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REPORT OF MUSIC.

Oun art, like the great lights which rule the day and night, has its phases and its revolutions. In the spring it illuminates the world of London; in the autumn it courses over the provinces, and sets not till it reaches the "ultima Thule," the extremest shores of regions civilized or about to be civilized; and in the winter it shines resplendent over the western cities of Bath and Bristol. The present month has abounded in "meetings," as they are technically termed. There has been one at Hereford, (that of the three choirs of Worcester, Hereford, and Gloucester,) one at Preston Guild-Merchant, and one at Liverpool. Next month promises a Derby and a Norwich festival.

These performances, however, exhibit little that is new or interesting to the musical world at large. Mrs. Salmon, Madame Camporese, and Miss Stevens,-Mr. Vaughan, Mr. Braham, or Mr. Sapio-Mr. Knyvett, or Mr. Evans-Mr. Bellamy, Mr. Beale, or Mr. Kellner, migrate in flocks, like the chaffinches, with some gregarious distinctions indeed, to those genial situations which supply "the scattered store." The selections are almost every where the same, and the only musical fact that they present worth recording, is the preservation of the works of Handel, which are every where kept in remembrance by the morning church performances; and thus the old English taste yet lingers in the provinces, and will probably survive for some time the popular existence of the same pure and legitimate style in the metropolis. In the mean while, the performers carry with them the newest fashions in composition and execution, and the distance in the knowledge of the provincials is by this means less remote, than it would otherwise be, from the advances made annually, nay daily, in the metropolis. We shall become a musical nation at last, particularly if the noble amateurs should succeed in giving the country " A Royal Academy," which will send forth its players, singers, and instructors, by annual hundreds. But this hope, as it seems, is even further off, than that of our being a musical people.

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has been shown that the expenditure of this embryo establishment will require a contribution from the public of nearly 10,000l. per annum, to support it at its height. It has been demonstrated also, that, upon its present scale, if it improve the science, it will be likely to ruin the fortunes of the profession. We conclude, therefore, that the project will either be pared down to narrower limitations, or transferred to the Philharmonic and the profession, who have been not very handsomely superseded, and who will carry on the design more cautiously at least, if not more propitiously. But from this short digression, we must go back to the provincial meetings. Birmingham, by its grand example, and by its amazing success, has given a new impulse to the employment of the art in charitable purposes. The festival at Derby is intended for the benefit of the County Hospital, and is on a scale of nearly equal magnitude with the original from which it is formed. Whether this be, or be not successful, it is likely that the principle will now be often applied; and the probable alienation from London, which a decreased income among the country gentlemen will bring about, may render the appetite for local pleasures of this sort more keen. We shall not be sorry if such be the effect of the retrenchment now found so necessary.

While this view of the subject presents itself, and in the absence of better matter, it may not be uninteresting to give a few sentences to the existing race of singers and their various attributes, in order to convey (briefly and rapidly as it must be) a general understanding of the state of vocal art, but still sufficiently accurate for the purpose of acquainting our readers with its actual condition.

Madame Camporese, Mrs. Salmon, and Miss Stevens, are now at the head of the list of female singers; and it is not easily possible for three performers, using the same organ, and frequently applying their powers to the same point and in the same direction, to be more various.

Madame Camporese relies upon mind more than on the natural ens

dowments of her voice,-more upon the higher branches of legitimate science, more upon the philosophy of the affections and the impulses that rule them, than upon the mere ars technica, in which, however, she is by no means deficient. She addresses herself to the understanding and the sensibility: she gives her words with the declamation of a fine rhetorician: she applies her powers to the expres sion, rejecting, with the severest taste, all the blandishments of meretricious ornament; but employing at the same time all the character that energy, tenderness, and transition bestow. Hence she is greatest in recitatives and songs of true passion. But nature has not been lavish of her gifts to Camporese, if we except the delicacy with which the judgment of this unquestionably great singer appears to be informed. Her tact is exquisite; and a hearer of true taste will perceive in every passage the purity and the beauty of the design, even where strength of execution is the most positively abridged. The natural force of Catalani fills all the soul-her grandeur overwhelms-her vehemence not unfrequently shocks the auditor. Camporese, on the contrary, gently agitates the mind. She sets the feelings and the imagination at work; she effectuates, as Mr. Addison says of music itself, "the rising and sinking of the passions by casting soft or noble hints into the soul." You see how much more she apprehends than she is able to perform. But with character (which is style) there is a purity that ennobles, and a sweetness that delights. With much for the heart, she is more for the intellect than for the ear. Such a singer is Madame Camporese.

