1782
Feb 4
[Horace Walpole to Edmond Malone, Monday 4 February 1782]
I observed the other day in the first volume of the Biographia Dramatica that Mr Thomas Broughton, who wrote in the Biogr[aphia] Britann[ica] was possessed of the cure of St Mary Ratcliffe in 1744, and was buried in that church in 1774. Is it credible that so literary a man should have never heard of the famous MSS? He wrote a play {= Hercules} too, and consequently was something [of] a poet—and yet did he never take the least notice of such treasures![1]
We have Authority to say, that their Royal Highnesses the two Princesses will accompany their Majesties this Evening to the Oratorio at Drury-Lane Theatre.[2]
Drury-Lane Theatre. / [...] / On Wednesday next, the Oratorio of Judas Maccabeus. End of first Part, a Concerto on the Organ by Mr. Stanley. End of the second Part a Concerto on the Violin by Mr. Pilton, being the first Time of his performing in public in England.[3]
For the Public Advertiser.
ORATORIO INTELLIGENCE.
FOR the Sake of the Art itself, as well as the Interest of our old Friends the Artists, who have, as usual, the Conduct of the Oratorios, we were sincerely pleased at seeing so full a House as there was on Friday last.
L’Allegro ed Il Penseroso, as thus presented to us, worked up with the happiest and highest-finished Hand both of the Poet and Musician, may be pronounced, with an equable Reference to both the Arts, “two noble Efforts of the Imagination!”
The Overture of Friday was not the old Forerunner of the Entertainment,—it was, if we are right in our Recollection, the Overture to Rodalinda; which of the two is a Change for the better.
The two chiefs Airs of “Sweet Bird,” and “Oft on a Plot of rising Ground,” were scarcely ever better sung, than as Miss Linley gave the first, and the Prudom the last.
In another Passage also, “Hide me from Day’s garish Eye,” Miss Linley deserves yet more Praise;—the Execution, though not so obviously pleasing, being more arduous than the preceding Air.
This is called an Air, but it should be rather Recitative accompanied.
In the Accompanyment to the Air of “Sweet Bird,” we cannot too much admire Mr. Stanley’s Organ; yet we cannot but think it would be better for the Singer, and the general Effect of the Song, if the Violin, as has often been the Practice, was the accompanying Instrument instead of the Organ.
Reinhold gave his “Horn and Morn” Song, in a very happy Manner; a Manner that showed him to be improved since last Year.
Norris is a very attentive and exact Singer; and his Songs would come with better Grace, if they were given more to the Audience, and less to his Book.
Miss Draper in the first Notes she had to sing, was evidently under the Embarrassment of a Situation from a Year’s Intermission, virtually new to her.—She soon, however, rallied her Spirits, and sung, we think, with more Style than she had last Season.
The Solo of Crosdill, and the Concerto of Parke, were, what Solos and Concertos usually are, admirable for most brilliant Execution;—but why should the best Portion of the Art be unaccomplished?—Why with Execution should there not be Pathos likewise?
The Choice of Hercules, is, we know, published in one of the Volumes of Handel’s Oratorios, but we had never before heard it; we were glad Prudom had so much to do in it.—In the Air with the Flute and Violin Accompanyment, the Voice and the Instruments were all three very well; in the Air succeeding the former, where the Accompanyment, though less pretty, was much more arduous, she sung with a Precision that was admirable, and took Apogiatura with equal Luck and Judgement [sic].[4]
For the Public Advertiser.
ORATORIO INTELLIGENCE.
THE Performance of last Night, for the most Part, deserved the same Sort of Mention with that passed on the preceding Evening.
The Prudom, always accurate and of good Execution, deserves on this Occasion the Praise of Decorum;—that, unlike almost all Italians, she betrays none of that Contrariety in Taste, she may feel, on the Performance of Handel’s Music;—Music, which without being better or worse from the Particularity, is as contrary, as any two Things can be, to the Taste of an Italian.
Prudom therefore, we repeat it, deserves well of the Public, when, in the Discharge of the Debt due to Decorum, she lets the Public Feeling predominate her own, and tries that, Music, which cannot be very amiable to her, should be sung “Con Amore.”
Norris was more disengaged, Reinhold more impassioned, than usual.
Miss Draper’s second Essay has confirmed the Notion we took up at first, that she is very sensibly improved since last Season.
Stanley’s Concerto on the Organ, was in the Perfection of the Instrument—and of that Fugue Style, which on that Instrument, at least, is the true Style, exclusively.
Mons. Peiltein on his Violin, did not want for brilliant Execution;—when England shall have taught him, and in Truth it is the Property of England so far to teach, “Perfection in the Adagio,” Mons. Peiltein must be a very capital Performer.
[To be continued.] [sic][5]
For the Public Advertiser.
ORATORIO INTELLIGENCE.
