.Jii^.5£f, mm ^-•-V?.'^'i,-V,-^-_^^^V^-^^^- ■' THE LIFE OF HANDEL. BY VICTOR SCHGELCHER. BOSTON: OLIVER DITSON AND COMPANY 277 WASHINGTON STREET. CHAS. H. UITSON & CO., NEW YORK. ^/^/ y £a ^'-'^i PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION.' The present edition is a faithful reprint of Mr. Schcel- cher's work, and contains all that is to be found in the original. It has been deemed necessary, however, to make some alterations in the arrangement of the matter, with the view of preserving the biographical sequences, and separating much that is argumentative from that which is historical and personal. For this purpose many- passages have been transferred to the foot of the page, as notes, which in the original are incorporated in the body of the work. It is believed that this arrangement will greatly relieve the reader, and enable him to pursue the thread of the biography without losing himself in side discussions and local topics. Mr. Schoelcher has made extensive researches for this biography of Handel, and has produced a work of last- ing value, not only as it relates to that composer, but as furnishing a curious and very exact insight into the mu- sical history of England, especially of the period when Italian opera was introduced into that country. r>i>^.> i LIST OF WORKS CONSULTED BY THE AUTHOR. Collections of Handel's Original MSS. at Buckingham Palace, and at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. Collection of the Scores used by Handel when conducting, and now in the possession of the Author. Collection of the "Works of Handel, copied by J. C. Smith, Esq., his amanuensis, now in the possession of Henry Barrett Lennard, Esq. A Treatise of MusicTc. By Alex. Malcolm. 8vo. Edinburgh, 1721. A Pocket Companion for Gentlemen and Ladies ; being a Collection of the finest Opera Songs and Airs in English and Italian. 2 vols. ; one small 8vo, the other 8vo. London, Cluer. N.D. (about 1125.) Poems on Several Occasions. By Henry Carey. Small Svo. 1129. The Ifusical Miscellany ; being a Collection of Choice Songs. 6 vols, small Svo. London, T. Watts, 1729-31. The Opera Miscellany ; bemg a Pocket Collection of Songs, chiefly composed for the Eoyal Academy of Musick. Small Svo. London, John Browne. N.D. (about 1730.) Letters from the Academy of Ancient Mmic at London to Signor An- tonia Lotti of Venise, loith Answers and Testimonies. A Pamphlet. London, 1732. The Oxford Act; a new ballad opera. A Pamphlet. London, 1733. TJie Oxford Act, a.d. 1733 ; being a particular and exact account of that Solemnity. Pamphlet. London, 1734. John Hughes's Poems. Small Svo, London, 1735. The Opera Register, from November, 1712, to 1734. MS. at the British Museum (Catalogue, 21S, King's MSS.), containing a Ust of the performances at the Italian Opera. By Francis Colman. The British Musical Miscellany : or, the Delightfid Grove : being a Collection of celebrated Enghsh and Scotch Songs. 6 vols. Svo. London, Walsh, 1734-37. Grundlage einer Ehren-Pforte woran der tuchtigsten Gapellmeister, Componisten, Musickgelehrten, &c. Yon Mattheson. Hamburg, 1740. An Apology for the Life of Mr. Colley Gibber. 1 vol. Svo. Loudon, 1740. VI L I S T O F AV O E K S . The Musical Dictionary. By James Grassineau. 8vo. London. 1740. Universal Harmony; or, the Gentlemen and Ladies'' Social Com- panion. 1 vol. 4to. J. ISTewbery, London, 1745. The Art of Composing Music by a method entirely new, suited to the meanest capacity. Pamphlet. London, 1751. The Works of the late Aaron Hill 4 vols. 8vo. London, 1753. Remarks ujjon Musick ; to which are added several observations upon some of Mr. Handel's Oratorios, and other parts of his works. By a Lover of Harmony. Worcester, 1758. The Dramatic Works of Aaron Hill. 4 vols. 8 vo. 1760. Memoirs of the Life of the late George Frederic Handel. (Mainwar- ing.) 8vo. London, 1760. An Account of the Life of Handel, in the Gentleman's Magazine of April, 1760. Abstract of the Life of Handel in the London Chronicle, June, 1760. Clio and Euterpe; or, British Harmony : a Collection of celebrated Songs and Cantatas. 3 vols, royal 8vo. London, H, Roberts, 1762. The Companion to the Flayhouse. 2 vols, small 8vo. London, 1764. Dictionnaire de Musique. Par J. J. Rousseau. Paris, 1768. An Account of the Institution and Progress of the Academy of An- cient Music. By a Member. Pamphlet, 8vo. London, 1770. (By Hawkins.) Miscellaneous Works of Dr. Arbuihnot. 2 vols. 12mo. London, 1770. Various Joui-nals, the Gentleman^ s Magazine and London Magazine, from 1710 to 1770. The Musical Magazine ; or, Compleat Pocket Companion for tJie Years 1767, 68, 69, and 70. 4 vols, small 4to. London, J. Bennett. A General History of the Science and Practice of Music. By John Hawkins. 5 vols. 4to. London, l776.^New edition, in 2 vols. 4to, double columns. Novello, 1853.* Dramatic Works of Colley Gibber. 5 vols. 12mo. London, 1777. A. B. C. Dario Musico. Bath, 1780. * The pagination which I have invariably adopted of Hawkins's History of Music, whenever it is quoted hy me, is that of Mr. Novello' s new edition, which is more complete than the previous one, more within the reach of everybody on account of its price, and, also, because the index with which it is provided facili- tates research. Whenever the name of Burney occurs as an authority, with a cipher of pagioation, it is the fourth volume of his Ilistory of Music that is indi- cated. Whenever any of the first three volumes or his Account of the Com- memoratio7i of 1784, are referred to, it is specially indicated. LISTOFWOEKS. VU An Account of the Life of Handel, in the European Magazine, March, 1184. An Account of the Musical Performances in Westminster Abbey and the Pantheon, in Commemoration of Handel. By Charles Burney. 4to. London, 1785. llie Messiah. Fifty Discourses on the Scriptural Passages which form the subject of the celebrated Oratorio of Handel. By John New- ton. 1786. A General History of Music. By Charles Bumey, Mus. Doct. 4 vols. 4to. London, 1776 to 1789. The Play PocJcet Companion; or, Tlieairical Vade Mecum. London, 1789. A Complete Dictionary of Music, &c. By John Hoyle. Small 8vo. London, 1791. The Theatrical Dictionary. London, 1792. An EncyclopcBdia, or Dictionary of Music, &c. By T. F. Dannely. Small 8vo. London, N. D. The Works of Handel, in Score. Edited by Arnold. 32 vols. 1785 -1797. The Sacred Oratorios and the Miscellaneous Pieces, as set to Music by Gr. P. Handel. By T. Heptmstall. 2 vols. 32mo. 1799. Anecdotes of George Frederick Handel and John Christopher Smith. 4to. London, 1799. (Rev. W. Coxe, Rector of Bemerton.) Trivia. By Gay. 12 mo. London, 1807. Poetical Works of Pope. Anecdotes of the Manners and Customs of London during the Eigh- teenth Century. By Peller Malcolm. 2 vols. 8vo. London, 1811. History of the Origin and Progress of the Meeting of the Tfiree Choirs of Gloucester, Worcester, and Hereford. By the Rev. Dan. Lysons. Gloucester, 1812. Biographia Dramatica. By Baker, Reed, and Jones. 4 vols. 8vo. London, 1812. Musical Biography. (W. Bingley.) 2 vols. 8 vo. London, 1714. Anecdotes of Music. By A. Burgh. 3 vols. 12mo. London, 1814. Dictionnaire Historique des Musiciens. Par Choron et PayoUe. 2 vols. 8vo. 1817. TJie Cyclopoedia, or Universal Dictionary, &c. By Rees, 39 vols. 4to. London, 1819. A General History of Music. By Th. Busby. 2 vols, royal 8vo. London, 1819. Commemoration of Handel By John King. 8vo. 1819. Vm LIST OF W O K K S . Posihumoibs Letters from va/riotis Celebrated Men, addressed to Franois Colman and George Colman. 4to. London, 1820. Seattle's Letters, from Sir William Forbes's Collection. 2 vols. 3 2 mo. London, 1820. A Dictionary of Music. By Busby. Small 8 vo. London, 1820. An Account of the National Anthem. By Kichard Clark. Royal 8vo. London, 1822. How to he Rid of a Wife. By Miss Eliz. Spence. 2 vols. 12mo. London, 1823. Somerset Home Gazette. By Ephraim Hardcastle. 2 vols. 4:to. 1823. An Account of the Grand Musical Festival held in September, 1823, in York. By John Crosse, F!fe.A., F.R.S.L., and M.G.S.* 4to. York, 1825. The Second Yorkshire Musical Festival, 1825. 4to. York, 1825. Literary and Miscellaneous Memoirs. By J. Cradock. 1826. De V Opera en France. Par M. Castil Blaze. 2 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1826. A Catalogue of the Musical Library belonging to his majesty's Con- certs of Ancient Music. 8vo. London, 1827. A Dictionary of Musicians. 2 vols. 8vo. London, 1727. Memoir Relating to the Portrait of Handel by Francis Kyte. Pam- phlet. 4to. 1829. (By Keith Mihies, Esq.) An Account of the Royal Musical Festival held in Westminster Abbey, 1834. By John Parry. A Pamphlet. 4to. London. Musical Reminiscences. By Mount Edgcumbe. London, 1834. Letters of Horace Walpole to Sir Horace Mann. Third edition. 3 vols. 8vo. London, 1834. Reminiscences of Handel, his Grace the Duke of Chandos, Po^vells, the Harpers, etc. By Richard Clarke. Pamphlet. Folio. London, 1836. Biographic Universelle des Musiciens. Par Fetis. 8 vols, royal 8vo. Paris, 1839. Dictionnaire de Musique. Par Lichtenthal, traduit et augmente par Mondo. 2 vols, royal 8vo. Paris, 1839. Georg Friderich HcendeVs Stammbaum nach Original-quellen und authentischen Kachrichten. (Genealogy of Georg Friderick Handel • The English savans having a mania for putting the alphabet after their names, as the initials of titles which no foreigners and few Englishmen seem to under- stand, I have deemed it expedient to attach an explanation to the hieroglyphics here used. F.S.A., Fellow of the Society of Arts; F.R.S.L., Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature ; M.G-.S., Member of the Geological Society; LL.D., Doctor of Laws and Literature. LI STOF WORKS. IX taken from original sources and authentic proofs, collected and elabo- rated.) Von Karl Edward Forstemann. Pamphlet. Folio. Leipzig, 1844. Chez Breithopf et HJirtel. Memoirs of Alusick. By the lion. Koger North. Edited by Dr. Rimbault, LL.D., F.S.A. Memoranda, or Chronicles of the Foundling Hosjntal By John Brownlow. 8vo. 1847. An Account of the Visit of Handel to Dublin. By Horatio Townsend. Small 8vo. Dublin, 1852. Catalogue of the Manuscript Music in the British Museum. Royal 8vo. London, 1852. The Works of Handel, in Score. By the Handel Society. 14 -^'ols. London, 1844-1853. (A prefoce is attached to each publication.) Messiah. 4to. London. With an Analysis of the Oratorio. 1853. Published by the Sacred Harmonic Society. (Libretto of the words.) Complete Encyclopedia of Music. By T. Moore. Royal 8vo. Bos- ton, 1854. Diciionnaire de Plain Chant et de Musique d^Eglise au Moyen Age. Par J. D'Ortigue. 4to. Paris, 1854. Brief Memoirs of George Frederick Handel. By John Bishop, of Cheltenham. Pamphlet. FoUo. London, 1856. Crand Handel Musical Festival at the Crystal Palace. By Mr. Thomas Bowley. Pamphlet. 8vo. 1857. Tlie Theatrical Registei\ MS. 4to. At the British Museum ; filled with advertisements and theatrical criticisms, cut from the journals of the eighteenth century. It is believed that this list contains all the works published in En- gland which can be of service, directly or indirectly, to this Biography. There exists a Life of Handel by Dixwell — a pamphlet, pubhshed in London in 1784; but although I have been unable to discover a copy of it anywhere, even in the British Museum, the following verdict of the Critical Review for 1784 leaves httle to be regretted on that score: — " This work is a vulgar narration, very ungrammatical, and devoid of common sense." France possesses absolutely nothing on the life and works of Handel, except the articles about him in the Biographic Universelle des 3fusiciens, by M. Fetis, and the Dictionnaire Historique des Musiciens of Clioron and Fayolle ; there is, besides (according to M. Fetis), an abridged translation of Mainwaring inserted in the Varieies Litteraires of Arnaud and Suard. Paris, 1768. The article in the Biographic Universelle of ;Michaud is nothing but a piece of scissors-work, and is altogether in- significant. 1* X L I S T O F W O R K S . Besides tlie work of Mattheson, and that of M. Ffirstcmann above mentioned, all that German literature possesses respecting the great musician is as follows : Einfultige Critique der Opera Julms Coe^sar in Aegypten. Von Hans Sachsen. Hamburg, 1725. (Simple Criticism of the Opera of Julius Coesar in Egypt^ by Hans Sachsen.) It is said that an answer to this criticism has been published at Altona, under the title of ''Hans SacJiscn's Heroic Poem.''^ Georg Fricdrich HdndeVs Lehensbeschreibung^ nehst einera Verzeichnisse seiner Ausuhung- Werke und deren Beurtheilung, &c. Von Mattheson. Hambourg, 1761. 8vo. (Gr. F. Handel's Biography, with a hst of his works and a criticism of them.) This notice of Mattheson is a trans- lation of Mainwaring, with remarks of the translator upon the works of Handel. My endeavors have hitherto been in vain to obtain a copy of this in Germany, and it is not to be found in the British Museum. Georg Friedrich HcindcVs Jugend. (G. F. Handel's Youth.) Von Reichhardt. Berhn, 1786. 30 pages in 8 vo. (Not to be found in the British Museum.) Handel dessen Lebensumstdnde (Particulars of the Life of G. F. Handel) in Adrastea, von V. Herder. Leipzig, 1802. Lebetisbeschreibungen beruhmter Musikgelehrten. (Biographies of cele- brated Musicians.) Von Hiller. 8vo. Leipzig, 1784. Fur Freunde der Tonkunst. (For the Friends of Musical Art.) 4to. Von Rochlitz. (Notice of Handel and of The Messiah in the 1st and 4th vols.) Der grosse Musikus Handel im Universalruhme. (The great Musician Handel in his Universal Fame.) Von J. M. Weissebeck. Niirnberg. 4to. 1809. (Not to be found in the British Museum.) M. Fetis, in his article on Handel in the Biographie Universelle des Musicietis, mentions the following works : " Burney's notice of the Commemoration has been translated into German by Eschenburg, with additions and notes. " Krause has also published a notice upon Handel, in his Dartsiel- lungen aus der Geschichie der Musik. (Exposition of the History of Music.) Pp. 155-170. " Finally, Mr. Theodore Milde has given another, in his work entitled Ueier das Lehen und die Werke der beliebesten deutschen Dichter und Tonseizer. 2 vols. 8vo. 1834. (On the Life and Works of the most Celebrated German Poets and Musicians.)" Le Dictionnaire of Choron and Fayolle mentions also a Life of Han- del in the Lexicon de Musique Allemande, by Walthcr. PREFACE. Of all the Arts, Music is that which brings the greatest conso- lation to the mind, when consolation is possible. The misfor- tunes of the times have compelled me to quit my native country for a season, and in my retirement in London I have found a great source of consolation in listening to the Oratoiios of Handel, which I had ah-eady learned to admire during three pre- vious visits to England, and at home in the constant society of classical amateurs. Out of this grew a wish to possess all the works of that great man, to whom I felt so deeply indebted. In bringing these together, I found it necessary, to their proper arrangement, that I should make myself acquainted with the various authors who have made mention of Handel. These re- searches, commenced by me when alone and in the bitterness of exile, drew me on much further than I had anticipated, and produced results which seem to me capable of interesting both the connoisseurs of Handel and those who know nothing about him ; for he was not only one of the first composers that the world ever saw, but he was also a man gifted with a great and noble character. It is in this belief that I offer to the reader this work, the fruit of three years spent in zealous and assiduous labor. And, first, let me acknowledge, both for the satisfaction of my sense of gratitude and to give a greater value to my work, that I have received great and important assistance from various quarters. I have to thank His Royal Highness Prince Albert for having permitted copies of many pieces in the collection of the original MSS. of Handel, now preserved in Buckingham Palace, to be taken for my use. Mr. Surman, the conductor of the orchestra for the London Sacred Harmonic Society, has shown hunself ever ready to reply to questions addressed to his long experience. Mr. R. Bowley, the treasurer, and Mr. W. Husk, the librarian of the Sacred Harmonic Society, have kindly, Xll PREFACE. and upon many occasions, opened to me the rich and vast mu- sical Hbrary which is under their charge, Mr. R. Lonsdale has commimicated to me some useful documents, collected in the course of his extensive reading. The Rev. C. C. Babington, Fel- low of St. John's College, Cambridge (whose classical attain- ments have gained for him a European reputation), also ren- dered me very great assistance, when I visited Cambridge for the purpose of examining the MSS. in the Fitzwilliam Museum, and, thanks to his aid and hospitality, I had no difficulty in accom- phshing the purpose of my journey. Nor must I omit to offer my grateful acknowledgments to Mr. Anderson, who holds in his charge the Handehan manuscripts at Buckingham Palace. With- out relaxing in any degree the vigilance which he owes to those admirable relics, Mr. Anderson has, with perfect courtesy, given me access to them, never wearying of repeated visits ; and, in- deed, it is not too much to say that, were it not for his valuable aid, my work would have been far more incomplete than I have reason to believe it really is. ' In addition to all tliis, I must confess myself deeply indebted to Mr. Horatio Townsend, the author of HandeVs Visit to Duhlin, whose elegant correspondence has been most instructive to me ; and the reader will not fail to perceive how much useful information I owe to Dr. Rimbault, who has shown the greatest hberality in communicating what he knows on the subject. And truly it needed all these aids to bring my undertaking to an issue. The necessary documents were not wanting, but they were scattered about in a thousand different places, and had never before been brought together. The Memoirs of the Life of the Late O. F. Handel^ published anonymously in 1760, by the Rev. John Main waring, is nothing but a summary, without much exactness; the work of the laborious Sir John Hawkins has nothing more special than the short biographical notices of the numerous musicians whom he mentions ; that of Dr. Burney is (as he himself calls it) '' a sketch" — a sketch, too, which was traced with some degree of haste, to be placed at the head of liis Account of the Commemoration of 1784. At the same time, I set a great value upon these works, especially upon that of Dr. Burney, who occupied himself thoroughly, in liis History of Music, with the Italian operas of Handel. The labors which I myself have undergone, compels me to do full justice to the re- sults which he has produced ; and if I should seem to take ex- PREFACE. 3011 ception to liim in any respect, it is a real homage to liis habitual exactness ; he has so well cleared the road, that he has rendered it passable to tlie more severe and curious inquirer, and it is really astonishing that, out of the mass of documents wliich he had to examine, and the great number of those which he set in order, he has made so few mistakes,* It is not, therefore, my intention to depreciate what Mainwaring, Hawkins, and Burney have done. They belonged to that race of conscientious men who write as if in the performance of a duty, and I admit that, with- out them, the task of modern historians of Handel would have been almost an impossible one. What they did was to bring to- gether the materials out of which an edifice may be constructed. And yet (strange to relate !) though they have been silent these sixty years, no one has attempted to perform the work which they prepared. In this country of England, which Handel has so illuminated and adorned, and where he has still so many pas- sionate admirers, not one has yet been found to tell the story of his life. It is true that many have touched upon this theme ; but they have all copied, more or less directly, the three au- thors who have been already named ; not caring to search any further, or even to take the trouble of arranging that which they borrowed.! Heptinstall, for example, in his " Sacred Oratorios and Miscel- laneous Pieces, as set to Music by Handel," says that " Flonnda and Daphne were composed at Hamburg in 1708" (Burney's date) ; afterward, that the journey of the composer into Italy, which took place immediately after leaving Hamburg, " lasted six years" (Mainwaring's date), '■'■ and terminated in 1710 !" Busby (General History of Music) explains to us that Handel produced Roderigo in Florence, in 1702, and that "he continued there about a year," that he afterward visited Venice, Eome, and Naples, whence, " having seen as much of Italy as his curiosity * Burney wrote to Dr. Quint of Dublin (and it may be readily believed) that the materials for his General History of Music (four volumes in quarto) had cost him £2000 ; and all the leisure hours which his profession allowed him during thirty years were occupied in putting them together, without estimating the ex- pense of the paper, the printing, the engraving, and the advertisements (Town- send, page 99), Hawkins worked for more than thirty years at his excellent and most instructive History of Music, five volumes quarto. t Mr. Horatio Townsend's Visit to Dublin must be excepted from this criticism. He has thoroughly examined that part of the life of the great composer, bringing to light a number of curious facts, and, so far as his subject extended, has left nothing to be gleaned after him. XIV PREFACE. or his profession required," lie went to Hanover, where " he was not long resolving on his journey to England," and that he ar- rived in London " during the winter of 1710." Whence it would appear that Handel occupied at least eigld years in visiting Venice, Rome, and Naples ; a period certainly too long for the satisfac- tion of mere '' curiosity." Busby, in spite of his noble enthusi- asm for Handel, continually' commits similar blunders. It is scarcely possible to imagine the extreme carelessness of others. Hawkins wrote in 1774 : " The Chandos Anthems are about twenty in number. As they have not been printed, it may be some satisfaction to the curious to be informed that the hbrary of the Academy of Ancient Music contaim the greatest part of them." In 1814, an anonymous writer published, in two vol- umes octavo, a Musical Biography, etc., and in the article upoa Handel the above passage was taken literally from Hawkins, the author being ignorant of the fact that, during the sixty years that had intervened since the appearance of Hawkins's work, the Twelve Chandos Anthems (all that have ever existed) had been printed two or three times over ! If I have not been more fortunate than my predecessors in avoiding error, at least it must in justice be admitted that I have manifested a greater zeal for the truth. In every branch of the subject I have gone to the fountain-head. During more than a month, it was my daily lot to examine the eighty-seven volumes of the great man's own manuscripts which are now in Bucking- ham Palace, and those were the best moments which I spent upon my undertaking ; for while I held in my hands the very papers which he had held in his, and examined his own hand- writing, and copied his memoranda, and sought eagerly for the slightest particle of himself, it seemed to me as if I were hving with Handel ; and as day by day I grew to a better understand- ing of the incessant labor with which that fecund genius corrected and recorrected every thing which he wrote, the hours of my la- bor seemed shorter to me. When I visited Cambridge, I found seven volumes of original manuscript, containing a variety of detached pieces of very great value, and I obtained copies of all which have been hitherto un- edited. What can be the reason that no Englishman has ever taken in hand these precious waifs and strays in the Fitzwilham Museum ? The small number of those who are aware of their existence speak of them as vaguely as if they were at Kam- PREFACE. XV scliatka ; and I have never yet seon them qnoteil anywhere, not even in any one of the fine editions of the Handel Society. Yet they include many pieces which were supposed to be lost, duplicates and first sketches, the competent examination of which must be of the greatest service to modern inquireis. They possess all the value which attaches to the original sketclies of a great master. Two monographs have been published of the marvelous etchings of Rembrandt, and the slightest relics of Leonardo da Yinci and of Michael Angelo have been engraved with respect; how is it, then, that a musician has not been found to edit and annotate these manuscripts, and those of Buckingham Palace ? The changing thouglits of a man hke Handel can not but be instructive objects of study and con- templation. During a period of three months, Mr. Rophino Lacy has conducted for me, at the British Museum, a most minute re- search into the journals of the Handelian period, by means of which I am able to fix positively a great many dates and facts which have hitherto been considered as doubtful; and, in ad- dition, Mr. Lacy's own knowledge has been of the utmost value to me. I never met with any man better versed than he is in the music of Handel, be it Italian or English ; for it seems im- possible to produce any of it to him with which he is not perfectly familiar. In fine, I have neglected nothing which seemed likely to conduce to accuracy. It has been my object to collect all that can be known of the life of Handel, and to give the most exact and the most complete catalogue of his works which has yet ap- peared.* This chronological and bibliographical catalogue raiaonne contains all the dates, as taken by myself from the manuscripts with great care and attention, and the compilation of it has cost * This Catalogue will shortly he published in a separate volume. The assist- ance which Mr. Lacy has rendered me in framing it amounts really to a collabo- ration. He it was who made those musical examinations of the manuscripts at Buckingham Palace, and of the scores which Handel himself used when he con- ducted his own works, which have so materially assisted me in my task. The details of the Catalogue which indicate technical knowledge are his work, not mine; for I am no professed musician. This also seems to be the proper place for acknowledging the liberality of Mr. Lennard, who possesses a manuscript collection of Handel's works, which is almost complete, and which he has always, with the greatest generosity, placed at the disposal of Mr. Lacy. Like a true amateur, Mr. Lennard is free from that selfishness which glories in the possession of treasures only for the pleasure of possessing them. XVI PREFACE. much more time and labor than the Biography itself. Perhaps, if I could have foreseen what researches it necessitated, I should not have undertaken the task ; but now that it is finished, I am very far from regretting the labor which I have expended upon it. The reader will readily believe that a compilation of tliis kind presents very great difficulties ; there are so many dates to compare, to verify, and to reconcile, and so many obscure points to be cleared up ; and often have I found it necessary to write, or to rewrite, dilTerent articles, three, four, or five times over. These are sore trials to the patience, and one is apt to ask one's self, in the hour of weariness, whether the result is worthy of the labor. But then there are compensations ; one has the hope of doing something that may be useful, and one feels a singular satisfaction in discovering the explanation of a fact hitherto in- comprehensible, in recovering, as it were, the lost link of a broken chain. Moreover, it is incontestable that these reconstructive studies have afforded me much hght as to the hfe of the great ma'tstro ; they have enabled me both to see better and to pene- trate deeper. The dryness of mere details disappears entirely when the discovery of a chef-d'oeuvre is made, and it will be seen that that good fortune has not been denied me. But I shall regret neither time nor labor if the work contributes in any degree to the glory uf the giant of music ; and my best wishes will be fulfilled if amateurs derive any benefit from my investigations. In spite of all the care and pains which have been expended, there can be no doubt that many errors have been committed, and I shall therefore regard it as a friendly office, if those who discover any such will kindly point them out to me, through the address of the pubhsher. When the truth has been sought for in good faith, something useful may be gathered by the skillful inquirer, even from the mistakes of his predecessor. As for my observations upon Handel and the art which he illustrated, I shall say, with Montaigne, " I offer them to the reader not as good, but as mine." If they have any merit at all, it is because they express the musical sensuousness of a man who is so untechnical that he would be hard put to it to read the gamut. In conclusion, I would observe that the hfe of Handel can only be written, and his works can only be studied, in England. There only is he well and widely known ; there only is he sung, PREFACE. XVU and played, and venerated as he deserves to be. Happy shall I be if the publication of this vfork, by recalling to my country- men the memory of a great master whom they know too little of, shall suggest to them the regular performance of his immor- tal works. May the choruses and singers of Paris form, for that purpose, an association analogous to that which Habeneck brought together at the Conservatoire for the performance of symphonies. There can be Httle doubt that the French public would not be slow to reward such an effort. So long as France deprives herself of the oratorios of Handel, there will be found within her a great deficiency in the culture of Musical Art. V. SCHCELCHER. London, April 6, 1857. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. 1685—1708. PAGE Birth of Handel — Ilis nanios — Ilis imipicnl teiidoncics— His f-ither opposes tliem — Ilis early sludifts — Jouriuy to Berlin, wiiere he appears as a pnidigy — Memoirs of his Life, by Mainwaring — Ecturu to Halle and new studies — Collection of his musical books bequeathed to Smith — He settles at Ham- burg — Duel with Mattheson — Almifci, IsFero, Daphne,, Florinda — Cantata 071 the Passion — Journe}' to Florence — Roderigo — Hawkins to be con- sulted with caution — Agrippina at Venice — Sacred Latin mu.sic at Itome — Hesurrecsione, Silla — II Trionfo del Tempjo — Conipetitiou with Scarlatti — Cardinal Ottoboni - 25 CHAPTER II. 1708—1720. Aci e GaUxttea at Naples — French songs — Journey to Hanover — Arrival in London— Commencement of the Italian Opera in England — Addison and Steele against the Italian Opera — Rinnldo — Addison's critique — Keturn to Hanover — Cantatas and Chamher Buets at Hanover— lleappearance in England — Ode for Queen Anne's Birth-day — Fastor Fido, Tesco — Chapel- inasters of the English sovereigns — Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate — Per- formances oil the harpsichord — Thomas Britton — First public concerts in England — Handel settles in England — Wiiter Jhisie — Amadigi — Tableaux vivants in 1710 — Heidegger — Stay at Burlington House — Journey into Ger- many — Passion, German oratorio — Anecdotes of Handel and Smith, by W. Coxe — Cannons, mansion of the Duke of Chandos — Handel becomes chapel-master of the duke— Chandos Te Deum and Anthems— Chardcter of Handel's sacred music — The so-called true style of church-music — Sev- eral of the Chandos Anthems reduced for the royal chapels— Three Hymns written for Mrs. Rich 42 CHAPTER III. 720—1729. Handel directs tho Italian Opera for the Eoyal Academy of Music — Another journey to Italy and Germany— Annual subscriptions at the Italian Opera- French comedians at the Haymarket — Radarnisto, edition of this work — Piratical publications— Handel naturalized— ^s^Aer, Acis arid Galatea — The present organ of Whitchurch, inEdgeware, has been played by Handel XX CONTENTS. PASB — Cannons pulled down— The Dnke of Chandos buys his third wife — Suites de Pieces pour le Clavecin — TJie Rarmonioun Blacksmith — The environs of London in 1720 — Muzlo Scaivola — Bononcini and Attilio Ariosti — Cabal arising aijainst Ifandcl — Swift's ef^igrara and Carey's answer — Floridante^ Ottoue — Signora Cuzzoni — Giulio Cesare — Tamerlane, EocJelinda — Han- del's Italian airs transmuted into sacred songs — The evil of such adaptations , — Adulteration of laracl in E(jyi>t and other oratorios — Scipio, Alexander — First inipre&bion of God Save the King — Exploit of Senesino in Alexa7i- der— Ad ?/it to— The Cuzzouists and the Faustinists— Siguora Cuzzoni sen- tenced to deatli — Ricardo V^ — Coronation Anthemn — Siroe — Tolmneo—^ The Beggar's Opera — Its popularity even to the. present daj'— The failure of the Eoyal Academy of Music from the date of its commencement — Sad expedients — The ruin of the Italian Opera attributed to the inconstant temper of the English nation — Dissolution of the Eoyal Academy of Music — Not every opera produced with fresh costumes and scenes — Danger of the present costly mise-en-scene — Public indiflferonce tho only cause of the Academy's dissolution T4 CHAPTER IV. 1729—1732. Handel takes the Italian -theater with Heidegger— Songstresses performing a man's part much in vogue — Lotha?'io, FartheJiope—FuhViiihing arrange- ments Avith Walsh — Twenty guineas paid for each oratorio by the publisher — The labor of the intellect underrated — AValsh — His editions uncommonly bad — His chorophobia — luditference of the composers of the last century with regard to the publication of their works — Poms — Character of the Italian and French operas — Great Britain infested with shepherdesses as France was — Ferocity of the laws — The thousands of marriages enacted every night upon the stage — All the operatic heroes of Handel very sleepy —^sio— Failure of all the productions of Handel — Esther, the first English oratorio — Origin of oratorios — Acted with dances iii' the churches — Their performance without action — Composed from a theatrical point of view — Prohibition of their performance with action — Arrangement of the orches- tra — Acis and Galatea — Mrs. Cibber — Acis sung partly in English and partly in Italian — Alchymist Music — Ben Jonson's nicmoranda— jTipe^^e Sonatas or Solos, opera la — lubtrumental in\i:Mc of alandtl— X/.r Sonatas Trios, opera 2a — Seven Sotiatas Trios, opera 5a — Orlando — Violetta ma- rina — The violin family — Castrucci — Four lyric theaters in London in 1733 . . . : . .110 fiPei CHAPTER V, 1733. yebora^^-Jjeiter of Rolli against Handel— Handel and Walpole conspirators rj — His orchestra— Monster bassoons— The bellowing system— Handel's cho- '4^ruses— His einploymi-nt of instruments— Fifty-six wind instruments in his Fireworks Music— The strength of his orchestra is unknown— His band uncommonly powerful— Ho used the side drum— His MSS. never before explored— He had already done for the accompaniment of The Messiah what Mozart did— He liusbandf.(l his means -The abus.- of great orchestras — All the cotemporuries of ilautlcl reproach hiui with ;i fondness for noiso / — Goupy's caricature— Accusation of profanity—Quarrel with Senesino— / The latter was not a model of sweetness of te'mper — The nobilitv espouse \ the cause of Senesino— Coalition against Handel- Piediloction of the eight- -^^enth century for high voices— Handel shared it — Bononcini and the Mad- rigal of Lotti— Dr. Green- Bononcini loaves England 146 CONTENTS. XXI CHAPTER VI. 1733—1737. PAQQ Athalia at a Public Act of Oxford— Boctorshlp of music — Handel's Italian artists join tlie coalition — Journey to Italy in 1733 — A rival theater opened by the coalition, with Farinelli— The revolting spectacle offered by the royal family of England at that time — MS. of pasticcios by Handel — Ari- adne — Jests against the two rival Italian theaters — Panntsso in Festa — Wedding Anthem for tho Princess Anne — Indomitable energy displayed tby Handel — J^nltbois Concertos, opera Ssi — Farjufft for the Organ — Han- del becomes impressario — Open war between him and the nobility — Ar- buthnot's satire in his favor— Handel at Lincoln's Inn Fields Theater — Terpsichore — Masques — Melancholic dances — Passacaille — Orestes — Ario- danie — Mile. Salle — Artaxerxes, Ify Hasse — Alcina — Performances of or- gan concertos by Handel — His reclames — A letter of his dated 1735 — Pre- sumption about the author of the poem of Saul — Alexander's Feast — Preface of Hamilton to Alexander's Feast — His dedication of it to Han- del — Publication of Aleicander''s Feast — Dryden's good opinion of his own ode— St. Cecilia— ^toZrtTi^a— The mise-en-scene of those days— The Prin- cess Augusta very fond of kneeling — Wedding A7itheni for the Prince of Wales— F/;v 3rufiic— Arminius — Justin — II Trionfo del Tempo, Bere- nice — Failure of Handel — Euin of the rival opera-house — Farinelli him- self disregarded — ^Artistic ignorance of that epoch — Confidence of Handel's creditors in him 179 CHAPTER VII. 1737—1741. Illness and journey to Aix-la-Chapelle — Faramondo — Funeral Anthem — George the Second and his wife — Dr. Pepusch — G.iff;irol!i- -Xi?/v;v>,ronounco in favor of Handel — His last operas engraved by subscription — The family of Bruns- wick were all determined Handelians — Organ Concertos, opera 4" — Organ performances of Handel — Saul — At the present day too few of the master's works are performed — Israel in Egijpt — Italian romances intermixed in it — Its radical failure — Israel in Egypt adulterated by arrangers in 1763 — New adulterations committed- in 1838 — The composer adds names of per- sonages iu the first part oi Israel, as given in 175G — The present popularity of such a work proves the high state of musical education in England — Many instances of imitative nmsic in Handel— Similar instances in all the greatest composers — The best poets have made imitative poetry — All that art can produce is acceptable — Handel alwajs makes music speaking to the , mind — He was compared to Cicero and Demosthenes — Jupiter in Argos — Ode on St. Cecilia's Day — Dry den on this Ode — Seveyi Sonatas or Trios, opera 5» — Trcelve Grand Concertos, opera C" — They seem to have become public property during the lifetime of the author — Handel's dwelling — Por- pora's iJaiud — Handel's overwhelming labors — Jj Allegro,' II Peiif^eroso, andll Moderato — Charles Jennens — Handel's attachment to Italian operas — Imeneo and Deidamia — His annual perforniances for the decayed musi- cians — His playbills turn down by his emunies — His prospect of leaving England — Others make their market of his works — He renounce^ltftiian ' operas — Lord Middlesex reopens the Italian theater — His supporte'-s em- ploy lawyers from the Bear Gardens — Lord Middlesex retires from business — Failure of Dr. Croza, his successor— Italian Opera in England less a taste than a fashion 213 XXU CONTENTS. CHAPTER VIII. 1741—1742. PAOK HarKlel's cruel position — Mr. Townsend and Mr. Flnlayson — Aristocratic com- position of the Academy of Music at Dublin — The Irish Society for the Benefit of Prisoners for Debt — The calendar, old and new style — Verses and opinion of Pope on Handel — Handel at Chester — Arrival at Dublin — Subscription Concerts there — Handel's letter from Dublin — Penelope by Galuppi — List of performances at Dublin — First advertisement of Tlie Mes- siah — The rehearsal — The first performance — Mrs. Cibber in The 3Iessiah — The fashion of hoops — Handel enjoys some i-epose in Dublin — Forest Ifusic — First performance of The 3/essiah in London — Called " A Sacred Oratorio" — Handel defended against the accusation of profanation — The newspapers of the eighteenth century had no artistic criticism — Origin of the custom of rising during the Hallelujah — Unwarrantable alterations in some pieces of The Jlessiah — The power of custom in England — The Sa- cred Harmonic Society has broken through the bonds of a bad custom — TEe new passion for contrast between pianissiuio and fortissimo — Coolness shown by cotemporaries toward The Messiah — Its success dates only from 1750 — The author of the libretto not satisfied with the music — This super- human work written in twenty-three days — Phenomenon in the produc- tions of men of genius — Five different versions of the air " How beautiful" —Four choruses drawn from two chamber duets — Fifty sermons preached on the oratorio — Its popularity — L^nknown only in France — It continbutes to all kinds of charities — Handel gave it this direction — The Foundling Hospital — Performances of Jfessiahtor this institution— Handel gives them a copy of the score — It brftught into their funds £10,300 — Handel gave also a copy to the charitable Musical Society of Dublin — The first book of " Songs in The Messialt''' not printed before 1763 — First entire edition in 1768— It has now reached forty-four editions— Printed handbooks of it . 262 . CHAPTER IX. / 5 ^^ 1742—1752. Letter of Handel as to his prospects— His influence on the musical taste of Ireland — He regrets the Italian Opera — Samson — Publication of— Eulogium of Handel by the author of the words — Copyist's bill — The singer Beard and his marriage — Dettingen Te Denm and Anthem — Handel wrote a great deal for the trumpet — Praise of the composer by Miller, the author or Jo- seph — Semele — Correspondence of Handel on Be)shazzar — Announced un- der the name of Belteshazzar — Allegro postHlions — ITercn/es — Advertise- ment of twenty-four performances by subscription — Handel obliged to stop on the sixteenth — Opposition to his entertainments — The ladies of quality against him — Russell and his puppet-show — Horace Walpole laughs at the music of Handel — "The Roast Beef of Old England" — Handel paid his per- formers generously — His second failure — Occasional Oratorio is not a compilation — Analysis of it — "O libertj'-, thou choicest treasure," taken from Occasional Oratorio — " Rule Britannia" made out of music by Han- del — Date of this song — Dr. Morrell— " God save the King" is by Dr. .John Bull— Explanations about the title of Occasional Oratorio— Th^xs, work given only to make good the subscriptions of the preceding year — Judas Maccaba'ics — Secondary place of the poem in the collaboration of the poet and the composer — Dedication of Judas Ma^'caba'us to the Duke of Cum- berland — The Jews contribute to the popularity of this oratorio — " See the conquering hero," taken from JosJuia — Said to be intended to please the vulgar — Not performed as it ought to be — La Cacluta de' Giganti by Gluck — Lucins Veriis — Otho given by the nobility's theater — Alessand/'o. as it was performed by Lord Middlesex — M. Azais — Alexander Buelns — Joshna, — The flourish of warlike instruments — Sitsannah — Solomon — Performance CONTENTS. XXlll PAGB of the oratorios during the lifetime of Handel— Peculiarity of the MS. of Solomon — Fireirorks Music— M^inAy.'X always careful of varying the effects of sonority — The rehearsal of tliis work at Vauxhall {.fHvAQna— Foundling Hospital Anthem — Theodora — Anecdotes about Theodora — Last visit to GermawY— Choice of Hercules made out of Alcestes—Alcesf^s not per- formed ..." - 296 CHAPTER X. 1752—1759. JepJitJia — First attack of gutta serena — Blindness — In the last century the first violin was leader of the orchestra — Handel requires Smith to assist him in the performance of his oratorios — Handel conducts his entertain- ments in spite of his blindness— John Stanley— Was Handel totally blind? — Triumjyh of Time and Truth — Handel masters age and inlirmities — His last performances — His death — An acrostie the only homage paiil him by the newspapers — Last manifestation of old hatreds — All hostilities stilled — Public homage by Garrick to Handel— Large profits from 1750 to 1759— The genius of Handel universally recognized — His music performed everywhere in 1751 — Confections of it under a thousand different forms — Works of his performed in 1759 — Smith and Stanley continue to give his oratorios for many years — Pasticcio oratorios made out of his compositions — The orato- rio is now an English indigenous composition — Einmanuel by Mr. Leslie . CHAPTER XI. Handel's will — His strange pre-occupation about his future glory — New proof of his admirable honesty — His funeral — His mouument at Westminster Abbey — The date of his birth to be corrected on it — Commemoration of 17S4 — Programme of it — Account of it by Burney— The devotees blame the selection of Westminster Abbey to hold it in — Their scruples prevail in 1886 — Clergymen assisting in the execution of the festival in the last cen- tury — Increasing popularity of Handel after the Commemoration — Smith gives his MSS. to George III. — "If I were the queen," Avhat I would do for this collection — Harpsichord of Handel — Marble busts of him by Eoubiliac — His head modeled after death — Portraits by Dcnner, by Wolfand, by Hudson, by Grafoni, by Thornhill, and by Kite 860 CHAPTER XII. The personal appearance of Handel — He was extremely witty — But inoffen- sive — Very reserved — Very absent — His religious sentiments — His liberal- it}^ — His contributions to the Society of Decayed Musicians — Names of the founders of this society — He was one of the benefactors of the Foundling Hospital — His impatience of rivalry — Eefuses to be dependent on any one — How badly Ha3'dn was treated — Mozart at table with valets — Handel's dedication of Badninif^to to the king — Haym's dedication of GiuUo Cesare to the Princess nf Wales — iriindel's elevation of mind — What was said about his noble character by all liis cotemporaries — A socialist by anticipa- tion — Violence of temper — He rei)aired his faults frankly — The grossness of his language — Licentiousness of conversation at that time — His impetu- osity of temper would not make allowances for any body — Scene of vio- lence — His musical impressionability — He had no habits — The confusion of tonsues in his MSS. — Too fond of good cheer— His sentiments of affection not very strongly developed — Love affairs — He lived a retired life — Con- noisseur of pictures — Mnsicol genius more fertile than literary genius — Handel exceedingly fruitful — Examples of his astonishing powers of labor— XXIV CONTENTS. PAOB His celerity of composition— Gluck producing in grief— Hand el constantly perfecting bis works — Grandeur, the distinctive characteristic of his style — The power of his choruses — His versatility — A great painter in words — His works full of local color — He excels in recitatives — lie is constantly clear and natural — His instrumental music as beautiful as his vocal music — What Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven said of him — Beethoven's dying re- quest to bring the works of Handel to his chamber — Handel as a performer — As a singer — The keys of his harpsichord hollowed by his incessant prac- tice — He had an indirect part in the great events of his century — All the serious English music is Handeliau— He upheld the dignity of art to the highest standard 878 APPENDIX. A.— The Smith Collection , . 425 B.— German Edition of Handel 425 C— Handel's Visit to Italy 426 D.— London Theaters in the Olden Time 430 E.— The Sons of the Clergy 432 F. — The Harmonious Blacksmith 432 G. — The Ee-engagement of Senesino 434 H.— Del Po's Letter 43T I.— Rolli's Libel 438 J.— The Clarinet . 440 K. — Pasticcios 441 L. — The High Prices given to gi'eat Singers 442 M.— Depraved Taste in the Eighteenth Century 444 N.— The State of Music in England . . 447 O.— Handel's House 458 P.— Where was The Messiah first produced ? 459 Q.— " How Beautiful" 465 E. — Pretended Plagiarism 465 S.— Price of Places 467 T.— One of Handel's Conversations 468 U.— Handel's Household Property 472 V. — Handel's Harpsichord 474 W. — The Magnificat in Israel . . 477 LIST OF MUSIC . . 480 INDEX . 483 LIFE OF HANDEL. CHAPTER I. 1685—1709. BxRTn OF Handel— IIis Musical Tendencies — His Early Studies — Journey TO Berlin, where he appeared as a Prodigy — Return to Halle, and New Studies — Journey to Hamburg — A Duel — First Dramatic Works, " Almira," " Nero," " Daphne," and " Florinda" — Journey into Italy — Explanations as to Dates connected with the Earlier Part of Han- del's Life — " Eoderigo" produced at Florence — "Agrippina" at Venice — Sacred Music at Eome — " La Kesurreczione" — " Silla" — " II Trionfo del Tempo." George Feideric Handel ^vas born at Halle, on the Saale, in the Duchy of Magdeburg, Lower Saxony. One of his compatriots, a laborious compiler, such as Germany only produces, M. Karl Eduard Forstemann, has published his genealogy, at Leipsic,* and he proves, by the registers of the Lutheran Church of Notre Dame de St. Laurent, at Halle, where the great musician was baptized, that his true German names are Georg Fried- rich Handel, and that the family name is written in five different ways — Handel, Hendel, Handeler, Hendeler, and Hendtler ; but most commonly Handel. A trace of this fluctuation of the family name may be found in the will of Handel himself, in which he leaves £300 to his " cousin Christianna Susannah Handelin." Li Italy he constantly signed his name Hendel ; but, from the commencement of his residence in England, down to the day of his death, he invariably signed, George Frid- eric Handel ; and that, therefore, appears to be the * See list of works consulted. 2 2G ',TF^ OF, HANDEL. orlliograpliy of his names wliicli ]ias tlie best right to be preserved. The English have been quite as ingenious as the Germans in discovering variations for tliis name ; for it has been written Hendall, Hendell, Handell, Han- dle, Hondel, and Haendel. All the biographers — English, French, and German — agree in stating that he was born on the 24th of February, 1684. This also is the date which is carved upon his tomb in Westminster Abbey ; but, nevertheless, it is erroneous. M. Forsteraann thus refers to the subject: — " Dreyhaupt, in his ' Description of the Province of the Saale,' has alone given the correct date of Handel's birth, which is the 23d of February, 1685. (Vol. ii., p. 625.) In fact, it may be seen by the books of the Church of Kotre Dame de St. Laurent, at Halle, that Handel was baptized there on the 24th of February, 1685, and it is known that at that time the baptism always took place on the day after the birth. In addition to this, the rare veracity and perfect information which Dreyhaupt mani- fests in every thing that relates to our town, speak for themselves in favor of his assertion." Handel himself had previously confirmed this rectifi- cation of this date, without any body perceiving it. In the manuscript of Solomon, after having signed, and dated it the 13th of June, 1748, he adds, " ^tatis 63 ;" and in that o^ Susannah., dated the 9t]i of August in the same year, he again adds, "^tatis 63 ;" finally, JepMha is signed, "30th of August, 1751, a3tatis 66, G. F. Han- del." If the author of Susannah and of JephiJia had been born in 1684, he would have been sixty-four years old in 1748, and sixty-seven in 1751.* " As irandel lias liimself decltircd his age upon several occasions, it is difficult to explain the obstinacj'^ with which, for more than a century, this blunder has been persisted in, otherwise than by the blind readiness with which writers copy certain assertions from each other when once they have become current. Tlie truth, however, did not escape all hi& cotemporaries. In the list of celebrated deaths for the year 1759, in the Gentleman^ s Magazine, may be found — " G. F. Handel^ Esq., a great MUSICAL TENDENCIES. 27 All vocations, be they ever so strong, do not invariably lead to something great : frequently they become abor- tive ; often, after casting a supernatural light for a time, they are suddenly extinguished, or at best never surpass mediocrity. Nevertheless, all great artists come into the world with a vocation which manifests itself, in their earliest years, in a remarkable, im})erious, and irresistible manner. George Frideric Handel was such a one. His father, who was a surgeon, and was sixty-three years old when this child first saw the light, determined to make a lawyer of him ; but Nature had resolved to make him a composer, and the struggle between Nature and the father commenced at the very cradle of the future author of TJie Messiah. Scarcely had he begun to speak, when he articulated musical sounds. The doctor, who was the son of Valentin Handel, a master coppersmith, was ter- ribly alarmed when he discovered instincts of so low an order in his eyes. He understood nothing of Art, nor of the noble part Avhich artists sustain in the world ; he saw in them nothing but a sort of mountebank, v>ho amuse the world in its idle moments. "Music," said he, " was an elegant art and a fine amusement ; yet, if con- sidered as an occupation, it had little dignity, as having for its subject nothing better than mere pleasure and entertainment."* Uneasy, and almost ashamed at the inclinations of his son, the father of Handel opposed them by all possible means. He would not send him to any of the public schools, because there not only gram- mar but the gamut would be taught him ; he would not permit him to be taken to any pla(;e, of whatever de- musician. He was bom in Geniiany, in 1685." But Mainwaring,! who wrote the earliest biographical notice of the great musician, placed the date at 1684, and every one has copied his mistake. It is, however, quite certain that Handel was born on the 23d of February, 16S5, and not on the 24th of February, 1684. * Mainwariug, p. 10. 1. For this, and all other authorities that may be quoted in tliis volume, see list of consulted ^7orks. 28 L I F E O F H A N D E L . scription, where he could hear music ; he forbad him the slightest exercise of that nature, and banished every kind of musical instrument far from the house. But he might as well have told the river that it was not to flow. Nature surmounted every obstacle to her decree. The precautions taken to stifle the instincts of the child served only to fortify by concentrating them. He found means to procure a clavichord, or dumb spinet,* and to conceal it in a garret, whither he went to play when all the household was asleep. This fact, incredible as it may appear, is positively aftirmed by Mainwaring, and both Hawkins and Burney also attach credit to it. Although the clavichord was a sort of square box, which was placed upon a table, we must at least suppose that either the nurse or the mother of the child were his accom- plices, and that he had acquired certain ideas upon the subject before music was forbidden him. However that may have been, Nature is said to have been his first teacher. Without any guidance, finding out every thing for himself, and merely by permitting his little fingers to wander over the key-board, he produced harmonic com- binations ; and at seven years of age, he discovered that he knew ho^v to play upon the spinet. If all this be not true, we must recognize in it one of those extraordinary fables in which the poetic imagination of the Middle Ages loved to conceal extraordinary truths. It was in the following manner that the poor father discovered his defect : — He had, by a former marriage, a son, who was valet-de-chambre to the reigning Duke of Saxe-Weisenfelds. He wished to go and visit him ; and George, who was then seven years old, and who was not acquainted with this brother, begged of his father to take him with him. When this was refused, he did not insist, but watched for the moment when the coach set ofl", and followed it on foot. The father saw him, * The strings were banded with strips of cloth, to deaden the sound. They were much used in the cells of nunneries. IIEPUPILOFSACKAU. 29 stopped the coach, and scolded him ; when the child, as if he did not hear the scolding, recommenced his suppli- cations to be allowed to take part in the journey, and at last (thanks to that persistence which predicted the man of energy which he eventually proved to be) his request was granted. When they had arrived at the palace of the duke, the boy stole off to the organ in the chapel as soon as the service was concluded, and was unable to re- sist the temptation of touching it. The duke, not rec- ognizing the style of his organist, made inquiries ; and when the trembling little artist was brought before him, he encouraged him, and soon won his secret from him. The duke then addressed himself to the father, and represented to him that it was a sort of crime against humanity to stifle so much genius in its birth. The old doctor was greatly astonished, and had not much to an- swer ; the opinion of a sovereign prince must have had, moreover, a great influence over the raind of a man who judged of musicians as we l\ave already seen. He per- mitted himself to be convinced, and promised, not with- out some regret, to respect a vocation wliich manifested itself by such unmistakable signs. Handel was present, his eyes fastened upon his powerful protector without losing a word of the argument ; never did he forget it, and forever afterward he regarded the Duke of Suxe- Weisenfelds as his benefactor, for having given such good advice to his father. On his return home, his wishes w^ere gratified, and he was permitted to take les- sons from Sackau, or Zackau, the organist of the Cathe- dral at Halle. Sackau was an organist of the old school, learned, fond of his art, adoring the fugue, the canon, and the counterpoint. He was not long in discovering what a pupil Fortune had sent to him. He began by carefully instructing him in general princii>les, and then laid before him a vast collection of German and Italian music which he possessed, sacred and profane, vocal and instrumental compositions of diflerent schools, difl'erent 30 LIFE OF HANDEL. styles, and of every master. They analyzed every thing together. When the pupil was from eight to nine years old, the master would set him to write a sacred motet or cantata weekly ; and these exercises, which consisted generally in fugues on a given subject, lasted for three consecutive years. There remain of that epoch "six trio-sonatas for two hautboys and a bassoon," of which, according to Burney, thei'e are copies in the library at Buckingham Palace ; but all my endeavors to discover them there have been utterly fruitless. While these studies were proceeding, the little Han- del continued to practice upon the harpsichord, and learned to play the violin, the organ, and, above all, the hautboy, then the object of his predilection.* This taste of his childhood explains, perhaps, the great number of pieces which he composed for that instrument. At that time, he discovered more than he learned. Sackau was every day more and more astonished at his marvelous progress, and, as he loved wine nearly as well as music, he often sent him to take his place at the organ on Sun- days whenever he had a good dejeiiner to take part in. At length, although he found him of great use, this worthy man confessed, with excellent and admirable pride, that his pupil knew more than himself, and ad- vised that he should be sent to Berlin, where he might strengthen himself by studying other models. The Elector of Brandenburg had at that time a well ap- pointed opera-house, and attracted to his court all that Italy produced that was remarkaljle in music. For his part, the old doctor instructed his son very regularly in Latin, secretly hoping to bring him, one day or other, over to his own ideas. But, being at length over-persuaded, he offered no obstacle to the proposed journey, which took place in 1696, under the protection of a friend of the family. f * Burney. + Mainwaring, Burney, and other uutliors, put the date of this jouruoy AT BERLIN. 31 Handel, being then eleven years of age, made the ac- quaintance at Berlin, of Attilio and Bononcini, two Ital- ian composers, wlioni suhsequently he was to meet again in London. Attilio, a simple and benevolent man, abandoned himself iieartily to the enthusiasm which the talents of the new-comer inspired; he praised him every- where, and made him play the harpsichord and the or- gan, without either of them appearing ever to grow tired. Bononcini, on the other hand, who had a harsh, somber, and jealous disposition, and who enjoyed a great and merited reputation, treated the little fellow with scorn. Tired of hearing his skillful execution praised, this man composed a cantata for the harpsi- at 1698, but this is evidently wrong. They all admit that Handel lost his father after his return from Berlin, and it seems to be certain that it was his father who recalled him from that city. But M. Forstemnun has proved, by the register of the parish of Ilalle, that the old doctor died on the 11th of February, 1697, at the age of seventy-five years. And, besides this, Maiuwaring is not consistent with himself; for he says Handel was sent to Sackau when he was seven years old, and tlien he continues, " during this interval of three or four years he had made all the improvements that were any way consistent with the opportunities it afforded ; but he was impatient for another situation, which should afford him better. Berlin was the place agreed on," [Mainwaring, p. 18.] After these words, Mainwaring adds, "it was in 1698 that he went to Berlin;" but 1698 would give thirteen years instead of eleven to the young organist. It was at Berlin (Mainwaring says again) that AttiUo "would often take him upon his knee, and make him play on his hai'psichord for an hour together." But a boy of tiiirteen or fourteen years is not usually taken upon the knee, and kept there for hours. In placing the journey to Berlin in 1696, not only is the positive date, as discovered by M. Forstemann, adopted, but a probability is given to the details furnished by Mainwariag,i which tiiey v/ould otherwise not pos- sess. 1. The Rev. John Mainwaring, the, anonymous author of the Memoirs of the Life of Handel, was a member of St. John's College, Cambndgo, and professor at that University. Born in 1705 (according to a note by Mr. Townsend), he was only twenty-five years old when he wrote his r.iography in 17G0. It is extremely useful for reference; but must, nevertheless, be read with caution. Maiuwaring gathered together many things that were generally unknown. He receiv: d notes from Smith, Handers secretary, but he did not examine what he wrota wLMi suf- ficient c.ir,^. He was not gifted with an analytical mind, and, therefore, he is fre- quently inexact 32 LIFE OF HANDEL. chord, which lie filled with a multitude of difficulties, and requested llaudel to play it ; feeling sure that even a professor of music could never decipher it without study. But the pupil of Sackau executed this formida- ble cantata at sight, as if it had been a mere bagatelle. Bononcini w\as amazed, and treated him thenceforw^ard as a rival. But Bononcini was a character ; and while he conceived hatred for a child, he was logical, and showed him the politeness due to a man. At Berlin, Handel passed for a prodigy. The elector, wishing to become the patron of so rare a genius, mani- fested a disposition to attach him to himself, and to send liim to Italy to complete his musical education. But when the father was consulted, he did not think it wise to enchain the future of his son to the court of Berlin, and he excused himself, saying that he w^as now an old man, and that he wished to keep near him the only son who remained to him ; and as in those days it was not prudent to oppose a prince on his own land, Handel was brought back somewhat hastily to his native town. The homage of which he had perceived himself to be the object, had by this time, doubtless, given him some notion of his superiority ; but this only rendered him more assiduous in his studies. What he had learned at Berlin had enlarged his ideas, and he set himself to work again with Sackau, seeking out the secrets of his art, analyzing the defects and the qualities of the diifereut masters of every nation, copying and composing large quantities of music, working constantly to acquire the most solid knowledge of the science. Study is the fer- tilizing agent, without which the richest and most fruit- ful of soils must soon become sterile.* * We read iu the Anecdotes of Handel and Smith : — " It has long been a matter of curious research, among the admirers of Ilandel, to discover any traces of his early studies. Among Mr. Smith's collection of music, now in the possession of his daughter-in-law, Lady Elvers, i is a book 1. She was the daughter of Mrs. Coxe, the -widow of Dr. Coxe, physician ex- DEATH OP HIS FATHER. 33 About tills time Handel contracted relations with another studious young composer, which was much to tlieir mutual benefit. Telemann, boin at Magdeburg, in 1681, says, m his notes upon his own life, which were in- trusted to Mattheson : " Soon after my arrival at Leipsic, the direction of the opera was confided to me. At this epoch, the pen of the excellent Mr. Jean Kubnau served me as a model in the fugue and the counterpoint; but as for the exercises of melody, I w^as in constant communi- cation with Handel, both by letter and verbally in the visits which we paid each other."* Leipsic is distant from Halle not more than six or seven leagues. This took place (according to Telemann) from 1*701 to 1703. Han- del praised warmly the facility which this companion of his studies possessed, and said that he could compose a piece of church music, in eight parts, in less time than another person would take to write a letter.f Handel's father died shortly after the return of his son from Berlin, in 1697, leaving him poor, and it became necessary to provide for his existence as well as his re- of manuscript music, dated 1698, and inscribed with the initials G. F. H. It was evidently a common-place book belonging to Handel, in the fonr- teenth. year of his age. The greater part is in his own hand, and the notes are characterized by a peculiar manner of forming the crotchets. It contains various airs, choruses, cai)ricios, fugues, and other pieces of music, with the names of cotemporary musicians, such as Zackau, Al- berti, Frobergher, Krieger, Kerl, Ebner, Strunch. They were probably exercises adopted at pleasure, or dictated for him to work upon by his master. The composition is uncommonly scientific, and contains the seeds of many of his subsequent performances." The precious " book of manuscript music," mentioned in this extract, is no longer to be found in Smith's collection. [See Appendix A.] What has become of it? * Grundlage einer Ehren-Pforte, etc. ; von Mattheson, Hamb Mirg, 1740. (Foundations for a Musical Triumphal Arch.) This very curious book is a biography of the musicians of the epoch. The articles on Handel, Kaiser, and Telemann, have been translated for me by my friend and companion in exile, Ur. Dick. t Musical B'oography. traordiuary to the king. Smith, himself a widower, but childless, married the \vidow Coxe ia 1705. — Anecdotes, etc., p. 56. 34 LIFEOF HANDEL. nown. Halle was too small to contain him. He wished to visit Italy, but not having the means of making such a journey, he went to Hamburg in the month of July, 1V03.* This town was, at that time, in the apogee of its commercial prosperity ; possessing a German opera-house which rivaled that of Berlin, and had for its composer- in-chief the Saxon Kaiser, a man of very great reputation. Handel commenced by entering this theater as violoii di ripie7io.\ He was, perhaps, willing to content him- self with so small a position, less through modesty than through vanity. The young man of eighteen years re- served to himself the satisfaction of enjoying the general surprise when his capacities should be discovered. This is rendered probable by what Mattheson says : " x\t first he played the violon di ripieno in the orchestra of the opera-house, and he acted the part of a man who did not know how to count five, for he was naturally prone to dry humor. But the harpsichordist being absent, he allowed himself to be persuaded to replace him, and proved him- self to be a great master, to the astonishment of every body, except myself, who had often heard him in pri- vate." Soon after his arrival at Hamburg, the place of the or- ganist of Lubec was ofiered for competition, upon the retirement of the old incumbent, Dietrich Buxtchude, and Handel, accompanied by Mattheson, went to canvass for the vacancy, on the lYth of August, lYOS. But they found a rather singular condition attached to the pro- gramme, which was, that the successor was to marry the daughter of the retiring organist ; and as this was not quite agreeable to them, they returned to Hamburg as happy as they went. This adventure, at the very outset of his career, a2:)pears all the more original, when we re- * Mattheson. t The insti-uments of ripieno are used in orchestral compositions to distinguish those j»arfe wliieh are only occasionally iutroduced to fill up and supply the chorus.— Busby's Dictionary qf Music. MATTUESON. 35 member that Handel never manifested any taste for matrimony. Mattheson was a young citizen of Hamburg, a com- poser, a singer, and an actor, very clever on the organ and the harpsicliord, and afterward a writer of astonish- ing fecundity. Born in 1G81, he prided himself, when eighty-three years old, on having written as many books ujion all sorts of subjects as he had lived years. Many of his works (from which Hawkins and Burney have largely drawn) swarm with documents on the history of music during that epoch. He had been one of the shoot- ing-stars of the musical firmament. At nine years of age he sang and accompanied himself upon the oi-gan in cantatas of his own composition ; at eighteen he v^^rote an opera, Les Pleiades^ in which he played tlie principal part ; at twenty-five he understood that Nature had de- ceived him, and as, in the midst of all his studies, he had learned the English language, he became secretary of the envoy of Great Britain, resident at Hamburg. He had known Handel from his arrival there. " I introduced him," says he, "to the opera, and to many houses where he played music ; which procured for him many pupils. He dined often with my father, whose table was open to him ; he taught me then a little counterpoint, while I, on my side, Avas very useful to him in dramatic style." Thus they were bound together by a friendship wiiich, at its commencement, was nearly coming to a terrible conclusion. Handel remained in the orchestra presiding over the harpsichord. On the 5th of December, 1704, was performed tlie opera of Cleopatra (Mattheson's third opera), in which the composer himself sang the part of Anthony. He was accustomed, after the death of Anthony, to conduct the remainder of the performance himself, to which Kaiser had never made any objection. But the pupil of Sackau was less accommodating, and refused, with very little reason, to give up the harpsi* chord when the resuscitated Anthony presented himself. 36 LIFE OF HANDEL. The other was naturally very much irritated at being de- jnived of his privilege as a maestro^ and at the end of the representation he left the tlieater with Handel, over- Avhelming him with reproaches. His complaints were not apparently received very graciously, for they had scarcely got out of the theater when the enraged Mat- theson administered to the oiFender a box on the ear ; swords were immediately drawn, and they fought there and then in front of the theater. Mattheson's weapon was shivered on a large metal button on the coat of his adversary, and this happy circumstance terminated the combat ; whereu})on Mattheson quotes from we know not what great philosopher: "If you break your sword uj^on your friend, you do not injure him so much as if you speak ill of him." And after this piece of naivete, he adds : " Thanks to a distinguished municipal coun- selor and to a director of the theater, we were recon- ciled. On the 30th of December following, I had the pleasure of having Handel to dine with me, and the same evening Ave assisted at the representation of his Almira, and we became better friends than ever. I recount this episode precisely as it happened, because a short time ago some malicious persons interpreted it in a diflerent manner." The narrator wrote this in 1740, when Handel was alive, and it was not contra- dicted.* Ahnira^ Queen of Gastille y or, tJie Vicissitude of Royalty — the first dramatic work of the composer of Halle — appealed on the 8th of January, 1705, and not in * Mainwaring's work, which transforms the duel into an attempt at assassination, fell into Mattheson's liands, and he made a translation of it in 1761, in which he repels such an insinuation with indignation ; ex- plaining that, far from taking his adversary unawares, "he gave him a blow, as a friendly warning to put himself on guard." He afterward exposes sharply all the blunders of tbe English writer, and ridicules above all his persistence in attributing to Handel only fourteen years when he arrived in Hamburg. [Barney. J In the "Anecdotes of Handel," tlie itttrmpt at assasd/iatiov. is also referred to as an error. [[bid.,p.Vt.] WORKS WRITTEN IX GERMANY. 37 1704, as the Musical Patriot erroneously states.* It was immediately followed, on the 25th of February, by Kero ; or, Love obtained by Blood and Murder ; then by Daphne and by Florinda (in my opinion) in 170G. Mattheson played the principal parts in these. Abaira, above all, he says, was very successful. f In spite of the position which he had acquired, Handel had not abandoned his design of visiting Italy, when a very tempting opportunity of doing so without expense presented itself. The brother of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Prince Gaston de Medici, whom he met at Hamburg, proposed that he should accompany him to Florence ; but he declined to accept the invitation.^ He had a spirit of independence which never deserted him, and Avhich manifested itself, as we see, at an early age. Although scarcely twenty-one years old, he liked better to wait than to be one of a prince's retinue ; and * Mattheson. t Thanks to the politeness of Dr. Gervinus, the Professor of Ilistoiy at Heidelberg, and of Dr. Chrysander, of Berlin [see Appendix B.], I learn that a copy of this opera, in the handwi'iting of Mattheson, and corrected by Handel, is in the Berlin Library. This is a most interest- ing discovery. The other three are unfortunately lost, and nothing is known about them. We have also to regret the cantatas, the sonatas, and a great quantity of vocal and instrn mental music, which the author of Almira composed at Hamburg. Mainwaring says, " two chests full were left at Hamburg." If, perchance, this book should fall into the hands of some amateur at Hamburg, I should recommend him to search the vast municipal library and the ancient archives of that city, and per- haps he may discover the whole or a part of these works. From Dr. Gervinus and Dr. Chrysander, I also learn that a German cantata of Handel on the " Passion" has been discovered in Germany. It was at first. doubted that the cantata, differing from his oratorio of 1717, on the "Passion," was truly his; but the researches of Dr. Chrysander have ended by convincing him that Handel was really tlie author of it, and that he wrote it at Hamburg for the Easter of 1704. My direct communications with Dr. Gervinus and Dr. Chrysander enable me to state that no other German music by Handel is known in Germany, than the Fasslon of 1717, the cantata on the Passion of 1704, and Al- mira of 1705. In addition to tliese, there are among the MSS. in Buck- ingham Palace nine German cantatas, sav:-ed and profane. X Mattheson and Main wan ng, p. 40. 38 LIFE OF HANDEL. when, apart from what he had sent to his mother, he had put aside two hundred ducats oat of his pay at the theater, and what he gained by giving lessons, he was able to set out alone, but free. He lirst of all turned his steps toward Florence, in which city we may conclude that he arrived about the month of July, 1 706, having resided three years at Hamburg. And here let me explain that vague expression, " we may conclude." It has been already stated in the preface that there are very few authentic documents to prove, with any certainty, the dates at which the earlier events of Handel's life occurred, and it is therefore necessary to have recourse to hypothesis. To justify my own dates, and to prove that my guides are mistaken, requires a dis- cussion which the greater number of readers may not care to follow. I have, therefore, devoted a somewhat lengthy note to this purpose, which may prove interest- ing to inquiring minds.* Handel remained in Florence until the end of 1706. There he produced Hoderigo^ for which the grand duke presented him Avith a service of plate and a purse con- taining a hundred sequins. The orchestration of this opera offers a singular peculiarity. In a martial song, wherein the use of the trumpet is absolutely necessary {Gid grida la tromha — "The trumpet now is sound- ing"), it is a hautboy that plays the pi-incipal part of the accompaniment. The trumpet, which is one of the most ancient of instruments, was certainly not unknown to Handel (there is one used in Silla., whicli he wrote shortly afterward at Rome) ; and all that we can suppose is, that at that time a trumpeter was not to be found in Tuscany ! After being entertained by Prince Gaston, Handel went on to Venice in January, arriving about the begin- ning of the carnival of 1707. There he made the ac- quaintance of Steffani, Domenico Scarlatti, Gasparini, * See Appendix C. LIFE IN HOME. 39 and Lotti. The Venetians wished to have a work from their renowned guest, and " in three weeks" he wrote Agrippina^ which was received with entliusiasm, the theater resounding with acclamations and cries of " Viva il caro Sassonef" — "Long live the dear Saxon !"* Being doubtless desirous of assisting at the celebrated Easter festivities of the Eternal Cit}^, the caro ^assoJie (as the Venetians called him) quitted them after a stay of three months, and arrived in Rome on the 4th of April, 1707. Among the MSS. at Buckingham Palace, there is a Dixit Dominus^ which bears this date, and a Laudate Pueri^ dated on the 8th of July in the same year. The oratorio of the Resurreczione is also dated "Roma, 4 d'Aprile, 1708." It is clear, therefore, that Handel remained at Rome for at least one year.f * Mainwaring. According to the same authority, it was in Agrippina that Handel first introduced the French-horn, which had been lately invented in France, but was almost unknown to the Italians. This appears to have been the general opinion in 1760, for we find the following note at the end of Mainwaring's book, as coming from " a gentleman who is a perfect master of the subject:" — "It is, I believe, an undoubted fact, that French-horns were never used there [in Italy] as an accompaniment to the voice till Handel introduced them." But this " undoubted fact" is disproved by the best of all authorities — the score of Aginppina itself, in which nothing at all resembling the French-horn is to be found. Water Music, of 1715, is the first work by Handel in wbich this instrument is to be met with, and he did not use it again before 1720, in Badamisto. And this long interval is not surprising, when we remember that, with the exception of the English serenata, Acis and Galatea, he wrote noth- ing but sacred compositions between Water Music and Badamisto. It is true that there are French-horns in what Walsh has published of Fast^/r Fido, but they only occur in the additions made in 1734 to the old score of 1712. t It is probable that during that time he wrote Silla, an opera entirely unknown, of which no author makes ony mention, and of which I have found many original fragments in the MSS. in Buckingham Palace, be- sides a complete copy. According to all appearance, Silla was never produced ; and Mr. Lacy has discovered that Handel used at least a third part of this opera for his Amadigi, in 1715. In the " Catalogue," under the date 1707, will be found a table of comparison for the two works. The air for the ghost of Dardanus, in Amadigi — " Han penetrato i detti tuo," of which Burney says, " here we have Handel's idea of the man- ner in which a ghost would sing" — is identical with the air of Claudio 40 LIFE OF HANDEL. From the memorandum of the Resurreczione^ it ap- peal's that it was written in the house of the Marquis de Riispoli. Young as he was, Handel also associated famil- iarly with Cardinal Pamphili: art and talent made them equals. This cardinal had such an admiration for the young composer, that it is said he wrote some verses in which he called him Orpheus. It is also said that Han- del set these verses to music. As there was something about Orpheus in them we may believe in the panegyric ; but surely his pride must have been tempered with too much good sense to sing it himself. What is more cer- tain is, that Pamphili wrote a Httle poem on the power of Time, II Ti'lonfo del Tempo^ of which the Saxon Orpheus made an oratorio ; which was performed at the house of another Cardinal, Ottoboni, who had an orches- tra at his own expense, conducted by Corelli, and wlio gave a great concert every week. Handel was at every period of his life perfectly reason- able ; but, according to his view, reason did not, as Avith in Silla — " Se'l mio mal da voi depende." Silli and Roderigo have no other choruses hut the final ones, hke ahnost all the early operas hy the same author. It was not the custom of his time to give more. Here it maybe mentioned that besides the violins and the violas, " due fiauti, due traversiere, due bassons, due trombe e cembalo, "i the MS. of the Besurreczione puts on the bass-line a "viola da gamba," a *' teorba," an " arci-liuto,''2 " violoncelli," and " violoni.'" The " violone" is the first name which was given by the Italians to the " contra-basso," or double-bass. As " violoncelli" and "violoni" are plural, there must have been at least two violoncellos and two double-basses : and this sup- poses a very large orchestra, for the number of violins must have been in propoi'tion to tlie bass-line. Here, also, we have an indiibitable proof that the violoncello was used in Italy in 1708, and is of older date than the musical dictionaries assert. 1 Two flutes, two German flutes, two bassoons, two trumpets, and a harspichord. 2 The viola da gamba (leg-viol) was a large viol, which was held upon the knee. It has been replaced by the violoncello. The teorba or tcorho (Ilandel makes use of both words) was a sort of large guitar, rounded at the back ; it is also used in the accompaniment to Athalm, produced in 1734. The liiito (lute) and arci-Uuto (double lute) were also stringed instru. lents, belonging to the same family as the guitar. We find a Unto in the orchestration of Dryden's Ode and of Hymen, pro- duced by Handel in 1739 and 1740. This was, perhaps, the last occasion of its appearance in the theater. THE CARDINAL OTTOBONI. 41 little minds, consist in immobility. From the beginning, he was a daring composer, enterprising, fond of new ways, an avoider of beaten tracks. The score of It Tri- onfo del Tempo^ which was written at a period when even scenic duets were still very rare, contained two long quartetts. The Resurreczione is printed in Arnold's edition of the Works of Handel :* II Trionfo del Tempo is still unedited. At Rome, Handel again met with Domenico Scarlatti, who was thought to be the best player on the harpsichord and the organ in all Italy, and Cardinal Ottoboni per- suaded them to compete with each other. Upon the harpsichord the victory was doubtful, but npon the organ, Scarlatti himself confessed the superiority of his clever antagonist. This rivalship (be it said to the honor of both) did not prevent them from entertaining the great- est esteem for each other. Handel always spoke of Scarlatti in the highest terms, and Mainwaring states (upon the authority of the brothers Plas, two celebrated players on the hautboy, who came from Madrid, where they met with Scarlatti) that " so oft as he (Scarlatti) was admired for his great execution, he would mention Handel and cross himself in token of admiration."f J * Foi- this edition, as for all others, see at the end of the " Catalogue," Publication of the Works of Handel. t Mainwaring, p. 61. X The Gentleman' H Magazine for March, 1760, gives some curious infor- mation as to the splendor which surrounded the prelate, with whom Handel seems to have been familiar during his stay at Eome : — " Cardi- nal Ottoboni died on February 17, aged 72. He advanced to the purple at the age of 22. He died possessed of nine abbeys in the Ecclesiastical States, five in that of Venice, and three in that of France, which last only amounted to 56,000 livres per annum. He was Dean of the Sacred College, and in that quality Bishop of Velletri and Ostia, Protector of France, Archpriest of St. John de Lateran, and Secretary of the Office of the Inquisition. He had a particular inclination, when young, to music, poetiy, and classical learning — composing airs, operas, and ora- torios. He made the greatest figut'c of any of the cardinals ; or, indeed, CHAPTER II. 1709—1720. Conclusion of '.he Journey to Italy — " Aci e Galattea"— Feenoh Songs — Journey to Hanover — A-Rrival in London — Commencement of the Italian Opera in England — " Einaldo" — Cantatas and Chamber Duets SAID TO BE COMPOSED IN HaNOVER — OdE FOR QuEEN AnNF/S BiRTH-DAY — Pastor Fido — Tesso — Utrecht Te Deum and Grand Jubilate — Thomas Britton — First Public Concerts in England — Haxdel settles in Lon- don — Water Music — '' Amadigi" — Tableaux Vivants — Heidegger — Jour- ney into Germany — Handel's German Oratorio, "The Passion'" — He becomes Chapel-master to the Duke of Chandos— Cuandos Anthems — The Character of Handel's Sacred Music. It has already been shown that Handel w^as at Rome hi April, 1708; and one of his manuscripts, belonging to the Granville family, and which has been shown to me by the kindness of the lady of Sir Benjamin Hall, en- ables us to follow him with certainty to Naples. It is that of the chamber trio, " Se tu non lasci amor,"* and is clearly signed in the large handwriting which Handel then used,^"G. F. Handel, li 12 Luglio^ 1708, Napoli." of any other person in Eome, for he had the soul of an emperor,i nor was there any princely notion bat what he endeavored to imitate, enter- taining the people with comedies, operas, puppet-shows, oratorios, aca- demics, etc. He was magnificent in his alms, presents, and entertain- ments at festivals. In his ecclesiastical functions he likewise showed great piety and generosity, and his palace was the refuge of the poor, as well as the resort of the virtuosi. In his own pai'isli he entertained a physician, surgeon, and apothecary, for the use of all that wanted their assistance." * On the hack of this MS. the fortunate proprietor has written, " this original of Mr. G. F. Handel's own handwriting, was given by him to Mr. Bernard Granville, and is the only copy extant, as Mr. Handel told him when he gave it to him as an addition to his collection of music." The descendants of Bernard Granville still possess many manuscript letters by Handel, written from Dublin to their ancestor. Lady Hall re- serves to herself the publication of these precious documents. 1. This can not be doubted, since he was Secretary to the Inquisition. "act, g a l a t t e a E P O L I f e m o." 43 A document so perfectly autlientic affords a new start- ing-point in rectifying tlie errors committed respecting this part of Handel's .life, and gives a great appearance of exactness to my conjectui-es as to preceding as well as subsequent periods. It is incontestable that he was at Naples on the 12th of July, 1708. According to all the authors, it was there that he wrote his Italian serenata, *' Aciy Galattea e Pol'ifemo''' (the textual title of the MS.) In this, every thing takes place between the three personages ; there is neither any division of acts, nor chorus, nor even an overture ; at least according to the present state of the MS. It is, indeed, more of a cantata for three voices with an orchestra than a sere- nata ; at any rate, it is not an opera, as Mr. Sterndale Bennett calls it in his preface to the English Acis^ pub- lished by the Handel Society. But whatever may be the title, this composition, written by the author when only twenty-three years old, and still unedited, is far from mer- iting oblivion. According to Mr. Lacy's analysis, the introduction between Aci (soprano) and Galattea (con- tralto)^ " Sorge il di," is full of grace, and its accom- paniment is of exquisite delicacy. " Se m'ami o caro," which Handel introduced into Pastor Fldo^ and which Burney calls " extremely plaintive and elegant," has a very original accompaniment of two violoncellos and a double-bass. The air of Aci, " Che non puo la gelosia," is profound in expression ; and his death-song, " Verso gia I'alma," is full of discordant harmonies and of the greatest ability. It may be indeed objected that it is rather too long for a dying man ; but Handel would doubtless have replied like Voltaire, when a physician accused him of prolonging the death of Merope, " True, but you should recollect that she was nqt attended by a physician." The air, " Qui I'augel di pianta in pianta," is a charming little Sicilienne, with a hautboy ohUgato from one end to the other, sometimes giving an echo to the voice, and sometimes forming a duet with it, and 44 LIFEOFUANDEL. always with infinite grace. When Handel produced his English Acis in 1732, he added to it many Italian pieces,* and, among others, this Sicilienne, for which he wrote a new accompaniment on the double-lute. Polifemo, who is well understood to be a basso, since he is a monster (and monsters, traitors, drunkards, tyrants, and soldiers, are always bassos — poor bassos !), has a love-scng, " Non sempre, no, crudele," entirely different from the cele- brated " O ruddier than the cherry" of the English Acis, but which is certainly a not less happy piece of barbarity. Whoever sang the part of Polifemo had certainly the most extraordinary voice for which music has ever been composed, and Handel ought to have left his name for the curiosity and astonishment of the world. One of his airs comprises a range of two octaves and five notes ! While he was in Italy, Handel composed many pieces of sacred music for the Roman Catholic form of worship, which are still unedited.f Among others, there is a grand Magnificat with a double chorus, from which, thirty years afterward, he drew five choruses and two duets for his Israel in Egypt. Thus it was that this extraordinary man found among the productions of his youth some things worthy to be added to the most powerful work of his genius in its maturity. We have also belonging to this period seven French canzonets. The songs of France at that time pervaded the whole world, and were generally composed of sim- ple and graceful words, such as would tempt him to compose music to them. J He did not, however, know * See " Catalogue." + See " Catalogue," 1707-9. X The following specimens will serve to justify this opinion : " Vous qui m'aviez procure une amour eteruelle, Vous que j'aimais si tendrement, Pouvez vous bien etre infidelle A votre plus fidelle araant. Je devrois vous reudre le change, Je devrois vous hair, ou je devrois changer, Mais si c'est par la qu'on se venge Je ne veux jamais me venger." IN SEAKCn OF EMPLOYMENT. 45 enough of French to set the silent e properly to music, but he made many corrections in pencil at a subsequent period ; and these emendations of such small matters, which were probably never destined by himself to see the light, afford a new proof of the indefatigable and conscientious perseverance with which he perfected the most insignificant of his works. Among them may be found a recitative of four lines which is quite worthy to be set apart — " Yous ne scauriez flatter ma peine." It is of splendid construction, and, what gives it a double interest, it is so much in the style of Gluck that one might suppose it to belong to that master. But Gluck did not exist then as a musician. After having remained at N'aples for a length of time, which is not precisely ascertained, the composer of Halle paid a second visit to Florence, Venice, and Rome, in search of employment -^ but, not finding any that suited him (for he was a Lutheran), he left Italy with an inten- tion to settle in Germany, but without knowing exactly upon which town he should fix.f First of all, he went to Hanover, with which he was as yet unacquainted ; and this was probably about the autumn of 1709. The " Nos plaisirs seront peu dui-ables, Le destiii a compt6 nos jours ; Ne songeons qu' ^ les rcndre aimablea, Puis qu'il les a rendus si courts," etc. " Petite fleur brunette, Aimable violette, Que ne puis-je avec vous cbanger raon triste sort ! Vous languissez dans le sein de silvie ; Je trouverois la vie Oii vous trouvez la mort." " Sans y penser a Tirsis j'ai sceu plaire, Sans y penser aussi Tirsis m'a sceu ebarmer. Amour prend soin de cette affaire, II pourrait bien se d^gager Sans y penser." * Mainwaring. + Mainwariug, Hawkins, and Burney. 46 LIFEOF HANDEL. Elector George of Brunswick, afterward George the First of England, was delighted to receive such a man in his principality, and offered to retain him as his chapel- master, at a salary of fifteen hundred ducats.* Hawkinsf pretends, and some other biographers have repeated after him, that the Abbe Steffani voluntarily resigned this post in his favor ; but it has been observed, with truth, that Steffani, who was a Catholic priest, could not have held such a position under a Protestant prince. What appears more probable is, that that graceful musi- cian (who was a bishop, and a diplomatist in his hours of leisure) manifested a great deal of benevolence toward the young Saxon. But Handel, for his part, was not very desirous of occupying this post. At the court of the elector he had already met some British noblemen, who had pressed him to visit England, and, being per- suaded by them to undertake that journey, he did not wish to engage himself except upon the condition of be- ing allowed to accomplish it. The condition was accept- ed, and he set out at the end of about ten months or a yeai'. In the mean time, what had he produced at Han- over ? It is difficult to suppose that he did not write something for the chapel of which he was director ; but it is certain that nothing is known which bears this date. In passing through Dusseldorf, he could scarcely tear himself away, for the elector palatine wished to keep him at any price. Thence he went to Halle, to embrace liis mother, who was now blind, and his good old master Sackau. Afterward he visited Holland, and arrived in London at the close of 1710. The fashionable world of London was at that time greatly interested in Italian music. In 1705, operas were given at Drury Lane Theater " on the Italian model," that is to say, with dialogues in recitative. Among others, Camilla (the music of which was chiefly bor- rowed from Marco Antonio Bononcini, the brother of * About £300 sterling, t Vide History of Music (Novello's Ed.), p. 673. ITALIAN OPERA IN LONDON. 47 the celebrated Giovanni Bononcini) was produced on the 30th ot* April, 1706, and was published by Walsh, These early works, compilations of Italian music applied to English words, were sung by English artists. In Janu- ary, 1708, they were removed to the theater in the Ilay- market, for the London Dally Post announced, " by an agreement between Swiny and Rich, the Haymarket is to be appropriated to operas, and Drury Lane to plays."* In the latter end of 1708, the celebrated evirato, the ChevaUer Nicolino Grimaldi, commonly called ISTicolini, arrived in London. For him and for Valentini (an evirato, who had preceded him in March, 1707) was reproduced the Pyrrlms and Demetrius of Alessandro Scarlatti, "adapted to the English stage by Haym, who composed a new overture and additional songs, w^hich have consid- erable merit."t They sang their parts in Italian, while the rest of the company sang in English. I have a copy of Pyrrhus^ and one of Conti's Clotilda (issued imme- diately afterward, in 1809), printed half in Italian and half in English, just as they were performed. Burney says, " I am very glad, for the honor of our country, that this absurdity was practiced in other countries as well as in England ; for Riccoboni, in his General His- tory of the Stage^ tells us that at Hamburg, in the early operas, sung in the Italian manner, the recitatlvos toere in the German language and the airs generally in Ital- ian.''^ Busby calls those macaronic pieces " galUmau- fries." The lirst work which was sung entirely in Italian, and by Italian artists, was Ahnahide^ by an unknown com- poser, which was produced at the Haymarket Theater in the month of January, 1710. The second was the Hy- * See Appendix D. t Vide Buniey. " Nicolo Francesco Haym was a native of Eome. He came to London about the year 1707, and engaged with Clayton and Dieupart, in the attempt to establish an Italian opera there." {Musical B'wgra-phy^ 1814, vol. ii.) He was afterward the author of many libret- tos, which were set to music by Handel. 48 LIFE OF HANDEL. daspes of Mancini, given on the 3d of May following ; but in order not to take the audience too much out of their own country, national music was given between the acts. The Daily Post announces Almahide^ " with English singing between the acts by Doggett, Mrs. Lind- say, and Mrs, Cross." Everywhere and in every thing there are the men of yesterday opposing the men of to- day ; the conservative party acting as the eternal enemies of progress. These attacked, in every possible manner, " the extravagant in- novation" of not singing foreign music, and above all Italian music, to English words. Addison, whom it is astonishing to find among them — Addison, who used himself to deride the Anglo-Italian operas, which he called " a confusion of tongues," attacked still more ve- hemently the " taste" of having a theater in which not a word could be understood. He says, wittily enough, that the amateurs of this country, tired with only under- standing the half of the piece, found it more convenient not to understand any; "it does not," says he, "want any great measure of sense to see the ridicule of this monstrous practice."* Addison, in the Spectator^ and his friend. Sir Richard Steele, in the TatUi\ expended a great deal of wit upon this ungrateful theme. But, in spite of all this, the luxury of an Italian opera has not yet been abandoned ; nor will it ever be in any civilized country. The audience think much less of the words that are sung than of the manner in w^hich they are sung and set to the music. The poem only serves to indicate the situation ; the words which express that are under- stood without difficulty, and it is easy to perceive whether the composer has properly interpreted them. The idiom of all operas, and of Italian operas especially, is the mu- sic — a universal idiom. Who knows the author who WTote the words of any single lyric masterpiece in Ger- many, France, or the banks of the Tiber ? What libretto * See Spectator^ No. 18. ADDISON AND STEELE. 