Mrs. Salmon is the direct contrary of the warm and sensitive Italian. Nature has indulged her with the most captivating tone, whether it be considered for sweetness, purity, or fluidity, that ever seduced the ear of mortal. Circe and her Syrens were nothing to our nightingale. They

would take the prison'd soul, And lap it in Elysium; but Mrs. Salmon leaves the soul exactly where she finds it, yet contrives to create a physical rapture, which would almost persuade us that there is no such thing as soul, or intellect;

or, if there be, that they are very unnecessary vehicles for musical pleasure. Her singing is a flood of melody which she pours with such exquisite grace, that we hear, as it were, the odour of a shower of roses, scattered from the fingers of one of the Hours, and the sense revels in the delicious satiety. When she stands up in the orchestra, and begins to warble, we imagine instantly Aurora, and her streams of beamy light dazzling with their brightness. Her notes scintillate, like the diamond lights which the heat of a brilliant midsummer sun generates from the vapour just above the line of the horizon. "She wantons in the wiles of sound," and we hear with ecstacy. But where is the heart?. Exactly where it lies when we drink noyau-or see Paul flitting on the air, or Noblet coruscating through her battements. The sense is every thing, the mind nothing.

Miss Stevens rules in another sphere. She is the very queen of quietude and solace. Her attribute is to inspire" the sacred and homefelt delight with which Milton invests the invocation of his “Lady.” Her singing is chastity itself. With a voice far more full and rich, and not less pure; far more powerful, but neither so exquisite in its flavour, nor so liquid in its tones, as Mrs. Salmon's; she has neither the character of Camporese, nor the ornament of her English competitor. Educated for the stage, and exercising her talents principally in that region where coarseness is necessary for effect, and violence the substitute for true passion, she is neither unfinished nor vehement. We estimate her singing by the same standard by which a man would measure the qualities of a wife. Dignified in her manners, and elevated and pure in her thoughts, she is placid, yet not insipid; amiable and even lovely in her life, without the blandishments of her sex's arts. Her cheerfulness is constant, not exuberant and fluctuating. She satisfies the judgment, but the imagination never luxuriates. All is calm, and holy, and smooth, and bright, and beautiful. There is

no excess.

From these portraits it will be seen how complete is the variety of manner which these eminent artists exhibit-and they show how di

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versely art is made to work by the. original dispositions of nature. It would be impossible to blend these styles, if the singing of the two latter vocalists. shall be thought entitled to such a distinction as style. If Madame Camporese's be the great style, and Mrs. Salmon's the orna-. mental, Miss Stevens's must be classed by that epithet which belongs only to English description"chaste performance-a manner void of passion, as void of offence -that never raises, never disgusts, yet always pleases-just pleases, and no more. The characteristics, however, are both intellectual and organic. If any of the faculties of these singers were interchanged, we question whether more could be made of them. Camporese would not have been a better singer with the voice of Mrs. Salmon or Miss Stevens ;- because Mrs. Salmon's brilliancy could never take the deep shades of passion,-Miss Stevens's full, rich body of voice, could never be roughened or attenuated into the expression of the one, or the glittering execution of the other. Take from Camporese her vigorous, yet delicate apprehension, and you strip the eagle of her plumage,-you fasten her to the earth. These "Syrens three" present a curious balance of power. But the genius of the age determines for Mrs. Salmon. She gratifies the sense-she is the Venus for the voluptuary. She promises the ecstacy of earthly possession, and she will carry away the golden apple from Jove-created wisdom and heaven-born dignity. The declension has been gradually prepared by composition, as well as by performance. The majesty of Handel was succeeded by the elegance, fancy, and feeling of Cimarosa, Haydn, and Mozart; and these in time have prepared the way for the catching, but slight, and glittering, and voluptuous melodies and rifiorimenti of

Rossini.

The estimate of these, the first objects of public regard, has detained us so long, that we must hasten to the review of the few publications that have appeared. Hereafter we may resume the consideration of the powers who now rule the vocal sphere.

Messrs. Boosey have commenged a very elegant series of numbers under the title of Allegri di Bravura, which are to be continued from the works of living German composers, for the pianoforte. The first is by Weyse, the second by Moschelles, the third by Ries. The same publishers are giving a series of overtures arranged for the pianoforte, violin, flute, and violoncello; from the compositions of Beethoven, Cherubini, Gluck, Mozart, &c.; by J. N. Hummel. Both these publications are on a capital scale.

Mr. Rophino Lacy is adapting airs from Rossini's operas for the piano and flute. Those published, are from La Gazza Ladra, Otello, and Mose in Egitto. They are well done.

