The Press. — London, England, 1858-11-13 00:00:00

, 11 1116 THE PRESS, NOVEMBER 13, 1858. lirench as in English, but means rather that the result of a combination of different instruments upon one note may be a tone (or quality of tone) which could not be produced by any one instru ment singly, or united with others of its own species, and that the result must depend upon the composer's sentiment, and cannot be taught. That no certain rules can be given for instru mentation, that all knowledge of that art must be acquired by a careful study of the scores of the great masters, and that the original applica tion of genuine principles is wholly dependent upon genius, are doctrines so generally under stood and accepted as to render any arguments in their favour unnecessary. The eternal Hora tian precept that a poet must be born, not made, is in every schoolboy's mouth ; but, still, let it be remembered that there was also such a man as Aristotle, who contrived to deduce from the works of the great masters of literature copious and irrefragable rules, with which he wrought a system which has endured to this day, and that Horace himself is, after all, perhaps more known to the modern world by his "Art of Poetry," in which lie so successfully assumes the character of an instructor, than by any of his other works. Why, then, should we not have a musical Aristotle or Horace, or (to cite another revered literary teacher) a Longinus of music ? There can be no reason whatever why that should not be done for the art of musical composi tion which has been so successfully accom plished for poetry by the great men we have named, and for painting by Leonardo da Vinci, Sir Joshua Reynolds, and others; and we can only regret that M. Berlioz, eminent master as he >s cf that particular depart ment of art which forms the subject of the present treatise, should not have thought fit to give to the world something more than a mere account of the compass and powers of orchestral instruments, combined with a few examples of the uses to which they have been put by certain masters. M. Berlioz must surely be capable of going more deeply into the essence of orchestral com position than he has done in the present instance, and in the course of his long experience can scarcely have failed to acquire certain fixed prin ciples, which, judging from the excellence of most of his own works, would be of great assistance to students of that branch of the art which he has cultivated with such extraordinary success. So far, however, as this treatise extends it is most admirable—the best thing of the kind yet published, ; and as such we cordially recommend it to all who would acquire a thorough knowledge of the resources of modern instrumentation, and a due appreciation of some of the most poetical effects which have been realized by the great masters. The present edition contains " an exact table of "the compass, a detail of the mechanism, and a "study of the quality of tone and expressive cha " meter of various instruments; accompanied by "numerous examples, in score, from the works of "the greatest masters and from some unpublished " works of the author." It has likewise been revised, corrected, augmented by several addi tional (copyright) chapters on newly invented instruments, and on the whole art of the orches tral conductor. The entire treatise is comprised in one octavo volume, clearly engraved, strongly as tastefully bound, and which is sold at a fabu lously low price—less than one-third of that de manded in Paris for the original French edition, which does not contain so much matter by many chapters. Eighty-one Part-songs and Choruses. In pro gressive order for the cultivation of Part singing; with instructions for forming and improving male choral-singers. By Nageli and Pfeiffer. Translated from the German by Sabilla Novello. London : Novell°. THE above part-songs, though in no one in stance rising to the artistic height of really fine music, are for the most part smoothly written, tuneful, and easy to sing. It would, indeed, be difficult to find a collection of pieces better adapted to popular instruction— the purpose they are professedly designed for. To our numerous amateur choral societies, for which the nauseous pill of practice must be well sugared over with ad captandant phrases, such as the veriest tyro can readily comprehend and remember, these part-songs will doubtless prove highly acceptable. The book opens with a somewhat lengthy preface, very German in style, in which "the progress of human civilization," "man's capa city," "ever-widening spheres," " self-contained art-sections" (whatever these may be), "means ancillary to ends," " governments unequal to the necessities of popular cultivation," "scholastic principles of song," are discussed in a very edifying and soul-refreshing manner; and this preface is immediately followed by a still more lengthy, and not particularly orthodox, treatise on the cultivation of part-singing ; so that the authors make many damnable faces " before they begin their music, which certainly appears rather small, reminding us of the mountain-born mouse, after the voluminous and grandiloquent introduction. The part-songs notwithstanding are, as we have already observed, good of their kind, and arranged as they are in progressive order, ac cording to the various degrees of proficiency of the singers, may be justly considered to blend the utile et duke in a very praiseworthy manner. The translation of the German words, whether of prose or verse, is very creditable to the talent of Miss Sabina Novello, and the work is got up in the publisher's best style. Metcalfe's Fifty Metrical Anthems. London : Novello. THE above publication consists of a collection of short anthems, choruses, and " other choral movements," set to words taken from the Psalms, for public worship, and adapted for the use of small choirs. The selection is from the best English and foreign composers of sacred music, such as Blow, Greene, Farrant, Crotch, Handel, Haydn, and Mozart. The words are generally well suited to the music, and, taken as a whole, Mr. Metcalfe's work may be considered as a happy accomplish ment of the author's design, and a real boon to our numerous small church choirs. Handel's Coronation and Funeral Anthems, and Mendelesohn's Psalms. London : Novello. IT were superfluous to say one word in praise of these great