1748
Yesterday there was a Practice at the Little Theatre in the Haymarket, of a new Italian Dramatic Pastoral, intitled La Ingratitudine Punita. As Lucius Verus consisted of celebrated Airs from Mr. Handel’s Operas, the Music of the above Italian Pastoral, is chiefly collected from the Works of the most famous Italian Composers: A Diversity which (’tis hop’d) will be agreeable to the Town.[1]
By the special Command of his EXCELLENCY
WILLIAM Earl of HARRINGTON.
[line]
For the Benefit of the Hospital for Poor Distressed LYING IN WOMEN
in George’s-Lane.
[ornamentation]
At the Great Musick-Hall in Fishamble-Street, On Thursday Night the 11th. of this Instant February 1747-8, will be PERFORMED
Mr. HANDEL’s
Last Celebrated and Grad ORATORIO,
Call’d
JUDAS MACCABAEUS.
N. B. This is the first Time it has been Perform’d in this Kingdom.
[ornamentation]
This Hospital, which is the first and only Publick one of the kind in his Majesty’s Dominions was open’d in March 1745, by some Gentlemen who by their subscriptions and the benefit arising [22] from two Plays, two Oratorio’s, and a few private Benefactions, amounting in the whole to about 900l. have fitted up a large House in an open good Air, with 24 Beds, provided all kinds of necessary Furniture, supplied Maintenance for the poor Women, Children, House-keeper and Nurses, and have had such Success that before the 25th. of January last, 567 poor Women with proper Certificates of their Poverty and Character, have been admitted; of whom 561 have been safely delivered of 312 Boy and 263 Girls, 14 of the Women having had Twins.
Discharged 539 Women with 306 Boys and 259 Girls, all very well; died 4 Women of Fevers several days after they were safely delivered, and 16 Children chiefly of Fits. Remain in the Hospital 24 Women, 6 of whom are not yet delivered. There are daily such Numbers applying for the Benefit of this great Charity that it is impossible to receive them all, ’till the Charitable encouragement of the Publick enable the Governors to Set up more Beds[.]
[triangular *] It is justly Remark’d that since the foundation of this Charity, [t]here has not been a Child found Murthered [sic] in the City or Suburbs of Dublin.[2]
[premiere: 13 February 1748.]
Fad[dle]. And so, I don’t speak plain, hah?—Oh the
little Rogue!—There’s more Beauty in the Veins of her Neck, than in a Landscape
of Claude—and more Musick in the
Smack of her Lips, than in all Handel![3]
Feb 26
|
COVENT-GARDEN. AT the Theatre-Royal in Covent-Garden, this Day, being the 26th of February, will be perform’d an ORATORIO, call’d JUDAS MACCHABAEUS. With a CONCERTO. Pit and Boxes to be put together, and no Person to be admitted without Tickets, which will be delivered this Day, at the Office in Covent-Garden-Theatre,
at Half a Guinea each, First Gallery 5 s. Upper Gallery 3 s. 6 d. The Galleries to be open’d at Four, Pit and Boxes at Five. To begin at Half an Hour after Six o’Clock.[4] |
Friday [26th {Feb. 1748}]. Morning went to the china and necklace shop; in the evening went to an Oratorio call’d Judas Maccabeus with Mrs. Faz., and Mr. Farrington came to see us.[5]
Mar 2
|
COVENT-GARDEN. AT the Theatre-Royal in Covent-Garden, this Day, will be perform’d an ORATORIO, call’d JUDAS MACCHABAEUS. With a CONCERTO. Pit and Boxes to be put together, and no Person to be admitted without Tickets, which will be delivered this Day, at the Office in Covent-Garden-Theatre,
at Half a Guinea each, First Gallery 5 s. Upper Gallery 3 s. 6 d. The Galleries to be open’d at Four, Pit and Boxes at Five. To begin at Half an Hour after Six o’Clock.[6] |
Mar 4
|
COVENT-GARDEN. AT the Theatre-Royal in Covent-Garden, this Day, will be perform’d an ORATORIO, call’d JUDAS MACCHABAEUS. With a CONCERTO. Pit and Boxes to be put together, and no Person to be admitted without Tickets, which will be delivered this Day, at the Office in Covent-Garden-Theatre,
at Half a Guinea each, First Gallery 5 s. Upper Gallery 3 s. 6 d. The Galleries to be open’d at Four, Pit and Boxes at Five. To begin at Half an Hour after Six o’Clock.[7] |
Mar 9
|
COVENT-GARDEN. AT the Theatre-Royal in Covent-Garden, this Day, will be perform’d a New ORATORIO, call’d JOSHUA. And a New CONCERTO. Pit and Boxes to be put together, and no Person to be admitted without Tickets, which will be delivered this Day, at the Office in Covent-Garden-Theatre, at Half a Guinea each, First Gallery 5 s. Upper Gallery 3 s. 6 d. The Galleries to be open’d at Four, Pit and Boxes at Five. To begin at Half an Hour after Six o’Clock.[8] |