THE last Night’s Performance of ACIS and GALATEA was a new Confirmation of the old Opinion we have long had, perhaps in common with others, that this Composition is the most popular of any of Handel’s Music usually given in Lent:—Others, most others, are certainly more sublime; scarcely any, indeed none others, are so beautiful.
Wherefore comparing the Messiah with Acis and Galatea, the Sensations are as different, as at the differing Pictures of Salvator Rosa and Claude.
Miss Linley and Prudom being as excellent as usual, were heard with usual Satisfaction.
The
several Airs of “Hush ye pretty warbling Choir[”]—“The Flocks shall leave the
Mountains”—“As when the Dove”—“Would you gain a tender Creature?”—“Consider
fond Shepherd,” scarcely ever came to our Ear more agreeably. This Mention, of course, does not dismiss Miss
Draper without Commendation.
As
for Norris, he never sung better than—“Where shall I seek,” in Acis—and
his Air in Dryden’s Ode.
Reinhold sung the Monster Polypheme more monstrously well than ever: His Air—“O ruddier than the Cherry,” was better than any Thing we ever heard him sing.
Stanley’s Organ is certainly a very Divine Instrument; with the Gain which Age has given him of full Maturity in Judgment, he has lost none of that Volubility of Finger, which we suppose him to have had in the earliest Youth;—when at 12 Years old, Merit alone raised this Master to the Organ of St. Andrew’s.
As
to Mons. Peiltein, we continue in our former Report; that England
must give him Perfection in the Adagio!
Dryden’s Ode cannot be too much admired;—it is one of those few Compositions, in which, where Poetry and Music are united, the Musician is, as he ought to be, subservitut to the Bard.
[To be continued.] [sic][6]
Drury-Lane Theatre. [...] / On Wednesday the Oratorio of Solomon. End of the 1st Part, a Concerto on the Organ by Mr. Stanley. End of 2d Part, a Concerto on the Hautboy by Mr. Parke.[7]
[Charles Burney to Thomas Twining, 24 February 1782]
{…} did you ever discover real Genius in W{organ}’s
compositions? I mean real enthusiastic
ebullitions of Spirit, Grace, Dignity, Pathos?
I own I never did: now all imitation of Geminiani; now of Scarlatti,
& now of Handel, or somebody else.[8]
For the Public Advertiser.
ORATORIO INTELLIGENCE.
ORATORIO MUSIC being more than any other, Sui Generis; and that Genus becoming yet more appropriate, and abstracted from the Ear, by the long Interval between our Lent Season and another, the Gentlemen who have the Conduct of this Entertainment are certainly right, in commencing their Season with those Compositions, which are the least abstracted from general Acquaintance, and the general Taste.—Such as the Allegro, and Acis and Galatea.—And then proceeding in due Gradations, through Solomon and Samson, to Saul and the Messiah.
The Performers last Night acquitted themselves extremely well; particularly Miss Linley in her second Airs, and the Prudom in her first.
If Mr. Stanley will play Concertos every Night, he must content himself with the Approbation he has within the Theatre;—Outdoor Panegyric cannot even vary with his Deserving.
[To be continued.] [sic][9]
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THEATRICAL REGISTER. DRURY-LANE. Feb. ... 15. L’ Allegro Il Penseroso. ... 20. Judas Maccabaeus. 22. Acis and Galatea. ... 27. Solomon.[10] |
For the Public Advertiser.
ORATORIO INTELLIGENCE.
ALEXANDER’s FEAST, the Entertainment of last Night, is one of those Compositions of Handel’s, which is a general Favourite; like l’Allegro, and Acis, equally acceptable to the Man of Music, and the miscellaneous Man.
With such Performers as Miss Linley, the Prudom, and Reinhold, it is needless to say, that the Airs were extremely well sung.
Crosdill’s Performance on the Violoncello was, as it usually is, mentionable in two Ways, and those as different as Praise and Blame;—his Execution certainly cannot be too much praised; and we cannot praise it more than by saying, that it is as much superior to Duport, as Duport was to every Predecessor on the same Instrument. But, though Crosdill is to be reported for playing thus well, he undoubtedly is not in an equal Degree select in what he is to play; he undoubtedly does not compose well for the Instrument; and thus his Instrument, addressing itself much to the Ear, and even to the Eye, and little to the Heart and its Affections, accomplishes but Half the Object of the Art; he surprizes, but he does not elevate.
On the Mentions of the other Solo Player of last Night, Schwartz, on the Bassoon, the Public are certainly beholden to the Oratorio Directors, for the Introduction of another great Musician in the same Season; in the first we allude to Mons. Pieltin on the Violin.—Schwartz, of course, stands high in our Estimation; as a Bassoon Player he is, perhaps, the nest Performer we ever heard; and if in fundamental Science he is after Baumgarten, in brilliant Execution he is before both him and Eichner.
