The Press. — London, England, 1858-12-04 00:00:00

1192 T H The Foreign Count. Song. Written and Com posed by Henry Walker. London: Cocks and Co. THE frontispiece of this song, which presents a capital lithographic sketch of a hairy foreign swindler, is its greatest attraction ; although the words certainly are not bad in their way, and might doubtless be made a great deal of by a clever comic singer. The music is absolutely null. It evidences, indeed, no pretension what ever, and therefore does not challenge serious criticism. Dear Voices of Home. Song. Written and Com posed by Anne Fricker. London : Cocks and Co. THIS, too, is a remarkably simple production, in a musical point of view, but tuneful and easy to sing and play, whilst the verses, although by no means soaring to the heights of true poetry, are smoothly written, and sentimental without being maudlin. Do you Think of the Days that are gone, Jeannie 1' Ballad ; and The Rhine Maiden, Song. Com posed by Henry Smart. London : Cramer, Beale, and Chappell. HERE we have two more specimens of the Pot au feu style of Art. We know right well that Mr. Henry Smart can write very much better things than these insipid trifles, but, like Mr. G. Macfarren and many others, he is unable to live on " love and fame "; (the Shelleyan diet for true poets), and therefore must work for publishers. Do we blame him ? Most assuredly not; any more than we do his distinguished brethren in Art, or the " many others" at whom we have glanced. No, we blame the hypocritical age which pretends to worship the " mighty Handel," the "divine Mozart," the " sublime Beethoven," &c., and only buys the most vapid, maudlin trash for its private delectation. We know that such men as Macfarren and Smart would say with us, "I'd rather be a kitten and cry mew, "than one of these same metre ballad-mongers ;" but, then, alas ! stern necessity puts its icy hand on their warm hearts, freezes the genial current of the soul, and forces them to cry " mew," or any thing else, if they would gain an honest livelihood for themselves and their families. Would that the influence of the press could produce a better state of things ! Russian Air, known as " Those Evening Belli." Transcribed for the Pianoforte by W. Vincent Wallace. London : Cocks and Co. r.VERYTIIING that Mr. W. Vin,:ent Wallace (the genial composer of Maritana) does for the in strument of his predilection is gracefully and well done, and thoroughly " pianistic "—that is, in the modern sense of the word. Where the." supposi tion " that this " Russian Air" was composed by Beethoven came from we know not, but are in clined to doubt, despite the semi-indorsement of the opinion by Mr. Wallace, that the great Ton- I)ichter had anything at all to do with its com position. It looks a great deal more like one of the chorales of the Greek Church, and although not a very fine specimen of the class of art to which it would seem to belong, is nevertheless sufficiently interesting to justify the trouble which Mr. Wallace has taken in arrang►ng it for the piano, and certainly serves to display his talent to considerable advantage. We regret, however, to find Mr. Wallace lavishing his powers upon such trifles as this. The nian who could compose the charming trio, "Turn on Old Time "—not to speak of other eminently gracetul and musicianly things—ought to be much better employed. Nine Choral Songs. With an Accompaniment for the Pianoforte. By Elizabeth Stirling. London: A. Novello. ELIZABETH STIRLING (Miss or Mrs. ?) is favour ably known to the admirers of tuneful part music by her " All Among the Barley," which has frequently been sung in public by the " Vocal Association," and other choral bodies, and very seldom without an unanimous encore. Well, that now generally popular part-song may be taken as a fair specimen of the lair com- E PRESS, DECEMBER 4, 1858. poser's style, and will, therefore, convey an ade quate idea of the characteristic merits of the effusions included in the publication under notice, amongst which it occupies, as No. 1, the post of honour. It were impossible for us to recommend the nine choral songs forming the present collec tion more strongly to the attention of the musi cal public. Now heaven in Fullest Glory Shone. Air. From " The Creation." Composed by Haydn. London: G. 11. Davidson. ONE of Ilaydn's finest and longest vocal pieces, clearly engraved, and the accompaniment well arranged for the pianoforte, from the full score, for threepence! Is it necessary to recommend such a publication to the patronage of our musi cal readers ? Mr. Davidson calls it a "miracle of cheapness," and he has good reason to do so. 3fendelssohu's Open-air Music for Voices only. London : A. Novello. IT is not too much to say that these part-songs are the best things of their kind extant. No great composer ever devoted himself so much to music of this description—that is, to what is termed " harmonic melody," which may be pro perly considered as a modern invention—and not one most certainly has written so much of it, or with an equal amount of success. Mr. A. Novello has already published four books, or, as he terms them, "sets," of these delightful productions, and in his well-known cheap and excellent manner. No choral society should be without them. Novelids School Round-book ; or, First Collec tion of Fifty Rounds, Catches, and Canons. Arranged according to their relative difficulty. Edited by the Rev. J. Powell Metcalfe. London : A. Novell°. WE can award no higher praise to these unpre tending little compositions than may be con veyed in the statement that they are, for the most part, perfectly well adapted to the excellent purpose for which they were collected. It would, indeed, be difficult to find works more fitted to cultivate the musical ear and taste of beginners in the art of part-singing. PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED. ROOKS. The Veritable History of Old Mother Hubbard and her Dog.—Sampson Low. The British Almanac for 1859.