The Express.
London, England, 1846-09-22 00:00:00

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.NOVELLO'S SACRED _
one now living who has done so much for the advancement of
mated music in England as Vincent Novello. Possessed of
'original genius, cultivated by deep study of every branch of
his art, conversant with its greatest productions in every age
and country, enlarged in his views of its principles, and
skilful in the details of its practice, he bee laboured in his
vocation of an artist with a singleness of purpose rarely to'
be metwaith. If he has not, by stooping to vulgar tastes,'
obtained an ephemeral popularity, he has achieved a high
sad permanent reputation ; and hiss name will live in fuel
'annals of the art as one of the greatest benefactor to English'
music in the nineteenth century. His claims to gratitude
are founded not only on bet own contributions to our encle
eiastical music, but on what he has done to render the works
of the greatest masters accessible to the public. It is suffi-
cient to allude to his editions of the sacred meek of Purcell
(one of the greatest publications thst has ever issued from
the English press), and of the masses of Marlyn and Mozart ;
—to the noble collection of pieces by the old Italian ecclesiasti-
cal composers, clected from the music bequeathed by rd
Fitawillians to the University of Cambridge, and known by
the name of the " litzwilliant Music ;" to the newly-com-
pleted edition of " Boyee's Cathedral Music," and other
publications of great magnitude and value, demanding
an expenditure of time, money. and ability, for which
nay hope of adequate recompense (commercially
speaking) was out of the question; for though they
are in the hands of almost everybody competent to
use them, yet the number of such persons (increasing as it
is) is as yet by no means great in this country. His labours,
too, have been of infinite benefit in preparing, by skilful
arrangement and adaptation, many great foreign composi-
tions for the use of the English public. Al =English cans-
. poser Mr. Novello holds a high rank, both in sacred and
'secular music ; Orate)) it is to the former that we must at
present confine our attention. He bas adopted what we
hold to be the true principle in all musk—that it must be
composed in accordance with the present state of the art, and
not trammelled by adherence to antiquated models. Sacred
music, it is true, is viewed, sometimes even by sound and
learned musicians, in a peculiar light. It must, they say,
be orthodox ; and, to be orthodox, it must follow a code of
old laws founded on the practice of the sixteenth and seven-
teenth centuries. We mate Neon n cathedral service, Cent-
posed within these few years by a musician of no small re-
nute, every note of which might have been written in the
days of Thomas Tallis and William Byrd ; every gleam of
melody carefully shut out, and every harmony avoided but
such as were sanctioned by the authority of those ancient
worthies. The same observation we have bed occasion to
make in examining the pages of a serial publication now in
(very estimable in some respects), entitled "Anthems
mud Services for Church Choirs." They are selected from
the works of the great masters of tire sixteenth and seven-
teenth centuries, Palmtrina, Tanis, Gibbons, &c., intermixed
with modern productions by Dr. Gauntlett and others, who
have most sedulously and successfully imitated (wehad almost
said mimicked) the forms of their predecessors, whose spirit,
however, has evaporated. Such modern sacred composers are
Ike modern Latin poets, whose verses are little more than
dente* of phrases strung together from the writings of Virgil,
Horace, and Juvenal. These restrictions are absurd, and
'destructive to art. They render genius of no avail—they
paralyse the inventive faculty, and destroy imagination and
feeling. Even in poetry, we turn with displeasure from
sedulous imitations of Shakspeare or Spenser, models though
they be of eternal beauty. But in music it is much worse ;
for the models set up for imitation, in sacred music alone,
belong to a period when the ert was in a eery different state
from the present. Elements of beauty bare been introduced
into it which were then undreamed of. The bounds of hare
motile combination have been widely exteaded ; and melody,
as the expression of sentiment and feeling, has been abso-
lutely created. Yet these renounce, permitted everywhere
edge, must be excluded from the temple of God. Observe the
description given by our musical historian, Burney, of the
music of the age in which we are desired still to look for the
models of sacred composition
" It is upon the church music, modrlests, and songs in parts, of our
isounttymen during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, that we must rest
Omit reputances; and these, in point of harmony and contrivance the
chief excellencies of slab uompesitions) appear as nothing inferior to
the best contemporary prixitiotions of the continent. Taste. rhythm.
accent, and genre must not is looked for in this kindof music : indeed
we might as well censure the ancient Greeks for not writing In Eng-
lish, as the composers of the sixteenth century for their deficiency to
these particulars, which, having then no mistrust:seven to ides, could
not be wanted or expected ; and His necessarily the booboo of artists
to cultivate and refine what is in the greatest esteem most the beet
judges of their own nation sml times. And these, at this period, =a-
salmon* thou gat every musical composition below eritiesse.t,
canons and fugues. Indeed, what is geserally considered as Mr ins
music would, in the ehareh, be construed bite innovation, hoverer
meritorious, till conmerated by age. Thus the favourite points and
pemagea in the madrigals of the sixteenth century were, in the seven-
teenth, received so orthodox in the church; as those of the opera
songs and cantatas of the seventeenth century are used by the
gravest and most piste ecclesiastical composers of the eighteenth."
