  If 


this  operation  should  produce  good  Counterpoint 
of  the  First  Order,  nothing  more  can  be  desired. 

All  the  Diatonic  Discords  may  be  used  by 
Syncopation.  But,  a  succession  of  Ninths,  re 
solving  into  Octaves,  or  of  Sixths,  followed  by 
Fifths,  is  forbidden ;  because,  in  these  cases,  the 
excision,  of  the  accented  Minims  would  produce 
progressions  of  real  Fifths  and  Octaves. 

The  Cadence,  formed  always  by  the  Canto  fermo 
and  the  Part  containing  the  Syncopations,  will 
consist,  either  of  a  suspended  Seventh,  resolving 
into  a  Major  Sixth,  and  followed  by  an  Octave 
-Ex.  8  (q) ;  Ex.  9  (t) ;  or,  should  the  Canto 
fermo  be  placed  above  the  Syncopations,  of  a 
suspended  Second,  resolving  into  a  Minor  Third, 
and  followed  by  an  Unison,  or  Octave.  This 
Cadence  was  called,  by  the  Old  Masters,  the 
Diminished  Cadence  ;  and  was  used  at  the  close 
of  almost  every  Polyphonic  Composition. 

Ex.  8.       00         (o)  (p)         (q) 

—f^-i — IT  i  JTJ    i^ — i 

igBEaEE^^fg-^ra-sj 


Cant  o  fermo. 


FIFTH  ORDER  (Florid  Counterpoint).  In  this 
Order,  one  Part  will  contain  a  judicious  mixture 
of  all  the  preceding  Orders  ;  while  the  other 
Parts  accompany  the  Canto  fermo  in  consonant 
Semibreves. 

Dotted  notes,  though  forbidden  in  all  other 
Orders,  may  here  be  introduced  into  the  Florid 
Part,  with  excellent  effect  ;  and  Quavers  also, 
if  used  sparingly,  and  with  discretion,  as  at 
Ex.  10  (v).  Tied  notes  are  permitted,  on  con 
dition  that  the  length  of  the  second  note  does 
not  exceed  that  of  the  first.  In  modern  pas 
sages,  it  is  sometimes  convenient  to  use  a  tied 
note  instead  of  a  dotted  one. 

By  a  Licence,  analogous  to  that  mentioned 
with  regard  to  the  Third  Order,  a  syncopated 
Discord,  suspended  by  a  tied  Crotchet,  may 
descend  a  Third,  or  a  Fifth,  and  afterwards  re- 
ascend  to  its  Resolution,1  as  at  (x),  in  Ex.  i  r  ; 
or,  it  may  ascend  a  Fourth,  or  a  Second,  and  then 
re-descend  to  the  necessary  Concord,  as  at  (y)  in 
Ex.  10. 

A  Minim,  preceded,  in  the  same  bar,  by  two 
Crotchets,  should  always  be  tied  to  a  Minim, 
or  Crotchet,  in  the  succeeding  bar.2  Ex.  10  (u~). 

The  Diminished  Cadence  —  Ex,  10  (to)  —  is  used 
in  this  Order,  as  well  as  in  the  Fourth,  with 
many  graceful  modifications,  rendered  possible, 
as  in  Ex.  n  (2),  by  the  employment  of  dotted, 
and  tied  notes.3  These  modifications  form  part 
of  a  long  list  of  Licences,  peculiar  to  the  Fifth 
Order,  and  greatly  conducing  to  its  beauty,  as 


See  Fux,  p.  76. 


2  Ib.  p.  80. 


3  Ib.  p.  76. 


744 


STRICT  COUNTERPOINT. 


in  Ex.   ii   (y\  though,  unfortunately,  too  nu 
merous  for  detailed  notice  in  our  present  article. 


Ex.  10. 


Canto  fermo. 

Students,  who  have  mastered  all  the  difficul 
ties  of  the  Five  Orders,  are  recommended,  by 
Fux,  and  his  successors,  to  employ  two  or  more 
Orders  simultaneously,  in  place  of  filling  in  the 
free  parts  with  Semi  breves :  and  to  follow  up 
this  exercise  by  employing  the  Fifth  Order  in 
all  the  Parts  except  that  which  contains  the 
Canto  fermo. 

It  will  be  readily  understood  that  the  Rules 
we  have  here  endeavoured  to  epitomise  form  but  a 
very  small  proportion  of  those  laid  down  by  Fux, 
and  his  successors,  for  the  student's  guidance  ; 
more  especially  with  regard  to  the  Five  Orders  of 
Counterpoint  in  two  Parts,  the  laws  of  which  are 
excessively  severe.  We  have,  in  fact,  confined  our 
selves,  for  the  most  part,  to  the  regulations  which 
serve  most  clearly  to  distinguish  the  Strict  Style 
of  the  1 6th  century  from  the  Free  Part-writing 
of  the  iSth  and  I9th.  The  true  value  of  these 
Rules  lies  in  the  unvarying  purity  of  the  Har 
mony  produced  by  their  observance.  Obedience 
to  their  provisions  renders  harshness  of  effect 
impossible.  It  was  for  this  reason  that  they 
•were  so  diligently  studied  by  the  Great  Masters 
of  the  School  of  Vienna;  and,  after  them,  by 
Mendelssohn,  and  the  Composers  of  the  later 
period.  It  is  true,  that  these  Composers,  one 
and  all,  have  written  exclusively  in.  the  Free 
Style.  But,  we  have  already  explained  that  the 
laws  of  the  Free  Style  are  not  antagonistic  to 
those  of  Strict  Counterpoint.  In  their  treatment 
of  Consonant  Harmonies,  of  Suspensions,  and  of 
Passing  Notes,  the  laws  of  the  two  Styles,  as 
set  forth  in  the  works  of  the  great  classical 
writers,  are  absolutely  identical.  It  is  only 
when  dealing  with  Chromatic  Progressions,  Ap- 
poggiaturas,  and  Unprepared  Discords  generally, 
that  the  Free  Style  supplements  the  older  code 
with  new  enactments.  And,  since  these  new 
enactments  concern  progressions  altogether  un 
known  to  the  Contrapuntists  of  the  i6th  century, 
they  cannot  be  fairly  said  to  oppose  the  earlier 
system.  Except  when  entering  upon  new  ground, 
they  neither  increase  nor  diminish  the  severity 
of  the  antient  method.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  a 
w ell-known  fact  that  the  greatest  writers  in  the 
Free  Style,  and  the  most  fearless,  are  those  who 
have  worked  hardest  at  Strict  Counterpoint. 

i  Licence.    Fifths  saved  by  a  tied  Crotchet,  on  the  authority  of 
Palestrina.    At  bar  o,  the  Tenor  crosses  below  the  Eass. 


STRING. 

Hence,  Beethoven's  bon  mot  concerning  the  ne 
cessity  for  learning  rules  in  order  that  one  might 
know  how  to  break  them  ;  so  often  mis-quoted  in 
defence  of  those  who  break  them  through  ignor 
ance.  Hence,  Mendelssohn's  microscopic  atten 
tion  to  the  minutest  details,  in  the  lessons  he 
gave  in  Free  Part- writing ;  and  Hauptmann's 
determined  insistance  on  rules,  which,  though 
mentioned  by  Fux,  are  unnoticed  by  Cherubini. 
All  these  accomplished  Musicians  used  Strict 
Counterpoint  as  a  stepping-stone  to  the  Free 
Style  :  and,  if  we  would  know  how  much  the 
process  profited  them,  we  have  only  to  examine 
Mozart's  'Zauberflote,'  Beethoven's  7th  Sym 
phony,  and  Mendelssohn's  '  St.  Paul.'  [W.S.R.] 

STRINASACCHI,  REGINA,  a  distinguished 
violin-player,  born  at  Ostiglia  near  Mantua  in 
1764,  and  educated  at  the  Conservatorio  della 
Pieta  in  Venice,  and  in  Paris.  From  1780  to 
1783  she  travelled  through  Italy,  and  won  great 
admiration  by  her  playing,  her  good  looks,  and 
her  attractive  manners.  She  next  went  to  Vienna, 
and  gave  two  concerts  at  the  National  Court 
Theatre  in  the  Burg  on  March  29  and  April  24, 
1784.  For  the  second  of  these  Mozart  composed 
a  sonata  in  Bb  (Kb'chel  454),  of  which  he  wrote 
out  the  violin-part  complete,  but  played  the  ac 
companiment  himself  from  a  few  memoranda 
which  he  had  dashed  down  on  the  PF.  staves.2 
The  Emperor  Joseph,  noticing  from  his  box 
above  the  blank  look  of  the  paper  on  the  desk, 
sent  for  Mozart  and  obliged  him  to  confess  the 
true  state  of  the  case.  '  Strinasacchi  plays  with 
much  taste  and  feeling/  writes  Mozart  to  his 
father,  who  quite  agreed  with  him  after  hearing 
her  at  Salzburg.  '  Even  in  symphonies?  Leopold 
writes  to  his  daughter,  'she  always  plays  with 
expression,  and  nobody  could  play  an  Adagio 
more  touchingly  or  with  more  feeling  than  she  ; 
her  whole  heart  and  soul  is  in  the  melody  she 
is  executing,  and  her  tone  is  both  delicate  and 
powerful.'  In  Vienna  she  learnt  to  appreciate 
the  gaiety  of  Haydn's  music,  so  congenial  to  her 
own  character.  She  played  his  quartets  before 
the  court  at  Ludwigslust,  and  also  at  Frau  von 
Ranzow's,  with  peculiar  naivete"  and  humour, 
and  was  much  applauded  for  her  delicate  and 
expressive  rendering  of  a  solo  in  one  of  them. 
She  is  also  said  to  have  been  an  excellent  guitar- 
player.  She  married  Johann  Conrad  Schlick,  a 
distinguished  ceilist  in  the  ducal  chapel  at  Gotha. 
The  two  travelled  together,  playing  duets  for 
violin  and  cello.  Schlick  died  at  Gotha  in  1825, 
two  year  after  the  death  of  his  wife.  [C.F.P.] 

STRING  (Fr.  Chord;  Ital.  Corda;  Germ. 
Saite).  A  slender  length  of  gut,  silk,  or  wire, 
stretched  over  raised  supports  called  bridges,  be 
tween  which  it  is  free  to  vibrate.  When  weighted 
to  resist  the  drawing  power  or  tension,  the 
rapidity  of  its  transverse  vibrations  depends  upon 
the  tension,  the  length,  and  the  specific  gravity 

2  This  Interesting  MS.  is  now  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  F.  G.  Kurtz 
of  Liverpool.  Mozart  filled  in  the  complete  accompaniment  after 
wards  in  an  ink  of  slightly  different  colour  from  that  which  he  first 
employed,  so  that  the  state  of  the  MS.  at  the  first  performance  can  be 
readily  seen. 


STRING. 


STRINGENDO. 


745 


of  the  material ;  and  in  exact  ratio  with  this 
rapidity  the  ear  is  sensible  of  the  difference  of 
musical  pitch.  From  the  6th  century  B.C.  the 
monochord  or  single  string,  stretched  over  a 
soundboard  and  measured  by  moveable  bridges, 
has  been  the  canon  of  musical  intervals,  the 
relative  scale  of  pitch.  The  string  by  itself  would 
give  but  a  faint  tone  in  the  surrounding  air, 
and  a  soundboard  is  necessary  to  reinforce  the 
tone,  and  make  it  sufficiently  audible. 

Of  the  materials  employed  for  strings  silk  has  been 
much  used  in  the  East,  but  in  European  instruments 
gut  and  wire  have  had  the  constant  preference. 
Gut  (xopdy  m  Greek,  whence  the  familiar '  chord') 
was  the  musical  string  of  the  Egyptians,  Greeks 
and  Romans ;  wire  was  practically  unknown  to 
them,  since  wire-drawing  was  invented  only  about 
A.D.  1350,  synchronising  with  the  probable  inven 
tion  of  keved  instruments  with  strings,  such  as 

b  O     ' 

the  clavichord,  harpsichord  or  virginal.  From 
that  epoch  gut  and  wire  have  held  divided  rule, 
as  they  do  in  our  own  day  in  the  violin  and  the 
piano.  The  general  name  for  gut  strings  is  'cat 
gut,  but  it  is  really  made  from  the  intestines  of 
sheep  and  goats,  chiefly  the  former;  the  best  and 
strongest  being  of  lambs'  gut  when  the  lamb  is 
of  a  certain  age  and  development,  whence  it 
comes  that  September  is  the  month  for  fiddle- 
string  making  ;  particularly  for  first  (or  E)  fiddle- 
strings,  which  are  the  smallest  though  they  have 
to  bear  the  greatest  strain  of  the  four.  According 
to  Mr  Hart  ('The  Violin,'  London,  1875)  tiie 
best  catgut  strings  are  the  Italian  (the  Roman 
par  excellence)  ;  next  rank  the  German,  then  the 
French ;  last  of  all,  the  English.  Mr.  Hart  attri 
butes  the  superior  quality  of  the  Italian  to  climate, 
an  important  part  of  the  process  of  manufacture 
being,  in  Italy,  carried  on  in  the  open  air,  which  is 
naturally  not  always  practicable  in  England.  For 
the  deeper  toned  strings  the  gut  is  overlapped 
with  silver,  copper  or  mixed  metal.  According 
to  J.  Rousseau  ('  Trait£  de  la  Viole,'  1687)  this 
loading  of  the  string  was  introduced  in  France 
by  Sainte  Colombe  about  A.D.  1675.  The  tension 
of  the  four  strings  of  a  violin  was  stated  by 
Tartini,  in  1734,  to  be  63  Ib.  Mr.  Hart,  for  the 
modern  high  pitch,  estimates  it  at  about  90  Ib. 
— a  plea  for  the  desired  adoption  of  the  French 
normal  A. 

Wire  strings  were  originally  of  latten  or  brass, 
with  which  psalteries  and  dulcimers  were  strung. 
As  late  as  the  first  half  of  the  iSth  century, 
clavichords  were  generally  strung  with  brass  wire 
only :  pianofortes  retained  a  batch  of  brass  strings 
until  about  1830.  Steel  wire,  as  the  special 
iron  music-wire  was  called,  was  however  very 
early  introduced,  for  Virdung,  whose  'Musica 
getutscht  und  ausgezogen'  is  dated  A.D.  1511, 
expressly  states  that  the  trebles  of  clavichords 
were  then  strung  with  steel.  Early  in  the  pre 
sent  century  Nuremberg  steel  wire  was  in  great 
request,  but  about  1820  the  Berlin  wire  gained 
the  preference.  The  iron  of  both  came  from  the 

1  The  origin  of  the  term  catgut  has  not  yet  been  traced.  It  is 
difficult  not  to  believe  it  to  be  a  corruption  of  some  similarly  sound 
ing  Italian  term,  of  probably  quite  difl'erent  meaning.  [(*.] 


Hartz  mountains.  About  1834  Webster  of  Bir 
mingham  brought  out  cast  steel  for  music  wire, 
and  gave  piano  strings  a  breaking  weight  of 
about  one  third  more  than  the  German.  But  in 
1850  Miller  of  Vienna  was  able  to  contend  for 
the  first  place,  and  in  the  following  year  actually 
gained  it  at  the  Great  Exhibition,  for  cast  steel 
wire-drawing.  After  that,  Pohlmann  of  Nurem 
berg  came  forward  and  was  considered  by  some 
experts  to  have  surpassed  Miller.2  Webster's 
firm  has  not  been  idle  during  a  competition  to 
the  results  of  which  the  present  power  of  the 
pianoforte  to  stand  in  tune  owes  so  much.  A 
recent  trial  made  under  direction  of  the  writer 
gives  for  average  breaking  weight  of  24  inches, 
of  no.  I7|  wire,  Pohlrnann's  297  Ib.,  Miller's 
275lb.,  Webster  and  Horsfall  257  Ib.,  all  nearly 
doubling  the  tension  required  for  use.  It  is  not 
therefore  with  surprise  that  we  accept  the  emi 
nent  authority  of  Dr.  William  Pole,  who  regards 
cast  steel  music-wire  as  the  strongest  elastic  ma 
terial  that  exists.  The  earliest  covered  piano 
strings,  about  a  hundred  years  ago,  spun  in  long 
interstices  of  brass  over  steel,  have  in  time  become 
close  spun  in  single,  double,  and  even  treble  over- 
layings  of  copper,  or  mixed  metal  composed  of 
spelter  and  copper,  gaining  in  the  largest  strings 
a  diameter  of  0-21  of  an  inch,  and  considerable 
power  of  strain.  The  greatest  tension  of  a  string 
recorded  by  Messrs.  Broadwood  in  the  technical 
part  of  their  Exhibition  book  of  1862  is  315  Ib. 
—for  the  highest  single  string  of  a  Concert  Grand. 
They  give  the  whole  tension  at  that  time  for 
Philharmonic  pitch  (viz.  A  454,  C  540  double 
vibrations  per  second)  of  two  of  their  Concert 
Grands,  as  well  as  the  tension  of  each  separate 
note.  The  first  of  the  two  is  34,670^.  (15  tons 
9  cwt.  etc.)  ;  the  other,  a  longer  scale,  37,160  Ib. 
(16  tons  ii  cwt.  etc.).  In  the  last  twenty  years 
tension  has  been  increased,  but  not  sufficiently  so 
to  account  for  the  much  higher  totals  or  for  the 
breaking-weights  of  wire  recorded  in  Mendel's 
Lexicon.  '  [A.J.H.] 

STRING.  The  terms  '  Strings,'  '  Stringed  in 
struments,'  'String-quartet/  '  String-  trio/  have 
come  to  be  applied  in  England  to  instruments 
of  the  violin  tribe  only,  the  terms  answering 
to  the  German  Streichquartet,  Streichinstrumente. 
Thus  a  quartet  for  four  stringed  instruments, 
usually  two  violins,  viola,  and  cello,  is  called 
a  String-quartet,  to  distinguish  it  from  a  piano 
forte  quartet — that  is,  for  piano  and  three  other 
instruments ;  or  for  any  other  combination  of 
four,  such  as  a  quartet  for  four  horns,  four  flutes, 
etc.  [G.] 

STRINGENDO,  'forcing,  compelling';  press 
ing  or  hastening  the  time.  This  word  conveys, 
besides  the  idea  of  simple  acceleration  of  pace,  that 
of  growing  excitement  working  up  to  some  climax ; 
and  in  the  opinion  of  some  authorities  on  the 
subject,  the  acceleration  may  not  unfrequently  be 
accompanied  by  a  slight  crescendo,  unless  of  course 
there  is  any  mark  to  the  contrary.  [J.A.F.M.] 

2  Unpublished  correspondence  of  Theobald  Bulim,  the  flautist, 
shows  that  I'olilniauu  was  indebted  to  him  .or  improving  his  manu 
facture. 


746 


STEINGPLATE. 


STRINGPLATE  (Fr.  Sommier  en  fer;  Ital. 
Cordiera  ;  Germ.  Anhanyeplatte,  Metallner  Sai- 
tenhalter}.  The  iron  plate  on  the  hitchpin  block 
of  pianofortes  to  which  the  further  ends  of  the 
strings  are  now  attached.  It  forms  with  the 
tension  bars  the  metal  framing  of  the  instrument ; 
the  wooden  framing  being  a  bracing  more  or  less 
complete  of  wooden  beams,  in  connection  with 
the  wresfcplank,  which  is  also  of  wood,  and  some 
times  covered  with  metal.  [See  WRESTPLANK.] 
The  service  of  the  stringplate  is  one  of  weight ; 
it  bears  an  important  share  in  resisting  the  con 
tinual  draught  of  the  strings.  It  was  invented, 
rather  with  the  idea  of  compensation  than  resist 
ance,  by  William  Allen,  a  tuner  in  Stodart's  em 
ploy,  and  was  patented  by  James  Thorn  and  Allen 
in  January  1820.  A  rigid  stringplate  was  intro 
duced  by  James  and  Thomas  Broadwood  in  the 
following  year  ;  it  was  the  invention  of  one  of 
their  workmen,  Samuel  Herve.  The  single  cast 
ing  for  stringplate  and  general  resistance  was 
the  idea  of  Alpheus  Babcock,  of  Boston,  U.  S. 
1825 ;  and  was  meritoriously  improved  and 
rendered  practicable  by  Conrad  Meyer  of  Phila 
delphia,  U.S.  in  1833.  The  important  systems 
of  construction  that  have  arisen  from  the  use 
of  iron  in  stringplates  and  bars  are  described 
under  PIANOFORTE.  [A.J.H.] 

STROGERS,  NICHOLAS,  an  organist  in  the 
reign  of  James  I.,  composer  of  a  Morning  and 
Evening  Service  printed  by  Barnard.  Two  an 
thems  by  him,  '  Domine  non  est  exaltatum'  and 
*  O  God  be  merciful,'  are  in  the  Library  of  Peter- 
house,  Cambridge.  An  organ  part  of  the  latter 
is  in  the  library  of  Ely  Cathedral.  In  Christ- 
church,  Oxford,  are  two  entire  Services  (A  minor, 
D  minor),  two  Motets,  and  Fancies.  [W.H.H.] 

STROHFIEDEL,  i.e.  Strawfiddle  (Ital.  Stic- 
cato;  Fr.Claquebois;  Germ,  also HolzharmoniJca), 
is  described  by  Mendel  in  his  Lexicon  as  a  very 
ancient  and  widespread  instrument,  found  prin 
cipally  among  the  Russians,  Poles,  and  Tartars, 
consisting  of  a  range  of  flat  pieces  of  deal  or 
1  glass,  of  no  settled  number,  tuned  to  the  scale, 
arranged  on  belts  of  straw,  and  struck  with  two 
small  hammers,  after  the  manner  of  the  common 
glass  '  Harmonica '  toy. 

Its  sound  is  sweet  and  bell-like,  but  weak  ; 
and  many  an  English  reader  will  share  the  sur 
prise  expressed  by  Mendelssohn  a  propos  to 
GUSIKOW'S  performance  upon  it.  '  With  a  few 
sticks,  lying  on  straw  and  struck  with  other 
sticks,  he  does  what  is  possible  only  on  the  most 
perfect  instrument.  How  from  such  materials 
even  the  small  tone  produced  —  more  like  a 
Papageno-fife  than  anything  else — can  be  ob 
tained,  is  a  mystery  to  me.'  (Mendelssohn  Family, 
1836,  Feb.  12.)  Gusikow's  Strohfiedel,  however, 
seems  to  have  been  an  improved  kind.  It  was 
strong  enough  to  bear  the  accompaniment  of  two 
violins  and  a  cello.  The  Strohfiedel  is  intro 
duced  into  the  orchestra  in  Lumbye's  'Traum- 
bildern.'  [G.] 

i  Burney  ('  Present  State,'  u.  71)  found  it  at  Dresden,  and,  under  the 
name  of  Strofil,  describes  it  as  made  vith  glass,  and  played  on  with 
sticks,  '  like  the  sticcado.' 


STUDIES. 

STROHMEYER,  CARL,  a  bass  singer— then 
a  Kammersanger  at  Weimar — who  sang  in  a  fes 
tival  at  Frankenhausen  in  June  1810,  and  is  men 
tioned  by  Spohr  for  the  extraordinary  compass 
£.       of  his  voice  (see  Spohr's  'Selbst- 

^       biographic,'  i.  142).      He  was  born 

p[L:  ~    in  the  Stollberg  district  in  1870, 

and  was  employed  successively  at 

Gotha   and  at  Weimar,  at  which 

latter  place  he  died,  Nov.  n,  1845.  [G.] 

STROQD,  CHARLES,  born  about  1705,  was 
educated  as  a  chorister  of  the  Chapel  Royal 
under  Dr.  Croft.  After  quitting  the  choir  he 
officiated  as  deputy  organist  for  his  instructor 
and  became  organist  of  Whitehall  Chapel.  He 
died  April  26,  1726,  and  was  buried  in  the  west 
cloister  of  Westminster  Abbey.  He  is  known 
as  a  composer  by  his  beautiful  anthem,  'Hear  my 
prayer,  O  God,'  included  in  Page's  'Harmonia 
Sacra.'  [W.H.H.] 

STRUENSEE.  A  tragedy  by  Michael  Beer, 
in  5  acts  ;  to  which  his  brother,  G.  Meyerbeer, 
wrote  an  Overture  and  three  Entr'actes  — '  Der 
Aufruhr,'  'Der  Ball,'  and  'Der  Dorfschenke ' 
respectively  ;  also  a  March  and  a  Benediction  in 
the  last  act,  a  Polonaise,  and  some  smaller  pieces 
elsewhere.  Struensee  was  given  for  the  first 
time  with  the  music  at  Berlin,  Sept.  21,  1847, 
sixteen  years  after  the  death  of  its  author.  [G.] 