Mr. Latour is giving a series of select Italian airs, arranged and varied for the pianoforte. harp, and flute. They are chosen and executed with his accustomed grace and facility.

Mr. Watts has arranged Rossini's overture to Ricciardo and Zoraida, as a duet for the pianoforte; it is brilliant and effective: and Mr. Rimbault has prepared Paer's overture to Camilla, in the same manner for the same instrument, with accompaniments for the flute and violoncello.

Rossini has also furnished Mr. Naderman with a subject for variations for the harp, in the plaintive little song translated from Shakspeare's Willow, introduced into Otello.

Mr. Emdin, who ranks high amongst amateur composers of bal-. lads, has printed two songs, Guy Summer is flown, and Love's delightful Hour. They are agreeable, but scarcely equal to his former productions.

There are two glees from the pen of Sir John Stevenson. Dear Harp of sweet Erin, resembles in its melody The last Rose of Summer, very nearly. It is for three or four parts, and supported by an arpeggio accompaniment. The continuation of O Stranger lend thy gentle Barque, is much the same. The three voices take a strain in succession, and unite in chorus at the close. They are pretty things da camera.

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE, &c. Italy.—An interesting work by Ripetti has appeared at Florence, entitled Sopra l'Alpe Apuana ed i Mormi di Carrara, a Dissertation on the Apuan Alp and the Quarries of Carrara, illustrated with a map. This country is now remarkable as the great storehouse from which is obtained the finest material for sculpture. The work is divided into four sections, treating of the geology, topography, chemical mineralogy, and history of this district.

been found to answer its intended purpose exceedingly well, in making trigonometrical observations, but obviates the inconvenience of making the operations by night.

The Cavalier Vacani is about to publish a history of the military actions of the Ita lians in Spain, Storia delle Campagne ed Assedi degli Italiani in Ispagna del anno 1808 al 1813, in 4to. illustrated with maps and plans. Memorie sulla Vita e sulle Opere di Hassc detto il Sassone. Cenni Storici-Critici salle Vicende, &c. della Musica in Italia di F.S. Kandler, has been published at Naples, and, although a work of inconsiderable extent, is valuable from the information it contains. It is dedicated to the King of Naples, and embellished with portraits of Hasse and Faustina Boudoni. The author exhibits to us Hasse's brilliant career for more than fifty years, relates all the remarkable events of his life, and gives a catalogue of his theatrical compositions, oratorios, pieces of sacred music, &c.

He then examines his characteristics and merits as a composer, and shows how greatly he contributed towards perfecting the orchestra, the influence he had on his age, and the rank which he deserves to hold. -The Vision of Alberico, a manuscript of which has been discovered in the library of the ancient convent of Monte Cassino, is preparing for publication. From this work, which was written about the beginning of the 12th century, Dante is supposed to have taken the idea of his Divina Commedia. It relates the vision of a peasant of the village of Settefrati, in the district of Atina, who continues in a trance for nine entire days, during which he supposes himself to be conducted by St. Peter through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise.

Heliotrope.-Professor Gauss, of Gottingen, having remarked, while making some trigonometrical observations, that the reflection of the sun upon a window was visible "at the distance of seven miles, was induced to make some experiments, by which he ascertained, that a small mirror, not more than 2 or 3 inches in diameter, is sufficient to reflect the sun 10 German miles, or even more. This discovery is of great importance in measuring large triangles, the method now adopted being to fix, at night, several Argand lamps, with reflectors, at the place which is intended to be observed from a great distance. In consequence of what he had observed, the professor constructed an instrument which he has named the Heliotrope; this has not only

Poland. The great Polish poet, Jan Woronicz, Bishop of Cracow, whose national epic, Assarmos (which appeared in 1818), is so noble an ornament to the literature of his country, has fitted up the episcopal palace at Cracow as a museum for Polish antiquities. The collection is arranged in the separate halls of this vast edifice, according to different periods and ages. Many of these apartments are embellished with paintings, the subjects of which are taken from the Assarmos, and from the ancient Polish mythology. A catalogue raisonnè has been published.

Corrosive Sublimate.-Dr. Taddei has discovered, that gelatine mixed with corrosive sublimate renders it innoxious. He gave 12 grains of it to two rabbits, and they did not exhibit any symptom of having suffered from it in the least degree; whereas a single grain of the sublimate, administered in its pure form, was sufficient to kill them. The injurious effects of a grain of sublimate are neutralized by 25 grains of fresh, or by 13 grains of dry, gelatine.

