VOCAL.

  1. CHEERFUL GLEE, Old May Morning, for four voices; the Words by CHARLES COWDEN CLARKE; the Music by VINCENT NOVELLO. (J. A. Novella.)
  2. CHEERFUL GLEE, ‘Sweet Mirth,’ for three voices, composed by WILLIAM SHORE. (J. A. Novello.)
  3. GLEE, ‘Had we never met,’ for four voices; the Poetry by BURNS; composed byW. SHORE. (J. A. Novello.)

The two first of these glees obtained the prizes given by the gentlemen of the Manchester Glee Club; Mr. Novello’s was successful last year, and Mr. Shore’s the year preceding.

Mr. Novello’s glee, in A, six quavers in a bar, for four equal, or men’s voices, is in one movement, though the time is rather slackened at page 7, but intended, we presume, to be recovered after the pause, in which case the want of proper notice is an omission that may mislead. This is a composition which will gain the applause of the connoisseur as well as the mere admirer of vocal harmony; the words are set with great propriety, there is no want of pleasing melody, and the technical part is evidence of the author’s ability. The length of the glee, however, excites a wish for a little more modulation: by the frequent repetition of the subject, good as it is in the same key, the ear begins to grow rather impatient, and desires some decided change for the sake of that variety which in a long piece is so needful. But then comes in a holding base, operating like a charm, and a passage (page 9) where the lowest voice imitates the first tenor, introducing some of those syncopated notes so delightful to people of cultivated taste, reconciling us to what had begun to excite some slight degree of mental murmur. Mr. Novello has not spared the countertenor, who frequently is called upon to hold a C sharp, and the other parts demand from the performers more effort than glee-singers in general like to exert. The chances are that many of them will complain that this does not ‘sing well;’ but it is high time to rouse them; drowsy glees which have no merit except that of being ‘well written,’—for such is the phrase under which much dulness is attempted to be concealed,—will not much longer be listened to with that forbearance which has too often been extended to them.

Mr. Shore’s glee in D is for three equal voices, and in three movements, the first and last quick, the second rather slower. When we have said that this is not an unpleasing composition, and that it makes no pretence, we have bestowed as much praise on it as is at all allowable. It certainly has not the smallest claim to originality, either in design or execution, and must have been very fortunate in the kind of competitors it had to contend against.

No. 3 is a clear and pleasing melody, agreeably harmonized for soprano, alto, tenor, and bass, and the exceedingly touching words of Burns are set with taste and feeling.

  1. SCENA E ROMANZA, in the operetta of Amore e Psiche, the Poetry by S. E. PETRONJ, Esq., composed by G. LIVERATI. (Lonsdale and Mills.)
  2. RECIT. E DUETTO, do. do. do.
  3. THREE ITALIAN NOTTURNOS, composed by D. CRIVELLI, the words by Sig. CARAVITA. (Cramer and Co.)
  4. ARIETTA, ‘Calma ti pria ch’io parta,’ composed and published as the preceding.
  5. CAVATINA, ‘Gentil vaga Violetta,’ nell’ opera La Violetta, del Sig. M. CARAFA. (Chappell.)
  6. CANZONET, ‘Va! lusingando Amore,’ composed by JOHN BARNETT. (Chappell.)

No. 1 is an accompanied recitative, with a long harp introduction. The romance which follows, in G minor,—a happy mixture of the Italian and German styles,—is full of passion and melodious effect.

The recitative to No. 2 is not very striking. The duet which follows opens in D flat, adagio, and passes into a moderato in B flat. Good as this is, it must not be concealed, that it is written decidedly in imitation of Rossini.

Sig. Crivelli’s Notturnos will not be disapproved by those who encourage the Italian style of the age immediately preceding the present. They are less simple than the productions of the Venetian and Neapolitan schools, but have not much imagination or vigour. A few inaccuracies have eluded the eye of the composer, among which standing in great need of correction are, octaves between the second voice and the base, page 3, bar 2; and a D flat rising instead of falling, in last bar of page 8.

No. 4 is rather elegant, though far from new, and the words are well set.

No. 5 is one of those things which may be heard half a dozen times without leaving the slightest impression; and that might have been written by any one having sufficient technical skill to put the notes in right order. But the composer is a maestro. He is an instance of what fame may be acquired in the musical world by a single air.

