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In the year 1761, he went over to Ireland, where he was kindly received and entertained by Dubourg, at that time master of the king's band there. Geminiani had spent many years in compiling an elaborate treatise on music, which be intended for publication; but soon after his arrival in Dublin, by the treachery of a female servant (who, it has been said, was recommended to him for no other purpose than that she might steal it), the manuscript was purloined out of his chamber, and could never afterwards be recovered. The magnitude of this loss, and his inability to repair it, made a deep impression on his mind, and had such an effect upon his spirits as to hasten fast his dissolution. He died at Dublin on the 17th of September, 1762, in the eighty-third year of his age*.

It is observable from the works of Geminiani, not only that his modulations are original, but that his harmonies consist of such combinations as were never introduced into music till his time. His melodies are in the highest degree elegant; and, in their general cast, most of his compositions are exquisitely tender and pathetic. Of his execution on the violin, it may be stated, that he had none of the fire and spirit of modern performers; but he possessed an abundance of grace and feeling: nearly all the powers that engage the attention of the hearer, and render it subservient to the will of the artist, were united in him.

The following is a list of the whole of Geminiani's productions, except two or three articles that are considered of little value :

Twelve Solos for a Violin, Opera 1.

Six Concertos in Seven Parts, Opera 2.
The same in Score.

Six Concertos in seven Parts, Opera 3.
The same in Score.

Twelve Solos for a Violin, Opera 4.
Six Solos for the Violoncello, Opera 5.
The same made into Solos for a Violin.
Six Concertos from the Solos of Opera 4.
Six Concertos in eight Parts, Opera 7.
Twelve Trios in two Sets.

Six Trios from Opera 1.

Rules for playing in true Taste.

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worthy of the space they occupy in our columns, for the benefit of those who may either not have seen, or may have forgotten them.

The Musical Signs.-The seven musical signs, ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la, sa, invented by the Benedictine monk Guido Aretino, are the first syllables of some words contained in the first strophe of a Latin hymn, composed in honour of St. John the Baptist, which runs thus→→ Ut queant laxis, Resonare fibris Mira gestorum, Famuli tuorum; Solve polluti, Labii reatum, Sancte Joannes.

Octaves and Concord.-When two strings, whose length is as one to two, vibrate together, it is obvious that the one vibrates twice, while the other only vibrates once; they will coincide at the beginning of every alternate vibration, and their sounds will then accord. When the strings are in this proportion, their coincidences are more frequent than when their lengths are in any other ratio, and hence it is that the octave is the most perfect concord. If the lengths be two to three, which is the ratio of the fifth, every third vibration of the one coincides with every second of the other; the coincidences are consequently not so frequent as in the octaves, on which account the concord is not so frequent.

Discord. If their lengths be such that they never describe the ares of vibration together, but perpetually cross each other in their oscillations, then their sounds are jarring and unconcentaneous, and thus discord is produced.

Scottish Music.-The Scottish airs of genuine character are composed on a scale which does not contain the fourth and seventh of the diatonic scale of music. From this is derived the peculiarity by which they are immediately recognised.

Beating Time.-An attentive person can beat time pretty accurately for one minute, but it is very difficult to be correct for a greater length of time.

Stammering. A drunken man, or a person afflicted with St. Vitus's dance, can run, although he cannot walk or stand still. In the same manner a stammerer can sing, which is continuous motion, although he cannot speak, which is interrupted motion.

Sound.-All sound travels at the same rate (1142 feet per second, or thirteen miles per minute), a whisper, as far as it goes, as fast as the report of a cannon. It also describes equal spaces in equal times. The strength of sound is greatest in cold and dense air, and least in that which is warm and rarefied. During Captain Parry's first voyage, in lat. 74° 30′ N., people might often be heard conversing distinctly, in a common tone of voice, at the distance of one mile.

Musical Figures resulting from Sounds. Cover the mouth of a wide glass, having a foot-stalk, with a thin sheet of membrane or vegetable paper, over which scatter a layer of fine sand. The vibrations, excited in the air by the sound of a musical instrument held within a few inches of the membrane, will cause the sand on its surface to form regular lines and figures with astonishing celerity, which vary with the sound produced, affecting a particular mode of division according to the number of vibrations.

