William Barclay Squire

“ The truth, as is usual in such cases, lies midway between these extremes. His invention, knowledge of effect, and above all his melody, will keep his works from being forgotten ; and if they are deficient in those higher qualities demanded by the taste of the present day, that is no reason why, within their limits, they should cease to please. Balfe's music may not be the highest, but of its kind it attains a very high degree of excellence. ”

“ HUME, TOBIAS (d. 1645) , soldier and musician, was a soldier of fortune, and spent much of his life in the service of Sweden. In 1605 he published ‘The First Part of Ayres, French, Pollish, and others,’ with a dedication to William Herbert, third earl of Pembroke, in which he says, ‘My life hath been a soldier and my idleness addicted to music.’ His favourite instrument seems to have been the viol-da-gamba. In 1607 he published ‘Captain Hume's Musicall Humors,’ dedicated to Anne of Denmark, which contains curious attempts at programme-music. ”

“ His musical progress was so marked that he was soon able to lead a chamber band of amateurs, and it was when so engaged that young Arne was one day found by his astonished father. The discovery of his son's musical talents Was at first met with a considerable display of wrath on the part of Thomas Arne, but eventually he had the good sense to recognise that the boy was more fitted for a musician than a lawyer, and after some hesitation to allow him to cultivate the talents which he so decidedly displayed. ”

“ As a teacher he enjoyed a great and deserved reputation, one secret of his success being the great importance he attached to the clear enunciation of the words in singing. His most distinguished pupil was Miss Brent, for whom he composed a number of bravura airs, which, being generally written for the display of her remarkable powers of execution, are of less value than the refined and delicate songs he wrote at an earlier period for his wife. ”

“ Abel was in Paris in 1772 and also in 1783, in which year he returned to Germany to visit his brother Leopold August, who was also a musician of eminence. He returned to London in 1785, and occasionally played at concerts until his death, which took place, hastened by his habits of intemperance, June 20, 1787. Abel's compositions chiefly consist of instrumental music. As a player he was remarkable for the beauty of his execution on an instrument which was even in his days almost obsolete, but to which he was nevertheless devoted. ”

“ There are passages in ‘Palestine’ which show that he was possessed of original genius and no mere servile copyist of Handel, although the style of the Saxon master is predominant throughout the work. Crotch, like so many other musicians, was unfortunately mainly dependent upon teaching for his subsistence; it is therefore not to be wondered at that he produced so little. Throughout his life he was devoted to drawing, and his numerous sketches and water-colours which have been preserved show that if he had not devoted himself to music he might have attained distinction as an artist. ”

“ Meanwhile the young composer supported himself and assisted his mother by his earnings as a violinist in the orchestras of Drury Lane Theatre and the oratorio concerts. When he was about eighteen, finding that his voice was developing the pure quality for which it was afterwards so remarkable, he was induced to try his fortune on the operatic stage, and appeared at the Norwich Theatre as Caspar in a garbled version of Weber's 'Der Freischütz.' Fortunately for the cause of music, this experiment was a decided failure, and Balfe returned to London, where better luck awaited him. ”

“ Clark was a voluminous writer of slight pieces for the organ, harmonium, and piano; his talents were considerable, but as a musician he lacked profundity, and his compositions courted popularity with the uneducated majority rather than the esteem of the educated few. ”

“ Creighton is now solely remembered as a musician. He was taught music at an early age, and was passionately devoted to its pursuit. Burney's statement (iii. 599) that he was once a gentleman in the chapel of Charles II must be a mistake, unless it refers to the time when he was in exile. He wrote a few services and anthems, which, though not very powerful nor original, are exceedingly good music, and are still frequently performed. Creighton was a married man, and had a family, several members of which were connected with Wells during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. ”

“ These few glimpses of Arne's personal characteristics hardly carry out the statement of a contemporary that 'his cheerful and even temper made him endure a precarious pittance' (Dibdin, Musical Tour, letter lxv.) ; yet after his death it seems generally to have been considered that during his lifetime his genius was never sufficiently appreciated, and that as a musical hack, expected to supply music for the ephemeral plays produced at both Covent Garden and Drury Lane, he frittered away the talents which ought to have been devoted to better work. ”