Mar 11
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COVENT-GARDEN. AT the Theatre-Royal in Covent-Garden, this Day, will be perform’d a New ORATORIO, call’d JOSHUA. And a New CONCERTO. Pit and Boxes to be put together, and no Person to be admitted without Tickets, which will be delivered this Day, at the Office in Covent-Garden-Theatre, at Half a Guinea each, First Gallery 5 s. Upper Gallery 3 s. 6 d. The Galleries to be open’d at Four, Pit and Boxes at Five. To begin at Half an Hour after Six o’Clock.[9] |
We hear from the King’s Theatre in the Haymarket, that as the Celebrated Opera of Dido, wrote by Abbats [sic] Metastasio, and set to Musick by Signor Hasse, cannot be got ready for Representation till almost a Fortnight, the Opera of Lucius Verus (consisting of chosen Airs from the Compositions of Mr. Handel) will be perform’d next Saturday.[10]
Mar 16
|
COVENT-GARDEN. AT the Theatre-Royal in Covent-Garden, this Day, will be perform’d a New ORATORIO, call’d JOSHUA. And a New CONCERTO. Pit and Boxes to be put together, and no Person to be admitted without Tickets, which will be delivered this Day, at the Office in Covent-Garden-Theatre, at Half a Guinea each, First Gallery 5 s. Upper Gallery 3 s. 6 d. The Galleries to be open’d at Four, Pit and Boxes at Five. To begin at Half an Hour after Six o’Clock.[11] |
Wednsday [16th {Mar. 1748}]. Went to the Oratorio call’d Joshua with Mrs. Faz. & Miss Jones.[12]
Mar 18
|
COVENT-GARDEN. AT the Theatre-Royal in Covent-Garden, To-morrow, will be perform’d a New ORATORIO, call’d JOSHUA. And a New CONCERTO. Pit and Boxes to be put together, and no Person to be admitted without Tickets, which will be delivered that Day, at the Office in Covent-Garden-Theatre, at Half a Guinea each, First Gallery 5 s. Upper Gallery 3 s. 6 d. The Galleries to be open’d at Four, Pit and Boxes at Five. To begin at Half an Hour after Six o’Clock.[13] |
Comical OCCURRENCES.
[...]
We hear from the King’s Theatre in the Hay-market, that as the celebrated Opera of Dido, wrote by Abbats [sic] Metastasio, and set to Musick by Signor Hasse, cannot be got ready for Representation till within about a Fortnight, the Opera of Lucius Verus (consisting of chosen Airs from the Compositions of Mr. Handel) will be perform’d next Saturday. Ib — The Lovers of Musick will forgive the postponing Signior Hasse’s Compositions, provided they are entertained with those of Mr. Handel in the mean time.[14]
Mar 23
|
COVENT-GARDEN. AT the Theatre-Royal in Covent-Garden, this Day, will be perform’d a New ORATORIO, call’d ALEXANDER BALUS. And a New CONCERTO. Pit and Boxes to be put together, and no Person to be admitted without Tickets, which will be delivered this Day, at the Office in Covent-Garden-Theatre, at Half a Guinea each, First Gallery 5 s. Upper Gallery 3 s. 6 d. The Galleries to be open’d at Four, Pit and Boxes at Five. To begin at Half an Hour after Six o’Clock.[15] |
Mar 25
|
COVENT-GARDEN. AT the Theatre-Royal in Covent-Garden, this Day, will be perform’d a New ORATORIO, call’d ALEXANDER BALUS. And a New CONCERTO. Pit and Boxes to be put together, and no Person to be admitted without Tickets, which will be delivered this Day, at the Office in Covent-Garden-Theatre, at Half a Guinea each, First Gallery 5 s. Upper Gallery 3 s. 6 d. The Galleries to be open’d at Four, Pit and Boxes at Five. To begin at Half an Hour after Six o’Clock.[16] |
Mar 30
|
COVENT-GARDEN. AT the Theatre-Royal in Covent-Garden, this Day, will be perform’d a New ORATORIO, call’d ALEXANDER BALUS. And a New CONCERTO. Pit and Boxes to be put together, and no Person to be admitted without Tickets, which will be delivered this Day, at the Office in Covent-Garden-Theatre, at Half a Guinea each, First Gallery 5 s. Upper Gallery 3 s. 6 d. The Galleries to be open’d at Four, Pit and Boxes at Five. To begin at Half an Hour after Six o’Clock.[17] |
Apr 1
|
COVENT-GARDEN. AT the Theatre-Royal in Covent-Garden, this Day, will be perform’d an ORATORIO, call’d JUDAS MACCHABAEUS. With ADDITIONS and a CONCERTO. Pit and Boxes to be put together, and no Person to be admitted without Tickets, which will be delivered this Day, at the Office in Covent-Garden-Theatre, at Half a Guinea each, First Gallery 5 s. Upper Gallery 3 s. 6 d. The Galleries to be open’d at Four, Pit and Boxes at Five. To begin at Half an Hour after Six o’Clock.[18] |
Apr 4
|