(To be continued)[11]
Drury-Lane Theatre. / [...] / On Wednesday will be performed the Oratorio of Sampson. End of the 1st Part, a Concerto on the Organ by Mr. Stanley. End of the 2d Part, a Concerto on the Bassoon by Mr. Schwartz, one of the Chamber Musicians to the Margrave of Anspach, (being the 2d Time of his performing in public in England.)[12]
Drury-Lane Theatre. / [...] / On Wednesday will be performed the Oratorio of Sampson. End of the 1st Part, a Concerto on the Organ by Mr. Stanley.[13]
Drury-Lane Theatre. / [...] / To-morrow will be performed the Oratorio of Sampson. End of the 1st Part, a Concerto on the Organ by Mr. Stanley. End of the 2d Part, a Concerto on the Violin by Mr. Peiltein, being the 3d Time of his Performance in England.[14]
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AT THE Theatre Royal in Drury-Lane, To-morrow, WEDNESDAY, March 6, 1782, Will be performed SAMSON. An ORATORIO. Set to Music by Mr. HANDEL. The Principal Vocal Parts by Miss LINLEY, Miss DRAPER, AND Miss PRUDOM. Mr. NORRIS, AND Mr. REINHOLD. First Violin by Mr. RICHARDS. End of the First Part, a Concerto on the Organ, By Mr. STANLEY. End of the Second Part, a Concerto on the Violin, By Mr. PIELTAIN, Being the 3d Time of his performance in England.) C Tickets to be had, and Places for the Boxes to be taken of Mr. FOSBROOK, at the Stage-Door of the Theatre, at HALF a GUINEA each. Pit 5s. First Gallery 3s. 6d. Second Gallery 2s. The Doors will be opened at HALF after FIVE o’Clock, To begin at HALF after SIX. Vivant Rex & Regina.[15] |
For the Public Advertiser.
ORATORIO INTELLIGENCE.
THE Oratorio of SAMSON, the Entertainment of last Night, has in it with much Music of a Kind which is indifferent, scarcely any that is bad, and some that is in a very eminent Manner good.
Indeed if a Miscellaneous Concert was in the Manner of a Pasticcio, to be selected from the various and best Parts of Handel’s Sacred Music, no Piece could supply the Aggregate with better individual Matter than the Music of Samson. For Instance, what can be better than the Overture and the Duet of, “Thy Faith and Truth?”
To
the Praise of the present Performers, this admirable Composition was never
better given.
Mr. Stanley’s Concerto was in his very best Manner; he played it, as we wish to praise it, Con Amore!
Mons. Pieltein’s Concerto, confirmed our former Judgment on his Violin;—that in the Allegro Part it is brilliant to the Extreme;—the Execution of the Adagio, at present, is not his Forte.
Mons. Pieltein is not a Frenchman, but a Fleming.
[To be continued.] [sic][16]
Drury-Lane Theatre. / [...] / To-morrow will be performed Acis and Galatea, with Dryden’s Ode. End of the First Part a Concerto on the Organ by Mr. Stanley. End of the Second Part a Concerto on the Hautboy by Mr. Parke.[17]
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AT THE Theatre Royal in Drury-Lane, To-morrow, FRIDAY, March 8, 1782, Will be performed Acis and Galatea. To which will be added DRYDEN’S ODE Set to Music by Mr HANDEL The Principal Vocal Parts by Miss LINLEY, Miss DRAPER, AND Miss PRUDOM. Mr. NORRIS, AND Mr. REINHOLD. First Violin by Mr. RICHARDS. End of the First Part, a Concerto on the Organ, By Mr. STANLEY. End of the Second Part, a Concerto on the Hautboy, By Mr. PARKE. C Tickets to be had, and Places for the
Boxes to be taken of Mr. FOSBROOK, at the Stage-Door of the Theatre, at HALF
a GUINEA each. Pit 5s. First Gallery 3s. 6d. Second Gallery 2s. The Doors will be opened at HALF after FIVE o’Clock, To begin at HALF after SIX. Vivant Rex & Regina.[18] |
For the Public Advertiser.
ORATORIO INTELLIGENCE.
ACIS and GALATEA was again performed last Night, and with rather more Effect than on the former Evening: Nothing can be nearer Perfection than the Manner in which the delightful Airs in that Composition are sung by Miss Linley and the Prudom.
The Airs, indeed all the Music, must ever be heard with Delight: Like a Gem without a Fault, this Music is brilliant throughout.
Stanley’s Concerto, to those who are fond of the Instrument, and that Fugue Manner which is exclusively appropriate to the Instrument, is a never-failing Treat: And let the Mention of Stanley not be dismissed without the entire Praise which belongs to him: Besides excelling in the mere Mechanical Management of the Keys, he is certainly a skilful Composer for the Instrument.
Of Parke, when he is more experience, we hope to say the same; at present however the Praise of Execution eminently belongs to him.
