The Sun.
London, England, 1847-01-04 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

THE SINGING BOOK. By James Turle, Organist
of Westminster Abbey, etnd Edward Taylor, Gresham
Professor of Music.
This is the best book on the art of singing at
sight that has yet been published, and that, because
it is the most simple. The authors in their pre-
face say :

" Let no one delude himself with the notion that
there is any " short cut" by which the power of
singing at sight can be attained, or that he can arrive at
it by any other method or device than practice. But if
this be true, it is most desirable that the time of elemen-
tary exercise should be rendered as attractive and agree-
able as possible, that no needless difficulties should be
opposed, and no gratuitous Obstacles he thrown across
the pupil's path. One of these, in our estimation, is the
addition to the regular musical alphabet of a number of
arbitrary and unmeaning syllables, Sol, La, Mi, &e.
This is usually called, and often supposed to be, " the
Sol-fa system,' as if it were one and uniform ; whereas
no description of it can be more incorrect. Scarcely any
two writers, in modern times, have used this plan in the
same way, or for the same purpose."
The " sol, fa" is, therefore, entirely rejected by
Messrs. Turle and Taylor as a gratuitous obstacle
thrown across the pupil's path, and the alphabetical
notation is substituted for it.
" The alphabetic notation must be known by every
musician, because it is of universal employment. No
other is used in any choir or orchestra iu the kingdom.
The student may add to it some other, but he must learn
this. If he learn the names by which the notes are univer-
sally called, the addition of another set of names is a
needless addition to his labour. The preliminary exer-
cises in the following work, therefore, are either upon
the names of the notes—A, B, C, &c.—or, more com
monly, upon the numbers which, of themselves, tell their
several distances. In each way, a correct idea of dis-
' tance is connected with the scale. The same element—
sequence—is attached to all. The notes ascend or de-
scend as the letters and the numbers ascend or descend."

The general arrangement of the exercises in this
book is progressive, begining with an explanation of
the various notes and their value, followed by exer-
cises in the diatonic major scales ; then come exer-
cises on the intervals for one or more voices, until
at length the learner is taught, in the section on
modulation, how to attain the power and the plea-
sure of

" Untwisting all the chains that tie
The hidden soul of harmony."
The system upon which this work is constructed
has been tried and proved in Prussia. Messrs. Turle
and Taylor, at the conclusion of their preface, say :
" Our own conviction of the utility of a work like the
present, is strengthened by the fact of one constructed on
a similar principle having been long in use throughout
the Prussian dominions, where every child is taught to
sing from notes. The work to which we refer is the
" Musikalisches Schulgesangbuch," (the Musical School
Singing Book), in which no use is made of the syllabic or
Sul-fa system, under any form or modification. Every
exercise is sung to words. The principle on which we
have worked has therefore been subjected to the best
possible test—it has been tried on a very large scale for
many years, and it is found to answer. It has been satin
factorily proved, that the power of singing at sight is
daily acquired without the use of either the English,
French, or Italian method of solmization.

"It appeared to us, however, that a work on a similar
principle might be constructed with a more systematic
division, and a more clearly defined course of practice,
than the Prussian Singing Book presents. To this point
our endeavours have been directed, by fixing the learner's
attention upon one thing at a time, and advancing an on-
ward step only, when the preceding one has become firm
and sure."

FINE ARTS.

ROYAL GEMS FROM THE GALLERIES OF

EUROPE.—Part X.

The numerous excellencies which have been
hitherto perceptible in the publication of this splendid
serial, are as conspicuous in the tenth number as they
were on the commencement of the undertaking.
Each of the plates is the counterpart of some paint-
ing judiciously selected from one or other of the
costly collections enshrined in the different European
galleries. One in the present part is a copy from
the work of Carl Sohn, entitled " Ile Sisters," and
engraved by Peter Lightfoot. And an exquisite spe-
cimen is this of the modern German school
of genre painting ! The engraving itself is
drawn with remarkable truth, delicacy, and
firmness. The proportion and graduation of depth