Musical Flame.-Musical tones are produced by the combustion of hydrogen gas in tubes of different dia

meters.

Uncertainty of Sound.-In listening to sounds, we are

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Of this noblest of all instruments, as its name denotes, opravov, "the instrument," by way of excellence, a few historical notices may probably afford some amusement to the reader. Notwithstanding many laborious researches, its origin is still enveloped in much obscurity, chiefly arising from the various senses in which the general term organum was used. Some of the instruments so called were acted upon by the force of water, whilst in others the application of bellows is mentioned; the only difference between them, however, was in the mode of introducing the air into the pipes, and their common origin, may probably be referred to the ancient Syrinx or Pan's pipe, made of reeds. Although the earliest descriptions appear to belong to the hydraulicon, of which Ctesibius of Alexandria was the discoverer about A.C. 220, yet it seems natural to suppose, that the

* Mr. Blackwall, in opposition to the Honourable Daines Barrington, considers the notes of birds to be instinctive, and not depending on the master under whom they are bred.

The thrush does not appear to have his proper rank in this scale.

pneumatic organ was the prior invention; and its antiquity seems to be confirmed by the discovery of a monument at Rome, mentioned by Mersennus, and engraved in the first volume of Hawkins's History of Music, p. 403. The first account of any instrument of the kind occurs in the tenth book of Vitruvius, who flourished above a century before the Christian era: this was an hydrau licon. An empigram by the Emperor Julian, about the year A.D. 360, first quoted by Du Cange from the Anthology*, describes one, which greatly resembles the present pneumatic organ. St. Jerome mentions one which had twelve pairs of bellows, and fifteen pipes, and was heard at the distance of a mile; and another at Jerusalem, which was heard at the Mount of Olives. Mersennus, however, doubts the genuineness of the piece ascribed to Jerome, and Mason, in his Essay on instrumental church music, has questioned that of the monument above named.

The date of the introduction of the organ into the The use of churches of Western Europe is uncertain. musical instruments therein is unquestionably as old as the time of St. Ambrose, if not of Justin Martyr, two. centuries before him; but Pope Vitalian is generally allowed to have been the first who introduced the organ into the service of the Romish church about the year 670, and the enemies of church music have ingeniously contrived to fix upon the exact year 666, as corresponding with the mystical number of the apocalyptic beast. Be this as it may, the first tolerably certain account of an organ, properly so called, in the West, is about the year 755, when the Greek Emperor Constantine Copronymus sent one as a present to Pepin, King of France; though doubts have been raised even on this point, which most writers have taken for proved. In the time of Charlemagne, however, organs were brought from Greece into Western Europe, and soon became common. artists of that Prince built one at Aix-la-Chapelle in 812, on the Greek model, which the learned Benedictine, D. Bedos de Celles, in his L'Art du facteur des orgues, 1766, thinks was the first that was furnished with bellows, and in which water was not employed. In 826, a Venetian presbyter, named Georgius, visited the Court of Louis le Debonnaire, and built another organ, at Aix, on the hydraulic principle; he is supposed to have been the father of the art of organ-building in Germany, from whence we soon after this time hear of artists in that line being sent into other countries.

The

but seem

Our historian, Bede, does not mention organs in his account of church ceremonies, but before the tenth century they not only became common in England, to have surpassed those of the continent in size and compass. Dunstan is recorded to have given one to the Abbey of Malmesbury in the reign of Edgar; he is also said to have introduced singing in parts; and if, as some suppose, organs were then built with fifths and octaves, (it having been discovered from the vibrations of a bell, that the fulness of tone would be thereby increased,) that circumstance may have led to the invention of harmony, consecutive fifths not being, of course, regarded as forbidden in the then state of musical science. In this way, therefore, to the organ may be traced the first dawn of harmony, of which the ancients appear, from all that we can discover, to have been unaccountably

* Lib. i. cap. 86.