“ Balfe's voice was a baritone, of more sweetness of quality than stregth, but his singing was always distinguished for purity of delivery and power of expression. During his engagement at Paris, Balfe did little or nothing to increase his reputation as a composer. He wrote some additional music for a revival of Zingarelli's 'Romeo e Giulietta,' and began an opera on the subject of Chateaubriand's 'Atala, but before the end of his engagement his health broke down, and he was obliged to return to Italy. ”

“ His real name was Basevi, but he had adopted the name of Cervetto before his arrival in England in 1738 or 1739. He played first at a concert in Hickford's Rooms, Brewer Street, Golden Square, where Festing led, but he was soon engaged for the Drury Lane orchestra, of which he was a conspicuous member until his death. Cervetto, with Caporale and Pasquali, was one of the first to popularise the violoncello in England. His tone is described as having been coarse, and his execution not remarkable; but Burney states that he was a good musician and a good man. ”

“ On his arrival, Abell sat on a chair in the middle of a large hall. No sooner was he seated than the chair was drawn up into the air until it faced a gallery in which were the king and his courtiers. At the same time a number of bears were turned into the hall, and Abell was given the alternative of singing or being lowered to the wild beasts. The terrified singer promptly chose the former course, and afterwards said that he had never sung better in his life. In 1696 overtures were made to him through Daniel Purcell to return to England and sing on the stage at a salary of 500l. a year ”

“ On Burney's parents removing to Chester he was left behind at Shrewsbury under the care of an old nurse, but subsequently he was sent to Chester, and educated at the free school. About 1741 he returned to Shrewsbury and studied music under his eldest half-brother, James, who was organist of St. Mary's, Shrewsbury, from 1735 until his death in 1789. Burney also studied under Baker, the organist of Chester Cathedral, a pupil of Blow. In 1744 he met Arne, who was passing through Chester on his return from Ireland. Arne was so struck by his talent that he offered to take him as a pupil. ”

“ At an early age he became a chorister of the Chapel Royal, where he was educated by his father's old master, Dr. Nares. On his return to York he became assistant to his father. He is said to have been the first to teach the cathedral choristers to sing from notes; previously all the services had been learnt by ear. The two Camidges also originated the York musical festivals, beginning with a performance, on a small scale, of Handel's ‘Messiah’ at the Belfry church, which led to oratorios being given with orchestral accompaniments in the minster. ”

“ The statement in Miss Strickland's ‘Life of Catherine of Braganza’ [q. v.] , that ‘the first Italian opera performed in this country was acted in her presence,’ probably arises from the fact that Shadwell's ‘Psyche,’ with vocal music by Matthew Lock (the queen's organist) and instrumental interludes by G. B. Draghi, which is sometimes considered the first English opera, was produced at the Dorset Garden Theatre in February 1673–4. This work, the scenery of which cost 600l., was only played for eight days. Lock's music was published in 1675, but Draghi's was omitted, by the composer's consent. ”

“ But on the other hand it is certain that Humfrey on his return from France made no secret of his contempt for English music and musicians, and the favour which Charles showed the vain young composer was probably galling to his old master. Cooke's merits as a teacher must have been very great, for he taught nearly all the composers who were the glory of the English school of the Restoration. ”

“ About the same time he finished a work on the theory of harmony, and came to London in 1818 in order to obtain the publication of his invention, in which he was unsuccessful. Clifton next adopted the Logierian system of musical instruction, and for some years was a teacher of repute in London. He married the proprietress of a ladies' school at Hammersmith, where the last years of his life were spent. About 1838 he became possessed with the idea that he was enormously wealthy, and the mania grew to such an extent that it was found necessary to place him under restraint. ”

“ The ‘Dictionary of Musicians’ (1827) and ‘Georgian Era’ (iv. 526) have transferred the younger Carter's age, liver, widow, and children, to the elder musician, thus creating a remarkable confusion. Another error is the statement that in Italy Carter attracted the attention of Sir William and Lady Hamilton. Sir William Hamilton went as envoy to Naples in 1764, but was not made a K.B. until 1772, and was unmarried until long after Carter had left Italy. To add to this confusion, a third Thomas Carter, also a musician, was living in Dublin at the beginning of the century. ”