STUDIES  (Fr.  Etudes ;  Ger.  Etuden,  Studien). 
The  name  given  to  a  large  class  of  musical  com 
positions,  of  extremely  varied  scope  and  design, 
but  always  having,  as  the  name  implies,  the 
cultivation  of  the  powers  of  execution  for  their 
chief  object.  Studies  have  been  written  for  nearly 
every  instrument,  but  since  the  principles  which 
govern  their  construction  and  employment  are  in 
all  cases  the  same,  it  will  be  sufficient  here  to 
speak  of  Pianoforte  Studies,  which  form  the  great 
majority  of  all  those  in  existence. 

Mechanical  facility  upon  the  pianoforte  is 
achieved  in  the  first  place  by  the  practice  of 
technical  exercises,  so  called,  such  as  are  found 
in  every  pianoforte  school,  and  in  the  works  of 
Plaidy,  Loschhorn,  Eggeling,  and  many  others, 
and  consist  of  isolated  passages,  scales,  arpeggios, 
etc.,  generally  played  by  each  hand  separately 
or  by  both  in  unison.  Following  these  comes 
the  Study  proper,  in  which  opportunity  is  af 
forded  for  the  application  of  the  principles  of 
execution  to  the  performance  of  actual  music. 
For  this  purpose  it  is  not  necessary  that  the 
study  should  possess  any  value  as  a  composition, 
indeed  it  would  be  in  some  respects  inexpedient, 
first,  because  the  student's  attention  might  be 
diverted  by  the  attractiveness  of  the  music  from 
those  questions  of  touch  and  mechanism  which 
ought  to  occupy  it  exclusively,  and  secondly, 
because  musical  interest  is  scarcely  compatible 
with  that  constant  reiteration  of  a  single  figure 
which  is  required  by  considerations  of  technique. 
Accordingly,  we  find  that  the  most  valuable 
studies  of  this  class,  such  as  those  by  Czerny, 
Kessler,  Kohler,  Mayer,  etc.,  consist  for  the  most 
part  of  a  single  passage  repeated  with  simple 


STUDIES. 

harmonies  and  modulations  in  many  various  posi 
tions,  by  the  practice  of  which  a  much  more  per 
fect  mastery  is  gained  over  difficulties  than  could 
possibly  result  from  the  study  of  any  composition 
offering  a  greater  variety  of  passages. 

But  studies  such  as  those  described  form  but 
a  part  of  what  is  required  for  the  perfecting  of 
execution.  So  soon  as  a  certain  degree  of  facili  ty 
has  been  attained,  and  correct  habits  formed, 
studies  affording  a  far  greater  amount  of  musical 
interest,  though  still  constructed  on  the  same 
lines,  have  to  be  attacked.  Pre-eminent  among 
these  are  the  studies  of  Cramer,  dementi  (Gradus 
ad  Parnassian),  Moscheles  (ops.  70  and  95),  and 
Haberbier  (Etudes  Poesies),  many  of  which  are 
extremely  interesting  and  attractive  works.  Other 
studies  there  are  which  have  for  their  object  the 
development  of  the  execution  in  some  one  special 
direction,  such  as  Heller's  'Art  of  Phrasing,'  op. 
1 6,  Killer's  '  Rhythmische  Studien,'  op.  56,  Thai- 
berg's  '  L'art  du  Chant  applique"  au  Piano/  etc  , 
the  intention  of  which  is  sufficiently  indicated 
by  their  titles,  Lastly  there  are  the  so-called 
Concert  Studies  (in  German  Vortragsstudien — 
studies  of  performance)  usually  of  extreme  diffi 
culty,  and  valuable  to  the  student,  as  affording 
an  insight  into  the  nature  of  the  special  difficulties 
to  be  met  with  in  the  other  works  of  their  re 
spective  composers,  together  with  practice  in  the 
means  of  conquering  them,  and  to  the  artist,  as 
forming  short  pieces  of  great  brilliancy,  suitable 
for  the  concert  room.  Among  the  principal  studies 
of  this  kind  may  be  named  those  of  Chopin, 
Henselt,  Liszt,  Rubinstein,  and  Schumann 
(Etudes  Symphoniques).  [F.T.] 

STUCK,  German  for  Piece.  A  'Concert- 
stuck  ' —  a  term  which  has  puzzled  many  an 
English  amateur — such  aa  Weber's  for  Piano,  or 
Schumann's  for  4  Horns,  is  merely  a  '  Concert- 
piece,'  not  quite  a  Concerto,  but  nearly  the 
same.  [G.] 

STUTTERHEIM,  JOSEPH,  Austrian  Field- 
Marshal-Lieutenant,  on  whom  Beethoven  con 
ferred  the  distinguished  honour  of  dedicating  his 
last  Quartet  (op.  131),  was  born  at  Neustadt,  in 
Moravia,  1764,  and  died  at  Lemberg,  July  21, 
1831.  As  son  of  an  officer  he  received  a  military 
education,  passing  through  the  various  grades  of 
the  service  to  that  of  colonel;  for  good  conduct 
at  the  battle  of  Aspern  was  promoted  to  the 
rank  of  major-general,  and  in  1815  to  that  above 
named. 

In  1824  he  was  appointed  member  of,  the  im 
perial  council  and  much  employed  in  the  re 
organisation  of  the  army.  Here  Beethoven's 
friend  Stephan  von  Breuning,  Hofrath  in  the 
Ministry  of  War,  became  favourably  known  to 
him,  and  was  thus  able  to  obtain  an  appointment 
for  Beethoven's  nephew,  Carl,  in  the  regiment  of 
which  Stutterheim  was  '  Inhaber.'  Beethoven, 
grateful  for  this  kindness,  dedicated  the  quartet 
to  him.  [A.W.T.] 

STUTTGART  CONSERVATORIUM.  The 
salient  particulars  of  this  well-known  school  will 
be  found  under  the  head  of  STARK.  Miss  ANNA 


SUBJECT. 


747 


MEHLIG  (now  Mrs.  Rudolf  Falk)  is  the  only 
pianoforte  player  of  great  eminence  whom  the 
Conservatorium  can  claim  to  have  formed.  [G.] 

SUBDIAPENTE.  A  polyglot  word,  half  Latin 
half  Greek,  to  signify  a  fifth  below,  just  as  'Epi- 
diapente '  signified  a  fifth  above.  A  '  Canon  in 
Subdiapente '  was  a  canon  in  which  the  answer 
was  a  fifth  below  the  lead.  Similarly  '  Subdiates- 
saron '  is  a  fourth  below,  and  '  Epidiatessaron  '  a 
fourth  above.  [G.] 

SUBDOMINANT.  The  fourth  note  of  the 
scale  upwards.  The  note  below  the  dominant, 
as  F  in  the  key  of  C.  The  radical  bass  of  the 
penultimate  chord  in  the  Plagal  cadence.  When 
groups  of  movements  are  balanced  together  in 
threes  the  central  one  is  most  frequently  in  the 
key  of  the  subdominant,  as  in  sonatas  of  three 
movements,  the  minuet  and  trio  form,  marches, 
valses,  etc.  In  the  actual  body  of  a  large  move 
ment  in  forms  of  the  sonata  order,  the  key  of  the 
subdominant  is  not  antithetically  acceptable,  and 
examples  of  its  occurrence  in  modern  music  as 
the  key  of  the  second  section  or  second  subject 
are  extremely  rare,  and  evidently  not  well  ad 
vised.  But  in  dependence  on  the  tonic  key  it  is 
one  of  the  most  important  of  harmonic  centres, 
and  digressions  in  that  direction  are  very  common 
in  modern  music.  [C.H.H.P.] 

SUBJECT.  The  theme,  or  leading  idea,  on 
which  a  musical  Composition  is  based.  A  piece 
of  Music  can  no  more  be  composed  without  a 
Subject,  than  a  sermon  can  be  preached  without 
a  text.  Rich  Harmonies,  and  graceful  Passages, 
may  be  strung  together,  in  any  number;  but,  if 
they  be  not  suggested  by  a  leading  thought,  they 
will  mean  nothing.  The '  leading  thought'  is  the 
Subject :  and  the  merit  of  the  Composition  based 
upon  that  Subject  will  depend,  in  the  first  place, 
upon  the  worthiness  of  the  idea,  and,  in  the 
second,  upon  the  skill  with  which  the  Composer 
discourses  upon  it. 

Subjects  may  be  divided  into  as  many  classes 
as  there  are  classes  of  Composition  :  for,  every 
definite  Art-form  is  based  upon  a  Subject  in 
harmony  with  its  own  peculiar  character. 

I.  The  earliest  known  form  of  Subject  is  the 
Ecclesiastical  Cantus  firmus.1  The  most  im 
portant  varieties  of  this  are  the  Plain  Chaunt 
Melodies  of  the  Antiphon,2  and  those  of  the 
Hymn.3  The  former  admits  of  no  rhythmic  ictus 
beyond  that  demanded  by  the  just  delivery  of  the 
words  to  which  it  is  set.  The  latter  fell,  even  in 
very  early  times,  into  a  more  symmetrical  vein, 
suggested  by  the  symmetry  of  the  Verse,  or  Prose, 
cultivated  by  the  great  mediaeval  Hymnologists, 
though  it  was  not  until  the  close  of  the  I5th,  or 
beginning  of  the  i6th  century,  that  it  developed 
itself,  in  Germany,  into  the  perfectly  rhythmic 
and  metrically  regular  melody  of  the  Choral.4 

Upon  a  phrase  of  this  Plain  Chaunt,  the  in 
ventors  of  Harmony  discoursed,  at  will :  in  other 
words,  they  treated  it  as  a  Subject.  Composers 
of  the  nth  century  discoursed  upon  it  by  singing- 


i  See  PLAIN-SONO. 
a  See  HYMN. 


2  See  ANTIPHON. 
4  See  CHUBAL. 


748 


SUBJECT. 


a  Second  Part  against  the  given  Subject,  in  Plain 
Counterpoint — Note  against  *  Note.  They  sang 
this  Part  extempore  :  and,  because  it  was  sung 
by  a  second  Voice,  it  was  called  Discantus — the 
literal  meaning  of  which  is,  a  Song  sung  by  two 
Voices.  The  Song,  in  this  case,  was  not  a  very 
poetical  one  :  but,  it  was  fairly  and  logically 
deduced  from  the  Cantus  firmns,  and  therefore 
perfectly  reasonable.  Our  English  verb  '  to  des 
cant  '  is  derived  from  this  process  of  deduction, 
and  describes  it  exactly  ;  for  good  Discantus  con 
tains  nothing  that  is  not  suggested  by  the  Cantus 
fcrmus,  as  in  the  following  example,  from  Morley's 
'Plaine  and  easie  Introduction.' 

Discant. 


E£     & 

^ 

~5  —  ?r::i~ 

yt-^  "  

tr 

-&>- 

_^ 

)•       f  ^j 

^J                                   1 

• 

J 

2 

.  . 

Canto  Fermo  (here  treated  as  the  Subject). 


H: 



—  &>  ^y- 

-&•        0 

—    „                      

l     rn     H 

II 

:       .              -         

When  extempore  Discant  gave  place  to  written 
Counterpoint,  the  Cant usfirmus  was  still  retained, 
and  sung,  by  the  Tenor,  in  long  sustained  notes, 
while  other  Voices  discoursed  upon  it,  no  longer 
note  against  note,  but,  as  Art  progressed,  in  pas 
sages  of  Imitation,  sometimes  formed  from  the 
actual  notes  of  the  Canto  fermo,  sometimes  so 
contrived  as  to  contrast  with  it,  in  pure  Harmony, 
but  with  unlimited  variety  of  Rhythm.2  And  this 
arrangement  brought  two  classes  of  Theme  into 
simultaneous  use — the  Plain  Chaunt  basis  of  the 
whole,  and  the  Point  of  Imitation — the  first  of 
which  was  technically  distinguished  as  the  Canto 
fermo,  while  the  last,  in  process  of  time,  ap 
proached  very  nearly  to  the  true  Subject  of  the 
modern  Schools.  The  two  forms  are  very  clearly 
shown  in  Palestrina's  Missa  'Ecce  Sacerdos 
3magnus,'  in  which  the  long  notes  of  the  Canto 
fermo  never  fail  to  present  themselves  in  one  or 
other  of  the  Vocal  Parts,  however  elaborate  may 
be  the  Imitations  carried  on  in  the  rest. 

II.  By  a  process  not  uncommon  in  the  develop 
ment  of  specific  Art-forms,  the  long-drawn  notes 
of  the  Canto  fermo,  after  giving  birth  to  a  more 
vivacious  form  of  Subject,  fell  gradually  into  dis 
use;  appearing,  if  at  all,  by  Diminution,  or 
Double  Diminution,  in  notes  as  short  as  those 
formerly  used  for  Points  of  Imitation.  In  this 
manner,  the  antient  Canto  fermo  became  a  .Sub 
ject,  properly  so  called ;  and,  as  a  Subject,  was 
made  the  groundwork  of  a  regular  Fugue.  This 
process  of  development  is  strikingly  exemplified 
in  Palestrina's  'Missa  L'Homme  armeY  in  some 
of  the  Movements  of  which  the  quaint  old  Melody 

1  See  STRICT  COUNTERPOINT. 

2  See  POLYPHONIA. 

s  Published  iu  Breitkopf  &  Mitel's  edition,  vol.  x. 


SUBJECT. 

is  treated,  in  Longs,  and  Larges,  as  a  Canto  fermo, 
while,  in  others,  it  is  written,  in  Semibreves,  and 
Minims,  as  a  Fugal  Subject.1 

We  do  not  mean  to  imply  that  Palestrina  in 
vented  this  mode  of  treatment :  but  only,  that 
he  availed  himself  of  all  the  good  things  that 
had  been  used  by  his  predecessors.  The  laws  of 
Fugue  were  established  more  than  a  century 
before  his  time.  Not  the  laws  of  what  we  now 
call  Fugue;  but  those  of  the  Real  Fugue  of  the 
Middle  Ages — a  form  of  Composition  which  differs 
very  materially  from  that  brought  to  perfection 
by  the  Great  Masters  of  the  iSth  century.  Real 
Fugue  was  of  two  kinds — Limited,  and  Free.5  In 
Limited  Real  Fugue,  the  Imitation  was  carried 
on  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  Composi 
tion,  forming  what  we  now  call  Canon.  In  Free 
Real  Fugue,  it  was  not  continued  beyond  the 
duration  of  the  Subject  itself.  In  the  former  case, 
the  Theme  of  the  Composition  was  called  a  Guida 
— that  is,  a  Subject  which  serves  as  a  '  Guide' 
to  the  other  Parts,  which  imitate  it,  note  for 
note,  throughout.  In  Free  Real  Fugue,  the 
Theme  was  called  Subjectum,  Propositio,  or  Dux: 
Soggetto,  Proposta,  or,  if  very  short,  Attacco: 
Fuhrer,  Aufgabe,  or  Hauptsatz.  The  early  Eng 
lish  writers  called  it  Point ;  but  this  word  is 
now  applied,  like  the  Italian  Attacco,  to  little 
passages  of  Imitation  only,  and  the  leading  idea 
of  the  Fugue  is  simply  called  the  Subject. 

The  Subject  of  the  Real  Fugue — except  in  the 
Limited  species — was  always  very  short,  fre 
quently  consisting  of  no  more  than  three  or  four 
notes,  after  the  statement  of  which  the  Part  was 
free  to  move  in  any  direction  it  pleased.  But, 
the  treatment  of  these  few  notes  was  very  strict. 
Every  Interval  proposed  by  the  leading  Part  was 
answered  by  the  same  Interval  in  every  other 
Part.  The  Answer,  therefore,  corresponded  ex 
actly  with  the  Subject,  either  in  the  Fifth,  or 
Fourth,  above,  or  below;  and  it  was  necessary 
that  its  Solmisation  should  also  correspond  with 
that  of  the  Subject,  in  another  Hexachord.6  But, 
the  Subject,  and  the  Answer,  had  each  a  dis 
tinguishing  name.  The  Theme  and  its  reply  were 
called,  in  various  languages,  Dux  and  Comes, 
Propositio  and  Responsum,  or  Antecedens  and 
Consequens ;  Proposta  and  Risposta,  or  Ante- 
cedente  and  Consequenza  ;  Fiihrer  and  Gefahrte, 
or  Antwort;  Demande  and  Re'ponse.  In  Eng 
lish,  Subject  and  Answer ;  or,  more  rarely,  Ante 
cedent  and  Consequent. 

III.  So  long  as  the  Ecclesiastical  Modes  re 
mained  in  use,  Real  Fugue  was  the  only  species 
possible :  but,  as  these  were  gradually  replaced 
by  our  modern  system  of  tonality,  Composers 
invented  a  new  kind  of  Fugue,  formed  upon  a 
Subject  the  character  of  which  differed  entirely 
from  that  used  by  the  older  Masters.  This  form 
of  Composition  is  now  called  Tonal  Fugue.7  It 
is  generally  described  as  differing  from  Real 
Fugue  chiefly  in  the  construction  of  the  Answer. 
Undoubtedly,  this  definition  disposes  of  its  most 
essential  characteristic.  But,  there  are  other 


See  EEAL  FDQDE. 
See  TONAL  FUGUE. 


See  L'HOMME 

SeeHEXACHOKD;  SOL1IISATIOX. 


SUBJECT. 


SUBJECT. 


749 


differences  between  the  two  forms  which  cannot 
be  thus  lightly  passed  over.  So  far  as  the 
Answer  is  concerned,  it  is  enough  to  say  that 
its  Intervals  do  not  furnish  an  exact  reproduction 
of  those  of  the  Subject ;  being  governed,  as  to 
their  arrangement,  by  laws  which  scarcely  fall 
within  the  scope  of  our  present  article.  The 
Subject,  on  the  other  hand,  presents  so  many 
varieties  of  form  and  expression,  that  it  cannot 
be  too  carefully  considered.  In  the  hands  of  the 
Great  Masters,  it  presents  an  epitome  of  the 
entire  Fugue,  into  which  nothing  is  admissible 
which  is  not  in  some  way  suggested  by  it  :  and, 
in  order  that  it  may  serve  this  comprehensive 
purpose,  it  must  needs  be  very  carefully  con 
structed.  The  Subjects  employed  by  the  great 
Fuguists  are  always  found  to  be  capable  of 
suggesting  a  logical  Answer,  and  one  or  more 
good  *  Counter-Subjects  ;  of  being  conveniently 
and  neatly  broken  into  fragments,  for  purposes 
of  collateral  discussion;  of  intertwining  their 
various  members  among  the  involutions  of  an 
ingenious  Stretto ;  and  of  lending  themselves  to 
a  hundred  other  devices,  which  are  so  intimately 
connected  with  the  conduct  of  the  Fugue  itself, 
that  the  necessary  qualities  of  the  Subject  will 
be  better  understood  by  reference  to  our  general 
article  on  TONAL  FUGUE,  than  by  separate  de 
scription  here. 

IV.  We  have  shown  how  the  fathers  of  Compo 
sition  treated  the  Canto  fermo  :  how  their  imme 
diate  successors  enveloped  it  in  a  network  of 
ingenious  Points  of  Imitation :  how,  by  fusing  the 
Points  of  Imitation,  and  the  Canto  fermo  which 
suggested  them,  into  a  homogeneous  Theme,  the 
Polyphonic  Composers  gave  birth  to  that  im 
portant  factor  in  Composition  which  we  call  a 
Subject :  and  how  that  Subject  was  treated  by 
the  great  Fuguists  of  the  iSth  century-  We 
have  now  to  see  how  these  Fuguists  revived  the 
Canto  fermo,  and  employed  it  simultaneously 
with  the  newer  Subject.  Not  that  there  was 
ever  a  period  when  it  fell  into  absolute  desue 
tude  :  but,  it  was  once  so  little  used,  that  the 
term,  revived,  may  be  very  fairly  applied  to  the 
treatment  it  experienced  from  Handel  and  Bach, 
and  their  great  contemporaries. 

And,  now,  we  must  be  very  careful  about  the 
terms  we  use  :  terms  which  we  can  scarcely  mis 
apply,  if  we  are  careful  to  remember  the  process 
by  which  the  Subject  grew  out  of  the  Canto 
fermo.  The  German  Composer  of  the  i8th  cen 
tury  learned  the  Melody  of  the  Chorale  in  his 
cradle,  and  used  it  constantly:  treating  'Kommt 
Menschenkinder,  ruhmt,  und  preist,'  and  '  Nun 
ruhen  alle  W  alder,'  as  Palestrina  treated  '  Ecce 
Sacerdos  magnus,'  and  '  L'Homtne  arms'. '  Some 
times  he  converted  the  traditional  Melody  into 
a  regular  Subject,  as  in  the  'Osanna'  of  the  last- 
named  Mass.  Sometimes,  he  retained  the  long 
notes,  enriching  them  with  a  Florid  Counter 
point,  as  in  the  '  Kyrie.'  In  the  first  instance, 
there  was  no  doubt  about  the  nomenclature : 
the  term,  Subject,  was  applied  to  the  Choral 
Melody,  as  a  matter  of  course.  In  the  other 
i  See  COUNTER  SUBJECT. 


case,  there  was  a  choice.  When  the  Melody 
of  the  Chorale  was  made  to  pass  through  the 
regular  process  of  Fugal  Exposition,  and  a 
new  contrapuntal  melody  contrasted  with  it,  in 
shorter  notes,  the  former  was  called  the  Subject, 
and  the  latter,  the  Counter-Subject.  When  the 
Counterpoint  furnished  the  Exposition,  and  the 
Chorale  was  occasionally  heard  against  it,  in 
long  sustained  notes,  the  first  was  called  the 
Subject,  and  the  second,  the  Canto  fermo,  Seb. 
Bach  has  left  us  innumerable  examples  of  both 
methods  of  treatment,  in  his  '  Choral -Vorspiele,' 
'  Kirch  en-Cantaten,'  and  otber  works.  A  fine 
specimen  of  the  Chorale,  treated  as  a  Subject, 
will  be  found  in  the  well-known  'S.  Anne's 
Fugue.'  In  the  Motet,  'Ich  lasse  dich  nicht,'2 
the  Chorale  'Weil  du  mein  Gott  und  Vater 
bisb,'  is  sung,  quite  simply,  in  slow  notes,  as  a 
Canto  fermo,  against  the  quicker  Subject  of  the 
Fugue.  In  the  '  Vorspiel,'  known  in  England 
as  '  The  Giant,'  the  Chorale  '  Wir  glauben  all'  an 
einen  Gott/  forms  the  Subject  of  a  regular  Fugue, 
played  on  the  Manuals,  while  a  stately  Counter- 
Subject  is  played,  at  intervals,  on  the  Pedals. 
A  still  grander  example  is  the  opening  Move 
ment  of  the  '  Credo '  of  the  Mass  in  B  minor,  in 
which  the  Plain  Chaunt  Intonation,  'Credo  in 
unum  Deum,'  is  developed  into  a  regular  Fugue, 
by  the  Voices,  while  an  uninterrupted  Counter 
point  of  Crotchets  is  played  by  the  instrumental 
Bass.  In  neither  of  these  cases  would  it  be  easy 
to  misapply  the  words  Subject,  Counter-Subject, 
or  Canto  fermo ;  but,  the  correct  terminology  is 
not  always  so  clearly  apparent.  In  the  year 
1747,  Bach  was  invited  to  Potsdam  by  Frede 
rick  the  Great,  who  gave  him  a  Subject,  for  the 
purpose  of  testing  his  powers  of  improvisation. 
We  may  be  sure  that  the  great  Fuguist  did  full 
justice  to  this,  at  the  moment :  but,  not  con 
tented  with  extemporising  upon  it,  he  paid  the 
Royal  Amateur  the  compliment  of  working  it 
up,  at  home,  in  a  series  of  Movements  which  he 
afterwards  presented  to  King  Frederick,  under 
the  title  of  '  Musikalisches  Opfer.'  In  working 
this  out,  he  calls  the  theme,  in  one  place,  *I1 
Soggetto  Reale  ' ;  and,  in  another,  '  Thema  re- 
gium.'  It  is  quite  clear  that  in  these  cases  he 
attached  the  same  signification  to  the  terms 
Thema  and  Soggetto  ;  and  applied  both  to  the 
principal  Subject  ;  treating  the  Violin  and  Flute 
passages  in  the  Sonata,  and  the  florid  Motivo  in 
the  Canon,  as  Counter-Subjects.  But,  in  another 
work,  founded  on  a  Theme  by  Legrenzi,  he 
applies  the  term  'Thema/  to  the  principal  Motivo, 
and  'Subjectum/  to  the  subordinate  one.3  We 
must  suppose,  therefore,  that  the  two  terms 
were  in  Bach's  time,  to  a  certain  extent  inter 
changeable. 