COVENT-GARDEN. AT the Theatre-Royal in Covent-Garden, this Day, will be perform’d an ORATORIO, call’d JUDAS MACCHABAEUS. With ADDITIONS and a CONCERTO. Pit and Boxes to be put together, and no Person to be admitted without Tickets, which will be delivered this Day, at the Office in Covent-Garden-Theatre, at Half a Guinea each, First Gallery 5 s. Upper Gallery 3 s. 6 d. The Galleries to be open’d at Four, Pit and Boxes at Five. To begin at Half an Hour after Six o’Clock.[19] |
Tuesday [5th {April 1748}]. Evening went with Mrs. Faz. and Miss Winford to the Musick at the Hay Market [i.e. the annual Benefit for the Fund established for the Support of Decay’d Musicians or their Families, which included songs and a grand concerto by Handel].[20]
Apr 7
|
COVENT-GARDEN. (Being the last Time of Performing.) AT the Theatre-Royal in Covent-Garden, this Day, will be perform’d an ORATORIO, call’d JUDAS MACCHABAEUS. With ADDITIONS and a CONCERTO. Pit and Boxes to be put together, and no Person to be admitted without Tickets, which will be delivered this Day, at the Office in Covent-Garden-Theatre, at Half a Guinea each, First Gallery 5 s. Upper Gallery 3 s. 6 d. The Galleries to be open’d at Four, Pit and Boxes at Five. To begin at Half an Hour after Six o’Clock.[21] |
[letter of Jane Hamilton, Lady Cathcart, {Easter 1748}]:
But I begin to recollect that when one is out of
town one fancys that there’s a great deal of news in it and to show you there
is not at this time any considerable, begin with the inconsiderable. Peg with Lady--- as usual was hist at the
last Oratorio. The Company in that Boxx
was so unreasonably noisy that it got the better of the Patience of the
Audience and tho’ the Beauty and Wit are powerful advocates, Handel’s friends
prevail’d and preffer’d his music, unaccountably to be sure when two senses
were to be charmed by not attending to his Oratorio. It was the fashion to be Musical that
week. Mons. Haslang gave an
Entertainment of Music in his Chapel after wch there was a very fine
Collation. This was good Friday. Mama and I had tickets given to us by a
R[oman] Catholic and went in the places wch was left for them wch at other
times are for the Servts wch has affronted those that are constant frequenters
of the Chappel. But it was Politesse of
Mons. Haslang who gave up the best places to the English Quality, accordingly
the first that presented to fill them was Miss Banks and Miss M Rich. We sat very inconveniently behind, it was
very Hot. The Music not at all Solemn as
we expected, the Words Italian and in short it was like an Opera only Casavini
was the Virgin Mary and Reginelli was John the Baptist. We were very soon tired of seeing them
personally [and] we went away at the End of the first Part.[22]
|
TO MISS HALL. 1748 Written at an Oratorio. Ye Pow’rs of Harmony, whose gentle aid Could once the finest sense of joy excite, Where now is all your vital influence fled, Where vanish’d ev’ry elegant! Me better fits in unfrequented wastes, To sooth each tender sentiment of woe, Where, in sad concert sigh the wintry blasts, And dying streams in plaintive numbers flow. Or, lonely wand’ring o’er the dewy plain, By pensive Cynthia’s melancholy light, I’ll fly from music’s ineffectual strain, Attentive to the wailing bird of night. To me how tasteless ev’ry scene of joy, The vacant heart by happy impulse feels: While mine, which thoughts of genuine grief employ, From cheerful crowds to drear Retirement steals. There, hapless coward in the doubtful strife My fainting pow’rs each active function leave, I droop beneath the dull fatigue of life, And wish the peaceful refuge of the grave. Impatient wish! Shall suff’rers of an hour, With impious voice ungratefully complain, Forgetful that the gracious hand of Pow’r, With happy ages pays the transient pain![23] |
late Spring
|
‘My Dear Moses Mendes’ 1 My Dear Moses Mendes a very great friend is, To the making oratorio’s: and has wrote so much stuff in Town, about Peggy Woffington That it makes him very notorious. 2 When he was alone He wrote Solomon, and robb’d the poor man of his glory; If it had not been Handel’d, It ought t’have been candl’d, and the J..w [Jew] beat for spoiling the story. 3 Too much hast thou fiddl’d, Too much hast thou scribbl’d, Both at Oxford, at London & Mitcham, Prate no more of Amours, For writing on Whores, Is by no means a proof you can stitch ’em.[24] |
We hear from Oxford, that the new Musick-Room there, which is just finish’d, will be open’d on Wednesday the 13th of July (being Act Week) with two of Mr. Handel’s most celebrated Oratorio’s.[25]
Jul 22
Friday.