49 has been so good as to survive the failure of its score ? Or what Ubretto so bad as to injure a fine score? Let the truth be spoken. In 1*707, Addison produced at Drury Lane a Rosamond in English, with music com- posed by Thomas Clayton, who (according to Busby) had acquired, in the course of a journey to Rome, a little taste and a great deal of conceit. Rosamond had not more than three representations, and Burney does not attempt to conceal that the shafts of the Sipectator against the Italians were intended by Addison to revenge the failure of his own Rosamond. It may be readily supposed, however, that the English musicians and sing- ers agreed with Addison in his criticism on the Italian mania. Carey says, in speaking of a foreign songstress, whom he does not name : " With better voice and fifty times lier skill, Poor Bobinson is always treated ill ; But, such is the good-nature of the town, 'Tis now the mode to cry the English down." " Poor Robinson," however, was not so poor after all ; for she left the stage, in 1724, to become the Countess of Peterborough. She had made her debut in 1714, while still very young, as a soprano ; but her voice deepened insensibly into a contralto. But in spite of Addison, Steele, and Carey, London did not abandon its passion for Italian operas. The poet Aaron Hill, then the director of the Haymarket Theater, re- garded the advent of Handel as a godsend. He made an English libretto out of the episode o^ Rinaldo and Ar- 'inida^ in Tasso's Jerusalem, Delivered^ which the chapel- master of Hanover set to music, while Giacomo Rossi translated it into Italian. Rossi was quite unable to keep pace with the composer, and the manner in which he asks pardon for the defects of his poem is rather humor- ous.* "The Signer Hendel," says he, "the Orpheus of » " Gradisci, ti prego, discretto lettore, questa mia rapida fatica, e se 3 50 LIFE OF HANDEL. our agx^, in setting to music tliis lay from Parnassus, has scarcely given me time enough to write it, and I have beheld, to my great astonishment, an entire opera har- monized to the last degree of perfection, in the short space of a fortnight, by this sublime genius. I pray you then, discreet reader, to receive my rapid work, and if it does not merit all your praises, at least do not refuse it your compassion — I would rather say your justice, re- membering how short a time I have had to write it in." Aaron Hill dedicated Minaldo to " Her Most Sacred Majesty Queen Anne : " Madam — Among the numerous arts and sciences which now distinguish the best of nations, under the best of queens. Music, the most engaging of the train, appears in charms we never saw her wear till lately; when the universal glory of your majesty's illustrious name drew hither the most celebrated masters from every part of Europe. "Madam — This opera is a native of your majesty's dominions, and was, consequently, born your subject," etc. The author-manager, who declares it to be his object " to give to two senses an equal pleasure," spared no ex- pense upon the mounting of the piece; and, among other innovations, he filled the gardens of Armida with living birds. Colley Gibber says, that "the elegance of the decorations and the beauty of the machinery were justly admired." Addison, hosvever, was not among the num- ber of admirers ; he protested against a score, the com- position of which had only occuj^ied a fortnight ; and he w^as very jocular about the live birds, which he called " sparrows." And wherefore ? Do the laws of theat- non raerita le tuc lodi, almeno non privarla del tuo compatimento, che diro piu tosto giustizia per un tempo cosi ristretto, poiche il Signer Hen- del, Orfeo del nostro secolo, nel porla in musica, a pena mi diede tempo di scrivere ; e viddi con mio gran stupore, in due sole settimane armo- nizata al maggior grade di perfezzione uu opera iutiera." — Hawkins. (( KINALDO." 51 riciil illusion absolutely require that theatrical birds should be of pasteboard ? But the truth is, that lii- naldo was the third opera purely Italian which had been played in London, and that was three times as much as Avas necessary to attract the satiric lightning of the Spec- tator. O, Rosatnond ! The first representation took place on the 24th of February, 1711, with immense success. Superior to any thing that had yet been heard, and bearing quite a new stamp, Rlncddo at once established the reputation of its author in this country. On its appearance, it was played fifteen times without intermission — a rare occurrence in those days. Like all the operatic heroes of that time, the part of Rinaldo is written for an evirato, and, there- fore, may be sung also by a woman contralto. It was revived in 1713, with Mrs. Barbier in Rinaldo; and, in 1714, Signora Diana Vico replaced Mrs. Barbier; Nico- lini, the creator of this part, sang it again at Naples in 1718, after having reappeared in it at London in 1715 and 1717. Rinaldo was also taken to Hamburg in 1715. The author of ^^mzmhad left a great reputation in that place, where many of his works were performed, whether in Italian or translated into German.* The cavatina in the first act, " Cara sposa^^" was to be found, in 1711, upon all the harpsichords of Great Britain, as a model of pathetic grace. The march was adopted by the regi- ment of Life Guards, who played it every day upon parade for forty years. According to Burney, it was the march in Scipio that had that honor ; but that of Ri- naldo may be found arranged for the harpsichord, under the title of " The Royal Guards' March," in the Lady's Banquet^ a selection of music for the harpsichord, pub- * See Mattheson. Amadigi, under the name of Oriana, in 1717; Agrippina, 1718 ; Badamisto, under the name of Zenoiia, 1721 ; Muzio and Florldante, in 1723 ; Tamerlane^ Giulio Cesare, and Ottone, 1725 ; Bicardo, 1729; Ammeto, 1730; BodeUnda, 1734; and Pow, under the name of Cleojida^ 1732. It seems that the people of Hamburg were not fond of masculine names to operas. 62 LIFEOF HANDEL. lished in 1*720.* Like the regiments themselves, marches have their clays and their strokes of fortune ; and this one, after a long and honorable existence, was subse- quently pressed into the service of the highway robbers. Twenty years later, Pepusch made out of it the Robbers' Chorus in the Beggar's Opera — "Let us take road." The brilliant morceau in the second act of Rinaldo^ " II tri-Cerbero," was also set to English words, "Let the waiter bring clean glasses," and was a long time the most popular song at all merry-makings. But what shall be said of " Lascia che io pianga ?" Stradella's divine air, " I miei sospiii," has nothing more moving or more profoundly tender. It has been asserted that in music the heau ideal changes every thirty years ; but that is an ill-natured criticism. Certain forms of accompaniment may grow out of fashion, like the cut of a coat ; but a fine melody remains eternally beautiful and always agree- able to listen to. The Hundredth Psalm of the Middle Ages is as magnificent to-day as it was when, three or four centuries ago, it came from the brain of its unknown composer; and so "Lascia che io pianga," and "I miei sospiri," will be admirable and admired to the end of the w^orld. Walsh, the publisher, was said to have gained £1500 sterling from the publication of Rinaldo^ which drew from Handel this complaint : " My dear sir, as it is only right that we should be upon an equal footing, you shall compose the next opera, and Z will sell it."t Rinaldo was sung by a company exclusively Italian. Boschi, the basso, distinguished himself, it would appear, by a voice of great volume, and a vigorous style of acting. In a satire against the prevailing taste for harlequinades (" Harlequin Horace, or the Art of Modern Poetry," 1735) may be found this line — " And Boschi-like, be always in a rage ;" * See " Catalogue"— Article, Rinaldo^ 1711. f Hawkins. VISIT TO nALLE. 53 with this note : " A useful performer, for several years, in the Italian operas, for if any of the audience chanced un- happily to be hilled to sleep by these soothing entertain- ments, he never failed of rousing them up again, and by the extraordinary fury both of his voice and action, made it manifest that, though only a tailor by profession, he was 7ii7ie times more a 7iian than any of his fellow- warblers." After staying six or seven months in London, the young chapel-master of the court of Hanover was ob- hged to return to his post ; but he was not permitted to go before the English court, and the public had ex- j)ressed the greatest regret at losing him ; and Queen Anne, who admitted him to take a ferewell leave, made him promise to return as soon as he could obtain the per- mission of his sovereign. On his way back, he again found time to pay a visit and embrace his dear mother ; and according to the reg- isters of Notre Dame de St. Laurent, at Halle, we find that in the year 1711 he stood godfather in that church to his niece, Johanna Michael sen.* Hughes's " Correspondence" furnishes the following documents, which may be given textually : — Mr. RoNERf TO Mr. Hughes.J " Ce Mardi, 31st Juillet, 1711. *' Monsieur, — Ayant re^eu ce matin une lettre de Mr. Hendel, j'ai cru ne devoir pas manquer a vous en com- muniquer aussitot un extrait qui vous regarde, et qui est ime reponse au compliment dont vous m'aviez bien voulii charger. Je lui ecrirai Vendredi prochaine ; ainsi, vous n'aurez, si vous plait, qu' a m'envoyer ce que vous aurez * Forstemann. + Andrew Eoner, a German. He was a music-master and something of a composer. X John Hughes, an agreeable poet, painter, and musician. He died in 1720. 54 LIFE OF HANDEL. destine pour liii ; et je puis, Monsieur, vous assurer que si I'honneur de votre souvenir lui fait un sensible plaisir, je n'en sens pas moins par le raoyen que j'aurai par la de faciliter votre correspondance et de vous donner une preuve de la consideration extreme avec laquelle j'ai I'honneur d'etre. Monsieur, votre tres humble et tres obeissant serviteur, A. Ronek." Extrait de la Lettre de 31. Handel. " Faites bien mes compliments a Mr. Hughes. Je pren- drai la liberte de lui ecrire avec la premiere occasion. S'il me veut cependant honorer de ses ordres, et d'y ajouter ime de ses charmantes poesies en Anglois, il me fera le plus sensible grace. J'ai fait, dejjuis que je suis parti de vous, quelques progres dans cette langue," etc.* After his return to Hanover, it is generally said that Handel composed there for the Princess Caroline (the step-daughter of the elector) the thirteen chamber duets and the twelve cantatas printed in Arnold's edition. There are one hundred and fifty cantatas and twenty- * :Me. Eonee to Mb. Hughes. " Tuesday, 31st July, 1711. "Sir, — Having this morning received a letter from Mr. Handel, I thought it my duty to communicate to you, as soon as possible, an ex- tract which concerns you, and which is a reply to the compliment which you wished to send by me. I shall write to him on Friday next, and therefore, if you please, you have only to send me whatever you intend for him, and I can assure you, Sir, that if the honor of remembering you gives him such pleasvire, I can not feel less on account of the means which I shall thereby have for facilitating your correspondence, and for giving you a proof of the extreme consideration with which I have the honor to be, Sir, your very humble and most obedient servant, " A. EONER." Extract from Mr. HandeVs Letter. " Pray give my compliments to Mr. Hughes. I shall take the liberty of writing to him by the first occasion. In the mean time, if he will honor me with his commands, and will add to them one of his charming poems in English, he will do me the greatest kindness. Smce I have left you, I have made some progress in the language," etc. RESIDENCE IN HANOVER. 65 four chamber-duets by him, and it would be difficult to determine the precise pieces which were produced at the little German court. JMainwaring opines that the words of the twelve cantatas, which are supposed to have been written at Hanover, were written there by the Abbe Hortentio Mauro ; but then it is necessary to suppose that the Elector George (who had already the Abbe Steffani with him) must have had a predilection for Catholic priests, such as few Lutheran princes usually entertain. The thirteen duets contain thirty-five stro- phes, or different movements ; the twelve cantatas in- clude twenty-five recitatives and twenty-eight airs. "Whether these works were composed at Hanover or not, Handel produced nothing else while he remained there. But, indeed, his stay was not very long. The place was too small for that mighty genius, and he could not forget the triumphs of London : so he demanded a new leave of absence, and reappeared in England in the month of January, 1712, at the latest ; for his Ode for Queen Anne''s Birth-day* (which Barney dates 1713) was sung on the 6th of February, 1712. All the authors concur in stating that he remained in Hanover one year, and it certainly seems not a little extraordinary that the elector should have permitted his chapel-master to escape from him again so quickly; but the evidence of authentic documents is not to be r<^sisted. The Theatri- cal Register for "March 22, 1712, N.S." (Xew Style), announces : — " For Signor Xicolini's Benefit. The music performed before the queen on her birth-day, and the famous scene in Thomyins^ by Scarlatti." Although the name of Handel does not appear here, the date suggested by Burney, and the precise date given in the Theatrical * Queen Anne was born in London on the 6tli of February, 1664. It is curious enough that among so many historical works, of whicli tlie lives of kings and queens form the only pivot, this date is very difficult to find. I am indebted to Dr. Kimbault for it. In the Daihj Journal^ for the 7ih of February, 1733, may be read—" Yesterday, being the birth-day of her late majesty Queen Anne," etc. 66 LIFE OP HANDEL. Hegrister, are too near to each other to permit us to doubt that it was any other tlian his ode, composed of airs, duets, aud choruses, which NicoHrii sung on the 22d of March, 1712. Without being able to discover whence it was that Burney obtained his date of 1713, it is proba- ble that he adopted it in order to agree with the general opinion that Handel spent an entire year at Hanover. The journals of the epoch do not make any mention of the work, and the original MS. (by exception) is undated. Eccles also composed an ode for the birth-day of Queen Anne ; but that was in 1707, or, at any rate, it was pub- lished in that year by Walsh ; and it is not likely that it would have preserved its renown until 1712, sufficiently to serve for the attraction at a benefit ; and if (as is probable) it was Handel's ode, it belongs still more cer- tainly to February, 1712, since Nicolini quitted England in June, 1712.* He was replaced by Yaleriano, the creator of the principal parts in Pastor Fldo^ which was produced on the 21st of November following ; and in Theseus^ produced on the 10th of January, 1713.f * Spectator^ 14th Jnne, 1712; quoted by Bnmey, page 2S3. t The production of the former of these operas took place (says Col- man) " at the usual price— of boxes, 8s. ; pit, 5s ; and gallery, 2s. 6d." According to the same authority, at the early performances of Theseus^ "boxes and pit together" were half a guinea, and afterward "at the usual price." The usual prices of places were, therefore, at that time, 8s. for the boxes, 5s. for the pit, and 2s. Gd. for the gallery — something less than one half of what they are to-day ; but the managers had the right to risk an augraentatien whenever they deemed it necessary. Pastor Ficlo was dedicated by Giacomo Eossi, the author of the libretto " to the most illustrious Lady Anna Cartwright." It was often revived, and un- derwent many alterations during its long career. An analysis of these will be given in the " Catalogue." Mattheson says that the English sovereigns could not have a foreign chapel-master, and that on the 291 h of August, 1729, he received from the Crown-office, at Whitehall, a note, stating that the king had given to his chapel-master, John Eccles, Esq., and to each of the thirteen musi- cians under his orders, the following livery, which was annually bestowed upon them;— Fourteen yards of camlet, to make a long clerical robe: three yards of black velvet for the borders of the robe ; a fur lining in lambskin ; eight yards of black damask for a coat ; eight of fine cotton THE UTRECHT TEDEUM. 57 Apcart from their intrinsic beauty, these two great works were altogether novelties for England. In the article " Te Deuiii," in Bees's Ct/clopcedia, we are told, " Handel's elaborate compositions, so new, forcible, and masterly, must have had a great eifect on an English congregation, who never heard ecclesiastical music so ac- companied. Instrumental music, except organ-playing, was but little cultivated in our country during Purcell's time. But Handel, besides his experience in Germany, had heard operas and masses performed by great bands in Italy, with such effects as were unknown in our coun- try till he came hither to teach us." The Te Deimi and the Jubilate w^ere executed on the 7th of July, IVIS : it is not precisely known where. Queen Anne does not seem to have had much regard for her Parliament. The Post Boy of the 2d of July an- nounces that " her majesty, accompanied by the Houses of Lords and Commons, goes the 7th to St. Paul's, being the day appointed for the thanksgiving." But the same for the lining of the coat ; three yards of velvet for a "waistcoat, or justr- a«co/;p5 ; and three yards of parget for the lining of the same." It ap- pears certain, therefore, that in England music was formerly encouraged as a trade, since foreign productions were officially excluded. In Ar- buthnofs satire, Harmony in an Uproar (1733), an account is given of a journey to the moon, during which the author becomes composer to the opera-house in the moon : — " And I should have enjoyed the same sta- tion in the court chapels and public temples, only that place could not be conferred upon a foreigner. Yet, upon all solemn occasions they were obliged to have recourse to me for their religious music, though their ordinary services were all composed and performed by blockheads that were natives; they claiming, from several laws, a right hereditary to have the places in their temples supplied with fools of their own coun- try." This was Handel's own story, told in Voltaire's style ; for Einaldo and Pastor Fldo had already gained for him so much reputation, that when the peace of Utrecht was concluded, on the 31st of March, 1713, ' he was selected (in spite of the barbarous law), before all the native musicians, and before Eccles, the official composer of the chapel royal, to write the songs for the solemn thanksgiving. The Te Deum and grand t/w^Z/a^e which he composed for that occasion are still distinguished by the name * ' Utrecht." In spite of their Latin titles, they are in En- clish, according to the usage of the Anglican Church. 68 LIFEOFHANDEL. journal of the 4th instant informs the public that "her majesty does not go to St. Paul's, July the 7th, as she designed, but comes from Windsor to St. James's, to return thanks to God for the blessings of peace."* It remains, however, to be ascertained, whether the music and the Houses of Lords and Commons left the metro- politan cathedral in order to follow the queen to the chapel of St. James's. Nevertheless, the queen reward- ed Handel very munificently with a pension for life of £200.t His success as harpsichordist was equal to that which he enjoyed as a composer. He very often played solos in the theater. In the edition oi Rinaldo^ Armida's air, " V6 far Guerra," is printed " with the harpsichord piece performed by Mr. Hendel." A representation of Teseo is advertised for the 16th of May, 1713, "for the benefit of Mr. Hendel, with an entertainment for the harpsichord. "J; He played also at the house of Thomas Britton, a man who deserves particular mention. Thomas Britton belonged to that class of men whom persons of limited views are accustomed to term the loioer orders of society ; for he gained his daily bread by cryhig small coal, which he carried about the streets in a sack upon his shoulders. He lived near Clerkenwell Green, a quarter of the town with which fashionable people were scarcely acquainted before he made it illus- trious. How it came to pass that he learned to play upon the viola da gamha% is not known ; but he played upon it, and he was so much of an artist, that he.grouped around him a number of amateurs, who were happy to perform concerted music under his direction. Hawkins has collected many of their names : — John Hughes, the author of the Siege of Damascus / Bannister, the violinist ; * Kees's C//dopcedla— Article, " Te Deura." t Anecdotes, page 15. X See Theatrical Register. § It is, therefore, an error to suppose that the mola da gamla was in- troduced into England by Attilio in 1721. The instrument which he imported was the viol d''ainour. BRITTON, THE SMALL-COAL MAN. 59 Henry Needier, of tlie Excise-oflice ; Robe, a justice of the peace ; Sir Roger L'Estraiige, gentleman ; Woolas- ton, the painter ; Henry Symonds ; Abiell Wichello ; and Obadiah Shuttleworth. At fii-st tliey admitted their friends to these reunions, and little by little the circle of auditors increased, until it included some of the most distinguished persons in the town. Britton was the ten- ant of a stable, which he divided horizontally by a floor ; on the gi-ound floor was his coal-shop. The upper story formed a long and narrow room, and it was in this cham- ber (in which it was scarcely possible to stand upright, and where, when he had escaped the dangers of the little dark winding stair-case, the visitor found no sort of convenience) that the first meetings in the nature of pri- vate concerts took place in England, and instrumental music was first played regularly. Here it was that from 1678 to 1714 (the period of liis death) the itinerant small-coal merchant weekly entertained the intelligent world of London at his musical soirees, always gratui- tously. Among others the Duchess of Queensbury, one of the most celebrated beauties of the court, v,-as very regular in her attendance. All newly-arrived artists were ambitious to appear there. Dubourg,* the violin- ist, played there immediately on his arrival, when he was from nine to eleven years old. Pepusch and Handel played the harpsichord and the organ there. Hawkins mentions, as a proof of the great consideration ^vhich Britton acquired, that he was called " Sir ;" and many persons, unable to believe that a man of that class, and of such a business, could arrive, by natural means, to be called " Sir," took him for a magician, an atheist, and a Jesuit. t The small-coal dealer w^as indeed something of * Dubourg:, who aftem'-ard attached himself to Handel, was, like him, a precocious boy. The Theair'ical Register has an advertisement for the 19th of April, 1716, of "A concert for Mr. Mathieu Dubourg, the youth of thirteen years of age." + The word "Jesuit" is evidently put last by Hawkins, in obedience to the law of gradation, as being the most terrible of the three. 60 LIFE OF HANDEL. a magician, inasmucli as he was fond of old manuscripts, of which he bought as many as his business would per- mit him to do. At his death (in Septeinber, 1V14) he left behind him a very fine collection — the catalogue of which was printed — and also a great many instruments, among which was a harpsichord, and " an organ, fit for a room." Woolaston painted two portraits of his friend Britton, and Hawkins has given one of them among the portraits in his History of Music. This extraordinary man is represented in a kind of dustman's hat, a blouse, and a neckerchief knotted like a rope. John Bannister, of whom Crosse says that he was " the first Englishman who distinguished himself on the violin," had attempted something like a public concert in 1672. In the 3Iemoirs of Mustek^ by Roger North (attorney-general under James the Second), we are told : " The next essay was of the elder Bannister, who had a good theatrical vein, and in composition had a lively style peculiar to himself. He procured a large room in Whitefryars, near the Temple back gate, and made a large raised box for the musicians, whose modesty re- quired curtains. The room ^vas rounded with seats and small tables, ale-house fashion. One shilling w^as the price, and call for what you pleased. There was very good musick, for Bannister found means to procure the best hands in towne, and some voices to come and per- form there ; and there wanted no variety of humour, for Bannister himself {inter alia) did wonders upon flageo- lett to a thoro' base, and the severall masters had their solos. This continued full one winter, and more I re- member not." Hawkins* extracts the advertisement of these con- certs from the London Gazette for the 30th of Septem- ber, 1072 : — "These are to give notice, that at Mr. John Bannister's house (now called the musick-school), over against the George Tavern, in White Fryers, this present * Pu^e 763. WATER MUSIC. 61 Monday will be mnsick performed by excellent masters, beginning precisely at four of the clock in the afternoon, and, every afternoon for the future, precisely at the same hour." But to continue. When Handel found himself in Lon- don, sought after, admired, and in universal request, he could never makeup his mind to return to Hanover; and thus he was guilty of forgetting his promise, in or- der to remain upon a stage more proportioned to the power and activity of his mind. It was for this reason that he was in no great hurry to present himself to the new king, when the Elector, George of Brunswick, suc- ceeded Queen Anne, who died on the 1st of August, 1714. George the First arrived in England on the 18th of September, 1714, and was crowned at Westminster on the 20th of October following. He was all the more irritated against his truant chapel-master for having written the Te Deum on the Peace of Utrecht, which was not favorably regarded by the Protestant princes of Germany. A Hanoverian baron named Kilmanseck, a gi-eat admirer of Handel and a friend of George the First, undertook to bring them together again. - Being informed that the king intended to picnic upon the river Thames, he requested the artist to compose something for the occasion. Handel wrote the twenty-five little pieces of concerted music known under the name of Water Music, and caused them to be executed in a barge which followed the royal boat. The orchestra w^as somewhat numerous ; for it consisted of four violins, one viol, one violoncello, one counter-bass, two hautboys, two bassoons, two French-horns, two flageolets, one flute, and one trumpet. King George had no difiiculty in rec- ognizing the author of the symphonies, and he felt Iiis resentment against Handel begin to soften. Shortly after- ward, Geminiani, the violinist, a celebrated pu|)il ofCorelli's school, was about to play in the king's j^rivate cabinet some sonatas which lie had composed, but fearing that 62 LIFE OF HANDEL. tliey would lose much of their effect if they were accom- 23anied in an inferior manner, he expressed a desire to be assisted by Handel. Kiiraanseck carried the request to the king, supporting it strongly with his own recom- mendation ; and eventually George the First consented, and, to seal the peace, added a pension of £200 to that which the fugitive from Hanover already held from the bounty of Queen Anne. Handel was subsequently ap- pointed music-master to the daughters of the Prince of Wales (afterward George the Second), and for this he received out of the privy purse of the princess (after- ward Queen Caroline) a third pension of £200. The excellent Kilmanseck, who rendered this good service to Handel, was somewhat of a composer. In the Lady''s Banquet there are two or three little pieces for the harpsichord by him. The water-party which has been mentioned, was quite a fete. Malcolm has given an account of it in his chatty book: "August 22, 1715. The king, the Prince and Princess of Wales, and a large party of nobility, went in barges with music from Whitehall to Limehouse. When they returned in the evening, the captains of shipping suspended lanterns in their rigging, and the houses on both sides of the river were illuminated, and incredible number of boats filled with spectators attended on the royal party, and cannons were continually fired dur- ing the day and evening." ]VJalcolm mentions another splendid aquatic procession of the same kind which took place in July, 1717, for which he says Handel expressly composed music. This is a mistake. Water Music was perhaps repeated in 1717, but it was written for the party of August, 1715, since it served to reconcile the composer and the king shortly after George the First's accession to the throne. Besides, as will presently be seen, Handel did not pass the year 1717 in England. But before his reconciliation with the king, that is to say, in the month of May, 1715, he had produced at the TASTE FOR PARODIES. 63 theater in tlie Haymarket a new opera, Amadlgi^ which gave occasion to great eiforts in the way of decoration and costumes. Advertised for Saturday, the 21st of May, it was put oft" to the 25th, " all the clothes and scenes being new, with variety of dancing;" and on the 25th of May, the day of its first representation, the fol- lowing advertisement appeared : " And whereas there is a great many scenes and machinery to be moved in this opera, which can not be done if persons should stand on the stage, where they could not be without danger, it is therefore hoped nobody, even the sub- scribers, will take it ill that they must be deny'd en- trance on the stage."* In the eighteenth century, when manners were so corrupted and the language so full of oaths, another vulgarity was in vogue — a taste for parodies. There was nothing so serious as not to be immediately turned into ridicule, and at the little theater in Lincoln's Inn Fields a burlesque Amaclls was immediately produced, "with all the sinkings, flying, and usual decorations. And whereas there is many scenes," etc., etc. Among the decorative novelties at the King's Theater a certain fountain seems to have made a great sensation, according to the following advertisement: "June 20th, 1716. By Command. For the instrumental musick, Amadis — with all scenes and clothes belonging to the opera, particidarly the fountain 8ce7ie?'^\ Foimtains for the stage, with water, are perhaps, after all, only a re- vival of the invention of 1716 ; and it may be observed, by the way, that tableaux viva7its are not very much more modern. The thing itself, if not the name, may be found in the advertisement of the Dalli/ Courant for the 6th of April, 1710 : " For Betterton's benefit and last ap- pearance, the Maid's Tragedy. To which will be added, three designs, representing the principal actions of the play, in imitation of so many great pieces of history •ical Register. t Malcolm. 64 - LIFEOF HANDEL. painting^ where nil the real persons concerned in those actions will be placed at proper distances, in different positions, peculiai- to the passion of each character. This has been often performed in the theaters abroad, but never yet attempted on the English stage." Bur- ney, who speaks of Amadis as a masterpiece, quotes es- pecially the air " S'estinto el' idol mio ;" and every one who has heard it will agree with him that it is one of the most magnificent of Handel's magnificent inspirations. He adds, "the bright and brilliant tone of the violins playing in octaves, from which so many pleasing effects have lately been produced, seems to have been first dis- covered by Handel in the accompaniment of the cavatina ' Sussurrate onde vezzose,' which must have delighted and astonished every hearer." The people of Rome had already, in 1708, enjoyed the novelty of 1715, for in the orchestration of the Resurreczione " violini all' ottava" occurs twice. The poem of Amadigi is signed, in right of his author- ship, by tlie new manager, James Heidegger, commonly called the " Swiss Count." He was said to be the ugliest man of his time ; and his portrait, in that character, was engraved at least ten or twelve times. Lord Chesterfield wagered that it was impossible to discover a human being so disgraced by nature. After having searched through the town, a hideous old woman was found, and it was agreed that Heidegger was handsomer. But as Heidegger was pluming himself upon his victory, Ches- terfield required that he should put on the old woman's bonnet. Thus attired, the Swiss Count appeared hor- ribly ugly, and Chesterfield was unanimously declared the winner, amid thunders of applause.* This man, who made so light of a joke at his own ex- pense, dedicated the libretto of Amadis to the Earl of Burlington, saying that the music had been composed at the earl's house.f The poem of Teseo is also dedicated * Malcolm. t Burn e v. " A M A D I S ." 65 to the same person by Nicolo Haym. Many of the great contested the honor of having the celebrated Saxon nnisician near them. In the first place, he passed an entire year at the honse of a private gentleman (Mr. Andrews*), and afterward (about the year 1716) he ac- cepted the hospitality of Lord Burlington, requiting it by directing the musical soirees of that celebrated ama- teur, who had built for himself " a house in the middle of the fields," near the town. When the king asked him why he w^ent so far to live, he replied that he was fond of solitude, and that he was certain that he had found a place where no one would come and build beside him. It is a hundred and thirty years since he said this. The aristocratic quarter was then in the Strand and Charing Cross ; yet Piccadilly, where the house of this solitary lord is to be found, is now one of the most central and fashionable spots in London. At the house of this noble- man, Handel acquired the friendship of Pope, Gay, and the shrewd Arbuthnot, who sided wdth him in the day of trial. Gay, in his prosaic poem. Trivia^ oi\tlie Art of Walking the Streets of London^ has seized the occa- sion, in passing before the " fair palace" of Picadilly, to record the fact of Handel's residence there : "There Henclel strikes the strings, the melting strain Transports the soul, and thrills through every vein ; There oft I enter." Trivia, book ii. Handel wrote one of the six hautboy concertos speci- ally for a representation of Amadls given on the 20th of Jime, 1716, for the benefit of the orchestra. f From that time up to 1718, all trace of him in England is lost. Did he remain with Lord Burlington, inactive and dumb, during all that space of time ? There are many 2:)roofs to induce us to believe the contrary.^ * Anecdotes, p. 16. + Burney and Colman. X In the Anecdotes of Handel and SmitJi [p. 37] it is recorded that "when Handel arrived at Anspach, in 1716, J. C. Smith renewed an ac- 66 LIFE OF HANDEL. It accords with probability that Handel followed George the First to Hanover in July, 1716, and re- mained some time with Prince Frederic, after the return of the king to England. It was probably during this stay in Hanover (in 1717) that he wrote his German oratorio, Tlie Passioti. Mattheson says : — " At Ham- burg was played Handel's Passion^ which he had com- posed in England, and sent by the post in a score writ- ten very minutely. My oratorio was sung in 1718 in preference to his and to that of Telemann, although they qnaintance whicli had commenced at Halle, and soon became so cap- tivated with that great mastei-'s powers that he accompanied him to England, where he regulated the expenses of his public performances, and filled the office of treasurer with great fidelity." This Smith was the father of Christopher Smith, who was born in 1712, and whose name is associated with that of the composer in tlie title-page of these "Anec- dotes." As this little work (which is dedicated to Peter Coxe) is very generally attributed to the Keverend William Coxe, who was tlie step- son of Smith, it evidently embodies many family recollections,^ and it is difficult to believe that this account given of the arrival in London of the first Smith is not a faithful tradition. It appears, moreover, so nat- ural to the writer that he does not even take the trouble to explain the presence of the composer at Anspaeh. Mattheson, for his part, says in the Eliren-Pforte : " In 1717, Handel was at Hanover with the heredit- ary prince elector, now King of England. I received from him at this date letters, dated from Hanover, on the subject of my work upon the orchestra, which I had dedicated to him and other musicians." If we observe the coincidence of these assertions, proceeding from authors who had every opportunity of being well-informed, and if we consider the lacuna which appears in the life of the composer precisely at this epoch, it seems almost certain that he passed in Germany at least a part of 1716, 1717. The Daily Courant tells us that George the First went to Hanover on the 7th of July, 1716, and came back again on the 18th of January, 1717, and that the Prince of Wales went to meet him on his return home. The Prince of Wales was then Prince George, afterward King George the Second. Mattheson must have made a mistake, for it was doubtless Frederic, the son of the future George the Second, who, at eleven years of age, was residing at Hanover. 1 In spite of that, however, it only merits a limited confidence. It was pub- lished in 1799, after the death of Smith, the son. The editor only wrote from memory, and, according to all appearance, he had no notes to refer to, for he com- mits many palpable mistakes. He does not even give the birth-place of Handel correctly, for, instead of Halle, he says that the great composer was born at Hall, in 1786. THE GERMAN " PASSION." 67 were much older than mine." Handel's Passion was, therefore, executed in Hamburg before 1718 (probably in 1717), since Mattheson speaks of it as a recent thing. He affirms, it is true, tliat it was sent from England ; but it has been shown that Handel was at Hanover about the middle of 1716 and during 1717. It is, therefore, more probable that it was sent from Hanover, where the poem (written by " Brockes of Hamburg"*) would be addressed to him. This conjec- ture coincides with known facts; and if we refuse to entertain it — if the German Passion did not occupy Handel's time while he was at Hanover, he must have remained a year and something more without having produced any thing whatever ; for nothing else can be quoted as belonging to that epoch. Whatever date it belonged to, however, this was a work whose very name is now almost unknown. Bur- ney laconically quotes the three lines by Mattheson, without appearing to put any great faith in them. At the end of his list of works of Handel, he adds, with equal indifference, " in the collection of the Earl of Aylesford, formed by the late Mr. Jennens, are preserved in MS. many valuable works of our author, as * * * Oratorio delta Passione.^^ From this it is plain that he never saw this Passion, w^hich he first makes out to be a German and then an Italian work. M. Fetis, who is the only one to mention the name of this oratorio after Bur- ney, merely says that it has been printed by M.M. Breit- kopf and Hartel of Leipsic ; which is not true — for these gentlemen, in reply to reiterated inquiries after a copy, return for answer that their firm has never printed a Passion by Handel. In the Buckingliam Palace col- lection, however, I have had the satisfaction of discover- ing a copy. It is easy to understand how it was that the com^DOser only kept a copy for himself when the original * Mattheson. 68 LIFE OF HANDEL. was sent to Hamburg ; but every thing guaranties tlie authenticity of that copy. When Handel was composing, it was his custom always to speak Italian to himself, and out of ten memoranda on his MSS. nine are in that language. In that of Athalia^ for example, he writes — " Qui si replica con queste parole ' Bless the Ghurcli y' " and in Judas 3Iaccahmus^ in the middle of the air " Lovely grace," which he changes into a duet, he writes — " Qui commincia il duetto in vece dell' aria." This habit had been acquired when he wrote the German Passion^ in the MSS. of which may be fovmd, among other notes — " Segue la seconda strofa." The oratorio of the same name, which Jennens pos^ sessed, confirms the exactness of Mattheson's note. Charles Jennens, the author of the words of The Mes- siah and of Belshazzar, was intimate with Handel, and would certainly not have possessed a work bearing his name which was not perfectly authentic. But there is something more decisive than all this. Madame Yiardot, who is as excellent a linguist as she is accomplished as a musician, has examined for rae the existing copy at Buckingham Palace. It is full of beau- ties entirely Handelian. Among others, the air of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, " Father, Father, have pity on me," is of incomparable grandeur ; the anguish of sadness is depicted there with penetrating depth and moderation ; the voice seems to be stifled with the ex- cess of grief. May the lovers of music enjoy one day the pleasure of hearing it sung by Madame Viardot ! Henceforward, therefore, this oratorio must be enu- merated among the works of the author of The Messiah. Tlie plan of the poem is entirely taken from the gospel. The personages are Jesus, Peter, John, James, Judas, Pilate, Caiax)has, the Virgin, and three Magdalens. There is also a cliorus, with an " Evangelist," who an- nounces the airs, like the corypheus of the old Greek tragedies. The chorus opens the first scene, " The Lord DUKEOFCHANDOS. 69 will deliver us from the bondage of sin." The Evangel- ist says afterward, in recitative, " As Jesus was sitting at the table with his disciples, having the Pascal Lamb be- fore him, he took bread and gave it to them and said" — Air of Jesus, " This is my body, take and eat," etc. There are not less than fifty-five morceaux, airs, duets, and choruses in The Passion. When he returned to London in 1718, Handel found that the Italian Theater had been closed since the begin- ning of 1717, being unable to support itself; but the chapel of the Duke of Chandos was in a flourishing con- dition. The Duke of Chandos, formerly paymaster- general of Queen Anne's army, had built, near the vil- lage of Edgeware (nine miles from London), a mansion called Cannons. " The palace of the Duke of Chandos was erected in the 18th century. This magnificent structure, with its decorations and furniture, cost £230,000. The pillars of the great hall were of marble, as were the steps of the principal stair-case, each step consisting of one piece 22 feet long. The establishment of the household was not inferior to the splendor of the habitation. Notwithstand- ing the three successive shocks which his fortune received by his concern in the African Company, and the Missis- sippi and South Sea speculations in 1718, 1719, 1720, the duke lived in splendor at Cannons till his death in 1744, rather as the presumptive heir to a diadem than as one of her majesty's subjects. So extraordinary, indeed, was his style of living, that he was designated " the grand duke.''''* Among other objects of luxury, this duke had a chapel furnished like the churches of Italy. It was situate a short distance from the mansion, and we are told that he went there with true Christian humiUty, * A Jmtrney through England, by Miss Spencc, quoted in How to be Bid of a Wife, a romance founded on the last marriage of the Duke of Chandos, which will presently be mentioned. 70 LIFE OF HANDEL. "attended by his Swiss guards, ranged as the yeomen of the guard."* Every Sunday the road from London to Edgeware was thronged with carriages of the members of the nobihty and gentry, who went to pray to God with his grace. Dr. Pepusch, one of the greatest musi- cal celebrities of the time, was the first chapel-master ; but the Duke of Chandos, who loved ever to worship the -Lord wdth the best of every thing, made proposals to the illustrious Saxon, and persuaded him to take the place of Pepusch. The Musical Bio g7X(ph]/ te\h us that " Dr. Pepusch fully acquiesced in the opinion of Handel's superior mei'it, and retired from his eminent and honor- able situation without any expression whatever, either of chagrin or disappointment." The wise labor for their oAvn sakes, for their own satis- faction, and in the midst of general indifference ; but artists only work when they are excited by public atten- tion. The most fruitful have need of external animation to become productive, and require immediate applause. Handel, having an orchestra and singers at his disposal, with the guests of a wealthy nobleman for audience, set himself to work passionately. It was at Cannons that he wrote, from 1718 to 1720, the two TeDeums and the twelve famous Anthems, called the Chandos Te Dev.nis and the Chandos Anthems. These do not contain less than eleven overtures, thirty-two solos, six duets, one trio, one quartet, and forty-seven choruses. " It is forty years," says Busby, " since I heard them at Covent Gar- den, by Dr. Arnold ; my ear still retains the impression of their charm and my mind of their grandeur." Un- happily these great works are now neglected, and of all the musical societies not one performs them. Even the promoters of the festivals w^hich are held in the cathe- drals seem to be unaware of their existence ! It is to the seventh Chandos Anthem that the celebrated trio, " Thou rulest the raging of the sea," belongs, and to the * A Journey through England. SACKED MUSIC. 71 sixth the not less celebrated imitative air, "The waves of the sea rage horribly." The chorus in the ninth, " For who is God, but the Lord," is one of those gigan- tic inspirations in which Handel is without an equal.* * All the sacred music of Handel, without ceasing to be religious, has a fire and an active exaltation which makes it wholly distinct from the compositions of his predecessors. It has been said in Belgium that re- ligious music, when impressed with this character, no longer answers its poi-pose ; that it becomes a contradiction whenever it departs from the simplicity of the old masters. Assuredly nothing could be more absurd and more deplorable, than to introduce into the temple, as some do, the dramatic style, and, above all, the frivolities oi Jionture, which are as out of place in the church as they are tiresome at the opera. But to give to the songs of worship a greater warmth and a richer orchestration than Gregory, Gombert, or Palestrina would admit, appears to be a very different thing from composing cavatinas or scenic pieces. One may differ from the Carthusians without becoming altogether worldly. In order to be sure that this is so, I must refer to my own impressions. The masses of Beethoven, Mozart, and Cherubini, like the anthems of Handel, have never excited in me (even hearing them elsewhere than in a church) any feeling inconsistent with the kind of meditation which is expressed by the word religions. Therefore, it seems to me that they accomplish their object. It seems to me to be as natural as it is logical to apply to this kind of music (as to every other) the resources of mod- ern science and instrumentation ; at the same time preserving always its proper character. To honor the Divinity as we ought, we should em- ploy all the means in our power. The simplicity of the early masters is admirable ; but it is probable that they would have been less simple had they been richer. Moreover, where are we to stop ? If the Belgian school be in the right, Palestrina himself is not entirely free from re- proach ; for the sweet and pleasant tone of his musical phrase is very fur removed from the austerity of the Plain-song. With sectarian intol- erance, the pure Gregorians might accuse him of being effeminate. Those who attempt to circumscribe sacred composition by what they call tJie true style— thai is to say, a grave and naked melody— would make of music, if they were listened to, what the Greek Church made of painting : they would retain the art of sacred music at the twelfth cen- tury, as the Greek Church did the art of painting. But such exaggera- tions never lead to the ^desired end. The Plain-song will always be beautiful to the ear, as the pictures of Cimabue, Giotto, Gaddi, and Fiesole are to the eye ; but to restrict religious art to these is nothing less than to falsify it, and to render it ridiciilous. Witness the modern religious paintmgs in Greece ! Could any thing be colder oj more af- fected than those pasticeios of Byzantine simplicity upon a ground of gold ? And this is the invariable result when the artist is condemned to archaeological researches, rather than left to his own inspiration to make 12 LIFE OF HANDEL. Handel reduced many of the Chandos Anthems for the chapel of George the First. Even at Wmdsor and St. James's these arrangements are not now known, and it is supposed there that the great master never wrote any thing for the royal chapels. But this is not the case ; for not only does Burney state this fact, but the manu- scripts of these reductions in the Buckingham Palace collection confirm that which is learned by tradition.* It is now a long time since these reductions were lost sight of. The celebrated " As pants the hart," was re- arranged by Dr. Boyce, at the express command of George the Third, and was printed in Page's Harmonica Sacra^ with this heading, " Adapted to voices only, by desire of his present majesty, by William Boyce, Mus. Doc." Both the doctor and the king were alike igno- rant that the composer had already done the very thing which they presumed to do over again. Among the minor sacred music of Handel, mention should also be made of the three hymns : — The Invita- tion^ " Sinners, obey the Gospel Word ;" Desiring to Love^ " O Love divine, how sweet thou art ;" and On the Resurrection., " Rejoice, the Lord is King !" The poetry of these three solo hymns is by the Rev. Charles Wesley, brother and coadjutor of John Wesley, the founder of the great sect of Wesleyan Methodists. Dr. Rimbault has kindly communicated a note, written for his father by Samuel Wesley, the organist, which ex- plains the somewhat singular origin of these composi- tions : — " The late comedian Rich, w^ho was the most celebrated harlequin of his time, was also the proprietor of Covent Garden Theater, during the period when Han- nse of all the means -witli whicli progress has furnished him. That, in- deed, is the real contradiction, for it would not he more ahsurd to say that a man ought not to pray beneath the vaulted roof of an old Gothic cathedral unless clothed in an ancient doublet, with a bonnet on his head, and peaked shoes upon his feet. * The proofs will be cited in the " Catalogue" — Article, " Te Deums of 1727," et seq. SAMUEL WESLEY. 73 del conducted his oratorios at that house. He married a person wlio became a serious character, after having formerly been a very contrary one, and who requested Handel to set to music the three hymns which I tran- scribed in the Fitzwilliara Library, from the autography, and published them in consequence. — S. Wesley, March 30, 1829." This Samuel Wesley (whose name and works were ex- tinguished with his life) is a memorable example of an abortive vocation. As a child, he was much more pre- cocious than even Handel ; for at three years of age he impromsed upon the organ I A portrait of him, en- graved when he was eight years old, represents him in the act of composition, and at the foot of the table is a volume ^n which is written, "jRw/A, an Okatokio, hy Samuei Wesley^ aged eight yearsy 4 CHAPTER III. 1720—1729. Handel directs the Italian Theater for the Eoyal Academy of Mtrsic — ''Eadamisto" — "Esther" — "Acis" — The Mansion of Cannons — The Duke of Chandos buys a third wife — "Suites de Pieces pour le Cla- tecin" — The Harmonious Blacksmith — The Environs of London in 1720 — Cabal in favor of Bononcini — Ariosti Attilio — Handel's Operas pro- duced FOR the Academy — His Italian Airs transmuted into Sacked Music — The Cuzzonists and the Faustinists — Coronation Anthems — The Beggak's Opera — Euin and Dissolution cf the Eoyal Academy of Music— Poverty of the Misen-Scene. Although attaclied to the chapel of the Duke of Chandos, Handel thre^Y himself, about the beginning of 1720, into an enterprise which suited the activity of his mind. A company of French comedians occupied the King's Theater in the Haymarket, and no one seemed to be tempted to revive the Italian opera ; when a few noblemen conceived the idea of doing so, and opened a private subscription, which amounted to £50,000. A committee of twenty directors was formed, which com- prised many names of historical repute : the Dukes of Newcastle, Portland, and Queensbury ; the Earls of Bur- lington, Stair, and Waldegrave ; Lords Bingley, Stan- hope, etc. In 1726, the committee of direction selected for the year included the Dukes of Richmond and of Manchester ; the Marquis of Carnarvon ; the Earls of Albemarle, Burlington, and Chesterlield ; and the Lord Mayor of London, etc. George the First (himself a subscriber to the amount of £lOOO) permitted the society to assume the name of the Royal Academy of Music. The assistance of Handel was then sought for, and the consent of the Maecenas of Cannons was easily obtained. Handel undertook the task of collecting Italian singers from abroad, and he brought together a company, among ROYAL ACADEMY OF MUSIC. 76 whom may bo distinguished Signora Durastanti. This songstress, who, as well as Senesino, was taken from tlie Dresden theater, acquired great favor at court. The JEve)iuig Post^ on the 7th of March, 1721, reports: — " Last Thursday, his majesty was pleased to stand god- flitlier, and the princess and Lady Bruce god-mothers to a daugliter of Mrs. Durastanti, chief singer in the opera- house. The Marquis Visconti for the king, and the Lady Litchfield for the princOvSS." Francesco Bernardi, commonly called Senesino (be- cause he was from Sienna), was also engaged. Ajiplehee's Original Weekly Journal for the 31st of December, * 1720, announces that " Signor Senesino, the famous Italian eunuch, has anived, and 'tis said that the com- pany allows him t^\'o thousand guineas for the season." The Royal Academy of Music also brought over two celebrated composers, Ariosti Attilio from Berlin, and Bononcini from Rome, where he had lately produced the opera of Astarto with much success. It is inaccurate to state that they were in London before this ej)och. Fi- nally, the Academy obtained an Italian poet, Rolli (who must not be confounded with Rossi), to wi-ite the libret- tos. Antonio Rolli, in signing Muzio Scmvola^ called himself "Italian Secretary of the Academy." It is evident therefore, that the enterprise was arranged upon a splendid scale; but, nevertheless, an advertisement of the 25th of November, 1721, shows that the ordinary prices of admission were moderate enough, and that at that time they had the idea of annual subscriptions: — " Application having been made to the Royal Academy of Music for tickets, entitling the bearers to the liberty of the house for the ensuing season, the Academy agree to give out tickets to such as shall subscribe on the con- ditions following, viz., that each subscriber on the de- livery of his ticket, pay ten guineas; that on the 1st of February next ensuing each subscriber pay a further sum of live guineas, and likewise five guineas more on the 76 L I F E O F 11 A N D E L . first of May following. And Avliereas the Academy pro- pose acting fifty operas this season, they oblige them- selves to allow a deduction propoitionably, in case fewer operas be performed than that number."* The fifty operas are the invention of the wretched journalism of the period. There can be no doubt that fifty represen- tations were intended ; which would be about two per- formances weekly, during a season of six months, the theater opening on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The French comedians remained in England a long time, and apparently not without exciting the jealousy of the native actors. In a letter from Aaron Hill to the younger Rich (dated the 9th of September, 1'721) he says: — "I suppose you know that the Duke of Mon- tague and I have agreed, and that I am to have that house half the week, and the French vermin the other half." The Academy, playing alternately with the vermin. commenced its season in the Haymarket on the 2d of April, 1720, with the Numitor of Porta.f The Rada- mistas of Handel, advertised on Wednesday, the 25th of April, for the following day, was postponed mitil Thursday, the 27th, " the French comedians playing on the Thursday by particular desire of several ladies of quality."J; Main waring says : — " If persons who are now living, and \vho were present at that performance, may be credited, the applause it received was almost as ex- travagant as his Agrippina had excited; the crowTls and tumults of the house at Venice were hardly equal to those at London. In so splendid and fashionable an assembly of ladies (to the excellence of their taste we must impute it), there was no shadow of form or cere- mony, scarce indeed any appearance of order or regu- larity, politeness, or decency. Many, who had forced their way into the house with an impetuosity but ill- suited to their rank and sex, actually fainted through the * Burney. t Dalhj Courant. % Ditto. "RADAM ISTITS." 77 heat and closeness of it. Several gentlemen were turned back, who had offered forty shillings for a seat in the gallery, after having despaired of getting any in the pit or boxes !" Hawkins says : — " Mr. Handel looked upon the two airs ' Cara sposa,' in Binaldo^ and ' Ombra cai-a,' in liad- amlsto^ as the two finest he ever made, and he declared this his opinion to the author of this work." The first season of the Royal Academy of Music fin- ished on the 25th of June, 1720, and the second began on the 1 9th of N'ovember following, with a new Italian company. Senesino made his first appearance hi the Astartus of Bononcini (who had then arrived), and after- ward appeared in the revival of jRadcmiisto, in December. The I'ost JBoy^ of the 9th of July, 1720, contains the following advertisement: — "This is to give notice to all gentlemen and ladies, lovers of musick, that the most celebrated new opera of RadamUtus^ composed by Mr. Handell, is now engraving finely upon copper-plates, by Richard Meares, musical instrument maker and music printer at the Golden Yiol. To make this work more acceptable, the author has been prevailed upon to cor- rect the whole." And on the 1st of December, the following advertise- ment appeared : — " On Thursday, the loth inst., will be published (with his majesty's royal privilege and license) the opera of Hadamistus^ composed by Mr. Handel ; the elegancies of which, and the abilities of its author, are too Avell known by the musical part of the world to need a recom- mendation, unless it be by informing them that there hath been such due care taken in the printing of it (which consists of 124 large folio copper-plates, all coi-- reeted by the author), that the printer presumes to assert that there hath not been in Europe a piece of music so well printed, and upon so good paper. Published by the author." 18 LIFE OP HANDEL. The phrase is perhaps rather lengthy, bat it does not exaggerate tlie truth. With the exception of the book of /Suites de Pieces ijoilv le Clavecin^ from the press of Chier, there is nothing of that epoch superior to this publication. Good working engravers were still ex- cessively rare, and the printing of music was deplorably bad. There is a book of Arie Aggiunte al Madamisto (" Additional Airs to Radamisto"), which were com- posed in honor of the new company. The part of Tiri- date, Avhich had been originally written for a tenor, was then given to Boschi, a basso ; and this is why the airs of Tiridate are for a tenor in the original edition, and for a basso in the Arie Aggiunte. These editions are to be found in the opera-book of 1720, and some of them are indicated by a star. Meares published this third adver- tisement in the Post Boy of the 18th of March, 1721 : — " The celebrated opera of Padamisto^ printed upon a fine Dutch paper, and the best and most correct piece of music extant. And whereas, Mr. Handel has composed several additional songs to make the said work more obliging, they are now finished and will be published this day, the edition containing forty-one copper-plates en- graven by the same hand. Such gentlemen and ladies as have already purchased the work may have the addi- tions gratis at the place above mentioned." To give forty-one pages of music gratis, when they might very honestly be charged for, is certainly a very liberal proceeding. Tlie merit of this is due to Handel ; for the entire edition belonged to him. It is inscribed, " Published by the Author, at Richard Meares and Christopher Smith.* Not to be sold anywhere else in England." And there is also the copy of a patent * Christopher Smith, the elder (as has been already stated), followed Handel to London in 1717. Fi-om this notification it appears probable tliat he had established a music-shop. It is true that the name of Smith i? common in England, but that of Christopher is more rare. PIRATICAL PUBLISHERS. 79 granted by the king, and dated the 14th of June, 1720, ''reserving to the autlior, to the exclusion of all others, the right of printing his works during the period of fourteen years." Handel had seen Walsh publish more or less incorrectly, and without his consent, different pieces of IVater Music and of Theseus. Therefore, he attem})ted to protect himself in this manner from similar depredations ; but without eflect.* Madamisto is dedicated to George the First by Han- del, who signs himself, " Your faithful servant and sub- ject." Burney concludes from this that the Saxon musician had become naturalized. His conjecture is, however, in advance of the fact, for England had not the * It does not appear that patents offered any perioiis protection to literary and artistic property ; for we find the principal music-sellers of the period robbing one another reciprocally, and the transparence of the vail with which they concealed their thefts is a sufficient proof that, if they preserved their anonymity, no remedy was exacted. The plates of a fraudulent edition of Scipio^ by Meares, are signed by Cross, who was notoriously his principal working engraver. Clner repeated, over and over again, that he was the sole proprietor of Giidlo Cesare, at the very time when Walsh was printing it none the less for that, and without any great mystery. The latter audaciously set at the foot of his illegitimate edition oi Rodelinda., " Sold at the musick-shops, where may be had the favorite songs in Flavins, Floridante., Artaxerxes, Aquilo,'''' etc., all which operas belonged to him exclusively. Cluer himself, who seems to have been rather more scrupulous, openly advertises (Eiius and jPorus, to which he had no sort of right ; and Walsh, who was the owner of these two works, did nothing more than call him a " pirate." If the l:uv had well supported the royal prescription, there is but little doubt that he would not have been contented with applying to others an epithet which he himself so well deserved. A book of Judas Maccahieus, by E. John- son, offers a curious example of this gaerilla warfare: "This edition is correctly printed from the last of the administrator of Mr. Watts, or his assigns, and is done on the principle of lex tallonis • for as he, or they, have several times printed Messiah, which E. Johnson has a property in, and he, or they, have none, he has thought it perfectly justifiable to avail himself of the advantage (which yet is fur from being adequate to the injury he has received by tliat means) of printing Jadas. His prop- erty in Me-tsiah is derived from the compiler of It, who is now living, and is a gentleman of a very respectable character, and of a very opulent fortune." The characteristic addition of " very opulent" would sound in the present day like a superfluity; for, in this age of honest nun, opu- lence includes every grade of respectability. 80 L I F E O F 11 A X D E L . honor of becoming the country of Handel before 1726, when a private Act of ParHainent was passed, entitled, " An Act for Naturalizing Louis Sekehaye, George Fred- eric Handel, and others."* While Handel was working for the Royal Academy of Music, he had not quitted the mastership of the chapel at Whitchurch. He kept that mitil 1721. It was for the Duke of Chandos that he composed his first English oratorio. Under his direction, Humphreys wrote the poem oi JEsthei\ in which many of the choruses are trans- lated from Racine. Esther (for wliich the duke paid £lOOO)f was performed for himself and his friends on the 29th of August, 1720, at Cannons.J Handel wrote this oratorio with a view of making known a sort of music of which they had not yet any idea in England. It w^as not intended for the public. The score, after having been performed two or three times, was put on one side, and, as will presently be seen, only reappeared at a later period. Here it will be sufficient to note, that the overture of Esther^ almost ever since it was composed, has been so constantly played at St. Paul's, at the Feast of the Sons of the Clergy, that it now seems in a peculiar manner dedicated to the service of the church.§ Lest this magnificent Duke of Chandos should be de- prived of any of his honors, at once let it be stated that it was for him also that Acis and Galateavf^'^ composed, and was performed at Cannons in 1721. The pretty poem for this English serenata is by Gay, assisted by the other literary frequenters of the mansion. Here may be found some verses by Pope, " Not showers to larks," and a strophe by Huglies, " Would you gain the tender * See "Gr;!nd Handel Musical Festival, at tlie Crystal Palace, in 1S57 : A Letter addressed to the members, subscribers, and assistants of the Sacred Harmonic Society, October, 185G." This pamphlet, which is by Mr. Bowley, the treasurer of the Society, is fail of interesting facts. t A Journey through England. X Eichard Clark. § See Appendix E. M E :M O R I A I. . 81 creature ?" nor did they hesitate to take " Help, Galatea, help," from Dryden's translation of the thirteenth book of Ovid's " Metamorphoses."* It was a work made, as it were, for amusement. The score, like that of Esther^ did not leave Camions, and reappeared only when a happy accident delivered it over to the public.f * Mr. Bennett's preface to the edition of Acis^ published by the Han- del Society. t Of the splendid residence, wherein the Duke of Chaudos gave these magnificent "feasts of reason," nothing is now left but Whitchurch, the chapel which was constructed apart from the mansion. This has now become the parish church of the village of Edgeware, and is at present in a very poor condition. But it was never very beautiful. The fresco paintings, which adorn the principal pew, are of a very inferior order, as also are the paintings which decorate either side of the com- munion-table. The most interesting relic in the place is an organ, of moderate size, which stands behind the altar ; upon this may be found a little brass-plate, bearing this inscription : HANDEL WAS ORGANIST OF THIS CHURCH FROM THE YEAR 1718 TO 1721, AND COMPOSED THE ORATORIO OF ESTHER ON THIS ORGAN. For this memorial of him we are indebted to Julius Plumer, an inhab- itant of the Edgeware Eoad, who caused it to be placed there in 1750. [Clark.] What he intended to record was, that the sublime musician played upon this organ at the time when Estlier was performed at Whit- church. When I visited the chapel, this venerable instrument had been undergoing repair for six mouths. The mansion, which had cost the Duke of Chandos £230,000 sterling, was sold for £11,000 three years after his death, in 1747. Not a vestige of it is left, and as the site is now in a state of cultivation, Pope's pre- diction is realized : " Another age shall see the golden ear Imbrown the slope, and nod on the parterre, Deep harvests bury all his pride has planned, And laughing Ceres reassurae the laud." Es^ay—'' Of The Use of BicheaP The magnificent duke himself is now almost forgotten. A marble statue, which was erected to his memory in the crypt of the chapel, is 4* 82 LIFE OP HANDEL. The manner of life in the house of the ao^reeable and wealthy Chandos, in the company of such men as Pope and Gay, and other visitors of a similar stamp, had a charm for the spriglitly and original Handel, and greatly excited the powers of his fancy. As is the case with all ardent minds, the more he had to do, the more he could do ; he was delighted with the accumulation of labor. The year 1720 was a very busy one for him. He di- rected the chapel at Cannons, he gave lessons on the harpsichord to the daughters of the Prince of Wales, he opened the theater of the Royal Academy of Music, he now in the last state of dilapidation. The wind whistles through the broken windows of its funereal abode, and the plaster of the roof, de- tached from its skeleton of laths, powdei's his enormous wig, and soils the imperial robe that drapes his shoulders. But the spirit of the mas- ter of Cannons may console itself; for in the verses of the poets are monuments of infinitely greater durability than marble. And has not Pope sung : — "True, some are open, and to all men known ; Othera so very close, they're hid from none ; (So darkness strikes the sense no less than light) ; Thus gracious Chaxdos is beloved at sight." Essay — '^ Of the Knowledge and Characters of Men?'' On either side of the statue stand two long figures, clothed, like it, iu Roman costume. These are the first two wives of the duke. But he married a third wife, who has not, however, been permitted to enter the sanctuary. The story of this third marriage is worth relating, and may entertain the reader for a moment. The substance of it is taken from Miss Spence's novel, Hoio to he Rid of a Wife. One day, the duke being on a journey, he saw, at the door of an inn at which the horses were changed, a groom beating a young servant-girl with a horsewhip. Taking pity on the poor girl, the duke went to inter- pose between them, when he was informed that the groom and the girl were married. This being the case, nothing could be said ; for the law of England at that time permitted husbands to beat their better halve.-> to any excess short of death. The groom, who had noticed the move- ment of the duke, came up and ofi"ered to sell him his wife if he would buy her, and, in order to save her from further punishment, he did so. But when the bargain was concluded, the duke did not know what to do with his new acquisition, and so he sent her to school. Soon after this the Duchess of Chandos died, and the duke took it into his head that he BUYING A WIFE. 83 produccfl Radamisto in London, l^sther at Cannons, and, finally, lie pnblished his first work of instinmrntal music, Slates de Pieces pour le Clavecin^ "svliich lie com- posed (it is said) for his favorite pupil, the I^rincess Anne. On the 2d of November, 1720, the Daily Courant announces " Lessons for the Harpsichord^ by Mi-. Han- del," as beino' about to ai)pear on the 14th of that month. On the 9th it is added, "The author has been obliged to publish those pieces to prevent the publick being imposed upon by some surreptitious and incorrect copies of some of them that have got abroad." On the would uian-y his purcliase ; so that eventually the poor servant-girl, ■whom a groom had beaten by the roadside before every passer-by, be- came Duchess of Chandos, and comported herself in her new rank with perfect dignity ; for, thanks to their exquisite tact, which is so superior to that of men, women are able to mount tlie social scale with marvelous fjicility, and it is seldom that they do not easily throw off all traces of an inferior origin. As for the statement about the right to beat his wife, which the first husband of the duchess assumed, it lias not been lightly made. Black- stone says — " The husband, by the old lav/, might give his wife moder- ate correction." Some lawyers have doubted this, for Great Britain does not possess a fixed code ; but the husbands have never been of their opinion. It was only in 1853 that the law invested police magistrates with the power of punishing such ignoble cruelty with six months' im- prisonment. Almost daily they find it necessary to pronounce sentence upon this crime ; and yet, in spite of their honorable zeal to abolish such barbarity, the ignorant classes are ?;> saturated Tvith " the old law" and its ancient privileges, that the great er number of the criminals are actu- ally astonished when they are visited with punishment ! But had the groom any right to sell his wife ? Legally speaking, no ; but according to immemorial custom, of which many examples may be found, yes. Not a single case is on record in which the perpetrators of these monstrous sulcr^ have been prosecuted. Miss Spence relates tlie sale simply, without the slightest comment, and as a fact which speaks for itself. If, in such a case, the purchtLsed wife married her purchaser, legally speaking she became a bigamist ; but v/hoever thought of calling her so would liave been laughed at. History relates that, in order to spare the purchaser of his wife any trouble in the matter, the groom killed himself by drinking away the purchase-money. The third Duch- ess of Chandos was, therefore, as legitimately so as possible ; but, never- theless, the family would not permit her remains to be laid within the ducal tomb. 84 L I F E O F II A X D E L . 14tli, another advertisement makes known that copies are for sale at tlie price of one guinea.* In a very short time, tlie Suites cle Pieces pour le Clavecin acquired a reputation literally universal. They were reprinted in France, in Switzerland, in Holland, and in Germany. In spite of this, however, the author did not publish any more immediately ; for the second collection, which, is generally supposed to be of the same epoch as the fii-st, Avas published by AYalsh only in 1733. Incontestible proof of this will be furnished in the " Catalogue ;" but it is quite certain that between the two collections there was an interval of thirteen years. This explains the difference of musical merit which has been already observed, and which was inexplicable so long as they were supposed to have been twins. The second collection is not equal to the first. It is quite worthy of Handel. The two chacones, the one with eighteen and the other with sixty-two variations, are ad- mirable ; but the entire work is not one of those special creations, perfectly labored and finished throughout con * It is somewhat reraarki'ble that a number of collections for the harpsichord were published at that time with French titles. Bach issued one in Germany, entitled Suites Anglaises four le Clavecin. Although called in the journals Lessons for the Uarpsichord^ Handel's volume was printed by Cluer, under the French title, of doubtful correctness, Suites de Pieces pour le Clacecin. On the first page may be found the following note : "I have been obliged to publish some of the following lessons, be- cause surreptitious and incorrect copies of them had got abroad. I have added several new ones to make the work more useful, which, if it meets with a favorable reception, I will still proceed to publish more, reckoning it my duty, with my small talent, to serve a nation from which I have received so generous a protection. " G. F. HandxL." I attended in London the excellent lectures of Mr. Salamon, on all kinds of stringed instruments, from the psaltery to the piano. The pro- fessor had occasion to read this very note, in which the composer speaks in the first person, and when he came to the words, "my small talent," a movejnent of emotion was percejjtible among the audience, and he could scarcely finish the sentence before there was a general clapping of bands, as if the great man himsnlf were present. THE H A R :\I O X I O U S K L A C K S M I T H . 85 amore. There are thi'ee indifFerent pieces, written doubtless at the instance of Walsh, who expected a cer- tain sale in this continuation of a series which had be- come permanently established on every harpsichord in Europe. The companion-pieces of successful works are almost invariably pit-falls ; for the virgin inspiration, the great virtue of Art, is mostly wanting in those things made to order. Among tlie " Suites" of the lirst collection, there is one delicious piece, to which a curious tradition is at- tached. One day as he was going to Cannons, the chapel-master was overtaken by a shower, in the midst of tile village of Edgeware, and took shelter in the house of one Powell, mIio was a blacksmith, as well as parish clerk of Whitchurch. After the usual salutations, Powell fell to work airain at his forcce, sinixina: an old sons: the while. By an extraordinary phenomenon, the hammer striking in time, drew from the anvil two harmonic sounds, which, being in accord with the melody, made a sort of continuous bass. Handel was struck by the incident, listened, remembered the air and its strange accom})ani- ment, and, when he returned home, composed out of it a piece for the harpsichord. This is the piece which has been published separately a thousand times under the title of The llarmonious JBlaclzsmitli. This title is relatively modern. Handel himself never made use of it, and it is not to be found in the original copy. Mr. Richard Clark, who claims to have discovered Powell's anvil,* does not produce any authority in su})]jort of the tradition. He only states that Dr. Crotch informed him that, when he was at Cambridge with Dr. Hague, he saw in a book the melody of The Harmonious JBlach- synith^ with the name of Wagenseil as composer. But this is very vague. The doctor ought, at any rate, to have taken the trouble of giving us some information as to the date and title of that book. There is another * Bem'mUcences of Handel. 86 LIFE OF HANDEL. tradition, wliicli would make it appear that this unknown Wagenseil liad nothing to do with the business. It is to the eflect thatPIandel, taking slielter at the blacksmith's, listened to the unison of his hammer with the cluirch bell, which was ringing at the time, and that the cele- brated piece was the result of the inspii-ation thus pro- duced. However that may be, the popularity of The Ilarmonions Blacksmith is not yet extinct ; after an existence of one hundred and thirty-six years, it is con- tinually being reprinted, and it will be reprinted so long as the human race is sensible to music. It has been ar- ranged for the orchesti-a, and was performed in this man- ner by the Academy of Ancient Music* The name of Powell will descend, therefore, to the most remote posterity, merely because Handel took shelter in his workshop for a quarter of an houi*. At the time when I made a pilgrimage to Edge ware, a sort of square shed, standing alone in the middle of the great street, was shown to me as being the veritable forge used by Pow- ell.t * This Academy, which was founded in 1710 (Hawkins), is now extinct. This is to be regretted, for it was an excellent private institution, which contributed, in an important degree, to the establishment of a taste for good music in England. t This incident of a journey to Cannons recalls to mind, that the visits which the organist of Whitchurch paid to that mansion were not unattended by danger. The state of the high-roads at that time, even in the vicinity of London, rendered it frequently necessary for travelers to defend theiiiselves. Mr. Richard Clark found the two following para- graphs, the former in the Weekly Journal^ or Saturday's Post, and the latter in the Weekly Journal, or BritlsTi Gazettler : — " On Monday, Feb- ruary 6th, 1720, as the Duke of Chandos was riding to his beautiful house at Edgware, and being before his retinue some distance, two high- waymen came up, and bid him deliver his money ; but his servants coming in view, fired their pistols, as did the highwaymen, but neither hurt or killed. One of the highwaymen quitted his horse, and jumped over the hedge, and was followed by one of the Duke's servants, Avho knocked him down and took him ; the other was pursued to Tyburn and there taken. Both committed to Newgate." " Tuesday, February 7th, 1720. — Tlie post-boys were set upon in Tyburn Eoad by three highway- men. His Grace the Duke of Chandos comiiig up, ordered his servants THE THREE COM POSE US. 87 It has been already stated that the Royal Academy of Music attracted Bonoiicini and Attilio to London. Wliether it was for the purpose of exciting curiosity, by putting the two Italians and tlie German in comparison with each other, or whetlier the poem was divided be- tween them for the purpose of accelerating the work, and because it was necessary to produce some novelty, it is certain that Muzio Sccevola^ which was produced on the 15th of April, 1721, was collaborated by the three composers. All the biographers agree in treating it as a sort of competition, in which the conquered were thence- forth to give way to the conqueror ; and in stating that Bononcini and Attilio were dismissed. Tiiis, however, is not true, although Mainwaring was the first to advance it. These two composers were luxuries (so to speak) in the establishment of the Academy, and they continued to write for it up to the period of its dissolution.* The Flying Post announces, in February, 1727, that "the directors of the R. A. of Musick have resolved that after the excellent opera of Mr. Handel, which is now performing, Signor Attilio shall compose one ; and Sig- nor Bononcini is to compose the next after that. Thus, as the tlieater can boast of the three best voices in Europe, and the best instruments, so the town will have to attack tliem, which they did so bravely, that they killed one and took the other two, who impeached ten more of the gang."i But when a man was without such a retinue as his grace had, it could scarcely have been considered in the light of a party of pleasure to travel along a road so infested. But the hero of the duel with Matthesou was not wanting in any kind of courage. * Bononcini produced Astarto at London in November, 1720 ; Crispo and Griselda (which is regarded as his masterpiece) in January and February, 1722 ; Erminia and Farnace (unedited) in March and Novem- ber, 1723 ; Calfurnia in April, 1724; and Astyanax in May, 1727. Attilio produced Giro (unedited), in May, 1721, Coriolano in February, 1723 ; Vespasiano (unedited), and Artaxerxes in January and December, 1724 ; Dario (unedited) in April, 1725 ; and Lucio Vero in January, 1727. 1 Reminiscences of Handel. 88 LIFE OF HA X DEL. the pleasure of liearing tliese three diiferent styles of composing."* Up to a certain point, Bononcini was able to sustain tlie rivalry which is attributed to him; but as for Attilio, who was gifted with agreeable but not very powerful faculties, he could never asj^ire, nor did he aspire, to any such competition. Ariosti Attilio (who was a Dominican monk, exeinpted from all the duties of his condition be- cause he was supposed to be a genius) crosses the path of Handel's life like a melancholy shade. Already we have seen him at Berlin take the young virtuoso of Halle on his knee, and delighting himself with listening to him for whole hours. At London he produced his works quietly and without intrigue, never mixing himself up with the violent contests which agitated the musical world. In 1*730 he lapsed into silence and poverty, not even knowing how to get any advantage from his talent upon the viol cPmnoiu\ which he introduced into En- gland in 1716, during a short visit at that period. A mild, timid, and inoffensive man, and as graceful as a woman, he was crushed to nothingness between the colossal Handel and the arrogant Bononcini. It was the latter who composed the second act of Muzio Sccevola^ and Attilio the fii-st ; but the third (which was composed by Handel) generally obtained the prefer- ence. The critics were reduced to accuse it of incor- rectness. In the overture added to this act, Handel made use of a semitone, which the j^edants declared to be an unpardonable license. "Be it so," said Geminiani, " but such a semitone is worth a world. "f| * Quoted by Malcolm, page 342 of the quarto edition, and page 167, vol. ii., of the edition of 1810. t " Ma qual semitono vale un mondo." X Dr. William Crotch, who edited the Coronation AniJiems for the Han- del Society, declares that "several violations of the rules of musical grammar, as consecutive fifths and octaves, have been suffered to remain as not appearing to be accidental oversights. The pupil of Sackau was a very learned musician, and knew better than any one the grammar of OPPOSITION. 89 The victory gained by Handel over tlie two rivals who were opposed to him only served, as is usual in such cases, to excite all the more vehemently the cabal which was arising among a party of the English nobility against him and in favor of Bononcini. The chapel-master of Cannons was not much of a courtier. Jealous of his in- dependence, proud, and always dignified, many noble lords fliiled to obtain from him the submission which they required. The wit of the party which created this rivalry continued to keep it alive. Swift, who admired nothing, and who had no ear, wn-ote an ei)igram upon the subject, which was set as " a cheerful glee for four voices :" " Some say that Signer Bononcini, Compared to Handel, is a ninny ; Whilst others say, that to him, Handel Is hardly fit to hold a candle. Strange that such difference should be ' Twixt Tweedledum and Tweedledee." Tlie angry injustice of the nobles is far preferable to the injurious and empty eclecticism of this immaculate Dean of St. Patrick. Lycurgus was in the right when he banished all citizens who would not take part in the civil war, for neuters are always fit for nothing. Bat Handel had ardent followers, who were indignant at seeing his supremacy contested. Henry Carey sang his praise in the following verses : "TO ME. GEOEGE FEEDEEIC HANDEL.* ******** " The envy and the wonder of mankind Must terminate, but never can thy lays ; For when, absorbed in elemental flame, This world shall vanish, Music will exist. his art; but he deliberately violated it when he found any advantage in so doing. Men of genius have a right to overlook the law, and for a very simple reason : it is they "who make the law, and who bring it to perfection. If they invent a departure from a rule, that departure be- comes a new rule. But to do this, genius is indispensable. * Poems on Several Occasions, 90 LlFEOFHAXDt:L. Then their sweet strains, to native skies returning, Shall breathe in songs of seraphim and angels, Commixt and lost in harmony eternal That fills all heaven !" On the 9th of December, 1721, Floridante appeared. It was revived on tlie 3d of March, 1733. Barney sums up an analysis of this opera in these words: "The spirit, invention, and science of Handel have never been dis- puted ; but by a recent examination of his early works, I am convinced that his slow airs are as much superior to those of his cotemporaries as the others in spirit and science." On the 12th of January, 1723, Otlio^ or Ottone ap- peared, which Burney selects as the flower of the com- poser's dramatic works. He says that it would be dif- ficult to find in it a single piece, vocal or instrumental, w^hich has not been a favorite with the public. Accord- ing to Mainwaiing, "an eminent master, who was not on good terms with Handel, said of ' Aftanni del pensier,' ' That great hear was certainly inspired when he wrote that song: " Probably Mainwaring refers to Pepusch. It was in Ottone that the celebrated Cuzzoni made her first appearance. Malcolm says, " her engagement was at the enormous salary of £2000 per season, presuming on her future success. Xor were the managers disap- pointed, for tliey were enabled, on the second evening of her performance, to demand four guineas for each ticket." Malcolm has also preserved the following quat- rain, which was written on the morning after her dchut^ and which he designates as "excellent :" "If Orpheus' notes could woods and rocks inspire, And make dull rivers listen to his lyre ; Cutzoua's voice can, with for greater skill, Eouse death to life, and what is living kill." Ottone was revived on the 13th of Xovember, 1733.* The poem is dedicated by the author, N. Ilaym, "All' Eccellenza my Lord Conte di Halifax." * Daily Journal. ANECDOTE. 91 The season of 1723 was adorned by Giulio Cesare^ and by Flavins^ wliich Ilayni dedicated to the directors of the Royal Academy of Music. Instead of a final chorus, Flavins contains a veritable quintett, "Doni pace ;" and this seems to be the first scenic quintett that ever was composed. A revival of this opera was at- tempted in 1732, but without success. Julias Ccesar\ on the other hand, sparkling with beauties, often reappeared upon the stage. The last time it was performed was in 1787, when it was produced for the purpose of attracting to the theater poor George the Third, who was passion- ately fond of Handel's music. Since that time, not a single opera by the great master has been performed. In Julius Cmsar^ the air *' Da tempesta," and the ac- companied recitative, " Alma d'el gran Pompeo," are still celebrated. Senesino created a sensation in the recitative. A writer in the London Magazine of Feb- ruary, 1733, relates the following anecdote of him: "When I was last at the opera oi Julius C(jesai\ from M'hich I took the hint of writing this paper, a piece of the machinery tumbled down from the roof of the theater upon the stage, just as Senesino had chanted forth these words, ' Cesare non seppe mai, che sia timore' (' Caesar does not know what fear is'). The poor hero Avas so frightened that he trembled, lost his voice, and fell cry- ing. Every tyrant or tyrannical minister is just such a Cresar as Senesino." But none the less for that, Senesino sang the part of the fierce Tamerlane, in the opera of that name, per- formed in 1724; the overture of which is quoted as a masterpiece. In Rodelinda^ which followed in 1725, Signora Cuz- zoni had so much success, that tlie female fashionable world adopted the brown silk dress, embroidei'ed with silver, which she wore in the part. Burney says, that *' for a year the dress seemed a national uniform for youth and beauty." 92 LIFE OF HANDEL. For a long time afterward, " God of music, charm the charmer," was sung to the beautiful air from Itodelinda^ "Dove sei amato bene." Preston employed it for " Hope, thou source of every blessing," in a largo vol- ume filled with similar arrangements — The Beauties of Music and Poetry. Arnold stuck into it his pasticcio. The Redemption^ as " Holy, holy, Lord God Almighty." In spite of their reverence for Handel, the English will only see in him the composer of sacred music ; and, out- side of a certain musical sphei-e, there are many persons who will be very much astonished to hear that Handel ever wrote an opera. They will go to the theater to listen to such rubbish ^'ri lilgoletto^ but no manager dares to risk sucli works as Otho^ Admetus, Alcina^ or Julius Gmsar. Meanwhile, they sing with admiration the re- ligious air of "Lord, remember David," which, like the "Holy, holy^ Lord God Almighty," is, after all, only a secular air disguised — nothing but " Rendi'l sereno al ciglio" of Sosarme ; "He was eyes unto the blind," is made out of "Non vi piacque" of Siroe ; "He was brought as a lamb," of " Nel riposo" of Deidaniia ; " Turn thee, O Lord," of " Verdi prati," a sublime air of Alcina ; " He layeth the beams of his chamber," of " Nasci al bosco" of J^p:io / and " Bow down thine ear, O Lord," of "Vieni, o figlio" of Otto?ie. I have only cited here the best known examples of these transmutations, but there are a multitude of others, many of which have been printed over and over again, while the original airs have remained buried in the old editions of Walsh, and are known only to amateurs. The Italian repertoire of Handel has been sanctified (as it were) in this manner, and almost always fraudulently ; that is to say, the source has been concealed. The smallest vice in tliese pieces of scrap work is to render unnatural, and consequently to spoil the most beautiful things by putting them into dresses which were never made to fit them. Xothino; can be said ao-ainst a trans- PERVEKSION OF MUSIC. 93 lation when it is executed with ability, and preserves the spirit by changing only the words of the original ; but to adapt a cavitina of the theater to a strophe from the Bible is almost invariably tantainount to an entire change of the composer's idea, since there is no analogy in the senti- ments which it is made to express. Music is not " a horse for every saddle," and although it is not a precise and determined language — although it can frequently ex- press diverse ideas, it can not adapt itself indifferently to evei-y description of words. It is known that Han- del himself wrote four choruses of The Messiah out of " Chamber Duets." He has taken a phrase of a chorus in Acis^ "Behold the monster," in which the expression of fear and horror is admirable, from another chamber duet, of which the sense was not at all analogous.* "Let old Timotheus," oi Alexander'' s Feast^ is perfectly similar to the first part of the chamber trio, " Quel fior che al alba ride." Many similar examples might be quoted. But although an air which has been composed for one sub- ject may sometimes be suitable for another, such is not always the case. Music is an excessively delicate art ; it is the most sensitive of all the arts ; the slightest mod- ification — even the alteration of a note — is perceptible; the acceleration, or the prolongation of the time often entirely changes the character of a song ; and it is the composer only who has a right to effect such transform- ations, for he alone can judge of their propriety. There may be diflerent ways (and all excellent) of singing the same thing, and yet all possible ways may not be good. There are a hundred thousand plaintive melodies which will very well express I iclsh to clie^ and some of these may be very Avell applied to 3fy grief is great ,' but some of them would not agree with the latter phrase, * In the chorus of Acis, "Wretched Lovers," the phrase, "Behold the monster, Polypheme," is identically taken from the third part of the Twelfth of the Chamber Duets, published by Arnold, at the words "Da gl' amori flagellata." 94 L I F E O F HANDEL, and if you applied them to I iclsli to dance^ the result would be horribly incongruous. The acrobats who give themselves to this kind of trick are still more culpable, when they do not inform the public of the fact. For example, in the " Holy, holy, Lord," which is usually printed as " by Handel," the word " holy" occurs thirty-one times over. But it never falls together oftener than twice, although the text in- vokes God as thrice holy. Surely Handel would not have been so prodigal of this word, and he would not have altered the biblical text, which repeats three times, " Holy ! holy ! holy !" He knew that the number three was a sacred number in the Bible, like the number seven. Still less would he have clothed the invocation of a pray- ing people — " Holy ! holy ! holy ! Lord God Almighty !" with the accents of a man who is calling upon his love, "Dove sei amato bene," " Where art thou, my beloved treasure ?" And, besides, many of these adapters have not even respected the music which they have meddled with. Corfe, in his substitution of " Turn thee, O Lord !" for " Verdi prati," has not contented himself with trans- forming the Italian air into a duet, but he has found it useful to change ceitain passages of it. And what could be worse than to apply a melody which breathes of "Green meadows, lovely forest," to "Turn thee, O Lord ?" Arnold has, indeed, preserved in all its in- tegrity the air of " Verdi prati," while he adapts it to " Where is this stupendous Stranger ?" {Redemption)) But it is easy to imagine what would have been the anger of the choleric Handel, if he could have heard his ideas about green fields applied to any stranger, be he ever so stupendous. Tiie mania for putting every thing into their prayers has betrayed the English into some most unworthy ac- tions. If Handel had written a "Vive I'amour!" or a "Here's to wine!" they would have made a canticle of K O AV L A N D H I L L . 95 it. In IVGS, they bad the audacity to introduce into Israel in Egypt a dozen such tilings as " Great Jehovah, all adoring," fitted to the music of " Di Cupido impiego -' vanni" ("I borrow Cupid's wings"), from Rodelinda ; thus daring to set Cupid's quiver upon the shoulders of Omnipotence itself — an act which seems to me monstrous, in an artistic point of view, and I am astonished that the English, generally so religious, do not regard it as posi- tively blasphemous. The Reverend Rowland Hill, when he was reproached with similar practices, wittily rei)lied — "But the devil must not have all the good tunes." A man of wit can always extricate himself by a joke ; but that does not satisfy the question of propriety, and it is astonishing that churchmen do not regard this more seriously — for to sing a psalm to an air taken out of an opera seems like decorating the altar with the detested rags of the theater, or dressing up a bishop in the costume of " the comic man." Even those who have inherited Handel's own books have left in them traces of similar proflmation. Thus, in the copy of Deborah^ which Handel himself used for a long time, and which contains a number of notes, and even entire pao-es in his own hand-wriling, the original air of Jael, "To joy he brightens my despair," is folded down as if to be suppressed, and is rephiced by three new pages, with " To joy he brightens" set to an air from Siroe^ " Sgombra dell anima !" Many other ex- amples of this might be cited ; for really some persons seemed to think that they might take the most incredi- ble liberties with music. In the eighteenth century there were editors who had the barbarous audacity to correct Shakspeare, in order to " render him fit for the stage ;" but no one has dared, in imitation of these musical arrangers, to put the description of Queen Mab into Othello's mouth, or Hamlet's soliloquy into that of Falstaff. 