The critics-in question in judging a sacred composition, do
not ask themselves if it is beautiful, if it contains graceful
airs and rich harmonies, or if, as a whole, the music, m its
exproeion, is akin to the poetry. They ask, if there is a
fugue treated with orthodox strictness, and if the harmony
is not vitiated by modern innovation. If they are satisfied
on these points, they vote the music goad, though they may
fall asleep when they hear it. The first quality of sacred
music, in their estimation, is its adherence to ancient models.
But they should consider that the models themselves were
once widen. Tht se who produced them were not imitators I
of models laid more ancient; on the contrary, they were the
ultra-moderns eftheir oar, slay, the master-spirits of their age,
whs, by their daring innovations, kept the art in a state ,
of rapid progress. Those who now imitate their compositions
the inciet closely, are those who arc the least imbued with ;
their spirit. If, moreover, antiquity is to be regarded as
the prime quality of sacred music, let the antiquity be real,
not spurious. The stores of ancient sacred music are ex-
haustless, and render it quite unnecessary to have recourse
to the manufacture of "modern antiques." But is there,
then, to be no distinction between sacred and secular
'stunk ? Assuredly there is the same distinction, as between
sacred and secular poetry. Sacred music, like sacred poetry,
'ought always to be solemn, impressive, and affecting; never
light, frivolous, or mgretire of gaiety and amusement.
The sacred poet of the present day clothes his most exalted
thoughts in the language of the present day ; why not the
mered musician ? The language of the musician, as well as
of the poet, must be grammatical in construction, pure in
style, and appropriate in expression. These are his re-
strictions; and we isrognise no others. The modern
musician ought to study the great old masters, in order to
become imbued with the grandeur of their thoughts, not to
%Nuke the art of imitating the peculiarities of their obsolete
dialect. It was generally observed (and by ourselves among
others), during the performance at Birmingham, of Men-
delechr.'s Elijah, that much of its power, as well as of its
beauty and freshnees, was derived from the freedom of
'style produced by the abandonment of scholastic forms; and
another recent work of the same great artist—a strictly
'ecclesiastical composition, too—(the 115th Psalm, for an
excellent English edition of which, by the way, we are in-
debted to Mr. Novello) combines the solid counterpoint, and
solemn effect of the church style, with the ease and grace of
modem melody and accompaniment. It is one of Mr. No-
vello's merits as a composer of sacred music, that he writes
like a musician of the nineteenth, not of the sixteenth cen-
tury. His music is learned in its construction, rich in the
/*Noumea of counterpoint, and always grave and devout ;
but it bears no studied air of antiquity, and its phraseology
is that of the age to which it belongs. These qualities we
have observed in all his music which has come tinder
our notice, and we have been particularly struck
with them in his more recent compositions. Among these
we may mention, " Glory he to God," the hymn of praise in
the Communion Service, in four vocal pare, opening with a
reserve in E major, passing into a quartet of solo voices in the
relative minor, and closing with a chorus in the original key.
It is written throughout in plain counterpoint, of note vaned
note ; and the harmony is rendered smooth and grateful by
the melodious flow of all the parts. In the quartet, the

.--There im no

I phrase, " Have mercy upon as!" is full of exproisiOn.
" Therefore with angels," a short choral anthem in E Rat,
is, like the former, in plain counterpoint, easy of execution,
and remarkable for grand simplicity of effect. The " None
Demittis" from the Eveniug .ffavim, is • most masterly
composition, which shows the application of funned Counter-
point to its most legitimate purpose,--not that of wire-draw...
ing a theme scomissm to fixed scholastic forms, but of giving
variety and interest to the Uneasy by suggesting poises of•
imitation and respoims among the different parts. The first,
as well as the last, movement of this " None Doolittle,"
shown how the reseerces cil fogenveriting may, ba employed
without stiffness and formality. There are several other re-
cent works of Mr. Novell*, of which, in ow! narrow Haas..
we Can ably tnentiett the titles. They are, •• Hear Me,
Lord," a motet fora trelsho vele* and charm ; hymn, " 0
thou that read'st the sesret heart," the poetg by Mrs. is ;,
and the famous Christmas hymn, ." Adestc Yldeles," Immo-
oised for four voices, with an organ or pianoforte accompani-
ment, and an English version to the o-iginal Latin words.
Of these works it is sufficient to my, that our readers will
find an of them marked with the characters which we have
ascribed to Mr. Novella's style.
THE TWO ITALLIN OfTIAL—SIN---A letter from IL
correspondent appeared in your paper on the projected Italian.
