Various

“ Who ever supposed that an air of so much beauty could have remained thus long unknown in a concert established for the preservation of ancient music? Who ever imagined that a composition upwards of a century old could exhibit so many of the best features of the modern school, that it might be mistaken for the work of Haydn or Mozart? To Signor Rubini we are, it is said, indebted for the introduction of this antique gem, and he placed it in a highly favourable light by his manner of performing it, which, for him, was remarkably chaste. ”

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

“ Let any one of these gentlemen be installed maestro, and you will find the band invariably go well, unless, indeed, it be thwarted and checked by the caprice of an overbearing, arbitrary leader: there is no ‘stamping of feet’ with them; but all is conducted in silence. Having studied the score, such a conductor as any one of these relies on himself, and acts with firmness. There is no ambiguity, every motion of the baton is decisive, every glance of the eye expressive, and he makes himself clearly understood by each individual performer. ”

“ Never will a wicked man understand the language of sounds; such a faculty is the result of the most harmonious organization, and the perfection of our being. The virtuous man seems to hear a choir of angels, the echo of which is in his own heart.
Enough has already been said as to what constitutes a good musician; yet perhaps it has not been sufficiently enforced, that without genius, without original ideas, the most scientific composition is nothing else than a copy, more or less excellent. ”

“ To say the truth, such is the feature by which modern music is distinguished from that of the old school, which was silly enough to allow melody to take the lead, and paid it, on all occasions, the most unaccountable respect.
The modern composer must not neglect to provide himself with a ready-made store of showy piano and harp passages, with which he must sprinkle pretty thickly the parts for the voice; and when he gets hold of a soprano air, let him ornament the conclusion of it with a flight of demi-semiquavers, the more unvocal the better. ”

“ Yes, music, contrary to our nature, at first irritates, but if its seductions are listened to for some considerable time, it calms, softens, and finally triumphs over every resistance. Thus Orpheus, in the infernal regions, soothed the anger of Cerberus, and softened the hearts of the divinities of Tartarus. If you find a man who does not love music, be assured that it is either because he has not yet heard any suited to his peculiar turn of mind, or that his heart is for ever closed against pure pleasures. ”

“ The singer is expected to supply this desideratum, and thus coarse minds get hammered into them that which is insupportable to a cultivated taste; in the same manner as children or savages look upon a glaringly rouged and tinselled doll as a decided beauty, while to a cultivated eye the sight is revolting. In this doll, we no doubt trace the embryo of an attempt at the beautiful, as much as in Bellini’s finales, which, like the papier maché busts in barbers’ shops, with their full blown cheeks and inch deep rouge, are meant to represent loveliness. ”

“ But to create that intensity of feeling, which solely identifies itself with the accordance of musical composition, the corresponding symphony of which awakens from their secluded cells the sweetest and tenderest affections, elucidates emotions of hope, fear, surprise, terror, and joy,—and as the stream of harmony flows along calls forth involuntary exclamations of delight, wonder, and admiration—demands a much more copious extent of subject and execution. ”

“ There is not in the whole opera one phrase of melody that has either novelty or any other merit; the harmony is flat and incorrect; the rhythm totally devoid of character, and eternally broken in upon; and to close all, the instrumentation is that of a school-boy who had not even the good sense to study the scores of his contemporaries.
Tired of singing such stuff, Tamburini introduced an air from the Inganno Felice of Rossini, and never did a base voice give so splendid a specimen of ease, taste, and execution; the audience, without considering the fatigue of the singer, encored it ”

“ Verily the overture is invaluable! it is as if it were prefixed to the work as a sort of board, with the warning ‘Here nothing is to be gained, a mere triumph of insipidity is celebrating within.’ It is, indeed, a bold thing to speak thus of a renowned man, who has the public so much on his side. Honest Germans! Honest Viennese in particular!—for you more especially constitute the public of Bellini—I have but a poor opinion of you who can live tens of years without hearing Gluck, who can find Mozart antiquated, and Beethoven’s Fidelio and Weber’s Euryanthe dull and tedious. ”

“ Even instrumental writers are beginning to feel the tediousness of introductory symphonies. In the beautiful concerto of Mendelssohn, which he played last season at the Philharmonic, how did he delight his audience by the bold spirit with which he rushed at once into the principal solo subject, instead of following the old daudling practice of tiring expectation by four or five pages of tedious, and often irrelevant, symphony! ”

“ Nor were his ears alone curiously awakened; his eyes were equally occupied to mark the peculiar performance of intricate difficulties; for the young musician had invented a mode of adding neatness to brilliancy, by curving the fingers, and rounding the hand, in a manner that gave them a grace upon the keys quite new at that time, and entirely of his own devising.
To be easily pleased, however, or to make acknowledgment of being pleased at all, seems derogatory to strong self-importance; Mr. Greville, therefore, merely said, “You are fond, Sir, it seems, of Italian music?” ”

