REVIEW OF NEW MUSIC.
SIX ORIGINAL ENGLISH GLEES, for three and four voices, including the Glee which gained the Prize given by the Manchester Glee-Club, 1832, and those performed at the Concentores Society, composed by H. R. BISHOP. The Poetry by Mrs. HEMANS, JOANNA BAILLIE, J. WILSON, Esq., and Dr. JOHNSON. (Goulding and D’Almaine.)
THE Glee is our national music, is indigenous to these isles, and a beautiful species of composition however viewed; we should therefore be sorry to see it fall into anything like neglect, a danger which some few years ago seemed to be threatened, though now we trust is past, judging from the encouragement it has lately received from many associated bodies, and from its re-introduction to domestic parties, where it appears to be regaining that favour which its own merits, and the facility with which it may now be performed, ought always to command.
Mr. Bishop, though he pursued his professional studies under an Italian master, and has devoted his life chiefly to the theatre, has cultivated what in an English musician may almost be called a natural talent for glee-writing, to which, it is fair to a laudable institution to state, he has probably been partly induced by his connexion with the Concentores Society, a small club, whose sole object is the conservation of this kind of composition, and for the service of which three out of the present collection were produced.
The first glee in this volume, ‘Where shall we make her grave?’ in E
, for four equal voices, gained the premium—(a Prize implies a medal, or cup; a far more gentlemanlike reward, by-the bye,)—given by a club at Manchester, and is a very impressive composition, the words set with judgment and feeling, and full of good, rich harmony. Being long, a more frequent and decided change of key would have increased the effect of this; though as it is in four different movements, the sameness which otherwise would have been felt, is much concealed. The melody at the words ‘where shower and singing-bird,’ is very charming; and the whole of pages 4 and 5, where the author modulates first into A
, then into D
, is set in a masterly, affecting manner.
The second, ‘Up! quit thy bower!’ a cheerful glee in F, for two sopranos, tenor, and base, is lively and pleasing: the frequent use here of the diminished 7th is rather a novelty in a glee, and tends to a good purpose. The whole of this is full of agreeable melody, which is particularly striking at page 15, where the annexed passage occurs,—a successful departure from the usual habits of glee-writers:—
The third, ‘No more the morn with tepid rays,’ in D, for four equal voices,—the words, Dr. Johnson’s Ode to Winter,—is in several movements, but the key is not so various, and the whole, though set with a due regard to the Poet’s sentiments, is rather monotonous and heavy. The following passage contains some clashing notes, though we allow that many of them are passing notes.—
The composer’s design is obvious, but nothing in music can justify what is disagreeable to a cultivated ear.
The fourth, ‘Oh! Sky-lark!’ in F, also for four equal voices, is throughout graceful, especially in melody; the repetition of certain pleasing phrases conduces here very much to effect.
The fifth, ‘In tears, the heart oppressed with grief,’ in E, for soprano, tenor, and base, a single movement, is elegant and gentle, and the words are most judiciously set. Some chromatic notes in this will put glee-singers on the alert: they are, generally speaking, averse from trouble, but it is time to rouse them, and break through their ancient habits.
The sixth and last, ‘Come forth, sweet spirit!’ in F, for four equal voices, in two movements, is a good composition, and quite irreproachable, yet not very captivating. It is best calculated to please those critics who judge music by the eye rather than the ear,—who deal largely in the phrases ‘fine writing,’ ‘parts well put together,’ &c., and seldom look beyond the mechanism of a composition.
We may pronounce this to be a successful work: the glees are all of the orthodox kind, deficient in nothing that good taste requires, or that the nature of the composition, by a prescriptive right, demands. No very hazardous attempts are made at novelty, but we meet with nothing common, and no pedantic show of mistaken learning. Mr. Bishop has written to please, not without a sufficient regard for his own reputation, and has not failed in his endeavour.
- SONGS OF THE BOWER, composed byC. W. MANNERS. (Goulding and D’Almaine.)
- The Spring Wreath,TWELVE SONGS, composed by Messrs. JOHN THOMSON, R. WEBSTER, J. P. CLARKE, T. MACFARLANE, and W. HINDMARSH: the words by T. ATKINSON, author of The Cameleon. 8vo. (Goulding and D’Almaine.)
WITHOUT being at all informed on the subject, and judging only from the dedication of the Songs of the Bower, we are inclined to believe that they are the production of an amateur, and that the words are by the author of the music. If we are in error as to the latter point, the composer is bound to excuse us, for he should have named the writer of them, if not from his own pen. They are six in number, show a vast deal of taste, a desire to avoid commonplaces, (though not always successful in this respect,) and a most correct manner of setting the poetry, both as regards expression and accentuation. Indeed, it is the latter circumstance which leads us to think that the composer and poet are one and the same person, for mere musicians, more often than not, are influenced by the meaning of particular words rather than by the context, and almost as frequently commit mistakes in quantity and in emphasis.
The first of these, ‘Once more to the bower,’ in E, is a slow, expressive air, well accompanied, but not very original, particularly in its cadences. The second, The Regret, in F, if sung slowly, rather ad libitum, and with feeling, will always make an impression. The accompaniment to this is very appropriate. The third, ‘When youth first leads,’ in D, is more pleasing than new. Of the fourth, ‘Now is the hour,’ in E flat, precisely the same may be said, though it is not as a whole equal to the former. The fifth, ‘Come welcome with me, lovely May,’ in G, should have been written in triple time; it has a strong polacca tendency, and halts exceedingly in its present measure. The praise we have bestowed on the composer’s accentuation must be abated so far as this song is concerned: giving a long note to ‘with,’ and in the strong part of the bar too, cannot escape censure. The sixth, ‘The last red rose,’ in E flat, is another expressive air, and the accompaniment shows much good taste in harmony; but the cadences here, as once or twice before, are, contrary to the moral rule, not the more valuable for being old acquaintances.
No. 2 is a very pretty volume of lithographed songs, thin enough to carry in the pocket, and with neat cover and gilt leaves, producible in any lady’s drawing-room; and all this at a less price than two songs of the ordinary kind! We confess that the smallness of the characters calls on the eye for unusual exertion; and the singer and accompanyist, if in the dual number, must sit in the closest possible contact if they mean to see a single note or word.
Of these songs, the best are, The Promise, in the Scottish style, by J. P. Clarke; The Night Flower, by T. Macfarlane; ‘The Midnight Dream,’ by John Thomson, Esq., a very superior composition; and The Proud Lover, by R. Webster. The poetry of the songs is unaffected, and some of it remarkable for tenderness, if not for any higher quality; and, at all events, the publication is certainly worth the moderate, the hardly remunerating price set on it.