ignorant, unless octaves, intended probably for unisons, | Yet Cromwell himself was partial to the organ, and be considered as such. Elfeg, Bishop of Winchester, caused the one belonging to Magdalen College, Oxford, procured an organ for his Cathedral in 951, which was to be removed to Hampton Court, where he often enterthe largest then known, having twenty-six pairs of tained himself by listening to it: it was restored afterbellows, and requiring seventy men to fill it with wind; wards to the college, and remained there until about the it had, however, but ten keys, with forty pipes for each middle of the last century. He also connived at Dr. key: a description of it by Wolstan, in barbarous Latin Busby having choral service with an organ, in his house, verse, is given in Mason's Essay, where it is erroneously at Westminster, when it was forbidden throughout the said to have been at Westminster. Oswald, Archbishop kingdom. In 1660 it was found, that there were only | of York, consecrated the church at Ramsey, where Count four organ builders of repute surviving-Preston, of Elvin had placed an organ, with pipes of brass, that cost York; Loosemore, of Exeter; Thamar, of Peterborough, thirty pounds sterling; there was also one previous to the and Ralph Dallans*. This led to the introduction of year 1174 in Canterbury Cathedral; where choral ser- foreign artists, the celebrated Bernard Schmidt, comvice, which took its rise at Antioch, appears to have been monly called Father Smith, and his two nephews, with first introduced into this country. the elder Harris, and his son Renatus. The well-known bitter dispute between these rival builders may be found in amusing detail in Burney's vol. ii. p. 437. Each had erected an organ in the Temple church for trial; Blow and Purcell performed on Smith's, and Lully upon Harris's, and several new-invented stops were introduced; when Lord Chancellor Jefferies at length decided in favour of Smith's, the bellows of which were cut open by the friends of Harris on the night previous to the final trial of the reed stops. Smith's principal organs are those in the Temple church, Christ church, and St. Mary's Oxford; Trinity College, Cambridge; St. Margaret's, Westminster; St. Clement Danes; Southwell Minster; and Trinity Church, Hull; which last has 20 stops, and was originally intended for St. Paul's Cathedral; besides the fine one which is now placed there," in every respect worthy of that beautiful and stupendous structure," and "which is generally allowed to have the sweetest tone (except that at the Temple,) the most noble chorus, and a swell which produces the finest effects, of any in the kingdom." The Temple organ is further remarkable for the division of two of the five short keys, by which G sharp, and A flat, D sharp, and E flat, are made different notes. Harris's organ, after rejection at the Temple, was divided; part of it was erected at St. Andrew's, Holborn, and part in Christchurch, Dublin, which was afterwards removed to Wolverhampton. His other principal instruments, are those at St. Mary Axe, St. Bride's, St. Lawrence's, &c.; and one at Doncaster, erected in 1739, which did him great. credit, and which contains two trumpets and a clarion stop throughout the whole compass of the great organ, so excellent, that the celebrated Mr. Stanley told Dr. Miller, that each pipe was worth its weight in silver. It was repaired by Donaldson, of York, about 1798. Harris appears to have been very ambitious of building an instrument for St. Paul's Cathedral, which should transcend every former work of the kind t. To these celebrated artists succeeded Schreider, Smith's-son-in law, who built the organ at St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, a present from King George I. as churchwarden; Byfield, Bridge, and Jordan, who united in partnership; Snetzler, &c., and at a later period, Green, Giay, Avery, Elliot, England, Flight, Nicholls, &c.

Notwithstanding these early attempts, the organ long remained rude in its construction; the keys were from four to five or even six inches broad, and must have been pressed down by the fist; the pipes were of brass, loud and harsh in their sound, and the compass did not exceed two octaves in the twelfth century, about which time half-notes appear to have been introduced at Venice; and it was not until the fifteenth century that both hands were made use of in playing on it. At Venice also, the important addition of pedals was first made by Bernhard, a German, to whose countrymen we owe most of the other improvements of the instrument, in bellows, stops, &c., and among whom its construction has always been a work of great repute, though in excellence of finish they have been surpassed by our English builders. Several elaborate French and German works, on the subject of organs, are in existence, which are scarcely known even by name in this country; but some idea may be formed of the great importance attached to the possession of a good organ, from the fact that one Beck having contracted with the magistrates of Gröningen in 1592, to build one for the castle church, no less than fifty-three organists certified, in 1596, that he had fulfilled his contract. The names of the early builders, also, are still remembered with honour; among which may be mentioned those of Smid of Peyssenberg, in 1433; André of Brunswick, in 1456; Castendorfer of Breslaw, in 1466; and Rosenburger of Nuremberg, who built the great organ of the Cathedral of Bamberg about 1470. In the south of Germany organs were not known so early as in the north; since it appears that Nuremberg first became possessed of one in 1443, and Augsburg in 1490.