When Peace is proclaimed, which is expected will be the 11th of October next, his Majesty, we are informed, intends to go to St. Paul’s, Mr. Handel having Directions to compose a new Anthem to be sung on the Occasion. W. E.[26]
An Arcade is building in Ranelagh-Gardens to join the House to the Amphitheatre with triumphal Arches, in a very elegant Taste, by Mr. Jones, who design’d the Theatre; the whole to be finished by the 15th of August next, when the said Gardens will be open’d again for Evening Entertainments, with an Addition of a great Number of Voices, in order to perform most of Mr. Handel’s Grand Chorus’s, and other Pieces of that kind.[27]
|
[Benjamin Martyn to the 4th Earl of Shaftesbury] EXTON. August 1st, 1748. ... Last Friday evening a little before sun-set we were all summonned to a Grove in the Garden which for a fortnight before had been forbidden ground to Lady Bath, Mrs. Noel and myself. After a little winding walk in it we found ourselves in the midst of a Theatre at one end of which was a Box with four rows of benches raised above one another and 20 feet in front. The intermediate space between that and the stage was bounded on the sides by high trees. The Orchestra was full and opened with an Overture of Handel’s after which COMUS was presented, not as it is acted upon the Stage
but with a little variation from the original: two or three songs of Arne’s were in it which were well sung by one Mr. Randall (Organist of King’s College) in the Character of a Bacchanal. [267] Lord Gainsborough was Comus and spoke his part excellently as did Mr. Noel in the Charades as the Elder Brother and Lady Betty in the Lady’s part. Lady Jenny was Sabrina and Lady July one of the Spirits and they and Lord Gainsborough sang the three songs made by Mr. Handel for this entertainment with the Chorus at the end of each of them. Lord Campden was a little Bacchanal and a pretty figure in it. There could not be a more lucky choice of a proper place for the Representation, it being so sequestred and answering so well Milton’s description of it; and I do not think one can see it afterwards with any pleasure in the Playhouse. But I must not forget one circumstance which was extremely well contrived and the most pleasing to the sight and imagination: When COMUS bad the Revels begin, the Back Scene was drawn up and behind it was another space of the same bigness as that where the Box and Theatre were, with a high tree in the middle and surrounded by high ones which were filled with lights in the most agreeable manner; so that the stage filled with Actors who lin’d the side scenes (which are prettily painted) a Row of Lemon Trees with large fruit tied on the boughs, just behind the Stage, and the illuminated Grove beyond it made the most Romantick Fairy Scene imaginable. O’Saturday morning was performed the Oratorio of DEBORAH and in the evening COMUS again — after which we came into supper and then returned to the Garden, which was illuminated all round in a very pretty manner under the Direction of Mr. Noel, and Fire-works played off for above two hours from every part of the Garden. Between one and two we left the Garden and (which may perhaps surprise Ladies Shaftesbury and your Lordship) without one person’s catching a cold. ...[28] |
[“Bath, September 12.”]
Last Tuesday Night died here, in the 80th Year of his Age, the Right Rev. Dr. Edmund Gibson, Lord Bishop of London, and Dean of his Majesty’s Chapel-Royal.[29]
Gloucester, Sept. 17. At the Anniversary Meeting of the Three Choirs of Gloucester, Worcester, and Hereford, held on Wednesday and Thursday last in this City, there was a numerous and splendid Appearance of Gentlemen and Ladies. The Sermon on Wednesday was preach’d by the Rev. Mr. John Newton, and had the desired Effect, the Charity Collection in the Whole, amounting to 127 l. and upwards, a Sum exceeding any former Contribution. Both at Church and at the Booth-Hall, the Musical Performance was greatly applauded, particularly the celebrated Oratorio of Sampson. — And the Assembly each Night at the Bell, was so crowded, that there was scarce Room for the Gentlemen and Ladies to Dance.[30]
[1748 season in Theatre-Royal, Dublin.]
The Manager’s Agreement with the musical Tribe [which he had engaged the previous year in his journey to London], I have already observed, was for two Years. At the End of the first Season, seeing how much he was involved by these woeful Bargains; and as the personal Respect I had for him, compelled me to share his Distresses, I had the Happiness, one ruminating Morning, to start an Expedient to serve him; which [144] was, to offer his Singers and Band of Musick to the charitable Musical Society, at the Musick-Hall in Fishamble-street, as his Band and Singers were the best in the Kingdom [Ireland]. My Scheme was, that the Manager should have all the Subscriptions, (which were seldom less than three hundred Guineas) and that their annual Benefit (the Messiah) should be performed, clear of all Expence, for the Use of the Charity, for the Enlargement of poor Prisoners for small Debts, which was the utmost that useful Society ever aimed at. Another Advantage to the Manager (and indeed a material one) was, that their Night of Performance, if the Society thought fit to agree with him, must be changed from the Friday (one of the best Play Nights) to the Tuesday, which was a Castle Night, [145] where was a public Ball, and on that Account a vacant Night at the Theatre.