96 LIFEOF HANDEL. Even while Handel was living, this adulteration of his compositions was practiced. All collections of songs about that epoch are full of things " by Mr. Handel," but of which he was certainly guiltless ; and these are always airs from his operas, and even from his oratorios, adapted to English rhymes. The Thesaurus Musicus^* for example, contains "A bacchanal — 'Bacchus, god of mortal pleasures,' by Mr. Handel ;" which is simply a gavot from the overture of Otho^ out of which the adapter has manufactured a toper's duet. And not only did tliey distort the great master's mnsic by marrying it to words which bore no sort of relation to the ideas which he had intended it to express, but they even de- graded it by coupling it with low comedy matters. In the British Museum there is a song, "On the Humours of the town," a dialogue between Columbine and Punch, to a favorite air of Mr. Handel's, " my pretty PuncJii- 7iello!'''' It is an air from Rodelinda^ "Ben spesso in vago prato," which is here lent to Columbine and Punch- inello for the interchange of their amenities. Harry Carey, the original profaner, had at least the good faitii to point it out ; but Bickham inserted " O my pretty Punchinello !" in his " Musical Entertainer," merely ob- serving " The musick by Mr. Handel." ! ! ! * * * " Comme avec irreverence Parle des dieux ce maraud !" — Amphytr'wn. After Rodelinda^ Scipio was produced in 1726, of which the march became exceedingly popular. It was set to the song, "We follow brave Hannibal and Scipio," of which there is a copy in the British Museum. The authors of Polly ^ a continuation of the Beggar'^s Opera^ also employed it in " Brave boys, prepare ;" and this explains Barney's mistake, that this march was in- * Two volumes in folio, without a date. " God save great Georgo our King" is to be found iu them ; and this is the first known publication of the superb English National Anthem. It is entitled, " A Loyal Song, Rung at the Theater Eoyal, for two voices." TASTEBOAKD STONES. 97 troduccd into the Beggar^s Opera. The march wliich Pepusch used for the Beggafs Opera was taken from Binaldo. The opera of Alexander., wliich was produced after Scipio, on the 7th of IVtay, 1726, "took much" (to use the expression of Colman's Httle MS.) ; and, indeed, it was revived in 1727, 1728, and 1733. Senesino achieved in it an exploit which deserves to be recorded in history: AYhen, in the part of Alexander, he led his soldiers to the assault of Ossidraca, he so far forgot himself in the heat of combat, as to stick his sword into one of the pasteboard stones of the wall of the town, and bore it in triumph before him as he entered the breach. This fact is reported in The World, for the 8th of February, 1753, by an old amateur, who congratulates Garrick upon hav- ing introduced a cascade of real water among his deco- rative improvements — " A puerility so renowned a gen- eral," said he, " could never have committed, if the ram- parts had been built, as in this enlightened age they would be, of real brick a,nd stone." " Will you forgive an elderly man," says he on another occasion, " if he can not help recollecting another passage that happened in his youth, and to the same excellent performer ? He was stepping into Armida's enchanted bark, but, treading short, as he was more attentive to the accompaniment of the orchestra than to the breadth of the shore, he fell prostrate, and lay for some time in great pahi, with the end of a wave running into his side. In the present state of things, the worst that could have happened to him would have been drowning — a fate far more becoming Rinaldo, especially in the sight of a Brit- ish audience." These anecdotes are droll, and well enough told ; but they do not make a better cascade out of tin-plate and a piece of Dutch metal, than out of real water, for all that. Admetus, produced in 1727, had nineteen consecutive 98 LIFEOFHANDKl^. representations, which is one of the longest runs recorded about that time. The air of Admetus, " Spera, si, mio caro," is considered to be one of Handel's finest inspira- tions.* * Hawkins says : — " Of this air the late Mr. John Lockman relates the following story, assuring his reader that himself was an eye-witness of it, viz. : — When being at the house of Mr. Lee, a gentleman in Chesh- ire, whose daughter was a very fine performer on .the harpsichord, he saw a pigeon, which, whenever the young lady played this song, and this only, would fly from an adjacent dove-house to the window in the parlor where she sat, and listen to it with the most pleasing emotions, and the instant the song was over, would return to the dove-liouse. {Some Reflections concerning Operas^ etc., prefixed to Bosalinda, a musical drama by Mr. Lockman, in quarto, 1740)." — It must be confessed that this was certainly a pigeon of taste. This air was committed to Signora Faustina Bordini, better known as la Faustina, who had made her debut (in 1726) in Alexander, and was almost immediately regarded as the rival of Signora Cuzzoni. Each lady had a zealous party of admirers, and the dispute ran as high as it did subsequently between the Gluckists and Piccinists in France. COliey Gibber (in his "Dramatic Works") represents the two heroines as carry- ing their mutual hatred to such a pitch as to come to actual blows : — " The Contretemps, or the Rival Queens, a small farce, as it has been lately acted with great applause at H — d — r's [Heidegger's] private the — e [theater], near the H — m — [Haymarket]." In this piece of ex- travagance there is not a grain of wit. "F — s — a [Faustina], a Qeeen of Bologna," and " C — z — ni [Cuzzoni], Princess of Modena," after hav- ing exchanged high words, seize each other by the hair, in spite of the interference of Heidegger and Senesino, and then they go off, Cuzzoni pursuing Faustina, who runs away. Handel has a part consisting of three lines, in which he advises that they be left to fight it out, inasmuch as the only way to calm their fury is to let them satisfy it. Burncy amuses himself -with relating that the rival factions were de- stroyed in a very odd manner. The partisans of la Cuzzoni had made her swear on the Gospels that she would never accept an engagement for a less sum than la Faustina ; so the managers who had heard of this fact, and who wished to put an end to a dispute which threatened to set all the town by the ears, gave la Faustina a guinea more upon the renewal of her engagement; whereupon to Cuzzoni, fxithful to her oath, left the kingdom. The latter lady was ugly and iU made, but la Faustina was very handsome, and, as they were both exceedingly clever, that differ- ence Y/ill serve to explain the reason why la Cuzzoni did not get the ad- ditional guinea. But in my humble opinion the anecdote is a mere tale, for we find the names of the two ladies in the opera-book of Ptolemy (1728), the last opera produced by the Koyal Academy of Music, and they had both quitted London when the theater re-opened some time in CORONATION ANTHEMS. 99 In this same year (1'727), George II. succeeded his father. He was too fond of music to be satisfied at his coronation with that of the English composers, whom an old law compelled him to have in his royal chapels, so he requested Handel to give his assistance, who wrote the four antliems which are called the Coronation Aiithems. These were performed at AVestminster during the cere- mony of the 11th of October, 1727, after having been solemnly rehearsed in the cathedral on the 6th, in the presence of a numerous assemblage.* This work forms one of the most solid foundations of its author's glory. " Zadok, the priest," especially, is an inspiration of pro- digious grandeur. The chorus, " God save the king" (which must not be confounded with the National An- them) is comparable in beauty to the " Hallelujah" chorus in The Messiah. Dr. William Crotch (who edited the Coronation Anthems for the Handel Society) says at the end of his little preface : — " The editor thinks it proper the following year. One of the thousand epigrams which fomented this quarrel has been preserved. It is directed against the Countess of Pem- broke, whose friends used to hiss la Faustina : " Old poets sing that beasts did dance, Whenever Orpheus played ; So to Faustina's charming voice, Wise Pembroke's asses brayed." Signora Faustina became the wife of Hasse, the composer; and as for the other lady, the London Daily Post of the 7th of September, 1741, contained this startling piece of intelligence: — " We hear ifrom Italy that the famous singer, Mrs. C — z — ni is under sentence of death to be be- headed, for poisoning her hubband!" Yet it is a question whether she was ever married ; at all events, the sentence of decapitation must have been commuted into exile, since she made another appearance in En- gland. The General Advertiser of the 20th of May, 1751, contains an advertisement from her, infonning the public about " her pressing debts and desire to pay them by a henefit^ which will be the last she will ever trouble them with." The concert took place on the 23d of May, and the singers were Guadagni, Palma, and Signora Cuzzoni. It was this lady who, in 1727, made such a sensation in Rkardo Primo^ the third act of which (according to Burney) " is replete with beauties of every kind." * Malcolm. 100 LIFE OF HANDEL. to state that lie is not responsible for the manner in which the words are spelt, divided into syllables, or marked with punctuation ;" from which it would appear that the Saxon musician has committed, in this great work, some sins against English prosody. Upon many occasions he drew fi-agments from these woi'ks ; notably for Deborah and the Occasional Orato- rio,'^ and he appears even to have performed them at his theater. The advertisement announcing the performance of Esther^ on the 2d of May, 1732, states: — " There will be no acting. The music to be disposed after the man- ner of the Coronation Service." They often hgure in the programmes of the last centuiy, and even in a hand- bill of the Coburg Theater, dated 10th of March, 1820 ; but with the orchestra directors of the present day, they seem to have quite fallen into disgrace. During the last four years, the Sacred Harmonic Society alone has per- formed one of these anthems, " Zadok, the priest." Dr. Rimbault possesses an old pamphlet (in quarto), printed at DubHn in 1727, by order of William Hawkins, Esq., Ulster King-at-arms for all Ireland, entitled, " Cer- emonial of the Coronation of his most sacred majesty King George the Second, and of his royal spouse Queen Caroline." This programme of the ceremonial at West- minster fixes the place of every thing and the part of every actor. Handel's fourth anthem, " Let thy hand," is not to be found there ; but there are four anthems by composers whose names are not given. f 8iroe (or Gyrus) opened the season of 1728. The poem is by Metastasio, although Nicolo Haym passed himself off indirectly for the author in his dedication : — " To the most illustrious and excellent lords and gentle- men, the directors and sub-directors of the Royal Acad- emy of Music, this drama is very humbly dedicated, by their most humble and most devoted servant, N. Haym." * See '' Catalogue." t Preface of the Handel Society edition of the Coronation Anfhema, "SIROE" AND "PTOLEMY." 101 Considering this superlative humility toward " the most illustrious and excellent lords and gentlemen," it must be admitted that Haym did not pass for a jMetastasio very cheaply. Tiie Daily Journal of Monday, the 19th of February, 1728, which had not hitherto announced the first performance of ySVroe, merely says: — "The king, queen, and princess royal, and the Princesses Amelia and Caroline, went to the Oper:i, House in the Haymarkct on Saturday last, and saw performed tlie new opera called Siroey It seemed, therefore, more important to the journalist to record that the king went to the theater, than that the new opera was by Handel. It is not im- possible, however, that the king and his august flimily did not see Slroe on that day, but some other work, for the same journal of the 28th of March following, con- tains a paragraph, the details of which seem to refer to something exceptional, like a first representation: — "At the King's Theater in the Hayraarket, on Saturday next, being the 30th of March, will be performed a new opera called Siroe. Tickets will be delivered at the ofiice in the Haymarket, on Friday ; and having no annual sub- scribers admitted this season, four hundred tickets and no more will be given out, at half a guinea each. No persons whatsoever will be admitted for money, nor any tickets sold at the bar, but in the proper ofiaces. The gallery, 5s. By his majesty's command, no persons whatsoever to be admitted behind the scenes. To be- exactly at 6 o'clock. — Yivant Rex et Regina." Ptolemy^ or Tolemeo^ appeared in 1728. The echo air in that opera, " Dite che fa," excited quite a rage for imitation, but the opera was not performed more than seven times for all that. Ptolemy^ nevertheless, reap- peared on the 2d of January, 1733.* A leaf added to the old book (doubtless belonging to that epoch), headed " Additions and Alterations," does not contain less than seven airs and one new chorus. Xo author ever re- * Colraan. 102 LIFE OF HANDEL. touched his works so much and so frequently as Handel did. Being the director of a theater, and often having new artists to produce, being gifted, moreover, with a prodigious facility of composition, he changed or added something at almost every revival, sometimes to please the singers, and sometimes to offer a new attraction to the public. At the same time as Ptoletny and Siroe were making their appearance in the Hajmiarket, John Rich, the pro- prietor of the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theater, brought out there Gay's Beggar'' s Opera^ one of the few, among En- glish operas, which has survived the day of its birth. The music of this was entirely made up of local ballads, put into the score by Dr. Pepusch. The whole town hastened to admire it ; at the first run it had sixty-three consecutive representations,* which caused people to say that "it made Gay r/cA, and Rich EL. stage at present, we shall sometimes find it magnificent and well ordered. In this I exclude the habits of the characters or persons of the drama, in whicli tlie propi'i- ety is not near so well observed as in the scenery ; for we shall often see a shabby king surrounded by a party of his guards, every man of which belongs to the ragged reo'iment. One would think that the manasjers of the theater were republicans in their princij^les, and they did this on purpose to bring monarchy into contempt ; for it is certain that Duncan, king of Scotland, has not had a new habit for this last century ; and the mighty Julius Caesar, first emperor of Rome, appears as ragged as a colt ; and many other monarchs I could name, that are no better dressed than heathen philosophers. The rea- son is, that you will find those parts are not played by any of the three managers, and it is their awkward van- ity to appear fine themselves though never so much out of character." Since the kings were so shabbily equipped, it is clear that the receipts of the lioyal Academy of Music must have been very poor to have admitted of the dissipation of £50,000. The small number of representations wdiich even the best works enjoyed, proves also that even small audiences could only be attracted by continually tempt- ing them with novelties. In a theater, the losses mount up as quickly when it is out of favor, as the profits do wdien the public is pleased. Mr. Delafield lost £60,000 at Covent Garden Theater in two years only, ]848 and 1849 ; during which time (intending to rival the attrac- tion of Mile. Jenny Lind at the Opera-house in the Hay- market) he spent £25,000 in mounting four operas only — the Projyhete, the Huguenots^ Lnorezia^ and La Don- na del Lago. At Paris, the Jidf Errant cost £6,000 in being made ready for its failure. No one (not even a republican^ could desire to return to the shabby kings and old clothes of the Royal Academy of 1720; but there is certainly some danger of the costly and luxu- CAUSE OF FAILURE. 109 rions decoration which is now in vogue. In this may be found the reason why managers will not produce the works of any man whose name is not a kind of guaranty of buccess ; for they will not risk £6,000 upon the name of a new' man. And this is why, for the last twenty years, France has not produced one single new composer. Ten die of weariness before one can get a piece repre- sented, and then only by the force of interest and intrigues. The entei'prise of the Academy, far from being con- tinually prosperous (according to the assertion of Main- waring and Hawkins, which is adopted by almost every biographer), was a constant source of loss. The offensive threats addressed to the defaulting subscribers in 1721 and 1723, and the complaints of Haym and Arbuthnot, prove this beyond a doubt. Public indifference was the real cause of the Academy's dissolution, and not, as has been pretended, the violent and imperious character of Handel, which, as well as his quarrels with Senesino, is said to have disgusted the noble directors. The best proof that these quarrels are imaginary is, that Senesino after- ward returned to the Haymarket when Handel took the theater on his own account. Senesino, whose fine talent was sure to make his fortune anywhere, would not have quitted Italy (at the same time breaking, as we shall presently see, an engagement which he had entered into at Rome) to place himself at the disposal of a man whom he hated ; and Handel, for his part, was not the man to engage an artist a second time, who had previously been wanting in respect toward himself The disputes be- tween him and Senesino arose only during their second connection ; and as for the enmity wiiich caused the nobility to raise another theater in opposition to his, that manifested itself a long time subsequently. Hawkins, in spite of his relation Avith the great composer, has utterly confounded the dates; for he attributes to 1728 events which did not occur before 1738. CHAPTER IV. 1729—1732. Handel takes the Italian Theater with Heidegger — Successive Failure OF ALL HIS Productions—" Esther," the First English Oratorio— Origin OF Oratorios — Op their Performance without Action — "Acis and Galatea"— Opera 1' and 2' of Handel's Instrumental Works. Handel now possessed £10,000, wliich he had saved out of the profits of his previous works. In spite of the indifference which the public had manifested, and of the enormous loss which had been incurred in the face of a subscription supported by the entire aristocracy, he made arrangements with Heidegger, the proprietor of the Haymarket Theater, to bring out operas there, and in partnership, for three years ; and he went to Italy to bring together a company. In passing through Ham- burg on his way back, he engaged a basso, Godfred Reimschneider, first singer at the cathedral of that town ; but he did not see his old friend Mattheson, who says, with the dryness of a man wlio does not wish to com- plain, "he made a journey to Dresden to seek for some singers, and I heard that he passed through Hamburg." Handel preserved no affection for Mattheson, with whom he had been so intimate in his youth ; but what was the reason of this does not appear. The Daily Courmit of the 2d of July, 1729, announces his return to London in the following manner : — " Mr. Handel, who is just returned from Italy, has contracted wdth the following persons to perform in the Italian Opera : — Sig. Bernacchi, who is esteemed the best singer in Italy ; Signora Merighi, a woman of a very fine pres- ence, an excellent actress, and a very good singer, with a counter-tenor voice ; Signora Strada, who hath a very THE ITALIAN OPERA. Ill fine treble voice, a person of singular merit ; Sig. Anni- bale Pio Fabri, a most excellent tenor, and a fine voice ; his wife, who performs a man's part exceeding well ; Signora Bertoldi, who has a very fine treble voice,* she is also a very genteel actress, both in men and women parts ; a bass voice from Hamburg, there being none w^orth engaging in Italy." This last was Godfred Reim- schneider. It must be admitted that this enumeration of marvels sounds rather pompously. It would appear, however, that ladies capable of " performing a man's part" were very much in vogue ; since Handel, as we shall presently see, found it necessary to add a third to his company. These artists disembarked at Dover, about the end of September, and the Italian Opera, which had been closed for eighteen months, reopened on the 2d of December, 1729, with Jjotliario^ a new score by the manager. Bur- ney places this above all the others. After having Avrit- ten Lothario amid the bustle of preparation, and the complete reorganization of a theater, Plandel produced Parthenope on the 24th of February, 1730. Parthenope was published by Walsli, who became at that time Handel's sole publisher. The arrangements between them were long, and diflScult of conclusion. After having had Pinaldo in 1711, Walsh had nothing more from Handel until 1721. It was Cluer who, in 1720, printed the Suites de Pieces^ and Richard Meares who published Padamisto. In 1722, having doubtless re- ceived an offer from Walsh, he published through him, but always on his own account, Floridante^ Otho^ and Plavio^ successively. It appears, however, as if he was not satisfied with him, since it was Cluer who published Pulius Ccp.sar in 1724, and who was his publisher up to 1728 ; and it is to be regretted that he did not always remain so. This rival of Walsh was, apparently, an en- * This is a mistake : Sa. Bertoldi was a contralto, and her right name was Bertolli. 112 LIFE OF HANDEL. graver himself. His editions are inlinilely more beautiful than all others, for they manifest the hand of an artist. His Julius Cmsm\ in octavo, is a very pretty little vol- ume, and his Suites de Pieces are admirably engraved, with a title-page of decorative letters in the writing- master style, composed with a taste and executed with a purity which could not be surpassed in these days. In A Pocket Companion (a collection of music in two a'oI- umes, octavo), he says : — " The proprietor of this book will speedily publish (in a neat, large, octavo size, for the pocket) the celebrated Opera of Julius Ccesar^ he hav- ing a grant for the sole engraving, printing, and publish- ing tiie same." His two editions of Julius Coesar (in quarto and in octavo) have, moreover, the patent, which has been already mentioned in connection with Racla- misto. Such a declaration seems to have been intended for a warning to all pirates, but it did not prevent Walsh from reproducing all Cluer's operas. Nevertheless, in 1728, AYalsh made new arrangements w^ith Handel, for he it M'as who published Ptolemy^ to the exclusion of Cluer, who did not publish any edition of Ptolemy. It would seem, however, as if they parted once more, for the original edition of Lotharius^ in 1729, was by Cluer ; but, in 1730, they came together again for the fourth time and were no more separated. From Parthenope to Tlie Triumph of Time., Handel's last work, every thing was published by Walsh. It is probable that there was some sort of treaty be- tween them. If so, what was its effect? Upon this point there exists vague tradition which may here be recorded. By a happy accident, I chanced to meet Mr. John Caulfield, who had been an engraver of music, and whose father, who had followed the same business, was appren- ticed to Walsh, by whom he had been employed to carry the proofs for Handel's correction. Mr. Caulfield, who is eighty-three years old, and is one of the few living per- PUBLISniNG ARRANGEMENTS. 113 sons who can boast of liaving spoken to one who had spoken to Handel, lias heard it said at the paternal iire- side, that Walsh, who was extremely rich, very parsi- monious, and so suspicious that he would sometimes leave pieces of gold upon his desk in order to test the honesty of his clerks and workmen, gave twenty guineas to the great composer for each oratorio which he printed. This is scarcely credible. A singer of moderate order will now receive tvventy-tive guineas for singing four pieces in a concert. iJ^evevtheless, the memory ^of the little apprentice may, after all, be more exact than we are now disposed to be- lieve ; the labor of the intellect was at that time shame- fully underpaid. We shall presently see that the printer of a volume of madrigals, by Lotti, acquired possession of it in consideration of thirty copies of the loork itself. Dr. J. Warton relates that Dryden received from his bookseller about £25 for each of his pieces ; and that in 1715, Tonson paid Richard Steele £50 for AdcUsoii^s Dniimner ; and that, in 1721, Dr. Young had only £50 for his famous piece, Revenge. Every body knows that the manuscript of Paradise Lost was bought for £5, with an agreement to pay £15 more should the work attain a third edition ; which was something less than £7 for each edition. But if twenty guineas were given for each oratorio, what would be the price of an opera? That is not known ; but whatever it was, it is certain that Walsh proved himself to be a very active and enterprising, if not a very careful publisher. He brought out immedi- ately the sequel to the collection of Overtures for the Harpsichord^ commenced in 1726, and which had been stationary at the first volume since that time ; he com- menced his great collections of Apollo^ s Feast, Chamber ^l?>e5, and Overtures in eight parts ;* he published sev- eral things which had been previously written, but which * See in the " Catalogue" — Publications of ITandeVs Works. 114 LIFE OF HANDEL. Still remained in manuscript, such as JVciter 3fusic, the Utrecht Te Deimi, and Juhilate^ etc. In fact, whatever Handel wrote he printed immediately, after his fashion — that is to say, very imperfectly. They seem to have be- come very good friends in 1739, for the edition of " Twelve Grand Concertos," published in this year, con- tains the copy of a patent, dated the 31st of October, 1739, which grants to Walsh, "at the request of Han- del," the exclusive right of publishing all his works : — " Whereas, George Frederick Handel, of the parish of St. George, Hanover Square, in our county of Middlesex, Esq., hath humbly represented unto us, that he hath, wdth great labour and expense, composed several works consisting of vocal and instrumental music, and hath authorized and appointed John Walsh, of the parish of St. Mary-le-Strand, in our said county of Middlesex, to print and publish the same ; and hath, therefore, humbly besought us to grant our royal privilege and license to the said John Walsh, for the sole engraving, printing, and publishing the said works, for the term of fourteen years; we, being willing to give all due encouragement to works of this nature, are graciously pleased to conde- scend to his request : and we therefore," etc. John Walsh was, undoubtedly, the greatest musical publisher of the eighteeiith century. Biographers do not say any thing about him, yet there are few men whose names have been more frequently printed than his. His father, whose name also was John, published Arsino'e in 1705, and settled in Catherine-street, Strand, where their immense establishment long remained. He was printer to Queen Anne.* The son died on the 15th of January, 176G, worth £40,000, f which was not all * " Songs in the Opera called Arsino'e. London : Printed for J. Walsh, servant to Her Majesty, at ye Golden Harp and Hoboy, in Katherine Street, near Somerset House, in the Strand.'' t " January \hth^ died, Mr. John Walsh, the most eminent music- seller in the kingdom. . . . January 21st, Mr. John Walsh was in- WALSH THE PUBLISHER. 115 gained in the most honorable manner. In the article " Geminiani," of the Musical Biograplnj^ we find : — " Geminiani's op. 2 (MS.) had been surreptitiously ob- tained by Walsh, who was about to print it ; but think- ing it would be benefited by the corrections of the author, he gave him the altei-native, either of correcting it, or submitting it to appear with its faults before the world. Geminiani rejected the insulting offer with the contempt it deserved, and instituted a process in Chan- cery for an injunction against the sale of the book. Walsli compounded the matter with him, and the work was published under the inspection of the author. The opera Terza he sold to Walsh, who, in his advertise- ments, gave the public to understand that he came hon- estly by the copy." It is undeniable that Walsh pirated all the works of Handel which did not belong to him. These piracies are anonymous, but there is no doubt that he was the culprit ; for the plates are to be found in the subsequent publications of the same works to which he attached his name when his arrangements with the author gave him a right to do so. This man published an immense number of works, but without care, without taste, and without the smallest scintilla of artistic spirit. It will be seen by the " Cata- logue," that he made the most horrible mixtures with his plates, and that he employed them, in turn, in many different collections. He was like an apothecary, who mixes up all sorts of ingredients to obtain something good — to sell ; and he would have shaken up together the five books of Moses, if he had supposed that the public were likely to buy one copy more. This may be seen in his " Delizie del' opera," into which he interpolated the " Stabat Mater" of Pergoleso, and the " Salve Rogina" of Hasse. Many of the airs in his editions of Handel terred with ^reat funeral pomp at St. Mary's tlie Strand. It is said he died worth £40,000."— PwWio Advertiser^ 1766. lie LIFE OF HANDEL. have almost as many cipliers of pagination as harlequin's coat has colors. Those of Sosarme have as many as four^ three at the top and one at the bottom ; proving that they had ah'eady been used in three other collec- tions before they formed part of the complete edition. The two books of "Favorite Songs in Pastor Fido,-' Avhich appeared in 1734, are curious specimens of this kind of medley. After pages 1 to 10 there is a series of 1 to 6 ; the following page has no number ; then come 7 and 8, and then 23, 24, 25, 26 ; then no number ; then 2 and 3; then 113 and 114; then 15 and 18, and so on! The fact is, that out of the sixteen pieces which are in- cluded in these two books, only eight belong to the work w^hose title they bear ; the rest are from Ezio^ JRicardo^ and JxodeUnda. Those taken from Ezio still bear upon the margin the names of Onoria and of Fulvia, person- ages belonging to Ezio, These books contain, however, all that has ever .been published of Handel's Pastor Fido 1 There are copies of Esther which oifer a still more extraordinary medley, and one is really astonished that a publisher should have had so little regard for him- self for his author, and for the public* * The overture, which is paginated 161, proceeds regularly up to 167, and then comes page 8, " Breathe soft," without a title, without prelude, and without orchestration ; then pages 11 — 44, where is, " "Watchful Angels," headed " Delorah ;" afterward, " ' Endless Fame,' sung by Sig- nxora Stnida /" paginated on the first plate, 72 — 41 ; on the second, 42 — 73 ; on the third, 74 — 43 ; and on the fourth, 44 — 75. The same air reappears in the hook of " The Most Favorite Songs in Deborah,'''' paginated 12, 13, 14, and 15; but always " sung by Signora Strada," although it belongs to the part of Ahasuerus. Afterward, page (9) — 48, " ' Tune your harps,' sung by Signora Strada." The plates of " Tune your harps," and of *' Praise the Lord," were those engraved for " The Most Celebrated Songs in EstTter f they bear the numbers 9 and 12 in this anterior pub- lication, the pagination of which is bracketed. In page 51 — (12) is " ' Praise the Lord,' sung by Signora Strada, Mrs. Eobinson, and Mrs. Davis" — three names for a single air ! Further on we find, at page 32 — 69, "When the sun o'er yonder hills," and at page 14 — 60, " Sacred Eaptures" — both pieces from Solonvin, which was produced in 1748 ! The heading of " So much beauty" is an enigma, which may be sub- joined for the amusement of the ingenious : PATCH-WOKK EDITIONS. 117 These things have seemed to me to be worthy of re- mark, for they prove how little confidence can be placed in the publications of Walsh ; they show how the works of Handel were printed in the middle of the eighteenth century, when he was living, under his own eyes, and even upon the theater of his glory. They must, never- tlieless, have brought very great profit to the publisher, for there are very few of his operas which have not been pirated. Alexander and Scijyio were engraved at one and the same time by Cluer, by Walsh, and by Meares. It should also be observed that, with the exception of Alexcmder^s Feast and o^ Acis^ not one of Walsh's books contains any thing but airs and duets. He seems to have been afflicted very severely with a species of choropho- hia ; for, during the whole of his long career as a mu- sical publisher, he did not pubhsh ten choruses. The composers of the eighteenth century did not attach sufficient importance to the publication of their works. They left them to merchants to make the best market of them. With the exception of Alexander's Feast^ there is not a single complete score by Handel belonging to this epoch ; even those which are " published by the author," and to which he has thus given the "16. Deborah. 91. ' Flowing Joys,' Sung by Siga Strada." " So much beauty" belongs to the part of Mordecai ; and certainly Signora Strada, a high soprano, could never have attempted it in her MfQ. But why " Deborah" at the head of the air in Esther f and what is the meaning of that species of memorandum — " Flowing Joys ?" I have found an air, " Flowing Joys," interpolated in the Second Act of Judas Ilaccaicevs^ in the MS. collection which belonged to Smith. It is very clear that it did not originally form part of the copy, but has since been added ; but what connection it can have with Walsh's plate is still a mystery. It does not appear in any book of Esther or of Deborah ; and, besides, there is nothing in it to make it at all worthy of its presumed author. It is to be found in a book of Jadas Maccalceus, with many other strange airs ; and this book belongs, without a doubt, to tlie epoch when the inheritor of Handel's MSS. was making in them some very disrespectful interpolations. 118 LIFE OF HANDEL. guaranty of his name, have many omissions more or less important. Hadainisto, for example, which was notoriously corrected by himself, has not the quartette, " O cedere o perir." In fact, the operas, above all, may be regarded as almost unedited ; for there is not one in which the recitatives have not been suppressed, and also the greater part of the accompaniment — not one in which large and deplorable excisions have not been ef- fected. The Alessandro, published by Cluer, in 1726, for example, lacks not less than thirteen pieces. Of Ariodante, Pastor Fido^ Muzio^ and Hymen^ there are nothing but books of "Favorite Songs."* Society being not yet sufficiently interested in scientific knowledge to be able to count upon the interest which a complete score would excite, they did not print more than would be required by amateurs who sang to the harpsichord. It was in the copies by hand that the composer deposited the whole of his ideas ; and this explains the value set upon those which were made by Christopher Smith ; and we can understand how it was that Walsh, in spite of the jumble which he made of his publications, re- mained to the end Handel's publisher. It should be added that, however great may be our indignation against him, his editions contain a certain number of pieces which can not possibly be found either at Buck- ingham Palace or in any of Smith's copies. These were probably called for by some fortuitous circumstance during the rehearsals, composed upon the spot, and sent to the printer before Handel had the time, or took the trouble, to add them to the manuscript. It would be impossible, therefore, without collating Walsh's publica- tions with the original MSS., to furnish a really complete edition of Handel's works. * Amadis, Jupiter in Argos, the serenata Parnasso in Festa, the ora- torio Trionfo del Tempo^ and the masque Terpsichore^ althoucfh produced at London, have, nevertheless, remained entirely unpublished; bo also have anterior works, Roderlgo, Sylla^ tlie German Passion^ the Italian serenata, Aci e Galatea, and a great quantity of church music. THE OPERA OF "PORUS." 119 And now, having sufficiently discussed these minor details, let us return to Handel's public life. Partlienope^ wliich Barney declares to be one of the finest dramatic Ijroductions of the author, enjoyed only seven perform- ances, and Lothario could obtain no move than ten. Handel was of opinion that the cause of this was the want of a leading singer in his company, and he deter- mined to procure one. Thanks to the English minister at Florence, he was able to persuade Senesino to return, who had been singing in Venice since his departure from England.* Senesino, who had been obtained at the price of four- teen hundred guineas, made his roappeai-aiice on the 2d of February, 1731, in Porus^ which had fifteen consecu- tive representations. It has been already stated that this was a great success. The reprint in 1736 is marked "fourth edition." The poem should be highly interest- ing, judging only from the distribution of the parts : — " Porus, King of India, in love with Cleofida ; Cleofida, Queen of another part of India, in love with Porus; Gandartes, Porus's General, in love witli Eiissena, sister of Porus; Erissena, promised to Gendnites ; Alexander, the Macedonian king; Timagenes, Alexander's general and favorite, but secretly his enemy." This was how Porus and Alexander occupied themselves at the Hay- market in 1731. The French opera of the eighteenth century was essentially mythological. Castor and Pol- lux, Proserpine, Paris and the Apple of Discord, Perseus Phceto, Psyche, and Hebe, filled all the parts ; but the Italian opera, on the other hand, was exclusively royalist. In all the poems, with names ending in o or in a, belong- ing to that epoch, we find only kings, queens, princes, and princesses; the most insignilicant personages are generals — for how shall there be kings without armies? When, for the sake of variety, a shepherdf or a pirate is * See Appendix Gr. t Great Britain, in tlie eighteenth century, was quite as much infested 120 LIFE OF HANDEL. introduced, it is always some brother of the king or queen, who has been stolen from his cradle, and who re- covers liis rank at the end of the third act, when he mar- ries a princess who adored him under his shepherd's garb. Sometimes, as in Ptolemy^ the king and queen them- selves have been brouglit down to the crook, and the three acts are employed in restoring them to their thrones, very much to the disgust of their sheep, who are jealous at seeing themselves slighted in favor of a biped flock. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, it is the king of some place, frequently of Cyprus, who loves the princess of some other place, not uncommonly of Thrace, while the princess, for her part, is in love either with an em- peror or the captain of the guard ; add to these a tyrant or a traitor, or a little old high-priest, who opposes the wishes of the lovers, and you have the entire " drama per la musica" of London. Love must indeed be the most nat- ural, the most profound, the most universal, the most in- defatigable, the most inexhaustible, the most unconquer- able, and the most insatiable passion to which the human heart is subject, since meji are never wearied with the millions of intrigues which have been exhibited upon the stage during the past three thousand years. From u35s- as France with, shepherds and shepherdesses. Out of these very tribes alone, an army equal to the invasion of Eussia might have been levied among those bearing the name of Thyrsis, and the young ladies called Amaryllis were suflBcient to people the deserts of Arabia. But the man- ners of the age were not less barbarous on that account ; and the laws, the faithful mirror of society, were still characterized by an unheard of ferocity ; as witness this paragraph from the Daily Courant of the 10th of June, 1731 : — " Joseph Crook, alias Sir Peter Stranger, stood in the pillory at Charing Cross for forging a deed, and after he had stood an hour, a chair was brought to the pillory scaffold, in which he was placed, and the hangman with a pruning-knife cut off both his ears, and with a pair of scissors slit both his nostrils, all which he bore with much pa- tience ; but when his right nostril was seared with a hot iron, the pain was so violent he could not bear it ; whereupon his left nostril was not seared, but he was carried bleeding to a neighboring tavern. He is sen- tenced to be imprisoned for life." SLEEPY CHARACTERS. 121 chylus to M. Scribe, the Indian and Chinese dramatists inchided, there are probably not fifty dramatic works, be they comedies, tragedies, fiirces, ballets, or pantomimes, which are not founded upon a happy or an unhappy amour. It wouhl be a curious subject of calculation to reckon up the thirty or forty thousand marriages which thus take place every evening in the different quarters of the globe. And while upon the subject of poems, it may be ob- served that of all those which Handel composed music to, there are scarcely any in which some one or other of the principal personages does not fall asleep in the pres- ence of the audience ; Amadis, Rinaldo, Ptolemy, Ad- metus, Justin, Orlando ; Mirtillo in Pastor Fldo^ Teseo in Ariadne^ Rossane in Floridcmte^ Arsace in Parthe- nope^ Grimoaldo in Rodelinda^ Ginevra in Ariodante^ and Poppea in Agrippina^ all take their httle nap. This narcotic influence is so strong, that Cleopatra in Julius C(Bsm\ although perfectly awake, pretends to be asleep in order not to disappoint the audience. This strange malady is even observable in the oratorios. In Solo- mon^ the king and queen, after having inaugurated the Temple of Jerusalem, sing a very tender amorous duet, and straightway retire to sleep before the double chorus of priests and people, who, being doubtless great fre- quenters of the opera, hold this to be very natural, and begin praying to the Greek zephyrs of some centuries subsequent, to prolong their repose — " Ye Zephyrs, soft breathing, their slumbers prolong." Nothing short, in- deed, of Handel's music could reconcile the public to such a bad example. About the same time that Porus was produced, Bode- linda was revived for the second time, and for the fourth or fifth time the fine score of Rmcddo^ " revived with many additions by the author," according to the book of 1721. The advertisement in the Daily Journal of the 2d of April bears witness that, as manager of the 6 122 LIFE OF HANDEL. theater, he incurred great expense for the inise-en-schie : — " Jivialdo, with new scenes and eloathes. Great preparations being made to bring this opera on the stage, is the reason that no opera can be performed before Sa,turday next." Handel never did things by halves, and he only stop- ped short when honor compelled him to. A man miglit ruin himself with such a temperament ; but he could ac- complish many noble things. At the commencement of the following season, that is to say, on the 25th of January, 1732, ^tius (or Ezio)^ a new opera, was sung by Senesino, Montagnana (who was not less celebrated), and Signoro Strada, who has left behmd her a name in theatrical annals. In spite, however, of such support, and of its great musical merit, ^tius'w^i^ only represented five times. Handel was obliged to give Sosarme a month afterward, on the 15th of February, 1732. It makes one shudder to perceive the insatiable selfishness with which the public, in its rage after novelty, mercilessly exhausts the genius of the com- poser. Sosanne was more fortunate than yUtius^ but scarcely so much so as it deserved to be. When Handel was sufifering both as an artist and as a manager, a circumstance quite independent of his own free will brought him a moment's respite. His first English oratorio, Esther^ was entombed, as it were, at Cannons, and he had never dreamt of offering it to the public; but on the 23d of February, 1731, Bernard Gates, the master of the children at the Chapel Royal of St. James's, having obtained a copy of the score, caused it to be executed by his pupils. John Randall (who died a doctor and professor of the university of Cambridge in 1799), performed the part of Esther.^ The orchestra was composed of amateurs belonging to a society called the Philharmonic Society. Shortly after- ward the Academy of Ancient Music, assisted by Gates, * Bumey. "ESTHER" PUBLICLY PERFORMED. 123 executed it upon a larger scale, but still in a private man- ner. The vocal part was confided to the chorus of the Chapel Royal, and the instrumental part was performed by the members of the academy.* These two attempts could not take place without mak- ing some noise in the musical world, and their success determined a speculator to have the oratorio publicly performed. It is thus announced in the Daily Journal of the I'Zth of April, 1732 : — " Never performed in pub- lic. At the great rooms of Yillars-street, York Build- ings, on Thursday, the 20th of this instant April, will be performed, by the best vocal and instrumental music, Esther^ an oratorio, or sacred drama, as it was originally composed for the most noble James Duke of Chandos, by George Frederick Handel. Each ticket, five shil- lings." Handel, whether he had the power to do so or not, made no opposition when others used his music (so to speak), at his very doors ; he simply took means to par- ticipate in the profits, if there were any. On the 19th of April, when the Villars-street gentry repeated their advertisement in the Daily Journal^ adding, " the words by Mr. Pope,"f and appointing the performance for the next day, the following advertisement appeared by the side thereof: — " By His Ilajesty^s Command. "At the King's Theatre in the Haymarket, on Thurs- day, the 2d of May, will be performed the sacred story of Esther ; an oratorio in English, formerly composed by Mr. Handel, and now revised by him, with several ♦ An Account of the Academy of Ancient Music, page 79. This Acad- emy executed other complete oratorios by Handel. In " The Words of such Pieces as are most usually performed by the Academy of Ancient Music;" Jirst edition, 1761, second edition, 1768, may be found, '''■ Acis, a Masque; Alexanders Feast; Israel in Egypt (in two acts); rAlkgro, and The Messiahy There is also at the British Museum a book of Saul, dated 1740, " printed for the Academy of Music." t Pope never denied the assertion which attributed Gay's poem to him. l24 LIFE OP HANDEL. additions, and to be performed by a great number of voices and instruments. N. B. — There will be no acting on the stage, but the house will be fitted up in a decent maimer for the audience. The music to be disposed after the manner of the Coronation Service. Tickets to be delivered at the same price." The "By His Majesty's Command" is another proof that George the Second openly supported Handel. He attended the first performance, accompanied by all the royal family. " Last night," says the Daily Courant^ "their majesties, the Prince of Wales, and the three eldest princesses, went to the Opera House in the Hay- market, and smo a performance called Esther^ an orato- rio." The journalists of the eighteenth century always discovered some such elegance in expressing what they had to communicate. The success of this experiment was complete. The little MS. of Colman mentions that in the month of May, 1732, ''''Hester^ an English oratorio, was performed six times, and very full." The Villars-street speculators ap- pear to have been unable to contend against such suc- cess, for nothing more is to be heard of them after their attempt of the 20th of May. This oratorio, w^hich was sung in English by the prin- cipal members of the Italian company (S^. Strada, S*. Bertolli, Montagnana, and Senesino), remained in high favor with the public. I have a book of it, dated 1733, which is inscribed (though perhaps not truthfully) " fourth edition." The author had made considerable additions to the score of 1720.* The year 1732 is, therefore, the date of a great event in the history of music. Hitherto England only knew oratorios by name. It was the first time that the public had heard a work of that nature, and it showed itself immediately sensible of its excellencies. It was the applause accorded to Esther that induced Handel to * See " Catalogue." ORIGIN OF ORATORIOS. 125 compose other oratorios; and here, therefore, is the source of these magniticent works, wliich will bear his glory, and contribute to that of Great Britain, to the end of time.* * The Mysteries, or Moralities, in wliich dialogue was mingled with psalms and hymns, date as far back as the Middle Ages, and belong to an epoch whicli can not be precisely determined. These took a certain regular form about 1540 or 1550. St. Philip of Neri, founder of the Congregation of the Oratorio at Rome, in 1540, wishing to turn to the account of religion that passion for theatrical entertainments which tempted the Italians from the church, and above all during the carnival, conceived the idea of bringing the theater into the church. He caused sacred dramas to be composed ("drama sacro"), which were accompanied by music and dances, and which were played in the chapel belonging to his order. The project was successful ; the people hastened to enjoy this gratuitous amusement, and the custom became general in all the cathe- drals. The Sacred Drama of an entirely religious character, which, had replaced the Mystery, in which profanity was mingled with religion, re- mained, for more than half a century, a poem with dialogue spoken and sung. Burney has established, in a much more satisfactory manner than Father Menestrier, the origin of the oratorio, properly called sacred drama, in tvhich even the dialogue is sung. He has clearly elucidated the question at page 84 et seq. of the fourth volume of his History of Music. The first work of this kind, Anima e Corpo, is due to Emilio del Cava- liere, and was represented at Eome in February, 1600, in the church of the Oratorians, Santa Maria della Vallicella. Emilio had already at- tempted compositions with recitatives — that is to say, with dialogue sung — in two pastorals, II Satira and the Desperazione de Fileno, privately executed at Florence in 1590. Some authors derive the word oratorio directly from the Latin orare, to pray : but this appears to be an error. The new religious musical dramas preserved their name of 5acr6(i dramas ("dramo sacro"') until about the year 1G40, when Baldinucci, who died in 1642, wrote two — La Fede, which was founded upon Abraham's sacrifice, and // Trionfo, which, was on the coronation of the Virgin, both in two acts. He it was who took the fjmcy to call these works Oratorios, because they bore a strong resemblance to the performances of the Fathers of the Oratory ; and this title became gradually substituted for that of sacred drama, and has been handed down to these days. That the oratorios were represented on stages, which were erected in tbe churches and convents, with costumes, decorations, action, oxi.^ danc- ing, there can not be the slightest doubt. Emilio del Cavaliere, or his publisher, at the commencement of his printed score, gives the necessary instructions for the scenes, and it is evident that choruses, " al'antique," accompanied the dances. Catholicism thus lent its countenance to mountebanks — as foolish people are in the habit of calling actors — 126 LIFE OF HANDEL. The children of the Chapel Royal of St. James's had, in their innocence, represented Esther " with action ;" but Handel, fearing the clamor of the zealous, conformed himself to the Italian custom, and gave it " without ac- tion." Tins is all the more curious, because the Esther of 1720, played by the children of the Chapel Royal had scarcely any action in it ; while the author, in retouching it, seems to have had it for his principal object to bestow upon it a dramatic form and interest. The book, divided " into acts and scenes," with the names of the person- ages at the head of each scene, gives it, in fact, quite the appearance of a lyric tragedy. But in a country where the Bible is so revered, it could not be suffered that the prophets should be introduced " upon the boards." It is long since enlightened minds began to protest against this short-sightedness in matters of art. The Rev. John while tliey sentenced to eternal perdition all who show them any favor ; which is, after all, but a new title to the regard of honest men. It is perfectly certain that the ecclesiastical thunders which have been fulmi- nated against ballets, are, relatively speaking, of a very recent date. Without citing the example of David, who danced before the ark, I have myself seen in Mexico (during the year 1829) people dancing in all the churches at certain festivals. Groups of from ten to twelve persons, with a violin or a guitar, made each chapel a choreographic station, while the monks and priests looked on. This was evidently a traditional form of worship, which had been preserved ever since the conquest of Mexi- co. Father Menestrier says that he has seen in Spain, on Easter Sunday, the priests taking the choristers by the hand, and dancing with them in the choir, while they sang hymns of jubilation. About the end of the seventeenth century, oratorios were in Italy quite as numerous as operas. They were flayed in the churches, as Esther and Atlialia (which may be called tragic oratorios) were played at St. Cyr, in France. The sacred did battle with the profane. Gradually these enter- tainments were only given during Lent and the Holy Week, as a recom- pense to the public for its abstinence from the theaters, which the ecclesiastical power was potent enough to close. But in proportion as religion lost its empire, it adopted severer laws in order to maintain an imposing exterior. Oratorios were first banished from the temples ; then the people going always to them as to a theater, the theatrical action was suppressed, and so, while they preserved their dramatic forms of person- ages and division into scenes and acts, they were thenceforth only pei- formed in ordinary costumes ; making them, in fact, a kind of religious concert. And that is the form in which they are still executed. CHARACTEE OF ORATOEIOS. 127 Main waring himself (although very far from being of a revolutionary spirit) said, m 1760:* — "In times when narrow notions were more in vogue, and when even men of sense were governed rather by appearance than by realities, oratorios would not have been tolerated. In these happier days the influence of prejudice was not, indeed, quite strong enough to exclude these noble per- formances, yet it is even still strong enough to spoil them ; for, are not the very same arguments which pre- vailed for admitting oratorios, sufficient to justify the acting them ? Would not action and gesticulation, ac- commodated to the situation and sentiments, joined with dresses conformable to the characters represented, render the representations more expressive and perfect, and con- sequently the entertainment much more rational and improving ? Racine's Esther and Athaliah^ set by Lulli, and performed at the convent of St. Cyr, by order of Madame de Maintenon, had all the advantages of theat- rical imitation. Indeed, the best performance, if properly dramatic, without the helps of suitable action and proper dresses, must needs lose a considerable j^art of that force and clearness, that life and spirit, which result from a full and perfect exhibition. Provided no improper charac- tei-s were introduced (a thing easy to be obviated), what other inconvenience could possibly result from the fur- ther allowance here contended for, it is hard to imagine." Mainwaring w^rote his book precisely one year after Handel's death, and with information which he procured from Christopher Smith, Handel's secretary. It may be, therefore, that these reflections are the echo of Handel's own ophiion upon the subject. The poems of the greater part of his oratorios protest loudly against the restriction imposed, for they are written from quite a theatrical point of view. JBelshazzcu\ although its sacred character is incontestable, is arranged entirely like an opera: — ^^ Scene 1. — An apartment in the Palace. Scene 2. — * Page 128. 128 LIFE OF HANDEL. The Camp of Cyrus before Babylon ; a View of the City "Wall^, a River running through it, Seejie 3. — Daniel's House ; Daniel with the Prophecies of Isaiah and Jere- miah open before him. Other Jews. Sceiie 4. — The palace. Act II. Sce7ie 1. — The Cauip of Cyrus without the City; the River almost empty. Scene 1. — A Ban- quet Room adorned with the Images of the Babylonian Gods ; Belshazzar, his Wives, Concubines, and Lords, drinking out of the Jewish Temple vessels, and singing the praises of their gods ; as he is speaking, a hand appears Tvriting upon the wall over against him ; he sees it, turns pale with fear, drops the bowl of wine, fiills back in his seat, trembling from head to foot and his knees knocking against each other," etc., etc. In Joseph^ the locality and situation are always de- scribed : — " Scene 1. — A Prison ; Joseph reclining in a melancholy posture. Scene 2. — A Temple ; the High Priest joining the hands of Joseph and Asenath at the altar," etc. So in Samson : — " Scene^ before the prison in Gaza. Act I. Scene 1. — Samson, blind and in chains; chorus of Priests of Dagon celebrating his festival." In Deborah: — " Part I. Scene 1. — Deborah, Barak, Israelite Officers, and Chorus of Israelite Priests. Part II. Scene 1. — A grand military symphony ; enter Deborah and Barak, with the victorious army of the Israelites." In Jephtha^ Hamor is described in the cast as " in love with Iphis." Xo two lovers in comedy say more tender things to each other than Michal and David in Saul: Michael. — A father's will has authorized my love. No longer, Miclial, then attempt to hide The secret of thy soul. I love thee, David^ And long have loved. Thy virtue was the cause ; And that be my defense. ' David. — lovely maid ! thy form beheld, Above all beauty charms our eyes ; Yet still within that form concealed, Thy mind, a greater beauty, lies." ORATORIOS IN ACTION. 129 In Joshua., Caleb promises his dangliter Acbsah to whoever shall take the city of Debir. " The city is thine," cries Othniel : • "Place clanger around mo The storm I'll despise : What arms shall confound me, When Achsah's the prize ?" Is not this but the echo of the Cid, going to fight with Don Sanche for Chimene ? " Paraissez Navarrois, Maures et Castillans, Et tout ce que L'Espagne a nourri de vaillants ; Unissez-vous ensemble et faites un armee Pour combattre une main de la sorte animee." In spite, however, of their loving words, their dramatic instructions, and their directions for the mise-en-schie^ these oratorios were never played, and as sacred dramas they were never intended to be ; but the force of cir- cumstances carried away both the author and the com- poser. Now that the artists appear in evening dress, the same singer has often, for economical reasons, several parts to support. This was already the case in Handel's time. Thus, according to the book of Susannah., Reinhold sang two parts which were diametrically opposed to each other — that of the virtuous Chelsias, and one of the elders, and, perhaps, also the judge, to whom no name is given. On the MS. of Samson., on the other hand, the names of Mrs. Clive and of Signora Avoglio are attached to the part of the woman. This is one of the vices of these representations, in which the artists are seated ; for it is impossible to recognize the personages, and one is apt to become confused in seeing several parts filled by one man, or a single part divided between two women, and thus one loses most of the dramatic intentions of the composer, and it is no longer an oratorio that one hears, but a concert. This system is unfavorable to Handel 6* 130 LIFE OF HANDEL. more tlian to any other composer, because he, more than any other — Mozart alone excepted — has given musically to each part its proper character. An oratorio is intended to represent, musically, a cer- tain episode in the Scriptures, and why not, therefore, represent it in reality ? Strange contradiction ! Devo- tees permit every dauber to paint the countenance of Christ, to dress him and to exhibit him in the most solemn actions of his life ; they do not object when he gives him a face after his own whim, or when he makes him act, as it were, upon the canvas ; but when it be- comes a question of making Deborah and Samson act in the flesh and blood, they cover their faces with their hands in pious horror. Is it because the artists who would play in an oratorio are not of the number of the elect ? But these are the very artists who actually sing the oratorios. In good truth there seems to be no suf- ficient reason for such contradictions ; it is as if the want of sincerity in religious matters would pass itself off for being truly religious by taking from the oratorio its form, its light and shade — in a word, its physical life. In the times of the Mysteries^ when J;here were real and sin- cere believers, such scruples w^ere unheard of.* * Mr. Kophino Lacy, from his admiration of Handel, once conceived tlie design of restoring to iiis oratorios all their dramatic force, by represent- ing them witli costumes. As a means of feeling his way, he brought out at Covent Garden Theater, in the month of February, 1833, the Israelites in Egi/2>t, grounded on the Mose of Eossini, into which he introduced choruses from I>^rael in Egypt^ with tlieir sacred text. For my part, I do not approve of such mixtures; but selections were agreeable to the public taste at that time. In my opinion, oratorios ought not. to be transformed into regular dramas, because, in that case, it becomes necessary to in- troduce into them foreign elements. These great works must be left as they are, forming, as they do, a new style, a thing apart, which is neither a concert nor a serious opera. In fact, they should be given in all their austerity, only with costumes, scenery, and acting; thus avoiding the mistake of making them theatrical pieces, while giving them all the ad- vantages of the stage. This bold attempt of Mr. Lacy obtained an im- mense success. The public went to Covent Garden without being in any way troubled in conscience. The queen (then the Princess Victoria) and OPINIONS OP THE JOUKNALS. 131 But while we wait the time when sincerity an(t q:ooc1 sense shall prevail, oratorios are executed precisely like concerts ; the singers sit upon a platform before the or- chestra, rising every time they have a piece to sing. This was doubtless so in the beginning. Colman, in his laconic notes, says : " Hester^ an opera, singers in a sort hei- mother, the Duchess of Keut, went there also, iii the fall persuasion that they were not committiug any sin. Mr. Lacy then preparjjd " JcpJtQia^ by Handel, interspersed with various admired compositiona from other celebrated oratorios by the same author." Every thing was prepared, the posters announced the fii-st rej)resentation for the I'Jth of February, 1834 (tlie first Wednesday in Lent), when a letter, emanating from young Lord Belfast, who had succeeded the Duke of Devonshire as Lord Chamberlain, caused the performance to be prohibited. The Bishop of London, Dr. Charles James Bloomfield, had inoculated Queen Adelaide with his pious scruples, and the Lord Chamberlain obeyed their orders. England wished for oratorios in action — she had proved it in the preceding year ; but Queen Adelaide and the Bishop of Loudon opposed, and the thing became impossible. At that time religious con- certs were given during Lent, and a letter inserted in the Bispatcli, and addressed to the Bishop of London, exposed the absurdity of his scru- ples : — "You object to sacred music per se ; but if mixed up with a certain quantity of the prcfane, you are perfectly satisfied. Acid and alkali are dangerous when taken sepamtely^ but when mixed a delicious beverage for souls is the result ! Is this idiocy, or is it madues^s ? Is it the perfection of cant, or the ne plus ultra of stolidity ? The juxtapo- sition of the various pieces of music has frequently amused mc, and I willingly give you part of a prograunne which reads thus : — ' Angels, ever bright and fair;' 'Meet me by moonlight alone;' ' Let the bright seraphim ;' ' March to the battle-field ;' ' And God said ;' ' Whistle, and I '11 come to thee my lad.' " All the journals complained in the same tone : — " If it was good to sing sacred songs, the effect on the mind must be greatly increased when the subjects they describe are embodied and represented to the eye ; be- sides which, these acts are before us in a regular and well-connected series, and not subject, as formerly, to be rendered almost ridiculous by being preceded and followed by songs of an entirely opposite character — as, ' I know that my Eedeemer liveth,' followed by 'I 'd be a butter- fly.' " According to another journal of the same period — "It was a novel and bold venture to dramatize a portion of the Old Testament upon the Lon- don boards, and much has been, and more will be, said against it. But we can not perceive any reasonable objection ; for, if we have tolerated the singing of the spiritual words of Israel in Efjypt^ surely we can not object to the heightening their effect by the introduction of scenery, 132 LIFE or HANDEL. of gallery^ no acting^ The immense orchestras are spread out beliiiid the solo-singers upon an amphitheater, flanked by the choruses to left and right ; and the organ at the extreme back dominates over all. Formerly the composer directed at the organ, and in order that he might have the orchestra in view, a key-board was con- structed in front which communicated with the instru- ment by chains some twelve or fifteen feet long. It may be observed, in parenthesis, that no engraving seems to exist which represents the orchestra of an oratorio in Handel's time. At the present day, the conductor turns his back to the audience, and not the profile, as at Paris. It is the same at the two Philharmonic Societies. And this is a new proof of the serious love which the English entertain for music. In this country, where the public is always treated with a respect almost equal to that which is paid to the queen, this arrangement arouses no com- plaint. It is undei'stood that the conductor can not well dispense with having a good view of all who are under his command, and that all must be able to see him. In this, the English musical public does not resemble the late Sultan, the reformer Mahmoud, who would never enter a European carriage for fear of seeing the coach- man's back. This cold, colorless, and inanimate manner of produc- ing works which, after all, are really dramas, takes from costume, and action. If objectiouahle it be, tlie cliorus of ' He gave them hail-stones,' is as objectionable when sung by men and women in modern costume, standing with music-paper in their hands on a stage fitted up with music-desks, as when sung with action by some individ- uals habited as ancient Egyptians, before a scene representing the en- campment of the Midianites without the walls of Memphis. If a singer may not dress and act as Moses, why has he ever been allowed to sing as Opinions so just as these necessarily became popular ; but the ora- torios in action were none the less suppressed, being attainted and con- victed of having wounded the religious spirit of the people. It is true that, as some compensation, the guardians of the public morals permitted the Beggarh Opera to be played w'dli costumes. "aOIS and GALATEA." 133 tliein much of their effective strength. The audience have only their ears to assist their judgment ; for tliey are deprived of the assistance of their eyes in arriving at a better understanding of the situation. In a visual sense they are like a blind man at the opera. Art loses much by this, religion gains nothing. People go to oratorios only for pleasure, precisely as they go to concerts ; and the singers in the orchestra are, after all, dressed up in ball costume. One needs only to see the ladies with their heads covered with flowers, and their dresses fell- ing below the shoulders, to be sure that their ideas are not always of the most sacred character. Acis and Galatea^ which, as well as Esther^ was com- posed for the Duke of Chandos, did not remain forgot- ten for quite so long a period. In the Dally Journal of the 13th of March, 1731, the following advertisement ajjtpeared : "For the Benefit of M. Mochetti^ at Lincoln's Inn Theater Royal, on Friday, 2Gth, will be represented a pastoral, called Acis and Galatea^ composed by Mr. Handel. Acis^ Mr. Rochetti ; Galatea^ Mrs. Wright ; Folypheme^ Mr. Leveridge ; Damon^ Mr.. Sal way ; Cori- don^ Mr. Legar ; and the other parts by Mrs. Carter and Mrs. Papillon." In the advertisement of the 26th of March, is added — " Mr. Rochetti will sing the song 'Son Confusa Pastorella,' being the favorite hornpipe in the opera of Poms'''' ! ! In 1731, therefore, Handel's English serenata had been performed, and even with additions ; for Damon, Corydon, and " the other parts by Mi's. Carter and Mrs. Papillon," are not in the MS. of 1721. It would be in- teresting to know of what the Acis of 1731 was com- posed. It is diflicult to believe that the author had nothing to do with it; nevertheless he had not thought of deriving any personal benefit from the work, when a provocation, similar to that which was offered in the case of Esther, came to recall it to his mind. The Daily 134 LIFE OF HANDEL. Post of Tuesday, the 2d of May, 1732 (the very day of the production of Esther at the King's Theater), con- tained tliis paragraph : — " We hear that the proprietors of the English Opera will very shortly perform a cele- brated pastoral opera called Acts and Galatea., com- posed by Mr. Handel, with all the grand choruses and other decorations, as it was performed before his Grace the Duke of Chandos, at Cannons. It is now in rehears- al." On the 6th, came a fresh advertisement : — " At the new theater in the Haymarket, on Thursday next, 11th May, will be performed in English, a pastoral opera, called Acis and Galatea^ with all tlie choruses, scenes, machines, and other decorations, etc. (as before), being the first time it ever was performed in a theatrical way. The part of Acis by Mr. Mourtier, being the first time of his appearance in cliaracter on any stage ; Galatea, Miss Arne.* Pit and boxes, 5s." We afterward find that Acis is put off to the 17th, " it being impossible to get ready the decorations, scenes, and machines before that time." The performance took place on the 17th of May. Burney informs us that this entei'prise, which was so well managed as to provoke curiosity, was conducted by an upholsterer named Arne, the fither of Dr. Arne. To produce the work of a man without his participa- tion, and at the very side of the theater which he di- rected, would seem in these days to be going a little too far; but the manners of the time permitted it. More than half a century afterward, Piccini died of distress, * Miss Arne, afterward Mrs. Gibber, enjoyed, under the latter name, a great reputation as a singer. Her husband was TheophiUis Gibber, the brother of Colley Gibber, poet laureate in the reign of George II. They separated after a very scandalous suit for adultery, in which one shilling damages was awarded to the husband. Those who place the honor of a m;m upon the virtue of a woman, may inquire whether this was the price of Mrs. Theophilus's virtue or of her husband's honor. *' Qii?nll/iit-ilfa'ire dam cette galere .?" — Les Fourleries de Scapin. "WITH NO ACTION." 135 at the very time wlien liis operas were being sung at ten or twelve of the cities of Italy. But Handel did not allow the idea which was thus suggested to him to escape. On the 5th of June, the Daily Journal announced ; "In the King's Theater in the Haymarket, the present Saturday, being the 10th of June, will be performed a serenata, called Acis and Galatea^ formerly composed by Mr. Handel, and now revised by him, with several additions, and to be performed by a great number of the best voices and instruments. There will be no action on the stage, but the scene will represent, in a picturesque manner, a rural prospect, with rocks, groves, fountains, and grottoes, amongst which will be disposed a chorus of nymphs and shepherds ; the habits, and every other decoration, suited to the subject. Also on the 13th, 17th, 20th. The libretto, printed for J. Watts, in three acts." It seems singular enough to put the singers into cos- tume, and then to leave them seated, " with no action," on their rocks. The grottoes, the groves, and the fount- ains do not certainly render the matter much clearer ; yet they are inHnitely preferable to the evening costumes which confound the personages which each other. But this masterpiece of grace and freshness could be per- formed in any fashion. Arne, the father, gave the English serenata precisely as it had been executed at Cannons ; but Handel, in order to attract the public to his own theater, added to the score many of the au's of his Neapolitan serenata, as well as three choruses, two in Italian and one in English. The pastoral was sung, therefore, partly in English and partly in Italian. The book used at the time leaves no doubt upon this point.* A third issue of the AcAs of 1721 (engraved by Walsh) contains an Itahan air — " Dell' aquila gli artigli," designated, " An additional Song, * See " Catalogue." 136 L 1 F E O F H A N D E L . sung by Signor Sciiesino." Signora Strada sustained tlie part of Galatea, and Montagnana that of Polyphe- mus. The English airs attributed to the two parts which were added (those of Clori and Eurilla) were con- fided to Miss Robinson and Mrs. Davis, This macaronic Acts was performed four times before the end of June, which terminated the season of 1731-2, and four times only during the following season, which commenced in December, 1*732.* The public of those days must liave been very greedy of novelty, however monstrous, when such a delicate masterpiece as Acis was executed only four times during an entire season. Han- del afterward returned to the simplicity of his English version of Acis, which he gave, divided into two acts, in 1739, with Dryden's Ode on ^t. Cecilici's Day. It was then only that he added, as a termination to the first act, the delicious chorus, " Happy, happy, happy we." This serenata is still occasionally sung w^ith action and costume ; but, abandoned to the English opera, it was execrably mounted when I saw it in 1855. Ten years ago, Mr. Macready, then the manager of Drury-lane Theater, put it upon the stage with great luxury of decoration, and it had a very long run. Apropos of Acis^ the GentU'tnaii' s Magazine for August, 1732, contains a very curious note, taken from the Daily Courant of the 9th of June, 1732, to the fol- lowing effect : — " Whereas Signor Bononcini intends, after the serenata composed by Mr. Handel hath been performed, to have one of his own, and hath desired Signora Strada to sing in that entertainment : Aurelio del Po, husband of the said Signora Strada, thinks it in- cumbent upon him to acquaint the nobility and gentry, that he shall think himself happy in contributing to their satisfaction ; but, with respect to this request, hopes he * On the lOth, 13th, 17th, and 20th of June, and the 5th, 9th, 12th, and 16th of December. — Daily Journal. *'alchymist music." 137 shall be permitted to decline complying it, for reasons best known to the said Aurelio del Po and his wife."* The style of this note is not less extraordinary than the matter. Here is a husband speaking of his wife as if she were a horse, or an object of which he could dis- pose at his pleasure, saying that he shall be happy to contribute to the pleasure of the public by allowing her to sing, but that he has motives for not doing so. This is indeed a curious instance of the brutahty of marital relations in those times. But with or without the assistance of Madame del Po, the opera of the gloomy Italian was sung on the 24th of June, 1732. The Daily Jburnal announces: — At the King's Theater in the Haymarket, on Saturday, the 24th of June, will be performed a Pastoral Entertainment, composed by Signor Bononcini." It appears, therefore, that Handel gave, at the theater of which he was chief director, the work of a man who was set up for his rival. This was either an extreme of courtesy, or an extreme of pride. Alchymist Music^ which also appeared in 1732, is not an original composition. Mr. Lacy has recognized in it the overture of Roderigo^ the movements of which have been detached from each other to be used as dance music. This not very laborious transmutation was eflected for a revival of the Alchymist^ to which dances were added. f Ben Jonson's old comedy was revived again at Drury Lane in 1739. The London Daily Post of the 4th of April, 1739, announces : — " Drury Lane. For the fourth time this season, a comedy called the Alchymist^ by Ben Jonson, and select pieces of Music, with entertainments of singing and dancing; particularly: End of Act Ist-, a Ballad, Mrs. Clive. JSnd of Act 2nd, a Punch Dance. Act 3?y7, a Song ; a Grand Ballet, by Mons. Denoyer, &G. Act 4th, The Pierots. Act 5th, an Ethiopian * See Appendix H. + Daily Post, Ttk Marcli, 1732. 138 LIFE OF HANDEL. Dance, a Turkish Dance, &c." Here are, certainly, gambols enough to suit every taste.* But to return. It was also in the year 1732, and not in 1724,t that the Twelve Sonatas^ or Solos for a VioU7i or a German Flute^ were published. They were writ- ten, it is said, for the Prince of Wales, who was reckoned a very good musician. They have the title of " Opera l**," as if the Suites de Pieces were not reckoned among the works of instrumental music. In the seventh of these Sonatas may be recognized the movement in the duet of Alexander, " Placa I'alma ;" out of the eleventh, Handel made the fifth of the Six Orgaii Concertos, Book L, which appeared in October, 1738. Thus it was that he copied and recopied himself more than once in his instrumental music. The oveiture of St. Cecilia''s Day (of September, 1739) has formed, with the addition of two movements, the fifth of the Grand Concertos, dated October, 1739; and the fifth of the Organ Con- certos, Book II., published on the 14th of January, 1741, is taken entire out of this fifth Grayid Concerto. The fourth of the celebrated Ilautbois Concertos is the sec- ond overture written for Amadigi, in 171&. The sixth * There is still preserved, at Dulwicli College, a manuscript journal by Ben Jonson — tlie contents of which are not much to the credit either of his sobriety or his modesty — in which he records that he wrote his Al- chymist after having swallowed forty pounds' worth of wine ! — "Memo- randum. Upon the 20th of May, the king (Heaven rewarji him !) sent me £100. At that time I often went to the Devil Tavern, and before I had spent £40 of it, wrote my Alchymist.'''' In another place he writes : — " I laid the plot of my Volpnne and wrote most of it after a present of ten dozen palm-sack from my very good Lord T . That, I am posi- tive will live to posterity, and be acted, when I and envy be friends, with applause. * * * Mem. The first speech in my Catalma spoken by Sylla's ghost, was writ after I had parted with my friend at the Devil Tavern; I had drunk well that night and had brave notions. Tliere is one scene In that play which I think is flat ; I resolve to drink no more water with my wine." [ Weld's History of the Boyal Society.'] These notes of a drunkard inspire all the more pity, when we see that he only drunk wine that was given him. Every such present must have been an additional chain upon bis liberty. t See " Catalogue." PROSPECTS OF AN ENGLISH OPERA. 189 is made out of a symphony in Ottone. The first of the seven Sonatas IVios (of 1739) is nothing but the over- ture to the first of the Chandos AntheTns^ " I will mag- nify." Other similar examples might be quoted. Han- del evidently attached only a secondary importance to his instrumental music ; for if this style of composition had possessed in his eyes the great and legitimate value which it has since acquired, this man, whose fecundity was inexhaustible as his powers were indefatigable, would not have remodeled a little overture three times over between 1739 and 1741. He left room for Boccherini, Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. At the same epoch with the twelve Sonata Solos, Opera 1^ (1732), there also appeared the first six Sona- tas Trios under the French title, Sonatas a, 2 violons, 2 hautbois on deux flutes traversleres et basse contimi. Second ouvrage (Opera 2^). Another book of Seven Sonatas Trios, Opera 5^, was published in 1739. Haw- kins and his copyists often say that such and such a thing is taken from Opera 5^ ; but, according to Mr. Lacy, they are deceived in the date, and the truth is, that the subjects are generally borrowed from some former work of the author — the Chmidos Anthems, Athalia, the first Organ Concertos, the dance music of Ariodante and Alcina, which are all anterior to 1739. Handel j^robably made this compilation to get rid of Walsh, who may have asked him for a sequel to the SonatasTrios of 1732 ; for publishers are always w' ishing for sequels and pendants to every work that brings in a large profit. The appearance of the beautiful and charming melo- dies of Esther and Acis, set to English w^ords, was a twofold pleasure for those w^bose musical patriotism was dreaming of a great English opera, and who were irri- tated because all good music required a passport in the Italian language. There is, in the works of Aaron Hill, a letter which proves the existence of this spirit in some minds : 140 LIFE OF HANDEL. " To Mr. Handel. "December 5, 1'732. " Sm, — I ought sooner to have returned you my hearty thanks for the silver ticket, which has carried the obhga- tion furtlier than to myself; for my daughters are both such lovers of musick, that it is hard to say which of them is most capable of being charmed by the composi- tions of Mr. Handel. " Having this occasion of troubling you with a letter, I can not forbear to tell you of the earnestness of my washes, that, as you have made such considerable steps toward it already, you would let us owe to your inimita- ble genius the establishment of musick upon a foundation of good poetry ; where the excellence of the sound should be no longer dishonored by the poorness of the sense it is chained to. " My meaning is, that you will be resolute enough to deliver us from our Italian bondage, and demonstrate that English is soft enough for opera, when composed by poets who know how to distinguish the sweetness of our tongue from the strength of it, where the last is less necessary. " I am of opinion that male and female voices may be found in this kingdom capable of every thing that is requisite ; and, I am sure, a species of dramatic opera might be invented, that, by reconciling reason and dig- nity witli musick and line machinery, would charm the ear, and hold fast the heart, together. *' I am so much a stranger to the nature of your pres- ent engagements, that if what I have said should not happen to be so practicable as I conceive it, you will have the goodness to impute it to the zeal with which I wish you at the head of a design as solid and imperish- able as your musick and memory. — I am, sir, your most obliged and most obedient servant, A. Hill." Handel was very well disposed to prove that the Ian- "ORLANDO." 141 guage of the Britannic Isles (althougli the French call it the language of birds) is, perhaps, as good a one as any other for singing birds ; but still he was by no means prepared to renounce the Italian. While he was pro- ducing the first English serenata, and the first English oratorio, he wrote Orlando. The MS. is inscribed — "fine dell atto 2°, Novemb^ 10, 1732"— "fine del opera, November 20." The first representation, which was announced for the 23d of January, 1733, Avas put ofif to the 27th, " the principal performers being indis- posed," says the Daily Post. This delay should be noted, because, in the same journal of the 6th of Feb- ruary, we find, " To-day is published Orlando /" and, on the 13th, "This day is published the whole opera of Orlando ; John Walsh, price lis. 6d." Here we have a score rehearsed, played, printed, and offered for sale, on the 13th of February, 1733, although its sec- ond act was not finished on the 9th of the preceding November I And this activity of the composer-manager, his artists, and his publisher, will appear all the more extraordinary, when it is known that this opera was mounted with great splendor. The laconic little MS. of Colman says — " Orlando ; extraordinarily fine and magnificent." The edition (which is one of Walsh's best) has ninety pages. It is true that it is only " a com- plete edition" after Walsh's fashion — that is to say, with- out recitatives ; but to engrave, print, and bind ninety pages of music in seventeen days, must have required great resources of execution. Walsh has left more than one proof of the extent of his establishment, and of the celerity with w^hich work could be performed. Accord- ing to the General Advertiser., he published, on the 8th of March, 1749, Susannah., which had been produced on the preceding 10th of February. He had, therefore, less than a month to engrave an edition which has ninety- four pages. The noisy air in Orlando., " Sorge jnfausta," has via- 142^ LIFE OF HANDEL. lette in the bass of its accompaniment ; while the gentle air, " Gia I'ebro mio ciglio," is accompanied by " 2 vio- lette marine con violoncelli pizzicati." Jndging by its name, the violetta was the diminutive of the viola ; viola, violetta, large and small tenor.* It was an ah'eady ancient instrument at that time ; and may be found in the edition of JRinaldo of 1711 ; and again in Parthe- nope. As for the violetta marina^ it w^as an invention altogether recent. In the advertisement of a concert, in the Daily Journal of Monday, the 27th of March, 1732, it is stated that " Signor Castrucci will play a con- certo of his own, on a beautiful new instrument, called the violetta mariyia?'' What was this novelty? The musical dictionaries of Grassineau, 1740 ; of J. J. Rous- seau, 1768; of Hoyle, 1791; of Danneley (N. D.), of Lichtenhall, 1839; and of Hamilton and Tinctor, edited by J. Bishop, in 1849 — although they all assume to be " complete" — do not even mention the name of the ■vio- letta marina^ or even of the simple violetta. The in- * This family of instruments seems to me to be thus graduated : the viola, or viol, which was the generic type ; the 'ciolone, or very big viol, afterward called the contrabasso, or double-bass. On or one final in Italian expresses, as in Spanish, an idea of augmentation, just as ello or etto does an idea of diminution. Violoncello is literally the little big viol ; in other words, the diminutive of the big viol, or double-bass. Finally, the violino, or violin, is a new diminutive of violoncello. The grandmother of the family, the viola, or viol, afterward took an interme- diate place in the harmonic scale : Double-bass. Violoncello. Viola. Violin.i I am disposed to believe that the violin, which is the smallest and the most perfect of the family, is the last comer ; for the human mind always commences by pushing its discoveries to exaggeration, and afterward, wlien it knows more, by simplifying. After the invention of gunpow- der, monster cannons were made (like that which is exhibited at Ghent as a curiosity), and men arrived at the handy and fatal rifle after these gigantic tubes, which could do no great harm on account of the diffi- culty of managing them. 1 I give this genealogy without positively affirming its exactness. THE "VIOLETTA MARINA." 143 dustrious and learned Hawkins liimself says nothing about it, and one miglit indeed suppose it to be ao small that no author has been able to perceive it. Burney can give nothing better than the following note, which amounts to nothing: "The violetta marina seems to have been a kind of viol d'amoiw with sympathetic strings.* Busby, in his Dictionary of 3Iusic, although as silent as the others about tlie violetta simple, has only employed Burney's note, suppressing the sympathetic strings^ which he doubtless understood as little as I do. "A stringed instrument," says he, " supposed to have been similar in shape and tone to the viol d? amour. It was first introduced into England by Signor Castrucci, in the year 1732." The viol (Varnour is known to be a broad viola, with six metallic strings, rather loosely strung ; but the only page of music which is known written for the violetta marina^ that of the air in Orlando^ " Gia I'ebro," is Avritten for a four-stringed instrument. Burney's defini- tion appears, therefore, to be 0})en to disjnite ; but I can give no better. All that is known is, that the violetta marina was different from the simple violetta, not only on account of the adjective marina whicli distinguished it, but also because it must have been much more deli- cate, since Handel sustained it only by the " violoncelli pizzicati." It remains also to discover what was the meaning of the adjective marina. The name of tromha marina^ or marine trumpet, was given to a triangular and single- stringed instrument, played w'ith a bow, whose existence is lost in the night of Time. Mersennus says that it was so called, " either because it was invented by seamen, or because they make use of it instead of the trumpet." This explanation is as unsatisfactory as the name is pecu- liar ; but, nevertheless, there may have been some con- nection between the old tromha marina and the violetta * Page 366. 144 LIFE OF HANDEL. marina^ sufficient at least to give them the same desig- nation. Handel, who was fond of every thing that could in any way add to the resources of the orchestra, employed the violetta marina in Orlando as soon as it was made known to him ; but he returned to the simple violetta when he wrote Deborah^ a few months afterward. In the accompaniment to tlie cliorns of the " Priests of Baal," may be found, " Yiolini tutti e violette all' ottava con i bassi." Castriicci, who introduced the violetta marina into En- gland (where he arrived in 1715), was a very enthusias- tic violinist, from whom Hogarth derived his caricature of the " Enraged Musician." The JDcdly Post of the 22d of February, 1732, announces a concert for his bene- fit, and " particularly a solo, in which he engages himself to execute twenty-four notes with one bow." On tiie following day, the little theater in Goodman's Fields ad- vertised a solo "by a fiddler, who will play twenty-five notes with one bow." These dexterous tricks by artists are somewhat antiquated, and they have always been held up to ridicule ; nevertheless, we constantly find for- gotten ones turning up in the disguise of extraordinary novelties. Moreover, the bows of the eighteenth cen- tury were, it is true, much shorter than those of the present day ; but they must have been exceedingly small, if twenty-four notes with a single stroke was a marvel. The merest tyro in the present day could make one hun- dred and fifty. Castrucci was first of all attached to the Royal Acad- emy of Music as leader, and he remained many years iu that place with Handel. . When he became too old for his post, he was unwilling to quit it. Handel, who wished to promote John Clegg, the second violin and a pupil of Dubourg, wrote a concerto in which the part of the second violin was so contrived that it required much more execution than that of the first, and Clegg proved himself to be so superior, that Castrucci was compelled SINGING IN LONDON. 145 to cede to him both the palm and his place. Hawkins says that the poor Italian, " oppressed with years, im- mediately sank into oblivion." He died in 1752, at the age of eighty-four. This took place in HSG, in which year there w^as a great deal of singing in London. By the side of Or- lando^ at the King's Theater, they gave, on the 10th of February, 1733, at the " new theater in the Haymarket, a new opera, called Dione^ by Lampe ;" at Covent Gar- den, on the same day, "a new opera, called Achilles^ by the late Mr. Gay," without any composer's name given ; and on the 17th of March, at Lincoln's Inn Fields, '"'"Hosamond^ written by the late Mr. Addison, now set to music after the Italian manner, by Mr. Arne, junior" (afterward Dr. Arne). If we add to this, Drury-lane and Goodman's Fields, it appears that the Londoners of 1733 possessed six theaters, out of w^hich four were con- secrated to music. 7 CHAPTER V. 1733. *'I)EBORAn"— Violent Letter against Handel by the Librettist Rolli— Handel's Orchestration and Choruses— His Employment of the Drum— A.LL his Cotemporaries Eeproach him with Exaggeration of the Har- monic Forces— QuARREi^ WITH Senesino— Cabal of the Nobility against Handel — A Eival Theater Organized — Predilections of the Eighteenth Century for High Voices— Bononcini and the Madrigal of Lottl The success obtained by Esther naturally encouraged the author to try once more the effect of that style of composition. During the earlier performances of Or- lando^ he wrote Deborah^ which was finished on the 24th of February, 1733. It was on the l^th of March that this second English oratorio succeeded Floridante^ which had been revived from the 3d to the 13th. The Daily Journal of the 17th of March announces: — " By His Majesty's command. Deborah^ an oratorio or sacred drama, in English, composed by Mr. Handel. The house to be fitted up and illuminated in a new and particular manner ; and to be performed by a great number of the best voices and instruments. Tickets, to be delivered at the office of the Opera-house on Friday and Saturday, 16th and 17th inst., one guinea each; gallery, half a guinea. N.B. — This is the last dramatick performance that will be exhibited at the King's Theater till after Easter." The price of seats varied according to the wish of the managers. The enormous price of one guinea, demanded on account of the new oratorio, was the signal for gen- eral discontent. The annual subscribers w^ere moreover greatly shocked, and not without reason, at being forced to pay extra for their places because a sacred English "a new opera scheme." 147 drama was given in the place of a profane Italian one, even supposing "the house to be fitted up and illumin- ated in a new and particular manner." It would appear that this unjust augmentation had been resolved upon a long time in advance by Handel and his partner Heideg- ger. The enemies of the former did not delay to make use of the arms which he placed in their hands. The following letter, by the librettist Paolo Rolli, addressed to Mr. Danvers, the editor of the Craftsman^ is tart, virulent, and full of rage. It is curious to see how the animosities behind the scenes made common cause with those before. I extract this letter from the London Magazine for April 1733, which gives it in extenso. The GentUmart's Magazine, for April gives only an abridgment : " A New Opeea Scheme. " One who signs himself Paolo Rolli, in a letter to Mr. Danvers, editor of the Craftsman^ says : As I know your zeal for liberty, I thought I could not address bet- ter than to you the following exact account of the noble stand lately made by the polite part of the world in de- fense of their liberties and properties, against the open attack and bold attempts of Mr. II 1 upon both. I shall singly here relate the fact, and leave you, who are better able than I am, to make what inferences or appli- cations may be proper. The rise and progress of Mr. H I's power and fortune are too well known for me now to relate. Let it suffice to say, that he was grown so insolent upon the sudden and undeserved increase of both, that he thought nothing ought to oppose his im- perious and extravagant will. He had for some time governed the operas, and modeled the orchestra, without the least control. No voices, no instruments, were ad- mitted but such as flattered his ears, though they shocked those of the audience. Wretched scrapers were put above the best hands in the orchestra; no 148 LIFE OF HANDEL. music but bis own was allowcnl, thougli every body was weary of it; and be bad tbe impudence to assert tbat tbere was no composer in England but bimself. Even kings and queens were to be content with whatever low characters he was pleased to assign them, as is evident in the case of Signer Montagnana, who, though a king,* is always obliged to act (except an angry, rumbling song or two) the most insignificant pait of the whole drama.f This excess and abuse of power soon disgusted the towm : his government grew odious, and his operas empty. However, this, instead of humbling him, only made him more furious and desperate. He resolved to make one last effort to establish his powder and fortune by force, since he found it now impossible to hope it from the good will of mankind. In order to do this, he formed a plan without consulting any of his friends (if he has any), and declared that at a proper season he would communicate it to the public; assuring us, the very same time, that it would be very much for the ad- vantage of the public in general, and of operas in par- ticular. Some people suspect that he had settled it previously with the Signora Strada del Po, who is much in his favor ; but all that I can advance with certainty is, that he had concerted it with a brother of liis own, J in w4iom he places a most undeserved confidence. In this * In the theatrical polemics of that epoch, it often appears that the names of king and queen were applied to the principal singers at the opera. t Montagnana was a basso. It has been already stated that, in the eighteenth century, the pnblic had very little taste for that kind of voice. X Handel never had a brother ; bat here reference is, doubtless, in- tended to be made to Smith the elder, who was as devoted to him as a bi-other; as Smith the younger became attached to him like a son. Hawkins makes mention (at p. 877) of a journey wliich Handel took into It^ly " with old Mr, Smith." It may be also that Heidegger, Handel's partner, is referred to; " a brother manager" is a common expression. The phrase is observable ; it does not say " with his brother," but " with a brother of his own," as if a brother of his choice were intruded. Nevertheless, I am not aware that Smith or Heidegger was ever accused of any talent upon the Jew's-harp. ROLLI'S LIBEL. 149 brother of liis, beat and dullness are miraculously united — the former prompts him to any thing new and violent, while the latter liinders him from seeing- any of the in- conveniences of it. As Mr. H I's brother, he thought it was necessary he should be a musician too ; but all he could arrive at, after a very laborious application for many years, was a moderate performance upon the Jew's-trump. He had, for some time, played a parte buffa abroad, and had entangled his brother in several troublesome and dangerous engagements in the com- mission he had given him to contract with foreign per- formers, and from which, by the way, Mr. H 1 did not disengage himself with much honor. Notwithstand- all these, and many more objections, Mr. H 1, by and with the advice of his brother, at last produces his pro- ject, resolves to cram it down the throats of the town ; prostitutes great and awful names as the patrons of it ; and even does not scruple to insinuate that they are to be sharers of the profit. His scheme set forth in sub- stance that the decay of operas was owing to their cheapness, and to the great frauds committed by the door-keepers ; that the annual subscribers were a parcel of rogues, and made an ill use of their tickets by often running two into the gallery ; that to obviate these abuses, he had contrived a thing that was better than an opera, called an oratorio ; to which none should be ad- mitted but by printed permits, or tickets, of one guhiea each, which should be distributed out of warehouses of his own, and by officers of his own naming — which officers could not reasonably be supposed to cheat in the collec- tion of half guineas ;'* and lastly, that as the being of operas depended upon him singly, it was just that the profit arising from hence should be for his own benefit. He added indeed one condition, to varnish the whole a little ; which was, that if any person should think him- * All this was iuteudeil to represent Ilaudel as accusing his sub- scribers of complicity with the check-takers. 