The Sun.
London, England, 1850-07-12 00:00:00

TILE SUN

DONNA MARIA MARTINEZ, THE
BLACK MALIBRAN.
An interesting biography of this celebrated lady
has just been published, from which we extract the
following account of her musical performances, which
produced such an astonishing effect in Madrid as to
secure for her the patronage of Queen Christine, and
the honour of being frequently commanded to perform
at the Court concerts by the Queen of Spain.
Of the Cuban melodies, we are told that—
" The traveller toiling through the sultry plains of
Louisiana, or journeying in South Carolina and Vir-
ginia, is frequently made aware of his approach to
a gang of working negroes by the jargon of semi-
musical sounds with which the labourers accompany
the clicking of the hoes—some singing one air,
others whistling another, and not a few chanting
that monotonous improvised recitative which all
negroes are poets enough to love and weave out of the
ordinary proceedings of the minute. It would be im-
possible but that a people thus tunefully gifted should
have produced a class of melody embodying their feel-
ings, descriptive of their habits, and marked by a
rude freshness which would form is best characteristic.
Accordingly a vast number of airs have been lately
attributed to negro composition, and it is very possible
that of these a considerable portion were literally
what they professed to be. An opportunity, however,
is now offered to the mudeal public of hearing un-
doubted negro melodies sung by a lady, herself one
of the race, perfectly familiar with the habits, the
vocal style, and the animating spirit of her compatriots
in Cuba, and endowed by nature with a fine appreciation
for whatever was most intensely characteristic and
melodiously beautiful in the class of tunes sung in
the coffee and sugar plantations of the Queen
of the Antilles.' Tne Spanish colouring which
the melodies naturally exhibit is of course one of their
most interesting features. The words of these songs are.
as might be expected, often trivial and silly, turning
upon any common-place subject within the observation
of the singer, and frequently altering their character,
along with the music—from grave to gay—from the
most plaintive to the most blithesome strains. In the
specimens which will be given by Donna Maria Marti-
nez these general characteristics will be more or less
apparent. One of the songs is the plaint of a negress,
who complains of her hard work under a tropical sun.
A dialogue with her master, containing a queint speci-
men of Cuban repartee, winds up the ditty.'
But Donna Maria sings other melodies than those of
the negroes in the West India colonies of Spain. She
is an adept in the performance of those wild and thril-
ling ballads which the peasants of Andalusia sing, and
which, to be heard with the proper effect, must be lis-
tened to accompanied by the guitar, as a Spaniard, or as
Donna Maria alone can play it. We quote an extract
from that part of the pamphlet treating of this branch
of the subject:—
" The beauty and the energy of the ballads of Spain
are very generally known. The spirit-stirring strains
of her chivalresque war songs—the quaintly tender
sweetness of the lay destined to be sung in love lorn
tones beneath the balcony of beauty—the jocund strains
of playful satire, and the gay and rollicking roundelay,
expressive of the merry and the adventurous life of the
contrabandista or the muleteer—all their varying
' modes of the lyre'—have each their representatives
in the fine ballad anthology in question. To
be perfectly appreciated, however, these songs of sunny
swarthy Spain must be heard executed with the fervour
of passion and piquancy of accent, which properly be-
long to them. They must be heard, too, accompanied
by the shower of rippling notes which a performer' to
the manner born' can alone educe from the national in-
strument—from that guitar which, in ordinary hands,
gives so little idea of the passionate music which it can
discover when touched by the glowing fingers of a Spa-
niard chanting his native airs.'
Succeeding these notices of the ballads, which will on
Saturday night be submitted in all their freshness and
characteristic beauty to the audience of her Majesty's
Theatre, there follow some free but spirited and spark-
ling translations of the songs, seeking rather to give the
pith and spirit than any exact and literal version of the
lays. The Cuban lyrics, being imitated from the com-
position of the negroes, have of course little literary
merit to recommend them. Not so the Spanish ballads,
one of which, called "La Buenaventura, or the good
fortune," a graceful and sparkling translation, we have
pleasure in quoting:—
" Mark I 'tis the Gitana,
Wanderer in the land,
Skilled to read the future
In the lines upon your hand;
Mark her black eyes gleaming,
Like the unsheathed steel—
Wildest of Gitana,—
In the city of Seville.
" See! she meets two lovers—
Well wish they to know,
What on them the future
Haply may bestow;
Smiling, happy faces—
'Sunny, nut-brown health—
Toil by day, the dance at eve—
Humble store of wealth.
" Ave, blessed Maria
Forthwith they begin;
Conceived,' says the Gitana,
Conceived without siu.'
Come, cross my hand, my lovers,
And the wanderer in Spain,
By Eastern lore, will prophecy
The fortunes of you twain.'
" I come of the ancient race,
Magic spells who sung,
Ere the pyramids arose,
When the earth was young.
I am of the mystic blood
Which ran in old Chaldee;
In the sky or in your palm
I your fate can see.'
" Closely the Gitana
Bends above their hands;
Every line of life and love
Well she understands.
All the wondrous future
Thus can she reveal—
Wisest of Gitanas
• In the city of Seville I
" Hush she speaks! All Egypt's
Blessings I foresee,
Raining round your door-post—
Blithesome may you be!
Wealth and happy seasons,
Store of oil and wine—
No canker in the olives,
No blight upon the vine.
" So cross my hand, my lovers,
The ventura I have told,
Is worthy brightest silver—
Is worthy reddest gold.
And true it is as hopeful—
But that you'll know ere long,
I say it—l, who read the stars—
And never read them wrong.'
"Gone! the dark Gitana,
Wanderer from the East;
Worshipper of fearsome creel,
Scorner of the Priest.
Gone! the dark Gitaua—
Spoke she Booth and leal?
We'll hope the best, and luck attend
The Lovers of Seville."
We cannot but believe that no narrow bigotry of
colour or of caste will prejudice the first appearance as
an artiste, or be allowed to cast a slur over the musical
merits or the " Black Malibran."