Handel,  though  he  did  occasionally  use  the 
Canto  fermo  as  Bach  used  it,  produced  his  best 
effects  in  quite  a  different  way.  In  the  '  Funeral 

2  Ascribed  by  Schicht  and  Albrechtsberger  to  Sebastian  Bach ; 
but  now  more  frequently  attributed  to  Johann  Christoph.     [See 
vol.  i.  p.  Ilia.] 

3  ' Thema  Legrenzianum   pedaliter  elaboratum   cum   subjecto.' 
The  original  MS.  of  this  work  has  disappeared.    Messrs.  Peters,  of 
Leipzig,  have  published  it  in  Cahier  4  of  their  edition  of  the  Organ 
Works,  on  the  authority  of  a  copy  by  Andreas  Bach. 


750 


SUBJECT. 


SUBJECT. 


Anthem,'  he  treats  the  Chorale,  'Heir  Jesu 
Christ'  first  as  a  Canto  fermo  and  then,  in 
shorter  notes,  as  a  regularly- worked  Subject. 
'As  from  the  power  of  sacred  lays'  is  founded 
upon  a  Chorale,  sung  in  Plain  Counterpoint  by 
all  the  Voices ;  it  therefore  stands  as  the  Sub 
ject  of  the  Movement,  while  the  Counter-Subject 
is  entirely  confined  to  the  Instrumental  Accom 
paniment.  In  '  0  God,  who  from  the  suckling's 
mouth,'  in  the  'Foundling  Anthem/  the  Melody 
of  '  Aus  tiefer  Noth '  is  treated  as  an  orthodox 
Canto  fermo,  after  the  manner  of  the  Motet,  '  Ich 
lasse  dich  nicht,'  already  quoted.  But,  this  was 
not  Handel's  usual  practice.  His  Canti  fermi  are 
more  frequently  confined  to  a  few  notes  only  of 
Plain  Chaunt,  sung  slowly,  to  give  weight  to  the 
regularly -developed  Subject,  as  in  '  Sing  ye  to 
the  Lord,'  the  '  Hallelujah  Chorus,'  the  last 
Chorus  in  the  '  Utrecht  Te  Deum/  the  second  in 
the  'Jubilate,'  the  Second  Chandos  Anthem,  'Let 
God  arise,' the  last  Chorus  in  'Esther,'  and  other 
places  too  numerous  to  mention.1 

The  use  of  the  long-drawn  Canto-fermo  is  fast 
becoming  a  lost  art;  yet  the  effect  with  which 
Mendelssohn  has  introduced  'Wir  glauben  all' 
an  einen  Gott,'  in  combination  with  the  primary 
Subject  of  '  But  our  God  abideth  in  Heaven,'  in 
'  S.  Paul,'  has  not  often  been  surpassed.  Mozart 
also  has  left  us  a  magnificent  instance,  in  the  last 
Finale  of  'Die  Zauberfl  ote, '  where  he  has  en 
veloped  the  Chorale,  'Ach  Gott  vom  Himmel 
sieh  darein,'  in  an  incomparable  network  of  in 
strumental  Counterpoint :  and  Meyerbeer  has 
introduced  two  clever  and  highly  effective  imit 
ations  of  the  real  thing,  in  '  Les  Huguenots/  at 
the  'Litanies/  and  the  'Conjuration.' 

V.  The  similarity  of  the  Canti  fermi,  and  even 
of  the  true  Subjects,  used  by  great  Composers, 
and  handed  on,  from  generation  to  generation, 
has  given  rise  to  much  ingenious  speculation. 
I.  A  remarkable  instance  of  this  is  a  passage  of 
slow  notes,  rising  from  the  Tonic  to  the  Sub- 
Dominant,  and  then  descending  towards  the  note 
from  whence  it  started.  This  passage  is  con 
stantly  found  in  old  Ecclesiastical  Melodies; 
among  others,  in  that  of  the  Hymn  '^Eterna 
Christi  munera.'  Zarlino  used  it  as  a  Theme 
for  his  examples  in  Counterpoint.  In  Morley's 
'  Plain  and  easie  Introduction,'  Philomathes 
gives  it  to  Polymathes,  as  a  Point  'familiar 
enough,  and  easie  to  bee  maintained' — i.e.  de 
veloped  :  while  the  '  Master '  calls  it  '  a  most 
common  Point,'  which  'though  it  were  giuen 
to  all  the  Musicians  of  the  world,  they  might 
compose  vpon  it,  and  not  one  of  their  Com 
positions  bee  like  vnto  that  of  another.'  Byrd 
used  it,  in  'Non  nobis'  [which  see]  ;  Palestrina, 
in  the  first  'Agnus  Dei'  of  his  '  Missa  brevis'; 
Bach,  in  the  '  Gratias  agimus '  and  '  Dona '  of 
his  Mass  in  B  minor ;  Handel,  in  '  Sing  ye  to  the 
Lord,'  the  'Hallelujah  Chorus/  the  last  Chorus 
in  the  '  Utrecht  Te  Deum,'  the  Chamber  Duet, 
'  Tacete,  ohime !'  and  many  other  places;  Steffani, 

1  A  learned  modern  critic  finds  fault  with  Burney  for  calling  the 
Canto-fermo  in  'Sing  ye  to  the  Lord'  a  Counter-Subject  ;  but  falls 
into  the  same  error  himself  in  describing  the  Utrecht  '  Jubilate.' 


in  his  Duet,  '  Tengo  per  infallibile  ';  Perti,  in  a 
Fuga  a  8,  '  Ut  nos  possimus '  ;  Mendelssohn,  in 
'Not  only  unto  him/  from  'S.  Paul';  and  Bee 
thoven,  in  the  Trio  of  the  9th  Symphony.  And, 
in  strange  contrast  to  all  these  grand  Composi 
tions,  an  unknown  French  Composer  used  it,  with 
remarkable  effect,  in  '  Malbrook  s'en-va-t-en 
guerre.'  The  truth  is,  the  passage  is  simply  a 
fragment  of  the  Scale,  which  is  as  much  the  com 
mon  property  of  Musicians,  whether  Fuguists,  or 
Composers  of  the  later  Schools,  as  the  Alphabet 
is  the  common  property  of  Poets.2 

£=  =^s_g«_g_a_^  — 


2.  Another  Subject,  scarcely  less  universal  in  its 
application,  embraces  a  more  extended  portion  of 
the  scale.  Bach  uses  this  in  the  '  Weihnachts 
Oratorium.'  Handel,  in  the  'Hailstone  Chorus'; 
in  a  remarkable  Concerto  for  two  Orchestras,  of 
which  the  only  known  copy  is  the  original  Auto 
graph  at  Buckingham  Palace ;  in  '  Worthy  is  the 
Lamb ' ;  in  '  When  his  loud  Voice/  and  in  many 
other  places.  Mozart  used  it,  in  a  form  all  but 
identical  with  Handel's,  and  also  in  the  inverted 
form,  in  the  Jupiter  Symphony.  Beethoven  used 
it  in  his  First  Symphony;  in  his  Sonata,  Op.  31. 
No.  I ;  and  in  the  inverted  form,  in  his  Symphony 
in  C  minor.  Schumann,  in  his  Stringed  Quartet, 
No.  i,  and  his  PF.  Quartet,  Op.  47  ;  and  Brahms, 
in  the  Finale  to  his  Symphony  in  C  Minor. 


3.  These  examples  deal  only  with  the  Scale.  But 
there  are  certain  progressions  which  are  as  much 
common  property  as  the  Scale  itself;  just  as  there 
are  certain  combinations  of  letters  which  are  as 
much  common  property  as  the  Alphabet.  First 
among  these  stand  the  leaps  of  Fifths  or  Fourths, 
with  which  countless  Subjects  begin ;  and  scarcely 
less  common  are  the  Sequences  of  ascending 
Fourths  and  descending  Fifths,  which  we  so 
frequently  find  associated  with  them  :  as  in  Bach's 
Fugue  in  Eb— No.  31  of  the  XL VIII ;  Mozart's 
Overture  to  '  Die  Zauberflote/  and  a  hundred 
other  cases. 


4.  Closely  allied  to  these  Sequences  of  Fourths 
and  Fifths,  is  a  form  in  which  a  descending  Third 
is  followed  by  an  ascending  Fourth.  This  was 
used  for  a  Canon,  by  Turini,  in  the  iyth  cen 
tury  ;  in  Handel's  Second  Hautboy  Concerto,  and 
third  Organ  Fugue  ;  Morley's  Canzonet,  'Cruel, 
you  pull  away  too  soon';  Purcell's  '  Full  fathom 
five';  and  numerous  other  cases,  including  a 
Subject  given  to  Mendelssohn  for  improvisation 
at  Eome,  Nov.  23,  1830. 


— »- 


3=T 


! 


2  In  the  following  examples,  we  give  the  primary  form,  only; 
leaving  our  readers  to  compare  it,  for  themselves,  with  the  Composi 
tions  to  which  we  have  reierred. 


SUBJECT. 

5.  A  Subject,  characterised  by  the  prominent 
use  of  a  Diminished  Seventh,  and  familiar,  as 
that  of  'And  with  His  stripes,'  is  also  a  very 
common  one.  Handel  himself  constantly  used 
it  as  a  Theme  for  improvisation  ;  and  other  Com 
posers  have  used  it  also :  notably  Mozart,  in  the 
Kyrie  of  the  '  Requiem.' 


SUBJECT. 


751 


7 


6.  The  Intonation  and  Reciting-Note  of  the 
Second  Gregorian  Tone — used  either  with,  or 
without,  the  first  note  of  the  Mediation — may 
also  be  found  in  an  infinity  of  Subjects,  both 
antient  and  modern;  including  that  of  Bach's 
Fugue  in  E,  no.  33,  and  the  Finale  of  the 
Jupiter  Symphony. 


The  number  of  Subjects  thus  traceable  from 
one  Composer  to  another  is  so  great,  that  it 
would  be  impossible  to  give  even  a  list  of  Athena. 
In  fact,  as  Sir  Frederick  Ouseley  has  very  justly 
observed,  '  it  is  perhaps  difficult  for  a  Composer 
of  the  present  day  to  find  a  great  variety  of 
original  Fugue-Subjects.'  But,  the  treatment 
may  be  original,  though  the  Subject  has  been 
used  a  thousand  times;  and  these  constantly- 
recurring  Subjects  are  founded  upon  progressions 
which,  more  than  any  others,  suggest  new  Counter- 
Subjects  in  infinite  variety. 

VI.  The  Subject  of  Canon  differs  from  that  of 
Fugue,  in  that  it  is  continuous.     The  Subject  is 
as  long  as  the  Canon  itself.     Hence,  it  is  called 
the  Guida,  or  Guide;    each  note  in  the  leading 
part  directing  those  that  are  to  be  sung  by  all 
the  other  Voices  in  turn.     Subjects  of  this  kind 
will  be  found  in  vol.  ii.  pp.  228  a,  2290.,  461  6, 
464  h,  465  a,  and  other  places ;  and  many  more 
may  be  seen  in  the  pages  of  Burney  and  Haw 
kins.     Examples  of  the  method  of  fitting  these 
Subjects  together  will  be  found  in  vol.  i.  pp.  303  6, 
304  a,  and  in  vol.  ii.  p.  2286.     The  number  of 
passages  that  can  be  made  to  fit  together  in 
Canon  is  so  limited,  that  the  same  notes  have 
been  used,  over  and  over  again,  by  writers  of  all 
ages.    A  remarkable  instance  of  this  is  afforded 
by  '  Non  nobis.'    We  have  seen  how  many  Com 
posers  have  chosen  this  as  a  Fugal  Subject ;  and 
an  account  of  it,  with  some  solutions  in  Canon 
not  generally  known,  will  be  found  at  vol.ii.  p.  464. 
It  must  not,  however,  be  supposed  that  the  older 
Composers  alone  were  able  to  produce  fine  Canons. 
Haydn  thoroughly  understood  the  Art  of  writing 
them  [see  vol.  i.  7106]  ;    and  so  graceful  are 
Mozart's  that  their  Subjects  might  very  easily 
be  mistaken  for  those  of  an  ordinary  Part-Song.1 

VII.  Closely  allied  to  the  Subject  of  the  Canon 
is  that  of  the  '  Rota,'  or  Round.     In  this,  and 
in  its  comic  analogue  the  Catch,  the  Guida  is 
followed   by  every  Voice  in   turn ;    for   which 
reason   the   Composition   was  formerly   written 

)  See  a  large  collection  of  examples  in  Merrick's  English  Transla 
tion  of  Albrechtsbereer,  vol.  11.  pp.  415 — i32. 


on  a  single  Stave.  It  will  be  found  so  written 
in  a  facsimile  of  the  oldest  example  we  possess, 
at  page  269  of  the  present  volume :  and  it  is 
virtually  so  written,  even  at  the  present  day  ; 
though,  in  modern  copies,  the  Guida  is  doubled 
back,  so  to  speak,  each  time  a  new  Voice  enters, 
so  as  to  give  the  outward  appearance  of  a  Score. 
That  it  is  not  really  a  Score  is  evident,  from  the 
fact  that  there  is  not  a  separate  Part  for  each 
Voice ;  but,  there  is  a  substantial  difference 
between  this  and  the  Canon,  though  the  Subject 
of  both  is  called  a  Guida.  In  the  Canon,  the 
Subject  forms  the  whole  Composition.  In  the 
Round,  it  continues  only  until  the  entrance  of 
the  second  Voice,  the  later  sections  of  the  Guida 
representing  Counter-Subjects  only,  and  continu 
ing  to  furnish  new  Counter-Subjects  as  often  as 
new  Voices  enter. 

It  is  remarkable  that  this,  the  oldest  form  of 
ssecular  Part-writing  in  existence,  should  not 
only  have  been  invented  in  England,  but  should 
still  be  more  highly  esteemed  in  England  than 
in  any  other  country — for  it  is  only  in  England 
that  the  art  of  singing  a  Round  is  practised  with 
success,  and  the  success  with  which  we  practise 
it  dates  from  the  time  of  the  Plantagenets.* 

VIII.  In  turning  from  the  learned  complexities 
of  Fugue  and  Canon,  to  the  simple  Subject  of 
the  Dance-Tune,  we  are  not,  as  might  be  sup 
posed,  retracing  our  steps,  but  following  the  line 
traced  out  for  us  by  the  natural  development  of 
Art.  When  Instrumental  Music  first  began  to  at 
tract  attention,  the  Fugue  was  regarded  as  the 
embodiment  of  its  highest  expression.  Lulli  ended 
his  Overtures  with  a  Fugue;  but  as  time  pro 
gressed  this  form  of  Finale  was  superseded  by  that 
of  the  Dance-Tune.  The  most  common  types  were 
those  of  the  Minuet,  the  Gavotte,  the  Bourre'e,  the 
Courante,  the  Chaconne,  the  Sarabande,  the  Giga, 
and  the  closely  allied  Tunes  of  the  Allemande, 
the  Ritornello,  the  Air,  and  the  March.  They 
originally  consisted,  for  the  most  part,  of  two 
short  Strains,  the  first  of  which  stated  the  Sub 
ject,  while  the  second  developed  it  according  to 
its  means.  It  was  de  rigueur  that  the  Minuet 
should  be  written  in  Triple  Time,  and  that  each 
phrase  of  its  Subject  should  begin  with  the 
down-beat  of  the  bar — though,  in  later  times, 
most  Minuets  began  with  the  third  beat:  that 
the  Gavotte  should  be  in  Alia  breve  Time,  be 
ginning  at  the  half-bar :  that  the  Bourre'e  should 
be  in  Common  Time,  beginning  on  the  fourth 
beat ;  that  the  Allemande  should  be  in  Com 
mon,  and  the  Giga  in  Compound  Common  Time, 
each  beginning,  as  a  general  rule,  with  a  single 
short  note  :  and  so  with  the  rest.  It  was  indis 
pensable  that  the  First  Strain,  representing  the 
Subject,  should  be  complete  in  itself,  though  it 
did  not  always  end  in  the  Key  in  which  it  began. 
The  development  of  the  Subject,  in  the  Second 
Strain,  usually  consisted  in  the  prolongation  of 
the  Melody  by  means  of  phrases,  which,  in  the 
finer  examples,  were  directly  derived  from  itself; 
sometimes  carrying  a  characteristic  figure  through 

2  See  SCHOOLS  OP  COMPOSITION,  Section  XVI ;  ROUND  ;  SUMEE  is 

ICU11EN  IN. 


752 


SUBJECT. 


two  or  more  closely-related  Keys  ;  sometimes  re 
turning,  after  this  process,  to  the  initial  Strain, 
and  thus  completing  the  symmetry  of  the  Move 
ment  in  accordance  with  principles  of  the  deepest 
artistic  significance.  The  most  highly-developed 
forms  were  those  of  the  Courante  and  Allemande. 
In  these,  the  First  Strain,  if  in  the  Major  Mode, 
almost  invariably  modulated  to  the  Dominant, 
for  the  purpose  of  proceeding  to  a  formal  close  in 
that  Key :  if  in  the  Minor  Mode,  it  proceeded, 
in  like  manner,  to  the  Relative  Major.  The 
Second  Strain  then  started  with  a  tolerably  exact 
reproduction  of  the  initial  Subject  in  the  new 
Key,  or  some  other  closely  related  to  it ;  and 
the  Reprise  terminated  with  the  transposition  to 
the  original -Key  of  that  portion  of  the  First 
Strain  which  had  first  appeared  in  the  Dominant, 
or  Relative  Major.  In  these  forms,  the  share  of 
interest  allotted  to  the  process  of  development 
was  very  small  indeed,  compared  with  that  ab 
sorbed  by  the  Subject  itself;  insomuch  that,  in 
many  very  fine  examples,  the  entire  Movement 
consisted  of  little  more  than  a  Subject  artfully 
extended  by  the  articulation  of  two  members  of 
not  very  unequal  proportions. 

IX.  Very  different  from  this  was  the  next 
manifestation  of  progressive  power.  Taking  the 
lines  of  the  Allemande  as  the  limit  of  his  general 
contour,  Haydn  used  a  primary  Subject,  of  com 
paratively  limited  dimensions,  as  the  foundation 
of  a  Movement  of  greater  length  and  higher  deve 
lopment  than  any  previously  attempted.  For  this 
form  a  good  Subject  was  of  paramount  import 
ance  ;  but  its  office  was  that  of  a  text,  and  nothing 
more :  the  real  interest  of  the  Movement  lay  in 
the  completeness  of  its  treatment.  And,  because 
no  form  of  treatment  can  be  complete  without 
the  element  of  contrast,  the  Father  of  the  Sym 
phony  enriched  his  new  Art-form  with  a  Second 
Subject,  so  constructed  as  to  enhance  the  beauty 
of  the  Primary  Theme  by  the  introduction  of 
some  form  of  expression  distinctly  opposed  to  it. 
Presented  for  the  first  time  immediately  after 
the  first  great  Modulation  to  the  Dominant  or 
Relative  Major,  the  subordinate  Motive  naturally 
brought  the  First  Section  of  the  Movement  to 
a  conclusion,  in  one  or  other  of  those  nearly  re 
lated  Keys  ;  and,  naturally  also,  reappeared  after 
the  Reprise,  with  the  transposition  necessary  to 
terminate  the  Second  Section  in  the  original  Key. 
Haydn  sometimes,  and  Mozart  and  Beethoven 
constantly,  followed  this  Second  Subject  by  a 
Third  one,  in  the  same  Key— as  in  the  Over 
ture  to  'Figaro,'  and  many  similar  Movements: 
but  this  plan  introduced  no  new  principle,  and 
•was,  in  fact,  no  more  than  a  re-assertion  of  the 
leading  idea — that  of  introducing  a  new  source 
of  interest  at  a  critical  turn  of  the  Movement. 
With  the  working  of  these  Subjects  we  have,  at 
present,  no  concern.  It  remains  only  to  show 
the  various  forms  they  assumed  in  the  most 
important  styles  of  Composition. 

In  the  Overture,  the  First  Subject,  if  un 
trammelled  by  any  dramatic  or  descriptive  pur 
pose,  is  usually  a  spirited  one ;  and  the  Second, 
of  a  more  sustained  or  cantabile  character.  In 


SUBJECT. 

the  great  majority  of  cases,  both  Subjects  are 
complete  in  themselves  ;  but  the  first  is  gener 
ally  a  comparatively  short  one,  while  the  second 
sometimes  presents  the  form  of  a  fully- developed 
Air,  consisting  of  two  or  even  more  distinct 
Strains,  as  in  the  Overtures  to  '  Euryanthe '  and 
'  Ruy  Bias.'  Very  frequently  the  first  forte  in 
troduces  an  independent  Theme  in  the  primary 
Key,  as  in  'Der  Freischutz'  and  'A Midsummer 
Night's  Dream.'  Classical  Overtures  almost  al 
ways  start  with  a  strongly  marked  Theme  in 
Simple  Common  Time.  There  is,  indeed,  no  law 
concerning  this  point :  but  the  custom  is  so 
general,  that  one  of  Mendelssohn's  most  active 
coadjutors  at  the  Gewandhaus  condemned  the 
identity  of  Time  (6-4)  in  'The  Naiades'  and 
'The  Ruler  of  the  Spirits,'  as  a  self-evident 
plagiarism  on  the  part  of  Sterndale  Bennett,  not 
withstanding  the  entirely  different  character  of 
the  two  works.  Yet  the  Overture  to  'Egmont' 
is  in  3-4  time. 

The  First  Subject  of  the  Symphony  is  open  to 
greater  variety  of  character  than  that  of  the 
Overture  ;  is  frequently  in  3-4  or  6-8  Time,  or 
even  in  9-8,  as  in  Spohr's  'Die  AVeihe  der  Tone' ; 
and  is  often  of  considerable  length  and  extended 
development,  as  in  Mendelssohn's  '  Scotch  Sym 
phony.'  This  last  characteristic,  however,  is  by 
no  means  a  constant  one :  witness  the  First  Sub 
ject  of  Beethoven's  C  minor  Symphony,  which 
consists  of  four  notes  only.  As  a  general  rule, 
the  Second  Subject  of  the  Symphony  is  less  ex 
tended  in  form  than  that  of  the  Overture  ;  and  it 
may  be  predicated,  with  almost  absolute  certainty, 
that  the  less  extended  the  Theme,  the  more  com 
pletely  and  ingeniously  will  it  be  'worked,'  and 
lice  versa. 

The  Subjects  of  the  Sonata  differ  from  those 
of  the  Symphony  chiefly  in  their  adaptation  to 
the  distinctive  character  of  the  Instrument  or 
Instruments  for  which  they  are  written;  and 
the  same  may  be  said,  within  certain  limits,  of 
those  of  the  Concerto,  which  however  are  almost 
always  of  greater  extension  and  completeness 
than  those  of  any  other  form  of  Composition,  and 
are  treated  in  a  manner  peculiar  to  themselves, 
and  differing  very  materially,  in  certain  par 
ticulars,  from  the  plan  pursued  in  most  other 
Movements — as,  for  instance,  in  the  almost 
epigrammatic  terseness  with  which  all  the  Sub 
jects  of  the  First  Movement  were  interwoven, 
in  the  opening  Tutti,  into  an  epitome  of  the 
whole. 