150 LIFE OF HANDEL, self aggrieved, he should be at liberty to appeal to three judges of musick, who should be obliged, within the space of seven years at furthest, finally to determine the same, provided the said judges should be of his nomina- tion, and known to like no other musick but his. Tliis extravagant scheme disgusted the whole town. Many of the most constant attenders of the operas resolve to renounce them, rather than go to them under such ex- tortion and vexation. They exclaimed against the in- solent and rapacious projector of this plan. The kings, old and sworn servants of the two theaters of Drury Lane and Covent Garden, reaped the benefit of this dis- content, and vrere resorted to in crowds by way of op- position to the oratorio. Even the fairest breasts were fired with indignation against this new imposition. " Assemblies, cards, tea, cofiTee, and all otiier female batteries were vigorously employed to defeat the pi-oject and destroy the projector.* These joint endeavors of all ranks and sexes succeeded well ; tliat the projector had the mortification to see but a very thin audience at his oratorios ; and of about two hundred and sixty odd that it consisted of, it is notorious that not ten paid for their permits; but, on the contrary, had them given them, and money into the bargain, for coming to keep him in countenance. This accident, they say, has thrown him into a deep melancholy, interrupted sometimes by raving fits, in which he fancies he sees ten thousand opera devils coming to tear him to pieces; then he breaks out into frantic incoherent speeches, muttering sturdy beggars^ assassination. ! etc. In these delirious moments, he discovers a particular aversion for the Cltg. He calls them all a parcel of rogues, and asserts that the honestest trader among them deserves to be hanged. It is much questioned whether he will recover; at least, if he ♦ It will presently be seen that Hawkins and Smollett confirm the fact of soirees given by ladies on the eveiiincfs when Handel gave repre- sentations, in order to tempt his audience away. EPIGRAM. 151 does, it is not doubted but he will seek for a retreat in his own country^ from the g'eneral resentment of the town. " P.S. — Having seen a little epigram, lately handed about town, which seems to allude to the same subject, I beUeve it will not be unwelcome to your readers : "EPIGRAM. " Quoth W e to H 1, ' shall we two agree, Aud 'Exciu the whole nation V H.— ' Si, Caro, Si.' H. — ' Of what use are slieep if the sliepherd can't shear 'em ? All the liaymarket /, you at Westminster.' W.— ' Hear him !" Called to order, their Seconds appear in their place ; One famed for his morals and one for his face !* Though at first they bid fair, at last they were crost ; The Excise was thrown up, and Deborah lost."t The yenom of calumny fills every line of this furious diatribe, which ends by placing Handel on an equality with the infamous Walpole. The vipers of that age cast their slime in much the same manner as the vipers of to-day. Poor humanity, wilt thou never be delivered from tigers, dogs, and vipers ! Handel was moved by the only complaint in Rolli's letter which had any justice, and he gave Deborah a second time, on the 21st of March, upon the following terms : " Boxes and pit half a guinea, and gallery five shillings. IST.B. — Subscribers' silver tickets will be ad- mitted." The third and fourth performances took place upon the same terms on the 27th of March and the 4th * This must be Heidegger, whose ugliness was so celebrated ; as for the other name, I do not know who is referred to. t One of my friends, who has read my manuscript, is of opinion that Handel is for nothing in this letter, or at least has but afforded a pre- tense for attacking "VVal pole and his Excise. There are rather specious reasons for entertaining this opinion, but as tlicy have failed to convince me, I have kept the letter for what it appears to me to be. I think, more- over, that we should be very suspicious of these interpretations, which the Gentleman's Magazine had opposed a century ago. (Appendixes i i . and T.) 152 LIFJJ OF HANDEL. of April, and the season terminated with Esther and Orlaiido. Deborah was performed without action, as Esther was ; but the journaUsts of the period (who were not very accomplished amateurs) so little understood what an ora- toiio was, that the Daily Journal of the 3d of April records that the king and princess went to the Haymar- ket, "to see the opera of Deborah ;'''' and the London Magazine of April, 1732, publishes the poem of Esther^ " as it is now acted at the Theater Royal in the Hay- market, with vast applause ; the musick being composed by the great Mr. Handel." Handel had already introduced into Esther many more choruses than the Italians used. His Roman ora- torios of 1708, the JResurreczione and Trionfo del Tempo^ have only two apiece. In his second English sacred composition, he developed that distinctive character of modern oratorios, the preponderance of choruses, and he also greatly augmented the accompaniment, as he had already done in his anthems. Prejudice will take advan- tage of every thing. Those powerful choral combina- tions, which he invented, were accused of excess and violence ; he w^as repi-oached with having exaggerated the orchestra, while he, on the other hand, complained of want of means to express his conceptions. He was beyond his century ; but, like all men of even the boldest genius, he was subject to the influences which surrounded him. Boldness must be estimated relatively. He dared not make use of the big drum, from which Rossini has extracted such fine effects in his finales ; and perhaps he did not refrain from doing so without mani- festing some regret ; for, with satirical exaggeration, he is accused of having one day exclaimed, "Ah! why can not 1 have a cannon ?" The fastidious may, perhaps, object that Handel is outraged by supposing him capable of such a i-egret. But why so ? The big drum requires to be used with great discernment ; but it seems to be HANDEL FOND OF NOISE. 153 as useful as any other bass instrument. It is to tlie side drum exactly what the bassoon is to the hautboy, the violoncello to the violin, and the double-bass to the vio- loncello. It has only become odious through the Rtu})i(l abuse which has been made of it ; but must we pro- scribe the trumpet because every showman blows it at a fair ? must we abolish the side drums on account of Drum Quadrilles at the Surrey Gardens ? If Burney is to be believed, Handel would have gone far beyond the big drum, for he speaks of a bassoon sixteen feet high^ Avhich was used hi the orchestra in the commemoration of 1784, and which John Ashly attempted to play upon. " This bassoon," says he, " was made with the approba- tion of Mr. Handel," for John Frederic Lampe, the excellent bassoon player belonging to his company. It may be, however, that Burney, who, like all men of wit, was something of a wag, wis'icd to amuse himself at the expense of the credulous, Mith the wind-instrument of sixteen feet in height ; but it is certain that monster bassoons were made in August, 1739, and that Handel made use of them in January, 1740. The London Daily Post of the 6th of August, 1739, announces: — "This evening, the usual Conceit at Marybone Gardens, to w^hich will be added two grand or double-bassoons, made by Mr. Stanesby, junior, the greatness of whose sound surpasses that of any other bass-instrument whatsoever ; never performed with before." Six months afterward, in the accompaniment to the air, " Let the pealing organ," of Allegro^ Penseroso ed Moderate^ Handel wrote has- sons e basson grosso. He deemed it impossible to in- crease the orchestra more than he did ; but he carried it beyond all the dimensions to Avhich it had attained up to his time. Pope makes allusion to this in the Dunciad^ when he compares him to " bold Briareus with a hundred hands." In the second edition of that satire, " with the illustra- 7* 154 L I F E O F II A X D E L , tioiis of Scriblerus," the anonyraons Scriblerns (who was no other than Pope himself, assisted by Warburton),* comments upon this verse in a note : — " Mr. Handel had introduced a greater number of hands and more variety of instruments into the orchestra, and employed even drums and cannon to make a fuller chorus; which proved so much too manly for the fine gentlemen of his age, that he was obliged to remove his mnsick into Ireland." The cannon is probably a poetic license of Scriblerus. There is, nevertheless, an opinion prevalent now-a-days that Handel's instrumentation is very poor ; but this criticism is only just by comparison with the vast dimen- sions which have been given to modern symphony. In the Julius Ccesar of 1723, there are flutes, hautboys, bas- soons, trumpets, a harp, a viola da gamba (the violoncello had apparently not yet absorbed this instrument), a the- orbo, kettle drums, and four horns, besides what is called the quatuor of stringed instruments ; the first and sec- ond violins, the viola or tenor, the violoncello, and the double-bass. These form certainly a very respectable orchestra. Many of his airs have a simple accompani- ment of violoncello with harpsichord, but this was the result of a principle which did not prevent him from ex- ceptionally making use of more extensive resources. A solo in jRinaldo^ given in 1711, is accompanied by four trumpets and kettle drums (4 tromhe e timpani). Com- posers were then extremely careful not to smother up the voice with the harmony, and, without desiring to retro- grade, it must be admitted that the development of the theatrical orchestra is not invariably a merit. It has now stepped out of its proper place ; for it no longer accom- * Dr. Warton, in his edition of Pope's works, inserts the notes of Scriblerus to the fourth book of the Dunciad^ sayiuof, " It was thought im};)roper to omit the many notes in this fourth book marked (P), be- cause they were the joint work of Pope and Warburton, and nothing of Mr. Pope ouirlit to be lost." HIS ORCHESTRAL RESOURCES. 155 pnnies, but takes an equal sliare of the performance; and the artists, in order to domineer over its thunders, are often compelled to sing with all the power of their lungs. This prodigality of sound has enlarged our pleasures, but at the expense of their delicacy. It has given birth to the bellowing system — a contagious and very danger- ous malady. How many ruined and shattered voices are we compelled to listen to, Avithout counting those which can no longer make a public exhibition of their sad state ! And to what shall this be attributed, if not to the man- ner in which singers are compelled to abuse their vocal ficulties, in order to make head against the excess of in- strumentation ? With the exception of the clarionet"^ the cornet-a-piston, and the ophicleide (which were not then invented), Han- del had at his disposal all the instruments which are now known, as well as many others which are no longer used — such as the viola da gamba, the violetta marina, the theorbe, the lute, the double-lute, and the cornet ; but neither at the opera, nor in the church, did he employ them all, as it is now the custom to do. To have done so would have seemed monotonous to him.t According * See Appendix J. t Handel was as careful to vary tlie voices of tlie choruses as the in- struments of the orchestra, and he constantly chansjed them. In the Chandos Anthems, the first, fourth, sixth, eighth, ninth, and tenth are in three parts — that is to say, for three voices ; or, to speak still more clearly, for tliree kinds of voices — the soprano, the tenor, and the bass. The third, fifth, seventh, and eleventh are for four voices — the contralto added. The second, ninth, and twelfth are for five voices — the counter- tenor added. In the Utrecht Te Deum, "The Cherubims" and "Thou art" are for five voices \ " Day by day" is a double cliorus in seven parts — on the one side, two sopranos and a tenor; and on the other, two con- traltos, a tenor, and a bass. " Se parli," of Pa/'fiasso in Festa, is a chorus for seven voices — two sopranos, two contraltos, two tenors, and a bass ; and the Gloria, " Glory to thee, Father," of the Jubilate, is for eight voices, disposed like the preceding, with the addition of a second bass. In Israel in Egypt, out of twenty-eight choruses, there are not less than seventeen which are double choruses in eight parts — two sopranos, two contraltos, two tenors, and two bassos. Four out of the fourteen choruses in BeWhazzar are for six different parts; " Eecall, O King," and "By 156 LIFE OF HANDEL. to his fancy or liis judgment, and according to the sub- ject which he had in hand, he neglected the use of some one or other. But let no one be deceived by this : he knew very well how to make a noise when he was so dis- posed. In the MS. of his Fireicorks Music, the overtui-e has twenty-four hautboys, twelve bassoons, nine trum- pets, nine horns, three pairs of kettle drums, a serpent, and a double bass ! The serpent is scratched out, for it was a recent invention, and very probably the composer could not lind any one clever enough to please him upon it ; but he evidently wished to use it, and (serpent apart) what remains must have counted for somethitig in 1749. Nevertheless, Handel had been already preceded in that direction. There is nothing new under the sun. Per- haps the sun itself is an imitation of a mastodon sun, which formed the center of some planetary system ante- rior to ours. But while we wait patiently until the dis- ciples of Herschel and Arago put on their spectacles to read the history of the ante-solar system, let us refer to the General Advertiser of the 20th of October, 1744, where we shall find this advertisement : — " At the Lin- coln's Inn Theater will be performed a serenata and an interlude, called Love and Folly, set to music by Mi-. Gaillard. To be concluded with a new Concerto Grosso of 24 bassoons, accompanied by Signor Caporale on the violoncello, intermixed with Duettos by 4 double- bassoons, accompanied by a German flute ; the whole slow degree" — two sopranos, two contraltos, and two bassos; "Why, faithless river" — two sopranos, two altos, a tenor, and a bass ; " Tell it out among the Heathen" — one soprano, two altos, two tenors, and one bass. Out of nineteen choruses in Deborah^ five are for eight voices, seven are for five, and two are for six. Out of the fourteen choruses of Solomon, there are six double choruses for eight voices, and five for five voices, etc., etc. When a chorus which is written for two sopranos and a tenor is called a chorus in three parts, or three voices, the reader, not intimately ac- quainted with musical terms, should understand that the first part is written for soprano voices ; the second part, differing from the first, is written also for soprano voices, and the third for tenor voices. HIS ORCnESTRAL RESOURCES. 157 blended with numbers of violins, luiutboys, fifes, tvom- bony's, Frencli-liorns, trumpets, drums, and kettle drums, etc." The et cetera is superb ! It may be supposed that the bassoon had then become a favorite instrument, since twenty-four bassoon-players, without reckoning the per- formers on the four double-bassoons, were so readily obtained. Handel knew how, upon occasion, to blow, at a single blast, fifty-six horns, hautboys, trumpets, and bassoons ; but he reserved such effects for symphonies to be played in the open air. Nevertheless, his ordinary orchestra was much stronger than it is commonly sup[)Osed to have been. People are certainly deceived by his MSS., and by the editions of his publisher Walsh. Walsh used to econoinize the expenses of engraving by suppressing many of the accompaniments; and he, to save time, only WH'ote the leading parts when he composed, leaving it to the copyists to multiply them according to his instruc- tions. Thus, in the MS. oi Sosarme^ the duet, "Tu caro sei," has, on the line of the first voice, Frimo cembalo con i siioi hassi (harpsichord 1", with its basses) ; on the line of the second voice. Cembalo 2*^", colla teorha e i suoi bassl (harpsichord 2'^% with the theorba and its basses) ; and on the line of the two voices together — Tutd ma inayi^ pianissimo. This duet w^as, therefore, accompanied by two harpsichords having each its special basses. No one knows any thing about this ; for neither Walsh nor Arnold (both of whom printed Sosarme) make any mention of it. Handel most certainly had two harp- sichords in his orchestra ; for in the MS. of Orlando may be found, three or four times on the bass-line, Senza bassi^ e senza cembali — (without basses and with- out har[)sichords) — although they were not indicated before. Their presence on the bass-line was understood, and the authoi- only mentioned them when it became necessary to sus{)end their action. It is known, tradi- 158 LIFE OP HANDEL. tioiially, that lie used twelve first and twelve second violins ; and it may be seen from his MS. that he very frequently added instruments in ripieno — that is to say, extras in the symphonies and the tutti. Many of the songs in Deborah have parts for bassoons in ripieno^ and other parts for violoncelli ripieni. This oratorio had, consequently, not less than four bassoons and four vio- loncellos in its accompaniment ; and the strongest operas in our day have no more. Let us not forget the testi- mony of Quantz, who writes, in his Memoirs (1734), that "Handel's band is uncommonly powerful." There can be no doubt that he made use of the side drum ; although, according to the ideas tlien prevalent, it must have seemed to be an enormity. On his MS. of Giustino he has written, at the end of the last scene, jSuono di trombl e tamburi (sound of trumpets and side drums) — drums in the plural. So also in the MS. of Joshua^ at the reprise of the chorus, " See the conquer- ing," Handel has written, Drimis ad libitum, the second time. Neither liere nor in Giustino is there a special part wiitten for the side drums, but nevertheless their employment is formally recognized. It is the absence of a sjjecial part which proves that drums were used, and not kettle drums ; for the latter are never left ad libitum^ and when Handel referred to them it was always under the Italian name tympani. Side drums are now added to the quick march in Ju- das Maccahmus^ although they are not indicated by the oi'iginal score. This is perhaps not a happy modern li- cense ; for, according to Burney, it is a tradition which dates from as far back as Handel himself: — "In the col- lection of the Earl of Aylesford, formed by the late Mr. Jennyns, are preserved MS. of Handel, including a con- certo for French-horns and side drums, with the march in Judas Maecabmus?'''^ This assertion is confirmed by * Pao^e 45 of the Commemoratioiu UNEXAMINED MANUSCRIPTS. 159 a book publisluMl by tlio Society of Concerts of Ancient Music, wliich says (Sixth Concert of the year 178G, 15th of March) : — "A niaiuiscript Concerto for liorns, trum- pets, drunis^ etc., from tlie Earl of Aylesford's collection." Unfortunately, tiie present lord has lost all trace of the MSS. left by his ancestor.* The London Magazine for 1761,t makes mention also of an entertainment given at Guildhall, at which had been executed " the march of Judas 3Iaccahceus witli side drums." If the instrumental portions of Handel's oratorios, as they were executed under his direction, had not been burned at the destruction of Covent Garden Theater in 1808, we should doubtless have been astonished at their amplitude, for we should there have found the " Briareus with a hundred hands." A few scattered fragments serve to show that he sometimes added extra accompani- ments. The Buckingham Palace treasures have hitherto remained unexplored, and the fact does not much re- dound to the honor of the English musicians. They have only examined the ^ISS. of a few popular oratorios, the publication of which seemed likely to protit some publisher. Mr. Lacy has subjected the whole collection to a professional examination on my account ; and his labors, which certainly did not extend over less than three months (the fruit of wliich will be found in the " Catalogue of Works"), have revealed llicts which no- body suspected, Mozart introduced flutes, trombones, and French-liorns into his instrumental addition to The Messiah; but in so doing he only partly did over again what the author had already done ! The volume of MSS. (which has been entitled Sketches) contains a piece of instrumentation which evidently a})plies to the chorus, " Lift up your gates." It is thus arranged : * See " Catalogue." Note on the Ghandos Antliems^ 1720. + Page 600. 160 LIFE OF nANDEL. Violin 1° Violin 2° Viole. Corno 1° Corno 2° i Ilautb 1° Hautb 2° Bassons. Corno 1° I Corno 2° \ Hautb 1° I Hautb 2° (^ pjassons. Violoni tutti (literally, all the large violins — that is, the double-basses and violoncellos). If the examination of Handel's MSS. had not been de- ferred until now, this page would certainly have light- ened the labors of Mozart! And this is not an isolated fact. In the same volume there is an arrangement of the same nature for " Jeho- vah crowned," "Through the nation," and "He comes," in Esther; and for "He found them guilty," of the Oc- casional Oratorio. Who can say that there were not many similar things in those leaves which, having been abandoned to the copyists, are now lost? But Handel was a musician not only of great judg- ment, but also of extreme delicacy. He husbanded his means, and did not always employ them at once. And this is an example which is not much followed in these days. It is stated that an old manager of a certain Lon- don theater, seeing, at a reheai-sal, that the horn-players were quiet, asked them why they did not play. On their answering that they were counting their " rests," the in- dignant manager exclaimed, " Rests, indeed ! I pay you to jylay., and not to rest ; so, either play up or go away." The composers of the present day belong a little too much to the same school as this good man ; for they ANCIENT AND MODERN TASTES. 161 seem to think that the instrumentalists, the kettle drum- mer included, are not worth their pay if" they are not scraping, trumpeting, and rattling away from one end of the score to the other. This has spoilt the taste of the age ; for it has led people to believe that the more hands there are at work, the finer the music must be. A great mistake ; for the sole efiect is to make it more costly. If people would pay attention, they would perceive that a band of seven hundred musicians can not produce any greater efiect than one which has only four hundred well-disciplined performers. The sound must be pro- portioned to the space in which it is to be heard. Seven hundred musicians, or twice as many, might be very suitable for the Templp of Carnac, or the Crystal Palace, but in the greatest concert-rooms, the sound produced by so many would be broken and confused by the walls. They would smother each other, like an army placed in a country too small to permit of its developing itself; so that the more numerous it is, the more dangerous it be- comes to itself. I do not wish for a step backward, but only that labor should not be wasted. The organs of hearing remain the same as they have ever been, but human sensations and tastes become mod- ified. Modern ears have acquired larger appetites than ancient ones. They are even too fond of noise, which delights children and savages. The imitators of the in- imitable Rossini have caused this corruption ; and now that people have become accustomed to large orchestras, they are not contented with those of Handel. I have twice heard Bach's admirable Passion executed in the raiost perfect manner under the direction of Mr. Bennett, precisely as it Avas composed, and I must confess that on each occasion, during the first half hour, the very slight accompaniment, with its predominance of hautboys, ap- peared somewhat peculiar. I am very far, therefore, from complaining of a slight augmentation of the Han- delian mstrumentation ; but what I wish to point out is, 162 LIFE OF HANDEL. that deficient in strength as it may appear to us all now, his cotemporaries reproached him with exaggerating the forces of harmony, and with being fond of noise. His- tory has left more than one curious proof of this. In the Reminiscences of Angela^ we find ; " * * * This occurred during a sudden storm of wind, thunder, and lightning. The trumpets were sounding, and at the moment a tremendously loud clap of thunder burst, as it were, right over the palace, which seemed to appall many present ; when the king, addressing himself to Lord Pembroke, exclaimed, ' How sublime ! what an ac- companiment ! how this would have delighted Handel.' " Listen also to a former admirer of Handel, who deserted "the friend of thunder," because he "tore his ear to pieces :" " There was a time when man-mountain Handel had got the superiority, notwithstanding many attempts had been made to keep him down, and might have main- tained it probably, had he been content to have pleased people in their own way ; but his evil genius would not suifer it ; for he imagining, forsooth, that nothing could obstruct him in his career while at the zenith of his greatness, broached another kind of music, more full, more grand (as his admirers are pleased to call it), and, to make the noise the greater, caused it to be performed by at least double the number of voices and instruments than ever were heard in the theater before. Li this, he not only thought to rival our patron god, but others also, particularly Colics, Neptune^ and Jupiter ; for, at one time, I have expected the house to be blown down with his artificial wind ; at another time, that the sea would have overflowed its banks and swallowed us up. But beyond every thing, his thunder was most intoler- able. I shall never get the horrid rumbUng of it out of my head. This was literally, you will say, taking us by storm. Hah ! hah ! But mark the consequence. By this attempt to personate Apollo he shared the fate of JPhaeton / Heidegger revolted, and with him most of the COMPLAINTS OF HIS NOISINESS. 163 prime nobility and gentry. From this hapj^y era we may date the growth and establishment o^ Italian micsic in our island. Then came the healing balm of JIasse, Vinci^ Xiampugna7ii^ Pescetti, Gluck^ etc. Perhaps it will be asked by some of my readers, what became of the old German ? Why, like a giant thrown on his back, he made vast struggles to get up again, but in vain," etc.* We may now ask what has become of Ilasse, of Vinci, and of Lampugnani ? Even their names would scarcely be known, if they were not in a manner mixed with the history of "the old German." The pencil of Goupy offers us the same criticism under a different form. A caricature, which is attributed to that scene-painter,f exhibits the " man-mountain" at the organ, with a boar's head furnished with enormous tusks and a colossal wig, upon which perches the bird of soli- tude ; alluding to his passionate temper and habits of re- tirement. In the midst of the chamber, which is in great disorder, are kettle drums, a hunting-horn, a side drum, and an enormous trumpet ; and through an open window are visible a donkey's head braying, and a park of artillery, which is fired, without cannoneers, only by the blazing music of the organist. An echo of these can- nons is heard again at the end of a burlesque piece writ- ten by Sheridan when he was young,^; in which he brings a poet upon the stage who is conducting the rehearsal of his play. At the moment when Jupiter proclaims himself to be the sovereign of the skies, the poet fires off a pistol at the wings, confidentially observing to the pub- lic, " This hint, gentlemen, I took from Handel." What would Goupy and Sheridan think of us now, if they could hear us complaining of the scantiness of this firearm musician's orchestration ?§ * The AH of Oomposlng Music. t " Le-Nuove Scene sono del Sigr. Giusseppe Goupy." Opera-book ofAdmetus, 1727. X Quoted by Mr. TowDseud. § Since the subject has introduced a reference to Goupy's caricature, let 164 LIFE OF HANDEL. But Handel had obstacles to overcome of greater im- poitance than the gross jocularities of his short-sighted opponents. There was nothing that was not used against him. Some persons pushed their hatred to such an extravagance as to accuse him of profanity, because he took sacred subjects into the theater, and caused verses of the Bible to be sung there !* This was a very me complete the description of it. The satirist ridicules the gastronomic propensities of Handel by making him sit upon a little heer-barrel, and attaching a ham and fowls to the pipes of the organ ; a turbot is set upon a pile of books, and the floor of the apartment is strewn with oyster- shells. The monster has a scroll beneath his feet, upon which is written " Pension, Benefit, Nobility, Friendship," And behind the organ stands jEsop, who offers him a mirror, as much as to say, " See what you are." Above the picture is inscribed, " The true representation and character, etc. ;" and below are these four lines : " Strange monsters have adorned the stage, Not Afric's coast produces more ; And yet no land, nor clime, nor age, Have equaled this harmonious boar." Goupy, who reproaches Handel with violating even friendship, had probably received one of his rough thrusts. The print was reproduced on another occasion. The same subject, the same ideas, and the same details, but diiferently treated, and very badly drawn. On the scroll of this we find, " I am myself alone ;" and the inscription is likewise changed into "The Charming Brute :" " The figure's odd — yet who would think Within this tunn of meat and drink, There dwells a soul of soft desires, And all that harmony inspires ? " Can contrast sucli as this be found Upon the globe's extensive round? There can — yon hogshead in his seat : His sole devotion is — to eat." This print, which arose from a not very inventive hatred, is published " conformably to the law of 1754." Copies are now rarer than those of the original caricature, which is supposed to have belonged to 1730. I know of only one im.pression, which belongs to Mr. Hawkins, a very distinguished and obliging collector. * Mainwaring. QUARREL WITH SENESINO. 165 grave accusation at the time, and it will presently be seen that it greatly delayed the success of The Messiah. In spite of all, Deborah and JEsthey\ with Orlando and Floridante occupied the season of 1733. There is no doubt that the English oratorios were sung by the Italian company. Burney is in error M'hen he says \\vAXOrlando was the last work in which Handel wn-ote specially for Senesino. His name and that of Montagnana, and the Signore Strada, Negri, and Bertolli, may still be found written in pencil by Handel himself, in the copy oi Deb- orah^ which forms part of the collection of volumes which he used for conducting. The season of 1733 terminated on the 9th of June. It had been very much agitated by these dissensions, of which Paolo Rolli's letter and Goiipy's caricature are the echoes. Handel was of a very passionate disposition. Proud and imperious as he was, he valued himself far beyond those Avho intei-preted him, and he seems to have considered them too much in the light of mere instru- ments. Senesino, who was also conscious of his own merit, and who was naturally proud of the applause of the public, sometimes put himself in opposition to the will of the passionate composer-manager. This made the latter only the more absolute, and in the end their engagement was broken off. Haughty as he was, and in spite of all that has been said on this matter, I do not believe that Handel was wholly to blame in this business. A tyrant is nothing l)ut a slave turned inside out, and he had too little of the vile nature of a slave ever to be a tyrant. Beard, Lowe, Reinhold, Signora Frazi, Signora Galli, and Mrs. Gibber, all the artists permanently resident hi England whom he employed, remained with him from the moment at which they made their appearance in his works down to the end of his life ; which is a very good proof that com- merce with him was not always intolerable. Senesino, on the other hand, was not a model for sweetness of 166 LIFE OF HANDEL. temper. Quantz relates, in his Memoirs^ that Senesino had quarrels with the chapel-master Ileinechen, which brought about the dissolution of the Dresden company in 1719.* Once, at a rehearsal in London, he offended Mrs. Anastasia Robinson (afterward Lady*Peterborough) so grievously, " that Lord Peterborough publicly and violently caned him behind the scenes."! The time is past, and we should be glad of it, when singers allowed themselves to be caned by lords. Many members of the nobility remained fliithful to the cause of Bononcini, who was patronized by the cele- brated Duke of Marlborouf^h. The Duke's dano-hter. Lady Godolphin, who obtained after his death the title of Duchess of Marlborough, was the soul of this league. She took the favorite to reside in her house, where she for a long time gave two concerts every week, consisting entirely of his mnsic. She allowed hirh besides a pension of £500, which was worth at least as much as £800 in the present day. This fact is attested by Mainwaring, Hawkins, and Burney. With certain exceptions, the English aristocracy had, from the beginning, no great inclination for Handel. Accustomed to be flattered by artists, they were shocked at the dignity which he pre- served toward every body. Burney remarks, with his habitual exactness, in speaking of the subscribers to the opera of Alessandro (1726): — "It is remarkable tliat among the subscribers, not above two or three of the directors of the Royal Academy, or hardly any other great personages, appear on the list, though the publica- tion i^recded the quarrel with the nobility a considerable time." On the other hand, there are none but dukes, marquises, earls, and right honorables in the subscription list for the two volumes of Cantate e Duetti^ published by Bononcini in 1722, at the price of two guineas per copy, although the volume had not more than ninety-nine * Burney, p. [*22] of the Account of the Commemoration. t Walpole, quoted by Burney, p. 297. THE NOBLES AGAINST HANDEL. 167 pages. It brouglit him in, it is said, £1,000. Some of his admirers subscribed for two and even five copies ; the Riglit lion. Mr. Pulteney, ten ; the Duke of Queens- bury, twenty-five ; his wife, the Duchess of Queensbury, twenty-five ; Lord Carletou, thirty ; the Countess of Sunderland, fifty-five, etc. All these wealthy adversa- ries of Handel naturally espoused the cause of Senesino at the outset of the quarrel, and, as is always the case, the more they meddled, the more they managed to em- bitter it. When the majority of the nobles who patron- ized the King's Theater, saw an artist of great talent banished from the stage, they expressed their regrets somewhat sharply, and ended by demanding that Sene- sino should be retained. Handel was one of those few men who defend their honor to the death. He did not know what it was to retreat, and he would have sacrificed every thing rather than submit to a humiliation. Like Cassius, he said : " I can not tell what you and other men Think of this life ; but, for my single self, I had as lief not be as live to be In awe of such a thing as I myself." He could not tolerate that a man of whom he had to complain should be forced upon him, and he replied that Senesino should never reappear in his theater. Ilis former patrons themselves grew indignant at such resist- ance, became excited against this arrogant man, and, resolving to go no more to the Haymai-ket, they gave up the boxes which they had hired there, and joined the Bononcini faction, in order that they might have else- where an Italian opera with the favorite singer. All this was decided even before the close of the season on the 9th of June, 1*733 ; for, on the 13th, the following advertisement appeared in the Daily Post: — " The sub- scribers to the opera in which Signor Senesino and Sig- nora Cuzzoni are to perform, are desired to meet at Mr. 168 LIFE OF HANDEL. Hickford's great room, in Panton -street, on Friday next, at eleven o'clock, in order to settle proper methods for carrying on tlie subscription. Such persons who can not be present are desired to send their proxies." Signora Cuzzoni did not return to London before 1*734 ; but her engagement had doubtless been concluded by correspondence. The theater in Lincoln's Inn Fields was hired, and they sent abroad for a company. Perhaps it was not entirely party-spirit which led the nobility, upon whom opera principally depends, to follow this spoilt child Senesino. Apart from his great talent, he was an evirato, or male soprano, and he had that clear, silvery, effeminate, and excessively high voice which is pe- culiar to that class of singers,* which was then in very high flivor. In the eighteenth century, an alto (counter-tenor), however high he could sing, never could obtain the suc- cess of the Nicolinis, the Senesinos, the Farinellis, and the Caifarellis. Colman, in all the period of time which his little MS. embraces (that is to say, between 1712 and 1734), while he records the names of the songstresses, the evirati, and the counter-tenors, as they appeared up- on the English stage, does not take the trouble of men- tioning a single tenor, or a single basso. Handel shared the mania of his century during the earlier period of liis life. The four parts of Trionfo del Tempo are for two sopranos, and two alti. Out of the seven personages in Sylla^ there are three sopranos (Metalla, Flavia, and Celia), an evirato (Lepido), and two counter-tenors (Sylla and Claudio). The bassos were considered in the light of a disagreeable necessity, and at least a fourth of the early operas of Handel have seldom more than one bass air. He even despised for a long time the tenors, of * By a phenomenon of which physiological science has offered no ex- planation, the effect of eunuchism is to fix the voice at the state in which it is at the time when the execrable operation is performed. This is why these singers have children's voices. Thanks to the progress of human- ity, there are no longer any evirati. The last were Creseentini and Vel- uti, of whom amateurs of sixty years' experience still recount wonders. FONDNESS FOR Iliail VOICES. 1G9 whom not one is to be found in Atnadigi^ Admeto^ Ri- cardo^ Ottone^ Slroe^Tolomeo^ Orlando^ and GlidloCesare. He became very much modified on this point about the middle of his career, and he gave admirable bass airs to Boschi, Montagnana, Waltz, and Reimschneider. The principal personages in his oratorios are tenors ; but the counter-tenors and the high sopranos never lost their hold upT)n his affections. There is a certain singer de- scribed as " the boy" among the voices in the English Acts of 1732, Athalia of 1733, Israel of 1738, Sosarme of 1749, and Jephtha of 175].* One might almost sup- pose that it was the everlasting hoy mentioned in the chorus of Semele^ "Now Love, that everlasting boy!" The persistence in " the boy" proves that Handel always preserved something of his ancient predilections, only he applied them better. The seraphic charm of the clear and limpid voices of children touched him. That strong and austere man loved grace as the rude Benvenuto Cellini did, who could never resist the sweet "fluting" of his young and melancholy pupil, Ascanio. What has just been observed will serve to explain more completely the favor which Senesino enjoyed, and which he preserved to the end. In the Musical Enter- tainer^ by Bickham (1737), there is "The Ladies Lament- ation for the Loss of Senesino." The engraving which adorns this complaint represents him as a giant clothed like a Roman emperor, with women kissing the hem of his coat of mail, and some weeping. On the other side are heaps of bags of gold, being carried by porters to- ward the frigate in which he is about to embark. This man soon became the rallyin^-point for all the malcontents. Bononcini had quitted Great Britain, after a discussion of which the details are sufficiently curious to excite interest even now. Li addition to which, some useful notes may be given with reference to the cultiva- * " The boy" of 1732 was called Goodwill ; that of 1738, Robhison ; and that of 1749, Savage. 8 170 LIFE OF HANDEL. tion of music in this country. The documents connected with the business were jiublished in a pamphlet (now exceedingly rare) which appeared in 1732.* " To SiGNOR Antonio Lotti, at Venice. " London, February 9, 1731. (0. S.) " SiK — Several of the most eminent professors of mu- sic in this city have, some years since, established a Musical Academy, not for the management of theati"ical aifairs, but the improvement of the science, by searching after, examining, and Iiearing performed, the works of the masters who flourished before or about the age of Palestrina j however, not entirely neglecting those of distinguished rank, lovers of music, and skillful in the performance, have desired to be admitted into this so- ciety ; among whom we shall always M'ith pleasure re- member Abbot Stefani^ Bishop of Spi(/a, who, desiring to have his name entered among us, was unanimously chosen our president. It is by order of this Academy, sir, I write to you at present. The occasion I shall ex- plain to you in as short a manner as I am able : One of our members having received from Venice a book enti- tled, Duetti, Terzetti e Madrigali^ and having looked it over, pitched upon the XVIII Madrigal, the only one for five voices, inscribed La Vita Caduca^ beginning ' In una siepe ombrosa,' to be performed in the Academy. Signor JBononcini^ who is also one of our members, and who, three or four years before, had presented us this madrigal as his own,f being informed of this, imme- * Letters from tlie Academy of Ancient Music, etc. t Hawkins, who was himself a member of the Academy, says twice (])p. 862 and 884) that it was Dr. Greene who had brought him the mad- ri;;al, as being by his friend Bononcini. When the affair turned against tlie latter, Greene left the Academy, declaring that he was calumniated. He took with him the children of St. PauPs choir, of which he was di- rector, and established concerts at the Devil Tavern, near Temple Bar, which caused Handel to say that " poor Dr. Greene had gone to the Devil." Greene, who, aa a composer, was poor, but as a man was skill- LOTTI'S MADRIGAL. 171 diiitoly sent a letter to the Academy, in which, havinf^ greatly complained of the person who introduced it among us under your name, lie accuses you as the pla- giary of his works, and affirms that he composed this madrigal thirty years ago, exactly as it is printed in your book, at the command of the Emperor Leopold / and, for the i^roof of this, appeals to the archives of that em- peror. The Academy, entirely impartial between you, not more favoring him, though a member, than you, known to them only from your reputation, but consult- ing the honor of both, ordered me to write this letter to you, and another on the same subject to M. Fuchs^ chapel-master to the emperor, that the truth being dis- covered, the real author may receive his deserved praise. I don't, therefore, in the least doubt but that you will have so much regard for your own fame and reputa- tion among us, as to inform us, as soon as possibly you can, how this matter stands. " Upon this occasion of writing, the Academy have ful and adroit, bore Handel no good-will. Hawkins says — " He courted the friendship of Mr. Handel with a degree of assiduity, that, to say tlie truth, bordered upon servility ; and in his visits to him at Burlington House, and at the Duke of Chandos's, was rather more frequent than welcome. At length Mr. Handel, discovering that he was paying the same court to his rival Bononcini as to himself, would have nothing more to say to him, and gave orders to be denied whenever Greene came to visit him." Busby, among the thousands of anecdotes in his Concert Room^ has this one : — " Dr. Maurice Greene, whose compositions, whether for the church or the chamber, were never remarkably fine, havhig solic- ited Handel's perusal and opinion of a solo anthem which he had just finished, was invited by the great German to take his cotFee with him the next m irning, when he would say what he thought of it. The doc- tor was punctual in his attendance ; the coftee was served, and a variety of topics discussed, but not a word said by Handel concerning the com- position ; at length Greene, whose patience was exliausted, said, with eagerness and anxiety, whicli he could no longer conceal, ' Well, sir, but my anthem— what do you think of it V ' Oh, your antum ! Ah, why, I did tink it wanted air.' Dr. Greene — ' Air, sir V ' Yes, air ; and so I did hang it out of de window !' " This story is gross, and gratuitously insulting, and, worse still (with very bad taste), it is complicated by a pun. All which are more reasons than I require tu disbelieve it ut- terly. 172 LIFE OP HANDEL. ordered me to add, tli.it if you will please to communi- cate to us any of your Avorks, accommodated to our in- stitution, such as moUets^ inasses, or other church pieces, for four or more voices, with or without instruments, we shall ever acknowledge the favor, and very gladly repay all expenses of copying and sending the papers. We have between thirty and forty voices, and as many in- struments. I can't doubt but that, as you excel so much in your art, you must feel an equal love for it, and will therefore wish that the science of harmony may flourish in every part of the world. — Yours, etc., " H. Bishop." Tlie original of this letter is in Latin ; Lotti replied in French : " March 29, 1^31, Yenicb. u % >k % As to the occasion of your Avriting, I con- fess truly, sir, that I was extremely surprised to see myself charged as indebted for my own property ; and, after twenty-six years that my book has been in the hands of the j^ublic, to find myself under a necessity of proving that it really is mine. Had this been repre- sented to me by another, I would have appealed to the public notoriety of the fact, and have retrenched myself in silence ; but the respect I owe to you, and to the illustrious body you represent, obliges me to satisfy your request. " The Duetti, Terzetti, and Madrigals were composed by me a little before the impression. There are some professors and lovers of music who, with their own eyes, saw the progress of the madrigal in question, who sung it, and heard it rehearsed from the rough draught, before it was wrote out fair. The verses, ' In una siepe,' etc., were made on purpose, and given me by the Abbott Pariati^ who was then at Venice^ and who is now at Vien?iay in the post of poet to his imperial majesty LOTTI'S MADRIGAL. 173 Charles VI. Now for the occasion of printing tliis madrigal. " The late 3f. Marc Antonio Zanni^ vice chapel-mas- ter to his majesty the Emperor Leopold, used, from time to time, to send me his compositions, always desiring that I would send him some of mine. I sent liim the madrigal for five voices, ' In una siepe ombrosa,' and he was so good as to cause it to be sung in the presence of the Emperor Leopold. " This, sir, is, in short, the history you required. For reward of my obedience, I only desire that you would be very sure that some one willing to do M. Bononcini an ill turn, has falsely attributed to him the letter writ- ten to the Academy in his name ; for it is incredible that, learned as he is, he should, merely out of gayety of heart, adopt my defects for his own. I hope there will appear some misunderstanding or mistake, and waiting the event, I am easy, having learned of my mastei-, IMr. Legrenzi^ that those who are learned in music, like the illustrious Academy, know, as in painting, the hand of the artist, by the design, the drawing, the coloring, etc., and judge of authors by their works, and not of works by their authors. As this is so, I ought, sir, to be more circumspect in sending you any of my productions ; but as I am acquainted with the generosity of your nation, I will take the liberty, the first opportunity, of sending you some composition to exercise your patience, and shall esteem it a great happiness if you will honor me with your observations, that I may make use of them to my own advantage. I desire you, sir, to present my compliments to the illustrious Academy in general, and each member in particular, being, with all veneration and acknowledgment, sir, your most humble and most obliged servant. " Ant. Lotti." 174 LIFE OF HANDEL. The remainder of the coi-respondence is in English. The reply of the Academy was as follows: "To Mr. Lottl "London, 9th June, 1731. 4c ^ % % ^ 4: 4« * * * "The Academy received your letter with great pleasure : most of them, from that excellent rule of Signor Legrenzi, but all convicted by so many and so considerable testimonies as you bring, unanimously agreed that the madrigal is yours. I also (which we thought just) wrote a letter to Signor Buononcini, which was delivered into his own hands, in which I sent him copies of both your letters, and told him I would wait a week before I wrote to you again, that he might, if he should think proper, have an opportunity of replying. But I waited a fortnight to no purpose. I then sent a second letter by the keeper of our library ; and Signor Buononcini not being at home, two or three times, I or- dered it to be left with his servant. But this also, which I am surprised at, was denied ; for the servant said he had orders to receive no letters but what came by the post. Thus stands the affair with Signor Buononcini. Yet, notwithstanding this, some persons who pretend to be his friends, and who have separated from the Acad- emy on this very account, as it appears, since no other is pretended, obstinately assert the madrigal to be his, still appeal to the archives of the emperor, and accuse you of theft, and the Academy of slander, through the whole town. No answer from M. Fuchs has yet come to my hands ; from what cause or accident, if he be still alive, I can't so much as guess. The Academy, after hearing your letter, were willing to have prosecuted this affair no further ; but they think it is your interest as well as theirs that these calumnies should be answered. " They entreat, therefore, sir, that entirely to refute these ill-minded persons, you would be pleased to send LOTTI'S MADRIGAL. 175 US some certificates of tlio Count del Par, Abbot Pariati, or some others who saw the madrigal at Venice before it was published. But of this enough. u * * ^t ^s it is your design to search for what is beautiful in the works of the ancients, and to seek out those things that have been either neglected or forgot, we doubt not but we shall find you worthy to be placed in the list of those few who cultivate the true study of musick, which you justly complain is at present too much neglected. * * * I hope, sir, that for the future we shall correspond not about these trilling squabbles, but about things relating to the advancement of musick. " H. Bishop." We see that a hundred and twenty-five years ago, the English Academy complained that scientific musical studies were neglected ; and it can not be doubted that the same thing was said a hundred and twenty-five years before that. At every epoch, the past is praised at the expense of the present. Lotti's reply was triumphant : (Without date.) " Venice. " Sir — * * * J return thanks to you, the whole Academy, and the worthy members of it, for the justice they do me. * * * I conceive that the partizans of Signor Buononcini are displeased with the Academy and with me, and I could wish to be master of the art of musick which is lost, that had the power of raising and calming the passions. I think, however, that they do not much consult the honor of their friend ; because, by separating from the Academy, they show a resentment which might be just were the dispute about an air only ; but for a madrigal indeed it is too much, since Signor Buononcini can make others equal and much superior. ^ * * I submit to the commandment of the Acad- 176 LIFE OF HANDEL. emy ; therefore I inclose some papers from Vienna and from Venice, sufficient even for those who have liated the truth. * * * Among these you will also find a madrigal for five voices, which I composed at Dresden when I was in the service of that court ; and you will know it to be grist from the same mill. I know not whether this will have the fortune to be attributed to any other ; but should it happen so, I shall equally com- fort myself with the reflection that my parts are not tliought mean, when people are found who are willing to adopt them for their own." "September 9, 1731, Yenice. " The under-written attests upon my oath, in relation to the madrigal for five voices set to musick, upon the words 'In una siepe ombrosa,' etc., as it appears at present in the printed book of Signor Antonio Lotti, organist of the ducal chapel of St. Mark, that I saw the said madrigal in the rough draft while it was yet com- posing, with the alterations and rasures of some notes as the work went on ; and also that I heard it practiced several times — sometimes in parts, sometimes entire, in the presence of several persons; and I myself caused it afterward to be printed with the other duetti terzetti^ etc., by Antonio Bartoli, at the proper charge of the said printer, he giving 29 copies to the author. " I. Gig. Fkanc. Maria Bettoxi, attested as above." Michael Angelo Gasparini declares, for his part, that he knew Lotti in 1686, with their master, Sig. Legrenzi, and that the madrigal was by him. Finally, the Abbe Pietro Pai-ati, " Poet to his Cesarian and Catholic IMa- jesty," affirms, from Vienna, in Austria, the 27th of July, 1731, that he wrote the words " In una siepe," for Lotti, and that he gave them to him, and that he saw him set them to music. Whereupon the English Academy wrote the following letter to Lotti : BONONCINI'S FORGERY PROVED. 177 Letter to Signor Lotti {icndated). * * * * * * * "The testimonies, dear sir, you transmitted to us have had their due weiglit with us, and abundantly eon- iirra us in the good opinion we had before conceived of you. It can be no disagreeable news to you to hear that we have sent them, together with the several letters that have passed between us, to be printed. " By the ship called the Huhy^ you will receive from us two pieces of musick, the work of two English mas- ters, Thos. Tallis, and William Bird; the latter, organ- ist and composer to Henry VIII., the former, master of the royal chapel in the reign of the same king. When you cast your eye upon those pieces, you will clearly perceive that true and solid musick is not in its infancy with us, and that, whatever some on your side of the Alps may irnagine to the contrary, the muses have of old time taken up their abode in England^ so that to our ancestors, in whose footsteps we tread, it is that we are chiefly indebted for what we know and practice, and we dutifully acknowledge the obligation. " We have great things in design for the further ad- vancement of the harmonic science, which shall be made known to you at proper opportunities. * * * * ¥r * * " Adieu, most worthy brother Academician." T\\Q protege of Marlborough, in shutting his door to Lotti's first answer, left no doubt in any reasonable mind of the reality of the forgery. People were the more astonished, because he was capable of composing a much better madrigal than the Venetian. But the theft was proved, and the Handelists did not fail to make as much of it as possible. Bononcini had at first thought he w^ould extricate himself by audacity, but when once the affair was taken up, he left England immediately, doubt- less hoping to divert attention by making people believe 8* 178 LIFE OF HANDEL. that he did not interest himself about the question. It was at the end of May, 1731, that he refused to receive the Academy's letter, and the Daily Courant of the 30th of the following June, announces his departure for France. He returned in 1732 ; for, on the 14th of June in that year, we have seen above that he produced a pastoral at Covent Garden. Perhaps he thought that his absence had silenced discussion ; but the Academy, on the contrary, hastened to publish the pamphlet which destroyed him, and he left England forever, in 1733, after having preserved, throughout the whole of the dis- cussion, a silence which was conformable with the arro- gance of his character. When his fall was certain, he did not abase himself any further by attempting a de- fense ; but quitted the country. Silence is the only shadow beneath which culpability can retire with dig- nity. We find him afterward carrying across Europe his astonishing facility of composition, and associating himself, in spite of his morose disposition, with a schemer who pretended that he had discovered the philosopher's stone ; until he died, almost a centenarian, in solitude and obscurity — the merited punishment of an ill-spent life. " CHAPTER Yl. 1733— 1737. "Atiialia"— TuE TWO Rival Thkateks—" Ariadne" — "Parnasso in Festa" — ""Werding Anthem" — Indomitable Energy of Handel — "Hautbois Concertos" — "Fugues for the Organ" — Handel becomes an Imi'ressaeio — Arbutiinot's Satire in his Favor — " Terpsichore" — Masques — "Alcina." —•'Alexander's Feast"— Indifference of the Composers of the Eight- eenth Century -with regard to the Publication of their Works—" Ata- lanta"—"Arminius"—" Justin" — " Berenice"- Euin of the Two Theaters — Failure of Handel— Artistic Ignorance of the Public of that Epoch. In spite of Bononeini's fall, his faction did not tlie less continue the war against Handel. On the 13th of June, 1733, as we have seen, they held a sort of coalition con- ference with Senesino. Their great adversary seems to have regarded the storm which was brewing around him with a calm, untroubled eye ; for, having finished Atha- lia on the 7th of June, he went tranquilly to inti-oduce it at a Public Act of the University of Oxford. What is called a Public Act is the ceremony which takes place every year, for conferring the degrees of the University after an examination. This lasts three or four days ; the mornings of which are devoted to science, and the evenings to pleasur(\ The Memoirs of Thomas Hearne (a Master of Arts belonging to St. Edmund's Hall,* one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford), published very recently, declare that Handel was directly invited by the Yice-Chancellor of this University : "1733, July 5.— One Handell, a foreigner (who they say was born at Hanover), being desired to come to Ox- ford, to perform in musick at this Act, in which he hath great skill, is come down, the Vice-Chancellor (Dr. * Rellquici Ilearnianx: The Eemains of T. Hearne, M.A., of St. Ed- mund's Hall ; being Extracts from his MS. Diaries. Collected by P. Bliss. Oxford, 1856. 180 LI F K OV ir A N I) F L . Holmes) liaving requested him so to do, and, as an en- couragement, to allow liim the benefit of tlie Theater both before the Act begins and after it. Accordingly he hath published papers for a performance to-day, at 5s. a ticket. This performance began a little after five o'clock in the evening. This is an innovation. The players might be as well permitted to come and act." " July 6. — The players being denied coming to Oxford by the Yice-Chancellor, and that very rightly, though they might as well have been there as Handell and (his loAvsy crew) a great number of forreign fiddlers, they went to Abbington, and yesterday began to act there ; at which were present many gownsmen from Oxford." " July 8. — Half an hour after five o'clock, yesterday in the afternoon, was another performance at 5s. a ticket, in the Theater by Mr. Handell for his own benefit, con- tinuing till about eiglit o'clock. — N.B. His book (not worth Id.) he sells for Is." " Cet liomrae assurement n'aime pas la musique." — Amphytnon. I have also met with two old pamphlets, in which are to be found new and more conclusive evidence of what the composer did at Oxford : The Oxford Act^ a.d. 1733, " Thursday, tr e 5th of July. About five o'clock the great Mr. Handel shew'd away with his Esther^ an ora- torio, or sacred drama, to a very numerous audience, at five shillings a ticket." On the 6th no music. On Saturday, the Yth : — " The Chevalier Handel very judiciously, forsooih, ordered out tickets for his Esther this evening again. " Some of the company that had fomid themselves but very scramblingly entertained at our dry disputations, took it into their heads to try how a little fiddling would sit upon them. " Such as cou'dn't attend before, squeezed in v/ith as much alacrity as others strove to get out, so that e're his myrmidons cou'd gain their posts, he found that he PUKLTC ACT AT OXFORD. 181 liad little likelihood to be at such a loss for a house as, once upon a time, folks say he was. '* So that notwithstanding the barbarous and inhuman combination of such a parcel of unconscionable chaps, he disposed, it seems, of most of his tickets, and had, as you may guess, a pi-etty mottley appearance into the bargain." On Sunday, the 8th of July, " at the church in the morning. Mi-. Handel's Te Deinn was performed ; and in the evening, the ' Jubilate' to the Te Deum:'> There- fore it was the Utrecht Te Deuni which Avas played. On Monday no music. On Tuesday: — "The company in the evening weie entertained wdth a spick and span new oratorio, called Athalla. One of the royal and ample had been saying, that truly it was his opinion that the theater was erected for other guise purposes, than to be prostituted to a company of squeeking, bawling, outland- ish singsters, let the agreement be w^hat it wou'd This morning, Wednesday, July the 11th, there was, luckily enough, for the benefit of some of Handel's people, a serenata in their grand hall. In the evening, Athalia WMS served up again ; but the next night he concluded with liis oratorio q{ Deborah?'' It is not easy to determine whether the writer was a fiiend or an enemy of " the Chevalier Handel ;" but the " barbarous and inhuman combination of such a parcel of unconscionable chaps," leads to the inference that some enemies had followed him to Oxford. The second pamjihlet is a piece of buffoonery, in the form of a ballad-opera, in which the Oxford under-grad- uates, accompanied by young ladies, comi^lain that these solemnities bring them into ruinous expenses : " ThougJiileft-s. — In the next place, tliere's the fuvnitnre of my room procur'd me some tickets to hear that bewitching music, that cursed Handel, with his confounded oratorios ; I wish him and his company Lad been yeili;ig in the infernal shades below. " Haagldy. — Our cases run in a parallel ; nay, 'tis worse with mo, for 182 LIFE OP HANDEL. I question whether my gaping herd of creditors won't be for sequester- ing my fellowship or not. I don't see what occasion we had for this Act, unless it was to ruin us all. It would have been much more prudent, I think, had it pass'd in the negative ; for I am sure it has done more harm than good amongst us ; no one has gaiu'd anything by it but Mr. Handel and his crew." As the tickets were sold for five shillings each, these gentlemen, to be ruined, must have been accompanied by a great many young ladies. Nevertheless, the attend- ance was certainly very great, and the composer must have gained a great deal of money. The Gentleman'' s Magazine for July, in the same year, reports that Atha- lia was received at Oxford " with vast applause, before an audience of 3700 persons." Tins oratorio, which the author afterward produced frequently in London, was the cause of the diploma of a doctor of music being offered to Handel ;* but he refused it. Of what service could such a degree be to him ? On being asked one day why he did not take his degree, he replied, " Vat de dyfil I trow my money away for dat wich de blockhead wish ? I no want." The name of Montagnana is to be found upon the MS. of Athalia^ and he therefore at that time still re- mained with Handel ; but a very short time afterward he joined Senesino. Signora Bertolli and Celeste Gis- mondi, two of the principal songstresses of the company, had deserted from the beginning, " to enlist under the banner of the barons." Signora Strada alone remained faithful to the great man, who continued to present a determined front, and seemed to defy the tempest ; for he was of the family of oaks, which will break rather than bend. * The doctorship of music, which was established in England beyond 1450, is a degree conferred by the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, •where there are composition classes. To obtain a diploma, it is only nec- essary to write, in a passable manner, a cantata for eight voices, provided always that you can add to the cantata a sum of one hundred guineas. This degree is not much sought after now-a-days. IMPEESSARIO ON HIS OWN ACCOUNT. 183 It appears that, with his usual resolution and activity, he went to the Continent to engage a new compan}*. Hawkins says that, " at the end of his engagement with Heidegger, Handel, together with old Mr. Smith, w^ent abroad in quest of singers. In Italy, he heard Farinelli, and also Carestini ; and, which is very strange, preferring the latter, he engaged with him, and returned to En- gland. With this assistance he ventured to undertake an opera in the Haymarket on his own bottom."* The partnership with Heidegger, it is ceitain, dfd not termi- nate before the month of June, 1734 ; and it is not less certain, as will presently be seen, that it was at Lincoln's Inn Fields, and not at the Haymarket, that Handel com- menced the career of wipressario ; finally, his company of 1734 did not contain any new artist. But Hawkins frequently confounds both times and facts ; and it is more than probable that Handel made this journey while he was still in partnership with Heidegger, when he returned from Oxford, from July to the end of Sep- tember, 1733. His Ariadne is signed on the 5th of Oc- tober. He reopened the season at the Haymarket on the 30th of October, Avith an entirely new Italian company: — Scalzi, the two sisters Negri, Sg". Durastanti (who re- appeared after ten years' absence), and Carestini,t who made his debut on the 4th of December, 1733, in Cajvs Fabricius^ a pasticcio oi)era. But, in the mean time, his enemies were not inactive ; they had engaged Farinelli, the prodigy of singers, and Signora Cuzzoni returned. Porpora and Arrigoni were engaged as composers,]; under tne direction of Lord * Hawkins, p. 876. t Carestini, a man of distinguished character, was a male soprano, a good musician, and gifted with a magnificent voice. Colman and tlie book of Parnasso in Festa spell his name Carestino. He is sometimes surnamed Cusanino, because the Casani family in Milan had taken liim under their protection from the age of twelve years. X See Fetis and Choron. Arrigoni produced at London, in 1734, tin opera called Fernando. (F^tis.) 184 LIFEOF HANDEL. Cooper. Such was the coalition wliich commenced oper- ations at Lincoln's Inn Theater, on the 29th of December, 1733,* with the Ariadne of Porpora, written (says the libretto of Paolo Rolli) " per la nobilita Britannica." The general rehearsal took place four clays before the opening, at the house of the Prince of Wales. The Daily Post^ Tuesday, December 25th, 1733, says: — " Last niglit there was a rehearsal of a new opera at the Prince of Wales's house in the royal gardens in Pall Mall, where vv^as present a great concourse of the nobil- ity and quality of both sexes." Frederic, Prince of Wales, joined for some time the opposition agahist Han- del ; but he very soon recovered from that folly, to which he doubtless only yielded for the purpose of vexing his father. So fond was he of this, that it would not be astonishing to find in some memoir that he tried to walk upon his head for the purpose of acting in a contrary manner to his father.f Handel gave, successively, Semirainis on the 30th of October, Cajus FahriciusX on iha 4th of December, and Arbaces on the 5th of January, 1734. Burney, in fur- nishing these dates, says that the names of the composers of these works are unknown, but that "in all probability they were old dramas adjusted to airs selected from the works of different masters ;" and the acute doctor was not deceived. The three scores are to be found in a * Daily Journal. + The royal family of England at that time offered a revolting specta- cle. King George the Second, like Louis the Fourteenth, exposed to the whole world the indecencies of his amours. Both, he and his wife had conceived against their son Frederic a violent and implacable antipathy, and they, who owed at least to their subjects an example of good man- ners, did not hesitate to make them witnesses of the scandal of their family quarrels. The London Daily Post extracts the following announce- ment from the London Gazette of the 27tli of February, 1728 :— " His majesty, having been informed that due regard has not been paid to his order of the 11th of September, 1737, has thought fit to declare, that no person whatever, who shall go to pay their court to their royal highnesses the Prince or Princess of Wales, shall be admitted into his majesty's presence at any of his royal palaces. — Grafton." X See Appendix K. PASTICCIO OPERAS. 185 complete state in Smith's collection. Arhaces is nothing but the Artaxerxes of Metastasio, under the name of one of the principal personages in that poem. These three MSS. are indeed very curious, and cast a new light on the proceedings of the master. All the airs, which are by authors whose names are not known, are in Smith's handwriting, and all the recitatives are in that of Han- del. This appears to be clearly exi3licable in the follow- ing manner: In spite of his prodigious fecundity, Handel could not satisfy the desire for novelty wliich was prev- alent in his time ; and not having, and perhaps not wish- ing for, a composer who could assist liim, he selected some old poem, and employed Smith to arrange the airs with music of which the origin is no longer discoverable ; and, for his part, he took the trouble to unite the whole with recitatives, which he could write very rapidly. If I am not mistaken, these pasticcios, which count for nothing in his works, should certainly add to the admir- ation which he inspires, for they increase the sum of work of all kinds which was accomplished by his indefa- tigable jDOwers. The three operas in question were given for the debut of an entirely new company, and it is prob- able that they included many airs wiiich the artists had brought with them from Italy, as being more particularly favorable to the exhibition of their talents. Every singer has his favorite airs. Ai^haces contains, perhaps, a great deal of the principal part of the Artaserse of Yinci, which Carestini had sung at Venice in 1730. On the 26th of January, 1734, he more directly ac- cepted the challenge of the nobles with another Ariadne^ of his own composition. This siniilai-ity of name appears to have been fortuitous. Handel's MS. is dated on the 5th of October, two months and a half before the repre- sentation of Poi-pora's Ariadne. At that time, people did not hesitate to make use of subjects, and also even of poems, which had been treated by others. Many of the lyric:il dramas of Metastasio (notably Gyrus) have 186 LIFE OF HANDEL. been set to music by five or six composers, all cotempo* raries of each other.* By a very singular coincidence, the two Ariadnes had nineteen representations apiece. That by Handel was printed in its entirety, but only the " fevorite songs" of Porpora's opera have been engraved. f * According to Hawkins, Ariadne "is of a not very elevated style, and is calculated to please the vulgar. Handel said that he wrote it in order to recover the favor of the nobility, whom he was sensible he had displeased in some of his most elaborate compositions." The stroke is cruel, bat Barney does not admit that the composer succeeded in what he aimed at ; he declares, on the contraiy, that, in the midst of a similar crisis, Handel seems to have developed all liis faculties in the new opera with greater vigor than ever. The minuet in Ariadne became very popular. Burney says : — " It must have had a very striking effect in the theater, as it was not played as a part of the overture, but, after the curtain was drawn up, as a symphony to the first scene, where Minos receives the tribute of Athenian youths and virgins. It being first played jOirt«o, without wind instruments, and afterward /o?'/^, with French-horns and hautboys, surprised and pleased the audience in an uncommon manner at that time." In '^lokiw^n'^ Musical Entertainer vio. find "The Submissive Admirer — ' How is it possible V Set by Mr. Hjndel." This is merely a song set to the minuet. We find again, " How is it possible? set by Mr. Handel," in Universal Harmony^ 1745. t While the rivals were engaged in the struggle, jokers turned it into ridicule. Among the book advertisements of the Gentleman'' s Magazine for November, 1733, tlxe following may be found : — " Do you know what you are ahout ? or, a Protestant Alarm to Great Britain, proving our late theatric squabble to be a type of the present contest for the Crown, and that the division between Handel and Senesino has more in it than we imagine. Also, that the latter is no Eunuch, but a Jesuit in disguise. Price 6d." Jests were very abundant. The London Magazine for January, 1734, publishes " A treaty of Peace," which is more lengthy than amusing, the thirteenth chiuse of which is as follows : — "Article 13. The most high and puissant John Frederic Handel, Prince Palatine of the Haymarket; the most sublime John James Heidegger, Count of the most sacred and holy Roman Empire ; and the most noble and illustrious Signer Sene- sino, little Duke of Tuscany, do engage for themselves, their heirs, and successors, to become guarantees for the due performance and execution of all, every and singular, the articles of this present treaty. Done in the camp in New Palace Yard, before Westminster Hall, this 2Sth day of November, in the year of our Lord 1733." Such pieces of witticism were much admired, but it is obvious that they were not always very good. Those which have a refined wit, and whose style is suflaciently "PARNASSO IN FESTA." 187 After Ariadne^ he produced the serenata of Parnasso in JFhsta, an allegorical piece, brought out for the cele- bration of the marriage of the Princess Anne of England to the deformed Prince of Orange. The Daily Journal of Monday, the 11th of March, 1734, announces : "On "Wednesday, 13th instant, will be performed Parnasso in Festa^ or Apollo and the Muses celebrating the Mar- riage of Thetis and Peleus; a serenata. Being an essay of several different sorts of harmony. To begin at six o'clock." Besides tliis advertisement, the same number of the Daily Journal contains the following paragraph : " We hear, among other publick diversions that are prepared for the solemnity of the approaching nuptials, there is to be performed at the Opera House in the Hay- market, on Wednesday next, a serenata called Parnasso in Festa. The fable is Apollo and the Muses celebrating the Marriage of Thetis and Peleus. There is one stand- ing scene, which is Mount Parnassus, on which sit Apollo and the Muses, assisted with other proper [meaning ap- propriate] characters emblematically dressed, the whole appearance being extremely magnificent. The musick is no less entertaining, being contrived with so great a variety, that all sorts of musick are properly introduced in single songs, duettos, etc., intermixed with choruses, somewhat in the style of oratorios. People have been Avaiting with impatience for this piece, the celebrated Mr. Handel having exerted his utmost skill in it." This has all the peculiar symptoms ai '''' the puff p'' and to have reduced Handel to that is an additional reproach against the enemies who were leagued against him. On the following day, the 14th of JVIarch, the Daily Courant inform us that — "Yesterday evening, their majesties, his elegant to render them tolerable, are rare. The Addisons, the Arbuth- nots, the Voltaires, and the Montesquieus do not abound. After all, Handel could not have been very much annoyed at these blunted pin- pricks ; and he had, besides, the conscience of having right on his side. 188 LIFE OF HANDEL. Royal Highness the Prmce of Wales, with the rest of the royal family, and his Serene Highness the Prince of Orange, went to the theater in the Haymarket, and saw a serenata called Parnasso in Festa, or Apollo and the Muses celebratinoj the Marriasje of Thetis and Peleus." But we do not find a single word to inform us of what his imperisliable majesty the public thought of this " essay of several different sorts of harmony." In point of fact, the serenata de circonstance was com- posed like all pieces de circonstance. Thirteen of the airs and songs only are new :^ the rest are borrowed from Athalia., which had only then been performed twice at Oxford. Burney, who made a comparative analysis of the two works, says: "The Italian words are adjusted to the music with such intelligence and atten- tion to the accent and expression that if we were not ac- quainted with the new and particular occasion on v/hich Parnasso was prepared, it would be difficult to discover whether the music was originally composed for that sere- nata or for Athalia.'''' The author afterward hitroduced into Athalia many of the novelties belonging to this semi-pasticcio serenata. Only one Wedding Anthem by Handel is known, that which was composed in 1736 for the marriage of the Prince of Wales ; but he arranged another, which has never been mentioned, for tlie marriage of the Princess Anne. I have the MS. of this in the collection which be- longed to Smith, and I subjoin the analysis, for which I am indebted to Mr. Rophino Lacy : Chorus : " This is the day ;" made out of " The mighty power," in Athalia. Air (bass) : " Blessed is the man that hath a virtuous wife ;" made out of " Gentle airs," in ditto. Air (sop.) : " A good wife is a good portion ;" made out of " Thro' the land," in ditto. * See " Catalogue," 1734. ' WEDDING ANTHEMS. 189 Air (ten.): "Strength and lionor fire her clolhhig ;" made out of " Circonda in lor vite," in Pamasso. Recitative (bass) :" As the sun," ( f'-o™ "^i^' Canst A • /I \ \<^ Tx ^ •^ 1 ' i ^^^^^ prove me," in Air (bass) : "Her chudren arise up," ( Atimiia. Chorus : " We shall remember thy ( ^^om the last movement .„-.,. *^ i of the Tth Chandos An- iianie. Allelujah, Amen." ( them. , This is truly an anthem for a wedding, where every thing tends to the honor of the bride. The words of the Weddmff Anthem of I'ZSG, on the contrary, are chosen more in honor of the husband : " Thy wife shall be ;" " Lo, thus shall the man be blessed ;" etc. It can be satisfactorily proved that this pasticcio anthem was really sung at the marriage for which Handel- wrote Pamasso in Festa. The Daily Post of the 19th of October, 1733, announces: "We hear a fine anthem, composed by Dr. Greene for the nup- tials of Frederic, Prince of Orange, and Anne, princess royal, is to be performed by Mr. Gates, Mr. Hughes, and Mr. Rowe, and the children of the chapel royal at St. James." The Prince of Orange arrived in England on the 6th of November, 1733 ; but, becoming seriously ill, his marriage, which had been fixed for the 12th of Novem- ber, was put off until the month of March, 1734. It may be that the princess, who always showed a great partiality for Handel, preferred to have any thing by him rather than the work of Greene, the ofiicial com- poser to the chapel royal. But whether this was so or not, the following paragraph in the London Magazien for March, 1734, proves that it was her favorite's music that was sung at her marriage : " After the organ had played some time, his highness the Prince of Orange led the princess royal to the rails of the altar and kneeled down, and then the Lord Bishop of London performed the service; after which tlie bride and bridegroom arose and retired to their places, while a fine anthem, com- 190 LIFE OF HANDEL. posed by INIr. Handel, was performed by a great number of voices and instruments."* In the midst of tlie painful circumstances which sur- rounded him, Handel displayed indomitable energy and activity. Even from among the dry bones of the adver- tising columns we may pick up living proofs of his efforts. After Ariadne^ on the 26th of January, 1734, and Par- nasso in Festa^ on the 13th of March, came the revivals oi Deborah^ on the 2d and 9th of April ; of Sosarme^ on the 27th of April ; of Aeis^ on the 6th of May ; and on the 4th of June, o^ Pastor Fldo, completely re-arranged. The Daily Journal of the 1st of June, 1734, announces: " On Thursday, the 4th of June, at the King's Theater, in the Haymarket, will be performed an opera called Pastor Fido^ composed by Mr. Handel, intermixed with choruses. The scenery after a particular manner." The scenery after a jyarticular manner. Poor Handel ! The book of Pastor Fido^ as produced in the Hay- market in 1734, is inscribed " Second Edition, with large Additions." An analysis of the rearrangement will be found in the " Catalogue." It was repeated eight times, between the 4th and the 29th of June, which was the last performance of the season. Vide Daily Journal for the 29th of June : — ''''Pastor Fido^ last time of perform- ing." It was in 1734 also that he brought out the celebrated * It is impossible to doubt that this " fine anthem, composed by Mr. Handel," was that of which the MS. is in my possession. Unhappily, as has been shown, it contains nothing new ; every thing is taken from the two works which were then under his hand, Athalia and Partiasso. It seems to have been very hastily written. Ti)e music is in the haud- writaig of Smith, and all the words in that of the master, who reserved to hinl^i«-^.— Sirrah— Demme, we say— Sirrah ! what has your stupidity to offer in your defense, that sentence of annihilation should not be imme- diately pronounced against you for daring to oppose our mighty wills and pleasures ? — Well said us 1 "A'i.so/i^?-.— Most noble noble, right honorable, and superlatively ex- cellent — • Bumey. 9 194 LIFE OF HANDEL. Fido there, wliich was tliis time preceded by an inter- lude. In the Theatrical Register we find : — " Novem- ber 9th, 1734. Theater Royal, Covent Garden. By his majesty's command, on Saturday next, will be performed Pastor Fido^ an opera with several additions, intermixed with choruses ; which will be preceded by a new dramat- '■'■ Court. — Go on, scoiindrel, '■^Prisoner. — I am almost confounded at being thus arraigned before so august an assembly of the wisest lieads of the nation ; and to appear as a criminal, where, though I am guilty of the charge, I am innocent of any crime, as ignorant of any real accusation. Wherein have I offended? ^"^ Court. — Why, you saucy * * * do you pretend to impeach the honor, sense, or power of the Court? Wherein have you offended? Unparallel'd audaciousness! when we have said you have offended. Scoundrel ! you're as impudent as a red-hot poker, which is enough to put any face out of countenance. But, sirrah, if you are not guilty by law, we'll prove it logically. No man is brought to this bar, but who is guilty. You are brought to this bar. Ergo : I>o you understand a syl- logism, rascal? No man at the Old Bailey ever had a fairer trial for his life ; away with him, gaoler, to the condemned hole, till the warrant is signed. " Now, sir," continues Hurlothrombo, " you may think this usage very severe ; but to show you upon what a weak foundation you build your pretenses to support an opera, I'll prove by twenty-five substantial reasons, that you are no more of a composer, nor know no more of mu- sick than you do of algebra. First, then, sir, have you taken your de- grees ? Boh ! ha, ha, ha ! Are you a doctor, sir ? Ah, ah ! A fino composer, indeed, and not a graduate. Fie, fie, you might as well pre- tend to be a judge without having been ever called to the bar ; or pretend to be a bishop, and not a Chiistian. Why, Dr. Pushpin and Dr. Blue [Pepusch and Greene] laugh at you, and scorn to keep you company; and they have vowed to me that it is scarcely possible to imagine hoAv much better they composed after the commencement gown was thrown over their shoulders than before ; it was as if p. musical had laid hands up- on them, and inspired them with the enthusiasm of harmony. Secondly, sir, I understand you have never read Euclid, are a declared foe to all the proper modes, and forms, and tones of musick, and scorn to be sub- servient to, or tied up by rules genius cramped. Thirdly, sir, it has been objected to you, I believe with some truth (for I never knew one man to take your part in it), that you can no more dance a Cheshire horn- pipe than you can fly down a rope from Paul's Church ; a composer, and not dance a Cheshire round ! Incredible ! But as for my fifth reason, sir, by G d, you have made such musick as never man did before you, nor, I believe, never will be thought of again when you're gone • * * Finally : It has been made manifest to the religious part of HARMONY IN AN UPROAR. 195 ick entertainment in mnsick, called Te?'2?sicore,^'' A copy of the opera-book used at the performance, containing the opera and Terpsichore^ under the name of Prologo, is in the British Museum. It is entitled, " Opera da Rap- presentarsi nel Novo Reggio Teatro di Covent Garden." Burney is mistaken when he says* that the Frologo was given at the King's Theater on the 18th of May. The Daily Journal of the 21st of March, 1734, fur- nishes the progiamme of a performance at Covent Gar- den, for the bynelit of Madlle. Salle, in which we find " ' Les Characteres de I'Amour,' in which will be ex- pressed the various passions of love, by Madlle. Salle." your audiences, that you have practiced sorcery upon his majesty's liege subjects. " But to come a httle nearer to the merits of the cause, and give you a ■wound where you think yourself most secure : ' your party very confi- dently, and with an air of wisdom, give out that you are all very much surprised that so weighty a part of the grand legislature should employ both their time and money so ill, as in setting up one opera-house to ruin another, without ever giving the appearance of a formal reason for acting so ; when their precious hours and vast parts might, at this critical junctui-e, be of infinite service to their country, when we are almost at a loss how to behave,' " Mighty pretty, truly — how charmingly wise and sententious ! Nota- ble speech-makers indeed ! How niurder will out ! Does not this objec- tion alone make good all that we have been disputing about these three hours ? Is it not obvious that so many great men, miglity great men (who are so overloaded with the burden of public affairs, that all com- mon necessaries of life are neglected to attend that service), would ever have taken all this trouble about so * * * paltry a fellow as you ? Had not your insolence arrived to such an unparalleled pitch of auda- ciousness, that it quite threatened the utter ruin of the nation, had they not timely stood in the gap made in our liberties and properties by your musick, the torrent, in another year or two, might have swept away — God knows what. But, like true patriots, they interposed, and ven- tured lives and fortunes to save us. Nor is it these mighty men alone that would devour you ; the whole musical world is united against you," etc. This satire shows with what kind of opposition and what redoubtable enemies Handel was engaged ; but nothing could quell his courage, and it was spiritedly that he entered into a new phase of existence, in which lie alone was to support the brunt of the war. " Moi seul ; et c'est assez !" — Tamrede. * Page 377. 196 LIFE or HANDEL. Tlie success obtained by the French danseuse^ at the English theater, probably gave Handel the idea of mak- ing her repeat her " Characteres." Terpsichore (accord- ing to the analysis made of it by Mr. Lacy) is evidently a s})ecies of framework for such an entertainment. Apollo, addressing his melodlosa germana^ Erato, explains to her that he has quitted Parnassus in order to see his " new Academy" [novo 3Iuseo)^ which is worthy of him, of her, and of Jupiter. This is enough to introduce a song on Ja|>iter, " Gran tonante," taken from JParnasso hi Festa. Apollo afterward asks Erato where her sister Terpsichore may be, and Erato replies that she can not be far off. She then praises her " intelligent feet," and Terpsichore ap- pears to a prelude taken from Ptolemy. They then en- gage her in a duet, " Col tuoi piedi," to join with their harmonies, to which the choreographic goddess replies by a saraband to the melody of the duet. Apollo then desires her to express "the transports of a lover who desires to obtain the object of his passion," which she does by a jig. Erato afterward begs her to represent the hopes and fears of a heart wounded by love ; and to give her an idea of what they wish, and probably also a little time to take breath, Erato and Apollo sing a second duet, " Tuoi passi son dardi," the music of which she takes in executing her pantomime. Besides this, there is an air and a duet, followed by dances ; and then the three divinities suddenly disappear in the midst of a final chorus.* If a little tablet of white marble, which I have seen in the hut of Peter the Great at Saardam, is to be believed, the Emperor Alexander said, when he visited the habita- tion of his ancestor, " Nothing is too small for a great man." But Handel had long ago proved the justice of this reflection, when he undertook to write a little ballet, intermixed with songs. It is a part of Terpsichore that Arnold published under * See "Catalogue of Works." AMUSEMENTS. 197 the title of ^ Jfasque. "Without knowing wh;it he was doing, he gave to the composition the name of the class to M^hich it really belongs. The word " Masque" in En- gland is equivalent to the French word " Intermede." In England, as in France, they were performed at the court and at the houses of the rich. The dances were executed, not by professional artists, but by the guests. Even princes themselves took part in them. We are told that that voracious and sanguinary monarch, Louis XIV., the king of the dragonnades^ danced very gal- lantly !* The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries jumped about terribly. In reading the books and cata- logues of music belonging to that epoch, we find dancing airs and dancing masters in every line ; and what an im- mense variety of different steps ! It must have been a very long, a very laborious, and a very fatiguing opera- tion to learn them all. Never, surely, did people give themselves so much trouble for amusement. The oddest thing was, that all these choreographic entertainments partake of a solemn and langourous character. Busby says that the Chaconne "is slow and graceful, graver than the Saraband, which it resembles." Bat the Sara- band, says Busby again, was itself " expressive and ma- jestic." What, therefore, must have been the gravity of the Chaconne, when it was graver than the majestic Saraband ! Busby also informs us that the Musette was "of a tender character," and the Sicilienne " of a sweet and pastoral character ;" and Mr. Lichtenthal says that the Passacaille was " a kind of Chaconne, with a moder- ated and rather melancholy movement." The Passacaille must have been a Spanish dance — Passacalle^ danced by the people in the streets at the epoch of the carnival ; whence the name, " passing in the street." Judging by * This reminds me of a very witty reply by Lully, the king's ballet- master. One day, as he was preparing an intermede, he was told that his majesty was tired of waiting. " The king," said he, " is the master, and so he may be as tired as he pleases." •198 LIFE OF HANDEL. their titles, many other dances were of Spanish origin. Ti:e Saraband must be the Moorish Zarabanda of Anda- lusia. Every nation has its dances, and has imprinted upon them its own character. The impetuous Irish in- vented the Jig; the lively Italians the Saltarella, the Corante, and the Volante ; and the French, with their disposition to go to extremes, have invented the Galop. But (although Cicero has pretended that no man can dance without either being drunk or a fool) man is an animal so deplorably given to jumping, that every nation has reciprocally bori'owed the choreographic inventions of every other. Each of these dances had its own special music, the form of which sometimes found its way, with the name, into more serious compositions. Thus, we find a " Pas- sacaile" among the seven /Sonatas or Trios of Handel. There are several to be found in the operas of the for- midable Gluck. Scarcely any of the overtures in the eighteenth century was without a Jig, and still fewer concertos for the harpsichord without an Allemande. The musicians of the sixteenth century wrote an infinite number of pavanes ; and the pavane was nothing but a dance. According to J. J. Rousseau's l>ictionnaire de Musique^ it was so called " because the dancers made a sort of wheel, in looking at each other, as the peacocks do with their tails. To make the wheel the man would use his cape and his sword, which he wore in that dance ; and it is by allusion to the vanity of that attitude that the reciprocal verb se pavaner (peacockify) was in- vented." Who does not deplore the loss of the pea- cock's dance ? After Pastor Fido^ and the Characters of Love^ expressed by Madlle. Salle's feet, Ariadne reappeared, and was performed until the 18th of December, 1734; when it was replaced by an Orestes — a pure pasticcio, which Handel took out of his own works. The score, entirely written by his own hand, is in Smith's collection. "art A XERXES." 190 Afterward he caused liis Ai'lodante to be represented on the 8lh of January, 1735, in wliich Madlle. Salle figured in the final ballet.* ArlodtDite was performed twelve times. Rich, while he made roam for Handel at Covent Gar- den, continued to direct it for his own profit, and de- rived some advantage from the extras Avhich the great composer added to his entertainments. The Daily Journal for the iVth of April, 1735, advertises: "At Covent Garden the ])lay of Henry 4th, with entertain- ments of dancing. The Grecian Sailors, as it was per- formed in the opera of Orestes ; and a grand ballet, called the Faithful Shepherd, as performed in the opera of Pastor Fido." The company which the nobles were patronizing in the Hay market, was then enjoying a great success with Hasse's masterpiece, Artaxerxes^ which had been per- formed since the 27th of October, I734.f Hasse, who had been sent for to London for the occasion, cried, " Then Handel is dead !" and refused to come when he heard that he was not. ]M. Fetis repeats, after Main waring, that he allowed himself to be tempted subsequently, and that he arrived in 1740, to superintend the production of Artaxerxes. This work, as we have just seen, was produced in 1734, and under the superintendence of Por- pora. In 1 740,^ both the rival theaters had died of in- anition. Burney, who follows step by step the progress * She returned to France in the following year. On her return to the Grand Opera, " an ingenious gentleman," says the General Advertiser of the lOtli of July, 1735, wrote an epigram upon her, the justice of which her reputation does not induce us to believe : " Mistress Salle toujours errante, Et qui partout \it mecoutente, Sourde encore du bruit d^s siftiets, Le ccBur gros, la bourse legcre, Reviens maudissant les Anglais, Conune en partant pour TAngleterre, Elle maudissait les Fran§ais." t Theatrical Register. 200 LIFE OF HANDEL. of the quarrel, and who often refers to Ilasse, never mentions liis arrival in England. Hawkins states that he resisted all the endeavors which were made to induce him to come, ''not wishing to become a competitor with a man so greatly his superior." His Artaxerxes was sung by Farinelli, Montagnana, Senesino, and Signora Cuz- zoni. In the face of so formidable a coalition, and in the midst of the distracting occupation of managership, Handel, while producing during the whole of Lent, from the 5th of March to the 12th of April, fourteen performances of oratorios,* was still able to find both time and strength enough for composition. On the 16th of April, 1735, he was in a condition to reopen the theat- rical season with Alcina, which was finished on the 8th of April, and contained thirty-two airs, one duet, and four little choruses. Moreover, at each performance he directed the orchestra in person ; and at the perform- ances of oratorios he played one, two, and sometimes even three concertos on the organ. Thus, the Dally Journaliox the 1st of April announces — '''' AtJmlla^ with a new concerto on the organ ; also the first concerto in the oratorio of Esther^ and the last in Deborah?'' Be- sides all this, he had to provide the reclames^ of which he seems to have understood the full effect. In the Daily Journal of the 3d of April, 1735, we find: "We hear that the youth (a new voice) who was introduced in tiie oratorio of Athalia last night, at the theater royal in Govent Garden, met with universal applause.'- This on dit^ very probably, came from no further than the mana- gerial room at Covent Garden. But the puffs of Handel had none of that wonderful and comically boastful au- * Esther, " an oratorio, in English, with several new additions, both vocal and instrumental ; likewise two new concertos on the organ," on March 5th, 7th, 12th, 14th, 19th, and 21st. Deborah, "with a new concerto on the organ ; also the 1st concerto in the oratorio o? Esther^'''' on March 2Gth, 28th, and 31st. Athalia^ on April 1st, 2d, 3d, 9tb, and 12th. (See Daily J&urnal.) LETTER TO JEXNENS. 201 dacity which characterizes the puffs of the present day, inasmuch as tliey always preserved a Uttle of tlie dignity of his character ; but still it must be confessed that, in spite of all his pnde, he had recourse, more than once, to that means of exciting curiosity. It may be urged in excuse, that the press of that day was entirely ignorant of art, and that we can not find in any journal one single serious article upon any of his works. Alcina, which is one of his admired productions, was pretty well received, and brought the season to a close. A letter, written by Handel shortly afterward, shows him on the point of setting out to take the Tunbridge waters, and with no fixed plan for the following season : " To Charles Jexxexs, Esq., Jux. "London, July 28th, 1735. " Sir — I received your very agreeable letter with the inclosed oratorio.