We find scarcely any particulars recorded respecting the organs of this country from the period of the reformation down to the time of Charles the First. Camden mentions one at Wrexham; and Fuller has been strangely misquoted as describing it to have possessed pipes of gold: it shared the general fate of organs in 1641; and probably the York organ is nearly the only one in the kingdom which escaped the destruction of those times, (owing, no doubt, to the protecting care. of Lord Fairfax, who saved the painted windows of the Cathedral,) the old work of which, though greatly improved and enlarged, still exists. During the wars of that unfortunate reign, the organs throughout the kingdom were, it is well known, either sold or destroyed; the service books perished in the flames, and the professors of the art of music were driven to other resources for their support, by the furious haters of episcopacy and cathedrals; so that on the restoration of choral service, instruments, performers, books, and singers were equally difficult to be procured.

*Sir J. Hawkins informs us, that Ralph Dallans died whilst building an organ at Greenwich, in 1672-3. It therefore appears that the supposition (at p. 134) of his being the same person with Robert Dallam or Dallom, cannot be correct.

Spectator, No. 552, Dec. 3d, 1712; by Steele.

M. HUMMEL.

[From a Paris Journal.]

THE concert of M. Hummel, on the 23d of May, in La salle des menus-Plaisirs, ought really to be considered as a musical solemnity, for we heard for the last time, that celebrated virtuoso, whom all Europe, long since, has proclaimed the modern Mozart of Germany.

During the short stay that M. Hummel has made in Paris, the amateurs and performers, full of admiration of his talents, have struck a bronze medal in his honour, bearing his portrait, which is very like, and has the marks of that genius which animates the original. This medal will add to the just reputation which the young man who cut it has already obtained by other works of a similar nature. The subscribers inserted their names in a book, which was given at his departure to this celebrated composer, who will live in our memory as well as upon bronze, and has found as many admirers and friends in the capital of the arts, as in his own country. Previously to M. Hummel's departure from Paris, he addressed the following letter to the editors of the French journals.

Gentlemen,

Allow me, through the medium of your journal, to express the lively gratitude which I feel towards the French public, for the flattering reception they have deigned to give me. I also beg to return my most sincere thanks to those celebrated performers, the ornament of this city, of the arts, and the admiration of Europe, who have kindly embellished my concerts by their talents. It is also particularly my duty to give welldeserved praise to the Messieurs Erard, for the clear and beautiful sound of their instruments, which has obtained them a most distinguished reputation for more than forty years.

I carry away with me the most tender remembrances, and regret that I cannot more strongly express my gratitude, for the proofs of good-will that I have received in Paris, and which will for ever remain engraved on my heart.

Accept, Gentlemen, the assurance of the distinguished consideration, with which

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THIS opera was produced in Cassel, to celebrate the nuptials of the Duke of Saxe-Meiningen with the daughter of the Elector of Hesse Cassel. The poem is by the well-known G. Döring, and possesses great merit; it abounds with those situations, which are well calculated to animate the genius of a composer. As the poem describes the world of spirits, Spohr has endeavoured, and we think successfully, to impart to his music that mysterious character which is in unison with the sentiments of the piece. He appears throughout the whole to have wisely borne in mind that the love of men, and