But  in  the  important  points  of  completeness 
and  extension,  all  these  Motivi  yield  to  those  of  the 
Rondo,  the  First  Subject  of  which  forms  a  quite 
independent  section  of  the  Movement,  and  often 
closes  with  a  definite  and  well-marked  Cadence 
before  the  introduction  of  the  first  Modulation, 
as  in  the  Rondo  of  Beethoven's  '  Sonata  Pas 
torale  '  (op.  29)  ;  that  of  the  Sonata  in  C  major 
(op.  53)  ;  that  of  Mozart's  Sonata  d  4  mains,  in 
C  major ;  and  numerous  other  instances.  This 
Subject  is  rarely  presented  in  any  other  than  its 
original  form  in  the  primitive  Key ;  though,  in 
certain  exceptional  cases — such  as  Weber's  Rondo 


SUBJECT. 

for  PF.  in  Eb — it  is  very  elaborately  developed. 
The  Second  Subject — which  almost  always  makes 
its  first  appearance  in  the  Key  of  the  Dominant, 
or  Relative  Major,  to  re-appear,  after  the  last 
Reprise,  in  the  primitive  Key — is,  in  most  cases, 
little  less  complete  and  extended  than  the  First, 
though  its  construction  is  generally  less  homo 
geneous,  consisting,  frequently,  of  two,  three,  or 
even  more  distinct  members,  marked  by  consider 
able   diversity   of  figure    and    phrasing,   as   in 
Weber's  Rondo  in  Eb,  already  cited.     This  Sub 
ject,  like  the  First,  is  seldom  broken  up  to  any 
great  extent,  or  very  completely  'worked,'  though, 
as  we  have  seen,  it  is  again  employed,  in  its  en 
tirety,  in  a  transposed  form.    The  Third  Subject 
is  usually  of  a  less  extended  character  than  the 
First  and  Second;    or,  if  equally  complete  and 
continuous,  is  at  least  more  easily  broken  up  into 
fragmentary  phrases,  and  therefore  more  capable 
of   effective    working.      The   Third   Subject   of 
Beethoven's  'Sonate  Pathe"tique'  (Op.  13),  is  al 
most  fugal  in  character,  and  rendered  intensely 
interesting  by  its  fine   contrapuntal  treatment, 
though   destined  nevermore  to  re-appear,  after 
the  second  reprise  of  the  principal  Theme.     In 
deed,  each  of  the  three  Subjects  of  the  typical 
Rondo  is  nearly  always  so  designed  as  to  form 
the  basis  of  an  independent  section  of  the  Move 
ment  ;  •  and,   though  the  First  must  necessarily 
appear  three,  or  even  four  times,  in  the  original 
Key,  and  the  Second  twice,  in  different  Keys, 
the  Third,  even  when  elaborately  worked  in  its 
own  section,   is  very  seldom  heard  again  in  a 
later  one.     In  the  Rondo  of  Beethoven's  Sonata, 
Op.  26,   the   Third   Subject  is   as   complete  in 
itself,  and  as  little  dependent  on  the  rest  of  the 
Movement,  as  the  Second,  or  the  First ;  and  is 
summarily  dismissed  after  its  first  plain  statement. 
But  there  are,  of  course,  exceptions  to  this  mode 
of  proceeding.     In  the  Rondo  of  the  Sonata  in  C 
Major,  Op.  53,  all  the  Subjects,  including  even 
the  First,  are  worked  with  an  ingenuity  quite 
equal  to  that  displayed  in  the  First  Movement 
of  the  work.     Still,  these  Subjects  all  differ  en 
tirely,   both  in  form  and  character,  from  those 
employed  in  the  First  Movement ;  and  this  will 
always  be  found  to  be  the  case  in  the  Rondos  of 
the  great  Classical  Composers. 

There  remains  yet  another  class  of  Subjects 
to  which  we  have  as  yet  made  no  allusion,  but 
which,  nevertheless,  plays  a  very  important 
part  in  the  ceconomy  of  Musical  Composition. 
We  allude  to  the  Subjects  of  Dramatic  Move 
ments,  both  Vocal  and  Instrumental.  It  is 
obvious,  that  in  Subjects  of  this  kind  the  most 
important  element  is  the  peculiar  form  of  dramatic 
expression  necessary  for  each  individual  Theme. 
And,  because  the  varieties  of  dramatic  expression 
are  practically  innumerable,  it  is  impossible  to 
fix  any  limit  to  the  varieties  of  form  into  which 
such  Subjects  may  be  consistently  cast.  At  certain 
epochs  in  the  history  of  the  Lyric  Drama,  con 
sistency  has  undoubtedly  been  violated,  and 
legitimate  artistic  progress  seriously  hindered, 
by  contracted  views  on  this  point.  In  the  days 
of  Hasse,  for  instance,  a  persistent  determination 

VOL.  III.    PT.  6. 


SUBSIDIARY. 


753 


to  cast  all  Melodies,  of  whatever  character,  into 
the  same  stereotyped  form,  led  to  the  petrifaction 
of  all  natural  expression  in  the  most  unnatural 
of  all  mechanical  contrivances — the  so-called '  Con 
cert-Opera.'  Against  this  perversion  of  dramatic 
truth  all  true  Artists  conscientiously  rebelled. 
Gluck,  with  a  larger  Orchestra  and  stronger 
Chorus  at  command,  returned  to  the  principles 
set  forth  by  Peri  and  Caccini  in  the  year  1600. 
Mozart  invented  Subjects,  faultlessly  propor 
tioned,  yet  always  exactly  suited  to  the  character 
of  the  dramatic  situation,  and  the  peculiar  form 
of  passion  needed  for  its  expression.  These  Sub 
jects  he  wrought  into  Movements,  the  symmetry 
of  which  equalled  that  of  his  most  finished  Con 
certos  and  Symphonies,  while  their  freedom  of 
development,  and  elaborate  construction,  not 
only  interposed  no  hindrance  to  the  most  perfect 
scenic  propriety,  but,  on  the  contrary,  carried 
on  the  Action  of  the  Drama  with  a  power 
which  has  long  been  the  despair  of  his  most 
ambitious  imitators.  Moreover,  in  his  greatest 
work,  '  II  Don  Giovanni/  he  used  the  peculiar 
form  of  Subject  now  known  as  the  '  Leading- 
Theme'1  with  unapproachable  effect;  entrusting 
to  it  the  responsibility  of  bringing  out  the  point 
of  deepest  interest  in  the  Drama — a  duty  which 
it  performs  with  a  success  too  well  known  to 
need  even  a  passing  comment.  In  'Der  Frei- 
schutz/  Weber  followed  up  this  idea  with  great 
effect;  inventing,  among  other  striking  Subjects, 
two  constantly-recurring  Themes,  which,  applied 
to  the  Heroine  of  the  piece  and  the  Daemon, 
invest  the  Scenes  in  which  they  appear  with 
special  interest. 

At  the  present  moment,  the  popularity  of  the 
'Leading  Theme'  exceeds  that  of  any  other  kind 
of  Subject ;  while  the  danger  of  relapsing  into 
the  dead  forms  of  the  School  of  Hasse  has  ap 
parently  reached  its  zero.  But,  the  constructive 
power  of  Mozart,  as  exhibited  in  his  wonderful 
Finales,  still  sets  emulation  at  defiance. 

The  different  forms  of  Subject  thus  rapidly 
touched  upon,  constitute  but  a  very  small  pro 
portion  of  those  in  actual  use ;  but  we  trust 
that  we  have  said  enough  to  enable  the  Student 
to  judge  for  himself  as  to  the  characteristics  of 
any  others  with  which  he  may  meet,  during  the 
course  of  his  researches,  and  the  more  so,  since 
many  Subjects  of  importance  are  described  in  the 
articles  on  the  special  forms  of  Composition  to 
which  they  belong.  [W.S.R.] 

SUBMEDIANT.  The  sixth  note  of  the  scale 
rising  upwards.  The  note  next  above  the  domi 
nant,  as  A  in  the  key  of  C.  The  submediant  of 
any  major  scale  is  chiefly  brought  into  prominence 
as  the  tonic  of  its  relative  minor.  [C.H.H.P.] 

SUBSIDIARY,  in  a  symphonic  work,  is  a 
theme  of  inferior  importance,  not  strictly  form 
ing  part  of  either  first  or  second  subject,  bat 
subordinate  to  one  or  the  other.  The  spaces 
between  the  two  subjects,  which  in  the  early  days 
before  Beethoven  were  filled  tip  by  '  padding '  in 
the  shape  of  formal  passages  and  modulations, 


i  See  LEIT  MOTIF. 


3  C 


754 


SUBSIDIARY. 


are  now,  in  obedience  to  his  admirable  practice, 
occupied  by  distinct  ideas,  usually  of  small  scope, 
but  of  definite  purport.  [See  vol.  i.  p.  2036.]  The 
'  Eroica '  Symphony  affords  early  and  striking 
examples  of  subsidiary  subjects  in  various  posi 
tions.  Thus,  on  the  usual  dominant  passage 
preceding  the  2nd  subject  appears  the  plaintive 
melody : — 

k±.J* 


which  becomes  of  so  much  importance  in  the 
2nd  part.  And  the  same  title  belongs  also  to  the 
fresh  subject  which  appears  transiently  during 
the  '  working-out '  with  so  much  effect : — 


Equally  noticeable  is  the  phrase  in  a  similar 
situation  in  the  4th  Symphony, 


, 


while  the  melody  which  Schubert  interpolated 
as  an  afterthought  in  the  Scherzo  of  his  great 
C  major  Symphony  is  too  well  known  to  require 
quotation. 

These  two  last  however  are  not  worked,  and 
can  therefore  hardly  be  classed  as  '  themes,'  but 
are  more  of  the  nature  of  f  episodes.' 

In  some  cases  a  Subsidiary  acquires  so  much 
importance  in  the  working  out  as  to  rank  as  a 
third  subject.  The  Italian  Symphony  of  Men 
delssohn  supplies  a  type  of  this.  The  subject — 


which  appears  shortly  after  the  double  bar  in  the 
ist  movement,  though  properly  speaking  merely 
a  Subsidiary,  is  so  insisted  upon  and  elaborated 
in  the  working-out  and  coda  as  to  rival  the  ist 
subject  itself  in  importance. 

As  a  notable  exception  to  the  rule  that  a  Sub 
sidiary  is  usually  very  short,  we  may  mention 
that  in  the  Rondo  Finale  of  Raff's  PF.  Quartet 
in  G  (op.  202)  there  occurs  a  subordinate  theme 
over  60  bars  in  length.  [F.C.] 

SUCCENTOR,  t.  e.  Sub-cantor.  A  cathedral 
officer,  deputy  to  the  Praecentor.  His  duty  is  to 
supply  his  principal's  place  during  absence,  in 
the  regulation  of  the  service,  and  other  duties  of 
the  Prsecentor.  [G.] 


SUSSMAYER. 

SUCCES  D'ESTIME.  A  success  which  is 
due  to  the  sympathy  of  friends,  or  the  desire  to 
do  justice  to  a  meritorious  composer,  or  to  the 
hidden  inner  merits  of  a  work,  and  not  due  to 
those  qualities  which  appear  on  the  surface  and 
compel  the  applause  of  the  public.  [G.] 

SUCHER,  JOSEF,  born  at  Dobor,  Eisenburg, 
Hungary,  Nov.  23,  1844,  was  brought  up  in  the 
Lowenburg  Convict  at  Vienna,  as  a  chorister  in 
the  Hofkapelle,  which  he  joined  on  the  same 
day  with  Hans  Richter,  the  conductor.  On  com 
pleting  his  course  at  the  Convict  he  began  to 
study  law,  but  soon  threw  it  aside,  worked  at 
counterpoint  with  Sechter,  and  adopted  music 
as  his  profession.  Beginning  as  sub-conductor 
of  a  Singing  Society  in  Vienna,  he  advanced  to 
be  '  Repetitor '  of  the  solo  singers  at  the  Imperial 
Court  Opera,  and  conductor  at  the  Comic  Opera, 
and  in  1876  went  to  Leipzig  as  conductor  of  the 
City  Theatre.  In  the  following  year  he  married 
Fraulein  Rosa  Hasselbeck,  the  then  prima  donna 
of  the  same  house.  She  belongs  to  Velburg  in 
the  Palatinate,  and  is  the  daughter  of  one  musi 
cian  and  the  niece  of  another.  Her  first  en 
gagement  was  at  Troves.  Thence  she  went  to 
Konigsberg  and  thence  to  Berlin  and  Danzig, 
where  she  was  engaged  by  her  future  husband 
for  Leipzig.  From  Leipzig  in  1879  husband  and 
wife  went  to  Hamburg,  where  they  are  settled  aa 
conductor  and  prima  donna.  They  visited  Eng 
land  ini882,andMme.Sucher  proved  her  eminent 
qualities  both  as  a  singer  and  an  actress  by  the 
extraordinary  range  of  parts  in  which  she  ap 
peared  at  the  German  opera  at  Drury  Lane — 
Euryanthe;  Senta;  Elisabeth;  Elsa;  and  Isolde. 
Her  husband  produced  a  '  Scene '  or  Cantata  en 
titled  '  Waldfraulein  '  ('  The  wood  maiden ')  for 
soli,  chorus,  and  orchestra,  at  the  Richter  Concert 
of  June  5.  Composition  is  no  novelty  to  Heir 
Sucher ;  even  in  his  chorister  days  we  hear  of 
songs,  masses,  cantatas,  and  overtures,  one  of 
which,  to  an  opera  called  'Use,'  was  brought 
forward  at  a  concert  in  Vienna  in  1873.  One 
of  his  best-known  published  works  is  a  Lieder- 
cyclus  entitled  'Ruheort.'  [G.] 

SUSSMAYER,1  FRANZ  XAVEB,  composer  and 
Capellmeister,  born  1766  at  Steyer  in  Upper 
Austria,  and  educated  at  the  monastery  of 
Kremsmunster,  where  he  attempted  composition 
in  several  branches.  At  Vienna  he  had  instruc 
tion  from  Salieri  and  Mozart.  With  the  latter 
he  formed  the  closest  attachment,  becoming, 
to  use  Seyfried's  expression,  'the  inseparable 
companion  of  the  immortal  Amphion.'  Jahn 
details  the  work  he  did  for  the  '  Clemenza  di 
Tito'  on  its  production  at  Prague,  whither  he 
accompanied  Mozart.  Siissmayer  was  at  his 
bed-side  the  evening  before  Mozart's  death, 
while  the  latter  tried  to  give  him  the  necessary 
instructions  for  completing  his  Requiem,  a  task 
for  which  he  was  peculiarly  fitted  by  his  knack 
of  imitating  Mozart's  handwriting.  Jahn  has 
stated  in  detail  (ii.  172)  how  much  of  that  work 
is  in  all  probability  Siissmayer's.  [See  vol.  ii. 
p.  402  a.] 

i  He  signs  himself  on  a  symphony  SIESSMATB. 


SUSSMAYER. 

As  a  composer  Siissmayers  name  (as  'pupil 
of  Salieri  and  Mozart ' )  first  appears  at  Schika- 
neder's  Theatre,  where  his  opera,  '  Moses,'  was 
brought  _  out  May  4,  1792,  revived  in  1796, 
and  again  in  concert-form  in  1800.  This  was 
followed  by  '  L'Incanto  superato,'  a  '  musico- 
romantic  fable'  (Burgtheater,  1793),  and  by 
'  Der  Spiegel  von  Arkadien '  (Schikaneder's 
Theatre,  1794),  libretto  by  Schikaneder,  which 
became  a  favourite,  and  was  eulogised  by  the 
'Wiener  Zeitung.'  He  became  in  1794  com 
poser,  and  in  1795  Capellmeister,  to  the 
Karnthnerthor  Court  Theatre,  where  he  pro 
duced  successively  'Die  edle  Kache'  (1795), 
'Die  Freiwilligen '  (1796),  'Der  Wildfang' 
(1797),  'Der  Marktschreier '  and  '  Soliman  der 
Zweite'  (1799),  'Gulnare'  (1800),  and  'Phasma' 
(1801).  His  patriotic  cantata,  'Der  Retter  in 
Gefahr,'  was  performed  at  an  entertainment  to 
the  Vienna  volunteers  in  the  large  Eedouten- 
saal  at  a  time  of  threatened  war  (1796),  and 
several  times  repeated  in  the  same  building, 
and  by  the  Tonkunstler  Societat.  Siissmayer 
also  composed  two  operas  for  Prague.  Several 
of  the  above  works  were  printed,  some  only  in 
part,  while  others — masses,  and  smaller  church- 
works,  instrumental  pieces,  etc. — exist  only  in 
MS.  Though  wanting  in  depth  and  originality 
his  works  are  melodious,  and  have  a  certain 
popular  character  peculiar  to  himself.  He  might 
perhaps  have  risen  to  a  higher  flight  had  he  not 
been  overtaken  by  death  after  a  long  illness, 
Sept.  17,  1803.  Prince  Esterhazy  bought  his 
entire  MSS.  from  his  widow.  [C.  F. P.] 

SUITE.  In  the  period  between  the  latter 
part  of  the  i6th  and  the  beginning  of  the  i8th 
century  the  most  conspicuous  feature  of  univer 
sal  instrumental  music  is  the  profusion  of  dance 
tunes.  All  the  most  civilised  nations  of  that 
time  took  equal  pleasure  in  them ;  and  partly 
owing  to  the  itinerant  musicians  who  traversed 
divers  countries,  and  partly  to  the  wars  which 
brought  representatives  of  different  nationalities 
into  frequent  contact,  both  friendly  and  hostile, 
the  various  characteristic  types  were  spread  from 
one  land  to  another,  were  adopted  universally  by 
composers,  irrespective  of  nationality,  and  were 
so  acclimatised  as  to  become  in  many  cases  as 
characteristic  of  and  as  popular  in  the  countries  of 
their  adoption  as  in  that  of  their  origin.  This 
is  sufficiently  illustrated  in  Morley's  well-known 
'  Plain  and  Easy  Introduction  to  Practical  Mu 
sic,'  printed  in  1597.  For  when  he  comes  to 
treat  of  dance-music,  the  first  things  he  takes 
notice  of  are  Pavans  and  Galliards,  Almanes  and 
Branles ;  of  which  the  first  two  are  of  Italian 
origin,  the  third  probably  Suabian,  and  the  last 
French.  The  first  two  were  not  only  in  common 
use  for  dancing  purposes  in  Queen  Elizabeth's 
time,  but  were  adopted  by  the  great  composers 
of  the  day  and  a  little  later  as  a  favourite  basis 
for  instrumental  pieces,  which  were  intended  as 
much  for  private  enjoyment  as  music  as  for 
accompaniments  to  dances ;  and  they  are  found 
plentifully  scattered  in  such  collections  as  'Queen 
Elizabeth's  Virginal  Book'  and  the  'Parthenia/ 


SUITE. 


755 


among  sets  of  variations,  preludes,  and  fantasias. 
A  large  proportion  of  such  dances  were  naturally 
taken  singly,  but  composers  early  perceived  the 
advantage  of  contrasting  one  with  another.  Thus 
Morley,  in  the  same  part  of  the  Avork  just  men 
tioned,  speaks  of  the  desirableness  of  alternating 
Pavans  and  Galliards;  since  the  first  was  'a 
kind  of  staid  musick  ordained  for  grave  dancing,' 
and  the  latter  '  a  lighter  and  more  stirring  kind 
of  dancing ' ;  and  he  further  describes  more  ob 
scurely  the  contrast  arising  from  the  4-time 
and  3-time  which  subsists  between  them.  The 
following  examples  are  the  first  halves  of  a 
'Pavana'  and  a  'Galiardo'  by  Byrd,  which  fairly 
illustrate  Morley's  description  : — 

Pavana. 


Im           122 

|     e^      .•-          -         --|        - 

*J  IS—  22        tf« 

V-L/            -—  . 

TW^S*                    P*j 

J     -S- 

^J-^-+ 

f—                  — 

J—  J  J7l  rjfl- 

f-*^ 

-i  j  5 

5*  §•  fL 

^J.          £D                 C 

{2^*    **  « 

:     J       :    .  .  1  . 

•  •      *    ^  - 

"  •  J 

••^1 

m  J-  '- 

r^J        •                          • 

*  •  4   1 

f-        -            0 

H      •    A 

"     —  .           * 

_J 

>  r 

J 

^  ^ 

*   • 

23 

^ 


i     P-»- 


Galiardo. 


T-Z»- 


»=H 


1     h    J        1 

. 

J  -     *-       =  ^        ~ 

-    >H-  .  1  

aJ  

E±E±  •  —  s 

a-      .• 

r~                        ~r  r  r 

-^       •JJJiJSii      - 

I-  J  —  2  —  JL_ 

—  F  —  b  '  —  r 

—  FH 

M  10  1- 

—  H 

i 

N         1 

J 

1 

•  • 

22 

TT                     _         •     _ 

• 

r- 

r        i 

1u§  •                i    A  A 

T^-                • 

j 

t       1 

H          >    "^WJ"      1 

'1    J  gj    jo.-                 r  J 

V  1  &»—.  &  &  r. 

—  ?5  — 

•  —  r  

s^—  d 

•-.    I 

3C2 


756 


SUITE. 


Spitta,  in  his  Lite  of  Bach  (i.  68 1),  mentions  the 
same  contrast  as  popular  in  Germany  a  little 
later,  and  refers  to  the  publication  of  thirty 
Paduans  and  Gaillards  by  Johann  Ghro  of  Dres 
den  in  1604.  In  such  a  manner  originated  the 
idea  of  joining  different  dance-tunes  together  to 
make  an  artistic  balance  and  contrast,  and  in 
this  lies  the  germ  of  the  Suite ;  in  which,  by 
selecting  dances  of  various  nationalities,  and  dis 
posing  them  in  the  order  which  displayed  their 
relative  bearings  on  one  another  to  the  best  ad 
vantage,  composers  established  the  first  secular 
instrumental  cyclic  art-form. 

It  is  not  possible,  for  want  of  materials,  to 
trace  fully  the  process  of  selection.  The  Pavans 
and  Galliards  dropped  out  of  fashion  very  early, 
and  Allemandes  and  Courantes  came  in,  and 
soon  became  a  sort  of  established  nucleus,  to 
which  was  sometimes  appended  a  Sarabande,  or 
even  several  other  dance  movements,  and  a  Pre 
lude.  Indeed,  when  the  principle  of  grouping 
movements  together  was  once  accepted,  the  specu 
lations  of  composers  in  that  line  seem  to  have 
been  only  limited  by  their  knowledge  of  dance- 
forms.  It  was  in  fact  by  experimenting  with 
various  methods  of  grouping  that  the  most 
satisfactory  succession  was  arrived  at ;  and  thus 
many  of  the  earlier  suites  contain  a  greater  pro 
fusion  and  variety  than  is  found  in  those  of  the 
maturer  period.  In  Purcell's  suites,  for  instance, 
which  date  from  the  last  10  or  20  years  of  the 
1 7th  century,  besides  the  Allemande  and  Cou- 
rante,  which  occupy  just  the  very  position  in 
which  they  are  found  in  the  Suites  of  Bach  and 
Handel ;  in  one  case  the  group  also  comprises  a 
Sarabande,  Cebell,  Minuet,  Riggadoon,  Intrade, 
and  March  ;  while  another  contains  a  Trumpet 
tune  and  a  Chacone,  and  another  a  Hornpipe. 
One  of  the  most  curious  features  in  them  is  the 
absence  of  the  Jig,  which  in  the  mature  suite- 
form  was  the  only  one  admitted  of  English  origin. 
The  opening  with  a  Prelude  is  almost  invariable ; 
and  this  is  not  astonishing,  since  this  kind  of 
movement  (which  can  hardly  be  described  as  a 
'form')  was  as  familiar  as  the  dances,  from 
having  been  '  so  often  attempted  by  the  early 
instrumental  composers,  such  as  Byrd,  Orlando 
Gibbons,  Bull,  and  Blow  among  Englishmen. 
The  order  of  four  movements  which  served  as 
the  nucleus  in  the  large  proportion  of  suites 
of  the  mature  period  is  also  occasionally,  by 
accident,  found  very  early;  as  for  instance  in 
one  of  the  Suites  of  Froberger,  which  Nottebohm 
says  was  written  in  1649  ;  and  another  by  Lully, 
which  was  probably  written  early  in  the  second 
half  of  the  same  century. 

These  groups  had  however  as  yet  no  uniform 
distinctive  title.  In  England,  in  common  with 
other  combinations  of  divisions  or  movements, 
they  were  generally  called  Lessons,  or  Suites  of 
Lessons,  and  continued  to  be  so  called  till  after 
Handel's  time.  In  Italy  similar  groups  were 
called  Senate  da  Camera ;  in  Germany  they  were 
called  Parties  or  Partitas,  as  in  the  Clavier- 
iibung  of  Kuhnau  published  in  1689,  and  the  set 
of  six  by  Johann  Krieger  published  in  1697;  and 


SUITE. 

in  France  they  were  as  yet  commonly  known  as 
Ordres.  Thus  the  fact  evidently  existed  uni 
versally  for  some  time  before  the  name  by  which 
it  is  now  known  came  into  general  use. 