* lam just going to Tunbridge ; yet what I could read of it in haste, gave me a great deal of satisfkction. I shall have more leisure time there to read it with all the attention it deserves. There is no cer- tainty of any scheme for next season, but it is probable that something or other may be done, of which I shall take the liberty to give you notice, being extremely obliged to you for the generous concern you show upon this ac- count. The oj^era of Alcina is a writing out, and shall be sent according to your direction. It is always a great pleasure to me, if I have an opportunity, to show the sincere respect with which I have the honor to be, sir, etc., etc., " G. F. HAXDEL."t * "What can be the oratorio referred to ? Between AtJialia, in 1733, and Saul, in 1738, Handel did not write any. The author of the poem of Saul remains unknown to the present day. It may, however, have been Charles Jennens, who afterward composed for Handel the words of I7ie Messiah, of Belshazzar, and of II Moderato, added to the Allegro e Penseroso of Milton. t This letter, which is preserved by the present Lord Howe, a de- 9* 202 LIFE OF HANDEL. The state of uncertainty in wliich Handel remained, as to what he sliould do, was increased by the departure of Carestini, whom a previous engagement compelled to go to Venice. Carestini was the only man capable of counterbalancing the brilliancy of Farinelli's success at the rival theater. Italian operas can not dispense with a singer of the first rank ; so Handel abandoned them for the moment, and in the month of January he resolved to treat the English subject of Alexa?ide7'^s JFeast, which he improvised in three weeks. He gave it at Covent Gar- den Theater, where it was sung by the artists of the theater: Beard, an English tenor; Erard, a basso; and Miss Young ;* assisted by Sg^. Strada, who was always faithful to the great composer. It appears, by the Poems of John IIughes^\ that, in the year ]7ll, Sir Richard Steele and Mr. Clayton had concerts of music in York Buildings, on which occasion they sent Mr. Hughes the followmg letter : *' Dear Sir — Mr. Clayton and I desire you, as soon as you can conveniently, to alter this poem J for music, pre- serving as many of Dryden's w^ords and verses as you can. It is to be performed by a voice well skilled in recitatives ; but you understand all these matters much better than Your affectionate humble servant, " R. Steele." Hughes did as he was requested ; but a letter, sub- sequently addressed by him to Steele, informs us that Clayton's music was far from satisfying the connoisseurs. Handel then took his tui-n at what Clayton had failed in seendant of Charles Jenuens, Esq., liaa been communicated to Dr. "VV. Horsley, who inserted it in the preface to liis editon of The Messiah,. * Miss Cecilia Young, who became tlie wife of Dr. Arne in 1736, re- mained for many years among tlie artists of Handel. She had made her dehut at the reopening of tlie little theater in the Haymarket, on the 16th of November, 1732. {Daihj Post.) t Vol. i., p. 17. X Alexander'' 8 Feast. ALEXANDER'S FEAST, 203 doing. Dryden's ode, Aleo^atidei'^s JFbast, or the Power o/ Jfiisic, was divided for him into airs, recitatives, and choruses, by Newburg Hamilton, who tlius expresses Iiimself in the preface : " The following ode, being miiversally allowed to be the most perfect of its kind (at least in our language), all admirers of polite amusements have with impaliencc expected its appearing in a musical dress equal to the subject. But the late improvements in music varying so much from the turn of composition for which this poem was originally designed, most people despaired of seeing that affair properly accomplished. The alteration in the words (necessary to render them tit to receive modern composition) being thought scarcely practicable without breaking in upon that flow of spirit winch runs through the whole of the poem, which of consequence would be rendered flat and insipid. But upon a more particular review of the ode, these seeming difficulties vanished, though I was determined not to take any unwarrantable liberty with that poem, which has so long done honor to the nation, and which no man can add to or abiidge in any thing material, without injuring it. I therefore confined myself to a plain division of it into airs, recita- tives, or choruses, looking upon the words in general so sacred as scarcely to violate one in the order of its first place. How I have succeeded, the world is to judge ; and whether I have preserved the beautiful description of the passions so exquisitely drawn, at the same time I strove to reduce them to the present taste in sounds. I confess my principal view w^as not to lose this favorable opportunity of its being set to musick by that great master, who has with pleasure undertaken the task, and who only is capable of doing it justice ; whose composi- tions have long shown that they can conquer even the most obstinate partiality, and inspire life into the most senseless words. " If this entertainment can, in the least degree, give 204 LIFE OF HANDEL. satisfaction to the real judges of poetry or rausick, I shall think myself happy in having promoted it, being per- Siiaded that it is next to an improhability to oifer the world any thing in those arts more perfect than the united labors and utmost efforts of a Dryden and a Handel." Not content with this eulogium, Newburg Hamilton added to his preface these verses : "TO MK. HANDEL, " On his SETrma to Music Mr. Deyden's ' Feast of Axexandee.' "Let others charm the listening scaly brood, Or tame the savage monsters of the wood ; With magic notes enchant the leafy grove, Or force even things inanimate to move : Be ever your's (my friend), the god-like art, To calm the passions, and improve the heart ; The tyrant's rage, and hell-born pride control. Or sweetly soothe to peace the mourning soul ; With martial warmth the hero's breast inspire, Or fan new-kindling love to chaste desire. That artist's hand (whose skill alone could move To glory, grief, or joy, the son of Jove) Not greater raptures to the Grecian gave, Than British theaters from you receive ; That ignorance and envy vanquished see, Heaven made you rule the world by harmony. Two glowing sparks of that celestial flame Which warms by mystic art this earthly frame, United in one blaze of genial heat, Produced this piece in sense and sounds complete ; The sister arts, as breathing from one soul. With equal spirit animate the whole. Had Dryden lived the welcome day to bless, Which clothed his numbers in so fit a dress ; When his majestic poetry was crowned. With all your bright magnificence of sound ; How would his wonder and his transport rise. Whilst famed Timotheus yields to you the prize." I haA^e heard Alexaiider'^ s Feast but twice, but that is sufficient to make me a sharer in Hamilton's enthusiasm. Every thing is superb in tluat woi-k, in which Handel once more displayed the sovereign power of his genius I "ALEXANDER'S FEAST." 205 for clioval combinations. It was performed on the 19th of February, 1786,"^' "after tlie manner of an oratorio," tiiat is to say, without action. The pubhc, if it may, be said, liad guessed that this was a masterpiece. The Lon- don Daily Post says : — " There never was, upon the like occasion, so numerous and splendid an audience at any theater in London, there being at least thirteen hundred persons peresent; and it is judged that the receipts of the house could not amount to less than four hundred and fifty pounds. It met with general applause, though attended with the inconvenience of having the perform- ers placed at too great a distance from the audience, which we hear will be rectified the next time of per- formance." Thirteen hundred spectators were, there- fore, an exceptional audience at that time. Alexander'' s Feast^ with Esther and Acis^]v\^i managed to support the season, but that w\as all ; they could nei- ther redeem the losses of the past, nor stay the ruin which was coming on. In spite of its greatest success, Alexander'^s Feast was only published in 1*738,1 two years after its first representation. It is difficult to understand the reason of this extraordinary delay, since all Handel's compositions were, at that time, printed almost immedi- ately by Walsh. The edition was brought out by sub- scription, and contains a list of a hundred and fifty sub- scribers, among whom we find the Princess of Orange, her four sisters, the Prince of Wales, and the Duke of Cumberland. Charles Jennen's name is down for six copies ; the Countess of Chesterfield, for five ; Richard Freeman, for five ; the Countess of Pembroke, for five ; and the Philharmonic Society, for five. The price was a guinea. Handel, therefore, gained by this subscription nearly two hundred guineas. Tiiis volume, which is * See London, Daily Post. Hawkins is, therefore, in error when he phxces this composition after the illness which compelled Handel to take the waters at Aix-la-Chapelle, which was in 1737. t See " Catalogue." 206 LIFE OF HANDEL. printed upon larger paper, has the exceptional peculiar- ity of containing all the recitatives and all the choruses.* Although Esther^ Acis^ and Alexander's Feast (all English works) were more fortunate than any of his ope- ras, the indefatigable composer-manager of Covent Gar- den thought that it was always indispensable to have an Italian company. He therefore set at once about bring- ing one together again, and he took care to keep the public informed with respect to his movements. In the journals of the 13th of April, 1736, we find it adver- tised: — "We hear that Signor Conti, who is regarded as the best singer in Italy, and whom Mi\ Handel is bring- ing over, is expected in a few days." He made his debut on the 12th of May, in Atalanta^ which formed part of festivities criven on the occasion of the marriage of Fred- eric, Prince of Wales, with a princess of the house of Saxe-Gotha.f * The magnificeut poem of Alexande7''s Feast, which has never been ex- celled since the time when Hamilton placed it above every composition of the same kind, is the second of Drydeu's two Odes on St. CeciUa's Day. Poets generally expose their vanity with less reserve than other men. If the £ log raphla jDramatica is to be believed, Dryden was as much a poet in this respect as it was possible to be : — " A late learned judge in his youth frequented Wills' Coffee-house, and occasionally entered into conversation with the old bard. Soon after the first appearance of Alex- ander'' s Feast, he congratulated the author on his having produced an ode which the whole town considered as the best composition of that kind that had ever been written. * Why, it is so,' said Dryden, ' and I tell you further, young man, it is the best ode that ever will be written.' " Mr. Derrick, in his Life of Dryden [Dryden''s Worl's, Moxon's edition] says, on the authority of Boyle, that tlie poet i-eceived forty pounds from a musical society for the use of this Ode on St. Cecilia'' s Day ! St. Cecilia has been chosen as the jxatrouess of musicians on account of the tradition that she was the tirst saint who accompanied herself by in- strumental music, while singing her prayers. The authenticity of her martyrdom, which is stated to have taken place on the 22d of November, A.D. 300 or 320, is disputed by the best critics. [Fet'is.'] Raphael represents her at the organ, Dorainicino playing the violoncello, and Mignard touch- ing the harp. If they are all to be believed, her musical talents must have been less doubtful than her martyrdom. + The Dally Fast says of this piece de circonstance, that there " was a new set of scenes painted in honor of the happy union, which took up the full MAREIAGE OF THE PRINCE OF WALES. 207 Handel liad written for the religious ceremony an an- them, which was performed in the chapel royal of St. James's on the 27th of April, 1736, and which is called, after the circumstance which gave lise to its composition, the Wedding Anthem. It is generally considered to be a work worthy of its author, although, perhaps, rather light in style for an anthem — even for a wedding anthem. Atalanta was revived on the 26th of the following No- vember, in honor of the anniversary of the princess's length of the stage ; tlie fore part of the scene represented an avenue to the tem^Dle of Hymen, adorned with statues of heathen deities. Next was a triumplial arcli, on the sununit of which were the arms of their royal highnesses. Under the arch was the figure of Fame on a cloud, sound- ing the praises of this happy pair. The names Fredericus and Augusta appeared above, in transparent characters , The opera concluded with a grand chorus, during which several beautiful illuminations were dis- played. There were present, their majesties, the duke, and the four princesses, accompanied with a very splendid audience, and the whole was received with universal acclamations," Malcolm adds: "Through the arch appeared the fa9ade of a temple, consisting of four columns and a pediment, on which two Cupids were represented, embracing, and sup- porting the coronet and feathers of the principality of Wales ; the temple of Hymen closed the brilliant scene." In spite of the addition of " two Cupids," we do not think such small matters would gain much applause in these days. The princess, in whose honor these beautiful decorations were made, had a humility which was really worthy of the early Christians. From Greenwich, where she had arrived on Sunday, the 25th of April, she came to London on Tuesday, the 27th. The prince went to meet her at the gate of the garden at St. James's, and "upon her sinking on her knee to kiss his hand," he raised her affectionately, kissed her twice, and conducted her to the apaitments of the king and queen, "where, pre- sented to the king, her highness fell on her knee to kiss his hand, but was gently taken up and saluted by him."i It would not now be easy to find a servant so ready as "her highness," to fall upon her knees, or having less repugnance to kissing the hands of men. We are told after- ward that " his majesty did his royal highness the honor to put on his shirt, and that the bride, being in bed in a rich undress, his majesty came into the room, and the prince following soon after, in a night- gown of silver stuff and cap of the finest lace, the quality were admitted to see the bride and bridegroom sitting up in the bed." After all, it is only the persons who live in courts who can invent ceremonials of such extreme modesty and delicacy. 1 OfnfJ.emati'ff Matjazine for April, 1736. 208 LIFE OF HANDEL. birth-flay ; and " several fine devices in fireworks, proper to the occasion," were exhibited. If we may believe the London Daily Post of the lltli of Jaly, 1741, Handel intermingled an accompaniment with these "devices in fireworks ;" and the fact was still remembered five years afterward : " We hear that at Caper's Gardens last night, among several pieces of musick, Mr. Handel's Fire 3Iusic^ with the fireworks as originally perforvned in the opera of Atalanta^ was received with great ap- plause by a numerous audience." I can not discover what the Fire Music here referred to may be. There is no trace of it in the MSS., and, at all events, it must not be confounded with the Fireworks Music which Handel composed in 1749. Cuper's Gar- den's were doubtless established in imitation of the gardens at Yauxhall and Marylebone. On the 12th of January, 1737, Ar^nhiius appeared, which was dedicated, by Heidegger, the author of the words, to Lady Godolphin, the daughter of Marlborough.* But the name of this great lady could not protect Ar- niinius^ which was withdrawn after five representations. It was, nevertheless, published by subscription, as Ata- lanta had been. The number of subscribers to the one was one hundred and eighty, and to the other one hun- dred and fifty. Burney does not confess, without dif- ficulty, that Armi7iius had " few captivating airs." Justin or Giustino took its place, but without filling it with any greater success, for it also had only five rep- resentations, in spite of a plaintive unaccompanied air with a double echo, which remained in favor. " Upon the whole," says Burney, " this opera, so seldom acted and so little known, seems to me one of the most agree- able of Handel's dramatic productions." He particularly praises "an animated and descriptive symphony, which Handel played while Justin engaged and slew a sea-mon- ster." Our fathers seem to have had, for a long time, a * Compani(m to the Playliouse^ 1764. ENERGY OF CHARACTER. 209 taste for these combats. Addison was indignant at seeing Nicolini fighting with the Dragon for the Folden Fleece. In 1792, Burgh* saw an opera at Venice, La ISacrificia di Crete^ in which the singer David sang a bravura air while exterminating the Minotaur, and as the air was always encored, the Minotaur got up again, renewed the com bat, and died a second time. In Justin there was no lack of bears, fantastic animals, and dragons vomiting fire. All this was ridiculed by Carey in The Dragon of Wantley^ a parody set to music by Lampe, " ai'ter the Italian fashion." In the beginning of 1737, Handel announced that dur- ing Lent the days of representation would be Wednes- days and Fridays ; but he was obliged to relinquish that plan, for on Friday, March 11th, the editor of the Lon- don Daily Post says : " We hear that since operas have been forbidden being performed at the theater in Covent Garden on the Wednesdays and Fridays in Lent, Mr. Handel is preparing Dryden's ode oi Alexander's Feast^ the oratorios of Esther and Deborah^ with several new concertos for the organ and other instruments; also an entertainment of music, called 11 Trionfo del Tempo e della Veritd, Avhich performances will be brought on the stage and varied every week." Again we have to admire the energy of that mind which never gave way for an instant. Arminius^ repre- sented on the 12th of January, 1737, fails; he produces Justin on the 16tli of February, and Justin fails; on the 9th and the 18th of March he revives Parnasso in Festa and Alexander's Feast. Alexander's Feast alone would, in these days, have run for a year ; but the public had already heard it some twelve or fifteen times, and would hear it no more. Then, on the 23d of March, he re- vived his Italian oratorio of 1708, II Trionfo del Tempo, Yet even tliat was of no use, for the public remained en- tirely inditfei-ent. When Lent was finislied, he gave * Anecdotes of Music. 210 LIFE OF HANDEL. Dido^ on the 13th of April, the author of which is not known; but the Cartliagenian Queen found the public as indifterent to her as ^neas was. Finally, on the 18th of May, he produced Berenice^ " which," says Barney, "in spite of its excellence, could not go beyond four repre- sentations." Handel was present in person at all these successive defeats, for he presided every evening over the organ oi the harpsichord. The fall oi Berenice^ following so many other failures, was the death-blow. He had exhausted all his resources — he had spent the last penny of the £10,000 which he had possessed — he had contracted debts — he could go no further — he was obliged to con- fess himself vanquished, to close his theater, and (what was more grievous to so honest a man) to suspend his payments.* But the fallen giant had at least the consolation of seeing his enemies wounded to the death. General in- difference compelled them also to quit the field of battle. In the month of September of the same year (1737), they paid up their accounts, havhig sustained a loss of £12,- 000. f Farinelli, disgusted at having to sing to empty houses, had quitted England " a la sourdine''' (secretly), according to the Fi-ench expression made use of by Bur- ney. Porpora and Senesino wei-e not slow to follow him. How limited must the taste for music have been, when two theaters — for one of which Hiindel composed, while Farinelli, Senesino, and Sg^. Cuzzoni sang in the other — died of inanition ! Yet, Farinelli had excited immense enthusiasm. His first engagement, in the year 1734, was at the rate of fifteen hundred guineas, and a benefit, for fifty performances. His benefit had brought him two thousand guineas,^; including presents — from the Prince of Wales, two hundred guineas ; from the Spanish em- bassador, one hundi-ed ; from the Imperial embassador, * Burney, p. 25 of Commemoration. t Malcolm. X Gentleman's Magazbie for March, 1735. RAGE FOR FARIXELLI. 211 fifty ; from the Duke of Leeds, Lord Burlington, and the Duke of Richmond, fifty guineas each ; Colonel Paget, thirty ; and Lady Rich, twenty. The Prince of Wales afterward bestowed on him the never-failing snuflf-box, "enriched," etc., and containing a pair of diamond shoe- buckles, and a purse with one hundred guineas. On the 14th of Februaiy, 1736 (according to the Gen- tlemciii's Magazine), " a young lady, being sued by a gentleman in a court of equity for refusing to perform a marriage promise to him, pleaded she had good reason to alter her mind, upon hearing him declaring himself no admirer of Farinelli, and disapprove of balls, mas- querades, and late hours ; adding, she doubted not but that the court would think she had a fortunate escape." This was, perhaps, intended for a joke ; but it proves the fanaticism of the public in Farinelli's favor. This took place iu 1736, and in 1737 the great singer left England rather than appear before an audience of which the receipts were only thirty-five pounds ! Colley Cibber says :* — " The truth is, that this kind of enter- tainment, being so entirely sensual, it had no possibility of getting the better of our reason but by its novelty ; and that novelty could never be supported but by an annual change of the best voices, which, like the finest flowers, bloom but for a season ; and when that is over, are only dead nosegays. From this natural cause, we have seen, within these two years, even Farhielli singing to an audience of five-and-thirty pounds." With a public so artistically ignorant as to grow tired of the most beautiful works in a few days, it may be im- agined how much, not only of genius, but also moral courage and strength of will Handel required to under- take its musical education, and to cure it of the insatia- ble craving for novelty which was caused by that igno- rance. The vexation of becoming a bankrupt was a little * An Apology for the Life, etc., p. 342. 212 LIFE OP HANDEL. sweetened by the confidence which his well-known and perfect integrity inspired. Every artist to whom he owed anything, with the exception of Del Po, in his marital riglit over Sg^. Strada, accepted, without hesita- tion, his bills, which were scrupulously honored at a later period. On the other hand, they could afford to wait ; for, although they did not then receive such enormous salaries as they do now, they were already remunerated at a very high rate.* * See Appendix L. CHAPTER VII. nsr— 1741. Illness— FAiLtmE of New Operas— "Funekal Anthem"- Statue Erected TO IIaxdel during III8 Life — All the Great Intelligences of the Age PRONOUNCE IN HIS FaVOR — " OrGAN CoNCEHTOS"' — " SaUL" — " ISRAEL IN Egypt" — Imitative Music — English Odes and Serenatas— Unfortunate Eeturn to Italian Music — The Italian Opera in England, The struggle to which Handel had succumbed, not only ruined him, but so much agitationand such exces- sive labor had undermined his iron constitution. The journals mention his indisposition as early as the month of April, 1737. In the London Daily Post for the 30th of AjDril, we find : — " Mr. Handel, who has been some time indisposed with the rheumatism, is in so fair way of recovery that it is hoped he will be able to accompany the opera of Justin on Wednesday next, the 4th of May." In this state of health, the difficulties of mana- gership, which exposed a man so full of honor and pride to the regrets and humiliations of an insolvent debtor, affected him to such a degree that his mental faculties were temporarily disturbed.* At the same time he had an attack of paralysis, and he was with the greatest difficulty persuaded to go to the waters of Aix-la-Cha- pelle, where he was restored in less than six weeks. So prompt was his cure, that the Catholics of the place attributed it to a miracle, forgetting for a moment that their Providence could scarcely be expected to work a miracle in favor of a patient so decidedly heretical ; for Ilandel was a Lutheran. On the 28tli of October, 1737, the London Daily Post informs the public, that "Mr. Handel the composer of Italian music," was " hourly * Mainwaring, p, 120. 214 LIFE OF HANDEL. expected from Aix ;" and on the 7th of November, his return is mentioned " greatly recovered in health." In spite of the failure of different operatic enterprises, some speculator is always to be found who hopes to be more fortunate or more able than his predecessors. The convalescent found the Haymarket reopened under the direction of Heidegger the youngei-, who requested him to write something. He had debts to pay, and scarcely gave himself time to take breath. He returned on the 7th of November, and on the 15th he commenced Far- amonclo ; but Queen Caroline, the wife of George H., died on the 20th, and the king desired him to write an anthem for the funeral. This he did, and he finished the opera by the 24th of December. This is incredible, but it is perfectly true. Hawkins says:* — " It was on a Wednesday that he re- ceived orders from the king to compose it. On the Sat- urday se'nnight after, it was rehearsed in the morning ; and on the evening of the same day it was performed at the solemnity in the chapel of King IJenry WY.'''' The end of the second act of Faraniondo is dated on Sunday, the 4th of December ; the following Wednes- day was tlie 7th, and the anthem is signed on the 12th. This score, which does not occupy less than eighty pages of printing, was therefore written in less than five days ! And it is really a sublime work ; enough so to make us deplore the fact that it is never performed. Grandeur of composition, profundity of expression, beauty of harmony and of melody, are all to be found in it, to the same degree as in the admirable Requiem of Mozart. It is a remarkable fact that the pathetic movement of the third verse of this anthem, " When the ear heard her," is (according to Mr. Lacy) that of the gavot in the second overture of Pastor Fldo^ easily recognizable when played quickly. Without paying attention, it is scarcely credi- ble how completely the simple change of time may alter * Page 913. FUNERAL ANTHEM. 215 entirely tlie character of an air. The moving cavatina in T««c'r(3hts, which did fill a room of 600 persons, so tluit I needed not to sell one ticket at the door, and, AVithout vanity, the jDcrformance was received with a general approbation. Signora Avolio, which I brought AN-ith me from London, pleases extraordinary. I have found another tenor voice which gives great satisfaction ; tlie basses and counter-tenors are very good, and the rest of the chorus singers, by my directions, do exceedingly well ; as for the instruments they are really excellent, Mr. Dubourgh being at the head of them; and the music sounds delightfully in this charming room, which puts me in such spirits, and my health being so good, that I exert myself on my organ with more than usual success. I opened with the Allegro^ Penseroso^ ed il Moderato^ and I assure you that the words of the Moderato are vastly admired.* The audience being composed — be- sides the flower of ladies of distinction and other people of the greatest quality — of so many bishops, deans, heads of the college, and the most eminent people in the law, as the chancellor, auditor-general, etc., all of which are very much taken with the poetry, so that I am desired to perform it again the next time.f I can not sufficiently express the kind treatment I receive here ; but the po- liteness of this generous nation can not be unknown to you, so I let you judge of the satisfaction I enjoy, passing my time with honor, pi'ofit, and pleasure. They propose already to have some more performances, when the six nights of the subscription are over, and my lord duke, the lord lieutenant (who is always present with all his family on those nights) will easily obtain a longer per- * It has been already stated that Charles Jeuuens added UModerato to Milton's poems, L' Allegro and II Penseroso. t Handel had more than once the good grace to attribute to the worda all the success of his music. In a letter, which will shortly be quoted, and which is addressed to the same person, referring to Ireland, he says, " I could have given you an account how well your Messiah was received in that country." LETTER TO JENNENS. 269 mission for me by his majesty,* so that I shall be obliged to make my stay here long-er than I thought. One vc- qnest I must make to you, which is that you would in- sinuate my most devoted respects to my Lord and my Lady Sliat'tesbury ; you know how much their kind pro- tection is precious to me. Sir Windham Knatchbull will find here my respectful compliments. You will increase my obligations if, by occasion, you will present my hum- ble service to some other patrons and friends of mine. I ex- pect with impatience the favor of your news concerning your health and welfare, of which I take a real share. As for the news of the operas in London, I need not trouble you, for all this town is full of their ill success, by a num- ber of letters from your quarters to the people of quality here, and I can't help saying but that it furnishes great diversion and laughter. The lirst opera I heard myself before I left London, and it made me very merry all along my journey ; and of the second, opera, called I^e- nelope^\ a certain nobleman writes very jocosely: — 'II faut que je dise avec harlequin, notre Penelope n'est qu'une ^allope.''\ But I think I have trespassed too much on your patience. I beg you to be persuaded of the sincere veneration and esteem with which I have the honor to be, sir, your most obliged and most humble servant, George Frederic Handel." * Handel doubtless coutinued to give lessons on the liarpsicliord to Bome member of the royal family, since he required the king's permis- sion to absent himself. Dr. Kimbault has found the following entry in the "Accounts kept of the establishment of their royal highnesses the Princesses Amelia and Caroline," the daughters of George the Second, in 1737: — "Musick master, Mr. George Frederic Handel, £200 per an- num." — Chamberlayne's Magnce, Briannuje Nbtltla, 1737. t Penelope was of Galuppi, and was only performed five times. It will be remembered that the Italian theater was reopened in the month of October by Lord Middlesex, with Alexander in Persia, a pasticcio. It was this pasticcio which amused the rancor entertained by the author of Hymen and Deidamia. X [Our Penelope is but a slut.] In French, the word salope is of the lowest vulgarity. 270 LIFE OF HANDEL. Tlie correspondent of Charles Jennens gave, therefore, from the 23d of December to the Vth April, 1742, two series of six concerts each, which brought him in a o-reat deal both of honor, of pleasure, and of money.* They consisted of Acis, Z^ Allegro, Dryden's Ode, Alexander'^ s Feast, Esther, and Hytnen, which Handel offered as a serenata. He had, for that purj^ose, shortened the recitatives, and reduced the three acts into two parts.f The expenses of these entertainments could not have been considerable ; for, according to the discoveries of Mr. Townsend, he obtained the assistance not only of the Society for the Relief of Prisoners, but also of the Phil- harmonic Society (which was devoted to the support of Mercer's Hospital), and even of the choristers of the * Performances at Dublin — First Series : L' Allegro^ with two concertos for several instruments, and an organ concerto, 23d of December, 1741. V Allegro^ with two concertos for several instruments, and an organ concerto, 13th of January, 1742. Ads and Dryden's Ode^ with several concertos on the organ and other instruments, 20th of January. Acis and Dryden's Ode^ with several concertos on the organ and other instruments, 27th of January. Esther^ with additions, and several concertos on the organ and other in- struments, 3d of February. Esther, with, additions, and several concertos on the organ and other instruments, 10th of February. Second Series: Alexander's Feast, with additions, and several concertos on the organ, 17th of February. Alexander'^s Feast, with additions, and several concertos on the organ, 2d of March. U Allegro, with concertos, 17th of March. Hymen (under the title of a serenata), with concertos on the organ and other instruments, 24th of March. Hymen, with concertos on the organ and other instruments, 31st of March. Supplemental Performances : Esther, with concertos on the organ, 7th of April. General rehearsal of the Messiah, 8th of April. Messiah, a new grand sacred oratorio, 13th of April. Saul, with concertos on the organ, 25th of May. Messiah, with concertos on the organ, Sd of June. t See " Catalogue." "the MESSIAH." 271 catliedrals of Christ's CInii-ch dikI St. Patrick's. In re- turn, the institutions protecttd by eaeli society received a share of the proceeds of tlie performance, whicli lian- del gave afterward for their benefit. It was after these twelve performances tliat, on the mid-day of Tuesday, the 13th of April, 1742, The Mes- siah was heard for the first time. The name never ap- peared in print before the following advertisement was inserted in Mmlkner^s Journal for the 23d to the 27th of March : — " For the relief of the prisoners in the sev- eral jails, and for the support of Mercer's Hosi)ital in Stephen's-street, and of the charitable infirmary on the Inn's Quay, on Monday, the 12th of April, wall be per- formed at the Musick Hall, in Fish amble-street, Mr. Handel's new grand oratorio, called The Messiah^ in wdiich the gentlemen of the choirs of both cathedrals will assist, with some concertos on the organ, by Mr. Handel. Tickets to be had at the Musick Plall, and at Mr. Neal's in Christ Church Yard, at half a guinea each. N. B. — No person will be admitted to the re- hearsal without a rehearsal ticket, which will be given gratis with the ticket for the performance when paid for." It is here specified that the concertos on the or- gan will be executed by " Mr. Handel ;" but this was probably also the case at the preceding performances. Handel himself says, in his letter, *'I exeit myself on my organ with more than usual success." Faulhner^s Journal for the 6th to the 10th of April gives the following account of the rehearsal : — " Yester- day, Mr. Handel's new grand sacred oratorio, called The Messiah^ was rehearsed at the Musick Hall, in Fishamble- street, to a most grand, polite, and crowded audience ; and was performed so well that it gave universal satis- faction to all present; and was allowed by the greatest judges, to be the finest composition of music that ever was heard, and the sacred words as properly adapted for the occasion. N.B. — At the desire of several persons 272 LIFE OF HANDEL. of distinction, the above performance is put off to Tues- day next. The doors will be opened at eleven, and the performances begin at twelve. Many ladies and gentle- men who are well-wishers to this noble and grand cliar- ity, for which this oratorio was composed, request it as a favor, that the ladies who honor this performance with their presence would be pleased to come without hoops, as it would greatly increase the charity by making room for more company," The Duhlin. News Letter for the 6th to the 10th of April says : — " Yesterday morning at the Music Hall in Fishamble-street, there was a public rehearsal of T1ie Messiah^ Mi-. Handel's new sacred oratorio, which, in the opinion of tlie best judges, far surpasses any thing of that nature which has been performed in this or any kingdom. This eleoant entertainment w^as conducted in the most regular manner, and to the entire satisfaction of the most crowded and polite assembly. For the benefit of three very important public charities, there will be a grand performance of this oratorio on Tuesday next, in the forenoon ; the doors will be opened at eleven, and the performance begins at twelve o'clock. N.B. — At the desire of several persons of distinction, Monday be- ing cathedral day, the performance is put off till Tues- day." On the morning after the musical solemnity, Faidkner^s Journal^ the Dublin Gazette^ and the Dublin News Det- ter published uniformly the following account of the per- formance, which had evidently been sent to them. I give it literally : — " On Tuesday last, Mr. Handel's sacred grand oratorio, The 3Iessiah^ was performed in the New Music Hall in Fishamble-street ; the best judges allowed it to be the most finislied piece of music. Words are wanting to express the exquisite delight it afforded to the admiring crowded audience. The sublime, the grand, and the tender, adapted to the most elevated, majestic, and moving words, conspired to transport and charm the "the MESSIAH." 273 ravished heart and ear. It is but justice to Mr. Handel, that the world should know he generously gave the money arising from this grand pertbrniance to be equally sliared by the Society lor Relieving Prisoners, the Chari- table Intirmary,* and Mercer's Hospital, for which they will ever gratefully remember his name ; and that the gentlemen of the two choirs, Mr. Dubourg, Mrs. Avolio, and Mrs. Gibber, who all performed their parts to admi- ration, acted also on the same disinterested principle, satisfied with the deserved applause of the public, and the conscious pleasure of promoting such useful and ex- tensive charity. There were above seven hundred peo- ple in the room, and the sum collected amounted to about £400, out of which £127 goes to each of the three great and pious charities." Mrs. Gibber has left, in The Messiah^ the souvenirs of an incomparable pathos. An old albiwn, containing cut- tings from the journals, and entitled " Fragmenta," which is in the library of the British Museum, has, among others, the following anecdote: "Mrs. Gibber, in The Messiah^ in Dublin, executed her air so pathetically, that Dr. Delany, the great friend and companion of Swift, exclaimed, as he sat in the boxes, ' Woman, for this, be all thy sins forgiven.' " This anecdote is taken out of a journal, of which the collector gives neither the name nor the date. A second performance being immediately demanded. The Jlessiah was sung once more in Dublin, with the ad- dition of organ concertos, on the 3d of June following, being " the last of Mr. Handel's performances during his stay in the kingdom." At the request "of many per- sons of the nobility," he had given Saul during the in- terval, on the 25th of May, " with the organ conceitos, tickets half a guinea." Let it be recorded, as a matter of detail, that at every important performance, the advertisement beseeches the * Founded in 1726, at the expense of six surgeons. 12* 274 LIFE OF HAXDEL. ladies to come without their hoops. This fashion seemed even to cotemporaries to be as troublesome as it was ridiculous. In Faul/xNer^s Journal^ from the 31st of January to the 4th of February, 1744, the committee of the Charitable Musical Society, in announcing The 3fes- siah for tlie 7th, once more entreats the ladies " to lay aside their lioops," representing that if they will aban- don that fashion " for one evening, however ornamental, the hall will contain a hundred persons more, with full ease." When the Festival of the 1st of May, 1790, took place at Westminster, a handbill, signed " John Ashley, by order of the Directors," containing the regulations for the carriages and other encumbrances, stated also, " no ladies will be admitted with hats, and they are par- ticularly requested to come without feathers, and very small hoops, if any." It seems as if these fashionable folUes were chronic, for a similar announcement by the Sacred Harmonic Society, apropos of crinolines, would not be out of place at the present time.* Handel's journey to Ireland was one of the most agree- able episodes of his life. In addition to the profits which he derived from it, he was received everywhere with cordiality. An Irishman related to Burney that " there were many noble families there with whom Mr. Handel lived in the utmost degree of friendship and familiarity." During his stay, he indulged in a short period of repose. Although he gave his last entertainment on the 3d of June, he left Ireland only on the 13th of August, after a sojourn of nine months, leaving to that noble country the glory of having worthily appreciated all his master- pieces, and of having recommenced his fortune. His departure was mentioned in the journals. The Dublin News Letter for the 10th to the 14th of August, 1742, announced : " Yesterday, the Right Hon. the Lady King, the celebrated Mr. Handel, and several other per- sons of distinction, embarked on board one of the Ches- * See Appendix P. "forest music." 275 ter traders in order to go to Park Gate." And in Paulk- ner^s Journal for the 14th to the 17th of August — "Last week, Lady King, widow of the late Rt. Hon. Sir Harry- King, Bart., and the celebrated Mr. Handel, so famous for his excellent compositions and fine performances, M'itli which he entertained this town in the most agreea- ble manner, embarked for England." " Ce Monsieur — de Faulkner — ^tuit un fort brave homme." — Le Joueur. \ In spite of his long sojourn in Ireland, we are informed by Mr. Townsend that Handel printed nothing while he was there. The only thing which he appears to have composed there is a little piece for the harpsichord, called Forest Music, Mr. Townsend heard mention made of this for the first time in 1851, from an old lady who gave him a copy. Handel had wiitten it for a person who was a friend of this old lady. He then discovered that Dr. Petrie, an eminent Irish antiquary, and a great col- lector of national ballads, possessed a copy of Forest 3fusiCj which had been commtmicated to him fifty years before as being by Handel. This little piece may there- fore be confidently accepted, although the MS. is lost. Moreover, the manner of the master is to be recognized in it. The first movement is a joyous reveillee^ like that of hunters going to the foi-est. In the second is an imi- tation of the Irish national music. " It would seem," says Mr. Townsend, "as if, by interweaving the national music of Ireland with his own, he meant to pay a grace- ful compliment to the country where he was receiving a very cordial welcome." Since the publication of Mr. Townsend's book has brought Forest Music back to recollection, it has been published in Dublin by Mr. John Smith, and in London by Mr. Lonsdale, arranged for the piano. It had already been published in Dublin twenty-five or thirty years ago, " with full parts for a military band^ 2^6 LIFE OF HANDEL. I shall return to the Life of Handel in the following chapter ; but for the present, 1 propose to follow the history of The Messiah. On his return to the English capital, Handel gave it three times at Covent Garden, during the season of 1743, on the 23d, the 25th, and the 29th of March.-* At tliat time, and up to 1749, he an- nounced it by no other title than "a sacred oratorio." Some say that he adopted that designation "because the words are taken literally from the Holy Scriptures." This can not be so ; because he had not concealed the name at Dublin, and Israel in Egypt.^ which is in the same case, always appeared under its real title. He was afraid, we must believe, lest by the assistance of the powerful enemies which were banded against him, the hypocrites might be able to arouse some scandal on see- ing the name of Tlie Messiah upon a play-bill. But if so, the precaution did not save him ; for we still can dis- cover traces of this new obstacle which was raised up against him. ^\\q Daily Advertiser of the 3 1st of March, 1743, contains the following lines : " Wrote extempore by a gentleman, on reading the Universal Spectator, on Mr, Handel's new oratorio, performed at the Theater Eoyal in Covent Garden. " Cease, zealots, cease to blame these heavenly lays, For seraphs fit to sing Messiah's praise, Nor for your trivial argument assign The theater not fit for praise divine ! These hallowed lays to music give new grace, To virtue awe, and sanctify the place, To harmony like his celestial power is given, To exalt the soul from earth, and make of hell a heaven." The Universal Spectator^ which I have not been able to consult, had evidently accused the composer of sacri- lege at least, and Handel had perhaps been compelled to retreat before the outcries of false devotees. Many years afterward, when he was master of the situation, he * London Daibj Post. NEGLECT OP THE PRESS. 277 retnrnod to tlio Dublin form of niiiionncotnont, as in the General Advertiser for tlie 23(1 of March, 1749— "At tlie Tlieater Royal in Covent Garden, this day, will be performed a sacred oratorio called Jfessiah, with a con- certo." From that moment the journals announced the master piece under its own name. We have seen, from the analysis of the first perform- ance which was sent to the principal journals in Dublin, that musical ojsthetics were not very far advanced in the eighteenth century; it is one of the longest articles con- secrated to Handel's works which I have met with. The jonrnals of that time, although very numerous, confined themselves to political news, to scandalous chronicles, and to the facts and movements of the court ; but they were all fir from being sufficiently enlightened to take much heed of the productions of art. The London Daily Post of the IVth of January, 1739, says: — "Last night the king, his royal highness the duke (Cumber- land), and their royal highnesses the princesses, were at the oratorio in Haymarket. It met with general ap- plause by a numerous and splendid audience." This is all the account that is given of the first performance of a work like Said j for it is no less a work than Saul which is referred to, albeit it is not named ! And even these few words would not have been consecrated to this fact, if "the king and their royal highnesses" had not been there ! At that time there was no such thing as criticism. In turning over all the public journals of London, from 1741 to 1743, I do not find a line about the performances of The Messiah at Dublin, or any men- tion made of its first performance in London — not a vrord to inform us as to how it was received. It did not even ob- tain the alms of such a brief notice as was contemptuously accorded to Saul^ for all that the king was present. One fact, however, is related by Dr. Beattie, in a letter dated Aberdeen, the 24th of ^lay, 1780, and addressed to the Rev. Dr. Laing : — " I lately heard an anecdote which 278 LIFE OF HAN-DEL. des^^rves to be put in writino;, and wliich yon will be glad to liear. When Handel's Jlessiah was first performed, the audience was exceedingly struck and affected by the music in general ; but when that choi'us struck up, ' For the Lord God Omnipotent,' in the Alleluia, they were so transported, that they altogether with the king (who happened to be present), started up and remained stand- ing till the chorus ended. This anecdote I had from Lord Kinnoul."* It is from this circumstance that the custom has arisen of rising during the performance of this piece, a custom which is sometimes erroneously attributed to a religious feeling. There are hallelujahs in almost every oratorio, but the audience only rises dur- ing the performance of that in The Ifessiah — " a hom- age," as Mr. Mactiirren well says, " which is as honorable to the English public as it is worthy of the immortal composer."! * Beattie's Letters. 2 vols. 32mo, 1820. Vol. ii. p. 77. t The Messiah furnishes another example, though not so happy, of the power of custom in Great Britain. In spite of the respect which is shown here for the works of great masters, and especially for those of Handel, and ahove all for TJie Messiah, the conductors are in the habit of putting a bass voice to the air " But who may abide," which is destined for a contralto. This air is composed for a bass voice in the original MS., and also in the volume of Sketches of the Messiah ;i but Handel has ^\Tit- ten over it in pencil, " Un tono piu alto ex (in) E, for Mr. Lowe in tenor- cliff." The name of the same singer is marked in ink for the tenor air, " He was cut off." All the copies of The Messiah, by Smith, give " But who may abide" for an alto, and we should bow to Mr. Smith, who lived with his master to the day of his death. However that may be, Mr. Macferren has somewhat compromised his reputation as a good critic, by saying that " Handel had no idea of assigning this air to a bass, as it is now the most unmusicianly custom to do."2 All the conductors commit also the extraordinary contradiction of confiding to a soprano the last two verses of the magnificent reoi- 1 See in the " Catalogue" for the List of Manuscri2itH. 2 Preface to the libretto for the Sacrod Harmonic Society, page 8. — Strange ■whims of this sort are not rare. At the York Festival of lS-3, it was iladame Catalani who sang " Comfort ye my people," and "-Every valley," -which are written for the tenor. She also sa-ig "I know that niy lledt-emer liveth," trans- posing it, "to the great damage,''' says Crosse, " both of the character and the eflfect of that admirable composition." INNOVATIONS. 279 Ilowever groat mny have been the enthusiasm at its first performance, it must be confessed that tlie " Sacred Oratorio" does not appear to have overcome at once in London the resistance of the old prejudices which were opposed to the composer. Performed on tlie 23d, the tative with an air, "Thy rebuke;" leaving the first two to the tenor voice, for which all the four verses were written. In the same man- ner they divide the air, " He sliall feed his flock."i And neverthe- less, as the two recitatives are a narration, nothing could be more un- reasonable than to give the beginning to one voice, and the end to anotlier. Every musician complains of these violations of the text and of good sense, which were (according to Buruey) committed as early as the commemoration of 1784. Every critic has condemned them ; no one knows to what tradition to attribute them ; and yet ask any conductor why he persists in them, and he will tell you " it is the custom." In England, more than anywhere else, these four unmeaning words have a sacramental power. They consecrate many an inconsistency, from the disarrangement of Handel's scores down to the little gray horse-hair wigs which the judges and barristers set a top of their heads, and which are enough to tempt Themis herself from her awful gravity. On the 15th of December, 1854, the Sacred Harmonic Society decided xipon breaking through the bonds of custom, by giving " But who may abide" to a contralto, and the whole of " Thy rebuke" to a tenor ; but stiU " He shall feed his flock" was divided between two different voices. Let us hope that they will courageously pursue their legitimate restora- tions to the end. And they will do well also to renounce an innovation in which they indulge, that of beginning the chorus, " For unto us a child is born," pianissimo. It is true that the effect is rather happy, and the new version may be explained as a kindly wish on the part of the chorus not to disturb the repose of the mother ; but we find no indica- tion of this monthly-nurse precaution either in the MS. or in any of the copies made by Smith during the lifetime of the author; and good judges object that the people, in hearing of the birth of the Messiah, would naturally give full and spontaneous expression to their joy with- out seeking for effects. Handel has only marked the instruments j^ia^o when they accompany the voices, and he afterward drew forth the whole power of the orchestra at the word " wonderful," not for the pur- pose of producing a contrast, but to impress it with an additional value. As he imagined it so, po one has a right to change it : it is no small matter to alter the character of a movement in music, and, above all, a movement by Handel, who was so profound a thinker. For some time past, the orchestral conductors have manifested a 1 " ' lie shall feed His flock' is written by Handel entirely in the key of B flat, and not with the first part in F, as usually performed and printed in modern editions. This alteration is most unwarrantable and absurd." — Preface to the Messiah, by Dr. Rimbanlt, in the edition for the Handel Society. 280 LIFE OP HANDEL. 25t]i, and the 29t]) of March, 1743, it did not make its appearance in 1744, and was only inchided among the performances of 174o, on the 9th and tlie lltli of April ; after which it was heard of no more until 1749. Per- formances so infrequent, and a suspension so prohmged, indicate an incredible amount of coolness on the part of the public. Is not this what Mainwai-ing and Hawkins meant when they spoke of the failure of The Messiah f It is certain that the complete triumph of this work does not date further back than the 12th of April, 1750, when it was performed for the seventh time at Covent Garden. Perhaps also, it would be more just to accuse the bigots of conspiracy than the town of want of taste. We have seen that they raised a great outcry against bringing the Passion upon the stage. It may be that Handel was obliged to conceal his masterpiece in order to avoid their declamations, which would only have supplied his ene- mies with new arms against him ; it may be that he waited until the progress of the times and the advance of reason should come to his aid. What is stronger to great passion for contrasts "between jt>m»/.ssi??zo and fortissimo. That in the "Unto us a child is born" (which is attributed to Mr. Costa) doubt- less arises from the influence of that deviation from good taste. The Sacred Harmonic Society is not justified in persisting in it ; for this well- managed Society is assuredly the first of its kind in the world ; its acts have great w-eight, and every thing which it does is important, as ema- Bating from a body which enjoys and deserves great consideration. In such a position it is bound to give good and not bad examples. Bonne renommee oblige. These contrasts may be agreeable to the ear, but they are not natural ; it is better to remain in the simple and in the true for the present, and, above all, to keep faithfully to that whi(!h the masters have written for the past. Even if such licenses were not always shock- ing, they would lead to dangerous exaggerations and abuses. Mr. Hul- lah has lately deemed it expedient to introduce a pianissimo into two choruses of Judas Maccahceus, " Fallen is the foe," and "We hear, we hear." And yet if ever choi-uses ought to be sung Avith fall voices, it is in each of these cases : " Fallen is the foe ; so falls thy foes, Lord, where warlike Judas v/ields his righteous sword." " We hear, we hear thy pleasing dreadful call ; and follow thee to conquest ; if to fall — for laws, rehgion, liberty we fall." Let me ask if there is a single word in these war-cries that at all requires the prettiness oi o. pianissiino f JENNENS ON "THE MESSIAH." -281 fight against tlian the prejudice of ignorance ; or what more tlitlicult to overcome than the sj)irit of misplaced zeal ? Tlie Messiah^ which Herder called " a C/hristian epopee in musical sounds," ofiers yet another singularity, name- ly, that it did not altogether give satisfaction to Charles Jennens, the author of the libretto. This person, writ- ing to one of his friends a letter, dated " Gopsall, 30th of August, 1745," says, "I shall show you a collection I gave Handel, called 3Iessiah^ which I value highly, and he has made a fine entertainment of it, though not so good as he might and ought to have done. I have with great difficulty made him correct some of the grossest faults in the composition. But he retained his overture obstinately, in which there are some passages far unwor- thy of Handel, but much more unworthy of The Mes- slahy^ What a curious example of the relations which exist between cotemporaries ! Is it not amusing to find Mr. Jennens, rich and cultivated as he may have been, taking this tone upon himself, and treating in this man- ner, a work which is loftier than the Pyramids ? Is it not astonishing that he should presume to talk of " gross faults" in the compositions of Handel ? Gross faults apart. The 3Tessiah is universally recog- nized as the masterpiece of the master. Whoever has listened to his music will admit that its most distinctive character is the sublime. No one, without exception, neither Beethoven nor Mozart, has ever risen nearer to the grandeur of the ideal than Handel did, and he was never more sublime than in The Messiah. And, remem- bering this, read the dates which are inscribed with his own hand upon the manuscript : "Commenced on the 22d of August, 1741. End of the first part, on the 28th of August. * From the original letter of Jennens in the possession of Lord Howe. — Townsend, p. 119. 282 LIFE OF HANDEL. Eiii] of tho second, on the 6th of September. End of the third, on the 12th of 8e})teniber, 1741. Filled up [that is to say, orchestrized] on the 14th." This superhuman work was therefore accomplished in twenty-three days ! And Handel was then fifty-six years old! It is a strange phenomenon : when men of genius are to die young, they complete their masterpieces at once. Mozart rendered up his divine soul at thirty-nine ; Ra- phael painted " The School of Athens" when he was twenty-five, and the " Transfiguration" at thirty-seven ; Paul Potter, his " Bull" at twenty-two ; Rossini com- posed The Barber of Seville when he was twenty-three, and WilUain Tell at thirty-seven, and afterward wrote no more. If these men had lived longer, it would have been impossible for them to surpass themselves. Great artists, on the other hand, who are destined to have long lives, are slow in production, or rather they produce their best things in the decline of life. Handel composed his greatest works — The Funeral Anthem^ Israel.^ The Jlessiah, Samsofi, The Dettingen Te Deum^ and Judas Maccahmus — after he was fifty-two years old. Rameau was Dfty-four when he began to write for the theater. Gluck had not composed one of his immortal operas when he was fifty. Haydn was an old man of sixty-five years when he produced TheCreation. Murillo became Murillo only at forty years of age. Poussin was seventy when he painted " The Deluge," which is the most poet- ically great of all his noble pictures. Michael Angelo counted more than sixty years when lie encrusted his incomparable fresco of "The Last Judgment" upon the walls of the Sixtine Chapel, and he was eighty-seven years old when he raised the cupola of St. Peter's to the heavens. Handel made many retouches of The Me^^siah. Dr. Rimbault has given an analysis of the difi'erent changes "now BEAUTIFUL." 283 ill Lis preface to tlie edition for the Handel Society.* Those who read these technical details will perceive that the great man did not spare his labor in perfecting his most successful works. It is to be noted, that Handel drew the movements of * Dr. Rimbault was not in entire possession of the truth as to " How beautiful are the feet." Altogether there are four versions of this in Handel's own handwriting. Mr. Lacy, has analyzed these for me from the MSS. in Buckingham Palace. The first (such as it is in the body of the MS.) is an air for a soprano in G minor. It is composed of two Btrophes, " How beautiful" and " Their sound is gone." The words are from the well-known text : " How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things," The first version is engraved by Walsh, with the two strophes, and it is that which is now sung, suppressing the second strophe, which prolongs it considerably. The suppression must be a very remote and authorized tradition, for Handel himself detached the strophe, " Their soiand is gone," and made it into a separate air, entirely new, which is written at the end of his MS. of The Messiah. He afterward transformed this last air into a chorus, as it is now sung. This chorus is also at the end of the MS. In the second version, which is also at the end of the manu- script, the air, " How beautiful," without the strophe, " Their sound is gone," is arranged as a duet in D minor for two alto voices, followed by a chorus on the words, " Break forth into joy ; thy God reigneth." The words of the second version, diftering sliglitly from the first, are, " How beautiful are the feet of him that briugeth glad tidings of salvation, that saith unto Sion, thy God reigneth." The third version (which is in the quarto volume of the MS. Sketches) is also a duet, but with many changes. It has besides, by way of introduction, the commencement of the over- ture of the eighth Chamlos Anthem. The words exhibit a very slight alteration — " How beautiful are the feet of them that bringeth good ti- dings of peace, tidings of salvation ; that say unto Sion," etc. ; chorus, ** Break forth," etc. The words, thus altered, are printed in a handbook of The Messiah, dated Dublin, 1757, and they are there marked " Duet and chorus." I am indebted for a MS. copy of that handbook to the obliging kindness of Mr. Townsend. " And lo ! the angels," which Handel transformed into an accompanied recitative : as it is now sung, is marked in the libretto, " Song," just as it was originally. I remark precisely the same thing in a Messiah dated 1759, " as performed at the theater in Oxford." Nevertheless, in the handbook of 1757 and 1759, " as performed at Covent Garden" — that it to say, under the direction of Handel — " How beautiful," remains a song ; " their sound," a chorus ; and " Lo, the angels," an accompanied recitative, exactly as they were in the handbook of 1749. It is singular that in the provinces people ad- hered to two forms which the composer had most decidedly renounced. The three versions of " How beautiful," mentioned above, are based 284 LIFE OF HANDEL. four choruses in this oratorio (" His yoke is easy," " He shall purify," " For unto us," " All we like sheep"), from two Italian chamber duets, which he had composed a naonth previously.* The duet, " O Death ! Avhere is thy sting ?" is also partly drawn from another chamber duet, " Se tu non lasci amore." The Commemoration of 1784, at which The Messiah v/as performed twice, seems to have given it a new splendor. Its popularity became so great, that the Rev. John Newton published two enormous octavo volumes of sermons, under the title of " Messiah ; Fifty Exposi- tory Discourses on the series of scriptural passages which form the subject of the celebrated Okatorio of Handel, preached in the years 1784 and 1785, in the Parish Church of St. Mary Woolnoth, Lombard Street." The preacher confesses, nevertheless, that he knew nothing of " the celebrated oratorio." He says, ajwopos of the air, " He will dash them in pieces," that he had been " informed" that the music of this passage was so well adapted to the idea which it expressed, that it made the hearer tremble with fear. This is almost the only direct mention which he makes of the work. Why then so many sermons upon such a pretext ? This question is answered by a few words in upon the same melody, and are all iu the minor key. The fourth, which has hitherto remained unknown, has been discovered by Mr. Lacy in the quarto volume of MS. Sketches. It is a m.agniflcent air, entirely new, in I), for a soprano, and is set to the words of the third version. Arnold gives, in the Appendix to his edition of The Messiah^ the G minor air (with the second strophe left out), merely transposed into C minor. Tliis might almost be considered a fifth version ; but he is the first who furnishes it, and it may be asked on what authoi-ity he has founded it, for it can not be discovered anywhere in the MS., or in the large copy by Smith, which is at Buckingham Palace ; or in the one which forms part of Mr. Lennard's collection ; or in that inherited from Smith, which all have the air in G minor. Although Dr. Kimbault has accepted this fifth version, and has published it, its authenticity seems to be more than doubtful. It is probably only one of those arbitrary transpositions which spoil Arnold's edition. See Appendix Q, *See "Catalogue," 1741. POPULARITY OF " T II E MESSIAH." 285 tile iiitrorluction to tlie first volume, in wliich the rever- end author declares : — " Such a plan lias lately and rather unexpectfy.lly occurred to me ; conversation in almost every company, for some time past, having much turned upon the Gommemoi-ation of Handel, and particularly hia oratorio of The Messiah.'''^ It is clear that the worthy man made use of a fashion of the da}", in order to attract a greater amount of attention upon his sermons and his book.* As if Tlie Messiah were to illustrate all the best quali- ties of Handel, that masterpiece of the artist who gave * The Messiah has remained the most popular of oratorios : I am al- most temiited to say it forms part of the religion of England. It is never announced in any thing like a fitting manner without attracting the puh- lic. It invariably forms pari of the programme at all the festivals, and the day on which it is performed is always the most productive. I have had occasion to hear it at Greenwich and at Jersey, and, restricted as were the means of execution in both cases, it delighted the audience. In December, 1854, it was performed three times in Loudon within a single week (Christmas week it is true), to ovei'ilowing audiences — on Wednes- day, the 20th of December, at St. Martin's Hall, with three hundred per- formers, soloists, chorus, orchestra, and Mr. Hullah as conductor ; on Friday, the 22d, at Exeter Hall, by the Sacred Harmonic Society, with seven hundred performers, and Mr. Costa conductor ; and on Monday, the 24th, at Exeter Hall, by the London Sacred Harmonic Society, with eight hundred performers, and Mr. Surinan (the founder and first con- ductor of the Society now presided over by Mr. Costa) conductor. Search France, Germany, and Italy, and you will not be able to assemble such masses of artists, with such numerous and persevering audiences to rec- ompense their efforts. Can it be said after this that the English are an anti-musical people ? At the Birmingham Festival of 1855, The Messiah obtained a new triumph. The audience was composed of 2597 persona, and the receipts amouuted to the almost incredible sum of £28u8 8s. The performance was incomparable, prodigious, surpassing any thing I ever heard in any country. Were I to live for a hundred years I should never forget that morning. This oratorio is almost as widely spread over Germany as over En- gland; it has been translated there for sixty years, and has been fre- quently published. At every festival in that country it has a leading place. It is also performed at New York and at Boston, where an Ameri- can edition has been published. I have a newspaper from Melbourne, in Australia, which announces The Messiah for "the third concert of the Phil- harmonic Society." It is only in France that this oratorio is unknown ! 286 LIFE OF HANDEL. tlie most to the poor during his life is, ol'the productions of the luiman mind, that which has most contributed to all kinds of charities. At the present day, it is the piece of all others to attract the public to a benefit of any kind. The Sacred Harmonic Society, particularly, gives it every year for the benefit of distressed mu- sicians. Truly does it deserve the touching eulogy that, " it has fed the hungry, clothed the naked, and fostered the orphan." The generous Handel had, in a manner, given this di- rection to his work. It has been seen that the whole re- ceipts of the first performance went to the hospitals of Dublin. The fourth revival, wdiich took place on the 11th of April, 1750, having been extremely successful, he gave it once more on the 1st of May following, for the benefit of the London Foundling Hospital, then in its in- fancy.* * The Foundlini? Hospital, -with whicla the only fault that can be found is that of being too luxurious, arose from the charitable devotion of a single individual, Captain Thomas Coram, a retired master of a trading vessel. His charity surmounted all the obstacles which stand in the way of such, undertakings. " He obtained the royal charter on the 17tli of October, 1739, and opened the Hospital on the 25th of March, 1741." — Gentleniaa's Magazine. The liospital was then in Hatton Garden. " Any person bringing a child, rang the bell at an inner door, and waited to hear if the infant was returned, from disease, or at once received, no questions what- ever being asked as to whom the child belonged, or whence it was brought ; and when the full number of children had been taken in, a notice of ' The House is Full,' was atHxed over the door. Often there were one hundred children offered, when only twenty could be admitted ; riots ensued, and thenceforth the women balloted for admission by draw- ing bails out of a bag."' — Tiaibs's Curiosities of London^ page 311. The children were removed to the present hospital in 1754. The Gemral Advertiser for the 11th of January, 1750, announces the opening of the hospital for the 19th, which, with the detestable editing of the time, must have signified that a new admission of children would take place on the 19th ; for at that time the hospital had been in existence ten years. Hogarth, who was less of a painter than a morah.st writing with his pen- cil, has made a portrait of Captain Coram, which is as fine as if it were by one of the great masters. The resemblance must be perfect. All the nobility of kindliness beams from the somewhat commonplace features of that worthy and venerable old man. THE FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 287 " Hospital for the Maintenance and Education of Ex,- posed and Deserted Young Children^ in LamlPs Conduit Fields^ Aiyri'l 18, iToO. "George Frederic Handel, Esq., having presented this Hospital with a very fine organ for the chapel thereof, and repeated his offer of assistance to promote this charity,* on Tuesday, the first day of May, 1750, at twelve o'clock at noon, Mr. Handel will open the said organ, and the sacred oratorio called ITessiah will be performed under his direction. Tickets for this perform- ance are ready to be delivered by the Steward at the Hospital ; at Batson's Coffee House, in Cornhill ; and White's Chocolate House,t in St. James's-street, at half a guinea each. N.B. — There will be no collection. By order of the General Committee. " Harman Yeeelst, Secretary." J; It was, and still is, the general custom in England, at * Allusion is here made to a perfonnaiice which Handel had given on the 27th of May, 1749, for that noble institution, and of which mention will be made in its place. t The mention of Batson's Coifee House and White's Chocolate House indicate that the houses for the sale of coffee and chocolate were at that time distinct from each other. The locality of Cornhill seems historically connected v/ith the sale of coffee in England, inasmuch as the earliest coffee-house in London " was in St. Michael's Alley, Cornhill, opposite to the church, which was set up by one Bowman (coachman to Mr. Hodges, a Turkey merchant, who putt him upon it), in or about the yeare 1652." — Aubrey'' s MS. in the Bodleian Library. White's Chocolate House was established in St. James's-street, 1698; but about 1736 it ceased to be a house of public resort, and " became a gaming-chib and a noted supper-house." Hogarth, in Plate Six of the " Eake's Progress," shows a party of gentlemen so intent upon their play, that they do not perceive that the liouse is in flames. As a proof of the extent to which gambling was here carried on, Horace Walpole, in a letter to Sir Horace Mann, dated September 1, 1750, says : — " They have put into the papers a good story made at White's. A man dropped dead at the door, and was carried in ; the club immediately made bets whether he was dead or not ; and when they were going to bleed him, the wagerers for his death interposed, and said it would affect the fairness of the bet." — Timbs's Our'wsities of London. X From the General Advertiser of Friday, April 20th, 1750 288 LIFE OF llANDEL. all great charitable concerts, to make collections at the door. The concourse was so great on the 1st of May, that three days afterward the General Adi^ertiser for Friday, the 4th of May, 1750, puLlished a new advertisement of the Foundling Hospital, dated on the 2d : — "A compu- tation was made of what number of persons the chapel of this hospital would conveniently hold, and no greater number of tickets were delivered to hear the pei'form- ance there on the 1st instant. But so many persons of distinction coming unprovided with tickets, and pressing to pay for tickets, caused a greater number to be ad- mitted than were expected ; and some that had tickets, not finding room, Avent away. To prevent any disap- pointment to such persons, and for the further promotion of this charity, this is to give notice that George Fred- eric Handel, Esq., has generously offered that the sacred oratorio called Messiah shall be performed again under his direction, in the chapel of this hospital, on Tuesday the 15th instant, at twelve of the clock at noon ; and the tickets delivered out, and not brought in on the 1st in- stant, will then be received. Tlie tickets will be de- livered from Monday the Yth to the 14th, and not after." In the following year, Handel again caused his favorite work to be performed successively, on the 18th of April and the 16th of May, for the benefit of the hospital. On the 18th of April, 1751, "the sum for the tickets de- livered out was above GOO pounds."* Less than a month afterward, on the 13th of May, the General Advertiser contained tlie following announcement : — " From the Foundling Hospital. — At the request of several persons of distinction, G. F. Handel, Esq., has been applied to for a repetition of the performance of the sacred oratorio called Messiah y which he having very charitably agreed to, this is to give notice that the said oi-atorio will be performed on Tiiursday, 16th histant, being Ascension * Gentlernaii's Magazine. "a 6UKE DliAW." 289 day, at 12 at noon precisely. Nota. — ^The doors will be open at ten, and there will be no collection." On the 17th, .the same journal gives the following ac- count of the performance : " Yesterday the oratorio of Messiah was performed at the Foundling Hospital to a very numerous and splendid audience, and a voluntary on the organ was played by Mr. Handel, which met with universal applause." So they applauded then in the chapel of tlie Foundling Hospital. The Gentleman'' s Magazine for May, 1751, says: "There were above five hundred coaches, besides chairs, and the tickets amounted to above seven hundred guineas." Seeing that The Messiah was, as they say in theatrical parlance, "a sure draw," Handel in a manner divided bis property in it with the hospital ; he gave that institu- tion a copy of the score, and promised to come and con- duct it every year for the benefit of the good work. This gift was the occasion of an episode in which may be perceived the choleric humor of the worthy donor. The administrators of the hospital, being desirous of invest- ing his intentions with a legal form, prepared a petition to Parliament, which terminated in the following man- ner : — " That in order to raise a further sum for the ben- efit of the said charity, George Frederic Handel, Esq., hath been charitably pleased to give to this corporation a composition of music, called ' The Oratorio of The Mes- siah^ composed by him ; the said George Frederic Han- del reserving to himself only the liberty of performing the same for his own benefit during his life : And whereas, the said benefaction can not be secured to the sole use of your petitioners except by the authority of Parliament, your petitioners therefore humbly pray that leave may be given to bring in a bill for the purposes aforesaid." When one of the governors waited upon the musician with this form of petition, he soon discovered that the committee of the hospital had built on a wrong found- ation ; for Handel, bursting into a rage, exclaimed — "Te 290 LIFE OF HANDEL. Devil ! for vat sal de Foundling put mien oratorio in de Parlement ! Te Devil ! mein music sal not go to de Parlement."* The petition went no further ; but Handel did not the less fulfill the pious engagement which he had con- tracted. In 1752, on Thursday, the 9th of April, the number of tickets taken was 1200, each ten and six- pence.f In 1753, the Piihlic Advertiser of the 2d of May, announced : " Yesterday, the sacred oratorio called Messiah was performed in the chapel at the Foundling Hospital, under the direction of the inimitable composer thereof, George Frederic Handel Esq., who, in the organ concerto, played himself a voluntary on the fine organ he gave to that chapel." The London Magazine of the month says that " there were above 800 coaches and chairs, and the tickets amounted to 925 guineas." Eleven performances of the same kind, between 1750 and 1759, brought £6955 to the hospitahj Handel con- ducted them all in person, although (it must not be for- gotten) he became blind in 1753. This benefaction of the generous and charitable artist survived him for many * Brownlow, p. 143. The Foundling Hospital of London was not the only charitahle institution which had the honor to receive a copy of the masterpiece. Handel had previously bestowed one on the Charitable Musical Society of Dublin. Faulhier''s Journal of the 3d to the 6th of December, 1743, announces: — "From the Charitable Musical Society. The said Society having obtained from the celebrated Mr. Handel a copy of the score of the grand musical entertainment called The IlessiaJi^ they intend to have it performed on the 16th of December inst., for the benefit and enlargement of i:>risoners confined for debt," etc. When the So- ciety ceased to exist this copy passed, somehow or other, into the pos- session of Mercer's Hospital, Dublin ; for that institution boasted a short time ago of possessing one. One of the physicians of the establishment, being fond of music, took it home with him one day to examine it. Shortly afterward he died suddenly, and the copy disappeared in the midst of the confusion caused by that event. All endeavors to recover it have hith- erto been in vain, and it is uncertain whether it has been stolen by some amateur, who is for the present compelled to conceal it, or whether it has been burned as waste paper by some ignorant domestic. For the facts upon which this note is founded I am indebted to Mr. Townsend. t Gentleman's Magazine. % Barney. BENEFACTIONS TO THE FOUNDLING. 291 years. Eight performances, conducted by J. C. Smith, between 17C0 and 1768, realized £1332, and nine per- formances, coiKlucted by John Stanley, from 1769 to 1777, realized £2032;* so that, altogether, The Messiah alone brought into the funds of the Foundling Hospital no less a sum than £10,299. Let it be remarked that The Messiah^ Judas Macca- bmus^ and Samson were the most popular oratorios during the life of the author ; he produced the first thirty-four times, the second thirty-four times also, and the third thirty times. But m the thirty-four representa- tions of The Messiah, the eleven for the Foundling Hos- pital are included. Handel, therefore, only performed it twenty-three times for his own benefit. It is even to be remarked, that from the year 1753 he did not give more than eleven performances in each year. One might im- agine tliat he had imposed upon himself the rule of giv- ing only twelve, and that he wished to reserve the last for the Foundling Hospital. In this manner he dimin- ished the benefits which he might have derived from his favorite Avork for himself, in order that the charitable in- stitution might have the more advantage. How is it possible not to hold in aflectionate veneration the mem- ory of a man in whose life we discover such facts ! To sympathize with human misery when we find it under our very eyes is natural and almost instinctive, a mo- mentary sacrifice for the relief of a sufi*erer is so easy ; but a continued sacrifice is difticult, and it must be founded upon a rational idea of duty, since it imposes upon us daily privations. For this reason, nothing is more worthy of our respect than this charity of Handel, which lasted for years, of which he never was weary, which fed itself continually, like a miraculous inextin- guishable flame. Mr. Macfarien has said (in his preface to the libretto of 1854, for the Sacred Harmonic Society) that the sacred * Burney. 292 LIFE OF HANDEL. oratorio was never j^riiited during the author's lifetime. This is not absolutely exact. Walsh had scattered all the airs and the last duet through his collection of Han- deVs (400) So7igs selected from his Oratorios^ in five ob- long volumes. This collection, it is true, commenced in 1749 (six years after the first performance of The Mes- siah in London), and was completed in 1759. More- over, it does not include a single chorus. This, there- fore, can not be considered as a regular publication of the work ; and if Mr. Macfarren takes it in that sense, he is in the right. The fixct is, that the first collected edition, entitled Songs in the Messiah^ does not date further back than 1763, four years after the author's death. Even in this, there were wanting five recitatives and all the choruses, and still we find all the airs as they had been composed originally, and without any of the changes which Handel had made. The first edition which is really complete is that of Randall, Walsh's successor, and it belongs to the year 1768. I have treated these two questions about dates in the " Catalogue of Works" (article Messiah), where they are more naturally in their place ; and to this I take the liberty of referring the reader who feels interested about them. My opinion upon this point was formed at the time when I happened to meet Mr. John Caulfield, the son of Walsh's apprentice, of whom mention has been already made.* According to what he remembers of his father's conversation upon the point, after the per- formance of The Messiah^ Walsh demanded the MS., sending, at the same time, the usual honorarium of twenty guineas, which was the stipulated price of every oratorio which he printed. But the composer would not accept them, saying, that rather than receive such a sum he would not publish the oratorio. When Mr. Jolin Caulfield communicated to me this oral tradition, I had * Page 112. PUBLICATION OF "THE MESSIAH." 293 not infOT-med liim that, so fav as I had ascertained, The Messiah had remained unpublished during the lifetime of the author. Was this really the cause of that extra- ordinary lact ? Was the ex-apprentice, in his old age, quite sure of what he said ? Did Handel, who was so violent, so single in purpose, and of such an inflexible temper, ever desire to draw back fi-om his word ? Did Walsh, not being desirous of opening the door to other augmentations of price for the future, exhibit the same obstinacy ? Without pretending to hold the key of the secret, or to assert that this explanation is satisfactory, I offer it to the consideration of the reader. It leads us, however, to imagine that Handel valued this work from the beginning, much beyond any other, in spite of the indifference of the public. Whatever may have been his motives, which are so impenetrable for us, there is no doubt that he did not wish The 3Iessiah to be printed. With the exception of Israel in Egypt (which doubtless excited his choro- phobia), Walsh published all the other works, even Theodora^ which was a failure, and he would not have refused that honor to The Messiah if he had been per- mitted to do the same with it. The phoenix of oratorios was not entirely successful at first ; but admitting that that reason had any influence with the tradesman, it no longer existed in 1750. TJie Messiah had then for the second time conquered the spirit of darkness, and was in all its glory, constantly attracting the multitude, so that Walsh, instead of fearing to make a bad speculation, would have been certain to make a good one. It must even be supposed that Walsh was, in some manner, re- ligiously bound, since, in spite of the certainty of profit, he only engraved his book of Songs in the Messiah four years after the death of the composer. Another circumstance serves to show that Handel had a very precise determination that his work should re- main in MS. It has been stated that Walsh introduced 294 LIFE OF HANDEL. eighteen pieces from it into Lis HandeVs (400) Songs from the Oratorios ; but, by a solitary exception, the name of the work to which they belong is indicated neitlier in the table of contents nor in the headings of the airs ! Perhaps Handel could not resist the entreaties of his publisher for permission to insert these pieces ; but he did not the less impose as a condition that he should not state from whence they were taken. To ex- plain the matter in any other way appears difficult. He had, nevertheless, permitted the overture to be engraved in 1743, for it is to be found in the order of its date, in the collection of his overtures, under the title of Sacred Oratorio. Of this composition, which remained unpublished for twenty years, more copies have been printed than of any other musical work, by any other master, in any country in the world. It has now reached the almost fabulous number of forty-four editions, thirty-three in England and ten in other countries. Ihave had great difficulty in collecting them all, of which a detailed list will be given in the "Catalogue," not merely for the satisfaction of a bibliographical curiosity, but as an in- teresting document in the history of music. There are very few literary works, of whatever nature, which can boast of an equal success, and yet there are two or three thousand readers of books against one who can read a musical score. It is undoubtedly one of Great Britain's proudest boasts, that a composition which has enjoyed such immense and universal success should be set to En- glish words. It has been 'stated that the first printed handbook of the masterpiece of oratorios does not date further back than the 24th of April, 1750, conformably to an adver- tisement by Watts, the printer, inserted in the General Advertiser of that day : — " The Messiah^ as it is to be performed on the 1st of May, at the Foundling Hospital." This assertion is erroneous. All the handbooks of The FIRST HANDBOOK OF "tHE MESSIAH." 295 Messiah wliich are dated, belong to a very early date ; but it can not be doubted that some of those which are undated, published by Watts and Tonson, were printed for the performances of the work at London, in 1743 and 1745. TJie Messiah would otherwise be the only oratorio — absolutely the only one — which had been per- formed without a handbook, and no plausible reason can be given for that exception. Watts announced his hand- book when the work itself was advertised. Thus we find in the number of the above-named journal for the 23d of March, 1749: — "To-morrow will be published (price Is.) Messiah^ an oratorio, as it is performed in the Theater Royal, at Covent Garden, printed by and for Watts, and sold by him and by Dod."* On the 10th of April, 1750, he repeated the announcement in the same journal, " as it is to be performed next Thursday, at the Theater Royal, in Covent Garden." At all events it is incontestable that the words had already been printed eight years before, at Dublin. The Dublin JVeios Let- ter oi the 23d to the 27th of March, 1742, in announc- ing the work for the 12th of April following, adds : — " Tickets to be had at the Musick Hall. Books are also to be had at a British sixpence each."f Handel himself even made mention of this first libretto, in a letter writ- ten in 1742, which will presently be quoted. It is true that it is not now^ to be found ; but its past existence is not the less satisfactorily attested. * The Sacred Harmonic Society possesses a copy with this date. t Townsend, p. 70. CHAPTER IX. 1742—1752. " Samson" — " Detttngex Te Deum" — Pretended Plagiaeisms — " Joseph" — " Semele" — Correspondence about " Belsiiazzar" — " Hercules" — Acts op Hostility on the part of the Nobles against Handel — His Second Failure— " Occasional Oratorio" — "Kule Britannia" — "God Save the Kino" — "Judas Maccab.eus" — "See the Conquering Hero" — "Joshua" — " Solomon" — " Susannah" — "Fireworks Music" — "Theodora" — " Choicb of Hercules." From a letter written by Handel in London, a few days after his return from Dublin, it may be gathered that he had not then absolutely determined upon what he should do. " To Charles Jennens^ JEsq.^ Junior^ at Gopsal^ near Atherstone. ( Coventry Bag.) "London, September 9th, 1'742. "Dear S^, — It was indeed your humble servant which intended you a visit in my way from Ireland to London, for I certainly would have given you a better account by word of mouth as by writing, how well your Messiah was recived in that country ; yet, as a noble lord, and not less than the Bishop of Elphin (a noble- man very learned in musick), has given his observations in writing on this oratorio, I send you here annexed the contents of it in his own words. I shall send the printed book of Tlte Messiah to Mr. J. Steel for you. " As for my success in general in that generous and ])()lite nation, I reserve tlie account of it till I have the honor to see you in London. The report that the direc- tion of the Opera next winter is committed to my care is groundless. The gentlemen who have undertaken to meddle with harmony can not agree, and are quite in a TASTE IN IRELAND. 297 coiifiisioD. Whether I shall do something in the orato- rio way (as several of my friends desire) I can not de- termine as yet. Certain it is, that tliis time twelvemonth I shall continue my oratorios in Ireland, Avhere they ai"e going to make a large subscription already for that pur- pose. " If I had known that my Lord Guernsey was so near when I passed Coventry, you may easily imagine, s^, that I should not have neglected of paying my respects to him, since you know the particular esteem I have for his lordship. I think it a very long time to the month of November next, when I can have some hopes of seeing you here in town. Pray let me hear meanwhile of your health and welfare, of which I take a real share, being, with an uncommon sincerity and respect, s^, your most obliged humble servant, • " George Frideric Handel."* The enthusiasm which his works had excited at Dub- lin, and the personal welcome which had been accorded to him there, presented a happy contrast to the state of things under which Handel had suifered at London. This must very naturally have inspired him with a desire to return thither, a project to which he refers in this letter. He never accomplished it, however. Still, his visit to Ireland had, as may be easily imagined, a pro- found influence on the taste of that country. Esther^ Athaliah^ Acis, Alexcmder^s Feast^ the Utrecht and Dettingen Te Deums^ the Jubilate^ and the Coronation Anthems^ for a long time occupied almost exclusively the musical societies of that kingdom. From the dry tone with which he speaks of " the gen- tlemen who have undertaken to meddle with harmony," it may be believed that he had not ceased to regret the Italian Oj^era, and that he would not have refused the management of it if it had been offered him. He was * Townsend, p. 106. See note at page 267. 1 T* 298 LIFE OF HANDEL. for a long time undecided ; industrious as he was, he did nothing during the end of the year 1742, with the ex- ception of two clianiber duets, and a chorus and an air to be added to his Samson^ which was commenced eight days after the completion of The Messiah^ and was com- pleted in five weeks. One might say that he was wait- ing for some proposition on behalf of his spoiled child, Italian Opera. At last, when the Lent of 1743 had ar- rived, he went to Covent Garden Theater, to give there oratorios by subscription, in six performances, as he had done at Dublin. The advertisement in the Daily Adver- tiser for the 17th of February, 1743, supplies a very clear notion of the system which he adopted : " By subscription. — At the Theater Royal in Covent Garden, to-morrow, the 18th inst., will be performed a new oratorio, called Sampso?i. Tickets will be delivered to subscribers (on paying their subscription money) at Mr. Handel's house, in Biooke-street, Hanover Square. Attendance will be given from nine o'clock in the morn- ing till three in the afternoon. 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 Theater, at half a guinea each ; first gallery, 5s. ; upper gallery, 3s. 6d. JVota. — Each subscriber is to pay six guineas upon taking out his subscription-ticket, which entitles him to three box-tickets every night of Mr. Han- del's first six performances in Lent. And if Mr. Handel should have any more performances after the first six nights, each subscriber may continue on the same condi- tions."* From a letter inserted in Faulkner''s Journal for the 12th to the 15th of March, 1743, it appears that Samson was well received : — " Our friend Mr. Handel is very well, and -things have taken a quite difiierent turn here from what they did some time past ; for the public will * Quoted by Dr. Eimbault, in the preface to his editiou of Samson for the Handel Society. TRODUCTION OF " S A M S O N ." 299 be no longer imposed on by Italian singers and wrong- headed undertakers of bad operas, but find out the merit of Mr. Handel's compositions and English per- formances. That gentleman is more esteemed now than ever. The new oratorio, called Samson^ which he com- posed since he left Ireland, has been performed four times to more crowded audiences than ever were seen ; more people being turned away for want of room each night than hath been at the Italian Opera. Mr. Dubourg (lately arrived from Dublin) performed at the last, and met with uncommon applause from the royal family and the whole audience."* I am afraid that there is much more of kindness than of accuracy in this letter. The success was exceptional, but comparatively so. In fact, the subscription was only once renewed, and therefore there were only twelve per- formances.! Would they have been hastily concluded on the 30th of March, at the eighth performance of ^mu- son^ if there had been such a great number of people "turned away for want of room each night?" Tlie composer was under no compulsion, and he would have continued the performances as long as he pleased. Not one of the London journals says a word about this season, in which were pioduced, for the first time, Samson and The Jlessiah ! What an age for the arts ! It is stated that Handel, being asked the question, re- plied that he did not know to which of these two orato- rios he gave the preference. We may judge by the London Daily Post that Walsh bore the new master- piece in some esteem: — March 12th, 1743 — "In a few days will be published the songs in /SamsonJ'' March 19th — "This day is published, songs in the Oratorio called Sainson:^ April 1st — " To-morrow will be pub- lished a second collection of songs in the Oratorio of * Townsend. t Performances of 1743 :— Samson, eight times ; 3Iess/Mh, three times ; tP Allegro and Ode on St. Cecilia'' s Bay, once. 300 LIFE OF HANDEL. Samson / to which is prefixed the overture in score.'* April 4th — " This day is pubhshed a second collection, etc. (as above). Price 4s." April 8th — " The remaining songs in /Samso7i will be pubhshed to-morrow. Price 2s. 6d. ; with a complete index." April 9th — " This day- is published the remaining songs, which complete the Oratorio of Samson^ with an index to the whole." In spite of all his advertising, Walsh treated this ora- torio with no more ceremony than the others. Accord- ing to his invariable custom, he gave neither a single one of its eighteen choruses, nor one of its magnificent and dramatic recitatives. Randall was the first, nine or ten years after the death of the author, to risk the publica- tion of the entire score. The poem is pathetically fine. It was taken from Milton by IsTewburg Hamilton, who gave free scope to the enthusiasm with which the genius of Handel inspired him. In the introduction to the handbook, he says : " That poem, indeed, never was divided by Milton into acts or scenes, nor designed (as he hints in his preface) for the stage ; but given only as the plan of a tragedy with choruses, after the m.anner of the ancients. But as Mr. Handel had so happily introduced here oratorios, a musical drama, whose subject must be scriptural, and in which the solemnity of church music is agreeably united with the most pleasing airs of the stage, it would have been an irretrievable loss to have neglected the opportu- nity of that great master's doing justice to this work; he having ali-eady added new life and spirit to some of the finest things in the English language, particularly that inimitable Ode of Dryden's, which no age nor na- tion ever excelled. " As we have so great a genius among us, it is a pity that so many mean artifices have been lately used to blast all his endeavors, and in him ruin the art itself; but he has the satisfaction of lacing encouraged by all true lovers and real judges of musick ; in a more espe- beard's makeiage. 801 cial manner by tliat illustrious person, whose high rank only serves to make his knowledge in all arts and sciences as conspicuous as his power and inclination to patronize them." Newburg Hamilton inscribed his poem " to Frederic Prince of Wales." Upon the waste sketch of an air, " For ever let his sacred praise," which is in the FitzwilUam Museum, Handel has written the following memorandum : " Samson Micah . . . . 97 Manoah . . . . 76 Dalilah . . . . 31 Harapha . . . . 34 Messenger . . . 10 In all . 888" Perhaps this referred to the copyist's bill for each of these parts : Scmison, 140 pages, etc. What was the rate of payment for each page ? It is not exactly known ; but we may imagine that the cost of copying an oratorio must have been rather considerable, for all the choral and orchestral parts had to be transcribed. The copy of an opera score now-a-days seldom costs less than from £60 to £80.