THE PORTLAND HARBOUR OF

REFUGE.

We have been requested to publish the following
letter on this subject :
" Portland Roads, Jaly 2, 1850.
" Mr. John Harvey, Postmaster, Weymouth.
" Dear Sir,—l have read the remarks on the subject of
a breakwater for Portland Roads, and I avail myself of
this opportunity before proceeding from this port, on my
voyage to Van Diemen's Land, to assure you, that, in
giving my support to the Harvey testimonial. I consider
that lam only doing that which the whole of our mari-
time marine are called upon to do; it is most certainly
due to you, for promoting a harbour that will associate
the name of Harvey with the most usetul and extensive
shelter in the channel. It is highly gratifying to see the
work, now under the auspices of Government, progress-
ing so rapidly; and it must be very satisfactory to your
mind to know that you have been so instrumental in its
adoption. It will he a credit to the nation in every sense
of the word, and I think his Royal Highness Prince Al-
bert in having laid the first stone bears strong testimony
in its favour.

" We shall now have a harbour of refuge to run to
upon all occasions, thank God! and it is much needed,
particularly to our mercantile marine, in making a
voyage. Allow me to thank you for your strict atten-
tion to the mails and everything connected with this
ship in relation to the Post
office department, it is a
pleasure to meet with efficiency in such matters.
" I remain, dear Sir, yours truly,
"G. N. LIVERAY,
Commanderof the Convict Ship Nile.'
In regard to the Shambles, Captain George
Nathaniel Livesay remarks to Mr. Harvey, 4th July,
1850 :—" This natural Breakwater should be com-
pleted by artificial means, as soon as the Portland
Breakwater is finished." The opinion of this expe-
rienced gentleman is valuable, and should be recorded
for the consideration of the nautical world and the
Government. —Poole Herald.

NARROW DCAPES FROM DROWNING.—On Tuesday
last, about 10 o'clock, a girl of the name of Maria Street,
awhose f
child
haetaher rthreesfiidress on t
leekthohe
tßheulo
cdhwiromeard was
and
dr
.Biaetkewn.daitnegr
Canal,2ic e
oewr
bhaelna,n icne
dehnedresaevi
foaunr
di n
feltlof
rroema c ht
hae flc oh wr
hefs
en
hteh rt thvtehre,
water. which, at that place, is about 9 feet deep. Some lads
who were at hand, gave the alarm, and, happily, prevented
the child from following her nurse. The poor girl had twice
risen to the surface, and again sunk, when Lewis Cox, a
porter on the wharf, to whom much credit is due for his
promptitude of action, arrived, and with a boat-hook took her
out. She was removed to the house of a relative, where she was
attended by Mr. King, surgeon, who, after some time,
succeeded in restoring animation. Another accident,
of a similar nature, occurred on Friday morning, in
the river Cann, just above the iron bridge. Mr. Wat-
son's second child, Emma, four years old, whilst in
cwhhaerrgee
it
tofis an
ere.lder brother, slipped into the water
deep ; but fortunately an intrepid lad,
named Raven,
apprentice to Mr. Sullings, was near, and im-
mediately jumping in, succeeded in rescuing the child, though
at the imminent risk of his life. The child had sunk once,
and on being brought ashore, was insensible, but speedily
recovered cciactousuess, and is now
gered. quite well.—Essex