In an Idea of friendly Suggestion to the Managers, we would hint to them this Arrangement of the Performers, “A Duo on the Bassoon and Oboe by Schwartz and Parke.”—Most Musical Enquirers have heard of the delightful Harmony which is made on these two Instruments, by the two Bezzozis, and every one is well aware of the Connection there is between those two Instruments, and that they reciprocally contrast and compleat other.
(To be continued.)[19]
Drury-Lane Theatre. / [...] / On Friday next will be performed Alexander’s Feast: To which will be added Bonduca, by the late Mr. Henry Purcell. End of the 1st Part, a Concerto on the Violoncello by Mr. Crosdill. End of the 2d Part, a Concerto on the Hautboy by Mr. Parke.[20]
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AT THE Theatre Royal in Drury-Lane, On FRIDAY next, March 15, 1782, Will be performed Alexander’s Feast. To which will be added BONDUCA. The Music by the late Mr. HENRY PURCEL. The Principal Vocal Parts by Miss LINLEY, Miss DRAPER, AND Miss PRUDOM. Mr. NORRIS, AND Mr. REINHOLD. First Violin by Mr. RICHARDS. End of the First Part, a Concerto on the Violoncello, By Mr. CROSDILL. End of the Second Part, a Concerto on the Hautboy, By Mr. PARKE. C Tickets to be had, and Places for the Boxes to be taken of Mr. FOSBROOK, at the Stage-Door of the Theatre, at HALF a GUINEA each. Pit 5s. First Gallery 3s. 6d. Second Gallery 2s. The Doors will be opened at Half an Hour after FIVE o’Clock, To begin at Half an Hour after SIX. Vivant Rex & Regina.[21] |
A Correspondent observes how strangely ridiculous it is to think of taxing Theatrical Amusements at this Period, when there being no Oratorio Yesterday at any Theatre in London is a Proof of the Decay of one of the most rational of our Entertainments.—Mr. Stanley, who succeeded Handel in this Branch, was never till now compelled to abandon a Night: And will he undertake them at all next Year under the additional Pressure of the proposed Tax? Besides, one would conceive that to make a Man pay for attending at the Messiah, is scarcely a Tax on Dissipation.[22]
Considerations on TAXING the THEATRES.
[...]
The
present bad Success of the Oratorios, prove (though they were never performed
in a more elegant Stile) the extreme Difficulty of attracting an Audience to
pay high Prices: The Middle Sort of People are to[o] much burthened to bear it,
and the Richer have such great Temptations to improve their Money, that they
are very wary of laying it out unnecessarily.
Should it ever be thought proper or necessary to tax the Theatres, it
should at first be attempted in the most tender and gentle Manner, and, after
the Public had been long inured to those Prices, raised higher if Experience
made it appear practicable; but I own the Tax would not be worth gathering;
therefore, as it is but a trifling Object, would be extremely offensive to the
Public, and destructive to all concerned in the Theatres; which, when a
proper Extension is given to the Idea, will be found to take in a prodigious
Number, and be ruinous to all the Fine Arts.
I thin[k] it will be well worthy the Attention of the Legislature, or
Minister, to think of some other Tax in its Stead, that will be liable to fewer
Objections. I could easily point out to
the Minister the absolute Impracticability of his proposed Mode of collecting;
but as I flatter myself the Tax itself will never be permitted to take Place, I
will say nothing more on the Subject at present.
March 14. THEATRICUS.[23]
For the Public Advertiser.
ORATORIO INTELLIGENCE.
ALEXANDER’s FEAST is one of those felicitous Compositions, the Power of whose Music is felt and owned very generally from the Pit to the Upper Gallery, from the lowly Ballad-singing Hearer to the most exalted Contrapuntist.
This charming Piece was, if we are right in our Recollection, Part of the Music composed by Handel for the magnificent Festival given by the Duke of Chandos at Cannons.
The Prudom and Miss Linley both sung in their best Manner: And making a general Judgement [sic] of Miss Linley’s Voice, in Comparison with her Elder Sisters, she has, with as much Compass in the high Notes, a Capability of going more than a Note and a half lower.
Crosdill and Parke are, and for several professional Requisites, deserve to be, Favourites of the Public; but it must be owned that they do not compose well for their respective Instruments.
[To be continued.] [sic][24]
Drury-Lane Theatre. / On Wednesday the sacred Oratorio of Messiah. End of the first Part a Concerto on the Hautboy, by Mr. Parke.[25]
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AT THE Theatre Royal in Drury-Lane, To-morrow, WEDNESDAY, March 20, 1782, Will be performed MESSIAH. A SACRED ORATORIO. Set to Music by Mr. HANDEL. The Principal Vocal Parts by Miss LINLEY, Miss DRAPER, AND Miss PRUDOM. Mr. NORRIS, AND Mr. REINHOLD. First Violin by Mr. RICHARDS. End of the First Part, a Concerto on the Hautboy, By Mr. PARKE. C Tickets to be had, and Places for the
Boxes to be taken of Mr. FOSBROOK, at the Stage-Door of the Theatre, at HALF
a GUINEA each. Pit 5s. First Gallery 3s. 6d. Second Gallery 2s. The Doors will be opened at HALF after FIVE o’Clock, To begin at HALF after SIX. Vivant Rex & Regina.[26] |
For the Public Advertiser.
