 
MR. NOVELLO, it appears, is republishing his Masses, of which the above is the first number of a second edition. Not being a new work, we must be governed by our rule, and speak of it generally only, though it would have been very agreeable to us to enter particularly into its merits; for it does not very often fall to our lot to be called upon to notice a composition, the examination of which is attended with so much satisfaction as the present has afforded. We have always been of opinion, and see no reason to depart from it now, that in the Masses of the last hundred years—we might have extended the term—there is far too much levity, the solemnity of the subject being fairly considered; no small part whereof arises out of the accompaniments, which are frequently those of as opera air, and excite nothing but secular, not to say ludicrous ideas. Nay, to the very singers, who are pronouncing the sacred words, melodies are often given which would be well received in the ball-room as dance-tunes; and passages in them, strictly the same both in air and movement, may readily be found in quadrilles and gallopades. If Erasmus, more than three hundred years ago, complained of the lightness of the church-music of his time,—if Salvator Rosa, himself a composer, could not restrain his indignation at the profane melodies to which sacred words were set in the middle of the seventeenth century—in what language would these have uttered their invectives could they have heard some of the compositions of the last age,—some of Haydn’s Masses? Mr. Novello carefully avoids such errors: there is a fitting soberness in his mass, a judicious avoidance of extremes, that prove his good sense; while the smoothness, the elegance of his airs, the richness of his harmony, and the able manner in which he has worked some of his subjects, are no less decisive proofs of his taste and skill as a musician. He certainly is not very energetic, nor does he evince much boldness of enterprise, but he is always correct; and, as a composer, gracefulness is one of his chief attributes. Mr. Atter’s collection is of about seventy—hymns, we suppose they may be called; some few of which we have closely looked into, but must confess that we were deterred from going very far into the volume by what we met with in the early pages. The composer seems to possess a commendable share of industry, and a taste for melody, but we cannot say much in favour of his success as a harmonist; and, occasionally, his manner of setting words is not quite judicious. In the latter, however, he fails much less often than in the former; and upon the whole, so far as we have examined, Mr. A. appears to have entered into the intentions of the poets, and has expressed their sentiments with as much fidelity as musical effect will allow. Exceptions, nevertheless, occur, two of which we point out, lest the author should accuse us of being too general. At page 9, the emphasis is laid on ‘from’ instead of ‘caves:’ the preposition should have been set to the last quaver in the preceding bar. And at page 14, by means of rests after ‘we bless,’ the verb is made to act on the previous noun instead of the succeeding one. The repetition, too, of the words ‘flow down,’ and the bar of symphony between, will hardly fail to excite a smile. Against the harmony we have to remonstrate before quitting even the second page. At the ninth bar of this is a chord of the sixth and fourth, which will displease most ears. But at page 11 is a chord of 7/4, which we should have set down as an error of the engraver, but that the voice part and accompaniment agree; and to ‘make the charm grow madder,’ the seventh rises to its resolution! But we persevered, and got on to the fifteenth page, when the following opening of a hymn convinced us that it would be needless to pursue our inquiry any further. One word, however, as to originality, for which the composer, in his Preface, takes some credit to himself. Surely he is aware that his very first page holds forth to view an imitation of what is called The Evening Hymn; and the succeeding page will immediately call to recollection Haydn’s celebrated movement in A—that in his favourite old symphony in D.