When I had sufficiently digested my Scheme, I communicated it to my good Friend, Mr. Neale of the Music Hall, who approved of it; and advised me to consult Mr. Hoffshleager, a Merchant of Worth and Honour, a Leader in that and every useful Charity, and a Friend to the Manager. I did so; and after I had obtained that Gentleman’s Approbation, by his Advice I acquainted the Manager with what I had done, who soon desired me to propose, and bring on a Meeting with a Committee of the Society, in order to settle the Agreement with them. This was done; and at that Meeting every advantageous Point before-mentioned, was carried for the Manager. The Concert Night [146] was removed from the Friday to the Tuesday, and the Subscriptions amounted to more than three hundred Guineas.[31]
No. 30
A Madame la Marquise de Monconseil (17)
(Dobrée IV, 1591)
A Londres, ce 22 septembre V.S. 1748
… [56] …Pour votre compositeur Adolphati, je vous dirai naturellement que je n’augure rien d’avantageux pour lui dans ce pays; l’opéra, que nous devons avoir cet hiver, étant entièrement sous la direction d’un seul impresario qui vient d’Italie, et qui mène avec lui, et sa troupe, et son compositeur, de sorte que de ce côté-là il n’y a pas d’ouverture pour notre virtuoso. Du côté des oratorios, des motets, et de cette sorte de musique, il y en a encore moins; Handel, qui sans contredit est le plus grand compositeur de l’Europe, en ayant tant donné qu’on en est las, qu’on n’y va plus. Il suffit qu’il me vienne de votre part pour que je fasse tous mes efforts pour le servir; mais franchement je crains que ce ne soit inutilement.[32]
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[Mr. Birch to Lord Boyle, London, 30 September 1748] [...] Our Operas for the ensuing season are to be of a new and Burlesque kind, which the Italians call Burlette. [...][33] |
[Letter XVIII. Barrells, Sunday, October 16th, 1748.]
As to your thought about improving the Show-box, I do not despise it for believing you took it from the thing called London Cries, which children play with; for the great Handel has told me that the hints of his very best songs have several of them been owing to [59] the sounds in his ears of cries in the street: and why may your eyes not take a hint from the manner in which they are exhibited in the forementioned little machine?[34]
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[Mr. Birch to Lord Boyle, London 20 December 1748] [...] The Burlettas in the Hay-market have banished thence all the nobler music of the grave operas, and these new musical farces seem more generally adapted to the taste of the audience than the greatest performances of Handel, from whom we expect nothing till Lent shall call for his Oratorios. [...][35] |
|
Set by Mr. HANDEL. FROM scourging rebellion, and baffling proud France, Crown’d with laurels, behold British WILLIAM advance! His triumph to grace, and distinguish the day, The sun brighter shines, and all nature looks gay. Your glasses charge high, ’tis in brave WILLIAM’s praise; In praise, in praise, ’tis in brave WILLIAM’s praise; [5] To his glory your voices, to
his glory your voices, To his glory your voices and
instruments raise. Whilst in pleasure’s soft arms others courted repose, Our HERO flew forth, tho’ the streams round him froze, To shield us from rebels, all dangers defy’d, And
would conquer or die by fam’d liberty’s side. Your glasses, &c. In his train see sweet peace, fairest offspring of sky, Every bliss in her smile, every charm in her eye; Whilst the worst foe to man, that dire fiend civil war, Gnashing horrid her teeth, comes fast bound to his car. Your glasses, &c. How hateful’s the tyrant, who lur’d by false fame, To satiate his pride, sets the world in a flame! How glorious our KING, whose beneficent mind, Makes true grandeur consist in protecting mankind! Your glasses, &c. Ye warriors, on whom we due honours bestow, O think on the source whence our late evils flow; Commanded by WILLIAM, strike next at the Gaul, And fix those in chains who would BRITONS enthral [sic]. Your glasses, &c.[36] |
[“WILLIAM CONGREVE Esq;”]
VI. SEMELE, an Opera, not performed when it was first written; but was lately set to Music by Mr. Handel, and performed with Applause at the Theatre Royal in Covent-Garden.
[“AARON HILL Esq;”]
V. RINALDO; an Opera, after the Italian Manner, performed at the Queen’s Theatre in the Hay-market, in the Year 1714 [FSP: “1710 / Lloyd. / 1711 / Bodl.”], of which Theatre Mr. Hill was, for that Year, Master himself, having farmed it of Mr. Collier.
The Music was set by Mr. Handel, who then made his first Appearance in England, and accompanied the Voices himself on the Harpsichord in the Orchestre, and performed his Part in the Overture, wherein his Execution seemed as astonishing as his Genius in the Composition.
[“Mr. JEFFERIES.”]
[FSL copy annotation:] He [...] writ ye Tri: / umph of Truth, an Oratorio.
[“The Rev. Mr. MILLER.”]
[FSL copy annotation:] Miller writ likewise [...] Joseph & his Brethren, a / sacred Drama. Cibb.[37]
The Establishment of their Royal Highnesses the Princess Amelia, and the Princess Caroline.
[...]