* * The famous English tenor. Beard, who began to sing for Handel in 1734, created the part of Samson, in which he raised himself to the first rank of singers. Brought up among the children at the Chapel Eoyal, he was an excellent musician, and distinguished himself beside by his irreproachable private character and excellent manners. [Dictionary of Maskiam.] Lady Henrietta Herbert, the only daughter of James, Earl of Waldegrave, and widow of Lord Edward Herbert, the second son of the Marquis of Powis, was married to him in the month of January, 1739. If it be excusable to marry twice, it must be when she chooses an artist of merit, who is also an honorable man ; but as Beard was neither a duke nor an earl. Lady Herbert's choice caused an immense scandal among what is called " the fashionable world." It was talked about for at least fifteen days. Lady Mary Wortley Montague made it the subject of one of her smart letters addressed to Lady Pomfret :— " Lady Harriet Her- 302 LIFE OF HANDEL. Handel being reinstalled in London, set to work again and wrote Semele^ from the 3d of June to the 4th of July, when he commenced the famous Te JDeimi and Anthem for the victory of Dettingen, which gloriously rescued fi-om almost certain ruin the Austro-English bert furnished the tea-tables here with fresh tattle for the last fortnight. I was one of the first who was informed of her adventure by Lady Gage, who was told that morning by a priest, that she had desired him to marry her the next day to Beard, who sings in the farces at Drury Lane. He refused her that good oflB.ee, and immediately told Lady Gage, who (hav- ing been unfortunate in her friends) was frightened at this affair, and asked my advice. I told her honestly, that since the lady was capable of such amours, I did not doubt, if this was broke off, she would bestow her person and fortune on some hackney-coachman or chairman ; and that I really saw no method of saving her from ruin, and her family from dishonor, but by poisoning her ; and offered to be at the expense of the arsenic, and even to administer it with my own hands, if she would invite her to drink tea with her that evening. But on her not approving that method, she sent to Lady Montacute, Mrs. Durieh, and all the relations within reach of messengers. They carried Lady Har- riet to Twickenham, though I told them it was a bad air for girls. She is since returned to London, and some people believe her manied; others, that she is too much intimidated by Mr. "Waldegrave's threats to dare to go through this ceremony ; but the secret is now public, and in what manner it will conclude I know not. Her relations have cer- tainly no reason to be amazed at her constitution, but are violently sur- prised at the mixture of devotion that forces her to have recourse to the church in her necessities ; which has not been the road taken by the matrons of her family. Such examples are very detrimental to our whole sex, and are apt to influence the other into a belief that we are unfit to manage either hberty or money." The witty Lady Mary, who so well expressed the indignation of her class, would doubtless, in these days, have held an eminent place among the defenders of religion and of family. Mrs. Herbert, however, did not repent of not having followed the examples of " the matrons of her family." She died in 1Y53, after having lived entirely happy with Beard. He raised to her memory a fine monument in the churchyard of St. Pancras, with the following inscription : — " On the 8th of January, 1738-9, she became the wife of Mr. John Beard, who, during a happy union of fourteen years, tenderly loved her person and admired her virtues ; who sincerely feels and laments her loss ; and must ever revere her memory, to which he consecrates this mouuiuent." \Memoirs of tlie Musical Drama^ by Hogarth. Vol. ii.] The regrets of Beard did not survive six years, for in 1759 he mar- ried a daughter of the harlequin Rich. Alas ! The other world should "dettingen te deum." 303 army commanded by George II. They were solemnly sung in the presence of the king, in the royal chapel of St. James's, on the 27th of November, 1V43, after hav- ing been rehearsed on the 18th and 25th, at Whitehall Chapel, during the forenoon.* On the 19th a journal spoke of the rehearsal in these terms: — "Yesterday, [Nov. 18th, 1743], a Te Deura and Anthem, composed by Mr. Handel for his majesty, was rehearsed before a splendid assembly at Whitehall Chapel, and are said by the best judges to be so truly masterly and sublime, as well as new in their kind, that they prove this great genius not only inexhaustible, but likewise still rising to a higher degree of perfection."! Posterity has ratified this judgment. Handel set to music five different times,I in the space of thirty years, the Hymn of St. Ambrose, and always with new beauties, always with a fresh color. It has been remarked that he gave each time to the verse, " To thee all angels cry aloud," a plaintive sense and tune. The Dettingen Te Deum and Anthem^ des- tined to celebrate victory, have an essentially martial character. The trumpets and the kettle-drums mingle in them frequently with overpowering brilliancy. The Hymn was performed at the commemoration of 1784, with " fourteen trumpets, two pairs of common kettle- drums, two pairs of double drums from the Tower, and one pair of double bass drums made expressly for this commemoration. "§ Barney declares that the effect be a vale of tears, if the dead, who bear with thein a great love to the tomb, could see what they have left upon the earth. * London Daily Post. + Favllcner''s Journal^ Nov. 22d to 26th, quoted from a London paper. \ Besides the Utrecht Te Be urn of 17 Id, and the two Chandos Te Deums^ there was also that for Queen Caroline, in 1737. (See " Catalogue," 1737.) § These two double bass drums are fimciful, and do not belong to regular music. Burney says, " two pair of double drums, beside the one pair of double bass drums." I suppose that what he intended to say was, a pair. Four kettle-drums, two double drums, and two double bass drums were a very respectable park of artillery. 304 LIFE OP HANDEL. was indescribable. Handel has written a great deal for the trumpet, and he was prompted to do so by the tal- ent of Valentin Snow, the first trumpet in his orchestra. Snow must have been an artist of the highest rank, judging from the extreme difficulty of many passages which were confided to him. In the j^resent day, Mr. Harper alone can perform without false notes the admi- rable accompaniment to the air in The Messiah^ " Be- hold ! the trumpet shall sound."* The composition of the Dettmgen Anthem and the Te Dewn preceded that of Joseph and his Brethren^ which was written in August, 1*743, and was given witJi Se^nele^ at Covent Garden, during the Lent of 1744.1 The Daily Post of the 9th of January, 1744, announces: " By particular desire, Mr. Handel proposes to per- form, by subscription, twelve performances, during next Lent, and engages to play two new performances, and some of his former oratorios, if time will permit. Each subscriber is to pay four guineas at the time he subscribes." I quote the text of all these advertisements, thinking that they will interest the reader as much as they have interested me. They throw a singular light upon his- tory ; they are like telescopes, which serve to exhibit distinctly those objects which distance has confused. Signora Galli, who made her debut in Joseph^ was, ac- cording to Cradock, a favorite pupil of Handel. Joseph is dedicated, by the author of the words, James Miller,| to his Grace the Duke of Montague ; but three fourths of the dedication are filled with the praise of the composer. * See Appendix R. + Perfonnauces of 1744: — Semele^ four times; Joseph^ four times; Samson^ twica ; Saul^ twice. \ James Miller, of Wadham College, Oxford, called " Keverend" by the BiograpMa Dramatica^ is tlae author oi Mahomet (a tragedy), of sev- eral comedies, and of three farces. DEDICATION OF "JOSEPH." 305 "7b his Grace the Duke of Montague. "May it please your Grace, I have no other apology to make for presuming to lay the following performance at your Grace's feet, than the countenance you are pleased to give to the refined and sublime entertain- ments of this kind, and the generous patronage you manifest toward the great master, by whose divine har- mony they are supported. A master meritorious of such a patron, as he may be said, without the least adulation, to have shown a higher degree of excellence in each of the various kinds of composition, than any one who has preceded him ever arrived at in a single branch of it ; and to have so peculiar a felicity in always making his strain the tongue of his subject, that his music is sure to talk to the purpose, whether the words it is set to do so or not. 'Tis a pity, however, my Lord, that such a ge- nius should be put to the drudgery of hammering for fire where there is no flint, and of giving a sentiment to the poet's metre before he can give one to his owm mel- ody." The remainder of the dedication asks pardon of the Duke of Montague for the weakness of the poem, which is nevertheless thought to be the best which Handel has treated. The reader wall understand, of course, that I do not refer to those which were taken from Milton and Dryden. Arnold has called Semele^ which preceded Joseph^ " a dramatic performance," that is to say, he did not con- sider it precisely as an opera. Main waring describes it as " an English opera, but called an oratorio, and per- formed as such at Covent Garden." The General Ad- vertiser of the 10th of February, 1744, adds, in announc- ing it : — "After the manner of an oratorio." Without being very puritanical, one has some difiiculty in classi- fying the daughter of Cadmus, who was burnt to death in the embraces of that stupid Jupiter, among the wor- 806 LIFE OF HANDEL. shipful company of the oratorios. Several indications of the poem do not absohitely agree with the idea which we have formed of a sacred drama. For example, in the third act, scene 4: — "Jupiter enters; oifers to embrace Semele ; she looks kindly at him, but retires a little from him." The summary at the beginning of the handbook has certainly not a very religious flavor : — ''''Argument. — After Jupiter's amour with Europa, the daughter of Agenor, king of Phoenicia, he again incenses Juno by a new affair in the same family, viz., with Semele, niece of Europa, and daughter of Cadmus, king of Thebes. Semele Is on the point of marriage with Athamas, a prince of Boeotia ; which marriage is about to be solem- nized in the Temple of Jmio, goddess of marriages, when Jupiter, by ill omens, interrupts the ceremony, and afterward transports Semele to a private abode prepared for her. Juno, after many contrivances, at length as- sumes the shape and voice of Ino, sister to Semele, by the help of which disguise, and artful insinuations, she prevails with Semele to make a request to Jupiter, which being granted, must end in her ruin." However, since Handel caused "this affiiir" to be sung in the sacred fashion — that is to say, without action (as Acis^ which has quite as much the appearance of an opera), I think that we ought to classify it, with Acis^ among the serenatas. It is amusing to see how men trifle with words. They would not allow Esther or Ju- das Maccdbcmis to be played in action, on account of the profanity ; but they had no objection to listen to Semele^ even in Lent, because it was " after the manner of an oratorio?'' It was after the season of 1744 that ITaudel composed JBelshazzar / upon which subject several letters were ad- dressed by him to Charles Jennens, the author of the words. They have been preserved by the fixmily of the poet, and were published by Mr. Ilorsley in the preface to his edition of The Messiah. This gentleman did not CORRESPONDENCE ON "rELSIIAZZAR." 307 know to what oratorio reference was made, but the dates upon the MSS. leave no doubt that it was Belshazzar^ "London, June 9, 1*744 " Dear Sir — Now I should be extremely glad to re- ceive the first act, or what is ready, of the new oratorio with which you intend to favor me, that I might employ all my attention and time, in order to answer, in some measure, the great obligation I lay under. This new favor will greatly increase my obligations. — I remain, with all possible gratitude and respect," etc., etc. "July 19, 1U4. " Dear Sir — At my arrival in London, wdiich was yes- terday, I immediately j^erused the act of the oratorio with which you favored me, and the little time only I had it, gives me great pleasure. Your reasons for the length of the first act are entirely satisfactory to me, and it is likewise my opinion to have the following acts short. I shall be very glad, and much obliged to you, if you will soon favor me with the remaining acts. Be pleased to point out these passages in The Messiah which you think require altering. I desire my humble respects and thanks to my Lord Guernseyf for his many civility's to me, and believe me to be," etc., etc. "London, Agost ye 21, 1144. "Dear Sir — The second actiof the oratorio I have received safe, and own myself highly obliged to you for it. I am greatly pleased with it, and shall use my best endeavors to do it justice. I can only say that I im- patiently w^ait for the third act, and desire to believe me to be," etc., etc. * At the foot of the first page, "Angefangen den 23 Agost, 1744" (commenced on the, etc.) After the first act, " September 3, fine della parte prima, den 15 dieses vollig" (3d of September, first part, entirely finished on the J 5th instant). After the second act, " Fine della parte 2<^*, September 10, 1744." The last page of the third act is lost. t Subsequently Earl of Aylesford. 308 LIFE OP HANDEL. "London, September 13, 1744. " Dear Sir — Your most excellent oratorio has given me great delight in setting it to musick, and still engages me warmly. It is indeed a noble piece, very grand and uncommon ; it has furnished me with expressions, and has given me opportunity to some very particular ideas, beside so many great chorus's. I intreat you heartily to favor me soon with the last act, which I expect with anxiety, that I may regulate myself the better as to the length of it. I profess myself highly obliged to you for so generous a present, and desire you to believe me to be, with great esteem and respect, sir," etc., etc. "London, October 2, 1744. "Dear Sir — I received the third act with a great deal of pleasure, as you can imagine, and you may believe that I think it a very fine and sublime oratorio, only it is really too long ; if I should extend the musick, it would last four hours and more. I retrenched already a great deal of musick, that I might preserve the poetry as much as I could ; yet still it may be shorten'd. The anthems come in very properly ; but would not the words, ' Tell it out among the heathens that the Lord is King,' be sufficient for our chorus ? The anthem, ' The Lord pre- serveth all them that love him ; but scattereth abroad all the ungodly.' (Vers, and chorus), 'My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord, and let all flesh give thanks unto His holy name, for ever and ever — Amen,' concludes well the oratorio," etc., etc. The excisions were effected in " the sublime oratorio ;" but Charles Jennens would not abate one of his verses, and the handbook was printed exactly as it had been written, with this Nota Bene: — "IST.B. — The oratoi'io being thought too long, several things are marked with a black line drawn down the margin, as omitted in the performance." Handel had cut with an unsparing knife ; "belshazzak." 809 for more than two hundred Imes are bordered with the fatal sign of mourning. The work was announced for the 2.3d, the 25th, and the 26th of March, 1745, in the Daily Advet'tiser, under the title of JBelteshazzar, the surname of the prophet Daniel in Babylon.* The present title was only given on the 27th, the day of the first performance. That of Selteshazzar must have been one of Charles Jennens's ideas, for amateur poets are fond of names which give them the air of being very learned. In Joseph and his Bretlwen^ Pharaoh says to Joseph, " Let Zaphnath-paa- neah be thy name."f Would it not have been a capital notion to have called the oratorio Zaph7iath-paa7ieah and his Brethren f In the MS. of Belshazzar^ this curious indication of time appears above a little symphony in the second act, " Allegro postillions," which seems as if Handel wished this to be played at mail-coach speed. Before JBelshazzar — by which, according to the letter of the 13th of September, Handel set great store — he had composed (between the 19th of July and the 17th of August, 1744), Hercules^ which was announced as "a musical drama," in the General Advertiser of the 1st of January, 1745, and was engraved under the title of "an oratorio." Mr. Salaman, in his lectures " On Music in Connection with the Dance," has performed the War- rior's March and the chorus, " Crown with festal pomp," from IlercideS'. If the remainder of the score equal these two magnificent pieces, Hercules is a masterpiece un- known to the public. The last season (during the Lent of 1744) had been far from brilliant. Handel seems to have trusted in the success of the two novelties, Belshazzar and Hercules^ to * Daniel ii. 26. t Genesis xli. 45. The handbook states that these words signify " Saviour of the World." We always see the entire world in our home, be it ever so small. '310 LIFE OF HANDEL. repair his losses, for he opened the campaign very early and with a certain pretension. It has been stated that the Italian Theater, in the Playmarket, was closed on the 10th of June, 1744, for want of audiences. This theater he hired, and then pubUshed the following advertise- ment, in the General Advertiser of the 20th of October, 1744: — " By particular desire; Mr. Handel proposes to perform, by subscription, twenty-four times during the winter season, at the King's Theater, in the Hay market, and engages to exhibit two new performances and sev- eral of his former oratorios. The first performance will be on Saturday, the 3d of November, and will continue every Saturday till Lent^ and then on Wednesdays and Fridays. Each subscriber is to pay eight guineas at the time he subscribes, which entitles him to one box ticket for each performance. Subscriptions are taken in at Mr. Handel's house, in Brook-street, near Hanover Square ; at Mr. Walsh's, in Catherine-street, in the Strand ; and at White's Chocolate House, in St. James's-street. Those gentlemen and ladies who have already favored Mr. Handel in the subscription, are desired to send for their tickets at his house, in Brook-street, where attendance wall be given every day (Sundays excepted), from nine o'clock in the morning until three in the afternoon." On the 27th of October, the General Advertiser an- nounced, for the 3d of November, " an oratorio called Deborah^ with a concerto on the organ ;" and on the 3d of November, the advertisement of the 20th of October was repeated, indicating the first performance for that evening. The house must have been but thinly attended, for the same journal, of the otli of November, inserted this advertisement : — " As the greatest part of Mr. Han- del's subscribers are not in town, he is requested not to perform till Saturday, the 24th instant ; but the subscrip- tion is still continued to be taken in at Mr. Handel's house, as before." On the 24th of November was announced " Deborah, FACTIOUS OPPOSITION. 311 with a concerto on the organ ;" on the 1st of December, '"''Semele^ after the manner of an oratorio," with " addi- tions and alterations, and a concerto on the organ ;" on the 8th of December, Semele^ for the second time ; after which a new interruption (which is unexphiined) up to the 5th of January, 1745, when the performances were resumed with " Hercules^ a new musical drama ;" on Jan- uary the 12th, Hercules again ; then another suspension (which also is unexplained) up to the 1st of March, when Samson was given, which was repeated on the 8th. On the last named day, the adveritsement announced that "proper care will be taken to make the house warm." Afterward came, in regular order, Saul^ Joseph^ Bel- shazzar^ and " The Sacred Oratorio, with a concerto on the organ."* Even such works as these could not till the King's Theater, and Handel was obliged to stop short on the 23d of April, at the sixteenth performance. The faction of the nobles still preserved its inconceiv- able fury against him. He chose the Lent season for his performances, because all the theaters being then closed, and all kinds of pleasure being interdicted, he had a better chance of attracting an audience. But some of the great lords violated even the severity of Lent, and invited the fashionable world to theii- festivities, in order to beguile them from the temptation of attending the oratorios. Hawkins says : — " In the succeeding year [1743], he had a slight turn of that disorder which had driven him to seek relief from the baths of Aix-la-Cha- pelle ; and, to add to this misfortune, an opposition to him and his entertainment was set on foot by some per- sons of distinction, who, by card assemblies and other amusements, at that time not usual in the Lent season, endeavored to make his audiences as thin as possible. * Performances during 1745 : — Deborah^ twice ; Semele^ once ; Hercules, twice ; Samson^ twice ; Saul, once ; Joseph, twice ; Belshazzar, three times ; Messiah, twice. 312 LIFE OF HANDEL. The effects of this association he felt for a season or two, in the course whereof he frequently performed to houses that would not pay his expenses." Burney* makes men- tion of a certain Lady Brown, who gave very fine con- certs and " distinguished herself as a persevering enemy to Handel." In " The Commemoration" f (still believing that The Messiah failed at London, in 1'741), he says that its miscarriage was " to be wholly ascribed to the resentment of the many great personages whom Handel had oifended in refusing to compose for Senesino, which inflexibility being construed into insolence, was the cause of powerful oppositions, that were at once oppressive and mortifying." Always more impassioned than men, both in their hatred and in their love, the women were the most furi- ous against him. They it was who invented those balls and tea-parties which were so fatal to the performances of Handel. Some lines, in a satire by Smollett, prove to what petty means these great ladies had recourse. Smollett, in stigmatizing the counsels of " a man of the world," who gives him bad advice as to how to make his fortime, says : " Again shall Handel raise his laureled brow, Again shall harmony with rapture glow. The spells dissolve — the combination breaks ; And Punch, no longer Frasi's rival, squeaks. Lo ! Kussell falls a sacrifice to whim. And starts amazed, in Newgate, from his dream, "With tremblmg hands implores their promised aid, And sees their favor like a vision fade !"t This Russell, says a note attached to his name, was " a famous mimic and singer, engaged by certain ladies of quality, who engaged him to set up a puppet-show in opposition to the oratorios of Handel ; but the town not seconding the capricious undertaking to injure one * Page 671. + Page 25. X Satire, by Smollett, called " Advice," 1746-47, in the 34th volume of the Collection of the Worlcs of the Bntish Poets. HORACE W ALP OLE. 313 against whom they were unreasonably prejudiced, de- serted their manager, whom they had promised to sup- port, and let him sink under the expenses they had entailed upon him. He was accordingly thrown into 2>nso9i, where his disappointment got the better of his reason, and he remained m all the ecstacy of despair, till at last his generous patroiiesses^ after much solicitation, were prevailed upon to q,o\\qqX> five 2>ou7ids^ on the pay- ment of which he was admitted into Bedlam^ where he continued bereft of his understanding, and died in the utmost misery I" In Newburg Hamilton's preface to his arrangement of jScmiso?i, there is another trace of the indignation which such proceedings caused among all true friends of art : "As we have so great a genius among us, it is a pity that so many mean artifices have been lately used to blast all his endeavors, and in him the art itself. But he has the satisfaction of being encouraged by all the true lovers and real judges of music." One of Horace Walpole's letters bears witness that there was nothing exaggerated in the complaints of those defenders of Handel : " Arlington Street, 24th February, 1143. " But to come to more 7*eal contests [he had just been S2:>eaking of the war in Flanders], Handel has set up an oratorio against the operas, and succeeds. He has hired all the goddesses from farces, and the singers of roast- beef* from between the acts at both theaters, with a * *' The gallery" was then accustomed to call for a song called " The Eoast-beef of Old England," either between the acts or at the end of the performance, as they now call for " Hot Codlings" at Christmas. The former song is engraved in the British Musical Miscellany (vol. iii.) The author of both words and music was named Leveridge, and kept a cof- fee-house in Tavistock-street in 1726. — Biogmphia Dt-amatica. He was bomewhat of a poet, an actor, a singer, and a composer. His career com- menced in 1693, and in the Aiucdotes of Music it is stated that he was singing in Co vent Garden at the age of eighty years! He died in 1759, eighty-eight years old. 14 314 LIFE OF HANDEL. man witli one note in his voice, and a girl without ever an one, and so they sing and make brave hallelujahs, and the good company encore the recitative, if it happens to have any cadence like what they call a tune." It is of the proud Handel, of nothing less than Sam- son^ of the famous English tenor Beard, of Mrs. Gibber, and of Signora Avoglio,* that Horace Walpole speaks in this tone. When you see a man gifted with such an intelligent and refined taste falling into these aberrations, judge how much malignant hatred must have been nec- essary to so stop up his mind and his ears ; and imagine what must have been the disposition of the servile crowd — servunipecu8 — which always follows the torrent, like children after drums. This unw^orthy w^ar, waged against a single man by a powerful class, was only too successful. Whatever they could do, Handel spared nothing in order to give to his performances all possible perfection. The names of the most celebrated instrumentalists of the epoch — Caporale the violoncellist, Lampe the bassoon-player. Snow the trumpeter, Weideman the flutist, Castrucci, Clegg, and Dubourg, violinists, and Powell the harpist, were per- manently attached to his orchestra, which was, moreover, very numerous. Having a great deal of respect for him- self, he naturally had a great deal for others, and there- fore, according to Barney, who was himself a member of his company, "he w\as accustomed to i)ay his per- formers, not only honestly, but generously." The pains which people took to deprive him of audiences, put it beyond his power to pay his expenses. All that he had saved out of his Irish profits, after the payment of his creditors in 1737, was soon absorbed ; he contracted new debts, and was compelled for the second time to suspend his payments about the beginning of 1745. That very same year, the renown of his works was increasmg more * Those three artists created the leading parts in Samson. SECOND FAILUEE. 315 and more in Germany, and lie was elected first Honorary- Member of the Society of Musical Science, founded at Leipsic, and limited to a small number of members.* He seems to have been for a moment overwhelmed by his second failure. Between Helshazzar (finished during the month of October, 1744) and the Occasional Orato- rio (at the commencement of 1746) nothing by him can be found, except an unpublished chamber duet, dated the 31st of August, 1745. Rare interruption of work in his laborious life ! We may imagine with what sadness it was filled ! Not only was he ruined — he was a bank- rupt ; and his enemies triumphed in his humiliation. But neither his genius nor his courage abandoned him. The Occasional Oratorio^ which is always spoken of as a kind of pasticcio, is, on the contrary, a work of the first order, which deserves to be known. " It seems," says Mr. Macfarren, " to have been written, or rather compiled, in great haste, being composed chiefly of pieces from Israel in Egypt and other of Handel's pre- vious works, and such new, matter only as was necessary to connect these selections."! Dr. William Horsley said the same thing in 1842, in the preface to his edition of The Jfessiah. One is astonished to meet with such statements from the pens of these erudite musicians. From an accurate analysis of the score, it appears that the 0ccasi07ial Oratorio has only borrowed the following pieces : — " I w^ill sing unto the Lord," " He gave them hailstones," " Who is like unto thee," "Thou shalt bring them in," " The enemy said" {Israel m Egypt)^ and " God save the King" {Coronation Anthem). It is to be remarked that all these borrowed pieces are in the third act, while the * Mezler'a Musikalisclie BibliotJielc, vol. iii., p. 357, quoted by Mr. John Bishop, of Cheltenham, in his Brief Memoir of George Frederic Handel. This short notice, recently published, is decidedly the most exact account of Handel, chronologically speaking. t Pretace to the handbook of Jadas Mdccab(Bus for the Sacred Har- monic Society. 316 LIFE OF HANDEL. first two acts are original. It seems as if the composer, after having finished the first two acts, was in a hurry to finish for some reason or other, and, for want of time, liad recourse to his Israel in Egypt (which had not suc- ceeded) to fill up the third act. Let us examine what he had done before he was interrupted. I here make use of the words of Mr. Lacy, who had the kindness to make the analysis for me. " The overture has been one of the most favorite things he ever composed ; and is, perhaps, more gener- ally known and admired than any other produced by him. A flow of melody pervades it throughout. The opening is exceedingly fine, the allegro most spirited and singularly pleasing, and the march familiar to all ears. ' O Lord, how many are my foes,' which is accompanied by a solo hautboy in a most expressive strain, is a com- position full of beauty. ' Jehovah, to my words give ear' (wherein the violoncello bears the prominent part) is worthy of all that can be expressed in its praise. It is of that devotional, imploring character which Handel's skill so successfully treats. Another fine composition (for a bass voice) is the air, * His scepter is the rod of power.' In this song of fiery energy the contrast is beautiful, and evidences the master's superior mind, at the words ' His seat is truth.' ' Jehovah is my shield' has always been a popular favorite. The chorus, 'God found them guilty,' which ends the first part, is another, of his truly grand compositions. The celebrated air, * O liberty,' is generally known. It begins the second part, and is followed by another tine air, ' Prophetic visions.' It is worthy of remark, that at one part of this air, after a sudden and general pause, the voice, unac- companied, gives forth, at the words ' War shall cease, welcome peace,' the exact subject of Arne's ' Rule Bri- tannia.' We have next a splendid bass song, ' To God, our strength, sing loud and clear ;' with an obligato trumpet accompaniment, echoed in its passages by the "occasional oratokio." Sll hautboy, and leading into a movement in which the full chorus suddenly joins witli a powerful and startling effect. The air that follows, ' He has his mansion fixed on high,' is a placid and tender melody in a minor key, the accompaniments of which (the violins and violoncelli) maintain, as it were, an expressive dialogue with the voice, portraying beauties not easy to be pointed out by the pen. The ' Hallelujah,' with full instrumentation, concluding the second part, is another masterpiece. In the air, ' When warlike ensigns wave on high' (again a composition of the highest merit), one of this great writer's discriminating and happy changes, succeeding the martial sti-ain, comes soothingly on the listener's ear and mind, at tlie words, ' The frighted peasant sees his fields laid bare,' and ' Ko pasture now the plain affords.' Another well-known and generally admired song (bass) is ' The sword that's drawn in virtue's cause.' The cho- rus, which takes up the last words of this song, ' Millions unborn,' was, very probably, intended by Handel as the finale. Without enumerating all the others, we will merely add the tenor song, ' Tyrants, whom no cove- nants bind,' ' May balmy peace,' and particularly the sweet minor air, ' AVhen Israel, like the bounteous Nile.' "* Let the reader judge as to how much truth there is in the common opinion as to the Occasional Oratorio. Out of thirty-seven airs, duets, and choruses, this pre- tended compilation contains thirty-one which are per- fectly new If Let it be observed, also, that when Han- del made a pasticcio, he seldom took the trouble to transcribe it ; but there is an entire MS. of the Occa- sional Oratorio, and the numerous erasures bear witness to its right to be considered an original work. I can only find one explanation for the vulgar erroi' ; which is, that as the pieces which the composer made use of, wlien he had no time to finish the work, are all very popular, * See " Catalogue." t Ibid. 318 LIFE OF HANDEL. they have more especially attracted the attention of those critics who make but a superficial examination of the scores. But if these be abstracted, thirty-one orig- inal pieces remain, such as would create the reputation of thirty-one new composers. Fortune acts as capriciously by the w^orks of men as she does by men themselves. When she frowns upon a work every thing turns against it, and its beauties, how- ever sui-passing, are regarded by none. " O liberty, thou choicest treasure," with which Handel adorned Judas Maccahceus (already sufficiently rich), is one of the spoils of the Occasional Oratorio. It is exactly in its place, with its divine echo accompaniment on the violoncello, in the MS. of the Occasional Oratorio^ and was engraved in the edition of the same, pubhshed by Walsh before that of Judas^ where it did not appear. It is not to be found either in the orio*inal MS. of Judas, nor in the copy of that oratorio which is in the Smith collection, as was originally made. It was afterward in- serted in this copy by Handel himself, who wrote it at full length with his own hand, as well as the recitative by which he causes it to be jjreceded, "To heaven's immortal King." The sublime copyist marked it for " Israelite woman," and at the end he has written, " Segue I'aria : ' Come, ever-smiling liberty.' " Dr. Morell, who had written the words of that air for Judas 3IaGcahcBus^ and who has left it in the handbook of his poem, observes parenthetically, with pleasant in- difference, " the following air was designed and wrote for that place, but it got, I know not how, into the Oc- casioncd Oratorio^ and was there incomparably set as finely executed." This even leads one to believe that the unknown compiler of the Occasional Oratorio may be this same philosophic Morell. Although Handel always did as he pleased with his poems, one can not imagine that if it were otherwise he would not have eflected "rule britaxnia." 319 such a fusion. It is even a strong measure to have dealt in tliis manner by two works of the same author.* The Marseillaise of England, " Rule Britannia," which is taken from Alfred^ a masque, by Dr. Arne,f is in great part borrowed from the poor Occasional Oratorio. In reality, it is by Ilaudel ; for in the whole air there are only two bars which do not belong to him.J; It will not * Thomas Morell, who was born in 1701, and died in 1784: {BiograpMa Draniatica), belonged to tlie clergy, and was a good Grecian. lie gained his living laboriously by his pen, and from a small benefice, such as they seem to keep in the Anglican Church expressly for their most learned ministers. He was secretary to the Society of Antiquarians ; one of the wi'iters of the Gentleman's Magazine ; and left Studies of History (1 vol.) ; Treasury of the Greek Poets^ tvith Coinmentaries (2 vols.) ; Sermons (1 vol.) ; Annotations on Locke''s Essays (1 vol.) ; and The Use and Importance of Music in the Sacrifice of ThanJcsgiving, a Sermon delivered in 1747'. Judas Maccalceus was the first of his oratorios. He afterward wrote, for Han- del, Alej.ander Boelus, Theodora^ Jephtha, Triumph of Time ; and for Smith, Nabal, in 1764. There are, moreover, by him, a Hecuba, dated 1749, and a Prometheus in Chains, dated 1773. t Dr. Arne's Alfred, which was an utter faihu'e, appears to have be- longed to 1751. In spite of the great number of books upon music pub- lished in England, it is singular how difiicult it is to find the least pre- cise proof. Busby, although he consecrates a special article to Arne, in his History of Music, makes mention of neither Alfred nor " Eule Britan- nia." The Biographia Bramatica speaks of Alfred, an opera, produced at Covent Garden in 1745, and of Alfred, a masque, produced at Drury Lane in 1751 ; but to neither of these is the name of Arne attached. The Companion to the Playhouse (1764), however, says thoi Alfred, the masque, was " about 1748." In a Dictionary of Dates, this word about has a neg- ligent grace which is perfectly charming. I do not find any otlier mu- sical Alfred : what Buruey has not mentioned in musical matters must be sought at the source. I believe that Arne's composition was of 1751, because the General Advertiser of the 8th of May, in that year, announces : " The music in the masque of Alfred, published by J. Oswald." The first collection of songs that I know of in which " Eule Britannia^' ap- peared is Clio and Euterpe, which bears the date of 1752. X " When Britain first" is note for note the stroplie " War shall cease," of " Prophetic visions :" ^-^ r:\ at Heaven's command. 320 LIFE OP HANDEL. be out of place to observe here that, on the other hand, the national anthem of Great Britain, " God save the The same air in the Occasional, " Prophetic visions," at the words " Tri- umphs after victory;" has supplied the middle portion of Dr. Arne's composition. rose from out the a zure main. The phrase of " Triumph after victory" is not uncommon in Handel ; we iiixd it more or less accentuated in his earlier works. The refrain, " Kule, rule, Britannia," is also taken from Handel's " Ti rendo questo cor," in Giustino. m >» |V ^S SEtt i Ti ren - do ques-lo cor h ^ che ti ser - bo V a - mor. ^(¥=s-' ^ Rule, rule, Bri-tan - nia 1 Bri - tan - nia rules the waves. Burney had already pointed out (pp. 405 and 453) that the cadence of " Eule Britannia" is from the air " Un vostro sguardo," in the same opera, at the words, m ^ ^^g^^^g ^^g^gEEEl Bri - tons ne be slav'( Thus, the celebrated national song, ibr which Dr. Ame has all the credit, is, with the exception of two bars, composed out of different fragments by Handel. Arne, who was nevertheless a very distinguished musician, has no other merit, and it is certainly a merit to have chosen them v/ell, and to have employed them properly. The following are the only two bars which he can really claim as his own : rose from f)u1 ihe a zure ma 11. "god save the king." 321 King," is sometimes erroneously attributed to Handel. Tiiere is a little French tradition which even asserts that this was written by Lully, for the occasion of Louis the Fourteenth's visit to St. Cyr, and was stolen by Handel during a visit to Paris. But Handel never set foot in France, and " God save the King" was sung in England more than thirty years before Lully came into the world. This magnilicent hymn, which the author of The Messiah would not have disowned, belongs to Dr. John Bull, the organist to James the First, and was composed in 1607, as a thanksgiving to God for having saved the king from the Gunpowder Plot.* When kings escape from assas- sination, it is always Providence that has saved them ; but when they are slain it is never Providence that has destroyed them. That is royal logic ; false as the logic of the assassin. For the French to pretend that " God save the King" was by Lully, needs all the blindness of national preju- dice. It is as if we were to attribute a page of Amyot to Voltaire, or a verse of Chaucer to Byron. It has been rightly said that composers have a style, as painters and writers have, and that Lully's style diflers as widely from " God save the King" as a picture of Reubens from one by Raphael. It is asserted that the Occasional Oratorio was com- posed to celebrate the " northern victories," that is to say, the first advantages gained in Scotland by the troops of George the Second over the army of Charles Stuart, the eldest son of the Pretender. I do not know upon what this assertion is founded, but it does not seem to be justified. The somewhat obscure title signifies what we Frenchmen call a piece de circo7istance — a piece for the occasion. The poem, devoid of subject, is a mixture of invocations to God, thanksgiving, and hymns in praise of liberty, which are certainly not without connection * This seems to me to be very -well established by Eichard Clarke, in his Account of the Natxoncil Anthem^ &c. 14^' 322 LIFE OF HANDEL. with sncli an occasion ; but there is nothing which bears the character of a song of victory, and in the announce- ment of the work no kind of aUusion is made to the po- litical circumstances which are said to have inspired the composition. Let us see if we can not discover some more satisfactory explanation. Handel, during his disastrous season of 1746, had agreed with the subscribers to give them twenty-four performances. Being compelled to suspend operations at the sixteenth, he still owed them eight — a debt which he could not overlook. The reader may recall to mind that, in 1738, he had given a concert which (rightly or wrongly) he called " Oratorio." He set to music the work which we are now considering, in order to pay his debt, and he consecrated it exclusively to that object; calHng it (as it seems to me) A?i Occasional Oratorio, in allusion to the other accidental oratorio of 1738. It is a fact to be remarked, that in the advertisements this somew^hat odd title is always accompanied by the adjec- tive "new." The General Advertiser of the 31st of January, 1746, announced : — " We hear that Mr. Handel promises to exhibit some musical entertainments, on Wednesdays or Fridays, the ensuing Lent, with intent to make good to the subscribers that favored him last season the number of performances he was not then able to complete. In order thereto, he is preparing A New Occasional Oratorio, which is designed to be performed at the Theater Royal, in Covent Garden." And in the same pai)er, of Saturday the 8th, " Covent Garden — On Friday next (Feb. 14th) will be performed A Ne^v Oc- casional Oratorio, with a new concerto on the organ. The subscribers who favored Mr. Handel last season with their subscription, are desired to send to the office, at Covent Garden Theater, on the day of performance, where two tickets shall be delivered to each, gratis, in order to make good the number of performances sub- scribed to last season," "JUDAS MACCAli.i:US." 323 To what could the word "new," twice repeated, refer, if not to the collection of pieces previously offered under the name of Oratorio f I admit that the explanation is so far-fetched that many persons may not feel satisfied witli it ; but, however that may be, the Neii^ Occasional Oratorio was three times performed, as advertised — on the 14th, the 19th, and the 26th of February. The two tickets, o-ratis, which were added to the subscribers' sil- ver ticket, were in reality equivalent to nine perform- ances, and as Handel only owed them eight, he was quits with them, principal and interest. The public was not more favorably disposed toward him in 1746 than in 1745, for he did not exceed the number of performances necessary to the payment of his debt. On the 26th of February, the advertisement stated "that this performance v.ill be the last of the season." It is true that it was only a duty that he fultilled ; but we like to see a man acquitting himself of his duty so gallantly. The author of Esther^ AtJudiah^ Samson^ 3Iessiah^ and Saul^ had thoroughly learned from experience that he could not count upon a regular audience, and opened no more similar subscriptions. He gave his oratorios every year, like any other form of entertainment. He addressed himself to the great mass of the public, with- out any previous engagem(?nt ; reserving the liberty of limiting to his taste the number of his performances, which varied thenceforth from ten to thirteen. The war with the Pretender incontestably gave occa- sion to one of the masterpieces of this vir iwohiis — Judas Maccahceus — which was written in thirty-two days (be- tween the 9th of July and the 11th of August, 1746), and was produced at Covent Garden on the 1st of April, during the season of 1747.* This oratorio was demanded from the composer by Frederic, Prince of Wales, to cele- * Perforniftnces in 1747 : — Occasional Oratorio^ three times ; Joseph., three times ; Judas Maccahceus.^ six times. 324 LIFE OF II AX DEL. brate the return of his not very much beloved brother, the Duke of Cumberland, who, on the 16th of April, 1746, had won the decisive battle of Culloden.* Handel had pointed out the subject to Thomas Moi-ell. A passage in the handbook furnishes a new proof that he used his poems very cavalierly. At the entrance of the Messenger in the third act, it is stated : — " Several incidents were introduced here by way of messenger and chorus, in order to make the story more complete ; but it was thought they would make the performance too long, and therefore were not set, and therefore not printed ; this being designed not as a finished poem, but merely as an oratorio." Morell understood what was his part. He knew that a libretto should be entirely made for the music, and that it has only a secondary place in the collaboration of the poet and the composer. Handel, for his part, was perfectly convinced of this truth, and did not disquiet himself much about " making the story more complete," when, by doing so, the music would have been rendered less clear. We often found in his manuscripts words of recitatives written below the staves without notes ; and we may infer from this that he wrote in advance, more or less of the recitatives which he was composing, and that in this last opera- tion he passed over whatever he judged to be too lengthy. However little importance Morell attached to his Ju- das Maccabwns^ he dedicated it to the conqueror in these words .• — " To His Royal Highness Prince William, Duke of Cumberland, this faint portraiture of a truly wise, valiant, and virtuous commander, as to the pos- sessor of the like noble qualities, is, with the most pro- found respect and veneration, inscribed by his royal highness's most obedient and most devoted servant, the author." This is addressed to a man who ])iti]essly mur- dered as many prisoners after tlie battle as liis courage * Biogriijihkt Dvamittioa. "see the conqu eking iieko." 325 had slain enemies during the combat. Will conquerors always be " wise and virtuous" in the eye of poets ?* The celebrated chorus, " See the conquering hero" (which has become one o^ the pieces de resistance for the Societe des Concerts at Paris, by whom it is given every year), did not originally belong to Jiiclas^ but to Joshua. In the copy of Judas, in the Smith collection, this chorus is added ; a proof that it did not form part of the oratorio at the beginning. It was printed for the first time by Walsh, in the edition of Joshica, which appeared a year after that of Judas. Randall, in engraving the two works at a later period, exclusively attributed it to Joshua. Arnold, who never discussed, extricated him- self from the difficulty by putting it into both. Mr. Macfarren makes a great mistake when he affirms pos- itively, in the preface to his edition of Judas for the Handel Society, that there is no original MS. of this chorus in existence ; and all the observations which he founds upon that error fall of their own accord. There is no doubt that " See the conquering hero" is in the MS. of Joshua. It is not even a subsequent addition, but is in its proper place, after the recitative, " In bloom of youth." It is addressed to the youthful Othniel, when he returns from the conquest of the city of Debir. Judas JIaccabwus was revived on the 26th of February, * The political circumstances, as miicli as the sublimity of the com- position, obtained for the new oratorio a success which has never deserted it. Handel himself performed it thirty-eight times, and on the thirtieth occasion the receipts amounted to £400. \^Biographia BramcUica.] The Jews contributed greatly to its popularity. Finding in it one of the finest episodes in their national history, they all went to hear it. It is still ranked, and justly so, beside the greatest works of the composer — Israel, Samson, and The Messiali. Yet the Morning Herald of the lOtli of February, 1852, says that — " The airs of Judas Maccabceus, like those in MANY other works of Handel, are occasionally feeble and insipid, but two or th-ee of them are exactly the reverse, and, in the liands of singers of ability, bkcome both important and interesting.'''' If Dante had been acquainted with the author of tliut article, he would have put hiin into the hottest pla<'o. in his InfervA). 326 LIFE OF HANDEL. 1748, and on the 1st of the following April it was an- nounced " witli additions." This performance of the 1st of April, 1748, was perhaps the anniversary of the festi- val of 1747, and it maybe that "See the conquering hero," which had excited the enthusiasm of the audience in Joshua (which had been performed on the 9th of March, 1748), was one of the " additions." It was ever afterward left in Judas^ which never lost its attractions for the musical public. "From the general construction of the chorus," says Crosse, " and the leading accompaniments being given first to the horns and afterward to the flutes, it would appear that Handel aimed at producing something to please the popular ear. It is related of him, that after playing it over to a friend, who happened to call upon him just as it was finished, he asked, ' How do you like it ?' and being answered, ' Not so well as some things I have heard of yours,' he replied, ' Nor I either ; but you will live to see it a greater favorite with the people than my other fine things' — a prediction which, happily, can scarcely be allowed to have been verified." It is Miss Hawkins, in her A?iecdotes of 3Iusie^ who reports this conversation as having taken place between her fother and Handel. It is impossible, however, but that she has made some mistake. Her father would certainly not have failed to record himself awch an extraordinary opin- ion ; and Handel was too sensible a man to say " my other fine things." Finally, this chorus does not delight the vulgar only ; it has been for more than a century and will still remain, the admiration of men of the purest and the most elevated taste. It is not performed at the present day with scrupulous exactness. Handel never intended that the three strophes should be all sung in chorus. In the MS., the second part of the strophe of the Virgins, at the words "Myr- tle Wreaths," is inscribed : " Sig^. Cassarini and Sig^. Galli." They therefi)re sung these two verses alone, and "LUCIUS VERUS." 327 the suspension must have certainly given greater bril- liancy to the full chorus which follows. In assigning the piece to Sig^. Galli, there was certainly an anomaly w^hich the colorless style of performing oratorios could alone prevent from being shocking. She was charged with the part of Othniel, w^hose glory is being celebrated by the chorus, and it follows that when she sang " Myrtle wreaths," she was singing her own triumph. In the same year that Judas Maecahmus was produced, Gluck, then thirty years old, produced La Cadiita de* Giganti at the King's Theater, which had been reopened in 1746 by Lord Middlesex. This was intended as an- other compliment to the Duke of Cumberland. It was only performed five times ;* but it should not be forgot- ten that it was only a piece for the occasion. Walsh has included five morceaux from it in the ninth volume of his Delizie delP Opera — a collection in eleven volumes, of the principal airs in all the operas of that period. The name of Handel reappeared also at the Italian The- ater in 1747, attached to a certain Lucius Verus — a com- pilation made up of airs taken from his operas. Walsh published ''''Favorite Songs in Lucius Verus^ by Mr. Handel ;" but this is a piece of Jesuitism. The book is " by Mr. Handel" only, inasmuch as it comprises the re- impression of plates containing ten pieces, borrowed from Hicardo^ Madamisto^ Admetus^ Siroe^ and Tamerlane. The editor has done nothing but engrave '•''Lucius Verus'''* beneath each piece, with the name of anew singer. For example, at the head of " Cara sposa," of Radamisto^ may still be found " sung by Signor Senesino," and at the foot, ''''Lucius Yerus?"* In this manner we learn that there were not less than five ladies singing in Laicius Verus, Signore Galli, Frasi, Casarini, Sibilla, and Miss Pirker. The last three, although little known, must have had a certain amount of talent, for they sang the pieces which were written for Senesino. The four Ital- * Dictionary of Musicians. 328 LIFE OF HANDEL. ian ladies figure in the oratorios of the same period, and tliey were not, therefore, exclusively attached to the the- ater of the manager-lord. Lucius Verus is classed among the works of Handel, in my opinion unreasonably so, for it does not contain a single original note. From no portion of it does it ap- pear that tlie author of Ricardo^ /Sh'oe, and Tamerlane had any thing to do with that confection of old goods, or that he ever sanctioned it by his consent. Artistic pro- ductions were not then protected against any species of piracy. When they had once appeared, they became every body's prey, and were made use of in a manner which is equally oliensive to reason and to equity. There is only one excuse for the rivals who thus adorned themselves with borrowed plumes, that they have set a high value upon him whom they despoiled. In the Gen- eral Advertiser of the 13th jSTovember, 1747, an adver- tisement appeared, which was conceived in the following terms : " Yesterday was rehearsed, at the King's Thea- ter in the Haymarket, the opera of Lucius Verus. This drama consists of airs borrowed entirely from Mr. Han- del's favorite operas, and so may (probably) be justly styled the most exquisite comi^osition of hai-mony ever offered to the publick. Those lovers of musick among us whose ears have been charmed with Faustina, Faran- ello, Senesini {sic)^ Cuzzoni, and other great performers, will now have an opportunity of reviving their former delight ; which, if not so transporting as then, may yet prove a very high entertainment. Mr. Handel is ac- knowledged (universally) so great a master of the lyre, that nothing urged in fivor of his capital performances can reasonably be considered as a puff." But worse things than Liccius Verus had been com- mitted in this manner. The Weekly Chronicle of Satur- day, the Tth of December, 1734, contains this paragraph : " Last Saturday, there was a rehearsal of the opera of Otho in the Haymarket, before a numerous audience of MUSICAL riRACY. 329 the first quality." Burney has given an account of all the representations of Otho during that same month of December, at the theater in the Haymarket, then in the occupation of the company patronized by the nobility. An Ottone in Villa had been given at Venice, in 1729, by Vivaldi ; but as only Otho is mentioned without the author's name, one is led to believe (with Burney) that it was Handel's own opera that was sung at the theater, which had been opened for the express purpose of ruin- ing him. Moreover, what other body of the community, except the nobility, could bring together an audience " of the first quality ?" But we must be permitted to doubt the excellence of " the quality" of such an iniq- uity. In 1743, when Handel had nothhig to do with the Italian theater. Lord Middlesex, who was then the man- ager, gave '•'•RoxaiLCi^ or Alexander in India., composed by Mr. Handel, with dances and other decorations, en- tirely new."* This was the Alessandro of 1728, under a new name ; but the handbook of this Hoxana of 1743, " composed by Mr. Handel,^'' contains no fewer than nine airs which belong neither to Alessandro nor to any other of his operas, and, nevertheless no intimation is given of their introduction. While he was alive, therefore, they sung under his name nine airs which did not belong to him ! It is true that they suppressed twelve belonging to the original work; but not even M. Azais himself could regard that as a sufficient compensation.! It is certain that, in 1747, Handel was an utter stranger to the theater. His life had taken a regular and uniform course. He composed one and sometimes two oratorios during the dull season; and, when Lent arrived, he pro- duced them in a series of twelve performances, accom- panied by some of his former works. Thus it was that at Covent Garden, in 1748, Alexander JBcdus., which ho * London Bally Post, 8tii Novem'ber, 1743. + M. Azais is a French philosopher, whose doctrine is that good and evil compensate each other in the creation. 330 LIFE OF HANDEL. had completed on the 4th of July, 1747, appeared on the 9tli and 23d of March, and Joshua^ which was written in a month, from the 19th of July to the 19th of the follow- ing August.* Joshua., which may be reproached with having too many recitatives, contains some supreme beauties. Ach- sah's air, ^' Hark, 'tis the linnet," with a simple accompa- niment of the violin and flute, is charmingly graceful, and will always be certain of its eifect. I am surprised that concert singers do not avail themselves of it. " Heroes, when with glory burning," is one of those valiant and heroic inspirations in which Handel excelled. In the march, there is an admirable mingling of religious feel- ing with martial audacity. Shield, one of the veterans of English music, says, in his appendix to his theoret- ical hook., I)itrodnction to Harmony : "Traveling from London to Taplow with the father of modern harmony [Haydn], and having, during the preceding evening, ob- served his countenance expressing rapturous astonish- ment during the concert of ancient music, I embraced the favorable opportunity of inquiring how he estimated the chorus in Joshua., ' The nations tremble.' The reply was, ' He had long been acquainted with music, but never knew^ half its powers before he heard it, and he was per- fectly certain that only one inspired author ever did, or ever would, pen so sublime a composition.' " To make this " wonderful chorus" known in foreign cities, where English oratorios are not collected, Mr. Shield has given the score of it in his work, but regrets that his limits would not allow the insertion of its impressive introduc- tory air, " Glory to God." " Powerful guardians," an- other air in Joshua., had an immense and deserved suc- cess. It was afterward added, in a detached leaf, to the h?iwd\)o6k^ o^ Judas 3Iaecahceus and of Jo.?^^?^. It can not be doubted that Handel himself frequently intro- * Performances of 1748 : — Joshua, four times ; Alexander Bcelus, three times; Judas, six times. "JOSHUA." 331 duced into the performances of his successful oratorios some of the airs whicli had been applauded in such of the others as had been less favorably received. The copy oi Joshua in the Smith collection perfectly clears up a difficulty in a matter of detail which has hith- erto remained unexplained, and thus gives an additional value to that precious collection. After the recitative, " Brethren and friends," at the moment when the He- brews are about to attack Jericho, the original MS. has a bar of music for the kettle-drum, followed by an etc., over which is written " Flourish of warlike instruments." Handel usually composed separately all the instrumental music, and here he jotted down a bar of the "flourish" as it came into his mind, and added " etc.," reserving the development for some future period. The question was, where was the piece of martial music to be found ? It could not be discovered anywhere. Walsh's edition does not even mention it. The editions of Randall and Ar- nold, and the copy in Mr. Lennard's collection, have only the bar of the original MS., with the indication, " Flour- ish of warlike instruments." Nevertheless, the hand- book of the first performance, and another handbook dated Oxford, 1756, have at this place "Warlike sym- phony." The Hebrews had certainly marched into Jeri- cho to music ; but what music ? The question was asked in vain ; when the copy in Smith's collection, being the very one which Handel himself used in conducting the oratorio, comes to reveal the secret. The solitary bar for the kettle-drum in the original MS., whicli had been also copied there, is effaced, and on the following page is written the bass part of a little symphony, in which Mr. Lacy recognizes a warlike symphony from the opera of Ricardo Primo. Therefore, Handel gave up his first idea, either because it inspired him no further, or because he had no time to develop it, and we know now that he introduced into Joshua^ in 1748, a flourisk from an opera which he had produced twenty-one years before. It will 332 LIFE OF UANDEL. be seen by the " Catalogue," where these questions are more naturally in their place,thatvery few similar questions remain w^hich are not now to be thoroughly cleared up. Since it is said that the public will not come to hear such works as Joshua^ one ought to be very much obliged to Mr. Surman and the London Sacred Harmonic Society for giving them at the minor performances, in the smaller concert-room, at Exeter Hall, which are in addition to their regular winter entertainments. Handel, proceeding in the manner which has been de- scribed, wrote Solo7no7i between the 5th of May and the 19th of June, and Susannah from the 11th of July to the 24th of August, 1748. He was then sixty-three years old ! They were performed at Covent Garden during the season of 1749.* The couplets in jSusannah^ "Ask if yon damask rose," were worth a fortune. They were engraved in every form. The JLadi/''s Magazine gave them to its subscribers even as late as 1793. They were sung with other words, "Let rakes and libertines," in Love in a Village^ a comic opera, produced in 1762. The three double choruses which succeed each other at the beginning of Solo7no7i are all composed in the grand- est style, forming an harmonic effect which is at the same time very complicated and very powerful. The chorus, " May no rash intruder," is a melodious inspiration of charming originality, and which nothing, even in the works of the Italian masters, can surpass. The double choruses in the second act, " From the censer curling rise," and the magnificent air, " Sacred raptures," which used to be frequently sung at the festivals, deserve all their celebrity. The air belonging to the true mother, " Can I see my infant gored," is touching and expressive to the last degree. In this work we constantly perceive that Handel had preserved an extraordinary freshness of ideas. The parts of the two women, which are admira- * Performances of 1749 : — Susannah, four times ; Hercules, twice ; iSamson, four times ; Solomon, twice ; Messiah, four times. "SOLOMON." 333 bly distinct, prove also that he had lost nothing of the vigor of his dramatic conception. IsTevertlieless, Solo- mon was only given twice in 1749, and twice again ten years afterward, when Handel revived it in the very year of his death. In going to the root of the matter, one feels surprised at the small number of times on which the oratorios of Handel were performed during his life. Altogether, from 1743 down to his death in 1759, he only gave one hundred and ninety-two performances (not including the eleven for the Foundling Hospital), an average of twelve every year ; among which llie Messiah^ Judas^ and Sam- son count for eighty-seven. After those three oratorios, the compositions which were most frequently performed were, Joseph^ eleven times ; Joshua^ Jephtha^ and Bel- shazzar^ each seven ; Alexander'^ s Feast reappeared eight times during that period ; The Choice of Hercules and Saul^ seven ; Athalia^ four ; Deborah and Esther^ three, etc. It may be relied upon that these details are per- fectly correct. They have been collected out of the journals of the period, as they are to be found in the British Museum. The imperfect state of the collections anterior to that epoch does not allow of the same exam- ination, with any degree of certainty, as to the period between 1732 (when Esther made its first appearance be- fore the public) and 1742. In the appendices to the " Catalogue" will be found all the performances noted, which will be always serviceable for references. The MS. of Solo7no7i is written upon all kinds of paper, and of all dimensions, from the smallest oblong to the largest folio. It may be supposed that the composer's affairs were still in a very bad state, and that he found it necessary to be saving, by using up all the remnants of paper which he happened to have about him. Never- theless, he offered the tickets for the first representation — "Pit and boxes to be put together, at lialf a guinea each ; first gallery, five shillings ; second gallery, three 334 LIFE OF HANDEL. shillings and sixpence."* When we see him raising the pi-ice of his places beyond eight shillings (which was the legular price), we may judge that he counted on the general interest excited when a new work by him was expected.f It must have been indeed a wonderful sight for his cotemporaries to see these great works following each other with such rapidity. However perfect may have been the confidence in the strength of the old man, the ilite of Milo of Crotona was always to be dreaded. But it seems as if the fatigues of old age were un- known to him. While he directed his performances dur- ing the Lent of 1748, during which he played every evening (as his custom was) one or two concertos upon the organ, he wrote the music for the royal fireworks, which were exhibited on Thursday, the 27th of April, 1749. "The machine," says the Gentleman'' s Magazine for this month, " was situated in the Green Park, 500 feet from his majesty's library, and represented a mag- nificent Doric temple, from which extended two wings, terminated by pavilions, 114 feet in height to the top of his majesty's arms; 410 feet long. Invented and designed by the Chevalier Servandoni. Disposition of the fire- work : after a grand overture of warlike instruments, composed by Mr. Handel, a signal was given for the com- mencement of the firework, which opened by a royal salute of 101 brass ordnance, viz., 71 six-pounders, 20 twelve-pounders, and 10 twenty-four pounders." The construction caught fire, and his majesty's library narrowly escaped being burned. This display of fire- works was to celebrate the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, which was concluded on the 7th of October, 1748, and which put an end to a long war, by insuring to the throne of England the inheritance of the Hanoverian crowm. In addition to the overture, which was played by fifty- six instruments,! this music is divided into five move- * General Advertiser for 17th of March, 1749. \ See Appendix S. X See page 157. FIREWOKKS MUSIC. 335 inents — two Allegro, one Bouree, one Siciliana, and two minuets, in which are viohns, violas, violoncellos, and double-basses. Below the Siciliana, the MS. bears the words " La paix," and below the second Allegro, " La rejouissance." Doubtless this accompanied a transpar- ency symbolical of Pleasures, and the Siciliana one bear- ing an allegorical representation of Peace. Handel always varied the eflects of sonority with extreme care. The Allegro of " La rejouissance" has this direction : — " The first time with trumpets, 2d time with French horns, the 3d time all together." At the first minuet, originally set for " trombe, tympnni, hautbois, viole, bas- sons" (trumj^ets, kettle-drums, hautboys, viols, and bas- soons), it is written — "la seconda volta colli corni di caccia, hautbois, bassons e tympani ; la terza volta tutti insieme and the side drums" (the second time with hunt- ing horns, hautboys, bassoons, and kettle-drums; the third time all together, and the side drums). People had doubtless been talking about the fifty-six wind-instruments which were to lead this musical bi'oad- side. Curiosity was excited to the highest point. The General Advertiser of the 22d of April, 1749, says: — *' Yesterday there was the brightest and most numerous assembly ever known at the Spring Gardens, Yauxhall, on occasion of the rehearsal of Mr. Handel's music for the royal fireworks." The Gentleman'' s Magazine for April, 1'749, says : " Friday 21, was performed, at Vaux- hall Gardens, the rehearsal of the music for the fire- works, by a band of 100 musicians, to an audience of above 12,000 pei'sons (tickets 9s, Gd.) So great a resort occasioned such a stoppage on London Bridge, that no carriage could pass for three hours. The footmen were so numerous as to obstruct the passage, so that a scuffle en- sued, in which some gentlemen were wounded." Twelve thousand persons at 9s. 6d. per ticket would give £5700. Such a receipt appears incredible. Surely there is a printer's error here. The General Advertiser puts the 336 LIFE OF II A. N DEL. tickets at 2s. 6d., which is far more reconcilable with an audience of 12,000 persons. Even that would bring £1500; which is, after all, a good round sum. Fireworks Music figured for a long time afterward in the programme of almost every concert ; but it is not to be supposed that it was performed with all the horns and trumpets of the Green Park. Musicians have not so high an opinion of Fireworks 3Iusic as of Water Music. Walsh published the two works for eight instruments, and for the harpsichord. Messrs. Lonsdale and Co. have lately put forward an edition of the first one for the piano, upon the occasion of the peace with Russia. Very often, on both sides of the quarrel, wars are finished with a display of fireworks. Sad mockery ! Handel himself caused Fireworks Music to be per- formed at the Foundling Hospital, a few days after the public rejoicings of the 27th of April. " On the 4th of May, 1749," says Mr. Brownlow,* "he attended the committee at the hospital, and offered a performance of vocal and instrumental music ; the money arising there- from to be applied toward the finishing of the chapel." This performance is thus alluded to in the Gentlemaii's Magazine of that month : " Saturday, 27th. — The Prince and Princess of Wales, with a great number of persons of quality and distinction, were at the chapel of the Foundling Hospital to hear several pieces of vocal and instrumental music, composed by George Frederic Han- del, Esq., for the benefit of the foundation. 1°. The music for the late fireworks, and the anthem on the peace ; 2^. select pieces from the oratorio of Solomon relating to the dedication of the Temple ; and, 3°, several pieces composed for the occasion, the words taken from Scripture, and applicable to the charity and its bene- factors. There was no collection, but the tickets were at half a guinea, and the audience above a thousand, be- * Memoranda of tlie Foundling Hospital, 8vo, 1847. "tueodora." 337 sides a gift of £2000 from his in- tember, 1808. t These two picturea are still at Gopsall. X This copy is preserved in the archives of the hospital. AVILL AND CODICILS. 865 I give to the gOAeniors or trustees of tlie Society for the Support of Decayed Musicians and their Families one thousand pounds, to be disposed of in the most beneficial manner for the objects of tliat charity ; I give to George Amyand, Esquire, one of my executors, two hundred pounds additional to wliat I have before given liim ; I give to Thomas Harris, Esquire, of Lincohi's Inn Fields, three hundred pounds ; I give to Mr. John Iletherington, of the First Fruits Ofiice, in the Middle Temple, one hundred pounds ; I give to Mr. James Smyth, of Bond- street, perfumer, live hundred pounds ; I give to Mr. Mathew Dubourg, musician, one hundred pounds ; I give to my servant, Thomas Bramwell, seventy pounds ad- ditional to wliat I liave betbre given him; I give to Benjamm Martyn, Esquire, of New Bond-street, fifty guineas ; I give to Mr. John Belchar, of Sun Court, Tiireadneedie-street, surgeon, fifty guineas; I give all my wearing apparel to my servant, John de Bourk ; I give to Mr. John Cowland, of New Bond-street, apothe- cary, fifty pounds. 1 hope I have the permission of the Dean and Chapter of Westminster to be buried in West- minster Abbey, in a private manner, at the discretion of my executor, Mr. Amyand ; and I desire that my said executor may liave leave to erect a monument for me there, and that any sum, not exceeding six hundred pounds, be expended for that purpose, at the discretion of my said executor. I give to Mrs. Palmer, of Chelsea, widow of Mr. Palmer, of Chelsea, formerly of Chappel- street, one hundred pounds ; I give to my maid-servants each one year's wages over and above what shall be due to them at the time of my death ; I give to Mrs. Mayne, of Kensington, widow, sister ol* the late Mr. Batt, fifty guineas; I give to Mrs. Dovvnalan, of Charles-street, Berkeley Square, fifty guineas ; I give to Mr. Reiche, Secretary for the affairs of Hanover, two hundred pounds. In witness whereof 1 have hereunto set my hand and seal, this eleventh day of April, 1'759. G. F. Handel. " This codicil was read over to the said George Frid- eric Handel, and by him signed and sealed, in the pres- ence, on the day and year above written, of us, " A. S. RUDD. " J. Christopher Smith." 36 4 L I 1' E O F II A N D E L . The will is written in English from one end to the other, and is entirely in Handel's handwriting. It is easy to see that he took great pains about making the duplicate, which is now in the possession of Mr. Snoxell.* To the codicils, which have all been dictated, the testa- tor only affixed his signature. The seal of the fourth bears the impress of a bearded head, sufficiently like that of Shakespeare to give a color for the belief that Handel sealed with the image of the greatest of poets, even when England called him " Mr. William Shakes- peare." Mr. Snoxell also possesses, from the same source as he does the duplicate of the mil, the inventory of Handel's household goods, drawn up on the 27th of August, 1759. Even taking into account the articles which had been re- moved in consequence of legacies, and that he had been blind for the last six years of his life, it is remarkable with what simplicity the great man lived. All his furni- ture, sold to his servant John Dubourk, was only valued at £48 sterling. If the reader should feel any curiosity to know of what it is composed, he will find the inventory in the Appendix.f It will be perceived from his will that Handel did not forget his flimily, although he had been absent from his native country forty-seven years; but from the multi- plicity of his subsequent donations, it is to be supposed that he had not then any great affi^ction for his niece, J. Michaelsen, whom he had constituted his residuary lega- tee in 1750. The last codicil, although made in articido mortis^ bears the traces of an astonishing memory. The only point which gives any sign of an enfeebled intelligence is the demand for a monument in Westminster Abbey, with the expenses of which he charges his estate. An- other fact, which is recorded in the A?iecdotes of Han- * See Appendix T. t See Appendix U. PROOF OF niS HONESTY. 365 f?e^,* shows that at the end of his life he was strangely preoccupied with his future glory, but serves at the same time as a new proof of his admirable honesty. lie had promised Smith to leave him all his manuscripts, but thinking, after reflection, that their preservation would be more certain in a public library, he resolved to deposit them in the University of Oxford. Upon this, he offered Smith three thousand pounds if he would renounce the moral claim which his promise had given him. But Smith could not be persuaded to do so, and when the will was opened, it was found that the manuscripts be- longed to Smith. The dying man had sacrificed to the duty of keeping his word that which he regarded as a means of securing his renown. What strength of mind ! What virtue in an artist of seventy-four years ! Even under the weaknesses of age he remained great. We must admire this all the more when, examining our own hearts, we consider the fascinating power of the miserable suggestions of vanity ; when, looking around us, we see the follies, the meannesses, and the crimes which these suggestions lead men to commit. Handel, in his old man's vanity, was too modest. He might have left to others the care of providing for his last resting-place. He had done so much for the Found- ling Hospital that it was suggested he should be interred in the cemetery of that Institution, beside the founder, Captain Coram. The Londo7i GJironicle of the 14th of April, 1759, says: " By the death of Mr. Handel, a con- siderable pension reverts to the Crown. We hear he will be buried at the burial-ground at the Foundling Hospital, near Captain Coram." But the proper place for his ashes was at Westminster Abbey, the Pantheon of Great Britain. Tlie English nation bore them there with a unanimous voice. Ijmnediately after he ceased to live, the grumblings of old cabals, already almost ex- tinguished, were at an end. England understood what * Page 40. 366 LIFE OP HANDEL. she had lost. " On Friday night, about eight o'clock," says the Universal Chro?iicle, of the 24th of April, 1759, " the remains of the late Mr. Handel were deposited at the foot of the Duke of Argyle's monument in West- mhister Abbey; and though he mentioned being privately interred, yet, from the respect due to so celebrated a man, the bishop, prebends, and the whole choir attended to pay the last honors due to his memory. There was a vast concourse of people of all ranks." The Gentleman''s 3Iagazine of 1759, says : " It is com- puted that there were not fewer than 3000 persons pres- ent on this occasion." Dr. Zachary Pearce, Bishop of Rochester and Dean of Westminster, preached the fu- neral sermon.* His remains were placed in what is called " the Poet's Corner," in which are assembled the immor- tals : Shakespeare, Milton, Dryden, Spenser, Ben Jonson, Thomson, Gray, Garrick, and Sheridan. And he was in his place there ; for who was ever more of a poet than Handel ? Who deserved better to enter the Pantheon? They might have written upon his tomb the words which Anthony spoke when he beheld the body of Caesar, ^^This was a man." His monument was inaugurated on the 10th of July, I762.f It is by Roubiliac, and represents him standing in a noble attitude, leaning toward a table covered with musical instruments and a MS. of The Messiah; the face is slightly upturned heavenward. Beneath his hand, which holds a pen, is a leaf of The Messiah^ whereon is written, "Z know that my Redeemer liveth y" an angel, seated on a cloud, playing upon a harp, above his head, seems to dictate to him. An organ occupies the entire background of this remarkable composition, which can only be reproached with the fault common to the age, that of being too theatrical. The inscription beneath is — * Anecdotes of Handel^ etc., p. 26. + Annual Register and London Chronicle, or Universal Evening Post, of tbe 13th to the'lSth July, 1762. MONUMENT TO HANDEL. ,367 GEORGE FREDERICK HANDEL, Esq., Born February xxiii., mdclxxxiv. Died on Good Fiiday, April xiii., mdccltx. L. F. Koubiliac, Sc* The Anmial Register and London Chronicle state that the inscription originally stood, " Died April 14." Since they changed the day of his death, in order to be cor- rect, they ought now to change the year of his birth. It has already been shown that Handel was born in 1685, and not in 1684. Nor did he call himself "Frederick ;" during the whole of his life he signed his name " Frid- eric." Above the monument is the following inscription, cut upon a large stone slab : Within these Sacred Walls the Memory of HANDEL was celebrated, under the. Patronage, and in the presence of His Most Gracious Majesty, George the III., On the XXVI. and xxix. of May and on the iir. and v. of June, MDCCLXXXIV. The Musick performed on this Solemnity was selected from his own Works, under the direction of BROWNLOW, Earl of Exeter ; JOHN, Earl of Sandwich; HENRY, Earl of Uxbridge ; Sir WATKIN WILL^s WYNN, Bart., and Sir RICHARD JEBB, Bart. The Band, consisting of 525 Vocal and Instrumental Performers, was conducted by JOAH BATES, Esq.t Five days occupied with five performances (four dur- ing the morning at the Abbey, and one in the evening, at a hall called the Pantheon), consisting entirely of the music of one man ! Beethoven and Mozart are the only composers beside him who could supply such a pro- gramme. It was at first intended that only three per- formances should be given, but the enthusiasm was so * Eoubiliac, who was bom at Lyons, died at London, in 1762. By an extraordinary coincidence, this monument was his last important work, as the statue at Vauxhall had been his first. t Joah Bates, one of the Commissioners of the Victualling Office, was a scientific amateur. 368 LIFE OF HANDEL. great, and the demands for tickets so numerous, that it was determined upon to repeat the two morning perform- ances at the Abbey.* -, * As some readers may feel interested in the programme of these per- formances, I subjoin it : First performance, at the Abbey, on Wednesday, the 26th of May, 1784: Past 1st. — " Zadok the priest," from the Coronation Anthems ; over- ture, Esther ; Bettingen Te Deum. Pakt 2d. — Overture and Dead March in Saul ; " When the ear heard him," from the Funeral Anthem; "He delivered the poor," from the Funeral Anthem ; " His body is buried in peace," from the Funeral An- them ; " Gloria Patri," from the Jubilate. Part 3d. — Ninth Ghandos Anthem; "The Lord shall reign," chorus from Israel in Egypt; "Sing ye to the Lord," chorus from Israel in Egypt. Second performance, at the Pantheon, on Thursday evening, 27th of May: Paet 1st. — Second Rautbois Concerto; " Sorge infausta," air in Orlan- do ; " Ye sons of Israel," chorus from Joshua; " Eende il sereno," air in Sosarme ; " Caro vieni," in Eichard ; " He smote all the first-born," cho- rus from Israel in Egypt ; "Va tacito e nascosto," air in Julius Casar. Sixth Grand Concerto ; " M'allontano sdegnose pupille," air in Atalanta ; "He gave them hailstones," chorus from Israel in Egypt. Part 2d. — Fifth Grand Concerto ; " Dite che fa," air in Ptolemy ; " Vi fida lo sposo," in ^tius ; " Fallen is the foe," chorus in Judas Macca- bcetis ; overture of Ariad?ie ; "Alma del gran Pompeo," recitative in Ju- lius Coesar ; "Affanni del pensier," air in Otho ; " Nasce al bosco," in Stilts; " lo t'abbraccio," duet m Rodelinda ; Eleventh Grand Concerto; " Ah ! mio cor !" air in Alcina ; " My heart is inditing," from the Coro- nation Authems. Third performance at the Abbey, Saturday, May 29 : — The Messiah. Fourth performance at the Abbey, June 3 : Part 1st. — Overture, Esther ; Dettingen Te Deum. Part 2d. — Overture of Tamerlane ; Dead March in Saul; " When the ear heard him," from the Funeral Anthem, ; " She delivered the poor," from the Funeral Anthem ; " Her body is buried," from the Funeral An- them ; " Gloria Patri," from the Jubilate. Part 8d. — "Jehovah crowned with glory," air and chorus in EstJier ; First Grand Concerto ; " Gird on thy sword," chorus in Saul ; Fourth Haulbois Concerto; anthem, "O sing unto the Lord;" "The Lord shall reign," chorus from Mael in Egypt; " Zadok the priest," from Corona- tion Anthems. Fifth performance, at the Abbey, June 5 : — The Messiah. A.t the great Festival at York, in 1825, they gave, in addition to the COMMEMORATION OF 1784. 369 This commemorative festival had been fixed for 1784, because on that year a century was supposed to have elapsed since the day of Handel's birth, and a quarter of a century since the day of his death. It was truly a national solemnity. George the Third attended it in state, and presided over each performance, wearing on his arm, in order to do more honor to the memory of the illustrious dead, the scarf and medal of a steward. The receipts amounted to the enormous sum of £12,736 sterling ; part of which was divided as follows : The Society of Decayed Musicians . .£6000 Westminster Hospital* ... . . 1000 Construction of scaffolding in the Abbey 1969 Orchestra 1976 and the rest in petty expenses. Burney has given a very interesting account of the Commemoration of 1784. He has embellished it with a fair engraving of Roubiliac's sculpture, a representation of the orchestra as it appeared in the Abbey, a view of the tribune upon which the royal family and privileged persons w^ere placed, and an engraving of the stewards' medal, representing on one side the head of the great musician, with this legend in exergue, " Comm. of Han- del, MDccLxxxiv.," and on the reverse, " Sub. Ausp. G. HI." (under the auspices of George III.) At the end of the last century, it was customary to have ornamental concert-tickets, and Burney has given copies of those which were used at the Commemoration. They are rather pretty engravings by Bartolozzi, after Cipriani.f whole of Tlie MessiaJi, extracts from the Coronation Anthem^ the Dettin- gen Te Deum^ the Ghandos Anthems^ and Dryden^s Ode^ Esther^ AtJiaUa, Joshua, Judas MaccahcBHS, JepMJia, Solomon, Theodora, Said, Belshazzar, Israel in Egypt, Samson, and Ads. * The Bishop of London, in permitting this festival within the walla of the Abbey, made it a condition, which can not be blamed, that the Westminster Hospital should have a share in the profits. + Those tickets accounted for about £200 in the expense of the Com- memoration 370 LIFE OF HANDEL. The first is an ancient sarcophagus, with a medallion of the master upon it. The performance, which took place on the 26th of May, had been fixed for the 21st of April, the anniversary of Handel's funeral, which explains the sarcophagus. In the second, Handel is seated, in the act of composing, while the Genius of Harmony places on his brow the crown of immortality, and an angel, fiy- ing up to heaven, bears his name inscribed upon a ban- drol. In the third, England points to a pyramid upon which the name of Handel is inscribed. The stricter sort of devotees blamed the selection of Westminster Abbey as the place in which to hold the festival. They were scandalized at the idea of singing the praises of a man, by his works, in the temple of the Lord, although all his works were for the glory of the Lord, and the poor gained by it £7000. The poet Cow- per, who was, however, an excellent man, directed some verses against what he held to be " A deed, less impious than absurd ;" but even while he blamed "the Commemoration mad," he yet paid homage to him in whose honor it was given : " Eemember Handel ! who that was not born Deaf as the dead to harmony, forgets, Or can, the more than Homer of his age ?" But the " mad" criticisms produced a very slight impres- sion, and the festival w\as renewed in 1785-86-87 and 91 ; alwaj^s very much to the advantage of the poor and the hospitals. Since that time, however, an excessive devo- tion has made great progress in England, and in spite of the consent of the Bishop of London, who threw open the Abbey in 1784, and the following years — in spite of the adhesion of many of the ministers of religion, wdio, m all surety of conscience, took part in these festivals, CLERICAL MUSICIANS. 371 when it was proposed in 183G to celebrate another festi- val, the Duke of Newcastle moved the House of Lords twice — on the 10th of April and the 1st of May — to re- fuse its permission to " such a desecration." The Uishop of London for the time being, supported him, and to- gether they prevailed ! At the end of the last century the clergy had certainly much more extended ideas than those of the present day, and their reputation did not suffer on that account. Not only did the ministers -of religion take part in sacred festivals which were given in the churches, but they even assisted in the execution of them. The Rev. Daniel Lyons states that the solo singers at the Worcester Fes- tival of 1773 were Norris, Price, Miss Linley, and Mrs. Radcliffe, " assisted by the Rev. Mr. Marcy, the clergy, and the gentlemen of the three choirs."* In 1777, we find the Reverend Mr. Marcy u[)on the jjlatform, at the Hereford Festival. f To return, however, once more to the Commemoration of 1784. It redoubled the admiration of the English for Handel, and at that time no music but his was in the fashion. Every body went mad about him ; and many gentlemen wore rings bearing his portrait in miniature. When the intellectual atmosphere of a country is charged with that kind of electricity, the secretions of the poetic gland among its inhabitants always become greatly ex- cited. By virtue of this unpleasant law of nature, there came a torrent of versified prose in honor of the immor- tal musician. Dr. Benjamin Cooke set to music an Ode to Handel^ by the Rev. Dr. Scott ; and the Commemo- ration of Handel^ by John Rinsig, does not contain less than forty-two octavo pages of verses ! " J'en passe, et des des meilleurs." Hernani (Victor Hugo). * History of the Time Choirs of Gloucester^ Worcester, and Hereford^ p. 205. . t Il^kl., p. 207. 372 LIFE OF HANDEL. It has been stated that Handel bequeathed all his mu- sical books to his pupil, Christopher Smith. He deserved them. The King of Prussia offered £2000 for the col- lection of MSS. ; but Smith, who, through love to his master, had already refused £3000 from Handel himself, would not accept the offer. He did not wish to separate himself from his treasure, nor would he permit it to go out of England.* At a later period, having become attached to the household of the Dowager Princess of Wales, the mother of George the Third, she granted him a pension of £200 a year. After the death of the princess, the king graciously continued the pension out of his privy purse, presenting the grant with his own hands to Smith, who was then growing old. The worthy man, touched by this kindness, offered to George the Third, as a return, a present which was more than royal ; he gave him all the MSS., Handel's harpsichord, and the marble bust of the great man which had been executed by Roubiliac ; keeping for himself a portrait painted by Denner in 1736 or 1737, and the scores which Handel had used in conducting the performances of his works. f Such is the origin of the Handelian collection at Buck- ingham Palace. It has frequently been stated that it was purchased by George the Third ; and it is only just to both the prince and the artist to prove that it was generously given and not sold — nobly accepted and not paid for. It consists of Handel's original MSS., to the number of eighty-seven volumes. It is in the royal palace of London, but not lodged there, it must be confessed, in a royal style. Buried m a sort of j^rivate office, and still kept in its poor original binding, it is concealed from all the world ; and, I may say (using the figurative ex- pression of an old nursery tale), that if I loere the qiieen^ I should have those precious volumes bound in crimson velvet, mounted with gold, and I should have a beautiful cabinet to hold them, which should be surmounted by * Anecdoten of Handdy p. 49. t Ihid.^ p. 55. BUSTS OF HANDEL. 3^3 Roubiliac's fine bust, and su])ported by four statues of white marble, representing Sacred and Profane Music, Moral Courage and Honesty. This I should ])lace in the throne-room of my palace, proclaiming by this means to every one that it is one of the most invaluable jewels of the English crown. The bust which was presented to George the Third now adorns the magnificent gallery of the queen's private apartments at Windsor. As for the harpsichord, all my researches have not enabled me to ascertain what has be- come of it.* Another marble bust, also by Roubiliac, is at the Foundling Hospital. It is said that the sculptor made it at the same time as the Vauxhall statue of 1738. Mr. Bartleman, the conductor, acquired it when the proper- ties in the gardens were sold, and at the death of Bartle- man it was offered for sale ; Mr. Pollock bought it and presented it to the hospital. It is a superb work, full of life. The head is shaved and covered with a cap, which is artistically arranged. A very good cast of it has been taken, and copies may now be easily obtained. The Windsor bust wears the large wig whose motions used to be regarded with such attention in the orchestra. It is, without doubt, one of these two marbles of which plaster-casts were thus announced in the Public Adver- tiser of the 19th of April, 1758 : — "To the lovers of mu- sic, particularly those who admire the compositions of George Frederic Handel, Esq. — F. Bull, at the White Horse, on Ludgate Hill, London, having, at a great ex- pense, procured a fine model of a busto of Mr. Handel, proposes to sell by subscription 30 casts in plaster of Paris. The subscription money is one guinea. The busto, which will make a rich and elegant piece of furni- ture, is to be 23|- inches high, and 18 inches broad." The twenty-three and a half inches high, by eighteen inches broad, could not fail to persuade a large number * See Appendix V. 3Y4 LIFE OF HANDEL. of musical amateurs into purchasing, upon such excellent terms, " a rich and elegant piece of furniture." The head of the statue in the monument at Westmin- ster Abbey is regarded as one of the best portraits of Handel. RoubiHac used for it a mold which he had taken from nature on the very day of Handel's death. A few proofs of that precious mold have been taken and dis- tributed, but I have been unable to find a copy any- where, and the oldest amateurs tell me that they have never seen one. I only know of its existence through a little woodcut, which is itself of excessive rarity. Denner's picture now belongs to the Sacred Harmonic Society, upon which it was bestowed by the present Lady Rivers, in January, 1857. It has been engraved for the A?iecdotes of Handel and Smith. This painting has some of the qualities and all the defects of its author. Denner, who worked in oil with the delicate minuteness of an enamel, and who painted even the pores of the skin and the separate hairs of the beard or a fur lining, could not comprehend the powerful face of the author of Israel in Egypt. There are many portraits of Handel, which are very different from each other. Every artist interpreted, in his own manner, and wished, as it is said, to idealize him; but the traditions of the great masters — of Titian, Correggio, Vandyke, Rubens, Philippe de Champagne, and Rigaud — traditions recovered by Reynolds, by Law- rence, and by Sigalon, were lost in the eighteenth cen- tury. Mr. Snoxell possesses one by Wolfand, who, even more than Denner, has made a Handel after his own taste — fat, rosy, in excellent condition, and looking like a rich man quite contented with himself It is very ugly. The Royal Musicians' Society has two portraits by Hudson, one of which appears to be the duplicate of the other. This is the best known of all, as it has been the most frequently coi)iod. Arnold has given it in his PORTRAITS OF HANDEL. 375 edition. The original mezzotint engraving, which is a good work, is due to Faber, and is dated 1745, Handel is in full dress, and is seated, witli an open roll of music in his hand. The painter has given an extraordinary de- gree of animation to his features ; but the head appears to me to be too short, and the contour of the face too round. Mr. Forsteman says that, in 1844, two grand-daughters of Johanna Friderica Florchen, nee Michaelsen, the niece and god-daughter of Handel, still possessed, at Halle, several precious things — watches, rings, etc. — which came to theirgrandmother by virtue of her uncle's will, as well as " the line original portrait painted by Hudson." The miracle of the multiplication of the loaves has been revived for this " fine portrait painted by Hudson." Here we have it at Halle ; already it has been stated to be at the Royal Musicians' Society at Lon- don ; moreover it is said to be at Windsor ; and, finally, Messrs. D'Almaine, the music publishers, pretend also, in their catalogue, that they have it in their shop. I have not been able to discover the Windsor one in any part of the castle which is open to the public ; that at Halle is too far distant ; and as for that of Messrs. D'Almaine, it is not improbably an advertising puff, for these gentlemen are unable to produce it when asked for ; but there is one clearly signed " T. Hudson, 1756, f)," at Gopsall. In this Handel is represented life-size, full-length, seated, dressed in a coat and shot-silk breeches, gorge de pigeon^ embroidered with gold. He wears a sword by his side, and holds a long cane in his hand. Under the left arm he carries a little, flat, three-cornered hat. His head is covered with an immense, long, w4)ite wig. At the pe- riod when this was taken he was seventy-two years old. It was painted expressly for Charles Jennens. Mr. Lons- dale, the music publisher, has a copy of it reduced to a half-length, inherited from Dr. Arnold. It is to be ob- served that in this portrait, although Handel was then 376 LIFE OF HANDEL. blind, the eyes are tliose of a man who can see. It is said that the cjiitta serena does not alter the outward ap- pearance of the eyes. I found at Cambridge, in the possession of Mr. Ward, a great amateur of music, a little head, in oil, very well executed by Grafoni. It has a very marked character ot individuality ; the type is exactly the same as that by Hudson, at Gopsall, but fuller ; age had not then given him that sharp expression which it imprints upon the hu- man face while contracting it. In that head, which looks sixty years old, there are the same features as in Roubil- iac'sbust,w^ith the cap on, though older, and consequently less vigorously marked. I am greatly indebted to Mr. Ward for his kindness in permitting me to have a copy made. Mr. Ellerton, a rich composer, possesses also a portrait of Handel, a half length life-size, and painted (says its history) in 1720, by Thornhill, for the Duke of Chandos. It is a very fine picture. The composer is seated at an organ, dressed in a coat of green velvet, with a red vel- vet cap upon his head, arranged something in the style of Roubiliac's bust. The head is turned to the right, with a pleasant and bold expression. It is a superb face, although it already had a double chin. The person is strong and tall ; in fact, just what the fine old man whom Hudson and Grafpni painted ought to have been, when only thirty-five years old. It is to be regretted that Mr. Ellerton has not caused this excellent picture to be en- graved. One of the best known portraits is that which pro- ceeded from the admirable graver of Houbraken, for Randall's edition. It is after a picture of the same size as the engraving, and signed " F. Kyte, 1742." Handel was then fifty-eight years old. Hawkins has pronounced it to be " the only good one, but that the features are too prominent."* * Page 912. PORTRAITS OF HANDEL. 