the love of spiritual beings, require a very different character and tone of music; and accordingly the feelings of these unearthly beings are expressed in sounds which, though impassioned have a certain definite charac ter, and leave much to the imagination to supply. This composer in the powerful music of his Faustus, in the tender strains of his Zemire, and the deep feeling of his Jessonda, has already displayed the variety of his talent; the present opera will show him in another, but not less praiseworthy, point of view. The design is well con ceived, and full of invention; the contrasts of the tender and the terrible are in the highest degree striking, and yet the unity of the whole is sustained in a masterly manner throughout. The recitative is admirable, but particularly in those places where the cantabile is required. In this, as in his former operas, Spohr has proved how great a command he possesses of instrumentation and the powers of harmony; but in no other opera has he shewn so wise an economy of accompaniments, so that the song is nowhere oppressed, but admirably supported, and allowed freely to develope all its beauties. In the overture, which begins with a novel subject, characteristic of a march, and advances with a copiousness of rich ideas, the most important features of the opera are portrayed, without being distorted and exag➡ gerated, as is the case in so many compositions of this kind. The contrasts of opposing feelings are powerfully depicted, till at the conclusion, the bursting sounds of jubilee announce the victory which forms the catastrophe of the piece. This is followed by an opening chorus of spirits, of a highly original character; a subterranean scene, lighted by a fire in the centre, displays them ranged in groups around. Trall, one of the spirits of the earth, appears; he is the favourite of the great Mountain-Spirit, but is dissatisfied at the eternal toil and labours endured in the bowels of the earth, and speaks in praise of the destiny of men who are permitted to enjoy the light of heaven and walk the airy surface, and to whom in days of old it was permitted them to pay a visit. The recitative of Trall and of the others is here admirably managed. The inquiries of the spirits, their anxious curiosity to learn something of the unknown upper world, are marked with great genius and character. An air of Trall which follows, is full of beauty, and mingled with a certain humour, that distinguishes all the songs of this spirit. When Trall pronounces the word "love," the Mountain-Spirit, who has till now set in a gloomy and abstracted attitude, starts from his throne. This moment of the piece is expressed by the music with great strength and truth. Every one feels and acknowledges, that at this instant the life-spark of the whole action is kindled, and will soon burst into a flame. This is still more strongly expressed in the duet between the Mountain-Spirit and Trall, which is taken up by a chorus, and by the life and freshness which it breathes, is truly admirable, concluding the first scene with great effect.

The scene changes, and a rustic chorus follows, of the female attendants of Alma, the bridegroom of Prince Oscar, who has just returned triumphant from the wars. The recitative of Alma, which succeeds, is full of passion, tenderness, and the consciousness of a love that meets return. This is followed by a duet between Alma and Oscar, graceful and rich in melody. This leads to a very effective terzetto between the lovers and the father, who now first makes his appearance. It is in part without accompaniment, and independently of its merits, in a

THE HARMONICON.

mélodial point of view, is distinguished by a peculiar ma-
nagement of the voices. After this comes a situation of
the highest dramatic effect, in which the composer appears
in his native worth, as a great and original artist. Alma is
seen alone, meditating on her approaching happiness; but
is suddenly aroused from this reverie of delight, by a
shuddering which seizes her whole frame, caused by the
approach of the spirits. She struggles against the feel-
ing, but in vain; she attempts to quit the place, but
remains fixed, as if spell-bound, to the spot. The in-
trinsic value of the melodies in the air which she sings
in this situation, the horror excited by the gradual ap-
proach of the spirits, and at last the burst of terror at
the appearance of the Spirit of the Mountain, produce an
effect which it would not be easy to describe. An in-
creasing energy of feeling, a deepening interest in the
scene, a continually progressive beauty of the harmonies
and melodies, and great truth of expression, reign in
the subsequent finale, in which Alma is transported by the
Mountain-Spirit to his subterranean abode, while the
bridegroom, her father, and friends, are seen bewailing
her fate in fruitless grief, and venting in their fruitless
rage on the malignity of the Mountain-spirits.