Musick Master, Mr. Handel[.][38]
ONE could not, I think, set the general absurdity of critical conjectures in a stronger light, than by applying them to something parallel in our own writers. If the English tongue should ever become a dead language, and our best authors be raised into the rank of classick writers; [171] much of the force and propriety of their expressions, especially of such as turned upon humour, or alluded to any manners peculiar to the age, would inevitably be lost, or, at best, would be extremely doubtful. How would it puzzle, for instance, future commentators to explain Swift’s epigram upon our musical contests? I imagine one might find them descanting upon that little humourous sally of our English Rabelais in some such manner as this:
|
EPIGRAM on the Feuds between Handel and Bononcini. Strange all this difference should be
’Twixt Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dee! |
NOTES of various Authors.
“Tweedle-dum and Tweedly-dee] [sic] I am persuaded the Poet gave it Twiddle-drum and Twiddle key. To twiddle signifies to make a certain ridiculous motion with the fingers: what word therefore could be more proper to express this epigram-writer’s contempt of the [172] performances of those musicians, and of the folly of his contemporaries in running into parties upon so absurd an occasion? The drum was a certain martial instrument used in those times; as the word key is a technical term in musick, importing the fundamental note which regulates the whole composition. It means also those little pieces of wood which the fingers strike against in an organ, &c. in order to make the instrument sound. The alteration here proposed is so obvious and natural that I am surprized none of the commentators have hit upon it before. L. C. D.
“Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dee.] [sic] These words have greatly embarrass’d the criticks, who are extremely expert in finding a difficulty where there is none. Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dee are most undoubtedly the names of the two musicians: and though they are styled by different appellations in the title of this Epigram, yet that is no objection, for it is well known that persons in those times had more sir-names than [173] one. S. M. Absurd! here is evidently an error of the press, for there is not a single hint in all antiquity of the family of the Tweedle-dums and Tweedle-dees. The learned S. M. therefore nodded when he undertook to explain this passage. The sense will be very plain if we read with a small Alteration, Wheedle-Tom and Waddle-THE. THE being a known contraction for Theodore, as Tom is for Thomas. Waddle and Wheedle are likewise calassical words. Thus Pope:
|
As when a dab-chick waddles thro’ the copse. Dun. ii. 59. Obliquely waddling to the mark in view. Ib. ii. 150. |
And though indeed I do not recollect to have met with the verb to wheedle, in any pure author, yet it is plain that it was in use, since we find the participle wheedling in an antient tragedy composed about these times: [174]
|
A laughing, toying, wheedling, whimp’ring she Will make him amble on a gossip’s message, And hold the distaff with a hand as patient As e’er did Hercules.— JANE SHORE. |
Thomas and Theodore therefore were most certainly the Christian names of these two musicians, to the contractions of which the words wheedle and waddle are added as characteristical of the persons and dispositions of the men: the former implying that Tom was a mean sycophant, and the latter that THE had an aukward and ridiculous gait.” F. J. Z.
I KNOW not, Orontes, how I shall escape your satyr, for venturing to be thus free with a science which is sometimes, I know, admitted into a share of your meditations: yet tell me honestly, is not this a faithful specimen of the spirit and talents of the general class of critic-writers?[39]
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[“To a Lady in Town, soon after her leaving the Country.”] Say by what arts I can relieve my pain, Musick, verse, all I try, but try in vain; In vain the breathing flute my hand employs, Late the companion of my CHLOE’s voice, Nor HANDEL’s, nor CORELLI’s tuneful airs Can harmonize my soul, or sooth my cares; Those once-lov’d med’cines unsuccessful prove, Music, alas, is but the voice of love![40] |
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[“FASHION: A SATIRE.”] Each panting warble of VESCONTI’s throat, To DICK, is heav’nlier than a seraph’s note; The trills, he swears, soft-stealing to his breast, Are lullabies, to sooth his cares to rest; Are sweeter far, than LAURA’s luscious kiss, Charm the whole man, and lap his soul in bliss: Who can such counterfeited raptures bear, Of a deaf fool who scarce can thunders hear? CROWDERO might with him for FESTIN [sic] pass, And touching HANDEL yield to trifling HASSE.[41] |
The Establishment of their Royal Highnesses the Princess Amelia, and the Princess Carolina.
[...]
Musick-Master,
Mr. Handel[42]
Princesses Amelia and Caroline’s Officers, &c.
[... 90 ...]