ORATORIO INTELLIGENCE.
IN Addition to that Degree of general Ability which constitutes, and characters what may be called Mastery in any Art, there usually is besides of each Master in every Department some Effort extant of particular Excellence, on whose Superiority he would hope to assert his Fame. Thus Raphael would resort to his Transfiguration, Shakespeare to his Macbeth,—Handel to his Oratorio of the Messiah!
On this Composition, public Opinion has always been the same, “That among the Music, of which Sublimity is the Characteristic, the Messiah is the first in the first Class!”
Nor let the Beautiful, though certainly but diminutive, when compared with the Sublime—let not the Beautiful, however, be unattended to—the following, among other Parts of this Oratorio, are to be commended for the eminent Beauty they possess:
“Comfort
ye, comfort ye, my People.[”]—“O thou that tellest good Tidings to Zion.” And though last, the farthest from the least,
the Air of “He was despised and rejected!”
The Execution of this grand Oratorio was last Night very perfect; the Band were very accurate; and Mr. Richards, at all Times a very diligent Leader of the Band, gave more than once a Proof of uncommon Assiduity and Precision of Hand.
The Choruses were very full and finely worked; and Miss Linley and Reinhold sung in a very superior Stile indeed; their Pathos, the best Accomplishment of the Art, could not be too much commended.
[To be continued.] [sic][27]
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The last Time of performing this Season. AT THE Theatre Royal in Drury-Lane, To-morrow, FRIDAY, March 22, 1782, Will be performed MESSIAH. A SACRED ORATORIO. Set to Music by Mr. HANDEL. The Principal Vocal Parts by Miss LINLEY, Miss DRAPER, AND Miss PRUDOM. Mr. NORRIS, AND Mr. REINHOLD. End of the First Part, a Concerto on the Organ, By Mr. STANLEY. C Tickets to be had, and Places for the Boxes to be taken of Mr. FOSBROOK, at the Stage-Door of the Theatre, at HALF a GUINEA each. Pit 5s. First Gallery 3s. 6d. Second Gallery 2s. The Doors will be opened at HALF after FIVE o’Clock, To begin at HALF after SIX. Vivant Rex & Regina.[28] |
For the Public Advertiser.
ORATORIO INTELLIGENCE.
THE Oratorio of The Messiah, the Entertainment of last Night, has always been deemed one of the most sublime Efforts of the human Mind; and when much of this Elevation has been allowed (and certainly the Allowance can scarcely be too much) to originate in the Sacred Spirit of the Words, much will also remain imputable to the Genius and Judgment of the Music!
Of
this Music it may be observed, from a Critic, who cannot be too often quoted,
that Handel seems to have been peculiarly well acquainted with his own Genius,
and to have known what it was that Nature had bestowed on him more bountifully
than upon others;—the Power of displaying the Vast, illuminating the Splendid,
enforcing the Aweful [sic], and aggravating the Dreadful; he, therefore,
chose a Subject on which too much could not be written, on which he might turn
his Fancy without the Censure of Extravagance!
The Performance was, as we said on the former Evening, animated and correct; the Band, in all Respects a complete one, deserved the general Praise of Assiduity and Neatness.
Miss Linley deserved more eminently than even on the preceding Night, the Commendation for Passion and Pathos; and with a Voice of more Compass than her eldest Sisters, and as correct as Miss Harrop’s, she is more pathetic than either.
In the Pathetic Power, in the Susceptibility of her own Feelings, in the Ability of fixing Compassion’s Impressions on the Feelings of others, in this, “the Soul of Harmony,” Miss Linley is outdone by no Singer at present before us, unless it be Pacchierotti.
Stanley’s Concerto was particularly excellent; it made a fine Finale to this Season of his Fame.
All Things considered, Stanley is certainly to be pronounced the best Organ player now extant in Europe!—To compare him with Handel is not very easy; there are not many who can, there are many who will not, remember Handel; yet let the Comparison be made, and it will not be at all disreputable to Stanley; his Man[n]er is the same as Handel’s, and his Degree of Merit is not very different.[29]
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THEATRICAL REGISTER. DRURY-LANE. March 1. Alexander’s Feast. [...] 6. Sampson. [...] 8. Acis and Galatea. [...] 15. Alexander’s Feast. [...] 20. The Messiah. [...] 22. The Messiah.[30] |
[Mozart to his father, 10 April 1782, Vienna]
By the way, I meant to ask you to send me the 6 fugues by Handel and the toccatas and fugues by Eberlin when you return the rondo [K382]. – At noon every Sunday I visit Baron van Swieten – here nothing is played but Handel and Bach. –
I’m currently collecting Bach fugues. – Not only Sebastian but also Emanuel and Friedemann Bach. – And also Handel’s. So I’m missing only these. – And I’d also like the baron to hear Eberlin’s. – I expect you already know that the English Bach has died? – What a loss to the world of music! [...][31]
[18 April 1782]
Millico the Italian Singer was set to sing these English Words – I come my Queen to chaste Delights – He sung and pronounced them thus. I comb my Queen to catch the Lice.