FROM the title of the Lays, many may be led, and naturally enough, to suppose that the ‘Minstrels’ therein named are the poets and composers, as well as the performers, of them; but the executive part alone belongs to them, with the exception of one melody, the second, which claims Herr F. Otto as its author: the third is by Eisenhofer; the remaining four are anonymous. The first, ‘The Sabbath Call’ (we give the English words only,) is a quartet for two tenors and two bases, entirely in the manner of our English glee, but with a piano-forte accompaniment. This is a pleasing piece of almost simple counterpoint, and would be effective, even if sung by voices only. The crotchet rest in the fifth bar of page 3 should have been omitted, and the two last quavers written The second is a pretty, but not very new ballad, in E. For the commencing bars of the third, a song, M. Eisenhofer has undisguisedly borrowed the beginning of the Sicilian Mariner’s Hymn. This is in two movements; the first an andantino; the second, allegretto, in the Swiss style, and very common: the fourth boasts one novel feature, in the shape of what the composer calls a trio. The principal movement is in F major; the second (the trio, though for a single voice) in F minor, and the first is repeated. The fifth of the set, the time of which changes frequently, is overflowing with gaiety, both melody and accompaniment, and is the cleverest of the whole, though too long, the author seeming to think that certain passages—his favourites, no doubt—could not be too often repeated. The last in the book is a duet for two sopranos, very simple, easy, flowing, and the most popularly written of any in the collection. Thus the set begins and ends well; and when we have stated that the English words are correctly adapted, taking the difficulty of the task into consideration, we shall have said as much in favour of the present work as honest criticism will justify. Mr. Brewer’s Songs, six in number, afford strong presumptive evidence that he understands music better than language,—that his knowledge of composition exceeds his skill in reading. And this, we lament to say, is a case of very common occurrence in the musical world, arising from an obvious cause, which we are unwilling to name; one that will not cease to operate till an efficient academy of music be established—an academy, or something of the kind, which shall make the general improvement of the intellect of students an object of equal importance to that of the art they are intended to practise. When this is brought about, (if it ever can be accomplished,) false emphasis, erroneous accentuation, and puerile conceits, will be as rare as undisguised consecutive fifths and unresolved discords; and composers will be looked upon in a far different light from that in which they are now viewed by the well-educated portion of society. The first of these songs is an undeniable proof of what we advance: the music, with an exception which we shall presently mention, is clever—the emphasis abominable. ‘I watch for thee, when parting Day,’ is the composer’s manner of treating this line, thus throwing the emphasis on exactly the wrong words. Then after the word ‘day’ is a rest, though the author (Mrs. Cornwell Baron Wilson) has made it perfectly clear that no pause can be at all intended. And so throughout the whole song. In the sixth and two following bars of page 3 are octaves between the accompaniment and base, which are equally opposed to rule and good taste. If the composer intended to strengthen his base, he should have written these notes below, not above: as they stand, they form part of the accompaniment to the base, and are not allowable. But for such drawbacks, the song would have been entitled to great praise The second is extremely well set, the melody animated and pleasing, and there are points in the accompaniment (bars 5 to 8, page 7) which show more vigour than is usual in compositions of this kind. The third is very full of feeling, and charming altogether, musically considered; but here, unhappily, the words—their emphasis and connexion—have not been understood. In the fourth much is attempted, and little achieved. It is a very long song written to very few words,—to the following lines:— The lark has her gay song begun, She leaves her grassy nest— which Kirke White assuredly never intended to end here, for he could not have thought it worth his while to record a bare fact of so exceedingly unimportant a kind. But the composer has given no less than five pages to the brief narrative, which include a brilliant accompaniment for the flute; this part, we surmise, being intended as an imitation of one of the lark’s best bravuras. The fifth affords a compensation for the preceding; it is melodious, expressive, and free from fault. The last, ‘a Fairy Song,’ is well imagined, lively, and agreeable; but here we find long notes given to short syllables, to connecting words, and lines joined that ought to be separated by some kind of pause,—errors which, though they are, as we well know, thought trivial by many composers, very forcibly strike the most sensible people, and often lead them to doubt whether music is worth the time and trouble which its cultivation costs. PIANO-FORTE.FIRST CONCERTO, with Orchestral Accompaniments, as performed by the Author at the Public Concert of the Royal Academy of Music, 1833; composed by W. STERNDALE BENNET. (Cramer, Addison, and Beale.) THE concerto now before us is by a young musician, who has only just completed his seventeenth year, a pupil of the Royal Academy of Music, and is published ‘by the express direction of the committee’ of that institution. We were present when it was performed by the author, in the Hanover Square Rooms, and in our Number for May last have spoken of it in terms dictated by the impression it then made on us. We have now considered it deliberately, and unconditionally state, that, as the work of so youthful a composer, it is a surprising production. Even viewed without reference to his age, it is entitled to a very considerable share of praise, especially if compared with the current compositions of the day, most of which, including several by masters of some name, are inferior to it, both in design and in the manner of treating the subjects. This concerto is in three movements of reasonable length: the first, an allegro—moderato in D minor; the second, an andante in F; and the finale, a presto, ending the piece in the key in which it began. The principal subject of the first movement is resolute, and commands attention; the subordinate one, in F, is gentle and expressive, and contrasts well with the other. The motivo of the andante is a melody in which is much elegance, but less of decided originality; it is, however, a promising specimen of the author’s taste; though, had he adhered more to the subject, and spared some of the not very congenial runs of half-demisemiquavers, we should better have liked the movement. The finale is bold and energetic, and, in our opinion, the most effective part of the concerto. The spirit of this is kept up to the last note, and it has a unity which leads us to prefer it to the other movements. The success of this work ought to operate on the youthful composer as an incitement to study and write much; but let us advise him to publish little at present, however flattering the temptations thrown in his way. What he may produce and think worth preserving, he should lay aside, and at the end of about half the period recommended by Horace to poets, examine and retouch it: then, having first consulted a judicious friend, he may venture into print without endangering that fame of which his present publication will have laid a very good foundation.