No. 6 is far from a common melody; and but for certain harsh notes, arising from an over-strained though laudable attempt at originality, we should add, that the accompaniment is as masterly as it is bold. An A double-flat, page 3, is beyond our comprehension. Had it not occurred twice, we should have concluded that B double-flat was intended. This canzonet, however, considered altogether, is highly creditable in every may to Mr. Barnett.

BALLET OPERA, The Maid of Cashmere, or La Bayadère, composed by AUBER, and adapted to the English stage by HENRY R. BISHOP. (Chappell.)

  1. DUET, ‘Ah! why, too lovely Bayadères?’
  2. NOTTURNO, two voices, ‘O happy Banks of Ganges!’
  3. AIR, ‘Charming Bayadère.’
  4. BALLAD, ‘Beats there a heart on earth sincere?’
  5. AIR, ‘Ne’er is the Cottager’s door.’

No. 1 (‘Comment, aimables Bayadères’) possesses one great charm, that of originality, and of a pleasing kind too, though we cannot add that the words are set in a manner corresponding with the sentiment or the scene. The second movement of this is an air that must soon become popular.

No. 2 (‘O bords heureux du Gange’) is exceedingly light, pretty, and novel: there are too many words for the notes, in both languages, and, as in the former case, the sound does not agree with the sentiment. Love is tender, not sportive: there is in this passion nothing of a comic kind to plead an apology for music of so very playful a description.

In No. 3 (‘Sois ma Bayadère’) the composer partly imitates himself, and partly Rossini. There is nothing worth a remark in this.

Nothing can be more common than No. 4; not a phrase, not a cadence, but what has been worn to tatters years and years past. We should have guessed this to be an English air, did not the title-page inform us otherwise.

No. 5 is a failure in English, whatever it may be in the original language. We have rarely met with words, both in signification and accent, so ill adapted to the music as are the present.

  1. DUET, ‘Our Hero Knights,’ in Robert le Diable, composed by J. MEYERBEER. (Chappell.)
  2. DUET ‘The streams that wind amid the hills,’ the Poetry by G. Darley, Esq.; the Music composed by FANNY STEERS. (Cocks and Co.)
  3. ARIA, ‘Speed, ye softly-heaving billows,’ composed by the Chevalier SIGISMOND NEUKOMM. (Chappell.)
  4. SONG, ‘The Lark and the Nightingale,’ composed by the Chevalier NEUKOMM. (Chappell.)
  5. SONG, ‘Give me not music in the glare of day,’ written and composed by J. AUGUSTINE WADE, Esq. (Chappell.)
  6. The Song of the May Rose, ditto, ditto.
  7. The Warrior’s Invocation, written by Mrs. E. SMITH; the Music by CHARLES SMITH. (Cocks and Co.)
  8. The Welsh Melody, sung by Miss KELLY in Dramatic Recollections, written in Welsh and English, and adapted to ‘Llwyn ou,’ or the ‘Ash Grove,’ by J. PARRY. (Chappell.)
  9. AIR SUISSE, ‘Je dois te fuir,’ composé par F. STOCKHAUSEN. (Chappell.)

No. 1 is the magnificent duet for tenor and base, ‘Si j’aurai ce courage?’ of which we have spoken more than once.

No. 2 is not belonging to the uncommon order.

No. 3 is delicate and pleasing, though it does not seem to have cost the composer much effort.

No. 4 is more studied; and by four changes in the time broken into as many short movements, the last of which, in C minor, is the strain of the ‘most melancholy’ Philomel, an interesting air.

No. 5 is an ably imagined, well-written, and very pleasing song. No. 6 was favourably noticed by us long ago, as part of a volume entitled the Songs of the Flowers.

No. 7 is composed with taste, but laboured; it was not ‘struck out at a heat.’

The English words of No. 8 are well set to the Welsh air which furnished a melody, much more than a century ago, to Gay’s ‘Cease your funning.’ What success Mr. Parry has had with his Cambrian poetry in union with the melody, it is not in our power to say, we having no cunning in his native language.

No. 9 is as agreeable as most Swiss airs are, and so like many that all the world have heard, that, unless it had been sent to us as new, we should have believed it to be of three or four years’ standing at least. In fact, hear half a dozen of these Helvetic melodies, and you hear them all; there is a prodigious family likeness in them. M. Stockhausen is over-productive; he wants some musical Malthus to curb him.