This is Mr Owen Cambridge’s Story; Millico has been gone from hence many Years, & the Story is so very good & comical, that I must doubt the Truth of it.—[32]
The [Theatre Royal in Bristol] was reopened in October, 1779 […] Six oratorios were produced during Lent, 1780, a guinea being charged for admission to the series. Two oratorios were also given in 1781 and 1782.[33]
[first performance: 18 May 1782.]
Enter FULLSTOP the Family Organist: he bows slightly as he passes BALE; then sits down to an Organ in the End of the Room, and begins one of Handel’s Choruses.
Bale. What the devil’s this! silence, silence that confounded organ; did I bid you play, Fullstop?
Fullstop. (Shews his watch.) Sir, it’s your musical hour to a moment.
Bale. It’s a damn’d lie, I never was so much out of tune any hour of my life before.
Falls. [sic] (Getting up in a passion.) It’s very well, it’s very well, Sir; if you had no regard for me as a man of science, you might have had some for the great Handel.
Bale. Zounds! do you think I’m in a key to hear a fellow thrum upon the organ to me?
Fulls. You are in a key I think for nothing but discords.[34]
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[Joah Bates,
in Victualling House, to his mother, 28 May 1782] My honored Mother Last night Mrs. Bates & I were again sent for to the Queen’s House [now Buckingham Palace] & entertained their Majesties for three hours. This was the more flattering as it was the Queen’s real birthday; the first time we were ordered to attend this year was when the King was in great agitation of spirits on account of the violent change in Administration; so that you see whether he is in or out of humor he sends to us for entertainment. You cannot imagine how very gracious both the King & Queen are, I talk almost as familiarly to them as I do to you.[35] |
[William Cole to Horace Walpole, Saturday 29 June 1782]
We are now in the height of the Commencement. The Bishop of Ely preached the Hospital Sermon, and was much applauded. His brother is president of it, and attended. The next day the oratorio of Sampson, by the Jewish {Cole’s copy: “the two Judaical”} Miss Abrahams and others, was performed at St Mary’s. You may well imagine I was not there, nor have been able these eight or ten years.[36]
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[William Cowper to William Unwin, ca September 1782.] …[“On 29 Aug. 1782 the Royal George sank almost instantly. The ship was at Spithead undergoing repairs when this catastrophe occurred and over 800 persons on board (crew, tradesmen, women, children) were killed. Admiral Kempenfelt…was among the casualties.” p. 78, n.] On the Loss of the Royal George. By desire of Lady Austen who wanted Words to the March in Scipio. __________ Toll for the brave—the Brave that are no more— All sunk beneath the wave, fast by their native shore— Eight hundred of the brave, whose courage well was tried, Had made the Vessel heel and laid her on her side, A Land-breeze shook the shrouds, and she was overset, Down went the Royal George, with all her crew complete. __________ Toll for the Brave—brave Kempenfelt is gone, His last Sea-fight is fought—his work of glory done— It was not in the battle—no tempest gave the shock, She sprang no fatal leak, she ran upon no rock, His sword was in the sheath, his fingers held the pen, When Kempenfelt went down, with twice four hundred men. __________ [/79] Weigh the vessel up, once dreaded by our foes, And mingle with your cup the tears that England owes, Her timbres yet are sound, and she may float again Full charged with England’s thunder, and plough the distant Main— But Kempenfelt is gone, his victories are o’er, And He and his Eight hundred must plough the wave no more. __________ Take it to your Organ—like most other songs, it depends much upon the Music.— Turn over and you will find it in another form. [Latin version][37] |
[Mary Delany to Mrs Port, 29 September 1782]
Our summons to the Royal Lodge was last Monday; we went at 6 from Bulstrode, called on Mrs. Walsingham for a quarter of an hour, and then paid our duty to their Majesties, received with their usual grace. All the Royal Family were assembled except Prince William, who is very well recovered. The King was so gracious as to make me name the pieces I liked the best of Mr. Handel’s music, and they were well performed, and the Concert ended at 10 with the [/115] 8th of Corelli; but the young Princes were so wonderfully civil, and so full of address, that I lost many delightful passages of ye music. We were dismissed at a q[uarte]r before eleven, and got home by 12, gloriously lighted by your friend Madame Luna.[38]
Vauxhall is, properly speaking, the name of a little Village in which the garden,…is situated. You pay a shilling on entrance.…Here and there (particularly in one of the charming woods which art has formed in this garden) you are pleasingly surprised by the sudden appearance of the statues of the most renowned English poets and philosophers; such as Milton, Thomson and others. But, what gave me most pleasure, was the statue of the German composer, Handel, which, on entering the garden, is not far distant from the orchestra.