“ Music is the language of those regions where happier and better beings reside, and its sympathy with the fine and tender affinities of our own species gives it unlimited sway over the modulation of our feelings. The mother’s lullaby to the darling in her lap breathes music upon us in our infancy; it affects us in various modes in after life—in the midnight serenade, in the festive tabor, in the shrill clarion of war, and in the full toned organ, which sounds a requiem over the departing reliques of mortal existence. ”

“ The choruses of male and female gardeners are of a pastoral character. The awful passage of the horn solo when Fortunatus appears under the guise of a magic spirit, and which is introduced with great effect as a second melody, simultaneously with the peculiar subject which accompanies the plucking of the apples, forms a striking contrast to the chorus of the courtiers, who assent to the king’s remarks, and laugh at every stupid joke he utters. Agrippina and Pedro, tasting the apples, become black. ”

“ It is erroneous to suppose that there are so many obstacles as some conceive, in the way of a spontaneous production of ideas, for rhythm, number, and modulation are faculties so inseparable from a well-instructed musician, that he obeys them as by instinct, without ever remarking it, while he is solely occupied by the graceful, energetic, gay, or passionate character with which he wishes to invest his melody. How many other more real obstacles is the composer obliged to combat with and surmount in the arrangement of his ideas! ”

“ The composer, therefore, who is thus seated in the midst of these volumes, may go to work without much apprehension, as he will here find brought into one focus all the scattered rays of beauty that he would have to collect, with no small labour, from hundreds of volumes. A ready artist need not trouble himself much with the deeper studies of composition, as the public will give him sufficient credit for talent, if he do but possess the happy art of combinations, and can produce a piece of ingenious mosaic work. ”

“ See, however, the same faces when a simple melody breaks out from the chaos of the harmony: waiting for no prompter, pleasure instantly beams on every face, and truth and nature have a triumph in that deep and universal sympathy which art and affectation are utterly incapable of achieving. ”

“ It would be mere commonplace to call M. M. the true representative of the true school of piano-forte playing, or to say that a perfect gradation of power, brilliancy of touch, precision of time, and all the charms of rhythm are united in his performance. A detailed description of the merits of a master conveys no adequate idea of the qualities and powers peculiar to a man of genius. M. M. has all the difficulties of his instrument in such complete subjection, that as they increase, so does his command over them ”

“ THE MUSIC OF THE PRESENT NUMBER. THE Overture to Cosi fan tutte is the lightest of Mozart’s orchestral compositions, and in the style of the Italian sinfonias of his day, but as far superior as was to be expected from a genius which, even when relaxing, was comparatively great.
The Madrigal, ‘When all alone,’ is one of the most beautiful compositions of the kind known, and but for a single modulation which marks its age, might be mistaken for a modern production, so free and fresh is its melody. ”

“ I must however confess, that since speech, with its inflexions, is not always sufficient to explain certain ideas, still less will accent alone do so; yet still the gentle agitation caused by good instrumental music, that undefined repetition of our feelings; that aërial flight which suspends us midway between earth and heaven, without fatiguing our organs; that mysterious language which captivates without persuading, which speaks to our senses without the aid of reasoning, and yet which is equivalent to reason, since it charms, gives to the unsophisticated heart the most refined pleasure. ”

“ When the whirlwind has swept by, and they who thought to ride upon it are blown into oblivion, then shall we again lift up our own heads. Either we shall witness the restoration and hear the voice of joy and gladness once more in our dwellings, see the waste places rebuilt, again hear the pealing organ swell its note of praise, and the merry bells ring out their jocund sound, or our pilgrimage will be over, and we shall have exchanged, through the Redeemer’s blood, our earthly choirs for celestial. ”

“ Field’s fingers the piano is no longer a mere piece of mechanism; it sings, and seems as competent to produce sustained tones, as though it were played with a bow. Touched by this exquisite performer, it is a real musical instrument, and no longer a mere theatre for the exhibition of tours de force, the use to which the kind of talent possessed by a majority of what are called the greatest artists of the present day nearly confines it. ”

“ M. Kulau, a judicious musician, but, alas! no more, has made a very charming rondo out of Mozart’s popular air from Figaro. Like a reasonable man, he has studied the convenience of the player, and also confined himself within moderate bounds;—like a man of taste, he has been regulated by the style of the subject;—and like a musician who really understands his art, he has added nothing but what every sound harmonist will approve and admire. ”

“ When a young man of talent exhibits originality of thought, however wild, however untutored, he ought to be encouraged, and have the path smoothed for him: he is a choice plant, and should be cultivated. Such a young man is, perhaps, at first devoid of any knowledge of harmony, yet there is within him a genuine reservoir, whence the purest beauties may flow. ”

“ And this indeed is the sole reason why the operas of such composers maintain their ground in Italy; they afford opportunities to a singer destitute of true feeling of showing his vocal volubility and execution, and of creating astonishment by such means; while to the great singer they present a field for compensating by his art, that which the brainless author was incapable of producing. But in the eye and ear of the true connoisseur, such productions must ever remain monsters. Bellini, and still worse Rossini, laugh at the idea of expressing words or feelings by means of music ”