OUR readers have by this time made up their minds on the merit of the above airs of M. NeÜkomm, for there are few by whom they have not been heard: we have therefore no occasion to speak of them but as applicable to the purposes to which they are now applied by these eminent composers; and such is the charm of good melody—a very distinguishing feature in the ingenious Chevalier’s compositions—that it pleases, whatever the form it may assume. These fantasias are calculated for a rather superior, though numerous, class of performers. Both have, as indeed a matter of course, an introductory movement, and are nearly equal in length. But the particular style of each master is obvious in his respective work. In the one, great refinement and expression, not devoid of spirit, are the leading traits; in the other, freshness of fancy, energy, and depth of harmony, mark the more vigorous composer. The introduction to the first is brilliant, and familiarly written: that to the second inclines to the grand, and is rather studiously composed; the syncopated passage towards the end is a charming bit of classical harmony, and the author is apparently aware of its attractive qualities, for he repeats it in the body of the fantasia. These will prove valuable additions, in every sense, to any musical catalogue.
No. 1 is to be counted among the least perplexed and extravagant of M. Czerny’s labours. There are two or three whimsical, but short passages in it, that serve to show his propensities, but, upon the whole, we can speak of this as an agreeable arrangement; the connecting parts and the additions to the original materials are in character, and a good player—for it is beyond the means of mediocre performers—will find it worthy of some notice. No. 2 presents us with six variations on one of the many common airs in an opera which good singing and some good acting have kept for a time on our denaturalized national stage. About half of these, the last, alla Polacca, especially, really take a form somewhat new,—a fact which argues favourably of the composer’s talent; for the writer of variations, above all others, must have learnt by experience how very little novelty there is under the sun. Altogether this publication has afforded us pleasure.
TO his Divertimento Mr. Cianchettini has prefixed a prelude, consisting of nothing but arpeggios in demisemiquavers, to the almost incredible extent of seven pages! We have been present when pianists have begun to indulge themselves in such long-winded extemporaneous effusions, but never had self-devotion enough to wait the conclusion; and we shrewdly suspect that if any one shall have the courage to play through the black forest of notes which has grown up under Mr. C.’s hand, the auditors, however numerous at the beginning, will glide away, till the performer is ‘left alone with his glory.’ After the prelude comes (mercy on us!) an Introduzione, in which the subject is, À la mode, anticipated. Then we at length arrive at Handel’s air; but how altered! how wo-begone!—transposed into B flat, and treated as a theme for modern descant! Had Handel added no variations to it himself, this would have been allowable; but as he has written many, and most fitting and beautiful ones, it was really a bold thing to render homage to the great composer in language which, however well meant, his spirit must view in the light of a very gauche compliment. We know not the arranger, as he modestly terms himself, of No. 2, but whoever or wherever he may be, we feel indebted to him for a pleasant divertimento, formed on the original and beautiful march of Weber; the latter very advantageously adapted, and well set off, by what Mr. Vernet has added. The Introduction to this, À la militaire, is spirited and brilliant, and the whole is showy, without being difficult. SELECT AIRS from AUBER’s Ballet-Opera, La BayadÈre, or, The Maid of Cashmere, arranged with a Flute accompaniment, ad lib., by J. F. BURROWES. Books 1 and 2. (Chappell.) These books contain nearly the whole of the opera, but not the overture, arranged in Mr. Burrowes’s matter-of-fact manner. We have always approved his plan, because he places within reach of most players what many would so adapt as to become useful to only a comparative few. He has given ten pieces, but as we know nothing of the score of La BayadÈre, we are enabled merely to say, that he appears to have embodied all the essential parts of the accompaniments in his arrangement, so far as a pair of hands can take them in with that ease which is a main object with publishers who calculate on a large sale. Of the opera we have had occasion to speak before; it is, intentionally we suppose, the lightest that the modern theatre ever produced, and prettiness is the only quality to which it can make any pretence. In fact La BayadÈre is of mongrel breed, half ballet, half opera; the music, there No. 1 is certainly not likely to gain admission into the Philharmonic Concerts; it will never be put forward as the companion or rival to the ZauberflÖte, Prometheus, or FreischÜtz overture, but is well suited to the Ballet Opera of which it is the gentleman-usher. Opening with a pastoral gaiety, then changing into a movement of bolder liveliness, but free from all those combinations, that modulation, so necessary to the connoisseur