This orchestra is among a number of trees situated as in a little wood, and is an exceedingly handsome one. As you enter [/109] the garden, you immediately hear the sound of vocal and instrumental music. There are several singers constantly hired here to sing in public.
On each side of the orchestra are small boxes, with tables and benches, in which you sup. The walks before these, as well as in every other part of the garden, are crowded with people of all ranks…[39]
[...] as the sound G, for example, while C is the key, is constantly called sol [...] when the modulation passes into the key or hexachord of G, it is called ut, or, according to the Italians, do (u). [93]
I could [/171] instance innumerable scenes of the admirable Metastasio, which, however beautiful in themselves, have been rendered far more affecting and impassioned, both by the musical composer and performer. To these I could add many English accompanied-recitatives, and airs, in Handel’s Oratorios, where even prose has received additional dignity and energy from lengthened tones: and none who ever heard the late Mrs. Cibber sing “Return, O God of Hosts,” or “He was despised and rejected,” whose ears could vibrate, or whose hearts could feel, would dispute the point. And still, to go a little farther back, I would rest the decision upon the productions of a composer of our own country, in our own language, who seldom was so fortunate as to have words to set that were either elegant, sublime, or truly lyric; I mean Henry Purcell, whose style is now unfashionable, and whose melodies are uncouth and ungraceful; yet few can hear his Mad-Bess well sung, without being infinitely more affected than by merely reading that melancholy monologue as a poem. [170-71]
We know, in later times, that any of the greatest Musicians of Europe have either had their education in Italy, or thought is as necessary to visit that country as the ancient Roman philosophers to travel into Greece, or the Grecians into AEgypt. Orlando di Lasso, Handel, Hasse, Gluck, and J. C. Bach, went thither very early, and may be said to have formed their styles on the best models of that country (e). [470]
[in reference to the eighth motet of the Fourth Book della Corona by Josquin]
(a) This [p. 505: successive entries of a descending scalar passage with dotted first note] was a favourite Point, with Handel, as may be seen in the 1st. Allegro of his 1st. Organ Concerto, and in several of his Choruses. [506][40]
On Music as an Amusement.
He who has made music the study of his life, and possesses an ear refined by application to fastidious delicacy, is pleased with the curious productions of the Italian composer. But let the admired composition be performed in the hearing of another, whose natural powers are equally sensible, but who has been use to the works of Purcell and Handel only, and he will find his ear not greatly delighted, and his heart totally unaffected.[41]
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LIX. Psalm xlii. ver. 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, For four Voices. AS PANTS THE HART [.../140...] HANDELL. LXX. Exodus xv. 1, 2, 11, 13, 19, 18, 20, 21, For four Voices. MOSES, AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, [.../141...] |
So the genius of Geminiani was celebrated for expression, and the genius of Handel for sublimity.[43]
[1] Horace Walpole’s Miscellaneous Correspondence III (“The Yale Edition of Horace Walpole’s Correspondence, vol. 42”), edited by W. S. Lewis and John Riley (New Haven: Yale University Press / Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980), 3.
[2] The Public Advertiser, Friday 15 February 1782, [4].
[3] The Public Advertiser, Saturday 16 February 1782, [4]; partially reprinted, Monday 18 February 1782, [3]; fully reprinted with the name of second performer spelled “Pieltein,” Tuesday 19 February 1782, [4].
[4] The Public Advertiser, Monday 18 February 1782, [2].
[5] The Public Advertiser, Thursday 21 February 1782, [2].
[6] The Public Advertiser, Saturday 23 February 1782, [2].
[7] The Public Advertiser, Saturday 23 February 1782, [4]; reprinted, Monday 25 February 1782, [3]; Tuesday 26 February 1782, [4].
[8] The Letters of Dr Charles Burney. Volume I: 1751-1784, edited by Alvaro Ribeiro, SJ (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991), 337.
[9] The Public Advertiser, Thursday 28 February 1782, [2].
[10] The Gentleman’s Magazine 52 (1782): 57.
[11] The Public Advertiser, Saturday 2 March 1782, [2].
[12] The Public Advertiser, Saturday 2 March 1782, [3].
[13] The Public Advertiser, Monday 4 March 1782, [3].
[14] The Public Advertiser, Tuesday 5 March 1782, [4].
[15] Broadsheet: The Eighteenth Century microfilm collection.
[16] The Public Advertiser, Thursday 7 March 1782, [2].