The  composers  of  different  countries  illustrated 
in  different  degrees  the  tendency  towards  con 
solidation  which  is  inevitable  in  an  art-form. 
The  steps  taken  by  the  Italians  appear  to  be 
particularly  important  as  illustrating  the  distinct 
tendencies  of  the  Suite  and  the  Sonata.  Corelli's 
earlier  Senate  da  Camera  are  scarcely  distinguish 
able  from  the  suite  type,  as  they  consist  of  a 
string  of  dance-tunes  preceded  by  a  prelude. 
The  later  sonatas  or  solos  of  his  Opera  Quinta, 
however,  represent  different  types.  Some  still 
consist  of  dance  tunes,  but  many  also  show  a 
fair  proportion  of  movements  of  more  abstract 
nature  ;  and  in  several  the  dance  element  is,  in 
name  at  least,  quite  absent.  These  are  indeed  a 
sort  of  combination  of  the  church  and  chamber 
sonata  into  a  secular  form,  adding  a  canzona  or 
free  fugal  movement  in  the  place  of  the  alle- 
mande,  and  transmuting  the  other  dance  types 
into  movements  with  general  qualities  analogous 
to  the  earlier  sonatas.  Where  this  abstract 
character  prevailed,  the  type  approached  more 
distinctly  to  that  of  the  modern  sonata,  and 
where  the  uniformity  of  a  dance  rhythm  pre 
vailed  throughout,  it  approached  more  nearly 
to  the  suite  type.  In  these  cases  the  arrange 
ment  had  already  ceased  to  be  a  mere  crude 
experiment  in  antithesis,  such  as  the  early 
balance  of  galliard  and  pavan,  and  attained  to 
the  dignity  of  a  complete  art-form.  With  the 
Italians  the  remarkable  distinction  of  their  1vioh'n 
school  led  to  the  greater  cultivation  of  the 
Violin  Sonata,  which  though  retaining  a  few 
dance -forms,  differed  markedly  in  their  distribu 
tion,  and  even  in  the  structure  of  the  movements. 
In  both  France  and  Germany,  more  attention 
seems  to  have  been  paid  to  the  clavier,  and  with 
it  to  the  suite  form.  The  former  country  very 
early  showed  many  proofs  of  appreciation  of  its 
principles;  as  an  instance,  the  suite  by  Lulli 
in  E  minor,  mentioned  above,  has  the  complete 
series  of  allemande,  sarabande,  courante,  minuet, 
and  gigue.  But  a  little  later,  theatrical  influences 
seem  to  have  come  into  play,  and  Eameau  and 
Couperin,  though  in  many  cases  adopting  the 
same  nucleus  to  start  with,  added  to  it  a  pro 
fusion  of  rondeaus  and  other  short  movements 
called  by  various  eccentric  names.  In  one  of 
Couperin's  Ordres  the  number  of  little  pieces 
amounts  to  no  less  than  twenty-three;  and  in 
such  a  case  it  is  clear  that  a  sense  of  form  or 
complete  balance  in  the  whole  can  hardly  have 
been  even  aimed  at.  The  movements  are  strung 
together  in  the  same  key,  according  to  the  re 
cognised  rule,  as  a  series  of  agreeable  ballet 
pieces,  and  the  titles  point  to  their  belonging  to 
quite  a  different  order  of  art  from  that  illustrated 
by  the  suite  in  its  maturity.  In  fact  their  kin 
ship  must  be  attributed  mainly  to  the  order  of 
programme  music.  Thus  in  the  tenth  Ordre  of 
Couperin,  the  first  number  is  called  '  La  Triom- 

i  See  SONATA,  vol.  iii.  p.  559. 


SUITE. 

phante'  and  also  'Bruit  de  Guerre.'  In  the 
eleventh  Ordre  a  series  of  pieces  represents  '  Les 
Fastes  de  la  grande  et  ancienne  Mxnxstrxndxsx,' 
in  five  acts,  the  fourth  of  which  is  'Les  Invalides,' 
etc.,  in  which  the  right  hand  is  made  to  repre 
sent  'Les  DisloqueV  and  the  left  'Les  Boiteux,' 
and  the  last  is  '  Desordre  et  d^route  de  toute  la 
troupe :  cause's  par  les  Yvrognes,  les  Singes,  et 
les  Ours.' 

In  Germany,  composers  kept  their  faces  more 
steadfastly  set  in  the  direction  of  purer  art-form, 
and  the  prevalence  of  uniformity  in  their  distri 
bution  of  movements  soon  became  remarkable. 
Kuhnau's  examples  have  been  already  referred  to, 
and  an  example  given  in  Pauer's  Alte  Clavier 
Music  illustrates  the  usual  order  absolutely. 
Spitta  mentions  that  the  famous  organist  Buxte- 
hude  made  a  complete  suite  out  of  variations  on 
the  choral  'Auf  meinem  lieben  Gott'  in  the  form 
of  sarabande,  courante  and  gigue.  Twelve  sets  of 
1  Pieces  de  Clavecin '  by  Mattheson,  which  were 
published  in  London  as  early  as  1714,  two  years 
before  Couperin's  first  set,  are  remarkably  regu 
lar.  The  first,  in  D  minor,  has  a  prelude,  alle- 
mande  and  double,  courante  and  double,  sara 
bande  and  gigue.  The  second  begins  with  a 
toccatina,  the  fifth  with  a  fantasia,  the  ninth  with 
a  'Boutade,'  and  the  tenth  with  a  'Symphonic,' 
but  in  other  respects  most  of  them  follow  the 
same  outlines  of  general  distribution.  The  '  Six 
Suits  of  Lessons '  of  the  Dutchman  Johann 
Loeillet,  published  a  little  earlier  still,  are  equally 
precise.  From  these  facts  it  is  quite  clear  that 
by  the  beginning  of  the  iSth  century  certain 
definite  principles  of  grouping  the  movements 
were  generally  known  and  accepted ;  and  that 
a  nucleus,  consisting  of  allemande,  courante, 
sarabande,  and  gigue,  had  become  the  accepted 
type  of  the  art-form. 

The  differences  between  the  structure  of  suite 
movements  and  sonata  movements  have  already 
been  traced  in  the  article  SONATA.  It  remains 
here  only  to  summarise,  with  more  special  re 
ference  to  the  suite.  While  sonata  movements 
constantly  increased  in  complexity,  suite  move 
ments  remained  almost  stationary.  They  were 
based  upon  the  persistence  of  the  uniform  type 
of  a  dance  rhythm,  throughout  the  whole  of  each 
several  movement.  Hence  the  ground  principles 
of  subject  in  sonata  and  suite  are  altogether 
different.  In  the  former  the  subjects  are  con 
crete,  and  stand  out  in  a  marked  manner  both  in 
contrast  to  one  another  and  to  their  immediate 
context ;  and  it  is  a  vital  point  in  the  form 
that  they  shall  be  fully  and  clearly  recapitulated. 
In  the  suite,  on  the  other  hand,  the  subject 
does  not  stand  out  at  all  prominently  from  its 
context,  but  is  only  a  well-marked  presentation 
of  the  type  of  motion  and  rhythm  which  is  to 
prevail  throughout  the  movement.  To  this  there 
is  no  contrasting  subject  or  episode,  and  definite 
recapitulation  is  no  part  of  the  scheme  at  all. 
In  a  few  cases — which  must  be  regarded  as  ac 
cidents  in  relation  to  the  logical  principles  of  the 
form — the  opening  bars  happen  to  be  sufficiently 
marked  to  have  something  of  the  character  of  a 


SUITE. 


757 


sonata  subject;  and  in  such  cases  it  may  also 
happen  that  they  are  repeated  with  sufficient 
simplicity  to  have  the  effect  of  recapitulation. 
But  nevertheless  it  must  be  maintained  that  this 
is  not  part  of  the  principle  of  construction.  And 
with  reference  to  this  point  it  is  well  to  remember 
that  composers  did  not  attain  the  ultimate  dis 
tinct  outlines  of  sonata  and  suite  with  a  definite 
purpose  and  plan  before  them ;  but  that  in 
working  with  particular  materials  they  were  led 
almost  unconsciously  to  differentiate  the  two  forms. 
The  plan  is  found  to  exist  when  the  work  is  done; 
but  it  was  not  theoretically  propounded  and  then 
worked  up  to.  It  is  not  therefore  a  matter  for 
surprise  that  in  early  times  some  points  in  the 
development  of  abstract  form  of  the  sonata  kind 
were  worked  out  in  dance  movements  of  the 
suite  type,  and  applied  and  extended  afterwards 
in  works  which  had  more  distinctly  the  sonata 
character.  Nevertheless  the  sonata  is  not  an 
outgrowth  from  the  suite ;  but,  inasmuch  as 
both  were  descended  from  a  kindred  stock,  before 
the  distinctions  had  become  well  defined,  it  is 
natural  that  many  works  should  have  continued 
to  exhibit -suggestions  and  traits  of  both  sides 
promiscuously.  On  the  whole  however  it  is  re 
markable  how  soon  the  distinct  types  came  to  be 
generally  maintained ;  and  from  the  number  of 
instances  which  conform,  the  system  can  be  fairly 
deduced. 

The  most  marked  external  point  is  the  uni 
formity  of  key.  In  Corelli's  earlier  Senate  da 
Camera,  which  in  general  are  decided  suites,  the 
one  exception  which  marks  a  sonata  tendency  is 
that  the  slow  dance  is  often  in  a  different  key  from 
the  rest  of  the  movements.  In  later  suites  of  all 
sorts  the  uniformity  of  key  throughout  is  almost 
universal.  In  the  whole  of  Bach's  the  only 
exceptions  are  the  second  minuet  of  the  fourth 
English  Suite,  and  the  second  gavotte  in  that 
known  as  the  'Overture  in  French  Style.'1  Hence 
the  contrast  is  purely  one  of  character  between 
the  several  movements ;  and  this  is  emphasised 
by  the  absence  of  any  marked  contrast  of  key  or 
subject  in  the  movements  themselves.  They  are 
almost  invariably  constructed  upon  the  simple 
principle  of  balanced  halves,  each  representing 
the  same  material  in  different  phases ;  and  each 
strengthened  by  repetition.  The  first  half  sets 
out  from  the  tonic  key,  and  without  any  marked 
pause  or  division  modulates  so  as  to  settle  into 
the  key  of  the  dominant  or  relative  major,  and 
closes  in  that  key.  The  second  half  begins  afresh 
from  that  point,  and  proceeding  in  most  cases  by 
way  of  the  key  of  the  subdominant,  settles  well 
back  again  into  the  original  key  and  concludes. 
The  only  break  therefore  is  in  the  middle ;  and 
the  two  halves  are  made  purposely  to  balance 
one  another,  as  far  as  may  be,  without  definite 
recapitulation.  In  a  few  movements,  such  espe 
cially  as  sarabandes  and  intermezzi,  the  second 
half  is  somewhat  extended  to  admit  of  a  little 
development  and  free  modulation,  but  the  general 
principles  in  the  average  number  of  cases  are 
the  same,  namely  to  diffuse  the  character  of  the 

1  •  Ouverture  &  la  mauiere  Francaise.' 


758 


SUITE. 


principal  figures  and  features  throughout,  rather 
than  to  concentrate  the  interest  of  the  subject 
in  definite  parts  of  the  movement.  In  order,  how 
ever,  to  strengthen  the  effect  of  balance  between 
the  two  halves,  certain  devices  are  common  and 
characteristic,  especially  with  regard  to  the 
beginnings  and  endings  of  each  half.  Thus 
though  composers  do  not  seem  to  have  aimed 
at  recapitulation,  there  is  frequently  a  clear 
relation  between  the  opening  bars  of  each  half. 
This  often  amounts  to  no  more  than  a  subtle 
equivalence  in  the  distribution  of  the  group  of 
rhythms  in  the  bar,  or  a  very  loose  transcript 
of  its  melodic  features.  But  in  some  cases, 
most  especially  in  Bach,  the  opening  bars  of 
the  latter  half  present  a  free  inversion  of  the 
beginning  of  the  first  half,  or  a  sort  of  free 
shuffling  of  the  parts  approximating  to  double 
counterpoint.  The  first  mode  is  clearly  illustrated 
by  the  Courante  of  the  3rd  Partita  in  A  minor 
as  follows : 


1st  half. 


The  Allemande  of  the  4th  Suite  Anglaise  sup 
plies  a  remarkable  example  of  free  inversion  of 
figures  and  parts  at  the  same  time. 


1st  half. 


2nd  half.  S  i 


The  other  point,  of  even  more  common  occur 
rence,  is  the  correspondence  of  the  ends  of  each 
half,  which  prevails  particularly  in  allemandes, 
courantes  and  gigues.  A  very  fine  and  full  ex 
ample  is  supplied  by  the  Allemande  of  Bach's 
1st  Suite  Anglaise  ;  the  Courante  of  his  2nd 
Suite  Franfaise  supplies  another  of  some  length; 
and  among  works  of  other  composers  the  Alle 
mande  of  Lully's  Suite  in  E  minor,  the  Courante 
of  Mattheson's  Suite  no.  5  in  C  minor,  the  Cou 
rante  of  Handel's  4th  Suite,  the  Gigue  of  his 
8th  Suite,  and  most  of  his  Allemandes,  are  in- 


SUITE. 

stances  to  the  point.  In  the  particular  manner 
of  the  suite  movements  both  these  devices  are 
exceedingly  effective  as  emphasising  the  balance 
of  halves,  and  in  the  finest  movements  the  balance 
of  material  and  modulation  is  carefully  distributed 
for  the  same  end.  Thus  much  of  form  applies 
more  or  less  to  all  the  movements  which  are  based 
on  dance  rhythms,  or  developed  on  that  principle. 
Each  of  the  movements  has  also  severally  dis 
tinct  characteristics,  upon  which  the  form  of  the 
suite  as  a  whole  is  mainly  based.  For  the  better 
understanding  of  this  it  will  be  best  to  take  the 
group  which  forms  the  average  nucleus  or  so-called 
canon  of  the  Suite.  In  the  severest  simplicity  of 
the  form  the  Allemande  comes  first,  as  in  all 
Bach's  French  Suites,  in  some  of  Couperin's,  and 
many  by  earlier  composers.  The  origin  of  the 
movement  is  obscure,  and  it  is  maintained  that  it 
is  not  based  upon  any  dance,  since  the  Allemande 
of  Suabian  origin,  said  to  be  the  only  dance-form 
of  that  name  known,  is  quite  distinct  from  it. 
However  that  may  be,  its  constitution,  which 
is  most  important,  consists  mainly  of  moder 
ately  slow  4-time,  with  regular  smooth  motion 
— most  frequently  of  semiquavers — distributed 
in  a  figurate  manner  between  the  various  parts, 
and  its  character  has  been  generally  .regarded 
as  appropriately  quiet  and  sober  ;  which  Mat- 
theson  described  as  the  '  Ruhe  des  Anfangs.' 
To  this  the  Courante,  which  almost  invariably 
follows  it  in  the  mature  suite,  is  supposed  and 
intended  to  supply  a  contrast,  but  it  cannot  ba 
maintained  that  it  always  does  so  successfully, 
The  character  of  this  movement  varies  consider 
ably,  owing  chiefly  to  the  fact  that  there  are  two 
decidedly  distinct  forms  derived  from  different 
sources.  The  one  of  Italian  origin  which  is  found 
most  frequently  in  Corelli's  Sonatas,  in  most  of 
Handel's,  in  some  but  not  all  of  Purcell's  Suites, 
and  in  Bach's  5th  and  6th  French  Suites,  and 
5th  Partita,  is  in  3-4  time,  of  quick,  light,  and 
direct  movement,  full  of  rapid  passages  of  simple 
character,  with  simple  rhythm,  and  free  from 
complication.  This  in  general  supplies  in  an  ob 
vious  sense  a  fair  contrast  to  the  Allemande.  The 
other  Courante,  of  French  origin,  is  nominally 
in  3-2  time,  but  its  characteristic  is  a  peculiar 
intermixture  of  3-2  and  6-4,  which  is  supposed 
to  produce  a  stronger  antithesis  to  the  smooth 
motion  of  the  Allemande.  In  the  original  dance 
it  is  said  that  this  characteristic  was  chiefly  con 
fined  to  the  last  bars  of  each  half,  but  in  mature 
suite  movements  it  was  elaborately  worked  into 
the  body  of  the  movement  with  very  curious  effect. 
The  quality  is  shown  as  early  as  Kuhnau,  but 
more  frequently  in  Couperin's  Suites,  from  whom 
it  is  said  Bach  adopted  it.  The  following  example 
from  Couperin's  3rd  Suite  is  characteristic. 


SUITE. 


SUITE. 


759 


etc. 


r 


It  is  possible  that  Bach  adopted  this  form  as 
affording  opportunities  for  rhythmic  experiments; 
he  certainly  carried  it  to  great  lengths,  such  as 
giving  the  right  hand  a  passage  in  3-2  and  the 

1       /*(          «  £~  "^  *^ 

lett  in  0-4 — • 

~1± 


but  the  result  is  not  on  the  whole  very  success 
ful.  In  most  cases  the  French  Courantes  are  the 
least  interesting  movement  of  his  Suites,  and 
as  contrasts  to  the  Allemande  do  not  compare 
favourably  with  the  Italian  Courante.  As  an 
element  of  contrast  the  crossing  of  the  time  is 
rather  theoretical  than  real,  and  the  necessity  of 
keeping  the  time  moderate  in  order  to  make 
it  intelligible  brings  the  strong  beats  and  the 
average  quickness  of  the  shortest  notes,  as  well 
as  the  full  spread  of  the  bar  too  near  to  those 
of  the  Allemande  ;  and  in  the  general  effect  of 
the  Suite  these  externals  tell  more  strongly  than 
the  abstract  restlessness  of  crossing  rhythms. 
It  is  possible  however  that  the  French  Courante 
has  one  advantage  over  the  Italian ;  that  inas 
much  as  the  latter  has  more  stability  in  itself,  it 
calls  less  for  a  succeeding  movement,  and  presents 
less  perfectly  the  aspect  of  a  link  in  the  chain 
than  of  a  movement  which  might  as  well  stand 
alone.  There  is  a  slight  touch  of  uneasiness 
about  the  French  Courante  which  as  a  step 
towards  the  Sarabande  is  very  appropriate.  In 
this  latter  movement,  which  is  of  Spanish  or 
possibly  Moorish  origin,  the  rhythmic  principle 
is  very  pronounced,  and  at  the  same  time  simple. 
Its  external  aspect  is  chiefly  the  strong  emphasis 
on  the  second  beat  of  a  bar  of  three  in  slow  time, 
as  is  clearly  illustrated  in  Handel's  Sarabande 
in  the  G  minor  Suite,  in  his  'Lascia  ch'io  pianga,' 
and  in  the  Sarabande  of  Bach's  F  major  Suite 
Anglaise.  This  is  an  obvious  source  of  contrast 
with  both  the  preceding  members  of  the  suite, 
since  in  both  Allemande  and  Courante  there  is  no 
pronounced  and  persistent  rhythm,  and  the  pace, 
though  not  necessarily  quick,  scarcely  ever  comes 
within  the  range  of  motion  or  style  characteristic 
of  definitely  slow  movements.  There  is  also  a 
further  and  equally  important  element  of  contrast. 
The  first  two  numbers  are  characterised  in  a  con 
siderable  proportion  of  instances  by  a  similar 
free  motion  of  parts.  The  process  of  carrying 
on  the  figures  is  sometimes  knit  by  a  kind  of 
free  imitation,  but  however  desirable  it  may  be 
theoretically  to  regard  them  so,  they  cannot 


fairly  be  described  as  movements  of  imitation 
(Nachakmungsatze).  The  process  is  rather  that 
of  free  figuration  of  two  or  three  parts,  giving  in 
general  a  contrapuntal  effect  to  the  whole.  In 
the  Sarabande  the  peculiar  rhythmic  character 
puts  both  systematic  imitation  and  regular  con 
trapuntal  motion  equally  out  of  the  question. 
Consequently  as  a  rule  a  more  decidedly  har 
monic  style  obtains  ;  the  chords  are  fuller,  and 
move  more  simultaneously  as  blocks  of  harmony. 
The  character  of  the  finest  examples  is  necessarily 
very  pliable,  and  varies  between  free  melody 
with  Dimple  accompanying  harmony,  such  as 
those  in  Bach's  Suites  Anglaises  in  F  and  D 
minor,  Handel's  Suites  in  G  minor  and  E  minor; 
examples  in  which  the  prominent  melodic  features 
are  distributed  successively  without  regularity 
between  the  parts,  as  in  those  in  the  Suites 
Anglaises  in  G  minor  and  A  minor,  the  Suite 
Fran9aise  in  B  minor,  the  Partita  in  Bb,  and 
several  of  Couperin's ;  and  a  few  examples  in 
which  a  figure  or  characteristic  mode  of  motion 
is  made  to  prevail  almost  throughout,  as  in  the 
Suite  Franpaise  in  Eb.  The  general  effect  of  the 
sarabandes  is  noble  and  serious,  and  the  music 
is  more  concentrated  than  in  any  other  member 
of  the  group  of  movements.  It  is  thus  in  various 
respects  the  central  point  of  the  suite — in  posi 
tion;  in  musical  interest  and  unique  quality;  and 
in  the  fact,  as  observed  and  curiously  commented 
on  by  Nottebohm,  that  the  preceding  movements 
generally  tend  to  solidity  and  the  succeeding 
movements  to  lightness  and  gaiety.  The  order 
is  in  this  respect  somewhat  similar  to  that  of 
average  sonatas,  and  seems  to  be  the  art-expo 
sition  of  the  same  ideas  of  form  from  the  point 
of  view  of  the  musical  sense,  though  differently 
carried  out  as  far  as  the  actual  manner  and 
material  of  the  movements  are  concerned. 

In  the  most  concise  examples  of  the  Suite  the 
Sarabande  is  followed  by  the  final  Gigue  ;  but  it 
is  so  common  with  all  the  most  notable  writers 
of  suites  to  interpolate  other  movements,  that 
it  may  be  well  to  notice  them  first.  These  ap 
pear  to  have  been  called  by  the  older  writers 
Galanterien,  and  more  lately  Intermezzi ;  and 
seem  to  have  been  regarded  as  a  sort  of  concession 
to  popular  taste.  But  in  any  way  they  answer 
the  purposes  of  form  exceedingly  well.  A  very 
great  variety  of  dances  is  introduced  at  this 
point.  The  moat  familiar  are  the  Gavottes, 
Bourrees,  Minuets,  and  Passepieds.  But  besides 
these  the  most  distinguished  writers  introduced 
Loures,  Polonaises,  movements  called  Arias,  and 
other  less  familiar  forms.  Their  character  on 
the  average  is  especially  light  and  simple,  and  in 
the  dance  numbers  it  is  remarkable  that  they 
always  preserve  their  dance  character  more 
decidedly  and  obviously  than  any  other  mem 
ber  of  the  group.  It  is  not  possible  to  describe 
them  all  in  detail,  as  they  are  too  numerous,  but 
their  aspect  in  the  group  is  for  the  most  part 
similar,  and  is  analogous  to  that  of  the  Scherzo 

'  C* 

or  Minuet  and  Trio  in  the  modern  sonata.  They 
evidently  strengthen  the  balance  on  either  side 
of  the  sarabande  both  in  quality  and  amount. 


"60 


SUITE. 


SUITE. 


In  many  cases  there  is  a  considerable  group  of 
them,  and  in  these  cases  it  is  that  the  aria  is 
sometimes  introduced.  This  movement  has  little 
connection  with  the  modern  piece  of  the  same 
name,  as  it  is  generally  a  short  movement  in 
the  same  balanced  form  as  the  other  movements, 
but  free  from  the  dance  basis  and  rule  of  time. 
It  is  generally  moderately  slow,  and  sometimes 
consistently  melodious,  as  in  Mattheson's  Suite 
in  A  ;  but  often  it  is  little  more  than  a  string  of 
figures,  without  even  melody  of  much  importance. 
The  group  of  Intermezzi  is  generally  contrasted 
with  the  Sarabande  and  the  C4igue  either  by  a 
square  time  or  by  the  interchange  of  moderate 
movement,  such  as  that  of  the  Minuet ;  and  the 
conciseness  and  distinctness  of  the  type  is  always 
sufficient  to  make  the  relations  on  both  sides  per 
fectly  clear. 

The  Gigue  which  concludes  the  series  is  theo 
retically,  and  in  most  cases  actually,  of  light  and 
rapid  style.     It  is  usually  based  on  some  rhyth 
mic  combination  of  3  feet,  but  even  this  is  not 
invariable.    The  balance  is  in  favour  of  1 2-8  time, 
but  6-8  is  also  common ;  and  12-16  and  3-8  not  un- 
frequent,  while  a  few  are  in  some  form  of  common 
time,  as  the  slow  Gigue  in  the  first  French  Suite  of 
Bach,  and  the  remarkable  example  in  his  last 
Partita  in  E  minor.    The  old  fancy  for  concluding 
a  work  with  a  fugue  is  illustrated  by  the  common 
occurrence  of  fugal  treatment  in  this  member 
alone   of  the  regular  group  of  the  true  suite 
series.     This  treatment  is  met  with  in  all  direct 
ions  ;  in  Kuhnau,  Mattheson,  Handel,  Couperin, 
as  well  as  Bach.     The  method  of  application  is 
commonly  to  begin  and  carry  out  a  free  sort  of 
fugue  in  the  first  half,  concluding  like  the  other 
movements  in  the  dominant  key ;  and  to  take  up 
the  same  subject  freely  '  al  rovescio  '  or  by  con 
trary  motion  in  the  second  half,  with  regular 
answer  as  in  a  fresh  fugetta,  and  carry  it  out  on 
that  basis  with  the  usual  direction  of  modulation, 
concluding  in  the  original  key.     Thus  the  fugal 
treatment  is  an  accessory  to  the  usual  form  of 
the  suite  movement,  which  is  here  as  regularly 
and    invariably   maintained    as    in    the    other 
members  of  the  group. 