37? Hawkins was probably not acquainted with that at Gopsall, nor witli that whicli has come into Mr. Ward's possession. Iloubraken's plate resembles the two latter with the exception of that heaviness with which it is justly reproached. Mr. Keith Mihies, in a memoir pub- lished in 1829, explains that he accidentally met with Kyte's little picture, and had it engraved again for his own satisfaction, by F C. Lewis, who has endeavored to correct the faults, without succeeding, in my opinion. These pieces of manufacture are never very happy, for a portrait can never be made by guesswork. It is even better to have an imperfect original. Mr. Milnes, who is now advanced in years, is an enthusiastic Handelian, and shares his engravings with whosoever loves and ven- erates " the greatest of musicians." It would require at least ten pages even to enumerate the portraits of Handel which have been engraved or lithographed. I have collected fifty-three, and there are probably more in existence. It will be sufficient to say that the best two are those bv Houbraken and Faber. CHAPTER XII. The Character and Genius of Handel. Although Handel was born when his father was sixty years old, he was a man of very powerful constitution, and of great muscular vigor. His cotemporaries repre- sent him as being endowed with a rare beauty of coun- tenance. Burney thus describes him : " The figure of Handel w^as large, and he was somewhat corpulent, and unwieldy in his motion ; but his countenance, which I remember as perfectly as that of any man I saw but yes- terday, was full of fire and dignity, and such as impressed ideas of superiority and genius." And in a subsequent paragraph — " Handel's general look was somewhat heavy and sour, but when he did smile, it was his sire the sun bursting out of a black cloud. There was a sudden flash of intelligence, wit, and good humor beaming in his countenance, which I hardly ever saw in any other." Nichols, in his Literary Anecdotes^ records it as an expression of Purney, that "Handel's smile w^as like heaven." Hawkins says : " He was in his person a large and very portly man. His gait, which was very saunter- ing, was rather ungraceful, as it had in it somewhat of that rocking motion which disthiguishes tliose whose legs are bowed. His features w^ere finely marked, and the general cast of his countenance placid, bespeaking dignity attempered with benevolence, and evei-y quality of the heart that has a tendency to beget confidence and insure esteem." Thanks to the busts of Roubiliac, and to the pictures of Thornhill, Hudson, Denner, Kyte, and Gra- foni, we may say that we are familiar with the features of Handel. It is a fine, noble, and imposing counte- HANDEL'S WIT. 379 nance, oval in form, of a grave physiognomy, firm, but at the same time benevolent. Three characteristics are remarkable in it : the smallness of the mouth ; the brightness of the eyes, which are very wide open, ani- mated and bold, and which betoken a violent and reso- lute man ; and, finally, the short and prominent eyebrows, generally a sign peculiar to profound and powerful think- ers. Such eyebrows had Bach and Beethoven. Like almost all composers, he was extremely witty. In the Anecdotes of Handel we are told that " his af- fected simplicity gave to any thing an exquisite zest." Mattheson says that " he had a way of speaking peculiar to himself, by which he made the gravest people laugh, without ever laughing himself." Dr. Quin, of Dublin, wrote to Burney in 1788: "Mrs. Vernon was particu- larly intimate with him ; and at her house I had the pleasure of seeing and conversing with Mr. Handel, who, with his other excellences, was possessed of a great stock of humor. No man ever told a story with more effect. But it was requisite for the hearer to have a competent knowledge of at least four languages — English, French, Italian, and German, for in his narrative he made use of them." "All his natural propensity to wit and humor," adds Burney, " and happy manner of relating common occurrences in an uncommon way, enabled him to throw persons and things into very ridiculous attitudes. Had he been as great a master of the Englivsh language as Swift, his hon mots would have been as frequent, and somewhat of the same quality." Once at a concert, Dubourg, the excellent violin- player, having a Coda ad lihitum to play, wandered about in diiferent keys so long that he seemed quite be- wildered, and to have forgotten his original key. Event- ually he recollected himself, came to the shake, and con- cluded ; whereupon Handel, with his usual coolness, cried out loud enough to be heard by the audience, " You are well come at home, Mr. Dubourg." 380 LIFE OF HANDEL. Once he had a discussion with an English singer, named Gordon, who reproached him with accompanying liim badly. The dispute grew warm (which it was never very long in doing with Handel), and Gordon finished by saying that if he persisted in accompanying him in that manner, he would jump upon his harpsichord and smash it to pieces. " Oh," replied Handel, " let me know when you will do that and I will advertise it ; for I am sure more people will come to see you jump than to hear you sing." When he heard the serpent for the first time, he was very much shocked by the harshness of the sound, and cried out, " Vat de tevil be dat ?" He was told that it was a new instrument, called serpent. " Oh," he replied, " de serbent, aye ; but it not be de serbent vat setuced Eve."* I admit this anecdote, because it is a good one, but, at the risk of passing for a skeptic, I can not ac- cept it absolutely. The serpent was a hundred years old wlien Handel came into the world, and it is difficult to believe that they met for the first time in London. It is related that, when Handel lost his sight, " his sur- geon, Mr. Sharp, having asked him if he was able to con- tinue playing the organ in public, for the performance of the oratorios, Handel replied in the negative. Sharp recommended Stanley as a person whose memory never failed ; upon which Handel burst into a loud laugh, and said, ' Mr. Sharp, have you never read the Scriptures ? do you not remember, if the blind lead the blind, they will both fall into the ditch ?' "f Even in their most helpless misery, men of wit never deny themselves the consolation of a joke. The reader may recall to mind that Anaximenes bartered his life against the pleasure of indulging in a sarcasm. Having offended Antigonus, who was blind of one eye, it was reported to him that Antigonus had said, " Let him come and excuse himself, and directly he appears before my eyes I will pardon * Busby. t Anecdotes of Handel. HIS MANNERS AND EDUCATION. 381 him." " If," replied Anaximenes, " I must appear before his eyes^ he oflers me an impossible pardon." Whereupon Antigonus condemned liim to death. Unlike the greater number of witty men, however, Ilandel never exhibited any ill feeling in his jocularity. His sallies were inoffensive. He cut without wounding. " He was," says Burney,* " impetuous, rough, and per- emptory in his manners and conversation, but totally de- void of ill nature or malevolence ; indeed, there was an original humor and pleasantry in his most lively sallies of anger and impatience which, with his broken English, were extremely risible." In spite of his disposition for merriment, he was very proud and very reserved toward every body, the little as well as the great. This side of his character is illus- trated in a remarkable manner in his MSS., where he generally indicated the names of the artists in the mar- gin of the jDart which was confided to them. Upon no occasion did he ever fail to put "Mr." or " Sig""." before these names. During the ten years that Senesino and Beard sung for him, and in the tenth year just as in the first, he always wrote theii* names " Sig'. Senesino," and " Mr. Beard." Hawkins pretends that, with the exception of music, lie was an ignorant man ; and all the hackneyed biogra- phers repeat the assertion. I do not believe this. His letters in the French language, which remain to this day, prove that he not only spoke but wrote that language, although he had never been in France. He knew Italian well, and although he spoke English with a very strong accent, he had studied the idiom so as to be able to com- prehend all the beauties of the poets.f Such linguistic attainments, which are still not very common, were very rare in his time, and do not prove that his education had been neglected. His father, who, like all German doc- tors, was acquainted with Latin, had made him study the * Commemoration^ page 31. t Hawkins. Burney. 382 LIFE OF HANDEL. classics, and it is certain that he read Latin. Hawkins liiuiself says — " He was well acquainted with Latin." Li his MSS. are to be found some slight proofs of this. In the German Passion^ instead of putting " da capo al segno," he wrote " usque ad signura ;" and he never ex- pressed the preposition de otherwise tlian by ex. It is not less certain that he worked upon several of the poems for his oratorios. There is nothing very precise about the part which he took, but a clause in his will leaves no doubt as to the fact. "I give," says he, "to Mr. Newburg Hamilton, icho has assisted me in adjust- ing words for some of my compositions?'^ All this does not certainly indicate an illiterate man ; and if it be added, that Handel had the kind of mind which derives the full benefit of whatever it learns, it is difficult to be- lieve that he was so uncultivated as has been pretended. But, after all, no great importance is to be attached to the question. Whether ignorant or not, he w^as, never- theless, one of the most learned composers in the world. He was very absent, and in the habit of talking to him- self in such a loud tone of voice, that it was not very difficult to learn the sul)ject of his soliloquies. Once there was brought to him a young man whose taste for music and good dispositions had been praised greatly. But the lad ran away, and on the next day the forsaken protector was heard communing with himself, as he took his walk in Hyde Park, " Der teeffel ! de fater was de- sheeved ; de mutter was desheeved ; but I was not de- sheeved ; he is eint t — d schountrel and coot for nut- ting."* It will have been observed that the author of The Messiah had unfortunately adopted the detestable cus- tom of the foshionable world in his day, by swearing upon every occasion. His religious sentiments do not appear, in fact, to have been very strong. " The ' Hal- lelujah' of The Messiah^^ writes Dr. Beattie,f " tends to * Bumey, Commemoration^ page 37. + Vol. ii., page 75. HIS KELIGIOUS SENTIMENTS. 383 confirm ray theory that Handel, in spite of all that has bee?i said to the contrary^ must have been a pious man." Main waring* declares that he resisted all the pressing eflforts which were made at Rome and at London to make him change his faith ; but he replied that " he was resolved to die a member of that communion, Avhether true or false, in which he was born and bred." This way of looking upon a creed is more indicative of a de- termined character than of a soul penetrated with the truths of religion. He seemed to take such matters somewhat at his ease. Hawkins says :f — "In his religion be was of the Lutheran profession, in which he was not such a bigot as to decline a general conformity with that of the country which he had chosen for his residence; at the same time he entertained very serious notions touch- ing its importance." St. Paul was more severe than Hawkins ; for he did not hold it to be consistent with Christianity to acconmiodate herself to the worship of Pagans. I doubt, moreover, whether a clergyman would think well of any member of the English church who, when at Rome, should conform to the ceremonies of the Catholics, and write music for St. Peter's. Nevertheless, toward the close of his career, Handel became attached to religion with the same ardor that lie brought to bear upon every intellectual matter. " The loss of his sight, and the prospect of his approaching dis- solution," says Hawkins again, " brought a great change in his temper and general behavior. For the last two or three years of his life he was used to attend divine ser- vice in his own parish church of St. George, Hanover Square, where, during the prayers, the eyes that at this instant are employed in a faint portrait of his excellences have seen him on his knees, expressing, by his looks and gesticulations, the utmost fervor of devotion. "J Burney says :§ — " For several days before his death, * Page G4. f Page 911. X Pages 910 and 911. § Commeinoraiion^ page 31. 384 LIFE OF UANDEL. he expressed the wish that he might breathe his last on Good Friday, 'in hopes,' ho said, 'of meeting his good God, his sweet Lord and Saviour on the day of his res- urrection.' " It so happened that that consolation was not denied him. Handel was generous, and was always giving : a sure proof of an elevated mind. When he had been at Ham- burg a very short time, his mother, in spite of her pov- erty, sent him a sum of money, in the behef that he had not enough for his needs ; but he, w^ho had got employ- ment in the theater to play upon the violin, and was also giving private lessons, sent the money back again to that good mother, adding to it a present from himself. He was then only nineteen years old. It ha,s been seen that among the causes of his second failure were the large salaries which he invariably paid to his artists, even when he could not cover his own ex- penses. He was not contented wdth giving away his superfluity, he gave even out of his necessity. In the midst of the derangement of his aflTairs, he was one of the founders of the Society for the Relief of Distressed Mu- sicians,* and he gave almost every year a great perform- ance for its benefit. " His liberal sentiment," says the author of A7iecdotes of IIandel^\ " not only influenced him in the day of prosperity, but even when standing on * In the printed rules of the society, printed in May, 1738 (it was es- tablished on the 19th of April preceding), may be found the following subscribers. It may interest some readers to find united the names of the musicians who were cotemporary with the giant : — " G. F. Handel, Esq.; Dr. Boyce, composer; Dr. Arne, composer; J. Beard, singer; F. Caporale, violoncellist ; H. Carey, poet and composer ; J. Corfe, com- poser ; Cortiville, flutist ; Cervetto, vilonceUist ; M. C. Festiug, violin- player : Dr. Green, composer; B. Gates, singer ; T. E. Gaillard, com- poser ; Dr. Hayes, composer ; W. Jackson, composer ; I. Kelway, organist ; J. Keeble organist ; E. Leveridge, publican and composer; Dr. Pepusch, composer ; Rosengrave, organist ; Raveuscroft, violin-player ; J. Reading, organist; T. Reiuhold, singer ; J. Stanley, organist ; J. C. Smith, com- poser; Weidemann, flutist; Dr. Worgen, composer; Vincent, haut- boy," etc. t Page 29. BENEVOLENCE. 386 the very brink of ruin. lie performed Acis and Galatea (1740), for the benefit of the Musical Fund; the next year he gave them his epithalamium, called Parnasso bi Festa^ and further extended his kindness by a legacy of one thousand pounds." We recognize the active benevolence of Handel less by these public benefits, than by the care with which he composed for each occasion something new to add to the attractions of the performance. Thus, in 1739, Alexan- der^s Feast was given for the Musical Fund, " with sev- eral concertos on the organ, particularly a new one composed by Mr. Handel on purpose for this occasion."* The performance of Acis^ in 1740, took place "with his own performance of two new concertos." One of the hautboy concertos is called " Orchestra Concerto," be- cause the author composed it expressly for a performance of Amadls, given in favor of the orchestra of the thea- ter: '''- Amadis^ etc.^ to which will be added two new symphonies."! The noble use which he constantly made of The 3Ies- siah, and all that he sacrificed for the Foundhng Hos- pital, has been already described. The zeal with which he supported that admirable institution procm-ed for him the honor of being named a member of the committee of direction ; " and," says Mainwaring,| " many who at the first had been contented with barely approving the design, were afterward warmly engaged in promoting it, so that it may be truly affirmed, that one of the noblest and most extensive charities in some degree owes its continuance as well as prosperity to the patronage of Handel." His bust, by Roubiliac, and his portrait (or rather a portrait bearing his name) are still in the recep- tion-hall among the benefactors of the institution. In the Anecdotes of IIandel% we are told that " his * Daily Post, 20tb March, 1739. t TJieaU-ical Register, June, 1716. X Page 136. § Page 29. 17 386 LIFE OF HANDEL. cliarity was by no means restricted to tlie public dona- tions ; he was equally attentive to the claims of friend- ship, aifection, and gratitude. The widow of his master, Zackau, being old and poor, received from him frequent remittances." In Handel there is a man to love as much as an artist to be admired. Nevertheless, it must be admitted that he was imperi- ous, jealous of his musical pre-eminence, and impatient of all rivalry. One day he said of Gluck (who was then, it is true, only beginning), that " he knows no more of counterpoint as mein cook ;" but he said it openly, with his usual hrusquerie. With him there was no treachery, no little scheme. In all the struggles of his life, he played fairly. His pride did not degenerate into vanity; he did not even share the foible of those who hold a pen, a graver, a chisel, or a pencil : he disdained to speak or give occasion for talk about himself Mattheson, when he prepared his Musical Tr'mmphal Arch, wrote to him in 1735 for notes on his life, sending him a work at the same time ; to w^hich he returned an answer, which Mattheson gives in the French text,* for it appears that the two old friends corresponded in that language : " A LoNDRES ce 29 de Juillet, 1735. " Monsieur, — II y a quelque tems que j'ai regu une de vos obligeantes lettres ; mais a present je viens de recevoir votre derniere avec votre ouvrage. " Je vous en remercie, monsieur, et je vous asseure que j'ai toute I'estime pour votre merite, je souhaiterois seulement que mes circonstances m'etaient plus favor- ables pour vous donner des marques de mon inclination a vous servir. L'ouvrage est digne de I'attention des connoisseurs, et quand a moi, je vous rends justice. " Au reste, pour rammasser quelque epoque, il m'est impossible puisqu'une continuelle aj)plication au service * Page 97. ELEVATION 01* MIND. 387 de cette cour et noblesse me detourne de toute autre affaire. " Je suis, avec une consideration tres parfaite, etc."* " Such a reason," adds Mattheson, " could not be an excuse in 1739, when the court, the nobility, and, in truth, the whole English nation, was much more atten- tive to a ruinous Avar than to music. I reiterated my request frequently, urging it much, but always in vain." That which above all distinguislied Handel as a man, was the rare elevation of his mind. We do not admire him only for his genius, we love and honor him also for a sense of honor from which no critical circumstance could ever cause him to swerve. His conscience was se- vere, and he was always remarkable (to quote an expres- sion of St. Simon) for " une grand nettete de mains" (the cleanliness of his hands). Every one praises his in- tegrity, which was equal to his talents. He hated the lightest chains, even those which were the most gilt. At an age when artists used to live in a sort of domes- ticity with the rich and powerful, he refused to be the dependant of any one, and preserved his dignity with a jealous care. The only exception to that rule which can be found in his life, was the eighteen months or two )^ears spent with Lord Burlington when he arrived in England ; but we must believe that he was there as a guest, since, in addition to all the operas which he was producing, he enjoyed already a pension of £200 a year * "London, 29tli of Jaly, 1735. " Sir — It is some time since I received one of your obliging letters ; but at present I have received your last, accompanied by your work. " I thank you, sir, and I assure you that I have the greatest esteem for your merit. I only wish that my circumstances enabled me better to give you some proof of my inclination to serve you. The work deserves the attention of connoisseurs, and I give you all credit for it. " For the rest, it is impossible for me to give you the personal infor- mation which you require, since a continual application to the service of this court and nobility prevents me from engaging in any other affair. " I am, with the most perfect consideration, etc." 388 LIFE OF HANDEL. from Queen Anne, and £400 which he received for his lessons upon the harpsichord to the princesses of the royal family. The reader will recall to mind that at Hamburg, when scarcely twenty years of age, when poor and very desirous of visiting Italy, he refused to accom- pany the Duke of Tuscany, who offered to take him with him. In order to appreciate here the just value of Handel's conduct, we ought not to judge it by itself apart, but relatively to the ideas of his epoch. It is scarcely credi- ble at the present day what a miserable place ev-en the greatest musicians then occupied in society. Haydn had already produced his first four symphonies, when, in 1759, Friedberg, the conductor of the orchestra for the Prince Esterhazy, employed him to compose one to be played at Eisenstadt, the residence of the prince. " When the day of the performance was arrived, the symphony- commenced, but in the middle of the first allegro, the prince interrupted it, by asking wdio was the author of so fine a thing." " Haydn," replied Friedberg, present- ing him to the prince, who cried — " What ! such music by- such a nigger !" (Haydn's complexion gave some foun- dation for such an exclamation.) "Well, nigger, hence- forth you are in my service. What is your name ?" " Joseph Haydn." " Go and dress yourself as a chapel- master. I don't like to see you so. You are too little, and your face is insignificant. Get a new coat, a curled wig, bands, and red heels ; but let them be high, that the stature may correspond with your merit. Do you understand ? Go, and every thing \vill be given you." Next morning he appeared at the levee of his highness, dressed up in the grave costume which had been assigned to him.* Twenty years later, Mozart, the divine Mozart, then organist to the Archbishop of Salzburg, was sent to eat with servants and the cooks of " his prince." He felt * Biographic des Mtisiciens^ article " Haydu." MOZART AT TABLE WITH VALETS. 389 all the liumiliation of that unworthy treatment, but ho thought that he was obliged to tolerate it. A letter by him to his father leaves no doubt as to the authenticity of the flict : "Vienna, It March, 1781. "****! have a delightful apartment in the same house in which the archbishop dwells. Brunetti and Ceccarelli lodge in another house. Che dlstinzione! My neighbor, Herr von Kleinmayern, loads me with civilities, and is really a very charming person. Dinner was served at half-past eleven in the forenoon, which was for me, unfortunately, rather too early ; and there sat down to it the two valets in attendance, the controller, Herr Zetti, the confectioner, two cooks, Ceccarelli, Bru- netti, and my littleness. The two valets sat at the head of the table, and I had the honor to be placed, at least, above the cooks. Now, methought, I am again at Salz- bourg. Daring dinner there was a great deal of coarse, silly joking; not with me, however, for I did not speak a word, unless absolutely obliged, and then it was always with the greatest seriousness. So, when I had finished dinner, I went my way." Eight days afterward, in another letter, Mozart, who was excessively hurt, made another reference to the cooks : "What you tell me concerning tlie Archbishop's vanity in possessing me may be true enough, but what is the use to me ? One does not live by this. And then, with what distinction am I treated? M. von Kleinmay- ern, Boenecke, and the illustrious Count Arco, have a table to themselves ; now, it would seem some distinc- tion if I were at this table — but not with the valets, who, besides taking the head of the table, light the lustres, open the doors, and attend in ante-rooms."* Since Haydn and Mozart were so treated in the very flower of their genius, without daring to resent it, Han- * The Life of Mozart, by E. Holmes, pp. 185-6. 390 LIFE OF HANDEL. del must have had a lofty spirit to hold himself as he always did. These are the terms with which, in 1721, he dedicated to George the First his opera of Hadamisto : " Sir — The protection which your majesty has been graciously pleased to allow both to the art of musick in general, and to one of the lowest, though not the least dutiful of your majesty's servants, has emboldened me to present to your majesty, with all due humility and respect, this my first essay to that design. I have been still the more encouraged to this, by the particular ap- probation your majesty has been pleased to give to the musick of this Drama^ which, may I be permitted to say, I value not so much as it is the judgment of a great mon- arch, as one of a most refined taste in the art. My en- deavors to improve which is the only merit that can be pretended by me, except that of being with the utmost humility, sir, your majesty's most devoted, most obedi- ent, and most faithful subject and servant, "Geoege Fkideric Handel." All this is, doubless, rather too respectful ; but when we remember the revolting baseness with which tlie docu- ments of this kind, which the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries have left us, were generally composed, we can not fail to perceive a certain tone of reserve, which is not to be found anywhere else. To judge the better of this, let us see, for example, how Haym, in 1723, dedicated his poem of the opera of Giulio Ccesare to the Princess of Wales, the daughter-in-law of George the First: " Ogni madre gode d'aver figliuoli per accrescere il nu- mero di suoi devoti, ed ognuno prega il cielo per la sua prosperita e conservazione. Testimonii ne sono quel nu- merosi applausi che si odono a ogni quale volta ella se fa vedere in publico, et la Britannia semberebbe ancor troppo angosta nelle lo E L . awake only to those enchanting sounds to which it gave utterance." Handel exercised the same power over his hearers from his infancy. At eleven years of age lie threw all Berlin into an ecstacy ; at twenty, Hamburg declared his voluntaries of fugues and counterpoint to he superior to those of Kuhnau of Leipsic, who had been regarded as a prodigy.'^ Festing and Dr. Arne, wdio w^ere pres- ent in 1733 at the ceremony of the Oxford Public Act, when he played a voluntary upon the organ, told Burney that " neither themselves, nor any one else of their ac- quaintance, had ever before heard such extempore or such premeditated playing on that or any other instru- ment." His execution seized every body with amaze- ment from the very first moment. Busby relates the following fact : " One Sunday, having attended divine worship in a country church, Handel asked the organist to permit him to play the people out, to which he readily consented. Handel accordingly sat down to the organ, and began to play in such a masterly manner as instantly to attract the attention of the whole congregation, who, instead of vacating their seats as usual, remained for a considerable space of time fixed in silent admiration. The organist began to be impatient (perhaps his wife was waiting dinner), and at length addressed the great per- former, telling him he was convinced that lie could not play the people out, and advised him to relinquish the attempt, for while he played they would never quit the church." In like manner, when he was at Venice he enjoyed a curious triumph. Arriving in the middle of the carnival, he was conducted that very evening to a masked fete, at which he played upon the harpsichord, with his mask upon his face ; on hearing which, Domenico Scarlatti, who happened to be present, cried out, " 'Tis the devil, or the Saxon of whom every one is talking." Scarlatti * Mattheson. HIS UN T IKING INDUSTRY. 421 was the first player upon the harpsichord in Italy. What took place at Rome between Handel and Corelli still more forcibly proves that our composer was stronger upon the violin than the greatest virtuoso of his time. Mainwaring relates* that Arcangelo Corelli had great difficulty in playing certain very bold passages in Han- del's overtures, and that the latter, who was unfortu- nately very violent, once snatched the violin out of his hand and played it himself as it ought to be. Every musical faculty was carried in him to the high- est point. He had an inexhaustible memory. Burney heard him, while giving lessons to Mrs. Gibber, play a jig from the overture of Siroe^ which he had composed twenty years before. It has been seen that the blindness with which he was attacked in 1753 did not prevent him from playing an organ concerto at every performance up to the termination of his career, and he did not always improvise. He sang also marvelously well. " At a con- cert, at the house of Lady Rich, he was once prevailed with to sing a slow song, which he did in such a manner, that Farinelli, who was present, could not be persuaded to sing after him."f But let me remind the young, that however prodigious may be the gifts accorded by nature to her elect, they can only be developed and brought to their extreme per- fection by labor and study. Michael Angelo was some- times a week without taking off his clothes. Like him, and like all the other kings of art, Handel was very industrious. He worked immensely and constantly. Hawkins says that " he had a favorite Rucker harpsi- chord, every key of which, by incessant practice, was hollowed like the bowl of a spoon."J He was not only one of the most gifted of musicians, but also one of the most learned. All competent critics admit that his fu- gues prove that his knowledge was consummate. * Page 57. + Hawkins, p. 918. t Id'^.m, p. 312. 422 LIFE OF HANDEL. It is a singular circumstance in his life that his genius gave him an indirect part in almost all the events of his century. His music was required to celebrate success- ively the birth-day of Queen Anne, the marriage of the Prince of Wales (George the Third's fathei-), that of the Princess Royal to the Prince of Orange, the coronation of George the Second, the burial of Queen Caroline (all great events in those days), the Peace of Utrecht and that of Aix-la-Chapelle, and the victories of Culloden and Dettingen. To this day there is no great public funeral at which the Dead March in Saul is not used for the purpose of impressing the mmd with the solemnity of the occasion. One may be disposed to say that Handel himself was a great conqueror. Thanks to his indefatigable perse- verance, to his moral courage, to his indomitable will, and to his masterpieces, he succeeded, before he died, in dissipating the cabals which had been formed against him, in crushing folly, and in conquering universal ad- miration. The public was enlightened by the torcli which he held constantly in his hand ; the impression which he left behind is profound and living. It is inef- faceable. There is no other similar example, in the his- tory of art, of the influence which one man can exercise over an entire people. All the music of this country is Handelian, and if the English love, seek after, and culti- vate, more than any other nation. Bach, Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven, they are indebted to the author of The Messiah for it. No man in any country has dominated more generally over men's minds in his sphere of action, no composer ever enjoyed in his native land a more un- limited popularity. Let me say, in conclusion, that George Frideric Han- del has done honor to music, at least as much by the nobility of his character as by the sublimity of his genius. He was one of the too few artists who uphold the dig- HIS CHAKACTEK. 423 nity of art to the highest possible standard. He was the incarnation of honesty ; the unswerving rigidity of his conduct captivates even those who do not take liini for a model. His character reminds one of our Bernard Pal- issy. Both were artists in all the grandeur of the word ; both worked ceaselessly for improvement without ever feeling weary ; both were virtuous, pure, the slaves of duty, proud, and intrepid ; the most terrible adversities could not compel them to pass through the fire to Mo- loch ; their love of good was as unconquerable as their will ; they were no mere puppets of the world ; and they died at their posts, working to the supreme hour of their lives, leaving behind them a luminous track of splendid things and noble exam^^les. These are heroes indeed. These are the statues for our Pantheon ; statues molded in bronze by the hand of the Great Artisan him- self, for the eternal delight and instruction of humanity. APPENDIX. APPENDIX A. THE SMITH COLLECTION". This collection, which was supposed to be either dispersed or lost, was oflfered for sale a few months back, and has become the property of the author of these pages. A more worthy possessor might have obtained it, but not one who would appreciate it with greater reverence. Its value is inestimable. Out of the one hun- dred and sixty volumes of which it is composed, sixty or seventy are the very books which Handel used to conduct his operas and oratorios, and which he bequeathed, in dying, to Christopher Smith, his pupil and secretary. These are, in great part, covered with notes, directions, and corrections in the handwriting of Han- del himself, such as cast a new light over his works. Some con- tain variations and airs which are unedited. An analysis of these Handelian volumes will be found in the Catalogue. However, the present possessor only regards himself as the custodian of these precious treasures, and they are at the disposal of all mu- sicians who wish to consult them. The MSS. of great men can not be the property of any one man exclusively : they belong to the archives of that humanity which they glorify. APPENDIX B. , GERMAN EDITION OF HANDEL. On the 15th of August, 185G, a prospectus was published in Germany, announcing a complete edition of the works of Han- del, to be printed by Messrs. Breitkopf and Hartel, of Leipsic. Dr. Gervinus and Dr. Chrysander, with MM. Dehn, Hauptmann, Breitkopf, and Hartel, form the committee of direction. I earn- 426 APPENDIX. estly hope that all friends of Art will regard it as a duty to sup- port an enterprise so admirable and so useful. Dr. Chrysander is preparing a history of music in its connection with the life of Handel, which will serve for an introduction to this great Ger- man edition. APPENDIX C. HANDEL'S VISIT TO ITALY. Mattheson says that Handel remained at the Hamburg theater four or five years, and that in 1708 he composed i^ormc^ *and Daphne; that in 1709 he wrote nothing; that he then had an op- portunity of visiting Italy by a means which would not have cost him any thing, but he refused ; that during the winter of 1710 he produced his Agrippina in Venice, at the theater of St. John Chrysostome; and that in 1717 he was in Hanover. According to this, Handel did not quit Hamburg from 1703 to 1709; and after composing Almira and Nero 1705, he waited three years be- fore writing Florinda and Daphne, one immediately after the other, in 1708. Finally, he could only have visited Italy in 1710 ; having refused in 1709 to take advantage of the opportunity to go there without expense. But these assertions are disproved not only by probabilities, but by express dates furnished by Handel himself In Bucking- ham Palace there is a Dixit Dominus signed " Gr. F. Hendel, 1707 — 4 d'Aprile, Roma;" a Laudaie pueri signed " Gr. F. H. il 8 Sub, 1707, Roma;" and the Eesurreczione, dated "4 d'Aprile, 1708." Moreover, there is in the possession of the lady of Sir Benjamin Hall a manuscript trio de chambre, "Se tu non lasci amore," which is very distinctly signed " G. F. Hendel, li 12 Lug- lio, 1708, Napoh." Finally, it is certain that Handel was in Lon- don during the winter of 1710, and that his Rinaldo was pro- duced there on the 11th of February, 1711 ; and it is also certain that he did not come to London until a year after his journey to Italy. If we had not the incontestable proofs of his signatures at Rome and Naples, it would have been impossible for him to have made the journey to Italy, and to be at London in 1710, if he only quitted Hamburg during that year. It should not be for- gotten that Mattheson's too short notice of Handel was written in 1740 (thirty years after the epoch of which he treats) ; it was HANDEL'S VISIT TO ITALY. 427 evidently written from memory, and very rapidly, and after the first few years he knows nothing, for he jumps from Hamburg to Venice, in 1710, and from Venice to Hanover in 1717. The three English writers who come after Mattheson (and who only are of any authority — Mainwaring, Hawkins, and Burney) were ignorant of the authentic dates, and seem to have been lost in doubt. According to Mainwaring, Handel produced Almira in Hamburg when he was fourteen years old, that is to say, dur- ing the year 1698 He leaves him in that city "four years," until . . . 1702 " " in Italy " six years," until . . . 1708 " " in Hanover " one year," until . . 1709 If Handel wrote Almira at Hamburg, at the age of fourteen years, he must have done so (according to Mainwaring) in 1698, since he puts the date of his birth at 1685 ; but 1698 is the date at which Mainwaring himself sends him to Berlin, like a child as he was, under the care of one of his father's friends. He also places the quarrel with Mattheson before Almira ; that is to say, at the age of thirteen or fourteen years. Now we know very well that Handel (hke all who are privileged by Nature) was a man when still very young, and that he showed himself bold and full of spirit ; but admitting all this, it is not a lad of thirteen or fourteen years who would be likely to usurp the rights of another under such circumstances. Another thing : it is Mattheson (who was born in 1681) who relates the journey to Lubec, and the famous condition about marrying the organist's daughter. But if liis companion had been only fourteen years old, while he himself was seventeen, Mattheson, who was a jocular writer, would not have failed to note the amusing situation of two candidates of that age being called upon to fulfill such an obligation. And again, if Handel had written four operas at Hamburg — Almira^ Nero, Daphne, and Florinda — between the ages of four- teen and eighteen, can it be supposed that during the six years of his sojourn in Italy (from eighteen to twenty-four), when his reputation was constantly increasing, he produced only two op- eras, Roderigo and Agrippina, two short oratorios, the Resurrec- zione and II Trionfo del Tempo, and one serenata, Galatea f Every thing goes to establish the fact that Mainwaring was in error. As for Hawkins, he also states that Handel produced Almira at Hamburg in 1698, when he was fourteen years old, and that he 428 APPENDIX. remained three years in Hamburg, until 1701. Moreover (ac- cording to liis account), Handel told him that he was not twenty- years old when he arived in Hanover, after his journey into Italy ; which brings us to 1703. He also fixes the period of his arrival in London at 1710. According to this calculation, Handel remained six years and a half at Hanover before coming to England. But no one has as- serted that he produced any tiling in Hanover, and it can not be credited that a young man, endowed with a most pregnant genius, could have Hved for more than a lustrum without produ- cing something. This chronology, besides, fixes the journey to Italy at from 1701 to 1703, while the manuscripts signed at Rome and Naples are dated 1707 and 1708. On the other hand, Mattheson declares positively that Handel came to Hamburg " in the month of July, 1703," and he transcribes some Unes of a let- ter which Handel wrote to him from that city " on the 18th of March, 1704," and requesting him to return speedily from Hol- land, wliither he had gone upon a journey. Hawkins pretends to have been told by Handel himself that he was not twenty years old when he arrived at Hamburg, " after his journey into Italy ;"• but the manuscripts, positively dated '' Rome, 1707" and " 1708," give him twenty-two or twenty-three years before he went to Hanover. Hawkins is a sincere writer, whom I would not de- preciate on any account, and he certainly deserves confidence for his laborious compilations ; but it is necessary to examine what he says. Like Mainwaring, he wrote somewhat too quickly, and made many mistakes even in his personal statements. The next witness is Burney. He had read Mattheson, but he knew, besides, that the pupil of Sackau, after a journey through Italy, Germany, and Holland, and a residence in Hanover, ar- rived in London about the end of 1710. By way of conciliating he effects a compromise. He brings him to the Hanseatic town exactly in 1703 ; takes him to Florence in the middle of 1708 ; places in 1709 the tour to Venice, Naples, and Rome ; and keeps him at Hanover only long enough to accept the office of chapel- master to the elector on the condition of returning as soon as he had seen England. But, apart from the contradiction which the signatures at Rome and Naples give to this, it is evident that Burney's statement is not rational. How could the young Saxon, already celebrated, visit Rome, Venice, and Naples — the three great capitals of music — and compose an opera, a serenata, and HANDEL'S VISIT TO ITALY. 429 two oratorios in less tlian a year? How could he make his ap- pearance in Hanover, and then leave immediately ? Burney him- self says (agreeing on this point with Mainwaring and Hawkins), "he came to London, in compliance with an invitation from several English noblemen with whom he had made acquaintance at the court of Hanover." He must necessarily have remained at this court for at least six months, if not " a year," as Mainwaring has it, in order to receive the " invitations' which determined him to make the journey ; besides which, it is not liively that the elec- tor would deprive himself immediately of a chapel-master whom he had attached to himself. The statements of M. Fetis, in the article on Handel, in his Biographie Universelle des Musiciens, now remain to be discussed. According to him, after Almira and Nero had been produced at Hamburg, Handel went, during the earlier part of 1707, to -Rome, where he remained some time beyond the 8th of April, 1708 — the day on which the Resurreczione appeared ; then he re- turned to Hamburg, and Florinda and Daphne were produced there in 1708. In the beginning of 1709 he returned to Italy, and in the same year he produced Roderigo at Florence, Agrip- pina at Venice, and II Trionfo del Tempo at Eome. He did not leave Eome for Naples until 1710; he wrote Acige e Galatea at Naples ; then he passed through many other towns in Italy, seek- ing for employment ; but not finding any, he returned to Ger- many, and, stopping on his way at Hanover, he there engaged himself as chapel-master, but set out again immediately, '' be- cause he wished to visit London ;" and, finally, having visited his mother at Halle, and having passed through Dusseldorf and Hol- land, he arrived in London in the month of December of the same year, 1710. If, however, we consider the length of the journey which M. Fetis makes Handel perform in less than a year, it must be ad- mitted than even in these days of steam-engines and railways it would not be easy to travel so quickly. Mr. Townsend, in the course of his researches as to the great composer's visit to Dub- lin, found this note in the Qentlemaris Magazine for February, 1742 : — " The Duke of Devonshire [he was then Viceroy of Ire- land] arrived in London on the 20th, having occupied five days in the journey between Dublin and London." Mr. Townsend, who quoted this note in order to show what was " the rate of viceregal traveling in those days," adds, from an Irish journal, 430 APPENDIX. that " at Parkgate the duke took post, there being sixteen re- lays of horses on the road for his grace." — {Faulkner's Journal, February 16th to 20th, 1742.) When viceroys, with a favorable wind and sixteen relays of horses, required five days to travel from Dublin to London, a poor musician like Handel could not, a quarter of a century before, have traveled over a part of Italy, Germany, and Holland, and have crossed the sea twice, in less than a year, and have composed the scores of four works into the bargain. Moreover, how can we credit the long excursion of a year and a half into Italy, made during his stay at Hamburg, from 1707 to 1708 ? Can it be possible that Mattheson was ig- norant of that journey, or that, knowing it, he passed it over in silence, when he did not even forget the little excursion to Lu- bec ? But, in fact, we know of a certainty that Handel visited Naples in 1708, and not in 1710. These objections serve to con- vince me that M. Fetis was mistaken. After what has been said, if the different elements furnished by the three English authors, and by authentic dates, be combined, the chronological order which I have adopted is the result. It reconciles many of their assertions, it satisfies the reason upon points as to which history gives no certainty, and it agrees very well with all the ascertained facts. APPENDIX D. LONDON THEATERS IN THE OLDEN TIME. It may interest the reader to have some information concern- ing the different theaters, of which mention is made in the course of this work. The Theatrical Register (IIS., in 4to.) notes that " in 1704, to advance the grand undertaking of a neio theater^ thirty persons of quahty subscribed each £100, and Queen Anne then granted a license to Sir John Vanburgh and Mr. Congreve to act operas and plays in the Haymarket Theater." This great theater in the Haymarket, called the King's or Queen's Theater, according to the sex of the reigning sovereign (and now called Her Majesty's Theater), was opened " on the 9th of April, 1705." (Burg.) The opening of a season for English operas at the new theater in the Haymarket, which stood opposite to the '' King's Theater," LONDON THEATERS. 4»31 is announced for the IGth in the Daily Post of the 2(1 of Novem- ber, 1732, '^ with a new opera, Britannia, set to music after the Italian manner, by Mr. Lampe." The " new theater in the Hay- market" of the Daily Post, also called the " Little Theater in the Haymarket" by other periodicals of the time, was built by Pot- ter, and opened on the 29th of December, 1720. It stood oppo- site the '•' King's Theater," very nearly on the site of the present Haymarket Theater. Potter's theater was pulled down in 1820, and was. replaced by the present Haymarket Theater, which was built by Nash during the same year. fSee Timbs's Curiosities of London, p. 718.) The Theater of Lincoln's Inn Fields, also called the Duke's Theater, was one of the most ancient in London. It was origin- ally a Tennis Court ; was opened as a Theater by Sir William Davenant, in 16G2, and was refitted and reopened in 1695. (Mal- colm's London, and Timbs's Curiosities.) An Acis and Galatea^ by J. Eccles, was produced there in 1704. (See Theatrical Regis- ter.) The theater was pulled down and rebuilt by Christopher Eich, a lawyer, who died before it was completed, and it was opened by his son, John Rich, the celebrated harlequin and man- ager, in 1714. {Daily Post, and Malcolm.) This theater no longer exists. The same John Rich it was who built Co vent G-arden Theater by subscription, and opened it on the 7th of December, 1732, with Congreve's comedy, The Way of the World. (Malcolm.) He managed it until the 27th of April, 1759, when he sold his privi- lege to O'Connell Thornton for £40,000. {London Magazine, April, 1759.) This theater was burned in the month of September, 1808, and the new one, which was built by Sir R. Smirke, was opened on the 18th of September, 1809. {Biographia Dramatical This theater was destroyed by fire on the 5th of March, 1856. Drury Lane is the most ancient of the existing London thea- ters. The theater founded in 1663 was pulled down in 1791, and, having been rebuilt by Holland, was reopened on the 12th of March, 1794, " with a grand selection of sacred music from Handel's works, commencing with the Coronation Anthem." {Biographia Dramatica.) This theater was burned down on the 24th of February, 1809, and was replaced by the magnificent construction of Benjamin Wyatt, the plan of which was taken from the Bordeaux Theater. This was opened on the 12th of October, 1812, and is now standing. 432 APPENDIX. APPENDIX E. THE SONS OF THE CLERGY. See Burney. In 1655, the Bishop of Chester preached a char- ity sermon at St. Paul's Cathedral in favor of the poor families of the clergy. These sermons, followed by a collection, were con- tinued ; and in 1678 the Institution of the Sons of the Clergy was founded by royal charter, for the education of the sons of necessitous ministers. The daughters were apparently not worth caring for. In 1709, music was added to the annual sermon at St. Paul's for the first time ; and thenceforward the custom has always been observed. (Lysons.) The compositions of Handel, and especially the Utrecht Te Deutn and the overture of Esther^ provided for more than half a century aU the music for these char- itable concerts. In the works of Aaron Hill, there is an "Ode on the Occasion of Mr. Handel's great Te Deum, at the Feast of the Sons of the Clergy, on February 1st, 1732." The poet says, that the Spirit of God, which directly inspired the songs of David, and has since been concealed, has reappeared in the soul of Han- del APPENDIX F. THE HARMOXIOUS BLACKSMITH. While this book was passing through the press, Mr. Robert Lonsdale has brought under my notice a document connected with the history of The Harmonius Blacksmith. In a volume en- titled Echos du Temps passe, Recueil de Chansons, Noels, etc., du 12'"« au 18"« Siecle (4*°) published at Paris (N.D.) by Mr. Weker- lin, there is a song by Clement Marot, " Plus ne suis ce que j'ai ete," of which the air is, note for note, the melody of 2%e Har- monious Blacksmith. " This piece," says the publisher, " of which the music is certainly posterior to the poetry, is to be found in the Choix de Chansons a commencer de Thibaut de Champagne, by Moncrif." In comphance with my request, my old and excellent friend, M. Casimir Gide has obtained in this matter the following ex- planation from Mr. Wekerhn himself: " The collection of Moncrif (one volume in 12mo, printed in 1757) is exceedingly rare. I THE IIAKMONIOUS BLACKSMITH. 433 only know two copies of it ; one of which is at the library in the Eue Richelieu, and the other in a private collection. It is beyond a doubt that the theme of ' Plus ne suis' is borrowed from the Pieces de Clavecin, by Handel, and that Moncrif committed a fault in not affixing the name of the author. Perhaps he was himself ignorant of it ; for he was not very well acquainted with music. I only made tliis discovery after the publication of njy book, otherwise I should not have failed to mention it in my notes." The Choix de Chansons, by Moncrif, can not then supply any argument to those who wish to deny that Handel was the real author of the piece now called The Harmonious Blachsmith. But in the mean time according to new information communicated by Dr. Rimbault, it would seem that Powell had nothing to do with the affair. Dr. Rimbault has read somewhere (but where he can not recollect), that The Harmonious Blacksmith was published for the first time under that title by Lintott, a publisher of music at Bath, at the end of the last century. When Lintott was asked why he had so baptized it, he repHed, " Oh I my father was a blacksmith, and this was one of his favorite airs." It may there- fore be that the popular tradition is founded upon the filial fancy of Mr. Lintott. There is one thing certain, which is, that the tradition has no really authentic basis, and that Handel's famous mo7xeau for the harpsichord has no particular designation in the cotemporaneous editions of Suites de Pieces, in which it origin- ally appeared. It is not less certain that neither Walsh, nor Randall his successor, ever engraved it separately under the name which now distinguishes it ; and, finally, that Birchall, who pub- hshed it before Lintott did, called it merely " Handel's fifth favor- ite lesson from his first set." One word more. Dr. Crotch, who discovered among the works of some twenty or thirty composers nearly all the music of which Handel passed himself ofi" as the author, has also discovered the melody which Powell is said to have sung, in a book, with the name of Wagenseil. Wagenseil, who was a harpsichordist of Vienna, was about the same age as Handel, within three years. He was bom in 1688, and was certainly a man of incomparable modesty and disinterestedness, for he never claimed as his own the piece which the composer of oratorios had audaciously stolen from him ; and that in spite of the European popularity which it speedily gained, and of which he was the witness for nearly sixty 19 434 APPENDIX. years. Bat virtue has always its recompense. Mi-. Richard Clark has rendered unto Ccesar that which is Caesar's, for he has engraved the piece under its true title, "77ie Harmonious Black- smith, a favorite air by Wagenseil, with variations by G. F. Han- del, newly arranged for the piano, organ, or haip, by Richard Clark." After this, Handel can never hold up his head again. APPENDIX G. THE RE-ENGAGEMENT OE SENESINO. Two letters, written by Handel, upon tliis matter, are to be found in the correspondence of the two Colnians. They are in French. The original of the second was offered for sale among a collection of autographs, in 1856, and was purchased for £12 by the Sacred Harmonic Society, who have kindly furnished me with a fac-simile. It is given word for word. The Colman to whom it is addressed was Francis Colman, the author of the Opei^a Eegister, and father of George Colman, the dramatic author : " A Monsieur, Monsieur Colman, Eavoyk Extraordinaire de S. M. Britannique, aupres de S. A. R. le Due de Toscane d, Florence. " Londres, ce \~ de Juin, 1730. " Monsieur — Depuis que j'ay eu I'honneur de vous ecrire, on a trouve moyen d' engager de nouveau la Signora Merighi, et comme c'est une voix de contr'alto il nolis conviendroit prc- sentement que la femme qu'on doit engager en Italie filt un soprano. J'tcris aussi avec cet ordinaire a Mr. Swinny pour cet efFet, en luy recommandant en mcme terns que la femme qu'il pourra vous proposer fasse le Rolle d'homme aussi bien que celuy de femme. II y a heu de croire que vous n'avez pas encore pris d' engagement pour un femme contr'alto, mais en cas que cela soit fait, il faudrait s'y en tenir. " Je prends la liberts de vous prier de nouveau qu'il ne soit pas fuit mention dans les contr2its du premier, seoond ou troisi^me Rolle, puisque cela nous gene dans le choix du Drama, et' est d'ailleurs sajet a de grands inconveniens. Nous espcrons aussi d'avoir par votre assistance un homme et une femme pour la saison prochaine, qui commence avec le mois d'Octobr, de I'annce THE EE-ENGAGEMENT OF BENESINO. 435 coni-ante et finit le mois de Juillet, 1731,* et nous attendons avec impatienc-e d'en apprcndre des nouvelles pour en informer la Cour. '' II ne me reste qu'a vous rtiti'rer mes assurances de I'obliga- tion particnlii>re que je vous aurai de votre bonte envers moi a cet egard, qui ai Flionneur d'etre, avec afifection respectueuse, " Monsieur, " Votre tres-humble et tres-obc'issant serviteur, " George Frideric HANDEL."t Owen Swiny, the former manager of the Hnymarket, then happened to be in Italy with Lord Boyne and Mr. Walpole, whom he accompanied. He wrote to Colman, from Bologna, on the 12 th of July, mentioning letters which he had received from Handel, and proceeds : '' I find that Senesino, or Carestini, are desired at one thou- sand two hundred guineas each, if they are to be hacj. I am sure that Carestini is engaged at Milan, and has been so for many months past ; and I hear that Senesino is engaged for the ensuing carnival at Rome. If we can neither get Senesino nor Carestini, then Mr. Handel desires to have a man soprano, and * These were, perhaps, the terras usually adopted in contracts ; but, in point of fact, the theatrical season did not commence before November, and concluded in May or June. t Translation op the Letter. " To Mr. Colman., Envoy Exlraordinary of his Britannic Majesty at the Court of S. A. R. the Duke of Tuscany, at Florence. " London, 37^- of June, 1730. " SiE — Since I last had the honor of. writing to you, means have been found to re-engage Signora Merighi, and as she has a contralto voice, it would now suit us if the woman to be engaged in Italy were a soprano. I am also writing by this post to Mr. Swiny to the same effect, recommending him, at the same time, that the woman whom he may propose to you shall he able to play a man's part as well as a woman's. It is probable that you may not yet have engaged a contralto woman, but in case you have done so we must be satisfied, and not engage any other. " I take the liberty of asking you again, to make no mention in the contracts of the first, second, or third parts, because that hampers us in the choice of the drama, and is, moreover, the subject of great inconvenience. We hope also to obtain, through your assistance, a man and a woman for next season, which be- gins in' the month of October in the current year, and finishes in the month of July, 1T31 ; and we are impatiently expecting some news about it in order to in- form the court. " It only remains for me to reiterate the assurances of the personal obligation which I am under for your kindness to me in this respect, who have the honor to be, with respectful affection, sir, " Your very humble and very obedient servant, "Geoeqe Feideeio Handel." 436 APPENDIX. a woman contralto, and that the price for both must not exceed one thousand, or eleven hundred guineas ; and that the persons must set out for London at the latter end of August, or beginning of September, and that no engagement must be made with one, without a certainty of getting the other." Senesino and Carestini were each of them, therefore, as good as a woman and a man. The following letter informs us of the result of these negotiations : " A Londres, f | de Octob'", 1730. " Monsieur — Je viens de recevoir I'honneur de votre lettre du 22 du passee, N. S., par laquelle je vois les raisons qui vous ont determine d'engager S*". Sinesino sur le pied de quatorze cent gliinees, a quoy nous acquieseons, et je vous fais mes tres- humbles remerciments des peines que vous avez bien voulu prendre dans cette affaire. Le dit S^ Sinesino est arrive icy il y a 12 jours et Je n'ai pas manque, sur la presentation de votre lettre, de luy payer a compte de son salaire les cent ghinees que vous luy aviez promis. Pour ce qui est de la Sig"^*. Pisani, nous ne I'avons pas eue, et comme la saison est fort avancee et qu'on commencera bientot les operas, nous nous passerons cette annee- cy d'une autre femme d'ltalie, ayant deja dispose les operas pour la compagnie que nous avons presentement. " Je vous suis pourtant tres-oblige d' avoir songe a la Sig^'*. Madalena Pieri, en cas que nous eussions eu absolument besoin d'une autre femme qui acte en homme ; mais nous nous conten- terous des cinq pcrsonnages, ayant actuellemenfc trouve de quoy suppleer au reste. " C'est a votre genereuse assistance que la Cour et la Noblesse devi'ont en partie la satisfaction d'avoir presentement une com- pagnie a leur gre, en sorte qu'il ne me reste qu'a vous en mar- quer mes sentiments parti cullers de gratitude et a vous assurer de I'attention tres-respectueuse avec laquelle j'ay I'honneur d'etre, Monsieur, Votre tres-humble et tres-obeissant serviteur, " George Frideric Handel." " A Monsieur, Monsieur Colman, Envoye Extraordinaire de sa Majeste Britannique aupres de son Altesse Roy ale le Grand Due de Toscane a Florence."* " Sib— I had the honor of receiving your letter on the 22d of last month (N. S.), by which I perceive the reasons which have Induced you to engage Sr. Sinesino DEL PO'S LETTER. 487 These letters are not merely interesting on account of their sig- nature, but because they furnish proof that Handel, in reviving the opera, had the special protection of the king and (more still) of a portion of the nobility. The envoy extraordinary of his Britannic majesty would certainly not have busied himself about making engagements for " first, second, and third parts," if he had not received an order to that effect ; and the impressario of the Haymarket, if he had not been recommended, would not have written to an embassador, "we are impatiently expecting some news in order to inform the court." If the nobility had al- ready broke with him, Handel would not have made use of the expression, " the court and the nobility will partly owe to you the satisfaction of having now a company to their taste." APPENDIX H. DEL PO'S LETTER. The political gossips of the time had a mania for seeing politics in every thing, and discovered, in the simplest things, the deepest and most recondite allusions. The Gentleman's Magazine for August, 1732, borrows from Tlie Craftsman of the 12th of August, the following satire, in the form of a letter, which is quoted " as one instance to what absurdity pedantry of pohticks can lead even sober and experienced persons in private life :" — " Sir, being in- formed that some miisick of Bononcini was to be performed at for 1400 guineas, to which -we agree ; and I tender you ray very humhle thanks for the trouble -which you have kindly taken in this matter. The aforesaid Sv. Si- nesino arrived here twelve days ago, and I did not fail, on the presentation of j-our letter, to pay him, on account of his salary, the hundred guineas which you promised him. As for Sigra. Pisani, we have not yet heard her ; and as the sea- son is much advanced, and the operas will soon commence, we will dispense for this year with another woman from Italy, having already cast the operas for the company which we now have. "I am, nevertheless, very much obliged to you for having thought of Signora Madalena Fieri, in case we should absolutely require another woman to act the part of a man; but we shall content ourselves with five persionagcs, having ac- tually found enough to supply the rest. " It is to your generous assistance that the court and nobility will partly owe the satisfaction of having now a company to their taste; and it only remains for me to express to you my own sentiments of gratitude, and to assure yon of the very respectful attention with which I have the honor to be, etc., " Geobge Feidekio Handel. *' To Mr. Colman, etc." 438 APPENDIX. the Opera-house, I went to see it ; but, being disappointed, retired to a friend's house, where happened to be a mixed company, whose conversation turned upon the subject. One of the com- pany took out of his pocket a Courant of June 9, and read the letter of Aureho del Po. A fat, elderly gentleman started up with some emotion. ' How is this, sir ?' says he. ' Pray read it once more.' The other did so, and while he was reading it, the fat gentleman at every word would cry, ' Observe^ ay, pray observe, gerdlemen I Good Grod ! when shall I see this poor country free from practices ? What dignity, what authority discovers itself in every line ! Does this sound hke the style of a poor Italian, who lets out his wife to sing for hire ? I suppose you would make me beheve this is Strada's husband, and no libel, Iwarrant you ; no attempt against the government !' 'Ay, to be sure,' replied an old lady, ' every body knows whose name begins with a P, and that it is pronounced in the beginning like those two letters P 0.' The fat gentleman seemed to frown at this. ' Madam,' said he, ' Mr. P. must, no doubt, have some concern in this affair, because it is a vile thing, and against the government ; but I will undertake to prove that nobody could pen this advertisement bat the Pretender himself Why, did you never hear of Marcus Aurelius, the famous statue on horseback ? And what is a man on horseback but a chevalier F Now we all know who the chevalier is, and ' 'Ay, 'tis plain,' cried a sober fellow, who sat musing in a corner, ' 'tis very plain. Aurelio stands for the Pretender, Po for the Pope, and Del for the Devil. Who could assume such dignity and majesty but one who calls himself a monarch ? " For reasons best known to the said Aureho del Po and his wife !" Is not this the style of a king and his ministers ? and would an ItaHan sing- ing woman's husband presume to offer terms in this manner to the nobility and gentry of Great Britain ? ISTo, no, it must be the Pretender who hath endeavored to impose upon the nation under this disguise, and to open a correspondence with the Royal Acad- emy of Musick.' " APPENDIX I. ROLLI'S LIBEL. During the preparation of this book, additional evidence upon this point has been brought to me by the friend who originally explained this document as a pohtical hbel, which convinces me IIOLLI'S LIBEL. 439 that his interpretation is the right one, and that the dispute be- tween Handel and his subscribers was only used as a pretext by- some political writer intending to attack Sir Robert Walpole and his Excise scheme. The Free Briton, which opposed the Craftsman (in which the libel originally appeared), evidently took it in this sense ; for in the article headed " The Craftsman answered," which appeared on the 24th of May, 1733, the following passage occurs: "Awliile ago you talked about Signer Montagnana, and of a King who made the lowest character in the ivhole drama. Indeed, it is a fine way of proving that you did not affront the King, when you told him he had astonished his people. * * * This passage, to be sure, was meant as the finest stroke of humor in this pious and loyal performance." It remains to be ascertained who wrote the piece ; for the name of Rolli is evidently assumed for the occasion. The CrafUman was a newspaper founded by Bolingbroke and Pulteney for the purpose of opposing Walpole's policy, and it ceased to appear when the latter minister fell. Its whole contents and ©bject had, therefore, a purely political tendency. Bolingbroke contributed to it largely under the assumed name of " Caleb D' An vers, Esq., of Gray's Inn ;" and it is not at all impossible that his audacious pen had something to do with " The New Opera Scheme." It would not be difficult to take the entire document, and ana- lyze it with this view ; but for the present I content myself with specifying, from the explanation of my friend, that Signor Mon- tagnana stands for the King, Handel for Walpole, and Signora Strada for the Queen, and Handel's brother (lie had none) for Horatio Lord Walpole, who was an eminent diplomatist and a supporter of the emancipation of the Jews. " Sturdy beggars" was an expression which the corrupter Walpole, in the heat of debate,* applied to the merchants of the city of London, who at- tended to petition against the Excise ; an expression wliich did not tend to sweeten the amenities of the controversy. If Bolingbroke wrote the letter, he must have been as conver- sant with the affairs of the opera as with those of the State ; for the letter, which I am obliged to recognize as entirely political, is in great part adapted with singular exactness to the events which were then taking place in the Haymarket. * See Hume and Smollett's Risionj, and Coxc's Memoirs of Sir Eo'bcrt Wal- pole, vol. i., p. 401. 440 APPENDIX. APPENDIX J. THE CLARINET. Here there is a mistake. The clarinet was invented at Nu- remberg, between 1690 and 1700, by Denner, a famous maker of flutes ; but the state of orchestral science did not permit a fuU appreciation of the merit of the new instrument, which was not derived from any other. More than sixty years elapsed before Gossec, the creator of the symphony, forming a high opinion of its utility, employed it in the symphonies which he had performed and published at Paris in 1754. Haydn used it after the French musician, in his first symphony, in 1759. Ever since that the clarinet has occupied the important place which it now holds in the middle of the orchestra. (See articles "Denner," " Gossec," and " Haydn," in the Biograpliie des Musiciens.) Handel made use of the clarinet once, in 1724, a quarter of a century before Gossec ! In the original MS. of Tamerlane, Mr. Lacy has re- marked that the air " Par die mi nasca" has for the principal part of its accompaniment " cornetti 1° et 2° ;" and in the fair copy of this opera, which is included in Smith's invaluable collection, Mr. Lacy has also observed that the two cornetti are replaced by " clar. et clarin. 1*^ et 2°." The cornetto, or rather the cornetta (Handel was alwa3^s very arbitrary about these mascuhne and feminine genders), was a very ancient horn instrument, and there- fore pastoral. The air " Par che mi nasca" is pastoral, and the music, written for the " 2 cornetti" could only be played now by hautboys or . . clarinets. Certainly the " clar. et clarin.'" of Smith's copy is only an abbreviation for " clarinette." It is, more- over, the only instance in which this word is to be found in the MS. scores of Handel. According to all probability, some Ger- man musician having brought the instrument to England in 1724, Handel immediately tried to make use of it ; and the experiment not being successful (whether on account of the badness of the instrument or from some other cause), he thought no more about it. The composers of the period had as yet no complete idea of the symphony ; like the great Bach, he found in the hautboy and the bassoon the means of expressing his ideas. He certainly did not know the fuU extent of what might be done with the clari- net, and he permitted it to escape him. Nevertheless, this is a new fact in the history of music. PASTIOCIOS. 441 ITandol ahvays showed the same warm desire for profiting by- all the instrumental novelties that were brought to him The viohtta marina was scarcely known at London in 1732, when he used it in Orlando (see pp. 141, 142), The serpent was imported, which he had never heard before (at least if the somewhat doubt- ful anecdote at page 380 is to be beheved) ; and although the importation was not to his taste, he mingled it with the flourishes of Fireioorlcs Music. There are even scattered about liis MSS. indications of instruments which seem to be ephemeral inventions of which the very recollection is now lost. Thus his MS. of Ri- cardo Primo (1727) bears "2 chaloumeaux" and "una traversa bassa." It may be supposed that the word '^ chaloumeaux" was one of his French improvisations, and was intended to stand for "hautbois." Smith, in his original copy, has written "hautbois" in their place ; but he also preserves the " traversa bassa," whose name seems to indicate a bass German flute. Therefore there was an instrument called " traversa bassa," of which we know nothing. What could it be ? Doubtless some fancy of an instra- ment-maker which was not successful. APPENDIX K. PASTICCIOS. In addition to the three pasticcios here spoken of, there are, in Smith's collection, copies of three other works of the same nature, which were given at Handel's theater, namely, Ormisda, on the 31st of March, 1730 ; Lucio-Papirio (which Colman erro- neously attributes to the master himself), on the 23d of May, 1732 ; and Tl Catone, in the same year. Burney, in mentioning them according to the order in which they appeared, applies to them the stereotyped phrase, "whether it was a pasticcio, or composed by any one in particular, I do not know." I am con- vinced that they were pasticcios, made up like the others out of such music as happened to be handy. If they had been by any body in particular, the fact would be known in some manner. Handel, who never attributed them to himself, had no reason to conceal it, and he would scarcely have given his enemies, who were always on the watch, a pretext for attacking him upon that point. The copies which Smith has preserved do not bear any 442 APPENDIX. author's name. One can easily understand, nevertheless, why he collected them, however little interest they might possess of themselves ; in the first place, in remembrance of what his mas- ter had caused to be performed ; and in the second, because he himself had probably been employed in their arrangement. Per- haps he was the author of the recitatives. We do not perceive any traces of Handel's hand in them, as in ArbaceSj Semiramis^ and Cajus. APPENDIX L. THE HIGH PRICES GIVEN TO GREAT SINGERS. It has been seen that Senesino received fourteen hundred guineas ; FarineUi, fifteen hundred ; Signora Cuzzoni, two thou- sand, besides a benefit every season. It was very much the same at even a more remote period. Doni, in his treatise, De Prcestantia Musicce veteris (published in 1647), says that some of the singers " are hired at great rates."* Great complaints have been made about this. It seems scandalous that an interpreting artist should receive £4000 for the labor of six or eight months. But, nevertheless, one thing should be observed : they only re- ceive these sums because they are the means of gaining greater ones. Place the name of a favorite upon the bill, and the house is full ; remove it, and it is empty, whether it be Don Juan or Fidelio which is announced. A score, much more than either a tragedy or a comedy, requires to be well performed ; and even the more beautiful it is, the less pleasure does it give to Usten to it when badly executed. In that case, it becomes painful to hs- ten. The art of singing has immense and innumerable difficul- ties. Those disagreeable persons who murder a piece of music in a drawing-room, have no idea that ten years of practice would scarcely enable them to sing it properly. It is not sufficient for the interpreter of composers to have the natural gift of a fine voice, but he requires the most careful study before he under- stands how to use it, and constant toil, and the most laborious care, to preserve and keep it in perfection. Baillot and Paganini might go and take a walk whenever they felt so disposed ; but G-arcia and Rubini, never. The singers are slaves to their voices, than wliich nothing can be more dehcate, or more susceptible. • Burney. HIGU PRICES GIVEN TO SINGERS. 443 The slightest accident, a cold, a draught of air, or an attack of illness may deteriorate or destroy them ; and when that is the case, what is left ? Wliatever their talent maybe, it is henceforth of no avail. And then, again, consider the shortness of their career. As artists they die young, though, as individuals, they may live to be full of years. I have no desire to excuse the ex- acting and capricious disposition with which theatrical artists are generally reproached, and which they adduce against themselves in performing Les Comidiens of Casimir Delavigne, and La Prova dun' Opera Sena ; but is not what they gain in proportion to the services which they render ? I have often heard it said, " What a scandalous thing that a mere singer should receive more than a general who has served his country for twenty years 1" But this has always seemed to me to be illogical and absurd. Generals and officers do not serve their country either more or less than any other species of government officials. They do not go either to the field or to the barrack for notliing. They receive a salary wliich they take every possible opportunity of augment- ing. Their country is quits with them when it pays them, just as a company is quits with the engineer whom -it has hired, or a manufacturer of mirrors with the workman whom he employs — an occupation (be it parenthetically observed) which is much more dangerous than that of a soldier. Besides, if you ask the best general upon earth to sing the finest opera in the world, he will not bring one halfpenny mto the treasury of the theater. The question hes entirely in this. There are many very clever artists who would be g^.ad to be assured of as good a pension as is allotted to even the most incompetent general. In fact, it is only very great reputations that are very highly paid ; and it does not appear that the best painters, and the best writers, gain less by their talent than the best singers. In the exercise of the arts particularly, every exceptional superiority amounts to genius, and should be proportionately respected. In these days, after all, with the excellent system of assuring to authors their rights, the wealth of the greatest interpreters no longer insults the poverty of the gi-eatest creators. Kossini's chateau at Boulogne is as beautiful as Lablache's house at Pausilhppe. And, to console the moderns, let it be observed that the ancients made even more extravagant sacrifices in favor of musicians than we do. Amoe- boeus, a celebrated lute-player of Athens, never took less than an Attic talent (about £270 sterling) to play anywhere.* * Traite des Cytharedes, quoted by Fetis. 444 APPENDIX. APPENDIX M. DEPEAYED TASTE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. In the history of the arts, there are accidents which will re- main eternally incomprehensible ; and one of these is to be found in the fact that Israel in Egypt^ the Hercules of oratorios, was despised by its cotemporaries. But w^hat shall we say of England at that time ? Shakespeare, the greatest mind of all the human race, was then treated with indifference. The London Daily Post of the 14th of March, 1738, made this communication to its readers : — " Several of the nobihty have agreed to erect a stately monument to the memory of Mr. William Shakespear, the famous English Poet (/) in Westminster Abbey." On the 28th of the following April it stated, that Julius Coesar had been acted at Drury Lane Theater, " toward raising a fund for erecting a monu- ment to his memory." A year afterward the project had got no further ; for when Hamlet was performed for the same purpose, the theater was half empty. Read the Daily Post of the 10th of April, 1739 : — " Last night was performed the tragedy of Hamlet^ at Covent Garden, toward raising a fund /or erecting a monument to the memory of Shakespear, on which occasion it was expected there would have been a greater audience than there appeared to he. But the Lord Burhngton was pleased, out of his regard to the memory of so great a man, to give ten guineas for himself"." The corruption of taste had arrived at such an unheard-of pitch, that a Mr. Theobald caused to be played, as well as printed, " TJie Double Falsehood^ or the Distressed Lovers ; a play as it is acted at the Theater Eoyal in Drury Lane. Written originally by Mr. W. Shakespeare, and revised and adapted to the stage by Mr. Theobald, the author of Shalcespeare Restored I /" This piece, al- though a forgery, was received by the public as authentic. In Reed's Biographia Dramatical we learn, upon this subject, that " the play was acted twelve nights with considerable applause. The plot is from a novel in the first part of Don Quixoter K we had not a thousand examples that a bad education can vitiate the greatest inteUigences on certain points, it would not be credible that Yoltaire could have called Shakespeare un harhare * Vol. iii., p. ITS. D E r K A V K D TASTE. 445 (a barbarian) ; but how can we be astonishedj when wc find that England herself, scarcely one hundred years ago, did not under- shind the immensity of that immeasurable genius. Did not Dry- den dare to arrange The Tempest ! I Dryden, when speaking in his preface of the project for that parody, which had been com- municated to him, made Use of these memorable words : — " But Sir William Davenant, as he was a man of a quick and piercing imagination, soon found that somewhat might be added to the design of Shakespeare, of which neither Fletcher nor SuckKng* had ever thought. And, therefore, to put the last hand to it, he designed the counterpart to Shakespeare's plot, namely, that of a man who had never seen a woman ; that, by this means, those two characters of innocence and love might the more illustrate and commend each other. This excellent contrivance he was pleased to communicate to me, and to desire my assistance in it. I confess that, from the very first moment, it so pleased me, that I never writ any thing with more delight." ! If Dryden, in his preface to Troilus and Cressida, which also he has turned upside down, said again : — " It must be allowed, that the tongue in general is so much refined since Shakespeare's time, tliat many of his words, and. more of his phrases, are scarce in- telligible. And of those which we understand, some are un- grammatical, others coarse, and his whole style is so pestered of figurative expressions, that it is as affected as it is obscure. In this tragedy, which I have undertaken to cori'ect, I tried to re- move that heap of ruhhish under which many excellent thoughts were buried. Accordingly, I new-modeled the plot, threw out many unnecessary persons, improved those characters which were begun and left unfinished, and added that of Andromache." ! ! !J " Le mecliant gout du si^cle en cela me fait peur." — Le Misanthrope, England showed at that time great ingratitude toward her demigod ; and yet who loved her more dearly tlian he ? His was not merely the love of a son for his mother, but it was as tender as that of a mother for her son. His works are full of de- licious passages, in which his patriotism becomes manifest. ISTo corner of the globe has been sung by native poets as England has by her Shakespeare : * Both these authors had already corrected (!) The Tempest. t The Dramatic Works of John Drijclen, 6 vols, in 12mo, 1762, vol. ii., page 180. X Ditto, ditto, vol. v., page 2. 446 APPENDIX. " This other Eden, demi-paradise ; This fortress, built by Nature for herself Against infection and the hand of war ; This happy breed of men, this little world ; This precious stone set in the silver sea." Richard II. Shakespeare so loved his country, that he divined by intuition the heart-anguish of those who have lost theirs. Romeo, when Friar Laurence tells him that he is banished from Verona, cries : " Ha ! banishment ? Be merciful ; say ' death ;' For exile hath more terror in his look, Much more, than death ; do not say ' banishment.' '■'■Friar. ****** Be patient, for the world is broad and wide. '■'■Romeo. There is no world without Verona's walls : Hadst thou no poison mixed. But banished — to kill me — banished ! O friar! the damned use that word iu heU." He who spoke thus was Shakespeare, and yet his compatriots of the eighteenth century could not find the means of erecting a statue to him ! Even at the present day in London, where you may find in every square a herd of dukes, to whom not even broDze can give celebrity, Shakespeare is nowhere to be found. His image remains shut up in Westminster Abbey, instead of being set upon a column, whose height should dominate over the metropolis as his genius dominates over the entire globe. When Dryden, who was so truly a poet himself, remodeled The Tempest^ which is an incomparable pearl of fancy and imagi- nation ; when he corrected the greatest of poets and of writers who ever has, and who ever will, exist ; when the author of Ro- meo^ oi Richard the Third^ and of Macbeth^ is called "Mr. William Shakespeare ;" when he is spoken of as '' a famous Engiish poet;" when a Theobald restores him ; when Julius Ccesar and Hamlet do not attract sufficient audiences to purchase a marble statue for him ; when they were not even acquainted with the orthography of his name — the fate of Israel in Egypt becomes somewhat less astonishinor. THE STATE OP MUSIC IN ENGLAND. 447 APPENDIX N. THE STATE OF MUSIC IN ENGLAND. Upon this subject I contributed an article to the Critic^ London Literary Journal^ of June 2, 1856, and I think it not out of place to insert it here, with a few amendments and additions : Those who have never lived in England usually deny that there is in that country any taste for or knowledge of music. Never was there a greater mistake. Without excepting either Germany, or France, or Italy, there is no country where classic compositions are more eagerly sought for, hstened to, and appreciated, than in England ; there is no country where one may hear better music, or where it is executed on a more magnificent scale. England, it is true, has not produced a single great composer. Purcell, who lived about the end of the seventeenth century, was, with all his high merit and his boldness, only a man of the second rank. We may say the same of Dr. Arne, who was a true com- poser; for, although Uttle known out of England, and scarcely appreciated even in his own country, he had one great quahty of genius, namely, an individuahty of style.' Handel was a Ger- man; he arrived in London ready-made, as it were; and his style remained, after fifty years' sojourn, precisely what it was when he arrived.'"'' England has never created a school, or a style peculiar to itself. The Glees of the sixteenth century will always charm, just as the Irish melodies do ; but they are mere frag- ments of the simplest kind, and have nothing in them tending to high eminence. The English know this ; and they prove their good taste by never playing their own music, and by only play- ing the best music of other countries. Another fact, httle known on the Continent, is, that the culti- vation of music is of very ancient date in this country. It is not even known when the Doctorship of Music was instituted, a degree still conferred in the two gi-eat Universities of Oxford and Cambridge ; but we find mention made of a man named Hambois who bore that title in 1470 (Busby's Dictionary of Music). That wild beast called Henry VIII. composed glees which deserved to survive him. In the reign of Elizabeth it was part of a gentle- man's education to be able to read at sight the music of any song which might be presented to him. Among the subscribers to some 448 APPENDIX. of Handel's operas, which were pubhshed by subscription, may be found the Apollo Society at Windsor; the Musical Society at Oxford ; the Ladies' Society at Lincoln; the Sahsbury Society of Music ; the Musical Society at Exeter ; and at London, the Philliarmonic Club; the Philharmonic Society; the Monday Night Musical Society; the Wednesday Musical Society; the Society of Music, at the Castle, in Paternoster Eow ; the Crown and Anchor Musical Society ; the St. Cecilia Society. Mr. Towns- end enumerates the following societies as existing in Dubhn in 1741, the year in which Handel went there : The Charitable Mu- sical Society in Fishamble-street ; the Charitable and Musical Society in Vicar-street ; the Charitable Musical Society on Col- lege Grreen; the Charitable Musical Society in Crown-street; the Musical Society in Werburgh-street; the Academy of Music, and the Philharmonic Society. The name of this last seems to indicate that it occupied itself more particularly with instrumental music. The Dublin journals of the same period make mention of similar societies at Cork, at Drogheda, and other places. Their names prove at the same time their noble purpose ; for nearly all were destined to succor some particular misfortune. The England of to-day has not degenerated from this brilliant past. She can number more musical societies than we know of elsewhere. There are — The Sacred Harmonic Society ; the Lon- don Sacred Harmonic Society ; the Union Harmonic Society ; the Hullah Society ; the Cecihan Society, whose existence dates since 1785 ; the Amateur Musical Society, directed by Mr. Henry Leslie ; the Society of British Musicians ; the Madrigal Society ; the Bach Society, whose object is to reproduce and popularize the works of the great man whose name it has assumed, etc. All these societies, with orchestras of from 200 to 600 members, meet every year from twelve to twenty times, and find a public willing to support them. Their choruses are composed of ama- teurs and professional singers. The Philharmonic Society of Lon- don, founded in 1813, served as a model to that celebrated French Socittt des Concerts du Conservatoire^ which only dates from 1827. It was the PhiUiarmonic Society which purchased the Choral Symphony of Beethoven, and purchased this immortal work for one hundred guineas ! Many of Haydn's delicious sym- phonies were composed in London in 1790 ; and Haydn often observed that •' it was England that had made him celebrated in Germany" (Dictionary of Musicians). The new Philharmonic THE STATE OP MUSIC IN ENGLAND. 449 Society, organized only three years ago by Dr. Wilde ; the Or- chestral Union, conducted by a very able leader, Mr. Alfred Mel- lon ; — give, each of them, twelve concerts yearly, in which grand symphonies are performed. The Quartette Society, and the Mu- sical Union, which devote themselves religiously to the instrumenal chamber music of Bocherini, Haydn, Pleyel, Mozart, Beethoven, Hummel, Onslow, etc., can also adduce their existence for many years in proof that there is no lack of amateurs. All this is exclu- sive of the Opera-houses, Italian and English, and two or three special concerts which occur every day during those three months which are called " the season." That this is no exaggeration, may be proved by the advertisements of a single day of " the season." The list is really curious ; for, so far from having collected it with difficulty, it has been taken bodily from the Times of Monday, the 14th of May, 1855 : SACRED HARMONIC SOCIETY, Exeter Hall.— On the 25th of May will be repeated Haydn' s Creation. The Orchestra, the most extensive available in Ex. eter Hall, will consist of nearly TOO performers. LONDON SACRED HARMONIC SOCIETY, Exeter Hall.— May the 21st, Haydn's oratorio Creation; preceded by the Royal Birth-day Cantata, with band and chorus of nearly SCO performers. MUSICAL UNION.— To-morrow, May 15, at Willis's Rooms, Trio in E minor, piano forte, etc., Shpor ; Quartet No. 2 in G, Beethoven; etc. ST.MARTIN'S HALL. — Mozart' siiegmcrrt, Beethoven's Choral Fantasia, etc., will be performed under the direction of Mr. John HuUah on Wednesday evening, May 16. HARMONIC UNION, Hanover Square Rooms.— May 30, Mendelssohn' s^i/aft, THE ENGLISH GLEE AND MADRIGAL UNION The Annual Series of Morning Concerts will take place at Willis' s Rooms on the 28th of May, and 4th and 11th of June. PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY.— The Fifth Concert will take place at the Han- over Square Rooms this evening, the 14th instant. Programme : — Sinfonia in E flat, Mozart ; Concerto piano forte in E minor, Chopin ; Sinfonia, Pastorale, Beet- hoven ; Overture, Preciosa, Weber. NEW PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY, Exeter Hall.— On May 23, Symphony in B flat, Beethoven, etc. MR WILLY'S QUARTETT CONCERTS— The Third and last Concert will take place, at St. Martin's Hall, on May IS. MRS. JOHN MACFARREN will give her TWO ANNUAL MATINEES of , PIANO FORTE MUSIC, at the Beethoven Rooms: the first on May 19, MR. H. COOPER'S SECOND SOIREE of VIOLIN MUSIC will take place at 27 Queen Anne-street, on May 16. MADAME CLARA NOVELLO will SING in IMMANUEL, on May 30, at St. Martin's Hall. MADAME PUZZrS ANNUAL GRAND MORNING CONCERT will take place on May 21, at Willis's Rooms. MISS DOLBY and MR. LINDSAY SLOPER'S ANNUAL GRAND CON- CERT will take place at St. Martin's Ilall, on June 13. 450 ATPENDIX. CHARLES SALAMAN'S MUSICAL LECTURE and ENTERTAINMENT, aiustrated by his own performances on tli« Virginalls and Harpsichord, etc., to- morrow, at the Marylebone InstitutioTi. MR. BENEDICT'S ANNUAL GRAND MORNING CONCERT will take place on June 15, at the Royal Italian Opera. SIGNOR MARRAS'S ANNUAL GRANDE MATINEE MUSICALE will take place on May 20. SIGNOR and MADAME FERRARI'S ANNUAL CONCERT will take place at the Hanover Square Rooms, on May 16, SAPPHO GLEE CLUB Southwark Literary Institution, Borough Road — This evening a Concert will be given by the members of the above society, com- prisiag glees, madrigals, etc. Surely it will be admitted that the country in which so much music is to be found, in one single day, must be musical. The societies which we have made mention of above occupy themselves with the highest and most difiSicult class of works. In 1854, the Bach Society (with an excellent musician, Mr. Sterndale Bennett, at its head) executed twice the Passion of the great fugueist of Leipsic; and the Sacred Harmonic Society played twice, and with admirable development, about the com- mencement of last year, Beethoven's colossal Mass in D. The New Philharmonic Society has produced Cherubini's Mass in 0. Where but in England can you hear these exalted productions ? AVhere but in England can you depend sufficiently upon the pub- lic to risk the outlay of producing them ? And what proves still more the elevated taste of the English is, that these works belong to the sacred music of the Romish Church, of that Popish religion which the majority of them dishke ; in deference to which feeling Cherubini's Mass is called a " Grrand Choral Work," and Beet- hoven's is advertised as " Beethoven's Service." We may go so far as to say that the English have a passion for music ; and this is all the more striking because, in spite of the facility with which they become infatuated, they are, after their A-merican descendants, the people of all others who have the least enthusiasm. A gentleman met Haydn in the middle of the street, stopped him, stood opposite to him for some time, exam- ined him, and said "You are a great man!" having said which he passed on {Life of Haydn, b}^ Stendahl). This is not a French enthusiasm, but it is enthusiasm nevertheless ; and music has oc- casionally inspired the English to manifestations quite French or Itahan. A beautiful lady, carried beyond herself by a cavatina by Farinelli, rose up and cried out, " There is but one God and one Farinelli 1" (Hawkins, p. 887.) THE STATE OF MUSIC IN ENGLAND. 451 The English have always sung, and still sing, much more than is generally imagined on the Continent. There belong to this country several collections of from one to six volumes in octavo, in quarto, and in folio, consisting of songs and ballads. It is sometliing alarming to see. The British Musical Miscellany^ pub- hshed from 1735 to 1737, would be alone enough to turn the head of the most fanatical of Italian melomaniacs. It contains not less than nine hundred pages in quarto, closely covered with music, which howls uproariously the pleasures of Bacchus, and sighs out the amors of an innumerable band of Phillises, Chloes, Nancies, Damons, and Corydons. To speak the truth, the En- glish even abuse music ; they seem unable to do any thing with- out it, and mix it up with every thing less discreetly than beseems so delicate an art. If you go to the annual floral exhibitions you are deafened by the red-coated bands of such and such a regiment blazing away in all the pride of brass ; if you go to a panorama, or to an exhibition of Turkish costumes, or to hear Mr, Gordon Gum- ming, the lion-slayer, recounting his exploits, or to a wax-work, everywhere you find a gentleman who pianofies aM'-ay in a cor- ner, with his nose in the air. Even the Crystal Palace has a per- manent orchestra. " Aimez vous la muscade ? On en a mis partout." — Boileau. It is also a fact worthy of notice, as proving this extensive and popular taste for music, that at the Middlesex Sessions held in October, 1856, out of 100 applications made to the magistrates for licenses to play music (without dancing) 51 were granted, and these were in addition to the old hst of 305 licenses which, with one or two exceptions, were renewed. If we con- sider the Hcenses granted by the magistrates of the city of Lon- don and for the county of Surrey, it is certainly not too much to say that there are from five to six hundred places for the perform- ance of music alone (without dancing) in the metropolis. What other capital in the world can boast of a similar fact? In fact, not only is England a more musical country than is generally supposed, but it is a country in which music has been cultivated to a very high pitch for a long time past. To tliis is due the idea of those great musical reunions called Festivals. At the Commemoration of Handel, in 1784, was assembled, for the first time in the world, an orchestra of 626 artists, singers, and instrumentahsts. 452 APPENDIX. In the present century, when the spirit of association commu- nicates to every thing colossal proportions, it was reserved for England alone to surpass herself. That which took place at the opening of the Crystal Palace at Sydenham on the 10th of June, 1854, will doubtless be recorded. Upon that occasion Great Britain not only showed that she could create the most magnifi- cent utilitarian institution of the nineteenth century, but also that she could arrange a musical spectacle upon unparalleled propor- tions. Three hundred and eighty-seven instrumentalists and twelve hundred and forty-eight choral singers, organized by the Sacred Harmonic Society, executed remarkably well, after a sin- gle rehearsal, " God save the Queen," the Hundredth Psalm, and the Hallelujah Chorus of The Messiah. Although almost every body in England knows those three pieces by heart, it is none the less extraordinary that such a mass as sixteen hundred and thirty- five performers could be brought to execute them well together after a single rehearsal. The next Handelian Festival, announced for the month of June, 1857, will number two thousand five hun- dred performers I The entire musical arrangements also are undertaken by the Sacred Harmonic Society, whose ordinary orchestra of seven hundred performers will be the nucleus of this colossal display. It is a new title for this Society to the esteem of all friends of art. These things appear to indicate not so much an accidental increase as a progressive law, the result of scientific labor in connection with the extension of buildings ; for it will remain, as an honorable fact, in the musical liistory of England, that In 1784 there were 526 artists brought together. In 1791 " 1068 " In 1854 " 1635 " In 1857 " 2500 « But it is not in Loudon only that music is thus cultivated. Every year there are in the provinces two or three festivals, for each of which the locahty in which it takes place pays not less than three or four thousand pounds sterhng. There is not one town of any importance in the kingdom that has not a building more or less specially destined for these feasts of art. The Music Hall at Manchester is one of the finest modern edifices in this country, and will contain 4000 persons ; the concert rooms in St. THE STATE OF MUSIC IN ENGLAND. 453 George s Hall at Liverpool, the Philharmonic Hall in the same town, and the Music Hall at Bradford, are admirably adapted for great musical displays. In 18.