[17] The Public Advertiser, Thursday 7 March 1782, [4].
[18] Broadsheet: The Eighteenth Century microfilm collection.
[19] The Public Advertiser, Saturday 9 March 1782, [2].
[20] The Public Advertiser, Saturday 9 March 1782, [4]; reprinted, Monday 11 March 1782, [3]; Tuesday 12 March 1782, [4]; Wednesday 13 March 1782, [4]; Thursday 14 March 1782, [4].
[21] Broadsheet: The Eighteenth Century microfilm collection.
[22] The Public Advertiser, Thursday 14 March 1782, [3].
[23] The Public Advertiser, Friday 15 March 1782, [2].
[24] The Public Advertiser, Saturday 16 March 1782, [2].
[25] The Public Advertiser, Monday 18 March 1782, [3]; reprinted, Tuesday 19 March 1782, [4].
[26] Broadsheet: The Eighteenth Century microfilm collection.
[27] The Public Advertiser, Thursday 21 March 1782, [2].
[28] Broadsheet: The Eighteenth Century microfilm collection.
[29] The Public Advertiser, Saturday 23 March 1782, [2].
[30] The Gentleman’s Magazine 52 (1782): 112.
[31] Mozart: A Life in Letters, ed. Cliff Eisen, trans. Stewart Spencer (London: Penguin, 2006), 448.
[32] Thraliana: The Diary of Mrs. Hester Lynch Thrale (Later Mrs. Piozzi), 1776–1809, ed. Katharine C. Balderston, 2 vols., 2nd edn (Oxford: Clarendon, 1951), 1:533.
[33] John Latimer, The Annals of Bristol in the Eighteenth Century (Bristol: the author, 1893; reprinted, Bath: Kingsmead Reprints, 1970), 439.
[34] F[rederick] Pilon, [The] Fair American (London: J. Almon, 1785), 31.
[35] Betty Matthews, “Joah Bates: A remarkable amateur,” The Musical Times 126 ([no. 1714, December] 1985), 749–53: 750.
[36] Horace Walpole’s Correspondence with the Rev. William Cole II (“The Yale Edition of Horace Walpole’s Correspondence, Vol. 2”), edited by W. S. Lewis and A. Dayle Wallace (New Haven: Yale University Press, / London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1937), 331.
[37] William Cowper, The Letters and Prose Writings of William Cowper. Volume II: Letters 1782-1786, edited by James King and Charles Ryskamp (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1981), 78–79.
[38] The Autobiography and Correspondence of Mary Granville, Mrs. Delany, edited by Lady Llanover, second series, 3 vols. (London: Richard Bentley, 1862), 3:114–15.
[39] “Travels of Carl Philipp Moritz in 1782,” in They Saw It Happen. An Anthology of Eyewitness’s Accounts of Events in British History: 1689-1897, edited by T. Charles-Edwards and B. Richardson (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1958), 108–9.
(u) The first mention I find of the syllable do being used instead of ut is by Gio. Maria Bononcini, father of the celebrated composer and rival of Handel, in his Musico Prattico, published in 1673 [...]
(e) The first motets of Orlando that were published at Antwerp, by Tylman Sufato, 1555, were said to be made à la nouvelle composition d’aucuns d’Italie; as the first productions of Handel, that were published in England, were said to be composed by an eminent ITALIAN master; Hasse went very young into Italy, and was a scholar of Alessandro Scarlatti; however, his clear and graceful style more resembled that of Vinci and Pergolesi, his competitors in the natural, simple, and elegant manner of writing for the voice, than that of either Scarlatti, his master, or Kaiser, his countryman, and first model. The late excellent composer, Mr. J. C. Bach, son and brother of two of the greatest musicians that ever existed, is allowed to have been a fine player on keyed instruments, before he went into Italy; but his vocal music is certainly more in the style of Italy, than of his native country.
[40] Charles Burney, A General History of Music. From the Earliest Ages to the Present Period...Volume the Second (London: the author, 1782).
[41] Vicesimus Knox, Essays Moral and Literary, 2 vols. (London: Charles Dilly, 1782), 1:307.
† Altho’ this great Master composed several Anthems, they were all set with instrumental accompanyments. These two are here divested of them, and adapted to cathedral use by Dr. Boyce. In the former, Mr. Handell has taken more liberty with the words than is usually done; so much indeed as might lead one to conclude that he formed the composition out of his musical commonplace, and adapted the words to air previously invented; which it is probable enough was the case, not only in this, but in many of his later productions. The second Anthem is taken our of his Oratorio of Israel in Egypt.
[42] A Copious Collection of those Portions of the Psalms of David, Bible, and Liturgy, which have been set to Music, and sung as Anthems in the Cathedral and Collegiate Churches of England (York: A. Ward, 1782), 139–141.
[43] Bath Anecdotes and Characters: By the Genius Loci (London: [?], 1782), 12.