Natural History.-A most perfect and beautiful specimen of the hippopotamus has lately been added to the extensive and interesting museum of Joshua Brook, Esq. This is the first time the animal has ever been exhibited in London in an entire state, no other part than the head having hitherto been brought over.

It has been discovered that the operculum, or lid that covers the mouth of many shells, serves to distinguish the various classes, and materially to assist the conchologist in determining to what family they belong. Thus, in the cyclostyma and turbo the operculum is spiral; in the paludiria regularly annulated, and in the murices irregularly annulated. Of these families each has different habits; the first lives upon land, the second in the sea, the third in fresh water, and the fourth is marine and carnivorous.

Bistrom. This sculptor (of whom some account was given in our third volume) has finished a groupe, representing Harmony, with Hymen and Capid reposing on her bosom. The first holds a lyre in her hand; the second, a fascinating youth, entwines his delicate arms around his brother, while a slight, playful smile is perceptible on his lips, and indicates the nature of his slumbers. Hymen is more serene and tranquil. The goddess contemplates them with a lively expression of maternal affection. This fine groupe forms a satisfactory companion to the artist's former one of Juno and Hercules.

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ABSTRACT OF FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC OCCURRENCES.

THE accounts from Greece present
the same picture which we have
placed before our readers since the
commencement of this contest; on
the one side, a brave people nobly
struggling for the recovery of their
independence, rising with renewed
courage from defeat and disaster, and
in the midst of Christian Europe,
without an ally or a friend, sustaining
the cause of letters, liberty, and reli-
gion, against the concentrated fury
of barbarism and superstition!-On
the other, their oppressors, fired by
the spirit of tyranny and revenge,
recruiting their diminished ranks by
exhaustless numbers, and avenging
each defeat by reiterated cruelties.
How long is Christendom to endure
the disgrace of such a spectacle!
Since our last, the destruction of the
Turkish fleet has been followed up
by the memorable defeat of their
army, under Chourschid, in the clas-
sical defile of Thermopyle, where
the Greeks are said to have almost
rivalled the glories of Leonidas. We
are sorry to say, however, that this
success has been more than counter-
balanced by the loss of Corinth, the
key of the Isthmus. This blow was at
first represented as a fatal and a final
one to the Greek cause; their troops
were said to have been paralyzed,
and their senate dispersed; in this
emergency, however, a last effort
seems to have been determined on
by the provisional government, which
immediately issued a proclamation,
ordering a levy en masse of all the
Greek population between sixteen and
sixty, procuring an instant accession
of 30,000 troops, who had hemmed
in the barbarians in Corinth, not
without sanguine hopes of recovering
that important fortress.

In the mean time, the Grand Con-
gress of the European powers at
Verona approaches. The Emperor
Alexander arrived at Vienna on the
7th of September, attended by a
suite much more numerous than
usual. The Emperor of Austria re-
paired to Wolkersdorf to meet his
august visitor, who, however, at his
own request, entered Vienna without
any public ceremony. It is uncer-
tain what stay his Russian Majesty
may make in the Austrian capital;

but the current rumour is that the
Sovereigns do not take their depar-
ture for Italy till the middle of Sep-
tember, which would necessarily de-
lay the opening of Congress till the
latter end of October. It is a sin-
gular fact, that the high allied powers
have issued a preparatory mandate,
excluding from Verona, during their
temporary residence there, every
stranger who is not either attached
to, or in possession of, a protection
from some of the diplomatic body.

29

Before his departure from Petersburgh, Alexander issued an imperial rescript to the Minister of the interior, commanding the immediate suppression of all secret societies, but particularly of the Freemason body; the reason he gives for this is, that "he may create a firm bulwark against every thing that is injurious to the empire, and especially at a time like the present, when unhappily so many states offer sad examples of the ruinous consequences of the philosophical subtleties now in vogue.' The rescript is particular and severe. It ordains, 1st, that all secret societies (and particularly Freemasons), under whatever name they exist, shall be closed, and the establishment not allowed; 2d, that all the members of such societies, as soon as they shall be informed of this measure, shall engage in writing to take no part henceforward, under any pretext, in any secret society, under whatever wellmeaning name it may exist, either in the empire or in foreign countries;and under various other regulations, all officers, either civil or military, who do not strictly conform to this document are to be dismissed from their employments, and incapacitated from ever hereafter serving the state! We hope that his Grace of Wellington, who has departed for Verona, will keep it a Freemason-secret from Alexander that his refractory British ally actually laid by proxy, during the summer, in Scotland, the first stone of one of these anti-imperial lodges, and that his royal brother the Duke of Sussex followed the illustrious example personally in the north of England.

In Spain the beloved Ferdinand has finally resigned himself into the

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