The  most  important  accessory  which  is  com 
monly  added  to  this  nucleus  is  the  Prelude.  It 
appears  in  a  variety  of  forms,  and  under  a  great 
variety  of  names.  The  chief  point  which  is 
most  obvious  in  relation  to  the  other  movements 
is  that  their  characteristic  form  of  nearly  equal 
halves  is  systematically  avoided  ;  in  fact  any 
other  form  seems  to  have  been  taken  in  pre 
ference.  In  many  important  examples  it  is  the 
longest  and  most  elaborate  movement  of  all.  In 
some  it  is  a  sort  of  rhapsody  or  irregular  group 
of  arpeggios  and  other  figures  based  on  simple 
series  of  chords.  Bach  commonly  developed  it 
on  the  same  broad  outlines  as  some  of  his  largest 
sonata  movements,  and  the  first  and  last  of  the 
Italian  Concerto — that  is,  the  distinct  balance- 
ing  section  of  clear  musical  character  and  full 
close  at  the  beginning  and  end  of  the  movement, 
and  the  long  passage  of  development  and  modu 
lation  in  the  middle,  sometimes  embracing  new- 


figures.  This  is  illustrated  by  the  Preludes  to  the 
Suites  Anglaises  in  A  minor,  G  minor,  F  and  E 
minor.  In  other  examples  the  treatment  is  fugal, 
or  contains  a  complete  fugue  along  with  other 
matter  of  more  rhapsodical  cast,  as  in  the  Toc 
cata  of  the  Partita  in  E  minor  ;  or  yet  again 
it  is  in  the  form  of  a  Fantasia,  or  of  the  Over 
ture  as  then  understood.  The  effect  is  certainly 
to  add  breadth  and  stability  to  the  group  in  no 
mean  degree,  and  the  contrast  with  the  rest  of 
the  movements  is  in  every  respect  unmistakeable. 
This  completes  the  general  outline  of  the  Suite  in 
its  finest  and  most  consistently  complete  form, 
as  illustrated  in  Bach's  Suites  Anglaises,  which 
must  be  regarded  as  the  culminating  point  of  the 
Suite  as  an  art-form. 

In  the  matter  of  actual  distribution  of  move 
ments  there  are  plenty  of  examples  of  experi 
ments,  even  in  the  time  when  the  usual  nucleus 
had  come  to  be  generally  recognised  ;   in  fact 
there  is   hardly  any  large   collection  of  suites 
which  does  not  present  some  exceptions  to  the 
rules.    Bach's  departures  from  the  usual  outlines 
are  chiefly  in  the  earliest  examples,  such  as  the 
Partitas,  in  one  of  which  he  concludes  with  a 
rondo   and   a   caprice.     The    'Ouverture   a  la 
maniere  Fran9aise,'  for  Clavier,  is  in  appearance 
a  Suite,  but  it  is  clear  that  Bach  had  not  only 
the  Clavier  Suite  type  in  his  mind  in  laying  out 
its  plan,  but  also  the  freer  distribution  of  num 
bers  in  the   so-called  French  Overture  said  to 
date  from  Lulli.     In  this  there  is  no  Allemande ; 
the  Sarabande  has  Intermezzi  on  both  sides  of  it, 
and  it  concludes  with  an  '  Echo '  after  the  Gigue. 
The  works  of  his  which  are  now  commonly  known 
as  Orchestral  Suites  must  be  put  in  the  same 
category.   For  the  inference  suggested  byDehn's 
trustworthy  observations   on    the   MSS.  is  that 
Bach  regarded  them  as  Overtures,  and  that  the 
name  Suite  was  added  by  some  one  else  afterwards. 
They   depart   from   the   average   order   of   the 
Clavier  Suite  even  more  conspicuously  than  the 
above-mentioned  work.     In  his  later  composi 
tions  for  Clavier,  as  has  been  already  remarked, 
he  was  very  strict.    Handel's  Suites  on  the  other 
hand  are  conspicuous  departures  from  the  usual 
order.      They   are   in   fact    for    the   most  part 
hybrids,  and  very  few  have  the  genuine  suite 
character  as  a  whole.     The  introduction  of  airs 
with  variations,  and  of  fugues,  in  the  body  of  the 
work,  takes  them  out  of  the  category  of  strict 
interdependent  art  forms,  and  makes  them  appear 
rather  as  casual  strings  of  movements,  which  are 
often  as  fit  to  be  taken  alone  or  in  different 
groups  as  in  the  group  into  which  he  has  thrown 
them.     Moreover   they  illustrate  somewhat,  as 
Nottebohm  has  also  observed,  the  peculiar  posi 
tion  which  Handel  occupied  in  art,  as  not  pure 
German  only,  but  also  as  representative  of  some 
of  the  finest  traits  of  the  Italian  branch  of  the 
art.     The  tendency  of  the  Italians  after  Corelli 
was  towards  the  Violin  Sonata,  a  distinct  branch 
from  the  original  stem,  and  to  this  order  some  of 
Handel's  Suites  tend  to  approximate.     It  was 
chiefly  by  thorough  Germans  that  the  suite-form 
was  developed  in  its  austerest  simplicity;   and 


SUITE. 

in  that  condition  and  in  relation  to  their  keyed 
instruments  it  seems  that  the  visual  group  is  the 
most  satisfactory  that  has  been  devised. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  Suite  as  an  art-form  is 
far  more  elementary  and  inexpansive  than  the 
Sonata.  In  fact  it  attained  its  maturity  long 
before  the  complete  development  of  the  latter 
form ;  and  not  a  little  of  the  interest  which  at 
taches  to  it  is  derived  from  that  and  collateral 
facts.  It  was  the  first  instrumental  form  in 
which  several  movements  were  combined  into  a 
complete  whole.  It  was  the  first  in  which  the 
ecclesiastical  influences  which  had  been  so  power 
ful  in  all  high-class  music  were  completely  sup 
planted  by  a  secular  type  of  equally  high  artistic 
value.  Lastly,  it  was  the  highest  represent 
ative  instrumental  form  of  the  contrapuntal 
period,  as  the  Sonata  is  the  highest  of  the  har 
monic  period.  It  was  brought  to  perfection  when 
the  modern  sonata  was  still  in  its  infancy,  and 
before  those  ideas  of  key  and  of  the  relations  of 
harmonies  which  lie  at  the  root  of  sonata-form  had 
become  tangible  realities  to  men's  minds.  In 
some  respects  the  complete  plan  has  the  aspect 
of  formalism  and  rigidity.  The  uniformity  of 
key  is  sometimes  taken  exception  to,  and  the 
sameness  of  structural  principle  in  each  move 
ment  is  also  undoubtedly  somewhat  of  a  draw 
back  ;  but  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  form 
is  a  representative  product  of  a  peculiar  artistic 
period,  and  devised  for  a  particular  keyed  in 
strument,  and  for  minds  as  yet  unaccustomed 
to  the  varied  elaboration  of  the  sonata.  The  re 
sults  are  remarkable  and  valuable  in  a  high 
degree  ;  and  though  this  may  be  chiefly  owing 
to  the  exceptional  powers  of  the  composers  who 
made  use  of  the  form,  it  is  possible  that  as  a 
pattern  for  the  combination  of  small  pieces  it 
may  still  be  worthy  of  regard.  In  fact  the  com 
bination  of  short  lyrical  movements  such  as  are 
characteristic  of  modern  times  has  strong  points  of 
analogy  with  it.  Moreover,  since  it  is  obviously 
possible  to  introduce  modifications  of  some  of  the 
details  which  were  too  rigid  in  the  early  scheme 
without  destroying  the  general  principles  of  the 
form,  it  seems  that  genuine  and  valuable  musical 
results  may  still  be  obtained  by  grafting  charac 
teristics  of  modern  treatment  and  expression 
upon  the  old  stock.  There  already  exist  several 
experiments  of  this  kind  by  modern  composers 
of  mark  ;  and  the  Suites  for  orchestra,  piano 
forte,  cello,  or  violin,  by  Lachner,  Raff,  Bargiel, 
St.  Sae'ns,  Tschaikowsky,  Ries,  and  Cowen,  are 
not  bv  any  means  among  their  least  successful 
efforts.  [C.H.H.P.] 

SULLIVAN,  ARTHUR  SEYMOUR,  was  born  in 
London,  May  13,  1842.  His  father  was  a  band 
master,  and  chief  professor  of  the  clarinet  at 
Kneller  Hall ;  he  was  thus  born  amongst  mu 
sic.  His  first  systematic  instruction  was  received 
from  the  Rev.  Thomas  Helmore,  Master  of  the 
Children  of  the  Chapel  Royal,  which  he  entered 
April  1 2, 1854,  and  left  on  the  change  of  his  voice, 
June  22,  1857.  'His  voice  was  very  sweet,' 
says  Mr.  Helmore,  '  and  his  style  of  singing  far 
more  sympathetic  than  that  of  most  boys.'  While 


SULLIVAN. 


761 


at  the  Chapel  Royal  he  wrote  many  anthems  and 
small  pieces.  One  of  them,  'O  Israel,'  a  'sacred 
song,'  was  published  by  Novellos  in  1855.  In 
1856  the  Mendelssohn  Scholarship  was  brought 
into  active  existence,  and  in  July  of  that  year 
Sullivan  was  elected  the  first  scholar.  Without 
leaving  the  Chapel  Royal  he  began  to  study  at 
the  Royal  Academy  of  Music  under  Goss  and 
Sterndale  Bennett,  and  remained  there  till  his 
departure  for  Leipzig  in  the  autumn  of  1 858.  An 
overture  ' of  considerable  merit'  is  ^mentioned 
at  this  time  as  having  been  played  at  one  of  the 
private  concerts  of  the  Academy.  At  Leipzig  he 
entered  the  Conservatorium  under  Plaidy,  Haupt- 
mann,  Richter,  Julius  Rietz,  and  Moscheles,  and 
remained  there  in  company  with  Walter  Bache, 
John  F.  Barnett,  Franklin  Taylor,  and  Carl  Rosa, 
till  the  end  of  1861.  He  then  returned  to  London, 
bringing  with  him  his  music  to  Shakspeare's 
'Tempest,'  which  was  produced  at  the  Crystal 
Palace,  April  5,  1862,  and  repeated  on  the  I2th 
of  the  same  month,  and  several  times  since. 

This  beautiful  composition  made  a  great  sensa 
tion  in  musical  circles  and  launched  him  into 
London  musical  society.  Two  very  graceful 
pianoforte  pieces,  entitled '  Thoughts,'  were  among 
his  earliest  publications.  The  arrival  of  the 
Princess  of  Wales  in  March  1863,  produced  a 
song,  '  Bride  from  the  North,'  and  a  Procession 
March  and  Trio  in  Eb  ;  and  a  song  entitled  '  I 
heard  the  Nightingale '  was  published  April  28 
of  the  same  year.  But  his  next  work  of  import 
ance  was  a  cantata  called  '  Kenilworth,'  words  by 
the  late  H.  F.  Chorley,  written  for  the  Birmingham 
Festival  of  1864,  and  produced  there.  It  con 
tains  a  very  fine  duet,  for  soprano  and  tenor,  to 
Shakspeare's  words,  '  On  such  a  night  as  this,' 
which  is  far  too  good  to  be  forgotten.  His  music 
to  the  ballet  of  '  L'lle  enchante'e'  was  produced 
at  Covent  Garden,  May  16,  1864. 

At  this  date  he  lost  much  time  over  an 
opera  called  'The  Sapphire  Necklace,'  also  by 
Mr.  Chorley ;  the  undramatic  character  of  the 
libretto  of  which  prevented  its  representation. 
The  overture  has  been  frequently  heard  at  the 
Crystal  Palace  and  elsewhere,  and  the  music 
has  been  used  up  in  other  works.  In  March 
1866  Mr.  Sullivan  produced  a  Symphony  in  E  at 
the  Crystal  Palace,  which  has  been  often  played 
subsequently,  there  and  at  the  Philharmonic,  etc. 
In  the  same  year  he  had  the  misfortune  to  lose 
his  father,  to  whom  he  was  fondly  attached, 
and  he  uttered  his  grief  in  an  overture  entitled 
'  In  Memoriam,'  which  was  produced  (Oct.  30) 
at  the  Norwich  Festival  of  that  year.  A  con 
certo  for  Cello  and  orchestra  was  played  by  Piatti 
at  the  Crystal  Palace  on  Nov.  24.  This  was  fol 
lowed  by  an  overture,  '  Marmion,'  commissioned 
by  the  Philharmonic  Society,  and  produced  by 
them  June  3,  1867.  In  the  autumn  of  that  year 
he  accompanied  his  friend  the  Editor  of  this 
Dictionary  to  Vienna,  in  search  of  the  Schubert 
MSS.,  which  have  since  become  so  well  known. 
At  the  same  time  his  symphony  was  played  at  the 
Gewandhaus  at  Leipzig.  In  1869  he  composed 

i  Athenaeum,  July  21. 1858. 


762 


SULLIVAN. 


a  short  oratorio  on  the  story  of  the  'Prodigal 
Son,'  for  the  Worcester  Festival,  where  it  was 
produced  (Mr.  Sims  Reeves  taking  the  prin 
cipal  part)  on  Sept.  8.  In  1870  he  again  con 
tributed  a  work  to  the  Birmingham  Festival, 
the  graceful  and  melodious  '  Overture  di  Ballo ' 
(in  Eb),  which,  while  couched  throughout  in 
dance-rhythms,  is  constructed  in  perfectly  classical 
form,  and  is  one  of  the  most  favourite  pieces  in 
the  Sydenham  repertoire.  To  continue  the  list 
of  his  commissioned  works  :  in  1871,  in  company 
with  Gounod,  Hiller,  and  Pinsuti,  he  wrote  a 
piece  for  the  opening  of  the  'Annual  Inter 
national  Exhibition'  at  the  Albert  Hall,  on 
May  i — a  cantata  by  Tom  Taylor  called  'On 
Shore  and  Sea,'  for  solo,  chorus,  and  orchestra. 
On  the  recovery  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  from  his 
illness,  he  composed,  at  the  call  of  the  Crystal 
Palace  Company,  a  Festival  Te  Deum,  for  so 
prano  solo,  orchestra,  and  chorus,  which  was 
performed  there  May  I,  1872.  At  this  time  he 
was  closely  engaged  in  editing  the  collection  of 
'Church  Hymns  with  Tunes'  for  the  Christian 
Knowledge  Society,  for  which  he  wrote  21  original 
tunes.  In  1873  Mr.  Sullivan  made  a  third  appear 
ance  at  Birmingham,  this  time  with  the  leading 
feature  of  the  Festival,  an  oratorio  entitled 
'  The  Light  of  the  World,'  the  words  selected 
from  the  Bible  by  himself.  The  success  of  this 
very  tine  work  at  Birmingham  was  great,  and 
it  has  often  since  been  performed,  but  the  very 
solemn  treatment  naturally  adopted  in  the  parts 
which  relate  the  sufferings  of  the  Redeemer  will 
always  restrict  its  performance.  Mr.  Sullivan 
succeeded  Sir  Michael  Costa  as  conductor  of  the 
Leeds  Festival  of  1880,  and  wrote  for  it  'The  Mar 
tyr  of  Antioch,'  to  words  selected  from  Milman's 
play  of  that  name.  The  work  lies  between  an 
oratorio  and  a  cantata,  and  was  enthusiastically 
received.  Mr.  Sullivan  has  accepted  the  same 
post  for  the  Festival  of  1883. — It  may  here  be 
said  that  in  1869  he  wrote  additional  accompani 
ments  to  Handel's  '  Jephtha '  for  the  opening  of 
Barnby's  'Oratorio  Concerts,'  Feb.  6. 

We  will  now  go  back  to  those  works  which 
have  made  Mr.  Sullivan's  name  most  widely 
known,  not  only  in  Europe  but  in  Australia  and 
America — his  comic  Operettas,  and  his  Songs. 
'  Cox  and  Box,  a  new  Triumviretta,'  was  an 
adaptation  by  Mr.  F.  C.  Burnand  of  Madison 
Morton's  well-known  farce,  made  still  more  comic 
by  the  interpolations,  and  set  by  Mr.  Sullivan 
with  a  brightness  and  a  drollery  which  at  once 
put  him  in  the  highest  rank  as  a  comic  composer.1 
It  was  first  heard  at  Moray  Lodge  (Mr.  Arthur 
J.  Lewis's)  on  April  27,  1867,  and  produced  in 
public  at  the  Adelphi  a  fortnight  after,  on  May 
II.  The  vein  thus  struck  was  not  at  first  very 
rapidly  worked.  'The  Contrabandista '  (2  acts, 
words  by  Burnand)2  followed  at  St.  George's 
Opera  House  on  Dec.  18,  1867,  but  then  there 
was  a  pause.  '  Thespis,  or  the  Gods  grown  old ; 
an  operatic  extravaganza '  by  Gilbert  (Gaiety, 

i  See  '  Times '  of  May  13, 1867. 

*  This  opera  was  •written,  composed,  and  produced  In  the  extra 
ordinarily  short  space  of  16  days. 


SULLIVAN. 

Dec.  26,  1871),  and  'The  Zoo,  an  original  musical 
folly,'  by  B.  Rowe  (St.  James's,  June  5,  1875), 
though  full  of  fun  and  animation,  were  neither  of 
them  sufficient  to  take  the  public.  'Trial  by 
Jury,  an  extravaganza,' — and  a  very  extravagant 
one  too, — words  by  W.  S.  Gilbert,  produced  at 
the  Royalty,  March  25,  1875,  had  a  great  suc 
cess,  and  many  representations,  owing  in  part 
to  the  very  humorous  conception  of  the  character 
of  the  Judge  by  Mr.  Sullivan's  brother  Frederick. 
But  none  of  these  can  be  said  to  have  taken  a  real 
hold  on  the  public.  '  The  Sorcerer,  an  original 
modern  comic  opera/  by  W.  S.  Gilbert,  which 
first  established  the  popularity  of  its  composer, 
was  a  new  departure,  a  piece  of  larger  dimensions 
and  more  substance  than  any  of  its  predecessors. 
It  was  produced  at  the  Opera  Comique,  Strand, 
Nov.  17,  1877,  and  ran  uninterruptedly  for  175 
nights.  The  company  formed  for  this  piece  by  Mr. 
Doyly  Carte,  including  that  admirable  artist  Mr. 
Grossmith,  was  maintained  in  the  next,  'H.M.S. 
Pinafore,'  produced  at  the  same  house,  May  25, 
1878.  This  not  only  ran  in  London  for  700  con 
secutive  nights,  but  had  an  extraordinary  vogue 
in  the  provinces,  and  was  adopted  in  the  United 
States  to  a  degree  exceeding  all  previous  record. 
To  protect  their  interests  there,  Mr.  Sullivan  and 
Mr.  Gilbert  visited  the  United  States  in  1879, 
and  remained  for  several  months.  An  attempt 
to  bring  out  the  piece  at  Berlin  as  'Amor  an 
Bord ' 3  failed,  owing  to  the  impossibility  of  any 
thing  like  political  caricature  in  Germany.  But 
it  was  published  by  Litolff  in  1882.  The  vein 
of  droll  satire  on  current  topics  adopted  in  the  two 
last  pieces  has  been  kept  up  in  '  The  Pirates  of 
Penzance'  (April 3, 1880,  350  nights),  'Patience, 
an  sesthetic  opera'  (April  25,  i88i,4  578  nights), 
and  'lolanthe'  (Nov.  25,  1882)  which  is  still 
running  as  prosperous  a  course  as  any  of  the 
others.5  Such  unprecedented  recognition  speaks 
for  itself.  But  it  is  higher  praise  to  say,  with  a 
leading  critic,  that  '  while  Mr.  Sullivan's  music 
is  as  comic  and  lively  as  anything  by  Offenbach, 
it  has  the  extra  advantage  of  being  the  work  of 
a  cultivated  musician,  who  would  scorn  to  write 
ungrammatically  even  if  he  could.'  We  might 
add  '  vulgarly  or  coarsely,'  which,  in  spite  of  all 
temptations,  our  countryman  has  never  done. 
'  His  refinement,'  as  a  writer  of  our  own  has  well 
said,  'is  a  thousand  times  more  telling  than  any 
coarse  utterances.'6  But  may  we  not  fairly  ask 
whether  the  ability  so  conspicuous  in  these 
operettas  is  always  to  be  employed  on  works 
which  from  their  very  nature  must  be  even  more 
fugitive  than  comedy  in  general  ?  Surely  the  time 
has  come  when  so  able  and  experienced  a  master 
of  voice,  orchestra,  and  stage  effect — master,  too, 
of  so  much  genuine  sentiment — may  apply  his 
gifts  to  the  production  of  a  serious  opera  on  some 
subject  of  abiding  human  or  national  interest. 

The  '  Tempest '  music  has  never — so  far  as  the 
writer  is  aware — been  used  in  a  performance  of 

3  Arranged  for  the  German  stage  by  Ernst  Dohm. 

4  On  Oct.  10, 1881,  the  company  removed  from  the  Opdra  Comique, 
to  the  new  '  Savoy  Theatre '  in  the  Strand. 

5  232  performances  to  July  16, 1883. 

6  See  the  whole  passage  in  pp.  306,  £07  of  this  volume. 


SULLIVAN. 


SULLIVAN. 


763 


the  play ;  in  fact,  since  Mr.  Macready's  time  '  The 
Tempest'  has  scarcely  ever  been  put  on  the 
stage.  But  Mr.  Sullivan  has  written  incidental 
music  for  three  other  of  Shakspeare's  dramas; 
viz.  '  The  Merchant  of  Venice,'  Prince's  Theatre, 
Manchester,  Sept.  18,  1871 ;  'The  Merry  Wives 
of  Windsor,'  Gaiety  Theatre,  Dec.  19, 1874;  and 
'  Henry  VIII,'  Theatre  Royal,  Manchester,  Aug. 
29,  1878.  Of  these  the  first  is  by  far  the  best,  and 
is  an  excellent  specimen  of  the  merits  of  its  com 
poser,  in  spirit,  tunefulness,  orchestration,  and 
irrepressible  humour. 

Mr.  Sullivan's  Songs  are  as  well  known  as  his 
operettas.  They  are  almost  always  of  a  tender 
or  sentimental  cast ;  and  some  of  them,  such  as 
'Sweet  day  so  cool,  so  calm,  so  bright';  the 
'Arabian  Love  Song,'  by  Shelley;  '  0  fair  dove, 
0  fond  dove,'  by  Jean  Ingelow ;  the  Shakspeare 
Songs ;  and  the  series — or,  as  the  Germans  would 
call  it,  the  Liedercyclus — of  'The  Window,' 
written  for  the  purpose  by  Tennyson,  stand  in  a 
very  high  rank.  None  of  these,  however,  have 
attained  the  popularity  of  others,  which,  though 
slighter  than  those  just  named,  and  more  in  the 
ballad  style,  have  hit  the  public  taste  to  a  re 
markable  degree.  Such  are  'Will  he  come?' 
and  'The  lost  chord'  (both  by  Miss  Procter);  '0 
ma  charmante'  (V.  Hugo);  'The  distant  shore' 
and  '  Sweethearts'  (both  by  W.  S.  Gilbert),  etc. 

The  same  tunefulness  and  appropriateness  that 
have  made  his  Songs  such  favourites,  also  distin 
guish  his  numerous  Anthems.  Here  the  excel 
lent  training  of  the  Chapel  Royal  shows  itself 
without  disguise,  in  the  easy  flow  of  the  voices, 
the  display  of  excellent,  and  even  l  learned, 
counterpoint,  when  demanded  by  words  or  sub 
ject,  and  the  frequent  examples  throughout  of 
that  melodious  style  and  independent  treatment 
that  marks  the  anthems  of  the  best  of  the  old 
England  school.  His  Part-songs,  like  his  An 
thems,  are  flowing  and  spirited,  and  always  ap 
propriate  to  the  words.  There  are  two  sets ;  one 
sacred,  dedicated  to  his  friend  Franklin  Taylor, 
and  one  secular,  of  which  '0  hush  thee,  my  babie' 
has  long  been  an  established  favourite. 

