MR. ARNOLD resumed the management of this company at the beginning of last month, and brought out a new operetta, The Convent Belle, the main support of which was Mrs. WAYLETT’s very charming ballad singing; this kept it the piece till the 16th, when it was superseded by The Yeoman’s Daughter, a clever, affecting drama, written by Mr. SERLE; the music by Mr. Wade, Mr. Hawes, and others. This has proved very successful, and fills the house, notwithstanding the heat of the weather, which is a sure friend to Vauxhall, an implacable foe to theatres.
THE MUSIC OF THE PRESENT NUMBER.
THE Overture to Cosi fan tutte is the lightest of Mozart’s orchestral compositions, and in the style of the Italian sinfonias of his day, but as far superior as was to be expected from a genius which, even when relaxing, was comparatively great.
The Madrigal, ‘When all alone,’ is one of the most beautiful compositions of the kind known, and but for a single modulation which marks its age, might be mistaken for a modern production, so free and fresh is its melody. Of Conversi scarcely any record remains. Walther bestows only two lines on him: Gerber merely states that he was born at Correggio, and published a set of canzoni for five voices, at Venice, in 1575, and a set of madrigals for six, at the same place, in 1584. Of course, therefore, his present work was among the former, though it has always in England borne the title now given to it. To the best of our knowledge, the canzone for many voices only differs from the madrigal in being less laboured; fugal points and imitations do not so necessarily enter into its formation.
Of the Song, we can only say, that we think it worthy of a place in our work.
The two movements of Clementi are now, alas! little known. After playing both through, we recommend the performer to repeat and end with the first.
The Incarnatus is from the composer’s most esteemed mass. The resemblance of this to Purcell’s song, ‘What power art thou,’ in King Arthur, is so striking, that surely something more than accident must have occasioned it. But if Caldara borrowed from Purcell, Handel was indebted to the borrower; for his ‘Vouchsafe, O Lord,’ in the Dettingen Te Deum, seems formed on the model of the Italian composer.