Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

his course at the exact conclusion of any one division of the subject; yet had he left any portion in an incipient state, it is scarcely probable that the memory of so curious a particular should have been lost or suppressed. There is certainly no one so competent to decide this point from internal evidence as MR. NOVELLO, and from bis great authority we are exceedingly loth to dissent; but when we consider the acknowledged state of weakness to which MOZART was reduced, the apprehension of death under which he wrote, the inevitable fatigue and wearisome exhaustion which so mighty an exertion must bring upon a frame so near extinction, and the desire he enter tained to complete this commission-when we couple with these considerations the melancholy satisfaction with which affection loves to dwell upon the minute circumstances and the earnestness with which the survivors of departed genius always strive to perpetuate every particular, and the last most especially, that attended its decline, we cannot help inclining to the opinion, that had any other hand been employed in the conclusion, there would have been evidence of the fact more conclusive than is to be drawn from the very natural supposition of MOZART's anxiety to give the utmost diversity to his composition.

Our general opinions will be gathered from the particular relation we have given. It is impossible not to regard these productions with the highest veneration. Genius, by which we mean to signify that inventive faculty which invests its object in new and beautiful forms, shines throughout, while the depth, fertility, and erudition of MoZART's mind have been shewn in the combination of antient learning with modern elegance, and gracefulness of musical phraseology with an intensity of feeling, peculiarly his own. It has been his particular attribute to sustain, by a constant flow of melody, all those parts where his harmonious combinations are most grave and striking, and his transitions of the grandest nature. It was his to give almost equal beauty to all the parts of his score, and to enrich accompaniment without degenerating into frivolous elaboration. He has too, in many instances, thrown such philosophical light upon the art of expression, that they will enter into the theory as examples, and be received as rules.

Yet it must, upon 'the whole, he admitted, that the Masses are composed in a mixed style, not thoroughly ecclesiastical nor indeed without a certain allowance of dramatic effect. It is this admixture

that has given an air of levity to some of the Kyries, the Credos, and the Donas, as well as the latitude he has taken from the examples of other writers for the church, in setting these parts of the Mass to strains which certainly serve to diversify, but which, at the same time, tend to weaken and lower the high tone of feeling the most awful of all prayers-Lord have mercy upon us! Christ have mercy upon us! ought to inspire. From this effect the Masses are certainly not to be exempted. But when we consider the body of composition and the generally exalted solemn raptures of the conceptions and the expression, we are acquainted with scarcely any thing equal in merit, except it be a few of our own cathedral services, and nothing superior, save some of HANDEL's noblest sacred works. And when we take into view the nature of the subject, the universality of the language, the genius of the man, the grandeur of the designs, and the splendour and beauty of their execution, we say at once this is a work for all countries and all time.

To the Editor belongs as great praise as can be bestowed upon the learning, taste, labour, diligence, and accuracy, necessary to the compilation and arrangement of such a work. MR. NOVELLO has, we believe, made it entirely correct, while he has in his organ accompaniment comprehended the real extent of the author's designs, and placed the valuable parts in a lucid and elegant manner, making the whole as full, judicious, and complete as was possible. His directions for the use of the stops are also particularly valuable. In few words, MR. NOVELLO has raised in England a classical and perdurable memorial of MOZART's fame, while his own name will live as the architect who has collected and constructed into one solid and superb fabric, those materials which the prodigality of genius had scattered abroad.

Sonata for the Piano Forte, with an Accompaniment for the Violin or Flute (ad libitum); composed by J. B. Cramer. London. By the Royal Harmonic Institution.

Whenever we see the name of this composer, we instantly anticipate grace, melody, and science, so strongly are those properties. associated with the works of MR. CRAMER. We therefore enter upon the generally pleasing task of examining any production of his with a fervour of expectation which, while it disposes us to look most favourably on the work, is also liable to a stronger revulsion whenever it has chanced that disappointment has succeeded and chaced away the more agreeable visions of expectancy. The sonata before us has unluckily this latter tendency.