His  Hymn-tunes  are  numerous — 47  in  all- 
and  some  of  them,  such  as  '  Onward,  Christian 
Soldiers/  have  justly  become  great  favourites. 
Others,  such  as  'The  strain  upraise'  and  the 
arrangement  of  St.  Ann's,  to  Heber's  words  'The 
Son  of  God  goes  forth  to  war,'  are  on  a  larger 
scale,  and  would  do  honour  to  any  composer. 

If  his  vocal  works  have  gained  Sir  Arthur 
Sullivan  the  applause  of  the  public,  it  is  in  his 
orchestral  music  that  his  name  will  live  among 
musicians.  His  music  to  'The  Tempest'  and 
'The  Merchant  of  Venice,'  his  oratorios,  his 
Overture  di  Ballo,  and,  still  more,  his  Symphony 
in  E unfortunately  his  only  work  in  this  depart 
ment—show  what  remarkable  gifts  he  has  for 
the  orchestra.  Form,  and  symmetry  he  seems  to 
possess  by  instinct ;  rhythm  and  melody  clothe 
everything  he  touches ;  the  music  shows  not  only 
sympathetic  genius,  but  sense,  judgment,  pro 
portion,  and  a  complete  absence  of  pedantry  and 

i  See  the  Festival  Te  Deum. 


pretension ;  while  the  orchestration  is  distin 
guished  by  a  happy  and  original  beauty  hardly 
surpassed  by  the  greatest  masters.  Here  again 
we  may  express  our  earnest  hope  that  such 
great  qualities  as  these  may  not  pass  away 
without  leaving  some  enduring  monument  of 
his  mature  powers,  some  Symphony  or  Concerto 
added  to  the  permanent  repertory  of  the  English 
School,  now  so  vigorously  reviving. 

During  the  early  part  of  his  career  Mr.  Sullivan 
was  organist  of  St.  Michael's  Church,  Chester 
Square.  After  this,  in  1867,  he  undertook  the 
direction  of  the  music  at  St.  Peter's,  Onslow 
Gardens,  for  which  many  of  his  anthems  were 
composed,  and  where  he  remained  till  1871.  He 
was  musical  adviser  to  the  Royal  Aquarium  Com 
pany  from  its  incorporation  in  July  1874  down 
to  May  1876,  organised  the  admirable  band  with 
which  it  started,  and  himself  conducted  its  per 
formances.  For  the  seasons  1878  and  79  he 
conducted  the  Promenade  Concerts  at  Covent 
Garden  for  Messrs.  Gatti ;  and  for  those  of  75- 
76,  and  76-77,  the  Glasgow  Festivals.  He  was 
Principal  of  the  National  Training  School  at 
South  Kensington  from  1876  to  1881,  when  his 
engagements  compelled  him  to  resign  in  favour 
of  Dr.  Stainer,  and  he  is  now  a  member  of  the 
Council  of  the  Royal  College  of  Music.  He  re 
ceived  the  Honorary  Degree  of  Doctor  of  Music 
from  the  University  of  Cambridge  in  1876,  and 
Oxford,  1879.  In  1878  he  acted  as  British  Com 
missioner  for  Music  at  the  International  Exhibi 
tion  at  Paris,  and  was  decorated  with  the  Lfyion 
dhonneur.  He  also  bears  the  Order  of  Saxe- 
Coburg  and  Gotha,  and  on  May  15,  1883,  was 
knighted  by  the  Queen. 

List  of  Sir  Arthur  Sullivan's  works,  with  names 
of  original  publishers,  and  year  of  publication. 

N  B  —A.  &  P.  =  Ashdown  &  Parry ;  B.  =  Boosey ;  C.  = 
Cramer  &  Co. ;  Ch.=  Chappell  &  Co. ;  M.  =  Metzler  & 
Co. ;  N.=Novello  &  Co. ;  S.  L.=  Stanley  Lucas. 

ORATORIOS. 

The  Prodigal  Son.    B.  1869.  |  The  Light  of  the  World.    C.  1S73. 

The  Martyr  of  Antioch.    Ch.  1380. 


Kenilworth.    Ch.  1864. 


CANTATAS. 

|  On  Shore  and  Sea.    B.  1871. 


SERVICES. 

Te   Deum.   and  Domine  salvamiTe   Deum,    Jubilate,   and    Kyrie 
fac  (Orch.,  C).    H.  Ib72.  I       (Voices  only,  D).  N.  1866-1872. 

ANTHEMS. 


0  love  the  Lord  (Full;  F).    N. 


ears 


N. 


We   have    heard  with   our 

(Full,  a  5  ;  G).    N.  1865. 
0  taste    and  see  (Full;  F). 

1867. 

Rejoice  in  the  Lord.    B.  1868. 
Sing,  O  heavens.     B.  1868. 
0   God,  Thou    art  worthy  (Wed 


ding;  C).    N.  1871. 
I  will  worship.    B.  1871. 
I   will  mention  (Verse;   G).     N. 

1875. 
I  will  sing  of  Thy  power  (Verse ; 

A).    N.  1877. 
Hearken  unto  me  (C).    N.  1877. 
Turn    Thy   face    from   my  sins. 

(Full ;  C).    N.  1878. 


MISCELLANEOUS  SACRED. 


Sacred  Song,  '  0  Israel.'    N.  1855. 

The  Son  of  God  (St.  Ann's  tune, 
Organ  oblig. ;  C).  3rd  ed.  of 
B.  B.  Borthwick's  'Supple 
mental  Hymn  and  Tune  Book,' 
1868. 

All  this  night  (Carol).    N.   1870. 

I  sing  the  birth  (Carol).    B.   1  71. 

Five  Sacred  Part-songs.   B.  1871 : 
It  came  upon  the  midnight. 
Lead,  kindly  Light. 


Through  sorrow's  path. 
Watchman,  what  of  the  night  ? 
The  way  is  long  and  drear. 
Turn  Thee  again,  and  Mercy  and 
Truth;     2   Choruses  adapted 
from     the    Russian    Church 
Music.    N.  1874. 
The  strain  upraise  (G).    N.  1874. 


Upon      the 
(Carol). 


snow -clad 
'  The  Choir.' 


earth 
187G. 


764 


SULLIVAN. 


SULZER. 


HYMN  TUNES. 
(The  original  appearance  alone  given.) 


In  '  Good  Words,'  March  1867. 
Hymn  of  the  Homeland. 

In     Hullah's    'Book    of    Praise 
Hymnal '  (Macmillan).  1867. 

'  Thou  God  of  love.' 

'  Of   Thy  love    some    gracious 

token.' 

In  '  Psalms  and  Hymns  for  Divine 
Worship '(Nisbet).    1867. 

Mount  Zion,  '  Rock  of  Ages.' 

Formosa, '  Light  of  those '  ('  Fal- 
fleld '). 

S.  Luke.    '  God  moves  in  a  mys 
terious  way.' 
In   Brown   Borthwick's   '  Supple 
mental  Hymn  and  Tune  Book.' 
N.,  3rd  ed.    1868. 

'  The  strain  upraise  of  joy  and 

praise.' 
In  '  Sarum  Hymnal.'    18C9. 

1  When  through  the  torn  sail 
(•Gennesareth.'also  'Heber'). 

In  '  The  ETymnary.'    N.  1872. 
•Lord  in  this.'    No-  222.    ('La- 

crymae '  and  '  Penitente.') 
'O    Jesu    our   salvation.'      225. 

CLuxMundi.') 
'  Saviour,  when  in  dust  to  Thee.' 

249. 

'  Welcome,  happy  morning.'  284. 
•Come,   ye   faithful.'    285.     (S. 

Kevin.) 
'  Onward  Christian  soldiers.'  476. 

('S.  Gertrude,'  also   'Church 

Militant.') 
'  Safe  home.'    507. 
•  Gentle  Shepherd.'    509.   ('  The 

Long  Home.') 
'Angel  voices.'    532. 
•Nearer,  my  God,  to  Thee.'    670 

('  Propior  Deo.') 


1  Art  thou  weary.'  597.  ('Venite,' 
also  '  Rest.') 

'We  are  but  strangers  here.'  646. 
('  S.  Edmund,'  also  '  Heaven  is 
my  home.') 

In  Church   Hymns   with  Tunes. 
S.P.C.K.  1874. 

Christus.    496. 

Ccena  Domini.    207. 

Coronse.    854. 

Dulce  sonans.    SIR. 

Ever  faithful.    414. 

Evelyn.    390. 

Golden  Sheaves.   281. 

Hantbrd.    400. 

Holy  City,    497. 

Hushed  was  the  evening  hymn. 
572. 

Litany.    585. 
Do.       592. 

Paradise.    473. 

Pilgrimage.    3(57. 

Resurrexit.    132. 

St.  Francis.    220. 

St.  Nathaniel.    267. 

Saints  of  God.    191. 

Ultor  omiiipotens.    262, 

Valete.    SO. 

Veni  Creator.    346. 
Also  6  tunes  not  marked  as  com 
posed  for  this  work,  hut  pub 
lished  here  for  the  first  time  :— 

Rt.  Mary  Magdalene. 

Lux  in  tenebris. 

Lux  Eoi. 

St.  Patrick. 

St.  Theresa. 
(Besides  7  tunes  specially  adapted 

or  arranged.) 

In  '  Presbyterian  Hymnal  for  the 
young.'    1882. 

'  Courage  brother.' 


DRAMATIC  WORKS. 


The  Contrabandista.    B.  1868. 
Cox  and  Box.    B.  1869. 
Thespls  (MS.).    1872. 
Tria\  by  Jury.    Ch.  1875. 
The  Zoo  (MS.).    1875. 


The  Sorcerer.    M.  1877. 
H.M.S.  Pinafore.    M.  1878. 
Pirates  of  Penzance.    Cb.  1880. 
Patience.    Ch.  1881. 
lolanthe.    Ch.  1882. 


INCIDENTAL  MUSIC  TO  PLATS. 

The  Tempest.    Op.  1.    C.,  1802.;  I  Merchant  of  Venice.    C.  1873. 
afterwards  N.  I  The  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor.  MS. 

Henry  VIII.    M.  1879. 


PART  SONGS. 


The  last  night  of  the  year.  N.  1868. 
Choral  Songs.    N.  :— 

The  rainy  day.    1867. 

O  hrsh  thee,  my  babie.    18G7. 

Evening.    1868. 

Joy  to  the  Victors.    1868. 


1863. 


Parting  gleams. 
Echoes.     1868. 
The  long  day  closes.    V68. 
The  beleaguered.    1868. 
'  Song  of  peace.'in The  Choralist, 
no.  160.    B. 


ODE. 
I  wish  to  tune  (Baritone  and  Orch.)    B.  1868. 

SONGS. 

The  Window,  or  the  Loves  of  the  Wrens:  words  written  for  music 
b..  Alfred  Tennyson,  Poet  Laureate ;  the  music  by  Arthur  Sulli 
van.  Strahan  &  Co.  1871.  (11  Songs  set  out  of  12). 


Bride  from  the  North.    C.  1863. 
1    heard    the    nightingale.     Ch. 

1863. 
Arabian    Love    Song     (Shelley). 

Ch.  1866. 

Orpheus  with  his  lute.    C.  1866. 
O  mistress  mine.    C.  1866. 
Sigh  no  more,  ladies.    C.  1866. 
The  Willow  Song.    C.  1866. 
Sweet  day,  so  cool.    C.  1866. 
Rosalind.    C.  1866. 
Thou  art  lost  to  me.    B.  1866. 
Will  he  come  ?    B.  1866. 
A  weary  lot  is  thine.    Ch.1866. 
If  doughty  deeds.    Ch.  1866. 
She  is  not  fair  to  outward  view. 

B.  1866. 

Ah !  County  Guy.    A.  *  P.  1867. 
The  Maiden's  Story.    Ch.  1867. 
Give.    B.  1867. 
In  the   summers  long  ago.     M. 

1867. 
What  does  little  birdie  say  ?    A.  & 

P.  in  '  Hanover  Square,'  1867. 


The   moon   in  silent  brightness. 

M.  1868. 
0  fair  dove.  O  fond  dove.    A.  4  P. 

in  'Hanover  Square,'  1868. 
O  sweet  and  fair.    B.  1868. 
The  snow  lies  white.    B.  1868. 
The  mother's  dream.    B.  1868. 
The  Troubadour.    B.  1869. 
Birds  in  the  night  (Lullaby  from 

Cox  and  Box).    B.  1869. 
Sad  memories.    M.  1869. 
Dove  song.    B.  1869. 
A  life  that  lives  for  you.    B.  1870 
The  Village  Chimes.    B.  Ib70. 
Looking  back.    B.  1870, 
Once  again.    B.  1872. 
Golden  days.    B.  1872. 
None  but  I  can  say.    B.  1872. 
Guinevere.    C.  1872. 
The  Sailor's  grave.    C.  1872. 
Little  maid  of  Arkadee  (Thespis). 

C.  1872. 

There  sits  a  bird.    C.  1873. 
Looking  forward.    B.  1873. 


The  Young  Mother,  3  Songs- 
Cradle  Song;  Ay  di  mi ;  First 
Departure.  C.  1873. 

O  ma  charm  ante.    C.  1873. 

O  Bella  mia.    0. 1873. 

Sweet  dreamer.    C.  1873. 

Two  Songs  in  '  The  Miller  and  his 
Man,'  a  drawing-room  enter 
tainment  by  F.  C.  Burnand. 
1873. 

Sleep,  my  love,  sleep.    1874. 

Mary  Morison.    1874. 

The  Distant  Shore.    Ch.  1874. 

Thou  art  weary.    Ch.  1874. 

My  dear  and  only  love.    B.  1874. 

Living  poems.    B.  ]874. 

Tender.and  true.    Ch.  1874. 

Christmas  Bells  »t  Sea.    N.  1S75. 


Love  laid  his  sleepless  head.    B. 

1875. 
The  love  that  loves  me  not.   N. 

1875. 

Let  me  dream  again.    B.  1875. 
Thou  'rt  passing  hence.    Ch.  1875. 
Sweethearts.    Oh.  1875. 
My  dearest  heart.    B.  1876. 
Sometimes.    B.  1877. 
The  lost  chord.    B.  1S77. 
I  would  I  were  a  king.    B.  TR77. 
When  thou  art  near.    B.  1877. 
Old  love  letters.    B.  1879. 
St.  Agnes  Eve.    B.  1S79. 
The  Dominion  Hymn.    Ch.  1880. 
Edward  Gray  (Tennyson  Album). 

B.  L.  J880. 
The  Sisters  (Duet  S.  4  A.  Leisure 

Hour,  1881). 


ORCHESTRAL  WORKS,  ETC. 
Procession  March.    C.  3863.  |    In  Memoriam.    1866.   MS. 


Music  to   the  Ballet    'L'lle  en 
chant^.'    May  16,  1864. 

Symphony  in  E.    1866.  MS. 

Concerto,   Cello,    and    Orchestra 
1866.    MS. 

Overtures : — 
Sapphire  Necklace.    MS. 


Marmion.    1867.    MS. 
Di  B»llo.    S.  L.  1?69. 
Additional     accompaniments    to 
Handel's  'Jephtha.'   1869.  MS. 
Duo  concertante,  PF.  and  Cello. 
D.    Lamboro  Cock. 


WORKS  FOR  PIANOFORTE. 
Thoughts,  Op.  2.  Nos.  1  and  2. 1862.  I  Twilight.    Ch.  1868. 

Day  dreams.   6  pieces.   B.  1867.  rrj.  T 

SUL  PONTICELLO,  upon,  i.  e.  close  to,  the 
bridge ;  a  term  in  violin  playing  to  imply  that 
the  bow  is  used  on  that  part  of  the  strings.  For 
the  effect  see  PONTIGKLLO,  vol.  iii.  p.  15.  [G.] 

SULZER,  SALOMON,  Precentor  of  the  Jews' 
synagogue  in  Vienna,  andreformer  of  their  musical 
service,  was  born  March  30,  1804,  at  Hohenems 
in  Vorarlberg.  The  name  was  derived  from  Sulz 
in  Wlirtemberg,  the  ancient  residence  of  the 
family.  When  only  13  he  was  made  cantor  of 
the  synagogue  at  his  native  village  by  the  Emperor 
Franz  I,  and  in  1825  wai  called  to  Vienna  to 
conduct  the  music  at  the  newly  built  synagogue 
there.  There  he  took  lessons  in  composition  from 
Seyfried,  and  set  himself  earnestly  to  reform  the 
service  by  reducing  the  old  melodies  to  rhythm 
and  harmonising  them.  His  collection  of  Jewish 
hymns,  under  the  name  of  '  Schir  Zion,'  the  Harp 
of  Zion,  was  used  all  over  Germany,  Italy,  and 
even  America;  but  it  was  not  till  1838  that  he 
could  succeed  in  publishing  it.  It  contains  a 
setting  of  the  9 2nd  Psalm  (in  Moses  Mendels 
sohn's  version)  by  SCHUBERT,  for  Baritone  solo, 
and  4  men's  voices,  made  in  July  1828,  the 
autograph  of  which  is  in  possession  of  the 
synagogue  (Nottebohm's  Catalogue,  p.  229).  In 
1842  a  second  edition  appeared,  and  in  1865  a 
second  volume.  A  collection  of  home  and  school 
songs,  entitled  '  Dudaim '  (Mandrakes),  appears 
to  be  still  in  MS.  In  1866  a  fete  was  held  in 
his  honour  and  a  silver  laurel  presented  to  him, 
with  the  inscription  'The  Artists  of  Vienna  to  the 
Artist  Sulzer.'  From  1844  to  47  he  was  Professor 
of  Singing  at  the  Vienna  Conservatorium.  He 
is  a  Ritter  of  the  order  of  Franz  Joseph  (1868) 
and  carries  the  medals  of  various  societies.  His 
voice,  a  baritone,  is  said  to  have  been  magnificent, 
and  he  was  greatly  esteemed  and  beloved  inside 
and  outside  of  his  own  community. 

His  two  daughters,  Marie  and  Henriette  are 
public  singers,  and  his  son  Joseph  is  an  esteemed 
cello-player  in  the  Court  opera  at  Vienna.  [G.] 


SUMER  IS  ICUMEN  IN. 

SUMER  IS  ICUMEN  IN  (Latin  words, 
Perspice  XptcoZa  =  Christicola).  A.  '  Rota,'  or 
Round,  of  great  antiquity,  the  original  MS.  of 
which  is  preserved  in  vol.  978  of  the  Harleian 
Collection,  in  the  British  Museum. 

So  important  are  the  questions  raised  by  this 
document,  in  connection  not  only  with  the  history 
of  the  English  School,  but  with  that  of  Mediaeval 
Music  in  all  other  European  countries,  that  we 
cannot  too  earnestly  recommend  them  to  the 
consideration  of  all  who  are  interested  in  tracing 
the  development  of  our  present  system  to  its 
earliest  sources.  We  thought  it  desirable,  in  the 
article  on  SCHOOLS  OF  COMPOSITION,  to  present 
our  readers  with  an  accurate  facsimile  of  the 
original  MS.,  reduced,  by  photography,  from 
7x72  x  5  A  in->  *°  6£  x  4|,  and  accompanied  by  a 
description  of  the  colours  employed  by  the 
mediaeval  illuminator.  We  now  subjoin  a  solu 
tion  of  the  Canon,  in  modern  Notation,  but 
otherwise  scored  in  exact  accordance  with  the 
Latin  directions  appended  to  the  original  MS. 
The  only  characters  employed  in  the  original 
are,  the  C  Clef;  the  B  rotundum  (  =  Bb)  ;  square 
black  tailed  notes,  sometimes  perfect  by  position, 
and  sometimes  imperfect ;  one  square  black  note 
without  a  tail ;  and  black  lozenge-shaped  notes, 
also  without  tails,  except  in  one  solitary  case 
which  we  can  scarcely  conceive  to  be  accidental 
— the  first  of  the  three  notes  sung  to  the  word 
'  in.'  These  we  have  replaced,  in  our  reduction, 
by  the  G  Clef  for  the  four  upper  Parts,  and  the 
F  Clef  for  the  two  lower  ones,  forming  the  Pes ; 
by  dotted  Semibreves  for  the  tailed  notes,  when 
perfect,  and  Semibreves  without  dots  for  those 
that  are  imperfect ;  by  a  Semibreve  without  a 
dot  for  the  single  untailed  square  note ;  by 
Minims  for  the  untailed  lozenge-shaped  notes; 
and  by  a  dotted  Minim,  followed  by  a  Crotchet, 
for  the  solitary  lozenge-shaped  note  with  a  tail. 
For  the  Time-Signature,  we  have  used  the  Circle, 
and  the  Figure  3,  indicative  of  Perfect  Time,  in 
combination  with  the  Lesser  Prolation — a  form 
closely  corresponding  with  the  Signature  3-2  in 
modern  Music. 

We  have  thought  it  necessary  to  print  the 
solution  of  the  Canon  in  extenso,  because,  to  the 
best  of  our  belief,  no  correct  Score  has  hitherto 
been  published.  Hawkins  clearly  misunderstood 
the  two  Ligatures  in  the  Pes,  and  misprinted  the 
passage,  at  every  repetition.  Burney  corrected 
this  mistake  :  but  both  historians  have  given  an 
erroneous  adaptation  of  the  text  to  the  notes, 
in  bars  41  et  seq.,1  at  the  words  'Wei  singes 
thu  cuccu  ne  swik  thu  nauer  nu ' ;  and  both,  in 
bar  40,  have  systematically  misprinted  the  note 
sung  to  the  second  syllable  of  '  cuccu,'  giving  G 
instead  of  A  every  time  it  occurs.  It  is  true 
that,  in  certain  bars,  G  agrees  better  than  A  with 
Hawkins's  misprinted  Pes,  but,  with  Burney's 
correct  Pes,  it  makes  a  horrible  discord.  The 
only  modern  copy  we  have  met  with  omits  the 
Pes  altogether,  thereby  reducing  the  number  of 
Parts  to  four. 

i  The  references  are  to  our  own  Score,  the  bars  in  which  are 
numbered  lor  the  reader's  convenience. 


SUMER  IS  ICUMEN  IN. 


765 


With  the  facsimile  and  its  solution  before 
them,  our  readers  will  be  able  to  criticise  the 
opinions  hazarded,  from  time  to  time,  on  the 
antiquity  of  the  Rota ;  which  opinions  we  shall 
now  proceed  to  consider  in  detail. 

The  MS.  was  first  described  by  Mr.  Wanley, 
the  famous  Antiquary,  who,  acting  in  the  ca 
pacity  of  Librarian  to  the  Earl  of  Oxford,  wrote 
an  account  of  it  in  his  '  Catalogue  of  the  Harleian 
MSS./  about  the  year  1 709 ;  assigning  to  it  no 
positive  date,  but  pronouncing  it  to  be  by  far  the 
oldest  example  of  the  kind  he  had  ever  met  with2 
— an  assertion  which  must  be  received  with  all 
respect,  since  Mr.  Wanley  was  not  only  a  learned 
Antiquary,  but  an  accomplished  musician. 

In  the  year  1770,  Sir  John  Hawkins  men 
tioned  the  Rota,  in  the  first  volume  of  his 
'  History  of  Music ' ;  illustrating  his  description, 
by  a  copy  of  the  Guida,  in  the  original  square 
black  notes,  followed  by  a  not  very  correct  solu 
tion  of  the  canon,  scored  for  six  voices,  including 
those  which  sing  the  Pes.  Hawkins  imagines 
the  term  'Rota'  to  apply  to  the  Latin  rather 
than  the  English  8  words ;  and  refers  the  MS.  to 
'about  the  middle  of  the  i.5th  century,  on  the 
ground  that  the  Music  is  of  the  kind  called 
Cantus  figuratus,  which  appears  to  have  been  the 
invention  of  John  of  D  unstable,  who  wrote  on 
the  Cantus  mensurabilis,  and  died  in  1455.'  This 
statement,  however,  involves  an  anachronism 
which  renders  Hawkins's  opinion  as  to  the  date 
of  the  MS.  absolutely  worthless. 

Dr.  Burney,  in  the  second  volume  of  his 
History,  described  the  composition  as  not  being 
much  later  than  the  I3th  or  I4th  century; 
printed  a  copy  of  the  Canon,  in  the  original 
mediae val  Notation  ;  and  subjoined  a  complete 
Score,  more  correct  than  that  supplied  by  Haw 
kins,  yet  not  altogether  free  from  errors. 

Ritson  referred  the  MS.  to  the  middle  of  the 
1 3th  century;  and  fancied — not  without  reason 
— that  neither  Hawkins  nor  Burney  cared  to  risk 
their  reputation  by  mentioning  a  date  which  could 
scarcely  fail  to  cause  adverse  criticism. 