In the second act we find Alma, in the subterranean
empire, in the power of the Mountain-Spirit. On her
returning to herself, he attempts with soft words to
soothe the terrors of the maiden; he avows his passion,
and entreats her to yield him her heart in return. But his
gentle expressions cannot hide the malignity of his na-
ture; Alma is at first all terror; but at length she ac-
quires confidence, aware that her only means of gaining
time, is to pretend to be moved by the tenderness of his
professions. The composer has in the first duet of this
act, admirably expressed the contrasted feelings of the
two characters; the situation is new, but Sphor has evinced
the versatility of his genius. For depth of sentiment, and
happy discrimination of character, we consider this duet
as one of the most original compositions of the whole
opera. Alma expresses a wish to see her friends who are
upon earth, and asks as an only boon that she may be
allowed to have them occasionally near her. The Moun-
tain-Spirit gives her the power to call up the forms of
men by means of certain magical flowers, which Trall is
commissioned to procure. Alma dares not venture to
summon before her the forms of her bridegroom or her
father, but she commands her friend and companion
Ludmille to appear, that from her she may learn tidings
of those she holds dear. In the following scene between
Alma and the shade of Ludmille, the composer has again
shown himself a master who has the command of the
brightest and most original fancies. The colourless song
of the shade, composed of a few simple chords, opposed
to Alma's deep-felt and glowing sensibility, is productive
of an effect, more easily imagined than described. After-
wards Alma calls up other forms, and a recitative and
chorus which follow, are of the same extraordinary and
mysterious character. A duet succeeds between Trall
and the shade of Ludmille, in which he declares to her his
love. The amorous professions of the whimsical spirit,
blended as they are with his characteristic gaiety, his
anger at the indifference shewn by the shade, afford the
composer an ample field for the display of his versatile
talent, and he has not failed to profit by it accordingly.
The melodic beauties and harmonic conduct of this part
of the opera is altogether worthy of the master.

After the duet, the scene changes; Oscar the un

happy bridegroom, is discovered wandering in a mountain seene, in search of his lost love, and calling in rage on the daring ravisher to restore his victim. The air which he sings on this occasion, is of the most impassioned kind, and highly expressive of the stormy feelings that rend his soul. Of the duet that follows between Oscar and Damaslav, though it contains many beauties, yet it cannot be denied that it is too long, and might have been concentrated with advantage. The second act concludes with a festivity given by the Mountain-Spirit, in honour of the beauteous daughter of earth, who graces his subterranean abode, and affords the composer au occasion for a display of a truly dramatic character, in which the music of the dances is of the most enlivening and characteristic kind; while, at the same time, the wild and savage character of the scene is not forgotten, but breaks through the sweeter melodies.

The third act opens with a recitative and air of Alma, full of spirit and feeling; a terzetto follows between Alma, Trall, and the Mountain-Spirit, which terminates in a chorus of great effect. Meantime Trall, dissatisfied with the mere shade of his beloved Ludmille, makes a journey by stealth to earth, and brings back with him the real female friend of Alma. The joy of these two friends on their meeting is charmingly expressed in a duet of great tenderness. The two females are now together, and they contrive to obtain the spell by which Trall effected his passage to the upper regions of earth. The MountainSpirit gains intelligence of their flight, and pursues them amid thunders and lightnings. He arrives; terrible appearances precede him; an earthquake shakes the ground, and the rocks are rent asunder. In depicting all this in tones, the genius of Sphor soars into the true sublime, and the author of Faustus, Zemire, and Jessonda, adds fresh laurels to his wreath. At this moment, the Mountain-Spirit receives an admonition from a supe rior power, and becoming sensible of having degraded his superior nature by an attachment to a daughter of earth, yields Alma to the arms of her lover. The whole of this conclusion is of the same lofty tone and character as the rest of the piece, full of sweet melodies, combined with harmonies of great power and effect. We feel assured, that great as is the fame of M. Spohr, this composition will tend to augment it. It is delightful to see how rapidly many of the later compositions of the German-school are making their way through Europe, and dividing that attention which was before too exclusively directed to the lighter compositions of the Italian school; and we do not hesitate to say, that the present opera is as worthy of distinction as several of its rivals of the J. T. R. same school.

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IN the Memoir of Benedetto Marcello, which appeared in your last, no mention was made of a satirical tract of this master, entitled Il Teatro alla Moda, which is extremely rare, but of which I am so fortunate as to possess a copy. Disgusted at beholding the musicians of his time studious rather to flatter the ear, than to speak to the imagination and inform the heart, this great com

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