Musick-Master,
——Handel, 200l.[43]
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TO WILLIAM FREEMAN, Of Hamels in Hertfordshire, Esq; SIR, NOT your Proficiency in the Belles Letters, nor Skill in most of the Liberal Arts, or other Accomplishments; but your particular Affection for Music, and true Taste of Harmony, in its most extensive Meaning, embolden’d me to inscribe this Piece to You, and to honour myself with the Title of, SIR, Your most obedient, and humble Servant, THE AUTHOR.[44] |
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ON MAY MORNING. To a LADY. […] But the light Herd of well-bred Dames disdain The calmer Pleasures of the painted Plain; Gay Flavia hates a Mead and purling Rill More than a Church, Small-pox, or Mercer’s Bill; “For who, she cries, a London-Life would change, “Pensive in solitary Woods to range; [95] “To walk without a Beau in some lone Vale, “Nor Handel hear, but the sad Nightingale; “Or sit at solemn Whist by gloomy Fires, “With aukward Parsons, Justices, and Squires?”— […] ODE. […] IV. Then, Harmony and Picture came Twin-nymphs my Sense to entertain, By Turns my Eye, my Ear was caught, With Raphael’s Stroke and Handel’s Strain. […][45] |
[“THE NAMES OF SUBSCRIBERS.”]
George Frederic Handel Esq.[46]
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[“PRIMROSE-HILL. / Written in the Year, 1748.”] Fast by the foot of yon o’ershading wood, Bellsize, a sumptuous structure, lately stood; Tho’ now her gilded roofs, and stately mound, By time’s rough hand are levell’d with the ground: Yet from her ruins springs a graceful seat, And tho’ not pompous, elegantly neat. Hark! from among those venerable trees, What blended music floats upon the breeze; There the full choir of feather’d songsters meet, The genial Spring with graceful joy to greet; [56] There the gay gilded Finch and Linnet grey, With the shrill Blackbird, join the tuneful lay; The Robin, Thrush, and Woodlark strain their throat, And Rooks and Daws immix their hoarser note; The soaring Sky-larks warbling music hear, And join the concert from their vocal sphere. Unequal’d sweetness in their song is found, Unequal’d sweetness all the skies resound. So when immortal HANDEL strikes the lyre, His strains are heard ’bove all the tuneful choir; Celestial sounds inchant the ravish’d ear, Charm all the plain, and echo thro’ the air.[47] |
[1] The General Advertiser, no. 4124, Tuesday 12 January 1748, [1].
[2] [Thomas Morell], Judas Maccabaeus. A Sacred Drama. As it is Perform’d at the Theatre-Royal in Covent-Garden. The Musick by Mr. Handel (Dublin: James Hoey, [1748]), 21-22; Chrissochoidis, 782.
[3] E[dward]. Moore, The Foundling (London: R. Francklin, 1748), 47; Chrissochoidis, 782-83.
[4] The General Advertiser, no. 4169, Friday 26 February 1748, [1].
[5] Ronald Stewart-Brown, Isaac Greene: A Lancashire Lawyer of the 18th Century. With The Diary of Ireland Greene (Mrs. Ireland Blackburne of Hale), 1748-9 (Liverpool: The Ballantyne press, Spottiswoode Ballantyne & co, 1921), 34; Chrissochoidis, 783.
[6] The General Advertiser, no. 4119, Wednesday 2 March 1748, [2].
[7] The General Advertiser, no. 4121, Friday 4 March 1748, [1].
[8] The General Advertiser, no. 4125, Wednesday 9 March 1748, [1].
[9] The General Advertiser, no. 4127, Friday 11 March 1748, [2].
[10] The General Advertiser, no. 4129, Monday 14 March 1748, [1].
[11] The General Advertiser, no. 4131, Wednesday 16 March 1748, [1].
[12] Ronald Stewart-Brown, Isaac Greene: A Lancashire Lawyer of the 18th Century. With The Diary of Ireland Greene (Mrs. Ireland Blackburne of Hale), 1748-9 (Liverpool: The Ballantyne press, Spottiswoode Ballantyne & co, 1921), 38; Chrissochoidis, 783.
[13] The General Advertiser, no. 4132, Thursday 17 March 1748, [1].
[14] The Jacobite’s Journal, no. 16, Saturday 19 March 1748, [3]; Chrissochoidis, 783.
[15] The General Advertiser, no. 4137, Wednesday 23 March 1748, [1].
[16] The General Advertiser, no. 4139, Friday 25 March 1748, [1].
[17] The General Advertiser, no. 4143, Wednesday 30 March 1748, [1].
[18] The General Advertiser, no. 4145, Friday 1 April 1748, [1].
[19] The General Advertiser, no. 4147, Monday 4 April 1748, [1].
[20] Ronald Stewart-Brown, Isaac Greene: A Lancashire Lawyer of the 18th Century. With The Diary of Ireland Greene (Mrs. Ireland Blackburne of Hale), 1748-9 (Liverpool: The Ballantyne press, Spottiswoode Ballantyne & co, 1921), 42; Chrissochoidis, 783.
[21] The General Advertiser, no. 4150, Thursday 7 April 1748, [1].
[22] So Dearly Loved, So Much Admired: Letters to Hester Pitt, Lady Chatham from her relations and friends, 1744-1801, ed. Vere Birdwood (London: HMSO, 1994), 80; Chrissochoidis, 783-84.
[23] Memoirs of the Life of Mrs. Elizabeth Carter, ed. Rev. Montagu [sic] Pennington, 2 vols. (London: F. C. and J. Rivington, 1808), 2:75-76; Chrissochoidis, 784-85.