“ Editor, which you complain of, is, most assuredly, an abominable nuisance, which, strange as it may appear to those of your readers who have not witnessed it, even the Philharmonic Concert, with the best band, perhaps, in Europe, is not entirely free from. I am amazed how any man possessed of common sense, and who is capable of enjoying good music, can so far forget himself, as to be guilty of a practice so glaringly absurd, and there have been times when I have expected the whole band would simultaneously lay down their instruments, and remonstrate against the use of so barbarous a custom. ”

“ It is round, rich, and clear, of wonderful flexibility, and such astonishing firmness, that it is impossible to suspect any note is passed over unperceived. He has the neatness and precision of execution that Ber and Barizel have acquired on the clarionet or bassoon. The tone is equal in its whole extent, taking and holding F with as much ease as a tenor voice would do, or running over the notes with a vivacity unheard of till now; while its pathetic tones, in the cavatina from La Straniera, Mai tu vieni o misera, move the hearer even to tears. ”

“ They said, ‘If we preach wisdom to you, before your mind is disposed towards it, we shall lose our time; but if by harmonious sounds we establish harmony in your mind, you will yield without opposition.’ Let us then, like these philosophers, make men more or less musicians, and they will be disposed to every sort of harmony—for that of colours in a picture, or the order that pervades an architectural pile.
In short, to be alive to the beauties of harmony is to love the order which pervades the system of the Creator. ”

“ The Recitative, ‘Ye sacred priests,’ was delivered with great judgment, and the following air, ‘Farewell!’ could not have been more delicately sung: it were, however, to be wished that the shakes, transmitted from one singer to another, could be lessened in number as they pass. And the cadence, another incumbrance, had better be at once repudiated; it is an ancient abomination, which now the English alone practise. Morley’s Madrigal is, both in melody and harmony, free as air—all hilarity, and not a glimpse of pedantry. ”

“ Comedy amuses while it instructs; but this admits of very little increase of the voice beyond its ordinary speaking powers; and who can make himself heard in our vast theatres without exerting his lungs in a manner quite destructive of the ease so indispensably necessary to the finished performance of genteel comedy?—Opera, melodrama, and dancing remain, to which Covent Garden seems already driven; and Drury Lane is on the point of following the example of the rival patent temple of legitimate drama! ”

“ I have heard persons who disapprove of writing on melody, say, that supposing a good work could be produced on such a subject, no one is competent [Pg 120] to the task but a composer celebrated himself for his happy invention of melodies, such as Mozart or Rossini. This appears to me to be a manifest error. The man of genius, who is constantly occupied by new productions, has not time to analyse the mechanism of his own works; he has no doubt that he himself understands what he knows, and he has no faith in things which are to be learned; no man can be more unfit to become a teacher. ”

“ If he writes to words in the dramatic style, the arrangement of the verse, the prosody, the rapidity of the action, and many other difficulties, restrain him much more; yet the man of genius always ends with triumph.
Composers themselves cannot understand by what mysterious agency they are endowed thus with the faculty of invention, the power of keeping up their warmth of feeling and their enthusiasm; of investing themselves with a passion, in the midst of no many obstacles ”

“ Then she gave us some accompanied recitative, with a nobleness of accent, that made every one of us stand erect out of respect! Then, how fascinately she condescended to indulge us with a rondeau! though she holds that simplicity of melody beneath her; and therefore rose from it to chant some church music, of the Pope’s Chapel, in a style so nobly simple, so grandly unadorned, that it penetrated to the inmost sense. She is just what she will: she has the highest taste, with an expression the most pathetic ”

“ Potter’s symphony is not only the best composition that has yet proceeded from his pen, but a work that will give him an honourable place in the temple of fame,—a work, that the oftener it is heard the better it will be understood, and the more it will be liked; for not only the experienced master, but the man of genius, is evinced in every movement. It consists of an allegro con fuoco, in G minor, strikingly original; a very melodious and effective andante in D minor; a bold scherzo in G minor, and trio in E flat; and a finale in G minor. ”

“ Wherever the working classes are taught to prefer the pleasures of intellect, and even of taste, to the gratification of sense, a great and favourable change takes place in their character and manners. They are no longer driven by mere vacuity of mind to the beer-shop; and a pastime which opens their minds to the impressions produced by the strains of Handel and Haydn, combined with the inspired poetry of the Scriptures, becomes something infinitely better than the amusement of an idle hour. ”

“ But for this Society, the Madrigal, when by fashion—which always thirsts for change, and is generally tasteless—banished from every other musical circle, would, most probably, have been utterly unknown and lost to our generation. And even this very Society, the only place of refuge that was left for so masterly, so beautiful a species of composition, was, not long ago, in imminent danger of speedy dissolution ”