—Knight and Co. The Scouring of the White Horse. By the Anthor of " Tom Brown's Sohooldays."—Macmillan and Co. The Adventures of Telemachus. Translated from the French by Edwin W. Simeon.—Longrnans. North,' Organon Itenovatum. By W. Whewell, . W. Parker and Son. Peasant Life in Germany. By Mies Anna C. Johnson.— Sampson Low. The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table. By Oliver W. Holmes. —Hamilton and Co. The Book of the Church. By Robert Southey, Esq., LL.D. —M array- Greece ; Pictorial, Descriptive, and Historical. 13y Christo pher Wordsworth, I).D.—Murray. The Leisure Hour.—Religious Tract Society. The Sunday at Home.—Religious Tract Society. PAMPHLETS. The Royal Academy and the National Gallery. What is the State of those Institutions? By J. P. Davis.—Ward and Lock. Promotion by Merit, in Relation to Government and Educa tion. By George Charles Brodrick, Ridgway. The Bible kietory of Satan.—Hatchard. Tales from Blackwood.—Blackwoods. MUSIC. Valet, I' Rangelle Par P. de Vos.—Cramer and Beale. Valise la Sylphide.—Cramer and Beale. Andante Reverie. Par P. de Vos.—Cramer and Beale. Rizzi°. A Dramatic Ballad.—Cramer and Beale. Chant dee Afontagnards. Composed by Adolphe Schloessen. . . —Cocks and Co. The Melody of the Bridge. By Miss M. Lindsay. Tran scribed for the Pianoforte by 13rinley Richards.—Cocks and Co. Gems selected from the Works of the Great Masters. Edited and Arranged for the Piano by Cr. P. West.— Cocks and Co. PRINT. The Last Supper. After Leonardo da Vinci.—James S Virtue. kI II I I I II I Mi 11. SUllit. DRURY-LANE THEATRE. Mr. W. Mtn mow took his benefit on Monday evening, when Verdi's Il Trovatore was performed for the first time by th e P yne and Harrison com pany. Great interest w as na t ura ll y excited by the announcement of Miss Louisa Pyne as th e repre sentative of Leonora, and, however large may have been the expectations of the public, we believe that the very brilliant result must have satisfied them completely. Miss Louisa Pyne was, indeed, triumph. aptly successful, and may henceforward count the character of Leonora amongst the most striking at tractions of her extensive repertoire. Mr. W. Har rison was loudly applauded on several occasions, and the opera was in some other respects tolerably per. formed. LYCEUIII THEATRE. M. JULLIEN'S CONCERT. Tin two " Beethoven nights" given during the past week proved, like their classic Mendelssohnian predecessors, immensely attractive, and served to fill the house on each occasion to overflowing. The salient features of the programmes were the render. ing of the pianoforte concerto in E flat, and the violin concerto, respectively by Miss Arabella God. dard and M. Wieniawski, both very great displays of executive genius, which were thoroughly appre. elated and most enthusiastically applauded by the audience. The symphony was the wry familiar one in C minoz, and never certainly did it go better under M. Jullien's direction. I'Ve presume that a "Mozart night " will follow in due course. t alontg alarket anb titg jntelligcnce. FRIDAY EVENING. THE return of the Bank of England for the week ending Wednesday last, the Ist inst., shows the following changes compared with that for the week preceding : Decrease in Circulation , 081,129 Increase in Public Deposits 573,412 Decieasa in Other Deposits 329,103 Increase in Securities Decrease in Bullion Decrease in Rest Increase in Reserve Bullion in both Departments Circulation, including Bank Post B Le 21,107,538 The changes shown by this comparison in the Bullion and the Reserve are unimportant : but it will be ob served that the securities continue to exhibit a slight increase, thus indicating a moderate demand for . money at the Bank. The falling off in the Private Deposits is a symptom of an analogous state of things in the open market. The Public Deposits haveincreased nearly 000,0001., and they now amount to close upon eight millions and a quarter. It has been stated, and we presume upon official authority, that these deposits now include the balances for merly lodged by the East India Company, and which, previously to the change in the home administration, formed part of the "Other," or private deposits. If this be so, the item of Public Deposits is calculated to mislead. The deposits on Indian account should be separately stated. We should then know how the Indian account stood, concerning which information is both desirable and useful, and will be more so hereafter as the administration becomes more amal gamated with the Imperial Government. The item is calculated to mislead, inasmuch as it may happen that the British account may be low while the Indian is the reverse, or vice versd. Again, the Indian Government may be borrowing upon their bonds, as it is said they have been this week, from the Bank. But no addition appears to have been made to the Public Securities, under which class the loans ought to appear, if on the other side credit be given to the public for the Indian balances. Although the Money Market has been extremely well supplied the whole week, rates have rather har dened since our last, having averaged from two and a quarter to two and a half per cent. in Lombard street. At these terms there has been a good absorp tion of capital for commercial purposes. Much of the demand, however, during the week has naturally arisen from the engagements at maturity at the coin mencement of the month. But the demand, whether for immediate purposes or for purposes available two or three months hence, has been well met, and the applications have been very far from overtaking the supplies. At the Bank, a quiet and moderate business has been done, notwithstanding the higher minimum maintained there. The Chili= Loan, to which we referred in oar last, has been all subscribed. It was for . only 1,554,8001., and for a time it was viewed with con siderable favour. But it was subsequently felt an the Pr o ' tor Pre' Boa on! Pre Th infl )I) to toi de' to it li be th of A to si (i, 111 tl 3 ii 1 1 :• f r 3 3 •