of northern climes, it is in good keeping with the music that follows, and with the temperament of those oddly-mixed tropical personages who appear in that strange, nondescript theatrical representation, called La BayadÈre. Nos. 2 and 3 have Danish melodies, or airs so called, for their foundation, worked up with considerable ingenuity by the late M. Kuhlau. No. 2, consisting of three short movements, is graceful, airy, and easy. No. 3 is also divided into three parts, but they are longer than those in the preceding, have cost the composer rather more thought, and require a quicker finger in the performer. Though there is nothing strikingly original in either of these duets, they have nothing vulgar, and little that is common, in them; and there is enough fancy and good taste in their composition to enable us to mention both in favourable terms. No. 4 was, it appears, composed for her Majesty Maria Anna Carolina, queen of what state we are not told; and it certainly was not likely to puzzle her royal brains, for not a bar is there in it that had not, in some shape or other, been played by her Majesty during the progress of her musical studies. To compose anything new in the form of a march is undoubtedly a difficult task, and M. Czerny seems to have been determined that his two hundred and fiftieth opera should not be a work of labour. VOCAL.La BayadÈre, or The Maid of Cashmere, a Ballet-Opera, composed by AUBER; adapted to the English stage by HENRY R. BISHOP. (Chappell.)
No. 1 is meant as a comic song, but we were unable to perceive the drollery of it on the stage, and are equally at a loss to discover any in it while lying before us. Certainly there is no joke in its great length. The air is quite À la Auber. It begins thus:— No. 2 is a tender address from Brahma (the unknown) to the BayadÈre, a delicate, pleasing air, though without stage action it will be thought somewhat long. No. 3, a short trio for soprano, tenor, and base, in A flat, an andante, is one of those morceaux d’ensemble (all of them imitated from ‘Protegga, il giusto cielo,’ in Don Giovanni) which rarely fail of success; and this will be as welcome in the drawing-room, in a domestic party, as on the stage, where it always meets with the warmest applause.
MANY a professional composer would be too happy to call himself author of so pleasing and clever a duet as No. 1, which, in whatever way it is considered, proves the musical knowledge and elegant taste of the joint composers. Its style is Italian, but there are notes in the accompaniment which show that the writers are well read in the German school. Young as the ladies are who have produced this, yet there is a method and consistency in it that indicate considerable experience. They must have entered on the study of music with hearty good will, and pursued it with an earnestness which is rarely found in those who have no other object in view but amusement. We regret, however, to inform these very ingenious dilettanti, that the engraver has left so many errors—for his errors they clearly are—that it was with some difficulty we ascertained the intention of the composers in numerous instances; insomuch that we strongly recommend them to make a sacrifice of all the copies printed off, to have the plates corrected, and then publish another edition. They may rest assured that the duet is well worth the trouble No. 2 is very simple, but set with great feeling and taste to well-chosen words. It is now in G, and was, it seems, originally in A flat. Why not have remained in that key? It would not have been at all too high for any soprano voice; and as it is, the B below the clef, to which it extends, may be too low for many singers. No. 3 is a spirited melodious song, not a ‘ballad,’ as the authoress calls it, for it consists of three movements. The second of these, in A flat, the former ending in G, is much too sudden a transition from a key so entirely irrelative. There are two or three slight oversights in this, which may easily be corrected: and the title of the song at first view is not a little ambiguous. We really read ‘Sally’ as a prÆnomen, as a Christian name. Would not sortie answer the purpose? There is much sweetness and grace in No. 4, and the words are most correctly set. It is remarkably easy, and, except a single A above the staff, is within the compass of almost every female voice. No. 5 is pleasing and elegant, though it does not lead us to suppose that the noble composer has made much effort in search of new effects. The Baron, however, has set the words—a mild anacreontic—with a correctness that many an English composer may take pattern from. No. 6, written for two young ladies well known in the fashionable circles for their charming manner of singing, is one of those compositions which never fail to please in the drawing-room, for which the author has exclusively calculated his duet. It runs much in smoothly-flowing thirds and sixths, but Mr. Lodge’s natural tendency to something beyond these, occasionally peeps out, with good effect, though without calling on the performers for any additional exertion. No. 7 sings very agreeably of the most valuable quality to be found among the petites morales, good-nature. There is an ease and suavity in his ballad that well agree with the theme his muse has furnished.