It is written in the key of D. The theme is of an ordinary and common description, affording us no idea why such a mind as MR. CRAMER'S should consent to its adoption. The commencement too is treated in an antiquated style. At the end of the 16th bar, without any apparent cause, the author comes to a full stop. This sudden suspension is rarely made use of by judicious composers, except for the purpose of giving the listener time for digesting some elaborate preceding part, for the immediate effect of the suspension itself, or to prepare the auditor for some extraordinary modulation. We here however find neither of these purposes attained. The following bar consists merely of two chords of minims in the relative minor, which is a very ordinary transition. He then naturally glides into the key of A, in which he has an extraneous little passage, which cannot however be called the passetto. From this he wanders about through many bars, without meaning, or indeed any connection with the principal subject, until he makes his close in A. The coda which follows, though rather common place, is treated agreeably in a kind of dialogue between the piano forte and flute.

In the second part he takes the subject pleasantly, in the fifth of the relative minor of D, which naturally leads him into the key of G and its relative minor E. This part is wrought into an agreeable dialogue between the two instruments. He then falls back into the relative minor of the original key, which leads him into F minor,

where he makes a suspended close ad libitum. He next takes abruptly the original key with good effect, but introduces passages altogether irrelative. From this he proceeds to the dominant with the chord of the 7th, and after a full stop begins the subject again, varied with a little modulation. A short passage in the organ style, having no relation either to the subject or the other passages before introduced is now worked into a chain, or what the French would call "en filade." The long passage in the first part is next resumed, which brings him to the close and coda as in the first part.

The second movement is an Andante in the key of A, and has something of the character of a Sicilian song. It is pleasantly and tastefully treated. After a short minor, the subject is resumed with some embellishment for the piano forte, and repeated by the flute, with a sweet accompaniment for the piano forte.

The last movement is an Allegretto, in minuet time, in the subject of which the author seems to have sought neither originality, elegance, or any other quality which might save it from the huge mass of common-place found in the multitudinous works of common-place writers for the piano forte. The second strain is not at all connected with the first, and the passages are so loosely thrown together as to exhibit no pretensions to art. After a close in A, there are six bars of pleasing execution, which again introduce the whole of the first strain precisely in its original state. The second strain is again slightly brought forward, and after a little modulation, the author reposes on the dominant of B minor, which leads him to the dominant of the original key, which dominant has its usual flat 7th. After a full stop, the original strain re-appears, with a running bass of four bars only-the remainder is a species of coda of tolerably brilliant effect.

Aliquando bonus, &c. and this sonata, is one of the things that indicates MR. CRAMER is not exempt from the occasional drowsinesses to which even great genius is subject. Had we not indeed seen his name on the title we should never have traced his hand in the work. manship, but have attributed the performance to some infinitely inferior writer.

Duo for the Piano Forte, and Violin, by Fred Kalkbrenner, (Op. 49) London. Clementi and Co. Chappell and Co.

This Duo is an original, a regular, and a capital composition. It manifests a rich imagination, singular contrivance, and a mastery over his materials that entitles its author not only to the character of genius, but of science and consummate art.

The first movement in B. minor is bold but graceful, and it is treated with a degree of judgement that displays at the very outset of the work, the knowledge the composer possesses of the powers of both instruments-a requisite somewhat more rare than consists with the apparent facility with which such a multiplicity of duets are given now to the world.

After a modulation which arrests and suspends for an instant the attention, the singing passage is introduced in a simple and effective manner in the key of D. by the violin. The transition into this key is quite unexpected and has a fine effect. The same passage is then taken up by the piano forte, and the natural defects of that instrument are judiciously covered by the introduction of graceful ornaments in those parts where the violin has the power of sustaining the notes. Some very ingenious modulations give great interest to this removal of the passage.

Alternate passages of execution for both instruments then follow, and conclude with a very brilliant one for the violin.

The first subject is next repeated three times, with changes of harmony so as to give a new effect at each repetition. Both instruments then take it up alternately, in a sort of stretta, and the first part concludes with a brilliant passage for the piano forte.

The second part begins after an enharmonic transition, the funda mental seventh on the F# being changed into an augmented sixth, which instead of going into B minor, without changing a note on the piano forte, goes into Bb major. The subject is then taken by the violin and the left hand on the piano forte alternately, and worked in a very able style. This is the part where composers mostly fail; and is indeed that in which at once is shewn their real science in a regular composition of this species. Here must be no introduction of new matter, but the author must resume the materials on which he

[blocks in formation]
« ZurückWeiter »