Opera at Covent-garden. He anticipates, with great satisfac-
tion, the advantage which the lovers of the Halton opera will
derive from comparatively low prices of 'Amnion to this
beautiful entertamment. But is he not somewhat hasty,.ln
indulging sash expeetatiess . This new opera-house must
sf, or it comet go es ; sad I modem I "on at • lam to see
hoir—if -what undid about the hest of talent•raged, sad'
the splendour maguilleenee of the proiseed entabl
silent, is true—it coos pay at reduced peons. Consider
the narrow dimensions of Covent-garden Theatre, compared'
with those of the past hews in the Haymarket. If then is
to be a ballet (whisk I apprehend moat be the caw), meg
part of the expendikelotomet he se greatiathe aew atiabiish-'
mint as in the old. The peinelpalperfinmers must receive the
same Immense uteri's, -the chorus and corypAW must be
as numerous ; the orchestra as complete and efficient ; the
scenery, decorations, he., as costly. How, then, in a house
of the size of Covent Garden, are the receipts, even at the
present opera:house prices, to meet this enormous outlay ? '
Even if there is no ballet, a reduction of prices, to any ma-
terials:tent, appears impossible. But such speculations as
those of your correspondent, and such as I have seen in
some other papers, are, as yet, premature, for they are not
, founded on sufficient Information. I presume the projectors
of the scheme will publish some announcement of its detail',
voLidi •iL the ,:nblic to i,rat suns et its
feasibility and advantage.—A Lovas OF bil:1111C.

au Menial sib lf Inks! Seim
Carsurson—The following is the number of admiadons at the
several colleges up to this time•—Trinity, 150; St. John's, 120;
Gooville and Calm, 40; Christ's, 34; Emmanuel, 26; St. Catherine's
1102, 26; Qossa'a, 24; Corpus Christi, 22; Clare Hall, 16; St.
Peter's. 15 ; Jesus, 12; Trinity thin. 9 ; Magdalene, 8 ; Peuabnake. 3 ;
Sldney Sum's, 3; King's. 3; Downing, 1; Total, 515, being an in-
crease of 11: over last your
Ysearer,—Cheaterlield Gloated and Commercial School, Derby.
shire; heed mastership.; lOU., Including house and 4 sera of land •,
the election tikes plsoe Dee. Bth. Joreboe Union Workhoure at
Withiewood, Norblk : Chaplaincy, 401.: election, Oct. Sch. Outten
Workhorse, Norfolk; Cha Islay, 401. • election. Oct Bth. Stone
Grammar School. • reetorsbip ; vacant by the death of
the Rev. J. Smith. Yarmouth 'Proprietary Grammar School; third
unutterably.
Oatassrmare—lbe Bishop of Lichfield held a general ordination at
EocieshaU on Sunday last, when the following gentiernen were ad.
rained into holy orders: Demons—Dublin. W. J. Finch, 8.A., J. Stone,
8.A., J. Lyster, B.A. ; Cambridge, J. Rock, 8.A., Corpus ; St. Bee's,
I Cumberland, J. C. Venn. Prlests—Oxford, Rev. S. Plant, 11.,1,„ Brae-
nose; Rev. C. P. Oood, 8.A.. Eater% Rev. T. Pease, 8.A., Lineoln;
Cambridge, Rev. R. A. Mould, ILA., Trinity; Rev. J. G. Lonsdate,
M.A., Trinity; Rev. J. J. Woolley, bye fellow of St. Peter's ; Rev. E.
Allen, 8.A., St. John's; Rev. M. Dolma, 8.A., St. John's; Rev.G.
H. Arkwright, M.A., Trinity ; Rev. H Milligan, 8.A., St. Catharine's;
Rev. P. W. Waldron, 8.A., St. John's • Rev. T. O. Roche, RA., I
Trinity.. Dublin, Rev. It. Parnell. ILA., John's;
G. Mulholland, 8.A.,
Rev. T. 0. Megan, B.A. •. St. Ike's. Cumberland, Rev. S. Turner.
On Sunday, the Lord B:eliop of Lincoln. held an ordination at the
cathedral church of that city, when the foliating gentlemen were
admitted to holy orders :—Desecots.-11. W. Adams, B.A. Exeter.
Oxf. • W. Brown, 8.A., Trinity, Oaf. ; A. Hume, MA., Fellow of 1
King's, Am. ,• H. A. Wake, 8.A., University,Oxf. ; J. G. Brown,
8.A., Corpus abristi.Cans. ; J. Bradshaw, 11. A., Trinity, Dublin ; It.
B. Rachel!, 8.A., Magdalene, Cain. by letters dimiatory from his
Grace the Archbishop of York. Priests.—Bev. E. J. Allen, S.C.L.,
Jana, Cern. • Rev. J. W. Berryman, ILA., Catherine Hall, Cam. ;
Rev. T. Brallaford, 8.A., Christ's, Cam.; Rev. W. Alder, 8.A.,
Queen's, Cam. ; Rev. T. Danbury, 8.A., St. Edmund's Hall, Oaf. ;
Rev. R. Matinee, RA., Trinity, Dublin; Rev. H. R. Wilkins, 8.A.,
Christ's, Cam.; Bev. C. J. Willoughby, 8.A., Trinity, Cam. The
next ordination is lad for Sunday, Dec. 20; mime to be sent to
litseholm P.dace, Lincoln, before the Bth of November.