In  1819  Dr.  Busby  reprinted  the  Rota,  fol 
lowing  Burney's  version  of  the  Score,  note  for 
note,  including  its  errors,  and  referring  the  MS. 
to  the  isth  century.* 

In  April  1862,  Sir  Frederick  Madden  wrote 
some  memoranda,  on  the  fly-leaf  of  the  volume, 
referring  the  entire  MS.,  'except  some  writing 
on  ff.  15-17'  (with  which  we  are  not  concerned) 
to  the  1 3th  century;  and  stating  his  belief  that  a 
certain  portion  of  the  volume  '  was  written,  in 
the  Abbey  of  Reading,  about  the  year  1240.'  5 

In  1855,  Mr.  William  Chappell  described  the 
MS.  minutely,  in  his  'Popular  Music  of  the 
Olden  Time,'  illustrating  his  remarks  by  a  fac 
simile  of  the  MS.,  printed  in  the  original  colours.6 
Mr.  Chappell,  has,  for  many  years  past,  taken 

2  See  '  Catalogue  of  the  Harleian  MSS.'  (vol.  i.  no.  978),  in  the 
Library  of  the  British  Museum. 

3  On  this  point,  he  gives  the  authority  of  Du  Cange,  who  says  that 
the  term  'Kota'  was  antiently  applied  to  certain  Hymns. 

*  '  A  General  History  of  Music.'  vol.  i.  pp.  385-iOl  (London,  1819). 
6  We  have  given  Sir  Frederick  Madden's  remarks,  verbatim,  in  a 
foot-note,  at  p.  268  a. 
6  '  Popular  Music  of  the  Olden  Time,"  2  vols.  (London,  1855-9). 


766 


CANTUS  I. 


SUMER  IS  ICUMEN  IN. 

[5] 


Col 


ec 


hzEr—  n 

•^ 

o    f=^ 

1      r  1  ^  • 

n 

I 

i 

i               | 

F  33 

1    I 

l(\Y      *-?  *> 

1  —  H  

•*?TJ  -"J 

"^  ~^-T 

~*-z  —  •  

-  —  1  -^r 

J^- 

—^ 

i»j  ^J 

W7               ci 

1 

~^ 

C2 

j 

t^                   Sum  -  er        is 
Per  -  spi   -    ce 
CANTUS  II. 

i  -  cumen     in, 
Xp  -  i  -  co  -  la.i 

Lhud  -  e    sing   cue  -  cu. 
que    dig  -  na  -  ci   -   o. 

Grow-eth  sed    and   blow  -  eth 
Ce  -  li   -  cut      a   -   gri  -   co  - 

Lr  ;?-_£)          L 

—  1 

1  

1— 

1  

1 

"1  1 

1— 

-&  —  3- 

-;,  

CANTUS  III. 

1  

1 

J 

•Sum  -  er 
Per  -  spi  - 

1  

is       i  __-    cumen 
ce     Xp  -  i  -  co  - 

1  1  

in. 
la 

' 

Lhud-e    sing   cue 
que    dig-  na  -  ci  • 

-  CU. 

•   o. 

.^L. 

f|ANTTTS   IV. 

1  — 

—  i  

1 

i 

— 

1  \  

Sum  -  er      is       i 
Per  -  spi  -  ce      Xp 

|  1  1  

•   cumen 

-    t     -    CO 

BASSUS  I. 

—&- 

{  

•^•^  —  ^  <^  —  ~ 

-^s  

~\  

t 

-&  

.c«;  —  :  

-&-*•  1 

: 

vi 

i 

Sing 

BASSUS  II. 

-<£?-  ' 

cue 

cu              nu. 
-&-' 

Sing           cue      -      cu. 

i  :  1  f  i  —  :  1  :  1  .»*  \ 

Sing           cue      -      cu 

-G>-  '                    f-3    .              -&>-  • 
£2—  i  r        '  >  •  ~n 

—  ^*i  —  r^  

.  ,  \&^  — 





*r      n      ^x  *~J 

1 

^J 

1 

i 

J 

Ping 

cue 

cu. 

Sing           cue      -      cu             nu. 

Sing                cue       -       cu. 

[I?L . 


[21] 


1  7~- 

--^      G> 

-i-3—  1  -.  —  

~^>  —  

1  ra  ^"^~ 

—  -j  T^- 

med         and  springth  the  ^wod-e      nu.                                        Bing 
la            Pro      vi  -    tis     vi  -  ci  -  o.                                           Fi        - 

-I-     -^—  -=!+-     Hrb:          ID:*-       -^ 

cue      -     cu. 
li        -       o. 

Awe           blet  - 
Non    par-cens 

eth    af  -  ter 

ex  -  pos  -  u  - 

~  "1 

Grow  -  eth 
Ce    -    li- 

sed    and  blow-eth   med        and   springth  the 
cus      a  -  gri  -  co  -  la           Pro         vi    -    tia 

1  

wod  -  e      nu. 
vi  -  ci  -  o. 

Sing              cue 
Fi        -        li 

J 
-     cu. 

0. 

i    r  •  f5"  \  s>  sdt^—ztt 

-r^        —  •        :      —  J- 

"^      .  .   -    J 

\        ,       c> 

r*     a  - 

1  |_j  ^L  ^L^  <^- 

-^  ui  *L 

-  -&  —  ?-^  —  ^  i  

\  1 

in.                   Lhud-e     sing    euc-cu.                                      Grow-eth    sed    and  blow-eth  med  and  springth  the  wod-  e     nu. 
la,                      que       dig  -  na  -  ci   -  o.                                           Oe    -    li  -  cus      a   -  gri  -  co  -  la     Pro     vi    -    tis     vi  -  ci  -  o. 

—  1  —  ^g          ^JPJ    i                .»       i  *y  ^?    i   ^  i  -;  1  .                             ti  •  1  1  1  r-i  1    i                     II 

^  -      - 

pz:±  —  r  r^\\  —  £_,  —  ^-\ 

1  

^4^-^A 

Sum   -  er     is      i  -  cum  -  en    in,                    Lbud  -  e 
Per   -  epi  -  ce     Xp  -   i  -  co  -   la,                        que       dig  • 

—  ^  1  £—<s>-^- 

sing  cue  -  cu. 
na  '  ci  -   o. 

(*3                       '—*                                         J 

Groweth     sed  and    bloweth 

Oe    -    li  -  cus    a  -  gri  -  co  - 

_    -&-  •           ^?  •        -&-  ' 

nu.                   Sing 

cue 

cu.                                      Sing 

cue     -      cu 

nu.          Sing            cue 
"1  ,.     ~\-f^-^-  1  <^  • 

-        CU. 

—  1  —  

1  —  -i  

,_^SJ  

Sing                cue     -      cu             nu.                     Sing              cue      -      cu. 

[25]                                                                              [29] 
1  1  —  |  1  —  (                    i                    /  1  —         —  i  —  i                     i  

Sing              cue 
[33] 

cu 

;  — 

1  1 

—  i~5  ^  — 

J-;     ••       d>             {•*"         '                         M« 

—  _  <^*.  ~_  zZ*.  — 

—             j 

__,_  <^  ^— 

^-t&  F--  

r~                                i 

1  — 

lomb,  Ihouth    af   -   ter 
ti,       Mor  -  tis         ex    - 

•               ^V 

calv  -  T 
t    -    ci    * 

-z=.  h- 

cu.                                   Bui   -  luc 

o.                                    Qui       cap  - 

stert  -  eth,    buck  • 
ti  -    vos       se  - 

e        vert  -  eth,     mu  -  rie 
mi  -  vi    -    vos       A.        sup 

sing     cue  - 
-  pli    -    ci- 

=     ^_|_c^_       \^.  —  ^  |  ^  —  ^H 

Awe               blet  -  eth     af  -  ter    lomb,  Ihouth    af    -   ter 
~Kon     par  -  cens    ex    *   pos  -   u  -    it,       Mor  -tis        ex    • 

,_  =  &^  2_    ,  „  h 

calv    -  "e       cu, 
•    i        ci    -    o. 

Bui  -  luc       stert  -  eth, 
Qui       cap  -  ti    -    vos. 

J  1       j  |         j  p==1 

Sing 
Fi 

cue 
li 

r 

cu.                                    Awe               blet  -  eth      af  - 
o.                                        Non    par  -  cens     ex   -   pos  - 

—  1  rj  1  ^    rj  1  .  °    J  1 

ter   lomb,  Ihouth  af  -    ter     calv  -    e 
«    -    it,      Jfor  -  tis         ex    -    i    -     ci  - 

med     and  springth  the 
la        Pro        vi    -    tis 

I 

wod  -  e         nu.                                     Sing 
vi    -    ci    -    o.                                         Fi 

cue       -        cu. 
U        -         o. 

Awe              blet  -  eth 
Non     par  -  cens     ex  - 

„  p|  ^  q 

Sing 

cue 

cu                 nu.                Sing 
-&-  • 
—I  <s>-±— 

cue       -       cu. 

Sing 

j 

cue 

i  

nu,  Sing  cue       •       cu.  Sing  cue        -        cu  nu.  Sing 

iji    This  sign  indicates  the  bar  at  which  each  successive  Part  is  to  make  Its  entrance. 
1  Abbreviated  form  of  Christicola. 


cue 


[371 


SUMER  IS  ICUMEN  IN. 


767 




fy     •               I                                  1 

M  J~h       J  1            1 

1  1 

<Z2-Z  & 

f^t              C           »      • 

-  cu. 
-  o. 

Cue 
Ft 

cu,                cue       -       cu. 

te                   do        -         nat 

Wei     sing 

,                et        ae  - 

i*"3  —  •  

-  es      thu     cue        -        cu, 
cum     co  -    ro        -        nat 

ne     swik    thu 
in        ce   -   li 

1  — 

EEzi"  d2L\ 

buck  -  e 

ae    -    mi 

vert  -  eth, 
-  vi    -    vos 

i 

mu  -  rie 
A     sup 

sing    cue  -  cu. 
-  pli  -  ci    -     o. 

Cue 
Ft 

cu,                cue       -        cu. 
te                    do        -          nat, 

^^      \                                           ' 

Wei      sing- 
et        se  - 

-  cu. 
-  o. 

] 

<^D        -T2 

Bul  -  luc 

Qui    cap 

stert  -  eth,    buck  -  e       ver 
-    ti  -  cos       ae    -    mi    -    vi 

c  -  eth,      mu  -  rie 
-    DOS       A        aup 

sing    cue  -  cu. 
-  pli  -  ci   -   o. 

Cue 
Ft       - 

1 

1 

1 

(^"        ~"        f~*   \ 

SZ 

ri 

1  

•                             1 

-±~  \  

—*!— 

r*51  —  gtEzaij  

—^         -^ 

_1  1  1 

af   -    ter  lomb,  Ihouth    at'  -  ter 
-  j>os    -    i«    -    it,       Mor  -  tia       ex 

calv  -  e       cu. 

-     t     -     Ct     -     0. 

-                          fr-l     • 
/•^^    .                 c*^ 

Bui  -  luc 
Qui      cap 

stert  -  'eth,    buck  -  e       vert  - 
-  ti   -   voa      te    -    mi  -    vi   - 

eth,    mu  -  rie 
vos        A       aup  - 

r^i          i  —  ; 

^1    •                  *—>    •                   r~~* 

E. 

f              "" 

-  cu                 nu, 

sing 

cue       -       cu. 

Sing 

cue       -       cu                nu, 

Sing 

<£^      • 

^^  .             ^.^^  .             ^_. 

e: 

1 

1 

i 

o 

-   cu. 

Sing             cue       -       cu                nu, 
to! 

—  -!                                                            -•-.          ^>- 

Sing 

cue       -       cu. 

Sing 

=>       --,     /r^       'j'      M 

r^   •    . 

I    I                i 

I 

1 

r^ 

tts 

I 

1                   ' 

1 

_^3        ^     \    *-*        —  1         rT3    • 

- 

1 

1 

nau  -  er       nu. 
so  -  li    -    o. 

H  

Sum  -  er        is        i  _-    cum  -  ei 
Per  -  ajn  »  ce       Xp    -    i   -    co 

i       in,                      Lhud  -  e        sing    cue  -  cu. 
-    la                         que     dig  -  na   -   ci    -    o. 

ff^                                                                                -^"j            j-^r 

—        —  .  . 

*,      J       V. 

es      thu     cue     -     cu,      ne     swik    thu     nau  -  er       nu. 
cum    co    -    ro     -     nat       in        ce    -    li         go  -   it    -    o. 

=l_                                                                     ^--^h— 
Sum  -  er         is        i  _-    cum  -  en        in, 
Per  -  spi    -    ce      Xp  -  i    -     co    -    la. 
* 

i                   , 

1 

—  ~    . 

^-f*    "          _*••- 

0                                   "        " 

—              & 

£"                                                          \ 

'       '^J 

22       fy      ^\       f^    • 

^                          JTD 

I 

^                           t~~ 

1 

C>        —  J     1    *D    - 

cu,               cue      -      cu.            Wei    sing  -  es      thu     cue 
te                    do      -       nat,              et         ae  -  cum       co    -    ro 

cu,             ne     swik    thu     nau  -  er       nu. 
«at              in       ce    -    li         so    -   li    -   o. 

—  &>  —  f— 

_i  !  CT    .  ^  :  a    ,  — 

r=;~ 

\                '    — 

-^        ^       —  J        c->    • 

1  — 

sing    cue  -  cu. 
pli   -   ci    -    o. 

Cue       -       cu,               cue 
Ft                 te                  do       - 

cu.                      Wei    sing  -  es      thu     cue 
nat,                         et        se   -   cum     co   -    ro 

-&-  •          ^  .           -<s>-  ' 

cu,             ne 
nat             in 

•          *—  '                            •  —  ; 

1  

] 

cue       -       cu. 

Sing               cue        -        cu 

nu.                     Sing               cue        -        cu. 

c^?   *              ^-^    '              Gi 

c^i                 £3 

I 

1 

I 

: 

cue       -       cu              nu,           Sing              cue       -       cu. 
[57]                                                                           [61] 

Sing              cue        -        cu 
[6$] 

•          ^-^                                    —  • 

nu, 

—  —      * 
D     *                                             \ 

?^j— 

r^ 

i  —  ^  —  z^--  — 

^ 

'-  

22 

ey              \ 

1=3          ^              I 

• 

1 

Grow  -  eth 
Ce   -   li    - 

sed     and 

CMS          O     - 

blow  -  eth 
gri  -   co    - 

med,       and  springth  the    w 
la           Pro       vi    -    tis       v 
.  _  — 

od  -  e       nu. 
i   -  ci     -     o. 

Sing               cu 
Fi        -        I 

t  r*  7=  —  * 

c       -       cu. 
i         -         o. 

i  —     1    e^>    '    II 

Lhud  -  e 
que     dig  - 

sing     cue  - 
na  -   ci    - 

cu. 
o. 

Z3  ^  £ 

Grow  -  eth      s 
Ce    -    li  -  ci 

'/*5  .    1  pi  

•^      -^  ^2  r^s 

ed     and    blow  -  eth 
is       a    -     gri  -  co 

:b^  ^  :\  ~    \     \  bid  H 

med,        and  springth  the     wod  -  e        nu. 
-    la            Pro         vi   -   tis        vi    -    ci    -    o. 

-i—                  —Ji  r-r-            1    i  ^  n 

1  

_2  1  

h-  

-j  1  (Ze  ;,_  .^  <« 

Z>  —  j  g-;      .  

1            •              _,_, 

1 

"             C?      H 

.     ^^                 - 

Sum  -  er        is        i  ^- 
Per  -  spi   -  ce       Xp   • 

cum  -  en 
i   -    co   - 

J 

in,                     Lhud  -  e     sing     cue  -  cu, 
la                         que      dig  -  na   -    ci    -    o. 

Lhud  -  e       sing    cue  -  cu. 
que     dig  -   na   -   ci    •    o. 

7  (^  •  n  1  —  i  '  n 

7»—  — 

—1—    ^-^ 

?  —  1±  

=  —  n 

\ 

1                    ' 

!   i                        •     ****      ^j       :~" 

3       --=3    •     I 

d 

i-^5     • 

j 

=•                        II 

swik   thu     nau  -  er 
ce   -    li         so  -   li    - 

nu. 

o. 

^ 

Sum  -  er        is        i  „-  cum  -  en 
Per  -  spi  -  ce       Xp   -    i   -    co 

in,                      Lhud  -  e      sing    cue  -  cu. 
-    la                        que     dig  -  na   -  ci    •    o. 

—  S3  

^   '  

-&—-  

j=  ^_  

•             •     ^ 

*—  ^'"'""n 

Sing 

cue 

rT3   ' 

cu 

•i 
-&-  * 

nu.             Sing               cue       -       cu. 
•. 

Sing              cue       -       cu. 

/7\ 

(- 

i               ^ 

^  F^-_ 

g=  f^rh  

H 

1  

±  -il  

11 

Sing 


cue 


cu. 


Sing 


cue 


cu 


Sing 


cue 


J  Burney  and  Hawkins  have  both  mistaken  this  note  for  G.  It  is  quite  certainly  A  in  the  original  MS.  In  the  four  bars  which  follow,  the 
words  and  music  are  incorrectly  fitted  together  in  all  previous  editions. 

*  Antiently,  each  voice  ceased  at  the  end  of  the  Ckdda,  which  is  here  denoted  by  the  sign  *.  The  present  custom  is  for  all  the  voices  to 
continue  until  they  reach  a  point  at  which  they  may  all  conveniently  close  together,  as  Indicated  by  the  pause. 


768 


SUMER  IS  ICUMEN  IN. 


SUMER  IS  ICUMEN  IN. 


an  intense  interest  in  this  most  valuable  MS. ; 
and,  after  much  laborious  research,  has  collected 
evidence  enough  to  lead  him  to  the  belief  that  it 
was  written,  at  the  Abbey  of  Reading,  by  a 
Monk  named  John  of  Fornsete,  about  the  year 
1226,  or  quite  certainly  not  more  than  ten 
years  later.  For  the  grounds  on  which  he  bases 
this  conclusion  we  must  refer  our  readers  to  his 
own  writings  on  the  subject.  One  of  his  dis 
coveries,  however,  is  so  important,  that  we  can 
not  pass  it  over  without  special  notice.  The 
volume  which  contains  the  Rota  contains  also  a 
number  of  satirical  Poems,  written  in  rhymed 
Latin  by  Gualterus  Mahap  (Walter  Mapes,  Arch 
deacon  of  Oxford).1  Among  these  is  a  Satire 
entitled  Apud  avaros,2  bristling  with  puns,  one  of 
which  closely  concerns  our  present  subject,  and 
helps,  in  no  small  degree,  to  establish  the  anti 
quity  of  the  Rota.  The  Poet  counsels  his  readers 
as  to  the  best  course  to  be  pursued  by  those 
who  wish  to  '  move '  the  Roman  Law-Courts. 
After  numerous  directions,  each  enforced  by  a 
pun,  he  writes  as  follows — 

Commisso  notario  munera  suffunde, 

Statim  causae  subtrahet,  quando,  cur,  et  unde, 

Et  formse  subjiciet  canones  rotundse.s 

Apud  avaros,  69 — 71. 

Now,  the  significance  of  this  venerable  pun,  as 
a  proof  of  the  antiquity  of  the  Rota,  is  very  remark 
able.  In  a  Poem,  transcribed,  as  Sir  Frederick 
Madden  assures  us,  long  before  the  middle  of 
the  1 3th  century,  Walter  Mapes,  an  English 
Ecclesiastic,  speaks  of  '  subjecting  Canons  to  the 
form  of  (the)  Round,'  with  a  homely  nawett 
which  proves  that  his  readers  must  have  been 
too  familiar  with  both  Round  and  Canon,  to 
stand  in  any  danger  of  mistaking  the  drift  of  the 
allusion.  This  form  of  Music,  then,  must  have 
been  common,  in  England,  before  the  middle  of 
the  1 3th  century.  Walter  Mapes  bears  witness 
to  the  fact  that  the  First  English  School,  as  repre 
sented  by  the  Rota,  is  at  least  a  century  and  a  half 
older  than  the  First  Flemish  School  as  represented 
by  the  works  of  Dufay,*  and  we  are  indebted  to 
Mr.  Chappell  for  the  discovery  of  the  jeu  cC  esprit 
in  which  the  circumstance  is  recorded. 

Turning  from  English  to  Continental  critics, 
we  first  find  the  Rota  introduced  to  the  German 
musical  world  by  Forkel,  who,  in  the  year  1788, 
described  it  in  his  'Allgemeine  Geschichte  der 
Musik ' ;  reproducing  Burney's  copy  of  the  Guida, 

1  See  Wanley's  remarks,  in  the  Catalogue  of  the  Harl.  MSS. 

2  Harl.  MSS.  978,  fol.  85 a  (formerly  numbered  83 a,  and  106  a). 

3  "When  thou  art  sent  to  the  Notary  pour  in  thy  gifts. 

He  will  then  at  once  extricate  thee  from  the  cause,  when,  why, 

or  whencesoever  it  may  have  arisen. 
And  will  subject  the  Cauoiis  to  the  form  of  the  Bound. 

4  See  ante,  p.  260  a. 


in  the  old  black  square-headed  Notation  (Gros- 
J>'a),  and  also  his  modernised  Score,  in  Semibreves 
and  Minims  ;  accompanying  these  by  Wanley's 
remarks,  copied  from  the  Harleian  Catalogue. 
To  this  he  added  a  corollary  of  his  own,  to  the 
effect  that,  though  the  MS.  proves  this  species  of 
Canon  to  have  been  well  known  in  the  middle 
of  the  1 5th  century,  and  probably  much  earlier, 
the  Musicians  of  that  period  were  not  sufficiently 
learned  to  combine  it  with  good  Harmony — 
assertions  which  lose  much  of  their  weight  from 
the  self-evident  fact  that  they  rest  upon  inform 
ation  obtained  entirely  at  second-hand,  and  not 
even  corroborated  by  examination  of  the  original 
MS.,  which  it  is  clear  that  Forkel  never  saw.5 

The  next  German  critic  to  whom  it  occurred 
to  touch  on  the  subject  was  Ambros,  who,  in 
volume  2  of  his  great  work,  follows  Forkel's  ex 
ample,  by  quoting  Wanley's  description,  and,  on 
the  authority  of  Hawkins,  referring  the  MS. — 
which  he  himself  clearly  never  saw — to  the  middle 
of  the  I5th  century.6  It  is  indeed  quite  certain, 
that,  at  this  period  at  least,  Ambros's  knowledge 
of  the  history  of  English  art  was  derived  entirely 
from  the  pages  of  Hawkins  and  Burney. 

In  1865  the  subject  was  taken  up  by  the 
Belgian  savant  Coussemaker,  who  described  the 
MS.  as  written  in  the  year  1226 — or,  at  the  latest, 
1236 — by  John  of  Fornsete,  'a  Monk  of  the 
Abbey  of  Reading,  in  Berkshire.'7  But  the 
statement  rests  entirely  on  information  derived 
from  Mr.  Chappell ;  Coussemaker  himself  never 
having  seen  the  MS.  True,  in  another  work,8 
he  speaks  more  independently;  and,  in  his  own 
name,  asserts  the  Rota  to  have  been  written  by 
'the  Monk  of  Reading,'  before  the  year  1226. 
But  he  nowhere  tells  us  that  he  examined  the 
MS.  for  himself. 

In  1868,  the  argument  was  resumed  by  Am 
bros,  who,  in  the  fourth  volume  of  his  History, 
confessed  himself  convinced  by  the  arguments 
of  Coussemaker,  and  undoubtingly  refers  the  Rota 
to  the  year  1226.  But  here  again  it  is  clear 
that  the  opinion  is  not  his  own  ;  and  that  he 
himself  never  saw  the  original  MS.9 

And  now,  having  compared  the  views  enter 
tained  by  the  best  historians  of  the  past  century 
with  those  set  forth  by  the  latest  and  most 
competent  critics  of  the  present  day,  it  remains 
only  that  we  should  place  before  our  readers  the 
results  of  our  own  careful  and  long-continued 
study  of  the  original  MS.  [w.  s.  K.J 


5  •  Allg.  Geschichte  d.  Musik,'  ii.  490-500.    (Leipzig,  1788.) 

6  '  Geschichte  der  Musik,'  Tom.  ii.  pp.  473-475.    (Breslau,  1862.) 

7  '  L'Art  harmouique  aux  xii  et  xiii  siecles,'  144, 150.    (Paris,  1865.) 

8  '  Les  Harmonistes  des  xii  et  xiii  stecles,',.p.  11. 

9  '  Geschichte  der  Musik,'  Tom.  iv.  pp.  440-441.    (Breslau,  1868.) 


To  be  continued. 


END  OF  VOL.  III. 


> 


K  original 


But  the 


[lf,S£J 


o