-1 I attended a festival at Norw^ich, given, according to custom, for the benefit of the charitable insti- tutions of the county. The artists who executed these pieces, under the direction of that able conductor, M. Benedict, were three hundred in number. The receipts of the five concerts amounted to £-1000. A perusal of the programme will serve to give some notion of the style of music which, even in the provin- ces, is considered most likely to attract a crowd: Rossini's Stahat Mater ; Handel's Acis and Galatea and Messiah ; the overture to Leonora, the Symphony in A flat, and the Grand Mass in C by Beethoven; Haydn's Creation; several morceaux from Mozart and Weber, and selections from Guglielmi, Festa, Stradella, and Cherubini, etc. About the same period Manchester and Glouces- ter had festivals of quite as high an order. Last year, in the month of September, the Birmingham Fes- tival, with M. Costa at its head, held seven meetings, and col- lected £11,537 from 13,038 auditors. Extraordinary as they may appear, these figures are authentic. In this town, which seems to be entirely devoted to manufactures, where you can see no other colonnades but the chimneys of factories and steam- engines, where the sun can scarcely penetrate the black canopy of smoke — these great solemnities are always performed with equal success. In 1852 the sum collected w^as £10,638. It would be puerile to cite a more extraordinary proof of the power of music than these great inroads upon the purse of a community. At the same time it should be recorded that in these festivals the neighborhood always suppUes amateurs cap- able of taking part in the chorus and the orchestra, and every- where there are critics who really understand the science, and who criticise the performances in the pubhc journals. And so interested is all England in these matters, that the principal London journals usually give some account of these musical doings in the provinces. The Enghsh press undoubtedly puts forward strange opinions upon occasions: as, for example, we are told that Haydn's Creation is "weak and small! I" (see the Times of the 11th of December, 1855) ; that " the music allotted to the soprano in the Elijah is of a far deeper meaning and a far loftier beauty than any thing Hayd never imagined" {Times of December 18). But 454 APPENDIX. apai't from these eccentricities (and where is it that there are no incendiaries for the Temple of Ephesus?) it is certain that musical criticism in England is more serious, and, above all, more learned than the French. There is another proof that England loves music, to be derived from the great number of books published upon that art, and the high prices which are set upon them. The four volumes of Dr. Burney can not be purchased for less than £4 ; a second edition of the five volumes quarto, by Hawkins, has been published by Mr. Novello; and, nevertheless, there are at least five or six more Histories of Music by different authors. If, on the other hand, it is urged that a portion of the English public runs after bad music — and we are reminded of those concerts at which the pit, transformed into an open arena, is filled with men who walk about, hat on head, and conversing with women — we reply that these facts prove nothing. Classical music is a thing so dcKcate, so beyond all other, that it requires a certain culture to appreciate it. Among people of the highest civilization, it is appreciated only by those "\vho are endowed with artistic taste, and neces- sarily the mass of the population acquires it last ; but even in this respect England appears to me to be the most advanced. ISTo- where do the masses get better music, which is as much as to say that nowhere are the masses more enlightened with respect to music. At Mr. Hullah's concerts, where the prices of admission are one and two shillings, only the highest class of works is per- formed, such as the Requiem of Mozart, the Choral Symphony of Beethoven, and Handel's Oratorios ; and these great works are performed with the greatest taste and exactness. In the programme of a concert given at Canterbury, where the prices were the same, we find the names of Handel, Haydn, and Mo- zart. In what other country in the world can shillings purchase such exquisite dehcacies ? In France, as in Germany, the hap- piness of listening to a symphony is a sort of privilege reserved exclusively for the rich. The history of the art must assign to England the honor and the merit of having brought that noble and beneficent pleasure witliin reach of the poor. And here let us do honor to a modest, but really useful man, Mr. HuUah. Music is not only a pleasure, but it is one of the most healthy kinds of nourishment for the mind. Consult the criminal statis- tics, and it is extraordinary how small a number of musicians are to be found there. Of all the professions, it is incontestably this THE STATE OF MUSIC IN ENGLAND. 455 which furnishes the smallest number of recruits to the prisons and the hulks, and the smallest number of victims to the scaffold. Every thing, therefore, which renders good music more attain- able to those who are destitute of Avealth is a real moral service to society, and the efforts of Mr. Hullah in this direction deserve the greatest respect. But what we have said proves not only the good direction given to music, but also the progress of the people. These chefs- d'oeuvre^ requiring a numerous and able orchestra, necessitate great expenses ; and therefore the speculator who risks his money upon such undertakings must have certain confidence in the taste and spirit of the million. By dint of searching among the remotest villages of the Ger- manic Confederation, a man may be found Avho does not know the name of Mozart ; and perhaps it would not be impossible to meet in the Pontine Marshes with a goatherd who never heard of Rossini ; but the Englishman does not exist who is not familiar with the name of Handel. The admiration felt here for him is really universal ; his name has certainly penetrated deeper into the population than those of his rivals in their own countries. Far more Enghsh have heard The Messiah than Germans the Don Juan or the Symphony in Z>, or Italians II Barhiere. France is very far indeed from having made equal progress. Classical music is there confined to a very restricted circle ; and the works of the great masters are forgotten, or at least ne- glected, with the exception of the symphonies and such music as may be connected with theaters. Since the death of the austere Baillot, there have been none of those instrumental quatuors and quintettes, which form one of the most exquisitely beautiful branches of the art. An amateur has given, in a too short series of concerts, some music of Palestrina, Orlando Lassus, Pergolesi, AUegri, etc. ; but this laudable experiment did not spread beyond the walls of a private house. As for oratorios, nothing but the Creation has been heard since the Directory, with the exception of Judas MaccahcBus and The Messiah, feebly executed three or four times before an audience of subscribers by a society of amateurs. France, it must be confessed, is, in this respect, un- worthy of herself; she has done nothing to emulate the annual festivals of Germany and England, where imposing choral and instrumental masses are used to render fitly the epic poems of music ; and let us add, that in England they are executed in the 456 APPENDIX. highest style of excellence. The choruses, consisting of from three to four hundred voices, are good, when they are well con- ducted ; the orchestras are powerful ; and for the solo parts they have Mesdames Clara Novello, Lockey, and Dolby, and Messrs. Sims Keeves and Lockey, all genuine artists, and all natives of England. Ever since the now remote era in which the admirable Garcia and Pelligrini, Mesdames Pasta and Piesaroni flourished, I have heard all the singers who have been celebrated; and, without asserting that Madame Clara Novello and Mr. Sims Reeves are equal to the most illustrious of these, I am not afraid to say that they are only second to them. Neither do I hesitate to state that whoever has not yet heard an oratorio executed in London, or at one of the provincial festivals, has not tasted the full amount of delight which music is able to give him. Thus, then, it seems that the bad reputation which England has on the Continent as a musical nation arises from a prejudice ; and it may be that these few words will do something toward dissipating it — not because I have the vanity to suppose that my voice is powerful, nor because I have stated any thing particularly new, but because I have stated material and undoubted facts. Nor have I done this to flatter England (for I have lost any such desire), but simply to record the truth. On the other hand, the EngUsh entertain some prejudices with respect to the French. Out of contempt for French music, none of the charming works of Monsigny, Catel, Gretry, Daleyrac, Mehul, Boieldieu, or Berton has appeared upon an English stage for nearly a century. M. Halevy's Juive has indeed been given, but without (what is generally considered to be of some import- ance in an opera) the music. Richard Co&ur de Lion^ when translated, could win no admirers. Burney himself, in spite of his excellent taste and his fine judgment, has not escaped that patriotic prejudice. His enthusiasm for Gluck is very moderate, because his genius was " Frenchified." " Gluck's music is so truly dramatic," says he, '^ that the airs and scenes which have the greatest efiect upon the stage are cold and rude in a concert (! !). The situation, context, and interest gradually excited in an audi- ence, gave them force and energy." He reproaches Piccini and Sacchini with having had " a complaisance for the ancient musical taste of France" in their operas for our stage. To his eyes, Gre- try himself, " who brought with him to Paris all the taste of Italy, in compliance with the French language, has been frequently THE STATE OF MUSIC IN ENGLAND. 457 obliged to sacrifice it, in order to please his judges, and he has, at least, improved our taste as much as we have corrupted his" (page 624). After which, he adds, in the most serious manner : " If good music and performance are ever heartily felt in France, it must be progressively ; a totally different style of singing must be adopted ; otherwise it will be in vain for the greatest composers, with the assistance of the best lyric poets in the universe, to at- tempt the reformation." Burney did not perceive that all his criticisms against the French school actually prove the individu- ahty of that school; that it has a style, which must be something, after aU, if, " in spite of the language," that style has produced Gluck's Armide, Piccini's JDidon, Sacchini's CEdipe a Colonne, Salieri's Tarare, Spontini's La Vestale, Rossini's Guillaume Tell, Monsighy's Le Deserteur, Champein's La Mtlomanie, Gretry's Zemire et Azov, Lesueur's La Caverne, Catel's VAuherge de Bag- neres, Steibelt's Romeo et Juliette, Nicolo's Cendrillon, Cheru- bim's Les Deux Journtes, Mehul's Joseph, Berton's Afontano et Stephani, Daleyrac's Maisoii a Vendre, Delia Maria's Le Prison- nier, Devienne's Les Visitandines, Boieldieu's Ma Tante Aurore, Meyerbeer's Robert le Liable, Herold's Le Pre awx Clercs, Hale- vy's La Jiiive — in fact, all the old ripertoire of the French Optra Comiciue,m which Mehul shines conspicuous, with his style so vigorous, so strong, so eminently French. The best judges de- clare that it can not be denied that the music of Rameau is a cre- ation, that that of Philidor, the author of Le Border and the Marichal, is remarkable for the novelty of its forms, and they speak of Gossec as a composer of the fii-st order. Is it not also to the French school that the following singers belong ? Carat, Martin, Lais, the Nourrits (father and son), M"*^- Branchu, M"^- Rigaut, M"'^- Damoreau, M. del Sarte, M. Ponchard, and, finally, the greatest of all modern singers, M. Duprez, Since I have adventured upon this ground, let it be added that France has not taken up a position in musical history only to-day. From the fourteenth century to the end of the sixteenth, the French and the Flemish were the sole cultivators of that divine art. At that time Italy produced nothing, and only performed the works of the composers of France and Flanders. In the cat- alogue of Petrucci, the inventor of music printing (at Venice, 1502), nothing but French and Flemish masses are to be found. It is also a French composer, Claude Goudimel, who had the honor of being Palestrina's master. The Pope's chapels were at 20 458 APPENDIX. that time served only by French and Flemish singers. The old French school began to decline under Henri Quatre, and expired in the reign of Louis XIII., because Richelieu was not fond of music ; but it flourished anew after Louis XIV. attained his ma- jority, and the Optra Frangais was founded in 1671.* Although this was inspired at first by Italian taste, it quickly assumed its own colors, and we have already seen what it produced. It should not be forgotten that Gluck and the Italians who have written for the French, have written in the French style. Ros- sini himself, in spite of his characteristic individuality, has not escaped that powerful influence. No one will say that the won- derful author of H Barhiere and the profound author of GuiUaume Tell are not two different kinds of genius in the same man. Cho- ron, in spite of his Italiomania, confesses that LuUy, the creator of the French Opera, formed a style for himself — " composed as much French as Italian melody."! But even this opinion reflected some of his prejudices; for Lully was brought to France in 1647, when only fourteen years old, and his style is thoroughly French. But this would carry the discussion to too great a length for my present purpose, and therefore I will here conclude ; hoping, for the future, that the two countries will henceforth render each other more justice in matters appertaining to music. APPENDIX O. HANDEL'S HOUSE. With reference to the house in Brook-street which was inhab- ited by Handel, I am indebted to Mr. Robert Lonsdale for the following document. It proves that Handel was established • * In 1645, Mazarin brought over at great expense an Italian company, which sang, among other things, Montevcrde's Orfeo; but the Parisians had no taste for such an amusement, and the Italian company departed. Mazarin returned to the charge in 1660, and gave Italian operas again for the fetes in honor of Louis the Fourteenth's marriage. This music, which was still nothing better than a ryth- mical declamation, was decidedly displeasing to the French, who were accustomed to the easy and agreeable melody of their own songs, and the Italians were once more obliged to go. But these performances gave to Cambere, organist to the Church of St. Honore, the idea of imitating them in a French pastoral. The scheme was successful, and procured for him a privilege to establish a French opera. The first work which was represented there in 1761 was called Poinone. Lully, having risen into favor with Louis XIV., supplanted Cambere in this priv- ilege, and organized the opera completely with Quinault. t Sommaire dc VHintoire de la Musiquc, in the Dictionnaire des Musiciena. THE MESSIAH. 469 there at any rate in 1725 (perhaps sooner, but that can not be verified), and that he remained there until his death : "St, George's, Hanover Square, Board Room, Mouut-street, 11th March, 1857, " Dear Sir — This parish was created and made a separate and distinct parish from St. Martin-in-the-Fields in 1725, and the rate-books being carefully preserved, I have searched them from the beginning, and find on the first book for the year 1725, made for the poor-rate, that George Frederic Handel, Esq., was rated at £35 per annum for a house in Brook-street, being then the fourth house rated in that street ; the house before his was rated in the name of Catharine Johnston, and the house next following to his was rated to John Mountain, Esq, On following up the search, I find that Mr. Handel continued rated for the same house up to the year 1759 inclusive, his two neighbors being then Sarah Hunt instead of Catharine Johnston, and Lord Ducie Morton in- stead of John Mountain, Esq. In the year 1760, John Duburk was rated for the fourth house instead of G, F. Handel. " I regret I can give you no further information in reference to your interesting inquiries after the great man ; and I remain, dear sir, etc., " T. R. Chappell, Vestry Clerk. " To R. Lonsdale, Esq." Handel's servant, John Duburk, who, as we have already seen, purchased Handel's furniture, therefore became the tenant of the house, which he doubtless converted into a lodging-house, in the expectation that the memory of his master would attract visitors. APPENDIX P. WHERE WAS "THE MESSIAH" EIRST PRODUCED? Mainwaring asserts that the gi-eat oratorio was produced in London for the first time, and was received badly — "Even his Messiah had met in London with a cold reception."* Burney makes the same statement in his Account of the Commemoration; but he afterward came to be of a contrary opinion when he wrote the fourth volume of his History of Music, but without any ♦ Page 131. 4G0 APPENDIX. very great proof. Thus it is that, for more than a century, the biographers have, one after anotlier, bhndly repeated Mainwar- ing's assertion, Mr. Westrop alone (in his preface to his edition of The Messiah^ published by Purday) has taken the trouble to add some particulars : he very carefully fixes the date of the fall at the 12th of September, 1741 — precisely two days before the oratorio M^as finished ! Hawkins explains that The Messiah was first of all given at Co vent Garden, in 1741, under the name of A Sacred Oratorio. " As it consisted chiefly of choruses, and the airs contained in it were greatly inferior to most of his operas and former oratorios, it was but coldly received by the audience."* Sir John Hawkins, although not devoid of a certain amount of taste, and although he was a great Handelian, had more than one opinion equally eccentric. He says, for example, that the mag- nificent air in Judas Maccahceus, '' Come, ever smihng Liberty," was written " to fascinate the vulgar!"! In spite of the great inferiority of its airs, and wdiatever may be the confidence which Mainwaring and Hawkins deserve, it is certain that the masterpiece of sacred music did not fail at its first performance in London. The Irishman, Mr. Townsend, has cleared that city from such a stain, by putting beyond all man- ner of doubt the fact of the first performance taking place in Dublin. Some discussion upon the point will certainly not appear out of place in a work like this. And, in the first place ; the Rev. John Mainwaring had him- self seen nothing of that which he recounts, and, being still very young for a writer, he made statements without verifying them. The appearance of The Messiah dated twenty years back when he wrote his book, and the information which he had respecting the circumstances which attended it was derived from nothing but rumor. He states, for example, that, when Handel arrived in Dublin, " the first step was to perform his Messiah for the ben- efit of the city prison."J Whereas, on the corntary, we know fi-om the journals, that it was the last step. The anecdote about Janson, at Chester, implies that the oratorio had never been given. Burney says expressly, that "he wished to prove some books that had been hastily transcribed."! If the work had been already performed, Handel would have had no need to verify the * Page 890 (358 of the 5th vol. of the first edition). t Page 913. X Page 132. § Page 26 of The Commemoration. THE MESSIAH. 411 copies at Chester. All the Dublin advertisements, whether of the rehearsal or of the performances, speak of it as the " new grand oratorio ;" an expression which is not applied to any other of the works which he produced at Dublin. * Faulkner's Journal, as we have seen, in announcing the general rehearsals, adds: — u * * rjij-^g noble and great charity for which this oratorio WAS COMPOSED." Evcn supposing that Handel had not been as honest a man as he was, he would not have suffered such an an- nouncement to appear in public if The Messiah had already been heard in London. Moreover, contradiction was too easy. In the tliird place, we find that in his letter to Jennens of the 29th of December, 1742, he says, '' I had received the Lines you was pleased to send me, in order to be prefixed to your oratorio Mes- siah^ which I set to musick before I left England." It is evident that if the oratorio had been produced in London, the author of the words would have had no more mottoes to add, and the writer of the letter would not have had to employ that expres- sion, " which I set to musick before I left England." There are other proofs not less conclusive.' The MS. of The Messiah is inscribed : " Ausgefiillt den 14 September" (finished on the 14th of September) ; that of Samson : " End of the first act, September 29th." As Handel finished the first act of Sam- son on the 29th of September, he must have commenced it, at least, on the 21st or the 22d at the latest. How was it possible, between the 14th and 22d, to copy, rehearse, and perform the immense score, which was itself improvised in twenty-three days? Besides this, the pubhc journals of Dublin announce formally his arrival in that city on the 18th of November. Al- lowing a fortnight for the journey, including the stoppage at Chester (and the king's viceroy, with a favorable wind, and six- teen relays of horses, required five days for the same journey), he must have quitted London about the 4th of November. Moreover, it is not possible to admit that The Messiah could have appeared between the 29th of October (the date of the com- pletion of Samson) and the 4th of November, in the midst of the preparations for his journey, and, above all, the journey of a manager who was taking several artists with him — notably Sg^. Avolio. Finally, not one of the London journals announces The Messiah, either in September, October, or November, 1741. Burney has already stated this, and I affirm it once more, having verified the fact. Mr. Cradock relates the following: — "In my 462 APPENDIX. early youth I was at times present at a musical treat, chiefly given by amateurs at Mr. Jennyng's house, at Gopsal, in our county (Leicestershire), who possessed a good organ, with Han- del's portrait in front of it, where Handel himself had frequently presided when the words of The Messiah* were first selected. The oratorio was soon afterward brought out in London, and the great 'Hallelujah Chorus' t was intended for the conclusion; but finding that the second act hung heavily, and that some disap- pointment began to be expressed, Handel rushed forward, and commanded the last chorus to be then performed. This was most triumphantly encored, and this expedient completely saved that inspired oratorio."J If this story be true, Handel must have composed The Messiah at Gopsall, and have come "soon afterward" to produce it at London. Here we have, in addition, a long journey to place be- tween the 14th of September, when The Messiah was concluded, and the 22d, when Samson was commenced. And when could the composer find time to produce his new oratorio soon after the 14th of September, when he was writing the great score of Sam- son between the 22d of that month and the 29th of October ? I even refuse to believe that The Messiah was written at GopsaU, as many have asserted upon the faith of Cradock's obscure state- ment. The interval between the two masterpieces is too short, and the distance from London to Gropsall is too long for that to be credible. At that time, certainly not less than two days were required for this journey of 115 to 120 miles. As for the story about the " Hallelujah Chorus," it is very dramatic, but nothing more. Grreat as this chorus is, it could never have saved any thing with an audience which found the act which it terminates * From this it may be concluded that Handel had something to do -with the compilation of The Messiah. It may be understood from these words, that he ■who presided at the organ had also a voice in the choice of the words. t Ilallehijah is a Hebrew word, derived from Hallelu (praise), and Jah, the abbreviation of Jehovah (he that is eternal). Jehovah is the name under which the divine Spirit revealed itself to Moses on Mount Sinai. It is a sacred name with the Jews, who only pronounce it on great religious solemnities, and with the greatest reverence. The Hebi'aist who has furnished me with this explanation adds, that Hallelujah is pronounced Hallelouyah, but it is written Hallelujah — the Hebrew alphabet not containing the letter y. So the English, who preserve the orthography of foreign words, are correct in writing Hallelujah. It is said that it was St. Jerome who introduced it into the music of the Romish Church, ha\'ing taken it from the Greek form of worship ; in which, I believe, it is nsed only once a year. t Literat'y and Miscellaneous Memoirs, by Cradock, page 124. THE MESSIAH. 463 " hang heavily." It has never occupied any other place than that which it now holds. In the original MS. it closes the second act, which is signed and dated. From the very first performance the oratorio had its " Hallelujah" at the end of the second act, and its admirable " Amen"* at the end of the third. It should not be forgotten that Cradock, who was born in 1742, only .spoke by oral tradition, and a tradition gathered in " early youth," to which he did not himself attach any importance. He did not even know how to spell the name of Jennens. Mr. Gardiner, in attempting to refute some of Mr. Townsend's statements, says : " There can be no doubt that The Messiah was first performed in London. I learned it from a conversation I had with Mr. Cradock, who told me that Mr. Mainwaring was present at the performancey a.nd that at the end of the second part he heard Handel call out, ' Go to the Hallelujah !' This origin- ally was the finishing chorus," etc.t Mr. Gardiner repeats thiy in a letter to the Duhlin Daily Express, of the 14th of June, 1853, adding that Cradock " had the fact from Dr. Mainwarmg himself." It is certain that Cradock, in liis Literary and Miscel- laneous Memoirs, speaks of Mainwaring several times, and calls him "my much honored friend;" but in truth he quotes his friend without much authority. In his own memoirs,:^ the editor, Nichols, says, in a note, " Mainwaring also published anonymously a life of Handel (8vo, 1760). He died at Cambridge in April, 1807, aged seventy-two, and was succeeded as professor by the learned Dr. Marsh." The same note is also to be found in Nichols's Literary Anecdotes.^ John Mainwaring was, therefore, six years old at the time (1741) when he witnessed that dramatic scene of " Go to the Hallelujah !" And the memory of tliis cliild of six years becomes all the more suiprising when we find that, on arriving at a reasonable age, he fixes the first performance of The Messiah, the particulars of which he so well recollected, at the 12th of April, 1741, || which is more than four months before Han- del had written a note of it. * This "Amen" is a work not less magnificent than the " Hallelujah ;" yet, at each performance of it, the more vulgar portion of the audience hastens toward the door, in order to get the most convenient places for going out. They will not listen to this marvelous piece themselves, and the noise of their procession pre- vents persons of good taste from enjoying it. There should be an act of Parlia- ment to punish every person who rises from his seat before the last note of the " Amen," with a deprivation of hearing The Messiah for twelve calendar months- t Mudc and Friends, vol. iii., p. 361. t Vol. iv., p. 228. § Vol. viii., p. 380. II Page 152. 4t^4 APPENDIX. Mr. Hogarth also supports the assertion as to the first perform- ance being in London during September, 1741 : '^ The MS.," says he, " bears ' fine dell' oratorio 7bre 12th,' and below is written ' au^gefiillt den 14 dieses,' that is to say, performed on the 14th.'' It has been pointed out, however, that the meaning of the word ausgefiiUt is not performed^ but filled vp, completed. Handel, in composing, only wrote the subject, and the bass, then filled up the orchestration afterward.* It was this last operation which he noted, with his habitual and minute exactness, by the word " ausgefiillt," filled up. If he had intended to signify that it was performed, he would have written ausgefiihrt. One is only astonished that musicians, like Mr. Hogarth and M. Fetis (who repeats the same thing), did not reflect upon the physical impossi- bility of mounting such a work in two days. The rectified trans- lation of the word " ausgefiillt" is confirmed by another proof, taken from the MSS. At the end of Berenice we find " fine dell' opera, January 18th, 1737 ;" and below '•' ausgufullen," which sig- nifies to he filled up, and lower still, "geendiget den 27th January, 1737," that is to sa,y, finished on the 27th of January. And to the preceding may be added the personal deposition of Dr. Quin, of Dublin, who knew Handel when he visited Ireland. '• The Messiah" he says, " I am thoroughly convinced, was per- formed in Dublin /or the first time, and with the greatest applause. Mrs. Gibber and Signora Avolio were the principal performers. These, with the assistance of the choristers of St. Patrick's Ca- thedral and Christ Church, formed the vocal band ; and Dubourg, with several instrumental performers, composed a very respectable orchestra."t The details of this testimony, which was given in 1788, being all proved to be exact (by authentic documents dis- covered since), give great credibility to the principal statement. One word more. The Daily Advertiser of the 31st of March, 1743, contains some vei'ses upon Tlie Messiah, which will presently be quoted. The insertion of these verses on the 31st of March, 1743, is another proof in support of my opinion, for it perfectly correspends Avith tliree performances of that year ; and it is to be remarked, that the author of the verses calls them, " Extem- pore on Mr. Handel's New Oratorio." Certainly, if the work had made its appearance in 1741, the defender of Handel would not have qualified it as " new'' in 1743. There is no longer any doubt, therefore, that Tlie Messiah was • See " Catalogue." t Burney, p. 662. PRETENDED PLAGIARISMS. 465 performed for the first time at Dublin, in 1742, and that it was not, as has been a thousand times ass(jrt(!d, produced in Loudon, in 1741. APPENDIX Q. "HOW BEAUTIFUL." In looking more carefully into the matter, I find that the version of '* How beautiful" in C minor, as given by Arnold, is not first furnished by him, as stated on p. 284, but is added by Smith at the end of his copy of The Messiah, belonging to the Lennard collec- tion. There is also to be found in this appendix the air, " He shall feed his flock," written for two voices; although in the body of the copy he has only given it for a single voice, as all the other copies have it, as well as the original MS. Wliatever confidence Smith may deserve, it is permitted to doubt that his appendix to The Messiah in the Lennard collection had the approbation of Handel, It has been seen (at page 235) that the excellent Smith did not always respect the heritage of his master as much as could be desh-ed. APPENDIX R. PRETENDED PLAGIARISMS. Mr. V. NovELLO, a learned modem publisher, has informed us, in the preface to his edition of PurcelTs Sacred Music, that ten movements of the Dettmgen Te Deum are borrowed from a similar work by Francisco Antonio Uria, some of whose works were pubhshed at Bologna, 1697. Handel, says he, " picked up a pebble, and changed it into a diamond. One can only regret that he had not the candor to own from whom he borrowed the pebble." According to Mr. Macfarren, Handel was guilty of many larcenies of this kind. Thus the chorus in The Messiah, "And with his stripes," is identically the same as a fugue by Bach, which Mr. Macfarren does not name ; and the chorus in Acts, " Wretched lovers," has for its principal movement that of another fiigue by Bach, which also he does not name.* The great accused may say, like Moliere, when he used something * Musical World for 1840, page 200. 20* 466 APPENDIX. from Cyrano de Bergerac : " Je prends mon bien ou je le trouve" (I take my property wherever I find it) ; but it would be doubly astonishing to find that Handel, ordinarily so conscientious, should conceal such acquisitions. He knew too much to dissemble about what others had taught him. He had always a rare loy- alty of character. He wrote the little pastoral symphony which precedes the arrival of the shepherds in The Messiah^ out of one of the melodies which the Pifferari of Calabria have sung at Kome, during the holy week, from time immemorial ; but he took care to acknowledge it upon the MS., and did not wish that any one should be deceived about it. Why not have acted in the same manner with regard to the other pieces which he har- rowed ? He who was so rich I Dr. Eimbault, who, in the pre- face to his fine edition of The Messiah for the Handel Society, has given the entire melody of the Pifferari, is very learned in music,, and if he had recognized Bach's fugue in the chorus, " And with his stripes," he would have given that also. Mr. Sterndale Bennett, in his preface to Acis, for the edition of the Handel Society, has occasion to speak twice of the chorus " Wretched lovers," but says nothing of its identity with one of Bach's fugues. Bach was a cotemporary of Handel ; his admirable fiagues were very well known, and it is not probable that Han- del, whose own fecundity was so abundant, would have had the boldness to appropriate two ideas belonging to another man, whose genius was often put in comparison with his own. Sir G. Smart, in his preface to the Dettingen Te Deum, for the Handel Society, says: — "Handel did not borrow pebbles, but polished diamonds." But why, in imitation of Dr. Rimbault, did he not give his readers the opportunity of estimating the relative value of the diamonds ? When a great artist like Handel is ac- cused of theft, the proofs should be exhibited openly ; for it is a curious fact that while the author of The Messiah confessed the adoption of the Pifferari hymn in the little pastoral symphony, Mr. Macfarren reproaches him for not having acknowledged that he had borrowed it from an old English ballad called Parthenia. These pretended thefts are nothing but accidental resemblances, fugitive, and quite involuntary. I do not refer to what Dr. Crotch says upon the subject, in his Overtures Choruses^ Symphonies^ and Marches of Handel adapted for the Piano. If he is to be believed, Handel was never any thing but a plagiarist, who passed his life in seeking ideas out of TRICES OF PLACES. 46t every corner. There is scarcely one note by him which, accord- ing to the discoveries of the doctor, has not been stolen from Leo, Luther, Porta, Pergolese, Carissimi, Stephani, Kulnau, Tale man, Graun, Vinci, Bononcini, Bach, Corelli, and other well-known models, such as Padre Uria, Calvisius, Ilabermann, MufFat, Kerl, Morley, Cesti, Turni, etc., etc. There are portraits of Crotch which represent him playing upon the organ, at the age of three years. He so astonished the world by his prodigious precocities that he was called '' the Musical Phenomenon." This extraor- dinary child became one of the most ordinary of doctors, and we see how he employed his time. APPENDIX S. PRICES OF PLACES. Handel, from the very commencement of his management to the end of his Ufe, invariably charged his places at the same price: — ''Pit and boxes to be put together, at half a guinea each ; first gallery, 5s. ; second gallery, 3s. 6d.," whether for op- eras or oratorios, and whether at the Hay market, at Covent Gar- den, or at Lincoln's Inn Fields. These very high terms are stereo- typed in all his advertisements. The London Daily Post of the 20th of June, 1737, says again: — "Pit and boxes (or front boxes) to be put together ;" an announcement wliich is explained by the following, which may frequently be found : — " The pit will be floored over and laid to the boxes" {London Daily Post, 23d June, 1737). We find this in all the advertisements of Handel, whether at the Haymarket or at Covent G-arden, at the repre- sentations of operas, as w^ell as at the performances of oratorios. The same thing is to be noticed in the advertisements of the thea- ter which was supported by the nobiHty, and we must conclude that the representation of Italian operas and oratorfos had always a certain solemnity, and that they took away from persons of slender means the five-shilling pit in order to get half a guinea by raising it to a level with the boxes. The fi:equenters of the pit were therefore obliged to take refuge in the galleries. 468 APPENDIX. APPENDIX T. ONE OF HANDEL'S CONVERSATIONS. It was probably to the period when Handel suffered from the first attacks of the gutia serena, that the interesting scene which is humorously described in Mr. Ephraim Hardcastle's Somerset House Gazette:'^ probably belongs. The author relates that he had a good old uncle, Zachary Hardcastle, a retired merchant, who was intimately acquainted with aU the most distinguished men of his time, artists, poets, musicians, and physicians. This old gen- tleman, who lived in Paper Buildings, was accustomed to take his morning walk in the garden of Somerset House, where he hap- pened to meet with another old man, CoUey Cibber,t and proposed to him to go and hear a competition wliich was to take place at mid-day for the post of organist to the Temple, and he invited him to breakfast, telling him at the same time that Dr. Pepusch and Dr. Arne were to be with him at nine o'clock. They go in ; Pepusch arrives punctually at the stroke of nine ; presently there is a knock, the door is opened, and Handel presents liimself Then follows the scene : " Handel : ' Yat ! mine dear friendt Hardgasdle — ^Yat ! you are merry py dimes. Vat ! and Misder Golley Gibbers too ! aye, Togder Peepbush as veil! Veil, dat is gomigal. Veil, mine friendts, andt how vags the vorldt mid you, mine tdears? Bray, bray, do let me sit town a momend.' " Pepusch took the great man's hat ; Colley Gibber took his stick; and my great uncle wheeled round his reading-chair, which was somewhat about the dimensions of that in which our kings and queens are crowned ; and then the great man sat him down. " '■ Veil, 1 thank you, gendlemen ; now I am at mine ease * Two large volumes in 4to. Nos. 3 and 4 of the first vol., 1823. t Colley Gibber was a comedian, dramatic author, and p.pet laureate in the reign of George II. He was celebrated for the wittiness of his repartees arid his quar- rels with Pope. He made his dihut upon the stage in 1689, at the age of eighteen, and began by playing gratis for nine months, after which he received ten shillings per week, afterward fifteen, and afterward twenty. He quitted the stage in 1731, when his reputation was at its licight, and afterward appeared from time to time at fifty guineas for each performance. — Life of Colley Gibber^ ap- pendpd to his draniiitic works. TTp died in 175T at the age of eighty-six. ONE OP HANDEL'S CONVERSATIONS. 469 vonce more. Ilbon mine vord, dat is a bictiire of a ham. It ia very pold of me to c^omo to preak my fasdt mid you uninvided ; and I have brought along mid me a nodable abbetite; for tlie wader of old Fader Dems [Thames], is it not a fine pracer of the stomach ?' " ' You do me great honor, Mister Handel,' said my great uncle. * I take this early visit as a gi'eat kindness.' " ' A delightful morning for the water/ said Colley Gibber. " ' Pray, did you come with oars or skullers. Mister Handel ?' said Pepusch. " ' Now, how gan you demand of me dat zilly question ? you who are a musician and a man of science, Doctor Peepbush. Vat gan it goncern you, whether I have one votdermans or two vot- dermans — whether I bull out mine burse for to pay one shilling or two. Diavolo ! I gannot go here, or I gannot go there, but some one shall send it to some newsbaber, as how Misder Chorge Yrederick Handel did go somedimes last week m a votderman's wherry, to preak his fastd mid Misder Zac Hardgasdle ; but it shall be all the fault mid mineself, if it shall be put in print, whether I was rowed by one votdermans or by two votdermans. So, Dr. Peepbush, you will blease to excuse me from dat.' " Nothing made Handel so peevish in his latter days, as being questioned about trivial matters. He used to say, ' If a man gannot think but as a fool, ledt him keep his fool's tongue m his own fool's moud.' But Handel, for all these httle impatient hu- mors, was a kind and good-hearted man. " Poor Dr. Pepusch was for a moment disconcerted, but it was forgotten in the first dish of coffee. '' ' Well, gentlemen,' said my great uncle Zachary, looking at his Tompion, ' it is ten minutes past nine. Shall we wait more for Dr. Arne ?' " ' Let us give him another five minutes' chance. Master Hard- castle,' said Colley Gibber; 'he is too great a genius to keep time.' " ' Let U9 put it to the vote,' said Dr. Pepusch, smiling. ' Who holds up hands ?' " ' I will segond your motion mid all mine heard t,' said Han- del. ' I will hold up mine feeble hands for mine oldt friend Gus- tos [Arne's name was Augustine], for I know not who I would awaidt for, over andt above mine oldt rival, Master Dcm [Tliomas, meaning Pepusch]. Only liy your liermission, I Avill d;i.ke a 470 APPENDIX. suag of your ham, andt a slice of French roll, or a modicum of chicken ; for, to deU you the honest facd, I am all pote famished, for I laid me down on mine pillow in bed, the lastd nightd, midout mine supper, at the instance of mine physician ; for which I am not altogeddere inglined to extend mine fastd no longer.' Then, laughing, 'Berhaps, Mister Golley Gibbers, you may hke to pote this to the vote ? But I shall not segond the motion, nor shall I holdt up mine hand, as I will, by bermission, embloy it some dime in a better office. So, if you blease, do me the kindness for to gut me a small slice of ham.' " At this instant a hasty footstep was heard on the stairs, ac- companied by the humming of an air, all as gay as the morning, which was beautiful and bright. It was the month of May. " ' Bresto ! be quick,' said Handel; he knew it was Arne ; ' fif- teen minudes of dime is bretty well for an ad Hbidum.' " ' Mr. Arne,' said my great uncle's man. " A chair was placed, and the social party commenced their dejeuner. " ' Well, and how do you find yourself; my dear sir ?' inquired Arne, with friendly warmth. " ' Why, by the mercy of heaven, and the waders of Aix-la- Chapelle, andt the addentions of mine togders andt physicians, andt oggulists,* of lade years, under Providence, I am surbriz- ingly pedder, thank you kindly, Misder Gustos. Andt you have been also doing well of lade, as I am bleased to hear. You see, sir,' pointing to the plate, ' you see, sir, dat I am in the way for to regruit mine flesh mid the good viands of Misder Zachary Hard- gasdle.' " ' So, sir, I presume you are come to witness the trial of skill at the old Round Ghurch ? I understand the amateurs expect a pretty sharp contest,' said Arne. '^ ' Gondest,' echoed Handel, laying down his knife and fork. ' Yes, no doubt ; your amadeurs have a bassion for gondest. Not vot it vos in our remembrance Hey, mine friendt ! Ha, ha, ha !' " ' No, sir, I am happy to say, those days of envy and bicker- ing, and party feeling are gone and past. To be sure, we had enough of such disgraceful warfare ; it lasted too long.' * This must have been about 1751 or 1753, as he mentions the oculists. It ap- pears, also, that he had recently visited the waters of Aix-la-Chapelle, which con- firms the statement in the Public Advertiser of the 21st of August, 1750, relative to the journey which was lately mentioned. ONE OP HANDEL'S CONVERSATIONS. 471 " < Why, yes, it tid last too long ; it bereft me of mine poor limbs ; it tid bereave me of that vot is the most blessed gift of him vot made us, and not wee ourselves.* And for vot ? Vy, for noding in the worldt, pode the bleasure andt bastime of them who having no widt, nor no want, set at loggerheads such men as Hve by their widts, to worry and destroy one andt anodere as wildt beasts in the Golloseum in the dimes of the Romans.' " Poor Dr. Pepusch, during this conversation, as my great uncle observed, was sitting on thorns ; he was in the coniederacy pro- fessionally only. " ' I hope, sir,' observed the doctor, ' you do not include me among those who did injustice to your talents.' " ' Nod at all, nod at all ; God forbid ! I am a great admirer of the airs of the "Peggar's Obera," and every professional gendtle- man must do his best for to hve.' " This mild return, couched under an apparent compliment, was well received ; but Handel, who had a talent for sarcastic droUing, added, ' Pute why blay the Peggar yourself, togder, andt adapt oldt pallad hum-sdrum, ven, as a man of science, you could gombose original airs of your own ? Here is mine friendt Gustos Arne, who has made a road for hiroself, for to drive along his own genius to the demple of fame ;' then turning to our illus- trious Arne, he continued, ' mine friendt, Gustos, you andt I must meed togeder some dimes before it is long, andt hold a tede-a- tede of old days vot is gone ; ha, ha ! ! it is gomigal now dat id is all gone by. Gustos, tdo nod you remember as it vas almost only of yesterday, dat she devil Guzzoni, and dat other brecious tdaughter of iniquity, Pelzepub's sboiled child, the bretty-faced Faustina ? ! the mad rage vat I have to answer for, vot with one and the oder of these fine latdies' airs and graces. Again, do you nod remember dat ubstardt buppy Senesino, and the gox- gomb FarineUi? Next, again, mine somedimes nodtable rival, Master Bononcini, andt old Borbora ? ha, ha, ha ! all at war wid me, andt all at war wid themselves. Such a gonfusion of rival- shibs, andt double-facedness, and hybocrisy, andt malice, vot would make a gomigal subject for a boem in rhymes, or a biece for the stage, as I hopes to be saved.' " This narrative (which in its truthfulness of character resembles an interior photographed from the life) finishes brusquely in this * In allusion, doubtless, to the attack of paralysis, and to the mental alienation oflTST. 472 APPENDIX. manner. As it is not slated tliat a sliort-liand ^\Titer was present, one is tempted to regard it as doubtful ; but wonderful memories are occasionally to be met with, and the whole scene is adapted so perfectly and so naturally to facts which we know from other sources, that entire faith may be accorded to the story. From this it appears that about 1750 all disputes had ceased, not without leaving a certain bitterness at the bottom of Han- del's heart. It appears also, that at the age of sixty-six or seven he had lost none of that conversational fire for which he was renowned, but that when he felt himself at his ease and in a good arm-chair, it was difficult for any one else to find room for a word. APPENDIX U. HANDEL'S HOUSEHOLD PROPERTY. From the original in the possession of Mr. Wm. Snoxell, who has kindly permitted me to publish it : "An Inventory of the Household Goods of George Frederic Handel, Esq., deceased, taken at his late dwelling-house in Great Brook-street, St. George's, Hanover Square ; and, by order of the executor, sold to Mr. Jno. Du Bourk, this twenty- seventh of August, 1759, by the appraisement of us whose names are underwritten. " In the Garretts. — i old chairs, 3 old trunks, a wainscot oval table, a bedstead, with Hneing furniture, a feather bed, bolster, and 1 pillow, 3 blanketts, and a quilt, an old sadle, a window curtain, and an old grate, 2 pair stairs carpet, 2 old globes, and frames, and chimney-board. " 2 Pair Stair forward. — A bedstead, with whole teaster, crim- son haritten furniture, a feather bed, bolster, and 2 pillows, a white mattress, 3 blankets, and a quilt, 3 pair of bed window cur- tains and rods, a stove, tongues, and poker, 6 old matted chairs, a round close stool and white pann, a wicker fire-screen, a glass in wall*^ frame. "2 Fair Stairs hackivards.— A.n old bedstead, with red half teaster furniture, a feather bed, a bolster, 2 blanketts, and an old quilt, an oval wainscott table, and 3 old chairs. ^^ Dineing Room. — An iron hearth with dogs, brass-mounted tongs and shovell, 2 wall*^ round card tables, 7 wall** matted chairs, HANDEL'S HOUSEHOLD TROPERTY. 4*73 and leather stool, 2 sconces in gilt frames, a chimney glass in ditto, and broke. " In the 1 Pair of Stairs hackwards. — A stove complete, bellows and brush, 4 matted chairs, a wall*^ card table, a pair of old green silk window curtains, and a window seat, a chimney glass in a gilt frame, and a pier glass in ditto. "/ti the Closet. — A hncey cistern, an old stove, and a small cupboard. " On the Stairs and in y^ Passage. — An eight-day clock in a wall*^ frame, and a square lanthorn. " In the Fore Parlour. — A square stove, poker, shovell, fender, bellows, and brush, a wainscott oval table, a square block table, 6 old matted chairs, a sconce in a gilt frame, a cliimney glass in ditto, and old walF desk, 5 coulr'd china coffee cups and 6 saucers, a blue and white spoon-boat. " In the Back Parlour. — An easy chair and cushion, an old stove complete, a walF writing desk, a dressing swing- glass in a black frame, an old bason-stand, a wicker fire-screen, a deal chest and bracketts, and a square deal box, a large linen press, a small deal bookcase, 2 wig-blocks fixt. '' In the Closett. — A large nest of drawers and a window-cur- tain. " In the Kitchen. — A large rainge with cheeks, keeper, and iron back, a crain and pott hooks, a fender, shovel, tongs, and poker, and bellows, a salamander, a chaffihg-dish, 2 hanging irons, 3 flat irons, a jack complete and lead weights, 2 standing spit-racks and 3 spitts, a gridiron and 2 truvtts, a flesh fork and iron seure, an iron plate-warmer, 8 brass candlesticks, 2 cofiee-pots, a drudger and 2 pepper-boxes, a slice, a ladle, a copper grater, a warming- pann and iron stand, a boyling-pot and cover, a dish-kittle, a fish- kittle complete, 2 stew-pans and covers, 2 frying-panns, 5 sauce- panns and 3 covers, a copper water candlestick, 12 pewter dishes and 26 plates, a tea-kittle, a coflee-mill, 2 wainscot tables, 5 old chairs, an arm easy chair, a plate-rack, a chopping-board, a spice drawer, a pewter shaving bason, about 30 pair of earthen and stoneware, and a towel-rowl, a box with 12 knives and 12 forks, 4 glass salts and mustard glass, 2 coal-boxes, a meat-screen and a clever, a pair of steps, &c. " In the Bach Kitchen. — An old stove and shovell, a copper fixed and iron work, 2 formes and 5 washing- tubbs, a cloaths-horse and a horse to dust cloaths on, 2 old chairs and a wig-block, a bed- 474 APPENDIX. stead and curtains, a feather bed, bolster, and 1 pillow, 1 blanket and a rug, an old chair. ^' In the Area and Vault. — A large lead cistern and brass cock, and beer stylion. " All the before written goods, &c., is appraised and valued to the sum of forty-eight pounds, the day and year before men- tioned. _ ( James Gordon, " This inventory of household goods, appraised at £48, sold to John de Bourke." APPENDIX V. HANDEL'S HAEPSICHORD. Here is a question to be cleared up. The Anecdotes of Handel and Smith say (at page 55) : — " * * * Smith accordingly ex- pressed that gratitude in a way which he thought most acceptable to his sovereign ; he presented to the king the rich legacy which Handel had left him of all his manuscript music in score, the harpsichord, so remarkable for the ivory being indented by Han- del's continued exertions, and his bust by Eoubiliac he sent afterward to Windsor Castle. Of all his great instructor had be- queathed him, he only reserved to himself the portrait executed by Denner." This volume, which is by the Rev. WiUiam Coxe, who is mentioned in it as the son-in-law of Smith, can not well be in error as to a fact so importrnt, and which belonged to the renown of the family. Yet Messrs. Broadwood have in their possession a harpsichord, which they exhibit in perfect good faith as that which belonged to Handel. Mr. Broadwood has most kindly and openly shown me the instrument, and has furnished me with copies of the following documents, which, in his opinion, estabhsh its identity : " My Dear Sir — Will you oblige me by certifying (if I am correct) the following : " The celebrated Mr. Smish (or Schmidt) was HandeVs private friend and amanuensis. " This said Mr. Smish was presented by Handel with his favo- HANDEL'S HARPSICHORD. 475 rite fine double-keyed harpsichord^ made by the best maker of the day, Andreas Rucker, of Antwerpia, K351. " This said instrument you have repeatedly heard Mr. Schmidt play on, " Mr. Smish was father-in-law to you, as well as your sister, the late Dowager Lady Rivers, and at his death the said harpsi- chord came into the hands, together with a large collection of Handel's oratorios, etc., etc., MSS., of the Dowager Lady Rivers. " This instrument was parted with to a Mr. Wickham, surgeon, who parted with it to the Rev. Mr. Hawtry, Prebendary of Win- chester Cathedral, upon the death of whom I purchased it at the sale of his effects, and in whose possession it still remains. " Is not this the identical instrument now spoken of? Your early answer to these queries (as the only hving witness) will oblige, etc. (Signed) '' G. W. Chard.* " To the Rev. George Coxe, *' Rector of St. Michael's, Winchester. " P. S. — Will you obUge me by certifying on this sheet of pa- per, and returning it?" [Underneath, is written :] " I certify that the above statement is correct, as far as my knowledge goes. (Signed) " George Coxe. " Twyford, May 13th, 1842. " Witnesses to the above signatures, ,ci- i\ " Susanna Gregg. " Note. — This harpsichord appears to have passed into the pos- session, after Dr. Chard's decease, of Mr. Hooper, a professor of music at Winchester, who forwarded the above particulars to Messrs. Broadwood." The question is: do these documents, however sincere may have been their authors, merit any very great confidence ? Is the certificate of the Rev. George Coxe (doubtless the brother of the Rev. William Coxe, the author of the book) of any great value ? What it attests, namely, that the MSS. and tht harpsi- * Dr. Chard was organist of Winchester CathedraL 476 APPENDIX. chord were left by Smith to his daughter-in-law, Lady Rivers, is entirely contradicted by the book. This book (which was writ- ten in 1799, immediately after Smith's death, and while Lady Rivers was ahve) affirms that " the harpsichord was given to George the Third," and not to Lady Rivers. I do not allude to the MSS., supposing that it is to the copies, and not the originals, that reference is here made. The originals were given to George the Third. The Rev. George Coxe, moreover, expresses himself with marked reserve : — " As far as my knowledge goes," says he. This is surely not enough to controvert what had been pubhshed by a member of the family forty-three years back, during the lifetime and within the knowledge of the interested parties themselves. The harpsichord given to George the Third is not to be found in any of the royal palaces, but it does not r.gree with the gene- alogy of that which is in the possession of Messrs. Broadwood. That is indeed by Ruckers, the most celebrated maker of his time, and so also was Handel's, but the double key-board bears none of those marks which the industrious fingers of the great com- poser are said to have imprinted there ; nor is it credible that any man ever existed who was barbarous enough to repair the traces of such a sublime wear and tear. These observations appear to throw some doubt upon the authenticity of Messrs. Broadwood's rehc. But whether that be so or not, a description of it may be interesting. It bears the name of " Ruckers, Antwerpia, 1651." The case and hd are painted black, with ornaments in gold and color, a sort of lacquer-work. The sound-board is ornamented also, to the great risk of its sonority. Upon a ground of pale green are arabesques, among which sit half a dozen monkeys exe- cuting a concert. The lid is inscribed upon the under surface, in letters of gold. Sic transit gloria mundi, a legend which is often to be met with upon spinetts and harpsichords, and which doubt- less signifies that the glory of the world vanishes as sound in space. On that part of the lid which turns back when the harp- sichord is op6ned, is Musico donum dei (Music is the gift of God), also written in gold letters, upon a black ground. In the preface to his edition of The Messiah, Mr. Horsley giveg a letter, received from Mr. Gillman, on behalf of Lord Howe, which states : — " At Mr. Jennens's death, the organ which Han- del used while composing T/ie Messiah, and much of the original score of many of his works, were assigned in the division of the THE "magnificat" IN "iSKAEL." 477 property to Lord Aylesford, and are still at Packington. The organ is in the church there ; an old spinett, which Ilundel much used when at Gopsall, is here, but in a perfectly useless condi- tion." I learned, upon the spot, that " the old spinett which Handel must have used" is dated 1770 or 1772 ; that is, eleven years after liis death ! APPENDIX W. THE "MAGNIFICAT" IN "ISRAEL." While this book was being printed, a discussion has arisen respecting Handel's borrowings for liis Magnificat^ borrowings which have been akeady mentioned at page 44. I had intended to reserve the treatment of this question for the " Catalogue of Works," w^here it would be more naturally in its place ; but since it has arisen, it may perhaps be interesting to throw some light upon it here. In an analytical handbook of Israel in Egypt^ which the Sacred Harmonic Society has recently published, men- tion is made of a MS. Magnificat^ which is in the rich library of the society, and which is inscribed, " Magnificat del R**, Sig''. Er- ba." "This superscription," says the handbook, "signifies that the copy has belonged to a Sig*". Erba, since there is the following evidence of the composition being Handel's: in the copy of Israel in Egypt^ wliich Handel used to conduct, all the pieces taken from this work are marked in pencil ' Hag.,' from which it may be inferred that at some early period these pieces were identified." Whereupon, the Athenceum of the 4th of April asks — " Identified by whom ? And with what ? With Erba or with Handel? Less conclusive evidence or impression (for evidence here is none) could not be. There was an Italian composer of the name of Erba hving at Rome toward the year 1730. In truth, we suspect that the giant was so rich, as to feel himself en- titled to steal from this side or from the other." There is a way to remove these doubts in a positive manner, which I feel sure will be acceptable to every body. The Mag- rdfiicat is certainly Handel's ; the MS., entirely written by himself, is bound up in a quarto volume, improperly entitled " Sketches," in the collection at Buckingham Palace. The last pages, in which the date was doubtless to be found, are imfortunately lost ; but beside its Latin text (which assigns it to the Italian period of the 478 APPENDIX. master's works), it is written upon very thick paper, like all his MSS. which were made in Italy. This Magnificat probably be- longs to the same epoch as the Dkcit Daminvs, signed " S. D. Gr.* — Gr. R Hendel, 1707. 4d'Aprile. Roma;" and the Laudate Pueri, signed " S. D. G.— G. F. H., il 8 Julij, 1707. Roma." Handel began early, as we see, to mix up a variety of languages, both in writing and speaking. In the midst of this Uttle Italian memorandum the name of the month is in German, " Julij." The copy which the Sacred Harmonic Society possesses (which is, moreover, very incorrect) was not even made in Italy ; it is written upon paper bearing in the water-mark " I. Whatman" — a mark frequently found in the paper used by Handel and SmitJi when in London. There is therefore no doubt that this copy was made in England. As for the " Sig^ Erba," to whom this copy may have be- longed, I do not know whether the learned critic of the Athenceum has any special information about liim, but according to the Musical Dictionaries of M. Fctis and of Choron, he was not a composer, but a violin-player. M. Fetis says that he was a Mi- lanese, and Choron calls him a Roman ; neither of them conse- crate more than five hnes to him, and all the composition they give him is " 10 senate da camera a vioHno solo e basso. Op. 1. Amsterdam, 1736." (Ten chamber sonatas for a solo viohn and a bass.) The Dictionary of Musicians furnishes no further ac- count of him, and the Musical Biography does not even mention his name. At any rate, it still remains to be ascertained whether the " Sigr. Erba" of the copy is the Roman musician. The '' R*^." which is prefixed to his name gives him a certain air of Reverend, which does not usually belong to a violinist. Out of the eleven movements of which the Magnificat is com- posed, Mr. Lacy has ascertained that Handel employed six for Israel in Egypt — " Magnificat anima mea," has supplied the chorus, " He is my God." " Et exultavit," " the duet, " The Lord is my strength." " Quia respexit humilitatem," " the two choruses, "Thy depths hare covered them," and " Thy right hand." (Handel could surely write two essays upon the same subject.) " Fecit potentiam in brachio suo," *' the chorus, " Thou sentest for the wrath." " Esurientes implecit bonis," " the duet, " Thou in thy mercy." *' Sicut erat in principio," " the chorus, " The earth swallowed them." * Soli Deo Gloria (Glory be to God alone). THE "magnificat" IN " ISRAEL." 479 It should bo added, that the tenth movement, " Sicut locutus est," has furnished the chorus in Susannah^ "Yet his bolt;" and finally, that in the admirable duet " The Lord is a man of war," phrases of the fourth movement of the Magnificat, " Quia fecit mihi magna," are to be found. It is evident that if the Magnificat was by an Erba, the author of Israel would have somewhat abused the right which gianta arrogate to themselves of spoiling poor little people. Handel more than once had recourse to his Latin Catholic music, which remained unpubhshed, for the use of his great English works. As a proof, it need only be observed that the subject of the in- troduction to his Utrecht Jubilate is taken from the first move- ment of his Laudate Pueri. " Hope, a pure and lasting treasure," an air which he intercalated into Israel, on the revival of that oratorio in 1756, is taken from one of his two sacred Latin motets, " Dulcis amor, Jesu caro." Until the publication of the more detailed "Cata- logue," the following list will probably be interesting to the reader : ♦ LIST OP MUSIC, SACRED, SECULAR, AND INSTRUMENTAL, COMPOSED BY GEOKGE FEIDEEIC HAJSDEL. An asterisk * marks stich as are as yet unpublished ; and tvorka of which the MSS. are lost are marked thus t. SacreU if^usic. 2 ITALIAN OKATOEIOS. Il Tkionfo del Tempo e del disingannc* Eesukrkczione. 1 GERMAN ORATOEIO. Passion.* ESTHEK. Debokah. Athalia. Saul, Israel in Egypt. Messiah. 19 ENGLISH ORATORIOS. Samson. Joseph. Hercules. Belsiiazzar. Occasional Oratorio. Judas Maccabeus. Triumph of Time and Truth. Alexander B^lus. Joshua. Solomon. *~ Susannah. Theodora. Jephtha. Utrecht. Chandos (two). 5 TE DEUMS. Queen Caroline's. Dettingen. Dixit Dominus and Gloria.* Laudate et Gloria.* Laudate et Gloria.* Nisi Dominus.* 7 PSALMS. Utrecht Jubilate. Hanover Psalm. Epiphany Psalm. Besides Avhich there is an unpublished reduction of the Utrecht Jubilate. 20 ANTHEMS. 12 Chandos. I 1 Wedding. j 1 Dettingen. 4 Coronation. j 1 Funeral. j 1 Foundling Hospital.* Besides the reduction of four of the Chandos Anthems for the use of the Chapels Royal.* LIST OF MUSIC. 481 "Intekt in."* 2 MOTETS. iHE INVITATION. "SiLETE, SILETE."* 8 HYMNS. I Desiring to Love. | On the Eesurrection. MISCELLANEOUS. "Gloria."* | "Kyrie."* | "Magnificat."* Secular i^usfc. 4 GEEMAN NEEO.t I OPERAS. DAPHNE.t FLORINDA.t Eoderigo.* Agrippina. SiLLA.* EiNALDO. Pastor Fido, Teseo. Amadis.* Eadamisto. Muzio Sc^vola. Floridante. Ottone. Flavio. GiULio Cesaee. ITALIAN OPEEAS.l Tamerlane. Eodeltnda. SciPio. Alessandro. Admeto. Eicaedo 1°. Siroe. Tolomeo. Lothario. Paetiienope. PORO. Ezio. SOSARME. Orlando. Arianna. Ariodantk. Alcina. Atalanta. GlUSTINO. Arminio. Berenice. Faramondo. Seese. Jupiter in Argos.* Imeneo. Deidamia. This list does not Include the pasticcios Lucio Veeo and Alessandro SeveeOji which do not contain a single original note. Besides, there are fragments of : Flavio Olibrio, an abandoned opera.* Five pieces and the overture intro- duced into the pasticcio of Ores- tes* Titus, an abandoned opera.* * The overture to Alessandro Severo, and fragments of an unnamed op- era.* 1 ENGLISH OPERA. Alcestes (called by Arnold Alcides). ITALIAN SEEENATAS. Aci, Galattea e Polifemo.* Thirteen Airs and Choruses for Paenasso in Festa.* 2 ENGLISH SEEENATAS. Aci8 AND Galatea. | Semele. 1 With the exception of Agrippina, Teseo, Giulio Cesare, and Sosarme, th operas are publi.'^hed in such an incomplete manner, that they may be almost con sidered as unpublished. In some cases there is nothing but a book of FavoHU Songs. 21 482 LIST OP MUSIC. 1 ENGLISH INTERLUDE. Choice of Hekoules, 1 ITALIAN INTERMEDE. Terpsichore.* 4 ODES. On Queen Anne's Birth-day. Dryden's Ode on St. Cecilia's Day. Alexander's Feast. L'AlLEGRO, IL PeNSEROSO ED IL Moderata. 2 CHAMBER TRIOS. 24 CHAMBER DUETS. And about 150 CANTATAS.* instrumental. Trios Sonatas.! Water Music. <*Suites de Pieces pour le Clavecin, ^second Series of ditto. 4 Minuets and a March for the harp- sichord. Alcuymist Music. 12 Solos, Opera !», 6 Sonatas or Trios, Opera 2«. ^ Etudes pour Clavecin. Lessons for the Harpsichord. 6 Hautbois Concertos, Opera 3a. 6 Fugues for the Organ. 'SConcertos for the Organ (first set), with instrumental parts, Opera 4a. Concertante. 7 Sonatas or Trios, Opera 5a. 12 Grand Concertos, Opera 6a. Hornpipe.* 6 Organ Concertos, without instru- mental parts (second set). Forest Music. Fireworks Music. '^rgan Concertos, with instrumental parts. 'I^Organ Concertos (third set), with instrumental parts. Opera 7*. *JK)rgan Concertos, with instrumental parts. 8 Sonatas.* / > INDEX. "Abroad after misses," 105. Academy of Ancieut Music, S6 ; pro- duces Esther, 122. Act, Galattea e Folifemo, 4-3. AeiH and Gtdatea composed for the Duke of Obaiidos, 80 ; produced to the public, 133; given by Mr. Mac- ready, 136 ; revived, 190, 205, 255, 360, 385; 'at Dublin, 270; instrumentalized by Mozart, 418. Acrostic on Handel, 854. Adaptation of Handel's Italian airs to sacred words, 92, 94, 235 ; to English songs, 52. Addison opposes Italian operas, 48 ; his opera of Rosamond, 49 ; his Drum- mer, 113. Admetus, 9T. *' Affanni del pensier," 90. Agrippiiia, 39 ; produced at Hamburg, 51. Aix-la-Chapellc, visit to, 811. Alceste of Gluck, long run of, 261. Alcesies, 341. Alchymist Music, 137. Alcina produced, 200. Alessandro. See Alexander. Alesaandro in Persia, by Galuppi, 258. AlexoMder itrodnced, 91 ; published by Cluer, Walsh, and Meares, 117, 166, 222, 329. Alexander Ba'lus, 329, 341 ; handbook of, 858. Alexander'' 8 Feast composed, 203 ; 209 ; published by Walsh, 205, 227 ; given by the Harmonic Union, 229 ; imita- tive music in, 240; 246; at Dublin, 270, 333, 340, 346, 350, 384; instru- inentalized by Mozart, 418. Alexander Severus, 217 ; not composed for Lord Middlesex, 259. Alfred, by Dr. Arne, 819. Allegro. See L' Allegro. Allemande, the, 198. ■' All that is in Hamor," 343, 348. " Alma del' gran Pompeo," 94, 868, 415. " All we, like sheep," 284. Alrruthide, 47. "Al trionfo del nostro furor," 412. Ahnira, 37; a copy in the Berlin Li- brary, 38. Amadigi contains part of Silla, 39 ; produced at Hamburg, 51 ; in England, 63. ' Amen," the, in The 3fe~'isiah, 463. Anaximcnes, anecdote of, 380. Ancient Music Society, handbooks of, 359. "Angels ever bright and fair," 338. A7i Oratorio, 218, 322. A)ithems. Sec Chandos, Coronation, AVedding, Funeral, Dettingen, and Foundling. Antigonus, anecdote of, 380. "Apollo's Feast," published by Walsh, 113. " Applauso i dnci," 240. Arbaces, a pasticcio, produced, 184. Arbuthnot, Dr., " Ilarmony in an up- roar," 57 ; a friend to Handel, 65 ; op- poses The Beggar's Opera, 103 ; fights Handel's battle, 192 ; his opinion of Handel, 265. Arci-liuto, 40. Ariadne produced, 185 ; revived, 193, 198; popularity of, 412. Ariadne by Porpora, 184. Ariodante, how published, 118 ; 199. Armide, long run of, 261. Arminius, 208. Arne, Dr., his Alfred, 819 ; conversation with Handel, 470 ; his oratorios, 869 ; 384. Arne, Mrs., 202. Arnold's arrangements, 358. Arrigoni, 183. Artaxerxes, by Attilio, 87 ; by Hasse, 199 ; long run of, 261. Ashby, the bassoon-player, 153. " As .Jesus was sitting," 69. " Ask of yon damask rose," 332. " As pants the hart," 72. Astartus, by Bononcini, 77, 87. Astyanax, by Bononcini, 87. Atalanta, 206. Athalia produced at Oxford, 179 ; nov- elties i'roinParnasso introduced into, 188, 200, 833, 350, 869. Athenoimn, the, on the Magnificat in Israel, 477. Attilio, the composer, 81 ; comes to En- gland, 75 ; collaborates in Musio Scce- vola, 87 ; his operas, when produced, 87 ; his character, 88. Avolio, Signora, accompanies Handel to Ireland, 461. " Bacchus, god of mortal pleasures,'' 96. Bach, Handel's plagiarisms from, 465 ; never met Handel, 339. Bannister, the violinist, 59. Baptism of Handel, 26. 484 INDEX. Barbier, Mrs., 51. Bivssooi), 40 ; a monster, 153. Bates, Joah, 3C7. Batson's coffee-house, 287. Beard, the tenor, 301. Bear Gardens, 259. Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony, 241 ; his opinion of Handel, 419. " Before my eyes," 343. Beggar's Opera, the, 102 ; verses on, by Carey, 103. " Behold the monster," 93. " Behold, the trumpet shall sound," 304. Bellamont, Lord, 253. BeUhazzar, imitative music in, 240 ; produced, 306 ; called Belteahazzar, 309, 833, 340, 869, Benedict, Mr., gave Alexander's Feast, 229. " Ben spesso in vago prato," 96. Berenice, 210 ; imitative music in, 218. Berlin, visit to, 30. Bernacchi, Signora, 110. Bernardi, Francesco. See Senesino. Bcrtolli, Signora, 182. Birds, live, introduced upon the stage, 50. Birmingham Festival, 285, 414. Birth of Handel, 26. Bishop of London opposes a festival in "Westminster Abbev, 371. Blindness of Handel,' 845. Bolingbroke opposes Walpole, 4-39. Bononcini, 32; comes to England, 32; collaborates in 3Iuzio Sccevola, 87 ; his operas, 87; discussion with Lotti, 169 ; leaves England, 177. Boschi, the basso, 52, Boston, performances of Messiah at, 285. " Bow down thine car," 92. Bowley, Mr. C, 80. Bovce, Dr., 3S4. Bradford Music Hall, 453. " Brave boys, prepare," 96, 105. " Break forth into joy," 28-3. " Brethren and friends," 331. Broadwood's, Messrs., harpsichord, 474. Britton, Thomas, 58. Brown, Lady, against Handel, 812. Brownlow, Hon. W., 26-3, 290, 836. Burke, Dean, 263. Burlington, Lord, receives Handel into his house, 65. Burney, Dr., anecdote of, 395; preju- dice against French music, 457. Busts of Handel, 372. " But the water," 332. " But who may abide," 278. Cabals against HandeL, 88, 166, 183, 311. Caffarelli, 216. Co jus Fahricius, 184. Colfurnku by Bonopcini, 87. Cam,iUa, 46. " Can I see my infant gored," 33-2. Cannons mansion, 69. Cantata of Tfie Passion, 37. Cantatas, 54. Cantate e Duetti, by Bononcini, 166. Canzonets composed in Italy, 44. Caporale, the violoncellist, 314, 384. " Cara sposa," 51, 77. Carestini, 18-3, 202, 895. Carey's verses in praise of Handel, 89 ; on the Beggar's Opera, 103 ; " Dragon of Wantley," by, 209, 884. Caricature by Goupy, 163, .393. Caroline, Queen, 102 ; Fimeral Ant?tein for, 214 ; anecdotes of, 215, 396. " Caro vieni," 368. Castor et Polhix, long run of, 261. Castrucci, the violinist, 144, 314. Catalani, Madame, 278. Caulfield, Mr. John, 112, 292. Cembalo, 40. Cervetto, violoncellist, 384. " Cesare non seppo mai," 91. Chaconne, 197. Chaloumcau, the, 441. "Chamber airs" published by "Walsh, 118. Chamber duets composed for the Prin- cess Caroline, 54. Chandos, Duke of, 69, 81. Chandos Te Deums and Anthems, 70; reduced, 72 ; imitative music in, 240 ; the eighth anthem in Messiah, 283 ; 869. Chapel-master to the Elector George, 46. Character of Handel, 878. Charities of Handel, 356. " Cheer up, my lads," 105. " Che non puo la gelosia," 43. Chesterfield and Heidegger, 64; his opinion of Frenchmen. 106 ; anecdote of, 222. Chester, Handel at, 265. Choice ofUercides, 333, -340, 346, 350. Choruses, Handel's, 155, 410. Chimenti, Signora, 216. Chrysander's, Dr., History of Music, 37, 425. Cibber, Colley, 468. Cibber, Mrs., 134; in Messiah, 273. Giro, by Attilio, 87. Clark, K., on The Harmonious Black- smith, 434. Clarinet, the, 440, Clavichord, 28. Clegg. John, the violinist, 144, 314. CLeofida produced at Hamburg, 51. Clive, Mrs., 257. Clotilda, by Conti, 47. Cluer's publications. 111. Collection of MSS. by Smith, 425. " Col tuoi piedi," 196. " Come, ever smiling Liberty," 460. Commemoration of 1784, 367. Commonplace-book of Handel lost, 33. Competition on harpsichord between Handel and Scarlatti, 41. Concertante in nine parts, 247. Conti's Clotilda, 47. Conversation with Handel, 468. Cooke's, Dr. Benjamin, Ode to Handel, 871, INDEX. 48/ Cooper, Lord, 1S3. (^opyriirht in his works granted to Han- del, 114. Coram, Captain, 286. Corante, 198. Corelli, 40, 421. Corfe, composer, 94, 384. Coriolano, by Attilio, 87. Coronation Anthems^ 99, 219, 229; at Dublin, 265, 369. Correspondence between Eoner and Hughes, 53 ; between Handel and Colman, 434 ; with Jennens, 201 ; with Jennens, from Dublin, 267 ; 296, 807. Cortiville, flutist, 384. Costa, Mr., 229. Cost of theatrical management, 107. Costume of the musicians of the chapel- royal, 56. Coven t Garden Theater, 47, 431 ; Han- del goes to, 199 : oratorios given at, 298. Cowper on the Commemoration, 370. Coxe, Hcv. W., 66. Cradock, Mr., testimony as to Messiah, 461. Craftsman, the, 439. Creation, the, 241. Crispo, by Bononcini, 87. Criticism in England. 239 ; in the old journals, 277, 309, 454. Cross, Mrs., 48. Crosse, 236. Crotch, Dr., on T7ie ffarmormms Black- smith, 433; on Handel's plagiarisms, 466. Croza, Dr., failure of as manager, 259. Crystal Palace, music at the, 452. Cuzzoni, Signora. her first appearance, 90, 98, 168, 183, 397. Cuzzonists and Faustinists, 98. Cyrus. See Siroe. "Da gl' amori flagellata," 93. Daphne, 37. Dario^ by Attilio, 87. " Da Tempesta," 91. Dates, discussion as to, 38. David, by Porpora, 249. '• Dead March^' in Smil, 228, 368. Death of Handel, 352. Deborah, 146, 190, 200, 229, 310, 338, 350 ; handbook of, 358. Decorations used in Rinaldo, 50. Dedications, Handel not fond of, 391. " Deeper and deeper," 343, 417. Deidamia, 255. " Delizie delT Opera," published by Walsh, 115. Denncr's portrait of Handel, 872, 875. Desiriiir/ to Lore, 72. Dettinqen Anthem and Te Deum, 229, 802, 368. Devon.shire, Duke of, viceroy in Ire- land, 262. " Di Cupido impiego i vanni," 95. Dido, 210. Dillon, Sir John, 263. " Dite che fa," 363. Dixit DominuH, composed at Home, 39. Doctorship of Music at Oxford, 182, 447. Doffgott sings in Almahide, 48. " Doni i)ace," 91. " Dove sei amato bone," 92. " Dragon of Wanlley," 209. Dramatic character of oratorios, 126. Drums used by Handel, 158. Drury Lane Theater, 431. Dryden, prices paid to, 113; "arranges" Shakesjieare, 445 ; Ode to St. Cecilia's Day, 246. Dryden's Ode, 255 ; at Dublin, 270 ; 368. Dubourg, the violinistj 59, 314, 345, 379. Dubourk, John, purchases Handel's fur- niture, 458, 472. Duel with Mattheson, 86. Duke of Saxe-Weisenfelds, 28. " Dulcis amor, Jesu caro," 479. Duparc, Madame, 216. Durastanti, Signora, 75, 183. Dusseldorf, passage through, 46. Edition complete of Handel's works, 425. Elector George of Brunswick engages Handel as chapel-master, 46. Emmanuel, 359. Elijah, the. 230. EU'erton, Mr., his portrait of Handel, 376. English Opera, a desire to establish, 1-39. Engravings of Handel's portraits, 376. Erminia^hy Bononcini, 37. Esther composed, 80 ; published by Walsh. 116 ; produced in public, 122"; performed in action, 126, 200, 205, 247 ; at Dublin, 270 ; 333, 340, 350, 368. Evirati, 168. Ezio. See (Etius. Faber, 111. Failures of Handel. 209, 314. " Fallen is the foe," 280, 368. " False destructive way," 350. Farajnondo. 214; published, 216; com- posed for Lord Middlesex, 259. " Farewell, ye limpid springs," 343. Farinelli, 183, 210, 421, 450. Farnace, by Bononcini, 87. Father of Handel opposes his musical tendencies, 27 ; death of, 31. Faustina, Signora, 98. Festinir, A'ioloncellist, 384. Festival at York, 278, 368 ; at Birming- ham, 235, 453 ; at Hereford, 371 ; at Worcester, 371 ; at Norwich, 453 ; the great Handelian of 1857, 45:3. Fielding on Handel, 192. Finlayson, Mr., 262. Fire Music, 208. Fireivorks Music, 155, S34 ; played at the Foundling, 336. Flavius, 91 ; published. 111. Florence, arrival at, 88 ; second visit to, 45. 486 INDEX. FlorHdante, 87 ; at Hamburg, 51 ; in England, 90 ; published, 111. Forent Jfusic, 275. " For the Lord God omnipotent," 278. " For unto us a child is born," 280, 284. "For who is God," 71. Foundling Hospital, 286, 354 ; Anthem, 3;37 ; suggestion to bury Handel in, 365. France almost ignorant of classical mu- sic, 455. . Francesina, la, 216. Freke, Lady, 263. "Freely I to Heaven resign," 348. French canzonets, 44. French comedians in London, 76. French-horn, when first used by Han- del, 39. French school of music, 456. "From the censer curling rise," 332. " Fugues for the organ" published, 191. Funeral Anthem for Queen Caroline, 214 ; intended to be used in Saul, 228 ; • used in Israel in Egypt, 231. Funeral of Handel, 366. Furniture of Handel, inventory of, 472. Gaetano Majorano. See Calfarelli, 216, Gaillard, J. E., the composer, 384. Galli, Signora, 302. Galop, 198. Galuppi, 258 ; his Penelope, 269. Garrick recites verses in Handel's hon- or, 354. Gasparini, 38. Gates, Bernard, performs Father, 122. Gay, a friend to Handel, 65; wrote part of Acts, SO; The Beqgar's Opera, 102 ; Avrote words of E-sther, 139. Geminiani, the violinist, 61. George I. irritated against Handel, 61 ; is reconciled, 62. George II. ascends the throne, 99 ; an- ecdote of, 215 ; fond of Handel's mu- sic, 222. George III., anecdote of, 223. German cantata of The Passion, 37. Germany, popularity oi Messiah in, 285. Gervinus, Dr., information fi-om, 37, Ghost of Dardanus, 39. " Gia I'Ebro," 142. Gideon, bv Dr. Morell, 358. " Gird on thy sword," 368. Gismondi Celeste, Signora, 182. Giulio Oesare at Hamburg, 51 ; in En- gland, 91 ; published, 111. Giustino, 208. Glees, 447. " Gloria Patri," 368. " Glory to God," 330. Gloucester Music Meeting, 343. Gluck's operas, long run of, 261 ; La Caduta d' Giganti, 827 ; Handel's opinion of, 386 ; his manner of com- position, 408. " God found them guilty," 316. " God, look forth," 236. " God of music, charm the charmer," 92, " God save the King," when printed, 96 ; chorus of, 99, 815, 321. Gordon, the singer, anecdote of, 379. Goupy's caricature, 163, 393. Grafoni's portrait of Handel, 376. Grafton, Duke of, 896. "Grand concertos," op. 6a. 138, 247. " Gran tonante," 196. Granville, Bernard, 42. " Great is Jehovah," 237. " Great Jehovah, all adoring," 95, 235, " Great Jehovah, awful word," 236. Green, Dr. Maurice, 170; oratorios by, 359, 384. Greenwich, 3fessiah performed at, 2S5. Gretry's imitative music, 243. Griselda, by Bononcini, 87. Gutta Serena, Handel attacked by, 344. Habeneck, how he conducted, 345. Hailstones chorus, 236, 411. " Hail, holy light," 236. Hallelujah chorus in The MessiaJi, story of, 410, 462. llallehijah chorus in Occasional Ora- torio, 317. Hamburg, Handel arrives at, 34. Hamilton, Newburg, takes Alexander's Feast from Dryden, anA. Samson from Milton, 800 ; his address to Handel, 204. Handelian Festival of 1857, 452. Handel, how spelled, 25; early musical tendencies of, 27; visits Berlin, 30; goes to Hamburg, 34 ; early composi- tions, 87 ; visits Italy, 38 ; Venice, 38 ; Kome, 39 ; is appointed chapel-mas- ter to the Elector of Brunswick, 46 , arrives in London, 46 ; visits his mother, 53 ; returns to England, 55 ; pensions granted to, 62 ; lives with Lord Burlington, 65 ; accompanies George I. to Hanover, 66 ; becomes chapel-master to Duke of Chandos, 69 ; joins the Royal Academy of Mu- sic, 74 ; becomes" naturalized, 80 ; re- visits Italy, 110 ; becomes manager, 110 ; visits Oxford, 179 ; refuses "the doctorship of music, 1S2 ; cabals of the nobles against him, 183 ; his first failure, 210 ; his illness, 213 ; statue erected in his life-time, 219 ; his sec- ond failure, 248 ; his house, 248, 460 ; abandons operas, 258 ; visits Ireland, 264 ; visits Aix-la-Chapelle, 311 ; elected honorary member of the So- ciety of Musical Science at Leipsic, 315 ; last visit to Germany, 339 ; at- tacked by gutta Serena, 344 ; his blindness, 847 ; his death, 851 ; his will, 360; his funeral, 366; his char- acter and genius, 378 ; a conversation with, 468. Hanover, Handel's return to, 53. " Han penetrato i detti tuoi," 89. " Happy, hajipy, happy we," 136. Hardcastle, Mr. Ephraim, account of a conversation with Handel, 468. " Hark ! 'tis the linnet," 330. INDEX 487 Harmonic Union perform Alea'amJer'a I Fe,tHt, 229. I Ifitrmoniou8Blacksmith,9,b\i><.'riorv(\cA \ hv Academy of Ancient Music, 86 ; 4:V2. " Harmony in an nproar," by Arbuth- not, 5(5, 192. Harper, Mr. the trumpeter. 304. Harpsieliord, 40; competition on, be- tween Handel and Scarlatti, 41 ; Ilan- del i)lavs it at BrittonX59; belonging to Handel, 372. Hasse's Salve liegitia, 249 ; Artavo-x- es, 261 ; the number of his works, 405. "Hautbois Concertos," 139; opera 3a, 191, 417. Hautboy used for trumpet in Boderigo, 3S; one of Handel's favorite instru- ments, 191. Hawkins, 46, GO, 77, 183, 205, 427. Haydn's Creation. 241 ; bis opinion of Jos7uia,mn; anecdotes of, 888, 4^0; number of his works, 405 ; his opin- ion of Handel, 415. Hayes, Dr., the composer, 384. Haymarket Theater, 47. Haym, Nicolo Francesco, 47 ; dedica- tion of Giulio Cesare, 390. " Hear my crying," 237. " He comes," 16(i. " He delivered the poor." 368. "He found Uiem guilty," 160. " He save them hailstones for rain," 236, "240, 315, 368, 411. " He has his mansion fixed on high," 317. " He has rebuked the heathen," 23S. Heidegger, 64 ; partnership with Han- del terminates, 191 ; his proposal' for a subscription fails, 223. " He laveth the beams," 92, 237. " Help," Galatea, help," 81. Henry the Eighth, a composer, 447. Herbert, Lady, married Beard, 301. " Her body is buried," 368. I/ercnle.% 3ii9, 333. Hereford Festival, 371. " Heroes, when with glory burning," 330. " He saw the lovely youth," 337. "He sent a thick darkness." 24;3. " He shall feed his flock," 279. " He shall purifv," 284. "He smote all the first born," 368. " He trusted in God," 226. " He was brought as a lamb," 92. " He was despised," 413. "He was eyes unto the blind," 92. " He will dash them in pieces," 284. Highway robberies, 87. Hill. Aaron, letter as to English opera, 140. Hill, the Eev. Rowland, anecdote of, 96. "IHs body is buried in peace," 36S. " His scepter is the rod of power," 316. " His se.at is truth," 316. " His yoke is easy," 284. Hogarth's caricatjare of The Beggar's Opera, 103; his "Enraged Musician," 144. Holland, Handel visits, 46. " Holv, holv, holy Lord God Almighty," 92, 94. Hoops, fashion of wearing, 274. "Hope, a pure and lasting treasure," 479. " Hope, thou source of every blessing," 92. Houbraken's engraving of Handel's por- trait, 376. House of Handel, 458. " How beautiful are the feet," 283, 408, 465. Howe, Lord, and Handel's harpsichord, 476; portrait of Handel, 375. " How is it possible," 186. Hudson's portrait of Handel, 374. Hughes, John, 53, 58. Hullah, Mr., performs Israel, 239. Hundredth Psalm, 52. Hy dampen, by Mancini, 47. Hymen-. See Jmeneo. Hymns by Handel, 72. II Catone. 441. " I like the amorous youth," 258. It Moderato added to U Allegro, 250. " II trio Cerbero," 52. II Trionfo del Tempo, 40 ; still unedit- ed, 41," 209, 227. Imeneo published, 118 ; 254 ; at Dublin, 270. " I miei sospiri," 52. Imitative music, 239. Imitative poetry, 241. " Impious wretch," 228. Improvisations upon the organ, 225. " In gentle murmurs," 343. Instrumental music by Handel, 417. Instruments used by Handel, 155. Inventory of Handel's furniture, 472. Invitation to visit England, 46. " lo cia t'amai," 236. " lo t'abbraccio," 368. Iphigenie en Tauride, long run of, 261. Ireland, Handel's visit to, 264. " Israel, how art thou fallen," 237. Israel in Babylon a compilation, 358. Israel in Egypt contains part of a Jlag- nijieat composed in Italj% 44, 477 ; produced. 226 ; first performance. 230 ; 234, 237 ; imitative music in, 239 ; 247 ; handbooks of, 358 ; 368, 410. Israelites in Egypt performed by Mr. Lacy, 130. Italian opera, the luxury of, 48. Italian operas in England, 46 ; organ- ized, 74 ; in England a fashion, 260. Italy, Handel visits, 38. " I will sing unto the Lord," 315. Jackson, W., the composer, 384. Janson, a singer at Chester, anecdote of, 265. " Jehovah crowned," 160, 368. " Jehovoh is my shield," 316. " Jehovah, to my words give ear," 316, 488 INDEX. Jennens, Charles, correspondence with, 2Ul ; character of, '252 ; correspond- ence with Ilandel from Dublin, 267 ; composed the words to The Me^idah, 267; his opinion of The Jltaisiah, 281 ; correspondence, 297, 307. Jep?itha, imitative music in, 240 ; 333, 443,350; handbooks of, 358 ; 368. Jersey, 3/essiah performed at, 285. Jeune Henry, by Mehul, 241, Jig, the, 198. Jonson, Ben, anecdotes of, 138. Joseph and his Brethren, 304 ; dra- matic character of, 128, 311, 323, 333, 850 ; handbooks of, 358. Jonhua, dramatic character of, 129 ; im- itative music in, 240; 330, 833, 843, 369. Judas 3faccab(Bus, Quick March in, 158; produced, 323, 830, 333, 337, 840, 344, 346, 350 ; handbooks of, 358 ; 369. Julius Ccesar. See Giulio Cesare. Jupiter in Argos, 246. Justiii. See Giustino. Kaiser, th© number of his operas, 405. Keeble, J., the organist, 384. Kelway, J., the organist, 384. Kilmanseck, Baron, 61. King's Theater, 430. Kyte's, F., portrait of Handel, 377. La Caduta de' Giganti, by Glnck, 827. Lacy, Mr. R., attempt to give oratorios in action, 180 ; analysis of The Occa- sional Oratorio by, 815. r Allegro, 250,255; at Dublin, 266; 299, 350. Lampe, J. F., 153, 314. La Sacrijicia di Crete, 209. " Lascia che io pianga," 52, 413. Laudate pueri, composed at Kome, 39. L" Estrange, Sir Roger, 59. Leslie, Mr. E., 359. Lessons for the LTarpsichord. See Suites de Pieces. Leicester, Jephtha performed at, 343. " Let the bright seraphims," sung at Vauxhall. 219. "Let 01(1 Timotheus," 93, 226. " Let rakes and libertines," 382. " Let the waiter bring clean glasses," 52. " Let us take road," 52. Leveridge, R., publican and composer, 884. Libel against Handel, 147, 433. Lincoln's Inn Fields Theater, 431 ; Han- del at, 246. . Lindsay, Mrs., 48. Linley in partnership with Stanley, 358. Lintott, Mr., and The Harmonious Blacksmith, 433. Little Theater in the Haymarket, 480. Liu to, the, 40. London, Handel's arrival in, 46. London Sacred Harmonic Society, 227 ; The Mes»iah performed by, 285 ; Joshua, 882. " Lord, remember David," 92. " Lord, to thee," 3-38. Lothario, 111 ; published, 112 ; 119. Lotti, 39 ; discussion with Bononcini, 170. " Lo ! the angels," 283. Louis XIV., anecdote of, 197. Love affairs of Handel, 402. Lubec, visit to, 84. Lucan, Lord, 268. Lucio Vero, by Attilio, 87. Lucius Verus a pasticcio, 327. Lysons, the Rev. Daniel, 371. Macfarren, Mr., on imitative music, 245; on Handel's plagiarisms, 466. Maclaine, the organist, 266. Magnificat composed in Italy, 44 ; in- troduced into Israel, 477. Mainwaring's mistake as to date of Handel's birth, 26 ; notice of, 31 ; opinion of oratorios in action, 126 ; errors as to dates, 427 ; testimony aa to Messiah, 460. Major key, Handel's use of, 228. " M"allontano sdegnose pupille," 368, Mancini"s opera Tlydaspes, 47. March in Rinaldo, 51. Marlborough, Duke of, patronizes Bo- noncini, 166. Marriage of the Prince of Wales, 207. Marylebone Gardens, 219. Masked balls at the Opera-house, 105. Mattheson, 33 ; character of, 85 ; corre- spondence with Handel, 386. " May balmy peace," 817. " May no rash intruder," 332, Maxey, the Rev. — , 371. Mazarin introduces opera into France, 458. Meares, piracies by, 78 ; his publica- tions, 111. Mehul's overture of Jeune Henry, 241. Mercer's Hospital, Dublin, 264, Merighi, Signora, 110, 216. Messiah, four choruses of, whence taken, 93 ; Instrumentalized by Mozart, 159, 418 ; composed, 264 ; first perform- ance of, 271 ; not performed for the first time in London, 459 ; who writ- ten by, 267 ; not composed at Gopsall, 462; revivals of, 276; present popu- larity of, 285 ; bow much it brousht to theF oundling Hospital, 290 ; when printed, 292; revived, 299, 811, 338, 887, 343, 346, 350 ; handbooks of, 358, 868 ; anecdote of, 394. Michaelsen, Johanna, 375. Middlesex, Lord, becomes manager, 258. Miller, James, 304. "Millions unborn," 817. Milnes, Mr., 377. Milton supplied the poem for Samson, 300. Minuet of Esther, 225. "Mirth, admit me of thv crew," 244. Moli6re, 232 ; anecdote of, 465. INDEX. 489 Montagnana, 183. Montague, Duke of, 804. Montague, Lady M. "W., on Beard's marriage, 301. Monument to Handel, 444; to Shake- speare, 366. Morell, Thomas, 319 ; wrote the libretto of Juiht.'^, 324 ; Gideon, 358 ; anec- dote of, 394. Mornington, Lord, 263. Mother of Handel, he sends money to, 88 ; ho visits, 46, 53, 360. Mozart's instrumentation of The 3Ies- siah, 159, 418 ; instrumentation of AlexnfuJer's Feast, 229 ; liequiem, 214, 241 ; birth of, 350 ; anecdote of, 388 ; number of his works, 4o5 ; his opinion of Handel, 418. MSS., Smith's collection of, 425; of SiUa, 39 ; belonging to Ladv Hall, 42: of The Jle-sdah, 29\) ; oi Joshua, 33i ; of Solomon, 333 ; of Jephtha, 848 ; the originals left to Smith, 365 ; presented to George III., 372, Musette, the, 197. Musical criticism in England, 239, 453. Musical Societies of Dublin, 263 ; in England and Ireland, 448. Musical tendencies of Handel, 27. Music in England, 447, Muzio Scavola produced in Germany, 51 ; in England, 87 ; published, 118, " My heart is inditing," 368. Name of Handel, how spelled, 25. Naples, v4sit to, 42. "Nasci ul bosco," 92, 368. Needier, Henry, 58. Negri, the sisters, 183. "Nel riposo," 92, Xero, 37. Newton, Rev. J., Sermons on The Mes- siah, 284. New York, performance of The Messiah at, 285. Niccolini, 47, 51, 55. Nobles' cabal against Handel, 311. Noisiness of Handel's music, 152, 162. " Non sempre, no crudele," 44. " Non vi piacque," 92. "No pasture now the plain affords," 317. Norwich Festival, 453. " Not showers to larks," SO. Novello, Madame Clara, 456. Novello, Mr., on the Detiingen Te Dexmi, 465, Occasional Oratorio, 2-35, 315 ; not a pasticcio, 317 ; the occasion for, 321. " O Death, where is thy sting?" 284. Ode for Queen Anne's Birth-dau, 55. Ode on St. Cecilia''s Day, 206, 299 ; in- strumentalized by Mozart, 418. (Etius produced, 122. Old style and new style, 226, 263. " Liberty,"' 316. '* O Lord, how many are my foes," 316. '• O Lord, thou ha.st in mercy," 23S. 21 " O love divine," 72. " Ombra cara," 77, 418. Oninij)ote)u-e a pasticcio, 858. " my pretty I'unchinello," 96. On the liesurrection, 72. Opera la, l;3S ; — 2a, 139; — 8a, 191 ; — 4a, 224 ; — 5a, 139, 247 ; — 68, 247. Ojicra-house at Hamburg, Handel en- gaged at, 84. Opera-house, failures of, 260. Opera in France, history of, 457. Operas in London, 46. Oratorio (a concert), 218, Oratorios, origin of, 125 ; with or with- out action, 126 ; how performed, 181. Orchestra Concerto, 385. Orestes a pasticcio, 198. Organ Concertos, opera 4a, 224, 417. Organist of Lubec, 34. Oriana, 51. Orlando a pasticcio, 141, Ormisda, 441. Orpheus, long run of, 261. " O sing unto the Lord," 240, 368. "O sing ye praises to Great Jehovah," 236. Ottoboni, Cardinal, 40 ; his death, 41. Ottone, 91 ; published. 111; 329. Overtures for the Harpsichord, pub- lished by Walsh, 118. Overtures in eight parts, 113. Oxford, visit to, 179. Paesiello, number of his works, 405. Pamphiii, Cardinal, 40. Paradise Lost, price paid for, 113. Parnasso in Festa produced, 187 ; re- vived, 209, 254, 385. Parody of Amadigi, 03. Parthenope, 111, 119. Passacaille, the, 197. Passion, by Bach, 161. Passion, the German, 37, 06. Pasticcios, 184, 441. Pastoral SympJiony of Beethoven, 241. Pastor Fido, French-horns introduced into, 39; interpolation in, 43; pro- duced, 56 ; published, 116 ; revived, 19(1, 194. Pavane, the, 198. Pearce, Dr., funeral sermon by, 866. Penelope, by Galuppi, 269. Pepusch, Dr., plays the harpsichord at Thomas Britton's, 59 ; chapel-master at Cannons, 70 ; composes The Beg- gar's Opera, 102 ; subscribes to Fara- mondo, 217, 384; conversation with Handel, 467. Performance of Handel's oratorios dur- ing his life-time, 333. Pertbrmances of oratorios, a list of, in 1734, 199 ; in 1739, 227 ; in 1740, 247 ; in 1741, 255; in 1742 (in Dublin), 270; in 174:3, 299; in 1744, 3t»4; in 1745, 311 ; in 1746, none ; in 1747, 323 ; in 1748, 329 ; in 1749, 332 ; in 1750, 337 ; in 1751, 840; in 1752, 843; in 1758, 346; in 1754, '55, '56, and '57, 350; in 1758, 849 ; in 1759, 351. 490 INDEX. Peterborough, Lord, caues Senesino, 166. riiilharmonic Hall, Liverpool, 463. " Piangero," 413. Piccinl, the composer, number of his works, 404. Piferari, air of, 466. Piracy of Ilanders works, 78, 222. Plagiarisms, Handel's, 465. Polil'enio, voice of the person who sang the part, 44. PoWy, a sequel to T!ie Beggar's Opera, 105. Pope, a friend of Handel, 65 ; wrote part ot Acts, 65; assisted in The Beg- gar's Opera, 104 ; assisted in Esther, 12-S ; on HandePs visit to Ireland, 264 ; had no taste for music, 26.5. Poro, 51, 119. Porpora's Ariadne, 183 ; his David, 249 ; number of his works, 404 ; his opinion of Handel, 415. Portraits of Handel, 221, 371, 374. Powell, 85, 314. " Powerful guardians," 830. " Praise Jehovah that dwelleth in Zion,"' 238. " Praise ye Jehovah," 237. Price of seats, 56, 146, 151. Prices paid to Handel by Walsh, 113. Prince Gaston de Medici Invites Han- del into Italy, 37. Prince of Orange arrives in England, 189. Princess of Wales, anecdote of, 898. Princess of Wales opposes Handel, 184 : 397. " Prophetic visions," 316. Ptolemy, 101 ; published, 112. Public Act at Oxford, 179. Publishers of Handel, 111. Pulteney opposes Walpole, 439. Pyrrhus and Demetrius, by Scarlatti, 47. " Quia fecit rnihi magna," 479. *' Qui I'augel di pianta in pianta," 4-3. '' Quel fior che al alba ride," 93. Queen Anne, 55, 57 ; death of, 61. Queensbury, Duchess of, 59. Quin, Dr., 263. Quintett in Flavlus, 91. Radamisto, 51, 76; published. 111. Eameau's Castor andj Pollux, 261. Kandall, Dr. John, sings in Esther, 122. Eandall, W., publishes The Messiah entire, 292. Ravenscroft, violinist, 384. Reading, J., organist, 384. Redemption, a pasticcio, 358. Reeves, Mr. Sims, 456. Reimschneider, singer, 110. Reinhold, T., singer, .384. "Rejoice, the Lord is King," 72. , " Rendi 'I sereno al ciglio," 92, 368. Rent of the Opera-house, 107. Requiem, Mozart's, 241. Resurreczione, the, 39 ; orchestra of, 40 ; Avhen printed, 41. Ricardo Primo, 51, 99. Rinaldo, 49 ; popularity of, 52, 121. Rinsig, J., Commemoration of Ilan- del, 371. Ristori, Madame, 104. Ripieno, instruments of, 34. Rivers, Ladv, 33. " Roast beef of Old England," 313. Robe, a justice of the peace, 59, Robinson, Mrs., afterward Lady Peter- borough, 49. Rochester, Bishop of, funeral sermon by, 367. Rodelinda, 51, 92, 121. Roderigo, 38 ; choruses in, 40. Rolli, the librettist, 75 ; his name em- ployed in a political libel, 438. Rome, Handel's visits to, 39, 45. Roner, An Handel in liis life-time, 219. St. Cecilia Society, 357. Steele opposes Italian operas, 48 ; price paid to, 113. Stetfani, 38, 46. St. George's Hall, Liverpool, 453. " Still caressing," 341. St. Martin's Hall, Messiah at, 285. Strada, Signora, 110; advertisement by her husband, 136; 182; her husband threatens Handel with arrest, 217. Stuniptf, Mr., presents a copy of Han- del's woiks to Beethoven, 4i8. Suites de Pieces pour le Clavecin, 84 ; second series of, 84, 417. Surman, Mr., performs Sanl, 227 ; adopts the arrangements in Israel, 238 ; per- forms Joshua, 332. Susannah, 332, 351. Swift's epigram, 90. * Svviny's letter to Colman, 435. Symonds, Henry, 59. Tamerlane, 51, 368. " T'amo si," 348. Te Deums, Utrecht, 50; Chandos, 70; Dettingen,302; Queen Caroline's, 3(i3, Telemann's relations with Handel, 33. Terpsichore produced, 195. Te>ny. *' Tortorella che riuiira," 240. " To song and dance," 243. Townsend, Mr., 262. "Tri'i sospetti," 412. Traversa bassa, 441. Triumph of Time, 350. Troinha niiirina, 143. Trunipot not used in JiodeHgo, 88 ; used in Silki, 38, 40. " Tune your burps," 349. " Tuoi passi son dardi," 196. " Turn thee. O Lord," 92. " Tutta racolta." 412. Twelve Grand Concertos, 114 Tyers, Jonathan, 219. " Tyrants whom no covenants bind," 317. Uriah, Handel's plagiarisms from, 465. Utrecht Te Deurn and Jubilate, 56 ; published, 114; performed at Oxford, 181 ; at Dublin, 266, 479. Valentini, 47. Valeriano, 56. " Va tacito e nascosto," 868. Vauxhall Gardens, Handel composes for, 218; rehearsal of Fireworks Mu- sic in, 335. " A''enns laughing," 388. " Verdi prati," 92 ; sent back by Cares- tini, 413. " Verso gia Talma," 43. Vespamina, by Attilio, 87. Viardot, Madame, 68. Vico, Signora, 51. " Vieni o flglio," 92. " Vi iida lo sposa," 368. Vincent, Mrs., 219. Vincent, the hautboy-player, 384. Viohi da gamba, 40, 58. Viol d'amour, 58, 143. Violetta marina, 143, 441. Violin, 40 ; family of, 142. Violoncello, 40. Visits to the Duke of Saxe-Weisenfelds, 28; to Berlin, 30; to Hamburg, 84; to Italy, 88; to Venice, 38, 45 ; to Eome, 39, 45 ; to Naples, 43 ; to Oxford, 179 ; to Ireland, 264 ; to Aix-la-Chapelle, 811 ; to Germany, 389. Vittoria, in love with Handel, 402. Volante, 198. Voltaire and Shakespeare, 444. '• Vous ne scaiiriez flatter ma peine," 46. " Waft her, angels," 240, 343. Walpole, Horace, on Lord Middlesex's management, 258 ; on the cabals against Handel, 813. Walpole, Sir R., and his excise, 151, 489. Walsh gains £1000 by Jiinaldo, his publications, 111, IfS, 298, 857 ; prices ])aid to Handel, 118 ; fixcts concerning, 114 ; arranged editions, 115 ; piracies, . 222. Ward, Mr., his portrait of Handel, 876. Warlike symphony in JosMia, 331. " War shall cease," 316. Water Jfumc, the first work in which French-horns were introduced, 39 ; composed, 61 ; published, 114. " Waves from Waves," 237. Wedding Anthem.% 188, 207. " We hear, we hear," 280. Weidemann. the flutist, 314, 884. Wekerlin, Mr., on The Ilarmonioug Blacksmith, 482. " Welcome, welcome, mighty king," 227. Wesley, Eev. Charles, 72. Wesley, Samuel, the composer, 72. Westminster Hospital, 869. "When Israel, like the bounteous Nile," 817. "When the sun o'er yonder hills," 236. " When warlike onfeigns wave on high," 317. " Where is this stupendous stranger ?" 94. Whitchurch, present state of, 81. White's chocolate-house, 287. Wiehello, Abiel, 59. " Wise men," 849. " Who is lil^e unto thee ?" 315. Wolfand's portrait of Handel, 374. Woolaston, the painter, 59. Worcester F<'stival, 371. Worgen, Dr., the composer, 384. Works composed at Hamburg, 87. " Would you gain the tender creature ?" 80. " Wretched lovers," 93, 465. Xerxes, 217, 223. "Yet his bolt," 479. " Yet Pharaoh still exalted," 286. York Festival, 278, 369. Young, Dr., prices paid to, 113. Young, Miss Cecilia, 202. Zackau. See Sackau. " Zadok the priest," 99, 863. ZenoMa, 51. THE END. RETURN TO nESKJEI^OM WfTjr i BORROWED This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. RiO a MUSIC MAY 16 1964 Whix c i lybb FFB 1 7 1965 MAY 1 3 1965 MAY 2 5 1965 MAY 2 5 1967 >UV ;i«l977 TEB 21 1980 & NOV 12 1981 ,R 18 1982 ^>-m^ tec 2 198' W>t^ ■ i,i fabo LD 21-50m-4,'63 (D6471sl0)476 General Library University of California Berkeley ML410.H13.S3 C037314499 U.C. 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