[24] The Library and Museum of Freemasonry, London, shelfmark 1860: Andrew Pink, Eighteenth-Century Music 12 (2015), 211–22: 213.
[25] The London Evening-Post, no. 3221, Thursday 23 – Saturday 25 June 1748, [4].
[26] The Jacobite’s Journal, no. 34, Saturday 23 July 1748, [3].
[27] The General Evening Post, no. 2317, Tuesday 26 –Thursday 28 July 1748, [2].
[28] Betty Matthews, “Unpublished letters concerning Handel,” Music and Letters 40 (1959), 261-68: 266-67.
[29] The Bath Journal 5 (no. 25, Monday 12 September 1748), 100.
[30] The General Evening Post, no. 2341, Tuesday 20 –Thursday 22 September 1748, [1]; The London Evening-Post, no. 3259, Tuesday 20 – Thursday 22 September 1748, [1]; The General Advertiser, no. 4360, Thursday 22 September 1748, [1].
[31] [Benjamin] Victor, The History of the Theatres of London and Dublin, From the Year 1730 to the present Time. To which is added, An Annual Register of all the Plays, &c. performed at the Theatres-Royal in London, from the Year 1712. With Occasional Notes and Anecdotes, 2 vols. (London: T. Davies, R. Griffiths, T. Becket, P. A. de Hondt, G. Woodfall, J. Coote, G. Kearsly, 1761), 1:143-46; Chrissochoidis, 785.
[32] French Correspondence of Philip Dormer Stanhope, Fourth Earl of Chesterfield. Vol. 1: Letters to French and Dutch Correspondents, ed. Rex A. Barrell, 2 vols. (Ottawa, Canada: Borealis Press, 1980), 55-56; Chrissochoidis, 785-86.
[33] The Orrery Papers, ed. the Countess of Cork and Orrery, 2 vols. (London: Duckworth and Co., 1903), 2:43.
[34] Letters written by the late Right Honourable Lady Luxborough, to William Shenstone, Esq. (London: J. Dodsley, 1775), 58-59; Chrissochoidis, 786.
[35] The Orrery Papers, ed. the Countess of Cork and Orrery, 2 vols. (London: Duckworth and Co., 1903), 2:49.
[36] A Collection of Loyal Songs. For the Use of the Revolution Club. Some of which never before printed (Edinburgh: Robert Fleming, 1748), 4-5; repr., A Collection of Loyal Songs. For the Use of the Revolution Club. Some of which never before printed (Edinburgh: Robert Fleming, 1749), 2-3; Chrissochoidis, 786-87.
[37] Thomas Whincop, Scanderbeg: Or, Love and Liberty. A Tragedy ... To which are added A List of all the Dramatic Authors, with some Account of their Lives; and of all the Dramatic Pieces ever published in the English Language, to the Year 1747 (London: W. Reeve, 1747), 203, 248, 252, 261; Chrissochoidis, 787.
[38] [Cardanus Rider], Rider’s British Merlin: for the Year of our Lord 1748. Together with the following Lists, viz. The Court Kalendar (Dublin: William Ranson, 1748), 36; Chrissochoidis, 787.
[39] [William Melmoth], Letters on Several Subjects. By the late Sir Thomas Fitzosborne, Bart. (London: R. Dodsley, 1748), 170-74; Chrissochoidis, 787-88.
[40] A Collection of Poems. By Several Hands, 3 vols. (London: R. Dodsley, 1748), 3:161; reprinted, [Soame Jenyns], Poems. By ***** (London: R. Dodsley, 1752), 119-20; Chrissochoidis, 788-89.
[41] A Collection of Poems. By Several Hands, 3 vols. (London: R. Dodsley, 1748), 3:252; Chrissochoidis, 789.
[42] The Court Kalendar Compleat, for the Year 1748 (London: James Watson, 1748), 102; Chrissochoidis, 789.
[43] Millan’s Universal Register, 1748 (London: J. Millan, [1748]), 89-90; Chrissochoidis, 789.
[44] [Thomas Morell], Alexander Balus. An Oratorio. As it is Perform’d at the Theatre-Royal in Covent-Garden. Set to Musick by George-Frederick Handel, Esq (London: John Watts, 1748), [3]; Chrissochoidis, 789-90.
[45] Thomas Warton, Poems on Several Occasions (London: R. Manby and H. S. Cox, 1748), 94-95, 134; Chrissochoidis, 790.
[46] [Titus Maccius Plautus], Mr. Cooke’s Edition and Translation of the Comedys of Plautus. Vol. I. (London: J. Purser, 1748), x; also, [Titus Maccius Plautus], Mr. Cooke’s Edition and Translation of the Comedys of Plautus. Vol. I. (London: J. Purser, 1754), x; Chrissochoidis, 790.
[47] Poetical Impertinence: Or, Advice Unasked. In Two Poems, the Good Wife: and the Good Husband (London: W. Russel, 1752), 55-56; Chrissochoidis, 791.