These ballads are sung by Mrs. Waylett at the Adelphi Theatre, to whom they are not a little indebted, for she gives a character to whatever of the kind she undertakes, that scarcely ever fails to draw ‘thunders of applause,’ in the theatrical phrase. But they have also inherent merit. The first is playful and winning, and free from all vulgarity of cadence. The second is in a very popular style, with a pizzicato accompaniment, strongly marked in rhythm, though possessing little of that originality which is so difficult to find.
The first of these is one of those correct and gracious airs which always, to a certain extent, please when heard, but, for want of distinctness of character, are forgotten the moment the last note is sounded. No. 2 meets our longing ears with something in the shape of originality, something which informs us that the composer has taken the trouble to think. Of the latter, the notes at the words, ‘whose voices came,’ is a proof, and the whole is indicative of reflection and knowledge of effect. No. 3 is true German, both words and music. A giant ‘in sable armour’ goes to a grave-digger, (der TodtengrÄber)—and insists on being buried. The man of the mournful spade tremblingly complies. The grave-wooer lies down, his head resting on his shield, and is covered up. The sexton crosses himself, and the story ends; but what it means, beyond what is stated, we know not, and suspect that the grave-digger never was better informed on the subject than are we and our readers. The music has a grand simplicity in it that proves of what the composer was capable, and how much we lost by his early death. He was, most probably, impressed with an idea of something mysteriously awful in the words, and admirably adapted his harmony to his conception of the poet’s meaning, into which he penetrated further than we are capable of doing. This is for a base voice, and the English translation is adapted to it with an accuracy seldom attained. No 4 is also very Germanic, and quite as full of horrors as the former, but of another kind. The poet here sings of two birds, who ask, ‘Where shall we dine?’ The one is in favour of the remains of some shipwrecked mariners, whose corpses look inviting: the other recommends the cold remains of ‘a new-slain knight.’ How the hungry ravens determine, the song saith not, though the arguments of the latter, who seems to have been strongly tempted by the jelly of the knight’s eye, most likely prevail. This really does not seem a lyrical subject, but the composer (an amateur) has made much of it. Indeed, we have here a work of considerable genius, pleasing in spite of the not very inviting story, and superior to most of the songs that come before us. No. 5 is a clever and very pleasing song, with many beauties, and never a fault. No 6 possesses the best characteristics of a good sea-song, without any of those vulgarisms in cadence which are often met with in music of this description. The melody is free, the accompaniment unaffected, and the effect of the whole agreeable. No. 7 is also a sailor’s song, but of the gentlest kind,—of a mariner who sings of ‘The chime of the vesper, the music of prayer;’ so that nothing at all approaching to nautical slang is to be found here. The air is very pretty, and a short chorus, for three sopranos, at the end of each stanza, adds such to effect. No. 8 is more elegant than new. The composer, a foreigner, may be excused some errors in emphasis that appear in this ballad, which may be corrected without much trouble. DOUBLE-BASS.METHOD for the DOUBLE-BASS, according to the English system of tuning and fingering, compiled from the treatises of MINÉ, FROHLICH, &c., and illustrated by numerous extracts from the Orchestral Compositions of HAYDN and MOZART; together with an explanation of the mode of simplifying ordinary Bass-parts, so as to adapt them to this instrument, by J. HAMILTON. (Cocks and Co.) THE reader perhaps will start at seeing a treatise on such an instrument announced, but the double-base has risen to great importance in the orchestra, and requires a much more regular course of study than in days gone by, when all sorts of people undertook to perform on it. The title-page of this publication so fully sets forth its contents, that it is unnecessary to add a word on that subject. The precepts are few and clearly expressed, but the examples are many and very judiciously selected. We learn from the present work, that in Germany this instrument is mounted with four strings, which are tuned by fourths descending, beginning with C, the second space in the base; or more frequently with G, the first base line. In Italy, England, and France, only three strings are used, which in the two former countries are tuned to G, D, and G; in the latter, to G, D, and A. The double-base plays from the violoncello part, but generally an octave below that instrument. It appears that the fault we complained of in our last, page 149, in mentioning a Fantasia by M. Chaulieu, is imputable to the London engraver, who mistook a new mark endeavoured to be brought into use by the composer, for the contratenor clef. See Acknowledgments to Correspondents. |
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