and universally-admired compositions. The anthetns include " The King shall rejoice," " Zadock the priest," "My heart is inditing," " Let thy hand be strengthened," and " The ways of Zion do mourn. ' The Psalms "As pants the hart," " Come let us sing," " When Israel out of Egypt came," and " Not unto us 0 Lord." If the sale of these inspirations of the master-spirits of musical art, set off as they are by all the charms of modern external embellish ments, and rendered still more attractive by extraordinary lowness of price, prove commensu rate with their merits, it will be great indeed. Vusir. DRURY LANE THEATRE. THE novelty at the above theatre this week was the revival of the Crown Diamonds, an opera which has long been regarded in this country as one of the happiest efforts of its spirituel and graceful composer, M. Auber. The music of this opera demands from the executants delicate finish, sparkling vivacity, and witty " point ; " qualities for which neither our English singers nor instrumentalists are at all celebrated, or, indeed, likely to be. Taken as a whole, the Drury Lane version of the Crown Diamonds mey be described as a good strong performance; very solid, but somewhat hard of digestion, and as unlike the French as it is becoming in every genuine English thing to be. The horns of the national bull were apparent throughout, and he occasionally tossed the light Gallic composer about in a very ruthless manner, and, still further to show his independence, insisted upon singing a ballad and a song of his own composition, which had of course nothing at all to do with the opera. John nevertheless wagged his tail, at times in a very facetious and mirth-provoking manner, and gave forth some sounds which in loudness far surpassed anything that our "lively neighbours " could possibly accomplish with all their conservatoires, imperial academies, comic operas, lyric theatres, and sub ventions. The one " bright particular star" of the perform ance was, as usual, Miss Louisa Fyne, whose singing throughout the opera was artistic in the highest degree, and amply compensated for other short. comings. Mr. W. Harrison acted the part of D oi Ilenrique with good, downright English spirit, ehi. biting effectively all th a t knowledge of the details of stage business and applomb which long experience in such matters can alone confer—looked very in. posing in his rich Spanish costume, and sang with that hearty zeal and admirably distinct enunciation of the words by which all his musical performances are honourably distinguished. Mr. W. Harrison was unanimously encored in Mr. Brinley Richards' popular ballad, " Oh, whisper what thou feelest," a s was Miss Louisa Pyne in the duet for two sopranos (in which she was ably assisted by her sister, Miss Susan Pyne), and Rode's air with variations. In the latter instance, however, the honour was declined. Mr. H. Cord, who made his first appearance this season on this occasion as Rebolledo, looked remark. ably tierce, and acted with immense energy. Mr. H. Cord has an excellent voice, and no small amount of dramatic talent, but he must beware of exaggeration. No voice can bear such tremendous straining as Mr. Cord applied to his in the so-called "Muleteer's Song " (introduced into the first scene of the ope ra ), and he likewise committed hi str ionic excesses, which frequently marred the effect of good conceptions. This gentleman is nevertheless a valuable acquisition to the Pyne and Harrison company, and a great improvement upon his predecessors in the same line of characters. Mr. Honey, Mr. St. Albyn, and Miss Susan Pyne likewise played their respective parts carefully and well, according to the traditions of the English operatic stage, but the gentleman who performed the character of Rebolledo's accomplice (we forget his name) was by no means equal to his duty. A very long tour in the provinces would benefit him greatly. the band accompanied with perfect precision, but were occasionally wanting in delicacy in their execution, and generally too loud. Indeed, as we have said, the performance, on the whole, was good in its way, hut coarse will such efforts always be until we can convert Englishmen into Frenchmen. When will our musical countrymen learn to depend upon themselves, and allow themselves to be warmed by their own native rage ? When, in short, shall we have a genuine English opera. LYCEUM THEATRE. M. JULLIEN'S CONCERTS. Tim andante from Beethoven's magnificent C minor symphony, Mendelssohn's grand and fiery overture to Ruy Blas, and a new selection from Weber's in comparable Der Freischutz, cleverly arranged by M. Jullien for his admirable band, have been the chief orchestral attractions at the above theatre during the past week; whilst the " star " soloists, Miss Louisa Vinning and M. Wieniawski, have been also winning fresh laurels—the former by her ex pressive rendering of Mozart's " Vedrai carino," the latter by his really wonderful execution of Ernst's well-known fantasia on themes from Rossini's Otello, and two fantasias on Russian airs composed by himself. The senseless rows with which M. Jullien's season is always inaugurated being happily at an end, the famous " promenade concerk." have now resumed their usual aspect, and are again classed, as they have been for twenty years past, amongst the most intellectual, innocent, and attractive of our popular amusements. A grand " Mendelssohn Night" is announced for Monday next, when our eminent English piaiTte, Miss Arabella Goddard, will appear for the first lima this season at M. Jullien's concerts. MR. ALFRED Wmax, having completely recovered from his late indisposition, has appeared with Mrs. Wigan at the Brighton Theatre, in Tom Taylor's drama of Still Waters Run Deep, and snbsegue ntl f in The Bengal Tiger. Mr. Wigan met with an en thusiastic reception from a large and distinguished audience, and his acting was as perfect as ever. glom - Market anb 3uttiligtna. FRIDAY EVENINd. Tits retain of the Bank of England for the week ending Wednesday last, the 10th inst., shows the following changes compared with that for the week preceding : Dcrease in Circulation 1393,3•23 Increase in Public Deposits Increase in Other Deposits 40,3 36 Decrease in Government Securities Decrease in Other Securities 110,187 Decrease in Bullion Increase in Rest Increase in Reserve Bullion in both moots Circulation, had= Bank Post Balls