“ Every mark of distinction was showered upon the composer; Louis-Philippe offered him the cordon of the Legion of Honour, and, when his nationality prevented him from accepting it, proposed that he should become a naturalised Frenchman, offering to procure for him a post at the Paris Conservatoire. In the same year as his Parisian triumph, Balfe was recalled to London to superintend the production of an English version of 'Le Puits d'Amour' at the Princess's Theatre, and also to arrange with Bunn for a new opera for Drury Lane. ”

“ A. C. Schomberg, a tutor of Magdalen, who took great interest in him, he moved to Oxford, where he intended to study for the church. He never, however, entered at the university, as his patron's health broke down, and Crotch therefore resumed the musical profession. Previous to this, on 4 June 1789, a juvenile oratorio of his, ‘The Captivity of Judah,’ had been performed at Trinity Hall, Cambridge. During the same year he was engaged at Oxford to play a concerto at the weekly concerts in the music room. ”

“ During their stay here Cimarosa wrote an opera for Braham 'Artemisia' which the composer did not live to complete. From Venice the two singers went to Trieste, where Braham sang in Martin's 'Una Cosa Rara,' and thence to Vienna, where the offers of London managers caused the popular tenor and soprano to make for Hamburg without stopping to sing in Germany. They arrived in London early in the winter of 1801, and appeared on 9 Dec. in 'Chains of the Heart,' a feeble composition by Prince Hoare, with music by Mazzinghi and Reeve, which failed in spite of Braham's singing. ”

“ DUNSTABLE, JOHN (d. 1453) , musician and mathematician, was a native of Dunstable in Bedfordshire. His name is spelt by early writers ‘Dunstaple.’ Nothing is known of his life, but he was famous all over Europe as one of the earliest musicians who laid the foundations of the great schools of the sixteenth century. One of the earliest notices of him occurs in the ‘Proportionale’ of Johannes Tinctoris (1445–1511) . The writer, speaking from hearsay, says that the origin of music took place in England, where Dunstable was the chief musician. ”

“ In the autumn of 1766 she became the second wife of Thomas Pinto; her marriage is said to have so disgusted Dr. Arne that on hearing her mentioned he exclaimed, 'Oh, sir, pray don't name her; she has married a fiddler.' About 1770 she left Covent Garden, where Miss Catley was beginning to occupy the place she had hitherto filled, and for the next ten years she went a succession of tours with her husband in Scotland and Ireland, appearing at Dublin in 1773 as Urganda in Michael Arne's 'Cymon.' Although she had acquired large sums of money, she was embarrassed in her old age. ”

“ DYGON, JOHN (fl. 1512) , Benedictine monk and musician, was admitted bachelor of music at Oxford in April 1512. He is said to have been prior of the monastery of St. Augustine at Canterbury, and has been confused with another John Dygon, who was abbot of the same monastery from 1497 to 1509. Prior Dygon has been identified, with much probability, with one John Wyldebere, who at the dissolution became vicar of Willesborough, and was still there in 1542. The several conjectures as to Dygon's individuality are discussed in Grove's ‘Dictionary of Music,’ iv. ”

“ There is much music extant by Coperario, principally in the libraries of the queen, the British Museum, Christ Church and the Music School (Oxford) , and the Royal College of Music. His compositions are chiefly instrumental fantasias, or ‘Fancies,’ in several parts, and show that he was a master in the art of polyphonic writing. ”

“ There exists a copy of the sonata, formerly belonging to Bridgetower, on which he has made a memorandum of an alteration he introduced in the violin part, which so pleased Beethoven that he jumped up and embraced the violinist, exclaiming, 'Noch einmal, mein lieber Bursch!' In later years Bridgetower alleged that the Kreutzer Sonata was originally dedicated to him, but that before he left Vienna he had a quarrel with Beethoven about some love affair which caused the latter to alter the inscription. ”